Social Security System (SSS) President and Chief Executive Officer Rolando Ledesma Macasaet (top photo, 2^nd from the left) yesterday told reporters that SSS will grant a calamity loan assistance to Filipino workers who are SSS members in Taiwan and affected by the 7.2 magnitude earthquake that struck the eastern coast of the country Wednesday morning during a press conference held at the SSS Main Office in Quezon City.

Joining Macasaet are (top photo, from left) SSS Vice President for Operations Legal Services Division I Renato Jacinto S. Cuisia and Vice President for Benefits Administration Division Joy A. Villacorta

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Local government units (LGUs) are crucial partners in enacting and implementing the National Land Use Act (NaLUA). NaLUA’s passage would foster cooperation and address land-use challenges, ultimately benefiting all stakeholders – national and local.

This was emphasized by Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) Senior Research Fellow Adoracion Navarro who presented findings and recommendations from her study, “The Need for a National Land Use Act in the Philippines”, at a recent Socioeconomic Research Portal for the Philippines (SERP-P) knowledge-sharing forum. The study highlights the importance of comprehensive collaboration and integration among stakeholders to effectively address land use challenges and proposes the enactment of NaLUA.

“LGUs have a crucial role in managing land use, but they often lack the necessary guidance and support to address the complexities of conflicting land uses and overlapping claims. By promoting sustainable land use planning and governance, the NALUA seeks to minimize negative externalities and disamenities, ensuring the long-term ecological balance and socio-economic development of the country,” she explained.  The NALUA can provide the framework and standards needed to empower LGUs for effective land use planning and governance.

The author acknowledged existing land use management mechanisms but also revealed a critical gap. “Over half (55 percent) of comprehensive land use plans (CLUPs) are outdated as of July 2023, and four percent of municipalities or cities lack CLUPs altogether. Similarly, 57 percent of provincial development and physical framework plans (PDFPs) are outdated, with 10 percent of provinces missing PDFPs entirely”. 

This affects optimal land zoning, land reclassification, and land use conflict resolution at the local government level. It results in some LGUs becoming unresponsive to the demand for shelter, infrastructure, agricultural production, environmental protection, and industrial development.

Furthermore, data between 2015 and 2020 suggests a sub-optimal utilization of land. This means that the way land is being used in the country is not the most effective or beneficial for various purposes. Barren lands increased significantly over the years, while land used for annual crops, perennial crops, and fishponds declined.

The LGUs’ level of capacity and understanding of land use planning will directly impact the success of NaLUA’s implementation, should it be finally enacted.  “LGU powers need not be diminished and the NaLUA can, in fact, do the reverse. The presence of sanctions and penalties in the proposed legislation is not meant to disempower LGUs, while the benefits are meant for all stakeholders”. Navarro suggested laying down a proposal for upgrading the technical capacity of LGUs in formulating, updating, and implementing CLUPs and PDFPs.

A transdisciplinary approach is needed to strengthen advocacy for the NaLUA. This approach involves incorporating knowledge and perspectives from various disciplines. “We need other disciplines’ languages so that other people can understand us better and be part of our policy advocacy,” she said.

Navarro concluded that there is an urgent need for a comprehensive national land use governance framework to ensure the sustainable and equitable use of this vital resource. “If the Philippines has a national level legislation on the use of water through the Water Code of 1976 and in the governance of air as a resource through the Clean Air Act of 1999, then why not also for land?”. – Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS)

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Despite a modest expansion in new orders, Philippine production levels fell for the first time in 20 months in March as manufacturers grappled with material shortages, according to a new S&P Global report.

After stalling in February, output fell for the first time since July 2022 in March, with companies saying material shortages hampered capacity, as evidenced by the lengthening of supplier lead times.

“The downturn came despite firms in general recording sustained demand for goods. However, if firms are able to successfully secure materials and build their stocks, the downturn in output could be fleeting,” said Maryam Baluch, economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence.

The headline S&P Global Philippines Manufacturing PMI, a composite single-figure indicator of manufacturing performance remained broadly unchanged from 51.0 in February to 50.9 in March. The latest reading marked a seventh consecutive monthly improvement in operating conditions across the Philippines manufacturing sector, but one which was modest overall.

The latest improvement across the sector was propelled by a further expansion in new orders received in March. However, the rate of growth was the second weakest in the current seven-month sequence of expansion.

The growth in new orders also supported a marginal rise in buying activity, with firms keen to rebuild inventory levels. The quarter ended with fresh and stronger expansions in holdings of both pre- and post-production inventories.

In terms of prices, cost pressures eased last month. Though firms said prices of raw materials continued to rise as a result of El Nino and material shortages, some noted that suppliers had moderated hikes in their charges in a bid to drive sales. As a result, cost burdens rose at the weakest pace since October 2020. Furthermore, Filipino goods producers slightly reduced their selling prices for the first time in nearly four years.

Meanwhile, rising new work spurred hiring activity, with job creation noted for the second straight month. Moreover, the rate of growth was the strongest recorded in one-and-a-half years.

Looking at the year ahead, manufacturers across the Philippines maintained an optimistic outlook for output, but evinced lower confidence levels.

“Sentiment among manufacturers weakened and was the least optimistic in nearly four years. Firms were concerned that increased market competition would limit growth prospects. However, hopes of demand conditions domestically and globally strengthening continued to buoy confidence levels.”

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The effective mainstreaming of the adoption of the circular economy (CE), which is emerging in the Philippines as one of the key measures in promoting sustainable principles and practices across various economic sectors, requires the active support and participation of all stakeholders, including consumers and enterprises.

Foreign Service Institute of the Philippines-Center for International Relations and Strategic Studies former Chief Research Officer Jovito Jose Katigbak in a webinar presented the result of “Assessing the Adoption of Circular Economy among Women-Led MSMEs in Metro Manila: A Pilot Study”, also authored by Senior Foreign Affairs Research Specialist Jemimah Joanne Villaruel.

The study by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) found that there is a low level of awareness regarding CE principles among women-led micro, small and medium enterprises (WMSMEs) in Metro Manila despite the increasing prominence of CE as a strategy for achieving sustainable development.

“It then translates to a low level of circularity which was ascertained through strategy and vision, business model, post-sales services, resource recovery, waste management, resource consumption, and ecodesign,” it said.

WMSMEs also tend to work in isolation and shun collaboration and partnerships with external parties, co-enterprises, or customers in the advancement of CE, it added.

“The majority of our respondents had never heard of circular economy principles before,” Katigbak said during his presentation. Out of their 58 respondents, over 65.5 percent were completely unaware of government-led programs, while another 32.8 percent had only limited knowledge about specific projects. This, despite the existence of several local-level programs. 

To mainstream effectively the CE adoption among stakeholders, the study pushed for the implementation of a multilevel system of governance by categorizing programs, projects, and activities into micro (consumers and enterprises), meso (economic agents in eco-industrial parks/industrial symbiosis), and macro (city/regional/national) levels.

At the micro level, the study said the DTI and Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) can focus on education campaigns and advocacies to raise the current level of awareness about CE principles.

It may build on extant programs such as the National Ecolabelling Programme – Green Choice Philippines, Kalikasan Green Productivity, Green Purchasing Towards Green Philippines, Philippine Green Pages, and the Sustainable Diner Project and may link with the Mother Earth Foundation to expand CE-related trainings for WMSMEs across various sectors.

The Philippine Trade Training Center, in collaboration with the academe and expert practitioners, may develop course/s and/or modules on CE intended for WMSMEs. This aims to familiarize firms with the basics of CE so that they can effectively streamline it to their strategies, business models, and waste management.

In addition, the government may provide incentives and business support schemes to WMSMEs to address the latter’s limited financial resources, concern regarding low cost savings, and the traditional mindset withholding them from CE uptake, it added.

Emma Asusano, director of the Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) Bureau of Small and Medium Enterprise Development, said the country already has several laws related to CE adoption.

“And to fulfill the objectives of the laws, even the Philippine Development Plan, our MSME (micro, small and medium enterprises) Development Plan and the National Climate Change Action Plan, along with various initiatives, policies that were outlined in the research emphasize a whole-of-society approach to facilitate transition to a low carbon economy because that is what we wanted to happen –adopting to circular economy rather than using a linear type of business model,” said Asusano, a discussant during the webinar organized by the PIDS.

For DTI, she said, the DTI National Capital Regional Office oversees the implementation ng Green Economic Development Program which integrates sustainable practices for local enterprises.

Asusano said DTI’s Consumer Policy and Advocacy Bureau also regularly organizes public webinars on CE and zero waste which cater to both MSMEs and consumers.

On the macro level, Asusano cited the facilitation of green transition for ASEAN SMEs, which is also considered a strategic approach to enhance economic competitiveness.

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The success of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in cross-border e-commerce is highly dependent on the amount of support the government is able to give them. This is because on their own, SMEs will likely not be able to overcome the numerous barriers to global trade, according to international experts.

The challenges SMEs face in participating in international trade are well-documented, said panelists at a recent United Nations (UN) webinar on cross-border e-commerce for SMEs. It requires that governments make enormous efforts to ensure SMEs are able to engage successfully in the global market.

The government’s role is important because 47 key barriers to SMEs’ engagement in global markets have been identified by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. While e-commerce has eased some hurdles by enabling sellers to reach a wide audience online, it hasn’t solved all the problems. Furthermore, participating in cross-border e-commerce requires competitive products and expertise which can be the new challenges for SMEs.

Tengfei Wang, economic affairs officer at the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), said in his talk that while e-commerce facilitates SME exportation, “navigating cross-border e-commerce can pose complexities and demands” that can lead to failure for SMEs.

Wang said the government must therefore assume a prominent role in supporting SMEs’ entry and participation in e-commerce.

Handholding SMEs throughout the whole journey is the most common success factor we have seen, he stated.

A major step some governments have taken to assist SMEs is to collaborate with e-commerce platforms and ensure these platforms provide the small enterprises with comprehensive services such as marketing, logistics, customs clearance, warehousing, distribution within the destination countries, and payment.

To illustrate, Wang described how the Rwandan government in 2018 started collaborating with a cross-border e-commerce platform, “and this partnership enabled Rwandan coffee to make its debut in China with an increasing number of coffee consumers.” 

Rwanda, classified as a least developed country, has since then seen its coffee register an astounding 700% increase in sales volume, he added.

Today, coffee production represents a vital component in Rwanda’s agricultural sector, and the country has over 290 coffee-growing cooperatives and about 400,000 farmers dedicated to coffee cultivation alone, he said.

Wang also noted how the collaboration forged by the Thai government with a cross-border e-commerce platform has led to 80,000 durians being sold to consumers in China “within a minute.”

Susana Enriquez, co-founder of Latin e-Mart Ltd in Hong Kong, in her talk added that another important area for government support is financing of SMEs.

Enriquez explained that when a company decides to export it not only needs capital to produce the products, it also needs to allocate investments in the marketing strategy, the hiring of product standards and intellectual property advisors, and digital marketing solutions.

She added that there are other costs for SMEs, such as those for joining promotional events on e-commerce platforms and for building a social media presence through, say, making videos with local influencers.

“So if you add these costs to the cost of opening a flagship store, to the cost of all the advisory you need, that entails a lot of money, and if you don’t have finance to help you go through this process, it may be really impossible for SMEs to start being in this market,” Enriquez said.

Such type of financing may not be available to companies, Enriquez said. While there are finance solutions for exporters such as letters of credit, there are none for a long-term project like e-commerce.

Enriquez said this is where it’s crucial for governments to ensure that companies will have the funds to engage in all these activities to help them establish a foothold in cross-border e-commerce.

“They need a lot of investment, and it’s not only at the beginning of the project but throughout the process of export,” she said.

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Philippine exporters need to prepare for the entry into force of the European Union Deforestation Regulation at the end of this year to ensure they have continued access to the EU market.

“Exporting products to the EU has become increasingly challenging with its new and emerging regulations as part of the EU Green Deal. These regulations aim to make the EU the first climate-neutral continent by 2050,” Bianca Pearl Sykimte, director of the Department of Trade and Industry-Export Management Bureau, said in a recent seminar.

Sykimte said one of these key regulations is the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), or Regulation (EU) 2023/1115.

“This regulation, which will enter into force in December this year, applies to entities exporting commodities such as cattle/beef, soy, coffee, coco, palm oil, rubber and wood. It requires these entities to demonstrate that their products are deforestation free and not linked to forest degradation,” Sykimte said.

These seven products, all of which are major drivers of deforestation, will no longer be sold in the EU if sourced from areas affected by deforestation or forest degradation practices.

The EUDR was formally adopted and came into effect on June 29, 2023 with the aim to prevent the importation of commodities linked to deforestation in order to curb forest loss, land degradation, and biodiversity loss.

Companies have until December 30 this year to be compliant, except for micro and small undertakings, for which the regulation will apply from June 30, 2025. Businesses should now consider the impact of the EUDR on their supply chain due diligence to prepare for the new obligations that apply from December 2024.

Among the important things that companies need to know is that the new regulation covers a wide range of products. According to global law firm White & Case, the EUDR covers the said seven commodities as well as their many derived products listed in the annex to the regulation. Examples of these derived products are meat products, leather, chocolate, coffee, palm nuts, palm oil derivatives, glycerol, natural rubber products, soybeans, soy-bean flour and oil, fuel wood, wood products, pulp and paper, printed books.

“It is important to check carefully which products are covered, with reference to the product’s tariff classification under the Combined Nomenclature,” advises White & Case.

The EUDR applies to goods produced on or after June 29, 2023 (except for timber and timber products, which are covered if produced before that date and placed on the EU market from December 31, 2027). However, it does not apply to goods produced entirely from material that has completed its life cycle and would otherwise have been discarded as waste.

Another thing to keep in mind is that non-compliance with the EUDR will prevent access to and exports from the EU. Global legal intelligence platform Lexology said it will be prohibited to place relevant products on the EU market, or export them from the EU, unless these commodities meet three requirements:

•    They are deforestation-free.
•    They have been produced with the relevant legislation of the country of production in terms of environmental protection, land use rights, and labor rights, among others.
•    They are covered by a due diligence statement.

Likewise important to note is that the primary responsibility lies with the company placing the product on the EU market, said White & Case. >From December 30, 2024, a company that places relevant products on the EU market will need to first upload a due diligence statement to their competent national authority. By issuing such a statement, companies assume responsibility for the product’s compliance with the EUDR.

Also necessary to bear in mind is that the EUDR will be enforced by competent authorities in the member states, and that private parties may be allowed to submit substantiated concerns to operators and to competent authorities if they think that one or more operators or traders are not complying with the EUDR.

Finally, companies should remember that there are penalties for non-compliance. These may take the form of fines of up to 4% of the company’s EU turnover, confiscation, or exclusion from public funding or contracts.

Last year the EU was the Philippines’ sixth largest export market with total export sales amounting to US$8.4 billion. Food exports were valued at more than $400 million and included tuna, desiccated coconuts, preserved pineapples and pineapple juice, fruits and nuts, breads and pastries, rum and other distilled fermented sugarcane products.

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An opportunity for upside potential exists within trade facilitation as the world faces a period of heightened uncertainty and economic fragility, which could significantly slow trade and economic activity in the near term.

APEC Policy Support Unit director Carlos Kuriyama, analyst Rhea Crisologo Hernando and researcher Glacer Niño Vasquez said while the number of trade-restrictive measures accumulated as of end-2023 amid the downturn in trade of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) region, there was an increase in measures aimed at enabling the free flow of trade.

In an APEC bulletin, Kuriyama, Hernando and Vasquez said 64 new trade-facilitating measures were introduced last year, mostly focused on reducing import tariffs and removing export bans. The number of trade-facilitating measures rose to 682 in 2023. 

On the other hand, the accumulated number of trade-restrictive measures as of end-2023 has risen to 491 while trade remedies in force have reached 953, primarily consisting of antidumping measures and countervailing duties, they said.

Moreover, the authors said geographical concerns are playing a growing role in shaping global trade dynamics as seen in increased “friendshoring” and geoeconomic fragmentation where trading preferences tend to lean more toward economies with similar views.

“At the same time, there has been a general decline in the diversification of trade partners, pointing to a concentration of global trade within major trading partners,” they said.

Aside from trade facilitation, the APEC bulletin underscored that productivity-enhancing technologies are another upside opportunity for the region.

Kuriyama, Hernando and Vasquez said that over the medium-term, the adoption of modern technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), has the potential to increase worker productivity and income.

“The extent of these benefits depends on how well economies harness AI’s potential and address associated challenges. This would require a strategic approach that combines technological investment, workforce readiness, and the promotion of innovation,” they said.

CITY OF MALOLOS—The people of Bulacan is not giving up on its tight to collect a share in the national wealth over Metroplitan Warks and Sewerage System (MWSS) usage of Angat Dam waters as the provincial government is filing a 

motion for reconsideration before the Supreme Court (SC) over its recently released decision stripping off the province of its rights in the said share in the national wealth tax. 

Gov. Daniel Fernando upon receipt of a copy of the SC’s decision on Monday, March 25 immediately ordered Provincial Legal Officer Gerard Nelson Manalo to ask the high court to reconsider and also to cite nunerous laws that provides for local government unit’s rights on national wealth and its collectible taxes. 

The high court has ruled that dam water is an appropriated water already removed from natural resources, and thus, can no longer be subject to national wealth tax.

The decision promulgated in October 2023 but was only released on March 22 by the high court en banc said the Court of Appeals erred when it affirmed on May 30, 2008 a June 3, 2005 Bulacan regional trial court ruling which found MWSS liable to pay the provincial government of Bulacan a share in the utilization and development of national wealth. 

“The moment that water from Angat River is already appropriated and impounded into the Angat Dam, it ceases to form part of natural resource,” the high tribunal said in a decision penned by Associate Justice Henri Jean Paul Inting.

The Supreme Court effectively granted the MWSS petition for review on certiorari as it reversed and set aside the said 2008 decision of the appellate court in favor of Bulacan province.

Fernando said the provincial government of Bulacan has 15 days to appeal the decision of the Supreme Court. 

“Ang laki ng nawala sa atin dito in that form of share in the national wealth or taxes, aabot ito ng bilyon,” the governor told NEWS CORE and two other media members. 

“What does this decision means. Does it mean being a Bulakenyo driving in Quezon City or anywhere else loses your right of being a true blooded Bulakenyo because you went to other areas and direction. That because the national wealth or water have been impounded in Angat dam, it is no longer a national wealth where we could collect our share and taxes,” the governor told Inquirer in an interview on Tuesday at the Official Residence (OR) in this city after distributing Department of Social Welfare and Develoment’s financial assistance to more than 600 jeepney drivers and operators in the province through the initiative of Senator Imee Marcos. 

Manalo said 13 out of 14 justices of the SC ruled in favor of MWSS against Bulacan’s collection of its share from the national wealth over its usage of waters in Angat Dam which is in Bulacan. 

Angat Dam is located in the villages of Norzagay and Dona Remedios Trinidad (DRT) towns in the Sierra Madre mountain range. 

Manalo in phone interview on Tuesday, March 26 said their office personally received a copy of the 97-page high court ruling on March 25. 

The case stemmed from the complaint for specific performance/payment of national wealth share against MWSS filed by the provincial government of Bulacan through then Gov. Josefina Dela Cruz.

The Bulacan government said MWSS had been getting proceeds from the water resource of Angat Dam, which is located within its territorial jurisdiction.

It claimed MWSS must pay the local government a share of the utilization and development of national wealth.

However, the MWSS argued it was a nonprofit service utility created to provide water supply and a wastewater disposal system to Metro Manila and its neighboring provinces.

The MWSS added water stored in Angat Dam did not necessarily come from Bulacan as it was simply stored in the catchment.

As a man-made structure, the dam, according to the MWSS, does not fall within the scope of national wealth that would entitle a local government like Bulacan to a share in the proceeds derived from its utilization and development.

The Bulacan provincial government has been demanding payment from MWSS over Angat Dam usage since 1992. 

City of Malolos Mayor Christian Natividad who also expressed similar dismay said the province is placed on a huge loss out of that high court decision. 

He said he is not questioning the wisdom of the justices of the high court but being a Bulakenyo,l such ruling of the high court will serve as a precedent case among other local government units on issues and concerns about claim on its share in the national wealth. 

“This is bad. Where does the water was extracted?? It is in our own province. This is a different way of evading payment and collection of due taxes to local government units or host localities,” the mayor said. 

“The best” is how Elizabeth Lacumbo, 53-year-old resident of Sto. Tomas, Batangas, describes her overall experience of being an entrepreneur.

Her first job was becoming an operator for an electronics company in Manila at the age of 18. The challenges of the corporate world, particularly the lack of control over her own time, made her reconsider her career path.

Upon regularization, she decided to secure a house in Sto. Tomas, Batangas, through a loan. It was in 2000 when she decided to relocate to Batangas and leave her job in Manila.

With no other source of income, she opened a sari-sari store business using the money she had saved from her previous job. She also did not consider looking for another employment as she was pregnant with her firstborn that time.

Initially, her store did not do well due to the small number of people in the neighborhood. However, as more family resided in the area, her business progressively improved; from an initial capital of PHP 2,000.00, she now has a capital of about PHP 200,000.00.

According to her, she would not be able to afford to expand her store without the assistance of CARD SME Bank, a thrift bank that offers business loans to micro, small, and medium entrepreneurs.

At first she was skeptical to join, but after gaining positive feedback from the neighbors she decided to become a client of the bank in 2013. She used her initial loan of PHP 5,000.00 as an additional capital for her sari-sari store business. Currently, they own two tricycles, which they purchased with the money earned from their store.

Being a good payer that she is, she now has increased her loan into PHP 150,000.00. When she’s in need of capital, CARD SME Bank is always there to support her and provide the needed capital to operate her business.

“In starting a business, you need to be patient and have strong faith in God, so whatever challenges come your way, you can overcome them,” Lacumbo’s piece of advice for those people who wished to open their own business.