Everyone wants to get into the act

It took a non-government entity like the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines to expose the rampant and wide-scale smuggling of our locally-mined minerals. Our country is so rich in minerals, in fact it is no. 1 in the world in terms of geologic potentials, and to realize that unscrupulous persons, or entities, are spiriting these out of the country to benefit only themselves and these foreign countries is appalling. And to realize further that this has been going on unchecked for some time now, right under the nose of the Bureau of Customs and the umbrella agency, the Department of Finance, is also very disconcerting.

The technical smuggling happened because, as usual, loopholes were created within an otherwise sound system of governance. Previously, all transport permits for these local minerals were only issued by the DENR. Somewhere along the way, the local government units, going by their local government codes, started issuing small scale mining permits for extraction and eventual shipment to other foreign countries, notably China. These small scale miners did not bother with certifications from the DENR which required, among others the submission of ECCs (Environmental Compliance Certification). The unregulated and unmonitored amount of minerals extracted and shipped out of the Philippines, of course, went on unchallenged, and the National Government had no official records to go by, so no one has an accurate knowledge of just how much has been shipped out in recent times.

In the past, there was rampant smuggling of gold through the backdoor that is Mindanao. We must realize that, per the reckoning of the Chamber of Mines, nearly half of the gold produced in the Philippines is from small scale mining, and these go largely unregulated. Now, along with gold, the high degree of smuggling includes nickel and copper concentrate, as well as chromium. These high-value minerals are precisely what we export legitimately to other countries, to traditional markets like the United States and lately to other countries in Asia. We have found new major trading partners in Japan, China and lately India for these high-value minerals, as well as for the lesser value ones like manganese and iron ore. Last year, according to Chamber of Mines of the Philippines president Benjamin Philip Romualdez, mineral exports reached $3,299,000,000 and the figures are still increasing. The tremendous geologic potentials of the country can really lift us out of our economic woes if only they are managed well.

Anyway, because the Chamber of Mines pursued the issue doggedly, the Minerals Development Council was created under an executive order comprised of 14 government departments and line agencies and three local government associations (the League of Governors, League of Municipalities and Barangay Councils) headed by the DENR Secretary. Hopefully, with this council serving as the country’s watchdog, they can forge closer ties with all the entities involved, and the Bureau of Customs and the Dept. of Finance will be able to come up with tighter regulations to rein in the technical smuggling.

Indeed, the benefits of these home-grown minerals should redound not only to a few people and most definitely not to foreign governments. As the advocacies of the Chamber of Mines dictate, the benefits should redound to the communities, especially to those that play host to the profitable mining activities, and ultimately to the Filipino people who own these raw ores and minerals. These advocacies include moving the industry forward through ethical, environmentally-safe practices and moving mineral resources through proper development mechanism. The bottom line is still social responsibility, not only to the communities and to all the stakeholders concerned but to Mother Earth as well. This includes protecting the rights of the indigenous people in the communities where large-scale mining is conducted, and protecting their heritage as well.

Rural Banks are no longer parochial

I recently had an on-camera chat with the president of the Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines, Tomas “Mitch” Gomez IV who enthused about the current state of the rural banks sector in the country.

For the past few years, the rural banks have had a strong presence in the country, and their growth has been steadily increasing. For 2007, though, they reported an unprecedented growth rate of 21 percent, the rural bankers’ all-time high. Their loan portfolio stood at P93.3 billion, versus the previous year’s P77.1 billion, and their deposit liability rose to a very respectable 20 percent, and even higher.

Rural banks have traditionally catered to micro, small and medium enterprises and as such have a tremendous social impact to their customers’ base in the countryside. Over the last six or seven years, they have been gaining in the market share from commercial and thrift banks, and these growth indicators like loan portfolios, deposit liabilities and total assets have been amazing. No longer are these rural banks single-community based-they have moved out of their parochial image of yore, and they are branching out aggressively. To date, there are about 40 to 50 applications pending with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) for new rural bank branches.

The erstwhile humble rural bank is no more. Today, the average rural bank has about three branches, while some have 20 to 30 branches. The biggest has almost 70 branches, and this is in Mindanao. We attribute this to the softened policies of the BSP, which liberalized bank branching guidelines in the countryside, allowing for accelerated growth in the rural bank sector. The rural bankers took advantage of the liberal environment to improve their markets and extend their, and now they are a force to reckon with.

As proof of the dynamism of this sector, consider that ATMs have been cropping up furiously in rural banks. Five years ago, this was unheard of, but lately, close to 190 ATMs have been deployed in over 40 rural banks and of this, 90 were put up in the last 12 months. Easily 90 percent of these ATMs are found in the countryside.

Rural banks are also already into mobile phone banking as well, did you know?

There have also been significant consolidations, mergers and acquisitions that we do not hear about, but these have contributed to a much stronger, stable banking sector because the larger rural banks, those with good capital positions, are able to manage risks better and tap new and bigger markets. They are working to serve as conduits for the agricultural loans for marginal farmers in support of the country’s rice program, and working closely with the government’s Small Business Corporation (SBC) to propagate risk-based lending movement using credit- scoring models developed by SBC.

We’ve never seen the rural bank sector this dynamic!

Memories....and More

Yes, we’re still getting them. Thanks to Myrna Apolinario for this: “Nabasa ko po yung mga old TV programs na I truly enjoyed in my youth sa column ninyo. Puede nyo pong idagdag yung Buhay Artista ni Dolphy, at yung Panagimpan, starring my favorite Ms. Marlene Dauden. Thank you and more power!”

We’d still love to hear from you. Keep those contributions coming. Just write them all to us and share these memories with the others.

Mabuhay!!! Be proud to be a Filipino.

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