NEWSCAPS
November 6, 2012
(POLITICAL)
I. EU SUPPORT FOR INTERNATIONAL SOLUTION TO SEA ROW
 The Philippines pushed its call for an international solution to
overlapping claims in the West Philippine Sea at the Asia-Europe
Meeting (ASEM), saying that vital global shipping lanes were at
stake.
 Norway, Switzerland, the European Council and the European
Commission have thrown their support behind President Aquino’s
stand that disputes should be solved diplomatically and
peacefully.
II. EU SUPPORT FOR PH AVIATION BID
 European countries expressed their support for the Philippines’
bid to raise its standard of aviation safety to conform to
requirements set by aviation regulatory bodies during separate
bilateral meetings President Aquino had with his counterparts at
the sidelines of the Ninth Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM9).
 The efforts to improve airline safety are in line with the
government’s advocacy to bring in more tourists and spur
economic growth.
III. PRESIDENT AQUINO ON ARROYO’s ‘FAULTY CALCULATOR’
 President Aquino continued his tirades against his predecessor,
whose defective calculator he said seemed to be on automatic
addition mode – the reason why her administration was full of
anomalies. “Ibang klaseng calculator po yata ang ginamit nila, at
automatic at maya’t maya ang pindot ng addition button (It seems
they used a different kind of calculator, which is automatic with
the addition button frequently pressed),” President Aquino told
some 200 Filipinos in the Mekong II restaurant shortly after his
arrival last Sunday.
IV. PRESIDENT AQUINO ON MARTIAL LAW VICTIMS
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 President Aquino assured Swiss President Eveline WidmerSchlumpf of the Philippines’ resolve to pass into law a bill seeking
to provide compensation for human rights victims of the Marcos
regime.
 Presidents Aquino and Schlumpf held bilateral talks, where the
compensation bill, which is required for the release to human
rights victims of at least $680 million in an escrow account at
Philippine National Bank (PNB), was taken up.
V. PRESIDENT AQUINO ON FOREIGN TRIPS
 President Aquino defended his foreign trips, saying that his
travels were fewer than that of his predecessor, former President
and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Laos is the
seventh country Aquino visited this year.
 President Aquino also said that the numerous trips abroad have
left him drained, but he said that meeting Filipinos working abroad
restored his energy.
VI. DETAINED FILIPINO TRUCK DRIVER OVER RIYADH BLAST
 Saudi Arabian police have detained a Filipino truck driver
suspected to be responsible for the explosion that killed at least
22 people, including a fellow Filipino, in Riyadh last Nov. 1.
Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Raul Hernandez said that
Philippine Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Ezzedin Tago was unable
to meet with the detainee.
 Six of the 14 Filipinos injured in the incident are still confined at
four different hospitals in Riyadh while the rest have been
discharged, according to the Philippine embassy.
VII. HACIENDA LUISITA LAND DISTRIBUTION
 Under the Department of Agrarian Reform’s (DAR) normal landdistribution process, the Hacienda Luisita farmers are still 15
steps away from becoming owners of their own piece of land. The
first and most important step in the land-distribution process—the
identification of qualified farmer-beneficiaries or the screening
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and validation process—is far from over until the department has
come up with the final list, hopefully, before the end of the year.
VIII. “RICH NOT BARRED FROM JOINING PARTY-LIST GROUPS”
 Former Commission on Elections (COMELEC) Chairperson
Christian Monsod said that there was no prohibition in the
Constitution that prevents the rich from serving in party-list groups
to represent the marginalized sectors. Monsod, who was a
member of the Constitutional Commission that framed the 1987
Constitution, said, “the underlying rationale behind the party-list
system was made prone to abuse and Congress reinforced the
flawed interpretation on the threshold on proportional
representation.”
IX. ANTI-POLITICAL DYNASTY
 Candidates for Senator were dared to sign a covenant committing
themselves to eliminating political dynasties should they win.
Hurling the challenge was Krusada Kontra Dynasty (KONTRA)
movement. In convening KONTRA, independent senatorial
candidate Ricardo Penson said that true democracy cannot be
achieved without social and political equality.
X. US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS
 US President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt
Romney made a frenetic dash to a series of crucial swing states,
delivering their final arguments to voters on the last day of an
extraordinarily close race for the White House.
 After a long, bitter and expensive campaign, national polls show
Obama and Romney are essentially deadlocked ahead of
Tuesday’s election, although Obama has a slight advantage in
the nine battleground states that will decide the winner—Ohio,
Florida, Virginia, North Carolina, Colorado, Nevada, Wisconsin,
Iowa and New Hampshire.
XI. JBC ON POINT SYSTEM FOR JUDICIARY BETS
 A point system for nominees in the Judiciary has been proposed
by the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC). In a letter addressed to
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Chief Justice Maria Lourdes P. A. Sereno and dated Oct. 24,
retired Supreme Court (SC) Associate Justice Regino C.
Hermosisima, Jr., JBC Executive Committee Chairperson,
proposed a score system whereby only those who scored at least
70 points would be considered for nomination.
XII. CHAVEZ ON DISMISSED GRAFT CHARGES VS ARROYO
 The bid to indict former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on
corruption charges for alleged misuse of P550 million in Overseas
Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) funds in 2003 has been
brought before the Supreme Court (SC). Former Solicitor General
Frank Chavez opted to immediately question before the SC the
recent decision of the Office of the Ombudsman to dismiss his
complaint for plunder, malversation of public funds, and other
charges. Chavez said that the Ombudsman “committed a
reversible error in not finding probable cause against respondents
for various crimes charged in the complaint.”
XIII. MISUARI ON OIC CONFERENCE IN DJIBOUTI NEXT WEEK
 Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) founding Chairperson Nur
Misuari is set to leave for Africa next week to attend the
Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Council of Foreign
Ministers meeting in Djibouti. A staff of Misuari said that the
MNLF leader is expected to report on the Bangsamoro
agreement forged by the Aquino government with the Moro
Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) last Oct. 15 in Manila. The MNLF
has been an observer member of the OIC since 1977.
XIV. FACT-FINDING COMMITTEE ON ILLEGAL LOGGING AND
MINING
 To step up the government’s drive against illegal logging and
illegal mining, the Departments of Justice (DOJ), Environment
(DENR), and Interior and Local Government (DILG) have formed
two joint fact-finding committees which will investigate incidents
involving these illegal activities and file cases in court against
those involved. The DOJ released two joint department orders
creating the fact-finding committees on illegal logging and illegal
mining.
XV. PPA EMPLOYEES ON RELEASE OF BONUSES, BENEFITS
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 Employees of the state-run Philippine Ports Authority (PPA), one
of the biggest revenue earners among the government agencies,
have called on the Aquino administration to intervene on the
implementation policy of a newly created body that discontinued
all its year-end bonuses and benefits.
(ECONOMY)
I. PH STOCKS RECORD HIGH
 The local equities market trekked to a record high yesterday, the
24th time the market has done so this year as investors grabbed
stocks following a slew of upbeat corporate income reports. The
Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) gained 0.61 percent or
33.31 points to close at 5,457.82. It broke the 5,443.74 record on
Oct. 4 and also higher than the 5,424.51 finish last Wednesday,
Oct. 31.
II. SIN TAX BILL
 Sin tax reforms will be approved this month, said Senator Franklin
Drilon, ahead of the proposed 2013 budget that colleagues have
tagged as the priority for the rest of the year. Senator Drilon said
that he had discussed the start of debates with Senate President
Juan Ponce Enrile, with an agreement that "tomorrow (Tuesday)
afternoon ... we will start attending to the committee report and go
to the process of amending it at the appropriate time..."
III. AMLA BILL
 Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. and two other leaders of the
House of Representatives have presented a new bill that
introduces several changes in the Anti-Money Laundering Law
(AMLA). Bill 6565, authored by Belmonte, Majority Leader Neptali
Gonzales ll and Minority Leader Danilo Suarez, consolidates at
least three related measures seeking to amend the law against
the laundering or hiding of funds generated from illegal activities
here or abroad.
IV. OIL PRICE ROLLBACK
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 Major
and
independent
oil
firms
have
cut
local pump prices marginally due to softening prices abroad.
Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp., Eastern Petroleum Corp.,
Phoenix Petroleum Philippines Inc. and Seaoil Philippines Inc.
slashed prices of premium and unleaded gasoline by 35 centavos
per liter. Petron Corp. decreased prices of premium gasoline by
40 centavos per liter. The oil firms also marked down prices of
kerosene by 20 centavos per liter.
V. NEW SEC RULES ON FOREIGN OWNERSHIP
 The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is giving
companies that may be in violation of the 40-percent foreignownership limit up to five years to comply, based on the new draft
rules for covered Philippine corporations. The SEC posted on its
web site the circular for the much-awaited proposed guidelines for
the registration, monitoring, investigation and compliance of
companies under a broad range of sectors including
telecommunications, mining, property development and public
utilities.
VI. NEW BIR RULES ON ADVERTISING
 Advertisers are now required to pay media suppliers directly for
placements, instead of coursing the funds through ad agencies,
under new tax rules issued by the Bureau of Internal Revenue
(BIR). The transactions will likewise also be governed by a set
invoicing and recording procedure, Revenue Memorandum
Circular (RMC) 63-2012 states, to allow BIR to administer the
correct taxes.
VII. BDO, METROBANK PROFITS
 The country’s two largest banks – BDO Unibank Inc. and
Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. – posted impressive earnings
growth in the first nine months of the year, buoyed by higher
gains from trading and core lending. BDO, the main banking arm
of retail tycoon Henry Sy’s SM Group, said that its net income
surged 38 percent to P10.5 billion during the period. Meanwhile,
Metrobank, the financial and banking arm of the Ty family,
reported a consolidated net income of P10.2 billion, up 15.2
percent.
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VIII. POLICY RATES
 Philippine monetary authorities will likely reduce policy rates
anew before the year ends as weak external demand and strong
capital inflows continue to threaten the economy, Barclays said.
The rest of Asia, though, has reached the end of its easing cycle
and any further actions will only be triggered if the global slump
deepens, the financial services firm added.
IX. BSP ON ‘COMMENDABLE’ H1 FOR FINANCIAL SECTOR
 The country’s financial system continued to grow in the first
semester as a robust domestic economy shielded banks from
troubles in the United States and Europe, the Bangko Sentral ng
Pilipinas (BSP) said. "Despite the lingering fragilities in the
international financial system... the Philippine financial system
continued to grow on the back of sound macroeconomic
fundamentals and sustained implementation of deep-ranging
reforms," the BSP said in a status report to President Aquino and
Congress.
(END)
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