BusinessMirror December 27, 2019

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Friday, December 27, 2019 Vol. 15 No. 78

2 budget-related moves seen to boost economy

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By Bernadette D. Nicolas & Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

@BNicolasBM @joveemarie

RESIDENT Duterte has approved the one-year extension of the validity of this year’s budget until December 31, 2020.

The House deputy speaker for finance on Thursday promptly touted this move, along with the expected signing by the President of the 2020 appropriations law, as two budget-related measures seen to propel the economy to a higher trajectory next year.

Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte

said the 2020 General Appropriations Bill (GAB) of P4.1 trillion, which is now awaiting President Duter te’s sig nature, and t he newly signed Republic Act (R A) 11464, which made unspent portions of the 2019 General Appropriations Act (GA A) available for release till December 31, 2020,

$202-M Jica loan to fund 4 Mindanao road projects

By Cai U. Ordinario

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@caiordinario

HE Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) will extend a $202.04-million loan to construct four subprojects under the Road Network Development Project in Conflict-Affected Areas in Mindanao (RNDP-Caam).

The loan will be used in the detailed design and construction/ improvement of the Parang Balabagan Road, Marawi City Ring Road, Parang East Diversion Road and Manuangan Parang Road.

Jica said it is also extending a grant to construct the Matanog-BariraAlamada-Libungan Road (MatanogBarira Section) and Tapian Lebak Coastal Road under the RNDP-Caam of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

“Through the road network project, people from conflict-affected

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areas will have links to markets, public facilities, and improve agribusiness potential of their place,” said Jica Senior Representative Kiyo Kawabuchi.

The Jica-DPWH road project is part of Jica’s support to peacebuilding through infrastructure development in Mindanao.

Gover nment d ata in 2018 showed that the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) remains the poorest region in the Philippines with a 61.3-percent poverty incidence.

Jica said armed conflict also affected the region’s connectivity with ARMM’s road density at 0.10, lower than the average of Mindanao.

“Building roads in remote, conflict-affected communities will help bridge the economic gap in the region and help consolidate peace,” Kawabuchi said.

See “Jica loan,” A8

will boost the economy.

According to Villafuerte, these measures would allow the government to accelerate state spending on infrastructure and human capital development, which, in turn, are sure to further boost the growth momentum and create more jobs for Filipinos.

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TYPHOON URSULA KILLS 14 PEOPLE, STRANDS THOUSANDS IN PORTS

By Rene Acosta

@reneacostaBM

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“The swift approval of both measures by the House under the leadership of Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano best illustrates the unequivocal support of the bigger chamber for the vision of President Duterte to sustain the high-growth momentum, attack poverty and improve the lives of the Filipino

HE official fatality count from Typhoon Ursula, which battered the Visayas and parts of Luzon on Christmas Day, rose to 14 people, though other reports put it at 16. At press time, six people were listed as missing.

Thousands of residents in the central part of the country were affected by the rains and floods spawned by Ursula, which one official called a “mini-Yolanda,” in reference to the November 2013 super typhoon that hit largely the same area.

Thousands of others had been stranded in sea ports at Christmas, after authorities banned ferry boats that connect Luzon island with the Visayas and with the Mindoro provinces. Officials said those stranded were 15,876 passengers, 1,372 rolling cargoes, 41 vessels and smaller boats.

Heavy rains and strong winds triggered flooding and damaged houses and buildings in several provinces in Regions 6 and 7, some areas of which also experienced a power outage due to toppled or damaged electric posts and transmission lines.

The typhoon, which hit the country’s central region overnight on Tuesday and dumped strong and incessant rains and whipped up strong winds until Christmas, also affected the Caraga and parts of Bicol region and Region 4B. In Iloilo alone, 10 people died due to the typhoon, most of them due to drowning, while six others are still missing, according to Jerry Biotan, head of the Iloilo Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office.

See “Budget,” A2

See “Typhoon Ursula,” A2

“Both the 2020 GAB, which the President is due to sign in January, and RA 11464 would enable [the] government to sustain the catch-up spending strategy that Mr. Duterte’s economic team put in place...to make up for the...delay in the passage of the 2019 GAA that hobbled economic growth in the first semester.”—Villafuerte

RIVER CRUISE LETS PEOPLE APPRECIATE DAGUPAN

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DRONE shot shows the thatched-roofed boat as it sails down the Dawel River for a 45-minute cruise offering breathtaking scenes of healthy mangrove patches, fish ponds and colorful birds perched on the branches of mangroves. PHOTO COURTESY OF DAGUPAN PIO

AGUPAN CITY—The city government here is relaunching on Friday (December 27) the Dawel River cruise as one of the highlights of this year’s city fiesta in honor of its patron, Saint John the Evangelist.

The river cruise, which will initially have as passengers city officials led by Mayor Brian Lim and the city fiesta “ hermana mayor,” Councilor Dada Reyna, will begin after the blessing of the river ceremony to be led by Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas.

The Dawel River cruise will be open to the public on December 28, according to Rose Teng-Mejia, city tourism officer.

Dawel River is one of the seven rivers crisscrossing the city, according to a press release by Dagupan’s Public Information Office (PIO).

In 2011, Lim’s father, thenMayor Benjamin Lim, launched the river cruise after he dismantled See “River cruise,” A2

US 50.8430 n JAPAN 0.4650 n UK 65.8620 n HK 6.5266 n CHINA 7.2747 n SINGAPORE 37.5280 n AUSTRALIA 35.1783 n EU 56.4052 n SAUDI ARABIA 13.5509

Source: BSP (26 December 2019 )

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Priority for ’20: Citira, foreign investments, anti-terror bills

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By Butch Fernandez

@butchfBM

HE Senate leadership is lining up a number of reform bills for final approval as soon as Congress reconvenes for regular sessions on January 20.

The proposed Corporate Income Tax and Incentives Rationalization Act (Citira), a key plank of the Duterte administration’s package of tax reforms, and the Foreign Investment Act (FIA) are expected to take priority for final approval by Congress at the resumption of sessions next month.

Budget. . .

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people over the medium term,” he said in a statement.

The accelerated spending via the would-be enacted 2020 GAA plus the remaining funds under the 2019 GAA— and at a level never before reached in past administrations—would set off a double-barrel economic stimulus to boost the growth momentum, attract local and offshore investments, and create more jobs, he said.

“Both the 2020 GAB, which the President is due to sign in January, and RA 11464 would enable [the] government to sustain the catch-up spending strategy that Mr. Duterte’s economic tea m put in place

Senate President Vicente Sotto III, replying to a text query from the BusinessMirror, likewise, listed the proposed Anti-Terror Act among the chamber’s priorities in the new year.

Both chambers of Congress had given priority to passage of the P4.1-trillion General Appropriations Bill (GAB) this year’s third quarter to make up for the four-months-and-a-half delay in the passage of the 2019 GAA that hobbled economic growth in the first semester,” Villafuerte said.

“A strong economic spurt powered by much higher state spending and low inflation would keep the Philippines among the world’s fastest-growing economies for the remainder of the Duterte presidency, against the backdrop of weakening global growth brought about by, among others, the US-China trade spat, Brexit and climate change,” he added.

Given the sustained spending boost, Villafuerte said GDP growth is expected to clock higher over the October-to-December 2019 period to above 6 percent.

Experts also project the economy growing between 6 percent and 7 percent in 2020 owing to the timely congressio-

Typhoon Ursula. . .

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Based on the monitoring of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), at least 569 families or 2,351 individuals were affected in 38 barangays

for 2020 before going on Christmas break, so this could be sent to President Duterte for review and signing into law. Both the Executive and Congress had vowed to avert a repeat of the over four-month delay in passage of the 2019 budget, which hobbled growth.

Among the priority bills, the Citira—earlier approved by the House on third and final reading—is the subject of much debate. However, Finance officials said it is the uncertainty caused by the lawmakers’ wrangling, not the actual provision of the bill, which accounts for the tepid mood among investors—both those planning to expand existing business or to make their first stake in the country.

Meanwhile, among the bills passed by the Senate on third reading awaiting passage of counterpart bills in the

House of Representatives are: Senate Bill 643 granting night shift differential pay to government employees, and SB 1077 creating a National Transportation Safety Board tasked to investigate aircraft, motor vehicle, railroad, maritime and pipeline accidents, and such other incidents involving transportation.

Also on the list are SB 1055 providing separate facility for heinous crime inmates, and SB 1155, to be known as the Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act, extending the validity of firearms and ammunition.

Earlier, Senate Majority Leader Miguel Zubiri confirmed that the final version of another priority measure, the salary standardization bill, had been passed by both houses of Congress but not yet signed into law.

nal passage of the 2020 GAB, he added.

Earlier, Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano said there would be no economic implications if the proposed 2020 GAA is not signed into law before the year ends. Cayetano confirmed that Duterte will not be able to sign the P4.1-trillion national budget for 2020 before the year ends.

in a newspaper of general circulation.

To recall, the government was forced to operate on a reenacted budget for months since the passage of the 2019 national budget got delayed due to a number of issues, including alleged lastminute insertions and realignments by lawmakers.

The President was only able to sign the budget on April 15 this year.

Due to the budget impasse, new and continuing infrastructure projects were not started earlier in the year when the weather conditions were better. On top of that, the government also needed to comply with the election ban from March 29 to May 12.

The delay in the passage of the budget was also blamed for the slower GDP growth for the first quarter and second quarter at 5.6 percent and 5.5 percent, respectively. This is lower than the 6.6 percent and 6.2 percent recorded last year.

Extension law

DUTERTE signed RA 11464, extending for one year the validity of the 2019 budget, last December 20, Friday.

Congress earlier passed the measure after the Senate adopted without amendments House Bill 5437, which aimed to extend the validity of the allocated maintenance and other operating expenses, as well as capital outlays in the P3.662-trillion national budget.

The Act shall take effect 15 days after its publication in the Official Gazette or

in Regions 7 and Caraga, while at least 12,364 families or 58,400 persons were preemptively evacuated in Regions 4B, 5, 7 and 8.

A total of 87 cities and municipalities in Regions 6 and 8 were also without power, although the NDRRMC said in its latest report that lighting has been restored in at least 24 cities and municipalities.

The Philippine National Police said among the fatalities was a policeman who was electrocuted in Abuyog, Leyte, while doing rescue works.

Not even the tourist island of Boracay was spared, the PNP said.

Citing reports from its various police offices which also deployed search and rescue teams, the PNP said that in Region 4B alone, at least 123 houses and buildings were damaged or destroyed, while more than 10,000 people were evacuated.

The PNP said its local police stations in some parts of Aklan, Capiz and Iloilo were also damaged as it reported some areas in the three provinces are still flooded.

‘Trump likes Duterte,’ but question is, would Duterte want to visit US?

By Recto Mercene

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@rectomercene

HETHER or not President Duterte would get to visit President Trump at the White House should he go to the United States is no longer in question, but whether he (Duterte) will go. “It’s whether he wants to go. He has had so many invitations already from President Trump, he really likes Duterte,” Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr., said on Wednesday while waiting at the premier airport for the arrival of 27 migrant Filipinos from Lebanon.

The first time that Trump invited Duterte was when they talked over the phone way back in 2017, where they discussed North Korea and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).

Trump invited Duterte to visit the White House, which was confirmed when the White House released a statement saying Trump “enjoyed the conversation,” which it described as “very friendly.”

In their talk, Trump acknowledged the Philippine government was fighting “very hard to rid its country of drugs, a scourge that affects many countries throughout the world.” He said he looks forward to his own visit to the Philippines in November (2017), and that the two countries were “now heading in a very positive direction.”

“Congratulations, Mr. Trump. I like you. We have the same kind of mouth,” the White House released this conversation over the telephone, which probably endeared the Philippines’s tough-talking Chief Executive to Trump, who is also a no-holds barred talker—on Twitter.

Questions of Duterte’s visit to the US have arisen anew after Trump signed recently the US 2020 budget that included a provision inserted by several senators, mandating the Secretary of State to deny entry to Philippine officials about whom it finds “credible information” of involvement in the “unjust detention” of Sen. Leila de Lima, who earlier accused Duterte of leading her persecution because of her criticism of his tolerance for extrajudicial killings.

Earlier, Malacañang said President Duterte hates the cold and would probably visit the US in the summer. The two Chief Executives were scheduled to meet when President Duterte makes a stopover in Florida on the way to an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) meeting in Santiago, Chile, in October this year, which was canceled due to ongoing protests.

Some quarters also held the view that Trump would have liked to be seen with Duterte, who received an 87-percent approval rating in December, and is highly popular among overseas Filipino workers (OFW).

Trump, gearing for a 2020 preelection, would probably like to endear himself with Filipino-American voters, according to this school of thought.

The straight-talking Duterte, nicknamed “the Punisher,” had declared a soft spot for Trump early on. He had also cursed at former President Barack Obama in 2017, vowing to sever the longstanding alliance between the US and the Philippines.

Trump has returned Duterte’s overtures of friendship—despite the reported extrajudicial killings in Duterte’s antidrug campaign in the Philippines. In a December 2016 phone call, Duterte said, Trump was supportive of his crusade. “He was quite sensitive also to our worry about drugs,” Duterte said of his phone pal. “And he wishes me well.”

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effort to lick it but has even grown in strength.

A cease-fire is already being observed by both sides in preparation for the peace negotiations which President Duterte had ordered with the NDFP, whose negotiating panel is led by Fidel Agcaoili and Sison as its consultant.

River cruise. . .

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hundreds of illegally built fish pens and other fishing structures in the city’s river systems in 2010.

Aside from showcasing one of the city’s clear rivers, the river cruise was also intended to create job opportunities for boat makers, cooks, ecotour guides and boat operators.

At least 19 weddings were solemnized by the elder Lim at the river cruise site here in the last three months of 2011, making it one of the city’s most popular wedding venues at that time.

“I guess they chose the place because of its intimacy and uniqueness,” Mejia said.

Lim said the decided to revive the Dawel River cruise this year to attract more tourists to the city, which is known for its good-tasting bangus (milkfish).

“The river cruise is an example of a

The communist founding chairman said the CPP and the mass movement kept on growing because the conditions “for waging armed revolution are increasingly favorable and the broad masses of the people demand revolutionary change.”

The CPP’s anniversary was met with government-organized rallies and protests in some areas in Metro Manila, where groups denounced Sison and the rebel group. good project. Except for the Tondaligan Beach, Dagupan has no other natural tourist attractions, such as waterfalls, caves, etc. So, we have to create our own,” said Lim. At present, only one thatched-roofed boat will be at the launch. However, Lim said that two more boats will be added soon.

The 45-minute river cruise starts from a dock at the foot of Dawel bridge, inching its way toward the inner parts of the river lined with healthy mangrove patches.

Aside from the refreshing view of the mangroves, passengers are treated along the way to a view of fish ponds, where the famous Dagupan bangus are grown, and to colorful birds perched on the branches of the mangroves.

Slabs of concrete that once supported a bridge for railroad tracks are also seen in the middle of the river, serving as reminders of the city’s historic role when the country’s railway system was launched in 1892.

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28 BARMM LGUs capture 2019 Seal of Good Local Governance

By Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz @joveemarie

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HE Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) has been hailed as the best region in Mindanao due to good governance, according to Deputy Speaker Mujiv Hataman of Basilan.

In a statement, Hataman said a total of 28 of BARMM’s local government units (LGUs) earned the 2019 Seal of Good Local Governance (SGLG) Award by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), the fifth highest among all regions in the country and the first in Mindanao.

“I congratulate all the local officials of the 28 BARMM LGUs for earning the distinction of good governance. It’s hard to recover from the decades-long hardships of war and terrorism. However, we have proven that we can fulfill our dreams as long as we work together for peace and prosperity,” he said.

“The awards are well-deserved. We are glad that all the reforms we initiated and the hard work we put into them have really resulted in great things for our region. This award is for every Moro who dreamed of a better homeland and labored to get there,” he added.

The 28 SGLG of BARMM included four from Basilan: for the provincial government, for Lamitan City and for the municipalities of Maluso and Sumisip.

Hataman said the award was

given in recognition of the LGUs’ progress and performance on the following governance areas: financial administration; disaster preparedness; social protection; peace and order; business-friendliness and competitiveness; environmental protection; and tourism, culture and the arts.

“Not so long ago, Lamitan City entered the national limelight as a stage for war and terrorism. But now, it is the hallmark and prime example of human resilience overcoming great adversity. In 2016, for the first time in the 29-year existence of the nowdismantled ARMM, Lamitan City was the very first recipient of the SGLG in the whole region,” Hataman said.

“And year after year since then, Lamitan City has earned the SGLG distinction. The Basilan provincial government and the municipalities of Maluso and Sumisip followed suit. We hope that more LGUs in BARMM will be recognized next year,” he added.

Last year, Hataman said a total of 23 LGUs of the now-defunct ARMM received the award. BARMM is the fifth overall among the country’s 17 regions, with only three in the top 10. Region 10 sixth with 23 SGLGs and Region 13 (Caraga) is eighth with 19 awards.

“As the people in BARMM celebrate this milestone, we are reminded that the work is far from over. We achieved our dream of a Moro homeland, but it is only the beginning. Now is the time to work even harder and build the best future for the people,” Hataman said.

Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug • Friday, December 27, 2019 A3

DAR turns over function, powers to BARMM’s new agency MAFAR

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By Jonathan L. Mayuga

@jonlmayuga

HE newly established Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Agrarian Reform (MAFAR) in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) has officially assumed the function and powers of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) as mandated by law.

In a simple ceremony that was followed by the distribution of certificates of land ownership awards (CLOAS) to agrarian reform beneficiaries in three Mindanao provinces on December 23, the DAR has officially turned over its functions and powers to MAFAR as stated under Section 5 of Executive Order 129-A, Series of 1987.

Section 5 of EO 129-A contains all the functions and powers of DAR, such as implementing agrarian laws, making operational policies, acquiring and distributing

lands, providing free legal services to farmers, approving and disapproving land conversion, and providing support services for farmers, such as access to credit and rural infrastructures.

The BARMM is comprised of the provinces of Tawi-Tawi, Maguindanao, Basilan, Sulu, Lanao del Sur, and the cities of Cotabato and Marawi.

“We are confident that under the leadership of MAFAR Minister Mohammad Yacob, agrarian reform will be implemented in all of Bangsamoro and rural develop-

ment will flourish. Our farmers are in good hands,” Agrarian Reform Secretary John R. Castriciones said in a statement.

Castriciones said Republic Act (RA) 11054, which provided the Organic Law of BARMM, was the legal basis of the DAR’s move to transfer its power to MAFAR. The BARMM was established to replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

He said everything was transferred to MAFAR except the adjudicatory functions of DAR, which was not officially transferred to the ARMM despite the passage of RA 11054.

“That’s why it’s imperative for BARMM through MAFAR to immediately organize and constitute an agrarian reform adjudication board similar to that of DAR’s,” Castriciones said.

The transition period for the establishment of the BARMM started after the enactment of RA 11054 through the majority of votes cast in a plebiscite on January 25, 2019.

BARMM Chief Minister Ahod Ebrahim and members of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority took their oath before President

Duterte on February 22, 2019.

To avoid a long interval in the governance of the Bangsamoro Region, Section 8, Article 16 of R A 11054 provided for the formation of an interim Cabinet composed of 15 pr imar y ministers.

As a result, the three sectors consisting of agriculture, fisheries and agrarian reform were merged into one ministry as Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Agrarian Reform.

Dr. Mohammad Yacob was appointed Minister for MAFAR and assumed office on February 23, 2019. Not long after, the DAR transferred the assets, capital, records, funds, receivables, equipment and facilities of the then DAR in the ARMM to BARMM through MAFAR. “Our mission is to empower farming and fishing communities by ensuring equitable access to support services and optimum economic benefits,” said Yacob.

Yacob added that MAFAR’s mandate is to promote sustainable agri-fishery growth and development, equitable land distribution and tenurial security in the Bangsamoro region.

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Friday, December 27, 2019

US buckles in South Korea troop funding talks–Chosun

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AYS before a troopfunding deal was set to expire, the United States has dropped its demand that South Korea pay five times more to host its military personnel after receiving assurances that Seoul would purchase more American weapons, a newspaper report said.

The Trump administration also likely eased up after South Korea indicated it would step up its presence in the Strait of Hormuz, helping US efforts to protect oil flows in the region, South Korea’s The Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported on Thursday, citing an unidentified diplomatic source. The increase now may be about 10 percent to 20 percent above the current level of nearly $1 billion, it said.

South Korea’s foreign ministry declined to comment on the report.

Last month, US negotiators walked out of a meeting on troop funding in Seoul after South Korea balked at the fivefold increase seen as exorbitant by many in the country. The breakdown at that time raised questions about one of the US’s closest military alliances and a key piece of the Pentagon’s strategy for countering North Korea and a rising China. The two sides resumed talks in December.

Even though the deal known as the Special Measures

Agreement technically expires at the end of this year, both sides are likely to agree to some sort of temporary extension as they negotiate, allowing for the continued operations of the about 28,500 US military personnel positioned on the peninsula.

The talks with South Korea could affect other countries that host US troops, as the Trump administration is seeking funding increases from other American allies.

Trump, arguing that South Korea is rich and should pay more for US protection, has demanded Seoul contribute about $5 billion for hosting US troops.

The price tag originated with the White House, according to people familiar with the matter, and administration officials justify it by saying it reflects the costs South Korea would incur if it takes operational control of combined US-South Korean forces in the case of a conflict.

The request for more money hasn’t sat well in South Korea, where many in President Moon Jae-in’s progressive camp and opposition conservatives have come out against the demands.

Moon, facing a sagging support rate, may not want to make any major concessions that further dent his popularity ahead of an election for parliament next year.

Bloomberg News

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

China’s US soybean imports increase 53% after trade deal

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EIJING—China’s imports of soybeans surged in November, following the announcement of an interim trade deal with the United States.

Imports rose 53.7 percent over a year earlier to 5.4 million tons, according to customs data.

Imports of US soybeans doubled more t h a n f rom t he prev iou s mont h to 2.6 m i l l ion

tons, accord i ng to AWeb.com, a news web site t h at ser ves t he Chinese far ming industr y.

China cut off purchases of American soybeans, the country’s biggest import from the United

States, after President Donald J. Trump raised import duties on Chinese goods in a dispute over Beijing’s technology ambitions and trade surplus.

T he t wo gover nments a nnounced an interim “phase one” agreement in October, but have yet to release details. US officials say it might be signed as early as January.

US officials said as part of that deal, Beijing will buy more American farm exports. Chinese officials have yet to confirm the possible scale of purchases.

Chinese government spokesmen said in September importers were placing orders for American soybeans, but no details of purchases have been announced.

Chinese buyers use soybeans as animal feed and to crush for cooking oil.

Beijing bought more Brazilian soybeans, but no other supplier could fully replace the large scale of American supplies. That added to the strain on Chinese pig farmers who are struggling with an outbreak of African swine fever that has devastated herds. AP

Thousands in Asia marvel at ‘ring of fire’ solar eclipse

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ANDA ACEH, Indonesia—People along a swath of Southern Asia gazed at the sky in marvel on Thursday at a “ring of fire” solar eclipse.

The so-called annular eclipse, in which a thin outer ring of the sun is still visible, could be seen along a path stretching from India and Pakistan, to Thailand and Indonesia.

Authorities in Indonesia provided telescopes and hundreds of special glasses to protect viewers’ eyes. Thousands of people gazed at the sky, and cheered and clapped as the sun transformed into a dark orb for more than two minutes, briefly plunging the sky into darkness. Hundreds of others prayed at nearby mosques.

“How amazing to see the ring of fire when the sun disappeared slowly,” said Firman Syahrizal, a resident of Sinabang in Indonesia’s Banda Aceh province who witnessed the eclipse with his family.

The previous annular solar eclipse in February 2017 was also visible over a slice of Indonesia. AP

A PARTIAL solar eclipse is seen from Jakarta, Indonesia, on Thursday. AP/TATAN SYUFLANA

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Friday, December 27, 2019 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

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editorial

Faulty information creates pessimism

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NE of the most interesting “thinkers” of the late 20th century was Swedish physician Hans Rosling. He became well-known through his participation in the TED Talks, part of the annual “Technology, Entertainment, Design Conference.”

Rosling’s basic works on public health led to his passion for statistics and the presentation of the numbers in a way that made sense to even the layman. He was cofounder and chairman of the Gapminder Foundation, which developed the Trendalyzer software system with which he could show the development of different societies in relation to each other regarding specific issues. For example, empirically there is a point in the size of a nation’s economic output per person that can trigger a leap in better health care.

Published after his death in 2017 was his book Factfulness: Ten Reasons We’re Wrong About the World.

One of his greatest complaints was that the way people in general and most academics look at the world is outdated based on current data. He was particularly annoyed with the idea that there are “developed” countries and “un/under-developed” nations.

For example, we think that “big families and high infant mortality” are traits of “developing countries” and “small families and low infant mortality” are found in developed nations. However, the fact is that by those definitions, most of the world is developed with more countries falling within that traditional developed definition.

Perhaps, more important, is that even highly educated and aware people are not aware of the current reality. When Rosling presented certain economic and social data about “First World” and “Third World” countries to graduate students, they confirmed that this was the way the world was in the 21st century. However, in every case, it was actually data from the 1950s and 1960s.

This was even true about their own home countries. The bottom line was that the economic and social improvements over 40 or 50 years simply did not register even for the society that they lived in every day.

There is almost paranoia about the world. There is almost a need to see a negative situation where none exists or to exaggerate the negative situation. The danger is that if we believe that the world is in very bad condition with unsolvable problems, we will not try to solve those problems.

If the world is really going to end in 12 years as some climate “experts” are saying, then “Why Go to School When the World Is Burning?” as some climate-change striking students said recently.

The “doomsayers” think that they are leading people to action by preaching hopelessness when, in fact, exactly the opposite is true.

Rosling wrote this before he died: “People often call me an optimist, because I show them the enormous progress they didn’t know about. I’m not an optimist. I’m a very serious “possibilist.”

That’s something I made up. It means someone who neither hopes without reason, nor fears without reason, someone who constantly resists the overdramatic worldview. As a possibilist, I see all this progress, and it fills me with conviction and hope that further progress is possible. This is not optimistic. It is having a clear and reasonable idea about how things are. It is having a worldview that is constructive and useful.”

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TELLTALES

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HRISTMAS comes early to the residents of Baseco in Tondo, courtesy of unclad Santas from the hinterlands of Central Luzon bearing the sweetest gift of them all—sweet camote. We used to see them on the streets in droves knocking at our car windows begging for alms, but that was before.

This Christmas season, however, the story is different. Instead of invading our streets to ask for help, a group of Aetas swarmed a poor village in Tondo with their arms stretched not asking for help but bearing gifts. Our aborigines came all the way from Capas, Tarlac, to personally distribute 10,000 kilos of camote to 5,000 families, more or less. The PNP and the Philippine Air Force helped the indigenous Aetas haul and distribute the tons of camote, which were placed in individual bags of 2 kilos each. One housewife who was interviewed profoundly appreciated the gift and said that the 2-kilo bag of camote does not come cheap. For our kulot brothers, they must feel really good to give than to receive. Giving, despite the economic status of the giver and regardless of the amount or extent, is the simplest way to lighten the sufferings and deprivations of the less fortunate, and in the process create a better world.

One of my fondest memories was working as a volunteer teacher for the Aetas in Igang Valley, Batobalani, Paracale, Camarines Norte. In

Judge Pedro T. Santiago (Ret.) Benjamin V. Ramos Adebelo D. Gasmin Marvin Nisperos Estigoy Aldwin Maralit Tolosa Rolando M. Manangan

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the late 1960s, PANAMIN put up a special school nestled on a hill for the Aetas settled in the surrounding mountainous areas. At that time, It could only be reached by helicopter or by a four-hour trek over hills and dales. I remember Manda Elizalde visiting the place a couple of times, boarding a helicopter to the great amazement of our students. We conducted night classes using “petromax” to light up the classroom.

There were no grade classifications since the primary objective was to teach the 3 Rs—Reading, ‘Riting and ‘Rithmetic. Husbands and wives, fathers and sons, and mothers and daughters were classmates.

One of the highlights of my work was preparing a Boy Scout troop of Aeta youngsters to join the National Boy Scout Jamboree in Palayan City in 1969. It was the crowd drawer in that event, except that many of our troop members gave away their pair of shoes in exchange for cigarettes and drinks. Our contingent won prizes in the archery competition and in survival techniques. The program was successful that some adult members of our class were able to

register and vote for the first time in the presidential election in 1969.

The government got a lot of mileage out of that basic exercise of suffrage and democracy by the minorities in our country.

In 2015, the Insurance Commission conducted a Christmas giftgiving mission for the benefit of the Negrito communities in Labo and Paracale, Camarines Norte, with the help of Stronghold Insurance led by Mr. Jun de los Reyes. We also visited their resettlement area in Bakal, Paracale, where they are happily settled in a place with adequate facilities and livelihood opportunities. Our indigenous people have gone a long way. From that informal school, we have provided learning opportunities for the tribal Filipinos, which have produced successful teachers, accountants, IT experts and other professionals.

The Aetas’ benevolent gesture in Baseco has shown us the true spirit and meaning of Christmas. Despite their own difficulties, they found time to help their needy countrymen.

Undoubtedly, if we create a space for them, the Aetas will become proud givers, not meek receivers. nnn

TOMORROW, December 28, is the birthday of Woodrow Wilson, the 28th president of the United States.

Wilson was a genuine academic who taught in several universities before becoming the president of Princeton University. He was a lawyer and earned a PhD in Political Science at the John Hopkins University. He was elected as governor of New Jersey before winning the US presidency against two formidable American political figures—President Wiliam Howard Taft and former President

Theodore Roosevelt. He was a progressive president unheard of until FDR came into power and practiced an activist foreign policy, which led him to become the leading architect of the League of Nations, the forerunner of the United Nations. He won the Nobel Peace Prize and is considered as one of the greatest presidents of the US. Wilson’s second daughter, Jessie, married Francis Bowes Sayre Sr. who served as US High Commissioner in the Philippines. With his good looks, sophistication, great wit and sharp intelligence, Wilson was a ladies’ man. After he suffered from a series of health problems that left him blind in his left eye, he met a socialite, Mary Hulbert Peck, while vacationing in Bermuda. His close friendship with Peck triggered tongues to wag, but Wilson historians had not conclusively established there was an affair between them.

When his first wife died in 1914, he had a relationship with Edith Galt Bolling who was suspected to be sleeping with him at the White House. A joke even circulated that when a reporter interviewed Bolling what was her reaction when President Wilson eventually proposed marriage to her, the answer was that she fell off from the bed.

During their courtship, Wilson often entertained her at White House parties. The Washington Post covered and reported an account of one such event but committed a serious gaffe by misspelling the term “entertaining” so that the article read: “...the President spent much of the evening entering Mrs. Galt.”

It must have been a deliberate mistake, but this kind of presidential liaison would not even make news in our country.

Trump’s trade wars expose an abiding truth Pankaj Mishra

BLOOMBERG VIEW

Eduardo A. Davad Nonilon G. Reyes

BusinessMirror is published daily by the Philippine Business Daily Mirror

MEMBER OF

The unclad Santas from Central Luzon

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S the year ends, a partial and brief ceasefire seems imminent in Donald J. Trump’s trade war on the world. The United States and China may sign a deal as early as next month.

But make no mistake: The protectionist impulse behind the trade war remains as ineradicable as ever.

Nor should it be forgotten that economic nationalism has guided the destiny of all major nations since the 19th century.

According to the ideological prejudices of the present, built up over nearly four decades of globalization, free trade and deregulation represent the natural order of things. History, however, tells us that the United States was a protectionist power for

much of its existence, and the tariff was a crucial factor in its dethronement of Britain as global economic leader by the early 20th century.

As William McKinley put it in 1890: “We lead all nations in agriculture; we lead all nations in mining; we lead all nations in manufacturing. These are the trophies which we bring after 29 years of a protective tariff.”

The argument for economic nationalism against a manufacturing giant such as Britain was simple.

British free-traders claimed that their ideology was best placed to bring prosperity and peace to the world. Their critics in countries less economically advanced than Britain, such as Germany’s Friedrich List, the 19th century’s most influential economic theorist, argued that free trade could only be a goal rather than the starting point of modern development.

Economic self-strengthening for nations required that they protect their nascent industry until it becomes internationally competitive.

Notwithstanding Britain’s rhetoric, which periodicals like the Economist amplified, it had arrived at free trade after a successful policy of tariffs. It also used military power to acquire foreign markets for its surplus goods and capital.

In the late 19th century, one aspiring power after another

set out to match the British; the Americans were not alone. Italy, while seeking to modernize its economy, imposed massive tariffs on France. Germany and Japan nurtured domestic manufactures while trying to shield them from foreign competition.

Even Britain, following its settler colonies Australia, Canada and South Africa, came to abandon free trade by 1932. The United States’ protectionism peaked with the infamous Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930.

The US moved swiftly to embrace free trade after the Second World War only because its manufacturing industries, dominant over the world’s war-ravaged economies, needed access to international markets.

Even then the Cold War’s military and diplomatic urgencies turned the United States into an unlikely protector of Japan’s manufacturing industries as they were rebuilt into world-beaters. Trade practices of See “Mishra,” A7

Opinion BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Friday, December 27, 2019

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A coal-friendly EPA does Radiating light and spreading goodness this Christmas Americans no favors

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By Tatiana Schlossberg | Bloomberg Opinion

LEVEN years ago, in the earliest hours of December 22, 2008, at the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Kingston Fossil Plant in Kingston, Tennessee, a dam holding back coal ash slurry—a toxic soup of factory wastewater and burnt coal—broke.

The broken dam released over a billion gallons of ash slurry into the Clinch and Emory Rivers and buried about 300 acres of land several feet deep under a poisonous sludge of lead, arsenic, mercury and other heavy metals.

The spill was three times larger than the TVA’s initial estimate— in fact, it was more than what the TVA said was in the pond to begin with. Cleaning up the spill took years; a process that was beset by further environmental crimes. The waste was mainly carted away to Uniontown, Alabama, where it was dumped into an uncovered landfill outside of a predominantly black community. Moreover, the company contracted by the TVA to clean up the site, Jacobs Engineering Group, did not provide adequate protective equipment, according to a lawsuit filed by workers, who sat atop piles of toxic waste to eat their lunches.

Around 20 workers died of illnesses caused by exposure to the waste, and another 200 or so were sickened, the suit claimed—which the workers won last year. It was one of the largest environmental disasters in American history (about 100 times larger than the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989), it happened this century, and yet we rarely hear about it, even when we talk about coal— its contribution to greenhouse gas emissions, the market forces pushing coal companies out of business, and the pensions and pay denied to miners and workers as a result.

Last month, Andrew Wheeler, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and a former lobbyist for the coal industry, announced a second set of regulatory rollbacks that would make the Kingston disaster and others like it more likely, as well as increasing the daily threat of incremental groundwater and air pollution from coal ash. Instead of protecting the air we breathe, and the water we drink, bathe and swim in, the EPA is giving a major gift to the coal industry at the expense of the health of millions of Americans—a lump of coal in our stockings if ever there was one.

The EPA has taken this action despite the fact that coal ash is one of the largest industrial solid waste streams in the country and contains many substances hazardous to human health. We generate around 130 million tons of coal ash every year (since coal still provides around 25 percent to 30 percent of our energy) in nearly every state.

There are about 1,100 coal ash ponds across the US, and another 400 or so landfills. Even if we stopped burning coal today, we would still have to deal with the problem of coal ash—it doesn’t degrade, so it’s not going anywhere.

It was never even regulated at the federal level until 2015, and then only as a direct response to the Kingston spill.

We should be tightening, not loosening, the federal regulations on coal ash. The statistics about the everyday pollution it causes are shocking. A report from Earthjustice and the Environmental Integrity Project earlier this year found that 91 percent of coal plants across the country have one or more coal ash pollutants in the groundwater

Mishra. . .

continued from A6

the kind deemed unfair by Trump today—ranging from loans and subsidies, to national conglomerates and restriction of imports—were key to the rise of not only Japan, but also East Asian “tigers,” such as South Korea and Taiwan.

Trying, albeit much less successfully, to build a manufacturing

beneath their storage ponds at levels exceeding safe standards. About a third of coal ash ponds are less than five miles from a public drinking water intake; about 80 percent are less than 5 miles from a drinking water well. A study from Duke University showed that groundwater next to coal ash ponds in five states in the Southeast had concentrations of coal ash pollutants higher than what is found in nature and showed strong evidence of leaking, regardless of whether the ponds were still receiving new coal ash waste.

The EPA has found more than 250 instances in which power plants may have harmed surface groundwater. The US Commission on Civil Rights found that minority, rural and low-income communities disproportionately suffer from coal ash pollution.

Long-term exposure to cadmium (a coal ash pollutant) in drinking water can lead to a frightening number of health problems—kidney, lung and blood illnesses, including a heightened risk of cancer— according to health experts.

Speaking about the country’s aging coal ash infrastructure, an environmental lawyer once told me, “We are biding our time until the next disaster.” The Obama administration’s regulations were meant to protect us from that: coal ash ponds had to be fixed or closed; utilities had to monitor their groundwater and make that information public; citizens could sue utilities for violations; and more. Environmental groups sued to make the regulations stronger; lobbyists for utilities sued to weaken them.

When he became administrator of the EPA, Scott Pruitt announced his intention to rewrite these rules. When Andrew Wheeler took his place as acting administrator, among the first rules he signed was a revision to the coal ash rules, which gave more enforcement power back to the states and weakened the regulations in other ways too.

Last month, the EPA announced further changes: relaxing the limits on toxic pollutant discharge; delaying the date by which coal ash ponds must close until 2023 (it had already been pushed back to 2020 from 2018); and other giveaways to the industry.

The rewriting of rules on coal ash disposal is part of the Trump administration’s larger agenda to make polluting more profitable, with the American people paying the cost— both in terms of our health and the habitability of our planet.

We saw what happened when coal ash waste was unregulated or under-regulated. The past is never dead and buried, even when it’s underneath several feet of coal ash waste. It’s also not even past, as William Faulkner once noted. By not paying attention to the slow erosion of the laws and regulations enacted to clean up our environment 50 years ago, we are letting that past become unburied, and become our present once again. economy, India imposed some of the world’s highest tariffs. After a short-lived experiment with trade liberalization, which resulted in a $53-billion trade deficit with China, India today has retreated into its old protectionist crouch.

It is hard to see what else it can do. The rise of China as a manufacturing powerhouse has made even the US renounce the posture of international cooperation it assumed after the Second World War.

Rev. Fr. Antonio Cecilio T. Pascual

SERVANT LEADER

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ERRY Christmas, brothers and sisters!

The day of Jesus’ birth is not only an occasion where people enjoy their time with their loved ones. The coming of the Messiah fulfills the promise that we witness in the book of Isaiah 9:2, “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.” Light brought to us all in the midst of darkness.

This Christmas promise gives life, especially to our nation that continuously crawls out of the darkness of lies, corruption and evil. Many of us are blinded by the wrong information and “fake news.” This is one of the reasons why elections that could have been the way to balance the authority of those in power have become an opportunity for the leaders in government to tighten their grip. Instead of Filipinos choosing leaders with the knowledge in creating policies, and with the abilities to

implement programs that will truly be of use to us, especially the poor, we let leaders with neither track records nor efficient capabilities to be at the seat of power. Many Filipinos have been deceived with fake news that sugarcoated the names of these politicians. Wrong information also pushed parents not to vaccinate their children, and this caused a measles outbreak and the return of polio in the country.

And since we have not checked into and researched on what our

leaders are doing, they continue their crooked ways. When we had the water crisis in Metro Manila and neighboring towns, we discovered the agreement between the government and China to construct a massive dam that will tear down our mountains, neglect or remove our fellow natives and will put us in debt. There were also accusations of corruption in the recently concluded Southeast Asian Games, where the politicians and their business partners allegedly benefited, and now it seems that those responsible have forgotten their inadequacies. Meanwhile, after the constant denial of corruption against the dictator Ferdinand Marcos and his family, the greedy regime that buried us under tremendous debt, and loss of lives of our fellow Filipinos who defended our democracy has not been punished.

It is saddening for us to allow evil to triumph for what we call development and contentment. Even if the number of people slain in the war on drugs has gone down, the government campaign continues to strike fear among the poor communities.

We also discovered that there are

some lawmakers who are also involved in the drugs trade. The government is severely focused on a war that carries no true victory, rather than focusing on uplifting the lives and livelihood of our fellowmen who have yet to stand on their own from the damage in their areas caused by natural calamities.

Let us see the birth of Jesus Christ as the light toward truth, altruism and goodness. As Pope Francis said in his encyclical, Lumen Fidei: Everything turns dim without light; it is difficult to see good and evil.... Our faith is one lamp that guides us to step forward in the darkness of night enough for our journey. This is the blessing we are given this Christmas.

Brothers and sisters, do we accept the blessing of light given by God through His son, Jesus Christ? Let us all radiate light, and spread goodness this Christmas and throughout the New Year.

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

Trump Senate impeachment trial finds scant precedent in history

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By Mike Dorning | Bloomberg Opinion

ILL CLINTON’S impeachment two decades ago set the modern template for President Donald J. Trump’s upcoming trial in the Senate. But the process may be even more contentious this time given sharper tribal divisions in Washington.

Clinton’s four-week proceeding in 1999 riveted the nation. Thirteen Republican House managers marched across the Capitol to present articles of impeachment, led by the silver-maned chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Henry Hyde.

An old-school grand orator, he cast Clinton’s impeachment as a matter of national honor and invoked the sacrifices of war dead.

Chief Justice William Rehnquist presided, clad in a custom robe adorned with gold stripes he had designed based on a costume from a Gilbert & Sullivan comic opera.

Monica Lewinsky, the White House intern who had an affair with the Democratic president, gave video testimony. And Arkansas Sen. Dale Bumpers rebutted with a folksy drawl the managers’ argument that the case was about principle rather than merely a titillating scandal: “When you hear somebody say, ‘This is not about sex,’ it’s about sex.”

Partisan strife threatens to engulf the Senate, once again, as the chamber prepares a trial for two articles of impeachment against Trump, accusing him of abusing his power and blocking Congress’s investigation into that abuse.

The rancor in 1999 eventually subsided as leaders from both parties moved to contain the damage.

But they were navigating political crosscurrents that produced very different incentives than their counterparts face today.

election, held in the middle of the process and widely seen as a repudiation of the drive to impeach the president.

This time, there’s little sign that Senate Republicans feel the need to distance themselves from the White House. Trump holds a firmer grasp over his party than Clinton did—the biggest political threat to Republican incumbents is primary challengers, not Democrats.

Unlike the last impeachment, Trump is almost certain to lead the national Republican ticket again in 2020, tying the fortunes of lowerlevel office-holders more closely to his standing. Underscoring the point, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has openly declared he’s coordinating with the president’s lawyers to set procedures for the trial. And precedent isn’t binding on McConnell.

“He has a lot of latitude,” said Trent Lott, the Republican Senate majority leader during the Clinton trial. “There is nobody who knows the rules of the Senate like Mitch McConnell. He also knows this is a different time, a different set of facts.”

Like it or not

SENATE leaders in the Clinton trial recognized that their own interests diverged from their party allies. The Democratic White House wanted the entire process discredited as a partisan vendetta, but many Democrats were at the same time repulsed by the president’s conduct and didn’t want to defend it. Republican senators, meanwhile, were acutely aware of GOP losses in the midterm House

THE day after the House passed the articles of impeachment against Clinton, Lott picked up the phone at his home in Pascagoula, Mississippi, and called his Democratic counterpart, South Dakota Sen. Tom Daschle.

“I remember very vividly,” Lott said in an interview. “I said, ‘Tom, whether we like it or not, this issue is in our lap.’”

The Constitution imposes only a few requirements for a presidential impeachment. The Senate has to have a trial. The chief justice must preside. And it takes a two-thirds vote to convict.

Senate rules don’t even set a standard of evidence for conviction, unlike criminal trials in which a defen-

The multilateral institutions, such as the World Trade Organization (WTO) that the US helped set up, no longer seem to serve its purposes. Moreover, the argument, first widely heard in the US during the debate over Nafta in the 1990s, that free trade enriches the wealthy at the expense of the poor and the middle class, not to mention the environment, has become politically much more potent.

It is clear today that the advocates

of free trade ignored for too long the volatile political problems rising from wage stagnation and income inequality. Upholding the economic law of “comparative advantage,” they also managed to downplay the higher law that governs international economic relations: might is right.

Following the British “imperialism of free trade,” powerful countries have consistently practiced what they denounce in others. For instance, the United States, while

Partisan vendetta

dant must be proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Senators only must swear to dispense “impartial justice.”

Oratory skills

SINCE Richard Nixon resigned before he was formally impeached, the only precedent before Clinton was Andrew Johnson’s impeachment trial in 1868.

Johnson’s trial lasted almost two months as orators showed off their speaking skills to packed galleries.

The Senate heard from 25 prosecution and 16 defense witnesses. Lawyers for Johnson, who was known for intemperate public remarks, persuaded him not to appear at the proceeding. He was instead defended by a team of attorneys, but still gave press interviews during the trial. He avoided conviction by one vote.

Lott had good reason for caution.

The Clinton impeachment battle in the House had already dragged down two Republican leaders and sullied another. House Speaker Newt Gingrich quit after the fall election losses. His presumptive successor, Bob Livingston, announced his resignation the day of the impeachment vote after it was disclosed that he’d had multiple extramarital affairs.

And Hyde, an anti-abortion crusader and renowned champion of conservative morality, was humiliated by the revelation that he had an affair with a married beauty stylist when he was in his 40s.

The tawdry sexual details that Kenneth Starr, the independent counsel who led the investigation into Clinton, included in his report to Congress also provoked a public backlash, and Clinton’s popularity soared to an all-time high around the time of the impeachment vote.

“Where does it stop?”

Despite the partisan firestorm, Democratic leaders were wary of appearing to excuse Clinton’s conduct.

One adviser remembers fearing that five or six Democratic senators could vote for conviction and potentially build momentum to bring more along. But both sides also had partisan bases clamoring for an all-out fight at the trial. The House impeachment managers were demanding a long trial, with witnesses called to the Senate floor. The prospects for an agreement on procedures didn’t look good.

“We both thought it was going to be uphill, given how much of a partisan fight it turned out to be in the House,” Daschle said in an interview.

“I think people were probably betting against us initially.”

At one point, Lott reached an agreement with Daschle for a short trial with no witnesses, only to be rebuffed by Senate conservatives.

“Some of my friends did everything but stone me and throw me out on the street,” Lott recalled.

Danger subsides

FROM the start, Lott was determined not to risk live testimony on the Senate floor, especially from Lewinsky. The fear was that it could veer into sexual details that would alienate the public or make it look like Republican lawmakers were ganging up on a vulnerable young woman.

“The greatest danger is that you lose control of it,” Lott said.

ULTIMATELY, the leaders and their staffs prepared the way for a unanimous agreement on trial procedures, finalized in a closed-door session in the Old Senate Chamber. It skirted the issue of witnesses until later, initially giving each side 24 hours on the floor to make their cases. Senators then were allowed to pose questions to each side, sending them up in writing for the chief justice to read aloud.

Robert Byrd of West Virginia, one of the Democrats the president’s team had been most worried about losing, moved to dismiss the case after the initial phase. Though the move failed on a largely party line vote, it showed Clinton wasn’t in danger. The House impeachment managers won a vote to take videotaped depositions from Lewinsky, Clinton’s friend Vernon Jordan, and White House aide Sidney Blumenthal. They were allowed to play excerpts to the Senate. But the testimony didn’t change the dynamic.

When the senators voted one by one, neither of the two articles of impeachment won a majority, much less the two-thirds required.

insisting that other countries reduce state intervention, has nurtured high-tech industries in ways that violate WTO agreements (and which are shielded from sanction only by the fig leaf of defense requirements).

The bluff of free trade, first called in the 19th century by an industrializing America against Britain, lies exposed, yet again, as China aspires to be the 21st century’s new hegemon. Free trade turns out to be something that helps a rising great

power, until it doesn’t, and which most countries claim to practice while trying to subvert its principles as much as possible.

Trump’s trade wars are, of course, dangerously reckless in a world more interconnected than ever before. But they have served to clarify the challenge ahead: to devise multilateral institutions that acknowledge protectionism rather than free trade as the deeper and more enduring reality of global economic history.

Ganging up

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By Rene Acosta

@reneacostaBM

HE Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) will put up military detachments in islands around the Babuyan, on the heels of its move to establish a presence in the country’s northernmost island of Mavulis in Batanes.

“We have established a permanent presence in our northernmost island, Mavulis, by hoisting our flag, constructing a fishermen’s

shelter and permanently stationing a marine contingent on the island.

We shall also station more marines in the outlying islands in the Ba-

buyan channel,” Defense Secretary (DND) Delfin Lorenzana said in 2019 year-end message issued on Thursday.

At the same time, he took to task the leaders of the Communist Party of the Philippines for their triumphalist tone as they marked their 51st founding anniversary. “What are you celebrating? The death of many and the billions of destroyed properties?” the defense chief told the CPP, which is preparing for the resumption of the peace talks between the government and the rebel’s umbrella group, the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP).

Lorenzana said the government has pursued the protection of Fili-

pinos and has kept the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity during the year, with national defense strategy as the guide.

The government, he added, will continue to work with the Asean on the issue of security while noting that the military and defense establishments have intensified their anti-insurgency campaign this year, one through the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-Elcac).

On the CPP anniversary, exiled founding Chairman Jose Maria Sison claimed the communistspawned revolutionary movement in the country has not only weathered the government’s sustained See “AFP,” A2

BI arrests, deports Korean man wanted for $2-M cyber fraud

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I R P OR T i m m i g r at i o n agents have collared a Korean fugitive wanted by the Seoul police for involvement in cyber fraud.

The passenger, 36-year-old Yun Kyungmin, was intercepted at the premier airport after his name showed up in the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) list of wanted fugitives.

Grifton Medina, airport chief immigration officer, learned that Yun is subject of a red notice the Interpol issued in December last year.

Korean authorities reported that Yun has been the subject of a manhunt and is now wanted for prosecution.

“His government had canceled his passport and a warrant for his

NORTHEAST MONSOON AFFECTING EXTREME NORTHERN LUZON TYPHOON "URSULA" 295 KM WEST NORTHWEST OF CORON, PALAWAN as of 4:00 pm - December 26, 2019

arrest was issued by the district court in Daejeon, South Korea,” Medina said.

Lawyer Rommel Tacorda, (Bureau of Immigration’s (BI) Border Control and Intelligence Unit (BCIU) chief, disclosed that Yun was accused of operating an illegal call center in Dalian, China, that engages in voice phishing activities to defraud unsuspecting

Korean victims.

Cyber criminals resort to the fraudulent schemes by attempting to steal sensitive information through phone calls that seem legitimate, thus victims are duped into believing that the call is from a trusted source, Medina added.

Korean prosecutors alleged that from 2016 to 2018, Yun and his cohorts managed to defraud some 42 victims whose combined money losses amounted to more than 2.2 billion won, or nearly $2 million.

Usually, the suspects would call their victims and pretend to be police detectives or prosecutors. They would scare the former with threats of arrest and prosecution and instruct them to deposit money into bank accounts owned by the cyber frauders.

Yun was booked and escorted on the next available flight to Korea, where authorities were waiting to arrest him upon his arrival in Seoul. Recto L. Mercene

IN ABSENCE OF NEW LAW, MOTORBIKE TAXIS WILL BE BANNED AFTER 3 MOS

BUSINESSMIRROR FILE PHOTO

As AFP beefs up northern presence, DND chides CPP

By Lorenz S. Marasigan

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@lorenzmarasigan

AD news for patrons of motorcycle taxis: They will cease to exist after the technical working group (TWG) completes its study on the viability of the emerging transport service.

Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) member Antonio Gardiola, who heads the TWG, said the government will no longer allow for any extensions of the motorcycle taxi pilot program, unless legislators come up with a law amending the existing transportation code.

“After three months, the pilot program will be terminated— that’s it—because there is no law allowing it yet,” he said.

The use of motorcycles as commercial transport vehicles is prohibited under the Land Transportation and Traffic Code.

However, due to public clamor, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) decided in July to run a pilot testing of the service via Angkas.

Due to the lack of data, according to Transportation Undersecretary Mark de Leon, the agency decided to extend the pilot run for another three months, now with the inclusion of two new players, JoyRide and Move It. “After March, when we submit our findings to Congress, the program will be terminated,” Gardiola said. “No one can say that we can allow them because there is no law. If the law says its illegal, then it’s illegal.”

He made the remarks two days after the DOTr issued an open letter to Angkas management, telling it to stop using “emotional blackmail” in seeking to overturn the TWG recommendation for Angkas to shed 17,000 of its 27,000 biker force during the three-month extension period that starts after the lapse of the first trial run on December 26.

Regulators have come under fire from the public, for whom the motorbike taxis exemplified

by Angkas have provided a cheap, faster way to go through Metro Manila’s horrible traffic.

Duterte dares Joma to fly home for dialogue

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VEN after the supposed violations by communists of the holiday cease-fire, President Duterte dared communist leader Jose Maria “Joma” Sison to come home and have a one-on-one talk with him, Malacañang said.

Echoing the President’s words on Christmas eve, Presidential Spokesman and Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador S. Panelo said Sison can come home without any enforcement of any warrant.

“The President is daring him to come home to the Philippines and have a one-on-one talk with the President even before this panel—no government panel involved, no panel on the communist side. He is asking him to come to the Philippines, there will be no enforcement of any warrant, just come to the Philippines and talk with him,” Panelo told reporters in a Palace briefing.

Sison has been on self-exile in

Jica loan. . .

Continued from A1

The Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2017-2022 also underscores regional connectivity through infrastructure development (including, expanding road systems and upgrading or rehabilitating roads) as among its priorities.

Jica’s focus on peace and development in Mindanao is a key pillar of its assistance in the

the Netherlands since the late ’80s, when peace negotiations with the post-Edsa government of President Corazon Aquino collapsed.

The Palace, meanwhile, also condemned alleged violations committed by the communists on the first day of the holiday truce, adding that the government is still giving them the chance to explain their side.

The military has accused the New People’s Army (NPA) of violating the ceas-fire after separate attacks in Camarines Sur and Iloilo, on Monday, left one soldier dead and eight other security forces wounded. Sison played down the attacks as isolated cases, and said these were not meant to violate the truce.

“You must remember that it was them who declared a unilateral cease-fire and that has also been violated, that there has been a violation. But nevertheless, we are giving them the chance to explain

why it has committed such violation. And since the President has always been open, giving a little window to the pursuit of peace, he will wait for the explanation coming from them,” Panelo said.

The nationwide cease-fire started on December 23, and will remain in effect until 11:59 p.m. of January 7, 2020.

Meanwhile, Panelo said the President is also keen to grant the request of Davao City Mayor and Presidential daughter Sara Duterte-Carpio to exclude the city from the cease-fire.

Panelo said the President is considering the request since the there are no formal peace talks yet.

Mayor Duterte earlier expressed concern that the cease-fire may lead to a disruption of Davao’s local peace initiative aimed at freeing communities from NPA, and that the rebels may use this chance to regroup and consolidate their forces .

Philippines. It has been supporting projects in conflict-affected areas in Mindanao for more than two decades.

Jica was adjudged in April 2019, as the “Development Aid Agency of the Year” under the BusinessMirror’s pioneering search dubbed “Mission: PHL, the BusinessMirror’s Envoys & Expats Award.”

Since 2006, it has been implementing peacebuilding initiatives in Mindanao under the

Japan-Bangsamoro Initiatives for Reconstruction and Development), and other development cooperation including building socioeconomic infrastructure, a nd suppor t i ng good gover nance, livelihood and industry development.

Jica is the world’s largest bilateral aid agency, with a volume of cooperation of $19.57 billion for JFY 2017 and a worldwide network of about 100 overseas offices including the Philippines.

Bernadette D. Nicolas

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Companies BusinessMirror

PSE STOCK QUOTATIONS

December 23, 2019

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

ASIA UNITED BDO UNIBANK BANK PH ISLANDS CHINABANK CITYSTATE BANK EAST WEST BANK METROBANK PB BANK PBCOM PHIL NATL BANK PSBANK PHILTRUST SECURITY BANK UNION BANK BRIGHT KINDLE COL FINANCIAL FERRONOUX HLDG FILIPINO FUND NTL REINSURANCE PHIL STOCK EXCH SUN LIFE

53.1 156 86.5 24.95 7.95 12.14 66.3 12.7 20.5 34.1 57.2 116 185.4 58 0.84 18.1 3.81 7.02 0.78 172 1,825

53.25 157 87.5 25 8.49 12.24 66.6 12.8 20.8 34.65 57.4 120 186.6 58.2 0.91 18.3 4 8.49 0.82 172.1 1,840

53.5 157.8 86.4 25 8.1 12.32 67.9 12.7 20.45 34.6 57.4 115 181.9 58.5 0.85 18.1 4.04 7.02 0.78 173 1825

53.5 159.8 87.5 25 8.49 12.32 67.9 12.7 20.5 34.7 57.4 115 187.7 58.5 0.85 18.38 4.04 7.02 0.82 173 1,825

53.25 153.1 86 24.9 8.1 12 66.2 12.7 20.45 34.1 57.4 115 181.9 58 0.85 18.1 3.84 7.02 0.78 172.1 1,825

53.25 157 87.5 24.95 8.49 12.24 66.6 12.7 20.5 34.1 57.4 115 186.6 58 0.85 18.1 4 7.02 0.82 172.1 1,825

2,510 133,907.5 1,874,640 293,818,243 1,674,260 145,604,768 18,900 471,960 1,200 9,759 195,000 2,370,004 2,037,080 135,695,825.5 ( 5,000 63,500 4,200 85,950 244,200 8,399,600 590 33,866 20 2,300 1,913,760 353,275,388 7,050 409,795 38,000 32,300 10,000 181,028 16,000 62,040 300 2,106 51,000 39,820 1,770 306,075 150 273,750

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 MACAY HLDG MAXS GROUP PEPSI COLA SHAKEYS PIZZA ROXAS AND CO RFM CORP ROXAS HLDG SWIFT FOODS UNIV ROBINA VITARICH VICTORIAS CONCRETE A CONCRETE B CEMEX HLDG EAGLE CEMENT EEI CORP HOLCIM MEGAWIDE PHINMA TKC METALS VULCAN INDL CHEMPHIL CROWN ASIA EUROMED MABUHAY VINYL PRYCE CORP CONCEPCION GREENERGY INTEGRATED MICR IONICS SFA SEMICON CIRTEK HLDG

HOLDING & FRIMS ABACORE CAPITAL ASIABEST GROUP AYALA CORP ABOITIZ EQUITY ALLIANCE GLOBAL AYALA LAND LOG ANSCOR ANGLO PHIL HLDG ATN HLDG A ATN HLDG B COSCO CAPITAL DMCI HLDG FILINVEST DEV FORUM PACIFIC GT CAPITAL HOUSE OF INV JG SUMMIT JOLLIVILLE HLDG KEPPEL HLDG A 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 ZEUS HLDG

(107,157.5) (17,509,954) 30,106,761.5 898,276 37,899,759.5) (5,396,290) (33,866) (61,556,266) (299,295) 39,820 36,330 -

2.27 1.23 33.2 0.239 23.75 67 299.8 8.57 3.85 4 11.4 33.2 8.21 13.1 2.55 16.5 15.2 4.99 9.5 7.21 85.2 0.51 1.18 40 219.2 6.16 11.9 1.91 9.96 2.14 5.21 1.75 0.115 147 1.17 2.44 64.45 66.65 2 14.14 9.65 13.58 16.42 9.8 0.98 0.88 162.5 2.14 1.6 3.12 5 28 1.86 7.8 1.22 0.83 3.95

2.28 1.27 33.5 0.243 24 68.15 300 8.6 3.87 4.1 11.8 33.45 8.27 13.4 2.58 17.52 15.3 5.03 9.55 7.24 85.5 0.53 1.19 40.45 220 6.29 12.12 1.92 10 2.15 5.28 1.79 0.12 151.9 1.18 2.57 72.95 72.8 2.03 14.74 9.73 13.88 16.6 10 1.01 0.89 169.9 2.15 1.61 3.46 5.05 28.9 1.9 7.89 1.33 0.87 4

2.31 1.23 34 0.239 22.9 68.2 290.4 7.5 3.86 3.9 11.48 33.1 8.28 13.3 2.55 17 15.5 5.03 9.32 7.2 85.2 0.52 1.07 40.05 213 6.21 12.16 1.91 9.85 2.14 5.27 1.77 0.113 144 1.14 2.57 64.45 73.9 1.96 14.06 9.99 13.58 16.5 9.98 1.03 0.89 162.2 2.19 1.6 3.5 5 28 1.89 7.88 1.33 0.82 3.82

2.34 1.28 34 0.245 23.75 68.25 300 8.73 3.96 4.09 11.8 33.4 8.28 13.4 2.67 17.52 15.5 5.03 9.65 7.25 86.4 0.53 1.18 40.05 220 6.29 12.36 1.92 10.06 2.18 5.35 1.8 0.12 151.9 1.17 2.57 64.5 73.9 2.03 14.8 9.99 13.88 16.72 10 1.03 0.89 169.9 2.21 1.6 3.5 5.08 28 1.93 7.89 1.33 0.87 4.05

2.26 1.23 33.2 0.239 22.9 66.6 290.4 7.46 3.84 3.9 11.48 33.05 8.2 13 2.54 16.5 15.1 5.01 9.32 7.19 85.15 0.5 1.06 39 213 6.13 11.7 1.91 9.85 2.1 5.2 1.76 0.113 140.3 1.13 2.57 64.45 66.65 1.94 14.06 9.5 13.56 16.38 9.97 0.97 0.87 162.2 2.14 1.6 3.5 5 28 1.86 7.81 1.31 0.77 3.82

2.27 1.28 33.5 0.243 23.75 67 299.8 8.57 3.85 4.09 11.8 33.2 8.21 13.4 2.58 17.52 15.3 5.01 9.5 7.21 85.2 0.51 1.18 40 220 6.29 12.12 1.91 10 2.15 5.28 1.8 0.12 151.9 1.17 2.57 64.45 72.95 2.03 14.14 9.65 13.88 16.6 10 1.02 0.88 169.9 2.14 1.6 3.5 5 28 1.9 7.89 1.33 0.87 4

2,658,000 11,000 1,883,000 2,160,000 1,055,400 69,500 395,320 37,346,000 717,000 15,000 150,000 16,400 48,700 341,200 8,049,000 2,000 962,500 5,700 4,543,300 50,800 144,570 3,389,000 33,570,000 95,600 394,710 25,500 339,400 1,949,000 355,000 1,211,000 47,100 24,000 220,000 555,750 47,454,000 1,000 960 260 1,807,000 14,400 335,200 21,800 586,000 5,105,700 40,000 216,000 510 347,000 12,000 1,000 902,200 400 3,498,000 1,034,800 41,000 238,000 164,000

6,076,650 13,580 63,080,915 520,410 24,670,365 4,668,338 116,515,476 308,678,383 2,772,020 60,330 1,765,370 545,405 401,821 4,532,050 20,999,200 34,418 14,624,054 28,657 43,184,001 366,000 12,328,048 1,723,700 38,180,350 3,817,140 86,248,724 158,287 4,098,148 3,722,690 3,545,911 2,605,660 246,643 42,330 25,000 82,125,159 54,157,290 2,570 61,876 18,050.5 3,567,990 211,638 3,239,557 302,180 9,701,230 50,935,856 39,150 188,960 84,724 758,390 19,200 3,500 4,511,090 11,200 6,664,050 8,153,951 54,430 188,360 648,900

(9,240) (6,532,085) (3,274,580) (2,368,841.5) 8,473,688 (21,812,413) (830,110) (1,113,730) (33,055) (4,150,450) 4,763,000 (1,610,028) (1,005,023) (83,468) (1,273,235) 30,100 904,930 3,056,070 (4,148,430) (1,665,642) (920,620) (3,324,389) 19,300 12,020 1,200 20,424,362 (61,350.0002) (1,021,590) (149,936) (1,573,575) (109,590) (8,478,216) (49,890,000) (4,350,000) (2,800) (80,560) 8,054,667 (116,180)

0.86 10.42 775.5 51.45 11.46 2.99 6.32 0.68 0.93 0.94 6.7 6.4 13 0.203 837 5.24 81.1 5.3 5.18 0.485 3.7 11.5 0.54 3.42 4.01 1.15 1.22 175.1 1,070 155.4 0.75 207.6 0.19

0.87 10.8 779 52 11.5 3 6.42 0.69 0.94 0.97 6.74 6.41 13.4 0.224 854 5.26 81.7 5.5 5.79 0.5 3.75 11.62 0.57 3.43 4.46 1.21 1.24 188 1,078 160 0.79 211.4 0.202

0.83 10.82 779.5 51.65 11.5 2.96 6.42 0.71 0.93 0.94 6.75 6.38 13.2 0.212 838 5.26 80.9 5.89 5.18 0.485 3.72 12 0.55 3.3 4.22 1.21 1.22 189.9 1056 157 0.74 214 0.192

0.87 10.82 780 52 11.54 3 6.42 0.71 0.94 0.97 6.75 6.51 13.4 0.212 855 5.26 82 5.89 5.18 0.5 3.75 12 0.57 3.48 4.4 1.21 1.23 189.9 1,080 160 0.79 214 0.192

0.83 10.42 768.5 50.15 11.42 2.95 6.42 0.65 0.92 0.94 6.65 6.34 13.2 0.202 824.5 5.24 80.5 5.89 5.18 0.485 3.7 11.5 0.54 3.3 4.22 1.21 1.22 188 1,056 155 0.74 206.8 0.19

0.87 10.82 779 52 11.46 2.99 6.42 0.69 0.94 0.97 6.7 6.4 13.3 0.202 854 5.24 81.7 5.89 5.18 0.5 3.7 11.5 0.57 3.42 4.4 1.21 1.22 188 1,078 160 0.79 211.6 0.19

21,304,000 6,400 401,280 1,811,520 1,768,900 252,000 10,000 471,000 1,124,000 303,000 2,638,100 16,924,600 314,700 100,000 105,950 103,600 1,276,310 1,000 1,100 2,000 478,000 2,043,700 126,000 41,111,000 3,000 50,000 17,000 190 214,485 191,100 2,000 2,890 200,000

18,166,510 67,134 311,082,675 93,264,459.5 20,275,714 753,660 64,200 315,410 1,044,050 284,910 17,661,146 108,441,810 4,178,404 20,490 89,665,465 544,460 104,273,137.5 5,890 5,698 985 1,775,630 23,698,370 68,440 140,304,550 12,840 60,500 20,750 35,905 230,744,565 30,154,937 1,530 615,866 38,040

(113,000) 34,516,690 2,343,670.5 (7,498,700) (104,840) 282,000 (12,662,421) 14,383,069 (12,717,865) (157,500) 35,093,299.5 5,890 (1,493,790) (17,322,866) (51,275,190) 20,662,235 2,635,930 (226,576) 13,300

PROPERTY

ARTHALAND CORP 0.8 0.81 0.8 0.8 0.78 0.8 499,000 395,910 AYALA LAND 47.15 47.25 45.1 47.25 45.1 47.25 9,842,900 455,105,990 23,956,900 ARANETA PROP 1.28 1.36 1.42 1.42 1.28 1.36 64,000 83,140 BELLE CORP 1.97 1.98 1.97 1.98 1.97 1.97 109,000 214,900 (108,350) A BROWN 0.71 0.72 0.7 0.71 0.7 0.71 600,000 421,770 CITYLAND DEVT 0.81 0.87 0.81 0.86 0.81 0.86 3,000 2,480 CROWN EQUITIES 0.178 0.18 0.179 0.179 0.179 0.179 30,000 5,370 CEBU HLDG 6.35 6.98 6.47 6.98 6.47 6.98 357,200 2,412,507 2,234,888 CEB LANDMASTERS 4.65 4.75 4.79 4.8 4.73 4.75 792,000 3,784,310 52,250 CENTURY PROP 0.54 0.55 0.55 0.55 0.54 0.55 8,844,000 4,794,780 248,400 CYBER BAY 0.385 0.395 0.385 0.385 0.38 0.385 400,000 153,500 DOUBLEDRAGON 19 19.08 19.06 19.1 18.9 19 360,000 6,852,836 1 ,601,092.0003 DM WENCESLAO 9.94 9.97 10 10 9.95 9.97 441,900 4,405,992 2,238,696 EMPIRE EAST 0.41 0.415 0.41 0.41 0.41 0.41 50,000 20,500 FILINVEST LAND 1.51 1.52 1.51 1.52 1.49 1.51 4,514,000 6,844,320 4,981,260 GLOBAL ESTATE 1.16 1.19 1.16 1.19 1.16 1.19 17,000 19,750 8990 HLDG 14.76 14.78 14.76 14.78 14.72 14.76 6,016,300 88,800,574 (118,048) PHIL INFRADEV 1.24 1.27 1.24 1.29 1.24 1.27 196,000 245,420 CITY AND LAND 0.76 0.77 0.76 0.76 0.76 0.76 2,000 1,520 MEGAWORLD 4.03 4.04 4.04 4.11 4.03 4.03 21,733,000 88,032,140 26,997,860 MRC ALLIED 0.191 0.192 0.193 0.193 0.19 0.192 4,150,000 795,060 PHIL ESTATES 0.4 0.43 0.425 0.425 0.425 0.425 120,000 51,000 PRIMEX CORP 2.1 2.12 2.07 2.13 2.07 2.12 1,126,000 2,335,010 ROBINSONS LAND 27.5 27.8 27.4 28.75 27.3 27.8 2,860,800 79,990,545 (637,360) PHIL REALTY 0.3 0.31 0.3 0.32 0.3 0.31 310,000 96,000 ROCKWELL 2.09 2.11 2.09 2.12 2.08 2.12 74,000 155,930 SHANG PROP 3.06 3.23 3.1 3.1 3.03 3.06 351,000 1,074,830 (922,320) STA LUCIA LAND 2.39 2.46 2.39 2.46 2.39 2.46 104,000 252,350 SM PRIME HLDG 41.45 41.95 41.1 41.95 40.9 41.95 6,651,400 275,479,825 89,394,265 VISTAMALLS 5.4 5.6 5.49 5.6 5.45 5.6 149,300 828,260 SUNTRUST HOME 1.19 1.2 1.17 1.2 1.15 1.2 23,424,000 27,669,200 PTFC REDEV CORP 45 49.95 45 45 45 45 2,000 90,000 VISTA LAND 7.3 7.35 7.3 7.35 7.26 7.35 2,634,800 19,329,512 (5,946,071)

SERVICES ABS CBN 15.8 15.82 15.84 15.84 15.68 15.8 50,200 792,962 GMA NETWORK 5.26 5.27 5.25 5.27 5.25 5.26 158,100 831,689 MANILA BULLETIN 0.345 0.39 0.37 0.37 0.335 0.335 200,000 71,800 GLOBE TELECOM 2,008 2,012 2012 2,030 1,996 2,012 31,625 63,590,755 7,264,785 PLDT 1,018 1,020 1000 1,020 999.5 1,020 91,005 92,170,647.5 8,072,950 APOLLO GLOBAL 0.042 0.043 0.042 0.042 0.042 0.042 900,000 37,800 ISLAND INFO 0.095 0.097 0.097 0.098 0.092 0.095 390,000 37,050 25,650 ISM COMM 3.1 3.11 2.93 3.1 2.87 3.1 3,235,000 9,676,230 671,160 JACKSTONES 1.92 2.25 2.05 2.25 2.05 2.25 2,000 4,300 NOW CORP 2.34 2.35 2.34 2.37 2.33 2.34 2,457,000 5,775,880 158,440 TRANSPACIFIC BR 0.27 0.275 0.275 0.275 0.27 0.275 910,000 247,050 PHILWEB 2.4 2.44 2.43 2.45 2.35 2.4 373,000 881,120 (23,630) 2GO GROUP 9.5 9.78 9.5 9.78 9.5 9.78 8,800 84,580 (7,600) CHELSEA 5.05 5.06 4.91 5.06 4.91 5.06 728,000 3,639,810 CEBU AIR 88.9 90 90.4 92 88.9 88.9 316,170 28,297,805 (5,780,144.5) INTL CONTAINER 128.1 128.3 126.6 129.9 126.6 128.3 2,567,870 329,646,494 (23,781,981) LORENZO SHIPPNG 0.85 0.87 0.89 0.9 0.83 0.85 315,000 277,600 MACROASIA 16.4 16.6 16.52 16.6 16.4 16.6 251,600 4,159,544 (1,588,076) PAL HLDG 7.2 7.5 7.2 7.5 7.2 7.5 3,200 23,370 HARBOR STAR 1.03 1.04 1.02 1.04 1 1.03 525,000 538,300 ACESITE HOTEL 1.39 1.54 1.49 1.49 1.49 1.49 10,000 14,900 DISCOVERY WORLD 1.66 2.02 2.03 2.03 2.03 2.03 1,000 2,030 GRAND PLAZA 9.53 10.68 10.66 10.66 10.66 10.66 100 1,066 WATERFRONT 0.6 0.61 0.6 0.61 0.57 0.61 242,000 138,870 4,200 FAR EASTERN U 890.5 891 890.5 890.5 890.5 890.5 1,120 997,360 IPEOPLE 9.49 9.5 9.49 9.49 9.49 9.49 1,400 13,286 STI HLDG 0.61 0.62 0.63 0.63 0.59 0.62 9,154,000 5,662,000 (5,285,210) BERJAYA 4.49 4.58 4.47 4.7 4.34 4.58 2,622,000 11,891,100 5,360 BLOOMBERRY 11.06 11.1 11.04 11.2 10.9 11.1 1,161,300 12,866,046 3,046,170 PACIFIC ONLINE 2.46 2.48 2.5 2.5 2.46 2.46 38,000 94,190 (71,870) LEISURE AND RES 2.42 2.44 2.44 2.44 2.42 2.44 243,000 592,700 2,440 MANILA JOCKEY 3.35 3.4 3.35 3.4 3.35 3.4 39,000 131,550 PH RESORTS GRP 4.41 5 5 5 5 5 5,000 25,000 PREMIUM LEISURE 0.57 0.58 0.56 0.58 0.56 0.57 907,000 513,840 (197,170) PHIL RACING 7.61 8.99 8.7 8.99 8.7 8.99 300 2,668 ALLHOME 11.44 11.5 11.46 11.5 11.42 11.5 1,535,700 17,647,610 (3,079,524) METRO RETAIL 2.09 2.13 2.15 2.15 2.05 2.13 180,000 374,000 PUREGOLD 39.4 39.95 39.5 39.95 39 39.95 586,200 23,291,235(7, 747,865.0003) ROBINSONS RTL 74.9 77 75.75 77 74.9 77 123,020 9,443,072.5 (5,893,310.5) PHIL SEVEN CORP 135 144 147 148 145.5 145.5 150 22,065 SSI GROUP 2.75 2.76 2.68 2.76 2.61 2.75 1,191,000 3,232,500 2,209,880 WILCON DEPOT 17.68 17.7 17.84 17.84 17.2 17.7 4,100,600 72,383,496 28 ,137,160.0004 APC GROUP 0.39 0.395 0.39 0.395 0.385 0.395 160,000 62,450 (11,600) EASYCALL 7.75 7.85 7.75 7.85 7.75 7.85 7,000 54,930 GOLDEN BRIA 425 436 436 436 435 436 170 73,980 IPM HLDG 6.3 6.5 6.2 6.5 6.2 6.5 11,900 76,420 3,400 PRMIERE HORIZON 0.33 0.335 0.32 0.335 0.31 0.33 16,090,000 5,218,900 64,400 SBS PHIL CORP 8.74 9.04 8.74 9.05 8.74 9.05 1,533,200 13,400,623

MINING & OIL ATOK 10.08 10.96 10.96 10.96 10.96 10.96 200 2,192 APEX MINING 0.91 0.93 0.91 0.92 0.91 0.92 115,000 104,830 3,680 ABRA MINING 0.0014 0.0015 0 0.0015 0.0015 0.0015 0.0015 13,000,000 19,500 COAL ASIA HLDG 0.27 0.28 0.27 0.27 0.27 0.27 150,000 40,500 CENTURY PEAK 2.69 2.7 2.69 2.7 2.68 2.7 334,000 898,730 DIZON MINES 6.91 7.32 6.91 7.32 6.91 6.92 1,000,400 6,912,846 FERRONICKEL 1.8 1.81 1.73 1.83 1.73 1.8 6,319,000 11,284,100 (776,150) GEOGRACE 0.198 0.204 0.2 0.204 0.198 0.204 170,000 33,890 LEPANTO A 0.091 0.093 0.093 0.093 0.091 0.091 930,000 85,190 MANILA MINING A 0.0074 0.0078 0 0.0074 0.0074 0.0074 0.0074 3,000,000 22,200 MARCVENTURES 0.87 0.89 0.87 0.89 0.84 0.89 818,000 713,070 NIHAO 0.97 1 0.99 1 0.97 1 18,000 17,640 NICKEL ASIA 3.19 3.2 3.01 3.28 3.01 3.2 13,620,000 43,006,020 9,363,830 ORNTL PENINSULA 0.72 0.76 0.73 0.76 0.7 0.75 302,000 217,840 (1,860) PX MINING 2.68 2.7 2.69 2.75 2.69 2.7 123,000 332,470 2,710 SEMIRARA MINING 21.8 21.85 21.6 21.9 21.6 21.8 1,129,800 24,611,865 5 ,056,940.0003 UNITED PARAGON 0.0052 0.0057 0 0.0053 0.0053 0.0053 0.0053 3,000,000 15,900 ACE ENEXOR 7.1 7.18 7.33 7.33 7 7.15 180,100 1,288,588 4,682 ORNTL PETROL B 0.011 0.012 0.012 0.012 0.012 0.012 100,000 1,200 PHILODRILL 0.01 0.011 0.01 0.011 0.01 0.011 400,000 4,100 2,000 PXP ENERGY 8.4 8.5 8.13 8.64 8.13 8.4 286,300 2,355,350 156,503

PREFFERED

AC PREF B1 499 510 510 510 510 510 10 5,100 ALCO PREF B 101.3 103.3 102.5 103.3 102.5 103.3 3,090 319,037 (20,500) AC PREF B2R 505 510 505 510 505 510 2,800 1,420,200 (50,500) DD PREF 100 101 101 101 100 100 390 39,219 FGEN PREF G 108 111.9 108.1 108.1 108 108 2,260 244,188 GTCAP PREF A 980 995 995 995 995 995 50 49,750 MWIDE PREF 100.5 101 101 101 101 101 510 51,510 50,500 PNX PREF 3A 100.6 102.3 102.3 102.3 102.3 102.3 710 72,633 51,150 PNX PREF 3B 106.8 108.9 109 109 109 109 100 10,900 PNX PREF 4 1,031 1,032 1028 1,031 1,028 1,031 4,530 4,668,360 PCOR PREF 2B 1,022 1,049 1023 1,023 1,023 1,023 50 51,150 PCOR PREF 3A 1,050 1,051 1048 1,050 1,048 1,050 3,045 3,195,240 PCOR PREF 3B 1,055 1,057 1057 1,057 1,055 1,057 25,515 26,952,345 SFI PREF 1.36 1.72 1.36 1.36 1.36 1.36 1,000 1,360 SMC PREF 2C 77.8 77.9 77.8 77.8 77.8 77.8 700 54,460 54,460 SMC PREF 2D 75.2 75.5 75.2 75.2 75.2 75.2 870,000 65,424,000 SMC PREF 2E 74.5 76.5 77 77 77 77 10 770 SMC PREF 2F 75.75 76.85 76.9 76.9 75.55 75.55 1,400 105,833.5 SMC PREF 2G 75 75.95 75.95 75.95 75.95 75.95 600,010 45,570,759.5 SMC PREF 2I 75.2 77 75.2 75.2 75.2 75.2 805,590 60,580,368 -

PHIL. DEPOSITARY RECEIPTS ABS HLDG PDR GMA HLDG PDR

15 5.17

17 5.3

14.7 5.19

15.1 5.3

14.7 5.19

15 5.3

107,000 217,000

1,606,700 1,142,959

WARRANTS LR WARRANT 1.21 1.36 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 11,000 13,200

SMALL & MEDIUM ENTERPRISES ITALPINAS 3.52 KEPWEALTH 10.08 XURPAS 0.76

3.59 10.1 0.77

3.6 9.84 0.77

3.69 10.14 0.78

3.51 9.8 0.76

3.6 10.1 0.77

288,000 231,400 995,000

1,032,800 2,310,848 767,860

EXHANGE TRADE FUNDS FIRST METRO ETF

117

117.4

116.4

117.4

115.6

117.4

7,240

843,151

(1,606,700) 1,033,239 172,820 (2,984) 35,023

Friday, December 27, 2019 B1

3 major telcos tap Syniverse to comply with portability law

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By Lorenz S. Marasigan

@lorenzmarasigan

LL three major telecommunications providers in the Philippines have agreed to tap Floridabased tech giant Syniverse to company with a law that essentially allows consumers to retain their old numbers despite moving to another provider.

three Filipino telcos to effectively have a multivendor system that affords them integration and interoperability.

According to the three telcos, “this is an important first step toward the full implementation of Republic Act 11202 also known as the Mobile Number Portability Act.” “With recognition by the Philippine mobile operators, we are confident that the Mobile Number Portability project will be another key milestone marked in mobile services in the Philippines,” Syniverse SVP Paul Hodges said.

The three telcos will shoulder the capital expenditures for software, hardware, and other facilities required for number porting.

“We are taking steps to put in place a seamless and efficient process for

our existing and would-be customers who would like to avail themselves of this service in the future,” Smart President Alfredo S. Panlilio said.

Syniverse estimates the period of integration and interoperability to be no later than 18 months from the setting up of the support mechanism.

Porting will also be free.

“Our utmost priority is to ensure that the experience of our customers is seamless and of utmost convenience should they decide to port their numbers,” Globe Chief Technology and Information Officer Gil B. Genio said.

The Mobile Number Portability Law took effect in July 2019. The law affords mobile users to keep their numbers even after changing operators or when changing service subscriptions.

Syniverse will enable Globe Telecom Inc., Smart Communications Inc., and Dito Telecommunity Corp. to “enable number porting services in line with the new mobile number portability initiative of the govern-

ment.” The tech company will serve as a clearinghouse for the three mobile operators to ensure the smooth implementation of number porting services. It will, likewise, set up support mechanisms that will help the

MarCoPay offers 220K PHL sailors e-money option to cut piracy risks

Grab PHL to pay users ₧19.2M on Dec. 31 to cover ‘extraordinary deviations’ in fare

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APANESE-FILIPINO e-money operator MarCoPay Inc. hopes to carve a slice of the remittance throughputs by targeting the millions of seafarers across the globe.

MarCoPay President Toshiaki Fujioka said his group aims to tap the “huge market” of global Filipino seafarers, which the company estimates to be at 220,000 maritime professionals.

“An estimated $800 million of cash is present on all ships at any given time, which is prone to maritime dangers, such as piracy, fraud and theft. With MarCoPay helping vessel masters manage their money digitally, it will be much easier and safer for seafarers and vessel masters to handle their hard-earned salaries,” he explained.

Transnational Diversified Group and Japanese shipping firm NYK Line developed the MarCoPay app.

The app platform uses QR codes that vessel masters and seafarers can use to manage, receive, spend and remit their salaries in the form of e-money.

It received its e-money license from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas last month. MarCoPay will officially launch its services “early next year.” Lorenz S. Marasigan

Neda seen to complete review of SMC’s TPLEx proposal soon

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HE National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) Investment Coordination Committee is expected to finish the evaluation of the unsolicited proposal of San Miguel Corp. (SMC) for the development of the TarlacPampanga-La Union Expressway (TPLEx) soon.

Public Works Secretary Mark A. Villar said the ICC is seeking a few more details on the P23.95billion unsolicited offer, the review of which is nearing the tail end.

He said “some minute details” are being sought in order “to complete their submission, but I am very confident that it will be approved by the ICC soon.” A document from the DPWH web site showed that San Miguel submitted a P23.95-billion proposal for a three-segment extension of TPLEx all the way to San Juan, La Union.

The project involves a 59.4-kilometer four-lane toll road, to start from the last exit of the TPLEx in Rosario, La Union, and will terminate at San Juan, La Union. It is divided into these segments: Rosario-Tubao (18 km), Tubao-Naguilian (23 km) and Naguilian-San Juan (18.4 km). Lorenz S. Marasigan

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RAB Philippines will disburse on New Year’s Eve P19.2 million to its users who experienced “extraordinary deviations” in fares this year.

In a statement, Grab said it is complying with the Philippine Competition Commission’s (PCC) order requiring it to disburse to its customers some P5.05 million for the third quarter, and another P14.15 million for the fourth quarter for charging fares that are higher than

its commitment levels.

“Select Grab customers who took GrabCar rides in Metro Manila from February 10 to May 10, and as well as from May 11 to August 10, may claim their disbursements through the GrabRewards Catalogue,” the statement read. Customers, however, are required to complete the basic know-your-customer process before redemption, as required by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

Disbursements are computed

“from the proportion of the total fare of the passenger within the time period multiplied by the total fine.”

For passengers of the third quarter penalty, they will be credited P1 for every P1,200 spent for Grab rides.

Around 2.7 million passengers are eligible for disbursements. Those whose disbursements fall under the fourth quarter will receive P1 for every P450 spent on Grab rides. Roughly 2.8 million passengers may receive disbursements. Lorenz S. Marasigan

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Business

Friday, December 27, 2019

14K HOTEL ROOMS SHORT T

OKYO is reported to be still short of 14,000 hotel rooms required during the hosting of Olympic and Paralympic Games next year—when a new estimate says visitors to Japan will increase by 7.9 percent from 2019.

With around 10 million visitors expected for next year’s Games, the Nikkei Asian Review has

A STAFF member arranges Toyota Motor Corp.’s robot developed for the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, in Tokyo, recently. Toyota upgraded version of the human-shaped T-HR3 now has faster and smoother finger movements because the wearable remote-control device has become lighter and easier to use.

Smaller robots that look like the mascots for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics were controlled in the same way. Japanese automaker Toyota is an Olympic sponsor. AP

reported that the Japanese capital is still facing a significant shortage of available hotel rooms.

Meanwhile the Jiji Press has quoted a recent estimate by the major Japanese travel agency JTB Corp. that the number of visitors in 2020 will increase by 7.9 percent to 34.3 million.

JTB claim that South Korean visitors to Japan will rise by around 15 percent from 2019 following an improvement in bilateral ties.

Visitors from China and Southeast Asian countries are also projected to increase.

“Tokyo’s hospitality industry has taken care of the accommodation for the estimated 11,000 athletes expected to compete in 33 events at the Games,” the travel.com reported.

Around 46,000 other suites are already reserved for Olympic officials and global dignitaries.

But bookings in the rest of the city, as well as neighboring communities on Japan’s main island of

Honshu are reported to have already reached capacity.

Demand for hotel space shot up in 2018, when a record 31.8 million tourists visited Japan, nearly a 9-percent increase from the previous year.

In response to the scarcity, short-term housing prices for Airbnb rentals in the area have reportedly rocketed to more than $840 (£650/€760) per night.

Additionally, some luxury cruise liners have volunteered to stay in port to take on extra visitors for the duration of the Games.

Haneda and Narita airports, meanwhile, are expected to add more international flights as they prepare for an influx of visitors for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Both the Narita International Airport Corp. and Japan Airport Terminal (JAT) were confirmed as Tokyo 2020 official partners back in February.

They were granted sponsorship under the airport services category.

Haneda Airport, operated by JAT, is the Japanese capital’s biggest airport with around 18 million international passengers passing through each year.

According to the Japan Times, Haneda Airport is expected to add a further 50 international routes per day from March next year.

Flights are also set to be allowed to fly over central Tokyo during the day for the first time.

It is claimed this will boost the number of passengers using the airport to 25 million per year.

The increased number of routes was reportedly enabled by the United States, agreeing to a request to allow commercial flights to travel through airspace controlled by the Yokota Air Base.

The Yokota Air Base, located in the northwest of Tokyo, serves as the host base for the headquarters of the United States Forces Japan.

Narita Airport opened in 1978, and also serves as an important transport hub for Tokyo.

Insidethegames

orts

sMirror

Friday, December 27, 2019

THE Lakers’ LeBron James and the Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard chase the loose ball. AP

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Australian Open hikes prize money for next year

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OS ANGELES—The Los Angeles Clippers were resilient and dominant in the second half to put away the Los Angeles Lakers, using the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) marquee Christmas game to show why the city and the Western Conference might belong to them this season.

Kawhi Leonard scored 11 of his 35 points in the fourth quarter and had 12 rebounds and five assists to help the Clippers beat Lakers, 111-106, on Wednesday night.

The Clippers trailed by 12 points at halftime, by 15 in the third quarter, and by seven in the fourth quarter with 6:39 remaining, but they rallied to improve to 2-0 against the Lakers this season.

“And we didn’t flinch,” Clippers Coach Doc Rivers said. “Like, we just kind of hung in there. Almost felt like we were biding our time and just trying to make a run. That’s something you have to have when things aren’t going great for you. You just got to hang in there, and I thought we did that tonight.”

Leonard set a franchise record for points on Christmas, and he became the 10th player in NBA history with at least 35 points, 10 rebounds and five assists on December 25.

Montrezl Harrell had 18 points off the bench, and Paul George added 17, and the Clippers are 15-2 at Staples Center.

“We have so many interchanging parts,” Clippers guard Lou Williams said. “We have guys that’s going to have big nights. I think I had five or six points tonight, and that’s just how this team is built. It’s going to be different guys every night.”

Kyle Kuzma led Los Angeles with 25 points. LeBron James had 23 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds, and Anthony Davis had 24 points. The Lakers have lost four straight games.

Williams made two free throws—after a questionable foul call against Davis for tapping the swingman after his transition lay-up rimmed out—to give the Clippers a 105-103 lead with 3:29 to go.

Leonard, who had a three to cap a 7-0 run and tie it at 101 with 5:14 remaining, then made four late free throws.

“They wanted it more,” Davis said. “We had a lot of mistakes down at the end of the game, mental mistakes at both ends of the floor. We fouled a lot

LEONARD, CLIPPERS RALLY PAST LAKERS in the fourth quarter, put them to the line.... We gave that one away.”

Los Angeles had a chance to tie in the final seconds, but video review showed James touched the ball last after Patrick Beverly knocked it away as James went up for a three.

George hit two free throws for the final margin.

“That wasn’t the game right there,” James said.

“I mean, it’s a big play and you want to try to get it right, but it wasn’t where the game was lost.”

PELICANS SURPRISE NUGGETS

BRANDON INGRAM had no clue how many 3-pointers he’d made until a voice from across the locker room informed him.

Seven. An assist to injured rookie Zion Williamson for providing the pertinent information.

Ingram scored 31 points, including a careerhigh in 3-pointers, and the New Orleans Pelicans surprised Denver, 112-100, also on Wednesday night to halt the Nuggets’ seven-game winning streak.

Rarely has Ingram’s shot felt as pure as it did—from deep anyway.

“It’s been college and high school,” Ingram said of his long-range accuracy. “They [teammates] found me when I was open. I had the confidence to knock it down.”

The 9-23 Pelicans are now 2-0 against the Nuggets this season. They spoiled the festive mood at the Pepsi Center as the Nuggets played at home on Christmas for the first time in 25 years.

“The character

of our guys showed that although our record is what it is, we continue to play,” Pelicans Coach Alvin Gentry said. “We will continue to play. I don’t see any quit in these guys or anything like that. There’s no fragmentation or anything like that.”

New Orleans sprang the upset despite committing 19 turnovers that led to 27 points.

The Pelicans pulled away late courtesy of the long-range shooting of Lonzo Ball and Ingram.

They also out-rebounded the Nuggets, which included 14 offensive boards.

Derrick Favors was a force in grabbing 13 rebounds and dishing out a career-best eight assists to go with eight points.

“He was huge,” said Jrue Holiday, who had 20 points, six steals and eight assists. “We ask him to do a lot, but he’s doing it.”

New Orleans finished a four-game trip with a 3-1 mark, which includes consecutive wins for the first time in a month.

This was the first time the Nuggets have hosted on the holiday since 1994 when they beat Seattle 105-96 in front of a sold-out crowd at McNichols Arena. The fans at Pepsi Center didn’t leave in a particularly merry mood.

Then again, in the five Christmas games Wednesday, the home teams went 2-3.

“We got bullied on the boards. They dominated us with their physicality,” Nuggets Coach Michael Malone said. “We don’t have a matchup for Ingram. So I’ve got to do a better job helping our guys out.”

Neither team led by more than eight points until Ball’s 3-pointer with 4:07 remaining made

it 104-95. That all but sealed the win.

Nikola Jokic finished with 23 points and 10 rebounds for Denver, while Jerami Grant had 17.

The Pelicans also knocked off the Nuggets 122-107 on Halloween.

“They did the same stuff they did the first time we played them,” Gary Harris said. “We didn’t bring the fight today.”

This looked like an entertaining matchup when the NBA schedules were released. But that was before Williamson had surgery to repair the lateral meniscus in his right knee on October 21. On Wednesday, Williamson sat on the bench dressed in a dark suit.

The Pelicans have struggled without Williamson, while the Nuggets (219) have soared to one of the top marks in the West.

Williamson did provide some valuable information to Ingram, who knew he made a few 3-pointers but didn’t know the total.

“That,” Ingram said, “was when I found out.” AP

FORMER No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki has started her season in Auckland every year since 2015 and has made the hardcourt tournament the first stop of her short farewell tour. AP

Vonn goes social with PK Subban marriage proposal

L PK SUBBAN and Lindsey Vonn arrive at the ESPY Awards at Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles in July. AP

INDSEY VONN popped the question to hockey star PK Subban.

“Merry Christmas and happy holidays everyone!! On our 2 year anniversary, in a ‘non traditional’ move, I asked PK to marry me and he said, Yes,” Vonn tweeted on Christmas Day. “Yes [bashful emoji] ! Women aren’t the only ones who should get engagement rings!”

The former ski racer closed the tweet with the hashtags “MerryChristmas” and

FIERY SHOWDOWN LOOMS AT NATIONAL DOUBLES TILT

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REMIUM will be on accuracy as 20 teams aim to gain the proverbial head start in a tournament with varied formats in the National Doubles Amateur Golf Championship reeling off on Friday at the short but tricky Camp Aguinaldo Golf Club.

Jed Dy and Mikha Fortuna loom as the tandem to beat in the three-day event with the former looking to make it two straight after teaming up with Ladies Professional Golf Association Tour-bound Bianca Pagdanganan last year. But the rest are all coming into the event all geared up to end 2019 with a victory

for the momentum needed for the next season’s campaign beginning January 7 at Riviera.

Reigning Indonesian Amateur titlist Luis Castro and fellow SEA Games bronzemedal team member Sean Ramos are also tipped to contend for the crown with Andres Lorenzo and Gabby Macalaguim as partners, respectively, along with the pairs of Zachary Castro-Miguel Ilas, Luigi Guerrero-Dan Cruz, Aldo Barro-Ivan Monsalve, Don Petil-Leandro Bagtas, Josh Jorge-Santino Laurel and Jonar Austria-Marco Olives.

Play will be four-ball (best ball) at the tight par-68 layout with action shifting to aggregate tomorrow (Saturday) with the two-ball foursomes (alternate shot) to cap the closing event organized and conducted by the National Golf Association of the Philippines (NGAP) and sponsored by the MVP Sports Foundation.

Four girls’ tandems are also out to spring a surprise, including Rianne Malixi and Precious Zaragosa, and Laureas Duque and Eagle Ace Superal, Tomita Arejola and Nicole Abelar, and Sam Martirez and Diana Araneta,

“equality.”

Vonn linked a picture of herself and Subban with the ring, with the couple wearing matching striped pajamas in front of a Christmas tree with three dogs in the foreground. She also posted a close-up of Subban flashing the ring, with the words “Drip drip”and a blue teardrop.

Vonn also said on social media in August that they were engaged.

The 35-year-old Vonn recently retired from

a skiing career that included three Olympic medals, four overall World Cup titles and 82 World Cup race wins, a record for a woman.

The 30-year-old Subban won the 2013 Norris Trophy with Montreal as the NHL’s top defenseman. He was traded to New Jersey from Nashville in June.

Vonn had a high-profile relationship with Tiger Woods. She previously was married to former ski racer Thomas Vonn, and kept his last name after they separated. AP

guaranteeing an unpredictable finish to the event held as part of the PLDT National Amateur Golf Tour, and backed by Cignal and Metro Pacific Investments.

Other tandems in the fold are Rald Sarmiento-Masaichi Otake, Paolo BarroJeff Jung, Santino Diokno-Miguel Roque, Manfred Guangko-David Guangko, Aries Mata-Lawrence Celestino, Menard Co-Roy Nodalo and Liam Cully-Christopher Popp.

Aside from the centerpiece Group I for members of national team and for players with handicap index of 4.0 or less, also on tap are the Group 2 (4.1 and above) and Group III (players 30 years old and above regardless of handicap).

Leading the Group II cast are Franco Rivera-Mark Rivera, Gabby Rosca-Reese Ng, Christian Acero-Joseph Orbito, Sophia Blanco-Alexi Blanco, and Larry PatnongonJaime Patnongon, while the pairs of Dexter Pelia-Titus Aguilar, Allan Rubrica-Dennis Nicomedes, Jimmy Suelo-Romeo Lopez, and Ricky Velasco-Ramon Capistrano lead the Group III field.

The tournament also serves as part of the field’s tune-up for the 2020 National Stroke Play Championship set January 7 to 10.

Registration is ongoing. For details, call NGAP at telefax No. (02) 706-5926 or at Riviera Golf Club Inc. at (02) 888-9089 or 0956-8821149 e-mail ngap2009handicap@yahoo.com.

ELBOURNE, Australia—The Australian Open says prize money for the first Grand Slam tennis tournament of next year will be increased by 13.6 percent to A$71 ($49.1 million).

Tournament organizers said in a statement Tuesday that the women’s and men’s singles winners will each receive A$4.12 million, or $2.85 million based on current exchange rates.

Prize money has increased 61.4 percent at the Australian Open over the last five years, generally in keeping with prize money increases at the other Grand Slam tournaments—the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open, where this year’s championship at Flushing Meadows paid $57 million in prize money and $3.85 million to the singles winners.

The Australian Open runs from January 20 to February 2 at Melbourne Park.

Kim Clijsters, meanwhile, plans to make her delayed comeback to tennis at the Monterrey Open in March, more than seven years after her second retirement.

Clijsters said on Monday she accepted wild cards into the Mexican hard-court event which begins on March 2, followed by Indian Wells from March 11, then the Charleston clay tournament from April 6.

The former No. 1 and four-time major champion, who already is a member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame, announced her comeback attempt in September. Her plans were delayed in November when she tore a ligament in her right knee.

“I am really pleased with my progress and it’s been great to get back on the court and play tennis again,” Clijsters said in a statement. “It’s been a setback but has really shown me how determined I am to return to the game I love.”

Women’s Tennis Association rules allow her, as a past Grand Slam champion, to receive unlimited wild-card invitations to tournaments and, as someone who is older than 30, to opt out of mandatory appearances at certain events.

The 36-year-old Clijsters left the tour in 2007, and got married and had the first of her three children. She returned about two years later and won her second and third US Opens and an Australian Open. She retired again in

2012 and was working in television.

Longtime friends Serena Williams and Caroline Wozniacki, on the other hand, will play doubles together for the first time at the WTA Tour’s ASB Classic in Auckland beginning on January 6 in Auckland, New Zealand.

Former No. 1 Wozniacki has started her season in Auckland every year since 2015 and has made the hard-court tournament the first stop of her short farewell tour.

The 29-year-old Wozniacki was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis shortly after winning her 2018 Australian Open and will retire from tennis after playing the Open in Melbourne next month.

Williams, a 23-time Grand Slam winner, has not played doubles with anyone other than her sister Venus since the Fed Cup World Group playoff in 2015. Her last WTA tournament in doubles without Venus was in 2002.

Wozniacki hasn’t played doubles for more than three years.

The pair are close friends. Williams was Wozniacki’s bridesmaid at her wedding earlier this year and will play an exhibition in Copenhagen in May, Wozniacki’s final match before retirement.

“We’ve been wanting to play doubles together for a long time but it just hasn’t worked out so I’m really excited that it’s finally going to happen, especially at one of my favorite tournaments on tour,” Wozniacki said.

“It’s going to be so much fun!”

“This is a pairing that I think tennis fans have been waiting to see for a long time,” Tournament Director Karl Budge said Tuesday.

“To have Serena and Caroline on court together, on the same side of the net, is an amazing opportunity for tennis fans to see history being made.” AP

44 B4 Friday, December 27, 2019

Honda Power Products: Powering Filipinos to make their mark across the seas

Philippine Heart Center advances cardio thoracic surgery education in the country

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HE Philippine Heart Center (PHC) and the Children’s Heart Foundation, in partnership with B. Braun Medical Supplies, recently launched the country’s first advanced Cardio Thoracic Surgery Skills Lab at the Center of Excellence in Cardiovascular Training and Education, which is poised to advance the medical education on cardio thoracic surgery in the Philippines.

The new center will serve as a skills and surgery training center, which will be equipped to provide skills simulation, proctorship, and observation, as well as live surgery. Apart from this, the heart center is also taking strides towards addressing common healthcare services problems, including long waiting lists and recovery periods of patients, long operation times for surgeons, and reducing the turnaround

time of the health care process and surgery altogether.

With the new training center, the PHC does not only aim to promote continuing medical education for medical personnel, particularly with regard to minimally invasive cardio thoracic surgery, it also hopes to improve the overall experience of Filipino patients from consultation to recovery.

“With cardiovascular diseases rising as one of the top causes of death in the country, it is only apt that we tap into various partners in the private sector to leverage on their expertise and technology in order to improve our health care system and provide better services to Filipinos,” said Dr. Gerardo Manzo of Philippine Heart Center. “We are optimistic that opening the training center, in partnership with the B Braun Medical Supplies, will allow us to

improve the quality of life of patients and elevate the standard for cardio thoracic surgery in the Philippines and the whole Asia-Pacific region.”

The short courses designed by both B. Braun and the Philippine Heart Center will be taught by faculty comprised of Philippine medical professionals as well as foreign experts from ASEAN and European region.

The facility will be equipped with B. Braun Medical Supplies’ latest innovations—the AESCULAP® 3D EinsteinVision® and the AESCULAP® Valve XS. These technologies aim to equip medical professionals with improved visualization and depth perception of the operating field, which makes it possible for cardiac surgeons to perform open heart surgeries through smaller incisions. This means that patients are now able to recover faster, as compared to conventional open-heart procedures.

To date, 21 medical professionals have been trained at the newly inaugurated center found at the 5th floor of the Medical Arts Building of the Philippine Heart Center, and will continue to train more in the coming months, as well as potentially establish more health center in other provinces.

At the opening ceremony, from left: PHC Executive Director Dr. Joel Abanilla, Quezon City Councilor Irene Belmonte, and Children’s Heart Foundation’s Mr. Alex Go & Mr. Henry Lim.

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ITH the current dispute for our territorial waters, it has been the Filipino fishermen’s livelihood that has been greatly affected. Now is the time to show assertiveness to come on top of various factors that continue to threaten their livelihood.

Honda Philippines, Inc., through its Honda Power Products, aims to aid Filipinos with a new reliable engine that will allow them to secure their future and make their own mark across the seas.

Nurtured from the same pedigree of world-class products that the Honda brand is known for, the new Honda GP200 QDB1 boat engine assures fishermen of reliability and durability while positioning itself as Honda’s most affordable boat engine to date.

Anchored on Honda’s mission to become a reliable partner with proven technology,

the new GP200 QDB1 engine capitalizes on power, durability, reliability and fuel efficiency. It comes with a 3.1 liter fuel tank and improved shape of combustion chamber, cam lift, valve timing and carburetor bore.

Excellent startability is also another feature of GP200 QDB1. With its light and easy-to-pull recoil, Filipino fishermen are spared the risk of experiencing any delay.

Improved productivity is also assured due to long hours of non-stop operation.

Leading Filipino fishermen to new horizons is what GP200 QDB1 aims for.

Learning from what the fishing industry requires in these trying times, Honda Power Products stays true in helping people get things done and encouraging them to power their dreams to reality. Through hard work and perseverance, the capabilities of willing and able hands are limitless.

STADA Philippines acquires GlaxoSmithKline’s skin care brand

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TADA, a leading manufacturer of high-quality pharmaceutical products, formally announced its acquisition of GlaxoSmithKline’s (GSK) skincare brand -- Oilatum.

Stada says the acquisition has two strategic goals: increasing its presence in skincare category and to expand its ability to provide high-quality skincare products to the Philippines and the rest of the Asia Pacific.

“This venture is one of many initiatives developed to further strengthen our presence in Asia Pacific in the coming years with the aim to continually deliver quality healthcare products to enrich the lives of our customers,” said Mr. Gary Clark, Managing Director for Asia Pacific,” Oilatum is one of the key players in skin-care brands in the Philippines which is designed to provide a daily treatment regimen to reduce the occurrence of dry skin and eczema by soothing, softening and hydrating the skin in children.

One of its best-known products is the Oilatum Soap Bar. It is an emollient cleanser suitable for everyday cleansing for dry and sensitive skin.

In addition to Oilatum, STADA has acquired Eurax, Savlon Antiseptic Cream, Ceridal, Tixylix and Polytar (Tarmed) in a number of specific geographic territories,

including Europe, Asia, and Latin America.

All of which have a strong brand heritage and great followings not only in Europe but all over the world.

STADA is one of the top five generic players in Europe which continues to grow as a partner of choice for generics and consumer health products not only in Europe but also in emerging markets worldwide including the Philippines.

According to STADA Philippines General Manager Sharmaine Abarientos, the company envisions to launch consumer brands in the Philippines and this is part of the strategic priorities in the next three years.

Backed with more than 120 years of experience, STADA is present in over 130 countries with 10,400 plus employees in about 50 well-recognized subsidiaries.

In 2008, STADA Arzneimittel AG assumed ownership of Croma Medic, Inc. in the Philippines.

Croma changed its name to STADA Philippines (STADA Phils. Inc.) last year.

Benefitting from STADA’s broad product portfolio, STADA Philippines’ expansion from its core in ophthalmology into generic pharmaceuticals and consumer healthcare is considerably boosted by the addition of Oilatum to its range.

Winford Manila & PAGCOR outreach program grows

Attending the outreach program were from left: WMRC President & COO Jeff Evora; WMRC Vice President Atty. Alfonso Victorio G. Reyno III; PAGCOR Chairman & CEO Andrea Domingo; and PAGCOR Branch Manager Jethro Chancoco

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INFORD Manila Resort and Casino (WMRC), in partnership with the Philippine Amusement & Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR), hosted on Monday the third Paskong Pasasalamat mula sa WINFORD at PAGCOR, an annual Christmas gift-giving and meal-sharing activity for the less fortunate citizens of neighboring barangays.

In attendance were no less than a thousand residents of Santa Cruz and neighboring barangays— up from 500 attendees last year—to receive their gifts and enjoy a yuletide meal courtesy of WMRC and PAGCOR. The beneficiaries of the WMRC-PAGCOR community outreach initiative were identified and selected by their respective barangay captains, with whom both proponents have maintained a close and healthy relationship since the luxury casino hotel

opened its doors to the public in 2017.

In attendance were WMRC President & Chief Operating Officer Mr. Jeff Evora; WMRC Vice President Attorney King Reyno; PAGCOR Chairman & Chief Executive Officer Andrea Domingo; and PAGCOR Branch Manager Mr. Jethro Chancoco.

“Winford Manila & PAGCOR feel a debt of gratitude to the local community for the unwavering support they have showed us since we started our operations three years ago,” said Evora. “Through Paskong Pasasalamat, we are happy to share our blessings with the less fortunate members of the neighborhood in the hope that it helps brighten their Christmas season.”

Attendees were also treated to a live performance

by Psalm of David Harmonic Orchestra who serenaded them with catchy renditions of their favorite Christmas carols.

God of tremendous love

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EAR God, You lavish Your people with grace beyond measure in Jesus, Your Son. In faith, we pray: God, in Your love, hear our prayer: Still the clamor for war, and bring peace to lands ravaged by genocide, oppression or political unrest. Break the grip of pride, prejudice and fear that divides people from one another. Quicken the day when the military men and women may be reunited with their families. May God bless us with peace in Christ, and let us share in the glad songs of the angels this holy night. Amen.

GIVE US THIS DAY SHARED BY LUISA LACSON, HFL Word&Life Publications • teacherlouie1965@yahoo.com

Editor: Gerard S. Ramos • lifestylebusinessmirror@gmail.com

Life BusinessMirror

SPECIAL: WELCOME NEW YEAR 2020 C3

Friday, December 27, 2019

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On-screen, Asian-Americans rarely get into Christmas spirit THE Netflix movie Let It Snow has Asian-American characters front and center who aren’t there just to be comedic relief, a rarity from the Hollywood machine.

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By terry taNG The Associated Press

ITH its multiple teenage characters, the Netflix movie Let It Snow is a mix of holiday feels and a John Hughes comedy. But unlike those genres, the movie, about a small town besieged by a Christmas Eve snowstorm, has Asian-American characters front and center who aren’t there just to be comedic relief.

Jacob Batalon (Marvel’s Spider-Man movies) and Anna Akana (Ant-Man) play an aspiring DJ and closeted lesbian cheerleader, respectively. For Akana, nothing felt token about the role.

“I never felt like I’d been cast because ‘This girl checks the gay box and the Asian box,’” said Akana, who is of Japanese, Filipino and Hawaiian descent.

“We were finally seeing the world as we’ve known about it, and Hollywood is slowly catching up.”

With the Yuletide season in full swing, studios and TV networks have been unwrapping tales that are predominantly white Christmases. The diversity issue was skewered on Saturday Night Live in a skit about the Hallmark Channel, which generated a firestorm recently for dropping ads featuring a same-sex couple. Except for Universal Pictures’ Last Christmas with Crazy Rich Asians stars Henry Golding and Michelle Yeoh, Asian-American and Pacific Islanders are rarely leads in the genre. Latinos also rarely make the cut. However, there has been a noticeable increase in the number of black actors in movies from Hallmark, Lifetime and niche outlets like the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN).

The disproportionate representation is, somewhat, mystifying when you consider Asian-Americans have the highest growth rates in population and purchasing power of any US ethnic or racial group, according to a Nielsen study released in May. The report found Asian-Americans spent $1 trillion in 2018. It also found that 81 percent of all AsianAmerican households subscribe to at least one subscription video-on-demand platform—19 percent higher than the total population.

Tatyana Ali, of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air fame, has done five Christmas TV movies and even produced one. Based on her fan interactions, she says it’s clear that viewers care about diversity.

“They literally always bring up how nice it is,” said Ali, who stars in Christmas Hotel on Lifetime. “These are people who have been fans of Christmas movies for years, and they always bring up how nice it is to see people of color, how much more exciting it is for them to tune in.”

Candice Frederick, an entertainment reporter and critic based in New York City, said, studios— especially in TV, are still “more willing to throw away millions of dollars on a white actor than an actor of color.” Though Hallmark films seem to cater to an audience that’s “very white-middle America who eat that up,” networks like BET can go after other demographics.

“I just kind of find it low-hanging fruit. Not to say that’s a bad thing,” Frederick said. “You can’t not win with a Christmas movie during Christmas time.”

Tina Perry, president of OWN, said filling roles with more diverse actors, in general, is a great way to sprinkle unique cultural nuances in a very formulaic genre. The network’s three original holiday movies have all-black casts.

“There’ll be a distinction I think for viewers when they watch, and compare, the Hallmark and Lifetime [movies] with our movies,” Perry said. Even the music is “more jazzy, R&B, a little soulful, which I think is going to be really fun for our viewers and just give it a different feel.”

Akana, 30, thinks the issue is with a Hollywood system that’s still shedding racist stereotypes, while claiming there are few Asian actors. For a long time, she said most of the auditions she got were for stereotypical parts, like a massage therapist or the girl who was “upset she got a B.” She credits her YouTube channel, which has 2.5 million subscribers, for helping her leverage better auditions.

Jenny Han, author of To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before and a producer on the Netflix film adaptation, said it’s frustrating as an adult to look back at some of these movies and see hardly anyone of color. Why make a fuss over a genre that’s often a punching bag for its light and fluffy nature? Well, that’s the point, says

the Korean-American scribe. Stories about minorities don’t always have to be “about pain and struggle.”

“They haven’t really had as many opportunities to have it just be about the mundanity, about falling in love at the holiday,” said Han, who is set to write and executively produce an episode of a Netflix anthology series about love.

Two of Lifetime’s 30 Christmas movies have an Asian-American lead and a Latino lead. Meghan Hooper, senior vice president of original movies, said the network has made strides but can always do better. “If I have to read one more article about

how a movie with a diverse cast has succeeded...it shouldn’t be surprising anymore,” said Hooper, who is biracial. “One reason you see so many players in this space now is that I believe there are so many ways to succeed...the more content that’s out there, the more roles there are.”

Hallmark, meanwhile, has virtually no Asian or Latino leads in its 40 holiday movies across its various channels. In announcing recently that it would reinstate commercials featuring same-sex couples, the company said in a statement that it has “an unwavering commitment to diversity and inclusion.”

The channel has 82 million subscribers.

Michelle Vicary, the executive vice president of programming and network publicity for Crown Media Family Networks, acknowledged that Hallmark—like the rest of the entertainment industry—has work to do in increasing diversity.

“We continue to look at the issue all the time,” Vicary said last month. “We’re trying to bring in new writers all the time and new directors.” n Terry Tang reported from Phoenix, and is a member of The Associated Press’s race and ethnicity team.

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Society BusinessMirror

Friday, December 27, 2019

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Q&A WITH JOHNSSEN LI

Over some wine with the ‘whiskey man’ IN HIGH SPIRITS AT WHISKY LIVE

(clockwise, from left): Kavalan, the award-winning single malt from Taiwan; Camus cognac, from the Borderies, smallest and rarest AOC Cognac cru; in the group photo are Camus Wines & Spirits Area Sales Manager Maxence Goinère (from left), author Johnssen Li and Silver Secrets Inc. Operations Manager Stefania Zanirato

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cecile.mauricio@gmail.com

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Head to your destination of choice. Whether it is a mental, physical or emotional journey, you’ll get a better understanding of what you need to know and do to move forward. An older relative will offer insightful information regarding your background. ★★★★★

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How did you come by your vast knowledge of whiskey and spirits?

The basics came from the brands, themselves, that were present in the Philippines. Because we did business with them, it was just natural for the brands

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Put your heart and soul into whatever it is you want to achieve. The only way to get things done this year is to do them yourself. Dig in, and don’t stop until you are satisfied with the results you get.

A change that will benefit you personally, emotionally and financially looks promising if you execute your actions with precision. Your lucky numbers are 7, 11, 23, 25, 31, 38, 44.

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HE name is well-known in local whiskey circles. Johnssen Li. He’s the go-to guy for whiskey, I had been told often enough.

He also has this incredible cache of whiskey information that he shares with just about anyone who asks. This, I discovered during an impromptu whiskey tasting session that had morphed into a master class because Johnssen, himself, led the tasting.

I’ve called Johnssen “whiskey man” after that, and had valued his suggestions and opinions on gin, rum, brandy and whiskey, most of all. A week after the fourth staging of Whisky Live on October 18, I caught up with Johnssen for some more whiskey talk over dinner. I knew he would bring some whiskey, but I had a bottle of wine ready. But does he drink wine at all?

Johnssen downed his first glass of the subtly oaked Heredad de Emina Chardonnay 2014. I like this, he said. He liked too what was paired with the wine—sinigang na bangus sa miso, tinapa spring rolls, kare-kare, tortang talong and lechon kawali. The lesson on the Kavalan Gin and the Kavalan Single Malt Select would have to wait. The whiskey man was enjoying the wine.

How and when did you get started into whiskey?

My parents opened a small retail store in Binondo in 1973. It was really a humble beginning for my parents and, as a young boy, I used to be tutored for my homework by my mom while she was manning our store. I got interested in the business, especially about production, when I was in high school, because my dad had a home brewing/fermentation kit. I started learning deeply around 1994 and 1995 when I was in college—more about history, production process and brands.

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Hayley Williams, 31; Emilie de Ravin, 38; Gerard Depardieu, 71; John Amos, 80.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Spend time with people who bring out the best in you. A little romance will bring you closer to someone you love. Discuss plans that you can put into play next year.

Consider how you can lower stress and improve health. ★★

CECILE MAURICIO

What changes or developments have there been since your first staging of Whisky Live three years ago?

Lots of changes, locally and abroad. Bar standards are rising. Consumers appreciate and care more about quality, and are more well-informed. The cocktail scene is also changing fast. Also, more women are attending the event.

By Eugenia Last

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FERMENTATION

Why did you acquire the Whisky Live franchise?

Because of the track record of Whisky Live, and the global community of the Whisky Live franchise.

I always look forward to the annual gathering of all franchise holders globally, where I get to meet the rock stars of the whiskey industry.

Today’s Horoscope

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GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Primp, pamper and put your mind at ease regarding your personal finances. Taking the time to regenerate mentally, physically and financially will ease your mind and lower stress. Romance is encouraged. ★★★

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CANCER (June 21-July 22): Look at the possibilities, and discuss your plans with someone you want to include in your life. A look at your financial situation will help you decide how much you can put aside for something special you want to pursue. ★★★

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LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): You have options, but not all of them will be in your best interest. Don’t make personal or physical changes impulsively. Do your research, and plan your actions with moderation, health and emotional wellbeing in mind. Choose rest over exertion. ★★★

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VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): A change you want to make can be put in motion.

Make all the arrangements to pursue your goal. Socializing will help you promote the new you, and will help line up who you want to include in your plans. ★★★★★

to do product training. Then, I began buying books abroad, so I was mostly reading in the beginning and I just kept on asking questions directly to producers, brand ambassadors, winemakers, distillers, blenders.

I also started making friends with a lot of industry people who were smarter and more knowledgeable than me. If you have the passion, you just remember all the knowledge you accumulated over the years.

Which type of whiskey do you like to drink?

I really like a lot of different whiskey brands.

What I’m sure of is that I really like people who are mavericks—those who take the path less taken, going beyond the comfort zone; people who are bold and secure about what they believe is the best for them.

You don’t have to agree with all of them, you just appreciate them and, for some reason, they stand out in your brain.

I smoke cigarettes, so I think I need bolder, fullerbodied whiskey. I really like cask-strength whiskey (undiluted, unfiltered, straight-from-the-barrel whiskey). Sometimes, I like sherry cask-matured whiskey, sometimes peated whiskeys. But lately, I like Scotch whiskies with the cereal (malty) character that is not drowned by flavors from the wood (cask).

Whiskey with an age statement versus NAS Whisky. Is one better than the other?

Really depends. What style of new make (spirits before aging)? What type of wood? What type of climate? And other factors. NAS is still a minimum (of three years old). It is like for a human being—there is an optimum peak for a human being to mature. Once you hit that peak, you start deteriorating.

How do you drink your whiskey?

I drink mostly neat. Sometimes I add a few drops of water. I recommend that people drink whiskey the way they enjoy it. That is the main objective—to have fun.

What’s in your personal collection? The rarest? The most expensive?

It’s better not to divulge what’s in my collection.

I’m a sentimental guy. It doesn’t have to be expensive.

Sometimes, we are just attached to certain brand, especially if you like the people working in the distillery and you know they value their work.

What is your whiskey of the moment?

The Kavalan Vinho Barrique always surprises me.

Each batch is slightly different (because this is a single cask bottling).

What is the whiskey you cannot be without?

I’m really a simple fellow. I can drink whatever my friends are drinking. I just love Scotch whiskey very much—there are unlimited things to talk about (Scotch whiskey).

What has been your most memorable whiskey experience to date?

My first visit to Whisky Live Taipei. I was blown away. Yamazaki and Hakushu were still participating in those days and many people, including me, were not so into Japanese whiskey at that time. I missed my opportunity to buy the Yamazaki sherry single cask, which today is selling for more than P1 million per bottle. n

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LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Talk the talk and walk the walk. Know what you are up against, how much it will cost and how best to proceed. Refuse to let anyone take over or deter you from following your heart. ★★

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SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Take a look at the past, absorb what’s transpired and consider what’s best for you moving forward. Protect against physical injury or taking an unnecessary risk. Focus on turning your dream into a reality. Put a plan together, and follow through. ★★★★

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SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Don’t spend impulsively, or give in to someone in hopes that he or she will do something in return for you. Be realistic; weigh the pros, cons and consequence of your actions; and do what’s best for you. ★★★

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CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Start the ball rolling. It’s time to take a look at what’s transpired and the options available to you.

Having a sound plan in place can make a massive difference in the way you live from this day forward. ★★★

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AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Don’t take a risk. Sit tight and put your feet up. An unexpected financial boost or an opportunity that will encourage you to sell something you enjoy making is heading your way. ★★★

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PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Offer help, and it will bring you closer to someone who can enrich your life. Look for opportunities that interest you, and formulate a proposal that you can pitch next year. Don’t let yourself get run down. ★★★★ BIRTHDAY BABY: You are aggressive, helpful and responsible.

You are inquisitive and thoughtful.

‘turn, turn, turn’ BY ANNEMARIE BRETHAUER The Universal Crossword/Edited by David Steinberg

ACROSS 1 Word before “bunny” or “devil” 5 Jamie of M*A*S*H 9 All tuckered out 14 Italian Moscato region 15 A Death in the Family author 16 Jazz pianist Chick 17 Throwaway toy?

19 One may say “kiss the cook” 20 Work detail, informally 21 Holds the throne 23 Hello or goodbye, in Hebrew 25 Fresh-sounding antelope?

26 Doubtful 30 Shetland ___ 31 Vowel-shaped girder 33 Professor Plum’s game 34 Sent-along e-mail abbr.

35 Graph line 36 Broken finger support 38 ___ Wonders of the Ancient World 40 Merino, e.g.

41 Brought bad luck to 43 Dress brand 44 POV network 47 Part of QED

48 Flash of light 50 Look when no one’s looking 51 Packaging supply 52 Pub grub go-with 53 Poorly made 55 Sales incentive 58 Love, in La Mancha 59 Extremely zealous 62 Red Planet vehicle 65 Kind of orange 66 Opera highlight 67 Hornets’ home 68 Renown 69 Match, as audio and video 70 Uffizi offering DOWN 1 Apply lightly, with “on” 2 Troops’ diversion 3 Choreography direction in a musical? (first 4 letters + last 4) 4 Up-to-the-minute 5 Distant 6 Petri dish gel 7 Goes back on one’s word 8 Saskatchewan’s capital 9 Inspect, as baggage

10 Treat known as an ice lolly in England 11 Goof 12 Prefix for “natal” 13 Author Amy 18 ___-friendly 22 Pictures of chewy sticks? (first 3) 23 UV-blocking initials 24 Garbled chatter? (last 3) 27 Went crazy for, or what the starred answers’ indicated parts are, in two ways?

28 Enjoyable 29 “Better ___...”

32 Compost receptacle 35 Fifth or Lexington: Abbr.

37 The “P” in MPG 39 Outside 40 Transgression 41 Shade of black 42 Radio host Glass 43 Kind of supplement 45 Prescribed inactivity 46 Where to see stars 49 Andean animals 50 College near Scripps

54 56 57 59 60 61 63 64

Sarcastic laugh syllable Circular current CNN anchor Burnett Justice known for her workouts, familiarly The whole schmear “That joke stinks!”

Cul-de-___ GPS suggestion

Solution to yesterday’s puzzle:

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New Year Calendar BusinessMirror

Friday, December 27, 2019

ILLUSTRATION

BY STARLINE

Welcome New Year 2020 S URE, we may not have the annual spectacle of the New Year Ball Drop of Times Square in New York City, but fret not: around these parts, there’s plenty of options for fun and excitement to greet New Year 2020.

Here are some of them.

EASTWOOD CITY THE future is brighter and grander as Eastwood City (www.eastwoodnye2020.com) officially partners with Quezon City and welcomes 2020 with the most luminous New Year revelry highlighted by a dazzling star drop, star-studded OPM performances and the introduction of the country’s first-ever City of Music.

“Eastwood-Quezon City New Year Countdown to 2020” promises all brightness from sundown to sunup with the annual party kicking off on December 31, from 6 pm onward at the Eastwood Mall Open Park, and ending just before sunrise at the Fuente Circle at the Eastwood Citywalk.

Headlining the countdown are some of the biggest and brightest names in the music industry, including Ben&Ben, James Reid’s Careless Music, Leanne & Naara, and Meryl—the grand winner of Eastwood City’s first-ever talent search, “Amplified.” All are set to electrify the countdown to the early minutes of 2020 along with two of OPM’s most prolific vocalists and performers, Rico Blanco and Ebe Dancel.

For the very first time, Eastwood City is introducing itself as the country’s City of Music through its continuous support to the local and international music scene by opening its stage for both upcoming and big music acts alike; a favorite venue for concerts, gigs, album launches and meetand-greets.

Eastwood-Quezon City New Year Countdown to 2020 will also feature the New York City-inspired Dazzling Star Drop, a grand fireworks display at 12 midnight, and an after party with Manila’s hottest Djs, including Nixdamnp, ToloMarvelous, DJ Euric and Jazz Zamora. “It has been our tradition in Eastwood City to welcome each year in the grandest way possible. As we officially partner with Quezon City government, this year will be no different. Our goal is to really encourage everyone to welcome 2020 with beaming hope and a brighter outlook in life,” says Graham Coates, head of Megaworld Lifestyle Malls.

Eastwood City is offering a P50 flat-rate parking fee until 2 am for revelers joining the celebrations, while several dining establishments across Eastwood Mall and Eastwood Citywalk are now accepting reservations.

DIAMOND HOTEL WITH the wrap-up of the decade and the dawn of 2020 approaching, Diamond Hotel Philippines (www. diamondhotel.com) presents exciting ways to toast to the New Year with loved ones in Manila.

Thrill your taste buds and turn the beat up with

the exhilarating New Year’s Eve Countdown Party.

At P3,980 per person, you can start the night with a Dinner Buffet at Corniche with a glass of cava, then finally jump into the excitement as the Yellow Lane Band, Soul Republic and J-Project launch the Upper Lobby into a fever of upbeat live music. Dance and be merry until the clock strikes midnight and even beyond. Plus, get a chance to win a two-night stay for two in Baguio with each ticket purchased.

For those who prefer a refined and more serene take on welcoming the New Year, Yurakuen’s lunch and dinner group set menus will bring your family together over a luxe preparation of authentic Japanese cuisine. With a glass of red or white wine and entertainment by an acoustic duo during dinner, these sets are priced at P2,200 per person, with a curated group set good for up to four persons at P8,380 and a special group set to accommodate up to six persons at P11,280. The Lobby Lounge will open the Midnight Pica Pica Buffet from 10 pm to 2 am, with seats available at the Second Floor Mezzanine for those who want to dip closer to the Countdown Party happening at the Upper Lobby. With a wide selection of dishes, from a fresh Salad Bar and luxe Grazing Table, to hot savory items and signature desserts, the Midnight Pica Pica Buffet priced at P1,280 per person is a wonderful way to spend New Year’s Eve with your family. New Year’s Eve Lunch and Dinner Set Menus are offered at the Lobby Lounge, as well, at P1,880 net per person with a glass of cava.

If you’re planning on a night out with friends to cap the year, Bar27’s New Year’s Eve Bash is perfect. With a sky-high view, upbeat live musical performances

by XZEL Band, and a range of tapas and cocktails to choose from, this year-end merriment ought to be at the top of your list at a consumable P1,380 net per person.

F1 HOTEL MANILA EXPERIENCE one of the most exciting events in welcoming the New Year only at F1 Hotel Manila (www.f1hotelmanila.com).

Dabble in the Foam and Glow New Year Countdown in partnership with Jack Daniels and Hoegaarden. Inclusive of unlimited featured cocktails from 10 pm to 1 am for only P2,088 net per person, the party features guest DJs XO and Bandit performing onstage to welcome the new year.

Get your party fix with the Rockin’ New Year’s Eve room promotion with the inclusion of an overnight accommodation in a Fort Suite Room. With a breakfast buffet for two persons, a free serving of Chocolate Mud Slide and two free tickets to the Foam and Glow New Year Countdown.

DISCOVERY SHORES BORACAY, CLUB PARADISE PALAWAN AT Discovery Shores Boracay (www. discoveryshoresboracay.com) and Club Paradise Palawan

(www.clubparadisepalawan.com), this year’s festive celebration highlights the many ways to welcome the new year.

Make time for the people who matter the most.

This holiday season, give your family and your loved ones a special time to bond in the country’s top beach destinations. Book Discovery Shores Boracay and Club Paradise Palawan’s Book Direct package and enjoy exclusive benefits and discounts on room rates.

Moreover, ready your salsa and mambo dance moves on the most colorful, festive evening of the year as Discovery Shores Boracay and Club Paradise Palawan present “Rumba Cubana,” a Havana-inspired New Year Celebration in paradise. Taste the authentic flavors of Cuban cuisine and toast to piña coladas, mojitos and margaritas. Welcome 2020 as you groove from 7 pm on December 31 to 2 am on January 1, to the electrifying beats of the Zel Band, special guest DJs Ron Poe and Hanna Ichiko at Discovery Shores; and by the Smooth Band and DJ Dodie Ocampo at Club Paradise.

NEW WORLD MANILA BAY HOTEL USHER in the New Year with sparkles and new beginnings. New World Manila Bay Hotel (www. newworldhotels.com) is ready to welcome 2020 with a sparkling countdown party, dazzling room deals and exciting New Year feasts.

Dance the night away as you embrace the wee hours of the year with a Sparkling New Year Countdown Party at The Lounge. Experience an unforgettable New Year bash full of surprises, gastronomic delights, overflowing drinks and exciting entertainment featuring DJ Mia Fernandez.

Party your heart out and cheers to a brand-new you.

Tickets are priced at P600 per person inclusive of three rounds of beverages with a variety of choices from a glass of sparkling wine, to a bottle of beer or house pouring liquors.

While the countdown party is the highlight of the New Year, the best way to make the most of the occasion is to have a staycation with the family. Stay in one of the spacious rooms and suites for an extradazzling celebration. The Countdown to 2020 room package starts at P8,888 per night inclusive of buffet breakfast for two and 25-percent dining discount at Market Café. Take the Year 2020 a notch higher. Spend an overnight stay in a Premier Bay View Suite with a stunning view of the magnificent Manila Bay on New Year’s Eve with rates starting at P15,888 per night.

The Suite and Sparkling room promo comes with a grand dinner buffet for two at Market Café featuring a spectacular spread of culinary delights, buffet breakfast for two and 25-percent dining discount at Market Café.

CRIMSON HOTEL WELCOME 2020 with a slammin’ “’90s Pop New Year’s Eve Countdown Party” on December 31

at Crimson Hotel Filinvest City, Manila, (www. crimsonhotel.com). To bring in the upbeat vibe, the Verve Band has prepared the most popular repertoire of the decade. Guests can ring in the New Year with their flashy 1990s outfit or come in their slip dress layered with t-shirts or button-down blouses and matching eye-catching accessory. To keep those feet moving, Crimson Hotel’s culinary team will be bringing the energy up with an amazing array of gastronomic feasts.

Tickets are priced at P2,850 net for adults and P1,850 net for kids. Each includes a sumptuous buffet dinner, live entertainment, ’90s New Year Treats and a chance to win raffle prizes.

Another way to kiss the year goodbye is with a Crimson escapade. Come for the staycation and stay for the party for as low as P12,788. This room package includes an overnight stay in a Deluxe Room, two tickets to the New Year’s Eve Countdown Party, breakfast for two persons and a turndown amenity.

One can make their New Year resolution in sweet solitude while relaxing in any of Crimson Hotel’s rooms. Rates start at P8,888 per night inclusive of breakfast for two persons and a turndown amenity.

The stay dates for either of the room deals are from December 30 to January 2, 2020.

Revel in 2019 with a smorgasbord of flavors and embrace the New Year with mouthwatering food and drink selections. Guests can start their New Year’s Eve revelries at Café Eight’s Dinner Buffet for P1,740 per person. Come down for another party with live DJ music at the hotel’s Gallery and enjoy unlimited booze for as low as P699 net per head. Then on January 1, head to Café Eight for the New Year’s Day Brunch Buffet from 12 noon to 3 pm with the rate of P1,460 per person.

MARCO POLO ORTIGAS MANILA THERE’S nothing quite like welcoming the promise of a new year from a brighter perspective. What would make the experience even more meaningful and memorable is being surrounded by Metro Manila’s sky displays as the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve. Marco Polo Ortigas Manila (www.facebook. com/MarcoPoloOrtigasManila) presents its annual New Year’s Eve Countdown Party at Vu’s Sky Bar and Lounge, titled “20|20.”

This year’s celebration is poised to be among the Metro’s top parties to see and be seen on the last day of 2019. Tickets are available at P1,850 per guest, inclusive of one Bottega Gold Prosecco as a welcome drink. Doors will open at 8 pm, and crowd favorite Real Groove Band will take the main stage beginning 9 pm. Guests who wish to chill with the cool breeze facing the Rizal mountainside will be welcomed with the steady tracks mastered by DJ Jade.

Tables may also be booked in advance for large groups raring to ring in the New Year at Vu’s Sky Bar and Lounge. n

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Show BusinessMirror

Friday, December 27, 2019

Singer Camila Cabello apologizes for past racist language NEW YORK—Pop singer Camila Cabello is apologizing for past racist language she used on social media. The Grammy-nominated singer wrote on Wednesday that she is sorry for using offensive and hurtful words on social media as a teen, and now that she is 22, she has grown up.

“When I was younger, I used language that I’m deeply ashamed of and will regret forever,” Cabello shared in a lengthy social-media post. “I was uneducated and ignorant and, once I became aware of the history and the weight and the true meaning behind this horrible and hurtful language, I was deeply embarrassed I ever used it.”

The former Fifth Harmony singer has been accused of using racial remarks in now deleted Tumblr accounts. This week social-media users posted screenshots of Cabello’s old and offensive posts, forcing the performer to issue an apology.

“As much as I wish I could, I can’t go back in time and change things I said in the past. But once you know better, you do better and that’s all I can do,” she continued.

Cabello’s hits include “Havana” and “Señorita” with Shawn Mendes. She released a new album early this month. She closed her statement saying she would use her platform to “speak out about injustice and inequality.”

“I’ll continue doing that,” she wrote. “I can’t say enough how deeply sorry and ashamed I feel, and I apologize again from the bottom of my heart.” AP

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‘Meet the Press’ to shine light on political disinformation N

By David Bauder The Associated Press

EW YORK—A special Meet the Press episode on disinformation in politics was in the works even before host Chuck Todd’s interviews with two Republican senators made its pertinence clear.

The deep dive, reminiscent of last December’s hour on climate change, is scheduled for December 29. Marty Baron and Dean Baquet, executive editors of The Washington Post and The New York Times, are scheduled to be interviewed.

“I’m not going to pretend to have the answers,” Todd said in an interview. “This is a spotlight. I hope my guests have good ideas. This to me is about sounding the alarm.”

Todd’s interviews with Senators John Kennedy of Louisiana (December 1) and Ted Cruz of Texas (December 8) both grew contentious when the senators discussed disproven claims of Ukrainian interference in the 2016 US election.

Intelligence officials have said Russia has been trying to spread these stories to take attention away from its own efforts.

Todd offered an incredulous “you do?” when Cruz said he believed Ukraine had tried to influence the election, and asked Kennedy whether he was concerned he’d been duped by Russia.

The interviews made Todd a target for Republican critics, including the nation’s twitterer-in-chief, President Donald J. Trump, who has given Todd his own derogatory nickname.

“It’s designed to make me more uncomfortable doing my job,” Todd said. “Let me put it this way. I probably let it get to me a lot a year ago.”

The challenge in covering the Trump administration was obvious from its third day, when Presidential Counselor Kellyanne Conway used the term “alternative facts” in a discussion with Todd about attendance at Trump’s inauguration. Todd said he tries to take the long view, reasoning his performance will be best judged years from now.

“I’m not kidding, I lose sleep over this at night,” he

CHUCK TODD, the host of Meet the Press, in a publicity photo.

said. “I lose sleep. Let’s be honest, it’s been miserable covering this story. When you have to fight about what the set of facts are, it’s ridiculous. The fact that we’re here is just so intellectually dishonest, and is so frustrating.”

The post-Christmas Meet the Press will look at how an untrue story emerges and is spread throughout the media ecosystem, as well as examine how Russia perfected its own propaganda campaigns before spreading them to other countries.

Todd himself was subject to criticism for discussing Ukraine in his interviews with Kennedy and Cruz. Stories spread only when given oxygen, and he strapped on the tank.

“This is the dilemma of the, quote, ‘big lie,’” he said.

“In order to explain why the big lie is a lie, you have to repeat the lie in some form or another. I am very mindful of this.”

But he’s not knowingly putting someone on the air to spread misinformation, he said.

The media has its responsibilities for enforcing the truth; one clear, unresolved issue is different standards for monitoring truthful statements in advertisements on television and social media.

Young people need to learn media literacy. But public leaders will ultimately have to take a stand for the truth, he said. As for his own role, talk to him again in five years. n

ADOLFO MENDOZA

PPO CONCERT SERIES V WITH BASSOONIST MENDOZA

THE Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra (PPO) under the baton of Maestro Yoshikazu Fukumura welcomes the New Year with its fifth concert on January 24, 2020, at the main theater of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) at 8 pm.

Bassoon player Adolfo O. Mendoza is the guest performer.

The program consists of Antonin Dvorak’s “Serenade for String Orchestra, op.22, E major,” Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “Bassoon Concerto, B-flat Major” and Cesar Franck’s “Symphony in D minor.”

Mendoza is the principal bassoonist of the PPO, a faculty member of the University of Santo Tomas’s Conservatory of Music and Santa Isabel College of Music, and the conductor of Trinity University of Asia Symphonic Band. He is the music director and conductor of the Lyceum-Northwestern University Chorale and the Balon Dagupan City Government Chorale. He is also the founder and president of the Pandaragupan Youth Orchestra Inc., and the founder and music director of the Philippine Pops Orchestra. He is also the music consultant of Dagupan City.

Mendoza was the bassoonist for the musical Miss Saigon in its Manila run at the CCP from September 2000 to March 2001, and in Hong Kong and Singapore from March to August 2001. He also performed as the principal bassoon of the PPO in its European Tour (Austria, Czech Republic, Spain and Germany) in 2001, and its Japan concert tour in September 2002.

Ticket prices are at P1,500; P1,200; P800; P500; P400, with discounts available to students, senior citizens and groups. More information is available at 8832-3704.

ABS-CBN TFC BAGS TWO AWARDS AT CFO’S MIGRATION ADVOCACY AND MEDIA AWARDS 2019 ABS-CBN TFC ends 2019 in a high note after it bagged two awards at the recently held Migration Advocacy and Media (MAM) Awards: Best Regular TV Program on Migration won by “Kabayani Talks,” and Best TV Interstitial on Migration bagged by “Lines and Letters.”

Launched in 2018, Kabayani Talks is a public service program that aims to aid the overseas Filipinos in the different issues and concerns they are facing overseas with guidance from different government agencies and experts.

The show’s host, Jasmine Romero, considers the recognition from MAM Awards as an affirmation that their program is “on the right track” in serving the overseas Filipinos.

On the other hand, the digital series Lines and Letters shares the inspiring stories of overseas Filipinos with the use of art and spoken poetry.

Executive Producer Mark David Acob dedicated not only their work but also the award to all overseas Filipinos who ABS-CBN TFC has been serving for 25 years now.

During his welcoming remarks, Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) Secretary Francisco Acosta noted the media’s importance in providing support

KABAYANI Talks Executive Producer Sonny Fernandez, TFC News EMEA Senior Correspondent and “Luv2DMax” radio anchor Maxxy Santiago, Kabayani Talks host Jasmine Romero, ABS-CBN Global Content Production Head Herbs Samonte, Kabayani Talks producer Jerome Fadriquela, “Lines and Letters” Executive Producer Mark David Acob, and Lines and Letters ProducerJazer Marinda with their awards at the Migration Advocacy and Media Awards ceremonies.

to Filipinos abroad. “I have personally learned that our migrants abroad have three important sources of support: our government represented by migrant agencies, the Filipino organizations abroad, and, of course, the media. This triangulate partnership must work hand in hand to consistently inform our Filipinos abroad about their rights, update them on developments in our country, and encourage

political involvement in their postal place and in their homeland,” Acosta stated.

Meanwhile, TFC News EMEA Senior Correspondent Maxxy Santiago’s radio program “Luv2DMax” was also named Best Regular Radio Program on Migration, and ABS-CBN Films’ boxoffice blockbuster Hello, Love, Goodbye as Best FullLength Film on Migration.

Queen Elizabeth II to admit ‘bumpy’ year in Christmas speech

By Gregory Katz The Associated Press LONDON— Queen Elizabeth II plans to acknowledge that both Britain and her family have endured a difficult year by saying during her Christmas message that it has been a “bumpy” time.

The prerecorded message will be broadcast in Britain and the Commonwealth nations on Christmas day. It was recorded before the queen’s husband, Prince Philip, was hospitalized in London, as a precautionary measure.

Excerpts released by Buckingham Palace before the speech show the queen admits difficulties during the course of the year. Talking about the need for reconciliation and forgiveness, Elizabeth says: “The

path, of course, is not always smooth, and may at times this year have felt quite bumpy, but small steps can make a world of difference.”

She is thought to be referring both to Britain’s tortuous path out of the European Union, which led to a lengthy political stalemate broken only earlier this month when voters gave the pro-Brexit Conservative Party a comfortable majority in Parliament, and to the royal family’s setbacks.

The problems facing the queen’s family this year included Prince Andrew’s retreat from public duties because of a disastrous TV interview in which he defended his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The family has also endured a public rift between Prince William and Prince Harry, who has traveled with his wife Meghan and young son,

Archie, to Canada rather than spend the Christmas holidays at Sandringham Estate—the queen’s rural retreat, as has long been customary for senior royals.

Both Harry and Meghan have complained about constant scrutiny by the media as they settle into family life with seven-month-old Archie.

The health of 98-year-old Philip has been a constant concern. He has been hospitalized in London for several days, but may still be able to return to Sandringham in time for Christmas. Details about his condition haven’t been made public.

When Prince Charles was asked about Philip’s health during a visit to a flooded visit in South Yorkshire, Charles said Monday his father was “alright. When you get to that age, things don’t work so well.”

BRITAIN’S Queen Elizabeth II poses for a photo, while recording her annual Christmas day message to the nation, at Windsor Castle, England. AP