BusinessMirror December 08, 2019

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Sunday, December 8, 2019 Vol. 15 No. 59

TROUBLED BRIDGES OVER WATER

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By Lorenz S. Marasigan

OR an archipelago like the Philippines, connectivity is crucial to spur trade and economic growth among the thousands of islands in the country, and the government believes that developing and rehabilitating bridges is crucial to achieving this goal.

Bridges are so crucial for this administration that it is spending over P2 trillion to build new and retrofit old bridges across the three main islands of the country.

Since the new government assumed power, it has set its sights on the rehabilitation of old bridges to improve traffic flow and promote greater linkages among cities and islands.

There are about over 8,000 bridges across the Philippines, according to documents from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), and as of 2015, at least 36 percent are in good condition, 44 percent are considered fair, 13 percent are deemed poor, and about 5 percent are in a bad state.

The bridges in poor to bad condition are the bridges that require rehabilitation, strengthening, retrofitting or replacement.

Public Works Secretary Mark A. Villar said that, to date, his group has completed 2,709 bridge projects since 2016. Of these, 462 were widened, 108 were constructed, 1,642 were strengthened, 155 were replaced, and 342 local ones were built.

These include the Lucban Bridge in Cagayan, the Marcos Bridge in Marikina, the Sicapo Bridge in Ilocos Norte, the Pigalo Bridge in Isabela, the Anduyan

Bridge in La Union, the Tallang Bridge in Cagayan, the Bolo-Bolo Bridge in Misamis Oriental, the Caguray Bridge in Occidental Mindoro, the Tinongdan Bridge in Benguet, the Pasac-Culcul in Pampanga, the Aganan Bridge in Iloilo, the Maddiangat Bridge in Nueva Vizcaya, and the Pigalo Bridge in Isabela.

Villar noted that his department uses the Road and Bridge Information Application (RBIA) to determine the bridges that needed to be rehabilitated and retrofitted.

“It has been implemented throughout the department to enable road and bridge inventory and to condition data to be updated by the regional planning and design division,” he said. “All regional offices are tasked to conduct regular bridge inspection and submit data findings to the planning service through the RBIA system.”

He explained that retrofitting can be categorized into two: seismic and non-seismic.

For seismic retrofitting, the agency implements the seismic vulnerability rating of bridges—here, bridges are chosen and prioritized according to their vulnerability to earthquake, seismic hazard, and bridge importance. The higher the seismic rating score, the greater the need for the bridge to be evaluated for seismic retrofitting.

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Stepping up to the challenge of connecting thousands of islands, and in-city communities, the Department of Public Works and Highways is leading an ambitious program to rehabilitate—as a preemptive measure given the frequent earthquakes—several iconic, old, but still very useful bridges, and building new ones.

RETROFITTING of Marikina Bridge BERNARD TESTA

In early November, days after three big earthquakes shook Mindanao, talk of the “Big One,” the imminence of a catastrophic earthquake hitting the Philippines, prompted the DPWH to speed up plans strengthen the bridges—starting with Guadalupe Bridge in Mandaluyong—in the Philippines to withstand quakes of up to magnitude 8.

At that time, Villar said his group has created a rehabilitation plan for Guadalupe Bridge—a critical portion of Edsa that connects the cities of Makati and Mandaluyong—to prepare it for the so-called Big One. “There’s a need to rehabilitate

Guadalupe Bridge given the possibility of the Big One happening in Metro Manila. Now we realized that there is concern in the traffic, so when we made the plans for the rehabilitation, part of the plan is to construct service lanes on each side,” he said during the BusinessMirror Coffee Club.

He said the service roads will ensure that traffic will continue to flow while the bridge undergoes rehab.

“There’s no scenario where we will close Guadalupe Bridge. Guadalupe is really critical, but we understand that closing Guadalupe will cause armageddon. It really Continued on A2

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A2 Sunday, December 8, 2019

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TROUBLED BRIDGES OVER WATER

THE Binondo-Intramuros Bridge, included in the Metro Manila Logistics Infrastructure Network of bridges crossing Pasig River. NONIE REYES Continued from A1

needs to be done and we have to do it soon,” Villar said.

Once completed, Guadalupe Bridge, he said, will be able to endure quakes of huge magnitudes.

To mitigate the traffic congestion that the rehab program may cause, Villar said his group is banking on the completion of two other bridges that connect the cities of Makati and Mandaluyong.

“We’re trying to push toward the end of next year, we’ll also finish the two bridges crossing Pasig River, which are Estrella-Pantaleon and Santa Monica-Lawton, so that they will also minimize the effect when we rehab Guadalupe,” he said.

The Estrella-Pantaleon Bridge connects Mandaluyong and Makati through a two-lane truss structure that crosses the Pasig River. The existing bridge is currently being replaced by pre-stressed concrete rigid frame bridge with corrugated steel webs with a four-lane concrete deck slab of approximately 506.46 lineal meters.

On the other hand, the Santa Monica-Lawton Bridge is a 613.77-meter, four-lane bridge across Pasig River connecting Lawton Avenue in Makati City and Santa Monica Street in Pasig City.

Meanwhile, the DPWH also conducts regular monitoring and maintenance of its bridges which can be due for non-seismic retrofitting.

“Retrofitting of the bridge may eventually lead to increased vehicle capacity and safety of the motorists and lessens the vulnerability of the infrastructure to various disasters,” Villar said.

Quezon, Ayala bridges

HE cited the decades-old Quezon Bridge, as well as the Ayala Bridge, as examples of bridges that were in dire need of retrofitting.

“We’ve retrofitted the 1939 Quezon Bridge connecting Quiapo and Ermita across the Pasig River.

This increased the traffic load of the bridge from just 10 tons per vehicle to 20 tons per vehicle and ensured the safety of 115,000 motorists per day. We’ve also retrofitted the Ayala Bridge in Manila, the Diosdado Macapagal Bridge in Butuan, the Bamban Bridge in Tarlac, among others,” he said.

In addition to the 26 existing bridges crossing Pasig River, Marikina River and Manggahan Floodway, which cater to about 1.3 million vehicles daily, 12 new bridges in the area will be con-

structed to provide alternative linkages between major thoroughfares and increase the number of usable roadways that would decongest traffic on Epifanio delos Santos Avenue (Edsa) and other major roads in Metro Manila.

Per the DPWH list, included in the Metro Manila Logistics Infrastructure Network are six bridges crossing Pasig River, four bridges crossing Marikina River, and two bridges crossing Manggahan Floodway, including: North and South Harbor Bridge, Binondo-Intramuros Bridge, 2nd Ayala Bridge (Carlos Palanca-San Marcelino), Beata-F.Y. Manalo Bridge (Pandacan-Santa Ana), F. Blumentritt-Antipolo Bridge, Estrella-Pantaleon Bridge, Kabayani-Katipunan Bridge, ReposoGuatemala Bridge, J.P. Rizal-Yale Bridge, G. Gabriel Street-Mercury Avenue Bridge, and East BankWest Bank Bridge 1 and 2.

The 961-meter Bonifacio Global City-Ortigas Center Link Road Project involves the construction of a four-lane Santa Monica to Lawton Bridge across Pasig River connecting Lawton Avenue in Makati City and Santa Monica Street in Pasig City and a viaduct structure traversing Lawton Avenue onward to the entrance of Bonifacio Global City. Once completed

by March 2020, traveling between the central business districts of Taguig and Pasig cities will only take 12 minutes and traffic congestion at Edsa and C-5 Road, particularly along Guadalupe Bridge and Bagong Ilog Bridge, will be alleviated by about 25 percent.

The Binondo-Intramuros Bridge, spanning 807 meters, is a P4.6-billion four-lane, steel bowstring arch bridge project, which is expected to connect Intramuros at Solana Street and Riverside Drive and Binondo at San Fernando Street.

The Estrella-Pantaleon Bridge, a P1.37-billion project, will replace the existing bridge with a four-lane twin-spine steel box girder bridge, spanning 560 meters, to connect Estrella Street in Makati to Barangka Drive in Mandaluyong.

But while the government retrofits and rehabilitates existing bridges, it is also developing new ones to ensure that the different cities and provinces in the Philippines are interconnected.

Villar said the government believes that inter-island connectivity is also critical to lessen the costs of moving people and goods. Improving mobility spurs greater trade and

attracts investments from both local and foreign groups alike.

“We also envision a more connected Philippines under our Interisland Linkage or Mega Bridge Program. We are building a series of short- and long-span bridges linking island provinces to eventually connect Mindanao and Visayas to Luzon via land travel,” he said.

Mixed funding

DAAN Pasig Bridge traversing the Manggahan Floodway in Pasig City. BERNARD TESTA

There are about over 8,000 bridges across the Philippines, according to documents from the Department of Public Works and Highways, and as of 2015, at least 36 percent are in good condition, 44 percent are considered fair, 13 percent are deemed poor, and about 5 percent are in a bad state.

THE program, a moving P1.7-trillion plan, involves the construction of 17 short- and long-span bridges with a total length of 175,650 meters and investment cost. This will be funded through a mix of foreign loans and aids, public-private partnerships, and general government budget.

The first project under the masterplan is the Panguil Bay Bridge. It is a 3.7-km bridge connecting Tangub City in Misamis Occidental and Tubod in Lanao del Norte, and will start construction within the year.

Once completed in 2021, travel time between Tangub and Tubod will be reduced from 2.5 hours to only 10 minutes. It will also short-

en travel time between Ozamiz City in Misamis Occidental and Mukas, Kolambugan, in Lanao del Norte from 2.5 hours to only 20 minutes.

The detailed engineering design of the Guicam Bridge in Zamboanga Sibugay, and three bridges in Tawi-Tawi—Nalil-Sikkiat Bridge, Tongsinah-Paniongan Bridge and Malassa-Lupa Pula Bridge—are also included in the Improving Growth Corridors in Mindanao Road Sector Project.

Likewise, feasibility study for the 19-km Panay-Guimaras-Negros Link Bridge will also be completed within the year.

Villar said bridges are crucial to develop the Philippine transport industry, as they are key to improving mobility, while helping promote interconnectivity among different cities and provinces.

Aside from spurring economic growth, bridges are seen to help erase a portion of the P3.5-billion daily productivity loss due to traffic congestion, he added, noting that these initiatives are part of the Build, Build, Build Program of the Duterte government.

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Russian ‘Evil Corp’ is behind a decade of hacks, US says

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HE US unveiled criminal charges and sanctions against members of a group that calls itself “Evil Corp,” which authorities blame for some of the worst computer hacking and bank fraud schemes of the past decade.

The Justice Department, working mainly with the Treasury Department and British authorities, brought conspiracy and fraud charges against members of the group. It said the group “has been engaged in cybercrime on an almost unimaginable scale,” using malware to steal tens of millions of dollars from customers doing online banking. Treasury said it would sanction Evil Corp and its leaders for cyber thefts committed at hundreds of financial institutions around the world.

The organization’s alleged leader, identified as Maksim Yakubets, also worked for Russia’s Federal Security Service intelligence agency, according to the Treasury Department.

Yakubets was directed to work on projects for the Russian state starting in 2017, it said. The Russian ambassador to the US, Anatoly Antonov, called the accusation “groundless.”

Evil Corp (whose name may be an homage to the sinister corporation in the Mr. Robot series) is “the world’s most harmful cybercrime group,” the UK’s

National Crime Agency said in a statement, adding that its malware had caused hundreds of millions of pounds in financial losses in the UK alone. Its alleged leaders hardly kept a low profile, the NCA said. Yakubets drove a Lamborghini with a license plate that translates to “Thief ” and spent more than a quarter of a million pounds on his wedding.

The US charged Yakubets in Nebraska and Pennsylvania, while bringing charges against an alleged co-conspirator, Igor Turashev, in Pennsylvania. The two are believed to be in Russia, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The US is offering a $5-million reward for information leading to Yakubets’s arrest or conviction, the State Department said.

The group used a kind of malware called Dridex to harvest log-in credentials for financial institutions in more than 40 countries, according to the Treasury Department. Dridex, also known as Bugat and Cridex, often reaches victims through phishing e-mails. It “automates

the theft of confidential personal and financial information, such as online banking credentials, from infected computers through the use of keystroke logging and Web injects,” the US said.

Using the malware, the group tried to steal about $220 million, with actual losses of about $70 million, according to the Justice Department.

Victims of the scam include Penneco Oil Co., which had about $3.5 million taken from its accounts at First Commonwealth Bank in Pennsylvania in two transactions, and a host of small businesses and organizations, according to the government. The group even hacked an order of nuns, the Franciscan Sisters of Chicago, using the order’s credentials to make off with more than $24,000 from its account at Bank of America Corp., the US said. A Bank of America spokesman declined to comment.

Naming a string of suspected conspirators who might never face justice has its pros and cons, Amy Hess, of the FBI, said at the Aspen Security Forum this summer. The “name and shame” approach can hem them in but isn’t the same as bringing them in to face charges, said Hess, executive assistant director for the FBI’s Criminal, Cyber, Response and Services Branch.

“From the sense that we’ve just limited their ability to travel, or we’ve influenced people behind them to look at that example and say, ‘That means I won’t be able to travel. That

means I won’t be able to go study in another country,’” it may be a deterrent, Hess said at the Forum in July. But she added that without “real consequences,” it may imply, “Well, you’re never going to catch that person.”

Over the past two years, the distribution of banking malware has increasingly preceded “more damaging intrusions,” including the distribution of disruptive ransomware, according to Kimberly Goody, a manager of financial crime analysis at the cyber-security firm FireEye Inc. “The association between the claimed leader of this operation and the FSB is consistent with ties that we have previously seen between state-sponsored actors and criminal groups,” Goody said in a statement, referring to Russia’s Federal Security Service.

Dridex hackers “appear to direct the majority of attacks at English-speaking countries,” the US Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said in an alert. The “massive spam campaigns” that distribute Dridex send “up to millions of messages per day,” the alert said.

“Our goal is to shut down Evil Corp, deter the distribution of Dridex, target the ‘money mule’ network used to transfer stolen funds, and ultimately to protect our citizens from the group’s criminal activities,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement.

Yakubets “is not the first cybercriminal to be tied to the Russian government,” Treasury

said in a statement, citing the 2017 indictment of two FSB officers and conspirators for compromising “millions” of Yahoo Holdings Inc. e-mail accounts.

An alleged co-conspirator in the Nebraska complaint unsealed on Thursday, Yevgeny Bogachev, was sanctioned by the US in 2016 and has been on the FBI’s most-wanted list.

Treasur y officials said the US action was coordinated not only with the UK but also with others targeted by the group, including Italy, Australia, the United Arab Emirates, Canada, France, India, Hong Kong and Malaysia.

Law enforcement has been after the group for several years.

Two Ukrainian nationals were extradited from the UK to the US and pleaded guilty to related charges in Nebraska in 2015, the Justice Department said. In October of that year, US prosecutors also indicted Moldovan national Andrey Ghinkul for cyber attacks using Dridex.

Dridex is “one of the most pre v a lent eC r i me m a lw a re families,” according to a July report by the cyber-security firm Crowdstrike, which said it was used significantly in 2015 and 2016.

FBI Deputy Director David Bowdich said Evil Corp and other cybercriminals are still operating, and that one reason the US brought the charges forward now was to raise awareness about future attacks.

“It is fair to say they are not out of business at this point,” he said. Bloomberg News

$39-BILLION WIND COMPANY BETS HYDROGEN IS KEY TO CLIMATE GOALS

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NE of the world’s biggest developers of offshore wind farms thinks its massive turbines could be key to the production of hydrogen in a greener way and ultimately, stemming climate change.

Over the past decade, offshore wind has pushed from a frontier technology to a multibillion-dollar industry that provides green power cheap enough to compete with fossil fuels. Orsted A/S, a Danish company, anticipates that the scale and efficiency of wind farms at sea can play a crucial role to supply heavy industry with green hydrogen.

Hydrogen is important because it’s one of the few fuels that can burn hot enough to make steel and cement, two of the most polluting industries. At the moment, most hydrogen is derived from natural gas and causes greenhouse-gas emissions. Getting the element from electrolysis driven by wind farms would make it a zero-emissions fuel, since no carbon dioxide comes with hydrogen in the combustion process. As long as these heavy industries rely on polluting fossil fuels, it may be impossible to achieve the goals in the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change.

“You cannot do it without hydrogen,” Anders Nordstrom, head of hydrogen at Orsted, said in an interview. “Everything that can be electrified, you should electrify, but that leaves a substantial part of de-carbonization where hydrogen is the second-best option because electricity isn’t feasible.”

Manufacturing is responsible for about 10 percent of global carbon-dioxide emissions because it relies on high-temperature furnaces that mostly run on fossil fuels such as coal and oil. Some processes like cement require chemical reactions that throw off CO2 in addition to the emissions from burning fuels.

Hydrogen can be used as an alternative fuel in many of those processes. The issue is getting the gas without making more CO2.

Machines known as electrolyzers can create the hydrogen by splitting it out of water molecules. And when it burns, hydrogen leaves only water vapor behind. If the whole process is powered by a wind farm, no emissions are involved.

To Orsted, it makes sense to pair offshore wind farms with hydrogen electrolyzers. Wind turbines are bigger and run more often when they’re sited at sea instead of on land—often enough that they sometimes spin when the grid can’t absorb more power.

Hydrogen factories could take that power and turn it into a gas. That would deliver another benefit in that they can store that energy for use later—something

that’s more difficult when the energy comes in the form of electricity.

As the industry pushes to rapidly expand offshore wind in Europe, electrolysis may also help balance the variable generation rates of wind farms. When the wind doesn’t blow that strongly, electrolyzers could be turned down. When the wind picks up, the hydrogen production could be scaled up.

Since 2018, Nordstrom has run a small team of people at the Danish energy company that’s focused on hydrogen. During 2019, the company unveiled a pair of pilot projects in the UK and Germany. A failed bid for an offshore wind farm off the coast of the Netherlands also included plans to incorporate green hydrogen. Orsted is continuing to develop hydrogen projects in the country and has a pipeline of other projects around northwest Europe, Nordstrom said.

The major challenge is cost. Green hydrogen costs between $2.50 and $6.80 a kilogram to make, due to the relatively high costs of renewablepowered electrolysis, according BloombergNEF. That would need to fall below $2 in order to make renewable hydrogen competitive with coal, and to around 60 cents to beat the cheapest natural gas-based production, according to BNEF. That cost could come down to be competitive with fossil fuel by 2030, according to Nordstrom. A number of factors would need to fall into place to achieve that, such as increased scale of electrolysis projects, cheaper and more efficient electrolyzers and a higher carbon price, he said. The executive sees a parallel between hydrogen and offshore wind in terms of their level of development. Just a few years ago, offshore wind was more expensive than nuclear power. Now it rivals coal on cost in some places.

“We are where offshore wind was 10 years ago,” Nordstrom said. “It’s the same cost journey we need to take.”

Green hydrogen will also have to contend with competition from natural gas, which can be used to make hydrogen as well. That method produces carbon dioxide in the process.

By 2025, Orsted will move beyond studies and have electrolyzer projects up and running, including a 30-megawatt project it’s part of in Germany, Nordstrom said. Beyond then, scale and potential is hard to forecast.

“It’s quite difficult to predict where we’ll be in 10 years,” Nordstrom said. “There’s an exponential feel to what’s happening at the moment.”

Bloomberg News

B.I.S. WANTS CENTRAL BANKS AT CENTER OF DIGITAL CASH REVOLUTION

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ENTRAL banks must embrace the revolution under way in digital money to ensure they remain at the heart of the global payments system, according to the head of the Bank of International Settlements (BIS).

Agustin Carstens’s argument is that while the private sector “excels at customer-facing activity,” central banks provide the basis for trust, ensure liquidity and set standards. He’s unenthusiastic about Bitcoin and worried that big tech companies like Facebook offering payment services means they could become unfairly dominant because of their existing data resources.

“We have a responsibility to be at the cutting edge of the debate,” the BIS general manager said in a speech on Thursday.

“There is really no choice but to do so, as otherwise events will overtake us.”

Carstens, who kicked off his BIS term urging authorities to rein in digital currencies, has since overseen the implementation of a hub to foster collaboration in financial technology. But his caution is clear, and he warns that people shouldn’t be blinded by shiny new things at the expense of stability in the financial system.

“A gleaming skyscraper is an awesome sight. But when we admire one, we often overlook its foundations. These are out of sight, below ground level. But just because they are not visible, it does not mean that they don’t matter. On the contrary, they matter a lot.”

In his speech at Princeton University, Carstens addressed central bank issued digital currencies. While institutions are looking into the idea, caution still rules. Speaking in the European Parliament this week, ECB President Christine Lagarde said it’s “an area where we have to rush slowly,” noting risks for customer security and financial stability.

On Thursday, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell don’t expect the US to create a digital currency in the near future. On Facebook’s Libra, he said he’s fine with the idea, but it must be “fully compliant” with bank secrecy and anti-money laundering rules.

Carstens gave a green light to wholesale CBDCs, as they’re known, because they’d be restricted to institutions that already have access to central bank deposits, adding that issuing them to the general public is perilous.

“Imagine if anybody could open an account at the central bank,” he said. “In extreme cases, the central bank, could become the one-stop banker for almost everybody in the economy,” which would constitute a “daunting” risk.

Bloomberg News

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Sunday, December 8, 2019

The World BusinessMirror

Paris billionaire rivalry fuels pursuit of Tiffany, Moncler

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HE first families of French luxury are at it again, firing up a race to gather the world’s brightest baubles and fanciest fashions under their rival houses.

Only days after the Arnaults’ LVMH snapped up jeweler Tiffany & Co. for $16.2 billion, word surfaced of a possible riposte from the Paris giant’s crosstown rival, the Pinaults’ Kering SA. The Gucci owner has held exploratory talks with Italian skiwear maker Moncler SpA about a potential acquisition, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

“We had expected the LVMHTiffany news to catalyze a round of industry consolidation—which Kering-Moncler would be a part of— but the race seems to have gotten under way even more swiftly than imagined,” said Swetha Ramachandran, investment manager of the GAM Global Luxury Brands Fund.

The rivalry, more than two decades in the making, has defined the modern luxury industry and shows no signs of ending. Since 2001, when Kering founder Francois Pinault beat out LVMH Chief Executive Officer Bernard Arnault for control of Gucci, the companies have increased their hold over the sector through dozens of deals.

Riding China demand

KERING has announced at least $14.7 billion of acquisitions since 1995, according to data compiled

by Bloomberg, compared with at least $45.5 billion for LVMH. Each family’s wealth has increased vastly as the companies integrated their purchases and rode a wave of demand in China.

As their dominance over the business has grown, the two families have broadened the playing fields on which they compete. The Pinaults and Arnaults have bought up neighboring vineyards in Burgundy, set up separate art museums in Paris and even one-upped each other with contributions to the rebuilding of Paris’s fire-ravaged Notre Dame Cathedral.

Soaring wealth

ON one scorecard, Arnault, who is 70, has a clear lead. He’s the richest person in Europe with a $101.8-billion fortune, after add ing $33 bi l lion t his year

alone, according to the Bloomberg Bi l l iona ires Inde x. T he 83-year-old Pinault, whose son François-Henri now runs Kering, has a net worth of $38.7 billion, up $9 billion in 2019.

Spr awl i n g st r uc t u res l i k e those of Kering and LVMH— which owns brands ranging from Louis Vuitton to Christian Dior to Dom Perignon—have gone out of style in other industries. But there’s no conglomerate discount for these giants.

Combining many different brands under one umbrella lets LVMH and Kering pool functions like purchasing and information systems, while feeding investment to those that need it most, as individual labels ride the ups and downs of consumers’ changing tastes.

With a market value of more than €200 billion, LVMH is one of the biggest companies in Europe. Its rival, which owns Saint Laurent, Boucheron jewelry and Brioni suits, trails at €68 billion, but Gucci has been the fastestgrowing major luxury brand over the past few years.

As the bigger player, LVMH has led the way in turning new acquisitions into drivers of growth.

While Arnault has had a few missteps, including purchases of Donna Karan and Marc Jacobs and unsuccessful runs at Hermes International and Gucci, deals for the likes of Bulgari jewelry, Givenchy and Christian Dior have paid off handsomely. LVMH has pushed newly acquired brands upmarket with a sharper focus on marketing and store presentation, boosting profits.

K er ing’s of fer ings inc lude Ulysse Nardin watches, fashion labels such as A lexander McQueen and Bottega Veneta, but it’s less diversified than LVMH. The company has become increasingly dependent on Gucci, which provided more than three quarters of its operating profit in the first half of the year. T hat’s putting pressure on Kering to hedge against the risk that demand for the Italian

FRANÇOIS PINAULT BLOOMBERG PHOTO

brand ’s new looks could fade.

Hence the possible interest in Moncler, which has a market value of about $12 billion. Its shares rose 6.5 percent on Thursday after Bloomberg reported on the exploratory talks with Kering, which gained 0.4 percent.

To secure the maker of puffy down jackets worn on the ski slopes of Saint Moritz and at the World Economic Forum in Davos, the Pinaults will need the backing of another luxury billionaire.

Moncler Chairman Remo Ruffini’s holding company owns a 22.5-percent stake in the company, valued at about $2.5 billion.

Moncler confirmed that it’s had contacts with Kering, saying there are no concrete proposals. A representative for the French company declined to comment.

So successful have the Pinaults and the Arnaults been that others elsewhere have sought to emulate

the conglomerate approach, but so far their acquisitions have been limited to second-tier brands. Capri Holdings Ltd., the US parent of Michael Kors, has added Italian label Versace and Jimmy Choo.

Tapestry Inc. owns Coach, Kate Spade and Stuart Weitzman. China’s Shandong Ruyi has talked of turning itself into an Asian LVMH. With many Italian luxury labels already acquired and others struggling, that means the global luxury business is increasingly controlled from Paris.

“Competition is the mother of invention,” Luca Solca, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein in Geneva, said. “The rivalry between LVMH and Kering—or between Arnault and Pinault, if you really want to personalize it—has brought the creation of two incredible companies that sit at the top of the modern luxury goods industry.”

Bloomberg News

Editor: Angel R. Calso

Bankers across Europe brace for smaller bonus pots this year

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ONUS season promises to be a miserable one at European investment banks.

Shrinking revenue will likely translate into double-digit percentage declines for many trading and investment banking teams at lenders including HSBC Holdings Plc., Deutsche Bank AG and Societe Generale SA, according to recruiters and executives.

The tough landscape for Europe’s financial industry—with restructuring at several firms, negative rates, hedge fund closures and costly technology upgrades— has left many braced for steeper bonus declines than a year ago.

While bonus pools won’t be finalized until after the end of the year, there are signs that cash equities will be hardest hit.

Executives at global banks have dropped plenty of hints that bonuses will fall. “Don’t get distracted, and get us a good fourth quarter,” Samir Assaf, HSBC’s top investment banker, quipped on a staff call whose remarks were recounted to Bloomberg News.

“We need ever y dollar in this fourth quarter to get a good bonus round, if only for that,” he said. Assaf is stepping back f r o m t h e i nv e s t m e nt b a n k , people familiar with the matter have said. In its third-quarter results, HSBC said it had cut p e r for m a nce - re l ate d p ay b y $200 million.

are set for a 10-percent decline.

Prime finance units, which serve the under-pressure hedge fund industry, are set for 5-percent bonus cuts, in line with their US peers.

Commodities teams, meanwhile, should escape the general slump in bonuses across FICC, the firm’s analysis found.

Rewards will be also scarce at Credit Suisse Group AG, where several quarters of lackluster deal-making and weaker leveraged finance—one of the Swiss bank ’s traditional strengths— may reduce payouts at its investment banking and capital markets d iv ision, Bloomberg News reported.

“There are going to be a lot of zeros,” said Stephane Rambosson, chief executive at executive search firm Vici Advisory. “Most people will be down and flat will be the new up.”

There will be some exceptions.

IT and cyber-security budgets are unlikely to be cut while expertise in these sectors is in high demand, recruiters said.

Barclays Plc. had the best third quarter on record for equity and debt capital markets and merger advisory, according to Chief Executive Officer Jes Staley, and the firm’s rates and securitized products units were strong. Wellperforming investment bankers across the industry will expect to be rewarded accordingly.

Cash equities

Pay fairly

A SM A L L ER Br it i s h brok e r, Numis Cor p., offered an early glimpse of how bonus season is shaping up. “It’s been a pretty tough yea r for t he i ndu st r y and our bonus pool,” said Ross Mitchinson, co-chief executive officer of the firm, which reported a decline in investment banking revenue this week.

“I suspect it has been similarly difficult for most industry players, given the difficult market backdrop and macro-political uncertainty,” he said.

Some of t he ba n kers fa r ing b a d l y t h i s y e a r a re u s u a l l y a mong t he big gest sa les generators. Globa l revenue f rom invest ment ba n k ing is poised to dec l ine aga in t h is yea r, accord ing to d ata f rom Coa lition Development Ltd. But it’s cash equities desks that will see the largest bonus drops, with falls of 15 percent in Europe, the Middle East and Africa predicted by recruiting firm Options Group, while equity derivatives

THESE bright spots pale in comparison to the sweeping job cuts and cost-saving drives at many of the region’s largest banks this year. SocGen is planning to cut 1,600 posts and Barclays has a xed 3,000 jobs, HSBC expects to make w ide-ranging reductions and Deutsche Bank AG aims for even more.

“There were massive redundancies,” said Ben Harris, senior manager at London-based recruiter Morgan McKinley. “Bonuses will be cut; people will be pretty happy to keep their jobs.”

Staley said after recent earnings that “we want to pay fairly, but everyone understands we have an obligation to deliver acceptable level of profitability.”

Things aren’t looking much better for rivals across the Atlantic. Bonuses are poised to drop by double digits in equity trading and debt and equity underwriting, a recent report from a compensation consultant Johnson Associates Inc. said. Bloomberg News

THE PRINCE GOT HIS WORLD-BEATING I.P.O.: NOW THE HARD WORK BEGINS

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AUDI Aramco’s world-beating initial public offering is a watershed moment for a business that’s bankrolled the kingdom and its rulers for decades. The world’s largest public company will now trade in Riyadh and not New York.

Less clear is how far it will help overhaul the economy of the world’s biggest oil exporter.

First floated by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in 2016 with an ambition to raise as much as $100 billion, the share sale was touted as part of a blueprint for life after oil. Saudi Arabia would raise funds off its biggest asset, and use them to develop new industries.

But after global investors balked at hopes to value the company at $2 trillion, the final deal was not quite what the prince had envisaged. Aramco offered just 1.5 percent of its shares and opted for a local listing, relying almost entirely on Saudi and regional investors.

And while proceeds of $25.6 billion exceed the 2014 IPO of Chinese Internet

giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., it’s unlikely to be a game changer for the $780-billion economy.

“It’s difficult to see how this level of subscription can be repeated to raise the sort of revenue required by Vision 2030,” said Bill Farren-Price, a consultant at RS Energy Group. “And Saudi economic diversification will need a lot more of that.”

The sale is the first major disposal of state assets under a plan to empower the private sector and attract foreign direct investment, which has tumbled since oil prices crashed in 2014.

“It does provide ammunition to support investments as they move into the main construction phase, but by itself it’s not enough,” said Monica Malik, chief economist at Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank and a longtime Saudi watcher. “The quality of spending remains critical—how much will be spent domestically, how effectively it will be deployed.”

The proceeds will be transferred to the Public Investment Fund, which has made a

number of bold investments, plowing $45 billion into SoftBank Group Corp.’s Vision Fund, taking a $3.5-billion stake in Uber Technologies Inc. At home, the sovereign wealth fund is financing mega projects to develop tourist hubs along the Red Sea and elsewhere.

But the fund has also been criticized

for elbowing out private businesses in smaller projects. Plans for a $500-billion futuristic city announced in 2017 have raised concerns that the prince may end up sinking more cash into vanity ventures.

Funds from the IPO “should be invested, in domestic projects, with a large local content, while avoiding white elephants,”

according to Ziad Daoud, chief Middle East economist at Bloomberg Economics.

“The government’s recent spending pattern has failed to live up to these criteria.

It has cut investment, increased current spending and shown a continued penchant for mega-projects,” he wrote last month.

Still, pulling off the deal can help the prince get his ambitious plan for the economy back on track after setbacks at home, including the backlash against his purge of the elite, and abroad by the outrage over the murder of columnist Jamal Khashoggi and the war in Yemen.

The kingdom’s richest families, some of whom had members detained in Riyadh’s Ritz-Carlton hotel during a so-called corruption crackdown in 2017, are expected to have made significant contributions.

The state-owned oil giant set the final price of its shares at 32 riyals ($8.53), valuing the world’s most profitable company at $1.7 trillion. It received total bids of $119 billion.

Aramco will become the world’s most valuable publicly traded company once it

starts trading, overtaking Microsoft Corp. and Apple Inc. The deal opens up one of the world’s most secretive companies that, until this year, had never published financial statements or borrowed in international debt markets.

It will also mean the company now has shareholders other than the Saudi government for the first time since it was fully nationalized in 1980.

Saudi Arabia pulled out all the stops to ensure the IPO got done. It cut the tax rate for Aramco three times, promised the world’s largest dividend and offered bonus shares for retail investors who keep hold of the stock.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc., acting as share stabilizing manager, has the right to exercise a so-called greenshoe option of 450 million shares. The purchase option can be executed in whole or in part at any time on or before 30 calendar days after the trading debut. It could raise the IPO proceeds to $29.4 billion.

Bloomberg News

Science

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

BusinessMirror

Sunday

Sunday, December 8, 2019 A5

DOST-BIST Program supports R&D through funding

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HE Philippines’s Global Innovation Index in 2019 jumped to 54th rank from 73rd in 2018, among 129 countries.

However, despite this, there is still a low level of research and development (R&D) spending in the Philippines, with a huge chunk being funded by the Philippine government.

R&D budget has been increasing each year but has remained at 0.6 percent of the Philippine government’s budget.

The Department of Science and Technology (DOST), through the Business Innovation through Science and Technology (BIST) Program, seeks to boost R&D in the private sector.

T his aims to work toward achieving the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization benchmark for developing countries, such as the Philippines, to spend 1 percent of their gross domestic product (GDP) on R&D. The BIST Program is designed to assist Filipino-owned companies to innovate and develop compet it iveness t hrough acquisition of new and relevant technolog ies—hardware or software—for research.

T he proposed technolog y acqu isit ion w it h its cor responding resea rc h a nd tec hnolog y must be implemented w it h in t hree to f ive yea rs w it h a re f u nd, w it hout interest, commenc ing on t he t h ird yea r of project implement at ion.

Aiming to take the herbal extracts in the Philippines to the next level and to support the R&D efforts of local companies, the first grantee of the DOSTBI S T pro g r a m i s He r b a ne x t Laborator ies Inc.—a Filipino research-oriented natural products company based in Bacolod, Negros Occidental.

The DOST-BIST grant to Herbanext will be used to develop local technology to produce pharmaceutical-grade extracts for the local drug manufacturing industry.

It could be recalled that Herbanext announced in August, that it has produced a supplement from tawa-tawa against dengue.

The laboratory will not stop on this, but will pursue the clinical trial of its tawa-tawa supplement under the brand Daily

A COMMERCIAL-SCALE plant extractor at the Herbanext Laboratories Inc. in Bacolod City.

Apple “to ultimately develop it into a medicine.”

In the coming years, Herbanext intends to scale-up this technology to allow the local production of active pharmaceutical ingredients for the Philippine herbal drug industry.

“The rise in our global innovation ranking to 54th from 73rd the previous year validates our work and encourages us to continue our mission to strengthen R&D across the country,” said Science Secretary Fortunato T. de la Peña.

As opportunities for R&D are created for Filipino companies, technologies and business innovations will equate to increased profitability.

Herbanext ventured into the production of standardized botanical extracts in 2008. The primary target market of the company were food supplement and functional food industries which required simple spray-drying as a method to obtain plant extracts.

In 2017, as the Herbanext f a c i l it y w a s t ap p e d t o pro duce standardized extracts by con sor t iu m members of t he Philippine Council for Health R e s e a r c h a n d D e v e l o p m e nt (PCHR D) Discover y a nd De velopment of Health Products Program, it became clear that there was a need for a versatile pilot-scale facility that can semi-purif y plant extracts of

unwanted compounds.

These unwanted compounds— which include starches, oils and waxes, pectins, organic acids and excessive tannins—need to be removed as they dilute the concentration of active ingredients, cause problems in machine handling, reduce shelf life and create potential chronic toxicity.

In addition to the removal of unwanted compounds, there is a need for further processing steps to conform to pharmaceutical standards.

The BIST financial assistance granted to Herbanext will be used to acquire pilot-scale R&D equipment to address the technology gaps mentioned.

In the coming years, Herbanext intends to scale-up this technology to allow the local production of active pharmaceutical ingredient for the Philippine herbal drug industry.

Herbanext is also one of the researchers t hat contr ibuted to t he 18 for mu l at ions pre sented by DOST-PCHRD to the private sector, which are ready to be commercialized as herbal supplements under the Tuklas Lunas Program.

The Tuklas Lunas Program aims to harness the potential of the Philippine biodiversity and leverage on local expertise to respond to the growing health needs of the Filipinos.

Faith A6 Sunday, December 8, 2019

Sunday

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

Pope: Set up, be enchanted by Nativity scene

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ATICAN—A Nativity scene is a simple reminder of something astonishing: God became human to reveal the greatness of His love “by smiling and opening His arms to all,” Pope Francis said in a letter on the meaning and importance of setting up Christmas cribs.

“With this letter, I wish to encourage the beautiful family tradition of preparing the Nativity scene in the days before Christmas, but also the custom of setting it up in the workplace, in schools, hospitals, prisons and tow n squares,” the pope wrote in the letter, which was read aloud to the faithful gathered inside a small, stone church in Greccio, Italy.

Pope Francis signed the short letter on December 1, the first Sunday of Advent, during an afternoon visit to Greccio, where Saint Francis of Assisi set up the first Nativity scene in 1223.

Love of God

“WHEREVER it is, and whatever form it takes, the Christmas crèche speaks to us of the love of God, the God who became a child in order to make us know how close He is to every man, woman and child, regardless of their condition,” the pope wrote in his apostolic letter, “Admirabile Signum [Enchanting Image].’”

W hen Saint Francis had a cave prepared with a hay-filled manger, an ox and a donkey—no statues, actors or baby, even— he “carried out a great work of

evangelization,” Pope Francis said, and Catholics can and must continue that work today.

“It is my hope that this custom will never be lost and that, wherever it has fallen into disuse, it can be rediscovered and revived,” the pope said.

At the heart of even the simplest Nativity scene, he said, there is a reminder of “God’s tender love; the Creator of the universe, lowered Himself to take up our littleness.”

Brother

THEN, he said, there is the fact that this baby is “the source and sustenance of all life. In Jesus, the Father has given us a brother who comes to seek us out whenever we are confused or lost, a loyal friend ever at our side. He gave us His son who forgives us and frees us from our sins.”

The magic of the season goes deep when someone—child or adult—gazes upon a Nativity scene, he said.

And whether or not they can put what they experience into words, they come away knowing that “God’s ways are astonishing, for it seems impossible that He should forsake His glory to become a man like us.”

people of times when they’ve experienced darkness.

The creche, he said, says, “Even then, God does not abandon us, but is there to answer our crucial questions about the meaning of life. Who am I? Where do I come from? Why was I born at this time in history? Why do I love? Why do I suffer? Why will I die?

“It was to answer these questions that God became man,” the pope wrote. “His closeness brings light where there is darkness and shows the way to those dwelling in the shadow of suffering.”

POPE Francis prays during a visit to the Nativity scene in Greccio, Italy, on December 1. The first Nativity scene was assembled in Greccio by Saint Francis of Assisi in 1223. CNS/VATICAN MEDIA

“To our astonishment, we see God acting exactly as we do: He sleeps, takes milk from His mother, cries and plays like every other child! As always, God baffles us.

He is unpredictable, constantly doing what we least expect,” Pope Francis wrote.

“The Nativity scene shows God as He came into our world, but it also makes us reflect on how our life is part of God’s own life. It invites us to become His disciples if we want to attain ultimate meaning in life,” he added.

Adding characters

KNOWING that some families keep to the essential characters and setting while others add all sorts of characters and buildings and streams and towns, Pope Francis said even “fanciful additions show that in the new world inaugurated by Jesus, there is room for whatever is truly human and for all God’s creatures.”

“Great imag ination and creat iv it y a re a lways show n i n employ i ng t he most d iverse mater ials to create small m a s t e r p i e c e s o f b e aut y. A s

c h i ld ren, we lea r n f rom ou r pa rents a nd g ra ndpa rents to ca r r y on t h is joy f u l t rad it ion, which encapsulates a wea lth of popu l a r piet y,” Fra nc is w rote. “ The Nativity scene clearly teaches us that we cannot let ourselves be fooled by wealth and fleeting promises of happiness,” Francis said.

He noted how people delight in placing figures in the scene with no apparent connection to the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ birth.

“From the shepherd to the blacksmith, to the baker to the musicians, from the women carrying jugs of water to the children at play: all this speaks of the everyday holiness,” Francis wrote.

Nighttime backdrop: God does not abandon us

BUT he focused in the letter on some key elements, starting with the starry night, the simplicity of the stable and the poverty of the shepherds.

Giving the Nativity scene a nighttime backdrop, he said, respects the Gospel account of Jesus’ birth, but also serves to remind

The humble, poor: First to welcome the good news

THE simple shepherds—who were the first to go to the stable to see the newborn Jesus—are reminders that “the humble and the poor” are the first to welcome the good news, the pope said.

“In a particular way, from the time of its Franciscan origins, the Nativity scene has invited us to ‘feel’ and ‘touch’ the poverty that God’s son took upon himself in the incarnation.”

That, in turn, calls Jesus’ disciples “to follow him along the path of humility, poverty and selfdenial that leads from the manger of Bethlehem to the cross,” the pope wrote.

“It asks us to meet him and serve him by showing mercy to those of our brothers and sisters in greatest need,” he said.

Legal battles in US

NATIVITY scenes have triggered legal battles in the US when erected on public property over the question of the separation of church and state. Controversies have made their way to the US Supreme Court.

In one recent case, a small

city in the US state of Delaware ordered a Catholic church to remove a Nativity scene displayed on city property.

Francis made no mention of the legal battles and civic disputes.

Instead, the pope stressed the message he said people could draw from recreating the humble scene, where the baby Jesus was placed in a manger because Mary and Joseph couldn’t find any lodging for His birth.

Poverty and simple life

FR ANCIS said the Nativity scene rem i nd s people t h at “Jesu s, ‘gentle and humble in heart,’ was born in poverty, and led a simple life in order to teach us to recognize what is essential and to act accordingly,” he said.

Mary is a model of discipleship, faithfully accepting God ’s will for her life and sharing him with others, inviting them to obey him.

Joseph, too, accepts the role God assigned him, protecting the baby Jesus, teaching him and raising him.

And, of course, the pope wrote, “when, at Christmas, we place the statue of the Infant Jesus in the manger, the Nativity scene suddenly comes alive. God appears as a child, for us to take into our arms.”

The whole scene, he said, reminds adult Catholics of their childhood and of learning the faith from their parents and grandparents.

Each year, it should be a reminder that the faith needs to be passed on to one’s children and grandchildren.

Standing together before a Nativity scene, in wonder and awe, he said, is a simple way to start.

Cindy Wooden/CNS/CBCP News and AP

RELIC FROM JESUS’ MANGER ARRIVES IN BETHLEHEM Advent and repentance B 2ND SUNDAY OF ADVENT: ‘MATTHEW 3:1-12’

MSGR. JOSEFINO S. RAMIREZ SUNDAY GOSPEL IN OUR LIFE

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HE gospel of today is about John the Baptist. This cousin of Our Lord had the special mission of preparing for the coming of Christ. He helped the people to become receptive to the message of Christ.

In fact, a number of the apostles were once upon a time followers of Saint John. That is why we say that Saint John was the “precursor” of Christ.

In order to prepare the people for the public appearance of Jesus Christ, John preached a message of repentance and conversion.

“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 3:2).

In order to be receptive to the good news of Christ, the people had to have a heart that was welldisposed. They had to be ready to change themselves and rectify their ways.

The Pharisees and Sadducees were considered to be the respectable people of Jewish society. They were all witness of the sublime teachings and miraculous works of Christ.

Yet, they remained stubbornly in their unbelief. Many other people, on the other hand, were ready to rectify their lives.

Some, like Zacchaeus, the publican; and Mary Magdalene, the public sinner, had very serious sins to atone for. But because they were ready to change, they could receive the teachings of Christ, even if they had a dark past.

We can find a similarity for this need of repentance, in human relations. If we meet somebody

with whom we have some point to settle (may atraso as we would say in Filipino), we cannot really have an authentic encounter with that person.

The atraso is between us.

We would end up talking about irrelevant things, avoiding that ticklish topic that we need to settle.

Likewise, in receiving Christ, we need to settle our differences first. And the most serious obstacle between God and ourselves is sin. That is why repentance and conversion were the conditions that Saint John announced for the reception of the Kingdom of Heaven.

During this time of Advent, as we prepare for the coming of Christ, we need to increase our desire for conversion.

Many Christians go to sacramental confession during this liturgical season, in order to prepare themselves for Christmas.

Of course, we all have a natural reticence to go to confession. It can be quite uncomfortable to examine ourselves in order to acknowledge our sins and errors and, on top of that, we have to confess these sins to a priest.

But if we truly want to be repentant, if we truly want to remove the greatest obstacle between the merciful God and ourselves, we should be willing to swallow our pride and go to the sacrament of reconciliation with God. That reconciliation will bring along with it the joy of returning to our Father’s home.

ETHLEHEM, West Bank—A tiny wooden relic that some Christians believe to be part of Jesus‘ manger arrived in its permanent home in the biblical city of Bethlehem 1,400 years after it was sent to Rome as a gift to the pope.

Cheer ful crowds greeted the ornately encased relic with much fanfare before it entered the Franciscan Church of Saint Catherine next to the Church of the Nativity, the West Bank holy site where tradition says Jesus was born.

The return of the relic by the Vatican was a spirit-lifting moment for the Palestinians, a small minority of whom are Christian.

It coincides with Advent, a four-week period leading up to Christmas. Troubled Bethlehem in the Israeli-occupied West Bank is preparing for the occasion, where pilgrims from around the world flock to the city.

Young Palestinian scouts played bagpipes and the crowd snapped pictures as a clergyman held the silver reliquary and marched toward the church.

Brother Francesco Patton, the custodian

THE Custodian of the Catholic Church in the Holy Land, Francesco Patton, holds an ornate reliquary that encased a small wooden relic believed to be from Jesus’ manger in the Church of the Nativity, traditionally believed by Christians to be the birthplace of Jesus Christ in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, on November 30. AP/MAJDI MOHAMMED

of the Franciscan order in the Holy Land, said Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had asked Pope Francis to borrow the entire manger, but the pope decided to send a tiny portion of it to stay permanently in Bethlehem.

“It’s a great joy” that the piece returns to its original place, Patton said, according to Wafa, the official Palestinian news agency.

A wooden structure that Christians believe was part of the manger where Jesus was born was sent by Saint Sophronius, the patriarch of Jerusalem, to Pope Theodore I in the 640s, around the time of the Muslim conquest of the Holy Land.

The thumb-sized wooden piece was unveiled to worshippers at the Notre Dame Cathedral in Jerusalem for a day of celebrations and prayer.

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh and other officials attended the a Christmas tree lighting in Manger Square outside the Church of the Nativity.

Hundreds of faithful and residents also gathered for the festive annual event, which included fireworks and songs. Crowds cheered as the giant tree was illuminated. AP

IS boosting the caliph’s legitimacy by hijacking a historic institution

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UST days after the death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi on October 27, the Islamic State (IS) named Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi as the new “caliph.”

In 2014, IS conquered vast swaths of Iraq and Syria, and declared itself to be the “caliphate.”

Defined and applied in different ways over the centuries, the fundamental idea behind the caliphate is the just ordering of society according to the will of God. The IS’s caliphate was never widely re c o g n i ze d a m o n g t h e g l o b a l M u s l i m community and no longer has significant territory. But the IS still uses the history of the caliphate to push their claims.

As a scholar of global Islam, every time I teach my Introduction to Islam class, questions about the caliphate come up, in part because of IS’s claims.

Caliph conundrums

THE leader of a caliphate is called the caliph, meaning deputy or representative. All caliphs are believed to be the successor to Prophet Muhammad.

Muhammad was not a caliph; according to the Quran he was the last and greatest of the prophets.

That means no one can replace Muhammad

as the messenger of God. The caliph, for example, is not always seen as holding special spiritual authority. But he is meant to preside over the caliphate in the absence of Muhammad.

The debate over who was the rightful representative of the prophet began immediately after his death. While the majority supported Abu Bakr—one of the prophet’s closest companions—a minority opted for his young son-in-law and cousin, Ali. Abu Bakr’s supporters would come to be known as Sunni Muslims, who believe that Muhammad did not leave instructions regarding his successor. Those who felt Ali was appointed by the prophet to be the political and spiritual leader of the fledgling Muslim community became known as Shiite Muslims.

Abu Bakr was the first caliph and Ali the fourth.

The second and third caliphs were Umar and Uthman. Under Umar, the caliphate expanded to include many regions of the world—such as the lands of the former Byzantine and Sassanian empires in Asia Minor, Persia and Central Asia. Uthman is credited with compiling the Quran.

Al-Baghdadi adopted the name of the first caliph was no coincidence.

Together, Sunni Muslims call the first four caliphs the Rashidun, or the “Rightly Guided

Caliphs,” because they were close companions or relatives of Muhammad.

They are also believed to be extraordinarily pious. This period lasted about 30 years.

Complex history of the caliphate

AFTER rebels assassinated Uthman in AD 656, Ali was elected caliph. However, a civil war soon broke out between Ali and Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan.

The civil war ended in Sufyan’s victory and the formation of the Umayyad caliphate in AD 661. The Umayyad dynasty lasted 89 years.

The Abbasid dynasty descended from Muhammad’s uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib, and succeeded the Umayyads.

These two caliphates oversaw the continuing expansion of the empire. Under them, architecture, the arts and sciences flourished.

For example, the Dome of the Rock, a shrine in the Old City of Jerusalem, was built under an Umayyad caliph as a monument to the rising supremacy of their empire.

The Grand Library of Baghdad, also known as the House of Wisdom, was supported by Abbasid patronage.

The House of Wisdom is credited with being a center of translation, scientific study and academic exchange.

This period of flourishing, from the 8th

to the 14th century, is often referred to as the Islamic Golden Age. Both before and after the fall of the Abbasids in A.D. 1258, a succession of various empires made overlapping and competing claims to the caliphate.

These included the Mamluks of Cairo and the Umayyads in Cordóba, Spain.

In 1517, the Turkish Ottomans amassed enough land and power throughout Asia Minor, North Africa, the Arabian Peninsula and Eastern Europe to claim the title caliphate.

Ottoman sultans, however, were not universally recognized as caliphs.

Many Muslims believe that the caliphate effectively ended after the Mongol conquest of Abbasid Baghdad in AD 1258.

Nonetheless, the Ottomans effectively held on to that title until 1924, when the Turkish nationalist and secularist Kemal Ataturk abolished the caliphate.

Resurrecting the caliphate?

THE idea of the caliphate, which the IS has forcefully promoted, recalls a time and a place when Islamic states flourished politically, economically and socially.

It also summons up a spiritual vision of a supposedly more devouted and dedicated Muslim community than exists today.

Ken Chitwood/The Conversation

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BEYOND THE MASSKARA FESTIVAL, THERE’S BACOLOD’S LOCAL CULTURE AND TRADITION

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Story & photos by Pauline Joy M. Gutierrez

HE lady with the long black hair looked out of the window of the opulent antebellum estate and into the dusty, timeworn street of Calle Ledesma in Silay.

There, she watched in the distance how the man she loved build a life with someone she considered family all those years.

SAINT Joseph the Worker Chapel is also known as the Church of the Angry Christ.

BALAY ni Tana Dicang was once called the Las Casas de Azul for its blueish lime-based paint.

SAN Diego Pro-Cathedral’s checkered tiles are reminiscent of the ones in the Cathedral of Alcala in Spain.

THE Ruins was built by sugar baron Don Mariano Ledesma Lacson.

One last look and she retreated back in the oratorio, alone with her prayers and the promise of a great love that never was.

The story is tragic as it is beautiful, and it’s one that has been told too many times that it eventually became the stuff of local tales into the wider consciousness of the Negrense people.

Legend has it that her name was Adela, the only child of Emilio Ledesma and his wife Rosario Locsin. Adela couldn’t bear seeing the love of her life’s new family who lived on the same street, they said, and so the stately structure by Italian architect Lucio Bernasconi, who also designed the San Diego ProCathedral, had been cut in half; the second floor torn down. In solitary, there Adela stayed until her death.

The house, which was once a symbol of grandeur, is now simply a witness to the slow passing of time and the untold stories from an era long gone.

Clear skies and cheerful smiles welcomed our small media group as

we landed in Bacolod, where lowcost carrier AirAsia Philippines now offers affordable airfare rates through the thrice-daily flights in and out of the city.

The trip was a first for many of us, but we figured early on that we’ll remember what to love, because, beyond Bacolod’s MassKara and the warmth of the Negrosanons, it is the stories carefully woven into a colorful tapestry of culture and tradition that makes up the region.

One particular folktale, for one, tells the story of the bravery of a fair maiden who defended her people from bandits by seeking the help of a diwata (fairy), who gave her a talibong, a Visayan fighting sword.

On her grave grew the first Kansilay tree, where Silay got its name.

The city will later be named as the “Paris of Negros” due to its prominent artists, cultural shows and large collection of perfectly preserved heritage houses, one of which is the Locsin-Ledesma house Adela grew up in. Solomon Locsin, a heritage advocate, now

oversees the ancestral house that’s adaptively reused as a café, bar and events place.

Not far from the property is the El Ideal Bakery, which, according to the locals, was where the dental office and home of Adela’s former lover used to be.

Speaking of undying love and once-great mansions, The Ruins in Talisay was built by sugar baron Don Mariano Ledesma Lacson in memory of his wife Maria Braga Lacson, who had died during the pregnancy of his 11th child. During World War II, Filipino guerillas burned it down as a countermeasure to prevent the invading Japanese forces from using it as a military office; it burned for three straight days.

Perhaps, the most interesting part of our cultural tour, however, was a visit to Balay ni Tana Dicang, which is also in Talisay. It was owned by Don Efigenio Lizares and Doña Enrica Alunan or, as many know her, Tana Dicang.

Like many an ancestral home in

Negros, the house stands on the street where it was constructed almost a century ago. The upper portion of the property was made entirely of hardwood, but used tindalo/balayong in the reception rooms and narra in the bedrooms.

Back then, people called the house Las Casas de Azul because it was painted with a blueish limebased paint and the candles hanging from the candelabra would envelope the house with a warm blue light.

At around noon we arrived at the San Diego Pro-Cathedral, where the first thing one will notice upon entering is its concrete checkered tiles, which imitates the ones in the Cathedral of Alcala in Spain. Lucio Bernasconi designed the layout of the church in the shape of a Latin cross, with a cupola rising 40 meters above the nave.

Curious as to why there are tombs near the altar, our guide from the local tourism office, Raymond Alunan, explained that members of the wealthy families

who have donated to the church, or made contributions to society, were given the privilege to be buried at the parish.

Saint Joseph the Worker Chapel in Victorias, meanwhile, was a striking contrast from the Romanesque splendor of San Diego Pro-Cathedral with its enigmatic sacred iconography and contemporary architectural design.

The church was designed by the Czech architect Antonín Raymond and the mural inside commonly called “The Angry Christ,” is by Philippine-born abstract expressionist Alfonso Ossorio.

The 60-square-meter liturgical mural features an image of a frowning Christ with a large flaming heart and outstretched arms, his feet crushing the serpentine Lucifer. Christ is also flanked by brown-skinned Filipinized saints (Saint Joseph and the Saint John the Baptist on the left and Mary and Saint John the Evangelist on the right) in native attire, standing as witness to Christ’s resurrection.

Critics believe that the work of art was a form of rebellion against

the decoration and the iconography of the church, and there needs a modification of the Biblical premise. The church was declared Important Cultural Property of the Philippines in December 2015.

Bacolod is the 12th domestic destination of the low-cost carrier.

City Mayor Evelio Leonardia noted that with the entry of the budget airline into the city, tourism is expected to grow in the region.

Tourist arrivals in Negros Occidental reached to almost 1.76 million in 2018, 2 percent higher than about 1.72 million in 2017.

The recent MassKara Festival also drew in millions of tourists and has opened up opportunities for the hospitality industry, as well as micro entrepreneurs.

AirAsia Chief Executive Officer Ricardo Isla, addressing both the media and Mayor Leonardia, said: “We’re honored that we’re part of Bacolod not only in terms of providing socioeconomic programs, but more important, in boosting tourism. We know that Bacolod is going to be one of our fast-selling destinations.”

SEDA RESIDENCES: YOUR HOLIDAY STAYCATION SPOT IN MAKATI

By Carla Mortel-Baricaua

S

O, the holidays are just right around the corner and you’re up for some staycation time for you and your family.

Just opened in July, be the first to enjoy the holiday getaway at Seda Residences Makati and experience the multicultural lifestyle the country’s premier business commercial district has to offer. Strategically located in the northern end of Ayala Avenue, this 35-story tower provides guests easy access to malls, entertainment centers, museums, and Salcedo and Legazpi parks, and so much more in the heart of Makati.

Without having to step outdoors, guests can easily reach the Ayala North Exchange retail hub for daily essentials and choices of restaurant serving Asian specialties to Filipino

and Western favorites. From there, a quick stroll can lead you to the covered Makati Walkway system and head toward the mall areas of Greenbelt and Glorietta for your last-minute shopping trips. For that extra Christmas cheer, the Ayala Triangle Gardens is also just minutes away where the Gallery of Lights that lits up every half hour from 6 to 10 p.m. that can be enjoyed everyday up until January 12, 2020.

“The Ayala Avenue is a beautiful stretch and now we have a wonderful hotel right here, with great access to Buendia which leads you to Makati CBD and also very accessible to Naia via Skyway. From Roxas Boulevard, we are the closest hotel in Makati when you’re coming from Manila. We are also actually the closest hotel in Makati to the airport in terms of minutes,” adds Marc Cerqueda, Seda Residences Makati general manager.

If ever you’re planning to remain mostly indoors and cozy up during the holidays, Seda Residences can make your stay as jolly as ever.

For the staycationing family, the swimming pool, kiddie play area for kids and game room for older youngsters, and fully equipped gym are all conveniently located on the 19th floor.

The newly opened Lobby Café is also inviting enough where you can lounge for hours.

On December 24 and 25, the kids can get to meet and greet Santa at Misto, the all-day dining area at the 35th floor. The Christmas Eve dinner, Christmas Day breakfast and lunch buffet will be served there, as well as the New Year’s Eve dinner and New Year’s Day breakfast and lunch buffet. Right beside it is the Straight Up roof deck bar where the New Year’s open bar and a special bar selection package will be made available.

When it is time to get comfy, the 293 rooms at Seda Residences can be your home away from home this holiday season. Spacious and comfortable, guests can choose from 31-squaremeter to 43-sq-m studios to single bedrooms from 50 to 27 sq m to two bedrooms from 93 to 108 sq m. All rooms come with full-serviced kitchens, dining area and facilities, cable-wired TVs, and access to laundry facilities, some even have in-room washer and dryer. All these amenities you get to enjoy the most during extended stays.

For this season, holiday getaway packages with breakfast buffets are available this month and for both Christmas and New Year’s overnight stays. Your holiday staycation treats are just waiting for you at Seda Residences, as well as their holiday goodies of assorted cookies, Christmas cake, and honey-glazed ham. Yum!

AIRBUS A330 Aircraft

AirAsia relocates to Terminal 1 at Hong Kong International Airport

A

SEDA Residences Makati: all units are fit for staycation or extended stays.

BEDROOMS have access to great views of Makati’s high-rise office towers.

IR ASIA will relocate its operations at Hong Kong International Airport to Terminal 1 effective November 29, 2019, due to the closure of Terminal 2. Check-in counters w i l l now operate f rom rows K35-K42.

A l l g uests depar ting f rom Hong Kong International Airport (HKG) are advised to arrive early, and to anticipate some delays at

check-in, security and immigration checkpoints.

For a quicker, more convenient experience, guests are also encouraged to check-in online prior to arrival at the airport. Web and mobile check-in are available from 14 days prior to the departure of all AirAsia flights.

To check-in online, visit airasia.com/check-in or download the AirAsia mobile app today.

A8 Sunday, December 8, 2019

Sports BusinessMirror

Obiena, Knott bag gold medals in record fashion

N

By Ramon Rafael Bonilla

EW CLARK CITY—Ernest John Obiena made it look so easy and so did Kristina Knott as they partied on Saturday night with record-setting performances in 30th SEA Games athletics at the Athletics Stadium.

With the stadium lights providing a majestic glow to the 20,000-seat venue, the crowd—majority from nearby provinces and some from as far as Metro Manila and Southern Luzon—were treated to a show of force by the host nation.

In the sport where six to 12 gold medals are projected to be harvested by the host athletes, Obiena and Knott joined marathon winner Christine Hallasgo in digging up gold medals by topping the men’s pole vault and women’s 200 m, respectively.

The Tokyo Olympics-bound Obiena cleared 5.45 meters—way short of his personal-best and national record of 5.81 m—to clinch the gold and break the Games record of 5.35 m set by Porranot Purahong of Thailand in 2017 in Kuala Lumpur.

The 24-year-old Obiena, handled by renowned Ukrainian Coach Vitaly Petrov, needed just one attempt to set a new record.

After clearing 5.45 m, he raised the bar to 5.55 m but failed thrice.

Purahong pocketed the silver medal with 5.20, while Malaysian

ERNEST JOHN OBIENA has plenty to spare in claiming the gold medal in record fashion. ROY DOMINGO

T SPOTLIGHT ON

JINS, CENTENO

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

Iskandar Alwi completed the podium with 5.00 m.

It was a similar case in the women’s 200 m as Knott made her ascent to the record books with relative ease.

The FilipinoAmerican clocked 23.07 seconds in the morning heats, enough to shatter Zion Corrales-Nelson’s 23.16 seconds record set last May. In the finals, Knott blazed from the blocks and made everyone eat dust from the curve for a solo finish at 23.01 seconds.

She beat Thai Supavadee Khawpeag’s record of 23.30 seconds she set in 2001.

Tu Chinh Le of Vietnam had a season best 23.45 seconds for the silver medal, while Shanti Verenica Pereira of Singapore settled for bronze with 23.77 seconds.

“I was trying to go for the Olympic time but failed. At least I got gold from it,” Knott said after missing the Olympic qualifying standard of 22.80 seconds.

“I have until June 2020. I was hoping to do it here. Hopefully I get funded now so I can train somewhere,” she added. Knott will go for Lydia de Vega’s long-standing 100 m record of 11.28 on Sunday.

HE Philippines got off to a hot start in taekwondo with two gold medals while Chezka Centeno carved her niche in cue sports in the 30th Southeast Asian Games on Saturday.

The taekwondo jins bagged the first two gold medals staked on Saturday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium to add to the Philippine haul in the medal tally that looked more of a battle of second place with the hosts running away with three more days in the Games.

Rodolfo Reyes Jr. scored 8.349 to win the gold in the male recognized poomsae individual event, relegating Thailand’s Sengmueabg Pattarapong to the silver with 8.199. Myanmar’s Shine Sun finished with 7.849 to settle for the bronze medal.

Jocel Lyn Ninobla made it a double celebration for the host team, edging Thailand’s Srisahakit Ornawee by a hair for the women’s poomsae recognized individual gold.

Ninobla scored 8.433, while Ornawee finished a close second with 8.432. Vietnam’s Le Tran Im Uyen settled for the bronze with 8.149.

“It was really close. I’m thankful to God for the win,” Ninobla said.

Reyes’s win more than made up for his bronze-medal finish in the event in 2017 in Kuala Lumpur.

“I’m too happy to win the gold. I’m very thankful for the support of the huge Filipino crowd. It’s really inspiring. Thanks to you all,” said 22-year-old Reyes.

Centeno, on the other hand, dominated compatriot Rubilen Amit, 7-3, in an allPhilippine title duel also on Saturday to capture the women’s 10-ball gold at the Manila Hotel Tent.

Centeno, 20, led 6-1 before Amit fought back to win the next two racks. But the Zamboanga native proved too much for the 38-year-old Amit in the end.

En route to the 10-ball finals, Centeno and Amit humbled their semifinal opponents from Myanmar on Friday night. Centeno downed Aung A Mi, 7-4, while Amit crushed Maung Thandar 7-2.

Centeno made quick work of Tan Hui Ming, 7-1, to set herself up for a potential third straight 9-ball singles crown. The Filipino got the job done in 45 minutes.

“My breaks worked well for me. My opponent made many errors. So I easily took out the game,” Centeno said. “She [Ming] was good but she had too many errors. I got lucky.”

But Centeno will again face Amit, who disposed of Thailand’s Vutthiphan Kongkaket, 7-2, in the other semifinal.

The 9-ball final is at 6 p.m. on Sunday.

“Whoever wins deserves it. Its fine,” said Centeno, a Zamboanga native. “I am excited because we will face again in the finals.”

Centeno and Ami are used to facing each other in the final.

“We’re both just having fun with each other,” Amit said. “The funny thing is she is younger but her maturity is too high. So if there is some tips I can give her, its not about billiards.”

Carlo Biado, meanwhile, fell short and lost to Indonesia’s Ismail Kadir in the quarterfinals of the men’s 10-ball singles event.

T

HE Philippine Volcanoes swept their first three games in the preliminary round for an explosive start in the rugby 7s competition of the 30th Southeast Asian Games Saturday at the Parade Grounds in Clark.

The Volcanoes blanked Laos, 43-0, crushed Indonesia, 57-0, and demolished Thailand, 24-14 in their first three games.

Team captain Robert Luceno carried the fight for the Volcanoes along with Tommy Kalaw, Harry Dionson, Joe Palabay, JustinVillazor, Patrice Ortiz, Donald Canon, Ryan Reyes, Ned Plarizan, Vincent Amar, Timothy Alonzo and Luc Villalba.

They will face Singapore and defending champion Malaysia, which had a similar 3-0 mark today to wrap up their elimination assignments.

The Volcanoes beat the Malaysians, 24-7, in the finals to capture the gold medal in the 2015 SEA Games held in Singapore.

Meanwhile, the Philippine Lady Volcanoes bowed to Thailand, 7-38, after successive victories over Malaysia, 31-5; and Indonesia, 24-5. The Lady Volcanoes will next battle Singapore and Laos.

PHL ROWS TO 2 GOLD MEDALS

JOANIE DELGACO and Melcah Jen Caballero rule rowing’s women’s lightweight double sculls at the Triboa Bay in Subic. NONOY LACZA

remaining, Filipino athletes amassed 80 gold medals, way above the country’s performance in the last six SEA Games where it languished in sixth place overall.

Those golds were laced with 59 silvers and as many bronzes.

Indonesia was a far second place with 46 gold on top of 45 silver and 52 bronze medals, followed by Vietnam with 40-46-58 (gold-silver-bronze), Malaysia 35-24-33 and Singapore 33-25-39.

Thailand is outside of the magic five with 29-44-53. Myanmar and Cambodia have won two gold medals each, whole Brunei has one.

Laos has three silvers and 13 bronzes, while Timor Leste has yet to win a medal.

T

HE Philippines struck with two gold medals on Saturday at the start of the 30th Southeast Asian Games rowing competitions at the ACEA Bay in Subic.

Cris Nievarez gave the country its first gold medal on Day 7 after ruling the men’s lightweight single sculls a day after he topped the time trials. He clocked in at 7:34.27 after besting Thailand’s Siripong Chaiwichitchonkul 7:35.01 for the gold.

Indonesia’s Kakan Kusmana bagged the bronze with a time of 7:39.54.

In the women’s lightweight double sculls race, Joanie Delgaco and Melcah Caballero also won the gold medal with a time of 7:24.21.

Vietnam’s Thi Hao Dinh and Thanh Huyen Ta took the silver after clocking 7:27.65.

Myanmar’s Shwe Zin Latt and Nilar Win registered a time of 7:30.23 for the bronze.

2 Sibol teams secure berths on podium

T

PHL ATHLETES ON TARGET

THE Philippines remained hot on track to achieving its ultimate goal—finish atop the medal standings and repeat the accomplishment of 2005, the last time the country hosted the multisport biennial games.

With three competition days

Volcanoes unscathed after three matches

JOCEL LYN NINOBLA bags the women’s poomsae recognized individual gold medal.

WO Sibol teams hurdled their respective opponents to secure podium finishes in eSports of the 30th Southeast Asian Games on Saturday at the Filoil Flying V Centre.

The Filipino bets in Mobile Legends: Bang Bang blanked Vietnam in two matches to arrange a seat in the lower bracket finals of the inaugural staging of eSports in the biennial event.

Led by Allan Sancio “Lusty” Castromayor, Karl Gabriel “KarlTzy” Nepomuceno and Angelo Kyle “Pheww” Arcangel, the homegrown talents forced a victory with a little more than 11 minutes in Game One. It was a different tempo in the second match, as the Vietnamese team held its fort until a massive fight that broke in the 15th minute mark where three of their heroes went down.

With less players to defend, the Filipinos didn’t waste time to barge through the opponent’s base and destroy their main objective.

Team Sibol is set to battle Malaysia on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. in the lower bracket finals, with the victor going up against Indonesia at 7 p.m. for the gold-medal match.

In the StarCraft II game, Caviar “Enderr” Acampado escaped Vietnam’s Tran Hong “MeomaikA” Phuc, 3-2, to secure a spot in the finals on Tuesday.

He will meet Singapore’s Thomas “Blysk” Kopankiewicz for a chance to bag the gold medal.

Ramon Rafael Bonilla

Brands are bypassing influencers and targeting teens with memes

Brands are bypassing influencers and targeting teens with memes

By Kiley Roache

B

Bloomberg News

IG brands usually take their ad campaigns very seriously. But sometimes they don’t. In their latest attempt to win over the coveted Generation Z, companies from Uber to Netflix are laughing at themselves in sponsored memes, or funny vignettes, on Instagram.

Meme accounts compile text and images or short videos that poke fun at a cultural symbol or social idea. They’re funny, can be curated by a 12-year-old or an ad agency, and rack up millions of followers. Teenagers love memes and brands love teens.

“As a brand, if you’re able to tap into these really topical memes in an authentic way, I think it’s a really powerful tool to show Gen Zs and millennials what your brand stands for, and also that you’re a brand that gets them and their lifestyle,” said Carrie Dino, media director at creative advertising agency Mekanism.

Meme accounts are a way for brands to reach a powerful audience that doesn’t consume media in the same way their parents and grandparents did. Gen Z, roughly between the ages of seven and 22, is the biggest consumer cohort globally, with spending power to the tune of more than $143 billion in the US alone. And while Instagram remains the most popular socialmedia platform among teenagers, Dino said meme accounts are one of the fastestgrowing parts of Instagram.

Tech companies and dating apps like Bumble and Hinge were among the first to seize on the potential of memes for advertising, but more traditional brands like JetBlue Airways and Budweiser have also bought sponsored content on meme accounts.

In the past, companies trying to reach young people online have turned to Instagram’s influencers, often beautiful people who post aspirational content, to spread their message. But as the influencer market grows, from an estimated $5.5 billion in 2019 to $22.3 billion by 2024 according to a study by Markets and Markets, influencers have also come to be seen as inauthentic, especially as ads have flooded the site.

Memes, often sarcastic or self-deprecating in tone and far less polished than influencer posts, offer an alternative voice.

Speaking the same language helps brands get higher engagement from their target audience, too.

Mekanism’s Dino said that when the agency partners with meme accounts to create content for paid posts, “it’s typical that we will see engagement rates of 30 percent across Facebook and Instagram.’’

For the same campaign, influencer or brand content drives rates of about 1 percent to 15 percent.

When Molly Fedick, creative director at Hinge, joined the company, she “immediately thought memes would be a fantastic way to reach potential customers in a place that they were already hanging out, and in a way that would be entertaining for them to engage with.” Hinge, which has sponsored ads on meme pages that recount dating misadventures, has seen “absolutely incredible” results from meme advertising, and is increasing the portion of their marketing budget to that format, she said.

Uber partnered with Jesse Margolis, who runs the popular “Overheard LA” and “Overheard New York” accounts with funny commentary about life in the cities, to create “Overheard Uber,” which posts jokes about humorous and sometimes awkward Uber interactions.

While brands who work with influencers often retain control of the content, down to writing the caption, to be successful with meme pages they need to be able to let go and make fun of themselves a bit, said Beca Alexander, founder and president of Socialyte, an agency that matches influencers with companies.

Lola Tash and Nicole Argiris have 4.3 million followers on their Instagram meme account “MyTherapistSays.” But unlike Instagram influencers, they rarely post photos of themselves, instead filling their feed with screenshots of Twitter jokes and commentary about failed diets, career setbacks, and other hiccups of early 20s life. The page started as a way for the two women to keep in touch after college, but now it’s a full-

2 BusinessMirror

time job. In 2017, an executive at Gucci who followed MyTherapistSays proposed using memes as part of the strategy for launching a line of Le Marché des Merveilles watches. Tash and Argiris jumped at the chance and were flown to Switzerland for the debut. Their memes were featured in Vogue. Since then, Tash has advertised with other large companies including Universal Music Group, JetBlue and Uber.

Another advantage of advertising on memes is that it’s about 60 percent cheaper than placing an ad on an influencer post, according to Zeenat Salimi, head of integrated marketing at Viral Nation, a talent agency that represents meme pages. An individual sponsored post can cost from $300 to $5,000, according to Salimi. But that’s likely to change. The trajectory of meme advertising “is going to be insane,” she said.

Because the industry is still so young, right now there is “no set precedent and no set rules” for how to monetize memes or what rate to ask for ads, according to Tash.

MyTherapistSays typically charges $7,000 to $20,000 per ad campaign.

While influencers offer a more personalized endorsement of a product, meme ads are typically more viral and more likely to spread outside the account. An influencer might prompt a follower to buy a certain lipstick, or share that post with one friend who likes makeup, said Socialyte’s Alexander. But unlike a funny meme, “the chances of her sharing that with 20 of her friends is pretty slim.”

Still, meme marketing also comes with risks; some accounts have been accused of reposting comedians’ jokes without permission, and Instagram has responded by banning some meme accounts, including those with millions of followers.

Navigating the Wild West world of memes can be complicated for large companies. Brands have to be willing to relinquish some control to be successful with memes, and page runners say some companies are DECEMBER 8, 2019

better at that than others.

“It’s really going to depend on your brand,” said Salimi. It can fall flat when “the big corporate guy tries to be funny.”

Sound trip BusinessMirror

YOUR MUSIC OUR BUSINESS

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Editor-In-Chief

: Lourdes M. Fernandez

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: Aldwin M. Tolosa

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: Jt Nisay :

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: Edwin P. Sallan

Group Creative Director : Eduardo A. Davad Graphic Designers

: Niggel Figueroa

Contributing Writers

: Tony M. Maghirang,

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Y2Z & SOUNDSTRIP are published and distributed free every Sunday by the Philippine Business Daily Mirror Publishing Inc. as a project of the

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BusinessMirror

YOUR MUSIC OUR BUSINESS JAMES ARTHUR AT AYALA MALLS (PHOTOS BY PATRICK LASANAS)

REFLECTIONS FROM THE EDGE

JAMES ARTHUR TALKS VICTORY, LOSS AND REDEMPTION.

By Darwin V. Fernandez With report by Edwin P. Sallan

'S

AY You Won’t Let Go' is among the 12 songs to reach 1 billion streams on Spotify, a record UK artist James Arthur would not have expected after winning The X Factor UK back in 2012. With lyrics that describe unconditional love and a blackand-white music video to match, it’s understandable how this Middlesbroughbourn Brit touched the heart strings of the hopeless romantic Pinoy identity.

Coached by FilipinoAmerican Nicole Scherzinger, it almost seemed like destiny to have links to the country even before his hit singles reached the other side of the hemisphere.

“I’ve had endless amounts of love from Nicole, It’s probably from her Filipino side why she’s very humble, very loving and respectful,” he shared, “Even today, she doesn’t have to be

my friend even beyond the X Factor, but she remains to be someone who comes to see my every show, whenever we’re in the same town, I’ve got much respect for her.”

Arthur won a two year record deal from X-Factor and dished out amazing singles and his self-titled debut album and his subsequent release, "Back from

the Edge."

Just three decades into his life and somewhat of a fresh start to his career, Arthur has witnessed quite a lot of traveling the world and touching the hearts of his old and new fans. More than his physical growth, this young pop acoustic balladeer has matured Continued on page 6

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Sound BusinessMirror

DECEMBER 8 , 2019 | soundstrip.businessmirror@gmail.com

YOUR MUS

WHY IS EVERYONE TALKING ABOUT SEUNGRI AGAIN?

By Sabah S. Themis B.S. of Political Science, J.D. in Law and LL.M. in International Law

S

EUNGRI, (BigBang’s Lee Seunghyun), has been scrutinized

by South Korean law enforcement officials, media, and netizens since March. He has fully cooperated with the investigation while adamantly maintaining his innocence.

The last few months, as investigations wound down, there has been a lull in the media; one that did not prevent vast speculation and judgment. When November rolled in and news about the molka trials broke out (involving Jung Joon Young and Choi Jong Hoon, et al) suddenly, everyone wanted to know, “What about Seungri?”

In South Korea, military service is mandatory for men, however, it can be postponed until the age of 28. Seungri’s Birthday is fast approaching and he will be turning 29 in December.

If the Military Manpower Administration (MMA) sends Seungri a notice of draft then he must enlist. According to Military Service Act, Article 60 unless a person is convicted of a crime or is under execution of his sentence they must report when called. Thus, Seungri will most likely enlist.

If that is the case, what happens to his legal battle?

Gambling: The Latest Allegation

ON October 31, the police announced that the Sophisticated Crime Investigation Division will forward their completed investigation regarding Seungri’s gambling to the Prosecution on November 1 with a recommendation for an indictment for Habitual Gambling.

Since August, the Sophisticated

SEUNGRI (PHOTO BY MIKE M)

Crime Investigation Division of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency had investigated Seungri’s connection to illegal gambling in Las Vegas, United States.

South Korean law is unique because it applies to citizens both in the country and abroad.

Investigations about gambling abroad are usually done as a part of a more substantial case against a person.

According to the Criminal Code, gambling for momentary pleasure, or recreation is not a crime in South Korea, but, on the other hand, habitual gambling is illegal.

Unfortunately, the Criminal Code does not explain what is habitual gambling. It is up to Prosecutors to interpret based on monetary figures and regularity of gambling.

Where the Case Stands

Seungri’s case is currently pending under review with the Prosecution. With the addition of the habitual gambling, the Prosecution has a total of eight alleged charges to consider when deciding to indict or not indict: Violation of Food Sanitation Act (involving Monkey Museum wrongfully registering business); Prostitution (For self); Mediation (For others between Dec 2015-Jan 2016); Embezzlement

(hiring legal representative fee); Embezzlement (involving Burning Sun revenues); Attempt to destroy evidence (unspecified); Violation of the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment, etc. of Sexual Crimes (unspecified); and Habitual Gambling (Las Vegas gambling).

The Prosecutor must determine if the evidence is substantial and meets the burden of proof needed to indict and if such an indictment can be proved beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

If the Prosecutor indicts, Seungri will have to stand trial. One might ask, “Wait a minute, didn’t Seungri already have a trial? What was the hearing about the Arrest Warrant (AW) all about then?”

Judge Rejects AW

On May 14, at the pre-trial detention hearing, South Korean Police had failed to obtain a pretrial detention warrant, also known as an AW, due to lack of evidence.

Specifically, the prosecution failed to meet the standards of the burden of proof.

Preceding Judge Shin Jong Yeol, (the Seoul Central District Court) explained factors behind his decision by proclaiming; “There is room for dispute in regards to the main suspicion, which is embezzlement. It is also difficult to recognize a reason for detention, such as the potential destruction of evidence, in regards to the remaining suspicions.”

In addition, the Judge ruled that the Prosecution failed to meet the standard of probable cause to prove “the existence and scope of criminal liability.” Even the most simple and basic questions of “how the funds are withdrawn” and “the allocation of the funds” were left unanswered.

Plainly put, the Judge said the investigation on Seungri’s case didn’t have sufficient proof showing a reason for an AW to be granted.

The evidence had major missing points and big holes to fill before the law could grant a request to hold the suspect in detention.

On May 15, the Seoul Central

District Police said, “we’ll be respecting the results of the arrest warrant evaluation yesterday.”

The Police acknowledged the lack of evidence required for extended detention and decided to continue the investigation without detention. On June 25, the Seoul Central District Police stated that Seungri’s case has been forwarded to the Prosecution with a total of seven charges recommended for Indictment.

Case Review by the Prosecution

In South Korea, only the Prosecution has the power and legal authority to indict. All criminal cases under investigation must be forwarded to the Prosecution for decision regardless of if the Police recommend or do not recommend indicting a particular allegation.

The Prosecution is the sole deciding power on indictment by law.

When a case is forwarded to the Prosecution, it is up for review by the Prosecutor in charge of the case wherein they carefully examine the concluded police investigation and conduct an independent investigation to clarify any questions that arise during the review.

In the case of Seungri, the Prosecutor’s duty is to decide based on the law and evidence whether to indict or not.

An indictment is not an automatic verdict of guilt. Only after a fair trial, a court of law can declare a guilty verdict. Until then,

by South Korean law and the UN’s Declaration of Human Rights: a suspect is “presumed innocent until declared guilty by a court of law.” If the Prosecution does not make a decision or indicts after he enlists then the case will continue under partnership of civilian and military authority. The MMA has special provisions to handle individuals who enlist while under investigation. The case will proceed in the Military Court. However, if the Prosecutor decides not to indict then Seungri’s case is finally closed.

d trip

soundstrip.businessmirror@gmail.com | DECEMBER 8 , 2019

SIC OUR BUSINESS

5

ANNIEWHEREWEGO

By Annie S. Alejo

COME OUT AND PLAY

G

A GIG NIGHT AT MOW'S

OING to clubs and bars isn’t always the glamorous escape people think it is. There are places in between those fancy bars with show bands playing music for yuppies and those that have obscure cover bands in their lineup that would sometimes yield musical gems despite looking very much like hole-in-the-wall, I-wouldn’t-go-there-alone venues. Not exactly mainstream but a little above underground, it seems some of these places have managed to form a niche of their own, and every so often you get lucky to be part of it.

Years ago, I would end up in Club Dredd on Friday nights with some friends. I remember seeing this then-unknown band whose lead singer sang from inside the broom closet during their set.

At times I saw them dressed in women’s pambahay. The band’s

name is Parokya ni Edgar—you might have heard of them. In the now defunct Freedom Bar, I got to see the late Karl Roy rip the night to shreds long before he cajoled listeners with, “Sige na, people, just get on down…” Hell, it was in one of those long-gone venues that I also

even finally caught up with this band my friends and I would hear on the radio singing “Ang tatay mong kalbo!” years after the good ol’ XB 105 bowed out for good.

These types of places hardly exist anymore. The ones that are left, I learned from a musician friend Joey Dizon, are having their own problems to deal with.

Handlebar, where a band I hung out with used to play to a mix of locals and foreigners, is facing complaints from people living in the residential area within its vicinity. These complaints have brought about warnings of cancellation of permits. Joey said bars in the Poblacion area are saddled with this issue, with some even cancelling their shows. Over to the other side of Makati, B-Side Collective is no more, which is just sad because that was where just a year ago I saw a sea of “punks” destroy a metal barrier because they were so thrilled to witness a rare resurfacing of the Urban

Bandits, The Wuds and others in the gig billed “Eighties Enough.”

Still, music knows how to survive. Not just on YouTube.

You’ve got places like food parks that have converted to live music venue, like Arkipelago in Makati, which has opened its doors to local productions, so you get music and some nice chow; Mow’s in Quezon City, where other local prods stage benefit pay-what-you-can gigs, sometimes even for fellow musicians that need financial help; and even a place called 123 Block in Mandaluyong just recently hosted the gig of New Orleans sludge metal band EyeHateGod. The point is, there’s always good music to be had, or good bands to be seen, if you look hard enough.

Leave your Spotify playlist for the time being, and come out and experience it. Live a little, drink moderately (haha!), and soak up a mind-blowing guitar solo or go deep with a bass line or two. And see you in a bar somewhere!

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DECEMBER 8 , 2019 | soundstrip.businessmirror@gmail.com

Sound trip BusinessMirror

YOUR MUSIC OUR BUSINESS

RHYTHM & RHYME

by Kaye Villagomez-Losorata

Ready for U2? What to expect at The Joshua Tree Tour PHL show\

T

HE Philippine stop of U2’s Joshua Tree Tour on Wednesday, December 11 at the Philippine Arena— made possible by MMI Live and Smart— happens to be the second to the last leg of the 2019 tour. The band will park the tour after the last stop in India on December 15.

To say that U2’s concert is the biggest this year for us Filipinos is an understatement.

To add to the hype, here are more reasons to brave northern Manila traffic this December, with the SEA Games’ closing ceremony happening on the same day.

There are only a handful of touring artists who know how to perform in a concert bereft of larger-than-life props and eye-popping spectacle and U2 is one of these acts.

The Irish group’s decades of live band and branding can captivate an audience with a monolith rock (pun intended)

Reflections...

from page 3

in terms of his emotions and in his music. He shared the motto he has kept all these years during and after X Factor.

“Know thyself,” he beamed, “ joining a competition like that, it’s very important to have an identity, to know what kind of artist you want to be. I always knew what I could do and what I was capable of. The X Factor was good to show people I could take any genre of music, any song and make it my own.

“A dream for me would be to leave behind a legacy, more than just somebody who wrote ‘Say You Won’t Let Go,’ I want

PHOTO BY JORDAN STRAUSS/INVISION/AP

stage performance or engage thousands with the help of giant LED visuals that help tell stories.

Luckily for fans, U2 will do “both concerts” on Wednesday night.

The tour will open with earlier hits from Bono, the Edge, Adam Clayton, and Larry Mullen Jr. before they move on to the Joshua Tree Act 2 part that has all the spectacle.

If the band remains faithful to the already widely circulating set list, U2 will open with “Sunday Bloody Sunday", “New Year’s Day” and “Pride" (In The Name Of Love),” a time travel ticket back to the ‘80s in itself.

Expect U2 to go full throttle with “Where the Streets Have

to be here and be someone who just makes honest music, I want to help people through my music.

“I don’t want to make pop music any more. I feel like I don’t have anything left to prove it, and I’m starting to get known as a guy who writes ballads, at least people know who I am.

I'm very happy for the platform that it has given me but the price that I paid is that the music industry wants to put me in a box straight away and once you’re in that box, it’s very hard to break out of it. Now that I’ve done my thing in pop music, it’s time for me to make music that I really, really love.

No Name,” “I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For,” “With or Without You,” “Red Hill Mining Town,” “Trip Through Your Wires,” “One Tree Hill,” “Exit,” “Mothers of the Disappeared,” “Angel of Harlem” among others.

The band then reserved a full set for the encore, which is not so much of an encore with hits like “Elevation,” “Vertigo,” Even Better Than the Real Thing,” “Beautiful Day,” “Love Is Bigger Than Anything in Its Way,” and “One.” The fact that we will experience U2 inside a closed door arena is also something to look forward to for music fans.

Let’s pray that Filipinos don’t outsing Bono and you have

that full concert experience: contained sound and spectacle.

Seriously, people! Stop outsinging all performers during live events. We all come for the artists. Bono at 59 deserves to be heard. Be mindful of the fan beside you who went to actually watch U2, not you too. Do your own U2 sing-along elsewhere.

Because U2 is both band and brand, it’s amazing how they stayed relevant over the years touring an album they released back in 1987. Their songs and their themes both remained significant. In each stop, U2 makes sure they devote a personalized portion of the show to their audience. It would be interesting how Bono will recognize the band’s loyalists from this side of the world.

During their November Sydney show, Bono told the crowd, “Our drug of choice tonight isn't alcohol. It isn't chemicals, though it has been, it isn't the Holy Spirit, though the same. It's you.” In their more recent Singapore show, Bono gave it back to the fans by saying, “Thank you for your patience. It only took us 42 years.”

Let’s take as much of the U2 experience in and try “Running To Stand Still” where Bono sings, “You gotta cry without weeping, talk without speaking, scream without raising your voice.”

A breakthrough in cyber-security education

Lamentillo bestowed with Veritas Medal

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LOBAL cybersecurity company Palo Alto Networks announced a collaboration with Asia Pacific College (APC) to launch the country’s first Cybersecurity Academy, designed to nurture the next generation of the cybersecurity work force in the Philippines.

Starting February 2020, APC will roll out new cyber-security courses under the academy curriculum to students across all disciplines. In addition to the School of Computing and Information Technologies, students from the School of Management, School of Multimedia Arts, and School of Engineering will also have the opportunity to enroll in cyber securityrelated courses.

The courses will provide classroom instruction, as well as technical and hands-on lab training in the newly built laboratory known as “APC Cybersecurity Sandbox, secured by Palo Alto Networks.” Students will go through courses on the cyber-security landscape and learn how to combat threats.

Upon completing the four-year course, each student will be eligible as either a Palo Alto Networks Certified Cybersecurity Associate or Certified Network Security Administrator. Dr. Tata Medado, Asia Pacific College president, said that the vision of APC is to develop talents who have the skills and mindset to take on any challenge in both the local and international market.

“With the shortage of cyber-security professionals being a global challenge, we recognize the importance of cyber-security education as a fundamental skill that must be learned and applied early on in various aspects of our daily lives,” she said. “It is a great honor to be Palo Alto Networks pioneering Cybersecurity Academy in the Philippines, and we look forward to building on

SVP for Corporate Services of SM Investment Corp. Lizanne Uychaco (from left); Asia Pacific College President Dr. Tata Medado; Asia Pacific College Chairman Ramon Dimacali; CHED OIC Supervising Education Program Dr. Bellaflor Coronado; Palo Alto Networks Field Chief Security Officer of Asia Pacific Kevin O’Leary; and Palo Alto Networks Country Manager Oscar Visaya

D APC Cybersecurity Sandbox powered by Palo Alto Networks is a laboratory where students will be learning cyber security through the courses offered by Asia Pacific College.

ASIA Pacific College Chairman Ramon Dimacali talks about the shared vision of Asia Pacific College and Palo Alto Networks as they launch the first Cybersecurity Academy in the Philippines.

this mutually rewarding relationship for many years to come.”

According to Oscar Visaya, Palo Alto Networks country manager for the Philippines, the academic partnership is a show of commitment in addressing the cybersecurity talent shortage.

The course will focus on cyber-security gateway, infrastructure configuration, and defense and countermeasures. Palo Alto

Networks has forged similar academic partnerships with colleges and universities in more than 40 countries in the US, Europe, Africa, Middle East and Asia Pacific. It is dedicated to training the next generation of the security work force.

For more information, visit the Palo Alto Networks Cybersecurity Academy page at paloaltonetworks.com/services/education/academy.

Dictionary.com chooses ‘existential’ as word of the year Continued from Page 8

Another spike occurred when former Vice President Joe Biden, also vying for the Democratic presidential nod, painted President Donald Trump as an “existential threat” to decency. The word dates to 1685, deriving from late Latin’s “existentialis.” Dictionary.com defines existential as “of or relating to existence” and “of, relating to, or characteristic of philosophical existentialism; concerned with the nature of human existence as determined by the individual’s freely made choices.”

DEPARTMENT of Public Works and Highways “Build, Build, Build” Committee Chairman Anna Mae Yu Lamentillo was among the Veritas Medal awardees by the Harvard Kennedy School Alumni Association.

Also recognized were Pangasinan Fourth District Rep. Christopher de Venecia and Manila Mayor Isko Moreno.

Enter Martin Heidegger, Karl Jaspers, Gabriel Marcel and Jean-Paul Sartre, thinkers who molded and embraced existentialism, among other movements.

Climate, guns and the impeachment crisis for President Donald Trump were just a few areas that seemed to frame debate in existential terms. So did the Hong Kong protests, the Notre Dame fire, tensions between the United States and China, and Big Tech’s privacy and fake news problems.

“We started to see existential in the dialogue beginning in January and all the way

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through the year,” said Jennifer SteevesKiss, Dictionary.com’s chief executive officer. “This is a consistent theme that we saw in our data, but it also was leveraged across many different important questions of our time.”

As for Forky, his journey from disposable utensil to handmade toy points to the concept of “agency,” Kelly said, referring to the power to direct our own existences.

That, he said, affords us the “opportunity to turn existential threats into existential choices.” AP DECEMBER 8, 2019

EPARTMENT of Public Works and Highways “Build, Build, Build” Committee Chairman Anna Mae Yu Lamentillo was awarded with the Veritas Medal by the Harvard Kennedy School Alumni Association for answering the call of public service last November 30 at the 1st Bureaucrats’ Ball held at New World Hotel in Makati.

Also recognized were Pangasinan Fourth District Rep. Christopher de Venecia and Manila Mayor Isko Moreno.

Lamentillo is the concurrent chairman of the Infrastructure Cluster Communica­ tions Committee. She has worked with the United Nations Development Programme and the Food and Agricul­t ure Organization of the United Nations for the Haiyan Emer­gency Response and Rehabilitation Pro­g ramme.

The Veritas Medal awardee graduated cum laude from the Uni­versity of the Philip­pines Los Baños with a degree in Devel­opment Communi­c ations. She garnered the highest general weighted average for Development Journalism majors and received the Faculty Medal for Academic Excellence.

Lamentillo com­pleted her Executive Education in Economic Development in Harvard Kennedy School, and is currently pursuing her Juris Doc­tor program at the UP College of Law. Lamentillo has been awarded the Natatanging Isko­l ar Para sa Bayan and the Oblation Statute for the Virtues of Industry and Magnanimity. She was also named as one of 50 Asean Movers and Shakers

by BluPrint, one of 18 Game Changers by Lifestyle Asia and one of 2019’s Women of Style and Substance by People Asia.

She maintains a column on the OpEd section of a daily newspaper and a magazine.

Classic blue is Pantone Color Institute’s 2020 color of the year

THE Pantone Color Institute has named classic blue as its color of the year for 2020. The collage shows the color on a US Navy Blue Angel flying over Sausalito, California, on October 10, 2019, and on the sweatshirt of Swedish youth climate activist Greta Thunberg during a protest outside the White House in Washington on September 13, 2019, among others. AP

By Leanne Italie

I

The Associated Press

N these uneasy times, as we move along to a new decade, the Pantone Color Institute has reached back in time to calming, confident classic blue as its color of the year for 2020.

The color is an anchor offering stability, constancy and connection, said Laurie Pressman, vice president of the global purveyors of color consulting, trendspotting and analysis.

“It’s a reassuring presence,” she told The Associated Press ahead of Wednesday’s reveal.

Akin to maritime blue—not indigo and brighter than navy—classic blue evokes a feeling of vast expanse, Pressman said of the shade also known as Pantone 19-4052.

Pressman and her team scoured the worlds of art, fashion and home decor, along with commercial, graphic and industrial design, to come up with the pick, as they have since Cerulean became the inaugural color of the year for the milestone 2000.

But classic blue isn’t just about nostalgia, she said. Creators around the globe are putting out modern takes for runways, mobile phones, kitchen appliances and the paint of pricey, forward-looking cars and motorcycles.

At Wednesday’s launch event, Pressman insisted the color was in no way a nod to the hue associated with the Democratic Party, though she knew the question would surface. “This was not a political move for us. This is global. We do not look at color through a political lens. We look at our life through a colorful lens,” she told the AP. Pantone chose living coral for 2019 and ultra violet the year before that.

Whether as throwback or harbinger of

things to come, classic blue harkens back to when things “seemed simpler, seemed more comfortable, but at the same time not suggesting that it be done in a way that it was then,” Pressman said.

Cerulean, which heralded the new millennium, is the color of the daytime sky, while classic blue is the sky at dusk as the new decade commences.

“It has depth to it, but it’s a color of anticipation because we’re looking ahead,” Pressman said. “The day is over. We’re looking forward to the evening. What’s going to come?”

Classic blue is a vibrant yet non-aggressive and easily relatable color, she said. It’s also among nature’s anthocyanin pigments possessing antioxidant and other healthfostering benefits.

Think blueberries.

“Many of us feel stressed, completely overloaded,” Pressman said. “We live these 24/7 lifestyles. We’re anxious.

There’s so much uncertainty and unrest, no matter where you are. With that we’ve seen this whole increased focus on wellness and self-care.”

The timeless color is also gender neutral and seasonless, mixing well with other shades throughout the spectrum yet making a strong statement on its own. It also works well in a range of textures.

“It’s a color that can take on different appearances through different applications, finishes and textures,” Pressman said, lending itself to everything from lustrous sheens to sparkly sequins.

The anointed blue also plays into the sustainability movement.

“We have all this focus on buy less, buy good, so people aren’t throwing things into a landfill,” Pressman said.

“You read about buying things to last and this is a timeless blue shade. It’s always there and you’re comfortable with it, like blue jeans.”

For offices, it offers an air of security, she said. For kitchens, it’s a top accent color in appliances and walls. Classic blue is a mainstay color in stemware, dishes and other tabletop staples as a trusted expression of elegance, she said.

“Everybody’s comfortable with blue,” Pressman said. “We know it. We like it.” AP

Dictionary.com chooses ‘existential’ as word of the year

C

LIMATE change, gun violence, the very nature of democracy and an angsty little movie star called Forky helped propel “existential” to Dictionary.com’s word of the year.

The choice reflects months of high-stakes threats and crises, real and pondered, across the news, the world and throughout 2019.

“In our data, it speaks to this sense of grappling with our survival, both literally and figuratively, that defined so much of the discourse,” said John Kelly, senior research editor for the site, ahead of Monday’s announcement.

The word earned top of mind awareness in sustained searches at Dictionary.com in the aftermath of wildfires and Hurricane Dorian, and mass shootings in Christchurch, New Zealand, and El Paso, Texas. It also reared itself in presidential politics and pop culture, including Forky the white plastic spork who was the breakout star of Toy Story 4.

THIS December 1, 2019, photo shows the word “existential” in a dictionary in the Brooklyn borough of New York. Dictionary.com picked existential as the word of the year. The choice reflects months of high-stakes threats and crises, real and pondered, across the news, the world and throughout 2019. AP

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DECEMBER 8, 2019

The soiled utensil is convinced his destiny is in the trash, until he embraces his purpose as a treasured toy of kindergartener Bonnie. “Forky underscores how this sense of grappling can also inspire us to ask big questions about who we are, about our purpose,” Kelly told The Associated Press.

Oxford Dictionaries picked “climate emergency” as its word of the year, noting usage evidence that reflects the “ethos, mood, or preoccupations of the passing year,” the company said in a statement. Dictionary.com crunches lookup and other data to decide which word to anoint each year. The site has been picking a word of the year since 2010.

Among search spikes for existential were those that occurred after both Democratic presidential contender Bernie Sanders and 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg characterized climate change as an existential crisis, Kelly said.

Continued on Page 7