Businessmirror april 13, 2017

BMReports

What Filipinos should know about this thing called ‘QR’

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

Conclusion

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XPERTS and government officials have said the scrapping of quantitative restriction (QR) on rice would spell the displacement of farmers.

Former Labor Undersecretary Rene E. Ofreneo said the entry of imported cheap rice in the country might force rice farmers to shift to planting other crops.

“The effect would not be immediate, but, the way I see it, there will be continuing labor erosion,” Ofreneo told the BusinessMirror. “You can imagine the displacement in the farming population. There would be a need for adjustment.”

Ofreneo said even if rice farmers decide to shift to planting highvalue crops (HVCs), such an alternative wouldn’t be an assurance that they would stay in the agriculture sector. They could face problems in terms of planting technicalities, he explained.

A farmer walks along a path of a rice field at the foot of Mount Arayat in Pampanga. NONOY LACZA

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Continued on A2

BusinessMirror A broader look at today’s business

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Thursday-Friday, April 13-14, 2017 Vol. 12 No. 183

By Jonathan L. Mayuga

@jonlmayuga

EHIND their smile, there is a feeling of fear and resentment. Fear of getting transferred or eventually losing their jobs and resentment over what happened to some of their colleagues.

The “emotional outburst”, triggered by a “show cause order” and “transfer order” affecting two employees—Miriam M. Marcelo, the

Telco data allow lenders to evaluate loan risks

By Katryn Kristina T. Jose he dominant telecommunications players now share data with rural lenders under a scheme called Shared Services, which allows the Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines to crunch the numbers and help RBAP manage so-called credit risks.

RBAP President Antonio O. Pasia said the Shared Services is designed to complement the credit scoring conducted by private analytics and telecommunications companies on potential or existing borrowers based on their cell-phone usage and billspayment history.

The information will be integrated into the Shared Services system from where the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and rural banks can draw relevant data on the borrowers.

“Through Shared Services, rural banks will be able to compete with larger financial institutions because they will have access to information on the borrowers, such as the activities of the farmers and their loan histories,” explained Dennis Emmanuel C. Peña, RBAP executive director.

Pasia said Globe Telecom Inc. shares subscriber information with such credit-scoring and analytics institutions as Cibi Information Inc., Fico and CSS Corp.

“Cibi, Fico or CSS Corp. will do the analytics from the data given by its carrier, [which is] Globe, then you [rural

bank] pay Cibi or the other to do the credit scoring,” Pasia elaborated.

“If the BSP asks for a credit scoring of a certain type of borrowers, [like] onion farmers, the system will provide a model data collected and encoded by the rural banks on such individuals,” Peña said.

With the organized and transferable information among rural banks, they can then extend credit faster to relocated farmers with good credit standing from the rural bank in their previous addresses.

The Shared Services scheme effectively addresses a practical problem concerning rural borrowers whose credit scores are nonexistent.

With it, RBAP may begin to lend to countryside clients without fear of breaching regulatory risk levels tolerated by the BSP. Thus, the RBAP anticipates developing its own communication and information technology consistent with standards set under the National Retail Payment System (NRSP) launched in December 2015 by the BSP. The NRPS digitizes payments through electronic systems, ease transfer of transactions from one account to another and allow the public to carry around less cash. BSP Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr. said such speeds up payments, reduces costs, enhanced security, improves transparency and expands access to financial services in the country by 2020.

See “Telco,” A2

PESO exchange rates n US 49.6700

chief of the personnel division and Rolando R. Castro, a supervisor at the same unit—is just the tip of the iceberg.

business news source of the year

The excluded Rene E. Ofreneo

Laborem exercens

We wanted to support our fellow career officials and employees who were unjustly transferred.”

—DENR employee

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“Its all about the hiring and firing happening in the Department of Environment and Natural Resources [DENR].”

They said that, for them, it is the “suffering and social injustice” they had to Continued on A3

2016 ejap journalism awards

P25.00 nationwide | 12 pages | 7 days a week

‘Unjust’ firings at DENR demoralize employees B T

@jearcalas

he National Economic and Development Authority’s Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 20172022 declares that one of the major goals of the Duterte administration is social inclusion, a favorite term nowadays among development agencies, such as the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank and various United Nations agencies. Filipino politicians, past and present, have translated this into a populist slogan—Walang maiiwan! No one shall be left behind.

Continued on A10

Spanish government eyes hike in financial assistance to PHL

By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo Special to the BusinessMirror

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HE Spanish government is looking at other areas in which to strengthen its bilateral cooperation with the Philippines, with a possible increase in financial assistance for the period 2018 to 2022.

In an interview on the sidelines of the Madrid Fusión Manila 2017 on April 6 at the SMX Convention Center, Spainish Ambassador to the Philippines Luis Antonio Calvo told the BusinessMirror that his government’s assistance reached €50 million for the 2014-to-2017 cooperation period. “[For the next three years], it depends on the budget.

The budget is being discussed right now at the Cortes Generales; I think, it might be slightly more than that.”

Priority areas for Spain’s cooperation program with the Philippines for 2014 to 2017 are democratic governance, disaster risk reduction and quality response to humanitarian crises. Its aid focuses mainly on the Bicol region and the Zamboanga Peninsula, specifically the Caraga region.

But Calvo said Spanish businessmen are still waiting for clar-

FILIPINO officials and Spanish dignitaries attend the recent Madrid Fusión Manila. Madrid Fusión is back in the Philippines for the third time and featured award-winning and Michelin-starred chefs, with the theme “Towards Sustainable Gastronomic Planet”. From left are Tourism Secretary Wanda Corazon T. Teo, Foro de Debate President Jose Carlos Capel, Tourism Promotions Board COO Cesar Montano and Spanish Ambassador Luis Antonio Calvo. ROY DOMINGO

ity regarding the macroeconomic situation in the Philippines before making their investments.

“They are trying to see into the future; they would like to have a clearer picture of how the macroeconomics, tax policy and so on is

going to be,” said the ambassador, who is now in his third year of representing the Spanish government in the Philippines.

“I think, we are in the 10th month of this administration…it is going to be much clearer in the

short term. So, they will probably wait and see a bit longer before they will make a decision that involve future resources and physical areas, such as infrastructure, trade and so on.”

See “Spanish government,” A2

n japan 0.4532 n UK 62.0577 n HK 6.3917 n CHINA 7.2087 n singapore 35.3951 n australia 37.2326 n EU 52.6651 n SAUDI arabia 13.2457

Source: BSP (12 April 2017 )

A2 Thursday-Friday, April 13-14, 2017

BMReports BusinessMirror

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What Filipinos should know about this thing called ‘QR’ Continued from A1

“The shift from rice farming to HVC is not that easy. It will take time,” Ofreneo said. “How do you shift overnight, especially if your areas and systems are meant for planting rice [and not for other crops]?” According to Ofreneo, who is also dean of the University of the Philippines School of Labor and Industrial Relations, a farmer has “a lot to consider”.

“First, the water infrastructure; second, do you own the land; third, do you have the know-how [in farming HVCs] and use of related planting technologies; fourth, do you have the capital?” The labor expert and BusinessMirror columnist recommends the government lay down programs that would promote and boost research and development in the farm sector, particularly cultivating good plant varieties. Ofreneo added the government should also look at the agricultural credit woes that hurdle farmers to borrow capital from banks.

Both Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol and Undersecretary Segfredo R. Serrano said it’s undeniable that there would be farmers who will be discouraged to plant rice due to the possible influx of imported cheap rice.

Price hikes

OTHER stakeholders in the agriculture industries have warned that with the expiration of the Philippines’s waiver, prices of some commodities in the market would also increase.

For one, the price of hot dogs, canned goods and chicken nuggets could spike as the raw material used in producing the processed meat products, which is mechanically deboned meat (MDM), was part of the concessions made by the Philippines.

“The use of MDM in processed products has allowed us to maintain affordable protein-filled wholesome processed meats and its use [are] regulated by the National Meat Inspection Service since March of 2015,” Pampi Executive Director Francisco Buencamino said. “The main advantage of using this ingredient is the control in product costs that make processed meats affordable to the consumers.”

Under Executive Order 190, the tariff on MDM, currently at 5 percent, shall revert back to its original rate of 40 percent. The 35-percent tariff difference would mean a 12 percent to 17 percent of processedmeat products pricing, Buencamino told the BusinessMirror.

Signed two years ago by then-

Spanish government. . .

Data provided by the Philippine Embassy in Madrid showed total foreign direct investments by Spain in the Philippines reached $39 million from 2006 to 2015. Trade between both countries is in favor of Spain at $136 million in 2015, although exports to Spain have been growing an average of 11.13 percent per annum since 2011.

In an e-mail, Gerardo P. Abiog, the first secretary and consul in charge of political and economic affairs at the Philippine Embassy in Madrid, said: “Like any other foreign investor, the main concern of Spanish firms are the restrictions of foreign ownership, as well as procedures on government bids and awards.”

Abiog noted that there were several Spanish companies that have already par ticipated in public-par tnership projects, such as “OHL [Obrascon Huarte Lain], which was part of the Ayala Group consortium for the Cavite-Laguna Expressway [Calax]; Grupo ACS [Ac-

Continued from A1

tividades de Construccion y Servicios] through its affiliate [Leighton Contractors] for the airport projects; and Abengoa for the Bulacan Water Supply and New Centennial Water projects.”

The European Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines has expressed its concern over the Duterte administration’s “bloody war” on drugs, which, it said, was creating uncertainty and scaring off investors.

Spain and the Philippines, however, have a long history of bilateral cooperation stretching back to 1974. A former colony of Spain, the Philippines has been one of the major recipients of Spanish development aid.

In the last cooperation program of 2014 to 2017, the Philippines was the only country in the Asia-Pacific region that received development aid from Spain.

The cooperation program for 2018 to 2021, said Calvo, “will probably be discussed in a joint commission that will be held sometime in the last quarter of

President Benigno S. Aquino III, EO 190 (www.gov.ph/2015/11/05/ executive-order-no-190-s-2015/) modifies the Most Favored Nation (MFN) rates of duty on certain agricultural products under the tariff and customs code of the Philippines, as amended, in order to implement the country’s tariff commitments under the World Trade Organization decision on waiver relating to special treatment for rice of the Philippines.

Sizzling issue

OTHER products that could increase in prices include pork sisig (sizzled pork) and French fries, as the ingredients for the two were part of the concessions made by the government.

The tariff of pork offal, which is used in sisig, was brought down to 5 percent from 40 percent. Frozen potatoes’ tariff was put to zero from 10 percent during the duration of the Philippines’s waiver on special treatment on rice.

For its part, consumer-protection group Laban Konsyumer Inc. (LK I) urged the gover nment to immediately make the final decision in extending EO 190 to avoid confusion among Filipino consumers.

“The time clock ends on June 30, that’s the default [according

to EO 190],” LKI President and former Trade Undersecretary Victorio Mario A. Dimagiba said in a public hearing on EO 190. “We need an EO directing the Bureau of Customs [BOC] not to apply the 40-percent duty.”

Post-QR regime

DESPITE the disparities and contradictions in statements and positions on the country’s rice QR (quantitative restrictions), economists, government officials and even non-governmental organizations agree on a single pronouncement: the rice sector needs support.

Under Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2017-2022, the Duterte administration vowed to allocate all the tariffs collected from rice imports for programs aimed at helping farmers cut production cost.

“Replace quantitative restrictions on rice with tariffs,” the PDP read. “The tariff proceeds from rice imports will be plowed back to the rice sector.”

While the PDP is cognizant of the adverse impact of the scrapping of the rice QR on small farmers, the government said the tariff collected from imports will be used to help them recoup their losses.

The Duterte administration said it has decided to scrap the QR on rice because of its potential impact

[2017],” with the National Economic and Development Authority, the Department of Finance and the Department of Foreign Affairs, among others.

He said in the assessment of the most recent cooperation, the findings were “very positive, in the sense that, on our side, we have been able to concentrate from the geographic point of view and the sectoral point of view, cooperation so it can be have as much impact possible. Do not disperse too much to make your presence felt in the areas where we want them to be felt, basically Mindanao—Caraga and Zamboanga regions—and also Bicol region.

And this is very positive because I think this is one of the targets, and the other is you have to spend at least 80 percent of the total amount in the projects you have prioritized.”

He added Spain has also been able to focus on areas where it “can make a difference, which is working with the [local government units] and trying to build capacities at that level, assistance and cooperating with the national di-

on rice prices nationwide.

Rice, the government noted, accounts for 30.6 percent of the total food expenditure of the poorest 20 percent of households based on the 2012 Family Income and Expenditure Survey. “It can help lower the price of rice, and this will benefit the general public, including farmers who are net consumers of rice,” the PDP read.

Rice Watch and Action Network (R1) coordinator Hazel Tanchuling urged the government to immediately put in place measures to ensure the competitiveness of the rice sector before it talks about converting the QR on rice into a specific tariff rate.

“As we looked into the 2017 budget, this is not reflected in the allocation of their programs,” Tanchuling said.

She added the Department of Agriculture direly needs to enhance its efforts, as local rice production even decreased to only 17.6 million metric tons (MMT) last year, from 18.9 MMT in 2014 and 18.1 MMT in 2015.

Time’s tale

IT was Piñol who first pronounced that the Committee on Tariff and Related Matters (CTRM) decided to extend EO 190, which put into place the Philippines’s conces-

saster risk-reduction management system, trying as well to make a contribution to the peace process in Mindanao, which means we are working together with the Commission on Human Rights for the [Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao], and trying to work with the [non-governmental organizations] and civil-society organizations in Mindanao to assist in the grassroots level.”

Calvo said the challenge is “to continue to build on that and try with the same amount of funds, or slightly more, to be as effective.”

Spain is now looking to replicate its successful Bicol model in national disaster risk-reduction management “to as many as eight other provinces in the country that have been identified in accordance with the [Department of the Interior and Local Government].

He cited Zambales in Luzon, and said other places in the Visayas and Mindanao would benefit from this assistance, which will be in a “mix of grants and subsidies and soft loans, to finance the setting up of this system in the eight provinces.”

Telco. . .

sion made under the 2014 waiver, while Republic Act (R A) 8178 is being amended.

“As a gesture of goodwill and to avoid disputes, the Philippines would maintain the concessions while RA 8178 has not yet been amended,” Serrano said.

However, Serrano said retaining the concessions while RA 8178 is being amended is not an assurance that trading partners will not file a complaint before the WTO against the Philippines for not converting the QR. “It’s not a guarantee. What we are saying to interested parties, our trading partners, is that the Executive branch cannot intervene in the enactment of a law,” he said. “That’s the domain of the Legislative branch, which has its own process.”

For Tanchuling, however, “the [biggest] challenge lies in the government’s political will to ensure the local rice industry is competitive within two years.”

One thing is for sure, the impending lifting of the rice QR is not just a concern of Filipino farmers but of consumers.

On ly t ime w i l l tel l if t he country shall truly savor cheaper commercial rice or will be at the mercy of volatile and susceptible rice market.

Continued from A1

With the NPRS, RBAP executives hope rural banks should accurately identify more potential borrowers and evaluate their cash f low, which are major determinants in granting loans.

Peña hoped these will, likewise, resolve the income-tax mandate of the BSP under Circular 855, dated October 29, 2014, or the guidelines on sound credit-risk management practices of banks.

Apart from the absence of proof of cash flow, the lack of identification documents certified by the government disqualifies most farmers from obtaining a loan from banks.

“Let’s face it. Not all farmers pay their taxes, possess a tax identification number [TIN], as well as register with the Social Security System or own a driver’s license,” Pasia said.

Peña added the 12-sheet-long 1701 form could be a reason discouraging farmers from filing their income-tax return (ITR).

“However, those farmers with TIN but without a family member who knows how to fill out and file the complicated 1701 form required by the BIR [Bureau of Internal Revenue] just opt not to submit the ITR,” Peña said.

On the other hand, Gi Estrada, media officer of Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura, or the Federation of Agricultural Workers, said the 30-year amortization required of farmers under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform (CARP) on land distribution is another burden.

While Pasia approved of the law requiring the Department of Agrarian Reform to submit 500 names of farmers holding certificates of land ownership award (CLOAs) as guarantee for a loan, Estrada noted two loopholes.

“First, the land, especially the sugarcane fields and the agrarian-reform communities by the DAR, tend to fall in the hands of the arriendador [or a private individual leasing and dictating the price of the land], diverting the loan payment from rural banks,” Estrada said.

Thus, Estrada recommended faster provision of financial and material support from government agencies as he recognized the public funds allocated to farmers in acquiring tractors, postharvest facilities and water pumps.

“Second, CLOAs are not accepted by bank as collateral,” the UMA spokesman said.

According to BSP Memorandum M-2009-041, dated November 4, 2009, promissory notes secured by CLOA are not eligible for refinancing or advancing loans by rural banks in converting assets into cash.

“Last the DAR forecloses the land if the farmer is unable to pay the amortization for three consecutive years, leaving the agricultural worker landless again,” Estrada said.

Thus, Estrada concluded this forces farmers back to the arriendador, if not to usereros, or 5-6 informal lenders imposing 20-percent interest rates, and obliges the government to develop genuine land reform for farmers needing capital for their livelihood.

Under the CARP, the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) can award the land to another agrarian-reform beneficiary if the title holder fails to pay the annual amortization thrice with a 6-percent interest after the 10- or 30-year hold-on-transfer or amortization period, respectively.

According to the LBP, it has accumulated P4.3-billion unpaid interest with only 10 percent of the title holders fully paid.

Thus, Estrada concluded this forces farmers back to the arriendador, if not to usereros, or 5-6 informal lenders imposing a 20-percent interest rates, and obliges the government to develop genuine land reform for farmers.

On the part of the rural banks, Pasia said while the banks have their own programs and policies for credit management, the shared services scheme is one that should help meet the mandate to lend to farmers.

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Thursday-Friday, April 13-14, 2017 A3

CTRP-2 does away with fraud-prone TCC

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By Rea Cu

@ReaCuBM

he Department of Finance (DOF) supports the abolition of the fraud-prone tax credit certificate (TCC) system under the second package of the comprehensive tax-reform program (CTRP) it anticipates submitting to Congress by October this year. The TCC system was so corrupt, the national coffers were instead denied more than P5 billion rather than benefit from the scheme.

According to Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III, package two basically aims to reduce the corporate income tax from 30 percent to 25 percent, in tandem with the proposed recalibration of fiscal incentives.

“The second tax package, which we will submit by October, will reduce tax rates for corporations to be more in line with the Asean. And, at the same time, we will also remove

all fiscal incentives,” Dominguez said in an interview last Friday at the sidelines of the 2017 Asean Finance Ministers’ Investors Seminar in Mactan, Cebu.

Based on the initial proposal submitted to the House of Representatives last September, the reduction of corporate income tax should result to estimated revenue loss of P34.8 billion by 2019. But an offsetting measure will allow the

government to gain P33.8 billion in the same year.

CTRP package two proposes the removal of the optional standard deductions (OSDs) in corporations. OSD allows the deduction from the business income of persons who are entitled to a maximum 40 percent in gross sales and receipts for individual taxpayers and corporations during the taxable year.

Package two also proposes a full value-added ta x ( VAT) refund to businesses in cash.

W henever the input VAT credits of a taxpayer exceed his VAT liabilities, the Tax Code allows the carryover of the excess to the succeeding quarters or one can apply for a refund.

The DOF, likewise, proposes to cut the corporate income-tax rate to 15 percent and the expansion of the coverage of the fiscal incentives review board to include all incentive recipients beyond government-owned and -controlled corporations.

The simplification of corporate tax provisions under the country’s tax system was also proposed to increase taxpayer compliance.

Dominguez added the DOF is confident package one of the CTRP,

which aims to lower personal income-tax rates from 32 percent to 25 percent, along with offsetting measures that include the broadening of the taxpayer base of the country, will pass Congress by July this year.

Package one lifted some exemptions on the VAT and increased the tax imposed on petroleum products and automobiles.

The first package projects estimated revenue losses of P159 billion and a revenue gain of P359.7 billion.

Broken down, the offsetting measure of expanding the VAT base should generate P163.4 billion, while increases in petroleum product excise should generate another P178.2 billion.

The first package was sent to the House of Representatives in September 2016 but targeted for approval only by July this year.

“Yes, we are very confident that shortly after June, the legislature will pass the first package that we have relating to personal income taxes and fuel taxes,” he added.

Earlier, Dominguez welcomed the move by the House Committee on Ways and Means approving in principle the first package of the CTRP as a whole and not on a

piecemeal basis.

The committee, chaired by Quirino Rep. Dakila Carlo E. Cua, approved in principle the tax reform as a package subject to the creation of a technical working group (TWG) that would draw up a substitute bill consolidating the proposed reforms with other taxrelated proposals.

Marikina Second District Rep. Romero Federico S. Quimbo said the more challenging provisions under (HB) 4774 center on the increase in the excise tax on fuel, which the lawmakers want to further deliberate on.

“For me, the more contentious ones really are the excise tax on fuel, as well as the fixed rate for the self-employed. Those are the two most challenging, because they are the most damaging,” Quimbo said.

With Congress having gone to recess and with the bill requiring to be tackled at the Senate, the approval might take long.

“No, it’s not going to happen [by July], I think, because we will start May 2 and then the Senate will have to hear it. I’m not very optimistic that it can be finished by then,” he said.

Social Welfare Secretary Judy

M. Taguiwalo also expressed apprehension on the expansion of VAT cover on the sale or exchange of services, particularly on cooperatives, explaining that it will shift the tax burden to the social welfare agency and its Pantawid Pamilya beneficiaries, which will discourage stakeholders from creating cooperatives.

Finance Undersecretary Karl Kendrick T. Chua earlier said the creation of a TWG to tackle HB 4774 and other bills will take into account the concerns of the committee and help address it through the creation of a revised bill: “It is not in our hands but we will try our best.”

Apart from package one and two, other DOF-supported measures pertain to property taxation on estate, donors and national valuation. The fourth package is about financial or capital income tax and stock consumption. The last package tackles health, alcohol, tobacco, sugar sweetened, plastics and carbon tax.

Chua added that the DOF is still waiting for the data generated from the Tax Incentives Management and Transparency Act before finalizing the cost and benefit figures for package two of the CTRP.

Smart provides free services following Batangas quake

Smart’s Libreng Tawag, Charging and Smart Padala services are set up in front of Mabini town hall following the series of earthquakes that hit Batangas.

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HILIPPINE Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) wireless subsidiary Smart Communications set up Libreng Tawag and Charging stations, and provided Smart Padala services free of charge in several locations in Batangas, following the

series of earthquakes that struck the province over the weekend.

Smart’s Libreng Tawag, Charging and Smart Padala services are set up in front of Mabini town hall following the series of earthquakes that hit Batangas.

Immediately after the 6-magnitude tremor, Smart deployed its free calling, charging and money- transfer assistance in front of the Mabini Municipal Hall to serve affected residents in the area.

While the services of PLDT, Smart and Sun remained fully operational in the province, electricity was intermittent, and in some areas, cut off completely, as several structures were damaged by the quake.

Libreng Tawag, Charging and Smart Padala services were also deployed in Tingloy Island, Batangas.

In coordination with the Batangas Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office and local government units, Smart also provided communication support and generator sets to aid response teams in their operations.

The company also gave Wi-fi access to the Office of Civil Defense’s Emergency Operations Center in Mabini.

In addition, Smart set up tents at the Batangas City community park to serve as temporary shelters for residents who needed to evacuate their homes in the aftermath of the earthquake.

‘Unjust’ firings at DENR demoralize employees continued from a1

deal with every day as they go about their work at the DENR. Being from an oligarchic family, they fear Lopez who appears to be kind is actually dictatorlike most of the time.

Lopez has the tendency to make her own rules, apparently stepping up her game, and changing the game in the DENR, they said.

They clarified that the silent protest, where employees reported for work clad in black, and the one-hour protest the following day during lunch break in front of the DENR Office of the Secretary Building was to express their discontent—and not meant to block Lopez’s confirmation by the bicameral Commission on Appointments.

“We wanted to support our fellow career officials and employees who were unjustly transferred,” one employee told the BusinessMirror.

The rally, the protesters said, was meant “to protect and promote the welfare of government employees” and to call the attention of President Duterte.

Demoralization

“WE are demoralized,” says one employee, who claimed that career service employees are being booted out one by one to accommodate people being brought in by Lopez.

Starting January, Lopez implemented a structural reorganization that resulted in the sacking

of many career personnel, and started to bring in people, in the process putting at least 50 career officials and employees of the agency—including bureau directors, assistant directors, provincial environment and natural resource officers (Penros) and community environment and natural resources officers (Cenros), on “floating” status.

Floating status means an employee has no specific position or task and is assigned to an office to working under another employee who occupies his plantilla position.

On Thursday last week the DENR employees called off their plan to picket Lopez’s office after DENR Employees Union officers who held a closeddoor meeting with Lopez reported that Lopez is withdrawing her order against Marcelo and Castro.

Later in the afternoon, however, they learned that Lopez changed her mind again—and signed the transfer orders, causing outrage that led to the walkout and emotional outbursts of some employees on Friday, when they demanded the ouster of Undersecretary Philip Camara, one of Lopez’s “consultants”.

Camara quits post

LAST Sunday Lopez said Camara has decided to beg off from his appointment as Penro and accepted the decision of the Civil Service Commission (CSC) to reject his appointment.

“He has decided to accept the denial of

his application.... He wants to take a break.

He has been working six months without pay and three months for a really low pay. So he will be a consultant...still helping me but no longer in operating capacity,” Lopez said in a text message to the BusinessMirror.

Lopez added Undersecretary for Policy and Planning Marlo Mendoza, another member of her trusted team, will take Camara’s job “and I will work with Marlo—together with Galo for field operations. Let’s see where this takes us,” she said.

Biochar, area development

CAMARA was described by one DENR employee as “the biochar guy who is doing the hiring and firing in the DENR” for Lopez.

“We like Ma’am Gina. We support her policies and programs. But we are not incompetent and corrupt, as she keeps on saying as the reason for bringing in her trusted personnel,” one employee who spoke on condition of anonymity told the BusinessMirror.

The DENR is aggressively promoting the use of biochar, particularly in the rehabilitation of abandoned and mined-out areas.

Incidentally,someminingcompaniesthatwere forced to cough out P2 million per hectare outside their Social Development and Management Program areas are crying foul, accusing Lopez of abuse of authority and graft because of the requirement.

A4

Thursday-Friday, April 13-14, 2017

The World BusinessMirror

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

S. Korea seeks to calm citizens anxious over war

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outh Korea’s government sought to quell any anxiety about potential military action, as tensions rise following the United State’s deployment of warships near North Korea.

There’s no need to worry about security on the Korean Peninsula, South Korean Unification Ministry Spokesman Lee Duk-haeng said at a briefing on Wednesday. The

government is closely cooperating with other nations, including the US, to manage escalating tensions with North Korea, Lee said.

Speculation for hostility has

risen after the US diverted an aircraft carrier strike force to waters in the region. President Donald J. Trump tweeted overnight that North Korea is “looking for trouble” and the US is prepared to resolve the matter without China, the major benefactor of Kim Jong Un’s regime.

South Korea is on alert for signs that Kim is preparing to test a nuclear weapon or launch another missile to mark symbolic dates in the country’s history. North Korea is hosting foreign journalists in Pyongyang before the nation

commemorates 105 years since the birth of its founder Kim Il Sung on April 15. Lee said the move is a departure from past practices, when it had blocked the entry of outsiders before key anniversaries.

Japan’s foreign ministry issued a travel alert this week to citizens residing in or traveling to South Korea, urging them to continue paying attention to developments on the peninsula. The alert doesn’t call for limiting travel to the country, chief government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said in Tokyo on Wednesday. Bloomberg News

Volatile global politics arouses bulls with gold at 5-month high

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orries about the unpredictability of a Donald J. Trump presidency are revitalizing gold. Bullion is trading at the highest level since the week in November, when Trump won the US election, as rising global tensions surrounding Syria and North Korea strain investors’ nerves.

A standoff between the US and Russia after an American m i s s i le st r i k e on Sy r i a a nd Tr u mp’s pledge to solve t he North Korean “problem” with or without China have deepened concerns about political stability, and there are also signs that Russia and the US are increasingly at odds over Afghanistan.

“When you put that mix together: Syria, Trump, North Korea, it’s a volatile thing,” Jonathan Barratt, chief investment officer

at Ayers Alliance Securities in Sydney, said in an interview on Bloomberg Television on Wednesday. “It’s that uncertainty that people are concerned about.”

Gold slumped after Trump’s election on his promises of tax cuts and more infrastructure spending, but since mid-December prices have rebounded about 14 percent partly on worries about the unpredictability of his presidency.

On Wednesday bullion rose to $1,279.85 an ounce, the highest since November 10, before trading at $1,275 by 2:15 p.m. in Singapore, according to Bloomberg generic pricing.

Trump said he launched the missile strike because of evidence Syria was behind a chemical attack on civilians, and the US has accused Russia of trying to cover up for its ally by spreading disin-

formation. The US has moved a naval battle group closer to North Korea amid fears it may conduct a nuclear or missile test around the time of the April 15 birthday of founder Kim Il Sung.

Escalation possible

Russia must withdraw support from Syrian President Bashar alAssad’s regime if it wants an “important role” in talks about Syria’s future, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told reporters on Tuesday in Italy, where he was attending a meeting of foreign ministers from the Group-of-Seven nations.

The US-Russia relationship will be closely monitored as Tillerson visits Moscow on Wednesday.

“With geopolitical tensions, if anything ratcheting higher, this will likely remain the theme running into the long weekend,”

Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst at Oanda Corp. in Singapore, said by e-mail. Markets in the US, Europe and parts of Asia Pacific are closed on Friday for a public holiday.

The initial target for gold is around the $1,307 level, but there needs to be a considerable worsening in the situation to push on past that mark, Halley said. “A serious escalation could see gold to the $1,380 to $1,400 area tout suite, but it would have to be really serious,” he added.

In terms of Afghanistan, US Defense Secretary James Mattis has voiced alarm at Russia’s actions in the country amid allegations that it’s been cultivating links with the Taliban, which has waged a campaign against Afghan and NATO forces. The Kremlin denies arming the group. Bloomberg News

Modi’s Israel visit to spur missile deal as ties deepen

I

ndia is close to signing two defense deals with Israel, as it seeks to deepen ties with the Middle Eastern nation before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit in July, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

The deals include antitank missiles and a naval air-defense weapon system, the people said, asking not to be identified given the information is private. Still, the plan for the first trip to Israel by an Indian prime minister indicates that cooperation goes beyond Delhi’s status as the largest buyer of Israeli military hardware.

“The visit is a big milestone,” said Shailesh Kumar, senior Asia analyst at political risk firm Eurasia Group. “Officials in both countries believe they face a common external threat: terrorism. Working with Israel fits into Modi’s bigger pivot of deeper relations with the US given the US-Israel friendship.”

The deals for Spike antitank missiles for India’s army and Barak-8 air-defense missiles for its navy are expected to be finalized in the next two months, the people said. The pacts are worth $1.5 billion, they said, and will see the delivery of the 8,000 missiles will begin two years after the contracts are signed.

They’re part of Modi’s $250-billion plan to modernize the armed forces by 2025 amid tensions with neighbors China and Pakistan.

The purchase of Spike missiles was approved by India’s Defence Acquisition Council in October 2014 and the Barak-8 purchase proposal was given the go-ahead in a meeting on April 3 this year, the people said. Defense Ministry Spokesman Nitin Wakankar declined to comment on the deals.

Arms trade

Israel was the third-largest arms supplier to India in the three fiscal years ending March

2016, having bagged 10 deals worth a total of 76 billion rupees ($1 billion), according to an Indian parliament report. Only the US and Russia have made more defense deals with India during the period.

“India-Israel ties have always been strong but never have they been widely publicized,” said Ankur Gupta, New Delhi-based vice president for Aerospace and Defence at Ernst & Young. “There is great strength and value in this relationship as Israel is one of India’s foremost supplier of weapons and related high-end technology.”

Since Modi came to power in May 2014, his government has shed his predecessors’ reservations on talking about India’s ties with Israel.

“India is gradually disengaging itself from its traditional and ideological foreign policy approach in the Middle East,” said Alvite Singh Ningthoujam, a senior research associate at the Vivekananda International Foundation.

“It is also a clear message that India does not anymore have qualms in getting closer to Israel, and is wielding an independent foreign policy and not at the cost of its relations with any other countries in the region.”

The missile deals follow transactions finalized last week for India to obtain medium- and long-range surface-to-air missiles worth $2 billion.

Th e m e d i u m - ra n g e m i s s i l e wa s developed for the Indian Army by IAI and India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation in collaboration with Israel’s Rafael and IAI/Elta, and included Indian companies like Bharat Electronics Ltd., Bharat Dynamics Ltd. and Larsen & Toubro.

Both deals form part of Modi’s ‘Make in India’ program, designed to stimulate local production. Bloomberg News

Emissions rise from an oil refinery at sunset in Texas City, Texas, United States, on February16. Asia’s energy importers will benefit from more opportunities for arbitrage, supply diversification if US President Donald J. Trump’s pro-energy policies drive meaningful upsurge in US crude and liquefied natural gas exports, BMI Research reports. Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg

Oil in biggest rally since Dec, as Saudis seen backing curbs

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il is riding the longest winning streak since December on optimism Saudi Arabia will support an extension to Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec)-led output cuts just as US stockpiles show signs of shrinking.

Futures in New York were holding gains after r ising 6.3 percent in the prev ious si x sessions. Saudi A rabia is likely to back prolonging the curbs into the second ha lf of 2017 in an effor t to boost pr ices, according to a person familiar w ith the k ingdom’s inter na l discussions. Severa l other countr ies, including Kuwait, have also expressed public suppor t for an extension. Industr y data was said to show US cr ude supplies fel l last week.

W hile speculation that the Opec and its allies will extend their six-month pact aimed at eroding a global glut is helping boost prices, there’s also concern that rising US output will counter the reductions. Saudi Arabia, the biggest Opec producer, reduced supply below 10 million barrels a day in March, more than pledged under the deal, according to a separate person familiar with the matter. The group is scheduled to gather in Vienna on May 25.

“Extending production cuts beyond June is gathering momentum,” said Jonathan Barratt, chief investment officer at Ayers A l l i a nce Sec u r it ies in Sydney. “ The problem is, as prices climb higher, US shale producers will pump more. The

top for West Texas is probably about $55 a barrel.”

West Texas Intermediate for May delivery was at $53.51 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up 11 cents, at 1:40 p.m. in Singapore. Total volume traded was about 17 percent below the 100-day average. Frontmonth prices rose 32 cents to $53.40 on Tuesday, the highest close since March 1.

Saudi decision

Brent for June settlement was 14 cents higher at $56.37 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. Prices increased 25 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $56.23 on Tuesday. The global benchmark crude traded at a premium of $2.46 to June WTI. Saudi Arabia will decide on an

extension depending on the stance of other Opec nations, such as Iraq and Iran, as well as Russia, which isn’t a member of the group but joined the output cuts, the person familiar with the kingdom’s internal discussions said. The world’s biggest crude exporter hasn’t made a final decision yet.

US crude supplies fell by 1.3 million barrels last week, the American Petroleum Institute was said to report. Stockpiles probably dropped from a record high by 1.5 million barrels to 534 million barrels in the week ended April 7, according to a Bloomberg survey before an Energy Information Administration report Wednesday. Nationwide inventories have expanded by about 56 million barrels since the start of this year. Bloomberg News

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

The World

North Korea decries US carrier dispatch as parliament meets

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YONGYANG, North Korea—North Korea’s parliament convened on Tuesday amid heightened tensions on the divided peninsula, with the United States and South Korea conducting their biggest-ever military exercises and the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier heading to the area in a show of American strength.

North Korea vowed a tough response to any military moves that might follow the US decision to send the carrier and its battle group to waters off the Korean Peninsula.

“We will hold the US wholly accountable for the catastrophic consequences to be entailed by its outrageous actions,” a spokesman for its Foreign Ministry was quoted as saying by the state-run Korean Central News Agency.

The statement followed an assertion by US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson that US missile strikes against a Syrian air base in retaliation for a chemical-weapons attack carry a message for any nation operating outside of international norms. He didn’t specify North Korea, but the context was clear enough.

“If you violate international agreements, if you fail to live up to commitments, if you become a threat to others, at some point a response is likely to be undertaken,” Tillerson told ABC’s This Week.

Pyongyang is always extremely sensitive to the annual US-South Korea war games, which it sees as an invasion rehearsal, and justifies its nuclear weapons as defensive in nature. It has significantly turned up the volume of its rhetoric that war could be on the horizon if it sees any signs of aggression from south of the Demilitarized Zone.

“This goes to prove that the US reckless moves for invading the DPRK have reached a serious phase of its scenario,” the North’s statement said, referring to the country by its formal name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. “If the US dares opt for a military action, crying out for ‘preemptive attack’...the DPRK is ready to react to any

mode of war desired by the US.” In Washington White House Spokesman Sean Spicer said President Donald J. Trump has been very clear that it’s “not tolerable” for North Korea to have nuclear-armed missiles.

“The last thing we want to see is a nuclear North Korea that threatens the coast of the United States, or, for that matter, any other country, or any other set of human beings,” Spicer said at the Tuesday news briefing.

Ch i n e s e s t ate b ro a d c a s te r CC T V reported that Trump spoke on Wednesday morning B eijing time with Chinese President Xi Jinping about North Korea.

It said Xi stressed the need for an end to North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, and that China insists on peace and stability on the peninsula and advocates resolving the problem through peaceful means. Xi said China would maintain “communication and coordination” with Washington over the issue.

Spicer said Trump spoke last week with Xi about the “shared national interest” in stopping its close ally, North Korea, from having nuclear capabilities, adding that it would be helpful if China was more outspoken on the matter.

“He would welcome President Xi weighing in on this a little bit more,” Spicer said.

Earlier on Tuesday Trump also said that he tried to persuade Xi to put pressure on North Korea in exchange for a good trade deal with the US. “I explained to the President of China that a trade deal with the US will be far better for them if they solve the North Korean problem!”

Trump tweeted. In a second tweet he wrote: “North Korea is looking for trouble. If China decides to help, that would be great. If not, we will solve the problem without them! US.” North Korea’s parliament, the Supreme People’s Assembly, nominally the highest organ of government, opened on Tuesday with the country’s leader, Kim Jong Un, taking the center seat. AP

BusinessMirror

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EIJING—Chinese President Xi Jinping told Unites States President Donald J. Trump in a phone call on Wednesday that Beijing is willing to work with Washington on ending North Korea’s nuclear-weapons program but wants a peaceful solution.

Xi’s comments come after the US president tweeted that China should do more on the issue Washington sees as an increasingly urgent threat, or the US would go it alone.

The call, brief details of which were released by the Chinese foreign ministry, also come as tensions have risen with the deployment of a US aircraft carrier to the area and the conducting of the biggest-ever US-South Korea military exercises.

Xi told Trump that China insists on peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and wants to find a solution to the problem through peaceful means.

“China insists on realizing the denuclearization of the peninsula...and is willing to maintain communication and coordination with the American side over the issue on the peninsula,” Xi was quoted as saying by state broadcaster CCTV and other official media outlets.

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This Sunday, April 9, 2017, image made from a video provided by Audra D. Bridges shows a passenger being removed from a United Airlines flight in Chicago. Video of police officers dragging the passenger from an overbooked United Airlines flight sparked an uproar on Monday on social media, and a spokesman for the airline insisted that employees had no choice but to contact authorities to remove the man. Audra D. Bridges via AP

An attorney who represents Dao said his client was being treated at a Chicago hospital for injuries he sustained on the plane and that the family would not comment. According to records from the Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure, Dao went to medical school at the University of Medicine of Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, graduating in 1974.

He was licensed in Kentucky with a specialty in pulmonary disease.

His legal troubles started in 2003, when his medical license was suspended after an undercover sting operation at a Louisville motel for allegedly writing fraudulent prescriptions.

According to the documents, the licensing board had learned that Dao had become sexually interested in a patient and hired the patient as his office manager.

That man later said he quit his job because Dao “pursued him aggressively” and arranged to provide him with prescription drugs in exchange for sex.

Dao was ultimately convicted in late-2004 of several counts of

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Xi stresses China’s N. Korea concerns in talk with Trump

The two leaders spoke on Tuesday night Washington time.

Earl ier on Tuesd ay Tr ump tweeted that he tried to persuade Xi to put pressure on North Korea in exchange for a good trade deal with the US. “I explained to the President of China that a trade deal with the US will be far better for them if they solve the North Korean problem!” Trump tweeted.

In a second tweet he wrote: “North Korea is looking for trouble. If China decides to help, that would be great. If not, we will solve the problem without them! US.” Trump and other US officials have repeatedly called on China to leverage its status as North Korea’s biggest economic partner and source of food and fuel aid to force Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear weapons program.

China responds that it is in full compliance with sanctions enacted under UN Security Council resolutions and in February,

United pledges to review policies on removal of passengers

HIC AGO —A fter people were horrified by video of a passenger getting dragged off a full United Express flight by airport police, the head of United’s parent company said the airline was reaching out to the man to “resolve this situation”.

Hours later on Monday, his tone turned defensive. He described the man as “disruptive and belligerent”.

By on Tuesday afternoon, almost two days after the Sunday evening confrontation in Chicago, CEO Oscar Muñoz issued his most contrite apology yet, as details emerged about the man seen on cell-phone videos recorded by other passengers at O’Hare Airport.

“No one should ever be mistreated this way,” said Muñoz, who also pledged to conduct a wide-ranging review of company policies. The passenger was identified as physician David Dao, 69, of Elizabethtown, Kentucky, who was convicted more than a decade ago of felony charges involving his prescribing of drugs and spent years trying to regain his medical license.

But while Dao’s history quickly became a focus of attention, there’s no indication that his past influenced how he was treated or that the airline or police were aware of his background or would have known anything about him other than basic information such as his name and address, if that.

Screaming can be heard on the videos, but nowhere is Dao seen attacking the officers. In fact, he appears relatively passive both when he was dragged down the aisle of the jet and when he is seen standing in the aisle later saying quietly, “I want to go home, I want to go home”.

Muñoz’s latest statement described the removal as “truly horrific.” He said the company would reassess policies for seeking volunteers to give up their seats, for handling oversold situations and for partnering with airport authorities and local law enforcement.

Thursday-Friday, April 13-14, 2017

obtaining drugs by fraud or deceit and was placed on five years of supervised probation and surrendered his medical license.

His longtime effort to get his license back finally succeeded in 2015, when t he l icensing board allowed him to practice medicine again. About a year after his medical license was suspended, Dao joined the professional poker circuit, according to his World Series of Poker profile. His biggest competitive win came in 2009 when he took home more than $117,000 from a tournament in Mississippi.

Airport officials have said little about Sunday’s events and nothing about Dao’s behavior before he was pulled from the jet that was bound for Louisville, Kentucky.

Likewise, the Chicago Aviation Department has said only that one of its employees who removed Dao d id not fol low proper procedures and has been placed on leave. No passengers on the plane have mentioned that Dao did anything but refuse to leave the plane when he was

ordered to do so. Also on Tuesday Chicago Mayor R ahm Emanuel called the way Dao was treated “completely unacceptable” and praised Aviation Commissioner Ginger Evans for taking “swift action”. He promised that a city i nvest igat ion wou ld “en su re nothing like this ever happens again”.

The event stemmed from a common air-travel issue—a full flight.

United was trying to make room for four employees of a partner airline, meaning four people had to get off. At first, the airline asked for volunteers, offering $400 and then when that did not work, $800 per passenger to relinquish a seat.

When no one voluntarily came forward, United selected four passengers at random.

Three people got off the flight, but the fourth said he was a doctor and needed to get home to treat patients on Monday. He refused to leave. Three Aviation Department police officers got on the plane. Two officers tried to reason with the man before a third came aboard and pointed at the man “basically saying, ‘Sir, you have to get off the plane,’” said Tyler Bridges, a passenger whose wife, Audra D. Bridges, posted a video on Facebook.

One of the officers could be seen grabbing the screaming man from his window seat, across the armrest and dragging him down the aisle by his arms.

Other passengers on Flight 3411 are heard saying, “Please, my God”, “What are you doing?”

“This is wrong”, “Look at what you did to him” and “Busted his lip.”

The US Department of Transportation announced on Tuesday that it is reviewing Sunday’s events to see if United violated rules on overselling flights.

Dao’s relatives are focused only on his medical care, attorney Stephen L. Golan said. The family “wants the world to know that they are very appreciative of the outpouring of prayers, concern and support they have received.” AP

In this April 7, 2017, file photo, President Donald J. Trump (left) and Chinese President Xi Jinping walk together after their meetings at Mar-a-Lago, in Palm Beach, Florida. China says Xi has stressed the need for an end to North Korea’s nuclear-weapons program in a phone discussion with Trump that followed tweets from the US president, urging China to play a more active role. Xi told Trump that China insists on peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and advocates resolving the problem through peaceful means. He said China would maintain “communication and coordination” with Washington over it. The two leaders spoke on Tuesday night, April 11, Washington time. AP/Alex Brandon

suspended imports of coal from North Korea—a key source of foreign currency for Kim Jong Un’s hard-line Communist regime.

However, Beijing also says it will not countenance measures that

could bring about a collapse of the regime that could release a flood of refugees across its border, destabilize northeast Asia and result in a US-friendly government taking power in Pyongyang. AP

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Show BusinessMirror

Thursday-Friday, April 13-14, 2017

www.businessmirror.com.ph

‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’ sets Olivier Awards record IN this July 2016 file photo, the Palace Theatre in London shows advertising for the Harry Potter play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

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CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Allison Williams, 29; Lorenzo Cain, 31; Rick Schroder, 47; Al Green, 71.

a

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Take a moment to formulate a good plan before you plunge into unfamiliar territory. Know what you are talking about and what you want to accomplish before you discuss matters with someone well-informed and likely to oppose you. HHH

b

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Take on concerns with determination. Your attitude will make others take note and help you execute your plans. Don’t forget to put time aside for someone you love. A romantic gesture will improve your relationship to someone special. HHH

c

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Use your imagination when it comes to work and you will outsmart someone who is trying to manipulate a situation that involves you. Make a point to please others, but not at the expense of your reputation or your pocketbook. HHH

In his acceptance speech, Bourne apologized to Harry Potter fans, apparently referring to the fact that he had broken the show’s winning streak.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is running in London and is expected to open at the Lyric Theater on Broadway in spring 2018. No casting has been announced. Groundhog Day is in preview performances on Broadway. n

Albus for his first year at the wizarding academy.

J.K. Rowling wrote the story for the play with its playwright, Jack Thorne, and Tiffany.

In going 9-for-11, the show missed only in the categories of theater choreographer, which Matthew Bourne won for his stage adaptation of The Red Shoes, and outstanding achievement in music, which it lost to the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical School of Rock.

GRACE NONO, ET AL., IN ‘GUGMA’ CONCERT AT CCP FILIPINO singer, ethnomusicologist and cultural worker Grace Nono, together with guitarists Arthur Erskine M. Basilio, Ryan “PePe” E. Ednave and bassist Glenn Reniel M. Bondoc, will perform onstage in the concert Gugma on April 23, 5 pm, at the Cultural Center of the Philippines’s (CCP) Tanghalang Aurelio Tolentino (CCP Little Theater). The concert is presented by CCP, in cooperation with Grace Nono, PhD, together with some sponsors, organizational partners dedicated to arts and culture, peace, environment, gender issues and friends.

Gugma (“love” in the Visayan language) is a musical offering that features Visayan love songs popularized by various singers in the 20th century. The majority of these songs were also featured in Nono’s recording “Dalit: Songs of Love, Loss” and “Finding Heart Again” (Tao Music, 2009).

Nono learned the performance of most of these songs from elderly singers not in the Visayas but in Mindanao, where many Visayans have migrated for centuries. She also learned a few songs from recordings and performances of other singers.

The instrumental arrangements for the “Dalit” recording and the Gugma concert were provided by Hiligaynon-Visayan composer Bob Aves. The English translations of the Visayan lyrics were provided by poet Gemino Abad, who is also of Cebuano-Visayan origin. Before the Gugma concert, Nono performed the same repertoire twice: at the RCBC Museum in 2009 to launch the “Dalit” recording and at the National Museum of Singapore in 2010. Between 2010 and 2017, Nono took a hiatus from active performing to finish her doctorate and to do postgraduate work in the US. Upon returning in 2016, she began to reconnect with musicians. Butch Roxas, guitarist and University of Santo Tomas faculty, introduced her to

By Eugenia Last

Happy Birthday: Don’t lose sight of your objectives. Take note of what’s expected of you and the responsibilities you’ve signed up for. Look for alternative ways to push what you want to the forefront without setting off alarms or butting heads with people you have to get along with in order to get ahead. Make love and romance a priority. Your lucky numbers are 8, 17, 23, 26, 33, 34, 41.

By Christopher D. Shea New York Times News Service

ONDON—The Broadway-bound Harry Potter and the Cursed Child shattered records at the Olivier Awards for London theater here last Sunday night, picking up nine prizes, including best new play, and honors for the actors playing Harry, Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy’s son, Scorpius.

The previous record-holders were Matilda the Musical and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, both hits in London before opening on Broadway. Those shows each won seven Oliviers, which are Britain’s equivalent of the Tony Awards.

Jamie Parker took best actor for his portrayal of Harry, while Noma Dumezweni won supportingactress honors as Hermione and Anthony Boyle supporting-actor honors as Scorpius.

Harry Potter also won for best director (the Tony winner John Tiffany) and for its lighting, sound, costumes and set design. The production had tied the record for the most nominations for any show in Oliviers history, with 11.

Other winners last Sunday included Groundhog Day, which won best new musical and best actor, for Andy Karl; Jesus Christ Superstar, which won for best musical revival; and Yerma, which picked up the prize for best play revival and best actress, for Billie Piper’s performance.

Harry Potter, a two-part play that audiences can watch over two days or in a single, marathon day, takes place about two decades after Harry’s years at Hogwarts, as a middle-aged Harry ships off his son

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Today’s Horoscope

Glenn Bondoc, Erskine Basilio and Ryan Ednave. They have been practicing with Nono since late 2016.

Nono is known for her performances that draw from Philippine sung oral traditions. She has performed in over 60 cities/venues in over 20 countries in Asia, Europe and North America. These performances have included solo concerts at the CCP in Manila.

Tickets are priced at P300, free seating, with a 20-percent discount for senior citizens and persons with disabilities. For details, call the CCP Box Office at 832-3704 or TicketWorld at 891-9999.

Bill O’Reilly taking a break amid sponsor backlash LOS ANGELES—Bill O’Reilly told viewers he’s going on vacation, saying everyone needs a little “R&R”.

O’Reilly’s announcement on his Fox News Channel show on Tuesday came amid sponsor defections over a report of sexual-harassment allegations made against him. O’Reilly said he usually takes a break this time and that his travel plans were made last year.

He recommended that everyone take two trips a year, saying everyone deserves a break. AP

MTV dumps gender-specific categories for Movie & TV Awards NEW YORK—MTV has scrapped gender-specific categories for its upcoming Movie & TV Awards.

In place of the Best Actress and Best Actor categories, this year’s awards will honor a nongendered Best Actor in a Movie and Best Actor in a Show. The move follows the Grammy Awards’s decision in 2011 to dump gender distinctions between male and female singers, collaborations and groups.

MTV’s May ceremony will also include a nod to social activism by renaming its Best Fight category to Best Fight the System.

This is the first year the MTV Movie Awards has been redubbed the Movie & TV Awards. It will be hosted by actor and comedian Adam DeVine in Los Angeles on May 7. AP

GRACE NONO

d

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Get into the swing of things and participate in functions that can help you connect with those who work in a similar industry as you. The friendships you start will inspire you to explore ideas that can lead to greater opportunities. HHHHH

e

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): You’ll end up in a face-off with someone who doesn’t share your beliefs or lifestyle. Choose not to engage in an argument that could end up costing you financially, physically or emotionally. It’s in your best interest to agree to disagree. HH

f

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Spend time and money to make personal improvements to your home. Gather information that will help you get ahead or will make your life easier and your relationships better. Romance is highlighted. HHHH

g

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Put a creative spin on a job you are asked to do and you will be rewarded for your innovative imagination. Setting a high standard will ensure that you sidestep complaints from someone trying to make you look bad. HHH

h

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Explore new possibilities and engage in activities that are geared toward personal improvement projects or events related to children or romantic relationships. Creative hobbies will become an important outlet for stress. HHH

i

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Get out and make a difference. Participate in events that will give you the platform you require to show off your skills, ideas and knowledge. The interaction you have with a colleague will lead to an interesting opportunity. HHH

j

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): You can come up with plenty of good ideas that will put you in a good position for advancement. A personal change to the way you look or do things will have a positive influence on the way others perceive you. HHHH

k

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Added responsibilities will keep you busy. Taking care of a friend or relative will lead to mixed emotions. Do your best, but don’t get sucked into someone else’s dilemma. You will offer better advice and assistance if you keep your distance. HH

l

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Negotiate and sign contracts that will benefit you. Don’t sit back when it’s up to you to ask for what you want and offer what you are willing to give. HHHHH Birthday Baby: You are progressive, tolerant and articulate.

You are assertive and imaginative.

‘geo storm’ by timothy e. parker The Universal Crossword/Edited by Timothy E. Parker

ACROSS 1 Police incident 5 As such 10 Bullets, briefly 14 “___ each life some rain must fall” 15 “He’s ___ nowhere man” (Beatles) 16 Tandoor-baked bread of India 17 Equilateral triangle or rectangle, e.g.

20 New Testament book 21 Males 22 Find a ___ for 23 Heavy drinker 24 Jack and his wife of a nursery rhyme 27 Place for a bird 29 Run ___ of the law 32 Hawaiian keepsake 33 Turkish VIP title 36 Canine neighbors 38 Man famously knocked out by Ali 41 Melt, as snow 42 Spanish “that” 43 First letters learned 44 Visionaries 46 Like many Cure fans 50 Citizen Kane’s real-life model

Randolph 2 Shock or amaze 5 55 One-or another link 56 Lobster eggs 57 Vocalization 60 “Now class, Chile is next to Argentina,” e.g.

63 Eye with lustful intent 64 Rises dramatically 65 Mountain lion 66 Performance-based person 67 Deli turnover 68 Places for sweaters DOWN 1 Important or powerful person 2 Edginess 3 Fancy neckwear for women 4 TV drama series starring Tony Musante 5 Homeowner’s outdoor dining spot 6 Typos in literature 7 Something a jockey grasps 8 Cul-de-___ (neighborhood deadends)

9 One of Santa’s helpers 10 Emotion that can raise one’s blood pressure 11 Hawaiian tourist attraction 12 Just scratch the surface?

13 It’s the same squared or not 18 Space aliens 19 Hints at 24 One Bolivian capital 25 Slender gull with a forked tail 26 Relative term?

28 New Mexico artist colony 30 A 1776 musician 31 Palindromic musician 34 Ickier 35 Shoelace end 37 Pollution problem 38 Tease 39 Fancy salad veggie 40 Wife of Adam 41 “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-___” 45 Nymph chasers 47 Confesses, in slang 48 City in Washington 49 Sources of feral laughter

1 Name before “over and out” 5 53 From Cardiff 54 Air homophone that’s a palindrome 57 In the know about 58 It’s all the talk in Bangkok?

59 Some deadly snakes 60 The Almighty 61 Major deterrent to teamwork 62 “I’m open to any questions” Solution to yesterday’s puzzle:

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Parentlife BusinessMirror

Thursday-Friday, April 13-14, 2017

A7

Thanks, Easter break MOMMY NO LIMITS

MAYE YAO CO SAY

mommynolimits@gmail.com

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HEN I was a kid, the Easter holiday was always about the Visita Iglesia, a tradition that has you visiting several churches to recite the Stations

of the Cross.

When I was single, I used to spend my Easter break in Boracay. I remember one time when I had a marketing event scheduled on Easter Sunday in Manila. Everything was prepared. Celebrities had confirmed. All staff and physical arrangements had been checked. However, the head merchandiser called to say I needed to be at the event. I had to cut short my serene Boracay trip and fly back to Manila on Black Saturday.

My best Easter holiday was in April 2006, when I became a mom. All the hurt from the C-section procedure became worthwhile every time I carried Meagan. I also loved breastfeeding and storing at one time 109 ounces of milk. I also spent each day preparing checklists, child-development exercises and supplies to ensure Meagan would be all set when I returned to work.

Today, I love “Stay-at-Home” Easters. We either spend time in my husband’s hometown in Bicol or stay here in Manila. I love spring cleaning. I love spending quiet time with my husband and my kids. I love having time to read. Here are some books my family recommends: n I recommend Raising Accountable Kids by John and Karen Miller. It’s an easy read, providing practical parenting tools with a more long-term view. n Meagan recommends The Book of Awesome by Neil Pasricha. She said it allows the reader to see the many things you can be thankful for. She also recommends The Nerdy Nummies Cookbook by Rosanna Pansino, who is her favorite YouTube personality. n Marcus recommends his Pokémon Pocket Comics and Heromice: Flood Mission by Geronimo Stilton.

And we love planning our Visita Iglesia. Last year, we did the churches in Metro Manila. My husband

and I showed our kids the Manila Cathedral, where we got married.

We started with Sacred Heart Parish in Quezon City. Midway, we stopped at the University of Santo Tomas in España, Manila. We ended at Manila Cathedral in Intramuros, Manila.

My favorite activity during Easter is the time for personal reflection. I would usually do the following ritual: n “Declogging” Thursday. I like to start with physical declogging. I like to clean the house of things we haven’t used for quite some time. It’s also a good time to teach the kids to donate to Segunda Mano, a church program which shares second-hand things to people in need. I also try to finish my pending work on this day. n Prayerful Friday. This is our usual time for Visita Iglesia. This year we will visit Quezon City churches, and maybe end in Antipolo Church. n Reflective Saturdays. I like to journal on Saturdays or join recollections. Christmas is the time when I give thanks for all the year’s blessings. My birthdays have always been about thanking people who give so much meaning to my life. Easter has always been both spiritual and personal. It’s about reflecting providence. It is about thanking God for

the life I’ve been given. It’s about seeing hardships, past and present, and thanking the strength I have gathered in the face of these. n Celebratory Sundays. It is the last day of a long vacation. It’s a time for family. It’s also a good day for my last relaxation before work starts. I sometimes get a massage and read a book.

Last year I joined the recollection of Fr. Manoling Francisco at the Ateneo Law School in Rockwell, Makati. I’m grateful for that experience because it taught me to look back at what the history of Easter means to me today. It reminded me of God’s presence.

It taught me to be faithful like Jesus in my daily life.

It taught me to reflect on my faith through service to others. Just like how Jesus carried His Cross, it pushed me to show commitment to life till the end. And amid any hardship, it gave me assurance of new life.

I’m not a very religious person. I don’t go to mass everyday. I don’t pray the Rosary often. But I believe I have strong spirituality. I bear strong faith in God’s providence. I strive hard each day to avoid the hypocrisy of established beliefs. And each Easter, I hope when I visit all the churches, I feel genuine harmony between my deep prayers and the power of my actions.

Happy 2017 Easter, everyone. n

High heels for infants sparks controversy online

CELEBRATE Easter and jumpstart the summer season with Shangri-La Plaza’s Shang Chocolate Wonderland. The weeklong celebration kicks off on Easter Sunday, April 16, and runs until April 23.

HAPPINESS IS A ‘CHOCOLATE WONDERLAND’

MAKE EAsTER MORE fUN

MAKE your Easter egg hunting extra special and yummier with Villa del Conte’s (www. villadelcontecioccolato.com) luscious Ovicinis.

Delight your kids with these lavish giveaways wrapped in a cute bunny pouch, which contains eight pieces of candy-coated dark chocolate with hazelnut cream filling.

Made from premium chocolates from Padova, Italy, these Villa del Conte’s Ovicinis are definitely the perfect treats for kids and kids-atheart this Easter.

CHOCOHOLICS, rejoice. Luxe lifestyle destination Shangri-La Plaza presents Shang Chocolate Wonderland, a weeklong celebration that kicks off on Easter Sunday, April 16, and runs until April 23.

The festival is filled, not only with our beloved treats, but also with an abundance of exciting activities in which mall guests can indulge in. Celebrate Easter Sunday in the sweetest way possible with family and friends as Shang Chocolate Wonderland opens its doors with one big party featuring stilt walkers, musicians, magicians, jugglers and dancers for a truly magical experience.

Snap and share photos by the chocolate-inspired mall decor and grand chocolate fountain.

Shang’s tenants Candy Corner, Epicurious, Marks & Spencer, Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, Rustan’s Supermarket, Villa del Conte and Wicked, including the prestigious Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts as well as international brands Toblerone, Cadbury, Hershey’s Slushies and Kinder Chocolate Cereals are participating in the fair. Local chocolate enterprises and chocolatiers are also represented.

Kids can look forward to meeting adorable characters Dibo on April 16 and Pororo on April 18. The rest of the week will be full of games and special attractions, free sampling of chocolate confections, demos and workshops on chocolate making, choco decorations and special promotions.

SAN FRANCISCO—An American footwear company has sparked disapproval on social media over high-heeled shoes for babies.

Pee Wee Pumps says babies will be the “belle of the ball” in the shoes.

But the BBC reports people are criticizing the company amid a growing concern at what is seen as the sexualization of children. Company founder Michele Holbrook says the shoes are intended as a photo prop only and meant to be “funny and cute”.

In a recent post this week on the company’s Facebook page, an infant in heels sits on a miniature motorbike with the caption: “This little #Diva, defining cool posing in her #PeeWeePumps.”

The image was criticized by a number of the site’s users, who suggested it was “wrong” and “disgusting” to portray babies in such a way.

“This is not ok,” wrote a certain Melissa Balinski. AP AMERICAN footwear company Pee Wee Pumps posted on their Facebook page this image of an infant in heels while sitting on a miniature motorbike.

FACEBOOK.COM/ MYPEEWEEPUMPS

A8 Thursday-Friday, April 13-14, 2017 | Editor: Jun Lomibao

Sports BusinessMirror

mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph

ALONE IN HIS CLASS

When the label first became popular in the early-1990s, it was easy to judge the candidates because of their victories, the number of majors they had played and how many times they came close to winning.

A

By Doug Ferguson The Associated Press

UGUSTA, Georgia—Lee Westwood already had qualified as the best player to have never won a major even before Sergio Garcia won the Masters.

Garcia only made it less of a debate.

The focus is sure to shift between now and the US Open over who fits into that category. When the label first became popular in the early-1990s, it was easy to judge the candidates because of their victories, the number of majors they had played and how many times they came close to winning.

Tom Kite was the first big name to shed the label when he won the 1992 US Open at age 42.

Among those who followed Kite in finally winning majors were Corey Pavin (1995 US Open) and Davis Love III (1997 Professional Golfers Association [PGA] Championship). The biggest was Phil Mickelson, who

won his first major at the 2004 Masters.

Colin Montgomerie owned the title for the better part of a decade, and his time is gone. Montgomerie is on the 50-and-older circuit and only gets into majors when he wins

the corresponding major on the PGA Tour Champions circuit.

Westwood is headed down that path.

At age 43 he has 39 victories worldwide and is one of only two players without a major to have been No. 1 in the world ranking. The other is Luke Donald, but what sets them apart is the number of chances Westwood has had in the majors.

Westwood had a birdie putt on the final hole at Torrey Pines to get into a playoff with Tiger Woods and Rocco Mediate in the 2008 US Open. A year later, a three-putt bogey from long range (after a magnificent shot from a fairway bunker) kept him out of a British Open playoff between Stewart Cink and Tom Watson. The next year, he was the 54-hole leader at the Masters when Mickelson outplayed him. And in 2013 Westwood was the 54-hole leader at Muirfield when Mickelson beat him at the British Open.

Westwood is running out of time. The oldest player

Slack focused on Danao Xterra G

REAT BRITAIN’S Jackie Slack hopes to end a string of heartbreak finishes in Xterra Philippines, as she guns for the elusive victory against an elite field in the Xterra Off-Road Triathlon firing off on April 23 at its new home in the South in Danao City, Cebu.

“This is my sixth year racing Xterra Philippines, and I have had many runner-up finishes, but never managed to win the race. There is always so much excitement around this race, and I hope to take the top step on the podium this year,” said Slack, who has seven Xterra world tour victories, including three international triathlon feats.

The former firefighter, now married to fellow champion triathlete Ben Allen, fell short in last year’s Xterra Albay won by Elizabeth Orchard but has looked forward to resuming his campaign here, with the new venue offering a different kind of challenge for the crack international and local field put up by the organizing Sunrise Events Inc. “As always, I love coming back to the Philippines; we have made so many wonderful friendships and this brings us back every year. Sunrise Events always puts on a world-class race, I’m excited to come back and race in Cebu—a place Ben and I love some much, and I’m looking for to meeting up with familiar faces,” Slack added.

That includes Aussie Carina Wasle, winner of 15 Xterra

Villarin leads winners’ list

C

RISTIAN VILLARIN led two other players who won two crowns each in the third leg of 19th Head Junior Tennis Satellite Circuit held recently at the Isulan courts in Isulan, Sultan Kudarat.

Villarin blasted Roddick Litang, 6-0, 6-1, to capture the boys’ 16-under crown and Rodcarl Hagoriles, 6-0, 6-1, to win the 18-under title of the event organized by Head Philippines distributor Dynamic Sports.

Carlyn Bless Guarte and Tennielle Madis also grabbed two titles each.

Guarde beat Minette Bentillo, 6-4, 6-3, to hoist the girls’ 16-under trophy and downed Jezzelle Madis, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, to claim the 18-under tiara.

Madis walloped Sitti Nur Jillian Manangking, 6-1, 6-3, in the girls’ 12-under and Raphael Joaquin Duay, 4-0, 4-1, in the 10-under unisex division to also emerge a multiple winner in the tournament that lured more than 100 players from all over Mindanao.

The competition was sponsored by Chris Sports, Toalson strings and UBE Express with the BusinessMirror, Philippine Locale, Cook, Health and Fitness, Pilipino Mirror, Philippines Graphic, People’s Television and Aksyon Sports as media partners.

Reyman Saldivar rallied past Cedric Pamplona, 4-6, 6-3, 6-0, to bag the boys’ 12-under crown, while Roddick Litang bashed Cedrick Pamplona, 6-3, 6-4, to clinch the 14-under trophy. Minette Bentillo trounced Sitti Nur Jillian Manangking, 6-2, 6-2, in the girls’ 14-under final.

World Tour races, former Asia Pacific Xterra Malaysia champion Myriam Guillot-Boisset, comebacking Penny Slater of Australia and American Jessica Koltz, winner of Xterra events in California and Tahoe City.

Meanwhile, host Rep. Ramon Durano VI has guaranteed not only an off-road triathlon to remember for the participants but a kind of hospitality that could rank Danao among the top hosts of any international sporting event.

“This is a great opportunity to promote Danao City,” Durano said. “We will do our best to showcase Danao City as a top tourist destination and provide an unforgettable race to the participants.”

Bradley Weiss, who came from behind to snare last year’s crown in Albay, and Allen gear up for another spirited duel for the men’s crown in the event sponsored by Alcoplus, Sanicare, Cetaphil, Prudential Guarantee, Columbia, Garmin, Tri Life, Cignal Hyper TV, Rocktape, Gatorade, MNTC, Coca-Cola Femsa, Powerade, Wilkins and Storck.

Also the hunt in the men’s pro side of the event, backed

by El Salvador and Coco Palms Resort as hotel and venue partners, are Japanese Takahiro Ogasawara, Taylor Charlton, Sam Osborne, Kieran McPherson, Jacky Boisset, Brodie Gardner, Olly Shaw, Alex Roberts, Dan Brown, Will Kelsay and local bet Joseph Miller.

T

to win his first major was Jerry Barber, who was 45 when he won the 1961 PGA Championship.

Next in line?

Rickie Fowler is too young (28) with too few victories (four on the PGA Tour, two on the European Tour). David Duval was the only player in his 20s considered the best without a major. He was 29, had been No. 1 and was seen as the biggest threat to Woods.

Brandt Snedeker (8) and Matt Kuchar (7) haven’t won enough on the PGA Tour or seriously contended in enough majors to properly wear the label. More likely to be considered was Steve Stricker, but he now is 50 and splitting time on the PGA Tour Champions.

One thing about that label over the years: It can be seen as a compliment (“At least ‘best player,’ there’s something good there,” Garcia said). Mostly, though, it’s something that players would find irritating if they were honest with themselves.

For now, Westwood is the only active player who has reason to be irritated.

Blue Eagles, Red Warriors make statement in UAAP football

A

GREAT BRITAIN’S Jackie Slack hopes to end a string of heartbreak finishes.

PANLILIO: WIN SEABA, NO IFS AND BUTS HE country will again be in the forefront of regional sports when it hosts the Southeast Asian Basketball Association (Seaba) Championship from May 12 to 18 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The Seaba is the qualifier for the Fiba Asia Cup set from August 10 to 20 in Lebanon, with the top 14 teams vying for spots to the 2019 World Cup in China via the new Fiba home-and-away format starting in November.

AT age 43, Lee Westwood has 39 victories worldwide and is one of only two players without a major to have been No. 1 in the world ranking. AP

Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas President (SBP) Al Panlilio underscored the importance of the Seaba, which he stressed should not be taken lightly.

“It’s a long journey for us,” Panlilio said. “We have to win it [Seaba], no ifs and buts for Gilas Pilipinas.”

National Coach Chot Reyes echoed the sentiment, picking Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia as the teams to look out for in the Seaba.

“There is no room for error here in this tournament,” said Reyes, who bared other teams are probably bringing with them naturalized players. SBP Executive Director Sonny Barrios said the federation is prepared to stage the event.

“We’ll be ready for the Seaba,” Barrios said.

The ticket prices are P950 for Patron A, P900 for Patron B, P880 for Patron C, P550 for Box VIP, P450 for Box Regular, P200 for Upper Box and P100 for General Admission.

TENEO de Manila stayed atop the standings but University of the East (UE) sent a strong message in Season 79 University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) men’s football action recently at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.

Ateneo blanked De La Salle, 2-0, behind Julian Roxas in the 38th minute and rookie Sam Lim in stoppage time for a front-running 32 points and in the process booted out De La Salle from the Final Four for the first time in four years.

University of Santo Tomas (UST) booked the last semifinals berth after frustrating Far Eastern University (FEU), 2-1. Kenneth Tuzon delivered the Final Fourclinching goal in the 89th minute for the Tigers, who amassed 20 points to wind up in fourth place.

Mark Arranguez broke the ice in the 24th minute but FEU could not sustain the momentum. The Tamaraws found themselves at No. 3 with 22 points.

Ateneo and University of the Philippines (28 points) are 1-2 atop the table but the final standings would be determined by the result of the FEU-Ateneo and UST-De La Salle matches on the last day of eliminations on April 20 at Ateneo’s Moro Lorenzo Field.

The knockout semifinals begins on April 30 at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.

UE, meanwhile, edged Adamson University to end its campaign on a high note, with Krysler Opeña scoring the match’s only goal in the 82nd minute.

The Red Warriors closed out with three straight victories for 14 points at seventh place, but their season was marked by their upsets of Final Four-bound teams FEU and Ateneo.

For first-year Coach Fitch Florence Arboleda, there’s no way but up for the Red Warriors, who were champions in 2001.

“We are ready for next season. We will remain intact and that adds to our confidence,” Arboleda said. “We were near flawless in our last three matches, and that’s good news for us.” Lance Agcaoili

NBA RESULTS Atlanta 103, Charlotte 76 Oklahoma City 100, Minnesota 98 Denver 109, Dallas 91 LA Lakers 108, New Orleans 96 Sacramento 129, Phoenix 104 SAMAHANG Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) President Al Panlilio (back row, center) addresses concerns about the forthcoming championship. With Panlinio are (upper row, from left) Crowne Meetings Director James Pangilinan, Holiday Inn Manila Galleria Director of Sales and Marketing Head Janice Tiambeng and General Manager Gaurav Rai, SBP Executive Director Renauld Barrios, Gilas Pilipinas Head Coach Vincent “Chot” Reyes, and (front row, from left) SBP Deputy Executive Director Butch Antonio, Batang Gilas Head Coach Michael Oliver, and players Raymond Almazan, Calvin Abueva and Kevin Ferrer.

Opinion BusinessMirror

opinion@businessmirror.com.ph

Editor: Angel R. Calso • Thursday-Friday, April 13-14, 2017 A9

editorial

The presence of God in people’s suffering

O

ne of the greatest challenges the Catholic faithful all over the world face during the Lenten season is the reality of evil and suffering. Christians are baffled by the seeming contradiction between the existence of a loving God and the fact of evil.

When we ourselves are suffering, we tend to lose faith.

How could a good God allow us to suffer pain? Couldn’t God have created a world without evil and suffering?

Theologians say evil began on Earth when Satan told the first lie.

Satan was originally a perfect angel, but “he did not stand fast in the truth”. Satan lied to the first woman, Eve, and persuaded her to obey him instead of God. Adam joined Eve in disobeying God—a decision that led to suffering and death.

Man created his destruction and suffering. But God sent his only begotten son to save mankind. In the words of Pope Francis, “Jesus is a Messiah who comes in the guise of a servant, the servant of God and of man, and goes to His passion. He is the great ‘patient’, who suffers all the pain of humanity.”

Pope Francis said on Palm Sunday that, as Holy Week begins, we should contemplate not only the glory with which Jesus is recognized as king as he enters Jerusalem, but also the suffering He endures before His death, and which is seen in the many citizens of the world who suffer due to war, violence and slavery.

As the Pontiff said, “Jesus is present in our many brothers and sisters who today endure sufferings like his own: They suffer from wars and terrorism, slave labor, from family tragedies, from diseases.”

The Pope’s words came at the same time a bomb attack took place on the Coptic Christian Church of Mar Gerges in the northern city of Tanta, Egypt, as worshippers packed the area to celebrate Palm Sunday Mass.

According to the Associated Press, at least 21 were killed and around 40 others wounded in the blast.

“Jesus is in them, in each of them, and, with marred features and broken voice, He asks to be looked in the eye, to be acknowledged, to be loved,” the Pope said.

The presence of God in each of these brothers and sisters is not “some other Jesus”, the Pope said, but is “the same Jesus who entered Jerusalem amid the waving of palm branches. It is the same Jesus who was nailed to the cross and died between two criminals.”

As we listen to the crowd joyfully acclaim Jesus as our King, let us also reflect on “the slanders and insults, the snares and betrayals, the abandonment to an unjust judgment, the blows, the lashes and the crown of thorns, and last, the way of the cross leading to the crucifixion,” the Pope said.

There are kinds of suffering that crush humans in spirit. Phil Zylla, a Canadian theologian, talks about the different dimensions of suffering: The physical, the psychological, the social and the spiritual. The physical refers to the bearing of pain, while psychological is a sense of loss or, sometimes, trauma. Social suffering refers to becoming a social outcast, social degradation, or shame. Finally, spiritual suffering can lead to despondency.

There’s no easy answer to any question about human suffering. But, as in the Passion of Christ, it’s an assurance of God’s compassion and God’s presence with the suffering person. And the resurrection assures us that God can be found in the one who is suffering, even when it seems like a Godless situation.

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OUTSIDE THE BOX

I

T may be inappropriate to talk a bit harshly the day before Good Friday, but a greater worry than “fake news” should be “real news”, and the ignorant comments people make about it.

Eighteenth-century British poet Thomas Gray wrote—translated into modern English—“When people are happy in their ignorance, it is a waste of time to know what you are talking about.” Likewise also, an English poet, Alexander Pope said, “A little learning is a dangerous thing.”

Put together we might then say, “I am happy not knowing anything about the topic and I am comfortable spreading incorrect information.”

The numbers for the foreign direct investments (FDI) in January were released a couple of days ago. The double-digit increase from 2016 was reported as an indication

that investors remained optimistic on the growth prospects of the Philippines and the economy. That is correct...sort of. Investors invest in a country because the economy is growing, because the economy might grow and also because the economy is not growing except for the business that is being invested in.

To give a harsh but accurate example, a man I once knew from the Netherlands came from a rich family.

After the destruction of World War II, everyone was poor. But his father became wealthy making coffins for the dead in the famine that followed in the winter of 1945. The father “invested”, because he was able to make

a great profit given the particular set of circumstances.

Yes, some of that foreign investment in January may be because the Philippine economy shows signs of good growth. But also, perhaps, some is the equivalent of investing in coffins during a famine or the potential of the “Big One” hitting Metro Manila. Although my example is silly, remember, things are not always what they appear to be.

Further, it was reported that the reason for the increase in foreign investment was not that it was “new” investment, but “company borrowings” by local companies and subsidiaries basically owned by foreign companies. That may be “true” also except it is incorrect in terms of the reality of what is being said and what it means.

If a foreign company sets up a call center in the Philippines, for example, the revenues accrue to the mother company in the US or Europe. But the bills—utilities, wages and maintenance—must be paid locally. The local company “borrows” money from the mother company to pay those obligations. That is the foreign inflow that is included in

the FDI numbers as debt. Since the local company has no revenue, and therefore, no profit as such, it pays no income taxes. Makes sense, yes?

The Philippine peso is appreciating and the “ignorant” start talking about politics and central bank manipulation. Except, the reality is that the peso moved to 49.78 to a US dollar at 1600 GMT on Saturday, April 8, and then to 49.56 at 1900 GMT on Monday, April 10, when both the local banks and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas were closed.

There is a whole financial world out there of “Spot-Forex”, “Overseas Forward Contracts” and “ContractFor-Difference” Philippine peso trading far beyond the little village of Metro Manila.

Much of what we hear and read is at best, incomplete, and at worst, distorted. And as with “fake news”, it is the individual’s responsibility to be more knowledgeable. No one else is going to do it for you.

E-mail me at mangun@gmail.com. Visit my web site at www.mangunonmarkets.com. Follow me on Twitter @mangunonmarkets. PSE stockmarket information and technical analysis tools provided by the COL Financial Group Inc.

Favorite playground for big-time grafters and plunderers Cecilio T. Arillo

Jun B. Vallecera

BusinessMirror is published daily by the Philippine Business Daily Mirror

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Online Editor Social Media Editor

Chairman of the Board & Ombudsman President VP-Finance VP Advertising Sales Advertising Sales Manager Group Circulation Manager

Ignorance is bliss...and dangerous

database

S

INCE President Duterte has already trained his sights on bigtime grafters and plunderers, he must look no further than the multitrillion-peso energy sector because this is where he will find many of them.

With the Department of Justice and the Ombudsman as the lead agencies to effectively investigate, the best place to start with is the National Power Corp. (NPC), the state agency that served as the country’s lynchpin of the entire energy operations.

Between 1977 and 1985 in President Ferdinand E. Marcos’s time, the NPC’s income rose from P0.4 billion to P18 billion in sales revenue and had total assets of P107.2 billion, almost 10 times what it had in 1977.

A few months after the 1986 Edsa uprising that ended the Marcos regime, President Corazon Cojuangco Aquino’s administration strangely broke up the NPC, dissipated its assets and privatized

the majority of its operations, including generations, transmissions and distribution under the guise of ridding government monopoly in the energy industry.

Over a period of 31 years, five presidents had succeeded Marcos, from Mrs. Aquino, her son Benigno S. Aquino III and the three others between them, Fidel V. Ramos, Joseph Ejercito Estrada and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, while the key positions of NPC chairman, president and board of directors had changed hands many times. It was during this lengthy period that scams of every size, make and shape had taken place in the energy sector.

Curiously, by June 2003, the NPC had $7 billion worth of debt to its name. These debts do not include

the $250-million bond partly backed by the Overseas Private Investment Corp. (around $500 million of the $7 billion had matured toward the end of 2003) and other sovereign contingent guarantees.

As of mid-2004 the NPC’s obligations reached more than P1 trillion, P700 billion of which was due the independent power producers (IPPs).

The NPC’s financial obligations represented, at one time, almost onefifth of the P5.39-trillion national debt that time.

Earlier, a government study commissioned by the Credit Suisse First Boston and Arthur Andersen estimated the NPC’s net liabilities from obligations to the IPPs at a staggering range between $6.1 billion and $6.77 billion. Worse, these liabilities and obligations continue to grow up to this time.

The Philippines had an oversupply of electricity in 1994, but President Ramos’s administration still entered into new contracts with IPPs, many of them enjoyed financial backing from export credit agencies (ECAs) with Philippine sovereign guarantees.

In fact, ECAs supported three of the five IPP contracts found onerous by the government Interagency IPP Review Committee. These were the Casecnan Multipurpose

Ir r igation and Power Project (CMIPP), the Sual Coal-Fired Power Plant and the San Roque Hydropower Project, touted as the country’s biggest hydropower.

In these deals, the government committed to pay the CMIPP a whopping P80.77 billion, or $1.454 billion, or $72.7 million ($=55.55) a year for 20 years to Cal Energy (CE– Casecnan), whether the US firm actually delivered the contracted water to Pantabangan Dam. Aside from tax exemptions, CECasecnan is also assured of P40.4 billion, or $728.00 million, or $36.4 million yearly for the same period as fees for the hydropower created in the course of delivering the contracted water. There is no assurance whatsoever that the CMIPP would generate power monthly.

Sovereign guarantee on payments for IPPs’s expensive power, regardless of actual need and performance, appeared to be the major source of graft, greed and plunder, and thus, it set the stage for the NPC’s financial ruin. Within a short span of time, or by 2000, the principal balance of the NPC’s financial debt obligations had surged to $6.77 billion; $1.23 billion of it is owed to various ECAs.

To reach the writer, e-mail cecilio.arillo@ gmail.com.

A10 Thursday-Friday, April 13-14, 2017

Opinion BusinessMirror

opinion@businessmirror.com.ph

Tax refund on rescinded Self-giving proclaimed and shared in contracts Msgr. Sabino A. Vengco Jr. Atty. Ronald S. Cubero

Tax Law for Business

R

escission has been defined in law as the unmaking of a contract, or its undoing from the beginning and not merely its termination. The consequential effect of it is to bring back the parties to their original situation prior to the commencement of the contract.

Given the above jurisprudential pronouncements, the rule is clear that rescission nullifies the contract from the beginning and requires a mutual restoration of benefits received.

The tax consequence in rescission of contracts has been passed upon in the Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) Case 6617. In the said case, the parties mutually rescinded the contract to sell since the occupants of the subject lot refused to vacate and surrender the possession. However, in restoring the benefits received, the seller can no longer refund the value-added tax for the simple reason that the same was already remitted to the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).

Citing a regulation and a 1995 BIR ruling, the CTA ruled that taxpayers are entitled to the value-added tax refund. Likewise, the CTA ruled in passing that the capital gain tax and documentary stamp tax may also be refunded.

In 2013 however, the BIR clarified in its ruling that a documentary stamp tax cannot be refunded in cases of rescission. Referring to a Supreme Court (SC) case (GR 119446), the BIR ruled that the subsequent cancellation of the transaction to which the documentary stamp tax liability attaches does not have the effect of cancelling the documentary stamp tax liability.

This view is anchored on the fact that a documentary stamp tax is a tax not upon the business transacted but is an excise upon the privilege, opportunity, or facility offered at exchanges for the transaction of the business. It is an excise upon the facilities used in the transaction of the business separate and apart from the business itself. As such, the documentary stamp tax must be paid, without regard to whether the contracts which gave rise to them are rescissible, void, voidable, or unenforceable. The above ruling, though, did not discuss whether a capital gain tax may also be refunded in the event of rescission.

Such is the case in the recent decision of the CTA Consolidated Case 8919 and 8920. In this case, the parties mutually rescinded the contract of sale. However, the capital gains tax has already been remitted to the BIR. This prompted the taxpayers to file a tax refund with the BIR on the ground that the said taxes were erroneously or illegally collected. It is argued, however, by the BIR that

In 2013 the BIR clarified in its ruling that a documentary stamp tax cannot be refunded in cases of rescission. Referring to a Supreme Court case (GR 119446), the BIR ruled that the subsequent cancellation of the transaction to which the documentary stamp tax liability attaches does not have the effect of cancelling the documentary stamp tax liability. at the time the same were paid, the contract is very much legal and valid.

In resolving in favor of the taxpayer, the CTA emphasized that capital gains tax is a tax on gain from the sale of the taxpayer’s property forming part of capital assets. In case, however, of rescission, any resulting gain will have the effect of not being realized, since the proceeds of the sale will eventually be returned to the seller. Further, when a contract is rescinded, it is deemed inexistent, and the parties are returned to their status quo ante. Considering, therefore, that there is no gain realized in the subject trasactions, the collected capital gains taxes are considered as “levied without statutory authority”.

The CTA went a step further to clarify the legality of the capital gains tax refund in rescission. According to the CTA, the claim for refund is based on the principle of quasi-contract or solution indebiti.

This principle is a time-honored doctrine that no person shall unjustly enrich himself at the expense of another. And the government is not exempted from the application of this doctrine.

Given the above circumstances, the taxpayer must be guided by the rule that in cases of rescission, the same includes the restoration of any value-added tax and capital gains tax already remitted to the BIR. The author is a senior associate of Du-Baladad and Associates Law Offices (BDB Law), a memberfirm of WTS Global.

The article is for general information only and is not intended, nor should be construed as a substitute for tax, legal or financial advice on any specific matter. Applicability of this article to any actual or particular tax or legal issue should be supported, therefore, by a professional study or advice. If you have any comments or questions concerning the article, you may e-mail the author at ronald.cubero@ bdblaw.com.ph or call 403-2001 local 350.

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Alálaong Bagá

oly Thursday, as the first day of the sacred Paschal Triduum (Ang Mga Mahal na Araw), tells us the meaning of Passover as God’s saving action revealed in the wondrous love of Jesus for us (John 13:1-15). The washing of feet symbolizes for Saint John its Eucharistic actualization.

God’s Passover AS a memorial of the beginning of Israel as a people, the annual celebration of the feast of the Passover (Pesah) stands at the head of their calendar (Exodus 12:1-8, 11-14). As it commemorates their exodus from bondage in Egypt into freedom, it is God’s magnanimous power everywhere and over anyone that is celebrated. When the Lord passed over the Israelites, His protection and deliverance were guaranteed them.

The blood of the lamb slaughtered in sacrifice became a sign of salvation for all those marked with it.

And the celebration in the form of a

meal centering on the lamb, free of all blemish because consecrated to God, underlines God’s spectacular initiative nourishing and giving life to His people.

Jesus’ own passage from this world to the Father is explicitly linked

by John to the feast of Passover. His hour, much awaited and the key to the meaning and purpose of His mission, is His Passover for our salvation. His love for His own flock and people is unconditional and up to the end. In and through His passion, death and resurrection, He would bring about His expiatory self-sacrifice in the concrete context of sin and betrayal.

The excluded Dr. Rene E. Ofreneo

LABOREM EXERCENS Continued from A1

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or development planners, the task is quite clear: formulate inclusion programs. The bolder, the better. In this regard, PDP 2017-2022 has identified the skills and education sector as one area where inclusion programs can be enhanced. For example, in basic education, there is a proposed program to identify more rigorously the excluded, such as the isolated indigenous people (IP), and strengthen government assistance so IP children can be enrolled in the school system. For out-of-school youth and adults who have limited education, there is the expanded alternative learning system, or ALS, that seeks to cover millions. Technical Education and Skills Development Authority is also mandated to provide more technical-education courses in underdeveloped regions, like the Caraga and Region 9 in Mindanao.

However, preparing the excluded labor force skills- and education-wise for the emerging jobs in a supposedly expanding economy is neither easy nor smooth. In the first place, the economy and the labor market are segmented, as pointed out in earlier articles.

One problem in the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2017-2022 is that its macroeconomic and industryagriculture chapters still tend to push for job-creation strategies based mainly on the requirements of the Philippine integration in the global economy, like participation in the value chains of giant transnational corporations, for example, the automotive industry. Yes, why not participate in these chains and extract maximum gains, jobs and value-added, from these chains? But what happens to the other segments of the economy

which are not able to align with the requirements of the global market, like the domestic industry, the domestic agriculture, the huge informal sector and others?

Why should economic growth modeling be based only on the requirements of global integration?

This reminds us of the 1994 Senate debate on whether the Philippines should join the World Trade Organization (WTO). To close the debate to their favor, the economic cluster of the government came up with overly optimistic projections that membership never delivered—half-a-million new jobs annually for each of the two major sectors of the economy—industry and agriculture.

Both sectors have weakened instead in the last two decades. Completely ignored by the economic technocrats were the

United is feeling the sway of consumers in Asia

By Conor Sen Bloomberg View

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N Monday—Day one of the fiasco over United Airlines’s forcible removal of a passenger from an overbooked flight—the stock of United Continental Holdings Inc. actually rallied. Perhaps Americans were outraged by how the passenger was treated, but airlines operate in a consolidated industry where consumers don’t have much choice. Investors seemed to shrug and assume that customers would still fly United anyway.

But an interesting thing happened on Day two.

Overnight there were reports that the social-media storm against United had spread to China. Chinese users speculated that the passenger was mistreated because he was

Asian. And United’s stock found itself down 4 percent in the morning.

If it looks like a coincidence, keep watching— because other global companies will also rise and fall with the perceptions of consumers in Asia.

As Adam Carstens of PQ Partners notes, over the next 15 years most globa l midd le-class-spending growth will come from Asia. USbased multinational companies will make the Asian middle class their growth strategy. Starbucks just announced that it will provide Chinese workers with health insurance that extends coverage to the parents of workers, as well, both to attract talent and in response to Chinese values. It’s also to establish Starbucks as a “Chinese brand” in the minds of Chinese consumers.

Holly wood has been catering, some would say “pandering”, to

the Chinese audience for years. As DVD revenue has dwindled with the rise of streaming video, Hollywood studios have focused more on tentpole movie franchises with global appeal, hoping to offset the loss of DVD revenue with income from global ticket sales.

Making films that serve Chinese audiences or provide country-specific products to Asian consumers is one thing, but it’s when American consumers and institutions are forced to adapt in response to Asian values that larger tensions may arise. Silicon Valley is versed in that conflict.

Google has struggled with how to balance accessing the Chinese market with China’s demands that Google censor its content in the country. Facebook has been blocked in China since 2009, despite the com-

Overnight there were reports that the social-media storm against United had spread to China. Chinese users speculated that the passenger was mistreated because he was Asian.

And United’s stock found itself down 4 percent in the morning.

pany’s best efforts; the CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, studied Mandarin and courted Chinese officials. Countless tech firms, ranging from eBay to Uber, have tried and failed to win in the Chinese market.

The drama does not all play out abroad. My Bloomberg View colleague Justin Fox notes that the growing number of Chinese students in American colleges has helped some

Handed over, His body broken and given is “for” them, and His blood shed is for “the new covenant” of their reconciliation with God (1 Corinthians 11:23-26).

Our response of thanksgiving

nourish us spiritually and empower us for our own Passover to eternal life. But to claim already now intimacy with God in Jesus, Saint John points out that we must bend before each other and wash one another’s feet. To partake of the feast of our paschal fellowship with God through, with and in Jesus, means we are imitators of his self-emptying love who with absolute regard touched the bodies even of sinners, washing, healing, soothing.

“How shall we make a return to the Lord for all the good He has done? We offer Him sacrifice of thanksgiving” (Psalm 116:12-13, 15-16, 17-18). It was God then, and it is God now in Jesus Christ who passes over and saves us; it is all His magnanimous initiative to lead us out of the bondage of sin into the freedom of His children. In the memorial entrusted to us by Christ, we celebrate the covenant with God made whole again. And we do so with the new Lamb of God, Jesus handed over in a self-emptying sacrifice for our redemption. We can add nothing to the divine act of love; we have only to open ourselves to accept the salvation offered us.

This is the day of the Eucharist, the covenantal meal where the sacrifice of Christ’s body and blood become our food and drink in a communion of love with and thanksgiving to God. Jesus instituted this sacrifice of thanksgiving, to be offered again and again up to the end of time, to

Join me in meditating on the Word of God every Sunday, 5 to 6 a.m. on dwIZ 882, or by audio-streaming on www.dwiz882.com.

readiness of some segments in the industrial and agricultural sectors, such as the domestic producers, like the shoe industry and onion and garlic industry, which collapsed in the ensuing liberalization of the sectors.

Nonetheless, the economy today is growing. But mainly due to two nonWTO arguments that were not raised in the 1994 debate: the continuing expansion of overseas Filipino workers remittances and the unanticipated growth of the call center-business-process outsourcing (BPO) sector.

It will not do National Economic and Development Authority, therefore, any harm if it will review and modify PDP 2017-2022 on the basis of more consultations with vulnerable sectors.

It should address more rigorously what economic technocrats failed to do in the 1990s—the identification not only of the potential winners but also of losers in the GVC system, Asean integration and soon-to-be Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) in the bigger East Asia region.

Who are the vulnerables or excluded under globalization? These include the following: First, the nontradables. These are sectors of society which have limited possibilities to participate in an open and globalized economy. These include the self-subsistence farmers and fisherfolks, as well as tribal communities still practicing communal farming. A number of these communities even become victims of “development aggression” by aggressive resort developers, land speculators, mining prospectors and big fishing companies.

Second, the unprepared. Globalization is war, trade war. We have seen how Donald J. Trump threw tantrums over America’s trade deficits with Mexico and China and how unilaterally he is

changing the rules of trade engagement.

Like in any battle or war, the winners are usually those with the right weapons (salable products and technology, etc.), right people (with skills and global reach), right supporting institutions (providing an enabling environment, such as affordable power and credit) and the right strategy and tactics (look how China pursued for a long time its two-tiered currency program and how it is pursuing its present upward industrial restructuring program). Look at how messy is the situation now for Philippine sugar and rice, after the end of the Asean QR arrangements, and how players are talking once more about problems of smuggling in the two commodities. There may be hundreds of homegrown small and medium Philippine enterprises and industries which may be hit by the RCEP tsunami competition. What are the preparations for them? Do they even know that there is such a thing as RCEP? Third, the replaceables. Industries with products that can be replaced with new materials can be profitable today but insolvent tomorrow. So what are the industries today that are likely to be hit by changes in production materials and processes? For example, how long can electronics assembly and lowend customer service in the call center/ BPO sector last given the rapid advances in the use of automation, robotics and DIY applications by industry of developed countries? Of course, for the trade unions, the biggest problem is the ability of big capital to hop in and out of global and Asian labor markets, for this makes jobs unstable and nonregular.

Clearly, there is a lot still to be done to make PDP 2017-2022 a reliable strategic tool to meet the goal of social inclusion, not to mention the other lofty goals outlined in AmBisyon 2040.

schools survive budget problems. As some schools in the Northeast and Midwest continue to struggle with demographic problems, some will probably accept more students from Asia. The ramifications are fascinating. Imagine future protests on college campuses, driven not by liberal American students representing liberal American values, but by students from Asia, speaking for their own cultural imperatives. When those two groups diverge, whose values will win out? Would the outcome be different when a campus’s population is 40 percent Chinese from when it is 80 percent Chinese?

This clash between values and the bottom line seems to be a growing trend in America. We’ve seen tech companies and sports leagues threaten states that take stances on gay rights unpopular with the

companies’ and leagues’ constituents. Corporate CEOs have found themselves in trouble early in the Trump administration for meeting with the president or serving on one of his business councils. The values and demands of Asian consumers create another crucial constituency to satisfy.

The days when companies stayed out of values and politics may be history. But as consumers increasingly demand that the companies from which they buy their products reflect a certain set of values, the question becomes: Whose values should a company put first? A plurality of its consumers? Its employees? Its country of domicile? How these decisions end up being made will determine not just the brands that win in the marketplace, but the values that spread around the world.

Alálaong bagá, the unconditional love of God for us in Jesus, proclaimed in our Paschal Triduum celebration, invites us to walk the death and resurrection with Jesus, who washes our feet and hands and hearts in service and love of sinful humanity even unto death. God’s awesome graciousness to us, instituted as a sacrament and made present in the Eucharist, impels us to pass over from being served into serving others, into a new life of self-emptying service of others, thus becoming channels of God’s saving gifts to all.

Thursday-Friday, April 13-14, 2017 A11

FINANCE secretary inducts 2017 PRSP officers RSB awards Save Up, Move Up promo winners

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HE Public Relations Society of the Philippines (PRSP) recently gathered its newly-elected Board of Directors for a simple induction ceremony to recognize its 2017 officers. This year, the PRSP Board has elected Pepsi Philippines’ Vice President for Corporate Affairs & Communications Ms Jika Dalupan, APRas President. She is joined by her officers and board directors, namely: Mandy Navasero; Giovanna Fontanilla; Ken Lerona; Bernie Bagaman, APR; Susie Bugante, APR; Lou de Guzman, APR; Chito Maniago, vice president for external Affairs; Owen Cammayo, vice president for internal affairs PRSP is the country’s premier organization for public relations and communications professionals. Established in 1957 and celebrating its 60th year, PRSP continues to advance the discipline of PR and communications from practitioners across government, business, non-profit, and professional sectors. The PR Congress, and Anvil Awards are some of the main events that PRSP holds each year to celebrate and uphold PR excellence in the Philippines.

The induction was officiated by guest of honor Secretary Carlos Dominguez of the Department of Finance. In his remarks he expressed confidence that PRSP under Dalupan’s leadership

would be marked by a generous exchange of communications talent and insight for the country.

Ms. Dalupan shares that, “2017 is now in full swing and I, along with the dynamic Officers and Board Directors of PRSP, are all anticipating the exciting opportunities and challenges that we all face as Filipino PR professionals. We are all humbled by being given the responsibility of leading the PR Society, and we will endeavor to build on the legacy and heritage of PRSP, and smartly innovate the PR discipline, help steer the next generation of PR leaders to excellence.”

Pictured is DOF Secretary Carlos Dominguez (center) acting as the inducting officer and guest of honor during the official ceremonies marking the appointment of the 2017 Officers and Board Directors of the Public Relations Society of the Philippines (PRSP). (From left) Ron Jabal, 2016 PRSP president; Mandy Navasero, Board Director; Giovanna Fontanilla, board director; Ken Lerona, Board director; Bernie Bagaman, auditor; Susie Bugante, treasurer; Jika Dalupan, 2017 PRSP president; Lou de Guzman, secretary; Chito Maniago, vice president for external affairs; Owen Cammayo, vice president for internal affairs).

Total Excellium powers‘Fast & Furious 8’

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OTAL Excellium, your loyal partner on the road and races, feeds your need for speed with its Gas Up & Win: Fast & Furious 8 promo.

For a minimum 1,000 single-receipt purchase of Total Excellium (diesel or gasoline), get the chance to win a trip for two to Resorts World Sentosa Singapore and win Fast & Furious 8 movie tickets and merchandise.

Head to your nearest Total Service Station now to win big and win fast with Total Excellium. Promo runs from March 15 to April 15. See posters and print ads for more details.

As the official partner of Fast & Furious 8, Total

Excellium celebrates the premiere of the most exciting movie franchise about car culture with exciting promos and prizes, exclusive screenings and mall tours across the Metro.

On April 15, Total Excellium will hold VVIP Red Carpet screenings at SM North Edsa and SM City Cebu. On April 16, catch the VVIP IMAX screening at SM Mall of Asia. The car clubs and motoring enthusiasts w unite on April 22 to get their fix of adrenaline at Form & Function : The Meet.

Gear up for the most exciting season filled with thrills and rides with Total Excellium and Fast & Furious 8.

‘100% Smoke Free’ E.O. Will Save Lives

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lobal health non-profit organization Vital Strategiestoday encourages the Philippines’ government to sign an Executive Order (EO) that implements a 100-percent national smoke-free policy, in line with scientific evidence. “Second-hand smoke (SHS) is deadly, killing hundreds of thousands of people around the world each year and causing disease and suffering among many more, ranging from strokes and heart attacks to cancers and asthma. Filipinos would have reason to celebrate if the country takes the critical step to protect everyone in public places from this hazard,” said Vital Strategies’ President and CEO José Luis Castro.

The benefits of a comprehensive policy are significant, continues Mr Castro: “The science is clear: even brief exposure to SHS can cause immediate harm and designated smoking rooms and ventilation systems do not provide effective protection to the public and workers. The tobacco industry’s own research acknowledges this. In addition, the harm caused by second-hand smoke is the same from the smallest village to the largest cities. Filipinos everywhere deserve the same, gold standard levels of protection as that already successfully implemented in cities like Davao.Making all public places smoke-free - with no exceptions - and properly enforcing that law means that all citizens are protected. As well as helping

non-smokers, it helps to encourage current smokers to cut down and quit and deters people from initiating smoking.

This is what the tobacco industry fears.

“We hopethat the eventual language of the EO respects the rights and the health of the millions of non-smokers who make up the majority of the population, andis 100 percent compliant with the global public health treaty, the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), whichthe Philippines has committed to implement. The next step is a strong commitment to enforcement. With local city examples to build upon, we know that success is within reach. In cities like Davao and abroad, we see that 100 percent smoke-free policies are not harmful to business and that public health and economic opportunity go hand in hand. Vital Strategies looks forward to continuing to work with government to draw upon tobacco control best practices and curb the number 1 preventable killer of Filipinos—tobacco use.”

The new national policyextends the country’s existing law (Republic Act 9211) and could build uponthe good work already undertaken in implementing comprehensive smoke-free laws in cities around the country. This includes Davao City, where now- President Rodrigo Duterte introduced and enforced comprehensive smoke-free policies when he was Mayor.

REPUBLIC CEMENT AND WWF-PHILIPPINES INK CATCHMENTS AND COMMUNITIES PROJECT PHASE 2 Recognizing that water is fast becoming a scarce resource, Republic Cement takes a step further to protect and enhance water supply by partnering with World Wildlife Fund (WWF)-Philippines in the second phase of theìr “Catchments and Communities Project” which aims to develop a Morong Watershed Sustainability Plan. The project, which began in 2015 with a study on the impact of urban and commercial development on the water balance of Morong, Rizal, will use the results of the first phase to engage local government units and stakeholders to commit to a strategic framework that will ensure the sustainability of the Morong watershed. The project also calls for the formation of a Water Quality Management Area (WAQMA) to oversee the management and implementation of the watershed framework. The partnership with WWFPhilippines is just one of several projects of Republic Cement to ensure widespread sustainability in various communities nationwide. Pictured are (from left) Republic Cement officers—Sustainability Director Anda Bolinas, President Renato Sunico, and Chief Operating Officer Peter Edwards; and WWF Philippines officers—President and CEO Joel Palma, Chairman Aurelio Montinola III and Project Manager Paolo Pagaduan.

CBC Savings Bank (RSB) the retail banking arm of the Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation recently awarded 5 grand prize winners of its RSB Save Up, Move Up Raffle Promo.

Among the lucky winners were Alfredo Bautista, winner of the Living Room Package; Agustin C. Que, winner of the Kitchen Package; Ma. Rowena B. Saballas, winner of the Bedroom Package; the Iloilo I Electric Cooperative Inc., winner of the 2016 Honda Mobilio; and finally Luis M. Posadas with his mother Aida Posadas, big winners of The Beacon Makati Studio Unit.In addition, 20 lucky winners were awarded MyWallet Visa cash cards preloaded with P3000, while 10 lucky winners received MyWallet Visa cash cards preloaded with P5000.

The bank launched its raffle promo back in April 2016 for all existing and new, Personal or Corporate accountholders of RSB. In order to qualify, accountholders needed to deposit the minimum required fresh deposit funds of their respective savings account product and maintain their minimum required Average Daily Balance (ADB) for the duration of the promo period.

For some of the winners, their awards were right on the nose. Ma. Rowena Saballas

had just recently availed of a housing loan with RCBC Savings Bank when she received the call that she had won the Bedroom Package, “I have a housing loan with them,” she explains, “it’s a three-bedroom and one of the rooms isn’t furnished so the prize is perfect for me.”

Grand prize winner, Luis Posadas has been banking with RCBC Savings since the early 90s and to him, his win could not have

been more of a surprise. “This is my first time to win in a raffle and imagine it’s the Grand Prize pa,” he says of the experience, “I’m thankful to RCBC Savings for coming up with this promo and picking us!”

The awarding was held at the RCBC Savings Bank Corporate Center where RSB officers as well as RSB President and CEO, Rommel S. Latinazo presented the winners with their prizes.

Tui and Tamura Inc. joins Makati Chamber of Commerce

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HE prestigious Makati Chamber of Commerce (PCCI Makati) warmly welcomed Tui and Tamura Inc. (Write OnTrack)asanewly-inductedmemberlastMarch 22 during PCCI Makati’s membership meeting at the Makati Sports Complex. Tui and Tamura, Inc. founders, Ms. Karen Tui and Ms. Koko Tamura were in attendance. Also present were the illustrious Dr. Luzviminda S. Jose and Mr. NumerianoR.Joson,PCCI-MakatiPresidentand VicePresident,respectively.Othermembersofthe Chamber were also present to witness the event.

Tui and Tamura Inc. under the trade name, WriteonTrack—isafull-rangeoutsourcesolution which supports its clients’ marketing needs. Its services range from planning, market research, publicity,brandingandeveneventsmanagement.

Theagencydevelopsandexecutesmarketingand communication plans that meet the wide range of their client’s objectives. With clientele that includes SMEs and corporations, both local and international,WriteonTrackispoisedtomakeits mark in the highly competitive marketing world.

Foritspart,theMakatiChamberofCommerce and Industry (MCCI) under the Philippine Chamber of Commerce, Inc. (PCCI) known as PCCI-Makatiisanonstock,nonprofitorganization covering a number of duly-registered businesses

and companies in Makati City. Essentially, it is the voice of business in Makati, and is committed to free enterprise on a level playing field,espousinggoodcorporategovernanceand corporate social responsibility. With Write on Track joining PCCI Makati, a whole world of opportunitiesopensupforthecompany.These

opportunities will not only provide Write On Track a larger leeway for expansion, but it will alsostrengthenthenetworkandresourcesthat the company currently employs. Aside from these, as a member of PCCI Makati, Write on Trackhasamplifieditscredibilityinthebusiness sector, as well.

Club Penshoppe challenges youth stereotypes

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OW do you define the youth?

T his is a question that international fashion brand, Penshoppe, wishes to answer with the introduction of its global group of brand ambassadors, aptly called Club Penshoppe.

Composed of dynamic young members from Penshoppe’s various global markets, Club Penshoppe aims to celebrate the youth’s power to inspire others, wherever in the world they may be.

Seven fresh faces represent the group in the Philippines, where they’re collectively

referred to as #ClubPenshoppePH. They paint a picture of the Filipino youth, a group that continues to triumph over hurdles to become a celebration of acceptance, diversity, and individuality. “#ClubPenshoppePH is made up of individuals who have overcome challenges to make a name for his or her own self,” shares Jeff Bascon, Brand Director of Penshoppe. “They are shaped by their diverse backgrounds, personal experiences, and inspiring stories, and it shows in their unique styles.”

“They’re also noticeably multiracial because the Filipino youth is no longer bound to the long-standing typecasts— that we should be of a certain shade and have a certain set of characteristics. Our youth is global and that’s something we all should be proud of,” adds Bascon. #ClubPenshoppePH is composed of PBB heartthrob Tanner Mata and international model Tyler Mata, Spanish model Emilio Francisco Perez, young actresses Loisa Andalio and Sofia Andres, Brazilian model and former Teen PBB housemate Maria Fabiana, and Hashtag member and actor Ronnie Alonte.

Founded in 1986, Penshoppe is a homegrown fashion brand that has become a much-loved destination for casual clothes in other parts of the world.

Its clothes, with its bright colors and dynamic designs, are known for reflecting the bold and adventurous lifestyle of Filipino youth through the years.

“Each member of #ClubPenshoppePH is more than just a pretty face. They all have a story that everyone can relate to, will inspire everyone to go for their dreams and see the good in others. We can’t wait for everyone to get to know them better,” Bascon says.

Club Penshoppe is a global initiative to find new faces that will inspire Penshoppe’s local markets to see their youth in a different light. It kicks off in the Philippines with #ClubPenshoppePH.

A12 Thursday-Friday, April 13-14, 2017

Caloocan North teachers’housing project, a concerted effort Eastern quest under the seas at Marriott Manila

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AG-IBIG Fund and Caloocan North Mentors Ville Association Inc. (CNMVAI) recently led the ground-breaking ceremony of the “Mentors Ville 1” housing project. The project is located at Palmera Spring Ville, Camarin Road, Caloocan City. There will be 173 houses to be built on the 10,147 sq.m. lot.

“This is Pag-IBIG’s first housing project in Caloocan in partnership with a developer specifically for teachers. The beneficiaries have already been identified for the housing project and we hope that this will be an inspiration to provide more housing for teachers,” said Pag-IBIG Acting Deputy CEO for Home Lending Operations Cluster Marilene C. Acosta.

According to Pag-IBIG Acting Senior Vice President for Business Development Sector Benjamin R. Felix, Jr., there will be regular townhouseunitsandotherunitswithfirewall.Each unit has a lot area of 35 sq.m. and a selling price of PhP1.2 Million. “The housing project’s beneficiaries can avail of the units through Pag-IBIG’s End-User Home Financing program,” he explained.

CNMVAI President Ma. Luisa S. Dannug thanked Pag-IBIG and project developer Hauwei Builders & Development Corporation (HBDC) for helping realize the long-time dream of teachers of having their own home and said, “Tayo ay pinagpala sa araw na ito dahil binigyan tayo ng pagkakataon na matupad ang mga pangarap nating mga guro.”

DepEd Division of Caloocan Supervisor Ms. Connie Bunag also thanked both parties for giving teachers the opportunity to own a house.

Pag-IBIG signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Department of Education (DepEd) as early as December 2, 2011 to give DepEd employees and teachers access to housing services such as housing loan counselling and prequalification screening, among others.

Formed on September 2014, CNMVAI is composed of 1,600 teachers from various public schools in North Caloocan. Through the organizational expertise of ISWEAR (Institute for Social Welfare of Educators And Researchers), it

was created purposely to have a group focused on working towards the provision of housing to member-mentors of the government.

LastSeptember2015,incoordinationwiththe DepEd Central Office, Pag-IBIG met with CNMVAI to further discuss the proposed housing project for teachers. Since then, Pag-IBIG has assisted CNMVAI in finding a potential partner-developer/ proponent willing to undertake a housing project that is superior in terms of design but more affordable than the regular inventories offered by developers. Pag-IBIG also provided briefings on its programs to CNMVAI’s identified potential contractor/developer, conducted prequalification services to CNMVAI members, and used the data as basis for the type of housing units and package price that should be adopted.

CNMVAI finally found a partner in HBDC which accepted the challenge of offering an in-city housing project that will provide higherquality housing units that are very affordable to the teachers in North Caloocan. HBDC used to be a DepEd-accredited contractor for school buildings and acquired the one-hectare property for this project.

After a series of discussions on the unit design and package price, a partnership among HBDC (developer), CNMVAI (teachers-beneficiaries), and ISWEAR (mobilizer) was sealed last January 16.

Pictured are Pag-IBIG Fund Acting Senior Vice President Benjamin R. Felix Jr. (fifth from left) leading the ground-breaking of the teachers village. With him are (from left) Pag-IBIG Fund’s Acting Vice President Engr. Elmer Gabriel D. Tugade, Manager Ms. Nanette T. Abilay; Hauwei Builders and Development Corp. (HBDC)’s Vice Presidents Mr. Edison Tan and Mr. Arnel Meily, Chairman William Young, Caloocan North Mentors Ville Association Inc. (CNMVAI) President Ma. Luisa S. Dannug; HBDC’s Managing Directors Sam David Young and Mr. Wan Ming; Department of Education Supervisor Dr. Connie Bunag; Barangay Chairman Mr. Ruben Dela Cruz; LGU Caloocan’s Special Assistant Angeles Basconcillo; and Ms. Mary Rose S. Barrios of ISWEAR.

LL aboard!” calls Marriott Hotel Manila as they sail to an underwater-themed Easter Celebration. It is the best summer escape for families as the hotel prepared heaps of treats for everyone to enjoy.

After a meaningful Lenten Season, dive into an ocean-wide of culinary wonders at Marriott Café’s Sunday Brunch on April 16 for Php 2,700 only.

Along with it is a free pass for your kids to their Easter Egg Hunt activity.

A feast made for all ages include fresh seafood catch from prawns to oysters and a variety of fish, international delicacies from East to West, and foie gras and steaks from the city’s best fine dine restaurant, Cru Steakhouse.

Kids will have the time of their lives on homemade entrees, DIY pasta stations, myriad of desserts from cakes, chocolates and gelatos.

As soon as your little hunters are full, they are down for an exciting egg hunt.

Train them well so they catch the “Golden Egg” that cracks open to buffet and bakery gift certificates. Adding more fun to this day are kiddie activities like a visit from Mr. Bunny, magic show and games. Goodies will flood from their event partners such as Chips Delight, Egg Bites, Lucky Me, Oreo, Smiley, and Tiger.

Retreat with your family to a relaxing

stay without stepping out of the city. Camp in the newest West Wing of Marriott Hotel Manila for only P12,500+ and get more than just a luxurious Premium Room. Their Easter Room Package includes buffet breakfast for 2 adults and 2 kids, Php 700 worth of dining credits at their pool bar, complimentary extra bed, and 2 tickets for kids to their Easter Egg Hunt on April 16. Book early as this is available from April 9 to 16.

Quirky, chocolatey and yummy goodies are spotted in Marriott Café Bakery ready to hop in your baskets. Spread cheer and

sweetness with Felchin chocolates shaped in decadent bunnies and eggs. Price starts at P150 for 50 grams Chocolate Bunnies and P550 for 250 grams stylish Egg Ninjas.

Make your mornings extra delightful with freshly baked Hot Crossed Buns for P120 or with Tuna Overload bread for P170. There are also cakes topped with adorable rabbit and egg figures at P900 for whole cake and P305 for mini slices.

Marriott Café is located at the GF of Marriott Manila Main Hotel, while Man Ho is located at the GF of West Wing.

TOYOTA SUPPORTS EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING FOR ADOPTED SCHOOL Toyota Motor Philippines Foundation (TMPF) sponsored a Lakbay Aral or educational tour at various locations in Manila for its adopted school, Pulong Sta. Cruz Elementary School (PSCES) in Santa Rosa City, Laguna. Forty five students from Grades 3 to 6, together with their advisers, visited historic landmarks, which are significant to Jose Rizal’s heroic life such as the Fort Santiago and Rizal Monument.

In addition, students’ experience was enriched with arts and crafts-making, as well as live rondalla and folk dance performances at the Museo Pambata. Lakbay Aral is one of Toyota’s initiatives that promote experiential learning and cultivate the value of academic excellence among elementary students. Since 1998, Toyota has been continuously supporting PSCES in its holistic development through various academic, health and wellness programs. Photo shows PSCES students at Museo Pambata.

APERITIVO AT VU’S SKY BAR AND LOUNGE Inspired

by Anti Pasti Misto Buffet, take your pre-dinner drinks and appetizers to new heights with an Italian ritual to enjoy with a view at Vu’s Sky Bar and Lounge. Redefining the nightlife scene in this side of the metro is Vu’s Sky Bar and Lounge.

Located at the 45th topmost level of Marco Polo Ortigas Manila, Vu’s is poised to be a signature Ortigas attraction offering an unobstructed 180-degree view of Manila. Apart from the remarkable skyline scenery, Vu’s Sky Bar and Lounge invites diners to indulge in its vast selection of cocktails, wines and other spirits together with a well-curated line-up of dishes that is a good mix of Filipino, Spanish and other Mediterranean favorites. Starting this month, the sky bar is introducing Aperitivo, an Italian ritual of socialising over good food and drinks. It consists a wide range of appetizers, such as cold cuts, pizzas, cheeses, croquettes, and house wine, which can be enjoyed with the stunning views of the Metro.