BusinessMirror May 2, 2016

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VP HOPEFULS SQUARE OFF IN DEBATE

“THE stigma that is associated with addiction could well have been what killed him. Maybe he was afraid to seek help. Maybe he sought help before and was treated in a disrespectful and unproductive way.”—Addiction author Maia Szalavitz, on whether Prince might have died from an opioid overdose.

MEDIA PARTNER OF THE YEAR

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2015 ENVIRONMENTAL MEDIA AWARD LEADERSHIP AWARD 2008

“MAYBE this is the way Kim Jong Un can protect his family, protect his people, protect his country. If I was in his position, sometimes I think I might do the same thing. Well, sometimes.”—An exiled North Korean living in South Korea, on Kim Jung Un’s nuclear missile tests.

“I HAVE Democrat friends and Republican friends. I get along with almost everyone, but I have never worked with a more miserable son of a b___h in my life.”—Former House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner, on GOP presidential candidate Ted Cruz. AP

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Monday, May 2, 2016 Vol. 11 No. 205

House leader to DOF, DTI chiefs: Issue Timta IRR now

We will bring them HE legislature is fed up with the bickering over details to the long-delayed to the [Office of implementing rules and regulations the] Ombudsman (IRR) governing the newly minted Tax for dereliction of Incentives Management and Transparency duty if they do Act (Timta), and compelled a key legislative not perform their leader to threaten over the weekend to duty to issue haul the secretaries of finance and trade an IRR.” and industry before the Ombudsman for —Q dereliction of duty.

B J M  C

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@joveemarie

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MOTHERHOOD ACCORDING TO RICA

Are PHL airports ready for Brussels-type attack?

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HUMANCENTERED: SEEING PPP JUSTICE LIKE CLIMATE JUSTICE PPP Lead

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Alberto C. Agra

OW can “climate justice” be likened to “publicprivate partnership [PPP] justice?” Why is justice even relevant when we talk about climate and PPPs? How can social justice be integrated into PPP and climate justice? What makes PPP just and unjust?

According to the Mary Robinson Foundation, “climate justice links human rights and development to achieve a human-centered approach, safeguarding the rights of the most vulnerable people and sharing the burdens and benefits of climate change and its impacts equitably and fairly.”

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CLIMATE JUSTICE

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IN this January 3, 2013, file photo, thousands of Moro National Liberation Front members, who signed a peace agreement with the Philippine government in 1996, display their weapons during a rally on the volatile island of Jolo in southern Philippines. AP

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EXECUTIVE VIEWS

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@rectomercene

First of three parts

ECAUSE of social media and overseas Filipinos, many have heard of the bombing at Brussels airport last month. But very few have heard of the antiterrorism law, or Republic Act (RA) 9372.

R A 9372 c reated t he Ph i lippine A nti-Terror ism Council (PATC), requiring membership of

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 46.7730

the secretaries of justice, foreign affairs, national defense, interior and local government and finance.

Also a member is the national security adviser. It is currently headed

by Executive Secretary Paquito N. Ochoa Jr. The National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (Nica) is the council’s secretariat. Its support agencies, among others, are the Bureau of Immigration, Office of Civil Defense,

Anti-Money Laundering Council, Philippine Center on Transnational Crime and the Philippine National Police (PNP).

When any terrorist-related activities arise anywhere in the nation, it is usually the PNP that gives face to the country’s antiterrorism response, with the Armed Forces (AFP) in a supporting role. If the airports were attacked by terrorists, then

KNOW ROOT CAUSES PARTICIPATORY AUTHOR: ALBERTO C. AGRA

BM GRAPHICS: JOB RUZGAL

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n JAPAN 0.4327 n UK 68.3447 n HK 6.0295 n CHINA 7.2204 n SINGAPORE 34.7754 n AUSTRALIA 35.6644 n EU 53.1107 n SAUDI ARABIA 12.4765

Source: BSP (29 April 2016 )

BMReports BusinessMirror

A2 Monday, May 2, 2016

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Are PHL airports ready for Brussels-type attack?

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the PNP’s Aviation Security Group (Avsegroup) goes into action.

Within the Avsegroup is a special forces unit whose members are armed to the teeth to confront any terrorist group.

The country’s major airports seem vulnerable to terrorist attacks because of the many individuals who have access to these facilities.

How then can citizens be assured that an attack, similar to the Brussels airport bombing, will not happen at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia)?

“We have preventive measures in coordination with other agencies at the airport,” Chief Supt.

Francisco Balagtas, Avsegroup commander, said. Aside from the Naia, Balagtas said his men are present in all the other major airports in the country. However, far-flung airports that are among the 80 other airports in the country are manned not by Balagtas’s men but personnel from the Civil

Aviation Authority of the Philippines (Caap).

These community airports are used by general aviation or charter airlines and are maintained by the Caap. Commercial airlines could have access to these airports in cases of emergency.

“Before anything else, negotiation should be the first move,” Balagtas said, adding that there’s a special team in place, trained abroad to handle negotiations.

He said his men are also working with their counterparts in other countries to provide assistance in terms of negotiating with terrorists.

Balagtas said the Avsegroup is in close coordination with the Manila International Airport Authority (Miaa), the Mactan-Cebu International Airport Authority, Clark Airport Authority, Metropolitan Subic Bay Authority and the Caap.

He said if something serious occurs in any of these agencies or far-flung airports like in Mindanao, aviation security-trained troopers

of the PNP Special Action Force could be airlifted by the Air Force.

Balagtas said that, aside from the Avsegroup, the Naia has also its own police department, while the 40-member Airline Operators Council have their own privately hired contractors.

“The Avsegroup, in partnership with them, has already in place security measures to address threats of terrorism,” he said. He added that the other major airports, headed by their own terminal managers, have their own emergency services to address security issues.

“What’s important is coordination among different agencies, Balagtas said.

He pointed out that at the Naia complex, they focus on three major points—called the “landside”— where passengers and visitors come. These areas are where passengers, visitors and their belongings are subjected to various security checks. Even their cars are subjected to cursory scrutiny.

Since there are too many visi-

tors and passengers going to the premier airport, not all of them could be personally managed.

“That’s why policemen, sometimes clad in black tactical clothes and armed to the teeth, provide the high visibility necessary for deterrence.”

He said having left the landside and enter terminal, the visitors and passengers go into the “airside” section where they are subjected to body check and another round of security measures.

He said passengers undergo several body checks before reaching the airplane, whose carriers have their own security procedure.

“When the airplane has taken off, you can be assured that all the occupants have been cleared and a passenger can relax,” Balagtas said.

T he aerodrome side is the airport complex where aircraft, aerobridges, luggage area, and the nooks and crannies are secured by airline private guards, according to Balagtas.

The Avsegroup, composed of armed men in all-matte black uni-

form, is also part of the agencies that monitor them. Some of them could be seen boarding vehicles, sometimes with a K-9 team in tow to sniff out bombs.

“Our most powerful equipment is our trained personnel from the aircraft operations department and our K-9s,” Balagtas said.

Meanwhile, the general aviation area, located somewhere in the airport complex, is manned by the Caap agents, starting at the gates and supported by the Avsegroup.

He said the Avsegroup is working on a plan to have his men deputized by the Caap to secure the General Aviation areas, as well. “There’s no such thing as complete manpower for determined terrorists,” Balagtas said.

“Our strength against terrorists is enough to address any threats, in coordination with other lawenforcement agencies.”

Balagtas, however, prefers to add more into the current roster of the Avsegroup.

He also rues that the Avsegroup

is not in control of the hundreds of closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras at the Naia complex. Some 700 are installed and spread out at the four passenger terminals.

It is t he Miaa’s Of f ice of Transportation Secur it y that is tasked with monitoring the CCTV images.

“We have no control over the CCTV, at the moment, but we are requesting the Miaa and the Caap to allow us access by allowing some of my men to monitor them.”

Balagtas explained it is the OTS that monitors the CCTV and the x-ray machines at the Naia. The Avsegroup only coordinates with the agency. “If we have access to the CCTV [network], perhaps, we can determine if there’s someone planting bullets.”

It is only the CCTV that can tell us where this incident happened and who are the people involved.

“It’s a big help” both to the passengers and to us who ensure their security, according to Balagtas.

To be continued

House leader to DOF, DTI chiefs: Issue Timta IRR now C  A

“The law mandates them to issue an IRR. They cannot subvert the will of Congress simply by not issuing said IRR,” Romero S. Quimbo, House Committee on Ways and Means chairman and Liberal Party representative, said of Finance Secretary Cesar V. Purisima and Trade Secretary Adrian S. Cristobal Jr. He told the BusinessMirror the good secretaries are this close to facing charges before the Ombudsman for their continuing failure to issue the IRR to the Timta, more formally known as Republic Act (RA) 10708.

The Timta mandates the Department of Trade and Industry, the Department of Finance and other concerned agencies to issue the IRR 60 days after the law took effect. By this reckoning, the IRR had been overdue since February 26.

The law mandates Secretaries Purisima and Cristobal, in coordination with the National Economic and Development

The law mandates them to issue an IRR. They cannot subvert the will of Congress simply by not issuing said IRR.” —Q

Authority director general, the commissioners of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the Bureau of Customs, the heads of so-called investment promotion agencies (IPAs), within 60 days from the act becoming effective, to promulgate rules and regulations to faithfully implement the intent and provisions of the mandate.

The BusinessMirror previously reported the Timta IRR as two months

overdue because of the continuing disagreement between the Board of Investments (BOI), a DTI agency, and the BIR, which operates under the DOF, on the information-disclosure provision.

“There’s no debate anymore as far as the law is concerned. It’s crystal-clear how disclosures are to be made, what information needs to be disclosed and to which agency these disclosures will be deposited,” an exasperated Quimbo said.

The Timta was signed into law by President Aquino on December 9, 2015, and became effective 15 days later.

“We will bring them to the [Office of the] Ombudsman for dereliction of duty if they do not perform their duty to issue an IRR,” the lawmaker reiterated.

In a prior BusinessMirror report, Efren V. Leaño, BOI executive director, said Cristobal saw the need to continue engaging companies and the IPAs on the Timta IRR to determine what route to take in implementing the transparency measure.

He acknowledged compliance to the Timta remains a contentious issue between the BOI and BIR, whose conflicting mandates of trade promotion and revenue collection have been at odds from the very beginning. The Timta mandates the registered businesses to submit a taxincentives report to their respective IPAs, which, in turn, will collate the report for submission to the BIR. The BOI claims to support the transparency requirement in the granting of fiscal perks. It is, however, also mandated to safeguard the competitiveness of the companies registered with it and the other IPAs, as well as secure the continued flow of domestic and foreign investments.

In short, the agency fears the disclosure of too much information on the operations of companies, as this would erode their competitiveness and potentially turn away investors.

The DTI is also against disclosing information on a per-company basis and their

investments plans, as such could imperil the competitiveness of constituent firms.

The Timta aims to promote transparency and accountability in the granting and administration of tax incentives to business entities, private individuals and corporations. The DOF, on the other hand, were to maintain a single database for the monitoring and analysis of tax incentives granted.

For purposes of monitoring and transparency, RA 10708 requires the DOF to submit to the Department of Budget and Management the aggregate data on a sectoral and per industry basis of: (1) the amount of tax incentives availed by registered business entities; (2) the estimate claims of tax incentives immediately preceding the current year; (3) the programmed tax incentives for the current year; and (4) the projected tax incentives for the following year.

The law also mandates all collected data be given to the Congressional Oversight Committee created under Section 9 of RA 10708.

CA affirms decision allowing DOTC to roll out P3.4-B IT project C  A

Belaro, who is admittedly not involved in the bidding process, is not actually forthcoming,” the CA stressed.

“This Court finds no reason to disturb the earlier ruling, since these issues have already been judiciously passed upon and considered. Thus, this Court is not convinced that a modification of the latter is warranted,” it added.

Concurring with the ruling were Associate Justices Normandie Pizarro and Carmelita Salandanan Manahan.

In the November 2015 decision, the CA directed the RTC in Mandaluyong to dismiss the complaint for injunction Belaro filed.

The CA said the project subject of the petition “is undeniably an essential government undertaking to help ease or improve the current sorry state of our nation’s road sector.

“While there are taxpayers who, like private respondent Belaro, wanted to enjoin the bidding and derail the implementation of the project on the slightest suspicion that there is inappropriate spending of public funds, still there are many others who wanted to see concrete proof that the government is doing its work using the taxes being paid,” it said.

The CA said it will not take part in further delaying government projects intended to benefit and regain the trust of the public.

Previously on July 31, 2014, the RTC

in Mandaluyong granted the complaint for injunction filed by Belaro.

Belaro sought to stop the bidding for the LTO Infrastructure and Information System (LTO-IIS) that he claimed was illegal due to the agency’s failure to obtain approval from the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) and from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) its so-called Multi-Year Obligational Authority (MYOA) necessary for the project to proceed.

The CA said Belaro’s apprehension that new fees will be imposed on motorists because of the project was premature considering that the project is still in its initial stages. “There are no exorbitant fees or charges to speak of because the project is still in the bidding stage,” the CA said.

The CA added the RTC in Mandaluyong should have also rendered Belaro’s complaint moot as the Neda Board already issued a resolution renewing its approval of the LTO-IIS. The LTO-ISS was one of 42 infrastructure-related projects belated approved by President Aquino in 2013 worth more than P400 billion.

Belaro initially torpedoed the project in July the following year, when the RTC in Mandaluyong issued an injunction on the ground the implementing agency failed to obtain approval from the Neda Board even as it also failed to obtain a so-called MYOA from the DBM.

BMReports BusinessMirror

news@businessmirror.com.ph

Monday, May 2, 2016

A3

Villar set to open 20 The Coffee SEC to rule on certain intracorporate disputes Project shops in next 12 months T

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By VG Cabuag

@ villygc

HE group of businessman and former politician Manuel Villar wants to expand the operation of his coffee-shop business in the country, hoping to expand to 20 branches in just over one year.

Vil lar, a defeated presidentia l candidate in 2010 and now chair man of listed fir m Vista Land & Lifescapes Inc., on Fr iday opened his third The Coffee Project store in Quezon Cit y and hopes to open at least one ever y month, to reach bet ween 10 and 12 branches by the end of the year.

The coffee shop is still under Villar’s privately held A ll Value Holdings Cor p., a unit that handles most of the retail component s of t he bu si ness group aiming to complement its property holdings.

All Value will spend an average

₧12M The cost to build a Villar coffee shop from the ground up

of P12 million per store. At a target of 20 branches, this would t r a n s l ate to a P 24 0 - m i l l ion capital spending. “ I ’v e a l w a y s l i k e d c o f f e e shops. I think there’s a big room for coffee shops in the countr y.

There are different niches for this. On the business aspect,

I would like our businesses to offer something food-related,” Villar said.

“There are a lot of coffee shops, like Starbucks and Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, but they’re still looking for other boutique shops.

So we hope to carve out a niche,” he said.

While other firms are busy bringing into the country a host of international brands of convenience stores, like Family Mart, Lawson and A lfamart, Villar, through All Value, has been developing local brands that the company intends to build from the ground up.

It a lready has its A l l Day brand of convenience stores in the properties of Vista Land and in other sites. It has its own brand of supermarket and department stores that are slowly beginning to replace the anchor grocer y stores in its properties and shopping malls.

That will be the same strategy for The Coffee Project, which opened its newest branch in Will Tower, which Villar now owns.

The property was partly owned by entertainer Willy Revillame.

“We will very quickly open

another four in the next three to four months. Right now, we have one in Alabang, one in Imus and this is the third, in Quezon City.

The next four will be in Santa Rosa, in Evia in Daang-Hari, in Taguig, and the other one in Lake Front,” Villar said.

Villar added that A ll Value will put the coffee-shop brand in the group’s malls under Starmall and Vista Land.

“All the malls will have Coffee Project,” Villar said. “And then our target is to build 20 within a year. That’s 12 months from now.

This year we will be building up to 10 to 12.”

Villar said the coffee business is a complementary business to the group’s ventures, such as the realty business that is serving more and more of the higher end of the market.

“We are already in supermarket, in housing, in department stores, though they’re still small. I think this is a good complement business for all that since it’s in the food aspect,” he said.

The shop offers coffee using different beans that are both sourced locally and from other countries, Villar said.

HE Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said it is looking at mediating certain intracorporate disputes to ease the burden on companies locked in boardroom battle to ease the tedious process of going to the courts to resolve their differences.

SEC Chairman Teresita J. Herbosa said the agency may start the service to the firms this month as it will soon release its rules on mediation procedures. The SEC, however, may only come into the picture if such differences in corporate battle are still “mediatable.”

“We are quite happy we have been allowed

by Philja [Philippine Judges Association] to get training in mediation so that our lawyers and officers could act as mediators on certain disputed claims,” Herbosa said.

I nt ra co r p o rate d i s p u te s i n c l u d e conflicts arising from intracorporate relations; relationship between or among stockholders of the same corporation; or the relationships between the stockholders and the corporation.

Herbosa said its initiative to rule on certain intracorporate disputes is the agency’s means, among others, to reduce future litigation, promote ease of doing business, help in declogging court dockets and provide a venue for nonstock corporations.

She said the jurisdiction of the agency under its own mediation proceedings would only be limited to cases that can be solved under its jurisdiction and must be filed by the parties voluntarily. The passage of Republic Act 8799, or the Securities and Regulation Code, in 2000 may have transferred jurisdiction over

intracorporate cases to the regular courts, but the agency still retained its power to adjudicate on certain matters.

Under the agency’s proposed mediation policy, the piloting stage of its mediation procedures, initial cases should be deemed mediatable, and will be covered by the agency for 18 months from effectivity of the mediation rules. These cases include petitions to call stockholders’ and members’ annual meeting; change of corporate and/ or partnership names; and petitions for voluntary dissolutions.

“We have trained about 20 of our lawyers and officers for the mediation of cases. This is also our way of helping the judicial courts declog their respective dockets,” Herbosa said. “There are certain matters that may be threshed out on the SEC level, like some stockholders of certain corporations would come to us as they were denied their right to inspect the books of corporations, specifically by the nonlisted companies.”

Over the past years many companies publicly exchange bitter statements against each other. These include the Singaporean minority owners of Alliance Select Foods International Inc., STI Education Holdings Inc. led by Eusebio Tanco against the Benitez family on the Philippine Women’s University, and several other issues involving the Ayala and SM groups.

“Should the contending parties at the SEC level fail to reach an agreement or refuse to comply with our orders, they would not be prejudiced of their right to seek relief in the appropriate court,” Herbosa said. VG Cabuag

BMReports BusinessMirror

A4 Monday, May 2, 2016

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Freshwater could be PHL’s next big export, ADB executive says $4.31B F B C U. O

@cuo_bm

RANKFURT, Germany—The Philippines could become Asia’s largest freshwater exporter if it can maximize the opportunities presented by climate change, according to an executive of the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

In an interview with BusinessMirror ahead of the 49th annual meeting here, ADB Board of Governor’s Secretary Woo Chong Um said climate change is bound to bring more water to the Philippines through heavy rainfall due to stronger cyclones.

While this poses a threat to millions of Filipinos, especially those living in coastal and low-lying areas, it also presents a unique opportunity to diversify the country’s exports.

“Why don’t we set up better

dams, better water storage, so that we can sell the water to somewhere else where water is lacking? In the Philippines water is actually of good quality,” Um said.

“The Philippines could be the next Evian in France, where fresh water could be sourced. The Philippines could be like that for Asia.

Freshwater could be more valuable than petroleum,” he added.

Um said climate change can cause severe droughts in many Asian countries and bring more rainfall to the

Philippines in 30 years.

With this is still a long way off, Um said the government and the private sector should start investing in dams and water-storage facilities.

Other investments should also be focused on maintaining water quality. Um said there are times when mishandling of water in the country leads to contamination and people getting sick.

“It’s not all pessimistic in terms of dealing with climate change.

[It’s just a matter of changing the] mind-set. And the ADB is here to help,” Um said.

Diversifying exports has been one of the biggest challenges for the Philippines. The country’s focus on just a handful of “export winners” is being touted as one of the reasons behind the anemic performance of its merchandise exports.

The country’s export earnings have been contracting since March 2015, when it grew only 2.1 percent.

Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed that export receipts in February plummeted by 4.5 percent to $4.31 billion, from

The export earnings of the Philippines in February 2016

$4.513 billion in the same month last year. Turning water into the next big export, according to Um, is part of the Philippines’s adaptation to climate change. But, the country must also couple this with mitigation efforts.

Mitigation means reducing pollution and greenhouse gases. For the Philippines, this would entail an increase in the use of renewable energy resources—wind, solar and geothermal.

While the Philippines has already put in place the Renewable Energy Act of 2008, which promoted the development and use of renewable-energy resources, much needs to be done to scale up these efforts.

Um said one of the ways to scale

up renewable-energy use is to take advantage of severe weather conditions, like the El Niño.

Too much sun, Um said, presents the Philippines with an opportunity to scale up solar energy use. This should spur more investments in solar-power technology and innovations.

He said the power that can be generated through solar energy can be used for cooling systems during hot summer months or during prolonged dry spells. It can even be used for urban mass transport.

“In the last few weeks, it’s been scorchingly hot and everyone’s complaining of too much sun, so why don’t we make use of that and turn it into energy? That’s an opportunity that the Philippines can capitalize on,” Um said.

Over 3,000 delegates are expected to attend the 49th Annual Meeting of the ADB’s Board of Governors, which will kick off today.

Under the theme “Cooperating for Sustainability,” this year’s meeting will highlight the critical importance of sustainable, inclu-

sive development and the need for closer Asian and European linkages to support it.

Delegates will discuss other topics crucial to the issue of sustainability and inclusiveness, such as what is needed to achieve “green” cities, the finance and technology required to both mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change, and actions necessary to produce high-quality jobs in developing Asia that can help address the region’s growing levels of inequality.

The meeting will also highlight the essential role the private sector increasingly plays in supporting low-income groups, with an awards ceremony to be held for ADB client companies, who have developed innovative products and services that have benefited the poor.

Host country, Germany, will showcase its own innovative approaches to sustainable living in a “City of Sustainability” exhibition with examples of creative cooperation used to resolve urban problems and to make cities more green and livable.

news@businessmirror.com.ph

AseanMonday BusinessMirror

Editor: Max V. de Leon • Monday, May 2, 2016 A5

Malaysia deports 32 Taiwan suspects to China AirAsia mulls over Thai hub

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IRASIA, the continent’s largest no-frills airline group, is keen to boost its position in Thailand with the relocation of its regional nerve center from Indonesia to Bangkok, Thailand.

In a discussion with Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on Friday, AirAsia chief executive Tony Fernandes said the group would also like to build its own airports in Thai provinces, such as Surat Thani. AirAsia is interested in a partnership with flag carrier Thai Airways International (THAI) to create a business synergy without equity partnership or competition, said Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak. AirAsia wants to strengthen its presence in Thailand, which it perceives as a gateway to Asean with significant growth potential in aviation businesses.

AirAsia’s regional strategic planning

center in Jakarta went into operation in July 2012, as it looked to cover all of Asean. The office was located in Jakarta to be near the Asean Secretariat, but does not cover day-to-day operations for AirAsia in the countries where it flies.

Somkid did not say whether Thailand would allow AirAsia to build its own airports in Bangkok, as this is up to the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand. But he was eager to see troubled THAI establish a “win-win” business proposition with Thai AirAsia (TAA).

In February Somkid suggestedTHAI buy a 20-percent stake in TAA to cash in on the benefits derived from a lowcost carrier. Veteran airline executives and industry analysts described the suggestion, which reportedly could cost 5 billion baht, as odd and incomprehensible. Holding 20 percent would not give THAI control of TAA’s management or strategic direction. TNS

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EIJING—Taiwanese officials have protested Malaysia’s deportation of 32 of the self-ruled island’s nationals to China this weekend to face wire-fraud charges, the latest in a series of disputes that has raised new friction between China and Taiwan.

The deportation follows the sending of nearly four dozen Taiwanese from Kenya to China last month, a case some experts and observers see as an attempt by Beijing to bully the island that it claims as its own territory.

Chinese authorities have said they need to crack down on perpetrators of phone scams that have resulted in an estimated 10 billion

yuan ($1.5 billion) worth of losses each year. Scammers posing as officials from the police, government, banks or insurance companies convince their victims to transfer funds or provide personal information that can be used to steal from them.

The Taiwanese Cabinet, in a statement late Saturday, said that China pressured Malaysia to

deport the Taiwanese wire-fraud suspects to the mainland against Taiwan’s wishes.

The island’s foreign ministry lodged a protest with Malaysia for taking that action despite Taiwanese officials’ efforts to negotiate, and said the deportations would hurt relations. In April the Southeast Asian nation sent 20 Taiwanese wire-fraud suspects back to Taiwan despite Beijing’s request that they be sent to China.

China claims jurisdiction in these cases because it says the victims of the alleged fraud were residents of mainland China.

The Taiwanese were part of a group of 97 phone-fraud suspects Malaysia deported to the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou on Saturday night. The other 65 among them were mainland Chinese citizens, Chinese state media reported.

Malaysian government officials

confirmed on Sunday the Taiwanese were sent to mainland China.

An official, who declined to be named because he isn’t authorized to speak to the media, said the decision came after Beijing made further appeals to the Malaysian government after the earlier group of Taiwanese suspects were repatriated to Taiwan.

T he of f icia l X inhu a News Agency said all the suspects arrived in the city bound by shackles and wearing black hoods.

Officials and state media have complained that Taiwan doesn’t punish such crimes harshly enough, encouraging others to try their luck at such relatively low-risk, lowoverhead scams that can potentially lead to massive payouts.

Taiwan said Beijing violated a tacit understanding under which both sides agreed not to interfere in the legal affairs of their citizens abroad. AP

OBAMA TAKES LAST SHOTS AT OFFICIAL WASHINGTON

BusinessMirror

World The

A6 | Monday, May 2, 2016 • Editor: Lyn Resurreccion

PRESIDENT Barack Obama raises the microphone as he concludes his remarks at the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner at the Washington Hilton in Washington on Saturday. AP/SUSAN WALSH

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A RANGER from the Kenya Wildlife Service stands guard as pyres of ivory are set on fire in Nairobi National Park, Kenya, on Saturday. Kenya’s president set fire to 105 tons of elephant ivory and more than 1 ton of rhino horn, believed to be the largest stockpile ever destroyed, in a dramatic statement against the trade in ivory and products from endangered species. AP/BEN CURTIS

Kenya burns piles of ivory tusks to protest poaching

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AIROBI, Kenya—Kenya’s president set fire on Saturday to 105 tons of elephant ivory and more than 1 ton of rhino horn, believed to be the largest stockpile ever destroyed, in a dramatic statement by this East African country against the trade in ivory and products from endangered species.

Uhuru Kenyatta put a flame to the biggest of 11 pyres of ivory tusks and one of rhino horn in a chilly afternoon. Overnight torrential rains had threatened to ruin the event but stopped midday, leaving a mud field around the piles inside Nairobi National Park.

“A time has come when we must take a stand and the stand is clear...

Kenya is making a statement that for us ivory is worthless unless it is on our elephants,” Kenyatta said.

The stacks of tusks represent more than 8,000 elephants and

some 343 rhinos slaughtered for their ivory and horns, according to the Kenya Wildlife Service.

Kenya will push for the total ban on trade in ivory at the 17th meeting of the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species to be held in South Africa later this year, Kenyatta said.

The pyres were fueled with about 20,000 liters of jet fuel and oxygen, said Robin Hollister, the event’s fire master, as a thick plume of white smoke billowed over the yellow flames consuming the ivory. Hollis-

ter earlier said it’s not known how long the fire will take because the burning of such a quantity is unprecedented.

Kenya decided to destroy the ivory instead of selling it for an estimated $150 million. Some critics had suggested that the money raised from the ivory sales could be used to develop Kenya and protect wildlife.

But Kenyatta said that Kenya wants to make the point that ivory should not have any commercial value.

Others said the burning will not end the killing of elephants because international gangs take advantage of Kenya’s porous borders and corruption to continue the illegal trade.

Kenya Wildlife Service Chairman and renowned paleoanthropologist and conservationist Richard Leakey said the burning of the ivory should encourage African countries to support a ban in ivory trade. He said a group of countries, which is advocating for the sale of ivory in the continent, should be ashamed.

“We will burn ivory and we hope every country in the globe will support Kenya and say never again should we trade ivory,” Leakey said.

Africa had 1.3 million elephants in the 1970s but has only 500,000 today.

The elephant populations worst hit by poaching are in Tanzania, Gabon, Cameroon, Central African

8,343 The total number of elephants and rhinos killed to get the tusks

Republic, Mozambique, Republic of Congo and Congo. The years 2011, 2012 and 2013 witnessed the highest levels of poaching since a poaching crisis in the 1980s, according to Kenya’s Wildlife Service.

Cameroon said it burned over 3.5 tons of tusks earlier in April as a statement against poaching.

Central Africa’s forest elephants have declined by two-thirds between 2002 and 2012. Most of the remaining forest elephants are in Gabon and are under threat from armed groups, said Gabon’s President Ali Bongo Ondimba, who attended Saturday’s burning. He vowed to stop the decline of the species.

“To all the poachers, to all the buyers and foreign traders, your days are numbered,” Ondimba said.

“We are going to put you out of business and the best thing to do is to retire now.” AP

ASHINGTON—Even though President Barack Obama and his wife can’t wait to get out of the White House, being a lame duck can hurt a guy.

“Last week Prince George showed up to our meeting in his bathrobe,” Obama cracked at the White House Correspondents’ dinner on Saturday night. “That was a slap in the face.”

Obama drew plenty of laughs with his barbed remarks to a ballroom filled with journalists, politicians, and movie and television stars. It was his eighth appearance at the event and his last as president.

“If this material works well, I’m going to use it at Goldman Sachs next year,” Obama said. “Earn me some serious Tubmans.”

The president waxed nostalgic at times. “Eight years ago I said it was time to change the tone of our politics. In hindsight, I clearly should have been more specific.”

And he acknowledged that the years had taken their toll. “I’m gray, grizzled...counting down the days to my death panel.”

On the other hand, he pointed out that his approval ratings are up. “The last time I was this high,” he said, “I was trying to decide on my major.” When he said he couldn’t explain the rise in his popularity, two photographs appeared on ballroom screens: Donald Trump and Ted Cruz.

Obama took a few more swipes at the presidential race, noting that “next year at this time someone else will be standing here in this very spot, and it’s anyone’s guess who she will be.”

After calling presidential candidate Bernie Sanders the bright new face of the Democratic Party, Obama contrasted the slogan “Feel the Bern” with one he said was rival Hillary Clinton’s: “Trudge Up the Hill.”

Republicans took most of Obama’s humorous broadsides. “Guests were asked to check whether they wanted steak or fish,” he told the diners, “and instead a whole bunch of you wrote in Paul Ryan.”

Obama said of the billionaire businessman and real-estate mogul leading the GOP race: “He has spent years meeting with leaders from around the world—Miss Sweden, Miss Argentina, Miss Azerbaijan.”

He added: “And there’s one area where Donald’s experience could be invaluable, and that’s closing Guantanamo—because Trump knows a thing or two about running waterfront properties into the ground.”

Turning serious, the president thanked the White House press corps and praised a free press.

“I just have two more words to say: Obama out.” With that, he held out the mic and dropped it.

Obama took a few hits, too. Preceding his remarks was a tongue-in-cheek video tribute to his seven-plus years in office that contained highlights of his verbal gaffes—his reference to “57 states” and misspelling ‘rspect” among them—as well as light-hearted moments.

Comedian Larry Wilmore, the evening’s professional entertainment, began by saying, “It’s not easy to follow the president.” Then he proved his point, offering a series of jokes about the president, different media organizations and various presidential candidates that often were racially tinged and drew a mixture of laughter and groans.

“Welcome to Negro night,” Wilmore said, and added that Fox News had reported that “two thugs” disrupted an elegant dinner, also mixing in critiques of CNN’s viewership and MSNBC’s firing of black anchors.

Wilmore said the president is showing signs that his time in office has been hard on him. “You came in here looking like Denzel, now you’re going out looking like Grady from Sanford and Son. As usual the Washington Hilton ballroom was a celebrity-spotters dream.

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders joined Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State John Kerry and other government officials taking a seat.

Also on hand were Republican Party Chairman Reince Priebus, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Trump, a regular in recent years, was absent this time, but a son and daughterin-law, Donald Jr. and Vanessa Trump, were spotted on the red carpet.

Among the film and television performers at the event were Oscar winners Helen Mirren and Jared Leto, Breaking Bad actor Bryan Cranston, Independence Day stars Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum, actress Rachel McAdams, and Night Manager miniseries star Tom Hiddleston.

Proceeds from the dinner go toward journalism scholarships and reporting awards. This year’s winners: n Carol Lee of the Wall Street Journal, winner of the Aldo Beckman Memorial Award for excellence in White House coverage. n Matt Viser of the Boston Globe, winner of the Merriman Smith Award for outstanding White House coverage under deadline pressure. n Norah O’Donnell of CBS News, winner of the Merriman Smith Award for broadcast journalism. n Terrence McCoy of The Washington Post and Neela Banerjee, John Cushman Jr., David Hasemyer and Lisa Song of InsideClimate, winners of the Edgar A. Poe award, which recognizes excellence in coverage of events or investigative topics of regional or national interest. AP

Through the years the INC, through its Aid to Humanity or Lingap sa Mamamayan efforts, had been helping victims of calamities and disasters in the Philippines and abroad.

On Friday, April 29, the INC held one of its biggest outreach operations in Tondo, Manila, which has one of the highest concentrations of poor families in

the Philippine capital.

Four new Guinness world records were set that day. The four new world records were for the largest collection of clothes for recycle/donation, the most shoes donated to charity in 24 hours, the most medical ultrasound examinations in eight hours, and the most medical risk assessment in eight hours.

I.N.C. CONDUCTS ‘AID TO HUMANITY’ TO JAPAN QUAKE VICTIMS

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HE Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC) has extended its assistance to the earthquakeaffected region in Japan, particularly on Kysuhu Island, becoming the first from the Philippines to reach the area to help quake victims in Kumamoto Prefecture.

Besides cash donations, INC volunteers distributed 5,500 emergency-relief packages consisting of bottled water, canned goods, noodles, cookies, coffee, tea, toiletries and diapers in three sites in the town of Mashiki, which was near the epicenter of the 6.5-magnitude quake that first rocked southern Japan, followed by a magnitude 7.3-magnitude quake less than 24 hours later.

These activities were under the “Aid to Humanity” or “Lingap sa Mamamayan” program of the INC that sends emergency relief efforts in the Philippines and to other countries hit by disasters.

The latest such relief and outreach events were held on April 24 in three sites in Mashiki in Kumamoto Prefecture in Kyushu island, which was the hardesthit by the quakes and its aftershocks.

These sites are in Iino Elementary School, Mashiki Gymnasium and in Harutake Elementary School.

INC Executive Minister Bro. Eduardo V. Manalo had immediately sent instructions for church members and volunteers—including those coming from the INC’s Central Office in the Philippines—to immediately help in the area and provide assistance to the quake victims.

The INC has an extension locale in Kumamoto.

“We are doing everything we can to ease the lives of the quake victims. The assistance is, of course, intended for everyone affected by the tragedy, INC member or not, Japanese citizen or otherwise. The need to help transcends religious beliefs and nationality,” said INC General Auditor Glicerio Santos Jr., who was assigned by the INC Executive Minister to lead in the relief efforts.

The town mayor of Mashiki, Hironori Nishimura, thanked the INC representatives for helping the people of Mashiki in Kumamoto, which was the worst-hit by the series of quakes in southern Japan.

“The Japanese government was very effective in mobilizing its manpower support services, so the INC decided that relief goods of food, water and basic hygiene necessities were the best way

we could help, as well as cash donations,” Santos said.

Dr. Sergie Santos of the Felix Y. Manalo Foundation, which coordinated and helped in the relief operations, said the quake victims whom they had reached initially thought the emergency assistance came from the Philippine government.

“They were surprised that it came from a church organization in the Philippines,” he said.

INC volunteers from Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka, including members of SCAN International in the area, went to the sites in Kumamoto to help out in the emergency relief efforts.

The INC relief efforts also helped Filipino families affected by the Kumamoto earthquake. They also expressed their appreciation to the INC, saying that none had come from the Philippine government yet.

Japanese Embassy officials in the Philippines recently visited the INC Central Office in Quezon City to thank INC representatives for their response to help the quake victims.

In a statement on the Japanese Embassy’s web site, the Japanese government thanked all those who offered to extend

help to the quake victims in Kumamoto.

“In response to the message of support and offers of assistance, the Embassy of Japan in the Philippines expresses its sincere appreciation for the heartfelt messages of sympathies and for the many offers of assistance being extended to those who have suffered in recent devastating earthquake centered in the Kumamoto region. The government of Japan, together with the related organs, is doing its utmost efforts to provide rapid emergency support and recovery in the region,” the statement from the Japanese embassy in Manila read.

Two major earthquakes and about 600 smaller tremors had rocked the southwestern island of Kyushu, leaving a total of 46 people dead and more than 1,000 injured—208 of them seriously— in Japan's worst humanitarian disaster in five years.

Many who abandoned their damaged or destroyed homes have had to sleep in temporary accommodations, huddle in makeshift shelters or even sleep in their cars. Local media have reported problems in delivering food and other essentials, as well as raising health concerns.

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Monday, May 2, 2016

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Educated migrants have edge as Germany aims for integration

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ERLIN—Wafaa Askar arrived in Germany barely a year-anda-half ago from her Syrian homeland, but she already speaks German fluently and counts more Germans than Syrians as friends.

Orhan Sahin arrived from Turkey more than three decades ago, but still feels like a foreigner and speaks in broken German.

The difference? Education.

Based on previous waves of immigration, experts say the best indicator of whether someone will fit into society is their level of education—the higher, the better. That trend bodes well for many of Europe’s newest residents even as many arrivals from longago struggle to integrate.

Germany now is taking a more proactive stance toward better educating and integrating its more than 1 million newcomers, something it neglected in the past with the millions of Turkish guest workers.

“It’s really the skills of the migrants that make the difference,” said Wolfgang Lutz, director of the Vienna Institute of Demography, who is studying the most recent surge of immigration.

“There seems to be an indication that this wave was better-educated. I see

1.1M The number of asylumseekers who flocked to Germany last year

some potential for integration, and it’s clearly going to be the case that if they decide to stay in Germany, the bettereducated will be more easily integrated.”

Syrians were the largest single group of the estimated 1.1 million asylum-seekers who flocked to Germany last year, many of them university-educated like Askar, a 41-year-old microbiologist, and her husband, a dentist.

They fled their Syrian hometown of Daraa in December 2012 and made it to Berlin in August 2014, after stops in

Lebanon, Egypt and Libya. The couple are trying to get their university degrees recognized in Germany and find jobs, while their three children—sons aged 12 and 7, and a 4-year-old daughter—are already so comfortable with their new language that they speak German with one another.

“My sons are doing so well in school. I’m very proud,” Askar said, noting that teachers had told her that both sons sounded close to native German speakers. And her daughter, in kindergarten, was already speaking a little too much German for her taste.

“I have to tell my daughter not to answer back to me in German. When they talk to their parents, they should speak in Arabic, so they won’t forget that,” she said.

For many of the 3 million or more Turkish ethnic minority, with decades of roots in Germany, striking a cultural balance remains a struggle.

When Sahin arrived as a 19-yearold in Berlin more than three decades ago, he was dreaming of becoming a chemist. But he came from a poor family in rural Turkey and had to work hard every night distributing newspapers to pay for his German classes during the day.

He managed to enroll for a few semesters in university, but once he married and had three little children, he could no longer afford his studies.

“I wish Germany would have helped support my studies,” Sahin said in heavily accented, broken German.

Instead of becoming a scientist, Sahin

worked long hours at a kebab store for a decade before he became a taxi driver in 2005.

“Germany is my home, I lived here for the longest part of my life and if I take my kids to Turkey on vacation, they become homesick for Germany after a few days,” Sahin, 55, said as he maneuvered his cab through Berlin’s bustling Turkish market along the Landwehr canal. “Still, most Germans refer to me as a foreigner. It’s really upsetting.

“I’ve lived and worked here all my adult life—why do they still look at me as a stranger?”

Kazim Erdogan, who came to Germany from an Anatolian village in southeast Turkey in 1971, says many of his fellow Turks remains isolated, speaking a different language and following different religious and social customs.

He says this reflects how Turks were invited to postwar Germany as “guest workers” who were not encouraged to settle for the long term.

Erdogan, a 63-year-old community leader in Berlin’s lively Neukoelln immigrant neighborhood, said the “guest worker” attitude fueled an “us and them” outlook between Germans and Turks that persists in some quarters.

The stark gap between Germans and Turkish immigrants still shows in school and on the job market.

A third of Germany’s students under the age of 20 have immigrant roots—mostly of Turkish origin— but they are underperforming. Ten percent of immigrants drop out of

PEOPLE walk on the sidewalk of a street in the borough of Kreuzberg in Berlin, Germany, on March 18. The borough of Kreuzberg has a very large percentage of immigrants and descendants of immigrants, a lot of them with a Turkish ancestry. AP/MARKUS SCHREIBER

school without a degree, compared to 2 percent of Germans, according to recent studies.

The discrepancy is also evident on the job market—unemployed immigrants tends to outnumber jobless Germans by 2:1. Immigrants are also vastly underrepresented in academia, the media, as teachers and other jobs that require university degrees.

Germany has never—and still doesn’t—encourage multiculturalism.

Chancellor Angela Merkel famously said in 2010 that multiculturalism had failed in Germany.

While many Germans have moved away from demanding outright assimilation, mainstream society clearly still expects migrants to embrace the nation’s culture, values and language. Strong cultural and religious ties to the old homeland are often eyed with suspicion.

Nonetheless, the Turkish influence is felt almost everywhere in today’s Germany, where minarets dot the landscape next to medieval church steeples, and the doner kebab with garlic sauce is considered as much of a German culinary

staple as the bratwurst or schnitzel.

Turks are the most visible among an estimated 16 million people—some 20 percent of Germany’s population— who claim immigrant background.

They include 400,000 refugees from the 1990s Balkans wars and 2 million ethnic Germans from Russia and other Eastern European countries who arrived following the end of the Cold War with little knowledge of German language or customs.

But the Slavs and Eastern Europeans tended to be better educated and “were very quickly absorbed by German society,” Lutz said The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has complimented Germany for improving access to the labor market for asylum-seekers but says it should lower barriers further.

“Refugee children and youth should be included quickly within the regular compulsory education system to avoid segregation and the standard curriculum should be supplemented with German-language training,” the OECD said in an April report. AP

A8

Monday, May 2, 2016

briefs

VENEZUELA HIKES MINIMUM WAGE TO 30 PERCENT AMID ECONOMIC CRUNCH

CARACAS, Venezuela—Venezuela’s president is ordering a 30-percent increase in the minimum wage, the latest move by the socialist government to grapple with high inflation and economic stagnation.

The boost announced on Saturday night by President Nicolas Maduro comes after a 25-percent increase on March 1. The new increase is effective on Sunday, which is International Labor Day, and will push the minimum wage to 15,051 bolivars a month. That is about $1,500 at the official exchange rate, but is around $50 at the current black-market rate, which largely sets prices of goods for Venezuelans. Venezuela’s oil export-dependent economy shrank 5.7 percent last year, shortages of basic goods multiplied and prices soared. The government has instituted rolling blackouts and state employees are working only two days a week to conserve electricity. AP

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BusinessMirror AS PROTESTERS STORM PARLIAMENT

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State of emergency declared in Baghdad

WRECKED HELICOPTER FUSELAGE RAISED FROM SEA IN NORWAY

COPENHAGEN, Denmark— Emergency crews pulled the wrecked fuselage of an Airbus EC225 helicopter out of the sea on Saturday off western Norway after a crash that killed all 13 people onboard. As aviation experts looked for answers about Friday’s crash, a somber-looking Prime Minister Erna Solberg, Norwegian Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit met with the victims’ relatives in the western city of Bergen. “It was a strong experience to meet the relatives.

The youngest is six weeks old, the oldest is more than 80,” Solberg, said after a meeting that last nearly two hours. The helicopter was carrying workers from an offshore rig in the North Sea—the Statoiloperated Gullfaks B oil field— before it went down on Friday on Turoey, a tiny island outside Bergen, Norway’s second-largest city. Eleven Norwegians, one Briton and one Italian were aboard. The rig is 120 kilometers off the Norwegian coast.

Norway itself has a strong aviationsafety record. AP

I.S. OWNS UP TO KILLING BANGLADESH HINDU MAN

NEW DELHI—A Hindu man was hacked to death in central Bangladesh in the latest attack claimed by radical Islamists in the Muslim-majority nation, police said. Authorities are investigating whether the killing on Saturday of Nikhil Joarder was connected to a 2012 complaint against him for alleged comments he made against the Prophet Muhammad, said Aslam Khan, a police officer in the district of Tangail, where the attack took place. The Islamic State (IS) group-affiliated Aamaq news agency issued a statement saying, “Elements of the [IS] stabbed to death by knife a Hindu in Tangail in Bangladesh who was known for insulting Prophet Muhammad.” It did not give further details. Joarder was attacked with sharp weapons by two men on motorcycles as he sat in his tailor shop, Khan said. AP

COLLAPSED KENYAN BUILDING HAD NO OCCUPANCY PERMIT

NAIROBI, Kenya—A building that collapsed amid heavy rains in Nairobi, killing at least 12 people and injuring at least 134, did not have an occupancy permit, officials said on Saturday, as they ordered its owner to turn himself in. Details about the residential building emerged a day after its collapse on Friday, after which crowds of onlookers gathered to try to help pry victims from the rubble. Police Insp. Gen. Joseph Boinnet ordered the owner of the building to surrender himself to the police for questioning. AP

SUPPORTERS of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr storm parliament in Baghdad’s Green Zone on Saturday. Dozens of protesters climbed over the blast walls and could be seen storming the Parliament building, carrying Iraqi flags and chanting against the government. AP/KHALID MOHAMMED

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AGHDAD—Iraq declared a state of emergency in Baghdad, after supporters of the Shiite Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr stormed the national legislature, the Interior Ministry said.

Mobile-phone video broadcast on Iraqi news channel al-Sharqiya showed hundreds of al-Sadr’s supporters in the Council of Representatives building in the Green Zone on Saturday. Al-Sadr earlier accused lawmakers of sectarianism in their selection of ministers and ordered his bloc to withdraw from the council session where members were preparing to finish voting on a new Cabinet.

The highly fortified Green Zone also includes most of the country’s ministries and foreign embassies.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, who has pledged to give minority Sunnis and Kurds a bigger role in the Shiite-dominated government, has faced resistance to an effort to replace politicians in key roles with technocrats.

He’s also under fire for his handling of a financial crisis and charges of government corruption.

The council canceled its session earlier this month after a failed vote on whether to retain its embattled speaker.

US officials, including President Barack Obama, have expressed concern that Iraq’s leaders remain mired in sectarian divisions that may undermine the fight against Islamic State.

Protesters reached the Cabinet headquar ters in t he Green Z one, s tor m i n g t he ge ne r a l secretar iat of the Cabinet building, al-Sumaria reported, citing secur it y of f icia ls. Secur it y has been boosted around t he centra l bank, t he Inter ior

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The number of seats controlled by supporters of Shiite Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr in the 328-member parliament Ministr y sa id in an e-ma i led statement. The United Nations A ssi st a nce M i ssion for I r aq said it is “gravely concerned ” by Saturday’s developments and urged political leaders to work together to restore security in the country.

A ntigovernment protesters tore down walls and poured into the Iraqi capital’s heavily fortified Green Zone on Saturday, where they stormed parliament in a major escalation of a political crisis that has simmered for months.

Supporters of al-Sadr have been holding demonstrations and sit-ins for months to demand an overhaul of Iraq’s corrupt and ineffective political system, but on Saturday was the first time they broke into the Green Zone, home to most government ministries and foreign embassies.

Iraqi security forces fired tear gas at one entrance of the zone

but appeared to be largely standing down as protesters marched through the area, chanting and waving Iraqi flags. Hundreds were still pouring into the Green Zone as night fell.

Iraq has been mired in a political crisis for months, hindering the government’s ability to combat the Islamic State (IS) group—which still controls much of the country’s north and west—or address a financial crisis largely caused by the plunge in global oil prices.

A l-Sadr and his supporters want to refor m the politica l system put in place following the US-led invasion in 2003, in which entrenched political blocs representing the country’s Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds rely on patronage, resulting in widespread corruption and poor public services.

The major blocs have until now stymied the reform efforts of P r i me M i n i ster a l-A bad i, who has sought to address the protesters’ demands. Earlier on Saturday, al-Sadr repeated accusations that Iraqi politicians a re responsible for bloc k i ng political reforms. He did not ca l l for an esca lation in the protests, but shortly after his remarks, his supporters began scaling the compound ’s walls. A group of young men then pulled down a section of concrete blast walls to cheers from the crowd of thousands gathered in the streets outside.

The Green Zone has long been the focus of al-Sadr’s allegations that the government is detached from the people. The compound is off-limits to the vast majority of Iraqis, as security procedures require multiple checks and specific documentation to enter.

Shortly after the breach, cellphone videos uploaded to social media showed dozens of young men running through the halls of parliament, chanting slogans in

support of al-Sadr and calling for the government to disband.

“We are all with you [al-Sadr],” one group of men yelled as they entered the building’s main chamber.

Other videos showed a group of young men slapping an Iraqi lawmaker as he attempted to f lee the crowd, and protesters mobbing another law ma ker’s motorc ade i n side t he Green Zone. The footage appeared authentic and corresponded with the Associated Press reporting.

Iraqi security forces initially responded by tightening security across the capital, sealing off checkpoints leading to the Green Zone and halting traffic on main roads heading into the city, according to the Baghdad Operations Command.

But Iraq’s elite counterterrorism forces, who have in the past been called on to reinforce security in the capital, said they are standing down for now.

“We still view this as a demonstration,” said Sabah al-Numan, spokesman for the counterterrorism forces. “We aren’t taking any part in this as it’s not something regarding terrorism.”

He added, however, that if the unrest escalates his forces might be forced to intervene to “protect the legitimacy of the government.”

Al-Abadi issued a statement, saying “the situation in Baghdad is under the control of the security forces,” but also called on protesters to demonstrate peacefully without endangering the “property of state institutions.”

A l-Abadi had been set to appear before parliament on Saturday morning to seek the body’s approval for the remainder of his Cabinet reshuff le, but the session was post poned unt i l next week. T he last time alAbadi appeared before parliament, earlier this month, lawmakers hurled insults and called his leadership illegitimate. The

UN mission to Iraq said it was “gravely concerned.” It issued a statement condemning violence against elected officials and urging “calm, restraint and respect for Iraq’s constitutional institutions at this crucial juncture.”

A broad-based protest movement last summer mobilized millions and pressured al-Abadi to submit a series of austerity proposals that he said would also fight corruption. As political progress stalled, al-Sadr’s movement gradually came to monopolize the protests.

Al-Abadi presented a second proposal earlier this month to reduce the size of the Cabinet and replace political appointees with independent technocrats. But opposition from the very political blocs the proposal aimed to weaken stalled his efforts.

Al-Sadr, an influential Shiite cleric whose supporters once battled US forces across Baghdad and southern Iraq, is not a member of parliament. But his supporters make up the second largest parliamentary bloc, with 34 seats in the 328-member assembly, and controlled three ministries before the latest upheaval.

Iraq is, meanwhile, struggling to maintain security in and around Baghdad, even as it has pushed IS militants back on a number of fronts elsewhere in the country.

Earlier on Saturday, a bombing in a market filled with Shiite civilians in Baghdad killed at least 21 people and wounded at least 42 others, according to police and hospital officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief reporters.

IS claimed the attack, saying it used a three-ton truck bomb.

The extremist group regularly carries out attacks targeting the security forces and the country’s Shiite majority.

Bloomberg News/TNS and AP

Protests in Germany overshadow anti-Islam party’s convention

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ERLIN—A national convention by a populist German party was overshadowed on Saturday by clashes between leftists and the police, who temporarily detained more than 400 demonstrators in the southern city of Stuttgart.

Protesters shouted, “Ref ugees can stay, Nazis must go!” as some 2,000 members of the Alternative for Germany party arrived at the convention center

on Saturday morning. The protesters also temporarily blocked a nearby highway and burned tires on another road leading to the convention center. Some 1,000 police officers were on the scene to prevent violent clashes between nationalist party members and leftist demonstrators.

At the convention itself, party leaders tried to play down differences over the party’s ideological orientation—in particular, its

disputed closeness to the far-right party NPD or to the Pegida movement, which has been organizing weekly rallies against Muslims across Germany.

The nationalist party, also known by its acronyms AfD, has been growing in popularity and political influence as it campaigns on an anti-Islam platform.

It also advocates much tougher controls on asylum-seekers and has faced criticism for its

com me nt s, i nc lud i ng a n i n ter view in which party leader Frauke Petry suggested that police could shoot refugees tr ying to enter Germany. Other prominent Af D leaders have asked for a ban on minarets and muezzins in Germany.

This weekend the members of the three-year-old party plan to debate and approve an official party program that will likely include the statement that “Islam

does not belong to Germany,” the news agency dpa reported.

Petry told a cheering audience that many important questions are not being discussed openly in Germany—among them “the most dramatic demographic, economic and financial difficulties the country has faced in decades.”

Germany saw over 1 million asylum-seekers enter the country last year, many of them from war-torn Syria. AP

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China’s factory gauge shows economic rebound stabilizing

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HINA’S official factory gauge showed the nation’s economic rebound stabilized in April, as property recovery and credit surge helped to revive the nation’s growth engines.

The manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) stood at 50.1 last month, the nation’s statistics agency said on Sund ay, compa red w it h 50. 2 i n March and a median estimate of 50.3 in a Bloomberg News sur vey of economists.

The nonmanufacturing PMI was at 53.5, compared with 53.8 in March. Numbers higher than 50 indicate improving conditions.

The data suggests a recovery in factory, investment and retail data in March wasn’t just a postlunar new year-holiday blip. The firm reading in April adds to the case for restraint in any additional stimulus to avoid fueling housing prices or flooding overcapacity sectors with cheap credit that keeps zombie enterprises alive.

“This is a managed stabilization,” said Zhou Hao, a Singaporebased economist at Commerzbank AG. “The Chinese government only rolls out some short-term stimulus when the data are at the worst. It doesn’t want to see all the steel mills firing up again or the market’s speculation momentum get too strong.”

The PMI readings are the first official indicator for April and follow private data that suggested the recovery was gathering pace last month. China had an across-theboard rebound in March as corporate profits jumped, and new credit, investment, industrial output and retail sales all beat economists’ estimates.

Those stronger readings may keep the central bank on hold for

A MAN stands on bundles of steel pipes in a steel products dockyard along the Yangtze River in southwestern China’s Chongqing Municipality. CHINATOPIX VIA AP

a while as economists now see the People’s Bank of China keeping the benchmark one-year lending rate at a record-low 4.35 percent through the third quarter, before cutting it to 4.1 percent in the fourth.

“As investment recovered, the

property market turned around and the infrastructure construction expedited, the expansion of the manufacturing sector continues,” the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said in a statement released with the data. The barometer of new orders was

51, indicating that a rebound in demand persists, according to the NBS. Challenges still remain at factories. The employment gauge of the manufacturing PMI slipped, while subindexes of new exports and imports dropped. “China still faces relatively heavy downward pressure,” the NBS said.

The new engines of China’s economy are faring better, as social media, movie theaters, karaoke bars and art galleries shrug off the nation’s slowdown. First-quarter revenue from cultural industry companies rose 8.6 percent from a year earlier to 1.67 trillion yuan ($258 billion), the statistics office said on Friday.

The nonmanufacturing index indicates that the growth pace of the services sector also slowed in April and construction activities picked up, the NBS said.

As overall growth slows, some provinces are feeling the pinch hardest, with those in the industrial northeast faring worst. In Liaoning province, the economy contracted in the first quarter, a rare decline for a Chinese region.

Bloomberg News

A9

Australia’s debt pile to stop growing within six years

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USTRALIA’S debt pile will stop growing within the next five or six years and then begin to shrink, as the government works to balance the budget, according to Treasurer Scott Morrison.

The federal government, which is due to outline its annual spending blueprint on Tuesday, expects the fiscal deficit to narrow over its four-year forecast horizon, Morrison said in a Channel Nine television interview on Sunday.

“To start reducing the debt, you’ve got to get the deficit down. To get the deficit down, you’ve got to get your spending down,” Morrison said in Canberra. “The deficit will decrease over the budget and forward estimates and we will see both gross and net debt peak over about the next five or six years, and then it will start to fall.”

The Australian budget was last in surplus in 2007 and 2008, and attempts to rein in the deficit have been stymied by a slump in revenue, as commodity prices fell.

Morrison’s challenge is to maintain Australia’s public finances on a sound footing without increasing risks to the economy as it reduces its reliance on mining. He must also contend with the prospect of an upcoming election, which Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is expected to call for July 2.

Total outstanding federal debt is now more than seven times larger than it was before the 2008 global crisis and net debt is predicted to increase to 18.5 percent of GDP in 2016 and 2017, according to the median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists.

The underlying cash deficit is expected to reach A$35 billion ($27 billion) next fiscal year, A$1.3 billion more than the government had forecast in its December fiscal update, according to the survey. Bloomberg News

Tourism&Entertainment BusinessMirror

A10 Monday, May 2, 2016

Editor: Carla Mortel-Baricaua

THE GOODNESS OF BALER

T

S    L C. F

HE local we hired as our guide held his hand out to me. “I will catch you if the current takes you,” he said.

A FORGOTTEN and neglected watchtower still stands tall over Sabang Beach, looking like a white sentinel in the sun.

He was so sure of his step that I did not think much of stepping into the stream myself, until I came into contact with this raging current that felt like it wanted to knock me off the planet and drown me. I had to cling to the rope that was swinging from one end of the river to the other, but our guide just stood there, unperturbed.

After I struggled my way across that brook, there was next a craggy wall that I had to climb horizontally.

Time elapsed and I did not know how long it took for me to find footholds and handholds in the crevices of those great rocks, but I managed to get through to the other side.

The prospect of having to sweat it through several kilometers just to climb to Ditumabo Falls in Aurora Province did not seem initially inviting. But I left my doubts and misgivings in the parking lot, and proceeded anyway.

It just so happened that the day we visited, the entire province had just been hit by a raging typhoon the week before. Devastation of felled

coconut trees and decimated branches were strewn all over neighbouring Sabang Beach and the rest of the countryside. It had also taken apart the main bridge that people needed to cross to actually reach the waterfall where this story began.

True to creative Filipino form, the locals who worked as guides had found a way around these broken bridges: ropes.

There were several points in the stream where I had to fasten my handbag onto my neck. The ice-cold water was as high as our waists.

Several makeshift boards and wooden ladders meant to function as mini connections lay in wait for us: more of what we had to traverse.

One overweight woman I crossed paths with was already in a state of shock and was hyperventilating, not just from the physical effort required, but the mental stamina demanded of anyone to ignore the dangers around us. We all needed to focus on every step we needed to take to get us there and back.

I gulped down my fears and crossed the shaky scaffolding, knowing full well that if it gave way, there would be jagged boulders waiting down there for me, ready to slice my legs in a variety of bloody gashes.

I went forward as lightly as I could.

In sum, the way there involved the need to step swiftly but carefully. There was even one part of the path that involved jumping from one boulder to another.

After more of these enticing uncertainties, we were finally able to pause before Ditumabo Falls and gaze at its beauty.

But I was already alight with a fire for jeopardy even before getting there. The voyage to this white cascade was, to me, a shining example of how the journey itself was

BALER Surfer Grill’s design captures the spirit of Sabang Beach.

LOOKING through the mist of Ditumabo Falls as I catch my breath after the hike to this white cascade.

the greatest adventure (and not just the destination).

There were cases of lost slippers, while the smarter and luckier ones were hiking in aqua shoes. Two men in our company lost one flip-flop each, both of them left with the soles of their feet exposed to tiny stones that became unbearable after several hundred meters.

Our guide saved one of them by offering his own pair.

Baler, of course, is not just about the falls, but is Luzon’s destination for surfing on the eastern coastline, rivaling La Union’s waves to the west.

Dozens of beginners on the surfboard can be seen at odd hours of the day training with a local surfer.

The magic of learning the swell of

THE joy of youth and laughter, as local boys enjoy Sabang Beach, Baler, Aurora Province.

the wave, knowing its timing, knowing when to paddle, when to place one arm and then another in front of you, slicing through water, then getting up on your board is what it is all about on Sabang Beach. Pushing yourself up to kneeling, then squatting and, somehow, standing as you ride a wave was the main activity for most in Baler.

One hour of that, and you feel that after several attempts getting up on the board, you might have mastered it.

Then the lesson ends, and you are left to your own devices.

You realize that a one-hour lesson is only enough to teach your body how to get up on the board: how to push yourself up to a bipedal position.

I realized that learning how to surf meant doing hundreds of push-ups on a surfboard. My arms were aching wondrously the next morning.

But what you need more time to learn is the dance with the wave.

How to know when the wave is coming in at just the right moment.

How to spot the right wave that the sea gives you.

How to paddle like crazy just before the wave takes you.

Timing became everything, and I did not have it, being new to surfing. But it was an experience worth having, as far as surfing lessons and introductions went.

Besides Ditumabo Falls and Sabang Beach, other must-sees in Baler are Dicasalarin Cove, Baler Catholic Church, the ancient Balete tree and

Baler Hanging Bridge.

Visitors can also find souvenirs at the marketplace in the heart of Baler.

One can also enjoy the fresh seafood prepared at Baler Surfer Grill, or partake of their delectable liempo (marinated pork ribs) dish in the evening.

Sip on fresh watermelon smoothies at the Surf & Chill bar afterward.

Breathe in the briny breeze that comes sweeping into the promenade in the evenings. When the sun sets, the sea winds howl into the swaying lights that hang over grills and restaurants.

For one evening, the city disappears from your mind, and the goodness of salt becomes all that you breathe and live.

Baler is a worthy city escape.

Pangasinan: A place of salt and great adventures B G F D

G

OING on a trip to Pangasinan, in Forrest Gump-speak, is pretty much like unboxing chocolates. While this northern province often evokes images of 100 verdant islands jutting out of Lingayen Gulf, a closer inspection reveals not only sweet surprises, but also surprises that come with earthy saltiness and heartracing action, both off and on land.

Such was the revelation that the North Luzon Expressway (Nlex) Lakbay Norte (LN) 5 gladly shared with our 34 strong community of writers and photojournalists. After touring us to neighboring La Union, the LN committee led us to diverse destinations in Region 1’s largest province—destinations filled with riveting sights, scents and flavors that often get drowned beneath the fame of Hundred Islands National Park in Alaminos.

Grand architecture and land kiteboarding in Lingayen COMBING the whisper-quiet streets of the capitol, it is easy to see why Lingayen was declared the Best Capitol in the Philippines. Hosting Pangasinan State University and Hotel Consuelo—a fourstory hotel resort that serves savory Chinese fare—the capitol is an eclectic mix of contemporary statements and ancient history.

Here, grandiose American-period buildings command the view, like kings amid a vast tree-lined empire.

No doubt why the neoclassical City Hall, fashioned in 1917 by Ernesto Maramba and which also houses a 15-seater auditorium, is among the eight architectural treasures in the Philippines, the only one outside Manila.

Across the street from the capitol complex’s core is an open-air space that encapsulates the tragedies and bravery of Fili-

LINGAYEN’S City Hall features a neoclassical design, a popular theme during the American era. pinos during World War II through visual storytelling and authentic battle tanks. To its right is Princess Urduja Building, which takes after the legendary warrior princess.

Built in the 1950s, it serves as the governor’s official residence, as well as a venue for international events, such as the Miss Earth pageant.

By sundown, the bay walk fronting the complex transforms into a frenetic coastal rendezvous, abuzz with beachcombers, college students and visitors who flock Lingayen Beach to appreciate the gulf, bike, swim, or take land kiteboarding lessons facilitated by the Pangasinan Power Kites group.

Others simply gorge on an array of street food lining the shoreline. Those who are looking for a more intimate gastronomic space head to nearby El Puerto Marina, a sprawling resort and aqua theme park with a seaside restaurant serving local and international cuisine, complemented by live music.

Balungao’s heart-stopping offerings A TOWN popular for its elaborate goat dishes and goat festival, Balungao is a relatively new tourism discovery—but one

THE Princess Urduja Building serves as the governor’s residence, as well as an events venue.

that’s worthy of inclusion in any thrill-seeker’s bucket list.

Nestled on the mountain’s foothills, Balungao Hilltop Adventure affords visitors an encompassing vista of the 382–meter high Mount Balungao while riding an ATV, cooling down at the lap pool, or flying over a zipline, of which the park has two—one, spanning 620 meters and another, 200-feet high and 1.4-kilometer long, the country’s longest.

Budget-friendly air-conditioned accommodations are available should guests decide to extend their visit.

The flavors of Dagupan, Bugallon and Alaminos IF you’re on a hunt for Pangasinan’s signature taste, Dagupan is a fitting venue for sating your cravings.

Here, you will find two revered culinary institutions in the province: Matutina’s and Patio Elmina.

Once a modest merienda station in Bonoan, Matutina’s grew to four branches, all of which give homage to Pangasinan’s most popular meat: bangus (milkfish).

At Matutina’s Gerry’s Seafoods in Dagupan, specialty seafood dishes are a hit among families, where they are offered in

MATUTINA’S in Dagupan serves delectable Pangasinense dishes that put bangus front and center.

all-inclusive combo meals for groups of six to 10. Ranging from P1,400 to P2,400, the meals showcase sumptuous house specialties, such as buttered clams and shrimp, kilawing bangus, bangus sisig, and pinakbet speckled with Pangasinan’s signature alamang bagoong (salted crab paste).

Close by, hotel resort-cum-restaurant Patio Elmina serves equally palatable milkfish and crustacean delicacies. Serene and capacious, it is a place for enjoying hot clam soup, crunchy batter-coated shrimps, carrot cracklings and warm conversations.

If you’re a meat lover passing by the town of Bugallon, the Riverside Resto deserves a visit. Paired with fresh fruit shakes, their savory crispy pata, fried eel, pinaupong manok and kare-kare are excellent entries to add in your food diary.

From Bolinao to Manila, our Pangasinense culinary feast culminated at Eliana’s, a charming native-inspired eatery in Alaminos peering out on rice paddies and distant mountains. Ornate wooden carvings and warm staff notwithstanding, Eliana’s specialties are Western fusion fare mixed with Filipino favorites.

Cruising through water and salt in Bolinao BOLINAO is proof that a coastal town is more than just fine beaches. Apart from the world-renowned Patar Beach, this westernmost municipality is also home to Balingasay, the Philippines’s cleanest river.

Aboard a bamboo and nipa raft, one can take a breezy serenaded river cruise while partaking delicious river-to-table meals crafted by Sungayan Grill, an on-site floating restaurant with nativethemed riverside cottages.

Pangasinan is not called a place of salt for nothing, and the 500-hectare Pacific Farms Inc. (PFI) in Barangay Zaragosa sits at the heart of the industry.

Yielding 15,000 metric tons of salt annually, it remains the country’s foremost salt producer.

A whole-day agri-eco tour in the farm lets visitors participate in the elaborate process of salt making, starting from a view deck overlooking the Hundred Islands and the massive salt farms in Tambac Bay. The tour continues to the farm’s unique salt lake, whose mineral concentration raises the water’s temperature to 70 degree Celsius to 75°C—enough to boil guest-

AT 1.4 kilometers, Balungao Hilltop Adventure’s zipline is the longest in the Philippines. exclusive Mighty Eggs. From the lake, an open-air train takes guests across expansive salt beds, stopping along the way for industrial salt sculptures and crystallized salt beds resembling snow.

At lunchtime, hearty meals paired with PFI’s Aro-En various gourmet salt take centerstage.

Our daily journeys conclude at Punta Riviera, a lavish yet ecocentric hotel resort that enjoys gentle climate year-round and fringes the mouth of Ilog Malino and Bolinao’s chalky beaches. Our days inundated with tranquil river kayaks, a lovely sea-facing pool, the resort’s stunning permaculture farm and front-row seats to Bolinao’s soul-stirring sunsets, we realize how Pangasinan is truly not just a place of salt, but one where infinite, life-long adventures are found.

The Nlex Lakbay Norte 5 is a tourismcentered media familiarization project by the Nlex, Manila North Tollways Corp., and the North Philippines Visitors Bureau, along with sponsors Victory Liner, Petron, the Department of Tourism Region 1, Pangasinan Provincial Government, the Pangasinan Visitors Bureau, and La Union Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Tourism&Entertainment BusinessMirror

Editor: Carla Mortel-Baricaua

Sailing through the idyllic isles

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HE Philippines is an archipelago of more than 7,500 islands, and one of the best ways to explore the gorgeous islands is by sailing, especially in the relatively unexplored central portion of the country.

This is exactly what sailors of the Philippine Inter-Island Sailing Foundation (Phinsaf) have been doing for 16 years now. Aboard the Hobie Cat, a 16-foot wind-powered twin-hilled sailboat, they have conquered idyllic islands in the Philippine Hobie Challenge, the country’s premier international extreme sailing event.

This year’s presentor, telecom firm Cherry Mobile, took sailors from Cebu Yacht Club in Mactan Island to Paliton Beach in San Juan, Siquijor, covering 200 nauti-

cal miles of sun, sea and sand.

The sailing tourney, an annual sports adventure tourism event supported by the Department of Tourism, draws the best Hobie Cat sailors around the world.

Australian couple Kerli and Ali Corlett bested 16 other teams and bagged the overall championship that raced around Central Visayas. Competing in the Philippines for the first time, the couple topped the five-day regatta with an impressive time of 21 hours, 49 minutes and 48 seconds.

The Corletts have been sailing together for over 35 years and were Hobie Grand Master World Champions.

Aged 65, the duo, known as Team Not Dead Yet, edged compatriots and perennial winners Bruce Tardrew and Sarah Turnbull, and Fish Southwick and Sharon Rayner, who settled for second and third place, respectively.

The Corletts also snatched the Sumilon to Balicasag Potato Corner Leg and the Balicasag to Paliton Beach Leg to secure their top ranking and outpoint the strong opposition posed by Southwick and Rayner who pocketed the Mactan to Cabilao Hobie Australasia/Rayomarine Leg, and the Cabilao and Sumilon GoPro Leg. Tardrew and Turnbull made a strong showing at the PalitonApo Island-Paliton Province of Siquijor Leg to cement their second place finish.

Michael Ngu and Boyet Magsanay of Team Cherry Mobile led the charge of Filipino sailors by placing fifth overall.

Meanwhile, Geoffrey Rowdon and Rosie Phelan of Australia

topped the Inshore Race Series, while the father-and-son pair of Diego and Monchu Garcia of the Philippines emerged as top winners in the Fossil Cup, a handicap racing category.

“The Hobie Challenge has been promoting eco-friendly sports tourism for almost two decades across the archipelago through sailing. Cherry Mobile has partnered with Phinsaf to help bridge the island communities through mobile technology,” says Michelle Ngu, vice president of Cherry Mobile, a Fillipino-owned leading mobilephone company.

In between sailing action, Cherry Mobile led community outreach activities in Balicasag Island in Panglao, Bohol, as part of the Hobie Challenge’s corporate socialresponsibility program, one of the key components of the event.

Sailors distributed school supplies, medical supplies, vitamins and medicines, sports equipment and solar lamps, water filters for clean drinking water—courtesy of Waves for Water—and first aid kits—courtesy of Lifeline.

Monday, May 2, 2016

A11

‘BLEISURE’ DAYS AHEAD

AT BELMONT HOTEL MANILA

F

OR your next business trip, take an extra day or two for leisure. Belmont Hotel Manila, the ultimate “Bleisure” hotel in the country, is offering a special Bleisure package starting this month until December 31. With this package, pay for only two nights if you book three nights of stay in the hotel.

The package includes 20-percent discount on current shows at the Newport Performing Arts Theater; 25 percent on items at Café Belmont, the hotel’s all-day dining restaurant and the Pool Bar, located at the topmost part of the hotel that offers unique views of the city skyline and the airport runway; two free tickets at Newport

Cinema; complimentary use of Wi-Fi and parking; and scheduled airport transfer.

Belmont Hotel Manila is property giant Megaworld’s new hotel brand inside Resorts World Manila, the country’s first integrated entertainment and tourism complex in Newport City, just across the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3. Catering to business travelers, the hotel offers sophisticated and spaceefficient interiors, friendly services and striking facilities, such as an outdoor rooftop swimming pool with a bar overlooking the city skyline and the airport runway, a fully equipped fitness center, a spa and an all-day dining restaurant.

Green Monday BusinessMirror

A12 Monday, May 2, 2016

Editor: Lyn Resurreccion • www.businessmirror.com.ph

El Nido Resorts advocate for nature conservation

PUMP jacks operating at the Kern River Oil Field in Bakersfield, California, in January 2015. A federal review says the US Environmental Protection Agency is failing to protect drinking-water reserves from oil-field contamination. The US Government Accountability Office review follows disclosures that California allowed oil companies to dump wastewater into some federally protected supplies of drinking water. AP/JAE C. HONG

Oil-field wastewater spills release toxins, scientists say

B

RINE spills from oil development in western North Dakota are releasing toxins into soils and waterways, sometimes at levels exceeding federal water quality standards, scientists reported on Wednesday.

Samples taken from surface waters affected by waste spills in recent years in the state’s Bakken oil-field region turned up high levels of lead, ammonium, selenium and other contaminants, Duke University researchers said.

Additionally, they found that some spills had tainted land with radium, a radioactive element.

Long-term monitoring of waters downstream from spill sites is needed to determine what risks the pollution might pose for human health and the environment, geochemistry Prof.

Av ner Vengosh said. But the study revealed “clear evidence of direct water contamination” f rom oi l de ve lopment u si ng the method known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, he said, describing the problem as “widespread and persistent.”

Wastewater spills are a longstanding yet largely overlooked

175M

The number of gallons of wastewater spilled in North Dakota from 2009 to 2014

side effect of oil and gas production that worsened during the nation’s recent drilling boom, when advances in fracking technology enabled North Dakota’s daily output to soar from 4.2 million gallons in 2007 to 42 million gallons in 2014.

The Associated Press (AP) reported last year that data from leading oil- and gas-producing states showed more than 175 million gallons of wastewater spilled from 2009 to 2014 in incidents involv ing r uptured pipes, over f low ing storage

t a n k s a nd ot her m ish aps or even deliberate dumping. There were some 21,651 indiv idua l spills. T he numbers were incomplete because many releases go unreported.

The wastewater is often much saltier than the oceans and kills nearly all vegetation it touches, rendering sections of crop and ranch lands unusable. It also contains toxic chemicals, some of which are injected during fracking to release oil and gas from rock deposits and others that exist naturally underground.

In their report, published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology, Vengosh and other Duke researchers said their findings were based on an analysis of water samples from four areas affected by spills, two of which—in July 2014 and January 2015—were the largest on record in North Dakota.

They identified unique chemical “fingerprints” that showed the contaminants came from brine spills and not some other source, Vengosh said.

In most sa mples, tox ic se len iu m wa s mea su red i n concent rat ions up to 35 t imes t he level t hat t he US Env ironment a l Protect ion A genc y considers sa fe for f reshwater aqu at ic l i fe, t he re por t sa id. A nd ot her e lement s were fou nd i n

concent rat ions above t he EPA l i m it for d r i n k i ng water.

“The results of this study indicate that the water contamination from brine spills is remarkably persistent in the environment, resulting in elevated levels of salts and trace elements that can be preserved in spill sites for at least months to years,” the report said.

Dave Glatt, chief of North Dakota’s environmental health section, said it was well known that oil-field wastewater is laced with toxic substances. But most spills don’t endanger the public because they are quickly cleaned up and don’t reach waterways, he said. Work continues on three of the sites from which the Duke researchers drew samples and drinking water has not been contaminated, he said.

Kerry Sublette, a University of Tulsa chemical engineering professor and expert on oilfield wastewater spills who wasn’t involved with the Duke study, said the team’s methods could help other researchers establish clear links between the spills and changes in stream chemistry.

Sublette recently completed a study that found toxins from spills in streams flowing through Oklahoma’s Tallgrass Prairie Preserve, which will disrupt food chains by killing insects, worms and other small animals, he said. AP

EL Nido Resorts (ENR) guests witness marine turtle eggs hatch and, alongside ENR staff, cheer the hatchlings as they make their way back to the sea.

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ACUIT Bay, home of three of the four El Nido Resorts (ENR), has remained essentially the same for the last 250 million years. But in the 1970s, the place was in danger of getting overwhelmed by logging activities. Fortunately, the place was named a turtle sanctuary and, eventually, a protected area, developments that have helped keep the area relatively untouched.

Stories like these shared by the guides of Bacuit Bay’s Miniloc, Lagen and Pangulasian island resorts and Apulit, a fourth island resort in the next municipality, make a stay in El Nido Resorts memorable, said Joey Bernardino, ENR director of Sales and Marketing.

“Most of our guides who accompany guests to the activities offered in the islands, are locals and they inject freshness and vitality to the visitor’s appreciation of his surroundings,” Bernardino said.

In addition to the facilities, accommodations and food and beverage, their interactions with clients have been significant in reaping a 95-percent guest satisfaction rating through the years. The guides also contribute to maintaining the biodiversity in the area by helping guests identify as many of the 855 species of marine fish, 400 species of corral and five of the seven species of marine turtles in the world found around the resorts. They also educate guests on the origins of Palawan, its geology, the history of El Nido municipality and the many other facets that make the place so special in addition to assisting guests snorkel, do trail hikes, and get on and off the boats.

Thus, when they point out just how important it is to keep the balance in the area by not littering, not feeding the monkeys and respecting the wildlife, guests readily respond

as their contribution to sustaining the resorts.

They are so drawn to the advocacy of preserving as much of El Nido’s beauty that they willingly accept the reusable bags handed them upon arrival for personal trash, such as empty sachets of shampoo and conditioner.

Many guests even heed the suggestion to bring home the litter.

Neverthless, most of the guides and other frontliners who were born and raised in the area grew up oblivious to the uniqueness of their surroundings. They are themselves the products of ENR’s program called “Be GREEN”—short for Guard Respect Educate El Nido—which teach different aspects of conservation to all new employees of the resorts.

Moreover, they undergo intense training and refresher courses in Nature Interpretation defined by ENR Director for Sustainability Mariglo Laririt as “the systematic ordering and weaving of observable and verifiable facts to create compelling stories.’’

According to Jamie Dichaves, Lagen Environmental officer, the five-day Nature Interpretation program is composed of lectures on the geography and biodiversity of Palawan, the geology of the El Nido area, the marine turtles, terrestrial animals, birds and the like found there. But among the most compelling invitations to preserve El Nido’s beauty results from activities such as witnessing marine turtle eggs hatch—and alongside other guests and resort staff—to cheer the hatchlings as they make their way back to the sea. Female turtles who survive to adulthood will return to that very same beach to lay their own eggs, the guides pointed out. Those rites of passage make an El Nido Resort vacation unique and extra special.

G-77 should adopt South-South climate-change program, envoy says UNITED NATIONS—The 134 members of the Group of 77 (G-77) and China made their mark on the Paris climate-change agreement and should now adopt a program of action to implement it, Ambassador Ahmed Djoghlaf told Inter Press Service in a recent interview.

Djoghlaf of Algeria was cochairman of the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (ADP) together with Daniel Reifsnyder of the United States, a position which allowed him to “witness very closely” the negotiation of the Paris agreement.

“As the cochair of the preparatory committee I can tell you that the G-77 has been a major actor

during the negotiation and a major player for the success of the Paris conference,” Djoghlaf said.

Djoghlaf said the G-77 and China made its mark on the Paris agreement by mobilizing a diverse range of countries and subgroups, to “defend the collective interests of the developing countries.”

The group helped to find balance in the agreement “between mitigation issues that are important for developed countries and adaptation issues that are very close to the heart of the developing countries,” Djoghlaf said.

He also said the group fought for equity, response measures, loss and damage, as well as means of implementation, including financing, capacity building and

transfer of technology. “Those that are suffering the most nowadays are those that have less contributed to climate-change crisis and they are using their own limited financial resources to address them, to adapt, to adjust to the consequences created by others,” he said.

Program of action in Marrakech “I HOPE that the G-77 through the leadership of Thailand will be able to take the lead and submit to its partners at the next conference of the parties in Marrakech a draft work program on capacity building for the implementation of the Paris agreement,” Djoghlaf said. The 22nd meeting of the Conference

of Parties (COP22) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) will be held in Marrakech, Morocco, from November 7 to 18.

Djoghlaf said the program shou ld address Nor th-South, as well as South-South capacity building, which is needed to ensure that developing countries can implement their commitments, including on issues related to the finalization of their nationally determined contributions and preparation of their future contributions.

“It would be important for the developing countries to be able to identify their own capacity-building needs and let others do it for them. It will be also important to

have a framework to coordinate the South-South cooperation on climate change similar to the Caracas Plan of Action on SouthSouth Cooperation or the Buenos Aires Plan of Action on economic and technical cooperation among developing countries,” he said.

Quoting French poet Victor Hugo, Djoghlaf said “not a single army in the world can stop an idea whose time has come, I do believe when it comes to SouthSouth cooperation on climate change it’s an idea whose time has come also.”

“Within the G-77, the diverse group, you have emerging countries that are now leaders in renewable energy and the energy of tomorrow and the they have

I think a responsibility to share their experience and to allow other countries from the same region and the same group to benefit from their experience,” he said.

“I also believe that time has come for the G-77 to initiate it’s own program of action on climate change,” he said.

Djoghlaf said that developi ng cou nt r ies ne e d c apac it y building to ensure that they can continue to participate fully in the implementation of the Paris climate-change agreement. Unlike developed countries, which “ have fully f ledged ministries dealing with climate change,” he said, “In the South there is not a single country that has a minister of climate change.” IPS

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Science Monday BusinessMirror

Monday, May 2, 2016 A13

Driving public health impact with vaccines: the past, present and way forward

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B L G

the global incidence of polio by 99 percent and in 2013 only 416 cases of polio were reported.[8]

BPO worker in his early 30s had fever for days but decided to ignore it and attended to his work and usual things. But around the seventh day of fever, he had stomachache and nausea, prompting him to seek medication at a private hospital in Makati. He was not readily admitted as the hospital said emergency cases are its priority.

The young man, together with his wife and his mother, decided to stay awhile at the hospital. By lunchtime, the BPO worker had severe stomachache was aggravated, which qualified him as emergency case for hospital admission. The following day, he seemed to be disoriented, he was awake but couldn’t recognize the people around him and merely stared at them. After convulsion and vomiting heavily, and his platelet count abruptly declined, he was gone that same day. It was only then that the culprit—dengue—was confirmed.

A young housewife was frantic as she was telling her aunt that his husband was diagnosed with dengue. It was around lunchtime and she said the attending doctor told them to come by 5pm. If his platelet count continues to decline by that time, then he would be admitted.

Fortunately for him, a high-chlorophyll liquid supplement mixed in his drinking water, saved him. He was told to be dengue-free when he returned for checkup by the doctor.

Meanwhile, a journalist had a bout with flu that wouldn’t go away with over-the-counter medications, liquid diet and rest. For days, she would be experiencing high fever, body ache and pin-and-needle headache. Along with the fever, she was experiencing fatigue and depression. However, it was only on the fifth day that she decided to see a doctor. She wasn’t feverish at that time and she was feeling better. The doctor found tiny reddish spots on her legs. Along with all the symptoms she experienced, which she narrated to the doctor, she was diagnosed with dengue. She was sent home to rest more but was instructed to come to the hospital immediately should she experience bleeding from her nose or if she notice blood in her excreted matter. Fortunately, she was well after several days.

These are some stories of dengue victims which are closer to home. The journalist’s story is mine. The young wife whose husband had dengue was my niece. The young BPO worker was my son’s friend and colleague at work.

Lucky for those whose dengue bout is of the lesser strains like mine and my niece’s husband. But there is no mercy for those afflicted with virulent strains, which cause thrombocytopenia or a severe drop in platelets, hemorrhagic fever, organ failure, and massive bleeding.

This is called dengue shock syndrome (DSS). This could be the case of the BPO worker. Coupled with late diagnosis, there was no way to save his life.

Dengue is a painful, debilitating mosquito-transmitted disease caused by any one of four different strains of the dengue virus. These viruses are related to the viruses that cause West Nile virus infection and yellow fever.

Dengue is transmitted by the bite of an Aedes aegypti mosquito infected with a dengue virus. The mosquito becomes infected when it bites a person with dengue virus in his blood. It can’t be spread directly from one person to another person.

There is no specific medicine to treat dengue. If you think you may have dengue, you should use paracetamol to control the fever. According to medical books, you should avoid medicines with aspirin or ibuprofen, which could worsen bleeding.

You should also rest, drink plenty of fluids and seek medical advice. If you start to feel worse in the first 24 hours after your fever goes down, you should get to a hospital immediately to be checked for complications.

People with weakened immune systems, as well as those with a second or subsequent dengue infection, are believed to be at greater risk of developing dengue haemorrhagic fever.

Dengue is a common illness in over 100 countries. Every year 50 million to 500 million people are infected, and at least 500,000 of them need to be hospitalized for treatment.

Dengue is highly endemic in the Philippines, where it had the highest incidence in the Western Pacific Region from 2013 to 2015.

Records from the Department of Health (DOH) shows that, as of April 2, 2016, a total of 33,748 suspected dengue cases were reported nationwide. Most of the cases were from Calabarzon, with 5,276 cases out of 33,748; Central Luzon, with 4, 384 cases; and Central Visayas with 3, 812 cases.

It is no wonder that Sanofi Pasteur’s dengue vaccine, Dengvaxia, the world’s first vaccine licensed for the prevention of dengue caused by all four serotypes in individuals between 9 and 45 years of old, has readily received marketing approval in the country along with other countries in Latin America and Asia.

In fact, the Philippines is the first country to implement dengue vaccination through the schoolbased immunization approach. As of April 17, 2016, a total of 148,431 (72 percent) pupils were vaccinated out of 206,673 pupils with parents’ consent according to the DOH. On April 4, 2016, the DOH said it has started the administration of

The way forward for dengue management

dengue vaccines to Grade 4 pupils aged 9 and above in Central Luzon, Calabarzon and Metro Manila. The next two doses will be given to the same students.

The first dose of the vaccine will be given from April to June 2016, followed by the second dose on October to December 2016, and the last dose on April to June 2017.

The research and development of this groundbreaking vaccine have been 20 years in the making. The vaccine has proven effective at protecting two-thirds of individuals (66 percent) aged nine years and older against dengue. It provides even greater protection against severe dengue (93 percent) and can prevent 80 percent of hospitalizations due to dengue [1], which account for the lion’s share of the economic burden in dengue-endemic countries.

Vaccines are vital in preventing infectious diseases

LIVING in a time of unprecedented medical interventions, it is difficult to fully appreciate the contribution vaccines have made to human health. In fact, the widespread adoption of vaccines was one of the greatest public-health innovations of the 20th century. Deadly and highlyinfectious diseases, like small pox, whooping cough, polio and measles, have either been eradicated completely or are under control, thanks to the development and administration of vaccines.

Vaccines played a key role in the 20th century in protecting people from communicable diseases and

preventing major epidemics. The hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccine and the polio vaccine, to name just two, highlight how successful vaccines can be when they are implemented as part of a holistic approach to disease eradication.

Hepatitis B is one of the world’s most common and serious infectious diseases and the Hepatitis B virus (HBV) causes more than 1 million deaths every year.[2] Successful Hepatitis B vaccination strategies in 177 countries have led to a dramatic decrease in HBV transmission.[3] Randomized controlled trials of the Hepatitis B vaccine-administered at birth found that immunized infants born to mothers infected with Hepatitis B were 3.5 times less likely to become infected with the virus.[4] The health community expects that, thanks to universal vaccine programs, a reduction in the incidence and prevalence of chronic Hepatitis, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma will be achieved in the coming decades.[5] The near eradication of polio, a crippling disease spread through fecal matter, is another vaccine success story and one of the major medical breakthroughs of the 20th century.

In 1980, the disease paralyzed more than 50,000 children worldwide.

[6],[7] Since 1988, polio vaccines have reached nearly 80 percent of children around the world, 7 thanks to collaboration among over 200 countries and 20 million volunteers backed by an international investment of more than $9 billion. This effort has successfully decreased

DENGUE, like HBV and polio, poses a major public-health threat, but can be tackled with the introduction of universal vaccine programs as part of an integrated approach to combating the spread of the disease.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the implementation of the dengue vaccine is a vital part of achieving its goal of reducing dengue mortality by at least 50 percent and dengue morbidity by at least 25 percent by 2020.[9] Dengue is present in over 100 countries and threatens over half of the world’s population.[9] Asia is the most heavily impacted region, representing approximately 70 percent of the global health burden of dengue, or about 67 million infections annually.[10] The direct and indirect costs of dengue are estimated at nearly $1 billion per year for Southeast Asia alone.[11] Disease-impact modelling predicts that if 20percent of the population aged nine years and older is vaccinated in dengue-endemic countries which could lead to a 50percent reduction in the dengue burden in these countries, within five years.

[12],[13] Complex diseases like dengue require an integrated approach to prevention. Considering the current costly public health burden caused by dengue in Asia, as well as the proven public-health benefits brought about by the implementation of vaccine programs, Asian countries should consider how best to introduce the vaccine in conjunction with other preventive measures, including vector control and public education.[14] Post-introduction, ongoing monitoring, supervision and evaluation of the vaccine’s public-health impact are equally critical to its success.

Another important milestone in vaccine history: flipping the model of vaccine introduction

DESPITE progress in global-immunization initiatives, vaccine-preventable diseases remain a major cause of morbidity and mortality.[15] Dysfunctional healthcare systems, geographical distance from health centers and socioeconomic factors all play a role.[16] In order to have the greatest impact, innovative vaccines need to be made available to populations at greatest risk first. When people in at-risk areas are vaccinated and protected as a priority, everyone’s disease burden and risk of infection are reduced.

Despite this, traditionally, new vaccines have been introduced into high-income countries first and have been subsequently made available in low and middle-income countries, where the disease burden is often the highest.[15] With Dengvaxia, Sanofi Pasteur has flipped the traditional model on its head by introducing the vaccine first in countries with populations that are at high risk of contracting dengue to ensure that populations in these dengue-endemic countries get priority access to the vaccine. This approach aligns with the WHO’s call to action to ensure universal access to life-saving vaccines.

The implementation of broad public immunization programs has a great chance of reducing the dengue burden globally. Successful vaccine program implementation requires policy-makers, national regulatory agencies, vaccine manufacturers, vaccinators and communities to work together to create and implement effective vaccination policies and increase access and financing mechanisms for at-risk populations. Sanofi Pasteur is committed to leading the way in the fight against dengue. Hopefully, like HBV, polio and many other highly communicable diseases, the reduction of global dengue incidence will soon be one more successful milestone in vaccine history.

[1] Hadinegoro SR, Arredondo-García JL, Capeding MR et al. Efficacy and Long-Term Safety of a Dengue Vaccine in Regions of Endemic Disease. N Engl J Med. 2015 Jul 27.

[2] World Health Organization. Emergencies preparedness, response. Available from http://www.who. int/csr/disease/hepatitis/whocdscsrlyo20022/en/index4.html#incidence [3] World Health Organization. Weekly epidemiological record. Available from http://www.who.int/ wer/2009/wer8440.pdf?ua=1 [4] Lee C et al. Hepatitis B immunisation for newborn infants of hepatitis B surface antigen-positive mothers. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2006,(2):CD004790.

[5] Strategies to control hepatitis B: Public policy, epidemiology, vaccine and drugs. Locarnini S, Hatzakis A, Chen DS3, Lok A. J Hepatol. 2015 Apr;62(1 Suppl):S76-86. doi: 10.1016/j.jhep.2015.01.018.

[6] Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals. World Health Organization. http://www.who.int/immunization/monitoring_surveillance/burden/vpd/surveillance_type/active/poliomyelitis/en/ [7] WHO/IVB Database, 2015. Available from http://www.who.int/immunization/monitoring_surveillance/burden/vpd/surveillance_type/active/polio_coverage.jpg?ua=1.

[8] The Global Polio Eradication Initiative. http://www.polioeradication.org/Polioandprevention/Historyofpolio.aspx#sthash.vEY30TaV.dpuf [9] Global Strategy for Dengue Prevention and Control. (2012). Retrieved from World Health Organization: http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstre am/10665/75303/1/9789241504034_eng.pdf?ua=1 [10] Bhatt S, et al. The global distribution and burden of dengue. Nature. 2013;496:504–7.

[11] Donald S. Shepard,* Eduardo A. Undurraga, and Yara A. Halasa, Duane J. Gubler, Editor. Economic and Disease Burden of Dengue in Southeast Asia, PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2013;7(2):e2055.

[12] Coudeville L, Baurin N. “Potential impact of dengue vaccination: insights from the first large-scale efficacy trials “ASVAC, The 5th Asian Vaccine Conference – 12 - 14 June 2015, Hanoi, Vietnam [13] Coudeville L, Baurin N. “Insights from Phase 3 efficacy trials on the potential impact of dengue vaccination in 5 Latin American countries” SLIPE; 24-27, June, 2015 - San Juan, Puerto Rico [14] Dengue vaccine—time to act now. Tikki Pang, Daniel Goh Yam Thiam, Terapong Tantawichien, Zulkifli Ismail, Sutee Yoksan. Available from: http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS01406736(15)60888-1/fulltext [15] Global Vaccine Action Plan 2011-2020. Available from http://www.who.int/immunization/global_ vaccine_action_plan/en/ [16] World Health Organization. Poliomyelitis. Available from http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs114/en/

IMMUNIZATION EXPERTS RECOMMEND USE OF DENGUE VACCINE IN ENDEMIC COUNTRIES B V V

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HE Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE) has issued its recommendations to the World Health Organization (WHO) on the use of dengue vaccine.

The SAGE advises that countries with high dengue transmission consider introduction of the dengue vaccine as part of an integrated disease

prevention strategy, including vector control, to effectively lower their dengue disease burden.

“We welcome these recommendations for Dengvaxia from SAGE, the advisory group to the WHO, for vaccines and immunization,” said Elias Zerhouni, MD, president of global R&D, Sanofi.

“Dengvaxia has been approved in four countries already, including Mexico and Brazil, which have regu-

latory authorities recognized by the WHO. These WHO SAGE recommendations further validate the scientific and medical value of Dengvaxia and send a clear message to endemic countries about the strong public-health benefit to be gained by introducing the dengue vaccine in integrated diseasemanagement efforts to combat their dengue burden,” Zerhouni added.

The recommendations from the SAGE are based on the technical re-

view of clinical data from 25 clinical studies conducted in 15 different endemic and non-endemic countries around the world, including more than 40,000 study participants.

Dengue vaccine’s anticipated impact on dengue fever disease burden is expected to stem from the vaccine’s proven ability to prevent eight out of 10 dengue hospitalizations and up to 93 percent of severe dengue cases—including dengue hemor-

rhagic fever—in study participants nine years and older, as demonstrated during 25 months of follow-up of Phase 3 efficacy studies.

Successful introduction of dengue immunization, alongside other prevention efforts, should help endemic countries to achieve the WHO objectives to reduce dengue morbidity by 25 percent and mortality by 50 percent by 2020.

As of March 2016, Dengue vaccine was licensed in Mexico, the

Philippines, Brazil and El Salvador for prevention of dengue from all four serotypes in individuals 9 to 45 years of age living in endemic areas.

Regulatory review processes for dengue vaccine are continuing in other countries, where dengue is a publichealth priority. Both public and private vaccinations have already begun in the Philippines and discussions are under way in the other approval countries for launches later this year.

A14 Monday, May 2, 2016 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

editorial

It’s broken; now fix it

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HE old saying “if it’s not broken, don’t fix it” is a good one. Trying to improve something that does not necessarily need any alterations can result in negative “unintended consequences.” Politicians are notorious for ignoring this rule.

However, we can look back on past legislative sessions and see that Filipino senators and representatives do pretty good at leaving well enough alone and not making things worse. But it is the job of government to fix situations and conditions that are broken.

We talk about the “administration” and name it after whoever is the president. It is convenient to mark time that way but does not reflect reality. The Aquino administration does not belong to the president but to all departments and agencies of the Executive branch and is equally shared with the Senate and the House of Representatives.

During the Ramos administration, there were many things that need to be fixed and that is reflected in the number of major laws that were passed and policies that were put in place. Many of the economic successes of today are a result of what happened back then.

The monopolies of Philippine Airlines and Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. were dismantled. Reforms in the tax system included an increase in the value-added tax (VAT) rate from 4 percent to 10 percent to help government finances. The Philippines became a pioneer in the use of build-operate-transfer scheme, which is now the enhanced Public-Private Partnership Program. The Philippine Economic Zone Authority zones were established under the Ramos administration, which laid the foundation of the outsourcing boom.

The Arroyo administration did just about everything possible to first pay off and then reduce government dependence on foreign borrowing while also reducing the budget deficit. An expanded VAT law was significant part of the plan to create a sound financial position for the government.

Under the watch of President Aquino, there have been some notable and successful changes. The Executive branch went through an important organizational reorganization. The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration has been improved. Philippine Health Insurance Corp. membership has been significantly expanded. The K to 12 expansion—while far from ideal—attempts to increase schooling for Filipino students. Tourism-promotion efforts have been very successful.

However, there have not been major laws passed to address problems that now must be tackled in the next administration. Some things are broken that need to be fixed.

The taxation system for the mining industry has been ignored for six years, costing the country billions in foreign and domestic investment. Tax reform for all taxpayers has also been ignored and must now be a priority. Rationalization and rethinking of fiscal incentives to attract foreign and domestic investment must be done now. Our tourism is reaching a tipping point in that infrastructure and facilities have reached “peak tourism” capacities. Sea, air and road transportation throughout the nation is an economic disaster.

It is time for all parts of the government to go back to work. The last years have been relatively easy. Those times are now over.

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Two more PCSO sectors work for ISO certification Atty. Jose Ferdinand M. Rojas II

RISING SUN

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FTER the agency successfully obtained International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 9001:2008 certification for its core Lotto gaming and prize-claim processes, the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) is extending the scope of its certification to include charity and branch operation processes.

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Judge Pedro T. Santiago (Ret.) Benjamin V. Ramos Adebelo D. Gasmin Frederick M. Alegre Marvin Nisperos Estigoy Aldwin Maralit Tolosa Dante S. Castro

Last year the PCSO hurdled the first-stage audit conducted by certifying body TUV Rheinland Philippines on December 3, as well as the second-stage audit on December 17 and 18. At the closing meeting on December 18, the auditors gave the PCSO four positive findings and 17 opportunities for improvement, with no non-conformities.

The ISO standards were also applied to certain existing support processes, and new processes were developed for document control and customer survey.

This year more frontline services will be added to the scope of

certification. For the Charity Sector, which handles various forms of medical- and health-care-related assistance, the processes for providing individual medical assistance will be upgraded to ISO’s international standards.

Likewise, the Branch Operations Sector has chosen important frontline processes for inclusion in the agency’s ISO scope expansion. To prepare for this effort and to develop the management and operational skills of its personnel, sector officials recently attended a three-day seminar workshop on enhancing business planning and operations.

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The move to obtain ISO certification is in line with the strict implementation of Executive Order (EO) 605, s. 2007, which requires “all departments and agencies of the Executive branch, including all government-owned and –controlled corporations and government financial institutions” to adopt a Quality Management System and obtain ISO certification.

The EO’s intent is to professionalize the civil service and improve operations and service delivery in the fulfillment of government agencies’ mandates, duties and responsibilities.

In addition to working this effort, the PCSO continually provides frontline services and medicalrelated support to our kababayan.

On April 8, in observance of the 74th Araw ng Kagitingan and Philippine Veterans Week, the PCSO partnered with the Veterans Memorial Medical Hospital for a medical outreach activity in Agoo, La Union. The PCSO donated medicines for the event, which benefited 1,392 people.

Atty. Rojas is vice chairman and general manager of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.

Human-centered: Seeing PPP justice like climate justice

BusinessMirror is published daily by the Philippine Business Daily Mirror

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More of the PCSO’s support departments will also be included in the expanded scope.

In order to prepare the agency for the certifying body’s audit at the end of the year, the PCSO’s Quality Management Systems Committee (QMSC) conducted an internal quality audit two weeks ago to gauge process conformity to standards and follow up whether corrective actions were made to issues raised.

The QMSC also recently conducted a seminar on root-cause analysis for department managers and division chiefs to enable them to properly identify problems and challenges that may affect operational processes.

Obtaining ISO certification made up 10 percent of the PCSO’s targets for 2015, as set by the Governance Commission for GOCCs (GCG). The scope expansion for this year was given the same weight.

This is a challenging target because the processes and procedures for requests for assistance are performed not only at the head office in Metro Manila and the satellite office at the Lung Center of the Philippines, but also at certain branches of the PCSO outside of Manila.

Continued from A1 Per the Alternatives for Community and Environment, “climate justice focuses on the root causes of climate change. As a movement, climate-justice advocates are working from the grassroots up to create solutions to our climate and energy problems that ensure the right of all people to live, learn, work, play and pray in safe, healthy and clean environments.”

PPPs should be, thus, reframed and advanced like climate justice.

There are five ways.

1. Beyond the legal, financials and technical. Climate justice goes beyond and much deeper than the

environment. Similarly, PPP justice is much more than just being compliant with law, economically feasible and technically sound. PPPs must be pursued to serve the true north. The benefits of PPP must not be exclusive to the parties to a PPP. The benefits of PPPs must be actually felt by the people. This is inclusive development.

2. People as core. PPPs must be undertaken to benefit the people, improve their quality of life and enhance the public good. Like climate justice, development should be achieved through a human-centered approach. PPPs, therefore, cannot be antipeople, antichange, antidevelopment, anti-innovation and antiparticipation.

As a movement, climate-justice advocates are working from the grassroots up to create solutions to our climate and energy problems that ensure the right of all people to live, learn, work, play and pray in safe, healthy and clean environments.

3. Addresses deficits. A PPP project should not be undertaken for its own sake. A PPP is a development and change strategy aimed at addressing the root causes of poverty, democratic deficits and infrastructure gaps. PPP serves as a bridge to bring us from what is to what should be. Road, water, power, tourism, land development, reclamation, bridge, school, transportation and housing projects under various PPP schemes are necessities and imperatives.

4. Social justice. Without development, the marginalized will

remain in the periphery. Without participation, the underprivileged will remain fence sitters. PPP justice must be designed to attain social justice. Further, in the very process that this goal is met, the silent majority should be part of the kitchen and become active participants in the PPP cycle. PPP must not only be ethical in content. It must, likewise, be ethical in process.

5. “Sharing in the burdens and benefits.” PPP is about resource exchange. The PPP parties—the government, the private-sector proponent and the beneficiaries/consumers —all have a stake, must share in the burden and benefits of the project. PPP is a win-win-win, not just a win-win between the signatories to a PPP contract. To future-proof the arrangement, the reason for PPPs— the people must be coparticipants, coowners, cofunders, codesigners, codevelopers, cocommunicators and cothinkers.

Let us all be part of PPP and climate justice.

Opinion BusinessMirror

opinion@businessmirror.com.ph

Let’s invest in the Philippines

Nonsensical notion of destiny Teddy Locsin Jr.

FREE FIRE

Jeffrey G. Salazar

DEBIT CREDIT

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HE Philippines, Asia’s Rising Tiger, is attracting not only local businessmen but also foreign investors to do business in the country. To encourage business investments in the Philippines, the government created various Investment Promotion Agencies (IPAs) to provide assistance and fiscal incentives in exchange for their ventures in preferred areas in the country.

Some of the IPAs established are the Board of Investment (BOI), Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) and the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (Tieza).

Investors covered by these investment regimes can enjoy various incentives such as, but not limited to, simplification of customs procedures and employment of foreign nationals to provide technical expertise and supervisory support, incometax holiday, exemption on valueadded tax, import duties and tariff fees, and even exemption from local taxes and fees imposed by the local government unit.

The BOI, attached to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), is the agency that grants incentives based on economic activities that are needed by the country in order to prosper or develop, which is called investment priority areas. Some of the priority areas of the Philippines to date are the business-process outsourcing, electronics and renewableenergy industry.

Peza, also attached to the DTI, is the agency that promotes and facilitates business operations of exportoriented enterprise. Peza established various special economic zones in key areas in the Philippines. These areas are developed with all the required resources and utilities for smooth and competitive import-export operations. From the traditional “gated” economic zones, Peza has also expanded the incentives subject to incentives to the information-technology-based enterprises.

On the other hand, Tieza, attached to the Department of Tourism, is the agency created to boost the tourism industry in the country. The said agency is being funded by the 50 percent of the collections of travel tax imposed on individuals who

purchase air ticket. The funds are being used to fund various infrastructure and projects. Investors can develop tourism enterprise zones for as long as the areas to be developed has historical and cultural significance, environmental beauty and with existing or potential leisure facilities.

Investors can also operate inside an existing enterprise zone and apply as tourism enterprise within the zone.

Existing tourism-related enterprises can also qualify for incentives if these are outside the zones.

Recently, to strengthen the management of these incentives programs administered by the IPAs, Congress enacted the Republic Act 10708, or the Tax Incentive Management and Transparency Act (Timta), on December 9, 2015.

With the Timta, the government will be able to monitor, review and analyze the impact of these various tax incentives as information are now mandated to be submitted to the IPAs and other government agencies by all registered enterprises. These information will be available for use in budgeting, determination of the cost-benefit situation of the various investment programs and other uses.

With these various measures in place, the Philippines now will be on its way toward making the country as one of the investment centers in Asia while better managing the administration thereof.

Jeffrey Galang Salazar is a Certified Public Accountant and Master in Business Administration degree holder. He is currently connected with Tong Hsing Electronics Phils. Inc., Mold Parts Manufacturing Asia Inc. and Pamantasan ng Cabuyao.

This column accepts contributions of articles of interest from accountants who are of interest to the accountancy profession, in particular, and to the business community, in general. These can be emailed to boa.secretariat.@gmail.com.

Monday, May 2, 2016 A15

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HERE is no such thing as an electoral mandate. All that getting elected does is get you the job that was up for grabs. It certainly does not confer upon you something called a mandate. Nobody has seen a mandate. What color is it?

What does it smell like? What does it feel like? No one can say because it doesn’t exist.

So, also is getting elected president not a matter of destiny, as Duterte said. It is not destiny but a matter of getting the most number of votes for the post. And that is a matter of getting the most voters to vote for you.

It does not stop there. It is also a matter of getting those votes counted correctly by the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

The Comelec can cheat you.

If the Comelec cheats for you, it is not destiny but electoral fraud. If the Comelec does not cheat you, it is not destiny either, but a clean election.

Getting the most number of votes

can be a matter of coming across attractively in person or in media. It is not a matter of destiny but personality and peso-nality.

Someone decidedly not attractive, who had no money to start with, can, just by showing his face and talking, draw multitudes to himself. Someone else far more pleasing to look at may turn off as many as they see him or meet him in person or media. Destiny has nothing to do with it because destiny does not exist.

It is not a force of nature or a trend of history. It is just a word meaning nothing. We cannot explain how in hell an ugly madah fakah gets even

his mother to vote for him, let alone her neighbors, not to mention a lot of his countrymen. But there you go.

It was Ferdinand E. Marcos who started this talk of destiny. Iginuhit sa—or ng—Tadhana was his first book, meaning “written” or “embroidered” on tadhana, whatever that sh_t native word means. And you know Marcos, he’d write anything. Even Corazon “Cory” Aquino picked it up and said it was not Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino’s destiny to be president.

Destiny had nothing to do with Ninoy not becoming president.

When Ninoy was good and ready to run for president after Marcos’s second term, he could still have lost the nomination of his party, which was slated for Gerry Roxas. (That’s why Noy grabbed the nomination from Manuel A. Roxas II in 2010, to repeat history that never happened.) By then, Marcos could not run again so the post was up for grabs. Shortly after, Ninoy was in jail and presidential elections were canceled forever.

The reason there was a presidential election again was that Ninoy was murdered. So how could he run? He was dead. His murder got the nation

Trump spells doom for social conservatives B F W Bloomberg View

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HE 2016 Republican presidential campaign began last year with Ted Cruz, Mike Huckabee, Bobby Jindal and Rick Santorum—among others—flashing Bible passages and competing for support from social conservatives in Iowa. It will end in July with the all but certain nomination of Donald Trump.

The rout of social conservatives in this campaign is absolute. Their future looks grim.

The problem isn’t that Trump has a disco ball where his moral compass should be. It’s that he isn’t particularly interested in the socialconservative agenda—or even in pretending that he is.

Aside from a few comic forays into biblical scholarship early in his campaign, and later comments about abortion that were so off message that they merely confirmed his lack of interest in the topic, Trump is running free and clear of the entire movement. He’s leaving social conservatives in the dust.

The country as a whole deserves some credit for this turnabout.

Americans have taken seriously the social-conservative complaints that mattered most. The Guttmacher Institute reported earlier this month that in 2011 US teen pregnancy, birth and abortion rates all reached their lowest points in almost four decades. Teen pregnancies were down almost one quarter since 2008.

Of course, trends in divorce have migrated from cosmopolitan America to the Bible Belt, as has a great deal of drug use and addiction. And even the good news on teen pregnancy has a downside for social conservatives: The kids are still having sex. “The available evidence suggests that increased contraceptive use is the primary driver of this decline,” said Kathryn Kost, the study’s lead author.

But social conservatives can take some credit for pushing Democrats to adopt the Clintonian mantra that abortion should be “safe, legal and rare.” There is an implicit moral calibration in that last word. Whether it has influenced the overall decline in US abortions, many liberals have

accepted that reducing the number of them should be a priority.

Calibration is not condemnation, but it’s as close as conservatives are likely to get for a while. Even in states seeking to regulate abortion out of existence, such as Texas, Republican legislators feel compelled to pretend they’re merely advancing the cause of women’s health, not saving their souls.

If abortion represents a highly qualified success, however, the social-conservative attack on the “homosexual agenda” has been a comprehensive fiasco. If gay rights were more controversial, even among Republicans, it’s doubtful that Trump, who has lived his entire life in New York City without registering objection to its customs, could have skated so freely through the primaries.

With a Republican nominee hailing from the most hostile psychographic terrain in the nation, it’s unclear where, outside of the deepest South, social conservatives can go to find a sympathetic ear for righteous anger.

When Republican politicians in

North Carolina recently targeted transsexuals, a minority of a minority, they surely expected an outcry from some Hollywood liberals.

However, they seemed unprepared for the devastating and swift response from corporate America.

Without fingers to the wind or focus groups to guide them, corporations, big and small, unambiguously denounced the action, making it clear they viewed North Carolina leaders as the kind of bigots and kooks they’d take pains to avoid at the local Rotary.

This election will likely cut a swath of destruction through conservative America. If social conservatives hope to survive as a credible political force outside the South, they’re probably going to have to surrender on gay rights—at the very least—and cultivate more relevant issues. The battle against drug abuse could use a hand, along with lots of other worthy causes. Accepting gay rights may seem alien, even impossible, to social conservatives at first. But many in their ranks have already embraced Trump. It can’t be any more awkward than that.

they know are right.

Democracy in action can actually produce a lot of inaction, which we see every day in Washington and other levels of government, too. When governments fail to address the needs of the people, voters in both parties get angry and some politicians exploit that anger by offering scapegoats instead of solutions.

If we want to stop demagogues, we have to start governing again, and that requires us to be more civil, to support politicians who have the courage to take risks, and to reward those who reach across the aisle in search of compromise.

Doing this won’t be easy, and that’s partly because it’s not just social media that has changed the civic dialogue.

The constant bombardment of news that we see on our phones, computers and TVs gives us the impression we are acquiring knowledge. Yet, many of the sources, facts and interpretations are

either dubious or colored by partisanship, or outright lies.

I say that as the owner of a media company who has seen how the marketplace has shifted. Today, people choose cable TV channels and web sites that affirm their own political beliefs rather than ones that inform and challenge their beliefs. As a result, we have grown more politically cloistered and more intolerant of those who hold different opinions.

Think about this: In 1960 only 4 percent to 5 percent of Democrats and Republicans said they would be upset if a member of their family married someone from the opposing party. In 2010 one in three Democrats and one in two Republicans said they would disapprove of such a marriage. In 1960 most people would never have believed that interparty marriage would attract such resistance, while interracial and same-sex marriage would gain such acceptance.

For all the progress we have made on cultural tolerance, when it comes to political tolerance, we are moving in the wrong direction—at campaign rallies that turn violent, on social-media threads that turn vitriolic, and on college campuses, where students and faculty have attempted to censor political opponents.

As durable as the American system of government has been, democracy is fragile—and demagogues are always lurking. Stopping them starts with placing a premium on open minds, voting and demanding that politicians offer practical solutions, not scapegoats or pie-in-the-sky promises.

Here’s your degree; now go defeat demagogues B M R. B | Bloomberg View

The following is an adaptation of an address to the University of Michigan’s class of 2016.

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HE most useful knowledge that you leave here with today has nothing to do with your major. It’s about how to study, cooperate, listen carefully, think critically and resolve conflicts through reason. Those are the most important skills in the working world, and it’s why colleges have always exposed students to challenging and uncomfortable ideas.

The fact that some university boards and administrations now bow to pressure and shield students from these ideas through “safe spaces,” “code words” and “trigger warnings” is, in my view, a terrible mistake.

The whole purpose of college is to learn how to deal with difficult situations—not run away from them. A microaggression is exactly that: micro. And one of the most dangerous places on a college campus is a safe space, because it creates the false impression that we can insulate ourselves from those who hold different views.

We can’t do this, and we shouldn’t try —not in politics or in the workplace. In the global economy, and in a democratic society, an open mind is the most valuable asset you can possess.

Think about the global economy. For the first time in human history, the majority of people in the developed world are being asked to make a living with their minds, rather than their muscles.

For 3,000 years, humankind had an economy based on farming: Till the soil, plant the seed, harvest the crop. It was

hard to do, but fairly easy to learn. Then, for 300 years, we had an economy based on industry: Mold the parts, turn the crank, assemble the product. This was hard to do, but also fairly easy to learn.

Now, we have an economy based on information: Acquire the knowledge, apply the analytics and use your creativity.

This is hard to do and hard to learn, and even once you’ve mastered it, you have to start learning all over again, pretty much every day.

Keeping an open mind to new ideas is essential to your professional success —just as it’s crucial to our collective future as a democratic society.

We are witnessing a disturbing change in the nature of American politics: a rise in extreme partisanship and intolerance for other views.

I’m a political independent, but over the course of my life, for nonideological reasons, I’ve been a Republican and a Democrat. So I can tell you: Neither party has a monopoly on good ideas, and each demonizes the other unfairly and dishonestly.

This is not a new phenomenon, but

to demand that presidential elections be called again. And the reason that Cory became president was not destiny, but because her husband was shot and Marcos called snap elections to show that most of the people did not believe he killed Ninoy. And the reason Cory won the election was that the voters were tired of Marcos and sick of his cronies. It was disgust and not destiny.

If you believe that destiny plays a part in the presidency, that lays the basis for the elected president to start stealing and calling it God’s will, or killing political enemies and critical journalists and calling it God’s justice, or keeping known Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo-era smugglers around him, getting them ready for customs jobs and calling it business as usual when he assumes office.

The Americans, the greatest people on earth, never use the word destiny. That is because they are not short and stupid, but tall and talented. There is really something wrong with short people. Americans do not cotton to nonsense. They stick to common sense, which tells us that if we cannot see it, or count it, or smell it—then goddamn it, it does not exist. There is no such thing as destiny.

it has reached a dangerous new level.

George Washington warned against the dangers of parties, but we have survived more than 200 years of political parties largely because the Founding Fathers created checks and balances to temper the fires of partisanship. Of course, they also excluded most Americans from their vision of democracy because they feared what democracy might produce. But over the past two centuries, through the sacrifices of so many civil-rights leaders and soldiers, the promise of equal rights has spread across income, religion, race, gender and sexual orientation.

We still have a long way to go, and it would be a mistake to think that our progress is irreversible. Democracy and citizenship will always require constant vigilance against those who fan the flames of partisanship in ways that consume us and lead to, in Washington’s words, “the ruins of public liberty.”

We have certainly seen such figures before, in both parties. In the 1930s there was the despotic Huey Long in Louisiana and Father Coughlin in Michigan, who blamed “Jewish conspirators” for America’s troubles. Then came Charles Lindbergh in the 1940s, Joe McCarthy in the 1950s, George Wallace in the 1960s and Pat Buchanan in the 1990s. Every generation has had to confront its own demagogues. And every generation has stood up and kept them away from the White House. At least so far.

In this year’s presidential election, we’ve seen more demagoguery from both parties than I can remember in my lifetime. Our country is facing serious

and difficult challenges. But rather than offering realistic solutions, candidates in both parties are blaming our problems on easy targets who breed resentment. For Republicans, it’s Mexicans here illegally and Muslims. And for Democrats, it’s the wealthy and Wall Street. The truth is: We cannot solve the problems we face by blaming anyone.

So why has it become so hard to find leaders who will lead from the front, rather than following from behind?

Here’s one reason, based on my experience: Today, elected officials who decide to support a controversial policy don’t just get angry letters, phone calls and faxes. They also get millions of angry tweets and Facebook posts denouncing them in the harshest possible terms. This is democracy in action.

But this kind of instant condemnation also makes elected officials afraid to do things that, in their heart of hearts,

2nd Front Page BusinessMirror

A16 Monday, May 2, 2016

www.businessmirror.com.ph

ADB’s new long-term strategy CA affirms decision allowing DOTC to roll may include climate finance out P3.4-B IT project

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B C O

@cuo_bm

RANKFURT, Germany— The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said it will soon prepare a new long-term strategy, dubbed as the Long Term Strategic Framework (LTSF) for 2030, which could include financing for climate action.

In an interview with the BusinessMirror ahead of the 49th Annual Meeting here, ADB Board of Governors Secretary Woo Chong Um said the discussions in the seminars and among the board of governors will be part of the inputs in the next LTSF. The ADB released its LTSF for 2020 during the Annual Meeting of Governors in Madrid, Spain, in 2008.

The document contained future directions for ADB priority areas and lending operations, among others.

“There will be a discussion

$5.53B

The amount of loans extended by the Asian Development Bank to the Philippines among the governors about what Asia will look like in the future and what the ADB should do. Now is the appropriate time to start thinking about 2030,” Um said.

He said LTSF 2030 may include climate change, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals and climate finance. It could also feature efforts to harness trade facilitation between and among countries.

Um said the ADB’s efforts to scale up its private-sector lending operations, which accounted for 10 percent to 15 percent of the bank’s portfolio, will be included in the new LTSF. While the ADB remains a sovereign lender, with sovereign loans accounting for 85 percent to 90 percent of its portfolio, Um said there is a need to provide more loans to private companies.

Under the LTSF 2020, the ADB had targeted to raise its private-sector lending to as much as 50 percent of its portfolio. Um said this was an “ambitious” target, which will take time to achieve.

Earlier, the ADB said the push for more loans to the private sector is due to the fact that its developing member-countries (DMCs), including the Philippines, are expected to have higher per-capita incomes in the next 25 years.

This highlights the need to address the financial requirements of local companies who would like to undertake projects with the gov-

ernment, according to the ADB. In a phone interview, head of private-sector lending at ADB Todd Freeland recently told the BusinessMirror that the demand for private-sector lending is rising among DMCs because of higher GDP growth.

Within five years, Freeland said, the Manila-based multilateral development bank projects that almost all of the DMCs will reach middle-income or upper-middle income status.

The ADB said it approved a record $2.6 billion of new financing and investments for the private sector in 2015, a 37-percent increase from a year earlier and 62 percent higher than in 2013.

With this, the ADB said its private-sector investment portfolio has increased to over $8 billion, and its private-sector operations are now targeted to double from current levels by 2020.

As of 2015, the Philippines was one of the ADB’s biggest sovereign borrowers, according to its Annual Financial Report. The Philippines was the fourth-largest sovereign borrower of the ADB after China, India and Indonesia. The ADB said it extended a total of $5.53 billion, or 9.5 percent, of the bank’s total loan portfolio to finance various projects in the Philippines.

B J R. S J @jrsanjuan1573

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HE Court of Appeals (CA) has affirmed its decision allowing the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) and the Land Transportation Office (LTO) to push ahead with the P3.4-billion Road Transportation Information Technology (IT) project meant, among others, to boost their ability to track stolen vehicles.

In a resolution written by Associate Justice Maria Luisa QuijanoPadilla, the court’s Special Thirteenth Division denied the motion for reconsideration filed by lawyer Salvador Belaro to reverse an earlier decision issued on November 13, 2015.

The appellate court rejected Belaro’s claim it overstepped the limits of its prerogative when it ruled based on the review of the correctness of the writ of preliminary injunction issued by the Regional Trial Court in Mandaluyong City stopping the project.

The CA explained that trial courts may only grant a writ of preliminary injunction if the ap-

plicant is able to show a clear and positive right especially calling for judicial protection and only after it was established that the violation sought to be prevented would cause irreparable injury, unless restrained.

“All told, this Court could not be deemed to have exceeded its prerogative after it found that there was grave abuse of discretion when public respondent granted the application for a writ of preliminary injunction as there are no sufficient factual and legal jurisdictions therefore,” the CA said.

It also rejected Belaro’s claim he will suffer direct injury as the project is financed by public funds and fees will eventually be levied on motorists who will be applying for driver’s license or registering their motor vehicles in order to defray the cost of procurement, such that, he, as a taxpayer, will be injured twice over.

“Here, the act sought to be enjoined is the opening of the bidding process for the LTO-IIS Project, more specifically the publication of the invitation to bid, such that the perceived harm to be suffered by private respondent C  A