BusinessMirror March 19, 2016

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Friday, March 18, 2016 Vol. 11 No. 162

P.  |     | 7 DAYS A WEEK

INSIDE

A NEW BATMAN RISES Remembering Col. Antonio Cabangon-Chua

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EAR Lord, at 81 when You took him to heaven is very meaningful to his life style of generosity. Mostly, all his life was spent on improving the lives of many other people connected with him. Be they his immediate family as a well-concerned father to his children, loved ones, employees, less-fortunate people, organizations, name it, whoever seeks his help, he was ready at all cost to help. His loud voice when he reminds others to do what is right, is as loud as his ear, a passion to extend help to charities. Many remained loyal to Col. Antonio, or Sir Amba, working in his different companies for years.

Good Lord, we know and thank You, for Your welcoming door is so wide for him to be with You for all eternity. May the legacy of his good works be good examples for us to follow and be inspired to offer them for Your honor and glory. Amen.

A TRIBUTE TO EX-AMBASSADOR COL. ANTONIO CABANGON-CHUA

BY MARIA LUISA M. LASCON

Editor: Gerard S. Ramos • lifestylebusinessmirror@gmail.com

Life

YES, YOU CAN DO A WEEKNIGHT DINNER PARTY D3

BusinessMirror

Friday, March 18, 2016

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A NEW BATMAN RISES BEN AFFLECK

PHOTOGRAPHED

BY MARC HOM

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RIVEN by the haunting vision of his parents’ brutal slaying, the orphaned young billionaire Bruce Wayne devoted his life to becoming the world’s greatest weapon against crime: Batman. The ultimate vigilante, this Dark Knight’s mastery of physical strength and intellectual superiority fuel his relentless pursuit of justice against the greatest evils in Gotham City and beyond.

Oscar winner Ben Affleck (Argo) takes on the role of Batman/Bruce Wayne, opposite Henry Cavill (Man of Steel) as Superman/Clark Kent in Warner Bros.

Pictures’s upcoming action adventure epic Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice from director Zack Snyder.

The stage was set for the two superheroes’ epic face-off in Snyder’s earlier foray into the DC Universe, Man of Steel, when Superman tears through Metropolis, like a ballistic missile, to defeat the alien enemy, General Zod, in an airborne battle that destroys Wayne Tower—and everyone inside it.

In Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, we’ll see that moment again, but this time through the eyes of Wayne, as he runs into the billowing clouds of dust to search for survivors. Eighteen months hence, the scars are healing in Metropolis but not in the heart of the dark vigilante stalking the mean streets of nearby Gotham City.

This Batman has a score to settle, and both behind the mask and in the persona of Wayne, the character is older and far less idealistic than any we’ve seen thus far onscreen. He’s facing off against a Superman who, while not as seasoned, has grown more confident in his powers and his place on this planet than the reluctant hero of Man of Steel.

The epic story Snyder is telling with this film emerged as a provocative idea while he and producers Charles Roven and Deborah Snyder were brainstorming during production on Man of Steel.

“We were talking about what could be Superman’s challenge for the next movie,” the director recalls while grabbing a quick lunch in between set-ups. “[In Man of Steel], a giant spaceship comes from space and tries to terraform the Earth. How do you raise the emotional stakes higher than the destruction of the planet? At one point I asked, ‘Well, what if

Batman was the bad guy?’ And once you say that out loud, there’s no going back.”

At the core of the conflict driving the action is what Roven calls a “philosophical war” between Batman and Superman, who are essentially two sides of the same coin. “Their causes are similar so you might think they’d be allies,” the producer notes. “It’s their approaches to that cause that turn them into enemies.

Their opposing versions of justice pull each into an inevitable clash with the other, and that philosophical rift—and how personal it becomes—was interesting to us thematically. It gave us a compelling way to make a big spectacle but ground it in something real and emotional.”

In Snyder’s view, their philosophical war is “an easy fire to stoke.” In contrast to Batman’s 20 years hunting down the worst of Gotham’s worst, Superman, he says, “has a much more straightforward view of right and wrong. He can take the moral high ground because he hasn’t gone through the process of losing his innocence, as Batman has. He still believes in the system and, as you can imagine, doesn’t look kindly on someone he believes is acting as judge, jury and executioner in a vigilante position.”

Though shaped by Snyder’s singular visual style, the large-scale action in this film feels designed, not for its own sake, but as an outgrowth of who these characters are, and it’s their very reality that sweeps us along for the ride.

That connection, producer Deborah Snyder attests, was important to the filmmakers back when they took their first dive into the DC Universe with Watchmen and continues to be their true north as they look ahead to Justice League. “Even though these are heroes who have super powers, they also have flaws and weaknesses. They face the same kinds of struggles and challenges that we do—to believe in yourself, to connect with other people, or to find your place in the world. That’s what resonates through all these stories, no matter how fantastical—it’s that human struggle, that journey we all go on.”

Massive and immersive, Wayne’s Batcave has to be one of the most astonishing movie sets ever constructed. The entire structure hangs suspended, with no structural support from below. This

THANK YOU The family of the late Ambassador Antonio L. Cabangon Chua, led by his widow Bienvenida Angeles Cabangon (seated, center), would like to express their deep appreciation and thanks to all the people who came to sympathize during their time of great sorrow.

miracle of engineering and style was dreamed up by production designer Patrick Tatopoulos (300: Rise of an Empire), in close collaboration with Snyder, and its vast scope is matched only by the precision of its details. Fusing organic stone with minimalist metal and glass enclosures, the superstructure is connected to the cave walls by a metal bridge, where a second Batmobile sits like a coiled snake. Above, jutting from a rock, is a crisp and elegant structure of concrete and glass—Batman’s lab. At the far end of the set is a multistory armory, decked out with a tantalizing array of weapons and accessories, and a display case where Batman’s iconic armor hangs in wait for the man who wears it.

Tatopoulos tells us their inspiration for the set’s suspension concept was Bruce Wayne’s animal avatar—the Bat. “Everything is hanging in space— every workstation, even inside the shop. The only thing that touches the ground is the chair. This building is not even touching the ground. It’s all cantilevered on the outside.”

There’s no green screen set extension or trickery at play here. To stand inside the meticulously crafted cave walls of the Batcave is to believe that such a lair could conceivably exist in our world. Of course, crimes are solved here. Of course, this is where a hero suits up for battle. Of course, this is where Batman would hang his cowl.

It is then that we see the man himself, or rather his alter ego. As Wayne, this is a different Affleck than we’ve seen before. With gray streaks in his hair and a touch of stubble, he looks like a man who has seen his share of combat.

There’s a determination in those steely eyes and a grit to the character that will certainly feel at home to fans of Frank Miller’s seminal comic The Dark Knight Returns, which Snyder calls an inspiration, but not the source for the original story driving Batman v Superman.

Following a brief exchange between Snyder and cinematographer Larry Fong—his 300 and Watchmen collaborator—cameras roll and the scene unfolds over a series of takes. Watching from a monitor in “video village,” we see Affleck staring down that famous costume. Suddenly, the Oscar winner disappears;

in his place, a dark and damaged hero emerges. The camera comes in tight to Batman’s mask and it’s astonishing just how much power there is in that image.

As the crew breaks to reset, Affleck tells us that the number of talented actors who have worn the cape and cowl made the prospect somewhat daunting.

“The audience has this larger-than-life expectation and everyone has their own sense of what Batman is, so you have to just be willing to take a risk and try to do something. I think the important thing for me and for Zack was that we were confident we were doing something that was really different from what had been done before but that still falls within the generally accepted idea of what Batman is. The suit was so well-made and cool-looking that it became part of the allure for me.”

Even though we don’t get to see the suit in action today, it’s not hard to picture the physically imposing figure the 6’4” actor must cut in it. Through months of rigorous training, Affleck even put on an extra 25 pounds of muscle for the role, but as grueling as that was, it did have an upside. “My son thinks I am Batman,” he laughs. “Literally.”

In the lead-up to filming Batman v Superman, Affleck had a full schedule as both an actor and filmmaker, which is why he tells us he initially hesitated when Snyder first called him about taking on Batman.

“Then I went down to his studio where he has all these drawings and the script and it was nothing like what I expected,” he remembers.

“It wasn’t about a guy who is 25 years old and venting his anger at his parents’ murder by going out at night and pummeling the criminals of Gotham City. It was Batman at the end of his career, more of a brawler, more existential and broken—a guy looking back at his life and wondering if any of it had been worthwhile. And Bruce Wayne is part of that. The playboy philanthropist—with the cars, women and parties—is another kind of mask. It’s him trying desperately to fill this void in his soul.”

That’s the man who looks up from the rubble of

LIFE

USAID STUDY NAMES CRITICAL AREAS WHERE MANILA NEEDS TO HAVE POLICY ADJUSTMENTS

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5 WAYS TO SURVIVE YOUR HOLY WEEK LONG DRIVE Henry Ford Awards Best Motoring Section 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 2011 Hall of Fame

Motoring

Friday, March 18, 2016

PHL fails in 6 TPP metrics 41% W B C N. P

BusinessMirror

Editor: Tet Andolong

YU KYUNG KANG

ASHINGTON has identified six key areas where the Philippines needs policy adjustments to make it to the US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a by-invitation-only trade bloc currently composed of 12 countries.

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5 WAYS TO SURVIVE YOUR HOLY WEEK LONG DRIVE S    E A S. S

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ID you know that during Easter Sunday, your chances of being involved in an accident dramatically rises compared to most other Sundays of the year? A number of factors come into play here, including heavy traffic, the sheer volume of vehicles on the road, and even drivers’ physical condition.

WE had to make a sudden full stop to give way to a reckless driver but we got rear-ended instead

A TOYOTA Vios caused all these damages

These are competition policy; telecommunications sector; rules of origin; investment protection, specifically the investor-state dispute settlement; intellectual property; and scheduling of modalities for trade in services liberalization.

T h i s i s a c c o rd i n g t o t he United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) “Philippines TPP Readiness Assessment Project,” part of Wash-

Share of the 12 current TPP members in the Philippines’s total trade

ington’s Trade-Related Assistance for Development (TR ADE) project with Manila.

According to the paper presented by the USAID, these six areas were chosen to assess the Philippines’s “TPP readiness.”

T he study noted that the requirements that the TPP demands in these areas are either not yet covered by the Philippines’s C  A

THE Honda Civic behind us managed to drive around our car, but the Toyota Land Cruiser behind struck the Civic and the Focus

Unfortunately for me, I had to learn this harsh lesson firsthand. On Easter Sunday two years ago, family members and I left Baguio City after lunch and headed for Manila onboard a Ford Focus. I was the one behind the wheel. When we got to Rosario, La Union, at midafternoon, southbound traffic on MacArthur Highway was already bumper-to-bumper so we decided to pass through San Fabian, Pangasinan. This was a longer route but we knew we would bypass much of the traffic on this route to the then newly opened Tarlac–Pangasinan– La Union Expressway. As we rounded one blind curve along the La Union, Highway, I spotted an oncoming Toyota Vios heading straight right at us; the driver was overtaking several slower vehicles even though the Vios was approaching the blind curve. I applied the brakes to slow down and give the Vios driver space to go back to his lane. But the Vios was still coming at us, so I braked even harder and eventually had to come to a full stop. Just as the Vios was about to hit us, it managed to squeeze back into its lane, avoiding a head-on collision with us.

I had yet to recover my composure after that close call when, about three seconds later, we heard a loud “Bam!” and we were violently shoved forward. To make a long story short, the Honda Civic behind us swerved to the shoulder on our right to avoid hitting us but the Toyota Land Cruiser behind it didn’t stop in time and ended up hitting both the Civic and the Focus. Continued on E4

MOTORING

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KEEPING THE MOMENTUM Arnold Palmer Invitational to raise purse in big way in 2017

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RLANDO, Florida—The most noticeable change to the Arnold Palmer Invitational won’t be on the golf course.

It will be on the check.

Palmer’s tournament at Bay Hill, already elevated because the winner gets a three-year exemption, received an even larger boost with an $8.7-million purse starting in 2017. That’s an increase of $2.4 million from this year, and makes it the richest Professional Golfers Association (PGA) Tour event this side of the majors, The Players Championship and World Golf Championships.

The Memorial, host by Jack Nicklaus and also awarding a three-year exemption, announced a purse increase to $8.5 million this year.

Here’s one way to put the Bay Hill boost into context: Palmer earned $1,861,857 in his PGA Tour career. Based on the typical formula of 18 percent going to the winner, the Arnold Palmer Invitational champion next year will get roughly $1,556,000.

“Arnold Palmer is unquestionably one of the most

important figures in the history of professional golf and someone who brought its appeal to the masses through his thrilling, go-for-broke style of play that transcended the game,” PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem said.

“This tournament is an important part of Arnold’s legacy, and collectively we were inspired to work together to further advance its stature.”

As part of the changes, the newly established Arnie’s Army Charitable Foundation will manage the tournament as the host organization.

Palmer’s charitable focus has been on the well-being and development of children and youth. The Arnold Palmer Medical Center includes the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children and the Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women & Babies.

Now, the new foundation wants to partner with other charitable works by PGA Tour players who share the same interests.

Alastair Johnston, head of Arnold Palmer Enterprises, said two or three players whose foundations are aligned with Palmer’s mission will be selected for support. Johnston said Palmer has committed at least $10 million to Arnie’s Army to make sure the charitable work is sustained.

“The foundation is going to encourage PGA Tour players to share the spirit of philanthropy,” Johnston said. “We’re going to financially support selected young professionals whose charitable ambition is aligned with Arnie’s Army.” AP

Sports BusinessMirror

B L S. M

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| FRIDAY, MARCH 18, 2016 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph sports@businessmirror.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao Asst. Editor: Joel Orellana

SCOTT LOOKING TO CARRY ON HIS

KEEPING THE MOMENTUM

WINNING FORM AT BAY HILL B D F

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RAFAEL NADAL clenches his fist after beating Alexander Zverev in Indian Wells. AP

Nadal holds off upstart Zverev in three sets at Indian Wells B B H

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The Associated Press

NDIAN WELLS, California—Rafael Nadal rallied from a set down and fought off a match point in the third set to beat Alexander Zverev, 6-7 (8), 6-0, 7-5, on Wednesday and reach the quarterfinals of the BNP Paribas Open in pursuit of a fourth title.

Zverev, an 18-year-old German ranked 58th in the world and in his second full year on the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Tour, blew a 5-2 lead in the third when he was serving for the match, leading 5-3, 40-30. He made three straight forehand errors to give Nadal the break.

“I am especially happy about the mentality on court, the spirit of fight during the whole match, believing that I can win a match during the whole time, even in the tougher situations,” Nadal said.

Novak Djokovic beat Feliciano Lopez, 6-3, 6-3, to stay on track for a potential semifinal against Nadal. Kei Nishikori outlasted John Isner, 1-6, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (5), and next plays Nadal.

“I’m actually glad to have a match like this with not much complications,” said Djokovic, who was pressed in his first two wins.

Serena Williams beat defending champion Simona Halep, 6-4, 6-3, punctuating the victory with her seventh ace. Halep has lost to Williams six of the seven times they’ve played, and the Romanian has yet to successfully defend a title in her career. Halep had nine winners to 28 for Williams.

Williams advanced to the semifinals, where she will play Agnieszka Radwanska, who defeated Petra Kvitova, 6-2, 7-6 (3).

Nadal allowed just two points in his last two service games to escape on a day when the men’s draw was dominated by younger players beating veterans. David Goffin, a 25-year-old Belgian, defeated No. 3 seed Stan Wawrinka, 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (5), and 25-year-old Canadian Milos Raonic took out No. 6 Tomas Berdych, 6-4, 7-6 (7).

Marin Cilic beat No. 8 Richard Gasquet, 7-5, 5-7, 6-2, as temperatures reached 91 degrees (32 0C) under cloudless skies in the California desert. Cilic next plays Goffin, while Raonic will play Gael Monfils, who beat Federico Delbonis, 6-3, 6-4.

Delbonis had upset Andy Murray in the third round.

Goffin ended a 14-match skid against top 10 opponents.

Zverev has lost all seven meetings against such competition.

Cilic hadn’t beaten a top 10 player in one-and-a-half years

until he dispatched 10th-ranked Gasquet.

Zverev, a son of a former Russian pro player, netted a forehand volley on his lone match point.

“I mistimed it completely. I was wrong-footed there. I played it kind of too early and then the ball was too far in front of me,” he said. “I missed probably the easiest shot I had the whole match.”

Zverev got broken at love in his last service game, double-faulting to trail 6-5. Nadal began hitting harder and jerking the teenager back and forth along the baseline.

“Rafa did what he does best; he was fighting,” Zverev said. “He’s known for that.”

Nadal has called Zverev a possible future No. 1 player and his recent results indicate promise. Besides pushing Nadal to the limit, the teenager has lost twice to Berdych, once 7-5 in the third and the other 6-4 in the fifth.

“I know how tough losses feel right now,” Zverev said, still upset with himself. “It’s a big honor for me to hear something like that from Rafa because he’s been there. We’ll see what I can accomplish.”

Zverev had nine aces, with his first serve sometimes regi stering 130 mph or more and his second serve around 120 mph. His 30 winners were two more than Nadal, but Zverev had 47 unforced errors.

Djokovic watched Nadal’s match and came away impressed with Zverev.

“He has a very bright future if he continues playing this way. He’s on the right path,” Djokovic said.

Ranked 18th in the world, Goffin improved to 2-26 against top 10 players, having beaten Raonic in the quarterfinals at Basel in 2014. He has gone to three sets in each of his matches so far. He saved two match points to beat wild-card Frances Tiafoe in the second round and then rallied from a set down to outlast Guido Pella in the third round.

“I was struggling with my serve, and it was difficult with the heat,” Goffin said. “In the third, it’s tough to fight again with the heat and with the level of Stan. The tiebreaker is like you flip a coin.”

Ranked ninth and winner of two titles already this year, Wawrinka struggled mightily in the two-and-a-half-hour match that featured 13 service breaks, with Wawrinka dropping serve seven times.

“Was a match without brain, let’s put it that way,” Wawrinka said. “If you want to win matches, you need to stay focused, even if you had break up in the second or in the third.”

ADAM SCOTT is on a roll and hopes to continue the streak in Arnold Palmer Invitational. AP

The Associated Press

RLANDO, Florida—Adam Scott went nearly two years without winning, and now looks like he can’t lose.

Over three straight weeks, he was runner-up at Riviera, won the Honda Classic and then rallied to beat Rory McIlroy in the Cadillac Championship at Doral. It brought the Australian back into the conversation of golf’s elite, and it raised a pair of questions going into the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

How long can he sustain this great run?

With the Masters less than a month away, is it possible that Scott has peaked too early?

“I don’t really know how long I can keep it up,” Scott said on Wednesday at Bay Hill, where players are raving about the condition of the course. “You’ve got to take advantage of it while it’s there. That’s the big thing and, obviously, I feel confident I can play well this week. Nothing feels any different than when I left Doral, and I’d like to get myself in that position to win again this week and keep it running.”

No one had ever won the opening two legs of the Florida swing since Doral began in 1962. Scott went home to the Bahamas last week, where he didn’t touch a club for four days because he needed rest more than practice. Now he goes for a third straight victory.

He couldn’t help but laugh when he mentioned how Tiger Woods kept a hot streak going “for about 10 years.”

Whether he is using up all his great chances before going for another green jacket at Augusta National is impossible to predict. Fifteen years ago, when there were rumblings that Woods was going through a slump, Woods won Bay Hill and The Players Championship in successive weeks, and then won the Masters.

“I think guys like Tiger and some of the best players of history have shown that they can sustain a high level of golf for fairly long periods of time,” Scott said.

Scott said the Arnold Palmer Invitational is a tournament he would love to win for no other reason than the host.

The 86-year-old Palmer is not as visible this week as in years past, though he has been seen driving a cart and watching his grandson, Sam Saunders, on the practice range. He is slowing down, his speech isn’t as sharp and his hearing not as clear, so he is taping interviews for the telecast this week.

It only deepens the appreciation of all that Palmer has meant for the game.

“The most dynamic, impactful player in the history of the game,” Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem said.

In some respects, Scott has a score to settle. He tied records for 18 holes (62) and 36 holes (130) two years ago, when he had a seven-shot lead going into the weekend. He closed with a 76 and finished two shots behind.

The field features five of the top 10 in the world, including McIlroy and Jason Day. McIlroy added Bay Hill to his schedule last year and regrets not coming sooner. His week included lunch and stories with Palmer. McIlroy is coming off a disappointment at Doral two weeks ago, when he lost a three-shot lead in the final round by making only one birdie.

He can appreciate what Scott is going, though.

McIlroy won the PGA Championship in 2012, and then won consecutive FedEx Cup playoff events in Boston and Indianapolis. He won four times and finished in the top 5 in three other events over his final 10 tournaments of the year. He was even better in 2014, when he won three straight tournaments in a span of four weeks—the British Open, a World Golf Championship and the PGA Championship.

His philosophy is to grab it while you can.

“When you’re in that position, it’s almost automatic that you get into contention,” McIlroy said. “You’re almost on autopilot that you turn up at the tournaments and it’s not like you’re nonchalant or complacent in any way, but if you play your game, you’re going to have a chance come Sunday.

Then it’s about being the mentally toughest on the back nine on Sunday to get the job done.”

McIlroy played the final round in Riviera with Scott, who birdied the last two holes and finished one shot behind Bubba Watson. And he played the third round with Scott at Doral.

“He seems very confident with his overall game,” McIlroy said.

Scott will see if it carries over at Bay Hill, where Matt Every is the two-time defending champion. Every has had only one other top 5 finish during those two years.

SPORTS

Cebu Pacific aims for 20M pax, 85-percent load factor this year

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AMON, Guam—Low-cost car r ier Cebu Pacif ic is targeting to hit the 20million-passenger mark this year, as it looks to expand its operations in several regional airports in the Philippines.

Cebu Pacific Vice President for Marketing and Distribution Candice J. Iyog said her carrier is banking on the expansion of its regional operations in various air hubs in the Philippines to meet the target of the airline group, which now includes Cebgo.

“This year, I think, in terms of

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 46.8280

The drivers would be new destinations, and we’re growing our network aside from Manila.”

—I target, we’re looking at close to 20 million, including Cebgo. The drivers would be new destinations, and we’re growing our network aside from Manila. We now have routes out of Cebu and Davao,” she said in an interview. The airline’s passenger volume is usually driven by its domestic operations.

“We are growing outside of Manila with understanding that there are some constraints; but we’re doing what we can,” Iyog added. “Our target load factor is always 85 percent.”

She was referring to the slotting constraints in Manila’s premier

VISTA LAND REPORTS 14% RISE IN INCOME LAST YEAR

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ROPERT Y de ve loper Vista Land & Lifescapes Inc. on Thursday said its income rose by 14 percent last year to P7.18 billion, driven mainly by brisk real-estate sales.

The company said its 2015 income report included the financials of Starmalls Inc. Vista Land now owns 88.34 percent of Starmalls after the end of its tender period in February.

“Our strategy in the residential sector is paying off, and our recent acquisition of Starmalls adds stability to our existing

operations. As we integrate both platforms, the complementary nature of residential and commercial developments will enable us to achieve higher selling prices, increased sales velocity and higher retail rental rates from our improved integrated product offering, as well as lower land acquisition and infrastructure costs,” said Manuel Paolo Villar, VistaLand president and CEO. Vista Land ’s own income reached P6.3 billion, or almost t he sa me a s i n t he S “V L,” A

S “C P,” A

n JAPAN 0.4156 n UK 66.7674 n HK 6.0360 n CHINA 7.1779 n SINGAPORE 34.3163 n AUSTRALIA 35.4067 n EU 52.5176 n SAUDI ARABIA 12.4908

Source: BSP (17 March 2016 )

A2 Friday, March 18, 2016

Cebu Pacific. . .

C  A

airport, the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. Cebu Pacific flew 18.4 million passengers in 2015, about 9 percent higher than the 16.9 million passengers it served the year prior. Load factor—the difference between seat capacity and actual passenger count—was at 83 percent.

Passenger traffic w ithin the network of the budget carrier also rose by 13 percent to 1.6 million in the first month of 2016, driven by strong loads on the international and domestic ticket sales.

Data from the airline showed that its group—composed of Cebu Pacific and Cebgo—also recorded an average load factor of 86 percent in January.

On January 3 the Cebu Pacific group carried 62,947 passengers—the highest number of passengers it has ever carried on a single day.

Based on internal estimates, Cebu Pacific holds 58 percent of the total domestic market last month.

The airline’s record passenger loads continued into the first half of February, with over 1.1 million guests flown from February 1 to February 21—a 19-percent growth versus the same period last year.

Cebu Pacific offers flights to a network of over 90 routes on 64 destinations, spanning Asia, Australia and the Middle East. It is slated to launch direct flights between Manila and Guam, its first US destination, on March 15.

The carrier’s 57-strong fleet is comprised of eight Airbus A319, 35 Airbus A320, six Airbus A330 and eight ATR 72-500 aircraft. Between 2016 and 2021, the airline expects delivery of three more brand-new Airbus A320, 30 Airbus A321neo and 16 ATR 72-600 aircraft.

BMReports BusinessMirror

news@businessmirror.com.ph

PHL fails in 6 TPP metrics C  A

lone bilateral free-trade agreement (FTA)— the Philippines-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement—or the country’s regional FTAs via the Asean; or are still ambiguous.

The assessment compares the Philippines’s existing trade and investment laws and regulatory framework with those of the requirements of the TPP, essentially outlining the areas where reforms should be undertaken.

Trade Secretary Adrian S. Cristobal Jr. earlier told the BusinessMirror that the government is now reviewing independent studies on the TPP to determine if joining the bloc would benefit or harm the Philippine economy. It has also launched public consultations with the different industries and stakeholders. A decision, he said, would be made within two years if the country would pursue its bid to join the TPP. Legislation on telecommunications, for example, will require changes as the TPP—in a specific chapter—demands that the members will get to access and use each other’s public telecommunications services, “at a reasonable price and on nondiscriminatory terms.”

However, as oft-cited by advocacy groups in the Philippines, the classification of the

Vista Land. . .

C  A

prev ious year, while Starmalls had a net profit of P904 million. Revenues, meanwhile, hit a record P28.69 billion, about 12 percent higher than the previous year’s P25.5 billion.

“We are confident with the company’s prospects, especially now that Starmalls

The TPP will provide comprehensive market access, elimination of all tariff and nontariff barriers, and increase cross-border trade.”

—H

telecommunications sector as a public utility under the Commonwealth Act of 146 (CA 146) subjects it to the 60-40 foreignownership rule.

Another sticking point noted in the paper is that the TPP expects members not to restrict or put conditions on access and use of public telecommunication networks and services (PTNS), with few exceptions.

But, as PTNS are considered public utility, even if they are owned and operated by private companies in the Philippines, the CA 146 contains provisions that may serve as loopholes that telecom providers can use to restrict access.

Other issues noted in the paper are the

changes in interconnection, unbundling of network elements and powers of the National Telecommunications Commission.

On government procurement, the Philippines has Republic Act 9184 of 2003, or the Government Reform Procurement Act, which states that preference can be given to domestically produced goods, also inconsistent with TPP requirements.

For intellectual property-rights protection, the Philippines’s rules are in the Intellectual Property (IP) Code, which was passed in compliance with the World Trade Organization’s Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS).

According to the USAID assessment, the IP code may have to be changed to expand its coverage, as the TPP’s commitments are much broader than what the TRIPS mandates.

“There is no express protection of certification marks and geographic indications [types of intellectual property] in the IP Code, and the Code does not afford the required protection to unregistered wellknown marks,” the study states, noting the IP Code’s shortcomings.

The TPP also requires criminal penalties for aiding and abetting trademark infringement, a provision not provided for in the IP Code.

The passing of the competition policy, however, has been noted to be in compliance with the TPP agreement. But this will be ascertained in the Philippine Competition Act’s enforcement.

Dr. Cielito Habito, chief of party of the USAID’s TRADE project, underlined the importance of TPP, stating that the bloc represents 30 percent of world trade.

In the context of bilateral trade with the Philippines, half of the country’s exports go to TPP members, particularly since the US and Japan are among the 12 current members. Also, 41 percent of the country’s total foreign trade is with these 12 members.

“The TPP will provide comprehensive market access, elimination of all tariff and nontariff barriers, and increase cross-border trade,” he noted during his opening remarks.

According to Habito, the country’s foreign direct investment inflow from the 12 TPP members has been moderate thus far.

Of the $6.2-billion record FDI in 2014, the TPP members accounted for only $1.4 billion. “There may be room for expansion [of FDI] if we have a more open relationship with these economies through the TPP,” he said.

is now part of Vista, which provides a significant source of recurring income in addition to our core and stable end-user business,” Vista Land Chairman Manuel Villar Jr. said.

The acquisition also strengthens the company’s position as among the top 4 integrated property developer in the country, he added.

The SM group is the countr y’s top property developer, followed by Aya-

la Land Inc., the Gokongwei group and Megaworld Corp.

“We have identified about 100 areas, or over 600 hectares of land from our existing communities around the country with ready population-catchment areas for potential Starmalls projects,” said the older Villar, a former senator and the eleventh-richest man in the country.

“We are in the countryside; we are the king of the countryside. Our strength lies

in our strategic location in 150 cities and municipalities, which are extremely difficult to do,” he said.

Vista Land has an established presence in about 95 cities and municipalities across 36 provinces, and intends to focus on the development of integraged urban developments that combine retail, office space, university town, health care, themed residential developments and leisure components. VG Cabuag

BMReports BusinessMirror

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PHL trails Asean neighbors even in UN happiness index

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B C U. O

HE Philippines emerged as a regional laggard even in the World Happiness Index (WHI) 2013-2015 of the United Nations, another reflection of Filipinos’ quality of life.

In the latest edition of the WHI, the Philippines only edged Vietnam among the Asean-6 countries, with Singapore taking the top spot in the region.

The Philippines scored 5.27, with 10 as the highest, to rank 82nd among 157 countries. This was an improvement from being ranked 92nd among 156 countries in 2010-2012.

Singapore ranked 22nd with a score of 6.739, while Vietnam scored 5.061 points.

Globally, the happiest countries in the world are Denmark, with a score of 7.526, followed by Switzerland, with 7.5; Iceland, 7.501; Norway, 7.498; and Finland, 7.413.

“We find that happiness is higher in countries closer to realizing the Sustainable Development Goals

[SDGs], as approved by the nations of the world in September 2015,” the UN report stated.

The five countries at the bottom of the rankings are Burundi, with a score of 2.905; Syria, 3.069; Togo, 3.303; Afghanistan, 3.36; and Benin, 3.484.

The happiness index scores are ex plained by a countr y’s GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom to make life choices, generosity and perceptions of corruption, among others.

82nd

Rank of the Philippines in the UN World Happiness Index 2013-2015 that covered 157 countries “To achieve happiness requires the cultivation of mindfulness and virtue, to be sure; but it also requires an adequate command over material resources, as emphasized by economists; decent work; personal freedoms; good governance; and strong social ties,” the report stated.

“Of course, there are difficult and unsolved complexities in meeting this multidimensional challenge, especially in a world of 193 countries and 7.3 billion individuals,” it added.

The report explained, however, that the SDGs can be used to achieve happiness, because it does not focus on achieving just one

We find that happiness is higher in countries closer to realizing the Sustainable Development Goals.”—UN

development objective.

The 17 SDGs have economic, social and environmental objectives.

The first six goals of the SDGs are focused on social concerns, six on economic concerns, and the last five on environmental issues.

“Many countries in recent years have achieved economic growth at the cost of sharply rising inequality, entrenched social exclusion and grave damage to the natural environment,” the report said. “The SDGs are designed to help countries achieve a more balanced approach, thereby leading to higher levels of well-being for the present and future generations.”

Leading experts across fields— econom ics, ps yc holog y, su r vey analysis, national statistics, health, public policy and more—describe how measurements of well-being can be used effectively to assess the progress of nations.

The reports review the state of happiness in the world today, and show how the new science of happiness explains personal and national variations in happiness. They reflect a new worldwide demand for more attention to happiness as a criteria for government policy.

Friday, March 18, 2016 A3

Aquino will sign CMTA–Quimbo T

HE leadership of the House of Representatives is confident that President Aquino will sign into law the proposed Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA), a priority legislation that seeks to protect and enhance government revenue while instituting fair and transparent customs and tariff management.

“The Executive has always been endorsing the CMTA, so I’m confident the President will sign it into law. I have no doubt about that, because the Executive has been active with the deliberations,” said House Committee on Ways and Means and Liberal Party Rep. Romero Quimbo of Marikina City.

The bill would address smuggling, one of the country’s major economic problems, which causes huge revenue losses to the government.

“It’s a major step that shows how Congress has really stood tall; I mean, amid all this economic development and trying to find a way to even harness and make it easier for investors to come in.

“The CMTA is also our compliance to the Revised Kyoto Convention [RKC]. So, I think, it’s another gem that we should be proud of. It’s something that will have a significant impact on the economy in the next decade,” Quimbo added.

The measure aims to modernize customs and tariff administration through full automation of operations and, thus, reduce the opportunities for

QUIMBO

corruption and technical smuggling; and enact an enabling domestic legislation to make the Tariff and Customs Code of the Philippines compliant with the RKC. It also seeks to update the country’s existing tariff and customs law to more effectively address modern business and trade practices; and reduce the cost of doing business due to customs modernization to encourage more trade and investments.

The bill introduces trade-facilitation programs for highly compliant and “low risk” importers, who may enjoy the benefit of deferred payment of duty and taxes, among others.

It also delineates the treatment for free importations, regulated importations, prohibited and restricted importations.

It simplifies customs procedure on express shipments and relief consignments intended for victims of calamities. Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

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A4 Friday, March 18, 2016

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US solon hits China’s behavior in disputed sea

A

B R M

MERICAN Rep. Randy Forbes, Republican-Virginia, scored China’s recent actions in the South China Sea and reaffirmed the importance of the alliance between the United States and the Philippines to maintain peace and prosperity in the region.

“China’s behavior in the Asia Pacific has undermined regional stability and unnecessarily antagonized the Philippines and other partners in the region. The US has an obligation under its decades-old security treaty with the Philippines to resist acts of aggression against our ally,” he said in a statement during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC) hearing attended by Philippine representatives.

Forbes wa s refer r ing to China’s continued piling of sand onto disputed reefs in the South China Sea, creating new islets in contested territories and straining geopolitical tensions in Asia Pacific.

The delegation, led by Ambassador Jose L. Cuisia Jr. and Acting Justice Secretary Emmanuel L. Caparas, had separate meetings on March 15 and 16, with Sens. Bob Corker, Republican-Tennessee, and Ben Cardin, Democrat-Maryland, chairman and ranking member, respectively, of the SFRC.

The aim is to mobilize Congressional support for key Philippine advocacies in the US. Corker observed the importance of raising foreign military financing in view of China’s behavior.

On the other hand, Cardin said that, while the US maintains its neutrality with regard to the South China Sea dispute, his country takes a strong position against provocative actions. He also expressed firm belief in the rule of law and recognized the leadership of the Philippines in developing a regional Code of Conduct.

Forbes, a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee and a member of the US-Philippines Friendship Caucus, largely echoed the views of his colleagues in the Senate.

The Philippine officials expressed appreciation to the representative for leading efforts to impel the US Administration to take the necessary steps in safeguarding the rule of law in the

The United States has an obligation under its decades-old security treaty with the Philippines to resist acts of aggression against our ally.”—F

NEW VESSEL The MV St. Therese of the Child Jesus was recently launched to provide premium domestic sea transport and help boost local tourism. The vessel, owned by 2GO Group Inc., will

serve the ports of Manila, Bacolod, Iloilo and Cagayan de Oro. It has a capacity of 1,856 passengers and 200 TEUs of cargo. Sulficio O. Tagud, CEO and president of 2GO Group Inc., and Stephen Tagud, SVP, led the launching ceremony. NORIEL DE GUZMAN

Asia-Pacific region.

Forbes said the US needs to be more present in the South China Sea and that joint patrols would be “hugely important, helpful and useful.”

The Philippine officials noted the SFRC’s instrumental role in sustaining US interest in the Asia-Pacific region and in giving substance to the rebalance policy.

“The SFRC has been very inf luential in the decision-making process of the current US administration. We recognize the considerable impact that the

P-Noy can avert exodus of air-traffic controllers

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RESIDENT Aquino can stop the Commission on Audit (COA) from implementing its order disallowing the salary increases for some 600 highly technical employees of the country’s aviation body, which could lead to an exodus of personnel or stoppage of airport operations.

“Once the disallowance order is issued, the COA would order the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines [Caap] to implement the payback to the tune of P10,000 a month and we will not be happy about it,” said Rody Boctot, head of the airtraffic control association.

He said the disallowance would effectively bring back the air controllers, Air Navigation Specialist and Flight Inspectors to their previous salary levels five years ago.

“It is disturbing to hear about the COA directives. We can’t think of ways how we can pay back, since this will set us back to the salary level we were getting five years ago,” Boctot added.

“We were hoping to retain our adjusted salaries, though not comparable with our counterparts in other countries. Still, we face the same liabilities and risks.”

He said their worries would vanish once the air controllers leave for other countries that need their expertise.

The Caap’s current complement of 736 air controllers is considered insufficient. Some 60 more are ready to be accepted into their ranks, following training, but the impending exodus would exacerbate the situation.

It is estimated that these technical men and women would take about 10 years to fully pay the P1 million financial rewards and incentives the Caap board of directors gave them since the defunct Air Transportation Office (ATO) was dissolved in 2010.

The ATO was eventually replaced by the Caap with clear legal mandate to disburse its earnings, now estimated at P4 billion to P5 billion annually.

Asked to comment about the COA directive, Rodante Joya, Caap deputy director general for operations, said: “What can we do but follow the decision of higher office.”

“All is not lost, we hope that the President would listen to us,” he added.

He said the President would have enough time to hear the Caap delegation seeking an audience

It is disturbing to hear about the Commission of Audit directives. We can’t think of ways how we can pay back, since this will set us back to the salary level we were getting five years ago.”—B with him, led by its chief, William K. Hotchkiss III. The aim is to inform the President of the circumstances that led to the granting of salary increases and allowances, chiefly, the mobilization of the whole Caap work force to remove the country from the significant safety concerns of the International Civil Aviation Organization and the lifting of our international carriers from the European Union ban.

These twin achievements led to the elevation of the country to Category 1 standards by the Federal Aviation Administration.

This triumph led immediately to the mounting of flights by flag carrier Philippine Airlines to the United Kingdom in 2014 and announcements to soon start flights to Paris, Amsterdam and Rome.

It has mounted flights to New York via Vancouver in 2015 and would add more flights to Las Vegas, San Diego, and parts of Canada.

Cebu Pacific, on the other hand, was able to mount flights to Guam and is known to be planning additional flights to the US mainland.

The COA, in a memorandum, asked the Caap employees to justify the grant of bonus and salary increases. They were also asked to show the presidential approval of their financial windfall.

Failing to show these documents, the disallowance would be implemented and the Caap would be asked how to go about the reduction of the Caap employees’ salaries over time. Recto Mercene

Committee’s initiatives has had on increasing US FMF to the Philippines and in ensuring that the US continues to be engaged in our region,” Cuisia said.

The Philippines’s campaign to combat trafficking in persons was, likewise, discussed with the senators. Corker remarked that TIP, commonly described as “modern-day slavery,” should not have a place in today’s world.

The meetings with the US lawmakers also aimed to shore up greater support for a bill seeking to award a Congressional Gold

Medal, collectively, to the more than 260,000 Filipino veterans of World War II. The bill dubbed “Filipino Veterans of World War II Congressional Gold Medal Act of 2015,” was introduced in the House (House Resolution 2737) and the Senate (Senate Bill 1555) in June 2015.

Cardin and Forbes are among the bill’s cosponsors.

The bill includes a historical account of the dedicated service of Filipino and Filipino-American servicemen and service women during World War II and recogniz-

es them for their courage, bravery and valor, as they served under the command of the US Armed Forces of the Far East.

“A s we celebrate t he 70t h anniversar y of Philippines-US relations this year, let us remember that ours is a friendship forged by the experience of fighting side by side in wars for liberation. It is our fervent hope that our longstanding ties will only grow stronger over time and that our veterans receive the recognition they deser ve,” Cuisia said.

India sees slower back-office growth as PHL gains ground You have the industry itself maturing, the demand pool is I now growing at a much slower pace,

NDIA’S position as the world’s back office may be slipping away.

For years, India’s services exports had grown fast enough to help bridge its merchandise trade deficit. That expansion came to a halt last year as weak global demand and increased competition made it harder for Indian companies to win new markets, leaving the country more vulnerable to oil price swings or jumps in imports.

“If commodity prices remain stable or harden a little bit, then your trade deficit will rise,” Dhananjay Sinha, an economist at Emkay Global Financial Services Ltd. in Mumbai, said by phone. “If there is not enough support from the services exports, your current account deficit would actually widen pretty quickly.”

The 12-percent decline in services exports in January, the third monthly drop, is “a matter of concern,” Sinha wrote to investors.

The decrease also shows the importance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s plan to boost manufacturing and help create jobs for a burgeoning work force.

India’s development model differs from emerging-market peers that saw high growth due to exportled manufacturing. The services industry, less constrained by the red tape and poor infrastructure that deterred companies from setting up factories, took off thanks to a large English-speaking population and lower labor costs.

Services exports accounted for

plus you have increased competition.”

—S V  N

32 percent of India’s total exports in 2013, compared with 8 percent in China, according to a 2015 paper published by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Services exports that include computer services, business support and tourism are slowing, as global growth stutters and countries, such as the Philippines, catch up.

“You have the industry itself maturing, the demand pool is now growing at a much slower pace, plus you have increased competition,” said Sonal Varma, an economist at Nomura Holdings Inc. in Mumbai.

“Right now I feel it’s largely the demand weakness that’s showing up in weaker growth.”

Operating margins at companies in the S&P BSE InformationTechnology index were squeezed from October to December to the smallest since 2011, even as a weaker rupee boosted local-currency revenue of industry leaders Infosys Ltd. and Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. Industry group National Association of Software and Service Companies forecasts export growth of as much as 12 percent in the fiscal year starting

April 1. Eight years ago its forecast was for an expansion of more than 30 percent. India’s services exports grew 0.2 percent in 2015, slowing from 5 percent in 2014 and 8.2 percent in 2013.

To strengthen its edge, India needs to explore new, high-value areas for services exports, such as research and development, according to the IMF study, which also recommends increasing the value and quality of manufacturing exports.

Indian central bank Deputy Governor H.R. Khan echoed the recommendations this month.

Exports need to be revived if the current-account deficit is to be sustainably contained once oil prices rebound, he said. The shortfall will probably shrink to $3 billion in October to December from $8.2 billion the previous quarter, according to the median of 15 estimates in a Bloomberg survey of economists.

“Even though Indian service exports are sophisticated, India can benefit from overall diversification and uniqueness of service activities,” IMF economists wrote. Bloomberg News

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Thailand’s TCC may seek loan for Big C acquisition

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CC Holding Co. has obtained a €3.2-billion ($3.6-billion) bridge loan to fund its acquisition of a controlling stake in Thai supermarket chain Big C Supercenter Pcl., according to people familiar with the matter.

Berli Jucker Pcl., a subsidiary of Bangkok-based conglomerate TCC, will be the borrower for the one-year loan, said the people who asked not to be identified because the details are private. Nine banks have participated in the deal and some lenders committed up to €500 million apiece, they said. A drawdown of the facility will likely take place by the end of this month, the people said.

TCC, controlled by Thai billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, last month agreed to purchase for €3.1 billion the 58.6-percent stake in Bangkok-listed Big C owned by French retailer Casino Guichard-Perrachon SA. TCC is also in talks with several local banks for an additional facility in Thai baht to fund a tender offer it’s made for the remaining 41.4 percent of Big C shares, according to the people.

The acquisition price for the remaining shares won’t exceed 86.5 billion baht ($2.5 billion), according to a Berli Jucker statement on March 4. Two calls to Berli Jucker’s public relations department seeking comment went unanswered, and two calls to TCC Holding’s general number also weren’t answered.

Bloomberg News

AseanTuesday BusinessMirror

Editor:

a

. de eon • Friday, March 18, 2016 A5

Widodo’s call for rates to ‘fall, fall, fall’ raises Indonesia risks

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ITH Bank Indonesia seen cutting interest rates for a third month on Thursday, some economists say the president’s call for rates to “fall, fall, fall” is making the nation more exposed to any emerging-market sell-off.

Fifteen of 24 analysts surveyed

by Bloomberg see the policy rate being reduced 25 basis points to 6.75 percent, with the rest forecasting no change. The cuts have lured almost $3 billion of inflows to Indonesian local-currency sovereign notes this year, making them the best performers among Asian emerging markets.

President Joko Widodo has urged the authority to keep reducing borrowing costs and has ordered banks to cap deposit rates, as he seeks to revive economic growth from a six-year low. Cutting rates too fast raises the risk of capital outflows in the event of a global shock and may increase soured credit just as the government budget faces strains, according to Natixis Asia Ltd. “This is a negative development for the country,” said Trinh Nguyen, a senior economist at Natixis in Hong Kong. “Investors will gloss this over as long as risk appetite remains strong, but we know this also changes very quickly.”

Investors will gloss this over as long as risk appetite remains strong, but we know this also changes very quickly.”

—T N  N Inflationary risks THERE’S room for one more 25-basis-point cut, Trinh said. Of 26 economists surveyed by Bloomberg, eight see a policy rate of 7 percent by the end of year, 10 forecast 6.75 percent, seven predict 6.5 percent and one projects 6.25 percent.

President Widodo said in an interview last month that he wanted

‘GREBEG’ Young Balinese gather in a temple during the Hindu ritual called “Grebeg” at

Tegalalang village in Bali, Indonesia, on Wednesday. The young participants paraded around their village to ward off evil spirits. The ritual is held every six months. AP

the benchmark rate to “fall, fall, fall, fall, and keep falling.” The Financial Services Authority (OJK) said on February 29 it would lower the ceiling for deposit rates at seven large banks to 75 to 100 basis points above the central bank reference rate.

“Indonesia can argue that it has a window of opportunity to cut rates, especially in the context of the commodity bust requiring policy easing,” said Vishnu Varathan, a senior economist at Mizuho Bank Ltd. in Singapore. “With incremental rate cuts, and other efforts to boost money supply, latent inflationary risks do build, and this will, in turn, undermine macrostability if the productivity pickup does not keep pace over time.”

Indonesian local-currency sovereign debt has returned 14 percent

over the last six months and the rupiah has surged 10 percent. The exchange rate remains vulnerable and the government needs to focus on state revenue reform to widen the tax base, not just on boosting fiscal spending, which is unsustainable, Anton Gunawan, the chief economist at PT Bank Mandiri, told reporters in Jakarta on Wednesday.

Southeast Asia’s largest economy grew 4.79 percent last year, the least since 2009, as the prices of Indonesia’s major exports, such as coal and palm oil, declined. The government is targeting expansion of 5.3 percent this year.

Funding crunch

THE 2016 budget calls for both higher revenue and stimulus spending,

even after tax collection fell around 20 percent short of target last year.

Anticipating a funding crunch, Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro has said he plans to cut routine public spending and is hoping the parliament will pass a tax amnesty that could bring in extra revenue.

Lawmakers postponeddeliberating the bill this month.

“The balance between increasing tax collection and borrowing is going to be the essence of public policy-making and macromanagement over the next year,” Rodrigo Chaves, the World Bank country director in Indonesia, told reporters in Jakarta on Tuesday. “Increasing revenue is imperative, whether it’s difficult or easy it has to be done.”

Indonesia’s 10-year sovereign bonds yield 7.74 percent, the highest among Asia’s emerging markets and 5.84 percentage points more than similar-maturity Treasuries. The rupiah has been driven by bond flows amid the prospect of rate cuts, said Gundy Cahyadi, an economist at DBS Group Holdings Ltd. in Singapore.

“The most important thing has been the yield differential between Indonesian assets and the Group of Seven economies,” he said.

Consumer-price gains have stayed below 5 percent over the last four months after exceeding 7 percent in the middle of last year. The bond rally should continue and HSBC Holdings Plc. is recommending clients be long on 10-year notes, said Pin Ru Tan, a rates strategist at the lender in Singapore. Bloomberg News

A6 Friday, March 18, 2016

The World BusinessMirror

Brazil judge sees efforts to curry favor for ex-pres

DEMONSTRATORS hold cartoon images of Brazil’s former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, depicted as a prisoner over the word in Portuguese: “Worm,” as they call for the impeachment of Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff and protest the naming of Silva as the president’s new chief of staff, outside Planalto presidential palace in Brasilia, Brazil, on Wednesday. AP/ERALDO PERES

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IO DE JANEIRO—Tapped phone calls between exPresident Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and prominent public figures suggest attempts were made to curry favor for the former leader in his judicial woes, according to the magistrate in charge of the sprawling corruption investigation at Brazil’s state-run Petrobras oil company.

Judge Sergio Moro released nearly 50 audio recordings on Wednesday, hours after President Dilma Rousseff appointed Silva as her chief of staff—a move that critics called an attempt to help shield him from potential detention as part of the corruption probe.

In his filing, Moro justified the release by saying democracies “demand that the people know what their officials are doing, even when they attempt to act under the cover of shadow.” He also stressed there was no indication the attempts to secure favors for Silva bore fruit, but the day’s roller coaster of events seemed to stoke more anger at Silva, Rousseff and the governing Workers’ Party.

The police used tear gas and stun grenades against an estimated 5,000 anti-government protesters who massed outside Congress late on Wednesday. Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro also saw protests.

In the southern city of Curitiba, where Moro is based, hundreds gathered in front of the court to show

support for the magistrate and his “Car Wash” investigation into a corruption scheme at Petrobras that prosecutors say involved billions in bribes for inflated contracts.

On Sunday an estimated 3 million people turned out for antigovernment demonstrations nationwide.

Silva’s appointment is being widely viewed as a way to shield him from his legal woes because under Brazilian law, only the Supreme Court can authorize the investigation, imprisonment and trial of Cabinet members and legislators.

That special judicial status now applies to Silva because his appointment has appeared in a special edition of the government’s official gazette. A swearing-in ceremony was set for Thursday morning in Brasilia, the capital.

In his filing, which was made public late on Wednesday along with nearly 50 recordings, Moro said: “I observe that in some dialogues, there is talk apparently of attempting to influence or obtain help from

officials in the public prosecutor’s office or the magistrate in favor of the ex-president.”

However, he added, “there is no indication inside or outside the dialogues that those mentioned in fact proceeded in an inappropriate manner.”

“From the tenor of the taped conversations, it is clear that the expresident already knew or at least suspected he was being taped,” the judge added.

In a twist, recordings made on Wednesday appeared to have been made after Moro ordered the tapping stopped.

In a statement, police said they requested phone companies halt the taps as soon as they received Moro’s order, but it may have taken time for it to be implemented. The police said it was Moro’s decision on which recordings to include in the probe.

In a statement late on Wednesday, the presidential palace called the release of the tapes an “affront to the rights and guarantees of the presidency.” It said that “all the appropriate judicial and administrative measures will be taken to repair the flagrant violation of the law and the Constitution committed by the judge behind the leak.”

An attorney for Silva, Cristiano Zanin Martins, condemned the recordings, saying their release was sparking a “social convulsion... which is not the role of the judiciary.”

The filing by Moro was the latest twist in a dramatic saga that has drawn comparisons to the country’s famous prime-time soap operas, known as novelas to Brazilians.

Silva’s appointment as Rousseff’s chief of state came after days of intense speculation about the move.

Speaking at a news conference after the announcement, she vehemently denied Silva accepted the post to delay investigations against him, stressing that Cabinet ministers’

50

Audio recordings between the former president and public figures released

special judicial standing does not grant them immunity.

“It doesn’t mean that he will not be investigated,” Rousseff said. “It’s a question of whom he will be investigated by.”

Rousseff, who herself was chief of staff for Silva from 2005 to 2010, said she was “very happy” to have Silva in her government.

“His joining my government strengthens my government,” she said.

A dexterous political operator, Silva had been seen as Rousseff’s best hope for shoring up support for the administration and its agenda by sealing alliances with key centrist and right-leaning parties in Congress and securing the support of social movements.

Silva was also regarded as crucial to fending off the impeachment proceedings against Rousseff over accusations of fiscal mismanagement unrelated to the Petrobras probe.

The opposition excoriated his appointment, and analysts said it could dramatically weaken Rousseff.

Rousseff had been untouched by the Petrobras turmoil. But the Supreme Court on Tuesday accepted a plea bargain by a former Senate leader for the Workers’ Party who alleged Rousseff at least knew about wrongdoing at Petrobras, which she formerly oversaw.

Both Rousseff and Silva have repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. AP

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OBAMA NOMINATES APPEALS COURT JUDGE TO HIGH COURT W ASHINGTON—President Barack Obama nominated appeals court judge Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court on Wednesday, thrusting a respected moderate jurist and former prosecutor into the center of an election-year clash over the future of the nation’s highest court.

Obama cast the 63-year-old Garland as “a serious man and an exemplary judge” deserving of a full hearing and a Senate confirmation vote, despite Republican vows to deny him both.

Standing in the White House Rose Garden with Garland, Obama argued the integrity of the court was at stake and appealed to the Senate to “play it straight” in filling the seat left vacant by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia.

“It’s supposed to be above politics,” Obama said of the high court. “It has to be. And it should stay that way.”

Republican leaders, however, held to their refusal to consider any nominee, saying the seat should be filled by the next president after this year’s election.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell spoke with Garland by phone, but did not change his position that “the American people will have a voice.” He said he would not be holding “a perfunctory meeting but he wished Judge Garland well,” a spokesman said.

Others in the GOP ranks were less wedded to the no-hearing, novote, not-even-a-meeting stance—a sign that Republicans are aware the strategy could leave them branded as obstructionist.

Unlike McConnell, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley said he is open to meeting with Garland in the coming weeks, as did five other Republican senators—Rob Portman of Ohio, Jeff Flake of Arizona, Susan Collins of Maine, James Inhofe of Oklahoma and Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire. Others vowed to give his record a close look. The judge will begin visiting with Democratic senators on Thursday at the Capitol, before the Senate breaks for a two-week recess.

Scheduling courtesy meetings is a long way from securing a full hearing, much less winning the 60 votes needed for confirmation. Still, the White House seized the comments as evidence Garland’s weighty resume and bipartisan credentials were putting pressure on Republicans.

Garland, 63, is the chief judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, a court whose influence over federal policy and national security matters has made it a proving ground for potential justices.

A graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School, Garland has clerked for two appointees of Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower—the liberal Justice William Brennan Jr., as well as Judge Henry J. Friendly, for whom Chief Justice John Roberts also clerked.

As a federal prosecutor, he made his reputation overseeing the investigation and prosecutions in the Oklahoma City bombing case in 1995, as well as the case against Unabomber Ted Kaczynski.

When confirmed to the DC Circuit in 1997, Garland won backing from a majority in both parties, in-

cluding seven current Republicans senators.

As a replacement for Scalia, Garland would undoubtedly shift the court away from its conservative tilt.

He would be expected to align with the more liberal members on environmental regulation, labor disputes and campaign finance.

The DC Circuit isn’t a hotbed for cases on social issues, leaving few solid indicators of Garland’s views on abortion rights or the death penalty.

Garland’s involvement in two high-profile gun-rights cases has prompted concern from gun control opponents. In 2007 Garland wanted the full court to reconsider a panel decision that struck down Washington, D.C.’s ban on handgun ownership. But Garland never took a position on the merits of the case.

In 2000 he was part of a 2-1 majority that said the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) could retain gun-purchase records for six months to make sure the computerized instant background check system was working. The FBI’s position was challenged by the National Rifle Association and other gun rights groups.

But he is not viewed as a downthe-line liberal. He’s ruled against giving the District of Columbia a vote in Congress. Particularly on criminal defense and national security cases, he’s earned a reputation as centrist with a law-and-order streak, siding more often with prosecutors.

When his name was floated for the Supreme Court in the past, it was liberal groups that expressed concerns, pointing to early decisions favoring the government in disputes over the legal rights of detainees at the Guantanamo Bay prison.

Progressives and civil-rights activists also had pushed the president to name an African-American woman or to otherwise expand the court’s diversity. Obama passed over appeals court Judge Sri Srinivasan, who would have been the first Asian-American justice, and Judge Paul Watford, who would have been the second African-American on the current court.

Garland—a white, male jurist with an Ivy League pedigree and a career largely in the upper echelon of Washington’s legal elite—breaks no barriers. He would be the oldest Supreme Court nominee since Lewis Powell, who was 64 when he was confirmed in 1971.

In emotional remarks in the Rose Garden, he choked back tears, calling the nomination “the greatest honor of my life.” He described his grandparents’ flight from anti-Semitism in Eastern Europe and his modest upbringing. He said he viewed a judge’s job as a mandate to set aside personal preferences and “follow the law, not make it.”

Obama quoted past praise for Garland from Roberts and Sen. Orrin Hatch. In 2010 Hatch said he could be confirmed to the highest court “virtually unanimously.”

Garland has experience with a prolonged confirmation process.

He waited two-and-a-half years to win confirmation to the appeals court. Then, as now, one of the men blocking his path was Grassley, who argued he had no quarrel with Garland’s credentials but objected to a Democratic president trying to fill an appeals court he felt had too many seats. AP

Mexico City extends air-pollution alert, bans cars in first smog alert in 11 years

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EXICO CITY—Authorities in greater Mexico City extended an air-pollution alert for a fourth day, as smog levels improved slightly but pollution remained at almost one-and-a-half times acceptable limits in some areas.

The city’s first air-pollution alert in 11 years resulted in a driving ban that kept hundreds of thousands of cars from the roads on Wednesday. A metropolitan commission said that had helped, but hot, dry, windless conditions were expected to last through

midday on Thursday.

In a rotating scheme, a different but equivalent set of cars will be told to stay off the streets on Thursday.

The city offered free subway and bus rides to coax people from their vehicles.

Officials advised people to limit outdoor activity due to high ozone levels that were nearly double acceptable limits in the sprawling capital, which lies in a high-altitude valley ringed by smog-trapping volcanic mountains.

Amid a muddy brown haze, some

residents covered their mouths with scarves or paper masks as they moved through the streets. Some schools kept kids indoors during recess.

Environment Secretary Alejandro Pacchiano said if conditions didn’t improve, further measures might be considered, such as suspending industrial activity at factories. By late Wednesday afternoon, pollution continued above acceptable limits.

Mayor Miguel Angel Mancera told Televisa news that about 1.1 million cars in the Valley of Mexico, includ-

ing nearly 450,000 in the capital, were ordered off the streets under the restrictions. However, he later said only about 800,000 had stayed off the road.

He didn’t explain the discrepancy, but suggested some motorists drove despite the ban.

According to the National Statistics Institute about 4.7 million vehicles were registered in the capital in 2014, the most recent year for which figures are available.

Mexico City used to regularly reach high smog levels, but air quality

has improved significantly since the 1990s.

Among other measures, rules were put in place that aimed to limit the circulation of older, more polluting vehicles, and obliged car owners to get regular smog checks.

But a court relaxed those restrictions last year in a ruling that authorities and environmentalists blame for a rise in traffic. Pacchiano said that decision put an extra 1.4 million cars a day on the streets.

Mancera has complained that cities

bordering the capital do not regularly restrict vehicle use even though they contribute greatly to regional pollution. More than 20 million people are estimated to live in greater Mexico City, but only about 9 million in the capital proper.

Ozone is a component of smog that can cause respiratory problems.

Mexico City’s last alert for ozone was in 2002, and the last pollution alert for air particles was in 2005.

The current ozone alert was declared on Monday night. AP

news@businessmirror.com.ph

The World BusinessMirror

Friday, March 18, 2016

A7

Made in China not much cheaper than made in USA

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ERE’S something to think about the next time you hear a US presidential candidate criticize China for unfair trade: labor costs adjusted for productivity in China are only 4 percent cheaper than in the US. Even with the dollar’s rally since 2014, US manufacturing is benefiting from the world’s strongest rate of productivity, a flexible labor market, cheap energy and from having a big domestic market.

That’s according to new research by Oxford Economics, which found that the US manufacturing sector remains a world beater.

“Although US manufacturing is currently facing meaningful headwinds from a stronger dollar and the collapse in investment in the shale-energy sector, it remains the most competitive worldwide,” analysts Gregory Daco and Jeremy Leonard wrote in a note.

The figures are striking. Manufacturing output per employee in the

WATER SCARCITY COULD PUSH UP PRICES, SAP INDIA’S GROWTH PROSPECTS

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NVESTORS betting on India need the rain gods to smile.

The nation’s reservoir levels are three-quarters of the past decade’s average, a sign it can ill-afford a third year of poor rains. Water scarcity could hurt crops, push up prices and sap the economy—further souring sentiment following a slide in the S&P BSE Sensex.

A so-called El Niño weather phenomenon in 2015 saddled India with the driest monsoon in six years. Forecasters say a wetter La Niña pattern that’s better for Indian harvests may develop but is unlikely to emerge in time for the start of the June through September monsoon season.

“It’s possible this year could be worrisome if El Niño continues,” Water Secretary Shashi Shekhar said in an interview in New Delhi. “Water security is India’s biggest challenge.”

Some 75 percent of India’s basins currently hold less water than the average for the past 10 years, Central Water Commission data show. Storage is about half usual levels in a region covering Gujarat—home to Ford Motor Co. and Bombardier Inc. factories—and Maharashtra, where Mumbai lies. Across the country, reservoirs are 71-percent empty.

Monsoon rains bring the bulk of yearly showers and are critical as about half of India’s 1.3 billion population is employed in agriculture, which accounts for roughly 18 percent of the nation’s $2-trillion GDP. A delayed or deficient season could force companies to pay more for water supplies, hurt the rural economy and damp consumption, said Chakri Lokapriya, chief investment officer at TCG Advisory Services Pvt. in Mumbai.

NTPC Ltd., the biggest power generator in India, on March 13 took the step of suspending operations at the 2,100-megawatt Farakka plant in West Bengal after a drop in water supplies that the company described as unprecedented.

The Sensex fell into a bear market last month, and forecasters such as HSBC Holdings Plc. argue earnings expectations are too high, even as economic growth outpaces China’s expansion.

The Sensex trades at 17.8 times one-year forward earnings, versus a multiple of 12.1 for the MSCI Emerging Markets index. Net incomes at the 30 Sensex members have declined in four of the last five quarters, according to data compiled by Bloomberg News.

The impact of the rain outlook presents risks both ways.

Spiking food costs and higher inflation as crops suffer could curb the scope for lower interest rates, hitting sentiment toward stocks, bonds and the rupee. Healthy rainfall could pave the way for the reverse.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his budget speech in February shifted the focus to agrarian areas reeling from a lack of enough water, outlining about 700 billion rupees ($10.4 billion) of spending on everything from a rural jobs program to irrigation.

That shift portends a strong rise in rural consumption from September, and potential beneficiaries include companies such as Hero MotoCorp Ltd., Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd. and Jain Irrigation Systems Ltd., Deutsche Bank wrote in a note this month.

The timing of La Niña is another potential upside risk.

Strong El Niños in the past have been followed by La Niñas that led to bumper harvests, according to the Finance Ministry. The Sensex rose as much as 76 percent during strong or moderate La Niña episodes, data compiled by Bloomberg News show.

The big catch is that El Niño is only gradually weakening, the Finance Ministry said in a February report. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the US sees a 50-percent chance of La Niña in August through October this year.

As India’s groundwater depletes and half the population grapples with potential surface-water disruption, the country faces an intensifying challenge to find the supplies required for the world’s fastest-growing major economy.

“We’re running against time,” Shekhar said from the Water Ministry. Bloomberg News

US rose around 40 percent from 2003 to 2016, compared with a 25 percent growth in Germany and a 30 percent growth in the UK. While productivity has doubled in India and China, the US remains 80-percent to 90-percent more productive.

It’s that robust productivity that has helped the US keep down the unit cost of labor—or wages in relation to worker output.

“Since wage growth in China has largely outpaced productivity growth, and the renminbi has strengthened, China’s unit labor costs are now only

40%

Increase in manufacturing output per employee in the US 4 percent lower than in the US,” the analysts wrote.

Two caveats: Productivity growth throughout the US economy as a whole

has been meager in recent years, partly dragged down by the burgeoning, albeit inefficient, health-care sector. And the US continues to run a trade deficit with China.

There are other risks ahead. If the US dollar starts to rally again, that would spell danger for exporters.

“Another 20-percent appreciation of the dollar,” the analysts wrote, “would certainly dent US competitiveness, and once again make China an attractive production hub, as well as giving Japanese manufacturers a significant advantage.”

Criticism of China is a hot topic in US

politics right now. Republican presidential candidates, led by Donald Trump, have blamed China for the decline of the American middle class through manipulating its currency and onesided trade policies.

Premier Li Keqiang brushed off the criticism on Wednesday, when he said relations with the US will endure no matter who wins the election.

Reports, such as this one from Oxford Economics, may bolster Li’s case the next time China faces criticism from US politicians. Bloomberg News

A8

The World BusinessMirror

Friday, March 18, 2016

Kurds planning to declare a federal region in Syria

KURDISH female fighters of the People’s Protection Units carry their weapons as they walk in the frontline of Kery Sabee village, northeast Syria. THE KURDISH FIGHTERS OF THE PEOPLE’S PROTECTION UNITS VIA AP

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EIRUT—Syrian Kurds are preparing a plan to declare a federal region in the area they control across northern Syria, saying on Wednesday it is a model for a more decentralized government in which all ethnic groups would be represented.

Although the idea might seem like a way forward after five years of civil war, it faces big obstacles: It was promptly dismissed by the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the rebels who oppose him, both fearing it would lead to a partition of the country.

Turkey also opposes it, wary of the growing Kurdish influence in the border region of northern Syria and its effect on its own Kurdish minority.

But Ahmad Araj, a Kurdish official in northern Syria, insisted that a federal system containing such a region, which would effectively combine three Kurdish-led autonomous areas, is, in fact, meant to preserve national unity and prevent Syria from breaking up along sectarian lines.

“After all the blood that has been spilled, Syrians will not accept anything less than decentralization,” Araj said.

By making the announcement as UN-sponsored peace negotiations take place in Geneva, Syria’s main Kurdish faction was trying to become a major player in whatever central government emerges from the war. The faction has been excluded from the talks.

The idea of a federal region appears to have gained some traction lately as world and regional powers grapple with ways to end the conflict. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov this week said such a federal system is one possible option if the Syrian people agree to it. The US also has been an ardent supporter of the Kurds in the region, helping them in navigating the delicate rivalries in Iraq after the 2003 invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.

US State Department Spokesman Mark Toner told reporters that the US opposes declarations

of autonomous federal zones prior to a negotiated political resolution in Syria.

“We’re focused on advancing a negotiated political transition toward an inclusive government that is capable of serving the interests of all the Syrian people,” Toner said.

“We’ve also been very clear that we’re committed to the unity and territorial integrity of Syria.”

However, if a resolution is reached by the Syrian people and their representative, and if it includes a federal system that allows for limited or semi-autonomy for different regions, Toner said Washington would not oppose it.

The Kurdish declaration is expected to be made at the end of a conference that began on Wednesday in the town of Rmeilan, in Syria’s northern Hassakeh province, and may last several days.

The plan could make sense in a country that has a multitude of sectarian and ethnic minorities for whom it would be difficult to share a unifying national sentiment.

The government, dominated by Assad’s Alawite sect of Shiite Islam, controls Damascus, the Alawite heartland along the Mediterranean coast, and other cities and connecting corridors in between.

The Kurds run their own affairs in the northeast.

The militants of the Islamic State (IS) group control much of the Sunni heartland in the east.

Other Sunni rebels control pockets in the north and south. The Druze remain loyal but are starting to talk about autonomy in their southern areas, as, well.

Any move to carve up the country could risk yet more violence, including ethnic or sectarian cleansing.

Joshua Landis, director of Middle East studies at the University of Oklahoma, said the federalist proj-

ect has logic to it, but is doomed to fail under current conditions.

“The federal system would be the way forward if people would accept it,” Landis said. “But they won’t because they don’t like each other.”

Assad’s multireligious base and the largely secular Kurds distrust the Islamist-dominated opposition, and the opposition will not tolerate the continuation of Assad rule in any part of Syria, either in Damascus at the head of a federal government, or in the coastal region, where his Alawite supporters predominate.

In these conditions, it would be difficult for federalism to take root.

Kurds are the largest ethnic minority in Syria, making up more than 10 percent of the prewar population of 23 million. They control an area along the Turkish border stretching from eastern Syria, near the Iraqi border, to Afrin in the west, interrupted only by a stretch of territory controlled by the IS group.

The Kurds declared their own civil administration in three distinct enclaves, or cantons, under their control: Jazira, Kobani and Afrin, in 2013.

Federalism could be a first step toward creating an autonomous region similar to the one operated by the Kurds in Iraq, where their territory is virtually a separate country.

The main Syrian Kurdish group— the Democratic Union Party (PYD), and its military wing, the People’s Protection Units (YPG)—have been excluded from the Geneva talks so as not to anger Turkey, despite Russia’s insistence they participate. Ankara views the group as a terrorist organization.

Nawaf Khalil of the PYD told The Associated Press by phone from Germany, where he is based, that his party is not lobbying for a Kurdish region but an all-inclusive area with representation for Turkmen, Arabs and Kurds in northern Syria.

Salih Muslim, the copresident of the PYD, told the AP in Sulaimaniyah, Iraq, that the decision to declare a federal region was not yet official, but any such announcement would be a positive step to help keep Syria together.

A Turkish Foreign Ministry official said his country rejects any moves that would compromise Syria’s national unity, adding that “unilateral moves carry no validity.”

It’s up to the Syrian people to “decide on the executive and administrative structure of Syria in line with

2.3M Population of the Kurds, the largest ethnic minority in Syria

the new constitution which will be formulated through the political transition process,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of government practice.

Turkey views the PYD as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which has renewed a decades-old insurgency since peace talks collapsed last year. The US also considers the PKK a terrorist group, but both Washington and Moscow support the YPG, which has been among the most effective forces against the IS group.

Both the Syrian government and the opposition, at least in theory, reject any form of partition of Syria.

Syria’s UN ambassador, Bashar Ja’afari, who also heads the government team in Geneva, said the talks are meant to discuss preserving Syria’s territorial integrity.

“Betting on creating any kind of divisions among the Syrians will be a total failure,” Ja’afari said.

Added Riad Naasan Agha, a member of the Saudi-backed Syrian opposition: “What someone declares on their own, far away from the Syrian people, is unacceptable.”

The PYD’s Khalil distinguished between autonomous rule over Kurdish areas—which has been in effect in Syria since 2013—and the federalism project, which he said was ethnically inclusive.

“The federalism project is a model for all Syria,” he said.

The Kurdish plan comes at a critical juncture in the conflict. A 2-week-old Russian and U.S.-engineered partial cease-fire is holding, the peace talks have resumed, and Moscow on Tuesday began withdrawing most of its troops from Syria after a five-and-a-half-month campaign of airstrikes supporting Assad, its longtime ally.

That has raised hopes for more meaningful discussions in Geneva, where UN envoy Staffan de Mistura is shuttling between delegations from the Syrian government and the moderate, Western-backed opposition. AP

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NATO CHIEF: ANOTHER TOUGH YEAR AHEAD FOR AFGHANISTAN

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ABUL, Afghanistan—The head of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Nato) on Wednesday predicted a difficult fight ahead for Afghanistan, as the government continues to battle the Taleban and other militant factions trying to assert their presence in the war-ravaged country.

Jens Stoltenberg, Nato’s secretary-general, said insurgents will press their fight against Kabul in what is likely to be another tough year for the Afghan government. He spoke to The Associated Press during a two-day visit to Kabul, his second since taking the top Nato role in late 2014.

The Taleban, al-Qaeda and the Islamic State (IS) group will keep up their attacks across Afghanistan throughout 2016, he said.

“We have seen different terrorist organizations trying to establish themselves in Afghanistan,” he said. “We have seen the presence of al-Qaeda, IS, the Taleban and all the groups, and they are still in Afghanistan.”

“There is going to be continued fighting and we have to expect that there are going to be new attacks on the government forces,” he added.

The Nato has around 3,000 troops in Afghanistan, in the socalled Resolute Support noncombat mission along with about 9,800 US soldiers. The mission was pared down in 2014, with the departure of most international combat troops, leaving Afghan forces to take on the insurgency largely alone.

For now, the United States will halve troop numbers at the end of this year. Stoltenberg said Nato’s numbers for 2017 are not yet clear.

The use of US air strikes to back Afghan forces has been critical in helping them hold ground and can push Taliban and other insurgent groups out of contested areas.

The Taliban were well-prepared for the end of the US-Nato combat mission and swiftly intensified their insurgency, now in its 15th year. Officials have said that Afghan forces suffered almost 30 percent more deaths and casualties in 2015 than the estimated 5,000 of the year before.

There have been no official figures released on those casualties.

The UN mission in Afghanistan says more than 11,000 civilians were killed and wounded last year, many of them women and children caught in the crossfire.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said this week that the extremists from an IS affiliate that had gained a foothold in the east last year, with ambitions to move north toward the Central Asia states, were now “on the run” following military operations.

Analysts, however, dispute that assessment, and also point to the spread in the north by the Taleban and other Islamic militants.

Nevertheless, Stoltenberg was upbeat in his praise for Afghan forces and said Nato efforts would focus on Kunduz in the north and Helmand in the south, where the Taleban are fighting to hold lucrative routes for smuggling men, guns, drugs, alcohol and minerals.

A dire assessment was also expressed by the UN mission chief in Afgansiatn, Nicholas Haysom, who on Tuesday told the UN Security Council that the Afghan government was fighting for its survival amid surging militants.

Unless the government overcame “five distinct hurdles” it would face “severe consequences,” Haysom said, listing a contracting economy, intensifying insurgency, fractious political environment, as well as desperately needed funding from the international community and the need to demonstrate progress toward a sustainable peace.

“For 2016, survival will be an achievement,” Haysom said at the UN Ghani’s government is hoping to draw the Taleban into a dialogue aimed at formal peace talks, but a face-to-face meeting between representatives of both sides that had been expected earlier this month has yet to be set.

The Taleban said last week they would not participate.

Meanwhile, violence continues to kill and wound civilians and Afghan security forces. In Kunar province, bordering Pakistan, a woman and three of her children died when a rocket landed on their home in the Ghazi Abad district early on Wednesday, the provincial police chief, Faridullah Dehqaan, said.

Further south, in Nangarhar province, also bordering Pakistan, an attack by militants loyal to IS left six policemen “killed or wounded,” the provincial governor’s spokesman Ataullah Khogyani said. The attack on their checkpoint took place around 2 a.m. on Wednesday, he said. AP

Hunt on for 2 in Belgian raid linked to Paris attacks

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RUSSELS—Belgian investigators were hunting on Wednesday for two suspects who fled an apartment linked to the November 13 attacks in Paris, one day after a police sniper killed a gunman holed up inside and authorities found a stock of ammunition and an Islamic State (IS) flag, officials said.

Four officers were wounded in Tuesday’s joint French-Belgian raid in a Brussels neighborhood after unexpectedly coming under fire in an apartment they believed was empty.

Prosecutors on Wednesday released without charges two men they held in the wake of the raid, leaving the hunt on for two suspects who have not been identified.

The dead man was identified as an Algerian man living illegally in Belgium, Mohamed Belkaid, whose only contact with authorities appeared to be a twoyear-old theft charge, said Thierry Werts, a Belgian prosecutor.

Belkaid, 35, was shot to death by a police sniper as he prepared to fire on police from a window, Werts said. A Kalashnikov was found by his body, as well as a book on Salafism, an ultraconservative strain of Islam.

Inside the apartment in the Forest neighborhood of Brussels, police found the banner of the IS extremist group, as well as 11 Kalashnikov loaders and a large quantity of ammunition, the prosecutor said.

“We were not expecting a violent armed reaction,” Prime Minister Charles Michel told Belgium’s RTL radio.

The antiterror raid was linked to the November 13 gun-and-bombing at-

tacks in Paris that left 130 people dead.

The IS group claimed responsibility for the attacks, in which Belgian citizens played key roles.

Among the fugitives is Belgian Salah Abdeslam, who fled the Paris attacks that night, slipped through a dragnet into Brussels and has not been seen since.

On Tuesday four Belgian and two French police officers unexpectedly came under fire by at least two people armed with a Kalashnikov and a riot gun as soon as they opened the door to the Forest apartment, according to a statement from the Belgian prosecutors.

Four officers, including a French policewoman, were slightly wounded.

The search of another Forest residence on Tuesday evening turned up another Kalashnikov as well as two loaded magazines, Belgian officials said.

Since the Paris attacks, the officials said 58 people have been detained in Belgian searches directly linked to the Paris attacks investigation and another 23 arrested in related probes.

Both countries remain on edge.

In France four people were arrested at dawn on Wednesday amid fears of a separate planned attack. Those arrests were not linked to the Belgian investigation.

One of the four, a former inmate under house arrest, was suspected of being in contact with IS extremists in Syria, French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said. All three were born in France and were between 21 and 30 years old, according to a judicial official who requested anonymity to discuss the case. AP

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Editor: Lyn Resurreccion • Friday, March 18, 2016

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EU to send migrants back to Turkey

A REFUGEE boy pushes a trash can through the mud between tents in a makeshift migrant camp at the northern Greek border post of Idomeni on Wednesday. Hundreds of migrants and refugees walked out Monday of an overcrowded camp on the Greek-Macedonian border, determined to use a dangerous crossing to head north but were returned to Greece. AP/BORIS GRDANOSKI

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RUSSELS—European Union (EU) leaders will push ahead on Thursday with contested plans to send tens of thousands of migrants back to Turkey amid deep divisions over how to manage Europe’s biggest refugee emergency in decades.

Japan reported biggest trade surplus in over 4 years in Feb

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OKYO—Japan posted its biggest trade surplus in over four years in February, thanks to a strengthening in the yen and weak oil prices, though both imports and exports fell, suggesting persisting slack demand both in Japan and overseas.

Preliminary data reported on Thursday showed exports fell 4 percent from a year earlier to ¥5.7 trillion ($50.5 billion) in February, and imports dropped 14 percent to ¥5.46 trillion ($48.4 billion).

The resulting ¥242.8 billion ($2.2 billion) surplus compares with a deficit of ¥426 billion a year earlier and a deficit of ¥648.8 billion in January. It was the biggest surplus since September 2011.

Surging oil and gas imports following the closures of Japan’s nuclear plants after the March 2011 disaster in Fukushima have pushed Japan from perennial surpluses into deficits. A weaker yen accentuated those costs, but the prolonged slump in crude oil prices has alleviated some of the high cost of energy imports.

Japan’s imports from the Middle East, the source of most of its oil and gas, fell 35 percent in February from a year earlier. Exports to the United States, its biggest export market, edged up 0.2 percent, while imports from the US climbed 5 percent, leaving a trade surplus of ¥604.1 billion ($5.4 billion). Japan’s exports to China rose 5 percent, while its imports from China plunged nearly 21 percent. Japan’s deficit with China fell by 50 percent, to ¥382.4 billion ($3.4 billion).

The weakness in overseas demand was spread across industries, as exports of machinery, electronics and chemicals fell, while vehicle exports, which account for a quarter of the total, rose only 0.9 percent. AP

With European unity fraying in the face of more than 1 million migrant arrivals over the last year, Turkey—the source of most refugees heading to Greece—is seen as the key partner to contain the influx.

The UN refugee agency has reservations about asylum standards in Turkey, and rights groups are concerned over Ankara’s crackdown on the media and its bloody conflict with Kurdish rebels.

The EU, however, feels it has no better option.

“How are you going to help Greece without having an agreement with Turkey to handle the

issue? Do you really want to condemn Greece to become a refugee camp for the rest of Europe?” EU Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans said, on the eve of the two-day summit in Brussels.

Destabilized by the passage of hundreds of thousands of migrants, countries in the Balkans have begun to tighten border controls, with Macedonia north of Greece having all but locked the gates. Thousands have been camped on the Greek side desperately, hoping to move on toward Germany or Scandinavia.

Under the agreement, which could be sealed with Turkish Prime Minister

1M

Migrants arrived in 2015 in Europe

Ahmet Davutoglu on Friday, Turkey would stop migrants leaving and take back from Greece all “new arrivals” not eligible for asylum.

For every irregular migrant returned, EU countries would take in one Syrian refugee from Turkey, up to a total of about 70,000 refugees

resettled in all in a process supervised by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, diplomats say.

“This will be a temporary and extraordinary measure, which is necessary, to end the human suffering and restore public order,” says a draft of EU leaders joint statement with Turkey, seen by The Associated Press.

In exchange, the EU could provide Turkey with up to €6 billion ($6.6 billion) to help the 2.7 million Syrian refugees there, and speed up EU membership talks and an easing of visa rules for Turkish citizens.

Rights groups fear the deal is a fig-leaf to hide the deportation of migrants, even though the EU insists that each person can make a case in an interview and has the right to appeal.

Changes made to the draft deal since it was made public on March 7 “do little to hide Europe’s shameful planned mass return of refugees to Turkey,” Amnesty International said on Wednesday.

Within the 28-nation EU, several countries are uncomfortable with parts of the agreement.

Cyprus is brandishing a veto if Turkey continues to refuse to recognize the island state. Spain objects to blanket returns.

Hungary has ruled out resettling any refugees from Turkey, claiming that it will only encourage more people to come.

Austria, France and Germany oppose Turkey’s membership of the EU. France is constitutionally bound to hold a referendum on its accession.

But it may not come to that; in a decade of membership talks Turkey has closed only one of the 35 policy chapters it must complete to join.

Beyond that lie real fears that shutting down Turkey and the Balkans migrant route will only open new ones in places, like Albanian and Bulgaria, or that Syrians in Lebanon and Jordan might leave for Turkey, looking to be resettled.

“The catalog of issues to be resolved before we can conclude an agreement is long,” EU Council President Donald Tusk wrote in an invitation to leaders on the eve of the summit he will chair. AP

Prince Harry to visit Nepal, tour quake-hit areas K

ATHMANDU, Nepal—When Britain’s Prince Harry visits Nepal this weekend, ordinary people hope his tour of earthquakehit areas will draw attention to the country’s struggle to recover from last year’s disaster. Rebuilding is slow, and tens of thousands remain homeless.

“Hopefully, when a big prince comes to these alleys and the world’s media will see how miserable our lives are, we will get some help,” said Ram Kaji, who was selling potatoes on the street near his damaged home in Patan, a historic district near the capital of Kathmandu.

The April 25, 2015, quake killed nearly 9,000 people, destroyed about 1 million homes and damaged many old temples, palaces and other old structures in Patan and the capital.

During his five-day trip, the 31-year-old prince will also visit a camp for displaced survivors and stay with a family, whose men served in the famed Gurkha regiments in the British army—units that Harry served with in Afghanistan.

“He has a huge amount of admiration for the resilience of the people of the country, particularly in response to the earthquakes last year,” Kensington Palace said in a statement.

Harry is the first British royal to visit the Himalayan country since the monarchy was abolished in 2008 following street protests. Since then, Nepal has turned into a republic, with a president chosen by a parliament. The prince will meet with President Bidhya Devi Bhandari.

Authorities, however, have been

slow to push ahead with rebuilding efforts. A government reconstruction agency was finally appointed last December, but has yet to provide promised aid money to displaced families and guidelines to build new houses and structures.

People, who live around the shiny Golden Temple in Patan—which Queen Elizabeth visited about 30 years ago— hope Harry’s visit will generate greater awareness about rebuilding needs and bring in funds to repair damages to the many of historic structures.

The Buddhist shrine that dates back 1,400 years was mostly spared by the earthquake, but the adjoining monastery, prayer house and assembly halls have been damaged. Only plastic sheets are keeping the rain off and the damaged areas are closed to the public

due to danger of collapse. Harry will also negotiate a narrow alley alongside brick and mud houses that are supported by wooden beams.

Puspa Raj Bajracharya, who is on the committee that takes care of the Golden Temple, said they have sent requests and proposals to the government, saying it was getting dangerous for the devotees who come to the temple, but have not received any response. Repairs are estimated to cost about 25 million rupees ($227,000), but, so far, only a fraction of that has been collected from private donors.

“His grandmother had visited the temple in the 1980s when she came to Nepal with her husband, and now the young prince is coming,” Bajracharya said. “We hope when the prince comes to our temple we will get the attention

of the world to come help us.”

Prince Harry will also travel to Bhaktapur, a historic town east of Kathmandu that suffered even more damage, and visit a nearby temporary camp for about 250 people made homeless by the disaster, a quarter of whom are children.

In Pokhara, a lakeside town that is a base for trekkers in central Nepal, Harry will meet several retired Gurkha soldiers and their families. The prince served with a Gurkha battalion during a tour of duty in Afghanistan.

The Gurkhas have served in the British army for 200 years and have a reputation for being brave, tenacious fighters. Thousands of young Nepali men attempt to pass the grueling test to become a Gurkha, but only a few get through. AP

COULD A GENE-EDITING TWEAK MAKE PIGS ORGAN DONORS FOR AILING HUMANS?

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ESPITE their slovenly habits in agricultural settings, pigs raised in biomedical labs are clean enough that many humans would welcome—indeed, do welcome—the use of their tissue for life-saving transplants. Transplanted heart valves routinely come from pigs as well as cows.

But the dream of transplanting whole pig organs into humans who need new hearts, livers, kidneys or lungs—xenotransplantation—is not so simple a matter.

In addition to the usual challenges posed by the immune system’s inclination to reject foreign tissue, the use of pig organs to fill the yawning gap between the supply of human organs and demand for them must contend with the problem of porcine endogenous retroviruses (PERVs).

PERVs are creepy, all right. Under stress, pigs’ cells pump out PERVs, which then could infect the human a transplanted organ is meant to save.

In a brave new world of xenotransplantation—a world in which pigs could supply organs for some of the 120,000 US patients on the waiting list for a transplantable organ—scientists must find a way to neutralize the threat from PERVs. And here’s where a bit of unexpected help could come from a new geneediting technique—the CRISPR/Cas9 system, which has made faster, more efficient and more precise the task of paring, replacing and improving problematic genes from DNA. On Wednesday, this advance was described in the New England Journal of

Medicine (NEJM) as a “feat of genetic engineering” that may help to clear the path for xenotransplantation.

For NEJM subscribers who may have missed the original article last October in Science, Scripps Research Institute’s Dr. Daniel R. Salomon describes how researchers at Harvard “genetically engineered a one-step inactivation of more than 60 copies of PERV, thereby reducing the infectious risk from PERVs by three orders of magnitude.”

The strategic snipping of a pig’s genome appeared to address both of the key challenges to using pigs as a source of transplantable organs, wrote Salomon: By largely turning off the production of PERVs, researchers have, in principle, reduced both the risk of a recipient’s infection with

this retrovirus and the likelihood that a recipient’s immune system would mount a massive defense against the foreign organ provoked by the presence of these “xenoantigens.”

Pigs are hardly close to providing the solution to the world’s massive shortage of donor organs. In a lab at the University of Maryland Medical School, surgeons have transplanted more than 50 porcine organs into primates such as baboons in a bid to better understand the immune response in xenotransplantation and the prospects of gene-editing to improve survival. So far, none of the recipients has survived more than a few days.

And Salomon cautions there are “major obstacles” to the use of the CRISPR/ Cas9 gene-editing technique in actual pa-

tient care. Scientists still must find ways to ensure against “off-target” effects, such as the disruption of genes that are activated up- or downstream of the manipulated gene sequence.

They will need to find ways to make gene-editing a still more efficient process, he wrote. And the human body’s immune response to a foreign organ needs to be understood in far better detail if it is to be thwarted, he added.

“Nonetheless, it is important to acknowledge that knocking out 60 different copies of PERV polymerase genes in a single cell will lead to the production of a new pig strain for xenotransplantation, one that has a dramatically decreased risk of transmitting PERVs to immunosuppressed human patients,” he wrote. Los Angeles Times/TNS

A10 Friday, March 18, 2016 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

editorial

Motorcycle madness

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HILE not the most pressing problem for residents of Metro Manila, it is certainly a situation that anyone who has driven a car in the city faces every day. Transportation is a total mess in the National Capital Region, and as Benjamin Franklin once wrote, “A small leak can sink a great ship.”

The “small leak” we are referring to is motorcycles. The Motorcycle Development Program Participants Association (MDPPA) reported that an average of 66 motorcycle accidents happen every day. That means there were 23,949 motorcycle accidents recorded in 2015. MDPPA Vice Chairman Magnus Mateo was quoted as saying, “Compared to 2014 [which logged 24,110 motorcycle accidents], though, there are fewer accidents in 2014. However, the accidents happen to be more horrific.”

By horrific, he means that 37 percent of those 24,110 accidents involved a fatality, and it was not the driver of the cement truck or bus that was killed.

Nearly 9,000 motorcyclists were killed in 2015. We sympathize with the families of those who perished, and acknowledge that almost all of the motorcycles we see on the roads during daytime are being driven by people trying to make a living.

Mateo pointed out that some motorcycle riders have “lack of skills.” Further, they do not always comply with the laws by wearing helmets, and should consider donning reflector vests and pads.

We question whether lack of skills is the problem.

Recently, one local television station has been showing videos taken from closed-circuit television cameras and the ever-present cell phones of motorcyclists behaving in a reckless and irresponsible manner. Based on the way they pilot their vehicles through the city, they must think that the No. 1 rule of the road is “Drive anywhere you want, anytime you want.”

Every experienced rider knows, or should know, that in the road hierarchy, motorcycles are at the bottom. A 1-ton vehicle of steel is no match for a two-wheeled cycle not much larger than what you might have ridden as a child. Any rider with experience also knows that putting your life in the hands of a person driving a car, who might also be texting and listening to music, is a death wish.

One fast-food company that depends on its delivery service privately acknowledged they have a small team that handles the many monthly insurance claims from their motorcycle drivers getting into accidents. Of course, not all of these are the fault of the motorcyclists, but the overwhelming majority is the cyclist’s responsibility.

Is it too much to ask the companies that employ motorcyclists to give their people adequate training to make up for the lack of skills? Further, there should be a law that directly penalizes a corporation when found to have repeated accidents by their personnel.

As shocking as it is, the fact is another 20 motorcyclists will die today on the Metro Manila’s roads. This is completely unacceptable.

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‘Lansadera’ James Jimenez

SPOX

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NE of the most pernicious vote-buying practices of the past was called lansadera, or cadena de amor; apt descriptions of the modus operandi where a “chain” of paid voters cast ballots filled up by an “operator” for them.

The first voter in the chain gets a valid ballot, pretends to fill it up, and inserts a fake ballot into the box.

That voter would then sneak out the empty ballot and turn it over to a waiting operator just outside the polling place, to get paid.

The operator would then fill up the ballot, and give it to the next voter in the chain. This voter, with the pre-filled up ballot, would go into the polling place, get a fresh ballot and drop the pre-filled up ballot into the box. He would then exit the polling place with his untouched ballot, and give it to the operator, get paid and, just like that, a new link in the

chain of fraud is forged.

While it wasn’t exactly automation that ended this practice, the huge ballots in use since 2010 would have pushed lansadera to extinction anyway. How can you sneak a 29inch ballot out the door without anyone noticing?

But like riding a bike, relearning how to sneak things out of the precinct would be easy for any operator worth his salt. A modern lansadera would have a voter dropping a lookalike receipt—literally, any tape receipt from any cash register anywhere in the country—and sneaking out the actual thing to present

Is the Comelec’s apprehension about voting receipts speculative? Of course it is. Voting receipts have never been used before. But it is speculation based on long experience with Philippine elections and the misguided creativity of overlyenthusiastic partisans. Besides, if it is to stay one step ahead of fraud, shouldn’t the Comelec have speculation in its tool kit? as proof of having voted according to orders. The receipt would then be given to the next voter in the chain, who would then drop that receipt into the designated receptacle while hiding his own receipt, and so on.

In this way, the lansadera only needs to sneak out one receipt, thereby minimizing chances for discovery. However, this does not preclude the possibility of several chains operating at once, thus making this strategy very easily scalable, and—unless the machine-printed ballots are somehow positively identifiable as being genuine—

potentially very effective.

Concern about this is what ultimately lay at the heart of the Commission on Elections’s (Comelec) decision not to implement the voting receipt, in the first place. In lieu of a receipt, the Comelec wanted to implement what it calls “onscreen verification.” That’s where the vote- counting machine displays the voter’s choices on a built-in 7-inch touchscreen before the ballot is dropped into the box. This gives the voter the opportunity to review his ballot, and verify that the machine is reading it the way he intended it to be read.

Is the Comelec’s apprehension about voting receipts speculative?

Of course, it is. Voting receipts have never been used before. But it is speculation based on long experience with Philippine elections and the misguided creativity of overly enthusiastic partisans. Besides, if it is to stay one step ahead of fraud, shouldn’t the Comelec have speculation in its tool kit? Except, of course, you’d call it foresight.

James Arthur B. Jimenez is director of the Commission on Elections’s Education and Information Department.

Opinion BusinessMirror

opinion@businessmirror.com.ph

Friday, March 18, 2016 A11

Male champion or unenlightened chauvinist?

Chit U. Juan

WOMEN STEPPING UP

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OME men may smirk at the title of this piece. In this age, yes, we still talk about male chauvinists. And some men call me a female activist, when all we want is an equal playing ground or mutual respect. We’re past Gloria Steinem’s “burn the bra” of the ’60s.

Sometimes, there’s a thin line between chivalry and chauvinism. I have been witness to these habits and qualities in the past few months. I have been noticing chivalry and chauvinism during meetings with various boards and joining out-of-town trips with the men who are in our same space of agriculture or women issues.

While men really have changed in the last few years, and are willing to actually be on equal footing with women on boards, for example, they sometimes cannot avoid delivering “off “ jokes, inappropriate for business meetings. I find it very offensive.

Next, when some have had a drink or two, I am scared about what they will say next.

They sometimes forget there are women in the group, who prefer to not listen to their inanities and to the offcolor jokes they deliver.

Let’s review: Chauvinism: excessive or prejudiced loyalty or support for one’s own cause, group, or gender.

Plural noun: chauvinisms Ex ample: “a bastion of ma le chauvinism” Chivalry: an honorable and polite way of behaving.

Man opens a door or carries packages for a woman.

Example: The age of chivalry is not dead—usual expression we say as we thank the men.

I just ask that men do not forget there are women in the room. We do not have to make fun of men to be equals—as men do not have to make fun of chauvinism, masking it as chivalry.

We are all people of different genders, but of equally clear and bright minds. We do not appreciate bad jokes, disparaging terms and a general disregard for propriety.

We, however, are looking for male champions. Good gentlemen who respect women and who treat us equally without bad sexist jokes. And male champions who know that if women were accorded the same benefits and opportunities, we are one respectable group of business men and women. And save the toilet humor and sexist humor for your frat meetings. After all, a business organization or an non-governmental organization is a business, too. Not a frat party.

Pacita “Chit” Juan is a governor of the Management Association of the Philippines, the president of Women’s Business Council of the Philippines and vice president of BPW, or Business and Professional Women (Makati). She is an advocate of women empowerment through business. You can find her on LinkedIn: Pacita Juan and Twitter: @chitjuan or e-mail puj@echostore.ph.

America’s exorbitant UK hypocrisy B C C Bloomberg View

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ORIS JOHNSON, mayor of London and a leading figure in the campaign to get Britain out of the European Union (EU), recently launched a preemptive strike against an expected US intervention. President Barack Obama is apparently planning to drop by between now and the referendum in June, to help Prime Minister David Cameron and his government by saying, not for the first time, that the UK shouldn’t leave.

Johnson writes: The American view is very clear. Whether in code or en clair, the President will tell us all that UK membership of the EU is right for Britain, right for Europe, and right for America. And why? Because that—or so we will be told— is the only way we can have “influence” in the counsels of the nations.

It is an important argument, and deserves to be taken seriously. I also think it is wholly fallacious—and coming from Uncle Sam, it is a piece of outrageous and exorbitant hypocrisy.

He has a point about hypocrisy. Remaining a member of the EU involves a substantial, and in all likelihood increasing, surrender of sovereignty to EU institutions—its parliament, executive and supreme court. It’s inconceivable that Obama or any US president would even consider such an arrangement for America.

Johnson isn’t exaggerating when he says that the US defends its own sovereignty with “hysterical vigilance.” Yet, Americans typically see British concerns about sovereignty as quaint and beside the point.

Even for a middle-sized country such as Britain—even for countries a lot smaller than that—sovereignty isn’t a myth or illusion. Economic and geopolitical realities constrain choices, and the smaller and poorer the country, the tighter the constraints. But people can still ask, where do those choices, constrained as they may be, reside? Who is making them? It isn’t meaningless to say that Costa Rica has a larger measure of selfgovernment than Kansas.

Putting Britain’s preoccupation with selfgovernment to one side, a quite different question is worth considering. Is Obama right about where American interests lie in all this?

Does Britain’s membership of the EU make it a more valuable American ally?

That’s harder to say. In international

affairs, Britain is usually aligned more closely with American rather than with European ways of thinking—not just on sovereignty, but also on American leadership, the need for strong national defense, and the use of force in pursuit of global security. At the moment, the view from Washington might be that the UK can serve US interests two ways, first as an ally in its own right, and second as a spokesman for the American worldview within the EU. Why would America want to see that second role inhibited or ended by Brexit?

In the short term that looks correct: For the moment, Britain in the EU gives the US the best of both worlds. But with time Britain’s obligations to the EU are likely to change. It may never merge into the United States of Europe that some still envisage (Cameron just secured an opt-out from the treaty commitment to “ever closer union”) but closer cooperation out of choice or necessity seems probable, including in foreign affairs. Britain’s pro-American sentiments will presumably persist but its ability to act as an independent ally might not. With or without full political union, the EU could inhibit the UK’s ability to act alongside the US. The question would then be, which is more valuable to America—a fairly reliable medium-sized military ally, or an EU slightly more inclined, thanks to British influence, to see things the way America does?

The balance could fall either way. A lot depends on how influential in Europe you think the Brits might be, supposing they could put their minds to the task of persuasion and stopped being perpetually at odds with their EU partners. I’m not optimistic on this score.

The European project is guided, in part, by the desire to push back against American power, so resistance to British entreaties on this will be strong. Also, I doubt the Brits will ever settle happily into Europe’s ever closer union, or that the EU will ever stop resenting and resisting Britain’s demands.

I’ve reluctantly concluded that, despite the cost in diminished sovereignty, the UK should stay in the union. This isn’t because the British will ever stop grumbling or feel they belong, but because the alternative to staying in would be a ruinously expensive divorce, and that would be worse. Where US interests lie in this choice is harder to judge, but Johnson’s right about one thing: Obama might at least pay the Brits the courtesy of understanding their distinctively American ideas about sovereignty.

Taxi driver: An illegitimate guide to election Tito Genova Valiente

ANNOTATIONS

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OE to savants who worship at the shrine of online social media. Vastly exaggerated by those who are using the new form of communication and connectivity, the social media is not entirely social, with the greater population not linked to any of its tools.

Sources confirm that only some 10 percent of the Philippine population is into the social media in its various forms. The newest form of marketing candidates has not gone mainstream.

There are surveys and surveys.

Those who know research are aware of the mystification of research. With regard to the questionnaire, what you ask is what you get. As regards the people responding, things depend on the sampling used. In between the

two concepts are more complications that make the research enterprise frustrating and exciting.

My frequent taxi rides have lately given me a new source of data, a set of respondents that provide their own questions and, most of the time, are eager to supply their own answers to their questions. People talk about participatory research, well, taxi drivers talking politics are example of participatory research.

“Sino ba ang presidente natin,

sir” [literally, Who is your president, sir]?” The self-administered questionnaire can assume different forms. Some drivers would say, “Sino po ba ang napupusuan natin para maging presidente [literally, Who do you really want to be president]?”

The napupusuan has its roots in puso, meaning heart. The Orientalist would observe with glee how the Filipino, like all non-Western persons, would combine the heart with the mind in acts like choosing one’s president.

Rodrigo Duterte is often mentioned by the drivers I talked with.

I probe why him? They fear the streets of the city, and the man has this action star etched all over his body. He will kill all those who rob taxi drivers. The taxi drivers will all feel safe once more. At this point, I want to probe further and ask him, what about the rider? Will they be safe from taxi drivers? On the air flashes constructs: Vigilante...Violence… and the words “Due Process” in violet hues.

“Sir, kilala n’yo ba si Marcos [Sir, do you know Marcos]?” The taxi driver who asks this question is the one who proposes Bongbong Marcos as president. I do not really probe this kind of questioning; I shift into another methodology; I go phenomenological, I proceed to usap-usap, or conversation. Were you born during martial law? The response is predictable: He was not born then yet, but people tell him it was very peaceful. Metrocom, curfews, desaparecidos, excesses of a lady administrator who would lecture while supposedly intelligent technocrats took notes, poverty and hopelessness and many more.

One driver offered this voting strategy: Vote for this candidate and that candidate for both are sick and then choose Leny Robredo for vice president. The sick candidate who becomes president will get sicker and then will die. Robredo is the President.

E-mail: titovaliente@yahoo.com.

Amla, secrecy of bank deposits and the greater good Ser Percival K. Peña-Reyes

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EAGLE WATCH

HE Senate Blue Ribbon Committee held a hearing early this week to probe the alleged involvement of Philippine banks and casinos in a $100-million bank heist in the US. Computer hackers reportedly stole funds from the account of the Bangladesh Central Bank, and that a bulk of these funds was laundered through the Philippine banking system. Rizal Commercial Banking Corp.

(RCBC) disclosed the laundered money was deposited in its Jupiter branch in Makati City. Despite a stop-payment order, these funds were released.

This could be the biggest moneylaundering case in recent Philippine history. The circumstances surrounding this case require an understanding of the balancing act that bankers face on a daily basis.

On one side, there is the need to safeguard the integrity of transactions in the Philippine banking and financial system. This is why banks and financial institutions adhere to strict rules on risk control and fraud prevention by generally using five basic controls: 1) joint custody; 2) dual control; 3) authority limits; 4) delineation of duties; and 5) secrecy of passwords.

Joint custody means that at least two people should watch over critical items, like cash and accountable forms. Dual control refers to a vouching process, where transactions have makers and checkers. Authority limits define triggers for escalation to higher management. Delineation of duties refers to people having specific job functions that are put in black

and white. Secrecy of passwords simply means that one should never share his password with anyone else. In essence, these controls are meant to ensure that no individual gets to process transactions unilaterally, and accountability can be easily pinpointed.

On the other hand, banks need to maintain good relationships with their clients. In instances where big clients are involved, banks can go the extra mile to ensure that their transactions are facilitated, as these clients have business settlements that are time-sensitive.

A bills-purchased transaction, which is typically offered to big corporate clients, would serve as an example. Here, the client’s checks are immediately credited to the account, and the client does not have to wait for clearing. In effect, the bank advances the funds and will be the one to wait for the checks to clear. In a sense, the client is given a sort of credit line. Nonetheless, operational

controls are still followed, but with some flexibility for big clients.

These functions of operational control and marketing (relationship management) can also be seen in two Philippine laws governing the banking industry. These are the Anti-Money Laundering Act (Amla) and the Secrecy of Bank Deposits Act. As far as economic theory goes, financial markets exist to promote Pareto efficiency, which refers to mutually beneficial outcomes in the production and exchange of goods and services. Essentially, financial markets channel funds from people who do not have productive uses for them to those who do, and so everyone in society benefits. However, money laundering clearly defies this notion, because the amounts involved come from illegal activities that benefit some people at other people’s expense.

The risks faced by banks in moneylaundering cases are both operational and reputational in nature, and the Amla exists precisely to mitigate such risks.

For its part, the Secrecy of Bank Deposits Act exists to encourage people to entrust their money with banks. As lawyers explain, the secrecy law is meant to protect the constitutional right to privacy. People would be more willing to deposit, invest and do business with banks if they feel secure in knowing that their transactions will not be made known to others, especially kidnappers and extortionists. Hence, the law serves some sort of marketing purpose, too.

Nevertheless, confidentiality or secrecy is not absolute. As lawyer Dennis Funa explains in another

BusinessMirror article, deposits of whatever nature, including investments in bonds, are expressly allowed to be examined, inquired, or looked into by the same banksecrecy law, as amended, in these instances: 1) during a special or general examination of a bank, as authorized by the Monetary Board, to investigate bank fraud or a serious irregularity; 2) during a regular audit of a bank by an independent auditor; 3) upon the written permission of the depositor; 4) in cases of impeachment; 5) upon the order of a competent court in cases of bribery or dereliction of duty of public officials; and 6) in cases where the money deposited is the subject of litigation.

Thus, from a policy standpoint, to strengthen Amla, society will have to sacrifice some bank secrecy. To strengthen bank secrecy, society will have to wrestle with the possibility of increasing money laundering.

Hence, for the greater good of society to be upheld, there needs to be a healthy balance between the Amla and bank secrecy, just as there needs to be a healthy balance between operational control and marketing in the conduct of banking activities. In a sense, the Amla and bank secrecy serve to temper one another.

The issue is, who gets to decide what this healthy balance is? Who gets to define what the greater good of society is? Who gets to represent society’s best interests?

There’s the rub.

Ser Percival K. Peña-Reyes, a former banker, currently teaches Economics of Money and Banking at Ateneo de Manila University. Comments are welcome at spena-reyes@ateneo.edu.