Biz buzz: Tetangco’s pick

For the 12th and possibly last time, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. started his year on the public speaking circuit with a policy speech Thursday before members of the Rotary Club of Manila, the country’s oldest chapter of the international civic club of businessmen and community leaders.

Toward the end of his speech— where he predicted another banner year for the Philippine economy (seriously, he did)—the BSP chief waxed philosophical about how the number “12” held special meaning in the realm of timekeeping, with there being 12 hours in a traditional clock face, as well as 12 months in a year, among others.

This prompted a number of puzzled looks among club members who were trying to ponder whether Tetangco was speaking about the end of his service after 12 long years… or whether it was the start of a new cycle, given the growing clamor for him to stay on at the helm of the central bank.

This naturally prompted the club’s president-elect, Jose “Jimmie” Policarpio Jr. to begin the open forum by cutting to the chase, and asking Tetangco about the legal limit on his BSP stint, and whether he would consider serving a fresh term should the law be amended to allow this.

And like a true central banker accustomed to keeping markets guessing as to where interest rates are heading, Tetangco kept his cards close to his chest, saying that “the law provides only for a maximum of two terms, and I’m now on my second term.

“At this point in time, the limit is there,” he added, conveniently sidestepping the issue about the possible amendment to the law.

But, he quickly added, tipping his cards just a little bit to titillate the assembled businessmen, “if it is not possible that I continue, there are qualified successors. Specifically, those who have had central bank experience would be good candidates.”

And which candidates could Tetangco be talking about?

Three come to mind, according to central bank insiders.

First is Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo, an economist who rose through the BSP’s ranks in its research department, and who currently heads its treasury operations responsible for keeping the peso steady.

Then there’s Deputy Governor Nestor Espenilla Jr., the man in charge of banking supervision and making sure financial institutions follow the rules—the designated “bad cop” whom errant bankers love to hate.

Finally, there’s former Monetary Board Member Peter Favila. After his stint on MB, he now works as a BSP consultant and is Tetangco’s chief troubleshooter for problems that cannot be easily fixed via normal channels. The former Trade Secretary of President Arroyo is known to have resolved many a problem for the central bank via back channeling means.

Take your pick. —DAXIM L. LUCAS

The next premier?

If and when the Philippines shifts to a federal form of government using the French parliamentary model, with both a President and a Prime Minister, who could then serve as the latter?

The talk around town—economist Bernardo Villegas mentioned in passing during an economic briefing Thursday—is that former President Arroyo could be the next premier while President Duterte will remain President under a federal Philippines.

The University of Asia and the Pacific economist says this is only “chismis,” but adding that it’s plausible given how close GMA is to Duterte.

With GMA now serving as Deputy Speaker at the Lower House, he said she could become the next Speaker if the current boss of the House of Representatives, Pantaleon Alvarez, moves to Malacañang for a Cabinet post.

But personally, Villegas doesn’t believe in the urgency of the Philippines having to shift to federalism.

Although Villegas is very upbeat on Duterte’s vow to bring the Philippines to a golden age of infrastructure, the so-called “Prophet of Boom” isn’t too optimistic that the shift to federalism could be fleshed out.

“Looking at the record of what they are trying to push in Congress, I don’t think they will succeed. There will be so much opposition and I think it’s not something that Duterte will die for,” he said. —DORIS DUMLAO-ABADILLA

Data privacy wake up call

Commission on Elections Chair Andres Bautista faced an early shocker this year, after the National Privacy Commission deemed him criminally liable in the run up to a hacking incident in March last year.

That event has been dubbed “Comeleak,” since personal details from millions of voters were uploaded to a website that has since been taken down.

Of course, that alone is cause for alarm, since the data could potentially be used for illegal acts. And since nothing really disappears on the internet, there’s no telling if and when the data could resurface, or if those with ill intent have obtained access to the information.

Interestingly, we’ve spoken to more than a few individuals who sympathize with Bautista, a lawyer and head of a real estate company before entering government service.

The commission largely blames Bautista alone for failing to implement even a basic policy on privacy protection (he said he was waiting for the appropriate standards from the privacy commission).

After all, we can imagine more than a few (non-tech) company CEOs pondering privacy protection, before deferring to their own IT experts to focus on other, more relatable issues.

Bautista admitted as much in responding to the Privacy Commission’s decision.

“As head of agency, in areas where i did not have specific expertise, I generally trusted the advice and recommendations of our IT experts,” he said.

“And if Comelec IT specialists directly in charge of operating the website were found not liable, what more those who merely oversee their work and in particular, the head of agency,” Bautista said.

Of course, the Data Privacy Law was passed way back in 2012, but Bautista  said the Comelec also did what it could, despite the absence of the implementing rules and regulations, which only came out last August 2016.

If that sounds awfully familiar, it is. There are some parallelisms here with a major telecommunications merger last year that was executed and then challenged, with the issue also revolving around the timing of the release of the antitrust body’s IRR.

It would be interesting to see how the courts ultimately deal with those cases.

Nevertheless, underpinning this whole issue is the importance of data privacy, and how vulnerable we truly are in this digital age.

Government and private agencies should always be vigilant in protecting sensitive information.

The hacking of Comelec should serve as a wake-up call, Privacy Commission commissioner Raymond Liboro said.

“The Data Privacy act is a 21st century law to address 21st century crimes and concerns,” he said. “So there’s a big responsibly from those that process this information. Protection should start with them.” —MIGUEL R. CAMUS