13 MARCH 2019

NEWS
2
Wednesday, 13 March 2019
Daily Tribune
Firm leader boosts growth
I think the next three to five years, it’s still over six percent,
maybe seven percent
From page 1
telco, said among the biggest advantage
of the country in the region is its young
population.
The Philippines is in a so-called
demographic sweet spot in which majority
of the population are within the working
age in contrast to most Asian countries
which is experiencing labor shortage as
a result of an aging population.
Huge prospects
“In our demographics, 60 percent of
our population is aged 30 below. There’s
a lot of so-called millennials who have
purchasing power and another source of
push is the government’s effort to build
more infrastructure,” he said.
Uy added the business sector sees
huge promises from the “Build, Build,
Build” program wherein the government
will invest over P1 trillion a year over
the next few years to build a lot of
roads, bridges and railways which can
decongest Manila, give growth to the
provinces and, at the same time, spread
the wealth.
“So, our per capita income in the
next few years will reach $5,000 and
that would be the so-called breakout
point wherein more people will have the
spending power not only to invest but
also to spend for livelihood or luxuries,”
he added.
Aggressive inroads
“Our group, we have been in business
since early 2000, 2002. We’re really investing
in the country in the industry where we are
at, namely, petroleum, but the past few
years, we’ve been doubly aggressive, as
you notice, because we are confident not
only in the economic prospect but also the
leadership of our country.”
The result of the Social Weather
Stations survey showing an upswing in
the administration’s public satisfaction
rating buttresses Uy’s views.
Conducted 16 to 19 December 2018
with 1,440 adult respondents nationwide,
the poll yielded “very good” results or
76 percent of the respondents saying
they were satisfied with the President’s
governance while only 9 percent said
otherwise.
The figures listed a net satisfaction
rating of +66, a 16-point increase from the
“very good” +50 recorded in September
2018.
“The Palace considers this increase
in satisfaction rating as a vote of public
confidence and a demonstration of the
people’s unshakeable trust in the present
administration which the polling firm
classified as ‘very good,’” presidential
spokesman Salvador Panelo said in a
statement.
Rise of Phoenix
Uy said the best prospect among his
long line of business interests will be in
petroleum, through Phoenix.
“As the economy improves, more
people will buy cars. There’s a lot of
traffic, so growth in petroleum demand
has been growing the same way as our
GDP (gross domestic product) has been
growing,” he said.
There’s a lot of so-called
millennials who have purchasing
power.
He added he is investing in other
petroleum-related products, such as LPG
(liquefied petroleum gas) and in the near
future in the production of asphalt which
is needed for road building.
“In logistics, in shipping, the
passenger growth also increased. Lately,
we’ve entered into telco, we’re lucky
we won… We are also bullish because
there’s a huge demand
later on going into more
data, Internet and
e-commerce,” he said.
“And also hospitality,
Fresh take
Young entrepreneur
Dennis Uy who
reads the economy
well takes time out
to browse the latest
from Daily Tribune.
ROY PELOVELLO
we’re gaining in tourism. So, there’s
no favorite sector really. Everything, on
all sectors, we are bullish that they will
really grow,” Uy added.
His Udenna Group recently acquired
Philippine H2O Ventures Corp. to support
efforts to strengthen the country’s
tourism sector.
Good tourism outlook
Philippine H2O Ventures thereafter
changed its name to PH Resorts
Group Holdings Inc. and
its primary purpose is to
engage in the hotel and/or
gaming and entertainment
business.
PH Resorts will house
the tourism-related
businesses of the Udenna
Group. Its portfolio will
include two integrated resort
and casino projects — one
in Mactan, Cebu as well
as another one
in Udenna’s
Clark
Global
City in
Angeles, Pampanga.
“PH Resorts will allow the Udenna
Group to take advantage of the many
opportunities in the tourism sector,
create stronger synergies among
our existing businesses and make
more meaningful contributions to the
Philippine economy,” Uy, who is Udenna
founder and chairman, said.
Udenna has diverse business interests
in petroleum and oil through Phoenix
Petroleum Philippines Inc.;
shipping and logistics through
Chelsea Logistics Holdings
Corp. and 2GO Group
Inc.; real estate through
Udenna Development;
education through
Enderun Colleges, and
convenience stores
through FamilyMart.
Kristina Maralit and
Elmer N. Manuel
Drive with care A 16-wheeler truck lies almost sideways after crashing into a center island along Abad
Santos corner Tecson in Manila. The double trailer truck was carrying concrete pilotes or columns on the way
to a construction site in Pasay City. No one was reported hurt.
YUMMIE DINGDING
Hooked
on women
From page 1
“But the statement has been exploited, I
said of late, you ladies stay away from priests,”
he said.
“So, that’s the truth. It’s happening
everywhere. The Pope admitted that priests
abuse nuns,” the President added during the
awarding ceremony for the outstanding women
in the law enforcement field in Malacañang last
Monday night.
The recent Social Weather Stations survey
bear out the improved comprehension of Filipinos
of the President’s intentions in his statements.
On the ratings for specific issues, the Duterte
administration received “Promoting Women’s
Rights” the highest grade at a +71.
Freedom to express
The President also stressed he was just exercising
his “freedom of expression” when he made his
controversial remark about women, which some
groups perceived to be misogynistic and sexist.
I do it on purpose because I’m trying to
bring you to the limits of despair.
Stressing he has so much “love and respect
for women,” it must go tit-for-tat as his right to
express himself.
“You know, you women, you deprive me of
my freedom of expression. I don’t tell it to you
directly, but you criticize every sentence or word
I say,” the Chief Executive said in his speech.
“That is my freedom to express myself. Even
if I am just a President, do not take it — do not
take me away from the crowd of being a Filipino
citizen. I do it on purpose because I’m trying to
bring you to the limits of despair,” he added.
From page 1
House, Senate get ‘moderator’
You know the style of the President, he listens and lets the
protagonists settle among themselves. He’s somewhat of a
moderator
alleged changes made by the House of
Representatives after the Bicameral
Conference Committee endorsed its
version.
President said his piece
“I’ve said my piece: I will not
sign anything that will be an illegal
document,” the President stressed.
The Chief Executive cautioned on
the effects to the national government
still operating on a reenacted budget,
stressing a domino effect, particularly
with regard to the economy.
“We’ll have a slide in our GDP
(gross domestic product) if we are
going to reenact the budget,” he said.
Among those affected by the
budget deadlock is the fourth tranche
of increase in government workers’
pay, particularly for teachers, soldiers
and police.
Also reeling from the effects of the
impasse is the rehabilitation of the
MRT-3 rail system.
With the budget still pending,
the Department of Transportation
cannot make the advance payment
of P18 billion to Japanese consortium
Sumitomo-Mitsubishi Corp. mainly
intended for the restoration and
overhaul of the EDSA railway line’s
power supply, overhead catenary
system, signaling system, tracks,
closed-circuit television camera and
public address systems, as well as its
elevators and escalators.
Sumitomo is the one bearing the
brunt of the expenses for now just
to ensure that the said rehabilitation
project is on-track to meet its
completion deadline.
Long delay
Senate President Vicente Sotto
III said it was Executive Secretary
Salvador Medialdea who extended
the President’s invitation to leaders
of Congress.
The House of Representatives only
submitted the budget measure on
Monday night or more than a month
after it was ratified on 8 February.
It could also mean (the President
saying) “you settle your
differences so that we can have a
new budget.”
Sotto said the Senate’s Legislative
Budget Research and Monitoring
Office (LBRMO) immediately reviewed
the measure. However, at press time,
Sotto said the LBRMO was still
studying the submitted measure.
“What I can say is that if there
were really changes made on about
P79 billion after ratification, I will not
sign it because apart from violating
the Constitution, I will be violating
also the Revised Penal Code on the
issue of falsification of legislative
documents,” Sotto said.
Sen. Panfilo Lacson has accused
some House leaders of manipulating
the ratified budget measure — “which
is against the Revised Penal Code and
is patently unconstitutional.”
The President also announced
he will not sign the budget measure
which could be considered as illegal
document. He admitted that a
reenacted budget would adversely
affect the economy.
Lacson said Mr. Duterte is correct
in “not signing anything that would be
an illegal document.”
Nevertheless, the senator was
optimistic over the passage of the
budget but maintained that the
measure should not violate the
Constitution.
“I would like to think positive — that
those concerned will be enlightened
and not insist on a constitutionally
infirm budget. We have defined our
baseline. We cannot dive deeper than
what the Constitution so provides,”
Lacson said.
No good detractors
Mr. Duterte insisted that he loves and
respects all women, but lamented now his
words about them have been manipulated by
his detractors.
The Chief Executive has drawn flak numerous
times in the past for his comments on women,
such as linking a woman’s physical beauty as a
factor to being raped, ordering men in uniform to
shoot female rebels in their private parts, joking
about the gang rape and murder of an Australian
missionary and telling soldiers to rape women in
Marawi at the height of the military campaign
against the Islamic State-inspired Maute group
that laid siege to the city.
He also experienced a backlash after claiming
he “touched” his sleeping maid when he was still
a teenager and for kissing a Filipina on the lips
in full view of the public during his visit to South
Korea last year.
Washed new Poles at Riverside in Malabon get a fresh coating as part of a clean-up effort.
ROMAN PROSPERO