'Abu Sayyaf taking advantage of int'l attention on ISIS'
The Abu Sayyaf Group's threat to behead its two German captives will not intimidate the Philippines, which vowed to continue its military offensive against the local terrorist group
MANILA, Philippines – The defense department said Abu Sayyaf's threat to behead their two German hostages is propaganda to ride on the international attention that the Islamic State (formerly ISIS) is getting, said a military general in charge of Western Mindanao.
"They are taking advantage of the international attention ISIS is getting so that the ransom would increase. All their activities are criminal in nature," said Lieutenant General Rustico Guerrero, commander of the military's Western Mindanao Command.
The military also reiterated that it has contained Abu Sayyaf members in pockets of Sulu. "There is continuous effort by the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police," Guerrero added.
The local terrorist group responsible for several bombing incidents in the country and kidnappings in the region has threatened to kill the hostages, unless they are paid P250 million ($5.62 million, 4.4 million euros) and if Germany stops supporting the US-led campaign against ISIS in Iraq and Syria.
Germany responded saying it will not withdraw support for US action against the jihadists. "There will be no change to our Syria and Iraq policy," said a German foreign ministry spokeswoman.
Philippine Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said military offensive against the Abu Sayyaf will continue. "We will not be intimidated by these gestures and actions. We will continue to contain them," Gazmin told local radio dzRHThursday morning, September 25.
The government maintains that ISIS presence in the Philippines remains unconfirmed inspite of reports received by the Philippine Embassy in Damascus that at least 3 Filipino jihadists were killed in Syria in separate incidents in October and December 2013.
Members of the Abu Sayyaf and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters have pledged allegiance to ISIS, but military officers dismissed them as the rebels' way of giving ISIS moral support. They claimed they have not monitored ISIS support – finances and weapons – going to the Philippines.
"We are validating if there really is ISIS here. The report of Mayor Maturan is very deserving but we have not had any confirmation on this," said Gazmin, referring to claims by Mayor Joel Maturan of Ungkaya Pukan town in Basilan that ISIS has penetrated the province.
The government has created a technical working group to monitor foreign fighters in the Philippines.
The military stepped up operations against the Abu Sayyaf since last year. "The order from the President is to once and for all stop the Abu Sayyaf. We're moving towards that direction. We have been reshuffling forces in Sulu. It will not be purely Marines anymore. We will deploy joint forces of Marines and Army in the area," said Gazmin.
Gazmin confirmed there are ongoing negotiations for release of the German captives through other parties. – Rappler.com
'Abu Sayyaf taking advantage of int'l attention on ISIS'
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Philippines posts P30-B budget surplus in August
The surplus in August is 36% higher than the P22-billion surplus registered in the same period in 2013. Netting out interest payments, government spending only grew by 4% year-on-year.
MANILA, Philippines – The national government incurred a surplus of P29.9 billion ($671.26 million)* in August as the year-on-year revenue growth outpaced that of spending, the Department of Finance (DOF) reported on Thursday, September 25.
The surplus in August was 36% higher than the P22-billion ($492.21 million) surplus registered in the same period in 2013.
Expenditures grew by a mere 5% to P140.12 billion ($3.13 billion) from the P133.24 billion ($2.98 billion) recorded in August last year.
Expenditures grew by 6% to P1.3 trillion ($290.06 billion) in the first 8 months of the year.
Netting out interest payments, government spending only grew by 4% year-on-year.
The Department of Budget and Management has yet to release its statement on the spending performance for August.
Effects of port congestion
Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima said that the government has been determined in mapping out a solution to the port congestion in Manila to further augment the growth of the Philippine economy.
Purisima quoted the finance department’s chief economist Gil Beltran as saying that if port congestion is solved and delayed shipment are out of the ports within this year, the annual tax collection can increase by as much as 7% or 0.2 percentage points of the gross domestic product.
Government revenues in January to August jumped by 12% to P1.27 trillion ($284.49 billion) compared to the same period last year.
Revenues in August posted a double-digit growth of 10% to P169.98 billion ($3.8 billion).
The collections generated by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the Bureau of Customs during the said month grew by 8% and 11%, respectively.
Customs collections totaled P29.1 billion ($649.87 million) for the month, growing 11.4% from last year’s tally and marking the 8th straight month of above 10% year-on-year growth.
Year-to-date, the BOC’s take amounted to P232.9 billion ($5.20 billion), rising 17.1% from January-August collections in 2013.
Meanwhile, BIR collections increased by 8% to reach P127.6 billion ($2.85 billion) in August. This brought year-to-date BIR collections to P890.7 billion ($19.89 billion), up 9.7% year-on-year.
The Bureau of Treasury also exceeded its target for the month, raking in P5-billion ($111.63 million) due to higher investment income and dividend collections. As of end-August, the Treasury’s collections have totaled P75.7 billion ($1.69 billion), a growth of 24.3% over comparable figures last year.
The August performance brings the year-to-date deficit to P25.87 billion ($578.29 million), which is only about 10% of the P266.2 billion ($5.95 billion) deficit cap for 2014. – Rappler.com
($1 = P44.78)
Philippines posts P30-B budget surplus in August
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More non-BPO operations favor the Philippines
The business process outsourcing sector will sustain the real estate momentum toward 2016, CBRE Philippines reports
MOST ATTRACTIVE. Makati, still the most attractive to global firms, has a vacancy rate of 1.35%, according to CBRE Philippines.
MANILA, Philippines – While business process outsourcing (BPO) will continue to drive the office space sector, non-BPO operations like front office, regional headquarters, and brick and mortar headquarter offices are beginning to locate in the Philippines, citing competitive costs.
Eighty to 90% of the 700,000 square meters (sqm) on stock this year are for BPO operations, but the country is well-positioned to be the site in 2016 for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) headquarters as the economies of the region integrate next year, said Rick Santos, chairman and chief executive officer of property consultancy firm CBRE Philippines, on Tuesday, September 23.
The bulk of the office stock will come from major developers Ayala Land Inc, Megaworld Corporation, Robinsons Land Corporation, and SM.
Megaworld pioneered in the development of BPO hubs starting with Eastwood City in Libis, Quezon City.
The highly skilled labor pool has likewise piqued the interest of foreign locators in expanding their operations to the country.
According to the 2014 AT Kearney Global Services Location Index, the Philippines ranks 7th among 51 countries as prime BPO location.
“This bright prospect in the BPO sector, along with the strong performance of other real estate sectors, will see the Philippines through and beyond 2016,” Santos said.
Vacancy in tight supply
Supply is tight as shown by vacancy rates as of the second quarter of the year.
Santos said vacancy rates will continue to be in check to about 5% by 2015 as demand continues to grow, even as an additional 500,000 sqm of space come on stream that year.
Makati City, still the most attractive site for global firms, has a vacancy rate of 1.35% where the average lease rate is the highest at P970 ($21.77*) per sqm, per month.
Makati's lease rates are at $29 per square foot per annum, one of the most competitive among 19 central business districts in the region.
The Philippines' biggest competitor in the call center/BPO industry, India, charges $31 to $118 per square foot per year, depending on the city.
Hong Kong charges 5 times the Philippines' rate, at $221 per square foot per year.
Makati is followed by Fort Bonifacio, where the vacancy rate has gone up to 3.78% from 2.23% in the first quarter, and where the lease is at P797.12 ($17.89) per sqm per month.
Ortigas' vacancy rate went up 0.72% in the first quarter to 8.75% in the second quarter as it has the cheapest rate of P572.87 ($12.87) per sqm per month.
Bullish toward 2016
Other real estate sectors such as retail, hospitality, and industrial are also experiencing bullish growth. For the former, middle-income earners and overseas Filipino workers’ families are seen to fuel growth, with developers and global retailers becoming keener on setting up outlets in the country.
At least 170,000 sqm of new retail space was introduced in the first quarter of the year, and more than 100,000 sqm of new space will be completed before 2014 closes.
The upbeat tourism of the country, with international tourism revenues at P109.8 billion ($2.47 billion) in the first half of 2014, has increased the demand for more hotels and retail establishments in tourist spots and central business districts (CBDs) of the Philippines.
Similarly, the strengthening of the global manufacturing sector, coupled with stable lease rates, are boosting industrial operations in the country, with players looking into areas outside the usual CBDs, such as in Clark and Cebu.
Also, Japanese locators, in particular, are showing interest in expanding their operations in the country, CBRE Philippines reported.
– Rappler.com
More non-BPO operations favor the Philippines
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Real estate is fastest-growing industry in Q3 - officials
MANILA, Philippines - The real estate industry saw a revenue growth rate of 18.8% in the third quarter of the year, making it the fastest growing among all industries, said officials.
“Real estate posted strong expansion as major players including Ayala Land, SM Prime Holdings and Megaworld posted double-digit revenues in terms of real estate and rent of commercial spaces,” said Socioeconomic Planning Secretary, Arseio Balisacan, at a press conference on the Philippines' third-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) growth on Wednesday, November 28.
According to Jose Ramon Albert, Secretary-General of the National Statistical Coordination Board, the country's better-than-expected 7.1% growth in the third quarter was driven largely by services sector growth, which was, in turn, partly fueled by real estate, renting and business activity.
Comprising half of GDP growth, the services sector expanded 7% in the third quarter.
“We have previously noted that a major driver of this growth is the demand for office space due to the strong outlook of the BPO sector. Also favorable economic conditions led more individuals to purchase residential properties,” said Balisacan.
Aside from BPO, real estate growth was also buoyed by higher construction expenditures, said Balisacan.
“Spending for construction of physical capital increased by 24.3% in the third quarter of 2012 a huge turnaround from a negative 8.8% performance in the third quarter of 2011. Both private and public construction registered more than 20% growth rates during the period,” he explained.
Public construction grew 23.7% in the third quarter, reversing its 19% drop in 2011, while private construction expanded 25%, also reversing its 5.9% decline last year.
“Public spending on construction grew back by higher capital outlay of government 38.4% more for roads and irrigation projects. Most of these projects were implemented outside NCR in keeping with our objective of inclusive growth,” said Balisacan
“These figures just confirm that theres a lot of investment going on. While the growth of the economy is primarily consumption driven there are also investmetns coming in.”
Major players and consultants have remained bullish on their real estate forecasts.
“It took 20 years to get the stars aligned but now we’re looking at sustained growth. We are now experiencing the best real estate market in the Philippines in the last 20 years,” Rick Santos, chairman and CEO of property advisory firm CBRE Philippines, previously said. - Rappler.com
