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OVERSEAS FILIPINO BANK TO START SERVING MODERN-DAY HEROES

The ‘promised’ bank

Filipino workers gather at the HSBC building in the central business district of Hong Kong, China, on Sunday, August 13, 2006. Paul Hilton/Bloomberg News

B

By Rea Cu

arring hitches, the Overseas Filipino Bank (OFB) that will exclusively serve millions of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), as promised by President Duterte in a campaign speech, will open its doors in the second quarter.

The OFB is currently awaiting approval from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) so it could establish representative offices in various embassies and consulates to promote its products and services to Filipino migrant workers.

A wholly owned savings bank subsidiary of the Land Bank of the Philippines, the OFB was created following the signing of Executive Order (EO) 44 approving LandBank’s acquisition of Philippine Postal Savings Bank, which became the Overseas Filipino Bank.

The OFB will offer 15 banking products and services, including time deposit, peso savings, loans, investment products, and remittance services to OFWs and their beneficiaries, among others.

OFB President and CEO Renato G. Eje said they are awaiting the green light from the DFA to officially start establishing the bank’s presence in embassies and consulates, with Dubai being eyed as pilot area.

“We are waiting for the documents [from DFA]. We hope the

original target date of second quarter will be met. Otherwise, it will be on the third quarter,” Eje told the BusinessMirror.

LandBank President and CEO Alex V. Buenaventura said Dubai, Bahrain and Abu Dhabi are being eyed for OFB representative offices, which will be opened within the year.

At least two bank representatives will man the OFB offices in Philippine embassies to promote the bank’s products and services.

“These representatives will have no banking or commercial

Elmer Dumlao: An artist comes home

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By Psyche Roxas-Mendoza

hen Elmer Dumlao arrived in Jordan in 1994 at the age of 33, he visualized the best years of his life spent as a creatives man in an advertising agency.

But kismet lit another path.

And like the desert sand that slowly but surely lays claim to what it covets, Dumlao—in a span of 24 years—realized his heart’s desire: to be a visual artist; his works viewed by kings, queens and other royalty in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

“I was a commercial artist for 12 years and in all that time, I

wanted to be a visual artist. I had already participated in a group exhibit, but still had no one-man show. I was still looking for a break,” Dumlao said.

In Jordan, Dumlao started as a creative director for McCann Erickson. Years later, an officemate of his put up an advertising firm and invited him to head its Creatives department.

PESO exchange rates n US 52.0170

Dumlao accepted and between him and his boss, closed some of the biggest accounts in the Middle East. “I launched Coca-Cola and McDonald’s in Jordan. We also had the Royal Jordanian Airlines, and some big banks.”

It turned out that his officemate, Al Sheriff Mohammad Alluhayqac, was a distant relative of Jordan’s King Abdullah II.

“Al Sheriff is a title. It means ‘family of the Kingdom of Hashemite of Jordan,” Dumlao said, adding, “my boss was asked by the King to work as Chief of the Protocols Office. As a loyal subject, he had to do the King’s bidding. A year later, in 2006, my boss asked me to work for him.”

Expanding horizon

There, Dumlao’s world expanded, far beyond the days when he struggled to get better-paying jobs after

earning his Fine Arts degree at the University of Santo Tomas and in the years since he got married.

As the eldest in a brood of four, he had helped his father man their home-based silk-screen factory, while his mother taught in an elementary school.

A fresh graduate in 1981, Dumlao got hired as a contractual in the Philippine Refining Co., earning P150 a day, before transferring to Republic Flour Mills (RFM) as a supervisor for outdoor advertising for P7,000 a month.

When he got married in 1984, he decided to look for an overseas post, working in Saudi Arabia until he found luck in Jordan.

“In 1994 there was still no Internet. What I knew of Jordan I sourced from brochures, which said that the country had churches, cinemas, and that men and women were not segregated, even in buses.

transactions. They will just be promoting and providing information to overseas Filipinos about OFB products and services,” Buenaventura said.

Based on the 2016 survey on overseas Filipinos by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) released in May last year, around 2.2 million OFWs worked abroad at anytime during the April-to-September 2016 period.

The survey showed that Middle East countries were the top Continued on A2

Jordan was an open society. I liked the country and its four seasons.

And now, I had the chance to work in the Palace,” he said.

At the Protocol’s office, Dumlao said he exerted himself, taking on jobs that normally would have required three or four people to do.

He became the artist, creative director and art director.

Still, despite the heavy load, Dumlao managed to find time to paint, sculpt and do visual art.

Work commenced from Sunday to Thursday. People went to church on Friday and Sunday was a free day.

His art

Elmer Dumlao with Inborn, mixed media.

FERDINAND G. MENDOZA

At the Palace, his title was creative and design supervisor. “I do all designs, from books to medals, even the official flags that the Protocol Office puts out. I also do logos of the military. We worked like an in-house Continued on A2

n japan 0.4847 n UK 74.0202 n HK 6.6266 n CHINA 8.2669 n singapore 39.6380 n australia 40.3340 n EU 64.1318 n SAUDI arabia 13.8712

Source: BSP (April 13, 2018 )

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A2 Saturday, April 14, 2018

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The ‘promised’ bank tions that stymie the growth of electronic commerce in the country.

The OFB could be transformed into a virtual bank, where bank tellers and managers would be replaced by information-technology (IT) experts who have the knowledge to manage large amounts of data and operate the OFB using cutting-edge technologies.

“It’s not going to be a branch because when you get a branch overseas it takes a long time, it’s just an information campaign first. We will work through the embassies, there is a big meeting of the ambassadors in the Middle East and Europe sometime soon in Milan, and the secretary of foreign affairs has invited the OFB to make a presentation,” Dominguez said.

Apart from fulfilling the President’s campaign promise, the conversion of Postal Savings Bank into

the OFB also saved the lender from bankruptcy.

The President’s EO 44 in September last year ordered the Philippine Postal Corp. and the Bureau of the Treasury to transfer their PostBank shares to LandBank at zero value.

The EO further stated that the former PostBank will be converted into the “Overseas Filipino Bank,” which will be a “policy bank dedicated to provide financial products and services tailored to the requirement of overseas Filipinos” and will focus on delivering “quality and efficient foreign remittance services.”

Dominguez added that a key feature of the OFB will be its provision of remittance service for OFWs and a loan program for Filipinos planning to return to the Philippines to start businesses or build houses.

Elmer Dumlao: An artist comes home President duterte shares a light moment with executive secretary salvador Medialdea and Overseas Filipino Bank (OFBank) Chairman Alex Buenaventura after the unveiling ceremony of OFBank’s marker during its inauguration at the Postbank Center, Liwasang Bonifacio in Manila on January 18, 2018. PhiliPPine information agency Continued from a1

destinations for OFWs, accounting for 85 percent. Broken down, those who worked in Saudi Arabia comprised 23.8 percent; the United Arab Emirates, 15.9 percent; Kuwait, 6.4 percent; Qatar, 6.2 percent; Hong Kong and Singapore have 5.6 percent each; and other countries in Asia with 21.5 percent.

During the survey period, total remittances sent by OFWs reached P203 billion. These include cash sent home at P146 billion, cash brought home at P45.7 billion and remittances in kind at P11.1 billion, the PSA said.

It added that a majority of OFWs sent their remittances through banks, at 60.3 percent, while the rest through agencies or local offices at 2.4 percent. Door-

to-door delivery accounted 1.2 percent, through friends or coworkers at 0.3 percent, and through other means at 35.8 percent.

Earlier, Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said the OFB, which will cater to the needs of an estimated 10 million overseas Filipinos, is the ideal vehicle for the Philippines to “leapfrog” to the digital economy.

He noted the bank could be the starting point for the country’s jump into the data-based economy, so that instead of setting up physical branches across the globe, the bank could just rely on digital-technology applications to serve as many overseas Filipinos as possible.

The finance chief added that to leapfrog to the digital economy, the first concern that should be addressed is to ease financial regula-

President duterte grants a selfie opportunity to a supporter upon his arrival at the Postbank Center, Liwasang Bonifacio in Manila, for the inauguration of the Overseas Filipino Bank on January 18, 2018. PhiliPPine information agency

AnimAngel series, exhibited in 2014 at Zara Gallery, Amman, Jordan, graphite oil and acrylic. ferDinanD g. menDoZa

Continued from a1

advertising agency.”

To all these jobs, he found one task his most cherished and most demanding brand: His Majesty King Abdullah II. It was Dumlao who did the portraits of the Royal Family that were given as gifts by the Protocol Office to invited guests.

“I did the portrait of King Abdullah II, the Crown Prince of Jordan and the late Prince Hussein.

I based my portraits on their photographs. Some of the portraits are on display at the Protocol Office.”

In 2010 Dumlao had his first one-man exhibit, Jordan through the Eyes of Elmer Dumlao. The exhibit, according to Dumlao, offered a unique perspective on Jordan’s history, culture, traditions and beauty.

“My boss attended the first exhibit and invited princes and princesses to attend. All my works were sold out,” he enthused.

To date, Dumlao has had seven exhibits in Jordan and one (just-concluded) in the Philippines, entitled Ground Zero: An artist comes home, held at the SM Megamall in Ortigas, Pasig.

His principal focus is mixed media on canvas or wood or metal.

One of the most entrancing pieces that graced all his exhibits is Inborn, shown in Dumlao’s Animan series.

First presented in 2012 at the Zara Gallery in Amman, Jordan, the piece is a beautiful execution of the theme of the series—the cross-breeding of two creatures reincarnated into one unified piece of art.

Inborn merges the body of a woman with the head of a horse shrouded in metal. Dumlao said the woman is a person with disability, hence the missing arm and leg.

“She may have been born incomplete, but she represents beauty beyond ugliness,” he added.

Now approaching 57, and an art consultant of the King of Jordan, Dumlao has this advice for beginning visual artists: “I had thought it was already too late for me, having started so late in life. I didn’t start out as a visual artist.

I went into advertising because I needed an income. But my feelings frothed with the need to express my art. The lesson is thus, never quit. Never lose sight of your art.

Your time will come.”

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PHL’s first thermal gasification in Puerto Princesa

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By Roger Pe

id you know that 4 tons of waste is equal to 1 ton of oil?

And waste can be turned into electricity? Wait no more. It can happen in the Philippines and Puerto Princesa City will lead the way.

In full swing, a waste-toe n e r g y ( W T E ), o r e n e r g y from-waste plant can convert municipal and industrial solid waste into electricity, an ecologically sound, cost-effective means of energy recovery with less carbon emission.

It works by burning waste at high temperatures and using the heat to make steam.

T he steam then drives a turbine that creates electricity.

Puerto Princesa City Mayor Lucilo Bayron and Energy Secretary A lfonso G. Cusi signed the historic moment at the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of the operating contract for the countr y’s first W TE project on April 6. It was a breath of fresh air in a city faced with rising costs, unreliable and 100-percent fossil fuel-dependent electricity.

Knowing that population, tourism and development continue to grow rapidly, Bayron decided to pursue a novel and sustainable solid-waste management system that converts waste to energy, thereby hitting two birds with one stone.

W TE isn’t just a trash disposa l method but a way to recover va lu able resou rces, a vital part of a sustainable waste-management chain fully complementary to recycling.

Today it is possible to reuse 90 percent of the metals contained in the bottom ash. And the remaining clinker can be reused as road material. It is also one of the most robust and

effective alternative energ y options to reduce carbon emissions and replace fossil fuels.

In Europe 50 million tons of waste is converted into valuable energy through waste-toenergy technology, supplying 27 million Europeans with electricity. European WTE plants have the lowest level of emissions of all industrial sectors.

Santa Lourdes Plant

Adopting the Westinghouse thermal gasification technology that is already in use in Japan and in many European countries, Austworks Corp., in joint venture with the city government of Puerto Princesa, will be putting up a P2.1-billion waste-toenergy plant at the city’s Santa Lourdes Sanitary Landfill.

Using the city’s 110 metric ton-per-day municipal waste as feedstock, the plant will generate some 5.5 megawatts of electricity. The generating capacity will increase as the volume of the city’s solid waste increases.

Aust works w i l l cap the e x ist ing sa nit a r y l a nd f i l l once the project becomes operational and w ill add on a methane-har vesting facilit y to capture the methane gas inherent in landfills, thereby preventing it from polluting the atmosphere and generating additional power, as well.

Green energy alternative

T he desig n of P uer to P r i ncesa power-producing system s i s modu l a r, wh ic h

Puerto Princesa City Mayor Lucilo Bayron and Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi sign the country’s first waste-to-energy thermal gasification project. With them in the picture are Austworks President and lawyer Russel Alabado, and Director Greg Burton.

me a n s c u stome r s c a n sc a le t he pl a nt s to me e t t he i r e n e rg y ne e d s a nd re t a i n t he a bi l it y to i nc re a s e c apac it y a s de m a nd d ic t ate s.

Gasification is a complete t her m a l brea kdow n of t he biomass particles into a combustible gas, volatiles and ash in an enclosed reactor ( gasifier) in the presence of any externally supplied oxidizing agent (air, O 2 , H 2 O, CO 2 , etc.) at equivalent ratio.

Gasification is an intermediate step between pyrolysis and combustion, a two-step, endothermic process. It has the unique characteristic of being such a technology that can even convert waste (from municipal solid waste to agricultural or crop residues like coconut shells, rice husks, straw, wood residues, bagasse, etc.) to a useful and high-quality energy source. It gives the advantage of separating the noxious substances from the fuel gas prior to combustion.

“Doing away with the need to construct another expensive sanitary landfill and earning unexpected income of up to P20 million a year as its share

Chinese nationals upset over Boracay closure

By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo

Special to the BusinessMirror

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NUMBER of Chinese nationals have expressed disappointment over the six-month closure of Boracay Island, diplomatic sources said.

“Before the closure, they kept calling us about the move and asked if they should cancel their trips. They were complaining about it. Many of them were scheduled to come in May and June,” said the source from the Chinese Embassy in Manila, who requested anonymity, as he was not authorized to speak on the matter.

He added that many of these Chinese nationals said they were no longer able to “recover” their payments made for their hotels and airline tickets.

Since the closure was announced, “they have not informed us if they would just go to another destination or forego the Philippines entirely,”he said.

“Maybe they are not yet informed of the other options in the Philippines like Palawan, Bohol, Coron,”the source said.

President Duterte has approved the closure of Boracay Island from April 26 to October 26, 2018, ostensibly to make way for its rehabilitation.

His critics say otherwise, after the government’s main gaming agency announced it gave a provisional license to a Macau gaming giant and its local partner to operate a casino on the popular resort island.

The Chinese market accounted for 375,284, or some 19 percent, of the 2 million visitor arrivals, including local tourists, in Boracay. In the first

two months of 2018, visitor arrivals in Boracay grew by 9 percent to 375,993, according to data from the Malay Municipal Tourism Office. Of that figure, 262,488 were foreigners, with Chinese tourists topping the list of overseas markets at 120,973.

The market accounted for about 32 percent of total visitor arrivals for the two-month period.

The Department of Tourism (DOT) has targeted about 2 million visitor arrivals from China this year, owing to the thawing of diplomatic relations between Beijing and Manila. Last year close to 1 million Chinese nationals visited the Philippines, dislodging the United States as the second top source of tourists.

Chinese tourists were also the second-largest market in Central Visayas last year, according to the DOT in a news statement. With 429,306 arrivals, Chinese nationals accounted for some 14.9 percent of the 2.9 million foreign tourist arrivals in Central Visayas in 2017.

Overall, the DOT said domestic travelers, at 4 million, still accounted for the largest chunk of the 6.9 million total tourist arrivals in the region. The cumulative number of tourists was up 17.1 percent from 2016. Central Visayas is composed of Cebu, Bohol, Negros Oriental and Siquijor.

Topping the foreign visitor arrivals were tourists from South Korea at 895,776; China; Japan 408,566; United States 219,796; Taiwan 71,739; Australia 71,724; Germany 58,432; France 50,257; the United Kingdom

49,484; and Canada 43,084.

Cebu City continued to attract the largest number of foreign tourists, said the DOT, which could be due to the “increase in direct international commercial and chartered flights to Cebu from other countries.”

L a p u - L a p u C i t y, Pa n g l a o, Dumaguete City and Tagbilaran City also recorded a respectable number of tourist arrivals, though the DOT failed to release relevant data for these cities.

The DOT added Cebu and Bohol have become choice venues for MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions), and were locations of last year’s meetings of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

The DOT and its marketing arm, the Tourism Promotions Board, together with the local government units (LGUs), “have implemented a massive promotions campaign for the region, which has resulted in a strong socialmedia presence, and has given stakeholders a platform for promoting their own products.”

The implementation of the Tourism Road Infrastructure Projects, a convergence program between the DOT and the Department of Public Works and Highways since 2015, has since provided greater access to tourist sites in the region, said the tourism agency.

Further strengthening of the region’s tourism industr y was fomented as the DOT conducted trainings and workshops for LGUs and private stakeholders, to encourage them to diversify their tourism product offerings.

from project revenue, the city will save P40 million annually, which is its budget a l location for solid-waste col lection, since Austwork s w i l l do t he actua l waste col lection t hemselves.

“Unlike most renewable energies that are intermittent, the project will provide the first base-load renewable energy in the province that is very much competitive in terms of reliability, sustainability and

low- generation cost. Puerto Princesa stands to gain from this trailblazing technology,” Bayron said.

After full and faithful compliance with City Ordinance 702, “An Ordinance Pursuing A Joint Venture (JV) Approach Towards Development, Providing For The Procedure In Selecting The JV Private Sector Partner And Regulation Of The JV Activity, And Instituting Accountability Mechanism,” the

city government and Austworks Corp. signed in August 2016 a jointventure agreement (JVA) for the waste-to-energy project.

The project then got a certificate of approval from the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development; environmental compliance certificate from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources; and an endorsement of the selected technology from the Department of Science and Technology.

Based on its JVA with the city government, Austworks will start preparation of the Detailed Engineering and Design (DED) within 30 calendar days from the signing of the DOE Operating Contract. Construction shall commence within 15 calendar days from approval of the DED by the Department of Energy.

“We were inspired to pursue this project by no less than President Duterte himself, who endorsed this waste-to-energy project as an innovative mode of solid-waste disposal in his first State of the Nation Address. And we are very thankful to [Energy Secretary Alfonso] Cusi for having facilitated and signed the necessary operating contract,” Bayron reiterated.

Secretary Cusi congratulated Bayron for having pioneered in his city the country’s first thermal gasification WTE project. “The entire country should benefit from this new technology,” Cusi said.

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The World BusinessMirror

Saturday, April 14, 2018

Editor: Lyn Ressureccion | www.businessmirror.com.ph

Singapore allows Trump floats rejoining TPP, tones down China trade threat currency to gain

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resident Donald J. Trump directed officials to explore rejoining an Asia-Pacific trade pact he withdrew from shortly after taking office and expressed optimism about a deal with China, a shift in tone that boosted sentiment in the markets.

A week after escalating tensions with his threat to impose tariffs on an additional $100 billion in Chinese products, Trump said on Thursday the two countries ultimately may end up levying no new tariffs on each other.

“Now we’re really negotiating and I think they’re going to treat us really fairly,” Trump said during a White House meeting with Republican governors and lawmakers from farm states. “I think they want to.”

T he re m a rk s we re a not he r conc i l i ator y s i g n a l f rom t he administration following t it - for - t at t a r i f f s pro p os a l s f rom t he world ’s l a rge st t wo e conom ie s t h at r at t le d m a r k e t s . Tr u m p a l s o i n d i c at e d t hat ta l k s are prog ressing tow a rd s ucce s s f u l re ne got i a t ion of t he Nor t h A me r ic a n Fre e Tr ade A g re e me nt .

Better deal?

Still, it’s unclear to what extent the comments represent an actual shift in policy. Trump later tweeted that he’d only join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) if it were “substantially better than the deal offered ” to President Barack Obama. He also

noted that the US already had bilateral deals with six of the 11 nations in the agreement and was talking with Japan, “who has hit us hard on trade for years!”

Japan, the biggest economy in the current agreement, welcomed the interest in rejoining the TPP but said that it wasn’t interested in partial renegotiation.

“If these comments mean that President Tr ump is cor rectly evaluating the significance and effects of the TPP, then we welcome them,” said Toshimitsu Motegi, the minister in charge of TPP. “The deal is a balanced one, like fine glassware, and it would be extremely difficult to renegotiate or change just one part of it.”

Temperamental Trump

It ’s important to check what Trump actually said, Finance Minister Taro Aso said. Trump is temperamental so “there may be a different statement the next day,” he told reporters in Tokyo.

Vietnam would welcome the US rejoining the deal, according to a Vietnamese trade official, who said that it was designed to leave the door open for the US to come back.

The S&P 500 Index closed up

0.8 percent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average added almost 300 points, or 1.2 percent, as investors assessed the changing trade dynamics. Asian stocks climbed as equities in Japan and Australia advanced.

Trump withdrew the US from the accord during his first week in office. The pact, which was conceived as a counterweight to China’s rising economic power in the region, had been negotiated under the Obama administration but never approved by Congress.

Sen. Ben Sasse, Nebraska-Republican, who participated in the meeting with Trump, said: “He multiple times reaffirmed the point that TPP might be easier to join now.”

The news drew a rebuke from opponents of the multilateral trade pact. AFL-CIO President R ichard Trumka, head of the main trade union group, said on Twitter that TPP “was killed because it failed America’s workers and it should remain dead.”

Democrat Sen. Sherrod Brown said he was “very open to a new TPP” as long as it had strong labor-rights protections and currency provisions. “You’d need a whole renegotiation.”

Rising China

The 11 remaining nations, representing 13 percent of global output including Japan and Canada, finalized a revised version of the trade pact last month, renaming it the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

One of the White House officials said that while the president prefers negotiating bilateral trade deals, a multilateral deal

with the TPP countries would counter Chinese competition and would be faster than negotiating one-on-one with each of the 11 other nations.

Open China

Talks with China broke down last week after the Trump administration demanded steps to curtail China’s support for hightechnology industries, a person familiar with the situation said.

In his remarks on Thursday, Trump cited a speech by Chinese President Xi Jinping that he interpreted as a signal China is about to open its markets to more US goods. “He’s going to get rid of a lot of taxes and tariffs,” Trump said of the Chinese leader.

X i p l e d g e d a “n e w p h a s e o f o p e n i n g u p ” o n Tu e s d a y i n a ke y note add ress to t he Boao For u m for A si a. W h i le t he speec h of fered l it t le new polic y and made no mention of Tr ump, X i af f ir med or ex panded on proposa l s to i nc rea se impor ts, lower foreig n-ow nersh ip l i m it s on m a nu fac t u r i ng a nd e x pa nd protec t ion to i ntel lectua l proper t y—a l l issues cent ra l to t he US president ’s t rade compl a i nt s.

Trump clearly regarded the remarks as conciliatory, and said again on Thursday that it was a “good speech.”

US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said the administration needs to see concrete actions from China to reach a deal.

On talks with Canada and Mexico to revamp Nafta, Trump said negotiations are “coming along great,” though he added there’s no timeline to reach a deal.

Bloomberg News

Trump plans to talk to allies before Syria strike decision

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resident Donald J. Trump has put off a final decision on possible military strikes against Syria after tweeting earlier that they could happen “very soon or not so soon at all.” The White House said on Thursday he would consult further with allies.

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis warned such an attack carried the risk of spinning out of control, suggesting caution ahead of a decision on how to respond to an attack against civilians last weekend that US officials are increasingly certain involved the use of banned chemical weapons. British officials said up to 75 people were killed.

The White House press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, said in a brief statement after Trump met with Mattis and other members of his National Security Council: “No final decision has been made. We are continuing to assess intelligence and are engaged in conversations with our partners and allies.”

Sanders said Trump would speak later with French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Theresa May. Although Mattis noted that military action carried risks, he also emphasized that Syrian use of chemical weapons should not be tolerated. And he insisted it remains US policy not to be involved

directly in Syria’s civil war.

“Our strategy remains the same as a year ago,” he said. “It is to drive this to a UN-brokered peace but, at the same time, keep our foot on the neck of ISIS until we suffocate it,” referring to the Islamic State extremist group.

Mattis’s remarks at a House Armed Services Committee hearing followed a series of Trump tweets this week that initially indicated he was committed to bombing Syria but later suggested he was awaiting further advice and assessment. Trump wrote in a Thursday morning tweet that an attack could happen “very soon or not so soon at all.”

Later Thursday he was noncommittal. “We’re looking very, very seriously, very closely at the whole situation,” he told reporters.

Mattis said options would be discussed with Trump at a meeting of his National Security Council on Thursday afternoon. That meant air strikes, possibly in tandem with France and other allies that have expressed outrage at the alleged Syrian chemical attack, could be launched within hours of a presidential decision.

The US, France and Britain have been in extensive consultations about launching a military strike as early as the end of this week, US officials have said. A joint military operation, possibly with France rather than the US in the lead, could send a message of international unity about enforcing the prohibitions on chemical weapons.

Macron said on Thursday that France has proof that the Syrian government launched chlorine gas attacks and said France would not tolerate “regimes that think everything is permitted.” After May met with her Cabinet, a spokesman issued a statement

saying it is highly likely that Sy r i a’s P resident B a sh a r a lAssad was responsible for Saturday’s attack that killed dozens outside Damascus. The Cabinet agreed on the need to “take action” to deter further chemical weapons use by Assad, but added that May would continue to consult with allies to coordinate an international response.

Mattis said that although the United States has no hard proof, he believes the Syrian government was responsible for Saturday’s attack. Initial reports indicated the use of chlorine gas, possibly in addition to the nerve agent Sarin. Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, told NBC News on Thursday the administration has “enough proof ” of the chemical attack but was still considering its response.

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, based in the Netherlands, announced it was sending a fact-finding team to the site of the attack outside Damascus, and it was due to arrive on Saturday. It was not clear whether the presence of the investigators could affect the timing of any US military action.

At the House hearing, Democrats grilled Mattis on the wisdom and legality of Trump ordering an attack on Syria without explicit authorization from Congress. Mattis argued it would be justified as an act of self-defense, with 2,000 US ground troops in Syria; he insisted he could not talk about military plans because an attack “is not yet in the offing.”

Mattis said he personally believes Syria is guilty of an “inexcusable” use of chemical weapons, while noting that the international fact-finding team would likely fall short of determining who was responsible.

in gradual move

Asked about the risks of US military retaliation, Mattis cited two concerns, starting with avoiding civilian casualties.

“On a strategic level, it’s how do we keep this from escalating out of control, if you get my drift on that,” he said.

Rep. Adam Smith, the ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, said he sees no legal justification for a US strike in Syria, absent explicit authorization by Congress. More broadly, he doubted the wisdom of bombing.

“Until we have a more long-term strategy, until we have some idea where we’re going in Syria and the Middle East, it seems unwise, to me, to start launching missiles,” said Smith, Democrat-Washington. “We need to know where that’s going, what the purpose of it is before we take that act.”

At stake in Syria is the potential for confrontation, if not outright conflict, between the US and Russia, former Cold War foes whose relations have deteriorated in recent years over Moscow’s intervention in Ukraine, its interference in the 2016 US presidential election and its support for Assad.

Russian law ma kers have warned the United States that Moscow would view an air strike on Syria as a war crime and that it could trigger a direct US-Russian military clash. Russia’s ambassador to Lebanon said any missiles fired at Syria would be shot down and the launching sites targeted— a stark warning of a potential major confrontation.

At the House hearing, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, Democrat-Hawaii, disputed Trump’s legal authority to act without congressional authority and suggested a US strike would lead to war with Russia.

“I’m not ready to speculate that that would happen,” Mattis said. AP

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ingapore’s central bank made a measured change to policy, allowing its currency to strengthen in the face of solid economic growth, while also acknowledging mounting risks from a United States-China trade war.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), which uses the exchange rate as its main policy tool, increased the slope of the currency band slightly from zero percent, it said in a statement on its web site. That was in line with the forecasts from the majority of economists in a Bloomberg survey.

Highlights from MAS statement

T he slope of cur renc y ba nd was raised “slightly” in the first policy change in two years. The MAS said “measured adjustment” takes trade risks into account and escalation of US-China tensions “remains possible.”

Domestic growth is seen to keep its “ broadly steady pace” in the quarters ahead, while expansion for the whole year should come in slightly above the middle of the forecast range of 1.5 percent to 3.5 percent. The core inf lation for 2018 is seen in the upper half of the 1 percent-to-2 percent forecast range.

The central bank is moving away from the easing stance adopted in recent years—like what policy-makers from the US to South Korea have done—as growth in the export-led economy strengthens and inflation continues to pick up slowly. With a trade war brewing between Singapore’s two largest trading partners, the MAS signaled a gradual approach to tightening.

“The MAS sounds pretty cautious, even though they are normalizing the policy,” said Francis Tan, an economist at United Overseas Bank Ltd. in Singapore.

“They were still appreciative of the possible risks,” especially on trade and “ because of that, in October I think they should still maintain” the stance, he said.

While growth in the exportreliant nation is still seen within the 1.5 percent-to-3.5 percent range this year, still largely driven

by trade-related industries, “an escalation of the US-China trade dispute remains possible, and if it occurs, will have significant consequences for global trade,” the MAS said.

GDP grew 4.3 percent in the first quarter from a year ago, in line with the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey, preliminary data from the trade ministry showed on Friday.

T he Singapore dol lar gained a s muc h a s 0. 3 percent to 1.3083 aga inst t he US dol lar on Fr id ay and was at 1.3119 as of 11:45 a.m.

Inf lation has picked up recently even though it remains at subdued levels. The MAS said the core measure, which rose to 1.7 percent in February, will come in at the upper half of its 1 percent-to-2 percent forecast range this year.

T he central bank guides the local dollar against a basket of its counter par ts and adjusts the pace of its appreciation or depreciation by changing the slope, w idth and center of a currency band. It doesn’t disclose details on the basket, or the band or the pace of appreciation or depreciation.

“The central bank’s base case scenario appears to be that cool heads will prevail and avoid a costly trade war. At home, Singapore’s nascent recover y in business lending and household spending appears strong enough to withstand headwinds from higher funding costs and greater volatility across financial markets,” said Tamara Henderson of Bloomberg Economics.

Singapore isn’t t he f irst in A sia to tighten in t his c yc le— South Korea did so in late-2017, and Ma laysia in Januar y—but most aren’t in a r ush to move.

The Bank of Thailand voted 6 -1 in a March 28 decision for no change in polic y w it h belowtarget inf lation and a surg ing cur renc y. T he Philippines held its benchmark interest rate at a record-low 3 percent on March 22, whi le Ind ia kept its rate unchanged last week.

Bloomberg News

The central bank’s base case scenario appears to be that cool heads will prevail and avoid a costly trade war. At home, Singapore’s nascent recovery in business lending and household spending appears strong enough to withstand headwinds from higher funding costs and greater volatility across financial markets.”

—Henderson

Sports BusinessMirror

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

Saturday, April 14, 2018

A5

FIVE YEARS AFTER...

B MEDICAL workers aid injured people following an explosion at the finish line of the 2013 Boston Marathon in Boston. AP

SWAN SONG FOR GRADUATING SPIKERS S

OME of the finest players that ever played in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines women’s volleyball made their final dance in a pair of no-bearing Season 80 matches today at the Ateneo Blue Eagle Gym in Quezon City.

Adamson University bids good-bye to the trio Jema Galanza, Mylene Paat and Fenela Emnas as the Lady Falcons square off with the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Tigresses at 4 p.m.

Shaya Adorador, meanwhile, dons the University of the East

Shaya Adorador dons the University of the East jersey one last time.

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OLD COAST, Australia—The newly retired Usain Bolt left no doubt about his future, which doesn’t include a return to elite sprinting.

Asked at a news conference at the Commonwealth Games if it’s possible the world might see him at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020—”Am I right, or am I wrong?” a journalist asked—Bolt replied: “Very wrong.”

Also asked if he felt that his 100-meter world record of 9.58 seconds would be broken, he said: “I just hope it doesn’t happen anytime soon.”

Bolt, on a promotional visit to the Gold Coast, also said he was serious about playing professional soccer. In March, Bolt worked out with German soccer club Borussia Dortmund as part of his training regimen for a charity match at Old Trafford stadium in Manchester on June 10.

(UE) jersey one last time when the Lady Red Warriors take on the University of the Philippines (UP) Lady Maroons at 2 p.m.

Adorador, who stood mightily as a Lady Red Warrior despite her team’s woeful performance, tries to end her collegiate career by delivering UE’s third win in 14 matches for the season.

Today could also be the last time UE Athletic Director Rod Roque would be shouting his throat coarse as he dishes out his last match as the team’s interim coach.

The Lady Red Warriors are facing a dangerous UP side (5-8), which swept National University and Ateneo de Manila last week.

The Lady Maroons’ gigantic 28-26, 25-23, 26-24 upset of the Lady Eagles was put to waste though, as NU won the following day and, in the process, dashed UP’s Final Four hopes.

Nobody is graduating from UP but the Lady Maroons want to end the season on a winning note.

Also looking to ease a painful 21-25,

15-25, 25-22, 18-25 elimination at the hands of De La Salle last Wednesday are the Lady Falcons (5-8), who are dedicating their final game to Galanza, Paat and Emnas.

They are facing a UST squad (4-9) that has no senior in its roster—but is definitely hungry for a win under the leadership of the league’s leading scorer Cherry Rondina.

In men’s play, No. 4 Adamson University (6-7) tries to seal the last Final Four berth as it battles a back-against-the-wall UST (5-8) at 8 a.m., while UE (0-13) takes its last chance to get a win against UP (3-10) at 10 a.m.

Lance Agcaoili

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The Associated Press

OSTON—Five years after two brothers who had been living in America for about a decade bombed the Boston Marathon, federally funded community programs to prevent attacks by homegrown extremists are barely underway and face an uncertain future.

These projects, which grew out of a strategy developed during the Obama administration, are aimed at steering young people away from extremism.

But they have been hobbled almost from the start by suspicion and mistrust among Muslims, who complain they are being singled out. And it’s unclear whether the strategy will continue to be funded under the Trump administration.

In Massachusetts the Somali Community and Cultural Association abruptly withdrew from a nearly $500,000 program with the Boston police and two other organizations just as the work was beginning in earnest late last year. Another Somali group has since stepped in to take its place.

Deeqo Jibril, founder of the Somali Community and Cultural Association, said she has concerns about concentrating terrorism prevention efforts on the Somali community.

“Extremism, radicalization and violence exists across cultures, religions and ethnicities,” Jibril wrote in an October e-mail in withdrawing from the program.

“Focusing efforts specifically on one subgroup will ultimately create deeper divisions in our fractured society, doing more harm than good.”

Chad Wood, a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security, which is funding the efforts, stressed the agency’s approach to preventing terrorism isn’t based on race or religion, and instead focuses on communities targeted by terrorists for recruitment.

Created in 2011, the Countering Violent Extremism strategy was seen as a way to shortcircuit extremism before it exploded in violence.

The Obama administration called on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to do more to remove extremist propaganda.

It encouraged local and federal law-enforcement

NO COMEBACK FOR BOLT The 31-year-old Jamaican was also asked if he ever reflects on his career.

“For sure, definitely,” Bolt said. “My best friend and I always say, ‘Can you believe what we have done?’

I used to play football in the street, with bottles, anything I could get my hands on. I ran about in bare feet. So I am very happy if I have been able to inspire people.”

Anti-doping officials, meanwhile, conducted more than 3,000 tests ahead of the Commonwealth Games in an effort to weed out athletes who might be cheating well ahead of their competitions.

David Sharpe, chief executive of the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority, said on Thursday that 2,600 tests were conducted on Australian athletes and 500 more

on international athletes, some of whom were only at the qualifying stage for the April 4 to 15 games on the Gold Coast.

Dr. Mani Jegathesan of the Commonwealth Games Federation’s medical commission said doping samples from Commonwealth Games athletes would now be stored for 10 years so they could be retested when new testing regimens became available.

Jegathesan said anti-doping authorities take into account the “risk element” and use intelligence reports so that “every test counts.” AP

‘Hammer’ eyes comeback victory in Sarangani card AST November 18, 2017, Harmonito “Hammer” de la Torre saw his streak of 19 straight wins come to an abrupt end when he absorbed a unanimous-decision loss to Olympian Tugstsogt Nyambayar in Las Vegas.

Two weeks from now, de la Torre will have a chance to get back on track when he battles Jovany Rota in the undercard of “Undefeated” slated on April 28 in Glan, Sarangani Province.

That loss to Nyambayar dropped de la Torre’s record to 19 wins and one loss—with 12 knockouts—and the Sanman Boxing Gym fighter vowed to pull off a big bounceback against Rota.

“I learned a lot from my first loss. I lost to a great boxer, who is a silver medalist in the Olympics. I thought I did well, but I came up short. I will be back

By Philip Marcelo

stronger than ever,” de la Torre said.

De la Torre admitted that the loss was a bitter pill to swallow, but the debacle also taught him to work even harder.

“Accepting the loss was very hard at first, but I realized that I have to train harder so that it won’t happen again,” he said.

He may have faltered against Nyambayar, but de la Torre said there is no way he going to give up on his dream to become a world champion, especially now that he has an inspiration.

“My daughter is my big inspiration. I need to be a champion to give her a good future. I will do everything to become a champion,” he added.

In the upcoming card, de la Torre said there is no room for complacency, although he will be up against an

opponent who has more losses than wins.

Rota has nine wins, six of them by knockouts, and 13 losses.

“I’ve seen some of his fights. I am confident but in boxing, you can never underestimate any opponent. This is very important for me as my team told me that if I win this one, I have a big fight coming,” he said.

Jim Claude Mananquil, CEO of Sanman Promotions, agreed that the duel with Rota is important for de la Torre.

“This is a very important fight for Harmonito.

We are confident that he can bounce back from his previous loss and return to title contention,” Mananquil said.

The upcoming card will be headlined by Jade Bornea, who will take on Danrick Sumabong in the main event.

agencies to provide training to school and public health officials about terrorist recruitment and other online threats.

And it provided grants to universities, nonprofit organizations and other local institutions to develop after-school programs and sports and community service projects geared toward young people who might otherwise be drawn to violence.

Last June 26 programs were awarded $10 million in grants, the largest pot of money doled out to local communities yet under the program.

Some Muslim leaders are troubled by the strategy.

A number of Muslim organizations turned down the money soon after President Donald J. Trump took office, including Leaders Advancing and Helping Communities, of Dearborn, Michigan ($500,000), and Ka Joog, a Somali organization in Minneapolis ($500,000).

In Los Angeles civil-rights groups, such as Asian Americans Advancing Justice and the Council on American-Islamic Relations, have been demanding more details on how the city intends to use its $425,000 grant.

Logan Ebel, a program manager at the nonprofit Nashville International Center for Empowerment in Tennessee, which works with refugees and immigrants and received a $445,110 grant, said “There are still people in the community who think we’re up to something and that our intentions are not just.”

The Trump administration, meanwhile, has not proposed authorizing any further grants, as it continues to review the program and intends to submit its own terrorism prevention strategy to Congress this year, Wood said.

Despite local opposition, Boston’s Youth and Police Initiative Plus program is set to begin this month with the first of six weeklong “dialogues” between police and Somali youth over the next two years.

Like programs in Minneapolis and other cities, the Boston effort is motivated by concern over young Somali men traveling overseas to fight for Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group.

Boston hasn’t had to deal with that phenomenon yet, and extremism and terrorist recruitment won’t be directly addressed unless youths bring it up, said police Capt.

Haseeb Hosein, a Muslim district commander who has been promoting the program.

“One of my goals is that the officers will understand the Somali community,” he said. “We’re going to focus on their day-to-day life and the issues that every youth is dealing with—school, bullying, culture, language.”

The 2013 marathon attack, which killed three people and wounded more than 260, was carried out by two Muslim brothers of Chechen descent who emigrated from the former Soviet Union.

Federal money under the Countering Violent Extremism program is also helping Massachusetts inmates safely reenter society. With the help of its $500,000 grant, a maximum-security prison has hired counselors to work with inmates on their behavior and coping skills in the months before and after they get out.

Arno Michaelis, a former skinhead leader in the Milwaukee area, said that if such efforts had been around in the 1980s and 1990s, he might have left the white supremacist movement much sooner.

“Giving kids an opportunity to address the injustices they see in the world in a healthy way,” Michaelis said, “is the most potent prevention of extremism.”

Nigerias E. Welson (top) beats South Africa’s Jan Combrinck in the bronze-medal match of the men’s FS 57 kg of wrestling at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia, on Thursday. AP

Visitors pull rug from under local bets in Bohol netfest

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ISITORS breached the homegrown talent’s fort in the recent Ubay leg of the Cebuana Lhuillier Age Group Tennis Championship Series that attracted 126 entries in Bohol.

Lapu Lapu City’s Tiffany Claire Nocos and Valencia’s (Negros Oriental) Shara Louise led the visitors’ assault by winning one singles crown each with Paliwag sharing the 10-under unisex doubles title with Daveain Therese Gauran for a three gold medal haul in the tournament backed by Dunlop.

Nocos ruled the girls’ 14-under and 16-under age groups by beating Cebu’s bet Kimberley McKenzie, 6-3, 6-1 and Siquijor’s Ellaine Rose Bahonsua, 6-3, 6-1.

Paliwag edged Gauran, 4-1, 5-4 9-,7 in the 10-under championship and added the girls’ 12-under title following another three-set 4-6,6-2, 10-7 victory against the same opponent.

“Bohol is a very good venue located in a central location that makes it easy for other players from different places to come and participate in the tournament,” said Jean Henri Lhuillier, president and CEO of sponsoring Cebuana Lhuillier

Group that initiated the longest-running grassroots tennis developmental program 12 years ago.

Dipolog City’s Stephen Zion Guia and Cebu City’s Marc Nicole Suson maintained their respective hold of the boys’ 16-under and 18-under categories.

Guia beat Bohol’s Scottie Jumamoy, 4-6,6-4,10-4, for the 16-under title Suson continued his run in the 18-under with an easy 6-1,6-2 victory over Guia.

Suson also shared the boys’ 18-under doubles title with Lex Estillore after their 8-1 victory over Nik Alessandro Isagan and Scottie Jumamoy.

In the girls’ 18-under, Tagbilaran City’s relatively unknown Mariam Yasmin Garsin pulled off a surprise 6-2, 6-0 win over veteran Bahonsua with the two teaming up to share the girls 18-under doubles crown.

Chryshyll Mykk Lungay salvaged some pride for the hosts by ruling the boys’ 14-under age group at the expense of Zamboanga del Norte’s Dwayne Russel Daaroy, 6-3, 3-610-6.

Lungay made it a double with his boys’ 14-under doubles title with Daaroy.

A6 Saturday, April 14, 2018 | Editor: Mike Besa

Tagaytay’s Cr Odyssey O-Works Red #7

The mallet for golfers that prefer blades

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hen I started out in golf, I was a devotee of the blade putter. The clean, uncomplicated lines made for easy target acquisition and made aiming instinctive. But there was a downside. Miss the putter’s miniscule sweet spot and the ball had little chance of making it to the hole.

As a tech geek, I knew the answer lay in a more forgiving putter (a mallet), but my blade-biased sensibilities made the cure nigh on impossible to swallow.

A lot of it had to do with the optics. Mallets seemed cluttered with a lot of conflicting lines. The double-bend shaft used in most didn’t help either. Beyond the optics, face balanced mallets didn’t flow through the hit in the same manner as a blade putter did.

I eventually got used to the look and balance of mallet putters, and my putting is all the better for it. Beyond the forgiveness on off-center hits, the alignment aids on mallets are far more effective than anything that you could fit on the tiny real estate available on the back of a blade putter. Sadly, the optics and balance are more than most blade players are willing to swallow to their detriment.

The advent of the mallet with a short slant hosel changed all that. Balance one of these babies on your finger and you’ll notice the toe of the putter hanging down just slightly. This encourages a slight opening of the clubface on the takeaway. Not a bad thing, as the club naturally makes its way to the inside during this part of the stroke.

Odyssey didn’t just change paint schemes with their red and black putters; they took to time to refine the sight picture at address. The lines of the red and black putters are more refined and much more attractive.

That coupled with the incredible O-Works insert makes for a mallet putter that is more likely to woo blade players away from their unforgiving implements. The putter moves naturally through an arced stroke without giving up the ease of use and feel to which blade players are accustomed.

They say you can’t buy a golf game. Perhaps not, but a putter like the Odyssey O-Works 7s certainly can’t hurt.

Check out the new Odyssey O-Works #7 and the rest of the new Odyssey putter line at the new Transview concept store at the Podium in the Ortigas Center. Mike Besa

Sharma leads Asian assault on the PGA Tour

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By Chuah Choo Chiang

s the azaleas and dogwood prepare to bloom, signaling the arrival of spring and the year’s first major, the Masters Tournament, Asia’s young and aspiring golf stars have blossomed in near perfect sync to deliver golfing bliss to the continent’s legion of fans.

Among the emerging crop of regional performers, young Indian Shubhankar Sharma has undoubtedly been the name on everybody’s lips following his double victory in South Africa and Malaysia, including a mesmerizing debut at the World Golf ChampionshipsMexico Championship in early-March where he held the 36-hole and 54-hole lead before finishing tied ninth to announce his arrival on the big stage.

Throw in the stellar finishes by Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat, who produced top-5 outings in Mexico and last week’s WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, Asian golf is primed to take its place on centre stage very, very soon.

At 21, Sharma is proving to be the real deal. He can consistently hit it straight with every club in his bag, he putts the ball beautifully and owns a calm temperament thanks largely to meditation taught by his mother since he was child. In addition, Sharma is humble and has the personality that every parent would be proud of.

Jeev Milkha Singh, one of India’s greatest players, has labelled his young countryman as the “complete package”, while Arjun Atwal, the only Indian to win on the PGA Tour to date, calls Sharma a young man with an “older soul,” which is evident through his maturity on and off the golf course. Anirban Lahiri, a two-time Presidents Cup International team member, has predicted it would only be a matter of time before Sharma joins him on the Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) Tour.

An army brat where his father, Colonel Mohan Sharma, served in the Indian armed forces and was coaxed by Lahiri’s father to teach his son the game, Shubhankar has been a great benefactor of the Asian Tour, the region’s governing body for the professional game.

Through playing opportunities across the region, the first sighting of Sharma as a top prospect came at the 2016 Resorts World Manila Masters where he fired a final round 62 to finish equal fourth, which helped seal his card in 2017.

Sharma then registered four top 10s and several weeks after missing out on his European Tour card at Qualifying School late last year, the young Indian pulled off a careerchanging victory at the Joburg Open in South Africa in December, highlighted by a stunning 61 in second round.

Later in February Sharma was at it again, this time producing some final-round fireworks at the Maybank Championship in Malaysia where he closed with a scintillating 62 to win by two strokes, sealing his second Asian Tour and European Tour sanctioned titles. From being ranked a lowly 521st last November, Sharma has shot up to 68th in the latest world rankings and seized the lead on both the European Tour’s Race to Dubai and Asian Tour’s Habitat for Humanity standings.

His early season success rewarded Sharma with a maiden World Golf Championships appearance in Mexico and competing against a backdrop of global stars, which included the world’s top 5 golfers and 45 players from the top 50, the Indian brilliantly rose to the occasion and captivated fans and media alike with his wonderful all around game and charming personality.

Cards of 65 and 66 pushed him into the halfway lead and a third round 69 kept him two ahead of a star-studded pack. It earned him a final day grouping with World Golf Hall of Famer, Phil Mickelson, who eventually won the tournament for his 43rd PGA Tour title after a pulsating final day shootout.

Despite a final round 74, Sharma stood very tall and earned praises from Mickelson, who, funnily enough, had brushed the young Indian aside on the previous day thinking that Sharma was media.

“I saw how well he struck the golf ball. He hit a beautiful tee shot on 1, you can tell he can really play. I saw some of the putts, some of the highlights with the putter. I know he’s a very talented player, and I believe he’s leading the Order of Merit on the European Tour, so I know what a great player Mr. Sharma is. I probably shouldn’t say that, he’s 26 years younger than me!,” Mickelson said.

Sharma’s disappointment was allayed with a special invitation to play in the Masters Tournament the very next day. He tweeted: “I am deeply honored to be found worthy of invitation by the Masters Committee. It’s a dream come true. My gratitude.”

With equal excitement and bravado, Masters-bound Kiradech, 28, has also produced some great golf in recent weeks that has left him on the brink of earning a PGA Tour card. A former Asian Tour No. 1, Kiradech needs 18 more FedExCup points to attain special temporary membership, which will allow him unlimited sponsors’ exemptions for the remainder of the season. Then he will need to be within the top 125 of the FedExCup regular

The 12th green

season standings to become the first Thai to hold a PGA Tour card.

“It’s always my dream to play on the PGA Tour. I’ve been playing some great golf over the last few months, and I just need to keep doing the same,” said Kiradech, a four-time European Tour winner and now ranked a career-high 29th in the world.

Whatever happens come Masters Tournament weeks, Sharma’s continued rise in the game, Kiradech’s push for PGA Tour playing status, and the success shown by Haotong Li of China and Japan’s World No. 6 Hideki Matsuyama, the game in Asia is surely poised to attain new heights.

Sharma, Kiradech and co. will certainly cherish the drive along Magnolia Lane during the Masters, and the road to stardom and the PGA Tour could just be around the next turn. This could truly be a spring to remember for Asian golf.

n Chuah Choo Chiang is senior director, communications, on the PGA Tour and is based in TPC Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Story by Mike Besa Photos by Mike Besa & Jeana Miranda

Sharma

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f all of the golf courses in the Philippines, the Tagaytay Highlands International Golf Club is the most improbable. Why? Just look at the land on which the golf course sits—few could even dream about a golf course on such a rugged piece of terrain, but Willy Ocier is a visionary that not only conceived it but made it a reality.

Established in 1991 Tagaytay Highlands features the most complete resort facilities in the country today set in an air of exclusivity and absolute luxury. Members and guests have their pick of two world-class golf courses, a plethora

of restaurants, all manner of leisure sports and residential developments of various themes, sizes and price points.

The centerpiece of the club is the magnificent Tagaytay Highlands International Golf Club. California-based golf architect Richard Bigler derived inspiration from a ski slope in his design of the golf course; players start at the top amid spectacular views of the Tagaytay Lake and Laguna de Bay and golf their way down to the bottom of the valley. Then, a cable car (or shuttle) takes them back up to the clubhouse so they can start their way down on the back nine.

It was a stroke of genius. I can think of no other golf course in the world built around a concept this unique or on a property this extreme. The result is a golf course that one loves or hates. There seems to be little middle ground in the emotional spectrum of golfers that play here. Given the rate at which one can lose golf balls at Tagaytay Highlands, it is perfectly understandable.

The course is short, playing to a par of 70 and

measuring 6,119 yards from the golf tees. It follows the natural contours of Tagaytay Ridge, which means severe elevation changes between tee, fairway and green.

The first and tenth tees overlook Taal Lake. Succeeding holes provide unfolding vistas of Laguna de Bay, Mounts Makiling and Banahaw and on clear days, of Manila, Batangas Bay and the island of Mindoro.

The layout is derided by some and feared by many, but Tagaytay Highlands is an entertaining track that asks you to play shots, some of which you have trouble wrapping your head around. Take the tee shot on No. 4, where the tee is at the top of a cliff and the fairway is a hundred feet down on the valley floor below. Or the tee shot on the par 3, twelfth to the green on the other side of the canyon. The shot values are off the chart. A decent ball striker with a good attitude can have tons of fun here.

Playing Tagaytay Highlands is an unforgettable experience. Yes, you might lose a few golf balls, but what golf

www.pinoygolfer.com | Saturday, April 14, 2018 A7

Crown Jewel The magnificent 10th hole at Tagaytay Highlands.

CEO BLOG–MARCH 2018 NEW BEGINNINGS

By Josh Burack | Asian Tour CEO

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e are thrilled to announce the launch of our revamped Asian Tour web site. The updated site features a layout that is more engaging and aesthetically pleasing. We have also tweaked the way the content is presented so that you can access information that matters to you optimally. Our team had plenty of ideas when we started conceptualising the web site back in August last year, but eventually, we’ve decided to recreate the site from the ground up; one that is designed with key stakeholders of the Asian Tour—our members, fans and the media—in mind.

The web site is still in its infancy so inevitably we will face some glitches as the development team is still migrating data from the previous site. We are aiming to have the site running at full speed by the end of April. The mobile applications for both Android and iOS will also be ready by then as they are in the final stages of development.

Speaking of the web site, we are pleased to welcome FootJoy as a new Web Partner. As part of their partnership to the Asian Tour, FootJoy is providing our staff with allweather apparel that combines form and function.

On the tournament front, we made our most significant announcement in many years! I’m thrilled to announce the Asian tour will return as a sanctioning partner of the Volvo China Open for the first time since 2008. The tournament will be contested from April 26 to 29 at Beijing Topwin Golf and Country Club. The negotiations were lengthy and multifaceted which resulted in our return to this important iconic tournament. At least 30 players from the Asian Tour will get the chance to compete in the lucrative CNY 20 million ($3.15 million) event, alongside golfers from the

European Tour and the China Golf Association.

I would like to give my heartfelt congratulations to Kiradech Aphibarnrat for winning the ISPS HANDA World Super 6 Perth. The 2013 Asian Tour Order of Merit winner flew into Perth on Wednesday evening, went straight into the tournament without playing a practice round and emerged victorious at the end of Sunday. He was on the verge of being eliminated after the stroke play rounds, but rallied when it mattered. The proceedings at this year’s tournament in Australia has proven just how exciting this innovative sixes format can be.

I was in Queenstown, New Zealand where our Chairman Jimmy Masrin competed with his son and our Asian Tour member Danny Masrin in another unique format tournament.

There were 31 players in the field here and those members who made the long trip enjoyed the beautiful scenery and incredible two courses that hosted the tournament.

The Asian Tour was in New Delhi for the Hero Indian Open, where Shubhankar Sharma set a new course record at the Gary Player layout of the DLF Golf and Country Club before securing another top-10 finish in his professional career. After India, the Tour will swing to East Asia for the Panasonic Open Japan, Volvo China Open and the GS Caltex Maekyung Open in Korea. The upcoming months are going to be another exciting period for our members and staff.

Once again, thank you for your support to the Asian Tour.

Best regards, Josh Burack #whereitsAT

Enjoying the Kiwi hospitality.

(From left) Asian Tour golfer Danny Masrin, Asian Tour Chairman Jimmy Masrin, ISPS HANDA New Zealand Chairman John Hart and Asian Tour CEO Josh Burack.

Bravo’s Back!

Bert Bravo debuts 18-hole par-3 golf course in Dumaguete

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The golf clubhouse at Tagaytay Highlands

course will make the sweat flow from your palms just standing on the tee box? The views are spectacular and are among the very best of Philippine Golf.

I first played the course back in 1994 when the course was still quite young. It’s changed a bit over the years and for the better. The fifth hole used to be a par 5 but a few too many golf balls hit into the Family Clubhouse forced the club to shorten it into a par 4 . The ninth hole was a strong finishing hole but again, errant golf balls finding their way into the swimming pool turned it into a par 3 for safety’s sake.

As with all the modern golf courses in the Philippines, the struggle is to keep the imported turf grasses free from the invasive local varieties. Tagaytay Highlands is in a location almost impossible to protect from aggressive endemic grasses but the club had a unique solution that will save the club millions in maintenance costs.

Instead of stepping up the fight against the endemics,

f I had to describe Bert Bravo in a word, it would be irrepressible. The man is driven by his passion for life and living.

His success with the U-Bix Corp. was arguably the fuel with which he pursued his passions—golf, food, wine and the desire to help his hometown of Dumaguete grow. Although, he hasn’t up and pulled out of the big city entirely, he is spending more and more time in the City of Gentle People.

We were honored to be among his guests when he previewed his pride and joy to the media.

The property was formerly known as the Dumaguete Golf and Country Club, built in 1945 by Don Serafin Teves and Simplicio Manictic. It sits on a hill in Sibulan, just outside of Dumaguete blessed with amazing views of the Tañon Strait with Cebu, Siquijor and Sumilon Island.

Bravo fell in love with the property when he first played it and quickly grabbed the opportunity to purchase the property when it came up for sale. He then enlisted the services of the late Youichi Nagato, a landscape architect of considerable repute with the Kauai Island Lagoon Golf and Country Club and a number of the top golf properties in Japan on his résumé, to design and help make the Bravo Golf and Country Club a reality.

The result is one of only two 18-hole par-3 golf courses in Asia (the other being the Zhang Course in Mission Hills

the club embraced them. They allowed zoysia matrella, also known as Philippine Bermuda grass, to take over the fairways and greens. Zoysia is extremely hardy and after a fairly lengthy maturation time, provides an extremely durable surface on which to golf. It requires little care besides water and mowing.

Perhaps a bit of nitrogen at select times of the year to make the course the shade of green that golfers love, but other than that, you just let it do its thing.

Philippine golf is no stranger to zoysia. It is the staple grass on most of the older golf courses here. Interestingly, it is only recently being appreciated for its viability as turf for the fairways. Anvaya Cove and Southlinks Golf Club were designed from day one with zoysia fairways and apart from some issues with thatch, both remain in spectacular condition year round.

Our group played three days of golf at Tagaytay Highlands leading up to the production of this article and we were universally impressed by the speed and quality of the greens.

There was nary a bump or skip on the putting surfaces; just pure, smooth roll as the ball made its way unerringly down the path you send it. What a joy!

The club has had so much success with the change of turf grasses that it is in the process to converting the greens at Tagaytay Midlands, as well. It might take a bit of time but there is little doubt that the end result here will mirror those at the Highlands. It is perhaps, an abject lesson for the local golf industry. Invasive species will always be an issue. Rather than spending time and resources trying to keep imported turf grasses healthy, why not use endemics or endemic hybrids that allow very similar playing conditions?

The move has put both golf courses, Tagaytay Highlands and Midlands, in a favorable position going forward where everyone wins; the club, the members and the environment assuring the club’s place in the future.

Well done.

Shenzen). It’s a charming track that meanders in and around a grove of 50-year old mango trees. The varied terrain allows for par 3s of every imaginable configuration and length.

You’d think the course would be easy but you’d be wrong. The greens are small and are made more difficult to hit because of the winds coming off the strait. It’s common to see a golf ball blown out of bounds by the stiff breeze.

The toughest hole is 11. It plays completely uphill and measures a good 220-yards from the tee box below. The largest green on the property is guarded by mounds and bunkers which guarantee awkward footing if you miss.

Twelve isn’t easy either as it is one of holes most exposed to the wind. The two make the start of the back nine, Bravo Golf’s little Amen Corner.

Bravo Golf and Country Club is a very pleasant round of golf. Appropriate in this part of the country as the amount of time required to play a round here leaves you much more time to explore the City of Dumaguete and as much of Negros Oriental as you can.

You need not concern yourself about the accommodations; they are fabulous. In his inimitable style, Bravo built a beautiful 77-room, four-star hotel adjacent to the golf course. Couple that with his Munting Paraiso beach resort in the nearby town of Dauin and you have a dream weekend in Negros Oriental. Mike Besa

Bravo Golf and Country Club offers great views of the Tañon Strait and the island of Cebu in the distance. Mike Besa

OurTime

A8 Saturday, April 14, 2018 • Editor: Efleda P. Campos

BusinessMirror

Makati allots ₧422.78 million for city’s older citizens in 2018 T

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Taguig hands out birthday cash to 7,000 seniors in early-2018

By Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco | Correspondent

M

AKATI City Mayor Abigail Binay assured close to 80,000 registered senior citizens in the city that their welfare remains a top priority of her administration, citing the P422.78-million budget it has appropriated for programs intended for their benefit this year.

Themayorsaidtheamountrepresents almost a third of the entire budget for the Social Welfare subsector, which has been increasedtoP1.57billion,or 40.8-percent higher than the budget last year.

“We have made sure that our beloved senior Makatizens will be able to continuously enjoy the services and benefits we have accorded them, which

other localities across the nation have been trying to emulate,” Binay said.

Makati is known for its many innovative programs for senior citizens, which go beyond the provisions of national laws concerning the elderly. It has provided cash gifts, free and unlimited admission to cinemas in the city, free birthday cakes and golden-

wedding anniversary cakes, free medicines and subsidized medical services and free tours, among other benefits.

Of the P422.78 million total budget for the elderly, the city has allotted P330.1 million for the annual cash gifts and one-time centenarian cash gift under the Blu Card program; P40 million for free movies; P36.1 million for free cakes on birthdays and goldenwedding anniversaries; P3.9 million for Lakbay Saya; and P6.5 million for cultural and theatrical presentations.

The remaining budget of P6 million has been allotted to burial assistance for Blu card holders, amounting to P3,000 for each beneficiary.

UndertheBluCardprogram,thecity’s older citizens receive an annual cash gift corresponding to their age categories: 60 to 69 years old receive P3,000; 70 to 79 years old, P4,000; and 80 to 89 years old, P5,000. It is given in two tranches, in June and December of each year.

In 2012 the city started giving a one-time P100,000 cash gift to Blu cardholders upon reaching 100 years

old through City Ordinance 2012-099.

To date, 45 centenarians have been given P100,000 cash gift.

Meanwhile, other major Social Welfare programs being funded by the city government include the Makati Universal Health Insurance (PhilHealth ng Masa) with P70.3 million for the year; Lingkod Bayan Caravan, P30.6 million; Disaster Relief Assistance, P12 million; and Aid to Individuals and Families in Crisis Situations, P24.2 million.

For the people with disabilities sector, the city has earmarked P6 million for mobility aids and P4 million for their free-movie privilege, while for indigent solo parents, the city has allotted P2.5 million. A total of P88.7 million has been allocated to programs promoting youth and sports development.

A pioneering advocate of Gender and Development, the city has allocated P21 million for capacity enhancement under the Makati GAD Council and P43.6 million for programs under the Makati City Council for the Protection of Children.

HE city government of Taguig handed birthday cash gifts to almost 7,000 senior citizens for the first three months of 2018.

One of them was Nelita Amores, 76, who could not contain her happiness upon receiving her birthday cash gift from the Taguig City government last month.

The P4,000 she received was, after all, eight times the amount she used to receive on her birthdays in 2008.

“I’m happy…I’m just really happy,” the resident of Barangay Ususan said, as she claimed the amount with her grandson at the City Social Welfare Development Office. Cash-gift distribution in the city is done year-round.

Ramonita Jordan, head of the Office of Senior Citizens Affairs, said Nanay Nelita was not alone in her merry celebration.

She said since the birthday cash gift was increased under City Ordinance 25 series of 2017, other residents in the city could not wait to get older and qualify for the Taguig City program that ensures the well-being of the elderly.

Under the ordinance, the grandmas and grandpas of Taguig now receive P3,000, P4,000 and P5,000

as birthday cash gifts, depending on their age bracket: the 60 to 69 yearold bracket, the 70 to 79 bracket and the 80 and older bracket, respectively.

The increase is the second since the City Council, through City Ordinance 09, made compulsory the distribution of P500 monetary gifts to the elderly during their birthdays in 2008.

The first was in 2013, when the P500 cash gift was increased to P1,000.

“Where do you see citizens wanting to become senior citizens?” Jordan asked, noting that aside from the birthday cash gifts, Taguigeño senior citizens are given a P1,500 social pension distributed quarterly.

She said centenarians living in the city are even given P100,000 and continue to receive the same amount every year after their 100th birthday.

For Nanay Nelita, who no longer works, the cash gift could be one of the best gifts she could ever receive.

She said the money, after all, could be used for the purchase of her medicines, and to address her other needs.

But for Mayor Lani Cayetano and the Taguig City government in general, Nanay Nelita’s smile is more than enough. Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco

VMMC celebrated veteran-patients on Day of Valor

I

N line with the Araw ng Kagitingan (Day of Valor) celebration last week, the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) hosted a party for their elderly patients, most of whom were war veterans.

The Day of Valor, celebrated every April 9, marks the death march from Bataan to Nueva Ecija that killed thousands of Filipino and American soldiers at the hands of the Japanese Imperial Army in April 1942.

Felicitas Soriano, VMMC chief of the Medical Professional Staff, said they hosted the party to recognize the sacrifices of the military veterans.

“It is a give-back thing for us. It is a solemn obligation for us here in VMMC to take care of our veterans, for people who sacrifice their lives for all of us, as well as their time for their family, for the sake of peace and the country’s freedom,” Soriano said.

Soriano said they wanted to lighten up the mood of the veteranpatients, since most of them had been staying in the hospital for months or a year already.

Dubbed as “Handog ng mga Empleyado sa mga Veterano,” the

COCONUT QUEEN At age 65, Aurelia Tolentino chops young coconuts at a makeshift flea market in Santiago City upon the request of her customers who use the young coconut meat in making buko salad and drink the naturally sweet coconut juice.

Nanang Aurelia claims she eats the local delicacy for health reasons. LEONARDO PERANTE II

How power companies can save an aging Japan

By Nathaniel Bullard | Bloomberg View

T

WO years ago, Japan passed a milestone rare in world history except in times of war, famine or natural disaster: Its population began to shrink. And not only is it shrinking, but its average age is also rising. This trend is creating societal challenges, not least the phenomenon of elderly people passing away unknown, even unnoticed. This may not sound like a concern for power utilities, but the utility-customer relationship is uniquely suited to help.

At one point, Japan’s population was triple what it was at the turn of the 20th century, but it is projected to fall by tens of millions by 2065. In the process, its elderly population will grow and its youth population, which peaked before World War II, will practically disappear.

Not only are there more people older than 65, but those people are living longer. By 2050 femalelife expectancy will be nearly 90 years, double what it was in 1925. For many elderly, family caregivers may be close to elderly themselves.

Here’s how utilities come into the picture: In Japan, many customers have payments automatically withdrawn from linked bank accounts, so they no longer interact with anyone to pay their power bills. This means deaths can go unnoticed, sometimes for years, until payment accounts are emptied. In one case reported by the New York Times, authorities sought out an elderly man for not paying his bills and discovered his skeleton.

Some power retailers are trying to play a more positive role by using their home-energy

management systems as health monitors. These systems, which measure energy consumption, can tell if, say, water taps are unused for several days, lights aren’t turned on or cooking gas is in constant use. If any of these signals are detected, the utility notifies relatives.

It’s a rather elegant strategy, one that is automatically paid for and requires no action on the customer’s part. Wearable monitors provide more data on people’s health, but monitors can also be removed, whether out of forgetfulness or resistance. And while there can be perfectly benign reasons for activity to not be shown on wearable monitors, there probably aren’t any healthy reasons for a person to go days without consuming water or use cooking gas for days on end.

For the utilities, such offerings are increasingly part of doing business. For years, Japan’s power sector was one of the most vertically-integrated in the world, but a wave of deregulation has brought intense competition. Last year companies other than vertically integrated regional utilities met more than 7 percent of residential electricity demand, up from zero less than two years ago. We examined the dynamics of this competitive market last year, and, since then, competition has only increased.

Competition breeds invention, not to mention creativity: Kyushu Electric Power Co. offers a service of cleaning and maintaining gravesites for those who want to honor their ancestors, but live and work far away. Japan’s competitive electricity market continues to push new services to attract and retain clients, even into the afterlife.

event included sing-and-dance performances by the doctors, nurses, medical aides and other hospital personnel.

Some of the veterans enjoyed the games while some showcased their singing prowess via a videoke machine.

Maria Galvan, one of the wives of deceased military veteran confined in the hospital, said the merry-making event helped take her mind off the long hours of staying in the hospital.

Soriano said this is the first time she organized the party and she is looking forward to making it a yearly event.

“This is the first time we conducted this for the love of our patients and the veterans. The director hopes we can continue this every year just to bond, to build rapport between the patients and the doctors,” Soriano said.

She added they will be giving the veterans small tokens of appreciation.

“We will give little gifts to them like towels with the VMMC logo, card, plus special food different from their daily ration for the whole day,” she said. PNA

Holocaust Merger medicine: The survivors get culture of insta-care pampering I makeovers

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EL AVIV, Israel—A group of female Holocaust survivors are enjoying a pampering “makeover” in advance of the country’s annual remembrance day.

Seventy survivors, representing Israel’s 70th anniversary, were treated on Monday to manicuring, hairstyling and makeup as part of an event titled “Beauty Heroines.” Organizers said it was a gesture toward Israel’s elderly survivors, who endured the horror the World War II Nazi genocide of 6 million Jews.

Limor Katz said the idea is to “spoil” the women as a way to “give honor and respect to all the survivors.”

Haya Stern, a 91-year-old survivor, said she lost her entire family in the Holocaust, but that her vengeance was to have children, grandchildren and greatgrandchildren in Israel.

Israel marked Holocaust memorial day last Thursday, when a siren wailed across the country. AP

S the doctor in?

In this new medical age of urgent care centers and retail clinics, that’s not a simple question. Nor does it have a simple answer, as primary care doctors become increasingly scarce.

“You call the doctor’s office to book an appointment,” said Matt Feit, a 45-year-old screenwriter in Los Angeles who visited an urgent-care center eight times last year. “They’re only open Monday through Friday from these hours to those hours and, generally, they’re not the hours I’m free or I have to take time off from my job.

“I can go just about anytime to urgent care,” he continued, “and my copay is exactly the same as if I went to my primary doctor.”

That’s one reason big players like CVS Health, the drugstore chain and, most recently, Wal-Mart, the giant retailer, are eyeing deals with Aetna and Humana, respectively, to use their stores to deliver medical care.

People are flocking to retail clinics and urgent-care centers in strip malls or shopping centers, where simple health needs can usually be tended to by health professionals like nurse practitioners or physician

assistants much more cheaply than in a doctor’s office. Some 12,000 are already scattered across the country, according to Merchant Medicine, a consulting firm.

Meanwhile, office visits to primarycare doctors declined 18 percent from 2012 to 2016, even as visits to specialists increased, insurance data analyzed by the Health Care Cost Institute showed.

There’s little doubt that the front line of medicine—the traditional family or primary care doctor—has been under siege for years. Long hours and low pay have transformed pediatric or family practices into unattractive options for many aspiring physicians.

And the relationship between patients and doctors has radically changed. Apart from true emergency situations, patients’ expectations now reflect the larger 24/7 insta-culture of wanting everything now. When Dr. Carl Olden began watching patients turn to urgent-care centers opening around him in Yakima, Washington, he and his partners decided to fight back.

They set up similar clinics three years ago, including one right across the street from their main office in a shopping center. New York Times News Service

BusinessMirror

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

Saturday, April 14, 2018 A9

An app that helps you hail taxis is now in Metro Manila /

VISITORS try Samsung Electronics Galaxy S8 smartphones in its shop in Seoul, South Korea. AP

/

SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS ESTIMATES 56-PERCENT JUMP IN PROFIT

SEOUL, South Korea—Samsung Electronics estimated its first-quarter operating profit jumped 56 percent to a record high, likely because demand for memory chips continued to be robust, outweighing lower display sales to Apple.

The South Korean tech giant said in its preliminary earnings report that its January to March operating income was an estimated 15.6 trillion won ($14.7 billion), compared with 9.9 trillion won a year earlier. The estimate was higher than expected. Sales rose 19 percent to an estimated 60 trillion won. The company did not disclose its estimated net income. It will announce breakdown figures among businesses and more details at the end of this month.

Analysts said Samsung likely recorded lower profit in its display business that supplies OLED screens for Apple’s iPhones but strong demand for memory chips outweighed weaker display sales.

Samsung unseated Intel as the world’s largest semiconductor maker last year on the back of solid demand for chips that hold data and help run programs faster for servers and phones. Analysts increased their forecasts of Samsung’s memory chip profit this year as demand for data centers and servers increased the prices of the memory chips called DRAM. Samsung’s mobile business is also expected to report a bigger-than-expected income for the first quarter. Samsung unveiled the Galaxy S9 smartphones in February, starting its sales sooner than the previous year’s flagship phone.

While consumers become more reluctant to spend big on the newest smartphone, sales of older and cheaper Galaxy phones remained solid. AP

APPLE Cofounder Steve Wozniak

APPLE COFOUNDER CLOSING FACEBOOK ACCOUNT IN PRIVACY CRISIS

PHILADELPHIA—Apple Cofounder Steve Wozniak is shutting down his Facebook account as the social-media giant struggles to cope with the worst privacy crisis in its history.

In an e-mail to USA Today, Wozniak said Facebook makes a lot of advertising money from personal details provided by users. He said the “profits are all based on the user’s info, but the users get none of the profits back.”

Wozniak added he’d rather pay for Facebook.

“Apple makes money off of good products, not off of you,” he said.

In an interview late Monday in Philadelphia with The Associated Press, Wozniak added he had been thinking for a while of deleting his account and made the move after several of his trusted friends deleted their Facebook accounts last week. It’s “a big hypocrisy not respecting my privacy when [Facebook CEO Mark] Zuckerberg buys all the houses around his and all the lots around his in Hawaii for his own privacy,” Wozniak said. “He knows the value of it, but he’s not looking after mine.”

A British data mining firm affiliated with Donald J. Trump’s Republican presidential campaign gathered personal information from 87 million Facebook users to try to influence elections. Facebook, based in Menlo Park, California, has announced technical changes intended to address privacy issues. Zuckerberg has apologized, and Facebook’s No. 2 executive, Sheryl Sandberg, has said she’s sorry the company let so many people down.

Zuckerberg testified on Capitol Hill on Tuesday and Wednesday about the company’s ongoing data-privacy scandal and how it failed to guard against other abuses of its service. Wozniak said he doesn’t believe in the current system that Facebook can fix its privacy issues, saying he doesn’t think Facebook is going to change its policies “for decades.”

Wozniak said Apple Inc., based in Cupertino, California, has systems and policies that in many cases allow people to choose whether to share certain data. He said he doesn’t foresee Apple not allowing the Facebook app to be bought or downloaded on its phones but said he does not make those decisions for the company. AP

PRIMETIME

DINNA CHAN VASQUEZ @dinnachanvasquez luckydinna@gmail.com

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NLESS you have four or five cars and a driver at your disposal, you have likely encountered difficulties in hailing cabs.

Grumpy drivers and dirty vehicles are only part of the problem. People would rather take the MRT, despite it inconveniences, than place their safety and security at the hands of a taxi driver who isn’t even polite.

This is one of the reasons Eddie Ybanez and Kenneth Baylosis launched Micab in Cebu in 2012.

“Like most Filipinos, I’ve had less than stellar experiences with cabs, and that was indeed one of my main inspirations for founding Micab. As a whole, taxi drivers have not had the same opportunity that other professions may have provided: They don’t have basic training in customer service, for example,” said Ybanez, Micab’s CEO. Baylosis is the chief technology officer.

There are so many horror stories about taxis.

Two of my colleagues have been robbed separately at gunpoint while riding taxis. The robbers used the same MO: They took the victims around Metro Manila, making them withdraw money from different ATMs before bringing them to a remote area in northern Metro Manila and leaving them each with P100 to go home.

Uber and Grab have truly given the riding public an better alternative to standing on the street for an hour, praying that one would get a taxi.

Micab aims to be a safe ride-hailing app that’s more affordable and accessible. It’s part of Ybanez’s vision of vision of “Taxi 2.0,” where the taxi-hailing public can seamlessly, easily and quickly connect with cab drivers who are kind, courteous and friendly Before a cab driver even becomes eligible to drive on the Micab platform, there are already several measures that have been put in place to help the drivers as customer service professionals.

One of the measures is the training program every driver using the Micab app has to go through. Ybanez said the drivers are taught everything they need to know to be exemplary customer service professionals,

MICAB CEO and Cofounder Eddie Ybanez

including how to greet passengers, what processes they should follow (i.e. drivers should always offer to help passengers load and unload their belongings) and even when and how to converse with passengers.

The program ends with the driver taking an oath as he or she embraces the profession as a calling and to uphold this calling with professionalism, respect and kindness.

Micab now serves 20,000 passengers a day in its home market of Cebu, and has expanded to other key markets in the country, including Manila, Iloilo, Bacolod and Baguio.

According to Ybanez, Micab’s taxis have three main value propositions. The first is cost. Unlike transport network vehicle services (TNVS), Micab has no surge pricing or even a booking fee. What you see on the meter is what you pay. The platform earns revenue from advertisers on its taxi toppers. Second, taxis arrive to pick-up points as efficiently as private cars on other ride-hailing platforms, since there is a network of cabs in every major Philippine city.

Passengers can rate drivers using a five-star system and provide written feedback.

“This kind of accountability creates a virtuous cycle: The good drivers are filtered to the top, and those who need to improve become aware of how they can do so,” Ybanez said.

The Micab app should be intuitive for anyone who has used a ride-hailing solution before. After inputting your destination (the app auto-detects your pick-up point), you are given a fare estimate. Upon hailing the cab, you can track the taxi as it comes to you on the live map—which currently takes no more than a few minutes.

“A clean, modern taxi arrives at your destination, driven by a driver who has been professionally trained and is kind, courteous and respectful,” Ybanez said.

Objectively, the public is still at the mercy of TNVS and cab drivers who choose to accept our bookings or not. I have found that drivers can be very creative when it comes to going around the rating system. Still, I hope for the best. The entry of Micab will hopefully serve as a signal for other ride hailing apps to improve their services and maybe for other TNVS to come to the Philippines. ■

Smart digital tools to boost Antique tourism, communication efforts WITH its cerulean waters surrounding stretches of white sandbars, majestic nature trails harboring rare flower species and sites honoring a not-toodistant historical event, Antique has piqued the interest of travelers who prefer the off the beaten path.

Antiqueños are proud of their province and are spreading the word about it further by tapping into the digital space with the help of mobile innovations.

PLDT wireless unit Smart Communications and InnoPub Media recently released the Antique Guide app, bringing the digital tourism program to the province. The app contains information useful to visitors and students, such as historical background, local folklore and other interesting cultural trivia. It also lists things to do and places to see.

Did you know that Ra��lesia speciosa, one of the world’s largest flowers, can be found in Antique? Or that the first Malay inhabitants in the Philippines established their permanent settlement in the province? Facts and other details such as these are available on the app.

“We hope more people will discover what our place has to offer,” Gov. Rhodora Cadiao said. “We thank Smart for helping to improve our tourism and communication efforts by making these services available and accessible through mobile phones.”

The digital tourism program also includes the installation of markers with quick response (QR) codes and near-field communication (NFC) chips in popular tourist spots and heritage sites.

Through an NFC chip or QR code reader, mobile users will get on their phones detailed information

DISCOVER the natural beauty of the uninhabited Nogas Island by taking a 15-minute boat ride from Anini-y. Find out more interesting destinations on Antique Guide, a free app for Android and iOS devices

by Smart and InnoPub.

about the said landmark.

The app is now available as a free download for both Android and iOS devices.

“Our technology for development initiatives aim to use mobile innovations to help improve lives in our communities. We are pleased that Antique will now benefit from digital technologies,” PLDT and Smart Public Affairs Head Ramon R. Isberto said.

The initial batch of QR code markers will be deployed to the following sites: Anini-y town and its Spanish-era church; Hamtic, home to the Malandog marker commemorating the establishment of the first Malaysian settlement in the Philippines; Antique provincial capitol; the Evelio B. Javier Freedom Park, named after the former governor whose heroism was seen as catalyst in the downfall of the Marcos dictatorship; and the capital town of San Jose de Buenavista.

More QR code markers will be deployed in other areas within the province, according to InnoPub cofounder Max Limpag. “We hope to showcase more of Antique into the digital space, and the best way to do that is to bring the information straight to users’ mobile phones,” Limpag said.

In partnership with government units, the digital tourism program of Smart and InnoPub is a nationwide initiative that harnesses technology to deliver tourism, cultural and historical information to more mobile users.

The program was launched in 2012, and has since been implemented in Cebu, Iloilo, Davao, Baguio City and Metro Manila, among other areas. It involves the creation of tourism apps and e-guides, and the installation of interactive markers in selected landmarks to trigger the download of more information.

BusinessMirror

A10 Saturday, April 14, 2018

www.businessmirror.com.ph

/

THE Mastercard booth at the Money20/20 Asia 2018 carried the theme “Live Without Boundaries.”

FACEBOOK CEO Mark Zuckerberg testifies before a joint hearing of the Commerce and Judiciary Committees on Capitol Hill in Washington on April 10, about the use of Facebook data to target American voters in the 2016 election. AP

AP fact check: Facebook doesn’t sell data but profits off it

Robot waiter and more: Mastercard shows it’s not just a card company /

TOBIAS Puehse, Mastercard Asia Pacific vice president of Innovation Management and Digital Payment and Labs, makes an order to a humanoid robot waiter, which its manufacturer SoftBank Robotics calls “Pepper” in certain markets.

S

BY JT NISAY

INGAPORE—About 15 kilometers northeast of the iconic Merlion Plaza, within Safra Punggol, a five-story lifestyle hub nestled in verdant surroundings and the sound of whistling wind and bustling leaves, a robot would like to know your preferred pizza.

“Pepper,” as its manufacturer SoftBank Robotics named the humanoid in certain markets, stands 4 feet tall with big, glowing eyes, a small smile and a tablet on its chest, an android purported to “identify” human emotions. On that windy high noon, however, its task was to identify the cravings of Pizza Hut guests inside that quaint branch.

The whole setup was the first of a five-day test run to see how a humanoid robot can serve as a fast-food waiter, from taking orders to processing payment transactions.

Pepper came out from the staff door to assist its first-ever customer, Tobias Puehse, Asia Pacific vice president of Innovation Management and Digital Payment and Labs of Mastercard, the company behind the initiative, together with Pepper’s Tokyo-based manufacturers and the American restaurant chain.

“To place your order, please let me know what you would like to have,” Pepper said, moving its arms and fingers as an articulating human would.

Puehse replied, “Pizza.” Pepper asked which one.

Puehse said, “Pepperoni.”

“Wow, nice one,” Pepper retorted, proceeding to ask if the customer would like to add sides, or anything else.

If the scene seemed to be straight out of the future, well, that’s the point. “We are not waiting for the future to happen,” Puehse said at the start of that exclusive demo/global launch. “We are making it happen today.”

Back at the Marina Bay Sands Convention Center here, at the recent inaugural Asian edition of Money20/20, the world’s leading payments and financial-services event, Mastercard Asia Pacific Copresident Ari Sarker said that they don’t see themselves as just a cards company.

Pilot tests of cutting-edge undertakings, such as introducing a robot waiter, are par for the course for the leading global payments and technology company, which constantly pushes for technological innovations aimed to simplify life, according to Puehse.

He said the idea for the humanoid robot cashier, powered by Mastercard’s Connected Device API, was not to replace human labor but, rather, create consumer awareness regarding fast, simple and secure digital payments.

The Mastercard executive ended the demo with Pepper by paying with Masterpass, Mastercard’s digital-wallet service. The cashless transaction required no payment instrument or customer credentials—just a QR code scan—minimizing the risk of compromising sensitive information.

Through such efforts, Puehse said they want to make sure that cash is not in the mind of the consumer as much, and that they find more value in engaging digitally.

“If we just translate a physical payment into a digital payment without adding some differentiating capability, or some service to a consumer in terms of security, personalization or loyalty, I don’t think we’ve done our job,” he said. “We’re also here to help augment the payment experience above and beyond what you are familiar with today, and this is just one of the experiments we have to make that happen.”

Vital in achieving that goal is having the partners that share the same vision of technology, hence the partnership with Pizza Hut and SoftBank Robotics on this particular project. Puehse said that, as a payments-technology company, Mastercard wants to demonstrate that it’s open for business and open for cocreation with its partners.

But the partners and consumers aren’t the only targets for these types of solutions. Merchants are also seen to gain value from such innovations, according to Puehse. Mastercard’s Connected Device API allows even small and medium enterprises to build applications without necessarily having huge technology teams of their own.

“Bringing all of these together is something really unique for Mastercard,” Puehse said. “I think only we can do this, because we’re connected to all the banks and payment facilitation, to merchants interested in creating new experiences and to technology partners.”

He added that, with the humanoid robot waiter, Mastercard is proud in taking another lead in the payment sector. “A lot of people talk about innovation, but bringing it in front of the customer, making it useful and easy enough, that’s something we’re excited about.” But how does Mastercard identify innovation ideas that are worthy of pursuit and scale?

“Consumer needs,” Puehse said.

Asking what a certain technology’s capability in pushing for innovation is the wrong way to go about things. According to the Mastercard executive, the right question to ask is, “What are the jobs that consumers face today that are hard? Is it hard to pay a bill? Is it hard to find the change you need to go into the train? Those are the moments where we have an

opportunity for innovation.”

Next is the innovation’s feasibility evaluation.

Launching a technology is one thing; ensuring that it works sufficiently well is another. There’s no point in launching a new technology that is not usable, userfriendly or scalable, Puehse said.

Mastercard also looks at how they can “do well while doing good.” The goal is to push for sustainable projects that align with their traditional corporate goals, while creating more transparent and more inclusive societies. Aside from the launch of the humanoid robot in Safra Punggol, Mastercard rolled out more innovations in its booth at Money20/20 that bannered the theme “Live Without Boundaries.” The set up gave guests a peek at the company’s “intuitive, inclusive and imaginative” solutions.

These include big data analysis of customer behavior based from day-to-day transactions to offer intuitive, relevant solutions; QR acceptance in Facebook Messenger (already live in Africa, moving into Asia this year, according to Puehse) to cater to a wider reach for an inclusive cashless journey; and chip-enabled, wearable payment tokens such as a ring or a Fitbit device that are imaginative commerce tools that create efficiencies.

According to Puehse, all the products are ready for consumer use. “Now, the question becomes, ‘How quickly can our customers absorb all this technology?’

Part of that relies on our APT [Applied Predictive Technologies], or how we quickly could set up experiments and test-and-learn environments so we can bring these experiences to consumers quicker.”

An example of this was the five-day test run of Pepper as a humanoid robot waiter. Puehse believes that everyone desires smarter experiences, and Mastercard aims to deliver by “getting more of the things people want, and less of the things they don’t want.”

“We want to create an experience that enriches their lives—for example, by making them worry less about things as simple as ordering or paying. Those should be in the background,” he said. “What’s really important is to enjoy the pizza.” ■

NEW YORK—Mark Zuckerberg insisted once again on Tuesday that Facebook doesn’t sell your data, calling it a common misconception people have about Facebook. Here’s a look at his remarks.

“We do not sell data to advertisers,” the Facebook CEO testified during a Senate hearing. “What we allow is for advertisers to tell us who they want to reach.

And then we do the placement.”

The facts: It’s true that Facebook doesn’t sell your data directly to third parties, but it clearly profits from the information. Thanks to user data, Facebook made $40 billion in advertising revenue last year, second only to Google when it comes to the share of the global digital-advertising market.

Facebook uses the data you provide, such as where you live and how old you are, and combines it with geographic information from your phone to tailor ads to a certain audience. Facebook can charge more money the more specific the audience is. “With our powerful audience-selection tools, you can target the people who are right for your business,” Facebook says on its page about advertising.

How does Facebook do this without selling data?

Advertisers choose the types of users they want to reach. Facebook can make the match internally to select the users to be shown the ads. In this case, Facebook isn’t technically selling data, as it’s all done internally. But without your data, Facebook wouldn’t be able to offer such targeted advertising.

This doesn’t mean data never leaves Facebook.

In fact, the latest privacy scandal grew out of the revelation that a Trump-affiliated consulting firm, Cambridge Analytica, managed to get data on tens of millions of Facebook users through an app that was purportedly a research tool. With apps, Facebook isn’t selling data—it’s giving the data to apps for free. AP

GLOBE At Home’s newest ambassador Alex Gonzaga searches for WiFi hunters in a mall in this wacky, viral clip.

ALEX GONZAGA HUNTS DOWN WI-FI HUNTERS IN HILARIOUS NEW CLIP

Alex Gonzaga is on a mission: to look for Wi-Fi hunters in public places and give them the new Globe At Home Prepaid WiFi (broadband.globe.com.ph). To celebrate having reached 500,000 subscribers on YouTube, Alex received Globe At Home prepaid WiFi units so she could share fast and reliable Internet with people who need the connection.

In her new viral clip, Alex Gonzaga visited a mall to find internet users who typically use the free WiFi provided. There, she learned that many people don’t have WiFi at home, relying instead on connections in malls and coffee shops. Those with compelling stories were given a Globe At Home Prepaid Wi-Fi for free so they could enjoy fast and reliable Internet that’s two times faster, has two times stronger signal and has two times wider coverage vs pocket Wi-Fi. Globe At Home Prepaid WiFi is available for P1,999 and comes with 10GB of free data. It also comes with the most affordable HomeSURF promos for longer streaming and surfing for the whole family, even on a budget! With HomeSURF, you can enjoy 1GB of data for only P15 as an add on to GoSURF50.

Loading up the Globe At Home Prepaid WiFi is also a breeze with the Globe At Home App, which lets users conveniently reload, subscribe to promos and even track their data usage. The app is free and available on both Android and iOS devices.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

BusinessMirror

Saturday, April 14, 2018 A11

Bill to fight online sex trafficking

N

EW YORK—A 1996 law that shields online services from being liable for what their users do would be weakened by a sextrafficking bill awaiting President Donald J. Trump’s signature.

The law is what allows Facebook, Google and other leading companies to provide communications services. A company that hosts blogs doesn’t have to worry about being sued for defamation, for instance, when a user posts nasty things about someone.

Likewise, Facebook doesn’t have to worry if someone shares advice that turns out to be harmful. In both cases, it’s the user who is liable.

But the same provision also has given classified-ad sites such as Backpage protection against accusations that they promote sexual exploitation of minors and prostitution.

Here’s a look at the bill that would lift those protections. It passed Congress with broad support, despite concerns over speech rights.

■ THE IMPETUS. The legislation grew out of frustration that classified-ad sites can claim they aren’t the publisher of questionable content but are merely transmitting content posted by others.

One of the bill’s chief sponsors, Republican Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio, told Senate colleagues in January that trafficking sites have “the ability to say

‘you can’t touch us. You can’t go after us.’”

The 1996 provision doesn’t bar federal criminal prosecutions. A federal indictment unsealed Monday accuses the founders of Backpage and five others of facilitating prostitution by running ads for sexual services and hiding their revenues. Federal law enforcement authorities seized Backpage.com’s domain name on Friday.

But people seeking civil damages from the sites have been frustrated by the 1996 exemption. That law also limits the ability of states from bringing their own criminal cases. The new legislation would make it easier to bring civil and state cases against these sites.

■ THE SUPPORT. Leading tech companies, through the industry group Internet Association, and celebrities such as Amy Schumer and Seth Meyers have expressed support for the new legislation. So has Trump’s daughter, Ivanka.

While Facebook benefits heavily from the 1996 protections, its COO, Sheryl Sandberg, wrote that the bill “allows platforms to fight sex trafficking while giving victims the chance to seek justice against companies that don’t.” Despite the divisive political climate, both chambers of Congress passed the bill overwhelmingly—388-25 in the House and 97-2 in the Senate. “Any bill that is about combating sex trafficking is going to be difficult to oppose,” said Eric

Goldman, a Santa Clara University law professor who is critical of the bill.

■ CONCERNS OVER UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES. Critics. worry that without the 1996 protections, sites might decide it’s not worth offering their services at all or might be too aggressive in censoring posts to avoid lawsuits. They say the impact would go beyond sex-related content, even though the bill is supposed to preserve immunity for other posts.

Already, the classified site Craigslist has killed its personals section. “Any tool or service can be misused.

We can’t take such risk without jeopardizing all our other services,” Craigslist wrote.

Another possible outcome, critics say, is that companies will stop moderating their services for abuses altogether, not just sex trafficking. The new bill adds language to broaden sex trafficking to include “knowingly assisting, supporting or facilitating” it.

The biggest effect will be on smaller services without resources to navigate the intricacies of the new rules, said Emma Llanso, director of the Free Expression Project at the Center for Democracy and Technology, one of several civil-rights groups opposing the legislation.

The Justice Department supports the bill, but has expressed concerns that it might be unconstitutional because changes would apply retroactively. AP

Could you do it? Trips that ban cell phones, even for photos WOULD you take a trip if you couldn’t use your cell phone?

A new tour company called Off the Grid is asking travelers to put their cell phones away and not even use them for photos.

“When you’re somewhere new, there’s a lot to soak up, a lot to see, a lot of cool, interesting people to meet. Your phone can distract you,” Off the Grid Founder Zach Beattie said.

Off the Grid trips, he says, are designed to be “fully unplugged and very social.”

The first trip is to Lisbon, Portugal, in July, with others planned to Prague; the Croatian coast; Barcelona, Spain; Lima, Peru; and Tulum, Mexico. “People have signed up for every trip we’ve launched so far,” Beattie said.

Tours are seven to 10 days, with small groups of up to 16 people. Prices range from $1,500 to $1,650, including accommodations in hostels, some meals and ground transportation (but not airfare). Itineraries include at least three excursions and two social events, with an emphasis on unique experiences over bucket-list sightseeing. The Lisbon tour includes surfing lessons, yoga on the beach, a day of sailing and dinner with a family to learn about local cuisine and wines.

“We are under scheduling,” Beattie said. “The entire focus of the trip is mindful travel and not cramming every single site into your trip.”

The phone ban won’t be enforced quite as strictly as it seems at first glance. “We want it to be volunteer,” he said.

“We’re not collecting phones and throwing them in a locked trunk. It’s held by you, but put in a pouch, and you state your intentions for the week,” whether that’s checking your social media once or twice a day or a total blackout.

Tour-goers also get a “dumb phone” without internet access that’s loaded with numbers for group leaders and other participants, both for emergencies and to promote socializing. Seventy-five percent of US travelers vacationing internationally use smartphones to access the Internet, according to MMGY Global’s Portrait of American Travelers

PEOPLE gather at Lisbon’s Comercio square to watch the sun set behind the April 25th Bridge. A new tour company called Off the Grid, which asks participants to put their cell phones away, is launching with a trip to Lisbon in July. AP

2018 to 2019.

Participants may bring regular cameras, but Beattie is hiring a photographer for each tour so there will be plenty of images to remember the trip by. Once the trip is over, participants will have access to those images for use in socialmedia posts.

“I think it’s interesting and challenging to say, ‘Can I enjoy this moment without a camera? Can I soak up this memory and have it be part of me without instantly sharing with someone else in order for the moment to be real?’” he said.

Those signing up range from kids graduating high school to folks in their 60s, but most participants are professionals ages 24 to 35, “people who’ve worked for a couple of

years who really need a real vacation,” said Beattie, who’s “bootstrapping” the business using money he saved from a tech job at a mapping company. He’s hired guides for every trip but will help lead the first few himself.

Kensey Neely, 30, a speech pathologist from Saint Joseph, Missouri, signed up for the Lisbon trip. “I’m so excited to go,” she said. “I had been trying to find a way to step out of my comfort zone.”

Giving up her phone will be hard, she says, but “I’m hoping once I do it during the trip, I won’t be as tied to it when I get back.” She is taking a digital camera, but hopes to use sparingly: “I want to enjoy the experience and not take pictures of every little thing.” AP

IPC shares gamechanging nature of productivity apps IPC Director for Marketing and Digital Innovation Niño Valmonte encourages business reps to find new and better ways to improve office productivity.

Local cloud services pioneer IPC (IP Converge Data Services Inc.) opened its digital transformation seminar series this year with an insightful discourse on how productivity applications are changing the workplace for the better.

Dubbed as “Business Over Beers,” the first of IPC’s #DiscoverDigital series for 2018 was recently held at Aspace Greenbelt, Makati. (To know more of upcoming such seminars, visit www.ipc.ph/discoverdigital.) The event gathered more than 40 business representatives—whose core competencies range from information tTechnology, media, finance, general trade and professional services to discuss how cloud-based solutions like Google Maps, Google Chrome and Chrome devices and G Suite can help boost office productivity, communication and collaboration.

Google works far more than just its search engine and e-mail feature. Google Maps, for instance, aids in brand awareness and market research. It helps increase the business’ visibility online by managing its search ranking, as well as present data, locate mobile teams in real-time and see how visitors use the maps’ functionalities.

Google Chrome provides organizations with advanced tools for a fast and secure Web browsing experience, while its Chrome devices are managed and configured in the cloud and can take different forms—from a conventional laptop, to a small box that plugs into any modern monitor, to a tiny device that plugs directly into an HDMI port on a screen. On the other hand, G Suite is a set of intelligent apps that can help employees share and work on documents at the same time, input data and create presentations, as well as interact with other employees.

Niño Valmonte, IPC’s director for marketing and digital innovation, emphasized, “In the spirit of game changing, we came up with this live sitcom-type demo to show clients that, just like veering away from the usual events with productcentric slide presentations, there’s a different and better way of getting work done faster, smarter and easier. Optimum workplace productivity and operational efficiency is possible through Google’s G Suite, Maps API and various Chrome devices.” With this activity, IPC invited businesses for a collaboration to use applications from Google Cloud, and see how these can improve the business.

IPC’s #DiscoverDigital campaign is composed of various activities that share the latest innovations, trends and best practices that are shaping the world of business information technology. These are addressed to empower Filipino enterprises and organizations, whether large or small and medium-sized enterprises to keep ahead with the digital changes of the times.

How to give your thriving online store a big boost via Digimall CONTINUED FROM A12 life. The X-Series units offer an ultra-light design with the Portégé X20W-E being 15.4 mm wide and weighing just 1.1 kg1, while the 15.9 mm Portégé X30-E weighs only 1.05 kg1, and the Tecra X40-E is just 16.9 mm thin and weighs 1.25 kg1.

These units also come with a sleek magnesium chassis, complete with honeycomb design for enhanced device strength and security. Designed and manufactured in Toshiba wholly own facilities with high precision and exquisite craftsmanship, all of Toshiba’s devices have passed rigorous and independent HALT (Highly Accelerated Life Test) which simulates three years of use, to ensure reliability and durability to withstand the pressures of everyday working life.

The Toshiba Tecra X40-E, Portégé X30-E and Portégé X20W-E will be available in the next few months.

LIFEPROOF PROTECTION FOR YOUR S9

READY your Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ for action with LifeProof’s most complete Samsung case lineup ever, including fan-favorite FRĒ and newcomers NËXT and SLAM, available in a variety of colors.

SLAM and NËXT are available now in selected colors at lifeproof.asia, while FRĒ will be coming soon. All LifeProof cases carry the “Designed for Samsung” logo, which indicates that they have been designed specifically for

Samsung mobile devices as part of the Samsung Mobile Accessory Partnership Program.

“LifeProof cases have evolved so that our fans can cover their devices from day one,” LifeProof CEO Jim Parke said.

“SLAM and NËXT are cutting-edge and have redefined the LifeProof lineup. They bring Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ fans a full array of options when selecting their next LifeProof, even if they don’t need waterproof protection.”

SLAM is a thin Galaxy case designed for drop protection without sacrificing style. It’s drop-tested to 6.6 feet (2 meters) and a raised front bevel protects from face-down impact. The two-piece design has a clear back to show off Galaxy, while the rubberized front allows direct touchscreen access and features a splash of color around the edges of the case. Open ports leave headphone and charging access uninterrupted and the speakers free to deliver on Galaxy’s incredible audio quality. NËXT boasts six layers of protection in a sleek, tough package to keep Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ safe from drops, dirt and snow.

The two-piece outer shell wraps securely around each device while a raised bevel around the touchscreen teams up to deliver maximum durability and drop defense. In true LifeProof fashion, NËXT protects from drops up to 6.6 feet (2 meters), carries an IP-5X rating for blocking dirt and dust, and keeps snow out.

FRĒ carries on the LifeProof tradition of true four-proof

protection. The two-piece shell envelopes Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ in 360-degrees of protection. A built-in screen guard helps keep the display free of scratches while the phone is fully sealed from water to 6.6 feet for up to an hour. FRĒ for Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ are drop-tested to 6.6 feet and block out dirt and snow.

SLAM and NËXT for Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ are available for P2,490 and P3,490, respectively. FRĒ is coming soon for P4,490.

6 REASONS TO GET THE NOVA 2 LITE

HAVING a combination of advanced features, stellar build quality and pocket-friendly pricing makes for unicorn-levels of rarity for a smartphone these days. But that’s exactly what the Huawei Nova 2 lite is all about.

It has a spec sheet that proves it’s no lightweight contender, and a look that pulls you in with its excellent blend of fun and functionality. I’ve been using the phone for almost a month now and here are 7 reasons why you should consider the Huawei Nova 2 lite as your next phone.

1. FULLVIEW DISPLAY. Shaved of excess bezels all around, the Huawei Nova 2 lite’s 5.99-inch HD screen helps you get lost in whatever content you fancy—movies, pictures, and games all look amazing with a display this big.

2. SELFIE TONING FLASH. Say good-bye to dark and blurry selfies. The Nova 2 lite is equipped with a dedicated

flash on its 8-MP selfie cam so you can take sweet selfportraits no matter the lighting condition.

3. DUAL REAR CAMERAS=BOKEH PERFECTION. Swiping from the cutting-edge lens of its flagship siblings, the Nova 2 lite’s dual-camera systems mimic bokeh-rich, pro-level snapshots. With a wide aperture and PDAF built in, you won’t miss any exciting moments with these cameras at your disposal.

4. COLORS TO FIT YOUR STYLE. Whether you prefer a stealthy, professional look with Black or a more fun and eye-catching presence with Blue, you’ll never go wrong with Huawei’s trademark craftsmanship.

5. IT’S UNDER P10,000. At P9,990, the Nova 2 lite is an absolute steal especially given all the additional features it has: 3GB of RAM, a 3,000mAh battery, triple-card slot, Face Unlock and so much more. All that style and substance at an incredibly affordable price point.

6. FREE BLUETOOTH SPEAKER.Get the Huawei Nova 2 lite before April 30 and you get a free Bluetooth speaker.

It’s hard to ignore a smartphone deal as sweet as the Huawei Nova 2 lite. Bringing a combination of excellent hardware and software features at a budget-friendly price truly makes this phone too good, yet too true. You can get the Huawei Nova 2 lite free with Globe’s Plan 999. Only the fastest LTE network in the country deserves the power offered by the Nova 2 Lite. ■

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

BusinessMirror

THE Toshiba Portege X20-W

THE LifeProof S9 Plus NEXT Pebble Beach

Saturday, April 14, 2018 A12

ONLINE retailer Lazada's varied offerings

How to give your thriving online store a big boost via DigiMall THE TECHNIVORE ED UY

whereiseduy@gmail.com

R

EMEMBER the time when the Philippines used to be known as the “texting capital of the world?”

Well, with the rapid evolution of technology and the growth of Internet and mobile usage in the country, that moniker has since evolved to “social networking capital of the world.”

For the third straight year, the Philippines emerged as the country that spent the most time on social media, with Filipinos spending an average of four hours on different platforms daily followed by Brazilians and Indonesians, respectively.

As a blogger and digital media marketer, I’m guilty of spending even more hours on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Lately, however, there’s another activity that’s been keeping online for even longer: online shopping.

From being just a lunchbreak diversion, browsing through these seemingly endless product catalogs has been keeping me awake till the early hours of the morning for the past few months. And with price drops of up to 70 percent and regular flash sales on Shopee and Lazada, I don’t think I’ll be getting more sleep anytime soon.

Around 30.3 million people in the Philippines have made a purchase via e-commerce and according to Lazada cofounder and CEO Inanc Balci, around 4.3 million products are now being sold in Lazada today, 800,000 of which come from local merchants.

This presents an even bigger opportunity for entrepreneurs who are looking to start their own online stores. My sister Lysette Uy, who used to sell car accessories via Facebook, has now put up her own online store, called Ready Sette Go, on Shopee and is slowly adding more items to her shop.

Online stores like Shopee and Lazada have provided these small retailers a level playing field allowing them to compete with the big corporations and sell their products all over the Philippines with just a few clicks.

Just this week, Globe myBusiness has partnered with Lazada to introduce the future of retail in the 21st century via the DigiMall. The DigiMall, a reimagination of the marketplace using a “digital” shopping mall, will display local quality products from Lazada merchants through an interactive

FROM left: Lazada Philippines COO Jesus Diaz Sarabia, Globe myBusiness Director for Supply Chain-Segment Marketing Anne David, Globe myBusiness Vice President for Segment Marketing Debbie Obias, Globe myBusiness Senior Advisor Derrick Heng, Lazada Philippines Chief Business Officer Raymond Alimurung and Lazada Philippines Vice President for Marketplace Hussein Khalid

set-up. The partnership aims to help small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the country to grow and succeed, particularly in the online-shopping sphere.

“The Philippines is a very entrepreneurial nation with and over 99 percent of registered business are SMEs,” Globe myBusiness Senior Advisor Derrick Heng noted.

“They are the pillars of the Philippine economy and the role of Globe MyBusiness as enabler is to provide them with innovative solutions to help their business flourish. We believe in strength through partnership, and strategic partnerships with other enablers help us turn this vision into a reality. This is why we partnered with Lazada Philippines to enable online sellers to bring their products to where the market is,” Heng added. Lazada’s partnership with Globe myBusiness allows partner SMEs to have premium-placement ads on the Lazada homepage. This will help to promote their products and attract more buyers, with a chance to be featured in the Globe myBusiness marketplace on the Lazada website.

The subscription includes waived sales commission capped at P5,000 a month. This way, the partnership would be able to help SMEs expand their reach through online selling and provide a worry-free shopping experience for their customers. “As more people turn to their mobile phones and gadgets to shop online, there is a great opportunity waiting to be taken advantage of. Lazada’s success is proof of this.

To complement Globe myBusiness’s solutions, Lazada Philippines will enable them to reach the growing online market—creating our formula for digital success. We’re only just beginning, but through this partnership, we can take great strides in bringing the future of retail today,” Heng said.

“Many entrepreneurs have already seen the advantages of Globe myBusiness solutions and how they have changed the way SMEs run their business,” said Debbie Obias, vice president of segment marketing for Globe myBusiness.

“This time, Globe myBusiness wants to show that with an online store, profits are no longer limited by the number of costumers that can physically visit a brickand-mortar location. Anyone can sell across towns, municipalities, cities and even across borders, removing all geographical limitations,” she said. “We’re very happy that Globe myBusiness has chosen to partner with Lazada in championing the success of our SMEs in this age of digital retail. We are positive that our marketplace-service tools, trainings and digital solutions will revolutionize the way they do business. This marks the beginning of a bigger future for every entrepreneur,” said Raymond Alimurung, chief business officer for Lazada Philippines.

Apart from the DigiMall, Globe myBusiness Academy and Lazada earlier joined hands in providing a series of workshops and business consultations, titled “AdvantEDGE.” This is a free learning session for all online sellers regardless of their type of business, and includes a healthy exchange of knowledge and experiences to help participants understand mistakes and how to correct them. This is also aimed at making business management easier, all through the power of business solution products provided by Globe myBusiness.

ULTRA LIGHT LAPTOPS FROM TOSHIBA

TOSHIBA recently launched the new X-Series (E-Generation) devices, Tecra X40-E, Portégé X30-E and Portégé X20W-E, all of which offer professional performance and durability, designed to support users on the move. Toshiba’s latest professional range has undergone a technical refresh to maximize performance and make devices more efficient by offering a high performance of up to an 8th Generation Intel Core processor. The new E-Generation laptops are designed to provide enhanced security, seamless connectivity and reliability demonstrating Toshiba’s expertise in B2B laptops,

offering robust devices that are designed to be ultra-mobile, ultra-thin and lightweight without compromising on high power and performance.

The new E-Generation range is elegantly designed for long-lasting versatility, durability and interior performance.

For example, the Portégé X30-E is equipped with a nonreflective touchscreen and brand-new In-Cell Touch technology that enables professionals to navigate and interact with content without compromising the design or display of the device. With up to 8th Generation Intel Core processors, DDR4 (2400MHz) RAM and a new 1TB PCIe SSD, the X-Series offers incredible power and performance.

The E-Generation range is designed to protect businesses’ data with advanced security features built-in. Features including a touchpad with an in-built fingerprint reader called SecurePad are available in all of the new Portégé and Tecra devices. In addition to this, an optional IR-camera for face authentication through Windows Hello or Intel Authenticate is available.

To help business users keep connected and operate efficiently wherever they are, the X-Series has advanced connectivity capabilities, including compatibility with a range of dongles for different usage scenarios. To maximize usability, the laptops are designed to be used with a new optional Thunderbolt 3 Dock2, which provides power, enables data transfers and a display port, and can host a range of modern ports to enable flexible, mobile working. This includes USB Type-C 3, full-size USB3.0 and HDMI port, as well as a microSD card slot.

Within their sleek designs, the new range provides professionals with powerful and robust machines that enable them to work throughout the day due to impressive battery

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