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By Lorenz S. Marasigan
IVEN that the Philippines plays catch-up with its neighbors in Asia and the Pacific in terms of Internet speeds and reliability, any form of added competition in the market will benefit consumers.
bm graphics: ed davad
Clamor for removal of foreign-equity provision to level the playing field in telecommunications, improve internet speed Experts and the antitrust body agree that the constitutional provision equity against foreign players in the telecommunications market should be removed, or amended, in order for “real” competition to flourish in the already competitive sector. “Removing the foreign-equity provision can help the market. Restriction in ownership can unnecessarily stifle competition in an industry like telecommunications, as investors with fresh capital and technological capabilities are dis-
couraged to enter the market,” Better Broadband Alliance convener Mary Grace Mirandilla-Santos told the BusinessMirror. Santos, who is also an independent researcher on information and communications technology (ICT) and telecommunications policies, explained that removing or even easing foreign equity will allow more opportunities for investors to come in and compete. “It could also mean that telecommunications would no longer
require a franchise, in effect leveling the playing field, as even smaller players would be allowed to build and operate their own network in any segment of the telecom business or any geographical area, as opposed to getting a nationwide telco franchise,” she added.
Foreign competition needed
For his part, Winthrop Yu, who chairs the Internet Society of the Philippines, said foreign competition will help the country in its
drive to be on a par with its counterparts in the Asia-Pacific region. “Any opening of the telecoms market that will allow more providers at all levels of Internet provisioning would be good for netizens, and may allow the Philippines to finally catch up with its neighbors,” he told the BusinessMirror. In the fourth quarter of 2016, the Philippines was cited by Akamai Technologies as the nation Continued on A2
PHL to remain Asean growth leader–Nomura economist $80.87B
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By Bianca Cuaresma
he Philippines is expected to outperform its Asean peers in terms of growth, as the economy continues to be well-positioned to face potential developments expected to affect the region’s economic performance. In a recent talk, Nomura economist for Southeast Asia Euben Paracuelles said the Philippines— along with Indonesia—is set to post robust growth rates, contrast-
ing the expected performances of Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand in the near term. Among the strengths of the Philippine economy that set the
PESO exchange rates n US 49.6700
country apart from other nations in the region include its relatively small dependence on trade to be able to generate growth, as well as its favorable demographics and elevated level of dollar buffers against potential external stressors. Paracuelles detailed that the demographic differences in the region is one of the main sources of uneven growth prospects in the region, adding he sees a very rapid pace of aging in Thailand and Singapore, as contrasted by the young population of the Philippines and Indonesia. Buffers for policy changes in the global economy, according to Paracuelles, will also be
crucial for the economy’s ability to grow, as rate hikes, especially from the United States, are expected this year. “So that could be negative for some countries overall, because that could lead to capital outflows going back to the US, and being exacerbated by weaker currency for Asean. So, the key is to look at which countries have the ability to conquer that,” Paracuelles said.
High foreign reserve
The economist further said the Philippines and Indonesia have relatively high foreign-exchange reserve buffer compared to Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore.
Just last week the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported the country’s gross international reserves (GIRs) to have hit $80.87 billion at the end of the first quarter of the year. This level was lower by $57 million than the end-February 2017 GIR of $81.44 billion. It is, however, higher by $180 million than the end-2016 level. The Central Bank blamed the month-on-month decline to the outflows arising from the BSP’s foreign-exchange operations and the payments made by the national government for its maturing foreign-exchange obligations. Continued on A2
The country’s GIR as reported last week by the BSP, lower by $57 million than the end-February 2017 GIR of $81.44 billion. It is, however, higher by $180 million than the end2016 level.
n japan 0.4532 n UK 62.0577 n HK 6.3917 n CHINA 7.2087 n singapore 36.3951 n australia 37.2326 n EU 52.6651 n SAUDI arabia 13.2457
Source: BSP (12 April 2017 )
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Let the players compete Continued from a1
with the worst broadband connectivity in the region, after falling behind India, which has consistently taken the last spot for the past few years. The Philippines clocked in an average of 4.5 Mbps speed during the said period, which was a bit faster than the 4.2 Mbps the quarter prior. Santos added that foreign competition is needed now, given the ongoing digital shift of different industries in the Philippines. “Modern-day regulation and international best practice do not restrict competition and do not stifle innovation. In the Internet era, a service-based license or registration has simply replaced franchises and certificates of compliance in many countries. Internet should be available to anyone, anytime, anywhere, using any technology,” she said. The researcher added: “This can only be achieved if our policy and regulatory environment promotes competition, embraces innovation and adapts to the demands of the times.” Foreign ownership on public utilities, according to the 1987 Constitution, is limited to only 40 percent.
Revise PSA
While a constitutional amendment is far from reality, the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) believes there is a much easier way to push competition in the telco market to higher heights. PCC Commissioner Johannes Benjamin Bernabe explained that an amendment to certain provisions in the 80-year-old Public Service Act (PSA), such as the lifting of the foreign equity cap on certain industries, will help his group to foster competition in the market. In slightly changing the antiquated law, the legal obstacle on foreign equity may be addressed, as the amendment streamlines the list of activities to be considered public utilities under the Constitution. “To begin with, the Public Service Act is antiquated. It still refers to certain business activities, such as ice plants and canals, as public services or public utilities. With the current economic and business landscape, it is time to update the list of business activities considered as public utilities,” Bernabe said. The limitation has been a concrete constraint on the inflow of foreign direct investments in the country and in increasing compe-
tition in the market, he added. “If you look at certain sectors, like telecommunications, one way of promoting a competitive environment is to open fully the market to foreign players. The foreign equity cap unfortunately discourages entry of new foreign players in the sector that provide services to the public,” Bernabe explained. Improving competition in certain sectors and industries is incorporated in the Duterte administration’s Philippine Development Plan 2017-2022, specifically a chapter on building the framework for a national competition policy, which the one-year-old antitrust agency has drafted together with the National Economic and Development Authority. Enhancing competition, the primary mandate of the antitrust body, would help improve the quality of goods and services in the market, give consumers more choices and keep prices generally affordable. Several bills have been filed in both houses of Congress that seek to amend the PSA that will remove certain industries considered as public services and, in effect, lift the ownership limitation imposed on foreign investors.
In the lower chamber, Rep. Joey S. Salceda of Albay filed House Bill 4468 that seeks, among others, to amend the definition of “public services” and “public utilities” in the PSA. The competition body, Bernabe said, is proposing “to define public utility as a person who operates, manages and controls for public use the following: electricity transmission, electricity distribution, water pipeline distribution systems, gas or petroleum pipeline distribution
systems and sewerage systems.” “So there will be only five public utilities whose foreign ownership will be restricted to 40 percent,” he said. The industries that would be removed from the PSA’s definition of what constitutes a public service or public utility like telco would still be regulated by a regulatory agency to protect the welfare of consumers, he said. “In our proposed definition, we say that those business activities
that have been delisted from the Public Service Act are considered as business affected with public interest and will continue to be regulated as such by the relevant sector regulators,” Bernabe explained. He added, “You still want consumers to be protected, ensure that there is adequate access and reasonably priced services, and the services are of a certain quality or standard that will allow reasonable download and upload speeds.”
PHL to remain Asean growth leader–Nomura economist Continued from a1
The BSP also said the decline could have been larger, if not partially offset by net foreign-currency deposits by the national government and revaluation adjustments on the BSP’s gold holdings resulting from the increase in the price of gold in the international market. Despite the decline, the endMarch 2017 GIR level can cover 8.9 months’ worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income.
It is also equivalent to 5.2 times the country’s short-term external debt based on original maturity, or 3.9 times based on residual maturity. Aside from a stronghold of reserves, Paracuelles also said only the Philippines could afford a rate hike from its central bank in the region, as other jurisdictions may favor a low rate bias due to the problems in their economies.
No worries
Central Bank Governor Aman-
do M. Tetangco Jr., however, earlier repeatedly said the Philippines’s monetary-policy stance need not move in sync with the US’s and that settings continue to remain “appropriate” for the time being. In his latest statement following the release of inflation data, Tetangco told reporters there is no need to worry as the growth of prices in the country is expected to slow down toward the fourth quarter, thus putting inflation expectations in check and within target.
The governor also said the BSP “will make adjustments if and when needed” to monetary policy.
More than the rhetoric
Paracuelles, meanwhile, said “politics is something to watch out for” in the Philippines, as political noise is something that investors are continuously monitoring in the country. “I think it is more about the rhetoric that comes from the President. I think foreign investors are
always paying attention to it and they have a concern that this could derail economic reforms so that is always the thinking,” the Nomura economist said, talking to various investors. Paracuelles also said that, in recent months, investors seemed to have gotten used to the president’s “manner of speaking and mind-set”. He said foreign players would want to see significant headway in the economy front of the Duterte administration, particularly in terms of the infra-
structure ramp up and the tax-reform program. Fitch Ratings latest assessment on the Philippines and the region backs up Paracuelles’s views, saying the potential political instability could be a “negative sensitivity” for the country’s credit rating. “Deterioration in governance standards or political stability, for example, through escalation of violence associated with administration’s campaign against the illegal-drugs trade,” the credit ratings agency said. Fitch also said possible weaker external buffers in the face of negative external developments could be negative for the country. On the other hand, Fitch said continued strong growth without emergence of imbalances and maintenance of external buffers that are resilient to potential negative external developments and the further broadening of the government’s revenue base that lends greater stability to government finances are positive developments for the economy. Just recently, Fitch affirmed the Philipines’s “BBB-” rating with a positive outlook. The credit watcher said this assessment is supported by continued strong and consistent macroeconomic performance, a net external creditor position and government debt levels that are below the “BBB” median. “The rating remains constrained by levels of income and human development, which are lower than many of its peers, a narrow government revenue base and relatively weak governance standards,” Fitch said. In the overall Asia-Pacific front, Fitch said growth momentum across the region remains resilient despite risks from US rate hikes, US dollar appreciation and threats of protectionism. “Domestic demand has been robust on support from fiscal policy and infrastructure spending, as Fitch Ratings had anticipated. Moreover, consumer and business sentiment have improved on growth stabilization in China, and reforms in a number of countries. External demand has also strengthened, with exports and PMIs faring better than expected,” Fitch said in its report. “However, the outlook could become more challenging as the year wears on if, as expected, global financial conditions tighten and US dollar appreciation resumes. Debt-servicing costs could rise in economies with high foreign-currency debt or dependence on foreign inflows,” Fitch added.
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A3
Cruise tourism: The billion peso impact on PHL economy
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By Roger Pe
o less than Condé Nast, the travel bible, called the Philippines as “the next great destination after the Mediterranean and Carribbean”. In a recent islandhopping voyage to the Philippines, famous travel author Lindsay Talbot mentioned the Philippines as a prime destination most travelers have been long overlooking.
Below are other interesting facts about the cruise-ship business in the US: Percent of cruise passengers that have originated from North America
60 %
Average annual growth rate of the cruise industry since 1980
7.4 %
Number of children 18 and under that sailed with their families
1,600,000
Number of new cruise ships that debuted in 2009
14
Number of new cruise ships currently on order
26
Amount being spent on new ships
$15 billion
Percent of cruises that have in the Caribbean
37.02 %
Average length of a cruise
7.2 days
Number of North American embarkation ports
30
Number of embarkation ports around the world
2,000
Average ship capacity utilization
104 %
Number of cruise ships that have sunk since 1979
55
Total number of passengers who have died on a cruise ship since 1979
172
*Death count includes all causes of death Cruise Passenger Demographic Statistics
Data
Average age of a cruise passenger
50 +
Average household earnings
$109,000
Percent of passengers who are college graduates
86 %
Percent who are married and work full time
62 %
Percent of people age 25+ with earnings of $40,000+ who have taken a cruise 44.6 % Percent of the total US population who have taken a cruise
19.9 %
Average spent per person per week on their cruise
$1,770
Average spent per person per week on a noncruise vacation
$1,200
Cruise Passenger Behaviors and Attitude Statistics
Data
Percent of cruise passengers who think its a great way to sample destinations 80 % Percent of would return to the Caribbean for a land-based vacation
She raved about the country, and admittedly, was enticed by its historic cities and emerald islands. She highlighted that the Philippines, chosen as No. 1 in the World by the magazine’s Readers’ Choice Awards, lived up to its ranking. Talbot, a seasoned traveler who has been to more than a dozen cruises, splendidly recalled how the archipelago of many tiny islands surprised her with “seas in shades of blue, so unreal that they could’ve been stolen from screen savers”. She then described Palawan’s Underground River as “a journey to a stygian darkness, past cathedral-like caverns, dripping with millennia-old stalagmites. She summarized the trip as full of surprises and recounted, “the thrill was in the voyage itself.” Speaking of thrill, it was a different kind of thrilla Manila saw with the maiden voyage of Superstar Virgo to the city on the morning of March 19. The flagship of one of the world’s largest luxury
50 %
cruise ships has officially made Manila one of its homeports. In c r u ise i ndu st r y ter ms, “homeport” is often used in reference to a ship, which carries the majority of passengers from its point of origin, passes through desig nated dest inat ions a nd comes back to where it came from. This momentous event in Philippine tourism industry was a shared effort of the Philippines and China, aimed at boosting sea travel from Manila to LaoagKaohsiung, Taiwan, Hong Kong and back to Manila. Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, Department of Tourism (DOT) Secretary Wanda Corazon T. Teo and Manila City officials led the rousing welcoming rites. “Manila, Boracay, Puerto Princesa and other port-ready destinations in the country are bound to experience unprecedented tourism traffic. And because of the increasing number of cruise ships visiting Manila, it may yet become
an international cruise hub,” said DOT Director Ma. Corazon JordaApo who represented Teo on the initial voyage. “As the first-ever cruise ship to dock in Manila, Superstar Virgo will etch a milestone in our tourism journey, as both ship and our shores will provide vacationers, including locals, the convenience of not having to f ly to either Hong Kong or Singapore to take a cruise,” Teo said in her message read by Jorda-Apo. T he 13 -storey, 935 - c abi n, 2,600-passenger capacity cruise ship boasts of many specialty restaurants, bars, game rooms, a shopping mall, gym, massage spa, and a roof-deck swimming pool. It is 268 meters in length and 32 meters in width, with an average of 24 knots cruising speed. It arrived in Hong Kong on March 22, carrying 2,200 passengers. Dubbed as the “Jewels of the South China Sea” voyage, the trip was a 6 Days/5 Nights cruise covering the cities mentioned. “It is truly an honor for the Philippines to be part of this momentous occasion of Star Cruises’ homeporting in the Philippines. We are grateful for Star Cruises for believing in the Philippines and helping us get closer to our vision as a regional cruise center, and eventually as center for cruise crew training, maintenance services and ship building in the long term,” Jorda-Apo added.
Getting to know a cruise ship
A cruise ship is a big luxury recreation vessel with a modern design and equipped with the latest sea navigational technology. It is built like a five-star hotel complete with luxurious amenities found in the same brand hotels. It travels to pre-destined resort cities and returns to its homeport. Unlike an ocean liner, which only transports passengers across oceans, a cruise ship provides entertainment, recreation and relaxation by taking people on board— from a single day to a week, and comes back to its originating port to pick up vacationers anew. During its initial voyage to Manila, Superstar Virgo management toured this author and DOT people around its ultramodern facilities, from deluxe cabins to its palatial grand lobby, from its gourmet restaurants to jaw-dropping theatres and expensively designed dining halls. We were also accorded a sneak preview of the galley where the ship prepare its sumptuous food, manned by a multinational chefs, among them a number of Filipinos. Far to both ends of “The Piazza”, the nerve center of the Superstar Virgo is a casino, Broadway-like theatre and cinema with comfor table and upholstered seats, duty-free shops and more specialty restaurants. On the uppermost deck are the following: a fitness center, beauty salon, spa, swimming pool, spiral tube ride that spits you out, (not to the sea), but to another pool, hot tubs, lounges, library and more clubs. In a nutshell, cruise ships like the Superstar Virgo pamper passengers with the best of hospitality set along the sea.
The global cruise tourism picture
Over the last decade, cruising has become an integral part of tourism, contributing over $25 billion yearly to the industry’s booming sector. The major bulk of the business comes from North American and European regions, but other areas, like Asia, are also catching up. In 2016 Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), the unified global organization of
the cruise industry, released the State of the Cruise Outlook, revealing that global cruise travel is continuing to grow and evolving at a record pace. The outlook provides a snapshot of the cruise industry, while also highlighting trends impacting cruise travel. It has a voice in each of the following locations: Alaska, North America, Brazil, Spain, Belgium, Luxembourg, Italy, Netherlands, UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Northern Asia and Southeast Asia.
The facts
There are currently 62 cruise lines in the world. Two hundred seventy five are Executive Partners ( key suppliers and cruise line affiliates in ports and dest i n at ions, sh ip de ve lopment and business ser vices). Twenty thousand are travel agencies, which include the largest hosts, franchises and a consortia of 30,000 travel agents. Twenty four-million passengers cruised in 2016, 23.2 million in 2015, 22 million in 2014 and 21 million in 2013. 33.7 percent passengers went to the Carribean, 18.7 percent to the Mediterannean, 13.8percent to other cities in the world and only 9.2 percent went to Asia. The industry provided 939,232 jobs and paid $39.3 billion in wages and salaries from an average of $134.72 daily passenger spending. Continued on A4
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DOT Director for Market Development, Maria Corazon Jorda-Apo, together with high-ranking officials of Hong Kong and Taiwan Tourism offices.
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The palatial centerpiece of the ship, “The Piazza”
Jorda-Apo
Cruise tourism: The billion-peso impact on PHL economy Continued from A3
In 2014 cruise ship tourists from Canada numbered 800,000, 840,000 were from Italy, 700,000 from China, 590,000 from France and 450,000 from Spain. Demand for cruising has increased by 68 percent in the last 10 years and Asia is slowly showing on the map Eight out 10 CLI A-member travel agents stated that they are expecting an increase in sales over the previous year (2015). Between 2008 and 2014, cruise travel outpaced general leisure travel in the US by 22 percent. At a glance, here’s an example of how cruise tourism rewards Canada with substantial economic growth. Why are we making use of Canada as an example? The world’s biggest number of cruise-ship passengers comes from the country. n Canadian ports received nearly 2 million passengers on hundreds of cruise calls over the last three years; n Ports in Nanaimo, Prince Rupert, Victoria and Vancouver account for over half of all Canada’s cruise-passenger traffic; n Cruise business in Canada generates over 440,000 hotel night stays and some 6,000 direct and indirect jobs. The arrival of each cruise ship in Vancouver, British Columbia, stimulates more than $2 million in economy activity; n Canada’s New England ports collectively welcomed more than 1,300 ship calls from 25 different cruise lines and more than 1.5 million passengers in 2014. Cruises generated an economic impact in excess of $1billion for the region; n Ship turnarounds in Saint John’s, Newfoundland, led to an economic impact of approximately $1.36 million for 2014. Annual overall impact of the cruise industry in Newfoundland and Labrador is estimated to be over $11 million.
US cruise tourism industry
The annual cruise industry revenue for the US economy was valued at $37.85 billion. The number of cruise industry jobs generated annually 314,000. The
yearly number of cruise-ship passengers is 20,335,000.
More revenues, more jobs for Filipinos
The Department of Tourism (DOT) expects to rake in more earnings from cruise Tourism Secretary Wanda Corazon T. Teo stressed that Genting’s flagship vessel will provide the government, private operators and host areas, a consistent stream of revenues and employment opportunities. “We look forward to many years of fruitful, mutually beneficial relationship with Star Cruises. Moreover, there is a bright future ahead for the cruise industry, as passengers in the future will want to travel more often,” she said. For the 94,000 Passenger Destination Days (PDDs) in 2015, an estimated $21.2 million was spent by foreign tourists from 77 local port calls. This was direct contribution to the Philippine economy, the DOT said. The amount is expected to increase to 120,000 PDDs as it targets 117 fully operational local ports this year. According to the DOT, the city government also earns additional revenues from pre- and postcruise services, like provisioning, bunkering, garbage disposal and sludge removal. It also mentions a most important aspect of the industry: Crewing. Whether in transit or homeporting, Filipinos comprise the bulk of the liners’ manpower and are regarded as the most soughtafter among other nationalities. Filipinos comprise more than one third of Superstar Virgo’s crew, with a good number serving as supervisors.
Confidence in the Philippine market
Star Cruises President Ang Moo Lim said the new itinerary was in support of the Asia Cruise Cooperation (ACC) to help promote Taiwan, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Hainan and Xiamen. In an exclusive interview, Jorda-Apo puts it succinctly: “With the completion of our National Cruise Tourism Strategy, this will
serve as a road map for the country and its players in achieving our long-term goal of being, not only as a destination or port of call, but as a homeport that can generate more jobs for Filipinos. We hope to see the Philippines as a preferred market, see the economy improve and boost the Filipinos’ capacity to spend for recreation.” Development of soft and hard facilities is crucial, according to the infrastructure-savvy JordaApo. She foresees that, by the end of the Duterte administration, Filipinos will see the realization of the Philippines’s first dedicated cruise terminal, including the parallel building and upgrading of other harbors. “This would increase our capacity to serve more and bigger ships, which can bring in as much as 5,000 passengers. Our ultimate goal is to be as seamless as possible, and to gain competitiveness as a major cruise hub in Asia,” she said. Tourism Undersecretary Benito Bengzon thanked Star Cruises and its parent company, Genting, for including Manila a part of the cruise. He said Star Cruises also plans to add more Philippine destinations, like Boracay and Cebu, in its future cruise itinerary. Taiwan Tourism Bureau (TTB) Deputy Director Dr. Wayne Liu and Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) Executive Director Mr. Anthony Lau also gave their congratulatory speeches to Star Cruises.
Vital for the economy
When tourist comes in, whether by ship or air travel, the country without a doubt, benefits from the top to the bottom of the food chain. The entry of Superstar Virgo, thus, ignites a new interest for cruise tourism. Low-wage earners, like Aling Esang, for example, a souvenir item worker for a supplier in Laoag, will get more pesos for her trinkets and bracelets. Seasonal tourist guides will be busy adjusting to fully booked schedules. Ana Tonogbanua, who used to treat the job as raket, will become a full-pledged tourism specialist.
As tourists start to pour, college teacher Macopa Lacio and her students will be more proud of their community’s history and cultural heritage. The chain reaction goes on and on. Eater ies, dining areas, cafés, restaurants, transportation, what-have-you, all thrive when tourism flourishes. Standards become upgraded, roads and infrastructure improve, forex money rings merrily at the cash register. In the end, the economy grows from the revenues that flow in. Picture the multiplier effect. Businessmen will source goods locally, giving the local industry and supporting industries a big boost. Income is felt quickly, triggerring local spending. The multiplier effect steamrolls and the tourist dollar earned, cycled back to the economy.
Stylish travel minus the hassle
Why cruise? Cruising takes the stress out of traveling. You need not pack and repack your luggage and encounter long queues at the immigration counter. With a cruise ship, you don’t arrive at your hotel exhausted, suffer jetlag and starve. You stay in the ship built like a hotel and everything is arranged for you. Cruising is now the fastest growing part of the travel industry. Around 24 percent of Americans have cruised at least once before and more and more people are now realizing the value-formoney cruising offers. Like what Filipino tourist Maria Nelly Apostol said: “It was wellworth the money we paid for. Our bags were taken cared of, we were treated to different shows every night, food great, the crew members and staff were friendly, and there’s no time to get bored. You just relax, because that exactly what you came for,” she said. Cecille Autajay and her husband traveled all the way from Antique to catch Virgo’s inaugural tour in Manila. She praises the ship’s efficiency, from the moment she stepped onboard. “The trip was smooth as silk, although there were hiccups [like immigration
passport clearances], we enjoyed the food, amenities, city tours, not to mention the nightly entertainment presentations that were just a super as the ship’s name,” she said. “With a library, world-class Filipino singers and entertainers, cinema, spa, pubs and nightclubs, cafés, Internet access, medical facilities and plenty of stores for shopping, I will definitely go back and cruise again,” said businessman Jake Pantaleon of a realestate company.
The world’s largest cruise ships
In his “Now Boarding” web site, author Les Shu mentions that 30 of the world’s largest cruise ships measure more than 1,000 feet in length (roughly the length of four Boeing 747s or nearly three football fields. Allure of the Seas, for instance, the largest ship ever built, can carry up to 6,296 passengers, making it more of a floating town (filled with stores, restaurants, museums and plazas) rather than simply an ocean vessel. It’s even longer than the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier,” he said. Some experts think the Allure of the Seas (and a similar-sized sister ship (Oasis of the Seas) could be the biggest ships the world will ever see. Here are five of the world’s largest cruise ships. Allure of the Seas: At 1,187 feet, Royal Caribbean’s Allure of the Seas and sister ship Oasis of the Seas are the world’s largest, weighing 225,286 gross tons. It has a skating rink, theater featuring Broadway musicals, carousel, zip line, casino, park with real trees, shops and 25 restaurants (including a Starbucks), and is divided into seven neighborhoods. The ships are also equipped with solar panels to generate energy for various areas. Quantum of the Seas: Also from Royal Carribbean, the newest of the fleet—is a bit smaller than Allure and Oasis, measuring 1,139 feet and weighing 168,666 gross tons. With a max capacity of 4,905 passengers, what Quantum lacks in size, it makes up for with crazy
amenities, such as a skydiving simulator, bumper cars, open-air park and 360-degree views from a hinged capsule that floats over the water. The ship is also one of the most high-tech: there’s the Bionic Bar with a robotic bartender that mixes drinks, mobile checkin and boarding, RFID used for purchases (via wristband) and luggage tracking, virtual concierge, iPad photo gallery, USB charging, virtual theater and satellite-based Internet that’s robust enough for streaming videos and multiplayer games. The Epic: Measures 1,081 feet and weighs 155,873 gross tons, claims the largest bowl slide in its water park. For sports buffs, there’s a center equipped with rock climbing, basketball court and a bowling alley. If you’re into off-Broadway productions, you can partake in a Blue Man Group performance. There are dedicated rooms and a lounge for solo travelers, and an Internet café if you must check your e-mail. Royal Caribbean must have an obsession with building big ships, because the company also owns these three (all measuring 1,112 feet and weighing 154,407 gross tons). Freedom of the Seas: From 2006 to 2009, it was the world’s largest, and as one of the Royal Caribbean’s “older” ships. Its amenities may not sound as impressive, but the ship boasts of 10 pools and whirlpools, a surfing simulator, skating rink, mini golf course and 3D theater. Queen Mary 2: When it made its maiden voyage in 2004, it was not only the world’s largest (1,132 feet, 148,528 gross tons), but was arguably the most luxurious. Its size pales in comparison to Royal Caribbean’s big ships, but its unique livery and services make it still one of the grandest. It was also the first to have a planetarium, as well as a library and live-performance theater. Inside its stately exterior are desalination plants for providing freshwater and a sophisticated engine system.
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Saturday, April 15, 2017 A5
THE NEXT MESSI? Little wonder, then, that Paulo Dybala does all that he can to play down the comparison. His line is clear: There will only ever be one Lionell Messi. He does not want to be the new anything, he simply wants to be Paulo Dybala and to see how far that takes him.
A
S soon as the tears started to come, Paulo Dybala buried his face into his jersey. Lionel Messi tried to offer an arm around the shoulder as he trudged, bereft, from the field; so, too, did Angel Di Maria. For a few seconds, defender Emmanuel Mas stopped Dybala in his tracks, swaddling him in a tender, consoling hug. All to no avail: As Dybala would say later, his anguish was too intense for solace. All his life, he had dreamed of representing his homeland, Argentina. On September 1, in a World Cup qualifier against Uruguay in Mendoza, Argentina, he was given his first start. Forty-five minutes later, he was sent off after receiving his second yellow card. His dismay and his disappointment, he said, “overwhelmed” him. It was only once he was back in the sanctuary of the dressing room that he stopped crying. But it was another hour or so before he could muster a smile, and even then only after the intervention of Marcelo D’Andrea, the team masseur known to all of the Argentine national team as “Daddy”. After the game—Argentina won, 1-0; Messi scored—D’Andrea pulled Dybala, still distraught, to one side. “Calm down,” he told him. “That’s what superstars do: They get sent off for the national team. Messi did it against
Mayors’ spouses hold golf tourney
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HE Metro Manila Mayors’ Spouses Foundation Inc. (MMMSFI) will hold its first fund-raising golf invitational tournament on Sunday at the Tagaytay Midlands Golf and Country in Tagaytay City. Janet Olivarez, MMMSFI president and wife of Parañaque City Mayor Edwin Olivarez, said the tournament, dubbed “First Metro Manila Mayors’ Invitational Golf Cup”, is open to all enthusiasts. The event will be for the benefit of the Cancer Institute of the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) and the rehabilitation of the PGH Atrium Garden. The tournament is intended to raise funds to support the foundation’s medical missions performed by volunteer doctors from the PGH and other civic-oriented hospitals in the metropolis. A hole-in-one bonanza, trophies for individual honors and competition plus raffle prizes, including Texas Eagle and Yamaha Golf Carts, await all participants. The tournament is presented by Belle Corp., Premium Leisure Corp. and Peugeot Lipa. Tournament fee is pegged at P4,500 for nonmembers and P4,000 for members—inclusive of green fee, golf cart, giveaways, lunch and raffle coupon. Registration starts at 6:30 a.m. and tee-off is at 8 a.m.
LIKE Lionel Messi (right), Paulo Dybala’s size did not detract from his ability.
Cebuano bags 3 titles in Bohol
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EBU City’s Marc Nicole Suson captures three crowns to dominate the recent Talibon leg of the Cebuana Lhuillier Age Group Championship Series in Bohol. Suson beat Dipolog City’s Stephen Zion Guia, 6-4, 6-2, for the boys’ 16-under, overwhelmed Bais City’s Wilfredo Gorospe, 8-1, for the 18-under title and teamed up with Bohol’s Scottie Jumamoy win the 18-under doubles crown, 8-4, at the expense of Kenchiro Suzuki and Guia in the tournament also sponsored by Dunlop. Siquijor’s Ellaine Rose Bahonsua was also impressive. She won the girls’ 16-under with an 8-7 triumph over local bet Rica Trixie Gudelosao and partnered with 14-under girls’ champion Dianafe Perez of Bais City to win the 18-under girls’ doubles crown, taking out Mars Liquit and Angel Asenjo, 8-2, in the finals. Perez beat another local player, Katrina Mekyla Siason, 8-5, in the 14-under championship of the event, the 13th leg overall this year and the ninth stop in the Visayas-Mindanao region. “Again, what we are seeing in this leg in Bohol is
a mix of old and new names emerging winners, and sooner than later, all of these winners will be familiar names in local tennis,” said Jean Henri Lhuillier, president and CEO of Cebuana Lhuillier, who initiated the series 11 years ago as his company’s support for a grassroots tennis program. Mariam Yasmin Garsin of Tagbilaran City salvaged local pride by winning the girls’ 18-under title following an 8-4 victory over Gudelosao. Sogod’s (Leyte) Neous Elna Beronio edged Bohol’s Karyl, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2, in the girls’ final. Zamboanga del Norte’s Aaron Jacque Geromo won the 14-under crown at the expense of Harland Hogan, 6-0, 6-0; Bais City’s Jacob Diago took the 12-under title with an 8-4 win over another Boholano, Lander Joseph Butcon; and local bet John Kenneth Jumamoy was an easy 4-0, 4-2 winner over Kris Aaron Anub in the finals of the 10-under group in the boys’ category.
Filipino absorbs decision loss to Russian in UFC 210
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ILIPINO Jenel Lausa saw his Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) streak snapped at five bouts after absorbing a decision loss to debuting Russian prospect Magomed Bibulatov in UFC 210 in Keybank Center, New York, recently. Lausa, a 28-year-old pride of Concepcion, Iloilo, couldn’t duplicate his successful debut last November and yielded in the three-round flyweight bout with all three judges scoring it for the Russian, 29-26. The former Pacific Xtreme Combat 125-pound
By Rory Smith
New York Times News Service
champion could not counter the Russian who was more active inside the octagon. Lausa dropped to a 7-3 won-loss record, while Bibulatov improved to 14-0. “Every defeat we suffer in life is an opportunity to learn. I will use this one to be a better fighter and a better representative of my country,” Lausa said in his official social-media account. The Russian was far more aggressive right from the start, throwing jabs and spinning kicks that negated any offense thrown by Lausa.
In the 3:07 mark of the second round, Bibulatov was slapped with a point deduction after his second low blow. Lausa tried to regain his ground but his foe kept on pressuring him with takedowns. Bibulatov landed 44 of 92 strikes, while Lausa only had 13 of 35. The Filipino is only one of the two fighters from the country fighting in the UFC, with Universal Reality Combat Championship star CJ de Tomas recently signing a contract for a match in Singapore in June.
Hungary. You’ve already passed the test: You got sent off, so you must be a star.” The parallel was an apposite one, and the coincidence curious, to say the least. In Budapest in 2005 Messi made his Argentina debut as a 63rd-minute substitute. In the 65th minute, he was shown a straight red card. For the growing number of observers who believe Dybala could be Messi’s heir apparent, his red card in Mendoza was not so much a shortcoming as a sign. That meeting with Uruguay represented the completion of a dream for Dybala. He had, he said, always wanted to “play a one-two with Messi.” That night in the Estadio Malvinas Argentinas, he managed it. On Tuesday night in Turin Dybala will reach another milestone: When Juventus hosts Barcelona in the first leg of its Champions League quarterfinal, Dybala, the Italian team’s 23-year-old forward, will play against Messi. For the first time, he will have a chance to see how close the resemblance between the two players has become. Messi casts a long shadow. For many years, every quick-witted, fleet-footed playmaker from Argentina had to labor under the weight of being labeled “the next Maradona”, a tag that was variously applied to players as diverse as Ariel Ortega, Pablo Aimar, Juan Román Riquelme and Carlos Tevez. Only when Messi matched and, in some lights, surpassed Maradona’s achievements was the search called off—or, more accurately, reconstituted. Now, whenever an Argentine of delicate touch and impish acceleration starts to rise, he is instantly called “the new Messi”. Little wonder, then, that Dybala does all that he can to play down the comparison. His line is clear: There will only ever be one Messi. He does not want to be the new anything; he simply wants to be Paulo Dybala and to see how far that takes him. Sadly, others are not so obliging. His teammate for club and country, Gonzalo Higuaín, has described Dybala as “looking like Messi”. Arrigo Sacchi, the former AC Milan manager and now a sort of freelance agent provocateur for Real Madrid, drew the same parallel. At least Maradona stopped short of joining the acclaim, simply suggesting Dybala is a “phenomenon”. The comparison, though, is tempting. Their careers have followed different arcs—Messi was taken from his hometown, Rosario, to Barcelona before his teens, only ever donning the colors of one club, while Dybala broke through at Instituto, a club in Córdoba, before moving to Italy’s Palermo and on to Juventus—but there are common threads. Like Messi, Dybala was a scrap of a child. His first club, in his hometown, Laguna Larga, had only one set of jerseys, which players shared regardless of age. Photographs of Dybala show him drowning in his one-size-fits-none kit. Like Messi, Dybala’s size did not detract from his ability. “We were taken to see the youth team train, because we thought there might be some players we could use,” said Dario Franco, Instituto’s coach in Dybala’s only season there. “As soon as we saw him, we knew we could use him.” He made his debut for the club a week later, at 17. And like Messi, Dybala has leaned on his family to shape his career. He has said he would not have made it as a professional had his father, Adolfo, not been determined that he should do so. His brother Gustavo acts as a sort of consigliere, a pattern shared with Jorge and Rodrigo Messi. “His family was always around him,” Franco said. “He lived in club accommodation when he was in Córdoba, but one of his brothers was always there, too.” Where the two players diverge, of course, is the speed of their ascents. At 17, Messi was playing for Barcelona; Dybala was still at Instituto, in Argentina’s second tier. Even when the chance to move to Europe came, Dybala did not move straight to a superclub. “Palermo had a great system of scouting in South America,” said Giuseppe Sannino, Dybala’s first coach in Italy. “There were a lot of teams looking at Paulo—I remember Inter Milan, in particular—but Palermo had a good record of signing players like Javier Pastore and Edinson Cavani. We had a number of South American players there when Paulo arrived, too: Abel Hernández, Arevalo Rios. That makes it easier to adapt.” Those first few months, Sannino said, were tough. “There was a lot of physical work to be done,” he said. “He was very small, very slight. And it is Italy, so there was a lot of focus on teaching him tactical things, too.”
A6 Saturday, April 15, 2017 | Editor: Mike Besa
Focus on the journey and you’ll get to your destination
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The 15th hole on the Couples Course at Riviera Golf and Country Club
By David MacKenzie
s technology makes processes happen faster and faster in the modern world, most of us are guilty of becoming a little impatient and that need for things to happen quickly is increasing. We’re becoming wired to being very forward looking, at the sacrifice of the present moment. We want the destination without the journey. Golfers have always been a little weak when it comes to seeking quick fixes and gimmicky products in an attempt to get closer to lower scores faster, but it’s ironic how ineffective those quick fixes are. From my experience as a mental coach and teaching players of all levels for many years—the most effective way to achieve a result is not to focus on it, but it’s to break it down into the processes that are required to get there and make that the focus. Faith in a really good process, can give you the confidence and eliminate the pressure that seeking results puts on us to perform.
Focusing on a good process has so many benefits...
1. STAYING IN THE PRESENT For most of us the game of golf is purely a leisure pursuit, to be enjoyed whatever the outcome. For that reason, we need to learn how to be present at all times, giving every moment we are playing our full attention, not constantly thinking about the end goal or what’s coming next. When process becomes the goal, a player can engage more deeply with the present and get a richer experience. 2. YOUR FOCUS IS SHIFTED TO SOMETHING THAT IS 100% WITHIN YOUR CONTROL No one in the history of the game has been able to say with 100-percent certainty that they will hit a specific target or shoot a specific score, for the most part it’s out of your control. But you can heavily influence it with a good process. When your focus is constantly on outcome and results, each shot is measured by how it relates to that overall goal. Hit the ball out of bounds and that might seriously damage your chances of shooting a good score = frustration. The game becomes a roller-coaster ride, which is not a good way to play. Golf is best played from a state of moderate emotional arousal. That means that you have a little nervous energy that increases your focus and competitive spirit vs when you are practicing. When you’re outcome focused and affected by where the ball lands, you’re setting yourself up for high emotional arousal and performance anxiety = tension in the muscles and bad swings. Let’s say you’ve set the target of shooting your best score or breaking 80 for the first time and you score a triple bogey on the first. What’s that going to do for your confidence and enjoyment? However, if your success is measured by how well you stuck to your process, it takes the pressure and expectation off and allows you to swing freely and accept the outcome whatever. Focusing on the process put you in control—it makes you feel empowered and confident. Not necessarily confident that you are going to hit the ball where you desire, but confidence you are on the right path to becoming a mastery golfer. Whatever the outcome, if you stick to your process, it’s a successful shot—imagine how much pressure that will take away! The problem in golf is that results are easier to measure and evaluate than process, so that’s where the focus drifts. We need to be able to measure how effective we’re being at achieving our “process goals” during each round.
The Couples Course at Rivie
As laid-back F
Text & photos by Mike Besa
reddy Couples is golf’s Mr. Cool. Everything about him exudes this. His demeanor, the way he carries himself, the fact that he doesn’t use a glove and that sweetest of sweet swings put Couples at the very top of the cool-o-meter. His performance at the 2017 Masters merely served to underscore just how cool the laid-back Couples really is. Couples codesigns golf courses with his design partner, Gene D. Bates. This venture began in 1992 and resulted in the formation of Couples Bates Golf Design
Couples and he did not disappoint. Couples’s nickname on the PGA Tour was Boom Boom since he was one of the longest drivers of the golf ball in his prime. Couples gives golfers at the Riviera lots of opportunities to swing the big stick. Most of the fairways are generous, tempting us to do our worst. Stray from them and out-of-bounds lurks everywhere, so be forewarned. The course measures 7,102 yards from the tips with each forward tee box moving you roughly 600 yards closer as they go. The hilly topography means extreme variety of the holes. There are many forced carries but none more spectacular and spine chilling as the one on 11. Couples was also a consummate long iron player and
Odyssey Works Big T V-Line Review
Folks, we have a winner!
HOW TO MEASURE THE PROCESS n The Circle Game If you felt like you “followed your process” for an entire hole, give yourself a circle on the scorecard around the hole number. The goal is to get to 18 circles. That’s going to become your measure of success. Set process goals and have a constant reminder. Next time you go out to play, have 3-4 process goals written on a scorecard and make those the goals for your round—not score. What is the perfect process for you? n David MacKenzie is a Performance Coach and the
founder of Golf State of Mind. Throughout David’s playing career, he learned quickly how attitude, self-belief and mental toughness affect performance in golf. He knew that was the difference between his average and great rounds. But the question was how did one improve these valuable skills and feel more confident more often? While studying at the University of Saint Andrews in Scotland, David began in-depth research into sport psychology and how elite performers apply their minds to practice and play. He interviewed hundreds of elite golfers and sport psychologists. He shared what he discovered via his web site, Golf State of Mind, and it quickly resonated with golfers of all levels.
firm (Now Bates Golf Design Group). To date, they have over 20 award-winning championship golf courses in their portfolio worldwide. Now, lest you think that Couples lets his partner do the grunt work then just adds his signature to the project, nothing is further from the truth. Couples lends his inimitable personality to each of his courses. His only golf course in the country, the appropriately named Couples Course at Riviera Golf and Country Club in the rolling hills of Silang, Cavite, is proof positive of that. The property is gorgeous. The old-growth rain forest and numerous ravines line the fairways and provide a magnificent backdrop for the golf holes. It was a canvas worthy of
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utting is perhaps the most deceptive part of the game of golf. It takes very little skill to get started and is deceptively difficult. Not convinced? Consider then the number of golfers, both amateur and professional, that struggle to get the little white ball in the hole. In the worst cases, the dreaded yips rear its head and, for some, it’s enough to almost drive them from the game. Odyssey Golf became the most popular putter in the world by helping golfers with unique technologies for getting the ball into the
hole and they’re not out of ideas yet. We got a chance to test their new Big T putters and have been very pleased by the results. The Big T putters are an extension of the company’s new Works line and use the same insert as the Works putters, Odyssey’s Fusion RX. It’s designed to feel like the company’s famed White Hot insert, but perform better due to a metal mesh covering that improves friction at impact for an improved roll. Fusion RX combines Odyssey’s White Hot insert with a stainless-steel mesh that’s similar to the company’s Metal-X insert. The idea was to combine the soft, consistent feel of the White Hot insert with the roll benefits of the Metal-X insert pattern. Odyssey met its product brief with flying colors. What sets the Big T line apart is the fool-proof alignment aid. Odyssey’s Big T putters put a new twist on the company’s popular Versa alignment system, with four new models that aim to make alignment even easier for golfers. The combination of thick perpendicular and parallel lines that intersect to form a large “T” alignment aid on the putter. While T-shaped alignment aids are nothing new in putter design, Odyssey’s decision to display the alignment system so boldly with alternating black and white lines is visually unique. The idea was spawned by an Odyssey Versa V-Line
putter that the Odyssey team in Japan had customized for a tour player with a milled perpendicular line that was thicker than the team generally used. Austie Rollinson, principal designer for Odyssey and Odyssey’s Global Director of Product Strategy Chris Koske were quick to see the benefits of the modifications and put the Big T line into production. We took delivery of a Big T V-Line for an extended test. This has to be one of the best alignment aids that we’ve ever seen on a putter. You can defocus your vision and still line the putter up effectively. The Fusion RX insert is a joy. The thin steel overlay gives audible feedback, while the White Hot under layer provides a pleasantly soft feel. Putting with the Odyssey Big T V-Line is instinctive; it’s pretty hard to mess up with technology this good. So it’s not made like jewelry and it most likely will never be displayed in a museum or mistaken as a work of art. But it gets the ball in the hole and does so frequently and, as golfers, that’s all we really want. Mike Besa
ball-striker, so expect to be tested in this area, as well. The tee shot on eight and the second shot on 15 are the most severe but neither is unfair. Both are gorgeous golf holes that should soothe the sting from a poor score. Four and five will test you on the outward nine, as well. They measure a combined 911 yards so the pressure will be on to find both in regulation. The greens are large and forgiving targets, but have significant amounts of slope in them, which means that you could find yourself with a 60-foot putt that breaks several ways before getting to the cup. This puts a premium on your iron play. When you miss the green, he gives you options for the
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Saturday, April 15, 2017 A7
The 17th hole will test your ball-striking skills
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k as its designer recovery shot. This is a particularly endearing trait of the Couples Course; it doesn’t require that you play it a certain way to get the best results. You can bump your ball on many of the greens; keep an eye out for these opportunities. That’s not to say that you won’t be required to fly the ball to the green. The par 3s here all demand a forced carry. The green on five is elevated so flying the ball on is the only way to hit it close to a pin on the right side. My favorite stretch of holes is 12 through 15. It’s a magnificent stretch of holes that mimics a course on the garden isles of
Hawaii. It’s as good a quartet of holes as you’ll find anywhere in the country. I have an affinity for 13 and 15, a pair of strong, very beautiful par 4s. At 441 yards, 13 will test you from tee to green. The fairway doglegs to the left but the path to the dogleg is defended by the fairway bunker at the corner of the dogleg. The approach into the green requires the utmost precision to avoid the hazard short and right of what seems to be the smallest green of the lot. Fifteen is stunning; a long sweeping 459-yard monster. Yet, another forced carry
to a fairway that sweeps to the left to a green very heavily defended on the left side. Use the contours of the fairway to find the heart of the green. A fantastic golf hole. To sum up your entire range will be tested on the Couples Course but you won’t feel like you got beaten up when you walk off. You’ll be recharged, refreshed and, perhaps, a bit sad that the round’s come to an end. And that’s a very good thing. The Couples is currently getting a bit of a freshening up. Sand is being added to the bunkers and some of the greens had been
top-dressed with sand to get them into tournament shape. That had always been one of the knocks about Riviera; maintenance has been less than stellar. Thankfully, the new leadership at the club has made strides in every area of management at the club with maintenance as a priority. Our round there validated those claims. Other than the afflicted greens, the remaining greens putted very well. They roll the ball nicely and pose interesting challenges. The fairways played hard and fast with summer hitting its stride but they are fair and the ball sits up
nicely. The bunkers are still a mixed bunch but most have been rehabilitated with the others waiting their turn. The course should be more than presentable soon. We love the fact that the Riviera has a proper bar in the clubhouse. It’s the best venue there to enjoy your postround snacks with the ice-cold libation of your choice. Food is a great value. It’s good and the servings are generous. It features Filipino, Continental, Japanese and Korean specialties; a most eclectic mix. The Riviera remains a tremendous value, given the quality of the two golf courses here.
If you buy for the love of the game, you cannot be disappointed. Management might be in transition but it’s finally headed in the right direction. The facilities are looking their age. It’s not going to take much to spruce the club up but it will take more than a little to upgrade the rather tired facilities. Management recognizes this and hopefully will address this soon with the availability of the appropriate funding. Walk-in rates are P2,800 and the memberaccompanied rate is P1,600. Carts are P1,000 and caddie fees compare with the other great Cavite courses at P500.
TaylorMade TP5 and TP5x golf balls: Can it take down the mighty Pro-V? provide elite-level short game spin and control by pushing the soft outer cover into wedge grooves at impact. According to TaylorMade’s initial tour player testing, the TP5 and TP5x will be higher launching with irons (1-2 degrees), lower spinning (500-1000 rpm with irons, 0-200 rpm with a driver) and longer (+7-10 yards with irons, +2-4 yards with a driver). If you’re wondering which model is best
Hot Off the Web! PXG Bat Attack Putter inspired by Lydia Ko
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he “Bat Attack”, equipped with what PXG calls heavy-weighted, heel-toe wings, has a milled face insert and the company’s TPE (thermoplastic elastomer) in its core. According to the company, it’s inspired by Lydia Ko, the No. 1 female golfer in the world. The heads are built with aircraft-grade aluminum bodies, 304 stainless-steel faces and
TPE face inserts. The overall design is made for greater forgiveness across the face. There are three weight options, including 350-, 375and 400-gram heads; the 350-gram head has wings that are made from stainless steel, while the 375- and 400-gram heads use high-density tungsten. No advice as to retail price as of yet.
TaylorMade TP5 and TP5x beauty shot
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hen it comes to golf balls, the market is ruled by Titleist’s mighty Pro-V1 and ProV1x. The Titleist twins are the most popular balls on all of the world’s Tours and if you believe the hype, there’s nothing that’s even remotely close. But as good as the Pro-V1 and the V1x are, there are quite a few golf balls that measure up quite nicely. The new player in this rarefied market is TaylorMade’s new TP5 and TP5x golf balls. TaylorMade is making some pretty big claims for their new golf balls and initial testing has shown that these are serious contenders for the Titleist golf balls. The goal of the new line, which was in development for about 10 years, was to design two
balls that would deliver complete performance without compromising either distance or spin, making them the ultimate Tour performance models. The key to achieving this mission is a fivelayer, progressive design with varying materials and compressions in each layer. The first three layers of both models consist of a “Tri-Fast Core”, which is extremely low compression (16 in TP5, 25 in TP5x), as well as a progressively stiffer compression outer core (24 in TP5, 35 in TP5x) and even stiffer mantle layer (44 in TP5, 55 in TP5x). The result is improved transfer of energy at impact and increased distance on shots struck with all full-swing clubs. At the same time, a soft, cast urethane outer cover and firm inner cover (the final two layers) combine to
TaylorMade TP5 exploded image
suited to your game, the great news is that both are designed to provide complete tee-togreen performance without compromising distance or short-game spin. But the TP5 does provide a softer feel (83 total compression) and slightly lower launch angles, while the TP5x feels a bit firmer (90 total compression) and launches higher. Mike Besa
OurTime BusinessMirror
A8 Saturday, April 15, 2017 • Editor: Efleda P. Campos
Over 3,000 senior citizens added to Taguig City’s pension program By Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco | Correspondent
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HE Department of Social Welfare and Development granted Taguig an additional 3,828 beneficiary slots for the government’s social-pension program, as a result of the city’s efficient 88-percent rate of distribution of social pensions for elderly persons in the third quarter of 2016. Ramonita Jordan, head of the Office for Senior Citizen Affairs (Osca), said this meant the total beneficiaries of the city now number 8,071, or a jump of 90 percent from last year’s 4,243. “We are very pleased with this opportunity, because more Taguigeño senior citizens will benefit from the social-pension program,” Jordan said. The P1,500 social pension is given
quarterly in cash to beneficiaries. Indigent senior citizens are gathered depending on their barangays for the distribution. For the first quarter of 2017, the social-pension distribution would run for seven days, from April 3 to April 5, at the Ususan Covered Court; April 6 and April 7 at the North Signal Plaza 7; and April 10 and April 11 at the Taguig Lakeshore Hall. Pensioners are required to bring
their senior citizen ID card and a signed photocopy of the said ID card. Authorized representatives should bring an authorization letter, the senior citizen card of the beneficiary, a valid ID card and a photo of the senior citizen holding a newspaper dated before the scheduled payout. The recipients are indigent senior citizens of the city who have documents that prove they are not receiving any pension from other government agencies, like the Social Security System, Government Service Insurance System and the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office. Jordan said the monetary assistance from the government has been a huge help to the elderly, who are mostly widows whose children already have their own families to take care of. Asked how her office was able to attain a high efficiency rating for the distribution of the social pension, Jordan said strictly adhering to DSWD rules was the key. She said her office places a premium on the comfort of the city’s elderly indigents when they come to receive their pension. During the distribution of social
pension, Jordan said snacks and beverages are given to the beneficiaries to make sure they feel comfortable and well-cared for. Apart from their pension, elderly indigents in Taguig receive birthday cash gifts amounting to P1,500. For the past three years, resident centenarians have been receiving P100,000 annually. The city also conducts house-tohouse delivery of free maintenance medicines for diabetes, high blood and asthma. The elderly is among the top priorities for the TLC Home Care Service, a program the city pioneered in 2015 to provide free nursing services to residents in the comfort of their homes. Senior citizens can also avail themselves of free eye checkups and prescription glasses under the Oplan Linaw program. It’s not all about physical welfare, however. The city also wants its senior citizens to enjoy leisure activities. Thus, they can also avail themselves and enjoy free movies every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at movie houses located in the city. The city government also plans to build a five-story building with a park that will serve as a recreational area for its elderly citizens.
Deep sleep found key to health of elderly people
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AN FRANCISCO, California— Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, have found the unmet sleep needs of the elderly elevate their risk of memory loss and a wide range of mental and physical disorders. In an article published on April 5 in the journal Neuron, the researchers argued unlike more cosmetic markers of aging, such as wrinkles and gray hair, sleep deterioration has been linked to such conditions as Alzheimer’s disease, heart disease, obesity, diabetes and stroke. “Nearly every disease killing us in later life has a causal link to lack of sleep,” said the article’s senior author, Matthew Walker, a UC Berkeley professor of psychology and neuroscience. “We’ve done a good job of extending life span, but a poor job of extending our health span. We now see sleep, and improving sleep, as a new pathway for helping remedy that.” Though older people are less likely than younger cohorts to no-
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Iloilo City govt to look into feasibility of additional cash incentives for centenarians
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LOILO CITY—The provision of additional cash incentives to centenarians will depend on the availability of funds, Iloilo City Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog said in response to an ordinance enacted by the Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) “honoring and granting additional benefits and privileges to Ilonggo centenarians”. The mayor said the ordinance passed by the SP on Tuesday is yet to reach his office. However, even without the local legislation, the city government has already initiated the Centenarian Incentive Award that grants P10,000 each to an elderly who reached the age of 100. The fund is taken from the 0.5-percent share intended for senior citizens from the 1 percent of the city’s annual budget. The 1-percent share from the budget is mandatory. It is divided between persons with disability and the senior citizens. Aside from the Centenarian Incentive Award, the fund intended for senior citizens is also being utilized for the local social pension of indigent elderly. Just last month, the city government completed the distribution of around P5 million for 10,000 indigent senior citizens. The money, said Elpidio D. Azuelo Jr. of the Office of the Senior Citizens Affairs Office, was one-half of what was allotted for the poorest of the poor senior citizens. The city government allots P1,000 annually for the target recipients. “I’ll have it reviewed by our budget,” Mabilog said, adding according to a study conducted prior to the provision of the local social
pension, the city government can only afford P1,000. However, he said once the budget review showed the city has fund, then there was no question as to the granting of additional cash incentives. “What is important is that it falls within the 0.5-percent share of the senior citizens,” he said. On April 4 Councilor Armand Parcon, chairman of the Committee on Veterans, Retirees, Elderly and Disabled Persons, was able to get the nod of his colleagues for his ordinance appropriating P1 million annually for the additional cash incentives. “There is a need to give tribute to Ilonggo centenarians who have spent their lifetime in contributing to nation-building, it pays homage to life and longevity. The dwindling centenarian population, living to 100 years is a milestone definitely worth the celebration,” Parcon said. Meanwhile, Azuelo said since 2013 until this year, the Centenarian Incentive Award has already benefited 28 of their members. Just this year two centenarians received P10,000 each and a certificate from the city government. The highest number of centenarians who were granted the P10,000 was in 2014 with 13 and in 2016 with 10. In 2015 the incentive was availed by three centenarians. A zuelo, however, said they have not monitored whether all the grantees are still alive as of press time. At the national level, centenarians are also entitled to a P100,000 cash incentive through the Department of Social Welfare and Development. PNA
WHO warns: World slipping into depression
M GRANDMA’S CRUNCHY FRUIT GALORE Her advancing age does not prevent this elderly woman from running her fruit stall along the national highway in Roxas, Isabela. LEONARDO PERTANTE II
tice and/or report mental fogginess and other symptoms of sleep deprivation, numerous brain studies reveal how poor sleep leaves them cognitively worse off. Moreover, the shift from deep,
consolidated sleep in youth to fitful, dissatisfying sleep can start as early as one’s 30s, paving the way for sleep-related cognitive and physical ailments in middle age. Walker and fellow researchers
CANDON, ILOCOS SUR, CENTENARIANS The four oldest citizens of Candon, Ilocos Sur, were honored during the International Candonians Reunion 2017 at the Civic Center in Candon City. The celebration was led by House Deputy Speaker Rep. Eric D. Singson and City Mayor Ericson G. Singson of Candon City and their city officials. Honored were Teodocia G. Crisostomo, 104 years old; Melicia G. Valdez, 103; Cleofe Carino, 102; and Teodocia Toquero, 104. MAU VICTA
cite studies showing the aging brain has trouble generating the kind of slow brain waves that promote deep curative sleep, as well as the neurochemicals that help people switch stably from sleep to wakefulness. “The parts of the brain deteriorating earliest are the same regions that give us deep sleep,” said lead author Bryce Mander, a postdoctoral researcher in Walker’s Sleep and Neuroimaging Laboratory at UC Berkeley. Aging typically brings on a decline in deep nonrapid eye movement or “slow wave sleep”, and the characteristic brain waves associated with it, including both slow waves and faster bursts of brain waves known as “sleep spindles”. Youthful, healthy slow waves and spindles help transfer memories and information from the hippocampus, which provides the brain’s short-term storage, to the prefrontal cortex, which consolidates the information, acting as the brain’s long-term storage. “Sadly, both these types of sleep-brain waves diminish markedly as we grow old, and we are now discovering this sleep decline is related to memory decline in later life,” said Joseph Winer, a doctoral student in Walker’s lab. PNA/Xinhua
O S COW—T he Wor ld Hea lt h Orga n i z at ion (WHO) has made some startling revelations ahead of the upcoming World Health Day as the leading cause of ill health and disability worldwide turned out to be depression. The WHO warned currently over 300 million people over the world are trying to cope with depression and urged the international community to rethink the approach toward mental disorders as at present, people with mental illnesses get little or no support in many countries. Dr. Shekhar Saxena, director of the WHO Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse, said the number of people in the world suffering from depression increased by 18 percent over the past decade. “The world is having more and more of depression; it has shown an 18-percent increase in the last 10 years. As of now, there are more than 300 million people suffering from depression anywhere in the world. The reasons for this increase are, of course, the increase in population, but also the increase in the age of the population because depression is more common among middleaged people, as well as the elderly,” he said. Saxena also warned depression is in fact an insidious and severe disease that affects the afflicted in several ways. “People [with depression] are not able to work, people are not able to study, they’re not able to
look up to their day-to-day, as well as any social interactions that might be needed. Depression is also responsible for absenteeism, as well as presentism which is actually when the person is on the job, but cannot perform, as well. But the most severe and most devastating impact of depression is suicide. Not all of the suicides are caused by depression, but depression is definitely one of the leading risk factors for suicide,” Saxena said. The global response to depression appears to be “much smaller than it should be”, both in highand low-income countries, and due to the fact depression is being stigmatized, many people suffering from it either don’t realize that they have depression or refuse to accept it. “We don’t ask the right questions to a person we suspect might be having depression. So the main theme for this World Health Day, which was on April 7, on depression, is ‘Let’s Talk ’…We start talking about it, and then things can happen and lives can be saved…. But certainly there’s a lot of stigma, a lot of discrimination, and a lot of hesitancy in people accepting that they might have depression,” Dr. Sa xena said. Saxena said despite the severe nature of this threat, “depression can be treated, so early identification is important” and medical treatment, as well as therapy, are extremely effective in curing this insidious malady. PNA/Sputnik
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The Millennials BusinessMirror
NY’s free-tuition program will help traditional, but not typical, students
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By David W. Chen | New York Times News Service
HE program to provide free tuition for students at New York state’s public colleges and universities passed on Friday by the Legislature has been hailed as a breakthrough and a model for other states that will change the lives of students at public colleges across the state. The Excelsior Scholarship, as the program is called, is expected to cut the cost of a degree from a four-year State University of New York (SUNY) college—now almost $83,000 for tuition, fees and room and board—by about $26,000 for an eligible family making $100,000 a year. That is a substantial reduction but still means paying about $57,000 over four years. And it was met with accolades from, among others, Hillary Clinton, who posted on Twitter: “Let’s celebrate New York state getting something important done that we wanted to do nationally. A great step for progressives.” The program, which Gov. Andrew Cuomo made a legislative priority, will primarily benefit traditional students—those who go to college straight from high school and earn their degrees on time. The state’s college students, increasingly, are not like that. Many of them attend part time and take extra years to earn their degrees, so Excelsior will not help them. To qualify, students must attend school full time and be on track to graduate within two or four years,
depending on the degree they are seeking. But low-income students often must interrupt their studies to work. At the state’s community colleges, more than 90 percent of students would not qualify for free tuition based on those requirements. Even at its four-year colleges, 60 percent would be ineligible. Because Excelsior is what is known as a “last dollar” program that kicks in on top of other scholarships and grants, its benefit to the poorest students would be limited. Tuition bills at the City University of New York or CUNY—already among the lowest in the country, with two- and four-year tuition roughly ranging between $4,350 and $6,470—are often covered by federal Pell Grants or state aid. What those students most need help with—living expenses, books and fees—will not be covered by Excelsior.
Cautioning
D. Bruce Johnstone, a former SUNY chancellor, cautioned against raising expectations too much. “It will help a slice of middle-class students, but it’s only a slice,” he said.
“If you’re really concerned about students who are not attending because of the reality or the perception of unaffordability, this is not the way to help them,” he said. “This is going to cost money, and it will make some parents happy, but I don’t see it moving the accessibility needle.” After graduation, scholarship recipients must live and work in New York for as many years as they received a tuition award. If they break that commitment, the tuition grant becomes a loan that must be repaid. Cuomo is expected to sign Excelsior into law on Wednesday at LaGuardia Community College in Queens, part of the CUNY system, where he announced the plan in January accompanied by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who made free tuition at public colleges a cornerstone of his presidential campaign. A few states, like Tennessee and Oregon, offer free tuition to high-school graduates, primarily at two-year public colleges. But New York would be the first to also cover four-year public colleges. Without question, people who have reviewed the Excelsior program say it could aid thousands of people by making college more affordable for middle-class families who make as much as $125,000 annually by 2019. SUNY estimated that one-fifth of its undergraduates, or 80,000 students, would qualify for the program, based on the numbers who attend full time and graduate within four years. The numbers are smaller at CUNY, where 3,000 to 5,000 would qualify, or a small percentage of the total student body.
Misgivings
NANCY L. Zimpher, SUNY’s departing chancellor, said the pro-
gram’s emphasis on expanding eligibility was “innovative” and could be a “breakthrough”. And despite some misgivings mentioned by lawmakers and others, she said: “I have been impressed by the political will to be flexible and try this on. I think we need to give this a shot.” Sara Goldrick-Rab, a professor of higher education policy and sociology at Temple University, said the emphasis on free tuition could encourage many people to apply. But Goldrick-Rab, the author of the recent book, Paying the Price: College Costs, Financial Aid, and the Betrayal of the American Dream, called the provision that students must live and work in New York a “poison pill” by limiting mobility, among other factors. “I was fully supportive of this bill until I saw the final language,” she said.
Criticism
AT an event on Monday, Cuomo and his budget director, Robert Mujica, who is also on CUNY’s Board of Trustees, defended the requirement to live and work in New York and other aspects of the scholarship, which is expected to cost $87 million in its first year, the 2017-2018 school year, and $163 million by its third. “The rationale is clear,” Cuomo said. “Why should New Yorkers pay for your college education and then you take off and you move to California? The concept of investing in you and your education is that you’re going to stay here and be an asset to the state. if you don’t stay here, then go to California and let them pay for your college education.” In a conference call on Tuesday, Mujica and Melissa DeRosa, Cuomo’s
chief of staff, expressed confidence that the program would increase graduation rates. And they played down the impact of the requirement, noting that there are exceptions and that 85 percent to 90 percent of SUNY students stay in New York after graduation. “This is something we are proud of,” DeRosa said. “Anytime you do something big, there are the naysayers who come out of the woodwork to criticize it.”
Skepticism
As to the program’s benefit for the lowest-income students, administration officials have long noted that their tuition is already covered for the most part by state and federal aid and that there are state programs to help students cover other expenses. Cuomo has always emphasized that his plan is designed to help middle-class families—from his news release announcing the proposal in January to a post on Sunday on Medium, a blogging website. In that post, which heralded a deal with state legislators, he wrote, “The Excelsior Scholarship will make college accessible to thousands of working and middle-class students, and shows the difference that government can make.” E.J. McMahon, founder and research director of the Empire Center for Public Policy, a fiscally conservative watchdog group that has often criticized Cuomo, was skeptical. “From the start, this thing showed every sign of having been hastily reverse-engineered from the governor’s desired headline,” he said. “He’s gotten that headline—‘First in the nation.’ Now we have to consider details and confront the possible consequences.”
Report: Las Vegas draws more millennial, first-time visitors By Regina Garcia Cano The Associated Press
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AS VEGAS—The US gambling mecca’s efforts to draw millennials and new visitors are paying off. A third of Las Vegas tourists last year were millennials—those between 18 to 35—up from less than a quarter in 2015, according to a report commissioned by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority and released on Wednesday. The increase in younger visitors is undoubtedly good news to the destination that has been adding attractions to remain relevant to a generation not as fond of gambling as their elders. The data also showed that 27 percent of the city’s 42.9 million visitors in 2016 were first-timers. So, who came to Sin City and what did they do? Here’s a profile of average visitors:
How old are you?
THE city set a record for visitation in 2016, though the number of baby boomers dropped to 28 percent from 35 percent in 2015. Generation X visitors made up 35 percent of tourists, down 1 percent, while millennial travelers increased to 34 percent from 24 percent a year earlier. “The product that we have now really appeals to millennials,” said Bo Bernhard, director of the International Gaming Institute at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and a noted scholar on gambling and hospitality in Las Vegas. “Nightclubs are like theater to millennials. They are experiencing a very different Las Vegas than their grandparents.” Take MGM Resorts International, which several years ago created a
In this April 4 photo, the fountains of Bellagio erupt along the Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas. A report from the resort’s biggest travel booster released on April 5 shows 34 percent of Las Vegas visitors in 2016 were millennials. That’s up from 24 percent in 2015. AP
committee dedicated to reimagining the gaming experience with the millennial demographic in mind. The company recently opened an interactive and skill-based gaming social venue at the MGM Grand that is essentially a hybrid bar, arcade and gambling lounge. The company has hosted e-sports tournaments and even released a set of emojis last December. “We’ve created dining destinations that are social and engaging and created food and beverage experiences ideal for sharing socially,” said Jenn Michaels, MGM’s senior vice president of public relations.
“And, of course, we are looking at our gaming floors and identifying how those can evolve to appeal to today’s traveler.”
New tourists
THE increase of first-time visitors is comparable to the level Las Vegas experienced in the mid-1990s, the report said. It attributed the renewed interest to the recovery of the national economy, an increase in millennials who discovered the city and the reinvestment by hotels and others on new experiences and activities. “Indeed, it is quite possible that
the varied and targeted entertainment options and related venues currently in Las Vegas have served to attract new visitors to the destination much the same as the ‘new’ megaresorts did in the 1990s,” according to the report by GLS Research, a San Francisco-based public opinion and market research firm. Its data is based on information volunteered by 3,600 random tourists polled during 2016. Ninety-one percent of visitors said they would recommend Las Vegas to others.
Hitting the casino floor
THE number of visitors who gambled
during their trip has remained at about seven in 10 over the past five years, the data show. But gamblers are spending a lot less time on the casino floor. Last year visitors spent an average of 1.9 hours gambling, that’s an hour less than in 2015 and more than 2 hours less than two decades ago. “They are spending more time enjoying the nongaming amenities,” said Kevin Bagger, executive director of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority’s research center. Those other activities include day club-nightclubs, concerts, shows and sports events. AP
Saturday, April 15, 2017
A9
The digital nomad life: Combining work, travel By Tanya Mohn
New York Times News Service
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N a recent afternoon in Medellín, Colombia, a group of 22 out-of-towners gathered to brainstorm and then met up with locals. They weren’t on vacation. Nor had they met by coincidence. They were participants in a program run by Unsettled, a new start-up that organizes 30-day coworking experiences around the world for creative people, entrepreneurs and other professionals seeking to combine work, travel and redefining themselves. The company is one of dozens of new work-tourism programs that aim to help workers known as digital nomads navigate living and working in far-off places. “If we could be somewhere, experiencing the world in a beautiful setting while working, challenging ourselves, growing professionally, enjoying a community of like-minded people and connecting locally, what’s stopping us?” said Michael Youngblood, 32, who founded Unsettled with another digital nomad, Jonathan Kalan, 29. The name Unsettled “is about turning something perceived as a negative into a positive”, Kalan said. “Everybody feels unsettled at some point. If you’re unsettled by a 9-to5 job, then why not embrace the uncertainty?” The concept resonated with Stacey Chassoulas, a digital marketer from Johannesburg. She joined Unsettled’s program in Buenos Aires in the fall “to change the rhythms of daily life” and test the waters of remote work with her partner, Tyrone Niland. Both are 36 and love to travel but wanted to keep their jobs and home. “I wanted to see if it was a lifestyle that would mesh with the corporate world,” said Niland, a partner at Bramel Business Solutions, a small private equity advisory firm. “Concepts like Unsettled are very new to South Africa’s professional environment,” but his company was supportive “as long as I could take phone calls and respond to e-mails,” he said. Steve King, a partner at Emergent Research, an independent research and consulting firm, said combining work and travel was not new, but interest has been increasing. “We still don’t know how many digital nomads there are,” he said. “It’s hard to measure, but it’s pretty clearly growing at a strong rate.” He attributed the increase in the number of remote workers to improved technology, a changing job market and inexpensive flights. The two main groups fueling it, he said, are millennials interested in taking time off from traditional work and aging baby boomers who have financial resources and flexibility. “Humans are social beings,” King said. “It’s not easy to penetrate foreign cultures, so help in that process is hugely important.”
Plentiful resources
RESOURCES are plentiful. They include Nomad List, a web site that ranks destinations that are accommodating to digital nomads, based on factors like cost of living, Internet speed and weather; and groups like Remote Year and Hacker Paradise. “They can help make living and working wherever we want possible,” said Johannes Voelkner, founder of Nomad Cruise, who organizes twoweek networking cruises for digital nomads twice a year. “A lot of people think, ‘I wish I could do this.’ But they make it too complicated—they try to change their complete lives instead of starting with a short test.”
BusinessMirror
A10 Saturday, April 15, 2017
Japan start-ups seeing ample cash but lack of innovators
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OKYO—Japan Inc. where companies with roots going back decades, if not centuries, have long dominated, is finally warming up to start-ups.
Major banks and venture capitalists are keen to tap into faster growth by investing in innovative entrepreneurs, when they can find them. Money raised for ventures in Japan reached a record ¥276 billion ($2.5 billion) last year. T hat ’s up f rom about ¥50 billion ($450 million) annually after the financial crisis, according to Japan Venture Research Co.
Open fields
SILICON Valley still raises 50 times more cash for start-ups than Japan, but the number of US start-ups chasing that cash is higher. So there’s relatively more money to go around in Japan, where young, daring risktakers are still relatively scarce. That helps startups to survive, says Yusuke Asakura, who heads a Tokyo-based angel network of entrepreneurs. Still, he says Japan needs a change of “mind-set”.“Japanese value hard work, but what creates innovation is not keeping at the hard work but deciding it is too much work and figuring out how not to do it,” said Asakura, who led a turnaround as chief executive at Mixi, a social networking service in Japan. He now sits on boards of two startups—Raksul, an online service that farms printing work out to plants nationwide, and digital hotel reservation service, Loco Partners, which was recently bought by Japanese telecoms operator Kokusai Denshin Denwa. “ There is potential for startups in a l l t he old-fash ioned sectors,” he said, pointing to growing use of digital tools in education and home remodeling.
“Creating a totally new sector is one way. But there are many old areas that need fixing.”
Cool stethoscope
AR ATA Ohwa did exactly that: Innovating in an area where practically nothing had changed for decades. H i s Tok yo - ba se d st a r t - up Classico sells stylish lab coats and scrub tops online to doctors and nurses around the world, especially in the US and Japan. Classico coats cost about $200 each, about seven times more than utilitarian conventional ones, but are more fashionable. More recently, Ohwa raised seed money through crowd funding to begin designing, making and selling ergonomic stethoscopes that sell from $380 to $520 apiece. Classico’s U Scope is made of a more pliant material than traditional stethoscopes, whose basic design has been the same for a century. It can be rolled up to fit into a pocket, and doctors say it’s light and easy to use. This year it won Germany’s iF Design Award and Red Dot Design Award. “In the medical industry, even if you do what’s considered normal in the Internet world, everyone says it’s new,” said Ohwa, 36.
Hot start-ups
INVESTMENT by financial institutions and manufacturers, some of whom are setting up corporate venture capital funds, is driving the start-up boom. Local companies that once tended to think locally without considering overseas markets are increasingly focusing on global platforms, said Akira Kitamura, chief executive at Ja-
pan Venture Research. “Companies are investing in open innovation because they don’t want to end up like Sharp or Toshiba,” said Kitamura, referring to big-name companies whose fortunes have fallen in recent years. Japa n’s ea rl iest “sta r t-up” ventures were in the 1970s. The 1980s brought Internet giant Softbank Corp., travel company H.I.S. and the Culture Convenience Club, a video-rental chain. Online retailer Rakuten and game company DeNA were born during the dot.com boom of the late 1990s to early 2000s. Until recently, such newcomers were viewed by suspicion. The classic example is Takafumi Horie, whose downfall was as dramatic as his ascent as a star entrepreneur and founder of dot. com Livedoor. He was convicted in 2007 for financial crimes that usually do not land old-guard executives in jail. Horie, who pleaded innocent, spent nearly two years in prison. Startups still face other hurdles in Japan, where initial public offerings remain the main e x it option, rat her t han t he relatively easier mergers and acquisitions approach ty pical of the US and Europe.
Newsmaker
YUSUKE Umeda, the 35-yearold cochief executive of Tokyobased start-up Uzabase, is banking on a smartphone subscription news ser vice focused on business and economic news. Umeda’s NewsPicks ser vice has attracted 2 million users who each pay ¥1,500 ($14) a month, 550,000 of them daily active users. It eked out a profit last year on nearly ¥3.1 billion ($31 million) in sales, up 63 percent from 2015. The service produces origin a l stor ies a nd col lec ts a nd curates reports from The Wall Street Journal, Forbes Japan, TechCrunch and other news services. It also adds comments to items written by its own pool of hired writers and experts.
“And so they know it’s not fake news,” Umeda said. W hile working for the Swiss investment bank UBS, Umeda found Western financial data services hard to use. He launched Speeda, a Japanese-lang uage service designed for financial professionals in 2009, and NewsPicks in 2013. His company has gotten said ¥1 billion ($9 million) in Japanese venture money from investors such as Globis, Monex and Itochu Technology Ventures. “It’s unimaginable how easy it has become to get funding from both big companies and venture capital,” Umeda said. “ The culture to nurture startups and try out new businesses is also growing. That was totally absent eight years ago. That’s a big change. And I think that is positive.”
Many tongues
SOME start-ups, like software distributor Sourcenext Cor p., serve as bridges between Japan and the rest of the world. S ou rc e ne x t he lp e d f a c i l i tate launches of Dropbox and Evernote in Japan. Its iOS and Android voice-recognition application, iGotcha, transcribes voicemails into text in 11 different languages. The app sends messages to e-mail and Facebook Messenger accounts by Wi-fi and collects and organizes voicemails from a user’s mobile-phone numbers. Noriyuki Matsuda, the company’s billionaire chief executive, founded the company in 1996 in Japan but has lived in California since 2012. W h i le t he c l i m ate towa rd ventures is gradually improving in Japan, it still hasn’t caught up with more globally-minded Silicon Valley, says Matsuda, 51. “You can make deals there,” Matsuda, who used to work for IBM Japan, said of Silicon Valley. “ There are many advanced tools that have been developed in Silicon Valley, and we bring those products and the culture to Japan.” AP
Facebook launches resource to help spot misleading news
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EW YORK—Facebook is launching a resource to help you spot false news and misleading information that spreads on its service. The resource, similar to previous efforts around privacy and security, is basically a notification that pops up for a few days. Clicking on it takes you to tips and other information on how to spot false news, and what to do about it. Tips to spot false news include looking closely at website addresses to see if they are trying to spoof real news sites, and checking websites’ “about” sections for more information. Some sites might look like real news at first glance, but their “about” sections inform the visitor that they are, in fact, satire. Adam Mosseri, vice president of News Feed at Facebook, said he hopes people will become “more discerning consumers” of news. The new feature is part of a broader plan by Facebook to clamp down false news stories, which gained outsized attention in the months leading up to the 2016 US presidential election. False news, of course, was around long before the election. But supermarket tabloids peddling stories about aliens and celebrity miracles are less insidious than, say, “Pizzagate”, a false
In this June 11, 2014, file photo, a man walks past a Facebook sign in an office on the Facebook campus in Menlo Park, California. Facebook announced on April 6 that it is launching a tool to help users spot false news articles on the site.
internet rumor that led a gunman to fire an assault weapon inside a Washington pizzeria in December. Facebook has been “working very hard to figure out how to get their arms wrapped around this,” said Lucy Dalglish, journalism dean at the University of Maryland. “Facebook was always very interested in technology but not the social and civic implications of technology. It’s like they have become citizens.” She praised the company for seeking help from outside experts, including academics, researchers and nonprofit journalism organizations. The company, for instance, is working with outside fact-checking and media organizations to
identify false news as such. And once they are identified, Facebook is trying to dry up the “economic incentives” of false news sites by making it difficult for them to buy ads on Facebook. Mosseri said most of the false news content on Facebook is from spammers trying to seek a profit, and not, for example, political propaganda. This is apparent as the sites often flip-flop around opposing political candidates or ideologies, for example, or have multiple pages that support different candidates. Facebook’s other efforts include the creation, with other companies, groups and tech leaders, of a “news integrity” nonprofit to promote news literacy and increase
the public’s trust in journalism. A nascent Facebook Journalism Project , meanwhile, is a lofty effort to work with news organizations to develop products, provide tools for journalists and generally promote trust in news. The new feature will be available in 14 countries, including the US, Germany, France, Italy, the UK, Philippines, Taiwan and Brazil. Also on Thursday Facebook said that its messaging app, Messenger, will soon start showing users suggestions from a virtual assistant to users in the US. The artificial intelligence-powered assistant, called M, will suggest things it deems might be helpful to users based on the conversations they are having. This can include sending stickers, sharing your location with a friend to meet up, hailing a ride or sending money to friends. The more someone uses M, the “smarter” it gets—and if the suggestions are routinely ignored, it will stop providing them. While having a virtual assistant monitor your private messages can sound creepy, Facebook stresses that there is no advertising component to the move. Facebook unveiled M in 2015, but until now it’s only been testing out the suggestions with a small percentage of Messenger users. AP
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YouTube TV has some nifty features, some big drawbacks By Anick Jesdanun AP Technology Writer
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EW YORK—YouTube TV, Google’s new streaming package of about 40 television channels, is the tech industry’s latest bid to get cableshunning millennials to pay for live TV over the Internet. It offers intriguing advantages over rivals, but it remains hobbled by a limited channel selection. D o n ’ t c o n f u s e t h e Yo u Tube service, which debuts on Wednesday, with Netf lix, Amazon Prime and other streaming offerings. Like similar efforts from Sony, Dish and AT&T ’s DirecTV, YouTube TV primarily aims to let you channel surf over the Internet, not to stream from an online library of shows and movies. So these Internet-cable services can offer live programming, especially sports. But they also come with some serious drawbacks. W hile these services are typically cheaper than traditional cable or satellite services, people haven’t been signing up in droves. Google is targeting viewers who have never subscribed to cable or satellite TV and are just as happy to get all their videos from the internet; getting them to cough up $35 a month could be a hard sell. Google aims to lure subscribers with more sophisticated program search, personalized recommendations and a more fully featured online DVR than rival services offer. But it faces many of the limitations its rivals have. YouTube TV, for instance, features staples such as ESPN and major broadcast networks, but lacks key networks such as PBS, CNN and Comedy Central. And it will initially be only available in a handful of major US cities because media rights are still stuck in the 20th century .
What you get...and what you don’t
YOUTUBE TV offers plenty of live sports, one of the chief reasons people stick with cable. Pick a team, and the service automatically records all the televised games it can find. Available channels include ESPN, Big Ten and sports networks from Comcast, Fox and CBS—but not Turner networks such as TBS and others that aired the bulk of March Madness. New York Mets fans won’t get baseball games on SNY. YouTube also has the youthoriented Freeform and CW networks; its rivals lack The CW. AMC is coming in a few weeks, so you’ll have to wait to catch up on the just-ended season of “ The Walking Dead ”. Since most channel numbers and names are meaningless in a digital world, YouTube TV ar-
ranges live channels by topic, star ting w ith broadcast networks, sports, youth-oriented channels, then everything else. Subscriptions are initially limited to New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia and the San Francisco Bay Area—all locations where YouTube could get rights to local ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC stations.
Search party
AS you’d expect from Google, search is one of YouTube’s big selling points. Its rivals already offer search by shows and sometimes by actors; YouTube adds topical searches, such as “aliens” or “road trips”. Unfortunately, it’s still a work in progress. A search for “nerd comedy” brings up “The Big Bang T heor y”, but “comedy about nerds” does not. And a search for “Modern Family episode on basketball ” doesn’t bring up the episode titled “Basketball ”. YouTube could also stand to take a cue from TiVo recorders and let you automatically record all programs featuring, say, Jennifer Lawrence, including her talk-show appearances. You can search for Jennifer Lawrence, but you need to go through the results and choose shows to record ind iv idua l ly—too muc h work for a service that promises simplicity. One big plus: YouTube’s unlimited DVR will store recordi n g s for n i ne mont h s , lon g enough for entire seasons of network shows. Sony’s PlayStation Vue—the only similar service offering an unlimited online DVR—offers only 28 days of storage, nowhere near enough for binge-watching. YouTube TV works on phones, tablets and laptop browsers. Watching on an actual TV requires Google’s Chromecast, an inexpensive streaming stick you control with your phone (Early subscribers get one for free).
About your privacy
THIS being Google, your viewing and search histories might be mined for targeted advertising. You can suspend tracking in the settings, though that will hinder personalized recommendations (It’s too early to tell if that’s a loss or not, though some of the ea rly recommend at ions have been spot on). You can share your subscription with five friends or relatives in your household, with three simultaneous streams allowed. No need to share passwords; they sign in with their own Google accounts. Recordings and recommendations are kept separate, so your roommates can’t make fun of you for bingeing The Real Housewives.
Google says there is no gender pay gap By Barbara Ortutay, AP Technology Writer
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EW YORK—Google said it’s “taken aback” by the government’s claim that it doesn’t compensate women fairly. The company said it conducts “rigorous analyses” that its pay practices are gender-blind and found “no gender pay gap” in 52 major job categories it analyzed last year. Google added that analysts who calculate suggested pay don’t have access to employees’ gender data. Google also said that beyond gender pay
equity, the company recently expanded the analysis to cover race in the US as well. The US Department of Labor had accused Google of shortchanging women doing similar work to men, saying it found “systemic compensation disparities” across the company’s workforce. Google responded in a blog post on Tuesday that the department’s assertion “came without any supporting data or methodology”. The company said it had already produced hundreds of thousands of documents in response to 18 separate requests, and the government is seeking thousands more, including contact details of employees.
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Regulator urges DPOs to ensure protection during Holy Week break
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HE National Privacy Commission (NPC) on Tuesday ordered Data Protection Officers (DPOs) in the government to ensure the security of personal data in their respective agencies’ care during the long weekend of April 13 to April 16.
“ This is in order to prevent data breaches, such as the one that happened in 2016 during the same period,” the NPC said in a statement. “ The minimal staffing during official holidays, such as Holy Week, makes data processing systems vulnerable
not only to online data breaches but to physical security breaches as well. In this regard, please take the necessary precautions to safeguard personal data.” The NPC’s suggested precautions include placing non-mission critical systems off-line
especially those that contain or have access to personal data. “For systems that are kept off-line, ensure that all system activities are recorded and the aforementioned logs are secure,” the NPC said. “Password-protect or encrypt files and databases on servers, desktop computers and other devices.” The NPC also suggested that DPOs conduct a backup of systems and databases and discourage physical breaches by securing office premises adequately. Privacy Commissioner Raymund E. Liboro likened the protection of personal data during long holidays to securing one’s home when leaving for an out of town trip. “W hen one leaves for a long vacation or when you leave home for a long period of time
unattended, you make sure that security precautions are in place to ensure that break-ins do not happen,” Liboro said in a statement. “ The same way our DPOs should safeguard their information-technology systems, as well as ensure that adequate physical security are in place during times of minimal staffing.” A c c o r d i n g t o L i b o r o, t h e bank ing sector is a lso v ulnerable, citing the Bangladesh bank heist of 2016 a lso happened on a long weekend (C h inese New Yea r). “ T he econom ic sig nif ica nce of t he f i n a nc i a l sec tor i s t he rea son we a re look i ng to h ave a genera l a ssembly of DPOs f rom t he f i n a nce a nd ba n k i ng s e c tor ne x t ,” L i b oro a d d e d . O live r Sa mson
Yahoo! accused of mismanaging fund for dissidents in China By Michael Liedtke
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AP Technology Writer
AN FRANCISCO—A lawsuit accused Yahoo! of breaking a financial promise it made to Chinese dissidents almost a decade ago as penance for helping the Chinese government find and jail other activists. The complaint, filed on Tuesday in a Washington, D.C., federal court by a group of Chinese dissidents, contends that Yahoo! mismanaged a $17-million fund set up to provide financial aid to activists.
Embroiled in China
YA HOO! created the humanrights fund in 2007, days after US legislators roasted the company for providing authorities with information that led to the imprisonment of two Chinese dissidents, Wang Xiaoning and Shi Tao. The complaint alleges that Yahoo! allowed Harry Wu, a nowdeceased dissident from China, to spend about $13 million of the fund enriching himself and pursuing other projects tied to his interests. Only $700,000 has been doled out to Chinese dissidents who had been imprisoned for expressing their opinions online, the reason Yahoo! bankrolled the fund, according to the lawsuit. Yahoo! declined to comment. The plaintiffs want Yahoo! to replenish the fund and to pay unspecified damages. The suit arrives at a delicate time for Yahoo!, which is preparing to sell its online operations to Verizon Communications for $4.5 billion.
Lectured by Congress
THE unflattering portrait drawn
This January 14, 2015, file photo shows a sign outside Yahoo!’s headquarters in Sunnyvale, California A new lawsuit accuses Yahoo! of turning its back on Chinese dissidents that it promised to help after the company fingered other activists at the request of China’s government. AP
in the lawsuit represents yet another blotch on Yahoo!’s record in China. Yahoo!’s role in fingering Wang and Shi subjected the Sunnyvale, California, company to withering criticism that culminated in Yahoo! cofounder Jerry Yang being grilled during a Congressional hearing. “W hile technologically and financially you are giants, morally you are pygmies,” Rep. Tom Lantos, a California Democrat, told Yang. Two days later, Yahoo! announced the $17-million fund as
part of a settlement that ended lawsuits related to its role in the imprisonment of Wang and Shi. “We are committed to making sure our actions match our values around the world,” Yahoo! vowed in a November 2017 statement announcing the fund.
Alleged mismanagement
THE new lawsuit argues Yahoo! instead used the fund as “window dressing” to help shield the company from further ridicule and resolve other lawsuits. Meanwhile, Yahoo! turned a
“blind eye” to Wu’s reckless spending, even though company executives had been warned about the abuses as far back as 2010, according to the complaint. Among other things, the complaint alleges that Wu paid himself and his wife more than $1 million, spent about $4 million buying real estate in Washington and more than $800,000 on his own legal bills, including a case alleging sexual harassment. Wu, who spent 19 years in Chinese labor camps, died last year. AP
Lenovo rolls out gadgets as IDC sees smartphone-shipment growth
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ENOVO Corp. rolled out two gadgets as smartphone shipment are forecast to reach 1.53 billion units this year according to the International Data Corp. (IDC). Lenovo last week rolled out its K6 Note and Lenovo A6600 Plus coming off the smartphone market’s lowest year-over-year growth of 2.5 percent in 2016 based on IDC data. A new forecast from IDC ’s monitoring data “shows worldwide smartphone shipments rebounding in 2017 and beyond”. “While growth is expected to remain in the low single digits, IDC predicts shipment volumes to grow 4.2 percent in 2017 and 4.4 percent in 2018 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.8 percent over the 2016 to 2021 forecast,” IDC said, adding it forecasts
This undated photo courtesy of Lenovo Corp. shows the company’s products
shipments to grow to 1.77 billion in 2021. “From a platform perspective,
IDC doesn’t expect much change throughout the forecast with Android accounting for roughly 85
percent of smartphone shipments and [iOs] making up the rest,” IDC added. Quoting Research Manager Anthony Scarsella, IDC said phone tablets or “phablets” displayed 49percent year-over-year growth, “despite the moderate 2.5-percent growth in 2016 as consumers continue to flock to big-screened devices in both emerging and developed markets.” IDC added it expects total phablet shipments worldwide to reach just under 680 million units by 2021, resulting in a CAGR of 9.2 percent for 2016 to 2021. In comparison, regular smartphones will grow at a rate of just 1.1 percent during the same period, “proving, perhaps, that bigger may be better, or at least more popular when it comes to smartphones.” Isagani de la Paz
Saturday, April 15, 2017
A11
That fingerprint sensor on your phone is not as safe as you think By Vindu Goel
New York Times News Service
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AN FR ANCISCO—Fingerprint sensors have turned modern smartphones into miracles of convenience. A touch of a finger unlocks the phone—no password required. With services like Apple Pay or Android Pay, a fingerprint can buy a bag of groceries, a new laptop or even a $1-million vintage Aston Martin. And pressing a finger inside a banking app allows the user to pay bills or transfer thousands of dollars. W hile such wizardr y is convenient, it has also left a gaping security hole. New findings published on Monday by researchers at New York University and Michigan State University suggest that smartphones can easily be fooled by fake fingerprints digitally composed of many common features found in human prints. In computer simulations, the researchers from the universities were able to develop a set of artificial “MasterPrints” that could match real prints similar to those used by phones as much as 65 percent of the time. The researchers did not test their approach with real phones, and other security experts said the match rate would be significantly lower in real-life conditions. Still, the findings raise troubling questions about the effectiveness of fingerprint security on smartphones. “It’s almost certainly not as worrisome as presented, but it’s almost certainly pretty darn bad,” said Andy Adler, a professor of systems and computer engineering at Carleton University in Canada, who studies biometric security systems. “If all I want to do is take your phone and use your Apple Pay to buy stuff, if I can get into one in 10 phones, that’s not bad odds.” Full human fingerprints are difficult to falsify, but the finger scanners on phones are so small that they read only partial fingerprints. When a user sets up fingerprint security on an Apple iPhone or a phone that runs Google’s Android software, the phone typically takes eight to 10 images of a finger to make it easier to make a match. And many users record more than one finger—say, the thumb and forefinger of each hand. Since a finger swipe has to match only one stored image to unlock the phone, the system is vulnerable to false matches. “It’s as if you have 30 passwords and the attacker only has to match one,” said Nasir Memon, a professor of computer science and engineering at NYU’s Tandon School of Engineering, who is one of three authors of the study, which was published in IEEE Transactions on Information Forensics and Security. The other authors are Aditi Roy, a postdoctoral fellow at NYU’s Tandon School, and A run Ross, a professor of computer science and engineering at Michigan State. Memon said their findings indicated that if you could somehow create a magic glove with a MasterPrint on each finger, you could get into 40 percent to 50 percent of iPhones within the five tries allowed before the phone demands the numeric password, known as a per-
sonal identification number. Apple said the chance of a false match in the iPhone’s fingerprint system was one in 50,000 with one fingerprint enrolled. Ryan James, a company spokesman, said Apple had tested various attacks when developing its Touch ID system, and also incorporated other security features to prevent false matches. Google declined to comment. The actual risk is difficult to quantify. Apple and Google keep many details of their fingerprint technology secret, and the dozens of companies that make Android phones can adapt Google’s standard design in ways that reduce the level of security. Stephanie Schuckers, a professor at Clarkson University and director of the Center for Identification Technology Research, was cautious about the implications of the MasterPrint findings. She said the researchers used a midrange, commercially available software program that was designed to match full fingerprints, limiting the broader applicability of their findings. “To really know what the impact would be on a cell phone, you’d have to try it on the cellphone,” she said. She noted that cell phone-makers and others who use fingerprint security systems are studying antispoofing techniques to detect the presence of a real finger, such as looking for perspiration or examining patterns in deeper layers of skin. A new fingerprint sensor from Qualcomm, for example, uses ultrasound. Phone-makers also said that the ease of touching a finger to unlock a phone meant more users actually turned on security features instead of leaving their phones unlocked—a common habit in the early days of smartphones. Ross acknowledged the l i m it at ion s of t he work . “Most of the current smartphone vendors do not give us access to the fingerprint image,” he said. Still, the team’s fundamental finding that partial fingerprints are vulnerable to spoofing is significant, said Chris Boehnen, the manager of the federal government’s Odin program, which studies how to defeat biometric security attacks as part of the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity. “What’s concerning here is that you could find a random phone, and your barrier to attack is pretty low,” Boehnen said. Phone-makers could easily increase security by making it harder to match the partial fingerprint, he said, “but the average phone company is more worried about you being annoyed that you have to put your finger against the phone two or three times than they are with someone breaking into it.” Adding a larger fingerprint sensor would also decrease the risk, Boehnen said. And some newer biometric security options, such as the iris scanner in Samsung’s new Galaxy S8, are harder to fool. Memon said that despite his research he was still using fingerprint security on his iPhone. “I’m not worried,” he said. “I think it’s still a very convenient way of unlocking a phone. But I’d rather see Apple make me enter the PIN if it’s idle for one hour.”
BusinessMirror
A12 Saturday, April 15, 2016
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HE government must push further the deployment of information and communications technology (ICT) in the countryside to enhance its development.
Bettina Quimson of the Department of ICT (DICT) said the deployment of ICT infrastructure has to be accelerated to hasten the process of inclusive growth. “However, the government must also be prepared to tackle and hurdle the sustainability challenge on ICT rollout in the provinces,” Quimson, DICT deputy executive director for eSociety, said in a roundtable at the recently concluded i-City Summit in Mandaluyong City. She ex plained the gover nment can focus in the delivery of
services for people living in the rural areas. Quimson said the government can build a system that would not require people to go all the way to Metro Manila to secure official documents. “For instance, people still need to go a regional unit of the National Bureau of Investigation [NBI] to get their clearance instead of going to the nearest NBI office.” Prof. Rey na ldo Lugtu of the Asian Institute of Management said academe can play a major role in developing the dig ita l
capabilities of barangays and t he for m at ion of i ntel l igent cities (I-cities) in the countr y. “ T he academe can fil l in the gap by doing research on the policies of the government and recommending the solutions to the problems,” he said. Lugtu added the education sector can also foster collaboration between the government and its potential partners on future projects in ICT. “The academe can advise government to develop a sustainable road map.” The DICT has implemented the National Community eCenters (CeC) Network and instituted the Philippine CeC Program to provide digital capabilities to the country’s 42,029 barangays, according to Quimson. The initial blueprint was the First Strategic Roadmap of the Philippine CeC Program for 2008 to 2010. This was followed by the Strategic Roadmap of the
Philippine Community eCenter Program for 2011 to 2016. “ The new road map is not just connecting people in far-f lung communities,” the DICT said in a statement posted on its web site. “It is giving them the opportunity to change their lives and their futures as their communities gain self-reliance and a new power to initiate change.” According to the DICT, the goal is “to promote the socioeconomic development and enhance the productivity of Filipino communities through the convergence and availability of affordable, appropriate and critical ICT-enabled services in the CeCs, thereby improving the overall quality of life.” Other goals include the establishment and strengthening of CeCs across the country and the provision of services and content for socioeconomic development of communities. Rizal Raoul Reyes
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N executive of a security company warned of more network attacks once the Internet of Things (IoT) comes into full swing. “There will be 20 billion to 100 billion devices connected to the Internet. As the attacks increase, the sophistication also gets higher,” Kevin Chin of Palo Alto Networks (PAN) Inc. said in a news briefing in Makati City. Vincent Oh, director of system engineering, PAN-Asean, urged companies pursuing digital transformation to pursue the same degree of security in their information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure. “You don’t want hackers to penetrate your apps and move into your business,” Oh pointed out. Although companies accept the rising cost of computing power, Chin said ICT executives do not give importance to the security of the networks. Nevertheless, he pointed out that officials should always factor the mathematical element because attacks would cost higher in the long run. Chin, country manager for
PAN Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam, said the Cyber Threat Alliance (CTA) should strengthen its ranks to fight the present and future perils of hacking. “There should be a joint effort in fighting hacking,” he said. C h i n a l so sa id Pa lo A lto introduced advancements to its next-generation securit y platform that extend the ability for customer organizations to safely enable applications, including software as an application services (SaaS) options, content and users regardless of location; prevent successful cyberattacks; simplif y security operations; and securely embrace the cloud. Oh said Palo Alto is aware that security companies must be always aware that new risks are a threat, especially as organizations expand their IT architecture. Oh said inclusion of SaaS application usage to the mix, and the need to secure all these architectures against ever-increasing, sophisticated threats and adversary techniques being used to gain access to assets and data regardless of where they are located. Rizal Raoul Reyes
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A model demonstrates the Welwalk WW-1000, a wearable robotic leg brace designed to help partially paralyzed people walk at the main system with treadmill and monitor, at Toyota Motor Corp.’s head office in Tokyo on April 12. Toyota Motor Corp.’s Welwalk WW-1000 system is made up of a motorized mechanical frame that fits on a person’s leg from the knee down. AP
OKYO—Toyota is introducing a wearable robotic leg brace designed to help partially paralyzed people walk. The Welwalk WW-1000 system is made up of a motorized mechanical frame that fits on a person’s leg from the knee down. The patients can practice walking wearing the robotic device on a special treadmill that can support their weight. Toyota Motor Corp. demonstrated the equipment for reporters at its Tokyo headquarters last Wednesday. One hundred such systems will be rented to medical facilities in Japan later this year, Toyota said. The service entails a one-time initial charge of ¥1 million ($9,000) and a ¥350,000 ($3,200) monthly fee. The gadget is designed to be worn on one leg at a time for patients severely paralyzed on one side of the body due to a stroke or other ailments, Eiichi Saito, a medical doctor and executive vice president at Fujita Health University, explained. The university joined with Toyota in developing the device. A person demonstrating it strapped the brace to her thigh, knee, ankle and foot and then showed how it is used to practice walking on the treadmill. Her body was supported from above by a harness and the motor helped to bend and straighten her knee. Sensors in the device monitor the walking and adjust quickly to help out. Medical staff control the system through a touch panel screen. Japanese automakers have been developing robotics both for manufacturing and other uses. Honda Motor Co.’s Asimo humanoid can run and dance, pour a drink and carry on simple conversations, while Welwalk is more of a system that uses robotics than a stand-alone robot. Given how common paralysis due to strokes is in fast-aging Japan, Toyota’s device could be very helpful, Saito said. He said patients using it can recover more quickly as the sensitive robotic sensor in Welwalk fine-tunes the level of support better than a human therapist can. “This helps just barely enough,” said Saito, explaining that helping too much can slow progress in rehabilitation. The field of robotic aids for walking and rehabilitation is growing quickly. A batterypowered wearable exoskeleton made by Israeli manufacturer ReWalk Robotics enables people relying on a wheelchair to stand upright and walk. Such systems also can aid therapists in monitoring a patient’s progress, Luke Hares, chief technology officer at Cambridge Medical Robotics in Britain, said in a phone interview. “They can be so much more precise,” he said. Previously, Toyota has shown robots that play the violin and trumpet. It plans to start sales in Japan of a tiny boy-like robot for conversational companionship. It is also investing in artificial intelligence and developing self-driving vehicles. Toshiyuki Isobe, Toyota’s chief officer for research, said Welwalk reflects the company’s desire to apply robotics in medicine and other social welfare areas, not just entertainment. The company also has an R2-D2-like machine, called the Human Support Robot, whose mechanical arm can help bed-ridden people pick things up. “Our vision is about trying to deliver mobility for everybody,” said Isobe. “We have been developing industrial robotics for auto manufacturing, and we are trying to figure out how we can use that technology to fill social needs and help people more”. AP
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PPO Electronics Cor p. said sales of its f lagship dual selfie phone, the F3 Plus, posted a strong start after a three-day marketing campaign. In a statement, the Dongguan, Guangdong, China-based Oppo said over 8,000 units of the F3 Plus were sold in concept and dealer stores nationw ide since the debut sale on April 1. “The success of our three-day sale tells us that our newest Selfie Expert answers the growing need for perfect ‘groufies’”, Oppo Philippines Brand Marketing Manager Stephen Cheng was quoted in a statement as saying. Oppo is considered one of the five China smartphone vendors that now accounts for onefifths of the total Southeast Asia
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PYING tools and operational protocols detailed in the recent Vault 7 leak have been used in cyber attacks against at least 40 targets in 16 different countries by a group Symantec Corp. calls “Longhorn”. Symantec said it has been protecting its customers from Longhorn’s tools for the past three years and has continued to track the group in order to learn more about its tools, tactics and procedures. The tools used by Longhorn closely follow development timelines and technical specifications laid out in documents disclosed by WikiLeaks. T he Longhorn group shares some of the same cryptographic protocols specified in the Vault 7 documents, in addition to following leaked guidelines on tactics to avoid detection. Given the close similarities between the tools and techniques, there can be little doubt that Longhorn’s activities and the Vault 7 documents are the work of the same group. According to Symantec, Longhorn has been active since at least 2011. It has used a range of back door Trojans in addition to zeroday vulnerabilities to compromise its targets. Longhorn has infiltrated governments and internationally operating organizations,
smartphone market in 2016, the International Data Corp. (IDC) has said. Being half a decade old in Southeast Asia, the Chinese electronics manufacturer “has become one of the leading vendors by investing heavily in its marketing activities and incentivizing its resellers,” IDC said. IDC added another factor that contributed to Oppo’s inroads in the region’s smartphone market is due to the Chinese vendor’s decision to standardize marketing approach across countries. IDC said Oppo mainly relied “on local celebrities as brand ambassadors to promote itself as an ‘aspirational/trendy’ brand and targeting mainly the millennial crowd.” Isagani dela Paz
in addition to targets in the financial, telecoms, energy, aerospace, information technology, education and natural resources sectors. All of the organizations targeted would be of interest to a nation-state attacker. L onghor n has infected 40 targets in at least 16 countries across the Middle East, Europe, Asia and Africa. On one occasion a computer in the United States was compromised but, following infection, an uninstaller was launched within hours, which may indicate this victim was infected unintentionally. Longhorn first came to Symantec’s attention in 2014 with the use of a zero-day exploit (CVE-20144148) embedded in a Word document to infect a target with Plexor. The malicious software had all the hallmarks of a sophisticated cyber-espionage group. Aside from access to zero-day exploits, the group had preconfigured Plexor with elements that indicated prior knowledge of the target environment. To date, Symantec has found evidence of Longhorn activities against 40 targets spread across 16 different countries. Symantec has seen Longhorn use four different malware tools against its targets. Oliver Samson