BusinessMirror December 10, 2019

w

n

Tuesday, December 10, 2019 Vol. 15 No. 61

Corruption pulls down PHL in food security list 64th C

By Cai U. Ordinario

The country’s score was at 61, a 1.7-point increase from 2018.

However, if the country’s natural resources and resilience is taken into consideration, the Philippines’s ranking further declines

silver

bronze

total

philippines

129

96

100

325

Vietnam

75

76

86

237

thailand

74

88

99

261

indonesia

69

72

94

235

The Philippines’s rank among 113 countries listed in the 2019 Global Food Security Index. It trailed five of its Asean peers: Singapore, which ranked 1st; Malaysia, 28th; Thailand, 52nd; Vietnam, 54th; and Indonesia, 62nd

singapore

49

39

58

146

malaysia

48

49

64

161

camBodia

4

6

27

37

considered, countries who are heavily dependent on food imports for their food supplies such as Singapore, the United Emirates and the Philippines saw their ranking drop significantly, by 11, nine and eight places respectively,” the statement read.

myanmar

3

17

47

67

to 72nd out of 113 countries. The country’s ranking in natural resources and resilience was 108th out of 113.

“When the fourth pillar [natural resources and resilience] was

BrUnei

2

5

6

13

laos

0

5

22

27

timor-leste

0

0

3

3

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n

contingent

See “Food security,” A2

Duterte wants a dialogue with water firms, lawyers

By Bernadette D. Nicolas

P

T

See “Middle class,” A8

as of december 9, 2019 | 7:00 p.m. gold

Growing middle class seen dining out more

HE improved purchasing power of the country’s growing middle class will enable them to dine out more and allow the food service industry to sustain its expansion in the next five years, a global report said.

According to a Global Agricultural Information Network report, sales of the Philippine food service industry could go up by at least 8 percent next year to a record $16.11 billion. This year, the GAIN report estimated that the sector recorded sales of $15 billion, 8.5 percent higher than last year’s $13.73 billion.

“The Philippine food service sector will continue its steady growth over the next three to five years, propelled by consumers’stronger purchasing power, a larger middle class, higher urbanization, and increasing dining options,” read the recently published report.

medal tally

@caiordinario

ORRUPTION and low investment in agriculture research and development caused the Philippines to rank low in The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) and Corteva Agriscience Global Food Security Index (GFSI) 2019.

The Philippines also lagged behind at least five of its Asean peers —Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia. It ranked 64th out of 113 countries, way below these five Asean peers.

P25.00 nationwide | 4 sections 38 pages |

GOLD FOR SAILING The Philippine sailing team in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games boosted the country’s medal tally on Monday, bagging gold in the event held in Subic Bay. Proudly showing their medals are, from left: Whok Dimapilis, Rubin Cruz, Joel Mejarito, Ridgely Balladares, Edgar Villapaña and Richly Magsanay. The Philippines continued to dominate the regional sporting event, apparently maximing the homecourt advantage. As of Monday, it tallied a total harvest of 325 medals, including 129 golds, and appeared set to become the 2019 overall champion of the SEA Games. More SEA Games photos and stories on pages C1-C3. NONOY LACZA

@BNicolasBM

RESIDENT Duterte said he is keen on meeting with the officials from Manila Water and Maynilad, as well as the government lawyers who were behind the 1997 water concession agreements, which the Department of Justice described as “onerous.”

The Chief Executive has also reiterated this threat that those behind the government contracts with the water concessionaires are liable for “economic plunders.” Prior to this, Duterte accused them of committing economic sabotage.

The President said it was “unfortunate” that the alleged onerous water concession agreements were in effect for two administrations.

“The matter will not be resolved until I get to talk to the water concessionaires. I want the government

lawyers who crafted the contracts to join us,” he said in a speech during the oath-taking of newly appointed generals and flag officers of the Armed Forces of Philippines and star-rank officers of the Philippine National Police in Malacañang on Monday.

However, the President said in the same speech that he is not open to a compromise with the water concessionaires. “The P7.4 billion [that government needs to pay Manila Water], how can you resolve that? How will I compromise? [If I make a compromise] that’s economic plunder,” said Duterte. “How can I tell the people that as President, I agreed to a settlement?”

The President has been lambasting the water concessionaires after the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in Singapore ordered Manila to pay east zone concessionaire Manila See “Water firms,” A2

US 50.7650 n JAPAN 0.4673 n UK 66.6798 n HK 6.4841 n CHINA 7.2160 n SINGAPORE 37.3217 n AUSTRALIA 34.7030 n EU 56.1359 n SAUDI ARABIA 13.5381

Source: BSP (9 December 2019 )

News

BusinessMirror

A2 Tuesday, December 10, 2019

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Tisoy damage to farm sector climbs to ₧3.7B

T

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

@jearcalas

HE damage caused by Typhoon Tisoy to the farm sector has climbed to P3.7 billion, affecting over 92,000 farmers in at least seven regions, according to the latest report of the Department of Agriculture (DA).

The DA Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRRM) Operations Center (OpCen) said Typhoon Tisoy damaged 132,166 hectares of rice, corn and high-value crops with production losses estimated at 195,046 metric tons (MT).

The typhoon also affected livestock and fisheries subsectors, ac-

cording to the DA-DRRM OpCen damage report issued on Monday afternoon.

It attributed the increase in the damage estimates to the “updated reports from Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Bicol region, Western Visayas, and additional reports from Ilocos region and

Eastern Visayas.” The rice sector suffered the brunt of the typhoon’s damage, incurring losses amounting to P1.32 billion—with 77,683 hectares affected, with an estimated output of 104,928 MT. The corn sector’s production loss was estimated at 5,895 MT, worth P700.92 million, with 41,256 hectares affected.

Despite the increase in losses, the DA-DRRM OpCen noted that the damage caused to the rice and corn subsectors is still minimal compared to their expected total output.

“The damages and losses are only equivalent to 1 percent of the estimated total rice production by the end of 2019. Based on the monthly projection, this is only 9 percent losses to the projected December production,” it said.

₧250M

Money made available by DA from the Quick Response Fund (QRF) for rehabilitation of typhoon-hit areas. The ACPC set aside P65 million under the Survival and Recovery Program for assistance.

“While for corn, the estimated percentage loss on corn production was only 1.56 percent [of projected production],” it added.

The typhoon’s damage to highvalue crops was estimated at P1.55 billion with 13,227 hectares of farms affected (84,222 MT).

About 245 livestock farmers

Spot market prices push up Dec. electric rates

E

LECTRICIT Y rates this December rose to P9.8623 per kilowatt hour, up by P0.3044 per kW h from last month’s P9.5579 per kWh, mainly due to higher spot market prices.

The upward adjustment is equivalent to around P61 in the typical household’s total electricity bill, or those with a monthly consumption of 200 kWh. Despite the adjustment, electricity rate this month is still around P0.70 per kWh lower than in April 2019.

Generation charge, a major component of an electricity bill, went up to P5.1967 per kWh, an increase of P0.1650 per kWh, from P5.0317 per kWh last month.

This was because charges from the Wholesale Electricity

Sugar. . .

Continued from A8

The firms claimed that they stand to suffer direct injury with the implementation of the order since their proprietary rights as producers to earn from their product would be diminished since “A” sugar bound for the US market is “significantly cheaper.”

The companies pointed out that there is a shortage in local sugar supply and allocating 5 percent to the US market will aggravate the situation and would make the sweetener more expensive.

In its answer to the petition, the SRA insisted that the two sugar milling companies have no valid basis to question the wisdom behind the issuance of the order and that the local court has no jurisdiction over questions dealing with the propriety of an executive issuance.

The SRA said it is within its duty to authorize and establish domestic, export and reserve allocations

Spot Market (WESM) increased

by P1.0799 per kWh, driven by tighter supply conditions in the Luzon grid. As a result, the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) placed the Luzon Grid on Yellow Alert on two occasions.

The average capacity on outage in November increased by 525 megawatts (MW) because of scheduled and forced outages of some power plants and the natural gas supply restriction of Malampaya onshore gas plant implemented by SPEx (Shell Philippines Exploration BV) from November 10 to 14 this year. The share of WESM to Meralco’s supply needs was reduced to 10 percent.

Meanwhile, the cost of power

to maintain a balanced relation between production and requirement of sugar.

It added that the SRA has the authority to promulgate rules and issue orders to regulate the supply of both domestic and imported sugar.

During the pretrial of the case, SRA’s representative, lawyer Guillermo Tejida III, appeared on behalf of the GOCC but failed to present any written authority from the SRA’s board of directors.

The representative from the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel (OGCC) was also not present during the first call, and thus requested for a second call of the case to present and submit SRA’s pretrial brief which was earlier filed through registered mail.

On April 22, 2019, the Makati RTC issued an order which held that the SRA is deemed to have failed to appear during the pretrial, thus, allowing the two sugar milling companies to present their evidence ex parte.

Water firms. . .

Continued from A1

Water P7.4 billion for the non-implementation of water-rate increases that occurred prior to his presidency. The PCA had also ruled on a similar case filed by west zone concessionaire Maynilad Water Services Inc., ordering the State to pay P3.4 billion for Maynilad’s losses from March 2015 to August 2016.

Amend, not rescind

MALACAÑANG on Sunday said the President has not made an order to rescind the deals, pointing out that the Chief Executive wants the contracts amended to remove onerous provisions.

The Palace has since stood firm that the government will not pay the P10-billion compensation to the water concessionaires since the decision stemmed from onerous deals.

Manila Water is a publicly listed company and a subsidiary of Ayala Corp., while businessman Manny Pangilinan’s Pacific Investments Corp. owns a controlling stake in Maynilad.

from the independent power producers (IPPs) and power-supply agreements (PSAs) also increased

by P0.1106 per kWh and P0.0987 per kWh, respectively, due to lower average dispatch and weakening of the peso against the US dollar.

San Lorenzo (527 MW) was on scheduled outage from November 1 to 9, while Masinloc Unit 2 (344 MW) was on planned maintenance outage for the whole supply month. Around 96 percent of IPP costs are dollardenominated, while around 61 percent of PSA costs are dollardenominated. IPPs’ and PSAs’ share in Meralco supply needs was at 38 percent and 52 percent, respectively.

Also, transmission charge for

The court also permitted the two companies to inspect, photograph and reproduce the documents which were requested in their motion.

SRA motion

THE SRA then filed a motion for reconsideration, insisting that the court erred in ruling that it failed to appear during the pretrial, considering that its representative was present at the pretrial.

Furthermore, the SRA said the OGCC representative was already in the court premises when the case was called and was just waiting in line for the elevator.

In reversing the trial court’s order, the CA held that: “In the case at bench, we find that the merits of the case and the existence of a special compelling circumstance would warrant a liberal construction of the rules on pretrial.”

The CA added: “A perusal of the petition for declaratory relief filed by the private respondents before the court a quo shows that they are

Food security. . .

residential customers increased

by P0.0753 per kWh as a result of higher ancillary service charges. Meanwhile, taxes and other charges registered an increase of P0.0641 per kWh. Meralco’s distribution, supply a nd meter i ng c h a rges, meanwhile, have remained unchanged.

Meralco reiterated that it does not earn from the pass-through charges, such as the generation and transmission charges. Payment for the generation charge goes to the power suppliers, while payment for the transmission charge goes to the NGCP. Taxes and other public-policy charges like the Universal Charges and the FiT-All are remitted to the government. Lenie Lectura

seeking to nullify Sugar Order 1, Series of 2018-2019, which appears to be an administrative and executive issuance. The issues would then necessarily involve matters of national importance and interest. The interest of justice will be better served by the continuation of the proceedings and final disposition of the case on the merits before the trial court.”

The appeals court also pointed out that based on the records of the case, the SRA exerted effort to comply with the pretrial rules and that there is no showing that the petition was only intended to delay the proceedings.

“Accordingly, the Reg iona l Trial Court of Makati City Branch 133 is ordered to conduct further proceedings and trial on the merits with the participation of petitioner Sugar Regulatory Administration [SRA] and to allow it to controvert herein private respondents’ motion for production and inspection of documents,” the CA ordered.

Continued from A1

The EIU and Corteva Agriscience said the natural resources and resilience was not immediately added to the GFSI to allow data users to take into account climate-related and natural resource risks.

Based on the GFSI, the country posted very weak scores in corruption where it got zero; public expenditure on agricultural R&D, 2.9; GDP per capita (US$ PPP), 6.5; and protein quality, 19.2.

The country was ranked very good in terms of nutritional standards where it scored 100; change in average food costs, 98.3; volatility of agricultural production, 96.2; and urban absorption capacity, 94.1.

The Philippines also did well in food safety with a score of 93.6; food loss, 93.4; proportion of population under global poverty line, 89.9; and agricultural import tariffs, 84.6. In terms of the fourth pillar, the Philippines ranked the lowest in terms of exposure and land at 96th overall with scores of 56.6 and 69.1, respectively.

The country also scored zero in indicators, such

as commitment to managing exposure; ocean eutrophication; disaster risk management; and early warning measures/climate smart.

The country ranked the highest in sensitivity and demographic stresses at 63rd overall with scores of 26.6 and 55.3, respectively.

“The GFSI also includes ‘Natural Resources and Resilience’ as a separate category of data sets to the other three established dimensions of food security,” EIU and Corteva Agriscience said.

“When this factor was accounted for in the analysis, all countries suffered a drop in their overall scores, highlighting the vulnerability of global food systems against threats, such as drought, flood and rising sea levels,” the index organizers said.

Laggard in Asean IN the GFSI, Association of Southeast Asian (Asean) countries that did better than the Philippines were Singapore which ranked 1st; Malaysia, 28th; Thailand, 52nd; Vietnam, 54th; and Indonesia, 62nd.

Other Asean countries in the list ranked lower

rearing 144,505 heads of animals incurred losses of nearly P62 million, while 39 fisherfolk lost P2.18 million worth of production, according to the report.

The DA-DRRM OpCen said the department has an available P250 million from the Quick Response Fund (QRF) for rehabilitation.

In addition, the Agricultural Credit and Policy Council has allocated P65 million under the Survival and Recovery Program for assistance; while the Philippine Crop Insurance Corp. is now fast-tracking the release of indemnity to farmers and fisherfolk hit by the typhoon, the report added.

“The affected regions have a total of 93,711 bags of rice seeds, 17,999 bags of corn seeds, 1,979 kgs of high-value crops seed reserves ready for distribution to affected

farmers who are ready to replant,” the report read.

“Moreover, in Region 5, 7,500 coconut seedlings from the Philippine Coconut Authority and 151,142 bags of [Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund] seeds for eligible RCEF beneficiaries from the Philippine Rice Research Institute are also ready for distribution,” it added.

The DA-DRRM OpCen said the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Region 5 will provide relief goods, tilapia fingerlings and fishing paraphernalia (gill nets, bottom set long line, 30-feet fiberglass boat engine) for affected fisherfolks. “The concerned DA RFOs are still conducting field validation to give more accurate reports regarding the impact of Typhoon Tisoy,” it added.

Marikina cop who killed construction worker charged

By Rene Acosta

C

@reneacostaBM

R I M I N A L c o m p l a i nt s were f i led on Mond ay before the Office of the City Prosecutor-Marikina City by relatives and friends of two alleged victims of an extrajudicial killing that they attributed to a policeman, who has since been relieved of duty.

Charges of murder, frustrated murder and planting of evidence were filed against Cpl. Herjonner Soller, a relieved intelligence personnel of the Marikina City Police, after he shot Lauro “Junjun” Lagarde, 22, and Kim Lester Ramos, 23, a construction worker.

Lagarde survived the attack with a bullet wound in the stomach by faking death, while Ramos died after being shot in the back of his head.

The family members of Lagarde and Ramos, accompanied by friends and subdivision members, filed the complaints against Soller with the assistance of lawyers from the Initiatives for Dialogue and Empowerment through Alternative Legal Services Inc. (IDEALS Inc.).

The complaints, filed by Ramos’s father, Norman, and the family members of Lagarde, were supported by affidavits of at least seven witnesses, according to lawyers assisting them.

A support group called “Laban Junjun Para Kay Kim!” was organized in support of the victims and their families.

Lawyers from the IDEALS said Soller allegedly shot Ramos and Lagarde at around 6:30 a.m. on

than the Philippines. These are Myanmar at 77th overall; Cambodia, 90th; and Laos, 92nd.

Majority of the Asean countries that did better than the Philippines still ranked better when the natural resources and resilience pillar was factored in the overall rankings.

Singapore ranked 12th overall followed by Malaysia, 33rd; Vietnam, 57th; and Indonesia, 65th.

Thailand, Myanmar and Laos saw their ranking improve with the adjustment for natural resources and resilience pillar at 51st; 69th; and 87th, respectively.

“The insights revealed by the GFSI 2019 allow all stakeholders in the food ecosystem to clearly understand the current challenges that are hindering our progress toward a more food-secure world,” said Dana Bolden, senior vice president of External Affairs and Sustainability for Corteva Agriscience.

“We all play a role in the food value chain— from farmers, governments and industry leaders to retailers and consumers—and as such, it is our shared responsibility to use these findings as a catalyst for action, and drive progress towards a more sustainable food system,” she added.

For the second consecutive year, Singapore,

October 5 in Marikina City after accusing the two of being drug addicts.

The relieved policeman claimed the victims tried to grab his gun, resulting in a scuffle.

“Lagarde was hit in the stomach and played dead until people arrived on scene. Ramos, who had fled after seeing Soller shoot his friend, died immediately after the cop fired a single bullet into the back of his skull,” IDEALS said.

T he legal assistance group also belied the claims of the Marikina City Police that Ramos may have been involved in cases of holdups, a position that was supported by the victims’ neighbors, community members and the local parish.

An hour before the shooting, the victims were sitting on a side street in front of a restaurant when Soller, who was passing by on board a motorcycle, stopped and shouted at them to stop using illegal drugs.

The two caught up with the policeman later at an intersection at Mountain View Subdivision, and asked him why he had called them drug addicts.

According to Lagarde, Soller took out his gun and pointed it at Lagarde’s chest, but the victim shoved him and the gun fired, hitting his stomach. He fell and feigned death.

Seeing this, Ramos ran away, but Lagarde, who opened his eyes briefly, saw the policemen allegedly shot Ramos, hitting him in the back of the head.

Lagarde continued to fa ke death until neighbors began arriving, but they were shooed away

by Soller.

Ireland and the United States retained their respective top 3 positions as leaders of food security.

This, despite the addition of critical metrics to this year’s framework, including the cost of food, agriculture infrastructure and nutritional standards.

Enough supply, millions hungry THE GFSI 2019 revealed that nearly all countries within the index or 88 percent have sufficient food supply for their population. However, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations report on State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World, more than 820 million people in the world are hungry.

This is a problem not just in a select few countries, but in many countries worldwide —over a third of countries in the GFSI indicate that more than 10 percent of their population is undernourished.

The GFSI 2019 also showed a rise in food prices worldwide, with the sharpest increases seen in Venezuela and Syria, highlighting the need for greater efforts to make nutritious, quality food more accessible to lower income populations.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

The Nation BusinessMirror

Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug • Tuesday, December 10, 2019 A3

Group raises alarm over reported rise in killings of environmental defenders

K

By Jonathan L. Mayuga

@jonlmayuga

ILLINGS of environmental defenders in the Philippines continue to rise with about 80 percent of cases allegedly linked to state security forces, with most killings carried out in death squad fashion.

This year, the Kalikasan-People’s Network for the Environment (Kalikasan PNE) monitored 46 extrajudicial killings.

In its report “Taking Lands, Taking Lives—2019 year-end Report on the Situation of Filipino Environmental Defenders,” the group said even forest rangers and other government officials working to protect the environment are not spared from what it describes as a “climate of impunity.”

A vocal critic of the Duterte administration, Kalikasan PNE called for a national inquiry into the killings, reiterating its earlier call in September this year for the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to take the lead.

“We urge the CHR to conduct a national inquiry, particularly into the nexus of human-rights violations and business and other environmentally destructive entities,” the group said.

The group said that a joint congressional investigation by the House of Representatives and the Senate should be conducted “to look into policies that promote extractives and consequently instigate attacks against environmental defenders.”

The report, released in time for the global celebration of Human Rights Day on December 10, said the deaths represent the arduous people’s struggles to protect a total of 1.2 million hectares of forest and agricultural landscapes that provide valuable

ecosystem services amounting to P212.8 billion annually.

According to Kalikasan PNE, the killings highlight the importance of protecting the rights of environmental defenders who hold the most effective and most urgent solutions to the climate crisis as governments around the world gear up for next year’s negotiations in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

By sector, the report said, a total of 29, or 63 percent of the total, are agricultural workers and farmers. Ten of the cases, or 22 percent are government officials. A total of nine, or 20 percent of the victims, are from the Indigenous People sector; six or 13 percent is forest rangers; one lawyer and one church worker.

By concern, 21 of the cases, or 46 percent, are linked to agribusiness and land grabs, 12 percent or 26 percent related to mining, 11 percent or 25 percent related to plantations, 9 percent or 20 percent related to logging; two cases linked to coal mining and one case of killing related to quarrying and climate.

“A significant trend this year is the rise of attacks against government forest rangers and other local government officials, which combine for 22 percent of all recorded cases.

Last September 4, El Nido forest ranger Bienvenido Venguilla Jr. was hacked to death by illegal loggers from which they confiscated a

chainsaw, despite having a firearm with him for protection,” the report said.

A spatial analysis of the spread of killings would show how areas subjected to heavy militarization supposedly for internal security are the areas where the most number of environmental defenders are being killed, according to the report.

Based on the geographic distribution of the killings this year, the group noted that most of the killings took place in the Visayas with a total of 21 cases, 16 cases of which happened in Negros Oriental followed by Mindanao with a total of 19 cases, 10 of which happened in Bukidnon. Luzon has five reported cases of extrajudicial killings.

“Negros is clearly the epicenter, as it continues to face a crackdown initiated first through President Duterte’s Memorandum Order 32 declaring a ‘State of Emergency from Lawless Violence’ over the areas of Negros, Bicol and Leyte-Samar,” the report pointed out.

Meanwhile, the report said Mindanao remains a restive hot spot with the extended declaration of martial law over the island being leveraged to crack down on mineral-rich and agricultural lands within indigenous Lumad territories and land-reform struggles.

“Eleven Mindanao defenders were murdered with positive identification or corroborating circumstances linking to state forces such as 8th, 75th, and 88th Infantry Battalions and their attached paramilitary groups such as the Alamara,” the report said.

Meanwhile, the report noted that a total of 26 cases were the result of active police or military combat operations or hits where perpetrators were identified by witnesses.

“Death squad assassinations that followed the modus of ‘drug war’ operations were observed in at least 11 of the cases,” the report added.

Resources at risk

THESE fallen environmental defenders worked to protect ancestral lands and farmlands and to hold accountable agribusiness, mining and other extractive projects over the destruction of ecosystems and the plunder of natural resources.

In total, the defenders stood in defense of almost 1.2 million hectares of forest areas, whether old growth, secondary, or converted, and fertile agroforestry areas or agricultural plains.

Using ecosystem value baselines established by various studies, it is estimated that the forest areas, if remained under the protection or successfully pushed for rehabilitation by efforts of environmental defenders, provide the Filipino public a total of P146.3 billion in annual social costs of carbon sequestration, water provision, non-timber forest product revenue, and soil conservation savings.

According to the group, the agricultural lands that environmental defenders are working on would provide an annual P66.5-billion agricultural productivity and savings gleaned from climate resilience “if these areas were successfully subjected to land reform and agro-ecological practice.”

Because of the killings, the country stands to lose P212.8 billion worth of ecosystem services every year. “These are ecosystem services fundamental to our country’s resilience in the face of the global climate emergency,” the report said.

“The country is already losing P61.2 billion annually from disasters. We can expect this to worsen soon, as the latest report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reveals that the Philippines will already experience climate-change disruptions in our fisheries, coastal floods, and extreme weather events within the next 11 years,” the group added.

Nationwide ban on single-use Mixed feelings for Cardinal Tagle plastic out soon–DENR exec on assignment to top Vatican post

T

HE Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is finalizing an order that will impose a nationwide ban on singleuse plastics to help address the problem brought about by plastic pollution, officials said.

DENR Undersecretary for Solid Waste Management Benny D. Antiporda said the DENR’s Executive Committee (Execom) has yet to come up with a final decision.

“We will still discuss this at the Execom level,” Antiporda, who also heads the National Solid Waste Management Commission (NSWMC), said.

The DENR official said the order will be handed down soon by the DENR chief as part of the agency’s ongoing efforts to rehabilitate Manila Bay and some of the country’s tourist spots which started last year in the worldrenowned Boracay Island in the Municipality of Malay, Aklan province.

Ahead of the policy issuance prohibiting the use of single-use plastics, the DENR-Mimaropa region and the Municipality of Puerto Galera in Oriental Mindoro have recently signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) establishing the municipality as a local chapter of Tayo ang Kalikasan (TAK), the DENR’s advocacy that aims to engage communities as partners in addressing issues and challenges on environmental protection.

The MOA signing held on December 7, 2019, coincided with the celebration of the 92nd Founding Anniversary of Puerto Galera. The MOA was signed and witnessed by national and local officials led by Puerto Galera Mayor Rocky Ilagan, Vice Mayor Marlon Lopez, and Oriental Mindoro Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Officer Mary June Maypa and Provincial Environment Management Officer Ederlita Labre, representing DENR-Mimaropa Regional Executive Director Henry Adornado and Environmental Management Bureau-Mimaropa Regional Director Atty. Michael Drake Matias.

Along with its establishment as a TAK local chapter is the affirmation of the ban on single-use plastic.

In a news statement, Adornado said under the MOA, Puerto Galera shall strengthen strict enforcement of waste segregation at source and prohibition on the use of single-use/disposable plastics such as plastic bags, cups, straws, and stirrers which often end up polluting lands and seas.

“We are tasked to mainstream the campaign into our activities, hence, we ensure it is implemented not only in our offices but primarily in the region’s top tourist destinations, such as Puerto Galera,” Adornado said.

In December 2018, El Nido, another popular tourist spot in the Mimaropa region was launched as TAK local chapter to boost local solid waste management amid the ongoing rehabilitation in the island.

“This campaign is also in support to Secretary Roy Cimatu’s pronouncement on a department order that would soon ban the use of single-use plastics nationwide,” Adornado added.

To recall, Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu announced that the DENR is in the process of finalizing an order that prohibits the use of single-use plastics as a measure to enhance solid waste management policies and address the alarming plastic pollution in the country.

The local government unit of Puerto Galera has already issued an ordinance regulating the use of single-use plastics, Adornado said. “Now that it is established as a TAK chapter, we look forward to forging a strengthened partnership to substantially reduce the volume of plastic wastes and eventually prevent it from polluting our marine environment,” Adornado stressed. Jonathan L. Mayuga

By Samuel P. Medenilla

@sam_medenilla

W

ITH a smile, but with a heavy heart.

This was how former Manila Archbishop Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle faced his new appointment from Pope Francis as the new prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.

After the Mass celebrating the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception at the Manila Cathedral on Monday, Tagle turned emotional after his new role in the Vatican was mentioned.

“Thank you very much to all of you. I will ask for your prayers,” Tagle said in his short speech addressing those who attended the Mass, which included Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki of Cologne, Germany, and outgoing Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines Archbishop Gabriele Caccia.

For the Universal Church

CACCIA, who will be ending his tour of duty in the country on December 22, 2019, empathized with what Tagle is going through.

“What I like about the Filipino people is you are always smiling even if you are suffering in your heart.

The cardinal was smiling, but I know that his heart is broken,” Caccia said.

Caccia said the faithful and even Tagle himself should welcome the development, which he said, would ultimately benefit the Universal Church.

“It is the best gift we have to give to the Universal Church, we give with open arms even if the heart is suffering. We give with joy,” Caccia said.

He said it is similar to what the Blessed Virgin Mary went through when she was visited by the archangel Gabriel and agreed to become the mother of Jesus Christ.

“We should say ‘yes’ because God knows better what is good [for us],” Caccia said.

For his part, Tagle wished the best for Caccia in his next mission.

New role

TAGLE’S new assignment was announced by Pope Francis last Sunday.

Former Ambassador to the Vatican Henrietta de Villa said Tagle’s new position is one of the most important positions in the Vatican since it will give control over mission territories of the Church.

“More than one-third of all the dioceses in world are mission territories. So all the appointments the bishops and Church aid in those areas will come from

him,” de Villa said.

So important is the head of the Congregation for the Evangelization of People that they are also referred as the “Red Pope.”

Tagle’s new appointment will be beneficial for the mission territories due to the prelate’s “firsthand experience” in the Caritas Internationalis. “He already saw the churches which are suffering poverty. He will be able to help them,” de Villa said.

As of this writing, the Archdiocese of Manila had yet to issue an official statement if Tagle would have to leave Manila because of his new assignment at the Vatican.

“We are still waiting instruction from the Vatican before we could issue a statement so it will be clear,” Archdiocese of Manila Chancellor Fr. Reginald R. Malicdem said in an SMS. He said currently there are still many “unclear” details on Tagle’s new assignment.

Well-deserved–Gordon

THE appointment of Cardinal Luis Antonio as the new prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, or the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith or Propaganda Fide, is well deserved, Sen. Richard J. Gordon said on Monday.

“I am very happy for him being named head of this dicastery, which is one of the top posts in the Vatican,” Gordon said in a news statement, adding that the appointment “brings pride and joy to our country because it is another manifestation that the world recognizes the ability and talent of Filipinos.”

Tagle is the second Filipino to become prefect of a dicastery, following the late Cardinal Jose Tomas Sanchez, who served as prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy from 1991 until 1996. Their appointments show that the leadership abilities of Filipino cardinals are recognized by the Popes, noted Gordon.

“Tagle deserves this new post. Aside from leading his diocese, the Diocese of Manila, he has also been serving since 2015 as president of Caritas Internationalis, a confederation of Catholic charities around the world.”

Tagle travels throughout the world to visit Caritas projects.

“Personally, I am happy for my cousin and very proud of him. Chito’s, as we fondly call him, new post would see him moving to Rome from where he would oversee the Roman Catholic Church’s work in many developing countries. As a news report noted, the appointment is likely to increase his chances of being elected pope one day,” Gordon concluded.

DOTr, Marina launch Cavite-Manila Ferry Service; rides free until next month

R

ESIDENTS of Cavite may now reach Metro Manila faster by water travel, as the Department of Transportation (DOTr), through the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina), and with the help of the Philippine Ports Authority and the Philippine Coast Guard formally launched the CaviteManila Ferry Service on Monday, December 9, 2019.

At the inaugural ceremony, Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade announced that starting December 9, 2019, passengers may start using the ferry service from the Cavite City Port Terminal going to the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) Complex in Pasay City and to the Liwasang Bonifacio Terminal (Plaza Lawton) in Manila, and vice versa.

“Andito kami ngayon pagka’t hangarin namin na ilunsad at i-revive ang ferry operation ng Cavite. Itong operation ng Cavite ay matagal ding nawala, matagal ding nakalimutan, kaya sabi namin, umpisahan, buhayin at itaguyod ulit ’yung ferry operation ng Cavite,” Tugade said.

In a news statement, the transportation chief also announced more good news: the riding public will get to avail themselves of the ferry service for free until January 9, 2020, in coordination with Shogun Ships Co. Inc. and Seaborne Shipping Co. Inc. “Kausap ko ’yung Shogun, Seaborne, ang sabi ko, ‘ itong proyektong ito, gusto ko pamaskong handog sa mga Cavite, dapat ito libre.

Hanggang matapos ang Kapaskuhan sa January 9, libre ang pamasahe sa ferry. Ito ’yung pamaskong handog ng administrasyong Duterte sa inyo,” Tugade said.

Immediately following the launch, the ferry service kicked off its operations with an inaugural voyage from the Cavite City Port Terminal to the Liwasang Bonifacio Terminal in Manila. Upon arrival, it was announced that passengers who will ride the MV Island Sabtang will get free rides until January 31, 2020.

Two vessels will start operating today, Tuesday, with two to three more to be added next month to serve the routes.

A4 Tuesday, December 10, 2019 • Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug

Economy BusinessMirror

Lawmaker says de facto ban on ENDS import now in effect

By Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz @joveemarie

T

HE government has placed a de facto ban on the importation of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) products in the Philippines, the chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means said on Monday.

In an interview, Albay Rep. Joey S. Salceda, said the government has implemented the de facto ban due to the health risks of vapes products.

“1,457 [importations] have been prevented to enter the country due to lack of permit from Food and Drugs Administration [FDA], National Tobacco Administration [NTA], and Department of Trade and Industry for product standard,” the lawmaker said.

However, Salceda said, banning vape products is not the solution as it will only push the users “underground.”

“Based on preliminary findings, almost 87 percent of injuries in US are from illicit vapes because if you have prohibition you will only push them underground. This is what we want to avoid, the illicit vapes,” he added.

“Regulation, taxation and enforcement are the most important. That’s why we are pushing for higher taxes for vapes products,” Salceda said.

Salceda added that the lower chamber is more inclined to just raise the taxes on these products.

“We might go for a higher rate than P25/ ml to P45/ml. The 1 million vape users are almost totally upper middle- to high-income class versus the 23 million smokers with 7 million in the lowest 50 percent. The entry cost to vaping is relatively high at P1,600,” he added.

In August, the lower chamber has approved on third and final reading House Bill 1026 raising anew the excise taxes on alcohol products, heated tobacco and vapor products.

The measure stipulates that heated to-

bacco products shall now be levied with an excise tax rate of P45 per pack next year, with an incremental increase of P5 the following years until 2023. The tax imposed shall increase by 5 percent each year after that, starting in 2024. The bill is now pending for Senate approval.

Personal consumption

IN a letter to the Bureau of Customs, NTA Administrator Robert Seares said his agency has provided exemption for the ban on the importation of ENDS products.

He said cigarettes that don’t exceed 5 reams per passenger/consignee, cigars that not exceed 20 sticks per consignee, and snus that not exceed 10 tins or maximum of 200 pieces per passengers are exempted from the filing of commodity clearance for exportation/importation/ transhipment of tobacco products for personal consumption.

He said e-cigarettes that not exceed two sets of atomizer device per consignee, ejuices that not exceed 200 ML per consignee and part/accesories of atomizer devices are also exempted.

During the hearing of the House Committee on Trade and Industry, and House Committee on Health, FDA Administration Director Ana Trinidad Rivera has told lawmakers that the FDA is now supporting the proposal strictly regulating the sale and use of vapes to smokers aged 24 and below.

Also, Rivera said the FDA is seeking mandatory graphic health warning on packages of vapes.

The FDA officials also said the government must prohibit advertisements and promotion of flavors and characters targeting the youth.

In the same hearing, Trade Undersecretary Ruth Castelo also pushed for strict regulation of ENDS products. She said vapes and e-cigarettes should be regulated, and ban their use and sale among minors.

ADB blog: Population growth is like Ponzi scheme where select few profit while most bear extra cost

E

XPERTS from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) debunked population myths and asserted that universal well-being should be the goal of governments, not endless growth.

In an Asian Development Blog, Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the University of Queensland Jane O’Sullivan, and ADB’s Franceso Ricciardi and Susann Roth said challenges such as climate change and food security are affected by population growth.

Population growth, the authors said, have caused the multiplication of activities that were once sustainable.

“For sustainable development, universal well-being should be the goal, rather than endless growth.

Minimizing further growth in human populations is only part of the solution, but an essential part,” the authors said.

“So far, humanity has been largely successful in mitigating the consequences of population increase on human lives but other species have paid the penalty,” they added.

The authors said population myths include technological innovation will solve environmental problems; population growth can’t be lessened directly without human-rights abuses; and population growth is good for the economy.

The list also included population aging is a big problem that demands more population growth and the statement “we can grow forever.”

The authors said some technological innovations, or solutions, to problems have side effects that now harm the people and the planet.

Some of these “innovations” include the domestication of cattle and sheep, which paved the way for more nutritious food but the methane production and land clearing it had caused are exacerbating climate change.

In terms of population growth and human rights, the authors said many countries in East and South-

east Asia have implemented various population programs that did not lead to human-rights abuses.

The authors explained that the population programs in East and Southeast Asia allowed women to have greater control over their bodies and increased investment in children.

Further, the authors said, population growth advocacies could be likened to a Ponzi scheme, which allows a select few to profit and the public to bear extra costs.

The experts added that as such, population growth can not be a solution to aging because countries with declining populations are seeing higher household incomes.

“Aging has not caused less employment, but less unemployment.

Elderly citizens increase only up to a point, and contribute to society in many ways,” the authors said.

They also said growing “forever” poses threats to the planet.

For one, the authors said, efforts to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions will not be possible if energy requirements of a growing population continue to increase.

The same goes for other finite resources such as water and building materials that are needed to provide infrastructure for a growing population.

Earlier, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto N. Pernia made the commitment at the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) Programme of Action in Nairobi.

Pernia said fully implementing the reproductive health and population-related policies will help meet the poverty target of 14 percent by 2022 and the SDGs by 2030.

Apart from this, the Philippines also committed to accelerate efforts to reach and optimize demographic dividend.

This will be met by scaling up maternal and infant health programs in the first 1,000 days of life of the child. Cai U. Ordinario

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Creative Economy Roadmap aims to drive service export growth, boost employment

T

By Cai U. Ordinario

@caiordinario

HE country’s creative industry is expected to drive the growth of services exports, as well as boost the government’s job generation efforts, according to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez said the industry is a high-value adding sector where the country has a natural competitive edge given the rich pool of Filipino talents.

With this, Lopez said, the country aims to become the top Creative Economy in Asean in terms of size and value by 2030.

“We need to look at creative industries that can bring in economic growth. Apart from making our creative talent pool more competitive and attractive in international markets, we are also pushing for more trade and intellectual-property rights activities,” Lopez said.

In line with this, DTI launched the Creative Economy Roadmap that has priority initiatives and subsectors where public and private sectors collaborate to accelerate the economy.

The priority initiatives include policies, industries, clusters, cities, tourism, and education, while priority sectors include advertising, film, animation, game development, and graphic arts and design.

Lopez also vowed government’s support

“We need to look at creative industries that can bring in economic growth.

Apart from making our creative talent pool more competitive and attractive in international markets, we are also pushing for more trade and intellectualproperty rights activities.”

—Lopez

in the digital transformation of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), including exporters, through funding.

“We need to prepare for the wide range implementation of the digital transformation by focusing on innovation and embracing the rigors of digital era,” said Lopez.

In 2018, the export services sector has reached $38.4 million. IT-related services generated $22.666 billion, accounting for 59 percent, and non-IT services of $15.746 billion representing 41 percent.

The IT-related services are composed of telecommunications, computer and information services, other business services and audio-visual services.

Under other business services, which include some creative industry sectors, such as animation, game and software development, garnered 73 percent or $16.448 billion of the total exports of IT-related services.

Earlier, Lopez told reporters that total exports growth could reach 2 percent to 4 percent by the end of the year. This estimate includes both merchandise goods and services exports.

Outbound shipments of merchandise goods could post flat growth or expand by 1 percent while services exports could rise by a single digit.

Initially, he said the government had expected merchandise exports to grow by 2 percent to 4 percent this year. As trade relations between US and China have not improved, Lopez said the figure could be lower.

Goods exports contracted by an annualized rate of 1.8 percent in 2018. The tiff between two biggest economies in the globe started after the US announced in July 2018 that it will slap tariffs on hundreds of Chinese products.

In July, the Development Budget Coordination Committee announced that it scaled down its exports outlook for this year. The DBCC set goods exports growth target at 2 percent due to slower global economic expansion.

Why do compliance programs fail? How to avoid failure!

F

IRST, let’s define what failure means for corporate compliance since compliance programs have so many moving parts.

Your program might fail at specific tasks, such as automated monitoring of third parties, or timely reporting of issues. But that only means your program is ineffective at certain things.

For better or worse, failures happen. Why? 1. Lack of executive support The plain truth is that if the board and senior management don’t take corporate compliance seriously, your program is bound to fail.

If executive support for compliance is weak, nobody else will take the compliance function seriously either.

2. Ineffective use of technology All organizations use technology to further the compliance program somehow. The real question is whether you are using technology effectively.

For example, if you still rely on spreadsheets to document due diligence. or memos posted to a shared drive for policy management, that’s not wise. Spreadsheets can be wrong and word documents can be edited. Both can be overlooked, outdated or misplaced.

At the modern corporation, only good technology—wisely configured —can do that.

3. Responding improperly to complaints Compliance functions need to be able to respond to people who report suspected misconduct.

4. Overlooking employee engagement This mistake is a sibling to the one above. Not only does the compliance program need to respond

actual conditions in the company, making data analytics an essential force multiplier.

By Henry J. Schumacher to employees wisely; it needs to engage with them wisely even before the compliance program is truly up and running.

Things to prioritize if you want a robust compliance program

1. A commitment to an ethical culture 2. Effective risk assessments 3. Policies and procedures that work 4. Measurement and documentation Fundamentally, regulators, business partners, consumers, shareholders—they don’t dwell on the structure of the compliance program. They dwell on whether the program reduces the risk of misconduct or noncompliance.

Ways to give your compliance program an advantage 1. Start data analytics early Everyone understands the importance of data analytics, but the department might be strapped for analytics expertise, or advanced visualization software, with robust reporting and monitoring solutions.

The sooner you start analytics, the better. Your compliance program can be more responsive to

2. Incorporate ethics into employee training A good ethical foundation helps employees with the most dangerous risk of all: the one your compliance program hasn’t anticipated. Eventually, your employees will encounter a dilemma that your Code of Conduct, or policy manual doesn’t address, and that’s when they will rely on ethics to guide their decisions.

3. Protect confidentiality in internal reports Anonymous reports are more difficult to address; and confidentiality requires lots of policy, procedure and testing to be sure your protection protocols work. They’re still worth it because they help employees trust that the company will take their concerns seriously. That’s the force multiplier.

4. Frequently test internal controls Strong internal controls are vital to compliance, but you won’t know whether they’re strong until you test them. Then, they can be a force multiplier failure, rather than just letting you know promptly that you have one.

What can go wrong when elevating your compliance program?

THE good news: elevating your compliance program is totally possible (with some hard work). The bad news: it’s also very possible to get off track and fail to execute on this initiative properly. What are some of the top hurdles getting in compliance officers’ way? Let’s explore the top three.

1. Not having a vision Have an overall vision of what you want to achieve, mapped in a logical and realistic sequence.

Start with smaller objectives to give you proof of concept and build momentum as you tackle the larger problems.

2. Changes lack impact (or add burden) As a rule, simplify compliance with policies and procedures, while talking about core ethical values. That’s what elevates ethics and compliance throughout the enterprise.

3. Failing to align Above all else, remember that employees are your allies in the fight against corruption and policy failures. It’s in their best interest to help the company succeed.

Avoiding damage, whether that’s defined as actual financial sanctions, or reputational harm, helps the company achieve success.

How to have a successful compliance program

SUCCESSFUL compliance programs gain the trust of the work force—because good compliance can sometimes be a painstaking ordeal, where the chief compliance officer, or CCO, asks others to make sacrifices. Those sacrifices are ultimately worth it, but success depends on building alliances, winning support and working together. Compliance programs fail when the CCO does the opposite.

Be aware, a compliance program is never a one-size-fits-all affair. In order to craft an automated program appropriate for your organization, it is essential to first understand the critical components of a program and then tailor each element to the specific needs of the business. Technology is the backbone of any successful program, allowing your team to easily manage processes rather than getting bogged down in manual tasks.

If assistance in automation is needed, send me an e-mail at schumacher@eitsc.com

News BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Cardinal Tagle tells cops: Renew humility, patience

C

AR DINAL Luis A ntonio Tagle has called on policemen to practice humility in the exercise of their peacekeeping duties.

“Through judicious actions, humble service, as well as spiritual and moral conversion, you can become instruments of harmony in our society, which is being threatened by disharmony,” Tagle said after the Mass he celebrated for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception at the Manila Cathedral on Sunday.

The Mass was the culmination the first “March for Mary and the Filipino Family” event organized by Pro-Life Philippines.

Members of the National Capital Region Police Office led by

their acting chief, Brig. Gen. Debold Sinas, were present in the event.

During his homily, Tagle stressed that the chaos in society could be attributed to pride.

“Impatience towards other people is pride...pride destroys harmony,” Tagle said.

“Humility is a need for harmony.

Until arrogance is not eliminated in this world, there will always be conflict,” he added.

The prelate, however, noted that exercising humility is no easy task since it will involve one being aware of one’s imperfections.

“Humility can be achieved only when we humbly admit our faults and take the path of repentance,” Tagle said. Samuel P. Medenilla

Expert warns of backlash of ‘ethical recruitment’ provision in dept of overseas Filipino measure

By Samuel P. Medenilla @sam_medenilla

M

IGRANT advocates and recruitment industry representatives are again at loggerheads over a provision in the proposed new department for Filipinos overseas, this time, on the possible prohibition on the collection of recruitment fees from job applicants.

In a news statement, recruitment consultant Emmanuel Geslani expressed concern over the proposal contained in the “ethical recruitment” provision of the bill, which he said could compromise the competitive edge of Philippine Recruitment agencies (PRAs) deploying overseas Filipino workers (OFW) abroad.

“If this policy is signed into law, the government will see a drop in the deployment of over 200,000 new hires annually recruited by private recruitment agencies who cannot stay in business if the fee permitted by law is removed by this new bill,” Geslani said.

In some other countries, he added, the collection placement fees from applicants is legal, like Taiwan, South Korea, Malaysia, the US, Israel, Cyprus, Poland, the whole Middle East and Africa.

Here in the Philippines, the practice is also legal, except for household service workers seafarers, as long as it is equivalent to the one month’s salary of the person to be deployed.

MMDA relaunches Pasig River Ferry Service to ease Metro traffic congestion

By Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco Correspondent

T

HE Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) on Monday relaunched the Pasig River Ferry Service (PRFS) in a bid to ease traffic congestion, especially during the holiday rush.

MMDA Chairman Danilo Lim also said that the agency will be giving free rides from December 9, 2019, until January 31, 2020, as previously directed by President Duterte.

Lim was joined by Sen. Bong Go during the relaunch ceremony at the Lawton Station in Manila, on Monday.

“The Pasig River ferry service has been an alternative mode of transport to Metro Manila commuters who want to avoid traveling the busy streets of Metro Manila. They can enjoy ferry rides between Pasig City and Manila City, for free until the end of January,” said Lim. For his part Go said, “With the government’s collective effort and President Duterte’s order, Pasig River is now clean from floating garbage so aside from the ferry service being an alternative mode of transport, commuters can now enjoy the beauty of

the river while on cruise.”

Go also proposed and encouraged concerned government officials to find ways and source funds for the ferry rides to be free of charge until the end of 2020.

The senator also said that the renewed beauty of the 25-kilometer river will attract more ferry service passengers.

According to Lim, the free ferry transportation program hopes to encourage the public to patronize the ferry service over public-utility vehicles and avoid the hassle of commuting in congested Metro Manila roads.

Commuters will be accommodated on a first-come, first-served basis.

In preparation for the relaunch, Lim ordered the refurbishment of ferry stations and the sourcing of additional boats to further serve passengers better.

“Expect better services with additional safe and speedy boats, rehabilitated ferry stations and additional personnel,” said Lim. Lim also thanked the local chief executives of Metro Manila for their support for the project, especially Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto who provided two newly procured ferry boats

Physician-artist William ‘Net’ Billones photo exhibit on ‘Images of Human Rights’ runs from December 6 to 15

DR. William “Net” Billones, the noted physician-artist whose political cartoons once punctuated the Marcos-era Mosquito Press trailblazers of publisher Joe Burgos, is holding a photo exhibit, entitled Images of Human Rights: Past and Present as part of the celebration of International Human Rights Day 2019.

The exhibit, cosponsored by the Commission on Human Rights and the Medical Action Group Inc. opened last Friday, December 6, 2019, at the CHR’s Bulwagang Diokno and will run until December 15. From December 10 to 15, it will move to the CHR’s Collaboratory/Library.

Tuesday, December 10, 2019 A5

which are now part of the PRFS fleet.

“I would like to specially thank the local government of Pasig for lending two passenger boats for the use of the ferry service, and to Mayor Vico Sotto, who has been very supportive with this endeavor in providing alternative transport options to Metro Manilans,” Lim said.

He also added that “though the river ferry service still needs a lot of work, these efforts have given government the needed institutional knowledge and experience in turning this river ferry service into a viable transport alternative.”

The Pasig River ferry service now has seven boats that can accommodate varying number of passengers. two boats can accommodate 57 passengers; three boats can accommodate 36 passengers; and two boats can accommodate 16 passengers.

All ferry stations boast of comfortable seats, convenient rest rooms and free Wi-fi connectivity for passengers waiting for their rides.

The MMDA also installed CCTV cameras to ensure the safety of the passengers and distributed radio

equipment for concerned personnel for emergency purposes.

“Stations are important elements in the operation of the ferry service. We commit to provide safe and convenient travel to the passengers,” said Lim. Further, Pasig ferry personnel have undergone a refresher course in first aid to ensure the safety of the passengers during emergencies.

The ferry service runs from Pinagbuhatan in Pasig City to Escolta in Manila, with 11 stations: Stations in Pasig City: Pinagbuhatan, San Joaquin and Maybunga; Stations in Makati City: Guadalupe, Valenzuela; Station in Mandaluyong City: Hulo; Stations in Manila City: Lambingan, Santa Ana, PUP, Lawton and Escolta.

To further expand the operations and cater to more passengers, plans are afoot to construct three more ferry stations, namely: Quinta Market in Manila, Circuit Makati in Makati, and Kalawaan in Pasig.

The revival of the PRFS is in line with President Duterte’s order to address the traffic problem in Metro Manila. The ferry service first sailed last 2014 to serve also as an alternative to congested roads in metropolis.

SSS eases guidelines on receipt and processing of maternity benefit claims

T

HE state-run Social Security System (SSS) had set additional guidelines on the receipt and processing of maternity benefit claims following the ease of doing business and to effectively implement Republic Act 11210, or the 105-day expanded maternity leave law (EMLL).

SSS President and Chief Executive Officer Aurora C. Ignacio said the guidelines would be used for maternity benefit claims of every delivery, miscarriage or emergency termination of pregnancy (ETP) that occurred on or after March 11, 2019.

“These new service procedures and standards, fitted to the provisions of the EMLL, are designed to expedite maternity benefit processing, while still ensuring that there will be no fraudulent claims,” Ignacio said.

Among the amendments is the simplification of documentary requirements for the benefit program.

For cesarean deliveries, additional documents indicating the type of delivery will no longer be required.

Also, instead of returning maternity claim applications and supporting documents with minor discrepancies or inconsistencies, the SSS will now receive and process them if the member’s identity can be established in them.

Female members applying for their maternity benefit claims are given the option to either update, or retain their maiden names.

Further, overseas Filipino worker (OFW) members in apostille countries now have the efficient and less costly

option of submitting supporting documents issued with an apostille by the Foreign Ministry, Embassy or Consulate General, in substitute of authentication from the Philippine Embassy/ Consulate General.

Meanwhile, SSS eases maternity reimbursement claim process for employers whose employees did not return back to work and was not able to submit the documentary requirements as employed members are now required to accompany its notification forms with proof of pregnancy, such as pregnancy tests duly signed by a physician/municipal health officer, or diagnostic test results such as ultrasound or blood pregnancy tests.

Additional documents will also be required for solo parents who under the EMLL may be granted an additional 15 days. They will be required to present a solo parent ID issued within two years from the date of delivery or certification of eligibility of the solo parent both issued by the local government unit and signed by the social worker and the city/ municipal mayor.

In addition to the said enhancements, the SSS, as part of its ongoing efforts to digitalize its processes, has been accepting maternity notifications of self-employed, voluntary, OFW and nonworking spouse members through its e-channels, such as the SSS mobile app or My.SSS at www.sss.gov.ph.

“With these new guidelines in place, we hope our members and their employers may conveniently access our maternity benefit program,” Ignacio said.

Who should pay?

GESLANI said placement fee is vital to the PRAs since they use it to “pay the services of their employees, rent, overhead expenses, visa fees, medical exam fees, transportation and other miscellaneous expenses.”

He estimates at least 300 PRAs will be forced to shutdown their operation if the “no placement fee policy” becomes a law.

Geslani claimed the ethical recruitment provision was submitted

by Blas F. Ople Policy Center and Training Institute Head Susan Ople.

In a separate statement, Ople belied the allegation stressing it was Camarines Sur Second District Rep. Luis Raymund “LRay” Villafuerte Jr. who inserted the ethical

recruitment amendment.

She also noted Geslani’s statement does not represent the position of all the PRAs. “Why would any respected member of the industry even oppose the highest standards for ethical recruitment?” Ople said.

In Villafuerte’s definition of ethical recruitment, which is very similar to that being used by the International Labor Organization, placement fee collection is still allowed but it should be paid by the employer, rather than the worker.

Under such arrangement, employers would tend to pay more to recruiters compared to that if the placement fee will be charged to the applicant.

No evidence of illegal logging in Cagayan Valley–DENR exec

By Jonathan L. Mayuga

A

@jonlmayuga

N official of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) on Monday said the flooding in Cagayan and Isabela provinces early this month cannot be blamed to illegal logging activities.

Antonio A. Abawag, DENR regional executive director in the Cagayan Valley, said based on the assessment made by the DENR which he personally led, there’s no evidence of new or freshly cut, or illegally cut trees in the area, even as piles of driftwood were seen floating along with other debris in the floodwaters in the City of Ilagan in Isabela during the flood after heavy rains brought about by the northeast monsoon.

“There is no evidence of freshly cut or illegally cut trees,” Abawag said.

The driftwood, he said, are damaged uprooted shrubs and swept down hill from the mountains and forests in the City of Ilagan.

“These are previously damaged trees probably due to the strong typhoons that hit Region 2 before,” the top DENR official in the Cagayan Valley said.

Abawag said the Regional Anti-Illegal Logging Task Force (RAILTF) has intensified the campaign against forest destruction in Region 2, being a transshipment point of illegal forest products, and has been successful in doing so.

Earlier, Abawag ordered the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources officers to closely coordinate with the battalion and unit commanders of the Philippine Army and the Philippine National Police in conducting anti-illegal logging operations.

The DENR is now conducting an inventory of the uprooted and drifted logs and has requested the assistance of local officials in the provinces of Isabela and Cagayan to determine the volume of drifted logs that are stockpiled, especially within private lands in Barangays Marana Second and Allinguigan second, both in the City of Ilagan.

Opinion BusinessMirror

A6 Tuesday, December 10, 2019 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

www.businessmirror.com.ph

editorial The best kind of thanks

A

S of this writing, the bumper harvest of gold medals of Team Philippines in the 30th Southeast Asian Games already assures our country of the overall championship.

We also won the crown in 2005, when we last hosted the games,

thanks to a deluge of golds on the last day of the competition. But then, Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s accusation of games-rigging, though unfounded, somewhat clouded our victory. Ironically, it was Shinawatra who would be ousted from power and found guilty of corruption three years after the 2005 SEA Games, but that is another story.

This time, though, there is no such controversy, as the country is the runaway leader in medals won heading into the last day of competition.

Our athletes really prepared and worked hard for their medals and they truly deserve our nation’s congratulations.

Every time we compete in international events we naturally hope for the best. Coming in 3rd, 4th or 5th is not a crime, but with proper funding for sports programs and proper training, we expect our athletes to be the best they can be.

For this reason, one could say that more than a few of our athletes earned somewhat miraculous golds, because they won despite having only meager budgets for their sports programs.

We hope that after their SEA Games victories, these athletes and their coaches would at least be rewarded with more funding. In the end, we can heap praises and honors on our athletes as much as we want, but the real and much more appreciative demonstration of gratitude should come in the form of funding. Scrap their shoestring budgets and show them the money, to borrow a famous line from the sports movie Jerry Maguire.

Our public officials are always eager to acknowledge sports’ role in nation-building, and are as quick as sprinters when sharing credit for medals won in international sporting events. But they are also notorious for peso-pinching athletes, coaches and their sports programs.

More money into our various sports programs would give our athletes a fighting chance not only in the SEA Games but also in the Asian Games or the Olympics.

The government must invest more money to expand grassroots participation in sports, help with the identification and development of talented youngsters, pay coaches, increase athletes’ allowances and improve sporting facilities.

The perennial excuse is it doesn’t have the money to spend on sports and therefore has to rely on the private sector for support. That may be true, but hundreds of millions of public funds are also lost on shady deals in government. And during the Olympics, the government can even dangle millions of pesos for bronze, silver and gold medals won, money that can be made available prior to the competition, when the athletes are preparing and working hard to become contenders.

It would be downright duplicitous to be offering millions in remuneration for medals when funds are not provided to prepare athletes, to give them the best training, to send them abroad to hone their skills against the best competition, to give them the best coaching, facilities and equipment available. If our athletes perform below potential, there must be accountability, not just from those who compete but from the government who sends them unprepared.

Let our SEA Games glory be an inspiration for better showings in other international sporting events, perhaps even a prelude to the country’s first Olympic gold in Tokyo next year.

Since 2005

BusinessMirror A broader look at today’s business

More gross inequality John Mangun

T

OUTSIDE THE BOX HERE is a new analysis on the inequality between different countries. However, the inequality measured was not about wealth. Or maybe it was.

This analysis showed the “best” and the “worst” nations for the following living conditions: the mortality rate of children underfive, the life expectancy at birth, the mean years of schooling, the expected years of schooling, and the average income based on percapita GDP by Purchasing power.

Childhood mortality, as well as life expectancy indicate the level of health care, as well as law and order, which affect both. Schooling not only talks about government expenditure but general economic and social conditions that allow a person to stay out of the work force

until he/she is an adult. “Average income” is—in my opinion—not necessarily a measure of anything when it comes to life style. One country’s “middle class” is another’s poverty zone.

Nonetheless, the worst by category were Somalia, Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso, South Sudan, and Central African Republic. The best were Iceland, Japan, Germany, Australia and Qatar.

We might make these generalizations about the worst. All are in Africa. All were colonies. The first four are all Muslim majority and all are considered extremely corrupt.

Founder

Editor in Chief Associate Editor News Editor

Lourdes M. Fernandez

Senior Editors

Lorenzo M. Lomibao Jr., Gerard S. Ramos Lyn B. Resurreccion, Dennis D. Estopace Angel R. Calso

Online Editor

Ruben M. Cruz Jr.

Creative Director Chief Photographer Chairman of the Board & Ombudsman President VP-Finance VP Advertising Sales Advertising Sales Manager Group Circulation Manager

Eduardo A. Davad Nonilon G. Reyes Judge Pedro T. Santiago (Ret.) Benjamin V. Ramos Adebelo D. Gasmin Marvin Nisperos Estigoy Aldwin Maralit Tolosa Rolando M. Manangan

BusinessMirror is published daily by the Philippine Business Daily Mirror Publishing, Inc., with offices on the 3rd floor of Dominga Building III 2113 Chino Roces Avenue corner De La Rosa Street, Makati City, Philippines.

Tel. Nos. (Editorial) 817-9467; 813-0725. Fax line: 813-7025.

(Advertising Sales) 893-2019; 817-1351, 817-2807.

(Circulation) 893-1662; 814-0134 to 36. E-mail: news@businessmirror.com.ph.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Printed by BROWN MADONNA Press, Inc.–Sun Valley Drive KM-15, South Superhighway, Parañaque, Metro Manila MEMBER OF

Manny B. Villar

T. Anthony C. Cabangon

Jennifer A. Ng Vittorio V. Vitug

loud about the corruption by the small fish?

Then we come to the moral dilemma of whether humans are inherently good or bad. Is this true: “Integrity is doing the right thing when nobody’s watching”?

In downtown New York, beverage maker Iris Nova sells bottles of soft drinks in a small store in the bottom of a building that does not have employees. Customers are trusted to use their phones to pay for drinks via text message. The theft rate is below 5 percent. Most retailers have a theft rate of about 2 percent but they pay for security systems and guards.

In Japan, Ezaki Glico Co. has 100,000 locations selling snacks on the honor system with also less than 5 percent theft. Are people inherently honest? Maybe not, as both Iris Nova and Ezaki Glico tell customers if they steal, the location will close and the easy convenience will be lost.

On a personal note, for the first time in a decade I am going to take a genuine vacation. So I will be back between Christmas and New Year’s and then when 2020 begins.

Thank you.

Fault-finders cannot ignore economic gains

✝ Ambassador Antonio L. Cabangon Chua Publisher

Further, they all are in the top 10 of “most poor” countries. Looking at the top 10 best countries, the similarities are that these nations are not poor and they are not considered corrupt.

Ask then this question: Are nations poor because they are corrupt or are they corrupt because they are poor? It is probably impossible to figure out if it is the chicken or the egg that is corrupt and which came first. But our answer to that question may tell much about the way we think.

In Victor Hugo’s 1862 novel Les Misérables, Jean Valjean goes to prison for stealing bread to feed his sister’s children during an economic depression. After his escape he struggles to lead a normal life, but is tracked by police Inspector Javert. Although Valjean becomes a successful and generous businessman, Javert is unrelenting as breaking the law is a crime regardless of any supposed justification.

Can we excuse a low level civil servant who can barely feed his family for taking a small bribe to move the government paperwork forward? We all cry out loudly for the “big fish” to be caught. Should we be as equally

C

THE ENTREPRENEUR

RITICS of the administration and other faultfinders are becoming louder and bolder in their favorite pastime. I have expected such sniping from the opposition halfway through the term of President Duterte.

With the next presidential elections just less than three years away, the opposition and critics of the administration are taking every opportunity to launch a tirade against President Duterte and his political allies in their bid to offer themselves as the alternative party in the 2022 national elections.

To cite an example, opponents of President Duterte always take issue about the state of his health and one will tend to believe that his health is indeed deteriorating based on the fake news being spread around by his critics.

I personally believe the health of President Duterte is fairly stable despite his age. Fault-finders are exaggerating the situation and

haven’t stopped harping on the issue in order to sustain their u nrelent i ng c r it ic ism i n t he run-up to the next presidential elections.

The administration’s war against drugs, meanwhile, has become a favorite issue with the opposition and an easy scapegoat for the supposed failure of governance.

But these carping critics cannot ignore the gains of the economy in the first three and half years of the Duterte administration. Despite their incessant condemnation of the administration and vituperations that go along with it, the Philippine economy has expanded impressively since President Duterte took over in May 2016.

The economy performed well in

the third quarter of 2019, defying the negative sentiments aired by several camps.

Economic indicators point to a strong positive growth in the fourth quarter despite the increasing political noise on various issues.

While such criticisms are expected to become louder in the next couple of years amid political maneuverings, I am optimistic the economy will remain stable and companies will continue to enjoy robust income based on positive economic indicators.

A combination of the strong gross domestic product growth and low inflation in the third quarter will certainly pave the way for faster expansion in the succeeding quarters.

The gross domestic product grew 6.2 percent in the third quarter, following two quarters of a deceleration in expansion. Data show among major emerging market economies in Asia, the Philippines posted the second-fastest growth behind Vietnam’s 7.3 percent. If this cannot be considered positive news, I don’t know what else can satisfy the naysayers.

National Economic and Development Authority Director General Ernesto Pernia concedes that the Philippine economy will have to do more in order to attain the original GDP growth target of 6 percent to 7

percent. But he remains optimistic about the challenge.

The benign inflation outlook and more upbeat consumer confidence in the fourth quarter, he says, are expected to stimulate private consumption, especially with the early start of the holiday season.

Amid stable prices, Filipinos now have more spending power during the holiday season that will surely lift household spending in the fourth quarter.

Buyers of big-ticket items such as housing units or automobiles are also in for a treat, as the 75-basispoint reduction in benchmark interest rates by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas this year is beginning to translate into more affordable bank loans.

I just hope that the BSP will continue with its monetary easing to give both businesses and consumers more financial incentives to fund their expansion and expenditures.

A ll these indicators represent a strong economy that is expected to sustain its growth, notwithstanding the negativity surrounding the political circle.

It is, thus, important that we do not lose track of the more important goal of establishing stable macroeconomic fundamentals that translate into improved quality of life for the Filipinos.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Opinion

Peza and VAT

‘Mabuhay ang mga atletang Pilipino!’

BusinessMirror

Atty. Irwin C. Nidea Jr.

Manny F. Dooc

TAX LAW FOR BUSINESS

TELLTALES

NTIL now, there is still confusion on how VAT is applied to transactions involving entities located in the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza). One school of thought is that all purchases of a Peza entity, regardless where they are consumed, must only be imposed VAT at zero-percent rate. The second school of thought, on the other hand, advocates that only purchases of goods or services that are consumed inside the ecozone are entitled to VAT at zero-percent rate. If the goods or services are purchased and consumed outside the ecozone, then the same is subject to VAT. Thus, a grey area that confounds business remains.

HE Philippines is in an unenviable position when it comes to countries most affected by disasters worldwide. Our country is second only to Japan among nations most vulnerable to weather-related losses in 2018.

U

Suppliers of goods or services to Peza entities demand that they be allowed to impose VAT on these purchases. The BIR might issue tax assessments for their failure to do so. Peza entities, on the other hand, have no choice but to blindly accept the VAT, which they cannot use to offset against any output VAT. They usually have no output VAT to begin with since they are all engaged in export, which is considered a zerorated transaction. This grey area is fueled by conflicting BIR rulings and court decisions.

The BIR has issued many rulings stating that sales of goods and/or services by VAT-registered suppliers, to their various Peza-registered customers, are subject to VAT at zero percent rate. But sale of goods and services outside the ecozone is not qualified for VAT zero-rating.

Thus, if employees of a Peza entity book a hotel that is located outside the ecozone, the food and accommodation services rendered by the hotel to these employees are subject to 12-percent VAT. The courts have issued conflicting rulings on this matter. In many cases, it was ruled that only purchases that are consumed inside the ecozone can enjoy VAT at zero percent rate. But in a recent Decision (CTA EB 1909 and 1910), citing the Toshiba Case (GR 150154), the court has ruled that the sale of services made by a VAT-registered enterprise outside the ecozone to a Peza-registered enterprise operating within the ecozone is subject to VAT at zero percent rate. The CTA has implicitly ruled that there is no distinction as to purchases of goods and services which are rendered and consumed within the ecozone and those rendered and consumed outside the ecozone.

This is good news to all Peza enterprises. All their purchases are now exempt from VAT regardless where they are consumed or rendered. It has effectively overturned Revenue Memorandum Circular (RMC) 74-99 and RMC 50-2007, which both state that purchases destined for consumption outside

the ecozone are subject to 12 percent VAT. These RMCs made it clear that purchases must be consumed within the ecozone to be entitled to VAT zero-rating. Thus, when the purchases are consumed outside the ecozone, VAT zero-rating does not apply. Instead, the regular VAT rate of 12 percent must govern.

With this new ruling of the court, suppliers must not impose VAT on purchases made by Peza enterprises.

BIR must also refrain from issuing tax assessments against these suppliers for failing to impose VAT. Unfortunately, this good news is short lived. In a more recent decision (CTA Case 9128), the court has returned to the old rule. A distinction should be made between purchases of a Peza-registered entity, which are rendered and consumed within the ecozone and those purchases that are rendered and consumed outside the ecozone. This decision has implicitly ruled that VAT must be imposed on purchases that are consumed outside the Peza Zone.

This means that we are back to square one. A big question mark remains on what rule should suppliers of goods and services to Peza registered enterprises follow? Is it correct for the BIR to assess the failure of the suppliers to impose VAT on purchases by Peza registered entities?

Uncertainty is not good for business. VAT of 12 percent can make or break the financial health of a company. There must be clarity on this issue. If it cannot be done by the courts, hopefully, a clear rule can be cast in stone, by law.

The author is a senior partner of Du-Baladad and Associates Law Offices, a member-firm of WTS Global.

The article is for general information only and is not intended, nor should be construed as a substitute for tax, legal or financial advice on any specific matter. Applicability of this article to any actual or particular tax or legal issue should be supported therefore by a professional study or advice. If you have any comments or questions concerning the article, you may e-mail the author at irwin.c.nideajr@ bdblaw.com.ph or call 8403-2001 local 330.

T

The Global Risk Climate Index reported that “climate change has disastrous impacts especially for poor countries, but also causes increasingly severe damages in industrialized countries like Japan or Germany, which were affected by severe and extended heat waves.” On the other hand, poor countries like the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Fiji and Haiti, which are among the top 10 countries most severely affected in 2018, were hit by extreme weather events. The current annual climate change summit being held in Madrid calls for more drastic measures to contain carbon emissions.

The ongoing negotiations require greater commitments on the part of industrialized nations and fossil fuel companies that are largely responsible for climate change.

Drastic steps should, likewise, be pursued toward phasing out of coal-fired power plants, transition to renewable-energy solutions and total ban of single-use plastics. We should commend the QC government led by Mayor Joy Belmonte for taking the initiative to totally ban single-use plastic in hotels, restaurants and other similar es-

tablishments starting next year.

The ban covers the distribution and use of single-use or disposable plastics, which are used only once before they are thrown away.

Climate change has been a leading advocacy of Mayor Belmonte since she was vice mayor of the premier city. Most fast-food restaurants use plastic cutlery, plastic cups, plates, straws and styrofoam in serving food to their millions of customers. The relevant ordinance was approved in record time within the first 100 days of Mayor Belmonte in office and penalizes violators with a fine plus cancellation of environmental clearance and possible issuance of a ceaseand-desist order by the LGU. Despite the increasing campaign to stem the tide of climate change and lessen its deleterious impact to our environment, the emissions of global warming carbon dioxide have remained unabated. Recent data released by the Center for International Research in Norway and the Global Carbon Project to the delegates from more than 190 countries that gathered in Madrid showed the emissions from the worst-polluting fossil

Tuesday, December 10, 2019 A7

fuel—coal—have slowed down but they also indicated that emissions from oil and natural gas hit a record high. This calls for a greater need to promote cleaner technologies like wind and solar power, and accelerate the development of electric cars and greater reliance on emissions-free hydroelectric dams, and less from coal energy. A few major industrialized countries are responsible for over 50 percent of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions every year. The report revealed that China accounts for 26 percent; US, for 14 percent; the EU, for 9 percent and India, for 7 percent. While we appreciate the efforts of the US, the EU and India to reduce their carbon-dioxide emissions, the drop is not enough to make a difference in containing the greenhouse effect that causes global warming. China, apart from reducing its coal emissions, should contain its appetite for fossil oil to spur its sluggish economy. Asked if the UN climate summit would mark a turning point in the fight against global warming, Pope Francis answered: “I am not sure, but I can say to you, ‘now or never.’”

Maybe we should now ask people who claim they can control nature to step forward and do something for mankind.

nnn IT should be noted that the less glamorous sports of arnis (our winningest sports with a total haul of 20 medals), wushu and dancesport have delivered the goods insofar as the ongoing SEA Games is concerned. The awesome performance of our dancesport competitors, which has netted us 10 golds, should make us rethink

Singapore’s property glut could take years to clear

By Faris Mokhtar Bloomberg

S

INGAPORE has a property glut that could take years to clear, threatening to kill a nascent price recovery amid an already uncertain economic outlook.

The city-state had an overhang of 31,948 units as of September 30, according to the Urban Redevelopment Authority. Sales have averaged about 2,500 homes per quarter this year, and at that rate it will take almost four years to clear the backlog, according to Christine Li, head of research for Singapore and Southeast Asia at Cushman & Wakefield Plc. The glut has prompted developers to call for property curbs to be eased, including lowering the 20 percent stamp duty for foreign buyers and getting more time to sell apartments before being hit with punitive levies. The oversup-

ply also threatens to push down prices, the central bank warned last month.

And given the unsure economic outlook, sales might fall between 5 percent and 10 percent next year, said Christine Sun, head of research at OrangeTee & Tie Pte. Property prices could still rise, albeit at a slower pace of 1 percent to 3 percent “assuming the economy doesn’t deteriorate excessively next year.”

The overhang is evident at The Florence Residences in suburban Hougang, about a half hour subway ride from the popular Orchard Road shopping district. Just 38 percent of the 1,410 units at the development, which boasts a sparring ring, outdoor cinema, 80-meter lap pool and rockclimbing wall, have sold since being launched in March.

Fierce competition

COMPETITION in the area is fierce.

Three other megaprojects within a 20-minute drive have a combined stock of 3,137 units. All up, just 57 percent of apartments at the four projects have sold.

The glut is more pronounced in outlying suburban areas versus areas closer to downtown, where easy access to top schools, shopping streets and the central business district are drawcards. As of the third quarter, there were 8,917 unsold units in prime districts, compared to 10,538 in suburban areas.

The roots of the current glut, which includes finished apartments and those still under construction, can be traced back to the property boom of 2017-2018 and the en-bloc fever that enveloped the city. In an en-bloc sale, a group of owners team up to sell entire apartment blocks to a developer, which then redevelops the site.

“Excessive exuberance” in buying en-bloc sites caused the over-

‘All of us must stand together and act with principle and urgency’

(Human Rights Day statement by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet in Geneva, Switzerland, on December 9, 2019.)

G

ENEVA—This has been a year of tremendous activism—notably by young people. It is particularly fitting that this year we mark Human Rights Day during the crucial UN conference in Madrid to uphold climate justice. We owe a debt of gratitude to all those millions of children, teenagers and young adults who have been standing up and speaking out more and more loudly about the crisis facing our planet.

Rightly, these young people are pointing out that it is their future which is at stake, and the future of all those who were not yet even been born. It is they who will have to bear the full consequences of the actions, or lack of action, by the older generations who currently run governments and businesses, the decision-makers on whom the future of individual countries,

regions and the planet as whole depends.

It cannot, of course, be left to young people alone to tackle the climate emergency, or indeed the many other human-rights crises that are currently causing simultaneous turbulence in so many countries across the world. All of us must stand together, in solidarity, and act with principle and urgency.

We can, and must, uphold the painstakingly developed universal human-rights principles that sustain peace, justice and sustainable development. A world with diminished human rights is a world that is stepping backwards into a darker past, when the powerful could prey on the powerless with little or no moral or legal restraint.

However, among the many human-rights challenges that have been metastasizing during the first two decades of the 21st century, the global climate emergency presents, perhaps, the most profound planetwide threat to human rights that we

our sports program. This is not a new observation but glamor in sports die hard. Sports fans swoon over basketball stars and football heroes although each sports account for only one gold medal. At least in basketball, we now have a 3X3 version for men and women, which our country both handily won as expected.

In a basketball-crazy countr y like the Philippines, even an unano dreams to make it big in the NCAA, UAAP and, eventually, in the PBA. We should concentrate more on the low-lying fruits where Filipino athletes with their natural talents and built can end up in podium finish. Imagine, had Carlos Edriel Yulo got enamored with sandlot basketball in all his 4’8” height and glory in his San Andres neighborhood instead of doing the tumbling and somersaulting on his way to the corner sari-sari store to buy suka, we would have not produced a world-class gymnast champion and, thereby forfeited two gold medals and five silver medals in the ongoing SEA Games. Thanks to the sharp eye of his grandfather who saw in Caloy very early the potential of a champion gymnast.

Anyway, it may not yet be too late for the likes of June Mar Fajardo, Japeth Aguilar and LA Tenorio to hang their basketball jerseys and don the gymnast’s outfit. I’m sure they can acquire the terpsichorean talents since they are skillful in gliding on the court. It will be great to watch them strut the foxtrot, do the waltz, tackle the rumba and salsa, and maneuver the chacha. Mabuhay ang mga atletang Pilipino!

have seen since World War II. From the right to life, to health, to food, water and shelter, to our rights to be free of discrimination, to development and to self-determination, its impacts are already making themselves felt.

We have a duty to ensure young people’s voices are heard. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 10, 1948, was a firm commitment by States to protect the rights of everyone—and that includes making it possible for future generations to uphold human dignity, equality and rights.

All human beings have a right to participate in decisions that have impact on their lives. In order to ensure more effective decisionmaking, and to build greater trust and harmony across their nations, the leaders of every society should be listening to their people—and acting in accordance with their needs and demands.

Nothing summarizes these aims, the leitmotif of the interna-

tional human-rights system, more clearly and succinctly than Article 1 of the Universal Declaration, which states boldly and unequivocally that “All human beings are born free, and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.”

No country, no community, will be spared by the climate emergency, as it intensifies. Already, we are seeing the most vulnerable communities and nations suffering terrible damage. People are losing homes, livelihoods — and lives. Inequalities are deepening, and more people are being forced into displacement. We must act quickly, and with principle, to ensure the least possible harm is done to human beings, and to our environment.

Climate harms will not be halted by national borders—and reactions based on hostile nationalism, or short-term financial considerations, will not only fail: they will tear our world apart. The struggles

for climate justice and human rights are not a political quarrel. This is not about left or right: it is about rights—and wrongs.

It is not just concerns about the accelerating climate crisis that have driven millions to stand up and demand action. In every region, people are finding their voice to speak up about inequalities and repressive institutions. I am inspired by the courage, clarity and principle of all these people, some of them very young indeed, who are standing up peacefully, in order to right the wrongs of our era, and create greater freedom and justice. They are the living expression of human rights.

Policy-makers everywhere need to listen to these calls. And, in response, they need to shape more effective, and more principled, policies.

We have a right to live free from discrimination on any grounds. We have a right to access education, health care, economic opportunities and a decent standard of liv-

supply, Cushman & Wakefield’s Li said. And it would be “unwise” for the government to bail out developers by easing cooling measures, she said. Instead, stricter limits should be imposed on en-bloc sales to prevent a repeat of the buying frenzy.

“If this precedent of a bailout is set, developers will not exercise restraint in acquiring en-bloc sites in future cycles, flooding the market with supply and relying on the government to rescue them again,” Li said.

Bloomberg Opinion’s A ndy Mukherjee says: “If the city hadn’t punctured the en-bloc mania in time, home prices would by now have started to run away. Affordability would have become an issue, especially at a time when, caught in the crossfire of the US-China trade war, Singapore residents have seen their incomes rise much more slowly.”

ing. We—all of us—have a right to participate in decisions that affect our lives. This is about our future, our livelihoods, our freedoms, our security and our environment. And not just our future, but the future of our children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.

We need to mobilize across the world—peacefully and powerfully—to advance a world of rights, dignity and choice for everyone.

The decision-makers understood that vision very clearly in 1948.

Do they understand it now? I urge world leaders to show true leadership and long-term vision and set aside narrow national political interests for the sake of everyone, including themselves and all their descendants.

The UDHR was adopted by the UN General Assembly at the Palais de Chaillot in Paris three years after the end of World War II. It was the product of 18 months’ work by a drafting committee, with members and advisers from all across the world.

A8 Tuesday, December 10, 2019

CA okays SRA petition to defend sugar allocation order

T

By Joel R. San Juan

@jrsanjuan1573

HE Court of Appeals (CA) has directed the Regional Trial Court of Makati City to allow the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) to defend its order requiring sugar millers to allocate 5 percent of their output for the United States market.

The issues would then necessarily involve matters of national importance and interest. The interest of justice will be better served by the continuation of the proceedings and final disposition of the case on the merits before the trial court.”—Court of Appeals In a 10-page decision penned by Associate Justice Ramon Garcia, the CA’s Eight Division granted

the petition filed by SRA seeking the reversal of the order issued by Branch 133 of Makati RTC.

The Makati RTC order allowed Central Azucarera de Bais and Central Azucarera de San Antonio Inc.— two of the country’s top sugar producers—to present their evidence ex parte for the failure of the SRA to appear during the pretrial on the petition they filed seeking to declare as invalid SRA Sugar Order (SO) 1.

The SRA, a government-owned a nd - cont rol led cor porat ion (GOCC) attached to the Department of Agriculture, usually issues SO 1 before the start of the sugar crop year. SO 1 indicates the al-

location of sugar for the domestic market and the export market.

SO 1 issued by the SRA in August 2018 allocated 5 percent of sugar production for crop year 2018-2019 to the US market, while 95 percent was classified as “B” sugar which will go to the domestic market.

As they are accredited by the SRA, the two sugar milling companies filed on September 19, 2018, a petition for declaratory relief before the Makati RTC questioning the issuance of the order.

See “Sugar,” A2

DA opens ₧34-M loan facility for TRO sought D.O.T. READIES NEW ADS farmers, fishers as mgt fee is cut vs illegal FOR GLOBAL AUDIENCE motorbike T taxi apps HE government has opened an additional P34-million loan facility for farmers after two state-run financial institutions reduced their fee for managing the loan funds of the Department of Agriculture (DA) by 1-percentage point.

The DA said in a statement that the Land Bank of the Philippines (LandBank) and the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) have heeded the call of President Duterte to make credit affordable to small farmers.

T he board of d irectors of LandBank and the DBP cut their

management fee for the three DAbacked loan portfolios to 3.5 percent, from 4.5 percent last month.

These loan portfolios are the P1billion credit component of the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF); P1-billion credit program under the Sugarcane Industry Development Act (Sida); and the P1.4-billion Agricultural Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (Acef).

The DA said it made the request to reduce the management fee through a letter submitted to Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III last October 23.

The DA said the three financing

TAIL-END OF A COLD FRONT AFFECTING BICOL REGION AND EASTERN VISAYAS NORTHEAST MONSOON AFFECTING THE REST OF LUZON as of 4:00 pm - December 9, 2019

programs “aim to make rice, sugarcane, and other farmers and fishers more productive, profitable and prosperous, and globally competitive.” Under RCEF, the P1-B credit fund is equally shared by the LandBank and DBP, at P500 million each. The Sida and Acef financing programs are both managed by the LandBank on the DA’s behalf.

“The said policy [reduction of management fee] complies with the call of President Duterte to make credit affordable to small farmers and fishers,” Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar said in a statement.

Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo

@akosistellaBM Special to the BusinessMirror

By Lorenz S. Marasigan @lorenzmarasigan

A

COMMUTER group has filed for an injunction order against five motorcycle taxi apps that it called “illegal” as they had not been recognized and authorized by the transport regulator.

Ariel Inton, who speaks on behalf of the Lawyers for Commuters Safety and Protection (LCSP), listed the ride-hailing apps as We Move Things Philippines Inc. (Joyride), Habal Rides Corp., I-Sabay, Sampa-Dala Corp., and Trans-Serve Corp.

The temporary restraining order (TRO) against the five was filed at a local court in Quezon City.

“The commuting public should not be used as guinea pigs by fly-by-night motorcycle taxi operators with zero track record,” Inton said.

He added that the “illegal operations” of the five “may cause grave and substantial damage to the public.”

“The respondents are currently sabotaging the government’s pilot program for motorcycle taxis by unilaterally according to themselves the privilege to operate motorcycles for hire in the guise of addressing the traffic situation in Metro Manila, Metro Cebu, and other urban cities,” Inton said.

Angkas is at the final leg of its sixmonth test period for motorcycle taxi operations. It is currently the sole provider provisionally authorized by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) to operate motorcycle ride-hailing services.

“At the outset, it should be pointed out that respondents commenced the rollout of their motorcycle taxi business without any franchise from Congress or permit nor authority from the Department of Transportation [DOTr],” Inton said.

He explained that the “thousands” of illegal services “exposes” users to road hazards and increase the risk of accidents.

“If we allow them to continue operating—those without experience and track record—then we are putting in peril the lives of passengers,” Inton said.

Middle class. . .

Continued from A1

“Improved purchasing power, a growing middle class, and rising urbanization have led to an increasing preference of Filipinos to dine out, contributing to the sustained growth of the food service industry,” it added.

The report noted that the growing number of shopping malls built annually is also a factor for the “steady growth” that the food service industry is currently enjoying.

“Shopping malls in the Philippines are all-in-one destinations that not only provide shopping and entertainment but in particular numerous dining options,” it explained.

Millennials, biggest spenders

FILIPINO millennials, who comprise about a third of the total population, will continue to drive the sector’s growth as they are the biggest spenders for food, according to the report.

“Millennials are willing to spend more

T

HE Department of Tourism (DOT) will be rolling out a new set of advertising materials worldwide to promote the Philippines as a “fun” destination on international TV networks, digital platforms, and other key advertising locations.

In a recent press briefing, Tourism Assistant Secretary for Branding and Marketing Communications Howard Lance A. Uyking said the new advertising will feature the 10 tourism products identified as priorities in the National Tourism Development Plan of 2016-2022, and top destinations from the country’s 16 regions. These ads, created by BBDO Guerrero, will be placed by both the DOT and its marketing arm, the Tourism Promotions Board (TPB).

He said the DOT is also in talks with children’s networks, like the Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon to promote the Philippines as a family destination.

“We’re launching our sun and beach ad in time for winter, targeting Western countries. The media placements will be with the usual channels—Discovery, Fox Network Group [Fox News, Fox Sports and National Geographic],” he said. The ad will be launched in midDecember and run until March 2020, he told the BusinessMirror. The DOT’s media placements will be coursed through Touch XDA, while TPB’s placements will be made by IPG Mediabrands.

“Then we will bid again for April [2020] onwards,” to place the ads for the other touri s m products and regional destinations, he added. “But we made it [our contract] flexible so we can change the ads anytime within

money eating out as long as their dining experience is convenient, fun, exciting, has high-quality food and service, and is yet affordable,” it said.

The report noted as well the growing number of gas stations venturing into “nonfuel-related businesses”to take advantage of the growing demand for convenience in dining for the traveling public.

“With changing customer behavior, food service is not only limited to retail spaces,” the report read.

“Moreover, the worsening traffic situation in Manila, and other major cities is a major constraint on people’s time and energy, leading consumers to purchase cooked meals or dine out, rather than preparing food at home,” it added.

In 2018, 45 percent or about $6.75 billion of the food industry’s sales came from retail food services, or those located in shopping malls followed by stand-alone food service with a 38-percent market share or $4.68 billion sales.

The GAIN report also noted that there is a growing number of foreign brands in the

December and March,” Uyking said, stressing that the advertising will be “nonstop, so there won’t be a month where our ads won’t be seen. It will be a continuous run. So we can change it once every two months since we’ve developed 26 different materials—one for every tourism product and one for every region, that’s 16 regions.”

He also emphasized the importance of the placements in the digital platforms, which account for 60 percent of the DOT and TPB’s promotions. “When you avail of TV placements, like on CNN, BBC, they automatically promote [the Philippines] also in their digital assets, like on their web site, social media, or Instagram.”

Besides the TV spots, the networks, he said, will also provide “additional media value, such as articles, and they also make their own episodes. Like in the case of Discovery, they make their own organic shows to help promote the Philippines in depth. For Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network, you expect animated [episodes].”

Under the NTDP, the 10 tourism products are Nature-based Tourism (Nature Recreation and Adventure); Cultural Tourism; Health, Wellness and Retirement; Meetings, Incentive Travel, Conventions, Exhibitions and Events, or MICE; Sun and Beach; Cruise and Nautical Tourism; Education; Leisure and Entertainment; Diving and Marine Sports; and Farm and Culinary Tourism.

The DOT has allocated a P500-million budget for its “It’s More Fun in the Philippines” advertising campaign, of which P250 million will be allotted for creatives, and the rest for media placements. (See, “New DOT ‘More Fun’ campaign to get P500 million,” in the BusinessMirror, Aug. 28, 2018.)

Philippine food service industry. Their entry is facilitated mostly by franchising or joint ventures.

“Local food service companies prefer to bring in a foreign brands rather than create their own local restaurant,” it said.

“This strategy seems to provide better prospects for success, since less effort is required to build an established foreign brand restaurant. This approach in the food service industry works as Filipinos in general have a high regard for imported brands, which they become familiar with either through their travels abroad or through social media,” it added.

Some of the popular brands from the United States and other countries that have opened in the country or are about to open in 2020 are Red Lobster, Shake Shack, Popeyes, Honolulu HK Café, Mos Burger, Panda Express, Gram Café and Pancakes, and Elephant Grounds.

The GAIN report was prepared by the United States Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service in Manila.

Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

The World BusinessMirror

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

U.S. SAYS ACCUSED APPLE SECRETS THIEF HAD PATRIOT MISSILE FILE

W

HEN US prosecutors charged an Apple Inc. engineer in January with stealing trade secrets for a Chinese start-up, a search of his home turned up something else, they said: a classified file from the Patriot missile program that belonged to his ex-employer, Raytheon Co. The discovery has added a striking national security wrinkle to an otherwise routine corporate espionage case, and the government says it merits keeping Jizhong Chen under close scrutiny.

The Patriot document was discovered among numerous electronic devices and paper files from Chen’s former employers, including General Electric—some of which were stamped “confidential,” according to prosecutors.

Chen, a US citizen who was arrested on his way to catch a flight to China, is awaiting trial on charges that he collected photos, schematics and manuals from his work on Apple’s tightly guarded self-driving car project as he prepared to take a job with an unidentified rival.

He has pleaded not guilty and remains free on $500,000 bail. But prosecutors argue the stash of sensitive data found in Maryland justifies subjecting him to location monitoring with an electronic device so he doesn’t disappear before his trial.

Lawyers representing Chen and a second former Apple engineer facing similar charges— who is also fighting prosecutors over the need for location monitoring—contend the government is exaggerating the risk they’ll try to flee.

The 2011 document relating to one of Raytheon’s best-known weapons was so secret that it “was not [and is not] permitted to be maintained outside of Department of Defense secured locations,” prosecutors said in an October 29 filing that hasn’t previously been reported on by the media. Chen “has, for over eight years, illegally possessed classified national security materials taken from a former employer.”

How a classified document ended up at an

engineer’s home raises provocative questions, but they’re unlikely be answered in open court at a hearing set for Monday. A prosecutor and an attorney for Chen both declined to comment ahead of the hearing. A Raytheon spokesman didn’t respond to a request for comment.

After prosecutors first raised concerns about the evidence they found in Maryland, a magistrate judge agreed in March to extend an electronic monitoring requirement to give the government time to investigate. She finally ordered an end to the monitoring in October—and prosecutors are now asking a district judge to overrule her.

Lawyers for Chen say prosecutors have had enough time to present further evidence of criminal conduct. They also note that the federal office that supervises defendants on probation has concluded monitoring is no longer necessary because Chen has complied with all the conditions of his release and found full-time employment.

Daniel Olmos represents both Chen and Zhang Xiaolang, who also worked on Apple’s autonomous driving project before he was arrested in July 2018 and accused of trying to take the company’s trade secrets to China-based XMotors. The lawyer makes an argument that goes to the heart of the cases against both men: There’s no evidence that Apple’s intellectual property was shared with a third party. That’s significant because possession of the information alone isn’t necessarily a crime.

Olmos also contends that each of the engineers has strong ties in the US and the trips they were about to take to China when they were arrested were planned for the purpose of visiting relatives, not escaping prosecution.

“The government’s argument that Mr. Zhang poses a flight risk because he is a Chinese citizen is insufficient to warrant GPS monitoring,” Olmos said in a filing. “Mr. Zhang has full-time employment, a new family and no travel documents.”

Bloomberg News

FRANCE BRACES FOR EVEN WORSE TRAVEL WOES, GOVT SEEKS ANSWERS

P

ARIS—France braced for even worse transportation woes when the new work week begins on Monday due to nationwide strikes over the government’s redesign of the national retirement system. French President Emmanuel Macron convened top officials to strategize for the high-stakes week ahead.

Sunday saw more travel chaos as the strikes entered their fourth day, with most French trains at a standstill. Fourteen of Paris’s subway lines were closed, with only two lines—using automated trains with no drivers—functioning. International train routes also suffered disruptions.

Monday will be an even bigger test of the strike movement’s strength and of commuters’ and tourists’ patience. Unions are calling for more people to join the strike on Monday. Many employees worked from home or took a day off when the strikes began last week, but that’s not sustainable if the strikes drag on.

Warning of safety risks, the SNCF national train network and the Paris transit authority RATP warned travelers to stay away from train stations on Monday instead of packing platforms for the few trains still running.

“On December 9, stay home or find another means of locomotion,” SNCF warned travelers.

Facing a challenging week ahead, French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe met on Sunday

afternoon and evening with government ministers involved in the pension reform, and later met with Macron.

Macron, a centrist former investment banker, argues that the retirement overhaul will make a convoluted, out-dated pension system more fair and financially sustainable, uniting 42 different plans into one. The government says it won’t change the official retirement age of 62, but the new plan is expected to include financial conditions to encourage people to work longer as lifespans lengthen.

Unions see the reforms as an attack on worker rights and fear that people will have to work longer for smaller pensions. Some French workers can now retire in their 50s.

The new retirement plan will affect all French workers but the strikes involve primarily public sector workers, including train drivers, teachers and hospital employees.

New nationwide protests are scheduled on Tuesday and the prime minister will release details of the new retirement plan on Wednesday.

Yellow vest activists joined the protests on Saturday, adding retirement reform to their list of economic grievances in protests around the country. Police fired tear gas on rowdy protesters at largely peaceful marches through Paris and the western city of Nantes. AP

EUROPE EDGES TOWARD 5G NETWORK CONTROLS AFTER BLAST OF U.S. LOBBYING

U

NITED States officials flooded Europe last week, and by the time they had departed, their efforts to persuade their allies to cut back in using Huawei Technologies Co. equipment appeared to finally be gaining traction.

Europe has been caught between two major world powers, China and the US, over the question of whether to include Huawei in the roll out of its future 5G mobile networks.

Many European countries don’t want to anger Beijing, a significant trading partner, while the US, an important security ally, has repeatedly said it may reassess intelligence sharing with countries that utilize Huawei in their 5G networks.

But on Tuesday the European Union agreed its member-states should adopt a “comprehensive and risk-based” approach to the security of 5G, which includes using only trustworthy parties for components critical to national security, and should consider the laws of a supplier’s home country before buying their products.

A day later, following a Nato summit

US President Donald J. Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel discussed “the need to exclude untrusted providers,” a White House spokesman said in a statement. The discussion came as the country’s largest phone carrier, Deutsche Telekom AG, announced it had stopped orders for 5G equipment due to Huawei’s uncertain status. Merkel has previously insisted that individual vendors such as Huawei should not be banned from the outset.

While American diplomats see the new EU security conclusions as a sign of progress, it’s not yet certain it will lead to a change in Huawei’s status in Europe. Under current EU law, only member-states can ban vendors from their markets. The countries are expected to agree to recommendations by the end of the year.

These could include flagging specific vendors as untrustworthy, or suggesting updates to EU or national legislation.

The ambiguities of European regulation haven’t stopped US officials from declaring some form of victory. Bloomberg News

Tuesday, December 10, 2019

A9

Beijing seen removing foreign technology in more state offices

T

HE Chinese government is taking further steps to remove foreign technology from state agencies and other organizations, a clear sign of determination for more independence amid escalating tensions with the US. Beijing will likely replace as many as 20 million computers at government agencies with domestic products over the next three years, according to research from China Securities. More than 100 trial projects for domestic products were completed in July, the brokerage firm said. The Financial Times newspaper said the Communist Party’s Central Office earlier this year ordered state offices and public institutions to shift away from foreign hardware and software.

The government under President Xi Jinping has been trying for years to replace technologies from abroad, and particularly from the US. Bloomberg News

reported in 2014 that Beijing was aiming to purge most foreign technology from its banks, the military, government agencies and state-owned enterprises by 2020. The country’s Made in China 2025 plan also set out specific goals for technology independence, although the policy has been de-emphasized after contributing to trade war tensions.

US President Donald J. Trump’s aggressive policies against China and its leading companies have given the effort renewed urgency.

His administration banned US companies from doing business with Huawei Technologies Co. this year and blacklisted other Chinese firms.

“The trade war has exposed various areas of Chinese economic weakness, which Beijing seems determined to rectify,” said Brock Silvers, managing director of Adamas Asset Management. “If the decision pushes Trump to finally come down hard with a more forceful ban of Chinese tech, however, China may one day regret having gone so public with its policy so soon.”

While the current push is narrow in scope, it is designed as part of the broad, long-standing effort to decrease China’s reliance on foreign technologies and boost its domestic industry. The goal is to substitute 30 percent of hardware in state agencies next year, 50 percent in 2021 and 20 percent in 2022, China Securities estimated, based on government requests and clients’ budgets.

The research, from September, detailed Beijing’s goals. The FT reported the number of computers to be replaced could reach 30 million, attributing the figures to China Securities. The newspaper said the goal is to use “secure and controllable” technology as part of the country’s Cyber Security Law passed in 2017.

Starting next year, key industries, such as finance, energy and telecom will test more domestic products in trials that may last years, the firm said. Chinese banks are supposed to shift from International Business Machines Corp. and Oracle Corp. to more diversified X86 architecture suppliers and then eventually to fully made-in-China hardware. China has decided to adopt ARM architecture for its domestic hardware, China Securities said.

“The China-US trade war could also help to breed a new market for homemade products,” China Securities analyst Shi Zerui wrote.

Still, Beijing’s push has proven difficult because its domestic industry hasn’t yet shown itself capable of matching foreign technologies in certain sectors. Particularly hard to replace, for example, are semiconductors from suppliers, like Intel Corp. and Nvidia Corp., as well as software from Microsoft Corp. and Apple Inc. “While large suppliers, such as Microsoft and IBM are undoubtedly worried, many high-end components, like chipsets, can’t be easily replaced,” Silvers said.

Bloomberg News

Biggest HK protest in months signals more unrest in 2020

H

ONG KONG saw its biggest pro-democracy protest in months on Sunday, signaling more unrest to come in 2020 as the movement that began in June to fight China’s increasing grip on the city shows its staying power.

Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators flooded the city’s major downtown boulevards, many waving US flags, singing protest anthem “Glory to Hong Kong” and chanting “Five demands, not one less.” The march drew a cross-section of Hong Kong society—from parents with young kids to senior citizens—and was largely peaceful throughout the afternoon, although tensions emerged between riot police and some radical demonstrators at night.

Protesters’ calls to disrupt the Monday commute and workday, however, hadn’t materialized as of late morning.

The Sunday rally was the first organized by the Civil Human Rights Front to get police approval since August, prompting many Hong Kong residents who normally wouldn’t risk joining an illegal assembly to hit the streets.

The organizer said about 800,000 were at the rally, while police estimated 183,000 joined at the peak of the protest. The show of strength followed a landslide victory for pro-democracy forces in local elections last month. “ Yet, another breathtaking display of Hongkongers’ political might,” said Claudia Mo, a prodemocracy lawmaker who joined the march on Sunday. “By now it’s obvious the Hong Kong fight will go on, we will soldier on,” she said.

“This may last for the generations to come.”

C a r r ie L a m—Hong K ong’s leader backed by Chinese President Xi Jinping—has refused to give in to demands including an independent inquiry into police violence and meaningful elections for the city’s top political positions. The demonstrations have maintained popular support even as the economy has slid into a recession.

“Should Carrie Lam or the Beijing regime continue to ignore the

DEMONSTRATORS march during a protest in Causeway Bay district of Hong Kong, China, on Sunday.

Hundreds of thousands of people marched through Hong Kong to mark Human Rights Day and press for greater democracy in the city. KYLE LAM/BLOOMBERG

outcry, Hongkongers will continue to resist the government by peaceful and not-so-peaceful means,” said Fernando Cheung, another opposition lawmaker.

The protesters have sought to keep the pressure on the government with a combination of peaceful mass marches, like the one on Sunday afternoon, and more violent actions like shutting down transport networks, vand a l i zing ma in l and-l in ked businesses and seizing universities. Police have made more than 6,000 arrests, while coming under fire for abuses in seeking to contain the demonstrations.

Earlier on Sunday, police said they arrested 11 people while seizing a semiautomatic hand gun, bulletproof jackets, retractable batons and pepper spray in a raid. They suspected an “extreme” group of people would try to attack police or “create chaos” during the rally.

While the protest was largely peaceful, the police said early Monday that some had blocked streets in the evening, spraypainted walls of the High Court and vanda lized shops in the Causeway Bay shopping district, “seriously challenging the spirit of the rule of law.”

On Monday, the Hong Kong Bar Association said it “deplores in the strongest possible terms the

acts of arson and vandalism” at the court. “As shown by the many thousands of people who participated in the march on Sunday, views can be most powerfully conveyed through peaceful means,” the group said.

The MTR Corp., the city’s railway operator, said it was adding more train captains for some services to ensure there aren’t any foreign objects on the rail tracks.

It also said rides on the East Rail Line would be longer than usual.

Some track-side equipment was destroyed at the University Station and trains are expected to travel at a slower speed.

Lam’s government withdrew a bill allowing extraditions to the mainland that originally sparked the protests, and called for dialogue on the other demands.

China has sought to portray the issues as largely economic in nature, while refusing to offer a political solution.

On Saturday, Lam got some support from hundreds of progovernment demonstrators who gathered in the centrally located area of Wan Chai. They waved C h i n a a nd Hong K ong f l ags while condemning the violent protests and vandalism of the past months.

But Michael Tien, a businessman and pro-government lawmaker, said on Monday that the

onus was on Lam to conv ince the city’s police force and her backers in Beijing that it was time to set up an independent commission of inquir y—a key protester demand.

“Yesterday there was not a lot of violence, so they honored their side of it,” Tien told Bloomberg TV. “Now it’s up to Carrie Lam to give a response.”

Protesters on Sunday vowed to keep on fighting into 2020, when Hong Kong was scheduled to hold elections for the city’s Legislative Council. Kelvin, a 30-year-old salesperson who declined to give his last name, also said the protesters were “building our own economics.”

“I know a lot of businesses take sides, so we are going for the side that supports democracy,” he said.

“Our government is not responding to any of them so that’s why we are still here.”

Under pressure

COMPANIES have got caught in the middle of the protests. Chinese retailers and branches of lenders like Bank of China Ltd. have been ransacked by vandals, while Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. and the National Basketball Association have come under pressure from Beijing after employees supported the demonstrations.

Over the weekend, the heads of the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong were denied entry to Macau and sent back, with no explanation given. “We hope that this is just an over reaction to current events and that international business can constructively forge ahead,” the chamber said in a statement.

S u n d a y ’s l a r g e t u r n o u t showed that the gover nment was “ liv ing in a fantasy” if they believed the protests would die dow n, pa r t ic u l a rly w it h t he holidays of Christmas and the Lunar New Year coming up, said A lv in Yeung, a law maker in the pro-democracy camp.

“People are still very eager to fight for what they have been fighting for,” he said. “It’s not the end yet—it’s far from the end.”

Bloomberg News

A10 Tuesday, December 10, 2019

BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

www.businessmirror.com.ph

BusinessMirror

Tuesday, December 10, 2019 A11

A12 Tuesday, December 10, 2019

BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

www.businessmirror.com.ph

BusinessMirror

Tuesday, December 10, 2019 A13

A14 Tuesday, December 10, 2019

BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

www.businessmirror.com.ph

BusinessMirror

Tuesday, December 10, 2019 A15

A16 Tuesday, December 10, 2019

BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

www.businessmirror.com.ph

BusinessMirror

Tuesday, December 10, 2019 A17

A18 Tuesday, December 10, 2019

BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

www.businessmirror.com.ph

BusinessMirror

Tuesday, December 10, 2019 A19

A20 Tuesday, December 10, 2019

BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

www.businessmirror.com.ph

BusinessMirror

Tuesday, December 10, 2019 A21

A22 Tuesday, December 10, 2019

BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

www.businessmirror.com.ph

BusinessMirror

Tuesday, December 10, 2019 A23

A24 Tuesday, December 10, 2019

BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

www.businessmirror.com.ph

BusinessMirror

Tuesday, December 10, 2019 A25

A26 Tuesday, December 10, 2019

BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

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

ATTY. SARAH BUENA S. MIRASOL REGIONAL DIRECTOR

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Companies BusinessMirror

Tuesday, December 10, 2019

B1

Singapore’s GIC, KKR completes investments in Metro Pacific Hospital

By VG Cabuag

S

@villygc

INGAPORE’S sovereign wealth fund GIC and its unit KKR on Monday said it completed its investments in Metro Pacific Hospital Holdings Inc. A total of P35.3 billion in investments were placed in the hospital group of conglomerate Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC).

KKR (or Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, a global investment firm) will first invest some P5.2 billion or about $100 million worth of common shares of Metro Pacific Hospital or equivalent to about 41.36 million common shares. KKR will take in 6.25 percent of the company through the deal.

There were also investments made in the exchangeable bonds issued by MPIC. Proceeds from the sale of shares will be used to support Metro Pacific Hospital’s potential investments in additional hospitals and new healthcare businesses. The capital will also be used to grow its existing subsidiaries, associates and joint ventures, the company said.

Metro Pacific Hospital is the op-

erator of the largest private hospitals and health-care network in the Philippines in terms of authorized bed capacity and revenues, with interests in 14 hospitals and approximately 3,200 beds across the country.

“We welcome KKR and GIC as investors who not only have established track records of helping health-care companies meet their growth ambitions, but also have full confidence in Metro Pacific Hospitals’ potential to provide even more critical healthcare services to patients across the Philippines. Today marks the start of a new and exciting chapter for Metro Pacific Hospitals,” MPIC Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan said.

KKR made its investment from its flagship Asian Fund III. The said Singapore investment has pushed Metro Pacific Hospitals to suspend its listing plans at the Philippine Stock Exchange.

OFFICIALS of Cardinal Santos Medical Center, which is part of the Metro Pacific Hospital Group, receive the prestigious DOH Hospital Star Awards in this 2018 file photo. Philippine Hospital Association President Hubert Lapuz (from left); Rosemarie Serrano, senior assistant chief medical officer; Health Undersecretary Rolando Domingo; Atty. Pilar Nenuca Almira of CSMC; Monserrat Velasquez, division head ancillary services for CMSC; and Health Assistant Secretary Atty. Nicolas Lutero, III. NONIE REYES

CLI expands land bank by more than a third

C

EBU Landmasters Inc. (CLI) on Monday said it expanded its land bank in key cities in Visayas and Mindanao to 1.24 million square meters, some 36 percent higher than last year.

The properties will give rise to a range of projects with a projected investment of P50 billion, it said.

Land acquisitions this year are in strategic properties in seven key cities in Visayas and Mindanao and were funded from a

combination of internally generated funds and bank financing, the company said.

These lots were secured for the development of a mixed-use project in Cebu City business district location, an office project in the same area, a mixed-use development in Mactan anchored by a hotel, and residential developments in the cities of Davao, Bacolod, Iloilo, Ormoc, Dumaguete and Bohol.

“Our land banking activities

are driven by the opportunities presented by each local market.

We only purchase a property if we are certain we have an appropriate project for the site to meet a community’s needs and if we can develop that project in the next two to three years,” company Chairman and CEO Jose Soberano III said.

Most of the land acquired in 2019 are fully owned by CLI and some 21 percent of the total are

joint ventures that allow CLI to access high-value sites without requiring from the firm intensive capital outlay.

“We also benefit from our partners’ expertise and established presence in the new markets,” Soberano said.

“Our projected pipeline of projects targeted towards the VisMin buyer means sustained growth for CLI and added value to our shareholders,” he said. VG Cabuag

Groups push ‘overdue’ review of Epira 18 years after, cite high-power costs

By Lenie Lectura @llectura

C

ONSUMER advocate Power for People Coalition on Monday urged the government to review the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (Epira), citing unaffordable electricity in the country 18 years after the law took effect.

Gerry Arances, convenor of the Power for People Coalition, said Epira is “in dire need of a review” because its goal, which is to achieve reliable and competitively priced electricity, has yet to happen.

“We urge the government to own up to the consequences of its bid to cut spending by handing over to private corporations its duty of ensuring the country’s electricity supply,” said Arances.

“When consumers are unable to pay their electricity bill because it is too costly to afford, it is not their supply that should be cut off but the monopolizing power of private players,” he added.

By reviewing Epira, our government can hold power corporations accountable for abusive practices, and can also instead pass into law policies that would transform the energy industry into a proconsumer sector,” he said.

P4P and other consumer groups

also protested the “onerous set up in the generation and distribution of electricity in the country.”

“We find the government’s recent call out against abuses by water firms to be agreeable, but as electricity consumers, we demand that the same accountability be asked of power players who have long been benefiting from an energy sector whose rules have been protecting their, and not the public’s, interest,” said Arances.

The coal factor

A SPOKESMAN of progressive women’s group Oriang, meanwhile, commented that coal and other fossil fuels dominate the country’s power mix not because these are the best option for consumers, but because contracts for these fuels are most profitable for private power companies.

“Even as government officials such as the President mutter promises of tapping into cleaner energy sources, even as the impacts to cost, health, and climate of the burning of fossil fuels become ever more apparent and vicious towards Filipinos, they find their promises hard to keep because the government handles neither the generation nor distribution of power,” she said.

Zeena Manglinong, executive director of the Freedom from

Debt Coalition, said the privatization of power generation and distribution businesses allowed power players to also act as their own policy-makers.

“In the same way that private water firms have demanded for payment for their losses caused by denied price hikes even in the midst of their failure this year to supply Metro Manila consumers with adequate water, the numerous red and yellow alerts and rotational brownouts in 2019 did not stop power companies, such as Meralco from raising electricity prices,” Manglinong said.

Meanwhile, the coordinating council member of the Philippine Movement for Climate Justice (PMCJ), commented that more and more Filipinos could not afford basic needs, such as water and electricity. “Costly electricity and other utility bills are taking away an important part of our culture,” she said.

The groups said Epira “made this happen,” that’s why it needs to be reviewed.

Gatchalian: where’s efficiency?

SENATE Committee on Energy Chairman Sherwin T. Gatchalian, meanwhile, noted that there are debates going on whether electricity prices in the country have indeed gone down to a level that

most Filipinos can afford.

“Epira is supposed to make the market efficient, among others.

When it comes to spot market prices, the lowering of cost has been achieved. But that is only a small component,” said Gatchalian.

Consumer group Laban Konsyumer Inc. (LK I) also noted that consumers continue to pay a number of subsidies, such as lifeline rates, system loss and universal charges, among others. “Interlocking ownerships in power generation and distribution companies continue to limit the effectiveness of the spot market, the bright spot of the Epira” making up for all its limitations.

“We still have one of the highest electricity rates. Attention and care for consumer welfare and protection was not developed for the past years,” asserted LKI President Victor Dimagiba.

Mera lco, meanwhi le, commented that Epira has encouraged competition, especially in the power-generation business. The law, said company Vice President Joe Zaldarriaga, also increased efficiencies in distribution, as evidenced by all-time low system-loss levels. “If we look at it, further current retail rates approximate that of around eight years back, which, perhaps, shows that the market is working as it is,” he said.

SEC: We didn’t give KAPA green light to resume operation

T

HE Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has again issued an advisory against false claims of KAPA that it received the green light from the regulator to operate again.

“To set the record straight, KAPA is not registered with the Commission under SEC Memorandum Circular No. 14, Series of 2019 or the Rules and Regulation Governing Crowd Funding either as a crowdfunding intermediary or funding portal, nor has it a pending application before the Commission under said Rules,” the SEC said on Monday.

In various videos posted on YouTube and Facebook, Pacman Radio anchors Roger Abing Camingawan and Daniel Flash Villas claimed,

among others, that KAPA Community Ministry International has already registered with the SEC as a crowdfunding entity.

KAPA, through its counsel, also denied authorizing the publication of a number of posts on social media, saying that only authorized officers of KAPA, Rene Catubigan and Ronnie Garay, may speak on behalf of the entity.

The public was reminded that on February 14, the SEC En Banc issued a cease-and-desist Order against KAPA, Joel A. Apolinario, and those acting for and in behalf of KAPA. The said order was eventually made permanent and is in full force and effect until now, the SEC said. VG Cabuag

PTT Philippines to open 15-20 more Café Amazon stores

P

TT Philippines said Monday it would open 15 to 20 more new Café Amazon stores in the country.

PTT Philippines has been expanding its non-oil business—the Thai brand Café Amazon, which is part of the diversification of its parent company in Thailand, the PTT Oil and Retail Business Plc. Café Amazon was introduced in the Philippines in 2016 after the oil firm secured a master franchise from its parent company in Thailand.

It has since been expanding from the inside of a PTT station to malls and other commercial establishments.

Over the weekend, Café Amazon opened its latest stores in Bacoor, Cavite, and in JP Rizal in Project 4, Quezon City. Both are franchisee owned and operated stores.

The Bacoor branch was Café Amazon’s fourth in the province of Cavite, while the JP Rizal shop was its third in Quezon City and fourth in Metro Manila.

“The reception of both the investors and the customers are overwhelming. We are barely new in the Philippine market, yet, people are so enthusiastic about the brand and the prod-

uct itself,” said PTT Philippines President and Chief Executive Officer Thitiroj Rergsumran.

Its first store in the Philippines opened at PTT SCTEx and was immediately followed by the one at PTT Dasmariñas in Cavite and, eventually, by its first mall-based shop inside the SM City North Edsa Annex Building in Quezon City.

As part of its product development and innovation, Café Amazon also introduced its glass house stores in the Philippines, particularly the ones at PTT Apalit, PTT San Fernando 3, PTT Pansol in Laguna and PTT Cavite City.

A market leader in Thailand, Café Amazon was founded 17 years ago and has become successful in Thailand and overseas because of its continuous product development, good locations and strong business partners.

Its more than 2,500 stores in Thailand were augmented by an additional 200 shops in other countries like Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Japan, Oman, Singapore, China and the Philippines.

PTT earlier reported that it would open approximately 40 gas stations in Luzon and Visayas next year. For this year, PTT is likely to end with 170 gasoline stations in the country. Lenie Lectura

B2

Companies BusinessMirror

Tuesday, December 10, 2019

PSE STOCK QUOTATIONS

December 9, 2019

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

ASIA UNITED 54 54.1 BDO UNIBANK 160 160.1 BANK PH ISLANDS 88.8 89 CHINABANK 24.9 25 CITYSTATE BANK 7.95 8.49 EAST WEST BANK 12.74 12.78 METROBANK 68.1 68.2 PB BANK 12.7 13 PHIL NATL BANK 35.55 35.7 PSBANK 58.1 58.7 RCBC 24.25 24.4 SECURITY BANK 199.2 199.6 UNION BANK 58 58.4 BDO LEASING 1.85 1.96 COL FINANCIAL 18 18.38 FIRST ABACUS 0.53 0.59 FERRONOUX HLDG 4.04 4.18 IREMIT 1.16 1.33 MANULIFE 800 805 NTL REINSURANCE 0.82 0.84 PHIL STOCK EXCH 173.5 178.6 SUN LIFE 1777 1849

F I N A 54 157.9 89 25 7.95 12.86 67.95 13 35.8 58.05 24.55 202.4 58.4 1.85 18.46 0.59 4.04 1.19 800 0.81 174 1780

N C I A 54 160 89.5 25 7.95 12.86 68.3 13 36 58.1 24.55 202.4 58.4 1.85 18.46 0.59 4.04 1.19 800 0.84 178.6 1780

L S 53.25 54 1430 77182.5 157.8 160 2594990 413826821 88.3 89 2306620 204712361 24.85 24.9 107200 2672545 7.95 7.95 200 1590 12.7 12.74 238600 3044008 67.5 68.2 2223130 151497147 12.7 12.7 2400 30600 35.05 35.55 361800 12852125 58.05 58.1 830 48205 24.25 24.25 32100 779185 197.1 199.6 113350 22617234 57.2 58.4 15760 918196 1.84 1.84 9000 16610 18.46 18.46 200 3692 0.59 0.59 17000 10030 4.03 4.03 13000 52490 1.15 1.15 15000 17310 800 800 620 496000 0.81 0.84 15000 12300 174 178.6 2280 396950 1776 1776 30 53310

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

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

70777.5 173763799 18699495 2500 -921950 80409567.5 -101365.0004 -740025 -4197547 -904192 -80000 -

2.38 1.24 34.5 0.228 24.1 73.45 323 15.16 4.27 3.91 11.1 33.5 7.86 13.52 2.84 20.7 15.4 5.02 8.35 7.18 87.15 0.56 1.29 39.5 203.4 12.1 0.163 1.37 10.3 2.16 5.36 0.117 140.5 1.13 2.44 67 2.15 14.7 10.1 13.8 16.54 9.7 1.01 0.88 160.5 2.01 3.11 4.98 26.2 2.05 7.8 1.33 5.12 0.91 4.86

2.39 1.25 34.8 0.235 24.5 73.5 326 15.3 4.29 3.92 11.24 33.55 7.95 13.7 2.85 21.45 15.42 5.17 8.38 7.19 88.7 0.58 1.3 40.85 206.6 12.2 0.164 1.38 10.4 2.17 5.4 0.123 141 1.15 2.6 71.75 2.19 14.9 10.3 13.88 16.96 9.95 1.05 0.89 170.5 2.06 3.42 5.09 28.85 2.07 7.82 1.35 5.54 0.94 4.99

2.41 1.23 34.7 0.237 24.75 73.5 326.4 16.26 4.2 3.95 10.92 33.15 7.9 13.72 3.01 21.85 15.34 5.04 8.5 7.19 88.6 0.58 1.44 40 204 12.1 0.179 1.36 10.36 2.09 5.42 0.114 137 1.13 2.5 71.75 2.17 15 10.3 13.9 16.7 9.6 1.05 0.92 164 2.07 3.28 5.18 28.95 2.08 7.67 1.35 5.54 0.95 5.28

2.43 1.24 34.85 0.237 24.75 73.55 327 16.26 4.35 3.95 11.24 33.55 7.95 13.74 3.05 22.5 15.44 5.32 8.5 7.25 88.7 0.58 1.45 40.85 206.6 12.4 0.179 1.4 10.48 2.17 5.42 0.117 142 1.15 2.5 71.75 2.24 15 10.32 13.9 16.96 9.97 1.05 0.92 164 2.08 3.28 5.18 28.95 2.08 7.95 1.35 5.54 0.95 5.28

2.39 1.23 34.5 0.226 24.1 73.35 321.2 14.9 4.2 3.92 10.92 33.15 7.85 13.6 2.85 20.5 15.34 5.02 8.35 7.18 87.15 0.57 1.3 40 202.2 12 0.161 1.35 10.26 2.06 5.4 0.114 137 1.13 2.5 71.75 2.16 14.7 10.3 13.8 16.5 9.6 1.01 0.89 160.2 2 3.15 4.98 28.95 2.02 7.67 1.33 5.12 0.9 4.54

2.39 1.24 34.5 0.237 24.5 73.5 326 15.3 4.27 3.92 11.24 33.5 7.95 13.72 2.85 21.5 15.4 5.17 8.35 7.19 88.7 0.57 1.3 40.85 206.6 12.1 0.164 1.38 10.3 2.17 5.4 0.117 140.5 1.14 2.5 71.75 2.19 14.7 10.3 13.86 16.96 9.6 1.05 0.89 160.5 2 3.15 4.98 28.95 2.07 7.8 1.33 5.12 0.94 5

2696000 26000 605600 280000 649800 210080 74890 3114900 965000 15000 46500 92200 47700 252300 3080000 120900 897200 40700 2715900 70300 59440 234000 34598000 11000 314690 37400 1930000 4751000 26700 33847000 63200 1030000 2688680 1470000 3000 460 535000 67400 701300 4400 682200 19200 22000 2642000 1430 1112000 132000 8000 100 6434000 169600 28000 12600 102000 169600

6494060 32020 20905765 64400 15901525 15439791.5 24393974 47780144 4117740 59010 517460 3082665 375968 3461414 9032120 2582455 13817162 205229 23005480 506212 5248110 133770 47208390 440085 64482458 450298 322370 6558790 277888 72695250 341928 117510 373307783 1676310 7500 33005 1164590 999704 7223392 61058 11457796 184394 22600 2381780 233134 2299160 419580 40870 2895 13255560 1320874 37390 65195 92780 828882

-544800 -12343610 279725 1087521 5200626 -14009128 -1151030 -110805 14946 -95620 3308646 10100 -4214247 -454140 -1462258 433780 -36000 8904206 38070 -88148 85460 -341928 -9340654 2280 -166870 -30928 262650 18086 -3763198 -1994 1800 863200 9480 -265900 78488 -7600 45912

0.75 11.92 813 51.35 11.08 3.32 0.7 0.92 0.95 6.76 5.95 12.94 3.8 896 5.25 78.6 5 0.485 3.76 11.74 0.56 3.53 5.68 1.38 1.22 370 1058 159 0.77 207.2 0.214

0.76 12.1 813.5 51.4 11.14 3.33 0.72 0.93 0.96 6.8 5.96 13.3 4.15 900 5.34 78.85 5.35 0.5 3.8 11.78 0.57 3.54 5.94 1.39 1.23 380 1060 160 0.82 218.8 0.225

0.75 12.12 830 52.65 11.08 3.32 0.71 0.93 0.95 6.8 6 13.2 3.81 900 5.36 78.9 5.2 0.485 3.85 11.5 0.56 3.68 6.22 1.36 1.23 510 1078 160 0.83 212.6 0.214

0.77 12.12 832 52.65 11.2 3.44 0.72 0.93 0.95 6.9 6.15 13.3 3.81 900 5.37 79 5.35 0.5 3.85 11.8 0.57 3.77 6.22 1.42 1.23 526 1078 160 0.83 218.8 0.214

0.75 11.92 813 51.4 11.08 3.32 0.71 0.91 0.95 6.76 5.94 13 3.8 890.5 5.3 77.8 5.2 0.485 3.76 11.4 0.56 3.53 5.62 1.35 1.22 380 1060 159 0.81 212.6 0.214

0.76 11.92 813 51.4 11.08 3.33 0.72 0.93 0.95 6.8 5.96 13.3 3.8 900 5.3 78.6 5.35 0.5 3.76 11.74 0.57 3.54 5.68 1.39 1.23 380 1060 160 0.81 218.8 0.214

1268000 17500 298670 680190 4794200 795000 89000 719000 450000 158300 18796300 35300 20000 67700 148000 460140 4500 2000 398000 1640000 26000 81741000 98500 598000 11030000 6040 463640 19520 21000 2510 20000

963820 210242 244489120 35168649.5 53252510 2665480 63690 664830 427500 1081868 112743994 468860 76030 60909680 792240 36150352.5 23415 985 1503880 19262180 14570 292209120 592939 828840 13566720 2565368 494828445 3117245 17030 549126 4280

-9060 -33930345 -10831391.5 -10756780 -304030 95000 142469 -22483948 4951650 -115882 -6028894 -1356540 -382346 -122658040 306500 -55586725 -863155 -444164 -

PROPERTY

ARTHALAND CORP 0.82 0.84 0.84 0.84 0.83 0.84 38000 31600 ANCHOR LAND 8.9 9.08 9.1 9.1 9.1 9.1 200 1820 AYALA LAND 44.7 45 45.5 45.7 44.7 44.7 11827800 535284690 -79004945 BELLE CORP 2 2.01 2.02 2.03 1.97 2.01 1195000 2393250 41090 A BROWN 0.72 0.75 0.73 0.74 0.72 0.74 25000 18200 CITYLAND DEVT 0.84 0.86 0.84 0.86 0.84 0.84 112000 96080 CROWN EQUITIES 0.18 0.19 0.18 0.19 0.18 0.19 150000 27100 CEBU HLDG 6.31 6.47 6.22 6.47 6.22 6.47 300 1916 -1294 CEB LANDMASTERS 4.68 4.7 4.7 4.72 4.68 4.7 64000 300560 18800 CENTURY PROP 0.54 0.55 0.56 0.56 0.54 0.55 2627000 1424240 CYBER BAY 0.4 0.405 0.405 0.405 0.405 0.405 20000 8100 DOUBLEDRAGON 18.8 18.82 19.1 19.28 18.8 18.8 236400 4502894 -1197400 DM WENCESLAO 10.12 10.3 10.32 10.34 9.99 10.12 45000 455711 -121425 EMPIRE EAST 0.43 0.435 0.435 0.435 0.43 0.43 560000 242600 FILINVEST LAND 1.51 1.52 1.51 1.52 1.49 1.51 4464000 6717040 -33270 GLOBAL ESTATE 1.18 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.18 1.2 27000 32360 6000 8990 HLDG 14.84 14.86 14.84 14.86 14.84 14.84 144500 2144386 -1240630 PHIL INFRADEV 1.3 1.31 1.32 1.34 1.31 1.31 482000 634440 CITY AND LAND 0.74 0.77 0.77 0.77 0.77 0.77 115000 88550 85470 MEGAWORLD 4.18 4.2 4.28 4.33 4.17 4.18 22215000 93367670 24221400 MRC ALLIED 0.187 0.19 0.197 0.197 0.186 0.187 12790000 2434330 PHIL ESTATES 0.4 0.42 0.42 0.42 0.42 0.42 20000 8400 PRIMEX CORP 2.01 2.02 2.02 2.02 2.01 2.01 33000 66340 ROBINSONS LAND 25.5 25.75 25.9 25.9 25.45 25.5 538800 13779415 -2376345 PHIL REALTY 0.335 0.35 0.35 0.35 0.34 0.34 200000 69400 ROCKWELL 2.15 2.18 2.12 2.19 2.11 2.15 48000 102810 77370 STA LUCIA LAND 2.34 2.45 2.47 2.47 2.34 2.46 902000 2140020 672100 SM PRIME HLDG 40.95 41 41 41.7 40.8 41 7602800 311934845 -9178305 VISTAMALLS 5.41 5.54 5.5 5.56 5.45 5.54 26400 145204 SUNTRUST HOME 1.23 1.25 1.25 1.32 1.22 1.23 27332000 35172290 VISTA LAND 7.48 7.5 7.55 7.58 7.48 7.5 4866200 36489965 -10871649

SERVICES ABS CBN 16.88 17.02 17.34 17.34 16.88 17.02 100000 1699430 GMA NETWORK 5.23 5.26 5.28 5.3 5.2 5.26 63900 334402 MANILA BULLETIN 0.395 0.41 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 70000 28000 GLOBE TELECOM 1937 1938 1944 1944 1934 1937 7135 13820735 -1191570 PLDT 1034 1035 1057 1057 1022 1035 120295 124314280 -64751645 APOLLO GLOBAL 0.039 0.04 0.039 0.039 0.039 0.039 2200000 85800 DFNN INC 5.21 5.66 5.12 5.68 5.12 5.68 300 1648 ISLAND INFO 0.102 0.104 0.104 0.104 0.104 0.104 10000 1040 ISM COMM 4.14 4.15 4.24 4.32 4.15 4.15 3418000 14480820 4200 NOW CORP 2.91 2.92 3.01 3.08 2.92 2.92 7606000 22562500 -449670 TRANSPACIFIC BR 0.28 0.285 0.28 0.29 0.28 0.285 3080000 874000 PHILWEB 2.65 2.66 2.65 2.68 2.65 2.66 83000 220820 -29210 2GO GROUP 9.9 10 10 10.1 9.85 9.9 10300 103040 ASIAN TERMINALS 16.3 18.3 18 18.5 18 18.5 100600 1860800 10800 CHELSEA 5.63 5.7 5.7 5.75 5.58 5.7 302300 1719504 4055 CEBU AIR 91.4 91.6 92 92.4 91 91.4 84970 7781033.5 -1303408 INTL CONTAINER 118.6 119.5 120.2 120.9 118.2 119.5 983270 117495143 -42570647 LBC EXPRESS 13.02 13.5 13.5 13.5 13.5 13.5 5200 70200 LORENZO SHIPPNG 0.9 0.91 0.9 0.9 0.9 0.9 41000 36900 MACROASIA 16.94 17 17.2 17.2 16.92 17 335800 5694568 -4289692 METROALLIANCE A 0.99 1 1 1 1 1 11000 11000 PAL HLDG 7.52 7.62 7.62 7.62 7.6 7.62 5500 41864 HARBOR STAR 1.24 1.25 1.22 1.26 1.22 1.24 558000 688330 ACESITE HOTEL 1.43 1.49 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 3000 4500 DISCOVERY WORLD 1.96 2.04 1.96 2.04 1.96 2.04 4000 7920 WATERFRONT 0.6 0.61 0.61 0.61 0.6 0.6 28000 16850 IPEOPLE 7.62 8.3 7.85 8.3 7.85 8.3 6400 50855 STI HLDG 0.63 0.64 0.66 0.66 0.63 0.64 10943000 6962650 -4623640 BERJAYA 4.01 4.02 3.76 4.02 3.76 4.02 4561000 17936100 -173280 BLOOMBERRY 10.36 10.42 10.32 10.62 10.28 10.36 3306800 34284290 -7720610 PACIFIC ONLINE 2.5 2.58 2.58 2.58 2.58 2.58 29000 74820 -23220 LEISURE AND RES 2.7 2.74 2.76 2.76 2.7 2.7 101000 272880 262080 MANILA JOCKEY 3.35 3.41 3.39 3.4 3.35 3.35 26000 88260 PH RESORTS GRP 4.44 5.08 5.08 5.08 5.08 5.08 1000 5080 PREMIUM LEISURE 0.58 0.59 0.59 0.6 0.59 0.59 4466000 2636390 -1893900 ALLHOME 11.48 11.5 11.46 11.5 11.46 11.5 2861300 32902128 6264286 METRO RETAIL 2.14 2.15 2.12 2.16 2.12 2.14 417000 895700 208700 PUREGOLD 38.95 39.6 39 39.6 38.9 39.6 1355000 52,803,210( 4,099,680.0006) ROBINSONS RTL 74 75 74.5 75 73.6 75 50850 3778767.5 -38142.5 PHIL SEVEN CORP 130.2 148.9 145 145 145 145 10 1450 SSI GROUP 2.5 2.51 2.47 2.51 2.45 2.51 691000 1715410 749080 WILCON DEPOT 18.08 18.1 18.42 18.44 17.94 18.1 2389200 43239412 -15757802 APC GROUP 0.455 0.46 0.465 0.465 0.455 0.46 410000 187700 -4500 EASYCALL 8.55 8.56 8.58 8.58 8.56 8.56 39200 335844 GOLDEN BRIA 420 427.6 420 427.8 420 427.8 160 67278 IPM HLDG 5.2 5.3 5.1 5.3 5.1 5.3 10000 52400 20600 PRMIERE HORIZON 0.435 0.44 0.435 0.445 0.435 0.435 1390000 606650 17350 SBS PHIL CORP 8.86 8.99 8.95 8.95 8.83 8.83 31000 275850

MINING & OIL ATOK 10.12 11.04 11.06 11.06 10 11.04 10800 113090 APEX MINING 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.04 1.02 1.03 232000 238950 -9220 ABRA MINING 0.0015 0.0016 0.0015 0.0015 0.0015 0.0015 5000000 7500 ATLAS MINING 2.4 2.57 2.5 2.5 2.39 2.48 320000 795910 -748000 COAL ASIA HLDG 0.27 0.285 0.275 0.275 0.275 0.275 30000 8250 CENTURY PEAK 2.64 2.65 2.58 2.64 2.57 2.64 2156000 5612610 DIZON MINES 7.39 7.49 7.44 7.56 7.4 7.49 1000 7459 FERRONICKEL 1.5 1.52 1.52 1.53 1.47 1.52 2053000 3085870 329080 GEOGRACE 0.201 0.21 0.201 0.21 0.201 0.21 120000 24300 LEPANTO A 0.096 0.099 0.096 0.096 0.096 0.096 400000 38400 MANILA MINING B 0.0083 0.0096 0.0084 0.0084 0.0084 0.0084 5000000 42000 MARCVENTURES 0.92 0.96 0.94 0.95 0.94 0.95 105000 98880 NIHAO 1.01 1.04 1.05 1.05 1.01 1.04 3000 3100 NICKEL ASIA 2.98 2.99 3 3.05 2.94 2.99 9621000 28786700 -7516970 ORNTL PENINSULA 0.76 0.79 0.74 0.8 0.74 0.76 203000 154550 PX MINING 3.04 3.06 3.1 3.1 3.04 3.06 386000 1184250 -113190 SEMIRARA MINING 20.2 20.25 20 20.6 20 20.2 3065400 61,834,915( 30,962,464.9999) AC ENEXOR 7.95 8.25 8.2 8.48 7.95 8.25 256400 2134902 -72809 ORNTL PETROL A 0.011 0.012 0.011 0.012 0.011 0.012 112000000 1249500 PHILODRILL 0.01 0.011 0.01 0.011 0.01 0.011 26000000 275900 PXP ENERGY 9.1 9.2 9.25 9.26 9.1 9.1 354500 3240397 -641451

PREFFERED

AC PREF B1 500 501 504 504 501 501 3170 1592925 ALCO PREF C 100.7 105.4 101.1 101.1 101.1 101.1 100 10110 AC PREF B2R 505 507 505 505 505 505 1590 802950 DD PREF 100.5 100.9 100.3 100.3 100.3 100.3 470 47141 SMC FB PREF 2 997 997.5 997 997.5 997 997 5400 5383900 GLO PREF P 498 500 500 500 500 500 8060 4030000 GTCAP PREF A 860 1000 991 1000 990 1000 1000 996200 GTCAP PREF B 860 1009 1000 1009 1000 1009 1010 1017255 LR PREF 1.01 1.03 1.01 1.03 1.01 1.03 9000 9110 MWIDE PREF 100.1 101 101 101 101 101 410 41410 PNX PREF 4 1022 1028 1026 1026 1020 1020 2890 2954240 PCOR PREF 2B 1026 1049 1030 1030 1026 1026 3440 3529500 PCOR PREF 3A 1025 1038 1025 1025 1025 1025 2250 2306250 PCOR PREF 3B 1055 1069 1055 1055 1055 1055 100 105500 SMC PREF 2C 78.1 78.4 78.15 78.15 78.05 78.1 20370 1590808.5 SMC PREF 2G 75.35 75.65 75.35 75.35 75.35 75.35 500 37675 SMC PREF 2H 75.4 75.65 75.5 75.65 75.5 75.65 24900 1882810 SMC PREF 2I 76 76.8 76.8 76.8 76.8 76.8 100 7680 -

PHIL. DEPOSITARY RECEIPTS ABS HLDG PDR GMA HLDG PDR

15.82 5.04

16.62 5.14

16.82 5.04

16.82 5.04

15.82 5.03

15.82 5.04

37200 84600

591570 426184

WARRANTS LR WARRANT

1.34

-586524 -224784

1.45

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

ITALPINAS 3.95 KEPWEALTH 10.2 MAKATI FINANCE 2.46 XURPAS 0.89

4 10.22 2.5 0.9

3.87 10.46 2.49 0.88

3.99 10.6 2.49 0.9

3.87 10 2.46 0.88

3.95 10.22 2.46 0.89

409000 607000 34000 520000

1603900 6220746 84000 462720

7880 -13392 46280

FIRST METRO ETF

117.2

SMALL & MEDIUM ENTERPRISES

EXHANGE TRADE FUNDS 116.6

117.2

117.2

116.6

116.6

2200

256913

-

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Nlex Corp. willing to spend ₧16B to extend Harbor Link

N

By Lorenz S. Marasigan

@lorenzmarasigan

LEX Corp. is proposing to spend around P16 billion to extend the Harbor Link section of the North Luzon Expressway all the way to the Anda Circle in Manila’s port area.

Public Works Secretary Mark A. Villar said the company has sounded off its intention to submit an unsolicited proposal for the expressway’s extension.

“We’re discussing it and it seems that they will submit a formal proposal soon,” he said in a chance interview Monday.

Nlex Corp. Senior Vice President Romulo S. Quimbo con-

firmed this, noting that the extension is about “P15 billion to P16 billion” in new investments.

“It’s going to continue the Harbor Link from C-3 corner Navotas interchange all the way to Anda Circle—that’s the proposal,” he said.

The extension, initially called the Harbor Link Port Access Mobility Facility, will span 5.1 kilometers and will be overhead.

FILE photo of the Nlex Harbor Link segment from Nlex Corp.

“It is needed by the ports. You have to bring the port closer to the Nlex. In which case, commercial vehicles will have the option to—instead of using C-3—just continue on the ramp all the way to the pier,” he said.

Currently, Nlex Corp. is completing the C3-R10 section of the Harbor Link. It is at about 65-per-

cent completion rate.

It is expected to be completed by March. The Harbor Link is intended to facilitate direct access between the port area and North and Central Luzon via the Nlex. This is seen as a critical piece of infrastructure to decongest major thoroughfares in the metropolis.

Sanofi to buy Synthorx for $2.5 billion to expand in cancer

F

RENCH pharma giant Sanofi agreed to buy Synthorx Inc. for $2.5 billion, more than double the US biotech company’s last market price, accelerating its push into the field of cancer under new Chief Executive Officer Paul Hudson.

Sanofi will pay $68 a share in cash for Synthorx, the companies said on Monday. Shares of the unprofitable San Diego-based company closed at $25.03 on Friday, having surged 40 percent last week.

The deal underscores the Parisbased drugmaker’s efforts to build its portfolio of innovative therapies in the fast-growing and lucrative cancer field. It was unveiled a day before Hudson outlines his pipeline and acquisition priorities, along with his plans for the consumer-health, diabetes and other units. The purchase marks Sanofi’s first multibillion acquisition since early 2018.

Investors are counting on Hudson to fire up Sanofi’s research operations and step up the search for novel products to reduce its reliance on Dupixent, a standout medicine for severe eczema and asthma. Hudson,

the former pharma head at Novartis AG, is credited with launching key medicines at his previous job before becoming CEO of Sanofi in September. Synthorx’s main asset, known as THOR-707, is being explored across multiple types of solid tumors, and together with immune checkpoint inhibitors, and other future combinations, the companies said.

The French drugmaker earlier this year said it would accelerate 17 drug programs, almost half in cancer, and drop more than a dozen others under development. Analysts at HSBC wrote in August that more deals would be the fastest way to build up Sanofi’s stable of medicines and profile in cancer.

Sanofi shares have climbed about 11 percent since Hudson was named CEO in June, closing at €83.56 on Friday. The stock had declined almost 16 percent over the previous four years.

Morgan Stanley advised Sanofi, which used Weil, Gotshal & Manges as its law firm. Synthorx’s advisers were Centerview Partners Llc. and Cooley Llp. Bloomberg News

Airbus secures lead over Boeing as 737 Max uncertainty continues

S

HARES of Airbus SE handily pulled ahead of rival Boeing Co. this year after a pair of fatal 737 Max plane crashes led to the grounding of the US model’s entire fleet.

Airbus is poised to finish the year ahead of Boeing for the first time since 2015, with an increase of roughly 50 percent since the start of January, compared to the Chicago-based company’s less than 10 percent gain.

With the uncertainty of approvals for the Max to resume flying, many analysts predict the French aircraft maker will continue to outperform its troubled peer in 2020, as well. Yet, Airbus’s own production issues at home amid trade concerns with the US could also threaten its performance.

“There is no question that Airbus has benefited from the problems at Boeing,” Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK, said in an interview. In fact, he still believes the market is underpricing problems at the US manufacturer.

Shares of both plane-makers began 2019 at a brisk pace with Boeing and Airbus each up about 35 percent through February. That changed in March, however, after the second 737 Max crash in five months, triggering

investigations into the company.

Uncertainty is expected to be the opening theme for Boeing in 2020, with some expecting Airbus’s shares to continue benefiting from the confusion, given it’s the only other major producer of commercial aircraft. That effective duopoly, however, has come into sharper focus as the World Trade Organization (WTO) considers competing the US and European Union claims of unfair state subsidies.

Airbus fell 4.4 percent last Tuesday after the WTO said the EU hadn’t sufficiently eliminated the adverse effects of subsidies to Airbus. It followed a ruling earlier in the year, which said the US may impose retaliatory tariffs on European goods over its aid to Airbus, putting the company at the center of the trade tensions with US. While the 737 Max’s return to service will be the biggest issue to watch for Boeing next year, the focus on Airbus will on be on the fallout from the tariff war in addition to its manufacturing troubles and engine issues.

Customizations to Airbus’s narrowbody planes, the same category that the 737 Max belongs to, have proven difficult to incorporate into the production line. Bloomberg News

MUTUAL FUNDS

December 9, 2019

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

PER SHARE RETURN* RETURN STOCK FUNDS ALFM GROWTH FUND, INC. -A 251.61 -1.1% 0.83% -0.95% -0.23% ATRAM ALPHA OPPORTUNITY FUND, INC. -A 1.4001 -0.49% 1.48% -2.52% -2.82% ATRAM PHILIPPINE EQUITY OPPORTUNITY FUND, INC. -A 3.6886 -6.09% -2.16% -3.24% -5.49% CLIMBS SHARE CAPITAL EQUITY INVESTMENT FUND CORP. -A 0.9004 0.32% N.A. N.A. -0.07% FIRST METRO CONSUMER FUND ON MSCI PHILS. IMI, INC. -A 0.851 1.82% N.A. N.A. 3.69% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN EQUITY FUND,INC. -A 5.3136 0.48% 2.21% -0.71% 0.76% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN PHILIPPINE INDEX FUND, INC. -A,6 0.8532 1.7% -1.68% N.A. 1.97% MBG EQUITY INVESTMENT FUND, INC. -A 105.75 -8.67% N.A. N.A. -8.97% PAMI EQUITY INDEX FUND, INC. -A 51.2383 3.1% 3.39% N.A. 4.09% PHILAM STRATEGIC GROWTH FUND, INC. - A 533.21 2.74% 2.18% -0.34% 3.59% PHILEQUITY DIVIDEND YIELD FUND, INC. -A 1.2891 1.62% 2.74% 0.7% 2.8% PHILEQUITY FUND, INC. -A 37.9345 2.58% 3.64% 0.6% 3.55% PHILEQUITY MSCI PHILIPPINE INDEX FUND, INC. -A,1 1.0189 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. PHILEQUITY PSE INDEX FUND INC. -A 5.217 4.19% 3.92% 1.59% 5.21% PHILIPPINE STOCK INDEX FUND CORP. -A 870.52 4.09% 3.81% 1.51% 5.08% SOLDIVO STRATEGIC GROWTH FUND, INC. -A 0.8546 -1.57% 1.1% N.A. -0.63% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY PHILIPPINE EQUITY FUND, INC. -A 4.2114 2.19% 3.16% 0.61% 3.76% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY PHILIPPINE STOCK INDEX FUND, INC. -A 0.9994 3.7% 3.62% N.A. 4.73% UNITED FUND, INC. -A 3.6646 3.55% 5.3% 2.42% 4.68% EXCHANGE TRADED FUND FIRST METRO PHIL. EQUITY EXCHANGE TRADED FUND, INC. -A,C 116.7087 4.43% 4.53% 2.5% 5.38% ATRAM ASIAPLUS EQUITY FUND, INC. -B $0.9772 1.47% 3.98% -0.46% 5.18% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY WORLD VOYAGER FUND, INC. -A $1.3388 11.29% 9% N.A. 21.14% BALANCED FUNDS PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES ATRAM DYNAMIC ALLOCATION FUND, INC. -A 1.5566 -6.36% -2.71% -4.16% -5.73% ATRAM PHILIPPINE BALANCED FUND, INC. -A 2.1904 -0.88% -0.75% -1.33% -0.85% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN BALANCED FUND INC. -A 2.622 3.36% 2.4% -1.16% 3.1% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN F.O.C.C.U.S. DYNAMIC FUND, INC. -A,5 0.2284 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. GREPALIFE BALANCED FUND CORPORATION -A 1.329 1.22% N.A. N.A. 1.89% NCM MUTUAL FUND OF THE PHILS., INC. -A N.S. N.S. N.S. N.S. N.S. PAMI HORIZON FUND, INC. -A 3.78 6.47% 2.19% 0.21% 7.1% PHILAM FUND, INC. -A 16.9109 5.83% 2.02% 0.11% 6.31% SOLIDARITAS FUND, INC. -A 2.1241 2.33% 1.75% 0.76% 2.65% SUN LIFE OF CANADA PROSPERITY BALANCED FUND, INC. -A 3.8521 4.34% 2.93% 0.47% 5.5% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY ACHIEVER FUND 2028, INC. -A,D,2 1.0117 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. SUN LIFE PROSPERITY ACHIEVER FUND 2038, INC. -A,D,2 0.9929 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. SUN LIFE PROSPERITY ACHIEVER FUND 2048, INC. -A,D,2 0.9902 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DYNAMIC FUND, INC. -A 0.9721 3.98% 2.23% -0.45% 5.47% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY SECURITIES COCOLIFE DOLLAR FUND BUILDER, INC. -A $0.03817 9.15% 2.95% 1.94% 8.13% PAMI ASIA BALANCED FUND, INC. -A $0.9961 4.36% 3.63% 0.18% 9.02% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR ADVANTAGE FUND, INC. -A $3.8313 9.48% 7.1% 3.44% 15.8% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR WELLSPRING FUND, INC. -A,7 $1.1147 7.93% 4.3% N.A. 10.92% BOND FUNDS PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES ALFM PESO BOND FUND, INC. -A 356.66 4.06% 2.71% 2.24% 3.84% ATRAM CORPORATE BOND FUND, INC. -A 1.8988 2.44% 0.13% -0.66% 2.13% COCOLIFE FIXED INCOME FUND, INC. -A 3.1113 5.07% 5.21% 5.21% 4.54% EKKLESIA MUTUAL FUND INC. -A 2.2138 4.01% 2.29% 1.8% 3.97% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN FIXED INCOME FUND,INC. -A 2.3484 6.44% 2.12% 1.41% 6.5% GREPALIFE FIXED INCOME FUND CORP. -A P 1.6068 2.58% 1.03% -0.34% 2.71% PHILAM BOND FUND, INC. -A 4.3427 11% 2.47% 1.53% 10.79% PHILEQUITY PESO BOND FUND, INC. -A 3.7563 7.5% 2.62% 1.25% 6.8% SOLDIVO BOND FUND, INC. -A 0.9557 7.2% 1.15% N.A. 7.24% SUN LIFE OF CANADA PROSPERITY BOND FUND, INC. -A 3.0471 10.03% 4.51% 2.34% 10.17% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY GS FUND, INC. -A 1.6853 9.44% 4.07% 1.81% 9.44% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY SECURITIES ALFM DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC. -A $467.1 4.4% 2.62% 2.72% 4.17% ALFM EURO BOND FUND, INC. -A Є219.51 3.34% 1.68% 1.33% 3.22% ATRAM TOTAL RETURN DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC. -B $1.2044 7.15% 3.09% 2.54% 6.99% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC. -A $0.0258 3.61% 1.33% 1.37% 4.03% GREPALIFE DOLLAR BOND FUND CORP. -A $1.7088 1.2% -0.3% 0.08% 1.1% PAMI GLOBAL BOND FUND, INC -A $1.0943 6.34% 1.24% -0.83% 5.6% PHILAM DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC. -A

$2.3948 11.31% 3.25% 2.87% 10.32% PHILEQUITY DOLLAR INCOME FUND INC. -A $0.0602628 5.82% 2.25% 1.95% 5.72% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR ABUNDANCE FUND, INC. -A $3.1646 10.29% 2.72% 2.58% 10.18% MONEY MARKET FUNDS PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES ALFM MONEY MARKET FUND, INC. -A

125.53 4.16% 2.8% 2.15% 3.85% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN MONEY MARKET FUND, INC. -A,3 1.0295 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. PHILAM MANAGED INCOME FUND, INC. -A 1.2512 6.12% 2.8% 1.63% 5.86% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY MONEY MARKET FUND, INC. -A 1.2621 3.79% 2.85% 2.3% 3.52% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY SECURITIES SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR STARTER FUND, INC. -A $1.0361 2.09% N.A. N.A. 1.99% FEEDER FUND PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY SECURITIES ALFM GLOBAL MULTI-ASSET INCOME FUND INC. -B,D,4 $0.99 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. A - NAVPS AS OF THE PREVIOUS BANKING DAY. B - NAVPS AS OF TWO BANKING DAYS AGO. C - LISTED IN THE PSE. D - IN NET ASSET VALUE PER UNIT (NAVPU).

1 - LAUNCH DATE IS JANUARY 3, 2019. 2 - LAUNCH DATE IS JANUARY 28, 2019. 3 - LAUNCH DATE IS FEBRUARY 1, 2019. 4 - LAUNCH DATE IS AUGUST 1, 2019.

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

7 - ADJUSTED DUE TO STOCK DIVIDEND ISSUANCE LAST OCTOBER 9, 2019.

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

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Banking&Finance BusinessMirror

Tuesday, December 10, 2019 B3

BPI probes money transfers after Australia bank scandal B ANK of the Philippine Islands (BPI) has started its own probe into fund transfers made using a Westpac Banking Corp. service blamed for Australia’s worst-ever money-laundering breach.

The bank owned by Ayala Corp. started investigating transactions

made through LitePay, a low-cost fund transfer system Westpac

launched in 2016, after violations came to light in late November, BPI Spokesman Owen L. Cammayo said. BPI, the local remittance partner of LitePay, immediately terminated the arrangement and reported the matter to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and Westpac, Cammayo said.

Cammayo declined to specify the focus of the probe and said the bank could have “limited visibility” on where the money likely

ended up.

“While we are the remittance partner, the destination banks may not be BPI,” he said by phone.

LitePay is at the center of the controversy engulfing Sydneybased Westpac, which is alleged to have breached money-laundering laws more than 23 million times.

Its top executive resigned after Australian authorities said the lender failed to check customers who repeatedly made small transfers to

Southeast Asian countries including the Philippines—a red flag for possible child exploitation.

LitePay was set up to target Filipinos working in Australia who make hundreds of thousands of transfers back home each year, according to a BPI statement issued in 2016. It allowed users to send money from a Westpac account online to a BPI account, from which it could then be moved to any bank in the Philippines. Bloomberg News

RESOLUTIONS IN PERSONAL FINANCE

A

S one year comes to a close, we have a fervor wish that the next year would be a better year. Having a better year can imply having a better version of ourselves.

Genesis Kelly S. Lontoc There are those who draft a New Year’s resolution. This PERSONAL FINANCE refers to seeking a desired change in attitude or behavior in order to have improvement in life or help in eventually achieving a personal goal.

Resolutions though can be broad or generic. In the realm of personal finance, there are certain resolutions that can be planned for a better financial future.

The first resolution can be to continue doing good things that allow us to be in the right path of managing finances. We can continue doing them but we can do them with better execution.

For example, we must continue to be reminded about our major personal finance goals. These serve as our “North Stars” and help guide us in what we spend, save, insure and invest. We must continue to believe that we have the capacity and the resilience to achieve the goals since the first step to success really comes from within.

The personal finance goals should be our constant guides but the strategies, plans and actions can change given dynamic socioeconomic trends. We must continue to review how effective and how efficient our strategies are in being able to ultimately achieve our goals.

Clear milestones have to be set and progress checks have to be made to ensure that we reach our destination and we reach it in the best way possible. Constantly reviewing our personal finance situation will make us more informed in making decisions.

We must continue to invest in continuous learning. We are our own greatest personal assets.

A wide range of learning resources about different personal finance topics are available. There are various perspectives on different personal finance topics and knowing the different sides of the coin on a topic will convey the information we need in choosing well.

We must continue to be aware of what is happening in the bigger socioeconomic environment since developments can have good or bad implications on our finances.

The second resolution can be to stop doing the things that lead us astray. We must stop treating every expense as a necessity. There is a thing called a necessity and there is a thing called a luxury.

Examples of necessities would be food, shelter, clothing and utilities while a luxury would cover other categories. If we are able to review spending on necessities and eliminate spending on luxuries we do not really need, we will end up with more money even if our salary and other income sources will not exhibit any movement.

We need to stop the bad habit of procrastinating. This is true especially in terms of investing since time is a great wealth ally.

It is true that the early bird catches the worm. It is true that the best time to invest was yesterday. The power of compound interest is the vehicle we get which allows money invested in the past to grow tremendously over time.

By investing early, we shall be able to minimize opportunity costs. Delay in investing could have dire implications like not being able to invest at all due to other activities.

The third resolution can be to start doing new things that add significant value toward the achievement of the personal finance goals. One thing that can be started is to start exploring how to further diversify the personal portfolio.

There might be saving, insurance and investment options that can potentially help improve returns or minimize risk in the current portfolio. Due diligence and research on the options will help in making us decide what to get and how much to get based on our own financial goals and plans.

Resolutions are valuable because they embody positive change.

However, a resolution is only as good as its execution. If the resolution is specific, measurable, ambitious, realistic and timely, and, if they emanate from our authentic desire to be better, then both a better version of ourselves and a better future loom.

Gemmy Lontoc is a registered financial planner of RFP Philippines. To learn more about personal financial planning, attend the 80th RFP program this January 2020. To inquire, e-mail info@rfp.ph or text <name><email> <RFP> at 0917-9689774.

THIS photo courtesy of Union Bank of the Philippines shows its self-service hub located at Ayala Malls Circui, in Makati City, which it calls UBNK. The bank said clients at UBNK can open an account without the need to submit any paper documents. Clients can also make cash and check deposits, withdraw cash, do funds transfer and pay bills.

UnionBank launches digital banking portal for business U NION Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank) launched 15 new branches that allows for digital banking transaction it calls the ARK. Among these new ARKs is a new digital banking experience with its own flagship branch.

Union Bank said it also launched its ARK for Business at Madrigal Building along Ayala Avenue, in Makati City. A statement said this is the first UnionBank ARK “designed to make business transactions seamless and efficient.” It said this is linked to UnionBank’s business banking platform it calls “The Portal.”

The bank said its “ARK for Business enables all business clients to conveniently pre-stage their

transactions in the comfort of their offices or residences.”

“The Portal has a web site and a mobile app version that gives business clients basic banking functions, such as account viewing, fund transfers through multiple channels and payment to government and utility billers,” UnionBank said. “Customers can also access a financial-supply-chain system powered by blockchain inside the platform.”

UnionBank said that its “ARK for Business has high-volume, selfservice machines to accommodate large transactions from business clients—who comprise 90 percent of Ayala Madrigal’s total transactions.”

The bank said staff are present in the ARK branch “to facilitate digital

conversion of business customers and help provide relevant business solutions.” Its “ARK for Business” also offers a co-working space for business clients who need a temporary office.”

UnionBank said it is set to have close to 50 ARKs by end of the year.

For 2020, the bank has announced that it already has the blueprint in building its ARK 2.0, a smart branch with IOT-enabled devices that would leverage on 5G technology.

“UnionBank will be partnering with technology experts in building this digital infrastructure to support the development of smart communities,” UnionBank President and CEO Edwin Bautista was quoted in the statement as saying.

VG Cabuag

Youth groups back higher taxes to fund health care

S

EVERAL youth groups called on Congress to urgently pass significantly higher taxes on alcohol, heated tobacco products and e-cigarettes to help ensure sufficient funding for the Universal Health Care (UHC) program.

The groups urged lawmakers to pass the “sin” tax version principally authored by Sen. Pia S. Cayetano or SB 1074.

Cayetano’s bill represents a component of Package 2 Plus of the Duterte administration’s Comprehensive Tax Reform Program.

In a news conference after a recent forum at the University of Santo Tomas (UST), the Youth for Sin Tax (YST) described sin taxes as “the single most effective way of significantly reducing consumption of sin products among the youth who are sensitive to price increases.”

The National Capital Region (NCR) chapter of the National Federation of Junior Philippine Institute of Accountants (NFJPIA), which has 20,000 members in different colleges in Metro Manila, likewise gave its nod to higher sin taxes.

The NFJPIA pointed out that“alcohol is the leading cause of death for young people,” and that “1 out of 5 e-cigarette users is aged 10-19 years old.”

“We reiterate our support for the Package 2 Plus in its entirety, for this will allow us to make a significant investment in our country’s health, and ultimately, the nation’s long-term development,” an NFJPIA statement said.

The Benilde Central Student Government, meanwhile, expressed support for the reform, more so because additional funding for UHC can “make mental health interventions more accessible.”

The Junior Philippine Economics Society (JPES), the leading national organization of economics students, also called for the immediate passage of SB 1074.“SB 1074 is an advantageous measure insofar as public health and fiscal health are concerned,” the group said in a statement.

The bill is now in the period of plenary interpellation and has been certified as an urgent bill by President Duterte.

Youth for Sin Tax, YAHR, NFJPIA-NCR, and JPES presented their statements to Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, who acknowledged the youth groups for their support for the tax reform in his speech at the close of the Sulong workshop.

“You, the young Filipinos, are the direct beneficiaries of the sustained growth we seek to achieve through the reforms we now undertake. The future belongs to you. You have the greatest stake in our economy’s success. It will shape your career paths and the quality of your lives. Your voices must be heard,” Dominguez said.

Other youth groups have submitted statements of support on significantly higher excise taxes on alcohol, HTPs, and e-cigs, through their official channels. Jove Moya

GSIS to release Xmas Cash Gift to pensioners starting Dec. 15

T

HE Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) announced it will release P3.12 billion in Christmas Cash Gift to old-age and disability pensioners starting December 15.

“We know that our 324,348 pensioners are looking forward to the GSIS Christmas Cash Gift which they fondly call their Christmas bonus,” GSIS Chairman and Acting President and General Manager Rolando Ledesma Macasaet was quoted in a statement as saying. “Thus, we made sure that it will be credited to their eCard a few days before Christmas day so they can spend it in celebrating this joyous occasion with their families.”

Entitled to receive the Christmas Cash Gift are active old-age and disability pensioners under Republic Act 8291, Presidential Decree 1146, and RA 660 who are receiving their regularly monthly pension and are still living as of November 30, 2019. Suspended pensioners as of November 30 are also eligible to receive the cash gift, provided they activate their status with GSIS on or before April 30, 2020.

Pensioners whose 2018 Christmas Cash Gift was above P10,000 will receive an amount equivalent to one month current pension up to a maximum of P12,600. On the other hand, those whose 2018 Christmas Cash Gift was P10,000 and below

will be granted one month current pension up to a maximum of P10,000.

Pensioners who resumed their regular monthly pension after December 31, 2018 (after the five-year guaranteed period), will be granted one month current pension up to a maximum of P10,000.

Not qualified to receive the Christmas Cash Gift are the following: basic survivorship pensioners; dependent pensioners; pensioners under RA 7699 (Portability law); and, those receiving pro-rata pension. Retirees who received in advance their guaranteed pensions in the form of lump sums who are still within the guaranteed period and who

will be resuming their regular monthly pensions after December 31, 2019, are also not entitled to the benefit.

Likewise, new retirees between 2015 and 2019 who availed of immediate pension under RA 8291 will not yet receive the cash gift this year. They will start receiving their Christmas Cash Gift five years after their retirement date.

GSIS members who resigned or separated from government service between 2006 to 2019 before reaching age 60 and who started receiving their regular monthly pension between 2015 and 2019 will receive the cash gift once they have been regular pensioners for at least five years.

B4 Tuesday, December 10, 2019

Nickel Asia shines in the National Mine Safety & Environment Conference

NICKEL Asia Corporation subsidiaries took the spotlight in the recently-concluded 66th Annual National Mine Safety and Environment Conference (ANMSEC).

Cagdianao Mining Corporation (CMC), based in Valencia, Dinagat Islands province, bagged the top Presidential award and the 2 highest safety performance awards – the Safest Surface Mines and the Overall Safest Mine Operations. These awards are given to operating mines that have shown

exemplary performance in the area of environment enhancement and protection, safety, health, and social development and corporate social responsibility.

CMC's Archie Sierra also won the best surface safety inspector award during the November 19-22 ANMSEC, the largest annual gathering of the country's minerals sector that also feature safety competitions, mining equipment exhibits, and a symposium tackling industry issues.

Hinatuan Mining Corporation (HMC) based in Tagana-an town, Surigao del Norte, took home the Platinum Award in the surface mining category and as first runner up in the Best Forest Award.

Two of HMC's miners, James Wilkins Asio and Angelo Cañada, were conferred the Best Mine Supervisor Award and Best Miner Award, respectively.

Meanwhile, NAC subsidiary Rio Tuba Nickel Mining Corporation (RTNMC) captured the championship crown Mine Safety Field Demonstration and Field Competition on First Aid held during the last day of the conference.

The annual mine safety and environment conference is organized by the Philippine Mine Safety and Environment Association (PMSEA) in coordination with the Department of Environment and Natural ResourcesMines and Geosciences Bureau, the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines, the Philippine Society of Mining Engineers (PSEM).

Platinum Group Metals Corporation wins PMIEA Platinum Achievement Award

P

LATINUM Group Metals Corporation (PGMC), the Surigao del Norte-based operating arm of listed Global Ferronickel Holdings, Inc., was recognized by the Philippine Mine Safety and Environment Association (PMSEA) for its responsible mining practices during the Awards Night of the 66th Annual National Mine Safety and Environment Conference in Baguio City. PGMC was the recipient of the 2019 Presidential Mineral Industry Environmental Award (PMIEA) Selection

Committee Platinum Achievement Award, Surface Mining Operation Category. The award is bestowed to deserving companies for their outstanding levels of dedication, initiatives and innovations in the pursuit of excellence in environmental protection, safety and health management and social & community development.

In the photo are, from left: MGB Director Wilfredo G. Moncano, PMEA President Joey Ayson, PGMC Mine Operations Manager Richard C. Gimenez and PGMC President Atty. Dante R. Bravo.

Business guide to transfer pricing rules

T

HE release of the new BIR Revenue Audit Memorandum Order 1-2019 last August 20, 2019 alerts the taxpayers on how it would apply the new transfer pricing regulation on the audit of companies,conglomerates, and importers with related-party transactions. To help businesses to be audit ready, the Center for Global Best Practices is hosting a twoday training entitled Business Guide to Preparing and Handling Transfer Pricing Audits on December 9 & 10, 2019 at the EDSA Shangri-La Hotel, Mandaluyong City, Philippines.

This comprehensive training will guide attendees on TP documentation compliant to the BIR’s standards.

Attendees will also gain knowledge on the current landscape of Transfer Pricing – the trends and developments to watch for to

avoid potential tax risk and penalties. It will also showcase practices of successful companies in TP audit.

Learn from tax expert practitioner, Charadine S. Bandon. She has over 12 years of experience as a tax attorney in BIR, holding several important positions including Chief of the International Tax Affairs Division (ITAD) from 20122016. She was lead technical expert in the negotiation of Philippine double tax agreements with Germany, Mexico, and US, and the implementation of international tax standards in exchange of information (EOI).

This training will also feature Lisa A. Cea, who is the Principal and Head of the Transfer Pricing Specialist Team of Ortiz & Bandon Law Firm. She worked in the Legal Service of the BIR for 18 years – 12 years of which were spent in the International Tax

Affairs Division (ITAD), becoming the main focal for transfer pricing issues.

Registration is open to the general public and is highly recommended for businesses, conglomerates, importers, logistics, forwarding companies with related-party transactions, auditors, CPAs and lawyers.

CGBP is an accredited training provider of the Civil Service Commission. Attendees from the government can earn points for their career advancement and are exempted from the P2,000-limit set by COA when attending training conducted by the private sector based on DBM circular 563 dated April 22, 2016.

Interested participants are encouraged to avail of the early payment and group discount for 3 or more attendees. Seats are limited and pre-registration is required.

TOYOTA DONATES P2-M TO SUPPORT MINDANAO QUAKE VICTIMS. In the true spirit of bayanihan, Toyota Motor Philippines Corporation (TMP) assists earthquake victims in Mindanao through the ‘Helping Hands Mindanao Mission’ of the Metrobank Foundation (MBFI).

TMP donated a total of P2 million to purchase 1,000 retractable tents to serve as temporary shelters for the affected families in the areas of North Cotabato and Davao del Sur where the damage was most severe. TMP vice chairman Dr. David Go (second from left) turned over the check donation to MBFI president Aniceto Sobrepena. They are joined by TMP Foundation assistant vice president Ronald Gaspar (left) and MBFI executive director Nicanor Torres.

Pamana cooking competition aims to make recipes and stories to life-long legacies

D

O you love chocolates? Have you ever dreamt of having your favorite food and chocolate in one dish? Do you know that there is already a cooking competition that focuses on doing this? November 23 marked the concluding day of the first-ever cocoa cooking competition in the country. kessler’s, the new premium brand of raw ingredients in the Philippines, has launched its first-ever Kessler's Pamana: Turning Stories and Recipes to Life-long Legacies, a cocoa cooking competition.

More than the promotions of KESSLER’S Alkalized Cocoa Powder, the competition’s aim is to give aspiring non-professional bakers and cooks the chance to make their recipes and stories into legacies.

Kessler’s Pamana was co-presented by hamburg Trading Corp, kessler’s

Kitchen, Tecnogas Philippines, and Besterm International Corporation.

The event was also sponsored by All About Baking, KitchenAid Philippines, and WhenInManila.com.

The competition has kicked off last September 2 through the KESSLER’S official Facebook page and

stretched up to an eliminations round on November 18 and the final cook-off last November 23 at the KESSLER’S Kitchen in Sta. Rosa Laguna. At the final cook-off, the Top 3 finalists, namely faced cooked and presented their signature cocoa dishes -- John Pineda’s Pan de San Antonio, Ralph Steven Sarmiento’s Chocolate Kalihim, and Charlene Pacis’ Ultimate Chocolate Cake.

The final cook-off started at 9 in the morning, ended at 12 noon, and followed by the contestants’ presentation to the judges: Chef Chris Paredes, in-house consultant of KESSLER’S; Ms. Cara Pauline Dino, R&D Specialist of hamburg Trading Corp; Ms. Lenie Bermudez, president of hamburg Trading Corp; and Mr. Horst Kessler von Sprengeisen, chairman and founder of Hamburg Trading Corp and the man behind Kessler’s. The final cook-off was hosted

by Gianna Kessler von Sprengeisen, VP for Marketing and PR of Hamburg Trading Corp and daughter of the chairman and founder.

Before the announcement of winners in the afternoon, the finalists attended a specialized The Kitchen Sessions by Kessler’s Kitchen for passionate bakers/cooks and entrepreneurs. Topics tackled were Product Costing by Santiago Andaya, Branding and Marketing by Apple Allison, Product Development

by Cara Pauline Dino, and Mindset

Setting by Chef Chris Paredes.

When the time came for the announcement of winners, hearts were pounding hard as all of the people present at the KESSLER’S Kitchen waited anxiously. Finally, lights and music danced with the people’s cheers as Ms. Gianna Kessler announced the very first KESSLER’S Pamana Grand Champion -- Ralph Steven Sarmiento and his Chocolate Kalihim Recipe! John Pineda got the 1st Run-

ner Up position while Ms. Charlene Pacis took the 2nd place.

Ralph Steven Sarmiento took home a Tecnogas Gas Range with built-in oven, a 9-Speed KitchenAid Hand Mixer, Php3000 worth of various baking equipment from All About Baking, Php8000 cash and a one-year supply of Kessler’s products.

The community’s passion for the food industry is what keeps the Kessler’s brand committed

to its promises to provide highquality products while helping the home bakers/cooks and micro to small entrepreneurs improve their businesses. And as it promotes this legacy to the people, the brand aims to bring out passionate home bakers’ and cooks’ best recipes and the stories behind them to become their lifelong legacies.

Stay tuned for next year’s bigger and grander Kessler’s Pamana!

RALPH Steven Sarmiento

PAUL MARTON and Rachelle Anne de la Cruz kiss on the podium after preventing a goldmedal shutout for the Philippines in archery.

ROY DOMINGO

Sports BusinessMirror

C1

| Tuesday, December 10, 2019 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

MR. AND MRS. GOLD MEDALISTS T HE husband and wife tandem of Paul Marton and Rachelle Anne de la Cruz ended the Philippines’s gold medal drought in archery in the 30th Southeast Asian Games.

And they did it in style.

The de la Cruz couple edged the Vietnamese pair of Van Day Nguyen and Kieu Oanh Chau, 148147, in the mixed team compound category to give the country its

JAMIE CHRISTINE BERBERABE LIM wins a karatedo gold medal and her No. 1 fan, her mother Darlene Marie Berberabe, just couldn’t wait to join her atop the podium.

first gold in archery on Monday at the Clark Parade Grounds.

Indonesia took the bronze medal after trouncing Malaysia, 152-150.

The Filipino couple displayed nerves of steel to get past the Vietnamese in the finals after breezing past Malaysia, 153-148, the semifinals.

The Philippines last won a gold medal in the 2013 Games in Myanmar courtesy of the men’s

compound team of Earl Benjamin Yap, Ian Patrick Chipeco and Delfin Anthony Adriano. In 2017 in Malaysia, the archers bagged one silver and four bronzes.

The trio of Rachelle Ann, Andrea Lucia Robles and Abbigail Tindugan, however, lost to Chau, Phuong Le Thao and Vy Tuong Nguyen of Vietnam, 215217, in the bronze-medal match in women’s team compound.

Thailand took the gold via a 221-

217 win over Indonesia.

Earlier, Vietnam collected three of the five gold medals in the recurve competition.

The 26-year-old Loc Thi Dao trounced Pyae Sone Hnin, 6-4, of Myanmar in the women’s individual recurve while leading the Vietnamese squad to the golden finish in the women’s team and mixed team divisions.

Indonesia topped the men’s individual and men’s team events

after rolling past Malaysia, 5-4, and Myanmar, 6-4, in the men’s team and individual events, respectively.

Loc teamed up with Do Thi Anh Nguyet and Nguyen Thi Phuong to beat Pyae Sone Hnin, Thidar Nwe and Yamin Thu of Myanmar, 6-2, in the team event.

Loc and Nguyen Hoang Phi Vu later crippled Diananda Choirunisa and Riau Ega Salsabilla of Indonesia, 5-1, for the gold in the mixed event.

THE Philippines’s Eric Shauwn Cray (from left), Eloiza Luzon, Kristina Marie Knott and Anfernee Lopena snatch the 100 meters mixed relay gold medal at the New Clark City’s Athletic Stadium. ROY DOMINGO

C2

Spo

Business

Tuesday, December 10, 2019

By Ramon Rafael Bonilla

F

ILIPINO representatives in Mobile Legends: Bang Bang clinched gold medal against Indonesia late Sunday 3-2 in the inaugural staging of eSports in the 30th Southeast Asian Games at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.

Dubbed Team Sibol, the local bets trailed early in the best-of-five series 1-2 but fought back to stun the Indonesian team that has veterans from the world championship of the popular mobile game last month.

The Filipinos took the first game but the Indons bounced back with back-to-back triumphs to move a win away from securing the gold.

Led by Karl Gabriel “KarlTzy” Nepomuceno and his hero Esmeralda, the locals held their ground in the thrilling fourth game, setting the stage for what everybody thought would be a down-thewire battle in fifth.

But the Filipinos surged to a 9-1 edge early on and clinched the gold in 15 minutes.

Thailand took the gold in the Arena of Valor with a 3-0 win over Indonesia Monday.

Thailand, meanwhile, swept its way to a double gold-medal harvest in the regu event of sepak takraw at the Subic Gym. Made up of Athikan Kongkaew, Kaewjai Pumsawangkaeuw, Sasiwimol Janthasit and Wiphada Chitpuan, Thailand completed a 3-0 sweep of the single-round robin women’s regu play, punctuated by a 21-11, 21-10 win over the Philippines.

Vietnam pocketed the silver medal while Malaysia and the Philippines claimed the bronze.

The Thai men’s team also clinched the gold with a 21-10, 21-15 victory over the Philippines.

With a 3-0 card, the Thai quartet of Pornchai Kaokaew, Pattarapong Yupadee, Sittipong Khamchan and Kritsanapong Nontakote will clinch the gold regardless of the result of their last match against Vietnam at 3 p.m. Tuesday.

With 2-1 cards, the Philippines and Malaysia will lock horns at 11 a.m. Tuesday for the silver medal of the men’s regu event.

FILIPINO E-GAMERS BAG ML GOLD MEDAL

Angara files resolutions honoring arnis team, Majority Leader Zubiri

T

HE Senate on Monday honored the Philippine National Arnis Team (PNAT) for its sterling performance in the ongoing 30th Southeast Asian Games.

Sen. Sonny Angara filed the Senate Resolution 247 recognizing the historic feat of the PNAT, which further solidified the Philippines’s mastery of the sport and the martial arts discipline.

The PNAT delivered 14 gold, four silver and two bronze medals for the Philippines, for a total of 20 medals.

The gold-medal haul of the PNAT represents 10 percent of the total gold-medal tally of the Philippine contingent in the SEA Games.

A separate resolution, PSR 248, was also filed by Angara to recognize the contributions of Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri to the PNAT and to arnis as a sport.

“We congratulate our Philippine National Arnis Team for bringing honor and glory to the country. It is only fitting that they delivered the most gold medals for the Philippines, considering that arnis is the national martial art and sport of the Philippines,” Angara said.

“Under the stewardship of the Philippine Eskrima Kali Arnis Federation [PEKAF] President and Chairman Senate Majority Leader Migz Zubiri, the PNAT has demonstrated how Filipino athletes can excel against international competition. After 14 years of being absent from the SEA Games, arnis is back and hopefully it is here to stay,” Angara added.

Arnis was included as a demonstration sport in the 2005 SEA Games, which was also hosted by the Philippines.

In the current SEA Games, a total of four countries competed in arnis, namely, Cambodia, Myanmar, Vietnam and the Philippines.

The arnis events were divided into live stick, padded stick and anyo categories for men and women.

For the live stick events, the PNAT

members who won medals were Dexter Bolambao, Sgt. Niño Mark Talledo, T/Sgt. Vilardo Cunamay, SSG Mike Bañares, Jezebel Morcillo (gold); Jude Oliver Mae Rodriguez (silver); Eza Rai Young and Erlin Mae Busacay (bronze).

For the padded stick events: Jesfer Huquire, Elmer Manlapas, Carloyd Tejada, Sheena del Monte, Jedah Mae Soriano, Ross Ashley Monville and Abegail Abad (gold); and Billy Joel Valenzuela (silver).

For the anyo events: Mary Allin Aldeguer (gold); Mark David Puzon and Ryssa Jezzel Sanchez (silver).

The coaching staff, consisting of Richardson Gialogo, Regie Sanchez, P/Capt. Reneto Tuñacao, Reignerose Esquierra, Rodolfo Jay Garcia Jr., and Aniano Lota Jr. were also honored in the resolution.

“The overwhelming success of the PNAT at the 30th SEA Games is an inspiring testament to the level of excellence that Filipino athletes can achieve, with proper government support,” the resolution stated.

Zubiri was credited for his efforts to strengthen and preserve the practice of arnis as a martial art and sport.

As president and chairman of PEKAF, Zubiri hosted regional competitions and training camps “to push our arnisadors to excellence in preparation for international competitions.”

“The performance of the Philippine Team for arnis has been a success, not only in its bountiful harvest of medals, but also in its effectiveness in inspiring appreciation and interest in arnis among Philippine and international audiences alike,” the resolution stated.

THE Philippines’s Jerry Olsim wins the male 69-kg gold medal of kickboxing at the expense of Thailand’s Klinming Sarayut. NONIE REYES

New Clark City to host Asian swimming championships

T FILIPINO skateboarders finish 1-2 in the downhill event in Maragondon in Cavite. They are gold medalist Jaime de Lange (center) and silver medalist Duke Pandeagua (left). Malaysia’s Lugman Amad bags the bronze. PHOTO COURTESY BY DENNIS ABRINA

OPEN WATER SWIM ON

B

ATANGAS pride Ron Jairus Villamor and Davao City’s Joboy Gonzales gun for the gold at the 30th Southeast Asian Games open swimming competition on Tuesday at the Hanjin Boat Terminal at Cubi in Subic.

Villamor and Gonzales will go up against bets from Indonesia, Singapore and Vietnam. The competitors will try to outdo each other in the lone men’s 10-kilometer event.

National Coach Betsy Medalla, an open swimmer herself, expressed confidence that the Filipino swimmers will meet expectations. ‘‘It’s going to be tough, but we have the home-court advantage. We have the fighting hearts to win,’’ said Medalla, who said it’s possible that the Philippines will finish 1-2 in the competition.

HE Asian Swimming Federation (AASF), Philippine Swimming Inc. (PSI), Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) and Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) signed a partnership agreement for the country’s hosting of the 2020 Asian Swimming Championships (ASC), a major aquatics event that happens every four years.

PSI President Maria Lailani Velasco announced that the AASF awarded PSI the rights to host the championships.

The championships will be held at the Aquatics Center at the New Clark City in Capas, Tarlac.

AASF Secretary-General Taha Sulaiman AlKishry said the event will be held from November 7 to 17. Al-Kishry is chief of the Oman Swimming Association and a member of the Fédération Internationale de Natation (Fina) Bureau.

“Clark was selected for the facility they can provide for AASF. We will be bringing the best teams in Asia,” Al-Kishry said. “During the championship we will have the General Congress where we will have the election after four years.”

The General Congress will be held on November 8, 2020. It is expected to bring together the executive board of Fina, as well as other high-ranking officers in the Asean.

Velasco said the Asian Swimming Championships is “at par with the Asian Games in importance and is expected to [dominate] the success of the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.”

It will bring together top swimmers from 50

AASF member-countries. Among these are Japan, China, Korea, Vietnam, Nepal, Bhutan and Qatar.

The championships will have five disciplines—swimming, diving, water polo, artistic swimming and open water swimming.

She also cited the dynamic partnership PSI has with BCDA in light of the 30th Southeast Asian Games. “We at the PSI are very grateful to BCDA and the Philippine Sports Commission for agreeing to partner with us and provide us with the support needed to make this major aquatics event possible. Both these organizations were, in fact, instrumental in making the 30th SEA Games a success and it is our hope that the strong ties built during the SEA Games will translate into an even more successful staging of the Asian Swimming Championships.”

BCDA President and CEO Vivencio Dizon emphasized the readiness of New Clark City and its facilities to host the event.

“Thank you for offering us this opportunity to be part of a big project,” Dizon said. “We agree that this is a great occasion for us to inspire the next generation of elite athletes, as well as project a positive image of the Philippines to the world.”

PSC Commissioner Fatima Celia Kiram assured everyone that the sports agency will fully support the event.

“We do hope that the greatness of our Filipino athletes shown in the 30th Southeast Asian Games will be repeated in the coming 11th Asian Swimming Championship,” Kiram said.

THE Philippines’s Jiah Pingot (red jersey) pins down Vietnam’s Nguyen Thi Xuan on her way to winning their women’s 50-kg class preliminaries. NONIE REYES

BO NAVARRO

B

By Vince Juico

O NAVARRO is a sports agent. Most of his clients ply their trade in the National Football League and the Major League Baseball.

I asked him about the movie Jerry Maguire, about a sports agent who develops a moral conscience after eating a cold pizza.

Like Maguire, Navarro believes in having

a personal relationship with your client or clients. Professional athletes are away from their families a lot of the time and they can use a support system which their agent can provide if there is a personal relationship.

We talked about the late Junior Seau of the San Diego Chargers who he says was a friend of his. We conversed about whether student athletes should get paid. He delved on the opportunities for American imports here in

the Philippines, from marketing opportunities to endorsements to helping Philippine sports in their own little way.

The life of a sports agent is fraught with contract negotiations and a lot of back and forth between you and your client’s team. It’s a balancing act between getting what your client deserves and the team’s bottom line. It’s a mix of trying to make it a win-win situation for everybody.

Sports agents also make sure their client

is put in a good light despite controversies and things they may say that might detrimental to their team and their reputation. Sports agents lead the battle for the hearts and minds of fans.

Maguire says “it’s a pride swallowing siege that I will never tell you about.” To me it’s not, it’s either a half glass full or a half glass empty thing, that’s how I look at it.

Sports agents also serve as advisers, they have their client’s ear 24/7.

PHILIPPINE Swimming Inc. President Lailani Velasco, Bases Conversion and Development Authority President and CEO Vince Dizon, Asian Swimming Federation Secretary-General Taha Al-Kishry and PSC Commissioner Fatima Celia Kiram sign the partnership agreement.

orts

sMirror

Tuesday, December 10, 2019

C3

PHL BOXERS RUN AWAY WITH 7 GOLDS

F

ILIPINO boxers punched their way to seven gold medals in the 30th Southeast Asian Games Monday, highlighted by a sensational first round stoppage scored by Eumir Felix Marcial over his Vietnamese foe.

World women’s champion Nesthy Petecio bannered the Filipino pugs’ campaign, winning the gold in the 57-kg class (featherweight) with a 5-0 shutout of Nwe Ni Oo of Myanmar at the PICC Forum.

Also winning gold medals were Carlo Paalam (light flyweight), Rogen Ladon (flyweight), Josie Gabuco (women’s lightflyweight), James Palicte (light welterweight), Charly Suarez (lightweight), and Marcial (middleweight).

In all, the Filipinos topped seven of 13 events at stake to win the overall title.

Thailand accounted for five golds while the other gold was won by Vietnam.

Marcial, silver-medal winner in the last Aiba World Championships, provided the highlight of the night, winning won the 75-kg class (middleweight) with a first round knockout of Vietnamese Manh Cuong Nguyen.

The 24-year-old native of Zamboanga initially staggered Nguyen with a solid left before delivering the coup de grace, a crunching left to the body that had the Vietnamese haplessly going down to the canvas.

Paalam got the Philippine boxing medal machine going with a 5-0 win over Kornelis Kwangu Langu of Indonesia, followed by a similar 5-0 thrashing scored by Ladon on Ammarit Yaodam of Thailand. Palicte also outclassed Van Hai Nguyen of Vietnam 5-0.

Former world champion Gabuco was the other lady gold-medal winner for Team Philippines, whipping Endang of Indonesia 5-0.

Three other Filipinos—Irish Magno, Riza Pasuit and Marjon Piañar—settled for silver medals.

Magno lost to Thi Tam Nguyen of Vietnam 1-4 while Pasuit and Piañar lost by similar scores of 5-0 against Sudaporn Seesondee of Thailand. Ryniel Berlanga

Calano books drama-filled men’s javelin victory

By Ramon Rafael Bonilla

N

EW Clark City—A week ago, anxiety hit Melvin Calano after he received a frantic call from her wife in Camarines Norte. Their house in Paracale was devastated by a strong tornado. Nothing was left, but, thankfully, everyone was safe.

He shouldn’t be that worried, especially that he must be mentally and physically fit for a big contest ahead—the 30th Southeast Asian Games at the New Clark City in Capas, Tarlac.

On Monday, with thousands of Filipinos cheering on him, Calano gathered all his strength and threw the spear to a distance worthy of a gold medal. Finally, he would be together again with his family, with a gold medal dangling on his neck, and probably a fat paycheck to build a new abode.

MARGARITA OCHOA makes mincemeat of Vietnam’s Dao Le Thu Trang. NONIE REYES

The humble and soft-spoken Calano topped the men’s javelin throw with 72.86 meters, just 7 centimeters shy of the 10-year record of Danilo Fresnido in the 2009 Laos edition.

Calano’s victory highlighted the brilliant showing of the men’s national track and field team after days of medal and record-setting surge of Filipina athletes led by pole vaulter Natalie Uy, sprinter Kristina Knott, marathoner Christine Hallasgo and heptathlon winner Sarah Dequinan.

The bronze medalist in Malaysia two years ago took three attempts before making her goldmedal clinching heave.

He was surprise to get that far, considering that in practices he barely reached 70 meters.

“Ang adjustment na ginawa ko maging mapag-obserba sa lahat ng ginagawa ko.

Nagbabasa rin ako ng Bible araw-araw kasi doon ko kinukuha ‘yung lakas ko,” the 28-year-

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! I

By Jun Lomibao

T’S all over but the counting.

From the look of things, the Philippines is bound to install itself as overall champion of the 30th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games—the biggest and, perhaps, the most colorful and controversial edition of the multisport competition among 11 countries in this region of the globe.

The gold-medal haul on Monday—the penultimate day of competitions of the Games the country is hosting for the second time since its successful conquest in 2005.

With a total of 129 gold medals, the Philippines—which also hauled 96 silver and 100 bronzes—has achieved its ultimate goal of emerging king of the SEA Games once more.

And so the race has fizzled down to which team will place second.

Vietnam regained the No. 2 spot with a tally of 75-76-86 (gold-silver-bronze), but just a gold behind was surging Thailand with 74-88-99.

Indonesia slipped to fourth but was still much in contention with 69 gold, 72 silver and 94 bronze medals.

More gold medals are expected from the Clark cluster and elsewhere as hostilities come to a close on Tuesday. Potential gold medals should come from men’s and women’s basketball, men’s volleyball and handball, kickboxing, wrestling, jiujitsu and athletics.

Margarita “Meggie”Ochoa, meanwhile, introduced herself to the Games by winning a gold medal in the women’s -45 kg event of jiu-jitsu that got going Monday at the LausGroup Event Centre at the New Clark City.

The 28-year-old Filipina blanked Le Thu Trang Dao of Vietnam in the final 13-0 to add the gold to her growing collection that also included the same medal she won in the World and Asian championships.

Two other Filipinos delivered gold medals in jiu-jitsu’s maiden stint in the biennial meet—Carlo Peña (men’s -56 kg event) and Dean Michael Roxas (men’s 85 kg).

In early evening competitions in athletics, hurdler Clinton Kingsley Bautista and javelin thrower Melvin Calano bagged a gold medal each as the Filipino

tracksters surpassed the projected six gold-medal haul expected of them.

Bautista beat Sofian Rayzam Shah Wan of Malaysia in a photo finish to win the men’s 110-meter hurdles as both runners finished with identical clocking of 13.97 seconds.

The unheralded Calano threw the spear at

72.86 meters to win the men’s javelin throw over a five-man field.

The track and field team has so far amassed a total of nine gold medals in a tie with Vietnam.

Over at the Parade Grounds, couple Rachel Anne de la Rosa and Paul Marton de la Cruz made sure archery won’t go home empty-handed when they

bagged the gold in the mixed team compound recurve event.

The de la Rosas edged the Vietnamese pair of Kieu Oanh Chau and Van Day Nguyen, 148-147, to deliver archery’s lone medal in the biennial meet.

Jamie Christine Lim delivered the second gold for the Philippines at the close of karatedo action on Monday in the 30th Southeast Asian Games at the World Trade Center in Pasay City.

Lim, daughter of pro basketball legend Samboy Lim, ruled the +61kg kumite with a 2-1 win over Ceyco Zefanya of Indonesia, her first gold medal in the biennial meet just five months after she rejoined the national team.

The 21-year-old karatekas was away from the sport for four years to focus on her studies.

Last July, she finished her Bachelor of Science in Mathematics degree at the University of the Philippines, graduating summa cum laude.

“I worked super hard for this. I stopped for four years to concentrate on academics,” said Lim. “I fought against the odds because my opponents were full-time athletes. I only trained full-time for five months. But I did my work, worked hard every day, no shortcuts. I wanted it so much,” she added.

Lim, who scored wins against Audrey Japyus of Malaysia 7-3 in the quarterfinals and Thi Thao Bui of Vietnam 5-1 in the semifinals, offered her triumph to her parents.

“Summa cum laude is for mom, SEA Games gold for dad. I can’t believe that both of them happened this year, 2019 is so perfect for me. I’m just so grateful, I’m grateful,” she said.

“I look up to my mom and dad so much. To even come close to him, as in to be compared to him and to mom, it’s so big for me. Today is just so special for me. I feel happy.”

Lim joined Junna Tsukii as the other gold medalist for the karatedo national team after the latter ruled the -50 kumite women’s division.

The Philippines, meanwhile, made quite a splash in FE28ER match racing in the 30th SEA Games Monday as it topped the four-team field in Subic.

The Filipinos found themselves at the head of the pack at the end of eight races with a 7.0-point total.

JUNE MAR FAJARDO and the national men’s basketball team advance to the final unbeaten with Indonesia falling prey to the hosts’ superior skills, 97-70.

THE referee stops the fight and gives Eumir Marcial a knockout victory over Vietnam’s Nguyen Manh Cuong.

World Anti-Doping Agency imposes 4-year ban on Russia L AUSANNE, Switzerland—The Russian flag and national anthem were banned from next year’s Tokyo Olympics and other major sports events for four years on Monday.

Russia’s hosting of world championships in Olympic sports also face being stripped after the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) executive committee approved a full slate of recommended sanctions as punishment for state authorities tampering with a Moscow laboratory database.

Russian athletes will be allowed to compete in major events only if they are not implicated in positive doping tests or if their data was not

old athlete said.

Abd Hafiz of Indonesia claimed the silver medal at 71 meters, while Vietnam’s Hoai van Nguyen took the bronze at 70.88 m.

In the 110-m hurdles, Clinton Kingsley Bautista had to wait for confirmation before rejoicing with a photo-finish win in the men’s 110-m hurdles event over the defending champion Rayzam Shah Wan of Malaysia.

The 27-year-old Bautista had a similar time of 13.97 seconds with his Malaysian rival but the organizers handed the gold to the Filipino after a review.

Anousone Xaysa of Laos was also as close after finishing at 13.99 second for the bronze.

“Hindi ko expected na mananalo ako kasi injured ‘yung tuhod ko. Nagpahinga ako for three weeks para mag-recover,” Bautista said. “Kapag Pinoy ka, palaban ka dapat.”

manipulated, according to the Wada ruling.

Still, it is unclear how the ruling will affect Russian teams taking part in world championships, such as soccer’s World Cup. Russia’s anti-doping agency can appeal the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport within 21 days.

Legal fallout from the Wada ruling seems sure to dominate preparations for the Tokyo Olympics, which open on July 24.

Evidence shows that Russian authorities tampered with a Moscow laboratory database to hide hundreds of potential doping cases and falsely shift the blame onto whistle-blowers,

Wada investigators and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said last month.

“Flagrant manipulation” of the Moscow lab data was “an insult to the sporting movement worldwide,” the IOC said last month.

However, Wada’s inability to fully expel Russia from the Tokyo Olympics and 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics frustrated the doping watchdog’s vice president.

“I’m not happy with the decision we made today. But this is as far as we could go,” said Linda Helleland, a Norwegian lawmaker who serves on Wada executive committee and has long pushed for a tougher line against

Russia. “This is the biggest sports scandal the world has ever seen. I would expect now a full admission from the Russians, and for them to apologize on all the pain all the athletes and sports fans have experienced.”

Handing over a clean database to Wada was a key requirement for Russia to help bring closure to a scandal that has tainted the Olympics over the last decade.

Although the IOC has called for the strongest possible sanctions, it wants those sanctions directed at Russian state authorities rather than athletes or Olympic officials.

That position was opposed by most of Wada’s

athlete commission. It wanted the kind of blanket ban Russia avoided for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics and the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics after a state-run doping program was exposed by media and Wada investigations after Russia hosted the 2014 Olympics in Sochi.

“This entire fiasco created by Russia has cheated far too many athletes of their dreams and rightful careers, for far too long,” the Wada athlete panel said in a statement ahead of the meeting.

Russia previously signaled it would appeal the ruling. That must be filed by the Russian antidoping agency, known as Rusada. That body was declared noncompliant on Monday, 15 months after it was reinstated by Wada in defiance of athlete opposition.

The decision to appeal has been stripped

from Rusada Chief Executive Yuri Ganus, an independent figure criticizing Russian authorities’ conduct on the doping data issue. Authority was passed to the agency’s supervisory board after an intervention led by the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC).

The ROC on Saturday labeled the expected sanctions as “illogical and inappropriate.”

Russia has stuck to its claim that deceptive edits in the data were in fact made by Wada’s star witness, Grigory Rodchenkov. The former Moscow lab director’s flight into the witness protection program in the United States was the subject of an Oscar-winning documentary.

Technical reasons were claimed—and debunked by Wada investigators—for why the data appeared to have been edited shortly before the delayed handover in January. AP

DAVIS SCORES 50 PTS IN LAKERS’ VICTORY Sports

THE Lakers’ Anthony Davis shoots under pressure from the Timberwolves’ Andrew Wiggins. AP

BusinessMirror

JOAQUÍN SÁNCHEZ needs only 20 minutes to score his first career hat trick.

C4

| Tuesday, December 10, 2019 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

Sánchez oldest player to register hat trick at 38 at Spanish league

M

ADRID—Veteran Real Betis winger Joaquín Sánchez needed only 20 minutes to score his first career hat trick on Sunday, becoming the oldest player with a treble in the Spanish league.

The 38-year-old Sánchez scored in the second, 11th and 20th minutes at the Benito Villamarín Stadium, leading host Betis to a 3-2 win over Athletic Bilbao.

Soccer great Alfredo Di Stéfano held the previous record at the age of 37.

Betis’ rival Sevilla was later held by 10-man Osasuna to a 1-1 draw, failing to keep pace with league leaders Barcelona and Real Madrid. Sevilla stayed in third place, three points behind the Spanish powerhouses, which have a game in hand against each other on December 18.

Sánchez came into the match against Athletic with three goals in the season before doubling his tally on Sunday. He scored with a shot from near the penalty spot, then hit a well-placed curling shot into the far corner, and completed the hat trick from inside the area following a breakaway.

“It’s the first hat trick of my life. I don’t think it’s going to happen again,” Sánchez said. “I’ve never been a goal-scorer throughout my career, so I’m really proud to be able to get three goals against a rival like Athletic. Considering my age, it’s not an easy thing to do.”

He came close to adding a fourth in second-half stoppage time, but his close-range strike was saved by Athletic goalkeeper Unai Simón.

“It was a shame he missed his chance for the fourth goal, it was probably his easiest opportunity to score,” Betis Coach Rubi said. “He keeps showing how good he is despite his age.”

Sánchez has played more than 600 matches in his career, most of them with Betis. He also played for Valencia, Málaga and Italian club Fiorentina. Sánchez played with Spain’s national team from 2002-07, including in two World Cups and a European Championship.

It was the third straight league win for Betis, which moved to 11th place with 22 points.

Athletic, sixth with 26 points, was coming off three straight league victories. Iñaki Williams and Yuri Berchiche scored the visitors’ goals in Seville.

Betis had won only one of its last 11 league matches against Athletic.

Sevilla took the lead with an 11th-minute goal by Munir El Haddadi, but Ezequiel “Chimy” Ávila equalized for Osasuna just before halftime.

Host Osasuna held on despite playing a man down from the 61st as Oier Sanjurjo was sent off with a second yellow card.

Sevilla forward Javier “Chicharito” Hernández had a firsthalf goal disallowed for offside, and a second-half penalty kick awarded to Sevilla for a foul on him was reversed by video review.

Sevilla hadn’t conceded in three straight matches.

Osasuna forward Marc Cardona had to be substituted in the first half with a head injury. Osasuna said the player was conscious, but would undergo further tests in hospital.

Striker Ángel Rodríguez scored a second-half winner seven minutes after coming off the bench to give Getafe a 1-0 win at Eibar.

The win left the Madrid club in fifth place, immediately behind the final qualification spot for the Champions League. Getafe finished fifth last season and qualified for the Europa League. AP

By Dan Greenspan

L

The Associated Press

OS ANGELES—Anthony Davis hit a long floater with 4:39 remaining to reach 50 points for the first time with the Los Angeles Lakers. The shot that got him to the halfcentury mark was hardly representative of the work that preceded it.

Davis had a relentless series of fast-break points, second-chance opportunities and attacks in the paint that pummeled the Minnesota Timberwolves, a performance Lakers Coach Frank Vogel described as a “smash mouth way of getting 50.

“No threes, 20 for 29, and then living at the free throw line, post ups, offensive rebounds, crashes, all those types of things. Just an old-school performance and one for the ages,” Vogel said.

Davis had a season-high 50 points and the Lakers improved to a league-best 21-3 with a 142-125 win over

the Timberwolves on Sunday night.

Davis was 20 of 29 from the field and made all 10 of his free throws to go along with seven rebounds and six assists, reaching the 50-point mark for the fourth time in his career.

“It was very special to do something like this in front of these great fans, a historical franchise and my teammates, especially the way we’ve been playing,” Davis said. “It was nothing but amazing.”

LeBron James had 32 points and 13 assists, despite committing four fouls in the first half. Alex Caruso added 16 points as the Lakers won their fourth straight and improved to 10-2 at home.

While it looked like it could be a special night for Davis as he hit his first six shots, including a thunderous dunk on a no-look alley-oop from James as he racked up seven of the Lakers’ first nine points, the eighth-year forward was a bit more cautious.

“I mean, I’ve had nights where I started off like that and ended up with 30, and didn’t score in the

second half,” Davis said.

But it was evident Davis would keep adding to his total. He was at his most relentless to close the first half, helping fuel an 11-0 run that gave the Lakers a 73-65 lead at the “break after James got his fourth foul with 2:27 left in the second quarter.”

Much of Davis’s damage this season had come off the pick-and-roll with James, but Vogel was impressed how he was able to be effective without the Lakers’ primary ball handlers in James or Rajon Rondo on the court. Rondo did not play because of a strained hamstring.

To James, however, it was just Davis doing what he can do.

“He’s had to carry a franchise before, so I don’t think it’s anything foreign to him,” James said.

Davis had 42 points through three quarters, one more than his previous single-game high this season, 41 points in his return to New Orleans on November 27. He tacked on 15 points in the third, but balanced scoring allowed

Minnesota to stay within 110-103 as the quarter closed.

The Timberwolves had seven players with at least 12 points, including all five starters. Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins each had 19 points as Minnesota lost its fourth straight game.

It wasn’t until the fourth quarter that the Lakers could finally relax, with Rondo and DeMarcus Cousins keeping Davis informed on his progress before he finally got to 50 for the first time since February 26, 2018.

While Timberwolves Coach Ryan Saunders couldn’t help but be impressed with Davis’s ability to do “everything” on offense, he viewed it as an important lesson for how his team needs to compete with the NBA’s best.

“I think it was a good measuring stick for us to see what the elite teams in this league [can do], how the physicality is, playing a complete game and minimizing your mistakes,” Saunders said. “If you have a minute and a half lapse in game plan, discipline, you see what can happen. They just overwhelm you.”

Wada athlete committee calls for absolute Russian ban

T

ANTHONY JOSHUA lands a right cross to Andy Ruiz Jr.’s face. AP

JOSHUA SET TO DEFEND HEAVY TITLES AT HOME R IYADH, Saudi Arabia—Anthony Joshua is set for a London homecoming to start his second reign as world heavyweight champion, with his next fight likely to take place at the recently built stadium of Premier League soccer club Tottenham.

Joshua reclaimed his WBA, WBO and IBF titles early Sunday with a unanimous points decision over Andy Ruiz Jr. in Saudi Arabia, having lost to the Mexican-American in New York in June for the first defeat of his career.

They were the Briton’s first two overseas bouts, with

Joshua earning a reported $70 million for fighting in Saudi Arabia, but Joshua wants to defend his titles in front of his home fans.

“London’s calling, I think,” said Joshua, who was born in Watford just outside the capital.

“British supporters do play a big part in my career. Any time I’m on home soil, I can’t lose.”

Joshua, who won the Olympic gold medal at the London Games in 2012, has fought twice at the 90,000-capacity Wembley Stadium, beating Wladimir

Klitschko and Alexander Povetkin.

But Eddie Hearn, Joshua’s promoter, says the national soccer stadium “doesn’t look great, date-wise” for Joshua’s next fight, which is set to be in April or May against IBF mandatory contender Kubrat Pulev.

Hearn has turned his sights on the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, which was opened in April and has a 60,000 capacity.

“The phone has gone crazy—it’s like, ‘Bring him here, bring him here,’” Hearn said, sitting alongside Joshua in a

HE athlete committee of the World Anti-Doping Agency is calling for Russia to be completely banned from the Olympics after the country “made a mockery not only those who play by the rules, but those who create and safeguard them.”

The Wada executive committee meets Monday to decide whether to approve a recommendation that would ban the Russian flag from the next two Olympics, but would allow some Russians to compete as neutrals if they can prove they weren’t affected by the doping.

This is the latest in a five-year-old saga.

Last month, Wada’s compliance review committee sent out a report detailing what it called a “stunning deception” by Russian officials who tampered with data at the Moscow anti-doping laboratory that was supposed to be used to help prosecute cases stemming from the Russian scheme.

The majority of the Wada athlete committee agreed to put out a statement this weekend, saying “Russia cannot blame Wada or international sports organizations for enforcing the rules that all must abide by, when they have been caught breaking them over and over again.

“Athletes are tired of solutions lined with concessions and compromise—and history has proven them ineffective,” the statement said. Under the rules in place, the compliance review committee could have called for a full ban, but stopped short of that.

The Wada athletes are among a number of athlete groups that say the full ban is what is needed.

Among the findings in the latest investigation was that 145 cases were compromised because of the Russian tampering and, the statement said, “we will never know who those athletes are, or if they continue to defraud clean athletes, the public and Major Games.” AP restaurant on one of the top floors of a five-star hotel in Riyadh.

“They’ve seen what we’ve done here and there’s a lot of options internationally, but he does want to box back in the UK. “We spoke to Spurs about hosting this fight [the rematch against Ruiz], which they were keen to do, but unfortunately the dates didn’t work out. They would be keen to do it and it would be a nice stadium to do it in London.”

Hearn said the UK pay-per-view numbers for the RuizJoshua rematch were “well over a million,” which would break the UK record. AP

D

Life

Christ Jesus

EAR God, in company with Saint Gertrude who loved You above all else, we pray: Transform us in You, oh loving Jesus. Increase our faith, hope and love, so that Your Church may proclaim Your truth in the face of resistance and persecution. Animate servant leaders to use their intellect, will, and resources for the welfare of those who suffer misfortune, poverty or illness. Heal our society of racism, hatred, not constuctive competition and greed. May God bless us with loving and joyful hearts and minds so that we may praise the wonders shown to us in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Amen.

GIVE US THIS DAY SHARED BY LUISA LACSON, HFL Word&Life Publications • teacherlouie1965@yahoo.com

BOX OFFICE: ‘FROZEN 2’ LEADS BOX OFFICE AGAIN; ‘PLAYMOBIL’ FLOPS D3

BusinessMirror

Editor: Gerard S. Ramos • lifestylebusinessmirror@gmail.com

❶ ARTIST Windy

O’Connor’s “Good Vibes” bags which is made from her custom fabric also available in pillows.

Although pillows aren’t her top choice for hostess gifts, fine artist O’Connor often gives these small bags because they’re fun and versatile. PHOTOS:

Tuesday, December 10, 2019

D1

WINDY O’CONNOR VIA AP

❷ O’CONNOR

shows one of her Tropicana Chica acrylic trays. She likes giving small home accessories like this tray as holiday gifts because the recipient can use them in so many different ways, from decorating a coffee table to serving cookies or desserts at a party.

❸ ONE of

O’Connor’s Chica paintings hanging in her home in Charlotte, North Carolina. She often gives tiny versions of her paintings to friends as hostess gifts for the holidays.

❶

❷

Design-friendly holiday gifts they’ll love By meliSSa rayWOrtH The Associated Press

H

OME décor accessories can make great hostess gifts or holiday gifts, but how do you choose something you know the recipient will want?

Unless you’re sure of someone’s personal style, it can be hard to choose larger things like vases or candlesticks, says New Yorkbased interior designer Jenny Dina Kirschner.

Instead, she says, consider items that are smaller but truly beautiful and chosen with care. Interior designer Jessica Schuster, also based in New York, agrees: “I think you don’t have to spend a ton of money to leave a really good impression with your host,” she says. The key is find items that will look great and also perhaps have a practical use.

We’ve asked Kirschner, Schuster and North

AYALA Land Inc. President and CEO Bobby Dy (from left), Rep. Luis Campos, SVP and Group Head of Strategic Land Bank Management Group Meean Dy, Honorable Mayor Abby Binay, Ayala Land Inc. Chairman Emeritus Jaime Zobel de Ayala, Bea Zobel Jr., Paloma Urquijo, Board of Gov. Makati Commercial Estate Association Cesar Campos, Alex Urquijo and Jaime Urquijo

Carolina-based artist and home accessory designer Windy O’Connor for gift ideas that will be welcomed—and hopefully also well used.

GLASSWARE AND BARWARE KIRSCHNER often gives sets of coasters from the design company, Anna. They look great on a coffee table, but they’re also practical, she says. Many people don’t think to buy coasters for themselves and then need them for a party.

O’Connor and Schuster take a similar approach by buying friends small sets of interesting glassware.

“You can set the table so differently with interesting glasses,” says Schuster, who often buys sets of four glasses from Laguna B as gifts. “It’s a really nice gesture,” and if the recipient likes what you’ve chosen they can buy a few more pieces to add to their

collection. O’Connor looks for small sets of glassware in striking colors and shapes— about the size of juice glasses, she says—which can be used for serving wine or as votive candle holders.

And as an extra bar accessory, Schuster suggests decorative glass straws. Friends have given her colorful glass straws by artist Misha Kahn. They’re beautifuly blown,” she says, “and they have amazing colors and funky shapes.” As more people are avoiding plastics and using glass or metal straws, she says, “they’re useful and they look amazing on a bar.”

CANDLES AND SCENTS BUYING candles may seem like an easy choice, but these designers suggest choosing

COntinued On d2

❸ PAYING homage to earlier Christmas décors in Ayala Avenue which highlighted Filipino artistry, this year’s theme, designed by premier event stylist and interior designer Zenas Pineda, features bronze-colored, cone-shaped Christmas trees with intricate patterns reminiscent of the décors that lined and lit up the city’s lamp posts decades ago.

Ayala Land lights up festive Christmas season FOR decades, switching on the Christmas lights along Ayala Avenue in Makati, has signaled the beginning of the festive holiday season. The entire stretch, illuminated by beautiful ornaments and installations, often highlighting Filipino craftsmanship and tradition, has captivated both local residents and visitors.

“This event has always been one of the things many Filipino families look forward to every year,” says Cathy Bengzon, head of corporate marketing of Ayala Land. “[The company] is honored to be part of this tradition. It’s our way of bringing cheer to the community, and sending a positive message to everyone.”

This year’s design features Christmas trees and angel wings—elements that are more than just pretty displays that mark holiday merriment and festive celebrations.

“The trees have always been a symbol of life and light, and we wanted to use these elements to impart a message of hope and strength to everyone. It’s always a joy to be able

to share a meaningful Christmas with every Filipino family through our installations,” continues Bengzon.

Paying homage to earlier Christmas décors in Ayala Avenue which highlighted Filipino artistry, this year’s theme, designed by premier event stylist and interior designer Zenas Pineda, features bronze-colored, cone-shaped Christmas trees with intricate patterns reminiscent of the décors that lined and lit up the city’s lamp posts decades ago. Local materials and products are also promoted through details and décors that showcase abanico-shaped installations and capiz chandeliers, as well as solihiya and adarna feather patterns, which all signify the rich heritage of Filipinos.

Following the Christmas lighting ceremony on November 5, the whole Makati central business district, from Ayala Avenue all the way to the other areas of the city, as well as the walkways and parks, is now one bright, glittering city.

Everyone is in for a bigger treat with a spectacular lineup of activities featuring new additions to the light-and-sounds

display and never-before-seen installations showcasing brilliant Filipino talent. It’s a nationwide celebration of a truly Pinoy Christmas.

The Ayala Avenue Street Lighting is part of the Gallery of Lights, which is a roster of light and art installations in the city that paves the way for a dynamic Christmas celebration by Ayala Land.

The Gallery of Lights includes the annual Festival of Lights, giant lanterns and 3D video-mapping which was launched on November 12, at Ayala Triangle Gardens.

Meanwhile, there will also be holiday bazaars, of course.

After the successful staging of the Circuit Holiday Night Market from November 15 to 17, at Circuit Makati; and the Makati Street Meet on the November 17, December 15 brings a repeat of the Sunday food bazaar, still showcasing with good food, music and fun activities; anticipated Simbang Gabi from December 15 to 23, at Ayala Triangle Gardens, and a whole range of activities that everyone can look forward to.

FILINVEST CITY LIGHTS UP THE WONDER OF CHRISTMAS

THIS holiday season, Filinvest City (www.facebook.com/ FilinvestCityOFFICIAL) goes bigger and brighter as it lights up the wonder of Christmas at the Water Garden at Festival Mall.

Enjoy this Yuletide wonderland with lights and sights complete with life-sized Christmas installations, including a magnificent 42-foot tree all set in a Magical Christmas Village, as well as fireworks display and musical performances by some of the country’s best local performers, such as I Belong to the Zoo, Unique, This Band, Leanne and Naara, and Silent Sanctuary, every Saturday.

Kids can also meet Santa on Sundays to share their Christmas wishes and pose for those merry family photos.

The best part is you can experience all these wonderful, magical Christmas attractions for free.

D2

Pages BusinessMirror

Tuesday, December 10, 2019

www.businessmirror.com.ph

z

‘The Man Who Saw Everything’ is haunting and effective

By Donna Liquori | The Associated Press

I

N 1988, Saul Adler is a narcissistic historian who is grazed by a car at a famous London crosswalk. He’s OK, but it knocks him offkilter just before restaging the famous Abbey Road Beatles cover photo, a picture that his thengirlfriend Jennifer Moreau takes.

Deborah Levy’s haunting and effective novel The Man Who Saw Everything (Bloomsbury Publishing) is like a beautiful shattered mirror.

The reader (and Saul) have the impossible task of putting together that mirror in the second half. That’s what makes it so ambiguous and uncomfortable and irresistible. Shattered things show up throughout: mirrors, records, a string of pearls—even Saul.

Jennifer will go on to become a famous artist and one of her works will be a fragmented Saul called Man in Pieces.

In 2016, Saul will again be hit by a car in the same crosswalk and that’s when things get even more weird. “I’ve mixed then and now all up,” Saul says. Levy’s third nomination for the Man Booker Prize starts out with Saul about to head to East Germany when the Berlin Wall separated the city.

Today’s Horoscope

By Eugenia Last

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Raven-Symone, 34; Emmanuelle Chriqui, 44; Meg White, 45; Kenneth Branagh, 59.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Your emotions will be difficult to dismiss. You’ll feel more inclined to say what’s on your mind and question anyone who is vague or appears to be playing games with you. Gather your thoughts methodically, and venture down a path that feels right and shows promise. This year is about stabilization, not upset and disruption. Your lucky numbers are 7, 12, 18, 22, 27, 35, 43.

The Abbey Road photo of Saul in a white suit is a gift for the translator’s sister (a Beatles fanatic).

Saul was also supposed to bring a tin of pineapple, which he forgets. After Saul enters the GDR, he falls for his translator, Walter Muller, who isn’t what he seems. Then Saul sleeps with Walter’s sister, who is eager to escape East Berlin.

“It’s always about you, isn’t it?” Jennifer asks him, not long after she dumps him, saying he never asks about her art. Saul, who has just proposed, is so self-absorbed that his grasp on what’s really going on eludes him. And Levy’s lucid prose makes the odd events in the book even more profound.

“I think my white suit used to be a Navy uniform, which was just as well because my marriage proposal had sunk to the bottom of the sea. I was shipwrecked amongst the empty oyster shells with their jagged sharp edges....”

Levy talks about her own marriage as shipwrecked in the stunning The Cost of Living: A Working Autobiography. (Reading one book by Levy sends you scurrying for anything else she’s written.) How do we see ourselves? Do we see ourselves like others see us? The book provokes and shakes you up, shattering perception. n

a

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Take care of matters personally. The only way to get things done the way you want is to do them yourself. Someone will disappoint you or leave you in a vulnerable position. Take charge, and leave nothing to chance. HHHH

b

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Make changes that will bring you closer to someone you love. A day trip, educational pursuit or opportunity to get involved in something unique looks inviting. Make a change, and it will boost your confidence and your enthusiasm. HHH

c

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Emotions will be raised, and what you say will matter. Choose your words wisely, be precise and follow through with any promises you make. Ask questions if someone evades issues or tries to confuse you. Reveal only what’s necessary. HHH

d

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Pick up the pace, and work in tandem with people who bring out the best in you. Let your creative mind lead the way. You will be praised for your insight into future trends. Romance is on the rise. HHH

e

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Be less concerned about what everyone else is doing, and put in more time and effort on what you want to accomplish. Don’t labor over something you cannot change. Sport a positive and amicable attitude. HHHH

‘The Liar’ makes a good case for telling the truth

By Oline H. Cogdill The Associated Press AS expected in a novel titled The Liar (Little, Brown and Co.), lies abound in this engaging story that is part mystery and part coming-of-age tale. Actually, it is just one liar and one lie, but that one falsehood grows and multiplies and takes on a life of its own as it evolves into chaos, as author Ayelet Gundar-Goshen so persuasively shows.

Israeli teenager Nofar Shalev has spent her young life like she “lived in the world as if she were an uninvited guest at a party.” Always in the shadow of her younger, prettier sister, Maya, ignored by her parents and pretty much invisible to her classmates, even those who have sat next to her for years, Nofar feels she has little future beyond being “a drab ice

cream server.”

Her main goal is that her high-school crush will come into the ice-cream shop where she works, notice her and become her devoted boyfriend. But when the boy does come in with some of his friends, he barely recognizes her.

The night almost ends on a worse note when she returns to the store after emptying the trash in the alley to confront an angry customer.

Avishai Milner is incensed that he had to wait for this 17-year-old to return and verbally abuses her. Avishai, who won a TV singing contest and is a well-known reality star, also has been having a bad day, having just found out that his career may be over.

Fearful of this man’s vile insults, Nofar runs into alley but Avishai follows and grabs her. Nofar’s screams bring a

crowd, including the police who ask if she has been sexually assaulted and, almost without thinking, Nofar says yes.

A washed-up celebrity attacking a slightly built teenager is too salacious a story to be buried, and it steamrolls through the media, social media and just plain gossip. This momentum pulls in Nofar’s family and people claiming to be friends. Gundar-Goshen effectively delves into Nofar’s ascent in popularity while showing her guilt about lying and her fears that she will hated and joked about if she tells the truth. The arrogant Avishai’s descent is both a comeuppance that he deserves and, yet, he also garners sympathy. After all, being a jerk isn’t a crime.

The perceptive The Liar makes a good case for always telling the truth, especially when the consequences of lying can be so dastardly.

Design-friendly holiday gifts they’ll love Continued from D1 very carefully: “Unless you have the best nose in the world, candles can be a hard gift,” says Schuster. The key is finding a brand with truly appealing fragrances and striking containers for the candles.

O’Connor is a fan of Baobab Collection. The scents are “phenomenal,” she says, “and their containers are like artwork.” Schuster says the same about Mad et Len. “The nose behind this brand is incredible,” she says. The pricetag is high, but the fragrances are “so rich and earth and incredible.” The brand also offers scented crystals that make great gifts, Schuster says, because they scent a room nicely and also look great on display.

MUSEUM STORES AND ARTSY TREASURES “I ALWAYS have good luck in museum shops when I’m looking for homerelated gifts,” says Kirschner. “They always have really good home items, and they’re not crazy expensive.” She suggests stocking up when you see beautiful small items, so they’re ready when you need a hostess gift.

Schuster agrees: On her travels, she likes to “pick up interesting vintage pieces along the way.”

People appreciate receiving a tiny piece of art or decorative item found while traveling “because it’s sentimental, it’s foreign, it has a story,” Schuster says, “and no one else has it.”

Art-focused gifts can be a great choice, says O’Connor. She often does small paintings as gifts for friends, or

she’ll give one of the acrylic trays she’s designed that include images from her past paintings. Along with her own art, this year she’s planning on giving friends copies of the new book by pop artist, Ashley Longshore.

Along with buying art-related items, this year consider making your own creations, O’Connor says. Even if you’re not a working artist, she says, it can be lovely to give something you’ve made yourself. “I would rather have something that someone made,” she says, than store-bought gifts.

EDIBLE GIFTS YOU LOVE O’CONNOR and Schuster suggest combining practical home items with edible treats to create a beautiful package. One example: A basket that includes a bottle of wine, nice cheese and good crackers can also include

a beautiful wine stopper or cheese spreading knife. During past holidays, O’Connor has given loaves of French brioche bread with a small bottle of local bourbon maple syrup and organic eggs from a local farmer’s market for friends to make French toast during the holidays. To add something permanent, you can include items like pretty dish towels. Another edible item that’s also beautifully designed: Kirschner often gives chocolates from MarieBelle that have works of art on them. “People who have an appreciation of design love them,” she says. A six-piece gift box costs $23, and “it’s high impact.” “They’re beautiful and special,” Kirschner says, and leave the recipient feeling like you’ve treated them to something, “and yet not crazy amount of money.” n

f

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Easy does it when dealing with emotional matters. Listen, be understanding and find reasonable solutions. By doing your best to make things better, you will gain the respect and confidence of others. HH

g

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): You can address issues that are bothering you as long as you listen and compromise. Getting along with others will be half the battle if you want to move forward. HHH

h

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Round up the people and the accessories you’ll require to reach your goal. Set your sights on how you intend to improve your life, the way you live or whatever it will take to get ahead professionally.

Romance is featured. HHH

i

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Refuse to let your emotions stifle your productivity. Live up to your promises, and follow through with your plans. Don’t fall short because someone meddles in your business. Make decisions based on truth and practicality. Don’t share personal information. HHH

j

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Take action, put your plans in motion and enjoy whatever benefits come with the work you have completed. A change at home will encourage family fun or enjoying a space you have cleared to host a project you want to start. HHHHH

k

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Refuse to let anger set in or your patience run thin.

Make decisions that will encourage getting ahead. Put your time and effort into doing the best job possible. Refuse to let personal matters slow you down.

Make emotional well-being a priority. HH

l

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Emotions will surface, pushing you to sort through an uncomfortable situation and direct your attention to a sound plan that will rectify the problem.

Have a project in mind before you address matters that concern a close friend, family member or your lover. HH BIRTHDAY BABY: You are trusting, sensitive and insightful.

You are bold and ambitious.

‘jobs for superchef’ BY STEVE MOOSBERG The Universal Crossword/Edited by David Steinberg

ACROSS 1 Annual checkup sounds 4 Court recitation 8 Taters 13 Pic on your arm, perhaps 14 Most fit to be drafted 15 Stella ___ 17 Aunt, in Honduras 18 Location: Omelet station; Mission: ___ that are too runny 20 “Just messin’ with ya!”

22 Spurs great Ginobili 23 Huge concert venue 24 Location: Deli; Mission: ___ that smells off 27 More than 31-Down 28 Balm or gloss target 29 Vigor’s partner 32 Ballet rail 35 Practice punching 37 Narc’s measure 38 Location: Olive Garden; Mission: ___ from their baskets 41 Phobia 42 Crossword difficulty category 43 Stars with the most star power

4 It’s tapped in a forest 4 45 B-ball stat 46 Classic MTV show (LTR anagram) 47 Location: Domino’s; Mission: ___ from the fiery oven 53 Seem logical 56 Crawling (with) 57 Bumpy-skinned amphibian 58 Location: Bar; Mission: ___ whose liquor is spoiled 61 Poem of praise 62 What colonists protested at a Boston “party” 63 52-Down, vocally 64 “Cool” sum 65 Fashion 66 Main role 67 Go on dates with DOWN 1 Place to store Christmas ornaments, maybe 2 17-syllable poem 3 Part of a flight 4 “Punch-Out!” sound effect 5 Type of “magnetism” 6 Austin’s state

7 Lacks 8 ___-I-Am 9 Electrical signal booster 10 Fetuses develop in them 11 Shiba Inu meme 12 American ___ Language 16 Nine-digit ID org.

19 Virgin Mary’s title 21 More cherished 25 Commoner 26 Runs on TV 29 End of Caesar’s boast 30 Sorts 31 The majority 32 Ride-or-die pals, briefly 33 Vicinity 34 Bring in from the field 35 Gull, for one 36 French ballet step 37 Nail a performance 39 Fishing spool 40 Canvas cover 45 Overturn, as a law 46 Giant Starbucks size 47 Like some top-shelf products?

48 Spreading rapidly on the internet

9 Green way to submit taxes 4 50 Whizzes along 51 White Teeth author Smith 52 One-named “Hello” singer 53 Picnic invader 54 Union payments 55 “Darn!”

59 Body spray brand 60 Flattened in boxing, briefly Solution to yesterday’s puzzle:

Show BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Tuesday, December 10, 2019

D3

ON its third weekend, Frozen 2 again dominated the North American box office, pulling in $34.7 million in ticket sales. The Walt Disney Co. animated sequel has already grossed $919.7 million worldwide.

JESSICA BIEL (left) and Justin Timberlake arrive at the 70th Primetime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles in 2018. AP

Timberlake apologizes to wife for ‘strong lapse in judgment’ NEW YORK—Justin Timberlake has publicly apologized to his actress-wife Jessica Biel days after he was seen holding hands with the costar of his upcoming movie.

The pop star and actor wrote Wednesday on Instagram that he prefers to “stay away from gossip as much as I can, but for my family I feel it is important to address recent rumors that are hurting the people I love.”

He then wrote that in the photos and video that went viral last month of him and actress Alisha Wainwright at a New Orleans bar, he “displayed a strong lapse in judgment—but let me be clear— nothing happened between me and my costar.”

Timberlake says he “drank way too much that night and I regret my behavior. I should have known better. This is not the example I want to set for my son.”

The 38-year-old Timberlake is filming the movie Palmer with Wainwright in New Orleans. He married Biel in 2012 and they have a son, four-year-old Silas.

Timberlake says that he’s sorry to his “amazing wife and family for putting them through such an embarrassing situation, and I am focused on being the best husband and father I can be. This was not that.” AP

‘Frozen 2’ leads box office again; ‘Playmobil’ flops

N

‘6 UNDERGROUND’ ON NETFLIX HISTORY. Beauty. Tranquility. Embark on an adventure to the world’s most exquisite destination...Italy. Travel insurance recommended.

What’s the best part of being dead? It isn’t escaping your boss, your ex, or even erasing your criminal record. The best part about being dead...is the freedom.

The freedom to fight the injustice and evil that lurk in our world without anyone or anything to slow you down or tell you “no.”

Streaming on Netflix beginning December 13, 6 Underground (www.netflix.com/6Underground) introduces a new kind of action hero. Six individuals from all around the globe, each the very best at what they do, have been chosen not only for their skill, but for a unique desire to delete their pasts to change the future.

The team is brought together by an enigmatic leader (Ryan Reynolds), whose sole mission in life is to ensure that, while he and his fellow operatives will never be remembered, their actions damn sure will.

Directed by Michael Bay, and written by Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese, 6 Underground stars Ryan Reynolds, Mélanie Laurent, Corey Hawkins, Adria Arjona, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Ben Hardy Lior Raz, Payman Maadi and Dave Franco.

By Jake Coyle The Associated Press

EW YORK—Frozen 2 blanketed multiplexes for the third straight weekend, continuing its reign at No. 1 with $34.7 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates on Sunday. The Walt Disney Co. animated sequel has already grossed $919.7 million worldwide. It will soon become the sixth Disney release this year to cross $1 billion, a record sure to grow to seven once Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker hits theaters later this month.

Early next week, Disney will cross $10 billion at the global box office this year.

But the weekend overall at the box office was yet another disappointing one for the movie industry.

A handful of under-performing releases and a relatively thin wide-release schedule hasn’t helped the 5.6-percent slide in domestic ticket sales from last year, according to data firm Comscore.

This weekend produced an outright flop in Playmobil: The Movie, the week’s only new wide release.

The STX Films release was never expected to do

well, but it bombed so thoroughly that it will rank among the worst-performing wide-releases ever. It grossed $668,000 in 2,337 venues, giving it a pertheater average of just $286. A handful of companies combined to produce the $75-million French film, including Wild Bunch and Pathe. The top 5 films were almost unchanged from last weekend.

Rian Johnson’s acclaimed, star-studded whodunit Knives Out remained in second place with $14.2 million, declining a modest 47 percent in its second week of release. With $63.5 million cumulatively and $124.1 million worldwide, the Lionsgate release has been one of the season’s bright spots.

So has James Mangold’s Ford v Ferrari, which stayed in third place with $6.5 million over its fourth weekend. The racing drama, starring Matt Damon and Christian Bale, has sped to a global take of $168 million for Disney, which acquired the film’s original studio, 20th Century Fox, earlier this year. The film cost about $100 million to make.

Melina Matsoukas’s outlaw romance Queen & Slim moved up to fourth in its second week with $6.5 million, swapping places with Marielle Heller’s Mister Rogers drama A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood ($5.2 million in its third weekend).

Todd Haynes’s true-story legal drama Dark Waters, starring Mark Ruffalo as a defense attorney who takes on the DuPont chemical company, expanded nationwide to 2,011 theaters. The Focus Features release made $4.1 million.

Celine Sciamma’s acclaimed period romance Portrait of a Lady on Fire opened at two locations with a very strong $33,552 per-theater average. Neon will release the French film wider in February.

Some of the weekend’s most widespread movie watching may have been on Netflix, though the streaming service doesn’t disclose viewership tallies

or box-office receipts.

After a three-week theatrical run, Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story, one of the year’s most critically acclaimed films, began streaming on Friday.

On Friday, Nielsen said Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman last weekend drew an average audience of 13.6 million viewers from November 27 to December 1. Netflix has said Nielsen numbers, which only estimate US viewership, reflect an incomplete picture.

Amazon likewise didn’t release ticket sales for The Aeronauts, which opened in 52 theaters over the weekend. Tom Harper’s film, which cost $40 million to make, stars Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones as 19th-century balloonists.

A week before it opens in North America, Sony’s Jumanji: The Next Level debuted in 18 international countries where it made $52.5 million. The sequel to 2017’s Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, which grossed $962 million worldwide, is expected to lead the box office next weekend.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at US and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore.

Where available, the latest international numbers for Friday through Sunday are also included.

1. Frozen 2, $34.7 million ($90.2 million international) 2. Knives Out, $14.2 million ($18 million international) 3. Ford v Ferrari, $6.5 million ($8.3 million international) 4. Queen & Slim, $6.5 million 5. A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, $5.2 million 6. Dark Waters, $4.1 million 7. 21 Bridges, $2.9 million 8. Playing With Fire, $2 million 9. Midway, $1.9 million 10. Joker, $1 million. n

Zellweger, Pitt and...‘Cats’? Here come the Golden Globes NEW YORK—Renee Zellweger, Brad Pitt and Eddie Murphy are locks. But whether Cats has it in the bag, too, we won’t know until the 77th annual Golden Globes are announced on Monday morning. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association will unveil their nominations in Los Angeles beginning at 8:04 a.m. EST. They will be live-streamed on the Golden Globes’ Facebook page and their web

site, with the second wave of nominees carried live on NBC’s Today show at 8:15 a.m. Dakota Fanning, Susan Kelechi Watson and Tim Allen will announce the nominations from the Beverly Hilton hotel. The Globes separate their top categories between drama and comedy/musical, giving some movies well outside the awards conversation an opportunity.

While movies like Martin

Scorsese’s The Irishman, Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story are widely expected to come away with numerous nods, few would be surprised if the press association—a group known for its sometimes quirky picks, its penchant for A-listers and its fondness for musicals—also included the upcoming, much-memed big-screen adaptation of

Cats. The HFPA, a group with 87 voting members, was shown an unfinished cut of Tom Hooper’s film.

Ricky Gervais will host the Globes for the fifth time on January 5. Tom Hanks, a possible nominee for his performance as Mister Rogers in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, will receive the Cecil B. DeMille Award.

The Carol Burnett Award will go to Ellen DeGeneres. AP

PPO CHRISTMAS CONCERT AT CCP CELEBRATE the Yuletide season with the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra on December 20, 8 pm, at the Main Theater of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP). Guest soloists are percussionist Aimee dela Cruz, child soprano Alexa Isobel Kaufman and clarinetist Franz Jensen Andra. Maestro Herminigildo Ranera leads the PPO. The program includes two works by Samuel Barber (“Adagio for Strings” and “Die Natali op.36”), Carl Maria von Weber’s “Concertino for Clarinet and Orchestra, op.26,” Cesar Franck’s “Panis Angelicus,” Felipe De Leon’s “Payapang Daigdig,” Pietro Yon’s

“Gesu Bambino,” Darius Milhaud’s “Concerto for Percussion and Small Orchestra,” and Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky’s “Capriccio Italien op.45.”

As a soloist, Aimee has performed under the baton of the late Maestro Oscar Yatco with the PPO, and also with the PhilBanda Wind Orchestra at the Singapore International Band Festival.

Most recently, she was one of the featured soloists in the OH-Asian Percussionists Concert in Chai Wan, Hong Kong. Alexa Isobel Kaufman is the youngest member of the Philippine Opera Company. Likewise, she is the youngest student of Emeritus Professor of

the University of the Philippines College of Music and Gawad CCP Maestra Fides Cuyugan Asensio.

Franz Jensen Andra is currently a scholar at the Philippine High School for the Arts under the tutelage of Prof. Ariel Sta. Ana, principal clarinetist of the PPO. He recently won 2nd prize at the First Macao International Clarinet Competition in the 18 yearsunder category.

Tickets are priced at P1,500; P1,200; P800; P500; P400, with discounts available to students, senior citizens and groups.

More information is available at 8832-3704.

Art

BusinessMirror

Tuesday, December 10, 2019

D4

CRYSTALLINE Cluster #4kLJ5iKw, Datu Arellano, 2019, stacked photographs of plastic sculptures

www.businessmirror.com.ph

ANOTHER iteration of Datu Arellano’s Crystalline Cluster series

Mapping perspective CIRCLES JT NISAY

jtnisay@gmail.com

A

T a time when the world is thoroughly consumed by temporal concerns, artist Datu Arellano campaigns for an ethereal rumination.

“Everybody’s so busy with life, which has become all work, work, work,” he said. “We’re so distracted by things like money and validation that we forget about some of the most important things, like our place in the universe.”

Arellano previously tackled the idea by peeking into the telescope, gazing at the cosmos and all of its engulfing enormity to contextualize our position as but a speck in the universe. This time, at an ongoing exhibit at Mono8 Gallery in Malate, the visual artist chooses to go micro and explore the concept from within.

In the show, titled You Are A Microcosm, Arellano prods viewers to look at themselves as an amalgamation of their experiences and environment.

He said the behavorial patterns of one’s family, for instance, form part of the person, who then puzzles into the neighborhood, which figures into

the nation and so on. These patterns, these maps that outline the makeup of a person, are represented in the show as geometric figures inspired by Tibetan Buddhist mandalas and the graph theory in mathematics. Arellano expresses the images through a peculiar combination of artistic forms, including painting with electronics and sculpture with photography.

The artist, who also does experimental music, interpreted the patterns on two installations, as well.

One is titled Tabula Umbra, an interactive table made of graphite powder, polymer clay, microcontrollers, light sensors and other electronic parts. Viewers can trace the painted geometric figures and create sounds by hitting specific spots of the surface.

The other installation is a drawing of the pattern laid out on the floor of the exhibition space using salt.

The primitive forms of Arellano’s geometric designs are drawn on his notebooks from years back, when he was advised that the best way to break free from a creative rut was to do sketches.

Arellano, who studied computer science and worked as a front-end Web developer, went on a decade-long hiatus from the arts to focus on his family. In 2015, the call of passion proved too strong that Arellano decided to return and started sketching once again. That’s when he came up with the geometric patterns and dedicated himself to it.

Arellano started using pencil and pen before shifting to thread on paper in a self-coined practice

called tahigami, a portmanteau of the Filipino word tahi and the Japanese word kami, or paper.

Part of the reason for Arellano’s discovery of the practice is his desire for tactile sensation in his works, having done mostly sculptures and installations before his 10-year break.

“Tahigami literally means stitching on paper,” Arellano said. “I started by stitching the geometric patterns until it evolved and evolved into what they are now in this show at Mono8.”

“I do not restrict myself in terms of materials and techniques,” he added. “Play is an essential part of my practice, so I also like coming up with different ways of using something, like in tahigami. And if I play every day, I will never go back into a creative rut.” n

MIAMI BEACH UNVEILS TRAFFIC SCULPTURE MADE OF SAND MIAMI BEACH, Florida—It took artist Leandro Erlich two years and 330 metric tons (299 metric tons) of sand to create his largest work of art to date—a giant traffic jam, made entirely of sand.

Erlich was commissioned by the city of Miami Beach to create the work, which was unveiled during Art Basel. The surreal traffic jam depicts 66 life-sized sculptures of cars and trucks stuck in an imaginary traffic

jam on the oceanfront of popular Lincoln Road. The installation is meant to suggest a future relic, like a contemporary Pompeii, and alludes to Florida’s fragile position in the large universal canvas, touching on climate crisis and rising sea levels.

The installation cost over a million dollars, but the city paid $300,000 thanks to sponsors and donations.

It will remain on display until December 15. AP

PEOPLE walk among cars sculpted in sand stuck in a traffic jam, titled Order of Importance by artist Leandro Erlich, as part of Miami Art Week on December 3, in Miami Beach, Florida. AP

CANVAS and partners push the development of reading culture to Filipino children By riZal raOul S. reyeS ARTISTS from different fields joined forces for “Batang Karapat-Dapat,” a mini festival on the rights of the child.

The multi-arts event was inspired by Karapat Dapat, which was written by May Tobias-Papa with artworks by Ang Ilustrador ng Kabataan, and published by the Center for Art, New Ventures & Sustainable Development (CANVAS) and Ang INK in 2018. The book depicts the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in a way that children can understand. It includes activities, such as coloring and drawing pages, mazes and puzzles. It is a must-have for all children 17 years old and below.

Gigo Alampay, founder and executive director of CANVAS, told the media in a recent interview that they also want to promote the love for reading among children because it would be a valuable tool for them in life. “A child is empowered when a child learns that no matter his or her background, abilities, gender or religion, he or she is valuable, celebrated and protected,” explained Alampay.

“Batang Karapat-Dapat” opened on November 20, on the 30th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Attendees of the inaugural day were treated to the presence of some members of the cast of popular children’s television show, Team Yey. The crowd squealed in delight as Yesha Camile, JM Canlas and

KARAPAT DAPAT was written by May Tobias-Papa with artworks by Ang INK, and published CANVAS and Ang INK.

Xia Vigor danced, accommodated selfies, signed books and shared words of wisdom on how to be “the best every day in your own way.”

For the duration of the four-day mini festival, various activities ran at different areas of the Cultural Center of the Philippines. The CCP Arts Education’s Batang Sining, Sining Alamin and Ang INK conducted dance, art, theater and music workshops for children. The kids also learned about their rights as children—to play, to learn, to be healthy, to grow and be nurtured in a safe environment, and many more, from the “KarapatDapat” multi-arts workshops. CANVAS gave away 250 books daily. Students from public elementary schools in Manila city and Camanava areas, and children orphaned by the “war on drugs” were among the beneficiaries.

The highlight of the mini festival was a storytelling collaboration performance, titled “Mga Kuwentong Karapat-Dapat,” which combined three CANVASpublished books. The stories went from page to stage with the performance and direction of Abner Delina Jr., also known as Kuya Fidel in the Batibot revival.

Moreover, the audience viewed images of a happy home from Anino Shadowplay Collective’s interpretation of Tahan na, Tahanan. The message of Nadia and the Blue Stars, which depicted the role of society and the importance of hope, was communicated through dance by Daloy Dance Co. Anima Tierra told the environmental tale of Inang

Kalikasan’s Bad Hair Day through its percussive beats and enchanting vocals inspired by traditional music all over the world.

“Along with CCP and Black Canvas, a multi-arts network of creative collaborators, we hope to build a community of children, teachers, parents and artists to promote a safer, peaceful and loving world not only for kids, but for everyone,” Alampay shared.

Aside from the artists, “Batang Karapat-Dapat” was made possible through the support of UBS and Direct Aid Program of the Australian Embassy of the Philippines, Save the Children Philippines and The Araneta Foundation. CANVAS is a nonprofit organization which gives away children’s books inspired by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. So far, CANVAS has distributed 250,000 books from Itbayat in Batanes to Jolo in Mindanao.

Targets of the program are children from public schools and disadvantaged communities. The books are directly given to the children. “For majority of the children, it is their first book to own,” Alampay said.

In these times, Alampay said promoting the habit of reading is important to the country as only 50 percent of majority of the children enrolled in elementary go on to finish high school, with 10 percent being functionally illiterate.

“It is not enough to learn to read. But if they learn to love books, they will continue to learn whether they are in school or not. Reading becomes a lifelong skill,” Alampay pointed out.