BusinessMirror August 15, 2019

HOUSE PANEL SENDS CITIRA BILL TO PLENARY

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz @joveemarie

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HE House Committee on Ways and Means on Wednesday approved the Corporate Income Tax and Incentive Rationalization Act (Citira) bill to boost government efforts to improve the country’s investment climate.

Albay Rep. Joey Salceda, chairman of the committee, expressed confidence that the bill will help the Philippines secure an“A”credit rating from S&P Global Ratings by 2022.

Voting 27-2, members of the committee endorsed for plenary approval House Bill (HB) 313 authored

by Salceda.

The panel invoked House Rule 10,

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Section 48 in approving the bill in one day only. Under Section 48 of the House Rules,“In case of bills or resolutions that are identified as priority measures of the House, which were previously filed in the immediately preceding Congress and have been approved on 3rd reading, the same may be disposed of as matters already reported upon the approval of the majority of the members of the committee present, there being a quorum. The committee secretary shall immediately prepare the necessary committee reports on said measures for inclusion in the Calendar of Business.”

The panel was able to expedite the passage of the measure after only two hearings. Salceda said HB 313 will be transmitted next week

See “Citira bill,” A8

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Thursday, August 15, 2019 Vol. 14 No. 309

‘Clear fiscal policies will win back FDI’ F

By Bianca Cuaresma

@BcuaresmaBM

OREIGN investors are holding on to their cash for now as they await the fate of fiscal reform measures, including the rationalization of tax incentives, pending in Congress, a local economist said.

ING Bank Manila economist Nicholas Mapa said firms will likely remain on the sidelines as they monitor developments related to key pieces of legislation following the midterm elections in May.

“Fresh equity flows have contracted 76 percent as prospective firms are likely on the sidelines until after the midterm elections awaiting developments on fiscal reforms, such as the much-anticipated Trabaho [Tax Reform

for Attracting Better and Higher-quality Opportunities] bill,” Mapa told the BusinessMirror via e-mail.

The Trabaho bill has since been renamed Corporate Income Tax and Incentive Rationalization Act

(Citira) bill. Voting 27-2, members of the House ways and means committee on Wednesday endorsed for plenary approval House Bill (HB) 313.

See “FDI,” A2

By Lenie Lectura @llectura

HE Department of Energy (DOE) will open the bid offers for nominated areas under the Philippine Conventional Energy Contracting Program (PCECP) starting Friday, August 16.

Under the PCECP, investors may engage in upstream exploration or development activities in two ways. One is by choosing an area from the 14 Pre-Determined Areas offered by the DOE. The application period for the PDAs will end at 11 a.m. of August 19. The second option is proposing their own areas for exploration, which begins by requesting for an Area Clearance.

The DOE is pushing to reinvigorate petroleum exploration and development activities in the country to serve as a cushion against the volatility of oil prices, which has a direct impact on the costs of transport and power.

“We need to increase exploration and development activities in the Philippines so that our country can become energy selfsufficient. The DOE is continuously pushing for the success of the PCECP for the effective, responsible and reasonable development of all our indigenous en-

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n

See “DOE,” A2

DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

2018 BANTOG MEDIA AWARDS PHILIPPINE STATISTICS AUTHORITY

DATA CHAMPION

Rene E. Ofreneo

LABOREM EXERCENS

HE “Endo” issue is not unique to the Philippines. Short-term, malleable and unprotected jobs are common in underdeveloped countries. It is also a growing phenomenon in a number of developed countries, especially in countries that have embraced the mantra of labor policy deregulation as part of the Washington Consensus counter-revolution initiated by Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s.

Endo jobs are given many names. “Irregular” in South Korea, “nonstandard” in Japan, “temps” in many countries and so on.

Some officials of the ILO simply refer to them as “vulnerable” jobs, meaning vulnerable to all kinds of risks because these jobs enjoy limited or no protection, and no social security. Above all, there is no security of tenure.

Continued on A7

Neda weighs in on LTFRB in TNVS case

By Cai U. Ordinario

“We need to increase exploration and development activities in the Philippines so that our country can become energy selfsufficient.”—Cusi

ergy resources,” Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi said.

Three companies have published their nominated areas in the Sulu Sea Basin, Northeast Palawan Basin and Southeast Luzon Basin.

The DOE has set the opening of applications for Sulu Sea on Friday, August 16; Northeast Palawan, August 19; and Southeast Luzon, August 20. Challengers have until 11 a.m. on each day to submit their application requirements before bids are opened at 1:30 p.m.

The DOE has set up a one-stop shop at the venue to accommodate any last-minute submissions from challengers until the prescribed deadline.

The agency said each of the three nominating companies has complied with area clearance and nomination requirements prescribed under Department Circular (DC) 2017-12-0017 on the PCECP Circular and Guidelines.

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Taking the high road to labor flexibility

37.1% T The percentage of decline of net foreign direct investments (FDI) that flowed into the Philippines in the first five months of the year, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas—or to $3.1 billion from last year’s $5 billion

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DOE to start opening bid offers for energy projects Aug. 16; 3 areas eyed

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to the plenary for second and third reading approval.

“We rationalize incentives so they could be targeted [at sectors] that could generate more investments and jobs,” he said.

“This measure is at best revenueneutral. The key to this reform is to get it done quickly and remove any uncertainty from the business atmosphere,” Salceda added.

The lawmaker said the bill or the second package of the Comprehensive Tax Reform Program (CTRP) also aims to ensure that the grant of fiscal incentives will bring more benefits, such as higher and more dispersed investments, more jobs and better technology.

I

Tariff Commission on cement, and [we] will study the evaluations made,” Lopez said in a text message late Tuesday.

“But we welcome their findings, after a series of public consultations, that there was injury to the industry, and that the safeguard duty should be P297 per MT, or P12 per 40 kilogram bag. Our earlier temporary duty is P8.40 per bag,” he added.

MPOSING additional requirements on market players such as those in the transport network vehicle services (TNVS) business stifles competition, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda).

Neda issued the statement following the Anti-Red Tape Authority’s (Arta) call for the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) to address alleged irregularities in the issuance of Provisional Authority (PA) and the grant of Certificate of Public Convenience to TNVS applicants.

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia said government agencies should ensure that policies, regulations, and other interventions must not inhibit competition and innovation.

“The imposition of additional requirements without due cause restricts the entry of market players or businesses in any industry.

Our role in government is to simplify and streamline processes to create an enabling environment that would be beneficial to all in the long term,” said Pernia, who is also director general of the Neda.

See “Cement,” A2

See “TNVS,” A2

WORKERS prepare the cement for use at a local construction site in this 2017 BusinessMirror file photo. The government is eyeing to increase the safeguard duty on cement by over 40 percent to further protect the domestic industry, amid indications the P210 per metric ton (MT) tariff failed to stop the import surge.

Govt eyes raising cement safeguard duty 40%

By Elijah Felice E. Rosales

A

@alyasjah

S the P210 per metric ton (MT) tariff failed to stop the import surge, the government is eyeing to increase the safeguard duty on cement by over 40 percent to further protect the domestic industry, as recommended by the Tariff Commission.

According to Trade Secretary

Ramon M. Lopez, the Tariff Commission is recommending the imposition of higher safeguard duty on cement to help local manufacturers cope with the surge in imports between 2013 and 2017. The tariff body found merit in Lopez’s endorsement to put a protectionist measure on cement, and is proposing the tariff be hiked to P297 per MT, from P210 per MT at present.

“We just got the full report of

@caiordinario

US 52.1930 n JAPAN 0.4890 n UK 62.9500 n HK 6.6517 n CHINA 7.3972 n SINGAPORE 37.7363 n AUSTRALIA 35.4912 n EU 58.3100 n SAUDI ARABIA 13.9152

Source: BSP (14 August 2019 )

News

BusinessMirror

A2 Thursday, August 15, 2019

2 Cabinet men, 200 others being probed by PACC

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By Bernadette D. Nicolas

@BNicolasBM

WO Cabinet secretaries are currently being investigated for alleged corruption, Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) Commissioner Greco Belgica said on Wednesday.

At the same time, Belgica said PACC is also conducting a lifestyle check on at least 200 government officials, including those from the Department of Transportation, Bureau of Customs, Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), Department of Public Works and Highways, and the Department of Env ironment and Natura l Resources.

Belgica was quick to point out, though, that when individuals are investigated by PACC they enjoy the firm presumption of innocence.

“Conducting investigations doesn’t mean they’re already guilty.

So it’s unfair to mention them and [make it] appear that they are corrupt,” he told reporters in a Palace briefing.

While Belgica did not give the names of the Cabinet secretaries pending investigation, he said they have been investigating the two since February after receiving separate complaints from individuals.

After the investigation which he expects to be concluded soon, Belgica said they will submit this to the President and then the Ombudsman.

“Whatever the President will say, we will do that,” he said.

As for the lifestyle check on at least 200 government officials, Belgica said he also expects this to be finished within 2019.

Meanwhile, the PACC a lso confirmed it is conducting lifestyle checks on 15 PCSO officials,

“Conducting investigations doesn’t mean they’re already guilty. So it’s unfair to mention them and [make it] appear that they are corrupt.”—Belgica

including former General Manager Alexander Balutan.

Retired marine general Balutan resigned in March over corruption allegations. “ We’re investigating t hese people because they have been tagged to be—to have questionable transactions, one; No. 2, we are investigating because the President announced that there is massive corruption in PCSO; No. 3, these 15 names came up for two reasons: One, they’re you know...they have been popular in a news or information about them, unverified and verified.

Their names kept on coming up: And No. 2 , they’ve held very critical and important positions. They are decision-makers; No. 3, they have held ‘powerful offices’ that allows them discretion and power to decide who and what to give,” Belgica explained.

However, he said more names

will come up as they discover the persons involved in the “massive corruption” in PCSO. Due to alleged corruption in PCSO, President Duterte has since suspended the operations of SmallTown Lottery, Keno and Peryahan ng Bayan nationwide.

In a related development, PACC, the Anti-Red Tape Authority (Arta) and hotline 8888 have agreed to form a super-response team to receive reports against corruption, red tape and to address concerns and hold accountable erring officials and offices, and propose systemic reforms.

The team also met with the top 5 agencies that were subject of the most number of complaints of delays in service delivery. These are the Land Transportation Office, Social Security System (SSS), BIR, Land Registration Authority (LRA) and the Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG).

These agencies, cited by the President in his fourth State of the Nation Address (Sona), were required to explain the mounting complaints, their most problematic transactions and choke points, solutions and actions to remedy the foregoing, and grievance mechanism in resolving complaints from the public.

Passenger cars pull up vehicle sales in July

By Elijah Felice E. Rosales

L

@alyasjah

OCAL vehicle assemblers kicked off the second half on a high note, as July sales improved by 13 percent year-on-year due to the doubledigit recovery in the passenger car segment.

The combined sales of the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (Campi) and the Truck Manufacturers Association in July went up 13.45 percent to 31,810 units, from 28,038 units during the same month last year. The double-digit growth was fueled by the positive performance of both the PC and commercial vehicle brackets.

Sales of passenger cars grew

34.72 percent to 9,397 units, from 6,975 units, while sales of commercial vehicles rose 6.4 percent to 22,413 units, from 21,063 units.

As of July, the automotive industry’s total sales expanded by 3.16 percent to 205,945 units, from last year’s 199,628 units.

The industry is targeting to grow sales by 10 percent this year to make up for its dismal performance in 2018.

Campi President Rommel R. Gutierrez said July was a barometer of the industry’s chances at recovering this year, as sales during this month is historically moderated.

“It is noteworthy that positive factors, such as continued and strong sales campaigns and stable supply of units, have out-

weighed the unfavorable effects of the off peak season to the overall sales growth. Historically, July is considered as one of the lean months of the industry,” Gutierrez said in a statement released on Wednesday.

“Nonetheless, we are optimistic that if we are able to sustain this growth trend, we will be able to exceed our sales performance of last year,” he added.

Toyota Motors Philippines Corp. is still the industry leader as of July with a 42.52-percent market share. Trailing far second and third are Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. and Nissan Philippines Inc. with market shares of 17.46 percent and 11.99 percent, respectively.

Suzuki Philippines Inc. and Ford Motor Co. Philippines hold

the fourth and fifth spots with market shares of 6.37 percent and 6.35 percent in the market, respectively.

Higher taxes on automobile and record-high inflation in September and October held back the industry’s performance last year. Sales of vehicle assemblers fell 16 percent to 357,410 units, from 425,673 units in 2017, on double-digit declines in both the passenger car and commercial vehicle segments.

The Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law, which took effect last year, imposed excise taxes of 4 percent for vehicles up to P600,000; 10 percent for over P600,000 to P1 million; 20 percent for over P1 million to P4 million; 50 percent for hybrid cars.

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With billions in unpaid claims, is PhilHealth’s actuarial life at risk?

By Butch Fernandez @butchfBM

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HE Senate opened Wednesday a joint Blue Ribbon-Health Committee inquiry into the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) amid reports of fraud and corruption threatening its financial status, even as its officials assured senators of its viability for at least 10 more years.

Asked pointblank by Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon about PhilHealth’s actuarial life, Health Secretary Francisco Duque replied:“Based on projections, if we follow the law on direct contributions, it will exceed 10 years.”

Citing its operating losses adding up to P3 billion in the past years, Drilon pressed his point and wondered aloud if, given the losses, do the DOH officials see its collapse 10 years from now. Duque, however, explained the fiscal strain was caused by “increased benefits” granted to PhilHealth beneficiaries.

Still, Drilon doubted PhilHealth can be sustained due to operating losses seen to increase at 10 percent a year.

The Senate Minority Leader noted, for instance, that benefit claims expenses are bound to go up to 27 percent, adding that “funds are not likely to extend beyond that.”

He cited reports that benefit claims had ballooned to P47 billion in 2018, but was told that a P5-billion check had been ready for release although this will not cover hospital bills.

Informed that unpaid claims already added up to P14 billion as of 2018, Drilon pointed out that “these are due and demandable payments.”

Go asked to demand data DRILON asked the chairman of the Senate Health committee, Sen. Christopher

DOE. . .

Continued from A1

Members of the Centralized Review and Evaluation Committee (CREC) will be spearheading the bid opening activity to run the “completeness check” for each submitted proposal.

The lack of any documentary requisite in the PCECP Guidelines and Application Checklist, which

Budget. . .

Continued from A8

FDI. . .

Continued from A1

“Clarity on the issue on fiscal incentives and corporate taxes may likely be needed before investors push through with their investment decision,” according to Mapa.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported on Tuesday that net foreign direct investments (FDI) that flowed into the Philippines fell by 37.1 percent in the first five months of the year. FDI in the January-to-May period reached $3.1 billion, lower than last year’s $5 billion.

FDI is the type of investment that is often more coveted, as it stays longer in the economy and creates job opportunities for locals. It is also usually an indicator of the long-term sentiment of the global community as it is not easily pulled out of the market, unlike its shorter-term counterpart, the foreign portfolio investments.

The BSP said lower net equity capital investments pulled down FDI in the five-month period. Figures from the BSP indicated that

TNVS. . .

Continued from A1

The Neda said the Arta also asked the LTFRB to explain its alleged failure to act on applications for the issuance and renewal of PAs within the stamped processing time and the imposition of undue regulatory burden and cost.

The oversight agency said the LTFRB reportedly required TNVS applicants to file their application in person as the designation of a representative other than the direct ascendant or descendant of the applicants is prohibited.

On August 13, Arta announced that after receiving LTFRB’s response, it will submit a report of its findings and recommendations to President Duterte. The agency also said it will issue an order for the LTFRB to automatically

net equity capital investments fell to $787 million, from $1.5 billion recorded in the first five months of 2018. Withdrawals rose to $451 million, in 2019 from last year’s $139 million.

Reinvestment of earnings expanded by 12.9 percent to $418 million, from $371 million in the same period last year.

In the first five months of 2019, equity capital placements originated from Japan, the United States, China, Singapore and South Korea.

These were channeled largely to financial and insurance, real estate, manufacturing, transportation and storage, and administrative and support service industries.

Mapa said the rise of reinvestment of earnings amid the decline in the equity component of the FDI indicated that foreign companies that have set up shop in the Philippines remain upbeat about the country’s prospects as they plow back profits into existing operations.

“The silver lining in the trends show that firms who are currently set up are not leaving as they enjoy the benefits of conducting business in the Philippines’s vibrant economy,” Mapa said. approve all applications that have already complied with requirements and are only waiting for a decision.

“Businesses and consumers benefit from greater efficiency and market competition. Government processes, rules and regulations, as well as issuances, should not be overly restrictive resulting in undue and unnecessary burden to businesses, consumers and the public at large.

We need to have a regulatory environment that encourages—not stifles— productivity, innovation, and efficiency improvements,” Pernia said.

The Philippine Development Plan 2017-2022 aims to institutionalize a National Competition Policy that enhances market competition by fostering an environment that facilitates the entry of players and supports regulatory reforms.

Cement. . .

Continued from A1

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in January applied a safeguard duty on cement, as market share of imports jumped to 15 percent in 2017, from 0.02 percent in 2013.

The influx during the five-year stretch forced manufacturers to reduce prices nearly 10 percent for their products to compete with cheaper priced imports. This price undercutting resulted in the domestic industry’s sales declining 12 percent, or by P11.1 billion, in 2017.

The safeguard duty, however, failed to stop imports from expanding.

Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) data showed imports of cement from February to May jumped in terms of value and volume. Imports in the fourmonth period ballooned to 2.06 million MT—valued at $132.42 million—from 1.49 million MT—valued $100.02 million—during the same period last year.

Laban Konsyumer Inc. President Victorio Mario A. Dimagiba on Wednesday said it is urgent for the DTI to monitor the prices of the commodity and show local cement is priced lower than the imported counterparts.

“The mandate now to DTI is to monitor retail prices and show the lower price edge in pricing for local cement manufacturers vis à vis imported cement.” Dimagiba said this “should be felt and benefit consumers. There should be clear and regular price monitoring report of retail prices.”

He raised yet again the application of a suggested retail price on cement to ensure local manufacturers will not take advantage of the safeguard measure imposed on their competitors.

The P4.1-trillion cash-based budget for 2020 is equivalent to 19.4 percent of the country’s GDP, which amounts to P21.17 trillion.

Budget briefings HOUSE Majority Leader Martin G. Romualdez, chairman of the House Committee on Rules, said the lower chamber will continue to hold budget briefings to ensure the active participation of President Duterte’s economic managers, heads of various departments and line agencies ahead of the formal deliberations of their respective budgetary requirements for next year.

“We will continue to hold budget briefings so that our colleagues will have enough time to raise their con-

DBM. . .

Continued from A8

Under the 2019 GAA, a total of P15.87 billion is allocated to DOH for capital outlays under the HFEP program. Of this, P6.9 billion will fund infrastructure, P6.7 billion for medical equipment and P2.27 billion for motor vehicles.

The DBM earlier decided to reduce the budget allocation for the HFEP program to P50 million under the proposed 2019 cash-based

₧14B

Unpaid PhilHealth claims as of 2018—a sum that, Senator Drilon noted, represents ‘due and demandable payments’ Go, to compel PhilHealth to submit figures to the Senate, “because we want to know why there was a significant amount of unpaid claims.”

At the same time, Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara asserted the need to “guard against fraudulent claims” and prodded PhilHealth officials to “take steps to tighten safeguards against questionable claims.”

In turn, retired Brig. Gen. Ricardo Morales, PhilHealth president, assured senators they will “get more lawyers and investigators, and install an excellent information system to detect fraud,” even as he hastened to clarify, “that will take time.”

For his part, Go stressed at the outset that, “the administration of President Duterte has worked so hard to restore our people’s trust in the government.

That is why it is our duty as public officials to hold ourselves to the highest standards, and it is our responsibility to hold our fellow officials accountable if they fail to do so.”

Go added, in a mix of English and Filipino, “The anomalies at PhilHealth must stop. As the President said, we cannot allow not even a whiff of corruption. Those liable must be held accountable. In the case of WellMed, I urge the DOJ to refile the case with the appropriate court and make sure they have a tight case so the culprits are punished.”

includes legal, technical and financial qualification documents, will warrant an automatic disqualification, said the agency.

On the other hand, qualified applications shall be subjected to further exhaustive evaluations from the CREC. After which, an endorsement of the highest-ranked application would be drafted. This would be followed by the signing of a corresponding Service Contract

by President Duterte. cerns and interact with the economic managers and department secretaries.

We also appeal to our colleagues to avoid repetitive questions during formal budget deliberations,”said Romualdez during the event of the 44-strong Visayan bloc on Tuesday night.

“Because of a shorter time frame, approving the national budget is turning out to be a Herculean task for all of us. There’s plenty of work ahead, but with all your support, full cooperation and malasakit [compassion], we can guarantee the timely passage of the national budget,” added Romualdez.

The majority leader also made an assurance that the national budget “will go through the normal and very transparent process of deliberations to fully discuss its merits and main objective to serve the people.”

“We are going to scrutinize the national budget and do our jobs properly,” said Romualdez.

national budget, citing the “dismal” spending performance of DOH. Citing figures as of March 31, 2018, the DBM explained then that the total disbursements for the HFEP reached around P13.5 billion, less than 10 percent of the total P138-billion appropriations provided since 2008.

However, the Senate decided to restore the HFEP budget in the 2019 GAA as the DOH gave an assurance that it will efficiently use the funds. This was adopted by the bicameral conference committee.

NATIONAL RETAIL CONFERENCE AND STORES ASIA EXPO 2019 A BusinessMirror Special Feature

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Thursday, August 15, 2019 A3

Tech experts to highlight adoption of innovation in retail stores at the 26th NRCE

JESUS VEGA

JASPAL JOHL

A

S the retail industry faces profound changes in the way it engages with customers in the age of digital transformation, tech experts will give tips how they can adopt technology in their physical stores to engage better with customers at the 26th National Retail Conference and Stores Asia Expo (NRCE) happening today (August 15-16, 2019) at the SMX Convention Center, Pasay City.

Retail Technology Evangelist and former Managing Director of the biggest fashion retail brand in the world—Zara-Inditex, Jesus Vega, will give tips on how retailers can surf the digital transformation tsunami in retail.

Vega currently works with the most prestigious companies and institutions in 20 countries, offer ing his ex per tise in areas such as business strateg y and cu lture, retail, innovation and creativ it y, and leadership among others. A s a technolog y evangelist, he has desig ned models to help professiona ls and businesses achieve their dreams.

Top global retail and technology inf luencer and Aptos Vice President of Retail Innovation Nikki Baird will provide real life excellent examples of retailers’ digital strategies in store. Aptos is the largest provider of enterprise software focused exclusively on retail. Prior to her work at Aptos and until today, Baird has been a regular contributor to Forbes.com and is often cited as a retail subject matter expert in various publications

and media.

“Consumers may be moving at the pace of digital, but it is the store that remains at the front line of w inning the hear ts, minds – and wa l lets – of consumers.

How have stores adapted to dig ita l ex pectations and demands? ” She ta lked about her presentation at the upcoming biggest gathering of retailers and retail suppliers in the country.

Aptos i s one of t he Pl at i nu m Spon sors of t he 26t h N RC E , a long w it h PL D T Enter pr i se, W i lcon De pot , Globe Bu si ness, BENC H , SM R et a i l I nc., a nd Megaworld Cor p.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) Head of Digital Innovation Jaspal Johl will share the importance of reimagining innovation on behalf of the customer.

Johl’s session will look at how Amazon views and leverages technology as a utility to increase the pace of innovation across the organization, getting to market faster and building an operating model that enables continuous innovation so retailers can stay ahead of their

customers’ needs.

Aside from progressive talks on technology and customer experience at the conference, its twin activity—the Stores Asia Expo will feature the newest technology and solutions that retailers can apply in their businesses to stay ahead of their game in the dynamic industry.

NRCE is an annual event organized by the Philippine Retailers Association (PRA), the recognized trade association of retailers and retail suppliers in the country.

It is also supported by the following Gold, Silver and Bronze sponsors and partners: Robinsons Malls, Unilab, Penshoppe, Araneta Center, Bayer (Gold); Ayala Malls, CMG Retail, Inc, Puregold (Bronze); Entrego (Official Logistics Partner); The Philippine Star (Official Newspaper); Business World (Official Media Partner); Turkish Airlines (Official Airlines); Springtime Design Limited (Official Brand Consultants); DZRH (Official Radio Partner); iManila (Official Social Media Partner); Vasavah Consu ltanc y (Officia l IT Consu ltant); Zebra Technolog ies A sia Pacific, Checkpoint System Limited, Easter n Communications, Vista Ma l l, Shangr i-La Ma l l, ETP Group, A l lHome, Goldilocks, Spor tshouse, Mercur y Dr ug, Pr imer Group of Companies, HBC, Blooming Ventures, Power Plant Ma l l, Vida Nutr iscience, Delta A irlines (Spon sors); R ic h Graph i x Bra nd , Her it a ge Mu lt iO f f ice P roduc t s, Zi l i ngo Ph i l ippi nes, C h atbot Ph , Un ited Neon ( E x po Spon sors); WGSN L i m ited , Blogapa looz a I nc. (S ession Spon sors) a nd ; T he M a n i l a Ti mes, I n n it y Ph i l ippi nes, C h i noy T V, Bu si ness M i r ror, C rossover, Manila Bu l letin, Philippine Daily Inquirer (Media Par tners).

You can still visit the Stores Asia Expo today and discover solutions for your retail business. Visit our website for more details www. nrce-ph.com and follow us on Facebook https://www. facebook.com/nrceph/.

NIKKI BAIRD

A4

TheBroa

Business

Thursday, August 15, 2019

TAX THRUST THREATENS C

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas & Elijah Felice E. Rosales

ANDON CITY, Ilocos Sur and Manila—The window of a northbound red bus along MacArthur Highway frames a blurry but picturesque swath of greenery still glistening from the early morning downpour.

Again July has arrived, time like a blur as four months prior the landscape was also painted brown mirroring this northern Philippine countryside’s pride produce: tobacco.

This day the landscape was also dotted by bobbing figures: farmers on rice paddies. They fight the sun with wide-brim buntal hats and the yellow and red long sleeves of camisa de chino. The towering Mount Tirad, the province’s thirdhighest mountain, lends a faint shadow.

The farmers have to wait until October before they can begin growing tobacco again. The waiting extends for 150 days when harvesting begins in March until April.

For now, they trust the rice seeds of the grass species Oryza sativa that they’re planting would tide them over. Some would say it’s a misplaced trust as the buying price of palay declined to a 2-year low of P17.85 per kilogram in endJune with the spike in rice imports following the liberalization of the rice trade.

Some concede that if only better opportunities exist out there, they would abandon these lands for good.

Their hopes to live a bare minimum life, therefore, rest upon tobacco. After all, this town is the country’s tobacco capital. But some would consider this as false hope as the number of tobacco farmers and the land area for tobacco growing have been contracting over the years.

In limbo

DUSK settled on July 25 and Reynaldo Acosta was slumped on a worn gray sofa. His eyes are glued to the live television broadcast of President Rodrigo Duterte leading an entourage on the newly inaugurated bypass road in Candon, 10 kilometers southeast of Acosta’s home in Santa Lucia.

The evening news came showing the President signing into law the imposition of higher taxes on tobacco products.

The 55-year-old Acosta never smoked his whole life but the news affected him more than it did a chain-smoker. Another round of sin-tax hikes, another year of lower income, he mumbled as newscasters switched to talking about an actress’s gym workout program.

Acosta has spent over half his life as a farmer supplying tobacco for the country’s biggest tobacco growing and processing company. With the impending implementation of heavier taxes on tobacco items, he is left with two options: to stay or leave town. The latter means abandoning tobacco planting.

Across Acosta’s is Andrea Reyes’s house where the 70-yearold also mulls the future.

It’s minutes before midnight but Reyes has just woken up having slept off exhaustion from working the whole day on her farm.

Her house in Banayoyo, a municipality 10 kilometers northeast of Candon, was visited by gloom after learning the news about a tobacco tax hike.

Like Acosta, Reyes ran the numbers in her head and sighed: her take-home income from tobacco farming next year will be reduced with higher taxes on smoking products in place.

Reyes has been growing tobacco since the company buying their harvest arrived in 1964.

“Up to now, I’m still here,”

Andrea said, adding she’s proud of sticking with the tobacco-growing sector through eight presidents. “I tried shifting to other crops, but none can equal the income I’m getting from tobacco farming. It used to be the best source of income here in Ilocos Sur; but things have changed over the past years.”

New law

DUTERTE signed Republic Act (RA) 11346 on July 25, which would further increase the tax slapped on tobacco products starting January 1, 2020.

RA 11346, or the Tobacco Tax Law of 2019, increases the excise tax from the current P35 per pack to P45, or less than a dollar, per pack in 2020. This is followed by a series of P5 hikes until the rate reaches P60 ($1.15) in 2023. By 2024 and every year thereafter, the increase hits 5 percent.

RA 11346 did not only raise excise taxes but also put a cap on the share of tobacco-producing provinces from government revenues.

Provinces producing Virginia tobacco would still receive 15 percent of the tobacco excise tax the government collected. However, the share shouldn’t exceed P15 billion.

Provinces producing burley and native tobacco would now receive 5 percent instead of 15 percent of government revenues.

Their share would be capped at P4 billion.

The Tobacco Tax Law also expanded the programs that local government units (LGUs) of tobacco-producing provinces could fund using their share of the revenues.

Under the law, the share in government revenues would be directly remitted to the tobaccoproducing provinces.

Total recall

THE head of the National Federation of Tobacco Farmers Associations and Cooperatives (NFTFAC) said the increases in excise taxes would end in lower buying prices.

Bernard R. Vicente, NFTFAC’s president, explained that the reduction in consumption of cigarette would discourage manufacturers from producing more. This, he said, would reduce the volume of tobacco manufacturers buy from farmers.

“Dahil po doon hindi na po kami puwede magtanim ng magtanim at ang bilang po ng hektaryang tatamnaman namin ay mababawasan at ganoon din ang kita po namin every season [We can no longer plant tobacco at the pace we had prior to the signing of the law. Likewise, we have to cut the size of land we allot for farming. At the end of the day, it would negatively impact our income],” Vicente told the BusinessMirror.

Indeed, it is a case of supply and demand economics. When demand for cigarettes declines on higher taxes, manufacturers are compelled to adjust their production downward. As such, they buy less from farmers like Acosta and Reyes for their tobacco leaf requirement.

“We are hit hardest when the government increases taxes on tobacco. We cannot demand for higher buying prices of tobacco leaf because traders and firms will just say demand has gone down,” Reyes said in an interview with the BusinessMirror.

Earners’ woes

DEMAND is just one of manufacturers’ worries; supply is, too. And supply comes from the number of producers, which has been going down.

The number of farmers engaged in tobacco planting fell 5.28 percent to 32,652 in 2018, from 34,465 in 2017, records from the National Tobacco Administration (NTA) show.

At the start of the decade, there were some 49,897 tobacco planters in the Philippines. However, as tax hikes were rolled out on tobacco products, the headcount of farmers dropped 4.6 percent steadily every year from 2010 until 2018.

Acosta himself witnessed some of his friends leave the sector for good. He still wrestles with such a decision.

Because for one, he is managing three hectares of land where he cultivates tobacco during the dry season, and, second, how could he turn his back on a valuable memory?

“I was able to send my kids to school using income [from tobacco growing and] my siblings finished their studies with the money they earned from planting tobacco,” Acosta told the BusinessMirror.

“We know the value of tobacco. We

are used to growing it and I see myself and my family depending on it no matter what.”

For Reyes, she still has lots of mouth to feed and dreams to fulfill. She said she was able to support the education of her three children—one of whom graduated with a double degree—through income from tobacco farming.

The septuagenarian has no plans of calling it quits as she still wants to support her grandchildren.

Growers’ ills

MARCELINO N. BIALA, executive of the company that buys from farmers like Acosta and Reyes, believes the Tobacco Tax Law has thrown a monkey wrench in the gears of the tobacco industry.

Biala knows what he’s talking about: he’s been in the industry for 37 years—22 years for the private sector, 15 years for the government.

“As someone who has been in the heart of the industry for so long, I know the taxes will affect the behavior of our clients. Their purchases will certainly be lesser next year, when the tax hikes are applied,” Biala said. “Of course, the higher the consumer prices, the lower the demand. At the tail of the supply chain, the farmers are sure

to suffer.”

Biala is the director for growing operations of a Richmond, Virginia-headquartered multinational firm.

As an executive of a contractor, Biala said it is but expected for tobacco manufacturers to buy less processed leaf from them next year with higher taxes in place.

“It is difficult to explain to farmers why we are buying their produce at lower prices and lesser volume,” he said.

Rising costs

FOR 67-year-old tobacco farmer Ernesto Lacaden Calindas, prices of their tobacco are just one of his worries.

Calindas, who has been planting tobacco for 20 years, has seen production costs ever rising, with the scarcity of farm workers as one of the reasons.

He said he’s now paying P350 (nearly $7) per hectare per head since laborers have been scarce. It used to be less than P300 (about $5.73 at current exchange rates).

Laborers, he explained, have opted to shift to other sectors such as construction, which offers way higher wages. To note, the legislated minimum daily wage in Ilocos Sur for plantation workers is

pegged at P295 (about $5.64) and P282 ($5.39) for non-plantation workers.

Another cost is the shortage in fuelwood, which farmers use in curing or cooking tobacco, Calindas said. He spends around P60,000 ($1,146.25) for his total fuelwood requirement at an estimated current cost of P1,000 ($19.10) per cubic meter.

Calindas estimates the production cost of tobacco right now is at least P130,000 ($2,483.55) per hectare. A farmer should produce at least 1,800 kilograms of tobacco to break even, he added.

Industry decline

DECLINING: this is how government data paints the country’s tobacco industry in terms of output, farmers and area in the past decade.

The industry attributed the decline in these three areas to farmers who are aging and who are migrating to higher-income-generating jobs, such as construction work. The industry also blames higher excise taxes.

“We used to produce 160 billion sticks of cigarettes but it went down to 74 billion sticks in 2017,” NTA chief Roberto L. Seares told the BusinessMirror.

aderLook

sMirror

Editor: Dennis D. Estopace | Thursday, August 15, 2019

A5

S TOBACCO TILLERS’ TAKE Stakeholders have also cautioned the government that higher excise taxes on tobacco products would encourage more illicit cigarette trade in the country.

In late June, the tobacco private-sector representatives requested a meeting with the NTA board to discuss illicit cigarette trade.

During the meeting, the private sector disclosed that the amount of seized illicit cigarettes in 2018 doubled to 157 million sticks worth P628 million from 89 million, valued at P356 million, in 2017, according to NTA. Illicit cigarette brands are sold for as low as P20 per pack to P40 per pack in the domestic market, greatly cheaper than the P51 per pack to P78 per pack of legal brands, the NTA added.

Illicit cigarette trade not only damages business operations of legitimate manufacturers but also deprives the government of revenues, NTA said.

Sound the alarm would ask for an increase in floor prices, which is more than what they proposed two years ago.

During the last tripartite negotiations in 2017, farmers insisted on a P16.77 hike across all grades to cope with rising production costs.

Vicente added the rising needs of farmers are behind this push for higher floor prices.

JASPER EMMANUEL Y. ARCALAS

NONIE REYES

Issues in grades

The country’s tobacco output declined at a compound annual growth rate of 5.76 percent from 2010 to 2018.

Tobacco production in 2018 fell to a decade-low of 43.241 million kilograms, which is 10.25 percent lower than the 48.179 million kilograms recorded in 2017.

Tobacco output peaked in 2011 at 79.329 million kilograms, just a year before the Sin Tax Law of 2012 was enacted.

Meanwhile, the area planted with tobacco has declined by an average of 4.19 percent from 2010 to 2018. Total tobacco area last year was estimated at 22,794.95 hectares, which is nearly 32 percent smaller than the 33,502.75 hectares recorded in 2010.

Top buyers

SEARES, however, said the NTA couldn’t “do anything about it [tobacco tax law].

“We just have to support it and help the government,” he said recalling the months-long deliberation on the Tobacco Tax Law.

Still, Seares said the Philippine tobacco industry is still waiting for the fat lady to sing.

He even believes local tobacco output won’t fall any further below 43 million kilograms.

“I don’t think it will go below the 43 million kilograms [we produced last year]. We have high demand for global market and they are demanding about 32 million kilograms,” Seares said. “[Foreign buyers] love our products due to the taste and aroma. For example, our burley cigarette is very competitive against that of American cigarettes,” he added.

The country’s combined unmanufactured and manufactured tobacco exports in 2018 rose by 36.29 percent to a record high of 79.875 million kilograms from 58.606 million kilograms, NTA data showed.

According to the NTA, the increase was driven by the doubled volume of shipments in manufactured tobacco in 2018, which reached 41.963 million kilograms from 18.476 million kilograms in 2017.

The NTA data also showed that the value of the country’s total tobacco exports grew by 60.04 percent to $511.065 million from $319.337 million in 2017.

Seares said the country’s top buyers are Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore, Indonesia, the United States and Belgium, among others.

You can’t stop

ASIDE from the bright export demand, Seares believes higher taxes would fail to dampen local demand for cigarettes but only prompt smokers to shift to cheaper brands.

“Once you start smoking, you cannot stop it,” Seares, a medical doctor by profession, said.

Interestingly, a study by Myrna S. Austria of De La Salle University and Jesson A. Pagaduan of the Asian Development Bank revealed the rise in cigarette prices has resulted in a decrease of smoking intensity, or the amount sticks consumed by a smoker, more than in a decrease in the number of users (smoking prevalence).

“The results show that the increase in excise tax has been effective in reducing cigarette consumption in the country and in making cigarette demand more responsive to price increases,” the authors said.

“Specifically, the tax reform has reduced the number of cigarettes purchased by smokers more than the number of cigarette users,” Austria and Pagaduan added.

The study noted its findings are consistent with previous studies that a “rise in income increases the demand for cigarettes.”

“College graduates are more likely to consume fewer cigarettes;

poor households are relatively more responsive to increases in cigarette prices than rich households,” added the study titled “Are Filipino Smokers More Sensitive to Cigarette Prices Due to the Sin Tax Reform Law?: A Difference-inDifference Analysis.”

Floor prices

SEARES is urging tobacco farmers to push for higher floor prices during the tripartite meeting in September. Doing so, he explained, would help them cope with the rising production costs.

He pointed out that the floor prices make the tobacco industry unique and more profitable than other commodities.

“Tobacco is the only commodity with floor prices,” Seares said.

“Other commodities have no ensured market resulting in unstable prices.”

The NTA conducts a tripartite conference every two years when new tobacco prices are decided upon. The conference serves as a venue for tobacco farmers and tobacco companies (cigarette manufacturers, tobacco dealers and exporters) to evaluate and negotiate the floor prices of unprocessed tobacco leaves.

Vicente believes that farmers

CALINDAS also pointed to tobacco buyers as also the reasons farmers are seeing their income decrease.

He said some tobacco buyers are downgrading the quality assessment on their produce. Because of this, Calindas said they are forced to sell their tobacco to “cowboys,” their pejorative term for illegal middle-men, during trading seasons.

He recalled his experience during the last trading season in March when a buyer offered P64 to his best-grade tobacco.

“When a ‘cowboy’ asked me, I told him P77 but we agreed on P75,” Calindas said. He sold his product at that price only to learn later the “cowboy” sold his goods to the buyer he originally approached.

Seares said they have conducted training with traders to harmonize standards and leaf grading.

Plus, he added, NTA officials accompany farmers to the trading market when dealing with legitimate traders.

He also encouraged tobacco farmers to complain directly to him if they experience irregularities in leaf grading from legitimate traders.

Vicente said that since the floor prices were increased, unscrupulous buyers tend to downgrade the quality of tobacco sold to them by farmers to avoid paying higher prices.

It’s a perennial problem in the industry, according to Vicente, who added this has forced farmers like Capilas to sell their produce to “cowboys.”

“Sa ibang bansa po ang grader ay galing sa gobyerno upang hindi maging biased. Dapat gobyerno po talaga upang wastong mapatupad ang floor prices [In other countries, the grader is a government representative to avoid biases. It should really be government so that the floor prices could be properly applied],” he said.

Vicente said they have been proposing that instead of private entities only NTA officials or employees grade tobacco produce during trading season to avoid certain biases.

Revenue deprivation

TOBACCO industry stakeholders, particularly end-users, have been urging the government to curb the proliferation of illicit cigarette trade in the country.

VICENTE sounded the alarm that the expansion of programs that could be funded by LGUs through tobacco excise taxes could lessen pro-farmer projects even while the industry is still thriving.

He said they have called the attention of LGUs funding projects like construction of water fountains and covered courts, saying these do not benefit tobacco farmers.

“Ang alam nila tanga kami para magreklamo. Pero sa pangalan namin pinapadaan iyong bilyon-bilyong pondo na hindi naman kami ang nabubusog [They regard us as idiots for complaining but they use billions of funds using the name of the organization],” he said.

Rights Services Inc. (Rights) said it is high time that LGUs included tobacco farmers in their budget process.

Rights noted that doing so would ensure that the “sin” taxes allocated to every tobacco-producing LGU would be used for the benefit of the farmers.

“Allowing tobacco farmers to directly participate in the local budget process is expected to further improve their income and eventually help them shift to healthier and more productive crops,” Rights Program Manager Cynthia Esquillo said in a statement.

The last leaf

CALINDAS considers himself lucky compared to other tobacco farmers.

As a Candon City resident, he receives P15,000 (about $286.98) in cash for every hectare that he plants with tobacco. The assistance comes from the excise-tax share that Candon receives annually from Virginia tobacco production.

Candon City also provides tobacco farmers with free farm inputs such as seedlings, fertilizers and insecticides, among others.

He explained that some farmers in other tobacco-producing provinces do not receive any assistance from their LGUs. “Kung gusto pa nila kaming magsurvive, dapat dagdagan pa nila ’yung assistance sa amin; lalo na ’yung cash assistance—siguro P50,000 para sa kahoy, saka konting gas. Pero hindi pa rin iyon sasapat [If government really wants us to survive, they should increase the assistance to about P50,000 for our fuelwood and gas; albeit these wouldn’t be enough],” Calindas said.

Calindas only learned during the interview, a day after the signing of the law, that excise taxes would increase anew next year.

He went temporarily pale, like having seen a ghost, and glanced at the rice farm behind his house.

“Pinirmahan na talaga? Kung ganyan lang din naman, baka tumigil na ako sa pagto-tobacco [The President signed the law? If that’s the case, I may have to stop planting tobacco],” he said.

A6 Thursday, August 15, 2019 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

editorial

The best weapon against dengue

H

EALTH Secretary Francisco Duque III declared a national dengue epidemic on August 6 in the wake of the alarming increase of dengue cases in many regions. He said the 146,062 cases recorded from January to July 20 this year represent a 98percent increase over last year’s figures. The outbreak has already claimed more than 600 lives, and those worst affected were children below the age of 10.

Among the regions with dengue alerts exceeding the epidemic threshold, Region 6 (Western Visayas) had the most number of cases at 23,330; Region 4A (Calabarzon) followed with 16,515; Region 9 (Zamboanga Peninsula) with 12,317; Region 10 (Northern Mindanao) with 11,455; and Region 12 (Soccsksargen) with 11,083 cases.

To fight the dengue outbreak, the Department of Health started an information campaign to focus on finding and destroying mosquitobreeding sites. Last week, the DOH launched the “Sabayang 4-o’clock Habit” to raise awareness and encourage the community to do its share to weed out dengue-breeding sites at 4 p.m. every day. It also issued guidelines for people to wear clothes that cover the skin and to use mosquito repellent products.

The alarming rise of dengue cases nationwide prompted President Duterte to declare that he is open to the use of the controversial Dengvaxia vaccine. “Yes, I am open to the use of Dengvaxia again. Many have died already, it’s an epidemic,” he said in a media interview.

The DOH, however, ruled out using Dengvaxia to combat the worsening epidemic. “This vaccine does not squarely address the most vulnerable group, which is the five to nine years of age,” Duque said. The vaccine, currently licensed in 20 countries according to the World Health Organization, is approved for use for those aged nine and older. Duque said the WHO has also advised that the vaccine was “not recommended” as a response to an outbreak, adding that it was “not cost-effective” with one dose costing P1,000.

Dengue is a deadly disease. However, early diagnosis and treatment improve the survival rate of dengue victims. It is therefore important to know the symptoms, which usually begin to show four to six days after infection. Dengue symptoms may include high fever, severe headache, fatigue, nausea, skin rash, joint and muscle pain, and mild bleeding.

On Monday, DOH Undersecretary Eric Domingo sounded a new alarm.

He said the DOH is closely monitoring the National Capital Region and Region 1 because these areas are now “above the alert level and nearing the epidemic threshold.” This should alarm local government units, schools and communities to join hands in fighting dengue.

In Ilocos Norte, the Provincial Health Office has rolled out an information dissemination campaign dubbed “4-S Strategy”: “Search and destroy” mosquito-breeding sites; “Self-protection measures” must be employed; “Seek consultation”; and “Support fogging or spraying” only in hot spot areas. The PHO campaign seeks to prevent a new dengue outbreak in the province.

Local government leaders should encourage this kind of initiative.

Community participation, particularly at the barangay level, is vital to prevent the spread of this deadly disease. If we can raise awareness in all barangays, people will be encouraged to practice preventive measures in their own backyard. Community vigilance will go a long way in the war against dengue. This means that individual households must accept responsibility for the control of mosquitoes in their surroundings.

Since 2005

BusinessMirror A broader look at today’s business

The market and the economy John Mangun

OUTSIDE THE BOX

W

E are constantly trying to forecast the economic future like trying to predict rain or sunshine. It is a valid exercise as certain preconditions lead to a result that can then be foretold with reasonable accuracy.

The Conference Board Leading Economic Index (LEI) is an American economic leading indicator intended to forecast future economic activity.

It is calculated by the Conference Board, a nongovernment organization, which determines the value of the index from the values of 10 key variables.

It all makes sense, at least on paper. The LEI has a fairly good track record of things done before an economic recession. Part of the problem is that—depending on which group of economic experts you ask—there are five, 10, 16 or 20 different variables that should be included when compiling any index of leading economic indicators.

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intention of actually “putting the money where the mouth is.” Notice that “stock prices are based in part” and “a strong market may suggest.”

They cannot be blamed for hedging their bets. Just ask a local expert on stock market “catalysts.” They will tell you that the Philippine stock exchange goes up with global, regional, and United States stock markets.

Except when it does not, which is about 50 percent of the time.

As much as it would be wonderful to draw a firm correlation between our stock market and future economic growth, it just does not exist.

It would even be great to see a correlation between short-term stock price movement and current (or immediate past) economic growth.

What we do see though is that local stock prices can follow the general economic growth trend over a long period. The problem is that you cannot buy or sell based on that trend.

From 1999 to 2002, the economy had good growth; the stock market index went from 2,500 to 1,000.

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

Product labels aren’t the place for the EU to play politics

✝ Ambassador Antonio L. Cabangon Chua Publisher

Even the Conference Board makes “adjustments” to what is included in the index and the weighing of each of those factors.

Predicting the weather is easier in the short term. And all forecasts —economic or weather—are more or less a guesstimate the longer the time frame for the prediction.

There are all types of “indexes” and we are conditioned to believe that most, if not all, are trying to make a prediction for the future.

However, many of these are snapshots of the current situation. For example, the “Terrorism Index” shows that the Philippines is much more dangerous than Thailand.

Yet, two weeks ago, Bangkok saw

six small bombs exploding, injuring four people. At least the “Global Terrorism Index” is characterized as a snapshot rather than a forecast.

According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, we have a Philippine Leading Economic Indicator System also with 11 factors. It does not seem to have been updated—or at least reported—since 2014. The reason may be that the index was basically flat from third quarter 2010 to first quarter 2014, even as the economic growth moved from 7.5 percent to 3 percent and back to 7 percent.

One variable that is included in all of these indexes is the price changes of the stock market. The reasoning works this way: “Though the stock market is not the most important indicator, it’s the one that most people look to first. Because stock prices are based in part on what companies are expected to earn, the market can indicate the economy’s direction if earnings estimates are accurate.”

Further, “a strong market may suggest that earnings estimates are up and therefore the overall economy is preparing to thrive.”

We can immediately see that those statements were written by an economic expert who has no

E

UROPE’S highest court soon will rule on whether goods produced by Israeli settlements in disputed territories should be especially labeled as such. Though no date for the final ruling has been set, it’s already making waves in the United States.

“Mandatory labeling of all Jewish products,” Sen. Ted Cruz tweeted on Monday. “What could possibly go wrong?” Retweeted 5,000 times and “liked” 15,600 times, this was Cruz’s reaction to a post on the conservative political blog RedState, which the senator appears to have misunderstood. It discusses an opinion issued in June by Gerard Hogan, an advocate general at the European Court of Justice (ECJ).

Hogan recommended that the court, whose rulings are final for all European Union (EU) member-states, affirm the requirement that all products made in “a territory occupied by Israel since 1967” should be labeled to show their geographic origin and “where it is the case, the indication that the product comes from an Israeli settlement.”

This doesn’t, of course, amount to “mandatory labeling of all Jewish products,” but if the ECJ affirms the advocate general’s recommendation, as it does in most cases, it—and the EU in

general—inevitably will be accused of anti-Semitism. After all, such a ruling would effectively require products from the same geographical area to be labeled differently, according to whether they were made by Jewish settlers or

by Muslims living under the Palestinian Authority. That outcome would be appalling for a bloc formed, in part, to right the wrongs committed by some of its member-states against Jews. The EU would be rightly seen as aiding a boycott of Jewish products, not just those made in certain localities.

On the other hand, Hogan, a venerable Irish judge with a reputation as a human-rights defender, made a valid point about European geographic labeling rules. He wrote that some European consumers want to make ethics-based choices when they buy products, and it’s not the court’s business to judge these choices. By this logic, all that European regulators should do is make sure product labeling is not misleading. And

since the territories in question aren’t universally recognized as Israeli ones (Hogan, for his part, states unequivocally that their occupation violates international law), “Made in Israel” is a misleading designation for their products.

There’s a way out of the dilemma for the court, but not for the EU. The court could reject Hogan’s argument altogether on formal grounds: EU rules don’t specifically call for labels to name the actual village where the product was made. Or it could go for an indication of the geographic area (such as “the West Bank”) without discriminating between Jewish and Arab towns. That would, perhaps, make boycotters think a little harder about the region’s economic realities. They might balk at hurting Arab producers on the West Bank (whose direct export to the EU is, by the way, tiny—just €16 million worth in 2017) and the thousands of Arab workers employed by Jewish-run businesses there.

But neither of these potential outcomes would address a broader issue.

The EU takes part in various embargoes directed at specific territories whose status it doesn’t recognize. For example, it limits direct imports from Northern Cyprus, recognized only by Turkey as a separate state. Imports from Russian-occupied Crimea also are officially banned.

I’m 100 percent certain, however, that products from both regions find their way to European markets—through Turkey and Russia, where they’re labeled so as to evade the embargoes.

There’s essentially no way for the EU to enforce labeling rules for West Bank goods, either, if Israel doesn’t help with

it. When the European Commission first attempted to impose such labeling in 2015 by issuing an interpretative note to its consumer protection standards, few member-states amended their own rules to comply with this interpretation.

(France did, and the case before the ECJ, brought by an Israeli wine producer and a Jewish organization, stems from that country.) Merchants, of course, could try to apply the EU interpretation without being ordered to do so by the national government, but an attempt to do so backfired for the German retailer The KaDeWe Group GmbH: A public outcry made it reconsider. So in effect, the commission failed to enforce the labeling rules.

If the EU generally supports trade restrictions based on political considerations, it should allow its citizens to make such choices, too. But then it also should be able to enforce these restrictions, both on its own behalf and on behalf of its citizens. That’s not really the case; the EU could conceivably only force the relabeling of certain goods whose sales depend on their being from a certain locality, such as wines. In most other cases, the exporter could put any of its home country’s regions on the label and no one would be the wiser.

European regulators should decide how serious they are about product labeling requirements for conflict riven and disputed regions. If they want to be serious, they need to figure out ways to enforce their rules in all related cases. Otherwise, the EU should just keep out of the boycott and partial embargo business altogether.

Opinion BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

The dark side of black sand mining

Sacrificing even family loyalties Msgr. Sabino A. Vengco Jr.

ALÁLAONG BAGÁ

Val A. Villanueva

BUSINESSWISE

T

HERE is no such thing as a free lunch, economist Milton Friedman and other finance experts say.

Perhaps Cagayan Gov. Manuel Mamba should be reminded of this, as he denies the dredging project involves the extraction of black sand at the mouth of the Cagayan River. He says that it is merely a dredging project that a Chinese company is doing “for free to help the province reopen the Port of Aparri.”

Emphatic that the project would “improve economic and trade relations between Cagayan and China, and other neighboring Asian countries,” he vowed to resign “if they can prove that it is black sand mining.”

Black sand mining in itself is legal (if granted the necessary permits) because to date there is no such law that unambiguously bans it. Its main limits in the Mining Act is if the dredging is done in reservoirs and protective areas.

The governor is up against his own provincial board, which is seeking President Duterte’s intervention to stop the project on charges that black sand or magnetite, an ore of iron used in steel production, is being extracted there.

Armed with a resolution inked on August 7, the board members claim that the dredging being carried out

by Pacific Offshore Exploration Inc. poses a threat to the environment and livelihood of villagers.

Board member Mila CatabayLauigan says, “This is to be investigated…as the company has yet to comply with the requirements.” She says that the dredging vessel is putting the waste or nonmineral sand back into the river, and transporting the dredged materials abroad.

Another board member, Vilmer Viloria, says the dredging project had not been issued an environmental compliance certificate and other permits, which, he notes, makes the contractor’s operation illegal.

According to the board resolution, the contractor earns about $50 million or P2.6 billion a month from the project. It has also been reported that residents near the Cagayan River have spotted several dredging vessels with Chinese markings since July.

Illegal mining of black sand or magnetite has been going on in several towns in Cagayan province despite stiff resistance from local residents and intermittent raids by government authorities.

The previous administration tried to put an end to the illegal practice by carrying out intensive campaigns to completely eradicate it. In August 2013, the National Bureau of Investigation and the Mines and Geosciences Bureau discovered during raids that foreign companies, mostly Chinese, which were holding permits issued by the MGB or the provincial government, were behind the illegal extraction in Cagayan.

The task force arrested 18 Chinese employees of Hua Xia Mining and Trading Corp., which was illegally operating a processing plant for black sand in Paddaya and Dodan villages, both in Aparri town. The company

carried a permit to mine for only sand in Casiitan and Batangan villages, both in Gonzaga town.

Since then, illegal black sand mining or extraction has persisted with violent consequence. In April 2014, Carlito Pentecostes Jr., then-mayor of Gonzaga and a supporter of black sand mining, was felled by an assassin shortly after a flag-raising ceremony just across the municipal hall.

What is exactly black sand mining? Black sand is a stabilizer in concrete and steel products and also widely used in jewelry and cosmetics manufacturing. Although in itself legal, “studies made by environmental groups in areas with black sand mining activities show that black sand mining operations contribute greatly to the depletion of fishery resources, erosion of land and severe flooding,” says Sen. Leila de Lima in her Senate Bill 960 that proposed to totally ban black sand mining.

The bill adds: “It is even predicted that areas mined for magnetite or black sand could sink and be underwater within 30 to 70 years as rapid subsidence will highly expose said areas to flooding and seasonal typhoon.” The bill specifically mentioned Cagayan as bearing the brunt of black sand mining.

The MGB under Duterte says it will conduct a thorough review of black sand mining, finishing what the government of Benigno Aquino III started in its crackdown on miners that violate environmental standards.

“We are reviewing it, which mining we will not go for, that will destroy the beaches,” MGB concurrent Director Mario Luis A. Jacinto says.

In 2014, the Mining Industry Coordinating Council, a panel directly under the supervision of the Office of the President, in a resolution ordered the appraisal of all existing black sand mining operations in the country, from the issuance of permits to sanctions that may be imposed on companies that violate conditions set by those permits.

“We must make sure that we are able to fully assess, identify where are the possible sources and whether these are viable and whether these are marketable,” Jacinto says. Last year, the first report of the interagency Fact-Finding Committee on Illegal Mining entitled “Philippine Mining Unearthed” was unveiled, identifying quarrying of magnetite black ore or black sand as the most common form of illegal mining operations.

For comments and suggestions, e-mail me at mvala.v@gmail.com

Thursday, August 15, 2019 A7

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O follow Jesus and be part of God’s reign, one must put Jesus above all else. One may even be called upon to sacrifice family loyalties (Luke 12:49-53).

A baptism of fire AN outburst from the heart of Jesus divulges his passion to accomplish his mission. He paints himself as in great inner anguish until it is accomplished. How he wishes that the fire he has come to set on the Earth is already blazing! In the first place, it is a baptism of fire he himself must undergo and be baptized with. It recalls the words of Jeremiah, “Within me there is something like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot!” (Jeremiah 20:9). Jesus burns with zeal for the fulfillment of His mission on Earth, even as it entails the suffering and death He knows He must endure. He eagerly embraces, while also dreading it, the path that leads

to the execution of the Father’s will for the salvation of the world.

In claiming He has come to cast fire on the Earth, Jesus presents His coming in the tradition of a dramatic prophetic visitation. It is God’s design: “I am now making my words in your mouth a fire, and this people wood, and the fire shall devour them” (Jeremiah 5:14). Like the refiner’s fire the prophet Malachi spoke of (Malachi 3:2), fire is needed to purify the Earth and wash away the dross. It denotes severe judgment, as happened in a similar action of the prophet Elijah (2 Kings 1:10-14). Principally, we must connect “casting fire on the Earth” with the gift of the Holy Spirit.

John the Baptizer predicted that the one who is to come will baptize with

the Holy Spirit and fire (Luke 3:16), and the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples is symbolized as tongues of fire (Acts 2:1-4). The followers of Jesus, gifted with the Holy Spirit, are purified even as they are empowered to imitate Him.

Saved as divided

IN casting fire on the Earth in order to save, Jesus is not solely a gentle Messiah spreading peace, but also the Son calling us to decide and to stand for the Father’s will. The radical change His baptism of fire demands of His disciples consequently includes the establishment of division. Jesus’ message of peace and reconciliation (Luke15:11-32; 23:34; 6:27-36) when followed has the effect of distinguishing and dividing those who follow Him and those who do not. Commitment to Jesus and His gospel must take precedence over any political and even family loyalties.

Loyalty to Jesus can tear apart those bonded together, and those who accept Him and His teaching can often be ostracized by those who do not believe in Him. A sign of contradiction, the old seer Simeon predicted of the child Jesus, one who would be opposed (Luke 3:24); in opposition and contradiction is division.

Taking the high road to labor flexibility Dr. Rene E. Ofreneo

LABOREM EXERCENS Continued from A1

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TERM that is widely used by trade unions everywhere is “precarious.” In The Precariat: The New Dangerous Class (2011), Guy Standing, a political economist and a former ILO official, described the precariat as follows: “…multitude of insecure people, living bits-and-pieces lives, in and out of short-term jobs, without a narrative of occupational development, including millions of frustrated educated youth who do not like what they see before them, millions of women abused in oppressive labor.”

For employers, the hiring of “Endos” is a source of flexibility in the hiring, deployment and management of a firm’s work force. In labor economic parlance, this flexibility is labeled as “external labor market flexibility” or ELMF. Flexibility comes in the ability of management to reduce or increase employment or wage levels with ease, increase mobility, make more elastic use of skills or knowledge, and introduce nonconventional forms of work arrangements. The most basic, however, is the ease to hire and fire as needed by the perceived requirements of business. There is an added gain: no or limited threat of unionism. After all, these workers are not considered part of the company; they are, in many ways, “external” labor.

In the Philippines, existing labor laws have allowed employers to develop practices that help them avoid managing and keeping a regular work force, which means avoiding the prospect of having to deal with a union and paying the regulars with the various entitlements due to the regulars. These practices include the hiring of workers as casuals, temporaries, probationaries and project workers. Some firms even

keep large number of probationaries and apprentices on a sustained basis through a system of rotation and repeated project hiring.

In the 1980s, the Supreme Court upheld the right of companies like San Miguel Corp. to reorganize and outsource different phases of work to outside contractors as part of “management prerogative.” This was taken by big companies as a green light to break down work structures and outsource fragments of work to smaller outfits such as goods delivery to transports movers and processing of certain products to toll manufacturers (for example, drug manufacturers outsourcing tablet encapsulation to Interphil Laboratories).

In the 1990s, as economic globalization intensified, companies have learned to outsource jobs not only to “outside” third-party contractors but also to third-party manpower agencies who do work right “inside” the work premises of the principal or contractee.

In three decades, this outsourcing modality has become a big industry involving millions of Endo workers, workers who are in a limbo because they do not know if they are really workers of the principal (for they are doing the products or services marketed in the name of the principal) or the third-party manpower agency, which mobilizes and deploys these workers.

This explains why the provisions of the Labor Code on permissible job

contracting and prohibited labor-only contracting or LOC have become the object of anger and scrutiny by organized labor groups. They seek strict restriction, if not outright prohibition, of outsourcing of work to any manpower agency that does not have the capital or equipment to do business, and does not manage or have no control over the work process. Additionally, the trade unions want work directly related to the business of the principal be outrightly covered by the prohibition.

This blanket prohibition proposed by the trade unions is being opposed by the economic advisers of the government, especially those who are schooled in the neoliberal economic paradigm.

They warn that the Philippines is bound to lose out in the global competition for foreign direct investments should such a blanket prohibition prevail. They argue that the Endo system and the temporary employment contracts (TECs) given to the workers, mostly young workers, keep the economy efficient and competitive. They even claim that the system is “inclusive.”

Obviously, these economists assume that the labor market, like other markets in a liberalized economy, works best when it is freed from restrictive regulations such as the laws on minimum wage, unionism and so on.

Studies by the ILO and other scholars indicate that such framework is narrow and does not really work. In Asia, for example, workers who are most secure in their jobs are in the most developed countries—Japan, Australia and Singapore. Today, China has been upgrading its labor governance system by instituting a series of wage increases and enacting stronger social and labor protection measures for the express purpose of building up a modern and progressive country.

The point is that if there is a concept called external labor market flexibility, there is also the opposite concept, internal labor market flexibility. Under the ILMF concept, firms consider their workers as assets, not as disposable commodities. They realize higher productivity and, yes, flexibility in the

Switzerland is being held captive by the ECB, the EU and the euro

By Marcus Ashworth Bloomberg Opinion

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WITZERLAND is one of the richest places on the planet but it isn’t all sunshine and alpine flowers when you’re encircled by the world’s biggest trading bloc: the European Union. While the Swiss are pretty nimble in managing this unfortunate state of affairs, there are limits to what they can do.

Take currency. The Swiss National Bank is facing the perennial dilemma of an over-strong franc stifling its export-led economy, leading to a halving of growth over the past year. Instability in some emerging markets and Italy, as

well as fears about a global trade war and a euro area recession, have encouraged investors to pile into the haven of the Swiss franc, which is trading at its strongest level in more than two years.

The SNB is widely believed to have been intervening to weaken its currency; the telltale sign being that so-called sight deposits have risen at the central bank.

This is the cash commercial banks hold there, which economists consider an early indicator of SNB moves in foreignexchange markets. But it’s all been to no avail as the franc has carried on strengthening against the euro.

The problem for Switzerland is that its room for maneuver is so limited by

its euro zone neighbors. With the European Central Bank’s rate set at -0.4 percent, the SNB’s is at -0.75 percent to try to deter FX investors attracted by its more alluring haven status. And with the markets expecting another cut from Mario Draghi’s ECB in September, people are preparing themselves for a fresh reduction from the Swiss central bank to maintain the buffer.

Both for the ECB and the Swiss the priority is stopping their currencies from rising and hurting exporters. It’s just that Bern, unlike Frankfurt, is a pricetaker not a price-maker.

The SNB may even have to lower its official deposit to below -1 percent to

dissuade those safe haven flows. It might also implement other smart measures such as stepping up its highly successful policy of purchasing overseas equities with its burgeoning foreign-currency reserves.

At least the Swiss are better at using the element of surprise than most central banks. They haven’t taken policy action at a formal meeting for a decade— instead choosing the best moment. In 2015, just before the ECB introduced its monster €2.7 trillion ($3 trillion) bondbuying program, the SNB ambushed everyone by dropping its ruinously expensive policy of intervening to sell its own currency whenever the franc threatened

to rise beyond 1.20 per euro. It was one of the most brutal actions a major central bank has ever taken. When the cap was dropped, the franc appreciated by almost 30 percent against the currencies of the Group of Ten industrialized nations—unprecedented for a global reserve currency.

That 2015 policy shift means the Swiss are largely stuck with cutting their interest rates to defend the currency. But the knock-on impact of that has been seriously challenging: The country’s entire yield curve (the rates on all different maturities of bonds) is substantially below zero. Its 10-year yields are already nearing -1 percent. Even Swiss corporate

The forthright admission by Jesus of the divisive effect of His word, like a two-edged sword (Hebrew 4:12), on family life shows his unflinching approach; no soft-pedaling what is really involved in following Him. As once a would-be disciple wanted to attend first to His family duties before joining the company of Jesus, His clear response was, “Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:59-60).

Alálaong bagá, the mission of Jesus of setting the Earth on fire meant His own baptism of fire, which He looked forward to with passion even as it meant the antagonism against Him resulting in His suffering and death for the salvation of all. The purifying fire that He cast on the Earth is the power of the Holy Spirit bringing both judgment and new life, consequently dividing those who accept Him from those who do not. The hearer of the message is challenged to decide to a commitment to Jesus above all other loyalties.

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

work processes, from a work force that is versatile, skilled and committed to the mission of the enterprise. But for this to happen, they need to treat workers as partners and the expenses they incur in upgrading the skills and welfare of the workers as investments. Where will Japan be had industry, in the post-war decades, not invested on labor-management cooperation, on partnership with the unions on zero-defect program, on win-win productivity gain-sharing program and on commitments to business/job security in the long term? Same with Singapore under the guidance of Lee Kuan Yew. The problem is that some economists are simply looking at the supply side of the labor market and are treating the labor surplus problem (unemployment) as an indicator that labor in the Philippines is expensive due to the minimum wage, unionism and other protective labor laws. This framework has been in place in the last five decades or so, and yet the surplus problem has persisted to the present. Why not look at the demand side too and why put the burden of growing the economy on how labor can be disciplined to tame its demand for better protection?

Meantime, there are developments in the economy and the labor market, here and overseas, that need to be monitored.

One key area is the issue of work force readiness to the complex challenges of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, which is rolling over Asia and across the globe.

A study by Alfred Kleinknecht (“How ‘structural reforms’ of labor markets harm innovation,” Delft University of Technology, 2015) applies to the Philippines. The study says that “easier hire and fire and higher labor turnover will, in various ways, damage learning and knowledge management in the ‘creative accumulation’ innovation model.” Is this not one of the reasons manufacturing has been stagnant in the last few decades?

Is it not time then to overhaul the old but still existing development paradigm of a labor-intensive exportoriented industrialization based on cheap and unprotected labor?

bonds don’t yield much. Nestle SA, the food group, won the dubious honor of becoming the first company whose 10year debt in euros fell below zero yield.

This is all bad news for Switzerland’s legions of savers and for its huge private banking industry, which has started charging wealthy customers for their deposits. While incredibly low funding rates help the country’s corporate sector and government financing, that’s outweighed by an over-mighty currency that crimps exports. Switzerland isn’t alone in this dilemma of trying to keep its currency appreciating versus the euro. The Scandinavian countries have similar problems.

2nd Front Page BusinessMirror

A8 Thursday, August 15, 2019

DBM releases ₧2.6B for upgrade of DOH facilities

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By Bernadette D. Nicolas

@BNicolasBM

HE Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has released P2.6 billion for the purchase of medical equipment and upgrade of the Department of Health (DOH) hospitals under the Health Facilities Enhancement Program (HFEP).

The DBM said the money released on August 6 will also be used to fund the upgrade of local government unit (LGU) hospitals and other

health facilities this year.

“Through the HFEP, health facilities and hospitals will be upgraded and provided with appropriate

₧15.87B

Amount allocated by the 2019 General Appropriations Act (GAA) to DOH for capital outlays under the HFEP program. Of this, P6.9 billion will fund infrastructure, P6.7 billion for medical equipment and P2.27 billion for motor vehicles medical equipment and enhanced infrastructure, leading to a high quality and accessible health-care delivery system,” the DBM said in a statement.

The HFEP is a national program

that helps government health-care facilities to provide quality health care to attain the Philippine Health Agenda through the allocation of capital outlay for procuring health infrastructure, medical equipment and land outlay for selected DOH hospitals.

Last July 31, the DBM also released P672.5 million to the DOH. This covered the funding requirements for the purchase of 251 ambulances chargeable against the 2019 HFEP. The ambulances will be deployed to DOH hospitals and medical centers, LGU hospitals, Urban Health Centers, RHUs, provincial, city and municipal health offices and BHSs. See “DBM,” A2

SMC gets notice of award for Bulacan international airport

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AN Miguel Holdings Corp.

(SMHC ) received l ate Wednesday the notice of award for the P734-billion New Manila International Airport (Bulacan International Airport) deal, according to a senior government official.

Department of Transportation (DOTr) Undersecretary for Planning and Project Implementation

Ruben S. Reinoso Jr. said with the issuance of the notice of award, the company must “submit the necessary documents” to the agency’s special bids and awards committee within 20 days.

These include: a written conformity, the performance security of one percent of the first implementation phase cost, and proof of financial underwriting and capacity.

SOUTHWEST MONSOON AFFECTING WESTERN SECTIONS OF NORTHERN AND CENTRAL LUZON as of 4:00 pm - August 14, 2019

After finding these requirements complete, the transport agency may then issue the notice to proceed to SMHC, so it could start construction.

“Finally, we can push forward with the Bulacan International Airport. This will provide greater convenience and comfort to the people of Central and Northern Luzon, as well as those in Metro Manila. Once

operational, this new airport will give connectivity options to our citizens,” Reinoso said.

With the issuance of the award notice, the Ramon S. Ang-led company will undertake the financing, design, construction, supply, completion, testing, commissioning, and operation and maintenance of the new international gateway.

San Miguel Corp. (SMC) tapped the ser vices of Groupe ADPI, Meinhardt Group, Jacobs—three companies that worked to develop the Singapore Changi Airport— to create a “future-ready airport” that may replace the ageing Ninoy Aquino International A ir port (Naia). Lorenz S. Marasigan

Solons vow ‘timely’ passage of 2020 budget

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

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@joveemarie

HE chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations on Wednesday said lawmakers will immediately start panel deliberations on the proposed P4.1-trillion budget for 2020 once it is submitted to the lower chamber.

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) is expected to submit the P4.1-trillion National Expenditure Program (NEP) on August 20. Davao City Rep. Isidro Ungab, the panel chairman, said the committee will start deliberations on the budget on August 22.

Ungab said this will assure the swift passage of the national budget before the 18th Congress takes its first break on October 5.

Based on the schedule of activities, the appropriations committee will deliberate on the 2020 NEP starting August 22 to September 9 while the approval of the committee report is slated on September 11.

The proposed 2020 General Appropriations Act is expected to be approved on third and final reading on October 4. The House will transmit the national budget to the Senate on October 8.

Congress targets to submit the 2020 national budget to President Duterte on December 20.

The total proposed national budget for 2020 at P4.1 trillion is 9.1 percent higher, or P343 billion more than the proposed P3.757-trillion national budget for 2019.

See “Budget,” A2

www.businessmirror.com.ph

ISRAELI FIRM UNVEILS $100-M LOAN TO BUILD AGRI PROCESSING SITES

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N Israeli firm on Wednesday launched a $100-million loan facility for the construction of domestic agricultural processing facilities as part of the deals signed by President Duterte during his state visit to Israel last year.

James P. Amparo, president and CEO of Yovel East Research and Development Inc. (Yovel East), said they have finalized the loan assistance program for Philippine agriculture almost a year after Duterte’s visit to Israel.

Amparo said the loan, to be funded by Israel-based Mima Tech, will be available for the Department of Agriculture (DA) and local government units.

Amparo’s firm is the Philippine partner of Mima Tech and will serve as a conduit for the credit portfolio.

Under the loan program, the government may access the entirety, or a part of, the $100-million loan to build agricultural processing facilities such as rice mills, Amparo said.

Depending on the size of the loan and negotiations, the maturity of the loan would be about 10 to 15 years with an interest rate of 3 percent to 4 percent, he added.

The facilities will be built by Yovel East, which will also provide technical assistance to farmers and officials who will operate the plant.

This, Amparo pointed out, ensures that the facilities will not become white elephants for lack of technical skills to manage them.

The loan package also includes a market management component, with Mima Tech purchasing the produce of the facilities’ farmerbeneficiaries in order to ensure profit, he added.

“The idea is to engage with the government since the loan facility will be there. We just have to ask the DA what type of facilities they want to put up,” Amparo said in a news briefing on Wednesday.

“This is a holistic approach [in investing in agriculture]. We will put up the processing facility and help them increase their yield technology-wise and improve their crops. We will also give them buying agreements to ensure market,” he added.

Amparo said they are keen on participating in the investment program that new Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar floated recently.

Dar said he wants to replicate Nueva Ecija’s initiatives of investing in their rice own industry by setting up their own rice mills and purchasing their farmers’ palay, as well as selling the rice in the market.

Dar plans to engage with local government units of the top 10 rice-producing provinces to discuss the program, with the DA linking them up with possible credit facility sources.

“Yes, we are very much willing partners with the DA [in this endeavor],” Amparo said. Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

PAL warns HK-bound passengers of entry restrictions into airport

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OUR-STAR Philippine Airlines (PAL) has warned passengers going to Hong Kong, scene of weeks of pro-democracy protests that have shut down the main airport several times, to readily show their passports and itineraries and boarding passes while airline staff are required to present their airport permits or company IDs. “This latest directive—which is in effect starting 2 p.m. local time today August 14—is part of increased security measures being implemented by the airport authority to control access into the HK airport premises,” PAL said in a statement.

All airport access points are manned

by Hong Kong Aviation Security and the

Citira bill…

local police together with airline staff and ground handling agents to assist the screening process.

In view of tightened security measures and access control into the passenger terminal building, HK Airport Authority has advised all airlines to ceased at Hong Kong International Airport.

All passengers who wish to book or purchase flights out of the Administrative Region may carry out any of the following: 1. Book online via www.philippineairlines.com or call PAL Reservations Hotline at (+63 2) 855-8888 or visit the PAL Ticket office in Hong Kong at Room 305, East Ocean Centre, 98 Granville Road, Tsim Sha Tsui East Kowloon, Hong Kong. Recto L. Mercene

Continued from A1

The measure seeks to encourage investments by bringing down the corporate income tax (CIT) rate from 30 percent to 20 percent, and modernize investment tax incentives to enhance fairness, improve competitiveness, plug tax leakages and attain fiscal sustainability.

The measure proposes to bring down the CIT by two percentage points every two years.

“This is a national imperative. We need to lower taxes to remain competitive,”Salceda said.

The bill will strive to encourage investors and locators to reapply after the five-year or seven-year period, to qualify for incentives for another five years.

The Department of Finance (DOF) said the proposal is projected to generate some 1.4 million jobs, mostly in small and medium enterprises (SMEs), over the next decade and create a business environment conducive to inclusive growth.

For his part, Finance Undersecretary Karl Chua said the set of incentives under Package 2 will be “transparent, time-bound, targeted and performance-based.”

The Package 2 version of the 17th Congress or the Tax Reform for Attracting Better and Higher-Quality Opportunities (Trabaho) bill was approved by the chamber

in September last year.

Appeal

In an interview, Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) Director General Charito B. Plaza expressed opposition to the bill.

Plaza said the DOF should not only be concerned with how to increase taxes and income of the national government but also consider the income created for local government units.

According to Plaza, a total of P10.05 trillion was poured by Peza and its registered companies into the Philippine economy from 2015 to 2017.

She said this huge amount includes the investments of Peza companies; exports of Peza enterprises; salaries and wages given to direct employees of Peza registered enterprises; taxes paid to the national and local governments by Peza enterprises; local purchases of capital equipment and raw materials used directly for the manufacture of the registered activities of Peza enterprises; and Peza taxes and dividends to the national government.

Plaza also said she will appeal to the Senate because they are more“statesmanlike”than the members of the House.

News BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

By Butch Fernandez @butchfBM

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HE Senate was asked on Tuesday to mount an inquiry into uncollected taxes due from registered and unregistered foreign workers, including those in the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (POGO).

Sen. Sherwin T. Gatchalian, in filing Senate Resolution 89 to pave the way for the POGO probe, prodded Senate probers to also look into “related issues on the effective implementation of Philippine tax, immigration and labor laws” covering the gaming establishments.

The senator acted on reports that the “significant influx of Chinese POGO workers and the approximately 130,000 individuals not paying taxes to the Philippine government have clearly raised red flags on the implementation of our tax, immigration and labor laws.”

Gatchalian’s Resolution 89 asserted the need to “review our capability and enhance our capacity to enforce our tax, immigration, and labor laws to balance the protection we need to accord our people vis-à-vis to the contribution of industries and foreign workers to the country’s economic growth.”

He noted that under the law all foreign individuals, whether a resident or not of the Philippines, are liable to pay income tax under Sections 24(A) (1)(c) and 25(A)(1) of the National Internal Revenue Code, as amended, on their taxable income derived from all sources within the Philippines.

Citing a Department of Finance computation, the resolution noted that the government is losing much as P22.5 billion annually from uncollected taxes. The senator added the

Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) estimates that P18,750, excluding taxes on allowances and fringe benefits, are not being collected from each foreign worker every month.

At the same time, Gatchalian recalled reports that the BIR only collected P200 million last month from foreigners who were mostly Chinese working in the POGO sector, noting that July was the first month that the government mandated the automatic withholding of personal income taxes from the foreign workers.

Moreover, the senator noted that the BIR was seen to be having difficulty issuing tax identification numbers at a faster pace and bigger volume than usual. For July, he added, the BIR reportedly was only able to issue 10,000 TINs to some 130,000 unregistered POGO workers in Manila, Parañaque and Pasay.

“These implementation drawbacks,” he said, “including the failure to monitor the revenues and revenue-generating activities of the POGO industry, do not only have an impact on the potential tax revenue loss, but also raises issues of fairness with respect to Filipino taxpayers who regularly pay taxes.”

Gatchalian stressed that it was imperative for the Senate to conduct an assessment and careful analysis to determine how these tax collection agencies can better perform their functions prior to introducing another set of laws which these agencies may have difficulty implementing.

“It is also the Senate’s duty to review policies set forth by the Executive as it annually deliberates on the government’s expenditure plan, which is affected by the projected tax revenues and other macroeconomic fundamental assumptions,” he added.

PHL wheat imports seen at 7.4 MMT

PHOTO: BLOOMBERG NEWS

Senate urged to look into tax liabilities of POGO workers

Thursday, August 15, 2019 A9

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By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

@jearcalas

HE country’s wheat imports in trade year (TY) 2019-2020 will hit 7.4 million metric tons (MMT) due to the rising demand of Filipino consumers for meat and bread products, the United States of Department of Agriculture (USDA) said.

The USDA said in its monthly report that the Philippines’s wheat purchases for TY 2019-2020 will

match imports in the previous trade year. The USDA estimated that the country’s wheat purchases in TY

2018-2019 ending June 30 likely reached 7.4 MMT, 23.33 percent over the nearly 6 MMT recorded in TY 2017-2018.

“Global trade is raised marginally, highlighted by stronger import demand for the Philippines and Turkey,” the USDA said in the report published recently.

The USDA projects total wheat imports in current trade year to reach 182.096 MMT, 4.17 percent higher than the 174.809 MMT in the previous trade year.

In its previous reports, the USDA said the increase in wheat imports is driven by the shift in the consumption of Filipinos from corn-based products “to incorporating more

affordable wheat products.”

This is coupled by the growing demand for animal feeds due to continuous expansion of the local livestock and poultry sectors. Feed wheat is one of the raw materials used in manufacturing animal feeds.

“This year specifically, the trend toward stronger wheat use has intensified due to typhoon-related losses in the domestic corn crop,” the USDA said in its April report.

“With domestic corn prices relatively high, the demand for wheat has surged, both in feed rations and for human consumption,” it added.

The country’s corn output this year is estimated to rebound to 8.1 MMT from 7.6 MMT last year, USDA figures showed.

The country’s wheat imports in 2018 expanded by 26.8 percent to an all-time high of $1.51 billion, from $1.191 billion recorded in 2017, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed.

PSA data also indicated that the US remained the country’s top source of wheat products in 2018, as it accounted for 40.7 percent of the total import volume.

The US exported $615.359 million worth of wheat products to the Philippines last year, 2.1 percent lower than the $628.558 million recorded in 2017, PSA data showed.

Corn output in 2018 fell by 1.8 percent to 7.77 MMT, from 7.92 MMT recorded in 2017. The PSA attributed this to the decline in harvest area and yield, which contracted to 2.51 million hectares and 3.09 metric tons per hectare, respectively.

DOST wants to create committee to craft space agency law IRR Duterte signs into law nications Technology.

The DOST is now gearing up for the transfer of astronomical and space-related functions, including the Philippine Space Science Education Program of the DOST-Science Education Institute, funds, functions, assets, and equipment and properties.

According to de la Peña, a salient provision of the IRR will deal with the transfer of assets, equipment and properties from the DOST to PhilSA. This is because of fact that the DOST, which has various space-related activities, work in partnership with numerous state colleges and universities, other government agencies, research institutions, and even the private sector.

Space R&D

THIS BusinessMirror file photo shows the scale model of the Diwata-2 microsatellite, which was exhibited at the National Science and Technology Week in World Trade Center in Pasay City in July. The Department of Science and Technology is urging Malacañang to create a committee that will draft the implementing rules and regulations of the Philippine Space Act.

By Jonathan L. Mayuga

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@jonlmayuga

HE Department of Science and Technology (DOST) said it will immediately coordinate with the Office of the President for the creation of the committee that will draft the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the Philippine Space Act. Republic Act (RA) 11363 signed by President Duterte on August 8 mandates the establishment of the Philippine Space Agency. Among PhilSA’s powers and functions are policy, planning, and coordination; improved public access; research and development; education and capacity building; industry development, and international cooperation.

“I will write a letter to the Office of the President, probably the Executive Secretary, calling for the creation of the technical working committee that will craft the IRR,” Science Secretary Fortunato de la Peña told reporters in a news briefing in Quezon City on Wednesday.

Under the law, the IRR should be in place within 90 days following the signing of the law. But since RA 11363 tasks PhilSA, which is not yet established, to take the lead in crafting the IRR, de la Peña said he deemed it proper to write Malacañang to initiate the creation of the technical working committee.

PhilSA, which will be an attached agency of the Office of the President shall be headed by a director general, a Cabinet secretary-level position to be appointed by the

President, deputy director generals and various divisions.

The agency will be housed at a 30-hectare land within the Clark Special Economic Zone in Pampanga and Tarlac.

Apart from the creation of the PhilSA, de la Peña said the new law will usher in “exciting developments” in the Philippine space policy. This policy will involve national security and development; hazard management and climate change; space research and development; space industry capacity building, education, and awareness, and international operation.

Space council

DE LA PEÑA said the law also mandates the creation of the Philippine Space Council (PSC), which will act as the principal advisory body for the coordination and integration of policies, programs and resources affecting space science and technology applications.

The PSC will be composed of the President as chairman and two vice chairmen, namely the secretary of Science and Technology and secretary of National Defense.

The members of the PSC are the chairs of the science and technology committees of the Philippine Senate and the House of Representatives, director general of the National Economic and Development Authority, secretary of Finance, Foreign Affairs, Agriculture, Environment and Natural Resources, Trade and Industry, and Information and Commu-

SINCE 2010, the DOST has invested a total of P7.48 billion for space research and development (R&D). It has also supported a total of 5,489 STEM or science, technology, engineering and mathematics Scholars from 2008 to 2018. There are also 15 ongoing spacerelated programs and projects being implemented by different universities and agencies across the country.

The DOST chief also said there are around 25 Space R&D facilities in operation nationwide.

Aside from these investments, the DOST chief said the Philippines is ready to run its own space agency, as more than 1,000 space science experts are “ready, willing and able” to join PhilSA. Also, he boasted that with the DOST’s various initiatives, the Philippines has already launched three Filipino-made satellites in space—Diwata1, Maya-1 and Diwata-2.

Budget

DE LA PEÑA said the soon-to-be established PhilSA is assured of adequate funding.

Aside from the P1 billion appropriated by the law as initial operating fund of the PhilSA, taken from the current fiscal year’s appropriation of the Office of the President, the amount needed for the operation and maintenance of the PhilSA shall be included in the General Appropriations Act. Also, the DOST chief said the law mandates the creation of the Philippine Space Development Fund to be used exclusively for the PhilSA. The said fund, which shall be administered by the director general to be appointed by the Office of the President, is comprised of P10 billion to be taken from the share of the National Government in the gross income of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. and Bases Conversion and Development Authority for five years after the effectivity of the law. An amount of P2 billion per year shall be released to PhilSA and the whole amount shall be used exclusively for capital outlay.

De la Peña said income from specialized products, services, and royalties produced by the PhilSA will be an added bonus.

measure amending charter of co-op body

By Bernadette D. Nicolas

P

@BNicolasBM

RESIDENT Duterte has signed into law a measure amending the Cooperative Development Authorit y (CDA) Charter in a bid to reorganize and strengthen the institution to make it more responsive to the needs of local cooperatives.

Republic Act (RA) 11364 signed by the President last August 8 amends the original charter passed in 1990.

The new charter paves the way for the modification of the composition of the CDA board of administrators. This is expected to strengthen the partnership between the CDA and cooperatives.

Instead of a board of administrators made up of two representatives each from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, the new charter mandates that there should be a director to represent a cluster of cooperatives.

The following cooperative sectors that will have representation include: credit and financial services, banking and insurance; consumers, marketing, producers and logistics; human services: health, housing, workers and labor service; education and advocacy; agriculture, agrarian, aquaculture, farmers, dairy and fisherfolk; and public utilities: electricity, water, communications and transport.

Aside from being a policy-making body, the new CDA will also serve as an adjudicating body so it could quickly resolve intra- and intercooperative disputes.

It may also issue cease-and-desist orders to cooperatives and responsible parties and such other orders and notices to preserve the assets and documents of the cooperatives subject of the dispute or litigation.

The reorganization of the CDA shall take effect within 120 days from the effectivity of RA 11364.

The incumbent chairman and administrators of the CDA shall continue to serve and act as chairman and members of the board until the new composition of the board shall have been constituted.

The board shall, in consultation with the cooperative sector and other concerned government agencies, formulate the implementing rules and regulations within 90 days upon the effectivity of this Act. The Act shall take effect 15 days after its publication in the Official Gazette or in at least two newspapers of general circulation.

The CDA was created under the Office of the President by RA 6939, which took effect in March 1990. RA 6939 abolished the Bureau of Agricultural Cooperatives Development created under Executive Order 116, Series of 1987.

The law mandated all departments, branches, subdivisions and instrumentalities of the government to promote the formation of cooperatives under their respective programs by providing them with “appropriate and suitable” incentives.

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If you have any information / objection to the above mentioned application/s, please communicate with the Regional Director thru Employment Promotion and Workers Welfare (EPWW) Division with Telephone No. 400-6011.

ATTY. SARAH BUENA S. MIRASOL REGIONAL DIRECTOR

Editor: Efleda P. Campos

Companies BusinessMirror

Thursday, August 15, 2019

B1

PEMC operator: We complied JG Summit income rises 80% in H1 with ERC 1.77-B refund order J

T

By Lenie Lectura

@llectura

HE Philippine Electricity Market Corp. (PEMC)/Market Operator said Wednesday it has complied with the refund order of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).

“We are rectifying the misallocation of the NSS [net settlement surplus] through a refund to the market participants who received less than what was due them while collecting from the others who have received more,” said PEMC President Oscar E. Ala. The ERC found inconsistencies on how PEMC allocated the NSS. It ordered PEMC to refund a total of P1.774 billion.

The NSS is the surplus or deficit remaining after all market transactions have been accounted for. This accounts for price differences occurring between gen-

erator and customer locations or nodes due to losses and congestion given the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market’s (WESM) locational marginal pricing scheme.

The NSS is distributed to trading participants that are entitled to receive a share of the surplus or deficit in accordance with an ERC-approved methodology.

Of the total refund of P1.774 billion, the amount due Luzon and Visayas consumers is P1.403 billion. Seventy-seven percent or P1.08 billion of this will be refunded to consumers in the Meralco franchise area, while 23

percent or P321.36 million will be refunded to consumers covered by other distribution utilities and electric cooperatives.

The rest, P371 million, is owed to certain generation companies, retail electricity suppliers and directly connected customers.

At least 81 percent of the amounts to be refunded will be collected by the PEMC/MO from generation companies and retail electricity suppliers which were allocated far greater settlement amounts than what were supposed to be due them.

The remainder will be collected from distribution utilities (DUs).

Ala said PEMC immediately implemented the ERC order on the adjustments to the NSS allocation beginning with the July 2019 billing period.

“Following the ERC order to cushion the impact of NSS allocation adjustment to those who have to collect, a rate adjustment cap of P 0.05 per kWh [kilowatt-hour] is to be observed by the distribution utilities,” said PEMC.

FNI net income ATI profits soar 53% in H1 on better in H1 at P105.3M cargo traffic, improved port processes

G

LOBAL Ferronickel Holdings Inc. (FNI)’s, the country’s second-largest exporter of nickel ore, said its net income in the first half expanded 26-fold to P105.3 million on the back of higher nickel prices and exports.

The firm’s bottom line in the January-to-June period of 2018 posted a measly P4 million.

Likewise, FNI said its revenue grew 24.1 percent to P1.774 billion, from P1.43 billion last year.

“We have taken advantage of favorable weather conditions and the improving prices of nickel and nickel ore,” FNI President Dante R. Bravo said.

“Our commitment to excellence and growing expertise in the mining business have allowed us to increase our revenue and improve on our profitability,” Bravo added.

During the period, FNI said it was able to ship 33 vessels of nickel ore, equivalent to 1.8 million wet metric tons (WMT), a figure that is nearly 17 percent from last year’s volume.

The firm added that its “deliberate push” to sell higher-grade nickel ores paid off as it resulted in higher realized prices per ore.

The firm’s product-mix in the first half was at 39-percent lowgrade and 61-percent mediumgrade ores, compared to the 43-percent low-grade and 57-percent medium-grade mix last year.

“Average realized prices increased by 14.8 percent for lowgrade ores and 1.6 percent for medium-grade ores,” it said.

“On the other hand, the corresponding average cash cost registered at P796 per WMT, a 5.8-percent increase from the prior period,” it added.

FNI said its margins remained “healthy as the increase in topline surpasses the increase in the overall cost” despite increases in average costs.

“The company posted better Ebitda and net income margins at 20.3 percent and 5.9 percent, respectively, as against the previous period’s margins of 17.5 percent and 0.3 percent, respectively,” it said. Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

By Lorenz S. Marasigan @lorenzmarasigan

T

HANKS to increased cargo traffic and the more efficient processes at the Manila South Harbor and the Batangas Container Terminal, profits of Asian Terminals Inc. soared by more than half in the first semester of 2019.

In a statement, the company said it netted P2.14 billion in net income during the first six months of the year, a 53-percent jump from P1.4 billion the year prior, as it noted a new record in cargo volumes in its ports in Manila and Batangas.

Revenues of the port operators grew by 23.5 percent to P7.04 billion from P5.7 billion, as Manila

South Harbor handled 650,000 twenty-foot equivalent units of international boxed cargo, while its Batangas Container Terminal handling 160,000 TEUs of cargo.

The growth in Manila represents a 15-percent increase in volume, while Batangas’s growth rate was 45 percent. The company also “attributed its record cargo volume to port efficiency measures implemented in collaboration with customers, port authorities and other stakeholders.”

To recall, the company and major shipping lines created the Empty Loadout Shipping Alliance, which removed empties from Metro Manila and freed up space for more efficient operations.

LandBank’s help bears fruit for indigenous people’s co-op

F

OR 26 years, Landan People’s Multi-Purpose Cooperative (LPMPC) has been successful in financing the needs of its pineapple farmer-members—majority of whom belong to the B’laan tribe of Barangay Landan, Polomolok, South Cotabato, and its neighboring barangays.

Set up in October 1993 by 33 pioneer members, LPMPC has been providing financial support to indigenous farmers. In 1997, LPMPC tapped Land Bank of the Philippines (LandBank) as a partner to support its pineapple production, uplift the lives of its farmer-members, and improve the co-op’s economic activities.

“LandBank assisted our pineapple production growership program for our then 150-hectare land when we were just starting.

And now, LandBank covers 1,120 hectares of LPMPC’s farm located in the provinces of Sarangani and South Cotabato,” said Edilyn Pabicon, LPMPC general manager.

T he pa r t nersh ip bet ween LPMPC and LandBank bore sweet fruits as the co-op grew to be one of the largest cooperatives in South Cotabato. It now has 2,239 members (1,031 regular and 1,208 as-

sociates) and has managed to expand its businesses, venturing into logistics and manpower services for various farm activities (ripping, plowing, harrowing, planting, hauling, harvesting and mobile packing) in pineapple plantations.

Empowering farmers

RECENTLY, LPMPC once again trusted LandBank to finance its growing number of farmer-members. The co-op availed itself of the Bank’s HARVEST Program, which stands for Harnessing Agribusiness Opportunities through Robust and Vibrant Entrepreneurship Supportive of Peaceful Transformation Loan Program. HARVEST is a tailored-fit financing facility from Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) and LandBank aimed at boosting the agriculture sector in and around the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and promoting lasting peace and development in Mindanao.

Through this new stride, LPMPC expanded its operations and improved profitability. A total of 442 small farmers, 208 field workers and 32 personnel of LPMPC now benefit from financing through HARVEST for pineapple production.

Ala said PEMC’s inconsistency is similar to a situation “wherein you are supposed to give your son and daughter P5 and P10, respectively.

However, you inadvertently gave your son P10 and your daughter P5.

And as a parent, one has to correct the amounts given to each.”

He added that the collection for non-DUs will also be expedited to one month. This is to ensure that DUs expecting a refund can immediately pass on the benefit of the refund to their end-consumers.

PEMC/MO also submitted to the ERC the plan of action for the succeeding months to allow for the settlement of the remaining balance of the NSS allocation adjustment for the next 11 months to commence with the August 2019 billing period.

In compliance with the ERC Order, the PEMC/MO will fortify existing mitigating measures such as the conduct of periodic audits to market systems and implementing a stringent change management process.

G Summit Holdings Inc., the holding firm of the Gokongwei family, said its net income grew almost 80 percent during the first half of the year to P17.6 billion from last year’s P9.83 billion, partly as a result of foreign-exchange gains.

Revenues rose 10 percent to P158.43 billion from last year’s P144.38 billion.

The company traced the higher revenues to the mark-to-market and forex gains on the back of a favorable macroeconomic environment, as well as the P3-billion gain of its unit United Industrial Corp.

(UIC) arising from its acquisition of additional stakes in Marina Centre Holdings and Marina Mandarin Hotel. Equity in net earnings of associated companies and joint ventures for the first half increased by 63 percent from last year’s P8.5-billion UIC as it increased its effective ownership interest in Aquamarina Hotel Private Ltd., which holds the Marina Mandarin Hotel. These were offset by the flat earnings of Meralco and the 14-percent profit decline from Global Business Power.

Without such items, the company’s core net income after tax still surged 11 percent to P13.6 billion.

For the second quarter alone, its income doubled to P9.95 billion from last year’s P5 billion.

“With inflation easing and a generally favorable macroeconomic environment this year, we continue to experience strong growth from our food, airline and real-estate businesses. Our exposure to a diverse mix of core businesses and investments has certainly helped us achieve such earnings momentum.

We hope to sustain this growth for the balance of the year,” the company said.

Its food unit and airline operator Cebu Air Inc. both reported higher earnings in the first half of the year.

JG Petrochemicals Group’s second-quarter income reached P18.5 million as input and operating costs improved quarter-on-quarter.

Revenues, however, declined 16 percent to P9 billion in the second quarter as volumes fell 4 percent mainly due to lower monomer sales. Naphtha cracker utilization declined to 88 percent versus 92 percent last year.

The complex experienced operational issues on the naphtha cracker and had to limit the production to match polymer run-rates. VG Cabuag

B2

Companies BusinessMirror

Thursday, August 15, 2019

PSE STOCK QUOTATIONS

August 14, 2019

Net Foreign Stocks Bid Ask Open High Low Close Volume Value Trade (Peso) Buy (Sell) FINANCIALS ASIA UNITED BDO UNIBANK BANK PH ISLANDS CHINABANK EAST WEST BANK METROBANK PB BANK PHIL NATL BANK PSBANK RCBC SECURITY BANK UNION BANK BRIGHT KINDLE BDO LEASING COL FINANCIAL FERRONOUX HLDG IREMIT MEDCO HLDG MANULIFE NTL REINSURANCE PHIL STOCK EXCH SUN LIFE VANTAGE

57.2 144.2 90 26.3 11.5 70.4 13.1 47.6 57.6 27.85 190 59.1 1.11 1.81 18.3 4.9 1.26 0.435 750 0.95 190 1755 1.11

58 144.4 91.65 26.35 11.52 70.5 13.18 47.8 57.95 27.9 195 59.6 1.18 2.26 18.7 4.91 1.35 0.44 770 0.98 190.1 1800 1.12

57.2 146.2 93.9 26.7 11.92 71.75 13.1 50 58.8 29.65 194 59.6 1.18 2.26 18.3 4.71 1.26 0.45 750 1 191.7 1800 1.11

57.2 146.3 94.15 26.75 11.92 72.25 13.18 50 58.8 29.75 195 59.6 1.18 2.26 18.7 4.91 1.26 0.45 750 1 191.7 1800 1.12

57.2 141 89 26.25 11.48 70 13.1 47.25 57.55 27.9 183.6 59 1.18 1.8 18.3 4.7 1.26 0.44 750 0.95 188.1 1800 1.11

57.2 144.2 91.65 26.3 11.52 70.4 13.18 47.8 57.65 27.9 195 59.1 1.18 1.8 18.7 4.9 1.26 0.44 750 0.98 190 1800 1.12

1650 1969360 3921770 211700 1309300 3121750 4600 896600 5990 110800 484190 67010 15000 93000 800 669000 1000 1440000 80 561000 7460 350 22000

94380 -2860 280,750,038( 87,707,100.0003) 360602486.5 79494795.5 5588480 -3068020 15144128 -1714480 220218658.5 -118764375 60500 42965920 4235355 348014.5 3140825 -163715 91747444 -4009500 3958156 -1153967.5 17700 193640 31000 14880 3220880 1260 639300 45000 60000 546370 1960 1417342 -366660 630000 24620 -2220

INDUSTRIAL ALSONS CONS ABOITIZ POWER BASIC ENERGY FIRST GEN FIRST PHIL HLDG MERALCO MANILA WATER PETRON PHINMA ENERGY PHX PETROLEUM PILIPINAS SHELL SPC POWER AGRINURTURE CNTRL AZUCARERA CENTURY FOOD DEL MONTE DNL INDUS EMPERADOR SMC FOODANDBEV ALLIANCE SELECT GINEBRA JOLLIBEE MACAY HLDG MAXS GROUP MG HLDG PEPSI COLA SHAKEYS PIZZA ROXAS AND CO RFM CORP ROXAS HLDG SWIFT FOODS UNIV ROBINA VITARICH VICTORIAS CONCRETE A CONCRETE B CEMEX HLDG DAVINCI CAPITAL EAGLE CEMENT EEI CORP HOLCIM MEGAWIDE PHINMA TKC METALS VULCAN INDL CHEMPHIL CROWN ASIA PRYCE CORP GREENERGY INTEGRATED MICR IONICS PANASONIC SFA SEMICON CIRTEK HLDG

1.29 34.1 0.24 25 81.05 354 22.5 5.09 2.71 10.2 36.55 6.8 13.52 15.56 14 6.07 8.92 7.49 99.7 0.71 55.75 217.4 8.35 13.42 0.183 1.65 12.62 1.68 5.05 2.1 0.127 162.7 1.15 2.43 70.5 82.05 3 5.19 14.8 9.2 13.84 18.34 8.7 1.1 1.08 105.3 2.02 5.08 1.98 7.99 1.53 5.4 1.01 12.2

1.31 34.7 0.243 25.45 81.5 369.8 22.55 5.1 2.72 11 36.75 6.98 14 16 14.14 6.1 8.95 7.5 101.5 0.72 56 218 8.8 13.76 0.184 1.68 12.7 1.72 5.1 2.24 0.129 163 1.16 2.48 73 85 3.03 5.4 14.86 9.28 14.02 18.36 9 1.12 1.1 116.5 2.07 5.22 1.99 8 1.59 5.55 1.02 12.3

1.31 34.5 0.25 26 82.3 360.6 22.5 5.21 2.73 11 37.8 6.95 14 15.52 14.58 6.28 9.29 7.61 98.9 0.71 58.2 225 8.64 13.52 0.184 1.79 13.2 1.76 5.09 2.1 0.126 160.8 1.27 2.48 72.5 88.5 3.31 5.19 15.36 9.52 14.08 18.7 9.1 1.14 1.12 105.3 2.08 5.23 2.09 8.45 1.66 5.55 1.01 13.76

1.32 35 0.25 26.3 82.4 369.8 22.7 5.25 2.78 11 37.8 7.06 14.26 16.3 14.58 6.28 9.29 7.61 101.5 0.74 59 226 8.64 13.82 0.184 1.79 13.2 1.76 5.1 2.29 0.129 164 1.27 2.48 73.5 88.5 3.31 5.19 15.36 9.59 14.08 18.7 9.1 1.14 1.15 105.3 2.08 5.23 2.09 8.45 1.66 5.55 1.01 13.76

1.29 34 0.24 25 81 350 22.4 5.1 2.68 10.02 36.4 6.8 13.52 15.52 14 6.1 8.82 7.49 96.9 0.71 55 217.2 8.35 13.4 0.184 1.63 12.4 1.66 5.09 2.1 0.126 157.3 1.12 2.48 70.3 82.05 2.96 5.19 14.74 9.2 13.76 18.24 9.06 1.08 1.06 105.3 2.02 5.2 1.97 7.7 1.5 5.55 1 12.16

1.29 34.1 0.243 25.45 81.05 369.8 22.5 5.1 2.71 11 36.75 6.8 14 16.2 14 6.1 8.92 7.5 101.5 0.71 56 217.4 8.51 13.42 0.184 1.68 12.62 1.72 5.1 2.29 0.129 163 1.15 2.48 73.5 82.05 3.03 5.19 14.8 9.2 13.84 18.36 9.06 1.12 1.08 105.3 2.02 5.22 1.99 7.99 1.51 5.55 1.01 12.2

1179000 1259900 1710000 2449100 178720 269440 558700 3003700 39086000 120300 363900 181900 1296100 1800 1546700 21600 5797500 1180500 134920 856000 492780 1578160 11000 765600 300000 11811000 1486200 709000 1000 3000 30000 1013630 27186000 18000 1150 970 18911000 700 694100 713000 2634000 734800 2800 531000 3257000 30 399000 7900 7078000 906600 610000 5000 142000 383400

ABACORE CAPITAL ASIABEST GROUP AYALA CORP ABOITIZ EQUITY ALLIANCE GLOBAL AYALA LAND LOG ANSCOR ANGLO PHIL HLDG ATN HLDG A ATN HLDG B COSCO CAPITAL DMCI HLDG FILINVEST DEV FORUM PACIFIC GT CAPITAL HOUSE OF INV JG SUMMIT JOLLIVILLE HLDG LODESTAR LOPEZ HLDG LT GROUP MABUHAY HLDG METRO PAC INV PACIFICA PRIME MEDIA SOLID GROUP SM INVESTMENTS SAN MIGUEL CORP SOC RESOURCES TOP FRONTIER WELLEX INDUS ZEUS HLDG

0.9 14.7 933 49.15 13.54 3.56 7 0.69 1.16 1.21 6.66 9.14 13.3 0.225 852 6.1 64.55 6.06 0.49 4.38 14 0.61 4.55 0.039 1.29 1.36 969 174 0.81 255 0.229 0.255

0.91 14.78 940 51.5 14.12 3.58 7.1 0.7 1.17 1.24 6.73 9.15 13.78 0.242 855 6.3 65.6 6.46 0.52 4.4 14.4 0.62 4.6 0.04 1.3 1.39 987 177 0.84 257 0.237 0.265

0.95 15.4 935 49.85 14.18 3.7 7 0.69 1.2 1.24 6.9 9.65 13.4 0.243 882 6.3 63 6.04 0.51 4.41 14.2 0.67 4.64 0.038 1.35 1.39 986.5 177 0.88 256.6 0.23 0.275

0.96 15.4 940 51.5 14.18 3.7 7 0.71 1.22 1.24 6.9 9.65 13.78 0.243 882 6.3 65.6 6.04 0.52 4.41 14.4 0.67 4.64 0.039 1.35 1.39 988 177 0.88 257 0.23 0.28

0.88 14.6 918 49 13.34 3.5 7 0.69 1.15 1.24 6.6 9.06 13.4 0.243 850 6.2 61.05 6.04 0.5 4.38 13.9 0.61 4.47 0.038 1.26 1.37 958 174 0.8 255 0.229 0.25

0.9 14.76 940 51.5 14.12 3.56 7 0.71 1.16 1.24 6.66 9.14 13.78 0.243 855 6.3 65.6 6.04 0.52 4.4 14.4 0.61 4.6 0.039 1.3 1.37 987 177 0.84 257 0.23 0.265

27966000 82400 327740 2135900 7329800 6030000 82800 346000 3337000 8000 1659900 6010600 54500 150000 107210 367000 2360120 900 64000 103000 2197700 2657000 19168000 1800000 1340000 19000 274520 127500 1021000 3020 1870000 7640000

HOLDING & FRIMS

1535370 42987910 -33994405 411820 62765850 5548145 14620969.5 -6904340.5 97473374 -38208834 12554290 5069755 15475514 614365 107070920 -4676130 1279226 1080 13,461,750( 5,030,595.0003) 1254945 18159890 6790952 28610 22057240 -3373376 132078 -26894 52,232,918( 15,685,831.9996) 8898353 -6067355 13414219 -8994375.5 613450 265130 27997662 8098045.5 344837226 -126680428 93412 -8500 10340844 6942546 55200 19943900 -3383800 18,755,746( 2,937,103.9999) 1199190 -17000 5098 6490 3810 -1290 163585519 -75129618 32072070 -823400 44640 81569 81716 58704880 7877140 3633 10301360 440198 6645494 -3099486 36750918 -14655870 13,479,794( 5,682,492.0002) 25448 586940 3589710 -540410.0001 3159 812790 41148 14121220 -1328510 7139341 100161.9997 971650 27750 142960 4823756 43852

25520150 1209194 303918085 106300325 100588576 21703620 579600 238810 3899850 9920 11046846 55590385 742390 36450 91526705 2307810 149628765.5 5436 32550 451980 30994440 1658330 87167590 69300 1720100 26290 266811295 22419618 832530 772246 430010 2041900

2931700 -55267565 -58071670 -46480384 1534030 -9920 -1029583 -23937270 -76055750 -2072250 -61422755 -78910 -3321908 15500 3579140 -65000 -85414735 -1392067 -115072 -

PROPERTY

ARTHALAND CORP 0.94 0.95 1.04 1.06 0.9 0.94 20803000 20291610 97330 ANCHOR LAND 10.12 11 10.06 10.12 10.06 10.12 121100 1225466 AYALA LAND 47.25 47.4 48.4 48.4 46.3 47.25 25680900 1206533415 -482107420 ARANETA PROP 1.94 2 2 2.03 2 2 454000 911300 -4059.9999 BELLE CORP 2.18 2.19 2.22 2.22 2.18 2.19 447000 979940 -157440 A BROWN 0.78 0.8 0.83 0.83 0.8 0.8 1071000 864120 CITYLAND DEVT 0.84 0.85 0.85 0.9 0.82 0.84 270000 228200 CROWN EQUITIES 0.232 0.233 0.241 0.241 0.232 0.232 4550000 1063480 CEBU HLDG 5.94 6.1 6.02 6.1 5.96 6.1 80600 480746 -480746 CEB LANDMASTERS 4.64 4.67 4.9 4.92 4.61 4.65 2449000 11664300 673990 CENTURY PROP 0.54 0.55 0.55 0.57 0.52 0.54 36894000 20095570 1053680 CYBER BAY 0.42 0.425 0.43 0.43 0.42 0.42 3620000 1533700 212500 DOUBLEDRAGON 23 23.05 22.4 23.4 22.3 23 1049400 23924370 7279570 DM WENCESLAO 10.04 10.18 10.6 10.6 10 10.18 1788000 18211418 8883328 EMPIRE EAST 0.455 0.47 0.455 0.47 0.455 0.47 420000 193850 EVER GOTESCO 0.125 0.134 0.125 0.125 0.125 0.125 50000 6250 FILINVEST LAND 1.67 1.68 1.81 1.81 1.68 1.68 83528000 143501750 -64821690 GLOBAL ESTATE 1.32 1.33 1.33 1.36 1.32 1.33 1515000 2013450 8990 HLDG 15.7 15.72 15.8 15.84 15.7 15.7 1826000 28761152 -1237510 PHIL INFRADEV 1.48 1.49 1.54 1.54 1.49 1.49 4715000 7087330 390350 KEPPEL PROP 3.95 4.72 4.72 4.72 4.72 4.72 2000 9440 CITY AND LAND 0.75 0.79 0.78 0.79 0.75 0.75 129000 98070 -67270 MEGAWORLD 5.33 5.4 5.6 5.6 5.25 5.4 114634200 614926802 -131443564 MRC ALLIED 0.31 0.315 0.31 0.32 0.305 0.315 7890000 2463350 221600 PHIL ESTATES 0.45 0.46 0.44 0.46 0.44 0.45 1240000 555450 -126000 PRIMEX CORP 2.03 2.06 2.01 2.09 2 2.05 1389000 2845750 -41000 ROBINSONS LAND 24.5 25 24.9 25 23.75 25 4107400 100400315 -29628875 PHIL REALTY 0.38 0.395 0.39 0.39 0.38 0.39 980000 374900 ROCKWELL 2.16 2.18 2.29 2.29 2.09 2.16 627000 1356420 SHANG PROP 3 3.18 3.22 3.22 3 3 259000 801360 9060 STA LUCIA LAND 2.28 2.29 2.24 2.3 2.24 2.28 1023000 2328880 SM PRIME HLDG 34.7 34.75 35.5 35.9 34.45 34.7 20577300 716137300 -483315310 STARMALLS 5.75 5.76 5.8 5.81 5.76 5.76 162600 938802 SUNTRUST HOME 0.8 0.84 0.81 0.84 0.8 0.8 63000 50740 PTFC REDEV CORP 45.05 49.4 49.4 49.4 49.4 49.4 100 4940 VISTA LAND 7.32 7.33 7.45 7.57 7.27 7.32 8620800 63308589 -24463054

SERVICES ABS CBN 18.74 18.8 19.18 19.18 18.7 18.74 307500 5827050 GMA NETWORK 5.33 5.37 5.39 5.4 5.32 5.33 114300 610634 MANILA BULLETIN 0.45 0.46 0.47 0.47 0.42 0.45 390000 171850 GLOBE TELECOM 1905 1965 1976 1976 1891 1965 87545 168834315 -76501110 PLDT 1170 1174 1185 1210 1140 1170 393760 462442535 -27282785 APOLLO GLOBAL 0.048 0.049 0.046 0.049 0.046 0.049 10500000 500100 DFNN INC 5.84 6 5.76 6.4 5.76 6 177700 1125156 -28800 IMPERIAL 1.86 2 1.86 1.86 1.86 1.86 3000 5580 ISLAND INFO 0.109 0.11 0.112 0.112 0.11 0.11 3950000 437810 -310800 ISM COMM 5.18 5.2 5.4 5.43 5.15 5.2 2865000 15117301 -174189 JACKSTONES 2.82 3.07 2.95 2.95 2.95 2.95 4000 11800 NOW CORP 2.27 2.28 2.35 2.35 2.23 2.27 1276000 2881250 -63550 TRANSPACIFIC BR 0.32 0.325 0.34 0.35 0.32 0.325 7200000 2378900 252100 PHILWEB 3.37 3.38 3.52 3.6 3.31 3.37 3667000 12514370 -298530 2GO GROUP 9.71 9.8 10 10 9.7 9.8 34500 339530 990 ASIAN TERMINALS 19 19.5 19.84 19.84 19.5 19.5 242100 4721290 1950 CHELSEA 6.82 6.83 7.15 7.16 6.81 6.82 1519100 10536861 -625771 CEBU AIR 91 91.45 92.8 93.9 89.5 91 372350 33816517 -1034745.5 INTL CONTAINER 120 120.6 127.4 130.5 120 120 2311550 285210416 34115406 LORENZO SHIPPNG 0.88 0.9 0.94 0.94 0.92 0.92 10000 9220 MACROASIA 18.78 18.8 19.06 19.06 18 18.8 248700 4689738 -505604 METROALLIANCE A 1.28 1.38 1.39 1.39 1.26 1.26 13000 17030 METROALLIANCE B 1.28 1.55 1.27 1.27 1.27 1.27 12000 15240 PAL HLDG 8.5 8.55 8.75 8.75 8.45 8.5 7500 64225 HARBOR STAR 1.67 1.68 1.82 1.82 1.64 1.67 4150000 7049290 -69500 ACESITE HOTEL 1.6 1.61 1.55 1.63 1.55 1.6 27000 42880 BOULEVARD HLDG 0.059 0.06 0.059 0.06 0.057 0.059 13540000 800040 DISCOVERY WORLD 2.03 2.1 2.06 2.06 2.06 2.06 5000 10300 GRAND PLAZA 9.78 10 9.78 9.78 9.78 9.78 200 1956 WATERFRONT 0.7 0.72 0.74 0.75 0.7 0.71 2523000 1786340 332500 FAR EASTERN U 890 920 890.5 890.5 890 890 250 222560 IPEOPLE 9 9.7 9.43 9.7 9 9.7 77200 710930 STI HLDG 0.73 0.74 0.72 0.75 0.72 0.74 3087000 2273790 -17020 BERJAYA 2.25 2.34 2.3 2.34 2.25 2.25 251000 566320 BLOOMBERRY 10.98 11 11.54 11.54 10.94 11 8380700 92626106 -31600386 PACIFIC ONLINE 2.69 2.73 2.68 2.74 2.68 2.69 79000 212370 -26900 LEISURE AND RES 3.3 3.35 3.35 3.4 3.27 3.3 528000 1742610 -209160 MANILA JOCKEY 3 3.14 3.15 3.15 3 3.14 141000 436340 PH RESORTS GRP 4.71 5 4.75 5 4.7 5 112000 532071 PREMIUM LEISURE 0.68 0.69 0.69 0.7 0.68 0.68 1985000 1362320 204000 TRAVELLERS 5.43 5.44 5.45 5.46 5.43 5.43 175900 956609 -91936 METRO RETAIL 2.48 2.49 2.62 2.62 2.47 2.49 1539000 3858190 -266750 PUREGOLD 43.75 44.5 44.75 44.75 43.65 44.5 1262300 55597470 16107650 ROBINSONS RTL 77.4 81.7 77.4 81.7 77.4 81.7 323730 25548772 2507387.5 PHIL SEVEN CORP 136 141 140 140 140 140 50140 7019600 30800 SSI GROUP 3.05 3.06 3.16 3.17 3.03 3.05 2493000 7599730 1284230 WILCON DEPOT 15.72 15.74 15.72 15.74 15.64 15.72 2382800 37371178 12741898 APC GROUP 0.5 0.52 0.53 0.53 0.5 0.5 3238000 1663090 -156000 EASYCALL 9.4 9.42 9.75 9.75 9.42 9.42 37400 355127 GOLDEN BRIA 412 419.8 418 420 411.2 414 1360 564112 33440 IPM HLDG 5.35 5.7 5.4 5.4 5.4 5.4 2000 10800 PAXYS 2.91 3.04 2.91 2.91 2.91 2.91 5000 14550 PRMIERE HORIZON 0.485 0.49 0.55 0.55 0.48 0.485 100428000 51284070 -2173340 SBS PHIL CORP 8.97 9.36 9.31 9.37 8.97 9.36 1405900 12694093 -126340

MINING & OIL ATOK 12.32 12.94 12.7 13 12.32 13 33500 428802 APEX MINING 1.36 1.37 1.31 1.37 1.3 1.36 24780000 33117970 250560 ABRA MINING 0.0016 0.0017 0.0017 0.0017 0.0016 0.0017 134000000 227700 -1600 ATLAS MINING 2.66 2.76 2.78 2.78 2.65 2.65 41000 108800 BENGUET A 1.1 1.2 1.15 1.15 1.15 1.15 19000 21850 CENTURY PEAK 2.68 2.69 2.72 2.72 2.69 2.69 1386000 3749080 DIZON MINES 7.71 7.83 7.7 7.85 7.68 7.71 2800 21631 FERRONICKEL 1.41 1.42 1.47 1.47 1.41 1.42 2819000 4024770 -2525810 GEOGRACE 0.2 0.208 0.209 0.209 0.2 0.208 30000 6170 LEPANTO A 0.112 0.116 0.115 0.119 0.112 0.116 2720000 317650 LEPANTO B 0.113 0.119 0.112 0.12 0.112 0.12 40000 4560 MANILA MINING A 0.0094 0.0095 0.0096 0.0096 0.0095 0.0095 26000000 248100 MANILA MINING B 0.01 0.011 0.011 0.011 0.01 0.011 40100000 433800 MARCVENTURES 1.02 1.04 1.05 1.05 1.02 1.04 109000 111890 NIHAO 0.99 1 1.01 1.01 0.99 1.01 123000 121850 NICKEL ASIA 2.41 2.46 2.57 2.6 2.4 2.41 7131000 17526720 -1268370 ORNTL PENINSULA 0.83 0.85 0.84 0.85 0.83 0.85 90000 74840 PX MINING 4.05 4.07 4.04 4.22 4.01 4.05 4395000 18028120 -768360 SEMIRARA MINING 22.35 23.5 22.8 23.5 21.55 23.5 1623400 35955570 5484440 UNITED PARAGON 0.0062 0.0066 0.0062 0.0062 0.0062 0.0062 1000000 6200 ORNTL PETROL A 0.011 0.012 0.011 0.011 0.011 0.011 200000 2200 ORNTL PETROL B 0.011 0.012 0.012 0.012 0.012 0.012 736300000 8835600 PHILODRILL 0.01 0.011 0.011 0.011 0.011 0.011 22000000 242000 -11000 PHINMA PETRO 5.49 5.5 6.17 6.17 5.5 5.5 1728700 9822470 1100 PXP ENERGY 12.1 12.12 11.62 12.46 11.62 12.12 6051600 72895576 13314768

PREFFERED

HOUSE PREF A 99.2 99.5 100 100 99 99 5890 586210 AC PREF B1 494 498.8 494.6 495 494.6 495 1460 722688 AC PREF B2 497 500 497 500 496 500 14000 6985998 DD PREF 101.2 101.8 101 101.3 101 101.2 28040 2836353 SMC FB PREF 2 995 1008 996 996 996 996 40 39840 FGEN PREF G 104.7 106 104.7 104.7 104.7 104.7 150 15705 FPH PREF C 470.2 500 498 498 498 498 50 24900 GLO PREF P 491 500 495 495 491 491 6000 2966050 GTCAP PREF A 950 967 950 950 950 950 1600 1520000 LR PREF 0.98 0.99 0.98 0.99 0.98 0.99 527000 516780 PNX PREF 3A 101 102 101.9 101.9 101.8 101.8 8930 909174 -101900 PNX PREF 3B 107.5 108 107 107.5 107 107.5 2210 237230 PCOR PREF 3A 1030 1035 1030 1035 1030 1035 1270 1314200 PCOR PREF 3B 1021 1028 1025 1025 1022 1022 360 368085 SMC PREF 2B 75.55 76 76 76 76 76 37000 2812000 SMC PREF 2C 78 78.7 78 78.85 78 78.7 6280 491020.5 SMC PREF 2E 76 76.5 75.8 76 75.8 76 7030 533980 SMC PREF 2F 75.8 76.5 75.75 75.8 75.1 75.8 29500 2227940 SMC PREF 2H 75.5 76.5 76 76 75 75 13000 976720 SMC PREF 2I 76 76.4 76 76 76 76 5000 380000 -

PHIL. DEPOSITARY RECEIPTS ABS HLDG PDR GMA HLDG PDR

17.38 5.2

17.4 5.36

17.5 5.25

17.5 5.36

17.38 5.2

17.4 5.36

81200 39700

1416280 208856

WARRANTS LR WARRANT

1.62

SMALL & MEDIUM ENTERPRISES ITALPINAS 6.52 XURPAS 0.99

1.65

1.64

1.67

1.62

1.62

266000

435760

3320

6.54 1

6.67 1

6.67 1.02

6.25 0.98

6.52 1

963700 3962000

6186739 3946940

-311880

EXHANGE TRADE FUNDS FIRST METRO ETF

117.2

-1364080 -208856

118

119.3

119.3

116.1

117.2

42300

4932626

-242164

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Villar-led Vista Land income increases 11% in first half

V

By VG Cabuag

@villygc

ILLAR-LED property developer Vista Land and Lifescapes Inc. on Wednesday said its net income grew 11 percent in the six months of the year ending June to P5.8 billion, from P5.2 billion last year on strong sales of its residential developments while its offices were boosted by its retail expansion.

Revenues rose at the same pace 11 percent to P23.4 billion, from P21.13 billion last year. Leasing revenues for

the period increased by 17 percent to P3.9 billion, from P3.3 billion in the prior year period.

“Vista Land continues to deliver solid performance, fueled by the performance of our core housing business in addition to our continued expansion in our commercial assets,” Vista Land Chairman Manuel B. Villar Jr. said.

Reservation sales grew 8 percent during the period to P41 billion, which is still majority overseas Filipino and over 90 percent are endusers, he said.

“We remain optimistic for the industry given the sustained demand in our residential business, as well as the continued growth of our leasing business propelled by the steady growth in the disposable income,” Villar said.

For the second quarter alone, its income rose 10 percent to P2.89 billion, from last year’s P2.63 billion.

Manuel Paolo A. Villar, the company’s president and CEO, said they are confident of the company’s prospects for the rest of the year as it expands its rental spaces.

“The strong performance of our leasing business came from the addition of gross floor area, as well as growth in leasing revenue from our existing assets.

Our leasable spaces are mostly retail malls which limits our Pogo [Philippine online gaming operators] exposure to about 2 percent of the company’s overall leasing portfolio,” he said.

“In terms of our residential business, we launched projects with an estimated value of P16 billion during the first semester of the year, most of which were low and affordable, and outside Metro Manila,” he said.

Alsons posts H1 net income of ₧293M, cites Sarangani Energy contribution

A

LSONS Consolidated Resources Inc. (ACR) posted P293.08 million in net income from January to June this year, higher than the P120.38 million it recorded in the same period a year ago.

Revenue for the fist six months of the year was slightly down to P3.10 billion, from P3.48 billion at endJune last year.

The Alcantara-led ACR is mainly involved in the power business. It said that second-quarter earnings stood at P188.72 million from P1.81 billion in the same period last year, while revenues slightly improved to P1.87 billion from P1.81 billion.

The company attributed its strong first-half performance to its unit Sarangani Energy Corp. (SEC) which operates a coal power plant.

As in the past years, the first 105-megawatt section of ACR’s 210MW SEC coal-fired baseload power plant was the key revenue and income driver. The SEC plant’s first section began operating in April 2016 and currently delivers power to more than 3 million people in the General Santos-Sarangani area and other parts of Mindanao.

The second 105-MW section of SEC (SEC 2) is currently completing its commissioning phase and will begin commercial operations in the fourth quarter of this year. SEC 2 is

set to contribute another 105 MW of baseload power to benefit an additional 3 million people in various parts of Mindanao. The impending operation of SEC 2 is expected to significantly boost revenue and earnings for the company in 2019.

In the fourth quarter of this year, ACR will begin civil works on the P4.25-billion, 14.5-MW run-of-river hydroelectric power plant at the Siguil River basin in Maasim, Sarangani Province. The project is ACR’s initial entry in renewable energy and will provide additional power to the General Santos-Sarangani region when it begins operations in 2022.

Another project in ACR’s pipeline is the 105-MW San Ramon Power, Inc. baseload coal-fired power plant in Zamboanga City, which is slated to begin operations in 2023. SRPI will select the plant’s engineering procurement and construction contractor before the end of October this year. ACR also has three bunker diesel plants in its portfolio: the 103-MW Mapalad Power Corp. power plant in Iligan, the 55-MW Southern Philippines Power Corp.

(SPPC) power station in Alabel, Sarangani Province; and the 100-MW Western Mindanao Power Corp.

(WMPC) power plant in Zamboanga City. Lenie Lectura

Travellers to delist from PSE as AGI income flat in H1

A

NDREW Tan’s gambling unit Travellers International Hotel Group Inc. said its board of directors has approved the proposal to delist the company from the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) in October after only a few years as a listed firm; while its parent firm Alliance Global Group Inc. (AGI) had a flat income during the first half.

In its disclosure to the Exchange, the operator of Resorts World Manila will be delisted on October 15.

“The conversion from a public entity into a private company will allow the company to timely address evolving market demands and rapidly changing customer needs without compromising its business strategies to competition,” Travellers said.

It will make a tender offer for up to 1.58 billion common shares being held by the public other than the firms owned by Tan, including AGI, Megaworld Corp., First Centro Inc., Adams Properties Inc., Star Cruises Philippines Holdings B.V., Asian Travellers Ltd., Premium Travellers Ltd. Travellers public float was only at 10.03 percent. Its share price closed on Tuesday at P5.43

apiece. Travellers has also been a drag to its parent firm’s profitability during the past quarters.

AGI had a flat income for the six months ending June to P12.5 billion, from last year’s P12.45 billion.

Consolidated revenues rose 15 percent to P82.8 billion, from P71.7-billion last year.

“We believe the Group’s strong top line performance was achieved on the back of a highly favorable domestic economy which cushioned the impact of some challenges in the global market,” Kevin Andrew L. Tan, chief executive officer of AGI, said.

“However, we note increasing cost pressures, some brought about by the very competitive environment, which have impacted on our margins.

Despite this, we remain confident that the collective growth strategies we have put in place— largely through product and market diversification, international pursuits for our spirits business and our ongoing expansion projects—are sound and will soon bear fruit,” Tan said.

Its property development and liquor arms both reported higher net income, but Travellers income was cut in half. VG Cabuag

MUTUAL FUNDS

August 14, 2019

NAV ONE YEAR THREE YEAR FIVE YEAR Y-T-D

PER SHARE RETURN* RETURN STOCK FUNDS ALFM ALFM GROWTH FUND, INC. -A 256.05 -1.22% -2.42% 0.17% 1.53% ATRAM ALPHA OPPORTUNITY FUND, INC. -A 1.5654 5.42% 3.07% 1.74% 8.65% ATRAM PHILIPPINE EQUITY OPPORTUNITY FUND, INC. -A 3.9791 -2.88% -3.59% -1.02% 1.95% CLIMBS SHARE CAPITAL EQUITY INVESTMENT FUND CORP. -A 0.9414 2.93% N.A. N.A. 4.48% FIRST METRO CONSUMER FUND ON MSCI PHILS. IMI, INC. -A 0.8516 0.2% N.A. N.A. 3.77% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN EQUITY FUND,INC. -A 5.3428 -0.49% -1.39% 0.32% 1.32% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN PHILIPPINE INDEX FUND, INC. -A,6 0.8591 -1.14% -5.64% N.A. 2.68% MBG EQUITY INVESTMENT FUND, INC. -A 118.26 6.69% N.A. N.A. 1.8% PAMI EQUITY INDEX FUND, INC. -A 51.2947 1.74% -1.32% N.A. 4.21% PHILAM STRATEGIC GROWTH FUND, INC. -A 536.82 2.03% -2.09% 0.08% 4.29% PHILEQUITY DIVIDEND YIELD FUND, INC. -A 1.2988 1.61% -0.81% 1.65% 3.57% PHILEQUITY FUND, INC. -A 38.0986 1.63% -0.03% 1.62% 4% PHILEQUITY MSCI PHILIPPINE INDEX FUND, INC. -A,3 1.0139 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. PHILEQUITY PSE INDEX FUND INC. -A 5.2058 2.6% -0.37% 2.21% 4.98% PHILIPPINE STOCK INDEX FUND CORP. -A 869.52 2.66% -0.65% 1.95% 4.96% SOLDIVO STRATEGIC GROWTH FUND, INC. -A 0.9071 4.31% -1.34% N.A. 5.48% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY PHILIPPINE EQUITY FUND, INC. -A 4.271 3.33% -0.3% 1.8% 5.23% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY PHILIPPINE STOCK INDEX FUND, INC. -A 0.9992 2.21% -0.69% N.A. 4.71% UNITED FUND, INC. -A 3.6578 1.96% 0.76% 2.53% 4.48% EXCHANGE TRADED FUND FIRST METRO PHIL. EQUITY EXCHANGE TRADED FUND, INC. -A,C,2 116.4849 3.07% 0.18% 3.22% 5.18% ATRAM ASIAPLUS EQUITY FUND, INC. -B $0.9238 -10.11% 1.12% -2.01% -0.57% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY WORLD VOYAGER FUND, INC. -A $1.2743 -1.03% 6.76% N.A. 15.3% BALANCED FUNDS PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES ATRAM DYNAMIC ALLOCATION FUND, INC. -A 1.6888 0.27% -3.12% -2.12% 2.28% ATRAM PHILIPPINE BALANCED FUND, INC. -A 2.2975 0.53% -1.67% 0.24% 4% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN BALANCED FUND INC. -A 2.6375 1.49% -0.83% -1.27% 3.71% GREPALIFE BALANCED FUND CORPORATION -A 1.3403 0.05% N.A. N.A. 2.76% NCM MUTUAL FUND OF THE PHILS., INC. -A 1.9471 4.53% -0.09% 1.22% 5.64% PAMI HORIZON FUND, INC. -A 3.7814 4.74% -1.21% 0.56% 7.14% PHILAM FUND, INC. -A 16.9649 5.28% -1.09% 0.5% 6.65% SOLIDARITAS FUND, INC. -A 2.127 1.78% -0.25% 1.47% 2.79% SUN LIFE OF CANADA PROSPERITY BALANCED FUND, INC. -A 3.8826 5.02% -0.35% 1.41% 6.33% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY ACHIEVER FUND 2028, INC. -A,D,4 1.0193 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. SUN LIFE PROSPERITY ACHIEVER FUND 2038, INC. -A,D,4 1.0047 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. SUN LIFE PROSPERITY ACHIEVER FUND 2048, INC. -A,D,4 1.0013 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DYNAMIC FUND, INC. -A 0.9955 5.94% -0.1% 1.24% 8.01% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY SECURITIES COCOLIFE DOLLAR FUND BUILDER, INC. -A $0.03835 8.89% 2.01% 2.63% 8.64% PAMI ASIA BALANCED FUND, INC. -A $0.9639 -3.94% 0.8% -1.57% 5.49% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR ADVANTAGE FUND, INC. -A $3.7299 2.15% 4.95% 2.98% 12.73% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR WELLSPRING FUND, INC. -A $1.1128 4.22% 3.22% N.A. 10.18% BOND FUNDS PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES ALFM PESO BOND FUND, INC. -A 353.28 3.82% 2.22% 2.32% 2.86% ATRAM CORPORATE BOND FUND, INC. -A,1 1.9102 2.63% 0.1% -0.04% 2.74% COCOLIFE FIXED INCOME FUND, INC. -A 3.0626 5.09% 5.28% 5.22% 2.91% EKKLESIA MUTUAL FUND INC. -A 2.2316 5.19% 1.44% 2.29% 4.81% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN FIXED INCOME FUND,INC. -A 2.3596 6.41% 1.63% 1.77% 7.01% GREPALIFE FIXED INCOME FUND CORP. -A P 1.6078 1.56% -1.99% 0.23% 2.77% PHILAM BOND FUND, INC. -A 4.3212 9.53% 0.49% 1.97% 10.24% PHILEQUITY PESO BOND FUND, INC. -A 3.7414 7.64% 0.85% 1.74% 6.38% SOLDIVO BOND FUND, INC. -A 0.9565 5.98% -0.25% N.A. 7.33% SUN LIFE OF CANADA PROSPERITY BOND FUND, INC. -A 3.0421 9.87% 1.59% 2.79% 9.99% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY GS FUND, INC. -A 1.6879 9.9% 1.1% 2.32% 9.61% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY SECURITIES ALFM DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC. -A $462.23 4.09% 1.7% 2.79% 3.08% ALFM EURO BOND FUND, INC. -A Є219.63 2.7% 1.27% 1.55% 3.27% ATRAM TOTAL RETURN DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC. -B $1.191 6.57% 1.92% 2.49% 5.8% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC. -A $0.0259 4.44% 0.92% N.A. 4.44% GREPALIFE DOLLAR BOND FUND CORP. -A $1.7164 0.67% -2.19% 0.57% 1.55% PAMI GLOBAL BOND FUND, INC -A $1.0975 5.71% -0.49% -1.68% 5.91% PHILAM DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC. -A $2.4001 10.58% 1.28% 3.63% 10.56% PHILEQUITY DOLLAR INCOME FUND INC. -A $0.0599062 5.5% 1.76% 2% 5.1% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR ABUNDANCE FUND, INC. -A $3.1628 8.9% 0.77% 3.23% 10.12% MONEY MARKET FUNDS PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES ALFM MONEY MARKET FUND, INC. -A 124.38 4.11% 2.61% 2.06% 2.9% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN MONEY MARKET FUND, INC. -A,5 1.0202 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. PHILAM MANAGED INCOME FUND, INC. -A 1.2394 5.72% 2.4% 1.46% 4.87% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY MONEY MARKET FUND, INC. -A 1.2506 3.89% 2.75% 2.12% 2.58% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY SECURITIES SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR STARTER FUND, INC. -A $1.0306 2.19% N.A. N.A. 1.45%

A - NAVPS AS OF THE PREVIOUS BANKING DAY. B - NAVPS AS OF TWO BANKING DAYS AGO. C - LISTED IN THE PSE. D - IN NET ASSET VALUE PER UNIT (NAVPU).

1 - ADJUSTED DUE TO CASH DIVIDEND ISSUANCE LAST JANUARY 29, 2018. 2 - ADJUSTED DUE TO STOCK DIVIDEND ISSUANCE LAST JUNE 5, 2018. 3 LAUNCH DATE IS JANUARY 3, 2019.

4 - LAUNCH DATE IS JANUARY 28, 2019. 5 - LAUNCH DATE IS FEBRUARY 1, 2019. 6 - RENAMING WAS APPROVED BY THE SEC LAST OCTOBER 12, 2018 (FORMERLY, ONE WEALTHY NATION FUND, INC.).

"While we endeavor to keep the information accurate, the Philippine Investment Funds Association (PIFA) and its members make no warranties as to the correctness of the newspaper’s publication and assume no liability or responsibility for any error or omissions. You may visit http://www. pifa.com.ph to see the latest NAVPS/NAVPU."

www.businessmirror.com.ph | Editor: Angel R. Calso

The World BusinessMirror

Thursday, August 15, 2019

B3

Trump delays tariffs on some Chinese goods until December

W IN this July 4, 2019, photo, Chinese magazines with front covers featuring Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald J. Trump on trade war is placed on sale at a roadside bookstand in Hong Kong. Both sides have incentives to settle a trade war that is battering exporters on either side of the Pacific and threatening to tip the global economy into recession. AP PHOTO/ANDY WONG

CHINA STICKING TO SEPTEMBER TRADE TALKS AFTER TARIFF DELAY

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HINESE officials are sticking to their plan to visit Washington in September for face-to-face trade meetings, people familiar with the matter said, signaling that talks remain on track for now despite an abrupt escalation in tariff threats this month.

The US on Tuesday delayed the imposition of some new tariffs after top negotiators spoke on the phone, with President Donald J. Trump saying the encounter was “very productive,” and that he thinks Beijing wants to “do something dramatic” to end the impasse.

That said, Chinese negotiators are not very optimistic of any imminent progress, one of the people said. Officials are unlikely to make concessions in the run up to October 1, the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic, the person said.

S&P 500 futures erased their losses, the yen pared gains and the yuan rose slightly on the news. The Ministry of Commerce did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Tensions between the world’s two biggest economies rose significantly this month after Trump said he would tariff another $300 billion of Chinese goods, prompting Beijing to halt US agricultural purchases and allow the yuan to weaken. The escalation brought into question whether talks planned for September would still go ahead, with Trump saying it’s “fine” if they don’t.

Though Trump has often denied his tariffs have any impact on consumer prices and insists their cost is being borne by China, he also said the delay had been made “so it won’t be relevant to the Christmas shopping season.”

Prospects for genuine progress in trade talks are low, especially as Chinese President Xi Jinping tackles weeks-long protests in Hong Kong that his government blames the US for instigating.

Whether or not the talks actually take place also depends on developments between now and then, according to one of the people. The next call between the negotiating teams will be in two weeks. Bloomberg News

Oil soars as tariff delay eases fears C RUDE oil jumped the most this year as the trade deadlock between the world’s biggest economies showed signs of easing, calming fears that global economic growth would be endangered.

Futures surged 4.7 percent in London on Tuesday, settling above $61 a barrel for the first time in more than a week. Optimism swept across financial markets after the US postponed tariffs on some Chinese goods and the Asian powerhouse said the two sides will hold new talks in two weeks. New Yorktraded crude climbed 4 percent.

“Some of the pessimism about oil demand and the trade war is being washed out of the market by these announcements,” said Michael Lynch, president of Strategic Energy & Economic Research Inc. in Winchester, Massachusetts.

Prices surrendered some of the gains later in the day after the American Petroleum Institute was said to find that US crude supplies grew by 3.7 million barrels last week. If confirmed by government data on Wednesday, it would be the second straight surprise increase during a time when summer travel typically drains petroleum stocks.

While Brent has gained the last three days, it’s still down about 6 percent this month. Saudi Arabia’s pledge to curb exports in a matter of weeks hasn’t been sufficient to offset booming production from American shale fields and lingering

fears about demand growth.

“We still have an undecided oil market,” said Ole Sloth Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank A/S in Copenhagen. “That may be surprising, given the renewed verbal intervention from oil producers increasingly frustrated to see that their medicine—production cuts—isn’t having the desired effect.”

In the US, West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery rose $2.17 to settle at $57.10 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Brent for October settlement rose $2.73 to $61.30 on the ICE Futures Europe Exchange for the biggest oneday gain since December.

US crude retreated to $56.73 a barrel and Brent was at $60.92 at 4:55 p.m. after the stockpiles report.

The US will postpone until midDecember a 10-percent tariff on Chinese products on many holidayshopping lists, including mobile phones and toys, President Donald J. Trump said. China said top officials from the countries spoke by telephone on Tuesday and will resume discussions in two weeks.

Expectations of declining US crude supplies have also driven bullish sentiment. Inventories probably dropped by about 2.5 million barrels last week, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey before Energ y Infor mation Administration data due Wednesday.

Bloomberg News

ASHINGTON— Responding to pressure from businesses and growing fears that a trade war is threatening the US economy, the Trump administration is delaying most of the import taxes it planned to impose on Chinese goods and is dropping others altogether.

The announcement Tuesday from the Office of the US Trade Representative was greeted with relief on Wall Street and by retailers who have grown fearful that the new tariffs would wreck holiday sales.

T he administration says it still plans to proceed with 10-percent tariffs on about $300 billion in Chinese imports—extending its import taxes to just about everything China ships to t he United States in a dispute over Beijing’s strong-arm trade policies.

But under pressure from retailers and other businesses, President Donald J. Trump’s trade office said it would delay until December 15 the tariffs on nearly 60 percent of the imports that had been set to absorb the new taxes starting September 1. Among the products that will benefit from the three-and-ahalf-month reprieve are such popular consumer goods as cellphones, laptops, video game consoles, some toys, computer monitors, shoes and clothing.

The administration is also removing other items from the tariff list entirely, based on what it called “health, safety, national security and other factors.”

Separately, China’s Ministry of Commerce reported that top Chinese negotiators had spoken by phone with their US counterparts, Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury

Secretary Steven Mnuchin, and planned to talk again in two weeks.

The news sent the Dow Jones Industr ia l Average soar ing more than 400 points in midafternoon trading. Shares of Apple, Mattel and shoe brand Steve Madden, which stand to benefit from the delayed tariffs, led the rally.

Speaking to reporters in New Jersey, Trump confirmed that he had decided to delay the tariffs, which could force retailers to raise prices, to avoid the economic pain that could result during the holiday period.

“We’re doing [it] just for Christmas season, just in case some of the tariffs could have an impact,” the president said.

Trump has repeatedly argued that his tariffs are hurting China, not American consumers. But by delaying higher tariffs on consumer goods, Trump is tacitly acknowledging that his import taxes stand to squeeze American households, too. Tariffs are taxes paid by US importers, not by China, and are often passed along to US businesses and consumers through higher prices.

Jay Foreman, CEO of the toy company Basic Fun, said he’s pleased that the 10-percent tariffs have been delayed for products like his until December. His company, based in Boca Raton, Florida, had already set prices

for the holiday season and would have had to absorb the impact of the tariffs. Foreman said he is considering layoffs this fall to offset his higher costs and noted that despite Trump’s reprieve, tariffs remain a severe threat.

“We were relieved,” he said.

“But does that stop the volatility and instability? No.” Together, the news of negotiations and tariff delays provided at least a respite after weeks of heightened US-China trade tensions. The relief might prove only temporary, though, if the tariffs eventually take full effect and Beijing retaliates against US exports.

The Trump administration is fighting the Chinese regime over allegations that Beijing steals trade secrets, forces foreign companies to hand over technology and unfairly subsidizes its own firms. Those tactics are part of Beijing’s drive to become a world leader in such advanced technologies as artificial intelligence and electric cars.

But 12 rounds of talks have failed to produce any resolution.

Frustrated with the lack of progress, Trump raised the tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese imports from 10 percent to 25 percent in May, and said August 1 that he’d impose 10-percent taxes on an additional $300 billion on September 1.

On Sunday, economists at Goldman Sachs downgraded their economic forecasts, citing the impending tariffs on consumer goods. And economists at Bank of America Merrill Lynch have raised their odds of a recession in the next year to roughly 33 percent, up from about 20 percent.

“We are worried,” Michelle Meyer, head of economics at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, wrote Friday. “We now have a number of early indicators starting to signal heightened risk of recession.”

Goldman said the tariffs on

China have increased uncertainty for businesses, which will likely cause them to pull back on hiring and investing in new equipment or software. Trump’s tariffs on Chinese goods have also weighed down stock prices lower, which could depress spending by wealthier Americans, Goldman found.

“It’s pretty clear that the problem with [Trump’s] tariff tactics is it’s bad for the economy,” said David Dollar, a China specialist at the Brookings Institution and a former official at the World Bank and US Treasury. “You try to use the weapon but then you get blowback on your own people.”

Despite the exchanges between the US and Chinese negotiators, the prospects for negotiations remain dim. A substantive deal would require China to scale back its aspirations to become a tech superpower. And relations between the countries have been strained by mistrust.

The best possible outcome, Dollar said, would be a “minideal” in which China agrees to buy more American products and narrow the gaping US trade deficit with China. In exchange, perhaps the United States would lift some sanctions on the Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei, which the US sees as a national security risk.

So far, Trump’s tariffs have failed to get President Xi Jinping to yield to the US demands.

“I don’t think we’re any closer to a deal,” said Scott Kennedy, who analyzes China’s economy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “I don’t think there will be any deal during the Trump administration.”

The decision to delay the tariffs “shows that the two economies are interdependent and that interdependence benefits many Americans” by providing affordable goods, Kennedy said. “It’s not so easy to penalize China or disengage.” AP

China refuses to allow US warships to make port calls in Hong Kong

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HINA has refused port visits to Hong Kong by two US warships amid continued trade tensions and diplomatic spats between the two sides over pro-democracy protests in the Asian financial hub.

The Chinese government denied permission for the USS Green Bay and the USS Lake Erie to visit Hong Kong in the coming weeks, Commander Nate Christensen, a deputy spokesman for the US Pacific Fleet, said. The Green Bay is an amphibious transport dock while the Lake Erie is a guided-

missile cruiser.

“The US Navy has a long track record of successful port visits to Hong Kong, and we expect them to continue,” Christensen said. “We refer you to the Chinese government for further information about why they denied the request.”

The move comes as the US and China spar in a protracted trade war and American lawmakers criticize the Hong Kong police’s tactics against demonstrators who have protested for more than two months. China has accused the US of instigat-

ing protesters to violence, citing communications between American officials and activists—a claim Washington denies.

President Donald J. Trump said in a tweet Tuesday that reports from US intelligence agencies show the Chinese government is moving troops to its border with Hong Kong, stoking fears of a possible intervention.

“Everyone should be calm and

safe!” Trump said, without providing details about when he received the information.

Beijing last refused a US naval port call to the former British colony in September, when it denied a visit to the amphibious assault ship the USS Wasp days after Washington sanctioned the Chinese military over Russian arms purchases.

Bloomberg News

B4 Thursday, August 15, 2019

Centuria Medical Makati launches #WeSelfLove

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O spread awareness and promote the importance of self-love, Centuria Medical Makati launched recently launched #WeSelfLove, an advocacy that promotes the importance of self-care so we can be the best version of ourselves.

“It’s us encouraging all of you to love yourself. We truly believe that the best way for you to take care of others is for you to take care of yourself first,” says Dr. Chelsea Elizabeth Samson, medical director. The medical center held a Self-Love for Men workshop that delved on preventing injuries,

eating a healthy diet, understanding men’s health, and practicing mindfulness.

Angelica Binayug, a physiotherapist from ProHealth Sports and Spinal Physiotherapy Centres says that doing a proper warmup can help avoid injuries.

“It prepares the body for the main event – before you engage in sports, in games, or a playing event. It’s up to you how long you’ll do a warmup, just make sure there’s mild sweating without fatigue,” she advises.

Aside from playing sports, there are also those who spend hours in the gym to

stay in shape. But are you giving yourself enough time to recover? Coach Gelo Abendan from Pinnacle Performance Fitness Centre says that “overtraining is real. You’re making your body prone to maladaptation and burnout.” Always consider your age, genetic background, and response to training before working out. Recovery day is essential to allow muscle and tissue repair.

Men’s health is not only about the physical well-being of males. “It’s the state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being. It’s not just the absence of disease, it’s also about identifying and preventing conditions related to men,” explains Dr. Quincy Raya of Raya Wellness & Preventive Medicine. Dr. Raya mentioned that most lifestyle diseases are preventable.

The major lifestyle diseases encountered by men include high blood, high blood sugar, and high cholesterol. Aside from these, men also need to understand male sexual dysfunction, which can be a physical or psychological problem.

“Diseases are all inter-related. You need to do proper exercise, manage stress, and your weight. The key is early detection so you can have early treatment,” she adds.

To know more about Centuria Medical Makati, visit www. centuriamedical.com.ph.

Heart docs, volunteers teach CPR to students nationwide

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HE ability to save the life of a cardiac arrest or a drowning person rests in the hands of another. But not everyone has the training to do so.

Carrying on the CPR-Ready Ph 2021 Campaign since 2015, the Philippine Heart Association (PHA) continues the advocacy to teach the life-saving hands only CPR all over the Philippiness.

The main goal of the country's cardiologists is to bring CPR to every Filipino home -- at least one member knows it -- and to make the Philippines

CPR Ready just like itas Asian neighbors and Western Allies where students as young as eight years old are CPR skilled.

With 10,000 pre-registered students, the San Carlos training produced the biggest batch of the new breed of lifesavers, the student population.

Aside from the country's cardiologists, the training at the Sports Dome, was conducted by a team of CPR authorities: Department of Health (DOH) and Philippine Red Cross (PRC), to prepare the students for the implementation of

the mandatory CPR for K-12 students as stipulated in RA 10871 aka CPR Act which mandates the compulsory CPR training of students in public and private schools.

According to PHA, this course will give students the opportunity to learn about the different techniques and methods to perform and administer CPR in the event of an emergency and during a critical condition.

Earlier on July 24, the CPR training caravan went to Mataas na Paaralan Neptali Gonzales in Mandaluyong City and trained 2,500 students particularly those in grades 9,10, 11, 12.

The students who passed the training earned a CPR certification, valid for two years.

"By becoming certified these students will give participants knowledge of CPR which they will need in their daily lives.

Whether it is personal or a mandatory training, students will “learn how to save a life," said Dr. Aurelia Leus, PHA president.

Early and effective hands-only CPR done through continuous 100-120, 2.5 inchdeep chest compressions per minute within 4-6 minutes or while waiting for medical autorities or the ambulance, prevents irreversible brain damage.

The PHA has recorded training 250,000 adult Filipinos from all walks of life, to date, for the nationwide campaign.

THe 6th PHILIPPINE CHILI EXPLOSION to happen on August 25

L-R. Johnny Lugod of Labuyo 100. Ponchit Ponce Enrile-Philippine Chili Federation.

Eric Paulo del Rosario- Philippine Hot Sauce Club, Larry Lim and Jun Gamboa of Chili Growers Philippines

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HE 6th Philippine Chili Festival happening on August 25 at Whitespace Makati will see an expanded hot sauce competition with 19 different categories and more than 300 entries. The Labuyo 100 initiation rite is expecting 150 or more participants with 80 vendors. Delimondo is a sponsor and will focus on their Chili Garlic Sauce that has been a flagship product for more than 6 years apart from their canned goods. The first formal lecture series will have Vic Chin, the quintessential potted plant grower, to discuss about growing potted chili plants that he has been growing and selling this past few years. Miggy Esguerra will

lecture on hot sauce making and fermented hot sauce making in particular. Fermented hots sauces is the Holy Grail hot sauces.

Johnny Scoville of CHASE THE HEAT fame and the most recognizable name in the Chili world will be back to grace the 6th Philippine Chili Festival. Apart from the festival, Johnny will make the rounds of some members of the federation to share experiences and brief them in the hot sauce market in the USA. Hosted by the Philippine Hot Sauce Club, registration starts at 8:00 and ends at 10:00 am. Judging starts right after registration and results are expected to be

announced at 4:00 pm of the same day.

The festival is organized by the Philippine Chili Federation with the purpose to unite the 5 Chili related clubs during the time: PHILIPPINE HOT SAUCE CLUB – group of hot sauce makers that united to expand their knowledge as well as compare notes in the making of hot sauces and allied products (chili laced baked goods, spice rubs, jams, juices and more.

CHILI GROWERS PHILIPPINES – a group of growers from all over the Philippines formed the group to increase their knowledge in growing this challenging crop.

KA SILI – a chili growers group based in the Northern Philippines. They have a close alliance with the Chili Growers Philippines group.

SILI WARS – A group that focuses on growing plants in backyards. They hold chili growing challenges like growing chili in small containers such as egg shells and milk cans.

LABUYO 100 – The Labuyo 100 started during the 2nd Chili Festival to promote the eating of chili as food and as a food supplement that heals various diseases. They hold Labuyo 100 sessions all over the country but the main initiation rites happen every Chili Festival.

GIANT 8-FOOT TURON KICKS OFF SM HYPERMARKET STREET FOOD FEST 2019. The cutting of an 8 feet long giant SM Turon with Langka takes center stage at the grand launch of SM Hypermarket Street Food Festival 2019. Masterfully crafted by world-renowned Chef Boy Logro, the humungous roll is made with 500 pieces of SM Markets Turon with Langka wrapped with an expertly fried giant lumpia wrapper. Dubbed as the “National Meryenda,” SM Markets’ turon is available in over 800 locations in the Philippines and sells millions of pieces every year. With the rapid growth of the business, the turon alone has helped hundreds of Small and Micro Enterprises (SMEs) by sourcing all its ingredients from small businesses from its plantain core to its rice paper shell. The supersized version of SM Markets’ pride and joy launches SM Hypermarket’s 3-month long celebration of Philippine street food in eight SM Malls gathering the biggest brands in food retail and the legends of local street food. In the photo are (L-R) Bulacan Lugaw Kitchen Owner Joey Leonardo, Nestle Philippines Customer Manager Rafael Lagdameo, San Miguel Purefoods Sales Manager Niquee Guadalupe, Unilever Philippines Customer Business Manager Sherwin Ang, creator of the giant SM Turon World renowned Chef Boy Logro, SM Hypermarket SVP for Merchandising Josie Tamayo, San Miguel Purefoods Brand Ambassador Alvin Patrimonio, SM Hypermarket SVP for Operations Arnold Daluz, SM Supermarket President Joey Mendoza, Gloria’s Goto Owner Rosemarie Marin, and SM Markets mascot Cassie.

Jar’d In: On-the-go salad

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RESH veggies and fruits everyday take the doctor away. That's how powerful fresh produce are. Aside from fiber, they give nutrients and antioxidants to the body to help it combat stress and diseases. That's why diet or no diet, its always a yes to fresh vegetables salad overload!

Jar’d In offers Cancun Barbecue Burrito, Greek salad, Vietnamese Banh Mi Pomelo salad, Greek Salad with Roasted Chicken , Amazonia Grain Power Bowl, Cowboy Crispy Chicken salad and Japanese Salad at very a affordable

price ranging from Php 220 to Php 350.

Each with distinct taste pleasing to the palate, each variety comes with special dressing.

On-the-go is salad in the jar, thus the name Jar’d In: jar garden or garden of fresh veggies in a jar.

Munch with friends and cool up with refreshing organic juice drinks after: carrotginger-orange , gumamela, ampalaya- mango, spicy lemonade & pandan.

Jar’d In Salad House is located at Mc2 Building, Congressional Ave. , Quezon City.

Alfred offers business lunch buffet

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ELEBRATE small wins and big victories at Makati Diamond Residences. Feast with a Business Lunch Buffet at Alfred, available Mondays to Fridays, from 11:30 am to 2:30 pm, starting now until September 27, 2019.

Start with a fillet of fresh sardines, marinated with olive oil, salt and lemon, thoughtfully paired with Parmigiano Reggiano and flavorful foccacia bread.

The highlight for the starter selection includes a Swiss Cheese Fondue made with a combination of Emmenthal and Gruyere Cheese and 3 kinds of charcuterie, with the Smoked Chicken and Beef Pastrami brined straight from our kitchen.

Other offerings include a rotating menu of appetizers, composition salads, flatbread, and the soup and pasta of the day. A sample menu includes Spiced Crab Tartlets, Chicken Liver Pate on Crostinis, Roasted Carrots and Couscous, Smoked Salmon and Capers Flatbread, Pumpkin Soup with Greek Yogurt and Primavera with Saffron Cream.

Eat-all-you-can U.S. Angus Ribeye, with today’s salmon and spicy shrimp recipes.

Salmon dishes may be baked and topped with whole grain mustard crust or teriyaki glaze, or cooked tandoori-style with cucumber raita.

Spicy shrimp recipes are sautéed with paprika and garlic, tomato and red chili Arrabiatta or Sriracha sauce.

Fill both your eyes and stomach with a delightful assortment of sweets from the dessert cart. Choose from 3 different cakes, assorted pastries, cookie jars and specialty ice cream. Try a slice of the Strawberry Shortcake for something light, get your chocolate fix with the Chocolate Caramel Cake or have a savory slice of Rose and Lemon Kataifi. Bite-

sized pastries like the hazelnut-flavored Paris Brest and Custard Flan pair nicely with a scoop of our speciality Honey Ice Cream.

The Business Lunch Buffet is available at Alfred, Makati Diamond Residences for P1,500 net per person, inclusive of sodas, chilled juices, Diamond Iced Tea, coffee and tea. Have a light lunch by choosing the limited starter and pasta selection for P1,000 net per person. And say cheers to more success with a P1800 bottle of champagne or by availing of the P500 unlimited beer. Book a table today by calling (02) 317 0999 local 1114 or (0917) 636 4875 or emailing dine@ makatidiamond.com.

Visit www.makatidiamond.com for details or other hotel promotions and updates.

DEBATE ON SLOW PLAY COULD TAKE SOME TIME Sports M BusinessMirror

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| Thursday, August 15, 2019 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

THE US’s Bryson DeChambeau looks at his putt on the fourth green during the first round of the British Open at the Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland in July. AP

By Doug Ferguson

The Associated Press

EDINAH, Illinois—This could go down as one of the most memorable years in golf.

Tiger Woods won the Masters following four surgeries on his back, and just two years after he feared he might never compete again.

The British Open was not held in Britain for the first time in 68 years. Two players went from college to Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) Tour winners in a span of two months.

And the PGA Tour might finally get around to doing something about pace of play.

The Player Advisory Council is meeting this week during the BMW Championship, and slow play is on the agenda. The tour all along had planned on the final PAC meeting of the year to be devoted entirely to solutions for a problem that apparently has no quick fix or it would have been fixed a long time ago.

So this could take some time.

One possibility the tour raised was timing players even when they were not out of position on the golf course.

The tour is equipped with ShotLink laser technology that tracks every shot by every player on every hole in every round. For about the last 10 years, players have received individual reports on how long it takes them to

WOODS HAS WORK TO DO

RORY MEMORIES

RORY MCILROY has fond memories of Medinah for reasons that go beyond being part of Europe’s greatest comeback in the Ryder Cup. This is where he met his wife.

Erica Stoll was working for the PGA of America at the time, and her duties at the Ryder Cup included oversight of all transportation issues. He recalls first seeing her when the flight arrived from the Tour Championship in Atlanta.

And yes, he had serious transportation issues that week.

McIlroy forgot what time zone he was in and nearly missed his tee time for his singles match against Keegan Bradley, needing a police escort to get to Medinah, put on his golf shoes, hit a few balls and head to the tee.

No police escorts this week?

“They did offer one to me, so whether I take them up on it or not, I’m not sure,” he said. “Hopefully, I won’t need it. And we’re staying a little closer to the course.”

This isn’t a real reunion for the McIlroys, anyway. McIlroy says he took part in a junior golf event with Luke Donald a few years ago, and his wife came with him.

“So that was sort of our first time back,” he said. “But yeah, it’s still cool to look around and think about that week, and obviously everything that’s happened since then. It is pretty cool.”

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EDINAH, Illinois—The mild oblique strain that Tiger Woods cited when he withdrew after one round of FedEx Cup playoffs was feeling good enough that he flew to the Chicago area Tuesday to give it a try in the BMW Championship.

Woods arrived mid-afternoon, did some media with partner Golf TV, had treatment and then headed to the putting green.

He won the Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) Championship twice at Medinah, in 1999 and 2006. His last event here was the 2012 Ryder Cup, where he and Steve Stricker lost all three of their matches, and Woods halved with Francesco Molinari in a singles match that gave Europe an outright victory.

At stake this week is a chance to return to East Lake, where he won last year for the first piece of his comeback from four back surgeries. Having to withdraw last week did not help the cause. By earning no points—at a time when points count four times as much—Woods slipped from No. 28 to No. 38 in the FedEx Cup. Only the top 30 advance to the Tour Championship next week at East Lake.

The PGA Tour is projecting that Woods will need to finish 11th to have a realistic chance of advancing, but that will depend on what everyone else does, particularly those behind him in the standings. A week ago, Patrick Reed went from No. 50 to No. 2 by winning at Liberty National, while Harold Varner III went from No. 102 all the way to No. 29 with a two-way tie for third.

Woods has one other involvement this week, though it’s tough to think this is a priority of his. As captain of the US team for the Presidents Cup, this is the final week for players to earn one of the eight automatic spots.

Reed moved from No. 17 to No. 12 and would have to win to have any chance of getting one of the eight spots.

Patrick Cantlay is holding down the eighth spot over US Open champion Gary Woodland, though Woodland likely would need something around fifth place to get past him, depending on what Cantlay does.

Woods is No. 13 and even winning might not be enough.

Phil Mickelson is No. 15 and in jeopardy of missing his first team event since the 1993 Ryder Cup. Woods will have four captain’s picks after the HSBC Champions in Shanghai, which ends the first weekend in November.

The Presidents Cup is December 12 to 15 in Australia.

play various shots. The time is not entirely accurate—it’s more guide than gospel—because it’s measured by when the scorer records each shot in the group, not when it’s the player’s turn to hit.

But it, at least, gives a general idea, and there are not a lot of surprises.

Rules official now have a mobile app that gives the location of every group on the course and how much they are over or under the scheduled time it should take to play. When a group falls behind—even if it is not out of position—they can use ShotLink to see what or who is the problem.

Oddly enough, it was an older form of technology that brought searing attention to a sore subject: a television camera.

Fans get a Twitter vote on which of two groups they would rather see in streaming coverage, and the winner Friday at The Northern Trust was Bryson DeChambeau, Justin Thomas and Tommy Fleetwood. Without them being seen, there would be no video of DeChambeau taking two minutes, six seconds on an 8-foot putt.

Without that video, there would not have been near the social-media storm it caused.

That’s not to suggest it exposed a problem because the problem has been around forever. There were no new developments last week, just a video that led to outrage and namecalling (Eddie Pepperell referred to DeChambeau as a singled-minded twit and later apologized).

DeChambeau took more than two minutes to hit a putt, and the next day he said on two occasions—to Brooks Koepka’s caddie and to the media after his final round—that he was not going to let that episode give him the reputation as a slow player.

Words won’t change anything.

DeChambeau had an explanation for what took him so long on that putt, but no good excuse. It’s less complicated to hear him talk about air density than his reasons why he shouldn’t be singled out. For starters, he believes the pace policy should include how long it takes to the walk to

MONEY CLUBS

PLAYERS often have something stamped into their wedges,

the ball and hit the shot. He said if he gets there first and he’s the last to hit, he can’t stand in front of other players to get his yardage, so he has to wait.

“That’s kind of not good etiquette,” he said.

Neither is taking two minutes for an 8-foot putt. On a Friday.

Fultom Allem was home last week in Florida and would have been shaking his head. He made better use of the word in 2000 at The Players Championship when he said, “Etiquette is not some small city in France.”

Slow play is bad etiquette.

No one has explained the problem better than Allem over the years. It starts with the tour policy. Players are not timed until they are out of position.

Then, they are told they are being timed. They are given a warning if they go over the limit. The second bad time is a penalty shot.

“It would be like you going down the highway 100 mph,” Allem once said. “A cop says: ‘Listen, bud, you are doing 100. I am going to follow you now. I am going to measure your speed.’ You’re not going to go over the speed limit. You’re going to drive perfectly.”

So to say officials are not enforcing the rules is to ignore what little punch the policy has.

Meanwhile, Allem’s tone hasn’t changed.

“The problem is the players are slow,” he said from his Orlando home.

“They know they’re slow, and they’re not prepared to do anything about it.”

That’s the heart of the issue. Sure, the tour is at least prepared to talk about it. How far that gets depends on how many players are willing to take a hard look at whether they’re part of the problem.

Two years ago in a confidential survey by Golf.com, players were asked if slow play was a problem on the PGA Tour, and 84 percent said yes. The same web site conducted a similar survey the following year, and one question was whether a player felt his own pace of play was acceptable.

“Yes” received 100 percent of the vote. even if it’s just their initials, though Justin Thomas had words that stood out: Brooks Money.

The reference is to Brooks Koepka, and the other is obvious.

It’s a wager that began at the CJ Cup in South Korea at the start of the PGA Tour season last year. Anyone who holes out from over 50 yards gets $1,000. Anyone who makes a hole-inone gets $5,000, and $10,000 is at stake for an albatross.

“I’m up $6,000,” Thomas said. It will be tough for Koepka to catch up with two tournaments to go unless he can make a hole-in-one or an albatross, which he did last year. Thomas seized control with the ace on the 16th hole of the final round at the Masters.

THE OTHER RORY

RORY SABBATINI had what he called an atrocious week hitting the ball at The Northern Trust, which lowered his odds of getting to East Lake. Even so, the fact he’s even talking about it shows he is getting closer to where he once was in golf.

Sabbatini is No. 45 in the FedEx Cup going into the BMW Championship, the first time he has reached this event since before surgery in May 2016 to get an artificial disk in his neck.

“I’m finally back to full strength,” Sabbatini said. “It took three years to recover from the nerve damage. From the neck to the shoulder down the arm is about 3 feet, and you gain an inch of regeneration a month of nerve. That’s three years.”

How did he manage to keep playing through the recovery?

“With a lot of frustration,” he said.

Sabbatini still managed to reach the FedEx Cup postseason the last two years, not advancing beyond the opening event. Now he’s thinking Tour Championship. AP

TIGER WOODS arrives midafternoon, does some media with partner Golf TV, has treatment and then heads to the putting green. AP

RORY MCILROY chips from the edge of the third hole green in the final round of the Northern Trust golf tournament at Liberty National Golf Course on Sunday in Jersey City, New Jersey. AP

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‘Marines’ of US hoops praised for job well done

Former NBA player gets prison time in gun case

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HERE were more than 50 players from the G League who helped USA Basketball get into the Fiba World Cup by winning enough games during the tournament’s qualifying rounds.

A few of them are getting a thank-you this week.

USA Basketball invited some of those qualifying players to the final week of World Cup training camp in El Segundo, California, that started Tuesday. The group will scrimmage in practice against National Basketball Association (NBA) players who are getting ready to compete in China at the World Cup—and while there’s no chance for the G League guys to make that team, it’s another opportunity to wear USA across their chest for a few days.

“I didn’t even wait for them to finish asking the question before I said ‘Absolutely,’” former UCLA forward Travis Wear said. “I’m not going to turn down that opportunity to play with the best of the best.”

Plenty of NBA players turned down the chance to be on the World Cup team.

Wear—who was with the South Bay Lakers last season, spent summer league with Golden State this year and is looking for a job this season—jumped at the chance to just practice with that group.

“Honestly, to be able to wear ‘USA’ in any way, shape or form and represent the country is an incredible experience,” Wear said. “I was so happy that I could take part in that and it’s definitely something that I am forever grateful for.”

Wear is one of eight former qualifyingteam players brought back for practice—the others: Chris Chiozza, Scotty Hopson, John Jenkins, Ben Moore, Chinanu Onuaku, Chasson Randle and Travis Trice. Combined, those eight players made 22 appearances for the US in 12 qualifying games, with Trice making six and Wear and Randle four apiece.

The only player who appeared in qualifying games for the US and has a chance to make the World Cup roster is Derrick White, who was promoted to the national team last week and is one of 15 candidates still in camp for the 12 final roster spots.

“We are very grateful for what every player did for us in qualifying,” USA Basketball Managing Director Jerry Colangelo said.

Fiba changed the qualifying rules for this year’s tournament, which meant the US and other nations basically couldn’t use NBA players because of scheduling conflicts. So the US put together different rosters, primarily of G League players, for each of the six two-game qualifying windows. Jeff van Gundy was the qualifying coach for the US, getting a new group of players for every round.

Van Gundy will coach the G League invites this week as well, and Wear said he’s eager to be reunited with him for at least a few more days.

USA Basketball National Team Coach Gregg Popovich said praised the job Van Gundy has done. Popovich also raved about the job the G League players did just to give the US a chance at a third consecutive World Cup gold medal.

That’s why some of them are back this week for the last days of camp for the Americans.

“You look at this team now, getting ready to embark to China and play, they’re qualified because of the work that we did and the games that we won,” Wear said.

“That’s very satisfying.” AP

TAKE one long look at this picture—Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant having a great time on the bench as Golden State Warriors teammates—because this won’t be happening again. AP

CURRY: NEW BEGINNINGS! O

AKLAND, California— Someday, years or even decades from now, at one of those celebratory reunions teams like to do, Stephen Curry knows he and Kevin Durant will reminisce with fondness about their three insanely successful years together on the Golden State Warriors.

They will reflect on the greatness, the fun, all they learned from each other shooting side by side day after day.

Two championships, a pair of National Basketball Association (NBA) Finals MVP awards for Durant.

“I’ll always remember the three years we had. We’ll probably be back here down the road celebrating those like they did the ‘74-75 team,” Curry said, nodding in the direction of the Warriors’ recent championship banners. “It’ll be cool when that happens.”

For now, Curry is embracing “new beginnings” as the oldest player on a Golden State roster that will look far different come training camp next month—and that also was the theme he shared with girls attending his Warriors camp this week in one of his “bittersweet” final trips to the downtown Oakland practice facility before a move to San Francisco and the new Chase Center. Durant, recovering

from surgery to repair a ruptured right Achilles tendon, has departed to join the Brooklyn Nets.

“We won two championships and I think we both got better throughout the process as basketball players and as people,” Curry said. “With the demand every single night to be great and just all that that comes with, in terms of the media attention, the scrutiny, the criticism, the praise even, it’s a lot to handle. And I think me and him especially on that level could connect. Him going to Brooklyn, you’re just trying to make sure he’s happy and going to a place where he feels like he needs to be. At the end of the day, you’ve got to be happy about that for him.”

Also gone are veterans Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston, guard Quinn Cook and big man DeMarcus Cousins. Meanwhile, the Warriors have added a handful of new faces like D’Angelo Russell, Willie CauleyStein and Glenn Robinson III. Draymond Green got a new four-year deal earlier this month worth close to $100 million. Kevon Looney re-signed, too.

As Klay Thompson works back this season from surgery for a torn ACL in his left knee that he injured in the deciding Game Six loss of the finals to the Toronto Raptors, Curry’s backcourt mate will be Russell.

At 31, Curry doesn’t mind that he will

VENUS WILLIAMS reached the third round of the Western & Southern Open. AP

Venus pulls off upset, Serena withdraws

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ASON, Ohio—Going small paid off big for Venus Williams.

Tuesday didn’t go as well for sister

Serena.

On a day when back problems forced the younger Williams to withdraw before her second-round match, Venus Williams reached the third round of the Western & Southern Open with a 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (4) upset of defending champion Kiki Bertens. Her key? Not going for it.

“I just tried not to go too big, because I can go so big and I have a lot of power and it’s not always easy to control it,” the 39-year-old Williams said. “So I’m trying to play smart instead of going hog wild, which is extremely easy to do.”

Hours before her match was scheduled to begin, Serena Williams withdrew, citing the same back injury that forced her to retire from

the Rogers Cup final on Sunday in Toronto. The injury raises questions about Serena’s fitness ahead of the US Open, which starts August 26.

“I came to Mason on Sunday and have tried everything to be ready to play tonight, and was still hopeful after my practice this morning, but unfortunately, my back is still not right, and I know I should not take to the court,” Serena, winner of 23 Grand Slam titles and a two-time champion at Cincinnati, said in a statement.

Venus, a seven-time Grand Slam champion, is the oldest woman in the draw. She has made her deepest Cincinnati run since reaching the 2012 semifinals.

“It was just a second round, though,” Venus said. “For me, it’s just round-by-round. I have a third round to play. I’m ready for the next round.”

Bertens, seeded fifth, rallied from deficits of 3-0 and 5-2 in the third set to force a tiebreaker.

The two-hour and 17-minute match ended when she sailed a forehand wide.

“I didn’t do the things I was doing well coming back—playing aggressive, going for my shots,” Bertens said about the tiebreaker. “I didn’t do that anymore in the tiebreak, so there she could play her game again, which she did pretty good, I would say.”

On a star-studded day that was scheduled to include Serena and Roger Federer in the evening session, top-seeded and defending champion Novak Djokovic cruised into the third round with a 7-5, 6-1 win over wild card Sam Querrey.

Federer, the third seed who was playing for the first time since Wimbledon, needed 61 minutes— not including a 61-minute rain delay—to defeat Juan Ignacio Londerom, 6-3, 6-4.

Djokovic felt a little rusty in his first match since his epic Wimbledon final triumph over Federer on July 14. AP

be the quote-unquote old guy entering his 11th NBA season. A two-time NBA MVP, he has reached five straight NBA Finals.

“Has it sunk in? No. Have people been reminding me? Yes, any time they bring up our team looking forward,” he said with a smile. “It’s cool though, hopefully I’m wise beyond my years but still youthful in what I can do on the floor. It’s just a change in dynamic all the way around. We’re excited about the opportunities, the challenges for the whole roster, because we’ve got a lot of guys that have the opportunity to really prove themselves and make a difference in our team. Obviously our core, ‘til Klay gets back, we know how to win and we know how to play. We’re just going to do it a little differently.”

Curry is unconcerned at this stage about outside expectations regarding how good this group might be and speculation that these Warriors may not be a championship contender.

“I know the reality of the situation in terms of we lost a guy like Kevin Durant, who’s an all-time great basketball player,” Curry said. “We lost two veteran high-IQ guys

in Shaun and Andre that really were like the cogs in the wheel that kept us going and you could rely on them every single game.

So, the look is different but nobody really has a sustained run like we did where every year you’re expected to be the greatest. It’s just a matter of now we have to, I wouldn’t even say prove people wrong, but we have to kind of galvanize the new roster and do the exact same thing.”

As he told the girl campers all sporting his No. 30 jersey, first things first.

Curry took a quick poll of how many had started school again. Dozens of hands shot into the air.

“Great to see you all again! You all having a great day, too?”

Collective “Yeah!”

“New beginnings, right? We’re going to take care of our school work this year?” Curry asked. “We’re going to be very dedicated and hardworking in the classroom as we are on the basketball court? That’s very important to be wellrounded people, right?

Athletes and academics.”AP

IT will be Coco Gauff’s second Grand Slam tournament after her magical run to the fourth round at Wimbledon last month. AP

EW YORK—Former National Basketball Association (NBA) player Sebastian Telfair was sentenced on Monday to threeand-a-half years in prison in his New York City gun case.

Telfair—a once highly touted point guard with a disappointing pro basketball career and a history of brushes with the law—had been convicted earlier this year of carrying a loaded handgun in his pickup truck.

“The mandatory prison sentence he received today is required by law and he has now been held accountable for the unlawful conduct,” Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said in a statement.

There was no immediate response to a phone message on Monday seeking comment from Telfair’s attorney.

Gonzalez said that a jury heard testimony describing how at 2:50 a.m. on June 11, 2017, officers in an unmarked police car spotted a Ford F-150 parked on a center median in Brooklyn with the 34-year-old Telfair at the wheel.

The officers stopped the truck after it made a U-turn in front of them and drove off with no headlights on. Seeing a lit marijuana cigarette in the console, they said they searched the vehicle and found a loaded .45-caliber pistol inside.

The Brooklyn-born Telfair was a first-round draft pick out of high school in 2004. He started with the Portland Trail Blazers and spent time with the Boston Celtics, Minnesota Timberwolves and other teams before ending his career in China in 2014.

Telfair and a friend were arrested in 2007 after a traffic stop during which police found a loaded handgun in the vehicle.

He pleaded guilty to criminal possession of a weapon and was sentenced to three years’ probation. AP

WNBA bans Griner 3 games for fighting; 4 others also punished

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EW YORK—Mercury center Brittney Griner will miss the next three games after the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) suspended her Tuesday for her role in a fight in the Dallas-Phoenix game over the weekend that resulted in six players getting ejected.

The league punished Griner for throwing punches, escalating the incident and pushing Wings forward Kayla Thornton’s face with an open hand. Dallas forward Kristine Anigwe was suspended two games for instigating the initial altercation with Griner and taking an open-handed swing at her. Thornton also was suspended two games for her role in the scuffle.

“I got three games, I’m not disputing that at all,” Griner said.

“Do I think it should have been three across the board? I would have been happy with that. I’m not happy, and it’s not because of my suspension. I take ownership of mine, no place for that in sports, and I apologize to everybody that was there.”

With 6:25 left in the fourth quarter, Griner and Anigwe got tangled up in the lane and a scuffle ensued. Griner had to be restrained by an official at midcourt, where she was still trying to get at Dallas players. She regretted that the fight took attention away from her Heart & Sole charity drive, in which fans donated shoes to help the homeless.

“It was turning out to be such a great night. A dunk, won some money for a fan, had over 600 shoes brought in,” Griner said. “It definitely didn’t turn out that way at the end.”

Phoenix guard Diana Taurasi and Dallas forward Kaela Davis were suspended a game apiece for leaving the bench area during Saturday’s altercation and directly engaging with the opposing team.

Griner will begin serving her suspension Wednesday when Phoenix hosts the Connecticut Sun. Anigwe and Thornton will begin serving their suspensions that same night when Dallas hosts the Los Angeles Sparks.

The Mercury’s center bought 300 tickets for Wednesday’s game to “provide the best home-court advantage in the WNBA.” Taurasi, who currently is injured, will serve her suspension during the first game after she is medically cleared to play. Davis will miss Sunday’s game, when Dallas visits Connecticut, due to the league’s requirement that a team have a minimum of eight players dressed for all games. Because of injuries, the Wings are down to 10 healthy players.

Taurasi and Davis also were fined $500. Additionally, Phoenix forward DeWanna Bonner was fined $500 for escalating the incident. Briann January also was ejected from the game but wasn’t punished after the league deemed she was acting as a peacemaker. AP

COCO GETS WILD-CARD ENTRY AT U.S. OPEN

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OCO GAUFF will get a chance to try for an encore: The 15-year-old from Florida received a wild-card entry Tuesday for the US Open’s main draw.

It will be Gauff’s second Grand Slam tournament. She made a magical run to the fourth round at Wimbledon last month after getting a wild card into the qualifying rounds there.

Ranked just 313th at the time, Gauff became the youngest player to qualify for Wimbledon, upset five-time champion Venus Williams in the first round and wound up losing at the All England Club to eventual title winner Simona Halep.

Gauff is currently No. 140 in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) rankings. She initially made a mark at age 13 by becoming the youngest US Open junior finalist in history; she won the French Open junior title at 14.

Age restrictions set up by the women’s professional tour limit the number of tournaments someone who is 15 can enter and the number of wild-card invitations she can be offered—and Gauff already has accepted three wild cards

elsewhere. But according to the WTA, the US Tennis Association—which runs a Grand Slam tournament, and so is not overseen by the WTA or Association of Tennis Professionals tours— essentially can choose to ignore the eligibility rule and offer Gauff a wild card.

“I want to thank the USTA for the opportunity to participate in my home slam,” Gauff said in a statement e-mailed by her agent. “I look forward to playing my first main draw at the US Open.”

Among the other players receiving wild cards from the USTA on Tuesday for the women’s field at Flushing Meadows in New York City were 2011 US Open champion Sam Stosur—an Australian who was granted that country’s reciprocal berth—and 17-yearold Caty McNally, an American who won the doubles title with Gauff and reached the singles semifinals at the Citi Open in Washington this month.

Gauff and McNally have said they plan to play doubles together at Flushing Meadows; that event’s wild-card entries will be announced later.

The pair won the US Open junior doubles trophy

together a year ago.

The draw for the US Open is August 22, and play in the year’s last major tennis tournament begins August 26.

Other women’s wild cards went to Francesca Di Lorenzo, Whitney Osuigwe, Kristie Ahn and Katie Volynets of the US, along with 16-year-old Diane Parry of France, who got her country’s reciprocal invitation.

Di Lorenzo, a 22-year-old from Ohio, is a past NCAA doubles champion now ranked 128th.

Osuigwe, a 17-year-old from Florida, won a French Open junior title and is ranked 105th. Ahn, a 27-year-old from New Jersey, finished first in the USTA’s wild-card challenge, while Volynets, a 17-year-old from California, won the 18s national championship.

Nine wild cards for women’s qualifying were also awarded, including to five-time Grand Slam doubles champion Bethanie Mattek-Sands, 14-year-old Reese Brantmeier of Wisconsin, Vicky Duval, Shelby Rogers and Pan Am Games medalist Caroline Dolehide. AP

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HAILAND’S Nemittra Juntanaket recovered from an early mishap with a strong windup, birdying three of the last six holes to salvage a 72 and grab a two-stroke lead over Marvi Monsalve as Princess Superal hobbled at the finish at the start of the International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) Mount Malarayat Ladies Classic at Mount Malarayat’s composite course on Wednesday in Lipa City.

Juntanaket, out to make up for her joint 18th at Pradera Verde Ladies last month, fell behind early with a triple-bogey on a lost ball on the first hole of Mount Malipunyo but after a run of brave pars, she hit back-to-back birdies from No. 13 of Mount Makulot then added another on the par-five No. 16 to save a 39-33.

With Superal blowing a two-under round after 12 holes with a horrendous five-over card in the last six holes, Juntanaket surged ahead with Monsalve assuming the challenger’s role with a 74 she spiked with birdies on Nos. 16 and 17.

Defending champion Onkanok Soisuwan missed seizing solo second with bogeys in the last two, dropping to joint third at 75 with Superal and fellow Thais Numa Gulyanamitta and Alisara Wedchakama as most of the bidders, save for Juntanaket, floundered at Mount Makulot tricky holes.

NEMITTRA JUNTANAKET recovered from an early mishap with a strong windup.

TESSA JAZMINES tessa4347@gmail.com

PART OF THE GAME

Thai ace Juntanaket grabs 2-shot lead at Malarayat “Except on No. 1, my game is good. I actually struggled at the front but recovered and played good at the back,” said Juntanaket, who hopes to sustain her form and finally get a title shot in the P750,000 event put up by ICTSI and organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments Inc. “I’ll make sure to have a good score on No. 1 tomorrow [today] and hit the fairways and greens,” added Juntanaket, whose sister Nimmita, however, stumbled with an 80.

Monsalve, meanwhile, banked on her putting to survive a rollercoaster stint

on what she described as “good and very challenging” course.

“Compared to Mount Makulot, it was difficult to putt at Mount Malipunyo where the greens are hard and one needs a good drop [approach] to get a good shot at birdies,” said Monsalve.

But it was a sorry finish for Superal, winner of the last Ladies Philippine Golf Tour (LPGT) leg at John Hay, who had appeared to be in control after bouncing back from a bogey on No. 2 with birdies on Nos. 5, 8 and 10. But after two pars, she bogeyed Nos. 13 and 14, dropped another stroke

No small feat on the 16th and holed out with a double bogey.

“I didn’t know what happened, got confused with what to use on my second shots.

My long game and putting were okay but almost all of my approach shots at the back went over,” rued Superal, who hopes to settle down on club selection in the last 36 holes.

Korean Hwang Min-jeong, who as an amateur bested the pros here in 2015, birdied No. 18 but not after dropping strokes on Nos. 2, 3, 12 and 17 and making a double bogey on No. 9 for a 40-37 and a 77 for joint ninth with Thai

Chouvarest Chourkittisopon, a stroke behind joint seventh-running Ajira and Pimpadsorn Sangkagaro, who both carded 76s, as the Thais dominated the first 18 holes of the 54-hole championship with seven in the Top 10.

The local aces groped for form in the heat and wind with Midlands leg winner Chihiro Ikeda fumbling with a 78 in a tie with comebacking Cyna Rodriguez and Gretchen Villacencio while former leg winner Sarah Ababa limped with a 79 for a share of 14th with Pamela Mariano.

Engineers tackle Mamba five

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PHILIPPINE Sports Commission Chairman William Ramirez (seated, second from left) and Philippine Olympic Committee President Rep. Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino (seated, third from left) along with POC Chairman Steve Hontiveros (left) and Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee COO Ramon Suzara make the unity sign. With them are (standing, from left) POC legal counsel Atty. Al Agra; Treasurer Julian Camacho and Board Member Cynthia Carrion; PSC Commissioner Charles Maxey; POC Auditor Jonne Go; PSC Commissioner Arnold Agustin; Phisgoc Director for legal Atty. Jarie Osias; PSC Commissioner Ramon Fernandez and Phisgoc Director for Protocol and International Relations Porfirio Mayo.

FINALLY, THEY WORK AS ONE!

By Ramon Rafael Bonilla

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HILIPPINE sports is finally “Working As One” following the signing on Wednesday of a tripartite agreement among three major entities that are tasked to make the 30th Southeast Asian Games not only a hosting success but an extremely fruitful campaign for Filipino athletes.

True to the SEA Games’ slogan of “We Win As One,” Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) Chairman William Ramirez, Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) President Rep. Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino and Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee COO Ramon Suzara signed a historic agreement on the country’s hosting of the Games from November 30 to December 11 this year.

The tripartite agreement—sealed at the PSC Offices at the historic Rizal Memorial Sports Complex in Manila—came just days after the POC leadership crisis settled down following the election of its third president in three years, cycling president Tolentino.

But the agreement has not one, but two equally important tasks to accomplish.

First is to guarantee that the Philippine hosting will go down in SEA Games history as the “most unforgettable” in the words of Suzara, who represented Phisgoc chairman, House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano, in the solemn ceremony.

And second, is for Filipino athletes to top the medals table of the 56-sport Games and emerge overall champion anew and match the same feat in 2005 when the Philippines last hosted the games and topped the 11-country regional, multisport competitions that are held every two years.

“No less than the overall championship,” said Ramirez, also Team Philippines’ chef de mission to the Games, when asked what his aspirations are after the forging of the tripartite agreement.

“This is the position of the government, there must be an ROI [return of investment],” Ramirez said. “Why would we spend P6 billion if we will only fail to get the championship?”

The government has allocated P6 billion for the Games hosting and these funds are outside

the construction of a modern and internationalstandard athletics and aquatics facility at the Bases Conversion and Development Authority’s New Clark City in Capas, Tarlac.

The Philippines hosted in 2005 with a P500 million government funding and emerged overall champion for the first time, beating its second place finish by only one gold to Indonesia in the 1991 Games.

“We are the host, we have the money.

We don’t want to be blamed that we are not helping the athletes,” added Ramirez, who stressed on President Duterte’s instruction on making the Games successful.

National athletes, Ramirez said, are also getting funded by the PSC for P600 million for their training, overseas exposure and equipment for the Games.

“Finally, finally! Chairman [Ramirez] said it all! We are now ready not only for the 30th SEA Games and 2020 Asean Para Games. These Games are only the beginning because there is still the challenge of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics,” Tolentino said.

Superliga knockout quarterfinals unfurl

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ETRON clashes with Marinerang Pilipina and Foton tackles PLDT Home Fibr in the knockout quarterfinals of the Philippine Superliga All-Filipino Conference on Thursday at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan.

After finishing the double-round preliminaries on top, the Blaze Spikers got the right to battle winless Lady Skippers in a sudden-death showdown at 7 p.m. while third seed Tornadoes face sixth seed Power Hitters in the other semifinal pairing at 4:15 p.m.

Petron emerged with an emphatic 13-1 win-loss card while rival F2 Logistics fell to second spot with 12-2, no thanks to a pair of heartbreaking setbacks that it suffered in the crucial stretch of the preliminaries.

Foton, meanwhile, walked away with the

third spot following a 25-15, 29-27, 25-14 win over Marinerang Pilipina late Tuesday while Generika-Ayala took on the fourth with an 8-6 win-loss mark.

The survivor in the Petron-Marinerang Pilipina clash will take on the victor between Generika-Ayala and Cignal while the winner between Foton and PLDT will clash with the conqueror of the F2 Logistics-Sta. Lucia battle in the semifinals, where the higher ranked team enjoys a twice-to-beat advantage.

After suffering a four-set decision to F2 Logistics, Petron became unstoppable and won 11 straight matches.

In their previous game in Cagayan de Oro City, the high-flying duo of Sisi Rondina and Bernadeth Pons put on a show to engineer a

come-from-behind victory.

Rondina, the reigning Most Valuable Player of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines, delivered 32 points while Pons provided the stability at both ends, including the match-grabbing kill that completed their five-set victory.

Still, Petron Coach Shaq de los Santos doesn’t want to be complacent.

“We can’t afford to be complacent because we’re already in the knockout stage. We have to prepare well against Marinerang Pilipina,” said de los Santos, who guided Petron to back-toback All-Filipino crowns.

“Being on top is a huge opportunity. So we have to take care of it by keeping our focus and not letting any distraction get into the way.”

ECHNOLOGICAL Institute of the Philippines (TIP) shoots for a playoff spot in the Philippine Basketball Association Developmental League Foundation Cup when it battles Black Mamba on Thursday at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.

The Engineers currently sport a 3-1 wonlost card and a win over the newcomers will assure them of a slot in the next round.

“We’re already looking ahead. Right now 3-1 kami, so I think we have one foot in the door already sa playoffs. We want to prepare for the playoffs already as early as now,” Coach Potit de Vera said.

Senegalese big man Papa Ndiaye, Bryan Santos and Ivan Santos are seen to lead TIP once more just like what they did last week when they tore apart Italiano’s Homme by 35 points, 133-98.

But standing on the Engineers’ way will be a Black Mamba side that is also keen on reigning victorious.

The Energy Drink are looking to follow up their 86-82 victory over Alberei last August 5—a win that showed the team’s character as they climbed back from 18-points down en route to their debut win.

Coach Vis Valencia, though, is aware of the challenge that comes his wards’ way in the 1:30 p.m. bout.

“They’re younger, they’re faster. We just have to match up ’yung energy ng TIP. They’re a young team, they’re running, so we have to prepare for that,” said the youthful bench strategist.

Valencia will once again be banking on the trio of Dahrell Caranguian, Clark Derige and John Tayongtong.

In the other games, Centro Escolar University has its sights set in gaining pole position of Group A in when it crosses paths with AMA Online Education at 3:30 p.m., while iWalk aims for back-to-back wins as it goes up against the struggling Nailtalk-Saint Dominic Savio at 5:30 p.m.

CHOCO MUCHO’S Bang Pineda defies BaliPure’s Shirley Salamagos’s defense.

COOL SMASHERS CRUISE TO WIN NO. 2 C

REAMLINE proved too tough, too solid for Motolite, coming away with a 25-14, 2515, 25-14 victory yesterday to wrest the early solo lead even as sister team Choco Mucho debuted with a straight-set romp over BaliPure in the Premier Volleyball League Season 3 Open Conference campaign at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan on Wednesday.

Alyssa Valdez spearheaded the Cool Smashers’ fiery offense by scoring almost at will on Zones 2 and 4, and even on Zone 6 while the rest, including Michele Gumabao, Risa Sato and Jema Galanza, provided the needed support and setter Jia Morado kept Motolite’s defense guessing with her brilliant playmaking all throughout the encounter.

Libero Kyla Atienza also produced 18 excellent digs and nine receptions to emerge the game’s best player.

The victory was the second straight for the defending champions, who also posted a straight-set win over the Air Force Jet Spikers last Sunday but this one proved more convincing with the Cool Smashers coming into the match in fierce form in anticipation of a slam-bang duel with the Myla Pablo-led Power Builders.

But it didn’t materialize.

Pablo showed flashes of her vaunted form but the Cool Smashers came in prepared, neutralizing not only the former National University stalwart but practically all the Power Builders with their

superb net defense and floor coverage.

Galanza underscored the team’s awesome blocking when she foiled a Motolite attack that ended a long rally that also featured power hits and spectacular saves, putting the team at set point, 24-15, in the second frame.

They took five of the first six points in the third and the Cool Smashers coasted to victory by sustaining their attacks and frustrating the Power Builders no end with their blocking, including another denial of Pablo’s hit that made it 14-7 with Celine Domingo completing a quick hit off Morado’s feed to wrap up the victory.

Earlier, Choco Mucho dished out an impressive game sans the jitters that normally bug debuting teams as the Flying Titans rolled past the Water Defenders, 25-12, 25-18, 25-18.

Choco Mucho crushed BaliPure with its power and chemistry rarely seen in a debuting squad as the Flying Titans fashioned out a 25-12, 25-18, 25-18 romp over the Water Defenders in the other match.

Collegiate stars Kat Tolentino and Maddie Madayag combined with Bang Pineda and playmaker Grace Masangkay as the Flying Titans, one of the two new teams in the league, the other being the Chef’s Classic side, cruised in the opening frame, rallied from four down midway in the second then dominated the third with its bench to complete the lopsided triumph.

DON’T look now, but young Pinoy athletes have again made a name for themselves on the world stage.

Last week, four newly minted Jr. National Basketball Association (NBA) Philippines All-Stars—three boys and one girl—represented the Asia Pacific region in a youth basketball tournament for top 13- and 14-year-old boy and girl ballers from all over the world. Called the Jr. NBA Global Championship, it was held from August 6 to 11 at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World near Orlando, Florida, for only the second time in its bright history.

The Pinoy players were Heinz Gabriel (Kobe) Demisana from Tay Tung High School in Bacolod, Lionel Matthew Rubico from La Salle Lipa, Sebastian Roy (Basti) Reyes from Maryhill College in Lucena and Dianne Camille Nolasco from Miriam College, Quezon City, all 14 years old.

They were chosen at a two-day selection camp in Indonesia last June from among 68 participants from 10 countries across the Asia Pacific region. The three young Pinoys were the largest representatives of any nationality in the boys’ team that was made up of one player each from Indonesia, New Zealand, Japan, Malaysia, Australia, Singapore and Thailand. The lone Filipina joined an AP team that had two Indonesians in the roster and one each from Malaysia, Singapore, New Zealand, Vietnam, Japan, Australia and Thailand.

Needless to say, the young players were almost incredulous that they would be going to compete in a regional competition right after being chosen this year’s Jr. NBA All-Stars. Much less participate in a bigger competition of a global scale against the best of other regions in other parts of the world.

“When my name was called at the [Jr. NBA] National Training Camp [last May], sobrang saya ko. I felt so blessed because I would be given a chance to represent the country in Jakarta. When we were selected to represent the Asia Pacific region in the Global Championships, I was even more overwhelmed and excited. We all know the competition would be tougher and the job would be harder. But it is a great honor to be able to show the world how Filipinos play. We want to show what the Filipino puso is all about,” said Basti Reyes, a nephew of the late University Athletic Association of the Philippines and Philippine Basketball Association player Bryan Gahol, who had inspired his nephew to pursue basketball to honor him after his untimely demise.

The Jr. NBA Global Championship was indeed more challenging. It featured boys and girls divisions, separated into US and international brackets that began with round-robin play then progressed to singleelimination competition. The winners of the US and international brackets played in the global championship games on August 11.

The girls’ team fell early and lost by 29 points to Canada, but Camille Nolasco distinguished herself on the world stage by putting up impressive numbers. Although the Asia Pacific Girls Team had a winless run, the Filipina point guard who certainly caught the eye of many international coaches led the squad in points (six), assists (three) and steals (1.4) in the span of three games.

The Jr. NBA Asia Pacific Boys Team got into the singleelimination phase, tallying a 2-1 win-loss record in the tournament’s pool play.

Kobe Demisana, Basti Reyes, and Matthew Rubico helped the Asia Pacific Boys Team defeat China and Mexico. Reyes averaged 6.3 points and 6.0 rebounds, Rubico recorded 5.7 points, 4.3 boards, and 2.3 assists while Demisana led the team with 1.7 blocks in the span of three games.

Over and above that, they made history of sorts. The Jr. NBA Asia Pacific Boys Team became the first international team to beat a US team in the Jr. NBA Global Championship at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World near Orlando, Florida. Australian guard Donte Nance scored the game-winning basket against the US South Boys Team for a 61-59 overtime win to finish a successful campaign for Asia Pacific.

Filipino center Demisana tallied eight points and seven rebounds, while point guard Lionel Matthew Rubico contributed four points, three rebounds, two assists and five steals in the victory. In spite of an injury that prevented participation in the single elimination game against Africa, Basti Reyes averaged 3.2 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.2 steals in four games.

“It was challenging to have players coming from different countries, especially because of the language barrier. The way these guys came together to play was amazing and to be the first team to beat a US team was really special,” said Jr. NBA Asia Pacific Girls Team Coach Tony de la Cruz of Alaska.

The US Central Girls Team and the US West Boys Team took home the gold at the end of the six-day tournament. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, three-time NBA Champion and Jr. NBA Global Championship Ambassador Dwyane Wade, and New Orleans Pelicans Vice President of Basketball Operations/Team Development and former WNBA All-Star Swin Cash presented the winning teams with trophies in postgame ceremonies.

The boys and Camille Nolasco came back from their Florida trip Wednesday morning, August 14, ready to resume their classes that were put on hold so they could undergo this once in a lifetime experience. “What an experience it was! It felt so good to be able to represent the country and the region on the world stage. None of us ever imagined we would be placed in that situation, but we were. So we played our hearts out and gave everything we had,” said Camille Nolasco.

In short, these young cagers gave a good accounting of Philippine basketball to the world. The myth of Pinoy basketball continues to grow. Thanks to the next generation who have accomplished great things in the now.

CHASING DOLLARS IN SAUDI’S DUNES

THE league not only will use Jay-Z’s Roc Nation to consult on its entertainment presentations but will work with the rapper to “strengthen community through music and the National Football League’s Inspire Change initiative.” AP

NFL teams up with Jay-Z on entertainment, social activism

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Sports BusinessMirror

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| Thursday, August 15, 2019 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

BOXING promoters Eddie Hearn and Managing Partner of Skill Challenge Entertainment Omar Khalil shake hands during a press conference at The Savoy Hotel in London, Monday. AP

By Tim Dahlberg

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The Associated Press

HERE’S nothing new about those who make their living in sports chasing every dollar they can.

National Football League (NFL) owners do it every time they threaten to devastate a city by moving a team to greener pastures. Baseball does it by signing lucrative broadcast agreement that make it more expensive—and sometimes impossible—to follow the team you love.

So in a perfect world, what Eddie Hearn is doing with the big heavyweight fight in Saudi Arabia he is promoting isn’t particularly groundbreaking or outrageous.

It has a rich history in boxing, most notably when Muhammad Ali led a caravan to what was then Zaire during Mobuto Sese Seko’s dictatorship to knock out George Foreman in a 1974 fight that will live forever as the “Rumble in the Jungle.”

Somehow, “Clash on the Dunes” just doesn’t have the same ring. And it’s not a perfect world, particularly in a country noted for human rights abuses.

Unfortunately, Hearn just doesn’t seem to get it when asked why—outside of the obvious answer of money—Anthony Joshua and Andy Ruiz Jr. will find themselves fighting their heavyweight title rematch on December 7 in, of all places, Saudi Arabia.

Selling out to the highest bidder sometimes comes with a price of its own.

“That’s well beyond my head as a sports organizer,” Hearn said Monday in London as questions swirled about the propriety of holding the heavyweight championship of the world in a country that is at odds with the rest of the world in so many ways. He later added, “We knew the criticism we may face when we announced the fight.”

It would be hard not to know. A quick glance at news sites not controlled by the Saudi government shows that despite recent relaxations on rules banning women

from driving and attending sporting events, there are still reports of serious human rights abuses in the country. There are also questions about how high up in the Saudi government the plan to kill Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi was put together.

But boxing promoters—actually, most people in sports—tend to gloss over those kinds of issues when there is money involved. And the Saudis, Hearn said, offered more money than could have been generated at the Principality Stadium in Wales—where Ruiz didn’t want to fight— or at Madison Square Garden, where Ruiz scored a major upset over the previously undefeated Joshua in their June 1 fight.

Still, Hearn would have served himself better had he not tried to pretend he’s merely a sportsman and that political things are too complicated for him to worry about.

If he needs a quick lesson, Amnesty International calls it “sportwashing,” which

basically means the use of big sporting events to burnish a country’s image. And, no doubt, the rematch in a temporary outdoor stadium in Diriyah, on the outskirts of the capital, Riyadh, is a big event that would have drawn 80,000 rabid boxing fans in Wales.

Hearn said he was unfamiliar with the term. He came prepared with his talking points at hand, saying other organizations like the WWE, Formula One and golf’s European Tour had staged successful events recently in the country.

They made money, so why shouldn’t he?

Why, even women will be allowed inside the temporary 12,000-seat stadium. Isn’t that progress enough?

The argument being made is that sports are different, sports should stand on their own and sports—even boxing—should somehow be pure. It’s nonsense, of course, as evidenced when Russian President Vladimir Putin spent billions to host a tainted Olympics in Sochi and the Chinese did the same in 2008 to deliver the

message they were a world power.

Ali and Foreman were used in Zaire, too, to try and show the world that Mobuto wasn’t such a bad guy even as the dictator looted his impoverished country to pay for the fight.

Just how much the Saudis paid has not been revealed, though Hearn said it wasn’t the $40 million some speculated. What they’ll get for their money is an intriguing heavyweight rematch, though Hearn tries to sell it as far more.

“I think it’s going to be mind-blowing for the sport of boxing,” he said. “This could change boxing forever. This will be a boxing event that will go down in history.”

It will, but probably for all the wrong reasons. The only vision Hearn has is the same vision that has ruled boxing for more than a century—pure greed.

This is a money grab, nothing more and nothing less.

Hearn would serve himself—and boxing—better if he owns that now.

5 Russian weightlifters face new wave of doping charges

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OSCOW—Five Russian weightlifters, all of them world or European championship medalists, face doping charges which could herald a new wave of cases across a range of sports.

The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) said Tuesday that evidence against the five lifters, including Olympic bronze medalist Ruslan Albegov, comes from new investigations by the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) into widespread drug use in Russian sports.

“This important development shows justice being brought to those that may have cheated their sport,” Wada told The Associated Press in e-mailed comments Tuesday.

“The Agency awaits more such announcements from federations that have commenced results management on the basis of evidentiary packages provided by Wada.”

IWF President Tamas Ajan said the alleged offenses occurred “some years ago” and should be seen as part of efforts to clean up weightlifting, which was responsible

for dozens of doping cases at recent Olympics.

“We have not shown any hesitation in taking the right decisions,” said Ajan, weightlifting’s leader since 2000, in a statement. “While the IWF has done so much to begin a bright new chapter for our sport, we will also do what we can to pursue historical cases of doping.”

Albegov is a two-time world champion who won bronze in July in a test event for next year’s Olympics in Tokyo.

The others are world champion Tima Turiyeva and double European champions Oleg Chen and David Bedzhanyan, as well as Egor Klimonov, who won European championship silver in April.

Russia was banned entirely from weightlifting at the 2016 Olympics when the IWF said its doping problem brought the sport into disrepute. For next year’s Olympics in Tokyo, Russia is among 17 countries hit with new doping-related restrictions on the size of their squads.

RUSSIA’S Ruslan Albegov competes in men’s weightlifting over 105 kgs at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. AP

Wada has been analyzing a vast archive of data obtained in January from the antidoping laboratory in Moscow, where cases were routinely covered up for years. Wada has started handing over its results to sports federations. It also obtained a batch of stored drug-test samples in April.

Wada is letting sports federations take the lead on charging their own athletes, but if it feels the governing bodies are failing to act on strong evidence, it could bring its own doping charges against individual Russians.

The lab data was crucial to bans for two Russians in the winter sport of biathlon in June. The International Biathlon Union handed Alexander Chernyshov and Alexander Pechyonkin longer bans because it deemed their conduct was aggravated by being part of an “organized doping scheme.”

Wada President Craig Reedie said at the time that he expects more than 100 new doping cases to be brought across various Russian sports. Only a small fraction has so far been announced. AP

EW YORK—The National Football League (NFL) and Jay-Z’s entertainment and sports representation company are teaming up for events and social activism.

The league not only will use Jay-Z’s Roc Nation to consult on its entertainment presentations, including the Super Bowl halftime show, but will work with the rapper and entrepreneur’s company to “strengthen community through music and the NFL’s Inspire Change initiative.”

Inspire Change was created by the league after an agreement with a coalition of players who demonstrated during the national anthem to protest social and racial injustice in this country. Those demonstrations were sparked by former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick kneeling during the national anthem in 2016.

NFL owners agreed to contribute up to $89 million over six years toward causes players were supporting.

Commissioner Roger Goodell sees the partnership with Roc Nation as a significant step in several directions.

“Roc Nation is one of the most globally influential and impactful organizations in entertainment,” Goodell said. “The NFL and Roc Nation share a vision of inspiring meaningful social change across our country. We are thrilled to partner with Roc Nation and look forward to making a difference in our communities together.”

While the entertainment portion of the deal is important— Roc Nation’s stable includes Rihanna, Mariah Carey, Shakira and, of course, Jay-Z—much emphasis from both the league and the representation group is being placed on the social relations aspect of the agreement. For Inspire Change to succeed, it must have strong roots within the communities that are most affected by the issues the players want addressed: criminal justice reform; relationships with police; economic growth opportunities; and educational progress.

“With its global reach, the National Football League has the platform and opportunity to inspire change across the country,” said Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter. “Roc Nation has shown that entertainment and enacting change are not mutually exclusive ideas—instead, we unify them. This partnership is an opportunity to strengthen the fabric of communities across America.”

Jay-Z has been a strong supporter of Kaepernick, who has not played in the NFL the past two seasons and is not with a team now. He has turned down invitations to perform at the Super Bowl, as has Rihanna.

But now there is a working agreement between the league and Roc Nation, which also represents NFL stars such as Todd Gurley, Saquon Barkley and Ndamukong Suh. How that plays out on both the entertainment and social initiatives fronts figures to be newsworthy. AP

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Forgiving God

EAR God, You reconcile us to Yourself in Jesus. We call upon Your mercy and pray: God, in Your love, hear our prayer. Help us to secure the dignity and rights of children, those with disabilities and those who are mentally ill.

Comfort and heal those who suffer the trauma of war, violence or abuse. Grant rest and peace to those who have loved ones in the hospital, or care homes. Protect the least, the lost and the youth at risk. May God be with us in our struggles and give us courage to walk in the presence of the Lord in the land of the living, by the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

GIVE US THIS DAY, SHARED BY LUISA LACSON, HFL Word&Life Publications • teacherlouie1965@yahoo.com

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

Life

REELING: SITUATING CINEMALAYA IN THE CENTER AND THE PERIPHERIES D4

BusinessMirror

Thursday, August 15, 2019

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Batangas: A remembrance to those who remember L

By PauliNe Joy M. Gutierrez

IPA by the 1800s was already a wealthy capital—one whose riches can be traced from the large-scale coffee cultivation first introduced in the province by Don Galo de los Reyes, who served as gobernadorcillo of the pueblo between 1808 and 1825. Families who made a fortune in the coffee trade eventually formed Lipeño aristocracy, such as the Solis and Katigbak clans, kin of Segunda Solis Katigbak, Jose Rizal’s first beloved.

Rizal met Segunda through his sister, Olimpia, when both attended Colegio de la Concordia in Santa Ana in Manila. At the time, Segunda was already betrothed to Don Manuel Mitra de San Miguel-Luz, who was a scion to a prominent family in Lipa.

“Pepe had to content himself by watching lola ride the carromata from afar in Calamba,” mused Lileth Malabanan, Segunda’s granddaughter by Paz LuzDimayuga. This story has been told to manang Lileth many times over, she said, that eventually, she can narrate it from mere memory.

The heritage house cum museum along Calle Rizal is now considered a national heritage house by the National Historical Institute. It is also one of the stops for the Rediscover Batangas campaign by Star (Southern Tagalog Arterial Road) Infrastructure Development Corp. (Star–IDC), under San Miguel Corp.’s infrastructure arm, SMC Infrastructure.

“Showing people different tourism destinations is something we advocate, not just through Star Tollway but also through our other province-bound

SMC Infrastructure expressways like South Luzon Expressway and Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway,” said Star Tollway CEO Manny Bonoan.

The recent tour comprised of stops at Malvar, Lipa, Balete and Taal Town in Batangas.

“Every town is different and there is so much to see. Our country’s history is filled with many stories of trials and triumphs that have shaped our national identity. Batangas, in particular, offers a peek into the history in the Southern Tagalog region,” said Bonoan.

In Malvar, the Metro Manila Turf Club, a 45-hectare horse racing facility, continues a tradition that dates back to the 1860s, when horse racing was established in the country by the Manila Jockey Club, the first racing club in Southeast Asia.

Back then, the sport was mostly enjoyed by society’s elite. In the 1900s, Manila Jockey Club opened the Santa Mesa Oval to the masses. With the growth of the sport and its following, competitors decided to breed Philippine horses for the races, whereas previously they would only race with imported horses.

“There is so much preparation that goes into horse racing,” said Gelo Antonio, one of Metro Turfs’s stable managers: “The race itself is short, only lasting about a minute but the jockeys train daily and devote many hours to preparing for their racers. As early as 4 am, the whole property is bustling with trainers getting their start to the day.”

After Malvar, there’s of course Lipa, where we met manang Lileth who toured us around the Luz-Katigbak ancestral house.

Now over 130 years old, the house survived the

Second World War and the Japanese occupation.

A small fountain leads to the caida (or the family’s receiving area) that is adorned with machuca tiles. Over to one side of the caida is a collection of photographs—many of them portraits of Segunda, Don Manuel and members of the Luz-Katigbak clans.

The house also retained some if its original foundations, as well as old furnishings, like various heirloom plates and silverware from Europe displayed in the komedor; a century-old violin owned by the family, and narra tables and beds. An ancient stone stairway leads up to the 19th century azotea, where a marble chess table Rizal played on with Don Manuel is displayed.

“We were very fortunate that the houses was spared, and even luckier because the things we hid in the basements were not discovered by the Japanese.

So today, we are able to display them here,” said manang Lileth.

Not far from Casa de Segunda is Hotel 1925, which was built in memory of the owners’ father, Rufino “Pinong” Mojares. The interior of its in-house restaurant, Imprenta Modern Filipino Cuisine, is inspired by the old printing press business of the Mojares family. Here, members of the Lipa Integrated Performing Arts perform the indigenous dances Luwa and Subli over lunch. The Lipa Actors Company, the sole community theater organization in Batangas, also put on a play.

From Lipa, the tour moved on to Balete, the honey capital of the province. Batangas serves as a good breeding ground for bee colonies and many families in Balete have taken to putting up their own farms.

Apart from this, Taal Tours are also offered by Lima Park Hotel and Nayomi Sanctuary Resort due to Balete’s close proximity to Taal Lake, once an inlet of nearby Balayan Bay. The whole of Taal Town used to be the capital of the province, which is why hundreds of heritage structures that served as home to several prominent historical figures abound in the area. One of this is the residence of Marcela Mariño de Agoncillo, the principal seamstress of the first and official flag of the Philippines. She was the wife of Filipino diplomat Felipe Encarnacion Agoncillo.

Two historical churches are also within close proximity of the Mariño ancestral house. The first is the Basilica de San Martin de Tours, which residents simply refer to as the Taal Basilica. Located on Calle San Martin, the church features a classic Baroque architecture and intricate trompe l’oeil painted ceilings. It dates back to 1878 and is said to be the largest church in Asia.

The second is the Archdiocesan Shrine of Our Lady of Caysasay, built in 1640 to honor the image of the Virgin of Caysasay, a wooden statue of the Virgin Mary discovered by a fisherman along Pansipit River in Caysasay which was then a small barangay in Taal. According to legend, the image, which was kept in Taal Basilica, would keep leaving the church and be found again in Caysasay where it was first discovered. One day it disappeared and did not turn up for several years, until two girls saw the image reflected in a well.

Today, that spot, called the Santa Lucia Wells, is believed to have miraculous healing powers. n

Here’s how to make your work life easier EVERY Privato branch offers free Wi-Fi for guests, allowing for seamless productive sessions.

TRAVELING for work is no doubt a great opportunity to get to see new places. But the ugly truth is that it’s often a source of stress, too. Going out of town, locating your business hotel and attempting to go to your meetings through heavy traffic often prove to be taxing affairs.

In Metro Manila, an emerging chain of business-lifestyle hotels is addressing the needs of business travelers and even casual staycationers with its convenient branch locations and efficient service. The Privato Hotel Group (www.privatohotels.com) has all its branches in the heart of key commercial districts, making them an ideal choice for travelers with packed schedules.

The Ortigas branch of Privato is strategically located across Capitol Commons and the Ortigas Central Business District. In Quezon City, Privato can be found at the heart of Tomas Morato, minutes away from the city’s major landmarks. Soon, this business-leisure hotel chain will be opening its doors in Makati. Set to open in the third quarter of 2019, the new

branch will be part of the growing commercial district of San Antonio.

With a deep understanding of what business travelers need, Privato ensures that convenience is woven into every guest’s experience. Since the hotels are in key business districts, both meeting and lifestyle venues are always close by, minimizing the hassle of spending on expensive taxi fares and navigating unfamiliar commuter routes.

With reasonable rates, companies looking to book a stay in Privato will find the ideal accommodations for any engagement. The Quezon City branch, in particular, recently won a TripAdvisor Award for consistently garnering excellent guest reviews. As a whole, the Privato Group specializes in a balance between the convenience of business and the small luxuries of casual leisure.

“We’re aspirational in brand but accessible in price,” says Privato Founder and President Gab Perez. “Our sweet spot is that we give champagne for the price of beer.”

Every Privato branch offers free Wi-Fi

for guests, allowing for seamless productive sessions. With private function rooms available, companies can also take advantage of the

hotel’s ease of access. And because even the most serious business travelers want a bit of leisure when traveling, Privato boasts in-room

massage services, workout facilities, swimming pools, lounges and restaurants.

Guests at Privato Quezon City can enjoy prime rib tapa and Southern fried chicken breakfast meals in the lobby restaurant, while those staying at Privato Ortigas can get their fix of delicious fare at the Verona Rooftop Lounge. With its Key to the City program, they can also get exclusive discounts and freebies from surrounding establishments simply by presenting their Privato hotel key card.

Despite its emphasis on businessfriendly convenience, Privato’s charm lies in the personalized experience it delivers to guests. Perez sees to it that the clients feel at home, even when they’re visiting for work purposes. “The unique thing about hospitality is that properties can be replicated, whereas the people cannot. You cannot replicate an attendant’s smile or a front receptionist’s tone. I always tell my staff that what we do is not just a job. These small details are integral to who we are at Privato, and we want all our guests to feel that Filipino hospitality.”

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Thursday, August 15, 2019

Entertaining BusinessMirror

Popeyes marches to Alabang, Manila

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Today’s Horoscope

By Eugenia Last

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Jennifer Lawrence, 29; Joe Jonas, 30; Anthony Anderson, 49; Debra Messing, 51.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Self-improvements are favored this year. Look for long-term results, not overnight fixes that won’t last. Plan your actions and take a serious look at your habits and the people in your life who are good for you, as well as those who are not. Streamline your lifestyle to accommodate your life goals. Choose whatever will add stability to your life. Your lucky numbers are 8, 15, 22, 26, 30, 32, 48.

By Jt Nisay & Pauline Joy M. Gutierrez

8990 Holdings General Counsel Ian Dato (from left), Kuya J Group President Winglip Chang, COO Gretz Rivera and Chairman Lowell Yu

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LOBAL Louisiana fried chicken quickservice restaurant (QSR) brand Popeyes has started to expand its presence in the Philippine market, opening two branches in a span of two weeks. The first one is at Alabang Town Center (ATC) in Alabang, followed by another at SM San Lazaro in Manila.

The new branches, according to Kuya J Group CFO Francis Reyes, will give more Filipinos access to the brand’s signature Louisiana-style fried chicken, biscuits and other offerings, all to be enjoyed in distinct dining experiences. He said nature is a focal point at the first and flagship store at Arcovia City in Pasig with huge windows that welcome natural light, while the ATC branch is geared toward family diners with large tables and a swing set.

“More than just really good chicken,” Reyes said, “diners should have a feel-good dining experience.”

Popeyes was founded in Louisiana in 1972 by restaurateur Al Copeland Sr. The brand has become known for its authentic New Orleans food, including the world-famous Southern-style fried chicken, Cajun fries and the original honey biscuits. A growing favorite in the Philippines, meanwhile, is the countryexclusive Popeyes Spaghetti.

In August 2018, Kuya J Holdings Group Inc. announced that it will be bringing back Popeyes to the country following its exit in 2007 due to issues with its previous franchise holder. Reyes said the partnership with Restaurant Brand Inc., the Canada-based parent company of Popeyes, took around a year-and-a-half to complete, and involved a relationship review to see fit not only of the products in the market but also between the two groups as partners.

The thorough approach is paying dividends thus far, as the Arcovia City flagship branch broke the record for best transactions for global opening by hitting up to five times its daily average sales target.

Reyes said the plan is to open up to 12 more Popeyes branches this year, all within the Metro, and to have a total of 100 stores nationwide in the next three years.

a

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Make partnerships a priority. Listen and react positively in order to get the most out of any discussion. Getting along will be half the battle and will make it easier to convince others to see things your way. HHH

b

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Stay focused on what’s important to you, as well as what’s expected of you. Balancing between your needs and others’ will help you maintain a strong connection to the people you need to help you reach your goal. HHH

c

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Look for the positive in everything and everyone. Focus on self-improvements and your emotional outlook. If someone is bringing you down, reconsider the relationship and how healthy it is for you to let it continue. Do what’s best for you. HHHHH

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CANCER (June 21-July 22): Don’t push yourself too hard. If you feel tired, take a break. Being aware of what you can and cannot do will make life easier. Don’t let someone take advantage of you. HH

“I wouldn’t say it’s ‘aggressive,’ which connotes that we didn’t think about it, because we have thought about it. I would call it ‘strategically fast’ instead,” added the CFO, who called himself a “numbers pusher.”

The push comes from their research that the chicken QSR is a growing segment that is not as overpopulated as perceived, he said. Reyes pointed to the group’s marketing efforts, and research and development team as factors that would help them carve a place in the segment. He added that Kuya J Group Chairman Winglip Chang is a “supertaster” who has a knack to come up with quality offerings.

“The value of his suggestions and recommendations is more than enough to launch a brand,” Reyes said.

“And that’s where we’re happy at: using that creativity and translating it to food to make people happier.”

Reyes added that the Popeyes will “definitely” be open for sub-franchising, but “not in the near future.”

He said the priority is to first establish a good base of company-owned stores.

“We have to have a lot of notches on our belt, and share these to franchisers. And we subscribe to that requirement of Popeyes that we need to have more company-owned stores than franchise stores because it’s our personal stake,” he said. “We, together with our partners, believe in the same passion, part of the same system, same family. And that, I guess, is what the Kuya J Group is all about—whether with Popeyes or Kuya J, we are all family.” n

MARRIOTT Hotel Manila’s Marriott Café

and Silogue at the RWM Garden Wing Gaming Area.

Diners can also savor unlimited

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LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Give attention to yourself and the ones you love.

Improvements can be made if you are demonstrative about the way you feel and what you want to achieve. Discuss your plans, but don’t make a big deal if someone declines your invitation. HHHH

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VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Follow your own path. Don’t feel the need to persuade others to get involved in your goals. The less said and the more you get done, the better off you’ll be.

Hard work will bring positive change, as well as added confidence. HHH

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LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Wager your options. Follow the path that opens a window of opportunity into something you’ve always wanted to do. Create a strong alliance through personal improvements that will benefit you, as well as the people you want on your team. HHH

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This way to (almost) endless buffets TAKE your taste buds on an incomparable trip through the hotel and signature restaurants of Resorts World Manila (RWM), as the country’s first integrated resort regales guests with extraordinary thrills and deals in celebration of its 10th anniversary.

From over 70 dining options throughout RWM’s vast complex, it has put together a selection of 10 buffet and unlimited serving vouchers that can satisfy even the largest appetites.

The RWM Grand Food Trip will take guests on a journey across the vast array of buffet stations and hearty feasts throughout RWM’s hotel and signature restaurants for only P10,000.

Enjoy bountiful lunch or dinner buffets at Kusina by Hilton Manila, S Kitchen at Sheraton Hotel Manila, Marriott Café at Marriott Hotel Manila, Savoy Café at Savoy Hotel Manila, Café Belmont at Belmont Hotel Manila, The Terrace at Maxims Hotel,

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servings of the top 10 best sellers of Victoria Harbour Café at the RWM Garden Wing Gaming Area

and Silk Road at the RWM Grand Wing Gaming Area. For an extra indulgent experience, guests can also avail themselves of RWM’s Grand Staycation package which will let them enjoy overnight stays at six of RWM’s eight world-class accommodations.

For only P28,000, guests get one voucher for each of RWM’s three global five-star hotels: Marriott Manila Hotel, Sheraton Manila Hotel and Hilton Manila. The Grand Staycation package also includes vouchers for RWM’s practical luxury accommodations, Holiday Inn Express Manila Newport City, Belmont Hotel Manila and Savoy Hotel Manila.

Visit www.rwmanila.com for more information or download the RWM Mobile App for free on the AppStore and GooglePlay for updates and complete information on Resorts World Manila’s 10th anniversary offerings.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Don’t share your feelings until you know more about the person prying into your affairs. A big talker will offer interesting but false information. Don’t get caught up in someone else’s dream or scam. HHH

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SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Look at the big picture. Be honest with yourself before you delve into something you know little about. Do your research and consider the consequences of making a premature move. HHHH

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CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): You may crave change, but before you decide to take a chance on something or someone that intrigues you, consider the possible outcome. Trust must be earned; don’t give someone the benefit of the doubt.

Get a second opinion. HH

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AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Put more time and money into your skills and your future. Focus on your appearance, health and ability to handle your financial affairs properly. Make your own way instead of being a follower. HHHHH

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PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): You’ll have big ideas and persuasive abilities that will convince others to help you get what you want. Make sure your plans are solid before getting others involved. HHH BIRTHDAY BABY: You are outspoken, generous and hardworking.

You are aggressive and persuasive.

‘beep, beep, beep’ BY MARK MCCLAIN The Universal Crossword/Edited by David Steinberg

ACROSS 1 Popular pear 5 Latch (onto) 9 Hide, as an acorn 13 Dominican Republic’s ___ Domingo 14 ___ avis 15 Ancient Andean 16 Plain font 17 Oklahoma’s “Wheat Capital” 18 Eden evictee 19 Blogger’s revenue source, perhaps 22 Raggedy doll 23 Mosaics, e.g.

24 A bruised one could use a massage 25 Bureaucratic tape color 28 Aging 31 Govt. workplace watchdog 34 Kind of bunt or fly, briefly 35 Frontiersman Daniel 36 Big name in bouillon 38 Divest (of) 40 Sound-related 41 Medicare supplement provider 42 Cartoon scream

4 Search for 4 45 Policy for some dog owners 49 Ticked-off state 50 One may use location services 51 Durango day 52 Bit of work 55 Device that can find the hidden words in 19-, 28- and 45-Across?

59 “Come to ___!”

61 Cursed Biblical brother 62 “Ditto!”

63 Meadow moms 64 To be, to Amelie 65 Strange 66 The Way We ___ (Barbra Streisand film) 67 Future watermelon 68 Informal move DOWN 1 Oil tycoon 2 Pearl or vidalia vegetable 3 He’s a deer 4 Where a stay goes 5 1914-18 conflict

6 Cape Town coin 7 Out of bed 8 No-goodnik 9 Predisposition 10 Not ready to serve 11 Color TV pioneer 12 Candied tuber 13 Star Wars or Rocky 20 Greek god with a bow 21 Slangy neophytes 26 Choosing rhyme start 27 Rubbish 28 Bouquet ___ (herb blend) 29 More hostile 30 Like a caftan 31 Giraffe cousin 32 Nasty look 33 Short fuse 37 Attacked 39 Made soundproof 43 Furrow, as the brow 46 This clue has many of them 47 Waiting for New Year’s Day, say 48 He conquered ancient France

2 Amazon’s business 5 53 Montague teen 54 Silly expression 56 With the greatest of ___ 57 Dreadful 58 “Old” nursery rhyme king 59 Chapel seat 60 Wonderment Solution to yesterday’s puzzle:

Parentlife BusinessMirror

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Thursday, August 15, 2019

HEALTHY BREAKFAST ON A BUSY SCHOOL MORNING? IT’S NOT SO HARD

FROM left: Marcus finishing the matching type game we did to review his Chinese lessons; Meagan and Marcus’s free play time with their made-up hotel concierge, where I needed to make sure to not step beyond the yellow and black line; and Meagan’s cooking time while practicing her shapes and sizes.

By Melissa rayWortH The Associated Press BREAKFAST, as you may have heard, is the most important meal of the day. That’s especially true for kids returning to school, who need fuel for energy and learning. But serving a healthy breakfast can feel like one more challenge for parents trying to get themselves and their kids out the door on time.

Never fear. With a bit of planning, breakfast can be a great opportunity to get dairy, fiber, fruits and even vegetables into a child’s diet. And it doesn’t have to be complicated. “It’s not like there’s one perfect breakfast,” says Jessica Jaeger, a registered dietitian at Adelphi University in Garden City, New York.

Just try to include a mix of proteins, complex carbs from whole grains and healthy fats. “This helps stabilize blood sugar and appetite,” Jaeger says.

Diane Dembicki, an associate professor of nutrition who works with Jaeger at Adelphi, suggests involving kids in decision-making, and even in prep work the night before.

Avoid the packaged frozen breakfast sandwiches and “breakfast bars” that have names that suggest nutrition but are often high in sugar and fat, Dembicki says. A few strategies for planning good breakfasts on school mornings: EGGS CAN BE EASY TRY make-ahead egg cups or breakfast burritos.

Kirsten Clodfelter, a mom of three from Louisville, Kentucky, does meal prep on Sundays with the help of her oldest, who is seven. They scramble eggs with a variety of chopped add-ins (sausage with diced onion and peppers, or perhaps bacon and spinach), and then put the eggs in a tortilla with a bit of cold cheese and wrap it in foil (for reheating in the oven the next morning) or plastic wrap (for reheating in the microwave), and freeze it. You can cut the burrito in half for little kids. Choose whole-grain tortillas or flatbread.

Another make-ahead option: Fill the cups of a muffin tin with a mix of egg, veggies and meat, then bake. Once they’ve cooled, pop them out and freeze or refrigerate the individual egg cups. Then quickly microwave them at breakfast time, served with a piece of fresh fruit.

For easy eggs prepared in the morning, Kate Wehr, a mother of four in Montana, suggests combining some chopped veggies and perhaps meat with a wellwhisked egg and a bit of butter or olive oil in a ceramic bowl. Cover with a paper towel and microwave for about 45 seconds. The eggs will be ready to scoop into a whole wheat wrap, and breakfast is ready.

If you’re running late, wrap it in wax paper and your child can eat it on the way to school.

GRAINS CAN BE QUICK TRY topping whole-grain toast or a whole-grain waffle with natural nut butter, sliced bananas or other fresh fruit on top, and perhaps a drizzle of honey.

Use natural peanut butter or another natural spread, rather than a brand that’s high in sugar.

“I found that starting my kids early with natural peanut butter meant they really didn’t ask for the sweeter stuff,” says Sarah Shemkus, of Gloucester, Massachusetts. This breakfast hits the macronutrient goals of protein, whole grain and healthy fats, and the fruit adds vitamins. A hard-boiled egg made the night before can provide extra protein.

Dembicki also recommends avocado, which has healthy monounsaturated fat and is high in vitamins.

Consider a quick avocado toast on whole-grain bread, served with a hard-boiled egg and piece of fruit.

Another whole-grain option: overnight oats made in a Mason jar, or oatmeal set up the night before in a slow-cooker. Let kids choose their ingredients, including fruits and nuts. By flavoring the oatmeal yourself rather than buying pre-flavored, the sugar is kept low. Shemkus sometimes cooks quick oats in a bowl in her microwave with grated carrot and raisins, then tops it with maple syrup, cinnamon and milk: “We call it ‘carrot cake oat bowl,’ and the three-yearold loves it.”

COLD BREAKFAST CAN BE COOL FOR kids who prefer a cold breakfast, try Greek yogurt with flaxseed, granola and fresh fruit mixed in, and perhaps a bit of honey. Hard-boiled eggs also go well with this.

Some families pack an entire breakfast into a blender to create smoothies. Fresh fruit, yogurt or milk, peanut butter and even greens can go in. Clodfelter got her kids to embrace spinach in smoothies by adding it to a berry blend and calling them “Christmas smoothies,” since the green flecks of spinach were combined with red berries.

Or bake healthy muffins in advance. Search for recipes with plenty of fruit or nuts and whole grains.

Make a large batch and freeze them. Veggies can be hidden in many muffin recipes, and are front-andcenter in recipes like carrot-raisin muffins.

And don’t forget dinner for breakfast: Not every kid likes typical American “breakfast foods,” and that’s fine, Dembicki says. If they have favorite dinner meals, make extra and pack leftovers in small containers for easy reheating the next morning.

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Homework...Let’s play!

MOMMY NO LIMITS

MAYE YAO CO SAY

mommynolimits@gmail.com

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AST week, I shared how the concept of “Mind Maps” by Tony Buzan helped me in managing my kids’ homework. I learned then that introducing concepts through diagrams was more effective in making my kids absorb information because they got to use both sides of their brains. This week, let me share another effective tool I continue to use today.

At age four, I remember liking abstracts more than facts. I found memorizing things, even spelling words, quite stressful. After spending half a day in a highly traditional school, I remember my afternoons spent in clay and paint. It was not that I excelled in art class, but I just loved the “freedom” of spilling things and using my hands. Looking back, I may have been a visual and tactile learner. Even when I was learning math, I remember having a hard time memorizing the multiplication table in first grade.

My aunt drew it out on a cardboard like an art project and then taught me a sing-song way in Fukien, making it far more enjoyable.

When I moved to Poveda in high school, each student had “Individual Work” requirements for core subjects. These were projects to apply our

theoretical learnings from concepts in english, math, science and the like. For example, when we were learning Canterbury Tales, we were tasked to choose a character from the book, create our costume and attend english class wearing the costume while adopting the character’s personality. It was a refreshing experience.

That was when I started to love learning more. I liked the “play” injected into the required projects.

Even if I had a hard time with a subject like english, doing the projects allowed me to enjoy the content by processing the knowledge in a more relaxed way.

When I had kids, I was always curious about finding ways for them to truly love learning. My hypothesis was if I could spark the interest and rationale of the subject matter to my kids, incorporate a playful element, and deliver it in a more relaxed and loving way, then my kids would have a higher probability of absorption. The bonus wish was for my kids, that because learning that particular concept was a delightful experience, they would eagerly continue the learning journey on their own.

When it came to subject learning, my kids were stubborn to say the least. They did not sit still and were pretty vocal when they did not like the subject matter. When Marcus was Kinder 1, he did not like to study Chinese at all. He was uneasy pronouncing the words. We took a break from studying and I told him we would just play. Because I knew he liked to learn while using his hands, we cut out pieces of paper together in squares. Then I challenged him to draw out the vocabulary he was learning. I wrote the Chinese words on the other pieces of paper. Then we played a picture-matching type of game. Chinese became one of Marcus’s favorite subject later on. He even got a 100 in his report card the following year.

Meagan has always been visual. She uses art play to deepen her knowledge on a subject matter that interests her. She mixes technology, books and art to research and “relax.”

On top of injecting play in core subject learning, I also leave a lot of “free play” during school days. This is providing my kids the avenue to choose and try new things, not because they need to be very good at it, but because they would like to expand their horizon.

Saturday nights were our venue for game nights, “concerts” and cooking activities. There was a time that Meagan wanted to try newscasting, and we would set up a high chair as her podium. I actually have a video of her pretending to be this famous newscaster on her own show.

Free play is also about fun and being “active.” It is about them freely and “actively” picking, mixing and role-playing all the toys they have. It is using their favorite toys to make each of us laugh. It is about giving them a free hand in planning activities.

There was a weekend when I found a directional sign at the ground floor leading to the second floor, where my kids had set up a hotel concierge for me to check in, with Marcus’s action figures as their welcoming party.

Every year, I see my kids dive in subject learning with both enthusiasm and ease. When they get stumped on something, they would automatically pause, grab their favorite toy like their Rubik’s cube, play a while, then get back to their work. Then they would ask me or they would find a material on the Web to help them. Thanks to “play,” I see my kids taking on their homework without fear, looking forward instead to the fun in store in finding play in their work.

Next week, I will share more concrete play-infused subject learning activities you can use for your kids. n

❶ TALENTED

Pearl Cathallia dela Cruz, six, wants to be a teacher someday.

❷ SM City ❷

Lucena’s David Jefferson Valenzuela, six, loves to watch YouTube and play roblox. His ambition is to go to the moon one day.

❸

❶

❸ SM City ❹

Calamba’s Francis Lee loves to dance, do stunts and someday be in business.

❹ SM City

Cebu’s Reiane Inlajusta joined the competition to hone her talents and inspire more kids.

Who will be the next SM Little Star?

ON August 18, 30 cute, talented, and adorable kids will compete in the Grand Finals of the SM Little Star pageant at SMX Convention Center, Manila.

The Grand Finals is the culmination of a monthlong search wherein more than 5,000 kids aged four to seven from all over the country registered to join the contest. In its 12th year of celebrating talented Filipino kids, SM Little Star shines brighter with more than over P9.5 million worth of prizes at stake, including brand-new cars, international trip, college scholarship, and artist management contract plus cash prizes and gift certificates.

Great prizes, plus a chance to bring their star quality to the next level, await the Grand Prize winner: a brand new Chevrolet Sail MT,

exclusive artist management contract with Regal Entertainment Inc., P100,000 worth of cash and SM Gift Certificates (P50,000 cash and P50,000 worth of gift certificates), a five-day and fournight trip to China for two, including airfare, hotel accommodations, and tours; a four-year College Scholarship Grant from National University and P30,000 worth of Toy Kingdom Gift Cards.

More than that, this search for talented, lovable and adorable kids has been the stepping stone for many of its winners to go on to bigger things.

SM Little Stars 2016 Boy Grand Winner Marcus Cabais, and his counterpart 2016 Girl Grand Winner Sheena Kirtsten Bentoy played key roles in The Lion King The Musical—Marcus as the young

Simba and Sheena as the Young Nala, the latter in the musicale’s Asian Tour.

For the Grand Finals, this year’s winners will be chosen by celebrity judges: singer and actress Karylle, movie director Joey Reyes, TV personality Tuesday Vargas and SM Little Stars 2013 third prize winner Esang de Torres on the following criteria: star quality 40 percent, personality 20 percent and talent 40 percent.

“Through SM Little Stars, we celebrate our commitment to making mall-going experiences fun, nurturing and rewarding for the whole family, and to spark moments that kids will treasure today and in the coming years,” said Jonjon San Agustin, SM Supermalls SVP for marketing.

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Show BusinessMirror

Thursday, August 15, 2019

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Situating Cinemalaya in the center and the peripheries REELING

TITO GENOVA VALIENTE

titovaliente@yahoo.com

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INEMALAYA goes to the region” was how it was announced. That was the slip: for all the freedom in that name, the festival was, for many years, a centralized banquet, a feast that was locked in the embrace of the big, avowed important city.

Thus, it was with great celebration that the films lauded in Manila were received by the regions lucky to be chosen as the site for its expansion. In Naga, the newest mall, Vista Mall, became the new pilgrimage site for cineastes.

How did the films fare? It was hard to tell from the postings made on Facebook by various supporters of films. Cinemalaya has developed its own family of filmmakers and, therefore, judgment tended to be biased and circumscribed by whom you know, whom you worked with.

Early on, John Denver Trending, by its very title, urged some wags to tag it as the film that was indeed trending. Filmed in Antique, the film got a major boost by a gala premiere held in Bacolod one rainy, stormy day. This was an interesting move: to bring the film to the place where its language would matter most. Or, at least the nuances of the dialogue would have less filter. On this note, the move of Cinemalaya to the regions does what regional cinema proponents have known all the while. The regions are where we can develop our cinema and not in any imposed center where the monolithic approach to cultures and aesthetics reigns supreme against the fact of that movement and its obsolescence.

While we are in this issue of the regions, there is one entry in the Cinemalaya this year that I tag as “Bicol” film. This is Ani. I learned months back that the filmmakers were from Catanduanes, an island-province in the Bicol region. Immediately, the exciting prospect of listening to another variant of the language made me think of the possibilities of having it for a gala premiere in Naga. This was before John Denver Trending made its landfall in Negros Occidental together with the storm. We did not have much preparation and there seemed to be not much interest

from Manila either. What happened instead was a talkback from one of the actors, Marc Felix, a native of Naga and a former student of Ateneo de Naga.

What did the critics say about Ani? Oggs Cruz, my favorite film critic outside the Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino of which I am a part, writes: “The biggest problem of Kim Zuñiga and Sandro del Rosario’s Ani [The Harvest] is that it obsesses over the most insignificant element of the film, which is the titular robot. What is even more frustrating about the film is that despite the obvious attention given to animating the robot, it still looks dodgy and barely comparable to second-rate special effects from a lowrent and micro-budgeted video game.”

That was not the concern in Naga. The audiences in Naga I talked to were bothered by the Bicol language that, in their perception, was uneven. This, however, is a problem that I find more of interest than of conflict and weakness. Catanduanes, after all, has a different Bicol language and I do not profess an expertise about it. I would wait for the native of Catanduanes to do the appropriate job of assessing how the language of the island was utilized.

Speaking of what is appropriate, two critics appraise a film, which won Ruby Ruiz the Best Actress award at the recently concluded Cinemalaya awards night. The film is Iska.

Again, Oggs Cruz reviews Iska: “Theodore Boborol’s Iska opens with grating noise. Amid the cacophony of the slums in the morning, an underwear-clad boy is crying relentlessly while Iska [Ruby Ruiz] is trying to calm him and dressing him up at the same time. The scene is stretched for minutes longer than necessary, perhaps to prepare the audience to fortify its tolerance for blunt chaos, which is somewhat smart, as the rest of the film is mostly composed of elegantly staged commotions that supposedly forward the agenda of shining a light on the little people that pepper the country’s foremost university.”

Cruz continues: “Iska is fueled by bleakness and melancholy. Ruiz, thankfully, is an astute actress and does not rely solely on telegraphing the unbearable trials of her character’s life. There is important levity in the performance, which is at times problematic given the seriousness of some of the film’s episodes.”

A different approach is covered by fellow Manunuri and present chairman of our group, Roland Tolentino. Of Iska, he states: “I just watched the film Iska, a 2019 Cinemalaya film and festival winner, and found it to be a most disturbing film, and I am not easily disturbed by film. Set in the [University of the Philippines] UP Diliman campus and Krus na Ligas, an underclass periphery where a bulk of UP’s

students and staff lives, Iska works as a xerox machine operator while caregiving for her grandchild who is a special child.”

Of this disturbance, Tolentino expounds: “The film is even more disturbing because all historical recourses for relief are rendered inutile in the film’s representation of irony: that UP through its conduits employs contractuals with non-minimum wages, that like the Communist Manifesto and by essays of Rizal which xerox workers reproduce for courses have no visible effect to change the abject poor’s collective lives, that activism—especially rendered on film with her breaking down after fearing for her job and the closure of the stall she works in while activists seated around her are ceaselessly chanting their revolutionary slogans—cannot redeem her from her predicament. Even government agencies in charge of the welfare of children and orphanages are devoid of giving her relief.”

Iska, for Tolentino, goes beyond poverty porn.

He closes his short Facebook post by describing Iska as: “Para itong slow cinema na zombie film, slow-motion pero assured ang apocalypse o, worse, ng self-destruction ng mahihirap [It is like a slow cinema that is a zombie film, in slow-motion because it is assured of apocalypse or, worse, of the selfdestruction of the poor].”

No destruction took place in Naga at the close of Cinemalaya. In my old city, construction took place as audiences chose for the first time the best one-minute film. My earlier question was: What can one say in 60 seconds has changed? Now, I ask: What can a oneminute film do to young filmmakers? Well, the short film competition is about to introduce the newest batch of filmmakers, a group that can present their stories within a highly limited time, in all its singular splendor and away from the cruel clutches of claques in the metropolis.

More next time on the one-minute films from Bicol, Western Visayas and Davao. n

UPCMCAA’S GLORY AWARDS DEADLINE OF ENTRIES ON AUGUST 16

THE University of the Philippines College of Mass Communications Alumni Association will recognize eight new outstanding alumni at the UP Masscom annual homecoming through the Glory Awards—a tribute to the legacy of UP MassCom’s first dean, Dr. Gloria Feliciano. The UPCMCAA is currently accepting nominations.

Awards will be given to eight alumni achievers in television, print, radio, film, online journalism, research, and allied disciplines, such as marketing communications, public relations, social advocacy and performing arts. Mass communication experts will serve as the jury of the awards.

Outstanding alumni who were already recognized previously by the College and the UP Alumni Association will not be eligible to receive the award. The distinction was made to honor emerging alumni who have made notable achievements in their field of practice. The Third Glory Awards will be presented on November 9, 4 pm, at the Plaridel Hall Film Studio. The affair will also coincide with the yearly homecoming bash of UPCMC, a CHED Center of Excellence founded in 1965 as the Institute of Mass Communications in Diliman.

“We want to continue celebrating outstanding graduates of UP MassCom and this is our way of doing so,” said UPCMCAA President Malou Choa-Fagar.

“UP MassCom is proud of its graduates who are committed to delivering the best work in the many fields of communication, whether it is in media, the corporate world or the development sector,” Fagar added.

Last year’s Glory Award winners were: Pedro “Boo” Chanco III of the Philippine Star; Dolores F. Cheng, founder of the Center for Possibilities Foundation; Cecilia Victoria “Ces” Drilon, head of the ABS-CBN Lifestyle Ecosystem Group; ABS-CBN Chief of Staff Florida “Linggit” Tan-Marasigan; Jose Ramon D. Olives, former Strategy and Business Development head of ABS-CBN; GMA Network Entertainment Group Senior Vice President Lilybeth G. Rasonable; GMA First Vice President for News Mary Grace de la Peña-Reyes; Luz Rimban, director of the Ateneo-Asian Center for Journalism; film director and producer Chito S. Roño; ABS-CBN Middle East Correspondent Michelle Fe “Maxxy” Santiago; ABSCBN News Deputy Editor for Multimedia Fernando G. Sepe Jr.; and digital media and measurement expert Beth Uyenco Jurors will evaluate the nominees based on the excellence and impact of their work.

Nomination requirements for the Glory Awards are posted at www.masscomm.upd.edu.ph and the official UP MassCom alumni Facebook page (www.facebook.com/groups/upcmcaa). Deadline for the submission of nominations is on August 16.

JOHN Denver Trending, a film written and directed by Arden Rod Condez, emerges as the breakout hit of the 2019 Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival.

ACTOR Richard Gere aboard the Open Arms Spanish humanitarian boat as it cruises in the Mediterranean Sea, meeting with migrants and helping serve meals. AP

Richard Gere visits migrants stuck in the Mediterranean CARRYING boxes of fruit, Richard Gere visited rescued migrants Friday on a humanitarian ship that has been struck in the Mediterranean Sea for over a week, landing smack in the middle of a debate over immigration that European nations have not been able to resolve.

The American film star took food and supplies by boat to 121 people aboard the Open Arms, a rescue ship floating in international waters near the Italian island of Lampedusa after being blocked from entering ports in Italy and Malta.

Those nations want fellow European Union countries to take in more of the migrants who come across the sea.

The actor, 69, spoke to several migrants who had

fled war-torn Libya on unseaworthy smuggling boats before being rescued, among them a man and his baby. A father of two, Gere shared photos of his youngest son, who was born in February.

Gere has a long history of human-rights activism and often campaigns for environmental issues and AIDS research. He has been banned from China for advocating for human rights in Tibet. He happened to be in Italy this week and after seeing news about the boat’s plight, contacted the Spanish charity Open Arms and asked “How can I help?” a spokesman for the group told The Associated Press.

Two days later Gere was on Lampedusa, helping load a boat with supplies. “The most important

thing for these people here is to be able to get to a free port, to get off the boat, to get on land and start a new life,” Gere said, urging the world to “please support us here on Open Arms and help these people, our brothers and sisters.”

Other European countries have yet to respond to the aid group’s request for a solution to the impasse over the rescue ship.

The International Organization for Migration says 39,289 migrants and refugees have reached Europe by sea so far this year as of August 4, about 34 percent fewer than during the same period in 2018. It says another 840 people have died this year on the dangerous Mediterranean crossing from North Africa to Europe. AP

Envoys&Expats

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PHL fortifies strong ties with Singapore

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MBASSADOR Gerard Ho (Wei Hong) enthusiastically greeted a large gathering of guests at the recent local reception of the 54th National Day of the Republic of Singapore.

Ho began his short but meaningful speech after the spirits of those in attendance were roused by the remarkable renditions of the national anthems of the Philippines and that of the “Lion City,” “Majulah Singapura” (Onward Singapore).

The newly installed envoy of the

city-state, in his opening remarks, stated that, “It has been a wonderful four months. I have been very lucky to experience the incredible kindness, hospitality and friendship [of the Filipinos]—not just to myself, but to my countrymen.”

“I want to say ‘thank you’ to the

Philippines for showing what great hospitality is,” Ho imparted.

The diplomat revealed that this is a special year for his country, as it also commemorates the 200th year—the bicentennial—of the founding of “modern Singapore.”

He also cited the 50th year of the establishment of PhilippineSingaporean diplomatic relations that began in 1969.

The Singaporean envoy then pointed to an extensive photo exhibit that depicted the milestones of the “strong support and friendship” with the Philippines, when his country was in its nascent stages.

For his part, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin Jr. said the

Philippines will continue to fortify its bilateral relations with Singapore.

Locsin conveyed Duter te’s warmest greetings to the government and people of the island state for the annual celebration of their independence on August 9.

“We are filled with renewed inspiration to continue our work of forging ever-stronger ties with the most efficient state in the world— one that started with almost nothing, except for a surfeit of leadership material far more than the rest of Asia combined,” Locsin said.

“It is my honor to celebrate with you the 50th anniversary of the establishment of Philippine-Singapore diplomatic relations. Since

1969, our countries have never wavered in our deep friendship and fruitful cooperation, through good and challenging times,” the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) chief said.

The secretary also praised Singapore’s success in its sustainable development, and noted that the ultraprogressive country “represents the very vision and aspiration of many nations.” “[A] time lapse of Singapore would be awe-inspiring: From its origin as coastal settlements, to its magnificent skyline, [and] the remarkable expanse of green urban spaces today… and so it became what it is today, the embodied Asian

vision of what a country should be,” he said. “ Si n g ap ore h a r ne s s e d it s strengths, which were weaknesses elsewhere,” Locsin added.

‘Lion City’

LOCSIN heaped praises on the Lion City, as he said, “Singapore is every thinking and hardworking man and woman’s Shangri-La; every Asian’s ‘city on a hill’—what Boston [in Massachusetts, United States,] was long ago. It is a paragon of flawless modernity, innovation, and efficiency—nothing was wasted or misspent on it.”

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PHL PRESENCE IN SG

Filipino artist stages exhibit in Singapore

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INGAPORE—Top officials of the Philippine Embassy in the “Lion City” graced the opening of the exhibit of multi-award-winning Filipino artist Manuel Ocampo at the STPI Gallery.

GUESTS admire Ocampo’s artworks. STPI/DFA

Manuel Ocampo: Ideolog ical Mash-Up/Remix, which ran between May and June, showcased the artist’s approach in “employing symbols and iconographies of faith, brutality and comic absurdity.”

First Secretary and Consul Gonaranao B. Musor, as well as Cultural Officer Sheila B. Bengtlars, represented the embassy.

In celebration of the Philippines’s National Heritage Month, a guided tour of the exhibition, art workshops and a performance by the Choreo Ethnic Tribal Group was organized in May for the public late.

The embassy said it would coordinate with several nongovernment organizations in Singapore to encourage more Filipino household-service workers to participate in these weekend activities in line with Ocampo’s exhibition.

Established in 2002, STPI is a workshop and contemporary art gallery that has previously hosted a number of well-known Filipino artists, such as the late Pacita Abad; Benedicto Reyes Cabrera, better known as “BenCab;” Geraldine Javier and the late Anita Magsaysay-Ho. DFA

STPI Executive Director Emi Eu (left) with Philippine Embassy in Singapore’s First Secretary and Consul Gonaranao B. Musor (right) at the opening of the exhibit of artist Manuel Ocampo. SINGAPORE PE

PHL fortifies strong ties with Singapore Continued from E1

The foreign affairs secretary said contemporary Singapore represents the very vision and aspiration of many nations: “Prosperity for all who work for it; yet, cares too for those who can’t; and all built on honest, superintelligent, determined and visionary leadership; and the instilled—not inborn—discipline of its multiethnic population.”

“Nope, race theor y doesn’t work there,” he declared.

Locsin remembered an early visit to set up a branch of a law firm there. Changi Airport, he recalled, was but “a string of barracks and manned by little muscled men in blue with submachine guns slung over their necks.”

“Yet,” the secretary added, “it was already the worst-kept secret: Changi is the best airport in the world, because it worked better than any other, far more splendid airport.”

He said the foremost aerodrome in the world was built “as pure icing on the cake of total efficiency.”

When invited to speak during the opening of Alkaff Bridge at Robertson Quay, painted in 55 colors using 900 liters of paint by the late Pacita Abad of the Philippines, Locsin told Singapore’s Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan: “It’s a happy bridge.”

Size is nothing

DESPITE protestations from Singaporean officials that their coun-

try will always be small, “Size has nothing to do with it,” Locsin retorted. “For, if big countries were reduced to small fractions of what they are, I doubt they’d become Singapore.”

He said the country, which used to be a mining site for tin, “worked contrary to pure free enterprise doctrine.”

“What is now taught as Chaos Theory is proven time and again in every great capitalist society, which is always on the brink of falling to pieces,” but not Singapore.

More praises were offered by the secretary: “Singapore harnessed its strengths, which were weaknesses elsewhere: the wide diversity of its people, the poverty and deprivation of their origin in Malay tin mining for the most part and the animosity of near neighbors.”

However, their hardworking officials “used what a lot of countries have: a strategic location at the crossroads of giant oceans, and a myriad of small seas.”

Despite Singapore’s location that is too far from the Great Pacific, other Southeast Asian countries actually have far better geographical advantages—“but to not much avail,” Locsin opined.

The Philippines’s top diplomat then offered a toast on behalf of President Duterte: “To the good health of His Excellency, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong; and Her Excellency, President Halimah Yacob; to the happiness of the peoples of the Philippines and Singapore; and to our en-

FOREIGN Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin Jr. (fourth from left) and Ambassador Gerard Ho (Wei Hong) (right) lead the opening of the Alkaff Bridge—the painting of which was a gift by the late Philippine artist Pacita Abad to the people of Singapore in 2004, according to Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan (third from right).

during friendship and partnership.”

SCS issue: Beyond our lifetime

MEANWHILE, Locsin said he shares the observation of Balakrishnan, that “all the conflicting claims in the South China Sea will not be resolved [in our lifetime].”

The DFA chief agreed and added: “As we turn our eyes to the next half century and beyond, allow me to convey the vision of Balakrishnan, which I share with as much optimism: The attachments of each

HO (Wei Hong) (from left), Locsin and Papal Nuncio to the Philippines Archbishop Gabriele Giordano Caccia offer a toast to Singapore’s 54th National Day. PCOO/PNA

people to their ideas of what they are entitled to are too strong, and will not weaken with time.”

The country’s top diplomat averred that while it would take time before the issue can be resolved, the Philippines would push for stability in the region.

The Singaporean minister, on the other hand, told him: “Nothing will stand in the way of limitless progress, prosperity, and I dare say, peace for our region.” Recto L. Mercene and Joyce R. Rocamora, PNA

&Expats

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EMBASSIES, EVENTS, ETC.

China apprehensive over proposed Pogo hub for its nationals working in PHL

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HE Chinese Embassy in Manila expressed “grave concern” over a plan to transfer foreign workers of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (Pogos) in a separate area.

man Salvador S. Panelo said it will wait for an official communication from Pagcor.

“If you will restrict their liberties, then there might be a violation.

Because if your only reason is rudeness, you can always subject them to violation of the Revised Penal Code,” Panelo said.

“I want to see first the exact dimension of that plan,” he added.

ees,” the embassy said in a press statement.

“Some Chinese citizens are even lured into and cheated to work illegally, with only tourist visas,” it added.

On the issue of illegal Chinese workers in the Philippines, the embassy said the government of China does not condone its nationals illegally working in a host country.

“The Chinese embassy solemnly warned that relevant Chinese companies or individuals in the Philippines immediately stop relevant, illegal activities; otherwise, they will be punished in accordance with Chinese law,” it said.

Under Chinese laws, it noted that any form of gambling for Chinese nationals is illegal.

“The fact that Philippine casinos, Pogos and other forms of gambling

“[Our embassy expresses] grave concern over such potential move by the Pagcor [Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.], which may infringe on the basic legal rights of the Chinese citizens concerned, and strongly urges the Philippine government to effectively protect the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese citizens in the Philippines,” the embassy said in a statement.

A recent report earlier quoted Pag-

cor Vice President Jose Tria as saying foreigners working in Pogos will be transferred to “self-contained” communities or hubs.

Tria was also quoted that these hubs would cancel the Pogos’ authority to operate outside the designated hubs and address complaints about the reported unruly behavior of some Sino workers.

Asked about Malacañang’s take on the said plan, Presidential Spokes-

Bollywood comes to Manila via Indian film fest

Israel: Overstaying OFWs’ kids can stay to finish school year

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HE Embassy of India in Manila, in partnership with the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) and ShangriLa Plaza, organized a press screening of ‘Mabuhay Bollywood’, an Indian film festival, on August 13 at the Red Carpet’s Premiere Theatre, to commemorate 70 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Ambassador Jaideep Mazumdar addressed the members of the local media, as trailers of featured movies were screened.

Mary Kom, a chronicle of the life of an Indian boxer, who won gold medals in seven World Boxing Championships, was shown.

The film festival will run from August 22 to 25 at Cinema 4 of the Red Carpet in Shangri-La Plaza. Admission is free. Details of the movies are posted via http://www.eoimanila. gov.in/ and on Facebook: @IndiaInPhilippines.

By Recto L. Mercene @rectomercene

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HE Embassy of Israel in Manila on Monday said it has allowed children of long-staying overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to remain in Tel Aviv until the end of the current school year or June 30, 2020.

“Driven by humanitarian considerations,” the embassy said in a statement that Israel’s Population Immigration and Border Authority would allow kids of overstaying workers, enrolled local in schools, to stay in the Holy Land until the end of the academic calendar, or the end of June next year.

This is in reference to a female Filipino migrant worker and her Israeli-born teenage son who were arrested by immigration officials last week.

Rosemarie Perez, along with her 13-year-old son, were taken to the Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv on Sunday night, but was later requested to deplane, according to Beth Franco of the United

Illegally recruited THE Chinese embassy, last week, also claimed that a “large number” of its nationals were illegally recruited and hired in the local gambling industry.

“In many cases, the employers of Philippine casinos, Pogos and other forms of gambling entities, do not apply necessary legal work permits for their Chinese employ-

Children of Israel (UCI).

The lawyer for Perez, Carmel Bensur, has requested for an urgent hearing on their status in a bid to have them remain in Israel.

Responding to the publication on the plight of the Filipino migrant workers, Israel’s embassy in Manila said they greatly appreciate the contribution of OFWs who have been staying and living in Israel for so many years.

“The government of Israel attaches a great significance to the working conditions of the Filipino workers, and it was demonstrated by signing the historical bilateral labor agreement between the two countries, which intends to improve the rights of the OFWs, and dramatically reduce the placement fees,” the embassy stated.

According to Israeli law, a foreign worker is allowed to live and work in Israel for up to five years.

It is expected from each of them to abide by the law and to leave the country upon the expiration of a working permit.

However, related to the case

of Perez and her family, following the expiration of her working visa, some were found to be illegally staying in the Middle East country for about 12 years.

Their deportation was “scrutinized by the Supreme Court of Israel, and has been approved.”

The UCI argued it was cruel to send children of migrants “back to a country they have never seen, and where they do not speak the language.”

Last week, migrants, their children and Israelis staged a protest in Tel Aviv to denounce the policy of deporting about 28,000 Israeliborn children of migrants.

Many of them—largely Christian Filipinos in Israel—came to work as caregivers and maids.

According to the UCI however, some 600 families could now face expulsion over a loss of residency status.

Visas were conditioned on the requirement that they do not start a family in the said country, apart from certain exceptions, the association explained.

EU to bring aid for dengue patients

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HE European Union (EU) on Friday said it will provide €100,000 in humanitaria-aid funding to assist communities most affected by the dengue outbreak in the country.

T he a mou nt w i l l b e ne f it 300,000 people in some of the hardest-hit areas in the regions of Calabarzon, Central Luzon, Central Visayas, Metro Manila and Western Visayas.

In a statement, the EU said the funding would support the Philippine Red Cross in delivering crucial assistance through the strengthening of public-health services, such as the establishment of dengue emergency medical units or hospital-extension wards at local government hospitals, and the provision of nursing staff to respond to overwhelming dengue cases.

“In addition, water sources,

which can be mosquito-breeding grounds, will be cleaned and treated with a biological-control agent to eliminate mosquito larvae. The funding also focuses on enhancing public awareness through health-promotion activities and information dissemination to prevent and reduce new cases,” the delegation of the regional bloc said.

According to the latest data from the Department of Health (DOH), close to 116,000 cases, including 491 deaths, have been reported during the first si x months of 2019.

This marks an increase of 86 percent, compared to the same period last year, when 57,564 cases were reported. The DOH declared a national dengue alert on July 15.

The DOH said Central and Western Visayas, with nearly 16,000 cases recorded, have been

badly hit areas.

The funding is also part of the EU’s overall contribution to the Disaster Relief Emergency Fund of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

The bloc, together with its member-states, is the world ’s leading donor of humanitarian aid, as it channels relief assistance as an expression of European solidarity toward people in need around the world.

It aims to save lives, prevent and alleviate human suffering, as well as safeguard the integrity and human dignity of populations affected by natural disasters and man-made crises.

Through its European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations, the EU helps over 120 million victims of conflicts and disasters every year. Ma. Teresa Montemayor/PNA

entities are targeting Chinese customers has severely affected the Chinese side,” the embassy said, as it noted that a “huge amount of Chinese funds” was being flown “illegally” from China to the Philippines.

“A conservative estimate shows that gambling-related funds, flowing illegally out of China and into the Philippines, amounts to hundreds of millions of Chinese yuan every year.

There are analysts who believe that part of the illegal gambling funds has flown into local real-estate markets and other sectors in the Philippines,” the embassy added.

‘Modern slavery’ THE Chinese side even borrowed a description that many of the Chinese citizens working illegally in the Philippine casinos and Pogos have been

subjected to “modern slavery due to severe limitation of their personal freedom.”

“Their passports are [either] taken away, or confiscated by Philippine employers. They are confined to live and work in certain designated places. [Some] of them have been subjected to extortion, physical abuse, torture [and other forms of] ill-treatment,” the embassy said.

“At the same time, dozens of kidnappings and tortured cases of Chinese citizens who gamble or work illegally in gambling entities in the Philippines have taken place,” it added.

The embassy also urged the Philippine government to address the illegal employment of Chinese nationals, and crackdown on crimes affecting them. Joyce Ann L. Rocamora/PNA

Germany facilitates Filipino nurses’ recruitment

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HE Ger m a n-Ph i l ippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GPCCI), in close cooperation with Germany’s embassy in Manila and in honor of the German Federal Ministry of Health’s Parliamentary State Secretary’s visit to the Philippines, organized a roundtable on August 13, related to the recruitment of Philippine nurses to the European country.

With more than 30 participants, Philippine and German experts from the recruitment and health-care industry shared experiences, and discussed possible steps for an enhanced procedure on the recruitment and allocation process of Philippine nurses immigrating to Germany.

The latter is facing a severe lack of nursing and care staff in its medical centers due to its demography. To cover the growing shortage of healthcare professionals, the German government, in cooperation, with its private sector, has been recruiting qualified nurses from countries outside the European Union, such as the Philippines.

The immigration of Philippine nurses to Germany has shown positive impacts in both societies, and has created more opportunities in the market. However, the German embassy revealed the recruiting

process still encounters several challenges. One is the necessary level of language skills; another, the recognition of foreign nursing studies in Germany.

With the goal to ease and fasttrack the recruiting of Filipino health-care personnel to Germany, the said country’s government started an initiative to streamline the administrative process, which is planned to take effect in October 2019.

“Germany’s government is committed to facilitate the access of Philippine nurses to [our] healthcare sector. The procedures will be streamlined and simplified, and the working conditions will become even more attractive,” stated German Federal Ministry of Health’s Parliamentary State Secretary Sabine Weiss.

For the GPCCI’s part, its President Tristan Arwen Loveres emphasized: “The Philippines is regarded as one of the top health-care staff providers in the world because of the availability of skilled nurses, who are highly qualified, adaptable, hospitable and with good command [of the] English language. As Germany has a high need for nurses and the Philippines shows an oversupply, there is a unique opportunity for both countries to create a ‘win-win’ situation.”

US to help look for missing plane, pilot

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HE United States Embassy in Manila on Sunday vowed to assist the Philippine government in finding the missing plane and its pilot, which are believed to have crashed in the mountain ranges of Aurora province in July.

The assurance was made after Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin Jr. made a personal appeal, via his Twitter account.

“We need a special satellite image that can penetrate the jungle to detect [the plane’s aluminum body.

The Caap (Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines)] has no capability whatsoever in this weather for this mission,” Locsin said, as he tagged the embassy in one of his public tweets.

The secretary raised the alarm:

“One more day and it won’t be search and rescue, but search and recovery of cadaver. [Please help].”

In response, the embassy said Washington is ready to help as a “friend, partner and ally” to the Philippines. “[The US Embassy] is ready to assist. We’ve been in touch with Philippine authorities to determine what assistance is needed, and how we can help,” it noted.

The missing Cessna C-152 plane, piloted by 25-year-old Aaron Dizon, was supposed to have landed in Clark City, Pampanga, on July 28.

The aircraft, owned by Omni Aviation Corp., is one of the five planes that took off from Aurora’s San Luis town. However, only four managed to land in Clark.

Joyce Ann L. Rocamora/PNA

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EMBASSIES, EVENTS, ETC.

NEW DTI OFFICIAL President Duterte greets Peter Wallace, member of the Department of Trade and Industry’s Ease of Doing Business and Anti-Red Tape Council, during the oath-taking of newly appointed officials at the Malacañang on August 5. Duterte signed Wallace’s appointment on July 29, as the latter will represent the private sector in the council. ALBERT ALCAIN/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO

DONATION FOR QUAKE VICTIMS Ambassador Zhao Jianhua (right) leads the

donation of a P10-million check from the Chinese Embassy on Friday, August 9. Interior Secretary Eduardo M. Año (center) and Gov. Marilou H. Cayco of Batanes received the check on behalf of the survivors of the recent earthquake in the said province. The July 27 temblor left nine people dead, with around 100 more injured. JOEY O. RAZON/PNA

NEW UNICEF REP United Nations Children’s Fund Representative to the Philippines

Oyunsaikhan Dendevnorov (right) presents her credentials to Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Strategic Communications and Research Ernesto C. Abella. (Related story below.) DFA-OSCR/PHILIP FERNANDEZ

Malaysia, BARMM keen on pursuing biz pacts

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OTABATO CITY—The Malaysian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) has expressed interest in bringing in big manufacturing enterprises in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) by tapping the region’s vast work force to make processed halal food and rubber products, among others.

MCCI President Edward Ling revealed this development during a visit to the BARMM compound on August 5, together with other Malaysian representatives and business leaders.

“I’m very optimistic and very confident about the development taking place here. We are looking forward to [create] jobs, like manufacturing of rubber gloves, or it can be toy manufacturing.” Ling said.

Malaysian Embassy Chargé d’Affaires Rizany Irwan Muhammad Mazlan, Assistant Trade Councilor Irvin Francis and other MCCI offi-

cials comprised other members of the Malaysian business delegation, apart from Ling.

At t y. Wence l ito A nd a n a r, Malacañang’s special envoy to Malaysia, accompanied the Malaysian group in their two-day visit at the BARMM. On August 4, the Malaysian delegation met with officials of the BARMM Regional Board of Investments and discussed the possibility of strengthening business and development linkages between the autonomous region and Malaysia.

BARMM Chief Minister Ahod

DFA receives new Unicef country rep

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HE Department of Foreign Affairs received the credentials of the new United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) representative to the Philippines on August 9.

Oyunsaikhan Dendevnorov presented her credentials as the Unicef head in the country to Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Strategic Communications and Research Ernesto C. Abella, formalizing the continuing partnership between the Philippine government and Unicef under her leadership.

In highlighting the Philippine success story in protecting, fulfilling and promoting the rights of the child, Dendevnorov cited the technically advanced legislation, plans and programs of the country in implementing its obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).

She also commended the recently enacted “Special Protection of Children in Situations of Armed Conflict” law, or Republic Act 11188, which was signed on January 10. The act complemented the UN-Moro Islamic Liberation Front Action Plan to end recruitment and use of children in armed conflict. It also led to the disengagement of more than 1,800 children from the MILFarmed forces.

The Philippines ratified the UNCRC on August 21, 1990, and its two optional protocols in 2002 and 2003.

The country’s partnership with Unicef, however, started earlier, with programs aimed at enhancing the Filipino children’s welfare.

To date, Unicef implements the eighth Philippine Country Program for Children (2019-2023), in partnership with the government and civil society on child survival, education, child protection, social policy and governance.

Abella expressed appreciation for the strong partnership between the Philippines and Unicef, particularly on initiatives that expand access to quality education, including early child care and development, especially for the marginalized and excluded children, as well as in the Bangsamoro.

He also mentioned the importance of sharing the government’s success stories on the issue of promoting and protecting children’s welfare to serve as an example and an inspiration to other states party to the UNCRC. Dendevnorov praised the government’s untiring and promising efforts to promote and protect the rights of Filipino children, and committed to continue Unicef’s significant contributions to the protection and promotion of Filipino children’s rights and welfare.

The event marks the 70 years of continuing partnership of the country and Unicef in making sure no child is left behind. DFA

and also the brother or kapatid, basically helping [a] relative. This is part of the shared prosperity and prospers the neighbor policy of the Prime Minister of Malaysia,” Mazlan said in a separate statement.

Moreover, Mazlan said they want to explore BARMM’s untapped potential in tourism, a revival of the barter trade and other manufacturing industries, such as halal food.

BANGSAMORO Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Chief Minister Ahod Ebrahim (seated, right) talks with the Malaysian business-delegation members during their visit to the BARMM compound in Cotabato City. BPI-BARMM/PNA

Ebrahim, also known as Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) Chairman Al Hajj Murad Ebrahim, welcomed the visiting business group as they discussed the possibility of strengthening development ventures between the BARMM and Malaysia.

“We hope to establish more active engagements with Malaysia and other Southeast Asian neighbors in the aspect of economics and business alliance,” Murad said in a statement.

Biz support

MINISTRY of the Interior and Local Government Minister Naguib Sinarimbo, concurrent BARMM

spokesman, said it is encouraging to see Malaysia reaching out to BARMM in the aspects of trade and commerce.

“It is really good for BARMM, especially that the region, still in its infancy stage, needs the investment support of both domestic and foreign businesses for it to take off to greater heights,” Sinarimbo, a lawyer, said in a separate interview.

Mazlan, for his part, said they want to see BARMM as a “partner in peace and brothers of development” that dovetails with the theme of Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad’s visit to the Philippines earlier this year.

“I think it is very appropriate to see Malaysia as the main partner

Regional plans

MURAD said there are three existing development plans for the region. One is with the MILF’s Bangsamoro development plan crafted years ago, before the formation of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority.

“The factions of the MNLF who joined the BARMM have also a development plan. Then they found out that the defunct Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao has also their development plan,” he said.

“We look forward to [a] working partnership with our neighbors, especially Malaysia. It is important that we can encourage investors to come in, so we can develop the economy. Only then that the people will feel that something is happening,” Murad said.

He added that the BARMM is planning to have an investors’ forum aimed at associating the three investment strategies to come up with a comprehensive plan.

BARMM Transportation and Communication Minister Dickson Hermoso, a former military officer, assured the Malaysian delegates of the improving state of peace and order in the region.

“We thank Malaysia for being with us as the third-party facilitator [during the peace talks with the MILF],” Hermoso, who is also currently the cochairman of the government-MILF peace and security panel, said.

O n Aug u st 1, t he decommissioning process of former MILF combatants commenced, with some 3,000 members of its Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces starting their one-month basic military training in military camps in Central Mindanao. The MILF trainees would form part of the joint peace and security team (JPST), together with their military counterparts.

The JPST assimilated with 3,000 soldiers and policemen to secure the MILF-identified camps and communities while the normalization process is being done.

Noel Punzalan/PNA

Intl movie fest brings silent films back to life

F

IRST of its kind in Asia, the International Silent Film Festival (ISFF) prides itself on being a venue for eclectic musicians to infuse their art into forgotten classics, as they add new gradients to black-and-white films while their flavor sparks new interest in the younger set.

Once again, the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP), the Japan Foundation-Manila, the Instituto Cervantes, the Philippine-Italian Association, the Goethe-Institut Philippinen and the Embassy of Austria bring to local movie aficionados a “one-of-a-kind, quirky experience that won’t disappoint.”

Loyal audiences, since 2007, have joined the ISFF to witness an exceptional array of curated silent films, which have been made fresh with original scores performed live.

On its 13th edition, the ISFF joins the Philippines in celebrating its first centenary in cinema—considered a milestone in Southeast Asia.

Professor Nick Deocampo, author and film historian, will share his extensive knowledge in Asian filmmaking during his lecture on August 31 at 1 p.m.

The FDCP will open the festival on Friday, August 30 at 8:30 p.m. with a presentation of a 37-minute documentary about the Kalingas, which was directed by Dean C. Worcester in 1913. Teddy Co, who chairs the film commission of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, selected the film, which will be live scored by local indie band Munimuni.

On Saturday, August 31 at 3 p.m., the Japan

‘LIVE Silence’ Silent movies from yesteryears spring back to life with musical accompaniment from live bands.

Foundation-Manila will present The Downfall of Osen (1935) by Kenji Mizoguchi, a story about a beautiful servant girl used by her unscrupulous employer, an antique dealer, to help his illegal business. A live musical performance by Kaduma ni Karol will accompany the film.

Onthesaiddateat5:30p.m.,InstitutoCervantes will present a comedy directed by Carlos Fernández Cuenca, Es Mi Hombre (“He’s My Man,” 1926). The film tells about Don Antonio who, beset by misfortune, must fend for himself and his daughter Leonor, until luck smiles upon him unexpectedly after a series of odd jobs. Tarsius, a Manila-based duo, will take on the live score for the film.

The Philippine-Italian Association completes the August 31 offerings at 8:30 p.m. as it will present L’Onestà del Peccato (“The Wife He

Neglected,” 1918), directed by Augusto Genia.

The film revolves around the tragic character of Maria d’Alconte played by an intense Maria Jacobini. Her sacrifice restores order and justice in a world weighed by greed and arrogant intellectualism. Collaboration between Stef&No, a sax player and composer from Turin, together with the Pocket Orchestra, will provide a fresh score for the silent movie.

On Sunday, September 1 at 4 p.m., the GoetheInstitut will screen Von Morgens Bis Mitternachts (“From Morn to Midnight,” 1920) directed by Karlheinz Martin. An adaptation from the Expressionist theater play by George Kaiser, the story centers on a bank teller who gives into temptation and steals from a rich old lady. The movie, which never saw the light of day in Germany, was thought to

be lost. Anima Tierra, a unique ensemble inspired by traditional world music, will play the live score.

At 7:30 p.m., the Embassy of Austria will present Kalif Storch (1924), directed by Hans Berger. The film tells about the misadventures of Caliph Chasid of Baghdad and his Grand Vizier Mansor after they buy magic powder from a wizard. Based on a fairytale by Wilhelm Hauff, the movie is one of the few remaining family-friendly flicks from the Austrian silent film era. Rock band Tanya Markova shall take on scoring duties for this year’s closing film.

The 13th International Silent Film Festival is made possible in partnership with SM Aura Premier, with the support of the Embassy of Italy, Cinetecadi Bologna, Embassy of Japan, Embassy of Spain, Filmoteca Española, Matsuda Film Productions, Globe, HearLife Foundation Inc., Med El, Barista and Coffee Academy of Asia.

All screenings will be open to the public on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information on the schedule and inquiries, follow the Facebook page @InternationalSilentFilmFestivalManila or check the following links: FDCP— http://www.fdcp.ph/, https://www.facebook.com/ FDCP.ph/; The Japan Foundation- Manila—http:// www.jfmo.org.ph/; https://www.facebook.com/ jfmanila; Instituto Cervantes—http://manila. cervantes.es/, www.facebook.com/InstitutoCervantesManila; Philippine-Italian Association— http://philippineitalianassociation.org; GoetheInstitut Philippinen—https://www.goethe.de/ manila; and the Embassy of Austria - http://www. bmeia.gv.at/manila.