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WHAT GOD HAS PUT TOGETHER, CAN CONGRESS PUT ASUNDER?

BILL ON ‘DOOMED’ MARRIAGES GAINING GROUND

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By Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz

ONE other than the highest law of the land—the 1987 Constitution—recognizes the Filipino family as the foundation of the state, the fundamental unit of Philippine society. It also mandates the government to protect marriage as an inviolable social institution.

According to Alvarez, the Congress should address the issue of broken marriages through a bill that would allow dissolution of the marriage without the need for an extensively adversarial system Continued on A2

SIDHARTHTHAKUR | DREAMSTIME.COM

However, at the House of Representatives, Speaker Pantaleon D. Alvarez has been pushing for a bill on the dissolution of “doomed” marriages, saying the proposal will free couples from an “unhappy marriage”.

Burned Southeast Asia craves Trump love after trade rebuff

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ONALD TRUMP is more popular in Southeast Asia than almost anywhere else. After years of being chided by Barack Obama over human rights, some of the region’s states can rest a bit easier. Trump has signaled he’s less interested as US president in putting such matters on the table, and in tying them to trade and investment benefits.

But the welcome mat for Trump as he visits Vietnam and then Manila for a series of global summits masks a deep concern in Southeast Asia as to whether the US under Trump will maintain its presence in the region. Far smaller than the world’s two biggest econo-

mies, some Southeast Asian states have long leaned on Washington to provide a buffer against an expansionist China even while expanding economic ties with Beijing.

At the same time, leaders have expressed concern that Trump may upend the delicate security balances that

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks on the final day of the Apec CEO Summit on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) leaders’ summit in Danang, Vietnam, on November 10, 2017. ANTHONY WALLANCE/POOL PHOTO VIA AP

guide the region and, further north, bring calm on the Korean peninsula.

With countries ranging from oneparty states, Communist governments and democracies, Southeast Asia is held together by a common goal of stability to foster economic growth rates that have often exceeded 5 percent.

“Political stability and security stability is very important in

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 51.2730

Asean,” Indonesian President Joko Widodo said in a recent interview, referring to the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

“Because we need to increase our growth, and if there is no stability in our region, it’s difficult to push our growth,” he said.

‘Not thrilled’

BURNED by Trump’s decision

to withdraw from the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a trade pact that includes the likes of Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, and Brunei, leaders will be looking for concrete reassurance that Washington remains committed to a region that consumes over $100 billion in US exports each year and where it conducts dozens of major military exercises on an annual

and biennial basis.

“The region is not thrilled by the trade message,” said Chan Heng Chee, a Singapore ambassador-atlarge who was an envoy to the US from 1996 to 2012. “And ‘America First’, for the region, what does it mean?”

While Trump has singled out South Korea, Japan and See “Burned,” a2

n JAPAN 0.4524 n UK 67.4137 n HK 6.5740 n CHINA 7.7244 n SINGAPORE 37.7340 n AUSTRALIA 39.3828 n EU 59.7023 n SAUDI ARABIA 13.6725

Source: BSP (November 10, 2017 )

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Bill on ‘doomed’ marriages gaining ground Burned…

Continued from a1

Continued from a1

ALVAREZ: “The present system practically coerces married persons to remain with each other even if the relationship is beyond repair.”

ATIENZA: “Instead of a law on the dissolution of marriage, let’s have more laws to strengthen marriage as an institution.”

said the bill will go against the prevailing Roman Catholic view that any action which dissolves the union of spouses is a desecration of the vows taken by couples in marriage, saying the state should uphold the indissolubility of marriage as a sacred institution. Meanwhile, 92 people said they are still undecided on the said proposal.

marriages can be dissolved faster than picking up your order at the nearest drivethrough food chain.

Atienza cited the following provisions in the 1987 Constitution that protect the family as the foundation of the nation: Article 2, State Policies and Section 12: “The State recognizes the sanctity of family life and shall protect and strengthen the family as a basic autonomous social institution”; Article 15: “The Family; Section 1. The State recognizes the Filipino family as the foundation of the nation”.

Atienza said the State should strengthen families’ solidarity and actively promote its total development.

“Marriage, as an inviolable social institution, is the foundation of the family and shall be protected by the State,” Atienza added.

“Our Constitution also provides under Article 15, Section 3 (4) the right of families or family associations to participate in the planning and implementation of policies and programs that affect them,” he said.

Aside from the legal issues of this proposed law, the lawmaker said Catholics believe in the sanctity of marriage.

“You cannot plan anything without consulting the families, especially on matters that will impact the very foundation of the family,” he added.

“In the eyes of the Church, each marriage has Christ as the witness,” Atienza said.

Atienza vowed to fight this bill from the committee level, and, if needed, even all the way to the Supreme Court.

“We will appeal to each member and hope that they will not curtail the free debate on this crucial issue. Let us debate this on the floor. Please do not railroad it or we will go all the way to the Supreme Court,” he said.

“Instead of a law on the dissolution of marriage, let’s have more laws to

that currently exists.

How about the children?

“MARRIED persons can mutually agree to end their marriage subject to the approval of the Court. One of the conditions which must be complied with is an agreed upon and executable framework to provide for the care and support of their children,” Alvarez said.

The speaker said now is the right time to address concerns involving failed marriages.

“Admittedly, there is a sad reality about some marriages. We do not always get it right the first time around. Unfortunately, the present system practically coerces married persons to remain with each other even if the relationship is beyond repair and has caused, and continues to cause, harm to the well-being of the husband, the wife and, worse, the children involved. We have to change this,” he said.

Alvarez said the proposal aims to change the present system, which “practically coerces” married persons to remain with each other even if the relationship is irreparable and has caused harm, not only between the couple, but also the children involved.

Previously, Alvarez said married persons can remain friends and better parents, despite their differences, since they no longer have to sling mud at each other in front of a judge just to convince the magistrate that their marriage should be declared void.

Earlier, Alvarez said he wants the lower chamber to pass his bill in the plenary before Congress’s Christmas break.

Let the figures speak

MEANWHILE, in an ongoing online poll by the lower chamber, 2,244 of 2,505 people voted as of November 9 in favor of the measure seeking to legalize the dissolution of marriage on the grounds of irreconcilable differences or chronic unhappiness.

The 2,244 respondents that agreed also believe that the proposal will ensure legal processes to deal with the reality of failed marriages and avoid costly annulment procedures, while allowing a peaceful coexistence between the former spouses after the dissolution of the marriage.

On the other hand, 168 respondents

Marriage option decline

ACCORDING to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the reported marriages decreased by 20.1 percent from 2005 to 2015 in a span of 10 years.

The PSA said the most notable change occurred in 2013, which recorded a decrease of 8.2 percent from 482,399 in 2012 to 442,603.

It said the National Capital Region consistently had the highest record of marriages, which accounted for 14 percent of the total. It was followed by Region 4-A (13.0 percent) and Region 3 (11.6 percent).

“These regions were consistently in the top three for the past five years in the same order,” the PSA said.

Meanwhile, the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) showed the highest percentage change of increase in the number of registered marriages (87.2 percent) from 2014 to 2015.

The provinces of Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental recorded a total of 20,406 registered marriages in 2015, down by 7.8 percent in 2014.

Unconstitutional

FOR his part, Senior Deputy Minority Leader Lito Atienza of Buhay Party-list said House Bill (HB) 6027 on the dissolution of marriage is unconstitutional.

“I am against this because it is unconstitutional. Our Constitution defends the family and defines marriage as an inviolable institution that should be protected and enhanced, not dissolved,” he said.

If this is passed into law, Atienza said

strengthen marriage as an institution,” Atienza added.

Consultation

MEANWHILE, the House Committee on Population and Family Relations, chaired

by Rep. Sol Aragones, has recently conducted a public consultation with overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Hong Kong.

The consultation, conducted on October 1, 2017, at the Philippine Consulate General in Hong Kong, focused on several bills pending in the House proposing various alternatives to the long and costly process of annulment.

Deputy Speaker Pia Cayetano of Taguig, who led the House delegation in Hong Kong, assured the OFWs there that the authors of the bills are determined to push for the passage of the proposals or a consolidated version of the measures.

“Do we have the political will to support this? Well, people in this panel, some of us here, are authors of the bill, so obviously we have. Others are not, but they’re even here to listen. So that’s a good sign,” Cayetano said.

For his part, Deputy Speaker Raneo Abu of Batangas said the leadership of the lower chamber will do what is right and practical for the benefit of the people, no matter if they come under heavy criticism from some sectors.

Ifugao Rep. Teddy Baguilat, one of the authors of HB 6027 on marriage dissolution, said the voice of the OFWs cannot simply be ignored.

Besides, he said, the Catholic Church seems to be opening up on the present realities of marital problems among couples.

Consultations

ACTS-OFW Party-list Rep. Aniceto Bertiz III estimated that between 80 percent and 90 percent of the 10 million Filipino migrants all around the globe are supportive of the proposals for alternative means for dissolution of marriage.

Aside from crafting a faster and less expensive legal mode of ending marriage, the OFWs in Hong Kong said the lawmakers should also clarify other related issues, such as property rights and custody of children of separated couples.

The House committee is set to conduct additional consultations with OFWs in Japan and Dubai to get their sentiments and inputs on the various bills for marriage dissolution.

China in particular for what he calls unfair trade practices that lead to US trade deficits, there are several states in Southeast Asia that could end up in his cross-hairs on trade, particularly Malaysia and Indonesia.

Extolling the positives of countries throughout the region in a speech to Apec leaders in Vietnam on Friday, Trump praised their rapid development, adding that the US wanted a new, mutually prosperous partnership.

But Trump also warned that the US was seeking robust trade relationships rooted in principles of fairness.

“We will expect partners to faithfully follow the rules, just like we do,” Trump said. “We expect markets to be open on each side.”

Trump has refrained in recent months from some of the strong criticism leveled by the Obama administration at China for its land reclamation and military buildup in the disputed South China Sea. That’s as Trump seeks China’s help to rein in North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his nuclear ambitions.

‘Exciting time’

U.S. Pacific Command chief Harry Harris said in Singapore last month the US still supported a rules-based international order.

“The United States has not pulled out of Asia,” he said in a speech. “This is an exciting time for the United States and Asia.”

Still, while the US has conducted four so-called freedom of navigation operations in the South China Sea during Trump’s presidency to demonstrate its right to sail through what it considers international waters—compared to four under President Obama—there are nagging questions as to whether the US will stay engaged in the region.

“There is this sense that the US doesn’t care about us,” said Tang Siew Mun, head of the Asean Studies Center at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore.

“There is a greater sense that America is not dependable, that the trustworthiness of America has gone down.”

Tang cited Trump’s withdrawal from the TPP and the Paris climate agreement, as well as a refusal by previous US administrations to join the International Criminal Court or ratify the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea—despite urging other nations to do so.

Philippines, Vietnam

“IF Trump continues to fall short, then we have to re-think as well,” Tang said. “I think they have a mountain to climb in the region.”

Beyond the broad concerns, perceptions of the US under Trump are generally better, especially in the Philippines and Vietnam. Both hosting visits from Trump on his Asia tour, they rank first and second among nations in terms of public confidence in the US president.

“Perceptions of Trump are probably higher in Southeast Asia than every other region,” said Ian Storey, senior fellow at the Institute for Southeast Asian Studies.

“I suspect most of the governments in this part of the world—authoritarian to one degree or another—are pretty happy that Trump is not talking about human rights and democracy promotion.”

That may smooth the way at least for Trump’s meetings with President Rodrigo Duterte, who last year announced he wanted to “cut the cord” with the US and pivot toward China and Russia. Duterte also deescalated tensions with Beijing over the South China Sea claims, coaxing $24 billion worth of Chinese loans and investment in the Philippines.

“China is playing the game very well,” said Tang from the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.

Still, there’s little sign trade and investment with the US has suffered in Southeast Asia despite Trump’s protectionist rhetoric, and while in South Korea he strongly backed his country’s security alliance with Seoul.

“Southeast Asian countries always are seeking that reassurance—this isn’t new to Trump,” Storey said. “America’s interests in this part of the world are huge, and that also isn’t going to change because of Trump.” Bloomberg News

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Sereno’s SC colleagues ready to testify

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By Joel R. San Juan @jrsanjuan1573

HILE Chief Justice Maria Lourdes A. Sereno has vowed not to relinquish her post without a fight, some of her fellow justices in the Supreme Court (SC) are now “preparing and raring” to testify against the chief magistrate in the impending impeachment proceedings in the House of Representatives, a court insider privy to the sentiments of most of the stakeholders in the Judiciary has revealed.

The source, who sought anonymity, said these justices are ready to testify even right from the start of the impeachment proceedings.

“Yes, some of them are now prepared to testify,” the source said.

When asked what part of the impeachment the justices would testify, the source said, “Sa simula pa lang [Even from the start].”

Among the SC justices initially being considered by the House of Representatives to be requested to testify as resource persons are Associate Justices Teresita J. Leonardo-de Castro, Mariano C. del Castillo, Francis H. Jardeleza, Noel G. Tijam and Andres B. Reyes Jr. The House Committee on Justice has already voted to declare

25 The number of House members who endorsed Larry Gadon’s impeachment raps against Chief Justice Maria Lourdes A. Sereno

that there was sufficient ground to proceed with the impeachment proceedings filed by lawyer Larry Gadon.

Gadon’s complaint, endorsed by 25 House members, accused Sereno of culpable violation of the Constitution, corruption, other high crimes and betrayal of public trust.

Gadon claimed that Sereno did not declare in her sworn Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net worth (SALN) the “exorbitant lawyer’s fees” of $745,000, or P37 million, which she received

from the Philippine government.

Gadon said the issue of SALN declaration is the strongest case presented against Sereno.

The complaint also alleged that Sereno committed corruption when she, among ot her things, used public funds to: 1) finance her extravagant and lavish lifestyle by ordering the purchase of a brand-new luxurious Toyota Land Cruiser 2017 model as her personal vehicle, amounting to more than P5 million; 2) stay in opulent hotels when attending conferences in the country and abroad.

As to the alleged acts constituting high crimes, Gadon accused Sereno, among other things, of obstruction of justice by ordering Muntinlupa judges not to issue warrants of arrest against detained Sen. Leila M. de Lima in connection with her drug cases, failure to report her high attorney’s fees and pay the appropriate taxes, among others.

On betrayal of public trust, t he compl a i nt a l le ge d t h at , a mong ot her t h i ngs, Sereno hired an information-technology consultant with an excessive compensation w ithout public bidding; sent a strongly worded but misplaced reply to President Duterte on the judges linked to

drugs, thereby, inviting a headon collision between the presidency and the Judiciary; and prevented the Court of Appeals justices to do a courtesy call on President Duterte.

But Sereno’s l aw yer C a rlo Cruz said not even one of the allegations in the complaint is an impeachable offense.

In regard to the purchase of the Land Cruiser, Sereno’s spokesman, lawyer Jose Deinla, justified that it was for security reasons.

“The Land Cruiser was not bought because she wanted to look like a doña or to act like a rich woman, it was bought to serve as a security vehicle,” he said.

Stability in Judiciary

The Court insider said most of the justices believe that Sereno’s ouster would bring back normalcy anew in the Judiciary.

T he source ex plained that for mer President Benig no S. Aquino III disregarded seniority in appointing Sereno as chief mag istrate in 2012, in lieu of the late Chief Justice Renato C. Corona, who was ousted from his post.

Sereno, who is now 57 years old, still has 13 years to serve as Chief Justice until her retirement age of 70.

Succession scenario

IN case Sereno is found guilty of the accusations against her and removed from her post, the source said the President may choose from the most senior magistrates in the SC. “This will rectify the harm inflicted by Aquino, who destroyed the Judiciary, and bring back stability to the SC,” the source said.

Among the most senior justices in the SC are Associate Justices Antonio T. Carpio, Presbitero J. Velasco Jr., Teresita Leonardo-de Castro, Diosdado M. Peralta and Lucas P. Bersamin, who were appointed to the Supreme Court during the term of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Under the law, once the position of Chief Justice becomes vacant, the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) should immediately come up with a short list from where Duterte would choose.

“If President Duterte chooses one of the incumbents, then another vacancy arises,” the source said.

The JBC is a constitutional body that submits to the President nominees for all members of the Judiciary, the Ombudsman, all deputy Ombudsman, special prosecutor, and the chairman and regular members of the Legal Education Board.

PSA report lists pineapple and watermelon as most profitable fruits to produce in PHL

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

@jearcalas

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ineapple and watermelon remained to be some of the most profitable fruits to produce in the country last year, as both recorded a return of investment (ROI) rate of at least 295 percent.

In its a nnu a l repor t, t it led “ Upd ated P roduc t ion Cost s a nd Retur ns of Selected Agr icu ltura l Commodities,” the Philippine Statistics Author it y (PSA) noted that pineapple and water melon production posted an ROI of 351 percent and 295 percent, respectively.

In 2016 Filipino farmers producing pineapple earned a gross profit per hectare of P359,284, 7.74 percent higher than the P333,467 per hectare recorded earnings in 2015.

“Retur ns after deducting cash costs amounted to P295,220 per hectare. Meanwhile, after all cash and noncash costs were deducted, returns settled at P294,245 per hectare in 2016,” the PSA said in the report published recently.

“Producers netted P3.51 for every peso invested in pineapple production during the reference year,” the PSA added.

The PSA report indicated that the higher average farm-gate price of pineapple last year contributed to the increase in its ROI. The average farmgate price of pineapple per kilogram in 2016 was pegged at P8.97, slightly higher than the P8.11 recorded in 2015.

On the other hand, gross earnings of producing watermelon in every hectare last year grew by 8.42 percent to P256,794, from P236,849 in 2015.

However, cost of watermelon production per hectare grew slightly to P64,990, from P64,928.

“Net returns from watermelon production settled at P191,804 in 2016,” the PSA said.

“Per kilogram, the estimated production cost was P3.20. Price received by farmers averaged P12.64 per kilogram,” the PSA added.

The PSA said a Filipino farmer earned P2.95 for every peso spent in producing watermelon last year. This was P0.30 higher than the P2.65 recorded net profit-cost ratio in 2015.

T he PS A re por t a l so noted t h at t he avera ge net i ncome of m a ngo f a r mers l a st yea r g re w b y nea rly 25 percent to P67, 27 7 per hec t a re, f rom P55,4 8 3 per hec t a re net i ncome recorded i n 2015.

“With an average yield of mango at 4,334 kilograms, earnings amounted to P146,923 per hectare,” the PSA said in the report published recently.

The PSA report also indicated that the mango farmers’ gross earnings last year was 12.70 percent higher than the P130,363 they earned in 2015.

The growth in the gross earnings offset the 3.23-percent increase in the cost of mango production per hectare last year. In 2016 the cost of producing mango per hectare was pegged at P79,722, compared to the P77,228 recorded value in 2015.

FDI surge 70 percent in August

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oreign direct investments (FDI) to the Philippines increased by 70 percent to $1.2 billion in August, bearing positive news for the country’s investment climate for the remainder of the year, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported on Friday.

This is the highest monthly FDI flow to the country in 16 months, or since April last year, when it hit $2.2 billion. The BSP said the surge in FDI “reflected continued favorable investor sentiment on the Philippine economy on the back of the country’s strong macroeconomic fundamentals.”

The positive net inflow for the country’s FDI was seen across all components. In particular, net equity capital investments surged to $611 million, from $8 million a year ago.

According to the BSP, the bulk of these equity capital placements in August originated from the United States, Singapore, the Netherlands, Hong Kong and Japan, and were channeled mainly to manufacturing, real estate, wholesale and retail trade, transportation and storage, and electricity,

gas, steam and air conditioning-supply activities.

Meanwhile, investments in debt instruments– or the so-called intercompany borrowings between foreign direct investors and their subsidiaries or affiliates in the Philippines–amounted to $533 million, lower by 15.7 percent than last year’s level.

Reinvestment of earnings was pegged at $59 million during the month.

The strong August FDI performance was able to narrow the difference between the level of FDI in the same eight-month period last year to this year. The Philippines, however, still has to play catch-up, as this year’s eight-month FDI inflows only totaled $5.1 billion, lower by 5.2 percent than the $5.4 billion recorded in the same period last year.

“The main reason for the decline in FDI [on a cumulative basis] was the lower equity capital placements and higher withdrawals during the period, decreasing net equity capital investments by 40.3 percent to $883 million from $1.5 billion,” the BSP said. Bianca Cuaresma

The bulk of the total costs incurred by Filipino mango farmers, or about 56.08 percent, were in the form of cash. Farmers spent P43,545 per hectare to produce mango last year, slightly lower than the P43,813 recorded in 2015.

T he increase in cost of production meant that Filipino farmers spent at least

P17.92 to produce a kilogram of mango.

This was 14.65 percent higher than the P15.63 per kilogram cost of production recorded in 2015.

The report indicated that the average farm-gate price of mango last year breached the P30 level, reaching P33.90 per kilogram.

This was nearly a quarter higher than the

P27.21 per-kilogram average farm-gate price recorded two years ago.

Overall, mango production last year posted an ROI of 89 percent compared to 2015’s 76 percent ROI level.

“For every peso invested in mango production, farmers netted P0.89 in 2016,” the PSA said.

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Pacific nations scrambling to save ambitious trade pact after US exit

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acific nations are yet to agree on how to salvage a blockbuster trade pact after days of talks in Vietnam, with Australia confident of an outcome but Canada warning it wants a good deal over a fast one.

Trade ministers meeting on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) Summit are due to present their proposal on the future of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) to leaders on Friday. At this stage, though, they still don’t have a deal.

The pact, which would have covered 40 percent of the global economy, was thrown into disarray when Donald J. Trump withdrew the US in one of his first acts as

president, leaving the remaining 11 countries scrambling to keep the deal alive.

The discussions in Vietnam have centered around suspending some parts of the agreement in a bid to move forward without America’s involvement.

“We are hopeful of securing a deal inside the next 24 to 48 hours,” Australian Trade Minister Steve Ciobo said on Thursday in an interview in Vietnam. “We’re

not there yet—there’s still a bit of work to do but we’ve been making steady progress,” he said.

“Like any deal, it’s not done until it’s done and there’s still work to be completed, but we are very close and with a final nudge over the next day I hope we will get there,” Ciobo added.

Malaysia has also said the countries are moving toward a deal.

But that optimism contrasts with Canada, whose trade minister, Francois-Philippe Champagne, said in an interview on Wednesday that speed shouldn’t take priority over getting a good agreement.

‘Difficult discussions’

“We are at the table, we’re being constructive, we’re being creative but let’s be honest, some are difficult discussions,” Champagne said. “For Canada it’s far more important to get the right deal than a fast deal. What we are here to do is

set the terms of trade in the AsiaPacific region for decades to come.”

Reports in the Japanese media late Thursday night of a deal were swiftly denied by Canada, the pact’s second-largest remaining economy. “Despite reports, there is no agreement in principle on TPP,” Champagne said on Twitter.

His country is pushing to beef up what it calls “progressive” elements of the pact, such as those on labor rights.

Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso told reporters in Tokyo on Friday there were still details being hammered out, citing Mexico and Vietnam as two holdouts.

One official involved in the talks said the Vietnamese negotiators had walked out of the meeting late Thursday evening after disagreement flared with another delegation.

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, however, said

ministers were in alignment on quickly bringing TPP into effect. “I have received a report that people on the ground are making final adjustments to have the leaders confirm an outline agreement,” he told reporters.

The TPP was seen as a hallmark of US engagement with Asia under the prior administration and a buffer against China’s rising clout. Then-Defense Secretary Ash Carter called it more strategically important than having another aircraft carrier battle group in the Pacific.

‘Changed the metrics’

It would go beyond traditional deals by including issues like intellectual property, state-owned enterprises and labor rights.

Champagne said Canadians expect any agreement to benefit the middle class and “give a chance to the small and medium-sized

business to join the global trade.”

Ciobo said the US withdrawal had “changed the metrics” for a number of countries. “That means there will be some aspects of it where we will agree to suspend the operation of certain parts of it, and that’s been the basis upon which we’ve been able to get now, I hope, an agreement.”

Speaking in an interview on Tuesday, Trade Minister Mustapa Mohamed indicated Malaysia had shifted from its prior stance that Trump’s decision to withdraw the US meant the pact needed to be renegotiated.

“We’ve been talking with our colleagues on some provisions which could be suspended,” Mustapa said, without providing specifics. “Renegotiation would take a long time. All of us agreed that to renegotiate would probably take five, 10 years, so that’s not on. That’s a no go.” Bloomberg News

Russia Twitter trolls deflected Trump bad news Scores more Saudis detained

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is g uised R u s s i a n agents on Twitter rushed to def lect scandalous news about Donald J. Trump just before last year’s presidential election while straining to refocus criticism on the mainstream media and Hillary Clinton’s campaign, according to an Associated Press analysis of since-deleted accounts.

Tweets by Russia-backed accounts, such as America 1st and BatonRougeVoice on October 7, 2016, actively pivoted away from news of an audio recording in which Trump made crude comments about groping women, and instead touted damaging e-mails hacked from Clinton’s campaign chairman John Podesta.

Since early this year, the extent of Russian intrusion to help Trump and hurt Clinton in the election has been the subject of both congressional scrutiny and a criminal investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller. In particular, those investigations are looking into the possibility

of collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russians.

The AP’s analysis illuminates the obvious strategy behind the Russian cyber meddling: swiftly react, distort and distract attention from any negative Trump news.

The AP examined 36,210 tweets from August 31, 2015 to November 10, 2016, posted by 382 of the Russian accounts that Twitter shared with congressional investigators last week. Twitter deactivated the accounts, deleting the tweets and making them inaccessible on the Internet. But a limited selection of the accounts’ Twitter activity was retrieved by matching account handles against an archive obtained by the AP. “MSM (the mainstream media) is at it again with Billy Bush recording ... What about telling Americans how Hillary defended a rapist and later laughed at his victim?” tweeted the America 1st account, which had 25,045 followers at its peak, according

to metadata in the archive. The tweet went out the afternoon of October 7, just hours after The Washington Post broke the story about Trump’s comments to Bush, then host of Access Hollywood, about kissing, groping and trying to have sex with women, saying, “when you’re a star, they let you do it.”

Within an hour of the Post’s story, WikiLeaks unleashed its own bombshell about hacked e-mail from Podesta’s account, a release the Russian accounts had been foreshadowing for days. “WikiLeaks’ Assange signals release of documents before U.S. election,” tweeted both SpecialAffair and ScreamyMonkey within a second of each other on October 4.

SpecialAffair, an account describing itself as a “Political junkie in action,” had 11,255 followers at the time.

ScreamyMonkey, self-described as a “First frontier.News aggregator,” had 13,224. Both accounts were created within three days of each other in late December 2014.

Twitter handed over the handles of 2,752 accounts it identified as coming from Russia’s Internet Research Agency to congressional investigators ahead of the social media giant’s October 31 and November 1 appearances on Capitol Hill. It said 9 percent of the tweets were electionrelated but didn’t make the tweets themselves public. That makes the archive the AP obtained the most comprehensive historical picture so far of Russian activity on Twitter in the crucial run-up to the November

8, 2016, vote. Twitter policy requires developers who archive its material to delete tweets from suspended accounts as soon as reasonably possible, unless doing so would violate the law or Twitter grants an exception. It’s possible the existence of the deleted tweets in the archive obtained by the AP runs afoul of those rules.

The Russian accounts didn’t just spring into action at the last minute. They were similarly active at earlier points in the campaign. When Trump reversed himself on a lie about Barack Obama’s birthplace on September 17, declaring abruptly that Obama “was born in the United States, period,” several Russian accounts chimed in to echo Trump’s subsequent false claim that it was Clinton who had started the birther controversy.

Others continued to push birther narratives. The Russian account TEN GOP, which many mistook for the official account of the Tennessee Republican Party, linked to a video that claimed that Obama “admits he was born in Kenya.” But the Russian accounts weren’t in lockstep. The handle hyddrox retweeted a post by the antiTrump billionaire Mark Cuban that the “MSM (mainstream media) is being suckered into chasing birther stories.”

On September 15 Clinton returned to the campaign trail following a bout with pneumonia that caused her to stumble at a 9/11 memorial service. The Russian account Pamela Moore13 noted that her intro music was “I Feel Good” by James Brown— then obser ved that “James Brown died of pneumonia,” a line that was repeated at least 11 times by Russian accounts, including by Jenn Abrams, which had 59,868 followers at the time. AP

in $100-B corruption sweep

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ozens more people have been taken into custody by Saudi authorities, the kingdom said on Thursday, bringing to 201 the number detained in a sweep that investigators say has uncovered at least $100 billion in corruption.

Saudi critics and experts have called the unprecedented purge of top princes and businessmen a bold and risky move by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman aimed at consolidating power as he keeps an eye on the throne, sidelining potential rivals and dismantling alliances built with other branches of the royal family.

The sweep comes at a time of increased tensions between Saudi Arabia and its main regional rival, Iran, over the ongoing conflict and suffering in Yemen and a newly erupting political crisis in Lebanon.

Saudi Attorney General Saud al-Mojeb said 208 people had been called in for questioning, and that seven were released without charge, leaving 201 in custody.

The new figure is far larger than what was previously reported by the government, reflecting a continuing series of arrests throughout the week. The stunning purge began overnight Saturday, initially catching 11 princes and 38 officials, military officers and business leaders. They are being held at five-star hotels, including the Ritz-Carlton in Riyadh.

The 32-year-old crown prince, who is the son of King Salman and is popularly known by his initials MBS, is leading the investigation as head of a newly formed anticorruption committee.

Among those detained are billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal and two sons of the late King Abdullah, including Prince Miteb, who until Saturday had headed the powerful National Guard. Several years ago, he was considered a contender for the throne and was believed to have opposed MBS becoming crown prince.

The government declined to identify many of the other individuals being questioned, saying it is respecting their privacy during this phase of the investigation.

An estimated 1,700 individual bank accounts have been frozen.

“The potential scale of corrupt practices which have been uncovered is very large,” al-Mojeb said, adding that based on investigations in the past three years, at least $100 billion

has been misused through corruption and embezzlement.

Al-Mojeb confirmed that action was taken to suspend personal bank accounts, but he did not disclose any figures. The government stressed that only personal accounts have been frozen, leaving businesses untouched.

Saudis have complained for years of rampant corruption and misuse of public funds by top officials in a system where nepotism is also widespread.

In recent years, Saudi families have also had to contend with austerity measures that have driven up costs while simultaneously being told they can no longer count on cushy government jobs.

Mea nwhi le, members of t he sprawling royal family and their business associates had long been seen as operating above the law.

Members of the royal family receive undisclosed monthly stipends from state coffers built up over years of high oil prices.

A fter oil pr ices fell three years a go w it hout f u l ly re co ve r i ng , S au d i A r a b i a i nt r o du c e d ne w t a xes a nd l if ted some subsid ies in order to boost revenue and cut gover nment spend ing.

Supporters of MBS say fighting corruption is part of the crown prince’s Vision 2030 plan, a blueprint for how to restructure the country and wean it from its dependence on oil revenue.

Faisal Abbas, the Saudi editor in chief of the daily Arab News, wrote in a widely shared column this week that the kingdom is “damned if it acts against corruption, damned if it doesn’t.”

“Anyone who understands who is who in R iyadh knows only too well that none of those arrested— whether royals or non-royals— has or would have had any political sway in the current climate whatsoever,” he wrote.

“More important, it is just mindboggling that very few are noticing the obvious; which is that all of those being detained are incredibly wealthy,” Abbas added.

Still, independent Saudi observers say the anticorruption probe targets only select members of the royal family, government and business community. Additionally, several of those arrested were ministers under King Salman, raising questions about where responsibility begins and ends. AP

Sports BusinessMirror

Editor: Jun Lomibao | mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph

JAMES HARDEN books a triple-double as the Rockets hold off the Cavaliers. AP

Saturday, November 11, 2017

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HARDEN SHIFTS TO HIGH GEAR H

OUSTON—James Harden was quick to say yes when asked if he’s playing at as high of a level as he ever has.

The follow-up question of why wasn’t quite as easy for Houston’s bearded star.

“I don’t know,” he said, before letting out an awkward laugh and looking around before continuing. “Work. Try to study the game and get better. Listen to people around me that push me and motivate me and try to be the best I can be. It’s pretty simple.”

Harden had a triple-double of 35 points, 11 rebounds and 13 assists to help the Rockets beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 117-113, on Thursday night.

Harden also had five steals and a block as Houston extended its winning streak to four games.

LeBron James had 33 points for the Cavaliers, and Jeff Green added 27.

Houston led by seven after a lay-up by James with about 10 minutes left. The Rockets scored the next six points, capped by a three-pointer

by PJ Tucker to make it 111-98. The Cavaliers used a 13-1 run, with five points from James, to cut the lead to 112-111 with 90 seconds left.

Harden missed a lay-up after that, but grabbed a rebound and threw an alley-oop to Clint Capela, who finished for Houston’s first basket since Tucker’s three. He

was fouled on the play and made the free throw to make it 115-11 with just over a minute remaining.

James made a lay-up on the other end, but Capela made another basket after a grabbing the rebound on a miss by Harden to put Houston back up by four with 10.7 seconds left.

Capela, who finished with 19 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks, blocked a shot by James in the final seconds to secure the win.

“We expect him to do that,” Coach Mike D’Antoni said about Capela’s solid performance. “He’s 23 years old.

There’s no reason why he can’t keep getting better.”

The Cavaliers have lost six of their last eight games, leaving James to answer question about why they’re struggling.

“We played a pretty good game, but I’m not here for moral victories,” he said. “That’s not what I’m about.”

Harden has scored 30 or more points in three of the last four games, highlighted by a 56-point performance in a win over the Jazz last Sunday. It’s the second triple-double of the season for Harden and the 33rd of his career.

“I thought our guys really scrapped and competed,” Cleveland Coach Tyronn Lue said. “But Harden was Harden. He made some tough, contested threes off the dribble, which we wanted. We contested all of them, but he made some big shots.”

The Rockets made the first seven points of the second half thanks to a three-pointer by Eric Gordon and a fourpoint play by Trevor Ariza to take a 72-67 lead.

Cleveland got going soon after that and a lay-up by Iman Shumpert got the Cavaliers within one point soon after that. But Harden made two three-pointers to power an 8-2 run that extended Houston’s lead to 81-74 lead with about 7 1/2 minutes left in the quarter.

The Cavaliers scored five quick points, capped by a three-pointer by Green, to tie it at 87-87 about three minutes later. A three-point play by Gordon put Houston back on top and the Rockets had extended their lead to 100-93 entering the fourth quarter.

In Washington John Wall’s Wizards managed to make a double-digit edge hold up against the Lakers this time, with the All-Star point guard scoring 23 points and Bradley Beal 22 as Washington beat Los Angeles, 111-95, and cold-shooting Lonzo Ball.

Ball had 10 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.

But the No. 2 overall draft pick out of UCLA came in making just 29.5 percent of his field-goal attempts for the Lakers and he was worse against the Wizards, going three-for-12—25 percent.

Washington’s Otto Porter Jr. finished with 20 points and 11 rebounds, while Markieff Morris scored 16 points on six-of-seven shooting, including a pair of threes to open the third quarter. AP

CRUCIAL ELIMINATION GAMES IN UAAP WARS

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NIVERSITY of the Philippines (UP) and National University (NU) clash in a do-or-die match, but their fate still lies on Far Eastern University’s (FEU) battle against Adamson University in an all-important Season 80 University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) men’s basketball action today at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The Fighting Maroons and Bulldogs, tied at fifth place with 5-8 win-loss cards, shoot for at least a playoff for the last semifinal berth at 2 p.m.

But their fate depends on the result of the second game between the Tamaraws and Falcons at 4 p.m.

A win by the Tamaraws would seal their entry to the Final Four and oust the winner of today’s first game. But a loss by FEU would give the winner of the UP-NU match a chance to advance to the Final Four.

UP and NU have no control of their fates but both squads vowed to go all out.

The Bulldogs scored an 87-84 win over FEU last Wednesday to remain in the semifinals hunt.

“We just control what we have in our hands, so we don’t have any control of the other games,” Jarin said. “But rest assured, we’ll still give it our best, no matter what.

But I’m hoping for a miracle, of course.”

Graduating guard J-Jay Alejandro hopes to extend his career, as well as fellow outgoing player Matt Salem, who is still not in 100-percent condition because of dengue.

“I have to win it for Captain Matt. We want to give him a chance to play after dengue,” Alejandro said. “For me, my mindset in this game is we still have a chance and we have to grab it.”

UP, on the other hand, put up a gallant stand against perfect Ateneo de Manila only to stumble late in the fourth quarter and absorb an 82-96 defeat. With their fate also out of their hands, Maroons Head Coach Bo Perasol could only vow to pour it all today.

“What’s in our hands right now is to have a victory against NU,” Perasol said.

“We have to find a way to get that energy going. We have to make sure to win it this time. But it doesn’t mean if we win, we will have a chance. But in the end, we gave ourselves a chance.” Lance Agcaoili

LEWIS HAMILTON: I’ve come from this great period of time with my family and friends that have this huge wave of positivity. AP

Hamilton: ‘Paradise Papers’ will not distract me

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ãO PAULO—Being linked to tax avoidance in the “Paradise Papers” will not distract Lewis Hamilton from his job.

The four-time Formula One champion on Wednesday said that his “core values” are intact despite being named in the papers, which show he avoided paying more than $4 million in taxes for a private jet.

Hamilton, who won his fourth F1 title on October 29 in Mexico, is in São Paulo for this weekend’s Brazilian Grand Prix.

“I’ve come from this great period of time with my family and friends that have this huge wave of positivity.

Nothing can really dent that,” the Mercedes driver said. “I am solely focused on the race this weekend, and we have two races to go. That doesn’t distract me from my core values and what I am here to do.”

Hamilton’s lawyers noted in a statement that registering a jet in the tax haven of the Isle of Man is legal.

The Paradise Papers revealed that Hamilton was given refund of more than $4 million after his Bombardier Challenger 605 was imported to the Isle of Man in 2013.

The papers also name several leading figures in politics, business and art.

At 32, Hamilton is closing in on Michael Schumacher’s record of seven F1 titles. But he said he wasn’t interested in chasing that mark.

“It has never been my desire,” Hamilton said. “I still have time ahead of me. The question is to see exactly what I want. I never had the dream to chase Michael.”

After the news conference, Hamilton autographed a miniature Mercedes with boyhood idol Ayrton Senna painted on it.

Vivianne Senna, sister of the late three-time F1 champion, said she and the family will cheer for Hamilton on Sunday.

“We can see your passion for Ayrton is real,” she said.

“That is why we from the Senna family will be always on your side, too.” AP

FORMER Chelsea player Frank Lampard (in black) poses for a group photo with participants after a coaching session to children at an ambassador’s residence garden at the British Embassy in Tokyo. AP

Ex-Chelsea midfielder Lampard supports goal-line technology

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OKYO—Having experienced the bitter disappointment of a close goal-line decision going against him, Frank Lampard can see the benefits of referees having technology available to get it right.

The former Chelsea and England midfielder took part in a coaching session with local footballers on Thursday in Tokyo, where he was asked about the introduction of goal-line technology.

In England’s second-round match against Germany at the 2010 World Cup, Lampard had a first-half shot at

goal that bounced off the crossbar. TV replays indicated it crossed the goal line. If counted, it would have tied the game 2-2. But neither the referee nor the assistant saw it as a goal, and play was continued. Germany went on to win 4-1, eliminating England from the tournament.

“Goal-line technology was a no-brainer,” Lampard said. “My goal was just one moment, but we’re all very pleased that we have it now.”

At last year’s Club World Cup in Japan, referees were allowed to get help from video replays in the first full, live

in-game trial of the technology.

Referees were allowed to halt games to review footage of “game-changing decisions” on pitch-side monitors or just rely on information being fed by Video Assistant Referees (VARs) watching broadcast feeds away from the field.

Lampard retired last February, ending a 21-year career in which he won every major honor at club level with Chelsea and established himself as the Premier League’s highest-scoring midfielder.

While the introduction of goal-line technology is too

late to really impact him as a player, Lampard says he likes what he sees so far—provided there are limits.

“Moving forward, I think we have to be very careful how much we go to technology,” said Lampard, who doesn’t want to eliminate the human element of refereeing a game. “We have to make sure we are not trying to video every moment of a game, trying to make video decisions. Sometimes the referee will have a different opinion about whether something is a red card or a yellow card.” AP

Stephens boosts US in final against Belarus

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INSK, Belarus—Sloane Stephens is back in the United States team for the Fed Cup final, and Victoria Azarenka is missing for Belarus.

That alone gives the early advantage to the Americans.

Stephens, who won the US Open this year for her first major title, missed the opening two rounds of the international team competition because of a foot injury. But she is back and will be playing alongside CoCo Vandeweghe, Shelby Rogers and Alison Riske in the best-of-five series this weekend in Minsk.

“I’m happy to be back playing and happy the team made the finals,” the 13thranked Stephens said on Wednesday. “It’s

awesome I can be on this team.”

The United States is looking to win the Fed Cup for the first time in 17 years, while Belarus is playing in the final for the first time.

Stephens hasn’t played in the Fed Cup since the 2016 quarterfinals, but she said it’s been “no problem at all” slipping back onto the squad.

“Obviously, I’ve known these girls since I was 12-13 years old, so we’re all really good friends,” Stephens said. “It’s easy to be with girls you like, girls you have fun with and girls you’ve been around for a really long time.”

Stephens didn’t play from the 2016 Olympics through Wimbledon in 2017

and underwent foot surgery during that period. She arrived in Minsk after not winning any of the four matches she’s played since her surprise US Open victory.

She retired with a knee injury from her last match against Barbora Strycova in China last week.

Vandeweghe, in her first week at a career-high No. 10 ranking, won two Fed Cup singles points against Germany in the quarterfinals, and two singles and the doubles points against the Czech Republic in the semifinals.

But the US Open semifinalist said she knows very little about this weekend’s competition, having never played Aryna Sabalenka, Aliaksandra Sasnovich, Vera

Lapko or Lidziya Marozava.

“I feel like I’m coming in with wool over my eyes a little bit,” Vandeweghe said.

Azarenka, a two-time Australian Open champion, is not playing in the final because of an ongoing custody dispute with the father of her infant son.

If US Captain Kathy Rinaldi wins the title, she would be the first female to do so since Billie Jean King led the Americans to the last of their record 17 titles in 2000.

“It would be a great honor to be named as another female (champion) captain alongside Billie Jean,” said Rinaldi, who is in her first year as captain. “I spoke to Billie Jean before I came over. She had some very inspiring words for me.” AP

BusinessMi

A6 Saturday, November 11, 2017 | Editor: Jun Lomibao

DEVELOP SOUTH A

Chinese rider kicked out after attacking Swiss team staff

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RGANIZERS of the Tour of Hainan kicked Chinese rider Wang Xin (Keyi Look) out of the 2.HC race on Friday for attacking staff of the Swiss National Team following an altercation on the road.

Video of the initial incident on the road appears to show Wang, 25, going down after making contact with the Swiss team car. Wang immediately jumped up and hurled a water bottle at the car. Video from immediately after the stage shows Wang attacking Swiss team staff, knocking one person to the ground and kicking him. The rider then grabbed a tire pump from the back of a car and started to approach another staff member before the police and spectators intervened.

The team apologized for Wang’s behavior, which they said was prompted when the Swiss team initially failed to apologize for the crash.

“Wang Xin and Section Look InterContinental cycling team sincerely apologize to the organizing committee of the 2017 Tour of Hainan and all Chinese road-bike enthusiasts for hope of gaining forgiveness and understanding,” the team wrote in a statement to media.

Wang was 67th overall in the nine-day race that ends on Sunday.

The Tour of Hainan organization later took the decision to exclude the entire Keyi Look team from the race.

“Following the incident post Stage 7 involving rider Wang Xin, the organizing committee of the Tour of Hainan decided, in agreement with the Chinese Cycling Association and the commissaires panel, to disqualify from the race the entire Keyi Look team before further action to be taken by CCA,” read a statement from the organization.

“The team was instructed to leave the island of Hainan on the spot and will not be welcomed back at the Tour of Hainan. Wang’s behavior is not acceptable and doesn’t reflect Chinese cycling. Hainan people are known for being very friendly. The image and the reputation of the Tour of Hainan cannot be tarnished by such improper behavior.

Fighting will never be permitted in this event. In any race circumstances, every participant must follow the rules of the UCI and the CCA, and refrain from any violent or disrespectful behavior that would damage the image of the sport.” Cyclingnews

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AURO VEGNI is still hopeful of attracting the best Grand Tour riders to the Giro d’Italia in 2018.

The Giro director, speaking exclusively to Cyclingnews at the Rouleur Classic last week, said his dream was to see the top 2 riders from all three 2017 Grand Tours on the start line of the Giro in 2018.

The podium places in 2017 were occupied

by Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb), Nairo Quintana (Movistar) and Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida), but neither they nor Tour and Vuelta winner Chris Froome (Team Sky) have announced their participation in next year’s Giro.

Froome is certain to aim for the Tour and a fifth title in France, while Dumoulin has been coy on his Grand Tour plans for weeks, insisting that a final decision would be made after the Giro route presentation later in November. Nibali has been given time to heal up by his team after a recent operation but the Bahrain-Merida management would be keen to see their leader at the Tour for the first time since the squad’s inception. Quintana has already stated his ambition of riding the Tour.

“We’re still working on it,” Vegni said when asked about the status of Froome and Dumoulin.

“At this moment I don’t have a final ‘no’ or a final ‘yes’. But from my perspective this is positive. In

IN South Africa, kids are embracing cycling both for fun and competition.

CHRIS FROOME, Marcel Kittel, Warren Barguil and Greg van Avermaet join the fun in Saitama and Shanghai.

Top riders immerse to Saitama culture

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FTER tai chi and dragon dancing in China at the Shanghai Criterium, the end of season fun continued in Japan as the riders caught and cooked Unagi eels, wielded samurai swords and chucked ninja stars—all in the name of cultural immersion ahead of the Saitama Criterium.

Both the Shanghai and Saitama criteriums are put on by Tour de France organizer ASO to export a flavor of the Tour to the Asian market. While last week was the inaugural edition of the Shanghai Criterium, Saitama is in its fifth edition and has had riders sumo wrestling, firing arrows and beating drums in the past.

On Friday a fight between samurai and ninja warriors was the main event, played out on stage in front of a big and enthusiastic crowd of locals. Marcel Kittel and Warren Barguil donned the

how to kill and prepare the eel, cutting its throat and pinning its head to the chopping board before proceeding to remove its guts, while it was still moving. Cavendish and Uran later helped cook it before it was served up to all the riders.

If today’s appetizer was anything to go by, the weekend’s main event will be just as well supported as in recent years, with fans literally falling over each other as riders stepped out of the elevator at their hotel on their way to the event. Some fans went as far as to travel to Tokyo Nakita airport to greet Didi the Devil as he arrived from Shanghai with the press corps on Wednesday evening.

Racing will take place on Saturday with a three-pronged schedule, featuring a special sprint race involving a derny and a 1-kilometer free-for-all, a 2.5-km team time trial. Cyclingnews

Giro boss relentless in luring Froome the past some riders have immediately said no. This means that they’re still thinking about the idea of riding the Giro next year.

“I’ve been in touch with their teams and that of Nibali. I’m still hopeful that they will all come. My personal dream is to have the first- and secondplace riders from all three Grand Tours in 2017.”

The 2017 Giro was arguably the best Grand Tour of the season with a thrilling time trial deciding the winner and final podium positions.

Vegni could not have hoped for a better race in terms of twists and turns, and stated that his vision of giving the fans what they wanted while staying true to the race’s roots had been key.

“First, at the Tour I think that Chris Froome and his team killed the race and it felt quite flat.

In my opinion the Vuelta has lost some of the key aspects of a Grand Tour. They’re working a lot on creating a spectacle, a show, but they’ve lost some key aspects. I don’t think it’s right that a Grand Tour doesn’t have sprint stages. It means you don’t have the best sprinters in the world at the start. This has been happening at the Vuelta for a few years,” Vegni said.

UCI HEAD MAKES ROUNDS I NTERNATIONAL Cycling Union (UCI) President David Lappartient traveled to Kazakhstan recently to talk to representatives of the Kazakhstan Cycling Federation (KCF) and government officials about how to move cycling forward.

Lappartient met with a delegation from the KCF, led by its President Darkhan Kaletayev, as well as the Minister of Culture and Sports Arystanbek Muhamediuly and Vice Minister Saken Musaibekov.

Lappartient pointed out that Kazakhstan was one of Asia’s key cycling countries capable of leading the development of our sport on the continent.

In addition to a UCI WorldTeam and a UCI Women’s Team registered in Kazakhstan, the central Asian country has two UCI Continental Teams and a UCI Track Team. Kazakhstan also hosts the two-day Tour of Almaty, which is part of the UCI Asia Tour.

While in the Kazakh capital of Astana, Lappartient visited the city’s Saryarka Velodrome, which has already hosted major UCI events, such as the opening round of the 2011-2012 UCI Track Cycling World Cup and the 2015 UCI Junior Track Cycling World Championships.

The UCI president said he would continue to collaborate with the Asian Cycling Confederation and the Kazakhstan Cycling Federation to build on the country’s solid cycling foundations. The aim was

elaborate outfits and long swords of the samurai, while Chris Froome and Greg van Avermaet were dressed in the rather more underwhelming ninja get-ups—more Lawrence of Arabia than Ninja Assassin.

There were demonstrations from experts before the pros were called onto the stage.

Kittel and Barguil dodged attacks and then “defeated” the ninjas before Froome and Van Avermaet launched Shuriken— the small sharp weapon known as ninja stars—at a target. Froome put it slap bang in the middle of the bullseye with his first attempt. Van Avermaet needed several re-throws.

Before that, Mark Cavendish and Fabio Sabatini had fished live Unagi eels out of a tank with their bare hands.

“Slippery,” was how the British sprinter described the experience, to the delight of the amused crowd.

A Japanese chef then demonstrated

to capitalize on existing infrastructure to promote the development of different cycling disciplines.

He added that the UCI and its World Cycling Centre would be available to provide any training, expertise and technical support necessary.

Prior to his arrival in Kazakhstan, Lappartient was in China for the GREE—Tour of Guangxi, the UCI Cycling Gala and meetings with Chinese sports leaders.

Lappartient also met with Chinese Sport Minister and Olympic Committee President Gou Zhongwen in Beijing. He laid the foundations for a solid and wide-ranging collaboration with Chinese sports authorities to develop cycling at all levels in China.

Accompanied by the President of the Chinese Cycling Association Jinkang Shen, Lappartient met Gou. “With several hundred millions of Chinese

“You have to think about what people want to see. Fans don’t just want to see 10 days of flat racing and they want to see something different every day. You need the right balance between the sport and spectacle.”

While Vegni puts the finishing touches to his 2018 canvas—which includes a start and three stages in Israel—he has listened attentively as new the UCI president has voiced the option of cutting Grand Tours from three weeks to just two.

In rather diplomatic terms Vegni admitted that he would be open to discussing the possibility but made clear that any change would need to be across the board, hinting that there should be no special treatment for other events.

“It’s an option but it needs to be analyzed and based on numbers. We have to evaluate the reasons for and against this idea. I’m neither in favor nor against it, but I want to see some facts first. What’s clear is that any change should apply for all three Grand Tours. I’m open to discuss but, of course, shrinking to two weeks means that we’d lose one week of great racing, which is broadcast on television.” Cyclingnews

INTERNATIONAL Cycling Union (UCI) President David Lappartient (third from left) poses with (from left) Kazakhstan Cycling Federation Vice President Raimbek Batalov, Minister of Culture and Sports Arystanbek Muhamediuly and Vice President Alexander Vinokourov.

people riding bikes, the country has huge potential,” Lappartient said. “The UCI is committed to working with the Chinese sports authorities to build on the popularity of cycling that already exists among the population.”

The UCI president said the meeting resulted in an agreement on clear actions to be taken in the coming years to reach common goals for cycling, which is currently placed second behind football on China’s long-term sport development agenda.

The UCI is ready to provide technical advice and expertise to help grow all cycling disciplines. Athletes showing high potential may have the possibility to train at the UCI World Cycling Centre in Aigle, Switzerland, following in the footsteps of China’s track cyclist Guo Shuang, winner of four Olympic medals (in Beijing 2008 and London 2012) and UCI World Champion in the keirin in 2009. UCI News

Philippa York, the former Robert Millar, would have swapped cycling success for personal happiness.

FORMER TOUR KOM PHILIPPA SPEAKS OUT

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FORMER Tour de France stage winner— on her transition from Robert Millar to Philippa York—has admitted she would have swapped her success as professional cyclist.

Millar has undergone gender transition and lived as a woman from a younger age.

York publicly revealed her transition during the summer, penning an emotional statement on Cyclingnews and confirming her new persona for the first time. She went on to commentate on the Tour de France for ITV 4 in Britain and recorded a podcast with Cyclingnews.

“I would have transitioned in my teenage years. And I wouldn’t have been a cyclist and had the fame or infamy for what I’m known for,” York told BBC Scotland in an often emotional interview during her first visit to her home city of Glasgow after a 20-year absence.

“If I had the information that is available now to me back then, when I was on the cusp of trying to make a decision, I would have chosen to transition and not become a cyclist or whatever I became.”

“When I first went for treatment, it’s called gender dysphoria. That means you’re unhappy with your gender. The thing that counts the most is not how famous are you going to be, it’s how happy, and that counts

Cookson

more for me than any kind of success.

“From the outside it seems the perfect life, you’re seen as strong, fast and capable, but on the inside, I’m thinking: this is bad, this is not who I want to be.”

Millar won the King of the Mountains (KOM) jersey in the 1984 Tour de France, finishing fourth overall and was twice runner-up in the Tour of Spain. Millar was an icon for many cyclists and fans at the time, but York admits she separated the racing from her real self.

Despite Millar’s success as a professional rider, York would have preferred to have lived a different life, having learned in her 20s that she could transition.

“But I realized it wasn’t a practical thing, so I decided to wait until my career was over and, if I still felt the same, I’d do something about it,” she said.

“There would be days during those years when I would be struggling with it. You could be up there representing this powerful image and all the good things about sport, but personally inside I’m a mess. The outside didn’t really match the inside.

“I would compartmentalize it. When I did cycling, I would do it 100 percent, and that would cover the mental anguish I would have in my personal life.”

Cookson intends to develop women’s team

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ORMER International Cycling Union (UCI) President Brian Cookson is planning to develop a professional women’s team by 2019.

The 66-year-old Briton, who lost his reelection bid for the top post at cycling’s governing body to David Lappartient in September, announced his intentions in a statement released recently.

After a number of weeks considering my

future, I have decided that I am not quite ready to disappear altogether from the world of cycling,” Cookson said in his statement.

“Over the next few months, I am going to be exploring the possibilities of setting up a new professional cycling team structure,” he said. “My intention is that this should begin with the establishing of a UCI Women’s WorldTour Team for 2019—a team that will meet or exceed the new high standards that

irror CYCLING

mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph | Saturday, November 11, 2017 A7

PMENT PROGRAM GETS AFRICAN KIDS ONSBIKES ix years ago, South African Tyrone Johns happened upon some kids playing around on bikes down at his local Giba Gorge mountain-bike park in the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN).

“They weren’t getting coached but a few were naturally good. I had some time, and I felt I could help them get better quicker,” says the KZN development officer, himself a former BMX athlete.

TJ (as he is known to most) took them under his wing, and the rapid progress made by this random group of children made him realize that there must be some untapped potential in his local townships.

He found a translator (he does not speak Zulu) armed himself with some bikes and helmets and organized a flat course BMX trials race.

TJ began working with schools in the township of Tshelimnyama, and the results did not go unnoticed. Funding from KZN Sports and Recreation was soon forthcoming, and meant a BMX Supercross track could be built at the Giba Gorge. There was also enough money to purchase 10 bikes and 10 helmets: TJ had what he needed to establish his first 10-strong development team.

One of the youngsters to make the team was Manqoba Madida.

“Within three months he was beating kids who had been on my program for three years,” TJ marvels. “The rest is history.”

That history includes Madida’s selection to train at the International Cycling Union (UCI) World Cycling Centre in Aigle, Switzerland, and his subsequent qualification for the 2017 UCI BMX World Championships, where the budding athlete reached the quarter-finals of the Junior’s race. The big picture is to make the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

“Manqoba is currently finishing school, then his total focus will be on Tokyo 2020,” TJ says. “But he will keep studying. It is very important that we help him achieve as

MUDDY RIDE Fabian Cancellara

competes in the Red Bull Velodux Cyclocross relay race in Estavayer-le-Lac, Switzerland, over the weekend. AP

much as he can through BMX, but also that we use BMX to give him the time to study so he can find a good job after he retires from sport.”

While Madida is a huge success story, TJ remains committed to the original purpose of the program: “Taking a kid who had never raced a BMX bike to the quarterfinals of the UCI BMX World Championships in three years is something I will never forget.”

“This sport is a tool that can make such a difference. It can save children time getting to school, give them a chance to travel and see other parts of the country, and even help them learn English. It benefits so many people and that is incredibly rewarding.

Such is the success of the governmentfunded program, there are now 11 “cycling hubs” spread across the province, with six full-time development officers helping get children onto bikes.

Races are organized at district and regional level, and it is TJ’s fervent ambition to “keep adding hubs until there are hubs everywhere in the province, and thousands of kids are getting the enjoyment of riding a bicycle.

“Our biggest challenge is financial. If I could have 10 times the budget I could employ 10 more people and do 10 times the amount of work. But everyone has challenges and it’s how you deal with them that makes the difference. We have one goal and vision: to get kids on bikes, and make a difference in their lives. Whether we manage to do that for five or 5,000 children, it is still a win in my eyes.”

And he is still always on the lookout for someone to follow in Madida’s footsteps.

TJ is currently monitoring the progress of a 15-year-old in Giba, who is showing similar characteristics and a similar temperament to those of Madida at the same age.

Time will tell, and in the meantime, the KZN Development Program is touching more and more lives. UCI News

NO LONGER SLAVE TO LITTLE DETAILS

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are likely to be put in place by the UCI for the new two-tier structure for Women’s Teams that was developed during my term as UCI president.

“I am not just talking about a top-level team in the traditional sense. There has never been so much interest in women’s sport, fitness and health generally, and this is clearly reflected in the interest in women’s cycling, not just at the elite level, but in terms of general participation. It seems to me that we are at a moment of real opportunity for women’s cycling. We are at a pivotal point, a sea-change in attitude

toward women’s sport in the media and among the public is taking place, and we should seize this opportunity.”

The Women’s World Tour, headed for its third season in 2018, replaced the smaller Women’s World Cup series in 2015, during Cookson’s tenure as UCI president.

Cookson intends for his team to be based in the United Kingdom, but will look to build an international lineup. He stressed that the plan is currently in its infancy, with the challenge of finding sponsors still to be tackled.

“I am putting this idea out there because I want to stimulate the decision-makers in

those companies, many of whom [men and women] enjoy cycling themselves, to start to think about the possibilities,” he said. “The potential return on their investment could be very substantial, but I want to make it clear that it will need innovation, creativity and a major effort from their side to make that happen.”

Should Cookson’s project succeed, he may look to expand onto the men’s side.

In addition to his planned development of a pro women’s team, Cookson also announced his intent to document his experiences in cycling in a book. Cyclingnews

LBERTO CONTADOR said he is glad that he is no longer “a slave to the little details” now that he has retired from professional cycling.

The Spaniard’s last competitive outing came at the Vuelta a España in September, but he also lined out in Japan and China in recent weeks as he bade farewell to the peloton.

“You reach a moment in which you have to analyze your life. Cycling was a very big part of my life, and a very big passion, but it wasn’t my whole life,” Contador told La Gazzetta dello Sport, adding that he had no second thoughts about calling time on his career at the end of this season.

“No, I was happy for 15 years. I gave more than 100 percent. I gave all my time to this sport, but now I have the rest of my life to live and enjoy myself.

“When you’re a professional, you have to train even when you are resting. Even after four hours of training, you have to look after yourself at home with your eating and your rest. These are the small things that allow you to win. The life of a cyclist is also about being a slave to small details. At a mental level, above all, it’s very hard. I was sick of all these things.”

At the beginning of the summer, it briefly appeared as though Contador might extend his career into 2018 for one final tilt at the Giro d’Italia, but although he will not return to Italy to race, he reiterated that the Corsa Rosa was his favorite Grand Tour. Contador appeared in the race three times, winning in 2008 and 2015. He was stripped of his 2011 title

ALBERTO CONTADOR: Cycling was a very big part of my life, and a very big passion, but it wasn’t my whole life.

after receiving a retroactive ban for his 2010 positive test for clenbuterol.

Contador cited his Giro debut in 2008 as his favorite memory from the race. On that occasion, Contador’s Astana team had initially been overlooked for an invitation due to its ethical record, but was handed a late reprieve by RCS Sport on the eve of the race.

“I didn’t know the Italian public or the course,” Contador said. “I arrived at the last minute when I was called up by the team and I won the race. It was a very strong emotion.”

Although Contador’s formative years as a cyclist coincided with Miguel Indurain’s dominance at the Tour de France, he said that his idol, as a youngster, was the late Marco Pantani.

“I watched Marco on TV and then I studied him on video,” Contador said. “With him,

anything could happen, even a kamikaze attack from distance. He always inspired emotions. One day he’d lost three or four minutes in a time trial and the next he’d try to recoup his losses. He won a Giro and a Tour, but for the public it was as though he had won five Giri and five Tours. There was never a more exciting rider.”

Contador and Pantani’s careers overlapped briefly in 2003, and the Spaniard said that he made it his business to seek out Il Pirata at the GP Amorebieta that spring.

“I said to him, ‘I’m Alberto Contador, it’s an honour to meet you.’ And he said, in a very kind way, ‘thank you very much.’ Pantani wasn’t just anybody for me, he was a rider to be respected,” Contador said. “Maybe there was a bit of Marco’s spirit in me. I was always a nonconformist rider. It was better to risk losing everything by trying to be first, than to settle for second place.”

OurTime BusinessMirror

A8 Saturday, November 11, 2017 • Editor: Efleda P. Campos

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Over 3K indigent elderly receive pension in Palawan

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UERTO PRINCESA CITY, Palawan—More than 3,000 indigent senior citizens received their monthly pensions from the Palawan government’s local social pension (LSP) this year for the months of January to July.

Dubbed the “Kalinga para kay Lolo at Lola” (KPLL) program, the social pension received by the beneficiaries amounted to over P4 million, said Helen Bundal, population program officer of the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office (PSWDO).

“These indigent elderly citizens are those who do not receive pensions from the national government,” she said in an interview on Monday. Each pensioner received P1,750 for seven months.

Aside from the LSP, the elderly are also provided with financial aid and medical services, Bundal added.

“The distribution of their local social pension is under Resolution 11305 approved by the Sangguniang Panlalawigan in 2014. Since then, the provincial government

has been strengthening its support to them,” she said.

The measure aims to provide a monthly pension of P250 to all indigent senior citizens in Palawan who are 60 years old and older.

Before they are placed as beneficiaries, Bundal said they undergo the evaluation carried out by the PSWDO, the Office for Senior Citizen Affairs and the Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office of the municipality where they reside.

The KPLL is in line with the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010 that requires local governments to give monthly pensions to indigent senior citizens to help them pay for food and medicine.

Bundal said the PSWDO is currently preparing the fund for the second semester of the year. PNA

Zamboanga City to grant cash incentive to senior citizens

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AMBOANGA CITY—Seniorcitizen residents of this city are set to receive cash incentives from the local government.

This, as the City Council on Monday approved on third and final reading Ordinance 201728 that grants cash incentives to senior citizens and providing funds thereof.

“There will be cash incentive for senior citizens every year to be given in full [during their respective birthday month],” part of the ordinance read.

L oca l gover nment records showed there are more or less 64,000 senior citizens in this city.

Each senior citizen will receive a cash incentive based on the following corresponding ages: 60 to 69 years old, P500; 70 to 79, P750; 80 to 90, P1,000; 91 to 94, P1,500; and 95 to 99, P2,000.

Councilor Cesar L. Jimenez Jr., author of the ordinance, said the city government will spend at least P15 million or as much as P20 million in the first year of implementation of the cashincentive program.

Jimenez said the program will be realized by 2018 if it cannot be implemented this year through supplemental budget allocation.

PNA

Cavite indigent patients receive free health services, drugs

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GRANDPA’S CITRUS HARVEST Enterprising Leodivico Ramos of Decabacan, Diadi, Nueva Vizcaya, sorts out his citrus harvest before shipping the fruits to Urdaneta City in Pangasinan. The 67-year-old citrus farmer personally manages his farm. LEONARDO PERANTE II

NYC’s latest luxury senior-housing tower to be constructed in Brooklyn

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EW York City is getting another luxury seniorliving development, this time, in Brooklyn.

Kayne Anderson Real Estate Advisors bought a 16-story building in Brooklyn Heights from the Jehovah ’s Witnesses, according to a statement on Wednesday that didn’t disclose a price.

The Boca Raton, Florida-based private equity investor is teaming with Watermark Retirement Communities to redevelop the site, at 21 Clark Street, into senior housing with 75,000 square feet of amenities and picturesque v iews of Manhattan and the Brooklyn Bridge.

“Increased demand for urban senior-living options, coupled with shifting demographic

trends, makes The Watermark at Brooklyn Heights an attractive senior-housing investment opportunity,” said Al Rabil, CEO of Kayne Anderson Real Estate Advisors, using the name given to the project.

Kayne Anderson is the third developer to try its hand at highend New York senior living, a niche of development aimed at ser ving an expected boom of well-heeled elderly who can no longer live on their own. Hines and Welltower Inc., the largest publicly traded senior-housing investor, is beginning work on a 16-story tower that will rise at the corner of 56th Street and Lexington Avenue in Manhattan. It will have uniformed doormen, marble bathrooms and care

staff who can also book tickets to Broadway shows.

On the Upper East Side, Maplewood Senior Living and Omega Healthcare Investors Inc. are building a 23-story senior tower that promises residents farm-to-table dining, a spa and a movie theater.

The Brooklyn tower, a Romanesque-style former hotel that opened in 1928, has large dining rooms, community space, a library and a 20,000-square-foot rooftop terrace. The Jehovah’s Witnesses had owned the building since 1975.

The religious group has been selling off its properties in the borough, including its Watchtower headquarters complex, purchased last year by a partnership, including Kushner Cos. Bloomberg News

ARAGONDON, Cavite— Four towns in Cavite received their ambulances as 406 mostly poor patients got free quality health-care services from the provincial government.

Gov. Jesus Crispin Remulla led the distribution of the four ambulances to local village leaders of Maragondon, Kawit, Ternate and General Emilio Aguinaldo (Bailen) towns during his recent visit here.

Remulla said part of his provincial administration thrust is to serve the less privileged Caviteños residing in far-flung communities.

The governor, assisted by Cavite Seventh District Board Member Reinalyne Varias, turned over the ambulances to the presidents of the Association of Barangay Captains—Alvin Bunag of Kawit; Alberto Malimban of Maragondon; Andres Oliver of General Emilio Aguinaldo; and Dionilo Bersamina of Ternate.

Witnessing the turnover rites were Maragondon Mayor Reynaldo A. Rillo, Maragondon Vice Mayor Pinboy Angeles, Ternate Mayor Herminio C. Lindo, General Emilio Aguinaldo Mayor Danilo M. Bencito and Magallanes Mayor Jasmin Maligaya-Bautista.

Remulla said health-care services are among his priority programs, especially on the “no balance billing policy” at General Emilio Aguinaldo Memorial Hospital that entitles patients to have free medical services until they are discharged from the hospital.

The health-service caravan also benefited Maragondon’s 406 patients comprised of 152 children, 143 adults and 78 senior citizens for free checkups and consultations, while 33 dental patients underwent free tooth extraction. PNA

Preserving a cluster of fishing shacks from Hudson’s ‘forgotten’ past

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UDSON, New York—In the city of Hudson, known to tourists for its antique shops and fine dining, a cluster of century-old fishing shacks from the Hudson River estuary’s once prosperous shad fishery teeters on the waterfront.

Some of the shacks were once used as year-round residences by sportsmen and commercial fishermen over the years, said Leo Bower, 63, who grew up in Hudson and now lives in the neighboring town of Greenport. As a resident historian, Bower has collected binders full of black-and-white photographs of the shacks, and shares stories with visitors about the fishermen and hunters he met who used the shacks.

For the most part, he said, the shacks were used for getaways and as staging areas for people fishing in the river and hunting on the bay and on a nearby island for duck and deer.

When he was a boy, he said, it was also a place where older fishermen told stories and taught practices from an earlier era.

Now, an effort to preserve some of the 17 remaining shacks is under way.

The shacks sit on city-owned land on the shore of North Bay, and have been vacant since the last denizens were evicted in 2012. The site has appeared on maps since the 1880s.

In 2015 Hudson’s City Council voted to demolish almost all of the shacks, but before the razing began, the New York State Historic Preservation Office declared the site

ONE of the century-old river shacks preservationists are fighting to save, in Hudson, New York, October 16. Once used as year-round residences for fishermen, then as getaways or staging areas for hunters or fishermen, the 17 river shacks are among the relics the city wants to preserve. NEW YORK TIMES PHOTO

eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.

On August 1 Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the state would award a $10-million grant to the city for waterfront and downtown projects. Listed in the application was $165,000 for stabilizing structures and improving access on the North Bay at the site known

by various names, including the Furgary, Shantytown, the North Dock Tin Boat Association and also “the shacks.”

“It’s part of Hudson’s really sordid and unique past, and I think it should absolutely be preserved,” said Sheena Salvino, head of the Hudson Development Corp., which helped prepare the city’s grant application.

“In what form, I don’t pretend to know. But with a little creativity, something cool could happen.”

Bower and another resident, Timothy O’Connor, have begun planning to preserve 10 or so of the shacks. O’Connor said he envisions a museum showcasing tools and memorabilia from the shad fishery, which closed in 2010.

“ We would like to see the shacks that are preserved be used in commemoration of the river activities, which were always the focus of successive generations of Shantytown dwellers,” he said.

O’Connor, a bird-watcher who was the personal assistant to the poet John Ashbery for 10 years, said $165,000 would be more than enough to preserve the shacks, especially if volunteers helped.

“These are shacks,” he said.

“They require annual work after the winter. But it’s not a great deal of work.”

Mayor Tiffany Martin Hamilton said an effort to save some shacks needs to begin as soon as possible.

Hamilton, whose grandfather built one of the shacks, said the site was one of the last remnants of “Old Hudson,” which was a closer community than today’s version of the small city.

“It’s a forgotten era, a closed chapter in Hudson’s history. It represents generations of people —old Hudson grit in a good way.

And it represents all of the things our community struggles with today—economic disparity in the community that drives this divide between people. It all played out here,” she said.

Last year Hamilton had fencing removed to restore access to the land surrounding the shacks, including the boat launch.

Bower reconnected with his estranged father nearly 50 years ago

at the shacks. They netted shad and herring on the river, made turtle soup over a wood-burning stove, and prepared fish for a homemade smoker at the site. The younger Bower held his wedding reception outside of the shacks in 1983. He kept a 13-foot boat docked there that he used to take his wife and two sons on river excursions.

In the 2015 report for the state’s historic preservation office, the authors Linda Mackey, a historic preservation specialist for 14 upstate counties, and Daria Merwin, a codirector of the cultural resource survey program at the New York State Museum in Albany, wrote that the site has “the tangible remains of a traditional way of life that is rapidly disappearing,” which “represent a time when sturgeon and shad were abundant in the Hudson River, and people made their livelihoods fishing the river and selling their catch on the shore.”

Merwin said she has since given two presentations about maritimecultural landscapes and featured the North Bay shacks as a case study.

“I’d like to see as much of the fabric retained as possible,” she said. “I hope there’s some common ground that everyone can buy into in terms of seeing some of them preserved, seeing some public access and seeing some interpretation of the site so people understand their local history. It really tells a story of the Hudson River in a bigger way.”

New York Times News Service

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The Millennials BusinessMirror

Saturday, November 11, 2017

A9

Ledesma tweaks Mercato as ‘Instagrammable’ resto

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ENE Ledesma Jr., the man behind the dining business carrying the Mercato Centrale brand, has tweaked the food-market operator’s space to appeal to Filipino millennials.

“In terms of the market, we have upgraded the look and feel to make it more ‘Instagrammable’ for our millennial market,” said Ledesma, one of the directors of Mercato Centrale Philippines Inc. (MCPI). “But more than that, we have also created Instgrammable areas for millennials to capture the Mercato experience, which includes a selfie art wall and flat-lay photo tables.”

In terms of the quality of the food, Ledesma said the food-market space is helping vendors improve the storytelling behind the food in terms of their authenticity and background.

We are helping both our old and new vendors through the Mercato Academy by helping them with the “storytelling” behind their food, which includes branding, food styling, marketing promotional materials and digital and social-media

marketing, Ledesma said in reply to questions sent via e-mail by the BusinessMirror.

Ledesma, a former softdrinks commercial model, also emphasized that patronizing and supporting Mercato does not only involve buying food but also boosting the growth of local food entrepreneurs.

Food incubator

IN a short span of time, Mercato has become the go-to place to incubate many successful food concepts that eventually “graduated” from the market, according to Ledesma. The concepts include “Manang’s Chicken,” “Mamalou’s,” “Shawarma Bros” and “Brasas,” among others.

“Mercato Centrale has also embraced its role as a ‘small foodbusiness incubator’,” he said citing MCPI’s partnership with a telecom-

munications company for a digitalbusiness solution.

Ledesma said MCPI has involved itself in a network created by Globe Telecomm Inc. According to him, this restaurant network involves businesses and individuals that provide mentorship, and help in product development, food and equipment supply, human resources, business permits, microfinancing and financial literacy, accounting and taxation, payment gateways, brand management, digital marketing, packaging and design and food safety and hygiene. Ledesma explained the network assists food start-ups to become sustainable, successful and scalable.

Moreover, he said Mercato has served as a food-incubation venue for the products of groups Gawad Kalinga and Kalye KaNegosyo. The Mercato Centrale space hosts a series of seminars and workshops that aims to help deserving but marginalized local microentrepreneurs to be successful in their business, he added.

Connective tissue

MERCATO Centrale has expanded the food night-market location to Bonifacio Global City, while maintaining its Glorietta spot.

“I’d like to first of all emphasize what continues to remain the

connective tissue between the old and the new Mercato Centrale: the great selection of well-curated, street food-inspired vendors for one-of-a-kind gustatory adventures,” Ledesma said. “After seven years of being the pioneering food market, we’ve been able to attract a great combination of classic vendors—the old favorites—and the new, trendy vendors, who serve trendy and fusion cuisine.”

He credits AyalaLand Malls Inc. as a major factor in the expansion of the Mercato Centrale brand. Through Ayala Corp.’s mall operator, Ledesma said they were able to bring the night-food market to Quezon City, Tagaytay, Subic, Pampanga and Cagayan de Oro. He noted Mercato Centrale has always been focused in promoting the night-food market experience.

“Seeing the colorful street-food fare, interacting with the vendorproprietors, taking in the free food samples, sharing food finds with your friends while enjoying a cold beer and leaving the market smelling like isaw are some of the best experiences visitors tell us,” he said.

“Having said that, what we want is to further emphasize and amplify the ‘experience’ of both the ‘market’ and the ‘food.’” Rizal Raoul S. Reyes

My advice to fight depression Maxine Mamba

inspired

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HE statement “I’m depressed” gets thrown around pretty loosely nowadays.

To most people, it’s just a way to exaggerate how sad or upset they feel. For some, it’s an inescapable feeling of sadness. It was actor Joey de Leon who nonchalantly brushed off this “dis-ease”—literally not feeling at ease.

I can’t say I blame him. After all, we live in a society where most Filipinos live in poverty, look daily for food, and still stay resilient, maintain the will to live and the mental outlook to wake up and work another day. I think de Leon was simply adopting the perspective of this huge slice of Philippine culture: 21.5 million Filipinos in 2015 to be exact, who have, in essence, no right, no time and no luxury to be depressed.

However, depression is a serious issue.

Twenty percent of people with major symptoms of depression graduate to a more severe form of psychosis. In other words, it is a gateway to being psychotic. These people may not be poor, but their sickness is real.

I myself have never been debilitated by sadness for that long. So I would like to apologize in advance because what I will be writing about is based on my own humble opinion alone.

Here they are.

Happy hormone

SOME say oxytocin, or the happy hormone, is pro-

duced from these sources: exercise, “sexercise,” drugs and sweets. The most innocuous and natural source of oxytocin is—drumroll please—social interaction. That’s right: Spend time with other people. And one of the ways our body perceives this is by eye contact.

They say the eyes are the windows to the soul. Looking someone in the eye lets you know that you are not alone. It grounds you to reality.

It makes you see that you are with other people.

Nowadays, you can sit beside people, work with people, drink and eat with people, but you don’t acknowledge their humanity until you look them in the eye. This is where the interaction becomes real, and this is where the oxytocin comes from. So my first advice for those who are sad or depressed is to look people in the eye, and enjoy other people’s company.

This may be too basic for some, but a lot of people go through the day swiftly rattling orders or going through the motions. But looking people in the eye, supporting them and acknowledging them are the first things I advise.

Also, double or triple your time with others.

Make sure the time spent is not just by sitting beside each other but really having meaningful conversation, connecting eyes and ideas, sharing emotions and time.

The flow

THE second thing I advise is to be grounded in reality. Depressives should fight tooth and nail with their consciousness to slap themselves back into the here and now.

This means riding a roller coaster when depressed. Can you still be sad if you are careening down a path and all your body is screaming for you to pay attention to your surroundings? No. Ride a bike, jump on a trampoline or learn a new dance move. Do anything that requires you to be completely in the present; this is where your freedom is.

Hungarian psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi recommends the state of “Flow”—that state when you forget time because you are so engrossed in what you are doing and being so in the moment.

Share the love

HAPPINESS is actually a state of pure focus on the present.

This is what is lacking in depressives. Even if they are doing something engaging, they have a defeating voice inside: “There I go again” or “I failed again” or “Oh who am I kidding. I can’t.”

This leads me to my next advice: Shut that dead, tired voice up! That voice inside that tells a depressive to give up; silence that voice the very second it pops up.

Teach your inner voice to be kind to you.

Some depressives overthink, overanalyze and get caught in the “Me! Me! Me! Me!” universe. If you can manage to reach out to others, give to others and make it about other people, then you will slowly unravel the mental shell that keeps you trapped inside yourself.

Show love like hugging, affirming others, giving your time to someone who needs it and consciously thinking: “I am going to do this for you because I love you like how I am supposed to love me.” Tell yourself that “by loving this other person, I am accepting my power to love, and I love myself by giving me the opportunity to enjoy loving someone.”

Panic button

GET a panic button. There are days that depressives just want to shut themselves out or, when the stagnation is too much, the inertia seems to be pulling them down to the bed. They cannot have these times because it is then, alone and in the dark, they think of the worst things that could negatively alter their lives or, even worse, end it.

So beforehand, make a list of the people who

care about you and put the first and best one on a speed dial.

Make sure he or she knows that he or she has been selected as a panic friend. Make sure she knows what to do, which is to keep talking to you, get you outside the house or make you do something. If that person isn’t available, she should be able to contact the next person quickly, and so on and so forth.

Make sure that the last person on that list knows that they are last on the list, sort of the “only hope” so that he or she will not refuse the call to help a friend.

There are many depressives who have a lot of great friends who would give their time and would rather skip work, spend cash and lavish affection than regret and bemoan a lost friend.

Proof positive

I know some of these solutions may be taken as simplistic. Some may even argue depression is something one cannot get out of.

However, adopting a victim mentality where you just say “I’m depressive and I can’t do anything about it” would do more harm than this placebo belief that yes, you can raise yourself out of depression.

Yes, you can be more powerful than the sad feeling. Yes, you can find more reasons to move.

Yes, you can push that button to call a friend or family member. Say yes to happiness, to life and the possibility this depression is a thing of the past, a nightmare one wakes up from, and an annoying radio voice one can turn off.

Just believe that, while you are alive, it is proof positive there is hope.

Maxine Mamba is a regular contributor to the BusinessMirror’s Millennials page. The views expressed by Maxine in her column “Inspired” do not necessarily reflect those of the BusinessMirror.

Excited lang? Twitter poll bares Millennials hyped up on X’mas

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survey revealed majority of millennials that use the Twitter platform are most hyped up about Christmas, even before the day honoring the dear departed has passed.

In a statement released on Monday, the local office of Twitter Inc. said 95 percent of its users in the Philippines “love Christmas.”

“Research reveals that Twitter users are 33 percent more likely to take on the role as Christmas planner than people who do not use Twitter,” the company’s publicist said on November 6. “Among those surveyed, millennials on Twitter are the most passionate about Christmas, with 64 percent claiming to be responsible for organizing parties and celebrations.”

Likewise, the majority of those polled are

already into the shopping mode.

Citing a third-party agency the company tapped, Twitter said 1 in 2 Filipinos are discovering new products and brands on the platform used regularly by United States President Donald J. Trump as they shop for gifts for the holiday season.

Twitter said the third-party agency looked into conversations on the platform to “unveil the Christmas-shopping behaviors of Filipino users.”

According to Twitter, marketers should be aware that Christmas shopping starts early for Philippines-based users of the platform, “as 2 in 3 respondents said they start buying for presents before December.” Twitter notes that the younger demographic, aged 18 to 24

years old, said they are more likely to do lastminute shopping. Half of these said they will shop in December.

More than a quarter of Twitter users surveyed reveal they still prefer to shop in physical stores.

Still, some of them joined the 64 percent who said they shop online.

“For parents who use Twitter, they are 19 percent more likely to shop online than in-store compared to parents who do not use Twitter, indicating that children play a big factor in the parents’ shopping behavior.”

In terms of what they want for Christmas, Twitter users are 52 percent more likely to want “experiences”—not their two front teeth— for Christmas, such as concert and travel. Two

in 3 of younger respondents said they prefer to receive cash or gift cards for Christmas.

“Christmas is celebrated around the world, and it’s exciting to see how much Filipino consumers deeply value the spirit of giving and celebration of Christmas through the research, and how that is reflected in conversations on Twitter,” Twitter Southeast Asia Managing Director Arvinder Gujral was quoted in the statement as saying. “The holiday season provides prime opportunities for brands to forge connections with their audiences. Marketers can tap on these insights to develop brand experiences that drive real-time conversation and impactful engagement with their audiences during the festive season.”

Kramer LaPlante, (right), and Jake Kassan of the watch company Mvmt, in Los Angeles, on October 23. Mvmt has become an industry player by targeting an audience long thought to be the lost generation when it comes to watches: millennials. The New York Times

A watch brand by and for millennials

J

AKE Kassan, 26, likes to play a little game: ask other 20-somethings for the time, and see if they glance at their wrists or their phones. “More often than not, they reach for their phone,” he said.

This might seem like a problem, given that Kassan and his business partner, Kramer LaPlante, also 26, run Mvmt, a watch company that targets millennials.

But Kassan could not care less.

“Watches have evolved,” he said.

“Our audience cares more about the style of a watch than its function.”

Millennials are often thought to be the lost generation when it comes to watches. Since they were raised with cell phones according to cliché anyway, they are often too busy struggling to carve out careers in an uncertain economy to fritter away money on their yuppie parents’ status symbols.

Funny, then, that a Los Angelesbased watch start-up founded by a couple of college dropouts in 2013 has become an industry player (the company says its revenues were $60 million last year) by selling oldschool timepieces—dumb watches, if you will—to people too young to remember rotary phones.

The business is built on a simple, if implicit, premise: Young adults, with their do-everything smartphones and tablets, may not need another device to help them navigate their daily existence. But they care deeply about any image enhancer that helps them pop on Instagram.

It seems to have worked. Company research shows that 88 percent of its customers are under 34 years old, and 45 percent are under 24.

“The belief that traditional watches are relics of the past is false,” Kassan said. “Our consumers may not be the most formal in their attire, but they are very intentional. They think about what they wear, about what is on trend and up-to-date. That may be ripped jeans and a t-shirt, but it’s not a baggy t-shirt with stains on it.”

“A watch,” he said, “is their statement piece.”

Tastefully designed

THE partners, who met in Santa Barbara, California, after leaving college, each had tried his hand at e-commerce and crowdfunding ventures, with middling success.

While neither was what you would call a watch obsessive, both considered them important fashion accessories, but had a hard time finding a brand to fit both their style sensibility and budget.

“You had Nixon, which is very

action-sports oriented—skater, surfer,” Kassan said. “You had Michael Kors, which was too blingy.”

Many entry-level brands were priced at $400 or $500, a stretch “when you’re barely able to make rent.”

They sought to create the kind of watch that they would want to buy.

In an era of H&M-style fast fashion, they sought to produce watches that were head-turning, but also inexpensive enough that you could buy four or five. The strategy was to keep costs under $200 by selling directly to consumers online, eliminating the standard retail markup and relying on social media for marketing.

As the company has grown, however, it has begun selling in stores, like Nordstrom, advertising on radio and television, and has also expanded into sunglasses.

The original Mvmt line, which was introduced on the Indiegogo crowdfunding platform, was tastefully designed. Watch geeks will draw obvious parallels to minimalist Swiss classics like the Movado Museum Dial series and the IWC Portofino, which are far more expensive.

Great branding

THE Mvmt watches delivered sleek, hyper-minimalist design for prices that were roughly in line with the average monthly cell phone bill, and had, as they say, great branding. (Prices range from $95 to $180.)

Timekeeping, clearly, was not the point. Mvmt watches largely did away traditional functional design elements, like numerals for hour markers, or luminescent hands.

To set itself apart in the sea of under-$200 fashion watches, Mvmt positioned itself as an Instagram-first watch company. Its Instagram feed for its men’s line, for example, which has more than 855,000 followers, is a cornucopia of FOMO-inducing shots of stylish young lovelies cavorting in exotic locales wearing cool watches.

And while the company experimented with celebrity endorsements, including Kylie Jenner and Klay Thompson, it seemed to find its footing with a social-media star known largely to other millennials: Sam Kolder, a globe-trotting young videographer and thrill seeker with more than 590,000 Instagram followers and great abs.

“Our whole thing is, ‘Dress with intent, live with purpose,’” Kassan said. “He scales buildings and scuba dives with sharks. But he’s not going to five-star resorts. He’s just doing something everyone can do.”

And wearing a watch that everyone can wear. New York Times News Service

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Snap 3Q loss more than triples, stock tumbles after-hours

BY BARBARA ORTUTAY The Associated Press NEW YORK—Snapchat is getting a redesign to make it easier to use. But the new look will not make the latest earnings report from its parent company any prettier for investors. Shares in Snap Inc. were down more than 16 percent in after-hours trading Tuesday after the company posted yet another quarter of disappointing growth.

Snap Inc. on Tuesday reported a loss of $443.2 million in its third quarter, more than triple its loss a year earlier. The larger loss came with lackluster Snapchat user growth and revenue that was below Wall Street expectations.

The Venice, California-based company said it had a loss of 36 cents per share. Losses, adjusted for stock option expense and nonrecurring costs, were 14 cents per share, which was in line with the average estimate of 11 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research.

Snap posted revenue of $207.9 million in the period, up from $128.2 million a year ago. That was well below the average forecast of 10 analysts surveyed by Zacks of $233.1 million.

Snapchat added 4.5 million daily users in the quarter to 178 million, which amounts to a 3-percent growth. The company does not report monthly user figures. CEO Evan Spiegel said Snapchat needs to grow its user base beyond 13 to 34 year olds in the United States, France, the United Kingdom and Australia. This, he said in a statement, includes Android users, people older than 34 and what he called “rest of world” markets.

“This means that we will have to make some changes to our product and business,” Spiegel said, adding that this includes redesigning Snapchat to make it easier to use. Snap’s stock fell $2.47 to $12.65 in after-hours trading.

HEALTH-CARE SERVICES ON THE GO IN this fast-paced world, every second counts. People have busy schedules and more important errands to attend to. Because of this, they also need to find ways to access health care and medical services in an easier and faster manner. MediCard has developed mobile application that makes it possible for members to use their smartphones to avail themselves of MediCard benefits and services.

“We use our mobile phones to communicate, schedule our calendar and access information. So we thought developing a mobile app would open a world of convenience to our members. Through the new MACE app, MediCard members can get information on our services and, once in full swing, even request for approvals on laboratory and diagnostic tests using their mobile phones,” MediCard President Dr. Nicky Montoya said.

Designed for people on-the-go, MACE is a powerful application that allows MediCard members to transact in a nonterminal-based mobile platform, such as Android smartphones or tablets.

The MACE app has a user-friendly interface and navigation. New MediCard members and members renewing their accounts shall be issued an ID with a Quick Response (QR) Code. Through the app, you can instantly acquire information with your given QR code, easily view your member details, upload a photo and register your dependents.

Also, approvals can already be done via MACE at hospitals and clinics and, soon, the member can seek approvals of tests prescribed by accredited doctors or request for consultation on his own through the app.

MediCard members with the existing RFID cards can still avail themselves of health-care services through the existing system or through the MACE App, since both the RFID card and QR code can be transacted on smartphones, tablets and existing terminals.

MediCard has partnered with IleraMed Inc. for the implementation of MACE. IleraMed is a digital healthtechnology company that offers gamechanging software and services in the areas of member/patient benefit availments, claims processing and data analytics, to hospitals, health maintenance organizations and healthcare providers.

PLENTY to discover via Klook Travel.

Travel by way of technology PRIMETIME

DINNA CHAN VASQUEZ @dinnachanvasquez luckydinna@gmail.com

S

AMSUNG’S “Upgrade To Galaxy” television commercial (TVC) doesn’t just throw shade at the iPhone, it turned sunlight into moonlight.

The video doesn’t just imply that Samsung is better at waterproofing, camera quality, wireless charging, larger screen, etc.; It also hinted that Apple users are masochists for putting up with it.

The TVC ends with the Apple user switching to the Samsung Note 8, with the audio jack-less iPhone 7 as the last straw.

I was an Android user for years before switching to the iPhone six years ago. When I started using my first iPhone (the iPhone 5), I was amazed at how userfriendly it was. I still think that way because I use my phone to write, and the iPhone makes me do that without any hassle.

I tried to write using my Samsung Note 2, which I loved, but the copy-paste options were just too complicated and not user-friendly. I still have an Android (a Huawei) but mostly, I use it for Netflix and YouTube. (To copy in Android, just give the word/block of words a long press or a quick double tap, and go from there.

Easy peasy.—ED.) I admit I’m sometimes tempted to switch to an Android because of the battery time and other factors, but until they can make writing easier for me, I’m staying with my iPhone.

I do, however, miss not having to bring a power bank and charging cord in my bag. In other news, Klook Travel has announced it has completed almost $60 million in Series C funding. This round of investment, representing the largest deal ever for an in-destination service-booking platform, is a coinvestment led by Goldman Sachs and existing investors Sequoia Capital and Matrix Partners.

Sequoia and Matrix are existing shareholders who led previous funding rounds. They have backed some of the world’s most iconic brands, such as Apple, Airbnb, WhatsApp, Paypal and others.

Klook is Asia’s largest in-destination travel services-booking platform targeted at Free and Independent Travelers (FITs). With more than 30,000 travel activities in over 120 destinations, Klook provides seamless and affordable experiences for modern-day travelers.

With this development, Klook will fund the company’s global expansion, and explore the potential of utilizing artificial-intelligence technology to reshape and improve the travel experience in researching and booking trips.

One of the pioneers in Asia’s travel-activity booking space, Klook has seen rapid growth in the span of three short years, with the Philippine market being one of the most dynamic and fastest growing ones in the region.

KLOOK’S Powerhouse Top 3: Bernie Xiong, chief technology officer; Ethan Lin, CEO and Klook cofounder and Eric Gnock Fah, president, COO and Klook cofounder.

“Filipino travelers are extremely engaged and mobile, with their four favorite destinations being Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan and Taiwan,” said Marcus Yong, regional marketing lead for Klook.

“With our official #GetKlookd launch in the Philippines in September, we are dedicated to growing our local footprint—from introducing budget-friendly activities and attractions around the world, to offering local options, such as Cebu and Palawan. We will also be starting a dedicated 24-7 customer support team right here in Manila to better serve our Filipino- and English-speaking travelers,” said Michelle Cruz, Klook country manager for the Philippines.

I personally used Klook when I traveled to

Singapore for work in September. Everything—from purchasing Universal Studios tickets to pocket WiFi rentals—was very easy and hassle-free.

Via the Klook app (which you download on your phone), you can get good travel deals. For instance, if you get tickets to Hong Kong Disneyland (HKDL) now via Klook for a trip in January, you not only get it at a lower price but in case HKDL ups its rates in January, you’re also not subject to the increase.

Plus, you skip the long lines. Klook isn’t just for attractions and tours. You can also book airport transfers. I sound like a tita when I say this, but travel apps are essentials for millennials. ■

GEARING PHILIPPINE I.T. INDUSTRY TO CAPTURE LARGER SHARE OF GLOBAL OUTSOURCING MARKET

THE Philippine Software Industry Association (PSIA) recently concluded its fifth and well-attended Philippine Software Industry Conference at the SMX Convention Center in Bonifacio Global City. The media roundtable discussed urgent issues, such as the industry’s response to artificial intelligence, the need to enhance the skills of information-technology graduates, and tapping the immense potential in the global outsourcing market. Attending the roundatble were (from left): Information Undersecretary Monchito B. Ibrahim, PSIA President Jonathan de Luzuriaga, Pointwest Technologies President and PSIA Board Director Beng Coronel, PSIA Head-Japan Market Group and Spiceworx Consultancy Inc. CEO Tae Abe-Abion, PSIA Spring.ph Founding Member and Blast Asia Inc. CEO Arup Maity and PSIA Vice President and Accenture Delivery CentersPhilippines Managing Director Winston Cruz.

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Saturday, November 11, 2017 A11

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MICROSOFT CEO Satya Nadella (center), answers a question from the audience at the annual Microsoft shareholders meeting as Brad Smith (left), president and chief legal officer and Amy Hood, CFO, look on.

Being Bing: Microso�t’s overlooked AI tool

M GET READY FOR THE URBAN GRIND THE fast-paced nature of city living requires urbanites to step up their game and always be ready for whatever the urban jungle offers. Besides the daily grind involving work or school, urban millennials have to face the challenges of commuting and changing weather conditions and find time for other activities with family and friends, sports or even a quick getaway.

With Dakine, a time-tested brand for gearing the outdoors savvy, urbanites can have the confidence of efficient and functional packing that does not compromise style. The brand and its range of bags and backpacks are available at Urbanize (www.urbanize.com.ph). For the everyman, every day is an adventure. However, these adventures don’t always involve climbing mountains or crossing oceans, but more of standing in crowded trains and navigating city streets.

Without the right gear, going through all these obstacles is surely exhausting.

The Dakine Trek 26L Backpack takes the daily commuter’s comfort in mind with its breathable shoulder straps and adjustable sternum straps for body support.

It also boasts a large capacity of 26 liters and organized compartments, such as a padded laptop sleeve that can fit a 15-inch laptop, side pockets for water bottles and umbrellas, and an interior mesh pocket for other essentials.

Gadgets are essential for the modern everyman. With the Dakine Vault 25L Backpack, techy adventurers will not have any problem securing their devices. The bag has a padded laptop sleeve that can fit a 17-inch laptop, a dedicated pocket for an iPad and a fleece-lined phone pocket. It offers a unique top-loader access, while dual-side-release buckles give users easier access to the main compartment. The bag can support up to 25 liters of daily school or work essentials.

Athletic urbanites always carry their sport essentials with them. From clothes, hydration supplies to sports gear, the Dakine Park 32L Backpack can fit these all with its 32-liter capacity. It features an easy-fill big top loader, a durable back-panel zipper opening and a dedicated quick-loading skateboard carrying system for easy and efficient packing.

Skateboard enthusiasts will also find the bag’s dual-strap, nonslip board holster handy for lugging their decks around.

The backpack also includes a padded laptop sleeve that can fit a 15-inch laptop and an organizer pocket. Mesh side pockets can hold water bottles or umbrellas. Function need not be out of style, and Dakine bags and backpacks let urbanites lug their gear and essentials around as they accomplish their daily tasks while remaining trendy.

BY MATT O’BRIEN The Associated Press

ICROSOFT’S Bing search engine has long been a punch line in the tech industry, an also-ran that never came close to challenging Google’s dominant position.

But Microsoft could still have the last laugh, since its service has helped lay the groundwork for its burgeoning artificial-intelligence (AI) effort, which is helping keep the company competitive as it builds out its post-PC future.

Bing probably never stood a chance at surpassing Google, but its second-place spot is worth far more than the advertising dollars it pulls in with every click. Billions of searches over time have given Microsoft a massive repository of everyday questions people ask about their health, the weather, store hours or directions.

“The way machines learn is by looking for patterns in data,” said former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, when asked earlier this year about the relationship between Microsoft’s AI efforts and Bing, which he helped launch nearly a decade ago. “It takes large data sets to make that happen.”

HIDDEN FOUNDATION MICROSOFT has spent decades investing in various forms of AI research, the fruits of which range from its voice assistant Cortana to e-mail-sorting features and the machine-learning algorithms used

by businesses that pay for its cloud platform Azure.

It’s been stepping up its overt efforts recently, such as with this year’s acquisition of Montreal-based Maluuba, a company aiming to create “literate machines” that can process and communicate information more like humans do. Some see Bing as the overlooked foundation to those efforts.

“They’re getting a huge amount of data across a lot of different contexts—mobile devices, image searches,” said Larry Cornett, a former executive for Yahoo!’s search engine. “Whether it was intentional or not, having hundreds of millions of queries a day is exactly what you need to power huge artificialintelligence systems.”

Bing was launched in 2009 as a rebranding of Microsoft’s earlier search engines. Just weeks later, Yahoo and Microsoft signed a deal for Bing to power Yahoo!’s search engine, giving Microsoft access to Yahoo!’s greater search share, said Cornett, who worked for Yahoo! at the time. Similar deals have infused Bing into the search features for Amazon tablets and, until recently, Apple’s Siri.

DUAL PURPOSES ALL of this has helped Microsoft better understand language, images and text at a large scale, said Steve Clayton, who, as Microsoft’s chief storyteller, helps communicate the company’s AI strategy.

“It’s so much more than a search engine for Microsoft,” he added. “It’s fuel that helps build other things.” Bing serves dual purposes, he said, as a source of data to train artificial intelligence and a vehicle to

be able to deliver smarter services.

While Google also has the advantage of a powerful search engine, other companies making big investments in the AI race—such as IBM or Amazon—do not. “Amazon has access to a ton of e-commerce queries, but they don’t have all the other queries where people are asking everyday things,” Cornett said.

PRACTICAL EFFECTS NEITHER Bing nor Microsoft’s AI efforts have yet made significant contributions to the company’s overall earnings, though the company repeatedly points out “we are infusing AI into all our products,” including the workplace applications it sells to corporate customers.

The company recently reported fiscal first-quarter profit of $6.6 billion, up 16 percent from a year earlier, on revenue of $24.5 billion, up 12 percent. Meanwhile, Bing-driven search advertising revenue increased by $210 million, or 15 percent, to $1.6 billion—or roughly 7 percent of Microsoft’s overall business.

That’s OK by current Microsoft current CEO Satya Nadella. He doesn’t look back to talk much about Bing, but he knows plenty about it. Nearly a decade ago, he was the executive tapped by Ballmer to head Bing’s engineering efforts.

In his recent autobiography, Nadella describes the search engine as a “great training ground for building the hyper-scale, cloud-first services” that have allowed the company to pivot to new technologies as its old PC-software business wanes. ■

Great potential in virtual reality

BY RIZAL RAOUL REYES VIRTUAL reality (VR) is going to be a big hit and will be embraced by the business and other sectors, as well.

“I think VR is an exciting space. VR is still not fully mainstream in terms of a full adoption, but because of YouTube and Facebook, a lot of people know about it. A lot of people are looking at it and they’re like, ‘Hey, that’s pretty cool. I want to try that out,’” G5 CEO George Royeca said in recent interview at the sidelines of the recently concluded Digital Conference DX 2017 held at the Philippine International Convention Center.

Royeca said the current usage of VR in the Philippines can be classified into different stages ranging from the big circle and the consumer follow, casual users all the way to the hardcore. He expects that the country will see a lot more implementations of VR in telling a story. “Whether it’s an advertising angle or education angle or industrial angle, you know, there’s going to be a lot more stuff that’s happening,” he said.

Merriam-Webster defines VR as an “artificial environment which is experienced through sensory stimuli [such as sights and sounds] provided by a computer and in which one’s actions partially determine what happens in the environment.”

Paolo Mercado, senior vice president and director of communication and marketing services of Nestlé, said the business sector will always look for cuttingedge technology to help them drive their growth and operations. Being pragmatic people, he added businessmen will wait if the technology becomes very useful before using it. He cited the real-estate industry where only few players are using it to promote their products. “That one thing they’re trying to do—which is actually more expensive—is they’re trying to do these animated walk-throughs where they recreate the whole apartment in animation [for prospective buyers],” he said.

Royeca said developing content will still be an important part of VR. In the production process, he said it will need directors, production people and other skilled personnel who can develop good content around this new technology.

“It’s really not that easy, especially in a room—a hotel room, for example, where lighting conditions matter. You don’t need to see the space properly; you need to be able to compose the shot smack in the middle to view properly where the coffee is, where the bedroom is, and give you that awe factor and feeling,” he said.

He stressed the Philippines has a great potential in VR production and it needs a lot of people who are

involved in this space to be able to do things that are really commercial grade.

Meanwhile, Ibba Rasul-Bernardo, CEO of Sari Software Solutions, said the education and property sectors are maximizing the advantages of VR and augmented reality (AR), as well.

“Education is huge and there’s a lot of immersive learning, and in real estate. That’s where it is working because it’s proven, like you can see success stories,” Bernardo said, adding that documentary filmmaking is also utilizing VR and AR to attract more people and have proven in some instances to be “an effective marketing tool.”

Nevertheless, Bernardo said advocates, users and supporters want to develop a critical mass of users.

“We want bring it out to more people beyond that space, and that’s where we want to run experiments which DigiCon and people like Paolo are doing. The fact that they’re taking this risk on these crazy people doing VR and putting us center stage on the plenary and giving us this whole VR alley to show off these crazy experiments that we’re doing—for me, that is huge,” he pointed out.

He commended the disruptors who inspired the formation of DigiCon. “These guys were startups and now they’re the status quo and they’re going to invest in whatever it is that’s going to happen,” he said.

Snap 3Q loss more than triples, stock tumbles after-hours A10

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

BusinessMirror

Saturday, November 11, 2017 A12

A Facebook ghost story that’s why Eatigo has hit the charts for the top food app. And the best part is you can also use the app abroad as it covers more more than 2,000 restaurants across Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, India and the Philippines.

4. GRAB AND UBER. Well this is a no-brainer. Now that you’ve found a place to eat, the next question is how to get there. With traffic expected to become even more hellish, and finding parking even worse, Grab and Uber have been the answer to every commuter’s prayer (as long as the surge rate is reasonable) The ride-sharing revolution in the Philippines latched on the on-demand service vehicle app has grown into a multibillion-peso industry, especially since we have yet to have our own efficient mass transport system, unlike our Asian neighbors.

For commuters, getting a convenient, comfortable ride is now at the tip of their fingers.

5. AIRBN. Last, if you are planning for a weekend getaway with the family, you might want to download the AirBnB app. Frequent travelers swear

by AirBnB as the most seamless app to book your accommodation. You choose your location, your price range, amenities and the type of accommodation you want, key in your preferred dates and number of persons staying, and AirBnB gives you a shortlist that would match your requirements and preferences. As Bob Newby’s would say: Easy peasy!

THE TECHNIVORE ED UY

whereiseduy@gmail.com

“You are what you share.”

—CHARLES W. LEADBEATER, “WE THINK: THE POWER OF MASS CREATIVITY”

W

HAT do you do when your girlfriend keeps messaging you on Facebook even though she’s been dead for the more than a year?

“My girlfriend died on the seventh of August, 2012.

She was involved in a three car collision driving home from work when someone ran a red light. She passed away within minutes on the scene.... She was vibrant; the kind of girl that would choose dare every time. She was happiest when camping, but a total technophile, too. She always smelled like cinnamon. “...Em had been dead for approaching 13 months when she first messaged me...I’ve got the screenshots.

I don’t know what to do.”

Now before you send me condolence messages, just know that these are just excerpts from a reddit post submitted user natesw. My Facebook ghost story isn’t as scary, but I know a lot of you with an account on the platform probably experienced this, as well, but the timing is just creepy AF. It was nearly midnight and I was in the middle of writing an article when I decided to take a break and check out my Facebook feed. I was hoping to see a funny cat video or some scandalous new photo from my favorite digital chizmosa.

Instead, the first story I saw was one of those “Friendversary videos.” You know, the ones that remind you that you’ve been friends for “X” number of years and it’s time to celebrate?

The problem was that it was with a friend who has been dead for several years, and since I was the one who made his tribute video, seeing the same photos chosen by Facebook gave me goosebumps.

Told you it wasn’t as scary—until he liked the post.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU DIE? IT’S probably a question that has exercised humanity’s finest minds since the beginning of, well, human minds, and the topic of endless discussions and arguments as the stories of those who were able to “come back” are often different.

There are those who felt nothing at all; while there are others who describe being drawn by a bright light, or some interaction with another (often dead) person or being. And there are some who say they could watch what was happening while they were “dead” without being able to do anything.

I’m no doctor or psychic, nor am I too keen about having any sort of near-death experience so I could tell you what its like. But what I do know is that, if you die and you haven’t made any preparations, your social-media accounts will be in virtual limbo—spooking the hell out of your Facebook friends or followers; and no one wants to be dead and unfriended. Making death preparations may seem like the strangest things to do, especially if you are young and healthy, but just like getting insurance or one of those Saint Peter Death Care plans, it’s becoming more of a necessity since the last thing you’d want is to leave your loved ones bereaved and panicking. If you can put a lot of effort into planning a big birthday party, why not put the same attention into what you’d like to happen when you die?

I’d leave you to deal with whatever preparations you want, but I’d like to share with you a few things on how you can preserve your digital legacy (or secrets).

DEATH AND SOCIAL MEDIA JUST before Halloween, I read this article about a 14-year-old Russian model, Vlada Dzyuba, who died during a fashion show in China. She was found to be suffering from chronic meningitis “compounded by severe exhaustion” and remained in a coma for two days before she died.

I was curious, so just like every other dude who probably read the story, I typed her name on Facebook and saw a different profile (no, I didn’t even think of adding her). Unlike ordinary Facebook accounts, however, Vlada’s profile had already been memorialized and her cover photo read: “Remembering Vlada Dzyuba: We hope that people

/ TECH THOUGHTS: “How di�ferent would people act if they couldn’t show o�f on social media? Would they still do it?”

—DONNA LYNN HOPE

who love Vlada will find comfort in visiting her profile to remember and celebrate her life.”

So how do you take care and protect your digital legacy? For Facebook, you can add a “legacy contact”— someone you can trust to look after your account if it’s memorialized. To add a legacy contact, go to your account’s general setting, select “settings” and click “manage account.” Type in a friend’s name and click “add.” To let your friend know they’re a legacy contact, click “send.” Families can close or “memorialize” accounts so certain features, like birthday reminders, no longer appear. Family members can also ask Facebook for access to some of the account’s content (but not private chats).

Depending on the privacy settings of the account, friends can share memories on the memorialized timeline and the content the person shared stays on Facebook and is visible to the audience it was shared with. And, perhaps, most important, memorialized profiles don’t appear in public spaces, such as in suggestions for People You May Know, ads or birthday reminders.

If you see an Instagram account that you know belongs to someone who’s passed away, you can report it to Instagram for memorialization. Go to Instagram’s Help Center and you must show proof of death via an obituary or news article (or death certificate).

However, only immediate family members can request the account to be removed. Once an account is memorialized, no one can log into the account.

Memorialized accounts can’t be changed in any way.

This includes changes to likes, followers, tags, posts and comments. While the photos and videos of the deceased person stay visible to the audience they were shared with, memorialized accounts don’t appear in public spaces, like the “Explore” section.

Finally, family members can request a Twitter account of the deceased to be removed via a Privacy Form. Otherwise, the only other option is to leave the account as it is, as Twitter automatically deletes a user if the account is inactive for six months.

So there you have it. If writing your last will and testament still seems too early and absurd, at least you know that it only takes a few steps to make sure that your social-media accounts won’t get lost in limbo, and that your digital legacy will be properly preserved.

5 APPS YOU NEED FOR THE HOLIDAYS ON a more pleasant note, it’s been years since I was able to enjoy a week off from work (no events, no deadlines, no negative people) and let me tell you

that just staying inside my room for a Stranger Things marathon was the most fun and relaxing time I’ve had in a while. All I needed was my smartphone and a few apps.

Here are five apps you could use to make the most out of your next long weekend.

1. SPOTIFY. Listen to your favorite songs or make a soundtrack for your upcoming vacation, and thanks to Spotify, you don’t need to download or compile hundreds of your mp3s. Since it launched in October 2008, this music and podcast-streaming app has been rocking the world of music lovers of all ages. Spotify provides access to more than 30 million songs. As of June 2017, it had more than 140 million monthly active users and more than 60 million paying subscribers as of July 2017.

2. NETFLIX. More into binge-watching? Then you just got to have Netflix! Boasting a massive library of video content at an affordable price, the streaming service has dramatically changed today’s viewing habits much like what Spotify did to music. Founded in 1997, Netflix started online streaming after 10 years when their titles were only limited to 1,000. Its success exploded in the first quarter of 2017 with 98.75 million subscribers, and breached the 100-million subscriber mark shortly after its first-quarter report in April. Netflix is now available in more than 190 countries and is responsible for at least 35 percent of downstream Internet traffic in North America in 2016, double the traffic of Google’s YouTube and more than eight times as much as Amazon Video over the same period.

3. EATIGO. Because food is life, and nothing is more annoying than throwing around the question Saan tayo kakain? I recently discovered this app when I was planning a surprise treat for my parents. Eatigo is a reservation app that aims to connect empty tables with empty stomachs, and offers as much as 50-percent discounts on every restaurant, every day—from your favorite hole-in-the-wall to the popular fine-dining places. All you have to do is choose the date, time, the number of people, the type of cuisine and the location where you want to eat and it will give you a list of possible choices. Through the Eatigo mobile app, diners can browse for restaurants via the curated categories: top 50 restaurants, new restaurants or use “Here & Now” to see nearby restaurants. Once a restaurant has been selected, the diner can then reserve a table through the hassle-free booking process. The app is completely free to use— no subscriptions, no vouchers, no hidden fees. Great selection of dining outlets with amazing discounts,

HIGHLY LAUDED MIDRANGER SONY XPERIA XA1 PLUS ARRIVES SONY (www.sony.com.ph) announced recently that its much-awaited super midranger, the Xperia XA1 Plus, is now available in the Philippines. First unveiled at the IFA in Berlin, Germany, the latest addition to Sony’s midrange lineup is an affordable smartphone that packs impressive mobile entertainment and photography features.

Taking sharp and vibrant photos all the time is easy with the Xperia XA1 Plus. It has a 23-megapixel, high-resolution rear-camera with a large 1/2.3-inch Exmor for mobile sensor. Take it out, point it at your subject, and get crisp photos in a snap. Trying to capture a spontaneous moment? The XA1 Plus is more than capable with its incredibly fast, yet accurate Hybrid Autofocus that has a 0.6-second launch to capture capability.

If it’s a selfie-type of moment, the XA1 Plus’s 8-MP camera with a 23-mm wide-angle lens ensures you capture everything or everyone in the frame. You can take nice location selfies when traveling alone or a nice “groufie” to document moments with friends and family.

The beauty of the XA1 Plus is that it’s built to be a mobile-entertainment device. Its 5.5 edgeto-edge, Full HD Display is like having a small TV on your fingertips.

Watching your favorite series or movies during traffic jams is much more enjoyable with its sharp images in rich colors.

Sony’s imaging expertise is matched only by its audio capabilities and the XA1 Plus delivers great sound. With ClearAudio+ technology, your playlist will sound awesome either on headphones or via loudspeaker.

You can easily turn the party up by taking the phone out of your pocket and blasting your choice of beats.