JAPAN PUSHING JPEPA DUE TO WTO COLLAPSE

JAPAN PUSHING JPEPA DUE TO WTO COLLAPSE The collapse of the World Trade Organization (WTO) talks last week are pushing Japan to become even more aggressive in seeking bilateral and regional trade deals that advance its big corporate interests. More than ever, Japan will try to get through the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) and other such free trade deals what it could not get through the WTO. It is ironic that the Philippines appears poised to ratify JPEPA even as the WTO talks broke down precisely because of questions on the supposed development gains to be achieved from trade and investment liberalization.

The Japanese economy has grappled with stagnant growth and high unemployment for nearly two decades and is aiming to further open up other economies to cope with its internal problems. It is trying to overcome the crisis of its “bubble economy” which has lingered since the early 1990s. While it claimed to be on the way to recovery in 2002 the emerging scenario of a United States (US) economic slowdown, financial disorder, soaring energy and food prices only make its situation more urgent. As it is, Japanese corporations are already testing the political limits of what can be squeezed from its domestic labor force to support their profits. Hence they are now after the greatest possible access to the cheap labor and natural resources of the region with the least intervention and taxes from foreign governments.

The JPEPA’s provisions even go far beyond what was proposed in the failed WTO talks. It includes issues such as investment, government procurement and competition policy which were already rejected at the WTO. The tariff cuts it demands are also far greater than in the WTO.

This is why the Philippines will be on the losing end of the JPEPA which is designed most of all to benefit big Japanese corporations even at the expense of Philippine workers, peasants and economic development. There will only be even more foreign-dominated industrial and service enclaves disconnected from and not benefiting the local economy. Millions of Filipinos already merely struggling to survive will remain impoverished as unequal deals such as JPEPA prevents the economy from developing.

AMID RECORD-HIGH OIL PRICES:THINK-TANK RENEWS CALL TO REPEAL OIL DEREGULATION LAW

Drastic measures are urgently needed to minimize the vulnerability of the Philippines to high global oil prices. Independent think-tank IBON Foundation says this includes the immediate suspension and eventual repeal of the Oil Deregulation Law and setting up a mechanism for government control of oil price hikes to ensure reasonable pump prices.

At present, the only measure that the Arroyo regime is implementing to cushion the impact of increasing global oil prices is the automatic tariff mechanism. But this measure only delays oil price hikes and does not ensure fair price adjustments.

As noted recently by the United Nations, the Philippines is among the countries that are most vulnerable to oil price shocks because it is heavily dependent on imported oil. Worse, more than 90% of the local oil industry remains in the monopoly control of giant transnational corporations (TNCs) through their local units Petron, Shell, Caltex, and Total.

The monopoly of these companies has been further strengthened by the Oil Deregulation Law where automatic oil price hikes are allowed. Consequently, oil companies took advantage of the policy, hiking pump prices of all petroleum products by around 535% since the Oil Deregulation Law was first implemented in April 1996.

The Oil Deregulation Law also provided the big oil companies more space to manipulate pump prices. IBON estimates show that since 2000, pump prices are overpriced by as much as P4.55 per liter as oil price hikes were left unregulated.

Unfortunately, the Department of Energy (DOE) could only talk about its “long-term plans” anchored on questionable programs such as biofuels, aside from its tariff adjustment mechanism, when drastic measures are needed by the people urgently.

IBON reiterates its call for Congress to suspend and repeal the Oil Deregulation Law. Only state regulation and control can assure the country’s energy security right now amidst a highly speculative and volatile global oil market.

Mindanao squirrel

FLYING SQUIRREL. This fist-sized rodent that stretches about four inches is the Mindanao flying squirrel (Petinomys crinitus ), said to be endemic only to the Mindanao regions. It lives in forests and is too tiny to be considered a meal by most predators. PHILIPPINE DAILY INQUIRER/DENNIS JAY SANTOS

Smoke-free QC park a ‘circle of wellness’

By Jeannette Andrade
Inquirer
Last updated 10:05pm (Mla time) 09/08/2007

WITH THE DECLARATION of a total ban on smoking and the sale of cigarettes in the area, the Quezon Memorial Circle is now truly a “circle of wellness.”

 

Quezon City Parks Development Foundation Inc. (QCPDFI) president Charito Planas said it was time for the park to become “smoke-free” as it promotes full wellness by offering classes in aerobics, dance taebo, aerosport, dancercise, grind workout, taichi, Pilates, belly dancing, ballroom and line dancing. There are also regular seminars on health and livelihood.

 

Planas said people who smoke should stop for both health and financial reasons. “A smoker who quits smoking can save up to P45 a day which is equivalent to more than P1,300 a month. With P45, you can already buy a kilo of rice for the day,” she said.

 

She stressed that cigarette vendors can sell other goods and earn more rather than peddle death on a stick.

 

The formal launch of the smoke-free park was held recently, coinciding with the 19th founding anniversary of the QCPDFI. It was supported by the Department of Health, the Lung Center of the Philippines, and the Quezon City government.

 

The highlight of the event was a parade where participants included QCMC employees, concessionaire workers, senior citizens and members of civic and fitness groups. Also present were the two “Yosi Kadiri” mascots portraying the ill-effects of smoking.

 

In a forum during the launch, Dr. Asuncion Anden, DOH National Capital Region director, said that only 35 percent of Filipinos smoke while the rest are passive smokers.

 

“There is telling evidence that secondhand smoke affects everyone, not only those who smoke. So let us send a message to smokers that we do not want their smoke and we want the air that we breathe to be clean,” Anden said.

 

She urged the Quezon City government to strictly implement Republic Act No. 9211 or the Tobacco Regulation Act of 2003 which bans or prohibits smoking in all mass transportation facilities, public utility vehicles and public places, including schools, recreational facilities and areas frequented by children as well as hospitals, clinics, laboratories and restaurants.

 

Under the law, violators will be fined between P500 and P400,000 and face imprisonment of 30 days up to three years, depending on the gravity of the offense.

 

Planas said that apart from declaring the Quezon Memorial Circle a smoke-free park, the QCPDFI will sponsor regular seminars to be conducted by Dr. Luisito Idolor of the Lung Center of the Philippines. The seminars, to be held every Friday at 4 p.m., will offer suggestions on how to quit smoking and discuss the adverse effects of cigarettes.

Environmental group wants to make Metro safe for fireflies

Environmental group wants to make Metro safe for fireflies
By Jeannette Andrade
Inquirer
Last updated 09:20pm (Mla time) 09/08/2007

FOR THE FIREFLY BRIGADE, THERE is hope that the smog-choked air of Edsa can be cleaned up and Filipinos can be weaned from their dependence on motorized vehicles.

 

This group of campaigners for the environment believes that the most effective way to clean up the air in the metropolis is by making bicycles the primary mode of transportation.

 

“It’s a paradox,” Firefly Brigade incorporator and former president Joaquin “Jack” Yabut admitted. “The air is polluted so why should you ride on a bike? But that is precisely why we should ride on bikes, because there is pollution.”

 

“We (bicycle riders) are a drop in the bucket but the bucket will not be filled without a drop. It is really a choice you make,” said Yabut.

 

When they were setting up the Firefly Brigade, Yabut said they found fireflies a good symbol for their cause. “Fireflies thrive when the environment is clean and when the water is clean. Once there is pollution, the fireflies are the first to disappear. There are hardly fireflies now in Metro Manila. We want the fireflies to come back,” he pointed out.

 

He said that it was Kathy Sta. Ana, a visual artist and teacher, who came up with the idea of advancing environmental protection by promoting the use of bicycles. In 1999, friends helped her organize the first “Tour of the Fireflies” and eventually, the brigade was born.

 

With 11 other people, including Yabut, the Firefly Brigade was registered as a nonstock, nonprofit organization with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

 

Starting with the annual fireflies tour, the brigade now has other projects: The Recycle a Bicycle (RAB) and Kitang-Kita ang Bisikleta (KKB), among others.

 

“Under the RAB, we accept donations of money or bicycle parts and then we assemble or recondition bicycles and donate them to (poor but) worthy users,” Yabut said as he added with a laugh, “We are practically the equivalent of Gawad Kalinga, but on a smaller scale.”

 

But he lamented that owners of bicycles usually do not want to get rid of their old ones. “Often, the bicycle parts we receive are no longer usable and are just junk because they are rusty,” he said.

 

On the other hand, the KKB project focuses on safety awareness among bicycle riders. “We try to mobilize resources so we can provide safety equipment, vests, lights and helmets to others,” Yabut said.

 

Recently, the brigade conducted bike clinics at the Eastwood City in Libis, Quezon City, the first commercial center to set up bicycle lanes and bicycle racks for riders and enthusiasts.

 

The clinics provided basic training on how to survive Metro Manila’s traffic and carbon monoxide through “efficient cycling.” It also identified the different routes bike users can safely use.

 

“It is not exactly smart to bike along a major thoroughfare during rush hour. You would only get everything from dust to carbon monoxide. It is more pleasant, less polluted if you take alternate bike routes. You do not always have to pass through Edsa unless you are in a hurry, with a prayer and hopefully with a gas mask,” Yabut said.

 

The main goal of the clinic, he added, was to teach “basic and practical skills in bicycle riding so people will discover and appreciate the joy of cycling and realize it is more efficient and safe. We teach that cycling can be as effortless as walking.”

 

According to him, that the clinic was more of an experiment to encourage malls and property developers to become “bicycle-friendly” since these were areas frequented by people.

 

“So it is important for the malls to become bicycle-friendly. If they have ‘green’ practices, they might as well do it all the way,” he said.

 

Yabut, the theater center director of the Philippine Educational Theater Association, teaches by example. Thrice a week, he bikes from Marikina City to E. Rodriguez Avenue in Quezon City, a 15-kilometer trip that takes him 45 minutes.

 

“I save P100 a day doing this. I try to ride a bicycle three times a week. So I save at least P300 a week,” he said.

 

Yabut urged local governments to follow the example of Marikina City which established a bikeways office and was close to completing its bike lanes project.

 

“We have to change the mind set of our traffic and transportation planners by incorporating mass transportation and nonmotorized vehicles,” he said as he bewailed the attitude of people who believe that bicycles are a primitive means of transportation meant only for underdeveloped countries.

 

Yabut pointed out that several countries in Europe, North America and South America were encouraging the use of bicycles to reduce pollution.

 

The proliferation of motorcycles, however, has set back the campaign to promote bicycles, he said. Although some new engines were more efficient and caused less pollution, the fact remained that motorcycles were adding to the congestion in thoroughfares, he added.

 

“The cheaper prices of motorcycles have increased the sales of this form of transport. But it is not the environment that benefits but the automotive industry,” Yabut said.

 

But he remains hopeful that if people were to turn to bicycles, the air in Metro Manila would gradually improve and perhaps, in time, the fireflies would return to the metropolis.

Jatropha: What the public should know

Inquirer
Last updated 10:49pm (Mla time) 09/08/2007

GOVERNMENT IS AGGRESSIVELY PUSHING FOR THE CULTIVATION OF Jatropha curcas (tuba-tuba) as a source of renewable fuel. Goldman Sachs recently cited jatropha as one of the best candidates for future biodiesel production. The plant, which produces golf-ball-size fruits that contain oil, can be grown in any kind of soil. And it doesn’t need much water and fertilizer.

 

Leading the campaign for the propagation of jatropha in the country is Philippine National Oil Co.-Alternative Fuels Corp. (PNOC-AFC).

 

The corporation has tied up with the military to set up a 500-hectare nursery in Fort Magsaysay, Nueva Ecija. In Mindanao, the corporation is looking at some 1.2 million hectares as its main hub for jatropha production.

 

Two weeks ago, Land Bank of the Philippines signed an agreement to provide PNOC-AFC with P5 billion to P10 billion to finance the jatropha development program. Part of the money will fund cooperatives developing jatropha plantations.

 

Among the benefits of jatropha cultivation that government is trumpeting are the reduction in air pollution and the country’s dependence on imported crude oil, creation of jobs, and construction of roads, bridges and a refinery.

 

A group of agriculturists is claiming that proponents of the massive cultivation of jatropha are peddling misleading information as facts. The group advises people to study the facts first before going into jatropha farming.

 

* * *

 

By Ted Mendoza, Oscar Zamora and Joven Lales

 

WILL PLANTING jatropha curcas L. or tuba-tuba provide the financial benefits a government agency is promising farmers?

 

In our study, published in the Philippine Journal of Crop Science Vol. 32 No. 1 on Jan. 17 and titled “Towards Making Jatropha curcas (tubang bakod) a Viable Source of Biodiesel in the Philippines,” we found that:

 

Jatropha becomes a viable source of biodiesel if diesel is retailed at P40 per liter; if the crop has a high fruit yield of 36,000 kilogram per hectare (ha); if it has a high rate of oil extraction (34 percent and 38 percent); and if byproducts are included and provide 50-percent additional income from the oil revenue.

 

The assumption is that the price of jatropha seeds corresponds to the price of diesel.

 

But would a high yield of 36,000 kg/ha and high oil content (34 percent and 38 percent) be achieved under Philippine conditions?

 

This question can only be definitively answered in some future time because we do not have a plantation already on the optimum fruiting age (five years after planting) and no jatropha variety is grown in the Philippines that yields 34 percent oil. The current laboratory oil extraction is in the range of 28 percent to 32 percent.

 

At a low-yield level (12,000 kg/ha), jatropha becomes profitable for farmers growing it if the diesel price increases to about P140 per liter at a 30-percent rate of oil extraction (revenue is from oil alone). This implies that the buying price of jatropha seeds at the farm level is P42/kg. The substrate cost shall be P42/.30 = P140/liter of biodiesel.

 

The estimates exclude processing and marketing costs. Current estimates put the processing cost at P12/liter. Then, the price of biodiesel from jatropha becomes P152/liter [P140 + P12]. What if the oil price increases to more than P152 per liter? If so, let’s be prepared to use caleza and bicycle, or simply walk.

 

Jatropha’s seed yield is inherently low, which explains partly the low revenue. This low-yield trait is suggestive that researches must be done to increase further its seed yield and to find ways to maximize total farm yield and byproducts. However, will the results of these experiments be realized soon?

 

For a perennial crop that gives optimum fruiting after five years, hybridization and selection would require a minimum of 35 years (7 cycles of selection x 5 years = 35 years ). Genetic improvements to enhance jatropha’s overall trait as an energy crop could have been done way ahead. But this is water under the bridge. We can not hurry up nature.

 

There are other information that the the public should know or understand. These include the following:

 

1. The long wait for the crop to reach optimum fruiting (five years after planting ) and its low-seed yield require a multiple-cropping scheme. Short-maturing crops and high-value fruit and wood trees should be planted along with jatropha to increase the total farm yield. The scheme is also a risk-minimizing strategy.

 

Are the public and the agency promoting the massive planting of jatropha putting equal emphasis on promoting multiple cropping? We support diverse cropping but we should point out that jatropha is a sun-loving crop. While it grows under the shade, photosynthesis (growth and yield) will be affected in proportion to the degree of shading.

 

It should be expected that jatropha yield per plant will decrease under multiple-cropping conditions due to a reduction in space and sunlight. But it is logical for farmers to adopt multiple cropping. If something happens to jatropha and the price does not improve over time, farmers will have some crops to fall back on. But we do not know much about this age-old practice of multiple cropping.

 

Jatropha produces a toxin called curcin. Will this substance exert toxic effects on companion crops? Due to this toxin, planting of jatropha was banned in Northern Australia. The Australians are afraid that their cattle will forage on jatropha during the dry months. Besides, they are afraid that it will become weeds later on.

 

2. Many people are enticed to plant jatropha because of the massive government campaign to promote it. One million hectares are targeted. But construction of the processing plant has not started and it will take some time to set up the processing system.

 

It should be pointed out that three or five years after planting jatropha is too short a time. Are the processing plants ready by that time? Furthermore, it is necessary that the know-how to accelerate the optimization of processing raw oil into trans-esterified oil before it can be used as biodiesel oil, and processing of byproducts (press cake and/or glycerol) into high-priced products be acquired soon. Will these technological know-how be ready in three or five years?

 

This is one of the worries aired by those who were earlier enticed to plant jatropha. “Planting jatropha without knowing all the facts can be a very painful and costly experience. Knowing the pitfalls can help make planting more worthwhile and successful. While wealthy companies plant jatropha on a massive scale, small farm owners like many of us must be careful.

 

Wealthy companies know what they are doing. They plant in huge tracts of idle land that they do not own (leased to them cheaply by government or owned by others) and with very little or no expense (while we have to buy seeds and seedlings from suppliers who promise to buy our produce—assuming there will be some to buy.) Yes, these companies are speculating on a potentially valuable product that will produce biofuel in the future, but they are doing it using other people’s money, time and effort. Speculating is good but only if you know the odds.”

 

For those who are planning to plant jatropha, clearly there are still many unanswered questions.

 

3. Planting tuba-tuba is primarily aimed at making productive idle public and private lands, particularly denuded mountains and forests, unfit for food-crop cultivation, and at producing in commercial volume a renewable and environment-friendly biofuel (biodiesel), thus alleviating poverty in the countryside and addressing ecological concerns.

 

This is a very inviting statement among jatropha proponents. We should point out, however, the following facts:

 

First, jatropha can grow in marginal soils but growth and yield will also be slow and marginal or low. There is a saying “you cannot get something from nothing!”

 

Second, for us agriculturists, there is no land, which is unfit for food-crop cultivation. Where jatropha grows, mangoes, cashew, siniguelas, duhat, jackfruit, bignay and many other tropical fruits will grow. Moreover, cassava, sweet potato and many legumes will also grow.

 

Third, jatropha can survive dry weather but it will shed off leaves as an adaptive measure, to avoid dying due to excessive loss of water. But then, there is no growth and no fruit set. It will resume growth once the soil is moist again.

 

Fourth, jatropha grows well under a favorable environment (high soil fertility, adequate moisture and weed management during its early years of growth). But using these lands will compete with lands grown to food security crops, which the proponents try to avoid.

 

What are the latest observations? Fertilized jatropha plants grow well when irrigated but they become vegetative. This means that they do not yield the quantity of fruits that we expect.

 

4. There is a big push for growing jatropha using imported seeds as they are high yielding.

 

Importing the high-yielding varieties may also mean the importation of “unknown” bad traits like susceptibility to pests. Using imported seeds should be done with utmost care. It would be frustrating if the imported seeds were planted in large tracts of land and we later came to know that the plant was susceptible to viral or fungal diseases.

 

Moreover, it might just serve as a source of inoculum, thus infecting even the indigenized varieties in the country.

 

5. The main feature being claimed about Jatropha curcas or tubang bakod is that it could yield yearly as much as five to seven tons of seeds per hectare.

 

As pointed out earlier, there is no standing crop to validate this claim. We tried to validate this using known scientific procedures. This could be easily done by transforming the sugar equivalence of oil as illustrated below:

 

30 percent oil x 5 tons x 3.03-gram glucose equivalence of oil in seed (3.03 x 1.50) = 4.54 tons

 

2.42-gram glucose equivalence of seed coat and the press cake = 9.80 tons (2.8 x 3.5)
TOTAL = 14.34 tons/ha (4.54 + 9.80)

 

There’s a remote possibility that jatropha would give such seed yield as the sugar equivalence is so high, estimated at 14.34 MT/ha. Sugarcane, the highest-yielding energy crop, which produces sugar via the C4 pathway of photosynthesis could only give a maximum of 10 tons of sugar/ha in the Philippines.

 

Jatropha fixes carbon dioxide via the C3 path way. It lacks nature’s gift to photosynthesize the way the jatropha proponents want it to be. Besides, it is supposed to be planted in marginal soils to avoid the concern that it will compete with food crop production. Simple logic: marginal soils—marginal yield as pointed out earlier.

 

6. A private company is buying jatropha seeds at P4 per kilo. “Is this the right buying price?” one jatropha-planter enthusiast asks.

 

Before answering the question, it is important to quote the pricing scheme being spread around (“Tuba-Tuba for oil,” Ed Velasco, Oct. 9, 2006, Philippine Graphic Magazine). The article says that PhilForest buys 1 kg of dried tuba-tuba seeds at 15 percent of the prevailing diesel pump prices (0.15 x P34/liter = P5.10/kg, P34 is the price per liter, then, of diesel).

 

Before buying the produce, the dried tuba-tuba seeds should contain less than 10 percent of the moisture level set by the Department of Science and Technology. If seeds containing more than 10 percent of the moisture level are processed, the diesel will be less effective and might cause engine problems.

 

Jatropha seed at P4/kg? What does this price mean? Consider the following simple estimates:

 

1 kg seed = 5.1 kg dried fruit or 9.7 kg fresh (yellow fruit) = 7.41/kg average weight of fruits.

 

On the average, 1 kg seed at P4 kg = P 0.54/kg fruit.

 

What does this figure imply? Harvesting the fruits in the field, hauling and initially drying them, and then dehulling the fruits to get the seeds will only fetch a price of P0.54/kg fruit.

 

Will there be people in the rural areas who would be willing to harvest and extract the seeds and be paid a measly P0.54/kg fruit? This is a further insult to injury. It is shamefully making the poor poorer in the guise of energy security.

 

7. To entice people to plant jatropha, an income of P50,000/ha is being promised. A promised financial bounty or simple deceit?

 

Our estimates reveal the following: If the crop would yield, say, 1,500 kg-seeds/ha/year at P4-P5/kg = P6,000/ha to P7,500/ha.

 

Or, if the seed price is P33.33 /kg. Granting without accepting that the yield would be 5t/ha, then the gross income will be P4/kg x 5,000 = P20,000/ha or 5/kg x 5,000 = P25,000/ha.

 

They [Philippine National Oil Co.-Alternative Fuels Corp.] reported that it costs about P50,000 to establish and maintain the crop in two years. The figures they are citing do not match.

 

It was claimed that P50,000/ha was needed to establish and maintain the crop in two years. The seedling cost alone is already P37,500 at P15/pc x 2,500 plants per ha. Or seed yield should already be 5-7.5 tons/ha.

 

We pointed out earlier that 5 tons/ha is not a realizable yield. It is difficult now to imagine how to realize an income of P50,000/ha.

 

We are reminded of the pyramiding scam! There are groups which are thinking about multi-level marketing.

 

‘‘Can we make use of Jatropha curcas as a product for multilevel marketing para bumilis ang pagtatanim at benta (to expedite planting and selling )?” one asked.

 

‘‘I am researching a company in the Philippines [engaged] in multilevel marketing (MLM) of agricultural products. Good Harvest in Bataan sells stocks for grafted mango tree for a P30,000 investment. All we need is a manufacturer of Jatropha Methyl Esther (JME) to sell the seeds. So it’s like a big MLM cooperative. If we hit the right system for this, I think this will be successful. This is a crazy idea, but this will be good for the growers who already have planted Jatropha curcas plants and are now fruiting…”

 

What does this thinking reveal? Friends, our answer is as good as yours!

 

8. Jatropha oil has high saponification value, making it an excellent substrate for soap-making. Two products may then be obtained from jatropha: soap and biodiesel.

 

This could be a positive attribute of jatropha. Could we teach farmers how to produce soap from jatropha in case its buying price will not be profitable for them?

 

These are but few of the truths about jatropha that we think the public should know.

 

* * *

 

(Professors Ted Mendoza, Oscar Zamora and Joven Lales are on the Faculty of Crop Science, College of Agriculture, University of the Philippines in Los Baños, Laguna.)

Department of Agriculture

FROM THE FARMS TO THE STREETS. Some 2,000 farmers from different provinces rally in front of the Department of Agriculture in Quezon City to demand the extension of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program(CARP) and the resignation of Sec Nasser Pagdanganan and three other agency officials. INQUIRER/JOAN BONDOC

‘BAD DEAL’ : JPEPA WORSE THAN JAPAN TRADE PACTS WITH INDONESIA, MALAYSIA

The Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) is already a bad deal for the Philippines , but its flaws are highlighted further by comparing it with similar trade deals negotiated by Indonesia and Malaysia , according to independent think-tank IBON Foundation.

IBON research head Sonny Africa said that Indonesia and Malaysia were able to retain tariff protections on far more products and investment controls in far more sectors than the Philippines did under free trade deals with Japan .

Africa cited the fact that the Philippines only excludes two items – rice and salt – from tariff reduction or elimination in the JPEPA while Indonesia excludes 835 items in its economic partnership agreement (EPA) with Japan concluded in August 2007 Malaysia in turn excluded 38 items in its EPA with Japan of December 2005.

He pointed out that the advantages gained by the two Asian countries were not just in the number of exclusions but in the items they excluded from tariff reduction coverage. Indonesia ‘s exclusions among others include various items of livestock, poultry, fruits and iron and steel products while Malaysia ‘s include various items of livestock, poultry, dairy products, alcoholic beverages, tobacco, rubber and ammunition.

Africa further added that the unfairness in the JPEPA extends to provisions identifying sectors in which foreign investment is controlled or where “reservations” for existing and future protectionist measures are made. The Philippine effectively identifies only six sectors: fisheries, mining, firecrackers, domestic shipping, geothermal energy/natural gas/methane gas, and rice- and corn-related manufacturing.

By contrast, Indonesia identifies over 40 sectors including fisheries, tobacco and cigarettes, food manufacturing, handicrafts, textiles, agricultural machinery, pharmaceuticals, health, education, banking, insurance, construction, water transport, air transport, telecommunications, power, hotel, restaurants, wholesale and retail trade, film and other service activities. Malaysia only identifies at least 17 sectors, but it also asserts its economy-wide Bumiputera policy or affirmative action for Malaysia ‘s majority ethnic group. The wide-ranging industries Malaysia specifies include agriculture, fisheries and forestry, textiles and garments, tobacco and cigarettes, steel, cement, oil and gas, mining and quarrying, petroleum refining, motorcycle, cars, commercial vehicles, palm oil and sugar.

Malaysia and Indonesia continue to develop their domestic industries through active government protection and support over decades, which is why they continue to retain the right to use such measures even after entering into an EPA with Japan , said Africa . It is thus all the more ironic that the distant industrial laggard among the three, the Philippines, is the most eager to disarm itself of these measures which are among the minimum needed for any sort of real economic development, he said

SUPPLY CONTRACTS IN MASINLOC SALE MAY HIKE ELECTRICITY BILLS FURTHER

The Arroyo government’s recent low-profile sale of the National Power Corporation’s (Napocor) 600-megawatt Masinloc coal-fired plant may result in higher electricity bills, according to independent think-tank IBON Foundation.

The plant was sold to AES Transpower Ltd of Singapore, a unit of US-based global power corporation AES with a bid price of US$930.83 billion.

The plant was able to fetch such a rich price because the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management (PSALM) Corporation, in conjunction with Napocor, packaged the plant with an aggregate 264.514 MW of power supply contracts, which will be the required volume of power to be supplied. Such contracts may result in higher rates through cost recovery mechanisms such as the controversial Purchased Power Adjustment (PPA).

This is particularly since the bid price is especially high, given that the winning bid in the last failed auction of Masinloc was US$561 million, reportedly enough to buy a brand-new 600MW power plant.

In the earlier sale, it was estimated that for the winning bidder, YNN Corp., to recover its bid, Masinloc’s production cost at the time of the bidding would have to increase by some 144 to 154 percent.

As shown by the country’s past experience with deregulation of the oil industry and privatization of water services in Metro Manila, private corporations would use all means available to them to jack up profits given that they have a captive market.

(UPDATE 2) ‘Chedeng’ leaves 11 dead — disaster officials

Metro schools, offices closed due to floods

By Joel Guinto
INQUIRER.net
Last updated 05:31pm (Mla time) 08/08/2007

MANILA, Philippines — Heavy rains since Monday triggered landslides that have so far left 11 people dead and one person missing due to landslides and floods, civil defense officials said Wednesday.

 

The rains were by caused by tropical storm “Chedeng,” (international codename: Pabuk), which blew farther away from the country, and tropical depression “Dodong,” (international codename: Wutip), which is moving towards the extreme northeast, and, the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) said.

 

Chedeng also disrupted power supplies to 3,000 households and forcing schools and offices to close.

 

At least 40 areas in Metro Manila remained flooded, according to the National Capital Region Police Office Tactical Operations Center.

 

“Chedeng bolstered monsoon rains across the Philippines, causing a landslide that buried seven houses and killed at least 10 people Monday in the southern gold mining town of Maco in Compostela Valley province,” according to Glenn Rabonza, administrator of the government’s Office of Civil Defense.

 

At least 80 residents were evacuated from their homes due to fears of more landslides in the hilly area, Rabonza said.

 

In the northern city of Baguio, a landslide buried a house in Sto. Niño village at around 12:15 a.m., killing nine-year-old Roniel Renon Ramos, the NDCC said in a report.

 

It was not immediately clear if anyone else was in the house.

 

In hilly Antipolo City east of the capital, Manila, policemen and firefighters pulled six people from the rubble of their house Wednesday after a concrete wall collapsed on it during a downpour, police Chief Superintendent Nicasio Radovan said.

 

The victims, who had yelled for help from under the debris, were taken to a hospital with minor injuries, he said.

 

TV footage showed rescuers scrambling to lift or break a slab of concrete with sledgehammers to free one of the injured. Rescuers broke into applause after they pulled the last victim from the rubble.

 

Two landslides were reported in Makati’s West Rembo village. There were no reported casualties in the incidents, which occurred at around 12 a.m. and 6:43 a.m., it said.

 

Two families affected by the landslide were evacuated to the village covered court, the report said.

 

A landslide was reported on the Cervantes-Suyo Road in Ilocos Sur province, leaving it impassable to light vehicles.

 

Heavy rains flooded many streets in Metro Manila, forcing schools to close and leaving commuters stranded, officials said.

 

Floods submerged nearly all of suburban Malabon city near the capital, where water was neck deep in some low-lying neighborhoods. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries in the city, local government spokesman Bong Padua said.

 

A tornado ripped off the thatch and tin roofs of more than 20 shanties in a farming village in Bulacan province north of Manila, panicking residents but causing no injuries, police Superintendent Pedro Silvio said.

 

The residents sought shelter in the homes of relatives and neighbors, he said.

 

Several streets in Makati City were submerged in floods one to two feet deep, the NDCC said.

 

The following Manila roads are impassable to all types of vehicles due to floods: A. Bonifacio via Dimasalang, A.H. Lacson going to Nagtahan, Aurora Boulevard Junction, and Sta. Cruz, and Maceda Streets corner España Avenue,

 

Leonor Rivera Street going to SM San Lazaro, and Cavite Street going to Monumento and España corner Laong-Laan and Dapitan Streets, are impassable to light vehicles the NDCC said.

 

The Caloocan-Malabon boundary is not passable to light vehicles; Bonifacio Monument, Dagat-dagatan to C-3 Road, Caloocan-Manila boundary, and the Light Rail Transit Station are all flooded but passable, officials said.

 

In Malabon, roads that are no longer passable are in M. Sison, Dampalit, Governor Pascual, Tugatog, Borromeo St. in Longos, Barangay (village) Tonsuya, and Manapat St. in Tanong, they said.

 

Meanwhile, Barangay Potrero, MH Del Pilar, and Pampano St. are still open to traffic, they said.

 

In Navotas, Tanza, Agora, Daang Hari, Tangos, San Jose, and M. Naval are still open to traffic although flooded.

 

Not passable to all types of vehicles in Valenzuela are T. Santiago, Vicente Reales, Delfin St., and Marulas. Tullahan Bridge remains open to traffic.

Sandal Wood, Lilac St., and Barangay Concepcion Dos in Marikina are not passable to all types of vehicles.

 

In San Juan, F. Manalo, E. Fernandez, F. Roman, Perfecto, and Tabing Ilog are not passable to light vehicles.

In Pasay, Dela Rosa from South Super Highway to Pasong Tamo is not passable to light vehicles.

Several areas in Parañaque are not passable to light vehicles like the Airport Village, Barangay Dela Huerta, Evacom SM Sucat, Silver Homes Multinational village, Barangay Moonwalk, and Veraville, Barangay San Isidro.

 

In Quezon City, Calamba St. and Waling-Waling and Gumamela Streets in Roxas District have been closed to traffic. Araneta Avenue corner Kaliraya St. to Barangay E Rodriguez are not passable to light vehicles.

 

In Northern Luzon, the Tined village road in Santa town, Ilocos sur province is impassable to light vehicles due to floods.

 

In Southern Luzon, roads in Niyog, Bayan, and Uno villages in Bacoor town, Cavite province were closed to all types of vehicles due to floods.

 

Elsewhere in Cavite, knee-deep floods submerged Poblacion, Gahak, Wakas, Tabon, and Biancayan villages in Kawit, Medition, 2D, Alapan, and Kalsadang Bago villages.

 

Waist-deep floods were reported in Julgan 7 and Julgan 8 villages in Tanza, Cavite.

 

Kennon Road, Marcos Highway and Naguillan Road — all leading to Baguio — are open to traffic, the NDCC said.

 

Education Undersecretary Vilma Labrador announced the suspension of classes on radio and television at about 7 a.m. when most of the students have left their homes for school.

 

A report over DZMM Teleradyo said the Commission on Higher Education issued an apology for the late announcement.

 

Labrador is DepEd officer-in-charge. Secretary Jesli Lapus is in Canberra for talks with officials of the Australian Aid for International Development (AusAID).

 

CHEd said the suspension of classes in the tertiary level would depend on the officials of colleges and universities.

 

The education department also reiterated its guidelines on the suspension of classes as contained in DepEd Order No. 28:

 

The education department also reiterated its guidelines on the suspension of classes as contained in DepEd Order No. 28:

 

• Classes in the pre-school, elementary and secondary levels are automatically suspended when typhoon signal number one is raised by the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA).

 

• Classes are automatically suspended when typhoon signal number two is issued by PAGASA.

 

• In the absence of typhoon signal warnings from PAGASA, localized suspension of classes can be decided by local officials, as well as DepEd regional directors, division superintendents, school principals.

 

The DepEd has said that the “the ultimate responsibility for determining whether or not their children should go to school is given to the parents.”

 

Lapus said the DepEd recognized “the need to protect our students from the ill effects of bad weather, but we also want to minimize the disruption of classes so that our students can spend more time in school.”

 

He also stressed the need to instill in the minds of parents, students, school officials, and other members of the community the importance of disaster preparedness.

 

Early this year, the DepEd forged a memorandum of agreement with at least nine government and private agencies to formalize their involvement in the disaster preparedness campaign.

 

Other MOA signatories include the Department of Science and Technology (DoST), Department of National Defense (DND), Philippine National Red Cross (PNRC), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs), among others.

 

“Chedeng” blew out of the mountainous northern Philippines shortly before noon and then swirled across the southern tip of Taiwan, bringing heavy rains but causing no major damage or casualties, according to Taiwan’s Central Weather Bureau.

 

The rains followed a three-month dry spell in the Philippines that prompted clergy to urge congregations across the predominantly Roman Catholic country to pray for rain over the weekend.

 

The dry spell had led to water shortages and caused sporadic electricity blackouts in the bustling Philippine capital.

 

Rabonza said he hoped the rains would continue, if only to fill up the Luzon dams and avert a possible drought.

 

“The rains are not enough. Scientists say we need one typhoon to hover for a night and dump rain in Angat [dam]. We need 400 millimeters of rain to fill up Angat dam and according to reports, yesterday, it was about 80 millimeters of rain,” he said.