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NEIGHBORS, NOT PHL, WILL GAIN FROM US-CHINA TRADE WAR–FITCH SOLUTIONS By Bianca Cuaresma @BcuaresmaBM

HE country’s neighbors—Thailand, Vietnam and Bangladesh—are poised to become the major beneficiaries of the trade war between the United States and China, but the Philippines is not in the radar of investors that are intending to relocate. While the ongoing US-China trade war may be considered one of the significant headwinds that will affect the global economy, Fitch Solutions said it is creating some “winners” in the agricultural

SALUTE A bird rests on a tomb of a soldier buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani in Taguig City on Monday (August 26), as the country commemorated National Heroes’ Day in the Philippines, a public holiday. Many of the country’s unsung heroes are buried here. See related story on Heroes Day on page A8. NONIE REYES

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and manufacturing sectors where supply chains are recalibrated. Vietnam, for example, stands out as the most immediate beneficiary of multinational firms’ efforts to diversify and maintain access to US markets, Fitch Solutions said. Bangladesh was identified as one of Vietnam’s biggest competitors to the USChina trade war fallout, especially in the textile market. Fitch Solutions also said in a statement that Thailand and Malaysia are also likely to see some increase in manufacturing investment, with companies like Daikin Industries already announcing plans to

move the production of its compressors to the two countries. Indonesia is seen to benefit from Mid-Range Value Added Manufacturing in the information and communications technology sector. Earlier this year, some economists speculated that should the US-China trade war linger or worsen, some foreign investments may be redirected to Asean countries, such as the Philippines, to avoid higher tariffs on US imports from China. However, the Philippines seems to be getting the short end of the investment stick. See “Fitch,” A2

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Tuesday, August 27, 2019 Vol. 14 No. 321

Duterte govt to finish 21 big-ticket projects ₧187.628B T By Cai U. Ordinario

@caiordinario

HE Duterte administration will complete less than a third of the infrastructure flagship projects by the end of the President’s term, according to documents released by the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda).

Neda documents furnished to reporters showed that as of July, only 21 projects will be completed by 2022. This is fewer than the Neda’s April estimate of 25 projects. The 21 projects that are expect-

ed to be completed by 2022 cost P187.628 billion. The remaining 54 projects costing P2.23 trillion will be completed beyond 2022. “In terms of project timelines, 21 projects are expected to be

completed by 2022. The remaining 54 projects will be completed beyond 2022, but may commence implementation during the current administration,” the Neda document read.

Cost of the 21 projects that are expected to be completed by 2022. The remaining 54 projects costing P2.23 trillion will be completed beyond 2022

Also, the document indicated that only 11 projects approved by the Neda Board will be completed by 2022. This is fewer than the 13 projects the agency reported in April. The document also showed that only three projects are up for Investment Coordination Committee (ICC) and Neda Board approval as of July, fewer than the five reported in April.

See “DOLE,” A2

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A TRAIN of the state-run Philippine National Railways (PNR) prepares to leave one of its Metro Manila stations in this BusinessMirror file photo. The PNR’s South Long Haul (Manila-Bicol) project is one of seven projects that will be reevaluated by the Investment Coordination Committee. NONIE REYES

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‘STRANGE’ VIRUS CAUSES HOG FARM-GATE PRICE DIP By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas @jearcalas

IVESTOCK producers said farm-gate prices of live hogs declined slightly after the government announced that an unidentified virus killed hogs in some backyard farms in the country. Price monitoring conducted by the Pork Producers Federation of the Philippines Inc. showed that farm-gate prices in areas where there are reported unusual hog deaths dropped by at least P2 per kilogram. In Bulacan, traders bought live hogs at an average price of P124 to P126 per kg, lower than the quotations of P126 to P128 per kg registered on August 13. The live weight price of hogs in Rizal also fell to P120 per kg, from P122 per kg. Also, prices of cull sows in Bulacan and Rizal fell by as much as P8 per kg on a weekly basis. Cull sows

@sam_medenilla

in the country. Federation of Free Workers (FFW) Vice President Julius Cainglet said this what they found out during the Tripartite Executive Committee (TEC) meeting called by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) on August 16. “While there were guidelines, there is no uniform template used for the reports,” Cainglet told the

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are those that are culled from the farm because they are too old or they suffer certain problems that result in low productivity. They are not to be confused with the hogs that are covered by the government’s “culling” operations in certain parts of the country as it seeks to contain the spread of a still-unidentified disease causing unusual spikes in hog deaths. As of August 20, cull sows were priced at P63 to P65 per kg lower than P69 to P71 per kg recorded on August 13. Cull sows in Rizal are now sold at P68 per kg, from P71 per kg recorded as of August 20. ProPork President Edwin G. Chen confirmed the drop in prices and attributed this to “softening demand,” which he said was caused by news reports about the hog disease. Chen said his group expects pork demand to further soften and prices to drop in the coming days. See “Hog farm-gate,” A2

ICC to review flagship projects due to changes in cost, scope–Neda

By Samuel P. Medenilla

EVERAL gaps in the monitoring protocol for local laborrelated violence may have led to insufficient information on cases, according to a labor group. This could delay the country’s submission of a report to the International Labor Organization (ILO), which requested for an inquiry on the alleged increasing number of labor-related killings

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See “Projects,” A2

DOLE version of SOT bill faces delays HE Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said it may not be able to finalize its version of the security of tenure (SOT) bill this month as it has yet to conduct consultations for it. In an interview, Labor Undersecretary Ana C. Dione told the BusinessMirror that the agency could not yet present the draft SOT bill to labor leaders as they were unavailable when the agency invited them to a meeting. This was confirmed by Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) President Raymond Mendoza, one of the labor leaders invited by the DOLE. Mendoza said he was not able to attend the meeting organized by the DOLE as he had just arrived from abroad. Another factor for the delay, Dione said, is Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III’s official travel to Canada and China this week. “We want to show the final draft to the secretary first before we finalize it,” Dione said. Nagkaisa labor coalition Spokesman and Partido Manggagawa Chairman Renato Magtubo said labor leaders were supposed to meet with Bello on Tuesday for a dialogue.

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Police-dependent

THE labor leader criticized the government’s pure reliance on police reports rather than on the Regional Tripartite Monitoring Board (RTMB). This has resulted in some cases being immediately dismissed as not labor-related. See “Labor,” A2

HE Investment Coordination Committee (ICC) will reevaluate and review a dozen big-ticket projects due to changes in cost and “pending concerns,” according to the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda). Documents recently released by the Neda to reporters showed these 12 projects include seven that will be reevaluated for changes in scope and cost and five that are up for review due to pending concerns. The 12 projects cost a total of P465.53 billion. The seven projects for reevaluation amount to P381.24 billion while the five projects for review cost P84.29 billion. “[The] five projects are tagged ‘for review’ due to pending concerns, which may result in changes in the list of the 75 flagship projects,” the Neda document read. The seven projects that will be reevaluated by the ICC include the Philippine National Railway (PNR) South Long Haul (Manila-Bicol), which will not have a Project Management Consultant in the scope and cost. Other projects for reevaluation are the operations and maintenance projects for the Iloilo International Airport Project and the Bacolod-Silay International Airport project. These have been

₧465.53B Cost of the 12 projects to be revisited by ICC. The seven projects for reevaluation amount to P381.24 billion while the five projects for review cost P84.29 billion

delisted from the Department of Transportation’s (DOTr) list of priority projects. The Neda said the projects also delisted from the DOTr’s priority list include the operations and maintenance of Busuanga Airport, Davao International Airport, Kalibo New International Airport, Laguindingan Airport, New Bohol International Airport and Puerto Princesa Airport. “For projects No. 3 [Davao], 5 [Kalibo], 6 [Laguindingan], and 7 [New Bohol], the DOTr endorsed unsolicited proposals for review and evaluation of the ICC,” the document read. The unsolicited proposals for the Laguindingan Airport project and Davao International Airport project have been presented to the ICC Technical Board. Also, the unsolicited proposal for the New Bohol International

US 52.2430 n JAPAN 0.4909 n UK 64.0186 n HK 6.6635 n CHINA 7.3758 n SINGAPORE 37.7124 n AUSTRALIA 35.2954 n EU 57.8905 n SAUDI ARABIA 13.9303

See “ICC,” A2

Source: BSP (23 August 2019 )

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A2 Tuesday, August 27, 2019 August 27, Sunday, August 11,2019 2019 A2 Tuesday,

800K voters have registered for 2020 polls, says Comelec

By Samuel P. Medenilla

@sam_medenilla

VER 800,000 people have participated in the ongoing voter registration for the expected 2020 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE), the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said. Of these registration figures as of August 24, Comelec Spokesman James B. Jimenez said

570,743 are 18 years and above, while the remaining 232,183 are 15 to 17 years old.

Fitch. . .

DOLE. . .

Data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed that short-term investments made by foreign investors in the local market slumped to net outflows in the first half of the year as investing sentiment paled due to trade war and domestic growth issues. Foreign portfolio investments (FPI) in January to June recorded net outflows of $720.98 million. This is a reversal of the $322.87 million in net inflows seen in the same period last year. ING Bank Manila economist Nicholas Mapa then said the slump in the country’s FPI performance largely emanated from the decisions made by investors anxious about the US-China trade war. Foreign direct investments (FDI)—or the type of investment that is often more coveted, as it stays longer in the economy and creates job opportunities for locals—fared no better. Latest data from the BSP showed a 37.1-percent annual drop in the net FDI to the country in the January-to-May period this year. FDI inflows reached $3.1 billion in the first five months of the year, lower than the $5 billion recorded last year.

“But according to Atty. Sonny [Matula], chair of Nagkaisa, he was informed by Secretary Bello that he has an official function in Canada so the dialogue has been reset to

Continued from A1

Labor. . .

Continued from A1

“That is what we found... deficient [in the reports]. If it went through the tripartite nature of the monitoring body, it [report] could not be completed without the position or interview with workers,” Cainglet said. To recall, labor groups raised during the International Labor Conference (ILC) there were at least 43 labor-related killings in the country since President Duterte started his term.

He said this was the result of their three-week nationwide voter registration, which started this month. The registration process will continue up to September 30, 2019. The poll body earlier said it expects at least 2 million participants of the barangay elections and 1.2 million joining the SK polls after the new round of voter registration. To qualify as a regular voter, an applicant must be a Filipino

citizen who is not yet a registered voter, who will be at least 18 years of age, and residing in the barangay for at least six months on or before election day on May 11, 2020. Meanwhile, applicants for SK polls should be at least 15 years old but not more than 30 years of age on election day, and residing in the barangay for at least six months before election day. Comelec is set to release the final list of registered voters for the 2020 BSKE in October.

next month,” Magtubo told the BusinessMirror via SMS. Labor leaders said they want to see the SOT bill version of the DOLE to ensure that its provisions will not be anti-labor. Bello said the DOLE will get the inputs of the Department of Trade and Industry,

employers and labor groups for its own SOT bill to make it “inclusive.” To recall, President Duterte ordered the DOLE to craft the new SOT bill after he vetoed a measure approved in the 17th Congress out of concern that it will be disadvantageous to businesses.

This prompted ILO to ask the government to accept a high-level mission to look into the matter.

reports back to the relevant Regional Tripartite Monitoring Boards since we noticed that many reports are wanting,” Cainglet said. “This is precisely the point why t here is a tr ipa r t ite monitoring body to prevent a full-blown case that could be submitted to ILO,” he added. He said DOLE will have until September 1 to submit updates to ILO on its investigation on the 43 cases and up until the 2020 ILC to decide if it will accept or decline the high-level mission.

Relying on the process

DOLE earlier said it will decide on whether to accept or not the mission after it checks on the credibility of the “43 cases” claim cited by labor groups. The TEC meeting earlier this month was part of the verification process. At least six laborrelated cases were discussed in the meeting. “The resolution in the last TEC meeting was to revert all

Samuel P. Medenilla

LaNdBaNK SUPPORTS LaUNCh OF PeSONeT-eNaBLed dIGITaL Tax PaymeNT SeRvICe

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Hog farm-gate. . .

Continued from A1

Steeper cuts

PHILIPPINE Association of Feed Millers Inc. (Pafmi) President Terence S. Uygongco said his group observed that the price of live hogs in some areas dropped by as much as 10 percent to 15 percent after the DA’s announcement. “The drop was monitored nationwide. [In] Mindoro [prices have] dropped to P85 per [kg],” Uygongco told the BusinessMirror via SMS. “We feel this is [caused] by the sudden scare caused by the DA’s announcement among consumers, thus the drop in prices.” However, National Federation of Hog Farmers Inc. (NFHFI) President Chester Warren Tan said price drops during this quarter are normal as monsoon rains affect hog production. “Wet market prices hardly move, normally they are steady or about +/- 5 to P10,” Tan told the BusinessMirror via SMS. “We assure the public that local or domestic produce are safe. Demand is normal and we also assure that stakeholders will not take advantage of the situation to increase the prices of live hogs,” he added.

Pafmi’s support

PAFMI has also thrown its full support behind the government’s efforts to fight “economically significant diseases,” particularly African swine fever (ASF) which the government has been determined to keep out of the country, by ensuring that their feed products are free from viruses. Pafmi represents 80 percent of the country’s feed milling industry. “As an organization, we recognize our role in helping the government by producing safe feeds for

ICC. . .

Continued from A1

Airport Operations and Maintenance concession was presented to the ICC Technical Board for evaluation. The last project to be reevaluated by the ICC and approved by the Neda Board is the Mindanao Rail Project (Phase 1)-Tagum, Davao, Digos Segment. The project is up for Neda Board confirmation. Projects up for review include the Metro Manila BRT Phase 3 or the Bonifacio Global City-Ninoy Aquino International Airport segment. This project will be delisted from the flagship projects, pending confirmation from the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) and the DOTr. Other projects for review are the Agus 6 Unit 4 Major Rehabilitation project of the National Power Corp. (NPC) and the

Projects. . .

Continued from A1

BusinessMirror tried to get an explanation from Neda officials but they were unavailable for comment as of press time. Of the 75 flagship projects, the Neda said 20 are under project development while four were recently submitted to the ICC for appraisal or approval. Around 46 projects are under varying stages of implementation. Of these projects, 12 are securing budgets or are in the financing process and 16 are either under the detailed engineering stage or procurement stage. The list of projects under implementation includes nine that are currently undergoing construction after two were completed as of July. It can be noted that in April, there were 11 projects undergoing construction.

GCTA. . .

Continued from A8

“We just wanted to make sure,” Guevarra

Lead players of the digital payment service for tax collection come together to officially launch the PeSONet Payment Gateway (from left): BIR Commissioner Caesar dulay, Finance Undersecretary antonette Tionko, USaId-Office of economic development and Governance deputy director Jenna diallo, BSP deputy Governor Chuchi Fonacier, LandBank President and CeO Cecilia C. Borromeo, and RCBC President and CeO eugene acevedo.

ore Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) taxpayers may now pay their dues online with the launch of the digital tax payment service using the PESONet (Philippine EFT System and Operations Network) PayGate service via the LandBank Link.BizPortal. Initi ally av ail able to t a xp ayers maintaining deposit accounts with pilot private universal bank Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., the online payment service will eventually allow individual and institutional clients of other PESONetparticipating banks to settle their tax obligations online. The launch of the PESONet-enabled

digital tax payment serves as the pilot for the use of interoperable digital bills payment for various government dues and utilities. This is in line with the thrust of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to promote utilization of the National Retail Payment System in order to gradually transition from cash and check-based financial transactions to electronic channels. “A f t e r t h e s u c c e s s f u l p i l o t implementation of the PESONet-enabled digital tax payment service, we hope that other government agencies will also soon be on-boarded and other PESONet-participating issuer banks will be added to make online payment of more

government dues and utilities available via the LandBank Link.BizPortal,” said LandBank President and CEO Cecilia C. Borromeo. LandBank has been providing online payment service to government agencies since mid-2000s. In 2017, the Link. BizPortal was launched, which enabled the BIR to accept tax payments online from LandBank account holders. The Bank has since expanded the available services with more partner-agencies and private merchants. As of July 2019, LandBank offers convenient online payment services to 343 government agencies and 325 private institutions.

added, referring to the review of the guidelines. Although he said the BuCor already has a manual on the processing of GCTA published two years ago, it was not yet updated to take intoconsideration the recent Supreme Court decision on the retroactive application of RA 10592. At the same time, Guevarra said even without the controversy generated by the Sanchez case, they would still conduct a review of the guidelines to take into account the SC ruling. The DOJ earlier said around 11,000 persons deprived of liberty (PDL) or convicted criminals including Sanchez, whose prison term might be abbreviated owing to the SC’s ruling issued in June, might benefit from the latter. The SC ordered the retroactive application of Republic Act 10592, which took effect on October 10, 2013, after being signed by then-President Benigno Aquino III. RA 10592 amended several provisions in the Revised Penal Code (RPC) and authorized the credit of preventive imprisonment and revision of good conduct time allowance of persons deprived of liberty. As a consequence, the Court said in a unanimous decision that all prisoners who are already serving their sentence or undergoing

the livestock industry and extending our ability to be part of the campaign of the government against ASF,” Uygongco said in his advisory to Pafmi members. A copy of the advisory dated August 23 was obtained by the BusinessMirror. In his advisory, Uygongco encouraged Pafmi members to implement proactive measures to prevent the entry of ASF into the country. Uygongco recommended that members move to ensure “responsible importation by sourcing raw materials from ASF-free countries.” He added that feed millers should observe proper logistics protocols to avoid contaminating products with any animal virus. These protocols include the use of sail cloth or similar materials to cover the feeds during delivery and observing proper disinfection of trucks before and after delivery. Pafmi also vowed to “participate on extensive education about swill feeding and ASF prevention.” “The impact of ASF is so disruptive leading to major losses economically, trade imbalances and food insecurity,” Uygongco said. “With this, as an organization, we are willing to collaborate [with] the government on its programs against ASF.” Uygongco also encouraged the government “to make a strong stand against swill feeding” as such practice is the “primary source of outbreaks.” He said that such practice “could be controlled by ensuring that the food waste will not be fed to the pigs.” “As reported from other ASF-infected countries, swill feeding is the primary source of outbreaks,” he added. Agus 3 Hydroelectric Plant of the Department of Energy (DOE). For the NPC project, the Neda said it will be included in the scope of the rehabilitation of all Agus-Pulangi hydroelectric power plant units. For the DOE project, the Neda said Agus 3 will now be funded and implemented by the private sector. The service contract, which will be in force for five years, was issued to the Maranao Energy Corp. in June. Also up for review is the Metro Manila BRT Line 2, or the Edsa-Central line. The DOTr informed the Neda in February that the project was not “economically viable.” The fifth project to be reviewed by the ICC is the Sheridan-JP Rizal Bridge of the Department of Public Works and Highways. The project will be replaced by the Estrella Pantaleon Bridge. Cai U. Ordinario

Of the 20 projects that were under development, feasibility studies for six projects have been completed; those for seven projects are ongoing while the FS for the remaining seven have yet to take off. Projects that are currently being evaluated by the ICC Technical Board are Aqueduct 7, which was proposed as the additional component of the Angat Water Transmission Improvement Project funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Other projects up for ICC scrutiny are the PasacaoBalatan Tourism Coastal Highway. The Neda said the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) already submitted to the ICC the Final FS report submitted by the consultant. The DPWH also submitted the final FS report to the ICC for the Camarines Sur Expressway Project, particularly the San Fernando-Pili Section. The Neda documents also indicated that the ICC Technical Board deferred for endorsement its decision on the Quezon-Bicol Expressway Project. preventive imprisonment may qualify for the reduction of their sentence even before October 10, 2013, pursuant to the time allowances under Republic Act 10592. The law expanded the application of GCTA for prisoners even during preventive suspension, increased the number of days for GCTA, allowed additional deduction of 15 days each month of time allowance for study, teaching or mentoring service (TASTM), and expanded the special time allowance for loyalty (STAL) even during preventive suspension. The law was meant to help declog the country’s prisons, which critics said have subhuman conditions. Some 200 prisoners have already been released from prison following the SC ruling. Guevarra stressed that it is DOJ’s position, following its study of the controversial law, that prisoners who committed heinous crimes, habitual delinquent and recidivists are not covered by it. Meanwhile, Guevarra clarified that Malacañang requested the DOJ to defer the processing of Sanchez’s GCTA until all legal issues have been examined and resolved. Guevarra made the pronouncement in response to Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go’s statement that President Duterte had directed the DOJ and the BuCor not to release Sanchez. “The request that I received from Malacañang was to hold the processing of Mayor Sanchez’s case until all the factual and legal issues have been fully threshed out,” he said.

A4 Tuesday, August 27, 2019 • Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug

Economy BusinessMirror

Lopez on proposal to amend Peza charter: I was bypassed

By Elijah Felice E. Rosales

@alyasjah

HE country’s trade chief has declared that bills seeking to enhance fiscal incentives granted to economic zone firms will be scrapped, saying these proposed measures contradict the objectives of the government’s Comprehensive Tax Reform Program. Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez said he is certain that lawmakers will junk legislative moves to amend the charter of the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza). These amendments aim to strengthen the roles and functions of the agency, enhancing, in the process, the incentives it is authorized to honor to locators. Lopez stated he was not even consulted by Peza Director General Charito B. Plaza when she submitted to Congress her proposal to amend the agency’s charter. “We have one tax reform in this government. First, Plaza filed it. It is the director general who filed it, not the Peza Board. I’m the chairman of the Peza Board. The proposal failed to reach my desk. That is not the official Peza [position], and I was bypassed,” Lopez told reporters last week.

“[Second], it is not aligned with the government’s tax-reform program. I, as the DTI [Department of Trade and Industry] secretary, am aligned with the tax-program. I talked to her [Plaza] about it before, but, when she did it, I did not intervene because it won’t fly,” he added. Under the 18th Congress, there are three measures filed to amend the roles and functions of the Peza. House Bills 3654, 3747 and 3897, if passed, will strengthen the agency’s authority over its menu of tax perks, which will collide with the provisions of the Corporate Income Tax and Incentives Rationalization Act (Citira) bill. The Citira bill will reduce corporate income tax to 20 percent by 2029, from 30 percent at present, at the expense of incentives granted to economic zone firms.

The measures will also transfer Peza to the authority of the Office of the President from the DTI. It will also promote the director general of the Peza to the rank of a department secretary, who shall be appointed by the President and shall serve a term of six years, unless renewed or removed for a cause. “We only have one tax reform [program] and, frankly, the incentives being offered are good and reasonable. There are no other countries that offer incentives for forever. We are the only country that does, and it has to change,” Lopez explained. “It is not aligned with the government’s financial reform program, which the DTI has already agreed [upon]. What we want in the DTI is a soft landing for the existing [locators] for soft transition [to the Citira bill provisions],” the trade chief added. Locators will need to relinquish their incentives, including the 5-percent tax on gross income earned in lieu of all local and national taxes, if the Citira bill is applied to them which are provided with up to five years to do so. On the other hand, the DTI is of the view that economic zone firms should be given up to 10 years to transition to the Citira bill’s fiscal regime. This is also the standing appeal of industry groups, whose members are operating in economic zones, demanding longer transition and, if possible, maintenance of status quo on grant of incentives.

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House panel eyes one-day hearing rule to fast-track PSA amendments By Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz @joveemarie

HE House Committee on Economic Affairs is eyeing to invoke the one-day hearing rule on a bill amending the Public Service Act (PSA) of 1936 to fast-track its approval in the lower chamber. In an interview, AAMBIS-OWA Rep. Sharon Garin, the panel chairman, said members of the committee may invoke House Rule 10, Section 48, or the one-day hearing only on Wednesday, as they start the deliberations of the proposals amending the PSA. “We should pass these amendments to the Public Service Act of 1936 because what was utility then may not utility now,” she added. “The operation of public utility is subject to 60-40 rule of the Constitution. However the charter does not define [public utility]. Currently, our definition of public utility is the PSA and other jurisprudence issued by the Supreme Court. So now we’re putting definition of the public utility,” she said. Garin said the lower chamber has approved House Bill 5828, or the act providing for the definition of public utility amending for the purpose Commonwealth Act of 146 in the 17th Congress. The 17th Congress-approved bill

provides a clear definition of public utility that covers three sectors: distribution of electricity system, transmission of electricity system and water pipeline distribution system or sewerage pipeline system. “I don’t think [it will have long deliberations at the committee] because we already approved it on third and final reading last 17th Congress. It will easily pass at the committee but more deliberations at the plenary,” Garin added. Under Section 48 of the House Rule 10 “in case of bills or resolutions that are identified as priority measures of the House, which were previously filed in the immediately preceding Congress and have been approved on third reading, the same may be disposed of as matters already reported upon the approval of majority of the members of the committee present, there being a quorum. The committee secretary shall immediately prepare the necessary committee reports on said measures for inclusion in the calendar of business.” Albay Rep. Joey Salceda has filed House Bill 78 providing for the definition of the public utility, further amending for the purpose Commonwealth Act 146 or the Public Service Act. According to Salceda, chairman of ways and means committee, the PSA is a law that was crafted in 1936 to gov-

ern public services in the Philippines. However, he said, consumers often experience high prices and poor quality of basic services in the Philippines because only a few local players or oligarchs effectively control the market. “Competition and foreign investment are inhibited, because limitations that should only apply to the operation of a public utility are usually also applied to all public services. This situation is caused by the ambiguity in the definition of public utility that is often used interchangeably with public service under Commonwealth Act 146 or the Public Service Act,” he said. The lawmaker said the key to fix this problem is to develop a clear statutory definition of a public utility by amending the PSA. This bill proposes to further amend the PSA to effect the necessary changes in the antiquated provisions of the law to increase its relevance to contemporary concerns, in the interest of providing the general public with more choices, better services, and lower prices. This bill also prescribes a 12 percent cap on rate of return and prohibits income tax as operating expense for rate determination purposes for public services, including public utilities, consistent with administrative and judicial pronouncements.

IMO Asean members set presentation of antipollution action plan in confab By Lorenz S. Marasigan @lorenzmarasigan

SEAN members of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) are set to present their action plans for their maritime industries at the Second High-Level Regional Meeting on Marine Environment Protection of the Southeast Asian Seas (MEPSEAS) in Manila starting today, August 27, until Thursday. In a news statement, the Maritime Industry Authority said in-

ternational consultants will also lead sessions and provide updates regarding the environment protection initiatives, as well as discuss the steps to be undertaken to capacitate countries in implementing convention requirements. They will also lead sessions on the following: initial delivery of the training modules covering the Ballast Water Management Convention, Anti-fouling System Convention and Marpol Annex V. “Moreover, the strategic partners will present relevant activi-

ties and programs, which support the objectives of the MEPSEAS Project, and will also explore possible areas of collaboration and modalities by which to pursue cooperation,” the statement read. A four-year project that started in 2018, the MEPSEAS Project aims to provide assistance to East Asian nations in ratifying and implementing IMO Instruments for the protection of the marine environment. It is implemented in support of the Norwegian Agency for the Development Cooperation.

The role of business in society By Henry J. Schumacher

USINESS leaders are pressured more and more to redefine the role of business in society by an increasingly skeptical public. The purpose of a corporation should no longer advance only the interests of shareholders. Instead, business leaders must also invest in their employees, protect the environment, deal fairly and ethically with their suppliers, and address issues of poverty, hunger, lack in education and health issues in areas around their offices and factories. In a recent Business Roundtable, business leaders vowed to “protect the environment by embracing sustainable practices across our businesses” and “foster diversity and inclusion, dignity and respect.” It is good to notice that sustainable development or a sustainability culture seems to be taking root. There are quite a number of companies in the Philippines that are subscribing to sustainability, focusing on both— profit and purpose. Many issues have shaped it: changes in climate patterns, geopolitical conflicts, global media networks, innovations in the marketplace, the success of “green” business, and many other factors, including the need to address poverty, hunger, bad health and limited education among the less privileged. There is also a set of initiatives for further reducing social and economic inequities. There is a need for public-private initiatives to reduc-

ing the rate of preventable diseases and to facilitating access to clean drinking water for all people. Much will depend on the actions businesses, government (both national and local), educational institutions, nongovernment organizations and other stakeholders will take to address the most demanding Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations, to which the Philippines is subscribing. If these entities can work together to align their values and organizational processes around sustainable principles, then there is a greater chance of addressing, ameliorating, and sometimes even solving a range of social and environmental problems. Assuming sustainability principles are well supported by the scientific and managerial literature, many of them seem likely to be adopted by the wider culture. There are also indications that individual employee values are already fairly well aligned with sustainability principles. We saw the beginning in millennials but see a much larger focus on sustainability in centennials, who insist that tech touch has to be accompanied

by human touch. It’s good to see that the Securities and Exchange Commission has issued guidelines on the implementation on “sustainable development” for publicly listed companies. It is also good news, from a sustainability point of view, is that high-performing organizations have sustainability qualities to a larger extent than lowperforming organizations. That is, the degree to which sustainability practices and strategies are being implemented—and the extent to which those strategies reportedly produce benefits—are stronger among the organizations reporting higher performance in the areas of revenue growth, market share, profitability and customer satisfaction. Whether sustainability practices actually result in better market performance remains an open question, but at least it becomes clearer that sustainability qualities do not prevent organizations from achieving market success. More study needs to be done in this area. After all, one of the reasons commonly given for not pursuing sustainability approaches in a free-market system is that it costs too much and so hurts competitiveness. However, this conventional wisdom may be too simplistic and, in many cases, wrongheaded. It’s quite possible that, when implemented wisely and well, sustainability-related strategies and practices are simply very good business. Feedback is welcome; please e-mail me at schumacher@eitsc.com.

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In a world of negative yields, Singapore still pays interest

INGAPORE is offering a rare opportunity to buy positive-yielding quality bonds in a world that’s rapidly turning negative. The city state, which pays the highest returns among economies that have “AAA” credit ratings from all three major agencies, will sell reopened July 2029 government debt worth S$2.9 billion ($2.1 billion) on Wednesday, the second-largest amount on record for 10-year tenors. Singapore isn’t immune to the underlying trends in global bonds and the sale has to overcome the challenge of a yield curve that’s near the flattest on record. The yield premium that investors receive by holding 10-year notes instead of two-year securities briefly evaporated this month, dropping to minus 1.14 basis point on August 15. That’s the lowest in data going back to 1998 for this spread, which has managed to claw its way back into positive territory. Size also matters, as Germany discovered last week, when it failed to meet a €2-billion ($2.2 billion) target last week for the world’s first 30-year debt with a zero percent coupon. But if Australia is any guide, the Singapore auction should see solid demand given the combination of the country’s

top rating and high yields. A flatter curve hasn’t dented investor appetite in AAA-rated Australia, which recently drew a bid-to-cover ratio of 3.69 for May 2030 notes. That was up from 2.67 at the previous offering even as the spread between three- and 10-year yields narrowed to the least since 2011. Singapore’s July 2029 debt that’s been sold in the past yielded 1.83 percent in the secondary market on August 22. That compares with 1.64 percent for 10-year US Treasury notes.

Last chance

THIS is the last sale of 10-year notes on the city state’s schedule to date, with the remaining two auctions on the calendar for two- and seven-year debt. An optional “mini” auction is planned in September but the tenors haven’t been announced. “A lot of investors will be trying to ‘catch the tail,’” said Eugene Leow, a fixed-income strategist at DBS Bank Ltd. in Singapore, referring to the chase for the highest yields possible. “Within the AAA space, I believe 10-year Singapore government securities offer one of the most attractive yields,” Leow said ahead of a gathering of global central bankers at Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Bloomberg News

Tuesday, August 27, 2019 A5

Govt grateful to ADB for infrastructure loans By Bianca Cuaresma

@BcuaresmaBM

HANKS for the greenback, the Philippine government told the Asian Development Bank (ADB). This was what the Department of Finance (DOF) said in a statement lauding the ADB for its “full support” for the administration’s infrastructure ramp-up projects, as demonstrated by the multilateral institution’s public infrastructure loan program to the country. On Monday, Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III expressed his gratitude to ADB President Takehiko Nakao for “exploring ways of forging closer coordination with the World Bank to better respond to the needs of countries in the Asia-Pacific region.” According to Dominguez, the government is “accomplishing a lot” because of the ADB’s support, noting the lender’s assistance for the Malolos-Clark Rail-

way Project and the secondary education support program. “It is proof that the institution is very supportive of our growth.” The ADB financed the construction of a 53.1-kilometer passenger railway connecting Malolos, Bulacan, to the Clark International Airport in Pampanga at $2.75 billion. This is the multilateral institution’s single largest infrastructure investment ever here or in any other country. In July, Dominguez and ADB Vice President Ahmed Saeed signed a $1.3-billion loan agreement representing the first tranche of the Bank’s loan for the MalolosClark Railway Project. Dominguez, who sits as governor for the Philippines in both the ADB and the World Bank, also proposed that the two lenders “build on each other’s complementarities” to improve and more cohesively deliver development assistance to countries in the region. The DOF said Dominguez also welcomed

the ADB’s positive response to his proposal, and expressed interest in joining the first meeting of the Thematic Group. “This could prove beneficial for the Philippines’s ongoing efforts to digitalize, among others, the government’s frontline services, tax collection and payment systems, as well as in tapping agricultural technology to rev up the farm and fisheries sector,” the DOF said in a statement. Dominguez said his proposal will help reduce overhead costs not only for both institutions but also for countries seeking development assistance, in terms of lowering their operational expenses and borrowing rates. The World Bank president also expressed positive notes about the coordination, saying it is necessary to avoid one institution absorbing high front-end costs for a particular project and another institution offering a lower financing package and ending up getting the credit.

10-year Treasury yields sink to 3-year lows as worsening trade war roiled global markets

LOBAL bonds rallied anew Monday with 10-year Treasury yields sinking to a three-year low as a worsening United StatesChina trade war roiled global markets. Benchmark US yields dropped below 1.5 percent to their lowest since

July 2016, while those in Japan also slid to a three-year low amid concerns that a bruising trade war will hamper global growth. Attempts by China on Monday to limit the damage from the latest exchange of tariffs between the world’s two biggest economies failed

to dent appetite for bonds. Withtheriftgrowing,overnightindex swapsarepricinginalmostthreeratecuts by the Federal Reserve by the end of the year,asChairmanJeromePowellwarned FridaythattheUSeconomyfaces“significant risks.” After slapping higher tariffs

on Chinese goods, President Donald J. Trump has threatened to order American companies to leave China. “Now there’s no limit to the worstcase scenario for the trade war,” said Kei Yamazaki, a fund manager at Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management in Tokyo.

“While fundamentals argue for a drop in US 10-year yields to around 1.25 percent, possible fiscal stimulus from major economies could see a rebound in yields.” In an escalation on Friday, China threatened to impose additional tariffs on $75 billion of American goods

including soybeans, automobiles and oil. That prompted Trump to say he’ll hike existing duties on about $250 billion in Chinese goods, while a new round of tariffs on $300 billion of goods will be taxed at 15 percent, up from 10 percent. Bloomberg News

A6 Tuesday, August 27, 2019 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

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editorial

Drug mules

URING a recent Senate hearing, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin Jr. said the reimposition of the death penalty could make it doubly difficult for the Philippine government to appeal for the lives of Filipino citizens sentenced to die by foreign courts. “If we restore death penalty, how can we appeal?” Locsin said, “if we feel that there’s a possibility of miscarriage of justice, how can we appeal for mercy and commutation of sentence?” Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Rights Watch’s Asia Division, earlier voiced the same sentiment when he said the Philippine government’s ability to negotiate for its citizens on death row would be “significantly diminished” because other countries could now argue that “you guys kill people, too.” “Ultimately, the Philippines is going to pay a very high political price around the world if it decides to revive the death penalty,” he said. “It would be accused of being a hypocrite.” A report by the Department of Foreign Affairs in 2016 showed that 130 Filipinos were awaiting execution abroad, mostly due to illegal drugs. In Malaysia alone, at least 48 Filipinos were facing the death penalty as of March this year. Three Filipinos are on death row in China for involvement in illegal drugs, and at least 180 Filipinos are in Chinese jails for drug-related crimes. Domestic worker Mary Jane Veloso was sentenced to death in Indonesia in 2010 after being caught with 2.6 kilograms of heroin hidden in her luggage at Adisutjipto International Airport. She was granted a last-minute reprieve after a witness came forward to admit that she had duped Veloso into smuggling drugs to Indonesia. Based on feedback channels in popular media, it seems even fellow Filipinos have mixed feelings about drug mules. While some express sympathies and prayers for the families of convicted drug couriers, others are either ambivalent, indifferent or against the Philippine government extending any kind of help to them. In some channels netizens even say drug mules have gotten what they deserve and the Philippines should just let other countries follow their laws. Some quarters say drug mules should not even be considered overseas Filipino workers as they give legitimate OFWs a bad name. Let’s not rush to judgment against the many Filipinos languishing in foreign jails for various drug-related offenses. They have different stories to tell. Most of them are women who were so desperate for money they were willing to do anything, risking their own lives in an illegal venture. This does not justify their crimes, of course, but still it deserves some sympathy. The labor rights group Migrante, for instance, cited the case of one Filipina who was working in Pakistan when her husband died. She was so desperate to come home but nobody would help her. Being a drug mule provided the only, albeit illegal, way for her to make it home. In her case, clearly the government could have stepped in to help before desperation drove her to the drug syndicates. Intelligence reports say there are legitimate OFWs who are being used by international drug syndicates, like the West African Drugs Syndicate, precisely because their working status puts them under the radar of government authorities. Many of these syndicates use fellow Filipinos as recruiters. Some of them use the Internet to manipulate and recruit unsuspecting victims. Majority of cases involve Filipinas who were either coerced or tricked into being drug mules. The syndicates target women because they are more vulnerable, especially women who owe money for their household expenses, children’s tuition and other pressing needs. In other cases, they were befriended and made into girlfriends by syndicate members who use them. Some of these drug mules might even have been deliberately betrayed by the traffickers who hired them, to serve as distractions so others carrying larger quantities of drugs can board their flights unimpeded by authorities. We can’t ignore the fact that the involvement of Filipinos with these international trafficking syndicates affects the reputation of the country and our citizens. But we cannot just condemn them altogether. We must understand where they are coming from, how they are lured, and educate others against these recruiters and syndicates.

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OWERING the interest rates in the Philippines will be timely given the weak growth rate in the first six months of 2019 and the lengthy tit-for-tat between the United States and China that is slowing down the global economy. I believe cheaper credit rates will compliment the moves of our economic managers to pump-prime the economy. There is no question the Philippine economy will recover in the second half of the year and I am very confident it will do so. I can also see much lower inflation rates in the coming months because of the low base factor. This will give consumers higher confidence to spend more and serve as a cue for companies to expand. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, in addition, has recently adopted a progrowth policy after the slower pace of economic expansion in the first and second quarters of the year. I believe it will be better for the economy if the Central Bank reduces the interest rates as early as possible, as the inflation rate has begun to decelerate.

Lower interest rates and pumppriming are a perfect combination to reinvigorate the economy. Fortunately, the Bangko Sentral is moving to lower further the interest rates and reduce the reserve requirement on bank loans. The Monetary Board in May has cut the reserve requirement ratio of universal and commercial banks by 200 basis points to 16 percent from 18 percent to bring more liquidity into the financial market. The lower reserve requirement has an immediate impact on interest rates. The cut in May will gradually release an additional liquidity of about P230 billion into the financial system based on the P11.576trillion deposits held by universal and commercial banks. The additional liquidity, in turn, will result in cheaper credit.

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I am glad to hear that the Bangko Sentral has committed to further reduce the bank reserve requirement on banks in step with the objective of the government to lift the economy higher in the coming years. Bangko Sentral Governor Benjamin Diokno, during the recent annual conference of the Bank for International Settlements held at the Conrad Hotel in Pasay City, said monetary authorities were on track to lower the reserve requirement ratios of banks from the current 16 percent to a single-digit level four years from now. “We will continue to pursue the reduction of reserve requirements from the current 16 percent to single digit by 2023 to promote a more efficient financial system,” Diokno told conference participants. “We expect that all these will aid in the further development of Philippine capital markets by fostering money market transactions and active liquidity management by Philippine banks.” Cheaper credit in the Philippines will lower the cost of operations and spur more companies to expand. Our economic managers agree that lower interest rates is a boon to economic growth. The Monetary Board on August 8 cut the overnight borrowing rate by 25 basis points to 4.25 percent as a result of the low inflation in the same month and the slower

economic growth. Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia has expressed optimism that the Bangko Sentral under the helm of Governor Benjamin Diokno would do more to prop up the economy. “I’m sure the BSP will do something…Diokno knows it by now. He is a pro-growth Central Bank governor...I’m quite optimistic he will do the right thing,” said Pernia. Even foreign banks are upbeat on the Philippine economy despite a weak performance in the first half of the year. ING Bank, for one, expects the Philippine economy to recover with a 6.4-percent growth in the second half as the government accelerates infrastructure spending. ING, in its latest economic and financial analysis report on August 19, believes the Philippine economy still has a chance to reach the low end of the target range of 6 percent to 7 percent this year. The Philippines, it said, would continue to outperform other economies in the Asean in the third quarter by growing 6.4 percent. The projection is in sync with Pernia’s assessment that the economy needs to grow by at least 6.4 percent in the second half to reach the low-end of the government’s target range. For comments, e-mail mbv.secretariat@gmail. com or visit www.mannyvillar.com.ph.

Betting on the trade war: China or the US?

Lourdes M. Fernandez

Ruben M. Cruz Jr. Angel R. Calso

MEMBER OF

Manny B. Villar

T. Anthony C. Cabangon

Online Editor Social Media Editor

Chairman of the Board & Ombudsman President VP-Finance VP Advertising Sales Advertising Sales Manager Group Circulation Manager

Lower loan rates timely to lift growth

OUTSIDE THE BOX

HE West has had a rather successful history of waging “trade wars” in Asia. When China had built up a huge trade surplus exporting silk, tea, and porcelain to England, the British retaliated by growing opium in its colony of present day Bangladesh, and smuggled it into China. Within a few years, China’s trade surplus became a deficit and the economy was drained of silver. The Daoguang Emperor counterretaliated by trying to stop the opium trade and seized the British East India Co. warehouses where the drug was stored. The British sent in the Royal Navy and Marines to “escalate the trade war” by invading China. The British won the war, gaining unlimited access for its opium imports and got Hong Kong as a bonus in 1842. Rejecting the idea that Japan should continue its 250-year policy of restricting foreign investment and trade, US President Millard Fillmore sent Commodore Matthew

Perry and a squadron of navy warships to Japan. Perry reached Uraga at the entrance to Edo Bay in Japan in July 1853. Perry presented a letter to Japanese officials, which told them that in case they chose to fight, the Americans would destroy them and their white flag in case they wanted to surrender. He also fired blank shots from his 73 cannons, which he claimed was in celebration of the American Independence Day. However, it was hardly a trade war by modern definition. It was more like an “Art of the Deal”

negotiation that led to the “Treaty of Peace and Amity” between the US and Japan. The 21st century Chinese made the same mistake as nearly 200 years earlier. Then the Chinese made a ton of money selling goods to its big customer England, as the modern Chinese did selling to the US. Relying on a major single customer for your business works both ways. Wild blueberry growing is big business in the northeastern United States and across the border in Canada. The US was shipping about £2 million of blueberries to China every year. Now, that business has been taken over by the Canadians. However, the US growers were dependant on their Chinese customers and Canadian growers had the majority of the US market. The US growers never developed their US market infrastructure, which they are now scrambling to do. Therefore, it is ironic to hear all the whining about the US trade policies against China hurting the global economy. If you live by the sword, you die by the sword, or, in this case, dependence on the US consumer for your economic growth. There are those that say that no one wins a trade war. Try telling

that to the 19th century Chinese and Japanese. While it is true that this current trade conflict is a war of attrition, the numbers do not bode well for China. Manufacturing production in China increased 4.50 percent in July of 2019 over 2018 and this is a record low. As recently as April 2018, that growth was over 7 percent. The gross domestic product annual growth rate in China is now at the slowest pace since the depth of the global financial crisis in 2009 and—apart from 2009—the slowest growth since 1992. What will happen in the next months is anybody’s guess since this is as much a domestic political affair as a global economic event. But with Hong Kong’s political and economic condition in collapse, China being forced to devalue its currency, and its banking system currently fragile, there is only one question that matters: Which economy— the US or China—needs the other economy more? 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.

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Tuesday, August 27, 2019 A7

Assessment dues, membership Stronger working relationship between the President and the legislators fees and taxation Manny F. Dooc

Fulvio D. Dawilan

TAX LAW FOR BUSINESS

TELLTALES

O you manage or belong to an organization whose sources of funds are derived mainly from the dues and membership fees collected from members? If you do, then you must rejoice for you are freed from the watchful eye of the taxman.

N recent memory, we have not seen a legislation as ambitious as the comprehensive tax reform measure designed to make our entire tax system simpler, fairer and more efficient. The proposed law consists of four packages, which cover individual and consumption taxes, corporate income tax and incentive reforms, alcohol and e-cigarette excise taxes, property valuation and passive income, and financial taxes.

To recall, prior to 2012, the tax bureau issued rulings consistently holding that association dues, membership fees and similar charges collected by associations from their members are exempt from taxes. The reason is that the amounts collected are merely held in trust to be used solely for the administrative expenses of the association and are not intended to result in gain or profit. Neither are these payments to the association for the performance of services or the sale, barter, exchange or lease of goods or properties. In 2012 and 2013, the tax bureau made a 180-degree turn by issuing various interpretative rules in the form of memorandum circulars clarifying the taxation of association dues, membership fees and similar charges. The issuances targeted specifically clubs organized and operated exclusively for pleasure, recreation, and other nonprofit purposes (recreational clubs), condominium corporations and homeowners’ associations. The tax bureau, however, applied its new interpretation uniformly to all similarly situated organizations collecting membership fees and dues. These new circulars sweepingly abandoned the previous interpretation, and held that the dues and fees are subject to tax. The reason is that the association is actually furnishing its members with benefits, advantages and privileges. And for such beneficial services provided to members, the amounts collected constitute income or compensation for services, which are subject to income tax and value-added tax (VAT) on the part of the association, and for which the member-payor has to withhold tax. With respect specifically to recreational clubs, the tax bureau added a reason for the imposition of income tax—on the ground that a recreational club, which used to be included in the enumeration of exempt corporations in the 1977 Tax Code, was deleted in the same list when the 1997 Tax Code came into effect. And relying on the legal doctrine that a person, object or thing omitted from an enumeration must be held to have been omitted intentionally, the tax bureau justified that since recreational club is no longer included in the list of tax exempt corporations, its income from whatever source, including but not limited to membership fees, assessment dues, rental income and service fees are subject to income tax. For VAT, the tax bureau considered a recreational club, similar to other associations, as performing services to its members and is paid a fee for such services. And for as long as the club provides service for a fee, remuneration or consideration, then the service rendered is subject to VAT. This became the subject of a case [Association of Non-Profit Clubs Inc. v. Bureau of Internal Revenue, GR 228539, June 26, 2019] that reached the Supreme Court. The Court agreed that the omission in the 1997 Tax Code of recreational clubs from the list of exempt organizations evinces the deliberate intent of the legislature to remove the income tax exemption previously accorded to these clubs. As such, the income that recreational clubs derive from whatever source is subject to income tax. It is, however, incorrect to treat membership fees and assessment dues as sources of income of recreational clubs from which income tax liability may accrue. Fine, the membership fees and dues are not subject to income tax. But the more important question

to ask and answer is—why are these membership fees and dues not subject to income tax? In this case, the Court made a distinction between capital and income. Income is subject to income tax while capital is not. Membership fees and association dues are capital and not income. According to the Court, the essential difference between capital and income is that capital is a fund; income is a flow. A fund of property existing at an instant of time is called capital. A flow of services rendered by that capital by the payment of money from it or any other benefit rendered by a fund of capital in relation to such fund through a period of time is called income. To constitute income, there must be realized “gain.” Because of the nature of membership fees and assessment dues as funds inherently dedicated for the maintenance, preservation, and upkeep of the clubs’ general operations and facilities, nothing is to be gained from the collection. For as long as these membership fees, assessment dues, and the like are treated as collections by clubs from their members as an inherent consequence of their membership, and are, by nature, intended for the maintenance, preservation, and upkeep of the clubs’ general operations and facilities, then these fees cannot be classified as income. Instead, they only form part of capital from which no income tax may be collected or imposed. For VAT, the tax bureau and the Court view the nature of the membership fees and dues differently. Both agree that for a transaction to be subject to VAT, it must constitute sale, barter or exchange of goods or properties, or sale of a service. And this is true even if such transaction is paid on a cost-reimbursement basis. This is also true even if the seller/ provider is a nonstock and nonprofit organization. I may add that even if the transaction results in a loss, it is subject to VAT. The difference is in the appreciation of the nature of activities done by the association out of which the membership fees and dues are collected. To the tax bureau, there is a performance of service by the association to its members. Hence, the amount collected is subject to VAT. For the Court, the club is not selling its service to the members. As such, there is no transaction subject to VAT. The verdict: corporations, organizations or associations operating for the benefits of its members are not liable to taxes for the receipt of association dues, membership fees and similar charges from its members, if such fees are merely held in trust for the benefit of the association and its members. However, the activities of such associations intended to earn profits shall be subject to tax. This is notwithstanding the inclusion or noninclusion in the Tax Code in the list of organizations exempt from tax and regardless of the actual use of the profit. Can this decision be used as precedent for the exemption from tax by other organizations similarly situated? Yes, I believe so. 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 fulvio.dawilan@ bdblaw.com.ph or call 403-2001 local 310.

The first package, dubbed Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion 1, benefited the households and consumers by lowering the personal income taxes, excise taxes and other consumption taxes like the VAT, and was signed into law, RA 10963, on December 19, 2017. It also raised additional revenues to support the government’s massive infrastructure projects and various social services programs. On its first year of implementation alone, the government has generated P68.4 billion in net revenues and this will increase to P140.6 billion this year, and P195.5 billion in 2020. In addition, Package 1B, otherwise known as the Tax Amnesty Act of 2019, is estimated to bring in P21.26 billion on delinquencies, and another P6.28 billion from the implementation of the Estate Tax Amnesty to our national coffers. Under consideration is Package 2, which aims to reform the present corporate

income tax and incentives system (known as Citira bill). The House version has just been approved by the Ways and Means Committee headed by Rep. Joey Salceda and will soon be introduced to the House Plenary for deliberation. The bill will lower the corporate income tax rate and rationalize our inefficient fiscal incentives to businesses. Lowering CIT will make our businesses more competitive as this will reduce the costs of doing business. It will enhance their profits, which businesses can use to hire more employees and pour more investments to expand their business. Currently, the Philippines imposes the highest CIT rate at 30 percent compared to an average of 22.5 percent across our Asean neighbors. As proposed by the House, the CIT rate will be lowered by 2 percent every two years until it hits 20 percent by 2029. The lower tax rates will encourage the creation of more

businesses, particularly micro, small and medium enterprises, which will provide livelihood and employment to our communities. The government provides various fiscal incentives to businesses to promote investment, business expansion, and research and innovation especially in critical industries. Various laws extend preferential tax rates and income tax holidays to help new and innovative businesses compete in the market and enable them to contribute long term to our economy. Package 2 aims to rationalize our incentive laws by making incentives time-bound and based on key performance measures. Recipients’ performance shall be assessed and monitored based on key indicators, such as production, job creation and volume of exports/sales. Indiscriminate grants of incentives and the unlimited enjoyment of the privilege even by businesses that have grown big and profitable have resulted to inefficient administration of a laudable program. The unnecessary incentives given to undeserving companies have resulted in foregone revenues in the amount of P441 billion in 2017 alone based on the data collected by the DOF. This considerable amount lost each year could fund our “Build, Build, Build” program, Universal Health Care and other initiatives. I trust that the counterpart Senate Committee under Sen. Pia Cayetano shall be equally decisive in pursuing the passage of this landmark legislation once it reaches the Senate. Now that the election and

the senatoriables’ concern that supporting the measure would hurt their Senate bids are over, our senators should now be ready to don their statesman’s hat and throw their support to this worthy legislation. I’m glad that the Legislative-Executive Development Council would be convening soon to ensure stronger working relationships between the President and his cabinet and the legislators. We need their constructive engagement to align their legislative priorities and secure mutual support and secure approval of key legislative measures in support of PRRD’s 10-point socioeconomic agenda. Our goal of becoming a highincome country where poverty is eradicated based on our Ambisyon Natin 2040 program will remain a pipe dream unless the members of Congress put their acts together. We may have a fragmented Congress where the members owe their loyalty to their own political parties, but they should not forget that there is a higher loyalty. The country matters most and our distinguished solons should find respite from partisan politics when the proper time comes. Let’s not forget what Sam Rayburn admonished his fellow Democrats after he was deposed as Speaker following the landslide victory of Republican President Ike Eisenhower, “No. 1, we’re Americans first and Democrats second. And No. 2, we’re builders, not obstructionists. Any jackass can kick down the barn door, but it takes a carpenter to build one.” Which one are you, honorable gentlemen?

Constructive conversation about alternatives key to reducing smoking rates By Jacek Olczak | chief operating officer, Philip Morris International

IGARETTE smoking might be one of the biggest public health and social affairs issues across the world to date, but today we are at an unfortunate impasse on the course of action that can reduce usage rates globally. This is not a stalemate between health organizations on one side and tobacco companies on the other. Far from it. There are two groups with differing thoughts on addressing this issue—and both sides include governments, regulators and health groups. One of these groups believes that scientifically researched smoke-free alternatives play a vital role in creating a smoke-freeworld. The other has an ideology that there are only two options: to quit or continue smoking. Uniting us all in this conversation—yes, even the tobacco company I work for—is the belief that people should never start smoking. We are also united in believing that for those who smoke, the best choice is to quit cigarettes and nicotine

altogether. But this is the reality: Many people will not quit and will continue to smoke combustible cigarettes, the harm of which is universally known. Preventing progress on this issue is the lack of agreement—across the world—on the best course of action for the group of adult smokers who do not quit. Our position at Philip Morris International (PMI) is that adult smokers who do not quit should have access to, and information about, smoke-free alternatives to cigarettes. These smoke-free products contain nicotine and are not risk-free. However, science supports that these products have the potential to be a better choice than continued smoking. This position is backed by many

countries already. If we look at the UK and several other European countries, we see that one component of their approach to reducing the number of people smoking is to advocate for smoke-free alternatives for those who would otherwise continue to smoke. This has resulted in people moving away from cigarettes at accelerating rates. In England alone, the number of adult smokers decreased by 4.9 percent between 2012 and 2018, and more than 2.6 million people are now vaping across the country. In comparison, when you look at the incidence of smoking in countries where smoke-free products are not available, rates often are not decreasing at the same level, if at all. I passionately believe that the answer lies in conversation: addressing consumer misinformation and confusion, and having open and scientifically informed discussions that focus on the best result for adult smokers who don’t quit. A recent global study of 16,099 people by Povaddo—commissioned

by PMI—shows the effects of the misinformation and confusion that is circulating about smoke-free products. Many people simply do not know how these products are different from conventional cigarettes. This needs to change. Nearly seven in 10 (68 percent) smokers said they would be more likely to consider switching to better alternatives, such as e-cigarettes or heated tobacco products if they had clearer guidance on how these products differ from cigarettes. Importantly, four in five smokers and nonsmokers believe that a new conversation is needed to reduce smoking rates and that more regulation and taxation alone will not make their country smoke-free. Surely it’s time for this impasse to end. Conditions call for a new conversation. If we work together, we can overturn projections that more than 1 billion people will still be smoking in 2025. We can help achieve a revolutionary public health breakthrough—in short, we can truly #unsmoke the world.

Want a US recession? Try Trump’s China divestment plan By David Fickling Bloomberg Opinion

S President Donald J. Trump serious about forcing American companies out of China? His advisers talk like it. The president would have the authority for such a move, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House Economic Director Larry Kudlow said in television interviews while their boss was at the G-7—though there’s “nothing right now in the cards,” Kudlow added. Trump had suggested the policy in a series of tweets capping a week marked by tussles with the Fed and China: “Our great American companies are hereby ordered to immediately start looking for an alternative to China, including bringing your companies home and making your products in the USA.” There’s a difference, though, between what’s possible and what’s advisable—especially given the way the world economy seems to be teetering

on the edge of a downturn. Ten-year Treasury yields fell to their lowest level since 2016 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dropped the most in nearly four months on Monday as fears of a deeper trade conflict ramped up. The US president has extraordinarily wide-ranging powers granted by the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act. There are around 29 national emergencies ongoing under the terms of the law, which was originally intended to ensure such decision-making didn’t get perpetually stuck in Congress. The powers were last invoked in May when Trump threatened tariffs on Mexico if it didn’t stop flows of migrants. The question now is whether Trump would follow through or, as in the Mexican case, fold. The likelier result is the latter because, as with the US banking sector in 2008, the investments of American businesses in China are too big to fail. The US had a stock of $107.6

billion in foreign direct investment in China in 2017, according to the Office of the US Trade Representative—a figure that’s likely to be larger now in spite of trade tensions, since FDI stocks rarely fall outright. On top of that, it’s worth considering the $81.2 billion in FDI in Hong Kong and the $2.5 billion in Macau, given the risk that a crackdown by the Chinese government in Hong Kong threatens that territory’s special status—a prospect that’s already been raised by lawmakers and officials in Washington. What would sanctions on China look like? The act has mostly been used to freeze assets of targeted countries and prohibit US businesses from transactions involving those countries; the tariffs proposed in May against Mexico were a relatively novel use of the powers. Either way, the stated intention would be to force American businesses to divest their assets in China, a sum that’s potentially as high as $191.3 billion. That’s an alarmingly large sum.

The reduction in the value of US commercial banking sector assets between their peak in December 2008 and their trough in March 2010 was only $801 billion, and that shift was enough to provoke a financial crisis from which the world is still recovering. Much smaller reductions can easily spark downturns: The decline in the value of US commercial and industrial loans from their highest point before the 2001 recession to their low in 2004 was $231 billion, or around $310 billion in 2019 dollars. US businesses forced to sell out of China almost certainly wouldn’t end up writing their assets down to zero —but in such a chaotic fire sale, they’d be unlikely to get a good price. Beyond that, there would be a loss of revenue for businesses, such as General Motors Co., Caterpillar Inc. and Boeing Co., which count China as one of their largest markets. That would compound the problem of servicing loans taken to acquire now-sold assets in the country.

2nd Front Page BusinessMirror

A8 Tuesday, August 27, 2019

DOJ eyes 10-day review of prisoners’ GCTA count

By Joel R. San Juan

@jrsanjuan1573

HE Department of Justice (DOJ) is eyeing to finish its review of the guidelines on the granting of good conduct time allowance (GCTA) to inmates within 10 days. Justice Secretar y Menardo Guevarra said he will issue a department order today (Tuesday) creating a task force consisting of officers from the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) and Board of

Pardons and Parole (BPP), and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG). The task force will be tasked to review the guidelines, a move prompted by the public outcry

“We will give this top priority. We don’t want this to drag on because it would be unfair for the inmates who validly have the right to be released because they have shown that they are reformed and this law is for them.”— Guevarra

against the reported inclusion of former Calauan, Laguna, Mayor Antonio Sanchez among the thousands of prisoners who will likely be freed as a consequence of the recent SC ruling allowing a retroactive application of the GCTAs under Republic Act 10592.

Critics said Sanchez should not be released despite the SC ruling, considering the heinous crimes he was convicted of. Sanchez was convicted for the 1993 rape-slay of Mary Eileen Sarmenta and the killing of her boyfriend Allan Gomez, who were both students of the University of the Philippines Los Baños. “We will give this top priority. We don’t want this to drag on because it would be unfair for the inmates who validly have the right to be released because they have shown that they are reformed and this law is for them,” Guevarra said. See “GCTA,” A2

Did ‘shenanigans’ in BuCor favor Sanchez?

ENATE Minor it y Leader Franklin Drilon, suspecting shenanigans, on Monday endorsed suspension of the early release of prisoners based on Good Conduct Time Allowance Act (GCTA law) amid the fallout from reports it will allow convicted rapist-killer Antonio Sanchez to step out of jail despite being sentenced to serve seven life terms.

“There is negligence, if not corruption at the Bureau of Corrections,” said Drilon in backing the Department of Justice (DOJ) decision to suspend the release of prisoners based on GCTA. In a statement, Drilon admitted he “could not help but suspect that there are shenanigans happening inside the BuCor in favor of the rich and powerful inmates, including

TROPICAL DEPRESSION “JENNY” ESTIMATED AT 680 KM EAST OF VIRAC, CATANDUANES SOUTHWEST MONSOON AFFECTING WESTERN SECTIONS OF SOUTHERN LUZON AND VISAYAS as of 4:00 pm - August 26, 2019

former Mayor Sanchez.” According to Drilon, “the temporary suspension may affect prisoners who are really entitled for early release based on good conduct time allowance.” He, however, admitted that “with the people, including myself, worrying about the release of prisoners like Sanchez, the temporary suspension, pending review of guidelines, is a welcome development.”

The senator said if the reported violations committed by Sanchez were properly listed, “the BuCor could not have said the former mayor has already served 49 years.” He suggested a review of prison records. “We must look into the records or what we called the prisoners’ karpeta, particularly that of Sanchez, and let us find out if his violations were properly recorded.” He was referring to reports that Sanchez had been caught with an air-conditioning unit and a flat screen television during a raid inside his cell in 2015. He was also reportedly caught with a million pesos worth of illegal drugs in 2010. Drilon prodded the Senate Committee on Justice to convene hearings on a resolution filed by Senate President Vicente Sotto III to review implementation of the GCTA. Butch Fernandez

Ejap forum to tackle PHL growth

EMBERS of President Duterte’s economic team will speak at the third economic forum organized by the Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines (Ejap) on Tuesday at the Ayuntamiento de Manila in Intramuros. With the theme, “Mid-Term Economic Review of the Duterte Administration: Prospects and Challenges,” key public officials and private sector reactors will discuss the impact of policies implemented by the current administration and the promises yet to be fulfilled. Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia will open the forum by tackling the country’s economic growth prospects. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Benjamin E. Diokno is expected to speak about the country’s declining inflation and its benefit to the country, and reforms that the Central Bank is instituting in the banking system. Reactors to the government officials’ speeches are Emilio Neri, chief economist of the Bank of the Philippine Islands, and Nicholas Mapa, ING senior economist. Reuters Philippines Deputy Bureau Chief Karen Lema will serve as moderator. “For two years in a row, the Ejap Economic Forum has endeavored to raise the level of debate on factors affecting the economy. This year, we hope this activity will further stimulate a rich discussion on the developments in the past three years and what Filipinos and foreigners can expect in the second half of President Duterte’s term,” said Ejap President Ruelle Albert Castro.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

DUTERTE ORDERS D.O.J., BUCOR NOT TO RELEASE EX-MAYOR SANCHEZ

RESIDENT Duterte has ordered the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) and the Department of Justice not to release convicted rapist and murderer Antonio Sanchez, the former Calauan mayor who is serving life terms in the 1993 case of University of Los Baños students Mary Eileen Sarmenta and Allan Gomez. Senator Christopher T. Go, a longtime confidant of the President, said on Monday the President gave the order to BuCor Chief Nicanor Faeldon and Justice Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra. “He relayed to BuCor Chief Faeldon and Secretary Guevarra that he [Sanchez] cannot be released because the President is studying the law and it is stated under Republic 10592 [or the Good Conduct Time Allowance law] that [those who are convicted for] heinous crimes are excluded from it,” Go told reporters on the sidelines of the National Heroes’ Day Celebration at Libingan ng mga Bayani. The 2013 law signed by thenPresident Benigno S. Aquino III expanded GCTA and allowed certain deductions from the period of sentence for maintaining good behavior during detention, in a bid to declog the country’s prisons. The senator said Sanchez should forget about his dream of getting out of jail, adding that it would be better for him to atone for his sins behind bars.

“I also said that you [Sanchez] should not dream anymore of getting out of jail. Atone for your sins inside the jail. Mr. Sanchez, if you get out of jail, your life will only get shorter,” he said. “If you dream of shortening your life sentence, your life will only get shorter. So stay inside of jail. Just wait for St. Peter’s judgment.” Last Thursday, Malacañang first said that the“inevitable conclusion” is that those convicted of a heinous crime, including Mr. Sanchez, would be ineligible and disqualified from enjoying the benefits of the GCTA. “The sentiments of the people are understandable vis-à-vis the law passed by Congress during the previous administration and its recent interpretation by the Supreme Court. As we have said, our task is to merely execute what the laws as they stand. We reiterate, however, that while the Executive Branch has no discretion in the implementation of the GCTA, the law still allows for the proper evaluation of inmates to ensure their proper coverage,” said Presidential Spokesman and Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador S. Panelo in a statement. “Otherwise stated, while the Executive Branch is constrained to grant the benefit of the GCTA, it will only grant it to those who are entitled to such benefit,” he added. This, after the impending release of Sanchez was met with a public outcry. Bernadette D. Nicolas

Duterte skips Heroes’ Day; Cayetano, DND chief exhort Filipinos

RESIDENT Duterte skipped on Monday the National Heroes’ Day Celebration at the Libingan ng mga Bayani because he was “indisposed.” However, Senator and former Special Assistant to the President Christopher T. Go quickly allayed fears over the President’s health, saying there is “nothing to worry about” as the Chief Executive just needed to rest since he is “not feeling well.” “He is indisposed and the President is already 74 years old. He needs to rest,” said the senator. Go added the President also had a lot of private meetings over the weekend, including one with Moro National Liberation Front’s former Chairman Nur Misuari. The senator, who is also a longtime confidant of the President, also disclosed that he was with him until 4:30 a.m. on Monday, or less than four hours before the scheduled National Heroes’ Day Celebration. “We had a lot of activities. The President signed a lot of papers over the weekend. He had a meeting with [MNLF] Chairman Misuari and other private meetings. He signed a lot of papers,” he said. This is not the first time Duterte decided to skip a public event. On December 30 last year, the President skipped the 122nd anniversary of the martyrdom of national hero Jose Rizal in Davao as he was “advised to rest” by his doctor. Despite on-and-off rumors about the President’s health, Malacañang has stood firm that the President is in good health and there is no need to issue a medical bulletin. Aside from migraines, the President has previously admitted to suffering from back problems, Barrett’s esophagus, which is a complication of gastroesophageal reflux disease, and Buerger’s disease due to heavy

smoking in his younger years.

‘Emulate heroes’

MEANWHILE, House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano represented the President and delivered his speech at the Libingan ng mga Bayani. “As we commemorate National Heroes’ Day, I call on my fellow Filipinos to emulate the patriotism of all those heroes who came before us by supporting the government’s nation-building efforts, especially our campaign against illegal drugs, criminality, corruption, terrorism, poverty and environmental degradation,” he said. He added that it is the obligation of every Filipino to build on the legacy of the brave men and women who offered their lives in building the foundations of a better Filipino nation. Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana also said the best way to honor the legacies of the country’s heroes is to perpetuate and emulate their deeds. “The highest tribute we can give our heroes is to perpetuate their legacy by ensuring that their good deeds are not forgotten but instead perpetuated and emulated,” he said in his National Heroes’ Day message. Lorenzana said love of country was the foundation upon which the country was built. “The act of defiance against foreign domination by our forefathers despite overwhelming odds planted the seed of Filipino nationhood that evolved to become what we are now,” he said. “Today, we continue to defend and protect what they won for us by addressing any and all threats to our safety and security. Our brave soldiers valiantly put their lives in the line of fire 24 hours a day so our people can live in peace,” he added. Bernadette D. Nicolas and Rene Acosta

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Companies BusinessMirror

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

FLI to launch ₧22B worth of projects in second half

By VG Cabuag

@villygc

ROPERTY developer Filinvest Land Inc., the listed property arm of Gotianun family, said it plans to launch some P22 billion worth of residential projects in Metro Manila and other parts of the country, targeting the affordable and mid-income markets which it said remain underserved by other developers. Real-estate sales for the first half of the year ending June rose 25 percent to P8.43 billion, the company said. “Residential revenue growth is attributable to the high sales takeup levels in the past quarters, as well as the completion of high-rise and mid-rise residential buildings,” the company said. The company said it will launch

projects in Cavite, Rizal, Laguna, Batangas, Bulacan, Pampanga, Dagupan, Bacolod, Iloilo, Davao, Zamboanga, Cagayan de Oro and other key locations. FLI income rose 16 percent to P3.21 billion during the six months of the year from P2.78 billion last year, driven by its rental revenue as it builds dormitels (dormitoryhotels) and industrial parks.

Revenues rose 26 percent to P11.8 billion from last year’s P9.34 billion, driven by a 30-percent increase in rental revenue, which reached P3.38 billion. Rental revenues grew 30 percent on the back of the completion of its new office buildings. FLI now operates 29 office buildings totaling 510,000 square meters (sq m) of gross leasable area. The company targets a total of 1 million sq m of office space by 2023 with office buildings located mainly in Metro Manila, Clark Special Economic Zone, including New Clark City and Cebu. “Our performance in the residential sector has shown our ability to address the needs of the affordable and middle-income home buyers which we consider our core market. Our performance in the office sector has also demonstrated our competence in serving the needs of our locators. We are very optimistic of further growth for the company,” FLI President and CEO Josephine Gotianun Yap said. FLI said it is expanding to logis-

SBPL’s trailblazing coal-fired power plant set for commercial ops in Sept By Lenie Lectura

@llectura

HE country’s first coalfired power plant to use supercritical technology is on track for commercial operation next month. Meralco PowerGen (MGen) President Rogelio Singson said the 455-megawatt (MW) supercritical coal-fired power plant in Mauban, Quezon of San Buenaventura Power Ltd. (SBPL) is at 99.79-percent EPC (engineering, procurement, construction) accomplishment. “We are still on COD [commercial operation date] target of September 15 or sooner for the SBPL. Now, the plant is on full load operations, meaning it is operating at 500 MW. “In the next few days we are doing some performance tests with NGCP, as well as reliability tests before we are able to finally commission and say the plant is fully operational and we expect that to happen on or

before September 15 this year,” said Singson. MGen, the power-generation arm of Meralco, expects full positive results by end 2020. “We are still hopeful that we can commission this sooner than the target schedule. So far, everything looks good; happy with our EPC contractor and happy with support given to us by our partner in the project,” added Singson. SBPL is a partnership between MGen and New Growth BV, a wholly owned subsidiary of Electricity Generating Public Co. Ltd. (EGCO Group) of Thailand. The electricity to be generated by the P56.2-billion plant will be sold to Meralco, the country’s largest distribution utility, under a 20-year powersupply agreement. This project would bring in additional revenues to Meralco in 2020. The plant’s capacity and energy are contracted to Meralco, pur-

suant to a 20-year power-supply agreement which is extendable for up to an additional five years. The SBPL power plant will play a crucial role as electricity demand grows, especially in Luzon which accounts for about 70 percent of the country’s gross domestic product. “Power generation will be our game changer. We are looking forward to September this year when Meralco finally reenters baseload power generation and can better assure customers in its strategic franchise area adequate, reliable and affordable power supply after our 455MW SBPL coal plant comes on stream,” said Singson. The company tapped the consortium of Daelim Industrial Co. Ltd. and Mitsubishi Corp. as the EPC contractor for the project. SBPL achieved f inancia l close for the power project in December 2015 for a total debt of P42.1 billion.

Smart inks 2nd shared-infra deal with Aboitiz InfraCapital, Frontier Tower in southern thrust

MART Communications Inc. has signed its second shared infrastructure agreement with partners Aboitiz InfraCapital Inc. and Frontier Tower Associates Philippines Inc. (FTAP) to further expand its network in the Visayas and Mindanao. Under their agreement, the three groups negotiated the lease of buildto-suit sites, towers and passive infrastructure down south, a move that is seen not only to expand its presence in the two island groups but will also accelerate its thrust to offer 5G services across the Philippines. “By supporting a faster and more efficient rollout of our LTE and LTEadvanced network, and eventually, our 5G base stations, this collaboration will enable Smart to serve the public even better with faster Internet and innovative digital solutions,”

Smart President Alfredo S. Panlilio said on Monday. Currently, Smart covers roughly 90 percent of the country’s cities and municipalities with its 2G, 3G and 4G LTE network. It aims to deploy 4G radios in all of its sites by year-end. “This latest collaboration with Smart is in step with Aboitiz InfraCapital’s goal to ramp up the country’s connectivity through infrastructure. Through these new common towers, Aboitiz InfraCapital, in partnership with FTAP, aims to build the right infrastructure that will advance business and communities,” Aboitiz InfraCapital COO Cosette V. Canilao said. Canilao added that her group will “leverage its parent firm’s extensive experience in building and operating provincial utility networks.” FTAP Chairman Patrick Tangney

noted that his group will “bring experience gained from rolling out and operating thousands of towers in the Asean” region. “We look forward to a long-term partnership with Smart, where we can demonstrate our strong operating capabilities and service offering in support of our customers,” he said. This is the second common tower deal that Aboitiz InfraCapital and FTAP have jointly signed in the Philippines. The first one was with Globe Telecom Inc. This initiative is in line with the Department of Information and Communications Technology’s policy on shared telco infrastructure. The agency aims to build at least 50,000 new common towers across the country in the next decade. Lorenz S. Marasigan

tics and industrial parks as part of its recurring income portfolio to address the growing needs of logistics, light manufacturing, technology and e-commerce companies looking to support inventory management. Completion of the first phase of the Filinvest project at New Clark City’s Industrial Park, a 64-hectare logistics park, is targeted in the first quarter of 2020. FLI will also introduce new leasing products such as dormitels to address the growing demand for work force residences near the workplace. FLI owns 20 percent of Filinvest Alabang, developer of Filinvest City, while parent firm Filinvest Development Corp. owns the rest of the 80 percent. Within Filinvest City, approximately 312,000 sq m of residential properties have been built up with 542,000 sq m of retail space and 696,000 square meters of office space developed by Filinvest Alabang, Filinvest Land and other developers.

Rehabilitated wells of AboitizPower producing steam

BOITIZ Power Cor p. said the rehabilitated wells in the Tiwi and MakBanGeothermal Complex have already started producing steam. “We have started looking at rehabilitating some wells in Tiwi. It’s 12 wells, with 50 megawatts [MW]. We signed the contract. I think we’re already seeing some of the output...on some of the well rehabilitation, yes, it’s already producing steam,” said Aboitiz Power Chief Operating Officer Emmanuel Rubio. However, the output is “not significant yet.” APRenewables Inc. (Apri),a wholly owned subsidiary of AboitizPower, operates the 458MW MakBanGeothermal Power Plants that straddle the provinces of Batangas and Laguna, as well as the 289-MW Tiwi Geothermal Power Plants in Albay. Philippine Geothermal Production Co. Inc.(PGPC), formerly Philippine Geothermal Inc., is the

steamfields operator and geothermal resource provider to the power plants. Both signed last year a Geothermal Resources Supply and Services Agreement (GRSSA) for the supply of steam and drilling of new production wells in the Tiwi and MakBanGeothermal Complex. Under the GRSSA, PGPC will drill 12 new production wells over a six-year period to increase steam availability for the power plant facilities by about 20 percent. The agreement also ensures a more competitive fuel pricing in the long term. First commissioned in 1979, the Tiwi-MakBan Geothermal Complex is one of the biggest geothermal facilities in the country and the region. PGPC has since operated the steamfield facilities. AboitizPower took over the operations and management of the power plant facilities from the National Power Corp. in 2009. Lenie Lectura

Companies BusinessMirror

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

PSE STOCK QUOTATIONS

August 23, 2019

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

57.05 54.8 148.1 89 25.9 11.7 71.4 13.1 20.75 44.85 57.9 111.3 27.5 189.1 59.05 1.11 2.06 18.2 4.85 1.21 0.435 0.92 185.1 1.11

57.5 57 148.2 89.9 25.95 11.76 72 13.2 22.95 44.9 57.95 119.9 28 189.8 59.75 1.2 2.18 18.6 4.86 1.29 0.445 0.94 186.1 1.15

57.05 57 147 88.45 26.2 11.58 71.65 13.1 20.7 45 57.85 115 27.3 187.4 59.05 1.12 2.08 18.2 4.91 1.13 0.43 0.91 187.1 1.12

57.05 57 148.2 89.95 26.2 11.78 72 13.2 20.7 45.1 58.05 121.9 28 191 59.1 1.21 2.08 18.2 4.91 1.29 0.45 0.94 189.4 1.12

57 54.8 144.3 87.25 25.85 11.58 70.3 13.1 20.7 44.85 57.85 115 27.25 185.2 59 1.12 2.06 18.2 4.74 1.13 0.43 0.91 185 1.11

57.05 54.8 148.2 89.9 25.9 11.7 72 13.1 20.7 44.85 57.95 120 28 189.8 59.05 1.21 2.06 18.2 4.85 1.29 0.435 0.94 189.4 1.11

1170 6280 2319740 1722970 313900 223300 1152240 111700 200 326100 2950 170 9200 566160 122490 183000 4000 28500 550000 24000 100000 227000 2190 126000

66741 357938 339065524 153719018.5 8170255 2598542 82606959.5 1463370 4140 14648525 171053 20102 253910 106715772 7227051.5 205710 8280 518700 2646750 28670 44650 209060 406657 140110

INDUSTRIAL

-1141 -1118 -16396790 -15716390 -4821700 -129976 25660678.5 -12636980 -63759 9231549 4475621 -3630 -48650 -3470 -7576 -

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 BOGO MEDELLIN CNTRL AZUCARERA CENTURY FOOD DEL MONTE DNL INDUS EMPERADOR SMC FOODANDBEV ALLIANCE SELECT GINEBRA JOLLIBEE MACAY HLDG MAXS GROUP MG HLDG PEPSI COLA SHAKEYS PIZZA ROXAS AND CO RFM CORP ROXAS HLDG SWIFT FOODS UNIV ROBINA VITARICH VICTORIAS CONCRETE A CONCRETE B CEMEX HLDG DAVINCI CAPITAL EAGLE CEMENT EEI CORP HOLCIM MEGAWIDE PHINMA TKC METALS VULCAN INDL CROWN ASIA EUROMED LMG CHEMICALS PRYCE CORP GREENERGY INTEGRATED MICR IONICS SFA SEMICON CIRTEK HLDG

1.31 37 0.232 26.45 83.2 360 22.2 5.11 4.24 2.81 11 35.2 7.01 14.92 90.35 15.5 14.04 5.81 8.9 7.24 96.9 0.67 50.85 229.6 8.2 13.56 0.184 1.8 12.4 1.69 5.08 2.21 0.125 170 1.07 2.45 75.4 84.1 3.06 5.36 15.1 9.51 14.72 18.66 8.58 0.99 1.13 2.02 1.63 4.7 5.1 1.88 8.01 1.48 1.03 10.3

1.34 37.1 0.239 26.55 83.25 362 22.45 5.15 4.3 2.83 11.28 35.5 7.15 15 109 15.98 14.38 5.9 8.94 7.25 97.5 0.68 51 230 8.79 13.58 0.194 1.81 12.44 1.7 5.09 2.31 0.132 171 1.08 2.55 78 85.5 3.07 5.69 15.12 9.65 14.74 18.68 9.15 1.03 1.15 2.05 1.74 4.8 5.15 1.9 8.02 1.53 1.08 10.4

1.31 35.95 0.233 26.75 84.3 357 22.15 5.27 4.4 2.85 10.8 35.7 7.15 14.96 109 15.52 14.2 5.9 9 7.25 96.7 0.67 50 225 8.46 13.84 0.183 1.77 12.4 1.77 5.09 2.2 0.127 170 1.08 2.45 76.3 89.45 2.95 5.31 15.16 9.5 14.76 18.52 9.1 1.05 1.14 2.02 1.63 4.78 6.78 1.9 8 1.54 1.1 11.4

1.31 37 0.242 26.75 84.3 366 22.45 5.27 4.4 2.93 11.28 35.8 7.2 15.24 109 15.98 14.2 5.9 9 7.3 98 0.68 51.95 230 8.46 13.84 0.184 1.85 12.54 1.77 5.09 2.2 0.127 171.6 1.09 2.45 78 89.45 3.07 5.7 15.16 9.65 14.76 18.68 9.23 1.05 1.19 2.02 1.63 4.94 7.38 1.96 8.1 1.54 1.12 11.4

1.31 35.4 0.232 26 83.2 357 22 5.11 4.2 2.79 10.8 34.65 7 14.9 109 15.52 14.02 5.8 8.9 7.24 95.8 0.65 49.95 222 8.21 13.52 0.183 1.73 12.4 1.7 5.09 2.2 0.124 166.1 1.04 2.45 74.4 82.05 2.88 5.31 15.06 9.26 14.5 18.52 8.56 0.97 1.1 2.02 1.63 4.7 4.9 1.87 8 1.48 1.03 10

1.31 37 0.239 26.55 83.25 362 22.45 5.11 4.2 2.81 11.28 35.5 7.15 15 109 15.98 14.04 5.9 8.9 7.25 97.5 0.68 50.85 230 8.21 13.56 0.184 1.81 12.4 1.7 5.09 2.2 0.125 171 1.07 2.45 75.4 85.5 3.06 5.7 15.1 9.51 14.74 18.66 9.23 0.97 1.13 2.02 1.63 4.75 5.1 1.9 8.01 1.48 1.08 10.4

1000 1599200 940000 998200 101400 194890 521900 2307800 49000 23160000 76100 697700 98400 1541200 20 1100 800600 26800 498400 2762100 118880 649000 254370 603580 6800 127300 490000 14714000 186300 3125000 1000 2000 1080000 1517430 16698000 16000 18290 30550 8823000 12000 54700 56600 1070400 489700 12100 968000 2917000 59000 5000 184000 12072200 2741000 79800 74000 293000 581500

1310 58534070 219240 26410595 8455329 70694548 11547195 11936990 210880 66112430 855500 24493980 693630 23342864 2180 17118 11263644 157285 4455978 20027162 11565192.5 430360 12837099.5 136646342 55883 1735858 89750 26307140 2317558 5391810 5090 4400 134370 258357297 17692140 39200 1374953 2570314 26123670 67604 825914 531508 15665816 9130420 106177 965770 3278930 119180 8150 893920 76379519 5218520 639153 110610 313560 6184646

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

0.77 13.26 948 51.1 12.24 3.54 7.01 0.66 1.3 1.31 6.8 9.09 13.6 0.222 853 6 67.75 5.03 0.48 4.61 13.5 0.59 4.98 0.038 1.34 1.38 991 173.6 0.77 248 0.227 0.23

0.78 13.28 955.5 51.3 12.26 3.56 7.08 0.68 1.31 1.32 6.83 9.22 13.78 0.23 864 6.27 68.8 5.5 0.495 4.64 13.62 0.61 4.99 0.039 1.36 1.41 1004 175 0.79 251.4 0.236 0.231

0.82 14.24 932.5 50.5 12.76 3.62 7 0.64 1.29 1.29 6.8 9.06 13.8 0.235 850 6 67.4 6.99 0.495 4.65 13.58 0.58 5.05 0.039 1.39 1.41 989 175 0.76 242 0.23 0.22

0.82 14.6 955.5 51.75 12.8 3.62 7.09 0.68 1.32 1.31 6.83 9.22 13.8 0.235 866.5 6.28 68.8 6.99 0.495 4.8 13.62 0.61 5.07 0.039 1.4 1.41 1004 176 0.82 254 0.236 0.23

0.76 13.08 922.5 50.05 12.06 3.5 7 0.64 1.28 1.29 6.7 9.01 13.5 0.222 850 6 65.65 3.8 0.475 4.6 13.46 0.58 4.9 0.038 1.31 1.38 987 173.1 0.76 242 0.227 0.22

0.77 13.26 955.5 51.3 12.26 3.54 7.01 0.68 1.3 1.31 6.83 9.22 13.6 0.233 864 6.28 68.8 5.5 0.49 4.61 13.62 0.61 4.98 0.038 1.36 1.41 1004 175 0.79 251.4 0.236 0.23

43164000 113900 447380 1099230 19819300 3861000 33400 344000 6977000 499000 238600 3960200 537500 80000 93980 700 2033770 28100 130000 1218000 331700 660000 24356800 5200000 757000 103000 313215 171660 684000 17740 3020000 2320000

33749300 167680 1534584 -40080 423306665 37697695 56222561 6972613.5 243504490 -125571700 13661020 10420 233846 231840 136000 9036350 649550 310700 1605958 -162260 36,058,078( 12,488,151.0001) 7312016 -7192640 18120 80575930 -6371645 4228 -628 138037119 25834580 152303 63600 5691330 -2578380 4502014 -1124632 388190 121478634 1752592 199600 1026660 144010 56250 311659950 -73284020 29991236 -1006228 531560 4463332 -3659924 693730 522790 -

HOLDING & FRIMS

18157770 2170590 274565 27630234 -1391905 -1106147 5188860 -36460 -10013830 3562 2061946 2643550 -3619955 -19562612 -7294754 4405768 5278106 8220 68180 494170 1395966 70940 -37617517 -8051960 36750 -17239 4512010 -143356 -129047 -7438162 7845300 3330 3260 -9202512 -775480 118197 10400 -48614

PROPERTY

ARTHALAND CORP 0.9 0.92 0.9 0.93 0.88 0.92 7150000 6365370 716970 ANCHOR LAND 9.9 10.4 10.4 10.4 10.4 10.4 2000 20800 AYALA LAND 48.3 48.9 48.45 49 47.75 48.9 12861400 622555250 -125509125 ARANETA PROP 1.91 1.92 1.9 1.91 1.87 1.91 453000 854890 -9350 BELLE CORP 2.19 2.2 2.15 2.21 2.15 2.19 295000 641380 -56550 A BROWN 0.78 0.8 0.79 0.8 0.78 0.79 503000 396090 CITYLAND DEVT 0.85 0.88 0.89 0.89 0.88 0.88 26000 23100 CROWN EQUITIES 0.225 0.226 0.226 0.226 0.226 0.226 710000 160460 CEBU HLDG 5.85 6.16 5.83 6.16 5.83 6.16 200 1199 CEB LANDMASTERS 4.71 4.73 4.78 4.79 4.7 4.71 724000 3451870 -2128410 CENTURY PROP 0.57 0.58 0.58 0.58 0.56 0.58 19152000 11012460 -353770.0003 CYBER BAY 0.4 0.41 0.385 0.43 0.385 0.4 4410000 1785150 DOUBLEDRAGON 23.6 24 23.6 24 23 24 1196300 28147110 23219065 DM WENCESLAO 8.99 9 9.41 9.41 9 9 2426000 22286328 -15360908 EMPIRE EAST 0.455 0.465 0.455 0.465 0.45 0.465 210000 94800 FILINVEST LAND 1.58 1.59 1.67 1.67 1.59 1.59 83070000 133767100 -76714460 GLOBAL ESTATE 1.25 1.27 1.27 1.27 1.24 1.27 1216000 1531990 8990 HLDG 15.46 15.48 15.5 15.5 15.46 15.46 996900 15437110 -580926 PHIL INFRADEV 1.32 1.33 1.38 1.4 1.31 1.33 3419000 4584280 22790 CITY AND LAND 0.74 0.76 0.77 0.77 0.73 0.76 59000 43980 28520 MEGAWORLD 4.79 4.8 4.85 4.93 4.74 4.8 61611000 295391520 -88506580 MRC ALLIED 0.295 0.3 0.305 0.305 0.295 0.295 23840000 7110850 -42150 PHIL ESTATES 0.45 0.465 0.45 0.48 0.45 0.465 4350000 2006800 -9200 PRIMEX CORP 2.02 2.03 2.01 2.03 1.99 2.03 772000 1544650 ROBINSONS LAND 24.4 24.6 23.9 24.85 23.85 24.6 4086700 99319455 -17694745 PHIL REALTY 0.38 0.385 0.38 0.38 0.38 0.38 10000 3800 ROCKWELL 2.33 2.35 2.41 2.41 2.33 2.35 130000 308590 SHANG PROP 3.21 3.3 3.3 3.3 3.3 3.3 60000 198000 STA LUCIA LAND 2.34 2.38 2.39 2.39 2.33 2.38 1023000 2412850 SM PRIME HLDG 34.8 34.9 34.7 35 34.45 34.8 7672700 266930820 -14084685 STARMALLS 5.58 5.81 5.72 5.88 5.56 5.81 85900 482817 SUNTRUST HOME 0.88 0.91 0.98 0.99 0.88 0.91 4472000 4133040 -325850 VISTA LAND 7.41 7.42 7.45 7.47 7.37 7.42 7032700 52217710 -22613072 SERVICES ABS CBN 18.56 18.6 20.15 20.15 18.52 18.56 300900 5789017 GMA NETWORK 5.33 5.34 5.31 5.35 5.29 5.34 54100 287628 MANILA BULLETIN 0.45 0.47 0.47 0.47 0.45 0.45 50000 23300 MLA BRDCASTING 9.01 15.14 15.16 15.16 15.16 15.16 100 1516 GLOBE TELECOM 1894 1899 1890 1900 1890 1899 47525 90232180 1507935 PLDT 1147 1149 1128 1156 1116 1149 146335 166597005 19050 APOLLO GLOBAL 0.045 0.047 0.045 0.047 0.045 0.047 4200000 193500 IMPERIAL 1.83 1.94 1.86 1.86 1.83 1.83 110000 202920 ISLAND INFO 0.107 0.108 0.108 0.108 0.107 0.107 900000 96800 ISM COMM 5.04 5.07 4.72 5.25 4.52 5.04 7259000 34931470 365980.0001 JACKSTONES 2.8 3.07 2.9 3.09 2.82 3.07 20000 58130 NOW CORP 2.13 2.14 2.14 2.16 2.1 2.13 1482000 3136890 12720 TRANSPACIFIC BR 0.345 0.35 0.34 0.36 0.335 0.35 14020000 4864650 -44200 PHILWEB 3.05 3.06 3.09 3.09 2.95 3.05 2596000 7790680 -41210 2GO GROUP 10.14 10.2 10.5 10.5 10 10.2 19800 205050 ASIAN TERMINALS 18.5 19 18.5 18.5 18.5 18.5 600 11100 11100 CHELSEA 7.15 7.16 6.4 7.25 6.22 7.15 5722600 39094957 -1042664 CEBU AIR 96.2 96.25 95.5 96.9 94.8 96.25 407730 39269712 27462392 INTL CONTAINER 132.3 132.4 129.9 132.3 128.9 132.3 1657610 216744356 35041153 LBC EXPRESS 14 14.6 14.6 14.6 14.6 14.6 300 4380 LORENZO SHIPPNG 0.84 0.87 0.86 0.86 0.85 0.85 352000 300750 MACROASIA 18.8 19 18.78 19 18.78 19 19200 361082 METROALLIANCE A 1.2 1.4 1.42 1.42 1.42 1.42 4000 5680 PAL HLDG 8 8.02 8.1 8.1 8 8 61900 498828 37600 HARBOR STAR 1.57 1.58 1.65 1.65 1.56 1.59 1353000 2150410 7950 ACESITE HOTEL 1.51 1.53 1.47 1.53 1.47 1.53 4000 6000 BOULEVARD HLDG 0.058 0.059 0.058 0.058 0.057 0.058 5740000 329730 WATERFRONT 0.67 0.68 0.67 0.68 0.66 0.68 1070000 714620 161040 STI HLDG 0.66 0.67 0.68 0.68 0.66 0.66 3654000 2436270 -486560 BERJAYA 2.25 2.35 2.32 2.35 2.24 2.35 401000 913330 BLOOMBERRY 10.12 10.18 10.44 10.44 10.12 10.12 6102800 62084218 -25930340 PACIFIC ONLINE 2.7 2.74 2.75 2.75 2.64 2.7 139000 376000 10720 LEISURE AND RES 3.15 3.18 3.2 3.2 3.13 3.18 314000 994420 MANILA JOCKEY 3.03 3.14 3 3.03 3 3.03 28000 84660 PH RESORTS GRP 4.3 4.68 4.62 4.62 4.62 4.62 2000 9240 PREMIUM LEISURE 0.67 0.68 0.68 0.69 0.67 0.68 1997000 1353900 -202640 TRAVELLERS 5.46 5.47 5.46 5.46 5.45 5.46 3905800 21304781 -54600 METRO RETAIL 2.4 2.44 2.45 2.45 2.4 2.4 1712000 4137160 -41500 PUREGOLD 44 44.3 44.3 44.3 43.5 44 1513400 66520350 -11600025 ROBINSONS RTL 77.5 80.5 77 80.5 76.9 80.5 82970 6612045 -567370 SSI GROUP 2.79 2.8 2.7 2.8 2.68 2.79 5225000 14404870 4449430 WILCON DEPOT 16.6 16.66 16.62 16.66 16.54 16.66 1258500 20888782 13336798 APC GROUP 0.58 0.59 0.54 0.62 0.53 0.59 48985000 28820980 -42500 EASYCALL 8.22 8.35 8.6 8.6 8 8.22 68900 568824 GOLDEN BRIA 413.8 426 413 426 413 426 360 151246 IPM HLDG 5.08 5.2 5.2 5.2 5.2 5.2 400 2080 PAXYS 2.84 2.99 2.9 2.9 2.84 2.84 263000 751480 PRMIERE HORIZON 0.49 0.495 0.5 0.5 0.48 0.49 16465000 8033885 315060 SBS PHIL CORP 9.03 9.3 9.09 9.09 9.03 9.03 10000 90584 MINING & OIL ATOK 11.6 12.58 12.68 12.68 11.54 12.58 8200 96956 APEX MINING 1.25 1.26 1.28 1.29 1.21 1.25 11143000 13956500 -217000 ABRA MINING 0.0016 0.0017 0.0017 0.0017 0.0016 0.0017 127000000 215700 COAL ASIA HLDG 0.27 0.28 0.27 0.27 0.27 0.27 110000 29700 CENTURY PEAK 2.73 2.76 2.72 2.76 2.72 2.76 54000 148110 DIZON MINES 7.76 7.86 7.88 7.88 7.74 7.85 1200 9373 FERRONICKEL 1.42 1.43 1.43 1.45 1.42 1.43 1085000 1555520 148750 GEOGRACE 0.199 0.204 0.207 0.207 0.2 0.204 410000 82280 LEPANTO A 0.11 0.112 0.112 0.112 0.11 0.112 1100000 122050 LEPANTO B 0.112 0.114 0.112 0.114 0.111 0.114 3450000 392310 -294120 MANILA MINING B 0.01 0.011 0.01 0.011 0.01 0.011 3900000 41500 MARCVENTURES 1.01 1.05 1.09 1.09 1.01 1.05 348000 355740 89890 NIHAO 0.98 1 1.03 1.04 0.98 1.03 5000 5100 NICKEL ASIA 2.5 2.51 2.6 2.6 2.46 2.5 3227000 8067130 -264680.0003 OMICO CORP 0.46 0.49 0.465 0.465 0.455 0.455 170000 77850 ORNTL PENINSULA 0.81 0.82 0.81 0.82 0.81 0.82 356000 289810 PX MINING 3.7 3.75 3.9 3.9 3.69 3.7 1110000 4162430 192460 SEMIRARA MINING 22.65 22.8 22.8 22.95 22.5 22.65 297000 6730370 1545220 UNITED PARAGON 0.0061 0.0065 0.0062 0.0062 0.0062 0.0062 3000000 18600 ORNTL PETROL A 0.011 0.012 0.011 0.012 0.011 0.011 8500000 100300 ORNTL PETROL B 0.011 0.013 0.012 0.013 0.012 0.013 3300000 42800 42800 PHILODRILL 0.011 0.012 0.011 0.011 0.01 0.011 134900000 1395900 PHINMA PETRO 7.84 7.88 10.8 13.4 7.7 7.84 48666300 528196485 1436198 PXP ENERGY 12.72 12.74 13.76 13.76 12.46 12.74 4034100 52296796 4451354 PREFFERED HOUSE PREF A 96.5 99 100 100 100 100 640 64000 AC PREF B1 496.2 500 499.4 500 499.4 500 5050 2524976 AC PREF B2 499 503 500 500 500 500 20 10000 DD PREF 101 101.5 101.1 101.5 101 101 17000 1724992 SMC FB PREF 2 990 1008 1008 1008 1008 1008 20 20160 FGEN PREF G 105.5 107 107 107 105.5 105.5 29920 3157040 FPH PREF C 436 500 499 499 499 499 160 79840 GLO PREF P 505 509.5 505 509.5 505 509.5 4660 2353525 GTCAP PREF A 980 995 1000 1000 1000 1000 10 10000 GTCAP PREF B 980 999 980 1000 980 1000 3240 3178530 LR PREF 0.99 1 0.99 1 0.99 1 3000 2980 MWIDE PREF 101.1 102 101.1 101.1 101.1 101.1 10 1011 PNX PREF 3B 107 109.5 109.5 109.5 109.5 109.5 10 1095 PCOR PREF 2B 1020 1040 1020 1020 1020 1020 450 459000 PCOR PREF 3A 1031 1040 1030 1030 1030 1030 480 494400 PCOR PREF 3B 1035 1044 1040 1040 1030 1030 50 51700 SMC PREF 2B 76.05 76.9 76 76 76 76 250 19000 SMC PREF 2C 78.45 78.5 78.5 78.5 78.5 78.5 42940 3370790 -39250 SMC PREF 2D 75.5 75.6 75.5 75.5 75.45 75.5 25000 1887470 SMC PREF 2E 75.95 76.1 75.95 75.95 75.95 75.95 8000 607600 SMC PREF 2F 76.95 77.95 76.9 76.95 76.9 76.95 16510 1269944.5 SMC PREF 2G 75.7 76.5 75.75 75.75 75.7 75.7 2610 197577.5 SMC PREF 2H 75.1 76.4 75.05 75.05 75.05 75.05 3400 255170 SMC PREF 2I 75.5 76.4 75.7 76.4 75.7 76.4 7460 564729 -

PHIL. DEPOSITARY RECEIPTS ABS HLDG PDR GMA HLDG PDR

17.4 5.17

18.08 5.29

18.28 5.29

18.3 5.29

17.4 5.29

245500 100

4312706 529

WARRANTS LR WARRANT

1.52

-3104242 -

1.56

1.52

1.55

1.51

1.55

81000

123590

ITALPINAS 7.9 KEPWEALTH 15 XURPAS 0.94

7.95 15.04 0.95

6.9 23 0.96

8.23 27.35 0.97

6.86 13.02 0.92

7.9 15 0.94

7674300 43345800 5292000

59277099 892328393 4999280

-137182 1208479 -1327880

FIRST METRO ETF

118.7

SMALL & MEDIUM ENTERPRISES

EXHANGE TRADE FUNDS 118.2

117

118.2

116.8

118.2

6740

789172

-11680

www.businessmirror.com.ph

PSE warns public against scam misusing its name

By VG Cabuag

@villygc

HE Philippine Stock Exchange Inc. (PSE), the operator of the country’s equities market, has warned the public of another investment scam using its name to invest in a security that promises high return. “The PSE received information that an unauthorized investment solicitation supposedly from the Philippine Stock Exchange Inc. is being circulated through e-mail,”

PSE COO Roel Refran said. He said the unauthorized investment solicitation requires an initial investment of P29,500 up to P135,500 and guarantees a

return of 62 percent. The e-mail solicitation states that payment may be made at any PSE office or through remittance to their official brokers. The offices mentioned are the PSE Tower in Taguig and the former address of PSE’s satellite office in Cebu. “For the information of the public, no such investment solicitation was issued by the PSE nor does it solicit investments from individuals,” Refran said. He reminded the public that all stock market transactions should only be coursed through PSE-accredited trading participants or stockbrokerage firms. “We encourage the public to in-

form the PSE if they have been sent these investment solicitations via e-mail or any other unauthorized investment solicitation purportedly from PSE,” he said. In November, the PSE also warned of unauthorized investment solicitations made by individuals who represent themselves as traders or salesmen of stockbrokerage firms and solicit money from investors supposedly for investment in stocks. As “proof of investment,” these individuals present fabricated ledgers to their investors to show what listed companies they supposedly have shares in and their alleged shareholdings.

Italian luxury streetwear brand to open first PHL store in October By Roderick L. Abad @rodrik_28 Contributor

OGAN, a high-end street wear brand from Italy, is set to open its pioneering store in the Philippines in October at the Luxe Duty Free in Mall of Asia Complex, Pasay City. “We are extremely honored and proud to welcome Hogan into our Luxury offer,” said Vicente Pelagio A. Angala, chief operating officer of DFP. “Luxe Duty Free was developed to house the most upscale travel retail offer in the country through its luxury ambiance for prestige

beauty, fashion and luxury brands,” he added. DFP’s premier outlet hosts a number of major fashion brands, namely, Hugo Boss, Furla, Coach, Longchamp, Kate Spade and Michael Kors, among others. “It is surely a momentous occasion for Hogan to be opening its very first travel retail store at Luxe Duty Free,” said Suh-hee Park, head of sales for Asia Pacific, Tod’s Group. “We are proud to be serving the international travelers and customers of Luxe with our Made In Italy sneakers, making their traveling effortlessly cool and a comfortable one,” she added. During the opening, the newest

Apple’s $44-billion drop shows growing cost of relying on China

PPLE Inc.’s reliance on China is looking increasingly like its biggest handicap. The world’s most influential consumer electronics company shed $44 billion of market value Friday after a pair of pronouncements from Beijing and Washington cast a spotlight on its massive Chinese production base, from which almost all of the world’s iPhones are made. US President Donald J. Trump this weekend “ordered” American companies to immediately start looking for alternatives to manufacturing in China, which is something Apple is thoroughly unprepared for, according to analyst Daniel Ives of Wedbush Securities Inc. “In a best-case scenario,” says Ives, Apple “would be able to move away 5 percent to 7 percent of iPhone production out of China” over the course of 18 months. The company would require three years to move 20 percent out, he adds, which is still less than the 25 percent of iPhone production that Apple needs for its domestic US market. American tariffs on goods from China would, therefore, directly impact Apple’s biggest moneymaker. Ives calls Trump’s latest comments on China “a gut punch to Cupertino” in the title of his report. Apple’s main assembly partner, Foxconn Technology Group, has claimed that it has the capacity to build all of the Cupertino company’s US-bound iPhones outside of China, however all indications are that to deploy it would require a great deal of time and money.

Apple’s stock price took two big hits on Friday in the wake of the latest tariffs announcements. The president’s comments were followed hours later by tweets declaring that the US would increase the rate of existing and impending tariffs on Chinese goods. Trump’s moves were in response to an earlier announcement that China was planning to impose tariffs on $75 billion of US imports. People familiar with iPhone production have said that it is nearly impossible to relocate manufacturing of Apple’s iconic device in a wholesale manner due to the difficulty of procuring a skilled labor force elsewhere, a point that Apple CEO Tim Cook has hammered away at in public, as well. The challenges of replicating the complex production lines and necessary infrastructure are also major hurdles. There may also be less purely economic reasons for sticking with the world’s No. 2 economy. Apple and its army of contract manufacturers, led by Foxconn, are collectively China’s largest private employer, providing work for millions of people. A reduced Apple presence could have significant implications for the local job market and rub Beijing the wrong way at a time Chinese officials see a slowing economy as a significant risk to stability. The government has shown a penchant for clamping down on foreign firms that displease it. And Apple needs to fend off smartphone market leader Huawei Technologies Co. and win back consumers in China, its largest market after the US. Bloomberg News

downtown store will highlight the Cold North: 2019 Autumn-Winter 2019/2020 collection. Inspired by the North Pole with reference to the hiking world and glaciers, it is aimed at making an impact on those who want to dress

MUTUAL FUNDS

comfortably and always look in style, bringing the effortless Hogan aesthetic to a new level. Established in 1986, Hogan is part of Italian luxury group Tod’s SPA. It offers a wide array of accessories and ready-to-wear street clothes.

August 23, 2019

NAV ONE YEAR THREE YEAR FIVE YEAR Y-T-D PER SHARE RETURN* RETURN STOCK FUNDS ALFM ALFM GROWTH FUND, INC. -A 258.11 -0.51% -2.07% 0.4% 2.34% ATRAM ALPHA OPPORTUNITY FUND, INC. -A 1.5473 4.62% 2.05% 1.73% 7.39% ATRAM PHILIPPINE EQUITY OPPORTUNITY FUND, INC. -A 4.0125 -1.89% -3.34% -0.81% 2.81% CLIMBS SHARE CAPITAL EQUITY INVESTMENT FUND CORP. -A 0.9526 4.06% N.A. N.A. 5.73% FIRST METRO CONSUMER FUND ON MSCI PHILS. IMI, INC. -A 0.8619 0.84% N.A. N.A. 5.02% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN EQUITY FUND,INC. -A 5.3935 0.77% -0.86% 0.5% 2.28% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN PHILIPPINE INDEX FUND, INC. -A,6 0.8666 0.65% -5.13% N.A. 3.57% MBG EQUITY INVESTMENT FUND, INC. -A 119.16 6.92% N.A. N.A. 2.58% PAMI EQUITY INDEX FUND, INC. -A 51.765 2.63% -0.96% N.A. 5.16% PHILAM STRATEGIC GROWTH FUND, INC. -A 540.61 2.89% -1.8% 0.16% 5.03% PHILEQUITY DIVIDEND YIELD FUND, INC. -A 1.3101 2.11% -0.49% 1.51% 4.47% PHILEQUITY FUND, INC. -A 38.4726 2.46% 0.27% 1.56% 5.02% PHILEQUITY MSCI PHILIPPINE INDEX FUND, INC. -A,3 1.0276 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. PHILEQUITY PSE INDEX FUND INC. -A 5.2549 3.49% -0.07% 2.09% 5.97% PHILIPPINE STOCK INDEX FUND CORP. -A 877.13 3.51% -0.37% 2.03% 5.88% SOLDIVO STRATEGIC GROWTH FUND, INC. -A 0.9112 4.39% -1.13% N.A. 5.95% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY PHILIPPINE EQUITY FUND, INC. -A 4.2955 3.66% -0.13% 1.61% 5.83% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY PHILIPPINE STOCK INDEX FUND, INC. -A 1.0082 3.09% -0.41% N.A. 5.65% UNITED FUND, INC. -A 3.7028 3.17% 1.52% 2.62% 5.77% EXCHANGE TRADED FUND FIRST METRO PHIL. EQUITY EXCHANGE TRADED FUND, INC. -A,C,2 117.5707 3.93% 0.47% 3.09% 6.16% ATRAM ASIAPLUS EQUITY FUND, INC. -B $0.9307 -8.16% 1.03% -2.13% 0.17% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY WORLD VOYAGER FUND, INC. -A $1.2855 0.07% 7.05% N.A. 16.31% BALANCED FUNDS PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES ATRAM DYNAMIC ALLOCATION FUND, INC. -A 1.68 -0.27% -3.13% -2.22% 1.74% ATRAM PHILIPPINE BALANCED FUND, INC. -A 2.3101 1.2% -1.45% 0.36% 4.57% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN BALANCED FUND INC. -A 2.6503 2.38% -0.55% -1.06% 4.22% GREPALIFE BALANCED FUND CORPORATION -A 1.3458 0.36% N.A. N.A. 3.18% NCM MUTUAL FUND OF THE PHILS., INC. -A 1.9549 4.83% 0.08% 1.27% 6.07% PAMI HORIZON FUND, INC. -A 3.8052 5.32% -0.91% 0.66% 7.82% PHILAM FUND, INC. -A 17.0384 5.75% -0.86% 0.54% 7.11% SOLIDARITAS FUND, INC. -A 2.1473 2.73% 0.08% 1.7% 3.77% SUN LIFE OF CANADA PROSPERITY BALANCED FUND, INC. -A 3.8942 5.06% -0.15% 1.25% 6.65% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY ACHIEVER FUND 2028, INC. -A,D,4 1.0215 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. SUN LIFE PROSPERITY ACHIEVER FUND 2038, INC. -A,D,4 1.0088 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. SUN LIFE PROSPERITY ACHIEVER FUND 2048, INC. -A,D,4 1.0054 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DYNAMIC FUND, INC. -A 0.9954 5.49% -0.13% 0.81% 8% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY SECURITIES COCOLIFE DOLLAR FUND BUILDER, INC. -A $0.03848 9.01% 2.12% 2.58% 9.01% PAMI ASIA BALANCED FUND, INC. -A $0.9709 -1.6% 1.13% -1.65% 6.26% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR ADVANTAGE FUND, INC. -A $3.7513 2.83% 5.17% 2.79% 13.38% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR WELLSPRING FUND, INC. -A $1.1176 4.7% 3.32% N.A. 10.65% BOND FUNDS PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES ALFM PESO BOND FUND, INC. -A 353.54 3.83% 2.23% 2.34% 2.93% ATRAM CORPORATE BOND FUND, INC. -A,1 1.912 2.53% 0.11% -0.04% 2.84% COCOLIFE FIXED INCOME FUND, INC. -A 3.0755 5.42% 5.39% 5.3% 3.34% EKKLESIA MUTUAL FUND INC. -A 2.2195 4.5% 1.32% 2.18% 4.24% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN FIXED INCOME FUND,INC. -A 2.349 5.9% 1.47% 1.74% 6.53% GREPALIFE FIXED INCOME FUND CORP. -A P 1.6079 1.41% -1.75% 0.24% 2.78% PHILAM BOND FUND, INC. -A 4.3268 9.35% 0.67% 1.98% 10.38% PHILEQUITY PESO BOND FUND, INC. -A 3.7437 7.46% 1.16% 1.76% 6.44% SOLDIVO BOND FUND, INC. -A 0.9545 5.73% -0.2% N.A. 7.1% SUN LIFE OF CANADA PROSPERITY BOND FUND, INC. -A 3.0318 9.3% 1.7% 2.69% 9.62% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY GS FUND, INC. -A 1.6815 9.31% 1.22% 2.25% 9.2% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY SECURITIES ALFM DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC. -A $462.81 4.14% 1.71% 2.78% 3.21% ALFM EURO BOND FUND, INC. -A Є220.05 2.95% 1.34% 1.58% 3.47% ATRAM TOTAL RETURN DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC. -B $1.195 6.9% 1.99% 2.54% 6.16% 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 $1.7169 0.6% -2.1% 0.5% 1.58% PAMI GLOBAL BOND FUND, INC -A $1.1046 6.25% -0.31% -1.58% 6.59% PHILAM DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC. -A $2.4139 10.95% 1.54% 3.64% 11.2% PHILEQUITY DOLLAR INCOME FUND INC. -A $0.0600769 5.75% 1.81% 2.04% 5.4% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR ABUNDANCE FUND, INC. -A $3.1734 9.16% 0.94% 3.15% 10.49% MONEY MARKET FUNDS PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES ALFM MONEY MARKET FUND, INC. -A 124.45 4.09% 2.61% 2.07% 2.95% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN MONEY MARKET FUND, INC. -A,5 1.0206 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. PHILAM MANAGED INCOME FUND, INC. -A 1.2388 5.56% 2.36% 1.45% 4.81% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY MONEY MARKET FUND, INC. -A 1.2516 3.9% 2.76% 2.14% 2.66% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY SECURITIES SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR STARTER FUND, INC. -A $1.0311 2.2% N.A. N.A. 1.5% 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."

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Corporate America alarmed by Trump’s threats over China

NITED States companies are concerned about President Donald J. Trump’s threats to ban them from doing business in China, and they’re poised to halt new investments if the trade war escalates, the leader of a group of top chief executive officers said. US company executives get worried when they hear talk from Trump about invoking emergency powers on trade, said Josh Bolten, president and chief executive officer of the Business Roundtable and a former chief of staff to President George W. Bush. “He has a lot of authority through the national security statutes to disrupt trade and commerce in a way that would cause huge damage —not just to the Chinese economy, but to the global economy and the US economy,” Bolten said Sunday on CBS’s Face the Nation. Trump responded to the latest tit-for-tat retaliation from China on Friday by tweeting US companies are “hereby ordered to immediately start looking for an alternative” to China. He also suggested he was looking at the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 in ordering US companies to quit China. “Case closed!” Trump concluded in a tweet.

‘Take a look’

WHITE House Economic Director Larry Kudlow downplayed Trump’s China threat, saying on CBS that

the president doesn’t intend to try to block investment in China right now and that “maybe the way it was phrased was a little tougher than usual.” “He’s asking American companies to take a look, take a fresh look at frankly moving out of China,” Kudlow said. Still, Bolten said the Dow Jones Industrial Average’s 623-point tumble on Friday in response to Trump’s threat—while also increasing the tariff rate on $550 billion in Chinese goods—was a sign of investors “tapping the brake lightly.” A lot of US businesses are “poised right on top of the brake” on new spending if the trade war isn’t resolved, he said. “The risk is that everybody’s going to slam on the brake, and that would be a disaster—not just for the Chinese, but for the United States, as well,” Bolten said. The Business Roundtable is an association of chief executive officers of large US companies, including Amazon.com Inc., Apple Inc. and General Motors Co. It’s chairman is JPMorgan Chase & Co. CEO Jamie Dimon. Bolten said the group supports Trump’s aim to address allegations of intellectual property theft and other trade issues with China, but it fears the trade war spiraling out of control—and trying to decouple completely from China “is not benign and certainly not helpful.” Bloomberg News

China’s companies have unseen foreign debt that’s maturing fast

HE foreign debt built up by Chinese companies is about a third bigger than official data show, adding to the pressure on the country’s currency reserves as a wave of repayment obligations approaches in 2020. On top of the $2 trillion in liabilities to foreigners captured in official data, mainland Chinese firms have around another $650 billion in debts built up by subsidiaries overseas, according to Bloomberg calculations. About 70 percent of that debt is guaranteed by entities such as onshore parent companies and their subsidiaries, the data show. The amount of maturing debt will rise in coming quarters, with $63 billion due in the first half of 2020 alone. The prospect of Chinese companies rushing to find dollars to service liabilities comes at a time when authorities have already allowed the currency to sink below 7 per dollar amid a trade war with the US. The nation now risks a reprisal of what happened after the yuan’s devaluation in 2015, when foreign-debt servicing contributed to a rapid decline in the country’s foreign-currency reserves. “China’s debt servicing risks can be underestimated with this part of the debt staying outside the official gauge,” said Ji Tianhe, a strategist at BNP Paribas SA in Beijing, adding that the $3.1 trillion in foreigncurrency reserves is “just enough” to cover the risks. The PBOC set the yuan fixing rate at 7.057 per dollar Monday morning, stronger than forecast. The offshore Chinese yuan pared losses after falling to an alltime low against the dollar. Countries like China which control the flow of cross-border capital are recommended to hold reserves worth 30 percent of short-term foreign debt, 20 percent of other external liabilities, 10 percent of exports and 10 percent of broad money supply to counter potential outflow risks, according to a guideline by the International Monetary Fund.

Global standards

APPLYING that methodology to the official data on China’s foreign liabilities suggests the nation would need at least $2 trillion of reserves during a currency crisis, and more than that if capital controls aren’t enforced well, according to Natwest

Markets Plc. If the debt of Chinese companies’ overseas units is taken into account, the reserves would need to be higher still. China doesn’t include the debt of offshore entities when calculating foreign liabilities and this is in line with global standards, according to the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), the part of the People’s Bank of China that manages the reserves. SAFE also stressed that the fundraising of those offshore entities is under their regulatory oversight, according to a written response to questions from Bloomberg. “China’s foreign debt risks are under control generally” and there’s still room to raise more foreign debt, Ye Haisheng, SAFE director in charge of capital account management, wrote in an article in April. “However, a country relying too heavily on foreign debt is subject to debt-related risks, and even currency and financial crises” when the external environment worsens, he said, referring to episodes like Europe’s sovereign debt turmoil in the last decade.

Yuan pressure

THE pressure on Chinese companies to repay or refinance debt securities will rise into 2020, the data compiled by Bloomberg show, and the recent weakening of the yuan to a decadelow amid persistent trade frictions could complicate that process. Looming repayments and stricter rules for refinancing could lead to defaults, reduction in capital inflows, and even outflows, squeezing domestic credit supply, according to research from Nomura Holdings Inc. “Statistically, these borrowings by overseas entities are not China’s direct foreign debt,” said Guan Tao, a former official with the State Administration of Foreign Exchange. “But if it is guaranteed by domestic companies, which bears a secondary repayment duty, it becomes contingent debt.” If companies struggle to pay the coupon or repay their debt, then the effects may become more widespread. In June, China Construction Bank Corp. had to repay a defaulted $300 million note from an overseas unit of China Minsheng Investment Corp. as it had provided a standby letter of credit.

Editor: Angel R. Calso • Tuesday, August 27, 2019 B3

The best G-7 can do for global economy: Don’t make it worse

IARRITZ, France—The global economy craves a double shot of confidence right now but the best that leaders of the Group of Seven can offer is a less intoxicating cocktail: not making things worse. Sharp differences over US President Donald J. Trump’s trade conflict with China and threats to escalate trade tensions with Europe, along with Britain’s impending departure from the European Union on terms yet to be decided, are making it unlikely the leaders of seven rich democracies can come up with a unified road map on how to help global growth. What the global economy doesn’t need: an outcome like last year’s summit in Canada. Leaders wrestled over a final joint statement, only to have Trump repudiate his signature shortly after leaving the summit and tweet criticism of the host, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. This year’s host, French Prime Minister Emmanuel Macron, has indicated he will avoid that possibility by simply not having a statement. Instead, Macron may issue his own careful summary of what was discussed. Even if the leaders, who discussed the economy Sunday morning, issue a final statement, it’s unlikely to contain a solution to what’s deterring

investment and dampening business confidence. During Sunday’s meeting on the economy, Trump and the others basically stated their contrasting positions on trade. EU officials pointed out the impact of trade tensions on the global economy and their support for dealing with China within multilateral institutions while Trump restated his US versus China approach. In some ways the global economy is doing fairly well at the moment, with unemployment low in major economies. Yet, world trade and industrial investment and production have slowed sharply—and those are the forces that could carry forward the decade-long economic expansion since the Great Recession. By imposing tariffs, or import taxes, on Chinese goods, and by threatening to impose new ones on European autos and even French wine, Trump has sown uncertainty among businesses about their supply chains—the paths that raw materials, parts and goods take as they move through the globalized economy. Markets have become

volatile, dropping sharply last week after the US and China exchanged more tariffs. Holger Schmieding, chief economist at Berenberg Bank in London, says that while the direct damage from the tariffs is so far limited, the lack of clarity over terms of trade is corroding confidence. “Entrepreneurs and firms only invest when they feel confident about the outlook,” he said. “The pervasive uncertainty about the future of global trade and the resulting need to restructure cross-border supply chains weighs heavily on industrial sentiment and investment.” Business, he noted, is driven by “animal spirits”—a term coined by 20th-century British economist John Maynard Keynes to describe the optimism needed to take risks and invest. Trump’s unpredictable Americafirst economic nationalism is upending decades of rules-based economic cooperation rooted in global institutions like the World Trade Organization and the Group of Seven itself. Space for action is increasingly limited, and not just by Trump’s disruption. The US Federal Reserve has little room to lower interest rates, and the European Central Bank’s even less, with its key benchmarks at or below zero. They could resume stimulus programs that include buying bonds to lower borrowing rates. But borrowing rates are already extremely low. Many governments still have debt

hangovers from the global financial crisis, leaving less room for spending to stimulate investment and consumption. Germany has been running a surplus and has balked at taking on new debt to spend on things that could raise growth, such as roads and bridges and high-speed Internet coverage for the whole country. China’s growth has slowed from its previous red-hot pace, which often happens when an emerging economy starts to catch up with the rest of the world. Aging populations in many developed economies will strain tax revenues and lower consumption. Rock-bottom borrowing costs have led to calls for governments to borrow and spend more to take up where central banks have run short of ammunition. But so far, large spending initiatives are absent. Some $16 trillion in government bonds are showing negative yields, meaning investors are willing to pay for the privilege of lending to governments. High prices for bonds—which move opposite to yields—mean investors are more than willing to lend to governments at cheap rates. “The tone of these messages from the G-7 will provide a signal about the prospects for upcoming negotiations,” said Schmieding. “It would count as a success if—against the odds—the G-7 leaders were to emphasize areas of cooperation instead of just setting out their differences individually. In the end, Trump’s tweets afterwards may move markets more than anything at the summit itself.” AP

Bolsonaro causes global outrage over Amazon fires

ORTO VELHO, Brazil—Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has insulted adversaries and allies, disparaged women, blacks and homosexuals, and even praised his country’s 1964-1985 dictatorship. Yet, nothing has rallied more anger at home and criticism from abroad than his response to fires raging in parts of the Amazon region. The far-right populist leader initially dismissed the hundreds of blazes and then questioned whether activist groups might have started the fires in an effort to damage the credibility of his government, which has called for looser environmental regulations in the world’s largest rainforest to spur development. In response, European leaders threatened to end a trade deal with Brazil and other South American nations. Thousands of people have demonstrated in cities across Brazil and outside Brazilian Embassies around the world. #PrayforAmazonia became a worldwide trending topic. Pope Francis added his voice to the chorus of concern, warning that the “lung of forest is vital for our planet.” Bolsonaro finally took a less confrontational approach Friday and announced he would send 44,000 soldiers to help battle the blazes, which mostly seem to be charring land deforested, perhaps illegally, for farming and ranching rather than burning through stands of trees. Some say it’s not enough and comes too late. “No democratic government has suffered such international criticism as Bolsonaro is going through,” said Mauricio Santoro, an international relations professor at Rio de Janeiro State University. “By breaching international environmental agreements, Brazil has been discredited, blurred and unable to exercise any type of leadership on the international stage.” Brazilian military planes began dumping water on fires in the Amazon state of Rondonia over the weekend, and a few hundred of the promised troops deployed into the

A FIRE burns in highway margins in the city of Porto Velho, Rondonia state, part of Brazil’s Amazon on Sunday, August 25, 2019. AP

fire zone. But many Brazilians again took to the streets in Rio de Janeiro and other cities Sunday to demand the administration do more. Some held banners that read: “Bol$onaro is burning our future.” Bolsonaro has previously described rainforest protections as an obstacle to Brazil’s economic development. Critics say the record number of fires this year has been stoked by his encouragement of farmers, loggers and ranchers to speed efforts to strip away forest. Although he has now vowed to protect the area, they say it is only out of fear of a diplomatic crisis and economic losses. “The international pressure today has a bigger impact than the demonstrations by Brazilians on the streets,” Santoro said. The leaders of the Group of Seven nations said Sunday that they were preparing a plan for helping Brazil battle the fires and repair the damage. French President Emmanuel Macron said the help would involve both technical and financial mechanisms “so that we can help them in the most effective way possible.” German Chancellor Angela Merkel

said her country and others will talk with Brazil about reforestation in the Amazon once the fires have been extinguished. “Of course [this is] Brazilian territory, but we have a question here of the rainforests that is really a global question,” she said. “The lung of our whole Earth is affected, and so we must find common solutions.” Fires are common during Brazil’s dry season, but this year has set an alarming record. The country’s National Space Research Institute, which monitors deforestation, has recorded more than 77,000 wildfires in Brazil this year. That is an 85 percent rise over last year, and about half of the fires have been in the Amazon region. “We’ve had eight months without any type of concrete action in defense of the Amazon,” said Rómulo Batista, a member of Greenpeace

Brazil’s Amazonia Campaign. He said the flames licking over swaths of the Amazon are a reflection of Bolsonaro’s environmental policy. “The government created a sense of impunity among farmers who were willing to commit illegal acts to deforest,” he said. “Thousands of species of plants and animals are being killed, many of them that we don’t even know. The population of nearby cities is suffering terrible damage because they’re breathing that air and it’s causing them respiratory problems. And the rise in deforestation can completely alter the rain patterns by region and devastate agriculture, even in South America.” Bolsonaro has argued with critics who note that the Amazon produces vast amounts of oxygen and is considered crucial for efforts to contain climate change. But Batista predicts the fires will prove a turning point and the pressure by G-7 leaders will shift Bolsonaro’s view on the environment. Brazil’s federal police agency announced Sunday that it would investigate reports that farmers in the state of Para, one of those most affected by the blazes, had called for “a day of fire” to ignite fires August 10. Local news media said a group organized the action over WhatsApp to show support for Bolsonaro’s efforts to loosen environmental regulations. Justice Minister Sergio Moro, who oversees the police, said on Twitter that Bolsonaro “asked for a rigorous investigation” and said “the criminal fires will be severely punished.” AP

B4 Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Vallacar Transit Inc. elects new president Widus Clark turns 13, furthers youth advocacy programs

ARE beyond compare. Widus International Leisure Inc. (WILI) celebrated its thirteenth year in the hospitality industry through an educational CSR project at Masamat Elementary School in Mexico Pampanga on August 16. In celebration of its 13th founding anniversary, Widus International Leisure Inc. (WILI), owner and proprietor of Widus Hotel and Casino, conducted an educational outreach program on August 16 at Masamat Elementary School, Mexico Pampanga. A total of 20 Widus employees helped clean and refurbish the school’s facilities and organized arts and crafts, fun games and read-along sessions with selected students. This day-long activity was spearheaded by the company’s charity arm, Widus Foundation Inc. (WFI), as a follow through from its initial “Adopt-A-Library” project. “Masamat Elementary School was our

first beneficiary of a customized 40-foot container van equipped with new chairs and tables, air-conditioning units, computer sets, educational children’s books, and other learning materials. These succeeding programs we implement aim to continuously develop the youth community by gearing towards a long term approach, which goes beyond the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Framework,” WFI manager Ronnel Golimlim said. Golimlim who takes lead in these efforts also added that the company fully supports the school’s clean and green campaign. One of the key highlights of the event was the eco-brick making initiated by the foundation. Golimlim said that these recyclable building blocks will be used to make a perimeter wall to protect the container van library, which was donated by WFI in 2017.

For her part, Widus Human Resources Director Ana Christi Galura commended the efforts of the employees who volunteered in the event. “Widus is committed to the holistic development of its employees, thus, our efforts include opportunities for our colleagues to find self-fulfillment through outreach programs. This inculcates a culture of gratitude and teamwork that benefits both the organization and the community we serve. Our employees have never let us down. Time and again they have proven their willingness and selflessness to be of service to others through hospitality and advocacy,” Galura said. Aside from supporting the CSR program, Galura together with her team, lined-up various merriments during the week of August 12 to 16 to further the annual celebration and to show appreciation to all Widus employees. The week-long celebration included daily complimentary snacks, raffle draws and free workshops on office make-up, pastry making and pampering services like manicure and hand and back massage for all regular employees. To date, Widus Clark is recognized as one of Clark Development Corporation’s (CDC) top investors with its 234 elegantlyappointed rooms, topnotch casino, renowned food and beverage restaurants and family-friendly amenities –not to mention its various world-class hospitality infrastructure developments in the works.

ALLACAR Transit’s new officers, are from left: Vice President Charles M. Dumancas; Treasurer Ginnette Y. Dumancas; Corporate Secretary Olivia V. Yanson and President Leo Rey Yanson Leo Rey was reelected on Monday August 19 as president of Vallacar Transit Inc., the largest bus transport company in the country. In a special stockholders meeting held in Bacolod City, 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. In 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.

DOST inks deal with PayMaya to power digital payments capabilities of OneSTore.ph

'Doon sa Isang Sulok' bravely tackles the HIV/AIDS scourge

sexism, women’s rights and politics all in the backdrop of an engagement party,” Tapang explains. The subject matter is part of Cinespectra Film Festival’s efforts in awareness-building for HIV and SOGIE and using the powerful tool of filmmaking to engage the people, especially the younger generation, on HIV issues. CineSpectra 2019: A Film Festival for HIV/AIDS Awareness, as per its web site, has been created as a vehicle to foster a deeper, human rights-based understanding of HIV/AIDS and therefore a wider public appreciation of this epidemic not just as a public-health issue, but in the context of the greater human experience, through film and/or A/V production/short films as well as to consistently foster film appreciation and film screening programs for audience development. Cinespectra welcomes

partnerships with Film Development Council of the Philippines, EON, Love Yourself the and Directors’ Guild of the Philippines Inc.. “The particular story is based on a personal experience on homophobia among close friends. I was also inspired by the idea of our own struggles in acceptance, regardless of the issues we’re facing, that there’s always going to be struggles in every acceptance we are seeking,” Tapang says. “It was very helpful that Cinespectra Film Festival was able to conduct HIV and SOGIE Awareness workshops and sessions for us to fully understand such issues and different causes before we developed and eventually produced our material for this film festival. As part of the LGBTQIA ++ Community, I thought I already knew everything. Understanding and being part of the spectrum is another process.” Tapang honed his directing skils in the theater and is now just trying to navigate the waters of filmmaking, having been greatly influenced by Ishmael Bernal, Lino Brocka, Carlitos Siguion-Reyna, and the Mexicans Alfonso Cuarón, Alejandro González Iñárritu and Guillermo del Torro. “I didn’t have a formal study in filmmaking but back in college (AB Mass Communication in Broadcasting), I used some of my classes as my training ground. I wish to attend Ricky Lee’s scriptwriting workshop to fully hone my style in writing and storytelling,” he says. Tapang enlisted the help of his theater and television friends to help him realize his vision.

‘GULAYAN SA PAARALAN’ FINALIST AT LCF GUILD AWARDS. The ICCP Group Foundation, Inc. (IGFI) was recently recognized as one of the finalists at the first-ever League of Corporate Foundations (LCF) CSR Guild Awards 2019 under the Outstanding Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Project in Health category for its Gulayan sa Paaralan program – a school-based gardening project which aims to address nutritional deficiency among school children through organic vegetable gardening. Implemented in seven host barangays of the ICCP Group’s Light Industry & Science Park (LISP) IV in Malvar,

Batangas, the program also involves workshops for students, teachers and barangay workers on how to grow vegetables using recycled PET bottles as planting pots, as well as how to produce organic fertilizer and pesticides. Gulayan sa Paaralan is in line with the IGFI’s commitment to serve the community while also making a sustainable impact. IGFI executive director Ronnie Tapnio (center) received the finalist’s plaque during the awards held at the Philippine International Convention Center, with (from left) Makati Business Club executive director Coco Alcuaz, LCF secretary Lilibeth Aristorenas, LCF vice chairperson Cecile Alcantara, and LCF chairman Mario Deriquito. For more information on the ICCP Group, visit www.iccpgroup.com.ph

N the national news nowadays, the LGBT struggle is stirring controversy, debate and calls to action. There’s still so much more work to do in terms of education, understanding and acceptance. Budding filmmaker Yong Tapang Jr. bravely delves into another aspect of that struggethe resurgence of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the Philippines amid the confusion of what SOGIE (sexual orientation and gender identity and expression) is. In his short film, Doon sa Isang Sulok, Tapang tackles the depths of the HIV and SOGIE issues. “The film is about a struggle a person living with HIV (PLHIV) is dealing with. But more than the story of the PLHIV, it is about a group of friends whose friendship is being tested by such a shocking revelation. It mirrors how a society talks about different perspectives on LGBT issues, religion,

HE Department of Science and Technology (DOST) has chosen digital financial services leader PayMaya to enable the digital payments acceptance for its OneSTore.ph e-Commerce platform, making PayMaya the digital payment partner of choice by various government agencies and local government units to help deliver better public service to Filipinos. The partnership brings a significant boost to DOST’s mission for OneSTore.ph to serve as a platform to expand the market of local MSMEs by allowing sellers on the site to be able to easily accept payments via any Visa, Mastercard, and JCB credit, debit, and prepaid card as well PayMaya e-wallet via mobile number through the cutting-edge PayMaya Checkout payment gateway. “MSMEs are the lifeblood of the country and power the economy, which is why it is imperative to help them succeed. With the OneSTore.ph platform, we helped them expand their market online which reaches virtually every corner of the country. And now that we have digital payments acceptance from PayMaya, the online shopping experience on the platform just got even more convenient,” said DOST Secretary Fortunato dela Peña. Envisioned as a platform to help local MSMEs grow their business by expanding their

market online, OneSTore.ph was launched in 2017 to help promote the use of the platform in connection with its Small Enterprises Technology Upgrading Program (SETUP). “With DOST being a center of excellence for the country's science and technology programs, this partnership is a validation of PayMaya's integrated digital financial services platform. We are proud to work with DOST on this project, and we are looking forward to collaborate with them in other areas as well. The benefits of digital should be felt by all, not just by large enterprises or big-named merchants, which is why we have designed our platforms, particularly PayMaya Checkout, to be able to scale and adapt to the needs of all businesses, no matter the size or location,” said PayMaya CEO and Founder Orlando B. Vea. Aside from powering digital payments acceptance for OneSTore.ph, PayMaya and DOST will also be collaborating on bringing digital payments capabilities to OneSTore physical hubs that will be launched across the country through its One by PayMaya all-in-one payment device, which is the only Point-Of-Sale (POS) device that can accept multiple modes of cashless payments via swipe, tap, and dip for cards, and pay-to-scan via QR. In photo are DOST Secretary Hon. Fortunato T. De La Peña (left), PayMaya founder and CEO Orlando Vea (right).

Enchanted kingdom features OPM at 'O Pinoy Magaling ka!' Music Festival

T was a night filled with music and feels last August 17 as some of the most sought-after OPM artists come together at Enchanted Kingdom’s Spaceport grounds for “O Pinoy Magaling ka!” Music Festival 2019. Performing various music genres such as pop, hiphop, soul, and alternative song among others, the audience got a dose of easy listening songs from Feel Day, The Juans, Janine Tenoso, and This Band. Leading the stellar musical performances was the alternative rock band, Feel Day. The all-male, 6-piece band The Juans made the

audience swooned over with their refreshing songs. Singer-songwriter Janine Teñoso singlehandedly serenaded the audience with her heartfelt version of Itchyworm’s “Di Na Muli.” This Band also rocked the night via chart-topping hits, “Kahit Ayaw Mo Na” and “Hindi Na Nga.” Showing the richness and diversity of Pinoy music, the concert served as an act of paying tribute and genuine respect to Filipino language as the month of August generally touted as the “Buwan Ng Wika.” The musical night was capped with stunning fireworks display.

UNPREDICTABLE AS EVER Sports BusinessMirror

By Howard Fendrich

The Associated Press

EW YORK—At first glance, this US Open might appear as unpredictable as any. From recent injuries to players, such as Serena Williams, Naomi Osaka and Simona Halep, to a bit of pretournament shakiness from Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, to Rafael Nadal’s issues on hard courts, to the group of up-and-coming men’s issues at Wimbledon, it’s difficult to predict what will unfold at Flushing Meadows over the next two weeks. And yet, this much is clear with main-draw action set to start Monday: If they’re healthy, then the expected champions will come from a small group of women that includes Williams, Osaka and Halep, and the members of the men’s Big Three. “It seems like the same guys are the favorites again this time around,” said Federer, who won five of his men’s-record 20 Grand Slam singles championships at the US Open, although the last came in 2008. “It will be a surprise if anybody else won.” Williams has won six of her 23 major singles trophies in New York, most recently in 2014. Since then, she lost in the semifinals twice, missed the 2017 edition because she gave birth and was the runner-up a year ago to Osaka in a match that stood out more for Williams’s conflict with chair umpire Carlos Ramos than the tennis itself. The key for the 37-year-old American, as it’s been throughout her return since having a daughter, is her health and fitness, because her serve and other strokes are capable of being just about as dominant as ever. Williams reached the final at three of the past five Grand Slam tournaments; she lost each time, leaving her still just one major singles title away from equaling Margaret Court for the most in the sport’s history. “The years are passing, and she’s not getting any

younger,” said 1994 Wimbledon champion Conchita Martinez, who coaches 2016 US Open runner-up Karolina Pliskova. “But she has a shot.” Probably only if her back is fine, though. Williams stopped playing in the final of the Rogers Cup hard-court tune-up this month after having back spasms, then cited that same problem when she pulled out of the following week’s tournament. Williams has withdrawn or retired from all of her nonSlam events in 2019. Unlike other top players, she didn’t hold a pretournament news conference at the US Open, but both Osaka (left knee) and Halep (left Achilles) declared themselves OK. Djokovic did the same after having a trainer check on blisters on his right foot while he practiced Saturday. He and Federer went a combined 4-2 in hard-court matches after their historic five-set Wimbledon final. Nadal, meanwhile, has a long history of injury setbacks on a surface that is unforgiving, including retiring from his US Open semifinal last year. Still, there’s a reason one needs to go all the way back to Andre Agassi in 2003 to find someone other than Djokovic, Federer or Nadal seeded No. 1 in New York.

BIG 3 STILL BIG

| Tuesday, August 27, 2019 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

(with Caty McNally, a 17-year-old from Ohio).

KYRGIOS ON DISPLAY

IN reaction to what went on in last year’s Williams-Osaka final, the USTA will post code violations—racket abuse, say, or unsportsmanlike conduct—on scoreboards. That might be put to use Tuesday, when 28th-seeded Nick Kyrgios plays Steve Johnson. Kyrgios was fined more than $100,000 for his tantrums during a recent match, hardly his first such sanction. “You’ve just really got to focus on what you’re trying to accomplish, your game plan,” Johnson said. “He’s going to do what he’s going to do.”

ARE THE KIDS ALL RIGHT?

THE tennis world has been waiting for a younger player to challenge the top men. Three guys pegged for that sort of success—Dominic Thiem, Alexander Zverev and Stefanos Tsitsipas—all lost in the first round at Wimbledon. How will they rebound at the US Open? Someone else to track: Daniil Medvedev, a 23-year-old Russian whose best Slam showing was a fourth-round appearance at the Australian Open in January. He has been to the finals at three consecutive hardcourt tournaments.

DJOKOVIC, Nadal, and Federer have combined to take 11 Slam titles in a row and 54 of the past 65. One thing to keep an eye on: Federer and Nadal have played each other 40 times but never at the US Open. It could only happen if both reach the September 8 final.

COCO IS BACK

COCO GAUFF appears in her second major after her captivating run to Wimbledon’s Week 2 as a qualifier ranked just 313th. The 15-year-old, who is based in Florida, was granted a wild card by the US Tennis Association into singles and doubles

ROGER FEDERER: It seems like the same guys are the favorites again this time around. AP

THE key for the 37-year-old Serena Williams, as it’s been throughout her return since having a daughter, is her health and fitness. AP

NO MAJORS, BUT A MAJOR FINISH BY MCILROY A

TLANTA—Rory McIlroy never felt more rich than when he knocked in a 6-foot birdie putt on the final hole to win the FedEx Cup. Only it had nothing to do with the money. It was never about $15 million. Even before he teed off in the Tour Championship—facing a five-shot deficit before he hit a shot at East Lake because of the radical new scoring format—McIlroy made it clear that the FedEx Cup should be more about accomplishment than cash. And then it became personal. A year ago, he was lost in the chaos surrounding Tiger Woods as they walked up to the 18th green at East Lake as thousands of spectators came under the ropes to celebrate the return of Tiger Woods in his Sunday red winning a tournament for the first time in more than five years. “I never enjoyed that walk last year like everyone else did,” he said. He appreciated Woods winning. McIlroy did not appreciate that he didn’t make Woods work terribly hard for it.

Recent motivation came from a World Golf Championship last month in Memphis, Tennessee, where he had a one-shot lead over Brooks Koepka, the No. 1 player in the world who had won as many majors in three years as McIlroy had won in the last nine years. Koepka shot 65. McIlroy laid an egg. Sunday at East Lake was his chance for redemption on a number of levels, and he added another one by his questioning of the new format in which not everyone started on the same score. The new system, designed to eliminate confusion by having only one winner on Sunday in the FedEx Cup finale, meant players started more under par depending on their position in the FedEx Cup. McIlroy’s only goal going into the week was to post the lowest score in the 30-man field regardless of whether he won. He closed with a four-under 66, a command performance on a long day of 31 holes because the third round had to resume Sunday morning. That gave him a 13-under 267 for the week, the best of anyone.

Check. Because of his birdie on the 18th hole of the third round, that put him in the final group with Koepka, who beat him soundly in Memphis. That was a strong memory, and being at East Lake, he still thought about the 74 he shot in the final round a year ago while paired with Woods. “I thought about the final group with Tiger last year, the final group with Brooks in Memphis a few weeks ago, and I really wanted to go out there and play well, and really take it to him,” McIlroy said. “And I did that for the most part. I shot 66 on a really tough golf course and got the job done.” Koepka lost the lead with a lost tee shot in the trees and a double bogey on No. 7, and then consecutive bogeys on the back nine as McIlroy made birdies. Koepka closed with a 72, six shots worse. Check. The FedEx Cup? That was a big deal for other reasons. McIlroy joined Woods as the only players to win the FedEx Cup twice since it began in 2007. He struggled to hoist the silver

trophy during the presentation on the 18th green, perhaps from a long day of 31 holes. Paul Azinger, the lead analyst for NBC Sports, jokingly suggested that “as hard a time as he had lifting it up, I thought the money was in there.” For every box he wanted to tick on Sunday, he was asked which made him the most proud. McIlroy never mentioned the money. “Winning the tournament if everyone had started even,” McIlroy said. “My goal at the start of the week was to just shoot the lowest score. If that happened to work out the right way, then so be it. But I never strayed from that thought process. I was playing a little tournament inside my head.... And then going out in the final group and shooting 66 alongside the No. 1 player in the world, when he got the better of me a few weeks ago.” The majors are over, and there’s nothing McIlroy can do it now. Not even a $15 million payout—$14 million in cash, $1 million deferred—or a trophy talked about all year by the

RORY MCILROY makes it clear that the FedEx Cup should be more about accomplishment than cash. AP

PGA Tour can change that kind of legacy. Majors matter the most. For McIlroy, no major matters more than the Masters, the only one keeping him from a Grand Slam. This year’s biggest disappointment was a British Open in his home country of Northern Ireland. He hit his opening tee shot out-of-bounds and made quadruple bogey, rallied the next day with a performance that had the gallery near hysteria, and wound up missing the cut by one shot. That should define his year. He won three times, including The Players Championship against the strongest and deepest field of the year. He won the FedEx Cup. He won the Vardon Trophy for the third time for having the lowest scoring average. He finished in the top 10 in 14 out of his 19 starts on the PGA Tour, his most consistent year ever. His best year? No. That would be 2014, when he finished the year with consecutive majors. Considering what he set out to do with what he had left, it was no less rewarding. AP

Spo

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Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Boomers beam with confidence at World Cup

REIGNING National Basketball Association Most Valuable Player Giannis Antetokounmpo is headed to the basketball World Cup. AP

ELBOURNE, Australia—Australia Assistant Coach Luc Longley says the Boomers’ upset win over the United States on Saturday in a pre-World Cup basketball exhibition game means they’ll go to China with opposing teams thinking of them in a whole new way. “If anyone was sleeping on us they’d be awake now,” Longley said before the Australian squad flew out from Melbourne on Monday. Australia’s World Cup campaign starts on Sunday against Canada. A three-time National Basketball Association (NBA) championship winner with the Chicago Bulls, Longley said the 98-94 win on Saturday, ending a run of 78 straight wins by the US men, was “a bit of an Everest of basketball.” “We recognize it was a friendly but I don’t think you can convince the players it was a friendly,” Longley said. “They were out there playing as hard as I’ve seen them play and that was fantastic to see pre-World Cup.” Longley acknowledged that US Coach Gregg Popovich was experimenting with his playing combination “but, nonetheless, it was a great win and people acknowledge that.” After the Canada game, Australia plays Senegal and Lithuania in group games. The Australian men’s team is aiming to win a medal for the first time at any major international tournament. In 2016 at the Rio Olympics, Australia lost to Spain by one point in the bronze medal playoff game. AP

Van Rooyen bags 1st Euro Tour title

HE reigning National Basketball Association (NBA) Most Valuable Player is headed to the basketball World Cup. So are three other members of this past season’s All-NBA squad, and so is the starting center from the team that won the NBA championship a couple months ago. Most of those guys won’t be playing for the United States. The majority of America’s best players are sitting out the World Cup, while many of the best international players are not. NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo of Greece, fellow All-NBA players Nikola Jokic of Serbia, Rudy Gobert of France, and Marc Gasol of Spain —a

U.S. NO SHOO-IN AT HOOPS WORLDS

significant part of Toronto’s run to the NBA title—are among the headliners who won’t be in US colors when the tournament starts Saturday in China. “We’re going to China with the goal of a medal,” Jokic said. The Denver star isn’t just looking for any medal. He’s seeking gold. And the Serbians would seem to have as good a chance as anyone in a tournament that suddenly looks wide open. France and Australia—which is coming off a 98-94 victory over the United States on Saturday that ended the Americans’ 78-game winning streak in international play—are expected to have

AIRO QUINTANA (Movistar) laid down a huge marker on Stage 2 of the Vuelta Espana with a fine solo stage win in Calpe. The Movistar leader attacked with just over 3 kilometerss to go from an elite group of six and held off a late charge to win ahead of Nicholas Roche (Team Sunweb) and Primoz Roglic (Jumbo Visma). The six-man group formed with around 20 km remaining on a stage that many predicted would end in a bunch sprint. The key move was sparked by a joint attack from Roche and Mikel Nieve (Mitchelton Scott) with the pair quickly joined by Quintana, Rigoberto Uran (EF

Education First), Roglic, and Fabio Aru (UAE Team Emirates). The group of six was too strong for a chase that was lead by race leader Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) who was left isolated after a punishing stage. As the leaders slowly built on their advantage the fight went out of the Lopez group, with the advantage slipping to almost 40 seconds at the finish line. Quintana’s attack with 3 kms to go was well-timed and perfectly executed. Nieve and Roglic both looked to mount a chase but the Colombian had more than enough in the tank to hold on for his second Grand Tour stage win of the season. Roche claimed a well-deserved second place that saw him move into the race lead by two seconds ahead of Quintana with Uran a further six seconds down. Lopez has fallen to fifth at 33 seconds. After two stages this Vuelta has proved to be to anything but predictable but Quintana has at least shown that he has the intent to contest for the overall standings. Lopez wasn’t the only rider caught out on a day of intense drama. Wilco Kelderman, Esteban Chaves, Rafal Majka, and

NAIRO QUINTANA’S attack with 3 kms to go is well-timed and perfectly executed.

Coe hopes emerging young athletes make mark

That means the US is no lock in this tournament. “There are a lot of contenders out there,” US Coach Gregg Popovich said. The Americans are the only team with a roster composed entirely of NBA players, but that isn’t stopping some from scoffing at the notion that the US is vulnerable heading into this tournament because its World Cup roster doesn’t have anything close to a Dream Teamesque level of star-studded names. Spain Coach Sergio Scariolo bluntly dismisses that notion. Scariolo, a Toronto assistant coach when he’s not leading Spain, is quick to point out that a glance at the NBA salaries of the US players dwarfs the combined salaries of every other World Cup roster. When the Americans played Spain in an exhibition earlier this month, the US sent out a starting five that will make roughly $105 million this season. So yes, in terms of earning power, no other

team in the world comes close to the roster that the Americans are bringing to China this week. But as evidenced by how Australia battled the US twice in a pair of exhibitions in Melbourne, and beat the Americans there on Saturday, at least some of the world’s best teams aren’t exactly fearful of the two-time defending World Cup champions. “Let’s let them play their basketball and we will play ours,” Serbia Coach Sasha Djordjevic now-famously said earlier this month. “And if we meet, may God help them.” Clearly, the tournament means quite a bit to Serbia. It means plenty to other nations, as well. Antetokounmpo, the Milwaukee star who won NBA MVP this past season, even said earlier this month that he would give back the award if it could be exchanged for a World Cup gold medal for Greece. “I believe him,” US center and Antetokounmpo’s Bucks teammate Brook Lopez said. “That’s how much he wants this.” AP

QUINTANA WINS VUELTA STAGE 2

OTHENBURG, Sweden—Erik van Rooyen birdied the final hole to win his first European Tour title at the Scandinavian Invitation on Sunday. The South African carded a six-under 64 in the final round at Hills Golf & Sports Club to finish 19 under and a shot ahead of England’s Matt Fitzpatrick (64). “I was so nervous on 18,” Van Rooyen said. “I’ve been putting so well all day and to hole that one to win, it’s my first one, it’s pretty cool.” Home favorite Henrik Stenson, who held a share of the lead after making a hole-inone on the sixth, finished in a tie for third with Dean Burmester of South Africa after both men shot 66. Van Rooyen looked to be in control after six birdies in his first 13 holes, but bogeyed the 17th after Fitzpatrick birdied the same hole. Fitzpatrick also birdied the last to draw level on 18 under but Van Rooyen held his nerve to birdie the last for the fourth day running, holing from 12 feet for the win. AP

ARIS—Usain Bolt’s absence may feel like a giant void for fans, including International Alliance of Athletics Federations (IAAF) President Sebastian Coe, when the world athletics championships begin next month. Bolt retired after the 2017 worlds, taking a haul of gold medals and jaw-dropping world records of 9.58 seconds in the 100 and 19.19 in the 200 with him. A star factor impossible to replicate, let alone replace, also left the sport. “In my lifetime watching sport, I can’t think of anybody other than Muhammad Ali that has had such an extraordinary global reach,” Coe told The Associated Press in an interview Sunday. “Usain was what he was, not simply because he has a sack-load of medals and lots of world records. He was because he has a personality and that’s the other thing we really make sure the athletes understand. Yes, they are in sport but their business is entertainment.” However, the head of track and field’s governing body—who won Olympic golds in the 1,500 in 1980 and ‘84—hopes emerging young athletes make their own mark at the September 27 to October 6 worlds. “I don’t think it’s particularly healthy for a sport to rely on one person, however unbelievable the status is,” the 62-year-old Englishman told the AP at a Paris hotel—one day after the city held a Diamond League meet. “I take a lot of comfort from the prevailing group of athletes. I mean, Noah

five NBA players on their rosters for the World Cup, and Serbia is likely to bring four. In all, more than 60 players with NBA experience are likely to participate in the tournament and only 12 of them are playing for the US. “A lot of teams can be in the medal spots and it’s going to be intense, very hard for every team to be in those spots,” said France’s Nicolas Batum—the only player from the last World Cup All-Tournament team in 2014 who is expected to compete in this year’s event. “But every team, including ours, is going to fight for it, to play at its best level to try to come back home with a medal.” The only US World Cup player who was an All-NBA pick this past season is Kemba Walker, then of the Charlotte Hornets and now of the Boston Celtics. Look at the NBA stats from last season for World Cup-bound players and the leading scorer, the top 3 in assists per game and the top 7 rebounders all are on international rosters. The world is getting better.

Lyles last night was a very good example [winning the 200] in 19.65 seconds.” Lyles is 22 years old and a strong contender to win gold for the US in Doha, Qatar. But his highly rated countryman Christian Coleman may not even compete there.

COLEMAN’S CASE

COLEMAN risks a doping suspension which could rule him out. Coleman has the year’s leading 100-meter time with 9.81 to go with world-leading 100-meter times last year and in 2017. At the 2017 worlds he finished second to Justin Gatlin and ahead of third-place Bolt. But the 23-year-old faces allegations he missed three doping tests over a 12-month period. He said he expects to be cleared when the US Anti-Doping Agency’s arbitration panel rules on September 5. “My absorption of what he is saying is that he will be able to make a strong case as to whatever the issue is. I don’t think there’s much more I can add,” Coe said. “Timing’s not great of course, but I’m not going to speculate about something I have no insight into.”

PROGRESS ON RUSSIA

IN a wide-ranging interview with the AP, Coe addressed other issues—such as the Russian doping scandal and Caster Semenya’s case. IAAF leadership previously faced criticism over its handling of widespread doping in Russia, which remains banned from

international track and field, though dozens of top Russian athletes compete as neutrals. Progress appears to have been made. Rune Andersen, the head of the IAAF’s Russia task force, welcomed a long-awaited payment of $3.2 million to cover costs of monitoring its compliance with anti-doping rules, and old doping samples have been made available for checks. Russia’s anti-doping agency, Rusada, was reinstated by Wada last year. Since then, Rusada has increased drug testing and pursued high-profile investigations such as that of high jumper Danil Lysenko—who allegedly presented forged medical documents as an alibi for failing to notify drug testers of his whereabouts. “I think this is moving in the right direction and the outstanding issues are significantly less than they were,” Coe said. “The new federation has made good progress, there’s no question about that.” Not everyone agrees, even in Russia. Mariya Lasitskene, a two-time high jump world champion, wants the country’s officials and coaches in the sport replaced because of slow reforms. Also, 12 Russian weightlifters were recently charged with doping offenses stemming from Wada investigations covering the last decade. Wada has been analyzing a vast archive of data finally obtained in January from the antidoping laboratory in Moscow, where cases were

routinely covered up for years. The data has been sent to the IAAF’s Athletics Integrity Unit. “I am advised it is like going through 51,000 CDs,” Coe said. “The AIU are painstakingly going through this.” Russian athletes will compete as neutrals in Doha, unless an unlikely decision to reinstate them under the Russian flag is made in time. “I suppose technically they could. I’m not speculating,” said Coe. “We will wait to see where the task force gets. We will get another report [in Doha before the worlds].”

CHANGES OF ALLEGIANCE

BAHRAIN, Qatar and Turkey will compete with squads of elite African-born runners. Countries spent years recruiting them until the IAAF tightened rules for changes of allegiance, fearing athletes were being bought and sold. The new measures include a three-year waiting period, a ban on athletes transferring more than once, and no transfers for those under 20. Coe recalls the chaos surrounding allegiance switches before the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. “An e-mail would arrive to the [IAAF] council. It would say ‘The Federation of X and the federation of Y have agreed the transfer of allegiance and if we don’t hear from you in 36 hours we presume you’re OK with that.’ In one day, we had 23 applications and I [thought] ‘This cannot be right,’” Coe said, sounding exasperated. “I live in a global world and I am mixed race, I have a lot of Indian ancestry, grandparents, and so I recognize there are

David de la Cruz all lost varying degrees of time. After the dramatic team time trial, the start of Stage 2 was dominated by the riders and the entire Vuelta a España holding a minute’s silence as they paid their respects to Bjorg Lambrecht, who tragically lost his life at the Tour de Pologne just a few weeks ago. His Lotto Soudal teammates, still raw from their loss, were intent on putting in a performance for the late Belgian and it was Sander Armée who made it into the main breakaway of the day. He was joined by Jonathan Lastra (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), and eventually Willie Smit (Katusha-Alpecin), and Angel Madrazo (Burgos-BH) as the four riders established a lead of almost seven minutes over the early climbs. Astana was keen to exert their control on the race and held the break at a manageable gap before Bora-Hansgrohe joined the action by posting two domestiques toward the head of affairs. The gap began to eventually tumble after the feed zone and with 57 kms to go the advantage had slipped to just over two minutes. When the time gap dropped to just over a exceptional circumstances. “Sometimes an athlete can be in a climatically challenged environment or you can be in a war zone,” Coe added. “You can’t have athletes being traded, it’s bordering on trafficking if you’re not careful. I’ve had member federation presidents who have said to me openly that they were waking up to emails from people saying ‘We’ve got so and so [who] is available for...’ You can’t have that.”

SEMENYA’S ABSENCE

A CONTENTIOUS decision was made preventing Caster Semenya from defending her title in the 800 meters at the worlds. She won’t do so because a Swiss court overturned a temporary ruling allowing her to compete without testosterone-suppressing drugs. The 28-year-old South African is fighting the IAAF over rules requiring her to take the drugs to counter her naturally high testosterone levels. Semenya was legally classified as female at birth and has identified as female her whole life. She was born with the typical male XY chromosome pattern and a condition that results in male and female biological characteristics and testosterone higher than the typical female range. The Swiss Federal Supreme Court reversed a ruling that temporarily threw out IAAF regulations also upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport. “We made the judgment on what we felt was the best interest of the sport. It was probably inevitable there would be some challenges,” Coe told the AP. “I don’t think we

minute, Armee sensed his moment. He attacked decisively with 39 km to go, and although it was a move that would never make it to the line, it was the spirit of the attack that mattered. Eight kilometers later it was all over for the Lotto Soudal rider, with Jumbo-Visma and Astana moving to the front ahead of the key final climb of the Alto de Puig Llorença with just over 20 km to go. Davide Formolo was the first rider to kick things off on the climb with a stinging attack that was followed by Pierre Latour and George Bennett but the move was brought back and then countered by Alejandro Valverde before a general regrouping on the descent. With Astana short of numbers, Lopez needed to move with any dangerous attacks but he was found wanting when Roche and Subweb attacked with 20 kms remaining. Roche and Nieve were soon joined by Uran, Quintana, Roglic, and Aru but there was no sign of Lopez as the leaders quickly gained a 10-second advantage. There were a few token pulls from Bora in the chase group but the onus was on Lopez’s shoulders the moment he missed the key attack.

Cyclingnews

were particularly surprised by that, and we remain confident that the regulations we have tabled are the right regulations.”

POLITICAL HEAT

QATAR, where October temperatures hit 35 degrees Celsius (95 Fahrenheit), is feeling political heat amid an ongoing Gulf diplomatic crisis with Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. “People say ‘Well it’s a bit warm [there] and I’m not sure about the political structures,’” Coe said. “Well, I’m not sure everybody who came to the London Olympic Games [in 2012] approved of our foreign policy, but they still came.” AP

SEBASTIAN COE talks about Usain Caster Semenya, etc. AP

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sMirror

Tuesday, August 27, 2019 C3

Rookie shows way for UST in collegiate volleyball tilt W HEN University of Santo Tomas (UST) was engaged in a back-and-forth fifth set against College of Saint Benilde, it turned to a rookie to show the way. Showing nerves of steel in the decider, Imee Hernandez nailed the marginal hits that denied the Lady Blazers’ comeback and lifted the Golden Tigresses to their second straight victory in the Premier Volleyball League Season 3 Collegiate Conference. The 5-foot-9 middle blocker hammered down 16 attacks and collected three kill blocks en route to a game-high 20 points, including six in the rubber set. Having displayed maturity beyond her years, Hernandez was deemed the Sports Vision Philippine Volleyball League Collegiate Conference Player of the Week. “She has matured,” said Head Coach Kungfu Reyes of the proud product of

UST high school. Hernandez credited the Tigresses’ coach for easing her transition from high school volleyball to the collegiate level. “While still in high school, coach has taught me what to expect in the collegiate level,” she said. Still, Hernandez assessed herself with a grade of 80 out of a hundred despite an impressive performance for UST as she believes that she has plenty of room for improvement. “I need to improve even more,” she said. Hernandez edged teammate EJ Laure, San Beda’s Cesca Racraquin, Adamson University’s Louie Romero, Arellano University’s Necole Ebuen, Far Eastern University’s Ivana Agudo and the Ateneo duo of Faith Nisperos and Jaja Maraguinot for the weekly award handed out by reporters from print and online covering the league.

Altas meet Tamaraws

NIVERSITY of Perpetual Help tries to come out strong from a week-long break as it shoots for a second straight win against Far Eastern University (FEU) as EasyTrip makes its debut against Centro Escolar University (CEU) in the Spikers’ Turf Open Conference at the Paco Arena in Manila on Tuesday. The Altas toppled the Coast Guard side in four last August 20 to launch their title campaign in Pool C of the four-division tournament of the season-ending conference of the league organized by Sports Vision with Kennry Malinis, Louie Ramirez and Joebert Almodiel expected to lead the Las Piñas-based squad’s charge again. Gametime is at 3 p.m. after CEU tests EasyTrip’s mettle at 1 p.m. with the Scorpions out to bounce back from a shutout loss to the Eco Oil last week. Mapua and University of Santo Tomas, meanwhile, seek to rebound from their opening game setbacks as they face off at 5 p.m. Meanwhile, Emilio Aguinaldo College and

PLDT posted a pair of straight-set wins over their respective rivals while Arellano rallied from a set down to frustrate UST in five in last Sunday’s matches. The EAC Generals drew 14 points from Joshua Mina as they blasted the NCBA Wildcats, 25-15, 25-18, 25-17, in Pool A, while Mark Gil Alfafara unloaded 11 points to power PLDT to a 25-15, 25-21, 25-21 victory over San Sebastian in Pool C. The Chiefs, on the other hand, bucked the Tigers’ power game with gutsy plays in the decider as they hacked out a 20-25, 28-26, 23-25, 25-22, 16-14 decision in another Pool D match.

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

Carlo Dorin’s potential

MOTOLITE’S Diana Mae Carlos (18) scores against Balipure’s Menchie Tubiera (8) and Shirley Salamagos during their Premier Volleyball League Season 3 Open Conference match at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan on Sunday. The Power Builders won, 25-9, 25-20, 25-19. NONOY LACZA

By Ramon Rafael Bonilla

UERTO PRINCESA CITY—Her diminutive and frail looks sell like a weakness but Audrey Tom of Cainta (Rizal) played coy and instantly claimed three gold medals in swimming in Day 1 of the Batang Pinoy National Championships on Monday. Tom, who barely stands at 5 feet with a body designed to puncture like a needle in the pool of the Speaker Ramon V. Mitra Sports Complex, dominated three events in succession in the opening hostilities of the premier grassroots tournament of the Philippine Sports Commission supported by Milo. The 12-year-old Grade 7 student at the University of the Philippines Integrated School ruled the girls 12-under 200-m

Guiao and co. to grace forum

HE Gilas Pilipinas team bound for the Fiba World Cup and a whole lot of other basketball stuff make up for an interesting session of the Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) Forum on Tuesday at the Amelie Hotel-Manila. Coach Yeng Guiao, team captain Gabe Norwood and newly reinstated Kiefer Ravena will be discussing the national team’s tough campaign in the World Cup that officially kicks off this Friday in China. Team Manager Gabby Cui and liaison officer Yvette Ruiz will join the team in the session presented by San Miguel Corp., Braska Restaurant, Amelie Hotel, and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. Also making up the guests list are Milo officials and Gilas Pilipinas girls team member Ella Fajardo, who will talk about the bronze medal feat of the Filipinas in the recent Fiba 3x3 U-18 Asia Cup in Cyberjaya, Malaysia. Fajardo, a BEST Center graduate, will be accompanied by Milo Sports Executives Lester Castillo and Luigi Pumaren, and BEST Center Founder and Chairman Nic Jorge. Gilas Pilipinas girls team Coach Patrick Aquino has also been invited in the 10 a.m. session. Ramon Rafael Bonilla

AMAHANG Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) leaned on the support of fans when it revealed the final lineup that will compete in the Fiba World Cup in China that starts on Saturday. Naturalized player Andray Blatche along with mainstays June Mar Fajardo, Gabe Norwood and Japeth Aguilar led the roster that consisted of veterans and young stars for the centerpiece event that ends September 15. The inclusion of guards Mark Barroca. Paul Lee, Kiefer Ravena and Roger Pogoy, and versatile big men Troy Rosario and Raymond Almazan was no surprise, but it was the addition of rookies Robert Bolick and CJ Perez that proved a revelation. Bolick and Perez, who are just on their first season

in the Philippine Basketball Association, made the cut after impressing in the series of scrimmages both locally and in international camps. SBP President Al Panlilio said the choices are sure to pour everything on the table. “These are the 12 gallant men who will fight for flag and country in the Fiba Basketball World Cup in China, but they would not have gotten this opportunity if not for the sacrifices of all the players, coaches, and staff that helped along the way,” Panlilio said in a statement. “This is your Gilas Pilipinas and they’ll do their best to represent the 100 million Filipinos and promote the Philippine brand of basketball on the world stage,” he added.

individual medley in two minutes and 32.3 seconds. Without the luxury of a long breather, the bemedalled Luzon leg participant returned to the pool and swam 1:03.57 to win the 100-m freestyle. Tom finished the day with a 33.55-second performance in the 50-m backstroke to complete the golden treble. “It feels great. My mom told me to just enjoy the games and have fun,” said Tom—a seventh-grader at the International Learning Academy—who aims to sweep five events with the 50-m butterfly and 50m up in the coming days. Also winning gold medals in swimming were Cotabato Province teammates Isidore Warain (12-under 200 IM), John Alexander Talosig (13-15 200 IM), Arbeen Miguel Thruelen of Quezon City (13-15 100 freestyle), Mark Bryan Dula of Parañaque City (12 and under 50 backstroke) and John Marocenel Alagon of Laguna Province (13-15 50 backstroke). Over at the sprawling track oval, Marc Angelo Daroy of New Washington (Aklan) and Krisha Agullon (Negros Occidental) crowned themselves the fastest athletes in the weeklong multisport competitions backed by the local government of Puerto Princesa City. Despite the lack of potent credentials that

would make him a favorite, Daroy clocked 11.4 seconds to top the 100-m boys, with John Dave Magtangob of Pasig City (11.6 seconds) and Juntine Muñoz of Pangasinan Province (11.7 seconds) completing the podium. Holding his tears back, the Grade 10 New Washington National Comprehensive National High School couldn’t contain the emotion as he dedicated his victory to his family who lives a simple life in the province. “I want to help my family. My father is just a fisherman,” Daroy said. “I want to become a national athlete.” In the girl’s century dash, Agullon timed 12.7 seconds to clinch gold, while Kyla Elona (12.87 seconds) and Erica Marie Ruto (12.9 seconds) came second and third, respectively. Lheslie de Lima of Camarines Sur endured her hurting leg to come out as the first gold medal winner in girls’ 800m. The barefoot runner checked in at 2:22.5 to beat Magvrylle Chrause Matchino (2:25) and Ana Marie Eugenio (2:28.3) at the podium. In the boys’ 800 meters, James Ballester of Laguna Province (2:04.8) snatched the gold over Renzo King Catulay (2:05.6) and Charlie Ong (2:06.6). Don Gabriel Villa of Dasmariñas, Cavite snared the gold in boys’ discus throw in 39.65m, while Kate Martinez of Bago City took top honors in the girls’ side in 33.53 meters.

CARGO MOVERS EYE CROWN

PHILIPPINE Basketball Association rookies Robert Bolick and CJ Perez make the grade.

BOLICK, PEREZ MAKE GILAS

3 GOLDS FOR TOM IN BATANG PINOY

R Injuries riddled the preparation of the squad as Poy Erram and Matthew Wright are still on recoveries. Beau Belga also failed to get the spot, while Los Angeles Laker Jordan Clarkson couldn’t secure permission to play in the World Cup. Yeng Guiao is tasked to do the steering in the second-straight appearance of the country in the world stage. The Filipinos have a big task of advancing to the next round. Gilas is paired with Angola, Italy and Serbia in Group D. The Philippines takes on Italy in the tournament-opener. Next is Serbia on September 2 and Angola on September 4. Ramon Rafael Bonilla

EGAINING the lost title will be its ultimate objective when F2 Logistics battles Cignal in Game 2 of their Philippine Superliga All-Filipino Conference best-of-three finals on Tuesday at the Mall of Asia Arena. Game time is at 7 p.m. with the Cargo Movers looking to finally capture the title they lost Petron in a thrilling finale in 2017 before winning again in 2018. Since acquiring the services of FilipinoAmerican spiker Kalei Mau, F2 Logistics has been invincible. It finished the eliminations with a 12-2 record before creaming Sta. Lucia in the quarterfinals and Foton in the semifinals to book a finals duel with Cignal, which shocked powerhouse Petron in a pair of thrilling semifinal encounters last week. But overcoming the HD Spikers wasn’t easy. In Game 1, the Cargo Movers raced to a two-set lead until Rachel Anne Daquis, Jovelyn Gonzaga, Alohi Robins-Hardy and the HD Spikers launched a furious comeback to drag the match to a deciding fifth set. Fortunately for the Cargo Movers, the championship experience of Aby Marano, Ara Galang and Kim Fajardo as well as the volleyball

prowess of Mau came through in the fifth, allowing them to escape with a nail-biting 25-22, 26-24, 18-25, 17-25 victory, much to the delight of a banner crowd that trooped to the Smart Araneta Coliseum last Saturday. F2 Logistics Coach Ramil de Jesus said Game 2 would be much harder than Game 1. “We’re not expecting an easy fight. In fact, we were looking forward and prepared for a hard battle in Game 1,” said de Jesus following their escape act in Game 1. Skipper Marano added that they would show up prepared to show that they deserve to regain the title that has eluded them for the past two years. “Cignal pushed us to our limits so it is only fitting to double—or even triple—our performance in the next game,” said Marano, who also skippers the national women’s team that will campaign in the 30th Southeast Asian Games this November. True enough, the HD Spikers are just getting warmed up. Cignal Head Coach Edgar Barroga said they may have lost Game 1, but they would still be marching Game 2 with high morale after

THIS will be a first of a series of sports personalities and athletes coming from the City of Golden Friendship, Cagayan de Oro City. I was in CDO over the weekend and had a good conversation with CDO sportswriter and 2017 Rotary Club of Manila Journalism Provincial Reporter of the Year Awardee Mike Banos. Part of that conversation was Carlo Dorin. Carlo Dorin is an 18-year-old football prodigy that nobody outside Monte Carlo Barangay 12 in Cagayan de Oro City knows about. He’s from Monte Carlo, Barangay 12 in Cagayan de Oro City, a treasure trove of football talent. However, these kids start out playing street football and hone their skills by playing almost everyday if not daily. Dorin plays beyond his years. He can dribble the ball and score and finish with either foot. In his young football career, Dorin shown brightest at the 2018 SingaCup where he won the Golden Boot award for most goals scored. As much as the young man is a scorer, part of his game is making his teammates look good. How many assists does he have that directly led to goals? According to Cagayan de Oro City freelance sportswriter Mike Banos, who’s written numerous articles about Dorin, ”Cagayan de Oro booter Carlo Dorin won the coveted Golden Boot award and played a key role in helping the Philippines’s Great Oak Manor [GOM] win back-to-back championships in the prestigious SingaCup in Singapore recently.” Banos continues ”Dorin, started playing street football in Monte Carlo, Barangay 12, Cagayan de Oro when he was 11 years old, was taught the finer points of the beautiful game by Higala FC Coach Weng de la Riarte, for whom he played for four years, eventually becoming an assistant coach. From there he qualified for the Philippine U14 team which played in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Football Festival in Brunei Darussalam in 2015. He also played for Global FC at the United Football League (UFL) Summer Youth football tournament in Manila in 2015. Originally from Monte Carlo, Barangay 12 in Cagayan de Oro, and a student at the Misamis Oriental General Comprehensive High School(MOGCHS). Carlo’s family moved to Bukidnon when his father passed away and he now has a scholarship from the Lyceum of the Philippines University-Cavite in General Trias, Cavite, where he is a grade 9 junior highschool student.” I think Dorin should be in the national team. Players like Pele, Messi and Ronaldo began playing for their respective countries when they were in their teens. I’m not a football expert and I won’t claim to be but a talent like Carlo Dorin should be given an opportunity to tryout and hopefully play for the national side. realizing that they can also play volleyball at an elite level, especially after they masterfully crawled back from a two-set down to forge a decider. And if not for some untimely errors down the stretch, the outcome could have been different. “Our confidence definitely soared after Game 1,” said Barroga, who have inside information on F2 Logistics’ system after former Cargo Movers Norielle Ipac and May Luna joined them in the off-season. “I like what I saw on my team. I saw the fire in their eyes and I know that nobody would back down without putting up a fight,” Barroga added. Team captain Daquis, who was the Most Valuable Player when Petron made historic sweep of the All-Filipino in 2015, stressed that the loss in Game 1 only fire them up. “It was such a close and good fight,” said Daquis, a former national team mainstay. “The mere fact that we were able to play against them in five sets is already enough for us to be confident heading into Game 2,” Daquis added. “We just have to work hard to get that victory.” “And once we win Game 2, anything could happen.” Should Cignal prevail, Game 3 is set on Thursday at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan.

Sports BusinessMirror

| Tuesday, August 27, 2019 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

Messi, LeBron inspire Griezmann as Barcelona make Betis eat dust

M ANTOINE GRIEZMANN picks up glitter from someone who appears to be a staff member and throws it up in the air with his arms spread in the style of LeBron James’s chalk toss routine over the years. AP

NEYMAR? NO NEED

ERIC MAXIM Choupo-Moting’s opener was a welcome breakthrough. AP

By Jerome Pugmire The Associated Press

ARIS—After being involved in one of the most comical moments in European football last season, striker Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting distinguished himself with a fine goal and scored a second as Paris Saint-Germain beat Toulouse, 4-0, in the French league on Sunday. The resounding win came at a price, however, as PSG forwards Edinson Cavani and Kylian Mbappe, clutching the back of his left leg and grimacing, limped off. PSG Coach Thomas Tuchel said the players will have tests Monday to determine the extent of their injuries. Despite being match fit, record signing Neymar remains unavailable as he seeks to push through a move away from the club—a situation which appears increasingly exasperating for Tuchel. “Today was the occasion [for him to play]...it’s certain he could have played today,” Tuchel said in French on Canal Plus television. “It’s not a clear situation and it should be clear.” Tuchel then went as far as to suggest he has little or no say as to whether Neymar can play against Metz on Friday—just days before the transfer window shuts. It was Choupo-Moting, then, who replaced Cavani in the 13th minute and he will not enjoy many nights like this. Receiving a pass from Angel Di Maria, the Cameroon striker burst into the penalty area, span around with one touch to move inside two defenders and drilled the ball into the bottom left corner with the next touch in the 50th minute. It was only his fourth goal in 23 league games since a surprise move from unheralded English side Stoke last season. In April, Choupo-Moting was widely mocked on social networks for an

extraordinary passage of play in a 2-2 home draw against Strasbourg. Amid disbelieving looks from teammates, he somehow prevented a goal for his team despite the ball being about to cross the goal line, gently nudging the ball onto the post before it was cleared by defenders. He was only on the field on Sunday night due to an injury to Cavani, who limped off with what appeared to be a leg muscle injury. Midway through the second period, Mbappe left the field after appearing to hurt his hamstring. After a first half in which Mbappe missed good chances, ChoupoMoting’s opener was a welcome breakthrough. Five minutes later, it was 2-0 when Toulouse defender Mathieu Goncalves turned Pablo Sarabia’s cross into his own net.

Goncalves was harshly judged to have conceded a penalty soon after, slipping over in the area and powerless to stop Sarabia’s cross hitting his left arm. Referee Jerome Brisard still gave it, despite a video review. With Cavani injured and Neymar absent, Di Maria took the spot kick and saw his effort well saved by goalkeeper Baptiste Reynet. Choupo-Moting confidently drove home a cross from left back Juan Bernat in the 75th and Brazil defender Marquinhos headed in Di Maria’s corner from the left late on for the fourth goal as PSG climbed up to third place with six points—three points behind leader Rennes. Lyon can move back top on goal difference with a win at Montpellier on Tuesday. Rennes won 2-0 at Strasbourg. Confidence was high after last Sunday’s 2-1 home win against PSG, and goals from midfielder Clement Grenier in the first half and powerful center forward M’Baye Niang soon after the break made it nine points from three games. Monaco, meanwhile, is still seeking its first win after drawing 2-2 at home to Nimes. New signings Wissam Ben Yedder and Islam Slimani scored to put Monaco 2-0 up at halftime. But after Brazilian defender Jemerson’s 55th-minute sending off, Nimes hit back through midfielder Romain Philippoteaux and 18-year-old forward Kévin Denkey. Jemerson was shown a yellow card for a tackle from behind on Philippoteaux, but the referee changed it to a red following a video review.

Man City, Spurs discover high bar for VAR on penalty

ONDON—With video assistant referee (VAR) in its third weekend in the Premier League, Manchester City and Tottenham now know just how high the threshold is for penalty calls to be overturned by video reviews. City was denied a penalty even when Bournemouth midfielder Jefferson Lerma stood on David Silva’s foot. The champions were leading at the time and Sergio Aguero went on to score his second goal in a 3-1 win. But Tottenham had no such good fortune against Newcastle later on Sunday. Trailing to Joelinton’s goal, Tottenham thought it had a late chance to grab an equalizer when Harry Kane tumbled after being impeded in the penalty area by Jamaal Lascelles. But referee Mike Dean had already let play continue without awarding a spot kick. And when the VAR review finally took place, the original decision was not overruled—indicating a lack of clear evidence the original decision was wrong—and Newcastle won 1-0. Tottenham lost its first match of the season a week after VAR did help the London club gain a point at the Etihad Stadium when a City handball was spotted in the run-up to what looked like being Gabriel Jesus’s winner. City Manager Pep Guardiola is exasperated by how VAR is being applied.

“It was clear hands last game, clear hands. A penalty today? No, please,” Guardiola said sarcastically. “The challenge this season will be amazing for us after winning back-to-back two titles, the challenge will be great.” Tottenham Manager Mauricio Pochettino wasn’t going to blame the application of the new technology. “I trust in the VAR,” Pochettino said. “I am happy to have VAR and more than happy that they check. But if it’s not a penalty you keep going.” There was one penalty awarded on Sunday, enabling Wolverhampton to grab a stoppage time equalizer against Burnley. Unlike in the City and Tottenham games, referee Craig Pawson had already pointed to the spot when Raúl Jiménez was fouled by Erik Pieters. Jiménez netted from the spot to cancel out Ashley Barnes’s strike and seal a 1-1 draw for Wolves.

SILVA SERVICE

ON his 400th City appearance, David Silva was as influential as ever in pulling the strings for his team. With City already leading through Aguero’s strike, Silva slipped in the ball for Sterling to get his fifth goal in three league games.

TOTTENHAM’S Harry Kane falls after he is tackled by Newcastle’s Jamaal Lascelles. AP

It came just before Harry Wilson scored directly from a brilliant free kick to reduce the deficit back to a single goal before halftime. Then, after Silva was denied a penalty after being caught by Lerma, the Spaniard jinked into the penalty area to set up Aguero for City’s third. “He has a sense to move between the lines like nobody else in the world,” Guardiola said of Silva. “He is a fighter.”

UNCERTAIN FUTURE

TOTTENHAM looks to Christen Eriksen to unpick teams like Silva does for City. That’s when the Dane is starting. Just like in the opening game against Aston Villa, Eriksen was only deployed in the second half as doubts linger over his future ahead of the transfer window closing on the continent in a week. “It is so difficult, the situation,” Pochettino said. Unlike against Villa, when Eriksen’s arrival inspired a comeback, Tottenham couldn’t find a way to break through a resolute Newcastle. Kane barely got a touch in the opposition penalty area and Son Heungmin was lacking sharpness on his first appearance of the season after serving a suspension. AP

ADRID—Antoine Griezmann copied Lionel Messi to score a goal and then imitated National Basketball Association (NBA) star LeBron James to celebrate it. Griezmann thrived on his Camp Nou debut with Barcelona on Sunday, scoring twice to lead the Catalan club to its first Spanish league win of the season with a 5-2 rout of Real Betis. The newly signed French forward scored his first goal with Barcelona in the first half after Betis had taken an early lead, then took inspiration from Messi to curl in a left-footed shot shortly after halftime. “I see Messi doing that in practice and I tried to copy him,” Griezmann said. To celebrate his second goal, Griezmann went near the Barcelona fans behind the goal, picked up glitter from someone who appeared to be a staff member and threw it up in the air with his arms spread in the style of James’s chalk toss routine over the years. “I like LeBron’s ritual and I tried to imitate him,” Griezmann said. Griezmann came through for Barcelona as Messi and Luis Suárez watched from the stands because of injuries. Carles Pérez, Jordi Alba and Arturo Vidal also scored for Barcelona. Nabil Fekir and Loren Morón scored for Betis. Barcelona had lost 1-0 at Athletic Bilbao last weekend for its first opening league defeat in a decade. Messi had already missed that game because of a calf injury, while Suárez got hurt before halftime in Bilbao. Forward Ousmane Dembele also was out injured on Sunday. Griezmann, who joined from Atlético Madrid for €120 million ($133 million) in the offseason, had started at Barcelona with a lackluster performance in the opener. But he took charge on Sunday, scoring his first goal after sliding to a cross from Sergi Roberto in the 41st minute. Griezmann’s second came in the 50th with his well-placed shot that was just out of reach of Betis goalkeeper Dani Martín. “It was an important match for him,” Barcelona Coach Ernesto Valverde said of Griezmann. “He was fully focused from the start, like all the other players.” Sergio Busquets was superb for Barcelona in midfield but had to be substituted in the 72nd with an apparent injury. Forward Ansu Fati, 16, made his senior-team debut with Barcelona as a second-half substitute, becoming the second youngest to play with the club in the Spanish league. Atlético Madrid earlier won 1-0 at Leganés to join Sevilla as the only two teams with straight victories to start the league. Real Madrid opened with a win but was held by Valladolid to a 1-1 draw at home on Saturday. AP

Almighty God

EAR God, Your Son rejoiced in the friendship of Martha, Mary and Lazarus. With hope in the love and communion that friendship bears, we pray: Let our lives give glory to You, oh God. Make Your Church a place of welcome and a sanctuary of hope for all people. Help us to show appreciation, affection and love to our friends. Bless those who feed others, and help us to support healthy farming and a just distribution of food. May God bless us with every gift of the Spirit so that we may lavishly share the love of Jesus with one another. 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

CIRCLES: RIEL HILARIO ON CHASING CREATURES AND AN INTANGIBLE HERITAGE D4

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

PHINMA PROPERTIES LAUNCHES LIKHA RESIDENCES

❶ ❶ A MASTER

bedroom designed by Lauren Buxbaum Gordon where a natural fiber rug adds warmth and softness around the bed, while a smaller throw rug adds a touch of bold pattern. PHOTOS: AP

❷ A KITCHEN

designed by interior designer Ashley Moore, who used a vintage Moroccan rug to add warmth and color, its appealingly worn look blending beautifully with the reclaimed wood floor.

❷

Choosing the right rug for the room By MeliSSa rayWOrTH The Associated Press

WARM, cozy rug can make a room look and feel more appealing on even the chilliest fall night. And the right rug can be a source of comfort year-round. “They’re also great in the summer, if you think about it, because your shoes are off, you’re in your shorts, the house is airconditioned,” says designer Michelle Gerson, founder of Michelle Gerson Interiors, based in New York. “You love to put your toes in a big cozy rug.” How do you choose the perfect rug for your space? The latest options include everything from century-old Moroccan rugs to trendy, open-weave “sweater rugs” available at the click of a button. Here, three interior designers—Gerson; Texas-based Ashley Moore; and Lauren Buxbaum Gordon, design director of Nate Berkus Associates—offer advice on choosing rugs and using them strategically to add color, texture and warmth to a room. NEUTRAL, BOLD OR BOTH? GORDON and Moore both advise clients to consider rugs as beautiful, neutral backdrops for the rest of a room. “Instead of being bold on pattern and color,” Gordon says, she prefers to get creative with the look and texture of the material. She might choose a flat-weave jute rug in a neutral color, or “mohair, woven-knit rugs that look like sweaters,” depending on the room and the client. Really lush materials like alpaca can make a dramatic statement without bold color or pattern. Moore’s approach is similar: “I tend to have it as a neutral palette, because it tends to be one of the most expensive pieces in the house,” she adds. If a client is seeking pops of bold color or pattern, she brings that in through items like pillows and accessories that can easily be changed if the homeowner wants something new. “It’s easier to change a pillow,” Moore says, “than it is to change a 12-by-14 rug.” If you’re craving a bit of color in the rug, flat-woven kilims that are mainly neutral but have some color can be a good compromise, especially if they are vintage and the hues have softly faded. LAYERING LAYERING rugs can give you both looks in one: a larger, neutral base with something

striking, like a thin Moroccan rug with a colorful, intricate pattern, laid on top. Moroccan rugs “look good anywhere,” Gerson says. “You can put one in a fancy Parisian apartment and it makes it look cool. Or you can put it in your kid’s dorm room and it makes it look cool.” Moore uses one as a runner on her kitchen floor to add a burst of color. She also says they can be great if you’ve bought a home with wall-to-wall carpeting that you don’t love but aren’t ready to actually pull up. “My carpet in the bedroom is actually really dark, so I have a bright rug on it now,” she says. Beyond adding color, the smaller rug helps “define the space,” she adds. If you’re layering, make sure the rugs are the right size, Gerson says. “Type into Pinterest ‘layered rugs,’” she adds, and search for pictures you love. Note the sizes of the rugs and their placement, so you can create the right balance in your own space. SOFTNESS AND DURABILITY MANY people are particular about what their feet touch first thing in the morning, Gordon says. So a thick rug of mohair or soft, fluffy wool can be a great choice. But in houses with young children or pets, an openweave rug may soon look worn. Many wool or mohair rugs also shed, especially less expensive ones. That may be a worthwhile trade-off: If you’re buying a rug for a child’s room and know you’ll be redecorating in just a few years, Gordon says, you might be “fine with knowing that it may shed.” But while “no one wants to pay the price tag for a five-figure custom rug,” she says, sometimes that is the wiser longterm investment. Not sure about the durability of a rug you find online? Read the comments, Moore says, to see what other shoppers have experienced. And consider going vintage: If a rug has already survived a long time and still looks good, Moore says, it will probably weather the wear you will give it, too. Natural fibers like wool and silk are surprisingly easy to clean, these designers say. Just make sure you clean them the right way. Fight the urge to wipe a stain (which can rub it in further), and instead grab your vacuum cleaner hose to lift the stain up, Gerson says. And protect rugs before stains happen: These designers suggest having rugs (and upholstery, too) professionally sealed. Many companies offer the service because, Gerson notes, “everybody spills.” n

AFTER three decades of providing affordable housing options for Filipino families, Phinma Properties marks its return to the luxury market. Located in Kilometer 19, West Service Road in Cupang, Muntinlupa City, Likha Residences by Phinma Properties had its groundbreaking ceremony recently in the south of the metropolis. Named after the Filipino word for “create,” Likha Residences is an upscale development spanning 1.2 hectares of land. On this site, 68 townhouses will be built with three- and four-story options available. Inspired by the modern Filipino’s desire for both luxury and comfort, Architect Angelo Mañosa, principal designer of Mañosa & Co. Inc., is merging contemporary designs with the natural and eco-friendly elements of the bahay kubo. “My vision for Likha Residences is to design a home that’s accommodating, spacious, and livable for its residents,” explains Mañosa. The architectural firm’s inspired creations, including the Coconut Palace, Moonwalk Church, and Amanpulo Resort, were greatly influenced by the bahay kubo, as well. Beyond living in a Mañosa masterpiece, homeowners of Likha Residences can also enjoy being in proximity to esteemed schools, hospitals, churches and even supermalls in the Parañaque and Muntinlupa areas. It is also accessible to central business districts, such as Makati CBD and Bonifacio Global City. The launch of Likha Residences ushers in a new era for Phinma Properties, whose vision is to provide nurturing, high-quality homes for Filipino homeowners. With its series of stable and secure developments, the company continues to foster strong communities and cultivate the well-being of its dwellers. “Through this collaboration, we have set a new benchmark for our future properties,” says Raphael B. Felix, president and CEO of Phinma Properties. No doubt, Likha Residences will redefine the way Filipino families create their life stories.

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

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Today’s Horoscope By Eugenia Last

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Alexa Vega, 30; Aaron Paul, 39; Sarah Chalke, 42; Chandra Wilson, 49.

A rich mystery awaits in S.J. Rozan’s ‘Paper Son’ By Oline H. Cogdill The Associated Press

.J. ROZAN’S affinity for little known facts about Chinese culture has fueled exciting thrillers featuring private detectives Lydia Chin and Bill Smith. Memorable plots include a Jewish settlement in China comprised of refugees fleeing Nazi Germany (The Shanghai Moon), political art (Ghost Hero) and restaurant workers’ union (A Bitter Feast). In the outstanding Paper Son (Pegasus Books), Rozan uses the history of Chinese immigrants who established regular grocery stores serving predominantly black neighborhoods in the Mississippi Delta during the early 20th century to sculpt a story about family, culture, prejudice and community. These businesses took hold because the Chinese laborers’ jobs

building the railroads dried up and white grocers who would not sell to black residents. Lydia, a Chinese American who lives with her traditional mother in New York’s Chinatown, had never heard of Chinese grocers nor did she know that she had relatives living in Mississippi until a tragedy happens. Her 23-year-old cousin, Jefferson Tam, has been arrested for the murder of his grocer father, Leland. Despite the strong evidence, Lydia’s mother refuses to believe any relative—no matter how distant— could be a murderer. She wants Lydia and Bill to go to Clarksdale, Mississippi, to prove Jefferson’s innocence. That alone is a revelation since Lydia’s mother has never approved of her profession and has even less regard for Bill, who is white. With Jefferson’s uncle, Capt. Pete Tam, as their guide, Lydia and Bill

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Expand your ideas and participate in events, activities and pursuits that will help you develop, as well as open up new opportunities to advance. Use your skills to create something new and exciting. Travel, meetings and sharing your ideas will help you gain the momentum you need to make your dreams come true. Don’t fear failure or the unknown. Your lucky numbers are 4, 16, 22, 25, 34, 36, 49.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Take pride in what you do. Whether you want to impress someone you love or you are trying to be your best, the effort you put in will deter criticism, as well as make others take note of what you accomplish. HHH

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Don’t worry so much about the impossible; work with what’s available, and you will get things done. Getting into a dispute with someone will only slow you down. Be content with what you have, and do your own thing. HHHH

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): An emotional situation will leave you wondering where you stand. Be open and honest, and let your intentions and expectations be known. Walk away from anyone stringing you along. Personal gains are favored, along with physical improvements and a positive lifestyle change. HH

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Don’t give up on your dreams. It’s important not to let the demands others put on you, take precedence over what makes you feel good about who you are and what you want to accomplish. Follow through with your plans. HHHHH

maneuver through the morass of bigotry and an economically depressed community overwhelmed with drugs. Although the Tams have lived in Clarksdale for generations, the family still is disconnected from the rest of the town. However, those family members who moved away to larger cities have a different experience, including Reynold Tam, whose father married a white woman and who is running for governor of Mississippi. Chinese families are complicated, as Lydia explains to Bill. While these people are distant relatives, they are still family. Adding to the

tangled family tree are those men who are “paper sons”—immigrants who convinced naturalized Chinese Americans to file papers identifying them as a son. In some cases, these “sons” had never met their “fathers.” A bit of money helped. Lydia and Bill were last seen in 2011’s Ghost Hero, but Rozan’s intricate plotting and affinity for characterization is seamless, making the reader remember how much we missed spending time with these private detectives. Rozan uses the historical footnote of Chinese grocers as a springboard for a rich, deeply satisfying mystery. n

‘A DANGEROUS MAN’ IS SUSPENSEFUL, TIGHTLY WRITTEN By Bruce DeSilva The Associated Press JOE PIKE is about to climb into his Jeep on Los Angeles’s Miracle Mile when he sees a man force a young woman into the back seat of a waiting car. When the car pulls away from the curb, Pike follows. Fans of Robert Crais’s fine series of private eye novels featuring Elvis Cole and Joe Pike can predict what happens next in A Dangerous Man: An Elvis Cole and Joe Pike Novel (G.P. Putnam’s Sons). Pike, the dangerous man of the title, catches the car at a stoplight, smashes the driver’s side window, drags the driver and his accomplice out, and roughs them up enough to give one

of them a concussion. But when the young woman, Isabel Roland, is promptly kidnapped a second time, it’s apparent something more than a simple abduction is at work. Pike, determined to solve the mystery and save the girl, calls his pal Elvis Cole for help. Although Cole and Pike stand up for the underdog, the two partners are otherwise profoundly different. Cole is a sociable fellow who wears Hawaiian shirts, can chuckle about himself and would be a hoot to hang out with. Pike is a scowling former Marine sniper and an enigmatic loner who doesn’t find much of anything to laugh about. This time around,

Pike drives the action with Cole and medical examiner John Chen, another recurring character, in supporting roles. As they search for Isabel, Stetson-wearing US Marshal Pryor Gregg is investigating the torture and murder of a retired marshal. When Gregg realizes the murder and Isabel’s abduction are related, he pays Cole a visit and the action ramps up. This is the 17th Cole and Pike novel, putting it well past the point that many crime fiction series become repetitive or otherwise lose their steam. But A Dangerous Man—suspenseful, fastpaced, tightly written and peopled with compelling characters—is one of Crais’s best.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Your charm may help you drum up support, but before you present and promote your plans, make sure you’ve ironed out all the wrinkles. Be ready to take action and demonstrate physically how you plan to proceed. HHH

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Spend time with people who can offer a different perspective on life. Trying something new or blending what you have done in the past with new and diverse methods moving forward will help you expand your plans. HHH

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Don’t let anyone stifle your creativity or your desire to do meaningful things. You can keep the peace and still follow your heart if you steer clear of people who tend to interfere in your affairs. HHH

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Give in to your feelings and desires. Don’t listen to someone who is looking out for his or her own interests. It’s time to do your own thing and to explore what makes you happy. HHHHH

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): An emotional situation will take a nosedive if you believe everything you hear. Someone will lead you astray, trying to manipulate the choice you make. Take a step back and consider what’s better for you. Don’t give in to emotional manipulation. HHH

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Look back before moving forward. Combining the past with the present will help you head into the future with strength and courage. Getting together with someone you have worked with in the past will give your old ideas a trendy look. HHHH

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Look at what you can do and the changes you can make. Rethink your current health regimen and consider what you need mentally, physically and emotionally to look and feel your best. HHH

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): You’ll have an interesting way of dealing with others. Before you bring about change, make sure you have explained in detail how you plan to proceed. It’s better to have the support of those you love and respect before moving forward. HHH BIRTHDAY BABY: You are steady, ambitious and practical. You are helpful and an overachiever.

‘among thieves’ BY VICTOR FLEMING The Universal Crossword/Edited by David Steinberg

ACROSS 1 The ___ of Water 6 Tolkien protagonist 11 Fifth-century nomad 14 Hamilton character Burr 15 Competitor 16 Multimedia artist Yoko 17 What a shopper legally does 19 Spinning speed meas. 20 Rebekah’s eldest 21 Composer Brian 22 Judge’s assignments 24 What a breakfast cook legally does 28 Game summaries 31 Beach birds 32 Wear away 33 Witty Mort 35 Start of choosing verse 38 ___ card (cellphone insertion) 39 Takes from, or an apt alternate title for this puzzle 42 New beginning? 43 Golf course props 45 “Didn’t mean to drop that!” 46 High-tech surgical tool 48 Defense group that was HQed in

Bangkok 0 Withdraw officially 5 51 What a minimally helpful person legally does 55 Like a cool autumn day 56 Minor criticism 57 Ilhan in the House 61 Paddling implement 62 What a runner on a diamond legally does 66 Rockies, e.g.: Abbr. 67 Governor or mayor 68 Fresh starter 69 Stake 70 Play-of-color gems 71 Process parts DOWN 1 Enclosure for an ed. 2 Hems’ partners 3 Kiri Te Kanawa solo 4 Browsing annoyance 5 Chicago-to-Detroit dir. 6 Swiss bank money 7 Photocopier company 8 Eggs 9 Women’s org. since 1890

0 Typical trade-in 1 11 Instinctive shrewdness 12 Pull out, as a dowel 13 Request to leave out a food additive 18 Yachting settings 23 Fashionable Klein 25 Old phone abbr. 26 Culture values 27 ___-fulfilling prophecy 28 Enjoy a day off 29 Port city of Pennsylvania 30 Precedes all others 33 Many an SNL skit 34 Egyptian snake 36 Financial aid basis, usually 37 Long-gone days 40 Greek letter whose name has three vowels 41 Make tracks 44 Wimbledon units 47 Trapeze performer, e.g. 49 Requests that one attend 50 Some NCOs 51 Drop the ___ (confess deep affection) 52 More than a little upset

3 Counting everything 5 54 Frasier brother 58 Gander’s gender 59 “Pronto!” 60 Some wines 63 15 percent of a bill, often 64 LAX info 65 Mule’s father Solution to yesterday’s puzzle:

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Tuesday, August 27, 2019

GERARD BUTLER (left) and Morgan Freeman in Angel Has Fallen, the Ric Roman Waugh film which is the third installment in the series, opening as the No. 1 film in North America.

ANGELINA JOLIE attends the Go Behind the Scenes with the Walt Disney Studios, press line at the 2019 D23 Expo on August 24, in Anaheim, California. AP

Jolie shares pride in son Maddox, joining Marvel movie By Ryan Pearson The Associated Press ANAHEIM, California—Angelina Jolie says she’s “so proud” that her 18-year-old son is leaving home to study biochemistry in South Korea. The actress was seen in video released several days ago dropping her son Maddox off at Yonsei University in Seoul, and holding back tears. “I didn’t realize everybody had watched me do it,” she said on Saturday at the D23 Expo in Anaheim, California. “It felt very private when we were there and just fun. But the school is so wonderful and we’re so proud that he’s there. And it’s a great university and I’m just amazed I have a son who’s that smart.” Jolie is in two upcoming Disney movies: a sequel to Maleficent and Marvel Studios’ Eternals. “They called me—but I was so happy. I think I just didn’t see myself that way. I thought I was kind of ready to direct and sit home,” Jolie said of joining Eternals. “I was but I’m now I’m going to be dressing in gold and jumping around.” Eternals, which will feature actors, including Salma Hayek, Brian Tyree Henry and Kumail Nanjiani, is set for release next year. It’s directed by filmmaker Chloe Zhao, until now best known for critically acclaimed indie films like The Rider.

NETFLIX RELEASES NEW ‘13 REASONS WHY’ SEASON

‘Angel Has Fallen’ tops box office with $21.3-million debut

WHO killed Bryce Walker? Everyone has their reasons.... The secrets at Liberty High run deep, and in the aftermath of the homecoming game, all of the friends have something to hide. As the mystery of his death engulfs the town, there are numerous suspects in focus. But were any of them truly capable of murder? And who is the new girl Ani? Detective Sandall is determined to get to the truth, but with a web of secrets and lies this tangled, will anyone be found guilty? The Season 3 cast includes Dylan Minnette as Clay Jensen, Brandon Flynn as Justin Foley, Justin Prentice as Bryce Walker, Alisha Boe as Jessica Davis, Christian Navarro as Tony Padilla, Miles Heizer as Alex Standall, Devin Druid as Tyler Down, Ross Butler as Zach Dempsey, Timothy Granaderos as Montgomery de la Cruz, Anne Winters as Chloe, Steven Weber as Principal Bolan, Brenda Strong as Mrs. Walker, Amy Hargreaves as Mrs. Jensen, introducing Grace Saif as Ani, Bex Taylor-Klaus as Casey and Tyler Barnhardt as Charlie.

By Jake Coyle The Associated Press

EW YORK—Angel Has Fallen easily topped the box office with a $21.3-million debut, according to studio estimates Sunday, as the action sequel became the latest mid-budget release to find modest success in the often quiet late summer. The Lionsgate film beat expectations going into the weekend, opening similarly to the previous 2016 installment London Has Fallen. The film series stars Gerard Butler as a Secret Service agent protecting the US president played by Morgan Freeman. In Angel Has Fallen, Butler’s agent is wrongly accused of trying to assassinate the president. Going back to 2013’s Olympus Has Fallen, the franchise has been a quietly consistent performer, taking in roughly $200 million worldwide each time. Angel Has Fallen, produced for about $40 million by Millennium Films, is poised for a similar course, opening just shy of the $21.6-million London Has Fallen debut. David Spitz, president of domestic distribution for Lionsgate, pointed to the film’s “A-” CinemaScore and 94 percent audience score on Rotten Tomatoes (far better than the 39 percent critic score) as good

word-of-mouth harbingers for the continued playability of Angel Has Fallen through the last weeks of summer. “That’s a great sign that the movie is going to be in theaters for a long time,” Spitz said. “Overperforming this weekend and exit polls suggesting we’re going to have a nice long runway is terrific.” Late August is known as a sleepy period at the box office, but it’s also one of the few parts of the calendar relatively light on big-budget tentpole releases. That’s given some room for recent successes such as Universal’s comedy hit Good Boys, which slid to second with $11.8 million. Last week, it became the first R-rated comedy in more than three years to land at No. 1. And the Lionsgate-distributed Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark has also flourished in August, taking in $50.5 million in three weeks including $6 million this weekend. Some of the bigger films are still expanding around the globe, though. The Fast & Furious spinoff Hobbs & Shaw opened this weekend in China—where the highoctane franchise has regularly thrived—grossing $102 million and pushing the film to a worldwide total of $588.9 million. Disney’s The Lion King, after seven weeks of release, still ranks among the top 4 films domestically and has now passed $1.5 billion worldwide. That ranks ninth all time, not accounting for inflation. However, the acclaimed Fox Searchlight horror release Ready or Not, about a bride forced into a deadly game of hide-and-seek with her new in-laws, got off to a lackluster start. It took in $7.6 million in ticket sales and $10.6 million since opening on Wednesday. Faring better was the Christian film Overcomer, from Sony’s Affirm Films, which landed in third with an $8-million opening weekend. It also scored an “A+” CinemaScore from audiences. Among specialty releases, Amazon’s Brittany Runs a Marathon, about a young woman (Jillian Bell) who devotes herself to running to lose weight, scored the weekend’s most packed theaters. It debuted with a per-theater average of $35,194 in five locations.

‘Hello, Love, Goodbye’ marks box-office record in the Middle East DUBAI, United Arab Emirates—The ABSCBN Films Star Cinema movie Hello, Love, Goodbye set records in the Middle East on its first week of screening in the region. The film, which stars Kathryn Bernardo and Alden Richards, is now considered the highest-grossing Filipino film in the Middle East with a total gross of more than $1 million as of August 18. As of August 16, it has grossed more than P600 million in the Philippines and more than $2 million worldwide. Adding to that, Hello, Love, Goodbye is the first-ever Filipino-produced film that screens in Jeddah and Dammam in Saudi Arabia. The excitement for the film was

undeniable, with the region recording six sold-out special premiere screenings which happened on August 9 and 10 at the Reel Cinemas in The Dubai Mall and Al Ghurair Mall, in Dubai; and Oscar Cinemas in Al Wahda Mall, Abu Dhabi. It was also the first Filipino film that was screened in the prestigious Dubai Opera in Dubai on August 25 to an estimated audience of 2,000 people. “We at ABS-CBN TFC are grateful, first, to the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for their support as we make possible for our fellow Filipinos in the kingdom to enjoy watching in cinemas a Filipino-produced film,” said ABS-CBN Europe, Middle East and Africa Managing

Director Joseph Arnie Garcia. Garcia adds: “We are also overwhelmed with the warm reception of Filipinos and non-Filipinos alike to Hello, Love, Goodbye, inspiring every one of us to bring more content, movies, events, and public service that is of value to the community.” Hello, Love, Goodbye tells the story of Joy (Kathryn Bernardo) and Ethan (Alden Richards), two young overseas Filipinos in Hong Kong whose meeting will impact each other’s view and plans in life. The film are having extended screenings in the Middle East. More information is available at emea. kapamilya.com.

KATHRYN BERNARDO and Alden Richards in Hello, Love, Goodbye.

And Roadside Attractions’ Peanut Butter Falcon made an impression in expansion, taking in $3 million from 984 theaters. The film stars Zack Gottsagen, who has Down syndrome, Shia LaBeouf and Dakota Johnson. 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. Angel Has Fallen, $21.3 million ($8.4 million international) 2. Good Boys, $11.8 million ($3.5 million international) 3. Overcomer, $8 million 4. The Lion King, $8.2 million ($30 million international) 5. Hobbs & Shaw, $8.1 million ($120 million international) 6. Ready or Not, $7.6 million 7. The Angry Birds 2 Movie, $6.4 million ($10.2 million international) 8. Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, $6 million ($3.5 million international) 9. Dora and the Lost City of Gold, $5.2 million ($3.2 million international) 10. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, $5 million ($28 million international). Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at international theaters (excluding the US and Canada), according to comScore. 1. Hobbs & Shaw, $120 million 2. The Lion King, $30 million 3. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, $28 million 4. Ne Zha, $22.9 million 5. The Angry Birds Movie 2, $10.2 million 6. Angel Has Fallen, $8.4 million 7. The Bravest, $6.1 million 8. The Secret Life of Pets, $4.9 million 9. Metamorphosis, $4.7 million 10. Crawl, $4.1 million. n

Art

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Tuesday, August 27, 2019

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THE three-part exhibit of Riel Hilario at West Gallery, titled Phenomenology of Magical Thinking, features a series of book sculptures, sketches of the artist’s favorite authors and his famed rebultos. The show runs until September 21.

Riel Hilario on chasing creatures and an intangible heritage CIRCLES JT NISAY

jtnisay@gmail.com

RT multi-hyphenate Riel Hilario recounts being in the mountains in 2007. It’s 4 am and he’s in the wilderness chasing what he describes as “human-headed birds.” The pursuit, however, ended with him falling into the water. Floating on his back, he looked up in the sky and saw the creatures in the guise of a woman, with fully extended wings for arms. Hilario makes no qualms about being schizophrenic. He acknowledges having “altered states of consciousness,” and wants people to do the same, believing that “properly articulated, it can be a creative path.” Such is the premise of Hilario’s ongoing exhibit at West Gallery in Quezon City, titled Phenomenology of Magical Thinking. Launched last week and ongoing until September 21, the show serves as the first of a series that tackles the artist’s mental condition, with hopes to inspire people facing the same issues. Hilario said whenever he goes hypomanic, a condition marked by elation and hyperactivity, he would hear voices, get flooded with ideas and

see visions. He never thought it to be a form of irregularity until 2013, when friends intervened to ask him about a months-long project wherein he mapped the graffiti on the Brooklyn Bridge. Only then did he realize that he has been suffering from the condition for a long time. “Now, I’m trying to create a solution by describing this condition, so that other people who are who are like me can understand that it’s not something they should shy away from, but tune in a certain way,” Hilario said. “It can be helpful, it can be creative, and it can be used to illustrate the best things in your life.” The three-pronged exhibit also presents the different hats of Hilario: as art curator, art writer/ historian and visual artist. Pinned on one side of the wall of the exhibit space are sculptures of open books with an embedded body part: eyes, ears, labia, to name a few. The artist calls it the visual translations of an unfinished novel that he has been writing for the past 25 years, which follows the story of a man who suddenly woke up with 1,000 senses. “Like Kafka, but more positive,” he said. The second part of the exhibit are illustrations of the artist’s favorite authors, using graphite on paper. Part of the series are sketches of Khalil Gibran, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Martin Buber, Nikos Kazantzakis and Bobi Valenzuela, a local author whom Hilario considers as his mentor. Finally, the exhibit showcases three of the artist’s famed rebultos. Hilario is a fourth generation wood-carver from Ilocos Sur. He only relearned the craft and created a full-time career in sculpture in 2008, after completing his extensive art studies in the Philippine High School

for the Arts and the University of the Philippines, after a few years exhibiting as a painter, and after devoting time to cultural work, especially curatorial practice, as the curator of Boston Art Gallery and Pinto Art Gallery for seven years. Hilario primarily hand-carves wood figures inspired by rebultos, a colonial art form of religious statuary introduced from Spain to the Philippines by way of Mexico in the 17th century. His subjects are often sourced from his visions, while the aesthetic is geared toward the contemporary. The intent of the technique, the artist clarifies, is not to give the traditional a contemporary twist. He said that contemporary art carries the danger of homogenizing artists’ expression, citing that big art markets, such as New York and Japan dictate what is supposed to be the “international look” of the genre. What he does, then, is not proposing the vernacular to the contemporary, but the opposite of it. “I’m getting expressions of the contemporary into the vernacular, or trying to speak contemporary through the vernacular,” Hilario said, which is contrary to a common practice in the 1980s and 190s when artists tried to use traditional art as a counter measure against international art. He believes the behavior stems from insularity, which some Philippine artists are also guilty of. A well-traveled artist who has exhibited globally and served artist residencies in a number of countries, Hilario recalled the moment when this belief system was formed. It was in New York, and Hilario was working on his rebultos when Cambodians came in and immediately recognized the sculptures as something similar to theirs. “I realized that it’s so insular to think of indigenous

art as exclusive to a certain place,” he said. “To think that something is local to the Philippines when, in fact, there are sculptures that reflect those that are, for example, in Japan.” “So that is my attempt,” he added, “I’m trying to find what are culturally similar to ours elsewhere. That’s why all my images are always in between the national and the international, because I really believe in that cultural unity somewhere that contemporary art can provide.” Hilario said travel has also afforded him to expand his artistic language. A manifestation is the rebultos that are on display at the artist’s ongoing exhibit, patterned after the human-headed birds Hilario chased in 2007. In The Summer that Never Ends, the inspiration is a river in Korea. If viewed from the side, the piece reveals itself to be a vertical body of water with plants jutting out from the wings and thighs. Hilario also carves with anatomical consideration, such as in this piece wherein the inner thighs are constricted as the toes are slightly pointed to each other. “Even with the colors, you can see that they’re different from my previous works,” the artist said. Hilario said there’s much more to discover and learn. He wants to deep dive into the world of carving and plans to visit Alaska to understand how they carve totem poles. He has also set up studios in La Trinidad, Paete and Dipolog to immerse in the acclaimed local carving communities. “In the future, I want to create a lexicon of traditional carving methods, a compendium of carving terminologies,” he said. “It’s intangible heritage.” n

Minted: Milagros Delgado Enage, centenarian artist

New works on wood by Patria Regalario

MILAGROS DELGADO ENAGE will be 100 years old when her second solo show opens at Chef Jessie in Rockwell Club, Amorsolo Square, on September 1. Entitled Ageless Inspirations, the exhibit celebrates the artist’s legacy of creativity and productivity that includes having been an avid Filipiniana scholar, art patron and lecturer, gallery curator and owner, and published writer. Lauded as an art patron, Enage attributes the beginning of her love of the visual arts when she learned printmaking under Manuel Rodriguez Sr. in the early 1960s. She was key in bringing the works of Filipino masters Fernando Amorsolo, Vicente Manansala, Napoleon Abueva, Jose Joya, Cesar Legaspi and others to the nascent international hotel scene in the 1970s when she conceptualized and put up the Manila Hilton Arts Center. She also founded the Folk Arts Center where she showcased antique Philippine jewelry, coins, carvings, costumes and artifacts, and organized art classes and demonstrations as part of her art workshops. From curating art, Enage moved on to creating art. Believing that one is never too old to learn anything, she studied painting with Araceli Dans, Ibarra de la Rosa and Napoleon Abueva, and in her late 40s began serious studies in contemporary Chinese painting with Master Hau Chiok. For the last 16 years, she has been honing her skills in oil, acrylic and watercolor under artist Pol Mesina. She has joined two group exhibitions and launched her first solo exhibit in 2017. Her works have been

THE exhibit Naiveté shows selected scenes from a resurgent age of innocence. It covers selected personal ponderings from a very specific vignette of the artist’s life starting from point A—the artist graduating from college with her new undergraduate degree in tow—to point B, with her dropping out of a doctorate pursuit a few years later. What ensued was an immersive personal journey away from the artist’s general comfort zone (admittedly that typical of a privileged Manilenya), and into the belly of both traditionally conservative and atypical sociopolitical environments, explored in an attempt to better understand the inner workings of Philippine society, and to first-handedly discover the ever-expanding complexity (both innate and imposed) of the Filipino identity. Moreover, the show is a coming-to-terms with the clashing of the persistent academic scrutiny over spontaneous creative experience, in an effort to illuminate a more critical and holistic view of the world. This show is a narration of this continuing personal journey. Recently, the exhibit composed of a series of pyrography works—wood-burnt pieces—on pine parquet tinted with ink, dye and stain. Circular shapes are dominant in this collection, intentionally representing an encasing of sorts, perhaps the entrapment within that perennial bubble. The primary piece (also titled Naïveté) shows a female figure in the fetal stage of

THE artist painting at home

displayed in the National Museum and the Miriam College’s Gallery of Women’s Art. In Ageless Inspirations, Enage showcases 100 paintings, with 80 new works in watercolor and a retrospective of 20 canvasses curated from the over 50 years she has been painting. Art enthusiasts will appreciate how her artworks have flourished with compelling compositions, thoughtful strokes and emphatic colors. Apart from being an artist, Enage is a

strong advocate of Christian values, family and marriage. When she is not painting, she attends church events, goes to socials, and at home does crossword puzzles and enjoys time with visiting family. With a century lived fully and joyfully, Ageless Inspirations is indeed a moment minted in Mila Delgado Enage’s long and enchanting life. Ageless Inspirations will open with the artist in attendance and will run through September 30.

human development. Bits and pieces of her head float about, a hand tightly grips a significant document, the nervous system seems to be centerpiece, and an umbilical cord connects to the outside world. Unfold the rest of the scenes in the soonto-unveiled pieces at the Metro Gallery, Ortega Street, in San Juan. For inquiries, e-mail metrogallery@hotmail.com.