President's Report

Welcome to the year of the Dragon!

I trust the year started well for you all and that it will deliver many beautiful surprises to you and your loved ones!

Philippine President's visit to Australia

The Council has been advised of a likely Australian visit this year by the Philippine's President, H.E. Benigno S. Aquino III.  You will be advised of the details of the visit once confirmed.  The last Philippine Presidential visit to Australia was by former President Gloria Arroyo in 2007.  President Aquino's visit will be a significant event for the Council and a great opportunity for our members to network with the delegation that will accompany the President and with other members of the Council.  We expect that an Australian visit by high level Economic Managers of the Philippines will precede the Presidential visit.  The Council will keep you advised on the progress of this exciting development.

Philippine Trade Representative to Australia

Michelle Sanchez, who was the Senior Philippine Trade Representative to Australia until the end of January 2012, has been posted to New York.  I understand that the appointee replacing Michelle is awaiting completion of the protocols governing his appointment before he commences his duties.

Learn about the great work of Opportunity International Inc. in the Philippines

Opportunity International is a member of the Council and had been a great supporter and partner of the Philippines for many years in helping alleviate poverty in that country.  Opportunity will showcase its achievements and ongoing work in the Philippines at a lunch (light) on 27 February 2012 (Monday) for members of the Council, numbers are limited to 16 so book now.


 

New members of the Council

We welcome Redlands Consulting Pty Ltd, a new member of the Council.  Redland's representative to the Council is Domingo Tagle, Managing Director, who can be contacted on 0414 353 171 or email dotagle@redlandevents.com.  For more information about Redlands, please visit their website on www.redlandevents.com or the members’ profile on the Council’s website.
 
We also welcome Andreyev Doman Lawyers, another new member of the Council.  Yours truly, one of the principals of Andreyev Doman, is the firm's representative to the Council. You may contact me on 02 9037 4105, mobile 0421 055 168, or by email on millie@adlaw.com.au.   
 
Andreyv Doman is a full service commercial law firm.  It has been operating in both Sydney and Adelaide for over 12 years now.  The firm provides a wide range of legal services including legal services to businesses doing or wanting to do business with or in the Philippines, or to invest in the Philippines.  For more information about Andreyev Doman and its offerings, please visit www.adlaw.com.au

Australian Political Exchange Council hosting Philippine Delegates

A seven-member delegation from the Philippines led by the Honourable Alfredo A Garbin, Member of the Philippine House of Representatives, will be in Sydney on 27 February 2012.  This is part of an exchange visit of young political leaders between Australia and other countries.  The delegates are members of the Philippine Centre of Young Leaders in Governance.  Clive Troy and John Ching, who are members of the executive committee of the Council, will be representing the council at a meeting with the delegates on 27 February 2012.

New Secretariat

We welcome Delegait Pty Ltd, a member of the Council, which will provide administrative services to the Council.  Delegait can be contaced on phone +61 2 9037 2802, fax +61 2 8905 9654, email execsec@apbc.org.au or prescilla.malong@apbc.org.au, or post PO Box H64 Australia Square NSW 1215.

We thank Anita Kilkenny for her valuable services and generous support to the Council for over 5 years.  Anita will continue to help the Council with any special projects which the Council will have from time to time particularly in Victoria.

Public park in honour of Dr Jose Rizal, the Philippine's National Hero

The Philippine Community in Sydney, in collaboration with the Campbelltown City Council, the Philippine Embassy, the Philippine Consulate and the Rizal Park Movement of Campbelltown Inc, is in its final stages of a project to install Dr. Jose Rizal's statue at a public park in honour of the Philippine's national hero.  The Rizal statue is the work and gift of a world renowned Filipino sculptor, Eduardo Castrillo, to the Filipino community in Australia.  The park will be in Rosemeadow, Campbelltown, which is about 51 kilometres south of the Sydney CBD.  The Rizal Park Movement will welcome any financial and any other form of assistance with this project.  You can contact the Rizal Park Movement's President, Rey Manoto, by phone on 0412 959 547, or by email on rizalpmc@gmail.com if you want to know more about this project or to offer some help. This project is the culmination of the whole year celebration of the 150th Birth Anniversary of Dr Jose Rizal on 19 June 2012. The statue will be unveiled on that date.


Millie Telan, President

BPO Update

by Richard Mann, Vice President NSW

2012 BPO Trends

Competition in business processing outsourcing in the region is likely to take shape this year as firms gear up for huge opportunities that have come with advanced technology. Today, the country is seen as one of the fastest growing BPO centres in the world. According to Datamark, Inc., one of the biggest process outsourcing companies in the U.S., advancements in technology will drastically change how the BPO industry works and new outsourcing options will be reviewed. Apart from that, the company also released a roster of the hottest trends in the industry next year.
 
Increase in mobile apps. With the easy access to tablets and smart phones, mobile apps will continue to increase next year. Expect BPO providers to provide clients with mobile apps for monitoring and auditing outsourced processes. Features will incorporate business intelligence, dashboards, analytics and instant messaging with the provider.
 
The “social” contact center. Utilizing Facebook, Google+, and Twitter for customer service will increase, as well as using chat on social networks, therefore decreasing the use of phone calls and emails.
 
The rise of gamification. Business process engineers will apply game theory to more and more business processes as a way of driving innovation into the enterprise. Using gamification makes tedious and repetitive tasks more fun so more of it will come forth.
 
Latin America will become more popular as a nearshore destination. With a 20 to 40 percent labor differential, an excellent BPO workforce, and a good deal of those who are bi-lingual, Latin America will see more action.
 
Technology proving grounds will clear up the clutter. Technologies such as robotics, embedded sensors, QR codes and language recognition will all be part of a toolkit to lower costs and increase efficiency and reliability. BPOs will pilot-program many of these products, either with their own internal processes, or with clients’ processes to meet a demand for innovation.
 
Posted as Executive Botique website article

Mining Update

by Gavan Collery, Vice President VIC

ROUGH START TO THE YEAR FOR MINERALS DEVELOPMENT

We have had quite an adventurous and none-too-pleasant start to mining in the Philippines this year.

The two key industry concerns have been an inexplicable denial of environmental approvals for the world-class Tampakan copper-gold project to move towards its next steps of commitment and development, and the second has been mining policy review where due process seems to have lost its way.

In mid-January, and despite assurances that the process followed had been highly acceptable, a conditional denial of environmental approval for Tampakan came from the DENR Secretary. While administrative procedures were followed, it looks like politics reared its ugly head to stop a well-defined process. Let us hope this important approval finds its way back on track via an appeals process which has already been triggered.

While a sign of good governance, the mining review being undertaken in the Philippines hit a snag in February when a first-draft Executive Order found its way into public circulation – on the letterhead of the Office of the President, which in itself is disturbing in the context of process and procedure. To be frank, all hell broke loose in the mining and investment sectors (local and foreign) when they saw the radical nature of the draft.

We are told that government is working hard to re-balance the inputs and process, and that President Aquino still aims to clarify the nation’s position on mining and hopefully restore investor confidence before the end of February. Let us hope that the Philippines once again does not let slip a major opportunity to harness a business sector with genuine potential to grow the economy, provide jobs and training, and contribute to poverty alleviation.

As an indication of just how serious this matter is, the Joint Foreign Chambers of Commerce – comprising the USA, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Europe, Japan and Korea – combined to deliver a strongly-worded letter of dismay and protest. One could be forgiven at this time for thinking industry’s task is more to clean up messes and mistakes rather than make genuine progress towards helping government meet its stated goals related to economic prosperity.

On a company front, Metals Exploration, which has Australian connections, is finalising its debt funding profile for development of the Runruno gold-molybdenum project in Nueva Vizcaya. Metals Exploration expects to have finalised the package by the end of March.

OceanaGold has signed a memorandum of agreement with a range of local governments for social development programs near to its Didipio gold-copper project in Luzon.

Mindoro Resources has successfully raised a further C$1.3 million through a private placement to take its raisings total to C$2.7 million, with more to come. Mindoro has a range of interests in the Philippines, including the Agata nickel project in northern Surigao. Mindoro has also released some promising preliminary metallurgical results for its Pan de Azucar copper-gold project in Iloilo.

Finally, Indophil Resources, your columnist’s employer, has moved to strengthen its strategic in-country alliances with the Alsons Group, backed by BDO Unibank, and along the way has raised almost $100 million in extra funds. Indophil holds a 37.5% interest in the Tampakan project, located in southern Mindanao.

Political

Pres. Aquino blasts TRO, to ask high court to reconsider
 
President Aquino criticized the Supreme Court on Feb. 10 for stopping the Senate impeachment court from opening the dollar accounts of Chief Justice Renato Corona, saying the bank secrecy laws were not designed to protect thieves. He also questioned the speed with which the Court acted on the petition filed by Philippine Savings Bank but toned down his rhetoric when asked about the possibility of a constitutional crisis. But Mr. Aquino again dared Mr. Corona to voluntarily open his dollar accounts to scrutiny to prove he had nothing to
hide. Mr. Aquino said the speed with which the Court issued the restraining order was similar to its decision stopping the government from preventing former President Gloria Arroyo from leaving the country. He said the Palace was considering appealing the TRO on the basis the Supreme Court may not interfere in impeachment proceedings. House Minority Leader and Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez warned the President against meddling in the on-going impeachment proceedings by attacking the chief justice and the Supreme Court.
House Deputy Minority Leader and Zambales Rep. Milagros Magsaysay ridiculed the President’s challenge to Corona. “No one in his right mind will incriminate himself,” she said.

Economy

NEDA sees stronger Q1 performance
 
First-quarter economic growth will likely accelerate from a year earlier due to increased state spending and stronger exports, National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) officials said. Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Cayetano Paderanga, Jr. said "it is possible" for gross domestic product (GDP) growth to fall within a 5-7% range during the first quarter, up from 4.6% in the comparative 2011 period. "We are encouraged by the fact that we can see some of the inputs already moving forward," Mr. Paderanga said. He added that the effects of the government’s disbursement acceleration program late last year will probably be felt this quarter. The economy grew by just 3.7% last year, down sharply from 2010’s record 7.6%, due to state underspending and an exports downturn. For 2012, Mr. Paderanga is optimistic that exports will pick up on the back of a government program todevelop new products and markets.

Inflation slows anew at 3.9% in January
 
Inflation eased anew last month, hitting a 13-month low of 3.9% and providing the central bank continued room for a fresh interest rate cut. The rise in consumer prices was slower than the 4.2% recorded in December and the 4.1% a year earlier. It fell within the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) 3.6-4.5% forecast range and was also the lowest since December 2010’s 3.6%. The National Statistics Office (NSO) reported that a "continued deceleration in the annual increment of the heavily weighted food and non-alcoholic beverages index" had further pushed down inflation. The January result was slightly lower than the 4.035% median forecast in a BusinessWorld poll of analysts.

Business

2011 tourists arrivals surpass last year's figure
 
Tourist arrivals last year surpassed the previous year’s level, according to data from the Department of Tourism (DoT), with growth expected to continue under the new tourism campaign. Arrivals were up by 11.28% to 3.917 million visitors from 3.52 million year on year. The figure was also up by 4.6% against the official target of 3.7 million arrivals for 2011. Data from the DoT also showed November posted the highest growth of 19.8%, to 337,021 visitors from 281,313 the previous year. December also saw the highest number of tourist arrivals with 394,567 visitors. Most visitors came from East Asia, which accounted for 1,837,681 arrivals or 46.91% of the total number last year, for a growth of 17.57% from 1,563,013 in 2010. Other regional markets with high tourist arrivals were North America, which contributed 18.98% of the total number of visitors, Association of Southeast Asian Nations (8.47%) and Australasia-Pacific (5.82%).
 
EO on unified mining policy
 
Malacanang said it would come up by the end of this month with an executive order on a unified mining policy that address the concerns of local and international investors. Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. announced the government is not considering the establishment of a mining commission but would like national and local mining policies to be harmonized. President Aquino had earlier assured foreign investors and businessmen his government would put an end to regulatory conflicts at the national and local government
levels over mining policies. He said the committee, consisting of experts from the Cabinet, already submitted a preliminary report that was now being circulated to the different departments for their comments. Mining in the Philippines has yet to reach its full potential, a government think tank said, as it called on industry and government leaders to push for mining activities beyond extraction and export of raw materials. In its statement, the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) said that although the sector’s contribution to
economic output has been increasing, benefits derived from the activity could have been higher if the produce is processed locally before being exported.

Company News

Mindoro Resources raises funds for gold projects
 
Mindoro Resources Ltd. has raised a total of C$2.7 million from a private placement with the funds to be used for drilling works at its gold projects in
Batangas, among others. “The total funds raised under this private placement is C$2.7 million with an anticipated additional C$0.25 million to be contributed by directors of the company under a separate private placement to be approved at a special shareholders meeting to be held on March 8,” it said.
 
New BPO building in Cebu
 
Asian i-Office Properties, Inc. broke ground on eBloc Tower 3, its third business process outsourcing (BPO) building at the Cebu IT Park. The third eBloc Tower, located near the second tower, is a 12-storey building with 7 levels allocated for office spaces. Its construction boosts the cyberpark’s and Cebu’s capacity to host BPOs. Cebu has retained its rank as the Tholons’ ninth top BPO destination in the world. Antonino Aquino, president of Asian i-Office’s parent firm Ayala Land, Inc., said the Ayala Group will continue to focus on enhancing its master-planned developments in Cebu City even as it looks for opportunities to undertake similar projects in other major cities in the Visayas and throughout the country.
 
Raffles and Fairmont to open project this year
 
International hotel and resort brands Raffles and Fairmont are set to open their first joint Philippine development in Makati City in the second semester this year catering to the local luxury market, a top hotel official said. Construction of the mixed-use, high-end development dubbed “Fairmont Makati & Raffles Suites” started in 2008 by Saudi Arabia-based Kingdom Hotel Investments and listed developer Ayala Land, Inc., and is on track for completion and turnover by September this year, Randy Zupanski, Raffles Makati managing director said.. “The residential part will be finished in July, and the hotel part by September,” Mr. Zupanski added.

Infrastructure