The American Chamber of Commerce Journal

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Part of The American Chamber of Commerce Journal

Title: The American Chamber of Commerce Journal
Issue Date: Volume XXIX (Issue No. 7) July 1953
Year: 1953
Language: English
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extracted text: Published monthly by the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines 424 San Luis Street, Manila, Philippines — Telephone No. 3-23-24 A. V. H. Hartendorp Editor and Manager Entered as second class matter at the Manila-Post Office on May 25, 1921, and on December 10, 1945 Subscription rate: P5.00 the year; $5.00 in the United States and foreign countries Officers and Members of the Board of Directors of the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines J. H. Carpenter, President; W. C. Palmer, Vice-President; R. J. Baker, Treasurer; F. C. Bennett, S. W. G. Lehman, Paul R. Parrette, E. E. Selph, W. M. Simmons, and Paul H. Wood. Mrs. Virginia Gonder, Executive Vice-President; I. T. Salmo, Secretary Vol. XXIX July, 1953 No. 7 Editorials— Contents The Fourth of July............................................................................................................................................................................................................................ Felicitations to the Philippine Chamber of Commerce...................................................................................................................................................... Import Control and the Banks.................................................................................................................................................................................................... Sweepstakes Ticket Sales and Prosperity................................................................................................................................................................................. “Planting Rice is Never Fun”...................................................................................................................................................................................................... Reply of Ambassador Spruance re Philippine Proposals for the Revision of the 1946 Trade Agreement...................................................................... The Bell Trade Act................................................................................................................... . Richard R. Ely.............................................. Sharp 6s Dohme in the Philippines................................................................................................................... T. A. Coppens................................................... 263 263 263 264 266 268 268 273 The Business View — The Government............................................................................................................................................ Banking and Finance....................................................................................................... Manila Stock Market........................................................................................................ Credit.................................................................................................................................. Electric Power Production......................................................................................................................... Real Estate...................................................................................................................................................... Building Construction...................................................................................................... Port of Manila................................................................................................................................................ Ocean Shipping and Exports..................................................................................................................... Freight Car Loadings................................................................................................................................... Mining................................................................................................................................ Lumber............................................................................................................................................................. Copra and Coconut Oil.................................................................................................... Desiccated Coconut...................................................................................................................................... Sugar.................................................................................................................................. Manila Hemp.................................................................................................................................................. Tobacco............................................................................................................................................................ Imports.............................................................................................................................................................. Automobiles and Trucks (Registrations)....................................................................... Food Products.................................................................................................................. Textiles............................................................................................................................... Legislation, Executive Orders. Court Decisions............................................................ Philippine Safety Council........................................................................................................................... Cost of Living PriceJIndex, 1948-1953..................................................................................... ........................ The "Let Your Hair Down” Column................................................................................................................ Official Sources.................................................. 274 W. M. Simmons................................................ 276 A. C. Hall......................................................... 276 R. A. Callahan............................................... 277 J. F. Cotton..................................................... 277 A. Varias........................................................... 278 J. J. Carlos....................................................... 278 L. R. Wentholt.............................................. 279 B. B. Tunold.................................................... 279 J. B. Libunao................................................... 279 H. A. Brimo....................................................... 280 P. de Ocampo.................................................... 280 E. F. Underwood............................................ 283 H. R. Hick......................................................... 284 J. H. d’Authreau............................................ 285 J. D. Conrad.................................................... 287 L. A. Pujalte................................................... 287 S. ScHMELKES..................................................... 289 Motor Vehicles Office............................. 288 W. E. M. Saul................................................. 290 W. V. Saussotte............................................. 291 E. E. Selph....................................................... 292 F. S. Tenny....................................................... 294 Bureau of the Census and Statistics 295 ............................................................................... 296 50 CENTAVOS THE COPY Mobilgas more economical! PROVED IN 1953 MOBILGAS ECONOMY RUN! Supervised by the American Automobile Association, 25 different makes of cars were driven 1,904 kilometers, averaging 71.9 kilometers an hour... covering city, mountain, and desert driving. 25 competing cars averaged: 9.4 KILOMETERS PER LITER! The winning car averaged: 11.7 KILOMETERS PER LITER! Mobilgas gives you more kilometers per liter! Save Pesos/ Fill up at the sign of the Flying Red Horse! [Mobilgas STANDARD-VACUUM OIL COMPANY PHILIPPINES 7 Editorials “ ... to promote the general welfare” The American Chamber of Commerce of the Philip pines extends its felicitations to the people and Government of the Republic of the Philippines on the The Fourth occasion of the seventh anniversary . of of July the establishment of Philippine independ ence,—on which same day Americans celebrate the 177th anniversity of the Motherland, the United States of America. The Chamber also expresses its sincere well-wishes toward President Elpidio Quirino, now in the United States for medical treatment, and the hope that he will speedily recover from his illness. Felicitations to the Philippine Chamber of Commerce The American Chamber of Commerce of the Philip pines extends its felicitations to the Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of its founding on July 19. By a proclamation recently issued by President Quirino, the week from July 13 to 19 of this and following years has been set aside as Philippine Business Week. The Import Control Commission passed out of exist ence at midnight of June 30 and Business, collectively heaved a shuddering sigh of relief, for, alIrrrport Control though import control will in effect and the Banks continue through the control of foreign exchange transactions, Business looks to the Central Bank and the fourteen commercial banks which are its agents, with the trust that the implementa tion of the control from now on will be much more satis factory. It is generally known that neither the Central Bank nor the commercial banks were at all eager to undertake this new function, but once it became clear that the Central Bank would have to accept the responsibility, it was rea lized that the only way to carry out the implementation would be through the agent banks which, in their turn, have accepted the task without complaint. Bankers have informed the Journal, however, that they would like to have the “sympathetic understanding” of their clients, who, they hope, will realize that .their job is new and difficult and that there may for some time be various delays. They have expressed the belief that after a period of trial and error and adjustment, the control will operate more smoothly than it ever did in the past. The private bankers have pointed out, however, that the authority of the Bankers Committee and the individual banks which compose it, is limited to implementing the regulations and procedures laid down by the Central Bank and that the final decisions in most cases will rest with the Monetary Board. But the Central Bank has particularly asked that all requests for information, quota adjustments, foreign ex change for imports, etc., be routed through the importer’s own bank; it is quite clear that the Central Bank wishes to avoid direct approach by importers and that the Mone tary Board wishes to deal only with the Bankers Com mittee. It is said to be the desire of all the authorities to estab lish a system which will eliminate any suggestion of favorit ism. Authorized Agents of the Centra! Bank of the Philippines: Bank of America, Bank of the Philippine Islands, Chartered Bank of India, Australia & China Bank ing Corporation, Equitable Banking Corporation, Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corporation, National City Bank of New York, People's Bank 8s Trust Company, Philippine Bank of Commerce, Philippine Bank of Communications, Philippine National Bank, Philippine Trust Company, Prudential Bank 8s Trust Company, Security Bank & Trust Company. Officials from these fourteen commercial banks compose the members of the Bankers Committee which is assisting the Central Bank in implementing the rules and regulations on licensing foreign exchange for the payment of imports. The Monetary Board is composed of the Secretary of Finance as the Presiding Officer, and the following members: the Governor of the Central Bank, the Pres ident of the Philippine National Bank, the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Rehabilitation Finance Corporation, and, at present, also the Hon. Jose Yulo and the Hon. Antonio de las Alas by Presidential appointment. 263 To what extent the sales of government sweepstakes tickets every year are influenced by and reflect the general state of the country’s prosperity, Sweepstakes Ticket is a question. Sales and Prosperity Last month, Executive Sec retary Marciano Roque, in his capacity as Acting General Manager and Chairman of the Board of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, in a Malacanan press release, attributed the decrease in sales during the past three or four years to “economic and social factors.” “During the boom years immediately after Liberation, sales sky rocketed to as high as P2,500,000 at each draw and with ?3,000,000 recorded in the first post-liberation sweepstakes. Then money became tight and the decline in sales began. United States payments, includ ing back-pay and war •'damage, ended; trade and exchange controls were enforced, resulting in many business firms closing down and throw ing many employees out of jobs, he said. ‘People no longer buy sweep stakes tickets by the hundreds of thousands as they used to.’ ” By courtesy of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, we are able to present the following figures of total sales for each race since 1935. Figures are not given for the first, PAAF ( Philippine Amateur Athletic Federation) sweepstakes, held in 1932, nor for the first sweepstakes held for the Philippine Anti-Tuberculosis Society under the National Charity Sweepstakes. The present organiza tion, the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes, came into exist ence in 1934, under the terms of Act No. 4130. In glancing over this table, what impresses one first is that the post-war annual totals (1946-1952) average only some Pl 1,800,000 a year as compared to the pre-war annual average total of P6,400,000. Taking into considera tion the approximate five-fold increase in monetary cir culation and the reduction of the value or buying-power of the peso, which, today, is still less than one-third of what it was before the war, what amounts to less than a doubling of the sweepstakes sales does not indicate a real increase in the sales, but rather a decrease. If, therefore, there is a relationship between these sales and the general prosperity of the people, the figures would indicate that they enjoyed a prosperity during the Commonwealth period which they have not as yet reached since the war. The comparatively high sales during the earlier years' of the Commonwealth must be taken as partly a result of the novelty of the sweepstakes and the hopes ticket-buyers held in those years as to their chances of getting rich quick. It was not generally realized that the actual chance of winning a large prize is very small, if not infinitesimal. Statistically, one is much more likely to be run down in a traffic accident than to win a large sweepstakes prize. And buying two or three tickets, while it doubles or triples one’s originally very small chance of winning, also increases the chances of losing the cost of so many tickets more. Speaking of a “lottery in which the total amount of the winnings is smaller than the proceeds from the sale of all tickets”, as in the sweepstakes, a statistician has pointed out that a gambler, “if he were to buy all the tickets, would certainly lose a part of his outlay.” “Yet every lottery customer is firmly convinced that it is better to buy more tickets than less. The habitues of the casinos and slot machines never stop. They do not give a thought to the fact that, be cause the ruling odds favor the banker over the player, the outcome will the more certainly result in a loss for them the longer they continue to play." As for us, we would not want to discourage people from buying a few lottery tickets, according to their means, for this does add a little zest to life and it is true enough that some persons must win. Furthermore, the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes were instituted for a good purpose. According to the original law, 65% of the proceeds went into the prize fund and 25% into a charity fund, the balance of 10% being for operation. Then the law was ^mended, and today 58.5% goes into the prize fund, 25% into the charity fund, and 6.5% into a provincial and city fund. Among the charitable and civic organizations benefited Dates September 8, 1935...................................... December 22...................... .......................... July 26, 1936................................................. May 16, 1937................................................ September 19................................................ December 19................................................. May 15, 1938................................................ August 21...................................................... December 18................................................ February 19, 1939....................................... April 16.......................................................... June 18........................................................... September 17............................................... December 17................................................ February 18, 1940....................................... April 21.......................................................... June 23........................................................... September 22............................................... December 22................................................ February 16, 1941....................................... March 15....................................................... April 20.......................................................... June 22.......................................................... August 17...".............................................. October 19..................................................... December 20................................................ June 30, 1946................................................ September 29............................................... December 22................................................ February 23, 1947....................................... April 27.......................................................... June 29........................................................... August 24... .............................................. October 26..................................................... December 21................................................ Race Totals Annual Totals P 975,342.00 1,938,376.00 2,913,718.00 1,948,372.00 1,948,372.00 1,589,846.00 1,500,956.00 2,033,230.80 5,124,032.80 1,545,422.88 2,026,826.32 2,438,983.84 6,011,233.04 1,438,641.28 1,475,868.00 1,560,322.16 1,577,848.48 1,668,397.60 7,721,077.52 1,202,763.12 1,312,143.68 1.388.745.76 1.446.573.76 1,376,424.00 6,726,650.32 893,947.20 976,382.00 888,756.00 936,976.00 842,512.00 1,029,934.00 1,068,268.00 6,636,775.20 3,000,000.00 1,715,000.00 1,908,000.00 6,623,000.00 1,710,000.00 1,500,000.00 2,876,250.00 1,812,500.00 2,000,000.00 2,500,000.00 12,398.750.00 February 22, 1948....................................... April 25.......................................................... June 27........................................................... August 29...................................................... October 24..................................................... December 19................................................ February 27, 1949....................................... April 24.......................................................... June 26........................................................... August 28....................................................... October 23..................................................... December 18................................................ February 26, 1950....................................... April 23.......................................................... June 25........................................................... August 27...................................................... October 22..................................................... December 17................................................ December 25 (B.S.)................................... February 25, 1951....................................... March 18 (PAAF)...................................... April 22.......................................................... June 24......................................... ............. August 26.................................... ................. September 16 (B.S.)................................... October 28..................................................... December 16................................................ February 24, 1952....................................... March 30 (G.S.).......................................... April 27. :..................................................... June 22........................................................... July 20 (B.S.).............................................. August 24...................................................... September 21 (PAAF)............................... October 26..................................................... December 21................................................ February 22, 1953....................................... April 26.......................................................... June 28........................................................... 2,000,000.00 2,250,000.00 2.419.687.50 2,000,000.00 2,250,000.00 2.895.312.50 2,500,000.00 2,500,000.00 2.726.562.50 2,500,000.00 2,500,000.00 3,000,000.00 2,500,000.00 2,500,000.00 2.673.437.50 2,200,000.00 2,265,000.00 2,389,750.00 665,500.00 2,329,250.00 1,170,675.00 1,857,350.00 2,152,590.00 1,923,900.00 931,700.00 1,700,050.00 1,756,315.00 1,805,925.00 1,013,375.00 1,240,250.00 1,570,580.00 1,013,375.00 1,141,030.00 1,013,375.00 1,286,230.00 1,512,500.00 1.438.387.50 1.417.212.50 1,324,950.00 13,815,000.00 15.726.562.50 15.193.687.50 13,821,830.00 11,596,640.00 4,180,550.00 264 July, 1953 AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 265 The MOTOR that Industry Needs trTclad R [ G. U.S. PAT. OFF. L___________ No other standard motor, we believe, has ever met the requirements of industry with so well-balanced a combination of performance character istics, convenience features, and provisions for protection. As a safe guard against production interruptions, as a prime factor in lowering costs, as an extra increment of value on machines you build, you’ll find that Tri-Clad motors mean extra profit protection, too. Whatever your requirements in motors may be, think of General Electric and insist on the service, reliability, and benefits that Tri-Clad motors will give. GENERAL ELECTRIC (P.I.).INC. PORT AREA MANILA during the past few years are the Social Welfare Commis sion, the UNICEF (Philippine Mission), the Philippine Tuberculosis Society, the Asociacion de Damas Filipinas (Settlement House), the School for the Deaf and Dumb, the Philippine National Red Cross, the Bureau of Hos pitals, and various hospitals, puericulture centers, lepro saria, etc., throughout the country. Raising money through any kind of a lottery may be wasteful, because such a large percentage of the amount raised goes into prizes, yet, through a lottery, no doubt many persons thus contri bute to charity who otherwise would not contribute at all. But to return to our attempt at an analysis of the sweepstakes sales figures: We must first take note of the fact that, as Secretary Roque pointed out, a peak was reached in 1949,—since which year there has been a steady decrease in the sales, though the number of races a year was annually increased from 6 in 1949 to 9 in 1952. Secre tary Roque mentioned the import and exchange controls, and we will say, for the purpose of checking the sales figures, that import control went into effect on January 1, 1949, and exchange control on December 1 of that same year. The sales of 1947 and 1948 were double the sales of 1946 and this must have been due in part to the large United States expenditures here in those years, including the war-damage payments which assumed considerable volume after June of 1948. These payments continued until near the end of 1950 and may have helped to keep up the sweepstakes sales for some time after the import and exchange controls went into effect. It hardly needs saying, of course, that we agree with Secretary Roque that the import and exchange controls deleteriously affected the general prosperity, although the proponents of these measures will say that without them the country would have suffered even more. This is wide open to debate, but we shall not argue it here. Taking the sweepstakes sales figures, we may say in short, that while these sales were for the larger part over P2,500,000 per race in the earlier post-war years, they have for some years dived to well under Pl,500,000. It would seem that this almost certainly reflects the general decline in prosperity which is indicated by other series of statistics too. But even so, these sweepstakes sales figures may not supply the most reliable index for the reason that it is possible that when people are “hard up”, some of them, at least, will be more, rather than less, inclined to stake what little money they may have available on an off-chance that luck will be with them and they will win a big prize. “Planting Rice is Never Fun”,—from the words of a popular song, is the title of a small, 182-page book on Philippine rice problems by the well“Planting Rice known Manila lawyer, Francisco Or is Never Fun” tigas, Jr. Mr. Ortigas states in his Preface that he is active in his profession and neither a rice-farmer nor a rice-land owner, nor yet an economist. And that may explain how he was able to write such a comprehensive and incisive book,—that, and the fact that he served on the Board of Directors of the National Rice and Com Corporation (NARIC) for a few months last year under a commission from President Quirino to make a study of the Corporation’s organization and functions and to submit recommendations for the improvement of its administra tion. Mr. Ortigas made the study, submitted his report, and resigned. He states further, in his Preface: "Since leaving the NARIC Board of Directors, many persons have asked me questions relative to our rice industry. Most of their questions. . . showed lack of a basic appreciation or understanding of the problems of the industry. This motivated me to prepare an easily understandable primer designed to help the general public realize in a logical manner what those problems really are. . . I believe this treatise to be the first of its kind. It is designed to serve as an elementary re ference work for those interested in the Philippine rice industry and its problems. . . It is, of course, no classic. . .” Classic or not, Mr. Ortigas applied his lawyer’s logic and the result was this book, one that has needed writing for a long time and the best thing of its kind we have seen. The table of contents itself and alone is logically ad mirable: Part I, Orientation, under which the writer lists “some basic facts of the industry” and makes a “classifica tion of problems”; Part II, The Problem of Adequate Production, under which he takes up the “need for selfsufficiency” and the alleged problem of “over-production”; Part III, Problems Relative to the Rate of Production,— the need for a high rate, per hectare, number of crops a year, yield per crop, production per man and mechaniza tion, farm cooperatives, and reduction of production losses in cultivation, pest control, and milling; Part IV, The Problems of the Rice Farmer,—the tenancy system, by products, home industries, a fair price; Part V, The Prob lems of the Comsumer,—availability, nutritional value; and Part VI, Problems of Planning and Control. Then there are valuable appendices,—standard and regional varieties of rice (some 61 of them); possible sources of irrigation water, by provinces; the newly discovered soil conditioner “Montecal”; reviews of several experiments in mechanization; various pest-control measures; and the texts of Act No. 4054 (Rice Tenantry Law, 1933) and Republic Act No. 663 (1951) which created the present NARIC. We can not do justice to the book in a few paragraphs here; it should be read by all those interested in the subject. Mr. Ortigas’ main point, however, is that the Government has followed the mistaken policy of “preventing over production” rather than “attaining self-sufficiency”,— this in the interests of the producers, or, rather, the sellers, than the consumers. He favors over-production rather than under-production and states that over-production is not really a problem, as markets for an over-supply could be found and over-production could also be controlled through a system of quotas. The latter, we question; let a free market take care of that. Another of his principal points is that the NARIC has been a failure, chiefly because of unqualified manage ment and also because no clear provision was ever made for its financing. He also believes there is an unnecessary over-lapping of the functions pertaining to rice among the NARIC, the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources, the Bureau of Plant Industry, the Department of Health, and the Agricultural Credit and Cooperative Financing Administration. He believes, however, that if the NARIC were abolished, it would be necessary to estab lish another centralized agency in the place of it with the same two mayor objectives: to stabilize the price of rice and to develop the rice industry. But definitely, he would end the “dominant voice” which the rice planters have usually had in the management of NARIC. As for price stabilization, we state again that this had better be left to the automatic operation of a free market than to government buying and selling measures, always immensely costly. Here Mr. Ortigas perhaps betray$ the lawyer’s bias favoring the enforcement of au thority over a free functioning of the economy. Nevertheless, we feel that Mr. Ortigas has done a painstaking piece of work which should be 'considered of national importance. 266 V ( " . J /' j tb ttrfto th tft X?' V. MORE people ride on Goodyear tires than on any other make! More tons are hauled on Goodyear tires than on any other make! MORE people walk on Goodyear soles and heels than on any other make! More tons are hauled on Goodyear conveyor belts than on any other make! More airplanes land on Goodyear tires, tubes, wheels and brakes than on any other make! goodWear Reply of Ambassador Spruance re Philippine Proposals* for the Re vision of the 1946 Trade Agreement AMERICAN EMBASSY No. 002 July 1, 1953 EXCELLENCY: I have the honor to refer again to the note of May 5, 1953, from His Excellency, the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, concerning possible revision of the Trade Agreement between our two countries, and to my note No. 1171 of May 6 acknowledging His Excellency’s communica tion. In further reply on this subject I am instructed by the Secretary of State to convey to Your Excellency the following: 1. The United States Government reiterates its readiness now as in the past, as indicated in the letter from President Eisenhower to President Quirino dated March 16 of this year, to study any specific proposals for revision of the 1946 Trade Agreement between the two countries which the Philippine Government wishes to ad vance to determine whether a basis is provided in such pro posals for a renegotiation of the Agreement. 2. In view of the careful study given to this subject by committees designated by the President of the Philip pines for this purpose, a special United States Executive Committee is now being established by the Executive Branch of the United States Government for the purpose of examining the three substantive proposals of the Philip pine Government for revision of the Agreement and other aspects of the economic relations between the United States and the Philippines. 3. The President of the United States has recently ' proposed the establishment of a Commission to study the foreign economic policy of the United States. The ac tivities and recommendations of the Executive Committee on United States-Philippines Economic Relations will of necessity be closely correlated with the activities and recom mendations of this Commission, of which the terms of reference as outlined by the President are as follows: “This commission naturally should work within the framework ' of our foreign policy and our global defense plans. . . the commission should study all existing legislation and the regulations and adminis trative procedures stemming from it which bear directly on our foreign economic relations. This review should seek to determine how these laws can be modified or improved so as to achieve the highest possible levels of international trade without subjecting parts of our economy tc sudden or serious strains.” 4. The United States Executive Committee may find it necessary, in order to conduct its study effectively, to request from the Philippine Government information in addition to that provided in the report transmitted with the Philippine Government’s note under reference. 5. After the Executive Committee’s study is com pleted, and pursuant to the Committee’s recommendations, the United States Government will determine whether in its view a basis exists for renegotiation of the Trade Agreement. The Philippine Government will be advised accordingly. 6. Enabling legislation by ,the Congress of the United States would be necessary in order for the United States Government to give effect to any revision of the Trade Agreement. Accept, Excellency, the renewed assurances of my highest consideration. R. A. Spruance. His Excellency Felino Neri Acting Secretary of Foreign Affairs for the Republic of the Philippines ♦See American Chamber of Commerce Journal for May, 1953. The Bell Trade Act A comparison with the Tydin&s-McDuffie Act and a brief discussion of some of its least understood provisions* By Richard R. Ely Attach^, American Embassy THE ordinary citizen attempting to understand the highly involved language of the Act of Congress of April 30, 1946, commonly referred to in the Philippines as the Bell Trade Act, will understandably find himself in a state of utter confusion, for this law is in a class by itself in this respect. What is not so understandable, how ever, is that this confusion extends sometimes to men who should know better and whose statements sometimes mis lead the public. This article is an effort to set forth for the average reader in the simplest possible language just what the main features of the Act are. It is not an attempt to ♦This article by Mr. Ely was first published in the 53rd Anniversary Edition of the Manila Daily Bulletin, March |30, 1953, and is here reprinted by special permission of the editor of the Bulletin and also with the consent of the author, Mr. Ely. In a letter to the editor of the Journal, Mr. Ely said: "At the time I wrote the article on the Trade Act, I considered inserting an additional paragraph regarding the excise tax on coconut oil, but never put it in. Few people realize that the very valuable monopoly which the Philippines has in the United States for copra is authorized by the Bell Trade Act and by that Act alone. If the Trade Act were to be revoked, Philippine coconut oil would, as you know, be paying a five-cent excise tax." 268 July, 1953 AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 269 criticize or defend it, or to suggest changes, but does try to explain how some of the provisions came about and the attitudes of members of the U. S. Congress at the time of enactment. Reciprocal Aspects.—Everyone knows that, begin ning in 1954, Philippine products entering the United States will be subject to gradually increasing customs duties, but a surprising number of otherwise well informed people do not understand that American goods entering the Philippines will also be subject to gradually increased customs duties to be collected by the Philippine Govern ment. Two aspects of this should be noted. First, some articles of Philippine origin entering the United States would not be subject to such duties at all because they are on the free list. Such articles are normally those not pro duced in the United States, two particularly important, from the standpoint of Philippine economy, being copra (but not coconut oil or other coconut products) and abaca (but not rope). The second point easily confused is the amount of the duty. The law says that the duty to be collected by the United States the first year will be 5% of the U. S. duty, the second year, 10%, the third, 15%, and so on until 100% is reached in 1974. There is good reason to believe that many understand this to be a straight percentage tax on the value of the commodity, which is definitely not the case. A rough approximation of what the duty on sugar would be, will show what is meant. Depending on the degree of refinement the U. S. duty, on sugar is roughly 1/2/ a pound or about $10 a ton. So in 1954 sugar would be subject to a duty not at the rate of 5% of its value or around $4 a Ion, but at the rate of 5% of $10 or 50/ (Pl.00) per ton. In 1955 ic would be P2, in 1956, P3, and so on until a rate of about P20 a ton would be collected in 1974, at present prices and a lariff of some where around 14%. The Quota Provisions.—Just what the law provides in respect to the so-called quota-commodities and the Dackground and reasons therefor, are probably the subject ofmore misunderstanding than any other features of the Act. This, too, is not surprising because the provisions vary as between commodities and are at best difficult to under stand. There are 7 commodities covered; sugar, cordage, rice, cigars, tobacco, coconut oil, and pearl buttons. There is a story behind each, and to understand this story it is neces sary to go back to the enactment of the Tydings-MqDuffie Law in 1934. It will be recalled that under that Act a trade arrangement somewhat similar to that under the Bell Trade Act of 1946 was provided for. During the first 5 years of the Commonwealth Government, trade was to continue as then provided by law, except that tax limits were established for the duty-free entry of sugar (850,000 long tons), coconut oil (200,000 long tons), and cordage (3,000,000 pounds). Beyond those limits full duty was to be collected by the United States. During the second 5 years of the Commonwealth, the Philippine Government was to collect an export tax to begin with 5% of the U. S. tariff the first year, 10% the second, etc. This export tax was not to be levied if the articles were on the free list, and also it is important to note that the tax was not to be col lected by the'United States and would not accrue to the U. S. ^Treasury, but was to be held, instead, in a special fund for the redemption of Philippine bonds. In theory this arrangement was to provide for a gradual termination of the free trade arrangement, but it almost immediately become apparent that for certain industries the imposition of even a small fraction of the U. S. tariff rates would be ruinous. So a committee known as the Joint Preparatory Committee on Philippine Affairs was set up in 1937 to consider the question. The'1 American members of this group were J. V. A. MacMurray, then Ambassador to Turkey, Chairman, and J. E. Jacobs, Department of State, Louis Demeralzky, Department of Commerce, Lynn R. Edminster, Department of State, Col. Donald C. McDonald, War Department, Dr. Carl Robbins, Department of Agriculture, Dr. Frank A. Waring, U.S. Tariff Commission, Ben. D. Dorfman, U. S» Tariff Commission (re placed Mr. Edminster in 1938). The Philippine members of the Joint Committee were: Jose Yulo, then Secretary of Justice, Chairman, Dean Conrado Benitez, Joaquin M. Elizalde, Quintin M. Paredes, then Resident Commissioner to the United States, Jose E. Romero, then Majority Floor Leader, Manuel Roxas, then Minority Floor Leader. It is important to note the calibre and background of the members of this Committee and the fact that their studies and unanimous recommendations were the basis for the quota provisions now in effect on cigars, coconut oil, tobacco, and pearl buttons. As was to be expected from men of this calibre, their report, now recognized as one of the outstanding documents in the history of Philippine-American relations, was an exhaustive and scholarly analysis of the whole question of PhilippineAmerican trade. Why they found it necessary to recom mend some modification of the original provisions of the Tydings-McDuffie Law, is to be seen from their findings on specific commodities. On cigars, for example, they found that a manufacturer, who received an average of $13.14 for 1000 cigars laid down duty-free in the United States in 1936, would, in 3 years after the beginning of gradual imposition of the export tax be paying a tax of $12.59, leaving him less than a dollar for 1000 cigars. And in a tough competitive market he could not raise the price of his cigars. So the export trade in Philippine cigars, around 90% of which went to the United States, was doomed to an early death. On coconut oil the situation was similar because copra entered the United States duty-free and a Philippine mill which had to pay even a small tax could not hope to compete with a mill in the United States which brought in untaxed copra and manufactured the oil which was then sold tax-free. So it was with scrap tobacco and pearl buttons. The tax would put exporters of these four commodities out of business in short order. The Committee recommended that a system of declin ing tax-free quotas be set up as follows: Coconut oil............................................................... Cigars........................................................................... Scrap tobacco........................................................... Pearl buttons............................................................ 200,000 tons 200,000,000 cigars 4,500,000 lbs. 850,000 gross Instead of paying an export tax beginning in 1941 which increased every year, these products were to con tinue to enter the American market duty-free but in an amount which decreased by 5% each year. For example, 200,000 tons of coconut oil could be shipped duty-free in 1940, but only 190,000 in 1941, 180,000 in 1942, and so on. This was tax-free, but any Excess over the duty-free quota would be taxable at full rates. It will be apparent from the foregoing that the pro visions in regard to quotas for cigars, tobacco, pearl buttons, and coconut oil which were established in the post-war Act exactly as before the war, were not inserted through any sinister motives on the part of any American or Amer ican interests, but on the unanimous recommendation of a joint group of distinguished Americans and Filipinos whose sole motive was to benefit the economy of the Philip pines. The pattern was reestablished in the Bell Act with out question by anyone because the studies of the Joint Committee had made it so clear what would happen if it were not. It may certainly be assumed that manufacturers in the United States of these commodities would not object if the quotas were eliminated and the commodities made subject 270 July, 1953 AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 271 For Full Use and Complete ELECTRIC LIVING WITH ADEQUATE WIRING, Reddy Kilowatt is MIGHTY POWERFUL. When you build or remodel, ADEQUATE WIRING is one thing you should never forget. As a general reminder, don’t forget your unpleasant exper iences with insufficient wiring. ADEQUATE WIRING consists of: a. Large enough service entrance. b. Enough circuits. c. Large enough wire for each circuit. d. Enough lighting, convenience outlets, and switches for the efficient and effective utilization of electric service in the home, the office, the store, the shop, or the factory. MANILA ELECTRIC COMPANY 134 San Marcelino, Manila Tel. 3-24-21 to the gradual increase in tariff, for these manufacturers could be sure that any possible competition from the Philip pines would be eliminated in a very short period. But as the Law now stands, the Philippines could in 1964, for example, ship 100,000,000 cigars to the United States absolutely duty-free and sell them subject to exactly the same taxes (internal revenue) that a manufacturer of Florida cigars pays. On the other hand, a manufacturer of embroidery or hats, for example, would in 1964 pay 50% of the U. S. tariff if he wanted to compete in the United States market. Less than 2,000,000 cigars were shipped to the United States in 1951, and it should be noted that the Trade Act places no limit on the value of cigars but only on the number. Cigars shipped to the United States before the war were strictly on a price-competitive level and averaged less than 3 centavos net to the shipper. If an annual market for 100,000,000 of the quality cigars produced in the Philip pines could be developed, the return in dollar exchange would be considerable. Quotas on Sugar.—The provisions of the Bell Trade Act in respect to sugar were virtually identical with those of the pre-war Act, the only difference being the dates and the fact that the pre-war Act provided for 5 years free trade, then an imposition of export taxes based on the U.S. tariff running from 1940 to 1946, and full duty there after, while the Bell Act provides for 8 years of free trade and then a gradual imposition of the tariff for 20 years. The quota, which was not a diminishing quota, remains the same. A point to be noted is that, at the time of the pas sage of the original legislation limiting the entry of Philip pine sugar to the American market, and continuously to this date, the production of sugar by American farmers has been and is limited and controlled by law. The Cordage Quota.—The original Tydings-McDuffie Act approved March 24, 1934, established a dutyfree quota of 3,000,000 pounds of cordage, with no limit on entry beyond that amount provided the duty was paid. For example, if 5,000,000 pounds had been shipped, 2,000,000 would have been subject to duty. As this Act was not to go into effect, however, until the Commonwealth Govern ment was established (November 15, 1935) the American cordage manufacturers moved for quicker relief from Philip pine competition and on June 14, 1935, a law was passed providing that beginning on May 1, 1935, and for 3 years thereafter not more than 6,000,000 pounds of Philippine cordage would come in in any 12-month period. This law provided that the President could, by proclamation, extend it for an additional 3-year period, and on January 26, 1938, the President issued a proclamation extending it to May 1, 1941. By the Act of August 7, 1939, amending the law to provide for duty-free diminishing quotas (discussed elsewhere in this article), this absolute quota was perma nently fixed and on exactly the same terms as now govern cordage in the Bell Trade Act. That is an absolute quota of 6,000,000 pounds which after 1954 will remain the same but will be subject to the increasing tariff rates. Quotas on Rice.—There was no quota on rice in the pre-war legislation and as practically none was ever shipped from the Philippines to the United States, it is unusual that an absolute quota of 1,040,000 pounds was established m the Bell’ Trade Act. Just how that figure was arrived at is not clear and the only explanation of the whole idea of a rice quota seems to be that some members of Congress from California wanted to make absolutely sure that the rice growers of California would not under any circum stances have to compete with Philippine rice. Little or no attention has been paid to this, and for all practical pur poses this part of the law is a dead letter. The Joint Committee recommended that the Congress extend over a 20-year period or until 1961 the gradual imposition of tariffs and reduction of duty-free quotas instead of jumping, as the law then provided, from 25% to 100% in 1946. Congress accepted the recommendation only in part by approving the proposed arrangement for the quota-commodities, but declined to change the pro vision for complete tariffs both ways after independence. The war, of course, interrupted the program laid down in the Tydings-McDuffie Ait and so Congress took up the question anew in 1946. Two other aspects of the post-war legislation, in contrast to pre-war, should be noted. There was a dis tinctly more friendly atmosphere in 1946 and the Bell Act was passed without a dissenting vote. Even the sugar interests interposed no objection and Congress did what it had refused to do in 1939 by adopting the principle recom mended by the 1938 Joint Committee of a 20- instead of a 5-year declining preference period. How the attitude of Congress had changed from one of a desire to “get rid” of the Philippines, to an attitude of helpfulness, is illus trated by the following passage which was typical of pre war Congressional opinion. It occurred in the course of Senate debate (Nov. 19, 1941) on a bill to suspend until the end of 1942 the export taxes provided for by the TydingsMcDuffie Act.: MR. VANDERBERG. . . My understanding is that, while there is no complaint against the particular intrinsic purposes of the measure, there would be very serious objection if this were to be taken as a pre cedent for the progressive disintegration of the Tydings-McDuffie Act, and a progressive rewriting now of the terms under which the Philip pine Commonwealth has been given its prospective independence. MR. CLARK of Missouri. Let me say to the Senator from Mi chigan that' I think my position on that and the position as it was una nimously expressed in the meeting of the Committee is exactly the same as now expressed by the Senator from Michigan. In other words, I would not be for any bill—and I am certain that such a bill could not have obtained two votes in the Committee on Territories and Insular Affairs, which would break down in any way the policy adopted by the Government, first in the Hawes-Cutting Act, and later in the TydingsMcDuffie Act, granting complete and full independence, and insisting upon granting, if necessary complete and full independence for the Philippines in 1946 in accordance with the terms of those acts. The attitude was markedly different when the post-war Bill came up. The memory of the Philippine record during the war was fresh in the minds of the .American people and the post-war demand for Philippine and United States products was such at that time that the old fear of the threat to American production of the entry of certain Philippine products was largely forgotten. But it should be noted that even in the era of good will immediately following the war, the interests which had been active in the pre-war legislation were still carefully watching. A last-minute but unsuccessful effort was made to have the sugar quota changed from a long ton to a short ton basis, which would have resulted in a substantial reduc tion in the sugar quota. The cordage interests not only succeeded in retaining the quota on cordage but were able, over the protest of the State Department, to have it con tinued as an “absolute” quota. An absolute quota places an absolute embargo on the entry of any commodity above the limit set by the quota. These absolute quotas were required for all commodities, but the fact was that the only industry really concerned was cordage. Cigar manu facturers, for example, were not interested in the forbidding of the entry of cigars beyond the quota as long as they were subject to duty, for they knew the tariff would be an effec tive bar. But this was not sure in the case of cordage. The Parity Clause.—Much has been written and said in condemnation of the so-called Parity Clause which required the Philippines to amend its Constitution to provide that during the period in which the special trade arrangements of the Bell Act were to be in force, i.e. until 1974, American citizens were to be on an equal basis with Filipinos in respect to land and national resources and the operation of public utilities. It may be pertinent to con sider the reasons which impelled Congress to insert that requirement. It will be recalled that Congress in the 1934 272 Act authorized the Philippine Government to call a con stitutional convention for the purpose of drafting a consti tution which was to be in effect not only for the 10-year period of the Commonwealth Government but after com plete independence in 1946. Congress set forth what the trade relations would be during the Commonwealth period and required that as a part of or an annex to the constitu tion certain provisions were to be included which were to be in force during the Commonwealth period. Among these was a requirement that until final and complete independence in 1946, American citizens and corporations were to have all the rights of Philippine citizens and cor porations. While the constitution had to be approved by the President of the United States, there were virtually no restrictions as to the kind of constitution which was to go into force after full independence. The Constitution actually drafted and later approved by the President, followed the pattern of the United States Constitution in general, except that it contained certain clauses restricting the exploita tion of natural resources, public lands, and public utilities to Philippine citizen. While this was quite contrary to the usual theory and practices of government in the United States, the President approved the Constitution as drafted, and his action was not criticized in the United States, be cause the general view was that the United States was withdrawing from the scene and if that was the kind of constitution the Filipinos wanted it was their privilege to adopt it. The war interfered with the program contemplated in the Tydings-McDuffie Act, and Congress again in 1946 was faced with the problem of instituting an independent government without too violent a shock to its economic well being. In effect Congress agreed to start all over again; that is, provide for a period of free trade, followed by gradually decreasing preferences. But noting the re strictive clauses in the Philippine Constitution, Congress men recalled the fact that during the period of the Com monwealth Government, American citizens were entitled to national treatment as long as Philippine products were entitled to preferential treatment in the American market. The members of Congress felt that they were again ex tending valuable rights to the Philippines by providing for mutual trade on a basis far more favorable than that accorded to any other foreign nation, and they saw nothing unreasonable in requesting that the Philippine Govern ment take steps to provide, during the life of that agreement, that American citizens, faced with the task of rehabilitating and restoring enterprises which might come under the purview of the nationalist clauses of the Constitution, should be reassured on that point. They were careful again to make no demands beyond the period in which they felt the United States was making what, in the eyes of these members of Congress, was a valuable concession. This feeling that they were extending benefits is evidenced by the fact that Section 509 of the Act says that “the benefits granted by this Act” should not extend tp any third country. The attitude that this was an entirely normal and reasonable exchange of privilege, was not however the only reason for the Parity Clause. It was widely felt that unless the rights and status of Americans under the Constitution were made clear, there might be hesitation on the part of substantial American enterprises such as, for example, the Manila Electric Company, in restoring their plants, and Congress felt that American capital would be needed to restore the ravages of war. The Currency Stabilization Clause.—This clause which says that except by agreement with the President of the United States the peso would not be devalued and no restrictions on the transfer of funds to the United States would be imposed, has been attacked as an infringement on Philippine sovereignty. Be that as it may, it may be well to consider again what the idea back of that clause was. Congress was keenly aware of the damage and de struction brought about by the war. It saw that a tremen dous amount of capital was needed to restore normal con ditions. Congress knew also that tremendous inflationary pressures were already operating and it hoped by this clause to. encourage owners of pre-war establishments to restore their business and to attract new capital for the task. Without some assurances of the kind embodied in this clause, Congress feared that capital, fearful of deva luation and impounding, would not be interested. Amer ican firms in country after country had had trouble on these points, and Congressmen hoped, perhaps wishfully, that by this gesture they could assure American capital that here was one country at least which would continue on an absolutely free exchange basis with a solid and stable currency. This, then, is at least a part of the story of the kind of thinking that went into the passage of the Trade Act. Whether it was good or bad is something on which, happily, everyone both in the Philippines and the United States is still free to express his opinion. But as in most cases there are two sides to every story, and it is fervently to be hoped that Americans and Filipinos alike will make sure, first, that they have the facts in the case, and, second, that they try to understand the opposite point of view. Sharp & Dohme in the Philippines By T. A. Coppens, THE steadily increasing demand for Sharp & Dohme products by the medical and allied professions in the Philippines was an important consideration in the estab lishment in Manila of a subsidiary manufacturing labora tory. This laboratory, which is considered second to none in the parent company’s world-wide operations, was com pleted in August, 1951, and production began during the latter part of that year. The Company’s preparations are categorically called ethical pharmaceutical specialties in contrast to house hold remedies. Since most of these products are of a tech nical nature, they are dispensed under a doctor’s prescrip tion. To discourage self-medication, the Company directs all information concerning the products to members of the medical profession who use their clinical judgment in select ing the particular therapy indicated for their patients. Sharp 8b Dohme is one of America’s oldest manufac turers of drugs and biologicals, having been started in General Manager Baltimore, in 1845, by Alpheus Sharp. It was Alpheus Sharp’s contention that by spending a little more time and little more effort on making his preparations as good as they possibly could be made, he would have to sell his products at a little higher price but there would always be a demand, since potency, quality, and safety have always been of paramount importance in medicinal pre parations. That he was right was evidenced by the fact that his business expanded rapidly. In a few years, he took in one of his former clerks to be a partner in the bu siness. This'was Louis Dohme and from 1848 the firm was called Sharp 8b Dohme. In the early 1930’s, Sharp 8s Dohme merged with the oldest American commercial biological laboratories of the H. K. Mulford Company and to this day several of Sharp 8b Dohme’s biological products still bear the name Mulford. The Company’s reputation for reliability enjoyed among the medical profession throughout the world, is 273 The Business View A monthly review of facts* trends* forecasts, by Manila businessmen The Government From Official Sources JUNE 1 — Leaders of the newly projected Democratic Party, led by former Ambassador Carlos P. Romulo and Vice- President Fernando Lopez announce that the Party will hold its first convention on June 21; stated that Sen. Tomas Cabili will probably be the convention chair man, Sen. Lorenzo Sumulong, chairman of the platform committee and key-noter, and Sen. Justiniano Montano, chairman of the com mittee on rules. Malacanan announces that the Senate last month ratified six recent international agreements, including a protocol concerning the production and marketing of sugar, a protocol concerning the manu facture and distribution of narcotic drugs, an international plant protection convention, and treaties of friendship with the Dominican Republic, Cuba, and India. Budget Commissioner Pio Joven, at a luncheon in honor of Louis Kroeger, announces that the Government will undertake a new classi fication and standardization of the salaries of government employees with the aid of the MSA, PHILCUSA, and Louis Kroeger 8s Associates, a San Francisco firm of experts which has rendered a like service to many other governments. June 3 — Announced that President Elpidio Quirino has designated former Senator Ramon Torres as acting Governor of Negros Occidental; it was reported lately that the suspended governor Rafael Lacson, now under trial for separate cases of murder and rape, has joined the De mocratic Party. Announced that the President has accepted the proposal of the U. S. Atomic Energy Commission to send two geologists to the Philip pines to cooperate with the Government in the exploration of uranium deposits in the country. The President confers with Secretary of Public Works and Com munications Pablo Lorenzo who is recommending the release from the Malangas coal reservation in Zamboanga del Sur of some 40,000 hectares of land for settlement purposes, the coal deposits having been exhausted. The Secretary also discusses with him the projected inau guration of the Maria Cristina hydro-electric plant in Lanao this month. The Padada irrigation system in Davao is also due for inauguration. carried on by the integrated production systems used in the laboratory. A careful system of tests, checks, and controls for each product, while passing the different stages in the process of production, is followed to guard against any possible unforeseen deviation from the rigid standards. To further ascertain standard quality, purity, stability, and potency,'pharmaceutical preparations previously manu factured, are tested and analyzed periodically thereafter. This is important since all the pharmaceutical products must maintain their therapeutic effectiveness for a mini mum of two to three years. Sharp 8s Dohme is well-known for its pioneering re search and development of the lyophile technique culmi nating in the development of the LYOVAC Process which has made possible the preservation of vitamins, antibiotics, and human blood plasma which saved so many lives during World War II and which is used extensively now in the Korean War. The Medical Research Laboratories of the Company, by virtue of early and persistent work, have today assumed a dominant position in sulfonamide development. The Company is credited officially with the development of 5 of the 7 most effective compounds and with sharing the deve lopment of a sixth. Specifically, Sharp 8s Dohme was the first to synthesize any pyrimidine derivative of sulfani lamide and holds basic patents dominating all three drugs in this group—namely, sulfamerazine, sulfadiazine, and sulfamethazine. The Company synthesized the intestinal sulfonamides,—sulfasuxidine and sulfathalidine, and shared in the development of sulfathiazole. The Medical Research organization has substantially expanded upon the recent completion of its $4,000,000 research building in West Point, Pennsylvania. Recently Sharp & Dohme merged with the well-known producers of fine chemicals and antibiotics, Merck & Com pany. Sharp & Dohme will become a division of Merck 8s Company while retaining its own name. ‘Over the past decade, Merck 8c Company has been out standingly successful in the medical field. Its scientists have developed such products as cortisone, dihydrostrep tomycin, and vitamin B-12 and Compound F. Merck is a large producer of penicillin and streptomycin while vita mins for pharmaceuticals, foods, and animal feeds make up a very substantial part of its total sales. This particular merger is a natural step for both com panies. Each has skills and facilities that the other needs. Sharp & Dohme’s pharmaceutical know-how, field sales organization, and research activities, together with Merck’s outstanding research accomplishments *and extensive chem ical and drug manufacturing facilities, compliment each other and will be a source of mutual strength. Through the merger with Merck & Company and conse quent cooperation of two of the most powerful research labor atories in the United States, it is expected that great ad vances in medical research will be evident and that the products of this research will be made available to the medical profession of the Philippines by the laboratories of Sharp & Dohme (Phil.), Inc. Stepped-up activity in the organic and inorganic research fields have taken place, and the laboratory in the Philippines will enjoy the immediate benefits of all newly discovered preparations following their development. Consequently, for the betterment of good health, the Phil ippine medical profession will have the opportunity to have available the latest therapy at the earliest possible time. At present the local Company produces 70% of what it markets in the Philippines. With the present equipment, it can increase production by 30%, and through the pro curement of additional equipment, expansion can be in creased to 100%. The Company’s 1953 activities provide for the addi tion of many new preparations recently developed by the Medical Research Division. With manufacturing opera tions added to the previous activities of promotion, sales, and distribution, the Company is now in a better position to render service to the general public through the prac tising physician. 274 The President authorizes the release of P300.000 from the High ways Special Fund for the construction of the Pulilan-Candaba high way in Bulacan which will cut across the Candaba swamp area and will in time be connected by cross-roads with San Luis, San Simon, and Apalit, Pampanga. Rear-Admiral Walter G. Schindler, commander of Cruiser Division Three of the U. S. Navy, pays a coqjtesy call on Acting Secretary of Foreign Affairs Felino Neri; the division arrived in Manila Bay today and is composed of the carrier, Lake Champlain, the cruiser Bremerten, and the destroyers Sumner, Moale, Purdy, and Ingraham. June 5 — The President orders the mobilization of all government relief agencies to extend aid to the victims of the typhoon “Judy” which crossed central and northern Luzon today doing great damage; Manila is flooded. Executive Secretary Marciano Roque, in his capacity as Acting General Manager and Chairman of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes, reveals that due to the decreasing sales of sweepstakes tickets the allot ments of the earnings to charity and maternity clinics, civic and welfare institutions, leprosaria, etc. have had to be cut. June 6 — The President receives Secretary of National Defense Oscar Castelo who calls to say goodbye before leaving for Korea where he will inspect the Philippine troops. He will leave on the 8th and is expected to be absent for some 2 weeks. Kenkichi Yoshizawa, Ambassador to Nationalist China and Japan’s oldest career diplomat (78), pays a courtesy call on Secretary Neri. The Ambassador arrived in Manila yesterday and will also visit Hong kong, Singapore, and Bangkok. The Democratic Party is officially launched at a rally in Plaza Miranda, Manila. June 7 — The President signs a proclamation setting June 12 as the date for the organization of the City of Tacloban, Leyte, as pro vided for by Republic Act No. 760; he also signs the appointments of 6 officials of the new chartered city. June 8 — Secretary Roque rules that the various Boards of Exa miners have the authority not only to promulgate necessary rules and regulations for the examinations, but to presci ibe the collegiate courses for the professions they regulate. The Secretary states that formerly the Boards were designated as merely advisory committees to the Bureau of Private Schools on matters affecting technical, professional, and vocational courses in private educational institutions, but that this was changed by Republic Act No. 546. “As a matter of practice, this Office [Office of the President) will not approve the rules and regulations prescribed by the Boards of Examiners until it shall have received the view of the Secretary of Education, the Director of Private Schools, and the deans of the colleges concerned. . . Subject to the approval of the President and with the advice of the Commissioner of Civil Service, the Boards aforemen tioned shall promulgate necessary rules and regulations, set professional stan dards for the practice of their respective professions, and prescribe collegiate courses for same.” June 8 — Atting Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources Placido L. Mapa reports to the President on the Bureau of Forestry administrative order declaring some 12,000 hectares of timber lands at Kidapawan and Kabatan, Cotabato, available for agricultural pur poses; Mapa hopes to have this area included among those now being surveyed under a MSA-PHILCUSA program so as to expedite the distribution to applicants. Prof. Kusnoto Setyodiwirjo, Director of the famed botanical gardens at Bogor, near Djakarta, Indonesia, makes a courtesy call on Secretary Neri; he is visiting the Philippines under UNESCO auspices in connection with preparations for the coming of the Indonesian dele gation to the Eighth Pacific Science Congress to be held in Manila in November. June 9 — The Department of Foreign Affairs announces that Philippine Minister Manuel A. Adeva will present his credentials as Philippine Minister to President Chiang Kai-shek in Taipeh, Formosa, today; he was raised recently from the rank of charge d’affaires, a.i. June 10 — The President, for the first time since the recurrence of his foot ailment (bursitis) some 3 weeks ago leaves Malacanan to inspect the work on the Quirino grandstand on the Luneta being readied for the 4th of July celebration. The Price Stabilization Corporation (PRISCO) starts selling rice at the reduced prices of 75 and 80jS a ganta; the rice comes from the Koronadal settlers in Mindanao. The NARIC price is still 90,! and consumers buying in the public markets still pay from Pl.00 to Pl.40 a ganta. Budget Commissioner Joven, Chairman of the Board of Liquida tors, .turns over the deeds of sale of some 33,000 hectares of land of former Japanese plantations in Davao to Philippine Veterans Legion National Commander Teofilo Rivera, in compliance with orders of the President who had promised to reserve these lands to some 9,000 veteran occupants who will have 10 years to pay; each veteran occupies either 5 hectares of coconut land or 10 hectares of hemp land. June 12 — The President receives Dr. Roland B. Renne, Chief of the U.S. Mutual Security Agency, who resigned recently and re turning to the United States on June 15. He informs the President that the Philippines is practically the only country'in this part of the world which is receiving economic aid under the MSA program, the assistance received by other countries being substantially military only, except for Thailand which is receiving non-military aid also, but cut down to $5,000,000, which amount is many times smaller than the funds allotted to this country. He states that “the various economic projects now abuilding throughout the country, namely, fertilizer plants, hydro-electric plants, cement plants, irrigation systems, and other projects designed to insure the country’s economic stability are all very sound.” June 13 — The President receives Maj. Gen. Calixto Duque, Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff, who reports on the prop-ess of the military operations against the dissidents, particularly against Balgos in the Bicol and Taruc in Arayat, stating that the cam paign against these Huk chieftains is going on satisfactorily. June 15 — Manuel Monroy, chief witness in the case of the charges brought by Sen. Claro M. Recto against Secretary Castelo, is shot down and killed at point-blank range by an assassin as he sat at a table playing mahjong at a neighbor’s house with his wife and two friends. June 16 — The President signs House Bill No. 3335 (Republic Act No. 871) extending to June 30, 1954, the present 17% tax on foreign exchange; also House Bill No. 3128 (Republic Act No. 868) extending to December 31, 1954, the present rates of the corporate income tax. Malacanan announces that as to the apprehension of the killer of Manuel Monroy, “himself a notorious character with a criminal re cord,” the “law enforcement agencies can be depended upon to do their duty under the circumstances.” June 17 — The President, in the presence of Labor Department and labor union officials, signs Senate Bill No. 423—House Bill No. 825 (Republic Act No. 875) entitled, “An Act to Promote Industrial Peace," also called "The Magna Carta of Labor.” The President issues Executive Order No. 600 fixing ceiling prices on certain brands of Japanese canned sardines. June 18 — Acting Secretary of Foreign Affairs Felino Neri is quoted as saying that the outbreak of riots in East Berlin “is a matter of tremendous consequence, possibly paralleling in significance the outcome of the efforts of the United Nations and Communist author ities in Korea to reach an armistice.” June 20 — The President, in the presence of a group of public school officials, signs the Bill restoring the 7th grade and the single ses sions in the elementary schools, authored by Senator Geronima T. Pecson. During the past few days the President has signed or vetoed a number of bills (See list published elsewhere in this issue of the Jour nal). June 21 — Announced that of the 162 House and 24 Senate bills, passed by both Houses, the President has approved 139 and allowed 2 to become law without his signature: 123 of the approved bills were House bills and 18 were Senate bills. Presidential candidate Carlos P. Rorriulo leaves for the United States to speak before the international convention of the Junior Cham ber of Commerce in San Francisco and to look after various personal matters. An invitation to speak before the convention was previously extended to Mr. Ramon Magsaysay, but was declined by him. June 24 — The President receives the credentials of two new diplomatic representatives in separate ceremonies,—those of N. H. Ferdinando Wiel, Italian Minister, and of Minister Nai Chitti Sucharitakul, of Thai. Import Control Commissioner Primitivo Lovina leaves for the United States by airplane for medical treatment. Mrs. Lovina will join him later. June 25 — The President holds conferences with various members of his Cabinet preparatory to his depature for the United States on Saturday, June 27, to undergo a physical check-up at the Johns Hop kins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland. He authorizes Secretary of Health Dr. Juan Salcedo, Jr. to sign in behalf of the Government the agreement with Johns Hopkins University under which it will assist the University of the Philippines by sending eight professors (four a year for two years) as department heads and assistant department heads in the Institute of Hygiene. Senator Gil J. Puyat, Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, issues summons to the Chairman of the Import Control Commission to appear before the Committee to explain the “apparently irregular” issuance of licenses covering over $30,000,000 worth of future imports. June 26 — The President approves the Government being a signa tory to the United Nations Convention on Political Rights of Women. In recommending the signature, Secretary of Foreign Affairs J. M. Elizalde stated; “The Philippines being the first Asian country to grant its women equal political rights with men, it should be among the first signatories thereto.” Leon Ancheta, ranking member of the Import Control Commis sion, informs Senator Puyat that Chairman Lovina has just left on an extended trip abroad and that no Acting Chairman has been designated as yet; he also states that he can not appear for investigation before the Senate Committee without the express consent of the President. June 27 — The President issues Executive Order No. 603 desig nating the Price Stabilization Corporation (PRISCO) to supervise the sale and distribution of flour to consumers throughout the country as a “move to stop black-marketing and to stabilize the price”. He also issues Executive Order No. 606 fixing ceiling prices on galvanized-iron and aluminum sheets. The President designates Under-Secretary of Labor Aurelio Quitoriano as Acting Secretary in the absence of Secretary of Labor Jose Figueras. 275 The President designates former Congressman Juan V. Borra and Eulogio Garganera as Acting Mayor and Vice Mayor, respectively, of Iloilo City, replacing Mayor Dominador Jover and Vice-Mayor Joaquin Abanilla; the two take their oaths of office before Executive Secretary Roque. He also designated five new acting city councilors. Secretary Roque also administers the oath of office to Col. Amado Bautista as Managing Director of the Price Stabilization Corporation, replacing Santiago F. de la Cruz who recently resigned. Secretary Roque inducts Jose Gabaldon, Ilocos Sur provincial treasurer, as Acting Governor of the province during the absence of Governor Eliseo Quirino who is ac companying the President to the United States. The President states that his ailment is not serious enough to prevent him from discharging his official duties while in the United States. Vice-President Fernando Lopez will represent him ceremonially but Cabinet meetings will be presided over by the ranking member, at present Secretary of Finance Aurelio Montinola, the Vice-President having resigned his Cabinet position. The President leaves for the United States at 5 p. m. on the Philip pine Air Lines plane Mindoro. The Vice-President is among those who see him off and he is given a 21-gun salute by an army contingent. Central Bank Governor Miguel Cuademo is among the presidential party of 12 members. June 28 — Executive Secretary Roque denounces as malicious the charge made in certain quarters that Malacanan has posted guards in the premises of the Import Control Commission Office for the pur pose of removing papers which would involve the Administration in alleged anomalies in connection with the reported issuance of over P30,000,000 worth of licenses to unknown “importers” during the last days of the life of the Commission. June 28 — Malacanan issues a statement denying that President Quirino left the Philippines with the intention to withdraw from the Presidential election campaign, as is the rumor in opposition circles. June 29 — Reported that the Mindoro, after leaving Honolulu and nearly half-way to San Francisco, returned because of engine trouble, and that the President is resting in the Tripier Hospital through the courtesy of Admiral Arthur W. Radford. The President sends his thanks to presidential candidate Magsaysay for a message wishing him speedy recovery. Executive Secretary Roque rejects the request of the Senate Finance Committee for the records concerning alleged irregular import control license transactions, stating that Malacanan Will conduct its own in vestigation. Malacanan guards reportedly begin to transfer the re cords to the palace. June 30 — The President arrives in San Francisco at 10:30 in the morning and according to his physician stood the trip very well; he will continue on to Baltimore by plane this afternoon. Anounced that the President issued 4th of July pardons to 114 Japanese prisoners-of-war confined at Muntinlupa. In the cases of 56 of them, sentenced to death, the sentences have been commuted to life imprisonment which they will serve in the Sugamo prison in Japan. The Japanese Government has conveyed its thanks and will send a ship to bring all the pardoned prisoners home. [The President also pardons 323 Filipino prisoners convicted of crimes involving collabo ration with the enemy during the war.] Congress having failed to extend the Import Control Law, the Import Control Commission closes its offices at midnight after several days of disorder. Through the licensing of foreign exchange, the Central Bank and its authorized agent banks will in effect take over the Commission’s import control functions. Regulations, effective July 1, were issued by the Bank under date ofjune 24. Banking and Finance By W. M. Simmons Manager The National City Bank of New York COMPARATIVE statement of condition of the Cen tral Bank: As of As of As of As of Dec. 31, Mar. 31, April 30, May 39, 1949 1953 1953 1953 ASSETS (In thousands of Pesos) International Reserve............. P460.689 P476.907 P479.042 P483.265 Contribution to International Monetary Fund.................... Account to Secure Coinage... Loans and Advances............... Trust Account-Securities Sta bilization Fund...................... Domestic Securities.................. Other Assets............................... 30,000 113,306 77,047 30,000 106,940 48,140 30,000 106,940 44,380 30,000 106,940 36,380 __ 92,197 234,825 234,515 234,310 20,390 42,842 46,712 44,171 P793.629 P939.654 P941.589 P935.066 Currency — Notes.................... P555.576 P576.465 P579.629 P565.019 LIABILITIES Coins.................... 74,384 88,618 88,255 87,761 Demand Deposits—Pesos.... 117,682 223,939 221,649 228,871 Securities Stabilization Fund.. 2,000 18,923 18,828 18,115 Due to International Mone tary Fund............................... « 22,498 496 496 496 Due to International Bank for Reconstruction and Development........................... 2,389 2,380 2,379 2,377 Other Liabilities........................ 2,636 5,056 5,337 6,335 Deferred Credits........................ — 2,397 3,002 3,630 Capital.......................................... 10,000 10,000 10,000 10,000 Undivided Profits..................... 6,464 1,247 1,881 2,329 Surplus.......................................... — 10,133 10,133 10,133 P793.629 P939.654 P941.589 P935.066 The international reserves as of May 31 were as follows: Central Bank international reserves......................... $241,632,358.00 Japan Open Account (due from)............................... 8,780,478.00 Net FX holdings of other banks................................ 61,698,077.00 Total international reserves................................ $312,110,913.00 This is a decrease of $4,000,816 from April 30. Currency and coins issued totalled P652,779,918.00. Money continues tight, with merchants reporting business slow. Among efforts being made to force hoarded money into circulation is the proposed Zulueta-Primicias Bill to demonetize Central Bank notes and treasury certificates of the P100 and P500 denominations. Press comments have been unfavorable. With the expiration of the Import Control Commis sion on June 30, the Central Bank has drawn up general procedures for a system of exchange-licensing for commo dities to be imported into the Philippines effective July 1. The proposed plan will use the commercial banks to imple ment these procedures, and dollar allocations by the Cen tral Bank to importers through their banks will be by semesters. This is potentially as much more flexible pro cedure than in the past, which required letters of credit for specific licenses to be opened within 30 days of release of the license. The new plan permits an orderly spacing of L/C’s opened. (Note: The information contained herein has been derived from respon sible sources, but the National City Bank of New York assumes no responsibility for its accuracy). Manila Stock Market By A. C. Hall Hall, Picornell, Ortigas & Co. June 1 to 26, 1953 ITH the solitary exception of Philippine Iron Mines, which has gained a minimum fluctuation during the period, all other mining shares show varying degrees of losses. Reasons for the poor market performance are not difficult to find. Possibly the most important factor has been the weakness in Lepanto which has been unsettling to the entire market. The decline in this leading issue is due to anticipation of lower copper prices in the future. Whether this will come to pass or not remains to be seen, but, as far as can be judged at present, some further easing of world commodity and metal prices would appear to be more likely, during the second half of the year, than the reverse. A further bearish influence in the mining section is the apparent impossibility of any favorable development materializing for the gold mining group. While the President signed the tax relief law as expected, during the past four weeks the gold price in the local free market has eased further to P99.75 per fine ounce. To round out the picture, it may be noted that the decline in the 276 free gold market price since January is approximately equivalent to all of the tax relief granted the industry by the recently enacted law. The commercial and industrial section of the market has been very quiet and little changed. Fixed-interest securities have developed an easier trend. The latter might be attributed to the Caltex debenture offering, which has absorbed a large portion of available institutional funds that might otherwise have provided additional buying interest in existing fixed-interest issues. Money continues tight with no signs of easing, and this factor is likely to exercise a restraining influence on the equity market for the present. 1953-53 Range High Low 131.53 87.55 MINING SHARES 0.315 0.16 0.065 0.038 6.20 1.60 0.13 0.06 2.05 l.su 0.0035 0.0013 4.80 3.50 0.07 0.02 0.048 0.028 0.155 0.0625 0.075 0.038 0.95 0.65 0.0875 0.028 0.30 0.08 M.S.E. Mining Share Acoje Mining Co. . . . Antamok GoldfieldB. . Atok Big Wedge MinBaguio Gold Mines Balatoc Mining Co.. . Batong Buhay Gold Benguet Consolidated. Coco Grove, Inc......... Consolidated Mines, Inc............................. Itogon Mining Co.. . . I.X.L. Mining Co.. . . Lepanto ConsolidatHigh Low Close Change Total Sales 96.62 87.55 .255 .055 .22 .05 Off 8.54 Off .01 Off .0075 6,225,054 369,000 148,000 1 60 09 50 002 00 02 044 075 06 1.60 .07 1.50 .002 3.50 .02 1.60 Off .20 2,348 j.0725b Off .0175 .04 .0625 .06 1.50 Off .30 .002 ♦ .00 .026b .041 • 065b .06 Off .25 Off .004 Off .003 Off .0125 Off .0025 950,000 13,480 100,000 0.1275 0.09 3.26 2.15 0.32 0.17 0.285 0.20 0.12 0.03 Gumaus Masbate Consolidated. Mindanao Mother Lode. . Paracale Philippine Iron Mines, Inc.............................. San Mauricio Mining Co............................... Surigao Consolidated.. United^Paracale Minx—Ex-Dividend 75 08 085 09 2 45 28 215 .03 .65 .065 .66 .065 Off .09 Off .0125 557,200 415,000 .08 .08 76,000 .09 .09 Off .01 15,000 2.40 2.45 76,350 .28 .20 .28 .20 Off .015 .03 .03 Off .002 97,000 1953-53 Range High 155."" '00 120.00 " 22 00 22.00 20 90 00 00 15.00 75.00 150 00 100.00 110 00 100.00 50 00 35.00 325 12 00 320.00 00 10.00 27 50 24.00 12 00 8.30 00 7.00 0 30 0.25 90 3.00 0 30 0.30 107 23 0 00 20.50 0925 0.02 100 00 99.50 36 28.00 101 93.00 108 00 102.00 13 13 00 50 8.70 6.00 Bank of the Philippine Binalbag an-Isabela Bogo-Medellin Milling Central ^Azucarera de Central Azucarera de la Cariota................. Central Azucarera de Pilar........................... Central Azucarera de Tarlac........................ China Banking Corp. . Cia. de Celulosa de Filipinas.................... Filipinas Cia. de SeIndustriai Textiles Mfg. Co. P.I........... Insular Life Assurance Co............................... Manila Broadcasting Co............................... Manila Wine MerMarsman 8c Co.— Meralco 6-1/2%......... Metropolitan InsurPasudeco....................... Philippine Oil Dev. R 8s D 4% Bonds, 1959........................... San Miguel Brewery, San Miguel Brewery, 7% pref.................... San Miguel Brewery, 8% pref................... Talisay Silay Milling.. Univesal Insurance 8s Indemnity Co......... Williams Equipment, High Close — 150.00b 20 20 75.00 75.00 75 106.00 106.00 106 35.00 8.50 7.00 .27 .025 30.50 98.00 105.00 13.00 00 00 35.00 35 — 280 10.50 8.50 7.00 .27 Change Total Sales 140 58 130 00 00b 10 50 21 00b 8 50 7 00 27 3 10b 30a 00 — 150 — 25 30.00 95.00 of Off 2.00 Off .25 Off 1.00 84 450 1,400 ♦,000 T 420 00b 00b 02 99 50b 30 00 00 8.30b OVER THE COUNTER Off .011 Off 4.00 920,000 13,376 820 210 200 Credit By R. A. Callahan Accountant and Office Manager Philippine Refining Company, Inc. THE Association of Credit Men, Inc. (P.I.) consolidates a survey on accounts of members 90 days past due. It is interesting to note the figures so far this year. In January, 1953, the average number of 90 days past-due accounts per firm reporting was 30. For February and March the average per firm was 39 accounts 90 days past due. In April the average increased to a high for the year of 47 accounts, but in May declined to 31 accounts. The directors of the Association in their monthly meeting on June 16 continued their studies to improve the Ledger Interchange Bureau. The L. I. B. provides reci procal ledger information on specific account names sub mitted by the members. The directors decided to arrange for business-reply envelopes to assist members in replying promptly on Ledger Interchange matters. Several credit executives state that the slight improve ment noted during the last half of May continued briefly in the beginning of June, but receded some thereafter and by mid-June was at about the early May level. The im proved trading in early June was apparently noticed by suppliers of wearing apparel, school supplies, and items relating to the preparation for schools reopening. After the schools started, trading in these lines levelled off. Most wholesale businesses are still slow and some admit a con tinuing period of waiting and watching. Export trade appears rather slow. All exports are at a low level and sugar exports are nearly finished. Rice prices have not risen, and palay values are still depressed. Rice merchants and others are holding back, anticipating price improvement. If the expected improve ment in the price of rice materializes, trading will increase and put money into circulation. Increased pilferage has hurt certain importers, espe cially textile merchants, and some insurance companies. Some food-condiment dealers and merchants in other lines have been affected by price reductions on special lines in America. The stock market is continuing very slowly with little change except for a slight downward trend in some stocks. Several collection executives report some improve ment, though slight and temporary. However, a number of merchants report that they were able to liquidate some accounts during the brief pre-school reopening period and say that inventories moved to advantage. The improvement noted in the latter half of May did not continue throughout June as some credit executives had anticipated and they do not anticipate much change in July. Electric Power Production (Manila Electric Company System) By J. F. Cotton Treasurer, Manila Electric Company 1941 Average—16,316,000 KWH Kilowatt Hours 1953 1952 January.......................................................... 50,107,000 45,152,000 February....................................................... 45,501,000 42,450,000 March............................................................. 50,789,000 45,128,000 April............................................................... 49,159,000 42,798,000 May................................................................ 52,042,000* 45,580,000 June................................................................ 51,310,000** 45,223,000 July................................................................. 47,542,000 277 August............................................................ September..................................................... October.......................................................... November..................................................... December...................................................... a ver age daily June output was higher than in May and set a new record. Total output was 6,987,000 kwh, or 13.4% above June, 1952. Total output for the first 6 months of 1953 was 32,577,000 kwh, or 12. 2% above the same period last year. The 1953 output has been more than 3 times the 1941 average output. Real Estate By Antonio Varias Vice-President, C. M. Hoskins &> Co., Inc., Realtors REAL ESTATE sales registered in the Greater Manila area during the month of June, 1953, numbered 632, with a total value 'of P5,839,980, as compared with 639, with a total value of P6,056,977, registered during the preceding month of May. Of the June sales, 179, with a total value of P3,200,302, represented deals within Manila proper, and 453, with a total value of ?2,639,678, were transactions in Quezon City, Pasay City, and in the suburban towns of Makati, Caloocan, Malabon-Navotas, Mandaluyong, Paranaque, and San Juan. A few of the bigger sales registered during the month were: -- -i,h S by E”‘’“ T"n“ R"""“ •p 5AL estate mortgages registered in the Greater Manila area during the month of June, 1953, numbered 663, with a total value of P9,081,097, as compared with 657, with a total value of P10,853,865, registered during the preceding month of April. . Of the June totals, 264, with a total value of P4.465,288, represented deals within Manila proper, while 399, with a total value of P4,615,809, were mortgages registered in Quezon City, Pasay City, Caloocan, Makati, Malabon-Navotas, Mandaluyong, Paranaque, and San Juan. REAL ESTATE SALES, 1953 REAL ESTATE MORTGAGES, 1953 Manila Quezon City Pasay City Suburban Towns Total January....... . . 1,499,139 1,477,332 213,490 4,141,742 7,331,703 February.... . 3,460,932 1,286,414 341,023 1,710,106 6,798,475 March.......... . 3,775,675 1,643,140 680,593 1,649,801 7,759,209 April........... . . 3,481,727 1,322,975 213,465 1,947,750 6,965,917 May............... . 2,980,713 1,657,605 200,299 1,218,360 6,056,977 June............. . 3,200,302 1,066,751 277,416 1,295,511 5,389,980 January.......... 3,691,913 1,377,690 February. ... 5,560,707 2,196,329 March............. 7,586,190 2,419,165 April................ 5,069,966 1,973,705 May................. 4,962,183 2,026,850 June................ 4,465,288 2,062,071 2.45,200 2,016,917 7,331,720 718,300 2,924,480 11,399,816 553,800 1,503,942 12,063,097 184,500 1,976,673 9,204,844 1,219,800 2,645,032 10,853,865 457,000 2,096,738 9,081,097 Building Construction By Juan J. Carlos President, United Construction Co., Inc. DURING the month of May, the Office of the City Engineer approved building permits for construc tion work amounting to P7,204,600. For the same period in 1952, the volume of work authorized amounted to P6,902,020, in comparison with P5,101,580 in 1951 and P4,387,600 in 1950. Some of the big projects that were started during the month of May were: 278 A theater and office building for Toribio Teodoro on Azcarraga Street near the Rizal Avenue comer, estimated at P900.000; On Plaza Goiti, a 5-story commercial building, costing P375.000, for Jose Chan; For the Santa Rita College on Plaza del Carmen, a 3-story school building, estimated at P150.000; A 6th and 7th floor addition to the Madrigal Building on the Escolta, costing P180.000; • On Taft Avenue, Malate, a 3-story apartment building, estimated at Pl50,000, for Carlos Ysmael; An apartment building on Misericordia Street, costing P165.000, for Benito Guy. For the Philippine Manufacturing Company on Velasquez Street, Tondo, a one-story industrial building estimated at P150.000. The new Star Theater for Toribio Teodoro on Az carraga Street will be the seventh new first-class theater to be constructed in down-town Manila within a period of 12 months. This seems to indicate that the theater business is profitable. School buildings, too, lead among the big edifices being built. In order to relieve the acute shortage of cement, PRISCO ordered and received recently a shipment of 120,000 bags. The entire shipment was sold in one week at P3.80 per bag, ex-bodega. The shortage of steel bars continued to be felt in the market. Of the two local companies producing steel bars, one is without the necessary supply of scrap-iron and the other is suffering intermittent engine • troubles, this causing a considerable lag in production. Unless new shipments of this item are received from abroad, the short age will adversely affect the completion-schedules of many projects. Bids for the construction of the Veterans Hospital were received recently. Local contractors offered prices for individual units and two American firms offered to undertake the whole project. No decision on the award has yet been made by the Veterans Administration. Ocean Shipping and Exports By B. B. Tunold Secretary -Manager Associated Steamship Lines TOTAL exports during the month cf May of this year showed an increase of 21,865 tons over exports during May cf last year. 138 vessels lifted 446,970 tons of exports during the month, as compared to 425,105 tons lifted by 68 vessels during the same month last year. Commodities which have registered sharp increases over last year’s figures for the same month are: logs from 13,942,006 to 40,164,400 bd. ft.; molasses from 13,537 to 20,494 tons; and pineapples from 4,620 to 15,605 tons. Exports during May, 1953, as compared with exports during May, 1952, were as Commodity Alcohol...................................... Beer............................................ Cigar and cigarettes............. Coconut, desiccated............. Coconut oil.............................. Concentrates, copper...... Concentrates, lead................ Coqtentrates, zinc................ Copra........................................ Copra, cake and meal.......... Embroideries.......................... Empty cylinders.................... Fish, salted............................. Fruits, fresh............................ Furniture, rattan.................. Glycerine................................. Gums, copal............................ Gums, elemi........................... Hemp........................................ Hemp, knotted...................... follows: 1953 1952 27 tons 68 tons 961 ” 161 ” 29 ” — 2,827 ” 4,695 ” 2,125 ” 7,736 ’’ 2,893 ” 908 " 199 ” — 54 ” — 32,570 ” 42,824 ” 3,665 ” 5,800 291 ” 192 ” 179 ” 288 ” 62 ” 10 ” 508 ” 315 ” 744 ” 1,348 ” 300 ” 339 ” 46 ” — 15 ” — 70,755 bales 76,182 bales 147 tons — Household goods and personal effects....................... 531 ” 269 tons Junk, metal............................. 100 ” 103 Kapok....................................... 50 ” — Logs........................................... 40,164,400 bd. ft. 13,942,006 bd.ft. Lumber.................................... 4,473,161 ” ” 4,962,349 Molasses................................... 20,494 tons 13,537 tons Plywood and plywood pro ducts...................................... 23 ” 12 Ores, chrome.......................... 42,610 ” 33,348 Ores, iron................................. Pineapples, canned................ 116,647 ” 98,257 15,605 ” 4,620 Rattan, round, (palasan)... 213 ” 462 Rope.......................................... 248 ” 377 Shells, shell waste.................. 37 ” 38 Shell buttons.......................... 13 ” — Skins, hides............................. 17 ” — Sugar, cent./raw.................... 98,922 ” 155,652 tons Tobacco.................................... 799 ” 998 Vegetable oil........................... 29 ” 15 Transit cargo.......................... 10 ” 136 Merchandise, general........... 1,137 ” 884 Port of Manila By L. R. Wentholt Vice-President, Luzon Brokerage Company DURING the month of June, 82,000 tons of general cargo were discharged, on Manila piers and lighters. From the pilferage front, there is little news to report except that some more articles have appeared in the daily newspapers reporting the existence of a well-organized ring of pilferage experts. However, no further results were obtained. The Arrastre Contractors have now instituted a new method of checking trucks when leaving the piers. Through one side of the gate, merchandise of an easily checked nature like flour, tinplate, large cases of truck bodies, etc. can pass; the other side is reserved for the checking of general merchandise. This, in our view, is a good system since delays in passing trucks will be minimized. At present only one gate is used for the outflow of merchandise, but the Arrastre Contractors are considering opening one more gate, most likely Gate No. 4 on 13th Street, to ease the flow of cargo. A considerable amount of general merchandise was discharged on the piers and congestion was experienced. The greatest delay, though, is not in the loading of the trucks but in the poor traffic arrangements on the pier, and in the time it takes to have gate passes completed. An easier method should be found as this would be to the benefit of all parties concerned. Freight Car Loadings By Joss B. Libunao Traffic Manager, Manila Railroad Company LOADINGS of revenue freight during the month of May, 1953, totaled 2,049 cars. This was a decrease of 372 cars, or 15.37%, less than the loadings during May, 1952, which ran to 2,421 cars. Revenue Carloadings by Classes Revenue freight carloadings by general classes of com modities for the month of May are shown below: Tonnage May Commodity 1953 1952 Products of agriculture........... .................................. 3,539 5,589 Animal products.......................... 1,079 774 Mineral products......................................................... 1,812 784 Forest products.................................................... 12,641 14,247 Products of manufacture................................... 22,967 31,718 Merchandise less than by carloads......................... 8,626 6,075 Total...................................................... 50,664 59,187 279 There were 37 items compared with 33 items in May, 1952, treated in this review, with total of 50,664 tons and 59,187 tons respectively, or a net decrease of 8,523 tons. Twenty-four items registered a total decline of 17,226 tons, while 16 items registered a total gain of 8,703 tons. Three items—horses and mules, pigs, and coconut oil did not move by rail during the month of May and were respon sible for a minor decrease of 232 tons. The items which registered the big decline of 15,282 tons were palay, copra, cattle and calves, logs, other products of the forest, desic cated coconut, other oils, centrifugal sugar, molasses, and other manufactures. On the other hand, there were in creased shipments of other animal products, crushed rock, fuel oil, refined sugar, and less than carload merchandise with an aggregate total of 6,784 tons which helped offset the big decline. The decrease in the export shipments of copra by 1,112 tons, logs by 1,213 tons, centrifugal sugar by 8,115 tons, and molasses by 1,335 tons was heavy and could not be made up by other items, considering that sugar cane, which in the previous month accounted for 9,204 tons, was no longer available due to the seasonal nature of the cargo. There was little stock of flour, cement, and other articles to counter-balance this decline in tonnage. Considering the present trend of business, there is little hope that the next period will show improvement. The only foreseeable increases in the carloadings are flour and cement which may improve in June. Also, the in creased exportation of manganese ore in the offing may augment the June business. Mining By Henry A. Brimo President Philippine Gold Producers Association, Inc. ON the evening of Saturday, June 20, 1953, President Quirino formally signed House Bill No. 3761, a Bill designed to bring tax relief to the gold producers, and thus Republic Act No. 909 came into being. We here with quote in full this new law for the benefit of the many who have been asking for copies. REPUBLIC ACT NO. 909 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philip pines in Congress assembled: SECTION 1. Paragraph (b) of Section two hundred and fortytwo of Commonwealth Act Numbered Four hundred and sixty-six is hereby amended to read as follows: “(b) Royalties “(1) On coal, such royalties as may be specified in the lease, which shall not be less than ten centavos per ton of one thousand and sixteen kilograms. “(2) On gold, a royalty of one and one-half per centum of the actual market value of the annual gross output thereof. “(3) On all other minerals, extracted from, or mineral products of, mineral lands of the first, second, fourth, and fifth groups as provided for in the Mining Act, a royalty of one and one-half per centum of the actual market value of the gross output thereof. “Before the minerals or mineral products are removed from the mines, the Collector of Internal Revenue or his representatives shall first be notified of such removal on a form prescribed for the purpose. “The rentals and royalties at the rates herein established or at such rates as hereafter may be prescribed by law shall be paid by the lessee and a provision to this effect shall be deemed to be a part of every con tract of lease covering the mineral lands and mineral products referred to in this section.” SEC. 2. Section two hundred and forty-three of Commonwealth Act Numbered Four hundred and sixty-six is also amended to read as follows: “SEC. 243. Ad Valorem taxes on output of mineral lands not covered by lease.—There shall be assessed and collected on the actual market value of the annual gross output of the minerals or mi neral products extracted or produced from all mineral lands, not covered by lease, an ad valorem tax, payable to the Collector of Internal Re venue, in the amount of one and one-half per centum of the value of said output. “Before the minerals or mineral products are removed from the mines the Collector of Internal Revenue or his representative shall first be notified of such removal on a form prescribed for the purpose.” SEC. 3. Section two hundred and forty-four of Commonwealth Act Numbered Four hundred and sixty-six is repealed. SEC. 4. New mines, and old mines which resume operation, when certified to as such by the Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Re sources upon the recommendation of the Director of Mines, shall be exempt from the payment of income tax during the first three years of actual commercial production: Provided, That, any such mine and/or mines making a complete return of its capital investment at any time within the said period, shall pay income tax from that year. SEC. 5. Notwithstanding the provisions of section one hundred and eighty-six of the Internal Revenue Code and section one of Re public Act Numbered Six hundred and one, known as the Foreign Ex change Tax, all articles imported by gold mining companies which will be used in the operation of the said mining companies are exempt from tax: Provided, That these exemptions shall apply during a period of three years. SEC. 6. This Act shall take effect upon its approval. Approved, June 20, 1953. For the record, we will repeat our statement from our article in the last issue of this Journal anent the actual savings involved, which is estimated to save the 10 mem ber-mines of this Association an amount of approximately P3,900,000. As we pointed out, on the basis of our produc tion of 433,360 ounces of gold during 1952, the saving is very close to ?9 per ounce of gold produced, less a small amount that may have to be paid back in the form of the corporate income tax. Such substantial relief should have buoyed the hopes of the gold producers and encouraged increased investment as well as speculation in the future of the industry; actually the signing of the Bill brought nary a ripple of interest as far as outsiders were concerned. The reason is that the price of gold has been declining steadily since January, 1953, and shows no sign of a let-up or a reaction. As a result, the amount of saving expected from Republic Act No. 909 is actually less than the loss sustained since January because of the decline in the gold price, prices for bullion will show: January................................................... February................................................. March...................................................... April......................................................... May.......................................................... June......................................................... Price as of July 1.............................. as the following average oz. (average) oz. (average) oz. (average) oz. (average) oz. (average) oz. (average) oz. (average) It is therefore fortunate that our tax relief came when it did. Without such relief, a price of P98.50 for gold bullion would have brought almost immediate ruin to the industry. As the fortunes, or misfortunes, of the industry now stand, the gold producers are in the same dire straits as when our Association was formed almost a year ago precisely to work out the salvation of the gold mines. Much was accomplished in the short period of the existence of this Association, but much remains to be done in the face of the increasing complexities and problems confronting us. Lumber By Pacifico de Ocampo Secre tary-Treas urer Philippine Lumber Producers' Association, Inc. DURING the month under review, May, 1953, the Phil ippines exported 40,265,902 bd. ft. of logs and lum ber, 7,869,369 bd. ft. less than the preceding month. This decrease was mainly due to the decline in the ship ment of logs to Japan—from 40,145,515 bd. ft. in April to 32,755,465 in May, or a decrease of 7,392,050 bd.ft. The export to the United States and Canada increased by 378,176 bd. ft. from 4,983,173 bd. ft. in April to 5,361,349 bd. ft. in May. Exports to all other countries decreased by 857,495 bd. ft. from 3,006,583 bd. ft. in April to 2,149,088 bd. ft. in May. The following are the figures for the logs and lumber in bd. ft. inspected for export during May, 1953, as released by the Bureau of Forestry: 280 July, 1953 AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 281 Volume m Board Feet Shipper Destination Lumber Logs Aguinaldo Development Corp...................................... Japan 699,319 Alberto Llorente................... Japan 500,318 American Asiatic Co........... Japan 205,001 American U.S.A. 275,039 Rubber Co.......................... Japan • 1,201,023 Anakan U. S. A. 179,070 618,000 Lumber Japan 1,200,000 Company........................ Canada 50,000 A. Soriano y Cia................. U.S.A. 142 Basilan U.S.A. 608,581 Lumber Borneo 68,369 Company........................ Hawaii 66,583 Bislig Bay U.S.A. 302,205 Lumber Hongkong 394,485 Co., Inc........................... Japan 2,755,823 Brigido R. Valencia............. Japan 567,939 Calapan Lumber Co., Inc.. Japan 502,813 Cantilan Lumber Co.,......... Japan 499,705 Cipriano Luna Enterprises. Japan 497,462 Continental Merchandizing Corp...................................... Japan 202,489 Cuison Lumber Co., Inc.. . Japan 300,000 Dy Bun Chin........................ Japan 641,074 Dy Pac & Co., Inc.............. Japan 639,144 F. E. Zuellig, Inc................. U.S.A. 18,208 Findlay Millar Timber Co.......................................... Okinawa 500,000 F. M. Triplitt........................ Japan 176,858 General U.S.A. 32,803 Enterprises......................... Japan 3,087,113 General Lumber Co., Inc.......................................... Taiwan 628,857 Getz Bros................................ Africa 5,000 Golden Ribbon Lumber Co., Inc................................ Japan 189,180 G. S. Mahalac Enter prises ..................................... Japan 2,164,034 Hercules Lumber U.S.A. 219,023 Co., Inc................................ Japan 799,959 Insular U.S.A. 363,784 Africa 209,818 Lumber Hawaii 76,573 Company Inc................. Ireland 122,316 Johnston Lumber U.S.A. 31,967 Company............................. Japan 977,110 Jorge J. Tirador................... Japan 520,000 Jose S. Rico.......................... Japan 413,357 Jose G. Sanvictores............. Japan 1,442,829 Martha Lumber Mill, Inc.......................................... U.S.A. 390,922 M. R. Lacson........................ Japan 686,066 Misamis Lumber Co., Inc.. Japan 899,462 Nasipit Lumber U.S.A. 350,000 Co., Inc............................... Japan 4,140,000 North Camarines Lumber Co., Inc................................ U.S.A. 238,459 North Star Lumber Co., Inc.......................................... Japan 143,028 Sanchez Logging Co............ Japan 1,465,400 Sta. Clara Lumber U.S.A. 65,000 600,000 Co., Inc................................ Japan 1,550,000 Taligaman Lumber Co., Inc.......................................... Japan 655,311 T. H. Valderrama 8s Sons Japan 825,571 Valderrama Lumber U.S.A. 110,708 Mftrs. Co., Inc................. Hongkong 50,087 Valeriano U.S.A. 602,087 C. Denmark 27,000 Bueno............................... Japan 308,987 Visayan Sawmill Co., Ltd.................................. Japan 890,625 West Basilan Lumber, Inc.......................................... Japan 400,000 Western Mindanao U.S.A. 44,043 Lumber Co., Inc.............. Japan 201,734 Woodcraft Works, Ltd.. . . Japan 169,298 Woodworks, U.S.A. 261,308 Incorp................................... Japan 237,433 Totals.............. 3,968,532 36,297,370 arrivals of logs and lumber at Manila during the month under review, aggregating 11,430,895 bd. ft., decreased by 1,418,384 bd. ft. as compared to arrivals during the previous month of 12,849,279 bd. ft. The de crease may be attributed in part to unfavorable weather conditions in places of production. ENGINEERING EQUIPMENT & SUPPLY COMPANY, Inc. MACHINERY • MECHANICAL SUPPLIES • ________ ENGINEERS • CONTRACTORS________ AIR CONDITIONING For Offices, Theatres, Hospitals, Stores, Restaurants, Hotels, Clubs and Homes ★ ★ ★ Suppliers of MACHINERY, EQUIPMENT and INDUSTRIAL SUPPLIES For Sugar Centrals, Mines, Sawmills, Power Plants, Machine Shops and All Industrial Plants ★ ★ ★ ENGINEERING — DESIGN — APPLICATION — ESTIMATES INSTALLATION — MAINTENANCE — SERVICE — REPAIRS General & Sales Office 174 M. de Comillas S Manila i|| Tel. 3-29-21 O' ★ ★ ★ Operating: MACHINE SHOPS • STEEL PLATE SHOPS STRUCTURAL STEEL SHOPS • WELDING SHOPS • BLACKSMITH SHOPS • SHEET METAL SHOPS • MARINE RAILWAY Engineering Shops No. 1 Calle L. Segura & Pasig River Mandaluyong, Rizal Tel. 6-65-68 I 282 AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL July, 1953 During the month under review, May, 1953, the prices of lumber in the local wholesale trade remained unchanged as of the previous month, P165-P170 for white lauan, P170-P175 for apitong, and P185-P195 for red lauan. Pxport producers will obtain relief from Republic Act " No. 894 recently enacted by Congress and approved by the President of the Philippines, eliminating the sales tax on the exports of logs and lumber abroad irrespective of the shipping arrangements which may be agreed upon by the shipper and buyer. Exports under f.o.b. arrange ment are henceforth to be considered consignments abroad, or exports, and not local sales, thereby exempting ship ments of this nature from the percentage tax of 5%. The Philippine (Lumber Producers’ Association, Inc., A maintained vigorous opposition to the “emergency concession” of the Associated Steamship Lines reducing by $5 per 1000 bd. ft. the freight rates on shipments of logs and lumber to the United States for a period of two months, up to July 31, 1953. The Association through its President, Mr. A. de las Alas, claimed that the basic con sideration in the original request for a reduction is to enable exporters to stabilize their exports by making the prices of their products competitive with the prices of other species. SUMMARY OF EXPORTS DURING MAY, 1953, ARRANGED BY COUNTRIES OF DESTINATION IN THE ORDER OF VOLUME OF SHIPMENT TO EACH COUNTRY Countries of Destination Lumber (Bd.Ft.) Logs (Bd.Ft.) Total (Bd.Ft.) Japan............................................ — 32,755,465 32,755,465 United States.................... 2,475,301 2,836,048 5,311,349 Taiwan.......................................... — 628,857 628,857 Okinawa........................................ 500,000 — 500,000 Hongkong..................................... 444,572 — 444,572 Africa............................................ 214,818 — 214,818 Hawaii.......................................... 143,156 — 143,156 Ireland.......................................... 122,316 — 122,316 Borneo.......................................... 68,369 — 68,369 Canada.......................................... — 50,000 50,000 Denmark...................................... — 27,000 27,000 Total..................................... 3,968,531 36,297,370 40,265,902 RESUME of Exports to: Japan.................................................... United States and Canada............ Other countries................................. Totals..................................V . . Lumber Logs (Bd.Ft.) (Bd.Ft.) — 32,755,465 2,475,301 2,886,048 1,493,231 655,857 3,968,532 36,297,370 Total (.Bd.Ft.) 32,755,465 5,361,349 2,149,088 40,265,902 Trend of Exports to: This Month Month Ago Year Ago Lumber Logs Lumber Logs Lumber Logs (Bd.Ft.) (Bd.Ft.) (Bd.Ft.) (Bd.Ft.) (Bd.Ft.) (Bd.Ft.) Japan................ — 32,755,465 — 40,145,515 — 12,603,322 United States and Canada. 2,475,301 2,886,048 3,194,862 1,788,311 3,813,177 1,439,995 Other countries. 1,493,231 655,857 1,362,131 1,644,452 1,684,217 57,159 Totals. . . . 3,968,532 36,297,370 .4,556,993 43,578,278 5,497,394 14,100,476 COMPARATIVE STATEMENT OF EXPORTS MADE TO DIFFERENT REGIONS OF THE UNITED STATES DURING THE MONTHS OF APRIL AND MAY, 1953 Period Lumber in Board Feet Lo&s in Board Feet Western States Eastern States Gulf States All Others Total Western States Eastern States Gulf All States Others Total Totald April, 1953...................................... 2,500,230 447,234 149,513 97,885 3,194,862 1,341,591 46,733 399,987 — 1,788,311 4,983,173 May, 1953...................................... 1,949,554 299,857 208,573 17,317 2,475,301 1,000,281 676,845 1,158,922 — 2,836,048 5,311,349 Difference (Increase+; Decrease—)................ 550,676— 147,377— 59,060 + 80,568-- 719,561— 341,310— 630,112+ 758,935+ — 1,047.737 + 328,176 + fin Ours is an established reputation of 141 years standing ... For complete banking facilities, unparalleled resources and world-wide service Furnished by 57 fully-staffed branches and correspondents in every commercially important city. THE NATIONAL CITY BANK OF NEW YORK BRANCHES IN THE PHILIPPINES MANILA Main Branch: JUAN LUNA STREET Port Area Branch: 13TH STREET PAMPANGA: Clark Field CEBU: Cebu City July, 1953 AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 283 This objective cannot be attained without a long-range program intimately and necessarily connected with pro duction methods, investments, and other factors. What producers need is an assurance that future production and shipments will continue on the basis of the reduced rates. The stability of log dnd lumber exports to the United States cannot be made to depend on “experimental measures” as it would be unwise for producers to make huge investments without being certain that their pro ducts would enter the American market on a competitive basis. The short duration of the reduction fails to give any degree of assurance to lumber exporters. Copra and Coconut Oil By Edward F. Underwood Manager, Copra Buying Department, Philippine Manufacturing Company AFTER a steady opening early in June, the copra market resumed its decline in a rapid break that saw prices down from 15% to 20% in one week. The sensational release of anti-communist Korean prisoners by the Republic of Korea in the middle of June, coupled with lower copra arrivals and steady United States domestic oils sparked a rally. A squeeze in West Coast oil for June delivery also contributed support to the market. At the end of June prices had begun easing again. Indonesia was a heavy seller tp Europe throughout the month. Due to the Indonesian Copra Fund’s policy of guaranteed prices and extremely low exports in May, Indonesia acquired a large surplus of copra and moved to dispose of it promptly. European buyers bought futures at prices close to the lews for the downward move in early June, but as a rule balked at advancing prices in late June. Copra Prices. After holding at around $200.00 per short ton c.i.f. West Coast for spot shipment the first week to ten days, prices broke to as low as $166.50. The rally in late June carried afloat prices to as high as $187.50 and spot to $185.00. While the situation on the last day of June was confused, spot copra was quoted at $180.00 nominal. Buyers for Europe paid from $205 per long ton landed weights f.o.b. for spot shipment to as low as $160 for August shipment during the month. At the close, buyers were willing to pay $180 for nearby, $175 for second-half July shipment, $170 for August shipment, and $165 to $167.50 for September shipment. Local prices in Manila for fresh copra resecada basis for 30-day delivery dropped from P38.00 to P38.50 at the end of May, to P33.50 at the end of June, down P4.50 to P5.00 per 100 kilos. During the month copra traded locally at as low as P30.00 per 100 kilos. Coconut Oil Prices. Coconut oil prices closed at 13-3/4/ per pound f.o.b. tank cars Pacific Coast for im mediate delivery, down 1/ per pound, with sellers offering 13-1/2/ for July shipment, 12-1/2/ for August shipment, and 12-1/4/ for September shipment. Coconut oil for immediate shipment to the East Coast was quoted at 13-3/4/ nominal, down 1/ per pound from May 31. Copra Cake and Meal Prices. Copra cake and meal prices were steady and unchanged. At the end of June cake and meal prices were $72 to $75 per short ton c.i.f. West Coast. Production and Future Prospects. Production increased throughout the Philippines during the month of June with combined Manila and Cebu arrivals reaching a new peak for 1953. Arrivals did decline late in June, INSULAR LUMBER COMPANY FABRICA, OCC. NEGROS -------- ¥--------SPECIALISTS IN KILN-DRIED LUMBER and MANUFACTURERS OF BOXES OF ALL DESCRIPTIONS MANILA DISTRIBUTORS: Norton. & Harrison Company 814 Echague Manila Philippine Lumber Manufacturing Company 14-30 Soler St. Manila Insular Saw Mill, Inc. 340 Canonigo, Paco Manila MANILA OFFICE: 603 FILIPINAS BUILDING 284 AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL July, 1953 pacific mciiMinsiw; c 01! I' 0 i;it i o\ 449 Dasmarinas Manila AMERICAN RADIATOR & STANDARD SANITARY CORPORATION AMERICAN VALVE COMPANY AMES BALDWIN WYOMING COMPANY BADGER METER MANUFACTURING CO. BADGER FIRE EXTINGUISHER CO. BALL BROS. MASON JARS BOMMER SPRING HINGE COMPANY CAPEWELL MANUFACTURING CO. CARBORUNDUM COMPANY COLUMBUS COATED PRODUCTS CO. COLUMBIAN VICE & MFG. CO. COLEBROOKDALE IRON COMPANY CORBIN LOCK COMPANY DICK BROTHERS MANUFACTURING CO. EKCO PRODUCTS CO. FAIRBURY WINDMILL CO. GREAT NECK SAW CO. JACOBS MANUFACTURING CO. KEENEY MANUFACTURING COMPANY MALLEABLE IRON FITTINGS CO. NORTH WAYNE TOOL COMPANY PABCO PRODUCTS, INC. “Pabco” Products RUDI SELL FOUNDRY COMPANY SLOAN VALVE COMPANY SOLARINE COMPANY TEMPLETON KENLY JACK CO. UNION CARBIDE & CARBON CORP. National Carbon Division “Eveready” flashlights & batteries Linde Air Products Division “Union” Carbide UNITED STATES STEEL EXPORT CORP. ♦ STEEL PRODUCTS HOUSE FURNISHINGS GENERAL HARDWARE PLUMBING especially in Cebu, but the drop was considered temporary and generally attributed to bad weather. Production in Mindanao for June was up more than 50% from May. On Luzon, production reached a new high for the year in a continuation of a steady increase since March. Reports from the Bicol were.encouraging, though a return to normal production in 1953 for this region seemed to be out of the question. Production in July should hit a new high for the year, and arrivals are expected to increase both in Cebu and in Manila. A further rise in production is expected in August and early September. Prices at the end of July are likely to be lower than they are today. Bearish factors include increasing produc tion, the certainty of a lower U.S. Commodity Credit Corporation support-price on cottonseed oil, and a topheavy world-supply picture of edible and inedible oils. A sustaining factor at this writing is the confusion in Korea and the ever present possibility of a deterioration in the international situation. Lower prices are indicated unless there is a marked increase in international tension. Copra Statistics Philippine Copra and Coconut Oil Exports (In lon& tons) April May Copra United States........... ................ 21,950 22,946 Europe........................ ................ 6,250 6,603 Other countries........ ................ 13,056 3,021 Total............................ 32,570 41,256 Coconut Oil United States........................... 4,234 2,125 Other countries......................... — — 1953 January. . 8,448 February. 7,741 March... 6,897*“ April........ 8,305 May........ 9,202 June........ 10,541 'Manifested arrivals only. Unn 10% of manifested. ♦*Does not include 1,800 tone of ’••Preliminary Desiccated Coconut By Howard R. Hick President and General Manager Peter Paul Philippine Corporation THIS report covers the period from May 15 to June 15, during which time copra prices reached a low for the year and raw nuts followed suit. In the Luzon area, the location of most of the Philippine desiccated coconut factories, copra production dropped off as desiccated com panies paid the copra-equivalent or slightly more in order to run their factories at almost peak production. Generally the industry was much improved and a better year than 1952 now looks possible, although several of the small post-war companies have fallen by the wayside. July, 1953 AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 285 The large inventories held by United States buyers have diminished and they now operate more on a monthto-month basis. This has been a great stabilizing factor in the industry. Labor problems seem at a minimum, with a slight flurry at Peter Paul where the union had a 3-day strike early in June, mostly concerned with the dismissal of the Union President. The following shipping statistics for the month of May show an increase of 12% over April; June looks even bigger at the time of this writing. Shippers Franklin Baker Company................................................. Blue Bar Coconut Company............................................ Peter Paul Philippine Corporation................................ Red V Coconut Products, Ltd................................... Sun Ripe Coconut Products, Inc................................... Cooperative Coconut Products, Inc.............................. Coconut Products (Philippines), Inc.. . (.................... Total........................................................................ Pounds 3,184,580 1,187,880 1,271,100 1,465,700 65,000 20,000 7,194,260 lbs. Sugar By J. H. d’Authreau Theo. H. Davies &• Co., Far East, Ltd. THIS review covers the period June 1 to June 30, 1953. New York Market. The market throughout the month has been without any new feature. . Un sold afloat Philippines continued to be taken up between 6.35/ and 6.40/ and small lots for July/August shipment sold at 6.45/ down to 6.43/. Refined prices remained generally unchanged and business has been conducted on a day-to-day basis. Stocks are low for the time of year and the general feeling is that any advance beyond 6.45/ for raws will bring forth a quota-increase announcement. In these circumstances, with supplies for the year seemingly assured, no hot-weather demand to date, and both strike threats circumvented, the market is a dull, pedestrian affair. The undertone at the close is firm, but again with out positive indication of volume developing in the early future. Reported sales of actuals totalled approximately 203,372 long tons, of which approximately 80,000 tons were Philippines. Exchange operations for the period approxi mated 328,350 tons. Deliveries of refined for the month totalled 670,578 tons as compared with 607,375 tons for May, 1953, and 810,511 tons for June, 1952. Distribu tion for the year to June, 1953, was 3,678,809 tons, against 3,768,754 tons for the same period last year. On June 6 refiners stocks were at 263,549 tons, high for the year, as compared with 240,819 tons for the same date last year. Milling of the Cuban crop has ended with a total production of 5,013,000 Spanish long tons. There is no pressure to market Cuban, other than the natural one of avoiding storage and insurance charges. Opening and closing quotations on the No. 6 Contract were as follows: July September November March, 1954 June 1.................................. 5.90j£ 5.95^ 5.93<5 5.58^ June 30................................ — 5.93 5.95 5.56 Average spot price for the period was 5.868182/. Average spot price January 1 to June 30 was 5.773920/. Local Market, (a) Domestic Sugar. Prices con tinued firm at P15 per picul ex’warehouse for mill run basis 97° with supplies showing some evidence of tightness, due, we believe, to speculation and not to any real shortage, and this despite the quite flourishing back-door trade with Borneo as reported in the press. AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE OF THE PHILIPPINES ESTABLISHED 1920 PURPOSES. The promotion and development of American trade, commerce, and industry in the Philippines and the Far East; The provision of means for the convenient exchange of ideas in this promo tion and development; The cultivation of friendly relations between Americans and Filipinos and other peoples of the Far East; The enrolment of all American citizens residing in the Philippines with a view to bringing about closer association in the achievement of the purposes set forth. MEMBERSHIP. Active membership is limited to (1) commercial, industrial, and other organizations, partnerships, and corporations organized under the laws of the Philippines or of the United States of America which are controlled by Amer ican citizens, the responsibilities and privileges of this class of membership being exercised by individual representatives of the member-entities who must rank among their senior members but need not be American citizens; (2) individual Americans residing in the Philippines, other parts of the Far East, or the United States. Associate membership is limited to individual American citizens who may be either Residents (residing within 100 kilometers of Manila), or Non-resi dents (residing in the Philippines outside this radius or elsewhere in the Far East or in the United States). ________ OFFICERS AND DIRECTORS, 1953 J. H. Carpenter, President; W. C. Palmer, Vice-President; R. J. Baker, Treasurer; F. C. Bennett, S. W. G. Lehman, Paul R. Parrette, E. E. Selph, W. M. Simmons, and Paul H. Wood. Mrs. Virginia Gonder, Executive Vice-President; I. T. Salmo, Secretary 286 AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL July, 1953 FOR BETTER SERVICE— Call 3-29-05 ALLIED BROKERAGE COltl'ORiTION Mareman Building Port Area Individual attention and competent supervision given to your customs brokerage requirements. CUSTOMS BROKERAGE FREIGHT FORWARDING WAREHOUSING TRUCKING HEAVY HAULING (b) Export Sugar. The local market, convinced at length that the New York doldrums were a fixed feature, showed great activity at P15.60, a 5-centavo advance on the previously ruling quotation. Some 30/40,000 tons changed hands at this price. When days later the price rose to P15.70 following announcement of a $1.50 freight reduction, relatively little sugar was available. Total export shipments for the month are estimated at 42,005 long tons, making a total of 573,945 long tons against the 1952-53 crop and a total of 453,945 long tons for the period January 1 to June 30. New York reports show Philippine arrivals for the period January 1 to June 15 at 423,317 long tons as against 401,852 long tons to the same date in 1952. We have to correct our estimated figure for Philippine exports for the month of May given in our last report dated June 1. The actual exports for the month of May totalled 88J940 long tons, making a total of 531,940 long tons against the 1952-53 crop and a total of 411,940 long tons from January 1. 1952-53 Milling. Twenty of the 25 Centrals have finished milling for the 1952-53 crop, producing 927,170 short tons. The remaining 4 Centrals still milling are ex pected to produce 212,195 short tons, or a total estimated production for the 1952-53 crop of 1,139,365 short tons, representing an estimated shortage of 92,635 short tons in the combined United States and domestic quotas. The average of juice purities to date is 84.35. Freight Rate. On June 18 the Associated Steamship Lines advised its members of a reduction of the raw sugar rate to $12 per long ton, n.w.d., effective immediately on condition that all existing bookings respect the former rate. This revised rate will be in force for the remainder of the current crop up to October 31, 1953. July, 1953 AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 287 Manila Hemp By J. Deane Conrad President, Conrad & Co., Inc. THIS report covers the period from June 1 to June 30. Prices in New York for the month opened approxi mately at the following levels: Machine-cleaned I—24-5/8(5 Machine-cleaned JI—24(5 Machine-cleaned G—20-1/2^ During the month prices declined gradually and at the close business was done at— Machine-cleaned I—23-1/4(5 Machine-cleaned JI—22-5/8(5 Machine-cleaned G—18-7/8(5 In the London market prices for Davao fibers declined gradually throughout the month, but toward the close of the period under review prices for lower grades and for the coarse grades of non-Davao fiber appeared fairly steady. In Japan the market for Davao hemp declined grad ually throughout the month in sympathy with the New York and London markets. In the Philippines we find very lictle change in the Davao market between the 1st and 30th of June. Prices fell off approximately Pl.00 to Pl.50 per picul, but on the basis of the decline in consuming markets the Davao market should have declined considerably more than it did. Prices in non-Davao fiber for medium and high grades came down gradually in sympathy with consuming markets, but for coarse grades they remain about unchanged. We detail below baling and export figures. Balings—January /May Inclusive 1953 1952 1951 1950 1949 Davao...................... 204,960 216,550 211,143 135,474 91,421 Albay, Camarines and Sorsogon. . . 105,372 77,241 129,798 78,932 55,528 Leyte and Samar.. 53,018 72,205 84,781 50,907 51,669 All other nonDavao .................. 42,428 35,148 48,303 32,679 37,176 Total............... 405,778 401,144 474,025 297,992 235,794 Total................ Exports—January/May Inclusive 1949 1953 1952 1951 1950 United States and Canada................ 146,253 133,799 283,060 126,257 81,584 Continent of Eu rope ...................... 83,814 75,481 81,618 45,312 48,532 United Kingdom. . 51,264 45,727 81,334 33,144 13,635 Japan........................ 107,906 42,642 61,619 42,989 67,256 South Africa.......... 3,620 5,700 6,990 1,325 2,516 China........................ 945 4,458 2,145 7,580 5,861 India........................ 3,550 1,830 3,342 3,450 1,151 Korea....................... — — — 3,100 — Australia and New Zealand............... 1,200 550 1,050 625 350 All others............... 370 160 — — 80 398,922 310,347 521,158 263,782 220,965 Tobacco By Luis A. Pujalte Exporter, Importer, and Wholesale Dealer in Leaf Tobacco PURCHASING of the new crop has not yet started in Cagayan and Isabela, though it is expected to start at any time now. A sizeable quantity of the crop is already being delivered to the warehouses of the different dealers against the advances made on the crop, but this tobacco is still unpriced as, on most loans made to farmers, liquidation depends on current purchase prices, and as yet these have not been established. You pay no more for the extra savings of B. F. Goodrich Silvertown Tires Your money goes farther with B. F. Goodrich Silvertown tires because they wear longer. Wide, road-level tread wears slowly. Strong, rubber-sealed cords absorb road impact to lengthen tire life. You get more miles from slow-wearing Silvertown tires. And since you pay no more for this extra wear, Silvertown tires actually cost you less per mile. Along with their long-run economy, B. F. Goodrich tires give added safety and comfort. See them today at MORE THAN 200 DEALERS THROUGHOUT THE PHILIPPINES 288 AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL July, 1953 That prices will be higher than last year is beyond doubt, but the question is how high prices will go. In the Visayas and Pangasinan, prices advanced but were quite steady. In La Union prices have sky-rocketed due to the shortness of the. crop and heavy competition. There is a very good demand for Philippine leaf in Europe due to higher prites of Java leaf. With higher prices to be paid for the new crop, demand from the United States and Europe may fall off if other tobacco-producing countries offer lower prices than we do. t regret that through misinformation I mentioned in my A last article that the law on the importation of Virginia leaf had been amended; it* has not, though there is a Senate Bill to that effect which unfortunately did not go through. Automobiles and Trucks Motor Vehicles Registration For the period from January 1 to December 31, 1953 Motor Vehicles Office Department of Public Works and Communications Provinces and Cities Cars Abra............................................................................................... 149 Agusan........................................................................................... 100 Albay............................................................................................. 330 Antique......................................................................................... 86 Baguio City................................................................................. 686 Basilan City................................................................................ 82 Bataan......................................................................... 261 Batanes........................................................................ 5 Batangas........................................................................................... 1,190 Bohol.............................................................................................. 137 Bukidnon........................................ 71 Bulacan.......................................................................................... 1,445 Cagayan........................................................................................ 166 Calbayog City............................................................................. 38 Camarines Norte......... ............................................................. 81 Camarines Sur............................................................................ 275 Capiz.............................................................................................. 197 Catanduanes................................................................................ 15 Cavite............................................................................................. 1,255 Cebu............................................................................................... 1,997 Cotabato....................................................................................... 413 Dagupan City............................................................................. 537 Davao............................................................................................ 1,727 Ilocos Norte........................................................................................... 297 Ilocos Sur..................................................................................... 260‘ Iloilo....................,........................................................................ 1,220 Isabela..................................................................................................... 215 Laguna..................................................................................................... 318 Lanao....................................................................................................... 259 La Union................................................................................................ 252 Leyte........................................................................................................ 541 Marinduque............................................................................................. 47 Masbate................................................................................................... 33 Mindoro Occ................................................................................ 57 Mindoro Or.................................................................................. 139 Misamis Occ................................................................................ 79 Misamis Or.................................................................................. 433 Mountain Province................................................................... 28 Negros Occ................................................................................... 1,779 Negros Or..................................................................................... 292 Nueva Ecija................................................................................ 696 Nueva Vizcaya........................................................................... 103 Ormoc City.................................................................................. 146 Ozamiz City................................................................................ 70 Palawan.................. 59 Culion Leper Colony............................................................... 3 Pampanga.................................................................................... 2,122 Pangasinan.................................................................................. 388 Quezon.......................................................................................... 442 Quezon City................................................................................ 4,126 Rizal.............................................................................................. 1,908 Romblon....................................................................................... 17 Samar................. 173 San Pablo City.......................................................................... 455 Sorsogon........................................................................................ 95 Sulu................................................................................................ 148 Surigao.......................................................................................... 134 Tarlac............................................................................................ 566 Zambales...................................................................................... 366 Zamboanga Prov........................................................................ 103 Zamboanga del Norte.............................................................. 17 Zamboanga del Sur.................................................................. — Zamboanga City........................................................................ 282 Total Provinces......................................................................... 29,911 Total Manila.............................................................................. 20,086 Grand Totals...................................................................... 49,997 Trucks Trailers Motorcycles Total Collections 69 9 4 231 P 11,340.00 235 5 11 351 74,377.25 872 7 12 1,221 281,867.75 171 2 18 277 60,710.25 697 7 24 1,414 345,393.02 167 11 3 263 61,814.80 589 3 2 855 135,312.82 2 7 389.00 1,051 31 11 2,283 319,008.88 451 18 606 140,073.50 143 6 — 220 131,781.75 2,262 129 30 3,866 443,769.04 466 3 11 646 156,712.75 56 — 2 96 12,632.75 274 5 7 367 124,251.50 428 3 5 711 164,964.50 537 4 18 756 230,367.89 75 — 1 91 13,297.00 1,201 9 36 2,501 319,506.60 2,458 46 300 4,801 808,180.00 873 8 3 1,297 275,690.56 808 15 8 1,368 230,833.57 1,446 56 34 3,263 560,441.90 367 5 17 686 127,816.75 481 1 11 753 188,944.50 1,580 45 62 2,907 475,535.01 655 6 7 883 135,501.00 466 4 4 792 211,431.18 555 7 10 831 142,087.13 542 25 8 827 144,095.71 1,073 30 10 1,654 243,528.37 277 — 3 327 37,018.50 183 1 — 217 37,375.25 72 — 3 132 15,674.50 352 — 8 499 101,286.72 237 — 20 336 70,927.25 681 13 11 1,138 297,017.75 80 1 1 110 19,286.50 2,376 50 32 4,237 799,125.01 551 12 45 900 182,342.00 1,125 52 4 1,877 238,226.10 483 1 1 588 70,213.00 325 18 5 494 66,235.75 262 — 10 342 87,403.38 84 2 1 146 24,701.75 12 — — 15 1,028.50 1,383 66 23 3,594 508,710.45 802 14 12 1,216 246,272.44 809 2 8 1,261 266,428.70 2,102 182 104 6,514 802,654.60 1,862 59 60 3,889 562,625.45 90 — 2 109 16,648.75 220 1 11 405 73,083.25 797 14 17 1,283 237,792.13 319 3 6 423 74,453.90 121 — 7 276 47,692.25 190 3 11 338 70,715.75 1,717 61 16 2,360 318,689.75 328 5 2 701 126,829.89 168 3 9 283 40,759.25 114 — 1 132 16,487.50 4 — — 4 461.75 328 11 19 640 118,620.00 39,504 1,056 1,139 71,610 1*12,048,444.50 14,283 424 541 35,334 5,821,728.92 53,787 1,480 1,680 106,944 P17,870,173.42 July, 1953 AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 289 REGISTRATION OF MOTOR VEHICLES IN THE PHILIPPINES BY DENOMINATION January to December, 1952 A. Automobiles 1. Private..................................... 2. PU............................................ 3. AC............................................ 4. G............................................... 5. Taxi.......................................... 6. P. I........................................... Totals............................. B. Trucks or Buses: 1. T................................................ 2. TH............................................ 3. TPU......................................... 4. TPI.......................................... 5. TG............................................ 6. TC............................................ 7. S................................................ 8. U............................................... Totals.................. ........... Manila Provinces Totals 15,026 24,594 39,620 15 406 421 1,878 3,372 5,250 12 28 40 1,846 596 2,442 1,309 915 2,224 20,086 29,911 49,997 6,266 22,834 29,100 618 1,036 1,654 4,844 12,882 17,726 1,583 1,827 3,410 158 3 161 721 816 1,537 93 106 199 14,283 39,504 53,787 C. Trailers: 1. TR............................................ 2. . TRH........................................ Totals............................. D. Motorcycles: 1. MC............................................ 2. PIMC...................................... Totals Summary: A. Automobiles B. Trucks C. Trailers.... D. Motorcycles 424 1,012 44 1,436 44 424 1,056 1,480 461 1,109 1,570 80 30 - 110 541 1,139 1,680 49,997 53,787 1,480 1,680 Grand Total...................................... 106,944 ♦Tables supplied to the Journal through the courtesy of Mr. Primo Villar, Chief Motor Vehicles Office, Department of Public Works and Communications, and Mrs. Virginia Gonder, Executive Vice-President, American Chamber of Imports By S. Schmelkes Mercantile, Inc. ALL figures are in kilos with the exception of those for foodstuffs which are given in package units: Com modi ties: Automotive (Total)............................................ Automobiles...................................................... Auto Accessories............................................. Auto Parts......................................................... Bicycles.............................................................. Trucks................................................................ Truck Chassis.................................................. Truck Parts...................................................... Building Materials (Total)............................. Board, Fibre..................................................... Cement............................................................... Glass, Window................................................ Gypsum............................................................. Chemicals (Total).............................................. Caustic Soda........................................................ Explosives (.Total).............................................. Firearms (Total)................................................. Ammunition...................................................... Hardware (Total)................................................ Household (Total).............................................. Machinery (Total).............................................. Metals (Total)..................................................... Petroleum Products (Total)........................... Radios (Total)..................................................... Rubber Goods (Total)..................................... May, 1953 1,687,701 143,243 3,350 216,500 546 210,211 629,589 96,495 5,166,402 216,174 157,536 646,160 May, 1952 1,860,499 124,211 1,817 302,477 20,131 31,769 610,383 129,668 9,143,904 150,334 7,045,479 319,256 Beverages, Misc. Alcoholic............................... Foodstuffs (Total Kilos)................................... Foodstuffs, Fresh (Total)................................. Apples................................................................ Oranges............................................................... 6,012 6,012 3,669,275 2,211,992 2,139,002 8,720,906 89,265,583 43,313 1,276,983 3,697 22,219,671 17,450 500 2,856 2,571 2,487 4,623,044 516,450 2,750,907 7,510,535 106,171,588 17,857 777,214 4,755 14,182,189 64,346 23,699 16,432 COLUMBIAN ROPE COMPANY OF PHILIPPINES, INC. HEMP AND COPRA EXPORTERS STEAMSHIP AGENTS * 206 Myers Building Port Area, Manila, P. I. * BR ANCHESi Davao • Tacloban • Cebu • Tabaco Cternit ASBESTOS CEMENT SHEETS for • ROOFING • CEILING • SIDING • LOUVRES • PIPE FITTINGS Manufactured by: ttenul cobpobation THEO. H. DAVIES & CO., FAR EAST, LTD. AYALA BUILDING, MANILA TEL. 3-95-41 AMON TRADING CORPORATION BONIFACIO DRIVE, PORT AREA, MANILA TEL. 3-32-31 290 AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL July, 1953 THE WORLD’S -FASTEST -FINEST -SUREST MARCHANT CALCULATOR Wherever speed and accuracy are required, you can always count on a MARCHANT to help you do the job right. Capable of operating at speeds ranging up to twice those of any other calculator, it’s the only Amer ican calculator with dials for verifying keyboard entry. ERLANGER & GALINGER, INC. 123 T. Pinpin off Escolta Tel. 3-21-61 dared I J. P. HEILBRONN CO. ■ ESTABLISHED 1909 H W PAPER and Paper Products of All Kinds Office and School Supplies Printing and Lithographic Machinery and Supplies Surveying and Drafting Material Genuine DU PONT Cellophane, Cellulose Sponges, Cellulose Bands (Bottle Caps), Cellulose Yarn Esterbrook Fountain Pens, Push Pencils and Desk Sets FIR-TEX Building Board and Insulating Board Bodega Equipment—Barrett Lift Trucks and Portable Elevators Office and Sales Room: 3-36-17 575 Atlanta, Port Area, Manila Te s: 3-36-18 Onions................................................................. Potatoes............................................................. Foodstuffs, Dry Packaged (Total)................ Foodstuffs, Canned (Total).............................. Sardines............................................................. Milk, Evaporated............................................ Milk, Condensed.........................♦................. Foodstuffs, Bulk (Total)................................... Rice..................................................................... Wheat Flour..................................................... Foodstuffs, Preserved (Total)......................... Bottling, Misc. (Total)...................................... Cleansing and Laundry (Total)...................... Entertainment Equipment (Total)............... Livestock-bulbs-seeds (Total)......................... Medical (Total).................................................... Musical (Total)................................................... Office Equipment (Total)................................. Office Supplies (Total)....................................... Paper (Total)....................................................... Photographic (Total)......................................... Raw Materials (Total)....................................... Sporting Goods (Total)..................................... Stationery (Total).............................................. Tobacco (Total).................................................. Chucheria (Total)............................................... Clothing and Apparel (Total).......................... Cosmetics (Total)................................................ Fabrics (Total).................................................... Jewelry (Total).................................................... Leather (Total).................................................... Textiles (Total)................................................... Twine (Total)....................................................... Toys (Total)......................................................... General Merchandise (Total).......................... Non-Commercial Shipments (Total)............. Advertising Materials, Etc. (Total).. . 38,507 379,132 5,557 154,051 27,500 500,664 451,506 2,794 1,260,150 107,687 1,247 242,577 968,442 17,725 25,594 30,342 6,835,179 37,345 2,969,597 11,332 211,406 693,144 95,588 553,646 35,648 527,479 193.757 3,083,084 100,020 5,377 543.758 116,065 102,911 6,100 655 16,434 209,548 11,757 116,834 29,000 240,386 190,165 538 830,414 72,149 13,646 2,747 361,053 60,860 127,554 86,478 4,694,539 89,361 1,352,398 80,489 283,998 2,051,045 22,148 236,676 31,502 539,886 172 172,411 2,248,588 15,094 5,076 1,067,627 57,066 15,174 Food Products By W. E. M. Saul Manager, Food. Products Department Marsman &• Company, Inc. Trading Division ON May 20 the Philippines IWA (International Wheat Agreement) flour quota was exhausted. The new IWA year does not start until August 1, 1953, and to avoid the necessity of buying flour at the open-market price for June/July shipment, the Philippine Embassy in Washington negotiated for an additional IWA allocation. It was successful in making arrangements with Greece and the Flour Millers Export Association of the Pacific Coast Area to have 1,000,000 50-lb. bags transferred to the Philip pines on the following price basis: American Hard Spring Wheat Flour.............................. $5.85 per 100 lbs., c. & f. Manila American Patent, 1st grade... . 5.85 per 100 lbs., c. 8s f. Manila American Cut Off, 2nd grade. . 5.35 per 100 lbs., c. 8s f. Manila American Straight, 3rd grade.. 5.45 per 100 lbs., c. 8s f. Manila The Canadian mills did not participate in these nego tiations, but the Canadian Wheat Board authorized further IWA sales to the Philippines on the basis of $6.05 per 100 lbs., c. 8s f. Manila, 1st grade patent flour. The Import Control Commission received some $14,000,000 certified by the Central Bank of the Philippines to license importations of flour. By June 25, the ICC had issued licenses covering sdme 4,000,000 50-lb. bags for shipment from June to December, 1953. Of the total quantity licensed, 22% has to be shipped during June/ July, which amounts to around 880,000 50-lb. bags. The balance of 78%, or 3,120,000 50-lb. bags, has to be shipped in five equal portions during August to December, 1953. This action taken by the ICC insures a regular and ade quate flour supply and there is no fear of any flour shortage during this period. During the month of June, arrivals of evaporated, condensed, and powdered milks were substantial and in excess of immediate requirements. Under the cir July, 1953 AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 291 cumstances, there is a fair reserve on hand, mainly of evaporated and powdered milks. There has been a further price decline in the United States on evaporated milk. Due to this price reduction and considerable stocks in the hands of milk importers, local prices have dropped sub stantially. Considerable quantities of anchovies, packed sar dine-style, have come in during the past month and more shipments are expected; consequently, local prices have weakened, with some holders of sardines from Holland in the 15 oz. packs suffering losses. Though the anchovy catch on the United States West Coast cannot be said to be large, nevertheless it has been noted that certain small Californian canneries started to slash prices and the large canneries followed suit during the last 10 days of June. That most ICC licenses from the Philippines have been used up, may have been a contributing factor and the nearness of the north Californian sardine season (August) might be the main reason, canneries being anxious to keep their crews working on anchovies until the sardine season opens. A few thousand cases of South African pilchards have been imported in June and it is said that much larger quantities are expected during July and August. As in past years, local prices should strengthen during the wet monsoon. SERVICE WITH SATISFACTION / CUSTOMS BROKERS / WAREHOUSEMEN / TRUCKING / PACKING & CRATING V FREIGHT FORWARDING / SHIP HUSBANDING / CARGO SUPERINTENDENCE / ARMORED CAR SERVICE V AIR CARGO AGENTS 7 TRAVEL AGENTS V FIELD WAREHOUSING Textiles By W. V. Saussotte General Manager Neuss, Hesslein Co., Inc. THE New York market remained virtually unchanged during June. The local market also remained steady. Arrivals from the United States totalled 25,161 packages. Included were 8,394 packages of cotton piece goods, 5,891 packages of rayon piece goods, 2,117 packages of cotton remnants, 2,341 packages of rayon remnants, and 2,566 packages of cotton knitting yarns. Includedalso were 1,563 packages of sewing thread, 930 packages of cotton twine, 201 packages of oil cloth, and 220 packages of cotton duck. Arrivals from countries other than the United States totalled 2,587 packages. Included were 492 packages from China, consisting mainly of cotton piece goods and knitting yarn, 991 packages from Japan, consisting prin cipally of cotton piece goods, 554 packages from Europe, consisting almost entirely of thread, and 550 packages from India, consisting entirely of jute cloth and jute sugar - bags. INSURANCE FIRE - MARINE - CASUALTY FIDELITY and SURETY BONDS ATLAS ASSURANCE CO. LTD. THE EMPLOYERS’ LIABILITY CONTINENTAL INSURANCE CO. ASSURANCE CORPORATION Ltd. LAW UNION & ROCK INSURANCE CO., LTD. INSURANCE COMPANY OF NORTH AMERICA FILIPINAS COMPARIA DE SECUROS LUZON BROKERAGE COMPANY Derham Bldg. Port Area Cables: LUBROCOIN Telephone: 3-34-31 r > Doing a Fine Job! CATERPILLAR REG. D.S. PAT. OFFICE Throughout the islands today, “CATERPILLAR” products are doing a fine joh—helping in the re-habilitation of the Philippines. These yellow machines are in many different kinds of services. But wherever they are called upon to serve, you can count on them to do their jobs staunchly and dependably. E. E. ELSER, Inc. GENERAL AGENTS Tel. 3-93-58 & 3-27-72—518-520 Ayala Bldg., Manila-Cable “ELSINC" KOPPEL (PHILIPPINES), INC. PHILIPPINE REPRESENTATIVES: PRESSED STEEL CAR CO., INC. BOSTON & 23rd STREETS, PORT AREA .. TEL. 3-37-53 Branch«>: BACOLOD.ILOILO.CEBU.DAVA0*C0TABAT0*ZAMB0ANGA __________ _________ _____ / 292 AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL July, 1953 ★ LUZON STEVEDORING UOMP1NY, IM. Manila ★ PROOFREAD ir.PROOFS Are among the many con veniences our printing service offers you! Be it a simple one-line affair or a long-drawn-out encyclopedic book-printing job, no proof leaves our plant that has not been carefully run over by competent, experienced proofreaders. Not one—ever. Because in McCullough, we take the work out of the hands of our clients when we go to work for them! lst-CLASS PRINTING SOCIAL ENGRAVING BOOKBINDING RUBBER STAMPS t tnder the recently established Rules and Regulations Implementing Central Bank Circular No. 44 which con tains the import regulations established by the Central Bank in lieu of those previously in effect deriving from Republic Act No. 650 which expired on June 30, basic exchange allocations for textiles have been dratlically cut. The net result of the new regulations is that for the second semester of this year less than 20% of the textiles imported during 1952 will be allowed to be purchased during the next 6 months. The textile commodities normally imported into the Philippines are contained in about 30 commodity code numbers under the new regulations. All broad woven cloth fabrics are listed in non-essential categories with the single exception of blue denims which is rated as essential. Why the Central Bank regards only blue denims as essential, is a question which the trade would like to have answered. As a consequence of the new Central Bank regulations, the position of textiles is indeed a strange one. By Presi dential Executive Order, the Price Administration Board regards all basic cotton textiles as essential and has estab lished maximum prices at the importer, wholesaler, and retailer levels. In addition, the Central Bank’s own costof-living index is composed of Foodstuffs, House Rent, Clothing, Fuel-Light-Water, and Miscellaneous. The situa tion, therefore, exists under which textiles are regarded as non-essential by one government entity while at the same time another government entity is imposing essential commodity price-controls on items which the first govern ment entity says are non-essential. On the other hand, the Central Bank regards Clothing (meaning textiles) suffi ciently essential so that it is regarded as a component in its cost-of-living index but at the same time considers textiles as non-essential imports. As a consequence of the drastic cuts in exchange for textiles during the next 6 months, the local market already strengthened during the first week in July and local prices are bound to continue upward; the creation of a black market in textiles seems imminent. Legislation, Executive Orders, and Court Decisions By E. E. Selph Ross, Selph, Carrascoso & Janda A RECENT decision of the Philippine Supreme Court upholds the validity and applicability of the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act. The Court said: “The main issues raised in this appeal are: (1) Whether the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act is applicable to this particular case, as claimed by respondent, or the same should be governed by the Code of Commerce or other laws, as claimed by petitioner; (2) Whether the action of petitioner has already prescribed; and (3) Whether respondent should pay the indemnity claimed in the complaint. * * * And there is no need of an express legislation to have the provisions of said Act applicable to the Philippines upon the advent of independence, as claimed by petitioner, for the simple reason that, foreseeing that eventuality, our legislative body, in enacting Common wealth Act No. 65, already provided therein that said provisions should be made applicable ‘to all contracts for the carriage of goods by sea to and from Philippine ports in foreign trade.’ This express proviso clearly paves the way for the application of the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act AGENTS BROKERS CHARTERERS TELEPHONES 3-34-20 3-34-29 Printing Headquarters Since 1899 (A DIVISION OF PHILIPPINE EDUCATION CO.) 1104 CastiUejos, Manila Telephone 3-24-70 American Steamship Agencies, Inc. Manila and Tokyo Cable Address t 212 Myers Bldg. “AMERSHIP ” Port Area Manila July, 1953 AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 293 to all contracts from Philippine ports to other foreign countries, in cluding the United States. We therefore find that the Court of Appeals did not err in holding that that Act applies to the transaction under con sideration. The claim that the prescriptive period to be considered in this case is that embodied in the Code of Civil Procedure is untenable for the simple reason that this is a general law which only applies to cases not covered by any special act. As we have already stated, the transac tion under consideration is covered by the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act, and since this is a special act, its provisions must of necessity limit or restrict a law of general application. To hold otherwise would be to render nugatory the prescriptive provision contained in that special Act. Petitioner finally contends that the negotiations between peti tioner and respondent conducted with a view to reaching an amicable settlement between them and which caused the delay in the filing of the present action constitute a waiver on the part of respondent to set up the prescriptive period or operates as a estoppel on his part to rely on such prescriptive period to the prejudice of petitioner. This conten tion is also untenable. The rule is well-settled that a mere proposal for arbitration or the fact that negotiations have been made for the adjustment of a controversy, even if the proposal is not acted upon, or the adjustment is not carried out, does not suspend the running of the period of prescription, unless there is an express agreement to the contrary. Here there is no such agreement.” (Benito Chua Kuy v. Everett Steamship Corporation, G.R. No. L-5554, May 27, 1953.) among the Republic Acts which have become laws, and and which may be of interest to Journal readers, are: 834—gives 5% of royalties, ad valorem, and mining taxes to the municipality. 841—persons wishing to put up historical markers, plaques, etc., must submit sketches and inscriptions to the Historical Committee. 863— prescribes fees for registration and renewal every 5 years of business names.l 864— amends Patent Law to provide for designs and utility models. 865— amends Trademark Law providing for reciprocity with foreign countries. 868—extends increased corporation income tax to December 31, 1954. 871—extends to June 30, 1954 and reverts to 17%, the Exchange Tax. 875— is the Act to Promote Industrial Peace. 876— provides procedure for arbitration of almost all disputes except those subject to jurisdiction of the Court of Industrial Relations. This Act does not take effect until December 19, 1953. 877— regulates the practice of nursing and prohibits anyone not having a certificate of registration as a nurse to practice nursing. 894—amends Section 186 of the Internal Revenue Code which was intended to eliminate tax on exports irrespective of any shipping ar rangement f.o.b., c.i.f., etc., which might determine where transfer of ownership occurred. 898—changes the name of the Bureau of Banking to the Office of the Insurance Commissioner. 901—grants certain exemptions from taxes for new industries. 909—reduces the ad valorem taxes on minerals and particularly on gold, and exempts gold mining companies for 3 years from the 17% tax on all articles imported for their operations. 911— creates a Tariff Commission which has very wide powers of investigation and may have access to and copy any document or record pertinent to the investigation; the Commission also has full power of subpoena for persons and for books or other documents. 912— requires the use of Philippine-made materials and products, whenever they will serve the purpose equally well as foreign materials or products, in government construction or repair work, if certified by the Director of Public Works as to availability, usability, and dura bility. HILL, HL, ORTIGIS & CO. INVESTMENT BROKERS, DEALERS & UNDERWRITERS MEMBERS MANILA STOCK EXCHANGE 201 AYALA BLDG. MANILA NEUSS, HESSLER & CO., INC. 75 WORTH ST., NEW YORK, N.Y. FOREMOST SUPPLIERS OF TEXTILE FABRICS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD for 86 years and FOREMOST SUPPLIERS OF TEXTILES TO THE PHILIPPINES FOR 51 YEARS. • FAUST SUITINGS • FLATTERY PRINTS • WALDORF PERCALES • SEINE TWINE & YARNS • AGUILA DENIMS • CARABELA CHAMBRAYS • COMMANDER BROADCLOTH • COTTON & RAYON POUND-GOODS -------------------------- MANILA OFFICE:---------------------------304 NUEVA STREET CORNER DASMARlNAS MANILA PHONE 3-99-71 Cable Address “NEHESCO” Around the clock. . . around the world—millions of people daily use safe . . . efficient Otis Elevators. In fact, people who visit the newest office and apartment buildings just naturally expect to step into a modern Otis Elevator. OTIS ELEVATOR COMPANY ELEVATORS • DUMBWAITERS . ESCALATORS . ENGINEERING A PLANNING MYERS BLDG., 142—I3TH ST., PORT AREA, MANILA . TEL. 3-37-20 294 AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL July, 1953 PASIG RIVER BODEGAS GENERAL BONDED WAREHOUSES ¥ SOUTHWESTERN SUGAR & MOLASSES CO. (FAR EAST), ING MOLASSES BUYER 145 Muelle de Binondo Tel. 2-63-10 THE ROUTE OF THE BEARS Serving THE PHILIPPINES JAPAN HONGKONG Philippine Safety Council By Frank S. Tenny Founder and Executive Director THE Fire Prevention IJoard, of the office of the Pres ident at Malacanan, has appointed Manila Fire Chief Cipriano Cruz to represenl the Philippines at several forthcoming international conferences. The Board is also working on a revised arson bill and plans fcr the creation of volunteer fire-fighting units in the provinces. The Security Delivery Service, Inc., has been formally organized and inquiries as to its services and rates are now invited. Officers elected are: President, Frank S. Tenny; Vice-Presidents, Arthur H. Henderson and Donald O. Gunn; Secretary, Jose Razon; and Treasurer, V. G. Miller. The group will pick up and deliver valuable cargoes, both in Manila and the provinces, by armored car and airplane. Effective July 15 the Safety Council will cease to perform this type of service. Formal charges have been filed with the Manila City Fiscal by the Council against a Manila movie-theater for violation of city ordinances and fire regulations by per mitting overcrowding of aisles and blocking of fire exits. This will probably develop into a “test case”, as it is be lieved that the violations are not confined to this one thea ter. The legal action was taken only after previous at tempts at an amicable solution had failed. At the invitation of Colonel C. V. Lucero, Manila Police Chipf, certain studies on phases of law-enforcement have been submitted to him by the Council for considera tion. The first two concern (a) necessity for the investi gating officer to file charges against a guilty driver involved in an accident, even though the civil damages are settled, and (b) cessation of the tendency for officers to invariably arrest the driver in every case of a vehicle-vs.-pedestrian accident, even though the pedestrian is obviously at fault. The Council, in behalf of its several public-utility and “critical-defense-industry” members, is cooperating with the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency in plans to make security alerts more efficient and effective. A recent “alert”, called by a government agency, proved to be erroneous and caused much alarm and confusion. In conjunction with the National Safety Week being directed by the Department of Labor, the Council is spon soring numerous employee-safety rallies, press and radio releases on safety subjects, and is otherwise cooperating in order to make the week effective. Several Council sug gestions have been adopted by the coordinating committee. The Safety Council technical staff has been enlarged by the addition of Antonio R. Patricio, a former safety inspector employed by the U.S. Navy at Olongapo, Zambales. Mr. Patricio will devote most of his attention to industrial safety-engineering matters and relations with employee groups. This increases the amount of service that can be given PSC members and clients. U S. WEST COAST PORTS -FAST - REGULAR - DEPENDABLE UNITED STATES LINES, INC. GENERAL AGENTS 133601 33602 33603 33604 PORT AREA MANILA MOTOR SERVICE CO., II. AUTOMOTIVE PARTS • ACCESSORIES GARAGE & SHOP EQUIPMENT BATTERIES • TIRES • TUBES 230 13th St., Port Area Tel. 3-36-21 July, 1953 AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 295 COST OF LIVING PRICE INDEX FOR WAGE EARNER’S FAMILY1 IN MANILA BY MONTH, 1948 TO 1952’ (1941 = 100) Of Imponderables Manila Bureau of the Census and Statistics, 1948 1 All 1 Food I H°U8C I Cloth- 11Fuel, LightlMiscel- Purchas1 V'oo) | (63.43) |(n'96)j ing i (2.04) | and Wate (7.73) r laneous ing Power |(I4.84)|of a Peso January.. . . .. 390.7 427.6 453.9 224.5 304.6 249.9 .2560 February. . . .. 369.8 394.0 453.9 223.8 301.1 254.4 .2708 March.......... .. 349.4 361.0 453.9 214.6 308.1 255.9 .2862 April............. .. 354.6 374.1 453.9 209.4 289.7 254.8 .2820 May.............. .. 349.8 360.2 453.9 214.2 289.7 271.6 .2859 June.............. . . 354.3 370.4 453.9 205.2 283.2 262.9 .2823 July............... . . 356.4 374.2 453.9 201.3 281.6 262.4 .2806 August......... . . 363.6 385.7 453.9 199.8 281.6 261.7 .2751 September. . .. 370.6 397.2 453.9 199.2 279.6 260.6 .2698 October........ . . 374.9 404.0 453.9 204.8 283.2 257.9 .2668 November... . 368.7 394.4 453.9 202.0 281.6 258.7 .2712 December. . .. 365.9 389.9 453.9 202.0 282.4 258.9 .2732 1949 343.7 3579 453.9 198 4 272 9 251.1 .2910 January. . .. .. 363.8 386.8 453.9 202.0 279.0 258.9 .2757 February. . . . 343.8 355.5 453.9 203.0 277.5 258.9 .2900 March.......... .. 345.3 358.2 453.9 202.0 276.3 258.5 .2896 April............. .. 348.7 362.6 453.9 197.6 287.5 257.1 .2868 May.............. .. 348.8 362.8 453.9 197.2 287.5 257.1 .2869 June.............. . 349.0 362.9 453.9 203.9 287.5 257.2 .2865 July............... .. 351.7 374.0 453.9 194.2 265.8 240.5 .2844 August......... .. 337.5 351.2 453.9 196.3 266.6 241.2 .2963 September. . . 333.6 345.1 453.9 190.3 264.8 243.1 .2998 October........ . 332.9 343.3 453.9 199.9 264.8 245:0 .3004 November. . . 339.6 356.1 453.9 191.1 258.4 239.8 .2945 December. .. . 329.6 335.9 453.9 202.9 259.5 256.2 .3035 1950 337.5 333 7 453 9 270.7 252.0 3138 .2963 January.... . 332.3 336.8 453.9 238.0 253.1 269.3 .3010 February. . . . 336.9 340.2 453.9 233.3 257.8 284.1 .2969 Match.......... . 339.0 341.4 453.9 236.7 257.8 292.6 .2950 April............. . 331.8 328.6 453.9 237.7 252.9 301.2 .3015 May.............. . 320.2 308.6 453.9 244.7 249.7 309.1 .3123 June.............. . 323.1 310.9 453.9 243.5 249.7 319.1 .3095 July............... . . 332.0 322.4 453.9 252.6 249.7 328.7 .3012 August......... .. 334.4 325.9 453.9 258.7 251.1 328.4 .2990 September. . .. 341.3 335.0 453.9 317.4 252.5 327.5 .2930 October........ .. 352.8 351.1 453.9 337.3 249.7 334.5 .2835 November. . ,.. 354.1 353.2 453.9 322.8 249.7 335.9 .2825 December. .. . . 352.2 350.5 453.9 325.2 249.7 334.8 .2836 1951 359.4 361.5 453.9 365.3 248.0 331.5 .2782 January. . . . .. 355.2 355.0 453.9 331.5 249.7 334.6 .2819 February. . . ... 358.4 359.8 453.9 342.8 249.7 334.4 .2790 March.......... .. 352.4 349.3 453.9 379.4 248.8 334.3 .2838 April............. . . 361.2 362.6 453.9 398.6 247.5 334.7 .2769 May.................. 365.0 367.0 453.9 410.4 247.5 339.5 .2740 June.............. .. 367.8 372.0 453.9 399.5 247.5 337.7 .2719 July............... .. 366.3 370.1 453.9 382.0 247.5 339.0 .2730 August......... .. 365.1 371.4 453.9 354.0 247.5 329.1 .2739 September. . .. 363.0 369.0 453.9 356.4 247.5 325.4 2755 October........ .. 358.1 361.1 453.9 350.4 247.5 326.7 .2793 November. . .. . 351.1 351.1 453.9 343.8 247.5 323.3 .2848 December. .. .. 349.0 348.9 453.9 335.2 247.5 319.4 .2865 1952 346.4 347.4 453 9 280 6 244.1 317.7 .2887 January.. . . .. 355.1 357.8 453.9 323.0 247.5 324.6 .2816 February. . . ... 348.0 349.8 453.9 282.9 243.4 318.3 .2874 March............ . . 344.3 345.1 453.9 273.7 243.4 315.0 .2904 April............... . . 342.7 342.7 453.9 276.1 243.4 313.8 .2918 May................. . 342.2 341.8 453.9 279.9 243.4 313.8 .2922 June................ . 345.4 346.3 453.9 277.1 243.4 316.3 .2895 July................. . 347.6 349.5 453.9 273.6 243.4 318.3 .2877 Aug.................. . 347.9 349.4 453.9 276.1 243.4 320.4 .2874 September. . . . 348.3 350.0 453.9 274.8 243.4 320.5 .2871 October.......... . 344.5 344.6 453.9 276.2 243.4 317.8 .2903 November.. . . 347.5 349.3 453.9 274.7 243.4 318.3 .2878 December. . . . 347.9 348.9 453.9 271 5 247.5 321.2 .2874 1953 January .... . . 344.3 343.2 453.9 271.0 247.5 321.4 .2904 February....... . . 330.1 321.1 453 9 268 8 243.4 322.3 .3029 March............ . 325.7 314.3 453 9 268 8 243.4 321.6 .3070 April............... . 324.7 312.8 453.9 268.4 243 4 321.3 .3080 May............... 321.3 307.8 453.9 268 2 243.4 320.0 .3112 June -- ------- -- . 315.6 306.0 453.9 277.8 243.4 287.7 .3169 > Average m rsons in a family - ♦For explan see the August, 1!)51, Jourinal. Subscribe To This Journal To Keep Your Files Complete How much does purity weigh? Where is the scale to measure Quality? In tegrity? These arc the imponderables which both bind and guide the pharmaceutical craftsman. Here in our Prescription Department we take pride in the thought that there is more in the things we mix and measure and weigh than can be expressed in grams and drams. This pride, and a st ern adherence to guiding principle, is our guarantee of safety when you hand your doctor’s prescription to our pharmacists for compounding. OVER ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF PRESCRIPTION COMPOUNDING Philippine American Drug Co. (BOTICA BOIE) 102-104 Escolta, Manila CEBU — ILOILO — LEGASPI — DAVAO Collier's PUBLISHED EVERY OTHER FRIDAY Effective with AUG. 7th Issue ♦ ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ MORE MORE MORE MORE Fiction Cartoons Articles Pictures AND MANY MORE Pages IN EVERY ISSUE ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ Subscription Price One Year (26 issues)..................... P8.05 Two Years (52 issues)..................... 13.80 PHILIPPINE EDUCATION CO. 1104 Castillejos, Manila Tel. 3-22-51 & 3-92-45 296 AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL July, 1953 “LET YOUR HAIR DOWN” WITH respect to the editorial in last month’s Journal, “The MSA and PHILCUSA- Renne and Yulo,” the editor received a letter from Mr. Edward S. Prentice, the Acting Chief of the MSA Mission, which is reproduced in full as follows: "We in MSA read with considerable interest your fine editorial in the June issue of the Journal entitled ‘The MSA and PHILCUSA—Renne and Yulo’. Are these Your Business Problems? you or DEPEND ohAG«R.. ENGINEERING & CONSTRUCTION FACILITIES Design, fabrication, erection and con struction of Steel Bridges and Build ings; Light, Medium and Heavy Structures; Penstocks, Tanks, Bins and Mine Structures; Industrial Equip ment; Reinforced Concrete Structures, Foundations, Piling, Wharves, Piers, Tunnels, Marine Works, etc. MANUFACTURING FACILITIES Machine Shops for Construction and Repair Jobs; Structural Steel Fabricating Plant; Foundry for Cast Iron, Brass and Bronze; Marine Re pair S1k s, Welding Shop. “KNOW-HOW” BACKED BY EXPERIENCE SINCE 1905 ATLANTIC, GULF & PACIFIC CO. OF MANILA ENGINEERS * CONTRACTORS ★ MANUFACTURERS * DISTRIBUTORS Executive Offices—Engineering Div. Structural & Machine Shops Barrio Punta, Santa Ana, Manila Phones: 6-75-31—6-75-32—6-75-33 "One point in the editorial indicates a possible misunderstanding of the joint eco nomic development program. Your quota tion from Hayek does, we believe, reflect an error in his thinking when he says that American grants and loans have provided ‘the main source of investable funds’ in the recipient countries and, since this aid has been provided through governments, has led to socialization. The error lies in confus ing foreign-exchange support for a country’s economy with the supply of capital for in vestment purposes. The fact that a European A G & P—through its complete and integrated facilities—brings you the highest standard of performance in the fields of engineering and construction. . . manufacturing and merchandising. Singly, or in combination, these facilities are available to Philippine industry. WOOD PRESERVING PLANT Pressure Creosoting of Structural Timber, Poles, Piles, X’Arms, Posts. (Member, American Wood Preservers Association). MERCHANDISING FACILITIES Representing over 30 major U.S. Manufacturers of Industrial, Agricul tural and Engineering Equipment and Supplies... including Air Condition ing, Refrigeration and Ventilation; Power and Light Plants; Irrigation, Sewage, Drainage and Flood Control Systems; Industrial Machinery Equip ment, etc. Merchandise Sales Division Robert Dollar Bldg., Port Area Phone: 3-36-61 (All Depts.) government has MSA or Export-Import Bank dollars to sell to its importers, be they public or private enterprises, in no way creates a preference for the former over the latter. It is interesting to note that comparatively highly ‘socialized’ Sweden and Norway have dispensed with MSA assistance while other <?ountries with less state enterprise continue in need of grant aid. This is due, of course, to the relative economic situations these latter countries found themselves in after war and occupation but, at least, does not confirm Hayek’s thesis that U. S. aid promotes statism. "In the Philippines, our dollar aid program has provided no capital investment funds whatsoever for government corporations or private corporations. What our program does provide is foreign exchange granted to the Philippine Government for the purpose of purchasing very specific commodities in order to carry out agreed upon projects. These projects are pointed toward improving regular public services to the people of the country, such as education, health and agri cultural extension work; or providing equip ment to improve or increase basic public works ordinarily financed by any govern ment. Examples are roads, flood control, and irrigation projects. “The commercial import portion of the program, now discontinued because of the improved internal and external situation of the Philippine economy, operated in the same fashion as the European programs referred to above. The dollars were pur chased with the ‘investable funds’ of business organizations in the Philippines and certainly created no prejudice in form of government corporations which actually utilized only a minute portion of the $15,000,000 made available. "Everything purchased with MSA dollars is bought through competitive bidding which uses private trading channels. Thus, far from encouraging ‘statism and national ism’, our program does just the opposite. Leaning heavily upon free enterprise for the procurement of the commodities under the program, the joint development program seeks to establish a more favorable climate where free enterprise can continue to develop by improving the effectiveness of regular public services to the people in the economy. "Sincerely yours, “Edward S. Prentice Acting Chief of Mission.” The Journal editor replied as follows: “Thank you for your interesting letter of July 1 regarding the quotation from Hayek in a Journal editorial last month on the MSA. You bring out certain facts that are well worth stating, and I shall be glad to reproduce your letter in full in the Journal. Hayek, of course, was not speaking speci fically of the MSA but, in general, of Amer ican government loans to other governments. However, you yourself allude in your letter to ‘Export-Import Bank dollars’, and it is a fact, mentioned in the editorial, that of the $25,000,000 Export-Import Bank loan, $20,000,000 was for a government hydro-electric project here. I do not in this case criticize the granting of the loan or the Philippine Government for undertaking such projects, but it would seem that the Hayek thesis is applicable. And as the Philippine Govern ment, especially since independence, has been rather heavily committed to a program of nationalization (‘socialization’), through its numerous trading as well as industrial government-owned corporations, any aid granted, albeit indirectly, almost automa tically supports that program. I would not argue against either past or continued Amer ican aid to the Philippine Government, but I, for one, had hoped (or, perhaps, rather forlornly wished) that the MSA experts July, 1953 AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 297 would be able to exert a stronger influence than has been indicated in bringing govern ment leaders here to a realization that the road of nationalization is a blind alley, or, at best, leads only, as Hayek has shown, to the ‘serfdom’ of the citizen to an all-powerful and tyrannic government. Sincerely yours, etc.” qpHE editor showed us a letter which he said was certainly a voice from the past,—back thir ty years or so. It was from a Theron W. Bean, of the Bechtel Corporation, engineers and construc tors, San Francisco: “Dear Mr. Hartendorp: “You may be surprised to hear from me as our acquaintance dates back a long way. However, I have heard indirectly about you very recently from our engineer, Phil Flet cher, in the Philippines, and last week while on a trip to Hawaii. My seat-mate en route to Honolulu was a Mr. Monical, who is with the marketing division of the Cai-Tex Oil Company in the Philippines, and is a member of the Chamber of Commerce. “Fletcher and Monical tell me that you are the Secretary-Manager of the American Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines and that you are doing a splendid job. I am glad to hear that you are in good health and have survived the ups and downs of the war. “Since you last saw me at the time you were instrumental in saving my life after our shipwreck, I have been in the construc tion business at home and abroad. I finished college after I was in the Philippines, joined the forces of a construction contractor, and have been in the field most of the time since then. During the war I served overseas with the Corps of Engineers and returned to San Francisco at the close of the war. I have been with Bechtel since then as Chief Estimator of the Bechtel interests in various parts of the world. “I hope some day to get out your way and will look forward to seeing you. Kind regards. Sincerely, etc.” The editor showed us his reply: “Dear Mr. Bean, “Your letter of June 23 has just reached me and came as a very welcome surprise. That shipwreck happened a long time ago, didn’t it? Was it 1918 or 1919? I lost all my personal records during the war and also my copy of the book, ‘The Wreck of the Dumaru’ by Lowell Thomas. There were quite a number of errors in the book, especially as to my connection with the event, and Thomas promised me to make the necessary corrections in a second edition, but one was never gotten out. After my year on the east coast of Samar I spent a year in Mindanao and then left the service of the Bureau of Education and went into newspaper work, or ‘journalism’, at which I have been ever since, first as associate editor and then editor of the old Manila Times, then as editor and later publisher of the Philippine Magazine, and since the war as editor and manager of the American Chamber of Commerce Journal. I am not the secretary or manager of the Cham ber itself. "When we met on that lonely Samar coast, I was in my twenties; now I arrr nearing sixty. I suffered some physical damage during my three years of internment by the Japanese in Santo Tomas, but am still in fairly good health. I was alone when you knew me. Now I have five son^ and daughters and eleven grandchildren and a big house in Quezon City which is home for most of them. “You have done well, I can see,—as I knew you would when you were ‘Sparks’ (the Dumaru’s radio operator), the young est of the survivors of the terrible experience of that big boat-load of men of whom only around one-third survived. You were the livest in the lot, as that immense man ‘Karl’ was the strongest. “I do hope you will be able to look us up some day. My oldest son, Edward, after quite a number of years in the Army, now has a responsible position with the Guy F. Atkinson Company of San Francisco, which firm you must know, but he is here, or rather in Baguio and at Ambuklao, not in San Francisco. “I am grateful for your remembrance of me after all these years. I received letters from two or three of the men, including an earlier letter from you, but that was long before the last war. One of the men, the First Engineer I believe it was, wrote me that he was then on the Great Lakes and that he would never go on any water again which he couldn’t drink! I think his name was Harmon, and he was another fine man. by any standard LINK-BELT Ball and Roller Bearings smooth the path of power Spring-locking col lar with set scrfirmly on shaft. Slotted bolt hole* facilitate mounting. Sturdy, compact cast housing. Lubrication fitting with pressure relief Lubricant passe* freely into large reservoir. Easily installed by slipping bearing on to shaft and clamp ing inner ring by tightening two sec I Wide inner ri distributes bearing I Universally aligning. Capacity lor radial and thrust loads. Floor-Type Take-Up Wall-Type Take-Up Protected Screw Take-Up To give you longer bearing life, Link-Belt has incorporated many design advantages in its line of precision ball and roller bearings. Take advan tage of the many years of research and engineering back of this quality line. Let us supply your needs. Eicluslve Representatives for LInk-Btll Company, U.S.A. THE EARNSHAWS DOCKS & HONOLULU IRON WORKS Main Office: Cor.Tacoma & 2nd Streets Port Area, Manila They all were. I wonder what happened to the staunch old bo’sun, the oldest, among you. I guess I did a good week’s work that time, if I ever did. Thanks again for your letter. Yours, etc.” Dream's Delight Manor Henry E. Neibert, Owner Milbuk Harbor Lat. 6° N.. Long. 124°, 16’ E. Along the Celebes Sea Province of Cotabato Island of Mindanao Philippines The foregoing was the elaborate address sent us in printed form by our old friend, Neibert, who wanted us to send the Journal there instead of to Zamboanga City as we have I I Telephone 3-35-11 P. 0. Box 282 Branch Offices at: Bacolod City Cebu City 298 AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL July, 1953 up to now. However, to be truthful, we admit that he had crossed out most of the lines, even the latitude and longitude reference, which, as a former Bureau of Lands man, must be dear to him. The whole thing was probably the product of a rainy afternoon. But who among us has never put down something like the following, at least when he was a boy—Universe, Solar System, Planet Earth, Western Hemisphere, North American Continent, United States, Ohio (or whatever the State might be), Cabbage County, Plunkville, Main Street, No. 57, and then his own name, the name of a young man who was not at all lost, who knew exactly where he was, and who was quite pleased with himself as a consequence? It was a healthful mental and moral exercise and we are happy to think of our old friend going back to it, but still happier that he has established a place he can designate “Dream’s Delight Manor.’’ Index to Advertisers Page Allied Brokerage Co................................... 286 American Steamship Agencies................ 292 Atlantic, Gulf 8b Pacific Co................... 296 Columbian Rope Co. of Philippines... . 289 Earnshaws Docks fc H I W..................... 297 Elser, E. E. Inc............................................ 291 Engineering Equipment 8b Supply Co.. 281 Erlanger 8s Galinger, Inc.................... 290 Everett Steamship Corp....................... 298 GardneriPenver Co. Inside Back Cover (Atlantic, Gulf 8s Pacific Co.) General Electric Co............................ 265 Getz Bros. 8s Co........................................... 298 Goodrich International Rubber Co....... 287 Goodyear Tire 8s Rubber Co................... 267 Hall, Picornell, Ortigas 8s Co................... 293 Heilbronn, J. P. Co..................................... 290 Insular Lumber Co...................................... 283 International Harvester Co. of Phil ippines......................................................... 269 Koppel (Philippines) Inc.......................... 291 Luzon Brokerage Co.................................. 291 Luzon Stevedoring Co.............................. 292 Manila Electric Co.................................... 271 McCullough Printing Co......................... 292 Motor Service Co....................................... 294 National City Bank.................................. 282 Neuss, Hesslein Co..................................... 293 Page Otis Elevator Co......................................... 293 Pacific Far East Lines............................. 294 Pacific Merchandising Corp.................... 284 Pasig River Bodegas................................. 294 Philippine American Drug Co.............. 295 Philippine Education Co.......................... 295 Philippine Manufacturing Co................ 286 Philippine Tobacco Corp. Outside Back Cover Sharp, C. F. 8b Co....................................... 298 Standard Vacuum Oil Co. Inside Front Cover Theo H. Davies 8b Co................................. 289 EVERETT STEAMSHIP CORPORATION GENERAL AGENTS AMERICAN MAIL LINE To and From Portland Seattle Vancouver Tacoma PACIFIC TRANSPORT LINES To and From California Philippines BARBER-FERN-VILLE LINES Service to U.S. Atlantic Via Straits, Suez, Mediterranean FERN-VILLE FAR EAST LINES To and From North Atlantic Porta Gulf Ports—Philippines EVERETT ORIENT LINE Serving the Orient Philippines to China, Japan, Korea, Straits and India Ports PHILIPPINE STEAM NAVIGATION CO. Serving the Philippine Islands 155 Juan Luna St., Manila Tel. 2-98-46 (Priv. Exch. All Lines) SELL THROUGH GETZ and GETZ SALESMEN COVER GETZ BROS. & CO. Get Wider Distribution THE WHOLE ISLANDS You need the GETZ Distribution System to tap effectively, cover extensively and sell intensively all the markets avail able to your products! Trained, experienced and energetic salesmen like Arsenio Amameda who serves on Central Luzon . . . superior selling equipment like the sales truck shown which is one of 14 . . . outport offices and agencies on all major Philippine islands—all form part of the GETZ Distribution System which assures a steady supply to retailers in the remotest barrios of such imported products as Klim, Hemo, Swansdown, Calumet, Ray-O-Vac batteries, etc.; of such well-known local products as Pemco Bulbs and Fluorescent Tubes, Cenmaco Soup Products, Phillips Alcohol, Manio Crowns, Gold Medal Macaroni and Spaghetti, Lily Peanut Butter, Coco Honee, Rose Packing Products, Mafran Sauce, Rainbow Crayons. Of course, you want Greflter Distribution of your products. Well then ... do as so many others are doing profitably— SELL THROUGH GETZ! Offices at: 13S MUELLE DE BINONDO, MANILA • TEL. 9-69-96,-97,-98 and MAGALLANES ST., CEBU CITY • TEL. 690 AjentJ and Representatives: • ILOILO • BACOLOD • DAVAO SPEED UP YOUR MINING CYCLE WITH GARDNER-DENVER MINE CAR LOADERS The Gardner-Denver Mine Car Loader loads out your broken rock or ore as fast as you can supply empty cars. Simple to operate and safe to use. Ruggedly constructed to stay under ground. See your local Gardner-Denver distributor for full details. SINCE 1859 GARDNER-DENVER Gardner-Denver Company, Export Division: 233 Broadway, New York 7, N. Y., U.S.A. Gardner-Denver Company, Quincy, Illinois, U.S.A. THE QUALITY LEADER IN COMPRESSORS, PUMPS AND ROCK DRILLS ATLANTIC, GULF & PACIFIC COMPANY OF MANILA (SOLE DISTRIBUTORS FOR THE PHILIPPINES) MERCHANDISE SALES DIVISION Robert Dollar Bldg., Muelle de Sail Francisco & 23d St., Port Area, Manila Tel. 3-36-61 (Connecting all Depts.) If you want a Treat instead of a Treatment smohe Old Gold!