Businessmirror December 28, 2018

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Friday, December 28, 2018 Vol. 14 No. 79

Infra spending widens 11-month fiscal deficit ₧477.2B T

By Bianca Cuaresma

@BcuaresmaBM

HE national government on Thursday reported that its fiscal deficit in January to November nearly doubled, due largely to accelerated spending for infrastructure projects under the “Build, Build, Build” (BBB) program.

The Bureau of the Treasur y (BTr) repor ted that the government ran a fiscal deficit of P477.2 billion in the 11-month period, up by 96 percent from the P243.5 billion recorded a year ago. The Januar y to November deficit was 91 percent

of the government’s full-year target of P523.7 billion.

In November alone, the national government incurred a budget deficit of P39.1 billion, significantly larger than the P8.6 billion recorded in the same month last year.

The Department of Finance

(DOF) said the widening of the fiscal gap was “not surprising,” given the government’s goal of rolling out of more infrastructure projects and increasing its investments in human capital.

Data from the BTr also showed that the tax and nontax revenues

The fiscal deficit reported by the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) in the January-to-November period, up by 96 percent from the P243.5 billion recorded a year ago in November rose by 7 percent to P259.7 billion. This brought the total revenue collection of the government in January to November to P2.62 trillion, up 16 percent from last year’s P2.25 trillion.

Collections of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) expanded by 7 percent to P192 billion in November, bringing the bureau’s total collection in the 11-month period to P1.8 trillion.

See “deficit,” A2

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@rectomercene

HE US Transpor tat ion Security Administration (TSA) has found the country’s premier gateway to be “inconsistent in the application of security protocols,” and has recommended several improvement measures that the authorities said would be addressed in the next few months.

Local airport authorities repeatedly assured the public, however, that while they were taking the TSA concerns seriously and moving to address them, “the airport is very, very safe” and they had not

“received any direct threat against the Miaa,” to which the TSA letter was addressed.

Among the areas of concern cited by the TSA in the letter to the Manila International Airport Authority (Miaa) were inadequate staffing for the screening of passengers and luggage, inadequate landside security measures, contingency plans, vehicle screening, upgrading of x-ray machines and the installation walk-through metal detectors and alarm systems, among others.

Miaa General Manager Ed V. Monreal assured the flying public that his agency “continues to adhere to

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PHL CAN MEET GOAL ON U.S. TOURISTS DESPITE N.A.I.A. SECURITY WOES–D.O.T.

By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo

@akosistellaBM Special to the BusinessMirror

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HE Department of Tourism (DOT) on Thursday expressed confidence that it can meet its visitor arrivals target from the United States in 2019, as local transport agencies address the safety concerns of the US government about the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia).

In a Viber message, DOT Undersecretary for Tourism Development Planning Benito C. Bengzon Jr. told the BusinessMirror, “We are confident that our authorities are capable of addressing the issues raised in the public notice [of the US government agencies].” He added, the DOT is targeting arrivals from the US to reach 1.2 million in 2019.

The travel advisory comes at a time when foreign tourists,

Miaa says Naia ‘very, very safe’ amid TSA security checklist

By Recto Mercene

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especially from the US, come to the Philippines for the Christmas holiday season.

The US is among the Philippines’s largest sources of tourists, with many of the visitors being Americans of Filipino descent or overseas Filipino workers. From January-toOctober this year, visitor arrivals from the US rose by 8.34 percent to 850,735, putting the market in third place, following South Korea and China.

(See, “7.2M Foreign tourists seen by year-end—DOT,” in the BusinessMirror, December 14, 2018.)

T he US Depa r t ment of Homeland Security extended a Christmas Day surprise to the Philippine government by warning travelers of the security risks in flying in and out of the Naia, the gateway to Northern Luzon and the Greater Metro Manila Area.

See “DOT,” A2

Construction labor shortage alarms DOLE

By Bernadette D. Nicolas @BNicolasBM

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FOR LUCK IN THE NEW YEAR Lucky charms for the year 2019 are now selling briskly on Metro Manila’s sidewalks for P35 apiece. NONOY LACZA

HE Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said construction firm DM Consunji Inc. (DMCI) has sought its help as the company needs to hire some 6,000 to 7,000 workers.

The revelation was made by Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III, who also lamented the difficulty in hiring local construction workers, most of whom have opted to work overseas.

“We are maximizing the training of construction workers because we already have a shortage of construction workers. It’s so hard, even if you try in your own neighborhood. It’s hard to look for plumbers, carpenters, welders,” said in a Palace briefing on Thursday.

See “Construction,” A2

n JAPAN 0.4766 n UK 67.0863 n HK 6.7786 n CHINA 7.7071 n SINGAPORE 38.6693 n AUSTRALIA 37.5095 n EU 60.2572 n SAUDI ARABIA 14.1446

Source: BSP (27 December 2018 )

News

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A2 Friday, December 28, 2018

DOTr lists 10 reforms PITX must take for better service

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By Lorenz S. Marasigan

@lorenzmarasigan

HE Department of Transportation (DOTr) has directed MWM Terminals Inc. to immediately “comply” with its concession agreement and implement recommended upgrades to improve the operations of the Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange (PITX).

In statement citing a letter to the company, Transportation Undersecretary for Road Transport and Infrastructure Mark de Leon listed 10 issues that the concessionaire needs to address immediately.

For one, it has to submit a revised traffic plan to improve vehicular flow inside the terminal.

MWM Terminals also has to install conspicuous directional signage to improve passenger circulation.

De Leon also ordered the adjusting of the loading time at departure bays, as provincial bus operators find the 15-minute loading time too short.

He also pointed out the need to

Miaa. . .

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internationally accepted security protocols and standards.”

“There is no cause for alarm. There is nothing among these recommendations that cannot be addressed,” he pointed out, in a briefing.

Monreal said he received instructions from Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade to immediately conduct a bidding to procure some 63 x-ray machines, which would cost about P8 million.

Procurement of the

decongest the jeepney loading and unloading areas, and the need to add ventilation “to reduce the passengers’ exposure to health risks from vehicular smoke.”

De Leon also directed the company to coordinate with the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) to install bigger reflectorized stickers on buses to easily and effectively distinguish city buses from provincial buses.

He also asked the company to tag provincial buses with reflectorized stickers that will inform commuters that these buses will terminate at the terminal.

The transport official ordered

x-ray machines could be done either through bidding, which would take about six months, or they “could be bought through an emergency purchase.”

Monrea l noted that “these are not off-the-shelf equipment,” such that following the selection of the winning bidder, the x-ray machines and walk-though detectors would still have to be manufactured, a process taking at least six months before delivery.

To address the lack of “screeners,” the airport is hiring 176 more employees to add to the present 1, 345 currently employed at the Naia.

MWM Terminals to prepare informational materials “explaining the dispatching and scheduling system to drivers and conductors.”

De Leon also “recommended” that the company improve its centralized announcement system to include departure announcements per boarding gate, “similar to airports, to easily notify passengers of bus bay activities, such as arrival and departure of buses.”

He added that the company has to carry out a terminal security assessment and a road transport security plan to heighten the safety and security features of the “land port.”

Last, de Leon reminded the com-

pany’s commitment to deploy free shuttle bus services to ferry passengers from the facility to Baclaran and back.

“The DOTr emphasizes that even as the department and its attached agencies work on improving the operations of the country’s first ‘landport,’ concessionaire MWM Terminals must uphold its shared responsibility as a private-sector partner to provide the Filipinos the service they deserve,” the statement read.

Representatives from MWM Terminals have yet to respond to the BusinessMirror’s queries as of writing time.

The DOTr emphasizes that even as the department and its attached agencies work on improving the operations of the country’s first ‘landport,’ concessionaire MWM Terminals must uphold its shared responsibility as a private sector partner to provide the Filipinos the service they deserve.”

—DOTr Statement

Monreal said the stakeholders and other airport users have to observe some cultural change, such as not feeling offended when being subjected to body frisking.

“We have no problem dealing with passengers with regard to this cultural problem among them, but some airport employees feel they don’t have to be subjected to close examination and sometimes ignore or insult the screeners.”

Monreal appealed to all concerned to cooperate with the security inspectors when warranted.

“Standards are there so the global community will

have a common reference point,” he said, adding that the airport security protocols “meet, if not exceed, the standards set by the International Civil Av iation Organization [Icao].”

The TSA, during an exit briefing with Miaa officials last December 3, noted the 16 “inconsistencies,” seven of which include the background check of all employees employed or working at the Naia. The remaining nine issues are not as pressing as the seven other issues, Monreal said.

To speed up the background check of employees and airport workers, the Miaa has invited the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to set up an office at the Naia, instead of forcing employees and airport workers to go to their headquarters in Manila.

One of the loopholes the TSA noted was the absence of locks at some airport gates at Terminal 3.

While waiting for the locks to be repaired, the airport authority has assigned guards to man the gates 24/7, which the TSA did not agree to, saying that human nature is subject to lapses, and a guard could sometimes ignore

Deficit. . .

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This is 11 percent higher than the P1.621 trillion recorded in Januar y-toNovember 2017.

BTr figures also showed that the Bureau of Customs collected P47.9 billion in November, 3 percent higher than last year’s P46.4 billion.

The November figure propelled the BOC’s total collection during the 11-month period to expand by 30 percent year-on-year.

The income of the BTr, considered as nontax revenues, improved by 10 percent to P4.7 billion.

Despite the higher revenue collection of the national government, its fiscal position still ended up with a wider deficit as disbursements also accelerated

his post.

Also found wanting is the provision of emergency doors “with a standard audible alarm system capable of alarming in a centralized command center.”

“The airport is very, very safe. We have not received any direct threat against the Miaa,” Monreal was pressed to say publicly before a television camera, to assure the public that the findings are not life threatening.

Following the release of the TSA concern over the facilities at the main gateway, the US Embassy in Manila said it was “collaborating closely” with the Philippines to improve aviation security.”

US Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim said in a statement: “Philippine authorities have worked diligently to improve security measures and we fully expect that they will soon meet Icao security standards.”

T he D O Tr s a id on Wednesday it was giving “utmost priority and attention to the implementation of strict security measures” at the Naia.

Tugade also ordered the hiring of additional g uards for round-t heclock duty. during the period.

In particular, national government disbursements reached P298.9 billion in November, 19 percent or P46.7 billion higher compared with spending performance in the same period last year.

This pushed the resulting year-to-date expenditures to P3.1 trillion, 24 percent higher than the previous year’s level.

Interest payments (IP) in November rose by 20 percent year-on-year to P24.7 billion. The government attributed this mainly to discounts of reissued bond series and valuation effect of year-on-year peso depreciation.

This led to a total IP of P320 billion from January to November, 10 percent higher than the total IP posted for the same period in 2017.

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WORKING SINGLE MOMS ‘BEAR HEAVIER BURDEN’ Continued from A8

“The changing age structure of our population calls for the review of our current policy and program initiatives to ensure that they are responsive to the needs of every age group. Likewise, there is a need to review the current population management program to align it to the challenges of changing age structure,”Perez said in a statement.

However, the Popcom said the number of births in 2017 was reported by the PSA to be at the lowest in the last 10 years at 1.7 million, a decline of 1.8 percent in the crude birth rate of 2016.

The number of Filipinos born per day went down to 4,659 from 4,730 in 2016, or 194 per hour or just over three babies per minute. PSA birth data also showed a continuing decline in adolescent births (where those giving birth are aged 15 to 19) in 2017 to 196,478 from 201,182, a decline of 2.3 percent.

However, while adolescent births declined, the pregnancies among the

DOT. . .

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In a news statement, the DHS said Naia, “does not maintain and carry out effective security consistent with the security standards established by the International Civil Aviation Organization.” Icao is an agency of the United Nations that codifies policies that govern the global aviation industry and air transport agencies.

The DHS added: “This determination was based on assessments by a team of security experts from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).”

In response, the DOT assured the international community, that“the Philippines remains a safe haven for our visitors and residents alike,” even as it respects the pronouncement of the DHS and findings of the TSA. “ The management and sec urit y officers of the Manila International Airport Authority, together with the Department of Transportation under the leadership of

Construction. . .

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The labor chief reiterated that the government will conduct a job fair in Saudi Arabia to entice Filipino construction workers to come home because they are needed in the government’s “Build, Build, Build” infrastructure program.

Bello also said the DOLE is working closely with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) to address the job mismatch problem; and the Department of Education to train potential labor entrants, particularly through its K to 12 program.

The DOLE undertook these initiatives after a study it conducted revealed that 3 out of every 10 young job applications lack the essential “soft” skills needed by employers.

“Soft skills” are defined as personal attributes, personality, traits, inherent social cues and communication abilities needed for success on the job.

Because of this, the DOLE said many firms are unable to fill up their available vacancies, prompting many of them to put up their own socioemotional skills training.

Leoncio. . .

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involving the infrastructure projects in question.” These projects include the P10-billion allocation to Sorsogon this year, most of which were allegedly amassed

by CT Leoncio.

“I also want to know if the bidding has started for the P325 million projects funded by the budget department for next year that are allotted for one town alone: Casiguran, Sorsogon. These projects were included in the P75 billion inserted by the budget department in the National Expenditure Program submitted to Congress,” Andaya said.

He claimed the new projects in Casiguran are part again of the controversial flood-control prog ra m , wh ic h i nc lude t he

very young (those between 10 and 15) had spiked.

“Since 2011 we have noted an increasing trend of births among very young adolescents aged 10 to under 15, and this has continued in 2017 with 2,077 very young adolescents giving birth. This means there has been a 50percent increase in very young adolescent births since 2011 [when there were 1,381 births in the age group] and calls for community and local action to address this social and health emergency,” Perez, however, said.

Meanwhile, Popcom said the Philippine population will again increase to 108.89 million by the end of 2019.

This was based on the latest population census of 2015 released by the PSA. The number of Filipinos considered of working age will increase by over 1.43 million, reaching 70.12 million by the end of 2019. The number of Filipinos outside the working age will also increase by 363,043—growing to 38.48 million from 38.12 million in 2018.

Secretary [Arthur P.] Tugade, have committed to positively address this concern. We are confident in their capabilities to handle this issue and we are ready to help them in any way to expedite the resolution,” the DOT said in its own news statement.

The agenc y said it was closely coordinating with the Philippine National Police and the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, which is tasked to oversee our aviation security.

“Both agencies have repeatedly assured the DOT of their readiness to assess and respond to threats to ensure the safety and security of our tourists, both domestic and international,” the tourism agency stressed.

Due to the TSA report, the DHS instructed airlines issuing passage between the US and Manila to notify their passengers in writing about the TSA findings. “The advisory must be placed prominently at all US airports that provide regular service to the Naia.”

Another airport that services flights from the US is the Mactan International Airport. It is not covered by the travel advisory.

The department had earlier said they are trying to address these problems through programs, such as Jobstart, to give the youth soft-skills training.

The labor chief also revealed during the briefing that the Employers Confederation of the Philippines (Ecop) has made an initial commitment of regularizing 40 percent of the employees of its member-companies.

“When we received that communication, I was shocked...because this is a big development.

No less than the employers themselves are offering to regularize employees and they’re starting with 40 percent of their employees.

This is unexpected,” Bello said.

However, he said they still need to thresh out some details as they still have to know how soon Ecop will be able to regularize the rest of their employees.

“Hopefully, we can receive a response from them and find out how soon they intend to regularize all their employees,” Bello said.

In exchange for this, the DOLE said they will declare a moratorium on inspections once the government and employers agree on a regularization plan.

Bello has also reported that more than 411,000 contractual workers were regularized by their employers as of September.

Himaoyon Flood Control (P75 million); Lungib Seawall and Embankment (P80 million); Somal-ot Seawall and Embankment (P100 million); Cagpagol River Control (P45 million); and Suji River Control (P25 million).

The subpoenaed individuals are tasked to attend House hearing on January 3. The committee that sent out the order has already sought the assistance of the national police to locate them and serve the subpoena.

Andaya has been accusing Budget Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno of favoring his relatives in handing out contracts on infrastructure projects in Sorsogon. “The public works department has to explain to us why flood-control projects are ‘flooding’ in Casiguran, the town headed by Edwin Hamor, the father-in-law of Diokno’s daughter,” Andaya said.

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The Nation BusinessMirror

Editors: Vittorio V. Vitug • Friday, December 28, 2018

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Duterte hikes bounty for Batocabe killers to ₧50M

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OLLOWING three successive incidents of killings in Daraga, Albay, weeks before the start of the election period, local officials of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) have recommended to place the municipality under the poll body’s control.

President Duterte, meanwhile, asked the Comelec to likewise place Daraga, and also the town of Guimbal in Iloilo, under its control

to contain what he termed as a possible spillover of violence.

In his visit in the wake of slain AKO Bicol Party-list Rep. Rodel

Batocabe in Daraga, Duterte also raised the bounty—from P20 million to P50 million—for the identification and arrest of the two gunmen and the mastermind of the twin killings.

Duterte said the Comelec should place Daraga under its control in the rundown to the May midterm elections, and had also asked the poll body to include the town of Guimbal in the Western Visayas island of Panay. (See related story below) At a news conference on Thursday, Comelec Spokesman James B. Jimenez revealed that election field officers have proposed to the Comelec main office to take control of Daraga town by January 13, 2019, to address the “atmosphere

of fear and anxiety” in the area due to the unresolved killings.

“The concern of our local field official[s] is it might lead to an increase to violence. As it is, there is already intense political rivalry in the area,” Jimenez said.

Concerns over the security in Daraga were recently raised following Batocabe’s murder, along with his police bodyguard and two other killing incidents in Daraga over the weekend.

“The problem in Daraga is they cannot trace the perpetrators. And because of that, speculation is running wild. This…[had raised the concern of] our field officials,” Jimenez said.

Authorities are still investigating the incident, but the family of

Batocabe suspects the incident is politically motivated since he is participating in the 2019 mayoralty race in Daraga.

Jimenez said the Comelec en banc has yet to decide on the recommendation of their field officials as of Thursday.

“We expect the decision will come out on or before January 13, [2019], which is the start of the election period. But it may also come out at [a] later date if Comelec… needs to further study the recommendation,” Jimenez said.

If Daraga is placed under Comelec control, the poll body will have supervision control over all national and local officials in the area, as well as its law-enforcement agencies.

Jimenez explained Comelec tries to limit the use of the said power since it tends to be disruptive in the administrative operation of local governments. He said Comelec will soon be forming a committee to oversee all the areas it will take over for the 2019 polls, which have intense political rivalries resulting to violent acts.

“There is still no committee for now since there is no area under Comelec control and the election period has yet to start. But this is already in the order of business of Comelec especially with the recommendation [regarding Daraga],” Jimenez said. Samuel P. Medenilla, Manuel T. Cayon and Bernadette D. Nicolas

PNP chief cancels Garin’s gun licenses after mauling incident

By Rene Acosta

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@reneacostaBM

HILIPPINE National Police (PNP) chief Director General Oscar Albayalde ordered on Thursday the cancellation of gun licenses issued to Iloilo Rep. Richard Garin and his father, Guimbal Mayor Oscar Garin, following the reported mauling of a policeman at a public plaza in the province.

President Duterte, meanwhile, said he has ordered the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) to file charges against the father-andson political duo of Iloilo’s First District.

“Effective today, I have ordered the cancellation of all Permits to Carry Firearms outside of Residence [PTC-

FOR] and License to Own and Possess Firearms [LTOPF] issued by the PNP in favor of Iloilo First District Rep. Richard Garin, husband of controversial former Health Secretary Janette Garin, and incumbent Mayor Oscar Garin of Guimbal, Iloilo, as an administrative action [related] to their involvement in a criminal case involving the use of firearms,” said Albayalde.

“Rep. Richard Garin and Mayor Oscar Garin will be duly notified of this administrative sanction to their privilege to own and possess firearms pursuant to Republic Act [RA] 10591, and will be commanded to immediately turn in all their registered firearms to the PNP,” Albayalde added.

The father-and-son team are respondents to a criminal complaint that would be filed by PO3 Federico Macaya Jr. of Guimbal Police Station for physical injuries, assault upon a person in authority, alarm and scandal, grave coercion and grave threats.

The complaints arose from the injuries sustained by Macaya when he was allegedly handcuffed, manhandled, slapped and spat upon on his face and threatened at gunpoint by Representative Garin and his father on Wednesday outside the municipal hall of Guimbal.

Albayalde said the PNP has the mandate to cancel the permits and licenses to the Garins, being the regulatory agency for firearms ownership

and possession as provided under RA 10591, or the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act. Under Section 39 of the Implementing Rules and Regulations of RA 10591, the PNP chief or his authorized representative may revoke, cancel or suspend firearms license or permit on the grounds of commission of a crime, or offense involving firearms.

The PNP said that Representative Garin is a registered owner of 11 firearms, three of which have expired licenses, while Mayor Garin owns eight registered firearms, five of which also have expired licenses.

“All these firearms are now subject to confiscation upon revocation of their

License to Own and Possess Firearms, effectively making them ineligible to own and possess guns,” said Albayalde.

The PNP chief said that as an exofficio member of the National Police Commission, he would also endorse to the commission en banc the recommendation of the Police Regional Office 6 for the withdrawal of the Napolcom deputation of Mayor Oscar Garin to exercise supervision and control over the local police of Guimbal.

The DILG said it would slap the mayor with administrative sanctions by stripping him of his authority over the local police force.

“What the congressman and the mayor did was abuse of authority and

display of arrogance; a conduct unbecoming of men in authority and welldeserving of punishment. I will not tolerate this kind of behavior and will order the removal of Mayor Garin’s deputation authority over the Guimbal police once the investigation results are out,” Interior Secretary Eduardo M. Año said. He added that appropriate criminal and administrative cases will be filed against the Garins in the Office of the Ombudsman or the courts as soon as the investigations are concluded.

“The President himself was so disappointed and I will ensure that his order to file cases against the Garins will be complied with immediately,” he said. With Bernadette D. Nicolas

A4 Friday, December 28, 2018

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2019 polls have medium to low impact on PHL economy–Moody’s research arm

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By Bianca Cuaresma @BcuaresmaBM

HE upcoming May midterm elections has medium to low impact on the country’s overall economic health and financial market conditions, an international think tank said.

In its Global Event Risk Calendar released just recently, Moody’s Analytics, the research arm of Moody’s Corp., assigned a “medium” economic importance to the upcoming general elections in May. The events were ranked according to key domestic economic and market risk, with “high” having the largest impact and “low” with

the least impact.

In terms of financial market risk, the think tank gave the elections a “low” risk.

This is slightly different from the country’s neighbor, Indonesia, which is also holding its general elections in April 2019. Moody’s Analytics assigned “medium” to both economic importance and fi-

nancial market risk to the elections in the country.

Moody’s Analytics economist for the Philippines Katrina Ell explained to the BusinessMirror the rationale behind the ratings.

“We attached a medium economic importance because politics has the ability to influence and alter the economic outlook in Southeast Asia, including the Philippines,” Ell said.

“There are a number of positions being contested at the May elections, including all seats in the House of Representatives and 12 seats in the Senate, so we’ll be keeping watch for potential economic impacts, mostly around policy-making,” she added.

A “low” financial market risk rating has been given to the upcoming Philippine elections, meanwhile, due to its nature.

“The election is occurring midway through the Presidential term, and usually, we don’t see much of a financial market impact unless the Presidential position is up for

contention,” Ell said.

Earlier this month, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Deputy Governor Diwa C. Guinigundo said the “unavoidable interaction” between economics and politics is usually a “very important but often overlooked” aspect of policy-making.

“Political issues can potentially cause a systematic grit on the wheels of policy-making and alter their intended outcomes,” Guinigundo said.

“Similarly, suboptimal economic policies can potentially fuel discontent among the public, which could lead to adverse political events that can at times have widespread and enduring effects on the broader economy,” he added.

The country is expected to hold its 2019 general election on May 13. On that day, 12 seats in the Senate of the Philippines will be up for election, as well as all seats in the House of Representatives and all provincial, city and municipal level positions.

New Year’s resolutions Central Bank exempts for association leaders Specialized Institutional Accounts from RR and members

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NEW Year’s resolution is a tradition that a person does to change an undesired trait or behavior, to accomplish a personal goal, or to improve his or her life.

I believe association leaders and members, too, need to prepare some kind of a resolution for the year. Here are 12 resolutions for association leaders and members: For association leaders: n Plan the year ahead. Draw up a calendar of activities—training programs, meetings, networking events, publications issuance, others—so your members can also schedule their time. n Set goals. Determine the pressi ng c h a l lenges you a re facing—e.g., board attendance, membership dues payment, recruitment and engagement, and revenue generation—prioritize them and provide solutions. n C re ate f resh of fer i ng s.

Members aspire for new services, be it a seminar or a publication covering new topics, a loyalty or rewards program, or anything that they need and relevant to their work. n Adopt current technologies.

No matter how simple—a mobile app, an online learning session, a video presentation—will make members feel updated and appreciative that their association is embracing new tools for them to use. n Communicate more with members. A phone call, a text message, an e-mail and more important, a face-to-face meeting, help build rapport and camaraderie. A birthday or a special occasion greeting in whatever mode of delivery will go a long way with your members. n Hear your members out. It’s always a good way to listen what members say. Conduct a service feedback survey, a training needs study, or set up an “idea box.” In the end, the members know better what they want.

For association members: n Be involved. An association is a community where sameminded individuals meet, greet, learn, share and celebrate together. It enriches your volunteerism

Association World Octavio Peralta and civic-mindedness as a social being and as a citizen. n Expand your network. Be it for work or studies, it helps to belong to a group with the same passion, cause or advocacy. You never know when you will need assistance, leads or contacts to enhance whatever you are doing. n Learn more in your field.

Associations provide unique continuing education opportunities not available elsewhere. Learning from practitioners is always a better option. n “ M i c r o - v o lu nt e e r ’ ”y o u r time and expertise. There is no need to leave the house to contribute to your association. You can write an article, call comembers to attend meetings and other small things. n Become an ambassador. You can say good things about the work and advocacy of your association in social media, face-toface meetings and friendly gatherings. n Take a break. Join your association’s out-of-town conferences, boot camps or teambuilding activities, which are calming and great energy boosters.

The contributor, Octavio “Bobby” Peralta, is concurrently the secretary-general of the Association of Development Financing Institutions in Asia and the Pacific (Adfiap), founder and CEO of the Philippine Council of Associations and Association Executives (PCA AE) and president of the Asia-Pacific Federation of Association Organizations (Apfao).

The purpose of PCAAE—the “association of associations”—is to advance the association management profession and to make associations well-governed and sustainable.

PCA AE enjoys the support of Adfiap, the Tourism Promotions Board (TPB) and the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC).

E-mail: obp@adfiap.org

FILE PHOTO

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HE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) on Thursday announced its decision to exclude Specialized Institutional Accounts under Trust (SIT) from being subject to reser ve requirements (RR).

The amendment came after the Monetary Board approved existing regulations on Trust and Other Fiduciary Account-Others to include SIT among the accounts that are exempt from RRs. The BSP said this move is seen to benefit the accounts established by institutions, foundations agencies, whether government or private (e.g., NGOs) registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission or the Cooperative Development Authority.

These accounts are primarily established for charitable, religious,

educational, athletic, scientific, medical, cultural, specialized lending or developmental projects, or such other purposes of similar nature.

Prior to the amendment, these accounts were subject to reserve requirements of 16 percent for universal and commercial banks, 8 percent for thrift banks and 4 percent for rural banks.

The reserve requirement ratio is one of the Central Bank’s liquidity tools to control monetary conditions in the country. It is the portion of depositors’ balances that banks are asked to keep idle in the BSP’s vaults as reserves.

R eser ve requ i rement s u sually affect the earnings potential of the account since these reserves cannot be used for investment and are only parked in the Central Bank. Bianca Cuaresma

EastWest open to serve customers on December 31

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LT HOUGH December 31 has been declared a special nonworking holiday, EastWest will have select branches that will be open to serve customers on this day, although on shortened banking hours only.

The following EastWest stores will be open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Monday of December 31; 168 Mall, Baclaran (New Galleria), Cebu-Park Ma l l, Festiva l Ma l l (Levels 1 & 2), Greenhills Shopping Center, Bicutan-East Service Road (Waltermart) and Tagaytay City

(The Fora). Meanwhile, EastWest store in Santo Cristo, Binondo, will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on December 29 (Saturday).

A ll EastWest stores will be closed on New Year’s Day (January 1).

Nonetheless, customers can c hec k ba l a nces, pay bi l ls a nd t ra n sfer f u nd s 24 /7 t h rou g h E a s t W e s t ’s o n l i n e b a n k i n g facility.

EastWest automated teller macine terminals will also be operational round-the-clock during the holiday season.

A6 Friday, December 28, 2018 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

editorial

2019: The next 30 days

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HERE is an “old wives’ tale”—or more accurately an “old stockbrokers’ tale”—that says that an investor can predict the direction of the stock market for the full year by how it does during the first five trading days of January.

Unfortunately, the old stockbrokers are not correct. An upward move by the Philippine Stock Exchange Composite Index on the first five trading days of 2017 did prove to foreshadow a yearly close higher than 2016. However, for every other first week of trading since 2013, the market did not follow the January rule.

Perhaps, though, this is one of those “Onli in da Pilipins” things where rules are sometimes meant to be broken. Maybe it is true for the New York Stock Exchange.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average index dates back to May 26, 1896 and since then, when the Dow was up during the first five days, the market ended the year higher 69 percent of the time. When down, the yearly close was lower 58 percent of the time. The statistical problem is that since 1896, the Dow has ended higher 65 percent of those years and closed lower 35 percent.

Further, over the last four years, the pattern has been just the reverse of what it was supposed to be, according to the old stockbrokers. Since 1970, the odds of an “up” year were even higher following a down Dow over the first five days of January. That is called a “contrary indicator.”

If you looked at the Dow performance during the first five days of every month, April and May have stronger predictive powers than January.

Nonetheless, the next 30 days may actually reveal what our stock market is going to do, at least what we need to be concerned about for the coming year. Some critical economic data is scheduled for release beginning on Wednesday, January 2, 2019, as most of us return from the New Year holiday.

All the data will give a reasonably clear picture of the momentum we have going into 2019. At 8:30 in the morning, the Nikkei manufacturing index will come out for December, giving us an indication of how strong we were at making things. For November the index was at 54.2—anything over 50 shows growth—and the forecast is a fall to 52.5.

Also on Wednesday we will see the numbers for the Retail Price Index, which fell in November. This is slightly different from the inflation rate as it measures the prices of a basket of goods rather than the change in the prices.

But not to worry. The core inflation rate number for December comes out on Monday, January 7th. It increased 5.10 percent in November over the same month in the previous year. We may be in for a shock this time.

The current estimate—for whatever it is worth—from a panel of international observers is for a core inflation rate of 3.8 percent.

The broader based inflation rate that we are most familiar with will be given at the same time. It was 6 percent for November and the estimate from the same group is for inflation to fall to 5.3 percent for December.

That would probably shoot the local stock market higher.

January 7th will be a big data day as also the Balance of Trade results for November and the amount of the government holdings of Foreign Reserves will be announced. Then we will have to wait until January 23rd for the biggest number of all—the rate of the fourth quarter and yearly economic growth. Happy January 2019.

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BETTER DAYS

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OR one of its 2018 year-ender publications, the New York Times asked a panel of experts and thinkers the question: have we (as a society) left something important behind? The assumption was that 2018 was fraught with anxiety, controversy and disruptions that something vital to American society must have been lost amid the frenzy. Something similar could be done here.

But instead of looking for what has been left behind, perhaps it’s better to list what we shouldn’t lose sight of as 2019 comes along. n First is that while ours is among the region’s oldest democracies, there are still many areas where it can be improved upon. Our democracy is a flawed one, at least according to the 2018 Democracy Index of the Economist Intelligence Unit where we ranked 51st out of 167 countries. Meanwhile, Freedom House continues to categorize us as “partly free” in its Freedom in the World report. While we can reasonably expect the upcoming elections to be more energetic and vibrant than ever, these rankings only highlight that there’s more to a flourishing democracy than an entire people regularly exercising their right to suffrage.

n Another is the continuous erosion of the rule of law throughout the country. In February 2018, the World Justice Project noted that we exhibited the biggest drop between its 2016 and 2018 Rule of Law Index reports—falling 18 positions to land at 88th out of 133 countries. This isn’t to say that no steps are being taken—only that more decisive ones are needed to solve this perennial problem of impunity. n The third is our economy. Ours does remain among the fastest growing in the region and appears to have weathered the turbulence posed by high inflation and geopolitical tensions. But some analysts, such as those from Deutsche

Meghan L. O’Sullivan

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Bank, have recently expressed concerns that the Philippine economy could be on the verge of overheating—where production is not able to keep up with the demand, which in turn leads to a sharp spike in prices. n A fourth issue concerns the health and nutrition of our people. Significant reforms such as the Universal Health Care law, the First 1,000 Days Act and the National Integrated Cancer Control Act may soon be enacted or implemented.

But our people’s lives will continue to be jeopardized if we do not curb malnutrition and solve food insecurity throughout the country.

Recall how in the latter part of 2018, many were concerned about the importation of galunggong—a vital source of protein in the Filipino diet. According to Undersecretary Eduardo E. Gongona from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, local galunggong production has been in the decline in the last five years, with the 125,000 metric tons of fish locally produced failing to meet the 300,000 MT demanded by Filipino households. This is but one of the many issues hounding our food security that desperately needs our attention in the coming year.

A fifth issue that shouldn’t drop out of our radars is job creation. Recently, noted survey firm Gallup released its potential net migration index and found that

the Philippines’s adult population could drop by 9 percent due to the out-migration of homegrown talent.

The pollster further found that up to 16 percent of our highly educated people—those who have completed at least some levels of college—are likely to leave for greener pastures elsewhere.

This echoes a 2017 Asian Development Bank report, which found that of all the 2.79 million tertiaryeducated Asean nationals who migrated to Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries between 2010 and 2011, 1.55 million—or 55.3 percent—were Filipinos. We sent abroad the biggest number of educated professionals, comprising a significant brain drain.

In fact, we sent to OECD countries a little more than three times as many as the second largest exporting Asean country—Vietnam, with 539,000. We need to arrest this brain drain immediately.

2019 may just be wracked with even more controversy and disruption than 2018—especially with the upcoming elections. But amid the upcoming frenzy, we shouldn’t lose track of the issues listed above.

Sen. Sonny M. Angara was elected in 2013, and is now the chairman of the Senate Committees on Local Government, and Ways and Means.

E-mail: sensonnyangara@yahoo.com|Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @sonnyangara.

Trump’s Iraq visit doesn’t fix harm he did

Lourdes M. Fernandez

Ruben M. Cruz Jr. Angel R. Calso

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What we shouldn’t forget in 2019

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HE move of President Donald J. Trump to visit Baghdad on Wednesday is a small, good one, amid a week of calamitous decisions. The press will understandably highlight the time that Trump spends with US troops. Yet a key objective of the trip will have been to shore up the new Iraqi government’s confidence in the US, as Iraqi officials must be high on the list of those shocked by the president’s recent decisions to rapidly withdraw US forces from Syria and Afghanistan. Perhaps the president has realized that his administration has some hard work to do if there is any hope of keeping his latest determinations from dramatically strengthening Iran.

The Middle East is a complicated place, where generations of American presidents and policy-makers have struggled to prioritize competing interests, balance delicate relationships and manage inevitable trade-offs. Yet Trump’s actions and words—at least until last week—made it clear that his highest priority was on containing and punishing Iran in an effort to get Tehran to the negotiating table to reach a new, sweeping agreement on both its nuclear program and its other destabilizing

behavior in the region.

Other priorities in US Middle East policy have suffered to some extent as a result of this near-myopic focus on Iran. The desire to have Saudi Arabia as a strong partner in containing Iran has been an important part of shaping Trump’s calculus toward Riyadh—which has involved a near pass on behaviors that would normally be seen as unacceptable, such as the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and its conduct in the war on Yemen (until

Congress recently stepped in).

Moreover, the focus on Iran has put the new government in Baghdad in unnecessary and challenging situations, at a time when Washington should be making every investment in its success. The Trump administration has only grudgingly granted two 45-day waivers to Iraq for its continued importation of Iranian natural gas (opposed to the 180 days others received). The Iraqi government has placed valuable time and political capital into facing the choice between being subject to US sanctions or losing the energy source that powers nearly a third of Iraq’s electricity.

Nevertheless, while one might not have agreed on the wisdom of making Iran so central to US foreign policy in the Middle East, at least the above trade-offs could be debated around policy views and threat assessments. Serious professionals could disagree. This is no longer the case. Trump, in his recent announcement to draw down troops from Syria and Afghanistan, is taking steps that work against all of his professed goals with Iran—for no apparent gain elsewhere.

First, an American withdrawal from Syria will remove a curb on nefarious Iranian activity in the region and open up new opportunities for Iran to embed itself in various countries there. The US presence in Syria, although small, has helped curb the activities of Iran and

its ally Hezbollah. It has also helped frustrate Iran’s ability to establish a land bridge connecting Iran to the Mediterranean and, as a result, has limited Iranian regional interventions. With the US vacating Syria, Iran will now be well positioned to compete for territory currently held by US partners, and Hezbollah will be able to make a stronger stand near Israel.

Second, the withdrawal will make achieving the administration’s declared goal of a tougher, more comprehensive agreement with Tehran all but unimaginable. Getting Tehran to meet a fraction of Secretary of State Michael Pompeo’s “12 demands”—including a full withdrawal of Iranian forces from Syria—was always going to be tough.

But American diplomats will be particularly challenged to produce Iranian concessions in a situation where the United States has even less leverage due to the withdrawal of its troops.

American influence in the region will also be weakened, and Iran’s enhanced, by the probable outcome in Afghanistan. In any negotiation with the Taliban, America’s greatest leverage is its troop presence, given the Taliban’s intense focus on getting the US troops to leave. However, now, the president has begun to meet the Taliban’s main demand before any real talks get under

See “O’Sullivan,” A7

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Opinion

A better 2019

Taxation, redemption and the first Christmas

BusinessMirror

Alvin Ang

Tito Genova Valiente

EAGLE WATCH

ANNOTATIONS

DAY after Christmas 2018, the economy seemed to have shrugged the inflation woes it faced for the most part of 2018. The government has done a good job ensuring that prices of basic commodities, particularly rice, remain stable especially in this festive month of December. As the season is about to end, people now shift their attention to what is ahead. A better 2019 definitely is the battlecry of every person. If we are to look at the recent Consumer Expectations Survey released by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), we are seeing a weak sentiment entering the first quarter of 2019. People remain wary of high prices and lower income that they expect to persist through next year.

Meanwhile, the counterpart Business Expectations Survey also reflected declines in business confidence in the coming first quarter of 2019. Cited as reasons are rising input prices, weak peso and higher interest rates.

HOEVER have thought that taxation would be the beginning of the redemption of humankind?

If we are to believe the ancient chronicles, it was the command from the Romans for all Jews to go back to their birthplaces and inscribe their names on the taxation lists that brought the first Christmas to where it was. Joseph had to take his wife, Mary, to Bethlehem, for this purpose. The order must have been a strict one and the punishment for not following it was harsh that Joseph had to make the difficult journey. Remember that, by this time, Mary was already about to give birth.

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Our analysis at the Ateneo Center for Economic Research and Development shows that the pulse of consumers and business alike are real challenges that could affect the projected economic growth for 2019 and beyond. As it is now clear that inflation in 2018 was for the most part caused by supply gaps, it is imperative that the government sustains its current approach in ensuring stable prices through the administrative orders on price monitoring, relaxation of import restrictions, among others. The anticipated passage of the rice tariffication bill into law is expected to ensure that rice will be available and affordable. The other perceived source of inflation was the surge in oil prices, which peaked in September this year. The geopolitical nature of oil has swung its prices from highs to lows and we are now benefiting from its low levels, forcing the government to rethink its earlier pronouncement of the suspension of the second oil tax increase under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion law. Whatever the decision of government will be, it must ensure that no undue oil supply constraints will occur as people are now used to market-based oil prices. Our view is that inflation in 2019 will taper to average about 3.75. This is assuming that rice and other food commodities supplies are stable and that oil prices do not swing as much as it did this year.

A possible dampener in the economic momentum is the increasing trade deficit. While it is not necessarily bad for the economy to import heavily, particularly its capital and infrastructure requirements, the weak exports and its limited products has increased the deficit considerably. With remittances normalizing growth at about 3 percent and contributions from business-process outsourcing slowing to below double-digit levels and tourism still remaining below $10 billion, the fundamental value of the peso is pressured to weaken.

We see it averaging to about 53.50 to 54 for 2019, from about 52.50 for 2018.

Interest rates, meanwhile, are already in the uptick since October 2018. However, as inflation starts to decline, we expect the BSP to no longer increase rates in the short term. Nonetheless, the non-passage of the 2019 Budget will force the national government to borrow more domestically in the first quarter, and this could push the 91-day Treasury bills to more than 6 percent. As it is, the 91-day Treasury bills are already in their five-year high of about 5.35 percent as of the middle of December. This is because of the fund requirements of the “Build, Build, Build” program and other committed expenditures that cannot be funded under a reenacted budget. Thus, it is imperative that Congress pass the budget soonest, otherwise this could result to a revaluing of corporate and household debts, which may eventually be passed on as higher prices by producers. The middle class, which entered into a number of consumer loans, particularly housing and vehicles, will be negatively affected by such a situation. This could put in jeopardy the decade-old outstanding nonperforming loans ratio of below 2 percent. Hence, it will be critical for the national government to bring back the short term interest rates to below 5 percent before another revaluation is made by the financial sector in the second quarter.

What about the GDP growth? Our view is that for 2018, the growth will be 6.3 percent at best. This is not necessarily bad, though it is indeed slower than the past five years. A recent paper by the Asian Development Bank showed that the Philippines is growing at just about its potential growth. For 2019, we expect it to grow at about the same rate, assuming interest rates will not go beyond 6 percent for the rest of the year and it might even go to 6.5 percent due to election spending. All told, the growth momentum will continue and the sooner the infrastructures are completed, the higher the potential growth will be. Here is wishing everyone a better 2019 indeed!

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Bethlehem was full of people then.

There was no room in any of the inns.

Or, if there were, those rooms must have been reserved way ahead by people who could afford the deposit, if there was a need for that. Obviously, Joseph had no means to be able to pay his way to a nice hotel. And, if we are to agree with the imagination of painters especially those in the Renaissance, then the manger was a tough place for a lying-in clinic.

The painting, Nativity with San Lorenzo and San Francesco, shows the child Jesus on the ground, with just a piece of cloth and a few straw between Him and the earth. The painting pays tribute to Saint Francis and Saint Lawrence, a martyr during the persecution of Christians in third century AD. A lone shepherd witnesses the event, with his presence almost eased out by the painter, Caravaggio’s preference for the two saints to be more prominent in the tableau.

Caravaggio’s painting was stolen in the late ’60s and the theft is attributed to the Mafia.

Albrecht Aldorfer, a German architect, engraver and painter, did a Nativity scene that looks very modern in its depiction of ruins as ruins look and not in the decorative way common during the 16th century. Not even the odd figures of Angels seemingly floating above the ruins and the stasis of what looks like a massive star can diminish the verismo of this imaginary. Mary, Joseph and Jesus look like they are stuck in a bombed-out shelter. The bricks are cruel and unforgiving in their destructive state. The Holy Family under the beams formed by the red stones are almost imprisoned un-

O’Sullivan. . . continued from A6

way. A return to civil war is, sadly, not out of the question. While Iran would not welcome such chaos, it will cheer the departure of US troops from its eastern flank, having long complained about the “encirclement” it has felt since 9/11.

Iran, nevertheless, has plenty of reasons to go through the motions of dialogue. If Trump is willing to jeopardize US interests to change the news cycle, perhaps a country with diplomats as clever and far-sighted as those in Iran can manipulate the president to agree to arrangements that actually serve Iran’s long-term interests in the region? Iran

Live with simplicity and humility Rev. Fr. Antonio Cecilio T. Pascual

SERVANT LEADER

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BLESSED Christmas!

It has been centuries since we first started celebrating as Christians the day of birth of Jesus, the God made man because of His love for us and for our salvation.

It was simple and peaceful, the day when Jesus was born. According to the Gospel, Mary has reached Bethlehem to bear a son; along with Joseph, they knocked on doors, hoping for a safe place to stay.

However, none of the people helped them, and Mary and Joseph went to a manger where Jesus Christ was

born. Meanwhile, an angel told the nearby shepherds the good news.

It said: “I bear good news. A savior is born in your midst. He is Lord Jesus Christ.” And more angels came and rejoiced, “Glory to God almighty, the land at peace, and the people with joy.” The shepherds immediately went to the manger.

Friday, December 28, 2018 A7

After they saw the infant Jesus, they started spreading the news about what they have witnessed.

Again, it was a simple and quiet coming of God to the world. It was neither ornate nor glamorous, rather a longed for event.

It was quite different from the old ways, the way we celebrate Christmas today: Distressing, loud and chaotic. In the metropolis, malls and stores are always filled with people looking to buy new things as gifts. We prioritize earthly treasures instead of the food for our soul. We spend more of our time in festivities and Christmas parties, and less in prayer or worship, when we should be thankful for the blessings we receive.

Apart from the commercialization of Christmas that takes away our time and attention from its real meaning, we are also surrounded

derneath, waiting for redemption even as the great Redeemer in its infancy is there with them, almost obscured by the cherubs hoisting the baby up, away from the ground.

Unless the painter is delineating the Three Magis, the Nativity seems to favor the first comers, the Shepherd. Or where the Star has not yet led the humble to the crib, the birth of Christ is reduced to Joseph and Mary, if not Mary alone with the baby.

There are many more illustrations of the First Christmas. What these drawings, engravings and images do is present the story, from where all celebrations of Christmas originate.

This was our topic a day after Christmas. At the lobby of the hotel where I holed myself in, I, with another good friend, met a young priest who is a friend of this friend I was with. A good red wine allowed us to seek more candor.

To this air of warmth, the priest began what I thought his burden about the parishioner’s expectations. He told us out there in the mountains or in more isolated parishes, the Christians/Catholics expect more from the priest compared to those who reside in the urban area.

I could not believe my ears. The rural communities have always been pictured by many, including the churches in the cosmopolitan areas, to be docile. But from this young priest, we are getting this news that out there, Christian families look to the priest to do many things for them.

Perhaps, I asked, you are not communicating to your people (the reference to a kingdom is not a pun) enough? To this the priest said, the Church is com-

municating to the faithful without fail.

Our discussion then brought us to the concept of the Church as a communicator.

Why do bishops always speak from such a lofty and august perch? And why do they present such terrible and terrifically difficult requirements to be a good Christian? The priest then explained to us how these bishops are really talking to the priests so that the latter could clarify the messages to the people. Quite a circuitous way, isn’t it?

Why, indeed, do bishops talk above the heads of those who believe they are part of the basic Christian communities?

Perhaps, the institutional Catholic Church is forgetting their past. Historically, the church we have is a legacy of European invaders. Historically, too, we kept denying the believers this truth about the Church as having a European past.

The colonizers, bringing with them the new religion, looked around and came up with rituals that could perform for the missionaries the different and strange faith being introduced to the natives. The colonizers realized that rituals of songs and dances could spell the difference.

The Church then introduced more rituals and ceremonials. Foremost among these rituals or practices are those of the Pastores (Shepherds) or Pastoras. Composed of young girls, with one or two boys included in the troupe, these dancers sing and move with the simplest of movements. Two steps forward, arms raised from the elbow, and costumes to compete with the plumage of the most beautiful birds—all this comprise the Pastoras.

Not with sermon and not just with visual aids, the early evangelists cloaked in

the armors of colonizers, began teaching the women and the men about the Pastoras. These dances and song commemorate the first batch of peasants who saw first the Infant. These dances and songs were enough to put premium on being poor.

Be poor and be the first to see the Star.

In the meantime, the cities and the big towns saw the dances and songs of the Pastores or Pastoras, and proceeded to gentrify them. Appropriation—not assimilation—pushed the people to adopt the old songs and old steps. Assimilation negates the evil of colonization and merely assumes a free intercourse of culture.

Assimilation, discredited, assumes the falsity of neutral cultures.

The ordinary people start to see this new faith: It favors the poor, the peasant, the peripheralized. The Star was seen first by the poor. The Magis had to compute, divine, mediate with esoterica the giant Star that, by astronomy, happens to be up there.

It is good to be poor. After centuries of celebration, the institutional Church has not left the cave of innocence and timidity. Be like the child Jesus! Up there on the clouds, the gods are unhappy because, after years and years, we still do not understand the teachings of Christmas.

We only see the Tree and the tinsels. We commemorate the Shepherds although we would not change places with them.

The Star? It could hardly be seen. The skies have been polluted we do not need just kings, we need Angels to announce everything—the birth of a Child and the reign of the Woman conceived without sin. The rest are just ringing of the bells and a bit of articulation here and there, and more bells again.

would have nothing to lose in exploring this possibility and could gain shortterm sanctions relief from the process.

The tragedy of Trump’s withdrawal announcements goes far beyond US strategy with Iran, to affect the security of America’s allies and partners in Europe and the Middle East, the lives of millions on the ground, and American standing globally. What can be done to mitigate this disaster? It seems likely that the broad contours of the US withdrawal are not negotiable; departing Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis and Brett McGurk, the special presidential envoy for the global coalition to defeat ISIS, would have not resigned had they thought the withdrawal could be reversed. However, in the implementation there is always

a significant opportunity to shave the edges off a misguided strategy.

For instance, those responsible for drawing down troops in Afghanistan and Syria could seek to define withdrawals as boots on the ground, as opposed to all military support. This might enable the US to continue to play the absolutely vital role of air power to those we support in both Syria and Afghanistan—and could help keep the forces of other countries such as the U.K. and France involved.

In addition, the timeline for troop withdrawal could be broken into phases and extended, and potentially could involve some conditions-based benchmarks. Crucially, in the run-up to any withdrawal, the US should seek to secure agreements from countries like Turkey

to stay engaged in the fight against the remnants of ISIS, so they do not shift priorities entirely.

Finally, the US must clarify its relationship with Baghdad and underscore its willingness to leave a US troop presence there longer; while it will be hard to convince Baghdad that Trump will not wake up one day and decide to withdraw from Iraq, every effort should be made to embed the American presence there as the last foothold in a region where ISIS’s defeat is still far from certain and stabilization remains a long-term goal.

Trump’s words, as he stood in Baghdad on Wednesday, seemed geared to at least begin to chip away at this list. If only the words of the American president held the weight they once did.

According to the Laudato Si, Pope Francis said that in these modern times, it seems we no longer give importance to being simple and humble. We are no longer cautious in consuming material things, and are always looking for things that we do not have.

timately set them free. The poor can’t find justice when the law always favors the rich.

There were even national leaders who were freed from jail for stealing huge amounts from the national coffers. We continuously find so many examples of public servants who prioritize their own interests instead of the well-being of the country and the people they are supposed to serve.

According to the Laudato Si, Pope Francis said that in these modern times, it seems we no longer give importance to being simple and humble. We are no longer cautious in consuming material things, and are always looking for things that we do not have. If we remain arrogant, proud with the idea that the world revolves around us, we won’t be able to realize the destruction we inflict

on our fellowmen and on society.

These things will keep happening if we do not place God first in our lives.

With this, my dear brothers and sisters, through our prayer in the humility of the coming of Jesus on Christmas day, we must remember that life is not about the material things we have, and neither it is about our place in society.

Again, a blessed Christmas to you all.

by events that lead us away from a life of humility. We continue to try to be ahead or above others. Even the leaders that we traditionally rely on for being humble, many of them are now using their power to help themselves. Thus, the continuous abuse of the strong and powerful of the weak and powerless. For example, when powerful people are found guilty in a court of law, they always manage to find loopholes in the law that would ul-

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2nd Front Page BusinessMirror

A8 Friday, December 28, 2018

Drive vs illegals: DOLE sets Jan mapping of Pogo

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By Samuel P. Medenilla

@sam_medenilla

HE Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is set to start next month its census for foreign workers employed by Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (Pogo).

The DOLE’s Bureau of Local Employ ment Di rec tor Dom inique R. Tutay said they were forced to defer the schedule of the mapping process due to the long Christmas holiday.

“Our schedule for December is already tight. We may be able to start by January since we were already able to farm out the letters [of

request to our partner agencies],” Tutay told the BusinessMirror in a previous interview.

She earlier said they will be joined by the DOLE’s regional offices, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. and the Bureau of Immigration (BI) for the said initiative. “ The said agencies already

119,000

Number of foreigners who were able to work in the country through the Special Work Permits submitted their designated officials for it,” Tutay said.

Aside from determining the number of foreign workers in the Pogo, the mapping also aims to weed out those who are illegally working in the country.

Foreigners without the necessary Alien Employment Permit or Special Work Permit (SWP) will face possible deportation from BI. In a related development, Tutay

said the office of Sen. Franklin M. Drilon has committed to serve as the facilitator of the DOLE’s talks with the Department of Justice regarding the SWP. “This is a good development, since it will prove a neutral venue,” Tutay said.

The DOLE is currently pushing to either remove the power of the BI to issue SWPs or at least limit the occupations, which will be covered by it.

Several lawmakers, including Drilon, expressed their alarm over the rising number of foreigners given permission to work in the country.

During a Senate hearing, it was revealed that 119,000 foreigners were able to work in the country through the SWP.

House panel calls DPWH, CT Leoncio

By Elijah Felice E. Rosales

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@alyasjah

HE House Committee on Rules has issued a subpoena to the owner of CT Leoncio Construction and several public works officials to explain their

side on questionable infrastructure projects in Sorsogon.

In a statement, House Majority Leader Rolando G. Andaya Jr. said the House is summoning Consolacion Leoncio, owner of CT Leoncio, and a number of public works officials. They are being asked to

shed light on the flood-control funding and transactions involving multibillion-peso infrastructure projects in Sorsogon.

“We expect the attendance and full cooperation of these people in the House investigation. The House will not hesitate to issue arrest or-

ders should those subpoenaed refuse to appear in our congressional hearings,” Andaya said.

He added lawmakers are expecting “Leoncio and public works officials to bring with them copies of transaction documents See “Leoncio,” A2

www.businessmirror.com.ph

WORKING SINGLE MOMS ‘BEAR HEAVIER BURDEN’

By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario

T

HE burden carried by working single mothers is heavier, as they are not only required to earn for their families but they also need to take care of their children, according to the Commission on Population and Development (Popcom).

Popcom Executive Director Juan Antonio Perez III said single parents, especially those who do not have supportive partners, generally carry a heavier dependency ratio.

The dependency ratio is even higher for single mothers, Perez said, who have“additional nurturing roles” compared to single fathers. “ The dependenc y ratio is heaviest for single parents who cannot depend on their partner husband or wife for support.

Single mothers also take on additional nurturing roles that single fathers may not be assuming.

Only one-third of the work force is female also,” Perez told the Business M irror on Thursday.

Popcom said the dependency ratio in the Philippines, which is the number of dependents over the number of people of working age, will be around 55, which is lower than the 55.5 ratio in 2018.

The commission said a higher dependency ratio means a heavier burden for the workers who must

normally earn enough to support themselves and one dependent, so that an ideal dependency ratio would be 50.

In order to address this, Perez said efforts to help single mothers cope should be put in place.

This includes full implementation of Republic Act 8972 or the Solo Parents’ Welfare Act of 2000.

The law provides that employers must provide single parents with flexible working schedules and not discriminate against them. Employers should also give a parental leave of not more than seven working days every year to any solo parent employee who has rendered service of at least one year, among other benefits.

“Access to day-care services, breastfeeding créches in the workplace and increased maternity leaves would help single mothers,” Perez added.

Changing age structure APART from this, Perez said the proportion of senior citizens or those aged 60 and over has been steadily increasing through the years.

Popcom estimated that the proportion of this population group will increase to 8.2 percent in 2019, from around 7.5 percent in 2015. This segment of the population has actually incurred the most rapid increase across age groups.

Continued on A2

Companies BusinessMirror

Editor: Efleda P. Campos

Friday, December 28, 2018

B1

SMC to make Bulacan a fishing haven

S

By Lorenz S. Marasigan

@lorenzmarasigan

AN Miguel Corp. bolstered on Thursday its P754-billion Bulacan Airport unsolicited proposal, with its chief saying the company will transform Bulacan into a premier fishing province.

Ramon S. Ang, the company’s president, said the “largest and most ambitious airport project

in the country to date” will protect and revive roughly 12,000 hectares of the Bulacan coastline.

Fishing in Bulacan, he said, has slowly been dying the last few decades because of pollution from households and industries.

“Our goal is to clean up the coast and make Bulacan a seafood capital. After all, the airport is there to help support the local fishing industry,” he said.

The company plans to dredge coastal areas and other bodies of water and clear them of years’ worth of garbage, while working with local government to stop factories from dumping toxic waste into the water.

“Maybe in the future, we can

reach a point where seafood from Bulacan is exported to other countries, and tourists come in droves to sample them,” Ang said.

Another initiative included in the airport development plan is the heightening of the province’s coast line. It will augment the Coast Guard’s efforts in conducting patrols—to ensure no dumping of garbage and industrial waste occur.

Just last week, the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) Board approved the proposal. It will soon undergo a Swiss Challenge, a requirement

for unsolicited proposals.

“Hopefully, once we complete all the government processes, we can begin actual work on constructing this world-class international gateway, capable of serving our nation for many generations,” Ang said.

Under its proposal, San Miguel wants to spend P754 billion to develop the Bulacan International Airport, envisioned as a 2,500-hectare airport complex that will have a total capacity of 100 million passengers annually.

It also has a provision for the construction of an 8.4-kilometer

airport toll road.

The proposal also included the construction of a sea port, an industrial zone and expressways.

SMC’s proposed concession period is 50 years.

“This is a major investment for us, and a game-changer for our country. That is why it’s going to be a sustainable development,” Ang said, adding the project will generate 100,000 jobs throughout its concession.

“While we’re still going through a long process, hopefully, in 2019, we can hit the ground running on actual construction,” he added.

15 mining exploration projects await TRAIN 2 A

T least 15 mining exploration projects look forward to the enactment of the second phase of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion, or TRAIN 2, to proceed to the development and construction phase, an official of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said.

DENR Undersecretary for Climate change and Mining Concerns Analiza R. Teh said TRAIN 2 satisfies the requirement under Executive Order (EO) 79 as it puts in place a new fis-

cal regime for mining, which could possibly pave the way for the lifting of the six-year-old moratorium for new mining projects.

There are currently 48 operating metallic mines in the country, including eight gold mines, three copper mines, 30 nickel mines, three chromite mines and four iron mines.

Mining investment, including actual mineral production, slowed down since EO 79 was put in place in July 2012, owing to the atmosphere of uncertainty

and the ensuing wait-and-see attitude demonstrated by the mining industry’s big players.

This worsened following President Duterte’s appointment of antimining advocate Regina Paz L. Lopez as environment secretary, followed by a 10-month crackdown against large-scale mining companies.

Under the current DENR leadership, mining industry’s big players, represented by the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines (COMP), expressed “guarded optimism” and had moved to reverse what they

described as anti-mining policies, including the moratorium on new mining projects.

With 15 mining projects going on stream, the country’s annual mineral production output is expected to increase.

The members of the Mining Industry Coordinating Council (MICC), in a meeting last December 12, are in agreement that the enactment of TRAIN 2 satisfies the requirement of EO 79 for the possible lifting of the moratorium for new mining projects.

Once the moratorium is lifted, the DENR, through the Mines and Geosciences Bureau, can start issuing mineral production sharing agreements and financial and/or technical assistance agreements for new mining projects.

Teh said the first phase of TRAIN, which increased mining excise tax from 2 percent to 4 percent, was not enough to lift the moratorium for new mining projects.

“There was an MICC meeting in December. There are exploration permits about to end but because

there is a moratorium under EO 79, we posed the question to the MICC if the 4-percent excise tax under TRAIN is enough, the DOF said the complete package will come under TRAIN 2,” she said.

The House of Representatives has transmitted its version of TRAIN 2 to the Senate. Teh said, based on information she got from the MGB, 15 mining projects in the exploration phase are maturing. But these projects may have to wait until the proposed measure is finally signed into law. Jonathan L. Mayuga

B2

Companies BusinessMirror

Friday, December 28, 2018

PSE STOCK QUOTATIONS

December 27, 2018

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

ASIA UNITED 58.1 59 59 59 58.1 58.1 60 3513 -581 BDO UNIBANK 129.6 129.7 127 130 127 129.7 1466160 189841256 43014372 BANK PH ISLANDS 92.8 93.5 92.5 94 91.9 93.5 1815580 169024456.5 -22039706.5 CHINABANK 27.15 27.25 27.6 27.6 27.15 27.15 65600 1788855 -1369110 EAST WEST BANK 11.48 11.5 11.86 11.88 11.48 11.5 433500 5050000 -453690 METROBANK 80 80.1 80.95 81.05 79.75 80 1485630 118861564.5 -31448661 PHIL NATL BANK 42.45 42.5 42.3 43.25 42.3 42.5 38500 1637805 752725 PSBANK 62.2 62.25 61.8 62.3 61.8 62.2 7100 439580 PHILTRUST 112.2 131 130 130 130 130 1910 248300 RCBC 28 28.2 28.8 28.8 28 28 126400 3569200 -611300 SECURITY BANK 155.6 155.7 155.5 158.3 155.5 155.7 248970 38857253 2638809 UNION BANK 63.7 63.8 63.6 65 63.55 63.8 111850 7115860 -621487 BRIGHT KINDLE 1.45 1.5 1.51 1.51 1.45 1.45 293000 428510 BDO LEASING 2.16 2.19 2.16 2.19 2.12 2.15 127000 271740 COL FINANCIAL 15.7 15.9 15.9 15.9 15.88 15.9 58900 936450 FERRONOUX HLDG 4.61 4.64 4.61 4.8 4.5 4.64 1082000 4967970 FILIPINO FUND 7.34 9.27 7.32 7.32 7.32 7.32 12200 89304 IREMIT 1.4 1.48 1.41 1.41 1.41 1.41 5000 7050 MEDCO HLDG 0.47 0.49 0.49 0.49 0.49 0.49 80000 39200 NTL REINSURANCE 0.89 0.91 0.88 0.92 0.88 0.91 784000 707040 30800 PHIL STOCK EXCH 178 178.5 178 178.6 178 178.5 1100 195940 VANTAGE 1.13 1.18 1.18 1.18 1.18 1.18 1000 1180

INDUSTRIAL ALSONS CONS 1.24 1.27 1.28 1.28 1.28 1.28 7000 8960 ABOITIZ POWER 35.45 35.5 34.9 35.9 34.75 35.5 2180100 76824945 -8065545 BASIC ENERGY 0.24 0.249 0.25 0.25 0.249 0.249 260000 64950 FIRST GEN 19.76 19.8 19.72 19.86 19.68 19.76 944900 18680392 3419476 FIRST PHIL HLDG 63.8 64.2 64.4 64.8 63.8 63.8 282620 18103933 -4165628.5 MERALCO 391.4 394.8 389.4 394.8 386 394.8 254420 99539542 41178044 MANILA WATER 27.6 27.7 26.95 27.9 26.95 27.6 332500 9183365 5927270 PETRON 7.77 7.78 7.91 7.92 7.75 7.78 1339700 10421708 -4261078 PHINMA ENERGY 1.14 1.15 1.21 1.21 1.15 1.15 17428000 20513970 -1815000 PH RESORTS GRP 5.2 5.39 5.35 5.54 5.16 5.39 153000 808289 PHX PETROLEUM 10.8 10.88 10.46 10.92 10.4 10.88 111600 1182474 PILIPINAS SHELL 46.95 47 47 47.05 46.7 47 200000 9397800 -1295725 SPC POWER 5.4 5.44 5.54 5.54 5.39 5.4 114000 618966 14034 AGRINURTURE 16.8 17.18 17.08 17.44 16.74 17.18 1443600 24958866 -402168 BOGO MEDELLIN 91.4 97.75 98.15 98.15 98.15 98.15 150 14722.5 4907.5 CENTURY FOOD 14.98 15 14.72 15.1 14.72 15 250700 3747278 2685070 DEL MONTE 6.3 6.32 6.4 6.55 6.3 6.32 52700 340460 -116400 DNL INDUS 10.72 10.78 10.6 10.78 10.44 10.78 7313900 77831180 -3488598 EMPERADOR 7.07 7.08 7.06 7.12 7.02 7.08 1816900 12871096 -1199851 SMC FOODANDBEV 81 81.05 80 81 80 81 34280 2766863 -582679 ALLIANCE SELECT 1.02 1.03 1.01 1.03 1.01 1.02 941000 961710 -9270 GINEBRA 25.05 25.7 25.05 25.05 25.05 25.05 300 7515 JOLLIBEE 292.4 295 292 297.6 288 295 585760 172233560 18245304 MACAY HLDG 8.51 10 9.89 11.3 9.89 9.89 2100 21197 MAXS GROUP 10.14 10.18 10.2 10.2 10.1 10.18 173800 1766754 -27475.9999 MG HLDG 0.17 0.174 0.175 0.175 0.173 0.173 120000 20800 3500 PEPSI COLA 1.34 1.35 1.4 1.4 1.3 1.34 2425000 3269350 -2093000 SHAKEYS PIZZA 11.7 11.78 11.96 11.96 11.6 11.78 33600 394040 -232230 ROXAS AND CO 1.9 1.97 1.94 1.97 1.88 1.97 132000 252870 RFM CORP 4.75 4.8 4.6 4.8 4.6 4.8 52000 245200 SWIFT FOODS 0.123 0.128 0.124 0.128 0.124 0.128 230000 28640 UNIV ROBINA 127.9 128.5 128 128.8 127.5 128.5 887030 113993180 -45399178 VITARICH 1.9 1.91 1.83 1.93 1.83 1.91 11340000 21384950 1583690 CONCRETE A 59.1 64.75 59.1 64.95 59.1 64.95 170 10105.5 CEMEX HLDG 1.78 1.79 1.73 1.8 1.71 1.78 17405000 30902770 -12056210 DAVINCI CAPITAL 6.7 6.72 6.91 7.19 6.7 6.72 489000 3334351 -333984 EAGLE CEMENT 15.34 15.5 15.5 15.56 15.3 15.5 391500 6068740 4410778 EEI CORP 7.97 7.98 7.95 8 7.95 7.98 284500 2266666 -1986427 HOLCIM 5.82 6 5.8 5.9 5.8 5.81 456400 2687303 -2190670 MEGAWIDE 17.98 18 18.28 18.28 17.92 18 4050600 72,909,718( 4,768,005.9997) PHINMA 8.24 9 9 9 9 9 20000 180000 TKC METALS 0.83 0.86 0.86 0.86 0.83 0.83 347000 289510 VULCAN INDL 1.66 1.68 1.64 1.69 1.63 1.66 4027000 6670180 22810 CROWN ASIA 1.7 1.77 1.78 1.78 1.66 1.77 63000 109460 19580 EUROMED 1.52 1.67 1.7 1.7 1.67 1.67 4000 6710 LMG CHEMICALS 4.3 4.4 4.3 4.3 4.3 4.3 3000 12900 MABUHAY VINYL 3.13 3.29 3.3 3.3 3.3 3.3 1000 3300 PRYCE CORP 5.76 5.85 5.85 5.85 5.85 5.85 40000 234000 CONCEPCION 37 37.9 37 37 37 37 9900 366300 11100 GREENERGY 2.01 2.02 1.9 2.04 1.9 2.02 6492000 12845050 214860 INTEGRATED MICR 10.7 10.72 10.4 10.82 10.4 10.7 2540100 27068586 -3430746 IONICS 1.82 1.86 1.9 1.9 1.78 1.86 427000 772740 PANASONIC 5.71 5.85 5.85 5.85 5.85 5.85 1300 7605 SFA SEMICON 1.4 1.41 1.41 1.42 1.37 1.4 75000 105410 CIRTEK HLDG 30.95 31 31.1 31.5 30.95 31 318400 9871575 3115

HOLDING & FRIMS ABACORE CAPITAL 0.6 0.61 0.6 0.61 0.59 0.61 5667000 3404690 -56400 ASIABEST GROUP 25.7 25.75 25.9 26.25 25.1 25.7 74500 1916355 AYALA CORP 905 910 916 924 905 905 274520 249822945 -159862365 ABOITIZ EQUITY 54.9 55 56.5 56.5 54.65 55 1814180 100239224.5 45073962 ALLIANCE GLOBAL 11.96 11.98 11.88 12.04 11.88 11.98 3969200 47547474 -14206678 ANSCOR 6.5 6.51 6.5 6.5 6.5 6.5 149100 969150 969150 ATN HLDG A 1.38 1.39 1.36 1.39 1.35 1.38 4461000 6102680 ATN HLDG B 1.36 1.4 1.35 1.4 1.34 1.39 418000 573760 BHI HLDG 1251 1720 1261 1261 1251 1251 70 87780 COSCO CAPITAL 6.8 6.83 6.6 6.83 6.6 6.8 335600 2277912 451755 DMCI HLDG 12.5 12.54 12.5 12.56 12.44 12.5 3870300 48368856 -3049682 FILINVEST DEV 12.16 12.2 12.76 12.76 12.14 12.16 438700 5383690 74400 FORUM PACIFIC 0.201 0.232 0.206 0.206 0.205 0.205 140000 28740 GT CAPITAL 937 954.5 960 969 937 937 43590 41526955 15096050 JG SUMMIT 55.85 55.9 55.2 55.9 54.4 55.85 2280480 125820867 24106183 JOLLIVILLE HLDG 5.57 5.76 5.57 5.57 5.57 5.57 2600 14482 KEPPEL HLDG A 4.82 5.79 4.66 4.82 4.66 4.82 8000 38400 KEPPEL HLDG B 4.8 6.49 4.64 4.64 4.64 4.64 150000 696000 LODESTAR 0.54 0.57 0.57 0.57 0.55 0.56 56000 30860 LOPEZ HLDG 4.02 4.07 4.01 4.08 4 4.02 183000 736580 -144810.0002 LT GROUP 16.62 16.74 16.9 16.9 16.52 16.74 2022400 33,845,358( 11,918,518.0001) MABUHAY HLDG 0.59 0.6 0.57 0.61 0.57 0.59 387000 228260 METRO PAC INV 4.68 4.7 4.63 4.72 4.6 4.68 11723000 54592160 -3374040 PACIFICA 0.036 0.038 0.036 0.036 0.036 0.036 200000 7200 PRIME ORION 2.4 2.44 2.38 2.45 2.38 2.4 410000 983680 PRIME MEDIA 1.18 1.24 1.26 1.26 1.25 1.25 5000 6260 SOLID GROUP 1.31 1.32 1.31 1.33 1.31 1.31 24000 31460 SM INVESTMENTS 917 929 912.5 929 909 929 235390 216683285 -11514860 SAN MIGUEL CORP 147.4 148.2 146.2 148.2 146.2 147.4 101850 15023195 -4687463 TOP FRONTIER 248 250 250.2 250.2 248 250 4340 1084946 -289942 WELLEX INDUS 0.243 0.245 0.244 0.247 0.242 0.242 2010000 488570 ZEUS HLDG 0.207 0.221 0.223 0.223 0.223 0.223 20000 4460

PROPERTY ARTHALAND CORP 0.87 0.88 0.9 0.9 0.86 0.88 2638000 2332820 ANCHOR LAND 11 11.48 11.2 11.48 11 11.48 7300 80804 AYALA LAND 40.6 41 41.2 42.1 40.6 40.6 8096700 335933655 -32261880 BELLE CORP 2.26 2.27 2.26 2.27 2.23 2.26 2218000 4996010 -2013450 A BROWN 0.79 0.8 0.8 0.81 0.79 0.8 593000 471100 CITYLAND DEVT 0.87 0.88 0.88 0.88 0.87 0.87 25000 21780 CROWN EQUITIES 0.237 0.24 0.236 0.248 0.235 0.237 3410000 811660 CEBU HLDG 6.04 6.44 6.5 6.5 6 6.44 11300 68392 CEB LANDMASTERS 4.07 4.08 4 4.08 4 4.07 637000 2577530 -536679.9997 CENTURY PROP 0.415 0.42 0.42 0.42 0.415 0.42 2100000 876100 -124500 CYBER BAY 0.375 0.38 0.38 0.385 0.375 0.38 680000 258400 -38000 DOUBLEDRAGON 17.78 17.84 17.64 18 17.6 17.78 197200 3513618 371780 DM WENCESLAO 7.69 7.7 7.7 7.9 7.68 7.7 260900 2011538 -1771685 EMPIRE EAST 0.48 0.49 0.49 0.49 0.48 0.48 50000 24400 EVER GOTESCO 0.111 0.121 0.124 0.124 0.11 0.121 190000 21690 FILINVEST LAND 1.43 1.44 1.42 1.44 1.42 1.43 1245000 1779760 -365190 GLOBAL ESTATE 1.07 1.08 1.08 1.09 1.06 1.07 1452000 1554180 8990 HLDG 8 8.04 7.97 8.04 7.9 8.04 187600 1502535 -278250 PHIL INFRADEV 2.25 2.26 2.19 2.27 2.17 2.25 3364000 7509950 KEPPEL PROP 3.52 4.81 3.52 3.52 3.52 3.52 35000 123200 MEGAWORLD 4.7 4.71 4.7 4.79 4.69 4.7 10864000 51256040 5605200 MRC ALLIED 0.455 0.46 0.445 0.465 0.445 0.46 43860000 20037700 -441950 PHIL ESTATES 0.455 0.465 0.46 0.46 0.45 0.45 530000 240500 PRIMEX CORP 3.57 3.59 3.56 3.59 3.54 3.59 276000 979400 142100 ROBINSONS LAND 20.5 20.55 20.45 20.55 20.4 20.55 1978800 40638510 -8548960 PHIL REALTY 0.415 0.425 0.415 0.425 0.405 0.425 310000 128150 25200 ROCKWELL 1.99 2 2 2 2 2 295000 590000 SHANG PROP 3.08 3.1 3.1 3.1 3.1 3.1 9000 27900 -15500 STA LUCIA LAND 1.23 1.24 1.24 1.24 1.22 1.24 297000 366540 -162440 SM PRIME HLDG 35.75 35.85 35.5 36.1 35.4 35.85 10267600 368562330 15710555 STARMALLS 5.53 5.6 5.75 5.75 5.5 5.6 415000 2306657 -45060 SUNTRUST HOME 0.7 0.71 0.7 0.71 0.7 0.71 22000 15430 -4900 VISTA LAND 5.25 5.3 5.24 5.3 5.13 5.3 16906900 88054898 -78346552

SERVICES ABS CBN 19.96 20 20.15 20.15 19.92 20 50300 1008315 GMA NETWORK 5.44 5.45 5.47 5.49 5.45 5.45 63400 345747 MANILA BULLETIN 0.315 0.335 0.325 0.325 0.32 0.32 150000 48250 GLOBE TELECOM 1897 1900 1908 1915 1880 1897 27035 51399390 -22946995 PLDT 1150 1156 1150 1161 1137 1150 119760 137506050 -59939495 APOLLO GLOBAL 0.039 0.04 0.039 0.04 0.039 0.04 33200000 1295400 42900 DFNN INC 7.4 7.5 7.75 7.75 7.5 7.5 1100 8275 IMPERIAL 1.87 1.93 1.88 1.88 1.87 1.87 6000 11270 ISLAND INFO 0.133 0.134 0.127 0.133 0.124 0.133 21220000 2756640 -26600 ISM COMM 6.14 6.15 6.27 6.28 6.02 6.15 6572200 40609842 -308450.0002 NOW CORP 3.41 3.42 3.39 3.45 3.35 3.41 1419000 4822520 403150 TRANSPACIFIC BR 0.455 0.46 0.45 0.475 0.445 0.46 67070000 31051850 90800 PHILWEB 3.14 3.17 3.04 3.22 3.04 3.17 529000 1656450 202600 2GO GROUP 13.14 13.16 13 13.82 12.98 13.14 68300 899408 13000 CEBU AIR 73.5 73.8 73.5 73.8 72.55 73.5 41220 3030323 964541 CHELSEA 6.53 6.54 6.55 6.59 6.48 6.54 639800 4169222 11050 INTL CONTAINER 98 99.5 99 102 98 98 476240 46912782 8512911 LBC EXPRESS 14.6 14.68 14.68 14.68 14.68 14.68 1000 14680 -14680 LORENZO SHIPPNG 0.78 0.79 0.77 0.78 0.76 0.78 175000 134300 MACROASIA 16.9 16.98 16.6 17 16.4 16.98 409400 6876946 600690 METROALLIANCE A 1.98 1.99 2.02 2.02 1.95 1.98 310000 615310 HARBOR STAR 2.93 2.94 2.95 2.98 2.89 2.94 2101000 6127730 -52240 ACESITE HOTEL 1.36 1.37 1.38 1.38 1.31 1.37 61000 81620 DISCOVERY WORLD 2.15 2.27 2.15 2.15 2.15 2.15 8000 17200 WATERFRONT 0.7 0.71 0.69 0.72 0.67 0.7 3022000 2082400 IPEOPLE 11.12 11.2 10.5 11.2 10.12 11.2 15400 165098 STI HLDG 0.79 0.8 0.74 0.82 0.74 0.8 34912000 27703290 -535840 BERJAYA 4.39 4.4 4.31 4.47 4.29 4.4 7196000 31575470 852739.9998 BLOOMBERRY 9.42 9.45 9.38 9.63 9.38 9.45 1348800 12773030 2465317 PACIFIC ONLINE 9.82 10.2 9.88 9.88 9.88 9.88 1800 17784 LEISURE AND RES 3.39 3.4 3.45 3.49 3.39 3.4 471000 1608010 102600 MANILA JOCKEY 5.2 5.4 5.21 5.45 5.2 5.45 2100 11147 PREMIUM LEISURE 0.79 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.78 0.8 3204000 2526220 350000 PHIL RACING 7.5 9.5 8.94 9.03 8.94 9.03 7000 62710 TRAVELLERS 5.3 5.32 5.3 5.31 5.3 5.31 270800 1437789 -8480 METRO RETAIL 2.45 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.43 2.45 725000 1782640 -54020 PUREGOLD 43 43.45 43.5 43.5 43 43 1062200 45933880 -25803605 ROBINSONS RTL 78.4 78.8 80.95 80.95 76.9 78.8 256000 20208440.5 6979250 PHIL SEVEN CORP 113 114 113.5 113.6 113 113 420870 47591479 175803 SSI GROUP 2.37 2.4 2.37 2.41 2.36 2.4 1472000 3507500 4760 WILCON DEPOT 12.56 12.6 12.4 12.6 12.4 12.6 4990000 62466724 33445738 APC GROUP 0.415 0.42 0.415 0.42 0.41 0.42 490000 203700 41500 EASYCALL 15.52 15.8 16 16 15.4 15.5 39200 607414 GOLDEN BRIA 315 324.4 323 325 323 325 60 19400 -16150 IPM HLDG 7.5 7.8 7.5 7.5 7.5 7.5 2000 15000 PAXYS 3.18 3.45 3.35 3.5 3.18 3.18 251000 877510 PRMIERE HORIZON 0.32 0.325 0.325 0.325 0.32 0.325 750000 240200 SBS PHIL CORP 7.5 7.78 7.41 7.78 7.41 7.78 42200 319891

MINING & OIL ATOK 14.54 15.3 16 16 14.42 15.3 14300 210294 APEX MINING 1.68 1.69 1.7 1.72 1.68 1.69 1689000 2847580 184490 ABRA MINING 0.0019 0.0021 0.002 0.0021 0.002 0.002 171000000 342200 ATLAS MINING 2.53 2.65 2.53 2.65 2.51 2.53 163000 409460 -22710 COAL ASIA HLDG 0.295 0.305 0.305 0.305 0.3 0.305 280000 85350 CENTURY PEAK 2.05 2.06 2.06 2.07 2.04 2.06 769000 1577890 41000 DIZON MINES 7.3 7.32 7.3 7.33 7.1 7.32 62200 445935 FERRONICKEL 1.66 1.67 1.65 1.67 1.65 1.67 107000 177280 -21460 GEOGRACE 0.201 0.207 0.205 0.209 0.201 0.201 2200000 442890 LEPANTO A 0.107 0.109 0.115 0.116 0.107 0.109 4900000 543360 LEPANTO B 0.11 0.114 0.112 0.114 0.11 0.114 450000 50850 MANILA MINING A 0.0065 0.007 0.007 0.007 0.007 0.007 1000000 7000 MARCVENTURES 1.21 1.22 1.2 1.25 1.17 1.21 933000 1129850 NIHAO 1.01 1.08 1.08 1.08 1 1.07 304000 307770 NICKEL ASIA 2.19 2.22 2.16 2.25 2.16 2.19 1257000 2787370 1093430 OMICO CORP 0.59 0.62 0.58 0.58 0.58 0.58 8000 4640 ORNTL PENINSULA 0.93 0.96 0.94 0.96 0.94 0.94 53000 49950 PX MINING 2.92 2.93 2.85 2.97 2.83 2.92 3036000 8839790 201520 SEMIRARA MINING 23.5 23.6 23.75 23.75 23.1 23.5 1313100 30789145 -9396955 UNITED PARAGON 0.0056 0.0057 0.0056 0.0056 0.0056 0.0056 2000000 11200 ORNTL PETROL A 0.012 0.013 0.012 0.013 0.012 0.013 30400000 378400 ORNTL PETROL B 0.012 0.013 0.012 0.013 0.012 0.013 176700000 2295500 -2276300 PHILODRILL 0.012 0.013 0.012 0.013 0.012 0.013 26100000 320300 -180000 PHINMA PETRO 3.17 3.36 3.16 3.17 3.16 3.17 37000 117230 PXP ENERGY 15.2 15.26 15.5 15.6 15.1 15.2 718400 10966098 -780222

PREFFERED HOUSE PREF A DD PREF FGEN PREF G GLO PREF P GTCAP PREF A LR PREF PNX PREF 3A PCOR PREF 2A SFI PREF SMC PREF 2B SMC PREF 2C SMC PREF 2D SMC PREF 2F SMC PREF 2G

94.5 96.5 100 461.4 831 1 98.5 980 2.15 74.5 76.05 71.55 71.1 73.45

PHIL. DEPOSITARY RECEIPTS GMA HLDG PDR

5.31

96 99 101.2 480 900 1.02 100 999 2.25 75.9 76.2 74.95 74.5 73.5

96 99 101.2 480 930 1 99 980 2.15 75 76.15 74 74.5 73.5

96 99 101.2 480 930 1.02 99 1000 2.15 75 76.15 74.95 74.5 73.5

96 95.05 101.2 480 800 1 99 980 2.15 75 76.15 71.5 74.3 71

96 99 101.2 480 900 1.02 99 980 2.15 75 76.15 74.95 74.5 73.45

5.36

5.28

5.36

5.28

5.36

1500 150 10 10 310 4000 2810 540 9000 10490 780 507350 1500 7660 2100

144000 14660.5 1012 4800 255860 4020 278190 529400 19350 786750 59397 37529785 111662 548510 11248

WARRANTS LR WARRANT

1.97

SMALL & MEDIUM ENTERPRISES ITALPINAS 4.6 MAKATI FINANCE 2.73 XURPAS 1.66

111.2

-

2.01

2

2

1.95

1.97

150000

294490

-19600

4.63 2.94 1.67

4.6 2.73 1.54

4.74 2.73 1.69

4.59 2.73 1.5

4.63 2.73 1.67

253000 1000 19578000

1174520 2730 31896530

-6043970

EXHANGE TRADE FUNDS FIRST METRO ETF

48000 45900 -

111.5

111.2

111.5

111

111.5

3540

393948

-

Editor: Efleda P. Campos

DOTr awaits Cavite proposal to develop Sangley airport

T

By Lorenz S. Marasigan

@lorenzmarasigan

HE transportation department is looking at the unsolicited proposal of the private sector for the development of Sangley Airport, should the local government’s proposal fail to muster approval.

Transportation Undersecretary Manuel Antonio L. Tamayo said the Cavite government has yet to submit a single document that details its financial and technical capability of building and operating an airport.

“They have not yet submitted.

They are still working on the requirements,” he said.

It’s been roughly six months since the Cavite government was asked to submit a revised proposal

for Sangley.

Earlier, Transportation Secretary Arthur P. Tugade said he is giving the local government of Cavite six months to submit the requirements listed by his office.

Tamayo, however, declined to give a deadline, saying the national government is still considering the proposal.

He noted the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) is already growing tired of waiting

(“naiinip”) for the revised proposal.

“We cannot reject right away because it’s a local government proposal,” Tamayo said.

The proposal of the Cavite government involves the development of Sangley Airport to have a total capacity of 130 million passengers per year and four runways through 2028. The P552.02-billion unsolicited offer likewise has a provision for the construction of mass transit systems and new roads.

“But private sector also proposed ahead, so that’s an alternative,” he said, referring to the unsolicited proposal of Sangley Airport Infrastructure Group Inc. Led by Solar Group’s All-Asia Resources and Reclamation Corp., the company proposed to build the $12-billion Philippine Sangley International Airport.

While awaiting these to develop, Tamayo noted the government is building up Sangley as an alternative airport for business jets for

general aviation.

“Sangley will be an airport that will be used by general aviation and commercial purposes, but mostly general aviation to free up slots in Manila,” he said.

Currently, the government is building airside and land side infrastructure for the airport.

“We’re only 400 meters short of the 2,300 meters needed. We’re also building vertical structures like hangar and tower because we want to night rate the airport,” Tamayo said.

These, he said, shall be finished by the third quarter of 2019.

“It will definitely reduce the traffic in Manila in case any of the proposals won’t come to fruition,” he said.

Once done, the military will transfer the operations of Sangley to the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines.

“It will be a joint use for business and military jets,” Tamayo added.

Okada asks DOJ to reconsider decision indicting him on $3.15-M estafa case

By VG Cabuag

@villygc

L

AWYERS of Japanese gambling magnate Kazuo Okada has asked the Department of Justice to reconsider its earlier resolution indicting him and a former associate of estafa worth $3.15 million.

In their 14-page motion for reconsideration filed before the DOJ, the lawyers said the $3.15 million received by the magnate was for his salary during April and May 2017 and consultancy fee for 2017 as CEO of Tiger Resort, Leisure and Entertainment Inc., the operator of Okada Manila.

Tiger Resort, which operates the $2-billion Okada Manila integrated hotel and casino in Entertainment City, filed an estafa through misappropriation case against Okada, then the CEO of the company; and Takahiro Usui, then the COO, arguing they received the amount in trust and his compensation was not authorized.

“Further, Mr. Okada indisputably owns 34.41-percent beneficial interest in complainant [Tiger Resort]. He has tirelessly worked on the Okada Manila project full-time since 2011, and everything about it bears his imprint,” the motion filed by Blanco and

Esguerra Law Office stated.

“Okada has been responsible for the investment of more than $2 billion in Okada Manila, which even bears his name, and has been instrumental in bringing every facet of the development to fruition. These facts certainly belie any intent on the part of Mr. Okada to defraud, or conspire to defraud, complainant Tiger Resort for a measly $3.15 million,” it added.

Okada claimed that Tiger Resort’s vice president for legal and compliance department was the one who prepared, finalized or at least approved the agreements before they were signed by Usui.

In his motion, Okada said the DOJ erred in reversing an earlier dismissal order by the Parañaque City Prosecutor’s Office dated May 11. The casino mogul also moved that the filing of information against them be deferred.

“From the foregoing, it is clear there is no probable cause to indict respondents for the crime of estafa.

There is no proof of misappropriation or unlawful receipt of moneys in this case, much less evidence of overt acts indicative of conspiracy between respondents,” Okada said.

Good investment climate in PHL boosts online hiring

T

HE national government’s efforts to improve the country’s investment climate creates more jobs and bodes well for online hiring in the Philippines, Monster.com said.

In a statement on Thursday, Monster.com said online hiring in the Philippines grew 23 percent in November 2018. Monster.com noted that the online hiring market in the country has been robust in the past few months.

Monster.com Asia Pacific and Middle East CEO Abhijeet Mukherjee said this has been reflected in the latest numbers from the Department of Labor and Employment, which revealed there were 800,000 new jobs created in 2018.

“The consistently positive uptrend in online hiring recorded by the Monster Employment Index over the last few years is in line with this,” Mukherjee said. “As the Filipino government continues its efforts to attract investments in HRD, Research and Development, Finance and Infrastructure, hiring outlook looks positive, especially for related

occupations,” he added.

In terms of industries, Retail led the way for growth in the Philippines with a 38-percent annual growth this November, maintaining its consistent positive uptrend since August 2017.

This was closely followed by Healthcare with an impressive 33-percent year-on-year growth.

Other industries such as Hospitality, BFSI and Advertising also saw notable growth numbers of 26 percent, 25 percent and 21 percent yearon-year, respectively.

The only industry to record a decline out of the 12 industries monitored by the Index was Education, with a 5-percent drop between November 2017 and 2018, up by three points from October’s 8-percent yearly drop rate.

In terms of jobs, the highest growth was in the Purchase/Logistics/Supply Chain profession with a whopping 46 percent year-on-year growth, followed by Finance and Accounts with a 38-percent rise. Cai U. Ordinario

MUTUAL FUNDS

December 27, 2018

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

PER SHARE RETURN* RETURN STOCK FUNDS ALFM GROWTH FUND, INC * 251.49 -13.06% 0.63% 2.91% -14.23% ATRAM ALPHA OPPORTUNITY FUND, INC.* 1.4164 -11.26% 7.27% 3.03% -11.3% ATRAM PHILIPPINE EQUITY OPPORTUNITY FUND, INC.* 3.8875 -14.07% 2.08% 1.17% -15.35% CLIMBS SHARE CAPITAL EQUITY INVESTMENT FUND CORP.* 0.8922 -11.73% N.A. N.A. -12.27% FIRST METRO CONSUMER FUND ON MSCI PHILS. IMI, INC. * ********* 0.8186 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN EQUITY FUND,INC.* 5.2442 -11.35% -0.1% 2.09% -12.79% MBG EQUITY INVESTMENT FUND, INC. * ****** 118.59 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. ONE WEALTHY NATION FUND, INC.* 0.8312 -15.36% N.A. N.A. -16.27% PAMI EQUITY INDEX FUND, INC.* 49.1251 -11.54% 1.67% N.A. -12.89% PHILAM STRATEGIC GROWTH FUND, INC.* 513.13 -11.56% 0.51% 2.25% -12.8% PHILEQUITY DIVIDEND YIELD FUND, INC.* 1.2516 -9.53% 2.15% N.A. -10.87% PHILEQUITY FUND, INC.* 36.55 -9.81% 2.6% 4.83% -11.06% PHILEQUITY PSE INDEX FUND INC.* 4.9491 -11.49% 2.33% 4.67% -12.78% PHILIPPINE STOCK INDEX FUND CORP.* 826.76 -11.3% 2.1% 4.81% -12.58% SOLDIVO STRATEGIC GROWTH FUND, INC. * 0.8576 -10.14% 0.08% N.A. -11.32% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY PHILIPPINE EQUITY FUND, INC.* 4.0482 -10.32% 1.82% 3.09% -11.62% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY PHILIPPINE STOCK INDEX FUND, INC.* 0.9524 -11.62% 2.12% N.A. -12.89% UNITED FUND, INC.* 3.4938 -8.25% 3.53% 4.03% -10.28% EXCHANGE TRADED FUND FIRST METRO PHIL. EQUITY EXCHANGE TRADED FUND, INC.* ***110.5191 -10.96% 3.25% 5.88% -12.26% ATRAM ASIAPLUS EQUITY FUND, INC.** $0.9163 -15.19% 1.22% -0.81% -17.32% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY WORLD VOYAGER FUND, INC.* $1.0905 -13.46% N.A. N.A. -13.81% BALANCED FUNDS PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES ATRAM DYNAMIC ALLOCATION FUND, INC.* 1.65 -10.55% -1.73% -1.03% -11.46% ATRAM PHILIPPINE BALANCED FUND, INC.* 2.1994 -9.63% 1.07% 0.96% -10.48% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN BALANCED FUND INC.* 2.5324 -7.61% -1.92% -1.05% -8.57% GREPALIFE BALANCED FUND CORPORATION* **** 1.3028 -9.75% N.A. N.A. -10.45% NCM MUTUAL FUND OF THE PHILS., INC* 1.8418 -6.45% 0.95% 2.39% -7.56% PAMI HORIZON FUND, INC.* 3.5282 -8.96% -0.22% 1.61% -9.95% PHILAM FUND, INC.* 15.8796 -8.62% -0.17% 1.44% -9.56% SOLIDARITAS FUND, INC.* ******** 2.0678 -7.16% 1.06% 2.86% -7.77% SUN LIFE OF CANADA PROSPERITY BALANCED FUND, INC.* 3.6428 -7.95% 0.54% 1.58% -8.85% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DYNAMIC FUND, INC.* 0.9209 -8.41% -0.25% N.A. -9.74% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY SECURITIES COCOLIFE DOLLAR FUND BUILDER, INC.* $0.03522 -2.38% -0.15% 1.66% -2.44% PAMI ASIA BALANCED FUND, INC.* $1.034 -1.03% 5.52% 0.89% -1.24% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR ADVANTAGE FUND, INC.* $3.2962 -9.44% 2.28% 0.61% -9.75% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR WELLSPRING FUND, INC.* $1.0059 -9.29% N.A. N.A. -9.56% BOND FUNDS PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES ALFM PESO BOND FUND, INC.* 343.38 1.92% 2.1% 1.86% 1.86% ATRAM CORPORATE BOND FUND, INC.* ******* 1.8582 -2.01% -0.67% -0.48% -1.8% COCOLIFE FIXED INCOME FUND, INC.* 2.9693 5.49% 5.35% 5.25% 5.22% EKKLESIA MUTUAL FUND INC.* 2.1311 1.46% 1.56% 1.35% 1.37% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN FIXED INCOME FUND,INC.* 2.2086 - 0.27% 0.08% 0.29% -0.34% GREPALIFE FIXED INCOME FUND CORP.* P 1.5628 -2.94% -0.36% -0.72% -2.9% PHILAM BOND FUND, INC.* 3.92 -3.04% -0.37% -0.06% -3.21% PHILEQUITY PESO BOND FUND, INC.* 3.5051 0.41% 0.79% 0.43% 0.01% SOLDIVO BOND FUND, INC. * 0.8924 -3.12% -0.9% N.A. -3.34% SUN LIFE OF CANADA PROSPERITY BOND FUND, INC.* 2.7616 -0.63% 1.19% 0.71% -0.55% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY GS FUND, INC.* 1.5377 -0.78% 0.94% 0.22% -0.77% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY SECURITIES ALFM DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC. * $448.16 0.62% 2.34% 3.07% 0.5% ALFM EURO BOND FUND, INC. * Є212.61 -0.53% 1.02% 1.58% -0.52% ATRAM TOTAL RETURN DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC.** $1.1249 -0.85% 0.94% 1.88% -0.81% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC.* $0.0249 - 0.4% 0.82% N.A. -0.4% GREPALIFE DOLLAR BOND FUND CORP.* $1.6907 -4.36% -0.37% 1.13% -4.56% MAA PRIVILEGE DOLLAR FIXED INCOME FUND, INC. N.S. N.S. N.S. N.S. N.S. MAA PRIVILEGE EURO FIXED INCOME FUND, INC. ЄN.S. N.S. N.S. N.S. N.S. PAMI GLOBAL BOND FUND, INC* $0.9275 -13.17% -4.2% -4.46% -13.6% PHILAM DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC.* $2.1712 -3.35% 0.91% 2.67% -3.55% PHILEQUITY DOLLAR INCOME FUND INC.* $0.0569932 -0.71% 0.92% 1.86% -0.36% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR ABUNDANCE FUND, INC.* $2.8727 -4.43% 0.43% 1.67% -4.65% MONEY MARKET FUNDS PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES ALFM MONEY MARKET FUND, INC.* 120.81 2.76% 1.86% 1.56% 2.72% PHILAM MANAGED INCOME FUND, INC.* 1.1813 2.06% 0.65% 0.5% 2.06% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY MONEY MARKET FUND, INC.* 1.2185 2.69% 2.27% 1.59% 2.78% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY SECURITIES SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR STARTER FUND, INC.* ***** $1.0157 1.68% N.A. N.A. 1.7%

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

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

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

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

The World BusinessMirror

Oil rides rebound in global risk assets on economic optimism

O

IL held its biggest gain in two years, after being swept up in a rebound across risk assets spurred by optimism about the global economy.

Futures in New York were l it t le c h a nged a f ter su rg i ng 8.7 percent in the prev ious session. The S&P 500 Index equity gauge rebounded on Wednesday from the brink of a bear market on sig ns of robust consumer spending, easing concern about the tenure of the Federa l Reser ve c h ief a nd prog ress on US - China trade ta lks. Meanwhile, ex pectations for declining American crude inventories a lso suppor ted pr ices.

Still, the rally represents only limited relief for oil, which is down almost 40 percent from a four-year high in October. Investors remain wary about the prospect of a supply glut, stoked by fears that output cuts pledged

by Opec and its a l lies won’t be enou g h to cou nter boom i ng A mer ican sha le out put. T here are also lingering concerns that a trade war between the US and China—the world ’s two biggest economies—could curb energ y demand.

“Hopes of US-China trade progress impacted equity and crude markets” even though it’s a small step in the negotiation process, Takayuki Nogami, chief economist at Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corp., said by phone in Tokyo. “As trading volumes are thin, crude prices could continue to be volatile and react to ever y little thing through early January.”

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for February delivery traded 17 cents lower to $46.05 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 1:18 p.m. in Tokyo. The contract advanced $3.69 to $46.22 on Wednesday. Total volume traded was about 35 percent above the 100-day average.

Brent for February settlement dropped 21 cents to $54.26 a barrel on London’s ICE Futures Europe exchange. The contract rose $4 to $54.47 on Wednesday. The global benchmark crude traded at an $8.21 premium to WTI. Oil jumped as all three major US stock indexes gained at least 4 percent on Wednesday, a feat last achieved in 2011.

President Donald J. Trump a day earlier had said an equity rout that pulled the S&P 500 Index down 19.8 percent from a record offered a “tremendous opportunity to buy.” Additionally, a W hite House official assured investors that Fed Chairman Jerome Powell won’t get fired, an action Bloomberg News reported over the weekend that Trump had discussed.

Signs that US and China may be making progress to resolve their trade conflict also supported the rally in risk assets. A delegation led by Deputy US Trade Representative Jeffrey Gerrish is said to plan traveling to China in the week of January 7 for the first face-to-face discussion since the two countries agreed to a truce. That follows China’s announcement earlier this week on another round of tariff cuts.

Bloomberg News

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“This is about our futures,” said Joanna Tai, a 23-year-old English-language graduate student who plans to teach after graduation next year.

“We look at wages in Hong Kong and mainland China. We want to know why there’s so much of a gap with Taiwan,” she said. “Then a lot of my classmates want to start companies and be their own bosses but, because of taxes, a lot of small businesses have folded.”

The Tax & Legal Reform League, an activist

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China heads into trade talks bracing for more US demands

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HINA enters trade talks said to begin early next month in Beijing having made concerted efforts to end the standoff with the US, and also unsure it’s done enough.

Since Presidents X i Jinping and Donald J. Trump came to a temporar y truce almost a month ago, China’s removed a retaliator y duty on US automobiles and is drafting a law to prevent forced technolog y transfers. It ’s a lso slashed import tariffs on more than 700 products and began buying US crude oil, liquefied natural gas and soybeans again.

Officials have been in constant contact with the US to try to determine what else is needed to move things forward in January, according to people familiar with the talks. It appears to Chinese officials that the US itself isn’t clear on what it wants, said the people, who asked not to be named because the negotiations are private.

China wants the US to remove the punitive tariffs that have been imposed and not add new ones, but suspects the US will ask for more before it agrees to do that, the people said. Officials are working on

alternative retaliatory measures in case the talks collapse, they said.

“After the meeting in Argentina, the incentive for China to speed up opening up and reform has increased,” said Lu Xiang, an expert in bilateral ties at the state-run Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing. “The key obstacle to a deal is whether the US demands are a bottomless pit,” he said.

The newly announced measures are a response to the “appropriate US concerns,” he said, using the term in the Chinese truce statement which referred to some of the issues the US has raised.

China’s f lur r y of polic y announcements since the Argentina meeting between Trump and Xi happened despite Canada’s arrest of a top Huawei Technologies executive at the US’s request, and despite X i delivering a defiant speech declaring China wouldn’t be dictated to by anybody. China underscored its determination to

THOUSANDS OF TAIWANESE PROTEST TAXES WITH NOD TO FRENCH RALLIES AIPEI, Taiwan—Thousands of Taiwanese, taking a page from France’s yellow vest movement, protested on Thursday for the third time in a week to demand lower taxes and the fair handling of tax disputes.

Wearing yellow vests, they shouted slogans and blared air horns outside the Ministry of Finance in Taipei, the capital city, and waved banners calling Taiwan’s tax collection policies illegal. Some wore clear plastic raincoats over their vests in a light rain.

Friday, December 28, 2018

group, called the protest after marshaling about 20,000 people outside the presidential office in an initial demonstration a week ago, and another 10,000 on Saturday, according to organizers and Taiwanese media.

The organizers said they were inspired by the success of the recent French protests, which turned violent and were blamed for 10 deaths. The Taiwanese protests have been peaceful.

French President Emmanuel Macron eventually

agreed to scrap a tax hike for gasoline and diesel and increase the minimum salary for full-time workers, as well as other steps.

“We saw Macron and he wanted to soften up, so that gave us some encouragement to protest, so we hope the president here can hear our voices,” Reform League media liaison Wang Chih-lan said. “The Ministry of Finance is the major culprit. It’s a big organization that’s causing poverty in Taiwan.” AP

implement the agreement by including it as a key goal in an important annual policy statement published last week.

Deputy US Trade Representative Jeffrey Gerrish will lead the Trump administration’s team heading to Beijing in the week of January 7, people familiar said earlier. The group will also include Treasury Under Secretary for International A ffairs Dav id Ma lpass, the people said.

China’s Ministry of Commerce did not immediately respond to a fax seeking comment on the January talks.

China is eager to seal a deal while at the same time is intent on preserving its economic system, said Jonathan Fenby, chairman of China research at TS Lombard in London. It aims to give Trump enough to be able to claim victory by March, enabling it to get on with the business of modernizing its economy, he said.

Trump has agreed to put on hold a scheduled increase in tariffs on $200 billion in annual imports from China while the negotiations take place. He is pushing the Asian nation to reduce trade barriers and stop the alleged theft of intellectual property. The delay in tariffs is through the start of March. In response,

C h ina tempora r i ly lowered tariffs on US car imports for the same period.

China’s significant recent efforts to unveil policies that address Trump’s concerns have been underappreciated in the US, said Wang Huiyao, a counselor to the State Council, or cabinet. China has shown it sincerely wants to make a deal, but it can’t meet all the US demands, he said.

After the recent US stock market’s plunge, the US should quit the trade row “while it’s still ahead,” said Wang, founder of the Center for China and Globalization, a Beijing-based think tank.

But t he re’s st i l l sk e pt i cism about the prospects for an agreement. China thought it had a deal in May, only for Trump to back out, and some in Beijing warn the same could happen again.

If there is an agreement, it would just be a framework deal, according to Mei Xinyu, a researcher at the Chinese A c a d e m y o f I nt e r n at io n a l Trade and Economic Cooperation affiliated with the Ministr y of Commerce. “ Trump showed no spirit of respecting contracts in the past, and I suspect he will do so again this time. Will he backtrack even after a deal is inked?”

Bloomberg News

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GET UP TO P1.5K CASHBACK IN EVERY PURCHASE WITH PAYMAYA!

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T’S time to leave your cash and credit card at home because all you’ll use for your shopping needs at the last stretch of this year is your PayMaya app, as you can get rewarded with cashback on every PayMaya QR transaction when you #ShopPaMore this holiday season!

Shoppers can get as much as 100-percent cashback on all of their purchases whenever they shop in-store using PayMaya QR at all partner merchants nationwide until December 31. To view the full list of PayMaya QR-enabled merchants, visit pymy.co/QRmerchants.

Shoppers can buy Christmas outfits for their godchildren at The SM Store or Robinsons Department Store, or even complete their Noche Buena plans at various PayMaya QR-enabled supermarkets and get rewarded up to P1,000 for every QR transaction.

“Just because the big shopping events have ended doesn’t mean the deals and the cashback from PayMaya are also over. Whether you’re shopping online or in-store, PayMaya makes it easy for you to pay cashless anyway you like and save at the same time, and even get

rewards better than when you use cash or credit card,” said Kenneth Palacios, head of Wallet Business at PayMaya Philippines.

For a minimum spend of P100 using PayMaya QR, users qualify for cashback that range from 1 percent, 10 percent or 100 percent of the total purchased amount. The final cashback amount will be randomly generated per transaction, and account holders will receive an SMS once the cashback has been credited to their accounts, up to a cumulative P1,500 per account holder for the entire promo period.

But for those who want to beat the Christmas rush and just shop for their gifts online, they can still save on great deals for last-minute gifts to officemates, friends and relatives, and also get cashback whenever they pay using their PayMaya physical or virtual card!

Simply purchase a minimum of P200 at any online shopping site and get a 30-percent cashback, with a maximum of P300. Online shoppers can enjoy this promo until December 31 and their one-time cashback will be credited at least 14 days after the promo period.

On top of these amazing cashback, you can also get a chance to win P10,000 everyday for the entire month of December, as well as P10 million in the grand draw of the PayMaya Pa More! raffle promo.

Double your chances of winning by completing one cashless transaction after another. Users will get two times the raffle entries for each transaction they’ve made starting on December 1. To earn raffle entries, you only have to: Upgrade your PayMaya account; send money to friends or family; Shop online or in-store using your PayMaya virtual or physical card; Purchase mobile prepaid load, gaming pins or prepaid cable TV credits at the in-app shop or PayMaya in Messenger; Pay your bills using PayMaya QR at partner merchants; and Download the PayMaya app now to get more from your every purchase.

To stay updated on the latest promos and discounts from PayMaya, visit paymaya.com/promos. Like them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter and Instagram @ PayMayaOfficial.

A COLORFUL CELEBRATION FOR ALL IS THE HEART OF MEGAWORLD’ S #CHRISTMASISHUE CAMPAIGN

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UST in time for the most colorful holiday of the year, Megaworld Lifestyle Malls launches a commercial that turns Christmas into a burst of color. The video reached 1.1 million views in four days and features movie/ TV actress, host and YouTube sensation Alex Gonzaga, as she explores the upscale Uptown Mall before triggering a kaleidoscopic explosion of colors and festivities across Megaworld Lifestyle Malls.

The video takes its viewers through a whirlwind Christmas adventure around the mall developer’s diverse destinations around the Metro, where each mall offers a unique experience and distinct personality for its guests.

Along the way we see eventologist and animal lover Tim Yap, as he takes his beloved pets on a gondola ride at the romantic Venice Grand Canal in McKinley Hill. Over at the Vegas-like Newport City, lifestyle bloggers and sisters Vern and Verniece Enciso celebrate the gift of family with their young brother Baby Verns at the international mall. At Binondo’s premiere heritage mall Lucky Chinatown, model, lifestyle influencer and sister to basketball stars Jeric and Jeron

Teng, Almira Teng brings smiles to children with presents for all. Meanwhile, international pageant queen Kevin Balot enjoys a Noche Buena-esque feast with close friends at Forbes Town, with its perfect neighborhood feels.

Led by the antics of the fun-loving actress, the multigenerational cast, which also includes foreigners and even four-legged guests, capture the solidarity of a Filipino Christmas in the most colorful Christmas commercial yet. #ChristmasIsHue seeks to promote a more socially inclusive holiday experience, and encourages people, regardless of their age, ethnicity, gender, family or sexual orientation, to feel a full sense of belonging during the most wonderful time of the year.

And with its pet-friendly features, diverse characteristics and unlimited selections of dining, entertainment and shopping finds for all interest groups, Megaworld Lifestyle Malls curates a holiday experience that invites everyone to see Christmas in full colors.

This season, fill your Christmas with color because #ChristmasIsHue at Megaworld Lifestyle Malls.

GLOBE, DTI JOIN FORCES TO BRING TECHNOLOGY CLOSER TO ENTREPRENEURS

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ITH the shared mission of empowering Filipino business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs, Globe myBusiness and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) have teamed up to bring technology closer to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the Philippines.

Globe myBusiness, the MSME arm of Globe Telecom, together with DTI, have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to empower MSMEs through technological solutions. Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez and Trade Undersecretary Zenaida Cuison-Maglaya graced the contract signing, along with Globe myBusiness Vice President for Marketing Debbie Obias and Globe myBusiness Marketing Services head Mary Gaile Guevarra.

Under this partnership, Globe myBusiness Academy will serve as a one-stop platform for information dissemination of top-notch digital solutions and government services that can help businesses thrive in competitive industries.

Moreover, Globe myBusiness will aid in spreading awareness of DTI’s services and the DTI Negosyo Center

through its digital platforms, and various workshops, seminars and conferences, thus, giving entrepreneurs access to resources that can help innovate their business operations.

On the other hand, Lopez said that, while MSMEs today comprise majority of the businesses in the country, their economic contribution is hampered by lack of access to business resources and technology.

“With Globe myBusiness as a partner, we will be able to empower microentrepreneurs with new technological tools and high quality of service that can help level up their businesses. Microentrepreneurs form a big chunk of enterprises in the country, thus, by empowering them, we can also empower the nation,” he said.

For more information on Globe myBusiness, visit https://mybusiness.globe.com.ph. You can also sign up to Globe myBusiness Academy at https://mybusinessacademy. ph/sign-up/ for free and get instant access to business content and events.

Photo shows Obias (second from left) and Lopez (third from left) signing the MoU, with Cuison-Maglaya (right) and Guevarra as witnesses.

P.I.S.A. CONCLUDES 12TH MARITIME GOLF TOURNAMENT AT THE COUNTRY CLUB

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N November 19 the Philippine Interisland Shipping Association Inc. (Pisa) hosted the 12th Philippine Maritime Golf Tournament held at the private The Country Club in Santa Rosa City, Laguna. Business partners and associates, friends and supporters in the maritime industry participated in the Pisa 12th Philippine maritime golf tournament.

Major sponsors of this year’s tournament included Archipelago Philippine Ferries Corp., Chelsea Logistics Holdings Corp., Magsaysay Shipping Lines, Manila North Harbour Port, Inc. and Petron Corp. The tournament was opened with ceremonial tee-offs from the former Transportation Undersecretary Philip Judan, Pisa chairman and President Christopher S. Pastrana and Philpesta President Jesse Maxwell.

Prizes that were raffled off included an electronic bike,

an incidental hole-in-one prize that was eventually raffled off, a 39" Hisense Smart TV donated by PPG Coatings Philippines, a drone and mountain bikes, among others.

Roberto Umali, who got a net 70 (hitting two birdies and nine pars) was declared the overall champion. Kennedy Padua got the lowest gross of 76. The Class A winner is Jake Franco with a net of 70 (2 birdies and 8 par). Ricky Araneta got a net 72, making him the Class B champion. The Class C champion is Irwin Montano with a net 80 and hitting one birdie.

Special awards go to Joel Paguila for the Nearest to the Pin award for Hole 17 (20 inches); Nathan Ward bagged the Longest Drive award for Hole 2 (230 yards); and Rommel Paderon for Most Accurate Drive in Hole 5 (70 centimeters).

In photo are the guests of Umali: (from left) George Lim, Gerry Santos, lawyer Jito Arreza, Judan, Maxwell, Pastrana and Umali.

Sports REMARKABLE IN 2018 BusinessMirror

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| Friday, December 28, 2018 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

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HE showed up in Paris wearing a black catsuit, a reminder that nobody can command the Grand Slam stage quite like Serena Williams.

She reached the finals at Wimbledon and the US Open, proving again how well she can play no matter how little she practices.

Williams didn’t win those or any other tournaments, which in every other situation might have made for a forgettable year.

In 2018, it was a remarkable one.

Her rapid return to tennis after a health scare following childbirth was a victory in itself, and for that, Williams was voted The Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year for the fifth time.

Williams received 93 points in balloting

by US editors and news directors announced on Wednesday, while gymnast Simone Biles was second with 68. Notre Dame basketball player Arike Ogunbowale was third, while Olympic snowboarder Chloe Kim and swimmer Katie Ledecky, the 2017 winner, rounded out the top five.

All of those players won a title or titles in 2018, while Williams had to settle for just coming close a couple of times.

SERENA WILLIAMS is voted as the Associate Press Female Athlete of the Year for the fifth time. AP

Lakers: LeBron’s day to day E L SEGUNDO, California—LeBron James got good news on Wednesday on his injured groin.

But his games-played streak will end anyway.

An MRI exam showed that the four-time National Basketball Association Most Valuable Player merely strained his left groin in the Los Angeles Lakers’ victory at Golden State Warriors on Christmas night. James will likely be dealing with soreness for several days, and the Lakers said he won’t travel with them for their game on Thursday in Sacramento.

From there, he will be listed as day-to-day.

“Dodged a bullet,” James tweeted.

Thursday will mark the first time James has sat since the final game of the 2016-17 regular season, which he took off for rest.

James had appeared in 156 consecutive games, going back to the start of the 2017 playoffs with Cleveland. His last extended absence due to injury was an eight-game stint to deal with back and knee aches midway through the 2014-15 season.

James is averaging 27.3 points, 8.3 rebounds and 7.1 assists this season, his 16th in the NBA and first with the Lakers. AP

RAPTORS STOP HEAT M

IAMI—Danny Green slipped to the right corner, somehow forgotten by the Miami Heat.

He made them pay.

Kawhi Leonard scored 30 points, Green’s three-pointer with 22.7 seconds left—a wideopen one—became the game winner, and the Toronto Raptors improved the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) best record to 26-10 by topping the Heat, 106-104, on Wednesday night.

Toronto has now won three games this season when trailing by 17 points.

“We’ve always got a chance to come back,” Fred VanVleet said.

Green had 18 points and VanVleet added 16 for the Raptors, who survived a wild fourth quarter that saw 12 lead changes and four ties. Miami had three shots on the game’s final possession, with Dwyane Wade and Justise Winslow missing 3s and Wade having a chance at a tip-in that wouldn’t fall.

Wade blamed himself for Green being so open, acknowledging that he blew the coverage.

“I’m not mad at the loss. I’m mad at the way I played,”Wade said. “You’re going to lose games in this league. That’s fine. We’ve been playing good basketball and we played some good basketball today.... Losses are going to happen. It’s the way you bounce back

from them and the last few times we’ve had losses we’ve bounced back pretty well.”

Winslow scored 21 points for Miami, which saw its five-game winning streak snapped. Josh Richardson scored 17 and Hassan Whiteside scored 16 for Miami, which was 6 for 12 from the foul line—while Toronto was 19 for 23.

James Johnson and Tyler Johnson each scored 12 for the Heat, while Wade had 10.

Pascal Siakam added 10 for the Raptors.

Winslow’s lay-up with 35.2 seconds left put Miami up by one, and on the next Toronto possession Green found himself wide open in the right corner—nearly the identical spot from where Ray Allen hit a three-pointer to deny Green and Leonard the 2013 NBA title when they were with San Antonio.

Green connected, the Raptors got the game’s last stop and escaped to move to 7-0 against the Southeast Division this season.

“Gutsy win by us at the end,” Raptors Coach Nick Nurse said.

Miami led 58-44 at the half and extended the lead to 17 early in the third quarter, before Toronto went to a zone—the

NBA RESULTS Detroit 106, Washington 95 Phoenix 122, Orlando 120, OT Brooklyn 134, Charlotte 132, 2OT Indiana 129, Atlanta 121 Toronto 106, Miami 104 Memphis 95, Cleveland 87 Minnesota 119, Chicago 94 Dallas 122, New Orleans 119 San Antonio 111, Denver 103 LA Clippers 127, Sacramento 118

defense that the Heat have been using so well of late—and the game changed. VanVleet made three 3s and had 11 points, while Leonard added 10 in what became a 31-12 run over the last 8:10 of the quarter by the Raptors, and they took an 81-79 lead into the fourth.

Winslow made a wild lay-up for a 99-93 lead that came after an 8-0 Miami run—and the Raptors needed about a minute to respond with a lead-taking 8-0 run of their own.

VanVleet connected on a three, Siakam added a three-point play and Leonard drew a blocking call against Winslow that the Heat didn’t like with 1:19 left that he turned into a pair of free throws and a 101-99 Toronto edge.

“The whistle went my way tonight,” Leonard said.

The lead changed hands four more times from there, Green’s 3 marking the last of those.

ROSE, WOLVES TRIUMPH

FOR much of his seven seasons with the Bulls, Derrick Rose was a favorite son of Chicago. He was native born and virtually universally beloved.

Things, though, soured toward the end as injuries mounted. The former franchise player was traded in 2016 and serenaded with boos upon his return a few months later.

The 30-year-old is hoping Wednesday night began a new chapter in his relationship with his hometown.

Rose had 24 points and eight assists in just his second career game in the United Center against his former team, lifting the Minnesota Timberwolves to a 119-94 victory.

He was cheered loudly throughout by the sellout crowd of 21,852.

“It was great, man,” he said. “I didn’t expect it to be like this— overwhelming at some points. You can tell the support is still here.” AP THE Heat’s Rodney McGruder tries to stop the Raptors’ Kawhi Leonard during the second half of their game on Wednesday. AP

Now 37 and a new mother facing some players who weren’t even born when she turned pro in 1995, Williams isn’t the same person who ruthlessly ran her way to 23 Grand Slam singles titles—the last of which came at the 2017 Australian Open when she was pregnant.

“I’m still waiting to get to be the Serena that I was, and I don’t know if I’ll ever be that, physically, emotionally, mentally. But I’m on my way,” Williams said on the eve of the US Open final. “I feel like I still have a ways to go. Once I get there, I’ll be able to play even hopefully better.”

The Male Athlete of the Year will be announced on Thursday.

The women’s award has been won more only by Babe Didrikson Zaharias, whose six wins included one for track and five for golf.

Williams’s previous times winning the AP honor, in 2002, 2009, 2013 and 2015, were because of her dominance.

This one was about her perseverance.

Williams developed blood clots after giving birth to daughter Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr. on September 1, 2017, and four surgeries would follow. She returned to the Women’s Tennis Association Tour in March and played in just a pair of events before the French Open, where she competed in a skin-tight, full-length black catsuit.

She said the outfit—worn partly for health reasons because of the clots—made her feel like a superhero, but her game was rarely in superstar shape. She had to withdraw in Paris because of a right pectoral injury and didn’t play again until Wimbledon, where she lost to Angelique Kerber in the final.

Williams came up short again in New York, where her loss to Naomi Osaka in the final will be remembered best for her outburst toward chair umpire Carlos Ramos, who had penalized Williams for receiving

coaching and later penalized her an entire game for calling him a “thief” while arguing.

That loss leaves her one major title shy of Margaret Court’s record as she starts play next year in a WTA Tour that will look different in part because of new rules coming about after issues involving Williams. Players returning to the tour may use a “special ranking” for up to three years from the birth of a child, and the exemption can be used for seedings at big events. Also, the tour says players can wear leggings or compression shorts at its tournaments without a skirt over them.

Williams insists she is still driven to play and win as much, if not more, than before she was a mother. That drive is the focus of a Nike ad showing her in action.

“Getting this far, crazy,” it says. “Stopping now, crazier.”

Williams won’t.

“I’m still on the way up,” she said. “There’s still much more that I plan on doing.”

The rest of the top five: n Simone Biles, gymnastics. The American won four golds and six medals overall in the world championships in Qatar, giving her 20 in her career to tie Russia’s Svetlana Khorkina for the most by a female gymnast. n Arike Ogunbowale, women’s basketball. She hit one jumper to knock off previously unbeaten Connecticut in the Final Four, then a three-pointer in the championship game to lift Notre Dame over Mississippi State. n Chloe Kim, snowboarding. At 17, the Californian won the halfpipe Olympic gold medal in South Korea, where her parents were from before they immigrated to the United States. n Katie Ledecky, swimming. The 21-year-old US Olympian tuned up for the 2020 Games in Tokyo by winning five medals in the city at the Pan Pacific Championships. AP

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Friday, December 28, 2018

Relationships BusinessMirror

They bonded as cabbies in the 1980s.

Now one is helping his ailing friend

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JACK PADBERG (left) and David Meyer, former cab drivers who have been close friends for decades, in New York on December 18. After a series of falls and surgeries had left Padberg—a former soldier and aspiring actor who moved to New York in 1969 with nothing but a suitcase and a 1958 Buick convertible— incapable of performing most daily tasks, Meyer made it his mission to help his friend recover.

GABRIELLA ANGOTTIJONES | THE NEW YORK TIMES

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Today’s Horoscope

By Eugenia Last

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: John Legend, 40; Denzel Washington, 64; Edgar Winter, 72; Dame Maggie Smith, 84.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Don’t let emotions override what’s right. Practical solutions will bring the best results. Take your time and refuse to be sideswiped by someone who thinks he or she knows what’s best for you. A serious look at financial, legal and medical issues will help offset pending problems that have the potential to stand in your way. Your lucky numbers are 6, 17, 20, 29, 36, 38, 44.

a

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Don’t be so hard on yourself. Look at what you’ve accomplished and consider what you want to do moving forward. Don’t let regrets stand between you and the success you deserve. Follow your beliefs, not someone else’s. «««

b

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Step things up a notch and make the changes that will help you prepare for what’s to come. Move forward with anticipation and desire to double up on the things that bring you the most joy. Romance should be a priority. «««««

c

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Take better care of your relationships with others. Listen and respond with love and compassion. Refuse to let anyone taint what you say or are trying to do. Stand up and be counted; you will have no regrets. ««

d

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Look for the good in everyone. Share insight into circumstances that seem bleak or impossible to conquer and you’ll be joined by those who share your vision and are ready to fight your battle. Love and romance are in the stars. ««««

e

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Join in the fun and enjoy, but don’t overdo it or make a spectacle that can damage your reputation. Make positive changes, and bring joy to those you love. Good things will happen. Walk away from poor influences and meddlers. «««

By Andrew McCormick New York Times News Service

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EW YORK—In 1979 just before midnight on New Year’s Eve, Jack Padberg parked his taxi at 52nd Street and Broadway. It was far enough from Times Square to avoid the crowd but near enough that he could still watch the ball drop.

David Meyer, in a cab of his own, tried for a similar view—but instead found himself surrounded by revelers, who lifted the old Dodge off the ground, Meyer still in it, while chanting: “Taxi! Taxi! Taxi!”

This was one of many stories shared between the best friends and former cabdrivers one evening last fall, after Meyer, 67, had helped Padberg, 75, move into a rehabilitation facility for older people.

A series of falls and surgeries had left Padberg—a former soldier and aspiring actor who moved to New York in 1969 with nothing but a suitcase and a 1958 Buick convertible—weak and incapable of performing most daily tasks. Meyer made it his mission to help his friend recover.

New York is a hard city to grow old in.

It’s even harder for those who spent their careers

in low-wage professions, with meager benefits and scant opportunities for saving. For drivers lacking health insurance, medical complications can take them out of the game entirely.

This is what happened to Padberg, who today cuts a slight figure but nevertheless retains a witty composure. The native Oklahoman has a wiry beard and speaks with a gentle rasp.

Meyer, originally from Ohio, stands a head taller than his friend. A natural performer, he loves telling stories, so much that his tales tend to swerve and smack into each other.

The men belonged to a generation of drivers who moved to New York to become painters, poets, actors and musicians in the 1960s and 1970s. As flop-haired liberals, they stood in sharp contrast to the veteran cabbies of the 1950s and 1960s, then famous for their folksy wisdom. “We had this sense we were on the edge of history,” Meyer said.

After all, the taxicab was an indelible icon of New York then, embodying both the sizzling energy and stark loneliness of the city. Meyer and Padberg were the guys behind the wheel when Taxi was a wildly popular sitcom in living rooms across the country.

They were the guys, too, who might have been eyed

with apprehension after Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver had screened in movie theaters.

Padberg moved here first. After graduating from the University of Oklahoma with a degree in French, he enlisted for a short stint in the Army, which he spent in Nuremberg, Germany. When he got home, he sought acting work at a theater in Oklahoma City, but all roles had been filled for the coming season.

With nothing to lose, he figured, Padberg moved to New York. It was the summer of 1969. In June, police had raided the Stonewall Inn, leading to riots that galvanized the city’s gay community. To many, the city felt like a powder keg ready to blow. But to Padberg, then 26, it was everything he’d ever wanted.

He went to plays. He stayed out too late. And for the first time in his life, he dated men.

In 1971 he found a one-bedroom walk-up in a renovated brownstone on West 83rd Street—the very same apartment he’s called home ever since.

Padberg worked odd jobs and auditioned for roles, but in 1974 he decided it was time to find steady work. “Everyone I knew either waited tables or drove a cab,” he said. “I picked the cab.”

Continued on C3

Partnership commits to rebuilding Marawi school TRUE to its commitment to build a better future for Filipinos, Cemex Holdings Philippines through its social development arm, Cemex Philippines Foundation, strengthened its partnership with GMA Kapuso Foundation for the Rebuild Marawi initiative. During a recent ceremonial turnover, Rikki Escudero-Catibog, GMAKF executive VP and COO, received a diorama of the new learning facility for the Pendolanan Elementary School in Marawi that Cemex will help build. GMAKF has repeatedly visited Lanao del Sur to find out how it could best respond to the needs of the residents of Marawi who were displaced

by the armed conflict. Many schools were reduced to rubble during the siege of the city. Thus, constructing this new learning facility is integral in realizing the foundation’s vision to help the city start afresh through the rebuilding of schools for the children.

Photo shows Ignacio Mijares (left), CHP president and CEO; and Chito Maniago (right), CHP corporate communications and public affairs director and executive director of Cemex Philippines Foundation, turning over the miniature version of the learning facility to cement the partnership of Cemex and GMA Kapuso Foundation.

f

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Refuse to get into a debate with someone you live with. Keep the peace and surround yourself with the people who bring out the best in you. Put love first and realize everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion. «««

g

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Get together with friends or those who share your concerns, beliefs and goals. Don’t let someone weigh you down or make you feel bad about who you are or how you look. A gift or offering will take you by surprise. «««

h

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): The experience you share with someone special will open your mind to a brighter future. Take pride in who you are, and start living life your way. Take a step toward spiritual freedom and inner happiness. Romance is highlighted. ««««

i

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Don’t overreact or expect people to always be at their best. Be a witness, not a contributor, when dealing with those you don’t share ideals with. How you react will determine the response you get in return. Stay focused and humble. ««

j

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Listen to your heart and follow through with your plans. Take the initiative to share with those you trust, and protect against those you don’t. Size up situations and act on your own behalf. Romance should be a priority. «««««

k

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Understanding what others are up against will help you have a calming effect that will ease stress and make it possible for you to offer help. A positive change you make will impress as well as inspire others to follow. «««

l

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Hold back criticism and replace it with compassion and suggestions that are helpful. Your input can make a difference to the outcome of someone’s life. What you do today will leave an impression on the people you care about most. ««« BIRTHDAY BABY: You are imaginative, caring and concise. You are motivating and enthusiastic.

‘waste this puzzle’ BY TIMOTHY E. PARKER The Universal Crossword/Edited by Timothy E. Parker

ACROSS 1 Potted meat brand 5 Situated above 9 Stimulant-yielding plants 14 Citrus flavor 15 West Coast wine region 16 Not fit for the purpose 17 Yodelers’ spots 18 Plow pullers 19 Cigarette remainders 20 Ashes among the lava?

23 Engine activator, sometimes 24 Give in the middle 25 Immodesty cause 28 Hails 32 Lawn tender, at times 34 Pollution-control group 37 Artistic device 39 At one time, once 40 Broken “surprise” toy?

44 Parts of history 45 “In ___ words...”

46 Brit’s restroom 47 Red shade 50 Sub feature

2 Golf prop 5 53 Third player from the center 55 Fakes 59 Reason the diner got an “F”?

64 Heirloom location 66 Strong smell 67 Not crazy 68 It’s a snap 69 Emulated a busy spider 70 Implore 71 Fix seams 72 Kill, as a dragon 73 Have the main role DOWN 1 Some Albanians 2 American worker?

3 Hardly scanty 4 Hallucinogenic cactus 5 “Don’t know who wrote it” oldstyle 6 Cab 7 Oil group 8 Kind of suit 9 Volume measurement unit 10 Daunting burden

1 Notre Dame, for one 1 12 Mentally resourceful 13 GPS routes 21 Famed violin maker 22 Not cooked 26 Artist’s preparation 27 Prefix meaning straight 29 Large container 30 Martial-arts school 31 Wee quarrels 33 Bard’s “always” 34 DVD player button 35 Blender output 36 Italian almond liqueurs 38 Lingering sound 41 Air pump abbreviation 42 Baseball’s Griffey 43 This theme, obviously 48 Manatee, e.g.

49 Half-ems 51 Monkey variety 54 Arab sailing vessels 56 Not together 57 Japanese comics style 58 Villain’s look

0 Customary observance 6 61 Pedestal figure 62 Pulsating 73-Across 63 Three pip-per 64 Mar. follower 65 Title starter, often

Solution to yesterday’s puzzle:

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

Show BusinessMirror

SM Cinema celebrates Christmas with MMFF 2018

KEVIN SPACEY

Kevin Spacey faces felony charge in misconduct case

By Sopan Deb

K

Friday, December 28, 2018 C3

New York Times News Service

EVIN SPACEY will be charged with a felony following an accusation of sexual assault made public last year, the authorities in Nantucket, Massachusetts, said on Monday.

The charge, first reported by The Boston Globe, is in connection with an accusation of misconduct that was made by a former television anchor, Heather Unruh, who said that Spacey sexually assaulted her 18-year-old son in July 2016 at a bar in Nantucket.

Michael O’Keefe, the Cape and Islands district attorney in Massachusetts, said in a statement that Spacey would be arraigned on January 7 for one charge of indecent assault and battery, the first criminal charge levied against him as a result of sexual-misconduct allegations. The statement also said there was a public show cause hearing in Nantucket District Court last Thursday, after which Clerk Magistrate Brian Kearney issued the criminal complaint.

A representative for Spacey did not respond to a request for comment.

But the actor has apologized for one incident and denied at least one other accusation of wrongdoing.

Soon after The Globe report was published on Monday, a video was posted on Spacey’s Twitter account. In the roughly three-minute clip, called “Let Me Be Frank” (a likely reference to Frank Underwood, the character he played on the Netflix show House of Cards), Spacey gives a monologue while wearing an apron and working in the kitchen.

“I know what you want,” Spacey says with a deep Southern accent, staring straight at the camera. “Oh sure, they may have tried to separate us, but what we have is too strong. It’s too powerful. I mean, after all, we shared everything, you and I. I told you my deepest, darkest secrets. I showed you exactly what people are capable of. I shocked you with my honesty but mostly, I challenged you and made you think. And you trusted me, even though you knew you shouldn’t. So we’re not done no matter what anyone says.”

Unruh said at a news conference last year that Spacey gave her son “drink after drink,” before reaching down his pants and touching his genitals at a restaurant called the Club Car. Unruh’s son told Spacey that he was 21, although he was only 18, according to Unruh, but she added: “Kevin Spacey had no right to sexually assault him. There was no consent.”

Unruh did not respond to a request for comment.

She is one of more than a dozen people who have accused Spacey of sexual misconduct. The first was the actor Anthony Rapp, who said Spacey

made an inappropriate sexual advance on him in Spacey’s apartment in 1986 when he was just 14 years old. Spacey apologized on Twitter and came out as gay with a statement that came under an avalanche of criticism.

Just days after the Rapp accusations were made public in October 2017, Spacey’s publicist provided a statement to The New York Times that said Spacey was “taking the time necessary to seek evaluation and treatment."

Mitchell Garabedian, a lawyer for the accuser in the Nantucket case, said in a statement Monday: “The complainant has shown a tremendous amount of courage in coming forward. Let the facts be presented, the relevant law applied and a just and fair verdict rendered.”

And in a phone call as reported by The Globe, Unruh said, “I’m pleased that the case is moving forward in the judicial system.”

In September, the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office declined to prosecute Spacey in connection with an allegation that he sexually assaulted a man in West Hollywood in 1992. Spacey is also reportedly under investigation by the authorities in London for several accusations of inappropriate behavior.

Spacey’s video on Monday was his first post on Twitter since the post responding to Rapp in October 2017.

FOR 44 years, the annual Metro Manila Film Festiva (MMFF) has been part of the Filipino Christmas, and this year it becomes bigger with eight Filipino movies from the biggest producers and stars in the country. Filmgoers can enjoy these movies anywhere, anytime as SM Cinema (www.smcinema. com), the largest film exhibitor in the country, has 64 branches nationwide. Here are the movies lined up for this year’s MMFF: n AURORA. From acclaimed horror and suspense thriller director, Yam Laranas, the film tells the story of Leana (Anne Curtis) and her sister as they make a deal to look for the dead bodies of the passengers of Aurora, a sunken ship. However, instead of dead bodies, troubled souls start to haunt them. n FANTASTICA: THE PRINCESSES, THE PRINCE, AND THE PERYA. The latest comedy starring Vice Ganda together with Dingdong Dantes and Richard Gutierrez follows the story of Belat and her adventures to rebuild her family’s carnival and save it from bankruptcy. n JACK EM POPOY: THE PULISCREDIBLES. This action-comedy follows the adventures of police officers Jack (Coco Martin), Emily (Maine Mendoza) and Popoy (Vic Sotto) as they join forces to solve a case and bring down a syndicate. n MARY MARRY ME. Real-life sisters Toni and Alex Gonzaga play siblings whose relationship will be tested when Mary Jane (Toni) discovers that her sister (Alex) is about to marry her ex-boyfriend (Sam Milby). n ONE GREAT LOVE. A story of finding one great love, Zyra Paez (Kim Chiu) gives her relationship with Carl Mauricio (JC de Vera) one more try, but as time passes she doubts her relationship and becomes even more confused with her feelings toward his best friend, Dr. Ian Arcano (Dennis Trillo). n OTLUM. Another horror movie to give a chill to Christmas, Otlum follows the story of a group of young people as they stay overnight in an abandoned orphanage. The adventure goes wrong as they uncover dark secrets and are haunted by ghosts. n RAINBOW’S SUNSET. Featuring veteran actors Eddie Garcia, Gloria Romero and Tony Mabesa, the film explores the story of Ramon (Eddie Garcia) and his family as he reveals his true sexuality and feelings for his dying friend, Fredo (Tony Mabesa). n THE GIRL IN THE ORANGE DRESS. This romantic-comedy tells the story of Anne (Jessy Mendiola), who wakes up after a party and discovers herself in bed with a celebrity heartthrob, Rye (Jericho Rosales), without any idea what happened the night before. Even as they escape from the public eye, Anne and Rye cannot run away from their blossoming feelings toward each other.

The MMFF is ongoing until January 8.

Students flock to first leg of ‘Kapuso Campus Tour: The Regional Masterclass Series’ ON December 10, hundreds of students filled the Claire Isabel McGill Luce Auditorium of Silliman University in Dumaguete City to take part in the first leg of the “Kapuso Campus Tour: The Regional Masterclass Series,” organized by GMA through its regional arm GMA Regional TV. In line with the network’s 2019 election advocacy “Pusuan ang Totoo,” masterclass series saw some of today’s most talented GMA personalities sharing their thoughts on various topics—from mobile journalism to choosing the country’s next leaders in this digital age.

Award-winning broadcast journalist Atom Araullo, who banners the monthly documentary program The Atom Araullo Specials, discussed among the participants the process of documentary-making. The I-Witness host shared what it is like to be a millennial journalist as well, adjusting to digital demands without sacrificing the traditional fact-checking rigors of journalism.

Imparting valuable lessons on mobile journalism was GMA News’s senior social-media producer Audrey Domasian. She also shared how it is to navigate through the so-called fake news culture.

Meanwhile, championing the Yolo (you only live once) attitude was GMA scholar and GMA Network

Excellence Awards (GNEA) finalist Eleazar del Rosario, who is now the executive producer of public affairs program Tadhana. Del Rosario shared with the audience his experience about being young and striving for excellence and how a Yolo attitude can be a golden opportunity to achieve one’s goals in life.

For Rahiema Guerra, starting at the local level is key to building global communities. The AFS Intercultural Programs Philippines president talked about establishing global communities through intercultural programs.

Capping off the series of discussions was GMA RTV’s Balitang Bisdak anchor Cecille Quibod-Castro, who explained how RTV’s belief that “local news matters” has been their guiding principle in their everyday operations of serving 9 million homes or 45 million viewers via all GMA Regional TV newscasts— namely Balitang Amianan, Balitang Bisdak, One Western Visayas and One Mindanao.

“The Kapuso Campus Tour is a proud initiative of GMA Network’s Regional TV, in synergy with GMA News and Public Affairs, GMA Network Excellence Awards, GMA News Online and AFS Intercultural Programs Philippines, and in partnership with seven of the country’s top universities,” says GMA Regional

TV Vice President and Head Oliver Amoroso, who is an alumnus of Silliman University.

“I remember very well, even if we were considered far from Manila in terms of distance, we were [not] detached from dramatic turn of [national and social] events. Many thanks to media news reports then, we became deeply aware of the issues and changes going on in the national governance.

Of course, there was no Facebook, Instagram or any social media at all—and things like fake news were alien concepts to us. Nevertheless, it wasn’t hard to realize how important it was to be wellinformed about current events and issues facing our communities and our country,” he adds.

“And as we now enter another election season, GMA, through the Kapuso Campus Tour, joins in the conversation on voting and other relevant issues in this digital age. This is still part of the network’s election advocacy campaign, Pusuan ang Totoo—a call to stand for what is true, to fight against corruption and disinformation and to choose leaders who will truly serve the country,” concluded Amoroso.

There will be six more legs of the Kapuso Campus Tour: The Regional Masterclass Series in 2019.

FROM left: GMA News Senior Social Media producer Audrey Mae Domasian, GMA scholar and GMA Network Excellence Awards finalist Eleazar del Rosario, GMA Regional TV Vice President and Head Oliver Victor Amoroso, GMA Regional TV’s Balitang Bisdak coanchor Cecille Quibod-Castro, Silliman University Director for Strategic Partnerships Jenny Lind Elmaco, AFS Intercultural Programs Philippines President Rahiema Guerra, RTV Central and Eastern Visayas Station Manager Ann Marie Tan and multiawarded GMA News and Public Affairs broadcast journalist Atom Araullo

They bonded as cabbies in the 1980s. Now one is helping his ailing friend Continued from C2 At the same time Padberg started driving, Meyer, a senior at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, had gotten himself arrested for streaking. Barely allowed to graduate, he too had tried his hand at acting in Cleveland and Stamford, Connecticut, before finding his way to New York and becoming a cabdriver.

The friends met in 1980 at a taxi garage on West 55th Street. As Padberg put it, the men “started talking and never stopped.”

Padberg also became close with Meyer’s girlfriend and future wife, Cynthia Berry Meyer.

When Meyer was out at night prowling for night fares, they would sometimes hang out together and watch popular TV shows, like Dallas.

It was Meyer whom Padberg first called last summer when his health took a turn for the worse.

After Padberg underwent emergency surgery, Meyer

immediately flew to New York from Bermuda, where Berry Meyer’s career had taken the couple in 2011.

Sleeping on the couch in Padberg’s apartment— cluttered with decades’ of accumulated books and records—Meyer arranged for caregivers to help Padberg before returning to Bermuda. But then Padberg developed new health issues, including a severe loss of appetite and energy. Then he started falling.

Meyer flew to New York again.

One morning, when Meyer was out, Padberg found himself alone and immobile, wedged between his bed and a radiator. Firefighters had to break into his apartment to get him off the ground.

In the hospital, doctors discovered that an infection from the surgery had spread throughout Padberg’s core.

After weeks more of convalescence, nurses thought it would be best for Padberg to move into assisted living. Meyer knew this would result in his

friend losing his rent-stabilized apartment of 40plus years. He intervened, selecting a rehab facility, instead, for Padberg.

“I just want to give Jack a chance to get back to the life and apartment he loves,” Meyer said. “Jack gave me access to the city I knew back then. It still exists there in his apartment.”

Back in Bermuda, Meyer stayed in constant contact with his friend and with the staff of the rehab facility. More than once, he scrambled, from abroad, to delay Padberg’s discharge, scheduled by one staff member when others had told him Padberg could still barely walk.

If he was still weak, Meyer said, how did Padberg have any chance of climbing the 28 steps leading to his apartment?

Padberg was finally discharged from rehab last summer. He was still wobbly, but he agreed to use a cane when a nurse told him it looked handsome.

“Oh, well, I’ll use it, but only because you want me

to,” Padberg told her.

Of course, Meyer was there. He ensured his friend’s paperwork was squared away and accompanied him to the apartment. When they arrived, a neighbor complimented Padberg on his weight loss.

“Yes, I lost nearly 70 pounds,” Padberg said. “But I wouldn’t recommend to anyone to do it the way I did.”

Padberg’s health is still uncertain, but day-to-day life is now as it should be for an older New Yorker.

He cooks his own recipes. He reads old books and magazines. Padberg also goes to physical therapy twice a week and volunteers at a neighborhood food bank. He has fallen several times, but he stubbornly rejects Meyer’s estimation of how often.

Last week, Padberg and Meyer returned to the rehab facility—but this time to sing carols for the residents. In a red scarf and reindeer sweater, Padberg gave his full-throated best to “Joy to the World,” “Silent Night” and his favorite, “Hark! the Herald Angels Sing.”

C4

Sports

| Friday, December 28, 2018 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

BusinessMirror

NORTHPORT’S Stanley Pringle leads all contenders in the statistical race.

PRINGLE AHEAD IN M.V.P. RACE

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ORTHPORT’S Stanley Pringle stands in the way between San Miguel Beer big man June Mar Fajardo and his record fifth Philippine Basketball Association Most Valuable Player (MVP) award.

Pringle, the 2015 Rookie of the Year, remained on top of the statistical race with a cumulative average of 35.5 points, ahead of the second-running Fajardo who had assembled 33.1 SPs at the end of the league’s 43rd season.

The reigning four-time MVP led the race for most part of the year, but injury forced him to sit out most part of the season-ending Governor’s Cup. He played just three games in the conference and earned just 10.67 SPs. Pringle also had a limited stint with eight games because of

his stint with the Philippine team but managed to accumulate 34 SPs—the highest among the contenders for the league’s most coveted award.

Barangay Ginebra San Migiel’s Japeth Aguilar remained at third with 32.3, followed by NorthPort’s Sean Anthony with 31.3. Matthew Wright of Phoenix rounded out the top 5 with 30.0.

Also in the race were San Miguel Beer’s Marcio Lassiter (29.80), followed by teammates Arwind Santos (29.77) and Alex Cabagnot (29.74).

Ginebra’s Scottie Thompson was at ninth spot with 29.6, while Blackwater’s Paul Erram was at 10th place with 28.5.

Although he trailed Pringle, Fajardo remained a solid

contender to win his fifth MVP trophy considering his Best Player of the Conference awards in the Philippine Cup and Commissioner’s Cup. Phoenix Petroleum forward Jason Perkins, meanwhile, remained the leading contender for the Rookie of the Year award.

Perkins led the field with 32.2 SPs followed by fellow ex-De La Salle Green Archer Jeron Teng, who was a close second with 18.7.

Top draft pick Christian Standhardinger and No. 2 selection Kiefer Ravena did not make the list of top rookie contenders because they lack the required minimum number of games.

JET AND JOSH IN CONTROL

J

ET HERNANDEZ and Josh Jorge combined for seven-under 61 and emerged the best in four-ball to wrest control at the start of the National Doubles Amateur Golf Championship at the Camp Aguinaldo Golf Club in Quezon City on Thursday.

Hernandez and Jorge produced eight birdies in their first team-up under the best-ball format, barely missing turning in a solid round with a three-putt miscue on the par-4 No. 5 of the short but tight par-68 course. They settled for a two-shot lead over Jed Dy and Bianca Pagdanganan, who pooled a 63, in the season-ending tournament of the National Golf Association of the Philippines and held as part of the PLDT Group National Amateur Golf Tour.

“We just clicked and came up with birdies of our own,” said Hernandez and Jorge, who however blew another birdie try on the closing par-5 hole.

Dy, a former junior world champion, and Pagdanganan, a former Philippine Ladies Amateur Open titlist and bronze medalist in the recent Asian Games, matched Hernandez and Jorge’s strong 32 start and the leaders’ back-to-back birdies from No. 10. But they bogeyed the par-4 14th, which Hernandez and Jorge birdie for a clutch two-shot swing that shoved them on top of the 16-pair field.

Lanz Uy and Ryan Monsalve pooled a 64 for third, while the Kristine Torralba-Santino Laurel and Sean Ramos-Gabby Macalaguim pairs assembled identical 65s to stay in the title hunt in the event sponsored by the MVP Sports Foundation and backed by Cignal and Metro Pacific and Camp Aguinaldo.

But unless the top 5 teams sustain their superb opening-round performances, a shake-up in the Group I leaderboard could ensue as play shifts to aggregate, where the scores of each player will be added for the team’s score, in Friday’s second round.

Saturday’s final round will feature the two-ball foursomes or alternate shot.

Matching par 68s were the tandems of Masaichi Otake-Rald Sarmiento and Paqo Barro and Jeff Jung, while Don Petil, winner last year with Paolo Wong, and new partner JR Salahug struggled with a 69 for joint eighth with Samantha Martirez and Diana Araneta.

Rafael Rivera and Ciaran O’Driscoll carded a 70 to grab the Group II lead, two shots ahead of Miguel Roque and Santino Diokno, while Jermaine Melosantos and Cedric Aunzo limped with a 78.

Louie Aguinaldo and Beleran Col, on the other hand, matched par 68 to open a two-stroke lead over JB Liclican and Rey Manuel in Group III with Mon Capistrano and Vic Se staying within striking distance with a 72.

Legends tennis tilt caps season

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HE Palawan Pawnshop-Palawan Express Pera Padala (PPS-PPEP) tennis circuit winds up another banner season in Nueva Ecija starting on Friday with the Gov. Cherry Umali Legends men’s doubles tournament at the Nueva Ecija Tennis Association (Neta) courts in Cabanatuan City.

The pairs of Nitoy Norte-Laude Ladignon and Sid Beley-Lawrenz Escuadro from Neta and Cavite’s Lito Gallenito-Aldrin Geluz head the cast in the 40s division, while siblings Jacky and Jimmy Tomacruz and Henry Escalante and Mario Villasan from Manila banner the field in the 50s category of the event presented by Dunlop.

Also on tap in the three-day event is a free tennis clinic for the youth to be conducted by Macs Crankit Tennis Academy coaches Franklin Encarnacion and Dong Velez.

Rizal’s Ed Gata and Danny Gardon, meanwhile, are the tandem to watch in the 60s side of the event capping the yearlong, nationwide circuit long regarded as the spawning ground of tennis talents in the land.

In fact, a 70-leg circuit has been lined up for next year’s edition of the annual event put up by the country’s top remittance center as part of its continuing commitment to help develop the sport and at the same time produce future national team players.

“It has been another successful year for the circuit with the likes of Alexa Milliam and John David Velez, along with Macie Carlos, Bliss Bayking, Brent Cortes and Sydney Enriquez emerging as the sport’s future stars,” PPS President and CEO Bobby Castro said. “Their feats here and abroad should serve as inspiration to the other young players dreaming of making it big someday.”

Motoring BusinessMirror

Henry Ford Awards Best Motoring Section 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 2011 Hall of Fame

Editor: Tet Andolong

Friday, December 28, 2018 D1

WELL-DRESSED with design elements worthy of a mini SUV

EQUALLY stunning with more curvatures

THUMBS UP n Well-dressed exterior design n Cabin layout with premium trims n Third row seats n Fuel-efficient engine n Good low-end torque

NEAT and well-laid-out with nice accent trims

THUMBS DOWN n Damping rigidity rebounds n Less muffled engine noise

SPECIFICATIONS n Vehicle: All-new Toyota Rush 1.5 G A/T n Type: Mini SUV n Engine: 1.5-liter 2NR-VE, inline four-cylinder, DOHC, 16 valves with Dual VVT-i (Variable Valve Timing), petrol fed n Maximum power: 102hp at 6,000rpm n Maximum torque: 134N-m at 4,400rpm n Transmission: four-speed automatic

THRIFTY and reliable 1.5-liter 2NR-VE engine

DIMENSIONS n Overall length: 4,435 mm n Overall width: 1,705 mm n Overall height: 1,695 mm n Wheelbase: 2,685 mm n Tire size: 215/60 R17 n Price as tested: P1.07 million

Moto

Business

D2 Friday, December 28, 2018

PHL IS MOST UP AND HYUNDAI’S SALES GREW BY 3.5% IN NOVEMBER ‘A S economic headwinds begin to slowdown, Hyundai is in its best position to take advantage of what is left of 2018. Backed by a strong Hyundai community in the country, we have proven time and again that our products and services remain relevant in the country’s automotive industry,” said Hyundai Asia Resources, Inc. (Hari) President and CEO Ma. Fe Perez-Agudo.

Performance and drivers

HARI, the official distributor of Hyundai vehicles in the Philippines, continues its strong show by registering a 3.5-percent yearon-year increase for the month of November 2018; the second consecutive month of year-on-year growth. Unit sales rose to 3,426 units from the recorded 3,309 units sold in November 2017.

This puts the year-to-date total at 32,444 units sold from January to November 2018, closing the gap with only a 4.6-percent decrease from the same period of the previous year.

Passenger Cars (PC) maintain its position as the brand’s volume driver by accounting for 56.7 percent of the total unit sales. The segment declined by 20.6 percent to 18,389 units for the period of January to November 2018 compared to the 23,167 units sold in the same period of 2017. Although with the recent announcement of the new Accent, the brand can expect its PC sales to pick up in 2019.

Light Commercial Vehicles

IN RFC GRAND F

(LCV), on the other hand, rose to be the front-runner of the brand’s growth. The successful introduction of the Kona in the subcompact SUV segment, coupled with the significant increase in the sales of the H-100 due to the rise in construction activity from the administration’s “Build, Build, Build” program, easily offset any negative effects that were experience in the automotive industry for the year. This has led to the segment selling a total of 14,055 units from January to November 2018, a 29.4-percent increase from the 10,858 units sold in 2017.

Sales and economic outlook

PHILIPPINE inflation has shown its first sight of easing after its eight-month climb as November inflation fell to 6.0 percent.

The sudden decline in global oil prices and the slowdown of food prices played a significant role in the inflation results. It is expected that inf lationary pressures would moderate in the following year, backed by strong investments, and spending related to the midterm elections, would be enough to weather any external headwinds that would be experienced in the global economy in 2019. Hyundai’s performance the past few months is a testament to how the brand is able to capitalize on the slowdown of economic headwinds. Hyundai is in a strong position to take advantage of the last month of the year and finish 2018 on a high note.

TEAM Philippines in Car No. 123 tackles the water and rock obstacles in a competition special stage of the RFC Grand Final 2018.

T

Story & photos by Robby Consunji

EAM Philippines competed and completed the toughest off-road motorsport in the world—the Rainforest Challenge (RFC) Grand Finals 2018 in Kota Bahru, Kelantan, Malaysia.

Mission E Cross Turismo goes to production TEAM KJSM Malaysia in Car No. 118 powers through the sand at Special Stage No. 2 of the Prologue Race at Pantai Sri Tujuh, Tumpat, Kelantan, Malaysia.

T

HE Supervisory Board of Porsche AG gave the green light for series production of the concept study Mission E Cross Turismo. This was announced during their meeting recently held in Stuttgart, Germany.

The sports car manufacturer will create 300 additional jobs at its headquarters in Zuffenhausen for production of the vehicle, which was presented at the Geneva Motor Show 2018.

The road-ready concept study Mission E Cross Turismo was a highlight in Geneva and was wellreceived by both visitors to the show

and the media. The four-door Cross Turismo has 800-volt architecture and is prepared for connection to the fast-charging network. It has a system output of 600 hp and a range of 500 km (NEDC).

The vehicle is a derivative of the Taycan. The first purely electric Porsche will be launched on the market in 2019. The introduction of the Taycan is generating 1,200 new jobs in Zuffenhausen. Great importance is attached to sustainability in production, which will, therefore, be carbon-neutral. Porsche plans to invest more than €6 billion in electro mobility by 2022.

The RFC is one of the Top Ten Toughest Motor Races in the World.

This annual event is staged in the treacherous jungles of Malaysia where driving skills and 4x4 off-road vehicles are put to the test.

The Philippine team was composed of driver, Eduardo “Randy” Sobrepeña, and co-driver, Boxy Malonzo, both from San Fernando City, Pampanga, raced against 28 country teams from Russia, China, Mongolia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Czech Republic, Korea, Ecuador, Vietnam and Thailand from November 23 to December 4, 2018.

They competed in a modified Land Cruiser FJ40 in the Modified Production Category with 14 competitors.

The other 14 competitors are in the Prototype Category. Sobrepeña and Malonzo showed the Filipino spirit and strength in the grueling competition, which tested their skills in offroad driving.

After finishing 32 Special Stages and two Twilight Zone Transport Stages, Team Philippines earned a total score of 1,642 points and landed in the fifthplace Modified Production Category at the Night Closing Awards, which was held at Gua Musang on December 4.

The team finished with top brack-

et standings in 12 out of 32 Special Stages.

“Grabe pala hirap!” described Sobrepeña during his experience at the RFC Grand Finals.

Indeed the Filipino racers demonstrated guts, grit and determination to compete and complete the RFC Grand Finals putting the Filipinos in the international arena of off-road motorsport.

The 2018 RFC Grand Finals Winners are as follows:

Modified Production Category

1st Place Champion—Team 117, Malaysia Vietnam; 3,285 points total 2nd Place—Team 125, Malaysia Team Terbang; 3,093 points 3rd Place—Team 118, Malaysia Team KJSM; 2,726 points 4th Place—Team 122, Malaysia Kelantan Thailand; 2,447 points 5th Place—Team 123, Philippines; 1,642 points

Prototype Category

1st Place Champion—Team 104, Russia Vladivostok; 3,095 points total 2nd Place—Team 105, Russia Ussuriysk; 3,056 points 3rd Place—Team 138, Malaysia

THE Philippine delegation arrived at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on November 22. (From left) Chief Mechanic Obet Manalang, Agnes Romero, RFC Global Series Philippine Event Chairman Rene Romero, RFC Philippine Representative Robby Consunji, Driver Eduardo “Randy” Sobrepena and Codriver Boxy Malonzo

Team GT 4x4; 2,967 points 4th Place—Team 103, Russia Sakhalin; 2,902 points 5th Place—Team 111, Russia Caucassus; 2,723 points The Philippine Team received the special award and distinction as the “Most Up & Coming Team” for demonstrating great winning potential for a first timer to enter the race.

The Filipino off-roaders will continue to prepare for the world’s toughest off-road motorsport. “We will try again next year!” said the drivers.

The RFC Global Series Philippines was made possible through the generous support of their sponsors, partners and supporters, including Petron Corp., a Filipino-owned oil company, which has bravely taken on the challenge of being the official fuel and engine oil of the RFC Grand Finals Malaysia, as well as the Philippine Championship Race. The demands of extreme off-roading are the perfect proving grounds for Petron’s flagship products, particularly its Petron Turbo Diesel and Petron Rev-X Turbo HTP. Petron is a good partner for the RFC because we are promoting Philippine excellence in motorsport.

The RFC Global Series Philippine Championship Race 2018 was sponsored by Clark Development Corp., Petron Corp., Maxxis Tires, ARB 4x4 Accessories, Old Man Emu, ComeUp Winch, Project Arrow 4x4 Outfitters, Coffee Lab by Conlins Coffee, Romac Group of Companies, LINE-X, CTEK, Bendix, Hardex, BlueChem, Britpart Philippines, Cebuana Lhuillier, WRU GPS Trackers, Red Bull, Motolite, Inbox Stores.Ph, Grand Rajas Block Corp., The Tree of Erwin Dizon, Laus Auto Group, Congressman Mikee Arroyo, Manman Bengco, Fred Lao, Nel Canlas, Joey Bravo, René Mouris, and YSA Skin & Body Experts, in partnership with Land Rover Club of the Philippines, Pampanga Off-Roaders Club Inc., Jungle Base Firing Range & 4x4 Center, Outdoor Challenge Philippines, Pureforce and Rescue Corp., and the AFP Northern Luzon Command. The local government partners were the Municipality of Arayat, the Municipality of Floridablanca, the Municipality of Porac, Angeles City, and Mabalacat City. The media partners are Ignition. ph, Autocar Philippines, Mellow 94.7, The Awesome Wake Up Show, Punto Central Luzon, and Adventour Asia International Travel Magazine.

oring

sMirror

D COMING TEAM

FINALS 2018

Friday, December 28, 2018

D3

OWTO provides safe transport in Makati

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WTO, a leading transportation network company (TNC), provided hundreds of commuters around the busy streets of Ayala, Makati, a quick, comfortable and safe means of transportation recently.

During their opening on December 15, more than a hundred active drivers went to their newly installed booth in SM Makati to pick up passengers and safely brought them to their respective destinations.

“We are so glad to accommodate a lot of passengers in just a span of two hours after our opening here in SM Makati. And by the end of the year, we are expecting the public to choose OWTO as their favorite means of transportation,” said Joanne Reyes Gayod, OWTO Board member.

With the Holiday rush, OWTO is expecting more than 10,000 active professional drivers to answer the needs of the daily commuters and as part of their commitment to provide superior service before the end of the year not only in Makati City but around Metro Manila.

“As what we have been saying to our

passengers, OWTO is fair, safe and Filipino.

I’m proud to say OWTO is the first Filipinoowned TNS and ride-haling app,” added Gayod, noting that the OWTO app will be available early next year on IOS. “The more

drivers who will drive for us, the better for the thousands of commuters who need us especially during the holiday rush.”

With the newest ride-haling app in the country, these everyday problems will now become a thing of the past. OWTO CEO and founder Joey Gayod says “we are here to serve the riding public and to give a better transport option. We are also here to do our best to provide for our drivers’ needs.”

OWTO is very thankful to SM for providing them a booth in Ayala. SM is one of the largest chains of Malls in the country today with the biggest and largest numbers of shoppers.

“We are deeply honored and thankful for their support,” said Gayod.

Besides Metro Manila, Gayod is also planning to operate in Cebu City and nearby provinces early next year at the same time launch a new improved and redesigned version of the App called OWTO 2.0.

Visit their website at www.owtoph.com.

The OWTO app can be downloaded on Android Playstore.

EXECUTIVE’S DELIGHT

TOYOTA Motor Philippines First Vice President for Corporate Affairs Atty. Rommel Gutierrez (from left); President Satoru Suzuki; Executive Vice President Kei Mizuguchi; and Senior Vice President Jing Atienza present the all-new Toyota Camry.

Story & photos

by Ronald Rey M. de los Reyes

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TEAM Philippines with the Philippine Flag at the Opening Ceremonies and Flag Off for the RFC Grand Final 2018 at Pantai Sri Tujuh, Tumpat, Kelantan, Malaysia. (From left) Codriver Boxy Malonzo and Driver Eduardo “Randy” Sobrepeña.

TEAM Philippines, composed of Driver Eduardo “Randy” Sobrepeña, and Codriver Boxy Malonzo, posed for a photo with the Philippine Flag at the Opening Ceremonies and Flag Off for the RFC Grand Final 2018 at Pantai Sri Tujuh, Tumpat, Kelantan, Malaysia.

OYOTA Motor Philippines (TMP) welcomed the New Year with the unveiling of the allnew Toyota Camry wherein the ceremony was held during a media thanksgiving lunch at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Bonifacio Global City in Taguig.

The event was made to revel the year passing, unravel the mystery and spice things up for 2019 as everybody faces the year ahead with hope, gratitude and positivity.

“Today, we take this opportunity to officially present to you our [midsize sedan] flagship model, the all-new Camry,” said TMP President Satoru Suzuki in a brief speech during the affair.

“In 2019, you can expect more exciting events as Toyota continues to live up to its promise,” he added. The all-new Toyota Camry, masterfully crafted under its new architectural tenets, exudes a panache above the ordinary.

In fact, since its introduction in 1983, there are now over 19 million units worldwide, earning it a distinct title dubbed the “King of Sedans.”

With its prestige comes this eighth-generation model’s new Toyota New Global Architecture which is built upon two pillars—core strength and emphasized personality—which enhances agility, stability and visibility. A lower center of gravity matched with a new suspension system lead to a sharper response and exquisite handling.

At the onset, its distinct bold look stems from Chief Designer Akira Kubota’s concept of “sensual-smart confidence”—an approach that seamlessly melds the athletic accents in the sheet metal with a sleek and modern shape creating an emotional design.

Its two-piece front grille paired with LED headlamps and Daytime Running Lights, complemented with new character lines together with its low and squat stance and coupled by LED taillights, dual exhaust pipes and clearance sonar at the rear present a stylish yet relaxed feel. It’s even capped by 18” alloy wheels to cap its dramatic flair.

Inside, this stunner is sculpted with the finest degree of craftsmanship, as all seats are

THE eighth-generation Toyota Camry exudes styish yet relaxed appeal.

THE interiors stem from a “sensual-smart confidence” concept.

trimmed with genuine leather, while rear seats come equipped with butterfly-type headrests, power recline and a Capacitive Touch Panel that controls the air-conditioning and sunshade. Not to mention its elegant dashboard headlined by a seven-inch Multi-Information Display and Headsup Discussion Display technology.

At the heart of this debonair is a robust and fuel-efficient 2.5 L Dual VVT-i engine, which is paired with a six-speed automatic transmission, which produces 206 hp and 250 N-m of torque.

It readily comes in three colors: Platinum White Pearl, Attitude Black Mica and Thermalyte. Other hues (such as: Red Mica, Phantom Brown Metallic, Graphite Metallic and Burning Black Crystal Shine Glass Flake) are available upon special order.

The all-new Toyota Camry is priced at P2.007 million for the 2.5 V Platinum White Pearl; P1.992 million for the 2.5 V; P1.821 million for the 2.5 G Platinum White Pearl; and P1.806 million for the 2.5 G.

Motoring BusinessMirror

D4 Friday, December 28, 2018

Suzuki: Media not just friend but family

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MISSED practically all of the parties this year, but it’s all right.

In spirit, I was present in all of the events. I’m sure the car moguls knew that by heart. They can forgive, as they are aware—most of them, anyways— that I was in Baguio for virtually half the month of December, the season for merrymaking.

Why? As I said, I refereed, for the 12th straight year already I believe, the 69th Fil-Am Golf Invitational together with my perennial rules partner, Jake P. Ayson. It is a job that Jake and I hate and love at the same time—for it painfully separates us from our families at least two weeks just to

THE CB650R Roadster

be with more than 1,300 participating golfers from worldwide that we co-mingle with almost yearly, and to whom we have learned to embrace as our own. As any Fil-Am player would know by now, the tournament is one gathering that puts premium on brotherhood and friendship more than competition.

One from Okinawa with the walrus moustache gives Jake and I a t-shirt without fail.

One from Cabanatuan City hands us a bundle of Nueva Ecija’s best longganisas.

One from Bicol treats us to a Japanese dinner at Hamada.

The list of kindred souls is so long and they will surely understand if I can’t mention them all here.

Missed all but one

ANYWAYS, I may have missed the parties but there is one that will not take a special spot away from my heart—the Toyota Christmas lunch. I was absent but still, I got the speech delivered for the occasion

by Satoru Suzuki, the soft-spoken president of Toyota Motor Philippines. Did I not always say here that I collect speeches? So, once more, here’s Suzuki-san: “Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to our annual Toyota Christmas lunch gathering.

“Before we begin, I want to greet everyone an advance Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

“I am very happy to see all of you here again, which shows that our friends from the media continue to support the Toyota brand and its endeavors despite your very busy schedules. I am always grateful for your presence.

“While it is a known fact that the entire automotive industry faced

many challenges in 2018, we managed to pull through—in one way or another—because of the help that all industry players received from the motoring media.

“Toyota, in particular, could not have retained its market leadership without you. I realized that I have always addressed the media as ‘friends,’ but at the end of the day, we are ‘family.’

“Looking back at 2018, I can’t help but revel in nostalgia as we shared so many fond memories on the road, at the racetracks, resorts, and inside concert halls.

“Our activities together this year are a testament of our evergrowing relationship that goes beyond business.

“From the 14th year of Roadtrek in Balesin, to Vios Ride & Drive in La Union and Baguio, all throughout the fifth Season of Vios Cup, even swaying to the beat of Toyota Music Fest and the melody of Toyota Classics.

“And today, we take this opportunity to officially present to you our flagship model—the All-New Camry.

“For 2019, you can expect more exciting events as Toyota continues to live up to its promise of always better cars and always better lives.

We shall also keep our feet on the pedal with another waku doki season of our motorsports program.

“We hope that you continue to stay with us throughout our journey, like you all have for the past 30 years.

THE CB1000R Roadster

“Once again, I would like to greet you all a very Merry Christmas, and let us all embrace the New Year with gratitude and goodwill in our hearts.”

Full-model Camry change

TOYOTA’S flagship midsize sedan, the All-New Toyota Camry, has this in its literature: It now exudes extraordinary features from all vantage points imaginable: an overhauled exterior geared toward “Sensual-Smart Confidence,” an ergonomic interior which prioritizes both driver and passenger comfort, and an unmatched array of performance and safety platforms.

Do you know that Camry has already sold over 19 million units worldwide, across seven generations, since its introduction in 1983?

Dubbed the “King of Sedans,” Camry’s enduring success can only be matched by Toyota’s global vision of building “ever-better cars.”

Chief designer Akira Kubota calls Camry’s new design as “SensualSmart Confidence”—an approach which seamlessly melds the athletic accents in the sheet metal with a sleek and modern body shape.

The All-New Camry can cruise between Sport and Eco modes, and has a six-speed automatic transmission fuel-efficient 2.5 L Dual VVT-i engine. Its seven airbags make it a five-star Asean car model, making

it one of the safest passenger cars in the market today.

The All-New Camry comes in Platinum White Pearl, Attitude Black Mica and Thermalyte. Prices: 2.5 V Platinum White Pearl, P2.007 million; 2.5 V, P1.992 million; 2.5 G Platinum White Pearl, P1.821 million; and, 2.5 G, P1.806 million.

PEE STOP When it rains, it pours.

That seems to be the southern expressways’ slogan for the season, suspending anew the collection of fees from 10 p.m. on December 31 to 6 a.m. on January 1, 2019, according to San Miguel Corp., which owns and operates the Skyway, Naiax, Slex and Star Tollway. SMC did the same on the four experessways on December 24 and 25 in appreciation of the public’s patronage and in celebration of the Yuletide.

Cheers!... Again, let me say it: “I love it” whenever I drive the Tivoli, SsangYong’s hidden treasure. To Germain Alilio, a great buddy of the paradise-bound SsangYong top gun Dave Macasadia, my boundless felicitations.... The only motoringrelated party I had attended this year was the Wheel Gallery/Concept One bash hosted by inseparable partners Sammy Liuson and Johnny Tan. Lucky you, guys? I guess so. I brought you, will bring you, the only blessing bundled in joy and prosperity all year round.

Cheers and Happy New Year to all!

THE luxurious Gold Wing

Story & photos by Randy S. Peregrino

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ONDA Philippines Inc. (HPI), the leading motorcycle manufacturer in the country, ended the year with solid offerings.

Officially unveiled recently were three of its newest big bikes—the Roadster models, CB650R and CB1000R, plus the Touring Gold Wing. It was in December 2017 when the public caught a glimpse of Honda’s lineup of Big Bikes as a response to the growing demand for bigger engine displacements.

Receiving an overwhelming response from the riding community, the initial introduction marked the company’s complete product lineup offering in the country.

CB650R

FIRST in the Roadster category was the CB650R. The overall design dubbed as “Neo Sports Café” highlights a modern and minimalist styling concept. Also relative to the styling concept are the exposed in-line four-cylinder engine, the signature round headlight and sculpted fuel tank. This compact middleweight naked sports bike is equipped with full LED lighting, New Digital LCD Panel, and tapered handle bar. Its design also provides a more aggressive riding position. Just like the CB500X, it also provides superior handling and riding comfort thanks to its lighter frame, Showa Separate Function

front suspension (SSF) and four pistol radial mount brake calipers.

Equipped with a liquid-cooled, in-line fourcylinder, DOHC engine with assist/slipper clutch, it produces 93 hp at 12,000 rpm and 63.5 N-m of maximum torque at 8,500 rpm. This model also comes with Honda Selectable Torque Control (HSTC) and 4-2-1 exhaust for that perfect combination of looks, performance and top-line specifications.

The Unified Suggested Retail Price (USRP) of the CB650R is P501,000.

CB1000R

NEXT in the lineup was another Roadster bike— the CB1000R. Just like the CB650R, it highlights the Neo Sports Café design but with a more muscular big-sized naked bike look. Adding to the overall styling are the iconic circular headlight, flangeless fuel tank and aluminum radiator cowl. Likewise, this bike is built for superior handling and riding comfort, thanks to its light weight mono backbone steel frame, full LED lightings, radial mounted dual disk brake, Showa Separate Fork Function Big Piston (SSFF-BP), Ride Mode, Full LCD display, and throttle by wire.

Boasting a more powerful, liquid-cooled, DOHC in-line four-cylinder, 16-valve engine with HSTC, it delivers 143 hp at 10,500 rpm and 104 N-m of maximum torque at 8,250 rpm. The USRP of the CB1000R is P865,000.

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OST fifth wheels offer a simple and safe design with only four moving parts. The positive coupling design ensures a true connection, providing Kenworth drivers with the assurance of a safe coupling. JOST’s simple mechanism allows infinite adjustments versus notched adjustments.

Wear adjustment is easily maintained with a single adjustment screw.

The ability to perform maintenance and minor rebuilds on the JOST fifth wheel—without removing it from the chassis—assures owners of Kenworth trucks the lowest possible cost of

Gold Wing

LAST was the Touring model Gold Wing, which embodies the long-range comfort, luxury and quality for over 40 years. This luxurious-looking big bike was redesigned from the wheels up to be sharper, lighter and more compact while maintaining its myriad of advanced features.

Hailed as the ultimate performance tourer, it boasts a 1,833cc liquid-cooled, horizontal opposed six- c ylinder, SOHC four-valve per cylinder with HSTC. The engine is paired to a seven-speed, automatic dual clutch transmission (DCT) with reverse and walking mode. Power output is at 125 hp at 5,500 rpm and a staggering 171 N-m of maximum torque at 4,500 rpm aided by slipper clutch and cruise control functions.

This tourer also offers superior handling and riding comfort with its double wishbone front suspension, all aluminum swing-arm, combineABS, electronic suspension pre-load, radial front brake calipers and ISG (Integrated Starter Generator). Moreover, it comes with variable ride modes feature.

Wi t h t o p - o f - t h e - l i n e e q u i p m e n t a n d technology based on automobiles such as throttle by wire, hill start assist, walking/reverse mode, keyless ignition (SMART Key System), LED Lightings and Airbag, this big bike is your definite choice for a two-wheel luxury. The USRP of the Gold Wing is P1.880 million.

ownership with JOST now positioned as the standard offering for the Kenworth T680.

The JOST fifth wheel has an easy-to-use pull handle, making operation easier for drivers. JOST offers a five-year warranty on all of its durable cast ductile iron topplates. “We continue to add excellent products as standard equipment that further enhances the performance of the Kenworth T680.

The JOST fifth wheel provides safety, durability, ease of maintenance, low cost of ownership and weight savings that benefit our customers,” said Kurt Swihart, Kenworth marketing director.