BusinessMirror August 20, 2019

5 METRO MANILA CITIES DON’T HAVE PERMANENT ONE-STOP SHOPS–ARTA

By Elijah Felice E. Rosales

of income tax returns due April. As such, the Arta is reminding them of their duty to put up a one-stop shop as required under the Ease of Doing Business (EODB) law.

“As of our last onsite tour, 12 of the 17 cities in NCR [National Capital Region] have a yearlong [one-stop shop]: Parañaque, QC [Quezon City], Navotas, Marikina, Valenzuela, Taguig, Makati, Muntinlupa, Las Piñas, San Juan, Caloocan and most recent is Manila,” Arta Chief of Staff Ira Paulo A. Pozon told the BusinessMirror.

“Five remaining cities have [one-stop shop] during the hectic annual renewal periods. [These cities are] Pateros, Pasig,

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I TRADE Secretary Ramon Lopez is seen, in BusinessMirror’s August 2019 file photo, leading the unveiling of the Express Lane Operation equipment at the launch of Project Express Lane Operation (ELO) 2.0 of the Parañaque city government. Parañaque claims it is now fully compliant with RA 11032 or the Ease of Doing Business Act. ROY DOMINGO

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S Metro Manila the most conducive region to do business? Apparently not.

Four cities and the lone municipality in the nation’s capital are lacking a business one-stop shop, making it challenging for investors to set up shop there.

The Anti-Red Tape Authority (Arta) disclosed that the local governments of Malabon, Mandaluyong, Pasig, Pasay and Pateros only operate a one-stop shop during hectic periods, such as during renewal of business permits in January and filing

Mandaluyong, Pasay and Malabon,” Pozon added. As the seat of power, Metro Manila is proven to be the favored investment destination of many foreign investors who intend to do business in the Philippines as the region has the most number of business establishments.

According to records from the Philippine Statistics Authority, there are 924,721 establishments operating nationwide in 2017. Of this total, about 21 percent, or 194,134 establishments, are situated in Metro Manila, and they employ an estimated 2.94 million workers.

See “ARTA,” A2

BusinessMirror A broader look at today’s business

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Tuesday, August 20, 2019 Vol. 14 No. 314

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@jearcalas

HE Department of Agriculture (DA) said on Monday that it has started implementing strict quarantine measures in areas that reported an increase in hog mortality, even as it continues to monitor suspected animal disease outbreaks in backyard farms.

However, Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar did not disclose the areas being monitored by the DA, even as he made an assurance that the agency is on top of the situation.

In a news briefing in Quezon City, which was also attended by major hog industry stakeholders

and key government officials, Dar said the agency is currently evaluating the situation and is still in the process of confirming possible diseases that caused the death of hogs.

He said the DA has operationalized a Crisis Management Team

(CMT) that would oversee the implementation of appropriate measures “to manage, contain and control the suspected animal disease or diseases.”

Dar said he has instructed the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) to “conduct confirmatory laboratory tests,

“We ordered the CMT to work closely with key industry players and local government officials to manage the incident and carry out ground-level operations.”—Dar

including sending blood samples to foreign laboratories, to ascertain the cause of the animals’ death.”

The results of the confirmatory tests could be released in two weeks to three months. The DA, however, was mum on the institution where it sent the blood samples.

Dar also did not reveal the results of the tests conducted by the country’s national laboratory pending the results of the confirmatory tests.

See “Hog deaths,” A2

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n

By Samuel P. Medenilla @sam_medenilla

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ODRIGUEZ, Rizal—In a matter of days, hog raiser Robert Escavel’s projected earnings of P125,000 were almost wiped out after a mysterious disease started killing scores of hogs in backyard farms here.

Escavel, 41, who has been raising hogs in his backyard in the last seven years, told the BusinessMirror that the disease affected all of his 14 hogs. “[The onslaught of the disease] started as early as July and continued this month,” he said.

Escavel said some of the dead animals exhibited symptoms which he described as “dengue for hogs.”

“Their snouts started to bleed,” he said.

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A RESIDENT of Rodriguez, Rizal, cleans the pens of his piglets amid reports of sudden deaths of hogs in their area due to a “mysterious” disease.

NONIE REYES

Escavel’s relative, Marilou Escavel-Coronel, 44, who just recently started her backyard piggery in Rizal, said her hogs were also afflicted with the unidentified disease. “[The pigs] got weak. Some developed red rashes, which eventually turned violet,” Coronel said.

When asked by reporters during a news briefing on Monday, the Department of Agriculture (DA) refused to identify the area where the mysterious disease struck. The DA said, however, it is currently monitoring suspected animal disease outbreaks.

Selling at a loss FEARING that his weakened hogs will eventually die, Escavel opted to sell the animals to retailers at P1,000 to P1,200 per pig.

See “Mysterious hog disease,” A2

PHL back to BOP surplus territory in July at $248M

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See “DOF,” A2

DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

RAISERS, RETAILERS FEAR ‘MYSTERIOUS’ HOG DISEASE

By Bianca Cuaresma

DOF scoffs at Peza’s ₧10-T claim

HE Department of Finance (DOF) scoffed at Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) officials for claiming that they contributed roughly P10 trillion to the economy in two years’ time.

In a statement issued to reporters on Monday, Finance Undersecretary Gil Beltran said Peza officials have “a weak grasp of basic economics and accounting” for claiming that they contributed trillions of pesos in the 2015 to 2017 period, saying their method to getting this figure is erroneous and flawed.

“No one has called Peza an evil, three-headed dragon. But based on their statement, Peza seems to have a weak grasp of basic economics and accounting,” Beltran said.

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Hog deaths lead DA to activate crisis team

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

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@BcuaresmaBM

HE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported on Monday that the country is back to earning dollars in July, reducing the June dollar deficit to a one-off blip for the year.

Data from the Central Bank showed that the economy incurred a balance of payments (BOP) surplus of $248 million in July this year, reversing the $404-million deficit seen in the previous month. The July 2019 print is also an improvement from last year’s $455-million deficit in the same month.

A country’s BOP is one of the more important external indicators of its economy. A surplus in the BOP means the country earned more dollars than what it spent during the period, while a deficit means the economy lost more dollars than what it earned given the time period.

T he July sur plus is also a continuation of the countr y’s monthly surplus record for the

$5.04B The country’s seven-month cumulative BOP from January to July 2019. This is a substantial recovery from the $3.7-billion deficit seen in the same first seven months in 2018

entire 2019—one which has only been disrupted by the June deficit number.

In June, the Central Bbank blamed the “substantial outflow” in the June BOP on the principal and interest payments of the national government on its foreign exchange obligations. This could have been larger, the BSP said, if not partially tempered by the NG’s net foreign currency deposits, the BSP’s foreign exchange operations and income from its investments abroad during the month.

US 52.4670 n JAPAN 0.4935 n UK 63.8051 n HK 6.6887 n CHINA 7.4506 n SINGAPORE 37.8851 n AUSTRALIA 35.5569 n EU 58.2121 n SAUDI ARABIA 13.9890

See “BOP,” A2

Source: BSP (19 August 2019 )

News

BusinessMirror

A2 Tuesday, August 20, 2019

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Neda: Special fund to unlock DOE gets 5 bid offers to explore for oil, gas potential of Bangsamoro region in 4 identified areas

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By Cai U. Ordinario

@caiordinario

HE National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) said on Monday that the national government will extend an “annual block grant” to the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

In a speech, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia said this block grant will amount to a total of P50 billion in the next 10 years, or P5 billion annually.

This year, Pernia said the 5percent automatic share of the Bangsamoro government in the national internal revenue tax collections will reach around P70 billion.

“A special development fund amounting to a total of P50 billion, or P5 billion per year for 10 years, is allocated for the rebuilding, re-

habilitation, and development of conflict-affected communities,” Pernia said. “Subsidies for development and infrastructure-related expenditure are guaranteed by the national government for the next 5 years,” he added.

Apart from funding, Pernia said the challenges of the BARMM will be met through its 12-point priority agenda for the transition period of 2020-2022.

He said under the agenda, the government aims to help BARMM

₧5B Annual block grant that the national government will provide to the BARMM for the next 10 years

obtain longer-term partnerships and cooperation with the private sector. This will be done once development plans are integrated and harmonized.

Pernia said the government is also committed to rehabilitate Marawi City and nearby municipalities affected by the conflict.

The Bangon Marawi Comprehensive Rehabilitation and Recovery Program include programs, projects, and activities to be im-

plemented from 2018 to 2022, with total investment requirement amounting to P60.51 billion.

One of the biggest nongovernment projects implemented is the construction of 3,500 permanent housing units by San Miguel Corp. and the UN Habitat with an estimated cost of P1.93 billion.

“We assure you that the government is committed to meeting the overall goal of the Bangon Marawi.

Our aim is for Marawi City and surrounding communities to coexist in peace and become vibrant, productive, and resilient to risks of conflict and other disasters, with culture integrated into the country’s socioeconomic development,” Pernia said.

“All our eyes are now on the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. The region has so much potential to be unlocked and we are excited to see all our combined efforts come to fruition,” he added.

Locsin warns vs reviving death penalty

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OREIGN Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin Jr. has thumbed down calls for the reimposition of the death penalty, warning it could backfire on efforts of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) in appealing cases of overseas Filipinos detained on death row abroad.

“If we restore death penalty, how can we appeal?” Locsin said at a Sen-

Hog deaths. . .

Continued from A1

“We ordered the CMT to work closely with key industry players and local government officials to manage the incident and carry out ground-level operations,” he said.

The CMT was activated after Dar received an incident report last August 16 which disclosed that there was a spike in hog deaths raised in backyard farms.

Present during the press briefing were Undersecretary for Operations Ariel T. Cayanan and BAI OIC-Director Ronnie D. Domingo.

Representatives of major hog industry groups and various government veterinarians, such as those from Regions 3 and 4-A, were also there.

Quarantine zones

DAR said the DA has put up “1-7-10” zones in areas with high pig mortality. This means that all pigs within the 1-kilometer radius of the suspected farm would be culled while movement of live hogs and pork products within the 7 kilometers would be limited. The government would conduct surveillance and monitoring within the 10-kilometer radius

BOP. . .

Continued from A1

For July, the BSP said the recovery came from improvements in the BSP’s foreign exchange operations and income from its investments abroad, as well as in the National Government’s (NG) net foreign currency deposits. These inflows were offset partially, however, by outflows which

ate hearing on Monday, adding, “if we feel that there’s a possibility of miscarriage of justice, how can we appeal for mercy and commutation of sentence?” if the death penalty were in place in the Philippines.

The DFA chief added that reviving the death penalty would make it doubly difficult for the Philippine government to appeal for the lives

of the suspected premises. He said pigs killed during culling operations on Sunday were buried and the areas have been disinfected.

Dar assured affected raisers that the government will indemnify them. “We assure the animal industry stakeholders and the general public that we are on top of the situation, and we are doing everything possible.”

“With this development, we have further upgraded our monitoring and vigilance, including the imposition of stricter quarantine measures all over the country’s ports of entry, airports and seaports,” he said.

Appeal

THE DA chief appealed to local hog raisers to strengthen their biosecurity measures amid the reported increase in pig deaths in backyard farms.

Asked about the impact of the incident on prices, Dar said the culling and death of pigs will not cause pork to become expensive.

To further boost government efforts to stabilize prices, the National Federation of Hog Farmers Inc. said it will keep prices steady.

“We assure consumers that our prices will not increase in all regions from Luzon to Mindanao,” NFHFI President Chester Warren Y. Tan told the

were reflected in the payments made by the NG on its foreign exchange obligations during the month in review.

Overall, the country’s seven-month cumulative BOP stands at $5.04 billion in the January-to-July period of 2019. This is a substantial recovery from the $3.7-billion deficit seen in the same first seven months in 2018.

Remittances may be key

JUST last month, ING Bank economist Nicholas Antonio Mapa said the coming months could still be turbulent for the BOP position, largely due to the trade balance deficit forecasted for 2019.

We could see some bouts of BOP deficits going forward given that we

of Filipino citizens sentenced to die by foreign courts.

Locsin was replying to a question from Sen. Panfilo Lacson on how the Duterte administration would reconcile the situation where drug suspects are being killed while the government is appealing cases of Filipinos convicted abroad in drug cases.

BusinessMirror in an interview.

As for the advisory issued by Taiwan’s Central Emergency Operation Center on Sunday, Dar said he will ask Taipei to rescind the order to check all the carry-on bags of passengers from the Philippines.“[The DA] will communicate with [Taipei] and tell authorities there are no confirmatory results yet,” he said.

Starting Monday, Taiwan enforced stricter checks on the carry-on luggage of all Filipinos entering its borders as a precautionary measure.

The extra check follows what Taiwan News described as “reliable” reports of an outbreak of African Swine Fever on Luzon island.

Taiwan News cited sources, saying ASF cases were detected in Bulacan and Rizal province, “even though the [Philippine] authorities have not reported the cases to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE).”

The B usiness M irror ’s own reliable source has said government veterinarians have been deployed to three affected barangays in Rizal province, specifically in Rodriguez town, north of the National Capital Region.

According to discussions in at least two industry online groups, dozens of hogs had died in some small farms, though one group cited a total of more than a thousand. are almost all but certain that the current account remains in the red [owing to the trade gap], with BOP subject to the ebb and flow of the financial account,” he said.

Earlier comments from Security Bank chief economist Robert Dan Roces, meanwhile, said remittances sent to the Philippines will patch up these holes in the economy.

“From another macro perspective, the higher remittances may further stabilize the country’s BOP [Balance of Payments] position by serving as a good source of fiscal cushion,” he said.

Just last week, the BSP reported that in June —when the country’s BOP posted a deficit for the first time—remittances to the Philippines also contracted for the first time in 2019.

Cash remittances reached $2.29 billion in June this year. This is the lowest monthly remittance volume to the country for the year. It is also 2.9 percent lower than the remittances sent by OFWs in the same month last year. For the coming months, ING’s Mapa said the Philippines can expect increased flows of remittances particularly as the “ber” months approach.

Senators learned that based on data gathered by the DFA involving Filipinos incarcerated abroad, most of the offenses involved illegal drug cases.

The senators were also informed that majority of the respondents are facing the death penalty after being convicted as drug mules or attempting to smuggle drugs through foreign borders. Butch Fernandez

Arta. . .

Continued from A1

Under the EODB law, local government units (LGUs) are mandated to establish a one-stop shop, to serve as their business permitting and licensing system that will receive and process applications for license, clearance, permit and authorization. “The goal is for all [local governments] to have a [one-stop shop] as a streamlining and anti-red tape measure. By minimizing points of contact, opportunities for red tape and corruption are minimized as well,” Pozon explained.

“We are working closely with LGUs so each will have a [one-stop shop] in compliance with the mandate of the law,” he added.

In a statement last Friday, the Arta directed local governments to comply with the EODB law’s requirements and adopt a one-stop shop in their city or municipality. The agency committed to provide the needed regulatory support to ensure LGUs can adhere effectively and competently with the provisions of the law.

According to the Arta, the one-stop shop should also assume the task of processing barangay permits and clearances, as well as collecting their fees, provided the share in the collections are remitted to their respective barangays.

Under the EODB law, government agencies are required to complete simple transactions within three days; complex transactions within seven days; and highly technical transactions within 20 days. They are also directed to reduce the number of signatories necessary to issue a license, clearance, permit and authorization.

Government workers found violating the law will be suspended for six months on first offense, and jailed for up to six years, imposed with a penalty of P500,000 to P2 million and stripped of retirement benefits on second count.

These provisions of the law are aligned with the government’s objective of curbing red tape to improve the country’s ratings in competitiveness surveys and, consequently, portfolio to foreign investors. In the 2019 cycle of the World Bank’s Doing Business report, the Philippines slipped 11 notches to 124th among 190 economies after getting poor scores in getting credit, starting a business and enforcing contracts. As a consequence, the Philippines landed seventh among the 10 Southeast Asian economies to trail Singapore (second), Malaysia (15th), Thailand (27th), Brunei Darussalam (55th), Vietnam (69th) and Indonesia (73rd) in the yearly survey.

By Lenie Lectura @llectura

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HE Department of Energy on Monday received five bid offers to conduct exploration activities in four of the 14 predetermined areas offered by the DOE. During the opening of the bid offers for nominated areas under the Philippine Conventional Energy Contracting Program (PCECP), they submitted their proposals to look for oil and gas.

Ratio Petroleum Limited submitted an offer for Area 3 (East Palawan Basi), Sulu Sea Energy Resources Development Corp. and Esmaulana Global Ventures Co. Inc. for Area 6 (Sulu Sea Basin) and Philodrill Corp. and PXP Energy Corp. for Area 7, (Sulu Sea Basin).

Esmaulana Global Ventures Co. Inc. also submitted a separate proposal for Area 10 (Agusan-Davao Basin).

The proposals submitted by the five firms for the four areas would be further reviewed by the DOE. “We have 15 working days to complete evaluation from today. The technical working group will then forward the results of the review to the CREC [Centralized Review and Evaluation Committee] and CREC has a corresponding period to give it to the secretary,” said DOE Assistant Secretary Leonido Pulido.

During the bid opening, some of the bidders submitted incomplete data. Still, the agency accepted the proposals subject to further review.

“The CREC will accept the submissions. Please expect formal notice from the committee regarding the completeness of your submission,” Pulido told the bidders, who will receive a notice from the agency within seven to 10 days.

The DOE, according to Pulido, is still “happy”with the turnout of the auction.

“Considering the context of the Philippines, we are currently competing with markets in Africa, competing for investments from the US. The tendency really is, shall we say, invest in areas that are really stable where the risk is less. We do have territorial disputes. In the discussions we had with different agencies around the world, we do recognize the Philippines is not marketable. There is a difficulty, challenge there but we are working on them. Considering these, we’re happy to get a third of the PDAs, we do have nominated areas,” said Pulido.

Under the PCECP, investors may engage in upstream exploration or development activities in two ways: One, choosing an area from the 14 predetermined areas (PDAs) offered by the DOE. Two, proposing their own areas for exploration, which begins by requesting for an Area Clearance.

Pulido said the remaining 10 PDAs would still be offered to prospective investors.

“We intend to continue marketing them. We are considering opening up the 10 remaining PDAs, to be offered to the public as areas the private sector can nominate. We will essentially transform them into an area subject to nomination,” he said, adding that a department circular would be crafted to make this happen.

For nominated areas, the DOE received offers from Sulu Sea Energy Resources Development Corp., which nominated Sulu Sea Basin; Troika Giant Power Corp., which nominated Northwest Palawan Basin; and Superior Shipywards Inc., which nominated Southeast Luzon Basin.

Mysterious hog disease. . .

“The said 14 hogs would have been worth P10,000 each,” he said.

His relative, however, decided to just let the hogs die as she couldn’t bear the thought of other people profiting from her investment.

“I chose not to sell and just let my hogs die.

It’s better to bury the animals than let abusive [traders] earn from the afflicted pigs,” Coronel said. “How can some people take advantage of us when they know we are suffering?”

Weak sales

OTHER backyard hog raisers in this province whose hogs were hit by the disease also opted to just sell the animals. This effectively increased the supply of pork in Rizal even if consumers here have started to avoid buying it.

Gemma Magallanes, 43, a pork retailer at a market in Rizal, expressed concern about the unidentified disease, as it has already started

DOF. . .

Continued from A1

Just last week, Peza Director General Charito B. Plaza asked lawmakers to exempt Peza from the coverage of the Corporate Income Tax and Incentives Rationalization Act (Citira), the second package of the government’s tax reform program. Plaza said the Finance department should not only be concerned with how to increase taxes and income of the national government but must also consider the income created for the local government units. This is where Plaza made the claim that a total of P10.05 trillion was poured in by Peza and its registered companies into the Philippine economy from 2015 to 2017.

Beltran, who also sits as the Finance department’s chief economist, said Peza’s assertion that it contributed P10 trillion to the economy from 2015 to 2017 is incorrect because “their method of accounting for its contribution is flawed.”

“For one, Peza double counted by adding up the total of exports, investment, and capital equipment, and raw materials, which are from the expenditure side; and wages and taxes, which are from the income side. This is a no-no in basic accounting,” Beltran said.

Continued from A1

to cut her earnings.

Magallanes said she now has fewer customers after news of the pig illness started to spread.

On a typical weekday, she said she earns around P500. After the restrictions were rolled out, Magallanes said her earnings declined.

Despite this, the pork retailer said she still supports the government’s decision to cull the infected pigs starting Sunday.

“I support the government’s move to confiscate the diseased pigs and then dispose them since it could affect the health of those who may consume it,” Magallanes said.

The local government has already restricted the movement of hogs over the weekend and checkpoints have been set up in the province after authorities got wind of the disease. These measures are meant to prevent the disease from spreading to nearby areas.

He also pointed out that purchases of raw materials are already part of total exports, which means that Peza also double-counted raw materials. “Peza’s calculations are wrong, and the result is that they’ve bloated their contributions,” Beltran said.

He explained that a proper accounting of benefits should subtract imports from total exports to arrive at net exports. In some sectors, like electronics assembly, almost all the parts are imported and are assembled in ecozones, creating very little domestic value added, he said.

“Assuming their figures are correct in the first place, using the appropriate method to account for exports and remove doublecounting wipes out more than half of the P10 trillion they allege to have given back to the economy,” he said.

Through Package 2 of the Comprehensive Tax Reform Program (CTRP), the government seeks to change the status quo of incentive granting, where there is little accountability in the grant of preferential tax rates that Peza grants forever, regardless of performance.

Based on the data gathered under the Tax Incentives Management and Transparency Act (Timta), 585 Peza locators have been receiving incentives for over 15 years.

Bianca Cuaresma

The Nation BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Ex-DENR chief, environmental advocate Gina Lopez dies at 65

By Jonathan L. Mayuga @jonlmayuga

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NVIRONMENTALIST Regina Paz L. Lopez, scion of the Lopez family which had interests in media, property development and power generation, died at 4:15 a.m.

Monday, August 19, 2019, due to multiple organ failure. She was 65.

Lopez has earned the admiration of millions of netizens and followers on social media for her staunch environmental advocacies. Her passing was considered a great loss by her family and friends in environmental advocacy.

Mark Lopez, chairman of the ABS-CBN Foundation, in an official statement sent via e-mail, said the Lopez family lost not just a family member “but a person we deeply admire and respect.”

He added, “My cousin Gina Lopez, chairman of ABS-CBN Foundation, lived her life with overflowing love and passion to serve.”

He said the former secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) “left a comfortable life to devote her time and energy to help uplift other people’s lives.”

“When she returned to join ABSCBN, she instilled in her people the same drive to help. For her, nothing cannot be done, no effort is too small, anybody can—and should—do their part in making the world a better place,” he said.

Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu, in a statement, expressed his sympathy to the family of Lopez, whom he called, “a pure champion of the environment; bold and fearless in her advocacies, regardless of the consequences.”

Cimatu added, “She was uncompromising in protecting watersheds and imposing high standards of responsibility on the mining industry.

At the same time, Gina was compassionate for the underprivileged, and for them promoted ecotourism as a way out of poverty.”

According to Cimatu, his predecessor served as an inspiration to many, describing her as “a personification of our hopes for a sustainably greener environment with bountiful natural resources for all.”

“The DENR family will remember her with fondness, respect and

love. We will honor her by building her legacy,” Cimatu said.

Socio-civic activities, recognition

LOPEZ was known for leading ABS-CBN Foundation Inc., the socio-civic arm of ABS-CBN. Under her leadership, Bantay Bata 163—the first rescue hotline for children in Asia—was launched. In 1997, Bantay Bata was the United Nations Grand Awardee for Excellence, besting 187 countries all over the world.

Lopez also founded Bantay Kalikasan, a program that advocates for the protection of the environment. Bantay Kalikasan was behind the successful reforestation of the La Mesa Watershed and the rehabilitation of 17 esteros of the Pasig River.

In 2010, recognizing her efforts, President Benigno S. Aquino III appointed her to be the chairman of the PasigRiverRehabilitationCommission.

Lopez is also known for pioneering Educational Television or ETV in the Philippines. She put up video libraries in 10,000 public schools across the country. ETV aired for 15 years, mounting 16 educational television, which included shows on science (Sineskwela), math (Math Tinik), values (Hiraya Manawari), History (Bayani) and English (Epol Apple). For Sineskwela, Lopez was honored with the Unesco Kalinga Award, the first Southeast Asian to earn such a distinction.

As vice chairman of the ABS-CBN Bayan Foundation, Lopez was credited with providing microfinance assistance to microentrepreneurs.

In June 2016, Gina was appointed

by President Duterte as secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in an ad interim basis. On May 3, 2017, the Commission on Appointments formally rejected her appointment as environment secretary.

Lopez hosted an environmental show on ABS-CBN, entitled G Diaries, which premiered on June 4, 2017. The show focuses on environmental conservation, area development and innovations.

She became the first Filipino to be awarded the prestigious Seacology Prize on October 5, 2017, at Berkeley, California, for her “exceptional achievement in preserving island environments and culture.”

POGO. . . continued from a8 Relocation backed

TAKING note of the alarm raised by national security officials, Senate Minority Leader Franklin M. Drilon backed Lorenzana’s proposal to immediately relocate POGO sites amid warnings their location near Philippine military camps could be a security problem.

Drilon pointed out that “the security aspect is something we cannot just brush aside.”

In an interview with CNN Philippines Monday, the Senate Minority Leader admitted he “cannot understand why we cannot have POGO locations farther away from military camps.”

Drilon debunked as “absurd and beyond the realm of possibility” a Chinese Embassy statement raising the possibility that overseas Filipino workers in China may also be suspected of spying.

The Senate Minority Leader vouched for Lorenzana as “a competent official and his job is to advise us on matters of security. He has nothing but good intentions. We should defer to him.”

According to Drilon, the possibility that POGO workers could be used for information gathering is not a remote possibility. “We don’t know. Maybe not right now, but it gives them the opportunity when there’s a need for it. It’s convenient when there is a need for it. Why should we leave that chance unchecked?” said Drilon.

At the same time, he said “there is no way” Filipino workers in China could be engagedinspyingactivitiesforthePhilippines. “This is absurd and simply beyond the realm of possibilities. Our OFWs are there to earn a living,” he added.

Lorenzana also earlier hit back at

the statement of Chinese Ambassador Zhao Jianhua that Filipinos working in China could also be accused of spying, a remark conveyed through Panelo.

This prodded Sen. Panfilo Lacson, who wondered aloud if Panelo was working as spokesman of the Chinese Embassy.

Panelo has said there is nothing wrong with sharing the text message of the Chinese envoy as it was made to provide a context and response to a query from a reporter on Lorenzana’s remarks.

“Our overseas workers in China also deserve to be apprised of their host country’s reaction to this issue as it concerns them. It is the primordial duty of the President to serve and protect the interests of the Filipino people, whether they reside here or abroad, and as his spokesman, I take it as my responsibility to inform the public because China’s stance may need to be considered in any policy or government action with respect to Chinese nationals working here,” he said.

Panelo also took a swipe at the senator, who he said may not be concerned with the OFW. “If Senator Lacson is not concerned with the OFWs, the Office of the President is. Anything that concerns them or any policy of a host country that may affect their stay we certainly are interested and concerned. Senator Lacson need not be reminded that as a Senator of the Republic, he represents not only Filipinos who live here but also those who work abroad, unless his statement is driven by the fact [that] the OFW [who] votes in China will not move a needle for him if he plans to run in 2022,” he added.

Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug • Tuesday, August 20, 2019 A3

Halt to licensing of new POGOs may impact real estate–Pagcor official

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By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario & Bernadette D. Nicolas @BNicolasBM

HE top official of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.

(Pagcor) believes the property sector would be affected by the gaming regulator’s moratorium on the issuance of licenses to new Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs).

In a news briefing, Pagcor Chairman and CEO Andrea Domingo said the moratorium, which will last until the end of the year, will also likely affect negatively the state-owned licensor’s gross gaming revenues (GGR) and funding of government programs.

The Pagcor is considered the country’s largest contributor of revenue to the government after the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Bureau of Customs.

According to Domingo, the moratorium will have a negative impact on real-estate firms who disclosed that if POGOs stop, 15 percent of the total space they offer will be left unoccupied.

Last week, Ateneo Center for Economic Research and Development Director Alvin P. Ang warned on Thursday that the country’s realestate industry may be overly reliant on the locators and foreign workers of the POGO for their business activities.

Ang cited reports from Colliers International that showed POGOs’

Soldiers point to NPA for attack on quarry site

By Rene Acosta @reneacostaBM

T

HE commander of the Army’s 403rd Brigade accused New Peoples’ Army (NPA) guerillas as behind the attack on a quarry site of a mining company in Misamis Oriental last Monday.

The initial report by Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Brig. Gen. Edgardo de Leon said the NPA guerillas also escaped with the firearms of the firm’s five security personnel.

De Leon said the attackers are members of the Sub-Regional Command 1 of the North Central Mindanao Regional Committee who swooped down on the quarry site of Minergy Power Corp. at around 6:30 a.m. of August 19.

He said the rebels fired at the security guards deployed at the quarry site located at Quezon Heights, Balingasag, Misamis Oriental.

However, de Leon did not say what type of firearms was taken from the guards, adding policemen were investigating if there were other properties that were damaged or destroyed during the attack.

Also on Monday, the AFP reported that two policemen were wounded after they were ambushed by suspected members of the Abu Sayyaf Group in Sulu.

Cpl. Angelo Canapi and Pat. Nijar Awwalon, members of the Second Provincial Mobile Force Company of the Sulu Police Provincial Office, were waylaid at around 7:45 a.m. in Barangay Igasan, Patikul, the military said.

The two policemen were said to have been providing security for the car-pooled teachers of the Department of Education assigned in the eastern part of Patikul, Sulu, when they were fired upon.

demand for real estate shot up 37 percent for the first half of the year.

Domingo said she thinks the void left by call centers that were negatively affected by the reversal in the outsourcing policy of the US, was filled in by POGOs. “They rescued the real-estate industr y,” Domingo sa id. “If they [didn’t, the property sector] would have been 10 percent to 15 percent down already. Now, they are fully occupied.”

Year’s last

HOWEVER, Domingo said imposing a moratorium on the issuance of new licenses will also give Pagcor time to take stock of the situation of POGOs and what policies can be crafted moving forward.

“We expect to have a little bit of a problem because of this [moratorium],” Domingo told reporters on the sidelines of Monday’s news briefing. “[The GGR] may not grow; it might become stable but [it may also become] very volatile.”

Domingo said the number of Pagcor-licensed POGOs could reach 61 by year-end. To date, there are 58 POGOs operating and three more are expected to be approved.

The three POGO applications, which Domingo said may or may not be approved before the end of the year, would be the last for 2019 as Pagcor started about two to three weeks ago to review its policies on POGOs. “We should be able to come up with a viable and good program. If we need to change policies, if we have to amend operating procedures, we will be ready to have that by the end of the year,” she said. “So we are not accepting anymore for this year.”

Domingo said another negative implication of the moratorium and the lower revenues could be “disastrous to the UHC [Universal Health Care],” one of the many government programs the gaming regulator supports.

She explained that the contribution of POGOs in government revenues and the overall economy is significant.

That’s it

DOMINGO said that in the past two years, the government has licensed 49 operators and 200 service providers. From these firms, she said, Pagcor already earned P11.9 billion.

This year, Domingo said, there are already 58 operators and 214 service providers. To date, Domingo said Pagcor earned less than P4 billion.

On top of these, she said the government has been able to collect P2 billion in income taxes from POGOs every month. Domingo said the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has

been able to collect P1.25 billion in value-added tax from the expenditures made by POGO workers.

Domingo said real-estate developers may be earning at least P20 billion a year on lease alone. She expects that real-estate firms may earn P8 billion in lease this year on top of the P12 billion in the past two years.

She said Pagcor remains optimistic that it is on track to meet its P8-billion revenue target through POGOs this year and the P9 billion to P10 billion target next year.

“We see a normal growth for next year like 5 percent to 10 percent. But depending on our study, if we find that the market for POGOs is already saturated; that’s it,” Domingo said.

Palace respect

MEANWHILE, Malacañang said it respects Pagcor’s decision to suspend acceptance of applications for new offshore gambling firms in order to look at other concerns that have not met comfortably.

“Until the President reverses the stand of Pagcor, that remains to be the policy because the President respects heads of departments and offices to do their duty and undertaking,” Salvador S. Panelo, President Duterte’s spokesman, said.

Pagcor’s move came after it called for stricter measures in allowing foreign nationals to enter and work in the country. The Chinese Embassy has also urged the Philippine government to punish those behind the alleged illegal recruitment of Chinese nationals in Philippine casinos, POGOs and other forms of gambling entities.

Economy

A4 Tuesday, August 20, 2019 • Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug

BusinessMirror

House targets ‘zero veto’ of proposed 2020 budget

T

By Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz

@joveemarie

HE leadership of the House of Representatives has vowed to pass the proposed budget of P4.1 trillion for 2020 without delays to give the Senate enough time to deliberate the General Appropriations Act (GAA).

The lower chamber reiterated this commitment as the Executive branch, through the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), is expected to transmit the 2020 National Expenditure Program (NEP) for next year to the House of Representatives on Tuesday.

“Our target is to immediately pass the national budget without delays. Our target is efficiency, quality and yet faster,” said House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano.

Majority Leader Martin Romualdez said the timely passage of the national budget and other priority measures will further propel the country’s economic growth.

Romualdez said the lower chamber is “determined” to closely coordinate with the Senate and the Executive branch to achieve zero veto in the 18th Congress, especially on the 2020 national budget.

He said targeting zero veto does not intend to withhold the prerogative of the President on the legislative process,

but to promote better coordination between both chambers and between the Legislative and Executive branches.

“The numbers now are good. All poverty indicators are at all-time low. We just need to stay the course and make sure that all the programs and policies are in place for the next phase of the war against poverty,” added Romualdez.

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

House Committee on Appropriations Chairman Isidro Ungab said the lower chamber is targeting to pass the General Appropriations Bill on October 4 before the congressional recess.

“The [appropriation] committee will meet before the Development Budget Coordination Committee

[DBCC] briefings. Most likely, we will be adopting the same rules used by the committee in the previous congresses.

Strict adherence to the rules will ensure order and smooth deliberations at the committee level,” said Ungab.

Per the committee’s schedule, the budget hearings will kick off on Thursday, August 22 with a briefing of the DBCC. Deliberations on the 2020 NEP will be held until September 9. The panel is expected to approve the report on September 11.

The proposed GAA is expected to be approved on third and final reading on October 4. Then the lower chamber will transmit the national budget to the Senate for its own deliberation on October 8.

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

Suggestions

AKO Bicol Rep. Alfredo Garbin said the lower chamber should speed up the budget process to avoid a reenacted budget while making sure the proper scrutiny and evaluation are still done.

“Here in the House, we essentially have less than six weeks to work on the 2020 budget,” said Garbin.

For transparency, he said all the budget hearings should be live streamed and open to full news media coverage.

“These budget hearings should also run parallel with the hearings of priority legislation sent to the other committees.

Maybe while we tackle the bills in the mornings, we work on the budget from after lunch until past midnight if necessary,” he said.

Anti-corruption glossary

and/or private sector, to conspire to commit actions aimed to deceive or commit fraud with the objective of illicit financial gain. The parties involved often are referred to as “cartels.”

Conflict of interests

SITUATION where an individual or the entity for which they work, whether a government, business, media outlet or civil society organization, is confronted with choosing between the duties and demands of their position and their own private interests.

Corporate governance

PROCEDURES and processes for how private sector organizations are directed, managed and controlled, including the relationships between, responsibilities of, and legitimate expectations among different stakeholders (board of directors, management, shareholders and other interested groups).

C

By Henry J. Schumacher

ORRUPTION comes in many forms, and there are many ways to challenge it. Let me share with you some definitions so that we are on the same page when it comes to corruption, or better anti-corruption:

Access to information/Right to information

THE right by law—often through freedom of information legislation (acts or laws)—to access key facts and data from the government and any public body based on the notion that citizens can obtain information which is in the possession of the state.

Hopefully the Philippines will enact the freedom of information bill soon.

Accountability

THE concept that individuals, agencies and organizations (public, private and civil society) are held responsible for reporting their activities and executing their powers properly.

Bribery

THE offering, promising, giving, accepting or soliciting of an advantage as an inducement for an action which is illegal, unethical or a breach of trust. Inducements can take the form of gifts, loans, fees, rewards or other advantages (taxes, services, donations, favors, etc.).

All legislation should outlaw bribery between firms in the private sector. Governments should fully implement and enforce laws criminalizing bribery. In the Philippines, bribing in the private sector should be criminalized!

Collusion

A SECRET agreement between parties, in the public

Embezzlement

WHEN a person holding office in an institution, organization or company dishonestly and illegally appropriates, uses or traffics the funds and goods they have been entrusted with for personal enrichment or other activities.

Extortion

ACT of utilizing, either directly or indirectly, one’s access to a position of power or knowledge to demand unmerited cooperation or compensation as a result of coercive threats.

Why? Responsible business leaders know that bribe payments cannot be turned on and off.

Once a company bribes it can no longer maintain the position that it does not pay bribes and sets itself up for continuing extortion. There should be independent reporting channels to allow companies that have been victims of extortion to report the crime.

Facilitation payments

A SMALL bribe, also called a “facilitating,” “speed” or “grease” payment; made to secure or expedite the performance of a routine or necessary action to which the payer has legal or other entitlement.

All companies must cease making facilitation payments immediately. Companies must recognize these as bribes and prohibit them. All companies must report on their policy on facilitation payments as part of their transparent reporting on their anticorruption programs.

Fraud

TO cheat—the offense of intentionally deceiving someone in order to gain an unfair or illegal advantage (financial, political or otherwise). Countries consider such offenses to be criminal or a violation of civil law.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

DOE may appeal court injunction vs fuel unbundling

By Lenie Lectura

@llectura

T

HE Department of Energy (DOE) said Monday that government lawyers are likely to appeal the preliminary injunction order issued by a local court against the agency’s circular on the unbundling of fuel prices.

Energy Assistant Secretary Leonido Pulido said the agency met with the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) two days after the Mandaluyong Regional Trial Court Branch 213 granted Petron Corp.’s application for a writ of preliminary injunction against DOE Circular 2019-05-0008 or the Revised Guidelines for the Monitoring of Prices on the Sale of Petroleum Products by the Downstream Oil Industry in the Philippines.

Pulido said the DOE is “considering appealing that decision.”

“The OSG is the counsel of the case.

The DOE secretary did tell us that we will defer to the decision of the Office of the Solicitor General. In our last meeting, the discussion was toward filing an appeal,” he said.

The DOE has 15 days from receipt of the court order within which to file for an appeal. As of Monday, Pulido said he was not certain if lawyers already filed a motion for reconsideration. He said, however, that the DOE would have to abide by the court’s decision.

“Whether or not an appeal was filed, there’s nothing we can do. That order stands. It is a legitimate order of a regional trial court. The Department of Energy is bound to respect that. The unbundling circular cannot be enforced during the pendency of the case,” he said.

Money laundering

MONEY laundering is the process of concealing the origin, ownership or destination of illegally or dishonestly obtained money by hiding it within legitimate economic activities to make them appear legal.

Nepotism

FORM of favoritism based on acquaintances and familiar relationships whereby someone in an official position exploits his or her power and authority to provide a job or favor to a family member or friend, even though he or she may not be qualified or deserving.

Political contribution

ANY contribution, made in cash or in kind, to support a political cause. Examples include gifts of property or services, advertising or promotional activities endorsing a political party, and the purchase of tickets to fundraising events.

Political corruption

MANIPULATION of policies, institutions and rules of procedure in the allocation of resources and financing by political decision makers, who abuse their position to sustain their power, status and wealth.

Tax evasion

TAX evasion is the illegal nonpayment or underpayment of taxes, usually by deliberately making a false declaration or no declaration to tax authorities—such as by declaring less income, profits or gains than the amounts actually earned, or by overstating deductions. It entails criminal or civil legal penalties.

Whistle-blowing

MAKING a disclosure in the public interest by an employee, director or external person, in an attempt to reveal neglect or abuses within the activities of an organization, government body or company (or one of its business partners) that threaten public interest, its integrity and reputation.

Why does it matter? Companies and organizations should empower whistle-blowers who experience or witness bribery and corruption through effective whistle-blower policies and procedures.

But whistle-blowers need to be protected. It is time for Philippine lawmakers to move pending bills closer to implementation.

I hope this glossary is helpful in guiding organizations in government and in the private sector to act with integrity. Remember, implementing adequate procedures can help manage risks while creating a competitive business advantage. Feedback is welcome; e-mail me at schumacher@eitsc.com.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

BusinessMirror

Tuesday, August 20, 2019 A5

A6 Tuesday, August 20, 2019 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

editorial

Activist or communist?

‘W

HEN I give food to the poor, they call me a saint.

When I ask why they are poor, they call me a communist.”

This memorable line is attributed to the late Brazilian Catholic Archbishop Helder Câmara, an advocate of liberation theology, who was known for his social and political work for the poor, and for championing human rights and democracy during the most vicious period of military dictatorship in his country.

He was right. It is quite easy for the progressive and activist citizens of any country to be branded as communists, simply for speaking out and challenging injustice.

In this regard, we wish to commend Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra for not supporting the call of Interior Secretary Eduardo Año to restore Republic Act 1700 or the anti-subversion law.

“With all due respect to Secretary Año, mere membership in the Communist Party of the Philippines is not a crime unless overt criminal acts are committed.

Amending and giving more teeth to the Human Security Act will suffice, in my opinion,” Guevarra said.

The anti-subversion law, which was enacted in 1957 during the height of the Hukbalahap movement, declared the CPP and any affiliation to it illegal. It was repealed by former President Fidel Ramos in 1992 when peace talks with the National Democratic Front began.

In calling for the restoration of the anti-subversion law, the DILG chief cited intelligence reports showing that from 500 to 1,000 youths are being indoctrinated every year by the communist movement to either become members of its armed wing, the New Peoples’ Army, or serve as leaders of militant groups in their schools.

But reviving the law could easily put activists and progressive-minded citizens at risk of being arrested, just by being branded as communists, even if they are just speaking out, trying to do something about the country’s problems and demanding government reforms.

All the virtues of a good working democracy—civil society, civil liberties, constitutionalism, the rule of law, popular sovereignty—would be infringed upon by an anti-subversion law.

It can be used to discourage protests, rallies and marches, to sanction the media, to go after legitimate political opposition, to suppress citizen-led or civil society-initiated investigations into corruption and human-rights abuses, and other violations of the laws of the land. Legitimate dissent can end up operating outside the law if tagged as communist-affiliated.

Jonas Burgos was alone and unarmed in 2007 when soldiers in civilian clothes abducted him while he was crying out that he was only an activist. “Aktibista lang po ako!” he was heard shouting.

Jonas was the son of the late journalist Joe Burgos, who was the publisher of Malaya, Ang Tinig ng Masa and We Forum, publications that became pillars of the free press, providing hard-hitting, accurate, and timely information to counteract the propaganda being churned out by the state-controlled media at the time of the Marcos dictatorship.

When Joe retired from running a daily broadsheet in 1987, he ventured into farming, which he claimed was always his passion. He became an agricultural activist, a noble endeavor that his son Jonas tried to uphold.

Jonas managed their family farm in Bulacan, while conducting organic farming seminars for peasant farmers. He was never seen again after his abduction.

He was most likely murdered, most likely because he happened to be training peasant farmers who were affiliated with the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas, which the Armed Forces of the Philippines had labeled a communist “front” organization.

How many cases of arbitrary detention, torture, enforced disappearance and extra-legal killings have been committed in this country against so-called communists? This, even without an anti-subversion law. How many of the perpetrators of these crimes walk free to this day?

President Duterte recently signed Republic Act 11369 declaring November 17 of every year as National Students’ Day, supposedly to honor student activism.

This country would be lucky to have more Jonas Burgoses, young activists with integrity, nationalism and fervor for social change; people who dedicate their lives trying to make life a little better for others, especially the poor and disenfranchised in our society; those who are in the heart of the struggle to achieve justice, who sacrifice their life and livelihoods so that others may be able to live with dignity and respect.

We should encourage more citizens like them and not curb their activism—or so-called communism—through legal and even extralegal means.

Since 2005

BusinessMirror A broader look at today’s business ✝ Ambassador Antonio L. Cabangon Chua Founder Publisher Editor in Chief Associate Editor News Editor Senior Editors

T. Anthony C. Cabangon

THE ENTREPRENEUR

P

RESIDENT Duterte’s call for government agencies to issue permits within three days is a boon for social services and the economy in general.

It will not only help eliminate red tape and corruption in the bureaucracy but will also boost economic activities, which are currently restrained by the slow pace of the government approval process.

Red tape is an old bureaucratic problem where many agencies get involved in issuing their signatures.

Under President Duterte’s order, as spelled out in his State of the Nation Address (Sona) on July 22, the processing of permits should last a maximum of three days.

To achieve this, government agencies and local government units should do away with the cumbersome process of so many agencies involved in the issuance of permits. A central bureau should be in charge to trim down the multiple layers of the permitting process.

The fact that President Duterte used his fourth Sona to order

agencies to streamline the permitting process means he is sincere in eradicating red tape in the bureaucracy. Officials and lawmakers should take seriously and heed the call of the president, and not introduce new rules that may cause more administrative problems in the future.

Streamlining the permitting process into a three-day period is in line with Republic Act 11032, or the Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act of 2018, which Duterte signed into law in May 2018 and whose implementing rules and regulations were issued in June this year.

The new law, which amended the Anti-Red Tape Act of 2007, aims to enhance the Philippine business environment and improve the country’s ranking in global competitiveness reports.

Much remains to be done if

PSE: An enchanted forest

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Shorter permit process a boon to PHL economy

John Mangun

OUTSIDE THE BOX

T

HE stock market is like a dark and enchanted forest populated with strange creatures. There are orcs and ogres, wizards and werewolves, and magical fairies and Elvin archers. Ancient trees of wisdom stand in the middle and boulder monsters can destroy everything in their path. You can decide who is what.

The problem with enchanted forests is that the heroes always find themselves walking around in a circle. It is difficult to tell friend from foe, and often nothing is what it appears to be or makes sense. Now you see why the stock market is like an enchanted forest?

When a person makes a comment that the stock market is like a casino it only shows their absolute ignorance. If you want to compare the market to something, it’s more like carnival games: the “Ring-Toss” or “Knock over the Milk Bottles.” These games are designed to be almost

impossible to win that only a few players get to take home the huge stuffed animal on the top shelf. That is why no one with half a brain plays these games to win. You do it just for fun. Unfortunately, some stock market players trade the same way— both short and long term.

The one game that you can win much of the time if you know what you are doing is “The Hammer Swing.” You do not even have to be strong but only smart. The technique is to hit the center of the pad squarely (not at an angle) with the mallet. It is all about technique in the market, too.

we are to believe the results of “Doing Business 2019” report by the World Bank, where the Philippines ranked No. 124 in a field of 190 countries in terms of “ease of doing business.”

I believe that by observing the three-day permit processing rule, we can easily climb higher in the World Bank rankings and other global competitiveness reports prepared by the World Economic Forum (WEF) and Switzerland-based International Institute for Management Development.

The Philippines placed 56 out of 140 countries in the WEF Global Competitiveness Index 2018 and 46 out of 63 economies in IMD’s 2019 World Competitiveness Ranking.

President Duterte’s order for the three-day period is also consistent with the IRR of RA 11032 which prescribes the “3-7-20” rule. This means that simple transactions should be completed within three days, complex transactions within seven days, and highly technical transactions within 20 days.

As most government transactions are considered basic or simple, they should be granted permits within three days.

The new law established the Anti-Red Tape Authority but requires all government offices and agencies in the executive department, including local government

units and government-owned and -controlled corporations to comply with the rule. It covers all business-related and nonbusiness transactions like permitting, licensing and the issuance of any privilege, right, reward, clearance authorization or concession and frontline services.

Business groups expressed support for the implementation of RA 11032 and lauded President Duterte for his three-day rule in the permitting process. The Federation of Philippine Industries, the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Philippine Exporters Confederation described his order to ease of doing business in the country by cutting red tape as a confidence builder.

They agree that by making transactions easier and faster, corruption will be avoided and more businesses, including small and medium enterprises, will thrive.

For me, Duterte’s Sona on July 22 should serve as a wake-up call on government agencies to simplify their transactions so that they can become more efficient and allow businesses and ordinary citizens to have a faster transaction and more pleasant experience in government offices.

I have written and spoken so many times about how stock prices move and the factors influencing movement that it is becoming boring even for me. But I do feel a little (actually very little) sadness when people express their denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and finally, acceptance when the price does not do what they expect it to.

Why don’t prices respond higher to positive earnings results? Every quarter we are told that we should wait with restrained excitement when it is “earnings season” like a child before Christmas. The reality is that most locally listed companies do not release earnings at the same time, like in the United States for example. So “earnings season” on the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) is like the Christmas Season in the Philippines. It goes on for a very long time.

Note first that there are not many surprises with public company earnings. Secondly, earnings are what happened before and stock prices here usually factor the longer term trend of earnings. Large price movements after earnings are usually knee-jerk price reactions that do not last long.

If you are interested in earnings,

I suggest you look at two things. The “earnings per share” is more important than the total amount of revenue and profit. Next, take the total net profit and divide that by the total revenue. A company may have a 100-percent increase in earnings but only a 2-percent net profit margin. That means they are selling lots of stuff and making very little profit on the sales. Do not expect the price to skyrocket.

A long anticipated news announcement comes out and price goes nowhere. Again, there may be an immediate big jump if the news is a big surprise and comes with big excitement. But if the news was expected, the “news” is probably already built into the price.

Always remember also that this is the PSE where there are almost no secrets. It is not about insider trading—although it can be—but by the time it hits the press and even the “Company Disclosure” list, it is often old news. Don’t be disappointed.

For comments, e-mail mbv.secretariat@gmail. com or visit www.mannyvillar.com.ph.

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.

Opinion BusinessMirror

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How Asia can protect its crazy riches

W

28 applicants vying for two Supreme Court slots

By Satyajit Das | Bloomberg Opinion

ITH support for globalization and free trade declining in much of the world, Asia has a historic chance to break out of its traditional role as a capital exporter to the West and to instead redirect flows to improve its own economies and financial industries.

According to some estimates, the region’s pool of wealth at $110 trillion exceeds those of North America and Europe and is growing faster.

Japan and China were at or near the top of foreign portfolio investment in the United States, including stocks and short- and long-term bonds, in 2017 with $2 trillion and $1.5 trillion respectively, a US Treasury survey showed.

Yet, Asia has a poor record of protecting its assets stranded overseas when the cycle turns. In the 1990s, Japanese investors incurred significant losses, primarily on property.

During the 2008 crisis, a range of Asian sovereign wealth funds and high net-worth individuals lost heavily on advanced economy shares, real estate, and mortgage-backed and structured securities.

The desire to invest overseas partly reflects concern about political risk and governance at home. But leaving familiar territory brings other risks.

Distance, language and cultural differences can put Asian investors at a disadvantage when it comes to information. As a result, investors often rely too heavily on intermediaries whose interests don’t align with their own.

Their main failing, though, is a bias toward certain assets. In an echo of the ill-fated Japanese purchases of Rockefeller Center and the Pebble Beach golf course in the 1980s, Asian investors are buying prime office buildings in New York and London. Swanky apartments are quickly snapped up in world cities, especially by Chinese buyers.

Lacking cozy domestic informational networks, Asian investors are particularly susceptible to chasing name asset managers or fashionable businesses. That restricts their options since the best funds are frequently closed to new arrivals. Managers often can’t repeat past results.

Inadequate expertise frequently leads to unwise choices. In the runup to 2008, Asian banks and investors suffered losses on purchases of structured products and collateralized debt obligations, or CDOs. High net-worth and retail segments are buying again. Japanese banks have purchased up to 75 percent of AAA tranches of collateralized loan obligations, and perhaps one-third of all CLOs, which have common features with CDOs. Where investments are leveraged, they must be financed by borrowing dollars and euros in wholesale markets. Losses may create difficulties in rolling over funding.

As in 2008, forced sales and the lack of trading liquidity will accelerate declines in prices.

Why look abroad at all? There is a mismatch between Asian savings and the size of domestic capital markets, which are marked by low returns, a smaller range of investment products and limited local expertise.

The regional rivalries between Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Mumbai

Asia has a poor record of protecting its assets stranded overseas when the cycle turns.

In the 1990s, Japanese investors incurred significant losses, primarily on property. During the 2008 crisis, a range of Asian sovereign wealth funds and high net-worth individuals lost heavily on advanced economy shares, real estate, and mortgagebacked and structured securities. and Tokyo and a bias toward real industry have hampered the development of financial services.

Asia lacks quality indigenous banks such as JPMorgan Chase & Co. or The Goldman Sachs Group Inc., or asset managers such as BlackRock Inc. or Pacific Investment Management Co. Most financial institutions are domestically focused. In 2018, assets under management at Asian hedge funds fell 10 percent to just over $100 billion, a mere 3 percent of the global total. Private wealth management remains the preserve of Western firms.

Asia’s high savings are a global anomaly, driven by rising incomes, a culture of thrift and minimal social safety nets. Governments need to move with greater determination to enable more savings to be absorbed locally. The timing may be right as the world is tilting more toward national interests and self-sufficiency.

The first step must be to accelerate development of capital markets to boost size, depth, liquidity and investment choices. Revised listing and issuance rules, harmonized pan-Asian regulations, breakups of family dominated conglomerates, and partial or full privatization of key state-owned firms would improve market depth. Changes in rules and tax incentives should encourage local pension funds or insurance companies to adopt stable, long-term investment practices.

Second, the creation of worldclass financial institutions and skilled asset managers needs to be a priority. To attract the best and brightest, limited career choices and pay that lags behind international levels need to be addressed. Statesponsored financial skills training and accreditation systems should be improved. A system of mutual recognition of qualifications would increase labor mobility.

Finally, retaining capital within Asia requires improving confidence in the security of savings. Key steps include creating independent institutions free from political interference, as well as bolstering the rule of law and transparent and consistent regulations. Singapore and Hong Kong, despite its recent protests, are examples to emulate.

Without change, the familiar cycle of exuberant foreign investment and the loss of Asian wealth is likely to be repeated in the next downturn.

Manny F. Dooc

TELLTALES

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HE recent spate of mass killings in the US once more puts into focus the right to bear arms by the Americans as enshrined in the Second Amendment of the US Constitution.

The back-to-back mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, resulted in 31 deaths in one weekend.

This is definitely a carnage, which incredibly occurs with increasing regularity in a country that touts itself as the most civilized place on Earth. It must be recalled that President Donald J. Trump during his Presidential campaign had fully supported the National Rifle Association and its pro-gun agenda. Now Trump is reported to be open to reviewing policies on gun control by expanding background checks on sales of firearms and assault weapons ban, which is being opposed by his party. In fact, HR 8, the Universal Background Check Bill has been pending in the US Senate after it was passed by the Democratic-controlled House, but reforming the gun laws has been antithetical to the NRA. I doubt if Trump is serious in reviewing his party’s position on gun control. With the approaching US elections in 2020, it may be foolhardy to alienate the support of

the NRA, a dependable ally of the Republicans that claims command of over 5 million members. Without Trump’s prodding, the various gun control reform measures may not be submitted to a vote in the Senate, which is very much a Republican turf. Will the interests of the peace-loving Americans again bow to the unrelentless lobbying pressure of NRA? Will the right to bear arms resulting to countless gruesome deaths matter more than the lives of innocent Americans? The answer may be obvious but it won’t win elections in the US. nnn

THE Senate Blue Ribbon Committee is one of the most powerful bodies in Congress. It was created at the instance of then Senator Justiniano Montano Sr. of Cavite to look into the alleged abuses of the Quirino administration. Probably next to the position of the Senate president,

Bloomberg Opinion

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ET your alarms for 9:30 a.m., Beijing time, on the 20th of every month.

The community of central bank watchers, not to mention China’s domestic economy and the global environment it helps shape, just got a new benchmark. Or, at the very least, a long overdue additional reference point for figuring out where the world is going.

That’s the time and day that the People’s Bank of China will announce

its new loan prime rate. The diary entry, beginning Tuesday, is part of a package of changes to the structure of interest rates that the PBOC hopes will ultimately allow lower borrowing costs to flow through to companies.

The timing might just turn out to be the most significant part of the whole endeavor. For years, people have wanted China to become more transparent about its policy settings, in line with Western peers. Things have been heading that way, but the main levers to shape the price of money and, by implication, the direction of the

its chairmanship is the most sought after position in the Upper Chamber.

Its main task is to investigate alleged wrongdoings of the government, its attached agencies and officials, including government-owned and -controlled corporations, in aid of legislation. The last phrase of the definition is important since it limits the purpose of such investigations.

Thus, the aim of the investigation is to craft a new law or propose amendments to an existing law. It’s never designed to promote the interest of any senator of the Republic or selfaggrandizement of the invited resource persons. The committee was formed to expose venalities in government and identify rascals masquerading as public servants. It did not come about to destroy a person’s reputation or besmirch another’s honor and pillory a noble character in ridicule and shame. In the hands of an honorable chairman and wellmeaning members, the Blue Ribbon Committee is a nemesis of abuses and corruption in the public sector and a bulwark of good government. nnn

IT was reported that 28 applicants are vying for two slots at the Supreme Court soon to be vacated by retiring Justices Francis Jardeleza and Antonio Carpio. Having more interested seekers of the two coveted seats is a vibrant sign of a dynamic jurisprudence in our country.

Twenty-three of them are currently serving our various courts, assuring us of a rich harvest of aspirants who

TRAIN 2 offers super incentives Benedicta Du-Baladad

TAX LAW FOR BUSINESS

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ONTRARY to the expectations of many, TRAIN 2 or the Trabaho bill under House Bill 176 that was approved last Wednesday by the House Committee on Ways and Means actually offers not just basic incentives, but super incentives.

But the catch is, the business or activity must be in the targeted priority list. Fair enough, isn’t it? For why should the government exempt one from paying its share in taxes without getting a bigger benefit in return? Phrased differently, why should we allow free riders?

The Department of Finance has been saying all along that they want an incentive system that is targeted, performance-based, transparent and time-bound. By a strike of luck or perhaps hard lobbying, they got what they wanted in HB 176, the Trabaho bill. Or is it now called the Citira bill (Corporate Income Tax and Incentives Rationalization Act)?

Under HB 176, the income taxbased incentive is capped at five years, consisting of three years income-tax holiday (ITH) and additional two years under a 50 percent reduced income tax (RIT).

The rule is clear—there will be no extension beyond five years.

Time-bound.

But certain enterprises, activities or projects that are believed to foster national development are exempted from the five-year limitation rule.

This category of enterprises or activities are not only given extended period of incentives, but are granted what I call “super incentives” that are attractive enough to change business decisions.

Among these are the following: (1) agribusiness projects or activities located outside Metro Manila and other urban areas identified in the Strategic Investment Priority Plan; (2) those undertaking projects or activities in less developed areas identified in SIPP or recovering from armed conflict or major disaster; (3) those relocating their business outside Metro Manila and selected urban areas adjacent to Metro Manila to other areas of the country.

All of these shall be entitled to additional two-year incentives, or a total of seven years. Of the additional two years, one year can be under ITH. Not only that. There are incentives that are tied to certain preferred activities or projects and for as long as you continue to engage in that activity or project, you can enjoy these “super incentives,” without limitation as to the period

China’s central bank bids to join the grown-ups

By Daniel Moss

Tuesday, August 20, 2019 A7

economy have been communicated in haphazard fashion. This appears to be changing and is most welcome.

Despite its growing economic size and clout, China long refrained from specifying a time and date for interestrate decisions. That set it apart from the Federal Reserve, Bank of Japan, European Central Bank and a score of other institutions of lesser significance in both the developed and emerging world.

That exception became increasingly jarring as China’s economy catapulted ahead of Germany and Japan,

and predictions proliferated about when it would overtake the US. The world grew accustomed to the PBOC announcing changes to the yuan’s trading band and other key policy decisions over Christmas holidays or at obscure hours of the weekend. This isn’t the way grown-up economies behave.

The central bank appears to concur. Now a significant mechanism to modulate the flow of money in the economy and, by extent, influence the shape of the world will have a bit more transparency and regularity.

Granted, eyeballs have been glued

are steeped in their knowledge and practice of law. The seven-member Judicial and Bar Council who will submit a shortlist of candidates to the President will vet all applicants.

Our system of judicial selection in the SC departs from the US practice where the President proposes a candidate subject to confirmation by the Senate. This is known as the principle of advice and consent where judicial appointments to the higher courts is a divided responsibility of the President and the Senate. Until Sen. Edward Kennedy’s strong leadership in the Judiciary Committee where nominees had been subjected to meticulous scrutiny, the common perception was that the President has sole responsibility for their appointments and that the Senate’s role, unless it finds an egregious ground, is to defer to the President’s choice.

Theoretically, the JBC provides us a more ideal mechanism for selecting our justices. Vetting of nominees by the JBC is based on knowledge of the law, judicial temperament, integrity, experience, competence and independence. Therefore, shortlisted candidates endorsed to the President for final decision are possessed of the qualifications suitable for appointment. SC Justices serve until the ripe age of 70 or almost their lifetime.

They hold enormous responsibility as interpreters of our Constitution and final arbiters of all questions of law. Only the best and the brightest go to the SC, which lives up to its motto: Batas at Bayan.

of availment. So, who says there is no forever?

Manufacturing enterprises reinvesting their surplus or undistributed earnings in SIPP activities can deduct from their gross income 50 percent of the amount reinvested within a period of five years from reinvestment. If the enterprise reinvests every five years and such reinvestment is big enough to offset yearly taxable income for the next five years from the time of reinvestment, the enterprise can effectively enjoy ITH in perpetuity for as long as it reinvests.

The same could be said for infrastructure costs spent for countrywide development. These are allowed as deduction from gross income to the extent of 100 percent of the infrastructure costs incurred.

To top it all, HB 176 has empowered the President to grant a longer incentive period or even grant incentives to those not covered in the SIPP or granted in the Tax Code if the interest of national economic development so requires. The power given to the President is wide, both as to coverage and period of availment. The only limitation is that, it shall be given to desirable projects where the benefits to be derived from such projects is clear and convincing, and far outweigh the cost of incentives given.

While TRAIN 2 had cut down on certain incentives especially the “forever incentives,” it also gave more generous incentives to targeted recipients. It did not totally abolish incentives, which was the fear of many. It only redirected or refocused its lenses to capture the proper subjects of its generosity,

keeping in mind the overall value they bring to national development.

As in all reforms, there would be those caught in transition. HB 176 provides for transition rules to those affected by the phasing out of the “forever incentives.”

For those under ITH, they can continue with ITH but only for the remaining period not exceeding five years. Those under the 5 percent gross income earned shall be allowed to continue based on the following schedule: two years, if GIE was availed for more than 10 years, three years if five to 10 years, and five years if below five years.

Given all these, TRAIN 2 is not bad after at all.

But the implementation could be a big concern. TRAIN 2 incorporated the whole incentives law in the Tax Code, thereby placing it within the exclusive playground of the BIR. I have doubts if there would be an honest-to-goodness implementation of the incentives system in those hands whose main task is to collect taxes.

Something to worry about, and should do something about. There should be proper safeguards to protect this good law, good incentive system, from becoming a dead law.

lately on the PBOC’s morning yuan fix shortly after 9 a.m. each day, the reference point for trading in the currency.

When the PBOC recently allowed it to slip below 7 to the dollar, it was seen as a step of great consequence. The yuan’s move, in itself was tiny, but because of the psychology of a round number and the way President Donald J. Trump rants about China’s markets, the baby step reverberated in asset markets the world over and got China branded a “currency manipulator” by the US Treasury.

Now eyes will be on an interest rate

at 9:30 a.m. every four weeks. Might as well keep them there after the yuan fix minutes earlier. Whether the prime rate becomes, in time, the de facto primary benchmark rate for China will be one of the more fascinating aspects of the new regime. It’s absurd the amount of attention that’s devoted to Bank of England or European Central Bank deliberations relative to the People’s Bank of China. The clarity and method of messaging explains a large part of that lopsidedness.

A humble diary note this past weekend just might change a lot.

The author is the Founding Partner, chairman and CEO of Du-Baladad and Associates Law Offices (BDB Law), a member-firm of WTS Global.

The article is for general information only and is not intended, nor should be construed as a substitute for tax, legal or financial advice on any specific matter. Applicability of this article to any actual or particular tax or legal issue should be supported therefore by a professional study or advice. If you have any comments or questions concerning the article, you may e-mail the author at dick.du-baladad@bdblaw.com.ph or call 403-2001 local 300.

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POGO near camps spying?

Duterte unfazed–Panelo

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By Bernadette D. Nicolas @BNicolasBM & Butch Fernandez @butchfBM

RESIDENT Duterte shrugged off concerns over the location of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) facilities near military camps, but a Senate leader, echoing concerns raised by the Defense secretary, backed moves to relocate them.

Presidential Spokesman and Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador S. Panelo said on Monday the President is not worried because

surveillance can be done even if they are far from these military camps anyway.

“The President said, you don’t

“The President said, you don’t even have to be near, because even if you are 1,000 miles away, they can spy on us. They are already hightech and they have many satellites.”—Panelo

even have to be near, because even if you are 1,000 miles away, they can spy on us. They are already hightech and they have many satellites,” Panelo said in a Palace briefing on Monday.

The Palace spokesman’s remarks came on the heels of a statement of concern by Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana over

the hosting of POGO in areas near military camps, especially in Metro Manila, saying they may have effects on security.

Despite saying Lorenzana’s concern is “legitimate,” Panelo said the President is “not worried” since the country has the intelligence capability to know what they are doing.

“Because according to him, our capability on intelligence information is okay. So we are not worried about that,” he said.

“You know, the President said, if they are here, we also know how to find out what they are doing because we are also equipped completely when it comes to intelligence gathering,” he added.

See “Pogo,” A3

PHL population to hit 115.37M by 2025–PSA

By Cai U. Ordinario

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@caiordinario

HE country’s population will expand by 8.089 million between 2019 and 2025, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), which updated its projections so that policymakers can use the latest data for

development plans and programs.

The PSA said on Monday there will be a total of 115.378 million Filipinos by 2025. The figure is 8.089 million more than the projected population of 107.288 million by year-end.

The increase in the country’s population would mean an addition of 4.091 million and 3.998 million

SOUTHWEST MONSOON AFFECTING WESTERN SECTION OF NORTHERN LUZON as of 4:00 pm - August 19, 2019

to the male and female population, respectively.

“The updating of the 2010 Census-based population projections using the results of the 2015 Census of Population was in response to the demands for the latest population estimates at national and subnational levels to be used as inputs in development plans, policies and

programs, market research and analysis, among others,” National Statistician and Civil Registrar General Claire Dennis S. Mapa said in a statement.

Based on the data, around 5.13 million Filipinos aged 15 to 64 will be added to the population of the Philippines. Filipinos in this age bracket comprise the country’s labor force.

In 2019, there were an estimated 68.037 million Filipinos aged 15 to 64. This will increase to 73.167 million by 2025.

The PSA data also showed that the number of Filipinos who will be too young to work or those between 0 to 14 years old will increase by 2.576 million between 2019 and 2025.

Those who will be too old to work or those aged 65 to above 85 years old will expand by 2.96 million between 2019 and 2025.

In 2019, there are a total of 39.251 million Filipinos aged 0 to 14 and 65 to above 85. This is composed of 34.165 million young Filipinos and 5.087 million senior Filipinos.

In 2025, there will be a total of 36.74 million young Filipinos or those aged 0 to 14; and 5.47 million senior Filipinos, or those aged 65 to above 85.

The growth of the Philippine population is crucial to the country’s aim of attaining the demographic dividend, according to the National Economic and Development Authority.

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia earlier said part of this effort is the full implementation of the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Law which will help households have better control over the number of children they have.

The President, he said, released Executive Order 12 which was signed in 2017 to speed up the law’s implementation to achieve and sustain zero unmet need for modern family planning by 2022.

Pernia also noted that Duterte approved in March the intensified implementation of the National Program on Population and Family Planning.

Family planning users, he said, will benefit from the Universal Health Care Law as it expands coverage to include free medical consultations and laboratory tests for them. The law automatically enrolls all Filipinos into the National Health Insurance Program.

To ensure that the Philippines will reap the demographic dividend, Pernia said the government continues to institutionalize reforms through the K-12 and free tuition to tertiary students of state universities and colleges, with special subsidy for poor and deserving students.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

KASPERSKY WARNS OF THE DANGERS OF 5G TECH AND A.I.

By VG Cabuag

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@villygc

UGENE Kaspersky, the CEO of the Russian software security company named after him, has warned of the dangers of the 5G technology and said more personal data will be collected from the enabled devices that people use everyday.

Kasperski said 5G, or the fifth generation of wireless technology, will push people towards the use of the artificial intelligence (AI) to make their lives easier.

“Artificial intelligence is a marketing bulls--t,” the Russian billionaire said. He said, for instance, people have relied so much on online maps when driving, when previously these were not being used and maps were just in the heads of the people themselves.

Kaspersky said AI has relied more on cloud computing and much less on people like software engineers to do the task.

“If we don’t take care of our immunity, one day it [AI] will kill us,” he said.

5G offers faster delivery of information allowing autonomous cars and smart communities, and several devices called IOT (Internet of things), which work on many everyday appliances, such as refrigerators and air-condition units, and even vacuum cleaners.

Kaspersky, however, said the company has not yet developed security products for the IOT. Kaspersky’s security products, however, were banned by the US government in 2017.

Officials said the company has to do something to bring

3

The number of Transparency Centers set up by cyber security firm Kaspersky. The first was set up in Zurich when it moved its customer data storage and infrastructure for European customers out of Russia. The second is in Madrid and the latest, in Cyberjaya in Malaysia back the trust in its products.

It then decided to move out its customer data storage and infrastructure for its European customers from Russia to Zurich, Switzerland. It called the facility Transparency Center.

In June, it opened another center in Madrid, Spain, to also serve as its briefing center for key company stakeholders.

The billionaire was in Cyberjaya in Malaysia late last week for the opening of Kasperky’s third Transparency Center, which will review its source code that it sells to its customers in Asia Pacific, including the Philippines.

Stakeholders can review all versions of Kaspersky’s builds and database updates, as well as information on the company’s processes such as how it collects data and dumps these in its cloudbased network, the company said.

The latest facility will be operated in partnership with CyberSecurity Malaysia, a government agency that focuses on national security.

Treasury awards full ₧15B in T-bills auction

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HE Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) has awarded the full P15 billion on offer in its latest auction for Treasury bills (Tbills) as rates for the government security were low on the back of the strong liquidity in the market.

The BTr said the auction was oversubscribed with total bids reaching P45.8 billion, more than three times the offering.

Deputy Treasurer Erwin D. Sta. Ana told reporters after the auction on Monday that the results are in line with the pre-auction service conducted by the BTr. “It’s a good turnout, close to three times bid to cover, rates are much lower than the previous, in line with the initial feedback from our GSEDs [government securities eligible dealers],” Sta. Ana said.

The 91-day T-bill was awarded the full P4 billion, with bids amounting to P10.76 billion.

The average annual rate for the security settled at 3.254 percent, a decline of 0.144 basis points from the previous rate of 3.398 percent.

The 182-day T-bill was awarded the full P5 billion, with bids amounting to P14.11 billion.

The average annual rate for the security settled at 3.471 percent, a decline of 0.206 basis points from the previous rate of 3.677 percent.

The 365-day T-bill was awarded the full P6 billion, with bids amounting to P20.885 billion.

The average annual rate for the security settled at 3.636 percent, a decline of 0.262 basis points from

the previous rate of 3.898 percent.

Sta. Ana said interest rates can still go down, depending on prevailing economic conditions, as well as policy pronouncements made by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

“There are several triggers.

Pronouncements from the BSP for more manageable inflation in the third and probably in the fourth quarter as the government mentioned just recently. Information about further cuts on the RR [reserve requirement] and even in the policy rate not only here but also discussions with the Fed. And then there’s that continuing trade dispute between US and China. So, these are [the] factors that we are supposed to consider moving forward,” Sta. Ana said. “It points to maybe a slightly lower rate moving forward, but we can’t just pinpoint when it is going to stabilize.”

The BSP earlier moved to ease its monetary policy stance with a main policy rate cut, as GDP registered slower growth in the first half of the year, and inflation rate eased in July.

The Monetary Board recently decided to cut the interest rate on the BSP’s overnight reverse repurchase (RRP) facility by 25 basis points to 4.25 percent.

Further, the interest rates on the overnight deposit and lending facilities were reduced to 3.75 percent and 4.75 percent, respectively.

Cai U. Ordinario

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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

A24 Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Autokid Releases Newest Captain Series

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ORE and more cities in the country—be it in Metro Manila or in nearby and faraway provinces—are being developed in terms of infrastructure and establishment. This results to increasing demands of businesses when it comes to moving goods and cargo.

This is where light-duty trucks can come in. With their mobility and efficiency, lightduty trucks can help businesses grow and improve.

Since launching its partnership with Dongfeng Automotive Co., Ltd. (DFAC) and Dongfeng Commercial Vehicle Co.,

Ltd (DFCV) in June, Autokid now carries a whole new lineup of light-duty trucks called the Captain Series.

Aside from the promise of excellent mobility and transport efficiency, the Dongfeng Captain line of trucks also provide excellent features like modern cabins, smart safety and driving features, and efficient Euro IV engines — with some key variants powered by Cummins technology.

To further drive businesses forward and closer to success, Autokid doesn’t stop at sales. The company continues with aftersales services through its truck parts arm,

the Truckstop, and repair center, Autokid Service Care.

Truckstop carries the widest selection of brand new and original spare truck parts; while Autokid Service Care provides truck repair services for all trucks brands, regardless of where they were bought.

Autokid Service Care has over 200 service bays spread across their locations in Dagupan, Subic, Sta Rita Bulacan, Quezon Avenue, Lipa, Batangas, and Albay – ready to serve your business.

Visit https://www.autokid.com.ph. and https://www.autokid.com.ph/blog.

McCann Worldgroup Philippines shines at Tambuli Award

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CCANN Worldgroup Philippines bolsters its reputation as the country’s most effective agency by recently emerging as the best Philippine agency at two of the most recognized effectiveness award shows which tracks business results.

At this year’s prestigious Asia Pacific Effies, McCann/MRM won a Gold and Silver for their KitKat “Break In Case Of Emotional Emergencies” idea for Nestlé Philippines.

This is the third straight winning year for McCann Worldgroup after picking up Bronze for MRM’s MMDA “May

Huli Ba?” web solution in 2017, before levelling up in 2018 with two Golds, One Silver and Two Bronze Effies in 2018 for their hugely successful, “Kwentong Jollibee” digital film series.

They followed this up by being named Agency of the Year at the 2019 Asia-Pacific Tambuli Awards last June with three Golds (Two for Nestlé KitKat and One for Jollibee), and five Bronzes for Jollibee, Philippine Airlines and San Miguel. The APAC Tambuli awards measures business results through advertising and solutions which promote good values.

“Winning for big brands like San Miguel, Jollibee, Philippine Airlines, RiteMed and Nestlé, as well as SMEs and organizations like Fully Booked and MMDA and is just a reminder that we invest the same level of excellence into all our clients’ brands, no matter the size,” Mon Garcia, McCann Worldgroup Philippines’ COO shares.

The company is part of McCann Worldgroup Worldwide which was named 2019 Network of the Year by both the Effies and Cannes Lions, stamping its class in both Effectiveness and Creative Excellence.

Equilibrium: Stimulating the Filipino coffee industry for the past 21 years

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QUILIBRIUM Intertrade Corporation is the Philippines’ leading distributor of a diverse-range of top-quality products and innovative solutions for coffee, tea, and specialty beverages that provides the best customer experience while reducing environmental footprints.

The first to establish company branches in Mindanao (2006-2007) and Visayas (2008), Equilibrium has demonstrated commitment to develop the young coffee markets in the provinces years ahead of other industry suppliers. The company currently operates in 10 key market locations all over the Philippines The company prides itself for having the most number of certified coffee experts, with a total of 8 Arabica Graders and 5 Robusta Graders, and the company’s very own Chief Executive Officer, Cherry Cruz, is the first Filipina Q and R Grader and Q Processing Level 2- Professional in the Philippines.

Q Graders are globally-certified graders and certifiers of specialty coffees. They are certified by the Coffee Quality Institute (CQI) in the U.S.A. On the other hand, specialty coffees are coffees which garner a grade of at least 80 points or higher using the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) International Standard Cupping Form and Procedures.

The company also makes sure that they share their knowledge to others through its internationally-affiliated school, the Barista and Coffee Academy of Asia (BCAA).

Established in 2009 as the Philippine Barista and Coffee Academy, BCAA is the first barista and coffee school in the Philippines created to upgrade the skills of the baristas and provide coffee owners with better and up-todate knowledge in the café business.

BCAA is also the first SCA-Certified Lab in the Philippines, currently with 3 certified labs, the most of any entity in the country.

SCA is a global non-profit organization which governs the standards of specialty coffee. It has memberships from farmers, processors, traders, roasters and coffee people.

The SCA accredits Premium Laboratories in various countries for the purposes of assessing coffee standards in a neutral and calibrated environment for all coffee professionals.

Equilibrium is the first to bring Q-Grading Certification class in the country, sponsoring farmers and coffee craft practitioners to uplift the industry skills and be at par with worldwide standards.

Inspired by its passion and love for coffee and support for environmental sustainability, Equilibrium revealed its new logo and brand identity during the celebration of the World Food Expo 2019 in August 9 at the SMX Convention Center.

The new logo features a naturally bisected coffee bean made up of brown bean and green leaf that best represents who Equilibrium.

The brown half stands for coffee which is the foundation of Equilibrium’s expertise. Being the beverage partner of the Filipinos for over 20 years is a testament to its unwavering service to the industry since its establishment in 1998. The green leaf represents vitality, growth and sustainability. The company recognizes the importance of continuous learning for the industry .

Equilibrium also unveiled the new packaging of Curve Coffee Collaborators products.

The Collaborators are roasters and distributors of Philippine Specialty Coffee.

As collaborators, they are proud to be able to work with various stakeholders from farmers, processors, baristas, and cafes. Their goal is to identify each bean’s potential by discovering the appropriate roasting curves that will bring out the best flavor and aroma of each coffee bean variety. The people behind Curve Coffee are coffee hunters and discoverers who relish the idea of finding new varieties from the most unexpected sources and origins.

The new packaging are made from earthfriendly packaging that breaks down into healthy compost and can be used for planting.

For inquiries, call (02) 862-30-41 to 43 or visit www.equilibrium.com.ph.

World Vision, Procter & Gamble, DepEd Malabon launch "Pag-asa sa Basura" Campaign

Metrobank Foundation presents the 2019 Outstanding Filipinos

W THE 2019 METROBANK FOUNDATION OUTSTANDING FILIPINOS, namely, Dorothy S. Tarol, Ph.D; Ricardo T. Jose, Ph.D.; Eva Maria C. Cutiongcodela Paz, M.D.; Cristina B. Cristobal, Ph.D.; MSgt. Ramil A. Caporas PA; Major Romulo G. Dimayuga II PN (M); Lt. Col. John Paul D. Baldomar PA; PCol. Edwin A. Quilates; PMaj. Robert A. Reyes, and PCMS. Marsha T. Agustin, RSW, were presented during a press conference held on August 8 in Taguig City.

As a career-service award for Filipino exemplars in the academe, military, and police sectors— the 10 Metrobank Foundation Outstanding Filipinos is composed of 4 teachers, 3 soldiers, and 3 police officers to the members of the media. Each awardee will be awarded with a cash prize of PhP 1 million each (net of tax), a golden medallion, and “The Flame” trophy during the formal conferment ceremonies on September 4 at the Metrobank Plaza in Makati City as part of Metrobank’s 57th anniversary celebration.

ORLD Vision and Procter & Gamble (P&G) Philippines together with Department of Education Malabon Division Office launched the “Pag-asa sa Basura” campaign, a sustainable waste collection and recycling system targeting several schools in Metro Manila. The project will be done in 25 chosen schools in Malabon and Quezon City.

The participating schools will be outfitted with school-based materials recovery facilities (MRF) for various solid waste materials including sachet packaging. The students who will be participating in the campaign are encouraged to bring sachets to receive incentives such as school supplies. Furthermore, the profits that will be collected from the MRF will be used for Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WaSH) programs like improvements in their handwashing facilities and WaSH education.

In photo are the representatives from the Mayor’s Office of Malabon City, Department of Education Malabon Division, World Vision Development Foundation Inc., and Procter & Gamble Philippines together with the school principals from the participating schools in Malabon.

To know more and support World Vision Philippines activities, visit www.worldvision. org.ph. You may also follow /worldvisionph on Facebook and @worldvisionphl on Instagram for updates.

About World Vision World Vision is a global Christian relief, development and advocacy organization dedicated to working with children, families and communities to overcome poverty and injustice.

World Vision serves all people, regardless of religion, race, ethnicity, or gender.

Editor: Efleda P. Campos

Companies BusinessMirror

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

B1

SEC approves two more IPO for this year, Kepwealth shares soar on first day of trade

By VG Cabuag

T

@villygc

HE Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved two more initial public offerings this year, while the first offering for the year by Kepwealth Property Phils. Inc. (KPPI) rose during its first day of trading.

Kepwealth’s share price closed Monday at P8.15 per share or 42 percent higher than its offer price of P5.74 per share. The benchmark

Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) index was up 1.8 percent or 142.37 points to close at 7,938.35.

Kepwealth was the PSE’s first

IPO for the year.

“I am pleased that the Philippine Stock Exchange is instrumental in helping KPPI achieve its growth strategy. I was told that the company intends to use the funds from this share sale to diversify its asset base and acquire office space in key cities in Metro Manila to boost its total leasable space. Expanding its leasing portfolio bodes well for the company, especially as prospects of the property sector remains upbeat. The growth potential of KPPI will surely be promising once additional revenue is generated from its planned acquisitions,” PSE Chairman Jose T. Pardo said in his welcome remarks.

Meanwhile, the SEC also approved the IPO of coconut product manufacturer Axelum Resources Corp. and Villar-led home improvement retailer AllHome Corp.

In its meeting on Monday, the SEC en banc approved the IPOs of Axelum Resources and AllHome to raise as much as P4.76 billion and P12 billion in fresh capital, respectively.

Axelum Resources will offer 400 million in treasury shares and 300 million in new common shares along with 430 million existing common shares offered by CP Compass Singapore Pte. Ltd. After the maiden offering, it will have a total of 4 billion out-

Toyota eyes rich households, hospitality service providers to buy new utility van

By Elijah Felice E. Rosales @alyasjah

T

OYOTA Motor Philippines Corp. (TMP) on Monday introduced the Hiace Super Grandia to the domestic market with the objective of selling 400 units monthly on expected demand from rich households and hospitality service providers.

The leading vehicle assembler in the Philippines added the Hiace Super Grandia to its roster of automobiles, as it eyes to strengthen its dominance over the commercial vehicle (CV) market. The 10-seater utility van will be mainly marketed to customers with an average monthly income of P220,000 to P240,000, according to TMP Vice President for Marketing Elijah Sue C. Marcial.

She added the Hiace Super Grandia can also suit the transportation

Travellers starts tender offer for delisting, PwC gives fairness opinion

T

RAVELLERS International Hotel Group Inc. (TIHGI), the gambling joint venture between businessman Andrew Tan and Malaysia’s Genting Group, has started its P8.7-billion tender offer as part of the delisting process.

Based on the firm’s tender offer report filed with the Philippine Stock Exchange, the tender offer shares will be crossed at the PSE on September 30, and Travellers’ shares will be delisted on October 15. The tender offer will end on September 23.

The company is buying out the minority holders, who represent just 10 percent of the company at P5.50 apiece, which is at the higher part of the P5.00 to P5.70 range in the fair value opinion of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and its local partner Isla Lipana and Co. The accounting firm used three methods to arrive at the fair value for Travellers, including discounted cash flow, market approach and income approach. The discounted cash flow, which used a weighted average cost of capital of 12 percent, yielded a fair value within the P5.00 to P5.80 and when cross-checked with market approach intersected at a value to P5.00 to P5.70, or an equity value equivalent to P79.1 billion to P90.2 billion, the accounting firm said.

The tender price of P5.50 is above both the volume weighted average price of P5.49 for the past three months and P5.46 for the past six months, it said.

“We are of the opinion that the tender offer price of P5.50 for each share of TIHGI is fair from a financial point of view,” PwC said.

The tender offer will be financed with internally generated funds, and BDO Unibank has guaranteed Travellers an existing credit facility with the bank worth P10 billion. BDO Securities is the stock transfer agent for the deal. VG Cabuag

requirement of hospitality service providers, such as hotels, in moving clients around places.

The Hiace Super Grandia is priced between P2.4 million and P2.8 million depending on its type and color.

Buyers can choose from the Super Grandia Elite, Super Grandia Leather and Super Grandia Fabric in options of black, gray metallic, luxury pearl toning and white pearl.

The TMP is targeting to sell 400 units of Hiace Super Grandia every month starting September, but this objective could change next year depending on the utility van’s market viability.

TMP President Satoru Suzuki told reporters the firm will need to assess first the appetite for the utility van before making assumptions for next year. Historically, automobile dealers raise the sales target for a model after a certain

period of time or once buyers are familiar with the unit, but the market condition at present, Suzuki said, is different from the trend.

“Hopefully, [we can] maintain the 400 [unit sales] level. [As for] next year’s target, we are still in the development [stage]. I cannot say the concrete figures, but we will try to maintain [selling] 400 [units monthly],” Suzuki disclosed.

Suzuki explained the automotive industry’s sales are in the green as of July, but this is because figures last year were “abnormal, irregular.”

The industry suffered from a dismal performance in 2018 after vehicles were slapped with higher taxes and inflation hit record high levels.

The TMP chief said it is better then for the firm to temper its expectations and observe first the market over the remaining months before laying out targets for 2019.

Combined sales of the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. and the Truck Manufacturers Association in July improved 13.45 percent to 31,810 units, from 28,038 units during the same month last year, on positive performance in both the passenger car and CV segments. As such, industry sales from January-to-July expanded 3.16 percent to 205,945 units, from 199,628 units the prior year.

Vehicle assemblers are targeting to grow sales by 10 percent this year to make up for a dismal showing last year, when sales declined 16 percent.

TMP is the industry leader as of July with a 42.52-percent share in the market. It is also the leader in the CV bracket—under which utility vans, such as Hiace Super Grandia, are listed—with a market share of 39.9 percent.

Manila, Eastern telecoms launch modern phone booth, ‘ISKOnek’

standing common shares, with 28.25 percent in the hands of new investors.

First Metro Investment Corp. and BPI Capital Corp. were appointed as joint lead underwriters.

Axelum Resources expects to net P4.4 billion from the primary offer composed of treasury shares and new common shares, based on a maximum offer price of P6.81 per share.

Villar’s AllHome, meanwhile, will offer 750 million new common shares along with 375 million existing common shares currently held by AllValue Holdings Corp., which has the option to offer 168.75 million more.

The offer shares represent 34.5 percent of the company’s issued and outstanding capital stock, which will comprise a total of 3.75 billion shares after the maiden offering and assuming full exercise of the over-allotment option.

AllHome has tapped UBS AG, Singapore Branch as sole global coordinator and joint bookrunner, CLSA Limited and Credit Suisse (Singapore) Ltd. as joint bookrunners, and PNB Capital and Investment Corp. and China Bank Capital Corp. as domestic underwriters.

At a maximum offer price of P16 per share, the company expects to net P11.46 billion from the primary offer.

AC Energy sees commercial operation of diesel plant in Rizal by H2 of 2020

By Lenie Lectura @llectura

A

C Energy Inc., the power arm of conglomerate Ayala Corp., wants to start construction of its planned diesel plant in Pililia, Rizal, this year, with target commercial operation date set in the second half of 2020.

“That’s still a live project especially now there’s still a looming tightness supply. This will come in handy,” said AC Energy President Eric Francia.

The power facility’s capacity is 300 megawatts but the project will be done in phases, starting with 150 MW. Francia said construction would take less than a year. “We need this capacity, 150 MW. [Construction] will be fast, less than a year.”

“We’re hoping that construction will start this year. If not, early next year, so regardless, we’re targeting commercial operation by second half of next year.

The conduct of a grid impact study for the diesel power project was approved earlier by the Department of Energy (DOE). A clearance to conduct a GIS is necessary before the project proponent can proceed with the construction.

Francia had said it makes sense to put up a diesel plant to cater to ancillary services to augment renewableenergy (RE) technologies.

He explained that diesel-run power plants are used to provide ancillary services, such as backup power, load following, system frequency and voltage regulation. They are like standby power plants if say, a wind power facility does not provide too much wind or if it rains in an area where a solar power farm is located.

“We believe the country will need more peaking and reserve ancillary capacity especially in a world where you need RE. This is in line [with the] thinking [that] if RPS [Renewable Portfolio Standards] succeeds, then you need ancillary for that,” Francia had said.

AC Energy now has approximately 1,600 MW of attributable capacity, of which 55 percent are coal-fired power plants, 11 percent diesel-fired facilities and 34 percent renewable energy.

“Our renewables now is about 600 MW out of the 1,600 MW. We do expect to reach the 1,000 MW of RE in the next 12 months,” he said.

Of the existing capacity, Francia said 74 percent are based in the Philippines and 26 percent in regional sites.

He said 69 percent of the attributable capacity comes from power plants that are operating, while the 31 percent are ongoing projects.

The company’s long-term goal is to exceed 5 gigawatts of attributable capacity and generate at least 50 percent of energy from renewables by 2025.

Slowing global demand hits Cirtek profitability in H1

L MAYOR Isko Moreno and Eastern Communications team as they unveiled the “ISKOnek” Digital Kiosk.

T

HE local government of Manila, in partnership with Eastern Communications recently launched the first “ISKOnek” Digital Kiosk at the Bonifacio Park near Manila City Hall.

Unveiled by Manila Mayor Isko Moreno, “ISKOnek” powered by Eastern Communications offers free Wi-fi connection, calls and phone charging. Up to 100 users can sign in simultaneously and use free Internet for 30 minutes. The kiosk is also installed with CCTV cameras for security.

As part of the company’s advocacy in bringing Hi-Tech and innovative experience to its clients, Eastern Communications has been supporting the local government in transforming the capital city

into a more advanced place that is beneficial and convenient for the public.

The mayor said he dealt with Eastern before when he was vice mayor, adding, “I’m happy with their connection and the bandwidth that was being provided.” Manila was Eastern Communications’ threshold in offering its primary services when it started, and through the years, the company has evolved and has been providing reliable connectivity solutions nationwide. Eastern Communications launched the first payphone in Manila in 1996 during its 425th founding anniversary. This year, the company has partnered again with the city to launch the first ever digital

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

kiosk, dubbed the modern telephone booth.

“It is with pride and honor to have partnered with the local government of Manila and be a part of this milestone as the city takes a big step in improving the daily experience not only of Manileños but also of every Filipino that visits the place,” said Eastern Communications coordinator Atty. Aileen Regio.

“We believe that by providing free Wi-fi connection, we enable the public to conveniently access information online wherever they are in Manila, thus fostering efficiency and catalyzing economic growth,” added Eastern coordinator Ramon Aesquivel.

AGUNA-BASED Cirtek Holdings Philippines Corp. said its income slid during the six months of the year ending June as global demand slowed down.

The company said its income for the first half was at $2.28 million from last year’s $7.52 million.

“The global economic slowdown and unique industry challenges have negatively affected demand for electronic and communication devices.

As a result, revenue and profitability for the first half of the year have been lower than expected,” Cirtek President Jorge Aguilar said.

Revenues for the six-month period were down 11 percent to $48.64 million, from last year’s $54.84 million.

For the April to June quarter alone, its income decline was narrower at 60 percent to $2.25 million, from last year’s $5.58 million.

“Despite the challenges, we will continue to aggressively pursue new customers and new markets, continue strategic collaboration with third parties for quicker time to market and broader product offerings to

major customers, and continue to drive efficiency across the organization,” Aguilar said.

Aguilar said Cirtek’s manufacturing business has lined up several captive customers to drive expansion in 2020.

“The company remains well-positioned for future growth,” Cirtek Chairman Jerry Liu said.

“We are particularly excited at Quintel’s new generation of wireless base station antennas,” he said, adding that its products provide advance features and enhancements that other vendors do not currently offer, and address current and potential customers’ specific requirements, such as rooftop optimized antennas and SONWav antennas that are deployed in sites with restrictions.

“Key acquisitions in 2014 [the former REMEC] and 2017 [Quintel] have upgraded Cirtek’s capability to system-level manufacturing, brought into the company’s fold valuable IP, design and development capabilities, and enabled Cirtek to sell its own branded products globally,” Liu said. VG Cabuag

B2

Companies BusinessMirror

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

PSE STOCK QUOTATIONS

August 19, 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 BDO LEASING COL FINANCIAL FIRST ABACUS FERRONOUX HLDG IREMIT MEDCO HLDG MANULIFE NTL REINSURANCE PHIL STOCK EXCH VANTAGE

57 146.1 89.95 26.3 11.66 71.3 13.1 46.1 57.7 27.55 191.2 59.05 2.05 18.3 0.53 4.89 1.2 0.43 725 0.96 187.5 1.12

57.05 146.8 90 26.35 11.7 71.5 13.16 46.15 57.8 28 191.9 59.8 2.16 18.58 0.59 4.9 1.33 0.44 755 0.99 188 1.19

58 143 89 26.2 11.7 70.05 13.18 46.3 58 27.9 183.1 60 2.09 18.58 0.53 4.9 1.33 0.455 750 0.99 189.8 1.11

58 148.5 90 26.5 11.74 71.5 13.18 46.95 58 28 191.9 60 2.09 18.58 0.53 4.98 1.33 0.455 750 0.99 189.9 1.19

57.05 142.2 88.15 26.2 11.52 70 13.1 46.1 57.8 27.5 183.1 59 2.05 18.58 0.53 4.78 1.33 0.455 750 0.99 188 1.11

57.05 146.8 90 26.35 11.7 71.5 13.1 46.1 57.8 28 191.9 59.05 2.05 18.58 0.53 4.9 1.33 0.455 750 0.99 188 1.19

2340 1922890 1683980 47600 144600 3311400 13000 433900 1950 21000 440460 19970 17000 1000 5000 145000 16000 10000 10 152000 2470 178000

133535 280116840 150669216 1254975 1681030 234263697.5 170342 20029425 112900 580435 83619388 1179197 35410 18580 2650 700760 21280 4550 7500 150480 465139 200970

INDUSTRIAL

18544385 -17555006 -1028250 -285238 -22741293 -15784530 -86850 -27655 3890760 -130513 33660 -43677 -

ALSONS CONS ABOITIZ POWER BASIC ENERGY FIRST GEN FIRST PHIL HLDG MERALCO MANILA WATER PETRON PETROENERGY 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 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 CROWN ASIA MABUHAY VINYL PRYCE CORP CONCEPCION GREENERGY INTEGRATED MICR IONICS PANASONIC SFA SEMICON CIRTEK HLDG

1.3 36.3 0.241 25.15 83.2 363.6 22.55 5.3 4.46 2.75 10.74 36.95 6.98 14.2 15.54 14 6.05 9.14 7.35 97.9 0.68 54.85 233.4 8.35 14.1 1.9 12.46 1.82 5.05 2.3 0.127 167.5 1.14 2.45 79.15 92.5 3.16 5.25 14.8 9.11 14.04 18.48 9 1.03 1.15 2.02 3.3 5 35.8 2 8.1 1.48 5.3 1.1 12

1.33 36.4 0.246 26 83.5 366 22.6 5.31 4.65 2.76 11.2 37.1 7.05 14.28 16.26 14.02 6.13 9.15 7.36 98 0.69 55 234 8.9 14.2 1.91 12.5 1.83 5.09 2.32 0.132 172.5 1.15 2.5 80 94 3.17 5.65 14.82 9.12 14.06 18.5 9.1 1.07 1.16 2.05 3.39 5.04 37.25 2.01 8.22 1.54 5.49 1.12 12.08

1.3 35.6 0.245 25.05 83.5 363 23 5.17 4.67 2.87 11 36.05 6.99 14.08 15.54 14.4 6.04 9.16 7.38 99 0.67 54.3 238 8.35 14.04 1.94 12.6 1.78 5.1 2.29 0.125 162 1.17 2.45 79.2 97.3 3.21 5.75 14.8 9.1 14 18.5 9.1 1.08 1.15 2.02 3.39 4.95 37.95 1.91 8.22 1.48 5.3 1.1 11.9

1.34 36.55 0.246 26 83.5 366 23 5.3 4.67 2.92 11.2 37.1 7.05 14.28 15.54 14.5 6.15 9.2 7.39 99.5 0.7 56.5 238.4 8.35 14.36 1.97 12.86 1.87 5.1 2.38 0.125 172.5 1.17 2.5 84 99.8 3.26 5.75 14.82 9.2 14.06 18.54 9.1 1.08 1.16 2.02 3.39 5 37.95 2.01 8.22 1.55 5.49 1.12 12.5

1.3 35 0.245 25.05 83 357 22.5 5.14 4.41 2.73 10.7 36.05 6.85 13.92 15.54 13.98 6.04 9.02 7.35 97.8 0.67 53.8 231 8.2 14.04 1.86 12.5 1.75 5.1 2.28 0.125 162 1.13 2.45 76.35 92 3.13 5.75 14.74 9.1 14 18.46 9.1 1.02 1.13 2.02 3.39 4.95 36 1.91 8.2 1.47 5.3 1.07 11.74

1.34 36.3 0.246 26 83.2 366 22.55 5.3 4.45 2.75 11.2 37.1 7.05 14.28 15.54 14 6.15 9.15 7.36 98 0.69 55 234 8.35 14.1 1.9 12.5 1.82 5.1 2.32 0.125 172.5 1.14 2.5 79.15 94 3.17 5.75 14.8 9.12 14.04 18.48 9.1 1.07 1.16 2.02 3.39 5 36 2.01 8.21 1.5 5.49 1.12 12.08

2000 1408000 120000 1136000 68040 165300 138900 1504600 40000 30851000 67800 94000 49200 601200 900 2528500 7300 505100 324200 203080 228000 173280 859570 1800 506400 17139000 370300 9301000 161500 351000 50000 1023370 4327000 26000 14600 48450 8367000 10000 69700 336100 197000 7416200 1000 285000 1350000 6000 76000 17100 900 4436000 53700 72000 1800 174000 318000

2640 50793785 29450 29302085 5671037 60179834 3134995 7882492 184590 86267120 742568 3455795 341817 8548090 13986 35427032 44103 4605370 2387609 19918003.5 157690 9506442 200686252 15015 7176260 32732720 4643368 16986610 823650 820850 6250 172256466 4942760 64950 1152197 4600381.5 26647260 57500 1030578 3066070 2762386 137051456 9100 291230 1552570 12120 257640 85345 32595 8779840 440856 108280 9559 187900 3853992

-2128575 6770420 -551070 12533876 1196215 2736167 -11407520 -225095 695 -4172718 4363540 -2428173 -1573324 3540850.5 3189117.5 -13187180 -936952 -4206990 -638856 125220 -254999.9999 30024425 8309.9999 2450 127148 3483380 368672 804745 446600 134464196 81600 -118170 -0 -7200 -106010 41890.0005 -156934

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

0.84 14.4 945 51.8 13.18 3.76 7.02 1.21 1.24 6.9 9.42 13.6 0.226 883 65.45 5.5 0.49 4.6 13.48 0.6 5.09 0.038 1.25 2.85 1.37 1011 177 0.78 252 0.227 0.242

0.85 14.52 953.5 52 13.2 3.77 7.09 1.22 1.25 6.94 9.45 13.8 0.239 884 67.4 6 0.51 4.64 13.5 0.61 5.1 0.039 1.29 2.9 1.4 1020 177.1 0.79 256.4 0.235 0.245

0.87 14.34 935 49.55 13.2 3.74 7.09 1.2 1.23 6.88 9.29 13.8 0.223 870 64.95 6 0.5 4.65 13.5 0.62 4.8 0.038 1.29 2.88 1.4 1025 179.9 0.82 256 0.226 0.245

0.87 14.88 953.5 51.8 13.3 3.8 7.1 1.22 1.25 6.94 9.45 13.8 0.239 884 67.4 6 0.5 4.65 13.88 0.63 5.14 0.039 1.29 2.9 1.4 1025 179.9 0.83 256.4 0.236 0.255

0.83 14.26 923 49 13.08 3.74 7.09 1.19 1.23 6.8 9.29 13.6 0.223 852.5 63.7 6 0.485 4.56 13.5 0.55 4.78 0.038 1.21 2.85 1.4 995 176 0.78 253 0.226 0.235

0.84 14.5 953.5 51.8 13.2 3.77 7.09 1.22 1.25 6.9 9.45 13.8 0.239 884 67.4 6 0.5 4.6 13.5 0.6 5.1 0.038 1.29 2.85 1.4 1020 177.1 0.79 256.4 0.236 0.242

33169000 22900 256220 1404500 11098600 1250000 3200 1094000 454000 1723900 5270000 2001400 30000 119130 2376080 400 70000 7427000 1257800 8212000 103207000 8600000 236000 70000 9000 407180 208780 1241000 2360 580000 3340000

28083350 331736 242371750 71639115 146440608 4716180 22693 1322360 564600 11896141 49418332 27224750 6850 104353665 157458967 2400 34500 34320360 17099594 4808900 515920060 329100 296950 202760 12600 411199127.5 37039446 979830 597312 131190 805350

61700 -18692 71432575 -4266645 -45987320 -410160 466150 220770 -19281318 -26295570 5351755 6140104 600 -195300 -6095762 131500 137216800 -108993007.5 4595320 -58220 -

HOLDING & FRIMS

PROPERTY

ARTHALAND CORP 1 1.01 0.97 1.01 0.95 1 6143000 6060900 -343290 AYALA LAND 49.15 49.4 48.5 49.4 48.2 49.4 12304900 601801925 -44305700 ARANETA PROP 1.95 1.97 1.97 1.97 1.97 1.97 93000 183210 BELLE CORP 2.15 2.16 2.19 2.19 2.15 2.15 619000 1337280 -58170 A BROWN 0.8 0.81 0.8 0.82 0.79 0.81 225000 179930 CROWN EQUITIES 0.225 0.237 0.226 0.238 0.225 0.238 970000 218970 -2380 CEB LANDMASTERS 4.74 4.75 4.69 4.78 4.65 4.75 405000 1894880 163390 CENTURY PROP 0.56 0.57 0.56 0.57 0.55 0.57 8244000 4616900 -146720 CYBER BAY 0.4 0.405 0.39 0.4 0.39 0.4 390000 155900 DOUBLEDRAGON 23.4 23.45 23.3 23.45 23.2 23.4 131600 3066835 1058250 DM WENCESLAO 9.9 9.95 10.06 10.06 9.9 9.95 114700 1140725 -479 EMPIRE EAST 0.455 0.46 0.455 0.46 0.45 0.46 950000 430100 -41400 FILINVEST LAND 1.67 1.68 1.73 1.75 1.66 1.67 30539000 51670900 -9172210 GLOBAL ESTATE 1.3 1.31 1.29 1.31 1.29 1.31 707000 920190 8990 HLDG 15.5 15.52 15.5 15.52 15.5 15.52 188700 2925608 -317750 PHIL INFRADEV 1.45 1.46 1.4 1.5 1.39 1.45 2021000 2924240 -112160 CITY AND LAND 0.76 0.77 0.78 0.78 0.75 0.77 62000 47360 MEGAWORLD 5.25 5.29 5.3 5.35 5.08 5.29 38087600 198767845 -36856878 MRC ALLIED 0.305 0.31 0.31 0.31 0.305 0.31 5950000 1820750 PHIL ESTATES 0.44 0.45 0.44 0.44 0.44 0.44 30000 13200 PRIMEX CORP 2 2.02 2.03 2.03 1.98 2.02 572000 1141640 ROBINSONS LAND 24.75 24.8 25 25.05 24.2 24.8 2518500 62435000 -21490550 PHIL REALTY 0.385 0.395 0.385 0.385 0.385 0.385 90000 34650 ROCKWELL 2.34 2.36 2.3 2.39 2.3 2.34 388000 910650 SHANG PROP 3.25 3.31 3.27 3.31 3.27 3.31 846000 2792240 529550 STA LUCIA LAND 2.59 2.62 2.49 2.73 2.49 2.6 4177000 10875570 130440 SM PRIME HLDG 34.7 34.75 34.55 35 34.35 34.75 15769000 546,798,115( 15,439,139.9999) STARMALLS 5.64 5.91 5.87 5.94 5.7 5.91 6600 38796 SUNTRUST HOME 0.91 0.92 0.84 1.06 0.82 0.92 24018000 23159460 -122650 PTFC REDEV CORP 49.5 49.65 49.4 50 49.4 49.65 4800 237420 153140 VISTA LAND 7.58 7.59 7.68 7.68 7.5 7.59 6577700 49904159 -15755582

SERVICES ABS CBN 18.22 18.28 18.34 18.34 18.1 18.3 280500 5117418 GMA NETWORK 5.31 5.35 5.35 5.35 5.31 5.31 73800 392218 MANILA BULLETIN 0.45 0.48 0.45 0.48 0.44 0.45 370000 166700 MLA BRDCASTING 14 15.14 14 14 14 14 1300 18200 GLOBE TELECOM 1897 1900 1918 1948 1880 1900 59080 112563245 -30465890 PLDT 1149 1150 1142 1150 1134 1149 132250 151264830 -31502325 APOLLO GLOBAL 0.046 0.048 0.047 0.048 0.047 0.048 2200000 104000 DFNN INC 5.8 6.2 5.78 6 5.78 6 130600 767598 IMPERIAL 1.86 1.98 1.86 1.98 1.86 1.98 3000 5700 ISLAND INFO 0.109 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.108 0.11 360000 39580 ISM COMM 5.09 5.1 5.13 5.16 5.04 5.09 2292600 11665718 101100 NOW CORP 2.15 2.16 2.21 2.27 2.15 2.15 1164000 2540890 -70060 TRANSPACIFIC BR 0.315 0.32 0.31 0.33 0.305 0.315 1960000 611850 94500 PHILWEB 3.3 3.32 3.42 3.42 3.3 3.3 2251000 7498970 -269740 2GO GROUP 9.8 10.2 10.3 10.3 9.7 10.2 35100 348945 1960 CHELSEA 6.74 6.77 6.8 6.8 6.66 6.74 479800 3224083 81640 CEBU AIR 95.2 95.45 93.5 95.45 93.45 95.45 214130 20319515 17488777.5 INTL CONTAINER 130.5 131.5 129 131.5 128.2 131.5 1068050 139258926 20367839 LBC EXPRESS 14.02 14.64 14.02 14.64 14.02 14.64 700 10062 LORENZO SHIPPNG 0.89 0.92 0.87 0.94 0.87 0.94 237000 217590 MACROASIA 19 19.04 19.08 19.08 18.94 19.04 216600 4113820 3980852 METROALLIANCE A 1.2 1.25 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 33000 39600 PAL HLDG 8.1 8.12 8.2 8.2 8.12 8.12 59800 487742 HARBOR STAR 1.61 1.62 1.63 1.67 1.61 1.62 738000 1197900 -153310 ACESITE HOTEL 1.54 1.55 1.58 1.58 1.42 1.54 91000 137280 BOULEVARD HLDG 0.058 0.059 0.058 0.059 0.058 0.058 14600000 847770 DISCOVERY WORLD 2.03 2.05 2.1 2.1 2.1 2.1 1000 2100 WATERFRONT 0.68 0.69 0.7 0.7 0.68 0.68 1256000 854100 FAR EASTERN U 890 920 890 890 890 890 480 427200 IPEOPLE 9.23 9.66 9.23 9.23 9.23 9.23 4300 39689 STI HLDG 0.69 0.71 0.7 0.7 0.68 0.7 978000 676560 -55199.9999 BERJAYA 2.24 2.3 2.27 2.3 2.24 2.3 215000 486790 BLOOMBERRY 10.66 10.68 10.4 10.66 10.4 10.66 4351500 46212406 -26615446 PACIFIC ONLINE 2.63 2.68 2.69 2.69 2.62 2.62 70000 184120 2630 LEISURE AND RES 3.2 3.21 3.2 3.25 3.18 3.21 445000 1429170 MANILA JOCKEY 3.01 3.19 3.01 3.19 3.01 3.19 4000 12400 PH RESORTS GRP 4.71 5.1 4.68 4.69 4.68 4.68 21000 98290 PREMIUM LEISURE 0.68 0.69 0.69 0.7 0.68 0.69 833000 573840 -151239.9999 PHIL RACING 7.9 9.2 9.2 9.2 9.2 9.2 100 920 TRAVELLERS 5.45 5.46 5.45 5.46 5.45 5.46 7045000 38398950 -2952265 METRO RETAIL 2.53 2.54 2.52 2.56 2.52 2.53 213000 537870 -50600 PUREGOLD 45 45.05 44.45 45.15 44.45 45.05 209100 9401885 -1191005 ROBINSONS RTL 77.5 78 76.8 79.45 76.8 78 672470 52593618.5 -483913.5 PHIL SEVEN CORP 144.5 144.9 144 144.5 144 144.5 1290 186295 SSI GROUP 2.86 2.87 2.87 2.92 2.85 2.87 2187000 6293240 -1487300 WILCON DEPOT 15.84 15.86 15.8 15.88 15.7 15.84 260900 4129826 730346 APC GROUP 0.51 0.52 0.52 0.52 0.5 0.52 1238000 635700 EASYCALL 9.1 9.32 9.4 9.4 9 9.32 21600 195565 GOLDEN BRIA 420 423 411.6 423 411.4 423 430 180478 IPM HLDG 5.1 5.2 5.2 5.2 5.2 5.2 800 4160 PAXYS 2.9 3.04 2.9 2.9 2.9 2.9 2000 5800 PRMIERE HORIZON 0.55 0.56 0.57 0.57 0.54 0.56 14044000 7759110 493960 SBS PHIL CORP 9.1 9.38 9.36 9.39 9.36 9.39 1100 10311

MINING & OIL ATOK 12.42 12.78 12.36 12.8 12.36 12.78 2900 36728 APEX MINING 1.33 1.35 1.35 1.36 1.3 1.35 4556000 6084530 78250 ABRA MINING 0.0016 0.0017 0.0017 0.0017 0.0017 0.0017 160000000 272000 ATLAS MINING 2.55 2.59 2.58 2.58 2.54 2.55 448000 1144960 -843899.9998 BENGUET B 1.11 1.29 1.11 1.11 1.11 1.11 2000 2220 COAL ASIA HLDG 0.27 0.28 0.27 0.27 0.27 0.27 20000 5400 CENTURY PEAK 2.72 2.78 2.72 2.72 2.72 2.72 166000 451520 DIZON MINES 7.75 7.87 7.89 7.89 7.75 7.87 8300 64842 FERRONICKEL 1.45 1.46 1.45 1.46 1.42 1.46 551000 792340 1440 GEOGRACE 0.199 0.206 0.206 0.207 0.2 0.206 510000 102770 LEPANTO A 0.112 0.115 0.115 0.116 0.115 0.116 1150000 132340 LEPANTO B 0.116 0.119 0.116 0.119 0.116 0.119 180000 20960 MANILA MINING A 0.0092 0.0098 0.0096 0.0099 0.009 0.0092 98000000 936300 MANILA MINING B 0.01 0.011 0.01 0.011 0.01 0.011 80400000 816400 NIHAO 0.98 1.02 0.98 1.04 0.98 1.02 229000 228590 NICKEL ASIA 2.56 2.6 2.52 2.61 2.51 2.6 4464000 11489850 -943860 OMICO CORP 0.46 0.48 0.455 0.455 0.455 0.455 10000 4550 ORNTL PENINSULA 0.81 0.83 0.82 0.83 0.81 0.83 236000 193000 PX MINING 3.75 3.78 3.75 3.86 3.73 3.78 1071000 4048800 41230 SEMIRARA MINING 23 23.15 22.35 23 22.35 23 1283500 29242125 18329225 ORNTL PETROL A 0.011 0.012 0.011 0.012 0.011 0.012 23100000 276900 ORNTL PETROL B 0.012 0.013 0.012 0.012 0.012 0.012 4500000 54000 PHILODRILL 0.01 0.011 0.011 0.011 0.01 0.011 57400000 598400 PHINMA PETRO 5.7 5.74 5.31 5.87 5.31 5.74 931900 5288202 -134800 PXP ENERGY 13.08 13.18 12.72 13.26 12.72 13.08 2623200 34252638 -3642738

PREFFERED

HOUSE PREF A 98 100 100 100 100 100 300 30000 AC PREF B1 499 500 499 499 499 499 30 14970 AC PREF B2 498 504 498 498 498 498 200 99600 DD PREF 101.3 101.8 101 101.8 101 101.8 1400 141480 SMC FB PREF 2 990 1008 1010 1010 1010 1010 20 20200 FGEN PREF G 105 107 107 107.5 107 107.5 14010 1499075 FPH PREF C 432.4 499 498 498 498 498 50 24900 GLO PREF P 505 510 501 505 501 505 2100 1058580 GTCAP PREF A 967 967.5 967 967 967 967 100 96700 GTCAP PREF B 970 980 969.5 970 969.5 970 3380 3278590 LR PREF 0.99 1 1.01 1.01 0.99 1 121000 120180 MWIDE PREF 101 102 101 102 101 102 4320 436390 PCOR PREF 2A 996 1009 996 996 996 996 5 4980 PCOR PREF 3A 1040 1045 1030 1040 1030 1040 3100 3223000 PCOR PREF 3B 1040 1045 1022 1040 1022 1040 7595 7895820 -20720 SFI PREF 1.42 1.73 1.42 1.42 1.42 1.42 5000 7100 SMC PREF 2B 75.8 77 76.5 76.5 75.8 75.8 6880 523022 SMC PREF 2C 78.05 78.65 78.5 78.75 78.5 78.75 2130 167207.5 SMC PREF 2D 75.6 75.7 75.5 75.6 75.5 75.6 4940 373170 SMC PREF 2E 76 76.2 76 76 76 76 5000 380000 SMC PREF 2F 77 77.9 76.95 77 76.9 77 142930 11003990.5 SMC PREF 2I 75.75 76.4 75.5 75.5 75.5 75.5 5000 377500 -

PHIL. DEPOSITARY RECEIPTS ABS HLDG PDR GMA HLDG PDR

17.12 5.16

17.3 5.2

17.32 5.2

17.32 5.2

17.3 5.16

17.3 5.16

78500 41300

1358750 213796

WARRANTS LR WARRANT

1.61

SMALL & MEDIUM ENTERPRISES ITALPINAS 7.35 KEPWEALTH 8.1 XURPAS 0.98

1.68

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

7.36 8.15 0.99

6.9 5.87 0.99

7.35 8.49 0.99

6.81 5.84 0.96

7.35 8.15 0.98

6052200 30266100 1044000

43712076 226950557 1017920

696674 -32150

EXHANGE TRADE FUNDS FIRST METRO ETF

118

-1237650 -89440

119

117.8

119

117.2

119

4880

576904

-23780

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Civil works start Sept. 1 for LRT 1 extension to Cavite

R

By Lorenz S. Marasigan

@lorenzmarasigan

AILWAY operator Light Rail Manila Corp. (LRMC) will start the piling works for the extension of the Light Rail Transit (LRT) Line 1 to Cavite next month, after finishing the geotechnical investigation works, and the substructure and foundation designs.

Reynaldo Pangilinan, the execution manager for the Cavite Extension initiative, said the geotesting results showed that the company can safely start working

on the foundation of the facility.

Civil works will thus commence on September 1.

“It confirms the physical properties and condition of the soil on

which the foundations of the Cavite Extension will be installed. Information gathered will then be used to design the necessary foundations for the project,” he said.

He added that the right of way for the first alignment of the extension program—Dr. Santos Avenue Station to Baclaran Station—has been cleared.

“Our teams are committed to complete this project which will extend the LRT 1 system to the residents in Parañaque, Las Piñas and Bacoor,” Pangilinan said.

Targeted for completion in about four years after the delivery of easement, the 11.7-kilometer Cavite extension will connect into the existing system immediately south of the Baclaran Station and run in a generally southerly direc-

tion to Niog, Cavite.

The extension will create eight additional stations, namely: Redemptorist, MIA, Asiaworld, Ninoy Aquino and Dr. Santos stations in Parañaque City; Las Piñas and Zapote Stations in Las Piñas City; and, Niog Station in Bacoor, Cavite City.

After the extension, the oldest overhead railway facility in Southeast Asia will have a design speed of 80 kilometers per hour for its mainline; 60 kph through stations; and 30 kph for secondary and depot tracks. Its commercial speed is set for 60 kph.

LRMC is a company led by conglomerates Metro Pacific Investments Corp. and Ayala Corp. in partnership with Macquarie Infrastructure Holdings (Philippines) Pte. Ltd.

A month after being unseated, Yanson heir back at helm of Vallacar Transit

O

VER a month after he was unseated by his siblings, Leo Rey Yanson was reelected on Monday as president of Vallacar Transit Inc., the largest bus transport company in the country.

In a special stockholders meeting, the shareholders, including the family’s matriarch Olivia V. Yanson, elected him, together with Olivia V. Yanson, Ginnette Y. Dumancas and Charles M. Dumancas as members of the board of directors.

He then regained his position, alongside Charles M. Dumancas as vice president, Ginnette Y. Dumancas as treasurer, and Olivia V. Yanson as corporate secretary, when the board held a reorganizational meeting.

Last July 7, 2019, Leo lost in a boardroom battle when four of his siblings, in a purported special board meeting, unceremoniously unseated him as the firm’s president. His eldest brother, Roy Yanson, subsequently replaced him.

The board, likewise, passed resolutions tasking the company’s legal

team to recommend possible legal action/s against Maria Lourdes Celina Y. Lopez over her P380-million outstanding obligation to the company.

This is in line with the audit report from the company’s external auditor SGV, and on the results of the cash, property and asset inventory audit, including documents at the Main Office and South Terminal.

Vallacar Transit is the company behind Ceres Liner and Sugbo Transit. It is the largest subsidiary of the Yanson Group of Bus Cos. Established in 1968 by Ricardo Yanson Sr., the 52-year-old conglomerate currently has a total of 18,000 employees who provide transport services to 700,000 passengers daily.

The parent company is among the biggest bus conglomerates in Southeast Asia, and operates more than 4,000 buses nationwide.

Domestically, it has 15 bases of operations in the cities of Bacolod, Iloilo, Dumaguete, Cebu, Cagayan de Oro, Butuan, Davao, Pagadian, Dipolog, Bohol and Batangas. Roderick L. Abad

Cignal Entertainment to invest P100M yearly to make more content by 2021

F

OLLOWING its tie up with Netflix, Cignal Entertainment revealed on Monday its plan to spend P100 million annually in the next two years to produce more content.

“That’s a combination of some movies and series,” Vitto Angelo Lazatin, vice president /head of content management acquisition and strategy at Cignal, told reporters during the company’s announcement of its partnership deal with the leading entertainment service provider.

Netflix has acquired the international rights to stream Ang Babaeng Allergic Sa WiFi, a commercial film produced by Cignal Entertainment, in cooperation with October Train Films and The IdeaFirst Co. “The ability to tell relevant and heartwarming stories is an art.

We’re very proud that our film will finally be shown to a global audience by Netflix,” said Jane Jimenez Basas, president and chief executive officer of Cignal TV Inc. “Indeed, the film’s acquisition gives Cignal Entertainment the op-

portunity to share our creative vision to the rest of the world,” she added.

Starting August 21, Ang Babaeng Allergic Sa WiFi (translated as “The Girl Allergic To WiFi”) will be available on the popular streaming platform and will be available internationally except in China, Taiwan, Japan and India.

With more than 10.2 million Filipinos residing overseas, including an estimated 5.5 million in Northern America and Europe combined, the film acquisition is expected to boost support from them.

“We believe that content is king and distribution is queen. As such, we are committed to improving and scaling up our original content lineup and are determined to distribute these to all relevant platforms,” she said.

To date, Cignal Entertainment has five theatrical releases already— two of them are coproduced. It also has done 10 series, ranging from horror, romance comedy and drama. Ang Babaeng Allergic Sa WiFi is the first title from Cignal Entertainment to be shown on Netflix.Roderick L. Abad

MUTUAL FUNDS

August 19, 2019

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

PER SHARE RETURN* RETURN STOCK FUNDS ALFM ALFM GROWTH FUND, INC. -A 257.18 0.51% -2.05% 0.4% 1.97% ATRAM ALPHA OPPORTUNITY FUND, INC. -A 1.5437 4.41% 2.12% 1.63% 7.14% ATRAM PHILIPPINE EQUITY OPPORTUNITY FUND, INC. -A 3.9937 -1.43% -3.36% -0.88% 2.32% CLIMBS SHARE CAPITAL EQUITY INVESTMENT FUND CORP. -A 0.9416 4.29% N.A. N.A. 4.51% FIRST METRO CONSUMER FUND ON MSCI PHILS. IMI, INC. -A 0.8548 1.45% N.A. N.A. 4.15% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN EQUITY FUND,INC. -A 5.3648 1.14% -0.97% 0.43% 1.74% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN PHILIPPINE INDEX FUND, INC. -A,6 0.8599 0.86% -5.31% N.A. 2.77% MBG EQUITY INVESTMENT FUND, INC. -A 118.91 7.14% N.A. N.A. 2.36% PAMI EQUITY INDEX FUND, INC. -A 51.3578 3.47% -1.12% N.A. 4.34% PHILAM STRATEGIC GROWTH FUND, INC. -A 537.41 3.49% -1.89% 0.19% 4.4% PHILEQUITY DIVIDEND YIELD FUND, INC. -A 1.3033 3.16% -0.53% 1.6% 3.93% PHILEQUITY FUND, INC. -A 38.2292 3.26% 0.18% 1.65% 4.36% PHILEQUITY MSCI PHILIPPINE INDEX FUND, INC. -A,3 1.0157 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. PHILEQUITY PSE INDEX FUND INC. -A 5.2145 4.38% -0.19% 2.13% 5.16% PHILIPPINE STOCK INDEX FUND CORP. -A 870.4 4.38% -0.49% 2.07% 5.07% SOLDIVO STRATEGIC GROWTH FUND, INC. -A 0.9095 5.67% -1.1% N.A. 5.76% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY PHILIPPINE EQUITY FUND, INC. -A 4.2894 4.96% -0.05% 1.74% 5.68% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY PHILIPPINE STOCK INDEX FUND, INC. -A 1.0004 3.94% -0.53% N.A. 4.83% UNITED FUND, INC. -A 3.6872 4.23% 1.4% 2.6% 5.32% EXCHANGE TRADED FUND FIRST METRO PHIL. EQUITY EXCHANGE TRADED FUND, INC. -A,C,2 116.6069 4.77% 0.34% 3.12% 5.29% ATRAM ASIAPLUS EQUITY FUND, INC. -B

$0.9118 -8.19% 0.38% -2.4% -1.86% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY WORLD VOYAGER FUND, INC. -A $1.2565 -1.23% 6.26% N.A. 13.69% BALANCED FUNDS PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES ATRAM DYNAMIC ALLOCATION FUND, INC. -A 1.6853 0.91% -3% -2.11% 2.07% ATRAM PHILIPPINE BALANCED FUND, INC. -A 2.3006 1.37% -1.52% 0.34% 4.14% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN BALANCED FUND INC. -A 2.6424 2.67% -0.6% -1.16% 3.9% GREPALIFE BALANCED FUND CORPORATION -A 1.3409 0.98% N.A. N.A. 2.81% NCM MUTUAL FUND OF THE PHILS., INC. -A 1.9481 5.31% 0.05% 1.32% 5.7% PAMI HORIZON FUND, INC. -A 3.7906 5.99% -0.89% 0.72% 7.4% PHILAM FUND, INC. -A 16.9756 6.32% -0.9% 0.6% 6.71% SOLIDARITAS FUND, INC. -A 2.1431 3.11% 0.09% 1.7% 3.57% SUN LIFE OF CANADA PROSPERITY BALANCED FUND, INC. -A 3.8899 5.99% -0.04% 1.34% 6.53% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY ACHIEVER FUND 2028, INC. -A,D,4 1.0173 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. SUN LIFE PROSPERITY ACHIEVER FUND 2038, INC. -A,D,4 1.0025 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. SUN LIFE PROSPERITY ACHIEVER FUND 2048, INC. -A,D,4 0.9991 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DYNAMIC FUND, INC. -A 0.9972 6.54% -0.03% 1.03% 8.19% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY SECURITIES COCOLIFE DOLLAR FUND BUILDER, INC. -A $0.03872 9.78% 2.35% 2.78% 9.69% PAMI ASIA BALANCED FUND, INC. -A $0.9584 -2.45% 0.72% -1.82% 4.89% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR ADVANTAGE FUND, INC. -A $3.6968 2.14% 4.65% 2.64% 11.73% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR WELLSPRING FUND, INC. -A $1.1089 4.46% 3.05% N.A. 9.79% BOND FUNDS PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES ALFM PESO BOND FUND, INC. -A 353.5 3.84% 2.25% 2.35% 2.92% ATRAM CORPORATE BOND FUND, INC. -A,1 1.9107 2.69% 0.05% 0.02% 2.77% COCOLIFE FIXED INCOME FUND, INC. -A 3.0742 5.47% 5.37% 5.29% 3.3% EKKLESIA MUTUAL FUND INC. -A 2.2202 4.66% 1.46% 2.21% 4.27% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN FIXED INCOME FUND,INC. -A 2.3513 6.05% 1.49% 1.73% 6.63% GREPALIFE FIXED INCOME FUND CORP. -A P 1.6078 1.62% -1.48% 0.21% 2.77% PHILAM BOND FUND, INC. -A 4.3231 9.65% 0.78% 2.04% 10.29% PHILEQUITY PESO BOND FUND, INC. -A 3.741 6.87% 1.39% 1.78% 6.37% SOLDIVO BOND FUND, INC. -A 0.9548 5.97% -0.19% N.A. 7.14% SUN LIFE OF CANADA PROSPERITY BOND FUND, INC. -A 3.0313 9.52% 1.95% 2.7% 9.6% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY GS FUND, INC. -A 1.6816 9.56% 1.49% 2.23% 9.2% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY SECURITIES ALFM DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC. -A $462.95 4.24% 1.69% 2.79% 3.24% ALFM EURO BOND FUND, INC. -A Є220.11 2.95% 1.34% 1.58% 3.5% ATRAM TOTAL RETURN DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC. -B $1.1929 6.69% 1.97% 2.52% 5.97% 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 $1.7177 0.78% -2.15% 0.53% 1.63% PAMI GLOBAL BOND FUND, INC -A $1.1053 6.45% -0.3% -1.66% 6.66% PHILAM DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC. -A $2.4199 11.44% 1.57% 3.72% 11.48% PHILEQUITY DOLLAR INCOME FUND INC. -A $0.0601154 5.86% 1.84% 2.05% 5.47% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR ABUNDANCE FUND, INC. -A $3.1814 9.56% 0.97% 3.25% 10.77% MONEY MARKET FUNDS PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES ALFM MONEY MARKET FUND, INC. -A 124.38 4.09% 2.6% 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 1.2382 5.6% 2.35% 1.44% 4.76% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY MONEY MARKET FUND, INC. -A 1.2511 3.91% 2.76% 2.13% 2.62% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY SECURITIES SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR STARTER FUND, INC. -A $1.0308 2.2% N.A. N.A. 1.47%

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

The World BusinessMirror

Editor: Angel R. Calso • Tuesday, August 20, 2019 B3

Economists: 34% expect a US recession in 2021

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ASHINGTON—A number of US business economists appear sufficiently concerned about the risks of some of President Donald J. Trump’s economic policies that they expect a recession in the US by the end of 2021.

Thirty-four percent of economists surveyed by the National Association for Business Economics (NABE), in a report being released Monday, said they believe a slowing

economy will tip into recession in 2021. That’s up from 25 percent in a survey taken in February. Only 2 percent of those polled expect a recession to begin this year, while

38 percent predict that it will occur in 2020.

The economists have previously expressed concern that Trump’s tariffs and higher budget deficits could eventually dampen the economy.

The Trump administration has imposed tariffs on goods from many key US trading partners—from China and Europe to Mexico and Canada.

Officials maintain that the tariffs, which are taxes on imports, will help the administration gain more favorable terms of trade. But US trading partners have simply retaliated with tariffs of their own.

Trade between the US and China, the two biggest global economies, has plunged. Trump decided last

Afghanistan vows to crush Islamic State

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A BUL , A fghanistan— Afghanistan’s president on Monday vowed to “eliminate” all safe havens of the Islamic State group as the country marked a subdued 100th Independence Day after a horrific wedding attack claimed by the local IS affiliate.

President Ashraf Ghani’s comments came as Afghanistan mourns at least 63 people, including children, killed in the Kabul bombing at a wedding hall late Saturday night.

Close to 200 others were wounded.

Many outraged Afghans ask whether an approaching deal between the United States and the Taliban to end nearly 18 years of fighting—America’s longest war— will bring peace to long-suffering civilians. The bomber detonated his explosives in the middle of a dancing crowd, and the IS affiliate later said he had targeted a gathering of minority Shiites, whom it views as apostates deserving of death.

Both the bride and groom survived, and in an emotional interview with local broadcaster TOLOnews, the distraught groom, Mirwais Alani, said their lives were devastated within seconds.

Kabul, long familiar with checkpoints and razor wire, has been under heavier security ahead of Independence Day. A planned event in the Afghan capital marking the anniversary was postponed because of the attack, the president’s office said earlier. Even funerals and memorials for the victims have been potential targets of attacks.

A sharply worded Taliban statement questioned why the US failed to identify Saturday’s attacker in advance. Another Taliban statement marking the independence

day said to “leave Afghanistan to the Afghans.”

More than anything in their nearly yearlong negotiations with the US, the Taliban want some 20,000 US and allied forces to withdraw from the country. The US for its part wants Taliban assurances that Afghanistan—which hosted al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden before 9/11—will not be a launching pad for global terror attacks.

The US envoy in talks with the Taliban, Zalmay Khalilzad, on Sunday said the peace process should be accelerated to help Afghanistan defeat the IS affiliate. That would include intra-Afghan talks on the country’s future, a fraught process that could take years.

But Ghani on Monday asserted that the Taliban, whom the US now hopes will help to curb the IS affiliate’s rise, are just as much to blame for the wedding attack. His government is openly frustrated at being sidelined from the US talks with the insurgent group, which regards the Afghan government as a US puppet.

The Taliban “have created the platform for terrorists” with their own brutal assaults on schools, mosques and other public places over the years, the president said.

More than 32,000 civilians in Afghanistan have been killed in the past decade, the United Nations said earlier this year. More children were killed last year— 927—than in any other over the past decade by all actors, the UN said, including in operations against insurgent hideouts carried out by international forces.

“We will take revenge for every civilian drop of blood,” Ghani declared. “Our struggle will continue

against (IS), we will take revenge and will root them out.” He urged the international community to join those efforts.

He asserted that safe havens for militants are across the border in Pakistan, whose intelligence service has long been accused of supporting the Taliban. The IS affiliate’s claim of the wedding attack said it was carried out by a Pakistani fighter seeking martyrdom.

Ghani called on people in Pakistan “who very much want peace” to help identify militant safe havens there.

Last month after meeting with President Donald J. Trump, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan insisted he will do his best to persuade the Taliban to open negotiations with the Afghan government to resolve the war.

Trump on Sunday told reporters he doesn’t want Afghanistan to be a “laboratory for terror” and he described discussions with the Taliban as “good.” He was briefed on Friday on the progress of the USTaliban talks, of which few details have emerged.

Some analysts have warned that Trump’s eagerness to bring at least some troops home ahead of next year’s election could be weakening the US stance in the negotiations as the Taliban might see little need to make significant concessions.

In a message marking Afghanistan’s independence and “century of resilience,” US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called the weekend wedding bombing “an attack against humanity.” It was one of many international expressions of condemnation pouring in following the attack. AP

China lashes out at Taiwan over HK asylum offer

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ONG KONG—China lashed out at Taiwan on Monday over its offer of political asylum to participants in Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protest movement, a day after hundreds of thousands of people marched peacefully in the latest massive demonstration in the Chinese territory.

The government of Taiwan, a selfruled island that China considers its own territory, strongly supports the protests, and Hong Kong students in Taiwan held events over the weekend expressing their backing. Taiwan’s president made the asylum offer last month, though it’s not clear if requests have been received.

Taiwan lacks a formal legal mechanism for assessing and granting asylum requests, although it has granted residency to several vocal opponents of the Chinese government.

On Monday, Ma Xiaoguang, spokesman for the Chinese Cabinet’s Taiwan Affairs Office, said Taiwan’s offer would “cover up the crimes of a small group of violent militants” and encourage their “audacity in harming Hong Kong and turn Taiwan into a “heaven for ducking the law.”

Ma demanded that Taiwan’s government “cease undermining the rule of law” in Hong Kong, cease interfering in its affairs and not “condone criminals.”

Organizers said at least 1.7 million

participated in Sunday’s Hong Kong rally and march, although the police estimate was far lower. Police said the protest was “generally peaceful” but accused a large group of people of “breaching public peace” afterward by occupying a major thoroughfare and using slingshots to shoot “hard objects” at government headquarters and pointing lasers at police officers.

The protests have, at times, been marked by violent clashes with police, who say they have arrested more than 700 participants since the demonstrations started in June. However, law enforcement officers kept a low profile Sunday, with no riot police seen from the procession’s main routes. When stragglers convened outside a government complex in the late evening, other protesters urged them to go home.

More protests are planned for the coming weeks, with various rallies organized by accountants, transport workers, high-school students and relatives of police officers.

Demonstrators’ frustrations over what they perceive to be the government’s blatant refusal to respond to their demands boiled over last week with the occupation of Hong Kong’s international airport, during which a reporter for a Chinese Communist Partyowned newspaper was assaulted, and attacks on a number of police stations.

A former British colony, Hong Kong was returned to Beijing in 1997 under the framework of “one country, two systems,” which promised residents certain democratic rights not afforded to people in mainland China. But some Hong Kongers have accused the Communist Party-ruled central government of eroding their freedoms in recent years.

The protest movement’s demands include the resignation of Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam, democratic elections and an independent investigation into police use of force.

Asked Sunday about the situation in Hong Kong, President Donald J. Trump said the use of Chinese troops to put down the protests—similar to the bloody crackdown on protesters in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in 1989— would worsen the current US-China trade dispute.

“I mean if it’s another Tiananmen Square, I think it’s a very hard thing to do if there is violence,” Trump told reporters in New Jersey. “I think there’d be tremendous political sentiment not to do something.”

Trump had originally said the protests were a matter for China to handle but has since suggested that Chinese President Xi Jinping could resolve the situation by meeting with protest leaders. AP

Wednesday to postpone until December 15 tariffs on about 60 percent of an additional $300 billion of Chinese imports—granting a reprieve from a planned move that would have extended duties to nearly everything the US buys from China.

The financial markets signaled the possibility of a US recession last week, adding to concerns over the ongoing trade tensions and word from Britain and Germany that their economies are shrinking The economists surveyed by the NABE were skeptical about prospects for success of the latest round of USChina trade negotiations. Only 5 percent predicted that a comprehensive trade deal would result, 64 percent

suggested a superficial agreement was possible, and nearly one quarter expected nothing to be agreed upon by the two countries.

The 226 respondents, who work mainly for corporations and trade associations, were surveyed between July 14 and August 1. That was before the White House announced 10 percent tariffs on the additional $300 billion of Chinese imports, the Chinese currency dipped below the 7-yuan-to-$1 level for the first time in 11 years, and the Trump administration formally labeled China a currency manipulator.

As a whole, the business economists’ recent responses have represented a rebuke of the Trump

administration’s overall approach to the economy.

Still, for now, most economic signs appear solid. Employers are adding jobs at a steady pace, the unemployment rate remains near a 50-year low, and consumers are optimistic. US retail sales figures out last Thursday showed that they jumped in July by the most in four months.

The survey showed a steep decline in the percentage of economists who found the $1.5 trillion in tax cuts over the next decade “too stimulative” and likely to produce higher budget deficits that should be reduced, to 51 percent currently from 71 percent in August 2018. AP

B4 Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Robinsons Bank lists Php 5.0 Billion Corporate Bonds in PDEx

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OBINSONS Bank Corporation (RBank), the financial services arm of JG Summit Group of companies, launched its maiden issue of Fixed Rate Corporate Bond Due 2021 in a listing ceremony at the Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp. (PDEx).

RBank Chairman Lance Y. Gokongwei and President Elfren Antonio S. Sarte led the ringing of the listing bell which symbolizes the start of trading of the RBank Bonds in the PDEx platform. The event was also graced by BDO Unibank Chairman Teresita Sy-Coson, BDO Capital & Investment Corporation

President Eduardo V. Francisco, PDS Group President Ma. Theresa B. Ravalo, and PDEx President and COO Antonino A. Nakpil.

BDO Capital & Investment Corporation was the sole issue manager, bookrunner and underwriter, as well as one of the Selling agents of the said issuance.

The P5.0Bn Corporate Bond is the 1st tranche of the bank’s P10.0 Billion corporate bond program, with proceeds expected to support loan growth and improve long term funding. The Bond is priced at 5.125% with quarterly interest payment. Manila-based debt

watcher Philippine Rating Services Corp.

(PhilRatings) assigned the bond issuance an issue rating of PRS Aa minus with a stable outlook.

The selling agents for this issuance are BDO Capital & Investment Corp., First Metro Investment Corporation (FMIC) and Amalgamated Investment Bancorporation (AIB), alongside Robinsons Bank.

Robinsons Bank currently ranks 18th among the universal and commercial banks in the Philippines, with assets of P118.9 billion as of March 31, 2019 according to Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

Bayad Center bags Best Franchise Marketing Program Award

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AYAD Center’s Tatak-Sigurado campaign took home the Best Franchise Marketing Program Award - Service Category at the 2019 Franchise Excellence Awards held last August 6 at the EDSA Shangrila Hotel in Mandaluyong City, organized by the Philippine Franchise Association (PFA) in partnership with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

Bayad Center was inducted into the Hall of Fame roster of the Franchise Excellence Awards in 2017 for winning the Outstanding Filipino Franchise Award for the third year.

Going forward, Bayad Center now wants to build on the success of the Tatak-Sigurado campaign and continue to deepen its understanding of its clients’ needs. To match the different payment behavior of Filipinos,

the company now offers varied payment channels to address each payment need. These include a website, a mobile app, automated payment machines, authorized partners and collecting agents, and brick-and-mortar branches.

At the awards night, from left: PFA Chairman & Fruit Magic President and CEO Dr. Allan Escalona, Avanza President and CEO Maria Luz Javier, Philippine Marketing Association President Mary Faith Abaño, CIS Bayad Center, Inc. Marketing Head Wendell P. Labre, CIS Bayad Center, Inc. SVP and COO Francispito P. Quevedo, Mansmith and Fielders, Inc. President & Waters Philippines President and CEO Josiah Go, Max’s Group Inc. Chairman Robert Trota

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RGANIZERS of Continental Games are currently storing doping samples for a maximum of four years, while the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) were found to have had “no intention” to keep samples beyond a three-month laboratory contract for the 2018 Asian Games.

Storage and subsequent reanalysis of samples has resulted in numerous positive cases involving athletes at the Olympic Games since being introduced at Athens 2004.

The use of the latest scientific methods has enabled the detection of banned substances in samples.

A new test, developed in 2016 following assistance by former Moscow Laboratory Director Grigory Rodchenkov, detected the use of steroids over a period of months rather than days.

This was seen as key to the rise in positive tests in the Beijing 2008 and London 2012 retests.

Five athletes were sanctioned from Athens 2004 retests, while 65 cases emerged from Beijing 2008 retests.

Currently 60 athletes have been caught in London 2012 retests, according to IOC statistics, with the process set to conclude later this year due to the eight-year statute of limitations expiring.

Samples taken from the Rio 2016 Olympic Games will have a 10-year statute of limitations.

Of the Continental Games organizers which responded to insidethegames, Panam Sports store samples for the longest period.

Panam Sports said they are retained for a fouryear cycle.

A World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) Independent Observer (IO) Report from the Incheon 2014 Asian Games called for the OCA to establish appropriate policies for the retention of samples for possible further analysis.

While stating samples should be ideally retained for 10 years, the IO team recommended retaining certain samples, identified through a risk assessment, for at least four years should costs prove prohibitive.

The OCA’s anti-doping rules say samples may be collected and stored for future analysis.

The Wada IO Report from last year’s Asian Games, held in Jakarta and Palembang, found the OCA had not put a plan in place.

“When asked about their plan for sample storage, the OCA indicated they have no intention to keep samples longer than the three-month period identified in the laboratory contract,” the report reads.

“ISTI Article 4.7.3 mandates that a retention and reanalysis strategy be put in place.”

“This requirement was also raised in the last IO report and the IO Team further reminds the OCA to develop such a strategy. While the OCA mentioned that, in the past, they had reached out to relevant international federations [IFs] to see whether they were interested in keeping certain samples, this was not done for these Games,” the report added.

“The strategy developed by the OCA should also consider the ability for samples to be transferred to applicable IFs or national anti-doping agencies [Nados] for long-term storage.”

Insidethegames has asked the OCA for a comment on its current policy and whether the organization could commit to collecting and storing samples at future editions of the Games.

European Olympic Committees (EOC) Medical Commission Head Klaus Steinbach confirmed earlier this summer that samples from the European Games in Minsk would be frozen for one-and-a-half years.

This would replicate the same policy used for the European Games in Baku in 2015, where samples were destroyed after the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

The EOC told insidethegames the organization has not established any kind of ongoing reanalysis program, with IFs and Nados instead entrusted to conduct their own retesting process.

The EOC claim this avoids duplicating storage and reanalysis costs.

Both IFs, Nados, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and International Testing Agency (ITA) were contacted immediately after the Games in Minsk to determine whether they wished for samples to be transferred to their organizations, the EOC said.

“While, in accordance with both the World Anti-Doping Code and the EOC Anti-Doping rules, any adverse analytical finding from a sample taken at the European Games, whether immediately analyzed or later reanalyzed, should lead to results management process by the EOC, it is the IFs and Nados who have the facilities and an ongoing interest in reanalysis, in particular the IFs as they would be the official sanctioning body in terms of suspensions and bans,” an EOC spokesman told insidethegames.

“For these reasons, and in order not to duplicate storage and reanalysis costs, which are extremely costly, the EOC has not put in place any kind of ongoing reanalysis program to reanalyze the samples at a future date, entrusting this to the IFs and those Nados that may

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HE International Boxing Association (Aiba) Executive Committee is set to elect the replacement for Mohamed Moustahsane as interim president at an extraordinary meeting on August 31.

The meeting will take place in Istanbul and is being funded by the European Boxing Confederation.

Insidethegames understands no agenda has yet been sent out to the members but the election for interim president will be the main item discussed.

Moustahsane, who took temporary charge of the embattled organization in March after former

BRAZIL’S Jucielen Cerqueira throws a punch at the US’s Yarisel Ramirez during the first round of their women’s bantam 57-kg semifinal boxing match at the Pan American Games in Lima. AP

DOPING BODY RELENTLESS VS. CHEATERS Sports BusinessMirror

C1

A GOLFER walks with an umbrella during a test event at the Kasumigaseki Country Club, venue for golf at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. AP

| Tuesday, August 20, 2019

mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

Japan debuts with loss to NZ in test event for hockey

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STORAGE and subsequent reanalysis of samples has resulted in numerous positive cases involving athletes at the Olympic Games since being introduced at Athens 2004.

have an interest.

“For the same reasons the EOC does not currently have a structured research program in relation to samples.

“Again, this would simply duplicate work that the IFs generally do anyway.

“Sample storage is extremely expensive and the above policy aims to avoid duplicating storage and reanalysis costs, given that it will be the IFs who will inform the EOC should they come up with any adverse analytical findings in the course of time, on the strength of which the EOC will then reassign rankings for the event concerned.”

The EOC highlighted the example of canoe sprint from the Baku 2015 European Games, where the International Canoe Federation had informed them of an anti-doping rule violation from Hungarian athlete Miklós Dudas in 2016.

Dudas had initially won the men’s K1 200 meters competition at Baku 2015.

A reallocation ceremony took place at Minsk 2019, where Petter Menning of Sweden was upgraded to gold and Britain’s Ed McKeever was promoted to silver.

Initial fourth place finishers Aleksejs Rumjancevs of

Latvia and Serbia’s Marko Dragosavljevic won joint bronze.

The Wada IO Report from the Toronto 2015 Pan American Games had encouraged Panam Sports to “carefully consider the identification of specific samples for storage and reanalysis at a later stage.”

It followed a total of 20 positive tests from the Games in the Canadian city.

Panam Sports insisted a “sophisticated anti-doping system” was in place for the recently concluded Pan American Games in Lima, where two athletes were sanctioned for failed tests. Insidethegames

APAN’S men suffered defeat in its opening match at the Tokyo 2020 hockey test event at the newly built Oi Hockey Stadium that will host the Olympic tournament next year.

Having come from 2-0 down to lead New Zealand 3-2, the hosts shipped two late goals, with the winner coming in the last minute.

Stephen Jenness was the man who scored the decisive final goal after his teammate Kane Russell had brought the Kiwis level three minutes earlier.

Jakob Smith and Shea McAleese found the net to put New Zealand 2-0 up at halftime before goals in the third quarter—two from Koji Yamasaki and one from Hirotaka Wakuri—raised home hopes of victory.

Japan’s women also suffered defeat, going down 2-1 to India in the opening match of the competition, which is part of the Ready Steady Tokyo series of test events for the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Goals from penalty corner specialist Gurjit Kaur, either side of a strike from Aki Mitsuhashi, earned India victory.

India’s men booked a 6-0 win over Malaysia, scoring three of their goals in the final quarter.

The Indian side had scored a goal in each quarter through Varun Kumar, Gursahibjit Singh and Mandeep Singh, with the latter two adding further late goals along with Sunil Sowmarpet.

Two goals in the final quarter from Australia’s Savannah Fitzpatrick and Ambrosia Malone were not enough to avert defeat for the women’s world ranked second team as they lost 3-2 to China. Bingfeng Gu, Tiantian Luo and Jiaqi Zhong got on the scoresheet for the Asian nation. Insidethegames

Aiba to elect new interim head at executive committee meeting President Gafur Rakhimov stepped aside, suddenly resigned the interim presidency on August 6.

The Moroccan relinquished the position for family reasons, two officials with knowledge of the situation told insidethegames.

His resignation left Aiba—suspended as the Olympic governing body for the sport by the International Olympic Committee (IOC)—in June because of severe concerns with its governance, finances and refereeing and judging—searching for its third president in nine months.

One of the four remaining vice presidents will become the interim president under Aiba’s statutes.

Argentina’s Osvaldo Bisbal, Anas Al Otaiba of the United Arab Emirates, Italian Franco Falcinelli and Australia’s Edgar Tanner are those who can be chosen.

It is not yet clear who will take over as none of the four stepped forward to assume the interim presidency after

Rakhimov—whose election in November triggered the IOC inquiry into Aiba which resulted in the federation being stripped of involvement in the boxing event at Tokyo 2020—stepped aside.

Rakhimov, who remains on a United States Treasury Department sanctions list as “one of Uzbekistan’s leading criminals,” tabled his formal resignation last month.

A proposal to postpone the Extraordinary Congress, due to be held in Lausanne in November, is also likely to be discussed at the Executive Committee meeting.

Insidethegames understands some Executive Committee members are pushing for a delay to the election and want the Congress to be convened to change the statutes to pave the way for the vote to be held at a separate meeting next year.

Others claim this would be difficult because of Aiba’s perilous financial situation and believe the body should proceed with the November 15 date.

Insidethegames

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Business

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Mystics’ 18 3s new WNBA record

IS Madison Keys capable of carrying her newfound momentum into a Grand Slam event? AP

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UNEXPECTED CHAMPS

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ASON, Ohio—Two unexpected champions embraced their first Rookwood championship trophies, concluding a week that brought more questions than clarity to the upcoming US Open.

Who’s going to be healthy on the women’s side? Will stumbles in the men’s bracket at the Western & Southern Open carry over to New York?

And are Madison Keys and Daniil Medvedev capable of carrying their newfound momentum into a Grand Slam event? After winning the biggest tournament title of their careers, they were already getting asked about how it might transfer to the bigger stage.

Keys rallied late in both sets and beat Svetlana Kuznetsova, 7-5, 7-6 (5), Sunday for her second title of the season and easily the biggest of her career. After flameouts in her last three tournaments and a tough draw for the week, she couldn’t imagine the outcome.

Back on the court to receive the trophy,

she told the crowd: “If you told me this is where I would be a week ago, I would have laughed in your face!”

Yet, there she was, back in the Top 10 on a surprising upswing heading to New York.

She’ll move up to the No. 10 ranking after a gritty showing that was typical of her week. She broke Kuznetsova to pull even in both sets at 5-5 and then pulled them out with a steady serve.

Keys hadn’t made it past the second round in her last three tournaments, including Wimbledon. Now she’s got a good feeling with her favorite Grand Slam event at hand.

“It’s definitely a great building block,” Keys said. “I want to do well in New York and have a good end to the season.”

At 34, Kuznetsova was the oldest finalist in the Western & Southern Open’s history. She beat three top-10 players in a tournament—Sloane Stephens, Karolina Pliskova and Ashleigh Barty—for the first time in her 19-year career.

The 153rd-ranked player got a late start on the season as she completed a seven-month

recovery from a knee injury. In her ninth tournament of the season, she got her game together and got her best result in two years.

“Honestly, I didn’t expect to be so good at this tournament,” she said.

After what happened in Cincinnati during the week, nobody knows what to expect in the women’s bracket in New York.

Serena Williams dropped out of Cincinnati because of back spasms that also forced her to withdraw from the final in Toronto. Naomi Osaka, the defending US Open champion, withdrew from her semifinal match on Friday with discomfort in her left knee that left her worried about her condition heading to New York.

There’s some intrigue on the men’s side, too.

The bracket in Cincinnati was billed as a reunion of the Big Four—Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray back together for the first time since January.

None of them made it to the final.

Nadal won the Rogers Cup last Sunday and withdrew from the Western

& Southern, citing fatigue. Murray played singles for the first time since hip surgery in January and lost his opening match. Seven-time champion Federer was knocked out in the quarterfinals, and Djokovic lost to Medvedev in the semifinals with the crowd cheering him on.

The Russian thanked the crowd for its support after beating David Goffin 7-6 (3), 6-4 for his first Masters 1000 title Sunday. It was his third straight final, but the first time he’d won.

Medvedev lost to Nadal on Montreal a week earlier, then went on to reach his sixth final of this season, most on the ATP tour. He’s won twice.

“To finally lift the trophy this week is an amazing feeling,” Medvedev said.

At age 23, he became the youngest Cincinnati champion since Murray at age 21 in 2008.

“Congratulations,” Goffin told him, “and I think you’re ready for New York.” AP

ASHINGTON—Elena Delle Donne scored 25 points and hit three of Washington’s Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA)-record 18 three-pointers in the Mystics’ 107-68 victory over the Indiana Fever on Sunday.

The Mystics (20-7) scored the most points in a WNBA games this season. They have won six in a row, averaging 95.3 points during the run, and 11 of their last 12.

Washington broke the three-point record of 17 set

DONNE

by Seattle last year against Las Vegas.

Aerial Powers added 19 points, going four of six from three-point range, and Ariel Atkins, who also hit four threes, had 14 points for the Mystics.

Washington never trailed and scored 18 consecutive points to open a 20-2 lead. The Fever (8-17) twice trimmed it to seven points in the second quarter and once in the third.

Delle Donne made seven of 10 from the field, three of four from three-point range and grabbed nine rebounds. The Mystics shot 49 percent (37 of 76) from the field, hit 18 of 39 from behind the arc and made all their 15 free throws.

Tiffany Mitchell led Indiana with 17 points, and Teaira McCowan scored a career-high 14 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.

Washington set its season highs for points in a quarter (36 in the third), points in a half (64 in the second), assists (30) and three-point field-goal attempts and committed a season-low six turnovers.

In Seattle, Jordin Canada scored 14 points and the Storm never trailed to beat the Minnesota Lynx, 82-74.

Jewell Loyd and Natasha Howard had 13 points apiece, Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis added 11, and Mercedes Russell and Alysha Clark scored 10 apiece for Seattle (15-13).

Clark made a pull-up jumper, stole a pass and then fed Canada for a basket that made it 11-0 midway through the first quarter. Minnesota went zero for five from the field and committed six turnovers during that span.

Odyssey Sims scored 18 of her season-high 30 points in the third quarter for the Lynx (13-14). AP

orts

sMirror

Tuesday, August 20, 2019 C3

SPORTS WITHOUT BORDERS VINCENT JUICO @VJuico Instagram vpjp_j vince.juico@gmail.com

McKenzie, Bravo top Calbayog tennis meet

The return of Nate Diaz

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IMBERLY MCKENZIE toppled Corazon Lambonao twice in tough fashion while Cedrick Bravo dominated the boys’ side as they shared top honors in the Palawan Pawnshop-Palawan Express Pera Padala (PPS-PEPP) Mayor R. Aquino national age-group tennis tournament in Samar on Monday.

McKenzie, a half-Pinay, half-Australian from Cebu, repulsed Lambonao, 6-0, 4-6, 10-2, to rule the 14-under bracket then hacked out a 7-6(2), 6-3 victory in the 16-U finals to match Bravo’s two-title romps in his side of the Group 2 tournament presented by Dunlop and part of the PPS-PEPP circuit.

Bravo, one of the rising stars from Ormoc City, trounced Gerald Gemida, 6-2, 6-3, in the 16-under finals then crushed Grant Regino, 6-3, 6-1, in the premier division of the first-ever tournament at Calbayog Tennis Courts through host Mayor Ronaldo Aquino.

“We take pride in successfully staging our first age-grouper in Calbayog through Mayor Aquino’s initiative and we hope this will be a regular stop of the circuit,” Palawan Pawnshop President and CEO Bobby Castro said.

The Ormoc City bets dominated the other singles finals with Christian Laguna ruling the 10-unisex, Renante Bravo topping the 12-under, Gerald Gemida bagging the 14-under crown, Nina Grace Solano reigning in girls’ 12-under and Mia Gemida duplicating her feat (18-under) in last week’s Baybay stop of the circuit sanctioned by the Unified Tennis Philippines made up of PPS-PEPP, Cebuana Lhuillier, Wilson, Toby’s, Dunlop, Slazenger and B-Meg. Laguna downed Rhian Dedace, 4-2, 4-0; Renante Bravo upended Laguna, 6-3, 6-2; Gerald Gemida foiled Mark Barquio, 6-3, 6-2; Solano ripped May Impas, 6-2, 6-1; and Mia Gemida beating Lambonao, 6-2, 6-2.

PETRO Gazz’s Maricar Baloaloa breaks the defense put up by Balipure’s Satrriani Espiritu (2) and Vira May Guillema (9) during the Premier Volleyball League Season 3 Open Conference match the Angels won, 25-22, 25-18, 25-16, on Sunday at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan. NONOY LACZA

ROOKIE DAZZLES FOR LADY EAGLES W

ITH Ateneo in a rebuilding stage after the departure of its three towers and with the Lady Eagles missing key veterans Deanna Wong and Ponggay Gaston, rookie Faith Nisperos came up big in her first match for the blue and white.

The lefty high school standout from National University announced her arrival by leading Ateneo to a resounding opening day win over Letran in the Premier Volleyball League Season 3 Collegiate Conference at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan.

Nisperos dropped 19 points in the Lady Eagles’ 25-16, 22-25, 25-13, 25-20 victory over the Lady Knights last Saturday in Group A of the 12-school field.

Her performance and on-court presence as the leader of the Oliver Almadro-mentored squad earned her the nod as the first-ever Sports Vision PVL Collegiate Conference Player of the Week.

The prized recruit hammered down 17 attack points, but what impressed Almadro the most was Nisperos’ willingness to play the role of a leader with

FINALS MVP San Miguel Beer’s Terrence Romeo is named Finals Most Valuable Player after the Beermen beat the TNT KaTropa, 102-90, in Game Six on Friday night to win the Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup best-of-seven championship series.

Loaded PSA forum today

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T’S a loaded session of the Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) Forum on Tuesday with archery, boxing and the Universities, Colleges, Schools Athletic Association (UCSAA) sharing the presidential table at the Amelie Hotel-Manila.

Veteran Coach Clint Sayo and archers Paul and Rachelle de la Cruz, along with Andrea Robles will talk about the national archery team’s chances in the coming 30th Southeast Asian Games, as well as next month’s test event, the third leg of the Asia Cup Leg 3 to be held in Tarlac.

Joining them in the forum presented by San Miguel Corp., Braska Restaurant and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. are the protagonists in this weekend’s International Boxing Organization flyweight title bout between Carlo Peñalosa and Maximino Flores of Mexico.

Accompanying the boxers are two-time world champion Gerry Peñalosa together with the finalists of the Ultimate Boxing Series—April Jay Abne, Ronel Sumalpong, Lienard Sarcon and Aljum Pelesio.

Finally, UCSAA officials will grace the 10 a.m. public sports program led by President Dr. Nestor de la Cruz of Saint Dominic Savio College. The league opens its ninth season on August 30 at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.

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ITTER rivals Petron and F2 Logistics try to arrange their seventh straight finals duel when they tackle separate foes in the semifinals of the Philippine Superliga All-Filipino Conference on Tuesday at the Muntinlupa Sports Center.

The Blaze Spikers, who have been ruling this midseason conference for the past two years, battle Cignal in the 7 p.m. featured encounter while the Cargo Movers face Foton in the 4:15 p.m. appetizer.

Petron and F2 Logistics will be armed with a

READY FOR BATANG PINOY T HE Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) is all geared up the upcoming 2019 Batang Pinoy National Championships set from August 25 to 31 in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan.

“The PSC is ready for the growing number of delegates that will take part in the games,” National Secretariat Head Manuel Bitog said.

Around 10,000 athletes, coaches, technical and delegation officials from

all over the country are expected to take part in the Nationals that features competitions in 31 sports.

PSC picked 10 billeting areas to accommodate delegations from 234 local government units. These are the Santa Monica Elem. School, Santa Monica High School, F. Ubay Memorial Elem. School, Manuel Austria Memorial Elem. School, Sicsican Elem. School, Sicsican High School, Puerto Princesa Science High

La Salle dribblers unscathed

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A Salle Greenhills (LSGH)-A and De La Salle-Zobel (DLS-Z) extended their winning streak over the weekend, as well as Nazareth School of National University in the Basketball Efficiency Scientific Training Center’s Small Basketeers Philippines-Passerelle

twin basketball tournaments at the Xavier School Gym. LSGH-A routed Claret School (2-1), 53-43, for its third straight win to pace Group A of the Small Basketeers Philippines of the event sponsored by Milo and supported by Rain or Shine,

Gaston skipping the reigning University Athletic Association of the Philippines champion’s first game after being under the weather.

“I’m reiterating to her that it’s not about the points. Sometimes players tend to have misconceptions on’ I’m a leader because I make the points,’” said Almadro. “No. I always tell them, ‘Don’t put yourselves in a position that you score the points right away. It’s important that you know what to do, correct what are needed to be corrected.’”

“What’s nice with Faith is she really listens and tries harder to correct her mistakes,” added the two-division champion coach. “She has the talent and she is still growing.”

The four-time champion and two-time Most Valuable Player in the high school ranks kept Ateneo—now playing without Bea de Leon, Maddie Madayag and Kat Tolentino and injured starting setter Wong (shin injury) and Gaston (sick)—together to stave off the upsetconscious Letran side.

With Madayag and Tolentino, as well as school legend Alyssa Valdez watching her, Nisperos gave the Lady Eagles’ faithful a

glimpse of what to expect from her donning the blue and white.

However, the 5-foot-9 spiker admitted that she still has a lot to improve on.

“Well, as a starter, I have a lot to improve on pa. I’m thrilled and overwhelmed that I’m already here in Ateneo playing,” the tantalizing talent said. “I think I’ll grow here more than when I was in high school.”

Nisperos outshone the Adamson University troika of Trisha Genesis, Lucille Almonte and Louie Romero, Klarisa Abriam of College of Saint Benilde, Imee Hernandez of University of Santo Tomas, Regine Arocha of Arellano University and Charina Scott of University of Perpetual Help for the weekly award handed out by reporters from print and online covering the league.

Petron-F2 Logistics finals duel looms twice-to-beat advantage after coming up with a 1-2 finish in the double-round preliminaries.

After posting 12 straight wins to shut down the preliminaries with an impressive 13-1 win-loss record, the Blaze Spikers flaunted their strength as they sent rookie team Marinerang Pilipina packing in the quarterfinals.

Head Coach Shaq de los Santos liked what he saw, saying that they are peaking as the league enters its crucial stretch.

“I’m glad that our players are playing on top of their game, but in these semifinals we have to School, Palawan National School, Puerto Princesa Pilot Elem.

School and San Jose National High School.

Six other billeting areas will be prepared to accommodate the additional needs of the participants.

Chris Sports and SKLZ. College of San Benildo, meanwhile, notched its first win in three matches with a 67-24 demolition of DLS-Z White (0-4).

DLS-Z, meanwhile, also marched to its third consecutive victory by trouncing LSGH-B, 61-43 (2-1), for the Group B lead.

Marist (1-2) scuttled San Sebastian

be more eager,” de los Santos said. “We have to be more aggressive and sustain the level of our game for us to achieve our goal.”

With the hard-hitting tandem of Sisi Rondina and Bernadeth Pons at the attack zone, the core of Frances Molina, Aiza MaizoPontillas, Mika Reyes, Rhea Dimaculangan and Denden Lazaro are tipped to go all out against the seasoned tandem of Rachel Anne Daquis and Jovelyn Gonzaga with do-it-all Filipino-American playmaker Alohi RobinsHardy directing traffic.

Against Generika-Ayala in the quarterfinals, the troika of Daquis, Gonzaga and Robins-Hardy did wonders at the defensive end, posting 16 blocks to pull off a convincing 25-15, 17-25, 25-18, 25-22 win.

“We’re excited because even they swept us in the preliminary round, we still pushed them to their limits,” said Cignal Head Coach Edgar Barroga, whose wards forced a pair of five-set matches with the defending champion. “This time, we’ll be more confident because we know that we got what it takes to beat them.”

National Secretariat senior member Teresito Fortaleza reported that the PSC team is conducting a final ocular in all competition and noncompetition venues for the national championships with Puerto Princesa City Sports Director Atty.

Rocky Austria this week.

A Children’s Fun Run will be held in the morning of August 31 with a target of 8,000 kids participating.

PSC Commissioner Celia Kiram and Puerto Princesa Mayor Lucio Bayron formally signed the Memorandum-of-Agreement for the Games’ hosting last July 26.

WANG MIN-JEONG hopes to ride the momentum of her big finish at Mount Malarayat last week in pursuit of a second Ladies Philippine Golf Tour (LPGT) crown as she joins the hunt in The Women’s Championship at Summit Point beginning on Wednesday in Lipa City.

Hwang, 17, turned in one of the final round’s two best cards of 1-under 71 to salvage joint third in the International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) Mount Malarayat Classic, a finish she hopes would help fuel her bid in the P750,000 event serving as the penultimate leg of the 12-stage of the seventh season of the country’s premier circuit put up by ICTSI. “I didn’t play well last week because of back pains but I was glad to finish strong,” said Hwang, who points to her short game as key to her drive for a follow-up to her breakthrough win at Splendido last January.

“This week, I hope I can dish out a better sho wing, especially my short game,” added the 2018 Philippine Amateur champion.

But the long-limbed Korean will be up against a talent-laden roster toughened up by a slew of Thai aces coming off a stint in Ladies Professional Golf Association of Taiwan,

College-Recoletos (0-3), 62-23, in the other Group B game.

Nazareth School was unforgiving in clinching its fourth straight victory at the expense of San Beda University (3-1), 65-43, for the Passerelle lead, while DLS-Z (2-2) scrubbed Casimiro A. Ynares Memorial National High School (04), 77-32, in the other game.

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NATE DIAZ made a triumphant, victorious, profanity-laced return to the UFC octagon with a unanimous points decision win against former lightweight champion Anthony Pettis.

Diaz was off the UFC grid for three years because according to him, “everybody sucked” to the delight of the partisan crowd.

Diaz would like to fight Jorge Masvidal next, impresses by Masvidal’s knockout win over Ben Askren last month, according to espn.com, “All respect to the man, but there ain’t no gangsters in this game anymore. There ain’t nobody who does it right but me and him,” said Diaz, who hails from Stockton, California, and enjoyed a huge partisan crowd on Saturday.

“So I know my man’s a gangster, but he ain’t no West Coast gangster,” he said.

I like Diaz because he plays the heel or villain role really well. He goes all out just like his older brother Nick. He has both stand up and ground and pound. He’ll flip two birds at you while he’s submitting you, adding insult to injury.

Not a lot of people know the Diaz brothers are triathletes, they do triathlon as part of their training and preparation for fights. I’m neither an MMA practitioner nor a trainer but if you can compete in an Ironman triathlon then there’s no doubting your cardio and your conditioning.

Diaz defeated Pettis by keeping the striking in the clinch or what they call “phone booth fighting.” Neither Nick nor Nate have ever been knocked out. Both possess one of the strongest chins in MMA. They can talk trash and talk smack but they can definitely back it up.

Something I notice with these brothers, they seem to talk better after a fight than before the fight.

HWANG MIN-JEONG hopes to ride the momentum of her big finish at Mount Malarayat last week.

Korean ace Hwang brings victorious act to Lipa City including Saraporn Chamchoi and former LPGT leg winner Supakchaya Pattaranakrueang.

Focus, however, will be on Nemittra Juntanaket, who will be gunning for a rare backto-back championship after a dominant six-shot romp at Mount Malarayat with runner-up Sangkagaro Pimpadsorn and joint third placer Ajira Nualraksa also tipped to contend for the top P150,000 purse in the 54-hole championship organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments Inc. Meanwhile, multi-titled Chihiro Ikeda and former three-time Order of Merit winner Cyna Rodriguez will spearhead the local challenge that includes Marvi Monsalve, Pamela Mariano, Alex Etter, Apple Fudolin and former leg winner Sarah Ababa, all hard-pressed to dish out their best against the crack international field that includes Korean Kang Dayun and Brunei’s Valerie Tan. Completing the cast are Thais Nimmita Juntanaket, Tip Seeumpornroj, Sarinee Thitiratanakorn and Pasinee Thongthaengyai with amateurs Eagle Ace Superal also in the cast along with Annyka Cayabyab and Mafy Singson joining the likes of Nicole Abelar, Samantha Bruce, Samantha Dizon, Samantha Martirez, Laurea Duque, Arnie Taguines and Korean Kwon Taeyon.

NO MORE DOUBTING THOMAS SALMON JERSEY

Team Dimension Data’s Stephen Cummings of Britain stands on the podium holding a salmon figure after taking the salmon jersey for best climber at the first stage of Arctic Race of Norway in Leknes, Norway, recently. AP

Sports BusinessMirror

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| Tuesday, August 20, 2019 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

By Doug Ferguson The Associated Press

JUSTIN THOMAS holds on to win the BMW Championship. AP

Hermans wins Tour of Utah

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ARK CITY, Utah—Ben Hermans finished near the front once more in the final stage of the Tour of Utah on Sunday, allowing him to wrap up the overall title after taking second in the weeklong race a year ago.

Joe Dombrowski won the finale, an 83mile trek that began and ended in Park City, with 24 seconds to spare over a chase group led by Joao Almeida. Herman and Keegan Swirbul were another two seconds back with James Piccoli, one of the main instigators all week, rounding out the top 5.

The finish was enough to give Hermans, riding for the Israel Cycling Academy, a 50-second margin over Piccoli with Dombrowski another 42 seconds back

in third place.

The 33-year-old Hermans has experienced something of a rejuvenation this season. He won a stage and the overall at the Tour of Austria before taking the second and third stages in Utah.

“It’s really amazing,” the Belgian said.

“I’ve been fourth, second last year, and to win—finally first. I really enjoy it here. It’s amazing to ride for these crowds and to be there on the podium in the yellow jersey is really, really nice.”

Travis McCabe won the white jersey awarded to the race’s top sprinter. Piccolli was crowned most aggressive rider, Almeida was top young rider and Hayden McCormick won the mountains classification. AP

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EDINAH, Illinois—Staked to a six-shot lead, Justin Thomas spent more time Sunday worrying about what could go wrong than ending 12 months without winning.

And right when it started to go wrong, Thomas delivered his biggest shots in the BMW Championship.

In a span of three holes around the turn at Medinah, his six-shot lead shrunk to two. Thomas answered with two clutch wedge shots, two big putts and sailed to a four-under 68 to secure a three-shot victory over Patrick Cantlay, who gave him a battle to the end with a 65.

“Patrick played unbelievably, put a lot of heat on me,”Thomas said. “In the end, it could have been good for me. It kept me focused, kept my head down....I was really nervous going into today.

I remembered that it’s really hard to win a golf tournament, and I’m glad that I was able to do so.”

The timing was ideal.

His first victory since the World Golf Championship at Firestone last year moved him to the top of the FedEx Cup going into the Tour Championship, where he will start the tournament at 10-under par with a two-shot lead under the new scoring format as the final 30 players chase a $15 million first prize.

“I can certainly say I never slept on a Wednesday lead,” Thomas said.

No Neymar, no victory for reigning champ PSG

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ARIS—Still missing Brazil forward Neymar, defending champion Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) lost, 2-1, at Rennes in the French league on Sunday.

PSG, which beat Nimes 3-0 last weekend in the first round, went ahead in the 36th minute when Edison Cavani took advantage of a poor back pass by Rennes defender Damien da Silva.

M’Baye Niang leveled with a stunning effort shortly before the interval and Romain del Castillo was left unmarked to head in what turned out to be the winner early in the second half.

Neymar, who has been linked with a move to Real Madrid and Barcelona, also missed the Nimes game with PSG Coach Thomas Tuchel saying the Brazilian was not fit to play.

Neymar became the most expensive player in the world when he moved from Barcelona to PSG for €222 million (about

$250 million) in 2017. But his two seasons with the French champions have been disappointing compared to the club’s huge expectations.

Rennes beat Montpellier 1-0 in its opening match of the season.

Saint-Etienne came from behind to draw 1-1 at home to newly promoted Brest.

New signing Denis Bouanga leveled seven minutes from time, firing home the rebound after his initial shot had been blocked by Brest defender Romain Perraud.

Bouanga, who was signed from Nimes last month, almost snatched the winner but the Gabon winger headed narrowly over the bar in stoppage time.

Julien Faussurier had given Brest the lead on the stroke of halftime. It was a second successive draw for the visitors, who also hit the post in the first period.

Strasbourg drew 0-0 at Reims.

In London, Frank Lampard did not get the

Chelsea homecoming he craved as his wait for a first win as manager went on following a 1-1 draw with Leicester in the Premier League on Sunday.

Lampard, Chelsea’s all-time record scorer, was in charge at Stamford Bridge for the first time since his offseason appointment but had to settle for a point as Mason Mount’s seventh-minute goal was canceled out by Wilfred Ndidi’s second-half header.

Ndidi had been dispossessed

by Mount for Chelsea’s goal but made amends by rising above Cesar Azpilicueta to head home James Maddison’s corner in the 67th.

After a 4-0 loss in the league at Manchester United last week and a penalty

Cantlay, who made four straight birdies around the turn, secured the No. 2 position and will start at eight under. Brooks Koepka will be seven under, a staggered start all the way down to even par for the final five players.

That includes Lucas Glover, who went bogeydouble bogey until finishing with a two-putt par from 40 feet to secure his first trip to the Tour Championship in 10 years.

It will not include Masters champion Tiger Woods, the defending champion.

Woods was a long shot going into the final round to crack the top 30, and he closed with a 72. East Lake was his first victory in five years, capping his return from four back surgeries, a special moment replaced some six months later by his Masters victory.

“It’s disappointing,” Woods said.

“Last year culminated in a pretty special moment for me and would have been nice to go back there.”

Hideki Matsuyama took the 36-hole lead with a 63 until falling back with a 73. He responded with another 63 to finish alone in third, making him one of three players who moved into the top 30 to reach East Lake. The other was Jason Kokrak, but only after JT Poston made bogey on his final hole.

The final day to earn the eight

automatic spots on the Presidents Cup changed nothing for either team.

Bryson DeChambeau held onto the final spot for the Americans when Tony Finau, who needed to finish alone in third, closed with a 69 and finished fourth. Jason Day failed to work his way into an automatic spot for the International side.

There wasn’t supposed to be much drama in the tournament, either, not with Thomas coming off a 61 to build a six-shot lead. Only seven players dating to 1928 had ever lost a six-shot lead on the PGA Tour.

Thomas didn’t want to be the next.

That’s why he shut off his phone on his way to the course. It seemed everyone but him had already declared him the winner, and

he found no refuge in the locker room.

“Guys giving me advice in the locker room how to finish off a tournament,” Thomas said.

“I was like, ‘I’ve done this a couple times guys but, thank you.’ That’s what I was saying on the way over here. It’s a lot of the outside noise that makes it harder sometimes to stay focused.”

And the nature of that advice?

“Talk to your caddie a lot. Make sure you keep talking,” Thomas said. “’OK, as long as you stop talking it’s fine with me.’”

He did talk to his caddie, mostly to get yardage from the rough because he didn’t hit a fairway until the fifth hole. Cantlay also got off to a slow start, and Thomas still had his six-shot lead through seven holes. But not for long.

Cantlay made an 8-foot birdie on No. 7, followed with a 12-foot birdie on No. 8 and a 6-foot birdie on No. 9. Thomas then helped out by hitting his second to the par-5 10th under a tree, hitting left-handed to get it out and making bogey. Cantlay made his fourth straight birdie, and the lead was down to two with eight holes remaining.

That’s when Thomas came to life with a wedge to 2 feet for birdie.

“The birdie on 11 was huge,” Thomas said.

“That propelled me for the rest of the round.”

More important was his 12-foot par putt on the next hole. And then after Cantlay rolled in a 15-foot birdie on the par-3 13th, Thomas matched him from 12 feet.

Cantlay, who had nine birdies in the final round, missed an 8-foot birdie putt on the 14th and a 15-foot eagle putt on the 15th after driving onto the green.

“When you’re as far behind as you are, you kind of need everything to right,” Cantlay said.

“Neither of those putts dropped at a point where I needed them to.”

Thomas finished at 25-under 263—seven shots lower than what Woods shot at Medinah when he won the 2006 PGA Championship— and earned $1,665,000. Even more money is at stake next week, though this was a burden lifted.

All he cared about was winning.

shootout defeat to Liverpool in the UEFA Super Cup on Wednesday, Lampard is still to taste victory and, as good as Chelsea’s first-half display was against the Foxes, its second-half struggle highlights the size of the task he faces.

Leicester wasted a clear chance to take all three points when Maddison weaved past Chelsea’s static defense in the 73rd only to blaze over from point-blank range.

Chants of “Super Frank Lampard” rang around the stadium and banners were held aloft to acclaim the club’s former midfielder before kick-off. Mount then gave Chelsea a deserved early lead.

The 20-year-old is a player Lampard has put so much faith in, having also taken him on loan at second-tier Derby last season.

And the midfielder is proving his manager’s trust is not misplaced. AP

PARIS Saint-Germain’s Kylian Mbappe heads the ball against Rennes’ Damien da Silva. AP

God of the living

OD of the living, in Jesus You inscribe Your law of love upon our hearts. Make us one in Your Spirit, and heed our prayer as we say: Give us a spirit of reverence, Oh God. Help us to speak the truth with courage and to make choices that witness to your providence and inclusive love. Encourage us to rejoice and celebrate the good fortune and blessings of others. Inspire us to ponder the interconnectedness of all that finds its breath and life in God. May God order our days and our deeds in peace, through Christ our hope. Amen.

GIVE US THIS DAY, SHARED BY LUISA LACSON, HFL

Word&Life Publications • teacherlouie1965@yahoo.com

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

Life BusinessMirror

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CIRCLES: SILVERLENS EXHIBITS SANTIAGO BOSE THE SAME WAY THE ARTIST TREATED HIS ART D4

Tuesday, August 20, 2019 D1

Creative spaces are often works in progress

➌ ❶ A PHOTO from the book Creative Spaces

by Ted Vadakan and Angie Myung features the creative space of Windy Chien in San Francisco, California. PHOTOS: AP

❷ ANOTHER creative space of Windy Chien in San Francisco featured in the book.

❸ THE book Creative Spaces by Ted Vadakan and Angie Myung.

❹ ALSO featured in Creative Spaces is this creative space of Stephanie Forsythe and Todd MacAllen in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

➍

By Katherine Roth

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The Associated Press

OW do you create a space conducive to creative thinking?

A number of recent books explore the working environments of creative people in search of hints and inspiration.

“They’re not highly produced spaces. They are spaces that reflect the real lives of people,” says Ted Vadakan, coauthor with Angie Myung of the new Creative Spaces: People, Homes, and Studios to Inspire (Chronicle Books). They talked with 23 creative people in a range of disciplines.

“One common thread we found is that things were in a state of progress,” Vadakan adds. “Things often felt sort of unfinished, in the midst of changing. ... The space changes over time as they grow and change and explore.”

Put another way, he says, “many creative spaces feel like a continuous work in progress. That was very enlightening to me. It’s easy to be critical of ourselves. But we realized that everyone is in that state of constant change and work in progress. They’re always trying to be their better selves.”

In addition to being comfortable with change, many of the people profiled in the book embraced imperfection, Vadakan adds.

“I don’t mind dirt and rust, and I like things that don’t look spanking new, because it adds a little bit more character,” creative director and graphic designer David Irvin says in the book. His elegant but comfortable modern home features a mix of different woods, from teak to plywood.

An abundance of plant life is also a common feature in creative spaces,

as are displays of eclectic objects that trigger ideas or memories.

“If you have things that inspire you, like a large bulletin board with inspiring photos, or shelves with inspiring objects, whether natural objects or things that someone has made, it can really help the creative process,” says Lorna Aragon, home editor at Martha Stewart Living magazine.

“Having natural elements in your space is also crucial. Bring some of the outdoors in. A view of greenery is important, if that’s possible, or bring plants into your space,” she adds.

Creative spaces also should be orderly, Aragon says, with lots of natural light if possible.

“Clutter does not help you to focus. You want your space to have some order,” she says. “And lighting—natural light if at all possible— is very important. It helps productivity and improves moods.”

There also should be room to move around and space to create.

For desks, “Size is everything. It’s frustrating to work at a desk that is too shallow, but you can equally go too deep—if you’re working on a computer or laptop, for example, the ideal distance between your eyes and the screen is only an arm’s length,” writes Sally Coulthard in Studio: Creative Spaces for Creative People (Jacqui Small, London, 2017).

For colors, Aragon favors a light touch.

“I think neutrals are always good because they’re not a distraction, but soft blues and greens also are supposed to help with productivity,” she adds.

Aside from these general themes, creative spaces are as individual and wide-ranging as the minds inhabiting them.

“In a lot of ways, each of these creatives infused their own style and personality in their spaces, and then they allow the spaces to change and grow along with them,” Vadakan says.

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BusinessMirror

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Ending a drought for R-rated comedies, ‘Good Boys’ is No. 1

By Jake Coyle

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The Associated Press

WOULD you turn on Love Alarm? “If you’re in love, Love Alarm will ring, If you’re in love, you cannot hide your feelings.”

As Love Alarm, an app that tells you if there’s anyone who has a crush on you within a 10-meter radius, launches, it quickly becomes a social phenomenon. While everyone talks about it and uses it to test their love and popularity, Jojo is one of the few exceptions as life itself is an uphill battle every day for her. However, Jojo soon faces a love triangle situation between Sun-oh, who she is fond of, and Hye-young, who has had a huge crush on her.

Kim Jojo, played by Kim So-hyun (Who Are You: School 2015, Hey Ghost, Let’s Fight, Radio Romance) is a girl with positive spirit despite some painful family history, and she finds a new love by using the app. Hwang Sun-oh (played by a new face Song Kang) likes Jojo, and he has it all. He has the look of a model and grew up in a rich family. Lee Hye-yeong, played by another rookie actor Jung Ga-ram, is good friends with Sun-oh, and he also likes Jojo even before Sun-oh.

Love Alarm is based on a popular Korean webtoon of the same title by Chon Kye-young, whose other works like Unplugged Boy and Audition have a strong following in Korea.

Today’s Horoscope

By Eugenia Last

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Misha Collins, 45; Amy Adams, 45; Billy Gardell, 50; Al Roker, 65.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Say little and do a lot. Use this year to position yourself for future gains. Set yourself up to play on a winning team. Surround yourself with competent people who share your beliefs and goals, and you will find the contentment you are searching for. Building a foundation takes time and effort, so don’t scrimp when you should be giving your all. Your lucky numbers are 3, 9, 16, 24, 27, 35, 44.

EW YORK—The R-rated comedy, left for dead by some Hollywood studios, again reached No.1 at the box office over the weekend thanks to the raunchy coming-of-age tale Good Boys, about a trio of 12-year-olds on a crude misadventure.

Good Boys surpassed expectations to debut with $21 million, according to studio estimates Sunday, dethroning the Fast & Furious spin-off Hobbs & Shaw, which slid to second with $14.1 million in its third weekend. Not since Melissa McCarthy’s The Boss came in No. 1 all the way back in April 2016 has an R-rated comedy topped the North American box office.

“This is like a unicorn sighting,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for data firm comScore.

In recent years, R-rated horror has largely taken the place of R-rated comedy at the box office, as Hollywood has increasingly ceded the genre to TV and streaming services. But Universal Pictures, which released Good Boys, has kept the flame. The studio was behind The Boss, as well as the intervening years’ highest grossing domestic comedies: 2017’s Girls Trip and 2018’s Night School.

Good Boys broke out of a crowded late-summer field of new releases. The weekend’s other new widely

‘Love Alarm’ premieres on Netflix on August 22

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www.businessmirror.com.ph

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ARIES (March 21-April 19): Breathe in, breathe out. OK, now you are ready to move forward, embrace the future and do your thing to the best of your ability. Don’t look back; learn from the past, and know better moving forward. Live in the moment. «««

b

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Craving change and dealing with change are not the same thing. Be prepared if you want to achieve the best results. Listen to your heart, not what someone else is telling you. Don’t rush. «««

c

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Don’t get mad; get moving. Consider the possibilities, and start doing what brings you the most joy. You are responsible for your happiness, so don’t count on someone else to cater to your needs. Relationships are a two-way street. ««««

d VIVEIK KALRA in a scene from Blinded by the Light, a Warner Bros. Pictures release in which Kalra plays Javed, a Pakistani-British teen whose life is transformed when a friend introduces him to Bruce Springsteen’s music in 1987 Britain. AP

released films—the animated sequel The Angry Birds Movie 2, the shark attack sequel 47 Meters Down: Uncaged, the Bruce Springsteen-inspired drama Blinded by the Light and Richard Linklater’s Cate Blanchett-led Where’d You Go Bernadette—all fizzled.

Good Boys rode a buzzy premiere at South By Southwest, good reviews (80 percent fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) and the imprimatur of producers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg (Good Boys is much like a tween version of Superbad) to notch the best opening for an original comedy this year. Second place is Universal’s body-switch comedy Little.

Directed by Gene Stupnitsky (who cowrote the script with Lee Eisenberg), Good Boys stars Jacob Tremblay, Keith L. Williams and Brady Noon as sixth graders trying to make it to their first kissing party. The movie’s much-watched red-band trailer traded on its ironies. As Rogen says, Tremblay, Williams and Noon are all too young to see their own movie alone.

Jim Orr, distribution chief for Universal, credited Rogen and Goldberg’s Point Grey Pictures and the film’s clever marketing for the film’s performance.

“This is a genre that is very difficult to do and we’re having great success as a studio with a very diverse slate,”

Orr said. “One of the common denominators there is our marketing department. They just over-deliver constantly with a broad range of films.”

The challenge of Good Boys was to turn out moviegoers older than the movie’s pipsqueak protagonists, and it did. Only 7 percent of the audience was under age 18, according to Universal, though 41 percent was under 25. Crowds split evenly between the sexes: 52 percent male, 48 percent female.

The release strategies behind some of the weekend’s other new films were harder to discern.

Sony’s The Angry Birds Movie 2, on a budget of $65 million, opened with a paltry $10.5 million domestically, though it added $19.4 million internationally. Hoping to snarl kids before school starts, Sony released the film on Tuesday. But it didn’t come close to the $38.2 million domestic debut of the first installment in 2016 despite notably better reviews (76 percent fresh on Rotten Tomatoes).

Sony’s Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood, however, grossed $53.7 million overseas after expanding to 46 markets—the largest foreign launch for any Quentin Tarantino film, and the best worldwide haul for any film this weekend.

47 Meters Down: Uncaged, from Entertainment Studios, also showed little bite. It debuted with $9 million, a slight downtick from the $11.2 million the first one opened with in 2017.

A pair of films that might have been platform released to build word-of-mouth instead opened wide in bids to stand out in the traditional dumping-ground of late summer. But the results were mixed.

Blinded by the Light, which Warner Bros. plunked down $15 million for at the Sundance Film Festival, took in $4.5 million from 2,307 locations. The film, which has been

warmly reviewed, is about a British-Pakistani teen growing up in 1980s England whose life is transformed after he discovers Springsteen.

And United Artists’ Where’d You Go Bernadette grossed $3.5 million from 2,404 locations. Based on Maria Semple’s 2012 comic novel, Linklater’s film earned lukewarm reviews for its tale of a missing mother (Blanchett).

The Good Boys debut gave Universal, also behind Hobbs & Shaw its third straight weekend at No. 1 and 10th this year—second only to Disney.

With two weeks to go, the overall summer movie season is running 1.9 percent behind the pace of last summer, according to comScore.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at US and Canadian theaters, according to comScore. Where available, the latest international numbers for Friday through Sunday are also included.

1. Good Boys, $21 million ($2.1 million international).

2. Hobbs & Shaw, $14.1 million ($45.7 million international).

3. The Lion King, $11.9 million ($33.8 million international).

4. The Angry Birds Movie 2, $10.5 million ($19.4 million international).

5. Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, $10.1 million ($4.4 million international).

6. 47 Meters Down: Uncaged, $9 million.

7. Dora and the Lost City of Gold, $8.5 million ($6.6 million international).

8. Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood, $7.6 million ($53.7 million international).

9. Blinded by the Light, $4.5 million.

10. The Art of Racing in the Rain, $4.4 million.

FCC fines networks for wrongly using emergency alert system NEW YORK—Jimmy Kimmel has learned an expensive lesson: don’t mess with the government’s emergency alert system.

Kimmel’s network, ABC, was one of four media organizations fined by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) this week for improper use of the emergency signal that is sent over television, radio and mobile phones to warn people of danger like floods and fires. The $395,000 fine to ABC was by far the stiffest.

FCC rules prohibit the use of the signal for any purpose other than an actual emergency. The idea is to prevent confusion, the agency said Friday.

Kimmel used the signal three times as part of a skit on his show on October 3, 2018. ABC has signed a consent decree agreeing to pay the fine and promising not to improperly use the emergency tones again, the FCC announced Thursday.

AMC network agreed to pay a $104,000 fine for

improper use of the signal in an episode of its most popular show, The Walking Dead, in February, the FCC said.

Discovery’s Animal Planet was fined $68,000 when an actual emergency signal sent to a mobile phone was picked up by cameras during a filming session for its show, Lone Star Law. The show was filming Texas game wardens making rescues in the wake of Hurricane Harvey.

Los Angeles radio stations KDAY and KDEY were fined $67,000 for using the signal in show promotions. AP

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Stop worrying about what everyone else is doing and concentrate on what you are trying to accomplish. If you let your emotions take over, you will miss your mark and end up repeating what you have already done. ««

e

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): A change will intrigue you, and patience will run thin if you feel you can’t leap into action, but getting things right the first time will go part and parcel with being successful. Personal improvements will encourage significant opportunities. «««««

f

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Participate in events that will push you in a direction you’ve wanted to go for some time. Let go of the past, embrace the future and find out what life has to offer. A change will be rejuvenating. «««

g

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Call the shots before someone takes over and orders you around. Use intelligence and experience to get your way. How you deal with others will determine how much respect and help you get in return. Offer encouragement, not criticism. «««

h

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Keep moving forward, regardless of what others do. Listen to your heart, and you’ll find the path that suits you. It’s OK to do things your way. Don’t let someone’s pestering cause you to skip what you want. «««

i

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Trust in yourself, not what someone tells you.

Concentrate on being your best and stepping up for those you love and care about. Personal improvements can be made that will boost your confidence, and romance is encouraged. «««««

j

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): A change may be in order, even if you don’t want to embrace something new or unfamiliar. Consider how you can improve your life, home and future, and implement baby steps until you feel comfortable taking a leap of faith. ««

k

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Make today all about you, your relationships with others and where you see yourself headed. Much can be accomplished if you are assertive and do what needs to be done without making a fuss or waiting for someone to help. ««««

l

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): A change of plans or to the way you do things will help you utilize your time and skills more effectively. Spend more time on self-improvement and maneuvering yourself into a position that encourages higher pay and a better lifestyle. ««« BIRTHDAY BABY: You are convincing, engaging and confident. You are outspoken and dominant.

‘meow mix’ BY JASON MUELLER The Universal Crossword/Edited by David Steinberg

ACROSS 1 They’re opened in browsers 5 Unruly do 8 Not just estimated 14 Opera highlight 15 Pronoun hidden in “what’s her name” 16 Gym bottoms 17 Rectify 19 Closed tightly 20 Manipulate, as dough 21 Published 23 Visibly terrified 25 Forger’s area of expertise 26 “Just a ___!”

29 One concerned with inequalities in education?

33 John follower 37 Stylish 38 Like a yak or yeti 39 Milking container 40 River of forgetfulness 42 ___ Too Hard (2018 Lil Baby & Gunna hit) 43 Scale used at birth

5 Winter coat?

4 46 Dele undoer 47 Vacuum cleaner accessory 50 Word after “pierced” or before “piercing” 51 ___ Plaines, Illinois 52 Doesn’t stay home 56 Body of 100 59 Dos plus tres 61 Cat scrambled in 47-Across 64 To this point 66 British distinction 67 Tease 68 Cat scrambled in 64-Across 69 Swan Lake heroine 70 Rx watchdog 71 Absorbs, with “up” DOWN 1 Job 2 Sporting venue 3 Many hors d’oeuvres 4 Wife of Abraham 5 Flavor enhancer letters 6 Startled greeting 7 Gerbils and goldfish

8 Guarantee 9 Cat scrambled in 29-Across 10 Warty critter 11 It may start with https:// 12 Ingested 13 Substance for Timothy Leary 18 The same, in footnotes 22 Louis Armstrong nickname 24 Table salt formula 26 Gym top 27 Strange 28 Mummy’s home 30 Former British Prime Minister May 31 “Start playing, band!”

32 Real jerks 33 Quickly, poetically 34 It’s a Wonderful Life Director Frank 35 Cat scrambled in 17-Across 36 Pole or Serb 41 Fair-hiring org.

44 Endure, as a storm 48 Wimbledon’s ___ Court 49 Focal points 53 Pepper grinders 54 Composer Morricone

5 Reporter’s exclusive 5 56 Piggy bank part 57 Home territory 58 Oklahoma city 60 Possesses 61 “Gotcha!”

62 Cape ___ 63 U-turn from WSW 65 TV schedule abbr.

Solution to yesterday’s puzzle:

A BusinessMirror Special Feature

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Tuesday, August 20, 2019 D3

RWM’s event with a heart

R

By Jt Nisay

un With Me X features five celebrity-led teams, each supporting partner beneficiaries in a charit y race event. The fourth edition of the annual run will happen at the SM MOA concert grounds on August 25.

Resorts World Manila (RWM) marches on with its 10th anniversary festivities with Run With Me X, an annual charity race event where celebrity-led teams run for the benefit of a partner beneficiary.

Happening at the SM MOA concert grounds on August 25, the event is expected to draw its biggest number race participants as it coincides with the first decade celebrations of the country’s pioneering integrated resorts.

“There will be a lot of offers, a lot of events that will be mounted in celebration of Resorts World Manila’s 10th anniversary. I'd have to say that Run With Me X is the event with the biggest heart,” said RWM Director for Communications Joee Guilas.

“Its main goal is to give back, and for that, I’m really proud.”

Run With Me began in 2016 as an internal, social event exclusive to RWM employees and their relatives. The program expanded in 2017, with invites extended to the company’s business partners.

Last year, the run went full blast and was opened to the public, on top of being a CSR program of RWM with the introduction of the charity tie-ups. The 2018 edition of Run With Me attracted a total of 5,000 runners, raising P3.5 million for the beneficiary partner organizations.

For Run With Me X this year, Guilas said they expect to draw in around 8,000 runners with a lot more proceeds to

donate to the charities. There are four race categories for this year’s race—32K, 21K, 10K, and 5K distances—with registration running until August 24. The public is free to choose which team to join, thus, by extent, which charity to support.

The partner beneficiaries are Right Start Community Development, Inc. for the Red Team, led by Korina Sanchez, Gian Magdangal, OJ Mariano, and Myke Salomon; the HERO Foundation for the Yellow Team, bannered by Jeffrey Hidalgo, Norman Pascual, and Neil Perez; and Tahanang Walang Hagdanan, Inc. for the Green Team headed by Ara Mina, Chuckie and Yen Dreyfus, Polo Ravales, and Paulyn Quiza.

The other charity partners are ERDA Tech Foundation for the Blue Team, headlined by Yael Yuzon, Jana Victoria, Will Devaughn, and Jay Kent; and, lastly, EPCALM Adult Leukemia Foundation for the Orange Team, fronted by Rovilson Fernandez, Meg Imperial, Ray Gibson, and Ronnie Liang.

According to Major General Victor Bayani, AFP (Ret.), Executive Director of HERO Foundation, which stands for “Help, Educate, and Rear Or phans,” a group committed in helping families of fallen soldiers, last year’s donations proved to be a big help for the educational needs of the children.

“We were able to increase the stipends we provide for the elementary and high school students,” he said.

Meanwhile, Marc Magsalin Principal of Fr. Pierre Tritz, ERDA Tech Foundation in Manila, another charity beneficiary from last year’s event, said that last year’s proceeds were a “tremendous help to a lot of poor kids who want to finish their studies and get jobs after.”

Proceeds from the race are to be distributed among the five charity beneficiaries, with the lion’s share going to the team with the shortest accumulated time of finish of all members, celebrities and public runners included.

According to Acel Bisavan Ommen, Vice Chairperson and Co-founder of Right Start Community Development Inc., winning the race isn’t the most important victory from the event, as being selected as one of the beneficiaries is a win in itself.

“Each one of the beneficiary, we all need help,” she said.

“Whatever place we may be in, it’s already a big, big help for us.

So whoever gets the first place, it doesn't really matter.”

One of the celebrity members representing Right Start on the Red Team is seasoned broadcaster Korina Sanchez. She said helping poverty-stricken children is a cause she supports even outside the confines of the weekly TV magazine show that she hosts, which is why she is eager to join the race.

Sanchez added that despite being a rookie runner, she and her husband aspires of completing the New York Marathon one day, and Run With Me X would be a great first step in achieving that goal.

Meanwhile, TV host Rovilson Fernandez already knows a thing or two about RWM’s charity race event. A member of the Orange Team, which supports EPCALM Adult Leukemia Foundation, Fernandez has been part of the Run With Me since the beginning.

“This event was just a fun run before simply organized to promote wellness and running amongst employees,” he recalled.

“I’ve been so lucky to have hosted so many events for Resorts World that I’d like to consider myself an employee. They really treat you like family.”

Coinciding with the 10th

year celebrations of RWM, Guilas said Run With Me X is made “extra thrilling” and “extra fulfilling,” with the record high of celebrity runners and public participants, including, for the first time, international runners, members from the LGBTQ+ community, representatives from the Armed Forces and

Paralympians, among others.

Another first for this year’s event is a band releasing an album on race day, with Mojofly set to drop their latest songs.

Asked who he thinks which team will come out on top at the end of the finish line, Guilas provided a quick answer: “I think it will be Team Run With Me. It's going to be all of us.”

nInterested parties may register online for Run With Me X via www.runwithme.ph, via the RWM Mobile App, selected Olympic Village branches, or at Garmin branches in SM Megamall and SM Mall of Asia. Visit www.rwmanila.com for more on Resorts World Manila’s 10th anniversary celebrations.

Art

BusinessMirror

D4 Tuesday, August 20, 2019 ON view at Silverlens in Makati City until September 14 is Bare Necessities, the first edition of the planned annual exhibition series Santiago Bose: Painter, Magician, which is set to showcase the body of work of the late visual artist from Baguio.

On the far left is Bose’s final artwork, an unfinished 135” x 135” mural titled Return of the Comeback.

The artist discussed the piece with a film crew for a documentary on December 2, 2002. He passed away the next day.

SILVERLENS

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Silverlens exhibits Santiago Bose the same way the artist treated his art CIRCLES JT NISAY

jtnisay@gmail.com

V

ISUAL artist Santiago Bose (1949-2002) eluded characterizations. In a critique of Filipino art, titled “Notes in Transit,” the late Baguio native wrote about how art critics conveniently applied the term “Philippine indigenous art” to all contemporary art practices outside Manila.

“Labeling,” he wrote, not only encourages misrepresentation of tribes, but “restricts mixing and reduces critical engagement.”

Bose’s aversion to the shackles of labels and assignations extended to his own art practice, which was marked by conscious evasion from a single recognizable style.

While he pushed to raise awareness of the country’s cultural concerns through his subjects, his techniques varied widely and was usually flat-out experimental; he often used indigenous media in his

work, from bamboo to volcanic ash, to cast-offs, debris and found objects.

The extensive range of his works are showcased at Silverlens’s ongoing exhibition, titled Bare Necessities, on view until September 14. Featuring Bose’s acrylic on boards on one end and mixed media mounted on plywoods on the other, with more in between, the show opened over the weekend and kicks off an exhibition series titled Santiago Bose: Painter, Magician.

“Santi Bose was one of the more important pioneers of contemporary art in the Philippines,” said Silverlens Gallery Director Isa Lorenzo. “He made his own world of art, and he brought along people with him.”

Behind the project is curator Patrick D. Flores.

In the spirit of Bose’s continuous attempt to escape from being boxed within certain definitions, the intent of the series is to present him as someone much more: more than just an artist of Baguio, or an artist of anti-colonialism, or of anting-anting.

Flores wanted to peel Bose’s body of work layer by layer, starting with the ongoing first exhibition, which explores the subject’s “artistic language,” parsed into pieces, objects, archive and surface.

“Before Santi produced, he committed to the vocabulary of techniques, and that’s what we see in this exhibition: the horizon of his artistic language,” Flores said.

“Santi made a lot of works in many different mediums, so you can’t really just do one show,”

Lorenzo added, saying Silverlens is going to do one show every year over the next four years to explore the different aspects of Bose’s practice. “And, as Patrick said, we’re going to do that so that people don’t assume this was all he did.”

The name of the exhibition series was lifted from Bose’s artist biodata for the prestigious Thirteen Artist Award granted to him by the Cultural Center of the Philippines in 1976, in which he wrote under “Present Occupation” the words “Painter; Magician.”

Examining Bose’s personal and artistic lives reveals the answer was not a stretch. In a talk, titled “Santiago Bose 101,” which preceded the exhibition’s opening, Flores and Santiago’s daughter, Lilledeshan, discussed the artist who was established as someone with a strong sense of humor, as well as unique perspectives.

Bose was born in Baguio and moved to Manila to study at the College of Fine Arts at the University of the Philippines between 1967 and 1972. He continued his studies abroad, at the West 17th Print Workshop in New York.

He returned to Baguio in 1986 and began his explorations into the effects of colonialism on the Philippine national identity, particularly on the resilience of indigenous cultures, like that of his home region, the Cordilleras.

Bose cofounded the Baguio Arts Guild, and served as an educator, community organizer and art theorist.

He has exhibited in major international events,

receiving several prominent grants and fellowships.

In 2006, he was posthumously shortlisted for the National Artist award.

“He taught me how to use my voice,” said Lilledeshan, a journalist who now lives in Southern California. “He always challenged us to look at things at specific perspectives. He gave us all cameras so we could take pictures of what we saw, just to see how different our perspectives were from each other.”

Flores said Bose basically worked around three worlds.

The first one was Baguio, which represented American colonialism, but also indigenous culture.

Next was Manila, where the UP was valuable in “reeducating the self,” as Bose got glimpses of what it meant to be Filipino. (Flores quoted one of Bose’s essays, wherein the fun-loving artist wrote, “I began to question why Filipinos would sing ‘White Christmas’ in the sweltering heat of Manila.”) The third world was New York, which, in Flores’s words, was the “gray area of the artist life of Santi,” where there was possible tension between his political perspective of the United States and his presence in it.

Meanwhile, Flores said Bose’s biggest legacy is his extensive locality, and his expansion of the postcolonial archive in terms of imagery, combined or topped together, to produce pictures or forms.

“It was not entirely new, but Santi had a high-level of idiosyncrasy and humor.” n

Wawi Navarroza: ‘Self-Portraits & The Tropical Gothic’

CONFICTURA scooter carillo back

BOX mini carillo

PUPPETRY GOES MOBILE AT THE CCP THIS AUGUST THE Cultural Center of the Philippines presents the Carilyo Cart Project, a venue grant exhibition by artist and educator Marc Vincent P. Cosico on August 22, 6 pm, at the CCP’s Bulwagang Carlos V. Francisco (Little Theater Lobby). Based on the mobile puppet theater cart, the carillo, the artist constructs art pieces that are both sculptural and functional, presenting a contemporary view of the historical material.

Writer Rae Raval elaborates: “The carillo, inspired by small traveling carts in Europe, were used by Jose Rizal to transport his cardboard puppets around Calamba, Laguna. White cloth and candles were used to stage shadow play performances inspired by the Spanish moro-moro repertoire....The exhibit is an intricate ensemble of stages. Built to make shows mobile, these performance platforms double as interactive art pieces. Each piece is a wheeled treasure chest that holds toys, dolls, two-dimensional and threedimensional puppets. These carts are vessels of commute and commune, traveling as a form of rehearsed acts.”

Cosico’s carillos also serve as a staging area for visual presentations of light and shadow play. Performances will be presented with the help of Aninong Makiling, visual arts students of the Philippine High School for the Arts.

Cosico is a resident visual arts teacher at the Philippine High School for the Arts. He received his Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts from the University of the Philippines. His past solo exhibitions were held at the Don Salubayba Gallery of Casa San Miguel, San Antonio, Zambales and in the University of the Philippines Los Baños’s Sining Makiling Gallery. He has been part of artist residency programs in South Korea, Scotland and Casa San Miguel, Zambales. Cosico is a recipient of the Metrobank Art and Design Excellence Award for Sculpture.

Carilyo Cart Project runs until October 27. Exhibit viewing hours are Tuesday to Sunday, 10 am to 6 pm. Hours are extended until 10 pm on days with evening performances at the CCP Main Theater. More information is available at www.culturalcenter.gov.ph.

SILVERLENS presents Wawi Navarroza: Self-Portraits & The Tropical Gothic, the artist’s 12th exhibition with the gallery. Self-portraits have been a recurring theme in a 20-year practice, but this is the first exhibition focusing solely on the form. Navarroza will be showing eight new pieces alongside three older works from different years, alternating between muse and visual memoir.

Coming from a string of moving places and foreign travels after the fire that destroyed her Taguig studio, Navarroza reestablished herself in Manila at the end of 2018, signaling her return to studio practice, providing the venue for the elaborate mise-en-scènes we see in this new exhibition. The artist looks back and forward, coming full circle to a genre that defined her

early art-making, and has punctuated an arc of more than a decade: self-portraits.

Navarroza employs formal composition in tableau vivant large format which is staged for the camera.

At the same time, she subverts photography in a way that the final image is rendered almost as a flat collage, deliberately controlled by lighting techniques and careful arrangements in the scenography.

Furthermore, the artist disrupts the continuity of seamless photographic image by quick imprecise digital cuts-and-pastes on selected areas of the image, reminding viewers that ultimately, we are looking at a constructed image. By turns autobiographical and/ or interpretative, the artist both as creator and figure presents allegories replete with materials and symbols, all generous for further significations and imaginings to mirror the contemporary.

“The artist is peripatetic and identity is plural.

This time [2019] when I find myself having a studio again, I get the privilege to focus on what is immediate around me and reflect on integral parts of myself [a confusing amalgam of referents as Filipino, as female, as Asian, as worldly transnational sponge]—by finding myself at home in the Philippines’s particular pastiche summarized as the ‘Tropical Gothic’ [coined by National Artist for Literature Nick Joaquin]: a syncretic mix of East and West, Catholic and pagan/folk/mystic, laced with a Spanish colonial baroque hangover, ornamentation, contemporary clutter, sari-sari, horror vacui, the esoteric and the vernacular, the mash-ups, DIY, telenovelas, pageants, boxing, elections, gridlock traffic, hot humid eternal summer, raging monsoons, natural disasters, palm trees and concrete, nature and artifice, a marvelous mess of the living. Within this framework, all the incongruities make sense and it becomes a wild pleasure to confront the heavy and tender complexities of self and surrounding,” according to the artist.

The Wawi Navarroza: Self-Portraits & The Tropical Gothic exhibition runs from August 17 to Sepember 14, at Silverlens, 2263 Don Chino Roces Avenue Extension, Makati City.