Zubiri says meeting with Abalos coincidence

Zubiri says meeting with Abalos coincidence
By Cynthia Balana
Inquirer
Last updated 03:04am (Mla time) 07/01/2007

MANILA, Philippines—Team Unity senatorial candidate Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri demanded an apology yesterday from Sen. Aquilino Pimentel for “spreading lies” about a meeting between his parents and Commission on Elections Chair Benjamin Abalos at a Makati restaurant Friday night.

 

The young Zubiri confirmed the meeting, but said it was merely a coincidence that was being used to taint his election contest with Pimentel’s son, lawyer Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, after the Comelec canvassed the Maguindanao votes.

 

Zubiri said his mother had chanced upon Abalos on her way to the restroom of a restaurant where she and her husband, Bukidnon Gov. Jose Zubiri, were celebrating their 45th wedding anniversary with the family.

 

Zubiri said Abalos was in the same restaurant for a different affair.

 

Zubiri said his mother told Abalos that it was their anniversary and Abalos then went to his parents’ table to greet the couple and stayed for “less than 10 seconds.”

 

But before the night ended, Zubiri said he received several text messages from reporters who got wind of the incident from the Pimentel camp.

 

“The mood of the family was destroyed when they found out about the nature of the messages. (My mother) was understandably distraught,” Zubiri said.

 

“These events are spent once in a lifetime and my mom spent the evening crying because of the misguided attacks of Senator Pimentel. This is unforgivable,” he said.

 

Zubiri challenged Pimentel to prove his allegation. He said he was willing to concede defeat to Koko if the latter could prove, with the concurrence of the hotel management, that Abalos did break bread with the Zubiris.

 

Zubiri demanded an apology from Pimentel and told him to stay out of the ongoing fight between him and Koko.

 

“Considering that he is also vying for the Senate presidency, Senator Pimentel should have the decency not to use his influence and popularity to malign persons and families to get his son proclaimed,” Zubiri said.

 

Malacañang, meanwhile, joined the word war, assailing military-rebel-turned-Senator Antonio Trillanes IV for calling Zubiri a “cheat.”

 

“What Senator Trillanes said about Migz Zubiri is uncalled for and unfair,” Presidential Political Adviser Gabriel Claudio said in a text message.

 

Claudio backed Zubiri’s plan to file charges against Trillanes. “It is only right for Migz to defend his honor in the face of such a vile insult and accusation hurled without any provocation. Senator Trillanes’ anger and unparliamentary language do not do justice to himself, to Migz and to the Senate as an honorable institution,” Claudio said.

 

Zubiri and the younger Pimentel are locked in a bitter race to the finish based on a recount of the Maguindanao votes. Pimentel had asked the Supreme Court to stop the Comelec from counting the Maguindanao votes which were said to be rigged in favor of Zubiri’s Team Unity, but was turned down.

Gov’t pays parents P300 each to keep kids in school

By Jocelyn Uy
Inquirer
Last updated 03:05am (Mla time) 07/01/2007

MANILA, Philippines—Poor parents will soon have a very compelling reason to take their children to school everyday.

 

A child who logs perfect or at least 85 percent class attendance in a month will get P300 for the family.

 

Here’s another come on: A trip to the health center every month would add P500 to the household kitty.

 

Taking a leaf from several countries in Latin America and Southeast Asia, the Department of Social Welfare and Development will pilot the first conditional cash transfer (CCT) program in the country, starting October this year.

 

The monetary incentives will be offered to families belonging to the “poorest of the poor,” in order to break the vicious cycle of poverty and illiteracy in the country, said Social Welfare Secretary Esperanza Cabral in a press briefing on Thursday.

 

A family will receive the P300 monthly allowance for each child—either in elementary or high school—who is able to complete at least 17 school days in a month. At least three children per household could avail themselves of the program.

 

A family could make as much as P900 a month, excluding the P500 they could get for availing themselves of vaccinations and other services in a nearby health center.

 

Overall, a household could earn a total P15,000 annually—decent enough for basic household needs—and hopefully, incentive enough for parents to keep their kids in school instead of enlisting them to work at home or in the fields.

 

Although a first in the country, the scheme has long been adopted in developing countries like Colombia, Mexico and Indonesia.

 

The World Bank, which is providing the technical assistance to the DSWD, explained in the website Wikepedia, that conditional cash transfers provide money directly to poor families through a “social contract” or “conditionalities” which promote long-term investments in “human capital.”

 

The DSWD decided to try the program after learning about it during a global conference on development held in Turkey in August last year, said Undersecretary Luwalhati Pablo in a phone interview with the Inquirer.

 

“When we came back, we started talking about it and we thought of including it as part of the social reform program we are undertaking,” she said.

 

Early this month, Pablo and four other welfare officials, accompanied by two staff from the World Bank, flew to Colombia to learn the mechanics of the program.

 

Colombia first launched the CCT scheme as a long-term program seven years ago when majority of its children were malnourished and out of school, Pablo related. The program now caters to 700,000 poor families.

 

Pablo said the DSWD plans to run the poverty reduction program for at least three years or until 2010. By that time, they expect to see discernible improvements in at least 300,000 poor families nationwide.

 

Shoestring budget

 

Immediately, the assistance will provide a 20-percent [increase] in the annual income of a family living below the poverty threshold. With this, “they may not need to use their children for labor and may be able to provide the means to send them to school,” she told reporters.

 

But due to a shoestring budget, the department will have to limit its beneficiaries.

 

Based on a 2006 report of the National Statistical Coordination Board, the poverty threshold for a family of five is P6,211 monthly or P204 daily.

 

“We have to identify the poorest of the poor because the budget is not enough to cover everybody. We have to have a very good targeting mechanism so that we could look after the people who are most deserving,” Cabral said.

 

The department has earmarked P75 million for the initial phase of the program, piloting it in Agusan del Norte, Misamis Oriental (or Misamis Occidental) and the cities of Pasay and Caloocan in Metro Manila by October this year.

 

Roughly 20,000 families from these areas will benefit from the program, Cabral said.

 

Families identified

 

“Poor families have already been identified and a monitoring system has already been established in these areas,” she noted.

 

The department will allot P200 million to P300 million next year when the scheme has been replicated in more impoverished areas in the country, she added.

 

Cabral said that they have already considered facilitating the distribution of the monthly allowance via the mobile phone fund transfer. But in far-flung areas where there are no cellular sites, the banking system will be utilized.

 

“We are also trying to adapt to modern technology in providing them assistance,” Cabral said.

‘Double blind’ review journal launched

Inquirer
Last updated 05:26am (Mla time) 06/27/2007

MANILA, Philippines — The Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) will launch Thursday the only “refereed” journal in Southeast Asia devoted to journalism — The Philippine Journalism Review.

A refereed journal is an academic publication the articles of which pass through a “double blind” review. This means that experts review the articles for publication without knowing who wrote them, while the authors do not know who reviewed their papers.

 

The Philippine Journalism Review (PJR), which previously appeared in magazine form, will be re-launched as a refereed journal during the Jaime V. Ongpin Awards for Excellence in Journalism (JVOAEJ) rites to be held June 28 at the SGV Hall of the Asian Institute of Management Conference Center in Makati City.

 

PJR ceased publication as a bimonthly in 2004, but a monthly monitor, PJR Reports, was launched in the same year.

 

In her foreword, CMFR Executive Director and PJR publisher Melinda Quintos de Jesus recalled that CMFR had always intended to republish PJR as a refereed journal together with PJR Reports (PJRR). PJR will initially be published annually, while PJRR will continue as a monthly.

 

The new journal, supported by the Royal Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway, will have the complete text of the class action suit filed by several journalists and media organizations against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s husband, Jose Miguel Arroyo, as a study aid for journalism students.

 

PJR will be edited by University of the Philippines journalism professor and CMFR deputy director Luis V. Teodoro, who was the magazine PJR’s editor for four years. Its managing editor is Danilo A. Arao, also of UP.

 

Among the contributing writers to the PJR journal are Luz Rimban, who wrote for Web radio, and Yvonne Chua, who reviewed The CMFR Ethics Manual: A Values Approach to News Media Ethics, and another CMFR publication, Limited Protection: Press Freedom and Philippine Law. Chua and Rimban were with the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism and are two of only three JVOAEJ Hall of Famers.

 

UP’s Georgina Encanto, Danilo A. Arao and Lourdes E. Simbulan (Chit Estella); freelance journalist Ma. Cristina Rodriguez, St. Scholastica College’s Ma. Aurora Lomibao and UP graduate student Hazel Gulmatico complete the roster of contributors.

The members of the PJR board of advisers are Philippine Daily Inquirer publisher Isagani Yambot; Elizabeth Enriquez, Encanto, Chua and Jose F. Lacaba of UP; Rosario F. Hofileña and Violet Valdez of Ateneo de Manila University; Ramon R. Tuazon of AIJC; Joyce Arriola of the University of Santo Tomas and Lomibao

Ex-Inquirer reporter did not post bail, court records show

By Jeannette Andrade
Inquirer
Last updated 05:32am (Mla time) 06/27/2007

MANILA, Philippines — Former Philippine Daily Inquirer provincial correspondent Jofelle Tesorio did not post bail, contrary to earlier reports, and that was why she was detained for 10 hours last week, court records showed.

 

Tesorio, facing libel charges filed by a Palawan congressman four years ago, could have avoided detention to the Quezon City Female Dormitory had she posted bail immediately after receiving an order early this year revoking her bail bond, said court staffers who showed the Philippine Daily Inquirer the records.

 

The records of Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 81 under Judge Maria Teresa Yadao showed that on Dec. 13, the judge issued an arrest warrant for Tesorio, who had failed to appear at the hearing scheduled that day, and revoked her P10,000 bond. The bond was doubled.

 

Tesorio, who now works for Asia News Network in Thailand, filed a motion for reconsideration of the order, explaining that she was unable to attend the hearing because she was in Hong Kong for a series of lectures. She attached her plane tickets, which indicated the date of her departure from the country on Dec. 9 and her return on Dec. 18.

 

She told the court, through her lawyer, that she attempted to catch a plane back to the country in time for the hearing but all flights were fully booked.

 

The judge denied the motion for lack of merit on Jan. 29 because the plane ticket itself indicated that the accused had no intention of returning to the country for the Dec. 13 hearing.

 

During the June 21 hearing, it was learned that Tesorio did not post the P20,000 bail.

 

“She could have posted bail at any time between January 29 and June 21 but she did not. It is part of court procedure to order the commitment of a person who had not yet posted bail,” a staff member of Branch 81, who requested anonymity, explained.

 

Technically, Tesorio’s bail had not yet been posted when the judge issued the commitment order, she added.

‘Respect religious freedom,’ pope tells China

Agence France-Presse
Last updated 07:59pm (Mla time) 06/30/2007

VATICAN CITY, Italy — Pope Benedict XVI called on Beijing to respect “authentic religious freedom” in a letter to China’s Catholics on Saturday, warning that China’s official Church was incompatible with Catholic doctrine.

 

In a strongly worded letter published by the Vatican, the German pontiff also insisted on the freedom to appoint bishops loyal only to Rome, adding that bishops of the state-sponsored church “cannot be recognized” by the Holy See.

 

Benedict said he realized that normalizing relations with China — a key aim of his pontificate — required time and goodwill from both sides.

 

However, he wrote: “The Holy See would require to be completely free to appoint bishops, therefore considering the recent particular developments of the Church in China, I trust that an accord can be reached with the government so as to resolve certain questions regarding the choice of candidates for the episcopate.”

 

“For its part, the Holy See remains open to negotiations, so necessary if the difficulties of the present time are to be overcome.”

 

The Vatican announced on January 20 that it wanted to normalize relations at various levels with China where the official Catholic Church, which has five million members, exists alongside an underground Church which counts about 10 million faithful who remain loyal to Rome.

Abducted militant faces rebellion raps

By Jeoffrey Maitem
Mindanao Bureau
Last updated 09:25pm (Mla time) 06/30/2007

KORONADAL CITY — A militant leader, who was abducted but later freed by people he identified as government agents, faces rebellion charges, an official of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) said Saturday.

 

Supt. Henry Dazo, CIDG chief in South Cotabato, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer, parent company of INQUIRER.net, that provincial prosecutor Alfredo Odi has acted on the rebellion charges they filed against Gilbert Rey Cardiño, chairman of the Bayan Muna in the province.

 

Dazo said that the charges against Cardiño were filed as early as last year, long before the militant leader was abducted and eventually released.

 

Cardiño, 27, was on his way to the Bayan Muna office here when abducted by van-riding gunmen around 11 in the morning of June 6 in Barangay Sto. Niño.

 

He was released by his captors after more than 24 hours in captivity “somewhere in Davao.”

 

Cardiño later said his captors tortured him into confessing he is a member of the communist movement.

 

He said they later told him he should spy on other militants.

 

Cardiño said he was forced to sign a document indicating that he accepted the job.

 

Cardiño also claimed that his captors, “who were from the region (regional police office)” threatened to harm him and his family if he refused.

 

Dazo said the rebellion charges had nothing to do with Cardiño’s claim.

 

“The case was filed in November last year prior to his alleged abduction,” he said.

 

Dazo said the charges were the result of “an inter-agency probe” of Cardiño’s activities.

 

“He [Cardiño] surrendered as member of New People’s Army before,” Dazo said.

 

Dazo said Cardiño was only being made to explain about the charges now because of the delay in the action of the fiscal’s office.

 

“Because of so many cases they are attending to, there was delay in the legal action against him. In fact, the fiscal holding the case last year, has already retired from the government service,” he said.

 

South Cotabato Gov. Daisy Avance-Fuentes said she had no idea that Cardiño faced rebellion charges.

 

“That’s what others are saying. But we have not been able to verify it because we are busy in the preparation for mass oath-taking of elected officials. Hopefully, next week, we can extract information,” she said.

 

When the Inquirer told her the CIDG has already confirmed the filing of the charges, she said: “Unlike the police, the CIDG is directly reporting to Manila.”

 

Lito Campo, media relations officer of Bayan Muna Southern Mindanao, said Dazo’s claim about Cardiño’s supposed link with the underground movement was trumped up.

 

“It’s a big lie. I personally know Cardiño. He is not an NPA,” Campo said.

 

But Dazo said all Cardiño has to do is to submit evidence he is not a rebel.

 

“Once Cardiño submits his counter-affidavit, the fiscal will examine if there is probable cause in issuing an arrest warrant against him,” he said.

Survey says most young Pinoys use Web for gaming, Friendster

By Lawrence Casiraya
INQUIRER.net
Last updated 03:51pm (Mla time) 06/30/2007

MANILA, Philippines — Gaming and social networking have emerged as primary reasons why Filipinos aged 25 and below use the Internet, according to a recent survey by DigitalFilipino.com.

 

A survey of 375 respondents, mostly from Metro Manila, also showed that majority (more than 70 percent) of gamers play in Internet cafes even though they have Internet connections at home.

 

DigitalFilipino.com started its annual Internet user survey in 2002. Almost 90 percent of respondents in this year’s survey are aged 25 or below.

 

In previous surveys, respondents cited research and e-mail as main reasons why they go online. Now, respondents still mention research as the main reason but next comes gaming, entertainment and logging on to social networking sites like Friendster and MySpace.

 

“Gaming as a reason to go online did not exist before, even in last year’s survey,” said Jannette Toral who runs DigitalFilipino.com. “Some users even use Friendster as their email platform because all their friends use it as well.”

 

Most of the respondents spend 12 to 24 hours a week surfing the Web. While people spend more time online, monthly spending has gone down to about P350 per month from P1,000 per month in 2002.

 

This may indicate that most users spend more time playing games or checking on their Friendster profiles at Internet cafes. “This can also mean that Internet fees have gone down,” Toral said.

Canadian experts assist local government IT project

By Lawrence Casiraya
INQUIRER.net
Last updated 05:17pm (Mla time) 06/30/2007

MANILA, Philippines — The Canadian Executive Service Organization (CESO), a non-governmental organization, is helping local parties deploy a business permits and licensing software designed for municipalities.

 

The system is funded by a P420-million government grant from the Canadian International Development to the National Computer Center (NCC), coursed through the Commission on ICT.

 

The partnership, which likewise includes the League of Municipalities of the Philippines, will be formally signed on Monday.

 

Robert Sagun, project officer for the CESO initiative, said the project aims to streamline and harmonize the business permit and licensing systems in more than 40 selected municipalities in Luzon.

 

“Canadian IT experts will help deploy the system in as many municipalities as possible,” he said via phone interview.

 

The software was developed by the Development Academy of the Philippines and is valued at P3.2 million, Sagun added.

 

The NCC is currently undertaking a massive project called e-LGU that rolls out software applications specifically for local government use.

 

The project has already piloted a system that manages real property taxes.

Cabinet revamp ongoing

Teodoro named defense chief; Ebdane back to DPWH By Juliet Labog-Javellana
Inquirer
Last updated 02:54am (Mla time) 07/01/2007

MANILA, Philippines—There’s a new face in President Macapagal-Arroyo’s Cabinet, the Department of National Defense in particular.

 

What had been bruited about for some time happened yesterday, with the appointment of outgoing Tarlac Rep. Gilbert Teodoro as the new defense secretary.

 

Teodoro, 43, is said to be the favorite nephew of business tycoon Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco. He headed the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC)—of which Cojuangco is the chair and founder—in the House of Representatives.

 

Teodoro just ended his third term as representative of Tarlac; his post has been won by his wife, Nikki Prieto-Teodoro.

 

Ms Arroyo quietly appointed Teodoro to the post currently held by Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. She named Ebdane to his old post as head of the Department of Public Works and Highways, according to an announcement made by Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye.

 

Ebdane took over effective yesterday from his former deputy, Undersecretary Manuel Bonoan, who held the DPWH portfolio as officer in charge.

 

Teodoro’s appointment takes effect on Aug. 3 because he is still on vacation with his family in the United States, said Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita. Until his return, National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales will serve as OIC.

 

Ermita said he told Teodoro the news by phone on Friday, and that the latter was “humbled and honored” by the appointment.

 

Palace officials, including Ermita, had earlier denied that a Cabinet reshuffle was in the offing. Ermita said yesterday he was not aware of any other coming appointments.

 

New civilian blood

 

Ermita who has served as defense secretary and vice chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, described the soft-spoken Teodoro as “a very good addition” to the Cabinet.

 

“He is very qualified and he is prepared for the job. He has a very impeccable record as a public servant, [having been] congressman of Tarlac for three terms,” Ermita said in a phone interview.

 

Ermita also said Teodoro would infuse new blood into the defense and military establishments.

 

“You need a more dynamic personality in the defense department who can push reforms,” he said, adding that Teodoro’s appointment also followed the recommendation of the Feliciano Commission that a civilian head the DND.

 

The Feliciano Commission was formed to look into the roots of the daylong Oakwood mutiny in July 2003.

 

Teodoro, a lawyer by profession, follows in the tradition of former Defense Secretary Avelino Cruz, another prominent lawyer who vigorously pushed reforms in the DND until he resigned over differences with some members of the Cabinet.

 

Ermita said Teodoro was not entirely a greenhorn in defense and military matters. He said he had no doubt Teodoro would be acceptable to the military, and even to the business community.

 

Teodoro is also a graduate of the National Defense College of the Philippines, with a master’s degree in national security administration. Graduates of the course earn the rank of colonel in the AFP.

 

He is an adopted member of the Philippine Military Academy’s “Magilas” Class of 1976.

 

Challenge

 

Ermita said the clamor for reforms in the military would be a test of Teodoro’s leadership.

 

“Let’s see how he will be able to address the call for reforms of the new senators, [Antonio] Trillanes and [Gregorio] Honasan. It’s a challenge to him. I’m confident he can deliver,” Ermita said.

 

Trillanes was one of the leaders of the Oakwood mutiny, which denounced alleged corruption in the government and the military. He is detained at Fort Bonifacio.

 

Honasan was accused of being the mastermind, but the Department of Justice dropped the case shortly after the former coup leader won a Senate seat.

 

Ermita said Teodoro might even have a say in the yet unresolved matter of Trillanes’ custody because the new senator’s custodian, AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Hermogenes Esperon, would be under Teodoro in the government hierarchy.

 

Nothing political

 

Ermita said there was nothing political in Teodoro’s appointment despite his relation to Cojuangco.

 

“It only means that the President taps the best and brightest, not merely [on the basis] of party affiliation,” said Ermita, a stalwart of the ruling Lakas-CMD.

 

As NPC head, Teodoro led in 2003 the impeachment case against then Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. over the alleged misuse of the P3-billion Judiciary Development Fund.

 

The case against Davide was seen as a proxy war for Cojuangco, who has ill-gotten wealth cases pending at the Supreme Court.

 

Teodoro’s appointment to the DND had been talked about for more than a year already. He even turned down Malacañang’s offer for him to run for the Senate under the administration ticket in the May 14 elections.

 

Thus, Ermita said he was “not at all” surprised when the President told him on Thursday that she had decided to appoint Teodoro.

 

“When the President told me, I said he is a good choice,” Ermita said.

 

Sad and happy

 

General Esperon said he was both sad and happy to see Ebdane leave the DND.

 

“On a personal note, I’m sad. He is my namesake and we have been friends for a long time. He was like a big brother to me. We understand each other because of our military background,” Esperon said in a phone interview.

 

He added that they had attended intelligence school together as young lieutenants.

 

The military chief also said he was happy to see Ebdane return to the DPWH to finish what the latter had started.

 

Bonoan, the former DPWH OIC, welcomed the President’s decision to name Ebdane to his old post.

 

“I knew from the start that my designation [as OIC] is not permanent. It is the prerogative of the President to appoint somebody,” Bonoan told the Inquirer.

 

Speaker Jose de Venecia, the Lakas president, hailed Teodoro’s appointment.

 

Said De Venecia in a statement:

 

“He brings to the job a remarkable work ethic with which he distinguished himself in the House of Representatives as the silent workhorse of the NPC, who discharged his duties with utmost humility.

 

“He is a quintessential constitutional expert with an abiding respect for the rule of law; he is upright and has shown a deep understanding and appreciation of the values of reconciliation and peacemaking, both of which are of paramount importance in our time. From the very beginning he has always supported President Arroyo’s peace initiatives and a policy of reconciliation with all insurgents.”

 

Esperon also said he was not one to question Teodoro’s qualifications for the defense portfolio:

 

Bar topnotcher

 

“He is very qualified, was a bar topnotcher, and had a good track record in Congress. His experience … will help us greatly.”

 

Esperon also disclosed that Teodoro was a top contender for the defense post in the past.

 

“He is well aware of the problems in the Armed Forces and is responsive to our needs. He knows a lot of congressmen, and we need the help of Congress. The whole AFP will support him,” Esperon said. With reports from Alcuin Papa and Edson C. Tandoc Jr.

Cash growth slowed in May, BSP reports

Regulator keeps rosy outlook on inflation By Daxim Lucas

Inquirer
Last updated 04:11am (Mla time) 06/30/2007

MANILA, Philippines — The central bank’s fears of an acceleration in price increases eased Friday after data revealed a slowdown in the growth of cash sloshing around in the economy.

At the same time, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr. said that the decision of the US Federal Reserve to keep its own key interest rates unchanged gave local monetary planners more room to keep domestic borrowing costs relatively low.

More importantly, however, domestic liquidity numbers released yesterday validated the central bank’s decision to refrain from cutting its overnight rates further at the height of calls for lower interest rates in the first quarter of 2007.

 

“Our outlook for inflation continues to be favorable and there are early indications that the monetary measures we put in place in early May are achieving the desired effects,” Tetangco said in a text message to reporters.

 

The BSP chief was referring to money supply data for May, which showed that domestic liquidity growth slowed down to 21.1 percent year-on-year from a 26.6-percent increase in April.

 

Money supply or domestic liquidity represents all the cash and liquid assets circulating in the local financial system.

 

Rapid money supply growth contributes directly to higher prices as more money chases after a limited amount of goods and services, prompting price increases.

 

The central bank expects the June inflation rate to come in between 2.2 percent and 2.9 percent.

 

It presently stands at an average of 2.7 percent for the first five months of the year.

The May money supply numbers signify the first time that the growth rate slowed down since February 2007 when the rate dropped to 22.4 percent from the previous month’s 22.8 percent.

“Growth in the net foreign assets of depository corporations continued to drive [money supply], albeit at a slower pace of 32.6 percent from 37.9 percent in April,” the central bank said in a statement.

Net domestic assets also posted a decelerating growth trend at 6.4 percent from 12.5 percent in the previous month.

“In particular, growth in credit to the public sector slowed down to 11.8 percent from 18.2 percent during the same period,” the central bank added.

 

This was partly offset by the continued expansion in credit to the private sector, which rose by 5.8 percent from 5.2 percent, as lending to entities other than financial corporations was sustained during the month.

BSP’s stance was boosted by developments in the world’s largest economy where the US Fed kept interest rates unchanged at 5.25 percent.

“The broadly expected Fed decision to leave rates unchanged gives us some flexibility in our own rate setting,” Tetangco said.

 BSP’s own overnight borrowing rate — closely followed by banks for pricing their own commercial loans –stands at 7.50 percent.