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4 days ago2 min read

Climate change supercharged late typhoon season in the Philippines

Climate change is making the Philippines more vulnerable to tropical storms, with rising temperatures already putting the country at nearly double the risk of deadly typhoons, scientists said in a report.

The unprecedented formation of four typhoons around the Philippines last month was made 70% more likely as a result of global temperature rises of 1.3 degrees Celsius (2.3 degrees Fahrenheit), researchers with the World Weather Attribution group said in a report.

Though scientists are cautious when it comes to attributing individual weather events to climate change, the consensus is that warmer oceans are intensifying rainfall and wind speeds across the globe.

“Climate change made the conditions that formed and fueled the typhoons nearly twice as likely,” the group said.

Hundreds of thousands of people were evacuated and more than 170 people killed during an unprecedented sequence of six tropical cyclones that landed in the country in October and November, raising concerns that storm activity was being turbocharged by higher sea surface temperatures.

“The storms were more likely to develop more strongly and reach the Philippines at a higher intensity than they otherwise would have,” said Ben Clarke, a weather researcher at Imperial College London, one of the report’s authors.

If temperatures rise to 2.6 Celsius above pre-industrial levels, those same storm conditions would be 40% more likely compared to now, he added.

An analysis published last month by U.S. weather researchers Climate Central said that hurricanes had intensified significantly as a result of record-breaking ocean warming, with wind speeds up by 18 miles per hour (29 kph).

Scientists believe warmer ocean temperatures are intensifying tropical storms by increasing the rate of evaporation. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said in its latest assessment that there was “high confidence” that global warming would make storms more intense.

It is still unclear whether or not rising temperatures would extend the normal typhoon season or make tropical storms more frequent, but climate activists are concerned.

“We used to have what we called a hazard calendar – now it is just basically the whole year around,” said Afrhill Rances, the Philippines’ representative with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

Source: Business World

Ziggurat Realestatecorp

Dec 112 min read

Digital payments: How the Philippine economy gains from it

Real-time digital payments are projected to provide banking access to nearly 21 million unbanked Filipinos and contribute to economic growth, according to a report by global payments software provider ACI Worldwide.

The report that ACI published in partnership with London-based economic consultancy firm The Centre for Economics and Business Research used data from 40 countries to try to establish an “empirical link” between real-time payments and financial inclusion.

ACI said that boosting financial inclusion by promoting instant payments could contribute an additional $323 million to the Philippines’ gross domestic product (GDP) by 2028.

Meanwhile, the estimated increase in banked Filipinos presents a profit opportunity of $28.7 billion for Philippine financial institutions by 2028, which ACI calculated “based on the typical customer lifetime value estimated at $1,375.“

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Digital payments: Its profit prospects for banks

Globally, ACI said instant payments are expected to contribute an additional $285.8 billion to global GDP and create more than 167 million new bank account holders by 2028.

“The rise of real-time payments has the potential to open up banking access to millions of new customers, presenting significant growth and profit potential for banks that capitalize on this to modernize and streamline payment technology and services,” said Leslie Choo, senior vice president at ACI.

Latest data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed that the share of digital payments to total retail payment transactions in the country had grown to 52.8 percent in 2023, from 42.1 percent in 2022.

It was a feat that exceeded the expectations of the central bank, which hoped to digitalize 50 percent of retail payments in the country by 2023. This, in turn, bodes well for the BSP’s goal to capture 70 percent of adult Filipinos into the formal financial system by 2023.

The central bank had said its next goal is to digitalize 60 to 70 percent of retail payments in the country by 2028.

“Real-time payments have asserted their role as a powerful enabler for societal transformation, bridging critical gaps in financial access and empowering millions of Filipinos,” Choo said

Source: Inquirer

Ziggurat Realestatecorp

Dec 64 min read

PHL improves in bribery risk ranking

The Philippines improved its ranking in a global index assessing business bribery in over 190 economies.

This, as the National Government cited major strides in its fight against corrupt practices including the digitalization of state transactions and vowed to draw lessons from other countries’ anti-corruption mechanisms.

Manila rose eight spots to 111th place out of 194 countries in the 2024 edition of the Bribery Risk Matrix by nonprofit businesses group TRACE.

The Philippines received a score of 52 out of 100, indicating a “moderate risk” level.

While the country’s ranking in the latest index improved, its overall score fell by two points from 54 in the 2023 edition, where the country ranked 119th.

The index assessed countries in four domains such as opportunity risk, which refers to business transactions with the government, and deterrence risk, which measures a country’s ability to deter and prosecute bribery offenses.

The two other domains are transparency risk, which measures the government’s openness in terms of public budget and potential financial conflicts, and oversight risk, which refers to the role played by nonstate actors in monitoring and controlling corruption.

Among select East and Southeast Asian countries, the Philippines was behind Mongolia (99th) Thailand (89th), Malaysia (81st), Timor-Leste (75th), Indonesia (66th), Hong Kong (37th), Singapore (25th), Taiwan (22nd), South Korea (21st), and Japan (10th).

The Philippines was just ahead of Brunei Darussalam (115th), Vietnam (123rd), China (142nd), Myanmar (163rd), Laos (165th), Cambodia (170th), and North Korea (194th).

Among the four domains, the Philippines got the highest score in deterrence risk at 75.

It received a score of 50 in opportunity risk, 49 in transparency risk and 44 in oversight risk.

The latest bribery risk index was released just as the Philippines held the 5th Conference on the Review and Implementation of its participation in the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), and as the country’s second-highest official is hounded by an impeachment complaint in which bribery was cited as one of the grounds.

The treaty, which was signed by Manila in 2003 and was ratified by the Senate in 2006, aims to develop and implement effective and coordinated anti-corruption policies that “promote participation of society” and reflect the principles of the rule of law, proper management of public affairs and public property, transparency, and accountability.

In his speech, President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. said “by learning from and working with other nations, we strengthen our anti-corruption mechanisms while reaffirming our place as a proactive member of the global community.”

“These interconnected efforts form a united approach to fostering a government that is efficient and accountable,” he added. “We continue to collaborate on the international front, emphasizing the importance of global partnerships in combating corruption.”

Mr. Marcos cited major accomplishments in his government’s fight against bribery and other corrupt practices, including the passage of the Government Procurement Act earlier this year.

The law establishes standardized electronic bidding and payment systems through an electronic procurement system.

The law minimizes the risk of corruption and creates “a more detailed audit trail,” he said. “This will in turn provide transparency and proactive government monitoring, thereby ensuring judicious government spending.”

Mr. Marcos said the Philippine government also has an electronic freedom of information platform, where citizens can “exercise their right to vital government information.”

He noted the 2024 procurement law also has provisions that encourage participation from “observers and civil society organizations in procurement” and “make all procurement-related conferences available for public viewing.”

The Philippines continues to struggle with corrupt practices in the public sector even after the end of dictatorship in the 1980s, with the Asian Development Bank estimating that corruption costs the country 1-2% of its gross domestic product annually.

“The current Congressional and Senate hearings on the Office of the Vice-President’s (OVP) budget is a clear manifestation that bribery, as well as other forms of corruption, is indeed notches higher in the administration,” said Leonardo A. Lanzona, who teaches economics at the Ateneo de Manila University.

“Certain people in the government think that they are entitled enough to do anything without accountability.”

He was referring to Vice-President Sara Duterte-Carpio, who is now facing a legal storm after the 316-member House of Representatives launched a probe into her questionable confidential funds at the OVP and the Department of Education.

Ms. Duterte-Carpio, who ran in tandem with Mr. Marcos in the 2022 elections, is now facing an impeachment complaint, which cited 24 grounds including betrayal of public trust, bribery, and high crimes.

“Crony capitalism is back as institutions developed after the EDSA Revolution have grown weaker,” Mr. Lanzona said. “People who were being litigated before are now scot-free because of the patronage and power gained in this administration.”

In his speech at the UNCAC read by Manila Rep. Joel R. Chua, who has been at the forefront of inquiries into Ms. Duterte-Carpio’s questionable use of funds, House Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez said the “ongoing hearings in the House demonstrate our unwavering resolve to uphold accountability and transparency.”

“The fight against corruption is not the responsibility of any one branch of government; it is a collective effort,” he added.

He said the House will work with the Judiciary, Executive agencies, the civil society, and international partners to boost its capacity to “investigate and prosecute, and enforce anti-corruption measures.”

In his speech, Senate President Francis G. Escudero said that in the fight against corrupt practices, “equally important is the proper use of our oversight power not to harass or attack for political gain but to expose and rectify corruption for national progress.”

“One famous formula summarized the cause of corruption as follows. Corruption equals monopoly plus discretion, minus transparency,” Mr. Escudero said. “But for me, I simply define it as corruption equals discretion and vice versa.”

“Minimize discretion, you minimize corruption,” he added. “Eliminate discretion, you eliminate corruption.”

Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort urged the government to push for policies that will encourage the private sector to comply with the environmental, social, and governance standards, which he said are key to minimizing bribery risks in both sectors.

Source: Business World