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No to firecrackers, yes to pyrotechnics C By Rizal Raoul Reyes

ELEBRATING the dawning of a new year with a bang often becomes tragic for some Filipinos because of the use of traditional noisemakers commonly known as bawang, piccolo and Judas’s belt, among others. The Department of Health (DOH) has already called for the banning of such firecrackers to minimize the yearly incidents of people losing a body part or, worse, their lives in an event supposed to welcome a new beginning. Many local governments followed suit.

Nevertheless, Jovenson Ong of Dragon Fireworks Inc. (DFI) said businessmen like him consider a sweeping ban on firecracker use unfair because there is an alternative way of observing the New Year that is cleaner and safer—using pyrotechnics. “The lesser evil is to use pyrotechnics. If you want a smoke-free celebration, a ban on all forms must be imposed,” noted Ong, DFI managing director. “However, studies in the past have shown that a total ban was not effective. As a result, people will resort to using firecrackers.” Ong said the best option is to regulate the trade and use of fireworks and allow pyrotechnics. He added there are also reports in mainstream media that are inaccurate, which has created confusion among people. They couldn’t properly distinguish the difference between firecrackers (paputok) and pyrotechnics, he Continued on A2

Continued on A2

Workers make government-regulated fireworks ahead of the New Year celebrations, which have resulted in fireworks-related injuries and deaths in the past, on December 27, 2017, in Bulacan. AP/Bullit Marquez

Current account will bleed more dollars next year. Should we worry?

By Bianca Cuaresma

HE country’s current account— the major component of the economy’s balance of payments (BOP) position—has been for years a pillar of strength for the local economy in times of global financial distress. PESO exchange rates n US 49.9230

However, after 13 years of registering a surplus, the country’s current account slumped to the deficit territory in 2016. It is expected to hit a wider deficit for next year, owing to large-scale importation come 2018. Latest data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed the current account still registered a surplus in the first nine months of 2017 at $554 million. This is a reversal from the $30-million defi-

cit recorded in the third quarter of 2016. The BSP attributed this positive outcome mainly from the higher net receipts in the trade-inservices and primary and secondary income accounts, which more than compensated for the widening trade-in-goods deficit. For next year, however, the BSP announced its expectation of the current account slumping into the deficit territory to $700 million

in the reds. The Central Bank said this projection is due mainly to the expected faster rate of growth in imports of goods as compared to the exports for next year. In particular, shipments of imported goods are expected to continue to grow by 10 percent in 2018, as propelled by higher Philippine growth prospects for next year. This double-digit growth expectation outpaces the expected

9-percent export growth for 2018, as the government takes into account the assessment that the pace of Chinese economic growth could moderate progressively in 2018. “Nonetheless, exports are seen to continue receiving a boost from broad-based economic recovery in both advanced and emerging market economies,” the BSP said. As of the third quarter of this year, China is among the top destiContinued on A2

n japan 0.4423 n UK 67.1165 n HK 6.3882 n CHINA 7.6413 n singapore 37.3228 n australia 38.9050 n EU 59.6131 n SAUDI arabia 13.3121

Source: BSP (29 December 2017 )

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INDUSTRY GROUP ASKS GOVT TO AVOID SWEEPING FIREWORKS BAN

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No to firecrackers, yes to pyrotechnics Continued from a1

said. Ong points out some media organizations are grouping pyrotechnics in the same category with firecrackers. “Putting pyrotechnics in the same group with firecrackers is not fair. That is absolutely wrong,” Ong said. “The manufacturing of pyrotechnics consistently adheres to the best practices and global standards in manufacturing.” Meanwhile, the Philippine Fireworks Association (PFA) urged leaders of local government units (LGUs) and the media to help disseminate the information—per Executive Order (EO) 28 issued by President Duterte— on the regulation and control of use of firecrackers and other pyrotechnic products. EO 28 encourages community fireworks display to be “conducted under the supervision of a trained person duly licensed by the Philippine National Police [PNP].” Furthermore, the activity should be “allowed by the municipality/city concerned through a permit specifying the date and time of fireworks display and the specific area in which the display will be conducted, in conformity with national standards, rules and regulations.” The DOH, PNP, Department of the Interior and Local Government, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and Bureau of Fire Protection were also mandated to promulgate rules and regulations for the implementation of the EO and conduct information campaigns on the danger of the unbridled use of fireworks. The DOH recorded a total of 630 fireworks-related injuries and no death during the revelries on New Year’s Eve of 2016. This figure

is 292 cases, or 32 percent, lower than the previous year’s count. The number of cases during the 2016 New Year’s Eve revelry also beats the country’s record-low of 720 cases in 2008. Prohibited firecrackers, such as piccolo and five-star, which caused 192 injuries (31 percent) and 32 cases (5 percent), respectively, were recorded as the sources of injuries during the celebration of the last day of 2016. The PFA, which is also led by Ong, reiterated that only firecrackers like rebentador, sinturon ni hudas, Goodbye Philippines, super lolo and the piccolo are banned for use, as these constitute hazard and danger, especially to children who are usually the victims of these products. The PFA also warned local consumers not to patronize unauthorized dealers that they accuse of selling substandard products. The PFA said these firecrackers did not pass proper quality and product safety controls. Instead of using firecrackers, Ong urged Filipino families to follow the age-old tradition of welcoming the New Year with pyrotechnics, such as luces, fountains and sparklers. He, however, cautions to buy only from authorized dealers. “This is why we, likewise, appeal to LGUs and the media for their support to legally operating domestic fireworks manufacturing industry, which provides many people with livelihood, generates taxes, supports the Philippine economy and has huge export potential,” the PFA said. The PFA said the DOH can be more effective in its task if other government agencies and LGUs stop the proliferation of piccolo, which accounts for almost 70 percent of fireworks-related injuries,

with sari-sari stores being the main sellers of piccolos throughout the country. “Instead, we should promote and encourage the use of pyrotechnics. There will always be someone who loves fireworks, or has a culture, tradition or belief to light fireworks. Why should we criminalize them by making laws that run contrary to their culture and beliefs? We should instead look for ways to offer them safer

alternatives like pyrotechnics, and dissuade them from using firecrackers, especially those firecrackers not passing standards tests conducted by the DTI,” the PFA said in a statement. Ong noted more countries are lifting bans and focusing on regulating the use of noisemakers. Out of the nine states that ban fireworks in the United States, Ong said eight have come out of bans, and the remaining one will enact

legislation soon. Ong added the PFA is at the forefront of elevating the Philippine fireworks industry to generate more employment while balancing public safety and health. “We are in close coordination with the PNP and in the process of crafting a new Product Standards with the DTI. We would appreciate it if the DOH will be working with us in concerted and honest efforts to really eliminate firework-related

injuries. Only through proper regulation will this be possible,” the PFA said. San Rafael, Bulacan-based DFI is the largest pyrotechnics manufacturer in Southeast Asia. It is ISO-certified and has already represented the Philippines and won gold medals and other honors for the country in international competitions like those in Cannes, France, and in Hanover, Germany, and in the 2013 Berlin “Pyronale”.

Current account will bleed more dollars next year. Should we worry? Continued from a1

nation of Philippine exports, along with the United States, Hong Kong and South Korea. More notably, the BSP said the rise in crude oil and commodity prices in 2018, as well as the in-

crease in imports of raw materials for the government’s initiative to push for aggressive infrastructure reform, will put additional pressure on the country’s current-account position. The BSP was quick to dispel concerns, saying the economy

could easily absorb a $700-million deficit in its current account. “The current-account deficit is deemed manageable as it constitutes only 0.2 percent of GDP [gross domestic product],” the BSP said. Economists, however, share

mixed views on the pending wider deficit in the country’s 2018 current account position. Maybank chief economist Suhaimi Ilias, in particular, believes the declining state of the country’s current account brings forth a call to action from the BSP to manage

or address such macro issue. Ilias argued the BSP will eventually have to shift into a more hawkish tone to manage such risks—along with the pressure of a weaker peso and rising inflation— and ultimately hike rates next year. Singapore-based DBS Bank strategists are also worried about the current account position of the country, saying a deficit in the balance is among the signs that the economy may be overheating. DBS Bank economist Gundy Cahyadi expects the Philippines’s current-account deficit to widen to about 1.1 percent of the country’s GDP in 2018—significantly larger than the 0.2-percent projection of the BSP. Cahyadi also said the situation will get worse in 2019, as the peso is seen to weaken further down the line, with a current account-deficit projection equal to 1.3 percent of the Philippines’s GDP. Japan-based Ratings and Investment Information Inc. (R&I Ratings), meanwhile, expressed opposing views, saying a currentaccount deficit is not really worrisome at this stage. “Thanks to robust growth in foreign direct investment supported by economic prospects and deregulations, there is no concern over financing,” R&I said. The ratings agency—which recently affirmed the country’s investment grade rating with a stable outlook—said the current-account deficit may be a necessary evil for the country for big-scale projects that will increase the capacity of the economy in the long run. “R&I does not immediately take a negative view of the shift from a surplus mainly attributable to remittances from overseas, which tend to be used for consumption, to a deficit stemming from capital goods imports that can be the seeds of future economic growth,” the credit watcher said. By the end of this year, the

BSP expects a current-account deficit of $100 million. This new projection is lower than the previous projection of $600 million in deficit. The restated forecast is meant to reflect the improvement in the trade balance. This deficit also represents less than 0.1 percent of GDP. For this year, exports of goods are projected to recover with a growth of 11 percent, a significant upward adjustment from the 5-percent growth assumption in the June 2017 projection. “This reflects the firm recovery in the global economy that has led to increased trade momentum since the second half of 2016 carrying on to 2017,” the BSP said. The 11-percent forecast in exports outpaces the 10-percent growth forecast rate of imports in 2017, as supported by the moderate increase in commodity prices and increased imports of raw materials, capital goods and consumer goods and in line with sustained strong domestic demand. The BSP also expects support from the continued expansion in overseas Filipino remittances, as well as business-process outsourcing and tourism receipts. Latest data from the BSP showed cash remittances grew 8.4 percent in October this year to hit $2.28 billion in inflows for the month. This is a stark recovery from the 8.3-percent contraction in the previous month. The total cash sent by Filipino migrant workers back home in the first 10 months of 2017 have already hit $23.06 billion, which is 4.2 percent larger than the volume of money they sent in the same January to October period last year. Remittance flow, for years, has been one of the major supporters of the Philippines’s current account position.

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Saturday, December 30, 2017

Power consumers should brace for TRAIN impact

By Lenie Lectura

ONSUMERS must brace for higher power rates following the passage of the first taxreform package into law. On December 19 President Duterte signed into law the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TR AIN) bill. The TR AIN law, or Republic Act 10963, is expected to generate P130 billion in revenues. Seventy percent of the revenues will finance the administration’s “Build, Build, Build” infrastructure program, while the remaining 30 percent will fund socioeconomic programs. Moreover, the law is expected to reduce personal income tax. “I hope it brings development and progress to our country for the benefit of all,” Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi said in a text message on the day the bill was signed. While the TRAIN law will surely bring in revenues, it will, however, impose higher taxes on fuel, cars, tobacco and sugary beverages. Based on available figures, the initial impact of on power rates will reach P0.04 per kilowatt-hour (kWh). It will then increase to P0.07 per kWh if excise tax on coal reaches P150 per metric ton. Overall, the total impact is P13.2 billion worth of pass-on charges to the consumers. A Senate Ways and Means Committee briefer said the P10 coal-excise tax rate has remained unchanged since 1988, while the local industry has been exempted from paying excise tax since 1976.

Prepare for the worst Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), the country’s largest power-distribution firm, said all it could do for now is to “prepare our consumers.” Company spokesman Joe Zaldarriaga said Meralco has stated in the past its position about the issue. Preparation, he said, includes a massive information campaign on the impact on power rates. “We really need to prepare our consumers on the rate impact, including possible adjustments in the FIT [feedin-tariff] and universal charges starting next year,” Zaldarriaga said when sought for comment. In its letter addressed to Sen. Edgardo J. Angara, chairman of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means, Meralco said any move toward increasing excise tax on coal would impact significantly on electricity consumers across all sectors—residential, commercial and industrial. Since more than 50 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) comes from Meralco’s franchise area, increasing the excise tax on coal would already be felt by end-users and may reduce competitiveness of industries that are competing in the world market, as well with imports. “Coal is a major fuel source for power generation in the country. Increasing the existing excise tax on coal will only result in higher electricity prices, which will reduce the country’s competitiveness vis-à-vis Asean neighbors,” said Meralco First Vice President and head of Regulatory Management Office Ivanna de la Peña. Meralco’s 6.2 million customers comprise around one-fourth of the Philippine population. Abotiz Power Corp. President Antonio Moraza, in a text message, also said consumers should face the inevitable. “I am sure the government is happy with the results. They raised a substantial amount of money,” Moraza said. “For the private sector, opinions will differ, for sure. In our case, unfortunately, power rates will go up.” AboitizPower is the holding company for the Aboitiz Group’s investments in power generation, distribu-

tion and retail electricity services. It also owns distribution utilities that operate in high-growth areas in Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao, including the second- and third-largest private utilities in the country. The power firm is on track to meeting its 4,000-megawatt (MW) net attributable capacity target by 2020. It is set to add some 500 MW of attributable capacity next year. Moreza said the additional power projects are on track and should be mostly online in the first half of 2018. For Alsons Consolidated Resources Inc. (ACR), company vice president for business development Joseph Nocos stressed that coal still accounts for a significant portion of the power generated in the country because of its reliability and affordability. “Given the crucial role that coal plays in the power industry, it is imperative for us and our fellow power generators to closely study the implications of this new tax measure,” Nocos said in a text message. Alsons’s power projects are in Mindanao. It operates three diesel power facilities: the 103-MW Mapalad Power Corp. diesel plant in Iligan City, the 55-MW Southern Philippines Power Corp. facility in Alabel, Sarangani, and the 100-MW power plant of the Western Mindanao Power Corp. in Zamboanga City. Three more power projects are set for construction by the middle of 2018. These are the second 105-MW coal plant of Sarangani Energy Corp.(SEC) , the 105-MW San Ramon Power Inc. (SRPI) base-load coal-fired power plant in Zamboanga City and the 15.1-MW Siguil hydropower project in Sarangani Province. Once finished, these three projects will bring ACR’s power-generation portfolio to around 588 MW of generating capacity, which is approximately 25 percent of Mindanao’s projected peak power demand in 2021. Meanwhile, Semirara Mining and Power Corp. (SMPC), the country’s largest coal producer, said the tax adjustment should cover all types of fuel. “If coal should have additional tax then natural gas should be taxed, as well,” DMCI Holdings Chairman Isidro Consunji said in a text message. SMPC is a subsidiary of DMCI. “In the short run, it favors Semirara,” Consunji added. “Our contract specifies we are exempt from all taxes except income tax until end of our coal operating contract.” Meanwhile, the National Electrification Administration (NEA) also expressed grave concern. The NEA chief feared the proposal to raise the coal tax would lead to higher electricity rates. “I believe this will discourage investors in putting up generation facilities that are not friendly to environment,” NEA chief Edgardo Masongsong said. “With more than 50 percent of energy source coming from coal, I am afraid we will be paying more for our electricity consumption.”

Pass-on SEN. Sherwin T. Gatchalian, chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy, said the excise tax would become a “pure pass-on charge,” resulting to an additional P13.2 billion in electricity costs that consumers inevitably would have to shoulder. “Despite my affirmative vote, I would like to put on record that I still

maintain my reservations regarding the massive increase in the excise tax on coal that has made it into the final version of the law for the President’s signature,” Gatchalian said. The two chambers of Congress agreed on a compromise tax rate of P150 per metric ton on coal, divided into tranches over the next three years upon its enactment. This means the excise tax would be P50 per metric ton in 2018, P100 in 2019 and P150 in 2020. The original Senate version proposed a “100-200-300” hike scheme. Gatchalian explained the negative implications of the tax hike. “The tax hike up to P150 after three years will result in an average monthly rate increase of P14.348 for a 200-kWh household served by a 100-percent coal-contracted distribution utility,” he said. “This is equivalent to the price of half a kilogram of rice for 2.7 million households,” While proponents of the coal-tax increase may downplay it as negligible, Gatchalian pointed out that Filipinos are already struggling through the pain of paying the highest power rates in Southeast Asia. With this, Gatchalian stresses its supporters “miss the point entirely.” Meawnhile, Laban Konsyumer Inc. President Vic Dimagiba appeals to businessmen never to take advantage of the looming higher excise taxes by manipulating a supply situation on basic goods and services with the end in view of creating windfall profits for themselves. “Consumers deserve protection of their universal right of access to goods and services at justified prices,” Dimagiba said. “Thus, we enjoin government agencies…to protect and safeguard the well-being of the consumers and strengthen monitoring and enforcement activities and file cases against businessmen who may commit profiteering and hoarding at the expense of the consumers.” The consumer group, he added, may take legal action to question the legality of the higher excise tax.

How to mitigate power-rate hikes ON the other hand, higher excise tax on coal will promote the development of renewable energy (RE) sources. “It should be favorable for RE,” said SN Aboitiz Power President President Joseph Yu, who agreed that the tax adjustment will encourage the utilization of RE in the country. He said that for those who are not using coal as fuel, this will “have a lifting effect on profitability, which will then make RE projects more viable.” The power-generation arm of Meralco is “seriously” looking at venturing into wind energy, amid an impending rise in coal taxes. “We’ve been asked to look at wind proposals,” Meralco PowerGen Corp. (MGen) CEO Rogelio Singson said. “When coal tax kicks in, wind will be competitive.” Meanwhile, Gatchalian called on the DOE to fast-track the implementation of the Retail Competition and Open Access (RCOA) circular to mitigate the effects of projected electricity-rate hikes. The circular, which seeks to finally implement the RCOA provision of the 16-year-old Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 (Epira), is expected to foster competition among electricity suppliers by giving consumers the freedom to select from where and what kind of electricity to purchase. This is expected to drive down electricity costs and promote transparency in the energy sector. “With the coal tax in place, all the more that we need to implement RCOA to democratize our power sector. The RCOA will help lower costs to protect consumers from the inflationary effects of the coal tax,” Gatchalian said. “Once you give the consumers the power of choice, they can choose whether they want coal, renewable energy or geothermal, whichever is cheaper for them.”

The lawmaker reiterated the expected impact of the coal tax on consumers. He estimates an increase of P10 in the monthly electricity bills of average households in 2018, P20 by 2019 and P28 by 2020, noting that these estimates are bound to grow as new coal plants come online in the near future. The DOE, meanwhile, assured that the legal hurdles of RCOA will be settled as soon as the revised circular is approved by the Energy Regulatory Commission and signed by the agency’s secretary. “I highly commend the Department of Energy for its initiative to implement RCOA,” Gatchalian said. “Our end goal here is to drive down the price of electricity for the benefit of energy consumers.” The National Renewable Energy Board (NREB), the advisory body tasked with the effective implementation of RE projects in the Philippines, meanwhile, commented that the government needs to fully implement the mandate of the RE Act of 2008, which include the issuance of the rules on Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) for on-grid and off-grid areas and Green Energy Option Program. The RPS requires distribution utilities (DUs) to source a portion of their power supply from eligible RE sources. The Green Energy Option, meanwhile, is a mechanism to provide end-users the option to choose RE as their source of energy. “NREB already endorsed all three draft rules for approval of the DOE,” NREB Chairman Jose Lay ug said. “NREB is set to endorse the RE market rules to the DOE for approval by the end of the year after finishing the public consultation.”

Yes to higher coal taxes ENVIRONMENT advocates like members of Greenpeace laud the members of the Senate and the House of Representatives for pushing efforts toward what they say is “a fairer tax scheme on coal.” “We will continue to work with partners to expose the true costs of coal, and to empower communities and the government in transforming our energy systems to renewable sources, which are the real cheaper, safer and cleaner alternatives,” Greenpeace said in a statement. “The vision is to power the country’s development with 100-percent renewable energy.” The group added, “While the tax adjustment is a historic victory, the fight is far from over in ending the age of coal and limiting global temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius.” “We owe this to every Filipino who are at the forefront of climate impacts. And the coal industry still owes a lot.” Meanwhile, WWF-Philippines said the passage of the coal-tax hike is necessary to help protect Filipinos and environment from the devastating impacts of coal consumption. “Companies need to embrace sustainability as a business imperative,” said Angela Consuelo Ibay, W WFPhilippines head of climate and energy program. “Extreme weather events, climate disasters, resource depletion, ecosystem loss and pollution can cause major disruptions on businesses’ value chain and productivity, and can debilitate our economy.” According to the group, they believe that “taxing coal and other fossil fuels is a way of climate-proofing our assets and industries.” “Consumers have become more socially and environmentally aware and demand companies to make lasting contributions to our people and planet’s overall well-being.” The group said that the coal tax pooled together with fossil-fuel taxes from diesel, kerosene and natural gas can bring valuable fiscal benefits for the country. “Why do we continue to allow the dirtiest fossil fuel to enjoy exemptions from taxes, which they have been enjoying for more than 30 years?” Ibay added. “Our people deserve better.”

Saturday, December 30, 2017

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Oil surge sets stage for Opec-shale clash

il’s revival from the biggest crash in a generation persisted, with prices set for a second annual gain after weathering everything from hurricanes and Middle East conflict to the tussle between the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) and US shale. Benchmark f utures are up more than 11 percent in 2017, after going into a bull market in September. W hile gains were driven by glut-shrinking output cuts by the Opec and its allies

including Russia, geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, as well as pipeline disruptions from the North Sea to Canada and Libya, have also helped. In 2018, investors will watch if US output

undermines Opec’s curbs. Spec u l at ion is r isi ng t h at American drillers will put more rigs to work as oil strengthens, with shale growth driving forecasts of record US supply in 2018. That could act counter to plans by producers, including Saudi Arabia, who have pledged to extend production curbs through end-2018 to wipe out a global glut. After Hurricane Har vey shut Gulf Coast refiners at the end of August and hurt prices, violence in Iraq and a pipe crack in the UK have helped buoy crude. “ The key driver for the oil market this year has been that the Opec and Russian production cuts were introduced, complied with and extended,” said R ic Spooner, a Sydney-based analyst at CMC Markets. “This

has allowed the market to reduce inventory despite production increases in the US, Libya and Nigeria.” We s t Te x a s I nt e r me d i at e for Febr uar y deliver y was at $60.26 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up 42 cents, at 1:45 p.m. in Seoul. Total volume traded was about 66 percent above the 100-day average. Front-month prices are 12 percent higher this year, after rising 45 percent—the most since 2009—in 2016. Brent for March settlement added 42 cents to $66.58 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The February contract expired on Thursday, after rising 28 cents to $66.72. The benchmark for more than half the world’s oil has gained 17 percent this year, after climbing 52 per-

cent in 2016. It was at a premium of $6.31 to March WTI. Oil ’s trading at the highest level since mid-2015 after WTI breached above $60 a barrel for the first time in more than two years. The benchmark traded at an average price of about $51 this year. Nationwide stockpiles fell 4.6 million barrels last week to the lowest level since October 2015, according to the Energy Information Administration on Thursday. That beat the 3.75 million average estimate in a Bloomberg survey of analysts. “The tug-of-war between Opec and the US will continue to pressure oil from trading above $60 a barrel in 2018,” said Kim Kwangrae, a Seoul-based commodities analyst at Samsung Futures Inc. “Like we’ve seen this year, geopolitical risks

will be the key factor going forward for oil to breach $60.” Follow ing an ex plosion on Tuesday, Waha Oil Co. is working to repair the pipeline that carries crude to Libya’s Es Sider port, the North African nation’s biggest export terminal, while a major UK North Sea pipeline is nearing a return to full service after an outage this month.

Oil-market news:

Jobs are returning to the shale patch, albeit at a more subdued pace compared with the go-go days of 2014. The Trump administration is rolling back offshore drilling rules put in place after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster killed 11 workers and spewed millions of barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. Bloomberg News

UK holds back historic files on EU as it prepares for Brexit

s Prime Minister Theresa May prepares for the next round of Brexit negotiations, her government has held back publication of secret files relating to the creation of the European Union (EU). The documents from 1992 were due to be released on Friday at the National Archives under British rules that allow government papers to enter the public domain. Out of 495 files from the prime minister’s office that year, a total of 114 were held back. Of those, 12 related to European policy. The main opposition party was quick to pounce. Jon Trickett, a high-ranking Labour politician, described it as “profoundly shocking, particularly given the current state of the national debate.” May’s government has had a series of problems with information around Brexit. Last week, after months of ministers trying to keep them secret, the government published an assessments of how different segments of the economy will cope with leaving the EU. Lawmakers commented that the documents contained little that couldn’t be found on Wikipedia.

Not deliberate

The Cabinet Office, which supports May in running the government, said in an e-mail that “there is no question that any files are deliberately ‘withheld’ from the media.” A further 26 files covering the EU were sent to the archives too late for journalists to read them before publication. It explained that “we have to ensure all files are properly reviewed and prepared before they are transferred, so that they do not harm national security or our relations with other countries or disclose the sensitive personal data of living individuals.” The files that were released reveal the extent to which Britain’s 1992 expulsion from the Exchange Rate Mechanism turned Conservatives against Europe. That year, September 16 was christened “Black Wednesday” after the government’s failed attempt to keep the pound within the system by pushing interest rates up to 15 percent.

Firefighters respond to a building fire Thursday, in the Bronx borough of New York. The Fire Department of New York says a blaze raging in the Bronx apartment building has seriously injured more than a dozen of people. AP/Frank Franklin II

Euroskeptics

12 dead in fast-moving New York apartment fire T he deadliest residential fire to hit New York Cit y in at least a quar ter cent ur y swept t hrough a Bron x apar tment building on T hursday on one of the coldest nights so far this w inter, k il ling 12 people and leav ing four more f ight ing for t heir l ives, c it y officia ls said. T he dead included a chi ld around a year old, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said during a briefing outside the building. “We may lose others, as well,” he added. Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro called the fire, “ historic in its magnitude,” because of the number of lives lost. Excluding the September 11 attacks, it was the worst fire in the city since

87 people were killed at a social club fire in the Bronx in 1990. “Our hearts go out to every person who lost a loved one here and everyone who is fighting for their lives,” Nigro said. The blaze broke out on the first f loor of a five-story building just before 7 p.m. and quickly ripped through the roughly centur y-old str ucture, which stands in a row of similar apartment buildings a block from the grounds of the Bronx Zoo. T he cause remained under investigation. About 170 firefighters worked in bone-chilling cold, just 15 degrees, to rescue people from the building. Water sprayed from hoses froze on the street. Thierno Diallo, 59, a security

guard originally from Conakr y, Guinea, who lives in a ground f loor apartment, said he was home a slee p when he hea rd banging on the door. It took him a moment to realize what was happening. “Only when I heard people screaming, ‘There’s a fire in the building!’” he said. “I heard somebody, ‘Oh! Fire! Fire! Fire!’” He ran out in his bathrobe, jacket and sandals. Kenneth Kodua, 37, said he left his apartment to get food, leaving his roommate behind, and came back to find people fleeing in a panic. Hou r s l at e r, he w a s s t i l l tr ying to find out whether his roommate escaped. “I tried calling her. I tried call-

ing. No answer,” he said, still clutching his bag of uneaten food. His phone was dead. Many questions remained in the immediate aftermath of the blaze, including how the fire spread so quickly in a brick building built after catastrophic fires at the turn of the 20th century ushered in an era of tougher enforcement of fire codes. Fire escapes on the building’s façade helped some escape, but officials said the fire spread through every floor of the building within just a few minutes. Neighborhood resident Robert Gonzalez, who has a friend who lives in the building, said she got out on the fire escape as another resident f led with five children. “When I got here, she

was crying,” Gonzalez said. Other w itnesses descr ibed s e e i n g bu r ne d b o d ie s b e i n g carried away on stretchers and young girls who had escaped the building standing barefoot outside with no coats. Windows on some upper floors were smashed and blackened. Displaced residents wrapped in Red Cross blankets were staying warm on city buses, brought in to provide heat. The death toll surpassed the 10 who died, including nine children, in a four-story home in another part of the Bronx in 2007. That blaze had been sparked by a space heater. Diallo said the apartment building has tenants who hail from all over the world. AP

At a Cabinet meeting a week later, thenPrime Minister John Major told his colleagues that opposition to the Maastricht Treaty, which created the EU, had grown within his Conservative Party. He reckoned it was now up to 100 Tory lawmakers—almost a third of them. They were egged on by Major’s immediate predecessor, Margaret Thatcher. Newly opened files show that at the start of 1991, Thatcher had warned Major against pegging the pound against the Deutschmark at too high a level. “She believed there was a danger of repeating Winston Churchill’s historic error,” the files say. In 1925 Churchill, as chancellor of the exchequer, had returned to the Gold Standard, fixing the pound at a level that caused deflation, unemployment and ultimately a general strike. While some of the 25-year-old files have contemporary echoes, others highlight how much Brexit has changed British priorities. Since taking office, May has placed great emphasis on getting a US trade deal. One of the files opened today covers 11 years of meetings between British prime ministers and US trade representatives. It contains just four pieces of paper, and one of those describes Thatcher being too busy to meet the American. Bloomberg News

Sports BusinessMirror

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

Saturday, December 30, 2017

WONG-PETIL DUO TOPS DOUBLES TILT P AOLO WONG and Don Petil pounced on Gab Manotoc and Lester Lagman’s wobbly start and turned what was expected to be a tight finish into a runaway triumph in the National Doubles Amateur Golf Championship at Camp Aguinaldo Golf Club in Quezon City on Friday. Wong and Petil produced just one birdie against three bogeys in the deciding two-ball, foursome format but their two-over 70 proved enough to net them the overall crown via a five-stroke romp over the Manotoc-Lagman and Ryan Monsalve-Lanz Uy pairs with a 274 total in the 54-hole championship sponsored by the MVP Sports Foundation. Manotoc and Lagman failed to sustain their lead-grabbing 141 in aggregate play as they fumbled with two double bogeys and two bogeys in alternate format and fell off the leaderboard just after nine holes with a 41. They hardly recovered with a 35 at the back and ended up with a 76 for a 279.

Monsalve and Uy, who paced the field with a solid 59 in the opening four-ball on Wednesday, also struggled in another scorching but windy day, limping with a 39 at the front and finishing with a 74 to match Manotoc and Lagman’s output. Monsalve and Uy, however, snared the Group I title for the second straight year via countback. The Wong-Petil tandem scored a 61 in four-ball then combined for a 143 in aggregate to trail Manotoc and Lagman by one heading to the final round, where play shifted to alternate format. Dan Cruz and Luigi Guerrero turned in a 72 and placed fourth at 286, while Ruperto Zaragosa and Adrian Romero skied to a 79 for fifth at 289 in the event that served as part of the PLDT Group National Amateur Golf Tour. Harmie Constantino and Joseph Orbito combined for the day’s best 69 to share

IVERPOOL is breaking the world transfer record for a defender by signing Virgil van Dijk from Southampton in a $100-million move. Following Liverpool’s long-running pursuit of the 26-yearold Netherlands center back, Southampton announced on Wednesday that it accepted the record fee ahead of the January transfer window opening. “Delighted and honored to have agreed to become a Liverpool FC player,” van Dijk wrote on Instagram alongside a picture holding a jersey of the club he will join on January 1. “Today is a proud day for me and my family as I join one of the biggest clubs in world football! “I can’t wait to pull on the famous red shirt for the first time in front of the Kop and will give everything I have to try and help this great club achieve something special in the years to come.”

LIVERPOOL signs up Virgil van Dijk from Southampton in a $100-million move.

Pocari, Air Force join forces in 2018 PVL

OCARI Sweat and Philippine Air Force join forces for the second season of Premier Volleyball League (PVL), which fires off in April next year. The former rivals for the past two years in the league organized by Sports Vision, will be now one team, according to Pocari Sweat Team Manager Atty. Ken Mirasol. “We decided to forge a partnership with Air Force for the upcoming season,” said Mirasol, who will take an executive role in the team’s day-to-day operations. Both parties have yet to bare deeper details about their tie-up but beginning in the season-opening Reinforced Conference, Lady Warriors star Myla

Pablo, Jeanette Panaga and Elaine Kasilag will join forces with Lady Jet Spikers Iari Yongco, Wendy Semana, Joy Cases, Jocemer Tapic and Dell Palomata. Air Force Head Coach Jasper Jimenez will call the shots, while Pocari Sweat Head Coach Rico de Guzman will take over from Mirasol as team manager. The Lady Warriors-Lady Jet Spikers rivalry began in the final season of the Shakey’s V-League Open Conference Finals with Pocari Sweat winning the title. In the PVL era, they met again in the Open Conference semifinals with Pocari again prevailing and advancing to the Finals only to be swept by Bali Pure in two games. Lance Agcaoili

New national high school spikefest up

NEW volleyball tournament aimed to level up competition in the grassroots level will kick off in January. The Akari National High School Volleyball Championships is an eight-leg regional competitions that will open in Cagayan de Oro on January 13 and 14 for the Mindanao leg and will hop to the Visayas and then Luzon. Twenty schools will see action in each leg, as the tournament tries “to look for and recognize the best secondary girls volleyball team in the land.” Akari officials, in bankrolling the event, said the competition will develop good players in the molds of Jaja Santiago, Mikka Reyes, Bernadette

Paolo Wong (left) and Don Petil check the slope of the surface on No. 9 on their way to winning the National Doubles Amateur Golf Championship at Camp Aguinaldo on Friday.

MOST EXPENSIVE DEFENDER

Under Armour puts up hoops court in Makati NDER Armour Philippines recently launched the newest and only International Basketball Federation (Fiba)-accredited court in a hotel located at Ascott Makati. The launch was made after Under Armour Ph hosted a media thanksgiving event, celebrating a Christmas party through a fun game at the venue with multi-awarded athletes and champions under the brand. The Under Armour Ph Basketball Court, which was made through the partnership of Under Armour Ph and Ascott, is now a new venue for recreational, amateur and professional players. Right at the heart of Makati City, the Under Armour Ph Basketball Court is accessible as it is within the vicinity of Glorietta and Greenbelt area. Hidilyn Diaz gave inspirational stories in her journey to the World Championships, where she bagged a silver medal in the clean-and-jerk and bronze in the total category. Also present were Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games gold medalist Meggie Ochoa (jiujitsu) and Filipino top tennis player Francis Casey Alcantara. Jervy Cruz of Barangay Ginebra, National Collegiate Athletic Association Finals Most Valuable Player Robert Bolick of San Beda, Miss Earth 2015 Angelia Ong and Miss Earth Air 2016 Columbia Michelle Gomez also attended the event.

sixth place with Kristine Torralba and Matthew Abalos, who had a 72, at 294, while Eddie Bagtas and Leandro Bagtas shot a 76 and tied Gabby Malaguim and Ivan Monsalve, who hobbled with a 77, at eighth with 296s. Clare Legaspi and Felicia Medalla groped for an 84 for a 298 and wound up 10th in the season-ending tournament, organized and conducted by the National Golf Association of the Philippines. Meanwhile, Santino Diokno and Miguel Roque rallied with a 37 at the back for an 81 and a 316, then nipped erstwhile leaders Pierre Ticzon and Allan Crisostomo, who made an 83-316, in the playoff to snatch the Group II crown. Allen Embuscado and Jimmy Suelo, on the other hand, completed a wire-to-wire triumph in Group III with a 311 after an 81, beating Edwin Abesamis and Hermie Salivio, who had an 84-321, by 10. Boom Coscolluela and Joey Anciano placed third with a 324 after an 85.

Pons and Eya Laure. In its Facebook page, Akari’s hash tag is “Are you next” with the four volleyball stars as endorsers. Competitions will be on January 20 and 21 for the Visayas leg in Iloilo City and on January 27 and 28 in Bulacan for Central Luzon. Baguio City will host teams from the Ilocos, Cagayan Valley and Cordilleras regions for the Northern Luzon leg on February 3 and 4. The leg goes to Southern Luzon on February 10 and 11 with Laguna as host. The National Capital Region swing will be a three-leg event on February 17 and 18, 24 and 25 and March 3 and 4 in Quezon City and Manila.

The transfer fee of £70 million ($94 million) could reach £75 million ($100 million) depending on van Dijk’s achievements at Liverpool. The scale of the investment signals Liverpool’s determination to plug leaks in the defense that have seen the team fall 17 points behind leader Manchester City into fourth place in the English Premier League. Liverpool is devastating going forward, with the“Fab Four”attack of Philippe Coutinho, Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah helping the team amass a 46-goal haul that only City has eclipsed. But Juergen Klopp’s team has conceded 23 goals in 20 games—more than any rival in the top five—including three in last week’s 3-3 draw at Arsenal after a two-goal lead was thrown away. The van Dijk deal eclipses the previous highest amounts paid for defenders who are rarely in contention for the top awards in football dominated by goal-scorers. English Premier League leader Manchester City paid around £50 million each for Benjamin Mendy and Kyle Walker in the summer transfer window.

While Van Dijk becomes the world’s most expensive defender, Neymar still holds the title of the game’s costliest player after joining Paris Saint-Germain from Barcelona for €222 million in August. “There is a dearth of top-class center backs throughout world football, hence why so many clubs wanted [van Dijk] and the transfer fee is so high,” former Liverpool center back Jamie Carragher told broadcaster Sky Sports. “People will look at the transfer [fee] that normally strikers go for, but as with any transfer fee, if he performs well and does his job it will be worth it.” That, according to Carragher, will require van Dijk helping the 18-time English champions end a trophy drought that stretches back to the 2012 League Cup. Van Dijk hoped to join Liverpool in August after handing in a transfer request, but Southampton stood its ground and forced the Anfield club to apologize for its conduct in pursuing a deal. Van Dijk, though, will become the sixth player to leave Southampton for Liverpool in less than four years when the transfer is completed next week. AP

A6 Saturday, December 30, 2017 | Editor: Mike Besa

The Best of Ph By Mike Besa

Photo by Mike Besa & Marty Ilagan

he end of the good year 2017 is upon us and as is our custom, it is time to look back on the year that was and how the golf courses of the country fared.

Ranking the golf courses in the country is difficult since they are so different. You have quaint layouts in historical settings, converted sugarcane haciendas, mountaintop resorts and tracks that play by the ocean. Such diversity is a boon to the golfer for it gives us almost unlimited variety; enough to sustain a life-long passion in the game and offer a unique experience for golfing tourists from other lands. But it is this very diversity that poses headaches for journos that put together lists such as this. How do you rank one course against the other? How is it possible to compare a grand old golf course such as Luisita Golf and Country Club with, say, the Masters course at Manila Southwoods Golf and Country Club? As before, we continue to use Golf Digest magazine’s criteria to rank the golf courses but also as before, we continue to struggle to compare the newer golf courses with those of older construction. Because conditioning of the golf course is a key criterion, golf courses constructed before the advent of all-weather course construction are at a severe disadvantage and cannot hope to compete with the golf courses constructed in the 1990s and beyond. But this seems patently unfair since some of the older golf courses provide the best golf experience in the country. So, we’ve modified the criteria a bit to make allowances for this by recognizing the best of both eras—the best modern golf course and the best traditional golf course. We are further expanding our rankings by now rewarding the best golfing experience, which takes into account other qualities of the club besides the golf. These include food and beverage, service, the ambiance of the club and other factors that affect the golfers’ enjoyment at the golf course. We feel that these additions are important to properly recognize the clubs that may not have the most challenging golf courses but offer much more to the golfer beyond golf. It is often these intangibles that most affect a golfer’s time at the club and add to his enjoyment at the golf course. Let’s have a look at this year’s contenders.

The traditional golf courses Calatagan Golf Club

The Robert Trent Jones Jr.-designed course is one of his best works in the country. It was voted venue of the year by the pros on the Philippine Golf Tour the first year the Tour made its way to Calatagan. If you told me that I could only play one golf course for the rest of my life, Calatagan wouldn’t be a bad choice. Set well within the sprawling Zobel estate of Hacienda Biga-a, Calatagan Golf Club is a good five-minute drive from the main road on a part of the property closer to Balayan Bay. The road in is lined with kalachuchi (Plumeria) trees that erupt into bloom in late April through May, calling to mind the true meaning of the phrase, Flores de Mayo. Calatagan is short but don’t let that fool you. It’s enough of a golf course to challenge golfers of all

abilities. The fairways wind up and down the hillside. The fairways are lined with hundreds of trees; it feels as if it was carved out of the rain forest. Those same trees will serve to penalize you, often severely, if you stray from Calatagan’s well-groomed fairways. The greens are small but fair; they will reward a well-struck shot and will punish a poor one. They’re not that easy to putt either. Local knowledge is essential to unravelling their secrets. Although the golf course is quite forgiving, there is a way to play it to give you the maximum result on each hole. This means shaping your shots to suit the contour of the hole. It is the ultimate test of the more accomplished golfer. Unlike other courses, Calatagan does not favor one shot shape over the other; you will find the need to both draw and fade the ball for optimum position on the winding fairways. This is a rarity and alone is worth the drive from Makati City. It is less noticeable on the front nine but there’s no getting around it on the back. This is one of the most beautiful golf courses in the country and an absolute delight to play. If feels as if you’re playing in someone’s very impressive garden. I have yet to find another golf course that rewards your game with this feeling. It’s the intangibles that keep us coming back to Calatagan.

Cebu Country Club

Smack in the middle of Cebu City in Banilad sits the scenic Cebu Country Club. The club traces its beginnings to the early-1900s as a nine-hole golf course built by British and American executives. Today, almost a century later, it has blossomed into the premier course in the Visayas. The course is flat but is no pu s ho v e r. T he f a i r w ay s a re defined by mature tree lines, mounding and water; lots of it, making the course play much harder than it reads on the card. Its main defenses are its greens. The greens are small, so you will miss a few of them. This puts a premium on your short game. The greens are planted with native zoysia, which is inherently grainy. This makes them almost unreadable if you’re playing the course for the first time. The fairways are wide for the most part, allowing you to take driver and swing away. You’ll need to get as much distance off the tee as you can to give yourself a shorter approach shot to deal with. Just make sure you don’t drive it in the water, which they have in abundance here. Water is in play on 11 of the 18 holes. A recent redesign changed two holes, the fifth and sixth, substantially. Five is totally different; different tee, different green and the tee shot now carries a water hazard. The club added substantial length to No. 6, the tee box back and angling it over what used to be the fifth green. The difficult green will then be pushed further to the right of the golfer, bringing the bunker on the left side of the fairway into play. The changes have significantly increased the difficulty of the two holes. No. 6

is now the handicap one. Three is a gorgeous little par 3 with the green fronted by a pond with a couple of trees growing out of it. It’s also home to the club’s resident ducks and pigeons that are unafraid of humans and will waddle right up to you looking for a handout. Eight is a proper par 4; most will need a fairway wood or hybrid to reach the green even after a good tee shot. The par 5s are the most aesthetically pleasing; two, seven, 11 and 16 are all beauties and offer real scoring opportunities to those that safely navigate their fairways. Eighteen is a tough finishing hole; there’s OB right and the hole doglegs around it. Bunkers guard the corner waiting for those that take too safe a line off the tee. This short but tough golf course has also produced a number of great champions. The legendary “Bantam” Ben Arda honed his game on these very fairways and former Philippine Open champion Rudy Lavares, who holds the four-day scoring record of the event, also calls Cebu Country Club home. He was best known for leading the Philippines to a second-place finish in the World Cup in 1977, when he finished as runner-up to Gary Player in individual play. He was the Order of Merit leader in the local tour in the early-1990s and played the Old Course at St. Andrews in the Dunhill Cup as the representative of the Philippines. Cebu Country Club is the queen of the golf courses in the Visayas.

Canlubang Golf and Country Club North Course

The North Course is the longer of the two and for my money, the more difficult. At right around 7,200 yards from the tips (depending on the placement of the tees), it features deceptively wide fairways and substantial greens whose subtle breaks confound golfers to this day. The course flows gently across the rolling terrain and uses the land’s natural hazards and features to defend par. It will test your length of the tee and your shotmaking skills so come prepared to do battle. T he dominant features on both courses at Canlubang are the deep, lushly vegetated ravines formed by the Balibay River. Both courses at Cangolf were built on an unprecedented scale, one that is never going to be repeated in this country ever again. That alone carries the North Course into this evaluation. The design of the North Course is breathtaking. It may not be as aesthetically pleasing as the South Course but it makes up for that in spades when it comes to the demands it makes on the golfer. The fourth hole is a stunning par 3 that calls for a long iron shot across a yawning ravine. Five is a short dogleg par 4 whose main defense is a slick two-tiered green guarded by bunkers in front and a water hazard to the left. Then another spectacular par 3 with water separating tee from green. Though danger lurks on every hole, special care must be taken with the par 3s; the potential of recording a big number is present on each of them. The last two holes are severe tests; 17 is a monster of a par 5 with a watery ditch bisecting the fairway that complicates placement of the second shot. The green is one of the smaller ones on the course and an elusive target for the long hitters trying to find it in two. Eighteen seems straight forward, but get on the wrong side of the pin and it’s sure to ruin your round. The huge double green shared by the closing holes on each nine is an icon of Robert Trent Jones

Jr.’s work and has become the inspiration for his golf courses in the country. The North Course is the daddy of them all. There are few locations that offer a finer day of golf than Canlubang. The magnificent location and terrain, the unobtrusive design and two golf courses that will test every golfer’s mettle are the gems of Philippine golf. Again, the age of the golf course shows here and hurts it in this exercise. The greens are excessively grainy and turf quality can be uneven in the hottest months. This is an impressive property and one that will light a fire under the most jaded golfer.

Del Monte Golf Club

Located on the massive plateau that is Bukidnon, the Del Monte Golf Course is owned and operated by the company as an amenity for their executives and employees. The original nine holes (now the back nine) were built in 1928 around the huge, 5-hectare Cawayanon Lake. The front nine was designed and built by Pinoy golfing great Celestino Tugot on the slopes that surrounded the original nine. The course is 35 kilometers southeast of Cagayan de Oro, about a 45-minute ride on the Sayre National Highway. The temperate weather and huge trees that populate the course guarantee the ideal climate for golf. The front nine is the more challenging of the two; the slopes conspire to kick your ball into the mature trees that stand four and five deep along the fairways, effectively putting the brakes on any heroics out of the tree line. I particularly like the stretch of holes five through eight. Five is a 424-yard par 4 at the low end of the property. A canal that crosses the tee and meanders up the left side of the fairway to the small lake beside the green is the hole’s principal defense. Six is the prettiest hole on the front, a 534-yard par 5, the tee shot is over a small lake to a fairway that doglegs gently uphill and to the left. On the inward nine, holes 11 through 13 are most memorable. At 408 yards, the par-4 11th is a tough driving hole; the tee shot must be precisely placed on the right center of the fairway to clear the dogleg for the approach. Twelve is one of the most dramatic holes on the course, 180 of the 3-par’s 205 yards is over water. Thirteen is the toughest hole on the back; a 436-yard par 4 with bunkers that guard the landing areas off the tees and short and along the sides of the green. The 165-yard 16th is Del Monte’s most famous hole. Nicknamed Warnes’s hole after Del Monte executive Thomas Warnes who, in 1938, put 36 balls (you got that right!) into the lake. Del Monte tops the other Mindanao golf courses because of aesthetics and conditioning. Of the traditional layouts on the vast island, it stands out against the rest.

Luisita Golf and Country Club

Luisita was one of the pioneers of the modern parkland design. It is a Robert Trent Jones Sr. design; the only one in Asia. Courses at the time had small greens that were elevated and tilted to one side or other to facilitate drainage. Think about Wack Wack’s East Course, which was completed about a decade before. Luisita’s greens, by comparison, are more generous than any other golf course constructed in the country at that time. The bunkering was unique as well, and has more in common with today’s golf courses than those built in the same period. Then there’s the length of the golf course. At 7,042 yards from

The fifth hole on the Manila Southwoods Masters Course. Can the Masters repeat as the best golf course in the country.

the black tees, Luisita Golf and Country Club comes in at the minimum standard for a championship golf course these days, but remember this course was completed in the 1960s, when golfers then played tiny blades and woods made out of, well, wood. Translated into the modern idiom, Luisita probably played like it was 7,400 yards back then. T he e l e me nt t h at gol fe r s will have to deal with is water. T here’s w ater a l most e ver ywhere; it’s in play on 11 of the 18 holes and you’ll have to deal with it on all the par 3s. On two of the holes (14 and 17), there are two water hazards with which to contend. So unless you’re out to challenge yourself, most golfers would do well to play the correct set of tees. It will add enjoyment to your round and lessen the number of golf balls you donate to the hazards. The second hole helps drive that home. It’s a 192-yard par 3 (165 yards from the blue tees) with very little between you and the green but water. Unlike its feared sibling (the 17th), there’s nowhere to lay up. You’re going to have to strike the ball well to score here. There are so many memorable holes here that it’s nigh on impossible to choose a favorite. The par 3s are all drop-dead gorgeous, the second perhaps the most so. The seventh hole is a layup and a wedge if done properly but when the water in the hazard is high, those in the know will skip golf balls across the lake and onto the green. The ninth is the beast. The 623 yards from the tips makes this a par 5 to be reckoned with. The severely elevated green makes the approach shot very difficult to judge. As this is the 1-handicap hole, bogey is a good score here. But it is the closing stretch that is the most memorable. Fourteen is a great hole. The tee shot must

cross two bodies of water. The hole doglegs to the left and water remains in play with the approach, as well. The green is shallow and difficult to hold. It’s just a great golf hole. But as good as it is, 15 is up there with it. This sweeping dogleg to the left is a bit shorter but no less difficult. An array of bunkers guard the ideal landing area off the tee. A miss to the right will result in a long shot into a green that slopes away in the back. Then there’s the 17th. With 214 yards from the tips and just 20 yards shorter from the next set of tees, this is the most difficult of the par 3s. There is scant area on which to miss but shorter hitters will be gratified to know that they can lay up to an island where the forward tees are located. The hole is much more manageable from there. There is so much to love about Luisita. The magnificent clubhouse takes you back to the time of the grand hacienda. It gives you a glimpse back at a genteel time in history and a taste of what it must have been like. If there’s one thing that’s hurt Luisita in this evaluation, it is the condition of the golf course. That said, its condition has improved markedly with the entry of the Lorenzos and will continue to do so until they restore the golf course to its former glory.

Wack Wack Golf and Country Club East Course

Wack Wack Golf Club’s East Course is the country’s oldest and most storied championship golf course. William J. Shaw was the impetus behind the club’s genesis. Disgusted with the elitism and policy of exclusion displayed at the 1926 Philippine Open when then 16-year-old Larry Montes was refused a seat at the victory dinner because he was a caddie, Shaw determined to build a golf

www.pinoygolfer.com | Saturday, December 30, 2017 A7

hilippine Golf hybrid that does well in the Philippine setting. They are fast and roll true and are a pleasure to play. The course has a bit of everything. It is beautiful and challenging all at once. This is a shotmaker’s golf course. You will be asked to employ every shot at your disposal and manage yourself around the extreme variety the course provides. It isn’t overly difficult or penal but it’s no pushover either. Dare I say it? It strikes the almost perfect balance for a golf course.

Manila Southwoods Golf and Country Club Masters Course

club with the aim of promoting peace and harmony between golfers of all races. Working with a group of golfers from the old Municipal Golf Links, he succeeded and Wack Wack was formed in 1930. The club’s name derived from the squawks of the crows that used to inhabit the land. The following year, Shaw contracted the services of Jim Black, a golf professional from the United States, to oversee the construction of the East Course. Time has proven the design of the East Course. Though a longoverdue renovation awaits, it is still a course that will challenge, reward and frustrate golfers of all abilities. It is classic construction for courses of the Philippines; Carabao grass with small, elevated, often severely sloped Bermuda greens. This is a course that has hosted the likes of Jackie Burke, Lloyd Mangrum, Billy Casper, Peter Thomson, Norman Von Nida, Slammin’ Sam Snead, Kel Nagle, Bruce Crampton, Ed “Porky” Oliver and the 1997 World Cup of Golf, which was attended by the likes of Gary Player, Hugh Biocchi, Nick Faldo, Ian Woosnam, Ignacio Garrido and Seve Ballesteros. The old hands will tell you that even these golfing greats have stumbled at No. 8. During the last renovation, the East Course underwent a major makeover that had two goals. The first was to lengthen the golf course. The East Course is the home of the Philippine Open so the extra yardage was critical in keeping the course challenging for the new breed of professionals. Some 350 additional yards were found by adding and repositioning some of the tee boxes; most notable are the ones on Nos. 8, 10 and 12. The extra yardage meant that the fairway bunkers on the golf course needed to be repositioned. In previous years, said bunkers

could be easily carried and offered little resistance for most golfers. The subtle changes in position of the bunkers required much consideration and today, if the bunkers don’t quite come into play for the professional, they definitely merit his concern when standing on the tee. Bunkers have been added on 5, 12, 17 and 18 to force players to carry over the hazard; something never a concern in the past. The other redesign was to improve the old waterways and hazards. Changes were made to the lakes around holes 7 and 16. Changes were made to the rockwork, which now looks very natural. The fruits of their labor are quite noticeable. The course now looks more holistic, aesthetics are significantly improved. The team also eschewed the use of modern grasses for the new East Course, choosing to stay with carabao grass for the fairways and zoysia for the greens. The greens have not changed much and remain the principal challenge for the golfer. They are part of the history and heritage of the course and will remain so for the foreseeable future. The course is a beast and holds its own even when compared to the modern courses. The extra length has made the small greens even harder to hit. It is one of the toughest courses in the country. The East Course is an icon of Philippine golf and the club continues to work to keep it that way.

The best modern golf courses Anvaya Cove Golf and Sports Club

If the Ayala Corp. is involved, you know that the product is top class. Such is the case with the Anvaya Cove Golf and Sports Club. Anvaya opened to much fanfare three years ago and boasts one of the best layouts in the country. The course meanders up and down the

Zambales coastline, offering some of the most spectacular views in Philippine golf. T he out ward or Mounta in Nine is situated along the peaks and ridges of the development, giving golfers an elevated view of the sea and the Zambales and Bataan mountain ranges. Meanwhi le, inward nine has been labeled the Seaside Nine, since its layout combines panoramic sea views and nature preser ves. Even more impressive is that t he Ay a l a Group pr ior it i z ed the course’s sustainability and harmony with the environment. This was achieved by minimizi ng ea r t h movement, sav i ng mature trees and landscaping with endemic f lora while routing the tees and fairways to give the impression that the golf course has always been there. It always was but it took a great architect and a developer with a vision to uncover. We had the opportunity to play my first round at Avaya with Ramsey and he impressed on us just how serious the Ayala Group was about the concept. Removal of any tree on the property required much deliberation before action was taken. Zoysia or Philippine Bermuda was chosen for the fairways because it is endemic and thrives naturally in this environment. The greens previously presented Anvaya’s only liability; they were too new and weren’t playing to the standard set by the other more mature golf courses. Time, of course, has addressed that issue and today, Anvaya’s greens are mature and play as you’d expect of a top golf course. We expect Anvaya to do very well in this year’s rankings. The best news is that the golf experience was not compromised in the least. The greens are planted with mini verde; a micro-Bermuda

The Manila Southwoods Golf and Country Club was intended to be the consummate golf and leisure experience, an environmentally responsible haven for enjoyment with a world-class reputation for service excellence. Established in September 1990, it was, together with Sta. Elena Golf and Country Club and The Orchard Golf and Country Club, one of the first golf courses that utilized modern all-weather construction techniques to keep the course playable year-round. Played from the back tees, this is a beast of a golf course with course and slope ratings of 75.8 and 140, respectively; it is not a golf course to trif le with. The holes snake their way through the marshland forcing the golfer to deal with constantly varying wind conditions on almost every hole. The forward tees, though perhaps a bit less formidable, are still quite difficult and require thought and discretion to obtain a good score. Nicklaus is famous for designing golf courses that test your abilities. You must negotiate that myriad obstacles and booby traps that he’s laid out before you. You must place your ball in the optimum spots to attack the greens. Unfortunately, you will often need to challenge these obstacles to obtain this position. Fail and you will be penalized by additional strokes or poor angles from which to approach the lightning quick greens. The holes are all beautifully laid out and landscaped, but it is the stretch from nine through 11 that I look forward to the most. They constitute a really tough corner, one the Club often brags about as their version of Amen Corner. Nine is a relatively short par 4; from the forward tees golfers that are long off the tee really don’t need to take driver here. The landing area, although seemingly quite wide, is constricted by a huge bunker left and OB right and you must find the fairway to stay in position to approach the island green. Ten is the pick of the litter; the most beautiful hole on the golf course in this writer’s humble opinion and one of the toughest. It was voted as one of the 500 best holes of golf in the world by Golf Magazine. Measuring 429 yards from the tips, it plays much longer than that into the teeth of the strong amihan wind. The shallow creek that meanders across the tee boxes and up the left side feeds into a pond fronting the green; this forms the primary defense for the green. Par here will feel like a birdie almost anywhere else. The slightly shorter 11th also plays into the wind and features water all the way up the left side of the fairway and again, in front of the green. Manila Southwoods lag ged slightly behind Sta. Elena in terms of conditioning but thanks to the new Grounds Director John Cope, the Masters Course has blossomed. The greens are every bit the equal of those at its Cabuyao neighbor and the fairways are just slightly

better. This is a superb design that takes full advantage of the prevailing wind. The course twists and turns such that the wind comes at you from a different direction on every single hole. It is the cream of the crop.

Sherwood Hills Golf and Country Club

So much of what a golf course is has to do with the piece of land on which it’s built. You can do great things with great land and Sherwood Hills Golf Club sits on one of the best pieces of golfing real estate in the country. Sherwood Hills Vice Chairman Freddie Campos relates that he brought the Great One, Jack Nicklaus, to the site while he was working on Manila Southwoods Golf and Country Club’s twin courses, to show him the property. The original concept for Sherwood Hills was to be 36 holes of golf with each of the nines designed by Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player and Tom Watson, the protagonists of the original Skins Game aired on television. After touring the property, Nicklaus turned to Campos and said, “If you let me do the entire property, I’ll cut my fee in half.” What he saw was a natural inland links course just below the surface, beneath the cogon and local scrub that dotted the landscape, waiting to be uncovered; as natural a property for a golf course as can be found on God’s green earth. It was rough but it was there in front of him. It wouldn’t take much to bring the course out either, just some routing and minor shaping. Nicklaus eschewed the flowering plants preferred by some designers, opting instead for native grasses to maintain the natural feel of the course and, more important, lower maintenance costs. In the course of a round, one is confronted with varied hues and textures of green; patterns created by the bahia, cogon and other native grasses that border the fairways. Ravines line the left side of much of the front nine increasing the degree of difficulty of play there. The back nine is more scenic and will offer a respite after coming off the harder front. The complex of 10 and 11 winding around one of three lakes on the property is particularly beautiful. The clubhouse is an American Southwest colonial design and is one of the homiest, most inviting places to put your spikes up and enjoy a cold beer. The veranda feels more like a large living room than the club’s restaurant. The 18th green sits just a few yards over the cart path that fronts the veranda; it’s an excellent vantage point to enjoy the golf come tournament time. Played from the Gold Tees, Sherwood Hills is a formidable track at 7,265 yards and will play even longer when the wind blows. It is ultimately the stiff Cavite breeze that completes the links experience at Sherwood Hills. The course is friendly without it and an absolute beast when it blows. Sherwood’s strengths are its par 4s; eight of them over 400 yards, six of them over 430. Those are extra-large par 4s; playing the appropriate set of tees is crucial to your golfing pleasure. Nicklaus makes up for this by providing par 5s that are reachable in two. They present the best scoring opportunities at Sherwood Hills. The club’s acquisition by realestate giant Megaworld and subsequent assignment to Suntrust Properties has been a shot in the arm for the Trece Martirez property. Money is no longer an issue and the course is back to its peak.

Sta. Elena Golf and Country Club Makiling Course

No rankings are complete without Sta. Elena Golf and Country Club. The club has set the standard for the conditioning of their golf course. They are so good at it that they’ve made quite a tidy profit building and maintaining other golf courses to their same exacting standards. The original design was penned by then RTJ II design staff member Don Knott, who has since moved on and now heads his own firm. Jones and the Tantocos then modified the design substantially, creating more contour and greater elevation changes on the former sugar field. The end result is stunning and has been universally praised. Golfdom’s top brass, Michael Fay of the USGA and Michael Bollanack of the Royal and Ancient have both played Sta. Elena and have nothing but praise for the 27-hole layout. Sta. Elena Golf and Country Club has twice been voted best golf course in the Philippines by Asia Golf Magazine and was runner-up for best golf course in Asia in 2003. Sta. Elena was intended to be the premier golf course in the country and in an era where players are hitting the golf ball further than ever rendering some tracks obsolete, Sta. Elena will maintain its stature by leaning on its strengths, the par 4s and 5s. It’s funny that Mr. Jones designated the 213-yard par-3 17th the signature hole. Playing Elena, you need to hit the long ball to make par, much less score. Most of these holes are beyond the reach of most bogey golfers. And then there’s the stiff breeze that whistles through Laguna in the afternoons, increasing the effective distances and degree of difficulty of the upwind holes. The shorter holes present the golfer with numerous options and many hazards. The beautiful 383yard 11th is a great little par 4, offering a substantial reward for the brave. A dogleg left, the uphill tee shot over a ravine dares golfers to cut the dogleg. If successful, the reward is a wedge or short iron into a very fast green perched on the edge of the hazard. Similarly configured is the 411-yard sixth, which presents you with a downhill tee shot to a fairway that doglegs to the left over a lake that runs the length of the hole. Where Sta. Elena falls short is design variety. Take the ninth and 18th holes. They are near identical twins. Both tee shots are to an elevated fairway and both fair ways slope dow n to greens that are sloped in very similar fashions. A bit more differentiation between the two would have been preferable. Also, the layout is beginning to show its age. The club played preferred lies through most of the summer, which is probably the buildup of organic material in the soil which prevents it from draining properly. The solution might be straightforward but expensive. The fairways need to be redone. Not ably absent f rom t h i s year’s rankings is The Orchard Golf and Country Club’s Palmer Course. The club has had issues with their greens in the past yea r a nd t hat unfor t unately drops the club from this year’s exercise. Work is underway to address the problem and considerable progress has been made, albeit not enough to merit their inclusion in this discussion. We are confident that in a year or two, the course will be back at its peak and will once again grace our rankings. We will reveal our winners in our future issues so don’t miss it.

OurTime

A8 Saturday, December 30, 2017 • Editor: Efleda P. Campos

BusinessMirror

Valenzuela elders get ‘Noche Buena’ packs from city-government officials

VALENZUELA Mayor Rexlon T. Gatchalian (left) gives the “Noche Buena” package to the city’s elders as part of the local government’s annual gift-giving tradition, called “Pamaskong Handog kay Lolo at Lola.” By Roderick Abad

Contributor

@rodrik_28

RIOR to Christmas eve, the local government of Valenzuela City distributed its gift of Noche Buena packages to 49,000 seniorcitizen residents.

This annual tradition is the city government’s way of giving back and bringing cheer to its aged constituents. Together with local officials, Mayor Rexlon T. Gatchalian led the gift-giving activity as they made rounds of schools and community halls for the “Pamaskong Handog kay Lolo at Lola.” The packages distributed this year contained 2 kilos of rice in a custommade hand-carry eco bag and boxed

canned and bottled goods ranging from corned beef, luncheon meat, sausage, mixed fruits, condensed milk and ham, with spaghetti sauce and pasta, among others. “The annual gift-giving we organize each year for the senior citizens is our way of ensuring their households will be merry during the holidays,” the local chief executive told the BusinessMirror. “More than this, we communicate our concern for them through the lens of public servitude, echoing to our elderly how devoted we are in taking care of our home city—banking on continuous infrastructure buildup, more sensible legislation for everybody’s protection, to name a few,” he said. As early as November, the city government already sent tickets to the elderly’s houses to make sure they get the one under their name. To claim their gift, they just presented their tickets and identification (ID) card issued by the Office of the Senior Citizens Affairs (Osca) to the designated venue written behind their ticket. Considering the health condition of some of the seniors, those who weren’t able to get their Christmas present personally, designated representatives to claim the presents, provided they brought an ID, plus the ticket and ID of the recipient. The Pamaskong Handog covered all the 33 barangays in the city. Based on data from the City Social Welfare and Development Office and the Osca, there were about 49,047 recipients this year, or 4,047 higher than the 45,000 recipients last year.

FB job ads raise concerns about age discrimination

FEW weeks ago, Verizon placed an ad on Facebook to recruit applicants for a unit focused on financial planning and analysis. The ad showed a smiling, millennial-aged woman seated at a computer and promised that new hires could look forward to a rewarding career in which they would be “more than just a number.” Some relevant numbers were not immediately evident. The promotion was set to run on the Facebook feeds of users 25 to 36 years old who lived in the nation’s capital, or had recently visited there and had demonstrated an interest in finance. For a vast majority of the hundreds of millions of people who check Facebook every day, the ad did not exist. Verizon is among dozens of the nation’s leading employers—including Amazon, Goldman Sachs, Target and Facebook itself—that placed recruitment ads limited to particular age groups, an investigation by ProPublica and The New York Times found.

The ability of advertisers to deliver their message to the precise audience most likely to respond is the cornerstone of Facebook’s business model. But using the system to expose job opportunities only to certain age groups has raised concerns about fairness to older workers. Several experts questioned whether the practice is in keeping with the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, which prohibits bias against people 40 or older in hiring or employment. Many jurisdictions make it unlawful to “aid” or “abet” age discrimination, a provision that could apply to companies like Facebook that distribute job ads. “It’s blatantly unlawful,” said Debra Katz, a Washington employment lawyer who represents victims of discrimination. Facebook defended the practice. “Used responsibly, age-based targeting for employment purposes is an accepted industry practice and for good

reason: It helps employers recruit and people of all ages find work,” said Rob Goldman, a Facebook vice president. The revelations come at a time when the unregulated power of the tech companies is under increased scrutiny, and Congress is weighing whether to limit the immunity that it granted to tech companies in 1996 for third-party content on their platforms. Facebook has argued in court filings that the law, the Communications Decency Act, makes it immune from liability for discriminatory ads. Earlier this year, the social network launched a section of its site devoted to job ads. Facebook allows advertisers to select their audience, and then Facebook finds the chosen users with the extensive data it collects about its members. The use of age targets emerged in a review of data originally compiled by ProPublica readers for a project about political ad placement on Facebook. Many of the ads include a disclosure

by Facebook about why the user is seeing the ad, which can be anything from their age to their affinity for folk music. Other tech companies also offer employers opportunities to discriminate by age. ProPublica bought job ads on Google and LinkedIn that excluded audiences older than 40—and the ads were instantly approved. Google said it does not prevent advertisers from displaying ads based on the user’s age. After being contacted by ProPublica, LinkedIn changed its system to prevent such targeting in employment ads. On December 20 a class-action complaint alleging age discrimination was filed in federal court in San Francisco on behalf of the Communications Workers of America and its members— as well as all Facebook users 40 or older who may have been denied the chance to learn about job openings. The plaintiffs’ lawyers said the complaint was based on ads for dozens of companies they had discovered on Facebook. New York Times News Service

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3 more Makati centenarians receive ₧100K cash gift, award By Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco Correspondent

AKATI Mayor Abigail Binay awarded plaques of appreciation and checks for P100,000 each to three centenarians, bringing the number of Makati centenarians to 45. On December 20 the mayor visited Africa V. Reynoso of Barangay Forbes Park and Leng Gee S. Lee of Dasmariñas Village, who both turned 100 years old this year. They regaled Binay with their stories and were thrilled that the mayor came to see them at their homes. Carolina Q. Domingo of Barangay Santa Cruz reached 103 years, but passed away in August. Binay handed the award and cash gift to her family. “Reaching 100 years old is a great reason to celebrate. It will be wonderful to reach that age and be surrounded by your children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. I personally look forward to meeting our centenarians because I like hearing their stories—both of joy and hardships,” Binay said. “Our centenarians are living pieces of history and it is only proper that we honor and appreciate them for their contributions,” she added. The mayor was accompanied by Vice Mayor Monique Q. Lagdameo

and Congressman Luis Campos during the home visits. City Ordinance 2012-099 entitles Makati senior citizens who are Blu Card holders to a one-time P100,000 cash gift upon reaching 100 years old. It serves as a tribute for their significant contributions and role in the history and development of the city. The latest awardees were able to meet the criteria set by the Makati Social Welfare Department, the lead implementer of the Blu Card Program. The requirements include: The awardee must be a Filipino citizen; they must be a bona fide resident of Makati; they must have reached 100 years old between January and December of the current year; and they must be a Blu Card and White Card holder for at least five years. Earlier, 79,000 senior citizens who are Blu Card holders received their year-end cash gifts. Blu Card holders received their year-end cash gift corresponding to their age categories as follows: Beneficiaries 60 to 69 years old received P1,500; 70 to 79 years old, P2,000; and 80 to 89 years old, P2,500. For this year, the city allocated P326.2 million for the cash gift to seniors and centenarians. The cash gift is given in two equal installments every June and December.

SoCot centenarians get cash incentives

ENERAL SANTOS CITY— Some 35 centenarians from parts of South Cotabato province received cash incentives of P20,000 each from the provincial government. William Lebanan, provincial focal person for senior citizens, said last Tuesday the one-time cash incentive is part of the assistance package set by the local government for senior citizens who have reached at least 100 years old. He said the 35 recipients were among the senior citizens within the province’s 10 towns and lone city who were documented to have reached at least 100 years old. These centenarians were properly validated and assessed by personnel from the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office (PSWDO), he said. A report released by the PSWDO said Koronadal City has the most number of validated centenarians with nine, followed by Banga with six and Surallah with five. It said 10 of the recipients were already deceased as of the release of the incentives and were just given to their immediate families.

Lebanan said the release of the incentive is in line with the local government’s full implementation of the Provincial Centenarian Ordinance passed by the Sangguniang Panlalawigan or provincial board in year. South Cotabato Gov. Daisy Avance-Fuentes signed in June the measure’s implementing rules and regulations. Aside from the P20,000 cash incentive, living centenarians will get a monthly financial assistance of P2,000 from the local government. They will also get a yearly healthcare financial assistance worth P30,000, which may be availed of in any government hospital in the province. These incentives are on top of the P100,000 cash incentive allotted by the national government for centenarians. Lebanan said the provincial government allotted an initial budget of P700,000 for the implementation of the program this year. He said another batch of centenarians would receive cash incentives and other assistance next year. FKA/PNA

Scientists hope to inject robo-cat with AI to help seniors P ROVIDENCE, Rhode Island— Imagine a cat that can keep a person company, doesn’t need a litter box and can remind an aging relative to take her medicine or help find her eyeglasses. That’s the vision of toymaker Hasbro and scientists at Brown University, who have received a three-year, $1-million grant from the National Science Foundation to find ways to add artificial intelligence (AI) to Hasbro’s “Joy for All” robotic cat. The cat, which has been on the market for two years, is aimed at seniors and meant to act as a “companion.” It purrs and meows, and even appears to lick its paw and roll over to ask for a belly rub. The BrownHasbro project is aimed at developing

additional capabilities for the cats to help older adults with simple tasks. Researchers at Brown’s Humanity-Centered Robotics Initiative are working to determine which tasks make the most sense, and which can help older adults stay in their own homes longer, such as finding lost objects, or reminding the owner to call someone or go to a doctor’s appointment. “It’s not going to iron and wash dishes,” said Bertram Malle, a professor of cognitive, linguistic and psychological sciences at Brown. “Nobody expects them to have a conversation. Nobody expects them to move around and fetch a newspaper. They’re really good at providing comfort.”

Malle said they don’t want to make overblown promises of what the cat can do, something he and his fellow researcher—computer science professor Michael Littman—said they’ve seen in other robots on the market. They hope to make a cat that would perform a small set of tasks very well. They also want to keep it affordable, just a few hundred dollars. The current version costs $100. They’ve given the project a name that gets at that idea: Affordable Robotic Intelligence for Elderly Support. The team includes researchers from Brown’s medical school, area hospitals and a designer at the University of Cincinnati. It’s an idea that has appeal to Jeanne Elliott, whose 93-year-old mother,

Mary Derr, lives with her in South Kingstown. Derr has mild dementia and the Joy for All cat Elliott purchased this year has become a true companion for Derr, keeping her company and soothing her while Elliott is at work. Derr treats it like a real cat, even though she knows it has batteries. “Mom has a tendency to forget things,” she said, adding a cat reminding her “we don’t have any appointments today, take your meds, be careful when you walk, things like that, be safe, reassuring things, to have that available during the day would be awesome.” Diane Feeney Mahoney, a professor emerita at MGH Institute of Health Professions School of Nursing, who has studied tech-

nology for older people, said the project showed promise because of the team of researchers. She hopes they involve people from the Alzheimer’s community and that “we just don’t want to push technology for technology’s sake.” She called the cat a tool that could make things easier for someone caring for a person with middle-stage dementia, or to be used in nursing homes where pets are not allowed. The scientists are embarking on surveys, focus groups and interviews to get a sense of the landscape of everyday living for an older adult. They’re also trying to figure out how the souped-up robo-cats would do those tasks, and then how it would communicate that information.

They don’t think they want a talking cat, Littman said. “Cats don’t generally talk to you,” Littman said, and it might be upsetting if it did. They’re looking at whether the cat could move its head in a certain way to get across the message it’s trying to communicate, for example. In the end, they hope by creating an interaction in which the human is needed, they could even help stem feelings of loneliness, depression and anxiety. “The cat doesn’t do things on its own. It needs the human, and the human gets something back,” Malle said. “That interaction is a huge step up. Loneliness and uselessness feelings are hugely problematic.” AP

The Millennials BusinessMirror

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Saturday, December 30, 2017

Offered a chance, Chan wants to return the favor Part Two By Rizal Raoul S. Reyes

@brownindio

OWER cranes lured her back. Ten years ago Katrina Rausa Chan graduated at the Carnegie Mellon University with a degree in materials science and engineering with additional major in business administration.

But the United States was still reeling from an economic recession and tensions against immigrants were running high. A Christmas trip to her homeland one day gave her a different view: tower cranes everywhere, she said. In an e-mail interview with the BusinessMirror, Chan, now 28 and the current executive director of Qbo Innovation Hub, bared her journey from an atmosphere of recession to a budding ecosystem of start-ups in the Philippines.

In this Q&A, Chan also shared the roots of her patriotism, planted during her life as a student of the Philippine Science High School (PSHS) fondly called by alumni as “Pisay”.

How did you develop the passion for science in your younger years?

Ever since I could remember, I’ve been really curious about how everything works. I enjoy figuring things out. I was never the stereotypical nerdy/science kid (I went

to parties, liked arts and fashion, played sports and music and had quite a myriad of interests. (Also,) both my parents were lawyers so I think most people assumed when I was younger I’d follow in that path and didn’t necessarily expect that I’d be working in technology as a grown-up. I did love reading, looking things up (on the encyclopedia in the 1990s!) and also trying to build stuff or conduct experiments. It wasn’t a conscious thing, but I found it fun and satisfying to solve puzzles and discover more things about the world, and I still do to this day. On hindsight, I think what’s interesting and special about STEM (science, technology, engineering and math), more than what niche you actually end up specializing in, is the way of thinking or approach that it espouses. The scientific method is propelled by ideas— theories and hypotheses, but ultimately grounded by observations and experiments—the discipline of an evidence-based approach. It never gets boring just because there’s always more left to explore and each answer leads to an endless number of new questions.

What inspired you to study in Philippine Science High School (Pisay)?

It’s a funny story, but Pisay is really a happy accident that ended up changing the course of my life. I actually took the Pisay exam on a whim since somebody mentioned it was a tough test, just to see if I’d pass. Again, I was a curious kid, but I didn’t see myself then as a “science” person. Since Pisay is high school only, all of the kids that matriculate there are technically “transfer students,” (from every conceivable province in country, because the system then encouraged the entrance exam top scorers to go to the main as opposed to regional campuses) so they conduct a two-week orientation in advance of when classes formally start everywhere else, to get everyone onboard. I was actually already enrolled in ICA (a private all-girls school where I studied elementary) but I lived 10 minutes to 15 minutes away from the Pisay campus in Quezon City and didn’t really have other plans. Plus, all Pisay students get a free full scholarship, so I figured there was no harm in making new friends and hanging out at Pisay for

a couple of weeks during orientation before “real school” started in earnest. I never looked back from that orientation week and ended up graduating with High Honors from Pisay in 2007. No doubt Pisay was one of my life’s most transformative periods.

How would you describe your stay in Pisay?

Enlightening. High school is when people come of age, but Pisay really helped me understand myself and grow as a person. The facilities were definitely terrible compared to what I was used to coming from a private school. You couldn’t buy your own new books, but instead borrowed these really old, used ones; the grass on the football field was mostly brown, and so patchy you could trip on rocky spots if you weren’t careful. What ultimately made me stay, though, and what really made the difference, were the people. Our entire faculty was highly accomplished and knew their stuff. They were passionate not only about the subjects they were teaching, but also that their students were really learning. More than that, however, was

Amid sales drop, Harley-Davidson wants to teach more people to ride

ILWAUKEE—Harley-Davidson is placing a renewed emphasis on teaching people to ride as part of its efforts to attract more customers. The Milwaukee-based company’s decision to expand the number of dealerships with a Harley “Riding Academy” comes as the industry grapples with years of declining sales and an aging customer base. The program launched in 2000 with about 50 locations and now 245 dealerships in the US offer the three- or four-day course. The company says about a quarter of those launched since 2014. Harley sold 124,777 new motorcycles through nine months in 2017, down from 135,581 during the same period the previous year, according to the company’s most recent earnings report. The Motorcycle Industry Council says the median age of motorcycle owners increased from 32 to 47 since 1990. About 46 percent of riders are over 50; only about 10 percent are 30-34. Samantha Kay rode on the back of her father’s motorcycle growing up, but when the 25-year-old took a class to ride for the first time, she couldn’t help being anxious. “I think motorcycles inherently do scare a lot of people,” said Kay, a Milwaukee woman who is one of 50,000 people nationwide who took a riding course at a Harley-Davidson dealership this year. The training is one of the ways Harley is trying to attract a new generation of riders like Kay, amid big demographic shifts. “Some of the aging Baby Boomers, which have

In this December 12 photo, Samantha Kay poses for a photo on a 2017 Harley Sportster Forty-Eight in Milwaukee’s House of Harley. Kay took a riding course at the dealership as part of Harley-Davidson’s “Riding Academy,” an initiative the company hopes will help bring new customers. AP

been the guts of Harley-Davidson’s purchasers, they’re getting older and some of them are just getting out of the sport because they can’t handle the motorcycle anymore,” said Clyde Fessler, who retired from Harley-Davidson in 2002 after holding several executive positions over 25 years. He created what became the “Riding Academy.” He said the idea “is getting people comfortable on a motorcycle and getting them to feel safe and confident.” In addition to riders getting older, a slow eco-

nomic recovery has made it harder for millennials to buy new motorcycles, said Jim Williams, vice president of the American Motorcyclist Association. Among the newest models, a 2018 Softail Slim starts at $15,899 and a 2018 Sportster FortyEight at $11,299. “The younger generations are buying plenty of motorcycles, they’re just not new,” Williams said. But it’s not all the millennials’ fault, said Robert Pandya, who managed public relations for Indian Motorcycles and Victory Motorcycles. Pan-

dya recently launched “Give A Shift,” a volunteer group discussing ideas to promote motorcycling. One of their conclusions, he said, is the idea that “if mom rides, the kids will ride.” Currently, women are about 14 percent of the riding population, according to the Motorcycle Industry Council. “The biggest possible opportunity in motorcycling is to invite more women to ride,” he said. That’s not lost on Harley-Davidson. Among the ways Harley-Davidson is trying to reach younger riders is by having motorcycle role-models like Jessica Haggett, the founder of the “The Litas” all-women motorcycle club, be a voice for the company on social media. And the company is also focusing advertising efforts in male-dominated sports like the X Games and UFC events popular with younger viewers. “I think we have to work harder to gain share of mind with young adults, for example, in that they have other activities in their lives. They’re on screens, they’re connecting socially, they’re involved in gaming, they’re involved in other things,” said Heather Malenshek, HarleyDavidson’s vice president of marketing. She said the easily customizable Sports Glide model that launched in November and the aggressive, performance-driven Fat Bob also have younger riders in mind. In all, the company plans to release 100 new motorcycles over the next 10 years. During that time, the company also wants to gain 2 million new riders. Terri Meehan took plenty of motorcycle rides

with friends as a passenger but has wanted to be in the driver’s seat for a while. The 42-year-old took the Harley-Davidson riding course in October because she wanted to learn from “an expert who could teach right way versus someone who had learned bad habits.” The price of the class varies by dealership but it’s generally about $300. Students spend time in class learning about motorcycle safety and on ranges learning to ride. Meehan plans to buy a motorcycle soon. “My son’s a psychology major so he asked me if I was going through a mid-life crisis, which is actually quite hilarious,” Meehan said. Kay’s experience notwithstanding, another challenge for Harley-Davidson is motorcycling simply isn’t a major part of people’s upbringing like it was once, Malenshek said. “If you think about Baby Boomers, they probably were brought up on a dirt bike or had an uncle or a neighbor or something who was riding around in a Harley-Davidson. That may not be the case today,” she said. She said the company’s CEO, Matthew Levatich, is encouraging employees to engage people in conversations about motorcycling if someone happens to say, “Nice bike.” Melanshek took that to heart during an interaction with someone at a gas station who complimented her on her motorcycle and told her he’d never thought about riding. “And I said, ‘I can get you hooked up with the riding academy!’” AP

ing the most. This is what Olivia showed. It’s easy to give when you are rich, but to give when you have little is a true test. It’s easy to be kind when you’re in a good mood, but to be kind when you’re sad and or angry at someone whom you don’t like—that is a true test. The wonder is that we are capable of giving love even in our worst state, and this is the channel from which more blessings can come. 2. Doing the right thing comes with doing it for the right reason. Jack Will was trying to be convinced by his mother to be nice to Auggie because his school gave him a scholarship, but he did it because of his mom, and because he imagined how it was to feel like if others were unkind to him. He felt empathy and a sort of joining with Auggie, and this was the right reason to start it. It was tested by his friends egging him to hate Auggie like they did, and he did buckle for a bit, but eventually he knew the right thing and decided to stand for it. When your “why” is aligned with action, you can be very powerful indeed. Then he could make amends and be true to his right reason. True wonder is acting in authenticity to goodness and your personal convictions regardless of what others may think. 3. Helping someone sometimes means helping someone again and again, and again. The principal could have stopped at getting Auggie the welcome friends. He could have made

sure that the kid was sanctioned, but he didn’t. He took it upon himself to create something good for Auggie in his school. He used his power to watch and guard lovingly so that he could make sure that Auggie was developing the right way. This is how I view God, but we can be this kind of friend to people. Sometimes, it’s not enough to ask someone if they’re fine and stop when they say, “okay.” Sometimes, if people keep making the same mistakes, we just have to keep forgiving them and guiding them. True wonder is making sure that the person is happier, and better because of you. 4. Choosing to love is sacrificing and happily so. When Auggie’s mom had Auggie, she gave up many things for him: her thesis, work and all that. She made the move to get what she wants but she never once regretted it, harped about it, or made a fuss. It was her choice to give it up and it was borne out of love. Sometimes, when we outwardly sacrifice and it isn’t a full commitment, it can come with jibes, sarcasm and passive-aggressive strokes. However, if your love is real and your motivation clear, you give freely without cost and without hate. True wonder is a happy sacrifice for the ones you love. These are truly wonderful things, and I hope you can keep them close to your heart even as I totally spoiled the movie for you. You can still enjoy it and let me know if you have a different opinion at maxine.mamba@yahoo.com.

Not so wonderul/Truly wonderful

Maxine Mamba

inspired

loved the fact that a little child who was “disfigured” and weak since birth was able to elicit so much goodness in the movie Wonder. For those of you who haven’t watched the film, it is a positive slice of life where Auggie, a 9-year-old adjusts to entering school for the first time after being homeschooled all his life by his doting parents. We also see a glimpse of the lives of the other characters that orbit around the sun that is Auggie, his sister, his friends and the hows and why’s that made them so. My main concern is that Auggie himself isn’t exactly “wonderful.” At the first sign of meanness from one of the school kids, Auggie responds to his teasing by correcting the child, setting off a hatred for him. When kids stopped laughing at them, the movie edit made it look like the regular kids were being laughed at, and Auggie was pleased with this. Also, Auggie never really went

out of his way greatly for anyone else, and when he was at home: he acted like such a brat to his parents and sister, screaming and yelling. This is not exactly wonderful. If goodness really were inculcated into him, the moment that they laughed at those other kids, he would have said: “Hey guys, I know what that feels like. It’s not cool,” or something like that. Also, everyone knows that correcting someone or repaying an insult for an insult is nothing wonderful. What is wonderful is that if they insulted him, he gave compliments and kindness in return. Still, it showed that when he insulted them back he gained respect, which still reinforces a culture where the “baddest” or “meanest” rule. That is exactly what is wrong with American youth culture. At least this was addressed by the other characters that are the real “wonder” of the film. First, his friend, Jack Will, eventually stood up for him. More than this, when questioned about it, Jack Will could have easily have tattled on the antagonist bully Julian. Instead, he honorably kept his mouth shut, and let the cards fall as they may. Then, there was Summer who, at the lowest point of Auggie’s social life, chose to stay with him because she was tired of her mean friends and wanted someone nice. (Even if Auggie’s nice-ness wasn’t really established apart from the fact that he was the underdog.) Auggie’s sister, Via, who despite being ignored

all the time for Auggie’s sake, still chooses to love, support and sacrifice for him, is one of the wonders in this film. It is a stark greatness that when she was most rejected by her mother, she chose to go the extra mile and reach out lovingly to her brother. That is wonderful. For me the true wonder of this film was the principal, Mr. Tushman. He was first wise enough to assign Auggie welcome helpers, and when he did not turn a blind eye to the bullying but instead researched about it and sanctioned it. In the scene where Julian’s parents were trying to downplay the issue and the father tried to coerce or influence him by reminding him how much money they give to the board, it was clear that it was a threat to Mr. Tushman’s job. The father asked, “Do you know how much money we give the board?” He responded to that remark like a champion, saying, “I have more money.” That ended the bribe and threat right there and then with that flash of righteousness and courage. What is more, he chose to give the final award to Auggie, which, more than recognizing Auggie, was a symbol for the students that a weak or physically disabled person can be honored in their school. Auggie was just the vessel or the medium through which the beauty and goodness of the hearts around him could change. Here are my personal takeaways from this wonderful film: 1. It is noblest to love when you are hurt-

my fellow students. I didn’t really realize until I entered Pisay, how sheltered my life thus far had been. It was in Pisay that I understood what a meritocracy really meant. Unlike earlier in my life when I felt that a large part of my identity was based on how my peers judged what brand handbags I was wearing, or which boys invited me to which parties, in Pisay, nobody cared about that superficial stuff. Boy or girl, farmer’s kid or tycoon’s kid, provincial dormer or Manila urbanite, it didn’t matter once you entered the classroom. You were assessed on the merit of your work. I made the most unexpected and profound friendships with young people of very diverse backgrounds that I otherwise perhaps would never have had the opportunity to meet—my classmates challenged, pushed and supported me. I was indelibly changed. After Pisay, I knew I wanted to make a difference for the country and open up opportunities for people who have commitment and talent, and are just hungry for a shot. This greatly influenced my approach when building QBO. To be continued

Relations John Patrick F. Solano millennials universe

once read a Facebook post by my highschool classmate: “I hope we are like math so that aside from we have a relation, we also have infinity.” I posted a comment on her post for the sake of a mathematical argument: “Not all relations are function[al]. What if one of you is one-to-many? It won’t be considered as function[al]. Are you ready for that setup?” She replied with this comment: “Don’t be bitter! Not all relations are the same. Not because there existed a one-to-many relation, all relations will be like that.” To which I replied: “Just saying a mathematical truth; that a relation can be disproved as function.” Yes, she had a point in her statement. In fact, I totally agreed with her. But no, I wasn’t bitter when it comes to relationships. I was just after the argument. I was testing her if she could present a counterargument. I’m going to compare romantic relationships with relations in math and see their relation. I’ve heard and witnessed stories of breakups due to third party. A relation will be a function if it is one-to-one, meaning it will be functional if you only have one partner. It will also be a function if it is many-to-one. Consider God as that “one” that you and your partner share as the center of your relationship. These are true for all relations. It’s hard to prove or disprove a theorem, a statement that has been proved on the basis of previously established statements and generally accepted statements. Formulating assumptions, finding counterexamples, showing the proof—what more in proving to other people that your relationship will be functional? That you will be faithful to each other? That your relation will be one-to-one and many-to-one? First, you have to assume and have faith that you will be loyal to each other; that your relation will work out no matter what. Second, find counterexamples that will disprove all doubts about your relationship. Last, prove to everyone that your relationship will last up to infinity. What better way to end this but with Q.E.D.*? *Q.E.D. or quod erat demonstrandum means “which was to be shown.” It is used at the end of a mathematical or logical proof. John Patrick F. Solano, 26, is a BS Applied Mathematics graduate at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines and currently a freshman of MS Mathematics at the Prince of Songkla University in Hat Yai, Thailand. The views Solano expressed in this column do not necessarily reflect those of the BusinessMirror’s.

BusinessMirror

A10 Saturday, December 30, 2017

THE Nokia 8 easily catches the attention of the enduser every time.

WHAT’S YOUR NOKIA MEMORY? ADMIT it, before all the fuss about touchscreens and sleek metal frames and glass back, the rave was all about the sturdiest body, intuitive interface, and interchangeable covers and keypads. Before the wide range of games on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store, Snake and Space Impact provided the much-needed fun and diversion. Before social media and other online platforms that linked netizens in realtime regardless of distance, there was already that strong connection—that bond with your first beloved mobile phone, your Nokia 5110, 3310, 6310, 1100, 3200...you name it. You and the rest of the world were part of the Nokia history. That’s why it is not surprising that hearing the brand’s name, Nokia, automatically evokes a memory, nostalgiav—va connection. Well, you’re not alone. Let’s hear what others have to say about their Nokia memory. ■ ALLANA, 22: “My very first phone was a Nokia 2100. It was a hand-me-down from my mom, who gave it to me when I was in third grade. It was small enough to fit my equally small hand and had a soft keypad. I remember dropping it a lot, but it never broke. “One of my favorite memories with this phone was picking out cases for it. The cases came in many colors, mostly pastel. I remember changing both the front and back covers a lot, and each time I got a new case it kind of felt like I got a new phone, too.” ■ JES, 22: “Both my parents had a Nokia 5110, twinning relationship goals circa 1990s. One time they didn’t allow us to play outside so my siblings and I played Snake on their phones. We were very competitive kids. The one who got the highest score and the longest snake received a little something from my parents. “We did that many times and it became our own family bonding in a way. The Nokia 5110 sort of helped bring us closer together. And the phone’s quality is very good: kahit ilang beses nabagsak ’yung phone, maayos pa rini.” ■ PAU, 26: “My crush would usually play games on his Nokia 3315, which back then had the coolest graphics. Though I already had a Nokia 3210, I asked my mom if we could trade it for a 3315. Luckily, she said yes. “Since then, my crush and I would always play Space Impact, Bantumi and Snake together. We shared so many fun moments with our 3315.” ■ LEN, 44: “I took my sweet time riding the mobile phone trend despite being a tech follower. I didn’t want to be always ‘accessible’. But that changed when I had my firstborn. I felt I needed a way to make sure I can check on my baby and that whoever was with him can reach me anytime. So I got my first mobile phone, a Nokia 8210. I liked that it was small and lightweight enough to fit in the pocket and be with me anywhere because that meant I could easily place a call to the house even when I was walking around covering a trade show or rushing to the next R&D facility or meeting while on a business trip. Its speed and voice dial capability was also a selling point for me. The interface was very intuitive and the form factor was small enough such that when my son was a year older he would grab the phone and put it in his ear to listen to me talk from the other side whenever I would check on him. “For me, getting a Nokia phone back then reflected my commitment to being there for my family. As a young new mom back then, my Nokia helped me juggle work and family life. I was happy with how my first Nokia phone served as a handy tool that when I upgraded some years later I stayed with the Nokia brand. I’ve kept both phones.”

THE LEGACY CONTINUES

APART from the classic ring tone, long battery life,and resilient frame and body, Nokia has always been more than just a mobile experience. It is about the moments shared and memories created, indeed a fulfilled promise of connecting people. With a stronger vision of leading innovation and craftsmanship in technology, HMD Global brings you a growing range of Android-powered smartphones — the Nokia 3, 5, 6 and its recently launched flagship model, the Nokia 8. Skip the reminiscing and start creating new precious moments with your favorite Nokia smartphone. Nokia mobile’s Android smartphones and the 3G-enabled classic, Nokia 3310 3G, are now officially available in the Philippines (goo.gl/FzqDWy).

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What have people been talking about? PRIMETIME

DINNA CHAN VASQUEZ @dinnachanvasquez luckydinna@gmail.com

ACEBOOK IQ is the insights and marketing division of the phenomenally popular social-media platform. It recently released its first Topics and Trends Report, covering topics of conversation that started in 2017 and will go mainstream next year. The report covered the areas of beauty and fashion, commerce, culture, entertainment, food and drink, mind and body and technology. Basically, Facebook IQ looks at what people have been talking about online and analyzes whether these topics will be major trends in the coming year. “Due to the size of the Facebook platform, we have a unique vantage point to see which conversations are growing at scale and taking hold, and which are simply a flash in the pan. Our findings are grounded in real data and real findings from Facebook’s 2 billion users,” Facebook IQ said in its report.

For Beauty, the report noted that talking about procedures one has had done is no longer as taboo as it was. In fact, people now talk about these procedures step by step online. The report cites cryolipolysis, a cooling treatment for the reduction of body fat. People have also been talking a lot about hair removal and tattooed or permanent makeup. For Fashion, the report noted that the conversation has grown around the topics of “androgyny, boyfriend fashion and unisex.” This is reflective of today’s gender fluidity and neutrality. The topic of Commerce noted the rise of cryptocurrency, a digital monetary system designed to make transactions more secure. “Formerly in the domain of the dark Web, digital currency made headlines in 2017—and now appears poised for the mainstream,” Facebook IQ said in the report. Here are other interesting points raised in the Facebook IQ report: ■ Millennials will make up one-half of the global work force by 2020. ■ According to a study conducted by Facebook IQ, 75 percent of female respondents said brands should stop portraying women as sex symbols. Meanwhile, 45 percent of the male respondents said they preferred to shop from brands that promote gender equality. Since January 2016 online conversation has grown across the terms “gender role” (2.34 times), “women’s empowerment” (1.05 times) and Wonder

Woman (2.18 times). ■ New specialty holidays, such as National Doughnut Day and World Naked Gardening Day gained popularity in 2017. “People are coming together to celebrate life’s simple pleasures,” Facebook IQ said. ■ Mobile technology has improved with better graphics and larger memory capacity, and more sophisticated games are being designed for mobile. “This is opening a space for a new kind of gamer: the midcore gamer,” it added. ■ People will pay up to 11 percent more for each layer of convenience added to the food purchase journey, according to a recent study. ■ When it comes to dining out, “the most important sense in the dining experience is the eyes, not the mouth.” Yes, people still took a lot of food pictures. ■ Since 2016 online conversation has grown around acupuncture; myotherapy, which includes trigger-point therapy; soft-tissue massage and body manipulation; and reiki, a Japanese technique for stress reduction, administered through palm or hands-on healing. ■ People’s fascination with artificial intelligence (AI) is growing. “Since 2016 conversation has grown around artificial intelligence, deep learning and computer programming. Attitudes toward AI are also evolving: While some may be wary of it, there is growing anticipation for what a future with artificial intelligence could look like,” the report said. ■

VIBER CELEBRATES TWO-YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF DELETED MESSAGES FEATURE VIBER, one of the world’s leading messaging apps, is celebrating the two-year anniversary of Deleted Messages, which officially launched in November 2015. As of today, Viber reveals that users have deleted a total of 5 billion messages thus far. The messaging platform understands that everyone has those moments when you hit send but realize you’ve sent the message or photo to the wrong person, or that you should have used a different word. For the past two years Viber has prided itself on being the app that forgives and forgets, so you never need to worry if you accidentally send your boss a “NSFW” photo. Viber’s Deleted Messages feature allows users in both one-on-one conversations and group messages to delete a message sent by accident immediately. The app’s unique functionality allows users to delete messages for up to two weeks, even if a message had previously been read. Viber keeps an in-chat trace to let users know on each side if a message was deleted. The company is planning to roll out advanced features in

the near future pertaining to this function. Since its inception, Viber’s innovative technology has created market standards for others. It launched its Chat Extension feature at the end of 2016, which now allows users to access a range of top tier content through services like YouTube, Spotify, Vice, Booking. com and Giphy from within the chat window to search, share and consume, eliminating the need for users to toggle between apps. “Here at Viber, we are proud that users are enjoying the innovative features of our app, like our Delete Messages functionality,” says Djamel Agaoua, Viber CEO. “We love hearing personal anecdotes from users how this feature saved their reputation. We are very flattered to see other apps are following Viber’s path, and are introducing their takeoffs to Viber’s innovations that have been available to our users for a while. I’m certain the exciting features we have launched this year, like our super popular chat extensions, will continue to create an industry benchmark in the future.”

VIBER’S Deleted Messages feature allows users in both one-on-one conversations and group messages to delete a message sent by accident immediately.

‘Pokémon Go’ unleashes its critters in Apple’s AR playground SAN FRANCISCO—“Pokémon Go” is moving into a different dimension on the iPhone, thanks to a software that allows the game to play new tricks with its menagerie of digital critters. An upcoming game update relies on built-in Apple software, called ARKit that gives the iPhone’s new ways to serve as a portal into augmented reality. Augmented reality (AR) is a technology that projects life-like images into real-world settings, such as parks and streetscapes. The new approach, announced recently, adds depth to the playing field and lets Pokémon monsters grow or shrink to fit their environment. The game’s creatures will

now flee when they detect sudden movement or if players approach too quickly. John Hanke, CEO of Pokémon Go creator Niantic, believes iPhones equipped with Apple’s AR software now offer the best way to play the game. That’s an ironic twist because Niantic spun out of Google, whose Android software powers most of the smartphones in the world. Hanke played a key role in building Google Maps, one of the most frequently used apps on Android phones. Apple’s AR technology works on iPhones dating back to the 2015

iPhone 6S, a line up that encompasses an estimated 200 million to 300 million devices, including iPads. Pokémon Go has offered an AR option since its release 17 months ago, but Apple’s technology is more advanced than what the game has been using. Apple is hoping app makers will find compelling ways to deploy its AR tools, helping to hook the masses on a technology that so far has been embraced by a sliver of smartphone users. If AR takes off, many analysts believe Apple will branch out in a few years and release a new line of devices designed specifically for AR. AP

BusinessMirror

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Saturday, December 30, 2017 A11

Have you met your best Mate yet? THE TECHNIVORE ED UY

whereiseduy@gmail.com

MARTPHONES have gotten definitely better in the past few years, and we’ve seen a bunch of particularly impressive devices this 2017—from the return of the once mighty Nokia and Motorola (now Moto); and Samsung, which is seeking some retribution; to Oppo, which has asserted its dominance in the midrange and selfie market (not to mention having the most searched phones on Google Philippines); and Vivo proving to be a notable challenger. Android users now have a lot of excellent choices. On the iOS end, Apple’s offerings this year might have received a lot of criticism for its incremental upgrades (and update issues) but there is no denying that the iPhone X remains the most desired phone of the holiday season. The benefits of having all these great phones available are obvious—there’s never been a better time to be in the market for new phones. Of course, that also means that making a decision on which device to get also becomes harder than ever. But I must say that the brand that’s really made an impact this year has to be Huawei. They’ve outdone themselves again with this year’s releases—from the entry level G3, GR5 2017, their midrange powerhouse Nova 2i (the Pinoys’ most-searched Android phone on Google), to their flagship P10/P10 Plus and, most recently, the Mate 10 and Mate 10 Pro. From having a flagship contender in the Mate 8, to becoming a flagship alternative in the Mate 9, the Huawei Mate 10 has now become the flagship of choice for a lot of Android users who truly know what they want. Combining an utterly gorgeous design, one of the best smartphone cameras and solid battery life, the Mate 10 is a fantastic phone—at a price tag that will make you smile from ear to ear. The Mate 10’s design language is consistent with its predecessor but with quite a lot of improvements that make it look and feel even more premium. The front features a FullView almost bezel-less display; the 8-megapixel (MP) f/2.0 front camera and the call speaker, and the fingerprint scanner, which can also double as the navigation bar. Like with the P10 plus and Mate 9, you can configure that fingerprint scanner to function as the navigation dock so you just need to tap to go back, hold to return to the home screen and swipe to switch between apps. The left side houses a hybrid SIM tray (two nanoSIMs with the second SIM doubling as a microSD card tray), while the right side has the volume and power/lock buttons. On top you can find the 3.5mm audio port on the Mate 10, and an IR blaster, which has become a rare but still welcome feature in many phones these days. At the bottom of the device, there’s the main microphone, loudspeaker grille and a USB Type-C charging and data port. Turn it over, and it looks even better. I must admit I wasn’t much of a fan of the band or stripe when I first saw the initial photos, but when you see the Mate 10 physically, it actually

looks really nice and that’s why I’m looking for a case that doesn’t cover it. I prefer the TPU case that comes with the phone now, unlike the one that came with the P10. Also at the back are the 12-MP + 20-MP dual Leica optic rear cameras and their accompanying Dual Tone LED flash. As far as looks go, let’s just say that if last year’s Mate 9 was a headturner, this year’s Mate 10 is a beauty queen and the stripe is its sash. Powering the Mate 10 is Huawei’s proprietary HiSilicon Kirin 970, which is composed of a quad ARM Cortex A53 1.8GHz and another quad ARM Cortex A73 running at a top speed of 2.36GHz. This is coupled with a Mali G72MP12 GPU and an i7 coprocessor. The Kirin 970 performs as promised, UI is buttery smooth and very responsive, apps and games load very fast and there is barely any noticeable slowdown during the past few weeks that I’ve been using it.

DISPLAY AND CAMERA THE Huawei Mate 10 has a 5.9-inch IPS LCD panel with a 2K resolution, or 2560x1440 pixels and a pixel density of 499ppi, so photos and videos look really sharp and crisp. The resolution is initially set to FHD (1920×1080 pixels) by default, so you have to go to the display settings to set it to QHD (2560×1440 pixels) manually. You can even lower it down to HD (720p) to help conserve battery life though I prefer to leave it on “Smart Resolution.” The Mate 10 retains the older 16:9 aspect ratio as compared to the 18:9 of the Mate 10 Pro. Its not much of a big deal because of its 81.6-percent screen-to-body ratio, which qualifies it as a FullView Display. As far as sound quality, the Mate 10 receives praise for producing top-notch audio quality that is quite loud and doesn’t distort even when you set it to maximum volume. Now, for my favorite feature of the Mate 10—the camera. Okay, the P10 Plus was already good, but the Mate 10 is even better. Using fourth-generation Leica optics, the dual camera setup features a 12-MP RGB sensor with a f/1.6 aperture and optical image stabilization, and a 20-MP monochrome sensor the same f/1.6 aperture and image stabilization. Both are Summilux-class lenses and if you are familiar with Leica, you know that its one of their best ones. The two cameras work together to produce one single, highquality image of the subject, while the f/1.6 aperture opening allows it to produce great photos even in low-light situations. I’ve seen several camera comparisons with the Note 8 and I also have an iPhone X, but I honestly prefer the photos of the Mate 10, especially when taking portraits or selfies. True story: Whenever I ask someone for a selfie (even celebrities), they all have the same question— “Wow! What camera are you using?” Videos are also much improved and the Mate 10 can record up to 4K at 30fps or Full HD in either 30fps or 60fps. You can also shoot FHD (16:9 120fps) slowmo videos and HD time-lapse. Selfie cameras may have reached double-digit megapixels, but the Mate 10’s 8-MP (f/2.0 aperture) easily beats them in the selfie battle. It even has a perfect selfie option that guarantees that you’d look good in every shot. One tip though: If you are taking a “wefie’ or “groufie,” its best to disable “artistic bokeh” so as not to blur other people’s faces. But what truly makes the Mate 10 camera stand out is how it incorporates Huawei’s Mobile AI in the native camera app that makes it truly an “intelligent machine.” With its AI Real Time Scene and Object

Recognition feature, the Mate 10 can instantly recognize the subject and automatically adjusts the settings to make your photos look even better. This is due to the Mate 10’s Kirin 970 CPU, which carries a dedicated neural processing unit to manage these AI-based tasks. The Mate 10 can recognize up to 13 scenes now, including portrait, landscape, low-light, flower/plant, sunset, snow, cat, dog and text. What the AI does is it determines and sets the right ISO, exposure compensation and white balance depending on your subject. Huawei says the AI-powered model will even evolve over time so that it recognizes more scenes and learns to identify more objects. In one presentation I saw, Huawei said it could soon show you how much calories a fruit or dish has just by pointing the camera at it. Another use of the AI is in translating different languages. All you have to do is take a photo of the text and the Mate 10 will translate it to your desired language. It also works for voice and you can even start a conversation with several people at the same time. Download your desired language pack and you won’t even need an Internet connection. Perfect if you are traveling abroad or are meeting people who speak a different language. The Mate 10 is one of the first to get the latest Android 8.0 Oreo out of the box—giving it an advantage over most other flagships this year. Huawei’s latest EMUI 8.0 likewise debuts on the Mate 10 and I actually prefer it over stock Android. Unlike other overlays, EMUI remains almost bloatware-free except for a few native apps like Compass, Huawei Health, HiCare (after-sales support), Smart Controller (that turns your Mate 10 into a remote control) and a Phone Clone app that can help when transferring your personal information and files from an old phone. As I mentioned earlier, the Mate 10 uses a hybrid dual nanoSIM setup with the second SIM able to support a microSD card, as well. Both SIM slots are 4G LTE capable. Call quality on a Huawei phone has always been excellent and the Mate 10 further utilizes an AI-advanced ambient noise cancellation, plus two primary mics to pick up better audio along with a third mic up top for noise-canceling, resulting in better audio quality during voice recordings. As for SMS, one of my favorite features of a Huawei phone is “Cancel Send,” this allows you to double touch the message bubble within a few seconds to cancel sending. So unless you are really, really careless, at least you can stop the message from being sent to the wrong recipient. Lastly, the Mate series has always been known for its battery life and the Mate 10 has a huge, 4,000 mAh Li-Ion battery with SuperCharge capability. It can easily last you an entire day on heavy usage and because of SuperCharge, it only takes an hour and a half to fully charge it again. Final word: When Samsung fumbled with the Note 7, it left a phablet-sized hole. Unfortunately, the Mate 9 wasn’t quite the replacement everybody was looking for. This year it’s the turn of the Huawei Mate 10 to challenge the Note 8, and it’s a totally different game. The Mate 10 is more than a capable flagship device that packs just about everything you are looking for. With one of the best cameras in the market, muchimproved screen, long-lasting battery, a sleek elegant look, and a price tag that is almost P10k less than the Note 8, you really can’t go wrong with the Mate 10. And if you are looking for dust- and water-resistant protection, there’s always the Mate 10 Pro (which also has a higher RAM and bigger storage). ■

RESORTS WORLD MANILA SUPPORTS THE MMFF WITH UPGRADED MOBILE APP AS its own way of supporting Philippine cinema and furthering its commitment to champion Filipino artistry, the country’s premier entertainment and tourism destination Resorts World Manila (RWM, www.rwmanila. com) upgraded its RWM Mobile App to give movie fans a more convenient way to book seats at the Newport Cinemas for the duration of the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF). Annually, the MMFF features the finest Pinoy blockbuster films from various production outfits, sending movie fans all over the country to brave long queues to secure movie tickets. With the new RWM Mobile App update, moviegoers can simply look up movie schedules and make reservations straight from the app. “We want every RWM Mobile App user to experience the excitement that only RWM can offer,” according to RWM Director for Digital Channels Jay Padua. “For the MMFF season, we upgraded the app so that users can have ease of use and get the desired result of a hassle-free booking to the movies,” he added. The RWM Mobile App also lets users check out the latest RWM promos, performances, events, retail directory, dining specials, RWM shuttle bus schedules and pick-up points, navigate through Wayfinder and access the 24/7 live-chat services for real-time customer service. The RWM Mobile App also has a live-event notification option to let guests in on the big events lined up for RWM’s Grand Fiesta Manila: Fantasy Funfair celebrations, as they happen. RWM members may also link their IDs to the app and access their respective membership dashboards to receive exclusive notifications, coupons and promos. Nonmembers may also sign up for free via the app. The RWM Mobile App is for free at Google Play and Apple App Store.

‘Pokémon Go’ unleashes its critters in Apple’s AR playground A10 Editor: Gerard S. Ramos • lifestylebusinessmirror@gmail.com

BusinessMirror

Saturday, December 30, 2017 A12

Monkey selfies, eclipse, Bitcoin, Lauer top Google in 2017

AN FRANCISCO—Matt Lauer. Bitcoin. Daca (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals). Monkey selfies. Jeremy Lin’s hair. Do-it-yourself eclipse glasses. Tom Petty’s death. National anthem protests in the National Football League. And “Cash Me Outside.” These were some of the people, topics and memes that trended to the top of Google searches in 2017. The search terms reflected the United States in upheaval over sexual misconduct allegations against powerful men, reeling from the tumultuous presidency of Donald J. Trump (What is “covfefe,” by the way?) and people around the world searching for information about the latest iPhone and how to make slime. Three of the top 10 TV shows in the US debuted on Netflix, the same as last year. April the Giraffe made news by giving birth live on YouTube. And the world grooved to Luis Fonsi singing “Despacito.” Here are some of the terms Google says had the highest sustained spike in traffic compared to 2016, filtered for spam, repeat queries and adult keywords. The full list is here:

UNITED STATES SEARCHES 1. Hurricane Irma 2. Matt Lauer 3. Tom Petty 4. Super Bowl 5. Las Vegas Shooting 6. Mayweather vs McGregor Fight 7. Solar Eclipse 8. Hurricane Harvey 9. Aaron Hernandez 10. Fidget Spinner PEOPLE 1. Matt Lauer 2. Meghan Markle 3. Harvey Weinstein 4. Michael Flynn 5. Kevin Spacey 6. Bill O’Reilly 7. Melania Trump 8. Kathy Griffin 9. Milo Yiannopoulos 10. Gal Gadot LOSSES 1. Tom Petty 2. Aaron Hernandez 3. Chris Cornell 4. Bill Paxton 5. Hugh Hefner 6. Chester Bennington 7. Charlie Murphy 8. Lil Peep 9. Jim Nabors 10. David Cassidy HOW TO 1. How to make slime 2. How to make solar eclipse glasses 3. How to watch the solar eclipse 4. How to watch Mayweather vs McGregor 5. How to buy Bitcoin 6. How to freeze your credit 7. How to solve a Rubix Cube 8. How to make a fidget spinner 9. How to cook a turkey in the oven 10. How to screen record WHAT IS 1. What is Daca? 2. What is Bitcoin? 3. What is a solar eclipse? 4. What is antifa?

5. What is net neutrality? 6. What is covfefe? 7. What is the antikythera mechanism? 8. What is a fidget spinner? 9. What is the Paris Climate Agreement? 10. What is a hurricane?

GLOBAL LISTS SEARCHES 1. Hurricane Irma 2. iPhone 8 3. iPhone X 4. Matt Lauer 5. Meghan Markle 6. 13 Reasons Why 7. Tom Petty 8. Fidget Spinner 9. Chester Bennington 10. India National Cricket Team SONGS/LYRICS 1. “Despacito” 2. “Shape of You” 3. “Perfect” 4. “Havana” 5. “Look What You Made Me Do” 6. “Humble” 7. “Versace on the Floor” 8. “Closer” 9. “Bad and Boujee” 10. “Rockstar” MEMES 1. Cash Me Outside 2. United Airlines 3. Elf on the Shelf 4. What in Tarnation 5. Spongebob Mocking 6. Romper 7. IT 8. Joe Biden 9. Game of Thrones 10. Hot dog ELECTIONS 1. French election 2. German federal election 3. United Kingdom election 4. Uttar Pradesh election 5. Georgia special election 6. Montana special election 7. British Columbia election 8. BMC election 9. Sicilian regional election 10. Dutch election AP