Foreigners can now own up to 60pct of PH rural banks
ABS-CBNnews.com
Posted at 05/29/2013 5:52 PM
MANILA -- Foreign firms or individuals can now own as much as 60 percent
of any rural bank in the country, following President Benigno C. Aquino
III's signing of an amendment to the Rural Bank Act of 1992 into law.
In a statement, Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte said
Republic Act No. 10574 was signed into law on May 24 amending the
foreign ownership rules for rural banks in the country.
"Non-Filipino citizens may own, acquire or purchase up to sixty percent
(60%) of the voting stocks in a rural bank. The percentage of
foreign-owned voting stocks shall be determined by the citizenship of
the individual or corporate stockholders of the rural bank," the
amendment read.
Previously, rural banks were mandated to be fully owned by Filipinos or
Filipino-controlled banks, firms, associations and cooperatives under RA
7353 or the Rural Bank Act of 1992.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas will be coming up with an implementing
rules and regulations for the new law which is expected to be published
within 90 days of RA 10574's publication.
RA 10574 takes effect 15 days after its publication in two newspapers of
general circulation.
--
-----------------------------------------------------------
CARLOS ANI - Consultant
Chairman of the Board - SEEDFINANCE Corporation
Mailing address: PO Box 90 UPLB Los Banos Laguna, Philippines 4031
Emails: carlosani@gmail.com , carlosani@seedfinance.net
Landline Phone: +63495010127 (PLDT)
Cellphone Numbers: +63908-1737072 (Smart)
My Websites:
CARLOSANI.COM - http://www.carlosani.com
SEEDFINANCE Corporation - http://www.seedfinance.net
DEVJOBS - http://www.devjobsmail.com
PHILDEVFINANCE - http://phildevfinance.posterous.com
http://phildevfinance.blogspot.com
Family website - http://www.anifamily.net
Skype name: carlosaniph
----------------------------------------------------------
Thursday, May 30, 2013
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
BPI targets farm loans
BPI targets farm loans
DAVAO CITY -- Ayala-led Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) is
strengthening its agribusiness loan operation in Mindanao, an official
said, noting that the island has the elements necessary for high growth.
lfonso L. Salcedo, Jr., BPI executive-vice president, said Mindanao --
which accounts for about a third of the bank's agribusiness loans --
would play a key role in a plan to raise exposure to the subsector to
₱38 billion over the next four years.
Perlina I. Padilla, head of the bank's Agribusiness Solutions group,
said BPI was growing its agribusiness portfolio between 16%-20%
annually. Of the bank's total loan portfolio, about 15% is in
agribusiness, Ms. Padilla said.
Mr. Salcedo, who was speaking at the launch of the Agribusiness
Solutions facility, said: "What we hope is that we will be able to
provide credit access to even the small and medium-size agribusinesses...."
He said BPI wanted to cash in on the country's good business climate.
The agribusiness sector, he added, is ripe for growth.
"Agriculture is something that is staring at us," Mr. Salcedo said,
adding that the bank wanted to help the government achieve inclusive
growth and food security.
The bank has tapped Genus Pig Improvement Co., which specializes in
biotechnology products, for the venture.
Andrew J. Bateson, Genus' business development director for Asia, said
his company was looking to help local hog raisers maximize their incomes.
BPI, said Mr. Salcedo, is not limiting its agribusiness drive to the hog
and poultry business.
The bank also launched its Sustainable Energy Finance aimed at reducing
agribusiness dependence on fossil fuels. -- Carmelito Q. Francisco
- See more at:
http://www.bworldonline.com/content.php?section=Finance&title=BPI-targets-farm-loans&id=70779#sthash.eyhn1zFX.dpuf
--
-----------------------------------------------------------
CARLOS ANI - Consultant
Chairman of the Board - SEEDFINANCE Corporation
Mailing address: PO Box 90 UPLB Los Banos Laguna, Philippines 4031
Emails: carlosani@gmail.com , carlosani@seedfinance.net
Landline Phone: +63495010127 (PLDT)
Cellphone Numbers: +63908-1737072 (Smart)
My Websites:
CARLOSANI.COM - http://www.carlosani.com
SEEDFINANCE Corporation - http://www.seedfinance.net
DEVJOBS - http://www.devjobsmail.com
PHILDEVFINANCE - http://phildevfinance.posterous.com
http://phildevfinance.blogspot.com
Family website - http://www.anifamily.net
Skype name: carlosaniph
----------------------------------------------------------
DAVAO CITY -- Ayala-led Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) is
strengthening its agribusiness loan operation in Mindanao, an official
said, noting that the island has the elements necessary for high growth.
lfonso L. Salcedo, Jr., BPI executive-vice president, said Mindanao --
which accounts for about a third of the bank's agribusiness loans --
would play a key role in a plan to raise exposure to the subsector to
₱38 billion over the next four years.
Perlina I. Padilla, head of the bank's Agribusiness Solutions group,
said BPI was growing its agribusiness portfolio between 16%-20%
annually. Of the bank's total loan portfolio, about 15% is in
agribusiness, Ms. Padilla said.
Mr. Salcedo, who was speaking at the launch of the Agribusiness
Solutions facility, said: "What we hope is that we will be able to
provide credit access to even the small and medium-size agribusinesses...."
He said BPI wanted to cash in on the country's good business climate.
The agribusiness sector, he added, is ripe for growth.
"Agriculture is something that is staring at us," Mr. Salcedo said,
adding that the bank wanted to help the government achieve inclusive
growth and food security.
The bank has tapped Genus Pig Improvement Co., which specializes in
biotechnology products, for the venture.
Andrew J. Bateson, Genus' business development director for Asia, said
his company was looking to help local hog raisers maximize their incomes.
BPI, said Mr. Salcedo, is not limiting its agribusiness drive to the hog
and poultry business.
The bank also launched its Sustainable Energy Finance aimed at reducing
agribusiness dependence on fossil fuels. -- Carmelito Q. Francisco
- See more at:
http://www.bworldonline.com/content.php?section=Finance&title=BPI-targets-farm-loans&id=70779#sthash.eyhn1zFX.dpuf
--
-----------------------------------------------------------
CARLOS ANI - Consultant
Chairman of the Board - SEEDFINANCE Corporation
Mailing address: PO Box 90 UPLB Los Banos Laguna, Philippines 4031
Emails: carlosani@gmail.com , carlosani@seedfinance.net
Landline Phone: +63495010127 (PLDT)
Cellphone Numbers: +63908-1737072 (Smart)
My Websites:
CARLOSANI.COM - http://www.carlosani.com
SEEDFINANCE Corporation - http://www.seedfinance.net
DEVJOBS - http://www.devjobsmail.com
PHILDEVFINANCE - http://phildevfinance.posterous.com
http://phildevfinance.blogspot.com
Family website - http://www.anifamily.net
Skype name: carlosaniph
----------------------------------------------------------
Sunday, May 26, 2013
Coco sugar sweetens small town’s finances
Coco sugar sweetens small town's finances
By Kaiza Marie Nawal
Inquirer Mindanao
11:26 pm | Saturday, May 25th, 2013
DAVAO CITY—The gathering of coconut sap has always been the domain of
tuba gatherers in the country but in a small village in Misamis
Oriental, family members were seen lending each one a helping hand in
performing the task.
Linabu, however, is not Balingasag town's tuba capital even if family
members would gather at least three times a day as they pour on large
vats or containers the saps that their kin had collected from the
towering coconut trees.
"Sap gathering is also becoming a family affair in our community," Maria
Virgenia Pejoro, general manager of the Linabu Agrarian Multi-Purpose
Coop. (Lampco), says.
Since five years ago, the sight of family members helping each other in
gathering coconut sap has always been the scene in the village.
The gathered sap would then be turned over to the Lampco office and they
earn money, not just a few bucks, but modest amount of cash enough to
better their lives, according to Pejoro.
"We have noted that the quality of lives of the farmers has
significantly improved," she says.
The sap that Lampco members from 49 family-members gather turns into
coco sugar at the Lampco mini factory inside the village.
Coco sugar has been touted worldwide as having the lowest glycemic index
(GI) of just 35, even beating other sweeteners such as sugar beet, which
has a GI of 64; and sugarcane, which has a GI of about 40.
It is also increasingly becoming a phenomenon because of its supposed
good role in one's health and has been selling hot in such countries as
the United States and Japan.
Because the end-product has become Lampco's cash cow, family members
doubled their efforts, and from just 5-ton a month, their cooperative's
coco sugar production has since doubled.
These days, "a lot of farmers in the area have motorcycles, which they
use for daily commuting, while others were able to send all their
children to school, without compromising their other basic needs,"
Pejoro, beaming with pride, says.
She adds the good things happening at the cooperative were brought in by
their participation in government-sponsored trade fairs in the past,
such as the International Food Exhibition (Ifex) in 2010.
To boost its marketing strategy, Lampco also adopted the tagline "Coco
Sugar: A Smart Way to be Healthy."
The Mindanao Development Authority (Minda), which has been assisting
emerging ventures as Lampco's, says in a statement that at the recent
Market Week Philippines, Lampco was the top grosser in terms of sales
and total amount of orders placed.
Market Week Philippines was a trade fair and showground of on-sale
world-class items and products, Minda, Malacañang's development arm in
the south, says.
Minda says like Lampco, it—along with the Department of Trade and
Industry and the Department of Agriculture—is also assisting 70 other
Mindanao-based food producers, exporters and processors to participate
in next year's Ifex—the largest gathering of emerging and established
businesses in the country.
Pejoro adds Lampco knew the importance of Ifex, which was why the
cooperative will be participating in it anew next year.
"It was during our first Ifex participation in 2010, when we were able
to close a deal with various coco sugar consolidators in Manila, which
demanded up to five tons of coco sugar per month," she says.
Pejoro adds that clinching the deals during the first Ifex was
considered "a huge leap for the cooperative given its humble produce of
at least three kilos per day at the beginning."
"We are currently producing at least 10 tons per month, and we are
thrilled by this increased demand for healthy and organic sugar," she cites.
Another good thing that came to Lampco, Pejoro points out, was the
recent certification of its coco sugar by Iberica Ambicert, the
Spain-based subsidiary of organic-products certifier Ecocert, as
carbon-neutral and genuinely organic.
The Europe-based Ecocert is recognized worldwide—including by the US
Food and Drugs Administration—for its credible identification of
products as purely organic.
Lampco's Pejoro states the shift to coco sugar production was not an
easy path for the cooperative, whose members were mainly copra producers.
First, she says they had to hurdle the mindset that copra production was
easier as one only needed to harvest mature coconuts on a trimester basis.
"Coco sap, the main ingredient for the coco sugar, needs to be harvested
at least three times a day," she says.
Another thing, Pejoro says, was that their members were initially
against using organic materials in their coco farms because it was
perceived as more labor extensive.
"This means huge additional work for the farmers, but when they realized
that it was a better source of income, they eventually joined the loop,"
Pejoro adds.
Other things that helped convince Lampco members to shift to coco sugar
production was the continuous prodding and assistance from government
agencies, including the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR).
Such that today, it's not only family members who help each other gather
sap.
At the cooperative's packing area, they help one another in packing coco
sugar by kilo and sachets.
Pejoro says they were looking forward to the day when Lampco members and
those in neighboring villages could buy more than just motorcycles and
would be able to send their children even to expensive and exclusive
schools.
She adds as far as they were concerned, it was not a farfetched projection.
--
-----------------------------------------------------------
CARLOS ANI - Consultant
Chairman of the Board - SEEDFINANCE Corporation
Mailing address: PO Box 90 UPLB Los Banos Laguna, Philippines 4031
Emails: carlosani@gmail.com , carlosani@seedfinance.net
Landline Phone: +63495010127 (PLDT)
Cellphone Numbers: +63908-1737072 (Smart)
My Websites:
CARLOSANI.COM - http://www.carlosani.com
SEEDFINANCE Corporation - http://www.seedfinance.net
DEVJOBS - http://www.devjobsmail.com
PHILDEVFINANCE - http://phildevfinance.posterous.com
http://phildevfinance.blogspot.com
Family website - http://www.anifamily.net
Skype name: carlosaniph
----------------------------------------------------------
By Kaiza Marie Nawal
Inquirer Mindanao
11:26 pm | Saturday, May 25th, 2013
DAVAO CITY—The gathering of coconut sap has always been the domain of
tuba gatherers in the country but in a small village in Misamis
Oriental, family members were seen lending each one a helping hand in
performing the task.
Linabu, however, is not Balingasag town's tuba capital even if family
members would gather at least three times a day as they pour on large
vats or containers the saps that their kin had collected from the
towering coconut trees.
"Sap gathering is also becoming a family affair in our community," Maria
Virgenia Pejoro, general manager of the Linabu Agrarian Multi-Purpose
Coop. (Lampco), says.
Since five years ago, the sight of family members helping each other in
gathering coconut sap has always been the scene in the village.
The gathered sap would then be turned over to the Lampco office and they
earn money, not just a few bucks, but modest amount of cash enough to
better their lives, according to Pejoro.
"We have noted that the quality of lives of the farmers has
significantly improved," she says.
The sap that Lampco members from 49 family-members gather turns into
coco sugar at the Lampco mini factory inside the village.
Coco sugar has been touted worldwide as having the lowest glycemic index
(GI) of just 35, even beating other sweeteners such as sugar beet, which
has a GI of 64; and sugarcane, which has a GI of about 40.
It is also increasingly becoming a phenomenon because of its supposed
good role in one's health and has been selling hot in such countries as
the United States and Japan.
Because the end-product has become Lampco's cash cow, family members
doubled their efforts, and from just 5-ton a month, their cooperative's
coco sugar production has since doubled.
These days, "a lot of farmers in the area have motorcycles, which they
use for daily commuting, while others were able to send all their
children to school, without compromising their other basic needs,"
Pejoro, beaming with pride, says.
She adds the good things happening at the cooperative were brought in by
their participation in government-sponsored trade fairs in the past,
such as the International Food Exhibition (Ifex) in 2010.
To boost its marketing strategy, Lampco also adopted the tagline "Coco
Sugar: A Smart Way to be Healthy."
The Mindanao Development Authority (Minda), which has been assisting
emerging ventures as Lampco's, says in a statement that at the recent
Market Week Philippines, Lampco was the top grosser in terms of sales
and total amount of orders placed.
Market Week Philippines was a trade fair and showground of on-sale
world-class items and products, Minda, Malacañang's development arm in
the south, says.
Minda says like Lampco, it—along with the Department of Trade and
Industry and the Department of Agriculture—is also assisting 70 other
Mindanao-based food producers, exporters and processors to participate
in next year's Ifex—the largest gathering of emerging and established
businesses in the country.
Pejoro adds Lampco knew the importance of Ifex, which was why the
cooperative will be participating in it anew next year.
"It was during our first Ifex participation in 2010, when we were able
to close a deal with various coco sugar consolidators in Manila, which
demanded up to five tons of coco sugar per month," she says.
Pejoro adds that clinching the deals during the first Ifex was
considered "a huge leap for the cooperative given its humble produce of
at least three kilos per day at the beginning."
"We are currently producing at least 10 tons per month, and we are
thrilled by this increased demand for healthy and organic sugar," she cites.
Another good thing that came to Lampco, Pejoro points out, was the
recent certification of its coco sugar by Iberica Ambicert, the
Spain-based subsidiary of organic-products certifier Ecocert, as
carbon-neutral and genuinely organic.
The Europe-based Ecocert is recognized worldwide—including by the US
Food and Drugs Administration—for its credible identification of
products as purely organic.
Lampco's Pejoro states the shift to coco sugar production was not an
easy path for the cooperative, whose members were mainly copra producers.
First, she says they had to hurdle the mindset that copra production was
easier as one only needed to harvest mature coconuts on a trimester basis.
"Coco sap, the main ingredient for the coco sugar, needs to be harvested
at least three times a day," she says.
Another thing, Pejoro says, was that their members were initially
against using organic materials in their coco farms because it was
perceived as more labor extensive.
"This means huge additional work for the farmers, but when they realized
that it was a better source of income, they eventually joined the loop,"
Pejoro adds.
Other things that helped convince Lampco members to shift to coco sugar
production was the continuous prodding and assistance from government
agencies, including the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR).
Such that today, it's not only family members who help each other gather
sap.
At the cooperative's packing area, they help one another in packing coco
sugar by kilo and sachets.
Pejoro says they were looking forward to the day when Lampco members and
those in neighboring villages could buy more than just motorcycles and
would be able to send their children even to expensive and exclusive
schools.
She adds as far as they were concerned, it was not a farfetched projection.
--
-----------------------------------------------------------
CARLOS ANI - Consultant
Chairman of the Board - SEEDFINANCE Corporation
Mailing address: PO Box 90 UPLB Los Banos Laguna, Philippines 4031
Emails: carlosani@gmail.com , carlosani@seedfinance.net
Landline Phone: +63495010127 (PLDT)
Cellphone Numbers: +63908-1737072 (Smart)
My Websites:
CARLOSANI.COM - http://www.carlosani.com
SEEDFINANCE Corporation - http://www.seedfinance.net
DEVJOBS - http://www.devjobsmail.com
PHILDEVFINANCE - http://phildevfinance.posterous.com
http://phildevfinance.blogspot.com
Family website - http://www.anifamily.net
Skype name: carlosaniph
----------------------------------------------------------
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Foreign direct investments
Don't blink, PNoy
Solita Collas-Monsod
I READ with great pleasure the May 22 newspaper accounts of PNoy's
reactions to a) yet another move to change the Constitution (Cha-cha)
and b) China's (Taiwan not far behind) bully tactics. I agree with him
completely on these two issues.
With respect to Charter change, the most-used grounds for seeking it
have been economic. The claim is that the economic provisions of the
present constitution -- mostly the restrictions on foreign ownership --
have closed the door to foreign direct investment (FDI), thus resulting
in lost employment and growth opportunities and therefore increasing
poverty. This claim has been dusted off and presented every four or six
years. And the biggest advocates have been, not surprisingly, the
foreign chambers of commerce in the Philippines as well as those who are
legal and/or business advisers/consultants of foreign firms. Their
stance is not surprising because obviously they are profit-seeking.
What may be surprising, at least at first glance, is that a number of
legislators also use the need to change the economic provisions of the
Constitution as the reason for Cha-cha. But a very quick second glance,
pardon the cynicism, will show that a lot of these so-called advocates
actually have another change in mind: the change from a presidential
system of government to a parliamentary system. This change will not
only allow the political dynasties to be more firmly entrenched (a
parliamentary system will do away with term limits), but will afford
them more power -- they don't need to have the backing of the majority
of the Filipino people to become head of government, all they need is
control of the parliament which means an agreement with other political
dynasties.
How will the parliamentary-presidential issue come in? Simple. Once the
door is open for Cha-cha, it will be well-nigh impossible to limit the
change to economic provisions only.
What must be emphasized, again and again, is that neither the need to
lift the economic restrictions on foreign ownership, nor the advantages
of a parliamentary over a presidential system, have any basis in fact.
And as often as these claims have been dusted off and presented, I have
dusted off and presented the empirical findings which belie them.
Just for the record, let me summarize them once again.
With respect to FDI: (1) macro-level data may show an association
between FDI and higher levels of income, but do not establish causality;
(2) micro-level (project) data show positive effects on national income
in a majority of projects, but a sizeable minority -- 1/3 in two
studies, anywhere from 25% to 45% in a third -- had deleterious effects;
(3) historically, FDI played only a minor role in the growth of most
high-performing Asian economies; (4) the factors affecting FDI have been
found to be adequate infrastructure, skill levels (human capital),
quality of the general regulatory framework, clear rules of the game,
and fiscal determination -- note that restrictions on foreign ownership
is not one of them.
Focusing on the Philippines, (5) the restriction on ownership of land is
neutralized by leases up to 75 years on land, and condominium laws on
housing; (6) it is not unusual that companies are controlled with less
than 40% or 20% of the common stock, while "supermajority" requirements
on key decisions protect foreign shareholders.
In brief, therefore, foreign investors may be in happy control or in
beneficial ownership, either by liberal interpretation, or by
redefinition through legislation, or by use of creative financial and
other instruments. Cha-cha is not likely to open any new doors to FDI,
because for all intents and purposes, they are already open. Nor will
Cha-cha be sufficient to bring in FDI, because FDI will not come in
unless the factors affecting FDI enumerated above are addressed.
On the parliamentary-presidential issue, here's: (1) There is
conflicting empirical evidence as to which form of government will lead
to lower corruption; (2) the evidence is pretty strong that presidential
regimes have smaller government spending as a percentage of GDP than
parliamentary regimes (a parliamentary system is one huge pork barrel
system, after all); 3) a parliamentary system, while systematically
correlated with structural policies, has no significant effect on
economic performance.
What is so galling is that the advocates of Cha-cha pretend to be doing
it for the good of the Filipino people, particularly the poor. But they
actually are doing it for their own private benefit. No altruism
involved here. PNoy should unmask them once and for all.
What about China's bully tactics? The Reader should be reminded that
since last year, Bajo de Masinloc/Panatag Shoal/ Scarborough Shoal,
which, as we all know is well within our territorial waters, has been
placed off-limits to Filipino fishermen over a 15-(nautical) mile
radius. By the Chinese government, with Chinese surveillance ships
enforcing the rule. And recently, in the Kalayaan Island (Spratly to the
rest of the world), a Chinese warship chased and otherwise harassed the
40-meter supply and utility boat of Kalayaan town, trying to get it to
sail toward shallow waters and be grounded. How's that for bully tactics?
We obviously can't face them on military grounds (whatever happened to
our mutual defense treaty with the United States), where they have the
obvious advantage. But we are using to the outmost our diplomatic
weapons in the United Nations, where we have the distinct advantage. And
the louder the Philippines protests against the bully tactics of China,
the more difficult it will be for the international community to pretend
that there is nothing amiss.
Taiwan, which is smarting from the one-China policy adopted by most of
the international community, is at the same time trying to apply the
same kind of bully tactics on us -- is that a cultural thing, one
wonders? And worse, has allowed our citizens in Taiwan to be harassed.
The Philippines seems to be retaliating in kind with Taiwanese citizens
in the country, which may be deplorable in principle -- but if that is
the only kind of tactic that will be effective (to give as good as we
get), so be it. In any case, Taiwan will soon be reminded that its
attempt to blackmail us economically by refusing to grant visas to OFWs
is going to boomerang. Why? Because, those OFWs most probably are more
productive than the other foreign OFWs, given their greater educational
attainment; moreover, Taiwan sells more to us than we sell to them (it
has an export surplus with us). So that if push comes to shove, they
will suffer more than we will. And the Taiwanese businessmen are going
to have something to say about that, to their government.
Don't blink, PNoy.
- See more at:
http://www.bworldonline.com/content.php?section=Opinion&title=Don%E2%80%99t-blink,-PNoy&id=70631#sthash.jD9YuJJu.dpuf
--
-----------------------------------------------------------
CARLOS ANI - Consultant
Chairman of the Board - SEEDFINANCE Corporation
Mailing address: PO Box 90 UPLB Los Banos Laguna, Philippines 4031
Emails: carlosani@gmail.com , carlosani@seedfinance.net
Landline Phone: +63495010127 (PLDT)
Cellphone Numbers: +63908-1737072 (Smart)
My Websites:
CARLOSANI.COM - http://www.carlosani.com
SEEDFINANCE Corporation - http://www.seedfinance.net
DEVJOBS - http://www.devjobsmail.com
PHILDEVFINANCE - http://phildevfinance.posterous.com
http://phildevfinance.blogspot.com
Family website - http://www.anifamily.net
Skype name: carlosaniph
----------------------------------------------------------
Solita Collas-Monsod
I READ with great pleasure the May 22 newspaper accounts of PNoy's
reactions to a) yet another move to change the Constitution (Cha-cha)
and b) China's (Taiwan not far behind) bully tactics. I agree with him
completely on these two issues.
With respect to Charter change, the most-used grounds for seeking it
have been economic. The claim is that the economic provisions of the
present constitution -- mostly the restrictions on foreign ownership --
have closed the door to foreign direct investment (FDI), thus resulting
in lost employment and growth opportunities and therefore increasing
poverty. This claim has been dusted off and presented every four or six
years. And the biggest advocates have been, not surprisingly, the
foreign chambers of commerce in the Philippines as well as those who are
legal and/or business advisers/consultants of foreign firms. Their
stance is not surprising because obviously they are profit-seeking.
What may be surprising, at least at first glance, is that a number of
legislators also use the need to change the economic provisions of the
Constitution as the reason for Cha-cha. But a very quick second glance,
pardon the cynicism, will show that a lot of these so-called advocates
actually have another change in mind: the change from a presidential
system of government to a parliamentary system. This change will not
only allow the political dynasties to be more firmly entrenched (a
parliamentary system will do away with term limits), but will afford
them more power -- they don't need to have the backing of the majority
of the Filipino people to become head of government, all they need is
control of the parliament which means an agreement with other political
dynasties.
How will the parliamentary-presidential issue come in? Simple. Once the
door is open for Cha-cha, it will be well-nigh impossible to limit the
change to economic provisions only.
What must be emphasized, again and again, is that neither the need to
lift the economic restrictions on foreign ownership, nor the advantages
of a parliamentary over a presidential system, have any basis in fact.
And as often as these claims have been dusted off and presented, I have
dusted off and presented the empirical findings which belie them.
Just for the record, let me summarize them once again.
With respect to FDI: (1) macro-level data may show an association
between FDI and higher levels of income, but do not establish causality;
(2) micro-level (project) data show positive effects on national income
in a majority of projects, but a sizeable minority -- 1/3 in two
studies, anywhere from 25% to 45% in a third -- had deleterious effects;
(3) historically, FDI played only a minor role in the growth of most
high-performing Asian economies; (4) the factors affecting FDI have been
found to be adequate infrastructure, skill levels (human capital),
quality of the general regulatory framework, clear rules of the game,
and fiscal determination -- note that restrictions on foreign ownership
is not one of them.
Focusing on the Philippines, (5) the restriction on ownership of land is
neutralized by leases up to 75 years on land, and condominium laws on
housing; (6) it is not unusual that companies are controlled with less
than 40% or 20% of the common stock, while "supermajority" requirements
on key decisions protect foreign shareholders.
In brief, therefore, foreign investors may be in happy control or in
beneficial ownership, either by liberal interpretation, or by
redefinition through legislation, or by use of creative financial and
other instruments. Cha-cha is not likely to open any new doors to FDI,
because for all intents and purposes, they are already open. Nor will
Cha-cha be sufficient to bring in FDI, because FDI will not come in
unless the factors affecting FDI enumerated above are addressed.
On the parliamentary-presidential issue, here's: (1) There is
conflicting empirical evidence as to which form of government will lead
to lower corruption; (2) the evidence is pretty strong that presidential
regimes have smaller government spending as a percentage of GDP than
parliamentary regimes (a parliamentary system is one huge pork barrel
system, after all); 3) a parliamentary system, while systematically
correlated with structural policies, has no significant effect on
economic performance.
What is so galling is that the advocates of Cha-cha pretend to be doing
it for the good of the Filipino people, particularly the poor. But they
actually are doing it for their own private benefit. No altruism
involved here. PNoy should unmask them once and for all.
What about China's bully tactics? The Reader should be reminded that
since last year, Bajo de Masinloc/Panatag Shoal/ Scarborough Shoal,
which, as we all know is well within our territorial waters, has been
placed off-limits to Filipino fishermen over a 15-(nautical) mile
radius. By the Chinese government, with Chinese surveillance ships
enforcing the rule. And recently, in the Kalayaan Island (Spratly to the
rest of the world), a Chinese warship chased and otherwise harassed the
40-meter supply and utility boat of Kalayaan town, trying to get it to
sail toward shallow waters and be grounded. How's that for bully tactics?
We obviously can't face them on military grounds (whatever happened to
our mutual defense treaty with the United States), where they have the
obvious advantage. But we are using to the outmost our diplomatic
weapons in the United Nations, where we have the distinct advantage. And
the louder the Philippines protests against the bully tactics of China,
the more difficult it will be for the international community to pretend
that there is nothing amiss.
Taiwan, which is smarting from the one-China policy adopted by most of
the international community, is at the same time trying to apply the
same kind of bully tactics on us -- is that a cultural thing, one
wonders? And worse, has allowed our citizens in Taiwan to be harassed.
The Philippines seems to be retaliating in kind with Taiwanese citizens
in the country, which may be deplorable in principle -- but if that is
the only kind of tactic that will be effective (to give as good as we
get), so be it. In any case, Taiwan will soon be reminded that its
attempt to blackmail us economically by refusing to grant visas to OFWs
is going to boomerang. Why? Because, those OFWs most probably are more
productive than the other foreign OFWs, given their greater educational
attainment; moreover, Taiwan sells more to us than we sell to them (it
has an export surplus with us). So that if push comes to shove, they
will suffer more than we will. And the Taiwanese businessmen are going
to have something to say about that, to their government.
Don't blink, PNoy.
- See more at:
http://www.bworldonline.com/content.php?section=Opinion&title=Don%E2%80%99t-blink,-PNoy&id=70631#sthash.jD9YuJJu.dpuf
--
-----------------------------------------------------------
CARLOS ANI - Consultant
Chairman of the Board - SEEDFINANCE Corporation
Mailing address: PO Box 90 UPLB Los Banos Laguna, Philippines 4031
Emails: carlosani@gmail.com , carlosani@seedfinance.net
Landline Phone: +63495010127 (PLDT)
Cellphone Numbers: +63908-1737072 (Smart)
My Websites:
CARLOSANI.COM - http://www.carlosani.com
SEEDFINANCE Corporation - http://www.seedfinance.net
DEVJOBS - http://www.devjobsmail.com
PHILDEVFINANCE - http://phildevfinance.posterous.com
http://phildevfinance.blogspot.com
Family website - http://www.anifamily.net
Skype name: carlosaniph
----------------------------------------------------------
Banking for inclusive growth
Banking for inclusive growth
By Benel P. Lagua
THE ROLE of finance is to match the demand and supply of loanable or
investible funds. Finance also addresses the allocation of scarce
resources over time, linking the present and the future.
Classically, this function is achieved through two channels. The first
is through intermediaries such as banks, mutual funds, and pension
funds. The other is through financial markets, which include the stock
market and the bond market. In most developed economies, the financial
system is diversified, a situation that allows for safety nets in case
of stress in one of the channels. The Philippines is characterized by
heavy dependence on banking especially as viewed from the limited number
of companies listed in the stock exchange.
Domestic corporations, especially of the small and medium enterprise
(SME) varieties, depend on access to bank funds as their source for
growth, innovation, and expansion. But are the banks responsive enough?
With local interest rates at low levels, the Philippines' getting its
investment grade, and low inflation, asset/stock prices have continued
their dramatic run-up while technically bank credit expanded at
double-digit rates. But the growth in bank credit appears to be skewed.
Interestingly, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has been closely
tracking concentration risk in bank lending especially to the real
estate sector and large borrowers. The other growth driver is
consumption loans. The BSP has been stress-testing concerns on risk of
overextending loans to large conglomerates.
Recent news shows many banks increasing profit levels at record rates.
The question is begged, however: are they doing enough for productive
lending to the real sector?
The Department of Trade and Industry statistics on SME lending shows
that the sector has not kept pace with the overall bank lending growth.
The proportion of funds raised by Philippine SMEs from banks is well
below international standards. Recent reports have also highlighted the
statistics on poverty incidence, which has improved only marginally.
Data from the National Statistics Office show an unemployment rate of
7.1% and an underemployment rate of a high 20.9%.
A paper by Stijn Claessens (2005) of the University of Amsterdam defines
access as the availability of supply of quality financial services at
reasonable costs. Usage refers to the actual consumption of financial
services. The difference between access and usage can be analyzed in a
standard demand-supply framework. Access refers to the presence of
supply and usage is the intersection of the demand and supply schedules.
The demand and supply schedules may be such that there are firms that
have access to financial service, but decide not to use the services or
are voluntarily excluded. Availability of service is a necessary, but
certainly not sufficient, condition for usage. The supply and demand
schedules may fail to intersect, in which case there will be lack of
access or involuntary exclusion. These firms may not have access
because, for example, the barriers to access the formal financial system
are too high, or costs are unreasonably high, and they do not have the
credit record.
The problem of access is indeed complex. Claessens's paper talks of at
least three dimensions of availability, reasonable costs, and the range,
type, and quality of services offered. Another author looks at
dimensions of reliability (Is finance available when needed/desired?),
convenience (What is the ease of access?), continuity (Can finance be
accessed repeatedly?), and flexibility (Is the product tailored to the
needs?).
Given these complications, banks must realize that aiming for inclusive
growth requires going out of their comfort zones and investing in a
delivery mechanism that targets the intended markets in a focused way.
It is hoped that banks, especially the big ones, will consider this
their corporate social responsibility because lending to SMEs will
require major investments in people and technology as well as a
willingness to sacrifice in the very short term for long-term growth. It
is unlike the instant gratification of earning from lending to big
business, but it should lead to a more stable and diversified loan book
that supports job growth.
This writer has taken on such a challenge and is helping build the
Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) arsenal that will address the
goals of inclusive growth through a responsive SME access-to-finance
road map. This column serves as a public declaration of this commitment,
which we can all look back to down the road. As my new boss, DBP
president Gil Buenaventura exhorts, "Let's stop the talking and start
walking the talk!"
Benel Lagua recently joined the Development Bank of the Philippines as
its Chief Development Officer. A graduate of Harvard's MPA and AIM's
MBM, he teaches part time in the MBA Program of the Ramon V. Del Rosario
College of Business of De La Salle University. The views expressed above
are the author's and do not necessarily reflect the official position of
De La Salle University, its faculty, and administrators.
- See more at:
http://www.bworldonline.com/content.php?section=Opinion&title=Banking-for-inclusive-growth&id=70630#sthash.FMgUUSgK.dpuf
--
-----------------------------------------------------------
CARLOS ANI - Consultant
Chairman of the Board - SEEDFINANCE Corporation
Mailing address: PO Box 90 UPLB Los Banos Laguna, Philippines 4031
Emails: carlosani@gmail.com , carlosani@seedfinance.net
Landline Phone: +63495010127 (PLDT)
Cellphone Numbers: +63908-1737072 (Smart)
My Websites:
CARLOSANI.COM - http://www.carlosani.com
SEEDFINANCE Corporation - http://www.seedfinance.net
DEVJOBS - http://www.devjobsmail.com
PHILDEVFINANCE - http://phildevfinance.posterous.com
http://phildevfinance.blogspot.com
Family website - http://www.anifamily.net
Skype name: carlosaniph
----------------------------------------------------------
By Benel P. Lagua
THE ROLE of finance is to match the demand and supply of loanable or
investible funds. Finance also addresses the allocation of scarce
resources over time, linking the present and the future.
Classically, this function is achieved through two channels. The first
is through intermediaries such as banks, mutual funds, and pension
funds. The other is through financial markets, which include the stock
market and the bond market. In most developed economies, the financial
system is diversified, a situation that allows for safety nets in case
of stress in one of the channels. The Philippines is characterized by
heavy dependence on banking especially as viewed from the limited number
of companies listed in the stock exchange.
Domestic corporations, especially of the small and medium enterprise
(SME) varieties, depend on access to bank funds as their source for
growth, innovation, and expansion. But are the banks responsive enough?
With local interest rates at low levels, the Philippines' getting its
investment grade, and low inflation, asset/stock prices have continued
their dramatic run-up while technically bank credit expanded at
double-digit rates. But the growth in bank credit appears to be skewed.
Interestingly, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has been closely
tracking concentration risk in bank lending especially to the real
estate sector and large borrowers. The other growth driver is
consumption loans. The BSP has been stress-testing concerns on risk of
overextending loans to large conglomerates.
Recent news shows many banks increasing profit levels at record rates.
The question is begged, however: are they doing enough for productive
lending to the real sector?
The Department of Trade and Industry statistics on SME lending shows
that the sector has not kept pace with the overall bank lending growth.
The proportion of funds raised by Philippine SMEs from banks is well
below international standards. Recent reports have also highlighted the
statistics on poverty incidence, which has improved only marginally.
Data from the National Statistics Office show an unemployment rate of
7.1% and an underemployment rate of a high 20.9%.
A paper by Stijn Claessens (2005) of the University of Amsterdam defines
access as the availability of supply of quality financial services at
reasonable costs. Usage refers to the actual consumption of financial
services. The difference between access and usage can be analyzed in a
standard demand-supply framework. Access refers to the presence of
supply and usage is the intersection of the demand and supply schedules.
The demand and supply schedules may be such that there are firms that
have access to financial service, but decide not to use the services or
are voluntarily excluded. Availability of service is a necessary, but
certainly not sufficient, condition for usage. The supply and demand
schedules may fail to intersect, in which case there will be lack of
access or involuntary exclusion. These firms may not have access
because, for example, the barriers to access the formal financial system
are too high, or costs are unreasonably high, and they do not have the
credit record.
The problem of access is indeed complex. Claessens's paper talks of at
least three dimensions of availability, reasonable costs, and the range,
type, and quality of services offered. Another author looks at
dimensions of reliability (Is finance available when needed/desired?),
convenience (What is the ease of access?), continuity (Can finance be
accessed repeatedly?), and flexibility (Is the product tailored to the
needs?).
Given these complications, banks must realize that aiming for inclusive
growth requires going out of their comfort zones and investing in a
delivery mechanism that targets the intended markets in a focused way.
It is hoped that banks, especially the big ones, will consider this
their corporate social responsibility because lending to SMEs will
require major investments in people and technology as well as a
willingness to sacrifice in the very short term for long-term growth. It
is unlike the instant gratification of earning from lending to big
business, but it should lead to a more stable and diversified loan book
that supports job growth.
This writer has taken on such a challenge and is helping build the
Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) arsenal that will address the
goals of inclusive growth through a responsive SME access-to-finance
road map. This column serves as a public declaration of this commitment,
which we can all look back to down the road. As my new boss, DBP
president Gil Buenaventura exhorts, "Let's stop the talking and start
walking the talk!"
Benel Lagua recently joined the Development Bank of the Philippines as
its Chief Development Officer. A graduate of Harvard's MPA and AIM's
MBM, he teaches part time in the MBA Program of the Ramon V. Del Rosario
College of Business of De La Salle University. The views expressed above
are the author's and do not necessarily reflect the official position of
De La Salle University, its faculty, and administrators.
- See more at:
http://www.bworldonline.com/content.php?section=Opinion&title=Banking-for-inclusive-growth&id=70630#sthash.FMgUUSgK.dpuf
--
-----------------------------------------------------------
CARLOS ANI - Consultant
Chairman of the Board - SEEDFINANCE Corporation
Mailing address: PO Box 90 UPLB Los Banos Laguna, Philippines 4031
Emails: carlosani@gmail.com , carlosani@seedfinance.net
Landline Phone: +63495010127 (PLDT)
Cellphone Numbers: +63908-1737072 (Smart)
My Websites:
CARLOSANI.COM - http://www.carlosani.com
SEEDFINANCE Corporation - http://www.seedfinance.net
DEVJOBS - http://www.devjobsmail.com
PHILDEVFINANCE - http://phildevfinance.posterous.com
http://phildevfinance.blogspot.com
Family website - http://www.anifamily.net
Skype name: carlosaniph
----------------------------------------------------------
Sunday, May 19, 2013
Pawnshops told: know your clients
Pawnshops told: know your clients
By Lee C. Chipongian
Published: May 19, 2013
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has issued a memorandum directing
pawnshops to strictly comply with the rules on the "Know Your Pawner"
policy – their version of the banks' KYC ("Know Your Customer").
The memo, signed by BSP Deputy Governor Nestor A. Espenilla Jr., said
pawnshops should follow the "Know Your Pawner" policy by making sure the
pawner transacting business with them are the true owners of items being
pawned by requiring valid identification documents.
"It has come to our attention that there are pawnshops which are not
adhering to existing regulations on acceptance of pawn items and the
'Know Your Pawner' policy, including the required presentation by
pawners of their valid ID," said Espenilla.
With the new memo, Espenilla reminds all pawnshops to strictly adhere to
BSP rules especially in identifying their customers and to "ascertain
whether the pawner is the true owner of the article/item offers as
pawn". They do this eliminating any grounds for suspicion that the
pawned article/item did not come by through robbery or theft.
The BSP has started to issue metal plates or the "BSP Registration
Plates" to pawnshops last November to help the public quickly identify
registered entities. The metal plates, which will be valid for five
years, will have security features and codes that would be very hard to
fake.
The central bank said the display of the metal registration plates in
the premises of pawnshops will assure customers that they are
transacting with legitimate entities.
In 2009, the BSP started improvements in its supervision of pawnshops by
focusing more on the top brass of the sector. The revisions effectively
updated the 36-year-old policy guidelines on pawnshops.
The central bank has also started efforts to better capture the whole
pawnshop business. At least 30-40 percent of the sector remains outside
of the BSP monitoring system. This is about 4,000 to 6,000 more
pawnshops, which would bring the total to at least 20,000.
Pawnshops engage in the business of lending money on personal property
delivered as security for loans. Millions of Filipinos, who do not have
access to banks, transact their financial business with non-bank
channels such as pawnshops.
As of the end of 2012, the BSP is supervising 17,335 pawnshops.
Pawnshops were legalized in 1973 to provide an additional source of
credit especially for small borrowers left unserved by the banking and
other financial institutions in the country.
--
-----------------------------------------------------------
CARLOS ANI - Consultant
Chairman of the Board - SEEDFINANCE Corporation
Mailing address: PO Box 90 UPLB Los Banos Laguna, Philippines 4031
Emails: carlosani@gmail.com , carlosani@seedfinance.net
Landline Phone: +63495010127 (PLDT)
Cellphone Numbers: +63908-1737072 (Smart)
My Websites:
CARLOSANI.COM - http://www.carlosani.com
SEEDFINANCE Corporation - http://www.seedfinance.net
DEVJOBS - http://www.devjobsmail.com
PHILDEVFINANCE - http://phildevfinance.posterous.com
http://phildevfinance.blogspot.com
Family website - http://www.anifamily.net
Skype name: carlosaniph
----------------------------------------------------------
By Lee C. Chipongian
Published: May 19, 2013
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has issued a memorandum directing
pawnshops to strictly comply with the rules on the "Know Your Pawner"
policy – their version of the banks' KYC ("Know Your Customer").
The memo, signed by BSP Deputy Governor Nestor A. Espenilla Jr., said
pawnshops should follow the "Know Your Pawner" policy by making sure the
pawner transacting business with them are the true owners of items being
pawned by requiring valid identification documents.
"It has come to our attention that there are pawnshops which are not
adhering to existing regulations on acceptance of pawn items and the
'Know Your Pawner' policy, including the required presentation by
pawners of their valid ID," said Espenilla.
With the new memo, Espenilla reminds all pawnshops to strictly adhere to
BSP rules especially in identifying their customers and to "ascertain
whether the pawner is the true owner of the article/item offers as
pawn". They do this eliminating any grounds for suspicion that the
pawned article/item did not come by through robbery or theft.
The BSP has started to issue metal plates or the "BSP Registration
Plates" to pawnshops last November to help the public quickly identify
registered entities. The metal plates, which will be valid for five
years, will have security features and codes that would be very hard to
fake.
The central bank said the display of the metal registration plates in
the premises of pawnshops will assure customers that they are
transacting with legitimate entities.
In 2009, the BSP started improvements in its supervision of pawnshops by
focusing more on the top brass of the sector. The revisions effectively
updated the 36-year-old policy guidelines on pawnshops.
The central bank has also started efforts to better capture the whole
pawnshop business. At least 30-40 percent of the sector remains outside
of the BSP monitoring system. This is about 4,000 to 6,000 more
pawnshops, which would bring the total to at least 20,000.
Pawnshops engage in the business of lending money on personal property
delivered as security for loans. Millions of Filipinos, who do not have
access to banks, transact their financial business with non-bank
channels such as pawnshops.
As of the end of 2012, the BSP is supervising 17,335 pawnshops.
Pawnshops were legalized in 1973 to provide an additional source of
credit especially for small borrowers left unserved by the banking and
other financial institutions in the country.
--
-----------------------------------------------------------
CARLOS ANI - Consultant
Chairman of the Board - SEEDFINANCE Corporation
Mailing address: PO Box 90 UPLB Los Banos Laguna, Philippines 4031
Emails: carlosani@gmail.com , carlosani@seedfinance.net
Landline Phone: +63495010127 (PLDT)
Cellphone Numbers: +63908-1737072 (Smart)
My Websites:
CARLOSANI.COM - http://www.carlosani.com
SEEDFINANCE Corporation - http://www.seedfinance.net
DEVJOBS - http://www.devjobsmail.com
PHILDEVFINANCE - http://phildevfinance.posterous.com
http://phildevfinance.blogspot.com
Family website - http://www.anifamily.net
Skype name: carlosaniph
----------------------------------------------------------
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