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Duterte leads repatriation of displaced OFWs on return trip from the Middle East

Herding back the ‘runaways’

President Duterte mingles with some of the 138 repatriated overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who were granted amnesty, after they were found working illegally in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The President welcomed the repatriated “runaway” OFWs and provided them with cash assistance upon his arrival at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport on Monday following his successful visits to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Qatar. Also in photo is Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III. PNA

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By Elijah Felice E. Rosales

hey came in four separate batches. The first was all women, with some using the traditional Muslim head garb hijab to cover their faces from cameras, while some walked with their heads up high uttering nothing but praises for President Duterte.

The second batch of women later followed. This time however, the group members showed no reluctance to bare their faces, and even talked to reporters. They said most of them worked in Riyadh. The third was a composition of women and children, six months to 12 years old. And the last was an all-male group. Their faces looked blank, and they ignored reporters who tried to interview them.

Broken OFW dreams

They were the 138 repatriates—63

women, 55 men and 20 children— who availed themselves of the Saudi Arabian government’s amnesty program for undocumented workers. And they came back home on Monday with Duterte. “He [Duterte] saved us,” a female repatriate, whose entire face was covered with a hijab, told the BusinessMirror. “Back in Saudi, some of us barely rested and ate because we have to work long labor hours.” She was with her two children, a boy and a girl, who shared her miseries abroad, as both of them

were born there. “At times, my kids have to suffer, too, because I cannot buy them food to eat,” she said in Filipino. The female repatriate was among the first batch of the socalled runaway overseas Filipino workers (OFWs). They were labeled the term because most of them were forced to flee their employers after being maltreated, while some were victims of illegal recruiters. It was on Monday that they finally landed home together with Duterte. And it was a morning of Continued on A2

138

The total number of women, men and children who availed themselves of the Saudi government’s amnesty program for documented workers

Amid the Duterte administration’s massive infra buildup plan from 2017 to 2022

Cement makers jostle for bigger market share nvestors were elated on news that Eagle Cement Corp. is listing at the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE).

The company—majority owned and managed by the family of San Miguel Corp. President and COO Ramon S. Ang—breathes a whiff of fresh air into the cement industry, as the cement firm promises to plow back all the proceeds back as investments, a stark contrast to last year’s P25-billion initial public offering (IPO) of Cemex Holdings Philippines Inc.

It was sort of a disappointment for many, some of the investors said, as most of the proceeds were used to pay off loans, some to local banks, but a chunk was used to retire its debts to its parent firm’s unit, New Sunward Holding B.V. Meanwhile, the proceeds of Eagle Cement’s P9.2-billion IPO will be used to partly fund its P12.5-billion new cement plant

PESO exchange rates n US 49.8120

in Cebu City, an essential project in an industry that now imports products to meet local demand.

Share dumping

Weeks after news of Eagle Cement’s IPO broke out, investors started dumping shares of other listed cement firms. Cemex, which listed only in July last year, was already trading below its IPO price of P10.75, and is now trading at P7.63 per share. The stock earlier went as high as P12.96 per share. Share price of Holcim Philippines Inc. is also falling at the news of Ang’s cement firm’s listing. From a 52-week high of P17.30, it is now trading at P16.60 apiece. Holcim, Continued on A2

₧9.2B

The estimated proceeds from Eagle Cement’s IPO that will be used to partly fund its P12.5-billion new cement plant in Cebu City, an essential project in an industry that now imports products to meet local demand

n japan 0.4557 n UK 63.8490 n HK 6.4069 n CHINA 7.2359 n singapore 35.6437 n australia 37.4885 n EU 53.3985 n SAUDI arabia 13.2839

Dip2000 | Dreamstime.com

I

By VG Cabuag

Source: BSP (21 April 2017 )

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Herding back the ‘runaways’ Continued from a1

renewed hope for the former OFWs, as the administration vowed to aid them while they try to rebuild their lives here in the country.

New chapter

“I am thankful that you are home safely. You can now be with your family and loved ones. We know your hard work and sacrifice. I have directed relevant government agencies to assist you as you turn a new chapter of your life,” Duterte said in his arrival statement, after completing his state visits to Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Qatar. Before leaving the airport, Duterte handed each of the repatriates an envelope with P5,000,

which was sourced out from the funds of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DWSD). This came alongside another P5,000 from the labor department. Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III told reporters this is only the first of the many batches of repatriates soon to be brought home from Saudi Arabia. All in all, he is expecting to repatriate a total of 6,000 runaway migrant workers in the days to come. “More than 3,000 [have already applied for the amnesty program]. That is why I sent there an augmentation team to help in applying for their [release],” he said. Heading the augmentation

team would be Labor Undersecretary Dominador R. Say and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration Administrator Hans Leo J. Cacdac. They will be closely coordinating with labor attachés in Saudi Arabia to ensure the swift, efficient and safe transport home of the runaway OFWs.

Abused

Bello revealed most of the repatriates were victims of maltreatment, especially the household service workers. Some were not paid the right amount of salary, in spite of a contract stating the exact wage of the worker. And the administration, according to Bello, is more than will-

ing to help these abused OFWs return home and begin a new life. To start with, female repatriates can avail themselves the Department of Labor and Employment’s reintegration program. Under the program, distressed migrant workers, such as victims of maltreatment and illegal recruiters, are given a livelihood capital of P10,000. They can also apply for skills training in home-based income-generating occupations, like cosmetology, haircutting, massage and food processing. Social Welfare Secretary Judy M. Taguiwalo said repatriating the runaway OFWs is only the first step. The final step must be to ensure they are provided liveli-

hood opportunities for them not to gamble again overseas. “Help does not end here in the airport—definitely not. This is just the start of our efforts to aid them in their rebuilding,” Taguiwalo assured. Bello explained the repatriation is Duterte’s way of repaying the Filipino migrant workers. “He [Duterte] recognizes their contribution to the national economy, as they were remitting more than P1 trillion every year, which speaks of almost half of our budget.” Back at the airport, the repatriates cling on, not only to the P10,000 state aid, but also to the hope the administration gave them. The veiled repatriate whom BusinessMirror interviewed dis-

Cement makers jostle for bigger market share Continued from a1

which corners a third of the market previously planned to spend as much as $550 million to construct a manufacturing plant in Bulacan. The Swiss company, however, decided to shelve the plan and instead import the shortfall. In 2015 the parent firm of Holcim and French rival Lafarge, which also operates in the Philippines and its shares also listed at the PSE through Lafarge Republic Inc., decided to merge, creating the world’s largest cement firm. That combination pushed Holcim Philippines to put its expansion efforts to bid for some of Lafarge Republic assets. The rest of the assets were taken by the Aboitiz-led joint venture with Dutch firm Cement Roadstone Holdings Inc., now known as Republic Cement and Building Materials Inc. Lafarge Republic then

voluntarily delisted from the PSE.

Shake-up

The shake-up in the country’s cement-industry players, meanwhile, further exacerbated the necessary expansion of the cement-manufacturing facilities in the country, as the Philippine economy expands. The top four industry players—Holcim, Cemex, CRH-Aboitiz and Eagle Cement—account for between 80 percent and 82 percent of total clinker and cement domestic production, respectively. Clinker is a significant raw material to manufacture cement. According to an Eagle Cement official, the top three players imported a total of 4 million tons of cement last year. The figure was 13 times more than the 314,000 metric tons of imports of traders in 2015, according to data of Cement Manufacturers’ Association of the Philip-

pines Inc. (Cemap). Eagle Cement is not a member of Cemap. “Unlike our competition, their plants are all running at full capacity. The only way for them to keep growing is to import. They are lucky if prices increase, so their profits will also increase. But what will happen if prices [of cement] fall?” the official said.

Demand growth

According to its prospectus, Eagle Cement expects the Philippine cement industry to grow by an additional 11.5 million tons until 2025, from its current demand of 26.82 million tons, prompting either an expansion of the current plant capacity or import more to fill the gap. As of December 2016, the Philippines has an estimated annual clinker and cement capacity of 20.6 million and 28.63 million tons, respectively, based on nameplate capacities of integrated ce-

ment-manufacturing and grinding plants in the country, it said. Judging from the nameplate capacities of clinker and cement production and the increased importation activity of existing players, it suggests that domestic producers may have reached fullcapacity utilization on both clinker and cement that prompts them to import products from abroad. “In theory, the domestic supply of clinker and cement...should be adequate to satisfy domestic demand. Mismatch between domestic supply and demand is primarily attributable to lower-than-estimated effective capacity of existing plants, especially for old manufacturing plants that are in need of repair and refurbishment,” it said. “With the exception of Eagle Cement, Goodfound [Cement Corp.] and Mabuhay [Filcement Inc.] plants, the remaining plants have an average age of more

than 20 years. This may result to lower clinker-to-cement ratio compared to the industry average of 0.80 times,” it added. Goodfound has a cement plant in Albay in the Bicol region, and Mabuhay has facilities in Cebu. The prospectus said the effective capacity of the domestic clinker and cement supply in the Philippines is only at 16.83 million tons and 23.12 million tons, respectively. “In 2016 almost all of the domestic manufacturers imported either clinker or cement and given that margins on local production are higher than on imported products, it would normally be expected that manufacturers would maximize local clinker production,” it added. “The apparent discrepancy, therefore, between the quoted capacity of around 20-MT clinker and actual production of around 17 MT might lead to some doubt as to the real capability of the domestic in-

closed she will use the money to pay the debts she incurred to be able to leave the country. “But this is big help already. He [Duterte] really understands us and we appreciate his urgency to act upon our plights,” she said. Riyadh is presently rolling a 90-day amnesty program for the repatriation of runaway migrant workers, as well as those undocumented. It began on March 29 and will end on June 29, according to Foreign Assistant Secretary Hjayceelyn M. Quintana. The administration is keen on funding the repatriation of all runaway OFWs, as long as their amnesty was approved by the Saudi Arabian government.

dustry to achieve the stated capacity levels. If this is the case, then there will be an additional supply shortfall that would have to be met by extra imports or new investments,” the prospectus added.

Catching up

Cement demand in the Philippines has grown a compounded 4.8 percent between 2000 and 2015 at 24.4 million MT, from 12 million MT, with consumption expected to increase as the economy grows. Over the period, the Philippine economy grew a compounded 5.1 percent. According to its study, the Philippines still has one of the lowest per-capita cement consumption in comparison with its regional counterparts. In 2014 demand for cement in the Philippines was seen at 21.3 million tons, or approximately 212 kilograms per capita. This places the Philippines below almost all its neighbors in the 10-member Asean and at less than half the quantity per capita of countries such as Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia. While most of the existing players are busy operating plants at full capacity, and importing to cover the shortfall, Eagle Cement is still expanding its Bulacan plant, first operated in 2010, with its third line expected to be operational by the first quarter next year. Its two plant lines can produce 5.1 million MT per year. Its Cebu plant, meanwhile, will generate an additional 2 million MT per year of cement by 2020. The plant will include construction of a manufacturing plant, a distribution center and marine terminals in Southern Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao regions. The project cost includes procurement of various constructionrelated materials and services, as well 31 as the purchase of the properties where the plant will be built. The company also recently broke ground for its terminal in Davao, but Eagle Cement said it is already looking at its second one in Mindanao. “We want to establish physical presence on all of the markets in the Visayas and Mindanao,” the Eagle Cement official said. Construction of the Cebu cement plant is estimated to commence within the fourth quarter of 2017 and is expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2020. Eagle Cement’s IPO involved an offer of 575 million shares at an offer price of up to P16 per share. Its offer consists of 500 million primary shares as initial offer and another 75 million secondary covering oversubscription options. All of its shares will be sold to domestic investors. It appointed China Bank Capital Corp., PNB Capital and Investment Corp. and SB Capital Investment Corp. as joint issue managers, joint lead underwriters and joint bookrunners. The company may list at the PSE later next month, and only starting then will the investors know if the Ang family’s promises can cement their good future.

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Defense chief visits Pag-asa island

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he defense secretary and military chief of staff visited a Philippineoccupied island in the South China Sea on Friday to assert the country’s claim to the heartland of a disputed area where China is believed to have added missiles on man-made islands. The trip, led by Defense Secretary Delfin N. Lorenzana on an Air Force C-130 aircraft to the island Filipinos call Pag-asa, will likely infuriate China, which has claimed virtually the entire sea and aggressively tried to fortify its foothold, to the consternation of rival claimant-governments and the United States. President Duterte has said China dissuaded him from flying to the island, also known internationally as Thitu, to raise his country’s flag when the Philippines celebrates its Independence Day on June 12. “So, because of our friendship with China and because we value your friendship, we will not, I will not go there to raise the Philippine flag,” he said in a speech last week in Saudi Arabia. He said he may send his son instead. Lorenzana planned to inspect a dirt runway on the island in the Spratlys chain of islands, reefs and atolls that has been partly eroded, and have lunch with Filipino troops and residents in a fishing village on the island. The government plans to repair the 1.2-kilometer (0.75-mile)-long runway to allow more flights and improve safety. It plans to fortify small buildings on the island and eight much smaller reefs and atolls occupied by Filipino forces in the far-flung region. AP

Saturday, April 22, 2017

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PHL faces hurdles in copying Indonesia’s tax amnesty

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eeks after Indonesia reported netting more than $10 billion from a tax amnesty, the Philippine government said it’s mulling over a similar move. Implementing it may not be that easy.

15% The percentage of the 100-million Philippine population that are registered as taxpayers

In Indonesi a t he a mnest y gave individuals a reprieve from prosecution if they came clean on unreported income or hidden

assets abroad. The Philippines is considering a more targeted approach—focused on those avoiding paying taxes on property, estates and income—and only plan to adopt it once authorities beef up tax compliance. President Duterte needs the additional revenue to fund his ambitious infrastructure program, but he has limited resources in a country where tax avoidance is rampant: only about 15 percent of the 100 million population are registered as taxpayers. The previous administration estimated lost revenue due to evasion at about $10 billion a year.

Here are some reasons the Philippines isn’t close to implementing a tax amnesty yet:

n Bank-secrecy law

Officials are hobbled by a law that prohibits the disclosure of or inquiry into bank deposits. There are only a few exemptions such as impeachment and court cases. The law, a legacy from the 1950s, is comparable to similar statutes in Switzerland and Lebanon, the Philippines’s National Tax Research Center said in a paper last year. Bills filed in Congress seek to ease these restrictions. n OECD standard

The Automatic Exchange of Information arrangement by the Organisation for Economic Coo p e r at ion a nd D e ve lo pme nt (OECD) was a key reason for the success of Indonesia’s tax amnesty. Under the agreement, signed by Singapore and Indonesia but not by the Philippines, countries will start in 2018 to share details of their nationals that hold bank accounts in other

countries without the need for specific requests. T hat presented a “credible threat” to taxpayers in Indonesia, prompting them to comply to avoid prosecution in future, said Michael Wan, an economist at Credit Suisse Group AG in Singapore. Taxpayers in the Philippines don’t have a similar threat, he said, reducing their incentive to come clean.

n Fiscal priorities

The Philippines is pursuing a revamp of tax laws—including raising taxes on cars and fuel, while lowering some duties—in order to generate an estimated P163 billion ($3.3 billion) a year in revenue. Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III has said he is confident the first of the bills will be passed by about October. “The possibility of a tax amnesty will depend on when the first tax-reform package will be passed,” said Eugenia Victorino, an economist at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group in Singapore. “The Department of Finance has made it clear that it

won’t pursue other tax measures unless that is passed.”

n Past amnesties

The Philippines has a long history of failed tax amnesties, according to Credit Suisse’s Wan. It raised revenue equivalent to 1 percent of GDP in 1973, with other amnesties collecting only a fraction of that. In the latest amnesty in 2007 and 2008, the government collected less than 0.1 percent of GDP worth of revenue, according to Credit Suisse. Lawmakers are currently considering a bill granting amnesty for estate taxes and are working on other bills, including a reprieve on unpaid taxes from January 2006 to June 2016. “While we could see some positive impact on the perception of our ability to collect taxes with a one-time issuance of an amnesty, I think market participants will want to see how the amnesty is going to be part of a bigger plan to reform a very leaky tax system,” said Emilio Neri Jr., lead economist at Bank of the Philippine Islands in Manila. Bloomberg News

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Saturday, April 22, 2017

The World BusinessMirror

Deadly Paris attack halts campaigns before French vote on Sunday

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he murder of a policeman on the Champs-élyseés has forced an early end to campaigning for the leading candidates ahead of Sunday’s first-round vote in the most uncertain election in recent French history. Republican candidate François Fillon, the National Front’s Marine Le Pen, centrist Emmanuel Macron and Socialist Benoit Hamon canceled events planned for Friday. Communist-backed Jean-Luc Melenchon said he wouldn’t cede to “panic” and will continue with his plans for the day. No campaigning is allowed on Saturday. The late-Thursday shooting that left one policeman dead and two others injured in the center of Paris was claimed by Islamic State and has added extra uncertainty to the campaign. The attacker was shot and killed. At the time of the incident, all the candidates were appearing on a television interview show. The attack could impact the outcome of the first-round vote, said Bruno Jeanbart, head of political studies at pollster OpinionWay. “I think this election is sufficiently unstable that it could still move things,” he said. “Marine Le Pen is notably one to watch.” The incident occurred at the end of a first-round campaign that began with a populist insurgency led by Le Pen and has drawn to a close with Melenchon surging above expectations.

Melenchon momentum

Melenchon and Fillon will be hoping to snatch a place in the May 7 runoff from front-runners Le Pen and Macron. Macron has been vying with Le Pen for the lead since the start of March, but Melenchon has seized

the initiative over the past month, almost doubling his support to leave the final result up for grabs. Voters head to the polls under emergency laws introduced in November 2015, when gunmen killed 130 people in attacks around Paris, and security concerns have been a major theme of the campaign. Le Pen topped the polls for the first round during much of the race with her pledges to cut immigration, restore border controls, crack down on radical Islam, and take France out of the euro. Investor concerns about a rupture of the currency union have been tempered by surveys showing she would eventually lose to either Macron or Fillon in the runoff. Melenchon’s rise has altered those calculations, pushing French bond yields close to a four-year high. “This election is incredibly tight,” said Dominique Reynie, a professor of political science at Sciences Po in Paris. “It suggests whatever happens we are in for profound political change.” Melenchon, 65, says he doesn’t want to pull France out of the euro or the European Union, though like Le Pen he wants to overhaul EU treaties and impose political constraints on the European Central Bank—and is threatening to walk away if he doesn’t get what he wants. “Europe, we’ll change it or leave it,” Melenchon said late-Thursday on France 2 television, adding that he wants France to be a partner of the EU and Germany, not a “vassal”. Melenchon remains in fourth position with 18.5-percent support, according to Bloomberg’s composite of polls. That compares with 19.5 percent for Fillon, 22.5 percent for Le Pen and 24 percent for Macron. Bloomberg News

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For us and China, a new beginning on a rocky road

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By Robert A. Manning | New York Times News Service

resident Xi Jinping of China came to the United States bearing no gifts. No grand bargains were reached in his meeting with President Donald J. Trump, but there were no visible signs of acrimony. Few concrete achievements were expected after the White House sought to lower expectations in pre-summit briefings, emphasizing that the first meeting between Trump and Xi would be about “getting to know each other”.

Despite being overshadowed by US cruise-missile strikes in Syria, however, the meeting still may stand out as an important first step in redefining and stabilizing the troubled relationship between the two global giants. Establishing a good rapport

between the leaders of the world’s two largest economies and largest militaries is still useful. For Xi, merely being invited to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, where Trump recently met with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan, a major US ally, was something of a gift: Chinese media could portray Xi as an equal with Trump, and the Chinese leader got a boost to his stature and popularity at home. That may help explain how Xi absorbed the shock of Trump’s Sy r i a n b o m b i n g , re f r a i n i n g from criticism of his host and s ay i ng on ly t h at somet h i ng should be done “when people are killing children.” In describing the summit, Xi euphemistically explained, “We recently have had in-depth and lengthy communications … and arrived at many common understandings, the most important being deepening our friendship and building a kind of trust in keeping with the Sino-US working relationship and friendship.” Trump echoed those sentiments in a tweet, saying that “goodwill and friendship” had been formed. Before the summit, Xi had indicated to Trump advisers that he was interested in a reset of USChina relations, which numerous Chinese officials had described as dangerously strained. In the run-up to the summit, Trump’s bluster evaporated. Gone were threats to cite China as a “currency manipulator”—when, in fact, China has spent $1 trillion during the past two years to prop up the renminbi. Also gone was a threat to slap 45 percent tariffs on Chinese goods. After a major White House policy battle, “realists” such as Gary Cohn, chairman of the National Economic Council, had persuaded Trump that radical steps proposed by such economic nationalists as advisers Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro risked disrupting the global economy. Ironically Trump’s “America First” policies are enabling Xi to realize his “China Dream”, playing the role of champion of globalization. Trump’s rejection of the Trans-Pacific Partnership gives China a free hand to shape the Asia-Pacific trade architecture. Trump’s rejection of climate change leaves China free to posture as a world leader in this area. Trump’s proposed budget cuts in US contributions to the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the Asian Development Bank, foreign aid and the United Nations also allow China to expand its influence in post-World War II institutions that the US created. “America First” is a doubleedged

In this April 7 file photo, US President Donald J. Trump ( left) and Chinese President Xi Jinping walk together at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida. The US is piling the pressure on Beijing to use its clout with North Korea to rein in its nuclear and missile programs. China is the North’s most important trading partner and ally, but Pyongyang has ignored Beijing’s calls for a suspension of those programs and its requests for high-level bilateral talks. AP Photo/Alex Brandon

sword for China, however, with the flip side being US nationalism. Trump aside, the bipartisan consensus that guided US policy toward China, dating from the Nixon opening in 1972, increasingly has dissipated since about 2010, as Beijing has become more assertive economically and militarily. American hopes that China, by developing a middle class and integrating itself into the global economic and political system, would become a more normative actor and move toward political reform have faded. The relationship between the two giants, always part cooperative and part competitive, has begun to tilt toward the latter. Under President Barack Obama the hard edges were softened by the complexities of the Strategic and Economic Dialogue, an annual bureaucratic ritual, and by high-profile cooperation on climate change and other global issues. The issue of climate change did not even arise during the XiTrump meetings, however. Though Trump’s Asia team is not yet in place—only 36 of some 400 senior political appointees have even been nominated—he has scrapped the Strategic and Economic Dialogue and created a new “comprehensive dialogue” with smaller pieces: security and diplomacy, economics and trade, cyber security and law, and social exchanges. It’s too soon to say whether this new framework is merely moving chairs around or if it will result in a more focused, prioritized dialogue. Judging from US expectations for China on North Korea and trade issues, however, there are sure to be speed bumps ahead. One concrete result of the summit is a 100-day plan to address trade issues, with a focus on America’s $347-billion trade deficit with China. In coming days Trump is expected to hit China with antidumping tariffs on steel. To forestall unilateral US actions, Beijing reportedly is offering to end a ban on US beef exports, to open its market to more US agricultural products and to allow majority-US investment in its finance and security sectors. This could pave the way to concluding a stalled Bilateral Investment Treaty. Reducing tariffs on American automobiles

also may be part of the plan. Such moves would deflect immediate tensions, but the core problem is how to curtail China’s predatory, mercantilist industrial policies that discriminate against US companies and hobble China’s stalled market reforms. Trade tensions are likely to persist unless Xi is willing to dismantle China’s statist policies, to implement the market reforms to which he claims to be committed and to base the bilateral economic relationship on reciprocity. North Korea, a source of either cooperation or confrontation, has moved to the top of the US-China agenda. Xi conceded that the nuclear problem is reaching “a serious stage”, and the two leaders made vague pledges of more cooperation. Trump has threatened that, if China doesn’t help “solve” the North Korea problem, the United States will do so alone. US officials are using tough language: North Korea “must be stopped”, Defense Secretary James Mattis said, while Secretary of State Rex Tillerson hinted at preemptive action if Pyongyang’s weapons program reached “an unacceptable level”. North Korea’s firing of another test missile, only a day before the summit, was a sobering reminder that its missile and nuclear capabilities exist precisely to deter and respond to such threats. A US policy review has explored a spectrum of options ranging from preemptive military strikes and regime change to continuing Obama’s “strategic patience”. The unacceptable risks of a military response that could spark a war are one reason that 25 years of diplomacy has not solved the vexing problem. Clearly the summit provided more questions than answers about the future of Sino-American relations. The world ’s most impor tant bi latera l relationship almost certainly w ill continue to be par t cooperative and part competitive, and it’s too soon to know whether the Trump-X i summit can prov ide momentum to tilt the relationship back toward the former. Robert A. Manning is a senior fellow of the Brent Scowcroft Center for International Security at the Atlantic Council.

Gone were threats to cite China as a ‘currency manipulator’— when, in fact, China has spent $1 trillion during the past two years to prop up the renminbi. Also gone was a threat to slap 45 percent tariffs on Chinese goods.”

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

Saturday, April 22, 2017

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LADY SPIKERS-TIGRESSES FINAL 4 SHOWDOWN ON D

in the regular season, winning their first-round encounter, 25-23, 16-25, 25-14, 25-22, and the second, 25-23, 25-22, 25-21. But the ladies from Taft showed cracks in their system, having yielded twice to arch rival Ateneo this season, the first time that De La Salle Head Coach Ramil de Jesus absorbed consecutive losses to the Lady Eagles in his 20-year stint. “This is where the real fight begins. We cannot afford to lose even if we’re twice to beat. We will do everything for this match,” said de Jesus, whose wards wound up second in the eliminations on an 11-3 won-lost card behind the 12-2 of Ateneo. Out to lead De La Salle’s campaign are Season 78 Finals Most Valuable Player Kianna Dy, reigning Best Setter Kim Fajardo, Best Blocker Majoy Baron and last season’s Best Digger and Receiver Dawn Macandili. De Jesus is also trying to avoid the predicament they found themselves in last season, when they were extended to a knockout match by Far Eastern University. The Lady Tamaraws are playing the Lady Eagles in the other semifinals tomorrow. Lance Agcaoili

EFENDING champion De La Salle tries not to waste their twice-to-beat advantage and clinch their ninth straight Finals appearance when it battles University of Santo Tomas (UST) in the Final Four of Season 79 University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) women’s volleyball tournament today at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. The Lady Spikers and Tigresses take the court at 4 p.m. UST, the second-most successful team in the league with 15 titles, but has been winless for so long now, is back in the Final Four after four seasons of absence. And they vowed not to settle for anything less than advancing to the Finals. “We’re not settling for just a Final Four appearance. We will dream big and we want to overachieve,” UST Head Coach Kungfu Reyes said. “Hopefully, this Final Four appearance would be a great motivation for the players. The morale of the team is high and I hope that we could match the intensity of De La Salle.” Reyes is pinning much hope on the team’s 1-2 punch—skipper Cherry Rondina and EJ Laure—as well as on spikers Dimdim Pacres, Pam Lastimosa, Christine Francisco and Carla Sandoval. The middle blocker, Ria Meneses and Chloe Cortez, setters Alina Bicar and Alex Cabaños, and libero Rica Rivera, according to Reyes, should also step up against the fluid De La Salle game. The Lady Spikers have dominated the Tigresses

KIM FAJARDO (9) and Eduke Christine Ogunsanya (13), seen here in action against University of the East’s Judith Abil, are expected to be at the forefront of De La Salle’s semifinal duel against University of Santo Tomas. NONOY LACZA

BRADY SKIPS PATRIOTS’ AUDIENCE WITH TRUMP W ASHINGTON—President Donald J. Trump welcomed the New England Patriots to the White House on Wednesday, noting the parallels between his own upset victory and their stunning Super Bowl win—but avoiding discussion of the apparent prison suicide of their former teammate Aaron Hernandez earlier in the day. As he extolled the team’s virtues and saluted indi vidual players, the president did not name star quarterback Tom Brady, who notified the White House that he was dealing with a “personal family matter” and would not attend the ceremony. Trump hosted the five-time champions on the South Lawn and declared that “no team has been good this long.” “It was a complete team effort. That’s the beauty of what they do, they win as a team,” said Trump, who compared the team’s 25-point comeback against the Atlanta Falcons in February to his own political upset. “Pundits, boy, are they wrong a lot, aren’t they? They said you couldn’t do it.” More than two dozen Patriots skipped the ceremony. Several had said beforehand that they would not show for political reasons. Shortly before the event, Brady posted a photo of his parents on Instagram, wishing them a happy anniversary. Casting a pall over the ceremony was the news about Hernandez, who hanged himself in a prison cell hours before the White House visit, according to Massachusetts prison officials. Hernandez, who played for the Patriots from 2010 to 2012, was serving a life sentence for a murder conviction. Days ago, the 27-year-old former tight end was acquitted of a double murder. A team spokesman said the Patriots were aware of the reports of Hernandez’s death but the club wasn’t expected to comment. Two players were brought to speak to reporters after the White House ceremony, but both said they had not known Hernandez. Wide receiver Malcolm Mitchell said he was moved by the White House ceremony, saying it “almost brought me to tears. As a child growing up, I never would have thought a president would have said my name by any means.” One player made an impromptu appearance at a White House press before the official ceremony. Tight end Rob Gronkowski stuck his head in the door of the briefing room as Press Secretary Sean Spicer was

PRESIDENT Donald J. Trump is presented a New England patriots jersey by Patriots owner Robert Kraft (right) and Head Coach Bill Belichick. AP

holding a televised briefing. Gronkowski jokingly asked Spicer whether he needed any help. Spicer—an avid Patriots fan—responded: “I think I got this. But thank you.” Trump has particularly close ties to the Patriots, counting owner Bob Kraft and Head Coach Bill Belichick as friends. One of Trump’s signature “Make America Great Again” hats was spotted in Brady’s locker in 2015. During the South Lawn ceremony, Trump recounted reading a supportive letter from Belichick on the eve of the election, while Kraft saluted the president as a friend for decades. “It is a distinct honor for us to celebrate what was unequivocally our sweetest championship with a very good friend and somebody whose mental toughness and strength I greatly admire,” Kraft said. The team presented the president with a personalized “Trump” No. 45 jersey and a helmet from February’s Super

Baguio City bets capture 7 tennis crowns

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OCAL nets ran away with seven of the nine titles at stake in the recent Baguio City leg of the Cebuana Lhuillier Age Group Tennis Championship Series. Sharryl Caluza and Angelyn Atos led the onslaught by winning two crowns each in the tournament supported by Dunlop. Caluza won the 18-under crown at the expense of fellow Baguio City bet, Angela Tangalin, 6-3, 6-3, and annexed the 16-under title with a 6-0, 6-2 victory over Tuguegarao City’s Lindsay Reyes. Atos, on the other hand, beat Nueva Ecija’s Pia Wong, 6-1, 6-1, in the 12-under final and repeated over the same opponent, 6-0, 6-4, in the 14-under championship match. “Baguio City has a good tennis program for its young players and the results in this leg bear it out. We hope to see the same in other cities,” said Jean Henri Lhuillier, president

and CEO of Cebuana Lhuillier after the tournament, the sixth leg in Luzon and 16th overall in this year’s series. Another local bet, Joshua de Guzman, swept Laoag City’s Zire Mina, 6-3, 6-3, to take the boys’ 18-under crown, while Raymond Cabuco gave the hosts another title after defeating Bacoor’s Rainier Angelo Selmar, 6-3, 6-2, in the boys’ 16-under final. Dynna Visaya snatched the seventh title for Baguio City with a come-from-behind 1-4, 4-2, 10-2 win over Laoag City’s Zandie Mina in the unisex 10-under showdown. Selmar and La Union’s Xavier Calvelo were the only visitors who went home with titles. Selmar booked an easy 6-2, 6-2 victory over Calvelo in the boys’ 14-under, but Calvelo took out Selmar’s younger brother, Ralph Adrian, in the boys’ 12-under final, Selmar, 6-0, 6-1.

Bowl, the first such game to go to overtime. Kraft was one of at least seven NFL team owners who gave $1 million each to Trump’s inaugural committee, a new fund-raising report shows. Others include the owners of the Houston Texans, the Washington Redskins, the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Los Angeles Rams. Kraft gave the money via his Kraft Group Llc. After the victory in February, tight end Martellus Bennett quickly made it clear he was not coming to the White House, and other teammates followed. Some noted their differences with the Republican administration, though others did not an issue a reason for their absence. Defensive back Devin McCourty told Time magazine: “I don’t feel accepted in the White House. With the President having so many strong opinions and prejudices, I believe certain people might feel accepted there while others won’t.” AP

UST draws with La Salle, settles for No. 4 in semis

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NIVERSITY of Santo Tomas (UST) was forced to a scoreless draw by already-eliminated De La Salle to finish fourth in the eliminations of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines Season 79 men’s football tournament at the Moro Lorenzo Field in Ateneo on Thursday. The Growling Tigers went all out to secure the No. 3 ranking in the Final Four, but the Green Archers held on their own and played the spoiler’s role. The Tigers settled for 21 points at No. 4 and will play eliminations topnotcher Ateneo in the knockout semifinals. Defending champion University of the Philippines and Far Eastern University (FEU) collide in the other half of the Final Four. The Green Archers, who missed the semifinals for the first time since the format was adopted five years ago, wound up with 16 points. For Coach Hans Smit, De La Salle’s rebuilding process has started. “This is the first day of tryouts,” said Smit, whose Green Archers nearly won the crown two years ago only to lose to the Tamaraws in extra time. They finished third last season. “I’m glad this is over with,” Smit added. Smit still has something to cheer about as De La Salle routed UP, 5-0, to move closer to completing a double-round sweep of the women’s eliminations with a maximum 21 points at the FEUDiliman pitch on Wednesday. UST beat also-ran FEU, 4-2, for 13 points in second place. The Lady Archers shoot for a sweep against the Tigresses in the final eliminations match today. If they go unscathed, they advance to the finals outright while the No. 2 and No. 3 teams battle for the second championship berth.

‘Ultimate’ up in France

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HE national Frisbee team will fly to France from June 18 to 24 to compete in the World Championship of Beach Ultimate at the Plage de la Grande Conche in Royan. Actor Derek Ramsay is joining the team as it campaigns in the fifth edition of the championships. Portugal hosted the inaugurals in 2004, followed by Brazil in 2007, Italy in 2011 and Dubai in 2015. Ramsey, 40, is the oldest on the team but vowed to keep up with his young teammates. “Right now it’s hard to chase 18-year-old players. But in my recent competition in Ilocos, the coach asked me to join,” Ramsey said. “I did not hesitate and I became fully dedicated to our training.” Called the Philippine Dragons, the national team has dominated the Boracay Open, which is staged every April. The team is composed of 15 players, mostly from Boracay, Iligan City, Dumaguete City and Manila. Ramon Rafael Bonilla

SCORELESS DRAW Lionel

Messi looks on Neymar lies on the pitch hurt during their scoreless draw with Juventud on Wednesday. The second-leg stalemate seals a 3-0 win on aggregate and comes six weeks after Barcelona’s historic 6-1 thrashing of Paris Saint-Germain, when the home side became the first team to ever overturn a 4-0 loss in the competition. AP

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A6 Saturday, April 22, 2017 | Editor: Jun Lomibao

FLYING COLORS IN HONG KONG

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The manifesto demonstrates how cycling advocacy is being embedded into all areas of International Cycling Union activity, ensuring the organization is a leading advocate for everyday cycling, working with partners from grassroots through to high-level political engagement.

‘CYCLING FOR ALL’ MANIFESTO out T

HE International Cycling Union (UCI) has announced the publication of its Cycling for All Manifesto, which sets out the ambition, role and core activities the UCI will pursue to support cycling in all forms across the world. Promoting and nurturing everyday cycling is a core pillar of the UCI’s strategy and, under Brian Cookson’s presidency, the UCI is working hard to ensure that elite cycling acts as a catalyst to inspire even greater mass participation, and get many more people using bikes as part of their everyday lives. The manifesto demonstrates how cycling advocacy is being embedded into all areas of UCI activity, ensuring the organization is a leading advocate for everyday cycling, working with partners from grassroots through to high-level political engagement. “The launch of the UCI Cycling for All Manifesto marks an important step in our strategy to drive grassroots participation globally. It provides a vital link between the sport of cycling and the much wider activity of everyday cycling that takes place in people’s daily lives,” UCI President Brian Cookson said. “We want to create a more bike-friendly world, where higher rates of cycling deliver a whole range of wider benefits, from health to environmental. Across the world, far too often it is a challenge for people to choose cycling as a form of transport, be it riding to work, traveling to school, or transporting goods to the market by bike,” he added. Given the environmental, health and socioeconomic challenges being faced across the world, cycling can play a clear role in ensuring a more sustainable future. Whether it is tackling climate change, air pollution, urban congestion or obesity and physical apathy, cycling is a low-cost, safe and socially positive activity that should be encouraged. UCI-funded research demonstrates that a switch from motorized vehicles to cycling would help confront these issues, while generating infrastructure savings of up to $25 trillion by 2050. “The UCI will play a central, indispensable role in maximizing the worldwide benefits of cycling,” said Tim Blumenthal, president of the US bike advocacy organization PeopleForBikes and a member of the UCI Advocacy Commission. “The UCI’s core network of nearly 200 national federations, five continental confederations, more than 1,500 pro riders and hundreds of major event organizers can work closely with cities and nations to make everyday cycling safer and more appealing.”

Activities under Cycling for All cover several areas: n At the political level, the UCI will engage with policy makers to encourage countries and international organizations to adopt bike-friendly policy. For example, the UCI is working directly in Brussels to influence EU decision-making, ensuring that the European institutions are supporting cycling, and looking to the bicycle to achieve EU policy goals. As part of this, the UCI and UEC are calling on the European Commission to adopt a European Cycling Strategy; n With the UCI Bike City label, the UCI is rewarding and working with cities that invest in elite cycling and everyday cycling activities; n The UCI is developing a UCI Cycling for All Ambassadors program to work with professional riders on cycling advocacy campaigns; n With the UN Sustainable Development Goals in place, the UCI will push cycling as a tool for sustainable and inclusive development; n The UCI will support its national federations, sharing best practice and encourage their cycling for all activities. “It is fantastic to see, how the UCI in the future will have an even stronger impact on everyday cycling, working closely together with the federations and cities,” said Pia Allerslev, mayor for the Children and Youth

Gilbert to miss Giro d’Italia

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NLY a day after announcing that Philippe Gilbert would miss La Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège due to a kidney injury, Quick-Step Floors confirmed on Tuesday that the Belgian national champion will also miss a planned start at the upcoming Giro d’Italia. Gilbert, who has delivered his finest spring campaign in years, sustained a small kidney tear in a crash on Sunday before going on to win the Amstel Gold Race, his second major one-day win of the season after the Tour of Flanders. After the race, he was taken to hospital, where the tear was discovered. “When I crashed, I felt pain, but once I remounted and continued the race things became better and better and the pain disappeared. Unfortunately, after the finish, the lower back pain returned, so together with the team doctor I decided to go to the hospital for a checkup,” Gilbert said initially via a team press release announcing he’d miss the other Ardennes races. “Fortunately, it’s nothing serious, and if everything goes well, in a week I will start training again.” Quick-Step have since revealed that the injury will derail Gilbert’s race calendar still further. The 34-year-old had been slated for a Giro d’Italia start, but that has been ruled out. Gilbert has won three stages at the Giro in his career, including a brace on his last appearance in 2015. “It’s a big blow for me to miss the Giro, a beautiful race in which I’ve enjoyed success several times in the past, but these kind of injuries are always delicate and it’s recommended to don’t rush things, so extending my recovery period is the best decision we could take,” Gilbert said via a team release on Tuesday. “Despite this setback, I remain upbeat and I now look with even more motivation to the second part of the season.” Gilbert will be off the bike for two weeks to recover before resuming training, according to the team. CYCLINGNEWS

Administration in Copenhagen, one of the most bike-friendly cities in the world, and Member of the UCI Advocacy Commission. “Giving more people, young or old, a better chance and incentive to move around by bike, will change cities and people’s lives.” Chris Boardman, multiple Olympic and UCI world champion, former UCI Hour record holder and cycling policy advisor declared: “While cycle racing is a marvelous sport and provides some of the world’s most exciting events, the bicycle itself has the potential to be so much more than entertainment; in truth, it could be world changing. If more people used it for everyday tasks it would have an enormous impact on reducing global pollution levels and improving health. There are nations and cities that do just this but those examples are still the minority. Often, other, more car-oriented cities aren’t even aware of the benefits of more cycling, in large part because no one is responsible for publicizing the bicycle’s potential and spreading the word. “I am delighted the Union Cycliste Internationale has decided to widen its remit and champion this amazing machine in all its forms around the globe. It is the ideal body to bring people together and share best practice, unify lobbying activities and to persuade world leaders that twowheeled transport should be part of their cities’ transport future.” UCI News

HE 2017 International Cycling Union (UCI) Track Cycling World Championships presented by Tissot concluded after five very successful days of racing in Hong Kong. Four world titles were awarded on the final day, with France taking two, and Germany and Great Britain each taking one. Only the second time the event has been held in Asia, 344 athletes from 41 nations participated in the 20 medal events, with 11 countries winning world titles and 15 countries in total winning medals. Great Britain’s Elinor Barker won her second medal of the championships in the women’s Points Race after battling with American rider Sarah Hammer. Both riders took two laps on the field, with Barker taking points in five intermediate sprints to win with 59 points, eight more than Hammer. Kirsten Wild of the Netherlands won the bronze medal. In the men’s 1-kilometer time trial, world record holder Francois Pervis won France’s first title of the day and second of the championships. It is Pervis’s fourth title in the event and he won convincingly, finishing 0.334 seconds ahead of two riders who tied for silver to the thousandth of a second. Both Tomas Babek of the Czech Republic and Quentin Lafargue of France were awarded second place. UCI News

SWISS PRECISION The Switzerland team competes in the qualifying match of the men’s team pursuit at the recent World Track Cycling Championships in Hong Kong. AP

OCONER RULES SRI LANKA

Philippine national team rider George Oconer (center) pockets his first multistage general classification victory by ruling the recent Sri Lanka Cup, a three-stage race that also saw his Go For Gold-Philippines teammate Ryan Cayubit emerging second in the King of the Mountain classification. Oconer, 25, clocked eight hours, 17 minutes and 13 seconds to win by a mere five seconds over CCN rider Samuel Volkers of Australia. CCN’s Hari Fitrianto of Indonesia and Cayubit were third and fourth, respectively. The Sri Lanka race was a non-International Cycling Union race but attracted 10 teams from Kenya, Singapore, Malaysia, Poland ,Nepal, Pakistan, Holland, the Philippines and the host country. Oconer’s teammates included Ronnel Hualda, Elmer Navarro and Jerry Aquino Jr.

RIVERA: DO

‘JUST A S W

CONFIDENT COOKSON S

PEAKING to reporters at the Track World Championships in Hong Kong, Brian Cookson denied the accusation that the leadership at British Cycling was “dysfunctional”. “I have not done anything at British Cycling that I am ashamed of or that I’m concerned about,” he told the Telegraph. “I would reject the description of ‘dysfunctional’ [leadership]. I think that it was, and still is, an organiation that evolves and changes, as all organizations need to do. I think any more than that I shouldn’t really say until we see the final result of the report. Cookson went on to question the balance of the version of the report that was leaked last month. “Some of the things I’ve read have been unfair and unbalanced,” he said. “I believe that the draft is only a partial investigation and that’s reflected by the content of the draft. “I hope that what I have said, along with various others who have now commented, will result in a more balanced final report.” The publication of the official report has been pushed back on several occasions and is now expected to happen in May. According to the Telegraph, Cookson had not initially been contacted by the review panel and said in Hong Kong that he wasn’t happy that he had been looked

over. He also stated that he had not yet spoken to the UKAD investigation into practices at British Cycling and Team Sky, but declined to comment any further. While all of this is ongoing, Cookson is also considering his campaign to be reelected as UCI president. The 65-year-old Briton said he does not believe that the scandal surrounding British Cycling would hamper his ambitions. At present, nobody has come forward to challenge Cookson, but French Cycling president David Lappartient has been mooted as a potential opponent, as well as Belgian Cycling President Tom Van Damme. “The voters around the world will base their assessment of my competence during my four years as president of the UCI,” he said. “I’m happy to stand on that record. I’m happy to stand by my record as president of British Cycling as well.” The BBC reported that Cookson will not receive any funding for his campaign from UK Sport. When Cookson made his initial election bid in 2013, the body that hands out lottery funding to the various sport governing bodies in the UK contributed £77,000. Cookson said there would be some funding coming from British Cycling. “British Cycling will be supporting me in a modest way, and I think that’s normal,” he said. Cyclingnews

ITH more than 70 national titles, a university degree, a pro contract with Sunweb and incredible victories in Trofeo Alfredo Binda and Tour of Flanders, Coryn Rivera has already achieved more than most professional riders can even dream of accomplishing. Not only that, but she is redefining herself as a rider and whatever you do, don’t call the 24-yearold “just a sprinter” because this complete bike racer is taking European racing by storm and the scariest part is that she’s only getting started. Sunweb is based in Limburg, the southernmost province in the Netherlands, and coincidently that’s where Rivera made her next race at the Amstel Gold Race. It’s a far cry from Tustin, California, where Rivera comes from. The transition from the US to a European heartland can jolt even the most talented of riders, but Rivera’s determination and dedication has seen her sail through her opening few months as a full-time pro at the WorldTour level. After a couple of respectable but not earthshattering results, Rivera took fourth in Drentse Acht van Westerveld, a 1.2 UCI-ranked race with a world-class field. However, it was at the next outing that she won her first WorldTour event, sprinting home to take the Trofeo Alfredo Binda. A week later she was third in Gent-Wevelgem before the crowning moment at the Tour of Flanders when she fought her way back to win the sprint. The victory put her alongside some of the greats in women’s cycling—Judith Arndt and Marianne Vos, to name two—and she became the first American to win the race in its history. “It’s been pretty amazing,” she told Cyclingnews from her base in Limburg. “I didn’t walk into the season thinking that I wanted to win Binda and Flanders. I just came into my first season on a European team wanting to learn. It’s been astonishing and it’s still hard to wrap my mind around the Flanders win. “It’s not been easy but nothing worth having

is. I had to fight right to the line in Binda, because it was slightly uphill and at Flanders I had to come around Anna van der Breggen. It wasn’t a straight leadout and I had to surf a little bit. Plus, I had to chase back on after the Kwaremont. In Binda, with all those climbs, it was also a really big challenge.” Rivera came through the American racing system at a young age and rose through the ranks before racing domestically for the UnitedHealthcare team. For many fans she was seen as the archetypal sprinter— small, agile, quick as a bullet and, most important, fearless. Even when she departed for European racing, while on smaller teams, and for shorter stints during her early career, Rivera would be cast as the bunch sprinter. “Back in my American Criterium days I was always pigeonholed as ‘just a sprinter’,” she said. “But I’ve progressed as an athlete, made the steps to become a better climber and improved my power. I’ve always called myself a bike racer, and whatever I’ve needed to do to cross the line first, I’m going to do it. Sprinting is a strength of mine, sure, but I look at myself as a complete bike racer.”

IN IT FOR THE LONG HAUL

DESPITE the recent success in Europe, the completeness in Rivera’s cycling arsenal has not come about overnight. She has had to work on weaknesses, pay her dues as a domestique in several races, and essentially learn her craft both at home in the US, and now in Europe. What’s carried her through has been her resilience. “I’ve had these little steps in the last few years in order to race here full time. I’ve wanted that since I was a kid and can remember watching the Tour de France as a kid and thinking, how cool would that be—to on a European pro team, where the standard is so high. “I like a challenge and they’ve all been

irror CYCLING

mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph | Saturday, April 22, 2017 A7

THE explosive power and bike-handling skills required for BMX would appear to transfer perfectly onto the boards of a velodrome.

Making the shift from BMX to track P UT a BMX racing bike next to a track cycling bike and you are hard put to find any similarities. Small and compact, with 20-inch wheels, the BMX bike is far removed from its larger, sleek and streamlined cousin designed for the track. Yet, over the years, more than a few BMX riders have transitioned to track, where they have enjoyed outstanding careers. The explosive power and bikehandling skills required for BMX would appear to transfer perfectly onto the

boards of a velodrome. One of the latest athletes to attempt the switch is Japan’s Yoshitaku Nagasako. The 23-year-old was in Hong Kong at the International Cycling Union (UCI) Track Cycling World Championships presented by Tissot as starter in the Japanese team sprint. A BMX trainee at the UCI World Cycling Centre in Aigle, Switzerland, from 2012 to 2016, he already has many years of top-level BMX competition in his legs, including UCI World Cups, UCI World Championships and Rio 2016 Olympic Games. “I started track cycling when I was based at the UCI World Cycling Centre,” he explained. We trained sometimes on the velodrome. I liked it and I thought I might have the potential to be a starter for the team sprint.” Which is why Nagasako

ON’T CALL ME

SPRINTER’ different. I’ve progressed from juniors, then come through collegiate racing to tearing up the domestic scene. I won the US Criterium, and then had two second places in the road races. It’s been a slow build and I’ve continued to try and challenge myself with the dream of being a pro in Europe.” All the while Rivera has picked up a degree, an element she had to combine with racing. “I had to finish an online exam the night before Worlds in Richmond,” she admits. “I left it a little later than I probably should have but the next morning I raced Richmond and made it into the main break. I don’t know if the whole team knew I was doing the exam but my

roommate, Evie Stevens did. “It was important for me to go to school. Not just as a backup plan and something to fall back on, but to have that normal college experience. We don’t make as much as the men and I’m not making millions of dollars. I know that cycling won’t last forever and it can be over at any moment. One bad crash, and that’s it. I know at some point I’ll get into real life.” That point is unlikely to arrive for some time, and although she only has a one-year deal with Team Sunweb at present, Rivera has every intention of sticking around in Europe. On the immediate horizon are Amstel Gold Race and La Fleche Wallonne, while the Tour of California is only a matter of weeks away. “In terms of goals, nothing has changed. For each race we’ve gone in there thinking ‘how as a team are we going to win this?’ and ‘how can we play off each rider’s strengths.” Our team’s strength is being able to adapt.” Adapt, learn and now conquer. Rivera is taking everything in her stride, but don’t call her “just” a sprinter. Cyclingnews

swapped his BMX bike for a track bike. We’re not talking cross-training or merely dabbling in track cycling, we’re talking high-level competition and high ambition. Yoshi, as he is known to most, is aiming to compete at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in both disciplines. “Of course, I talked about this to my coach at the UCI World Cycling Centre Thomas Allier. He helps me a lot and I will continue training BMX with him after the UCI World Championships in Hong Kong. “It’s not easy racing all year round but the playing fields are different. The people are different, the bike is different...it’s good for me to change sometimes.” Yoshi followed in the footsteps of some illustrious names who also made the

MARELLA SALAMAT is neither a sprinter or a climber, but she performs well in the mountains of Thailand.

FILIPINO-AMERICAN Coryn Rivera is taking the European races by storm.

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transition—Great Britain’s multiple UCI World and Olympic champion on the track, Sir Chris Hoy, started out on a BMX bike. Racing BMX between the ages of seven and 14, he was ranked second in Britain, fifth in Europe and ninth in the world. Others made the switch as adults, not least Jamie Staff who after becoming UCI World Champion for BMX (Cruiser) in 1996, turned to track and enjoyed an outstanding career, including several UCI World titles (keirin and team sprint) and being crowned Olympic Champion in the team sprint in 2008. Other Elite athletes who have switched between the two disciplines include Liam Phillips and Shanaze Reade. But why? “BMX riders are very good at controlling their bikes,” UCI WCC track Coach Scott Bugden said. “That, together with their explosive power, means that once they are on a track bike, they just need to learn a few techniques and they are ready to go.” Yoshi confirms: “In BMX we are always focused on the first straight, so we have power for that. And I believe that our bike skills and control are the best. When I was training in Aigle, we rode on the velodrome more in winter when it was snowing outside. It is good winter training, and going from standing starts to maximum speed is very similar to BMX.” But there is no way that Yoshi is prepared to put his first love aside: “BMX is my sport and I will never stop. I like the feeling of being scared and trying to do something different from the others.” While athletes before him have made a clear-cut transition from BMX to track (and in some cases back to BMX), Yoshi is determined to continue both in parallel. “I will try to qualify for the Tokyo Olympic Games on the track and in BMX, and I would like to medal in both. Track gives more base power for BMX, and BMX gives more cadence to reach maximum speed on the track. Some people might think I should focus on one discipline, but I believe it helps to do both. I want to challenge myself and see how far my bike will take me.” UCI News

SALAMAT UNLEASHES CLIMBING PROWESS

ARELLA SALAMAT is blossoming into a wellrounded cyclist. A time-trial gold medalist at the Singapore 28th Southeast Asian Games in 2015, Salamat showed another facet of her fast-developing skills and wound up third in the King of the Mountain classification of the recent Tour of Thailand. “I am neither a sprinter nor a climber. But I still made the KOM podium,” Salamat told the BusinessMirror Cycling. “This is the result of our rigorous training in the national team.” The professional bowler-

turned-cyclist surprised the field with her climbing ability, especially in the third and last stage of the International Cycling Union 2.1 race where she topped the KOM—the first in her young career as an Elite rider. “At the start, I never expected that I will land a spot [in the KOM]. There were so many climbs in the route. We knew that. And I know that I am not good with climbs,” Salamat said. “But when we entered the climb, especially in the third stage, I felt that I could chase the leaders,” she added. Salamat was sixth in the general classification, some three minutes behind champion Phetdarin Somrat, a rising star from Thailand. Vietnam national team mainstay Nguyen Thi That and Norwegian Miriam

Bjørnsrud completed the podium. She and national coach Cesar Lobramonte were surprised with the podium finish in the KOM that saw Bjørnsrud wearing the polka-dot jersey and Japanese Hiromi Kaneko finish second. “The results gave me confidence that I could match the speed and power of my rivals in Southeast Asia,” Salamat said. Salamat, Somrat and Thi That were also named the Best Asean Riders. Salamat was 11th in the 102.8-km Stage One from Chiang Mai-ChomThong. She improved to sixth place in the 66-km Stage Two from Chiangmai to Doi Sakat in northern Thailand. In the last stage, Salamat found an opportunity and wound up sixth place.

The Pangasinense and the other national team members started the season with a heavy schedule. They saw action in the Asian Championships in February in Bahrain and the Biwase Cup in Vietnam last month. But Salamat cracked in Bahrain and finished 25th out of 33 starters. She fought back in Vietnam and was eighth overall in the nine-stage, 828-km race. The 23-year-old Salamat and her teammates will see action in a test event for the Kuala Lumpur 29h Southeast Asian Games in Malaysia in May, an event that will provide the athletes a glimpse of their opponents in August. “For now, I will focus on my sprinting. I know I must improve on my sprints if I want to excel against” she said. Ramon Rafael Bonilla

OurTime BusinessMirror

A8 Saturday, April 22, 2017 • Editor: Efleda P. Campos

news@businessmirror.com.ph

DSWD gives ₧100K to 109 Iloilo centenarians

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LOILO CITY—One hundred nine elderly from the city and the province of Iloilo each received P100,000 on Wednesday as the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) started its distribution of cash incentives to qualified centenarians in the Western Visayas.

The recipients were among the 360 centenarian beneficiaries identified in the region. A P36-million fund was set aside

by the DSWD central office for the target recipients. DSWD-6 Regional Director Rebecca Geamala said the cash in-

centives are a “big help for the [elderly’s] shelter, food and clothing as they continue to live”. While the region has the highest number of centenarian beneficiaries nationwide, the figure is a manifestation that people from the Western Visayas, especially those with centenarians, are “very good at taking care of the senior citizens”, Geamala said. Of the 109 centenarians, 19 are from Iloilo City, while 90 reside in Iloilo province. The municipality of Lambunao in Iloilo has the highest number of beneficiaries with 11; Sara town with nine; and Ajuy town with six.

Maria Guyos, 106, from the municipality of Pavia and the oldest among the beneficiaries, was grateful to the government for the incentive. She will use a portion of her money to buy food and keep certain amount for the future, especially when she will be hospitalized. In the meantime, Libertad Balajadia, 105, from Barotac Viejo said vegetables have always been part of her diet. She does not take alcoholic drinks and smoke; thus, she was able to reach her age. G e a m a l a ap p e a l e d t o f a m i l y me m b e r s of t he c e nt e n a r i a n s t o u s e t he mone y pro p e rly, a s t he y we re e x p e c te d to

h a nd l e t he mone y on b e h a l f of t he re c ip ie nt s . “They should use the money intended solely for the welfare of their centenarians,” she said. “I am thankful to all the family members for taking care of their centenarians and I do believe they will further strengthen their support to the senior citizens by using the money in a good way,” she said. The DSWD is still working on the schedule of the distribution of cash incentives to other centenarians in the provinces of Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Guimaras and including those in Negros Occidental.

Geamala said the cash incentives would be personally distributed to centenarians in other provinces through their special disbursing officers. Wednesday’s distribution was held at the ground f loor of the Iloilo provincial capitol with the presence of Geamala, Iloilo Gov. A r thur Defensor Sr., DSW D 6 Assistant Regional Director for Administration Evangeline Felicio and DSWD-6 Head for Protective Services Unit Rosario Sanagustin. The provision of cash incentives to centenarians is mandated under the Centenarians Act of 2016. PNA

City where Japan’s industrial boom began is now decimated by old age

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EW places evoke the rise and fall of Japan’s industrial might than the head office of the Imperial Steel Works in Kitakyushu. The red-brick Meijiera building was the heart of the nation’s first big steelworks. Now, it’s a Unesco World Heritage site. Kitakyushu, with nearly a million people, embodies the struggle of Japan’s cities to adapt to a future where citizens are older, workers are fewer and many houses are emptying. The emblems of government efforts to revitalize the economy—a billion-dollar airport, a robotics factory—stand beside the empty lots, idle blast furnace and shuttered shops. Five hours west of Tokyo by bullet train, Kitakyushu lost over 15,000 people in the five years to 2015, more than any other city in Japan apart from those evacuated because of the Fukushima nuclear disaster. More than 100,000 residents have gone since the peak in 1979, and half of the factory jobs have disappeared with them. Provincial cities in Japan are competing for a declining pool of talent, workers and investment to replace vanishing industries. Kitakyushu’s task is especially stark because of the contrast with Fukuoka, an hour’s drive southwest, where efforts to lure entrepreneurs have made it one of the few big cities outside Tokyo whose population is growing. “I feel like Fukuoka is taking away all the good,” said Masahiro Urabe, 73, who runs a men’s clothes store that his father started in Yahata Chuo shopping street. Nearby, under a flickering florescent light, is a deserted bar. Urabe said the street used to

be filled around the clock with steelworkers coming off shift. “Manufacturing is a tough sell for young people,” he said. “It can’t be helped when the steelworks isn’t doing well.” Kitakyushu, formed by the merger of five towns in 1963, owes its manufacturing roots to the Imperial Yawata works, which poured its first steel in 1901. Today, the mills are run by Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp., with about 4,200 staff making high-value products such as the rails for Japan’s Shinkansen bullet trains. The company declined an interview request. At its peak, the works had nearly 50,000 people, said Akinori Yamamura, 78, who worked there for four decades. The city was so vital to Japan’s industry during World War II that it was the original target for the second United States atomic bomb, which was eventually dropped on Nagasaki because of clouds and poor visibility over the Kitakyushu area. The city’s mills attracted steelconsuming businesses such as Toyota Motor Corp. and Nissan Motor Co., which still have major plants in the area. “The city used to be full of energy, and at its heart was Chuo,” said Yamamura, who volunteers as a guide at the Yawata Works’ old head office. “Now, abandoned houses are everywhere, and fewer people means the shutters are coming down” in the shops. Other parts of the steelworks have also been listed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, including a repair shop that is still in operation after more than a century. The

Space World amusement park set up in 1990 at Yawata Works’ idle land will close at the end of this year. “It’s not easy to create a new industry. It’s a hard-fought battle,” said Kitakyushu Mayor Kenji Kitahashi, 64. He’s looking to encourage growth from sectors like tourism, robotics, health care and offshore wind power. One of the primary tools in his arsenal is the airport. Opened in 2006 on an artificial island in the bay after 12 years of construction, the 24hour airport gives Kitakyushu an advantage over Fukuoka, whose downtown runway has to close at night due to noise. One Kitakyushu company that managed to adapt is robot-maker Yaskawa Electric Corp., which started in 1915 making electric motors and now produces Motoman industrial robots. The company’s stock has risen 75 percent in the past year. High-tech toilet-maker Toto Ltd. and airline Star Flyer Inc. are also based here. But Kitakyushu’s strategic special zone status granted by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2016 has more to do with demographics than its industrial heritage. The city was designated as an area for innovation in elderly care. Even that sector is struggling. “It’s very hard to find staff,” said Ikuko Kamei, a manager at a local care center within sight of the abandoned Yawata Works blast furnace. “We put out ads at job centers and offer extra cash for new employees, but workers are getting old here.” Almost three out of 10 of Kitakyushu’s residents are 65 or older. Kamei herself is 61. Bloomberg News

WOODEN-LOOKING SET MASTER Using his creativity and skills, 65-year-old Mario Celedonio of Centro West, Santiago City, makes wooden-looking garden sets out of concrete. Getting ideas from the Internet, the clients of the enterprising former driver are local school executives in the city who appreciate his outdoor creations. LEONARDO PERANTE II

How to invest in aging China: Cruises, corner stores, cosmetics

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HINA may be at risk of getting old before it gets rich, but investors can still get rich from China’s getting old. And it’s not all just about buying health-care stocks. Cruise operators, convenience stores and cosmetics makers are emerging as sectors that stand to benefit from the demographic consequences of the Communist leadership’s now-abandoned one-child policy. China’s latest population plan estimates about a quarter of the country’s population will be 60 years old or older by 2030. This is a new phenomenon for the country, said Tuan Huynh, Deutsche Bank Wealth Management’s Singaporebased Asia-Pacific chief investment

officer. “With this kind of increase in age and age groups, there will be a change in patterns of spending.” Aside from investing in health care, Deutsche is betting on cruiseoperating companies to play the shift in spending and travel patterns it anticipates. Traveling on a cruise ship might be “more comfortable” than air travel for older people, Huynh said. Huynh recommended investing in a basket of companies within the sector to avoid “single stock risk”. Asian cruise passengers have tripled to 2.1 million in 2015 from 2012 with a majority coming from China, according to the Cruise Lines International Associations, a trade group for the industry, Shenzhen-listed

Chongqing New Century Cruise Co., which operates travel routes within China, has gained 46 percent this year compared to the S&P Citic Consumer Discretionary Index, which has risen 5.5 percent as of close on April 5. Bloomberg data showed US-listed cruise companies—Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. and Carnival Corp.—have also risen at least 10 percent this year. China joins Japan and South Korea in a broad pattern of aging across northeast Asia. BNP Paribas Investment Partners sees convenience stores in Japan and South Korea as ways to play the trend, said Arthur Kwong, its head of Asia Pacific equities. Bloomberg News

Declaring war on the financial abuse of older people

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WOVEN RATTAN BASKETS An elderly customer walks away with a rattan basket she bought from a vendor in the Baguio City public market. The baskets are woven by artisans in Aurora Province.

MAU VICTA

MY A. Lecoq was a stay-at-home mother raising her young son and mourning the death of her mother. But when her grandmother reluctantly admitted five years ago that she had been swindled out of her life savings, Lecoq sprang into action. She shed her home-centered life, first to push prosecutors to investigate and bring charges, and then, earlier this year, to become an activist, traveling around her home state of Washington to lecture and testify about the financial exploitation of older Americans. She has also become a lobbyist, exhorting state lawmakers to pass legislation that would toughen penalties for people who take financial advantage of vulnerable, older people like her grandmother. “When I tell our story, so many people tell me ‘Oh, that happened to my grandmother, my aunt or some other family member,’” Lecoq, 41, said in a telephone interview from her home in Camano Island, Washington. “But then they say they didn’t

know it was a crime, or they didn’t know it could be reported or punished.” Her own grandmother, Mariana Cooper, 87, whose financial exploitation was recounted in a 2015 New York Times article, was swindled by Janet Bauml, who had insinuated herself into her life and whom she had come to trust. Over time, Cooper, a widow living by herself, gave more than $217,000 to Bauml, expecting to be paid back. When she sheepishly admitted to her granddaughter that she had been defrauded, Lecoq spent months calling law-enforcement agents and prosecutors to help make a case for serious theft. In late 2015 Bauml was sentenced to 3-1/2 years in prison. After that, Lecoq said, she personally felt a calling to raise public awareness of such crimes. “There needs to be a crime called ‘theft from a vulnerable adult’, so everyone knows what it is,” said Lecoq, who also works parttime for a Head Start program. Several states have laws like this on the books, but they vary widely. According to

the National Conference of State Legislatures, which tracks such laws, this type of financial abuse is an active topic in state capitals. Last year 33 states, as well as the Districts of Columbia and Puerto Rico, considered measures against the illegal or improper use of seniors’ money, property or assets, in addition to fraud or identity theft targeting the older people. Some states have shored up their existing laws. Last year Idaho revised its definition of neglect of vulnerable adults to include exploitation. Illinois extended the statute of limitations to seven years from three for prosecuting a person accused of taking financial advantage of an older person or a person with disabilities. Also, last year, Alabama passed the Protection of Vulnerable Adults from Financial Exploitation Act, to add a layer of protection to existing laws by requiring brokers and investment advisers who believe a vulnerable adult is being exploited to notify the Human Resources Department and the Alabama Securities Commission. New York Times News Service

The Millennials BusinessMirror

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Saturday, April 22, 2017

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Young actor likens I marathon run to life

Of ‘selfie’ haters and narcissists

Maxine Mamba

MILLENNIAL UNIVERSE

By Rizal Raoul S. Reyes

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@brownindio

ERALD Randolph Anderson believes sports is a positive force on people regardless of their status in life.

Sports can inspire people to hurdle the challenges in the bigger game called life, the 28-yearold actor said. Fresh off his first 42-kilometer run at a recently concluded marathon in Los Angeles, Anderson likens the grueling race that originated in Greece to his life experiences. “ T he marat hon is l i ke my life,” Anderson said in a news briefing on March 25 in Quezon City. “For sure, challenges will be there but you must continue to persevere.” Anderson, the country’s representative to the Skechers Performance Los Angeles Marathon, was among the thousands who finished the race. He finished with a time of four hours, 25 minutes and two seconds. Now taking a break from his training routine, Anderson admitted joining the marathon was not a walk in park, no pun intended. He told reporters it was quite tough when he experienced “hitting the wall” or sudden exhaustion.

Amazing

CROSSING the finish line was a shining moment for Anderson, but that feat did not come easy, especially at the 35th km. “I prayed, asked the Lord to help me get there,” Anderson said. “I also asked my legs not to give up.” He was proud upon reaching the finish line. Looking back, he said it was really a long run. “It was an amazing experience. Running with different people from different parts of the world gave me an emotional high,” Anderson said. “I love the community because of the camaraderie and support given to each other by the participants.” He said he was also inspired by the support of the people and his sponsor. After his surreal experience in the LA Marathon, Anderson is looking forward to join the next race. “I want to surpass my performance next time.” Aside from promoting a healthy lifestyle, Anderson noted marathon and other form of sports

ANDERSON

can help people develop a positive frame of mind. Established in 1986, the LA Marathon is one of the largest marathons in the US with over

18,000 participants. This year’s marathon saw runners race from Dodger Stadium across Los Angeles to a scenic finish just steps from the Santa Monica Pier.

’ve been seeing a lot of shy girls apologize for their “selfie”, as if they needed permission to take a picture of themselves. They apologize and say: “It’s ‘coz I like my make up,” or “Pagbigyan na lang kasi good mood.” Just to give a backgrounder, a selfie was originally termed for photos of yourself taken by yourself. Now, at least to the vast Filipino youth, it has grown to encompass “groufies”, which are photos taken of a group by someone in the picture, as well, either by holding it up or with the use of a “selfie stick”. That is something they invented so one could get a shot of yourself or your group from afar. After this, a revelatory article online spread that taking a selfie was actually a sign of narcissism and being psychologically unwell. So I would take you down the distinctions here. The article said that a selfie could be a sign of narcissism, but that was not sure. All narcissists would probably love a selfie but not all people who take a selfie are automatically narcissists. According to an article by Gwendolyn Seidman of Psychology Today, there were two studies in Poland correlating selfie posts to narcissism in men and women. What they found was that narcissism correlates to a very small percentage of a selfie. That means that people who take a selfie are mostly not narcissists. “Thus, narcissism can explain only a small amount of the selfie-posting behavior that we observe on social media,” Seidman wrote. “There may be many other still-to-be-uncovered factors that also influence this behavior.” The report also found that, while narcissistic men are somewhat more likely to post a selfie, narcissism in women for the most part is unrelated to selfie-posting. This means that if a man is posting a lot of a selfie, he is more likely to be a narcissist than if a woman were. Male or female, though, we all have a right to love ourselves. What is maladaptive in narcissists is their willingness to take advantage of others for their own good and their unwillingness to help anyone except themselves. Holly Peek from the Psychiatric Times wrote: “As a way to connect, selfies are often used to share important experiences and to express

feelings at a particular time.” They are also used to increase self-esteem momentarily by presenting a positive view to others and allows one to focus on her socialnetwork ties, according to Peek. In the age of smartphones and visual arts, a selfie is a way of communicating ourselves to the outside world. It is a visual communication which is responded to by the social network by likes. It might be shallow, but it is just a medium of communication and a form of expression of their appreciation for themselves. Self-esteem is so important that there’s a California Task Force to Promote Self-Esteem and Personal and Social Responsibility. The University of California along with different sectors of society built a consensus and legislation because they realized that self-esteem is a primary factor of how well or how poorly a person functions in society. By shaming a selfie, we don’t give that person the freedom to love themselves. I think all people have every right to love yourselves and to like certain things about you. If you want to show off your new hair or shirt, or where you are or what you are doing, then go ahead. You don’t have to be uber-gorgeous or a psycho narcissist to take a selfie. You can just be normal and happy and want to share that. The Internet was created so everyone can share themselves. To selfie shamers: shame on you for selfie shaming. We just want to share our face and ourselves! If I like what I see in my camera, I’m not a narcissist. I have a healthy sense of self. I love me as much as I love others and love a lot of things that I do. You’re free to love yourself, too.

Women in campus: Embracing feminism and facing the future By Eilene Zimmerman

New York Times News Service

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NE of the things Tina Campt, a professor and director of the Barnard Center for Research on Women, has noticed about the young women in her classes is their radically open notion of sexuality and gender. “These students want the freedom to express who they are without the constraints of choices, such as either a woman or man, heterosexual or homosexual,” Campt said. “Those categories no longer carry a definitional value.” Women now account for the majority of college students, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, 11.3 million of them as compared with 8.7 million men. And 63 percent identify as feminist. Their concerns run the gamut, from sexual assault and poverty to affordable education, immigration and reproductive rights, said Alison Dahl Crossley, the associate director of the Clayman Institute for Gender Research at Stanford University. Both Campt and Crossley, who is also author of the book Finding Feminism: Millennial Activists and the Unfinished Gender Revolution, say women today are in a world that is profoundly different from what it was a generation ago, so they are having to create ways of coping with new challenges, the same as previous generations did. “The structure of the economy, of family and of work is very, very different,” Campt said. She said young women today were entering an economy with fewer work opportunities and much more debt. It is also an era in which feminist activism and education happen in both the physical world and the virtual one, often through blogs and social media.

This March 23 photo shows Alexa Dantzler, who sees a dearth of minority women in the STEM disciplines: science, technology, engineering and mathematics, at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. Audra Melton/ The New York Times

O ne t h i ng t h at su r pr i sed Crossley about the college women she studied was their wholehearted embrace of feminism. “They spoke about how feminism permeated their worldview and their interactions and the relationships they had in their everyday lives,” she said. We spoke to female undergraduates at colleges around the country to find out what issues they were most concerned about and what feminism meant to them. Their comments have been edited and condensed.

Morgan Brownlee, 22, graduated from San Diego State University in December, Sociology major and French minor

THE biggest issue for me as a woman on campus is safety and acceptance. When I walk in a room, I do a quick scan to see if there are any other women there. And if there are men, I look at how many are white, and their ages. It

gives me a sense of the openness of the room. I worry about equality of pay, and it’s something that when I hear my dad talk about, as a black man, I think, “He’ll still probably make more than I ever will,” because not only am I a woman, but I’m black. I feel like the women’s movement doesn’t represent women of color, as well as it could. I’m not expecting the movement to be perfect, but if you’re talking about women earning 80 cents for every dollar a man makes, you’re not really talking about Latina women, black women, Native American women, who make even less than that.

Melanie Camejo Coffigny, 18, firstyear student, Duke University, Neuroscience major

IF you had asked me, my concerns about being a woman six months ago, I don’t know if they would have been the same. The election and college have changed that. I’m a Cuban immigrant—I came to the US in 2009, when I was 11 years old—and what concerns me most now is the idea of safety, both on the college campus and in the world. I’m very involved with the fight against rape culture, and I’m out as an LGBT student and activist. But the climate in North Carolina now, that’s something to be concerned about. I worry a lot about immigration status. I’m technically safe, but who knows what will happen now. The whole idea of safety as something that is given to us by society concerns me. The idea that we are to blame for what happens to us—women, m i nor it ies, i mm ig ra nts—be cause of how we dress or express ourselves or our immigration status. There’s so much victim-

blaming. I consider myself a feminist, and that means attaining equality in all the senses that entails. As an out woman of color, it’s the idea that I will be able to be myself and fight for the things I care about.

Alexa Dantzler, 21, senior, Emory University, Atlanta, Biology and African studies major

FOR me as a woman, what I see on campus and in the bigger world is that we’re always fighting for equal opportunity and access. I am on the premed track, and I’m also African-American, Korean and Slovak. I see such a lack of minority women in STEM. I haven’t had a physician mentor who is a minority woman, and I think it’s harder to relate to role models in your future career field when they haven’t had the same racial experiences. I don’t have someone I can ask: “What was it like being a black woman in your medical-school classes? W hat were the challenges you faced?” That’s a real concern of mine. On campus, I’m concerned about the language and rhetoric used to describe minority groups, and that includes women. I think our voices may be heard less as a result of the current rhetoric and the direct implications of it.

Lexi Hoagland, 20, sophomore, Harding University, Searcy, Arkansas, Public relations and marketing major

I’M concerned that some women don’t feel capable of succeeding or comfortable in our own skin. I am a conservative Christian and my morals and beliefs line up with that, but I would also say I’m a conservative Christian feminist. I believe in God and I am definitely pro-woman, but I’m also pro-man. I believe God created men and

created women with different skills and talents to serve for different reasons. Feminism to me is believing in myself, following my dreams and empowering other people—both men and women. There’s a scripture in the Bible that I fall back on a lot, that I aspire to live by, and it’s really important. In Proverbs 31, it talks about being a “wife of noble character”. I’m not married, but I take it to mean not a wife but rather a ‘woman’ of noble character. Full of confidence in myself and bringing good to everyone around me, being a hard and persistent worker, being respectful, being bold—not shrinking or weak.

Kat Kerwin, 19, sophomore, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Political science and geography major

THE biggest issue on campus for women here is sexual assault, being afraid of the young men we know here, who are in our lives. One of my best friends was sexually assaulted a year ago but didn’t report it, and we were out at a bar and he was there. She was very uncomfortable with him being there, and I went up to him and said, “Look, she feels really uncomfortable, could you leave?” He said no. It’s concerning, the rape culture and lack of respect for women. Another big concern for me as a woman is being able to graduate and find a job. I think as a woman it’s a lot more difficult. Guys are given priority—you’ve seen the studies where if it says you’re a man on your résumé you are more likely to get hired. I’m also bothered that if you’re an assertive woman—and I’m called aggressive all the time simply because I’m assertive—it’s misconstrued as bossiness. That really under-

mines us. It says to women it’s not OK for us to be driven, ambitious and have strong opinions.

Kelsey Ritchie, 22, senior, Texas Christian University, Fort Worth , Political science and journalism major, business minor

I am concerned about unequal pay between men and women in the workplace. I’m going to grad school after college to study public policy and if I have debt after that, will I be able to pay it off, as well as my male peers? Because men earn more. When I look at jobs, I know it will take me X amount of years longer to pay off my school debt than it would if I were a man. That could affect my ability to pursue a career I’m passionate about. I consider myself a feminist and also a pretty religious Christian. I went to the march in Washington this past January, but I also went to the inauguration. I look at feminism as feeling empowered enough to behave in a way that demands respect, rather than acting in a way that demands attention. I am a student body vice president at TCU and very career-focused. I’ve thought a lot about balancing what the world defines as a strong woman with biblical truths, such as this phrase in Scripture: “Submit to your husband.” The Bible is very clear about men being the ones to lead relationships. And for a long time it was difficult for me to accept this, but I’ve realized it doesn’t have to demean a woman’s role in a relationship. Submission doesn’t have to come from weakness. We are all called to serve e ac h ot he r b y ut i l i z i n g ou r strengths. My biblical foundation empowers me to advocate for women’s rights.

BusinessMirror

A10 Saturday, April 22, 2017

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3 ‘B’s’ of cyber security for small businesses L ARGE-scale cyber attacks with eye-watering statistics, like the breach of a billion Yahoo! accounts in 2016, grab most of the headlines. But what often gets lost in the noise is how often small- and medium-sized organizations find themselves under attack.

In the last year, half of American sma l l businesses have been breached by hackers. That inc ludes Mer id ian Hea lt h in Muncie, Indiana, where 1,200 workers’ W-2 forms were stolen when an employee was duped b y a n e - m a i l pu r p or t i n g to come from a top company executive. Many small companies are just one f raudu lent w ire transfer away from going out of business. There’s lots of advice available about how to fight cybercrime, but it’s hard to tell what’s best. I am a scholar of how businesses can more effectively mitigate cyber risk, and my advice is to know the three “B’s” of cyber security: Be aware, be organized and be proactive. Here’s how more companies can boost their cyber-security

preparedness without breaking the bank.

Be aware

ALMOST any company can be vulnerable to a range of cyber attacks. A company manager or network security professional needs to know about the various types of digital threats and how to limit vulnerability. There are some attacks that ever y employee shou ld know about. The most common attacks use a method called “phishing”, or a variant that specifically targets one potential victim, called “spearphishing”. These typically take the form of e-mail messages that appear to be sent by coworkers or supervisors asking for sensitive information. That’s what happened to the health-care company in Muncie. These messages

can contain instructions that a victim might follow, believing them legitimate—such as clicking a link that installs malware or captures login information, or even making a wire transfer to another business’s account. T he best defenses aga inst these types of attacks involve skepticism and vigilance. Attackers can be very clever and persistent: If just one person has one weak moment and clicks on one malicious link, an entire network can be compromised.

Be organized

MOS T compa n ies go to g reat leng t hs to protect t heir physic a l a sset s a nd person ne l . But m a ny do not t a ke si m i l a r pre c a u t i o n s w it h t h e i r d i g it a l i n for m at ion. A ke y computer may be kept disconnected f rom t he I nter net , but i f it acce pt s f l a sh d r ives or re w r ite able C Ds, or i f it s pa ss word i s easy to g uess, t he infor mat ion i s ju st a s v u l nerable. Small business owners need to pr ior it i ze c yber sec u r it y. Wit hout proper prepa rat ion, even large companies can find themselves unprepared for cyber attac k s. W hen Sony was hacked in 2011, it did not have an executive focused solely on information security. But hiring someone did not prevent another hack in 2014.

Telco, 7-11 operator in e-commerce deal H

OMEGROW N technology firm Star Telecom Alliance Resources Inc. (Star Inc.) announced on April 17 it has inked a deal with Philippine Seven Corp. (PSC) to introduce an electronic commerce (e-commerce) business model. In a statement on April 17, Star said the agreement includes allowing customers to order its smartphones through PSC’s multichannel store, found on Google Play and the Apple App Store, as well as electronic kiosks and catalogs in-stores. According to Star Inc., once buyers confirmed orders, they can pick up their orders the following day. Customers can opt to pay for the products ordered digitally through any of PSC’s platforms or in-person through counters at PSC’s 7-Eleven convenience store, before or after they pickup their chosen phones, using cash or credit card. According to PSC E-commerce Managing Director Daniel Marogy, the e-commerce model was first rolled out in 7-Eleven stores in Taiwan. “It has proven so successful that 35 percent of all e-commerce packages in the country now go through 7-Eleven branches, eventually helping make Taiwan the world’s most developed e-commerce market, with 18-percent share of total retail,” Marogy said. He added the firm aims to pilot the program, together with Star in selected 7-11 stores in Metro Manila starting April 24. According to Marogy, the ecommerce model aims to address two key realities facing the e-com-

Be proactive

PL ANNING ahead is vital, instead of just being react ive. The National Institute for Standards and Technolog y (NIST) Cyber-security Framework lists five main functions of cybersecurity efforts: Identif y vulnerabi l it ies, protect aga inst attacks, detect anyone who gets through, respond to the attack quickly and recover after the attack has been stopped. Some companies are already receiving advice that following the NIST guidelines can reduce legal liability if cyber-security problems arise or are discovered. Companies can also work with colleges and universities to create cybersecurity clinics, or even consider buying cyber-risk insurance. There’s no way to avoid being the target of a cyber attack, but that doesn’t mean becoming a victim. Simple steps can have huge resu lts: T he Austra lian government reported resisting 85 percent of cyber attacks by ta k ing three basic steps: restricting which programs can run on government computers, keeping software updated regularly and minimizing the number of people who have administrative control over networks and key machines. Cyber security doesn’t have to be rocket science; it’s just computer science. AP

Yahoo! bows out as public firm with revenue shrinking

merce industry in the Philippines today—small retail baskets and expensive fulfillment logistics. Star Product Development Head Michael Chen said 75 percent of offline retail transactions in the Philippines cost P600 ($12.05) and below. However, online vendors can spend up to an average of P150 ($3.01) fulfilling these orders, with expenses going even higher when returns and failed deliveries are factored, Chen said. This eats into their margins and discourages them from investing further in their e-commerce channels, he added. “We are optimistic about this model as this leverages 7-Eleven’s logistics operations—one of the most efficient in the country—and remove the last-mile expense and costs associated with running an e-commerce warehouse by using our stores as pick up locations,” Marogy said. “In addition, this also reduces failed deliveries by giving customers an incentive to prepay in-store.” “As we apply this to the local market and learn about Filipinos’ reception to the model, we hope to eventually expand our product offering and store availability,” Chen said. “The more it becomes costeffective for us, the more we will be able to bring down price points and make our devices even more affordable for our customers.” This venture builds on 7-Eleven’s retail partnership with Star, which began in 2014, when the convenience store started carrying Starmobile devices in their stores. Rizal Raoul Reyes

Sharp says models return TV’s real use

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HARP Cor p. announced recently its line of television (T V ) models “ brings back what was once so great” about T V. Amid the proliferation of smart T Vs, Shar p said its models allow consumers “to watch in the company of a comfortable couch, a bowl of popcorn and a fizzy drink—all without the extra fuss of failed wireless access or additional plug-ins.” “In this vast world of impressive, but expensive, technolog y, going back to basics is sometimes just the key,” Shar p’s Philippines’s business said. Thus, Shar p launched its Smart T V models that the company said “are complete with the three most basic features of a smart T V: Web browser, YouTube and Netf lix—visual entertainment and information access in their finest and yet most simplistic.” Oliver Samson

This July 19, 2016, file photo shows a man walks in front of a Yahoo! sign at the company’s headquarters in Sunnyvale, California. Yahoo! is bowing out as a public company with its revenue still declining, a chronic problem that culminated in its sale to Verizon Communications. AP

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UNNYVALE, California— Yahoo! is bowing out as a public company w ith its revenue still declining, a chronic problem that culminated in its sale to Verizon Communications. Despite the revenue downturn, Yahoo! fared better during the first three months of the year than analysts had anticipated—a low bar that was another sign of how far the Internet pioneer has fallen during the past decade. The results released on Tuesday will mark the final quarterly report of Yahoo!’s 21-year histor y as a publicly traded company unless the Verizon deal unexpectedly falls apart. Yahoo! expects the $4.5-billion sale to close in June before the end of the second quarter. The deal’s final price reflects a $350-million markdown that

Yahoo! gave Verizon to compensate for the damage caused by two different security breaches that resulted in personal information being stolen from more than 1 billion Yahoo! user accounts. A fter Ver izon takes over, Yahoo!’s $8 billion in cash and valuable stakes in two Asian Internet companies—Alibaba Group and Yahoo! Japan—will be turned over to a newly created company called A ltaba. Ya hoo! CEO Ma r issa Mayer won’t be part of Altaba, and she isn’t expected to join Verizon to oversee the Yahoo! e-mail and other digital services being sold. If she doesn’t have a job, Mayer will receive a $23-million severance package. Mayer, a former Google executive who has been Yahoo!’s CEO for nearly five years, defended her track record in a

statement accompanying the first-quarter numbers. “I’ve never been more proud of t he i mprovement s we’ve made to the business and the value we’ve delivered to our shareholders,” Mayer said.

Turn around hopes

YA HOO!’S stock has tr ipled during Mayer’s reign, but the run-up was driven by the company’s stake in Alibaba, which is China’s e-commerce leader and boasts a market value of $278 billion. The Sunnyvale, California, company invested in Alibaba before Mayer’s arrival. Mayer had hoped to turn a rou nd Ya hoo!, but instead oversaw further erosion even while investing heavily in mobile applications and video. She couldn’t solve a problem that dogged Yahoo! for most of the past decade—how to get a larger

piece of the digital advertising sales that increasingly have been flowing toward Google and Facebook, a pair of companies that once were smaller than Yahoo!. After subtracting ad commissions, Yahoo!’s revenue totaled $834 million in the first quarter, a 3-percent decrease from last year. In the first full qu a r te r of M aye r ’s te nu re, Yahoo!’s revenue after ad commissions stood at $1.1 billion. Ya hoo! ea r ned $10 0 m i llion, or 10 cents per share, in the first quarter, rebounding from a loss of $99 million, or 10 cents per share, last year. If not for certain accounting items unrelated to its ongoing business, Yahoo! said it would have earned 18 cents per share, topping the average estimate of 16 cents per share among six analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research. AP

briefs

Jeppesen in I.T .deal with AirAsia Group

JEPPESEN Sanderson Inc. announced on April 11 it recently signed a multiple-year agreement with A irAsia Group to provide digital charting and electronic f light bag (EFB) ser vices for all affiliates of the low-cost airline operator. The agreement covers a total of six airlines within the A irAsia Group, which are based in Malaysia, Thailand, Japan, India, Indonesia and the Philippines. The A irAsia Group will receive tailored digital f light information and Jeppesen FliteDeck Pro EFB ser vices on Window tablets to optimize operations. According to Jeppesen, its FliteDeck Pro allows the A irAsia Group to operate more efficiently by eliminating paper content, which improves fuel consumption. Rizal Raoul Reyes

Canonical releases Ubuntu ver. 17.04

UNITED K ingdom-based Canonical Ltd. announced on April 13 the release of version 17.04 of Ubuntu, an operating system (OS) for container, cloud, scale-out and hy perscale computing. In a statement, the privately held computer software company said version 17.04, the 26th release of Ubuntu, supports Kubernetes, Docker, L XD and Snaps. “The breadth and pace of open source innovation has made it the center of gravity in technology today, and the Ubuntu community has once again delivered the most reliable way to consume that innovation,” Canonical and Ubuntu Founder Mark Shuttleworth was quoted in the statement as saying. Rizal Raoul Reyes

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Saturday, April 22, 2017

A11

Shakey’s PHl to accept Bitcoin for pizza buys

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Story & photo by Rizal Raoul Reyes

HE local operations of Shakey’s Pizza Co. plans to add the use of bitcoins in selling products in keeping abreast with the current technological trends and improve customer service.

Shakey’s Chief Information Officer Mauch Franco told reporters on the sidelines of a news briefing on March 25 they are currently testing the bitcoin with a provider. “We see this happening in the next three months,” Franco said. “Pretty soon, we will test

everything properly. It has been successful in the international markets and application of bitcoin is going viral, as well, in the local market.” Franco added the move to accept bitcoin in purchase of real products “ is not for the sake of rolling it [sales] up.”

Shakey’s Pizza CIO Mauch Franco and General manager Jorge Concepcion.

We also want “to improve our ser vice to our guests,” he said. Bitcoin, also known as cr y pto-currency, does not have any support by any country’s central

bank or government. However, a bitcoin can be exchanged for goods or ser vices with vendors who accept the “cyber currency” as payment.

Shakey’s Philippines General Manager Jorge Concepcion told reporters half of the company’s business is online based. “At present, 50 percent of our business is deliver y-based.” Franco said they chose to mig rate t heir system to r un on Microsoft Cor p.’s software and cloud infrastructure in a bid toward digital transformation. We believe migration to t he c loud is cor rect because the cloud can provide robust and seamless capabilities to the company, he added. Franco ex plained Sha key’s aims to achieve a seamless integ ration on ever y customer interaction from order ing to table management, from kitchen management to pizza deliveries. “We have embarked on our

d ig ita l-transfor mation strateg y with a lot of serious intent a nd foc us on e xec ut ion,” he said. “We have begun by putting in a sound infrastructure in place, such as Microsoft’s A zure [cloud infrastr ucture]. As we move to executing our full digital vision in the next couple of years, we look forward to leveraging Microsoft’s analytics and data management to optimize our operations.” Franco said they believe a seamless information-technology integration will allow the company to plan more efficiently out-of-home dining peaks, e.g., Mother’s Day. In the past, the huge spike on demand prompted online orders to crash as the previous servers cannot take on the demand, he added.

Security in work force tech top priority for biz across S.E.A.–Dell

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MPLOYEE device security and customer experience are top priorities in Southeast Asia for both businesses and informationtechnology (IT) leaders, a research on workforce transformation commissioned by Dell Technologies Inc. revealed. Firms in Southeast Asia are at the crossroads between meeting financial goals and creating a niche for themselves in the new age digital economy, Dell said on April 17, citing the results of the study. Conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Dell, the study investigated the key challenges and drivers that businesses are facing in the adoption of work force enablement technology. Dell said 63 percent of respondents indicated that their top business priority will be to improve customer experience. The study revealed that 71 percent of business and IT leaders across organizations in Southeast Asia ranked prioritizing reducing costs for their organizations as the topmost priority. “In the digital era, enabling the work force with technology is a deliberate strategy to foster high performance and excellence,” Dell said. “It begins with understanding that customer experience, devices that improve talent retention and demand for devices driven by better user experience are decisively linked.”

Device diversity

TO enable their work force effectively, understanding “device diversity” is also the key to talent retention, with 48 percent citing better devices as a pull factor. According to Rakesh Mandal, Dell South Asia and Korea client solutions director and general manager, the current crop of workers are highly interconnected “with new technologies empowering people to perform at their best.” “IT and business leaders are embarking on a work force transformation strategy, as they need to equip their work force with the right devices and software to optimize productivity,” Mandal was quoted in a statement as saying. “Furthermore, employee experience is a critical factor in boosting financial revenue and enhancing customer revenue—a continuing priority for Southeast Asia companies as they move into the new age digital economy.”

Work force security

THE complexity of the IT environment due to diverse devices, coupled with growing sophistication of security threats, outdated security policies and easy information access have made endpoint devices increasingly vulnerable.

According to the survey, 81 percent of respondents are concerned about the legal liability issues arising from Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policies, while 44 percent said that organization-wide breaches originate from employee devices. Despite their challenges, 75 percent of survey respondents said that replacing older PC hardware with newer PC hardware will significantly improve the security landscape for organizations, and 75 percent will look at resolving user authentication vulnerabilities.

Work force enablement

EMPLOYEES want to work from multiple locations and use several different devices, including their personal devices, at work. Thus, they are demanding faster refresh cycles, enhanced user experience and corporate support for all their devices. However, organizations face challenges managing their overall PC lifecycle with 53 percent of respondents citing complexity from vendor management as an inhibitor for effective management. Meanwhile, the growing sophistication of threats has made old work force technology vulnerable. Fifty-three percent of respondents cited that the frequency of security PC breaches is a top concern for firms. To overcome these critical challenges, firms need to partner with technology providers for holistic PC life cycle-management solutions, Dell said. Business leaders also need to focus on changing the way the company functions.

Growing challenge

TO complement this, CIOs must help with the challenge of employee productivity to in turn enhance customer experience, by providing the tools to better understand and address those diverse needs and requirements. “Business leaders know that to succeed, they need committed and driven employees who understand the value their work delivers to customers and have the right tools to boost their productivity,” according to Forrester Consulting. “But attracting and retaining the best talent is a growing challenge, forcing many organizations to look to ideal technology partners that can help manage device lifecycles and, more specifically, PC life cycles.” Dell said the research findings resulted from a phone-based survey of 327 IT and business decision-makers across China, India, Japan, Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Singapore), Korea and ANZ (Australia, New Zealand). It was conducted at the end of 2016. Oliver Samson

Synology launches NAS as IDC sees dim market

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YNOLOGY Inc. announced the launch on April 18 of two of its network-attached storage (NAS) servers together with an expansion unit. T he 5 -bay and 8 -bay tower ser vers called DiskStation DS1517+ and DS1817+ offer a NAS solution for technology enthusiasts and small- and medium-sized businesses, the Taiwanese corporation that specializes in NAS said in a statement. The new feature in DS1517+ and DS1817+ is the inclusion of a Peripheral Component Interconnect

Express (PCIe) slot, which allows users to install an optional 10 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) network interface card or Synology’s new Serial Advanced Technology Attachment solid-state drive (SATA SSD) adapter. In addition, the DS1517+ and DS1817+ both come in 2GB and 8GB memory configurations, which can be upgraded to 16GB through the easily accessible memory compartment. Installing an additional network interface card allows ent hu si a st s a nd bu si nesses to take advantage of up to two

10GbE ports to boost maximum throughput, the Taipei, Taiwanheadquartered firm said. The announcement came after the International Data Corp. (IDC) said worldwide spending on traditional, noncloud, informationtechnology (IT) infrastructure will decline 5.3 percent this year. Nonetheless, it will still account for the largest share, 57.9 percent, of end-user spending. “Investments in cloud IT infrastructure will increase across all regions, while the majority of regions expect to see a reduction

in spending on noncloud deployments across all three technology segment,” IDC said on April 11. In cloud environments, Ethernet switches will be the fastest growing technology segment at 21.8-percent year over year growth this year, while spending on servers and enterprise storage will grow 17.9 percent and 10.7 percent, respectively, according to IDC. Rizal Raoul Reyes

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg speaks at his company’s annual F8 developer conference on April 18 in San Jose, California. AP

Facebook eyes A.R. By Michael Liedtke & Barbara Ortutay AP Technology Writers

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AN JOSE, California—Facebook wants you to sit in your bedroom wearing a headset and take a virtual vacation with faraway friends and family. Or use your smartphone’s camera to spruce up your dinky apartment, at least virtually. The promise of augmented and virtual reality (VR) was a big focus of Facebook’s annual conference for developers on Tuesday. CEO Mark Zuckerberg kicked off the gathering of programmers and other tech folks by talking about augmented reality tools he envisions on Facebook. Augmented reality (AR) involves the overlay of computer-generated images into real-world surroundings. Zuckerberg said new phone-based applications might let you create a three-dimensional scene from a single two-dimensional photo or splatter the walls of your house with colorful digital art. (You’d see the digital additions by looking “through” your phone at the augmented physical world.)

Making chores more interesting

FACEBOOK executives stressed that the technology is still in its early stages, and that the “journey to the future of augmented reality is just 1 percent finished,” as Deb Liu, vice president of platform and marketplaces, put it. Zuckerberg envisions the marriage of AR and Facebook’s camera feature enabling people to make even mundane chores, like doing the dishes, look entertaining with digital effects. Of course, it could also result in people staring into their smartphones even more intently as they marvel at an alternate reality instead of their actual surroundings. “Over time, I think this is going to be a really important technology that changes how we use our phones,” Zuckerberg predicted. Facebook also launched a virtual world, called Facebook Spaces, designed to let users of its Oculus Rift VR headset hang out with avatar versions of their friends in a virtual world. It’s the first time the company has connected the Rift to its social network in a meaningful way, though it’s a development Zuckerberg hinted at when the company bought Oculus back in 2014 for $2 billion.

Coming your way...eventually

WHILE the new tools and features are impressive, analyst Jan Dawson of Jackdaw Research cautioned that that “most of them won’t be in users’ hands anytime soon”. That’s especially true for the Spaces app,

since relatively few of Facebook’s 1.9 billion members are using Oculus’s VR headset, which sells for about $500 and requires an expensive computer to make it work. But Facebook could still have the edge on rivals such as Snapchat, which also launched some augmented reality features on Tuesday, likely to coincide with Facebook’s news. “Facebook has the resources to move fast in this area and the audience to spread those features much more widely than Snapchat,” Dawson wrote in a brief research note. Snap representatives did not immediately respond to an e-mail for comment on Tuesday afternoon. Facebook’s focus on smartphones over high-tech glasses or headsets makes sense given how familiar they are, said Gartner analyst Brian Blau. “People already have cameras and are used to having fun and being creative with them,” he said. “This will give people a chance to experience augmented reality in a way that isn’t so scary or off-putting.” Until the past year or so, it seemed like it would be at least another decade before AR would have a chance to become a widely used technology, said Ficus Kirkpatrick, Facebook’s director of engineering. But advances in image and object recognition, along with the ubiquity of smartphone cameras, “has put us on the course to bring augmented reality,” Kirkpatrick said in an interview.

Chatting with companies

FACEBOOK also announced a bevy of updates to Messenger, its increasingly independent messaging app. Messenger head David Marcus claims the app has become the de facto “white pages” of messaging, since people can find and chat with friends without knowing their phone number. Now, Messenger wants to do the same for businesses, creating a “yellow pages” of sorts that let companies communicate with their customers. Messenger will also let people chat with outside businesses as a group. That would, for instance, allow groups of friends to share Spotify playlists or to make a restaurant reservation through OpenTable that keeps everyone on the same page. The idea is simplify what might otherwise require a flurry of texts and sharing of links.

Cleveland murder

ZUCKERBERG also briefly addressed a tragedy that took place onMonday, when a man posted video of a murder on Facebook. That raised questions about Facebook’s ability to monitor gruesome material on its site. The Facebook founder said his company has “a lot of work” to do on this front.

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A12 Saturday, April 22, 2017

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Galaxy S8: More screen, elegance at hefty price

Microsoft makes Windows 10 Creators Update available in PHL

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ICROSOFT Cor p. recently announced that the “Windows 10 Creators Update” is now available in the Philippines. The update is the third major release for Windows 10, the company said in a statement. The company added that the update’s new features include 3D, mixed reality, enhanced apps, improved security and 4K gaming. According to the company, the update allows Windows 10 users to print, create and share in 3D via the new Paint 3D application. The update also tweaked the firm’s browser called “Edge”, according to Microsoft. C it ing a n NSS L abs 2016 Web Browser Sec u r it y Compa rat ive Repor ts, Microsof t sa id Edge bloc k s 9 percent more ph ish ing sites a nd 13 percent more ma lwa re t ha n C hrome, helping to protect user ident it y a nd infor mat ion. Microsof t a lso c l a ims t hat “Edge is up to 24 percent to 43 percent more ef f ic ient t ha n t he compet it ion for genera l pu r pose browsing , a nd l asts up to 23 percent to 69 percent longer when st rea m ing v ideos.” According to Microsoft, the update also brings more extensions to Edge, such as Ebates, Read & Write, Ghoster y and RoboForm, among others. The company said the update also allows users to broadcast their gameplay on Windows 10 and X box One via a built-in broadcasting technolog y. Through this technolog y, Microsoft said viewers can inf luence the gameplay, or interact with the stream while it’s taking place. A lso built into the Windows 10 Creators Update is “Game Mode”, a new platform feature that dedicates more graphics and processor resources to PC games. Rizal Raoul Reyes

By Anick Jesdanun The Associated Press

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EW YORK—Samsung’s new Galaxy S8 phone is stunning. But its $100 price hike is hard to swallow. That’s how much extra you’ll shell out for the S8, which starts shipping Friday for about $750—$100 more than the iPhone 7 and last year’s Galaxy S7 when it launched. A larger sibling, the S8 Plus, goes for about $850. True, the S8 phones come with several refinements that, totaled up, are indeed worth more than $100. But it’s hard to recommend an all-frills phone when many cheaper phones do just fine. The S8 is for those who want elegance—and are willing to pay for it.

Screens to the edges

TEAM OPTICODE nonie reyes

Makers of app for the color blind wins top Microsoft award

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TUDENTS behind a mobile application for the visually impaired recently won the top prize in the Microsoft Corp. “Imagine Cup”.

Team Opticode, composed of Lyceum University of the Philippines-Laguna students Christian Lou Cepe, Pearl Raymundo and Rochel Reyes bagged a cash prize of P100,000 (around $2,011.14). Cepe told reporters winning the top prize was far beyond their minds. The team will also represent the Philippines in the Asean leg of the contest to be held in the Philippines on April 27. According to Cepe, they used

Java for Android in developing the app. “Since I have a background in Java, I was able to develop the app in less than a month,” Cepe said. “For the second mode, we have added new features in the application to help people suffering from color blindness. We’re so happy that we have a made nice output for the national finals.” Src Hacks, composed of San Sebastian College’s Carlos Miguel

Quintos, Treston International College’s Chadymae Barinan and their project, EPrx, a digital prescription platform to connect doctors to pharmacies to patients placed second and won P70,000 ($1,407.80). According to Barinan, EPrx changes prescription into an electronic form. “Basically, we wanted to solve the problem of prescription fraud and abuse, and, at the same time, poor handwriting,” she said. “It features a QR code that will be scanned by the pharmacist and get the prescribed medicine by the doctor to their patient.” Barinan said they are targeting doctors for this product when it undergoes commercialization. Team Epitome, composed of Anna Alexander Nery, Mark Chrsitian Yu and Sohankumar Motwani

from the De La Salle College of Saint Benilde-De La Salle University won the third place prize worth P50, 000 for their Project Focus, also a digital assistant for the visually impaired. Motwani said they envisioned to develop a product that would help the visually-impaired to be able to navigate the indoor environment, to be able identify objects in their surroundings and also to be able to detect distances from collisions to avoid any form of harm. He added they plan to add more features to the prototype “to make it the near perfect product for the visually impaired”. “We want to include a Wazetype feature so it can guide a visually impaired individual when inside a building.” Rizal Raoul Reyes

Danish firm launches speakerphone in PHL

AFTER spontaneous fires that forced the recall of the Galaxy Note 7, Samsung is playing it safe on the battery and subjecting the S8 to tighter inspections. Instead, it’s pushing the boundaries— so to speak—on the phone’s display. Samsung minimized the phone frame and got rid of a physical home button to free up space for an “infinity display”, a screen that seems to flow right into the phone’s curved left and right sides. The 5.8-inch S8 and the 6.2-inch S8 Plus both have nearly 15 percent more display space than last year’s comparable models. But the phones themselves aren’t wider. In fact, the phones feel more comfortable thanks to sides that curve around to the back; last year’s curved S7 Edge model feels boxy by comparison. The bigger screen fits more lines of text, but doesn’t necessarily make video more immersive. While videos on YouTube and Facebook get automatically adjusted to fill the space, Netflix and Hulu movies just leave wasted black space on all four sides. You can tinker with that manually—but for $100, you shouldn’t have to.

All about the battery

THE S8 and S8 Plus have more physical space inside, but Samsung used it to give the battery more breathing room while keeping its capacity roughly the same as last year. Though a larger display drains the battery faster, my tests of streaming videos found that the new phones consumed power more slowly than last year’s models. And even with constant use—taking photos, watching videos and playing music and podcasts—the new phones still made it to bedtime with power to spare. Samsung credits software and chip improvements.

Unlocking the phones

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division of Danish manufacturer GN Store Nord A/S announced on April 19 the local availability of its Jabra-brand speakerphone. In a statement, GN Netcom A/S said its Jabra Speak 710 portable speakerphone targets buyers in the institutional and retail sphere. The firm said the device’s highly mobile target group composed of business leaders and C-level executives works on average almost 58 hours a week, of which they spend nearly 2.5 hours in meetings ever y day. Besides having a highly collaborative job, they also travel a lot—with 86 percent spending up to ten days per month on the road. “ To accommodate their lifestyle, business leaders and C-level executives require solutions that support mobility, collaboration, connectivity and f lexibility,” the company said. “As they mainly work in a distributed team in different

LIKE the doomed Note 7, the S8 has an iris scanner to let you unlock the phone by looking at it—at least in theory. But you have to swipe the screen first and position it from your face at just the right distance. I’m sure Samsung, a South Korean company, meant no offense, yet I was ticked off when the phone instructed me, an Asian-American, to “open eyes fully”. Oh, and the scanner doesn’t work if you’re wearing glasses. The fingerprint scanner was faster and more convenient for unlocking the phone. But you have to be careful not to smudge the adjacent camera lens by mistake now that the scanner has been moved to the back. time zones, they need extended collaboration and mobility to enable conference calls whether they are on the road, in the office, at home or in a hotel.” According to GN Netcom A/S, about 40 percent of business leaders use speakerphones for conference calls once or twice a week, while 21 percent will use them three to five times in a week. “However, far too often, audiences experience a major impact on the effectiveness of calls,” the firm said, citing a 2015 research. “For a business group that spends a large amount of time on the phone and in meetings, this has serious effect on productivity.” The communications and sound solutions manufacturer said its device has an omni-directional microphone with 360-degree pick-up for up to six in-room attendees, 15 hours of battery life and a HiFi-grade speaker for conversation and music. Rizal Raoul Reyes

Fire the assistant

SAMSUNG is introducing a digital assistant called Bixby, but voice features intended to rival Amazon’s Alexa and Apple’s Siri aren’t ready yet (Voice dictation does work with a reminder feature, though). Bixby will also highlight appointments, trending stories and app suggestions, much as existing features on iPhones and other Android phones already offer. One promising feature aims to provide translations and product information using the phone’s camera. It’s like the Firefly feature on Amazon’s derided Fire phone , and it makes the same types of dumb mistakes—it identified a can of Diet Coke as four other sodas instead. And the translation tools were incomplete at grabbing passages and failed to automatically detect the language you’re translating from.