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Tag: Duterte

  • The Philippines to loosen restrictions on foreign retailers

    The Philippines to loosen restrictions on foreign retailers

    President Rodrigo Duterte has signed into law a measure that would further open up the Philippine retail sector to more foreign retail businesses by lowering their required paid-up capital.

    Republic Act (RA) 11595, which amends RA 8762, also known as the Retail Liberalization Act of 2000, was signed by Duterte on Dec. 10, 2021, and was released to reporters on Thursday.

    Duterte earlier certified the bill as urgent as part of efforts to encourage the entry of more investors and further boost economic recovery amid the prevailing coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.

    Under the law, “a foreign retailer shall have a minimum paid-up capital of PHP25 million.”

    The current law sets the required capital at USD2.5 million or PHP119.67 million.

    The law also mandates the entry of foreign retailers coming from countries that do not prohibit the entry of Filipino retailers.

    In the case of foreign retailers engaged in retail trade through more than one physical store, the minimum investment per store must be at least PHP10 million “provided that this requirement shall not apply to foreign investors and foreign retailers who are legitimately engaged in retail trade and were not required to comply with the minimum investment per store at the time of the effectivity of this Act.”

    The Department of Trade and Industry, Securities and Exchange Commission, and the National Economic and Development Authority shall review the required minimum paid-up capital every three years and their recommendations should be submitted to Congress.

    Foreign retailers are encouraged to have a stock inventory of products that are made in the Philippines.

    As for penalties, violators may face imprisonment of not less than four to six years and a fine of not less than PHP1 million but not more than PHP5 million.

    In the case of partnerships, associations, or corporations, the penalty shall be imposed upon its partners, president, directors, general manager, and other officers responsible for the violation.

    If the offender is not a citizen of the Philippines, he or she shall be deported immediately after the service of sentence.

    If the Filipino offender is a public officer or employee, he or she shall, in addition to the penalty prescribed, suffer dismissal and permanent disqualification from public office.

    RA 11595 is a consolidation of House of Representatives Bill 59 and Senate Bill 1840 passed by the House and the Senate on September 21 and 20 last year, respectively.

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  • Philippines island Boracay reopens for test run following huge cleanup

    Philippines island Boracay reopens for test run following huge cleanup

    Boracay, one of the world’s most famous beach destinations, has reopened for a limited-numbers test run almost six months after closing for a cleanup operation to reverse the fortunes of the resort island once labeled a “cesspool” by Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte. The sun was out to welcome a small group of tourists from the province of Aklan, where the island is located, and other parts of Western Visayas. The group was invited to test the newly improved facilities, which include a comprehensive overhaul of the island’s outdated and insufficient sewerage.

    The resort island, which was shuttered in April for six months for rehabilitation work, is scheduled to reopen further later this month — labeled a “soft opening” by authorities. Its famous white-sand beaches were signed off in August as “very clean” and safe for swimming, according to Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu. While the cleanup has left the beaches immaculate and the waters crystal clear, significant work needs to be done to get the road system up to speed before larger numbers of tourists are allowed back on the island.

    Tourists asked to manage expectations

    On Monday, Cimatu told  in a Facebook Live-broadcast panel, which featured the four secretaries who make up an inter-agency task force, that the sewerage and drainage for 68 accommodation establishments cleared to open was “100%” complete. The system overhaul cost over 1 billion pesos ($18.5 million), Tourism Secretary Berna Romulo-Puyat said during the discussion. While some road surfaces were not yet completed they would be “significantly finished” — 75-80% — by the wider opening on October 26, Public Works and Highways Secretary Mark Villar said.

    The full rehabilitation could take up to two years, the panel said, and while Romulo-Puyat praised reform efforts she said tourists should “manage expectations” during this period. Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año told Coren and Webb that almost 200 illegal structures had been demolished, many voluntarily and by their owners.

    Strict laws

    The new-look Boracay will be subject to rigorously enforced by-laws, the panel said, including limits to combustion engine transport, a ban on single-use plastics and offshore zones for watersports, providing a 100-meter (328-feet) swimming area from shore. Deckchairs and tables, as well as beachside entrepreneurs like masseuses and snack and drink vendors, will be banned from the beach, as will the famous fire dancers, who will have to make do with LED lights instead of the kerosene-soaked torches they used before the shutdown.

    The island should be a model of sustainable tourism, Romulo-Puyat said, and the panel stated that following the overhaul the famous island could regain its crown as one of the world’s best beach resorts.

    “We can make Boracay one of the most prestigious tourist destinations in the world,” Año said. Romulo-Puyat added that “when (the rehabilitation) is all done,” Duterte will visit the island, perhaps next year.<

    Economy needs a kickstart

    The island’s residents have been eagerly awaiting the return of the tourists and were thrilled to welcome the advance party — the last six months have been a struggle for many, especially the large numbers who rely on tourism for their livelihoods.

    During the cleanup operation, many of the 11,000 residents participated in the government’s “cash for work” program, which paid a daily minimum wage of 323 pesos ($6). In August, Lilibeth Panganiban, who sells rice cakes on a street corner, told that she’s seen her daily income drop from 1,800 pesos to 500 pesos, or even less.

    Overdue cleanup

    The archipelago nation of the Philippines boasts well over 7,000 islands. Among them, Boracay had become almost a byword for white-sand beach paradise.

    But with the influx of tourists that began in the 1980s, the island has struggled to maintain its idyllic allure. Last year almost 1.7 million tourists, including a significant number of cruise line passengers, visited the island during a 10-month period, according to the governmental Philippines Information Agency. Among the problems caused by the island’s long-running tourism boom were unregulated development, and pipes carrying raw effluence directly into the sea.

    In a survey of the island’s sewerage facilities prior to the closure, the vast majority — 716 of 834 — of residential and business properties were found to have no discharge permit and were presumed to be draining waste water directly into the sea, according to a report by the official Philippines News Agency.

    In February Duterte directly called out the alleged mismanagement of the island, accusing those responsible of turning it into a “cesspool.”

    “As long as there is shit coming out of those pipes draining to the sea, I will never give you the time of the day (to return)” to the island, he said at the time.

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  • Duterte sets up third telco oversight committee

    Duterte sets up third telco oversight committee

    Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte has established an oversight committee to support his ongoing goal of attracting a third telco player into the market.

    The president has signed an administrative order establishing the committee, which will work to ensure that the entry of a new major player into the telecom market is undertaken in “an integrated and transparent manner.”

    The committee will consist of a representative from the department of ICT as a chairperson, from the department of finance as a vice-chair, from the Office of the Executive Secretary and from the National Security Adviser.

    It will be tasked with assisting regulator NTC with the formulation of terms of reference for the selection and assignment of radio frequencies to the proposed new player and oversee timely implementation of the third telco policy.

    The committee will also have the power to call on government agencies for assistance if needed.

    Duterte has been pushing for some time to introduce a third player to break the PLDT-Globe duopoly. The ICT department has previously indicated plans to hold a “beauty contest” selection process some time this year, and Duterte has been courting Chinese operators to take a minority interest in the proposed new player.

    But the government has missed its deadline of ensuring a third player was up and running by March, and has now moved this deadline until the end of June or July.

  • Philippines’ Duterte urges fast-track for third telco

    Philippines’ Duterte urges fast-track for third telco

    The Philippines’ president Rodrigo Duterte has announced plans to fast-track the entry of a third operator into the market, and wants the operator to be up and running within the first three months of next year.

    Duterte has directed the Department of Information and Communications Technology and regulator the National Telecommunications Commission to approve all applications and licenses within seven days of a completed submission.

    The president last month approached the Chinese government with the opportunity to become the Philippines’ third major player in partnership with a local company. The as-yet unnamed Chinese telco would take a 40% stake in the venture with a consortium of local companies expected to own the remaining 60%.

    Philippines’ courts have meanwhile been warned against interfering and prolonging the process of the entry of the third player.

    The government has meanwhile moved to allay fears that China’s entry into the telecoms sector may compromise national security in light of the ongoing South China Sea dispute, noting that foreign players already hold minority stakes in incumbent operators Globe and PLDT.

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  • Duterte may break Philippine telecoms duopoly

    Duterte may break Philippine telecoms duopoly

    Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte has threatened to break up the market’s telecoms duopoly if incumbent operators Globe and PLDT do not improve their services.

    Duterte has indicated he may bring in competitors from China unless consumer complaints about poor service quality and slow internet speeds are addressed.

    According to sources quoted in the report, when Australia’s Telstra tried to enter the Philippines market last year, the company was met with a hostile reception from the former Aquino administration, with the company told that the president supports PLDT and Globe and that cases seeking to delay its entry into the market will be filed in court.

    But Duterte has by contrast taken a more antagonistic approach to the oligarchs controlling PLDT and Globe, and is more receptive to disrupting the duopoly.

    China’s state-owned operators are likely to jump at the chance to enter the Philippines market, and if the Philippine Competition Commission blocks the planned sale of conglomerate San Miguel Corp’s 700-MHz spectrum to Globe and PLDT, Chinese operators would have a go-to partner for a Philippine venture.

    Philippine consumers have long complained about the market’s slow internet speeds. Akamai’s recent State of the Internet report measures the Philippines’ average speed at 4.3Mbps, well below the global average of 6.1Mbps.

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  • Philippines to develop national broadband plan

    Philippines to develop national broadband plan

    Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte announced in his first State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday that he wants the newly created Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) to develop a national broadband plan to accelerate the deployment of fiber and wireless technologies to improve internet speed.

    He also announced that Wi-Fi access shall be provided at no charge in selected public places, including parks, places, public libraries, schools, government hospitals, train stations, airports, and seaports.

    A previous government initiative to establish a National Broadband Network (NBN) was scrapped in 2007 after the $329-million contract awarded to Chinese telecommunications firm ZTE for the project had been investigated in the Senate.

    In 2011, the then Commission on Information Communications Technologies (CICT) had also released a five-year digital roadmap that aimed to craft a vision for ICT use in governance, including the creation of a national broadband policy that would enable the environment for broadband development and use.

    Duterte’s call for a new national broadband plan came on the heels of a wide public clamor for fast and affordable internet. The Philippines had ranked poorly in many global indices for digital readiness.

    The country trails behind its Southeast Asian neighbors, for example, in the latest Network Readiness Index published by the World Economic Forum, which measures how economies use the opportunities offered by ICT for increased competitiveness. At 77th place in a 139-country study, the Philippines was behind Singapore (1st), Malaysia (31st), Thailand (62nd), Indonesia (73rd).

    Duterte’s assumption into office on June 30 came at a favorable time as the law mandating the creation of the DICT as the primary body that would create policies and drive the national ICT agenda was signed by former President Benigno Simeon Aquino III last May.

    The country’s first appointed DICT Secretary Rodolfo A. Salalima affirmed in his first media interview that the government cannot expect the commercial service providers to be in all parts of the country and there would be a need for the government to establish an ‘infostructure’ in the countryside and provide service.

    Shortly before Duterte’s inauguration as the country’s 16th president last June, Globe Telecom had called on the government to help develop broadband access in the Philippines by investing in internet infrastructure in rural and far-flung areas.Globe President and CEO Ernest Cu said in a media statement that telecommunication operators in the country are unable to deploy infrastructure in rural areas due to business viability issues.

    “There are a lot of localities in the country that cannot be reached economically. What we propose is for the government to build the infrastructure, such as submarine cables, and then rent these facilities out to telco operators,” he said, citing the case of Sulu and Basilan provinces in the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao.

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