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WHY NEW OR UPGRADED AIRPORTS WILL NOT SOLVE MANILA’S CONGESTION WOES

Dovidovich | Dreamstime.com

A ‘Pearl River Delta’ in PHL

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By Recto Mercene

ith the continued robust tourism growth, plus the desire of Philippine conglomerates to build and upgrade existing airports, the country is now staring at its own “Pearl River Delta” (PRD) shaping up on the horizon.

The PRD is the Asian region’s busiest air-traffic environment. It consists of a multi-airports system, which includes five major airports: Guangzhou New Baiyun International Airport, Hong Kong’s Chek Lap Kok International Airport, Macau International Airport,

Shenzhen Baoan International Airport and Zhuhai Airport.

These airports vary in sizes and business models. All of them, especially Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Shenzhen, have been facing serious capacity constraint and congestion in recent years.

That is why many flights from the Philippines to Hong Kong are experiencing so much delays because China has designated only a single entry point called “Noman” to get access to China’s airspace.

Gazing into the future with his aviation crystal ball, Air Asia Philippines (AirAsia) CEO Capt.

Dexter Comendador said this scenario of serious traffic congestion within the terminal maneuvering area (TMA) of Manila is also fast shaping up.

“There are four airports now within the terminal maneuvering area of Manila, which, in itself, is a problem of air-traffic control [ATC],” Comendador noted.

“Naia and Sangley [Sangley Airport in Cavite] are within 60 miles of the TMA. Including Clark,

Basa [an Air Force base in Pampanga] and Subic. That’s already congested, ” he said.

“Add the sixth, [the proposed airport in] San Miguel, Bulacan, that’s the same as the Pearl River Delta that the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines [CAAP] is worried about. It’s not me, it’s their worry, the controllers’ nightmare,” Comendador stated in an exclusive interview with the BusinessMirror.

This is why even if the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) planned upgrade would push through, the premier gateway would still have to deal with a highly congested airspace.

The congestion, according Comendador, is the airline’s basis to head for Clark in Pampanga, where

the carrier intends to establish a hub for its operations.

Comendador stressed that in one way or another, the proposal forwarded by various private entities wanting to upgrade the Naia, or develop a new alternate airport in Bulacan, Sangley, Clark and Subic, would be realized, maybe in a few decades from now.

The BusinessMirror likewise queried Philippine Airlines (PAL) about its future plans.

“PAL is the original airline here, we will remain at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport,” PAL spokesman Cielo Villaluna said.

PAL, she added, has the option to remain at the premier airport, because since the beginning of commercial airline operations in the Philippines, PAL has been

at the forefront and at the leading edge of airline progress in the country.

But House Speaker Pantaleon D. Alvarez has enough of the complaints coming from passengers on the congestion at Naia, so he directed the regulators and the airlines to come up with their flight-reassignment plans, including the transfer of some domestic flight operations to Clark within six months.

Immediately CebGo President and CEO Alexander G. Lao expressed the airlines’ reservations regarding the Manila International Airport Authority’s terminal reassignment plan, saying that moving Cebu Pacific’s domestic flights would add up to 16.6 million passengers in Continued on A2

PHL softball and the chase for Filipinos’ Olympic dream

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By Roger Pe

ona Sulaiman, the Philippines’s sprint darling of the ’60s, had just won three gold medals in the 1962 Asian Games in Jakarta.

As she was preparing for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, Philippine softball was likewise busy making a name for the country.

Filipinos will remember these marquee surnames during that time: Tayo (Julita was acknowledged as one of the world’s best pitchers for almost a decade), Jacinto, Kilayco, Elnar, Maco, among the many players in the national team.

In every National Open Softball Championship, San Miguel, Bulacan, MPQCCA (Manila, Pa-

say, Caloocan Cities Athletic Association, predecessor of NCR), Rizal and Negros provinces were the most formidable teams. The others were reduced to minnows.

As competition was becoming fiercer, Rizal had built an arsenal of strong batters and talented all-around players. In a few years, it would change the softball landscape and lord over the Philippine

PESO exchange rates n US 52.2310

the Philippine Blu Girls, second-place winner to World Champion Japan in Asian Women’s Softball Championship.

Altomonte, veteran of many international softball competitions.

softball kingdom, so much so that the nucleus of the Philippine team would be formed around it.

Its godfather, the visionary Governor Isidro Rodriguez, took good care of them like they were his own children, just as he did with track-and-field and volleyball athletes.

The province would become synonymous with Philippine softball. Mariquita Salazar, who, at one time or another, was named the best shortstop in Asia, pitcher Doris Reynes, Aleli Nabong, Cariday Rey, Purita Jacinto, Nenita Gatus, Emma Elnar, Carmelita Velasco, as well as catchers Leticia Gempisao and Anita Relova, to mention a few, were on the limelight. They were the rock stars of Philippine softball, and their names became famous not only in Southeast Asia but in Asia as well.

The “Blu Girls” soon became a buzzword, a moniker coined

by Rodriguez who was then also

president of the Amateur Softball Association-Philippines (ASAPhil). Their biggest achievement was a bronze medal won in the World Championship held in Osaka, Japan, in 1970, the highest the country has ever garnered to this day. Another Blu Girls team placed fourth in the same World Championship held in Bridgeport, Connecticut, after four years.

The Blu Girls never ranked lower than 10th for the entire decade of the ’70s on global rankings. While they always placed second behind Japan, they were the undisputed champions in Southeast Asia.

Julita Tayo, the chubby pitcher from San Miguel, Bulacan, outfielder Aleli Nabong, and first base woman Carmelita Velasco, were the only Pinays whose names appeared in the International Softball Federation book for their outstanding performances in global Continued on A2

n japan 0.4779 n UK 72.6951 n HK 6.6575 n CHINA 8.2494 n singapore 39.3394 n australia 39.4605 n EU 63.2256 n SAUDI arabia 13.9283

Source: BSP (April 27, 2018 )

NewsSunday BusinessMirror

A2 Sunday, April 29, 2018 Continued from A1

Terminal 2, which is more than its 9-million passenger capacity.

He also reiterated an earlier position that Cebu Pacific, which operates in Terminal 3, would need at least one year to transfer its operations and flights to other Naia terminals and the Clark airport.

Sen. Grace Poe allowed CebGo more time to study the transfer to Clark carefully.

The senator was also cautious on the planned transfer of some domestic flights to Clark airport, saying that the government still needs to address the connectivity issues between the Pampanga airport and Metro Manila.

“We still have to broaden the study and the plans for Clark. So it’s not yet ready because of the number of domestic flights and the connectivity from Clark to Metro Manila,” the lady lawmaker said.

Here is a preview of all of these airports that are being eyed for development.

Seven Philippine conglomerates have formally submitted to the Department of Transportation (DOTr) a proposal to transform the Naia into a regional hub at a cost of up to P350 billion.

The seven conglomerates are Aboitiz InfraCapital Inc., AC Infrastructure Holdings Corp., Alliance Global Group Inc., Asia’s Emerging Dragon Corp., Filinvest Development Corp., JG Summit Holdings Inc. and Metro Pacific Investments Corp.

Tagged as the Naia Consortium or “super consortium,” the

www.businessmirror.com.ph

A ‘Pearl River Delta’ in PHL

seven firms said they have also appointed Changi International Airport as their technical partner in the rehabilitation of Naia.

Next is San Miguel Corp.’s P700-billion proposal to build, operate and maintain an airport in Bulacan. The food-and-beverage conglomerate proposed a new international “aerotropolis” that will involve an airport covering 1,168 hectares and a city complex to be built at a 2,500-hectare area along Manila Bay in Bulacan, Bulacan.

The 50-year airport project will entail building six parallel runways and an initial annual capacity of 100 million passengers, or three times more than Naia.

The Sangley Airport development was proposed by a consortium composed of Solar Group’s Wilson Y. Tieng and tycoon Henry T. Sy Sr. The group has submitted to the government its unsolicited proposal for a $12-billion Sangley Airport Infrastructure Group Inc., led by All-Asia Resources and Reclamation Corp. and Belle Corp. The group said it is proposing to build a new regional airport hub at Sangley that can accommodate about 120 million passengers annually once fully developed.

Under its proposal, the Philippine Sangley International Airport (PSIA) wants the development of the airport component pegged at around $12 billion, and involves a concession period of 50 years.

The project will start with the reclamation of about 2,500 hectares of land north of the Sangley peninsula to be used for the development of airport infrastructure and a commercial establishment. The plan also includes the development of airside and landside facilities and transportation infrastructure.

On the other hand, a consortium led by Megawide Construction Corp. and India’s GMR Infrastructure had bagged a contract to build a new passenger terminal at the Clark International Airport.

The consortium offered to build the facility “at the least cost to the government,” which had set the ceiling price for the new terminal that could accommodate eight million passengers per year at P12.55 billion.

“In five, 10 or maybe 15 years, all of these airports would become a reality, and unless Sangley Airport remains a general aviation airport, it would contribute to the congestion of the six airports which are all within a 60-kilometer radius,”Comendador said.

“But for us, following the idea of Art [Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade] and President Duterte’s wish to develop Clark as a sister airport, we’re moving toward that direction by trying to create our own hub at Clark.”

He said it is Air Asia’s view that they can develop Clark as a sister

airport once the North Luzon Expressway and the South Luzon Expressway connector road is finished. This includes the Metro Rail Transport.

“We will try to keep our fares lower than what the Manila hub can offer, so people will go there [in Clark],” Comendador said.

In the interview, the BusinessMirror pointed out that Clark still lacks the infrastructure, like a parallel, twin runway and bonded warehouses.

However, Comendador said that at the moment, Clark’s utilization is low, “we can use a single runway at the moment but the long-term plan is for three runways.”

The BusinessMirror also pointed out that even if the government starts building the infrastructure now, it would take 10 years or more to get them on stream.

“Clark utilization is not yet maxed out, we can still use the present runway,” Comendador stated.

“That’s where Air Asia is good at,” he continued. “We try to create a market. We hope by creating Clark as a sister airport, by offering good service and lower fare than what Manila can offer, some might look at it and try.”

Comendador said that is why they put up the Digital Nomad, a Red Hub convention the air carrier had established, which aims

to create a community for digital nomads.

This way, Air Asia hopes to capture more “digital nomads,” a term used to describe tech-savvy workers with no permanent offices, as it increases its network in Southeast Asia.

Comendador said the company’s plan to expand its network across the Asean would mean seamless movement for frequent travelers.

“We are trying to complete the network of Asean by opening up [routes to] Jakarta [and] Bali.

Those are the only routes that we lacked in. The Bangkok [route], we will open next month, so we have almost completed the whole of Asean,” he said.

Air Asia Philippines has started flights from Manila to Bali and Jakarta in January, and has started its Manila-Bangkok flights on April 22. Through the Jakarta route, Comendador said, digital nomads would be connected to the emerging start-up hubs in the Southern Asean region.

“We would like that the people working for AirAsia be able to travel around Asia and work while they’re traveling,” he said.

With its expansion plans, Air Asia expects more digital nomads, particularly from Western countries, to flock to the Asean region.

Air Asia also looks to capitalize on the “work from anywhere” trend.

“Asean [in a sense] has become smaller now so they [digital nomads] move around [the region], working [and] producing good outputs,” Comendador said.

He added: “Digital nomads are the young generation that work outside the office like bloggers, they go to places where they blog, they prepare, take photos, then send [their outputs] via the web, so they fly, they travel, there are lots of digital nomad with big salaries, they stay in Asia, they go around and work.”

Comendador said Air Asia is trying to create that niche for them “to be able to move around, especially in Asia were 40 percent of aviation progress [is projected to] happen in the next 20 years.”

“There are 22,000 airplanes ordered from Airbus for the next 20 years, and 40 percent will be in the Asia-Pacific region. This is where growth is taking place and air fares and accommodations are cheap.”

Comendador said Air Asia gives digital nomads “that opportunity, providing best connections in Asean. We are the only one authorized to put the Asean logo, we’re at the forefront of Asean integration.”

And where would Comendador see Air Asia in the next 20 years from now? “By that time we’ll [be able to] say, ‘Ah, you can travel around the world with Air Asia.’”

Borrowing a quote from Air Asia Group CEO and AirAsia X Co. Group CEO, Tony Fernandes, Comendador said: “Next time [around],we should be able to say, with Air Asia, you can go around.”

PHL softball and the chase for Filipinos’ Olympic dream Continued from A1

competitions. Nabong was cited for belting out the most doubles in a world championship. Velasco earned her place on home runs.

The Blu Girls’ third-place winning feat in the prestigious championship not only made the Philippines as one of the finest softball-playing countries in the world but also gave hope to Filipinos that they, too, can bring more glory to the country from the international sporting arena.

During their heyday, one of the Blu Girls’ fans was the late President Ferdinand E. Marcos himself. When they returned home, a tumultuous crowd greeted them at the Manila International Airport and Marcos gave them an audience in Malacañang Palace. The impact of their big win in Osaka was so resounding the President regarded them as new heroes in sports.

The Filipinas could have made it to the finals against Japan had they defeated the US in the afternoon playoff. They had earlier dumped the US with a 1-0 score, but the former got back at them with a vengeful same score in the do-or-die match.

After winning all SEA Games Softball gold medals (whenever host countries did not scrap it), the Blu Girls name would lose its luster. The great names that wowed the entire country and the world disappeared. Some of them are still around. Others reduced to mere spectators as the sport they love best “plunged to oblivion, dying due to neglect and apathy of its leaders,” according to veteran sportswriter Eddie Alinea.

Spiral downhill

In 1998, the Philippines sent a ragtag “Blu Girls” team whose members came from nowhere, to participate in the International Softball Federation (ISF) World Championship in Fujinomiya City, Japan. It ended up 16th. Though it managed a solitary win, it wound up at the bottom of the standing.

Previously, no Blu Girls team had suffered such a humiliation and shame. Before this, there were many other forgettable foreign stints by both the Philippine men and women squads.

Once joined by fellow Asian powerhouses Japan, China, Tai-

wan and South Korea in the top 10 world ratings in women’s and men’s divisions, the Philippines had been languishing at the bottom of the standing owing to mediocre leaderships that succeeded the Governor Isidro Rodriguez era.

The major reason for the deterioration of the sport according to Alinea is the Philippine Sports Commission’s policy of dismantling the national training pool whenever a particular event is scrapped from the calendar of events in the SEA, Asian Games or Olympics.

“Once a particular sport is removed from the calendar of events, the players’ monthly allowances are also removed, forcing athletes to seek playing opportunities elsewhere, mostly overseas. And because they’re under contract to play in the country where they’re employed, they, most often, lost their slots in the pool,” he said.

Renaissance

Softball continued to skid toward the year 2000. As the sport was dying and looking for someone who honestly cared for Philippine softball like Governor Rodriguez did, Raul Saberon, a successful trader and once a national softball/baseball team mainstay during his prime, found a sincere and eager benefactor to help softball out of the rut where it had stuck for over a decade: Jean Henri Lhuillier.

Saberon singled out Lhuillier as the most avid supporter of softball in the country today, just as Manuel V. Pangilinan is to basketball.

Under Lhuillier, the rebuilding process started inch by inch. Though it failed to qualify in the 2006 Doha Asian Games, it was slowly making progress—by setting its eyes on bigger things, aiming ambitiously: Rekindle the glory of the world-famous Blu Girls of the ’70s, and barge into the Olympics.

In 2007 Amateur Softball Association of the Philippines (ASAPhil) chief Jean Henri Lhuillier bankrolled the Philippines team in the five-team Beijing Olympic qualifier. Former Blu Girl Nabong handled the team composed of a combination of Asian Games veterans and fast-rising youngsters (softball was scrapped in 2012 London and 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics).

They did not make it, but it

was quite noticeable that the RP Blu Girls were beginning to get its groove back.

Pay dirt

Last year, during the 11th Asian Women’s Softball Championship held in Taichung City, Taiwan, was the beginning of a milestone. The team wound up second to Japan after beating two superpowers in the sport—China and Chinese Taipei—marking the first time in 45 years that the country had bagged silver in the tournament participated in by 11 countries.

Nobody expected the Philippines to be in the top three. “It showed that the Blu Girls can compete among the best in the world, and with the preparation that the team is doing and with the support that we have been getting from Jean Henri Lhuillier, I know the team is ready,” coach Randy Dizer said in a broadcast statement.

With their podium finish, the Cebuana-Lhuillier-backed Filipina softbelles earned a slot in the 2018 World Softball Championship in Japan and the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia.

The WBSC (World Baseball Softball Championship) coverage of the event was flattering to the Philippines. Here are some excerpts: “World’s No. 1 Japan scored one run on the top of the first inning, but blew the game open scoring five in the third and a final run in the fourth. Yamato Fujita and Haruka Agatsuma each hit doubles in the game. Yukiko Ueno earned the win.

“Prior to the gold-medal game, the Philippines defeated No. 9 Chinese Taipei 5-3 to advance to the finals. The Philippines struck first, scoring one run in the second inning, though Chinese Taipei tied the game up in the bottom half.

Chinese Taipei took the lead in the fourth inning, scoring two. But the Philippines recovered, scoring four unanswered runs over the host nation—three runs in the 5th, and a home run in the 7th inning.

“The 17th-ranked Blu Girls faced world No. 6 China in the semifinals after demolishing Hong Kong, 17-0. Against the Chinese, the Filipinas were down 3-1 at the bottom of the last inning when Fil-Am Danny Gilmore hit a 2-run home run to tie the game, 3-3, and extend it to extra inning.

“The Philippines held China scoreless on the top of the 8th with perfect pitching from Anne Antolihao before Chelsea Suitos and Sky Ellazar teamed up to bring Cheska Altomonte home for the comefrom-behind win.

“In the playoff match, the Philippines faced world No. 9 Chinese Taipei for the right to face world No.1 Japan. The hometown team easily built a commanding 3-1 lead in the first 4 innings before the Blu Girls came back with four runs in the fifth, capped by a home run by Chelsea Suitos for a 5-1 advantage.

“The Philippines kept Chinese Taipei scoreless until the end, arranging a championship match against Japan later in the day. But fatigue caught up with the Blu Girls, who eventually succumbed to the world’s No. 1 team as they settled for a runner-up finish.”

2020 Tokyo Olympics

“I really think we can beat the best teams in the world,” says Francesca Altomonte, team captain of the women’s softball team and veteran of many international softball competitions the country has participated in the last four years.

If her name sounds familiar, she is a niece of advertising industry icon Emily A. Abrera.

“I am confident of our chances in big tournaments, that’s the reason I’m still playing,” Altomonte says. The big girl who started playing baseball as a pitcher, shortstop, and manned the third base at age 10, played with her brothers during her younger years. She converted to softball effortlessly and was recruited by Ateneo to play for UAAP for five years.

She tried out for the national team in 2010 but did not make the grade because she was barely 17. Four years later, honed by training and exposure to tough leagues, Chesca, as she is often called by her teammates, was taken in, along with players from the champion Adamson team and other standouts from UAAP. At age 25, “I am the oldest in the team,” Altomonte says, who has traveled with the new Philippine Blu Girls team carrying the country’s flag in many competitions abroad.

Team captain Altomonte diligently wakes up at 5 in the morning, and trains at Rizal Memorial

Baseball Stadium five days a week (Monday to Friday). She divides her time working with a marketing company but at the same time delights at the thought of competing again with some of the world’s best teams in the sport, notably Japan, the US, Canada, Australia, China, Mexico, Venezuela and the Czech Republic. “I am thrilled because most players in these teams are Olympians,” she gushes.

Spartan training

When competition is near, Altomonte and her teammates also train on weekends and have practice games to polish their skills.

How do other countries train, do they follow the same regimen?

Altomonte says, “It’s quality over quantity and more scientific. In the US, for example, batters train for just about two hours. Players are given 100 balls to strike within that time frame, a great drill that turns players into strong hitters,” she says.

What about injuries? Altomonte said she had it all. She had battled shoulder problems, suffered tendonitis, pulled hamstring, and twisted her ankle but that did not deter her. She always wore a mental toughness attitude, a trait you’d often see in tough leaders.

The moment she steps into the softball diamond, you can almost hear her say: “We can beat you. We are not intimidated by you.”

Altomonte and her team had beaten world medalists and came close to beating the US and worldranked countries. Now it has boosted their confidence tremendously.

“We would be scared stiff when facing Olympians and felt we’re not good enough. Not anymore today,” she says.

She laments that there is not much emphasis being put in the development of softball in the Philippines, a sport where the country has always won the SEA Games gold, Asean championships, belonged to Top 5 in Asia and ranked in the Top 20 of global rankings (unlike volleyball which has languished in No. 79 in spite of huge financial and media support being given by the government and private sectors).

“Indonesia had poached many Filipino coaches and hired former Blu Girl athletes as part of its coaching staff. The same with Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei,” she

said. Altomonte is worried that if the trend continues, we might end up losing our best players.

The one thing that really inspires her is the company that she is working for right now. “They are so damn supportive,” she says sounding like as if she couldn’t thank them enough. “They always push me. They are my cheerleaders,” she exclaims.

“It was really heartwarming actually hearing them say, they want my Olympic dream to come true,” she proudly says.

Meanwhile, Altomonte is deep into training for the 2018 World Women’s Softball Championship that will be held in Chiba, Japan, from August 2 to 12. The 16th edition of the tournament is the third to be sanctioned by the World Baseball Softball Confederation.

The following countries have qualified for the tournament: Australia, New Zealand for Oceania, the Netherlands, Italy and Great Britain for Europe, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, the US and Venezuela for the Americas, Chinese-Taipei, China and the Philippines for Asia, and Botswana and South Africa for Africa.

Last July 5 to 9, 2017, the Philippines participated in the World Cup of Softball in Oklahoma City, winning against highly ranked countries like Australia and Mexico. Altomonte hit a two-run homer to give the 17th-ranked Pinays a two-run cushion on their way to posting their second win in the eight-team tournament.

The Filipinas shocked the No. 4 Australians, 7-5, on opening day but dropped their next four matches. The Pinays and the Mexicans again faced off in the ranking match, and won via an 8-7 score.

In the 2014 World Cup, the Blu Girls only won against Venezuela with a score of 3-0. They competed against Canada, Chinese Taipei, Japan, Mexico, Venezuela and the US, which won the championship.

Considered a patron of Philippine sports, Jean Henri helps athletes representing the country in international tournaments and supports programs that aim to develop the youth through sports, particularly basketball, tennis and softball. He is married to awardwinning gymnast Bea Lucero, who later on converted to taekwondo and won a bronze in 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

The World BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

America to surpass Saudi Arabia as top oil exporter in 2019

T

he United States looks likely to overtake Saudi Arabia to become the world’s biggest oil exporter next year, according to Citigroup Inc. With American production surging to unprecedented levels as the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) continues curbing output, the US is on course to be the top exporter of crude and oil products in 2019, Citigroup said in an April 25 note.

American exports of crude oil and petroleum products rose to a record 8.3 million barrels a day last week, according to United States government data on Wednesday. That compares with top exporter Saudi Arabia’s 9.3 million barrels a day in January, and Russia’s shipments of 7.4 million barrels a day, the bank said.

Continuing efforts by the Opec and its allies to curb output and reduce a global glut has helped boost West Texas Intermediate crude futures to their highest levels since 2014. But that’s also sparked a surge in production from shale drillers, with output continuing to hit fresh records.

Whether Opec and its partners begin tapering their cut deal early in fear of the growing threat to their market share from the US remains to be seen, Citigroup said.

Bloomberg News

Sunday, April 29, 2018

A3

Huawei probe adds to US-China trade tensions ahead of talks

N

ews of a broad United States investigation of Huawei Technologies Co. over possible Iran sanctions violations adds to the tension over trade as senior US officials head to China in the coming days in hopes of a deal.

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who’s expected to be accompanied by US Trade Rep. Robert Lighthizer, will be arriving in Beijing seeking an accord that would keep the United States from imposing tariffs on as much as $150 billion in Chinese imports.

China has vowed to retaliate with duties on everything from US soybeans to airplanes.

Agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which is overseen by the US Justice Department, have been looking into transactions by Huawei, China’s largest maker of telecommunications equipment, according to two people familiar with the

investigation. They are joined by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, or Ofac, which enforces sanctions, and the Department of Commerce, which are also looking into the transactions of the Shenzhen, China-based mobile and telecommunications giant.

The Huawei criminal inquiry grew out of an earlier sanctionsviolation probe that ultimately led to penalties against another Chinese technolog y company, ZTE Corp., according to one of the people.

Some Huawei suppliers in Asia fell on Thursday after the news, with Chinasoft International Ltd.

tumbling as much as 21 percent and Sunny Optical Technology Group Co. falling about 10 percent.

Glenn Schloss, a spokesman for Huawei in Shenzhen, declined to comment about the probes.

The company has said it complies with all applicable laws and regulations where it operates, including US export controls and sanctions laws and regulations, and that it “actively cooperates” with government agencies regarding its compliance.

ZTE ban

News of the Huawei investigations also follows last week ’s Commerce Department action to ban ZTE, China’s second-biggest network equipment maker, f rom buy i n g Un ite d St ate s made components as punishment for violating a sanctions sett lement over transactions with Iran and North Korea.

ZTE had previously reached a settlement with the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industr y and Security, and pleaded guilty as part of a sanctions-violations agreement with the Justice Department. ZTE agreed to pay $892 million in fines and

forfeitures in the Justice Department deal, at the time the largest US criminal fine against a Chinese company, with additional fines if it failed to comply with the deal.

Wider Ramifications

A finding of wrongdoing by Huawei and a similar US supplier export ban “would have wide ramifications on various suppliers on a larger scale than peer ZTE, in our view,” according to Bloomberg Intelligence technology analysts Woo Jin Ho and Anand Srinivasan.

Chip suppliers such as Skyworks and Qorvo, each with about 10 -percent sales ex posure to Huawei, would be affected. Optical suppliers including NeoPhotonics, Oclaro and Lumentum may also be exposed.”

Huawei Technologies’ $500 million of 2027 notes fell 1.3 cents on the dollar to a record low of 93 cents as of early afternoon in Hong Kong, according to Bloombergcompiled prices.

On Wednesday, the company dropped a planned dollar-denominated bond sale and delayed pricing a European offering.

The Commerce Department in 2016 issued an administrative subpoena aimed at Huawei seeking information about whether it was sending US technology to rogue nations including Syria, Iran and North Korea.

Rival ‘F7’

I nt e rnal Z T E d o c u m e nt s posted on the Commerce Department web site cited a rival, referred to only as “F7,” as also violating US export controls in sales of equipment to Iran.

A group of Republican lawm a k e r s p u s h e d t h e Tr u m p administration in Apr i l to i nvest igate a nd ident i f y F7, citing news repor ts that have highlighted the similarities bet ween the company descr ibed in the documents and Huawei.

T he FBI and Ofac investigations into Huawei have been going on since at least early-2017, according to one of the people w ith knowledge of the probes, who asked not to be identified because he isn’t author ized to spea k about the matter.

A s pokesm a n for t he Ju s t ice De pa r t ment dec l i ned to com ment. Bloomberg News

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The World BusinessMirror

Sunday, April 29, 2018

Malaysia’s Najib says China won’t match America as military power

By Rosalind Mathieson & Shamim Adam

C

Bloomberg

hina will become the dominant economic power in Asia in the near term, but will not displace the United States militarily, according to Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak.

In an hourlong interview with Bloomberg on Tuesday, his first one-on-one with international media in more than three years, Najib spoke warmly of Malaysia’s relationship with both China and the US. He a lso stressed the need for the major powers to act in a “constructive” way in the region and avoid a potential Thucydides trap, named after the Greek historian who warned of war when an emerging power challenges a mature one. “ We don’t want a so-called rising power and an old power to be at odds w ith one another,” Najib said. “China w ill be the biggest economy, certainly, that’s a fact. But China w ill not

be able to match the United States in terms of being the militar y super power as such.”

Najib, 64, who ex pects his r uling coalition to retur n to power in a May 9 election, leads a countr y that sits along a key global trading route through t he M a l acc a St r a it i nto t he disputed South China Sea. As a smaller nation, it risks getting caught in the middle as China ex pands its economic and militar y clout in Southeast Asia, a region the US has dominated for decades. “ T he rise of China is inev itable, you know, whatever you say, you can’t stop it,” Najib said of his countr y’s biggest trading partner. “It’s a big market and

Najib Razak (left) with President Donald J. Trump in Washington in September 2017. Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

we can do a lot of things w ith C h i n a , prov ide d t h at C h i n a doesn’t use its size of economy and embark on policies that would be hurting us,” he said. “I know it’s a cliche to talk peaceful rise, but we believe there’s no reasons for us to doubt that w ill happen.”

Since coming to office, President Donald J. Trump has spurred doubt over the future of the US commitment to the region, leading to concerns that China may rise at an accelerated pace. He withdrew from a blockbuster Pacific trade pact that many Asian

nations saw as a hallmark of the US’s staying power, and now remaining members, such as Malaysia, say they don’t want to renegotiate the deal to accommodate a potential US return.

T r u m p ’s a m b i g u o u s a p p r o a c h t o w a rd U S p a r t ne r s h a s persi sted e ven a f ter t he Pent agon wa r ned t he US mu st pre pa re to wage a g reat power compet it ion w it h C h i n a a nd Russia as those nations seek to “co - opt or repl ace t he f ree a nd open order t h at h a s en abled globa l secur it y a nd prosper it y si nce World Wa r I I.” C h i nese leaders have repeated ly sought to rea ssu re sm a l ler cou nt r ies, say i ng t he y don’t seek hege mony i n t he reg ion.

Najib knew Trump before he reached his current levels of fame.

As well as meeting in person and speaking on the phone, they’ve played golf together.

“I have a good, warm, I mean a personal relationship with President Donald J. Trump,” Najib said. “ He’s not b ot he re d a b out things that don’t matter to him, in a sense,” he added. “I think the two important things that matter to him would be, you know, how to make the United States great and create more jobs. No. two, how to make the United States safe.”

Despite Malaysia’s disappointment with Trump over the TransPacific Partnership trade pact, it also faces differences with China.

That’s even as economic ties increase, with Malaysia increasingly a part of President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road infrastructure program. China was the country’s top source of foreign direct investment last year.

South China Sea

China and Malaysia have competing claims to parts of the South China Sea, a key waterway for trade, fishing and—increasingly—militaries. China asserts ownership of more than 80 percent of the waters, and has built runways and other installations supportive of a military presence on reclaimed reefs.

Adm. Philip Davidson, who was nominated as commander of the US Pacific Command, said in written testimony to Congress this

month that Beijing had largely completed building forward bases in the South China Sea. “Once occupied, China will be able to extend its inf luence thousands of miles to the south and project power deep into Oceania,” he said. “In short, China is now capable of controlling the South China Sea in all scenarios short of war with the United States.”

Najib said he was hopef u l China would respect the views of other claimants. He expressed caution when asked if he would consider joint exploration with China of oil and gas resources in the area, saying it could be seen as tacit acceptance of another nation’s claims.

“We have been trying to tell the Chinese government that it should not be a militarized South China Sea, and whatever it is, it should be done on peaceful negotiations and in accordance with international law,” he said. “ They do have three man-made islands, atolls that have become major islands but they have not really been fully deployed as military bases so to speak, but they do have some assets.”

Malaysian opposition leader Mahathir Mohamad said in a recent interview that if he wins the election he will restart negotiations on rights and access to the South China Sea while ensuring “friendly” relations with all countries. He also said that Chinese companies currently don’t employ locals or bring in capital and technology to Malaysia.

“Lots of people don’t like Chinese investments,” Ma hathir said. “We want to defend the rights of Malaysians. We don’t want to sell chunks of this country to foreign companies who will develop whole towns.”

Mahathir’s comments reflect broader concerns about Chinese investment across Asia that have stoked political tensions from Australia to Sri Lanka. While many countries are eager to benefit from Xi’s largess, they are also wary of becoming too dependent on China.

Najib said the government had written guarantees into Belt and Road contracts to protect local workers. “For example a lot of the infrastructure work will be done by Malaysian companies and they are to employ Malaysian people to work on that project,” he said.

While he said Belt and Road projects would increase China’s influence in the region, he maintained that Malaysia and other Southeast A sian states could manage the issue and refuted any suggestion the projects came with strings attached.

China is “more obsessed” with economic growth than military expansion, Najib said. “I don’t think China will risk any irresponsible action that will undermine its rise to become the largest economy in the world.”

We don’t want a so-called rising power and an old power to be at odds with one another. China will be the biggest economy, certainly, that’s a fact. But China will not be able to match the United States in terms of being the military superpower as such.”—Najib

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Trump threat to ax ‘insane’ Iran deal scares oil traders

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ome oil traders are already steering clear of doing business with Iran as US President Donald Trump signals he’ll ditch the nuclear deal with the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ (Opec) third-largest producer.

Traders are unwilling to sign contracts for Iranian crude and refined products that would be valid after May 12, the deadline for Trump to decide whether to reimpose sanctions, according to recent interviews with six companies that buy and sell oil in the Middle East.

French President Emmanuel Macron, who met Trump this week in Washington, said he thinks the US leader will abandon the nuclear accord that Iran signed with world powers in 2015. Trump ridiculed the existing deal as “terrible” and “insane.” US curbs would squeeze Iran’s oil exports this year by as much as 500,000 barrels a day, according to consultant FGE and trader Gunvor SA. Iran currently ships about 2.5 million barrels a day.

Some of the traders buying Iranian oil said their existing contracts contain clauses allowing them to stop taking cargoes if sanctions are reimposed. The traders would probably exercise that right to protect their business interests in the US from legal action, they said, asking not to be identified because the information is confidential. Some shippers, bankers and insurers also are turning down oil deals that would extend beyond May 12, the traders said.

“If there is one thing we’ve learned about this president, it’s that when he’s made a campaign promise—like he did with his pledge to get out of the Iran deal—he really does follow through,” said Richard Nephew, a senior research scholar at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy.

Iran’s current exports are more than twice what they were before energy sanctions were eased in January 2016.

China is the Persian Gulf country’s biggest customer, buying about a third of its crude exports. The US prohibits its citizens and companies from buying Iranian oil. Brent crude, which is up more than 11 percent this year, slipped 0.4 percent to $74.48 a barrel as of 2:13 p.m. in Singapore.

Trump-Merkel talks Trump accuses Tehran of financing terrorism. Iran denies the charge, and its President Hassan Rouhani urged Trump to stand by his existing commitments before making fresh demands. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who plans to meet with Trump on Friday, is set to press for preserving the nuclear accord. The US president hasn’t made a decision yet on whether to pull out of the deal, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Thursday during testimony on Capitol Hill.

If Trump restores sanctions, Washington may impose the curbs immediately or do so gradually to give the market time to adjust, said Columbia’s Nephew, a former State Department official who helped apply earlier oil and financial sanctions against Iran during Barack Obama’s presidency.

“We won’t see people entering into more long-term deals with Iran,” he said.

“Companies are trying to build flexibility into their buying patterns.”

Iran’s customers would probably have to trim purchases within 180 days of any US sanctions, Fereidun Fesharaki, FGE’s chairman, said.

China’s role

When Iran last faced concerted restrictions on its energy exports, from 2012 to 2016, the US, European Union and United Nations together slashed the countr y’s crude shipments by half, to about 1 million barrels a day. Exports have recovered, though France-based Total SA is the only Western energy major so far to sign a significant investment deal in Iran.

A new round of US sanctions probably wouldn’t succeed as well as the earlier curbs, said Robin Mills, head of Dubai-based consultant Qamar Energy. The EU won’t slap another embargo on Iranian crude, nor are China and India likely to buy any less of its oil, Mills said.

FGE’s Fesharaki and David Fyfe, chief economist for Geneva-based Gunvor, see US curbs having a bigger impact - a reduction in Iran’s shipments by as much as 1 million barrels a day in 2019. Bloomberg News

Science

BusinessMirror

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

Sunday

Sunday, April 29, 2018

A5

DOST projects to counter disasters, climate change

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overnment scientists are working on 27 new projects for disaster-risk reduction and climate-change adaptation and mitigation, Science Undersecretary Renato U. Solidum said on Tuesday.

These projects are part of the Department of Science and Technology’s (DOST) National Research and Development agenda for 2017-2022.

“We expect most of these projects to be approved this year,” Solidum said at the recent National R&D conference held at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City.

He added seven of the projects are for monitoring and forecasting, four are for hazards, vulnerability and risk assessment, two are for warning and risk communication, and the rest are for

technology solutions—areas that are among the DOST’s priorities.

Solidum said DOST-attached agencies have also partnered with universities in developing projects related to disaster-risk reduction and climate-change mitigation.

The Philippine Institute of Volc a nolog y a nd Sei smolog y (Phivolcs), for instance, has partnered with the Mapua Institute of Technology for the development of an earthquake intensitymonitoring system. The project also targets to monitor active fault movements. To monitor hydrometerological phenomena

New EPA rule: Less science in policy-making

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ASHINGTON— The United States Env ironmenta l Protection Agency (EPA) announced a new regulation last Tuesday that would restrict the kinds of scientific studies the agency can use when it develops policies—a move critics say will permanently weaken the agency’s ability to protect public health.

Under t he measure, t he EPA w i l l require t hat t he underly ing d ata for a l l scientif ic stud ies used by t he agency to formulate air and water reg u lations be pub lic ly ava i lable. T hat wou ld shar ply limit the number of stud ies ava i lable for considerat ion bec au se muc h resea rc h re l ies on con f ident ia l hea lt h d ata f rom study subjects.

Scott Pruitt, the EPA administrator, announced the proposed reg u l at ion l a st Tuesday afternoon at agency headquarters, flanked by Republican lawmakers who sponsored leg islation de signed to achieve the same ends as the new regulation.

“The science that we use is going to be transparent, it’s going to be reproducible,” Pruitt said.

Suppor ters a nd c r it ic s a l i ke say t he pol ic y w i l l h ave fa r -reac h i ng conse quences t h at cou ld l i m it t he EPA’s abi lit y to reg ulate carbon emissions, a ir pol lution and pesticides.

The new regulation means that some of the most important research of the past decades—for example, studies linking air pollution to premature deaths and measuring human exposure to pest icides—wou ld not be available to policy-makers if scientists were unwilling to break the confidentiality agreements they struck with study subjects to collect sensitive personal information.

Enacting the policy as a regulation, as the EPA intends to do, will involve accepting comments from the public and going through a lengthy bureaucratic process.

But, if finalized, the measure would be difficult for a future administration to unravel.

Public health and environmental groups have vowed to challenge the move in court.

R i c h a rd J. L a z a r u s , a professor of environmental law at Har vard, said Pruitt would be “walking into a judicial minefield ” if he told the EPA to no longer consider certain studies during agency rule-making.

That, Lazarus said, wou ld be considered an a r bit r a r y a nd c apr ic iou s decision under the Administrative Procedure A c t, wh ic h gover ns agenc y r u l e - m a k i n g , a nd w ou l d “subject any agenc y reg u lat ion i ssued ba sed on suc h a defec t ive record to ready jud ic i a l i nva l id at ion.”

Supporters of the plan, which include the chemical and fossil-f uel industr ies a n d p r o m i n e nt c l i m a t e change denialists, say the regulation w ill ensure that f u t u r e E PA p o l i c i e s a r e based on science that can be independently verified.

In a letter to Pruitt, Sen. Tom Carper, Democrat-Delaware, and several Senate colleagues wrote, “Your proposed new policy likely violates several laws with which EPA must comply.”

The public will be given 30 days to offer comments on the proposal before a final rule is issued, according to the draft.

The announcement comes as Pruitt prepares to face Cong ress on T hursday to discuss multiple questions about his frequent first-class travel, large security detail and other use of taxpayer dollars. His supporters said they are encouraged that the ethics cloud hanging over him has not stopped Pruitt f rom pu rsu ing a mbit ious new policies.

“This is the most important thing he can do,” said Steven J. Milloy, a longtime champion of the measure who worked on President Donald J. Trump’s EPA transition team and who runs a web site aimed at undermining the established science of humancaused climate change.

“This will really open up EPA science to public scrutiny.” New York Times News Service

Science Undersecretary Renato U. Solidum Stephanie Tumampos

and related hazards, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) has partnered with the University of the Philippines in Los Baños (UPLB) for rainfall monitoring and landslide warning. The partnership targets heavy-rain monitoring

and forecasting in mountainous areas and early warning for landslides. Solidum said Phivolcs is working with UP to enhance damage-estimation capabilities using building-specific analysis.

“This is a feature-based earthquake-analysis toolset for urbanresponse estimation,” he said.

Among the Phivolcs’s projects is the ground-motion modeling, he said, noting that specific earthquake-ground motion would help enhance the seismic resiliency of residential and medium- to high-rise buildings in Metro Cebu and Metro Davao.

Pagasa has also teamed up with the Ateneo de Manila University (AdMU) for rain monitoring, where a novel rain-acoustic sensor would be developed.

“Pagasa is currently enhanci n g it s hyd rome te orolo g ic a l hazards monitor ing and r isk assessment, as well as its information-shar ing capabi l ities,” Solidum added.

AdMU was also tapped for the development of a groundwater resource-management plan and

monitoring system for Zamboanga City and surrounding areas.

Mapua, meanwhile, was tapped for the development of an automated real-time monitoring system for the Magat Dam, as well as for the development of the Philippines’ Structural Integrity Monitoring System for Critical Infrastructures in Metro Manila.

This is for earthquake mitigation, according to Solidum.

Mapua is also the partner university for the development of a high-frequency doppler radar ship tracking algorithm software for maritime search, surveillance and rescue. For some of the other projects, the DOST has tapped the expertise of state universities and colleges in the Ilocos and Cordillera regions. PNA

We expect most of these projects to be approved this year.”

—Solidum

Invention program reaches Tawi-Tawi youth

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AW I-TAW I—T he yout h have fresh minds that are creative and are ideal starting ground for inventors. To harness this important human resource, the Invent School Program (ISP) expanded its services to borders unusually reached through its recent first seminar-workshop in Mindanao State UniversityTawi-Tawi College of Technology and Oceanography (MSU–TCTO), Bongao, Tawi-Tawi.

ISP, one of the leading programs of the Technology Application and Promotion Institute of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-Tapi), is designed to open the young minds of students as a starting ground for young Filipino inventors.

In collaboration with DOSTAutonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), Provincial Science and Technology Center (PSTC)-Taw i-Taw i, and MSUTCTO, the ISP organized two sets of seminar-workshops for college and high-school students.

“The first ever ISP in Tawi-Tawi is a milestone for the program having reached the southernmost part of the Philippines. We are very privileged to be given

Invent School Program participants, with Technology Application and Promotion Institute of the Department of Science and Technology resource speakers. S&T Media Service photo

the opportunity to speak before the Tawi-Tawi people,” said Atty.

Marion Ivy D. Decena, division chief of Invention Development Division of DOST-Tapi.

A total of 44 college students and 49 high-school students showcased their creativity and inventiveness in tackling the pressing problems in Tawi-Tawi and boosting the province’s promising natural resources and wealth.

The platform ser ves to stir the youth ’s ingenuity by stimulating their interests on techniques in developing creative

and inventive knowledge that is crucial in invention and prototy pe development.

“The old pedagogy should be replaced with more interactive approach to bring more learning to the students, and ISP is necessary to change this pedagogy,” said Dr. Annabel Wellms, office in charge, Office of the Chancellor of MSU-TCTO. ISP’s goal is to bring the assistance closer to the Filipino youth by bringing the program all over the regions in the country.

Engr. Elizabeth I. Garcia and

Anna Liza B. Saet from DOST-Tapi served as resource speakers in the five-day seminar-workshop.

“ISP w i l l a lways ser ve as a pl at for m in equ ipping ou r f ut u re eng ineers a nd sc ient ists, who w ill become the ver y found at ions in bu i ld ing ou r g reat n at ion,” Saet sa id .Moreover, PSTC-Taw i-Taw i Director I b notalib J. Nasirin commended DOST-Tapi ’s efforts in prioritizing the province, as the bold step ser ves as a springboard to hone students in ARMM. S&T Media Service

DOST-NCR helps clean up creek, empower Taguig area

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he Department of Science and Technology-National C apit a l Reg ion (DOSTN C R ) r e c e nt l y c o l l a b o r a t e d with the local government of Taguig City and other government agencies to help clean up the Conga Creek to achieve a cleaner, safer and healthier metropolitan environment.

T he Conga Creek in Tag uig spa ns a rou nd 30 0 meters with 28 B most probable number (MPN)/100 ml reading of coliform and 0 ox ygen water analysis.

Under t he inter nat iona l standards, the acceptable MPN should be less than 1 up to less than 10 MPN. T his means that the pollution in the creek is way beyond the acceptable limit, and a l l the ox ygen has been used up.

Under such condition, no fish would ever sur v ive because it has to compete w ith billions of bacteria.

Conga Creek is among the 48 creeks under the Adopt an Estero Program of the Department

of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and other private and government agencies.

Col l aborat ing w it h Tag u ig Cit y under the program, the DOST-NCR will not only help in cleaning up the creek but will also help empower the communities through the DOST Community Empowerment through Science and Technology.

T he prog ram helps communities improve their living c o n d it i o n s t h r o u g h s c i e n c e and technolog y inter ventions in health and nutrition, water and sanitation, basic education a nd l iterac y, l ive l i hood /eco nomic enterprise development and disaster-risk reduction and climate-change adaptation.

The partners in the Adopt an Estero Prog ram a lso committed to suppor t each ot her in t he fol low ing areas: infor mation and education campaig ns, communit y mobi lization and ot he r a c t i v it ie s t h at w ou l d foster har monious relations.

They will also work together in decongesting the pilot site of

Representatives from partner agencies clean up Conga Creek. DOST-NCR photo

garbage dumps and introduce interventions, which are aligned with the DENR’s recommended measures, such as the planting of bamboo and other plant species along the river banks and other activities.

T he other agency-partners in the Conga Creek cleanup are the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) and the departments of Public Works

and Highways, Interior and Local Government and of Health.

There are around 273 waterways (estero) in the metropolitan area alone, according to the MMDA. It is not uncommon to see polluted waterways in Metro Manila, and the level of pollution has been a concern among env ironmenta lists and ot her individuals and groups.

S&T Media Service

Faith

Sunday

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

A6 Sunday, April 29, 2018

Sr. Fox ‘saddened’ over order to leave PHL

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ister Patricia Fox said she was “saddened” over the cancellation of her missionary visa and the government’s order for her to leave the country in 30 days.

Fox, who drew the ire of President Duterte, was stunned by the speed she was ordered to leave the country for being an “undesirable alien.”

“I was sur prised, as I had thought the process was that I would have 10 days to put in a counter-affidavit to answer the charges,” she said. “I am very sad that the decision at present is that I leave the Philippines.”

Duterte had ordered an investigation into the foreign missionary for allegedly engaging in partial political activities and badmouthing his administration.

Fox said she still hoped for a chance to explain her mission as a religious sister and have the Bureau of Immigration’s (BI) decision reconsidered.

The 71-year-old Australian nun has lived in the country since 1990, spending most of her time helping

farmers, tribal people and ordinary workers in the rural areas.

As a Christian, Fox said she could not help but get involved in social justice and human rights advocacies, “which the church sees as integral to her mission.”

“It seems this is what has brought me into conflict with the Philippine government,” Fox said.

The nun was taken from their convent last week and detained at the BI in Manila for a day.

“I may lose my right to be in the Philippines, but I can never lose the learnings and beautiful memories,” she added.

Lawyer Jobert Pahilga, counsel of Fox, said that charges against her client has “no basis in fact and in law.”

He also questioned the BI’s decision to cancel Fox’s missionary visa, saying the order was issued without due process.

5th Sunday of Easter: ‘John 15:1-8’

The vine and the branches Msgr. Josefino S. Ramirez SUNDAY GOSPEL IN OUR LIFE

‘I

am the vine, and my Father is the vine grower.” We are the branches connected to the vine. Imagine how pleased the Father would be to see the branches bear fruit. And, for as long as we remain with Him, we will always be the branches that bear fruit.

Are we connected to the vine? If we are not connected to Jesus through the forgiveness of our sins, if we have not allowed Him to rescue us from drowning in sin, it's time to rethink. Maybe life becomes meaningless and empty because we are not connected to the true and only source of life.

Left to ourselves, we would only be branches that bear no fruit because earthly desires will rule us.

The life source is within us. The Holy Spirit is in our lives, but God always does more to make us fruitful and productive.

He lifts us up, guides us and trains us so we may grow and produce fruit. He

lifts us up by placing us in relationships with others. We need one another to grow and be fruitful.

None of us can make it alone in this life. Being part of a church, loving family and friends, the kind strangers we meet—all these are to contribute to our spiritual health.

Bearing fruit is likened to a growing faith that is nurtured and focused on our response to God that motivates our thoughts, morals, spirit and actions because of His great love. It is God's love and work that flows through the Holy Spirit, in us and to all those around us.

Teach us, Lord, what it is to live in You, and for You to live in us. What it feels to be in love with You, being at ease with You, finding our strength in You and being ready when we are questioned, to explain to others what You are in our lives—the only source of life.

Council of Cardinals prep new constitution for Roman Curia

V

atican City—Pope Francis and his Council of Cardinals met this week to continue their discussion of curial reform and to work on the draft of a new apostolic constitution outlining the structure and duties of the Roman Curia.

There is no predicted release date for the apostolic constitution, but the drafting and editing “will take some time,” according to an April 25 Vatican communiqué. When finished, it will be presented to Pope Francis for further consultation and final approval. The major part of this week’s meetings, which took place from April 23 to 25 at the Vatican, were dedicated to rereading the current draft of the constitution, Vatican Spokesman Greg Burke said in a briefing on April 25.

The Council of Cardinals—who advise the pope on matters of Church governance and reform—also discussed how the Roman Curia can be at the service to the Holy Father and the particular Churches; the pastoral character of curial activity; and the institution and operation of the third section of the Secretary of State, which was established last November to oversee the Holy See’s diplomatic corps.

They also conversed on the announcement of the Gospel and the missionary spirit as a perspective that characterizes the activity of the whole Curia.

During the meetings, the pope and

cardinals received an update on the progress of the reform of the Vatican communications system by Msgr. Lucio Ruiz, secretary and acting prefect of the Secretariat for Communications.

Notably, there was no update on the state of the Vatican’s financial reforms, a typical topic of the council’s reunions.

Cardinal Sean O’Malley, head of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, gave a report on the work of the commission on behalf of children and vulnerable adults, including an explanation of what took place during the PCPM’s recent plenary meeting in Rome.

O’Malley also welcomed a group from the United Kingdom, called the “Survivor Advisory Panel,” and reiterated the PCPM’s commitment to begin their work with first listening to victims of sexual abuse and their experiences.

All members of the council were present throughout the week except for Cardinal George Pell, prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy, who has been in Australia since last summer facing charges of historical sex abuse. Cardinal Reinhard Marx was absent on Monday.

As usual, Pope Francis was present for all sessions apart from Wednesday morning, when he holds the weekly general audience. Hannah Brockhaus/ Catholic News Agency/CBCPNews

“Sister Pat has the right to be heard even when she is a foreigner, as everyone, Filipino citizen or not, is accorded that right by the Constitution, especially since she was already admitted to the country and granted missionary visa,” Pahilga said.

“The State, through the BI, has no right to cancel her visa without giving her the opportunity to contest the report of the Intelligence Division and to be heard on her defense,” he added.

Pahilga said they would also challenge the order by filing a motion for reconsideration with the BI. Fox will also be filing her counter-affidavit to refute the allegations against her. Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo said the BI decision practically junks all the good things the nun has done for the underprivileged Filipinos.

“This is very sad. All the good Sister Pat has done to help the underprivileged, which the government was not able to serve, is glossed over and not even appreciated, while the insecurity of the present government is given weight,” he said.

“Sister Pat has served the Filipinos for 27 years. This has not been considered at all,” Pabillo added.

Supporters of Sister Patricia Fox deplore the Bureau of Immigration’s order for her to leave the Philippines during a rally in Manila on April 25. Roy Lagarde/CBCPNews

Roy Lagarde/CBCPNews

Saint Zita de Lucca, patroness of domestic workers

By Corazon Damo-Santiago

‘A

househelp is not holy if she is not busy. Lazy people of our position is fake holiness,” Saint Zita said.

Inspired by faith, she performed her tasks diligently, giving her best for 48 years. With constancy of faith, she reflected on God’s will in all circumstances.

Faith enabled her to accept with serenity the harsh treatment of household members and unkind remarks about her spirituality.

“Faith so alive is most pleasing to God,” her parents taught her, which she lived to the letter.

Exemplar of goodness

Zita was born in 1218 in Monte Sagrati, Italy. She came from a religious family. An uncle was a hermit and an elder sister a Cistercian nun.

Her pious parents taught her how to be modest, humble and prayerful. At 12, she started to work as a servant in the family of Pagano di Fatinelli, a prosperous citizen in the wool- and silkweaving trade in Lucca, Tuscany, 8 miles away.

The Fatinelli lived near Saint Frigidian Church, where she attended Mass everyday by getting up a few hours before the others.

She shared her food to the poor, giving the good food provided her and “living on scraps from the kitchen.”

The other servants “resented her well-known dislike of sinful suggestions and foul language, as well as her exactitude in supplying for their deficiencies,” Joan Carnoll Cruz said in Secular Saints.

They called her modesty, “want of spirit and sense” and her diligence “affectation and secret pride,” according to EWTN.com/ library.

Treated as a common drudge by her fellow servants and even her employers for years, she never lost her temper, patience, humility and peace of mind. A member of the 3rd Order of Saint Francis in Lucca, she was unaffected by all the antipathy, malice and jealousy, Marion Habig, OFM, said in The Franciscan Book of Saints.

Her goodness to seek God ’s will in all circumstances paid off. A ll the servants and even her master changed their attitudes toward her. They realized how fortunate they were to have Zita with them.

The Fatinelli children were entrusted to her care. Later, she was assigned to take charge of all the affairs of the Fatinellis. She became the trusted friend of all

the servants. She overlooked their shortcomings and defended their cause, except in wrongdoings.

Thankful for considerable freedom granted her, she continued her apostolate for the poor and the sick. She was most devoted to prisoners who were awaiting death and spent hours praying with them.

Heaven intervenes

Heaven seemingly came to her rescue when confronted with a problem caused by her charity.

Once, she left her task of baking bread to attend to someone’s need. The servants told the Fatinelli family of the oversight.

They went to investigate and saw angels baking the bread for Zita (Wikipedia.org).

Another instance was when a padlocked gate leading to a bridge where Zita drew water for wayfarers opened by itself. The water turned into sweet wine, said the Daughters of Saint Paul in the Lives of Saints.

There was a time when food was scarce. Zita gave all her food to the poor and even took some of the stock of beans entrusted to her by the master.

She confided to the mistress the unauthorized withdrawals she made. She prayed fervently for a

solution to the problem, and awaited the master’s rage. To her surprise, the supply was intact, the beans miraculously multiplied.

One Christmas Eve, her master, seeing her in clothes that would not withstand the bitter cold, lent her his expensive fur coat and told her not to loose it.

When she went to church, Zita saw at the door a man in scanty clothes who asked for the coat.

She gave her master’s fur coat for him to wear while she is inside the church but which he should return it when she gets out.

However, the man was nowhere to be found when she came out of the church. As expected, her master was furious. As he sat to take his meal, a stranger appeared at the door. He returned the coat and disappeared, leaving the heavenly joy of Christmas in her master’s heart.

Since then, the door of Saint Frigidian Church, where the stranger sat, is c a l l e d “A n g e l ’s D o o r.”

Even when Pope Gregory issued and interdict, a temporary suspension of Divine Service in the city of Lucca, Zita walked to Pizan territory to attend Mass.

That many feared for her safety did not stop her. She would share stories of friendly strangers she met on her way. Once, she related a story about the beautiful lady who accompanied her.

Patron saint of domestic workers

Saint Zita foretold her death— April 27, 1278—when she was 60.

There was an immediate public veneration for her. One hundred fifty miracles were attributed to her, which have been proven ecclesiastically. The bishop of Lucca approved the testimonies in May 1278, just one month after her death. (Cruz, 749) Her body was seen to be incorrupt in 1446, 1581 and 1651.

On September 5, 1696, she was declared saint by Pope Innocent XII, and patroness of domestic workers on September 26, 1953.

Miracle of Saint Zita by Bernardo Strozzi Wikimedia Commons

Damo-Santiago is a former regional director of the Department of Education National Capital Region. She is currently a faculty member of Mater Redemptoris Collegium in Calauan, Laguna, and of Mater Redemptoris College in San Jose City, Nueva Ecija.

Sports BusinessMirror

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

Sunday, April 29, 2018

A7

‘TSUNAMI’ OF PROBLEMS IN TENNIS AT LOW LEVEL A

N independent review of corruption in tennis found that the sport “faces a serious integrity problem” at its lower levels—a “tsunami,” according to one person interviewed—but did not determine there are widespread problems at Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) and Grand Slam tournaments.

The report released on Wednesday showed no cover-up by tennis’s governing bodies of improper betting or matchfixing, although there were “errors made and opportunities missed,” Adam Lewis, a member of the three-lawyer review panel, said at a news conference in London.

Recommendations included putting an end to the International Tennis Federation’s sale of official live scoring data to betting companies, which creates an environment that encourages corruption; increasing transparency by making public the tournamentappearance fees paid to some players; and expanding the staffing and reach of the Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU), the anticorruption group established in 2008 after a surge of suspicious betting activity.

“Fundamental reform is required,” Lewis said.

He said there were “shortcomings in the sport’s efforts to address the longstanding, underlying causes of breaches.”

Lewis added: “In a number of instances, the ATP failed to exhaust potential leads before ending investigations.”

The panel called this an interim report and said a final version would be issued later this year.

The review was called for after the BBC and BuzzFeed News published reports in January 2016, alleging that tennis authorities ignored widespread evidence of matchfixing involving more than a dozen players.

The panel surveyed more than 3,200 tennis players and interviewed 200 others involved in the sport. While Lewis said the work discovered a “lamentably fertile breeding ground for breaches of integrity” at less-prominent Challenger and Futures events, there “appears to be much less of a problem at the tour and Grand Slam levels.”

The report cited one TIU investigator as estimating that “hundreds of matches at Futures level (both singles and doubles) are not being played fairly, with the

numbers reducing as you move upward through the ranks of the professional game.” Another investigator, according the report, “reported that, at the lower levels of the sport, tennis faces a tsunami of low-level betting and other integrity breaches.”

It said the TIU needs to increase its staffing—as of now, it does not employ tennis or gambling experts, for example—and needs to be “entirely independent,” including being housed separately from the ITF and having regular external audits.

A joint statement issued on Wednesday by the ITF, ATP, WTA and the four Grand Slam tournaments—the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and US Open— acknowledged “that there are vulnerabilities, particularly at the lower levels of tennis” and pledged to “address these concerns through firm and decisive action.”

Those governing bodies said they agree “in principle” with reforms proposed by the review.

A major cause of problems, according to the report, is the live scoring data made available since 2012.

“Whilst these deals have generated considerable

funds for the sport, they have also greatly expanded the available markets for betting on the lowest levels of professional tennis,” the panel wrote. “The ITF did not appropriately assess the potential adverse effects of these agreements before entering into them.”

The report also calls for eliminating all sponsorship deals with gambling companies; currently, players can’t enter into such agreements, but individual tournaments can.

Lewis noted that at lower tiers of the sport, where prize money can total $15,000 or $25,000 at a Pro Circuit tournament, it can be difficult for players to earn a living, which makes corruption more likely.

“At the higher level—in other words, where people are watching it—there is very little incentive to breach integrity and, therefore, it is unlikely that it will happen,” he said.

“Our conclusion, based on all of the evidence,” Lewis said, “is that match-fixing is unlikely at the level of the Grand Slams.” AP

REVOLUTIONIZING BASEBALL BATS

Brent Weidenbach, director of product management for Axe Bat, hits baseballs in the batting cage at the company’s warehouse in Renton, Washington. AP

R

By Tim Booth

The Associated Press

ENTON, Washington—Players have been altering bats for decades in a bid to improve their grip—adding pine tar or some specialized grip tape, maybe shaving the handle slightly to make it thinner.

Gradually, some players have started gravitating to a more revolutionary option offered by a company that set up shop deep in a warehouse in Renton, Washington.

As the company’s name suggests, Axe Bat has developed a bat that fundamentally changes the shape of the bat’s handle so you hold it like an axe.

Some major leaguers like the feel. Others have turned to the axe handle as an option after hand or forearm injuries.

Red Sox right fielder Mookie Betts and Astros outfielder George Springer are the biggest proponents and the only two paid endorsers by the company. But there are many others—Jake Lamb, Dustin Pedroia, Carlos Correa, even Kris Bryant this season—who have used the bat handle at one time or another.

Each has a different reason for turning to this style of bat, whether it’s a desire to be better on inside pitches, to reduce hand and wrist pain, or simply

wanting to try something different.

“I had issues with my hand with hamate surgery and I just noticed it never hurt,” Lamb said. “If you’re talking about hand health and my hand not hurting anymore, then yeah, I’m going to try out your product. That was the main thing for me.”

The history of Axe Bat dates to 2009 when a woodworker from New York named Bruce Leinart started reaching out to sporting goods companies to see if they were interested in his wood baseball bat designed with the axe-like handle. He found a willing ear in Baden Sports, the company that started Axe Bat. The Axe Bat lab where the company has developed and refined its designs is tucked away in the Baden Sports warehouse about 15 miles from the Seattle Mariners’ Safeco Field. The company developed its first bat in 2012 and it has gone through roughly 75 iterations before getting to where it is today.

“Lots of testing with players. Lots of prototyping. Lots of iterations,” said Brent Weidenbach, director of product management. “Basically, the iteration process stated with taking the general axe handle concept which was maybe a little more oval in your hand and really opened up your hand quite wide, and we kind of refined it to work more along with a baseball swing.”

Axe Bat licenses its handle design to four Major

League Baseball (MLB)-approved bat makers: Victus Sports, Tucci Lumber, Chandler Bats and Dove Tail Bats.

Springer first tried it because his teammate Correa had one. It was Betts who left Springer his first bat to use full-time during the 2015 season. In the two full seasons that Springer has used the handle, he hit a combined .271 with 63 home runs, 167 RBIs and was a World Series Most Valuable Player.

“It takes a little bit of getting used to having a nontraditional handle on a bat but I got the hang of it and I love it,” Springer said. “I think it’s helped me control my barrel more and it’s helped me control my swing more and I’m going to stick with it.”

Betts was introduced to the bat because Pedroia was trying one out. Same with Chris Owings in Arizona, who saw the success Lamb was having and decided to give it a shot in batting practice one day and ended up getting a couple of hits that night.

“You know how it is. You get something you like, why change it?” Owings said. “I like how it feels and I’m probably not going to try and get any other handles beside that standard one.”

While it seemed to be a novelty initially, the idea is gaining more respect among major leaguers. The success of Betts, Springer and Lamb is a big part of the growth at the pro level. The bat has also made inroads at the youth

and collegiate levels, mostly at the Division II, Division III and Naia level.

Trevor Stocking, the company’s director of product marketing and the MLB liaison, said one of their advantages is they’re not presenting an entirely new bat to players.

Hitters can still have the same type of barrel and same wood they’ve used in the past, it’s just a matter of whether an axe handle or a standard handle is better for their swing. In that way it’s almost like a customizable driver used by golfers.

“Some of it’s about getting one of those guys—the front-office guys, the hitting coach or one of the good players on the team—to just say, ‘Just listen to this guy, just try this, what do you have to lose?’” Stocking said. “If you don’t like it, so be it. We can always find something different. My job is to get them comfortable. We’re not a bat company. That’s kind of the cool thing. We’re not going out there selling bats.... My only job there is to only help them with their swing.”

Jay Helmick, senior vice president of Axe Bat, sees a possible future scenario where a bat is constructed specific to a player’s swing.

“Three years ago was a little more challenging. A lot more explaining had to go into the pitch,” Helmick said.

“Now you can name one of our 30 players who have used it and that will be enough for most people to try it.”

LAWYER Adam Lewis walks to the podium to speak to the media during a news conference at the launch of the Independent Review of Integrity in Tennis interim report in London. AP

Alaska native games mimic hunting tasks J

UNEAU, Alaska—To most spectators, the term “Olympics” means world-class swimming competitions, downhill skiing or the 100-meter dash.

But near the Arctic Circle, a different type of Olympics for young people pays homage to the region’s subsistence hunters and the methods they’ve used for centuries to feed their families and stay alive in harsh conditions.

This week, more than 400 high-school students from across Alaska will gather in Anchorage for the Native Youth Olympics state championships, where 10 events will test their strength, endurance and agility.

The games include the Seal Hop, where competitors bounce for as long as they can on their knuckles and toes, mimicking the act of sneaking up on a sleeping seal; the Indian Stick Pull, where two contestants fight for a greased dowel, simulating grabbing a slippery salmon from the water by the tail; and the Scissor Broad Jump, a half-longjump, half-scissor-kick event that replicates leaping from one ice floe to the next in the Arctic Ocean.

Towns and villages in Canada, Greenland and Russia also have Native Youth Olympics. Participants compete locally and at larger international gatherings, such as the World Eskimo-Indian Olympics and the Arctic Winter Games.

The events teach competitors to respect their fellow athletes, which can have real-life applications in the circumpolar north, where severe weather can force people to rely on each other.

Athletes do not compete against each other as much as they always try for their personal best, and it’s tradition for competitors in the same event to give each other pointers and encouragement. So, is always shaking hands with opponents and judges.

Students do not have to be Alaska Native to compete in the Alaska Games, even though the events are designed from cultural activities, said Tim Blume, spokesman for Cook Inlet Tribal Council, an Anchorage-based nonprofit organization that organizes the games.

“That’s really the catalyst of sharing the culture and creating awareness of the differences for all the attendees and the students to share their unique heritage, and learn a little about each other and come together under the aspect of sportsmanship,” he said.

The Alaska Games draw athletes from towns and villages across the nation’s largest state, including a team from Juneau—the first competitors from the state capital in nearly three decades.

Coach Kyle Demientieff-Worl, himself a highly decorated athlete from national and international competitions, is bringing 10 athletes from Juneau in his inaugural team.

He is trying to reinvigorate Native Youth Olympics in Juneau, where it’s had a presence at the grade school level but nothing in higher grades in nearly 30 years. He recruits and encourages students at both of Juneau’s high schools and began organizing the first team late last year. He raised money for the team’s pricy trip to Anchorage, and even made posters on his downtime.

His uncle, Ricardo, was coach when Juneau fielded its last team, around 1990, when athletes’ interest waned.

“Kyle took the games here in Juneau to a whole new level right out of the gate,” his uncle said. “In that short amount of time, he was able to make all these major accomplishments.” AP

A8

Sunday, April 29, 2018

BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Salvation by the Numbers

By Christopher W. MacCormac

Ten commandments, an eightfold path, I just can’t live up to all that math.

Just twenty-four hours in one day, I don’t have the time to fully obey.

I do believe I’ll go somewhere later, But must I choose my path with a calculator?

For those with a more agnostic view, The number comes down to simply two —maybe there is, and maybe there isn’t.

That’s an ‘OK’ plan, for a betting man.

For the nonbeliever the number is zero, There’s nothing out there, be your own hero.

Still, when I gaze at stars or a new sunrise I say to myself, ‘It does all seem so wonderfully wise’.

The answer of course may simply be—one life, lived infinitely.

But I know deep inside I won’t reach a conclusion, I love the mystery, not resolution.

So with all due respect to sages and their thunder, I’ll find my own way without picking a number.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

BusinessMirror

The Roller-Coaster

By Olivier Castaignede

­ My breathing is irregular. I press down my hand against my ribcage… I can’t feel anything.

I ram my glottis with two fingers and vomit all over the place, just to make sure I am still alive. The dead can’t vomit, can they? But hey, I can’t smell a thing, what is wrong with me? “Requiem” is playing at loud volume. Mais non, imbécile, it’s just “Waiting Around to Die”. Mon God, parlez-vous French? Footsteps are getting closer. Who’s coming? I scream. There is a gigantic black hole that wants to swallow me. I must escape. Fleeing is the only solution against the big dark mouth that keeps calling my name.

Olivier!

Who is Olivier?

I find a ladder. I have always had vertigo but never mind. I need to climb higher and higher and higher. Cymbals spit on my face but they get me going. I am breathless, I open my mouth and taste relief on my tongue. I smell liberation. I am riding the waves. I have always been at the top of my game whenever I surf, especially with Laurent Garnier breathing his acidic beats in my back. I stand up, ready to embrace the world.

Ouch! My head’s hurt the sky. I always forget the sky. It’s painful for the sky when you hit its clouds. But I am also injured. My head is spinning now. The black hole again. I disappear, helplessly sucked into it.

A whirlwind of failures, hatred, dashed hopes. I am drowning in codfish liver oil. My whole body is sucked into the known unknown. A dirtying machin e.

Oliver A. Castaignede was born in France in 1973. He has been living in Singapore since 2000. He quit his salaried job at a multinational company in 2015 to focus on writing and traveling. His first novel (in French), "Radikal", was published in September 2017 by Editions Gope.

He is now enrolled in the first MA in creative writing in South East Asia, at Lasalle College of the Arts in Singapore. Castaignede writes in English—poems, short stories and creative non-fiction texts inspired by trips around the world. Some of his travel pieces have been published in Wanderlust and one of his short stories has been selected

by The Crab Orchard Review for publication in May 2018.

Sunday, April 29 , 2018

A9

Tourism&Entertainment BusinessMirror

A10 Sunday, April 29, 2018

Editor: Carla Mortel-Baricaua

The Taipei roundup: Food, history and culture Story & Photos by Marky Ramone Go

W

hen you successfully mix history, culture and food tripping, that’s another level of wanderlust high. Taipei, the capital city of Taiwan, is just the ideal place to take your wanderings into another height of discovery, learning and fun.

As a tiny nation, it is surprising to discover that Taiwan possesses an abundance of destinations for explorers of all sorts: foodies, outdoor enthusiasts, shoppers and even arts, history and architecture junkies alike.

Spending a week might be too short to cover the whole country, but the good news for timepressed wanderers, the capital city of Taipei can offer you a wonderful glimpse in just a couple of days, thereby giving you ample opportunities to sample its savory cuisine and colorful history and culture.

Dig into Taiwan’s history

Kick-start your first day with a visit to the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall. The late Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek had a highly controversial political career, but his role as a founding president of Taiwan earned him a sprawling memorial hall. The picturesque ground composed of the iconic Liberty Square Gate, the Memorial Hall Square and the National Concert Hall makes it a perfect stop to start learning about the history of Taiwan. Make sure to witness the synchronized changing of the honor guards which happens every hour.

Such a cultural trip is never complete without passing through the vast collection of historical items and rapidly growing oriental art collection housed inside the country’s first-ever museum, The National Museum of History.

With all these historic sights easily reachable by taking Taipei ’s Metro Line, you can also quick ly v isit the National Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall. The political mentor to a young Chiang K ai-Shek, Dr. Sun Yat-Sen went

on to become the founding father of Taiwan when he spearheaded t he moder n C h i nese nationalism movement. Honoring his contributions to the countr y, a memorial covering 28 acres of open space was built w ithin the city. Surrounded by lush gardens, it features a main building housing the per formance hall, exhibition center, museum and a librar y packed w ith more than 30,000 works of literature. T he National Sun Yat-Sen Memorial hall is a must for ever y histor y junkie.

After historical sites hopping, a number of old temples and mansions can be added to your cultural and historical exploration of Taipei.

T he Longshan Temple was built in 1738 by Fujian settlers and dedicated to the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy, Guan Yin. It is one of the busiest temples in Taiwan where Buddhists and even believers of many deities of Taoism come to pray. Make sure to immerse at the fervent atmosphere during the afternoon when the devotees start to chant simultaneously while saying their prayers.

Relive the olden ambiance at the Lin Family Mansion and Garden and take pleasure in taking photos of this lavish old mansion which screams of Instagram-material. This old residence of the Lin Ben Yuan Family was first built in 1847. Today, the whole property is hailed as an embodiment of a traditional Chinese garden architecture.

Aside from the mansion’s stunning classic design, set your sights on the revolving colors and vibes, as you walk from one charming area to another.

Dr. Sun Yat Sen Memorial stands proud in 28-acre open space.

Must-try dumpling, the chocolate Xiao Long Bao

Witness local life along Olden Streets

Even though Japanese filmmaker and animator Hayao Miyazaki has already refuted claims that the old mining town of Jiufen Old Street served as his inspiration for the tow n depicted in Spirited Away, tourists still find their way to visit this place.

Navigating the lantern-adorned winding alleyways and stairways of Jiufen is more than enough reason to enjoy the vibe of this revitalized olden town.

Cure your fix for nostalgia and satisfy a childhood’s fantasy of letting a lantern fly up in the sky, carrying one’s wishes to the heavens, when you visit the Shifen Old Street. The town’s marketplace sits adjacent to an old but still operational railway track, so make sure to step out of the tracks when there’s an incoming train.

A couple of kilometers away from Shifen Old Street, on the upper tier of Keelung River, travelers can make a side trip to view the 66-foot Shifen Waterfalls.

A scenic walk along the Tamsui

Shifen waterfalls, the broadest in Taiwan

Fisherman Wharf shall provide you a delightful afternoon. Street buskers serenading passers-by with Taiwanese ballads with fascinating shops around Tamsui’s Old Streets as its backdrop summons a charming atmosphere.

Feast on Taipei’s street food and dumplings

Raohe Night Market and Shilin Night Market are two of the major night markets in the city. In these places you will experience a satisfying gastronomical adventure by circling your way through rows of street-food stalls with some of the most interesting and sumptuous road-side cookeries ever.

The staple of Taiwan’s street-food culture, the stinky tofu, leads the pack of sumptuous fare, such as the flame beef cubes, oyster Omelet, Grilled Squid, Octopus Takoyaki, Bacon Wraps, Ice Cream Popiah and many more.

Dubbed by many as the Shibuya crossing of Taipei, Ximending was made exclusively for pedestrians only encompassing a few streets filled with colorful and trendy

FastCat lets you travel the Philippines in 11 days

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By Leony R. Garcia

ccording to FastCat, the most modern and professionally run fleet of roll-on roll-off (Ro-ro) vessels in the country, you can now travel the whole of the Philippines in 11 days.

“Of course, this was made possible with our partnership with Philtanco and Jam Transit bus services,” said Christopher S. Pastrana, who, together with his wife, Maryann, manages Archipelago Philippine Ferries Corp. (APFC).

These bus companies provide the land transport services, while FastCat takes care of the sea transport side of the package. With the partnership between FastCat and Philtranco and Jam, cargo can be delivered door-to-door anywhere in the country.

“An archipelago like the Philippines, with its 7,107 islands and with many of those islands unreachable by land or air transport, traveling and transporting goods by sea is the best option,” Christopher said. Starting out with a single Catamaran in 2013, when FastCat (short for fast Catamaran) was born, more vessels came and now counting to 14. And there will be more in the years to come.

This is made possible by the recent signing of agreement with the RCBC for a loan of P1.1 billion for the purchase of three new catamarans from China.

APFC had nine vessels by 2009. But the Patranas weren’t too happy about it

as the fleet, made up of old single-hull vessels imported secondhand mainly from Norway and Japan, was too old.

That did not help them fulfill their dreams of providing an ideal ferry service to passengers and an efficient transport solution to businesses.

Philtranco and Jam Liner, which were then growing their respective fleets, offered to team up with the Pastranas and provided them with the finances they needed to modernize their fleet.

With the additional capital, the couple started their search for the type of vessels that were safe and would meet the peculiar requirements of interisland traveling in the Philippines—such as space not only for regular cargo but also for the requirement of this Filipino custom of buying and bringing pasalubong (presents) wherever they go—without compromising the comfort of the riding public.

“The double-hull catamarans made in Australia were a perfect fit. At that time, all our vessels were mono hull and we thought it was high time we had a catamaran. It is safe and stable because it has two hulls. I researched the history of catamaran and there was no loss of life on record. Many accidents happen because of human error but if given a much better option, the risks can be mitigated. Catamarans are also fuel efficient, they have good design and are spacious,” Christopher said.

With catamaran, FastCat cuts the shipping time by at least half (the threehour trip from Batangas-Calapan is now down to one and a half hours), it also provides comfortable, air-conditioned and clean facilities.

Happy with the performance of the catamaran, the couple also proved that the strategy also worked well with the business.

“We believe having only one type of vessel is a good business model for a shipping company. Before, we were always in need of different types and sizes of engines and spare parts and we had to train our crew for different competencies. That means you have no control over your operating costs. Today, we operate more efficiently because there is commonality in spare parts, instrumentation and in the training of our crew. Familiarity and redundancy are there,” Christopher explained.

Fa s t Cat s e r v i ce s d e s t i n at i o n s underserved or totally unserved by other means of transportation.

With a fleet of 14 brand-new, doublehull catamarans, all purchased from Australia, FastCat provides not only fast, safe and convenient transport services to passengers, but also an efficient and economical solution to the shipping concerns of businesses in far-flung areas, particularly the small ones. They also operate and manage eight ports and terminals, mainly in areas where FastCat

operates, to provide a complete service to their clients.

FastCat currently ser vices nine routes in Southern Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao. The medium-term goal is to cover 30 routes that will serve more inner islands and expand its reach outside the Philippines by covering islands initially in Indonesia and Malaysia.To do that, Chet says FastCat targets to beef up its fleet to 30 vessels by year 2020.

To further beef up local tourism, the Pastranas either built or tied up with hotels, where guests can stay and enjoy amenities like swimming pool, gym facilities, laundry services and restaurants.

With this, FastCat offers land and water travel packages to give opportunity to every Filipino to see the beauty of the Philippines complete with bus and ferry transfers and hotel accommodations.

“We are doing all these things to show the world that we have modern, safe and comfortable vessels that can take people to various parts of the country and, soon, some islands in Malaysia and Indonesia. We are trying to show the local shipping industry itself that it can be done. We know we still have a long way to go to achieve what we have envisioned for FastCat, but we are getting there,” Christopher concluded.

shops, an ideal destination for medium to upscale shopping and food destination.

Check out the cityscape of Taipei from the former tallest building in the world. The 1,671 foot high tower has an observation deck at the 88th and 89th f loor with an outdoor deck, the second-highest skyscraper observation deck at 1,285 feet on the 91st f loor.

After that, cap off your experience with a sumptuous lunch at the Michelin-starred dimsum restaurant Din Tai Fung inside Taipei 101 mall. Specializing in steamed dumplings (xiao long bao), it easily char ms diners into feasting on their variety of dumpling fillings, which include this author’s favorite—the Chocolate Xiao Long Bao.

Get high on natural attractions

Otherworldly is the first word that comes to mind when you see the vast expanse of Yehliu Geo park with its exceptional and spectacular rock formations.

Stretching over 1,700 meters, this

wonder of nature, carved by thousands of years of geological movement, showcases a stunning list of remarkable stone formations, such as: Queen’s Head, Princess Head Ginger Rocks, Kissing, Elephant and Ice cream rock, just to name a few.

Ever wonder how the city of Taipei looks like from another perspective other than being on top of Taipei 101? Standing atop a view deck at Elephant Mountain will show you the answer. A brisk 20-minute hike rewards you with an incredible sunset view of the city while the towering Taipei 101 building elevates the scene to a postcard-like setting.

These are just a quick rundown of places to see when you are in Taipei. It is still best to let yourself get lost in the city’s mesmerizing maze consisting of both the modern and historic districts. As you familiarize yourself with the city, an easy hop into the high-speed trains of Taiwan will swiftly take your exploration deeper into its cross countryside locations.

AirAsia Manila-Bangkok takes off with 100-percent load

A

irAsia is now flying from Manila to Bangkok, the capital city of Thailand, further strengthening the airline’s commitment as a truly Asean carrier.

AirAsia flight Z2 287 with pilot in command AirAsia CEO Captain Dexter Comendador, left Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 at 6:35 p.m. and arrived at Don Mueang Airport in Bangkok, Thailand, on time at 8:50 p.m. (local time).

A i r A s i a P h i l i p p i n e s C E O D ex te r Comendador said, “AirAsia is a product of Asean and we are so proud to be part of this region we call home. We are the only airline that carries the ‘I love Asean’ painted in our aircraft, including the Asean logo. AirAsia loves Asean is a commitment to help bridge communities and economies as we move toward even greater integration and mutual understanding.”

Tourism Authority of Thailand Director Kajorndet Apichartrakul congratulated

AirAsia at the send-off ceremony held at the airport with 180 guest passengers in attendance.

“We want to bring people across the Asean region closer together and further expand our Asean footprint to ser ve more and more communities. We have 100-percent load for this inaugural flight and we hope to do more inter-Asean routes to serve every Filipino traveler needs and enable them to connect, do business and build socio-economic ties with neighboring economies,” Comendador said.

AirAsia also offers several flights to Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia and Singapore from Manila, Davao and Cebu in the Philippines. AirAsia is proud to be a truly Asean airline with established operations based in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, India and Japan, servicing a network stretching across all Asean countries and beyond. The only airline group that fly direct to all ten Asean countries.