Businessmirror December 07, 2018

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Friday, December 7, 2018 Vol. 14 No. 58

Business outlook dims on inflation, weak peso D

By Rea Cu

@ReaCuBM

ESPITE the expected uptick in demand during the Christmas season, business outlook for the fourth quarter was less sanguine due to higher inflation and the weakening of the peso, according to the latest survey conducted by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

In its latest Business Expectations Survey (BES), the BSP said businessmen also cited higher borrowing costs, the decrease in volume sales and orders and the lack of supply of raw materials as factors that dampened their outlook on the economy.

According to the survey, business outlook on the Philippine economy turned less optimistic for the fourth quarter, with the overall confidence index (CI) declining to 27.2 percent, from 31.1 percent a year ago, the lowest level since the first quarter of 2010.

The sentiment of businesses in the Philippines mirrored the less buoyant business outlook in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, France, Hong Kong, South Korea and Thailand,” the BSP said in a statement. “However, business sentiments in Canada, Brazil,

27.2% The business outlook for the fourth quarter, down from 31.1 percent a year ago, as reflected by the BSP’s Business Expectations Survey

Hungary, and the Netherlands were more upbeat.”

The BSP noted that BES respondents expected the bullish business conditions to continue for the first quarter of 2019 as the index remained positive, but lower at 29.4 percent from 42.6 percent in the previous quarter.

Continued on A2

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@BNicolasBM

HE Palace warned on Thursday that the President may veto those line items in the budget which he finds questionable.

This, after Sen. Panfilo M. Lacson Sr. revealed on Wednesday that a congresswoman and congressman allegedly got P2.4 billion and P1.9 billion in funding next year for their districts, respectively.

Asked if the President can use the line veto power for the questionable allocations in the budget, Presidential Spokesman and Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador S. Panelo said: “If he feels that it is in violation of the Constitution.”

He added, “The President can always use the veto power if he feels there is a need for that.”

PHL LOGISTICS COSTLIEST AMONG 4 ASEAN NATIONS

By Elijah Felice E. Rosales @alyasjah

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HE Philippines has the most expensive logistics cost among four Southeast Asian competitors, mostly caused by the country’s archipelagic feature and reliability issues on the industry.

In a study by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the World Bank, titled “An Assessment of Logistics Performance of Mantufacturing Firms in the Philippines,” it was reported the Philippines has the highest logistics cost compared to Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand.

Philippine firms were found to spend 27.16 percent of their total sales on logistics services. This is higher than that of Indonesia at 21.4 percent, Vietnam at 16.3 percent and Thailand at 11.11 percent.

“A similarity between Indonesia and the Philippines is their geographic structure, which is most likely contributing to the high logistics cost. On another note, the high

The allocation for farm-to-market road projects alone, which forms part of the questionable P2.4billion appropriation flagged by Senator Lacson

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 52.7060

See “Budget,” A12

transport and inventory costs, likewise, reflect the unreliability of the logistics system in the Philippines,” the study read.

Most of logistics allocation of Philippine firms were spent on inventory carrying, followed by transport, warehousing and logistics administration.

The study also claimed firms operating in higher-value sectors have less costs than in lower-value sectors, including food, chemical products, and textile and garments.

“As compared with Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand, the Philippines has higher logistics cost in the following sectors: chemical, textile and garments and electronics,” it read.

Archipelagic barriers “LIKEWISE, the country faces relatively high logistics cost over sales in the food sector, as it is expensive to transport food products within the Philippines given its archipelagic structure,” the study also claimed.

See “PHL logistics,” A2

Inflation’s impact will cut growth in Q4–expert

₧500 million

Panelo explained that the President’s veto power means that he has the power to disapprove any bill passed in Congress.

Meanwhile, Panelo said he also wants to know the reason for the supposed realignment of funds.

Moreover, Budget Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno said there should be no further delay if the President decides to exercise his line-item veto power.

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Duterte may veto line items in 2019 budget

By Bernadette D. Nicolas

2017 EJAP JOURNALISM AWARDS

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P.W.D. JOB FAIR Persons with disability make the rounds of employer booths during the Jobs and Opportunities Fair 2018 for PWD held at the Quezon City Hall grounds on Wednesday. Companies that hire PWD who account for 10 percent of their work force will now be exempted from the Department of Labor and Employment’s regular workplace inspection, Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III said. NONOY LACZA

HE slowdown in household consumption as a result of accelerating inflation is seen to hamper GDP growth in the fourth quarter, which could hit just 5.9 percent, according to the ING Bank Manila.

ING Bank Manila Senior Economist Nicholas Antonio T. Mapa said in a yearend briefing, “Fourth quarter [GDP is] 5.9 percent, and the main reason for that is...household consumption is seen to slow.

Government spending for this year is sort of buttressing your slowing consumption; however, [Budget Secretary Benjamin E.] Diokno has been indicating that a lot of the

n JAPAN 0.4655 n UK 67.1053 n HK 6.7465 n CHINA 7.6853 n SINGAPORE 38.5644 n AUSTRALIA 38.3067 n EU 59.8002 n SAUDI ARABIA 14.0493

See “Growth,” A2

Source: BSP (6 December 2018 )

News

BusinessMirror

A2 Friday, December 7, 2018

Comelec’s final source code version ready by next week

By Samuel P. Medenilla @sam_medenilla

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HE Commission on Elections (Comelec) announced on Thursday that it will be coming out with the final version of the source code for the 2019 automated elections next week.

Source code is the human-readable machine language used by the Comelec for the automated election system (AES).

I n a s t at e me nt , C o me l e c Spokesman James B. Jimenez said they will soon be presenting the “trusted build” after its components passed through the review of the United States-based

software testing firm, Pro V & V. He said the source code has been successfully “trusted ” by Pro V & V after the firm was able to check all of its parts as these performed its intended functions; and there are no embedded malicious instruction in its codes.

“This is important for the credibility of the system because it pro-

“This is important for the credibility of the system because it provides the assurance that the system is not made from shady components; and that all the components have been properly reviewed and cleared.”—Jimenez

vides the assurance that the system is not made from shady components; and that all the components have been properly reviewed and cleared,” Jimenez said.

The source code is scheduled to be “build” in Alabama, USA, on December 14 at 8 a.m., wherein its separate components will be assembled.

“Hence, trusted build simply means assembling the program

using the reviewed components,” Jimenez said.

“The entire proceedings will be broadcast live via FB Live,” he added. Comelec Commissioner Marlon Casquejo will be present at the viewing of the event to address the concerns of the media.

Once the “trusted build” is completed, it will be kept by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas in escrow as required by Republic Act 9326, or the poll automation law.

Jimenez explained the trusted build will be used to produce a “digital fingerprint,” which can be used to check if the AES is functioning correctly.

“If we have the program running the VCM [vote counting machines], it should give a digital fingerprint that matches the one we got from the trusted build,” Jimenez said.

Consumer outlook dampened by inflation, low income

By Rea Cu

ONSUMER outlook for the fourth quarter of the year has weakened to -22.5 percent on the back of a confluence of factors starting with the high prices of commodities, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has reported.

Based on the BSP’s latest Consumer Expectations Survey, consumer outlook for the fourth quarter has declined further to -22.5 percent compared to the third-quarter level of -7.1 percent.

“The fourth quarter 2018 outlook of businesses and consumers both weakened as firms and households became more conscious due to relatively high commodity prices,” said BSP Department of Economic Statistics Director Redentor Paolo Alegre Jr. Respondents attributed the weaker sentiment to: higher prices of commodities; low income; an increase in household expenses; and an upsurge in the number of unemployed persons.

“Respondents also noted the occurrence of typhoon and other calamities in third quarter 2018 as reasons behind their weaker sentiment for the current quarter,” according to the BSP. The BSP explained that the negative index indicates that the pessimists outnumbered optimists during the fourth quarter 2018. The overall consumer Cl measures the average direction of change in three indicators—overall condition of the economy, household finances and household income.

Similar to the weak outlook for the fourth quarter, the consumer outlook is also less buoyant

for the first quarter of 2019 and the year ahead due to expectations of: higher prices of goods; low salary; a rise in expenditures; and a high unemployment rate.

The quarter-on-quarter decline in confidence for the fourth quarter was observed across the three component indicators of consumer confidence with the lowest consumer index on the economic condition of the country, followed by family financial situation and family income.

For the first quarter of 2019 and the year ahead, consumer confidence on the three component indicators weakened, except on family income, which remained steady.

The spending outlook index of households on basic goods and services declined to 42.3 percent for the first quarter of 2019, from 45.7 percent in the fourth quarter survey results.

“This suggests that, while more respondents continue to expect higher spending on basic goods and services, the number that said so decreased compared to a quarter ago, indicating that growth in consumer spending could slow down in the near term.”

In line with savings in the fourth quarter, it reported an increase to 32.8 percent, from the 32.5 percent recorded in the third quarter of 2018, with respondents making savings for:

emergencies; health and hospitalization; education; retirement; purchase of real estate; and business capital and investment.

In terms of inflation, consumers who expected inflation to go up continued to outnumber those who held the opposite view for the next 12 months, but the number that said so declined from that of a quarter ago.

Respondents also expect the rate of increase in commodity prices to breach the upper end of the government’s 2-4 percent inflation target range for 2018, at 5.1 percent, over the course of the next 12 months. This is higher than the third-quarter survey result of 5 percent.

Business outlook dims on inflation, weak peso Continued from A1

This is the lowest next-quarter reading since Q3 2009.

“Respondents attributed their weaker outlook for [the period] to the usual slowdown in consumer demand after the holiday season. Moreover, sentiment of firms was tempered by expectations of a peso depreciation, which increases the costs of imports, as well as higher inflation and interest rates,” the BSP said.

Survey results indicated that the firms’ outlook was adversely affected by rising commodity prices, both in the domestic and global markets.

The industry sector registered the biggest decline in confidence.

NPC to telcos: Ensure data privacy protection

By Aerol John Pateña

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PNA

HE National Privacy Commission (NPC) on Thursday called on telecommunications firms to compete in ensuring effective data privacy and protection as part of their delivery of services to consumers. “ This is what’s good about competition; it’s the customers who decide who to trust. So, why not let the telcos compete in the data privacy and protection space.

Let them compete in terms of price, performance and privacy,” Privacy Commissioner Raymund Liboro said in his speech at the general membership meeting of the Chief Information Officers at the Crowne Plaza in Quezon City.

Liboro assured his audience that the NPC will continue to create awareness on data privacy protection through its “Privacy, Safety, Security and Trust (PSST!) Online” campaign, which seeks to equip Filipinos with information and selfhelp tools they can use to protect themselves from the risk of data breaches when using online applications and services on their mobile and desktop devices.

The NPC earlier said it aims to train data protection officers, who will monitor the compliance of various organizations handling and processing personal information to data privacy laws.

The National Telecommunications Commission confirmed Mislatel Consortium as the third major telco player in the country on November 19.

Mislatel, a joint venture of Udenna Corp. and China Telecom,

PHL logistics. . .

FILE PHOTO

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@ReaCuBM

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“Firms involved in mining and quarrying turned pessimistic, mainly as a result of the moratorium on new large-scale mining projects and the closure of several mining pits. Construction firms were less upbeat for the fourth quarter as they await the results of the bidding process of government projects,” the BSP said.

The BSP noted, however, that the sentiment of firms in the hotels and restaurants and transportation subsectors turned more bullish as they expected an increase in tourism activities and higher volume of passengers during the holiday season. Also, sentiment in the wholesale and retail trade sector

improved with expectations of generally more robust demand during the Christmas and main harvest seasons.

Employment outlook

THE employment outlook index for the first quarter of 2019 remained positive at 21.8 percent compared to last quarter’s 26.3 percent, which may imply that more firms will continue to hire new workers as employment prospects were expected to moderate across sectors.

In line with expansion plans, the percentage of businesses with expansion plans in the industry sector for the first quarter of 2019 declined slightly to 36 percent, from

36.1 percent a quarter ago.

Survey results indicated that businesses anticipated inflation to increase, the peso to depreciate and interest rates to rise for the fourth quarter of 2018 and first quarter of 2019.

“Businesses expected that the rate of increase in commodity prices will breach the upper end of the government’s 2 to 4 percent inflation target range for 2018, at 6.1 percent for the fourth quarter and 6 percent for the first quarter of 2019,” the BSP added.

Businesses also anticipate that the local currency will average at P53.9 for the fourth quarter of 2018 and P54.1 for first quarter of 2019.

has committed to provide Internet speeds of 55Mbps covering 84 percent of the population with capital expenditures of around P250 billion over a five-year period. The consortium stands to lose its performance bond of P24 billion or 10 percent of its capex if it fails to make good on its commitments.

Within 90 days after its confirmation as the new major player, the consortium must come up with its business rollout plan, which assures that its network and facilities will not compromise national security and comply with the National Cybersecurity Plan of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT).

Mislatel promised to coordinate with government agencies such as the Department of National Defense and the National Security Council to ensure that cybersecurity and national security concerns will be addressed.

Meanwhile, the NPC is set to hold its symposium on student privacy at the De La Salle University in Manila on Friday.

The event will feature discussions on what every student can and must do to ensure that their personal data is private, safe and secure; how “trust” can make or break the digital economy; career prospects in the field of data privacy; and practical tips on how Filipinos can help build a threat-resilient digital Philippines.

Representatives from the DICT, the Internet Society of the Philippines, Information Security Officers Group, Facebook, Google and data protection officers from top Philippine colleges will also attend the event.

Further, the report said logistics performance differs by island group based on order cycle time, transport lead time and cash conversion cycle. The average order cycle time accounts for the time the responding firm receives or takes an order until the item is delivered to the customer.

On the other hand, the transport lead time focuses on the actual physical transport from the responding firm to the customer.

The study pointed to the Visayas as having the lower levels of performance, and stakeholders attributed this finding to the geographical nature of the region, with a more complicated interisland shipping used in the carrying of freight. “This finding also underscores the critical issue confronting smaller islands that have limited connectivity to main economic locations within the country,” the study read.

Cash conversion cycle in Mindanao is shortest at almost two weeks, while the Visayas has a cash cycle of almost one month. This translates to a higher financial burden for Visayas-based firms compared to those in Mindanao.

By way of redressing the problems, the study urged the government to focus on eliminating uncertainties to establish a more reliable logistics system in the Philippines. “Improving reliability will create an established and dependable environment where local manufacturers and logistics service providers can plan and design more efficient logistics systems,” it concluded.

Growth. . .

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projects have been front-loaded in the first three quarters. So we don’t see the same pace of expansion in the government spending for the fourth quarter, very likely we have a growth print of sub 6 [percent],” Mapa said.

As for the full-year GDP forecast for 2018, ING Bank sees a 6.2percent growth.

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) earlier reported that the country’s GDP for the third quarter has declined to 6.1 percent, lower than the secondquarter figure of 6.2 percent, on the back of slower household consumption.

Meanwhile, Mapa also pointed out that average inflation for 2018 is seen to settle at 5.3 percent, which is not within the inflation target band of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) for this year, at 2 to 4 percent.

Inflation for August hit a nineyear high of 6.4 percent, followed by a 6.7-percent inflation rate for

Continued from A1

September, and remaining steady at 6.7 percent for October.

The PSA on Wednesday reported that the country’s inflation rate dropped to 6 percent for November.

The BSP earlier predicted a slowdown for the November inflation due to recent oil price rollbacks, a stable supply of rice, as well as a stronger peso.

Mapa also sees the BSP pausing on rate hikes by this month as inflation is already seen to move in a downward trajectory.

“We feel that there is reason for the BSP to pause in December, mainly because inf lation is decelerating by all accounts; inflation expectations seem to be well-anchored. Second, your domestic liquidity remains tight to some extent at 8.2 percent for the M3. We are also seeing growth slowing in the third quarter. GDP looks like it may have a similar trend in the fourth quarter. So, final consumption—if that slows down it may be a possible drag...” he added.

The Monetary Board of the BSP will be having a policy meeting on December 13. Rea Cu

The Nation BusinessMirror

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Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug • Friday, December 7, 2018 A3

A ‘hyperbole,’ Palace says of Duterte’s prodding to eliminate ‘useless’ bishops

By Bernadette D. Nicolas @BNicolasBM & Samuel P. Medenilla @sam_medenilla

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ALACAÑANG on Thursday embarked on yet another damage-control measure after President Duterte issued a statement urging the public to eliminate “useless and critical” Roman Catholic bishops.

Apparently seeking to downplay the Chief Executive’s fiery, some say murderous, pronouncement, Presidential Spokesman Salvador S. Panelo assured the remark would not incite killings, especially bishops and priests, and should not be taken literally.

“I think that’s [Duterte’s remark] only a hyperbole on the part of the President. We should be getting used to this President. He makes certain statements for dramatic effect.

He added that Duterte may have actually sought to stop criticisms and do some good for this country...[and] help us,” Panelo said in a briefing with Palace reporters on Thursday.

In his speech on Wednesday in Malacañang, Duterte unleashed another tirade against Roman Catholic bishops.

“Itong mga obispo niyo, patayin ninyo. Walang silbi iyang mga gagong iyan. All they do is criticize [These

bishops, kill them. They are useless.

All they do is criticize],” he said.

Asked if this remark would result to more killings, Panelo said: “No, I don’t think so. [The] majority of the Filipinos, I think, [are] used to this President.”

He also added that the President does not expect an apology from the bishops or the priests who are criticizing his administration.

Moreover, Panelo took the cudgels for the President and said that he may have the basis for such a pronouncement.

In the same speech, Duterte also said that 90 percent of Roman Catholic priests are gays.

“He [Duterte] has been a victim of harassment, sexual harassment, when he was a young boy, remember, he keeps on telling us that. And again, that is a basis, when priest gives us the teachings of God and yet to the opposite, so that makes him

hypocritical. But of course, he refers to certain members of the Church,” Panelo said.

The President has repeatedly lashed out against Catholic Church in his speeches.

This, even after Duterte formed a committee to hold dialogue with the Roman Catholic church in June.

‘Destabilizing force’

CHURCH officials and labor groups on Thursday described Duterte as a “destabilizing” force in the country following his recent tirade against the Catholic clergy.

Commission on the Laity Chairman Bishop Broderick Pabillo expressed alarm over Duterte’s latest outburst, which he said calls on the public to violate the law.

“Any leader who asks that others be killed, not even bishops, is no leader at all. He is instigating people to go against the law. Is this not a work of an destabilizer against the social order?” Pabillo said.

Commission on Migrants and Itinerant People Chairman Bishop Ruperto Santos agreed that the “heartless” speech promotes divisiveness in the country. “[It is] not only attacking the Church but dividing our country and showing that there is only hatred in his heart. His statement disgraced himself and disappointment to all God fearing citizens of our country,” Santos said.

AFP: Nothing controversial about PAF chief Kintanar’s early retirement option

By Rene Acosta @reneacostaBM

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HE military on Thursday doused speculations that a corruption controversy preceded the decision of Lt. Gen. Galileo Gerard Kintanar Jr. to opt for an early retirement as chief of the Philippine Air Force (PAF).

“No, he is not relieved for corruption. It’s just to give way for the junior officers, that’s how professional and

dynamic the organization is,” said military Public Affairs Office chief Col. Noel Detoyato.

Detoyato issued the clarification following insinuations that Kintanar may have been “forced” to leave his post early in connection with ongoing modernization projects for the Air Force.

“There is no issue of corruption whatsoever, it is for the professional growth of the whole organization,” said Detoyato.

President Duterte appointed

Lt. Gen. Rozzano Briguez, former commander of the Armed Forces Western Command, on Wednesday as successor of Kintanar, who reportedly opted for an early retirement.

Briguez is a member of Philippine Military Academy Class of 1986, while Kintanar is a member of Class 1985 and has until 2020 to serve his term.

Detoyato said it was the personal decision of Kintanar to go on an early retirement.

Forest tree species undergo ‘genetic diversity’ assessment

By Jonathan L. Mayuga @jonlmayuga

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O boost the production and ensure the constant supply of quality wood, five forest tree species—the Benguet pine, bagalunga, molave, ipil and narra— have been placed under “genetic diversity” assessment by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

The “Genetic Improvement of Priority Forest Tree Species for Quality Wood Production Project,” of the Environmental Research Development Bureau, or ERDB, a staff bureau of the DENR, is pursuing further study of the five tree species after successfully assessing the genetic diversity of rattan limuran, Project Leader Dr. Theresa de los Reyes said in a news statement.

Rattan limuran is an important industrial species for wood products exported by the country.

For limuran, Bataan turned out to be the best possible source of planting materials with the highest genetic diversity.

ERDB had also initially found that the Ilocos province has the highest potential for tree improvement and breeding for narra based on broad

genetic diversity.

“Assessment of genetic variation among and within populations is essential for the success of any tree-breeding and selection programs. It holds vast potentials for the preservation of the forest ecosystems in the Philippines,” said Dr. Sofio B. Quintana, ERDB director.

According to the ERDB, with the changing environment and increase in global temperature, some species of forest trees fail to cope with changes while others, under the same species, succeed in adaptation.

By assessing the genetic makeup of forest trees through DNA analysis, differences among similar trees can be distinguished with the aid of molecular tools.

The variation that is observed in the genetic makeup of species is called genetic diversity.

“With more genetic variations, it is more likely that some individuals possess alternative form of genes that better suit the environment,” ERDB study proponents and authors Karol Josef Lucena, Jordan Abellar and Jorge Cyril Viray added.

Because of the success of these individual species, their population will continue for more generations.

Having less genetic diversity leads to uniformity. Such population has individuals less likely to adapt to new environment.

Monoculture wherein a single crop is planted in a large farm area is beneficial only for growing and harvesting crops on the short term.

In the long run, it will be a problem when a disease or parasites attack the field.

Due to genetic uniformity, every plant is vulnerable, however.

The same is true for forest trees.

Tree domestication tends to decrease genetic variability as limited plants are selected and propagated.

Little genetic variation within a species impedes the process of healthy reproduction as evident by the expression of harmful traits in the offspring resulting from inbreeding or mating of genetically related organisms.

Inbred trees that develop slowly are often deformed. Many die suddenly and inexplicably before reaching maturity. Few inbred trees survive and reproduce in a natural forest setting.

With low genetic diversity comes increased susceptibility to disease and increase mortality of the population in environmental disturbances.

Tougher collective measures vs human trafficking sought

By Joel R. San Juan @jrsanjuan1573

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USTICE Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra on Thursday called on the international community to come up with firm and collective measures, to address human trafficking.

Speaking during the fourth Manila International Dialogue on Human Trafficking, Guevarra noted that victims of human trafficking can be found in more than a hundred countries based on the 2016 report of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

Also in the same year, the International Labor Organization reported that about 21 million people around the world have been victims of forced labor and extreme exploitation.

Human traffickers, according to Guevarra, profited from the illegal activity by as much as $150 billion.

“At a time when the network for the trafficking of persons has spanned the globe, approaches that are individualistic and segmented are proving ineffective,” Guevarra said.

The Manila Dialogue, according to Guevarra, serves as a call for international cooperation to prevent those who seek to profit from the trafficking and exploit the present vulnerabilities in the legal and enforcement systems of nations.

Guevarra noted that those involved in human trafficking most often have resources and technology far more advanced and sophisticated than some countries.

“Behind them are countless people from around the world whose prurient and immoral demands and avarice provide stable financing for the trafficking of our citizens,” Guevarra pointed out.

Presidential Communications

Operations Office Undersecretary Lorraine Marie T. Badoy, for her part, cited that human trafficking is also responsible for turning out “a generation of children growing without any guidance.”

During the dialogue, participants vowed to seek legislation that would prevent the ingress of alien sexual offenders and amending pending legislation in the Senate (Senate Bill 44) to include online child exploitation as among the exceptions under the Anti-Wiretapping Act. Other participants in the dialogue were Philippine Overseas Employment Administration Director Sherilyn G. Malonzo, Susan Ople of the Blas F. Ople Policy Center and Training, Daphne Culanag of Plan International, the Netherlands Embassy and Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking Secretariat Executive Director Rudiger G. Falcis II.

Marina revamps five maritime courses for STCW compliance

By Lorenz S. Marasigan @lorenzmarasigan

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HE Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) is revamping five maritime training course packages to “sustain the production of high quality and competent Filipino seafarers through maritime education and trainings.”

In a news statement, the Marina said the five courses— Security Ship Officer (SSO), Security Awareness Training and Seafarers with Designated Security Duties (SAT & SDSD), Medical First Aid (MeFA), Medical Care (MeCa), and Proficiency in Survival Craft and Rescue Boats Other than

Fast Rescue Boats (PSCRB)—are being calibrated to further adhere to the Standards of Training, Certification, and Watchkeeping (STCW) for Seafarers Convention 1978, as amended.

Marina “comprehensively checked” the courses’ scope, outcomes, entry standards, certificates, intake limitations, assessment, teaching facilities, equipment and teaching aids to “establish uniformity” among the 124 maritime training instructions in the Philippines.

The five training courses are still anchored on International Maritime Organization (IMO) model courses, hence, differences on “appreciation and

understanding of the minimum standards of education and trainings.”

Once approved by the research and development division of the Marina’s STCW office and Marina chief Narciso Vingson Jr., the training course packages will then be forwarded to institutions for implementation.

“The agency has committed to uncompromisingly implement and enforce policies and regulations on maritime education, training, and certification for Filipino seafarers to further uphold the quality of the country’s workforce in the international maritime community,” the Marina statement read.

A4 Friday, December 7, 2018 • Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug

Economy BusinessMirror

Breads affordable this season, but canned sardines will be a bit more pricey, DTI says

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By Elijah Felice E. Rosales

@alyasjah

HE price of canned sardines will increase this Christmas month due to high acquisition cost of herring, but breads will be more affordable in time for the holidays, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) reported.

In the suggested retail price (SRP) list for December, prices of canned goods, notably sardines, will go up by P0.40 to P0.85. The DTI attributed this to the high acquisition cost of herring fish, known locally as tamban, at P32 per kilo.

On the other hand, prices of bread will go down in time for the holiday

season. Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez said the price rollback was initiated by bakers themselves as their social contribution to consumers this Christmas.

“The DTI is pleased to announce that all basic and prime goods in the SRP bulletin are retaining their current SRPs at least until

the first quarter of 2019, with the exception of a few brands of canned sardines and one corned beef that will have adjustments in their prices,” Lopez said.

“There are also several brands of bread and one milk brand that initiated to decrease their prices as part of the manufacturers’ social contribution to the consumers this holiday season despite not being included in the SRP list,” he added.

Those that will have an increase of P0.40 to P0.85 are 155 grams of 555 Sardines in Tomato Sauce; 555 Bonus Pack; Lucky 7 Sardines in Tomato Sauce; Ligo (easy open can); Family Bonus Pack Plain; Family Regular Pack Plain; and Master Green.

Atami Green, Mikado, Mega (easy open can) and Hakata (easy open can) will also have price hikes. Aside from canned sardines, the price of Star Corned Beef will increase, too.

To address the issue of high acqui-

sition cost of herring fish, producers of canned sardines recommended the government to set an SRP for tamban to control its price and eventually pull down the retail price of canned sardines. The DTI is set to meet with the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources to review this proposal for possible consideration.

On the other hand, Gardenia Bread is reverting to its October prices of P46.75 and P62 for Gardenia Loaf Bread 400 grams and 600 grams, respectively. Gardenia also reduced its price for Soft Delight Pandesal by P1 to P36.

Marby is selling its 600 grams Super Loaf Bread and Whole Wheat at promotional prices of P58 and P61.50, respectively, which are P5.50 and P10 lower than its regular prices.

For milk, Alaska Fortified Powdered Milk 80 grams will be sold at P29, discounted by P0.50, until the end of the year.

House approves energy efficiency, conservation bill on third reading

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HE House of Representatives has recently endorsed for Senate approval a measure seeking to encourage the efficient utilization of energy while providing tax incentives for energy-efficient projects.

This, after the lower chamber approved on third and final reading of House Bill 8629, or the proposed “Energy Efficiency and Conservation Act.” The bill, principally authored by House Speaker Gloria MacapagalArroyo, aims to push for the judicious conservation of energy resources to minimize their adverse impacts on the environment.

Under the bill, energy-efficient projects shall be included in the Strategic Investments Priorities Plan of the government 15 years from the approval of the measure. These programs shall also be entitled to receive a certificate from the Fiscal Incentives Review Board.

The project proponents shall be exempted from income taxes levied by the national government for the first six years of their commercial operations. Additional investments in these projects shall allow further income tax exemp-

tion, the bill said.

Under the measure, the Joint Congressional Power Commission, which was established under Section 62 of Republic Act 9136 or the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001, or Epira, shall exercise oversight functions over the implementation of the measure upon its effectivity.

The bill seeks to mandate the Department of Energy (DOE) to lead the development, and implementation of plans and programs to secure the stability and sufficiency of energy supply in the country, which shall cushion the impact of the high price of imported fuels to local markets.

It said the DOE shall update the development of the National Energy Efficiency and Conservation Plan and monitor its implementation, and initiate and maintain collaborative efforts with the business sector to ensure compliance.

It added the Department of Health shall also support local government units in planning, promoting, and implementing the programs and in preparing their Local Energy Efficiency and Conservation Plans and develop a national awareness and advocacy campaign.

Fitch unit sees recovery of car sales by next year

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ASSENGER car sales in the Philippines will recover slightly next year, by around 3.2 percent or 120,000 units by end-2019, according to projections of Fitch Solutions Macro Research.

This will be a turnaround after passenger car sales this year declined by 20 percent to 90,522 units as of end-October 2018, from 113,341 units the industry sold in the same period in 2017, according to the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines.

Declining sales in passenger car segment was also seen in another industry group, the Association of Vehicle Importers and Distributors, which reported that sales of passenger cars from January to September 2018 dropped by 20 percent to 23,531 units, from 29,266 units in the same period a year ago.

“In 2019, we expect a mild recovery in the Philippines’ new passenger car market, and forecast sales to grow by 3.2 percent, reaching a total of around 120,000 units by year-end,” Fitch Solutions said.

It attributed the slow recovery in the sales of passenger car segment to “unfavorable economic

conditions in the form of higher interest rates, elevated inflation, and a still weak peso.”

Fitch Solutions said the sustained high inflation will continue to affect consumers’ decision to purchase new car in 2019.

In November inflation remained elevated at 6 percent, although lower than the 6.7-percent inflation in September and October, and at 6.4 percent in August.

Elevated price pressures this year prompted the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to tighten monetary policy, making the cost of borrowing in the country to rise.

“As a result, the cost of borrowing in the country will rise, which will in turn weigh on the consumer’s ability to take financing in order to make new car purchases,” Fitch Solutions said.

Moreover, it noted that the weak local currency will place upside pressure on the cost of imported vehicles, which have a 60-percent share of the new cars sold in the country.

But after 2019, Fitch Solutions projects passenger car sales to grow annually by 6.5 percent until 2027, reaching the 205,000-unit mark. PNA

The bill mandates the DOE to provide annual reports to Congress on the status of the implementation, among others.

In addition, establishments implementing these programs shall also be entitled to the following incentives: (a) awards and recognition for energy efficiency and conservation best practices, innovation and successful energyefficient projects and products, and (b) technical assistance from government agencies in the development and promotion of energyefficient technologies.

The DOE and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority shall develop and implement a system of certification and assessment for energy conservation officers and energy managers to raise the professional standards of those engaged in energy management. Qualified individuals shall earn the title of Certified Energy Efficiency and Conservation Officer.

The bill also directs the DOE to strengthen the existing Energy Service Company Accreditation System for the market to have technically and financially capable entities that can provide assistance

in the delivery of energy efficiencyrelated projects.

The DOE shall require all manufacturers, importers, distributors and retailers of energy-consuming goods to subject their products to an energy performance testing in accordance with the Minimum Energy Performance guidelines to be issued by the DOE to ensure the effective implementation of energy efficiency and conservation.

The DOE shall also be mandated to develop and enforce a Mandatory Energy Efficiency Rating and Labeling for energy-consuming products to help consumers in choosing energy efficient appliances and raise public awareness on energy conservation.

In addition, the DOE, with the assistance of the Energy Regulatory Commission, shall also pursue a Demand Side Management Program for the electric power industry to reduce energy consumption through effective load management.

The DOE shall be authorized to impose penalties for any violation of the provisions of the proposed Act, including its implementing rules and regulations, with fines ranging from P10,000 to P10 million.

Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Soon to be signed DOLE-Ecop pact seen boosting government anti-contractualization drive

By Samuel P. Medenilla @sam_medenilla

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HE Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is aiming to double the count of regularized workers next year upon signing of a forthcoming memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the Employers Confederation of the Philippines (Ecop).

In an ambush interview, Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III said ongoing talks with Ecop about the accord is now on its final phase.

“We were able to regularize almost 500,000 contractuals [since 2016]. Based on the commitment of Ecop that they will regularize all of the employees of their corporations, we hope to double that number by year 2019,” Bello said.

Last August the DOLE announced it is anticipating that around 300,000 contractual workers will be absorbed by their employers upon signing of its new MOA with Ecop.

The completion of the MOA was delayed as both parties ironed out the specifics of the accord.

Contentious issue

LABOR Assistant Secretary Benjo M. Benavidez said Ecop have already came out with its own draft of the MOA, which has now gone through several revisions.

“There is only one provision we still have not agreed. This refers to the percentage [of contractual workers] to be regularized if a company is issued final and executory [regularization order]. This is still in the works,” Benavidez said.

Bello said they are targeting to finalize the MOA with the Ecop before the end of the year.

Benavidez explained they decided to enter into an agreement with Ecop to encourage employers to voluntarily absorb their contractual workers and avoid the lengthy legal process, which comes from their regularization order.

He cited the result of their anti-illegal contractualization campaign as proof of the feasibility of the concept of

1 million The total number of contractual workers targeted for job regularization by the DOLE in 2019 voluntary regularization.

Out of the 403,355 regularized workers since 2016, over half or 228,000 were voluntarily done by their employers.

Top achievements

DURING the 85th anniversary commemoration of the DOLE on Thursday, Bello cited the gains of their campaign against illegal contractualization as the top achievements of his stewardship.

“It was the campaign promise of our President to end illegal contractual arrangement.

Although we did not totally eradicate it. We set the trend by achieving what seemed to be unachievable by regularizing about 500,000 workers,” Bello said.

Another highlight of the DOLE celebration was the signing of the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of Republic Act 11058, or the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act. This comes after the Tripartite Industrial Peace Council (TIPC) finally approved the IRR. Sonny G. Matula, Federation of Free Workers President and TIPC labor representative, lauded the development which he said will usher in fewer workplace accidents.

“Despite the fact that workplace accidents would always prompt tighter regulations, compliance by all industries continue to be an issue, we hope that the law and rules will address these concerns,” Matula said.

Among the salient points of the IRR, Matula said, is the updating of the “archaic provision on penalty with maximum fines of only P10,000 is now increased to P20,000 to P100,000 per day of violation depending on the gravity of the offense.”

Benavidez said the TIPC has agreed on bracket system for the penalty for violating the OSH law.

Group to House: Go slow on ₧10 excise tax per plastic bag proposal

By Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz @joveemarie

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HE Philippine Plastics Industry Association Inc. (PPIA) on Wednesday urged the House of Representatives to consider carefully the proposal to impose an excise tax of P10 per plastic bag.

During the hearing of the House Committee on Ways and Means on the proposed Plastic Bag Tax Act, Willy Go of the group said the proposal will “kill the industry.”

“We are one with the government when it comes to saving the environment but the P10 or 1,000-percent increase is very detrimental to lowincome earners. I think we can still find ways to manage the environment without imposing that much,” said Go. Go added the government should instead strengthen the information, education and communication campaigns on the use of plastic bag.

“A lot of people have negative perceptions about plastic but what we don’t often see is the advantage of plastic in our livelihood. There is no scientific study [against the use of plastic]...

It should be approved or determined as environmentally acceptable, nonreusable or toxic,” he said.

“But plastics have satisfied all requirements. It is reusable-recyclable, nontoxic and biodegradable.

Plastic has become a punching bag.

Plastic usually floats...plastic is not

the main contributor in our garbage.

The government would spend more in dredging, which would be much more expensive from life-cycle assessment,” he added.

Go added plastic is better compared to paper bags. “It turned out reusable bag has less impact followed by plastic. The most undesirable is paper...that’s what we need to understand.”

Also, Go said members of the industry are currently facing the negative impact of local ordinances banning the use of plastic bag in their areas.

In House Bill 8523 or the Plastic Bag Tax Act, Rep. Horacio P. Suansing Jr. of Sultan Kudarat said his proposal aims to impose excise tax on plastic bags used in supermarkets, malls, shops, stores, sales outlets and similar establishments.

“It is a known fact that plastic bags contaminate soil and waterways. Based on available data, 4 to 5 trillion plastic bags are utilized worldwide each year, and billions of these end up as litter,” he said.

“These are, likewise, toxic to both humans and animals, especially, when accidentally ingested. Plastic marine debris have been documented to harm at least 267 species, among which are sea turtles and dolphins,” he added.

In the Philippines, particularly in Manila Bay, Suansing said, plas-

tic bags and plastic bag composition account for 51.4 percent of flotsam (floating debris) in 2006, “This unfortunately increased to 75.55 percent after a follow up survey conducted in 2010.”

“All this, together with unfortunate verity that producing 100 million plastic bags requires around 430,000 gallons of oil, bags that take hundreds to thousands of years to disintegrate, makes a worthy cause for addressing the problem of plastic bag proliferation,” Suansing said.

By resorting to this levy, Suansing said, it is intended that Filipinos find environment-friendly alternatives to plastic bags in going about the needs of their daily lives, “let alone raising additional revenues for the government which could be used to finance programs and projects to counter the deleterious effects of plastic bags and their use.”

The bill proposes excise tax of P10 to be charged to customers at the point of sale of goods or products for every plastic bag provided by the supermarket, malls, shops, stores, sales outlets and other similar establishments.

Also, the excise tax shall be imposed at the establishments whose gross receipts in the preceding year exceeded P100,000 or for newly registered business and capitalization of at least P100,000.

However, the bill said plastic bags

used as “original packaging” of the following products are exempted from excise tax: Fresh fish and fish products, fresh meat and meat products, fresh poultry and poultry products, fruits, vegetables, nuts, confectionery, dairy products cooked food and ice.

Original packaging shall mean an enclosed plastic bag in which the loose produce is placed by the manufacturer and/or producer for transporting, warehousing, logistic, sale and/or end-use. Except for the abovementioned plastic used as original packaging, all other plastic bags provided by supermarkets, malls, shops, stores, sales outlets and other similar establishments shall be taxed.

The bill said the owners of supermarkets, malls, shops, stores, sales outlets and other similar establishments, or their authorized representatives shall act as the collecting agent of the government.

It said nonpayment of the excise taxes shall be subject to the pertinent provisions of the National Internal Revenue Code of 1997, as amended, regarding the collection of unpaid taxes and imposition of corresponding fines, surcharges and penalties, and imprisonment and/or closure of business.

For her part, House Committee on Ways and Means Chairman Estrellita B. Suansing of Nueva Ecija vowed to hear the proposal and suggestion of stakeholders.

Agriculture/Commodities BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Editor: Jennifer A. Ng • Friday, December 7, 2018

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‘NFA rice to come from local farmers’

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GRICULTURE Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol vowed that affordable rice that will be sold by the National Food Authority (NFA) starting next year will be produced by local farmers.

Piñol said this will be made possible by the passage of the rice tariffication bill, which will disallow the NFA from importing rice to boost its buffer stocks.

“The NFA will be focused on the procurement of palay [unmilled

rice] produced by Filipino farmers,” Piñol said in his latest Facebook post.

“This is a welcome development not only for the Filipino farmers but also for top officials of the Department of Agriculture and

the NFA who advocate for change in the image of the rice agency,” he added.

The exit of the NFA from importation, Piñol said, will end the corrupt practice of some employees who seek bribes before awarding import permits. “[The NFA’s] years of involvement in the rice importation program for buffer stocking, suspicions were rife that there were financial transactions involved where officials raked in money.

The very tight requirements also led to corruption in the awarding of import permits,” he said.

Piñol said the passage of the rice tariff bill “assures farmers of

a market and stable income.” For next year, the government has allocated P7 billion for local palay procurement.

The House of Representatives on November 28 endorsed for President Duterte’s signature the rice tariffication bill and the coconutlevy trust fund after it ratified the bicameral conference committee reports on the two measures.

The rice tariffication bill would lift the quantitative restriction (QR) on rice in keeping with its commitment to the World Trade Organization after the special waiver on rice expired on June 30, 2017.

The conversion of the QR on rice into tariffs would enable gov-

ernment to increase its revenues.

Tariffs collected from imports will then form the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF), which will bankroll initiatives aimed at boosting farm productivity and helping farmers access cheap credit.

Under the rice tariffication bill, 10 percent of the P10-billion RCEF will be set aside for credit to farmers and cooperatives.

Removing the QR on rice by amending Republic Act 8178 would allow the government to generate P27 billion annually, according to a paper published by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies.

Economic managers have been

banking on the passage of the measure before the end of the year to rein in inflation, as the spike in rice prices was tagged as a major factor behind the rise in the consumer price index.

This year, the highest inflation rate was recorded in September, when it reached 6.7 percent. In January, when the government started implementing the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion law, inflation was only at 3.4 percent.

The government expects the increase in rice supply—with the scrapping of the QR—to cut the price of the staple by P7 per kilogram.

Protection of farmworkers from agri hazards pushed in Congress

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz @joveemarie

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LEADER of the House of Representatives is pushing for the passage of a measure mandating the protection of farmers and farmworkers from agricultural hazards, such as harmful pesticides.

In House Bill (HB) 6279, or the proposed Farm Workers’ Protection Act, Deputy Speaker Sharon Garin of Aambis-OWA party-list said her proposal will provide firmer guidelines on the protection of farmers and farmworkers.

“Our farmworkers are the ones heavily affected by the adverse effects of exposure to harmful chemical,” Garin said in a statement.

The Farm Workers’ Protection Act of 2016 is pending with the Committee on Agriculture and Food since August 30.

Garin, citing the Journal of Rural Medicine of the Japanese Association of Rural Medicine, said around 5 million people die every

year as a result of intentional, accidental, and occupational exposure to pesticide poisoning.

“In addition to regular agricultural workers, another particular concern is the exposure of young children who are often employed in vegetable growing from an early age. In a study in Northeast Luzon, children in the area were reported to have health symptoms, such as headaches, skin irritation and abdominal pain after the use of chemicals,” she said.

According to Garin, the most common types of pesticides used in the country are organophosphate insecticides, carbamates and sy nthetics py rethroids— each providing distinct hazards to pesticides handlers. Organophosphate can be absorbed by human through skin or inhalation, resulting nausea, diarrhea and other adverse effects on the nervous system.

She added many carbamates are known carcinogens, while pyrethroids may also cause users to experience dizziness, headache,

nausea and diarrhea while exposure to immense doses leads to acute poisoning and can be fatal.

Upon the enactment of the bill, farm owners and operators shall be required to conduct mandatory testing for the presence of organophosphate pesticides in their respective agricultural sites.

The bill also proposes to educate farmworkers and their families regarding the hazards of exposure to pesticides, how to avoid such exposures to children, personal clothing and possessions, and what to do if pesticide exposure or contamination occurs.

Every incident of pesticide exposure to farmworkers or their families, whether by direct exposure to pesticide applications or from the drift of pesticides from the application site must be reported to the Department of Agriculture (DA).

Under the bill, the DA is empowered to establish and assess penalties or fines against farm owners and operators for violations of this proposal. In no circumstance will any penalty or fine

FARMERS in Palawan are preparing to plant rice in this file photo. A lawmaker is urging Congress to pass a measure mandating the protection of farmworkers from agricultural hazards.

to exceed P100,000.

The measure indicated that the DA shall issue an annual report of all farm inspections to the legislature for the previous calendar year, including compliance with the

Villar graces field day showcasing innovations in seed technology

SEN. Cynthia A. Villar and daughter Camille Villar lead the delegates of the 25th Asean Seed Congress to a tour at the “vegetable and flower gardens” at the Villar Sipag Farm School in Bacoor, Cavite. Eighty foreign delegates from 49 countries saw the quality products—the flowers in bloom and the healthy vegetables as results of using quality seeds. Photo in the ribbon-cutting ceremony to usher the “Field Day” opening held recently shows (from left) Villar with Dr. Mary Ann Sayoc, East-West Seed Public Affairs lead convenor and Camille Villar. VILLAR SIPAG PHOTO

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EN. Cynthia A. Villar was keynote speaker and guest of honor during a field day showcasing the latest in seed technology and cultivation techniques, which was attended by 80 foreign delegates from 49 countries.

Villar, chairman of the Committee on Agriculture and Food, commended EastWest Seed for its work to help smallhold vegetable farmers grow better crops and higher yield.

With the theme “Better Seeds for a Better World,” the field day took place at the Villar Sipag Farm School in Bacoor, Cavite. It is a post-Congress tour of the 25th Asean Seed Congress held from

November 12 to 16.

The activity attracted farmers and agricultural stakeholders, as well as delegates from the seed industry in the Asia-Pacific region. “We are very happy that we have partners in the private sector that also make it their life’s mission to help small farmers increase their incomes.

With the legislation we are pushing in the Senate, we are not only training farmers plant quality crops, we also want them to become seed growers engaged in seed production and trade,” Villar said.

Among the new products showcased in the activity are tropical lowland heat-tolerant tomato, new highly pungent pepper

with good aroma, new tropical butternut pumpkin and waxy-sweet corn.

East-West Seed is one of the largest vegetable seed companies in the world. It has been a partner of the Villar Social Institute for Poverty Alleviation and Governance in providing free trainings on modern farming techniques to farmers.

Under the rice tariffication bill passed on third reading by the Senate last week, among the programs which will be funded by the P10-billion Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund, is the development, propagation and promotion of inbred rice seeds. This will be implemented by the Philippine Rice Institute.

requirements contained in this proposal; enforcement actions, fines and penalties for noncompli-

ance resulting from such inspections and pesticide exposure or contamination reports.

Regions BusinessMirror

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Editor: Dennis D. Estopace • Friday, December 7, 2018

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Port of Tacloban breaches target revenue collections

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By Rea Cu

@ReaCuBM

HE Bureau of Customs (BOC) said the Port of Tacloban has already breached its target revenue collection for the year of P321 million.

The Port of Tacloban, which is comprised of the subports of Isabel and Catbalogan City, proudly announced on Thursday that it has collected more than P1 billion as of November on the back of the increased volume of cargoes docking in their respective area.

As of November 29, the District Port has a total revenue collection of P1.006 billion, which posted a 213-percent collection growth from the P321-million target for this year, according to Port of Tacloban Acting District Collector Jose A. Naig.

The BOC said the Customs Collection District 08 was given a P267-million tax collection target for this year. Another P34 million was added to this target by August as the Port of Tacloban already surpassed the initial target at the end of the second quarter.

Naig said that by the end of June, they already collected a total of P392 million.

“The strict implementation of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act and intensified operations against customs fraud of the Collection District 8 has resulted to a record-breaking

accomplishment,” he added.

In January this year, the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) raised the year’s revenue target for the BOC to P581.2 billion coming from a P459.6-billion target in 2017. The BOC was able to collect P444.1 billion in 2017.

Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said the passage of Package 1B under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Act, which focuses on improving tax administration, was crucial in helping boost the collection effort of both the BOC and the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).

The TR AIN law slashed the personal income tax rate from 32 percent to 25 percent while applying offsetting measures, including increasing the excise tax on fuel and automobiles, among others. Package 1B of the Comprehensive Tax Reform Program (CTRP) of the Duterte administration is still being deliberated in Congress.

TUNNEL VISION A child runs inside a tunnel of lights installed at the Nuvali shopping complex in Santa Rosa, Laguna, as part of the Yuletide celebration. The Philippines is considered the country that has the longest period of Christmas celebration, which begins in September. NONIE REYES

Co-op’s abaca exports reach China, with local World Bank partner’s help

By Manuel T. Cayon @awimailbox Mindanao Bureau Chief

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AVAO CIT Y—A for mer small abaca producer in Sarangani province went out of its hibernation and broke through the China market recently, exporting its hemp worth some P1.05 million to a Chinese buyer.

This was made possible through the assistance of the World Bankfunded Philippine Rural Development Program (PRDP) to the United Maligang Multi-purpose Cooperative, an abaca-producing farmers’ group in Barangay Maligang in Kiamba, Sarangani.

The PRDP said the abaca-made products from Kiamba were already available in China.

The PRDP has extended assistance to this cooperative to ensure that it could meet the demand of the Chinese buyer that it didn’t name.

Beverly Pacquiao, the treasurer of the cooperative, said they shipped 400 kilos of S2 fiber (locally priced at P140 per kilo), 1,694 kilos of hank-type fiber (P550 per kilo) and cake-type fiber with 120 kilos (P520 per kilo).

Pacquiao said the shipment was only the initial part of an informal contract as the Chinese buyer wanted 8 to 10 metric tons per month.

However, the cooperative said it could produce only 5 to 6 metric tons at the moment.

The discussion resulted to the initial shipment, she said, although there was still no definite marketing agreement.

Pacquiao said the cooperative decided to grab the trade opportunity because of the higher buying price compared to the price offered by the local market. Besides, the cooperative said, the China deal would signal the expansion of the cooperative’s abaca production.

“We were enticed by the opportunity,” she said. The cooperative also grabbed the opportunity because it was a current beneficiary of a financial and technical assistance from the PRDP with the ongoing implementation of the P35.7million Enhancement of Production, Processing and Marketing of High-Quality Abaca Fiber, according to Pacquiao.

She said the cooperative was expecting a boost in its production and marketing.

From this PRDP assistance, the cooperative bought 74 units of portable stripping and dyeing machines. The cooperative gets its supply from its members who are abaca farmers.

Under the PRDP assistance, an abaca enterprise would operate across the province with six clusters.

Two clusters would cover Kiamba, and one from each town of Maitum, Maasim, Alabel and Malungon,

which would directly benefit 370 farmers, the PRDP said.

The cluster aims to produce a consolidated total of 107,000 kilograms of baled abaca every month, the PRDP added.

PRDP Operations in-charge Dante Tumaro said along with the high-quality baled abaca fiber, the main products for marketing include the tinagak, a special and fine abaca thread that comes from 20 percent of the interior pulp of the abaca plant.

Tinagak processing would employ 60 women members in Barangay Maligang, where a processing center would soon be built for them.

Aside from the processing center, the cooperative plans to buy a six-wheel hauling truck, one delivery truck, 56 units of heavy-duty spindle stripping machine, a pressing machine for abaca baling and a fork lift.

Computing giant Wistron to revive Subic operations

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UBIC BAY FREEPORT—Taiwanese computing giant Wistron Infocomm Corp. will be reopening its manufacturing plant here, setting up to revive its Subic facility that has been the biggest export manufacturer in the Subic Bay Freeport Zone a decade ago.

Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Chairman and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma said the firm conducted recruitment activities here for two days last week. Eisma said the company intends to hire some 2,500 workers for its plant that has largely remained mothballed in the last eight years.

Wistron’s return to Subic is seen as a direct result of the emerging trade war between the economies of the United States and China.

Eisma, who attended an investment and trade briefing in Chicago last month, said the SBMA expects more global companies affected by the trade war to consider moving out to Subic or other economic zones in the country.

Wistron’s comeback, she added, “validates the inherent strength of Subic as a strategic business location, because when other countries lose their initial advantages in terms of cheap labor or distribution cost, companies opt for Subic.”

According to SBMA Labor Department Manager Severo C. Pastor Jr., Wistron processed more

Architects express excitement over hybrid trimaran project

By Jun N. Aguirre | Correspondent

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EW WASHINGTON, Aklan—Naval architects in the Philippines are reportedly excited over the ongoing construction of the hybrid trimaran project, a fast craft that would use a mix of gas and ocean-wave energy.

In a news conference l ast Tuesday, Nonilo A. Peña of the Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development (PCIEERD) said the project passed through several critiquing and assessment by several experts in the country.

Peña, chief of the PCIEERD technology division, was here to witness the ceremonial keel-laying and blessing of the project at the Metallica Shipyard.

Jonathan Salvador, an Aklanon shipyard owner, partnered with the Aklan State University (ASU) to introduce his concept of building a trimaran vessel that would run using ocean-wave energy.

Ocean wave energy is captured

EU evaluating contracts for solar lamps installation in Mindanao

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THE Wistron manufacturing facility in the Subic Bay Freeport. COURTESY OF WISTRON INFOCOMM CORP.

than 4,000 applications during the two-day schedule of exams and job interviews last week, with 900 applicants passing the qualifiers in the first day alone.

“They wanted ‘HOTS,’ or hired on the spot, so Taiwanese personnel from the company personally conducted the interviews,” Pastor said.

SBMA labor personnel also assisted in the second day to help process the growing number of applications, he added.

Wistron started out in Subic in 1995 as Acer Information Products (Philippines) Inc., a computer

manufacturing outfit of Acer Inc., Taiwan’s biggest computer firm. In 2006 it became known as Wistron Infocomm (Philippines) Corp. when Acer Inc. spun off its Subic operations to include a Mobile Operations Unit.

In 2008 Wistron was on top of the heap, contributing $274.88 million or more than a fourth of Subic’s export total at a time when Korean shipbuilder Hanjin, now the biggest Subic exporter, was just a fledgling operation with $61.74 million worth of exports.

In 2010, however, Wistron closed its hand-held device plant in Subic,

shifting all of its production here, save for its design automation center, to a facility in Zhongshan, China. The move displaced about 700 workers, some 200 of whom were reportedly sent off to a Wistron plant in the border-town facility of Juarez, Mexico.

Now, with the threat by President Donald J. Trump to withdraw from Nafta, which he has criticized to have allowed Mexico to “steal” jobs from the United States, Wistron reportedly considers shifting some of the Mexico operation back to Subic. Henry Empeño

directly from surface waves or from pressure fluctuations below the surface, according to the United States’ Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.

The PCIEERD, an attached agency of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), c o n du c t e d a s t r i c t e v a lu a tion of t he project af ter receiving the proposal, according to Salvador.

He added the project has an overall budget of P96 million, some P78 million of which came from the DOST. The remaining budget will be shouldered by the ASU. Romeo L. Amuan of the Maritime Industr y Authority said that naval architects from the Centra l Office are keeping a close eye on the development of the fast craft to ensure the project’s success.

“When materialized, this project is a major breakthrough in the shipping industry in the country,” Amuan said. “This is first in the world.”

AVAO CITY—A European Union program on renewable energy is evaluating proposed contracts for the installation of solar lamps in 70,000 households in Mindanao, many of them situated in hard-to-reach areas.

In the Mindanao leg of Energy Smart 2018, Willy Hick said the target is energizing this large number of households with no access to electricity.

With many of them lying off the Mindanao grid, the most applicable would be solar lighting, according to Hick, the program manager of the energy sector of the EU delegation to the Philippines.

“There is a huge demand,” he said, adding that the EU’s Access to Sustainable Energy Programme (Asep) is studying the contracts submitted to them. The Asep is a joint undertaking of the EU and the Philippine Department of Energy (DOE).

A program information flyer said the EU coursed through Asep a financial grant of more than P3 billion toward 2020 “to assist the Philippine government to meet its rural electrification targets by means of renewable energy and to promote energy efficiency.”

Many of those who attended the conference here last week also represented several renewable energy outfits. Hick, Asep manager, assured participants the EU is willing to “engage more and more with them in the energy sector.”

DOE) data reveals only 76.6 percent of the total Mindanao households have been energized.

Mindanao has about 25.5 million residents, or more than 1 million households.

Nilo J. Geroche, chief of energy industry management division of DOE-Mindanao field office, said only four solar power plants remain operational as of last year.

Geroche added that 10 other solar power plants are in their development stage while 25 are in predevelopment stages. Some 12 other projects await approval from the DOE, he said.

A total of 94 projects, including the 12 solar projects, remain pending as of December last year.

Some other renewable-energ y projects were into biomass (four in operation), geothermal (one), and hydropower (six).

O ne ocea n energ y projec t was still in a predevelopment stage. Manuel T. Cayon

A BusinessMirror Special Feature

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National Exporters’ Week

Friday, December 7, 2018 A7

DTI CELEBRATES NATL EXPORTERS’ WEEK, HONORS TOP PHL EXPORTERS

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By Efleda P. Campos Senior Editor

VERY year, during the first week of December, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) leads in celebrating National Exporters’ Week to honor the country’s homegrown manufacturers of export goods and providers of services that have helped place the Philippines on the world map.

For indeed, among the mandates of the DTI is to develop and implement policies that assist local companies break into and in increasing numbers, dominate sectors of world trade.

Presidential Proclamation 931, series of 1996, and House Resolution 33 gave the DTI and its affiliated agencies the mandate to declare the first week of December as the National Exporters’ Week to encourage all sectors of society to move as one toward the promotion and development of Philippine exports.

In this year’s activities, the DTI is assisted by its Export Marketing Bureau (EMB), the private-sector led Philippine Exporters Confederation (PhilExport) and the Export Development Council in leading the celebration of the strides the country has made in the field of international trade.

First among the week’s activities are a series of seminars under the Usapang Exports program. Centering on the event’s theme “SPICE [Stimulate. Permeate. Innovate. Connect. Expand!]

Up to Scale Up! Expand Exports for Inclusive Pros- perity,” the sessions included “Start-ups for Exporters” (December 3); “Export Opportunities: Learning from the Trade Attaches” (December 4); and “International Certification and Standards for Greater Market Access for Gifts, Decors, and Housewares (GDH) and Wearables Sectors” (December 5).

The week’s highlight event is the 2018 National Export Congress (NEC) scheduled on December 7 which is slated at the Philippine International Convention Center’s Reception Hall. The DTI-EMB teamed up with the Board of Investments (BOI), the Competitiveness Bureau (CB), and the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (Citem) in coming up with new activities for the participants.

The BOI, CB and Citem collaborated in the first Logistics Services Philippines Conference and Exhibition scheduled on December 6 and 7, also at the PICC. The LSPH Exhibition on December 7 will be held at PICC’s Reception Hall’s Mezzanine Area simultaneous with the Business Match- ing Hub, Kapiterya and Export Enablers Exhibit.

Highlight of the Congress is honoring 23 of the country’s top exporters in the fields of electronics, processed food and beverages, machinery and transport equipment, minerals, motor vehicle parts (ignition wiring sets), chemicals, coconut

oil, woodcraft and furniture, metal components, fresh fruits, apparel and services.

Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez, DTI - Trade and Investments Promotion Group (TIPG) Undersecretary Nora K. Terrado, DTI-EMB Director Senen M. Perlada, and PhilExport President Sergio R. Ortiz-Luis Jr. will lead in awarding the country’s 23 top-performing exporters.

“The award and recognition is one way to stimulate the exporting community so they can take advantage of the opportunities of the global market,” Perlada said.

Among the activities available to the participants are business matching meetings and networking at the Congress’ Business Matching Hub. Delegates can conduct productive discussions about business growth and create collaborations to strengthen the Philippine export industry.

The first Logistics Services Philippines (LSPH) Exhibition can provide a venue for exporters to gain access to the full range of logistics services from across the country and engage with LSPH providers that best fit their businesses.

Meanwhile, the Export Enabler Exhibit will give exporters a chance to connect with various government agencies and business organizations in order to expand their current network and get industry updates on regulations and market opportunities.

Perlada said the EMB which he heads has helped keep the interest of exporters alive the whole year with the regular information sessions and business-matching activities his bureau sponsored year-round.

“With the 49 events we conducted during the first 10 months of the year, we were able to assist 3,374 exporters with their unique requirements,” he said.

“A major accomplishment are the 20 outbound business missions [OBMs]we conducted that gave 421 exporters a hands-on experience in the conduct of face-to-face trade. Through those 20 OBM, we generated sales totaling $81.23 million,” he said.

Perlada also cited the 31 information sessions the EMB conducted under the “Doing Business in Free Trade Areas” Program which reached 1,876 representatives from 854 companies throughout the Philippines.

“We especially take pride in the first Philippine National Halal Conference and the 10 sessions held under the Philippine Halal Export Promotion and Development Program,” he said.

PHILEXPORT President Sergio R. Ortiz-Luis Jr.

“Through the government’s policy of inclusion, we were able to reach 840 participants. We hope to con-

tinue holding information sessions in the Visayas and Mindanao.”

Perlada said the free trade agreements the country through the DTI has forged with foreign country and regional partners has provided the country’s exporters competitive advantage over other countries that do no enjoy reduced tariff on thousands of goods entering the targeted market.

The Philippines currently has FTAs with the Asean as a single economic bloc as well as FTAs with China, Japan, Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand. It also enjoys a preferential trade status with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), composed of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland.

A8

Friday, December 7, 2018

The World BusinessMirror

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

demands Canada Opec grapples for output cut deal China release Huawei executive to lift price in defiance of Trump B

O

RGANIZATION of the Petroleum Exporting (Opec) Countries meets in Vienna on the verge of an oil production cut that would defy USPresident Donald J. Trump’s plea to keep the taps open.

Yet the group still lacks an agreement on crucial details that could convince traders they’re serious about preventing an oversupply next year and boosting prices.

A day of talks in the Austrian capital on Wednesday concluded with a panel led by Saudi Arabia and Russia—the group’s most powerful members—recommending an output reduction lasting six months, Oman’s Oil Minister Mohammed Al Rumhy told reporters.

But they didn’t discuss how big any cuts should be, he said.

The group could eventually agree to remove about 1 million barrels a day, about 1 percent of global output, from the market, Al Rumhy said. A delegate from another country said some members believe a smaller reduction would be adequate. The oil market reacted negatively, dropping 52 cents to $61.56 a barrel in London.

The Opec and its allies are desperate to shore up oil prices

after a slump of more than $20 a barrel since October. But they’re contending with vociferous opposition from the US president, who’s taken to using his Twitter account to berate the group’s policies and sees low oil prices as key to sustaining America’s economic growth.

While ministers met in Opec’s Vienna headquar ters, Tr ump tweeted that the “world does not want to see, or need, higher oil prices!”

Ministers from the core Opec group, which doesn’t include Russia, will meet on Thursday to seek a consensus on exactly who will cut and by how much.

While Saudi Arabia, the group’s biggest producer, will shoulder most of the burden, the kingdom wants commitments from other countries before completing a final deal.

“I’m cautiously optimistic that a deal gets done, but the devil

will be in the detail,” said Mohammad Darwazah, a director at Medley Global Advisers. “How Opec communicates this to the market may be just as important as what gets done.”

Russia’s contribution

ALTHOUGH Russia, the largest producer in the wider group known as Opec+, agreed to a cut in principle, the eventual size of their contribution remains undefined and will be key to putting together the final deal.

In private conversations earlier this week, Opec delegates said that Saudi Arabia had favored a Russian cut of about 300,000 barrels a day, but Moscow was seeking a smaller reduction of about 150,000, said people familiar with those talks. Those differences persisted after Wednesday’s meeting, Opec delegates said.

Russia’s second-largest oi l producer, Lukoil PJSC, is ready to comply with any request from the Kremlin but hopes output cuts won’t be necessary, said Chief Executive Officer Vagit Alekperov.

“I hope that maybe these measures won’t be necessary,” he said in an interview with Bloomberg television in Vienna. An oil price around $60 suits the needs of producers and consumers and it should remain at that level in January, he said. If Russia does agree a cut, it would take three to

four months to fully implement it, he said.

Iranian exception

IRAN is currently subject to US sanctions and as such won’t participate in any curbs, the country’s Opec governor Hossein Kazempour Ardebili said this week.

Libya and Nigeria, which were exempt from making cuts in the 2016 deal that created the Opec+ group, have accepted that they will have to participate this time, said Al Rumhy.

The last time the Opec+ group agreed to curtail output, in late 2016, it settled on a combined 1.8 million-barrel-a-day reduction.

In preparatory meetings ahead of this week’s summit, delegates had said a cut of as much as 1.3 million barrels a day next year is needed as demand growth slows and US shale production surges.

Resolving the group’s interna l d if ferences and conv incing a skeptical oil market that they’re serious about preventing a new supply glut in 2019 would require ministers to conclude weeks of debate and settle on a final figure.

“Nobody wants to mention a number, because it means you’re committing yourself to how much you’re going to cut,” said Al Rumhy. “Especially the big boys—they would want to keep this cut very close to their heart.” Bloomberg News

Donald Trump odd man out as presidents assemble for George H. W. Bush funeral

W

ASHINGTON—There was no mistaking the odd man out.

The Washington funeral service for former President George H.W. Bush served as a rare reunion of the remaining members of the presidents club, but the front-row banter among Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter and their spouses came to an uneasy end when President Donald J. Trump and wife Melania arrived.

The Wednesday encounter was a real-time illustration of the uneasy ties between the current occupant of the White House and his predecessors, suggesting Trump as a member-in-name-only of the Oval Office fraternity. While the funeral ceremony itself was a warm celebration of the late president, the relationships between the surviving presidents are considerably cooler.

Trump gave the two Obamas a handshake before taking his seat in Washington’s National Cathedral without greeting the others. Hillary Clinton nodded at Melania Trump but then stared straight ahead.

The last of the five presidents to arrive was George W. Bush, who made a point to shake hands with all four couples—and appeared to share a moment of humor with Michelle Obama, slipping something into her hand. Bush then took his seat with the rest of the Bush family, across the aisle from the ex-presidents.

Some discomfort with Trump was perhaps to be expected.

Since his swearing-in, Trump has spurned most contact with his predecessors—and they have snubbed him in return. But while the staid group of Oval Office occupants has been disrupted since Donald Trump’s election, the Bushes had made it known to the White House months ago that, despite differences in policy and temperament, the late president wanted Trump to attend the national service.

PRESIDENT Donald J. Trump (left), first lady Melania Trump, former President Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, former President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and former President Jimmy Carter listen as former President George W. Bush speaks during a State Funeral at the National Cathedral on Wednesday, in Washington, for former President George H.W. Bush.AP/ALEX BRANDON

The ceremony’s tributes at times stood as an unspoken counterpoint to Trump’s leadership, as historian Jon Meacham eulogized Bush by recounting his life’s credo: “Tell the truth, don’t blame people, be strong, do your best, try hard, forgive, stay the course.” George W. Bush added of his father: “He could tease and needle, but not out of malice.”

The late Bush was the de facto chair of the modern incarnation of the president’s club, transcending contentious campaigns and party lines to bring together fractious personalities who share that rarified experience.

Trump has sought to meet the elder Bush’s passing with grace, a contrast to the rhythms of much of his tumultuous presidency. He came to office after a campaign in which he harshly criticized his Democratic predecessors and coopted a Republican Party once dominated by the Bush family.

Despite the traditional kinship among presidents, Trump’s predecessors have all made their discomfort known in different ways.

“It’s unusual that a cabal of expresidents from both parties dislike a sitting president and that’s what you’ve got happening right now,” said Douglas Brinkley, a history professor at Rice University.

The Trump-Obama handshake marked the first direct interaction between the current president and his immediate predecessor since Inauguration Day 2017. Trump has not spoken to Democrats Clinton or Obama since that day.

He did speak with the younger Bush during the contentious confirmation process for Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, as the previous Republican president helped lobby for his former aide.

Democrat Carter has been briefed

by White House officials on North Korea, though it was not clear if he has engaged directly with Trump.

By virtue of health, longevity and opportunities for continued influence, ex-presidents are sticking around longer than ever and staying active in the public eye.

Past presidents often built relationships with their predecessors, Brinkley said. “Bill Clinton would reach out to Richard Nixon for advice on Russia,” he said. “Harry Truman leaned heavily on Herbert Hoover. It’s endless.”

To be sure, Brinkley added, those ties vary from president to president and there have been chilly relationships as well, noting, for example, that “FDR would never talk to Herbert Hoover.”

Busy with a mix of personal pursuits, charitable endeavors—

and, in some cases, paid speaking gigs—the former leaders don’t mingle very often, making a funeral in their group a big occasion.

Bonded by the presidency, they tend to exercise caution in their comments about each other. Still, all the living former presidents have aimed barbs—directly or indirectly—at Trump.

In a speech in September, Obama slammed the “crazy stuff ” coming out of the White House without directly naming Trump.

Last year, the younger Bush made a speech that confronted many of the themes of Trump’s presidency without mentioning him by name, cautioning that “bigotry seems emboldened ” and the nation’s politics “seems more vulnerable to conspiracy theories and outright fabrication.”

Over the summer, Carter told The Washington Post that Trump’s presidency was a “disaster.” And Clinton—stung by Trump’s defeat of wife Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential race—told a weekly newspaper in New York state after her stunning loss that Trump “doesn’t know much.”

Even the late Bush’s feelings about Trump were harsh at times.

In Mark K. Updegrove’s book “The Last Republicans,” published last year, the elder Bush called Trump a “blowhard.”

The late Bush said he voted for Clinton in 2016 while George W. Bush said he voted for “none of the above.”

There have been other moments when the ex-presidents offered more sympathetic sentiments for Trump. After Trump’s surprise victory, Obama stood in the Rose Garden at the White House and said he was “rooting” for the next president. Carter told The New York Times in 2017 the media had been harder on Trump than other presidents. Clinton said in June that America should be rooting for Trump to succeed in his North Korea talks. AP

EIJING—China on Thursday demanded Canada release a Huawei Technologies executive who was arrested in a case that adds to technology tensions with Washington and threatens to complicate trade talks.

Huawei’s chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, faces possible extradition to the United States, according to Canadian authorities. The Globe and Mail newspaper, citing law enforcement sources, said she is suspected of trying to evade U.S. trade curbs on Iran.

The timing is awkward following the announcement of a USChinese cease-fire in a tariff war over Beijing’s technology policy.

Meng was detained in Vancouver on Saturday, the day Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping met in Argentina and announced their deal.

Stock markets tumbled on the news, fearing renewed USChinese tensions that threaten global economic growth. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 2.5 percent and the DA X in Germany sank 1.8 percent.

A Chinese government statement said Meng broke no US or Canadian laws and demanded Canada “immediately correct the mistake” and release her.

B eiji ng a sked Wa sh i ng ton and Ottawa to explain the reason for Meng’s arrest, said a foreig n ministr y spokesman, Geng Shuang. He said arresting her without that violated her human rights.

But t he Ministr y of Commerce signaled Beijing wants to avoid d isr upting prog ress toward settling a dispute with Washing ton over tec hnolog y policy that has led them to raise tariffs on billions of dollars of each other’s goods.

China is confident they can reach a trade deal during the 90 days that Trump agreed to suspend US tariff hikes, said a ministry spokesman, Gao Feng.

Huawei Technolog ies Ltd., the big gest global supplier of net work gear used by phone and Inter net companies, has been the target of deepening U.S. security concerns. Under Tr u mp a nd h i s predecessor, Barack Obama, Washington has pressured European countries and other allies to limit use of its technolog y.

The United States sees Huawei and smaller Chinese tech suppliers as possible fronts for spying and as commercial competitors.

The Trump administration says they benefit from improper subsidies and market barriers.

Trump’s tariff hikes on Chinese imports stemmed from complaints Beijing steals or pressures foreign companies to hand over technology. But American officials also worry more broadly that Chinese plans for state-led creation of Chinese champions in robotics, artificial intelligence and other fields might erode U.S. industrial leadership.

“The United States is stepping up containment of China in all respects,” said Zhu Feng, an international relations expert at Nanjing University. He said targeting Huawei, one of its most successful companies, “will trigger anti-U.S. sentiment.”

“The incident could turn out to be a breaking point,” Zhu said.

L ast mont h, New Zea l a nd blocked a mobile phone company from using Huawei equipment, saying it posed a “significant network security risk.” The company was banned in August from working on Australia’s fifth-generation network.

On Wednesday, British phone carrier BT said it was removing Huawei equipment from the core of its mobile phone networks. It said Huawei still is a supplier of

other equipment and a “valued innovation partner.”

The Wall Street Journal reported this year US authorities are investigating whether Huawei violated sanctions on Iran. The Chinese government appealed to Washington to avoid any steps that might damage business confidence.

Huawei’s biggest Chinese rival, ZTE Corp., was nearly driven out of business this year when Washington barred it from buying U.S. technology over exports to North Korea and Iran. Trump restored access after ZTE agreed to pay a $1 billion fine, replace its executive team and embed a US-chosen compliance team in the company.

Huawei is regarded as far stronger commercially than ZTE. Based in Shenzhen, near Hong Kong, Huawei has the biggest research and development budget of any Chinese company and a vast portfolio of patents, making it less dependent on American suppliers.

Its growing smartphone brand is among the top three global suppliers behind Samsung Electronics and Apple Inc. by number of handsets sold.

Meng was changing flights in Canada when she was detained “on behalf of the United States of America” to face unspecified charges in New York, according to a Huawei statement.

“The company has been prov ided ver y little information regarding the charges and is not aware of any wrongdoing by Ms. Meng,” the statement said.

A US Ju st ice De pa r t ment spokesman declined to comment.

Huawei said it complies with all laws and rules where it operates, including export controls and sanctions of the United Nations, the United States and European Union.

Meng’s arrest also threatened to inflame disagreements over Iran and Trump’s decision to break with other governments and re-impose sanctions over the country’s nuclear development.

Geng, the foreign ministry spokesman, said China objects to unilateral sanctions outside the United Nations. China has said it will continue to do business with Iran despite the possible threat of U.S. penalties.

Meng is a prominent member of China’s business world as deputy chairman of Huawei’s board and the daughter of its founder Ren Zhengfei, a former Chinese military engineer.

Despite that, her arrest is unlikely to derail trade talks, said Willy Lam, a politics specialist at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

“I think too much is at stake for Xi Jinping. He desperately wants a settlement,” said Lam. Longer term, however, the case will reinforce official Chinese urgency about developing domestic technology suppliers to reduce reliance on the United States, said Lam. Trump has “pulled out all the stops” to hamper Chinese ambitions to challenge the United States as a technology leader, Lam said. That includes imposing limits on visas for Chinese students to study science and technology.

“If the Chinese need further convincing, this case would show them beyond doubt Trump’s commitment,” said Lam. David Mulroney, a former Canadian ambassador to China, said US and Canadian business executives could face reprisals in China.

“That’s something we should be watching out for. It’s a possibility. China plays rough,” Mulroney said. “It’s a prominent member of their society and it’s a company that really embodies China’s quest for global recognition as a technology power.” AP

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BusinessMirror

Friday, December 7, 2018 A9

A10 Friday, December 7, 2018 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

editorial

November inflation

T

HE Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported this week that the year-on-year increase in prices rose more slowly during the month of November to an inflation rate of 6 percent. The headlines were quick to point out that this was the first drop in 2018.

Since everything must have a political spin, pro-administration folks were wondering why if President Duterte were to blame for increased inflation, then he should be credited with a decrease in the rate of increasing prices.

Trying to keep both sides of the political agenda narrative in context is difficult.

Presidential Spokesman Salvador S. Panelo “attributed the lower inflation to the President’s ‘empathy to public clamor’ and his ‘decisive action’ to stabilize the prices of agriculture and fishery products at reasonable levels, as well as keep their sufficient supply in the markets.”

To a certain extent, he is correct as this helped break the inflation psychology that has developed over the last months.

The Nikkei Asian Review had this to say: “Slowing food and oil prices were the main contributors to the inflation slowdown. This stems from Duterte’s measures, which range from the easing of restrictions on food imports to the lifting of non-tariff barriers to boost supply. The fall in oil prices also contributed to the drop.” How nice of them to mention that falling oil prices contributed to the inflation rate decline.

Consider this. On October 15th, the average price of gasoline in the Philippines—as calculated by GlobalPetrolPrices.com—was P60.87. As of November 26th, the average price was P52.90 or 13 percent lower.

According to the Department of Energy, the common price of “unleaded gas” in Metro Manila fell from P59.15 to P49.15 or by 17 percent.

Looking at the details of the internal data of the inflation report reveals both the impact of the increase in taxes earlier this year and the impact of changes in oil prices. The conclusion is that—as has been said repeatedly—oil prices are a critical inflation driver both higher and lower. Further, the inflation number has been “distorted” by the tax increase and while prices are significantly higher because of higher taxes, the inflation rate hopefully will return to “normal” by the end of the first quarter 2019.

Of the 11 “commodity groups” that are measured to chart inflation: education, communication, clothing, recreation, furnishings, housing and utilities, health care, and restaurants all recorded a 4.5-percent increase or less. These purchases were affected only slightly by the tax increase. “Transport”—up 8.9 percent—felt price pressure from both taxes and oil prices. Food and nonalcoholic beverages—up 8 percent— was also hit by taxes, oil prices, and, in some cases, supply problems.

But alcoholic beverages and tobacco prices again skyrocketed by 21.8 percent over the same period in 2017 due to the excise tax increase.

The “inflation basket weighting” of the various categories is not equal, and while beer and cigarettes are not as large a purchase as food and soft drinks, the increase in excise taxes will be smoothed out in a few months. We will not see that 21.8 percent inflation next March.

However, the government decision to raise fuel taxes is not going to help keep prices steady and certainly not lower.

If the administration is adamant on increasing these fuel taxes then inflation is going to be a continuing problem regardless of President Duterte’s “empathy to public clamor” and his “decisive action”. We all better hope that global crude oil prices continue to fall or at least stay at current levels.

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James Jimenez

SPOX

D

ESPITE the breathless coverage given to the matter, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) isn’t looking to regulate social media per se. Campaigning will still be allowed online, and everybody can still post and share political content with practically no restriction. However, this doesn’t mean that the political online environment exists in a complete regulatory vacuum.

While the use of online platforms is mostly free, the fact remains that the degree of interaction with the audience—likes, reposts, etc.—and therefore the effectiveness with which the platform is being used, inevitably depends on what the user shares on those platforms. On social media, content is king. While some of the best content are essentially produced at next to no cost, those success stories are actually few and far between. Inevitably, reliable and consistently good content of the kind that propaganda campaigns need costs money. This places social media use for political purposes squarely within the mandate of the Comelec to monitor campaign spending—specifically in the areas of content production, the use of post-boosting services offered by various social-media platforms, and the use of social-media operatives—more unkindly referred to as “troll farms.” Needless to say, it is on those three areas that the Comelec is turning its sights.

Content production IF content is king, then the king of content is video. Studies have shown that social-media posts with images or video consistently outperform those posts that have neither. It follows, therefore, that those who want their social-media accounts to pop tend to invest heavily in producing good audio-visual content. In today’s hypercompetitive online world, even amateur bloggers or v-loggers are likely to have equipment that only professionals used to have—things like digital single lens reflex cameras, cardioid condenser microphones, and a staggering range of ring-light sizes. All of which goes to show that the standards for online content have moved way past the old benchmarks. And looking at the content being pushed out, it’s pretty obvious where the money goes.

Boosting

BOOSTING posts, or paying to have the social-media platform “push”

We’re already seeing how the playing field is being skewed by the failure to close the gaping premature campaigning loophole. And certainly, we must all be painfully aware by now that politicians will take advantage of every kind of unregulated behavior. specific posts to a larger number of accounts than would ordinarily see those posts, is a common enough occurrence. Small businesses do it, celebrity fandoms do it, and startups swear by it. It is a cost-effective way of getting your message out to a great number of people. As such, it is a natural fit for political campaigns; except that you can probably expect that political campaigns will be boosting posts on an industrialstrength level, compared to your neighborhood florist. In other words, serious money could be invested in boosting a political campaign’s posts; and again, where there’s money being spent, there should be some measure of regulation.

Troll farms

THE most contentious aspect of what the Comelec is trying to achieve—and certainly the most difficult—is the monitoring of expenses for the use of socialmedia keyboard jockeys. How do I even begin describing the challenges inherent in wrangling this fabulous beast? First of all, the job itself is so new there isn’t even a universally accepted job title for it yet. Social-media operator?

INF is just another unenforceable treaty

Lorenzo M. Lomibao Jr., Gerard S. Ramos Lyn B. Resurreccion, Efleda P. Campos Dennis D. Estopace

Online Editor Social Media Editor

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

Wet feet

Leonid Bershidsky

BLOOMBERG

A

S important as it is, the great nuclear power quarrel over the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty of 1987 is about more than any particular agreement. The dispute raises the question of whether treaties remain relevant when some leaders are unwilling to be held to any obligations and others are too weak to challenge them.

On Tuesday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo demanded that Russia comply with the INF treaty within two months or face a US withdrawal from the treaty. Specifically, the US and its North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Nato) allies want Russia to scrap a missile known as the SSC-8 or 9M729, which, they claim, has a longer range than is allowed under the treaty. Russia says the missile

has a shorter range and complies with the agreement. In addition, Moscow accused the US of violating the treaty. According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, the Aegis Ashore weapons systems, elements of both the US anti-missile defense and its drone program don’t comply with the INF’s letter, spirit or both.

Moscow isn’t about to make concessions and seems to believe the

Moscow isn’t about to make concessions and seems to believe the treaty is already dead.

On Wednesday, Valery Gerasimov, Russia’s chief of general staff, told foreign military attachés in Moscow that if the US abandons the treaty, Russia will target any country where US intermediate-range nuclear missiles are deployed.

treaty is already dead. On Wednesday, Valery Gerasimov, Russia’s chief of general staff, told foreign military attachés in Moscow that if the US abandons the treaty, Russia will target any country where US intermediate-range nuclear missiles are deployed. That threat could lead to a standoff much like the 1980s confrontation between the Soviet Union and European Nato members that agreed to house US Pershing II missiles.

But these tensions obscure a more troubling general picture. Both the ultimatum and the tough response

Digital operative? Professional commenter? And perhaps most tellingly, hardly anyone—least of all a candidate for public office—will admit to actually using the services of these individuals whose paid-for output largely consists of posting comments on social media. However they’re called, the bottom line is that their employment represents a potentially significant item of expenditure for political campaigns, which must be ripe for regulation.

Surprisingly, despite all of these strategies having been deployed to great effect in the 2016 elections, I have yet to find a single Statement of Contributions and Expenditures from that period reflecting payments made for any of them.

Considering that the coming elections will only see an escalation in the use of online campaign materials—not to mention the inevitable improvements in the quality of the content being produced—failing to do anything to remedy that situation strikes me as being incredibly lazy at best.

We’re already seeing how the playing field is being skewed by the failure to close the gaping premature campaigning loophole. And certainly, we must all be painfully aware by now that politicians will take advantage of every kind of unregulated behavior. Then it should be fairly easy to understand that allowing social media to keep on being a hospitable haven for illicit campaign spending is simply unacceptable at this point.

There will be difficulties ahead, of that there can be no question. But it is time to get the Comelec’s feet wet.

are about optics: The US wants to be able to say it gave the Russians fair warning, and Russia, in turn, is trying to persuade the world that the US has long since made up its mind to tear up a treaty that constrained it too much. Substantively, however, the dispute is about both sides’ willingness to comply with any mutual constraints at all.

Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, has shown time and time again that expediency is more important to him than any preexisting agreements. The land grabs in Ukraine and the obstacles Russia puts up for ships headed to Ukrainian ports on the Sea of Azov are, in Putin’s mind, justified by geopolitical or security considerations.

These justifications take priority over pieces of paper signed by his predecessors. Whether Putin will stick to a deal depends on whether he can get away with not complying.

That makes it difficult to negotiate anything with him: The Russian See “Bershidsky,” A11

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Opinion

Scent of the Russians

From Tuguegarao to my imagined edge of the nation

G

BusinessMirror

By Bret Stephens | The New York Times

ARRY KASPAROV, the chess champion and chairman of the Renew Democracy Initiative (with which I’m associated), has an excellent suggestion for how to respond immediately to Russia’s attack on Sunday on three Ukrainian naval ships operating in their own territorial waters: Send a flotilla of US and Nato warships through the narrow Kerch Strait to pay a port call to the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol, on the Sea of Azov.

The move would be Trumanesque, recalling the Berlin airlift of 1948.

It would symbolize the West’s solidarity with our embattled Ukrainian ally, our rejection of Russia’s seizure of Crimea and our defiance of the Kremlin’s arrogant, violent, lawless behavior. And it would serve as powerful evidence that, when it comes to standing up for the free world, Donald J. Trump is not, after all, Vladimir Putin’s poodle.

In other words, don’t count on it.

So far, the most Trump has done in response to the Russian outrage is to call off a meeting with Putin at the G-20 Summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina—while offering, as he burbled in a tweet, “a meaningful Summit again as soon as this situation is resolved!”

That’s the coy promise of a future kiss, not a line drawn in the sand.

Trump’s diplomats, particularly United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, have been tougher. But even she urged that matters be addressed in an obscure and toothless venue called “the Normandy Four Format,” where Russia has a seat—and effectively a veto—while the US has neither. Had Barack Obama behaved similarly (as he mostly did during the Crimean and Donbass crises), conservatives would have been in full throat, decrying weakness, appeasement and American retreat.

Where’s Sean Hannity when you need him to be embarrassed for his country?

At least Obama’s Russia policy was philosophically consonant with a longer liberal tradition of relative dovishness in US relations with Moscow. And at least Obama came around, albeit much too late, to seeing Russia as the enemy that it is.

The abiding mystery with Trump is why he continually attempts to ignore outrages, finesse differences and curry personal favor with Putin. Ideologically it makes no sense: Conservatives have been hawkish on Russia since the days of Warren Harding and V.I. Lenin. Politically it makes no sense: A pro-Russia policy has no domestic constituency. Policywise, it makes no sense: Trump has actively fought Senate Republicans and his own senior advisers over taking a tougher Russia line. (The sanctions enacted last year were forced on him over his fierce objections.)

Psychologically, it makes no sense: If there’s one thing Trump detests, it’s being mocked and derided as a weakling and the creature of stronger, smarter adversaries.

Hence the only other sensical hypothesis—namely, Trump’s selfinterest—which even conservatives need to admit has become much more plausible following Michael Cohen’s guilty plea this week. The president’s former fixer now admits that he lied to Congress over the timing and extent of his efforts to make contacts and win contracts

Bershidsky. . . continued from A10

leader has argued repeatedly that enforcement mechanisms such as economic sanctions cannot make Russia change its behavior.

US President Donald J. Trump, for his part, has shown a similar unwillingness to be constrained by bilateral or multilateral agreements. This reticence applies to even “shallow” deals such as the Paris climate pact of 2015, from which Trump exited, or the new United Nations migration pact, which his administration refused to sign. In the case of deeper and more specific agreements, Trump only feels constrained when he deems the US has enough to gain. This logic motivated

So far, the most Trump has done in response to the Russian outrage is to call off a meeting with Putin at the G-20 Summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina— while offering, as he burbled in a tweet, “a meaningful Summit again as soon as this situation is resolved!” That’s the coy promise of a future kiss, not a line drawn in the sand. Trump’s diplomats, particularly UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, have been tougher. in Moscow on behalf of the Trump Organization, which lasted until at least June 2016, after Trump had essentially clinched the Republican nomination for president. By then questions about his Russia ties were fast becoming a political liability.

Now the president and his apologists are mounting an astonishing defense—accusing Cohen of being a liar while insisting there was nothing wrong with the very business dealings Trump previously lied about. If Cohen is lying, why does the president now freely admit to the truth of Cohen’s claims? If there was nothing wrong with the dealings, why did candidate Trump repeatedly deny them?

The contradiction here would be too inane to mention if it weren’t also insidious. “Falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus.” If the president tacitly admits to lying about his business interests in Russia, it’s unsafe to assume anything else he says about those ties is true.

And if the president openly admits that he was looking toward future business opportunities in Russia in the event he lost the 2016 election, it’s equally unsafe to assume he isn’t doing so right now with respect to the 2020 election—or that American policy toward Russia isn’t being softened, restrained, bent and debased accordingly. “Quid pro quo” is another Latinism that needs no translation.

None of this amounts to impeachable offenses—yet. But it is squalid, smelly and suspicious, and another reminder of why Robert Mueller’s investigation of Trump’s finances is no fishing expedition. Any Republican who claims to be alarmed by Putin’s aggression in Ukraine, Syria, Salisbury or Menlo Park can’t be serious if he isn’t willing to protect that investigation from its principal enemies, starting with the president and his acting attorney general.

Kasparov’s good advice on Russia policy needs a corollary. We need a naval flotilla to help break Putin’s efforts to strangle Ukraine. We also need its political equivalent to break the president’s efforts to strangle the special counsel. The Flake-Coons bill just strangled in the Senate would have been a start. the renegotiation of Nafta and the repudiation of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. Trump approaches negotiating partners from a zero-sum position of strength—a more muscular version of the traditional US hegemonic position above any kind of international law.

Any deal between the US and Russia has always been personal, an agreement between two specific leaders that reflects the chemistry of their relationship. The INF treaty was a deal between President Ronald Reagan and the Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev. For all their differences, and regardless of Gorbachev’s growing economic desperation, they shared an agenda of establishing lasting peace. The arms-control treaties they signed, sometimes surprising each other

Tito Genova Valiente

ANNOTATIONS

L

AST week, it was my second time to be in Tuguegarao. The first time, we only passed through the city to another place, in Isabela.

The second time, Tuguegarao was my destination. This was on the occasion of the ongoing program of the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) called “Planting the Seeds.” This is a program where we conduct film education and film literacy workshop. We have gone to many places in the country, and Tuguegarao would be the 19th location for this wonderful program.

I was traveling with Ef Orpiada, a former student of mine in Ateneo de Naga when I taught a course on cinema. Ef , who is now with FDCP, was part of that class where, eschewing theories and technologies, I simply asked them to use music and bounce off from what they hear the images they would create on screen.

Getting off from the plane, the first thing he told me was, “your trip to Appari.” It was then that I suddenly remembered what I much earlier requested, that I be given a few hours to go to Aparri on my own. Our host, the provincial government of Tuguegarao, was more than gracious to agree to my request: We were given a van and a guide, Kirby.

Kirby asked me what I would like to see in Aparri. I wanted to tell him, the edge of the nation, but that would really sound impertinent and glib.

In reality, that was the only reason

why I requested that trip. I had been hearing ever since—in songs and speeches—the line “from Aparri to Jolo,” and I felt it was time to see that fact. “To see old churches and ruins,” I told Kirby.

Kirby proved to be a good guide, not sleeping even while Ef and I were drowsing away to lands farther than Luzon and Batanes. In the course of our conversation, Kirby said: We (referring to the driver) are not really talking in Ilocano; we are speaking in Ibanag. I was not asking because, to be honest, I would not be able to tell the difference. But then maybe Kirby wanted me to “see” and “feel” the difference.

“Ibanag,” I told Kirby, is a familiar term because of a magazine that used to come out years ago, together with Liwayway and some other magazines with regional languages as names.

Kirby was happy Ibanag was not a strange name to me.

Kirby is Ibanag, he was proud to claim. But the driver, according to him, speaks the more authentic version of it.

Authenticity would be an obsession throughout that journey.

The trip that was just meant to bring this person, who grew up in Southern Luzon and spent his mature years in what is called the

Hope: All is not lost

Friday, December 7, 2018 A11

The trip that was just meant to bring this person, who grew up in Southern Luzon and spent his mature years in what is called the center of the nation, was becoming a radical and fresh lesson in human geography.

center of the nation, was becoming a radical and fresh lesson in human geography. Kirby called our attention to what had been attracting ours: the “unusual” names on places and people. The double consonants. What linguists call “germination.”

Caggay. Tagga. Pallua. Namabbalan. Dadda.

And there is the presence of “F”: Annafunan, a name of a barangay and innafi as in “rice.”

And there is “V”: bavi for “pig.”

And there is a “Z”: kazzing or “goat.”

These are sounds that our first language teachers taught us as having been “borrowed” from the West to complement the alphabet. Experts could not be honest enough to say, here are the sounds that are found only in Ibanag and Itawis and which we are borrowing?

Even the name “Tuguegarao” itself comes tuggi, which means “fire,” and aggao, which meant “day,” exhibits the double consonants.

The next question was: Where are the Ibanags? The question is dumb, we all know that, but still one question that should be asked.

I was dozing off when Kirby called me up: “Sir, Aparri na po.” [It is already Aparri].

By the time I looked up, our car was passing under the huge arch, which announces, “Welcome to Aparri.” It was for me. I knew that the

Bishop Ambo is known to be a critic of the Duterte administration’s war on drugs. Under the Diocese of Caloocan includes Caloocan CitySouth, Malabon City and Navotas City, which are all marked as “ground zero” in the “war on drugs” because of the many killings in these areas.

Bishop Ambo is very active in giving guidance and support to parishioners who lost their loved ones, and also the drug addicts who are willing to change by undergoing rehabilitation program.

Despite this, just recently, President Duterte accused Bishop Ambo to be involved with illegal drugs. In one of his speeches, the President threatened to behead Bishop Ambo

if he is caught buying drugs. Bishop Ambo retorted, saying he never used any drugs and he is just helping the addicts to change.

The President also accused him of anomalous acts like stealing church collections and offerings for his personal and family consumption. The Bishop just shrugged the accusations off and said people who are sick and suffering sometimes do not know what they are saying, so they need more understanding.

My dear brothers and sisters, in one of the letters during the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, or CBCP, in 2017, “For I find no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies—oracle of the Lord God” (Ezekiel

18:32), it said: “We, your bishops, are deeply concerned due to many deaths and killings in the campaign against prohibited drugs. This traffic in illegal drugs needs to be stopped and overcome. But the solution does not lie in the killing of suspected drug users and pushers. We are concerned not only for those who have been killed. The situation of the families of those killed is also cause for concern.

Their lives have only become worse.

An additional cause of concern is the reign of terror in many places of the poor. Many are killed not because of drugs. Those who kill them are not brought to account. An even greater cause of concern is the indifference of many to this kind of wrong. It is considered as normal and, even worse, something that [according to them] needs to be done.”

Again, the church is not against suppressing the problem of illegal drugs. But we believe there are ways to eradicate the situation without leaving a wife/husband and the rest of the family grieving for untimely death. If someone is an addict we should not label him or her as a lesser person than us. They equally deserve the right to live and be given the chance to change because they are still humans created by God.

with how much they dared to give up, reflected their intentions; even without strong enforcement mechanisms, they could trust each other because they shared a goal.

There was similar chemistry between Russian President Boris Yeltsin and his US counterparts, George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton. The connection ensured that old deals worked and new ones were signed.

One could argue Russia’s weakness was a more important factor, but Russia is still considerably weaker than the US—and that no longer helps keep deals together.

Personal deals between US and Russian leaders haven’t been possible for years for a variety of reasons, not least a disunity of goals. There is, however, an argument to be made that deals in general don’t work as

well as they usually have in recent decades. In October, a group of intellectuals from the Valdai Club, the international relations think tank and discussion club close to the Kremlin, published a report, entitled “Life in a Crumbling World.”

“On the whole, international relations are shifting toward less and less binding interactions,” Fyodor Lukyanov and collaborators wrote.

“Everyone proceeds from the belief that peace is reliably guaranteed even under the conditions of a political conflict between countries.”

That’s a convenient justification for Putin’s treatment of agreements as, alternately, fig leaves or wasted paper. But there’s also truth in the idea that, in the absence of threats as overwhelming as that of a big war, no deal is enforceable.

This isn’t only true of agreements between the US and Russia. European powers, normally sticklers for international rules, haven’t done much to keep the Iran nuclear deal alive in the face of US sanctions. The weak response to Trump’s pressure must be deliberate as Europe has the international weight and wealth to try much harder.

Even w ithin the European Union, compliance with agreements concerning the rule of law or solid economic management is slipping. Country after country is testing the limits of the possible. And while the UK and the EU have been trying hard to reach a divorce deal, compliance with any agreement doesn’t feel preordained. Former Bank of England governor Mervyn King suggested

Rev. Fr. Antonio Cecilio T. Pascual

SERVANT LEADER

W

E are fortunate that we still have citizens who are very vocal against violence and death in our country. In the midst of darkness, there is still a glimmer of hope in the person of Bishop Pablo Virgilio “Ambo” David of the Diocese of Caloocan.

woods, the roads, the mountains of the North and even the sea, which I could not see yet, were all welcoming me—this man who wanted to see the edge of this country.

We stopped by the municipal office of Aparri, and there we were met by the local Tourism officer who gave us Louie, the de-facto tour guide of the place. Louie took us to the pier, “where the river meets the sea.” Indeed, it was quite scary to be at the spot where the freshwater flowed into the sea.

At the area closer to the river, the water appeared to swim underneath the stronger waves of the sea. From where the two meet, one could look far into the true north of that trip.

There are other areas jutting out into that northern part of the country, but Aparri caught the historical imagination as the last frontier, it being the more prominent trading port.

It was almost evening when we got back to Tuguegarao. It was almost evening, but I kept asking Kirby how did Tuguegarao lose its prominence to the Ilocos cities and towns? Tuguegarao, it was unfolding to us, was proving to be an important capital during the Spanish period.

The next day, in the former jail used by the Spanish colonizers, now called the Tribunal, I would meet Atty. Mabel P. Villarica-Mamba, the good wife of the governor, who was behind the invitation for all of us. Jen Trinidad Junio, the current tourism point person, was also there. They are all looking to film as a way to tell the South, the East and the West of the Philippines about the Northern place of Tuguegarao and the many tales it could tell. To be included, of course, in the narrative would be Aparri, where I could dream about end points and, well, beginnings.

E-mail: titovaliente@yahoo.com

Let us support our shepherd the Bishop and the lay people who are being attacked for their affirmation in the importance of life. How do we do this? First, be critical of baseless accusations. Second, we cannot keep our silence if we see continuous bloodshed in our society that we act this is now the new “normal.” Last, we participate in the reformation programs in helping our fellowmen who got lost. Let us all work for a peaceful country and work together in our own small way for a better community. With God there are endless possibilities.

Make it a habit to listen to Radio Veritas 846 in the AM band, or through live streaming at www.veritas846.ph and follow its Twitter and Instagram accounts @veritasph and YouTube at veritas846.ph. For your comments, e-mail veritas846pr@gmail.com.

recently that if the current version of the deal stands, the UK is likely to abrogate it unilaterally.

In their report, Lukyanov and collaborators wrote that countries are increasingly selfish in their interactions. That rings true. The question is what kind of threat could bring the leaders of this fractured world to start making binding deals again. A military incident reviving the threat of a global conflagration? The possibility of another all-encompassing economic crisis?

Until that question is answered, it’s safe to assume no deal, bilateral or multilateral, can withstand pressure.

The INF treaty, which in better times would have been discussed constructively and amended by leaders who believed in win-win solutions, is just one case in point.

To know more about Caritas Manila, visit or follow us on Facebook: CaritasManilaInc. For your donations, please call our DonorCare lines 563-9311, 564-0205, 0999-7943455, 09054285001, and 09298343857. Make it a habit to listen to Radio Veritas 946 in the AM band, or through live streaming at www.veritas846.ph and follow its Twitter and Instagram accounts @veritasph and YouTube at veritas846.ph. for your comments, e-mail veritas846pr@gmail.com.

2nd Front Page BusinessMirror

A12 Friday, December 7, 2018

DOJ chief plays down legal fuss over PHL-China MOU

J

By Joel R. San Juan @jrsanjuan1573 & Butch Fernandez @butchfBM

USTICE Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra said on Thursday the memorandum of understanding (MOU) on possible cooperation on oil and gas exploration in the West Philippine Sea, signed during the recent Manila visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping, does not involve constitutional issues.

In an interview with reporters, Guevarra clarified that the MOU is a mere “expression of mutual desires” between the two countries to enter into an agreement; thus, it is not legally binding yet.

He immediately clarified that when he said that there is no constitutional issue involved in the MOU, it does not mean that he is making a declaration that it is constitutional or unconstitutional.

“I am not saying that the MOU is constitutional or unconstitutional.

What I am saying is there are no constitutional issues involved in a mere MOU because it is a mere ex-

pression of mutual desires to enter into some form of cooperative arrangements but that cooperative arrangements [have] yet to be negotiated and concluded,” the justice secretary explained.

Guevarra added that he does not even consider the MOU as an executive agreement, which somehow binds the two governments.

“So there is no need, you know, for a Senate review much less Senate concurrence, for something that is not a treaty at all,” the DOJ chief explained.

Guevarra made the statement in response to Senate President Pro

Tempore Ralph G. Recto’s call for a legislative review of the MOU following concerns that it could compromise the country’s sovereignty or lead to a debt trap.

Recto had earlier expressed confidence the MOU—signed in Manila by Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, and witnessed by Presidents Xi and Duterte—was off to a good start, following expressions of support by two of the most vocal critics of Chinese muscling in the South China Sea, Locsin’s predecessor Alberto del Rosario and Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio of the Supreme Court.

Senate review

MEANWHILE, the chairman of the Senate Economic Affairs Committee said on Thursday it was still the Senate’s “prerogative” to review any document, such as the PhilippinesChina MOU on energy cooperation, if it deemed it necessary.

Asked if senators would agree with the DOJ that there is no need for the Senate to review the terms of the oil and gas deal with China, Sen. Sherwin T. Gatchalia asserted, “It is the prerogative of the Senate to look into the oil

A

@alyasjah

PPROVED foreign investments in the third quarter accelerated by 6.5 percent to P45.9 billion, from P43 billion,

on the back of strong commitments from British Virgin Islands, Malaysia and the United States.

The top investing economies from July to September are British Virgin Islands, Malaysia and the US. The former committed

EASTERLIES AFFECTING THE WHOLE COUNTRY as of 4:00 pm - December 6, 2018

P15.5 billion, while the second and the latter applied P10.7 billion and P4.5 billion of the total approved foreign investments, respectively.

Electricity, gas, steam and airconditioning supply received the

D.O.T.-ACCREDITED SIARGAO RESORTS HAVE ENV’TAL VIOLATIONS

“There are no constitutional issues involved in a mere MOU because it is a mere expression of mutual desires to enter into some form of cooperative arrangements but [the] cooperative arrangements [have] yet to be negotiated and concluded.”—Guevarra

and gas agreements or contracts with any country.” “This is in line with the check and balance mandate of the Senate,” Gatchalian told the BusinessMirror.

Sen. Francis N. Pangilinan also disputed the DOJ stand on the issue. “With respect, I disagree,” said Pangilinan.

Senate President Vicente C. Sotto III, however, took a different position, pointing out that the Senate’s review power does not include the oil and gas deal with China.

“It is not part of what is provided in Article VI of the Constitution,” the Senate leader said. “Not even in Article VII Sections 20 and 21,” Sotto added, referring to the provisions spelling out the powers of the Senate and the House of Representatives in conducting inquiries in aid of legislation.

Q3 foreign investments up 6.5% to ₧45.9B

By Elijah Felice E. Rosales

www.businessmirror.com.ph

lion’s share of foreign investments in the third quarter at P16.1 billion, or 35 percent. Real-estate activities came in second at P11.8 billion, or 25.6 percent, while manufacturing was at third with P7.6 billion, or 16.6 percent.

On the other hand, a hefty chunk of the pledges, or P15.5 billion, are penciled to finance projects in Northern Mindanao. Central Luzon is the second-largest recipient by location at P13.5 billion, while fresh projects in Metro Manila amounted to P8.3 billion.

With the third-quarter figures in, total approved foreign investments from January to September now stand at P91 billion, or an 8.2-percent increase over the P84.1 billion posted in the same period last year.

Approved combined investments of foreign and Filipino nationals in the third quarter, on the other hand, reached P259.7 billion.

This is 5.3 percent lower than the P274.4 billion recorded during the same period last year.

Filipino nationals provided much of the share at P213.9 billion, or 82.3 percent of the total commitments.

Investments approved for the third quarter are estimated to generate 41,797 jobs. Out of this anticipated generation, 87.6 percent would come from projects with foreign interest.

Budget. . .

Continued from A1

“Under the Constitution, the President may exercise line-item veto power and still approve the GA A [General Appropriations Act]. There is no further delay, unless Congress by a three-fourths vote overrides the veto, an event that has not happened before,” Diokno said in a message sent to the BusinessMirror.

The money measure is now under scrutiny by senators, who are targeting to finish the budget deliberations by mid-December to avert the possibility of a reenacted budget.

According to Diokno, President

A SWIMMING ban is currently in place in El Nido. The local government finally put a sign to warn tourists. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo

@akosistellaBM Special to the BusinessMirror

T

HE ad hoc interagency government body tasked to check on island destinations and their adherence to environmental laws and business operations regulations will be turning its focus next on Siargao.

The popular surfing destination in Surigao del Norte has seen a surge in visitor arrivals, especially this year in the wake of the closure of the world’s best island, Boracay, in Malay, Aklan.

A member of the task force, Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo Puyat, saw for herself the state of tourism establishments in Siargao when she attended the wedding of a close friend last weekend.

The resort she was booked in, for instance, while accredited with the Department of Tourism (DOT), she said, had “a number of environmental violations,” including easement issues. A portion of its waterfront was cemented with concrete steps built going into the waters. She declined to name the resort to give it an opportunity to address its violations.

Data from the DOT showed 13 resorts and one tourist inn are accredited in Siargao, although the total number of rooms were not indicated. Among those accredited were the posh Nay Palad Hideaway, formerly known as the Dedon Island Resort and the popular Kermit Surf and Dive Camp. The application for accreditation of three resorts and six tourist inns are also currently being processed.

Romulo Puyat also clarified that the interagency task force overseeing Boracay’s rehabilitation will no longer be formally reconstituted to handle the rehabilitation of other island destinations through a formal executive order, as she had initially announced.

Instead, the members of the task force will be checking on the state of these islands in their individual capacities, in keeping with their respective government functions.

Other members of the task force are the secretaries of the Departments of Environment and Natural Resources, and of the Interior and Local Government.

“We originally wanted an EO but we were informed by our lawyers

Duterte and the past presidents have exercised this line-item veto power before.

He even recalled Duterte vetoing an item in the first package of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law.

“The line-item veto power is a very potent [power] of a Philippine President. It is a significant tool for fiscal responsibility. The US President does not have such power,” he said.

On Wednesday Lacson even cited a P500-million allocation from the questionable P2.4-billion appropriation set aside for farmto-market road projects alone.

Lacson said he obtained the list of projects from the budget docu-

that it wasn’t needed. The mandate of each of the departments will suffice,” she said. “But if we close [the destination], then we need an EO,” she stressed.

The task force recently visited Panglao Island in Bohol and El Nido in Palawan, meeting with their respective local government officials.

Several measures were prescribed to rehabilitate both destinations, including the designation of “no swimming”areas due to high fecal coliform levels. (See, “Swimming ban slapped on 2 Panglao, El Nido sites,” in the BusinessMirror, November 30, 2018.)

According to the provincial tourism office of Siargao, there were 129,730 visitors to the island in 2017, of which 35,000 were foreigners. Of the total number of foreign tourists, the largest numbers came from Australia (2,244); Germany (1,826); Spain (1,763); Canada (1,706); and France (1,511).

From January to July 2018, there were 88,859 visitor arrivals in Siargao, of which 28,026 were foreign tourists. No comparative figures were provided by the DOT. In February, DOT officials met with local government officials in Siargao; the latter asked for help in putting up a sanitary landfill because at present, the island only has an open dump, which is already prohibited under current environmental laws. (See, “Government to avert Boracay-like problems in Siargao–DOT,” in the BusinessMirror, February 28, 2018.)

Siargao recently topped the Readers’ Choice Awards for Best Islands in Asia list 2018, given out by influential travel publication Condé Nast Traveler (CNT).

The magazine’s editors wrote of Siargao: “We’d like to say that surfers are the vanguard of travelers, scoping out some of the more remote parts of the world for surf breaks before the rest of us get there. [The island] has been popular for a few years…but our readers, an adventurous sort, have caught on. There’s enough white sand to go around.”

CNT writer Verena von Pfetten noted, “The teardop-shaped Philippine island is home to more than 15 separate surf breaks, including the legendary Cloud 9, which counts Kelly Slater and Anthony Kedis among its fans,” and recommended visitors check into a villa at Nay Palad Hideaway.

ments transmitted to the Senate for the upcoming plenary deliberations on the 2019 budget.

Although Lacson did not directly name House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as the congresswoman he was referring to, he showed a slide of a portion of the congresswoman’s identified projects with alleged insertions, including those in the municipalities of Lubao, Guagua and Porac in Pampanga.

These municipalities are all in the Second District of Pampanga represented by Arroyo.

The congressman was from Camarines Sur, Lacson said.

He also did not confirm if he is referring to Camarines Sur Rep. Rolando Andaya Jr.

Companies BusinessMirror

Editor: Efleda P. Campos

Friday, December 7, 2018

B1

4 power projects named of ‘national significance’

T

By Lenie Lectura

@llectura

HE Department of Energy (DOE) recently issued certificates of Energy Projects of National Significance (EPNS) to four power projects.

These are the 650-megawatt Pagbilao combined cycle gas turbine power plant of Energy World, 15-MW Masbate coal plant of DMCI Power Corp., 1.2-MW biogas power plant project of First Quezon Biogas Corp. and the 6-MW Pangasinan Green Atom Waste to Energy project of Green Atom Renewable Energy Corp. The permits were issued to the power firms last month. Except for the waste-to-energy power project of Green Atom, which is in its pre-development stage, the other three projects are

up for commercial operation.

The list of power projects declared by the DOE as Projects of National Significance has already reached 10.

The other six are a 500-MW pumped storage hydropower project of Coheco Badeo Corp.; Coal Operating Contracts 185 and 186 of the Philippine National Oil Co.Exploration Corp.; the 2x600-MW coal project of Atimonan One Energy Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Meralco PowerGen Corp.

(MGen), the power-generation arm of Meralco; the 151.2-MW

Talim wind power project of Island Wind Energy Corp.; the Kalinga geothermal-power project of Aragorn Power and Energy Corp.; the Visayas-Mindanao Interconnection Project of the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines. The issuance of EPNS certificates is stipulated under Executive Order 30, which states that concerned government agencies shall act upon applications for permits not exceeding within a 30-day period.

If no decision is made within the specified processing time frame, the application is deemed approved by the concerned agency.

“It is the policy of the State to ensure a continuous, adequate and economic supply of energy. Hence, an efficient and effective administrative process for energy projects of national significance should be developed in order to avoid unnecessary delays in the implementation of the Philippine Energy Plan,” the EO stated.

SOFT OPENING OF CITADINES BAY CITY HOTEL Beauty queens join government officials and Citadines Hotel management during

the hotel’s recent soft opening. Present during the event are (from left): Ilene Astrid de Vera, Mutya Ng Pilipinas 2017 Asia Pacific International; Joselito Gregorio of the Tourism Promotions Board; Renz Reyes, resident manager of Citadines Bay City Manila; Daniel Wee, Ascott country general manager; Rep. Imelda Calixto-Rubiano; Jemelo Villones; Pasay City Vice Mayor Noel del Rosario; Philip Barnes, Ascott deputy general; Jose Clemente, Tourism Congress of the Philippines president; and Kristine Micah Malicsi, Mutya Ng Pilipinas 2018 second runner-up. Citadines Hotel is managed by The Ascott Ltd. in Bay City, Manila. NONIE REYES

Shell to maintain ₧4-B capex in 2019

P

ILIPINAS Shell Petroleum Corp. will retain its annual capital expenditure (capex) of P4 billion for 2019, its top official said on Wednesday night.

“We remain consistent at P4 billion,” company President Cesar Romero said, adding that half of the amount is earmarked for its retail business.

“This year, we are on track to deliver between 50 stations and 70 stations. We have 1,060 stations as of our last count,” Romero said.

Shell is considered one of three major oil companies in the country. Romero said the company remains keen on improving its market share currently at 33 percent.

The oil firm’s earnings from January to September this year jumped to P7.2 billion, but its net profit in the third quarter slid to P1.6 billion. “[Our] marketing businesses continue to deliver robust earnings amid high inflation in the country and higher global oil prices,”

the company said.

“The manufacturing and supply-chain segments benefit from inventory holding gains and improvement in refinery reliability despite continued challenges in regional gross-refining margins,” it added. Romero said the company continues to expand its marketing businesses with discipline, and operate its supply chain safely and reliably to support the country’s energy needs. Lenie Lectura

B2

Companies BusinessMirror

Friday, December 7, 2018

PSE STOCK QUOTATIONS

December 6, 2018

Net Foreign Stocks Bid Ask Open High Low Close Volume Value Trade (Peso) Buy (Sell) FINANCIALS

ASIA UNITED 58.8 59 58.2 59 58.2 58.8 1880 110664 88500 BDO UNIBANK 133 133.8 134.7 134.7 131 133.8 1810680 240501239 2238016 BANK PH ISLANDS 93.2 93.45 93.5 93.95 93 93.2 1716650 160090983 -26051591 CHINABANK 27.65 27.7 27.75 27.8 27.65 27.7 61000 1689805 2775 EAST WEST BANK 12.06 12.1 12.14 12.22 12 12.1 285700 3450856 -667464 METROBANK 78.95 79 79.4 79.4 78.5 79 1372870 108402386 65935105.5 PB BANK 11.02 11.4 11.1 11.1 11.1 11.1 100200 1112220 2220 PHIL NATL BANK 43 43.05 44.45 44.6 43.05 43.05 503900 21912315 -17595900 PSBANK 71.55 74 74 74.6 74 74 960 71046 RCBC 28.3 28.35 28.7 28.8 28.3 28.35 46500 1320285 134160 SECURITY BANK 160 161 162 162 157.5 161 508990 81286497 -26280284 UNION BANK 66.7 66.9 67.2 67.2 66.7 66.9 6280 420538.5 -307300.5 BRIGHT KINDLE 1.53 1.58 1.53 1.58 1.53 1.58 3000 4640 BDO LEASING 2.3 2.34 2.3 2.34 2.3 2.3 103000 239250 COL FINANCIAL 15.7 15.9 15.8 15.92 15.8 15.9 21600 341446 FERRONOUX HLDG 3.86 3.94 3.88 3.94 3.85 3.94 20000 77750 FILIPINO FUND 7.27 9.31 7.24 7.24 7.24 7.24 1600 11584 IREMIT 1.4 1.48 1.37 1.48 1.37 1.48 9000 12550 MANULIFE 800 835 830 835 830 835 110 91350 -83000 NTL REINSURANCE 0.89 0.9 0.88 0.9 0.85 0.9 540000 473850 1720 PHIL STOCK EXCH 177 178.5 179.6 180 174 177 440 77897 SUN LIFE 1815 1870 1879 1879 1874 1874 20 37530

INDUSTRIAL ALSONS CONS 1.24 1.25 1.24 1.25 1.24 1.25 413000 512650 -500250 ABOITIZ POWER 32.5 32.65 33 33.1 32.5 32.5 1602800 52493520 -18295675 BASIC ENERGY 0.247 0.249 0.249 0.25 0.247 0.249 1730000 429050 336920 FIRST GEN 19.18 19.2 18.5 19.18 18.28 19.18 5873300 110713104 73800884 FIRST PHIL HLDG 63 64 63 64.95 62.8 63 333130 21022966.5 2102681.5 PHIL H2O 5.17 5.32 5.37 5.4 5.12 5.17 102100 542731 MERALCO 380 381 385.2 386 380 380 239940 91779462 20437462 MANILA WATER 27.8 28 28 28 27.8 28 872300 24411560 8358630 PETRON 8.28 8.36 8.4 8.4 8.28 8.28 1412000 11778122 2650775 PETROENERGY 3.95 3.99 3.99 3.99 3.95 3.95 16000 63480 11970 PHINMA ENERGY 0.89 0.9 0.91 0.91 0.89 0.9 2087000 1878450 -1712100 PHX PETROLEUM 10.9 11 11 11 10.9 11 134800 1474388 -52800 PILIPINAS SHELL 48 48.05 47.75 48.1 47.05 48 1236900 59338830 -5545840 SPC POWER 5.55 5.59 5.5 5.68 5.5 5.55 2684200 14955937 VIVANT 16.1 16.9 17 17 16.9 16.9 1300 22070 -17000 AGRINURTURE 17.58 17.6 17.74 17.74 17.42 17.6 332100 5830082 434121.9997 CNTRL AZUCARERA 15.6 17 17.06 17.06 17 17 2800 47652 CENTURY FOOD 14.8 14.88 15.5 15.5 14.7 14.8 926400 13767956 -637758 DEL MONTE 6.55 6.6 6.62 6.75 6.6 6.6 20800 137811 DNL INDUS 10.28 10.3 10.3 10.48 10.3 10.3 3036700 31331728 3432088 EMPERADOR 6.97 6.98 7 7 6.97 6.98 35800 249726 -41851 SMC FOODANDBEV 84.2 84.25 84.25 84.3 84.2 84.2 783860 66026564 33970512.5 ALLIANCE SELECT 1 1.02 1.01 1.02 0.99 1.02 6120000 6133630 92780 GINEBRA 24.1 24.15 24.45 24.45 24.15 24.15 17100 413295 JOLLIBEE 296 296.2 294.4 296.6 293 296 504510 148851062 83681768 LIBERTY FLOUR 51.05 58.45 51.05 51.05 51.05 51.05 310 15825.5 MAXS GROUP 9.86 9.95 9.99 9.99 9.9 9.95 172500 1711815 29950 MG HLDG 0.169 0.175 0.175 0.175 0.175 0.175 300000 52500 -52500 PEPSI COLA 1.35 1.38 1.38 1.38 1.34 1.35 322000 438280 -340620 SHAKEYS PIZZA 10.46 10.5 10.38 10.5 10.38 10.46 2200 23036 ROXAS AND CO 1.82 1.83 1.88 1.95 1.83 1.83 556000 1038160 RFM CORP 4.7 4.8 4.81 4.81 4.75 4.8 7011000 33701850 -8161550 ROXAS HLDG 2.64 2.87 2.85 2.99 2.62 2.62 60000 172830 UNIV ROBINA 127 127.9 129.8 129.8 126.2 127 1624150 206197262 -100067677 VITARICH 1.79 1.8 1.83 1.87 1.77 1.8 12062000 22010590 722100 CONCRETE B 78.05 78.1 78.05 78.05 78.05 78.05 10 780.5 CEMEX HLDG 1.64 1.65 1.69 1.7 1.64 1.64 8453000 13983460 -5694870 DAVINCI CAPITAL 6.8 6.82 6.02 7.7 6.02 6.82 3206100 22193823 -12600 EAGLE CEMENT 14.9 14.96 15 15.38 14.88 14.96 196800 2951024 -842138 EEI CORP 8.24 8.28 8.55 8.55 8.28 8.28 123300 1031915 166637.9999 HOLCIM 5.91 6.2 6.2 6.25 5.91 6 215500 1299946 -1218831 MEGAWIDE 18.48 18.5 18.78 18.92 18.4 18.5 5351300 99809778 307738 PHINMA 8.31 8.74 8.75 8.78 8.25 8.31 11800 98590 TKC METALS 0.84 0.88 0.84 0.88 0.84 0.88 6000 5080 VULCAN INDL 1.88 1.89 1.84 1.94 1.81 1.89 39139000 73678050 254970 CROWN ASIA 1.72 1.73 1.65 1.73 1.6 1.72 142000 237910 LMG CHEMICALS 4.26 4.3 4.26 4.3 4.2 4.3 45000 189960 PRYCE CORP 5.21 5.38 5.4 5.4 5.3 5.31 670500 3571434 -3119834 CONCEPCION 37.05 37.2 37.5 37.5 37.1 37.2 1600 59530 GREENERGY 2.15 2.16 2.15 2.2 2.06 2.16 19954000 42437170 997980 INTEGRATED MICR 9.2 9.21 9.45 9.45 9.1 9.2 1739400 16019708 3812182.9992 IONICS 1.77 1.79 1.84 1.84 1.74 1.79 715000 1259210 -52870 PANASONIC 5.87 6.16 5.87 5.87 5.87 5.87 500 2935 SFA SEMICON 1.46 1.48 1.42 1.55 1.34 1.48 704000 1027640 723770 CIRTEK HLDG 32.05 33.15 32.1 33.15 32 33.15 174700 5717310 96200

HOLDING & FRIMS ABACORE CAPITAL 0.63 0.64 0.64 0.66 0.62 0.64 22034000 14197820 -40920 ASIABEST GROUP 29.3 29.35 21.55 32.25 21.2 29.35 16523800 378701345 333634350 AYALA CORP 933 934 960 960 934 934 437970 411204215 -209592540 ABOITIZ EQUITY 52.6 52.75 54 54.65 52.5 52.75 10472980 552136429.5 -6392292.5 ALLIANCE GLOBAL 11.76 11.88 11.92 11.92 11.74 11.88 4176200 49396244 8162140 ANGLO PHIL HLDG 0.8 0.84 0.8 0.88 0.8 0.8 114000 91780 ATN HLDG A 1.37 1.38 1.41 1.41 1.37 1.38 9381000 12964240 ATN HLDG B 1.39 1.4 1.4 1.4 1.35 1.4 3023000 4163700 935899.9998 COSCO CAPITAL 7.3 7.31 7.35 7.35 7.19 7.3 375500 2727537 1017626 DMCI HLDG 12.58 12.68 12.92 12.92 12.46 12.58 4158400 52329134 -25037956 FILINVEST DEV 9.97 10.04 10.06 10.1 9.97 10.04 303500 3053630 -0 FJ PRINCE A 4.05 5.1 3.66 5.2 3.66 5.1 500 2282 GT CAPITAL 940 942 974.5 975 940 940 181450 173032975 29724600 HOUSE OF INV 5.94 6.55 5.95 6 5.94 5.94 12200 72570 JG SUMMIT 51.8 52 52.65 52.95 51.3 52 932400 48442506.5 220693.5 JOLLIVILLE HLDG 4.74 5.38 5.07 5.25 5.07 5.25 25000 128120 LODESTAR 0.55 0.56 0.53 0.55 0.53 0.55 215000 118210 LOPEZ HLDG 4.15 4.18 4.13 4.2 4.1 4.15 6671000 27728120 2294840 LT GROUP 17.02 17.1 16.96 17.3 16.7 17.1 9585300 164169466 24054828 MABUHAY HLDG 0.59 0.61 0.61 0.61 0.59 0.59 195000 115110 83780 METRO PAC INV 4.81 4.82 4.87 4.87 4.77 4.82 37272000 179182620 -35725680 PACIFICA 0.039 0.04 0.04 0.045 0.04 0.04 256600000 10765000 -180500 PRIME ORION 2.4 2.43 2.4 2.45 2.38 2.4 627000 1509850 -49000 PRIME MEDIA 1.22 1.24 1.24 1.25 1.24 1.24 31000 38460 1240 SOLID GROUP 1.28 1.33 1.33 1.33 1.27 1.33 235000 301940 SYNERGY GRID 485 505 559 559 467 505 730 364660 -31000 SM INVESTMENTS 950 960 960 965 942 950 414230 393877045 -83402900 SAN MIGUEL CORP 169.4 169.5 170 171 169 169.5 616940 104666279 -62556461 SOC RESOURCES 0.74 0.77 0.74 0.74 0.74 0.74 6000 4440 TOP FRONTIER 274.8 280 265.8 280 265.8 280 9270 2594528 50348 WELLEX INDUS 0.243 0.249 0.25 0.25 0.24 0.249 3670000 899370 56390

PROPERTY ARTHALAND CORP 0.58 0.59 0.59 0.59 0.57 0.59 94000 53940 ANCHOR LAND 10 10.6 9.64 10.6 9.64 10.6 7600 77482 AYALA LAND 41.85 41.9 42.45 42.45 41.55 41.9 8969300 376897705 7985855 ARANETA PROP 1.72 1.75 1.76 1.77 1.75 1.75 83000 146290 BELLE CORP 2.39 2.4 2.42 2.48 2.36 2.39 2241000 5426680 -1232950 A BROWN 0.78 0.79 0.8 0.8 0.78 0.79 631000 499330 CITYLAND DEVT 0.87 0.89 0.85 0.89 0.85 0.89 40000 34570 880 CROWN EQUITIES 0.225 0.226 0.224 0.228 0.224 0.226 1170000 264430 CEBU HLDG 6 6.03 5.9 6 5.9 6 48100 288230 266990 CEB LANDMASTERS 4.01 4.09 4.05 4.1 4.01 4.09 283000 1147310 CENTURY PROP 0.405 0.41 0.4 0.41 0.4 0.405 640000 257800 28350 CYBER BAY 0.345 0.355 0.33 0.38 0.33 0.345 5140000 1809450 -708200 DOUBLEDRAGON 18.2 18.22 18.3 18.4 18.2 18.22 153900 2815542 1139142 DM WENCESLAO 7.93 7.99 8.07 8.07 7.99 7.99 2020700 16254838 EMPIRE EAST 0.49 0.5 0.485 0.5 0.485 0.5 52000 25280 FILINVEST LAND 1.48 1.49 1.49 1.49 1.47 1.49 3527000 5238300 3553030 GLOBAL ESTATE 1.08 1.1 1.11 1.11 1.07 1.1 923000 999740 8990 HLDG 7.7 7.75 7.75 7.75 7.73 7.75 760700 5893833 PHIL INFRADEV 2.35 2.36 2.43 2.43 2.36 2.36 12574000 30026780 -1792730 MEGAWORLD 4.79 4.8 4.81 4.81 4.77 4.79 14847000 71134910 46020420 MRC ALLIED 0.405 0.41 0.4 0.42 0.39 0.41 91540000 37553700 -716100 PHIL ESTATES 0.47 0.475 0.475 0.48 0.475 0.475 370000 175800 PRIMEX CORP 3.76 3.81 3.76 3.8 3.71 3.8 176000 662940 139050 ROBINSONS LAND 21.4 21.55 21.5 21.6 21.35 21.55 1613100 34707565 -3719910 PHIL REALTY 0.385 0.405 0.38 0.395 0.38 0.395 190000 72500 ROCKWELL 1.99 2 2.01 2.01 1.96 1.98 79000 156530 SHANG PROP 3.08 3.12 3.1 3.1 3.09 3.09 236000 730280 -309740 STA LUCIA LAND 1.17 1.19 1.19 1.19 1.17 1.19 39000 46110 SM PRIME HLDG 35.5 35.55 36.55 36.65 35.5 35.5 7439500 267,797,640( 53,026,474.9996) STARMALLS 5.54 5.61 5.79 5.79 5.41 5.6 388700 2173350 VISTA LAND 5.17 5.2 5.21 5.24 5.15 5.2 9652000 50033020 -20157330

SERVICES ABS CBN 20 20.2 20.5 20.5 20 20 43700 884380 GMA NETWORK 5.26 5.3 5.23 5.3 5.23 5.3 63200 331608 MLA BRDCASTING 16.14 18 19 19 18.48 18.48 200 3748 GLOBE TELECOM 2064 2080 2092 2100 2064 2080 52670 109512570 49446500 PLDT 1188 1200 1207 1207 1188 1188 86480 103650640 -30077020 APOLLO GLOBAL 0.038 0.039 0.039 0.042 0.037 0.038 134200000 5181700 DFNN INC 7.4 7.93 7.4 7.93 7.4 7.93 400 3013 2220 IMPERIAL 1.8 2 1.8 1.8 1.8 1.8 2000 3600 ISLAND INFO 0.112 0.114 0.113 0.115 0.111 0.114 460000 52350 ISM COMM 5.95 5.96 5.9 6.05 5.81 5.95 11300900 66861570 2052266 NOW CORP 3.8 3.81 3.75 3.85 3.65 3.8 2085000 7823860 -144200 TRANSPACIFIC BR 0.42 0.425 0.4 0.425 0.39 0.42 79260000 32855950 -258650 PHILWEB 3.25 3.26 3.23 3.29 3.17 3.25 964000 3117030 -622690 2GO GROUP 11.16 11.46 11.74 11.8 11 11.46 146600 1656798 -109354 ASIAN TERMINALS 13 13.46 13 13.46 13 13 734900 9554444 -15700 CEBU AIR 73.75 73.9 73.35 74.75 73.35 73.75 35370 2613058.5 251568.5 CHELSEA 6.68 6.69 6.77 6.8 6.69 6.69 1420600 9543403 -241989 INTL CONTAINER 94 94.8 95 95 93.65 94 832430 78445949.5 20592201 LBC EXPRESS 14.1 14.3 14.38 14.38 14.3 14.3 1800 25756 LORENZO SHIPPNG 0.75 0.78 0.75 0.75 0.75 0.75 70000 52500 MACROASIA 14.62 14.66 14.68 14.9 14.66 14.66 319800 4739480 171760 METROALLIANCE A 2.26 2.29 2.34 2.46 2.24 2.29 2260000 5321760 METROALLIANCE B 2.21 2.35 2.34 2.35 2.32 2.33 53000 123960 PAL HLDG 7.9 8.26 8.25 8.26 8.25 8.26 1900 15684 HARBOR STAR 3.33 3.34 3.4 3.4 3.33 3.34 638000 2141420 -23100 ACESITE HOTEL 1.29 1.46 1.44 1.49 1.44 1.46 3650000 5331960 -8820 WATERFRONT 0.7 0.71 0.7 0.71 0.69 0.71 1758000 1236100 FAR EASTERN U 892 920 920 920 920 920 1060 975200 IPEOPLE 11.02 11.64 11 11.64 11 11.64 1400 15590 STI HLDG 0.65 0.66 0.66 0.67 0.64 0.66 12748000 8374740 -2324160 BERJAYA 2.59 2.6 2.55 2.61 2.54 2.59 4648000 11999430 BLOOMBERRY 8.33 8.34 8.45 8.45 8.26 8.34 8380900 69927152 -22206481 PACIFIC ONLINE 10.02 10.38 10 10 10 10 9000 90000 LEISURE AND RES 3.54 3.55 3.53 3.59 3.42 3.54 317000 1115340 10500 MANILA JOCKEY 5.3 5.5 5.36 5.5 5.3 5.5 26700 142246 MELCO RESORTS 7.25 7.26 7.25 7.29 7.25 7.25 50812200 368390707 187239466 PREMIUM LEISURE 0.75 0.76 0.75 0.77 0.74 0.76 7209000 5464020 231160 TRAVELLERS 5.25 5.26 5.28 5.28 5.25 5.25 213500 1122911 -743715 METRO RETAIL 2.26 2.3 2.33 2.33 2.25 2.29 1022000 2334540 11490 PUREGOLD 42.7 42.85 42.55 42.9 42.55 42.85 3324500 142449915 -15069385 ROBINSONS RTL 72.5 73.95 74.55 74.55 72.1 72.5 1237650 90148416.5 -45934907 PHIL SEVEN CORP 112 116 112 117 112 117 10280 1166129 -5080 SSI GROUP 2.33 2.34 2.38 2.43 2.34 2.34 3141000 7436320 -928280 WILCON DEPOT 12.16 12.28 12.3 12.38 12.1 12.28 1371600 16784250 -2128608 APC GROUP 0.415 0.42 0.39 0.425 0.39 0.415 7120000 2959300 406300 EASYCALL 19.22 19.24 19.2 20.45 18.12 19.24 648300 12596277 -59776 GOLDEN BRIA 317.4 325 325 326 317 325 400 129436 IPM HLDG 7.18 7.2 7.2 7.2 7.2 7.2 5000 36000 PRMIERE HORIZON 0.325 0.33 0.325 0.33 0.32 0.325 730000 237150 SBS PHIL CORP 7.45 7.6 7.41 7.5 7.35 7.5 18300 135680

MINING & OIL ATOK 15.02 15.98 15.5 16 15.2 16 5600 86330 APEX MINING 1.65 1.66 1.66 1.69 1.66 1.66 1518000 2543710 ABRA MINING 0.0019 0.002 0.0021 0.0021 0.0019 0.0019 3448000000 6645600 ATLAS MINING 2.55 2.88 2.51 2.51 2.51 2.51 5000 12550 BENGUET A 1.09 1.2 1.16 1.16 1.16 1.16 5000 5800 COAL ASIA HLDG 0.3 0.305 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 40000 12000 CENTURY PEAK 1.9 1.93 1.9 1.9 1.9 1.9 20000 38000 DIZON MINES 7.45 7.49 7.1 7.5 7.1 7.49 4600 33980 FERRONICKEL 1.69 1.7 1.71 1.73 1.69 1.7 8042000 13810120 37650 LEPANTO A 0.093 0.1 0.101 0.103 0.093 0.093 38790000 3866570 LEPANTO B 0.104 0.106 0.108 0.108 0.104 0.106 930000 96810 -2130 MARCVENTURES 1.08 1.12 1.07 1.08 1.07 1.08 5000 5380 NIHAO 1.05 1.08 1.05 1.1 1.05 1.06 97000 102770 NICKEL ASIA 2.29 2.3 2.39 2.4 2.3 2.3 4973000 11592630 -149270 OMICO CORP 0.56 0.59 0.59 0.59 0.59 0.59 1000 590 ORNTL PENINSULA 0.92 0.95 0.89 0.95 0.88 0.95 636000 588900 -13160 PX MINING 2.8 2.81 2.81 2.91 2.77 2.81 2082000 5870950 -297270 SEMIRARA MINING 24.9 24.95 25.2 26 24.9 24.95 3813000 95344915 -44558600 UNITED PARAGON 0.0061 0.0065 0.0061 0.0064 0.0061 0.0064 2000000 12500 ORNTL PETROL A 0.012 0.013 0.012 0.013 0.012 0.013 14400000 175600 ORNTL PETROL B 0.012 0.013 0.013 0.013 0.012 0.012 12300000 149900 2600 PHILODRILL 0.011 0.013 0.012 0.012 0.011 0.011 26000000 296400 PHINMA PETRO 3.25 3.4 3.58 3.58 3.48 3.48 2000 7060 PXP ENERGY 16.1 16.12 15.98 16.34 15.86 16.12 2991400 48227488 -451608

PREFFERED HOUSE PREF A AC PREF B1 AC PREF B2 ALCO PREF B DD PREF FGEN PREF G GLO PREF P GTCAP PREF B LR PREF MWIDE PREF SMC PREF 2B SMC PREF 2C SMC PREF 2D SMC PREF 2F SMC PREF 2I

94.5 457 476 96.1 98 102 460.4 896 1 99.5 75.9 76.35 73.95 74.55 73.5

PHIL. DEPOSITARY RECEIPTS ABS HLDG PDR GMA HLDG PDR

18.86 5.08

97 460 490 101 98.9 103 475 910 1.03 101.5 75.95 76.6 74 75 73.9

94.45 460 490 99 98.9 103 475 910 1 99.5 75.5 76.2 73.95 74.55 73.5

95 460 490 99 98.9 103 475 910 1 101.5 75.95 76.6 74 74.55 73.6

94 460 490 98 97.9 103 475 910 1 99.3 75 76.2 73.95 74.55 73.5

94 460 490 98 97.9 103 475 910 1 101.5 75.9 76.6 73.95 74.55 73.5

3500 170 10 18040 130 20620 300 10 476000 20090 10260 105290 9150 2100 29000

330205.5 78200 4900 1770668.5 12827 2123860 142500 9100 476000 1996965 770096 8042395.5 676882.5 156555 2131650

-750358.9998 -4987182 -

19 5.19

19.18 5.07

19.18 5.2

18.82 5.07

19 5.19

84600 42000

1611350 216855

-1402364 168690

WARRANTS LR WARRANT

2.02

SMALL & MEDIUM ENTERPRISES ITALPINAS 4.58 MAKATI FINANCE 2.64 XURPAS 1.33

2.05

2.05

2.1

1.96

2.02

268000

545990

-

4.6 2.98 1.34

4.6 2.65 1.35

4.65 2.98 1.4

4.58 2.65 1.33

4.6 2.98 1.33

122000 11000 4895000

561420 29480 6610570

-4570 -797160

EXHANGE TRADE FUNDS FIRST METRO ETF

111.9

112

113.4

113.4

111.9

112

11300

1267312

-136640

Editor: Efleda P. Campos

Meralco to acquire 350 MW more power for summer 2019

T

By Lenie Lectura

@llectura

HE Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) plans to secure next year additional capacities of 300 megawatts to 350 MW to meet the growing demand of its customers for the summer months of 2019. “[We need] roughly 300 MW to 350 MW,” Meralco President Oscar Reyes said when asked if

the utility firm was looking at sourcing additional capacity for next year.

He said the utility firm is in initial discussions with at least two power-generation firms engaged in clean coal power business. In the end, Meralco may opt to source all 300 MW to 350 MW from one power producer. “It could be one, depending on discussions.”

Reyes earlier said demand for electricity is expected to grow by 4.5 percent to 5 percent for the full year 2018.

“We’ll probably end this year at about 4.5 percent to 5 percent.

I think we have to see what the final November and December figures are, but call it 4.5-percent

to 5-percent growth for this year,” he said.

Because of that growth, “we expect slightly better bottom line” at Meralco in 2018, he added.

In 2017 Meralco recorded a 3-percent increase in core net income to P20.2 billion. Reported net income was up 6 percent to P20.38 billion.

In the first nine months of the year, Meralco reported a core net income of P16.69 billion, higher by 8.6 percent from P15.37 billion a year ago. Reported profit rose 14.3 percent to P18.21 billion, from P15.93 billion previously.

Converge opens facilities in Naga; Baguio to follow

By Lorenz S. Marasigan @lorenzmarasigan

I

NTERNET service provider Converge ICT Solutions Inc. is rapidly expanding its presence in the country with the opening of facilities in Naga, all while providing free speed boosts to its existing customers.

Jesus C. Romero, who sits as COO at Converge, said his group is also gearing up for the start of its operations in Baguio this January.

“We’re already in Naga. We will extend it all the way to the end of Bicol, which will be the pickoff point for the Visayas. Going north, we’re almost done in Baguio, and then we will expand further north,” he said.

Pasig court clears incumbent officials of Alliance Select

By VG Cabuag

@villygc

I

NCUMBENT officials of tuna canner Alliance Select Foods International Inc. were cleared of inspection charges filed by its Singaporean minority shareholder Hedy SC Yap-Chua.

The Branch 70 of Pasig City Metropolitan Trial Court recalled the warrants of arrest for incumbent company officers Raymond KH See, Marie Grace T. Vera Cruz and Antonio C. Pacis in violation of their right to due process.

The Singaporean minority holder had requested inspection of company books and records to scrutinize transactions entered into by former management of the company.

“While the former and incumbent officers allowed her the inspection at this instance, they specified some confidentiality and inspection guidelines for Yap-Chua’s staff and consultants, which she interpreted as a denial of her right to inspect,” the company said in a statement.

The warrants of arrest, which are now being recalled, were issued prematurely and in denial

of the defendants’ right to a full preliminary investigation by the Department of Justice in determining probable cause, according to the order issued by Judge Marina Gaerlan-Mejorada, presiding judge of the Pasig court.

See, the company’s president and CEO, in a statement said he is happy with the court’s decision.

Yap-Chua accused the company’s former officials led by Jonathan Dee, also the company’s founder, of bleeding dry the tuna canner through a series of transactions. She was then eased out of the company’s board of directors after their shares were diluted when Alliance Select sold more shares.

Dee later on stepped down from the company’s day-to-day activities and relinquished his job to the current officers.

Alliance Select is engaged in seafood processing and distribution in various foreign markets including Europe, the US, Japan, Indonesia and the Middle East.

The company reported a net income of $3 million last year, some six times higher than the previous year’s $479,662.

Korean dessert café opens 2nd outlet in PHL

A

S proof of its continued “sweet success” in the Philippines, Korean luxury dessert café Kiss the Tiramisu just opened its sophomore branch at Trinoma Mall in Quezon City on the back of the local market’s growing demand for coffee cake.

“We were receiving a lot of queries [to] open in North [of Metro Manila]. That’s why we decided to open [here],” Foodeology Inc. CEO and President Shirley Vy told reporters during the store opening on Wednesday.

Kiss the Tiramisu offers different variants of the cheese- and coffee-infused dessert served in a small goblet. These include Classic Tiramisu Ice Cream, Mida’s Touch Tiramisu Ice Cream, Matcha Tiramisu Ice Cream and Injeolmi Tiramisu Ice Cream.

“When I first saw Kiss the Tiramisu in Korea, [its creamy tiramisu soft served ice cream was] very well presented. I’ve never seen anything like that. It’s Instagrammable. Second, when I tasted it, it’s love at first bite. It was really good. I knew from the very beginning that the taste is premium,” she said of how she discovered this dessert cafe that led her to franchise the brand through Foodeology.

Aimed at enhancing dessert dining to a whole new level, it also offers pastas and coffee/dessert fusions like the cheese cream latte, kissing coffee and tiramisu affogato, to name a few.

This Yuletide season, the café presents its specialty Christmas cakes, namely, Peach Cheesecake and Oreo Mousse Cake. Roderick L. Abad

Aside from this, Romero said his group is upgrading the Internet speeds of its current customer base, adding 50 percent more speed to its plans.

Hence, subscribers under the 100 Mbps plan will be migrated for free to a speed of 150 Mbps, while those with 50 Mbps will receive 25 Mbps more bandwidth.

MUTUAL FUNDS

These automatic speed upgrades started on Thursday, December 6.

“These are our early Christmas gifts for our customers to experience better Internet,” Romero said.

Likewise, the company is offering an add-on offer for its 25 Mbps plan. Subscribers can enjoy 10 Mbps more speed by paying P99 on top of the P1,500 plan.

December 6, 2018

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

PER SHARE RETURN* RETURN STOCK FUNDS ALFM GROWTH FUND, INC * 256.76 -8.27% 1.09% 2.74% -12.43% ATRAM ALPHA OPPORTUNITY FUND, INC.* 1.4126 -9.99% 5.32% 2.83% -11.54% ATRAM PHILIPPINE EQUITY OPPORTUNITY FUND, INC.* 3.9815 -9.33% 2.27% 1.42% -13.31% CLIMBS SHARE CAPITAL EQUITY INVESTMENT FUND CORP.* 0.9059 -9.72% N.A. N.A. -10.92% FIRST METRO CONSUMER FUND ON MSCI PHILS. IMI, INC. * ********* 0.8485 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN EQUITY FUND,INC.* 5.3637 -7.82% 0.06% 2.17% -10.8% MBG EQUITY INVESTMENT FUND, INC. * ****** 115.7 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. ONE WEALTHY NATION FUND, INC.* 0.8519 -12.74% N.A. N.A. -14.18% PAMI EQUITY INDEX FUND, INC.* 50.321 -6.31% 2.32% N.A. -10.77% PHILAM STRATEGIC GROWTH FUND, INC.* 524.89 -6.69% 1.1% 2.22% -10.8% PHILEQUITY DIVIDEND YIELD FUND, INC.* 1.2825 -4.97% 2.77% N.A. -8.67% PHILEQUITY FUND, INC.* 37.3844 -5.17% 3.18% 4.89% -9.03% PHILEQUITY PSE INDEX FUND INC.* 5.0705 -6.1% 3.01% 4.7% -10.64% PHILIPPINE STOCK INDEX FUND CORP.* 846.9 -5.93% 2.78% 4.76% -10.45% SOLDIVO STRATEGIC GROWTH FUND, INC. * 0.8779 -5.28% 0.56% N.A. -9.22% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY PHILIPPINE EQUITY FUND, INC.* 4.1626 -5.14% 2.61% 3.09% -9.12% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY PHILIPPINE STOCK INDEX FUND, INC.* 0.9758 -6.33% 2.8% N.A. -10.75% UNITED FUND, INC.* 3.5817 -3.55% 4.15% 3.48% -8.02% EXCHANGE TRADED FUND FIRST METRO PHIL. EQUITY EXCHANGE TRADED FUND, INC.* *** 113.14 -5.62% 3.93% N.A. -10.17% ATRAM ASIAPLUS EQUITY FUND, INC.** $0.9631 -11.28% 2.15% -0.17% -13.1% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY WORLD VOYAGER FUND, INC.* $1.2123 -2.5% N.A. N.A. -4.18% BALANCED FUNDS PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES ATRAM DYNAMIC ALLOCATION FUND, INC.* 1.6737 -7.09% -1.31% -0.92% -10.19% ATRAM PHILIPPINE BALANCED FUND, INC.* 2.2262 -6.95% 1.09% 1.02% -9.39% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN BALANCED FUND INC.* 2.5568 -5.73% -2.27% -1.31% -7.69% GREPALIFE BALANCED FUND CORPORATION* **** 1.3207 -6.77% N.A. N.A. -9.22% NCM MUTUAL FUND OF THE PHILS., INC* 1.8581 -3.72% 1.18% 2.11% -6.75% PAMI HORIZON FUND, INC.* 3.5739 -5.97% 0.07% 1.37% -8.78% PHILAM FUND, INC.* 16.0805 -5.61% 0.14% 1.22% -8.41% SOLIDARITAS FUND, INC.* ******** 2.0882 -4.41% 1.31% 2.76% -6.86% SUN LIFE OF CANADA PROSPERITY BALANCED FUND, INC.* 3.7153 -4.31% 1.06% 1.48% -7.03% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DYNAMIC FUND, INC.* 0.9402 -5.1% 0.35% N.A. -7.85% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY SECURITIES COCOLIFE DOLLAR FUND BUILDER, INC.* $0.03493 -3.4% -0.48% 1.35% -3.24% PAMI ASIA BALANCED FUND, INC.* $0.9641 -7.16% 2.48% -0.87% -7.92% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR ADVANTAGE FUND, INC.* $3.5207 -2.42% 3.75% 2.29% -3.61% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR WELLSPRING FUND, INC.* $1.0411 -5.71% N.A. N.A. -6.39% BOND FUNDS PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES ALFM PESO BOND FUND, INC.* 342.64 1.76% 2.04% 1.71% 1.64% ATRAM CORPORATE BOND FUND, INC.* ******* 1.8533 -2.29% -0.78% -0.66% -2.06% COCOLIFE FIXED INCOME FUND, INC.* 2.9617 5.48% 5.36% 5.25% 4.95% EKKLESIA MUTUAL FUND INC.* 2.1284 1.17% 1.47% 1.23% 1.25% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN FIXED INCOME FUND,INC.* 2.2061 -0.37% -0.01% 0.2% -0.46% GREPALIFE FIXED INCOME FUND CORP.* P 1.5664 -2.82% -0.47% -1.24% -2.68% PHILAM BOND FUND, INC.* 3.9113 -3.49% -0.53% -0.46% -3.42% PHILEQUITY PESO BOND FUND, INC.* 3.4938 0.15% 0.29% 0.08% -0.31% SOLDIVO BOND FUND, INC. * 0.8913 -3.22% -0.88% N.A. -3.46% SUN LIFE OF CANADA PROSPERITY BOND FUND, INC.* 2.7685 -0.39% 0.99% 0.45% -0.31% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY GS FUND, INC.* 1.5395 -0.74% 0.49% -0.02% -0.66% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY SECURITIES ALFM DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC. * $447.34 0.45% 2.26% 3.03% 0.31% ALFM EURO BOND FUND, INC. * Є212.54 -0.55% 0.95% 1.56% -0.55% ATRAM TOTAL RETURN DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC.** $1.1239 -0.91% 0.85% 1.88% -0.9% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC.* $0.0249 - 0.4% 0.82% N.A. -0.4% GREPALIFE DOLLAR BOND FUND CORP.* $1.6885 -4.72% -0.54% 1.13% -4.69% MAA PRIVILEGE DOLLAR FIXED INCOME FUND, INC. N.S. N.S. N.S. N.S. N.S. MAA PRIVILEGE EURO FIXED INCOME FUND, INC. ЄN.S. N.S. N.S. N.S. N.S. PAMI GLOBAL BOND FUND, INC* $1.0285 -4.55% -0.58% -2.47% -4.19% PHILAM DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC.* $2.1514 -4.21% 0.49% 2.54% -4.42% PHILEQUITY DOLLAR INCOME FUND INC.* $0.0569553 -0.84% 0.87% 1.84% -0.43% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR ABUNDANCE FUND, INC.* $2.8691 -4.7% 0.26% 1.62% -4.77% MONEY MARKET FUNDS PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES ALFM MONEY MARKET FUND, INC.* 120.51 2.58% 1.81% 1.52% 2.47% PHILAM MANAGED INCOME FUND, INC.* 1.1789 1.89% 0.53% 0.46% 1.86% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY MONEY MARKET FUND, INC.* 1.2159 2.57% 2.23% 1.52% 2.56% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY SECURITIES SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR STARTER FUND, INC.* ***** $1.0149 1.58% N.A. N.A. 1.62%

* - NAVPS AS OF THE PREVIOUS BANKING DAY ** - NAVPS AS OF TWO BANKING DAYS AGO *** - LISTED IN THE PSE.

**** - RE-CLASSIFIED INTO A BALANCED FUND STARTING JANUARY 1, 2017 (FORMERLY GREPALIFE BOND FUND CORP.).

***** - LAUNCH DATE IS NOVEMBER 6, 2017 ****** - LAUNCH DATE IS JANUARY 08, 2018 ******** - RENAMING OF THE FUND WAS APPROVED BY THE SEC LAST APRIL 13, 2018. ********* - BECAME A MEMBER SINCE APRIL 20, 2018. ******* - ADJUSTED DUE TO CASH DIVIDEND ISSUANCE LAST JANUARY 29, 2018

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Banking&Finance BusinessMirror

Friday, December 7, 2018

B3

Lack of executives delays Overseas Insular Life offers Filipino Bank’s full operation life protection

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By Samuel P. Medenilla

@sam_medenilla

ACK of managers delays anew the full operation of the Overseas Filipino Bank (OFB).

Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III said on Thursday he was informed by President Duterte that Land Bank of the Philippines (LandBank) is currently still in the process of completing the composi� tion of its “management group” for its operations.

“It would be difficult to put up a bank if you don’t have competent managers especially if we will trans� fer the money of OFWs [overseas Filipino workers] there,” Bello told reporters in an ambush interview.

Bello said the OFB is expected to start offering services to OFWs

PHL still monitoring global development for bond issuance

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HE Philippine government is still on a wait-and-see stance vis-à-vis its planned US dollar bond sale, which it tar� gets to issue this quarter.

In an interview at the sidelines of the Senate hearing on the pro� posed 2019 national budget on Wednesday, Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said they are monitoring the market on a daily basis.

“We are waiting for the right moment. Everything is in the tim� ing so we’re just waiting for the right moment and we have great confidence on our National Trea� surer’s ability to read the market,” he said.

Earlier, National Treasurer Rosalia V. de Leon said the gov� ernment is considering issuing as much as $1.5 billion worth of dollar bond, otherwise known as the Republic of the Philip� pines (ROP) bond, before the end of this year.

She said they are still consider� ing issuing debt paper with a tenor between 10 and 25 years.

If this pushes through, it will be the fourth in terms of for� eign borrowing for the govern�

ment this year after the $2-bil� lion ROP issuance in January, the 1.46-billion renminbi-denomi� nated three-year Panda bond is� suances in March and the multi� year ¥154.2-billion Samurai bond in September.

The government already held a nondeal road show in Asia and the United States for this planned issuance.

Dominguez stressed that there is no immediate need for the debt issuance.

“We thought that it would be better to do it earlier than later, but it didn’t turn out to be an ideal situation,” he said, citing the “big uncertainties that were overhanging the market.”

He identified these uncer� tainties as the trade issues over� seas and developments on global oil prices.

On the other hand, he said he thinks “it seems that the markets are settling down.”

With this consideration, he remains hopeful for the issuance to push through before the end of this year.

“We’ll see. Of course, it’s pos� sible,” he added. PNA

by the first quarter of 2019.

In September 2017 Duterte signed Executive Order 44, which turned over the control of the Phil� ippine Postal Savings Bank (PPSB) to LandBank so it could be convert� ed into the OFB. The OFB was supposed to roll out its services in January 2018 but this was postponed to April 2019, as LandBank addresses con� cerns on the mandate of the newly created bank.

The prolonged delays in the OFB’s operation has worried mi� grant advocate groups like the Blas F. Ople Policy Center (BOPC).

BOPC head Susan Ople urged authorities to give an update on the developments surrounding the OFB. “After all the hoopla prior to its creation, our overseas workers have yet to hear about any unique busi� ness or banking proposition that the Overseas Filipino Bank has to offer,” Ople said.

“We expected it to be more than just a shell of a bank using the name of our overseas Filipinos. We urge the management of the OFBank and the LandBank itself to be true to its mandate to serve our modernday heroes,” she added.

HSBC Philippines gets 2018 Highest Consumer Credit Card Growth Award

IN photo are (from left): Dan Wolbert, Visa country manager, Philippines and Guam; Jasmine Alansalon Gonzales, HSBC Philippines SVP Customer Value Management; Kris Werner, HSBC Philippines head of Retail Banking and Wealth Management; and Stuart Tomlinson, Visa country manager, Philippines and Guam (outgoing).

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SBC Philippines was awarded the “2018 Highest Consumer Credit Card Growth” at the recent annual awards event organized by Visa for partner issuing banks.

Visa cited HSBC’s ability to achieve the highest growth rate of total credit cards in force among issuers active in the Philippines market as of June 2018 versus the same period last year.

Kris Werner, HSBC head of Retail Banking and Wealth Management for Philippines, who received the award, said: “We thank Visa for this accolade and it is a reflection of our successful partnership with Visa, which continuously provides cardholders with products and offers that suit their specific spending needs. We are also grateful for Visa providing secure and convenient shopping experience for our customers using innovative and best-in-

class technology.”

Werner concluded, “I look forward to building on this strong partnership with Visa, as we both contribute to the development of larger volumes of cards-led payments within the Philippines. We remain committed in supporting customers in achieving their ambitions, be they big or small.”

Dan Wolbert, Visa country manager, Philippines and Guam, said: “At Visa, we recognize HSBC’s success in achieving the highest consumer credit-card growth rate this year. We believe there is great opportunity in the Philippines to grow usage of digital payments and expand acceptance.

We are thankful for our partnership with HSBC, who have worked tirelessly with us to help more Filipino consumers embrace convenient and seamless digital payments here in the Philippines and when they travel.”

Associations meet to inspire, collaborate and grow Part One

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HE Philippine Council of Associations and Association Executives, dubbed as the “association of associations,” held its 6th Associations Summit (AS6) at the Subic Bay Exhibition and Convention Center (SBECC) on November 23 and 24. Attended �������������������� by 150 del� egates, it was the first time the summit was held outside Metro Manila in PCAAE’s desire to reach out to associations in other parts of the country.

The event was hosted by the Tourism Pro� motions Board (TPB) and the Subic Bay Metro� politan Authority (SBMA) and was supported by the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC), the Association of Develop� ment Financing Institutions in Asia and the Pacific (ADFIAP), the American Society of As� sociation Executives (ASAE), and the Center for International Private Enterprise (Cipe), and by many other sponsors and supporting organizations.

Opening the summit, whose theme was “Inspire, Collaborate, and Sustain,” were Cora D. Conde, PCAAE chairman; Atty. Ruel John T. Kabigting, SBMA deputy administrator for administration; and Arnold T. Gonzales, TPB deputy chief operating officer for Marketing and Promotions.

The moderators and panelists who shared their expertise and experience during the plenary sessions were: Gwen A lbarracin, president and CEO, Center for Pop Music, Philippines Inc.; Jose P. Leviste Jr., director for Environment and Climate Change, Phil� ippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Atty. Paul Angelo A. Santos, chairman of the Philippine Retailers Association (PRA);

Association World Octavio Peralta Linda P. Gonzales, president of the National Federation of Women’s Clubs of the Philip� pines; Mary Lizabeth Lu, executive director, Game Developers Association of the Philip� pines; Zedrick T. Avecilla, director of Subic Bay Freeport Chamber of Commerce; Myrna Sarmenta, former assistant national execu� tive director for Program, Girl Scout of the Philippines; Helen P. Macasaet, chairman of the ICT Committee, Management Association of the Philippines; Rene M. Gener, executive director of the People Management Associa� tion of the Philippines (PMAP); Dr. Victor C. Quimen Jr., assistant professor of Nurs� ing, Gordon College, Olongapo City; Arlene Padua Martinez, president of the Philippine Marketing Association; Joel B. Pascual, presi� dent of Philippine Association of Convention and Exhibition Organizers & Suppliers; Yayu Javier, president of Avanza Inc.; Rolando B. Victoria, board adviser of Aski Multi-Purpose Cooperative; Arch. Manifelmo C. Dacanay, vice president of iHome Greater Metro Manila Inc.; Catherine Rowena B. Villanueva, president of Manila Bay Sunset Partnership Program Inc.; and Arch. Bejamin K. Panganiban Jr., national president of the United Architects of the Philippines.

Three special lectures on “Making Associa�

tion Relevant Today” were also held, covering topics on membership models emerging around the world, leadership practices in association management, and transformation in meetings and events management. They were conducted

by Toni Brearley, CEO of the Brisbane-based Australasian Society of Association Executives, this columnist, and Jason Yeh, president of the Taiwan Convention and Exhibition Association.

The session was facilitated by Jesse Francis N. Rebustillo, past president of PMAP. Sheila Samonte-Pesayco, president and CEO of Writers Edge, had a tête-à-tête with blogger Jover Laurio of Pinoy Ako Blog, in line with combating fake news and false information online. Paige Tribdino, client relations asso� ciate of Kalibrr Technology Ventures Ltd., an online personnel recruitment platform, and Mizuho Hara, manager of Events & Conven� tion, JBE Pte. Ltd./JTB Asia Pacific Corp., an integrated travel, destination and events ser� vice provider, presented what their organiza� tions are doing to help associations and other institutions.

To be continued The contributor, Octavio “Bobby” Peralta, is concurrently the secretary-general of the Association of Development Financing Institutions in Asia and the Pacific (ADFIAP), founder and CEO of the Philippine Council of Associations and Association Executives (PCAAE) and president of the Asia-Pacific Federation of Association Organizations (APFAO).

The purpose of PCAAE—the “association of associations”—is to advance the association management profession and to make associations well-governed and sustainable. PCAAE enjoys the support of ADFIAP, the Tourism Promotions Board (TPB) and the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC). E-mail: obp@adfiap.org

plans via Lazada I

NSULAR Life, the first and largest Filipino life-insurance company, has begun offering affordable and complete life pro� tection plans via Lazada, South� east Asia’s leading e-commerce platform. “ Taking charge in life isn’t j u s t a b o ut b u y i n g m at e r i a l things—ex pensive gadgets, c lot hes, shoes, m a keup —for yourself. It’s about looking be� yond your wishes and thinking about your family when certain eventualities happen,” said In� sular Life President and Chief Executive Of f icer Mona Lisa de la Cruz.

“It’s about making sure you have life-insurance protection f rom nat u ra l a nd acc ident a l death, as well as funds to cover emergencies such as hospital expenses, so you can free your family from financial burden if something untoward happens,” she added.

With Lazada Philippines as an alternative distribution chan� nel, Insular Life allows more un� banked Filipinos to “take charge #InLife” through its easy-to-avail and easy-on-the-pocket insur� ance products.

Lazada Philippines’s platform also gives users more payment methods.

For as low as P400, Lazada Philippines’s members can enjoy complete life protection for one year through any of four available InLife Protect plans.

InLife Premium Pro� tect and InLife Premium Protect Plus prov ide benefits upon death due to natural or accidental causes, as well as a daily allowance for hospital� ization due to injur y or sickness.

InLife Protect and I n L i fe P rote c t Plu s , meanwhi le, prov ide benefits upon death due

DE LA CRUZ

to natural or accidental causes, daily allowance for hospitaliza� tion due to injury, as well as dis� ability benefits.

The InLife Protect plans are offered exclusively to eligible Lazada members who reside in the Philippines, between 18 and 64 years old, and in good health at point of application.

Similar to all other Lazada transactions, one-time premi� um payments may be made via credit card, debit card or Lazada e-Wallet.

B4 Friday, December 7, 2018

BOOKS TO HELP CHILDREN OF MARAWI

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HE Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP), the largest business-led NGO in the country, in partnership with The BookMark Inc., highlighted the celebration of national reading month in November by launching series of Marawi storybooks. Themed “iRead4Peace”, these children’s books intend to help the children of Marawi recover from their traumatic experiences.

Written in both English and Maranao, the storybooks were based on real-life accounts of survivors and translated into fiction by known authors to make them more appropriate for children and brought to life by professional illustrators. The books were donated to the Department of Education Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) to improve the reading skills of children, as well as for peace education and trauma healing.

The four books in the Marawi storybook series communicate distinct values to help children cope, heal the wounds of war and adjust to their new lives. The Day the Typhoon Came,

written by Carla Pacis, is illustrated by Viel Elijah Vidal and translated into Maranao by Ana Zenaida Unte-Alonto.

Water Lilies for Marawi, written by Heidi Emily Eusebio-Abad, illustrated by Shelette Gipa and translated into Maranao by Jalillah Gampong Alonto, shows how sometimes children know better than adults how to cope with war by bridging differences in faith, culture or even social status, by true friendship and understanding.

In Marawi Land of the Brave, author Melissa Salva tells the story of Amir who loves hearing tales from his brother Farouk about his native land, especially the ones about the Maranaos’ bravery and skill in battle. Kathleen Sareena Dagum made the watercolor illustrations while Lawambae Basaula-Lumna translated the book into Maranao.

Lost and Found: A Song of Marawi is Randy Bustamante’s narrative poem about falling back on family through the kindness of strangers during the siege.

‘COLORING LIVES’ AT THE SUNSHINE PLACE

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OLOR ING Lives, t he recent exhibit of art students at the Sunshine Place, was not only a v isu a l feast, but a lso brought brightness and joy to their beneficiaries the elderly residents of the San Lorenzo Ruiz Home in Pasay City.

The exhibit brought together works of students in two regular art classes in the Sunshine Place: those in the Acrylic Painting class of Arts Association of the Philippines President Fidel Sarmiento;

‘TIS THE SEASON FOR CHILDREN!

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AYVIEW Park Hotel Manila is making children the highlight of this Christmas season!

Having them in mind, the lobby of the hotel is filled with decorative gifts, toys, candies and, of course, a huge Christmas Tree.

This year the hotel is having its third annual Christmas tree lighting. As a celebration, general manager Eugene

Yap has invited the Shepherdine Children’s Choir. They serenaded the crowd with their angelic voices, sung carols that surely brought back wonderful memories of the audience consising of hotel guests, invited bloggers and media personnel.

Selected employees also competed for Best in Gown and a popularity award through Facebook voting.

TESSIE Sy-Coson (left) with Malaysian expat and Porcelain Painting instructor Mee Lee Casey at the exhibit launch at the Sunshine Place.

and those in the Porcelain Painting class of Mee Lee Casey, a Malaysian expat wife, who has been teaching porcelain painting in the UK, Hong Kong and Australia for more than 20 years.

Both instructors have developed both senior and nonsenior students in discovering their artistic talents, showing that art is for all ages. A few acrylic painting students have sold a couple of paintings, done commissioned work and joined several national and local

exhibitions. Porcelain painting students, on the other hand, have developed a passion for art, and discovered friendships in the process.

Proceeds from the exhibit will be for the benefit of the San Lorenzo Ruiz Home for the Elderly, which has been managed since 2012 by the Little Sisters of the Poor. The mission of the congregation of French nuns in Manila is to give respect and dignity to the elderly.

The Sunshine Place offers art classes to seniors, as well as adults, teens and kids. At the core of the workshop are mentoring sessions in hands-on techniques, application of different brushes and basic strokes, and color rendering. Participants get to explore different styles in creating still life, landscape, cityscape, under water, animals and portrait paintings.

Sunshine Place, a senior recreation center under the Felicidad Tan Sy Foundation, is a venue for adults to live actively, through engaging in recreational classes and age-appropriate physical training programs. It is the venue to be entertained, to socialize and reflect—a place of happiness and wellness for one’s mind, body and soul.

Sports

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| Friday, December 7, 2018 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

BusinessMirror

BACH ON TOKYO 2020: BEST PREPARED EVER T

By Stephen Wade The Associated Press

OKYO—International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach and other IOC members are calling Tokyo the best prepared host city in memory.

Still, there are obstacles ahead for the 2020 Games, though small by the standards of the corruptionplagued Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016.

John Coates, the head of an IOC inspection team, wrapped up three days of meetings in Tokyo on Wednesday and said the city’s summer heat is a growing worry.

Organizers are proposing to start the marathon between 5:30 and 6 a.m., and have moved up morning rugby matches by 90 minutes to play in the cooler air. Mountain biking will be contested later in the afternoon for the same reason.

Organizers are also struggling to keep the ¥600 billion (about $5.3-billion) operating budget balanced with heat-related solutions driving up costs.

This is the privately funded budget for running the games themselves and separate from billions more that governments are spending to prepare the city.

“The organizing committee and the people of Japan remain on track to deliver spectacular Olympic and Paralympic Games,” Coates said.

Yoshiro Mori, the president of organizing committee, was sitting alongside and was cautious about the plaudits.

“We should not be overconfident about such praise,” he said through an interpreter. “We still should buckle down very firmly.... They praise us, they give us a good report card. But in addition to that I want to be better.”

This summer’s scorching Tokyo heat nudged 40

degrees Celsius (104 degrees Farenheit) several times and is running up costs and concerns.

Coates said an IOC panel had studied the problem and called this summer “abnormal.”

“It will continue to be at the front of our minds for us and the organizers,” Coates said. “We will do everything possible to insure that they [athletes] are not competing at risk—or watching at risk.”

Coates said organizers are preparing more cooling light-water sprays, reflective pavement for the running courses, and more shade for fans.

“It’s those sorts of things,” Coates said. “There’s a list of about 20 precautions they think we should take, and they’re not going to be free.”

Coates said those and other costs were stressing the operating budget. The third version of that budget will be presented on December 21.

“My confidence is that there will be a balanced subject, subject to there being nothing massively untoward,” Coates said.

Several months ago, Coates contrasted Tokyo with Rio de Janeiro.

“In Rio we didn’t know who was paying what—if at all,” he said.

Tokyo’s privately funded operating budget of $5.3 billion derives income from the IOC, domestic sponsorship sales, merchandise sales and ticket sales.

The largest chunk of income is from domestic sponsorship sales, which have reached about $3 billion.

Coates and Bach said the enthusiasm of Japanese companies had helped smash all records.

Still, Coates said about $100 million more was needed to meet budget requirements.

Coates said he was hopeful “there won’t be any drain

on the public purse.”

Despite the wealth of private money, public money is still the backbone of the Tokyo Olympics.

The national government’s Board of Audit spelled out total Olympic costs in a 178-page report published in October. It forecasts total spending to prepare the Olympics at about $20 billion. That includes the private operating budget.

The rest comes from the national government, Tokyo city government and other local governments—meaning about 75 percent of the funding is taxpayer money.

This reality contrasts sharply with Tokyo’s winning bid in 2013, which projected overall Olympics costs of ¥829 billion ($7.3 billion).

Tokyo organizers and the IOC dispute what are—and what are not—Olympic costs. It’s complicated. Some projects might have been built without the Olympics and are not clearly related. Others are driven directly by the requirements of hosting the games.

Stung by criticism of forcing cities to build white elephant venues, the IOC is saying the upcoming Olympics in Paris (2024) and Los Angeles (2028) will rely heavily on existing venues. The same is true for the two bids for the 2026 Winter Olympics: Stockholm, Sweden, and the Italian bid of Milan-Cortina.

The outlier is the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

The Chinese capital spent at least $40 billion on the 2008 Summer Olympics. Bach and the IOC have cautioned China to keep the costs down.

Also, the Tokyo city government said a 51-year-old man died on Wednesday after falling from the 12th floor of a building under construction at the athletes village in the bay area of Tokyo. He was Japanese, but his name has not been released.

USA Gymnastics files for bankruptcy after sex-abuse scandal

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SA Gymnastics is turning to bankruptcy in an attempt to ensure its survival.

The embattled organization filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition on Wednesday in an effort to reach settlements in the dozens of sex-abuse lawsuits it faces and to avoid its potential demise at the hands of the US Olympic Committee (USOC).

USA Gymnastics filed the petition in Indianapolis, where it is based. It faces 100 lawsuits representing over 350 athletes in various courts across the country who blame the group for failing to supervise Larry Nassar, a team doctor accused of molesting them. Nassar, 55, worked at USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University for decades. He is serving effective life sentences for child porn possession and molesting young women and girls under the guise of medical treatment.

Kathryn Carson, the recently elected chairman of USA Gymnastics’s board of directors, said the organization’s goal is to speed things up after mediation attempts failed to gain traction.

“Those discussions were not moving at any pace,” Carson said. “We as a board felt this was a critical imperative and decided to take this action.”

THE USA Gymnastics logo is displayed at AT&T Stadium during a news conference in Arlington, Texas. AP

INTERNATIONAL Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach and Coordination Commission for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics John Coates preside over an IOC Executive Board meeting on Saturday in Tokyo that was also attended by the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee chairman Yoshiro Mori. AP

AIBA TRIES TO DEFLECT CRISIS

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AUSANNE, Switzerland—The president of the amateur boxing association or AIBA said the body has “finally and fully left the troubled past behind,” despite being put under an International Olympic Committee (IOC) inquiry.

AIBA President Gafur Rakhimov, who the US Treasury Department says is a heroin trafficker linked to organized crime, has written to reassure national boxing federations about the governing body’s future.

The filing does not affect the amount of money available to victims, which would come from previously purchased insurance coverage, she said. Carson said the insurance companies “are aware we’re taking this action and our expectation is they will come to the table and pay on our coverage.”

Carson added: “This is not a liquidation. This is a reorganization.”

John Manly, an attorney representing dozens of women who have pending lawsuits against USA Gymnastics, chastised the organization for continuing to “inflict unimaginable pain on survivors” and encouraged lawenforcement officials to “redouble” their investigative efforts.

“Today’s bankruptcy filing by USA Gymnastics was the inevitable result of the inability of this organization to meet its core responsibility of protecting its athlete members from abuse,” Manly said in a statement. “The leadership of USA Gymnastics has proven itself to be both morally and financially bankrupt.”

USA Gymnastics insists that’s not the case, stressing that the filing is based on legal expediency, not fiscal distress.

While Carson acknowledged that sponsorship is down

The IOC appointed an inquiry panel last week to examine AIBA’s governance, finances and ethics.

AIBA is banned from contacting 2020 Tokyo Olympic organizers and risks being derecognized by the IOC. In a letter on Wednesday, the businessman from Uzbekistan told AIBA members his problem with American authorities is “based on false allegations by the previous regime of my country is being addressed.” AP since the first women came forward against Nassar in the fall of 2016, she described the financial condition of USA Gymnastics as “stable.”

USA Gymnastics reported assets in a range of $50 million to $100 million and a similar range of liabilities, with 1,000 to 5,000 creditors. The organization said its largest unsecured creditor is former president and CEO Steve Penny, who is owed $339,999.96. USA Gymnastics is disputing Penny’s claim, though attorney Cathy Steege declined to get into the specific nature of the dispute.

Penny resigned under pressure from the USOC in March 2017. Two other presidents—Kerry Perry and former US Rep. Mary Bono—have followed in what has become a revolving door amid the organization’s hierarchy.

It’s that chaos at the top that led the USOC to initiate the process of removing USA Gymnastics as the sport’s national governing body at the Olympic level—a step that’s taken only under the most extreme circumstances.

In an open letter to the gymnastics community in November, USOC CEO Sarah Hirshland said “you deserve better,” and that the challenges facing USA Gymnastics were more than it was capable of overcoming as currently constructed. AP

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Business

C2 Friday, December 7, 2018

MAGNOLIA TARGETS 2-0 SERIES LEAD M

AGNOLIA tries to make it two-in-arow over Alaska in Game Two of the Philippine Basketball Association Governors’ Cup best-of-seven Finals on Friday at the Mall of Asia Arena

in Pasay City.

The Hotshots were a fiery bunch in their 10084 Game One rout on Wednesday and are looking to post another dominating performance in the 7 p.m. match.

The 18-day layoff caused neither rust nor cobwebs to the Hotshots in the series opener that saw import Romeo Travis scoring 29 points and grabbing 13 rebounds. Guards Marc Barroca and Paul Lee chipped in 16 and 14 points, respectively.

Jio Jalalon was also all over the court and hauled down 12 rebounds and issued nine assists with seven points for the Hotshots.

For Coach Chito Victolero, the Game One victory isn’t a guarantee. Complacency, he stressed, is their biggest concern.

“We cannot afford to relax. It’s still a long way but we’re happy to win one. We need four wins so we’ll be treating Game Two as already a do-or-die game,” Victolero said.

Alaska, however, is expected to dish out a fiery fight back to avoid a 0-2 hole.

The Aces Coach Alex Compton admitted that they played way below their capabilities in Game One. “We just got totally outworked. It looked like we’re very rusty,” Compton said. “In contrast to our performance, Magnolia showed no rust and played a great game. I expected us to play at their level and for it to be a tight game.”

The Aces were caught flat-footed by the Hotshots’ opening 15-0 run—a deficit they never recovered from.

Compton promised to get his men warmed up for Game Two. “We got to be so much better. Hopefully we will be fresher,” he said.

Mike Harris had 20 points, while Chris Banchero and Jeron Teng collected 12 and 10 points, respectively, for the Aces.

The league took a two-week break to give way to two Team Pilipinas games in the Fiba Asia Qualifiers for the World Cup. The Philippines lost both to Kazakhstan (88-92) and Iran (70-78) to fall to fourth place in the group with a 5-5 wonlost record. Ramon Rafael Bonilla

FINAL BUZZER Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner Willie Marcial presses the Final Buzzer honoring former commissioner Rey Marquez, who passed away recently. Joining Marcial are (from left) Alaska Governor Dickie Bachmann, Alaska team owner Wilfred Steven Uytengsu, San Miguel Beer Governor Robert Non, San Miguel Food and Beverage COO Butch Alejo, former Shell team manager Charlie Favis and Magnolia Governor Rene Pardo.

2 golds for Team Mindanao-PHL

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EAM Mindanao-Philippines bagged two gold medals on top of two silvers and as many bronzes to kick off its campaign in the 10th Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, East Timor, Northern Territory (Australia)-East Asia Growth Area Friendship Games on Thursday at the Hassanal Bolkiah National Sports Complex in Brunei Darussalam.

Joshua Raphael del Rio, a student at the Ateneo de Davao University, clocked two minutes and 3.95 seconds to rule the men’s 21-under 200-meter freestyle of swimming, beating teammate Eirron Seth Vibar (2:04.00) and Brunei Team A’s Nur Samil (2:05.93).

San Beda University’s Fritz Jun Rodriguez gave Team Mindanao-PHL its second gold after topping the men’s 21-under 50-meter breastroke with a time of 31.22 seconds. Darren Ngui Moh Gin of Sarawak (31.86) was second and Edward Alfaro III of Mindanao-PHL (31.98) was third.

Ivo Nikolai Enot (1:05.75) and Elson Jake

Rodriguez (1:05.79) finished second and third, respectively, behind Ben Ramplin (1:05.22) of Nothern Territory, Australia, in men’s 21-under 100-meter backstroke.

Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) Commissioner Charles Raymond Maxey, chief of mission to the games, cheered at the sidelines along with Davao City head of delegation Sports Development Division of the City Mayor’s Office (SDD-CMO) Officer in Charge Mikey Aportadera.

“This is a good start for us and I’m happy for our athletes. They competed well. Hopefully we can win more medals,” he said.

A parade of delegations from Indonesia’s focus areas Kalimantan Utara, Sulawesi Barat and Sulawesi Selatan; Malaysia’s Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan; Philippines’s Mindanao and Palawan; Australia’s Northern Territory; and Brunei Darussalam will highlight the formal opening ceremony on Friday morning.

FIERCE RIVALRY OVER

NBA RESULTS Denver 124, Orlando 118, OT

Golden State 129, Cleveland 105 Oklahoma City 114, Brooklyn 112 Washington 131, Atlanta 117 Memphis 96, LA Clippers 86 Milwaukee 115, Detroit 92 Minnesota 121, Charlotte 104 New Orleans 132, Dallas 106 Toronto 113, Philadelphia 102 LA Lakers 121, San Antonio 113 THE Warriors’ Stephen Curry drives to the basket against the Cavaliers’ Jordan Clarkson in the second half of their game on Wednesday. AP

OLYMPIANS OUT TO SAVE SINKING SWIMMING BODY F ORMER Olympians—all successful in their respective genres—have finally come forward to save the national sports association of swimming described to be lurking at the bottom of the pool for years.

Ral Rosario, Eric Buhain, Pinky Brosas and Akiko ThomsonGuevara have come out in the open to question the mandate of Lailani Velasco as president of the Philippine Swimming Inc. (PSI).

The PSI is the former Philippine Amateur Swimming Association that later evolved to the Philippine Aquatics Swimming Association and was formerly headed by Mark Joseph, who is facing legal issues from the country’s hosting of the 2005 Southeast Asian Games and is believed to be out of the country.

The four stressed that Velasco doesn’t have the authority to call for a national congress because she is one of the incorporators when the PSI was registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2011.

The group said what Velasco’s action is “a clear misrepresentation and usurpation of authority” because Section 1 of Article XII of the PSI by-laws stresses that all officers who would be appointed by the federation president must be subjected to the approval of the board of trustees.

THE Olympians— (from left) Eric Buhain, Pinky Brosas, Ral Rosario and Akiko Thomson-Guevarra—are out to save Philippine swimming. NONIE REYES

Velasco, however, claimed that she was appointed by Joseph as her secretary-general in 2016 before formally assuming the presidency in 2017. She said that her appointment is recognized by the International Aquatics Federation or Fina, swimming’s international body.

But based on the federation’s by-laws, Rosario should assume the presidency in his capacity as PSI vice president at that time. He was elected as interim president, but the absence of an overseer from the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) voided the exercise.

“Lailani Velasco and her cohorts insist that she has the authority to act on behalf of the PSI because she claims that she [was] recognized by Fina,” said Luz Arzaga-Mendoza, legal counsel of Rosario, Brosas and the PSI board in a letter to POC President Ricky Vargas on Wednesday.

“Hence, for all intents and purposes, the position of president has been left vacant from the time that Mark Joseph Powell was removed from the PSI until this date.”

A special meeting set for Friday at the Manila Yacht Club is not the first time for Velasco to call for a national congress.

Last February, she also called for a special meeting that led to a “snap election” where she clinched the PSI presidency with representatives of 65 of 70 registered clubs from all over the country in attendance.

The POC, then under Jose “Peping” Cojuangco, authorized the election and sent a representative, Deputy Secretary-General Simeon Garcia.

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LEVELAND—Their fierce rivalry is over, reduced to only memories.

The Warriors and Cavaliers had something special, four straight National Basketball Association (NBA) Finals that Steph Curry will one day savor.

Some day.

“It was historical,” Curry said. “I’ll definitely sit back on the couch in 10 or 12 years when it’s all over and think about what it was like to play here, and how high the stakes were every time we came into this building.”

Right now, Curry and the Warriors aren’t ready to reminisce.

Curry made nine three-pointers and scored 42 points, Kevin Durant added 25 and Golden State returned to face a very different looking Cleveland team for the first time since winning another NBA title and beat the Cavaliers, 129-105, on Wednesday night.

Fully healed after missing 11 games with a strained groin, Curry scored nine points in less than a minute midway through the fourth quarter to help the Warriors pull away for their eighth straight win over their former Finals rivals.

Curry added nine rebounds and seven assists, and Durant had 10 rebounds and nine assists.

It was Golden State’s first visit to Cleveland since June, when the Warriors completed a sweep to win their third championship in four years.

Nothing in Quicken Loans Arena felt or looked the same.

“The energy before the game, after the game,” Durant said, noting the changes in Cleveland. “There were more media members here the last couple of years. We were talking about that before we ran out on the floor. That was a circus right here during the Finals. You start thinking about the great memories you had, especially the championship.

“I’m sure we’ll feel those feelings every time we walk into the building.”

This was the first matchup between the Warriors and Cavaliers since LeBron James left as a free agent last summer. The Cavs are starting from scratch after a four-year run as Eastern Conference champions, and they’re struggling without All-Star Kevin Love, who is recovering from foot surgery and while forward JR Smith is on a forced hiatus.

There are no playoff plans in Cleveland, where fans are keeping as close an eye on Duke’s talented freshmen players as what the Cavs are doing.

Tristan Thompson, one of the only holdovers from those powerful Cavs teams, had 19 rebounds and 14 points. Rookie Collin Sexton scored 20 points for Cleveland.

For Warriors Coach Steve Kerr, the Golden State-Cleveland Finals, a four-act play loaded with drama and intensity, had it all.

“Some of the best basketball I’ve ever seen in my life,” Kerr said before the game. “Obviously, they have a new team and so you move on. Part of me is a little nostalgic for that.”

But those days are gone.

“It’s not a rivalry, it’s another game,” Kerr added. “They’re trying to build something and we’re trying to continue our run for as long as we can.”

The Warriors had trouble shaking the Cavs until Curry took control.

Golden State’s lead was just 10 when he got fouled while hitting a three-pointer and completed the four-point play. He then buried another three and followed that with two free throws to put the Warriors ahead 116-99 with 5:34 left.

Kerr isn’t surprised Curry is back to being himself.

“It’s pretty rare, but Steph is rare in general in everything he does,” he said. “We’ve seen it before where Steph was out with an injury and comes back and starts lighting it up right away. The guy keeps himself in amazing shape, which allows him to come back pretty quickly if there is an injury.” AP

WOODS HOLDS TALKS OVER PRE-PRESIDENT’S CUP PREPS

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ELBOURNE, Australia—US captain Tiger Woods will have discussions with golf officials in Melbourne on how to best prepare his team for the 2019 Presidents Cup next December at Royal Melbourne.

Woods, in Melbourne for a promotional visit, said the talks later on Thursday would focus on the options of the Americans playing his Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas, coming to Melbourne the week prior for practice with sandbelt techniques, or playing the Australian Open as the lead-up event at The Australian in Sydney.

“We have to figure out some logistical things between now and then and that’s the reason I’m here,” Woods said.

“We’ve got a few meetings here today to try to get a plan going forward so we can get the best that we can at the Hero as well as get everyone here from the Bahamas rested and

prepared and ready to play.”

Woods indicated that no announcement would be made on the outcome of the talks until he returned to the US. Officials announced last month that the Australian Open, the fifth-oldest championship in golf, would be played from December 5 to 8 and organizers were excited about another strong field. The Presidents Cup is set for December 12 to 15.

Woods was a rookie on the 1998 American team that lost to the Internationals for the only time in the history of the event. Many on the US team played the Australian Open at Royal Adelaide that year the week prior to the Presidents Cup. “It was late in December and we didn’t have the wrap-around schedule that we do now.

The guys took quite a bit of time off and, quite

frankly, we weren’t prepared to play and we got smoked,” he said.

“I would encourage them to stay competitive late in the year. That’s what we learned in ‘98, the guys weren’t competitive, they had shut it down. So, hopefully, they’ll play my event in the Bahamas. If not, they’ll stay competitive, stay sharp. Trying to get guys to stay sharp when it’s their break time is going to be the challenge.”

Woods said he will tailor his 2019 playing schedule in a bid to be playing captain in his ninth Presidents Cup. He shares the record of 24 wins with Phil Mickelson and had a 2-3 record in 1998 and again in 2011 at Royal Melbourne.

“I’m part of the team either way. After the [2019] Tour Championship, we’ll have the top eight guys and, hopefully, I’ll be part of the eight,” Woods said. “If not, myself and my vice captains will figure out among the other players

who are the best four players to serve this team.”

Only Hale Irwin has played the Presidents Cup as a captain when he performed dual roles for the US in the inaugural 1994 event.

“I got a little bit of experience [in dual team roles] as vice captain this past year with the Ryder Cup,” Woods said. “Jim [Furyk] thought my role was better being focused on playing. I was part of conversations of who should be part of the team and now fast-forward to next year and I’ll be relying on my vice captains to get a lot of their opinions and also my team, whether I can play and do both roles.”

Woods said he didn’t think Royal Melbourne had changed much in the seven years since he last visited Australia.

“It really hasn’t, it looks about the same,”Woods said. “It’s one of the most unique courses you can play; it’s so short, so fast and so tricky.” AP

US captain Tiger Woods poses for photos for fans during a media conference in Melbourne on Thursday. AP

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Friday, December 7, 2018

Vastly improved Lifesavers rout Giga Hitters G

Lady Red Spikers unscathed in four

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AN Beda University turned back Emilio Aguinaldo College (EAC), 23-25, 25-15, 25-23, 25-17, on Thursday to seize the solo women’s lead in the 94th National Collegiate Athletic Association volleyball tournament at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.

Trisha Mae Paras paced her team with 19 points, most of which she made in the last three sets when the Lady Red Spikers turned the tables around after a sluggish first set.

Maria Nieza Viray scattered 13 hits and Sattriani Espiritu added 11 for San Beda, which booked its fourth straight win.

Cesca Racraquin played like a Most Valuable Player, an award that eluded her last season, with

ENERIKA-AYALA displayed its championship form as it clobbered Smart in straight sets, 25-16, 26-24, 25-22, to book the first semifinal ticket in the Philippine Superliga All-Filipino Conference on Thursday at the Batangas City Sports Coliseum in Batangas City.

Mikaela Lopez came up big, while Ria Meneses and Patty Orendain sizzled in the crucial stretch for the vastly improved Lifesavers who are returning to the semifinals after a long absence in the league.

Lopez dominated the middle and finished with 16 points built on 11 kills, four blocks and an ace, while Meneses and Orendain flaunted their offensive brilliance to wind up with 15 and 14 points, respectively.

With the win, the Lifesavers will march to the semifinals against the survivor of the quarterfinal battle between F2 Logistics and Cocolife at the Filoil Flying V Centre tomorrow.

It will be Generika-Ayala’s first semifinal stint since the franchise won the All-Filipino and emerged runner-up to Petron in the 2014Grand Prix.

But more than that, beating Smart gave GenerikaAyala a different kind of satisfaction.

“This game was very important for us because we lost to Smart in the Invitationals,” said Lopez, speaking on behalf of Head Coach Sherwin Meneses. “And now that we’re in the semifinals, we will go out fighting.”

Fiola Ceballos chipped in 11 points, including the game-winning ace that capped a searing run from a 20-22 deficit to seal the 80-minute victory.

After making short work of the Giga Hitters in the first set, the Lifesavers needed to survive a neck-andneck battle in the second and third sets.

Smart almost equalized to one-set apiece, 24-23, in the second set, but back-to-back hits from Angeli Araneta and Lopez lifted Generika-Ayala before watching Gretchel Soltones commit an attack error to steal the set and erect a two-set lead.

a triple-double effort of 12 points, 19 digs and a match-best 15 receptions.

Jaylene Mae Lumbo erupted for a match-high 25 hits with 21 on kills but didn’t get enough support as none of her teammates scored seven points or more.

The Lady Generals skid to their third straight loss.

In the other women’s game, Arellano University pounded San Sebastian, 25-15, 25-16, 25-12, to join San Beda at the helm. The Lady Stags fell to 2-1.

San Beda outlasted EAC, 25-17, 25-16, 25-27, 25-21, to jump to solo third with a 3-1 card in junior’s action.

Ateneo-Motolite eyes fightback in Game 2

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EDUCED to a mere collegiate squad by a powerhouse Creamline side, Ateneo-Motolite tries to pick itself up from a devastating Game One loss with a new mindset and approach against the fired-up Cool Smashers in Saturday’s Game Two of the Premier Volleyball League Season 2 Open Conference Finals in Batangas City.

The Cool Smashers turned what was expected to be a fierce battle into a virtual workout, dominating the Lady Eagles in all departments to

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complete a lopsided 25-17, 25-10, 25-15 victory that moved the former closer to another title run following their sweep of the Reinforced Conference crown last July.

The Lady Eagles, who stirred up interest after upending the BanKo-Perlas Spikers in five sets of their sudden death in the Final Four, played tight and stiff all throughout, resulting to tentative, erratic plays and enabling the Cool Smashers to run away with the victory.

AIKO URDAS hits the floor to save the ball for Smart.

THAI DOMINATES PRADERA CLASSIC Y

UPAPORN KAWINPAKORN hit two clutch backside birdies to claim the hotly disputed International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) Pradera Verde Ladies Classic crown, repelling Dottie Ardina on No. 12 and beating fellow Thai Pimpadsorn Sangkagaro by two with a 69 on Thursday in Lubao, Pampanga.

The Thai veteran campaigner came out of a three-way tie after 11 holes with a birdie on the par-5 12th then held sway to the finish as Ardina, who moved to joint lead at six-under overall with back-to-back birdies from No. 11 in a flight ahead, fell behind by two with a bogey on the 14th and failed to mount a challenge again with a run of pars for a 71.

In contrast, Kawinpakorn shrugged off Sangkagaro’s challenge with another birdie from 15 feet on the 17th to churn out a second straight thee-under card, securing the victory on an eightunder 208 total worth P250,000 in this second leg of the 2019 Ladies Philippine Golf Tour (LPGT).

“I expected to win because I really liked the course and I’m very happy I made it,” said Kawinpakorn, who actually struggled with her long game but more than made up for it with superb iron game and putting to close out with five

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HE Baguio Country Cub (BCC) once again reared its reputation as judge—and executioner—as Megafiber rallied from nine points down to win by two strokes the Senior Fil Championship title of the 69th Fil-Am Invitational Golf Tournament.

Trailing 342-351 at the start of a cold Thursday morning that turned “rather hot” in Jose Mari Hechanova’s words, the 2011 champions flexed just enough muscles to beat three-day leader Luisita Golf and Country Club, 109-98, for the day.

Rolly Viray topscored for Megafiber with 29 and got ample support from Hechanova and Rene Unson who each nailed a 27, and Abraham Rosal who contributed a 26. Lead man David Hernandez did not count with a 24.

“We always thought that the real match is here at the BCC, anything can just happen here,” said Unson, who like Hechanova were members of the 2011 champion Megafiber team.

While Megafiber played just well enough, Luisita practically melted under the scorching Baguio City sun with Chino Raymundo leading the charge with 29 points.

But it was all downhill for the dethroned champions after his teammates failed to deliver the course that could be real tricky.

Jingy Tuazon went home with a 22, Raffy Garcia checked in with a 20 and Rodel Mangulabnan was good for 21, giving Megafiber a two-point advantage with the last men yet to come in—their own Eddie Bagtas and Megafiber’s Rosal.

But Bagtas was also struggling and Rosal caught up at No. 17 to draw even going to the last hole— Luisita’s supposed last stand.

With Bagtas teeing off and making it 15 feet to the pin, Rosal’s ball rolled to within 16 feet that drew applause from the small gallery of Megafiber—and the Luisita men acknowledging their defeat.

Both missed their birdie putt then two-putted for bogey and a similar 26 points.

birdies against two bogeys.

Sangkagaro, who kept the momentum of her fiery second-day windup with a blistering start of three birdies in the first nine holes, blew an early two-stroke lead over Kawinpakorn and failed to recover from a bogey-bogey start at the back. She ended up second with a 71 and a 210 and took home P120,000.

While the setback extended the Chiang Mai native’s winless campaign on the LPGT, the victory kept Kawinpakorn’s impressive run on the ICTSIsponsored circuit that saw her win the Beverly Place and Summit Point stops of the 2018 LPGT season after closing out the 2017 season with a win at South Forbes.

Ardina, whose back-to-back 70s kept her in the title hunt in the P1-million championship, recovered from a bogey start with a birdie on No. 6 then gained a shared view of the top with birdies on Nos. 11 and 12.

But Kawinpakorn, seeing the local favorite press her title bid, matched Ardina’s birdie to wrest solo control as Sangkagaro flubbed her own birdie bid.

A bogey on the 14th dashed Ardina’s hopes as Kawinpakorn stayed on top with a slew of pars then put away Sangkagaro’s threat with a decisive

birdie on the penultimate hole.

Ardina settled for third at 211 after a 36-35 card and earned P85,000, while fellow Pinay Princess Superal squandered a solid start with a shaky backside stint and placed fourth with a 70 for a 213 worth P76,000.

Konsunthea, who tied Kawinpakorn and Sangkagaro on top after 36 holes, crumbled under pressure, limping with a 76 and dropped to joint sixth at 215.

“She [Kawinpakorn] played steady despite the strong wind and tough pin placements,” said Superal, who birdied three of the first five holes to wheel back into contention but dropped two strokes on the par-4 sixth to reel back.

She fought back with two birdies to close out her frontside but bogeyed Nos. 10 and 15 and dropped out of the title race. She birdied the 17th for a 33-37.

Meanwhile, Junia Gabasa took the low amateur honors despite a 77 for a 228 for joint 23th overall, one stroke ahead of Nicole Abelar, who pooled a 231 after a 75.

Seven Thais took the next six places to underscore their domination of the P1-million event organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments Inc. with Chonlada Khamborn limping with a 73 to finish solo fifth at 214 and Chonlada Chayanun

FOR Ateneo Head Coach Tab Baldwin, they would prefer to take it one step at a time before dreaming big time for five straight championships. NONOY LACZA YUPAPORN KAWINPAKORN kisses her trophy.

tieing Konsunthea at 215 after a 72.

Chommapat Pongthanarak hobbled with a 74 for eighth at 216, while Arpichaya Yubol matched par 72 for ninth at 219 followed by Waralee Atcharerk (79), Trichat Cheenglab (79) and Kanokwan Yospak (72), who were joined at 10th at 221 by Chihiro Ikeda, who closed out with a 73.

2017 LPGT Order of Merit winner Pauline del Rosario failed to break par on a course she dominated last year, finishing with a 74 for solo 14th at 222 in the event backed by Custom Clubmakers, BDO, Meralco, Sharp, KZG, PLDT, Champion, Summit Mineral Water and K&G Golf.

MEGAFIBER REGAINS CROWN

THE victorious Megafiber team—(from left) Abraham Rosal, David Hernandez, Rene Unson, Jose Mari Hechanova, Bing Bunye and Rolly Viray—flash the No. 1 sign. MAU VICTA

“It’s a tough course and we had a tough competition,” summed Hechanova, who proved to be the team’s steadiest player.

“There is no comparison with our win the last time because this is a tougher competition.

Luisita is a very good team,” he added.

“We dedicate this win to our boss, Albert Garcia, who assembled this team for the tournament,” Unson said. The Megafiber owner is currently in Sydney, Australia.

Southwoods, which was penalized in the second round, came in third after a 108 for a 445 on the 31 of Raul Miñoza, 28 of Theody Pascual, 25 of Bong Sison and 24 of Tommy Manotoc. Sang Jin Lee had a 21 and was counted out again.

NO WAY TO GO BUT 5 STRAIGHT TITLES?

By Ramon Rafael Bonilla

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OR Ateneo de Manila, the goal has leveled up to aiming for five straight championships.

For University of the Philippines (UP), the one that got away has transformed into motivation—and honor—for a bunch of Fighting Maroons who gave their all despite the obvious odds.

“First of all, back-to-back titles doesn’t look so important if put up next to a five-in-a-row,” Ateneo Head Coach Tab Baldwin said. “Doesn’t it?

It’s just like a little bump on the road compared to that [five peat].”

The Blue Eagles, starring Thirdy Ravena who worked like a horse on a rampage, wrapped up the Season 81 University Athletic Association of the Philippines men’s basketball crown with a 99-81 rout before a crowd of 23,000 on Wednesday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Ravena was unstoppable en route to a career-high 38 points in the series-clincher where the Blue Eagles experience as champions and overseas stints that included the William Jones Cup in Chinese Taipei, reared its dominant head over a UP side that wanted to win only its second league crown since 1986.

“We want to pursue excellence. And a championship is one measure of excellence, I guess. If that’s a by-product of the way we do things, then we hope to continue to have championships in the future,” he said.

The Blue Eagles won consecutive crowns from 2009 to 2013, almost matching the UAAP record six straight titles booked by University of the East in the late 1960s.

Baldwin said that if the “five-peat” is farfetched, what they could do is to build a team for another championship.

“At the back of our minds, that’s the end of the game for a team—to win a championship.

But we don’t talk too much about that. We talk more about how each one of these guys can be the best player they can be,” he said.

The Fighting Maroons were helpless against Ravena and Rookie of the Year Angelo Kouame, Ateneo’s center from Ivory Coast who outdid himself on Wednesday night.

Kouame had a 22-point, 20-rebound, twoblock game, more than enough to complement Ravena’s explosion that ended their foes’ bid for a Cinderella finish.

Kouame’s counterpart, Bright Akhuetie, was in no Most Valuable Player form and couldn’t trigger a major UP comeback. But he still finished with 19 points and seven rebounds.

The Blue Eagles practically owned the court from start to finish, leading by as many as 22 in the fourth period when Ravena unloaded 18 points.

Come Season 82 when Ateneo takes its role as general host, the Blue Eagles will be practically intact with only Anton Asistio graduating from the team.

Ravena, Kouame, Matt Nieto and forward Raffy Verano are expected to keep the team’s core, along with Tyler Tio, Jolo Mendoza, Adrian Wong, Isaac Go and Gian Mamuyac.

The Fighting Maroons?

UP Head Coach Bo Perasol isn’t a man in grief.

In his team’s final huddle at centercourt after the loss, Perasol relentlessly lifted the spirits of his young players who looked spent from the consecutive Finals setbacks.

“The Finals is done. You need to be proud of yourselves. We were in the Finals. Nobody expected us to be here,” Perasol told the Fighting Maroons.

“You achieved so much. You sacrificed so much. That’s why they [UP fans] are here,” he stressed.

UP placed third after the elimination round with an 8-6 record. They defied the odds by negating the twice-to-beat advantage of the Adamson University Soaring Falcons in the Final Four.

Against highly touted Ateneo, UP showed a big fighting heart but inexperience sunk into the Fighting Maroons’ campaign.

UP bid goodbye to team captain Paul Desiderio, Diego Dario, Gelo Vito, Jarrell Lim and John Española, who all played their last season of eligibility.

But they have so much to look forward to— Kobe Paras and Ricci Rivero will be eligible next season to play alongside Akhuetie, Mythical Five member Juan Gomez de Liaño and his brother Javi and Jun Manzo.

IT’S HENRY VS. VIEIRA P Sports

By Jerome Pugmire The Associated Press

ARIS—When they played together for Arsenal, Thierry Henry and Patrick Vieira knew the importance of getting one over on local rival Tottenham.

Scoring in the North London derby helped them become club legends, cementing their place in the hearts of fans. Of Vieira’s 34 goals for Arsenal, none of them felt sweeter than when he scored against Tottenham.

Same for Henry, who arguably got the best of his 228 club-record goals for Arsenal against Spurs—picking up the ball 70 meters from goal and carving through the midfield and defense before finishing with a powerful curling shot.

Just like they did with France as World Cup and European Championship winners, the two prospered together for Arsenal and hit the ultimate height of an unbeaten season when Arsenal’s “Invincibles” won the league in 2004.

On Friday they will be on opposite sides as managerial rivals when Henry’s struggling Monaco takes on Vieira’s consistent Nice.

Nice is unbeaten

in six games and comfortably poised in seventh place. Monaco is one place above the relegation zone in 17th on goal difference alone.

“We’re doing breaststroke,” said Henry, using a swimming metaphor, after Tuesday’s 2-0 win at Amiens. “Sometimes we have our head underwater, other times we lift it up.”

Given how Monaco rarely fills its 18,500-capacity stadium, Friday’s match won’t quite match the frenzy and fervor of the North London derbies of old at Highbury and White Hart Lane.

But this match nevertheless has a derby feel to it, with the local sides just 20 miles (32 kilometers) apart on the French Riviera.

“I know what it’s like, I’ve already played in it,” said Henry, who started his glittering career as a prodigious teen with Monaco in 1994.

Henry used to love scoring against Spurs, but his players will have their work cut out doing so against a Nice side, which has kept a single-season club record of six straight clean sheets heading into this game.

As a strong and fiery midfielder, Vieira offered a protective shield to his defense.

Those same combative qualities are now apparent in a Nice side which—although lacking firepower—has the fourth best defensive record in Ligue 1.

But Radamel Falcao’s return to form will give Vieira a headache.

Falcao scored twice against Amiens to take his tally to seven in 14 league games. Although both were penalties, the Colombia striker’s sharpness and movement were the best they have been in a turbulent spell for Henry’s Monaco.

Since taking charge in midOctober, Henry has won only two of 10 games— both against teams hovering

BusinessMirror

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| Friday, December 7, 2018 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

SPORTS PLUS

Qatari in hoops mess ‘immune’ WASHINGTON—A Qatari man accused in a lawsuit of stiffing fellow investors in rapper Ice Cube’s 3-on-3 pro basketball league has been given diplomatic status that gives him “full immunity from all aspects of civil litigation.”

Ahmed al-Rumaihi’s status was revealed in a federal court filing in California this week as part of the case accusing the Qatari investor of not honoring several million dollars in financial commitments to the BIG3 Basketball league.

League cofounder and Hollywood executive Jeff Kwatinetz said in a sworn declaration that alRumaihi tried to use him to get access to his friend Steve Bannon and President Donald J. Trump.

League lawyers say al-Rumaihi left his Los Angeles home for Qatar months ago to avoid his deposition.

Representatives for al-Rumaihi did not immediately respond to requests for comment. AP

around the relegation zone. There have been some awful performances— notably a 4-0 home defeat to Club Brugge in the Champions League—but Henry has also dealt with a huge injury crisis.

He has been forced to pick teenagers with no experience while battling for precious points. Paradoxically, this is starting to have a positive effect and a semblance of team spirit—so lacking earlier in the season—is slowly becoming apparent. It also highlights the remarkable strength of Monaco’s notoriously good scouting network, which produced France star Kylian Mbappe.

Against Amiens on Tuesday, French football got a glimpse of the immense potential of 17-year-old midfielder Han-Noah Massengo, whose quick feet, even quicker thinking and boundless energy were priceless to a Monaco side desperate holding on at 1-0 before Falcao’s last-gasp penalty made it 2-0.

Falcao’s first penalty came about after defender Benoit Badiashile—another 17-year-old—was upended after reacting quickly to a loose ball in the penalty area.

Without Monaco’s crisis, those two may never have got such an early chance to show their precocious ability.

While Falcao is coming back into form, Nice striker Mario Balotelli’s slump continues.

Balotelli has not scored in 10 league games this campaign, a far cry from the previous two seasons when he top-scored for Nice with 18 and 15, respectively.

Formula 1 21-leg format approved ON Friday they will be on opposite sides as managerial rivals when Thierry Henry’s struggling Monaco takes on Patrick Vieira’s consistent Nice. AP

Boca Jrs arrives in Madrid for rearranged Copa final

A BOCA Juniors fan dressed as Maradona cheers outside the team’s hotel in Madrid. AP

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ADRID—Boca Juniors has arrived in Madrid for Sunday’s Copa Libertadores final second leg against River Plate, kicking off preparations for the highly anticipated match that was twice suspended because of fan violence in Argentina.

A few dozen Boca fans greeted the team when it made it to the Spanish capital on Wednesday night.

Argentine rival River was expected to arrive on Thursday, three days before the rearranged game that will decide South America’s equivalent of the Champions League.

Some Boca players were injured when their bus was attacked by River fans in Buenos Aires on November 24.

South American soccer confederation Conmebol postponed the match twice before deciding to play the game at Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu Stadium to avoid security problems in Argentina.

The teams drew 2-2 in the first leg at Boca’s La Bombonera Stadium in Buenos Aires on November 11.

Tens of thousands of fans are expected to travel to Madrid from Argentina, with Spanish authorities implementing special security measures.

The measures are likely to supersede those put in place for the Spanish “clasico” between Real Madrid and Barcelona.

Conmebol has made 25,000 tickets available for each team, with 5,000 being sold in Argentina and the rest through the confederation’s web site.

Another 22,000 tickets will go to sponsors and the general public. Some are being sold for more than €1,000 ($1,135) through online dealers.

Madrid-based fan groups of Boca Juniors and River Plate have prepared for the Copa Libertadores final in the city that is home to one of the largest Argentine populations outside of Argentina.

Meetings were condicted to mobilize Argentines from across Spain and other European countries for the second leg of the twice-postponed final.

Madrid was given the second leg between the Argentine archrivals on Thursday after fan violence caused the match scheduled for last weekend to be put off twice.

River Plate fans attacked the Boca Juniors team bus with rocks, bottles, and wood en route to River’s stadium in Buenos Aires on Saturday and injured several Boca players.

River Plate was still trying to appeal against Conmebol’s decision to move the match to Spain for security reasons, but it was unlikely to succeed.

Having the final in Madrid has prompted mixed feelings for some local fans of Boca and River.

“We all wanted this match to be played back in our stadium in Buenos Aires,” said Fabio Vides, a member of a River Plate fan group in Madrid. “It’s not going to be the same here. It’s like playing a Champions League final in a Latin American country.”

Added River fan Circe Sanabria: “Think about the 70,000 fans who waited for hours inside the stadium in Buenos Aires and couldn’t watch the match. The trophy of the Copa Libertadores shouldn’t be handed to a champion in Europe.”

Many in Argentina and other South America countries said it didn’t make sense to transfer to Spain the final of a tournament named after the men who helped free the American continent from European colonizers.

The Spanish government was already making security plans to guarantee spectators’ safety in Madrid. Argentine laws to curb violence meant no opposing fans are allowed in football stadiums, but Conmebol said Boca Juniors fans would be allowed at the Bernabeu, where River Plate was the host team.

It remained unclear, though, when tickets would be put on sale and who would have access to them.

“That’s the main question right now,” River Plate fan Gustavo Garcia-Mansilla said. “We are just nine days away from this match. It’s not going to be easy to get a hold of one of these tickets.”

The Bernabeu holds 10,000 more people than River’s stadium.

More than 250,000 Argentines are believed to live in Spain, with nearly 20,000 in Madrid alone,

according to the Spanish government.

During the first leg of the final on November 11, which ended 2-2, nearly 1,000 supporters from both teams gathered across Madrid to watch Argentina’s biggest home match since the 1978 World Cup final.

Some River Plate fans marched through some of Madrid’s iconic sites, carrying flags and banners and chanting team songs.

Garcia-Mansilla, an Argentine who has lived in Madrid for nearly two decades, was glad the final was in his adopted hometown.

“This is like a miracle,” he said. “There will be a Boca-River match, in the final of the Copa Libertadores, in the city where I live. Not even in my wildest dreams I could have imagined this would happen. This final is a rare as Halley’s Comet, and they are bringing it to my city.” AP

SAINT PETERSBURG, Russia—Formula One’s 21-race calendar for 2019 has been approved, with Melbourne as usual hosting the season-opening Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park on March 17.

Governing body FIA said after a meeting of its World Motor Sport Council in Saint Petersburg on Wednesday that 11 races would be held in Europe, five in Asia, four in the Americas and one in Australia.

The season will start one week earlier and finish one week later.

FIA said the cars would be heavier—with a weight-limit increase from 740 kilograms to 743—and that fuel-handling procedures during testing are to be the same as during racing.

There will also be more clarity on how grid positions are formed when drivers are hit with multiple engine penalties. Typically, drivers who have made several unauthorized engine-part changes are hit with a penalty of 20-25 places— which sends them to the back of the grid.

But it can be confusing to understand who’s starting from where and from how far back if several of the 20 drivers have the same penalty imposed. AP

World’s top bets vie in Aussie Open MELBOURNE, Australia—Australian Open officials say the world’s top 102 women and top 101 men have confirmed they will compete at the first Grand Slam tennis tournament of 2019.

World No. 1 Simona Halep heads up the women’s field, and Novak Djokovic, seeking his record seventh Australian Open title, is the No. 1-ranked male player.

The tournament begins on January 14 at Melbourne Park with Roger Federer and Caroline Wozniacki as singles defending champions.

Serena Williams, ranked No. 16, plans to make her return to Melbourne Park for the first time since winning in 2017 while eight weeks’s pregnant with baby Alexis Olympia.

Tournament officials said on Wednesday that Andy Murray, who is returning after an injury layoff, has entered using a protected ranking. AP

WORLD No. 1 Simona Halep heads the women’s field. AP

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All glory

EAR God, all glory and honor are Yours. We acclaim You as king in Christ Jesus, and pray: Lord of all, receive our prayer. You are peace; lead all people to a greater reverence and awe for the cosmos and all that is within it. You are justice; guide elected officials and civil servants to lead with truth, integrity, and genuine concern for the well-being of all. You are mercy; sensitize us to care for the young and the elderly in our midst. May the light of Christ guide our way and the peace of Christ reign in our hearts, now and always. 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

GAB FAB: GETTING ALL HOT AND BOTHERED D4

Friday, December 7, 2018

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PHOTOGRAPHED BY KAYLA REEFER FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Why ‘Creed II’s’ Michael B. Jordan is more than a movie star

I

By Aisha Harris New York Times News Service

N the third act of Creed II, heavyweight champ Adonis Creed squares off in a rematch against Viktor Drago, the Ukraine-based boxer and son of the man who killed Adonis’ father in the ring three decades earlier. Bloodied and weary after several rounds—but ever the tenacious fighter—Adonis gathers the will to keep going with the encouragement of his coach and mentor, Rocky Balboa.

“I’m dangerous!” Adonis sputters through his swollen mouth, echoing the pronouncement he had given Rocky in an earlier scene, under vastly different circumstances.

It is the movie’s “Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose,” the inspirational battle cry of the protagonist as he faces the challenge of his life. As said by actor Michael B. Jordan, who delivers the line not with a guttural oomph but the eager-to-please fervor of a young kid hoping to impress his father, it doesn’t quite carry the intimidation the line seems to demand. Nevertheless, it is both endearing and invigorating—you just know Adonis is ready to conquer Viktor this time around.

It’s this moment that may help explain why, in the same year Jordan has received some of the most glowing reviews of his career for playing Killmonger in Black Panther, a debate has percolated on Reddit, Twitter and in everyday conversations among pop culture enthusiasts: Is Michael B. Jordan a good actor?

Where some see a fascinating interpretation of a supervillain, others see bad acting. Critics of Jordan say he lacks the swagger and menace of the Killmonger character and appears to be reading off cue cards.

(One of the movie’s most-discussed lines, “Just bury

me in the ocean, with my ancestors that jumped from the ships—they knew death was better than bondage,” is usually held up as the prime example.)

To some extent, I can understand these sentiments; like Adonis declaring himself “dangerous,” the idea of what Killmonger represents—a problematic, burn-it-all-down philosophy in the name of black empowerment—sometimes overpowers Jordan’s interpretation on screen.

Still, the arguments made against his acting abilities more generally are perplexing: He doesn’t disappear into his roles (as Jamie Foxx did in Ray); he always plays the same character. Such critiques miss the point: Jordan has made it clear he desires to be a capital “M” Movie Star, along the lines of Will Smith (who himself has always been transparent about his box-office aspirations), not a character actor. “I want people to see me win,” he told The New York Times in a conversation alongside Denzel Washington this year, adding, “I want to be the leading man.”

And there always have been actors who are considered great who aren’t chameleons like Christian Bale or Meryl Streep—you never forget you’re watching Washington, Leonardo DiCaprio or Cary Grant, but you are drawn in nonetheless.

Jordan’s strengths as an actor lie not in his ability to shock or scare or surprise—but in his willingness to be vulnerable and charismatic. These qualities have been evident as far back as his early breakthrough role as Wallace, a bright, baby-faced drug dealer in The Wire. Over the course of Season 1, Wallace looks after some of the younger abandoned children in the housing projects and experiences pangs of extreme guilt when his actions inadvertently lead to a murder.

Jordan lent the character openness and sensitivity: He embodies the good-hearted kid who isn’t cut out for

the ruthlessness of the drug trade, making his death at the hands of his childhood friends—and his pleas to them in those final moments—that much more heartbreaking.

In Fruitvale Station more than a decade later, his first major star turn and first collaboration with director Ryan Coogler, Jordan portrayed Oscar Grant III, a young man who was killed by a police officer in Oakland, California, without painting him as a saint.

In one scene, we see Oscar interact with three people over the course of just a couple minutes, and his demeanor shifts seamlessly between each exchange. He pleads with the manager of the grocery store where he once worked to rehire him, but quickly turns angry and combative when rebuffed, revealing Oscar’s desperation under dire financial straits. Left alone in the aisle, the camera lingers briefly on Oscar, contemplating the severity of his situation, before the voice of a woman he assisted earlier breaks through to thank him for his help; here he effortlessly turns on the charm. Finally, he greets his friend working the deli counter with a warm, genial familiarity and lies about having convinced the manager to give him his job back.

As he finally exits the store and turns away from his friend, his smile fades and a sense of helplessness washes over his face. These are subtle exchanges, but engrossing nonetheless—a brilliant, succinct depiction of everyday code switching and it works mainly because Jordan carries it off so well.

Creed II takes the idiosyncrasies Jordan has honed in his onscreen persona throughout the course of his career and fully reveals the kind of actor he is capable of becoming. If not as surprisingly profound as its immediate predecessor, Creed, the latest Rocky installment portrays Adonis as an underdog despite being a heavyweight champ, a celebrated fighter who

has much to prove. He’s handsome and lovable, but not necessarily smooth, as seen in a lighthearted moment where Adonis nervously asks Bianca to marry him. He feels unsatisfied by his success.

In Creed II, Jordan shows how he can translate an array of emotions with just a look. When Adonis and Bianca await the results of a test for their newborn daughter, Jordan displays anxiety, fear and an overwhelming sense of sadness at the recognition of what may be ahead for his family.

Giving such a performance in a crowd-pleasing sequel positions Jordan in the realm of other actors he has name-checked as having the careers he wishes to emulate: Washington, Smith, Tom Cruise and DiCaprio. You can see a bit of each of those actors in Jordan’s career moves—the transition from troubled youth roles into hunky A-lister (DiCaprio in The Basketball Diaries, and later Titanic and The Departed); the prestigious boxing part requiring tremendous physical transformation (Washington in The Hurricane and Smith in Ali); ventures into the realm of sci-fi/ fantasy (Cruise in War of the Worlds, Minority Report).

It’s rare these days for actors to open a movie on the strength of their names and charming personas alone, but in developing a respected partnership with Coogler—like Washington and Spike Lee, and DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese—and starting his own production company to create the roles he wants, Jordan has molded himself into a performer who takes on prestigious projects that also play up his good looks.

Whether this leads down the path of Oscar nods— still Hollywood’s ultimate marker of having made it, however superficially—remains to be seen. But when he taps into his sensitivity, turns on the charm and lays his feelings bare in any given moment, he’s electrifying. n

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Society BusinessMirror

Friday, December 7, 2018

www.businessmirror.com.ph

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Today’s Horoscope

By Eugenia Last

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Emily Browning, 30; Sara Bareilles, 39; Tom Waits, 69; Ellen Burstyn, 86.

FOREIGN Affairs Undersecretary for Policy Enrique Manalo

H.E. Venezuelan Ambassador Capaya Rodriquez Gonzalez

H.E. Turkish Ambassador Esra Cankorur

STEPHEN GLUNING, JACO BEERENDS, Dutch World Food Programme Embassy Counsellor and Country Director Deputy Chief of Mission

Standing united at 73

UN Sustainable Development Goals advocate and actress Antoinette Taus

a

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Take the plunge and start a conversation that will address sensitive issues. Listen to both sides of a situation and look for common ground. The aim should be to stabilize relationships, not tear them apart. Protect your passwords. HHHHH

b

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Offering help may be satisfying, but in the end, it could also be costly. Don’t put money into something you know little about or trust someone not to take advantage of you. Focus on maintaining mental stability and physical health. HHH

T

HE United Nations recently celebrated its 73rd anniversary with a cultural program and reception at the SM Aura Premier Samsung Hall.

A joint partnership between the United Nations Philippines, in collaboration with the Department of Foreign Affairs and SM, the event highlighted the strong cooperation between the government and the world body in the delivery of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as well as the contribution of “changemakers” in achieving these goals.

UN Philippines Resident Coordinator Ola Almgren and Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Policy Enrique Manalo led the festivities, which gathered together top government officials, UN agency heads and members of the diplomatic corps.

Almgren paid tribute to the contributions of the Philippines to the United Nations, adding he looked forward to future partnerships. Undersecretary Manalo, on the other hand, highlighted the Philippines’ major contributions in the work of the UN in the areas of migration, SDGs, climate change, human rights and peacekeeping.

The Philippines is a strong advocate for the achievement of the 17 SDGs of the 2030 Agenda which include No Poverty; Zero Hunger; Good Health and Well-being; Quality Education; Gender Equality; Clean Water and Sanitation; Affordable and Clean Energy; Decent Work and Economic Growth; Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure; Reduced Inequality; Sustainable Cities and Communities; Responsible Consumption and Production; Climate Action; Life Below Water; Life on Land; Peace and Justice Strong Institutions; and Partnerships to Achieve the Goal.

The program, hosted by SDGs advocate and actress Antoinette Taus, featured performances from Filipino folk musical group Kontemporaryong Gamelan Pilipino (Kontra-GaPi), theater group Silly People’s improve Theater (SPIT) and the Manila Symphony Junior Orchestra. n

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Trust, exaggeration and emotional manipulation will be a problem if you aren’t concise and you don’t question what others have to say or contribute.

Knowing what you want and sticking to a plan that is reasonable will help you avoid a costly mistake this year.

To avoid setbacks, be direct and honest about who you are and what you want. Your lucky numbers are 2, 13, 17, 26, 34, 37, 49.

c

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Someone will use charm to persuade you to get involved in something you should be questioning.

Partnerships will need to be looked at closely, and if equality doesn’t exist, you may want to make changes to your current agreement. HHH

UN Philippines Resident Coordinator Ola Almgren with Embassy of Japan Minister and Deputy Chief of Mission Takehiro Kano and daughter

PAPAL Nuncio to the Philippines Archbishop Gabriele Giordano Caccia, and H.E. Danish Ambassador Jan Top Christensen

d

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Make physical changes that will make you feel good.

Updating your image or appearance will not go unnoticed. Plan something special that will bring you closer to someone you love. Romance is on the rise; relationships look promising. HHH

e

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): A change of heart will lead you out and about with people who share your interests. Make sure that before you agree to take part you have the funds to support the lifestyle you are living. Don’t pay for someone else’s mistake. HHHHH

f

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Talk to a trusted friend or a relative who knows your situation.

You’ll get a better idea of what it will take to improve a personal situation you face due to someone’s inappropriate behavior. Don’t criticize; offer solutions.

HH UNITED Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Representative Jose Luis Fernandez and Embassy of Hungary Deputy Chief of Mission David Ambrus with wife Kata Kondar-Ambrus

FROM left: H.E. US Ambassador Sung Kim, H.E. French Ambassador Nicolas Galey and H.E. German Ambassador Gordon Kricke

g

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): A short trip will raise questions about what someone is doing.

Whether it’s a peer, relative or your lover, go directly to the source and find out what’s triggering questionable actions. Someone from your past will mislead you. HHHH

h i

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Size up your situation and the changes you would like to make. Be upfront regarding your feelings and the choices you want to make moving forward. Your honesty will make it easier to enact your plans. HHH SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Make sure you haven’t overlooked personal papers that need to be updated before the year comes to an end. Dealing with matters concerning someone else’s affairs should be handled with caution. Mistakes will turn out to be costly. HHH

DEPARTMENT of Foreign Affairs Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs Division Director Nina Padilla Cainglet, Security Consultant Alberto de la Rosa, and Peace and Security Director Arlene Gonzales-Macaisa

FROM left: H.E. Singaporean Ambassador Kok Li Peng, Taguig City Mayor Lani Cayetano, and Mexican Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission Ricardo Sanchez Mendez

FROM left: From the Office of the UN Resident Coordinator-Coordination Analyst Eden Grace Lumilan, Advocacy and Communications Officer Martin Nanawa, Peace and Development Advisor Melina Nathan, Senior Human Rights Advisor Mika Kanervavuori, and Peace and Development Officer Krister Fahlstedt

j

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): You don’t have to make a change or a move because someone else does. Consider what’s in your best interest and follow through with your own plans. Don’t share personal information regarding your assets, passwords or intentions. HHH

k

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Keep an open mind, but don’t let someone railroad you into something that could make you look bad. It’s more important for you to help yourself than to help others today. The gains you make will help change your life. HHHH

l

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Take care of negotiations and legal and health matters personally. If you leave responsibilities in someone else’s hands, you will be disappointed. Don’t let someone from your past disrupt your life. Distance yourself from anyone who is a poor influence. HH CHARLES PARKS, Julia Rees and Maida Salcedo of Unicef

BIRTHDAY BABY: You are creative, entertaining and mysterious. You are industrious and charitable.

‘shrimp-fried mice’ BY TIMOTHY E. PARKER The Universal Crossword/Edited by Timothy E. Parker

ACROSS 1 Enticing scent 6 Cola complements 10 Grant basis 14 Street urchin 15 Grp. with crude interests?

16 Part of, as a conspiracy 17 Discharge from the body 18 Jazz play there 19 Smoker in Sicily 20 The infested disco/ice rink caused...

23 Ground-breaker 24 Strongly opposed 27 Dodged 31 One way to sit by?

33 No-stick spray 34 Batty navigation aid 35 Vending machine collector?

36 Chuck wagon offering 37 Trusted Bush advisers?

40 States of commotion 41 Fit of shivering 42 DVD player beam

3 Aaron’s staff 4 44 Performing pairs 45 Radio features 46 Far less rich 48 Like low-watt bulbs 49 Elected head of the sewer?

56 Attack unexpectedly 58 Middle Eastern citizen 59 Low point 60 A British royal 61 Cinematic plantation 62 Central New York city 63 Eyebrow stuff 64 Gander-taker 65 Pirate’s friend DOWN 1 Improved by time, as wine 2 Hindu musical form 3 The ___ (Peck horror film) 4 Catch-all category (Abbr.)

5 Unlikable protagonist 6 Compact application 7 Not ___ snuff 8 Like bullies

9 Sickly sentimental 10 Sibling’s child 11 Kirk’s ship 12 Ages and ages 13 Kind of fingerprint 21 Agree silently 22 Poison ___ 25 Cup holder 26 Barbecue coals 27 Steep artificial slope 28 Haitian sorcery 29 In the year of our Lord 30 Proud papas 31 Intestinal obstruction 32 Get some shuteye 35 Trumpet-shaped lily 36 FBI operative, in slang 38 Type of poet?

39 Foil metal 44 Xmas mo.

45 “Whether ___ nobler...”

47 Bicyclist 48 Prevent entry of 50 Appeal to God

51 Uncommon 52 Kind of processing 53 Correct, as text 54 “Sweet!”

55 Airline seat feature 56 Word of cheer 57 Santa ___, Calif.

Solution to yesterday’s puzzle:

Relationships BusinessMirror

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Friday, December 7, 2018

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Search for the Filipino food identity SOMETHING LIKE LIFE

MA. STELLA F. ARNALDO

@akosistellaBM

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VERY Pinoy who has ever learned how to cook pork adobo, pocherong manok, pinakbet, kinilaw, or any other basic Filipino dish, will likely have learned it at home from their mothers or grandmothers.

In the case of Singaporean “cake boss” and author Bryan Koh (Chalk Farm), he learned to enjoy Philippine cuisine from his nanny, who would fry him up milkfish marinated in black peppercorns, garlic and vinegar. These days, he employs a Filipino househelp who makes him sinigang, confessing that she cheats using ready-to-mix sinigang broth.

His memories of being nurtured by a string of Filipino nannies who fed him well are published in his first cookbook, Milk Pigs and Violet Gold (Xochipilli Press), and recently updated with more regional Filipino dishes and recipes.

Bryan, along with experts from Hong Kong and Singapore’s vibrant food and beverage scene, were in Manila last week for the first Asian Culinary Exchange. Held at the Samsung Hall in SM Aura, the event also featured local chefs, such as Margarita Fores (Cibo/Lusso), Bruce Ricketts (Mecha Uma), Dedet dela Fuente (Pepita’s Kitchen) and Myke “Tatung” Sarthou. Also featured was local restaurateur Eliza Antonino (The Moment Group), responsible for such local foodie favorites like 8 Cuts and Din Tai Fung, among others.

As an “outsider,” Bryan spoke about ways to improve the food identity of the Philippines. Having so many regional cuisines from the north to south, how was it even possible to come up with a cohesive Philippine identity for our cuisine, I asked.

But even before we can talk about the differences (or similarities) in certain dishes around the Philippines, Bryan said we must, first of all, address the issue of our food’s “accessibility.”

He continued: “I have found that you get such good local Filipino food in the smaller establishments [e.g. carinderia]. But as a nonlocal, the chances of me getting there without help is quite slim. Look at Manila, for instance. It’s not designed in such a way that I can walk out [of my hotel] and be blown away by something. I’ve got to know where I’m going.”

He said most foreigners are able to get “decent local meals” in the Philippines in a restaurant, or, if they are lucky, someone’s home.

Tourists are automatically dissuaded even by locals from eating at roadside eateries, for instance, even if they serve the best homecooked dishes, being told these may not be safe and hygienic. “It’s been out too long,” he said, quoting a local. “But for many people who don’t have that luxury to sit in a restaurant.... Foreigners have no idea of all the stuff that you have in the villages. We don’t get it, we’ve not had that before.... So I think that should be readjusted slightly, so there are good little places you can eat. It would be great to have this in places where people like me can go to without having to worry about needing local help.”

It is an observation that’s quite striking. One of my favorite carinderias as a young journalist was Aling Sosing’s along Zobel Roxas Street in Makati. Starting out as an eatery for cab drivers, at the height of

THE Asian Culinary Exchange held recently at SM Aura featured Michelin-starred chefs and experts from the vibrant Hong Kong and Singapore food and beverage scene. From left: Rishi Naleendra (Cheek by Jowl-SG), Sun Kim (Meta-SG), Kierin Buck (Le Bon Funk-SG), Woo Wai Leong (Restaurant Ibid-SG), Vicky Cheng (VEA-HK), Bryan Koh (Chalk Farm-SG) and Joe Villanueva (The Wise King-HK).

its popularity, lines of luxury sedans were parked along the road as their sosyal owners slurped steaming bowls of bulalo and enjoyed sautéed fish eggs (bihod) with hot fluffy white rice. But no foreign tourist, to my recollection, ever made his way there.

For tourists who want to enjoy Pinoy cuisine, they would likely be pointed to any of the LJC restaurants. Don’t get me wrong, I love these restaurants, especially Bistro Remedios, which serves delightful treats like gising-gising in gata and crispy tadyang.

Perhaps we can have food halls like Singapore’s hawker centers that specialize in similarly hearty and soulful Filipino street food, but at half the price of the usual Pinoy restaurants to which we bring our own balikbayan friends and relatives.

Bryan also suggested making regional food offerings more readily available in the city. “Many people actually don’t make it past the big cities [like Manila or Cebu].... So they come to Manila, most of the Tagalog food here is quite similar. So it will be good to have more variety here, so nonlocals can try these things. And the thing about the Filipino food, the many variations are quite slight, not noticeable; what a lot of regional

restaurants here do is that they end up adjusting things to the palate of the local, which I understand from a business perspective, but the process is no longer regional.”

He mentioned the pakbet, a favorite dish in the Ilocos region which is cooked by putting all the vegetables in one cauldron and left to cook on their own. “You don’t begin with sofrito. You don’t fry the onions or whatever; everything goes into a banga. And this banga goes on a kalan or stove, and the vegetables take care of themselves!

And the juice that comes out is very pure and clean.” In many restaurants in Manila, he observed, cooks put squash in their pakbet.

“But to the Ilocanos, that’s anathema. You’re dirtying the broth. Why did you do that for?”

Bryan also expressed his belief in the importance of education and setting up cooking schools that specialize in regional Filipino cuisine, “because if I were a nonlocal and I’d like to learn a regional cuisine more than the basic Filipino cuisine, where do I learn the basics?” The Thais have shown the way in this regard, opening cooking schools specializing in their own cuisine, or including a Thai

cooking session as an option for tourists staying in hotels.

Food tours are very useful, as well in promoting Philippine regional cuisines, according to Bryan. “They’ve got food tours in Cavite and Pampanga—that’s brilliant. But I think it would be good to have more outside, up north, or across the Visayas, because a lot of the good food is out there. We need to have people taste good local food.” He proceeded to narrate about people going up to Sagada to eat pancakes, yogurt and ice cream. “I was a bit shocked! What’s up with that?”

Bryan noted that foreigners find out about Filipino food not through restaurants but through overseas Filipino workers, which is similar to his own experience. But he observed that younger Filipinos can’t even cook Filipino dishes the traditional way. “They can’t cook sinigang without a sinigang cube! It’s unthinkable; they won’t do it. It’s fine, but in the event that you don’t have that, I will give you the sampaloc—but then, you won’t know what to do with it!”

Again this goes to education, and if we must keep alive our Filipino cuisine, and promote this to foreigners and tourists, we also need to learn and propagate the traditional ways of cooking our beloved dishes. n

different from most of the people around you, you can either embrace your difference or conform.

I chose to conform by making my hair look like everyone else’s.

Girls put ribbons in their hair, so I put ribbons in my hair. Girls wore their hair half up, half down, so I made my grandmother run the curling iron through a few extra times.

My hair was a tangible thing I could control while I tried to ignore the other reasons I felt like a misfit. And the more I controlled it, the more compliments I got. “So this must work,” I thought.

Eventually I graduated from straight blowouts to more painful chemical relaxers, a jump that my mom and grandmother never made.

But, I reasoned, it would help me feel beautiful for longer with less of the daily work. I imagined the compliments flowing. I imagined the friction I felt from the realities of race and how those realities manifested themselves in my hair disappearing.

“You’re sure?” my mom asked. I was.

A relaxer is a painful affair made more painful by the fact that the pain signals its effectiveness. First, the white liquid is battered onto sections of your scalp. Then it’s pulled through strands of your hair. When it starts to burn, you know it’s working. The longer you can withstand the needles, the longer the relaxer will last once it is washed out.

Relaxers work, but part of the reason they work is their ability to make women dependent on them. They get to the root of the problem—meaning that when you sweat, your hair actually stays manageable. Relaxers wear off slowly and then all at once, until you’re staring at yourself in the mirror after a hot summer day and frantically

making your next appointment.

I’m 32, and since that first day in the salon I’ve spent roughly $18,000 on straightening treatments to look like a version of myself that makes me feel more at home in the world and in my body.

Up until a few months ago, I straightened my hair every day. I straightened it, mostly, to try and mimic the feeling James Brown gave me and the women in my family—to show up at work with the same feeling that I used to have showing up at school after a hair appointment: comfortable and radiant, so I wouldn’t be bothered to think about my hair at all.

Recently though, I stopped straightening my hair. In some way, this small act that millions of women opt for every day, makes me feel closer to my grandmother, who died a decade ago, as if I’m just waiting for her to sit on the tan striped sofa with the news playing in the background.

Most women at some point have to grapple with the relationship they want to have with their hair. Do they want to use it to make a statement or have the least maintenance possible? How prepared and put-together do they feel if their hair isn’t done? Hair is one of the defining pieces that influences how a woman feels when she enters the room, whether that’s comfortable to admit or not.

For black women, especially, hair is a work of art. Finding the hairstyle that makes you feel both seen and comfortable is a quest that almost every woman embarks on at some point.

My journey began that day in the salon.

Today, my hair is helping me work out the most important relationship I’ll ever have: the one I have with myself.

Combing my hair and finding myself

BY MAURA CHEEKS

New York Times News Service I SHOULD have been at summer camp. Instead, I was sitting in a hair salon with my mom, grandmother and a hairdresser named James Brown (the perfect name for a hairdresser who tapped into the soul of his clients).

As happy campers go, I was not one of them.

“Can’t I just stay home?” I asked my mom when I told her I absolutely, positively did not want to go to squash camp that day.

That idea was quickly nixed, and she loaded me and my book into the back seat of the car.

Every Thursday for as long as I could remember, my mom and grandmother drove 25 minutes into the Center City section of Philadelphia to get their hair done. The day I went with them, I sat in the corner and halfwatched, half-read until I became transfixed by the scene in front of me: wash, blow-dry, flat iron, repeat.

James straightened their hair, but he also inadvertently straightened out their lives and what was happening in the world. I watched the three of them unpack the universe. When he was finished, they were radiant, from the outside-in and back out again.

I grew up knowing that beauty comes at a price. I also grew up watching women pay that price for more than superficial reasons—it wasn’t just about looking good but how it made them feel. To me, hair and relationships have always been tangled together.

When I was younger, my grandmother did my hair every day before school. I imagine in heaven there is someone combing your hair and

scratching your scalp. For 30 minutes, her fingers worked their way through my hair, brushing and combing and braiding while I sat in a rocking chair, she on the tan striped sofa, the news playing in the background.

She talked to me about life’s most important matters, subjects I wouldn’t learn in school, like how to grow the perfect garden or what I really felt when reading Their Eyes Were Watching God. My hair looked and felt nothing like most of my classmates’, and she made me feel seen in those early hours, perhaps when it mattered most.

Black women have intimate and sometimes fraught relationships with our hair. We have to manage not only how we feel about it, but also how it makes others feel. Black news anchors, for instance, were historically told to straighten their hair if they wanted to get a job. Our hair becomes so much a part of who we are that the routines surrounding it similarly are part and parcel of how we define ourselves.

That day in the salon I realized I wasn’t the only one who felt like her hair was a conduit for feeling like you fit in the world. My mom and grandmother went downtown every week because it was an escape from the demands their world placed on them and a chance to feel seen.

Not long after, I asked my mom and grandmother if I too could get my hair done. They acquiesced (although I wouldn’t go every week), and with that I entered a new era of womanhood in my family, ushered into a routine that helped us bond on a deeper level. On the days when all three of us went together we treated ourselves to lunch afterward—fresh hair can’t be wasted by going straight home.

As ridiculous as it seems now, I thought my hair (and, more important, the taming of my hair) was one of the reasons I had friends. When you’re

Walking in a holiday wonderland AYALA Malls Solenad (facebook.com/AyalaMallsSolenad) is inviting families to open their world and celebrate holiday traditions old and new as it recently celebrated the launch of its Awaken Amazing Holiday campaign.

Solenad is a wonderful holiday getaway for families with its magical combination of both indoor and outdoor spaces, allowing families to experience holiday traditions in a fresh, new way. With its proximity to Tagaytay and its cool climate, plus landscaped activity areas, Solenad is the ideal place to rediscover the magic of play and traditional games this holiday season.

Families will also be able to enjoy more heartwarming holiday music as Solenad offers vibrant Christmas performances. Families can sing along to their favorite Yuletide songs at the Christmas Cantata happening on

December 22 and 23, 6 pm, at the Solenad Activity Park.

With the Filipinos love for eating in full display during the holiday season, Solenad is also inviting mallgoers to discover its various homegrown restaurants and dine alfresco this Christmas.

Foodies can also awaken their taste buds with delicacies from the Calabarzon area at the Department of Tourism’s Kain Na! Food Fair happening from December 7 to 9. They can expand their food horizons and try dishes from Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon and enjoy demos from local chefs, performances and more.

With Christmas being the season of giving, Solenad is inviting shoppers to make Christmas merry for those who deserve it the most and awaken the spirit of giving

with “Laruang Aguinaldo,” Ayala Malls’ holiday toy drive for the benefit of Unicef and Kids 4 Kids. Families can drop by Red Tag by Rustans and Toys “R” Us until December 16 and give kids more time to play beyond Christmas.

And with the great outdoors as its canvas, Solenad’s Christmas celebration has become even more dazzling with bigger outdoor spectacles. While the fireworks and light shows have already become a tradition, this season marks the launch of all-new 3D projection mapping shows happening from December 14 to 16 at the Solenad Activity Park. Created in partnership with Panasonic and inspired by the Filipino tradition of Simbang Gabi, families can awaken their senses and enjoy this all new show with your friends and family.

SOLENAD’S Activity Park is dressed for the holiday season with Christmas décors and displays highlighting Filipino craftsmanship.

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Show BusinessMirror

Friday, December 7, 2018

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Getting all hot and bothered RONALDO VALDEZ (third from left) as Don Roman Cardinal, with Jake Cuenca (second from right), Diego Loyzaga (right), Marco Gumabao (second from left), Albie Casiño (left), and Joshua Colet playing brothers in Los Bastardos.

GAB FAB JET VALLE

@jetvalle

I

CHANCED upon TV genius and one of the people behind the success of Los Bastardos, Ruel S. Bayani, in an elevator and before I could flash him a smile, he suddenly barked, “Jet Valle! Kailangan ko ba dalhin ang mga Los Bastardos boys sa opisina mo para lang masulat mo sila?!?!” “Direk, hindi naman po,” I replied demurely.

“Busy lang po, but promise I will write about the show.”

And so here I am fulfilling a promise.

For those who don’t know, Los Bastardos is an intense afternoon drama aired on ABS-CBN on weekdays, after Kadenang Ginto. Based on the “Cardinal Bastards” series of Precious Hearts Romances, Los Bastardos tells the story of five brothers who must fight each other for the power and the money of the Cardinal family, led by its patriarch Don Roman Cardinal.

The story summation in the press kit goes: Don Roman will lead a happy life with his small family until tragedy strikes that will lead him to look for true love from four other women. He will sire five sons from five different women. There is Isagani, Don Roman’s long-lost son with his first love; Joaquin, the only son who’ll grow up under his care; Matteo, who will grow up with the rival family of the Cardinals; Connor, who will become a conman bent on destroying the Cardinal wealth; and Lucas, who will grow up not knowing the man he serves is his own father. Although they come from different worlds, they are bound together by the same blood.

If you love a good drama, enjoy the crackling tension of love triangles, heartbreak and sexual awakening, and think you can solve the mystery of who really deserves the Cardinal wealth, then you will adore Los Bastardos. It’s actually a smart sexy drama that manages to tackle issues while simultaneously weaving in a pretty engaging family drama.

While the show is sold on the strength of its male lead performers (and rightfully so), it’s the women and the veteran actors who add los trios of sugar, spice and everything nice in the show: Marijoy Apostol, Jane Oineza, Ritz Azul, Perla Bautista, Ana Santos, Joyce Ann Burton, Pinky Amador, Jeffrey Santos, Isabel Rivas, Lito Pimentel, Rosanna Roces and Bert Reyes. Standouts are Mica

Javier, who just looks sublime in every scene she’s in; and Kylie Verzosa, who surprised me with her acting abilities. These two should be given more breaks, if you ask me.

Anyway, the male lead performers of the show that I regrettably passed on the chance of a personal visit are Jake Cuenca, Albie Casiño, Joshua Colet and Marco Gumabao.

Yes Jake, with his intensity and abs! Albie, with his impish smile and abs! Marco, who has the face of an angel and the body of a sinner because of those abs! And Joshua, whose mestizo features are just divine paired with those abs!

Direk Ruel, I hope you find it in your precious heart to forgive me and help me in finding romance by fulfilling your promise of bringing these gorgeous guys doing a meet and greet with me, the one and only Los Bastarda. nnn

GMA keeps upper hand in nationwide TV ratings GMA maintained its nationwide ratings advantage based on the latest data from the industry’s widely trusted ratings service provider Nielsen TV Audience Measurement.

For the month of November (November 25 to 30 based on overnight data), GMA posted an average total day people audience share of 38.6 percent in the National Urban Television Audience Measurement (Nutam), which surpassed ABS-CBN’s 37.5 percent.

In the morning block, the network registered a 36.1-percent people audience share as against rival’s 32.1 percent. GMA also led in the afternoon block with a 40.2-percent people audience share, beating ABS-CBN’s 37.2 percent.

The network likewise dominated the viewer-rich areas of Urban Luzon and Mega Manila, which respectively account for 72 and 59 percent of all urban viewers in the country. GMA posted an average total day people audience share of 44.1 percent in Urban Luzon, while ABS-CBN only managed to get 30.8 percent. In Mega Manila, based on official data from November 1 to 24, the network posted an average total day people audience share of 45.3 percent, which topped competition’s 28.5 percent.

GMA shows similarly ruled Nielsen’s Nutam list of top-rating programs

for November with Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho still reigning as the most-watched program nationwide followed by Pepito Manaloto, 24 Oras, Daddy’s Gurl, Daig Kayo ng Lola Ko and Onanay.

Included in the list, as well, were Magpakailanman, newly launched prime-time series Cain at Abel, Studio 7, Victor Magtanggol, Amazing Earth, 24 Oras Weekend, Wowowin, Pamilya Roces, Eat Bulaga and Kapag Nahati Ang Puso.

GMA also dominated both the Urban Luzon and Mega Manila lists, taking 23 and 25 spots out of the top 30 programs, respectively.

Nielsen data is gathered through a greater number of sampled homes nationwide in comparison to Kantar Media. With approximately 900 more homes surveyed in Total Urban and Rural Philippines compared to Kantar, Nielsen data is statistically considered more representative of the total TV population.

In 2018 Nielsen TV Audience Measurement’s client pool covers a total of 34 clients/subscribers consisting of 8 local TV networks, including ABS-CBN, TV5, Aksyon TV, CNN Philippines and Viva Communications Inc., among others; three regional clients; two blocktimers; and 21 agencies (17 media agencies, three consulting agencies, one digital agency).

Carols and chorales with Westgate Alabang’s Christmas harmonies THE year’s most joyful season is finally upon us.

Families and friends can enjoy the scenic landscape of Westgate (facebook.com/WestgateAlabang) in Alabang, Muntinlupa City, accompanied by stunning symphonies from some of the country’s best chorale groups.

For three weekends of December, different chorale groups will be gracing Westgate’s Activity Park every 7 pm to heighten the Yuletide cheer.

Kicking off the festivities is premier string quartet SJT Strings on December 8, followed by music from Awiting kay GLEEng: Harana grand

DON Bosco Technical Institute Boscorale

champion National University Chorale on December 9. December 15 will again feature SJT Strings, while December 16 will have the awardwinning Don Bosco Technical Institute Boscorale.

To wrap up the presentations during the pre-Christmas weekend, 2016 recipient of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts’ Ani ng Dangal award Kammerchor Manila will be taking the stage on December 22. On December 23, the unique voices of De La Salle University Dasmariñas Chorale will officially close the series right in time for Christmas.

FIVE years after Supertyphoon Yolanda, seven survivors from different walks of life who helped rebuild their communities share their stories of hope in a music video released by ABS-CBN Lingkod Kapamilya Foundation Inc. (ALKFI).

The video, which featured the song “Pagka’t Nariyan Ka” by Star Music artist Sam Mangubat, was posted on the ABS-CBN Lingkod Kapamilya YouTube page on November 8, the anniversary of Typhoon Yolanda. Seen in the video are Imelda Padrigano, a baker from Salcedo, Eastern Samar; Fidelina Villagracia, a mother who works as a tour guide in San Juan by the Bay, Santa Rita, Samar; Rotchie Castil, a teacher and social-media manager from Sabang, Daguitan, who helps his community by publicizing their various tourism efforts online; and Imelda Eusebio, a health and sanitation officer from Dagami, Leyte, who worked to help provide clean and accessible water

to her community. Joining them are Fe Bantigue, a midwife from Jiabong, Samar, who walked three hours to and from work daily before new health centers were built in remote barangays; Susan Austero, a woman who achieved her dreams of working in the food industry thanks to new educational programs; and Susan Cadaro, a Typhoon Yolanda evacuee-turned-volunteer who found her vocation in helping fellow evacuees.

These survivors are the direct beneficiaries of the projects of ABS-CBN Lingkod Kapamilya.

Through its program Operation Sagip (formerly known as Sagip Kapamilya), ALKFI has reached 3.6 million survivors through immediate relief assistance; 425 individuals by installing water facility in Dagami, Leyte; and 9,994 families by way of building Barangay Health Units and installing health facilities in Jiabong and Hinabangan in Samar and Jaro, and San Miguel in Leyte. n

Russian envoy: Russia is not what you see on Hollywood movies

BY JT NISAY AMBASSADOR of the Russian Federation to the Philippines Igor Khovaev wants Filipinos to forget whatever perception Hollywood has impressed about Russia.

In the three years in his post, the diplomat observed that not many Filipinos know anything about Russia outside the representation of western and mainstream media.

“Hollywood produced a lot of wonderful movies, but unfortunately, there is no single nearly good movie about Russia,” Khovaev said during his opening speech at the recent launch of the first Russian Film Week in the Philippines at Cinematheque Centre Manila. “Look at me, at all my colleagues from the Russian embassy, we are the typical Russian guys: We are beautiful, and not some aggressive Russian spies as portrayed by Hollywood.”

The Russian Film Week is presented by the Embassy of Russian Federation in the Philippines and the Film Development Council of the Philippines, featuring seven films of different genres. The festival opened on December 5 and will run until tomorrow, December 8, at SM Megamall and SM Mall of Asia.

All films are shown with English subtitles and are free of charge.

One of the featured titles is Battle for Sevastopol.

The 2015 biographical war movie follows the life of Lyudmila Pavlichenko, a legendary Soviet sniper in the Red Army during World War II who was credited with 309 kills. The film was shown on December 5 and 6, and will be screened tomorrow, December 8, at SM Mall of Asia, 6 pm.

It was also shown during the festival's launch at Cinematheque, where the film's director Sergey Moritskiy was in attendance.

“Throughout shooting this film, all of the crew members were having the deepest feeling of gratitude for the people who made sacrifices during World War II,” Moritskiy said through a translator. “This is a movie about love, and how difficult it was for the heroine to have lived those terrible years of the war.”

AMONG the featured films in the first Russian Film Week in the Philippines is the 2015 biographical war movie Battle for Sevastopol, starring Yulia Pereslid.

The six other participating films include the historical drama Salyut 7 (to be shown on December 8, 6 pm, at SM Megamall), the movie adaptation of Sergey Lukyanenko's fantasy novel A Rough Draft ( December 8, 8 pm, SM Megamall), and the supernatural crime movie Night Watchmen (December 8, 8 pm, SM Mall of Asia). Shown earlier in the week were the romantic drama period piece Mathilde, the adventure drama The Duelist, and the true-to-life disaster film The Icebreaker.

Khovaev, the ambassador, believes the role of culture, especially of movies, is indispensable with regards to bringing the Philippines and Russia closer together. He said the medium can help the two nations understand each other better, and can help build bridges to friendships and partnerships.

“I also hope that through Russian Film Week,” he added, “many Filipinos would want to visit Russia—the true Russia, which is, again, absolutely different from the one presented by mainstream media.”

Motoring BusinessMirror

Henry Ford Awards Best Motoring Section 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 2011 Hall of Fame

Editor: Tet Andolong

Friday, December 7, 2018 E1

MERCEDES-BENZ UNVEILS THE ALL-NEW A-CLASS

THE all-new A-Class oozing with design philosophy of Sensual Purity

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Story & photos by Randy S. Peregrino

HE official distributor of Mercedes-Benz in the Philippines, which is Auto Nation Group, recently unveiled the allnew A-Class—the next generation of compact cars. It redefines how we see modern luxury with a state-of-the-art intuitive digital user experience and an uncompromisingly dynamic design.

For more than 20 years, the AClass has always been in the forefront of automotive innovation. As a breakthrough hatchback luxury car launched back in 1997, Mercedes-Benz finally introduced the fourth-generation model, which emulate the synergy of modern luxury and breakthrough technology.

At a glance, it retained its youthful and dynamic character. With combined resolute dynamism and intuitive operating concept, its purist and surface-accentuating design are considered to be the German automaker’s next step in design philosophy of Sensual Purity. As imposing as it can be, the frontend’s shark nose-like look with turbinelook air vents complement well the low bonnet, flat LED headlamps with chrome elements, and the torch-like daytime driving lamps.

All these convey that emotionally appealing and alluring appearance.

Exclusive to the top spec Edition 1 variant are AMG line-based kits, such as the front and rear aprons along with black tailpipe trims, to name a few.

The interior, meantime, is nothing less of blended luxuriousness and athleticism. Completely redefined, its fresh and avant-garde cabin design offer a new feeling of spaciousness. Noteworthy is the high-resolution Widescreen Cockpit with touchscreen control as the new standard in the segment. It highlights a comprehensive touch operation concept by combining a

10.25-inch touchscreen, touchpad on the center console and touchcontrol buttons embedded in the steering wheel promoting less driver distraction functions. More so, it features an all-digital instrument panel with various display functions from “Classic”, “Understated” to “Sport” mode.

These display functions complement the turbine-look air vents and leather-wrapped multifunction sports steering wheel. The widescreen cockpit’s fresh design is now completely free-standing with absolutely no cockpit cowls above the instruments.

The Edition 1 model offers an ambient lighting functionality, which creates a cabin mood while driving with different configurations from 64 different colors available activated via voice command. But the all-new A-Class’s crème de la crème feature is its state-of-the-art Mercedes-Benz User Experience (MBUX). As the first Mercedes-Benz model to feature the completely new infotainment system, the all-new A-Class also ushers in a new era in automotive connectivity. One of the MBUX’s unique features is the system’s ability to learn through its artificial intelligence. Moreover, the system can be individualized and adapts to suit the user in order to create an emotional connection between the vehicle, driver and passengers.

At the heart of the MBUX system

SHARPER and sportier rear end

is a highly intelligent virtual assistant, which is activated by pressing a button in the steering wheel or by simply saying, “Hey Mercedes.”

It responds via voice commands in performing infotainment functions, such as destination input, music selection, climate control and ambient lighting. Interestingly, the MBUX comes with a natural speech recognition program. This enables the system to recognize and understand nearly all sentences from the fields of multimedia and vehicle operation. Further, the system allows individualization that makes the A-Class an extension of oneself.

Motivation comes from new more powerful yet fuel-efficient powertrain options.

The A200 Edition 1 and A200 Progressive are both powered by a 1.3-liter, turbocharged engine generating 163 horsepower and 250 N-m of maximum torque. It is mated to a seven-speed DCT gearbox.

The A180 Progressive, meantime, is fitted with a less aggressive 1.3-liter turbocharged motor producing

THE center console’s comprehensive touch operation concept

COMPLETELY redefined cabin highlighting the widescreen infotainment with MBUX

136 horsepower and 200 N-m of maximum torque and also paired to a seven-speed DCT gearbox.

As for safety, the new A-Class is loaded with world-class safety features, such as Active Brake Assist, Active Parking Assist with

Parktronic and rearview camera, and seven air bags just to name a few. It is also equipped with an anti-theft alarm package and Tirefit® with tire inflator in case of road emergencies.

The all-new A-Class is offered

in various price points. The A180 Progressive is valued at P2.490 million, while the A200 Progressive is priced at P2.990 million.

As for the top spec A200 Edition, it can be had for P3.290 million.

Pre-orders and reservations already started last November 23 in all Mercedes-Benz dealerships nationwide (Edsa Greenhills, Alabang, BGC and Cebu). To know more about the all-new A-Class, you may also access https://www. mercedes-benz.ph/aclass.

Moto

Business

E2 Friday, December 7, 2018

AGUILA Glass Baliuag branch reopens

THE new Phantom embodies what Rolls-Royce is all about, “sheer power and presence.”

ARCH. Jonathan San Miguel (from left), Assistant Vice President for Infrastructure Development, Corporate Building and Administrative Services— Covenant Car Company Inc. (TCCCI), Charlene Lesley T. Chan, Samantha, Lorraine T. Chan, Selene L. Yu, Executive Director—TCCCI, Willard L. Chan, president—Topcars Autoworld Corp., Ryan Lindbergh T. Chan, Managing Director—Topcars Autoworld Corp., Mrs. Irene T. Chan, Christopher L. Yu, Assistant Vice President, Business Development Service—TCCCI, Roselyn M. Dimalanta, Senior Vice President and Director, National Aftersales Services—TCCCI, Engr. Divina O. Soria, Vice President and Director, Corporate Building and Administrative Services—TCCCI.

THE all-new twin-turbocharged V12 engine is even better than before

oring

sMirror

Friday, December 7, 2018

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FLEET driver doing the actual ecodrive through the guidance of an Isuzu expert.

AUTOHUB Group President Willie Tee Ten leads the toast together with Rolls-Royce cars Asia-Pacific Regional Sales Manager David Kim.

THE dashboard has been redesigned for the first time after 100 years and it’s called the Gallery.

IPC OPTIMIZES TRUCK FLEET CUSTOMERS’ BUSINESSES WITH ISUZU ECO-DRIVE TRAINING

Motoring BusinessMirror

E4 Friday, December 7, 2018

Corruption killing Kennon’s global heritage status?

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ENNON Road is still close to vehicular traffic. Jake P. Ayson and I had to pass through Marcos Highway, a longer route going up Baguio City from Manila, last week.

It’s a shame because even if there is no typhoon to put Kennon Road under Caterpillars and other heavy equipment for maintenance and repairs, it has always been like that there: consistently impossibly impassable.

Which is a pity since the worldfamed Kennon Zigzag is a historical landmark for its iconic scenery that was designed and built at the turn of the century.

It has become a national treasure worthy of global heritage status and, as such, its grandeur and magnificence must always be maintained for the world to see all year round.

I have it on good source that private contractors continue to abandon their job at Kennon in wild abandon mainly due to the government’s habitual practice of not paying their debts on time.

But that has always been the ugly scene nationwide: the government perennially remiss in paying contractors at the designated time.

It is very common to see private companies spending in advance while doing construction and repair work on government roads, bridges and other infrastructure.

When it’s time to collect, the government maintains this habit of making it difficult for the private sector/s to collect what’s due them.

Corruption, coupled with bu-

reaucratic procedures, seems always to conspire to stunt infra progress to the detriment of the traveling public.

That has always been President Duterte’s plaint since Day One when he took office in July 2016.

To his credit, Duterte has fired several officials already, including high-ranking Cabinet-level factotums caught/suspected dipping their fingers into the public coffers.

Long before the drug menace has struck the country nationwide, corruption has already been the No. 1 scourge plaguing the innermost nooks of the government. And Kennon Road is but one of corruption’s victims for the longest time.

And why are we here again in the City of Pines?

Jake and I are working anew— beginning December 1 yet—in the Rules Committee of the FilAm Golf Invitational, a commitment we’ve embraced for more than a decade now.

It’s not a job but a passion, golf being our love since Jake and I picked up the game in 1985. Subsequently, we both went into mastering (still trying to) the rules of the sport. In pursuit of this passion, Jake and I had been to rules seminars both here and in the United States to sharpen our knowledge on the rudiments of

golf officiating.

I had said then that if I could act as an international judge in boxing, as a referee in basketball, why not also as golf rules man?

Thus, our continued involvement in Fil-Am Golf, which boasts of being the world’s biggest amateur golf tournament with nearly 1,500 entries from all across the globe entered anew this year at both Baguio Country Club and Camp John Hay ending December 15.

A bit more history, you want?

Now on its 69th edition, the Fil-Am Golf is a product of unity and friendship forged by the late Sen. Rogelio de la Rosa and an American military official dur-

ing their chance coffee meeting at John Hay in 1948.

Their coffee chat led to a round of golf and, in their subsequent rounds, they decided to stage what is now the Fil-Am Golf Invitational anchored on FilipinoAmerican friendship forged on the fairways.

The rest, as they say, is history.

I salute the men and women behind this year’s edition, led by co-chairmen Anthony de Leon of BCC and Tim Allen of CJH, Freddie Mendoza, Ely Lagman, Shean Bedi, Renato Rondez, Peng Perez de Tagle, Mario Benitez, Ramon Cabrera, Andrew Pinero, Roanne Galicia, Glaiza del Rosario, Abdul-

lah Mastura, CJH Chairman Bob Sobrepeña and Atty. Rico Agcaoili, the dashing BCC chairman.

May your tribe increase, fellas.

PEE STOP Vehicle sales end of October have dipped compared to last year’s data but that’s understandable. The new excise taxes from the TRAIN law’s effects have forced car buyers to shy away from their fancied vehicles. But I’m sure the industry will rebound before 2018 draws to a close. Always, the Yuletide cannot kill the buyer’s urge to purchase a new car to greet the New Year. That is a historical fact too difficult to dispute…My fam-

ily condoles deeply with Rommel Sytin and the many other loved ones of Dominic Sytin. Dominic, Rommel’s very friendly and jolly brother, was recently gunned down by a lone gunman in a Subic hotel. Dominic was the man behind the highly successful United Auctioneers in Subic, who was, at the young age of 51, have already started engaging in philanthropic ways—among them his huge financial support to the UP Fighting Maroons in the UAAP basketball tournament. Rommel and his family are seeking justice “as we are still in shock over this tragedy.” May the case be solved quick.

Calling on the police…

TOYOTA GAZOO-PIAA SHINES IN WRC

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FTER its successful comeback the previous year, Toyota Gazoo Racing clinches the Manufacturers Championship in the World Rally Championship (WRC). Since it started campaigning again at the WRC in 2017, Toyota Gazoo Racing has chosen PIAA as its official technical partner in providing the lighting systems of the Toyota Gazoo Yaris WRC. “We are proud of this achievement, and it reflects PIAA’s strong partnership with Toyota, and its trust in our lighting systems,” said Aldrich Sacdalan of PIAA PH. Backed up with research and devel-

opment gained from motorsports campaigns, such as being the official lighting system of Team Mitsubishi Ralliart; Team ADVAN-Tein Subaru, Nakajima-Epson Racing and a domineering presence in the Paris-Dakar and Japan Super GT, PIAA upholds the knowledge gained by combining market-driven concepts with the latest technology to make night, inclement weather and off-road driving as safe as possible. PIAA technicians continually raise the bar on visibility products whose lamps take their styling and lighting performance cues from the popular PIAA 1100x lamps, which have been a staple of

the PIAA lineup for years.

PIAA has always been committed to providing quality products that drive customer satisfaction with their line of LED headlights and fog lamps. A special beam “cutline” is what differentiates PIAA technology from the competition. The beam of light is clear; and a directional frontal burst is engineered to not inconvenience oncoming motorists.

Illuminate your driving lifestyle with PIAA at these dealers: Autoplus Edsa, Atoy Bodykits on West Avenue Quezon City, BLADE, CKT Autoshop in San Juan, Roadstar BGC and at 199 Offroad House.