PH economy grew 7-7.4% in 2010 NEDA chief notes strong Q4 expansion By Riza T. Olchondra Philippine Daily Inquirer MANILA, Philippines—Economic growth likely surpassed the government’s target in 2010 as services, industry and agriculture expanded strongly in the last quarter of the year, the National Economic and Development Authority said Tuesday. The country’s gross domestic product (GDP) expanded between 6.2 and 7.2 percent in the fourth quarter, Economic Planning Secretary Cayetano Paderanga told reporters. With nine-month GDP growth at 7.5 percent (driven by election spending in the first half), the economy’s full-year expansion was placed at 7 to 7.4 percent for the whole year. The government aimed for 5-6 percent GDP growth in 2010. Services, which contributed nearly half of GDP, also performed well in the fourth quarter. Paderanga said the sector, which included the booming business process outsourcing, was estimated to have grown anywhere between 5 and 9 percent. Industry growth, which comprised about a third of GDP, grew at a “high single-digit” rate. Agriculture recovered in the fourth quarter, expanding by 6.35 percent, following crop losses in the previous quarters due to the El Niño dry spell. The farming sector slightly contracted (-0.12 percent) for the whole year despite a prolonged drought since early in the year and the spate of typhoons in the latter part of 2010. The agriculture sector, when combined with forestry, contributed almost 20 percent of domestic production. “We will try to attain that as much as we can. With the reforms coming in, perhaps it might be more achievable in 2012 than 2011, but we will still try to hit the target,” Paderanga said. “We will be missing the driver of election spending [but] the global environment is again improving and we hope that improves a lot. I think the numbers coming out of the US and Europe are slightly better than the numbers that were coming out in the last quarter,” Paderanga said. “Maybe sometime during the middle of the year, we will have a better idea of what else to do,” he said. Among the areas that might be evaluated were proposed public-private partnerships and their projected impact on economic growth. “What we’re actually trying to do is try to raise investment rates, so we hope that will add to the growth,” Paderanga said. The bomb placed under the seat in the middle of a passenger bus driven by a man ironically named Maximo Peligro went off just before 2 p.m. on Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA) near the north gate of the upscale Forbes Park subdivision in Makati City. Makati Mayor Junjun Binay said the explosion was so powerful that it punched a hole in a nearby concrete fence. “It appears that it was a big bomb that exploded but we’re still determining what kind of bomb,” said the Makati police chief, Senior Supt. Froilan Bonifacio. The explosion shattered the windows of the air-conditioned bus (Plate No. TXJ-710), which was approaching the loading bay on EDSA and Metro Rail Transit station on Gil Puyat (formerly Buendia) Avenue. Police said the sixth row on the right side of the bus sustained massive damage. The attack came two months after the United States and several other Western governments warned that a terrorist attack in Manila was imminent, and followed a bus hijacking in August last year that left eight Hong Kong tourists dead. The President said terrorists were behind the explosion that ripped through the bus. At a news briefing, Mr. Aquino said he received intelligence reports last year that “a Muslim secessionist group” was planning a “bombing” attack but did not have the resources to mount it. Wondering how the group was able to mount the attack, the President ordered a probe of the bombing. “Everybody can be assured that in the soonest possible time, like many other incidents such as the bar exam bombing, there will be a solution to this situation,” he said. Mr. Aquino expressed his sympathies to the families of those who died and who were wounded in the blast. When he arrived at the site 10 minutes after the explosion, Binay said he saw blood and severed body parts on the bus. He said he also saw a severely injured man through the big hole. Two of the victims were killed on the spot. The two others died in the hospital, police said. Both legs of a female fatality, who was yet to be identified, were cut off from the thighs, according to a survivor. “She must be at least 18 years old,” said Susanna Flores, among the seven passengers brought to Ospital ng Makati. She said the other fatality, Johansson De Leon Reyes, of Plaridel, Bulacan, was covered in blood and “his left leg was at a funny angle as if it had been broken off.” A woman whose identity is yet to be established, sustained a head wound. “I was told she jumped off the bus. She was the first to be wheeled into the hospital,” Flores said. Mary Grace Buen Borondia, 29, of Maybunga, Pasig City, was first brought to Ospital ng Makati but was later transferred to Makati Medical Center. Other casualties brought to Ospital ng Makati were identified as Anabel Gozon, 40, of Barangay Sampaloc, Tanay, Rizal; Antonio Lino, 41, of San Mateo, Rizal; Jeffrey Victoriano, 27, of Taguig City; and Irish Teniola, 22. Ten of the victims were taken to St. Luke’s Medical Center at Bonifacio Global City in Taguig. They were Roy Saguit Rivera, 40; Fe An Padilla Sy, 25; Fleur An Padilla Sy, 48; Aiza Hutalle Peralta, 26; Virgilio Aquino Reyes, 76; Paul Richard Obial Reyes, 41; Jennifer Valdez Andoque, 19; Veronica Sanchez Gando, 24; and Gloria Aquino Reyes, 71. An investigation report issued by the Makati police Tuesday night said the fatalities were Johansson De Leon Reyes, who died on the spot; Mariano Magayaw Salustiano, 57; Shirley Khristel Hausena Andes, a female wearing a silver necklace marked “Krish” and an unidentified man brought to St. Luke’s who died while being treated. The report was signed by Chief Insp. Genaro Peruda, staff duty officer. A doctor said those who survived the blast sustained minor injuries, mostly in the feet. “Basically these are minor injuries. We haven’t seen anyone with a fracture,” said Dr. Joven Cuanang, chief medical officer at St. Luke’s Medical Center. Maximo Peligro and Michael Haralde, the driver and conductor of the bus, respectively, were taken into police custody for investigation. At a Makati police station, Peligro said he smelled gunpowder right after the blast. “If it was a normal explosion, there would be no smell of gunpowder,” he told reporters. He discounted mechanical failure as the cause of the explosion, saying that the bus was well-maintained. Peligro, who was unharmed, said that the bus windshield was not damaged by the explosion. He said he kicked it to enable him and the other passengers to get off the vehicle. He said two men, who acted strangely, quickly got off the bus just moments before the explosion. “They were moving from one seat to another although we had no idea there was an explosive aboard,” Peligro said. Haralde said the two men hopped on the bus in Baclaran, Parañaque City, took seats in the middle section and got off on Evangelista Street in Makati. Haralde, who sustained injuries on both legs, said the bus had 20 passengers when it left Baclaran. It became almost full when it stopped at a loading bay on Evangelista. He said almost half the passengers disembarked at EDSA Ayala. The driver and the conductor said the explosion happened before the bus reached EDSA corner Buendia. Authorities are considering an improvised explosive device as the cause of the blast. “We have yet to gather all the debris and reconstruct the fragments to categorically determine what type of explosive material was used,” said Director Nicanor Bartolome of the National Capital Region Police Office. Bartolome said the footage taken by the closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) would be a big help. MMDA Chair Francis Tolentino said the agency had turned over copies of footage from its CCTV cameras to investigators hoping to find out the identities of the suspects. For more than four hours, the road from Ayala to Buendia was closed off to traffic to allow police to examine the scene, resulting in heavy buildup of vehicles along the northbound at grade section of the Skyway and along EDSA from Roxas Boulevard. The bus was moved to the Southern Police District (SPD) in Taguig City at 7:45 p.m. where investigators will conduct further technical investigation of the vehicle. Mr. Aquino inspected the bus half an hour later for about 15 minutes. He was joined by Bartolome and Chief Supt. Jose de los Santos of the SPD. He visited the victims at St. Luke’s Medical Center Tuesday night. With a report from Agence France-Presse |
U.S. Stocks Erase Losses Amid Optimism About State of the Union Speech U.S. stocks erased losses in a late- session rebound that sent the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index higher for a third day as investors speculated President Barack Obama will announce plans to stimulate the economy. Verizon Communications Inc. and Travelers Cos. added at least 1.1 percent after reporting earnings that beat analysts’ estimates.Harley-Davidson Inc., the biggest U.S. motorcycle maker, rose the most in more than three months after its fourth- quarter loss narrowed and its financial-services unit posted a profit. American Express Co. and Johnson & Johnson, which helped lead the market lower earlier, lost more than 1.7 percent after reporting earnings that disappointed investors. The S&P 500 rose less than 0.1 percent to 1,291.18 at 4 p.m. in New York after slumping as much as 0.8 percent earlier. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 3.33 points, or less than 0.1 percent, to 11,977.19, reversing most of a 82-point decline. “People tried to take the market lower, but the bulls did not let it happen," said Alan Gayle, senior investment strategist at RidgeWorth Capital Management in Richmond, Virginia, which oversees $52.5 billion. ‘‘The trend for stocks is up. There are also some expectations on what the State of the Union address will be. Some people didn’t want to go short on a day like today."
The government’s sale of $35 billion of two-year notes attracted more demand than the average of the last 10 auctions of the securities. Obama will call in his State of the Union speech for the spending freeze as a way to reduce the federal government’s budget shortfall, according to Melody Barnes, director of the president’s domestic policy council. The Federal Reserve bought $7.7 billion of Treasuries to help spur growth. “It’s too early to tell whether words will turn into action, but the market is romancing the concept,” said Russ Certo, a managing director and co-head of rates trading at Gleacher and Co. in New York. “In a risk-off day with equities low, the auction coming in on the screws, aggressive buying from the Fed and a preamble to the State of the Union news, Treasuries have responded with a bid.” Thirty-year bond yields tumbled as much as nine basis points, the most on an intraday basis since Dec. 31, before trading at 4.49 percent at 5:15 p.m. in New York, down seven basis points, according to BGCantor Market Data. The price of the 4.25 percent security due in November 2040 rose 31/32, or $9.69 per $1,000 face amount, to 96 1/32. One basis point is 0.01 percentage point. The benchmark 10-year note yield dropped as much as 10 basis points, the most since Dec. 29, to 3.31 percent. The current two-year yield fell five basis points to 0.58 percent. |
Oil Trades Near Eight-Week Low on Signs of Slowing Fuel Demand Crude oil traded near an eight-week low because of concern fuel demand will be curbed amid signs of slowing economic growth in the U.S. and the U.K. Oil was near $86 a barrel in New York after tumbling 1.9 percent yesterday as U.S. residential real estate prices declined by the most in a year in November in an S&P/Case Shiller report and U.K. gross domestic product unexpectedly shrank in the fourth quarter. Futures for March delivery declined traded at $86.29 a barrel, up 10 cents, on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 7:29 a.m. Singapore time. Prices closed at $86.19 yesterday, the lowest settlement since Nov. 30. Futures are down 5.5 percent this year. Brent crude for March settlement slid $1.36, or 1.4 percent, to $95.25 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange yesterday. |
Sources: Bloomberg, Reuters, www.inquirer.net, www.philstar.com, www.bworldonline.com, www.cnnmoney.com
Jonathan Ravelas
Chief Market Strategist
(632) 858-3145
Rhys Cruz
Junior Researcher
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