Businessmirror April 12, 2019

DEPT. OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

PHILIPPINE STATISTICS AUTHORITY

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A third of PHL’s $2.8-B Feb trade gap with China

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By Cai U. Ordinario

@caiordinario

HE Philippines continues to be reliant on China for imported goods as Beijing accounted for a third of Manila’s trade deficit in February, according to data released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) on Thursday.

PSA data showed that in February, the country’s trade deficit with China reached nearly a billion at $952.66 million, accounting for 34.17 percent of the country’s deficit for the month.

The country’s total trade deficit narrowed to $2.79 billion in Feb-

Budget may not be signed on April 15

ruary, from $3.9 billion in January. Imports reached $7.97 billion, while exports amounted to $5.18 billion for the month, according to PSA data.

“The Philippines trade deficit narrowed in February, reaching $2.8 billion,” JP Morgan Chief

Economist for Asean Sin Beng Ong said in a statement. “We expect the recent stabilization trend to continue into 2Q19 owing to the delay in the passage of the 2019 budget and an election spending ban, which may dent capex momentum, posing downside risk to

EVOLUTION STORY Armand Salvador B. Mijares, UP Archaeological Studies Program associate professor and head of the Callao Archaeological Project, explains to journalists the findings of their team that led to the discovery of a new human species, the Homo luzonensis, “that could start a new debate on how humans evolved and adapted to new situations.” Story on page A2. NONOY LACZA

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ALACAÑANG has now raised the possibility that the 2019 budget may not be signed by President Duterte on April 15.

This, a day after it confirmed in a statement that the ceremonial signing event of the 2019 General Appropriations Act is “calendared” on Monday at the Palace.

“Because it was calendared then it was removed from the calendar...but it could be reinstated right? Everything in the President’s schedule is subject to change without prior notice,” said Presidential Spokesman and Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador S. Panelo.

In yet another hint of the tentativeness of the signing, Panelo said the President might sign the budget after Holy Week since the budget is still being scrutinized.

Nonetheless, everybody is still waiting whether the President will veto the alleged post-ratification changes on the See “Budget,” A5

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 52.0090

16

Number of countries the Philippines has a trade deficit with. The country only has trade surpluses with three economies—Hong Kong, worth $489.1 million; the United States, $372.75 million; and the Netherlands, $149.53 million the overall growth outlook in the first semester in 2019.”

Data showed the Philippines has a trade deficit with 16 countries as well as other countries that were not identified by PSA. See “Trade,” A5

Filipino voters want incorruptible candidates Manny F. Dooc

TELLTALES

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EWS reports announced the recent engagement of former major league slugger Alex Rodriguez, more popularly known as A-Rod, to superstar Jennifer Lopez. The couple separately made Instagram posts to their fans and followers showing J. Lo’s hand wearing a massive diamond. “Yes, she answered me,” proudly declared A-Rod. It will be J. Lo’s fourth marriage.

She also had other serious and high-profile relationships that did not end at the altar.

After three marriages and other serious relationships by J. Lo, including the much-publicized engagement with Ben Affleck, it would be a big challenge and wonder how A-Rod can make their wedding night exciting. I think he should summon all his baseball skills to have a truly enchanted evening. I know the baseball ace will be up to the challenge. His name is not A-Rod for nothing.

Continued on A14

Piñol: Law guarantees ₧10 billion for rice fund

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

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@jearcalas

GRICULTURE Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol on Thursday assured rice farmers that the government has sufficient money to front-load P10 billion for a fund to help them become competitive against cheap imports under the new trade regime.

Piñol made the pronouncement after the BusinessMirror published a story on Wednesday which quoted a National Economic and

Development Authority (Neda) official saying that the government has no available funds for the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF).

Neda Assistant Secretary Mercedita A. Sombilla told the BusinessMirror that the farmers may have to wait until the third quarter—when government savings are expected to come in—for funding the RCEF. However, Piñol said the P10billion RCEF is included in the See “Rice fund,” A2

n JAPAN 0.4685 n UK 68.1006 n HK 6.6368 n CHINA 7.7443 n SINGAPORE 38.4796 n AUSTRALIA 37.2905 n EU 58.6349 n SAUDI ARABIA 13.8679

Source: BSP (11 April 2019 )

News

BusinessMirror

A2 Friday, April 12, 2019

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Cagayan cave ‘host to new human species’

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By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

@jearcalas

HE discovery of a new human species in Callao Cave, Cagayan, named Homo luzonensis, puts the spotlight on the Philippines in the global scientific debate on human evolution.

This is one of the implications of the groundbreaking conclusion of the excavations made by a University of the Philippines-led international interdisciplinary team since 2007.

Armand Salvador B. Mijares, UP Archaeological Studies Program associate professor and head of the Callao Archaeological Project, said the discovery “situates the Philippines as a major area for human evolutionary research.”

“We now have a new species and new fossils that could start a new debate on how humans evolved and adapted to new situations. This is our contribution to our Filipino heritage and to the world heritage,” Mijares told reporters on Thursday, when the discovery was unveiled to the public after their findings were published in Nature, the international journal of science.

“And this will be a controversial discovery as the pros and cons of the identification of the new Homo species will have a lively debate,” Mijares added.

Mijares said their discovery adds a new member to the genus Homo and could question earlier concepts that human evolution is a linear process.

“It also raised more questions to answer, such as Homo luzonensis’ lineage and how and when it reached Luzon island,” he said. “So, where does it fit in the family tree? At this time we do not know, as we would need more research to answer those questions,” he added.

Nonetheless, Homo luzonensis now becomes the earliest human remains in the

country, as Mijares’s team determined the fossils to be 50,000 to 67,000 years old through uranium-series dating, a method used to calculate age via radiaoactive decay of uranium.

The Homo sapiens remains found in Palawan island, commonly known as Tabon Man, were estimated to be 30,000 to 40,000 years old.

Mijares pointed out that the timeframe could indicate that the two human species “overlapped” together, but it is not conclusive if they had direct contact due to lack of available evidence.

Mijares said the hominin fossils and teeth were from at least three individuals that were excavated in 2007, 2011 and 2015. The individuals were nicknamed Ubag after a mythical caveman, according to Mijares.

The fossils were dug up from a sedimentary level located 3 meters below the current surface of the Callao Cave floor.

Homo luzonensis had a mix of primitive features resembling Australopithecus and more modern ones closer to Homo sapiens, Mijares explained.

“This singular combination of traits distinguishes it from other representatives of the genus Homo, especially its contemporaries known in Southeast Asia like Homo floresiensis, which was discovered in Indonesia in 2004,” he added.

Mijares said the Homo luzonensis could not be the ancestors of modern-day Filipinos, as the lineage of the newly discovered human species has reached a dead-end

and they no longer exist.

Tourism and protection

National Museum of the Philippines Director Jeremy Barns hailed the discovery as a game-changer in the field of science, especially in human evolution.

“This is a major major event in the history of science in the Philippines. The Philippines is put on the [human evolution] map,” Barns said in his speech.

“Our sites are deserving of higher importance. This is testament to the efforts of our [Filipino] archaeologists,” Barns added. Barns said that there is now a need to further strengthen the protection of archaeological sites, especially Callao Cave, following the discovery of the new human species.

“We will be in touch with the Department of Tourism and the local government units in Cagayan to further tighten protection of this site and use the publication of this article to promote the importance of this site to the Filipino people and globally.

Mijares proposed that the Callao Cave be developed, like the Tabon Cave, into a proper site museum, especially since 200 tourists on average enter the cave daily.

“You can have proper educational materials there. Unlike Tabon Cave, Callao Cave has 200 people entering everyday, and with that you can educate 200 people a day on our heritage,” he said.

“I think we can reach more people by developing the area as a proper site museum,” he added.

Hugpong bets dominate race Gordon: No ‘doble plaka’ in latest poll on Senate bets in motorbike anti-crime law I

By Cai U. Ordinario

H

ITTING back at detractors, Sen. Richard Gordon slammed critics of Republic Act 11235, or the Motorcycle Crime Prevention Law, warning they were misusing the remedial legislation as “a progaganda tool to fuel the misplaced ire” of bike riders.

Gordon reminded critics that the title of the newly enacted law clearly states its intent was to prevent the commission of crime and not impose doble plaka or double plates.

“That [doble plaka] is a misnomer because there will no plates in front of the motorcycle,” Gordon clarified.

“Hindi naman lalagyan ng plaka ‘yung harapan. Ang ilalagay sticker or decal ha, hindi magpo-pose ng danger sa safety ng riders,” the senator said, lamenting this was just one of the black propaganda tools being “propagated to fuel the misplaced ire of riders.”

In a statement, the senator aired his suspicion that President Duterte, a biker himself, “may have been fed similar information, which veiled from his sight two of the foremost objectives of the law, which are: to protect the public from crimes committed using motorcycles as getaway, such as extrajudicial killings, and to give justice to the dead men who can tell no tales.”

Gordon, however, said he would not hesitate to go to Malacañang and face the President if Duterte calls for him to discuss the law.

“Pero sa palagay ko, mistake lang ’yung naibigay sa kanya, as usual, like ’yung dobleng plaka; hindi doble plaka yan; katulad ng sinasabing lata na lilipad sa mukha [But I think he was fed wrong information, like the double plates.

There’s no double plate, or like what they claim would be a plate that could be detached and hit one’s face],” the senator said.

He added, in a mix of English and Filipino: “You think I’d allow that? I’m with Red Cross, and of course I stand for safe driving. That’s why we also stand up for motorcycle riders who get injured in accidents. Every day, we at Red Cross help rescue a victim of a motorcycle mishap. Because we always stand for the good of the many, for the common good.”

Aschairman of the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights, Gordon stressed that “what is important is peace and order, protecting citizens from being killed without getting justice because riding-in-tandem killers get away easily with motorcycles as their getaway.”

Citing several examples of crimes committed using motorcycles, the senator said it is time that a law was passed to address the problem. “Sobra na ang patayan na ginagawa ng mga riding in-tandem, tatlong dekada na po ‘yan [There’s just too many crimes committed by riding-in-tandem teams; that’s been going on for three decades],” Gordon said, noting that soon after a victim is shot, the gunmen easily escape using as getaway motorcycles with no plates.

“Under this new law, if there is no plate, they will be immediately arrested,” he added.

Butch Fernandez

@caiordinario

F elections were held today, the majority of the country’s new senators will belong to the coalition of Hugpong ng Pagbabago (HNP), according to survey results released by Pulse Asia on Thursday.

Despite the absence of a formal debate between HNP and other candidates, they still took the lion’s share of the top 16 in the latest Pulse Asia Survey.

The data showed 10 candidates belonging to HNP who have the highest chance of winning in the May polls, edging out candidates from the Liberal Party, Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC), United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) and those running independently.

“If the May 2019 senatorial elections were held during the survey period, 16 out of the 62 candidates would have a statistical chance of winning. Most of the probable winners are either former or incumbent members of Congress, and among them, 10 are running under the coalition of the HNP,” Pulse Asia said.

The candidates who atre part of the HNP coalition and were included at the top of the survey were reelectionist Sen. Cynthia Villar whose candidacy is backed by 63.7 percent of registered voters; reelectionist Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara, 58.5 percent; former Special Assistant to the President (SAP) Christopher “Bong” Go, 55.7 percent; Taguig City Rep. Pia Cayetano, 52.2 percent; and former Sen. Lito Lapid, 48.4 percent.

Rice fund. . .

Continued from A1

proposed 2019 General Appropriations Act (GAA), which is expected to be signed

by President Duterte on Monday, and is allocated under the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) unprogrammed funds.

“I would expect that the P10 billion is in the [national budget once Duterte signs the GAA],” he said in an interview with reporters recently. “There’s no way the government will not fulfill its commitment, because it is what the law says.”

Piñol also said the government has already agreed to frontload the initial P10 billion for the RCEF this year.

“If we wait for the savings, then it might only come in by 2020. That is why we are assured this year that once we implement the [rice trade liberalization law], we already have P10 billion,” he added.

Clarification

Piñol said he would insist to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to provide the DA with P10 billion for the RCEF once the implementing rules and

The list includes former Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) Chief Ronald dela Rosa who is backed by 44.8 percent of voters; former Sen. Ramon Revilla Jr., 40.9 percent; Ilocos Gov. Imee Marcos, 39 percent; former Presidential Adviser on Political Affairs Francis Tolentino, 35.7 percent; and reelectionist Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, 33.6 percent.

Poe still No. 1 Candidates not belonging to HNP who also made it to the top 16 included reelectionist Sen. Grace Poe, who not only ranked first but was one of only two candidates running independently. Her candidacy is backed by 72.6 percent of registered voters.

The other candidate for senator who was not backed by any political party or coalition and made it to the top 16 was former Sen. Sergio Osmeña III. His candidacy was backed by 33 percent of registered voters.

The only candidates for senator from the Liberal Party who made it to the top 16 were reelectionist Sen. Paolo Benigno Aquino IV who was backed by 33.8 percent of the registered voters, and former Sen. Manuel Roxas II with 31.3 percent. Roxas was the 16th in the list of top candidates for senator. “[Some] 1.7 percent of registered voters refuse to identify their preferred senatorial candidates for the midterm elections, 1.4 percent say they are not going to vote for any of these candidates, and 1 percent still do not know whom they will elect to the Senate in May,” Pulse Asia said.

regulations (IRR) of the law take effect.

Quoting Sombilla, the BusinessMirror reported that the DBM maintained that the P5 billion it transferred to the DA last December was already half of the RCEF. However, the Neda official said she had argued that the P5 billion was not part of the RCEF and was only for activities aimed at boosting the DA’s rice program.

Piñol disclosed that he discussed the P5 billion his agency received last year with some DBM officials on Wednesday.

The agriculture chief himself admitted that the DBM officials told him that the P5 billion the DA received last year was half of the RCEF. “I told the DBM representatives that it was not part of the RCEF. It cannot be considered as part of the RCEF because our allocation for that money did not follow the RCEF guidelines,” Piñol said.

“In fact, there were regions that did not request [a share from the P5 billion] because they might not be able to obligate it last year.

The P5 billion was presented to the DA as additional funds for the rice program,” he added. The BusinessMirror tried to get a comment from the DBM but officials said they will issue a statement.

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JO workers are first to go in BI extortion controversy

By Joel R. San Juan

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@jrsanjuan1573

HE Department of Justice (DOJ) has ordered the immediate termination of eight job order (JO) Bureau of Immigration (BI) workers implicated in the extortion of more than P9.2 million from 15 South Korean nationals.

In a news statement sent to reporters late on Wednesday, Justice Undersecretary Markk Perete said that “upon review of the terms of engagement of the JO contractors and the evidence adduced against them, the Justice Secretary [Menardo Gueverra] found that factual and legal bases exist for the immediate termination of their contracts.”

In a complaint, 15 Korean nationals said a team of 18 BI officers and employees apprehended them in Korean Town, Angeles City, Pampanga, on March 6.

The Korean nationals filed a complaint to the Office of the President and the Department of Justice (DOJ) against the BI intelligence officers for apprehending them despite having proper documents and brought them to the BI main office where they were forced to shell out various sums of money under threat of detention.

The other 10 BI officers allegedly involved in the incident have been placed under preventive suspension pending final result of the investigation on the matter.

BI Spokesman Dana Krizia Sandoval earlier said the agency will decide appropriate criminal and administrative actions against them within three months. “ The ten BI officers and employees are now subject to proceedings to determine their administrative liability for grave misconduct and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service,” Perete said.

Meanwhile, the BI Commissioner Jaime Morente has disclosed that a probe is now being undertaken on corruption allegations hurled against certain airport personnel.

Morente issued the statement after receiving information that that some BI officials posted at the Port Operations Division (POD) may be involved in human trafficking.

“We will elevate this to the Department of Justice, our mother department, for investigation,” Morente said.

“We suspect that other agencies may be included in this complaint as well, as anti-trafficking efforts is a shared responsibility of all members of the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking,” he added.

Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug • Friday, April 12, 2019 A3

Senators hit US Congress’ ‘meddling’ in PHL judicial process

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By Butch Fernandez

@butchfBM

ENATORS slammed “meddling” members of the United States Congress for blatant interference in the Philippines’s judicial process involving detained Sen. Leila M. de Lima and journalist Maria Ressa.

Senate President Vicente C. Sotto III joined Senators Panfilo Lacson and Gregorio Honasan in filing Resolution 1037 expressing stern disapproval of the action of some US congressmen openly meddling in separate cases lodged earlier against de Lima and Ressa by the Duterte administration.

Other senators signaled support for the resolution, indicating intent to also manifest their displeasure when the Resolution 1037 is tackled in plenary soon as Congress reconvenes next month.

“Considering the tenor of the Resolutions of Both Houses of the US Congress, the same can be considered an interference and intervention on a purely domestic matter within the authority of the Republic of the Philippines, a sovereign state and equal in stature to that of the United States of America,” the Sotto-Lacson-Honasan Resolution said.

It asserted that “the Philippines, regardless of its flaws and weaknesses, has a Constitution that provides for three independent, coequal branches and a judicial system where due process is followed.” it added.

In a news statement, Lacson clari-

fied that de Lima and Ressa, whose release was sought by US lawmakers, “are but incidental to the intent of this resolution.”

“They [de Lima and Ressa] are entitled to fair justice and judgment by the courts handling their cases,” Lacson said.

“But what we need to point out is that supremacism has no place in a civilized world regardless of race, color and status in wealth and power.”

Lacson suggested that a Philippine Senate resolution is needed “to call out the US solons behind the ‘inappropriate’ resolutions,” but this will only be taken up in plenary when Congress resumes sessions on May 20.

The senator stressed: “We are not their colony. We have a Constitution that provides for three coequal branches and a judicial system where due process is followed, regardless of its flaws and weaknesses,” Lacson said in a post on his Twitter account on Sunday, April 7.

As filed, Lacson’s Resolution 1037 deplored the US lawmakers’ proposed Resolutions 233 and 142, denouncing the twin US Congress resolutions as “an affront to the sovereignty of the Re-

public of the Philippines and an undue interference in its judicial process.”

The Lacson Resolution pointed out that contrary to the assertions of the members of the US Congress in their respective resolutions, “the Philippine Government adheres to the observance of the principle that ours is a nation governed by laws and not of men as stated and guaranteed by no less than the Preamble of the 1987 Philippine Constitution.”

Moreover, it cited the Philippine Supreme Court’s ruling in the case of Villavicencio v. Lukban that no official, no matter how high, is above the law.

Thus, Lacson added, the resolutions by both houses of the US Congress calling on the government to release and drop the charges against Sen. de Lima, Ressa and Rappler “cannot be made without encroaching and interfering on the exercise by the Judiciary of its judicial power.”

At the same time, Senate Resolution 1037 noted the cases against both de Lima and Ressa are already filed in court, and the judicial process against them are underway.

“The government cannot do anything but to let the wheels of justice take its course pursuant to the Supreme Court ruling in the case of Crespo v.

Mogul that ‘once a criminal complaint or information is filed in court, any disposition of the case or dismissal or acquittal or conviction of the accused rests within the exclusive jurisdiction, competence and discretion of the trial court,” the senator said.

Lacson likewise pointed out in the Philippine Senate resolution that

Sen. de Lima, “despite her being incarcerated, is still allowed to function as a senator.”

He added that while de Lima cannot participate in person in the deliberations of the Senate and vote on certain measures, “she has filed bills and resolutions which were read and made part of the record of the Senate.”

The Philippine Senate Resolution also noted that no less than former Chief Justice Conchita Carpio-Morales declared that “...it is opportune to wipe out the lingering misimpression that the call of duty conferred by the voice of the people is louder than the litany of lawful restraints articulated in the Constitution and echoed by jurisprudence.”

It also quoted Morales as saying that while Congress “continues to function well in the physical absence of one or a few of its members...never has the call of a particular duty lifted a prisoner into a different classification from those others who are validly restrained by law.”

The Philippine Senate Resolution, in the case of Ressa and Rappler, also noted the charges were filed against her for violating certain Philippine laws, and not because of her being critical of the administration.

Lacson listed the charges against Ressa include alleged violation of Republic Act 10175 (Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012); Republic Act 8424 (National Internal Revenue Code as amended); and Commonwealth Act 108 as amended (Anti-Dummy Law of the Philippines).

The senator said Ressa was even allowed to post bail on these cases to debunk the allegations that these were politically motivated cases.

A4 Friday, April 12, 2019 • Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug

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DTI chief sees stable summer commodity price

By Elijah Felice E. Rosales @alyasjah

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RICES of most basic commodities would likely stay at their current levels despite the drought brought by the El Niño phenomenon, but manufacturers of canned goods are seeking for an increase due to higher cost of inputs, according to the country’s trade chief.

In an interview with reporters,

Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez said prices of products listed under the government’s watch list will remain stable within the duration of the summer season, stressing that El Niño has little to no effect to processed goods considered as basic necessities and prime commodities.

“As of now, there is none [reason to increase prices],” Lopez said. “We will feel the pang of El Niño maybe in two weeks, three weeks, particularly

on how it will impact production.

Only then will we find out if there is a need to increase prices.”

Price hikes will be largely on agricultural products, Lopez said, as the prolonged drought is taking a toll on crops. Latest report from the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management of the Department of Agriculture put damages and losses from El Niño at P5.05 billion, with an estimated volume of 276,568 metric tons, dam-

aged farm areas of 177,743 hectares and affected 164,672 farmers.

On top of agricultural products, prices of inland fish, such as bangus, could go up, too, with El Niño drying up fish ponds intended for cultured farming, according to Lopez.

On the other hand, Lopez said catch of marine fish is sufficient and the government sees no reason to augment prices on this segment.

He added it was reported to the price

council that prices of tamban, the main input for sardines, could go down, as well.

In spite of the forecasted lowering of tamban prices, the trade chief said sardine makers are asking the trade department to approve an increase of P0.25 to P0.50 for canned sardines.

Tamban is the main input for canned sardines, and accounts for 47 percent of total production cost.

It used to be sold at P19 per kilo, but is now at P32 per kilo to P34 per kilo.

Prices of canned sardines have been going

up the past months, and latest computations reported an average increase of P0.86 among 10 brands of canned sardines.

“We have requests for price increases from sardine makers because they said the cost of their inputs are still high. We will consider a few brands, but not all [because] we have over 20 brands there,” Lopez said.

The government’s price council late Wednesday convened to discuss the impact of El Niño to basic goods, especially how affected inputs, such as tamban and sugar, could take a toll on the prices of processed food.

Philreca justifies ‘financial assistance’ from power co-ops

By Lenie Lectura

@llectura

T

HE Philippine Rural Electric Cooperatives Association (Philreca) said on Thursday that the “financial assistance” which the group admitted it had received from electric cooperatives is “valid and of vital importance for the survival of ECs.” The Philreca said it is engaged in various activities, such as the immediate restoration/rehabilitation of power lines and providing assistance to support ECs stricken by typhoons, flood, earthquakes, fire, and other disasters and calamities.

Organizing these activities, Philreca said, requires funding that should be readily available. “Donations and assistance received by Philreca in the form of advocacy funds are not only valid but also of vital importance for the survival of ECs and the upholding of their interests.”

Allegations hurled by the National Association of Electricity Consumers for Reforms (Nasecore) that “ECs have financially contributed to any party-list organization vying for seats in the May 2019 elections is false and downright malicious. Concerned ECs have denied this and Philreca outrightly discourages this,” said Philreca.

The Nasecore earlier asked the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to cancel the accreditation of Philreca’s party-list groups for receiving campaign contributions from ECs totaling P10 million.

The petition included evidence consisting of a check, deposits slips and board resolutions indicating that ECs have contributed millions of pesos to Philreca, the umbrella organization of electric cooperatives, purposely either “in support of political undertakings of the party-lists represented by Philreca; for [the] legislative endeavor of the Philreca Advocacy Fund; campaign fund for Philreca party-list to support the advocacies and legislative endeavor, and requesting the approval for the supplemental budget of the said campaign fund which are all in blatant violation of Section 95 of the Omnibus Election Code.”

Nasecore also asked Comelec to cancel the registration of the Association of Philippine Electric Cooperatives, Rural Electric Cooperatives Board of Directors Association and Padayon Pilipino because their members and nominees are either general managers or board of directors and officers of ECs. The petition further alleged that the party-lists, “through the representation and facilitation of co-party-list Philreca, abused their power through their influence and positions either as directors, general managers or officers of their respective electric cooperatives and associations, have solicited and received financial contributions from ECs intended for partisan political activity primarily to fund the campaign of their respective party-lists.”

But Philreca downplayed the accusations, saying these are nothing but allegations intended to harass their group.

“What motivates Nasecore to do this political noise [other than to get media mileage for its own campaign purposes] is unclear to us. We certainly hope it has nothing to do with our standoff with Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi, who has been loyally served for years by Pete Ilagan, a former undersecretary of the Department of Energy appointed to office with the backing of Cusi at the onset of his first year in the post.

PSA poverty threshold fits an inmate’s life—Generoso

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NE in every five Filipinos lives a life that fits that of a prisoner or an inmate based on the income that the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) says is the threshold of poverty, a senatorial candidate said on Thursday.

Ding Generoso, former spokesman of the Consultative Committee that drafted a proposed federal constitution, said the P7,337 monthly income that the PSA says is enough to feed a family of five translates to less than P50 for three meals a day for every family member.

“That’s even lower than the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology’s P60 daily budget for food for every inmate,” Generoso said in a news statement.

“If that is the standard of the PSA, life may even be better for prisoners or inmates. At least they don’t have to worry about paying for electricity, water and rent,” said the candidate of the Katipunan ng Kamalayang Kayumanggi.

Generoso was reacting to the PSA’s claim that poverty incidence has gone down based on the results of its 2018 Family Income and Expenditure Survey.

“The threshold family income that the PSA established is ridiculously low and unrealistic,” Generoso said, pointing out that it does not even consider the wave of price increases that took place in 2018.

The PSA said that a family of five needs only P10,481 a month to meet basic food and nonfood needs. Of the total, P7,337 is for food or P48 per day per person.

“But even the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI) has determined that in 2015, a Filipino would need at least P88 a day to meet calorie and nutrition requirements—and that’s at prices more than three years ago,” said Generoso.

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Friday, April 12, 2019 A5

Razon group preps master plan for Hanjin site

By VG Cabuag

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@villygc

HE group of billionaire Enrique K. Razon Jr. said they are still preparing for a master plan for his possible acquisition of shuttered shipyard facilities of South Korean Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Philippines in Subic Bay. Razon said at the sidelines of the annual stockholders’ meeting of International Container Terminal

Services Inc. (ICTSI) that they are still making presentations with the creditor banks on their plans when

Trade. . .

Continued from A1

The country only has trade surpluses with three economies—Hong Kong, worth $489.1 million; the United States, $372.75 million; and the Netherlands, $149.53 million. Apart from China, the country has large trade deficits with Korea, $455.88 million; Indonesia, $406.57 million; and Thailand, $354.34 million.

The National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) said this is why the country is pursuing the improvement of its relations with trading partners. This will also enable the Philippines to weather headwinds in the global export market.

“In its effort to strengthen bilateral economic relations, the Department of Trade and Industry recently concluded dialogues with the UK, Hungary and Czech Republic,”Neda Officer in Charge (OIC) and Undersecretary Adoracion M. Navarro said.

The Philippines also signed a memorandum of understanding with Indonesia that could open up the Indonesian market to Philippine agricultural produce, particularly bananas and coconut-based products.

The Neda official added that more exports of agricultural products to Eastern Europe are also under way following the export promotion mission conducted by the Department of Agriculture and private sector representatives in Belarus.

“For the recovery in exports performance, facilitating easier movement of goods is crucial,” Navarro said.

The Bureau of Customs (BOC) earlier issued a memorandum order temporarily banning importers, truckers, brokers and other port stakeholders from returning empty containers to ports, except those covered by a special permit.

Moreover, a joint administrative order is expected to be released this month, which will institutionalize measures to address concerns over high shipping fees and congestion in the Port of Manila and Manila International Container Port.

“While these are positive developments, further actions such as the optimization of the use of the country’s other

Budget. . .

Continued from A1

budget bill, which the Senate had called illegal and unconstitutional. Malacañang has since vowed that the President will review the budget thoroughly and not sign it if it is unconstitutional.

The government is still operating under the reenacted 2018 budget for the meantime that the 2019 budget is still up for the President’s signature and is yet to be effective.

It was only two weeks ago that Senate leaders agreed to withdraw their reservations on the P3.757-trillion 2019 national budget that had left both chambers of Congress deadlocked for two weeks.

Although Senate President Vicente C. Sotto III inked the measure, he also informed the President through a letter transmitting the budget to the Palace that he affixed his signature “with strong reservations,” adding that he was leaving it up to Malacañang to “consider disapproving the unconstitutional realignments, pursuant to his constitutional power to veto” particular items on the budget bill.

Meanwhile, the House has since stood firm that the budget itemization implemented by the lower chamber was within the parameters of the bicameral committee report ratified by

Libya. . .

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or through the “Philippine Embassy in Libya” Facebook Page.

The latest news from Libya said dozens of people have been reported killed and scores more injured in clashes on the edge of Libya’s coastal capital Tripoli after warlord Khalifa Haftar ordered his troops to take the city from the UN-backed government on April 4. The military offensive has pushed Libya to the brink of civil war.

The Tripoli based-government announced on April 7 it was launching a counteroffensive it called Operation Volcano of Anger.

In an earlier announcement, Foreign

they take over the facilities, but ruled out putting up another port facility in the area or maintaining it as a shipyard.

“We don’t want anything to do with shipbuilding. It’s a very large facility, so it will be several [facilities]. The problem is the road is not really good. It’s okay for shipbuilding because they are only there but for other things, the road is the problem,” Razon said.

Building a road wide enough for the container trucks to pass may not be feasible as they need several clearances from the local government unit.

He said they cannot build anoth-

major ports in Batangas and Subic, and streamlining the BOC’s processes are still necessary,” she said.

Trade performance

THE country’s total external trade in goods in February 2019 amounted to $13.14 billion, reflecting an increment of 1.2 percent from the $12.99 billion recorded value during the same month of the previous year.

Of the total external trade, $5.18 billion or 39.4 percent were exported goods, and $7.97 billion or 60.6 percent were imported goods.

The country’s total export sales in February 2019 was $5.18 billion, indicating contraction of 0.9 percent, from the $5.23 billion total export sales in February 2018. Total imports grew 2.6 percent, from $7.76 billion in February 2018 to $7.97 billion in February 2019.

Total receipts from the top 10 major exports amounted to $4.2 billion or a share of 81.1 percent of the total export.

This recorded a contraction of 0.7 percent from the February 2018 export value of $4.23 billion.

Electronic Products continued to be the country’s top export with total earnings of $2.82 billion. This amount, which accounted for 54.4 percent of the total export revenues in February 2019, posted an increment of 0.8 percent, from $2.8 billion export receipt in the same month of the previous year.

Components/Devices or Semiconductors accounted for the biggest share of 38.7 percent, among the electronic products. It contracted by 2.1 percent to $2 billion in February 2019, from $2.05 billion in February 2018.

Meanwhile, the country’s total import bill for the country’s top 10 imports in February 2019 reached to $5.91 billion, an increase of 3.9 percent from the February 2018 import value of $5.69 billion.

Import payments for Electronic Products, valued at $2.04 billion, accounted for the highest total imports with a share of 25.6 percent to the total imports. Import of this commodity group declined by 4.1 percent, from the $2.13 billion posted in February 2018.

Among the electronic products, Components/Devices (Semiconductors) accounted for the biggest contribution of 18.3 percent. It dropped by 1.2 percent, from $1.47 billion in February 2018 to $1.45 billion in February 2019. each chamber.

Aside from the alleged post-ratification changes made by the House leadership, the passage of the 2019 budget was delayed for a number of issues—the alleged P75-billion budget insertions to the budget of the Department of Public Works and Highways by then-Budget Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno and the lawmakers’ opposition to the Department of Budget and Management’s move to undertake a “revolutionary shift” from obligation-based budgeting to cash-based budgeting system.

The budget impasse was also among the reasons which forced the government to revise downward its growth targets this year and in 2020.

During its 175th meeting, the Development Budget Coordination Committee scaled down the GDP growth target for the year to 6 to 7 percent, from the previous 7 to 8 percent. Economic growth next year is projected to reach 6.5 to 7.5 percent. The DBCC expects to hit the original growth target of 7 to 8 percent in 2021 and 2022.

The National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) earlier said that a reenacted budget will delay new and ongoing infrastructure projects, as well as the implementation of public services such as Unconditional Cash Transfer and Pantawid Pasada Program. Bernadette D. Nicolas

Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin Jr. said he had raised the alert level in Libya to 3 “but only for Tripoli and adjacent districts plus a 100-kilometer radius.”

One blogger informed Cato in a tweet that some of the OFW working in remote rigs or oilfields, which are not covered by the alert level, “cannot secure OECs [Overseas Employment Certificate] in the Philippines due to some memorandum.”

“Can you check and confirm this one, please?” the blogger requested of Cato, wondering aloud whether the POEA is aware of the embassy’s advisories.

Cato said “it is best to wait for the POEA to deliberate on the DFA Philippines’s Level 3 recommendations for Tripoli and issue the corresponding GBR.” He added, “Let’s cross the bridge when we get there.”

“We don’t want anything to do with shipbuilding. It’s a very large facility, so it will be several [facilities].

The problem is the road is not really good. It’s okay for shipbuilding because they are only there but for other things, the road is the problem.”—Razon

er port as it will compete directly with Manila, where its flagship container port is located and there are already two terminals in Subic Bay that ICTSI also operates.

“The [port] capacity can be as big as you want, but is there enough

volume to build that up?” he said.

“The Philippines is not really competitive in this area [shipbuilding], nothing that the shipyard uses is made in the Philippines; unlike Japan, China and Korea, they make the steel, the machinery, all of that,” he said.

Razon added that his team is “constantly talking” with creditor banks, which would need to dispose of Hanjin’s assets and not run the shipyard themselves.

“If it doesn’t work for us, we’re not going to do it,” he said.

Razon was earlier quoted as a possible white knight to buy Hanjin’s facilities—touted as possibly

useful for either an industrial complex with container port facilities, a liquefied natural gas terminal, dry bulk handling facilities and agricultural support handling.

In January this year, Hanjin filed for corporate rehabilitation before an Olongapo City Regional Trial Court after it defaulted on its loans. It already fired thousands of its work force prior to the filing.

Hanjin owes local banks some $412 million, and another $700 million from overseas creditors mainly from Korea Development Bank ($100 million) and from its parent South Korean firm Hanjin Heavy Industries.

‘Firms may buck higher pay on new poverty data’

By Samuel P. Medenilla @sam_medenilla

E

MPLOYERS will now have more reason to insist on smaller minimum wage rates after the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) pegged the poverty threshold at just P10,481, according to labor groups.

In an interview, Federation of Free Workers (FFW) President Sonny Matula expressed concern over the possible implication of the new poverty threshold during minimum wage consultations.

“This can be used by employers not to increase wages because this is the position of the government. It’s as if the government wants to ‘disarm’ labor groups by releasing the new figure,” Matula said during the Centenary celebration of the International Labor Organization (ILO) on Thursday.

Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) President Raymond Mendoza also raised the same concern. “It gives us the impression that everything is okay and that there’s no need for wage increases because minimum wages are higher

than the [poverty] threshold,” Mendoza said.

Matula added that the new poverty threshold is“unrealistic”and should be subjected to another review. He said the amount is even lower than the P42,000 per month income prescribed by the National Economic Development Authority (Neda) for a family of five.

Citing their own study, Partido Manggagawa (PM) National Chairman Renato Magtubo said that a family of five in the National Capital Region needs P1,300 daily, or P39,000 monthly, to live decently as of May 2018.

A6

The World BusinessMirror

Friday, April 12, 2019

China’s spreading influence in Eastern Europe alarms West L

Editor: Angel R. Calso

Britain’s May faces Parliament after EU grants Brexit extension

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ELGRADE, Serbia—Coalpowered plants, mobile networks, major bridges, roads and railways: Chinese investments have been booming throughout Central and Eastern Europe’s cash-strapped developing countries, even as European Union officials scramble to counter Beijing’s mounting economic and political influence on the continent.

City University of Hong Kong, said there is no evidence to support concerns that Beijing is harboring “neocolonial” goals to exploit Eastern Europe, Africa and other developing economies.

European leaders “ have to somehow show their people they are tr ying to protect national interests,” Tija said.

Major Chinese-led infrastructure projects in the region include a planned high-speed railway from the Hungarian capital, Budapest, to Belgrade in neighboring Serbia. The line will link up with the Chinese-controlled port of Piraeus in Greece as an entry point for Chinese goods to Central and Eastern Europe.

The project has drawn scrutiny from the EU because Chinese state-owned banks would provide financing, and Chinese companies would supply technology and the actual building. That conflicts with EU rules requiring public works to be broken into segments small enough to attract multiple bidders.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, whose own government often has been criticized for antidemocratic policies, says Hungary’s relations with China should be based on “mutual respect.”

Hu nga r y l ast yea r d id not sig n a n EU repor t cr it ic i zing C h ina’s hu ma n-r ights record a nd business pol ic ies.

In Serbia, an EU membership candidate, Chinese companies are building major bridges and highways. They are also constructing a large coal-powered electricity plant even as China is trying to curb pollution at home by implementing renewable energy projects and reducing the use of lignite, by far the most polluting fossil fuel.

Serbian analyst Mijat Lakicevic said the strategically located Balkan country situated between East

and West is a perfect place where “China can realize its economic concept, the way it wants to enter [Eastern European] markets,” without much concern over fair bidding processes or pollution standards.

Bosnia, a potential EU candidate, is at odds with the bloc over its decision to issue a public guarantee for a €600-million ($676 million) loan from China’s ExportImport Bank to expand Bosnia’s largest coal-fired power plant.

EU ’s energ y watchdog has warned that the move could eventually harm Bosnia’s bid to join the EU because the agreement violates EU’s subsidy and environment rules. Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn has said the issue “raises serious questions” about the Balkan country’s “commitment to international treaties [and] European rules.”

Chinese companies are also involved in the construction of a $380-million Peljesac bridge in Croatia, which links two coastal parts over the Adriatic Sea, as well as a highway linking the Adriatic in Montenegro to neighboring Serbia.

In the Czech Republic, the National Cyber and Information Security Agency followed US authorities’ warning against the use of hardware or software m ade by C h i nese compa n ies Huawei and ZTE. That, however, did not change Czech President Milos Zeman’s positive stance toward Huawei.

Zeman publicly criticized the Czech watchdog, saying it harms the Czech Republic’s business interests as it could affect Huawei’s plan to invest $370 million in 5G networks in the Czech Republic.

US officials mounted an international campaign to keep Huawei gear out of any foreign 5G network that might carr y sensitive US intelligence. AP

EU member Croatia is hosting a summit on Thursday between China and 16 regional countries—the eighth so far—that focuses on expanding business and other links between China and the region, which Beijing sees as a gateway into Europe.

The gathering in Dubrovnik of the so-called 16+1 initiative consists of Central and Easter n European countr ies that have endorsed China’s ambitious globa l “Belt and Road ” investment project, which has triggered concerns among some key EU states about increased Chinese political and economic clout in the region.

China has already invested billions of dollars in various infrastructure projects in Central and Eastern Europe. Western leaders worry that further investment in the states that are EU members— or those hoping to join—could mean lower environmental and other standards than those in the rest of the bloc.

Thorny issues include the flouting of EU competition rules, potential over-borrowing by some of the states, the quality of constructions, and security concerns over high-speed 5G network technology

supplied by Chinese companies.

Critics also say that in return for allowing Chinese expansion into the region, Beijing should give better reciprocal access for European companies to Chinese markets.

Top Chinese officials have sought to alleviate EU fears of unfair competition from Chinese state-controlled companies, which benefit from the government’s financial backing. Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed during a recent visit to Paris to work with European leaders to seek fairer international trade rules.

Of the 16 participating countries—Albania, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, and Slovenia—11 are EU member states, and the remaining five want to join.

Beijing has marketed its expanding initiative as a way to give some of Europe’s neediest countries a financial boost, helping them gain access to more trade and investment. That has been mostly welcomed by the Central and Eastern European nations.

Linda Tjia, an expert on Chinese development strategy at the

Russia moves to expand govt control of Internet

Kim’s warning raises stakes for Trump summit with Moon

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OSCOW—Russian lawmakers approved on Thursday a bill that would expand government authority over the Internet and whose opponents fear heralds widespread censorship.

The bill would install equipment to route Russian Internet traffic through servers in the country. That would increase the powers of state agencies and make it harder for users to circumvent government restrictions. The proposed move sparked protests of several thousand people in Moscow last month.

Opponents argue it would allow the state to control the flow of information and enforce blocks on messaging applications that refuse to hand over data.

Advocates say the bill is intended to address concerns that Russia could be cut off if the United States engages in a cyber-security offensive.

The bill passed by 322-15 in a second reading in the lower house of parliament.

The second reading is when amendments are finalized, and is usually the most important. The bill must pass a third reading and the upper house before being signed into law by President Vladimir Putin. AP

A

F R E S H warning from Kim Jong Un—coming just as South Korea’s Moon Jae-in arrived in Washington to meet with US President Donald J. Trump—placed new urgency on the allies’ efforts to restart nuclear talks.

The North Korean leader urged top ruling party members on Wednesday to deal a “severe blow to hostile foreign forces” by resisting sanctions against the country, according to the official Korean Central News Agency. While the report included no direct threat of action, it underscored Moon’s challenge in finding common ground between Kim’s demands for economic relief and Trump’s insistence on greater disarmament commitments.

“North Korea is suggesting that it would close the door to dialogue if the leaders of South Korea and the United States do not show flexibility to sanctions,” said Shin Beomchul, director at the Seoulbased Asian Institute for Policy Studies’ Center for Security and Unification. “The remarks would be quite a burden for President Moon Jae-in. If sanctions are strengthened, North Korea may not return to dialogue for a while.”

Moon hopes a direct appeal at the White House on Thursday can keep his effor ts to build a l a s t i n g p e a ce o n t h e Korean Peninsula from slipping away after Trump walked away from his summit with Kim in Hanoi. Not only would new provocations put Seoul back at risk, Moon has staked much of his presidency on building

ties between South Korea’s closest ally and its increasingly well-armed rival.

M o o n ’s a d m i n i s t r a t i o n r a i s e d expectations for a deal before the February 28 meeting and was caught off guard when the two leaders left Vietnam without an agreement. His approval rating fell to a record low of 41 percent last week, according to Gallup Korea, compared with 83 percent in the wake of his first meeting with Kim last April.

One US administration official said on Wednesday that Trump liked Moon, but believed that the US president and Kim were best positioned to mediate their own relationship. Trump wasn’t convinced that the South Korean leader could bridge the divide after the collapse of the Hanoi talks, said the official, who asked not to be identified discussing the president’s thinking.

The mediator

SOUTH Korean Foreign Minister Kang Ky u n g - w h a , w h o i s w i t h M o o n i n Washington, will meet US lawmakers from a congressional Korea study group next week in Seoul to discuss developments on the peninsula, the ministry said.

“Moon is more determined now than ever to persuade Trump to return to the bargaining table with North Korea,” said David Kim, a research analyst at the Stimson Center and a former official at the US State Department. “Moon has played a critical role in getting these two leaders together and I believe he could pull it off again if they can agree to a process moving forward.”

An immediate concern is discouraging Kim from any actions that could provoke Trump. Nor th Korea is planning to

celebrate the birth of its founder—Kim’s grandfather Kim Il Sung—on Monday, an occasion that the regime has sometimes marked with shows of military might.

Last month, a top Nor th Korean diplomat told reporters that Kim would decide “in a short period of time” whether to continue his freeze on bomb and missile tests. Kim’s latest remarks came during a Workers’ Party of Korea gathering in Pyongyang, in which he stressed the need to maintain “self-reliance” in the face of foreign economic pressure.

North Korea has so far ignored South Korean requests for working-level talks, briefly withdrawing officials from a joint liaison office and criticized Moon’s g ove r n m e nt fo r s u p p o r t i n g U S - l e d sanctions and military drills. The moves signaled that Moon’s achievements since signing a joint declaration with Kim in the demilitarized zone last year could unravel without action.

Lee Do-hoon, South Korea’s top envoy to talks, told a forum on Friday in Seoul that the parties were in a “race against time.”

“If we let time pass by without dialogue or negotiation, the two Koreas and the United States will end up in a situation that does not benefit anyone,” Lee said.

“It is high time that the United States and North Korea get back together.”

Getting talks back on track may require progress on two fronts: Convincing Trump to accept incremental steps short of “complete denuclearization” and getting Kim to agree to an end goal. South Korean officials have expressed the need for a “good enough” or “early harvest” deal that can build momentum—without elaborating on what such an agreement would involve. Bloomberg News

ONDON—A clearly frustrated European Union has given Britain a few more months to find a way out of its Brexit quagmire. Now it’s up to Britain’s squabbling politicians to work out if they can meet the new Halloween deadline.

Prime Minister Theresa May is expected to brief Parliament on Thursday on the results of the emergency EU summit that ended in the early hours with the bloc agreeing an extension to the country’s departure until October 31.

However, her path toward actually taking Britain out of the EU remains unclear.

She is blocked by a strong faction in her own Conservative Party that hates her withdrawal deal and hopes to oust her, and talks aimed at winning support from the opposition Labour Party are moving forward slowly, if at all.

May’s own authority has been gravely compromised by the long Brexit ordeal and she has promised to step down once Britain leaves the bloc—if efforts to get rid of her more quickly do not bear fruit.

Faced with so much uncer tainty, EU leaders whose talks went well after midnight agreed on a new October 31 cutoff date. If no extension was granted, then Britain faced the prospect of crashing out of the EU this Friday with no deal, a scenario that in Parliament worr y would lead to a deep recession as tariffs are imposed on UK exports and other restrictions on trade are imposed.

“Please, do not waste this time,” European Council President Donald Tusk pleaded. He said the EU was giving Britain six more months “to find the best possible solution” to its Brexit impasse.

Like many things related to Brexit, the extension was a messy compromise. May came to an emergency summit in Brussels seeking to postpone Britain’s departure from the EU until June 30. Some European leaders favored a longer extension, while French President Emmanuel Macron was wary of anything but a very short delay.

Leaders of the 27 remaining EU member-states met for more than six hours over a dinner of scallop and cod before settling on the end of October, with the possibility of an earlier Brexit if Britain ratifies a withdrawal agreement.

May said the possibility of leaving before the deadline was a key request of hers.

“I continue to believe we need to leave the EU, with a deal, as soon as possible,” she told reporters.

She noted that if UK lawmakers back her Brexit deal, Britain could still leave by June 30—the Brexit deadline she had requested from the bloc—and possibly as soon as May 22, which would release Britain from having to participate in elections for the European Parliament.

May spoke to the 27 EU leaders for just over an hour, before they met for dinner without her to decide Britain’s fate. In contrast to some testy recent summits, there were signs of warmth, even humor. May and German Chancellor Angela Merkel were filmed laughing over a tablet bearing an image showing the two of them speaking to their respective Parliaments on Wednesday while wearing similar blue jackets.

While many leaders said they were inclined to grant a Brexit delay, Macron expressed reservations, warning as he arrived at the summit that “nothing is decided.”

Afterward, the French president said he was satisfied with the outcome.

“We did the best possible compromise to preserve the unity of the 27 [other EU members] because we have left the United Kingdom more time to deliver a deal,” Macron said.

Tusk said that during the extension B r i t a i n “ w i l l c o n t i n u e i t s s i n c e re cooperation as a full member-state, with all its rights, and as a close friend and trusted ally in the future.”

Several months have passed since May and the EU struck a deal laying out the terms of Britain’s departure and the outline of future relations. All that was needed was ratification by the British and European Parliaments.

But UK lawmakers rejec ted it— three times. A s B ritain’s depar ture date of March 29 approached with no resolution in sight, the EU gave Britain until Friday to approve a withdrawal plan, change course and seek a fur ther delay to Brexit, or crash out of the EU with no deal to cushion the shock.

Economists and business leaders have warned that a ”no-deal” Brexit would lead to huge disruptions in trade and travel, with tariffs and customs checks causing gridlock at British ports and possible shortages of goods. AP

IEA says oil market tightening, but global demand may falter

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LOBAL oil markets are tightening as Opec supply falls, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said, while warning it could lower demand forecasts because of economic threats.

Crude inventories are set to decline for the rest of the year as Saudi Arabia and its partners curb production, while exports from Venezuela and Iran are squeezed by economic and political crises, the agency said in its monthly report. But it cautioned that threats in the world economy, from Europe to emerging markets, could take a toll on fuel consumption. “ The oil market shows signs of tightening as we move into the second quarter of 2019, but we see mixed signals in terms of the outlook for demand,” said the Paris-based agency, which advises most major economies. Risks to demand are “currently to the downside.”

Crude prices have rallied more than 30 percent in London this year and are trading above $71 a barrel as Saudi Arabia spearheads output cutbacks by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies.

Yet, the gains have been capped by fears about global economic growth, which the International Monetary Fund predicts will this year be the weakest since the financial crisis a decade ago.

Global oil supplies declined last month amid another steep drop in Opec output, as the Saudis cut more production than promised and Venezuela’s unintended losses swelled. Supply growth outside Opec also slowed sharply as Canada pared output and the North Sea suffered declines, the IEA said.

A s a re s u l t o f O p e c ’s re s t ra i nt, inventories in developed nations are below their five-year average in terms of the amount needed to cover projected demand, having fallen in February for the first time in four months.

The agency noted that crude-oil inventories will decline by more than 2 million barrels a day in the third quarter, the biggest drop since 2011.

There was a similar, though smaller, reduction in the same period a year earlier as refiners processed more crude to build up stockpiles of fuels ahead of the winter.

Demand risks

NONETHELESS, the IEA warned that clouds are gathering over the outlook for demand.

While the agency kept its estimates for 2019 global consumption growth unchanged, predicting an expansion of 1.4 million barrels a day, or 1.4 percent, it highlighted a number of dangers.

Consumption in developed nations fell in the fourth quarter for the first time since 2014. In addition, concerns persist over the trade dispute between the US and China, the demand recovery in the Middle East remains “modest,” and weakness in European countries could be exacerbated if the UK’s exit from the European Union is “disorderly,” the IEA said.

Further headwinds could also come from the rally in prices, which at $70 a barrel “are less comfortable for consumers than they were at the start of the year,” it added.

“Although the main sources of growth are doing well, there are mixed signals from elsewhere,” the IEA said.

Bloomberg News

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If you have any information / objection to the above mentioned application/s, please communicate with the Regional Director thru Employment Promotion and Workers Welfare (EPWW) Division with Telephone No. 400-6011.

ATTY. ANA C. DIONE, CPA REGIONAL DIRECTOR

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BusinessMirror

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Friday, April 12, 2019 A11

In the ad material of Notice of filing of Application for Alien Employment Permits published on April 2, 2019, the Company name and Address of Mr. Jun, Zhong and Mr. Yifan, Lin should have been read as UNI-TECH PHILS. INDUSTRIAL MACHINERY INC. located at 11/F Ri-Rance Corporate Center, Aseana Enclave, Tambo, Parañaque City and not as published. In the application published on April 5, 2019, the applicant of JINSHENGLONG BUSINESS SUPPORT, INC. should have been read as Mr. Tang, Tiantian and not as published. In the application published on April 6, 2019, the Company name and Address of Mr. Ken, Jianmo should have been read as FIRST GREAT COMPUTER TECHNOLOGIES INC. located at Lot 5 Sta. Agueda Cor. Queensway Pagcor Drive, Sto. Nino, Parañaque, Metro Manila and not as published. and not as published.

If you have any information/objection to the above mentioned application/s, please communicate with the Regional Director thru Employment Promotion and Workers Welfare (EPWW) Division with Telephone No. 400 6011.

ATTY. ANA C. DIONE, CPA REGIONAL DIRECTOR

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Banking&Finance BusinessMirror

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Microinsurance sector grew 14.48% in 2018

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By Rea Cu @ReaCuBM

HE Insurance Commission (IC) reported on Thursday that the country’s microinsurance sector posted growth last year in terms of premium and number of individuals covered.

Based on preliminary data from quarterly reports submitted by insurance companies to the IC, the microinsurance sector posted total premium production of P8.14 billion, while the number of people covered also rose to 38.89 million for 2018.

“Based on the statistical data, we saw that the nonlife- and lifeinsurance sectors showed significant increases in terms of premium production and number of lives covered,” Insurance Commissioner Dennis B. Funa said. “This only proves that microinsurance

in our country continues to grow and is an effective and affordable financial product for the protection of the properties and lives of our countrymen.”

Funa explained that the total premium production as of end-2018 is a 14.48-percent increase from the P7.11 billion total premium production of the sector in 2017.

Broken down, the nonlife sector posted a premium production of P998.97 million in 2018, up 25.78 percent from P794.19 million in 2017.

In terms of premiums produced

History of associations

I

HAVE written many articles in this column on association management and governance, but I have not done one on when and how associations came to be, their role and contribution.

Researching on the history of associations, I came across an article from the web site of the Canadian Society of Association Executives (CSAE) written by Meline C. Batten. This concerns two types of associations: trade associations whose members are organizations and professional societies whose members are individuals.

Below is an excerpt: “Associations find their roots in organizations such as the church, medieval craft guilds and merchant trading groups. The Roman Empire launched the concept of apprenticeships and trade regulation, for example, while 16th-century England was the spawning ground for some of the earliest trade associations with the formation of guilds to protect both the interests of groups of merchants and individual artisans. Guilds provided training in specific skills and established rules for wages and hours of work.

In the early 1800s, mercantilism was the backbone of the American economy, and local governments and the guilds worked in close cooperation.

“The earliest association on record in the United States was the Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York, which was formed in 1768 by 20 merchants; it remains in existence today. Most of the early associations were local, but with the onset of the American Civil War, many regional and national organizations were formed to take advantage of the country’s industrial capabilities.

“Railroads led to ex pansion and new markets for manufacturers, which, in turn, resulted in the formation of more trade associations to ensure fair competition.

By 1900, more than 100 associations had been organized to influence federal and state legislation, to obtain industr y information and to benefit from standardized insurance rates.

“Both World War I and World War II had a profound impact on the number of trade associations. They served as a valuable link between the companies and industries they represented and the various levels of government, and they played a major role in the war effort by encouraging conservation and pro-

Association World Octavio Peralta viding technical specialists to the public service.

Trade associations continued to maintain their essential role as intermediaries with the government even after peace was declared and the economy stabilized.”

The establishment of professional societies is also old, as Batten wrote: “When you examine the earliest known records of humanity, for example the Gospel of [Saint] Luke in the Bible, you can see that some of the professions we know today existed even then and that society held them in high regard. The first scientific society, the Academia Secretorum of Naples, evolved in Europe during the Renaissance in 1560.

Other societies spread throughout Italy and to London and Paris during the next century. The Royal Society of London, probably the best-known scientific society in the world, was founded in 1662 under royal charter.

As labour became more specialized and new occupations emerged, it fell to professional societies to develop methods of testing and evaluation and to assemble their respective bodies of knowledge for future reference. Standards were developed against which professionalism could be measured and degrees of excellence established. As a result, higher standards of professionalism are constantly being established and met.”

For associations here, the past enlightens the present and guides the future.

The contributor, Octavio Peralta, is concurrently the secretary-general of the Association of Development Financing Institutions in Asia and the Pacific (Adfiap), founder and CEO of the Philippine Council of Associations and Association Executives (PCAAE), and president of the Asia-Pacific Federation of Association Organizations (Apfao).

The purpose of PCAAE—the “association of associations”—is to advance the association-management profession and to make associations well-governed and sustainable. PCAAE enjoys the support of Adfiap, the Tourism Promotions Board (TPB) and the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC).

E-mail: obp@adfiap.org.

in 2018, CARD Pioneer Microinsurance Inc. led the nonlife-insurance sector with a market share of 66.89 percent or P668.26 million. Pioneer Insurance & Surety Corp. followed with P194.31 million and Mercantile Insurance Co. Inc. with P94.55 million.

The life-insurance sector posted in 2018 a 6.61-percent increase in premiums produced of P2.58 billion from P2.42 billion in 2017.

Climbs Life and General Insurance Cooperative ranked first in terms of premium production in the life-insurance sector with P1.34 billion, followed by Pioneer Life Inc. with P676.97 million and United Coconut Planters Life A ssurance Cor p. w ith P189.17 million.

Furthermore, the mutual benefit associations (MBAs) sector posted a P4.56-billion contribution for 2018, which saw an increase of 16.92 percent from the P3.90 billion contributed in 2017.

CARD Mutual Benefit Association Inc. remains to be the leader in the MBA sector with a market share of P3.79 billion or 83.06 percent of the P4.56 billion total contributions made by all the members of the MBAs.

Tu l ay sa Pag-u n l ad Mut u a l Benefit Association Inc. ranked second with a recorded contribution of P258.96 million, followed

by Alalay sa Kaunlaran Mutual Benef it A ssoc i at ion Inc. w it h P69.97 million.

Funa also pointed out that the microinsurance sector likewise posted an increase in the number of indiv iduals covered for the year.

“As of end of 2018, the number of individuals covered by some form of microinsurance protection increased by 18.77 percent from the 32.74 million in 2017,” he said.

The life-insurance sector posted the highest increase in the number of individuals covered by microinsurance, growing to 11.85 million as of end-2018 and increasing by 30.21 percent from the 9.10 million individuals covered in 2017.

The MBAs covered a total of 22.75 million individuals as of end 2018, up by 17.69 percent from 19.33 million in 2017.

Meanwhile, the nonlife-insurance sector posted a slight decrease of 0.46 percent in individuals covered to 4.29 million as of end 2018 from the 4.31 million individuals covered in 2017.

Is the economy slowing down? Experts think so

T

HE recent trade numbers are indicative that the economy has been slowing in the past few months, economists from several banks mused.

In a recent commentary on the local trade numbers, ING Bank Manila economist Nicholas Mapa said the narrower trade gap in February—brought about by weaker imports during the month—is a point of concern for the local economy.

“Imports continue to grow, albeit at a more subdued pace in 2019 compared to previous years,” Mapa said.

“The fuel import bill has increased but the slowdown in shipments of raw materials and deceleration in capital goods imports reflects slowing growth momentum and should be a cause of concern.”

The country’s trade gap in February hit $2.79 billion, which is lower compared to the $3.8-billion trade gap in the previous month.

J.P. Morgan economist Sin Beng Ong also noted the slowdown in import momentum and agreed that this is indicative of local demand has shifted to a lower gear.

“The trade data suggests that underlying import momentum remained lackluster and suggests that domestic demand is similarly modest as well,” the economist said. “The delay of this year’s budget and an election spending ban may put a dent in capex momen-

tum in first half of 2019, thus posing downside risk to economic growth.”

Mapa added that the budget delay, which put government projects on hold, has led to the contraction primarily in the importation of construction material.

Several international agencies have earlier slashed their growth forecast of the country mostly on the back of the delay in the budget implementation. The most recent estimate came from the International Monetary Fund (IMF); on Wednesday it said the Philippines is now expected to post a 6.5-percent growth. This is slightly slower than the 6.6 percent as forecasted by the global monetary authority in October last year.

IMF Resident Representative to the Philippines Yongzheng Yang attributed the lower growth forecast to weaker external demand and budget delays.

“We see robust domestic demand continues to drive growth this year,” Yang said in response to reporters’ queries on Wednesday night. “The downward revision mainly reflects weaker-than-expected external demand and lower-than-expected public investment partly reflecting the delay in the approval of the 2019 budget.”

The lower forecast is parallel to their move to downgrade the global economy’s growth projection for 2019, from the 3.9 percent last year to 3.3 percent. Bianca Cuaresma

PHL wants stronger risk financing, insurance vs disasters in Asean

T

HE Philippines is urging member-states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) to strengthen cooperation on disaster-risk financing and insurance (DRFI) strategies, as the region is vulnerable to natural calamities that often lead to loss of lives and economic disruptions that threaten growth.

On behalf of the Philippine government, Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III emphasized the country’s position on DRFI during the recently concluded 23rd Asean Finance Ministers’ Meeting in Chiang Rai, Thailand. Dominguez said that ongoing activities that can be further enhanced through inter-sectoral cooperation, including regional-capacity building on information and experience sharing, awareness and education on DRFI, and open discussions on fiscal risk management.

During the meeting, the finance chief expressed support for Asean’s DRFI initiative of liberalizing catastrophic risk insurance. This, Dominguez explained, not only allows for

greater access to financial services that protect against disaster-risks in the region but also encourages the development of disaster risk information and modeling systems that can be used “to assess the economic and fiscal impacts of natural disasters, including the sharing of disaster risk data and information at the national level.”

The DOF said the Philippines is among the countries in the region most vulnerable to natural disasters, with Supertyphoon Yolanda (Haiyan) in 2013 alone claiming over 6,000 lives and costing the Philippine economy an estimated P571 billion or $12.87 billion in damages, hampering economic growth by about 0.9 percentage points that year, and another 0.3 percentage points in 2014.

In line with this, the Philippines successfully placed on the international market its “Parametric Insurance Policy” with a maximum cover of P20.49 billion that can provide quick liquidity to national and local governments, which took effect on December 19, 2018. Rea Cu

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Editor: Jennifer A. Ng • Friday, April 12, 2019

A13

PHL agri exports seen falling by 20%

S

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

@jearcalas

UPPLY woes and declining world prices could cut earnings from Philippine agricultural exports this year by 20 percent to $4.8 billion, from last year’s $6 billion, according to the Philippine Food Processors and Exporters Organization Inc. (Philfoodex).

Philfoodex President Robero C. Amores said pest infestation, plant diseases and climate change have resulted in lower production of farm products and a reduction in the output of processed food.

For one, the harvest of mango which usually starts in February has been delayed due to weather problems, which Amores said could have an “impact on the output of fresh mangoes and processed products.”

But one of the laggards in terms of export revenue this year would be coconut oil as the glut in vegetable oil caused prices of the country’s top farm export to record a steep cut, Amores said.

“I think we will be recording a deficit in agricultural trade balance. Definitely, we will see the widening of the gap between agricultural exports and imports,” he said in an interview with reporters recently.

“So, total agricultural exports may be lower by 20 percent because of the impact of coconut oil prices,” Amores added.

Ph i l ippi ne e x por t s of coconut

products last year declined by 26.1 percent to $1.515 billion from $2.05 billion, largely due to the collapse in the global prices of vegetable oil. This pulled down the country’s export receipts from coconut oil.

Earnings from coconut oil shipments alone fell to $1.1 billion, from the $1.614 billion recorded in 2017, Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) data showed.

Total agricultural exports last year declined by 8 percent to $6.033 billion, from $6.578 billion in 2017, PSA data also showed.

“Bananas and pineapples are also in short supply because of the impact of climate change and diseases. Demand for these products are growing but we don’t have enough supply,” Amores said.

He said the Philippines should benefit from the trade tensions between the United States and China, but the country is unable to take advantage of this due to lack of supply.

The Philippines ended 2018 with

Who’s winning and losing from coffee’s slump to a 13-year low

C

OFFEE has been among the worstperforming commodities in the past few years as the world became awash with beans, and there are few signs of a meaningful rebound any time soon.

With arabica languishing near a 13year low and robusta futures also performing poorly, there are concerns that the industry’s stability is under threat.

Here’s a look at who’s winning and losing from the rout, from speculators to coffee-shop customers.

Roasters

THE slump means roasters such as the makers of the Maxwell House and Folgers brands, Kraft Heinz Co. and JM Smucker Co., are paying less for their beans. That could benefit margins at companies like Smucker, whose shares have climbed to an one-year high.

“There will be some good money made by large roasters,” said Jeffrey Young at consultant Allegra Strategies Ltd. Still, the benefit may be limited. For example, roaster Jacobs Douwe Egberts indicated that it’s passing savings onto its customers.

Consumers

COFFEE-SHOP drinkers are actually paying more for a cup now than they were in 2011—an espresso at Starbucks Corp.’s United Kingdom stores has risen about 20 percent. But that doesn’t mean they’re necessarily getting a raw deal, Allegra’s Young said.

“Coffee represents a very small cost of all the costs of running a coffee shop,” he said. Rents and equipment have gone up in price, while other ingredients and currency movements also impact the cost

of a cup of coffee.

Still, some food outlets are using the rout as an opportunity to lock in purchases at low prices, said Marcus Swift, commercial director at coffee roaster UCC Europe Ltd., which supplies McDonald’s Corp. and Greggs Ltd.

Money managers

SPECULATORS have been betting on declines in arabica since August 2017, and the wager has paid off for those who stuck with it, with prices slumping about 30 percent since then.

Money managers are betting that prices will fall further still. Their netshort position is at a six-month high, the latest United States government data show. Arabica futures are down 7.5 percent this year at 94.20 cents a pound in New York.

Farmers

LIKE every industry, low prices are bad news for producers. In some coffee-growing countries, the market price of arabica is below the cost of production, and it’s hard for farmers to suddenly switch to other crops. That’s because coffee trees last several years once planted.

Growers in Vietnam, a key robusta producer, have been hoarding beans while they wait for prices to improve, according to shipper Intimex Group.

In Honduras, low prices are preventing growers from harvesting all their crop because they can’t pay pickers or cover the cost of input such as fertilizers, according to the National Association of Coffee Exporters.

The “real victim” is the coffee farmer, Young said. Bloomberg News

an agricultural trade deficit of $7.312 billion, 41 percent higher than the $5.183 billion recorded deficit in 2017, as the country imported more farm products last year, PSA data showed.

Total agricultural imports last year rose by 13.46 percent to $13.345 billion, from $11.761 billion as the country was forced to purchase

more goods abroad to temper inflation.

The country’s total agricultural trade last year reached $19.67 billion, 7.25 percent higher than the $18.34 billion recorded amount in 2017, PSA data showed.

In the fourth quarter of 2018 alone, the PSA reported that export receipts reached $5.23 billion, 15.9 percent higher than the $4.51

billion recorded in the same period of 2017.

PSA data indicated that the Philippines enjoyed a trade surplus of $224.10 million with Japan in the fourth quarter of 2018. But the country incurred trade deficits with Australia ($84.81 million), US ($473.83 million), Asean ($987.37 million) and member-countries of the European Union ($96.20 million).

A14 Friday, April 12, 2019 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

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editorial

Holy Week, finally

T

ATTOOS on the back of local politicians.

Aborted jet-ski rides to Panatag Shoal. Teeth and bones from 50,000-year-old “Filipinos.” It has been an interesting news week in the Philippines. Thank goodness the Holy Week holiday is just beyond the weekend. And we could not be any happier.

The first quarter of 2019 has not been quiet by any stretch of the imagination. That is not to necessarily say that everything has been “bad news.” But there has hardly been a dull moment. Christmas week is usually a time to reflect on the previous year. Between Christmas and New Year’s Day is a time to consider what the coming year will hold. Holy Week might be a good time to slow things down a bit and both look back and look forward.

This year is different, of course, because it is a midterm election year. There are several dynamics that are worth mentioning. By conventional wisdom, the Senate election is supposed to be somewhat of a referendum on the current administration. If so, then the latest Social Weather Survey with 79 percent of adult Filipinos satisfied, 8 percent undecided and 13 percent dissatisfied with the performance of Rodrigo R. Duterte as President may decide the Senate races.

Another interesting development is that the opposition has been unable to focus a message of policy changes that would sway the electorate. If so, “opposition” candidates would have a better showing in the opinion surveys. It would appear that while there is viable dislike about Duterte the person, there is definitely trust in “Duterte the President.” This may be an indication that the tired mantra that Philippine politics is personality-driven is not necessarily valid. Even on issues like the Philippines’s relations with China and a strong distrust of that country, the people seem to trust the administration’s handling of the situation.

James Carville, the lead strategist of the presidential campaign of Bill Clinton, reminded the Clinton campaign people that there were three items of focus, one being “The economy, stupid.” As 2019 began, great worries and great rhetoric focused on “killing inflation” and a ‘“collapsing peso.” Neither gloom-and-doom forecast came true. Inflation is going down and the Philippine peso is stable, if not necessarily growing stronger against the dollar.

The many—yes, many—problems facing the nation are not going to be solved or even substantially diminished quickly.

And the people deserve better. However, the one thing the people do deserve that they are not receiving is respect.

If there has been one theme in 2019 from many sources, it is that the people are not very wise either in their voting choices or with their view of their country. With Holy Week coming, it might be good to note that it was the religious and political elite that brought Jesus of Nazareth to his death sentence.

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TELLTALES

W

E should give credit to the drug lords and drug runners for their creativity and aptitude in trafficking and smuggling illegal drugs into our country. They have used countless ways to bring in illegal drugs through our airports and seaports. In the recent drug haul involving 276 kilograms of shabu worth P1.8 billion, the illegal substance was stashed in 1-kilogram tea packs. The contraband was shipped to Manila from Vietnam and was believed to be manufactured by a Chinese drug syndicate, which was also responsible for smuggling drugs recently seized by anti-narcotics agents in Alabang Village and at a shopping mall in Muntinlupa City.

For months now, our fishermen and residents in coastal areas have found blocks or caches of drugs wrapped in floating devices in the open seas. Who dropped off the “floating cocaine bricks” valued at almost a billion pesos remains a puzzle to PDEA. The drug packages were found in the waters of Quezon, Camarines Norte and some towns in the Visayas. These incidents happened only in Philippine waters. Finding these bricks has become so common that authorities have offered a sack of rice for every block of drugs surrendered. I wonder if anyone has been enticed by the grossly inequitable exchange rate. The lucky finders must be trading it instead in the black market. The BSP or SEC should issue some regulations on this.

If only these criminal minds are put to productive and legitimate ends, our logistics and distribution system shall be the envy of everyone. nnn

THE slain 16-year-old girl in LapuLapu City, Christine Silawan, was finally laid to rest on March 23, 2019, in her hometown of Cordova, Cebu, two weeks after her brutal death.

It will be recalled that the victim’s mother vowed that her daughter’s

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nnn

I AM heartened to know that “incorruptibility” is the top trait that appeals most to the voters in selecting their candidates for elective office.

In an SWS survey commissioned by lead convenor Dindo Manhit of Democracy Watch and President of Stratbase ADR Institute, Filipino electorates say that they will vote for

Bridging the gap in social protection and socioeconomic policies in Asean

In 2013, the Asean came up with a sweeping Declaration on Strengthening Social Protection, which cites all UN conventions on economic and social rights that citizens should be able to get. There are other Asean Declarations: An Asean Declaration on Ageing: Empowering Older Persons in Asean, an Asean Declaration on Strengthening Family Institutions, an Asean Declaration on the Enhancement of the Role and Participation of Persons with Disabilities, and an Asean Declaration on the Enhancement of the Welfare and Development of Asean Women and Children. Today, the Asean has been organizing numerous ministerial meetings on how to push social

Dr. Rene E. Ofreneo

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body shall not be buried until the criminal is arrested. The suspect, allegedly the suitor of the victim, was finally arrested at his home in Maribago, Lapu-Lapu City, on March 16. The family, relieved by the arrest of the suspect, had decided to bury their dead thinking that the wheels of justice have finally begun to grind. Ironically, the suspect was released on the day her victim was buried because he was arrested without a warrant. The NBI agents have bungled the arrest by apprehending the suspect without securing a warrant of arrest. Earlier on, the police apprehended a fall guy. A comedy of errors following a tragedy. So what else is new? I can only commiserate with the victim’s family. Should the interred body be exhumed and then reburied when the suspect is legally arrested?

senatorial candidates who will not be corrupt. Twenty five percent of those surveyed claimed that this is the top quality of a senatoriable they would support. I trust that this sentiment will be reflected in the final results of the voting. We have every reason to hope that our country is not after all going to the dogs, not to the crocodiles, to put it mildly.

The Philippines is the 99th leastcorrupt country out of 175 countries, according to the 2018 Corruption Perceptions Index recently reported

by Transparency International. This means that we are the 76th-most corrupt country in the world. The least corrupt countries are Singapore and Switzerland.

The Philippine government has been saddled by major corruption scandals, which had eventually cost the incumbent presidents their office. The “Golden Orinola” was a major election issue against President Elpidio Quirino when he sought reelection, which was won

by Ramon Magsaysay. The jueteng and number-games scandal caused the downfall of President Erap. The Stonehill affair was President Macapagal’s waterloo.

In 1962, the Stonehill scandal —named after the American businessman Harry Stonehill—was an alleged case of bribery implicated top government officials, including then-President Diosdado Macapagal, former President Carlos P. Garcia and future President Ferdinand Marcos. The scandal was exposed by then-Secretary of Justice Jose W.Diokno, when he raided the offices of Stonehill and arrested the American businessman and his business partners. Among the documents seized was a “blue book” that allegedly listed money given to several high-level government officials, including Garcia, Macapagal and Marcos. President Macapagal ordered Stonehill to be deported, which sparked public protests and accusations of a cover-up.

Diokno, who was eager to prosecute

Part Two

I

N Southeast Asia in the meantime, the Thaksin universal health care initiative has also gained wider acceptance in some countries, in Indonesia and the Philippines in particular. Social protection has also become a major Asean theme since 2007, when the Asean Charter was adopted. Thus, there has been a proliferation of social protection programs being bandied around or being proposed, with the World Bank and ADB coming in now as the social protection champions.

Stonehill and his cohorts for the crimes of tax evasion, economic sabotage and other offenses, was removed from his position by President Macapagal. In objecting to Stonehill’s deportation, Diokno exclaimed: “How can the government now prosecute the corrupted when it has allowed the corruptor to go?” It was a serious blot on the public records of the Poor Boy from Lubao who, until then, was dubbed “Macapagal the Incorruptible”. nnn

LINCOLN once said: “If you want to test a man’s character, give him power.” Indeed, how many distinguished men and women have betrayed their own people when given the privilege of wielding power and influence? Lord Acton has reminded us that “power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” nnn

AN influential and wealthy businessman and his close friend, a Cabinet member, met at a party.

Seated next to each other at the table, the businessman whispered to his friend: “I need your help to get a job for my son. He’s a 27-yearold bum, does not work and loves to hang around with his college friends all day. He’s a disgrace to the family.” His friend replied: “That’s not a problem. Tomorrow he can start as my undersecretary and get a salary of P150,000 a month.” “That’s too good for him. He does not deserve it,” answered the businessman. “Ok, then. What about a position of assistant secretary with a monthly pay of P130,000?” the Cabinet secretary whispered back. “No, what I have in mind is a lowly position with a meager pay of P18,000 so that he can appreciate the value of money, learn from the job and over the years get promoted after he proved himself,” the businessman declared. The secretary dejectedly replied: “I’m sorry I cannot help you. That position will require passing a Civil Service Examination and the admission test of the office.”

protection through the Asean Strategic Framework on Social Welfare and Development (2016-2020).

At the level of the individual Asean members, political leaders also talk endlessly on the need for social protection—universal health care, education, pension for the retirees, social assistance to the disabled, etc.— for the poor and those in the margin of society. The only limit is budget that can be allotted for this purpose, or money that can be borrowed from the World Bank, ADB and other aid givers, again for this purpose.

And this is precisely the problem.

See “Ofreneo,” A15

Opinion BusinessMirror

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Do we need to liberalize sugar imports?

APOLOGIES, APOLOGIES TO TANIZAKI AND ALL GREAT JAPANESE WRITERS

Tattooing the land

Tito Genova Valiente

Philip Arnold Tuano PhD

EAGLE WATCH

I

N the past year, the government has initiated moves to liberalize sugar imports in the country; last September, for the first time, the Sugar Regulatory Administration, the government agency in charge of the industry, decided to allow the importation of a large volume of refined and raw sugar (up to 200,000 metric tons) at one instance. And then again in the following month, it had allowed an additional importation of 100,000 metric tons. This comes as sugar prices have declined slightly from their highs of an average of P65 per kilo for refined quality sugar early this year to around an average of P59 per kilo in March, according to the SRA. The move to liberalize sugar prices is being undertaken as the relatively high prices of sugar in the country have hurt food manufacturing and other industries. Comparing the Philippines with other major producers in the region, including Thailand and Vietnam, shows that the Philippines’s cost of production is around two or three times higher than its regional counterparts. While the producer prices of sugar, according to the Food and Agricultural Organization, in the Philippines is around 67.6 US cents per kilogram, it is around 20.9 US cents in Thailand and 44.7 US cents in Vietnam.

This results in higher retail prices in the country compared to our Asean neighbors; retail prices in Thailand are around 23.5 Thai baht (around P39) per kilo, while in Vietnam, retail prices are around 7,000 to 7,500 Vietnamese dong (around P16 to P17) per kilo.

The cost of production of sugar is relatively high in the country, which is attributed to poor production and farming practices. A study undertaken in 2009 by Dr. Marietta Dina Padilla-Hernandez, among others, attributes weak efficiency in sugar farms to poor application of inputs, specifically fertilizers and seeds, which, in turn, can be affected by the extension education services, the lack of credit and little knowledge of soil management practices. The lack of mechanized services and the fragmentation of farms, according to the study, may have hurt. Milling and refining has also generally remained costly, as most of the large mills in the country are more than 30 years old, even if several are being modernized and there is some new investment in the industry.

But similarly, responsible for weak production is that the government has kept prices high by allowing tariffs to remain high in sugar compared to other agricultural products or even commodities in general. At the same time, the government has allowed the sugar regulatory body, the SRA, to maintain the quedan system—the marketing allocation system for sugar—and by providing

Ofreneo. . .

continued from A14

The issue of social protection, now accepted and articulated by government officials, has become a question of budgetary allocation. The deeper problem on why there are so many poor and so many are on the margins is not being addressed fully. More important, neoliberal policies that are in place and the neoliberal thinking that still dominates general economic policy formulation are not being questioned.

For example, the privatization of public services such as water and electricity, instead of being kept in the hands of the government to ensure universal access for all, is still a priority program in many countries. These are usually bundled under what the technocrats call as the public-private partnership, a scheme pioneered in London under Margaret Thatcher. Under the PPPs or their hybrid forms in Southeast Asia, the big private service providers are able to transform natural monopolies into private sector monopolies.

As a result, inequality is deepening and the exclusion of the many is being exacerbated.

only a small window for food processors to import sugar for their use. The marketing allocation system implicitly limits the amount of sugar that can be sold in the domestic market.

A study that I undertook a few years ago showed that by reducing limits on sugar importation and the reform of the quedan system would increase output in the downstream industries by more than P3 billion; counting the effects on other industries would also double that amount in total.

Clearly allowing increased competition in the Philippine sugar industry would improve efficiency and increase production output, given that a large percentage of our manufacturing is based on food processing, which is dependent also on sugar. However, the government should also extend efforts to help sugar producers modernize and improve sugar output in the country.

One of the lessons that have been learned in terms of liberalization in the country is that it is important also to support the producers in this regard.

One of the reforms that could have benefited the sugar industry is the Sugar Development Fund, which is mandated by the Sugar Industry Development Act of 2015. A total of P2 billion has been mandated to be provided to improve the efficiency of sugar producers, including farm to market roads, scholarships, block farm development (a scheme to consolidate management of smaller sized farms) and provide for shared service facilities.

However, the bureaucracy has been having difficulties in implementing projects under this scheme and, thus, one fourth of this amount has been provided in 2019 due to low utilization, especially the block farm development and for the shared facilities. Thus, while sugar imports may provide a short-term solution to improve competitiveness in the sugar industry, a clearer master plan is needed in order to improve production in the country.

Friday, April 12, 2019 A15

ANNOTATIONS

P

RESENTLY, our world is ruled by tattoos. Our morality, our sense of what is good and what is evil rests triumphantly on how we are able to convince great men, or those whose greatness has been contrived by a government that is full of trickster of conjurers, to show us they have clean bodies first, never mind the soul.

Here we are contemplating on truth and all that depends on whether a man indeed has a tattoo that is going to free us all. Truth after all can set us free, so a tattoo can lead to freedom. I know, my logic is twisted but who cares. We have become freaks.

We have become mutants of who we were. In ideal times, I could while away meditate on blues and tango music. But these are tough times and so I want to bring you to a period of violence and pain, but one that was more elegant and refined.

This happened many years ago, a thousand cultures away. This is a story called The Tattooer, written by the great Tanizaki Jun’ichiro.

Let these few lines from that story of a great tattooer speak to us first.

From among the bottles and needles on his shelf Seikichi selected a vial containing a powerful narcotic.

The narrative continues: …Having fetched his tattooing instruments from the shelf, Seikichi uncovered the girl’s body and began to apply to her back the point of his pen, held between the thumb, ring finger and little

finger of his left hand. With the needle, held in his right hand, he pricked along the lines as they were drawn…. It was as if the tattooer’s very spirit entered into the design, and each injected drop of vermillion was like a drop of his own blood penetrating the girl’s body.

He was quite unconscious of the passage of time. No one came and went, and the quiet spring day moved gradually toward its close. Indefatigably Seikichi’s hand pursued its work without ever waking the girl from her profound slumber.

Presently the moon hung in the sky, pouring its dreamy light over the rooftops on the other side of the river. The tattoo was not yet half done. Seikichi interrupted his work to turn up the lamp, then sat down again and reached for his needle.

Now each stroke demanded an effort, and the artist would let out a sigh, as if his own heart had felt the prick. Little by little there began to appear the outline of an enormous spider. As the pale glow of dawn entered the room, this animal of diabolic mien spread its eight legs over the entire surface of the girl’s back.

The Tattooer soon finished his task: …And at last Seikichi brought himself to

put down his brush. Standing aside, he studied the enormous female spider tattooed on the girl’s back, and as he gazed at it, he realized that in this work he had indeed expressed the essence of his whole life. Now that it was completed, the artist was aware of a great emptiness.

“To give you beauty I have poured my whole soul into this tattoo,” Seikichi murmured. Never again will you know fear, as in the past. All, all men will be your victims...”

Did she hear his words? A moan rose to her lips, her limbs moved. Gradually she began to regain consciousness, and as she lay breathing heavily in and out, the spider’s legs moved on her back like those of a living animal.

“Master, let me see the tattoo on my back! If you have given me your soul, I must indeed have become beautiful.”

She spoke as in a dream, and yet in her voice there was a new note of confidence, of power.

From that dark, elegant world of Japanese literature, let us move to our world. It is still dark, it is not so elegant because politics is never elegant, it is vulgar. How would Tanizaki put it? Or how would Tanizaki put it as I imagined him putting it, in words that are less of his than more of me reared in the dirt of this republic?

Here is how it goes: The Ruler of the Land, he with the Legendary Prick, looked at the candidates with tattoos on their back: Standing aside, he studied the enormous female spider tattooed on their back, and as he gazed at it, he realized that in this work he had indeed expressed the essence of his whole (terrible) life. Now that it was completed, the artist was aware of a great emptiness. (But of course, he was always empty.)

The short story ends with lines that are terrific demonstrations of how the

Implement the E-Nipas Act

The author is associate chairman at the Ateneo de Manila economics department.

But our expression in giving the environment importance does not end with these actions. As citizens, it is our duty to make sure that the government implements environmental laws, not because it is what must be done, but because we have the right to a healthy environment, and nature has its own honor that we must respect against destructive actions.

An example of these laws is Republic Act 11038 or the Expanded National Integrated Protected Areas System Act

known as the E-Nipas Act, signed by President Duterte in June 2018. It is called “expanded” since it extends or expands the currently implemented Nipas Act of 1992 that gives protection to 113 protected areas. These areas are protected because of their significant importance to the lives of animals, plants and even humans. However, only 13 of these protected areas covered by the Nipas law have their own separate laws that give even better protection.

Some 94 areas have been added under the E-Nipas Act. If this gets approved, the funding will be used for the programs in preserving and caring for these protected areas. Anyone who violates these laws will be punished. It is only a matter of time before the implementing rules and regulations or IRR of the E-Nipas Act will be published in order for it to be fully implemented.

Our country is truly blessed with biological diversity. This means an abundance of plant life and animals (or flora and fauna) can be found in our oceans and forests. According to studies, the island of Luzon has the “greatest concentration of unique mammals” in the whole world. It is regretful that there are continuous threats against the protected areas in our country because of our ignorance and irresponsibility, especially in fending off the destructive businesses and industries like quarrying, mining, logging and illegal fishing.

It is our responsibility to preserve and protect our surroundings and the environment, not only for our own needs but also for the correct flow of life in our planet. We must remember that

Worse, programs or policies that are anti-poor deepen poverty and the lack of social protection for them. Example: many peasants, indigenous people and rural poor are being displaced due to the rapacious land accumulation programs of the big land developers, the big agribusiness investors and the members of the national elite who want to get the best lands. In this process, the displaced become the “floating population” of poor circulating within countries. They join the huge army of the informals, who constitute two-thirds of the labor force in most countries.

They include the home-based workers, the street vendors, the informal transport workers/operators and the coastal fisherfolks. Most of the informals do not get adequate social protection, only paltry social assistance programs that are dependent on limited budgetary allocations of the government.

In the formal labor market, there are also problems. The army of the precariat continues to grow, partly because of the efforts of neoliberal economists and corporations to pressure the governments to maintain labor flexibility policy, meaning workers can hire or fire workers at will. The nonstandard or nonregular paid workers, who outnumber

the regulars, are often not given formal employment contracts nor are they enrolled by their employers in the social security system.

To complete the labor market picture, the floating population of displaced landless rural poor and jobless urban poor is supplemented by the floating population of migrant workers crossing borders. There are varied estimates on their number. In Southeast Asia, the biggest destination countries are Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand.

A number of migrants are doing well.

But majority, who occupy the low-end jobs shunned by the nationals of the destination countries, are in the most vulnerable position, with limited access to legal and social protection assistance. Again, increased migration is largely the outcome of poor economic policies at home, while those using migrants’ services are able to restrain wage increases in their own countries.

So how then do we wipe out poverty and provide social protection for all given the foregoing?

In the Asean, the good thing is the rising awareness within policy circles on the importance of providing universal social protection, starting with universal health care. The sad thing: all this is

treated as a funding or budgetary issue.

There are numerous meetings and workshops on social protection or various aspects of social protection such as the systems of delivering services, packaging the services and so on. But rarely is there an exhaustive and serious discussion on the root causes of poverty and social exclusion.

And yet, the reality is that universal and adequate social protection is not possible if there are no meaningful social and economic reforms to ensure that economic growth is inclusive, balanced and sustainable. The point is that a program of social protection should be part of a bigger transformation program. It means discarding the neoliberal assumption that growth automatically trickles down to the benefit of the poor.

There should be a needed rethinking and transformation too of the overall design of regional and global integration. Why should countries at different levels of development be subjected to uniform rules for the rich and poor countries?

Each country, given the level of its development, should be given the freedom to determine its development priorities based on the principle of special and differential treatment.

Socioeconomic transformation

programs should be synchronized too with programs dealing with transitions —just transition in addressing problems of the environment and climate change risks and just transition to prepare the people on the impact of rapid technological change under the ongoing Fourth Industrial Revolution. On the environment, climate change risks are mounting everywhere and decimating agriculture, water systems and so on.

On the other hand, the technology revolution is subverting Factory Asia, which is based on international subcontracting initiated by the multinationals in car, electronics and so many industries. Some institutions, including ironically the ILO, are talking of scaling up developing countries’ participation in the global value chains when the reality is that these GVCs are now being reconfigured because of robotization and automation. Also, there is no way the laggards can graduate to a higher level of development if they simply tie their fate to the coattails of the GVCs of the MNCs. So, it is an urgent task for governments and the working peoples to come up with just transition programs for the environment and the technology revolution. Just here means just

Rev. Fr. Antonio Cecilio T. Pascual

SERVANT LEADER

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ROTHERS and sisters, there have been a consistent number of cleanup drives in Manila Bay and its tributaries. And we expect more of these projects related to the rehabilitation of Manila Bay in April, known as “Earth Month.” Meanwhile, Earth Day is on the 22nd of April, a day dedicated by the government to inform Filipinos about the severity of the destruction of our environment and to remind us of our responsibility to preserve it.

Japanese have mastered the art of the subtle and elliptical: “Let me see your tattoo,” he told her.

“Show me your tattoo.”

Without a word, she inclined her head and unfastened her dress. The rays of the morning sun fell on the young girl’s back and its golden gleam seemed to set fire to the spider.

Now imagine these lines and picture a scenario where the media of the land have all gathered in front of the white-skinned factotum, he with the voice of loyalty to the boss. The former assistant has turned around and has started to pull over his head his shirt.

Now let us pilfer the words of Tanizaki as he closes his short story: “Let me see your tattoo,” the eager reporters told him. “Show me your tattoo.”

Let us continue pilfering with our Tanizaki ways even as we change pronouns: Without a word, he inclined his head and removed his shirt. The rays of the morning sun fell on the man’s back and its golden gleam seemed to set fire to the spider.

In Tanizaki’s, the Tattooer is gone at the end of the narrative. In our story, the media have taken his place: And as the back is revealed, the oh-so white back of the man, a red spot was seen on the upper part of the back near the shoulder.

“Something was abraded, removed!” the woman very near the man shuddered.

“Ventosa, ay Ventosa,” chorused the others.

See, not even good literature can save our back.

[The translation of The Tattooer, which I used is by Ivan Morris]

E-mail: titovaliente@yahoo.com.

everything is connected in this planet of over 7 billion people. Every living thing created by God is related, which is why it is important to consider the life of every creation.

The preservation of our environment and nature is not only meant for the use and consumption of the current generation but of those that follow. We inherited from previous generations the current situation we live in that is developing because of good action; we are responsible to enrich the creation for the coming generations.

This is why, brothers and sisters, instead of just keeping our surroundings clean, we must preserve nature and observe the proper implementation of the environmental laws like the E-Nipas Act. We must use this law to deter those who don’t care about the destruction of the environment just to earn a profit.

transformation programs involving the people every step of the way. For example, cleaning a coastal area should not lead to the displacement of the coastal fishing community but should enable the community to become partners and keepers of clean coastal areas while building a prosperous fishing community.

Clearly, so much has to be done. The task of securing universal, adequate and comprehensive social protection for all cannot be reduced to a mere question of creating the fiscal space for this such as generating new taxes. The most basic is how to align social and economic policies in support of inclusion and sustainability by abandoning the neoliberal development straitjacket, and by abandoning the regional and global Race to the bottom in the treatment of workers and resources of a country. We need to embrace a new paradigm of regional and global integration, where people are truly at the center of development.

Make it a habit to listen to Radio Veritas 846 Ang Radyo ng Simbahan in the AM band, or through live streaming at www.veritas846.ph and follow its Twitter and Instagram accounts @veritasph and YouTube at veritas846.ph. For your comments, e-mail veritas846pr@gmail.com.

(Above was the speech delivered by the author in the International Conference on Universal Social Protection and Labor organized by Asia-Europe People’s Forum and Nepal’s Integrated Development Society.

Held in Kathmandu, April 4 to 6, 2017.)

2nd Front Page BusinessMirror

A16 Friday, April 12, 2019

Duterte may raise Chinese boats’ Pag-Asa swarm with Xi

By Bernadette D. Nicolas

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@BNicolasBM

OTHING will stop Malacañang from asserting Philippine sovereignty, especially in the West Philippine Sea, as it declared on Thursday the matter is “nonnegotiable.”

Presidential Spokesman and Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador S. Panelo said this in a chance interview following reports of Chinese vessels hanging around Kota (Loaita) Island, Panata (Lonkiam Cay) Island and PagAsa (Thitu) Island.

During the Palace briefing, Malacañang said the President may raise the issue of Chinese vessels in the Philippine-occupied PagAsa Island during his attendance at the Second Belt and Road Forum in China this April 24 to 27.

According to Panelo, Duterte and Chinese President Xi Jinping will be holding a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the forum.

Asked if the President is expected to raise the issue during the Duterte-Xi meeting, Panelo said: “Maybe that will come out of their talk. Maybe they [China] will be the one to respond to [the issue there] because we have already raised it, right?”

The Philippines recently filed a diplomatic protest over the pres-

ence of more than 200 Chinese vessels near Pag-Asa Island. However, it has yet to receive a reply from the Chinese side.

The government has since been issuing strongly worded statements on the presence of Chinese vessels, including the “rare” instance when the President told Beijing to “lay off” Pag-Asa, the biggest in the Kalayaan Island Groups that is a municipality of Palawan.

The Department of Foreign Affairs has also issued a statement that the presence of Chinese vessels near the island is “illegal” and violates Philippine sovereignty.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin Jr. said in a tweet that inaction by the Chinese officials on the swarming by hundreds of supposed fishing vessels near Pag-Asa indicates that Beijing sanctions the illegal action.

Nonetheless, Panelo said that despite the protest, the Philippine government is still being “diplomatically kind” to them at the same time that the country is asserting its sovereignty, and reiterated its call for China to leave the Philippine territory.

“We are kind in the sense that

”...You know, we are supposed to be friends.

And as the President says, ‘Friends don’t do that.’ If we are friends, we should be friendly in terms of our actions.”—Panelo

we are courteous to them, but with respect to the sovereignty issue, that’s a different story. We have to assert our sovereignty,” he said. “…You know, we are supposed to be friends. And as the President says, ‘Friends don’t do that.’ If we are friends, we should be friendly in terms of our actions,” he added.

When Duterte assumed office in 2016, the Philippines sought warmer relations with China despite the maritime dispute in the West Philippine Sea, which Manila raised in 2013 before a United Nations arbitral tribunal, where it got a favorable ruling. Although the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration issued a landmark decision in 2016 invalidating China’s “excessive” claims to the West Philippine Sea, China has opted not to recognize the arbitral ruling.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

DFA’s man in Libya asks OFWs: Leave conflict areas

By Recto Mercene @rectomercene

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HE Philippines’s Head of Mission to Libya on Thursday appealed several times to overseas Fi lipino workers (OFWs) in that war-ravaged country to either leave Tripoli, the center of conflict, or join those who choose to be repatriated, “because the fighting that is now taking place in the outskirts of the capital is expected to intensify further and put them at serious risk.”

“We are making these appeals to our kababayan in Tripoli, while we are still in a position to assist. Once the fighting reaches the capital, our capacity to respond to requests for assistance would be severely affected,” tweeted Chargé d’affaires Elmer Cato.

In another tweet, he said: “We also reiterate our appeal to our kababayan in Tripoli and surrounding areas to have themselves and their dependents repatriated while we still can.”

The envoy reported that 18 OFW were evacuated by their employers to a safer location outside Tripoli, while 12 Filipinos have expressed interest to be repatriated.

Cato urged those who choose to remain in Tripoli, “please continue

to remain vigilant and to exercise extreme caution.”

“Those working or living near areas where the fighting is taking place should remain indoors and restrict their movement. They are to make sure they have enough food, water and other provisions to last several days and heed the instructions of their employers.”

He said the OFWs are “strongly advised against taking part or even going near any public demonstrations or armed formations,” and were told to refrain from making social-media comments about the political situation in the country.

“Filipinos who may be affected by the travel restrictions resulting from the declaration of Alert Level 3 in Tripoli and its surrounding areas should reserve their queries until after the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration [POEA] issues the corresponding Governing Board Resolution [GBR] and its implementing guidelines.”

The diplomat said Filipinos in need of urgent assistance, including emergency shelter, may contact the Philippine Embassy in Tripoli through the numbers +218-91824-4208 or +218-94-454-1283, See “Libya,” A5

Companies BusinessMirror

Editor: Efleda P. Campos

CLI posts ₧2.17-billion profits in 2018 due to improved sales

By Roderick L. Abad

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Contributor

@rodrik_28

UBLICLY listed Cebu Landmasters Inc. (CLI) reported on Thursday an impressive 72-percent hike in net income to P2.17 billion in 2018, from P1.26 billion two years ago due to positive market response to its ongoing projects.

Net income attributable to the parent company likewise grew 36 percent to P1.66 billion year-on-year (YoY). The growth momentum of the regional property developer was sustained as consolidated revenues reached P6.76 billion, or 72 percent higher than P3.94 billion in 2017.

“We are very proud to report these exceptional 2018 results to our shareholders,” said Jose Soberano III, president and CEO of CLI. Soberano said 2018 saw their aggressive development activities as they launched a full range of projects “to fill opportunities offered by various VisMin [Visayas and Mindanao] markets—from residential condominiums and subdivisions to mixeduse projects and hotels.”

CLI’s improved financial performance could be mainly attributed to robust sales and higher number of projects under construction in 2018, namely, Mivesa Garden Residences Phase 3, Casa Mira South and Latitude Corporate Center—all located in Cebu—MesaTierra Garden Residences in Davao and MesaVirre Garden Residences in Bacolod.

“All these led to our robust financial performance and sustained momentum,” the top executive said.

The Garden series under CLI’s mid-market brand accounted for 45

percent of revenue contributions in 2018, followed by economic housing brand Casa Mira at 28 percent and high-end Premier Masters at 19 percent. In 2017, it was Casa Mira that accounted for 39 percent of the revenue pie, while the Premier brand and Garden series had shares of 34 percent and 24 percent, respectively.

“Mid-market is definitely the way to go. That’s why we spread out from the economic to mid-market. But we also have been doing high-end [projects],” he said.

Location-wise, the company’s projects in Cebu made up about 64 percent of the total topline last year; Davao, 12 percent; and Cagayan de Oro (CDO), 11 percent.

New expansion sites in Bacolod and Dumaguete took up the remaining allocation. Apart from Cebu projects generating 81 percent of the previous year’s total earnings, only CDO reported revenues for 2017.

“We are strongly positioned to sustain our growth in this region.

There is a large underserved demand, and CLI will capitalize on its homegrown leadership and diverse product offerings in order to successfully cater to this growing VisMin market,” Soberano said.

With its expansion in CDO, Davao and Bohol this year, the company

expects these areas to grow their revenue share in 2019. In the last quarter of 2018, the VisMin property developer started its foray in township development, with the groundbreaking of the P33-billion Davao Global Township (DGT). At an estimated cost of P10 billion, Phase 1 is targeted for completion by 2022.

Reservation sales in 2018 significantly rose by 86 percent to P8.54 billion from the 2017 figure of P4.58 billion. This exceeded the firm’s yearend target of P7 billion by 22 percent.

Soberano said such improved growth came from the robust takeup on their newly launched projects, namely, MesaVirre Garden Residences in Bacolod, as well as Baseline Prestige, One Astra Place in Mandaue and Casa Mira Towers Guadalupe in Cebu.

Recurring income stream of the company also was a bright spot in last year’s earnings. Leasing revenue went up by 26 percent YoY from P45.65 million to P57.48 million on the back of a 42-percent increase in total gross leasable area (GLA) to 8,952 square meters (sq m) as well as from moderate rental rate increases with existing contracts.

As regards its hospitality portfolio, CLI is set to open its pioneering hotel, the 180-room Citadines Cebu City in Base Line Center in the second half of 2019. The company already has an inventory of 950 rooms spread across its properties in Davao, Bacolod and Mandaue.

CLI projects the growth momentum will continue this year, with net income expanding by 20 percent for both consolidated and parent to P2.6 billion and P2 billion, accordingly. Combined revenues is pegged to grow by 25 percent to P8.4 billion as construction of more projects progresses, including 38 Park Avenue, MesaTierra Garden Residences, MesaVirre Garden Residences and

MVP warns vs govt failure to honor provisions stipulated in contracts with private sector

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UESTIONING deals signed with the private sector and calling them onerous because the government failed to honor the stipulated provisions of the contract might set a messy predicament for future investments.

Manuel V. Pangilinan, who chairs Metro Pacific Investments Corp., let out a sigh and replied in the affirmative, when asked by the BusinessMirror if putting in doubt the integrity of private contracts could foil future investments in government-led projects.

He was responding to queries on the statement of Chief Presiden-

tial Legal Counsel and Presidential Spokesman Salvador S. Panelo a few days ago, when he called the government’s contract with Maynilad Water Services Inc. an “onerous” deal.

At the heart of this tussle is the live arbitration case of Maynilad against the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System for roughly P6.7 billion in foregone revenues due to delayed tariff adjustments since 2013. Twice, it won the case. And twice, Pangilinan said, the Philippine government ignored it.

“It’s stipulated on the contractual arrangements, so that was the right given to us in the contract so we just

exercised it,” he said.

Maynilad’s deal allows for tariff adjustments every five years.

Pangilinan also lamented “being singled out.”

“Those provisions are the same for both concessionaires—they know that,” he said, referring to Manila Water Co. Inc., whose water shortage problem prompted President Duterte to order the review of all government contracts.

Pangilinan earlier said his group is willing to settle the matter with the government, as the issue has been going on for quite some time now. Lorenz S. Marasigan

Japan’s famed convenience stores face inconvenient labor truth

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PART from culture, food and a super-efficient rail system, one of the things that most impresses travelers to Japan are its convenience stores, bursting with sushi, alcohol, underwear and ready-made food available at all hours.

Well, maybe not for long. The 24hour “conbini” experience is starting to show cracks as a labor shortage in the world’s third-biggest economy forces operators to consider cutting store hours. On Wednesday, FamilyMart UNY Holdings Co. joined Lawson Inc. and Seven & i Holdings Co. in saying they are contemplating changes and testing reduced hours in order to cope.

With unemployment at 2.3 per-

cent, near 1992 lows, Japan’s labor shortage is being felt acutely across all industries, from construction demands ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics to caring for a rapidly aging population. Convenience-store operators are feeling the pain. In a survey by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry last year, 61 percent of convenience-store franchisers said they didn’t have enough workers, almost triple the ratio from 2014.

“A lot of franchise-store owners are having to work themselves, sometimes 16 to 18 hours a day just to keep operations going,” said Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Thomas Jastrzab. “It’s really exhausting for them.”

Many store owners are required

to keep their doors open all hours of the day, because it’s written into franchise contracts that can last up to 15 years. In the past, franchisers such as 7-Eleven owner 7 & i Holdings rigidly enforced store hours even as Japan’s labor crunch worsened. The operators argued they needed to generate profits by selling to nocturnal consumers in cities and stay open for residents in rural areas.

Now, that seems to be changing. FamilyMart, which has more than 16,000 stores throughout Japan, said on Wednesday it will experiment with reduced-hour operations. It is offering 270 stores the option to join the project, which begins in June and will last up to six months. Bloomberg News

Velmiro Uptown.

Recurring revenues by 2023 will also surge as GLA is expected to bolt past 200,000 sq m, contributing 10 percent to the aggregate revenue.

Reservation sales is seen to increase by 28 percent to reach P12.5 billion by end of this year as CLI is scheduled to launch P25 billion worth of real-estate sales. The linchpin to the company’s notable growth is its successful diversification effort.

Soberano said: “Cebu Landmasters will continue to diversify its developments from horizontal and vertical residential offerings to mixed-use, hotels, office and estate projects.”

At present, CLI leads the realestate industry in the VisMin region with 61 projects in eight growth cities—Cebu, Mandaue, Davao, Cagayan de Oro, Dumaguete, Bacolod, Iloilo and Bohol—all in different stages of development.

“We expect the growth momentum to continue. This year, we’ll be launching P25 billion worth of projects to support our real-estate sales,” he said, citing their planned expansion to General Santos, Butuan and Ormoc in Leyte. “That is something that we will be doing in the next quarters, still focusing in

Friday, April 12, 2019

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ABS-CBN 2018 profits plummet 39.7% to ₧1.91B

By Lorenz S. Marasigan @lorenzmarasigan

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BS-CBN Corp. saw its profits plummeting by more than a third in 2018, as its revenues continued to decline while its costs and expenses rose steadily.

Based on a disclosure to the stock exchange, its net income stood at P1.91 billion in 2018, a 39.7-percent drop from P3.16 billion the year prior.

In the same comparative periods, its consolidated revenues inched

down by 1.4 percent to P40.13 billion, while its costs and expenses increased by 3.7 percent to P37.93 billion.

Advertising revenues decreased

by P716 million or 3.4 percent lower, “attributable to fewer advertising placements for the year.”

Consumer sales grew by P149 million, mainly resulting from a 26-percent increase in ABS-CBN TVPlus boxes sold in 2018.

Cash capital expenditures and program rights acquisitions amounted to P4.9 billion last year.

PLDT enters into ‘multimilliondollar’ contract with Cisco

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LDT Inc. has entered into a “multimilliondollar” contract with Cisco to develop its IP transport infrastructure into a more scalable, highly reliable, and automated softwaredefined 5G-ready facility, company officials said on Thursday.

Manuel V. Pangilinan, the Filipino digital services provider’s chairman, said his group tapped Cisco to design and build a software-based transport system that will use the existing fiber network of the telco. It is intended to “fortify customer services with highly dynamic and agile networking capabilities, as well as cyber security to safeguard customer data.”

“This is a multiyear program, and it will be a significant amount of capital expenditures that we devote to our transport infrastructure,”

Pangilinan said. He added that the investment, which the group expects to grow, will “raise the company’s fiber network to the next level,” as it enables the company to “move up to the next generation of digital technologies, such as 5G, software-defined networking artificial intelligence and Internet of Things.”

“With this network transformation program, we can empower enterprises and businesses and address their needs for speed, bandwidth and digital services quickly and seamlessly,” noted Joachim Horn, PLDT chief technology and information advisor. Cisco Chairman Chuck Robbins said his group will be deploying “cutting-edge technology” to transform the infrastructure of PLDT so that it can “unlock growth opportunities as everything becomes connected.” Lorenz S. Marasigan

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Companies BusinessMirror

Friday, April 12, 2019

Greenergy signs agreement for Hanergy Solar products

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By VG Cabuag

@villygc

REENERGY Holdings Inc. on Thursday said it signed an international distributorship agreement with Hanergy Thin Film Power Asia Pacific Ltd. to sell solar power-related products in the Philippines.

Hanergy is engaged in the business of manufacturing and selling solar power-related products.

Under the agreement, Greenergy is appointed as Hanergy’s distributor in the country for the promotion and sale of all Hanergy solar products

such as, but not limited to, the new and innovative Film Flat SOLARtile.

“The agreement has a term of one year, with an option to renew for another year upon expiration of the original term,” it said.

Hanergy’s CIGS thin-film solar

chips allow a conversion efficiency of as high as 18.7 percent. The Philippines will be just one of a few countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Japan and the United States where Hanergy has allowed the preselling of the Thin Film Flat SOLARtile prior to its global launch later this year.

The exclusive distributorship comes at a time when the Philippines has a shortage of electricity.

Antonio Tiu, chairman of Greenergy, said, “this tie-up is very timely, as the company will be in a position to provide immediate solution in the metropolis to the current power crisis by expanding capacity with clean, renewable energy using thin film.”

Greenergy was originally incorporated as MUSX Corp. on January 29, 1992. It was established to en-

gage in the creation, design, development and manufacture of specialty semiconductor products and to market and sell the same to customers worldwide.

In 1999, with the approval of its shareholders, the company became a holding company.

In the latter part of 2010, under a new management, the company began its initiative in venturing into other businesses and divested from the semiconductor business.

One of these business opportunities pertained to the field of renewable energy.

Following the divestment, the Securities and Exchange Commission approved the company’s proposal to change its corporate name to the present one.

CebuPac reminds passengers to avoid holiday rush by going to airport early L OW-COST carrier Cebu Pacific (CEB) and Cebgo on Thursday reminded all passengers to allot ample time for security inspection, immigration screening, checkin, bag drop and other predeparture requirements.

“Passengers with flights during peak travel periods are encouraged to be at the airport at least two hours before departure for domestic flights, and three hours for international flights,” CEB said in a statement.

The carrier strongly recommends using any of the following to speed up the check-in process: Visit the Manage Booking section of the Cebu Pacific web site (http://www.cebupacificair.com). For international flights, Web check-in is available from seven days up to four hours before scheduled flight departure.

Those taking domestic flights can do Web check-in up to one hour before their scheduled departure.

For CEB Mobile Check-in, the airline advises passengers to download the official Cebu Pacific Mobile App

on the App Store or Google Play and tap on the Check-In option.

CEB Mobile Check-in is available from seven days to four hours before an international flight, and up to one hour before a domestic flight.

“Guests on domestic flights who have checked in via the Cebu Pacific web site or mobile app can get their boarding passes through their devices,” the airline said. “Those with no check-in baggage can go straight to their boarding gate. Guests with check-in baggage can drop these off at the bag-drop counter at least 45 minutes before the flight.”

Guests on international flights may also check in via the web site or mobile app, but will still need to show up at the check-in counters to present valid travel documents and drop their baggage at least one hour before their flight.

Passengers on international flights are strongly advised to immediately proceed to the immigration counters after completing check-in requirements.

“We advise all guests to monitor

flight information and, if possible, immediately proceed to their respective boarding gates. Guests should be at the gate at least 30 minutes before the scheduled time of departure, except for flights departing Dubai [45 minutes],” the airline said.

CEB said all check-in counters close 45 minutes before the scheduled time of flights, except those exiting Dubai (one hour) and Shanghai (50 minutes) to finalize flight manifest and predeparture requirements of the authorities.

All boarding gates close 15 min-

MUTUAL FUNDS

utes before the scheduled time of flights, except flights exiting Dubai (20 minutes).

CEB said guests are reminded to pack their luggage properly and ensure that checked-in baggage have proper identification labels with name, address and contact details.

“While weighing scales at the check-in counters are calibrated regularly to ensure accuracy, check the weight prior to heading for the airport to avoid the hassle of repacking upon check-in,” CEB said. Recto Mercene

April 11, 2019

NAV ONE YEAR THREE YEAR FIVE YEAR Y-T-D

PER SHARE RETURN* RETURN STOCK FUNDS ALFM ALFM GROWTH FUND, INC. -A 266.71 -1.43% 1.72% 1.63% 5.74% ATRAM ALPHA OPPORTUNITY FUND, INC. -A 1.6303 1.03% 10.37% 3.96% 13.15% ATRAM PHILIPPINE EQUITY OPPORTUNITY FUND, INC. -A 4.1393 -3.64% 1.86% 0.56% 6.05% CLIMBS SHARE CAPITAL EQUITY INVESTMENT FUND CORP. -A 0.9515 1.24% N.A. N.A. 6.85% FIRST METRO CONSUMER FUND ON MSCI PHILS. IMI, INC. -A 0.8726 N.A. N.A. N.A. 6.32% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN EQUITY FUND,INC. -A 5.5601 -0.08% 1.67% 1.48% 5.48% MBG EQUITY INVESTMENT FUND, INC. -A 126.73 7.73% N.A. N.A. 8.82% ONE WEALTHY NATION FUND, INC. -A 0.8881 -2.14% -3.6% N.A. 6.69% PAMI EQUITY INDEX FUND, INC. -A 52.7433 0.91% 2.63% N.A. 7.19% PHILAM STRATEGIC GROWTH FUND, INC. -A 548.86 0.31% 1.49% 1.36% 6.63% PHILEQUITY DIVIDEND YIELD FUND, INC. -A 1.3244 1.18% 3.19% 4.37% 5.61% PHILEQUITY FUND, INC. -A 39.1829 1.47% 4.11% 3.75% 6.96% PHILEQUITY MSCI PHILIPPINE INDEX FUND, INC. -A,3 1.0502 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. PHILEQUITY PSE INDEX FUND INC. -A 5.3407 1.31% 3.57% 3.79% 7.7% PHILIPPINE STOCK INDEX FUND CORP. -A 891.55 1.44% 3.26% 3.72% 7.61% SOLDIVO STRATEGIC GROWTH FUND, INC. -A 0.9282 1.97% 1.89% N.A. 7.78% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY PHILIPPINE EQUITY FUND, INC. -A 4.3613 1.94% 3.51% 2.66% 7.45% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY PHILIPPINE STOCK INDEX FUND, INC. -A 1.0249 0.93% 3.25% N.A. 7.4% UNITED FUND, INC. -A 3.7453 2.36% 5.18% 3.64% 6.98% EXCHANGE TRADED FUND FIRST METRO PHIL. EQUITY EXCHANGE TRADED FUND, INC. -A,C,2 119.2595 1.78% 4.34% 4.81% 7.69% ATRAM ASIAPLUS EQUITY FUND, INC. -B

$1.0444 -3.99% 8.1% 1.79% 12.41% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY WORLD VOYAGER FUND, INC. -A $1.2855 2.1% N.A. N.A. 16.32% BALANCED FUNDS PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES ATRAM DYNAMIC ALLOCATION FUND, INC. -A 1.7347 -1.18% -0.16% -1.06% 5.06% ATRAM PHILIPPINE BALANCED FUND, INC. -A 2.3264 -1.06% 1.41% 1.03% 5.31% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN BALANCED FUND INC. -A 2.6626 0.41% -0.27% -0.93% 4.67% GREPALIFE BALANCED FUND CORPORATION -A 1.3611 -1.82% N.A. N.A. 4.35% NCM MUTUAL FUND OF THE PHILS., INC. -A 1.9259 1.46% 1.5% 1.54% 4.49% PAMI HORIZON FUND, INC. -A 3.6962 -0.79% 0.36% 0.67% 4.73% PHILAM FUND, INC. -A 16.678 0.22% 0.51% 0.71% 4.84% SOLIDARITAS FUND, INC. -A 2.1556 0.82% 1.88% 2.32% 4.02% SUN LIFE OF CANADA PROSPERITY BALANCED FUND, INC. -A 3.8748 1.82% 1.78% 1.74% 6.12% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY ACHIEVER FUND 2028, INC. -A,D,4 1.0057 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. SUN LIFE PROSPERITY ACHIEVER FUND 2038, INC. -A,D,4 1.0079 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. SUN LIFE PROSPERITY ACHIEVER FUND 2048, INC. -A,D,4 1.0063 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DYNAMIC FUND, INC. -A 0.9857 1.84% 1.61% N.A. 6.94% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY SECURITIES COCOLIFE DOLLAR FUND BUILDER, INC. -A $0.03604 1.84% 0.44% 1.59% 2.24% PAMI ASIA BALANCED FUND, INC. -A $1.0028 -4.44% 4.27% -0.15% 7.11% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR ADVANTAGE FUND, INC. -A $3.7025 1.6% 6.45% 2.85% 11.91% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR WELLSPRING FUND, INC. -A $1.0892 0.28% N.A. N.A. 7.84% BOND FUNDS PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES ALFM PESO BOND FUND, INC. -A 347.51 2.77% 2.16% 2.11% 1.2% ATRAM CORPORATE BOND FUND, INC. -A,1 1.8819 1.04% -0.23% -0.25% 1.22% COCOLIFE FIXED INCOME FUND, INC. -A 3.0128 5.44% 5.26% 5.3% 1.41% EKKLESIA MUTUAL FUND INC. -A 2.1572 2.35% 1.31% 1.8% 1.25% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN FIXED INCOME FUND,INC. -A 2.2559 1.82% 0.44% 0.91% 2.11% GREPALIFE FIXED INCOME FUND CORP. -A

P 1.6023 0.19% -0.39% 0.3% 2.42% PHILAM BOND FUND, INC. -A 4.0235 0.59% -0.17% 0.78% 2.65% PHILEQUITY PESO BOND FUND, INC. -A 3.6048 3.29% 1.49% 1.22% 2.49% SOLDIVO BOND FUND, INC. -A 0.9182 0.53% -0.51% N.A. 2.87% SUN LIFE OF CANADA PROSPERITY BOND FUND, INC. -A 2.8825 3.97% 1.72% 1.81% 4.22% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY GS FUND, INC. -A 1.599 3.54% 0.92% 1.32% 3.84% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY SECURITIES ALFM DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC. -A $453.85 2.41% 1.75% 2.85% 1.24% ALFM EURO BOND FUND, INC. -A Є215.88 1.34% 1.37% 1.58% 1.52% ATRAM TOTAL RETURN DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC. -B $1.1651 4.2% 1.49% 2.25% 3.49% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC. -A $0.0252 1.61% 0.67% N.A. 1.61% GREPALIFE DOLLAR BOND FUND CORP. -A $1.713 -1.05% -1.45% 0.9% 1.35% MAA PRIVILEGE DOLLAR FIXED INCOME FUND, INC. N.S. N.S. N.S. N.S. N.S. MAA PRIVILEGE EURO FIXED INCOME FUND, INC. ЄN.S. N.S. N.S. N.S. N.S. PAMI GLOBAL BOND FUND, INC -A $1.0617 1.37% -0.82% -2.31% 2.32% PHILAM DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC. -A $2.2551 2.77% 0.27% 2.78% 3.86% PHILEQUITY DOLLAR INCOME FUND INC. -A $0.0580847 2.1% 1.15% 1.71% 1.94% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR ABUNDANCE FUND, INC. -A $2.975 1.09% -0.29% 2.11% 3.58% MONEY MARKET FUNDS PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES ALFM MONEY MARKET FUND, INC. -A 122.28 3.43% 2.15% 1.76% 1.19% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN MONEY MARKET FUND, INC. -A,5 1.0073 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. PHILAM MANAGED INCOME FUND, INC. -A 1.195 2.7% 1.12% 0.75% 1.11% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY MONEY MARKET FUND, INC. -A 1.233 3.21% 2.48% 1.84% 1.15% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY SECURITIES SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR STARTER FUND, INC. -A $1.0229 2.07% N.A. N.A. 0.69%

* - NAVPS AS OF THE PREVIOUS BANKING DAY ** - NAVPS AS OF TWO BANKING DAYS AGO *** - LISTED IN THE PSE.

**** - RE-CLASSIFIED INTO A BALANCED FUND STARTING JANUARY 1, 2017 (FORMERLY GREPALIFE BOND FUND CORP.).

***** - LAUNCH DATE IS NOVEMBER 6, 2017 ****** - LAUNCH DATE IS JANUARY 08, 2018 ******** - RENAMING OF THE FUND WAS APPROVED BY THE SEC LAST APRIL 13, 2018. ********* - BECAME A MEMBER SINCE APRIL 20, 2018. ******* - ADJUSTED DUE TO CASH DIVIDEND ISSUANCE LAST JANUARY 29, 2018

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PSE STOCK QUOTATIONS

April 11, 2019

Net Foreign Stocks Bid Ask Open High Low Close Volume Value Trade (Peso) Buy (Sell) FINANCIALS ASIA UNITED BDO UNIBANK BANK PH ISLANDS CHINABANK EAST WEST BANK METROBANK PB BANK PHIL NATL BANK PSBANK PHILTRUST RCBC SECURITY BANK UNION BANK BRIGHT KINDLE COL FINANCIAL FERRONOUX HLDG MEDCO HLDG NTL REINSURANCE PHIL STOCK EXCH VANTAGE

58.5 131.6 83 26.8 12.1 78.2 13.7 56.55 57.5 110.1 25.9 179.8 61 1.3 18.56 4.42 0.45 0.91 185.8 1.13

58.6 131.8 83.25 26.85 12.18 78.45 13.72 56.6 58 121.8 26 180 62 1.38 18.9 4.54 0.455 0.92 188.8 1.15

58.5 131.5 82.4 27.25 12.3 78.5 13.72 56.9 57.2 110.1 26 180.5 61.7 1.3 19.1 4.54 0.45 0.9 189 1.13

58.6 132 83.7 27.45 12.3 78.8 13.74 56.9 57.2 110.1 26.05 180.7 62 1.3 19.1 4.55 0.45 0.92 189 1.13

58.5 131.2 82.35 26.85 12.08 77.75 13.72 56.45 57.2 110.1 25.9 179.5 61 1.3 18.5 4.49 0.45 0.9 184 1.13

58.6 131.6 83 26.85 12.1 78.2 13.72 56.6 57.2 110.1 25.9 180 62 1.3 18.56 4.5 0.45 0.92 184 1.13

16530 1284560 2655430 200300 115000 5263640 206200 768020 80 80 14700 114580 980 10000 2300 30000 30000 171000 4190 8000

967255 169173904 221203662.5 5399620 1400920 410939138 2829094 43588350.5 4576 8808 381830 20617771 60339 13000 42928 135560 13500 154510 789320 9040

INDUSTRIAL ALSONS CONS ABOITIZ POWER BASIC ENERGY FIRST GEN FIRST PHIL HLDG MERALCO MANILA WATER PETRON PETROENERGY PHINMA ENERGY PHX PETROLEUM PILIPINAS SHELL SPC POWER AGRINURTURE CNTRL AZUCARERA CENTURY FOOD DEL MONTE DNL INDUS EMPERADOR SMC FOODANDBEV ALLIANCE SELECT GINEBRA JOLLIBEE LIBERTY FLOUR MACAY HLDG MAXS GROUP MG HLDG PEPSI COLA SHAKEYS PIZZA ROXAS AND CO RFM CORP ROXAS HLDG UNIV ROBINA VITARICH VICTORIAS CEMEX HLDG DAVINCI CAPITAL EAGLE CEMENT EEI CORP HOLCIM MEGAWIDE TKC METALS VULCAN INDL CROWN ASIA EUROMED LMG CHEMICALS MABUHAY VINYL PRYCE CORP CONCEPCION GREENERGY INTEGRATED MICR IONICS PANASONIC SFA SEMICON CIRTEK HLDG

1.41 36.3 0.241 21.85 79.75 381.4 23.2 6.41 4.33 1.6 11.6 46.1 7.49 16.04 14.74 15.82 5.9 11.54 7.27 107.4 0.95 30.05 317.2 50 10.32 15.22 0.19 1.39 13.1 1.66 4.52 2.29 157.3 1.73 2.51 1.98 5.25 15.9 9.62 10.9 21 1.02 1.22 1.96 1.59 3.85 3.54 5.21 45.7 2.77 13.02 1.79 6.3 1.28 28.95

ABACORE CAPITAL ASIABEST GROUP AYALA CORP ABOITIZ EQUITY ALLIANCE GLOBAL ANSCOR ANGLO PHIL HLDG ATN HLDG A ATN HLDG B COSCO CAPITAL DMCI HLDG FILINVEST DEV FORUM PACIFIC GT CAPITAL HOUSE OF INV JG SUMMIT LODESTAR LOPEZ HLDG LT GROUP MABUHAY HLDG METRO PAC INV PACIFICA PRIME ORION SOLID GROUP SYNERGY GRID SM INVESTMENTS SAN MIGUEL CORP SOC RESOURCES TOP FRONTIER WELLEX INDUS ZEUS HLDG

0.55 19.96 912 59.2 15.6 6.45 0.77 1.45 1.43 7.7 12.16 15.08 0.232 866 6.9 63.6 0.5 5.19 16.6 0.56 4.68 0.038 3.06 1.33 497 958 178.8 0.94 266.2 0.237 0.37

1.43 36.4 0.247 22 79.8 383.6 23.25 6.45 4.35 1.61 11.98 46.15 7.54 16.2 15.7 15.92 5.99 11.6 7.28 108.8 0.96 30.4 320 51 10.56 15.3 0.2 1.4 13.2 1.7 4.69 2.37 157.5 1.74 2.65 1.99 5.35 15.96 9.64 10.92 21.1 1.03 1.23 1.99 1.75 3.9 3.7 5.48 48.85 2.78 13.1 1.8 6.5 1.3 29.35

1.39 36.6 0.241 21.7 79.8 385 23.9 6.44 4.26 1.61 11.76 46.05 7.65 16.32 15.96 16.2 6 11.52 7.26 105.9 0.95 29.75 322 51 10.74 15.26 0.19 1.41 13.16 1.7 4.7 2.38 159.6 1.75 2.5 2.07 5.25 15.96 9.6 10.94 21.05 1.07 1.25 2 1.62 3.85 3.63 5.3 45 2.7 12.96 1.76 6.94 1.3 29.4

1.43 36.75 0.247 22 79.8 385 24 6.5 4.33 1.65 11.98 46.15 7.65 16.32 16 16.2 6.01 11.62 7.32 109 0.96 30.5 322.6 51 10.74 15.4 0.2 1.42 13.2 1.7 4.7 2.38 159.6 1.75 2.68 2.07 5.25 15.96 9.66 10.96 21.5 1.07 1.29 2 1.62 4 3.7 5.3 49.5 2.8 13.1 1.8 7.8 1.3 29.4

1.39 36.1 0.241 21.5 79.5 380 23.25 6.41 4.26 1.59 11.6 46 7.43 16.02 14.66 15.78 5.85 11.5 7.26 105 0.95 29.7 317.2 50 10.32 15.22 0.189 1.38 12.82 1.7 4.7 2.26 157 1.73 2.5 1.97 5.25 15.8 9.45 10.8 20.8 1.01 1.23 1.96 1.59 3.85 3.63 5.2 45 2.66 12.9 1.73 6.3 1.27 29

1.43 36.3 0.247 22 79.75 381.4 23.25 6.41 4.33 1.6 11.98 46.15 7.5 16.2 15.7 15.82 5.99 11.54 7.27 108.8 0.96 30.4 317.2 51 10.32 15.3 0.19 1.39 13.2 1.7 4.7 2.26 157.3 1.74 2.51 1.99 5.25 15.94 9.64 10.92 21.05 1.03 1.23 1.96 1.59 3.85 3.7 5.21 48.9 2.78 13.1 1.8 6.3 1.3 29.35

856000 2462500 2480000 665500 22970 114010 3294000 1183800 17000 22097000 44200 662000 351000 505200 5400 747100 19000 409600 99100 261240 455000 197500 335080 4070 3600 2319000 750000 1493000 623500 3000 20000 177000 1779430 2377000 16000 25675000 5900 680700 421100 2346700 11122200 384000 3050000 213000 55000 172000 52000 97000 224600 9556000 214200 384000 1730400 102000 46300

1192760 89575500 602030 14540310 1828923.5 43538610 77489455 7609707 72920 35771560 522908 30524490 2639767 8173326 85888 11847412 113299 4736524 720464 28225764 433580 5918215 107146204 207520 37348 35478146 144380 2072430 8171520 5100 94000 410470 280603309 4130920 41510 51498970 30975 10858416 4003839 25506698 234279275 391710 3812770 419290 88030 665170 189930 509409 10119030 26420440 2783268 676770 12415667 130720 1354620

HOLDING & FRIMS 0.56 20.15 915 59.45 15.66 6.5 0.79 1.46 1.44 7.75 12.2 15.12 0.245 874 6.93 65.25 0.52 5.2 16.72 0.58 4.69 0.039 3.07 1.35 498 959.5 178.9 0.95 269 0.244 0.375

0.57 20.25 915.5 59.75 16.02 6.5 0.8 1.42 1.42 7.7 12.16 15.28 0.232 900 6.95 66.45 0.52 5.16 16.86 0.55 4.7 0.039 3.01 1.32 486.8 967 179 0.99 270 0.234 0.37

0.58 20.25 920 60.95 16.26 6.5 0.8 1.45 1.44 7.7 12.28 15.28 0.245 900.5 6.97 66.45 0.52 5.24 16.88 0.58 4.71 0.039 3.07 1.35 498 967 179.4 1.01 270 0.247 0.38

0.55 19.96 912 59.2 15.6 6.45 0.77 1.41 1.42 7.63 12.1 15.08 0.231 866 6.9 63.6 0.5 5.16 16.6 0.55 4.66 0.039 2.99 1.32 470 950 177 0.95 266.2 0.234 0.365

0.56 20.15 912 59.2 15.6 6.5 0.77 1.45 1.43 7.7 12.16 15.08 0.245 866 6.9 63.6 0.52 5.2 16.6 0.56 4.69 0.039 3.07 1.35 497 958 178.9 0.95 266.2 0.247 0.375

4252000 22600 325030 428100 11593000 130000 571000 9056000 707000 1268200 7071700 295000 720000 168180 53500 1189360 963000 416400 1453900 725000 15424000 9100000 1294000 109000 1120 95060 1019290 3934000 3190 1860000 10520000

2383820 452710 297524180 25497766.5 182415540 844930 441630 13016710 1007440 9763941 86024646 4472654 167150 147359090 371376 77016106 481710 2170985 24298820 418140 72390900 354900 3947010 144200 551736 91083060 182149930 3794040 856244 442310 3911300

954970 41183368 6334666.9998 -3860670 -592406 -295592955.5 -2804398 -121773 -200205 4194597 1 -27600 190925 -24702675 172690 5273765 -647355 71062 -16461485 -1818254 703320 -29640 25564655 47042 -310090 -1570 -3803038 -95383 -63770 -79243 12129763 -23303726 11526456 11400 98150.0002 -3519386 202593625 -893100 2500 -1814710 -109640 2174608.9998 1336984 -83286690 1250 20000 -509409 112945 3837520 -688576 -387555 -54550.0001 -39736905 93832 -75312676 454930 505940 -178600 -33267210 -1904114 -77641415 1149929.5 -563393 2599292 22090 -11511690 57870 429700 43216250 33828227 -58564 -22250

PROPERTY

ARTHALAND CORP 0.77 0.78 0.76 0.77 0.75 0.77 840000 634490 ANCHOR LAND 11.3 11.72 11.32 11.32 11.3 11.3 7700 87066 AYALA LAND 46.65 46.7 45.5 46.95 45.5 46.7 22570300 1045171490 385686780 ARANETA PROP 1.92 1.98 1.95 1.95 1.95 1.95 28000 54600 BELLE CORP 2.41 2.42 2.42 2.43 2.41 2.41 1089000 2627690 2430 A BROWN 0.77 0.78 0.78 0.78 0.77 0.77 518000 399870 CITYLAND DEVT 0.89 0.9 0.9 0.9 0.9 0.9 2000 1800 CROWN EQUITIES 0.242 0.244 0.241 0.242 0.241 0.242 850000 205040 CEBU HLDG 6.32 6.49 6.49 6.49 6.49 6.49 82700 536723 -0 CEB LANDMASTERS 4.16 4.18 4.19 4.22 4.14 4.18 759000 3170690 -1407770 CENTURY PROP 0.53 0.54 0.54 0.54 0.53 0.54 2095000 1117120 -89980 CYBER BAY 0.395 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 140000 56000 DOUBLEDRAGON 23.4 23.5 23.25 23.65 23.1 23.5 453800 10609710 1561675 DM WENCESLAO 11.42 11.48 11.6 11.6 11.32 11.48 330000 3765140 9136 EMPIRE EAST 0.5 0.52 0.51 0.51 0.5 0.5 2712000 1363880 -580200 EVER GOTESCO 0.124 0.134 0.125 0.125 0.124 0.124 250000 31220 FILINVEST LAND 1.52 1.53 1.52 1.53 1.51 1.52 7883000 11978160 -4541200 GLOBAL ESTATE 1.38 1.39 1.4 1.41 1.39 1.39 1236000 1722860 -395040 8990 HLDG 12.88 12.96 13 13.1 12.84 12.96 1084800 14040884 -983130 PHIL INFRADEV 1.83 1.84 1.76 1.86 1.76 1.84 3746000 6842240 -17200 MEGAWORLD 5.79 5.8 5.8 5.8 5.71 5.8 13282100 76756621 12004573 MRC ALLIED 0.36 0.365 0.365 0.365 0.355 0.365 4460000 1607100 -36500 PHIL ESTATES 0.51 0.52 0.49 0.52 0.47 0.52 4230000 2126000 PRIMEX CORP 2.51 2.55 2.6 2.6 2.51 2.51 666000 1691900 ROBINSONS LAND 24.05 24.1 24.5 24.5 24.1 24.1 1666000 40267330 -17673455 PHIL REALTY 0.42 0.43 0.42 0.42 0.42 0.42 10000 4200 ROCKWELL 1.98 2 1.98 1.98 1.96 1.98 16000 31660 SHANG PROP 3 3.05 3 3.05 3 3 137000 411850 STA LUCIA LAND 1.61 1.66 1.66 1.66 1.6 1.66 1092000 1809890 164920 SM PRIME HLDG 39.65 39.7 39.55 39.95 39.55 39.65 3280700 130135600 25753935 STARMALLS 6.91 7 7.05 7.05 6.91 7 74600 519213 SUNTRUST HOME 0.73 0.74 0.74 0.74 0.74 0.74 29000 21460 -7400 PTFC REDEV CORP 45.25 48 45.35 48 45 48 4930 223742 VISTA LAND 7.2 7.21 7.25 7.28 7.12 7.2 7396700 53216122 -22832504

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PREFFERED

HOUSE PREF A 94.75 95 94.75 95 94.75 95 250 23695 DD PREF 96.45 97 97 97 96.3 97 5680 550610 SMC FB PREF 2 972 981 980 980.5 980 980 180 176450 FPH PREF C 450.8 474.8 450.6 450.8 450.6 450.8 800 360560 GLO PREF P 480 494 494 494 494 494 20 9880 GTCAP PREF A 888 900 900 900 900 900 1790 1611000 GTCAP PREF B 925 940 925 930 925 925 1130 1045750 LR PREF 0.99 1.01 1.01 1.01 1.01 1.01 2000 2020 MWIDE PREF 100 102.7 102.7 102.7 100 100 2020 202055 PCOR PREF 2A 972 1000 972 972 972 972 20 19440 SMC PREF 2B 75 75.9 75 75.9 75 75.9 6370 478956 SMC PREF 2C 75.75 76 76 76 75.75 75.75 37730 2864214 SMC PREF 2D 72 73 72.95 73 72.95 73 1520 110950 SMC PREF 2E 72.6 73.95 72.6 72.6 72.5 72.6 6400 464440 SMC PREF 2F 74.1 74.75 74.5 74.5 74.5 74.5 14000 1043000 SMC PREF 2G 73.5 74.35 73.5 73.5 73.5 73.5 9300 683550 SMC PREF 2H 72.3 73.75 73.7 73.8 73.7 73.8 9600 708017.5 SMC PREF 2I 73 73.5 73.9 73.9 73.9 73.9 600 44340 -

PHIL. DEPOSITARY RECEIPTS ABS HLDG PDR GMA HLDG PDR

19.12 5.61

19.72 5.78

19.4 5.64

19.4 5.64

19.12 5.61

19.12 5.61

43600 570000

836084 3200204

WARRANTS LR WARRANT

1.89

SMALL & MEDIUM ENTERPRISES ITALPINAS 4.77 XURPAS 1.24

1.92

1.92

1.93

1.88

1.92

94000

179200

-

4.78 1.25

4.82 1.27

4.83 1.29

4.74 1.23

4.78 1.24

137000 5018000

656170 6244520

14490 -1514510

EXHANGE TRADE FUNDS FIRST METRO ETF

118.5

-350376 -

119

119.6

119.6

119

119

6230

743213

192016

ExecutiveViews BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph | Friday, April 12, 2019 B3

Take the leap, lead the game E

By Pauline Joy M. Gutierrez

FREN Reyes, now 63, already had his retirement planned out. He would preach and continue to help out various causes, like the one by Missionaries of the Poor, a Santa Anabased nonprofit organization devoted to serve the urban poor within Metro Manila, with special focus on the care of the mute and deaf, as well as special children and people with cerebral palsy.

It is his way of giving back to The Creator, he said, to Whom he owes a lot of things. Fate though, it seems, had other plans for him.

Thirty years is already a long journey in a man’s career, more so in a very dynamic industry like furniture and appliance manufacturing. Trends would come and go, sure, but age and the wisdom that goes with it still prove necessary to set up a company and keep it running. The international manufacturer Häfele had this on the pipeline to leverage the playing field when they pulled Reyes out of retirement.

Häfele Philippines Inc. opened its first office in Pasig City and Cebu in 1995, introducing German-quality hardware fittings to the local furniture and construction industry. It also officially represents top-of-the-line European brands, like Bosch, Asko Appliances and La Cornue, in the country. Reyes currently helms the company along the co-executives as manager for the appliance division.

The goal, he said, is to make Häfele and the brands [it carries] the most dominant in the market. “In the first year turnover grew by 350 percent, on the

second year we grew by 90 percent,” Reyes noted in a recent sit-down interview with the BusinessMirror at the company’s flagship office in Taguig.

Sporting a nondescript blue and white shirt, he shared between sips of black coffee: “Last year we hit our 1 million mark in terms of turnover in the Philippines as early as November, but Bosch throughout the world in 2018 was [already worth] something like €78.4 billion. In Forbes magazine, Bosch ranks in the top six brands that have the largest recall, so that’s quite a peak.”

Bosch reported €45 million in consolidated sales in the Philippines for 2017, part and parcel of which came from the consumer goods sectors. The Swedish-founded kitchen-appliance brand Asko appliances sustains growth for its upmarket and environmentfriendly products. In an era of automated production, La Cornue, on the other hand, remains faithful to its traditional industrial expertise—making them one of the most sought-after brands globally.

“We have the widest range in the market, as well as complete solutions; we can serve our customers from any point in the country,” he added. Further, “Häfele is well known in condominium developments.

Bosch caters to the middle and upper middle; Asko caters to the upper middle to high-end segment while La Cornue is our premium brand. It’s made in France and no two units are the same because it’s handcrafted. It’s a product of over 100 years of culinary and metallurgic expertise.

It’s also number one in this category.”

Globally, Häfele employs more than 7,600 people in 37 subsidiaries and numerous other representations around the world. In the Philippines it has set up numerous showrooms in key cities, like Manila, Cebu, Iloilo and Davao.

Like a proud father boasting of his children’s accomplishment reports in school, Reyes pointed to his employees: “We have people who have worked with us for the past 20 years. And that’s an indication of career orientation of people and how the company has kept them. We’re a happy group here.”

What makes a brand great is its ability to match its consumers’ needs with the strategic direction of the enterprise’s business plan. Reyes has this to say to aspiring entrepreneurs: “You have to segment the market and find a suitable brand for these markets. Moreover, you have to be able to adapt to changing environments.”

Using the analogy of traditional versus modern home design, he explained: “Before, houses were more or less horizontal but, now, the population is growing and the Philippines is not getting any bigger. So, the tendency is to move to vertical living, which doesn’t give you much space. So you need to conserve space by putting appliances that are compact and using built-in cabinets. You have to be able to adapt to that kind of evolving need.”

Häfele, for their part, have been actively pushing the architectural and social movement of living with less to professional design practitioners, more specific to the Philippine Institute of

Interior Designers. “It is a 300-strong organization; we host their general membership and meetings, and we communicate with them the advocacies of Bosch, which is among the very first companies who has gone green.” Moreover, “We sponsor architectural groups and participate in practically all their conventions and exhibits to give them a product that they can offer their customers, and make sure that their customers are satisfied with their [purchase.]”

Reyes said this is often overlooked by companies, but executives must go both for business and customer satisfaction.

“The goal is not just [to ensure] you’re a successful business turnover; you have to make sure that you maintain good will and keep all your customers happy.”

Reyes carried this philosophy with him throughout these years.

His 65th birthday is now fast approaching and this, to him, is where he’ll wave the white flag to the business and call it even. Perhaps, he can finally plan that retirement he hoped would allow him to make time in the world to do all things he hasn’t quite gotten around to doing just yet. “Maybe I’ll preach and teach. I owe a lot to God. Some of my successes I cannot say it was just me—it was beyond my talent, it was more than me.

As a way of giving back to the community, he extends whatever form of help he can to the Missionaries of the Poor.

When he retires, he said, he’ll devote more time to the organization. “I try to bring people there and let them appreciate the mission in the hopes that they’ll donate.

This is some order of Dominican priests.

They came to the Philippines and, as their advocacy, they chose to take care of children afflicted with cerebral palsy in Santa Ana. These are abandoned children, because, if you are afflicted with cerebral palsy, there’s no medicine. These children will never walk, stand [and] never run; their lives will be spent in a wheelchair and an address. With them are abandoned adults who cannot work any more, too.

Imagine those Jamaicans taking care of and loving Filipinos.”

Reyes continued, “I have this devotion to the Virgin Mary. I used to propagate every Saturday the prayer of the Holy Rosary, and [there are] many people I’ve touched and made to believe in the rosary.

They’ve had their own personal miracles, so that’s what I want to do. Marami kasi akong kasalanan [I have had many sins], and I am not after salvation; I’m just happy doing it. What more can I want in life? My children are all grown up. We have our own craziness and I am that crazy I don’t believe in wealth.”

He said that he got to where he is right now because he took a leap of faith “It doesn’t cost anything to believe, but there are miracles. There are powers beyond men.

Many people find faith when they are in trouble, but it’s so much wiser to call Him now so that it never happens. Iba-iba kasi ang witnessing; some people find their faith in prayers. But the basic teaching of the church is simply to love and to care.”

Reyes has a good plan. In the mean time, he’ll submit himself to what fate has in store for him.

B4 Friday, April 12, 2019

‘Cenakulo Rock’ at Enchanted Kingdom!

T

HE Enchanted Kingdom (EK)brings back Cenakulo Rock in line with the Lenten Season—it’s another must-see to add to your summer bucket list!

With EK as the Philippine leader in wholesome family leisure and entertainment, and a world-class tourist destination, it is in their best interest to give guests a moment to reflect to commemorate the passion of Christ. Cenakulo Rock shows the last moments of Jesus Christ, his struggles and ultimate sacrifice, as told through songs and dances.

This year’s main casts and ensemble will be portrayed by children! Catch EK’s Lenten special every weekend at 6:30 p.m. at the Spaceport.

Visit www. enchantedkingdom.ph and plan your trip accordingly!

DPWH executive is BluPrint honoree

A

NNA Mae Yu Lamentillo, chairman of the Build Build Build committee of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), was named one of BluPrint’s Under 38 Future Shapers.

Also included in the list is Leeroy New, Audrey Ngui, Nikki Buensalido, Paolo Valenciano, Miko Aspiras and Patty Ang. Lamentillo is also the concurrent chairman of the infrastructure cluster communications committee.

Previously she worked with both United Nations Development Program, and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in their Haiyan emergency response and rehabilitation program.

She graduated cum laude at the University of the Philippines (UP) Los Baños with a degree in Development Communication. She completed her executive education in economic

development at the Harvard Kennedy School.

She is currently pursuing her Juris Doctor program at the UP College of Law. She has been awarded with the Natatanging Iskolar Para sa Bayan and

Oblation Statute for the Virtues of Industry.

Lamentillo was also named by BluPrint as one of 50+ Asean movers and shakers; and by Lifestyle Asia as one of 18 game-changers.

ENJOY 10% OFF ON LAZADA EVERY FRIDAY WITH YOUR CITI CREDIT CARD Enjoy 10 percent off when you shop from 12 noon to 2 p.m. with your Citi credit card. All you need to do is use the promo code CITIFRIYAY valid for one-time use every Friday, at checkout.The offer is valid until April 30, for a minimum spend of P1,000 and for a maximum discount of up to P350.

BUSINESSES, GOVERNMENT STRENGTHEN TIES IN DISASTER MANAGEMENT

K

EY private-sector leaders, government agencies, and inter nationa l humanitarian organizations further enhance collaboration in disaster risk reduction and management (DRRM), especially in the area of disaster response.

This, too, placed in a recent forum jointly organized by the Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation (PDRF) and the Office of Civil Defense, with the support of the Asian Preparedness Partnership, the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the USAID Office of the US Foreign Disaster Assistance.

“We [have] gathered here to operationalize this process where the government will take the lead and private companies can assist by using their core expertise. If there is one thing we have learned over the last few years, it is that we are all in this together.

Each of us and our families, our communities and businesses face common threats, and it is only by working with one another that we can truly protect our people. It is this ‘whole of society’ approach that brings us here today,” PDRF President Butch Meily said.

On the same day PDRF launched its DRRM champions in the Business Community Award, which recognizes private-sector entities, programs

and individuals that create lasting change through innovative and impactful disasterresilience initiatives. A panel discussion on policy recommendations—led by Philex Mining Corp. Senior Vice President for Public and Regulatory Affairs lawyer Michael Toledo, joined by Undersecretary Adoracion Navarro (National Economic and Development Authority), director Patrick Aquino (Department of Energy), Ambassador Marciano Paynor Jr. (Ayala Corp.), Mark Bidder (United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) and Jose Maria Lorenzo Tan (PDRF)—also took place.

In the photo are (from left) Toledo, Meily, Undersecretary Ricardo Jalad of the Office of Civil Defense, Hon. Emmanuel de Guzman of the Climate Change Commission, Rogelio Singson of Meralco GenPower Corp., Undersecretary Renato Solidum Jr. of the Department of Science and Technology and Guillermo Luz of PDRF.

Sports IMPERFECT BusinessMirror

CHAMPION

C1

| Friday, April 12, 2019 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

MCILROY FEELING PREPARED AS EVER A

UGUSTA, Georgia—Rory McIlroy feels as prepared as ever for the Masters.

He is spending more time with his nose in a book than with his hands on a putter. The Greatest Salesman in the World by Og Mandino is among the best books he has read in the last year. He has been working with Brad Faxon on his putting, but their best sessions take place over a cup of coffee.

His morning routine goes beyond stretching. There is juggling—yes, juggling—meditation and mind training.

“I was watching the Women’s Amateur over the weekend and I saw a few women on the range juggling, so it’s catching on,” McIlroy said on Tuesday. “How many balls can I juggle? Just three. I’m a rookie.”

It’s all geared toward becoming a complete person.

And whether it makes him a complete player by capturing the only major he has yet to win, well, that would be a bonus.

McIlroy is in the early stages of this process, and it’s hard to argue with the results, even if results don’t drive him like they once did. He has yet to finish out of the top 10 in his seven tournaments this year, which includes a victory at The Players Championship, the next best thing to a major.

But that green jacket is a powerful pull on the mind, and McIlroy has reason to believe he can fit comfortably into one.

He famously lost a four-shot lead with an 80 in the final round in 2011 but, even at age 21, showed enough resolve and enormous talent to win the US Open in the very next major. He played in the final group on Saturday in 2016 with Jordan Spieth until falling back with a 77.

He played in the final group Sunday last year with Patrick Reed, three shots behind, and fell out of the mix before reaching the back nine.

“I know I’ve played well enough and I’ve shot enough good scores around here over the years that if I can put my best effort forward, I’m going to have a good chance to do well here,” McIlroy said. “But it’s definitely different.

My mindset is a little different in terms of...I’m still practicing. I’m still getting better. I’m not getting ahead of myself, not thinking about the tee shot on Thursday or thinking about what is to come this week.

“I would dearly love to win this tournament one day,” he said. “If it doesn’t happen this week, that’s totally fine, I’ll come back next year and have another crack at it. But I’m happy with where everything is—body, mind, game.”

No one was particularly happy with Mother Nature on Tuesday, as more storms arrived that shut the course down for about three hours in the morning and pounded an already soft Augusta National with rain before giving way to patches of sunshine in the afternoon.

Wednesday is a short day of practice because of the Par 3 Tournament.

The curtain raises on Thursday with a host of players capable of getting in McIlroy’s way of joining golf’s most elite club. Only five other players have captured the career Grand Slam—Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods.

This is McIlroy’s fifth crack at the Masters with a Grand Slam at stake. In the modern era of the Grand Slam that dates to 1960, no one went more than three years between the third and final leg.

Phil Mickelson is in a similar situation, if not worse. He lacks only the US Open—he has a record six silver medals— and is zero for four since the Grand Slam has come into view.

He also believes McIlroy’s game is at a high level.

“That’s always a challenge when you put so much emphasis on playing a particular event, but it’s also the chance to bring out your best,” Mickelson said.

“And he’s had such a phenomenal start to the year, he’s been playing such great golf consistently week in and week out, I think contending will be a given. He’ll be in contention. You just need those little breaks...that push you over the winner’s circle and that’s probably all that he’s waiting for this week.

“You can’t force it. It just has to happen.”

The books McIlroy has been reading are recommendations from successful businesspeople. Along with Mandino’s book, he liked Ryan Holiday’s The Obstacle is the Way and Ego is the Enemy, and he’s just now starting on the biography of Steve Jobs.

In an interview at the Match Play, he was asked if he was spending more time on his golf or on his attitude.

“Life,” he said. “I hit balls once last week. That was it. So much of this game is mental. It’s taken me a while to get to this point, but the proof is there of what I’ve been doing, the way I’ve been playing, how I’ve been approaching the game.”

So what happens if he’s right in the mix on Sunday afternoon, facing the most dynamic back nine in golf, the coveted green jacket there for the taking? What if that Sunday afternoon includes Woods, who eliminated McIlroy at the Match Play in a finish so irritating that McIlroy left without speaking to the media?

“I haven’t thought about it,” McIlroy said. “I guess there’s a lot of bridges to cross until we get to that point.” AP RORY MCILROY is juggling his mind and game in his Masters quest. AP

WARTS and all, Patrick Reed returns as a Masters champion. AP

By Paul Newberry The Associated Press

A

UGUSTA, Georgia—Call him The Imperfect Champion.

Warts and all, Patrick Reed enters the Masters as the reigning holder of the green jacket.

He’s an anomaly at staid, ol’ Augusta National, which has always preferred bland and homogenized winners, who’ll always say the right things without saying much of anything.

Patrick Reed, that’s not.

His family life is messy. His attitude is brash. His college days are pock-marked with allegations of cheating and

teammates wronged.

That’s OK. Villains are more fun anyway.

“Everyone has their own different personalities,” Reed said in the lead-up to the Masters, which begins on Thursday. “The biggest thing is to be true to yourself and go out and do what it is that you feel like is best for you, best for your team and also helps you perform the best.”

For Reed, that means surrounding himself with a small but tight-knit group. That means working harder than anyone on the course. That means saying what’s on his mind, even if that rubs some people the wrong way.

“He’s not going to put on a comedy show. That’s not his cup of tea,” said Jason Alexander, the pro at Reed’s home course, The Club at Carlton Woods near Houston.

“I know there are guys on tour who are very concerned what the media thinks of them,” Alexander continued during a phone interview on Wednesday. “I think they play to that. You’ll hear people say, ‘They’re the nicest guys, they sign all this stuff for the fans,’ but when you see them behind closed doors, they’re totally different. Patrick Reed is the same guy, whether he’s on the range [at his home course] or at the Masters. He’s himself. I think he’s proud of himself. I think he’s proud of the way he handles himself. He’s true to himself. He’s not fake.”

A year ago, when Reed was on the way to his first major championship, much was made of the fact that his parents and little sister were only 15 minutes away, watching on television at the home where Reed lived while leading Augusta State to a pair of national titles. The family has been estranged since 2012. Reed has cut off all contact, apparently rebuffing any attempt at reconciliation.

Shortly after his one-stroke victory over Rickie Fowler,

Reed was asked if he regretted that his parents and sibling weren’t at Augusta National for the most triumphant moment of his career.

The reply was cold and distant.

“I mean, I’m just out here to play golf and try to win golf tournaments,” Reed said.

He has never discussed the fractured relationship, leaving others to speculate—thanks in part to comments from his family—that his wife, Justine, is the root of the problem. But no one beyond the parties involved really knows what happened. Wading into a broken family is a perilous misadventure.

Of course, Reed has never been frugal with his words—or his ego— when it comes to sizing up things with a club in his hands.

In 2014, after becoming the youngest winner of a World Golf Championship event at Doral, he declared himself one of the planet’s top five players. After a crushing US loss to Europe in last year’s Ryder Cup, the golfer who had embraced the role of “Captain America” griped to The New York Times about Jordan Spieth being responsible for breaking up a pairing that had worked so well at previous team events, as well as Jim Furyk’s decision to bench Reed for both foursome sessions.

“For somebody as successful in the Ryder Cup as I am, I don’t think it’s smart to sit me twice,” Reed said, conveniently overlooking that he lost both four-ball matches playing alongside Tiger Woods.

When Reed first began playing at Carlton Woods, Alexander was a bit wary.

He’d heard the same stories about the kid who was supposedly caught cheating—and even suspected of stealing in the locker room— during his first college stop at the University of Georgia, a guy who was apparently such an obnoxious brat that Georgia alum Kevin Kisner (who played for the Bulldogs before Reed’s arrival) said bluntly that he

was at both schools.

“I don’t know that they’d p__s on him if he was on fire,” Kisner told GolfDigest.com for a story published last December.

That folded quite neatly into Alexander’s initial impression.

“When he first came out, he lived up the billing,” the club pro said. “He said, ‘I want to go practice. Make sure no one bothers me.’ He was very regimented about his work.”

But as Alexander got to know Reed, the walls began to come down. He discovered a tireless worker, a guy who relished the grind of countless hours on the practice range.

“If anything, I probably hit too many golf balls,” Reed conceded this week.

Beyond the course, Alexander found a person who’s generous with his time, who works tirelessly behind the scenes to promote junior golf, who’s devoted to his wife and their two children, who craves acceptance and longs to be respected but isn’t about to change who he is.

Shortly after his Masters victory, Reed returned to Carlton Woods for a celebration. The club put on a big dinner, and Reed hung around to sign some 250 autographs for members and their families.

“As we’re walking out, he gave me a hug,” Alexander recalled. “He told me, ‘Thanks for tonight.’ He even got a little emotional. Here’s this big-time guy, but he’s telling me, ‘I just haven’t felt this sort of genuine support before. Ever.’ As much as he acts like it doesn’t bother him, I think it does.”

Even though Reed is the defending champion, he won’t get the biggest cheers at Augusta National this week. Those will go to players such as Woods and Spieth and Rory McIlroy. You know, the popular ones.

Too bad.

Villains are always more fun.

Spo

Business

C2 Friday, April 12, 2019

SEMIS ON: HOTSHOTS VS. ELASTO PAINTERS F

RESH from brushing off their respective quarterfinals foes, Rain or Shine meets Magnolia to open the best-of-seven semifinals hostilities of the Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup on Friday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The showdown starts at 7 p.m. as the elimination round second-seed Elasto Painters plunge into a seven-game series against the Hotshots, who are fresh from thrashing their rival Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings on Wednesday night.

Armed with a twice-to-beat advantage, Rain or Shine made short work of NorthPort with a 91-85 disposal on Sunday.

Ed Daquioag and Rey Nambatac sizzled off the bench in that game, scoring 15 and 14 points, respectively, and a combined eight triples to lead the Elasto Painters.

The team also drew efficient numbers from veteran center Beau Belga, who had 13 points, four rebounds and four steals.

Realizing that they are facing the Hotshots who are notorious for their suffocating defense, Elasto Painters Head Coach Caloy Garcia stressed

they must come up with a good game plan to take the series-opener.

“We have to attack their pressure defense,” Garcia said.

The Hotshots eliminated the Gin Kings after three games of intense action, 85-72, with Paul Lee leading the assault with 25 points built on five triples.

With little rest and little time to prepare against a top-seeded team, Magnolia Head Coach Chito Victolero admitted they are the underdogs in the series.

“I am confident with my players, but we will face a tough team. We know we are the underdogs in the series, but we will try to prepare as much as we can,” Victolero said.

The rivalry is a fitting matchup for Lee and Magnolia’s James Yap. In a blockbuster trade in 2016, Lee, then the “Lethal Weapon” of the Elasto Painters, was swapped with Yap, arguably the face of the franchise with accolades that include two Most Valuable Player awards.

During their encounter in the elimination

Pasaol powers Knights in D-League

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ETRON-LETRAN dealt IronconUniversity of Santo Tomas (UST) its first defeat in the Philippine Basketball Association Developmental League with a 114-101 victory on Thursday at Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.

Alvin Pasaol took the baton in the final three minutes and 12 seconds as he scored eight of the Knights’ final 16 points to finish with 27 points and eight rebounds.

Jerrick Balanza was as sensational and poured a season-high 34 points to go with his nine rebounds and two steals as Petron-Letran got back to its winning ways after suffering an 83-64 loss to Cignal-Ateneo last week.

“We joined this league to beat these kinds of teams. At least in this game, the boys showed than they could bounce back,” Coach Bonnie Tan said.

Jeremiah Taladua came off the bench and scattered 13 points and grabbed four rebounds, while King Caralipio added 11 points, four boards and two assists. Renato Ular got himself a doubledouble with 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Petron-Letran improved to a 4-2 win-loss record in the Aspirants Group. UST fell to 4-1.

Beninese forward Soulemane Chabi Yo paced the Growling Tigers with 25 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and three blocks.

Brent Paraiso had his best outing to date with 17 points, five rebounds and two assists, while Marvin Lee got 15 points and 10 boards.

BEGORNIA BAGS SQUASH GOLD R

GINEBRA’S Scottie Thompson slices through Magnolia’s Aldrech Ramos and Rome de la Rosa. round on February 13, Yap scored with five seconds left to lift Rain or Shine, 75-74. Lee made 10 points in that game.

Adding interest to the duel is that one of the two titles won by the Elasto Painters was against the then B-MEG team, forerunner of Magnolia, in the 2012 Governors’ Cup. The former Star team, meanwhile, swept Rain or Shine in two games of the quarterfinals of the 2017 Commissioner’s Cup

LeBron, Carmelo, Chris on courtside for Wade’s finale

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EW YORK—Dwyane Wade had some superstar fans on hand for his final National Basketball Association (NBA) game.

LeBron James, Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony were all sitting courtside in Brooklyn on Wednesday night to watch Miami’s game against the Nets.

Wade punctuated his career with one last tripledouble, finishing with 25 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists in a 113-94 loss to Brooklyn.

The four players are close friends and former teammates on the US Olympic team.

Wade went over to the corner where they were sitting and hugged each before starting his final game before retirement.

James told Fox Sports Southeast that it was important for them to be there because their friendship goes beyond basketball.

“CP played last night, we had our last regularseason game last night, and Melo’s right here in New York, so we kind of made the plan, made the decision to come up here,” James said. “Listen, we couldn’t miss D-Wade’s last game. This is the last time he’s going to be on an NBA floor wearing that Miami Heat uniform, that No. 3, so we’re happy to be here to support.”

Afterward, Wade finished his season-long custom of exchanging jerseys with players by giving his to Anthony. Anthony was one of the people who persuaded Wade to return this season and enjoy a farewell tour, but then he didn’t last long enough with the Houston Rockets to play against Miami.

“I didn’t get an opportunity to play against Melo this year and exchange jerseys with him,” Wade said. “That was a missing piece out of this whole season, so everything worked out great for him being here, for me having an opportunity to give him my jersey.” AP

EYMARK BEGORNIA capped his improbable run in the Fifth Southeast Asian Cup Squash Championships on Wednesday night with an emphatic 8-11, 11-8, 11-5, 9-11, 11-9 win over Sinapore’s Benedict Chan in the men’s singles final at the Kerry Sports courts inside the Shangri-La Hotel in Taguig City.

In an intense duel of nerves in the deciding fifth and final set, Chan was the first to blink, succumbing to three successive mid-game errors that Begornia exploited on the way to capturing the gold medal after 61 thrilling minutes of action in the tournament organized by the Philippine Squash Academy.

It was the first major international title for the lanky 5-foot-11 racket-wielder, who completed a four-match sweep of his stint that gave the hosts their first mint in the six-nation competition backed by the Philippine Sports Commission, Philippine Olympic Committee and MVP Sports Foundation.

Malaysia’s Noor Ainaa Amanti Binti Amani Binti Ampandi came back from a first-set deficit to down Singapore’s Sneha Sivakumar, 6-11, 117, 11-9, 11-6, in clinching the women’s gold medal of the competition also supported by Alaska Fortified Milk, Jollibee, Meralco, PLDT, Salming and Dunlop, the official ball.

“I just kept my patience, especially in the fifth set. Medyo magulang po ang kalaban pero pagod na rin siya,” noted Begornia in savoring the hard-earned triumph that drew cheers from the small but lively hometown gallery that witnessed the spine-tingling battle between two evenlymatched rivals.

“This is a great win for Macmac [Begornia’s nickname]. He was all effort and all heart and truly deserves the victory,” National Coach Manu Yam pointed out. “He played a calculating game but was also willing to take risks, which paid off.”

PSA President Robert Bachmann, who

witnessed the close match from start to finish, was enthused by Begornia’s performance, saying: “What Macmac did was epic! He never gave up.

This is a major breakthrough for him.”

Because of Begornia’s sensational showing, Bachmann bared that the athlete would receive a “significant” bonus for his efforts.

A gold medalist in the 2017 Malaysia Southeast Asian Games, Chan played it shrewdly in the opening set, using his drop shots that often caught Begornia off guard in seizing the early initiative.

But the Filipino got into groove and raised his game to another level in the next set, showing the skill that Yam saw in him in knotting the count at 2-all.

Begornia was untouchable in the third set, dazzling Chan with an array of shots from all over the court in scoring eight consecutive points for an irreversible 8-2 edge en route to a 2-1 set lead, seemingly poised to end the match in the next one.

Chan, however, also showed his resiliency in gamely battling the hometown bet on even terms before clinching the set equalizer as Begornia committed an obstruction on the final point.

With count at 5-all in the winner-take-all fifth set, the Singaporean finally buckled and committed three consecutive errors while Begornia, sensing blood, tried to go in for the kill.

Chan made his last stand and close to within 9-10, only to see his comeback cut short after he was penalized a point for blocking the path of Begornia as he tried to return the shot.

Action resumed yesterday with the mixed team event scheduled for the morning and evening.

The Philippines is bracketed in Group A with Thailand and Indonesia, while Group B is composed of Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam, with the top 2 squads in each group advancing to the crossover semis today.

REYMARK BEGORNIA goes for a backhand shot.

NBA RESULTS Brooklyn 113, Miami 94 Detroit 115, New York 89 Indiana 135, Atlanta 134 Memphis 132, Golden State 117 Oklahoma City 127, Milwaukee 116 Orlando 122, Charlotte 114 Philadelphia 125, Chicago 109 San Antonio 105, Dallas 94 Denver 99, Minnesota 95 LA Clippers 143, Utah 137, OT Portland 136, Sacramento 131 DWYANE WADE (second from left) poses with (from left) Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul and LeBron James. AP

Pistons top Knicks, clinch final playoff spot in East

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EW YORK—Luke Kennard scored 27 points, Reggie Jackson had 21 and Andre Drummond added 20 points and 18 rebounds as the Detroit Pistons locked up the Eastern Conference’s final playoff spot with a 115-89 victory over the New York Knicks on

Wednesday night.

The Pistons will face the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks in the opening round.

Jackson scored 14 points, and Drummond had 10 points and seven rebounds in the first quarter, as the Pistons never trailed and led by as many as 16 points. Neither Jackson nor Drummond played in the fourth quarter.

Wayne Ellington added 12 points for the Pistons, who hadn’t made the playoffs since the 2015-16 season, the last time they finished over .500 (44-38). Before, Detroit hadn’t made the postseason since 2008-09.

John Jenkins led the Knicks with 16 points, and Kadeem Allen added 13. Henry Ellenson scored 12 points, and Mitchell Robinson and Isaiah Hicks each had 11.

Nikola Jokic had 29 points, 14 rebounds and had a key strip in the closing seconds as Denver scored the game’s final 15 points and secured the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference playoffs with a 99-95 win over Minnesota. AP

orts

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Friday, April 12, 2019 C3

TAIWANESE STEALS SHOW FROM SASO

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AIWANESE Tzu-Yi Chang unleashed a scorching front side windup to shoot a six-under 65 and wrest a one-stroke lead over fellow amateur Yuka Saso and Thai pro Arpichaya Yubol in the second round of the

Jantavara in control in Tarlac

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ATCHAPOL JANTAVARA tamed Luisita’s backside with a 32 and went on to fire a 67 and seize control halfway through the Philippine Golf Tour (PGT) Asia third season Qualifying Tournament in Tarlac on Wednesday.

Jantavara birdied three of the first four holes at the back then holed out with another birdie to jump from middle of the pack to the top of the heap with a 141 after a 35-32 that more than made up for a shaky 74 on Tuesday.

Compatriot Wongsakorn Choowong likewise sizzled at the back with three birdies in the last seven holes to shoot a 69 and move to second at 142 in a tie with erstwhile leader Marcos Pastor, who slowed down with a 75 after opening with a 67.

Aussie Fidel Concepcion shot a 70, while local bet Kris Etter turned in a 73 for joint fourth at 143 while six players—Aussie Weston Lane (76), Thai Kittiroj Chantharothai (74), Luke Trocado of South Africa (75), Rohan Kathuria of India (76), Korean Moon Seung Ryul (79) and Taric Can of the US (79) made the 65-plus ties cut at 155.

But they will have a lot of catching up to do in the last 36 holes of the elims with only the top 40 and ties to gain Category 6 berths for the new PGT Asia season kicking off next week, also at the Robert Trent Jones Sr.-designed course.

Others boosting their bids are Thai Puk Pradittan (71), American Pete Vilairatana (71), Japan’s Issei Mori (72) and Singapore’s Choo Tze Huang (75), who all assembled 144s, while another stroke back at 145 were Korean Cho Phil Kyu (71), Sebastian Hansson of Sweden (72), Japanese Ryui Hashimoto (73), Singapore’s Deng Shan Koh (73) and Thai Tawan Phongpun (74).

The other Filipino bidders in the hunt are Anthony Fernando and Enrico Gallardo, who carded 71 and 73, respectively, for 146s, Omar Dungca (72-148), Nico Evangelista (75-149), Santiago Cabo (76-149), Cookie La’O (74-150), GJ Katigbak 77-150), Jet Mathay (75-151), Robert Pactolerin (75-151), Darren Saqui (76-151), Orlan Sumcad (78-151), Richnell Albano (74-152), Joseph Suarez (76-152) and Kuresh Samanodi (79-152).

Team Lakay’s Pacio targets Saruta’s belt

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OSUKE SARUTA is staking his ONE Strawweight World title belt against former champion and Team Lakay star Joshua “The Passion” Pacio in the ONE Championship “Roots of Honor” that will air live on ABS-CBN S+A and S+A HD on Friday starting at 8:30 p.m. from the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

Not more than three months have passed since the man they call “Tobizaru” snatched the title from Pacio in front of a stunned Jakarta crowd.

The loss started a string of defeats for the

International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) Manila Golf Ladies Classic at the Manila Golf Club on Thursday.

Unable to get going with shaky putting in a 72 start on Wednesday, Chang finally put it all together, including her irons and short game, in another sweltering but windy day, birdying four of the last six holes at the front, highlighted by three straight from No. 6.

“Very good. My putting, irons and short game were in place,” said Chang, who used just 26 putts, seven less than what she did in the previous round, to move 18 holes away from snaring the crown with a 137 in the $100,000 event serving as the seventh leg of the seventh season of the Ladies Philippine Golf Tour.

“The course has lots of slopes and you have to be extra careful to avoid getting into trouble,” added the 17-year-old Junior World veteran after churning out a personal-best card on a par-71 layout. “I shot 66 twice in Taiwan but this one is like a 66 because the course is par-71.”

In contrast, Saso struggled on the surface coming off a fiery windup that spiked his leadgrabbing 67, ending up with 34 putts marred by a three-putt miscue on No. 14. She settled for a 71 to slip to second at 138 with Yubol, who missed joining Chang at the helm with a bogey on the ninth for a 68.

But Saso and Yubol are expected to bring out the best—or the worst—from Chang as they slug it out in the final group at 9 a.m. with the

reigning Asian Games gold medalist hoping to uncork another strong finish that has anchored her exploits in the past, including in the Philippine Ladies Amateur Open here at MGC last February.

“I played good and enjoyed my game. That’s it,” said Saso, who however didn’t bother to predict what score she would need to reign again at MGC and record her third crown on the LPGT. “I’m not concerned on what score to shoot but will just play and enjoy my game,” she said.

Japanese Mina Nakayama likewise tamed the frontside with a 34 for a 69 as she pressed her bid at 140, just three strokes off Chang heading to the final round of the event sponsored by ICTSI and cosanctioned by the LPGA of Taiwan (TLPGA) and Pilipinas Golf Tournaments Inc. The rest could be too far behind with Noritomo of Japan (68), Thai Pimpadsorn Sangkagaro (71) and Taiwan’s Hsuan Chen, Yui (72) pooling identical 141s although anything can happen in a pressure-packed finale under such hot, windy conditions.

Babe Liu, the top-ranked player from the crack Taiwan side, also battled back with a 68 to gain solo eighth at even 142, while local ace Pauline del Rosario blew a birdie-birdie start at the back with a roller-coaster game, ending up with three more birdies but fumbling with six bogeys. She wound up with a 72 and fell to joint ninth at 143 with Thai Chommapat

THE NATIONALS PLAYOFFS ON T

HE first Dota 2 conference of the 2019 The Nationals heads for playoff as the top 3 teams from 40 group stage games across five squads will be fighting for the title on Sunday at the Gariath Concepts in Eastwood City, Libis.

Bound for the playoffs are Cignal Ultra Warriors, which finished with the best record at 13-3, followed by PLDT-Smart Omega with 11-5 and Suha-XCTN Punishers with 8-8.

Cignal gets the top seeding and directly into the best-of-five grand finals at 3 p.m., while second seed PLDT-Smart plays No. 3 Suha-XCTN in the best-of-three playoff starting at 10 a.m.

The total pot money is P700,000 with the inaugural championing bagging P400,000.

Eliminated in the playoff stage of The Nationals are two teams with the youngest players—Happy Feet Emperors (5-11) and the Bren Epro (3-13).

The Warriors clinched the top seed when they secured a 2-0 win over Epro in their last group stage matchup last Tuesday. Their tempo is currently the best in the league, finishing games in an average of 31 minutes.

Their carry, Nando, also leads the league in last hits and GPM (gold per minute).

While they remain the favorite, the Warriors’ potential finals opponent has shown that it poses a serious threat. Of Cignal Ultra’s three losses, one of those came at the hands of Omega and two to the Punishers.

Omega is one of the league’s most efficient teams and its coordination reflects in the stats sheet—its cores Nasjo and Palos are currently first and second in KDA or kills-deaths-assists ratio. Its captain Ronn also leads the league in assists.

The Punishers, meanwhile, is living true to its name as its carry, Jamesy and Japoy, are currently top 2 in kills per game.

The Nationals is the country’s premier eSports league and the contested Dota 2 is only one of three games in the spotlight in the competition’s first year.

The playoffs could be viewed on Sunday starting 9:30 a.m. through live streaming at FB.com/PHNationals. It will also be in 5Plus via TV5 starting at 10 a.m., as well as in OneSports and EGG Network via CignalTV starting 3 p.m.

Sytiongsa-Pila showdown in Visayas golf regionals

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ARVEY SYTIONGSA hacked out a shock reversal over top seed Jacob Rolida then edged Masaichi Otake in an extended duel to seal a title duel with third seed Rolando Pila in the fourth MVP Sports Foundation (MVPSF) Visayas Regional Match Play Championships at the Cebu Country Club (CCC) on Thursday.

The eighth-ranked Sytiongsa pulled through in a roller-coaster clash with Rolida in morning quarterfinals, winning two of the last three holes for a 2-up victory.

The CCC bet then survived a late meltdown in an afternoon clash with Otake to snatch a victory on the 19th hole and barge into the finals of the serving as part of the PLDT Group National Amateur Tour and conducted by the National Golf Association of the Philippines.

Sytiongsa actually went 2-up against Otake with two holes to play in regulation but bogeyed Philippines’s best mixed-martial arts team, Team Lakay, losing its belts left and right.

But the amiable Pacio (13-3, 7 submissions) promised to stand atop the mountain once more.

“I lacked focus, hesitated and backed up a lot when I last faced Saruta. I will stick to our game plan this time around and I will be in the winner’s circle this Friday,” he said.

Saruta (19-8, 5 KOs) vowed to finish the fight compared to what happened in Jakarta.

“It was a tough fight against Pacio. We got to review the first fight, and learn some techniques.

them, enabling the latter to extend the match.

But the former recovered and toughened up in the playoff, scoring a par while the latter ended up with a bogey as Sytiongsa sealed a final clash with his fellow club bet.

Pila, a caddie at CCC, dominated Martin Mendoza in the quarters and came away with a 3&2 win then used his familiarity with the tight layout to outfox the fancied Chan at the backside in their semis clash, coming up with clutch birdies on Nos. 14 and 15 to carve out a 2-up triumph.

Sytiongsa and Pila dispute the crown in a marathon 36-hole finale with top seed Junia Gabasa and No. 2 Pamela Mariano likewise clashing for the ladies crown, also over 36 holes, in the event sponsored by the MVP Sports Foundation, PLDT Group, Cignal and Metro Pacific and hosted by CCC. This Friday, everyone will see the strength of a ninja here in the Philippines,” he said in Japanese.

Coheadlining the event is the featherweight title match where division lynchpin Martin “The Situ-Asian” Nguyen is making his longawaited return to the cage against former world champion Narantungalag Jadambaa.

Age doesn’t matter in the title fight according to Jadambaa (14-5), who at 43 is pumped up for a title shot against one of the most dangerous knockout artists in the business in the 30-yearold Australian champion (11-3, 7 KOs).

Pongthanarak (73) and ChingLing Chang of Taiwan (74).

Princess Superal checked her skid with two birdies in the last six at the front but the reigning Ladies Philippine Golf Tour Order of Merit champion could only turn in a 72 and lay way behind at 146, nine strokes off the leader, with fellow pretournament favorite Yupaporn Kawinpakorn (74), Nemittra Juntanaket of Thailand (72) and Japanese Wakana Kinjo (72).

Fifty-one players, including Japanese Aya Ishikawa (72), Mayumi Chinzei (76) and Mimori Shiii (79) and Thais Wad Phaewchimplee (73) and Pannapa Polnamin (75), made it to the final round after the cutoff at 152.

But the likes of former three-time LPGT OOM winner Cyna Rodriguez TZU-YI CHANG goes six-under on (73) and Symetra Tour veteran Mia Thursday to wrest a one-stroke lead Piccio (79), along with Thais over fellow amateur Yuka Saso (left) Saraporn Chamchoi (76) and and Thai pro Arpichaya Yubol (front).

Chakansim Khamborn (81) ROY DOMINGO missed the cut by one.

Dakak Resort launches golf club

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HE Dakak Golf Club at the Dakak Resort in Dapitan City will be formally launched on Friday, according to Dakak Golf Chairman Cesar Jalosjos.

Jalosjos and Dakak Golf President Rick Gibson will lead the launch in a media conference at the Manila Hotel.

“We are very pleased with the results of the development,” said Jalosjos, who has been overseeing the project. “It will be an unforgettable experience to play there.”

Natural wonders dominate the 50-hectare, 6,500-yard par 72 wonder, Jalosjos added.

“Most of what you will see is unheard of in golf,” said Gibson, a former Asian Tour champion who is overseeing the finishing touches on the course’s back nine. “To begin with, there is a record 1.9 miles of ocean in play, beating the record 1.6 miles of Pebble Beach.”

The front nine of the Greg Normandesigned course is already open for play and the grass is already being laid down on the back half of the course.

The course will be fully operational in November.

The course has three par 3s, three par 4s and three par 5s on each nine. Seven of the first nine holes face the Sulu Sea, a feature unique to Dakak.

Many of the holes require a golfer’s shot to go over water, with one needing a nearperfect tee off over a waterfall to get on to the green. The entire property is a seamless blend of blue and green, with almost no man-made structures in sight.

BLOODIED IN ENGLAND M

Sports

By Rob Harris

BusinessMirror

The Associated Press

ANCHESTER, England—Lionel Messi first felt the thud of Chris Smalling’s shoulder into his back. Then the Manchester United defender’s flailing right arm swiped across Messi’s face, and blood poured from the Barcelona

forward’s nose.

Already trailing against a dominating Barcelona side, United had to resort to physicality after 30 minutes to try to thwart the five-time European champions on Wednesday.

It helped prevent any further damage to the scoreline, as Barcelona won the first leg of their quarterfinal, 1-0, after United defender Luke Shaw unwittingly helped Luis Suarez’s header into the net in the 12th minute.

An equalizer never looked likely, though, with United failing to register a shot on goal in a Champions League game at Old Trafford for the first time since 2005.

Barcelona’s goal—initially flagged for offside before being awarded via a video review—came during an exhilarating spell when the visitors’ possession exceeded 80 percent.

“It was a great header from Luis,” Barcelona Coach Ernesto Valverde said. “He was fighting for every cause. He was getting stuck into the defenders, trying to work really hard.”

But as Barcelona became sloppy and error-strewn, the early passing rhythm faded.

“We lost the ball in our own half a few times too often,” Barcelona defender Nelson Semedo said. “But shutting down those errors gave us this big victory.”

While the Spanish champions ended a six-game winless run on the road in European knockout games stretching back to 2016, this quarterfinal is very much still in play heading into the second leg on Tuesday.

So is the quarterfinal between Juventus and Ajax after the sides drew 1-1 in Amsterdam on Wednesday.

United only fleetingly imposed itself on Barcelona, but did so with force when Smalling escaped punishment for the foul which left Messi needing to clean up the blood on the touchline.

“This was a tough, complicated contest,” Valverde said.

“We dominated in spells but their pressure was high and difficult to break.”

The closest Messi came to his first goal at Old Trafford was in the 83rd minute when the sting was taken out of a low free kick and it was easily gathered by David de Gea. The United goalkeeper also denied Philippe Coutinho a chance to double Barcelona’s lead in the first half when his left leg kept out the shot.

De Gea was also equal to Jordi Alba’s strike in the second

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| Friday, April 12, 2019 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

LIONEL MESSI receives medical assistance during the Champions League quarterfinal. AP

half to limit the damage.

United already came back from a heavier first-leg deficit to reach this stage, losing 2-0 to Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) in the round of 16 before winning 3-1 in the French capital last month to help Ole Gunnar Solskjaer secure the manager’s job on a three-year contract.

“The PSG performance away gives us hope and belief we can do it,” Solskjaer said after United’s fourth loss in five

BRAZIL WEARS WHITE R

IO DE JANEIRO—Brazil will wear white shirts for the first time in nearly 70 years when it plays its opening match of this year’s Copa America.

Brazil hasn’t donned white shirts since losing the 1950 World Cup final at home to Uruguay, but will bring them back to celebrate the 100th anniversary of its first Copa America title in 1919.

The team wore white for that tournament, as well.

However, its main kit will still be the yellow shirt and blue shorts that have been worn since the traumatic loss to Uruguay in Rio de Janeiro’s Maracana stadium.

Real Madrid striker Vinicius Junior, who has never played for Brazil’s senior team but is expected to be part of the Copa America squad,

games in all competitions. “But we know we are playing against probably the favorites in the tournament.”

In that first leg against PSG, United only managed one shot on target. Against Barcelona, the three-time European champions couldn’t even hit the target once—the first time that has happened for them in the Champions League since 2005.

“For large spells we made it difficult for them but

was the first player to show off the retro look at the Brazilian soccer confederation headquarters in Rio de Janeiro.

When the United States resumes competitive matches in June after a 20-month absence, it will quickly come up against Trinidad and Tobago, the nation that prevented the Americans from reaching the 2018 World Cup. The US learned on Wednesday it will open the defense of its Concacaf Gold Cup title against Guyana on June 18 at Saint Paul, Minnesota.

The Americans play Trinidad four days later at

unfortunately we couldn’t get the goal because we created a lot of good chances,” Smalling said. “We had a little spell in the first half where we went after them but then we started to look a little bit nervy.

“I think from halftime we got at them, really pressed them and to be honest we caused them so many problems.”

But now United will have to be the first team to win at Barcelona in 30 matches stretching back to 2013 if it is to

Cleveland, then complete Group D against Panama on June 26 at Kansas City, Kansas. The match against Trinidad could be extra charged, given the US eliminated the Soca Warriors in the final qualifier in November 1989 and T&T knocked out the US with a 2-1 win at Couva, Trinidad, on October 10, 2017.

“That’s always going to be an element to that game,” new US Coach Gregg Berhalter said.

“But for us it’s about taking that emotion out of the game and performing. We know when we play Trinidad, we’ll have an opportunity to put ourselves in position to advance.”

The Americans are expected to play a pair of exhibitions in June to prepare for the tournament, the championship of North and Central America and the Caribbean. The US will wind up playing 18 consecutive friendlies since the defeat at Trinidad. The gap between competitive matches will be the longest for the Americans since a loss to Costa Rica on May 31, 1985, their final qualifier for the 1986 World

advance to the semifinals.

The teams will have contrasting preparations for the second leg when Shaw will be suspended after being booked for tugging at Messi.

Barcelona on Saturday heads to Huesca holding an 11-point lead at the top of the Spanish league, but Manchester United hosts West Ham in the Premier League trying to climb up from sixth place to the four Champions League qualification places.

Cup, and a draw at Jamaica on July 24, 1988, their first qualifier for the 1990 World Cup. “It’s a challenging group. I think there’s going to be some good opponents. It’s going to prepare us,” said Berhalter, who has coached the team to three wins and a draw since he was hired in December. “We’re going to have to be smart when we play against these opponents. We’re going to have to be balanced, and hopefully we’ll be able to circulate the ball to break them down.”

The United States has 32 wins, one loss and four draws in the group stage of the Gold Cup, losing 2-1 to Panama in 2011 at Tampa, Florida.

The Americans had won 13 straight openers before a 1-1 draw with Panama in 2017 at Nashville, Tennessee.

Under the format of this year’s Gold Cup, which has been expanded from 12 nations to 16, the top two teams in each group advance.

The Group D winner plays the Group C secondplace team in a quarterfinal at Philadelphia on June 30, a day after teams advancing from

Groups A and B meet in Houston.

Houston winners play in a semifinal at Glendale, Arizona, on July 2, and Philadelphia winners meet July 3 at Nashville. The final is July 7 at Chicago’s Soldier Field at 9 p.m. EDT, part of a tripleheader of soccer finals that day.

The Women’s World Cup final at Lyon, France, kicks off at 11 a.m. EDT, and the Copa America final in Rio de Janeiro starts at 4 p.m. EDT. First-round matches will be played in Central America and the Caribbean for the first time: opening doubleheaders of Group B at San José, Costa Rica, on June 16 and of Group C at Kingston, Jamaica, the following day.

The opening doubleheader is June 15 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, where Canada plays Martinique and Mexico faces Cuba. El Tri also have group games against Canada on June 19 at Denver and versus Martinique on June 23 at Charlotte, North Carolina.

Mexico has won the tournament seven times, the United States six and Canada once. AP

BRAZIL’S player Vinicius Junior models the new jersey that his national team will wear at this years’ Copa America. AP

Troubled Turkish weightlifter blows Tokyo Olympics bid

D

ANIYAR ISMAYILOV, the Turkish weightlifter who has made headlines for disciplinary problems, as well as for winning a silver medal at Rio de Janeiro 2016, has crashed out of contention for a place at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

With the first phase of Olympic qualifying ending this month Ismayilov, who originally competed for his native Turkmenistan, had to make a total in the 67 kilograms on a dramatic third day of the European Championships in Batumi, Georgia.

Despite posting his lowest snatch numbers since the 2012 Olympics, when he still competed for Turkmenistan, Ismayilov led going into the clean and jerk.

But he failed twice at 165 kgs and, looking shaken, failed again at 166 kgs.

His bomb-out left the contest wide open and the German Simon Brandhuber, who had never won a senior medal, took advantage to move into the lead.

But two men had not finished yet and Brandhuber had to sit and watch for five more lifts as Georgia’s Goga Chkheidze and the Frenchman Bernard Matam tried to overtake him.

Chkheidze failed with his last attempt but Matam made his final lift of 175 kg to take gold on 312 kg, with Brandhuber second and Chkheidze third.

Ismayilov, 27, had won two European titles before and at anything like his best

form he would have won.

He declined to compete in the International Weightlifting Federation World Championships, the first event in qualifying for Tokyo, because they were held in Turkmenistan and, having left the country to compete for Turkey after his 12th place at London 2012, he feared arrest.

The Turkish federation agreed with his decision.

In his last competitive appearance, when he won at the Mediterranean Games in Tarragona last year, Ismayilov was arrested by Spanish police when a British tourist accused him of sexual harassment.

He was released without charge when the woman withdrew her complaint, but was disciplined by the Turkish federation for “unacceptable behavior,” having stayed out until 5 a.m.

Ismayilov was also in trouble for stabbing a male teammate with a fork at a training camp, for allegedly slapping a female teammate and for throwing a bottle at a coach. Insidethegames

D

Faithful God

EAR faithful God, Your love and mercy endure forever. In hope and faith we pray: Oh God, in Your goodness, help us. Prosper efforts to stop gun violence and production of deadly weapons. Help us relate to troubled and youth at risk. Imbue law enforcement and emergency personnel with integrity, compassion and wisdom. May the Word of God be a light to our minds and a lamp for our steps, now and always. Amen.

GIVE US THIS DAY SHARED BY LUISA LACSON, HFL Word&Life Publications • teacherlouie1965@yahoo.com

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

Life BusinessMirror

FROM DISNEY TO NETFLIX, THE BIG TAKEAWAYS FROM CINEMACON D4

Friday, April 12, 2019

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TAN FRANCE OF ‘QUEER EYE’

Bridging divides on TV, in real life

By Lindsay WhiTehUrsT

S

The Associated Press

ALT LAKE CITY—The Netflix show Queer Eye caught on by doing something unusual: creating reality TV that touches on some of the country’s deepest divides with persistent optimism. Alongside sleek new haircuts and rehabbed wardrobes, the makeover program starring five gay men tackles the contrast between urban and rural, white and black, liberal and conservative.

The show’s resident fashion expert, Tan France, switches between those worlds off-camera, too. He’s an English immigrant who was raised Muslim and spends his off hours at home with his husband in decidedly red-state Utah. Living in Salt Lake City gives him a perspective that comes in handy for a show featuring a cross-section of America, he says.

“When I go into the homes of these people, they’re my neighbors. I spend my days with them. I know who these people are, so it puts me in a very privileged position to say, ‘I get what you’re going through, and let me help you through it,’” he said in a recent interview at his renovated historic home on a quiet street. The house’s attic floor is given entirely to a walk-in closet and another closet for scented candles.

It’s the kind of stylish wholesomeness the show channels effectively.

A reboot of the 2003 series Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, the version that premiered last year takes the setup to new places. The makeover subjects, dubbed heroes on the show, have ranged from a President

Trump-supporting Nascar fan to two AfricanAmerican sisters who own a barbecue joint. Between the home renovations and cooking lessons are plenty of poignant moments.

France stars on the show along with food guru Antoni Porowski, hairstylist Jonathan van Ness, culture expert Karamo Brown and home designer Bobby Berk.

“It’s a very honest, earnest show,” France said. “I think many people worried that this wasn’t going to work. It was going to be a very emotional show, it was going to be a positive show, and up until that point those shows weren’t successful.”

But Queer Eye quickly took off, has now released a third season and won best reality show at the GLAAD media awards. Rich Ferraro, a spokesman for the LGBTQ advocacy group, said the original show helped raise awareness by bringing five successful gay men into American living rooms across the country. The new version also includes some subjects from the LGBTQ community, from a transgender man to a black lesbian disowned by her adoptive family.

“I love how the Queer Eye of today shows not only the evolution of the subject but of the people who live in the neighborhoods and communities around the subject, and how they come to terms with LGBTQ people,” Ferraro said. “I think Queer Eye has become a moment of celebration during a pretty dark time for LGBTQ Americans.”

Skylar Jay, a transgender man from Athens, Georgia, who uses his first and middle name publicly for safety reasons, said he’s gotten far more reaction

than he expected after he appeared as a subject on the show. “Everyone watches this show!” he said. Most surprising has been the reaction of straight, cisgender men. While those kinds of encounters with strangers might have included name-calling or violence in the past, now many men want to shake his hand or say thanks for educating them about transgender issues.

In one episode, Jay has a long conversation about transgender issues with France, who said he knew few transgender people and asked a number of questions.

Jay said he still hears from people all over the world about that talk.

“People who are trans, or have someone trans in their family or a trans friend, or who don’t even know anyone who’s trans at all but now they have, at least, somewhat of an understanding to be decent to trans people,” he said. “That is the most valuable gift they gave me.”

France, meanwhile, has become a rare LGBTQ celebrity of south Asian descent. A native of the north of England whose family is Pakistani, he has lived in Salt Lake City on and off for more than a decade. It’s where he met his husband, Rob, an illustrator who grew up in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Wyoming. Though they don’t talk much about faith, France said their different upbringings nevertheless created a similar value system.

France also loves the sweeping mountain vistas that surround the city, the burgeoning food scene and longtime friends.

“If I lived in New York or Los Angeles, I’m sure my life would have changed massively. That’s why I

A CAST member on the Netflix series Queer Eye, Tan France poses among his clothes in the attic of his home in Salt Lake City. The series touches on some of the country’s deepest divides with persistent optimism.

The makeover program starring five gay men tackles the contrast between urban and rural, white and black, liberal and conservative. AP

choose to live in Salt Lake,” he said. “I come home and escape from the extra life I have no desire to live.”

He’d also like to correct some misperceptions: Salt Lake isn’t full of polygamists, and in fact the predominant faith renounced it more than a century ago. Though the church has sometimes been at odds with the larger LGBTQ community, France has many friends who belong to the faith and hasn’t faced discrimination in Utah.

He wasn’t in entertainment before, instead designing fashionable, modest clothing in Utah and building a partnership with a successful blogger who considered a reality TV show. That project didn’t pan out, but it got France noticed by casting directors and led to an offer to do Queer Eye—one that came days after he sold his businesses to start a family.

Kids are on hold for now as he tours with the cast and prepares for the June release of his memoir, Naturally Tan. France, 35, says he knew his life was different the day that Jon Bon Jovi asked for a selfie with him. He gets plenty of questions about his distinctive silver hair, which started going gray at age 17. “I will not dye it. I have no desire to dye it,” he said.

Instead, he styles his naturally curly tresses into a tall blow-out.

Like other members of the cast, he’s developed a matter-of-fact but kind manner over the years, one that helps keep the show from veering into mockery.

“I don’t go in with judgment,” he said. “It’s never a case of, ‘We know what’s best and this isn’t the right life for you.’ We find what we think would be the best version of them and we create it.” n

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Friday, April 12, 2019

Society BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

z

Today’s Horoscope

By Eugenia Last

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Saoirse Ronan, 25; Claire Danes, 40; Jennifer Morrison, 40; Ed O’Neill, 73.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Rethink your prerogative regarding work and domestic changes. If you work as a team player, you will find it easier to get what you want in the end. Have a goal in mind, and contribute your thoughts regarding the best way to get things done. A different lifestyle may be exactly what you need to dump bad habits and unnecessary possessions. Your lucky numbers are 2, 14, 20, 28, 33, 36, 41.

a

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Make financial changes. Cut your overhead and rid yourself of the clutter you’ve accumulated over the years.

Once you start to clear out what you no longer need, you’ll have more time and money to do the things you enjoy most. HH

b

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Visit a friend or attend a reunion. You’ll be offered valuable information that can help you better understand yourself and the possibilities that are available to you. Positive change is within reach if you are prepared to initiate your next move. HHHH

CELEBRITY fans of HBO’s epic series Game of Thrones Patty Tiu (from left), Sam YG, Myrrh Lao To, Nico Bolzico, Tim Yap and Alodia Gosiengfiao at the launch of Johnnie Walker’s GoT-inspired limited-edition blend, White Walker.

‘GoT’-inspired whiskey blend launched I N anticipation to the much awaited eighth and final season of HBO’s epic fantasy drama series Game of Thrones (GoT), which premieres next week, Johnnie Walker launched a limited-edition blend inspired by the show’s millenniums-old icy race.

The White Walker by Johnnie Walker is a collaboration between the luxury scotch whiskey brand, HBO and Game of Thrones, created by whiskey specialist George Harper alongside a team of expert blenders at Johnnie Walker. The drink draws inspiration from the show’s most enigmatic characters, from the bottle to the blend.

The easy drinking whiskey is best served directly from the freezer at 1.5 degrees, and carries notes of

caramelized sugar, vanilla and fresh red berries with a touch of orchard fruit for a polished, sweet taste with a fruity twist. Meanwhile, its bottle, when frozen, reveals the famous House Stark defense stance “Winter is Here” through temperature-sensitive ink technology.

Available at P 1,299 at all leading supermarkets, the limited-edition blend was launched in a massive White Walker pop-up in Whitespace Manila that welcomed some of GoT’s biggest celebrity fans in the country, including Nico Bolzico, Tim Yap, Alodia Gosiengfiao and Sam YG. According to Cesar Gangoso, marketing director of Diageo Philippines, the local arm of the British

multinational alcoholic beverages company behind Johnnie Walker, the launch of their GoT-inspired blend culminates the Johnnie Flavor Festival, a monthlong celebration of the labels under the scotch whiskey brand.

“Game of Thrones has made such a mark in pop culture and we are positive that White Walker by Johnnie Walker will give fans a taste of Frozen North,” Gangoso said.

Following the launch, White Walker by Johnnie Walker will march to Poblacion, Makati, for a series of preseason events, as well as Season 8 viewing parties and quiz nights at the Johnnie Walker House along Kalayaan Avenue. JT NISAY

A good way to veg out

MAXICARE Chairman of the Board Roberto Macasaet Jr. and President and CEO Christian Argos

EATING shouldn’t be merely about satisfying your hunger because the diet you choose affects every aspect of your health, including the environment. It’s about time to eat healthy, live healthy and take control of your health.

As obesity and unhealthy lifestyles continue to grow into a global problem, leading health-care provider Maxicare Healthcare Corp. (www.maxicare. com.ph) arranged its first-ever outdoor festival— Maxicare Veggie Fest 2019, a project in support of the company’s Chairman of the Board Roberto “Bobby” Macasaet Jr’s personal advocacy for healthier lifestyles.

“One of the easiest ways to start your journey to living a healthy life is by eating a plant-based diet, which is why we are very proud to be holding the Maxicare Veggie Fest. Today, we invite everyone to live their best by boosting not only their physical health, but also their mental health. It’s like eating your favorites, but without the guilt,” said Macasaet, whose main objective is to improve health and wellness, focusing on plant-based nutrition.

c

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Think twice before you offer to help someone. Consider the likelihood of what you do actually making a difference and whether your time would be better spent focusing on learning and implementing what you discover to help you advance. HHH

d

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Negotiate on your own behalf. No one will understand what you want or fight harder to get it. Make a move based on the way you feel and the direction you see yourself heading. Romance is highlighted. HHH

e

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Socialize with colleagues or someone who can help you raise your profile or position. Be ready to initiate positive change into the way you do things; it won’t go unnoticed. Don’t trust anyone who is competing with you. HHH

f

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Playtime will do you good. Put work behind you, and get together with people you find entertaining and motivating. A change of attitude will lead to an interesting alternative to your normal routine. Try something new. Romance is highlighted. HHHH

g

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Take a closer look at the demands someone is putting on you. It’s time for you to make a change that will place you in a less stressful environment. Emotional tactics will be used as a means to manipulate you. HH

h

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Making travel plans, socializing and sharing creative ideas with someone you love will lead to positive changes to your lifestyle. Personal improvements should be a priority, along with sticking to a budget. HHHHH

i

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Put your heart and soul into self-improvement. Don’t worry about what others do or say. Stick to the truth, facts and the people you know you can trust.

Someone will lead you astray or take advantage of you if you are gullible. HHH

In its mission to improve others’ quality of life, Maxicare encourages members and nonmembers alike to incorporate a variety of fruits and vegetables, whole grains and starches, good fats, and lean proteins into their diet so they can live longer and feel stronger by inspiring others to fight disease and eat healthy.

Held at the Legazpi Active Park in Makati City, the veggie fest was packed with plant-based food vendors that offered handpicked products for healthconscious consumers. The activities included a film showing on plant-based lifestyle and a talk on “Holistic Healing for Wholesome Living” presented by yoga instructor Donna Francisco, “Guilt Free and Gluten Free Dessert” by Jertie Abergas of Jerties Kitchen, “Skin Food—Understanding the Right Food for Beautiful Skin” by Kathy Amurao-Herrera, “Aging Gracefully” by May Manahan-Lagdameo and Willie Lagdameo of Health & Wellness Coaches Philippines Inc., “Lifestyle Medicine” by Johann Manez, and a “Local Native Plant-Based Eating with Mesa ni Misis”

by Juana Yupangco.

j

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Make whatever you do or say count. Connect with someone you have enjoyed spending time with in the past. What you discover will help you initiate a positive change to the way you live. HHH

k

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Be careful who you share your secrets with. Emotional matters should be handled with care. Take a look at your personal papers before you submit documents to your accountant, government agency or legal representative. HHH

l

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): What you put out you will get back. Give-and-take will result in better relationships with the people you live or work alongside. Much can be accomplished as long as you make realistic plans. HHHHH BIRTHDAY BABY: You are creative, industrious and unique.

You are sensitive and insightful.

‘pork tongue’ BY MARY ELLEN UTHLAUT The Universal Crossword/Edited by David Steinberg

ACROSS 1 “Octopuses have three hearts,” e.g.

5 Finance deg.

8 Llama cousin 14 Copycat 15 Phanerozoic, for one 16 Protect with an invention?

17 Want to know 19 Without damage 20 Caramel topper 21 Moment 22 Foot bones 23 Servant’s uniform 25 Appliance for boiling water 27 Striped candy shape 31 Fit for a king 35 Tranquil 37 Not yet broadcast 38 Setting in balance 39 State of rest 40 Scarcity 41 Wilson of The Internship 42 Indian social class 43 Accompany to an event

6 Gave a score to 4 51 Rotund 54 Understand 56 It shuts people up 57 “Language” in which the starred answers make sense phonetically 58 Upward climb 59 Speed Wagon maker 60 Tuna containers 61 Scottish misses 62 Letter in most plurals 63 Reflex hammer target DOWN 1 Immoral Goethe character 2 Common sleep problem 3 Chest wood 4 Lock of hair 5 Whimper 6 Large amount 7 ___ port in a storm 8 Lewis Carroll heroine 9 Ocean transport 10 Money on hand 11 At a distance

2 ___-Cola 1 13 Pretentiously creative 18 Bold poker players 21 “___ seen worse” 24 Yale or Harvard 26 Squirrel’s climbing place 28 Corrosive stuff 29 1492 ship 30 Risque 31 1999 currency debut 32 Once more 33 Look shocked 34 Queens of the savanna 35 What’s left on a ship?

36 Word-for-word 38 Danishes and others 40 Cochlea’s organ 42 Coquettish 44 Medusa’s victims turned to it 45 Kinds of jargon 47 Cordelia’s word of lament 48 Mythical giant 49 Online publication 50 Crowded

1 Milky gem 5 52 Major with the Big Dipper 53 Quirky jerks 55 Freudian subjects 57 Intro to history or science?

Solution to yesterday’s puzzle:

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NEGROS Oriental Governor Roel Degamo (second from left) leads private and public sector representatives and special guests in a ceremonial pledge of the province’s commitment to renewable energy.

NEGROS ORIENTAL CELEBRATES RENEWABLE ENERGY DAY THE province of Negros Oriental commemorated its first-ever Renewable Energy Day following Governor Roel Ragay Degamo’s Executive Order 22-18 establishing the event annually on March 5.

The declaration has made Negros Oriental the first province in the Philippines to legislate unequivocal support and commitment to renewable-energy sources through an annual commemorative local government event.

In March 2018, Gov. Degamo also signed an executive order declaring Negros Oriental as an environment-friendly and clean-energy province committed to utilizing only clean and renewableenergy sources such as geothermal, hydro, wind and solar, as well as shunning the use of fossil fuels and coal operations in power generation.

“Renewable Energy Day is an important occasion for the people of Negros Oriental to come together and celebrate our common interest and goal of caring for our rich natural resources,” said Degamo.

“We achieve this through daily activities as well as business practices that do not harm our environment, and this primarily includes going for renewable and sustainable sources of energy to power the progress of our communities.”

The first Renewable Energy Day in Negros Oriental was held at the Lamberto Macias Sports and Cultural Complex in Dumaguete City, with no less than Governor Degamo as guest of honor. A highlight of the event was an exhibit of renewableenergy players, such as geothermal leader Energy Development Corp., along with other organizations and proponents of green and sustainable business practices such as organic farming.

Guest speakers gave talks on renewable-energy sources and inspirational stories on sustainable living.

Special guest Miss Earth 2015 Angelia Ong, a native of Lapuz, Iloilo City, graced the occasion and shared her experiences as an advocate of environmental causes.

Other guests included representatives from Silliman University and Foundation University.

“We hope that with celebrations, such as Renewable Energy Day, our humble province serves as a beacon of hope and a shining example to other communities as well as to the entire Philippines that a renewable-energy future is possible and extremely beneficial not just for the environment but for us humans,” said Degamo.

Friday, April 12, 2019

For practical cooks and homemakers, a special ingredient SOMETHING LIKE LIFE

MA. STELLA F. ARNALDO

@akosistellaBM

I

’VE been fortunate to grow up in a family who loves to eat and loves to cook.

As a child, aside from having my nose buried in some book, one of my other hobbies would be to wander off into the kitchen when my lola would be cooking the dishes for the day’s meals, or some fantastic special plate of treats for an upcoming birthday, holiday, or other special occasion.

There were lots of chopping and mincing done, blending and mixing, all by hand during those days as there were still no food processors, mini-choppers or blenders. Cooking up an especially hearty broth would take hours, as one extracts flavor from ham bones, before mixing all the ingredients in, say, a chicken and beef pochero.

But lola wasn’t above taking short cuts. She had MSG on the side to release the umami in a dish, or processed cheese in a squeeze bottle for a quick twist to fried chicken. (Melt cheddar cheese in a pan only to have it stick to the sides, get burned, or worse, difficult to clean? Nope. Lola was a practical cook.)

These days, when one is a busy housewife/husband who is the family’s designated cook, it’s impossible not to get frazzled preparing all the ingredients and then sautéing or braising over fire the day’s meals (aside from thinking of the 1,001 tasks you have to do at the office). Many families either eat out, resort to ordering online and having their meals delivered, or torching leftovers in the microwave.

(Unfortunately, we have yet to reach that level of supermarket retail where quick culinary bites prepared and ready-to-go are easily available as they are in Europe. Think UK’s Tesco and Waitrose’s prepared meals. They taste pretty decent for the price, and come in healthy or vegetarian variants, too.)

One of the “kitchen helpers” I often use is Knorr, a brand of cooking products under Unilever. I am a fan of their soups, broth cubes, salted egg powder, seasoning and the like. It recently introduced a new kind of seasoning, the Knorr SavorRich Liquid Meaty Seasoning, which is meant to enhance or deepen the flavor of pork or chicken dishes.

To launch the new product, the Knorr Test Kitchen collaborated with four popular professional cooks and chefs—Happy Ongpauco of the Happy Concept Group, Nicco Santos of Your Local, Josh Boutwood of Savage and Helm, and Kalel Chan of Raintree Restaurants— to create dishes using Knorr SavorRich seasoning.

Their dishes were featured and ready for the tasting at a one-day food market on March 30 at the Greenbelt 3 Open Park. All dishes at the market were from a wide range of cuisines, from Filipino favorites to Asian fusion and Western grills, and were made with the special ingredient, the SavorRich.

According to Kristine Go, Unilever Philippines marketing director for foods, Knorr SavorRich is the first-ever meaty seasoning in a liquid form in the market. “Each drop is packed with real meat, making your dishes richer, meatier and more flavorful with every bite.”

She added, “Thanks to its liquid format, the rich flavor easily and deeply penetrates your ingredients to infuse your dish with a meaty delicious taste, mouth-watering aroma and appetizing golden color.

As such, it’s perfect for use at different stages of the cooking process—marinating, sautéing, and basting, among others. Knorr SavorRich is exactly what you need to elevate your fried, stir-fried and grilled dishes.” She also told me that SavorRich has actually been around a long time but used mainly by cooks,

KNORR Philippines team with chefcollaborators: (from left) Apples Aberin, Unilever Philippines PR head; Benjie Yap, Unilever Philippines chairman and CEO; Chefs Josh Boutwood, Happy Ongpauco-Tiu, Kalel Chan and Nicco Santos; Kristine Go, Unilever Philippines marketing director for foods; and Brian Chanyungco, Knorr Philippines senior brand manager.

especially in China. “This was their secret ingredient to many of their dishes,” Kristine noted. I observed there were actually many Knorr kitchen aides I know of but have yet to be introduced in the country.

She promised “more to come” soon. Perhaps other SavorRich variants?

Known for his take on Singaporean and Malaysian comfort food, Chef Nicco served up dishes like Nasi goreng ikan bilis, and coffee pork ribs. Preparing Filipino cuisine with a twist, Happy provided guests with meals like honey garlic fried chicken, and bangus and tofu salpicao.

Famous for his fine-dining restaurants, Josh fixed Western-inspired meals like pork skewers with cilantro mint salad, and roasted chicken and barley porridge. For his part, Chef Kalel presented his own take on Asian fusion with pork sisig gyoza, and togerashi karaage with rice mayo.

At home, I used the Knorr SavorRich pork seasoning to marinate some pork steaks I had just thawed from the freezer. Now, if one is familiar with Knorr seasonings, it’s a bit salty so you may want to balance out the marinade with some citrus flavor. I used about six to seven pieces of calamansi fruit, and then squeezed its citrusy goodness into the marinade.

When I got the right balance of salty and tart, I let the flavors meld with the pork steak in the ref for about four to five hours.

After five hours, I just fried up the pork slices for a nice dinner. I think the flavors will level up further if the pork steaks were grilled. But as you know, career women swamped up to our necks with work like myself can’t make that extra effort unless one has some domestic help. (You can marinate the meats in the morning before leaving for work, and when the spouse or the children come home, all they have to do fry up the meats for a delicious home-cooked meal.)

This new Knorr SavorRich Liquid Meaty Seasoning is definitely a welcome arsenal in my kitchen. It’s that extra, special ingredient to make any dish rich and flavorful. n

Bumble makes buzz as first online connection platform where women are in charge

By PaULine JOy M. GUTierreZ THE woman-first social and business networking app Bumble officially launched in the Philippines with platforms for dating, friendship and professional networking where women have total control over their matches and conversations.

Bumble Date, often known as the feminist dating feature within the app, makes a match between two people with a special rule in mind, and that is for women to make the first move. Bumble BFF is where users can find platonic friends, while Bumble Bizz is an online community for women to expand their professional network and help foster each others’ career development through mentoring.

“For all the advances we have been making in workplaces and corridors of power, the gender dynamics of dating and romance are still outdated. I thought, ‘What if I could flip that on its head? What if women sent the first message?’” Bumble CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd said in a statement.

Herd founded the app in 2014. Today, it has over 50 million registered users and 84,000 new users recorded per day across 150 countries based on a 2019 statistics report.

Bumble has signed American professional tennis player Serena Williams as a global advisor, with her involvement specifically targeted toward investing in women of color founders; and actress Priyanka Chopra as an investor for Holberton School of Software Engineering and advisor.

Meanwhile, the Philippines pose as a promising new market in the Asia-Pacific region for developers as Internet penetration in the country stands at 63 percent with 12-percent year-overyear growth.

In a press event at Whitespace in Makati, Bumble’s associate marketing director for Apac Michelle Battersby explained how Bumble works. According to her, users are required to log in via Facebook, or they can sign up using a phone number. The app requires them to build a profile with photos and a bio where they can add badges—information like height, education level and political/religious learnings— to show to fellow users.

Like Tinder, users swipe right to “like” a potential match and left to reject them. In matches between a man and a woman, the woman must initiate the conversation, or the matches disappear within 24 hours; either person in a samesex match can reach out. In cases where users changed their mind, they have to shake their devices to “backtrack” or go back to review their recent match.

The app has features allowing the user to favorite conversations, sort conversations and send photo messages.

A “snooze” feature was added in September to allow users to pause activity on the app.

Early this year, the company also launched filters—a way to sift through matches by a set of specific criteria.

As an example, Bumble Date users can filter matches by relationship type, while those on Bumble BFF or Bumble Bizz can filter matches by interests or industry, respectively, among other things.

A photo verification tool was launched in September 2016 to ensure that users of the app were indeed the same people in their profile pictures. To be verified, users are asked to submit a photo of them performing a specific pose; the picture is reviewed by a real person.

“Safety and kindness is really the core of what we do,” said Battersby. “We take our brand values extremely seriously so if anyone reports abuse or came across someone who is unkind, we will remove that person from the platform.”

She also explained that users can toggle between the three modes, and even have an option to remove Bumble Date if their purpose in using the app is only to find potential

friends and colleagues on the platform.

BFF mode uses the same swipe right or left tool as the app’s dating mode and follows the same interface design.

Conversations started with potential friends are color-coded as green as opposed to yellow for dates.

Bumble Bizz, on the other hand, offers a more innovative feature that lets recruiters exclude men from a user’s pool of potential connections. The idea is to help the traditionally underrepresented women work force connect and build support systems outside the office.

Research group LedBetter reported that of the 234 companies that own almost 2,000 of the world’s most recognized consumer brands, only 14 of the companies had a female CEO, while nine of them had no women at all serving in executive positions or on their boards.

As noted on the Bumble Fund site (thebeehive.bumble. com/bumble-fund): “Year after year, we see the flow of venture capital to all-women teams stagnate around the 2-percent mark. The problem isn’t a lack of founders to fund. When women do have access to capital, they succeed, outperforming their male counterparts. And women of color are leading the way in entrepreneurship: while the number of women-owned businesses grew 58 percent between 2007 and 2018, the number owned by black women grew by 164 percent—nearly three times the average.”

“Representation is critically important for women, especially in traditionally male-dominated industries,” said Herd. “We’re helping women connect with other women to show them what’s possible and give them resources as they build their careers.”

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BUMBLE Associate Marketing Director for Asia-Pacific Michelle Battersby

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Prince Harry, Oprah work on mental-health program for Apple

CHARACTERS from Disney and Fox movies are displayed behind Cathleen Taff, president of distribution, franchise management, business and audience insight for Walt Disney Studios during the Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures presentation at CinemaCon 2019. AP

LONDON—Kensington Palace says Britain’s Prince Harry will be partnering with Oprah Winfrey to create a documentary series on mental health for Apple’s new streaming service.

The documentary builds on Harry’s work on mental-health issues, which included work with brother Prince William and his wife Kate in their Heads Together campaign.

Harry says the series will share “global stories of unparalleled human spirit fighting back from the darkest places” and the “opportunity for us to understand ourselves and those around us better.”

Earlier this year, Apple enlisted Winfrey, together with Jennifer Aniston and Steven Spielberg, to try to overcome the TV and movie streaming service business dominated by Netflix and Amazon.

The service, dubbed Apple TV Plus, will feature Apple’s original shows and movies. AP

JAMES REID

NADINE LUSTRE

CINCO DE MAYHEM MUSIC FESTIVAL ON MAY 4

IN a historic first, premiere events producers ProMedia Productions brings a unique musical experience with the firstever Cinco de Mayhem Music Festival (www.cincodemayhem. com). The event brings together top local artists and DJs in a vibrant and festive celebration of music, youthful spirit, community and life at the Vista Mall Daang Hari Open Grounds this coming Cinco de Mayo weekend on May 4.

The brainchild of actor and host turned musician Alexander Diaz, Cinco de Mayhem is slated to create a gathering like no other—mixing the richness of Mexican culture and the unrelenting spirit highlighted in this widely celebrated annual world event.

“I’ve always been passionate about good music and a good party, and Cinco de Mayhem combines just that. Not only are we bringing the festivity of Cinco de Mayo to the Philippines, but we are elevating it by ushering in topnotch Filipino talent with our lineup of game changing musicians,” shared Diaz, the festival’s creative director.

Hold on to your sombreros (and maracas, if you will) and marvel at this unique artistic revelry headlined by local performers James Reid and Nadine Lustre, along with the rest of the Careless Music Manila crew: Astrokidd, Massiah, KINGwAw, Curtismith, and Sofia Romualdez, together with rising and legendary musicians and DJs from Quest, Kiana Valenciano, Divine Smith, DJ Euric, Deuce and Nix Damn P. To spice the lineup even further, the country’s first and only female MC Marga Bermudez joins the roster, along with a special surprise performer to be unveiled soon.

Apart from the high-octane performances, expect fun activities set up at the event venue, backdropped by beautiful scenery, merely 30 minutes outside of Metro Manila.

“We are not just thrilled to share a lineup that is so fresh and diverse, but we are also excited to bring together an epic night that will surely be unforgettable—a first of many Cinco de Mayhems to come. With this caliber of local acts and this Mexican utopia we have set up for everyone to enjoy, we sure have an experience that will make this the perfect way to cap off your summer,” said Lahaina Mae Mondonedo, director of operations.

Tickets are available priced at P3,500 (VVIP), P2,000 (VIP), and P950 (General Admission).

From Disney to Netflix, the big takeaways from CinemaCon

By Lindsey Bahr The Associated Press

but only if they play by the same rules as all the other studios in Hollywood.

AS VEGAS—The movie industry has returned to their day jobs on Friday after four days of schmoozing, deal-making and watching movie studios and stars sell the best of what’s to come to theaters at CinemaCon in Las Vegas.

It’s a time of great change in the movie business.

The film distribution landscape has been irrevocably altered with Disney’s still-fresh acquisition of Fox, the competition from streaming is only getting more intense, and, even though last year was a record one at the box office, this year isn’t off to the best start.

Publicly at least, the big Hollywood studios were unwavering in their message: We’re committed to the theatrical experience.

Here are some of the biggest takeaways from the annual gathering of theater owners and distributors.

THE FOOTAGE THAT HIT HOLLYWOOD studios spend a lot of money to bring stars like Charlize Theron, Jim Carrey and Arnold Schwarzenegger, trailers and footage to Las Vegas, but the downside is that no matter how charming or funny they are, only a few really ever manage to break out in a big way. Paramount’s Elton John musical Rocketman got everyone jazzed and singing along to his classic hits, while teasing the high-highs and lowlows of rock star life.

Universal’s Yesterday, about a struggling musician who wakes up from an accident to find that he’s the only one in the world who knows the music of The Beatles (and uses it to his advantage), also looks like it will be a fun summer charmer.

Disney brought out the classic “everything the light touches” scene from its CG/live-action adaption of The Lion King. The stunning landscapes and life-like fur shown of Simba and his father gazing out at the sunrise had many seeing dollar signs in their future.

And Lionsgate brought out a late-game charmer in Star Wars: The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson’s next film, Knives Out, a sharply written Agatha Christiestyle whodunit about a wealthy family whose patriarch turns up dead.

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THE STREAMING ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM NETFLIX has never attended CinemaCon, nor has the streaming giant even asked to be part of the splashy product showcase. Yet veiled, and sometimes explicit, references seem to come up in every presentation every year to the looming competitor that’s seen as a threat to the theater-going experience. Helen Mirren even said, “I love Netflix, but [expletive] Netflix.”

This year was a little different since Netflix recently joined the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA).

“We are all stronger advocates for creativity and the entertainment business when we are working together. All of us,” said MPAA Chairman and CEO Charles Rivkin.

AMC CEO Adam Aron even said that he’s even open to Netflix playing in his company’s theaters,

DISNEY SHOWS OFF ITS NEW TOY: FOX THE Disney/Fox deal may have been an arranged marriage, at least for the remaining executives at 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight, but everyone put on a good face for the theater owners while also referencing the magnitude of the change. It was a little strange to see a montage featuring Avatar, Titanic, Hidden Figures, Toy Story, Frozen and the Avengers all together. But the 2019 Fox releases have been officially

blended in with the Disney releases (and some will have to move as they currently occupy the same release date).

“We believe that together we will be more than the sum of our parts,” said Alan Horn, the chairman of the Walt Disney Studios.

BUSINESS WAS UP, BUT...

DID you hear? 2018 was a record year at the box office with $11.9 billion in ticket sales. (Of course you did, because every studio and trade association chief made sure to mention it over and over again this week.)

And yet, this year the box office is still down nearly 16 percent. Privately, some smaller theater owners grumbled about the lousy first three months of 2019 in movies for their bottom lines, even with hits like Us and Captain Marvel. Avengers: Endgame is coming after all. But it takes more than one mega-hit to save an entire industry.

DIVERSITY BRINGS AUDIENCES FOR an industry propped up by the successes of superhero films, every studio seemed keen to remind theater owners that they don’t just make those kinds of movies. And indeed, the message remains that diversity sells. Last year, when films like Black Panther and Crazy Rich Asians became massive hits, ticketbuyers were younger and more diverse than ever.

It’s fitting, then, that the convention brought out Crazy Rich Asians director Jon M. Chu to talk about why when faced with a choice between a streaming release or a theatrical one for his film, he chose the theater.

“The weekend became a can’t-miss cultural event. This story would not have happened without the theatrical experience...we made movie stars,” Chu said. “In a time when we need shared experiences more than other to help see each other, [cinema] can be the most powerful potent tool.” n

GMA launches online newscast ‘Stand for Truth’ BEGINNING April 15, the most internationally awarded broadcast news organization in the country GMA News and Public Affairs brings the future of online news as it launches Stand for Truth—a weeknight online newscast produced and reported by the young for the young, headlined by Atom Araullo with Richard Heydarian and Joyce Pring.

Airing weeknights at 8 pm, the 15-minute news program will be livestreamed via GMA Public Affairs’ YouTube account (www.youtube. com/gmapublicaffairs) and GMA News Online, and shared on GMA Network’s various socialmedia sites. It will incorporate music, the latest in mobile journalism and new storytelling tools for online publishing.

Leading the young team of anchors is multi-awarded young documentarist, writer, photographer, and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees advocate Atom Araullo. He anchors Stand for Truth from the middle of the GMA Social Media Hub. From there, he will also be an active reporter and a mentor to the young reporters.

Joining Atom is GMA resident political

analyst Richard Heydarian. He will provide on-the-spot analysis of the biggest news of the day, and also present a data-driven segment showing the numbers involved in an issue, the history and the policies behind it. Born in Baguio, Richard took up Political Science at the University of the Philippines-Diliman and previously taught at De La Salle University and the Ateneo de Manila University. Richard is known for his expertise in the South China Sea dispute and Philippine current affairs.

Meanwhile, Joyce Pring will be in charge of the music segment of Stand for Truth using the language of the generation. The GMA host will also interview some of today’s biggest bands and musicians in the country. Joyce is one of the hosts of the longest-running morning show Unang Hirit and GMANetwork. com’s Kapuso Artistambayan. She also produces the podcast #AdultingWithJoycePring and uploads vlogs on her YouTube channel every week.

Aside from these experienced media personalities, a new breed of young reporters will take the spotlight in Stand for Truth. Young,

aspiring journalists from Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao sent in their sample mobile video reports using GMA’s YouScoop facility.

They went through several levels of auditions until only 10 of them were chosen to undergo trainings and workshops by some of the

country’s most-awarded and highly esteemed broadcast journalists to continue the legacy of the GMA newsroom.

These short-listed Stand for Truth reporters include Bhea Jeem Docyogen, an Igorot and radio disc jockey from Baguio;

Anthony Esguerra, a multimedia reporter, fellow in New Media and Journalism at Ball State University, Indiana, USA; Asmarie Labao, a former forester and environment information officer from Marawi; Shai Lagarde, former TV producer and currently a lifestyle vlogger; Ardo Miravalles, Certified Public Account specializing in media and the entertainment industry; Darwin Quirino, communications officer for the Department of Foreign AffairsOffice of Middle East and African Affairs; Manal Sugadol, a licensed English teacher and former administrative assistant from Cotabato; Larize Lee, a Chinese-Filipino and a GMA Artist Center public relations executive; Eduard Faraon, a senior high-school campus journalist; and Jerald Uy, former TV reporter, road safety advocate and vlogger.

It was in December last year that GMA News and Public Affairs received an innovation grant from leading online video platform YouTube for Stand for Truth. It aims to reach younger news viewers, while continuing the legacy and the principles the GMA newsroom has always stood for.

FROM left: Richard Heydarian, Atom Araullo and Joyce Pring

Motoring BusinessMirror

Henry Ford Awards Best Motoring Section 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 2011 Hall of Fame

Editor: Tet Andolong

Friday, April 12, 2019 E1

15TH MANILA INTERNATIONAL AUTO SHOW

FUN AND FUNCTION AT MIAS 2019 O

Story & photos by Bettina Gayoso

N the 4th of April 2019, one of the highly anticipated events took place. The 15th Manila International Auto Show, also known as Mias, was an affair every car enthusiast and motoring expert looked forward to attending.

THE straight to the point interior allows for a more concentrated driving experience

THE classic Ford Ranger Raptor

THE Jeep Cherokee

THE Cherokee features a sleek and luxurious interior

From the launching of the Kia “Stinger,” to the Hyundai “Palisade,” the affair was every gearhead’s dream. A dream one could only achieve through experiencing the array of vehicles in store for everyone to see. Among the lineup of cars, the ones that particularly caught my eye were the Ford Ranger Raptor, the Hyundai Ioniq Hybrid and the Jeep Cherokee. Some of which you definitely have to read here.

The Raptor: A truck as tough as its driver

THE first-ever Ford Ranger Raptor was exhibited at the Mias 2019, leaving each attendee in awe of its robust exterior and its powerful engine ready to take you across any journey.

The classic Ford Ranger Raptor features a cutting edge 2.0 Bi-Turbo Diesel engine, accompanied by the 10-Speed Auto Transmission we all have come to know and love about the Ford truck.

Each of these allow for highly enhanced acceleration, and powerful torque.

Inside the Raptor are comfortable seats wrapped with leather and posh interior design.

The new Ranger is full of smart features you might not expect to find in a truck including the SYNC3. You can make calls, control the cabin temperature, or use your favorite apps to find your way out of any situation—

IONIQ’S cockpit

totally hands-free.

The Jeep Cherokee: Driving lux

ALSO known as the “Philippines’s Favorite Compact SUV” as dubbed by Jeep itself, is the ultimate in driving an elite 4x4 vehicle. The mighty car features a 2.4L Tigershark I4 engine, and 9-Speed Transmission accompanied with Jeep Active Lock. Be it for city driving, or out-of-town traveling, what is an integral addition to the luxurious driving experience is the interior which

THE Hyundai Ioniq

allows the driver and the rider to feel a sense of comfort and ease with every mile traveled. Its versatility and flexibility perfectly enhances your lifestyle, the one meant to be lived. The Cherokee features the Jeep Cargo Management System, which includes a cargo bin, collapsible cooler, and an off-road accessory kit to name a few of the many brilliant aspects of the vehicle. One of the exciting features of the car is the premium high-definition cluster which offers definition clear as

crystal, which also allows you to customize it according to your personal preference.

Hyundai Ioniq: The hybrid that changes you AND last but not the least, the Hyundai Ioniq Hybrid allows you to go the extra mile, in terms of efficiency, safety and technology. Its sleek aerodynamic shape allows you to experience power and mileage that the Ioniq Hybrid has to offer. The hybrid was actually the 2019

awardee of the IIHS Top Safety Pick “when equipped with optional the Automatic Emergency Braking System.” It also features Blind Spot Detection with Rear Cross Traffic Alert, and Lane Keep Assist equipping you to be at your best, and safest on the road. The vehicle features a 60/40 split-folding rear seatback which guarantees customizable space according to your personal taste. What makes this also ecologically friendly is that the car is composed of natural,

renewable materials allowing you to better your environmental foot print.

The 2019 Mias is more than featuring the latest and premium of cars—most important, it brought together the united interest of auto lovers and car enthusiasts alike. This being my first Mias brought me much excitement—the feeling of a kid feels when exploring a toy store.

I, along with other automotive fanatics look forward to the future Mias’s to come.

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Business

E2 Friday, April 12, 2019

A NISSAN Terra inside the intelligent mobility demonstration room

VOLKSWAGEN Philippines president Felipe Estrella III with some of the VW models displayed. VW PHILIPPINES

KIA Philippines President Manny Aligada presenting the Stinger GT

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oring

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Friday, April 12, 2019

TWO of Suzuki’s full lineup display— Vitara and Ertiga. SUZUKI PHILIPPINES

GAC Motor’s GM8 2.0-L turbocharged 6AT luxury van

JUST a few of ACDelco’s top-tier genuine parts

WELCOME address by WSI Founding Chairman Joseph Ang

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Motoring BusinessMirror

E4 Friday, April 12, 2019

Indonesia beats us to subway finish line

I

NDONESIA is in rejoice mode, as Jakarta will open its first subway this month. It is a “mere” 16-km system from south of Jakarta’s downtown, yes, but it is the start of something massive that should be the envy of its Asean neighbors when finally completed.

How about us?

As if not to be left behind, Makati has, likewise, recently broken ground for a subway circling the nation’s most progressive city. It is also a modest start, as the subway will connect with an all-encompassing subway/railway system in the whole of Metro Manila.

Although Jakarta’s initial

subway line can only carry 130,000 from its commuters of 1.4 million on workdays, it is considered a big deal already.

The subway is the first phase of Jakarta’s cross-shaped network of stations that will serve the capital’s population of 30 million.

When completed, the $2.4 billion rail network will link Jakarta and its satellite cities.

Subway to the north is targeted to operate in 2024, and the east to the west line should be ready by 2026. Work in full steam is to begin in 2020.

As in our own subway/railway system getting in place soon, the reason, of course, for its construction—as in Jakarta’s case—is to ease traffic in the metropolis.

In Jakarta, as in Metro Manila’s Edsa, speed is a mere 10 kph at peak hours.

It takes two or more hours to move 5 km in pockets of Jakarta.

Very Manila-like?

In Jakarta, if traffic isn’t eased, losses from congestion are forecast to reach $6.5 billion by 2020.

In Manila, Jica tells us, we lose P3.5 billion daily on traffic jams.

Jakarta’s worsening “carmageddon” will see the city’s rising incomes transform its 18 million motorbikers into car owners.

It is said that Jakarta has embarked on its first subway as it is green with envy at the commuter rail network of its neighbors Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Bangkok.

Aren’t we, too? Dapat.

Vios for OFWs

IN its continuing drive to make travel easy for the families of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs),

Toyota Motor Philippines (TMP) is offering them a special package for Vios ownership. A socially oriented move again, as it will give OFWs the rare chance of finally achieving their dream: Owning a car. And at a bargain prize at that.

Through the Toyota Financial Services, our OFWs can own the All-New Toyota Vios for only P7,394 a month after a 50-percent down payment, 60 months to pay.

“Toyota recognizes the hardworking OFWs and seafarers who are doing noble work all over the world in order to provide their families a better life,” said Cristina Arevalo, TMP’s first vice president for brand and product planning cluster. “We believe the Vios can be a valuable addition to their household, making it easier, safer and more comfortable for their family members to go to work or school or to just go places and bond as one family.”

Vios is the most preferred subcompact sedan in the Philippines, selling more than 25,000 units in 2018.

“To qualify for the special Vios promo, OFWs or seafarers simply need to present their OWWAissued OFW ID or Marina-issued seaman’s book, contract of employ-

A PERFECT VEHICLE IN AN IMPERFECT WORLD W E live in dangerous times.

Countless people die every day due to criminal acts, politically motivated assassinations and even road rage. If you are an important person who deals with all kinds of people from the different facets of society, chances are, your life may be at risk. It does not matter whether you are a celebrity, a diplomat or a government official, you are in danger if traveling is an essential part of your work.

With the advent of the Internet, criminals have become creative in making life dangerous for a VIP. This is why armored protection is the most viable solution.

Impenetra Armor Protective Systems (Impenetra) is the exclusive PH distributor of the AGP Stop gun ballistic glass.

Based at the Caltex Gas Station along Molino Road, Bacoor, Cavite, Impenetra is a one-stop shop for vehicle and personal protection. With armor and bombproofing technology currently in use by European and US security forces, Impenetra’s array of bulletproofing, armoring and personal protective equipment are battle-field tested and has been certified by the Comite Europeen de Normalisation 1063 (CEN 1063). Impenetra’s ballistic protection meets EU Standards BR6, BR4 and Road Rage protection.

The best thing about Impenetra’s armored vehicles is that they are designed in such a way that it looks like a normal car. Their current armoring protection program can equip light SUVs such as the Toyota Fortuner, Mitsubishi Montero, Nissan Terra and pickup’s like the Nissan Navara and Toyota Hi-Lux. They also have ballistic protection for vans such as the Kia Carnival and Toyota Hi-Ace Grandia.

“We use the latest and the lightest ballistic protection, which is Dyneema, a fiber made from polymers such as polyethylene, which is the strongest fiber in the world now,” said Paulo Villarta of Impenetra PH. Their armoring is light, so suspension and engine modifications are no longer necessary. Although with higher level of armoring, we may need to improve the vehicle’s overall performance,” added Villarta.

Aside from vehicle armoring, Impenetra PH also offers armored vehicle maintenance, leasing services for bulletproof vehicles, armored vehicle maintenance and after-sales parts, tactical personal protective solutions and vehicle performance upgrade for safety solutions.

For details, log on to www.impenetraph. com.

A solution to parking problems

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ARKING is always a serious matter to consider, aside from horrendous traffic jams. These are two major issues that motorists encounter everyday in the urban jungle, where one mistake can either cost you a burglarized car or a getting towed in a business district such as Makati or Ortigas.

What happened in Japan, Korea, Singapore and Taiwan is also happening here. Gentrification has caused a lot of areas around the whole country to build new highrises beside existing old structures.

While this has helped bring up real-estate prices, it has also limited the options or spaces where people can park, as most open spaces have been sold or are being developed. Before, people used to park on the streets without any problems, now the streets are cleared out to accommodate rising traffic.

This is where Smart Parking comes in. Smart Parking was first developed and used in Japan and eventually spread across to Korea, and its neighboring countries.

One can convert an underutilized space of 33 sq m (approximately two parking slots) and increase it vertically to 12 or 16 vehicles.

Ingress and egress is not a problem, as there is an optional turntable that can go with the unit. At 12.5 sq m per slot, which is an extra 150 sq m to 200 sq m of “real estate” that you have added into your existing property, it can attract tenants and customers to your building.

Smart Parking has sold over 566 units in over 32 countries. It can be installed in five days and is very safe, easy and economical to use. It carries a 10-year warranty on parts and lifetime free service on labor, which means maintenance cost is very minimal. And the best part is, should you wish to relocate it to another location, it can be easily transferred.

For details on how to maximize your parking space, you may send an e-mail at smartparking@emicor-inc.com.

ment, certificate of employment, last three months’ pay slip and last three months’ proof of remittance,” said TMP’s Carlo Nemo, who enjoins customers to call (02) 8192912 for more details.

Electric cars selling well in Norway

BELIEVE it or not, but electric cars are now outselling gasolinefed vehicles in Norway.

The Associated Press reported that Christian Bu, the Norwegian Electric Vehicle Association’s secretary-general, said that 54.8 percent of new cars sold in Norway in March were battery-operated.

Bu, calling the phenomenon “historically high,” said that electric car’s share of the market in the first three months of 2019 was 48.4 percent. She boldly predicted a 50-percent result for the whole year.

“Norway shows the whole world that the electric car can replace cars powered by gasoline and diesel, and be an important contribution in the fight to reduce CO2 emissions,” Bu said.

One big reason for the fuelshift might be that Norway, a wealthy European nation of 5.3 million, has provided big incentives to boost electric-car sales.

The government has waived

hefty vehicle import duties and registration of sales taxes for buyers of electric cars to boost sales.

Owners are exempt from road tolls and allowed bus lanes in congested city centers.

This early, Norway’s Parliament has mandated that all vehicles sold by 2025 are electric.

The Norwegian model has been gaining adherents.

China, the world’s biggest auto market, has also started to dangle huge incentives in a bid to clean up its problematic air pollution and hopefully achieve massive advances in climate change technologies.

The lesson from Norway? Political will, a.k.a. government initiative, will always do wonders for the welfare of the people.

PEE STOP President Duterte de-

serves applause for suspending the implementation of the bill on new plate numbers imposed on motorcycle owners. He has called Sen. Gordon, the law’s main author, to further discuss the merits—or demerits—of the bill. For the President to listen—and immediately act on—to the clamor of those directly affected by the ordinance, that is what I call political astuteness, if not being pro-people to the max. Cheers!