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Tuesday, December 28, 2004
Investors express interest in looking for RP oil, gas
By Fred C. Espinoza
LESS CONFIDENCE. While there has been much optimism about the business prospects for the Philippines on account of the soaring investments in all government-declared economic zones across the country, the sharply weakened consumer confidence this quarter has become the highlight of the latest Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas survey on consumer expectations, a report said.
Consumer confidence has weakened due to rising commodity prices and deteriorating household incomes.
About 57 percent of the sample households rated their economic situation as “worse” than a year ago. Some 35 percent said it was “stable,” and only eight percent “felt better now compared to a year ago,” according to the BSP survey for the fourth quarter diffusion index (DI) of households in Metro Manila.
The DI is the difference between the share of households that answered in the affirmative and those that replied in the negative for a given indicator.
The only ray of hope, it seems, was reported on the growing interest of some Japanese investors in the energy potential of some areas in the country.
The latest report said the government has awarded to Japan Petroleum Exploration Co. (Japex) “a petroleum service contract to explore oil and gas reserves over the Tañon Straits in Negros Occidental.” Japex, the second firm to have been awarded a petroleum service contract after the Supreme Court early last month declared the Mining Act constitutional, will infuse some $12.7 million to undertake the activity for seven years.
PRO-FILIPINO LAW. But this little auspicious beginning could sputter away if word will reach the ears of the foreign investors that legislators in the House of Representatives are already thinking of “amending the Mining Act of 1995, or enacting a new law that will be more pro-Filipino,” the report said.
It was reported that several legislators found “unacceptable” the Supreme Court interpretation of some provisions of the Constitution that are related to the Mining Act.
Quezon Rep. Lorenzo R. Tañada III, together with Bayan Muna Rep. Joel G.Virador and Bukidnon Rep. Teofisto Guingona III, spearheaded a forum on mining for House legislators before Congress adjourned for its Christmas break last week.
The group maintains the view that the SC interpreted the word “involving” in paragraph four of Section 2, Article 12 of the 1987 Constitution as “including,” which now allows foreign-owned corporations to operate and manage mining operations, aside from entering into financial and technical assistance agreement.
LOW RANKING. As this developed, some sectors in the business community here have already expressed their concern over the “low competitive ranking of the Philippines in Asia.”
As reported yesterday, government and private sector representatives “were one in denouncing the policies that have caused the country to slide in its competitiveness.”
“It will be a national shame if a country like Bangladesh will overtake us, and this is not a remote possibility,” Nelia Navarro of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said during a presentation of the 2004 World Competitiveness Yearbook results at the University of San Carlos (USC).
In the case of Japex, this could very well serve as a positive signal for other foreign investors to make up their minds soon if they expect to enhance the growth of their investments in the country. The Department of Energy has also awarded to Hong Kong listed firm South Sea Petroleum Holdings Ltd. Service Contract 45 to explore oil and gas in the Agusan-Davao Basin.
I doubt if our legislators and the economic planners of the Arroyo administration are really working together as an economic team at this critical phase of our struggle for economic survival. Even among our economic observers, the lament is that “we, Filipinos, are so good at planning, and consistently come up with impressive plans and blueprints for development—but it is in the implementation that we fail.”
This point was raised by former chief of the National Economic and Development Authority, Cielito Habito, who is trying to find out whether the Medium–Term Philippine Development Plan (MTPDP) can be implemented.
What may have led him to raise the question was perhaps the lack of concerted action on the ground, which would give a clearer idea of when to expect the benefits from the MTPDP to finally filter down to the masses.
(December 28, 2004 issue)
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