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Miss Universe coronation in Manila

‘Best show for the best fans in the world’

Miss Universe 2015 Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach (center) bids farewell after ending her reign as the country’s third Miss Universe winner at the grand coronation for the new Miss Universe on January 30 at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City. AP/Bullit Marquez

Tourism boost

By C. Mendez Legaspi

Special to the BusinessMirror

n what has turned to be the “best show” in recent Miss Universe history enjoyed by “the best fans in the world”, the 65th Miss Universe pageant in Manila is considered a rousing success.

Iris Mittenaere, 24, a dental-surgery student from France, succeeds our own Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach, as she emerged victorious after a fast-

paced, frantic presentation hosted by returning comedian Steve Harvey, with performances from rapper Flo Rida and R&B group Boyz II Men.

Miss Universe contestant Carolyn Carter of the US Virgin Islands parades in costume during the preliminary competition of the Miss Universe beauty pageant at the Mall of Asia Arena on January 26 in Pasay City. AP/Bullit Marquez

There were several events leading up to “The Most Beautiful Day in the Universe” held at the Mall of Asia (MOA) Arena in Pasay City on January 30. Fans from near and far followed every movement of the delegates from 86 countries. “What you saw during your brief stay—some of our top destinations, festivals, our balut, Bohol’s Chocolate Hills—these are just a glimpse of what our 7,107 islands can offer. So, I invite the world, come to the Philippines, so you can affirm that when you are with Filipinos, you are with family,” Tourism Secretary Wanda Corazon T. Teo said. The captivating women visited Vigan, Cebu, Davao, Baguio and Batangas, and made quick tours at

TEO: “What you saw during your brief stay—some of our top destinations, festivals, our balut, Bohol’s Chocolate Hills—these are just a glimpse of what our 7,107 islands can offer. So, I invite the world, come to the Philippines, so you can affirm that when you are with Filipinos, you are with family.”

Manila’s Chinatown and Intramuros. With the support of President Duterte, the Department of Tourism tapped the resources of other government agencies, along with the Miss Universe Organization (MUO) and the private sector. The Continued on A2

Humans of Kashmir

By Saadia Altaf | Counselor, Pakistan Embassy

eventy years ago, Jammu and Kashmir was a princely state, which was asked by the then-outgoing British rulers of the Indian subcontinent to affiliate with either of the newly created Pakistan or India according to the wishes of the people of the state.

Most people of Jammu and Kashmir were Muslims. They wanted to join Pakistan. Its ruling prince was a Hindu. He decided to join In-

dia. The ruler’s decision was against the wishes of his people. The result was a public uprising in the state. Indian Army entered the state

PESO exchange rates n US 49.7830

to snub popular will. Neighboring tribesmen from Pakistan rushed to help their innocent Kashmiri brethren against coercion of Indian forces. A war ensued, and the Kashmiris were able to liberate a part of their state from the Indian clutches. Fearing loss of the entire state of Jammu and Kashmir to its rightful owners—i.e., the people of Kashmir, India took the matter to the United Nations. The UN resolved that the question of accession of Jammu and Kashmir to India or Pakistan would be decided by the Kashmiri people through a plebiscite to be conducted “as soon as possible” under the auspices of the UN. It was in 1948-1949 when the people of Kashmir were promised so. Continued on A2

n japan 0.4416 n UK 62.4229 n HK 6.4157 n CHINA 7.2352 n singapore 35.2921 n australia 38.1288 n EU 53.5914 n SAUDI arabia 13.2787

Source: BSP (3 February 2017 )

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A2 Saturday, February 4, 2017

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‘Best show for the best fans in the world’

Miss Universe contestant Htet Htet Htun of Myanmar.

Continued from A1 prime mover of the event was the LCS Group, headed by former Ilocos Sur Gov. Chavit C. Singson and Architect Richelle Singson-Michael, in partnership with Okada Manila, SM Group of Cos. and Solar Entertainment Corp., its broadcast partner.

Retail triumphs

Miss France isn’t the only winner after the 65th Miss Universe edition. Fans didn’t just come to watch the pageant, they also got to do the whole tourist experience. One of which is the malling culture, an activity unique to our country. “We are honored that the pageant and prepageant events were held at the MOA [Mall of Asia] Complex—SMX, the Conrad Hotel and the Arena. Just as the pageant itself was a wonderful way of promoting tourism in the Philippines, it also created a lot of awareness about the MOA Complex,” said Millie F. Dizon, SVP for Marketing Communications Group-Publicity of SM. “Having the coronation night at the Arena was a great opportunity for it to be known globally. As for the retail side, the contestants had opportunities for retail therapy with a visit to SM Makati, as well as the Mall of Asia, as they were billeted at the Conrad. During a visit to Pico de Loro in Batangas, they were also given resort items from Kultura [a store specializing in Filipino-made products]. We are

AP/Bullit Marquez

Miss Universe contestant Kezia Warouw of Indonesia. AP/Bullit Marquez

name and creation will always be a promotion to my label,” the Las Piñas-based designer enthused.

happy to be part of the staging of the event,” Dizon added. “There were a lot of foreigners around MOA during the event. They bought usually souvenir items and dined in the restaurants. Pageants are big in the Philippines, and there are a lot of fans representing a broad market base,” Dizon said. “The Miss Universe contest was not only good for SM but also for the Philippines, and we feel honored to be part of it.”

Clever moves

Sixty-eight years have passed and the assured plebiscite is yet to be held in Indian-occupied Kashmir (IoK). India has been hindering its holding on one pretext or the other. The Jammu and Kashmir dispute is still unresolved, making a heart-

neral prayers of Burhan Wani in 50 different locations throughout IoK despite strict curfew clamped in the Valley. That was a vivid proof of nonsuppressibility and indigenousness of the Kashmiris’ ongoing struggle for freedom. Still, the Indian government responded to the protesters’ legitimate demand of implementation of UN Security Council resolutions by unleashing an unprecedented reign of terror. In gross contravention of all norms of international law and international humanitarian laws, the Indian occupation forces willfully used live ammunition and pellet guns to quell peaceful protests by unarmed civilians, resulting in the death of many, and causing lifelong and debilitating injuries to thousands of others. Not to speak of protesters, the Indian troops killed and maimed even nonprotester Kashmiris in a bid to wage collective punishment to break the resolve of the valiant people of IoK from their rightful demand of selfdetermination. Only during the period July to November 2016, the estimated number of Kashmiris martyred by use of pellet guns was 120; number of injured—20,000; number of eye injuries—1,000; and the number of people permanently blinded—at least 160. The scale of Indian brutality this time was so high that even Indian civil society and the international community could not remain indifferent. The Doctors Association of Kashmir verified that occupying forces deliberately and consistently shot above waist

height and targeted eyes in order to inflict maximum damage. The Washington Post wrote in its July 12, 2016, edition: “Indian Kashmir suffers worst violence in years”. The New York Times wrote the same day: “2016 will almost certainly be remembered as the year of dead eyes.” On August 4, 2016, Amnesty International India called on the Indian government to immediately stop the use of pellet guns in policing protests. Human Rights Watch demanded the Indian government to publicly order the security forces to abide by the UN Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials. In the months of October and December 2016, a group of eminent Indians, including Yashwant Sinha (senior BJP leader and former minister of foreign affairs), visited IoK to compile a report on the recent surge of resistance. The visit was facilitated by Rajmohan Gandhi’s Centre for Dialogue and Reconciliation. One of the findings of their report is that young Kashmiri population have lost their fear of Indian forces. History teaches us that the people cannot be bonded in statehood through force or fear. To be on the right side of history, India ought to recognize that Kashmir is a political problem and it should be resolved politically. And the most amicable way is to hold a plebiscite according to Security Council Resolution 47. Despite the cries of justice from Human Rights Organization all over the globe, the Indian occupation forces are continuing to date their crimes against humanity

Miss Universe contestant Jenny Kim of South Korea. AP Photo/Bullit Marquez

the MOA area, the PICC [Philippine International Convention Center] and the World Trade Center.” Miss Universe 2005 Natalie Glebova was booked by the DOT. Miss Universe 2011 Third Runner-Up Shamcey Supsup also stayed there. “Once we knew they were with the Miss Universe, VIPs courtesies were extended, showing our renowned Pinoy hospitality,” Ibaretta bared.

Dress for success

One ancillary event that the Filipino talent was on full display was the Designers’ Showcase presentation on National Gift Auction Night at the Conrad Hotel on January 23. Fashion designers from across the country were tasked to create outfits for each candidate by using the colors of the Philippine flag as guide.

Humans of Kashmir Continued from A1

Designers were matched to a candidate using an alphabetical system: A designer’s first name will be assigned to a candidate’s country. As luck would have it, Henry Mangahas of HRM Moda got Miss France. “I was absolutely excited to dress up Miss France because, obviously, she is the perfect mannequin for a dress fit for a queen. From the moment she entered the Top 13, I already had a feeling she would take a place in the Top 3. As she was my muse, I was naturally rooting for her to win, and she deservedly did with poise and grace,” Mangahas said. “It was a great privilege and honor to be part of Miss France’s journey to the crown. It will definitely give my business some boost, and the picture of her wearing my

PLDT Home Fibr was the official broadband partner of the pageant. It provided world-class Internet fit for such a world-class event. Smart was the official mobile counterpart. Its sister company, TV5, signed with official local broadcast partner, Solar, for exclusive airing of the long gown and swimsuit competitions and for block-time airing of the coronation night. “This major partnership was an opportunity for us to demonstrate and reinforce the unparalleled dominance of the PLDT Group, with our most extensive and robust fixed-line and wireless networks in the country,” said Gary Dujali, concurrent marketing head of consumer broadband at Smart Communications Inc., vice president at PLDT and vice president at PLDT Home. “More important, it was an opportunity for us to provide our subscribers with the best viewing experience of Miss Universe 2016— whether it was through their TV screens, across multiple screens and on-the-go. Aside from the major events of the pageant, we also gave them exclusive behind-the-scenes access to our queens’ journey to the coronation night, especially those of our PLDT Home brand ambassadors Miss Universe 2015 Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach and Miss Uni-

Golden opportunities

The candidates and their handlers stayed at the Conrad Hotel, while the MUO staff were at the Okada Manila. Some of the wealthier fans opted for Solaire Resort and Casino and City of Dreams. Because of its proximity to the pageant venue, the more affordable Golden Phoenix Hotel grabbed the opportunity to host more fans and beauty queens. “We anticipated the bookings on the coronation day, as we knew that our hotel was the first to appear when you search ‘hotels near MOA Arena’. We had bookings from Venezuela, Bulgaria, Norway, Thailand, Guam, Canada and other countries. They booked online, some through our web site, and the rest used online travel agents,” shared Christine Ibaretta, director of sales and marketing of Golden Phoenix. “E-commerce really helped in bringing the business to us, not just this time but for other important events near

rending story of human tragedy and a litany of broken promises in the annals of history. The liberated part of Kashmir, called “Azad Kashmir”, affiliated itself with Pakistan and is run by its own Parliament, while the IoK, terrorized by 700,000 armed Indian troops, is one of the most heavily

Miss Universe contestant Ida Ovmar of Sweden. AP Photo/Bullit Marquez

militarized zones in the world with a ratio of 1 soldier for 17 civilians. The Indian troops are grossly violating all human rights to suppress Kashmiri people. The “sin” of poor Kashmiris is only that they continue to ask for their inalienable right of self-determination, which is their basic human right encoded in international law, and was once promised to them by India and the UN, too! The Kashmiris’ struggle for freedom took a daunting surge in 1989, when Indian forces resorted to systematic violations of human rights, including unbridled use of force against civilians, extrajudicial, arbitrary and summary executions, enforced disappearances, illegal detentions, gang rapes, collective punishment and indiscriminate killings. According to estimates of various human-rights organizations, 94,000 innocent Kashmiris have been martyred; 7,000 Kashmiris have died in custody; 10,000 women have been raped/gang raped; 6,000 mass graves have been discovered; and 10,000 Kashmiris disappeared in IoK from 1989 to 2015. The irony of the Indian occupation of Kashmir is that the more atrocities Indian forces perpetrate to suppress the liberation movement, the stronger becomes the Kashmiris’ determination for freedom. In July 2016 the liberation movement in IoK took a second surge, more daunting and sonorous, triggered by the extrajudicial killing of the popular Kashmiri freedom fighter, Burhan Wani. Over 200,000 Kashmiris participated in the fu-

verse Philippines Maxine Medina.” Pageant superfans, who follow their idols religiously in person and more so online, were ecstatic when Smart/PLDT brought in beauty queens to deliver juicy tidbits from behind the scenes. “Everybody saw the heartwarming friendship and bond that developed between Miss USA 2015 Olivia Jordan and Pia, and we thought that it would be great if they reunited on the same competition that brought them together as friends. And while we were at it, we thought: What’s better than one Miss USA? Two Miss USAs, of course! We also wanted to show everyone that, despite Miss Universe being a competition, it is still a platform for promoting global cultural exchange, strengthening ties with our international friends and cultivating friendships,” Dujali said. “We flew in Nia and Olivia, and we showed them what Filipino hospitality truly meant. They experienced the warmth and friendship of Filipinos. As PLDT Home’s exclusive insiders, they gave our subscribers backstage access into the ancillary events before the coronation night,” Dujali added. “They got to interview the ladies, and spend quality time with Pia before her reign ended. As beauty queens themselves, they gave us a unique perspective on what it’s like to be part of such an intense competition and a world-class event.”

in Kashmir with complete impunity. They are basking in the Nehruvian imagination that “Kashmir is an integral part of India”. But this state of denial will not last longer. In this era of information revolution and social media, India cannot hide the skeletons of Kashmir in its cupboard and beguile the world any more by blaming Pakistan for fomenting trouble in Kashmir. Pakistan supports the Kashmir cause, as Kashmiris in IoK are bleeding for their love for Pakistan. Every year, they wave Pakistani flags on August 14 to show their resolve for freedom, while they observe August 15 (India’s Independence Day) as Black Day. Who can deny that love emanates from within and not imposed from the outside? The Kashmiris’ desire of affiliation with Pakistan is inherent, inborn and not infused. Pakistan reciprocates the Kashmiris’ sentiments through moral, diplomatic and political support to their movement for freedom. India must come forward and validate her socalled world’s largest democratic and nonviolent credentials by allowing the people of Jammu and Kashmir to exercise their right of political self-determination. The other world capitals, too, should unequivocally condemn the human-rights violations in the IoK and loudly support the Kashmiris’ inalienable right of self-determination. This is the least the international community owes to the humans of Kashmir. The views/opinion of the writer do not necessarily reflect the opinion/views of the BusinessMirror.

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Saturday, February 4 2017

‘US-China war over reefs unlikely’

ears that US President Donald J. Trump will start a war with China over disputed territory in the South China Sea are overblown, according to Defense Secretary Delfin N. Lorenzana. “I don’t think it will happen,” Lorenzana, 68, who spent more than a decade as defense attaché and war veteran’s representative in Washington, said in an interview at his Camp Aguinaldo headquarters in Manila on Thursday. “Trump is a businessman and he knows that if war breaks out, businesses will suffer.” Newly confirmed US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson drew a sharp rebuke from Beijing last month when he said the US would seek to prevent China from accessing facilities it built on artificial reefs in the South China Sea. Lorenzana questioned whether

that was even possible, saying: “How can you prevent something that’s already there?” The Philippines has shifted toward China and Russia under President Duterte, undermining a security alliance with the US that has endured since World War II. Both nations have pledged to support the Philippines, as it embarks on a push to modernize its military to catch up with its neighbors over the next decade. The Philippines and China are among six claimants to disputed territory in the South China Sea, a key trade route that also contains oil and gas reserves. After

years of pushing back aggressively against China’s claims—including a victory before an international tribunal last year—Duterte has adopted a softer approach toward China, which has a much stronger military.

‘Small islands’

“I’m not going to wage war over those small islands,” Lorenzana said. “Even if we have the military might, we will also think twice before we engage in a shooting war,” he added. Lorenzana will ask Congress for a defense spending increase of up to 2.5 percent of GDP, from the current 1.5 percent, which is around half what most of the country’s neighbors currently spend. The upgrade will help meet challenges arising from China’s growing presence in the South China Sea, Islamic State and Duterte’s war on drugs, he said. While pledging to stay neutral if tensions between the US and China continued to escalate in

the South China Sea, Lorenzana decried a recent incursion by a Chinese survey ship off the coast of Surigao in the southern Philippines earlier this year.

China criticism

“What is a survey ship doing there, staying in one place for days?” the defense secretary said. “That is not an innocent passage,” he added, recalling that he urged Foreign Secretary Perfecto R. Yasay Jr. to lodge a formal protest. Yasay did not reply to a request for comment on the incident. Lorenzana said it’s important for the Philippines to speak up against Chinese incursions in

its waters after an international tribunal ruled last year that China’s claims to more than 80 percent of the South China Sea had no legal basis. The case was brought by the Philippines. “ We a re not a b a nd o n i n g our claim in South China Sea,” Lorenzana said. “We have two hard documents favoring us. They have nothing except their imagination.” Stil l, there is a foundation for g re at e r co o p e r at ion b e t ween the countr ies. A fter an October v isit to Beijing dur ing which he secured a g rant of $14 mil lion and a loan of $500 mil lion for defense purchases,

We are not abandoning our claim in South China Sea. We have two hard documents favoring us. They have nothing except their imagination.” —Lorenzana

Duter te w il l ask China for fast boats, d rones, night gog gles and close quar ter weapons. Like Duterte, Lorenzana supports joint mineral exploration with China in the disputed waters of the South China Sea, and he signaled that his plans to visit a Philippine outpost in the waters within the first half of this year shouldn’t be misinterpreted. A likely visit by Duterte to Moscow in the next few months could also open the door to defense purchases from Russia, Lorenzana said. Duterte’s shopping list includes attack helicopters and the possible acquisition of a Russianmade Kilo class submarine. On Wednesday the US Embassy in Manila announced that it had delivered new military equipment to the Philippines, including 400 grenade launchers, 85 sniper rifles and an RQ-11B Raven unmanned aerial vehicle system consisting of three drones for exclusive use and ownership of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Bloomberg News

Governor: No sign of massive casualties in Cavite factory fire A

fire at a major factory complex that injured at least 126 workers and sent thousands fleeing to safety may finally be put out on Friday, more than 40 hours after it began, with six employees unaccounted for, an official said. Gov. Jesus Crispin Remulla

said there was no indication of a considerable number of people being trapped in the factory of the House Technolog y Industries, which occupies 6 hectares (15 acres) of land in General Trias town in Cavite province, south of Manila. The fire started on Wednesday

night and has nearly been extinguished, he said. “If there are many missing, you’ l l have many families out in the door,” he told T he A ssociated Press, adding a head c ou nt b y c o mp a ny of f i c i a l s showed si x workers remained unaccounted for.

At least 126 were injured, including two Japanese supervisors, he said. Firefighters and police investigators were waiting outside the gutted three-story building for the last embers to die and would start an inspection once it’s safe for them to enter, he said.

The fire apparently started when a machine malfunctioned and triggered small explosions in a section with combustible materials, as two shifts of workers of about 3,500 each were coming in and going out, he said.

126 The estimated number of workers injured in the fire

Massive amounts of blac k smoke billowed in the night sky, as red f lames raged late Wednesday through the factory, which employs about 15,000 workers

Fire continues to raze the House Technology Industries factory on Thursday in General Trias, Cavite. AP

China tightens monetary policy by raising money-market rates

hina’s central bank raised the interest rates it charges in open-market operations in another step to tighten monetary policy, as it shifts to reining in asset prices and inflation after past stimulus stabilized growth. The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) raised the costs of seven-, 14- and 28-day reverse repurchase agreements by 10 basis points each to 2.35 percent, 2.5 percent and 2.65 percent, respectively, according to a statement posted on its web site. This is the first increase since 2013 for the two shorter tenors, and the first such move since 2015 for the 28-day contracts. The central bank has been tightening cash supply since August to curb leverage in the financial system, rein in price gains and support the exchange rate. The move

on Friday comes just as cash demand is expected to ease after the weeklong Lunar New Year holidays and follows an increase in rates on the PBOC’s medium-term loans last week, which had sent swaps and bond yields jumping. “A rate hike on the first working day after the New Year holiday signals a new attitude,” said Raymond Yeung, chief greater China economist at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. in Hong Kong. “The PBOC never makes it clear, but the seven-day reverse repo rate is the unofficial policy rate, a significant benchmark for interbank rates.” One-year interest-rate swaps climbed 12 basis points to 3.43 percent, the highest since December 28, while the seven-day repurchase rate pared declines to

20 basis points to trade at 2.44 percent, according to a weighted average. Ten-year government bonds were little changed, while Shanghai shares extended losses to 0.5 percent. In a Bloomberg News survey conducted in late December, onethird of the 24 respondents predicted the PBOC would increase reverse repo rates, while the rest expected no change.

Policy shift

The move underscores the leadership’s determination to push up funding costs of short-term tenors to rein in leverage and switch to the combination of less monetary stimulus and more fiscal support, after earlier easing fueled bubbles in bonds and the property market. Policy-makers

have increased fiscal stimulus as tepid global demand and slowing private investment weigh on the world’s biggest trading nation. The PBOC’s easing cycle since late 2014 included a series of cuts that pushed the main interest rate to a record low. That’s been accompanied by a buildup in borrowing that’s increased debt to 264 percent of GDP, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. “It is not a typical tightening,” said Zhou Hao, an economist at Commerzbank AG in Singapore. “Compared with the last tightening in 2010, when CPI [consumer price index] was rising rapidly, this t y pe of tightening is to target bubbles from housing to commodities. This is important, given the yuan is under pressure to depreciate.” Bloomberg News

and is the largest in Cavite province, he said. The factory, which manufactured prefabricated house parts for export to Japan, is in a special economic zone in General Trias, about 26 kilometers (16 miles) south of Manila. In 2015 a fire that rapidly spread in a rubber-slipper factory in a northern Manila suburb killed 72 people, prompting thenPresident Benigno S. Aquino III to order a thorough inspection of some 300,000 factories in metropolitan Manila alone. He ordered charges to be filed against the owners of Kentex Manufacturing Corp. and local officials who, he said, ignored the factory’s failure to meet safety requirements. The Kentex fire was one of the worst in the country after a 1996 disco blaze that killed 162 people in Manila. AP

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Saturday, February 4, 2017

Apple set to begin making iPhones in India by April’s end

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pple Inc. will begin assembling iPhones in India by the end of April, a regional minister says, heightening its focus on the world’s fastest-growing major smartphone market as growth slows elsewhere. The US company has tapped Taiwan’s Wistron Corp. to put together its phones in the tech capital of Bangalore in Karnataka, said Priyank Kharge, the state’s information technology minister. Apple executives met with him in January and confirmed the timeline, he said in an interview. The start of iPhone assembly in India comes after months of speculation on Apple’s plan for the market, which is led by rival Samsung Electronics Co. It signals a renewed focus on the country, where it just scrapes into the top 10, as growth begins to slow in China and other more mature markets. The Cupertino, California-based company is said to have put forward a long list of demands—including a 15-year tax holiday to import components and equipment— in negotiations with India’s federal government. “Apple’s iPhones will be made in Bangalore and all devices will be targeted at the domestic market,” said Kharge, infomation-technology minister for Karnataka, of which Bangalore is the capital. Kharge said the state will help Apple if it decides to turn to other contract manufacturers in the region. “We did not discuss any other incentives,” he said. Apple didn’t immediately respond to an e-mailed request for comment. Apple CEO Tim Cook said in an earnings call this week that India is “the place to be”. The company shipped 2.5 million iPhones into the country in 2016. While that is its best year ever in terms of revenues and sales, it only ranked 10th among vendors in the December quarter according Counterpoint Research. Apple accounts for less than 2 percent of shipments in India, where an estimated 750 million smartphones will be sold by 2020. Bloomberg News

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Study in chaos: Management experts grade Trump’s start

By James B. Stewart | New York Times News Service

or someone who promoted his management skills and campaigned as an “organizational genius”, as Anderson Cooper of CNN put it, it has been a rocky White House debut for Donald J. Trump, the first president to go directly from the executive suite to the Oval Office.

“Chaos” seems to be the word most often invoked, closely followed by “turmoil”. (One exception: White House Spokesman Sean Spicer, who said he preferred “action-packed”.) In less than two weeks, Trump created upheaval at the nation’s borders, alienated longtime allies, roiled markets with talk of a trade war and prompted some of the largest protests any president has faced. The conservative editorial page of The Wall Street Jour nal bemoa ned a ref ugee policy “so poorly explained and prepared for, that it has produced confusion and fear at airports, an immediate legal defeat, and political fury at home and abroad.” Even the top House Republican, Speaker Paul Ryan, who had released a statement praising the immigration order, later distanced himself, saying, “It’s regrettable that there was some confusion with the rollout.” All new presidents undergo a lear ning cur ve. But Tr ump promised a seamless transition and, with a real chief executive in charge as opposed to a career politician, an administration that would function as a welloiled machine. So it doesn’t seem premature to ask some leading management experts for an assessment of Trump’s first weeks, purely from the viewpoint of

orga n i z at ion a l beh av ior a nd management effectiveness, as I did this week. The unanimous verdict: Thus far, the Trump administration is a textbook case of how not to run a complex organization like the executive branch. “This is so basic, it’s covered in the introduction to the MBA program that all our students take,” said Lindred Greer, an assistant professor of organizational behavior at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. By all outward indications, Trump “desperately needs to take the course,” she said. Jeffrey Pfeffer, professor of organizational behavior at Stanford and author of Power: Why Some People Have It—and Others Don’t, said Trump’s executive actions as president “are so far from any responsible management approach” that they all but defy analysis. “Of course, this isn’t new,” he told me. “His campaign also violated every prudent management principle. Everyone, including our friends on Wall Street, somehow believed that once he was president he’d change. I don’t understand that logic.” Wall Street did take notice. After months of cheering the prospect of tax reform and infrastructure spending, investors sold stocks after a weekend of chaos at the nation’s airports connected to

President Donald J. Trump arrives back at the White House in Washington after addressing congressional Republicans at a retreat in Philadelphia on January 26. Assessing him purely from a viewpoint of organizational behavior, multiple management consultants described Trump’s first two weeks in office as a textbook example of how to not run a complex organization. The New York Times

the president’s executive order on immigration. On Monday the Dow industrials experienced the biggest one-day decline since the election, fueled by worries that a dysfunctional White House wouldn’t be able to execute Trump’s policies. “If you thought immigration was bad, just wait for health care,” Pfeffer warned. The White House did not respond to requests for comment. There is an enormous amount of literature and data exploring what constitutes effective m a n a gement of compl ic ated organizations. “ The core principles have served many leaders really well,” said Jeffrey T. Polzer, professor of human resource management at Harvard Business School. “It’s really common sense: You want to surround yourself with talented people who have the most expertise, who bring different perspectives to the issue at hand. Then you foster debate and invite different points of view in order to

reach a high-quality solution.” This is often easier said than done. It “requires an openness to being challenged, and some self-awareness and even humility to acknowledge that there are areas where other people know more than you do,” Polzer continued. “ This doesn’t mean decisions are made by consensus. The person at the top makes the decisions, but based on the facts and expertise necessary to make a good decision.” Trump has violated several of these core principles. Secretary of Homeland Security John F. Kelly was still discussing a proposed executive order restricting immigration when Trump went ahead and signed it. Nor was Defense Secretary Jim Mattis consulted; he saw the final order only hours before it went into effect. Not to consu lt thoroughly with top Cabinet officers before deciding on the order “ is insane”, since they “ have the expertise and should be on top of the data,” Greer said. “Ignoring them leads to bad decisions and is also incredibly demoralizing.” And there’s another reason to consult, Polzer said: “W hen people are genuinely involved in a decision and their input is heard and valued and respected, they are more likely to support and buy into the decision and be motivated to execute to the best of their abilities, even if the decision doesn’t go their way.” Conversely, people who aren’t consulted feel they have no stake in a successful outcome. Far f rom encourag ing and weighing differing views as part of the decision-making process, Trump appears to view dissension as disloyalty. After career State Department officers circulated a draft cable questioning the effectiveness of the immigration ban, Spicer responded, “They should either get with the program or they can go.” “Debate and dissent are essential to reaching any thoughtful outcome,” Greer said. Comments like Spicer’s “will discourage anyone from speaking up. You end up with group think, an echo chamber where people only say what they think the president wants to hear.” And while it’s understandable that the president was eager to act swiftly to follow through on his campaign promises—he had made a long list of actions to be carried out on “Day 1”—his directives came across as needlessly hasty and poorly thought through. Some had to be reframed (talk of a Mexican bor-

der surcharge) or significantly modified and clarified after the fact (immigration policy). I asked the management experts to ignore their views about the merits of Trump’s policies, but all said that execution and substance are inextricably linked. “When you’re on the receiving end of a policy decision, the merits of the decision and the execution go hand in hand,” Polzer said. “If either one is done poorly, the outcomes will be bad. Even good plans that are poorly rolled out aren’t going to work well.” For many people, the Affordable Care Act was indelibly tainted by the computer malfunctions that plagued its start. Similarly, for many Americans, the enduring image of Trump’s immigration policy will be that of a tearful Iraqi immigrant who was detained at Kennedy International Airport after risking his life working as a translator for the US military over a 10-year period. (He was released after lawyers intervened on his behalf.) That prompted even Ryan to say, “No one wanted to see people with green cards or special immigrant visas, like translators, get caught up in all of this.” Some Trump defenders have said the president thrives on chaos, and it has proved to be an effective management approach for him in the past. But every expert I consulted said there is no empirical data or research that supports the notion that chaos is a productive management tool. “I’m not aware of anyone who advocates that,” Polzer said. “I don’t really know what’s going on in the White House, so I don’t feel comfortable commenting on that specifically. But I can say, in general, that in organizational settings, less chaos is a good thing.” Everyone agreed that there was still time for Trump to right the ship. Other administrations have had course corrections and personnel shake-ups. But having to reorganize only weeks into a first term is not promising. If this were the private sector, “someone would be fired ”, Greer said. That seems highly unlikely, since Trump has not even acknowledged a problem, instead blaming the media for an impression of upheaval in the W hite House. That is a fundamental problem, Pfeffer said. “No good business makes decisions that are based on falsehoods,” he said. “My sense is that Trump takes no one’s counsel but his own. That’s bad management, period.”

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

Sports

BusinessMirror

Saturday, February 4, 2017 A5

VOLLEYBALL SEASON ON!

TENEO de Manila and National University (NU) take the floor against separate opponents to open Season 79 University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) women’s volleyball action today at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum. The Lady Eagles begin their post-Alyssa Valdez era against the Tigresses of University of Santo Tomas (UST) at 4 p.m., while the Lady Bulldogs test a tuned-up machine and vastly improved 6-foot-5 star Jaja Santiago when they clash with the Lady Warrirors of University of the East (UE) in the first game at 2 p.m. “Expectations and pressure will always be there. I am just taking all of it as a challenge and motivation to improve my game more,” said Santiago, now the Lady Bulldogs captain made possible by her Most Valuable Player in the V-League and Philippine Superliga in the off-season. “Our goal this season is to play as a strong team. But we don’t need to rush everything, we’ll do it one step at a time until we reach our goal,” she added. The Lady Eagles will be without Valdez for the

first time in five years. Kiwi Amy Ahomiro and Mae Tajima are also no longer around after completing their eligibility. Ateneo, which lost to De La Salle in three games in last year’s finals, remained strong contenders with Thai Tai Bundit returning to call the shots for a team powered by Jia Morado, Jho Maraguinot, Bea de Leon and rookie Jules Samonte. Completing the Ateneo roster are returnees Maddie Madayag, Kat Tolentino and Ana Gopico from injuries and Michelle Morente from academic issues. “It’s hard to lose your leader [Valdez] of many years,” de Leon said. “It’s a lot harder to figure out who’s going to spike. A lot of people will need to step up and find their roles.” “It’s fair to say that we are rebuilding, it’s not something bad. Rebuilding just means you’re trying to become stronger, so it’s definitely not a bad thing,” de Leon, a middle blocker, added. The Lady Eagles, who reached the Finals of the Shakey’s V-League Collegiate Conference and

Suson, Miliam win 2 net titles in Iloilo City

established training camps in Thailand and Japan, will test the mettle of an improved UST side, which also saw action in the V-League and won the UniGames 2016 title. The Tigresses also trained in Thailand, a Southeast Asian volleyball hotbed. “We have a special preparation for Ateneo. Different team, different preparation. We will just take it one game at a time,” said UST Head Coach Kungfu Reyes, who will be relying on skipper Cherry Rondina, EJ Laure, Ria Meneses, Chloe Cortez and returning Pam Lastimosa. Ateneo starts its quest for a third straight men’s championship against UST at 10 a.m., right after the curtain raiser match between last year’s runner-up NU and cellar-dweller UE at 8 a.m.

EBU’S Marc Nicole Suson and La Carlota City’s Alexa Miliam powered their way to the crowns in the recent Iloilo City leg of the 2017 Cebuana Lhuillier Age Group Tennis Championship Series. Suson lorded it over the boys’ 16-under by beating Rupert Ohrelle Tortal, 6-1, 2-1 (retired), and in the 18-under by stopping La Carlota’s Karl Baran, 6-4, 6-4, to emerge a multiple winner in the event supported by Dunlop. Miliam, on the other hand, eked out a 6-0, 3-6, 10-4 victory over Jufe-Ann Cocoy in the girls’ 12-under finals and downed Jaro City’s Avril Andrea Suace, 6-0, 6-1, in the 14-under championship. “We are happy that as early as this second leg, we are already discovering new potentials in the Visayas, and we hope to continue seeing more new faces emerging winners in future legs,” said Jean Henri Lhuillier, president and CEO of Cebuana Lhuillier and also the chairman of the Philippine Tennis Association. Carcar City’s Elizabeth Abarquez shared the spotlight by winning the girls’ 16-under title at the expense of Tracy Cheldette Lamas, 6-2, 3-6, 10-8, and the doubles crown of the same age bracket with Tortal. Abarquez missed a third crown after losing to San Carlos City’s Bliss Bayking, 7-5, 6-3, in the 18-under final. Tortal, a native of Surigao, swept Marben Earl Mosquera, 7-5, 6-3, to bag the boys’ 14-under crown and teamed up with Drxcyn Jann Guillano to win the 14-under doubles event. La Carlota’s Giovanni Dimate topped the 10-under title after an easy 4-0 , 4-1 victory over Iloilo City’s Marben Earl Almurin, and the age division’s doubles title with Derrick Jann Guillano. Another La Carlota City bet, Khenzber Justiniani, ruled the boys’ 12-under at the expense of Iloilo City’s John Benedict Santiago, 6- 4, 3-6, 10-8. The other doubles winners were Karl Baran and Matthew Flores in the boys’ 18-under, and Abigail Jenny Sacano and Thea Rose Martirez in the girls’ 14-under.

Lance Agcaoili

JAJA SANTIAGO will have her hands full trying to bring National University all the way to the title.

Fun day for national athletes, coaches at PhilSports

T least a thousand national athletes and coaches will gather at the Multi-Purpose Arena of the PhilSports Complex in Pasig City for a general assembly ahead of the 29th Southeast Asian Games in August. Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) Chairman William Ramirez called for the assembly in conformity

By Charlton Doki The Associated Press

UBA, South Sudan—Warnings of possible genocide hang over the world’s youngest nation, but here on a basketball court under a fierce morning sun, South Sudan’s civil war seems like another country. Flashing up and down the court in blue and yellow jerseys, the players laugh and sweat as their wheelchairs jostle for position. This wheelchair basketball tournament in South Sudan’s capital, Juba, is the culmination of a two-week training session run by Jess Markt, a coach from Colorado who has led similar programs in countries ravaged by conflict.

with agreements the agency forged with national sports associations and Philippine Olympic Committee officials in a directional meeting in Tagaytay City. A uniting goal for all parties is the elusive Olympic gold for Team Philippines. “It has to start somewhere, and we start as early as now. The Olympics is not a stand-alone

competition. The SEA [Southeast Asian] Games is our first stop in this journey,” Ramirez said. Team Philippines is expected to see action in 38 sports in the SEA Games Malaysia is hosting from August 19 to 31. “This is actually a pep rally that kick-starts our Sea Games, Asian Games and Olympics crusade,” Ramirez said.

The disabled young South Sudanese men, drawn from various ethnic groups, are split into four teams that compete as dozens of spectators cheer them on. “The biggest lesson I have learned from these guys is the power of positive thought and perseverance,” Markt said. “They are very poor. Many of them are living in a camp outside the city or they live in rural areas that are very difficult situations, especially for disabled persons, and yet they are on the court playing, laughing and joking as though they don’t have any care in the world.” Many of the players were injured in South Sudan’s decades-long struggle for independence from Sudan that ended with the creation of the new nation in 2011. The country has known little peace since 2013, when the rivalry between President Salva Kiir and deputy Riek

Machar descended into a civil war in which thousands have been killed amid ethnic tensions. The wheelchair basketball training marked the first time some of the men had been involved in sports, and Markt said he had to teach them how to work together as a team. James Amoudit Makuei, 19, who traveled hundreds of kilometers to take part, said he hopes to share his skills with other disabled people in his hometown of Yirol. “I had never played basketball before,” he said. “But I have learned a lot of things from the coaches here.... And now I consider myself a basketball player.” He said he dreams of playing for the national team. Peter Bol Wal, a player-coach who was among the first South Sudanese to play wheelchair basketball,

said more disabled people in the capital are embracing the sport. He knew only about 11 players in Juba in 2011 but the number has grown to two dozen, he said. “This basketball has helped unite us as people with disabilities,” he said. “We love each other and we do not talk about our tribal differences.” The International Committee of the Red Cross, which invited Markt to Juba, supports three physical rehabilitation centers that provide mobility devices and therapy in South Sudan. The aid group works with the South Sudan Wheelchair Basketball Association to put on weekly games. Markt, who began playing wheelchair basketball at age 19 after a spinal cord injury, has been coaching since 2009 and has trained teams in Afghanistan,

India, Palestine and Cambodia. Markt described his experience in South Sudan as “unforgettable.” He recalled one young man, a polio victim, who shouted “Oh my God!” when he scored for the first time after struggling to settle into the rhythm of the game. “That, to me, is the greatest thing about this type of program,” Markt said. “It is helping people who have amazing challenges that they are dealing with in their lives realize how powerful they can be.”

» PLAYERS vie for the ball at a tournament following a two-week training session run by Coach Jess Markt (right) from Colorado in Juba, South Sudan. AP

A6 Saturday, February 4, 2017

HOW TO BECOME A MORE POSITIVE (AND BETTER) GOLFER IN 2 MINuteS PER DAY By David MacKenzie

uccessful people are more happy, right? But is it success that leads to happiness, or could it be that happiness leads to success? Our modern culture tells us that by working harder, we’ll achieve more success and, as a result, become happier. But in this Ted Talk presentation, you’ll see that Shawn Achor has spent a lot of time challenging this notion, and concludes that we need to reverse engineer the happiness equation that we’re taught from a young age. He believes that, to be successful, you first need to figure out how to become happy, and I 100-percent agree with him. People who are more successful get there, as a result of having a positive mind-set, an attitude of gratitude, being kind and seeing stress as a challenge, not something to fear. If you have a spare 12 minutes today, I recommend watching this video (at the end of the post) where Achor explains the reasons behind it, and how to build a more positive mind-set in just two minutes per day.

POSITIVE MIND-SET = BETTER GOLF

How can this help you play better golf? When Achor talks about how developing a positive mind-set improves all business outcomes and, therefore, leads to more success, these same principles can

The 11th at Ayala Greenfield Estates GC

obviously be applied to sports. In fact, I realized that many of the habits he recommends are things that I already try to instill in the players I work with. By working on these habits daily, a player will: n Achieve a more positive mind-set (they will start habitually searching for the positive, instead of the negative). n Be able to cope with stress better. n Play golf from a place of calmness and a quiet mind, which is key for being able to focus and access your best physical skills. n Enjoy the game more. n In addition to the twominute daily ritual that Achor recommends, here’s a modified version to get you in a positive (and happy) state of mind before going out to play.

DEVELOPING A POSITIVE MIND-SET FOR GOLF

List three things you are grateful for in what you are about to do (things that have nothing to do with how well you play). Things like “It’s an amazing day to be outside” or “I’m about to play an amazing golf course, I’m going to be sure to appreciate it” or “I’m playing with my friends today, this is going to be fantastic to spend time with them.” List your strengths in your game and remind yourself of some great experiences on the course. n On the course: Take a positive after every shot. This is a great challenge, try it! After your rounds, update your “success log”. Write about the things that went well on the course.

n Optional but highly recommended: Meditate. I’ve become a big believer in this one. Like a lot of mentalgame techniques, it’s hard to quantify and qualify what’s working and what’s not, but I believe this has made a big difference in my own life. As Achor says, meditation allows your brain to focus better on the task at hand, which is obviously of benefit during your rounds. Give these a try for the 10 rounds and see if a more positive mind-set leads to better results. This, coupled with setting appropriate process goals (and getting a high score on your mental game scorecard), will enable you to play better and enjoy the experience. n David Mackenzie is a golf coach and golf publisher and lives in Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Golf State of Mind, a teaching program designed to help golfers eliminate negative mental interference and play with confidence.

Ayala Greenfield Golf a

World class the ground Text & Photos by Mike Besa

hen the Ayala Group starts something, rest assured the end-product will be world class. Ayala Greenfield Estates is a perfect example of this vision. The Robert Trent Jones Jr.-designed course is serviced by a clubhouse that redefines the amenities one should come to expect from an exclusive club for residents. The structure was designed by Architect Ruben Payumo, and utilizes indigenous materials to stand in harmony with the tranquil Laguna landscape. The feel of the clubhouse is more that of a luxurious home than one of a private club. One of the undisputable requisites for a great golf course is a great piece of land to build it on, and Ayala Greenfield Golf and Leisure Club is set on one of the most picturesque sites in the country. Set at the foot of the majestic Mount Makiling on the border of Calamba, Laguna, and Santo Tomas, Batangas, the property features some of the most majestic views of the storied mountain and some of the most unique holes in Philippine golf. Most courses are designed to appeal to a particular golfer profile. Most amenity

or resort courses are designed more for recreation than competition. And rightly so; most golfers are out for a good time with their friends, loved ones or business partners. The majority of them are less concerned about the game and more about the quality of the experience on the course. This golfer profile far outnumbers serious golfers in any market. But such a course will quickly lose its novelty as the golfer improves. All golfers will, at some point in their golfing lives, look to challenge themselves on the links. It might be the result of playing more regularly or the benefits derived from lessons and a rededication to the game. It is here where most resort courses fall short and Ayala Greenfield Estates begins to shine. Though the course is short overall, it is not without holes that will bedevil all that come to play. The three opening holes are all birdie chances for the more accomplished golfer. They are short and offer ample opportunities to score. The course tightens up on holes 4 and 5; both of which require long, accurate shots off the tee to put the oneself in scoring position. After a quick respite on the short par-3 6th, the three finishing holes on the front nine are testy, requiring precise placement from tee to green.

It is on the inward nine on holes 13, 14 and 15 are where Ayala Greenfield Golf and Leisure Club comes into its own. These three holes are the course’s own Amen Corner. All three holes are beautiful, and will thrill and challenge the golfer at the same time. Thirteen is a 563-yard par 5 that plays steadily uphill. Because of this it feels longer than its published yardage. The tee shot from the golf tees requires a carry of 220 yards just to get to the fairway. Playing the forward tees significantly lowers the degree of difficulty, but does nothing to diminish the beauty of this golf hole. The green is set in the buxom of the mountain at the top of the hill and will, thus, play blind from the fairway below. Fourteen is a 197-yard par 3 that features a drop of about a hundred feet from tee to green and plays over water all the way to the green. A bailout area right sits there for those weak of constitution, but you’re giving up at least one stroke to par from there. It is a stunning golf hole. I would be perfectly content to picnic on the tee and survey the hole with a bottle of fine wine and properly aged cheese. Fifteen is the hardest hole on the course; a 480-yard beast of a par four from the tips. It is also one of the most beautiful holes on the

golf course. The tee shot plays over water to a narrow fairway running diagonally away from you, challenging you to take on as much of the water hazard as you dare. Bailing out to the left is not without its hazards; the rain forest just beyond the cart path that borders the fairway is out of bounds. If these holes don’t get your pulse going, you’re probably dead. Of course, if you don’t feel like challenging yourself, playing one of the forward tees changes the complexion of these holes, altogether. It is a rare course that can challenge the low handicap golfers and provide pleasurable recreation for everyone else. Shot memorability here is high as is the course’s resistance to scoring from the appropriate tees. The serenity and beauty of the golf course is off the charts matched by few courses in the country today. The only beef I have with the course is that it’s not easy to walk but it’s a minor complaint when contrasted by the variety of shots and the beauty of the terrain that you get to play. Ayala Greenfield Golf and Leisure Club is the complete package combining beauty and playability; a tribute to the genius of Jones and his crew and to the vision of Ayala Land Inc.

www.pinoygolfer.com

Golf like never before K

uala Lumpur—“Golf Like Never Before” is coming to Saujana Golf and Country Club from February 9 to 12, and the public is invited to come and experience the offerings on and off the fairways at the Maybank Championship 2017. This year’s event will see a world-class lineup of players tackle the Palm Course, which is known to be one of the toughest courses in the world. Alongside the list of top players previously announced, namely, US Masters reigning champion Danny Willett and fellow former Masters winner Charl Schwartzel, there are a flurry of players in the final lineup that will spark excitement among golf fans across the region. Touring pro for Saujana in the late1990s, Lee Westwood knows the Palm Course well and is relishing the chance to get back there this year. He said, “I was proudly associated with Saujana for a long time, and it’s always great to go back, because there are a lot of people that I’m still close with. That’s where the welcome stops, though, because the course is very tough! It’s changed a lot over the last 20 or so years. It’s hard to believe it’s been that long but, hopefully, I can repeat what I did back in 1997.” Making a late entry into the player field is Tommy Fleetwood after the 26-year-old lifted the trophy at the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship, more than three years after his maiden victory on Tour. He currently leads the European Tour’s Race to Dubai, and is followed by Sam Brazel of Australia—winner of the Hong Kong Open in December 2016, and Spain’s Pablo Larrazabal, who tied for second in Abu Dhabi. All three will be looking to continue their strong start to the season when they come to Malaysia. Joining them will be England’s Graeme Storm, who got his 2017 off to a dream start coming out on top at the BMW South African Open, hosted by City of Ekurhuleni—10 years after his first win on

Tour, only keeping his card this season after a late reprieve. He is another man on form and with $3million at stake, this is an important event to keep him high in the rankings. They will line up alongside some of the top Asian stars, including Prayad Marksaeng, who won the Singapore Open just two weeks ago. Another winner at the start of the year on the Asian Tour is Todd Sinnott, who took top spot at the Leopalace21 Myanmar Open on the Lunar New Year weekend, which proved lucky and prosperous for him. Scott Hend—winner of the 2016 Asian Tour Order of Merit—will kick off his year at the Maybank Championship and will be setting his sights on topping the table again this year. This year’s event isn’t just about the European Tour and Asian Tour stars—new for 2017 is the Asean category. Five places have been allocated for the top players from Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam. The support by Maybank for the development of the talents and game in the region gives these players a chance to compete and showcase their skills on a world stage. The final two invite spots for the Maybank Championship have been awarded to another top young Asean player—Arie Irawan Fauzi of Malaysia—to give him a wonderful opportunity on home soil, and Paul Dunne of Ireland, owing to his rising form on the European Tour and his reputation as a top amateur before he turned pro in 2015. Tan Sri Dato’ Megat Zaharuddin Megat Mohd Nor, chairman of Maybank, said, “This year’s event is focused on delivering a memorable spectator experience. Every aspect of the event, from golf to bespoke activities, coupled with the initiatives to contribute back to the communities, we aim to have golf fans and visitors alike to have an experience that they will continue to rave about.” “We are thrilled to host the world-class

Saturday, February 4, 2017 A7

lineup of golfers and excited to see the Asean players give their all, as they battle for the“‘coveted tiger”. We wish them all the best and thank in advance, the media and spectators who are planning to come and support them next week,” he further added. If you thought golf was exciting enough, think again. From 8:30 a.m. each morning, visitors can sign up to get fit beside the fairways. Under Armour will be holding a yoga class each day, followed by a boot camp session. Once you’ve worked up an appetite, you can enjoy the culinary delights from Michelin-star Chef Anton Mosimann, who will be serving a signature dish in the public village. To support the Maybank Heart project, the second day of play will be known as “Yellow Fri-yay”—everyone attending, including players and staff, are being asked to wear a splash of yellow. If you make a donation of RM50 or more, you will be given a special Maybank Championship Virtual Reality Cardboard to enjoy using throughout the day, while stocks last. Another project by Maybank that will take centerstage at the championship will be the Maybank Women Eco-Weavers program. It promotes traditional textiles in a sustainable manner while creating economic independence and financial inclusion of women weavers across the Asean region. There will be fashion shows in the public village on Saturday and Sunday showcasing some of their work, and visitors may even see a few golfers on the catwalk. If you love dressing up, why not join in the excitement? There will be prizes for those who bring an element of fun to their golf outfit on Saturday. In celebrating the public holiday, there will be free entry on Thursday and Friday. Given the long list of exciting activities, this will be a great way to spend a fun few days with your family.

GOLF TOURNAMENT

and Leisure Club

s from up

The 14th green is almost surreal in the waning light.

First Mike Joseph Jr. Golf Cup: Hole-in-One for The Holy One O n its 36th year anniversary, The Philippine Foundation of Christ’s Youth in Action Inc. (CYA) honors its founding director, the late Mike Joseph Jr., through the 1st Mike Joseph Jr. Golf Cup: Holein-One for The Holy One, to be held at Alabang Country Club on February 15 at 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mike Joseph’s legacy is generations of young people

formed and molded to take their place in society, church and family. CYA continues on with this legacy through its various leadership development and values-formation programs nationwide. The tournament is presented by the Philippine Foundation of Christ’s Youth in Action Inc., and proceeds from this event go to support CYA.

This is a way for members and nonmembers alike to have a good time of fellowship and raise some financial support for this year to increase their outreach service by influencing more public highschool students. Corporate, individual and team sponsorship opportunities are available. Donations are welcomed and appreciated. Tournament format is System 36. Tournament day check-in is 6 a.m. and tee time is 6:30 a.m. Registration free for members is P2,000 and for non-members is P3,000, and includes lunch, greens fees and range balls. Guest is welcome and individuals will be paired with other players. Prizes include overall champion, champion and first runner-up per class, special awards—a long drive, nearest the pin, a best low gross, door prizes and more. To register as player, visit http:// tinyurl.com/MJJGolfCup. Sponsors include Golden Touch, Icon Hotel, Torque Builders, International Elevator & Equipment Inc., Andy Juan, AMH Philippines Inc., Arlo Aluminum, Power System Inc., Sycamore Global Shipping, Lito Fider, First Kabukiran, Philgraphics, Korben Inc., e-PLDT, Sycamore Global Shipping Corp., Papemelroti, Yoshinoya, Trampoline Park, Mega Fiber and Nature Spring Water. Media partners include Nego Sentro, Gogahgah, Executive Chronicles, Page One, the BusinessMirror, When In Manila, PSST.ph and astig.ph.

OurTime BusinessMirror

A8 Saturday, February 4, 2017 • Editor: Efleda P. Campos

news@businessmirror.com.ph

Canadian-Chinese study: Alzheimer’s disease can begin in womb, infancy

ANCOUVER—A joint Canadian-Chinese research has found out biochemical reactions that cause Alzheimer’s disease could begin in the womb or just after birth if the fetus or newborn does not get enough vitamin A.

The study also showed supplements given to newborns with vitamin A could be effective in slowing the degenerative brain disease. The findings are based on studies of genetically engineered mice. The research was announced last week by the University of British Columbia in Vancouver in western Canada. It was conducted jointly by Dr. Weihong Song at UBC and Dr. Tingyu Li, with others at the Children’s Hospital of Chongqing Medical University in southwest China. “Our study clearly shows marginal deficiency of vitamin A, even as early as in pregnancy, has a detrimental effect on brain development and has a long-lasting effect that may facilitate Alzheimer’s disease in later life,” said Song, a professor of psychiatry at UBC and the Canada Research Chair for Alzheimer’s Disease. Song told Xinhua on Monday his findings were the result of a five-year research project that built on previous studies that linked low levels of vitamin A with cognitive impairments. The researchers had studied 330 elderly people in Chongqing and found that 75 percent of those with either mild or significant vitaminA deficiency had cognitive impairment, compared to 47 percent of those with normal vitamin A levels. “Since lower vitamin A is correlated or associated with dementia and cognitive impairment in the elderly, we thought maybe we could check if Vitamin-A deficiency at the early stage [of life] has any effect on the later stages of Alzheimer’s development. That’s where we started,” he said. Vitamin-A deficiency is more common in developing countries and impoverished areas, Song said. “According to a World Health Organization survey, there are almost 200 million preschool children who have vitamin deficiency and about 20 million pregnant women who have vitamin deficiency,” he said. The researchers examined the effects of vitamin-A deprivation

in the womb and infancy on Alzheimer’s model mice. Early developmental stages are crucial periods during which brain tissue is “programmed” for the rest of a person’s life. Song said they found that even a mild vitamin-A deficiency increased the production of amyloid beta, the protein that forms plaques that smother and kill neurons in Alzheimer’s disease. They also found their study mice, when deprived of vitamin A, performed worse as adults on a standard test of learning and memory. Even when the mice deprived of vitamin A in the womb were given a normal diet as pups, they performed worse than mice who received a normal amount of the nutrient in the womb, but were deprived after birth. Song said that means the damage to the brain had already been done in the womb. The researchers said their findings also show some reversal is possible. Mice deprived of vitamin A in utero, but were given supplements immediately after birth performed better on the tests than mice who were not given supplements. “In some cases, providing supplements to the newborn Alzheimer’s disease model mice could reduce the amyloid beta level and improve learning and memory deficits,” he said. “It’s a matter of the earlier, the better.” Song said pregnant women should not overreact to these findings. He said pregnant women should not take excessive vitamin-A supplements and should focus instead on eating a healthy, balanced diet to ensure adequate levels of nutrients. Vitamin A is very important for the development of the brain, eyes, skin and immune system and, is found in foods, such as carrots, leafy greens, sweet potatoes and liver, Song said. “I don’t suggest that a pregnant woman who has a balanced diet to take vitamin A because too much Vitamin A is harmful to the embryonic development. It could cause birth defects,” he said. PNA/Xinhua

DOF: VAT exemption for senior citizens, PWDs to remain amid tax reforms

HE Duterte administration has assured there will be no change in the value-added tax (VAT) exemption for senior citizens and persons with disabilities (PWDs). The Department of Finance (DOF), through Undersecretary Karl Kendrick T. Chua, announced the good news in a press briefing in Malacañang on January 27. “Ang good news po dito, ang senior citizen VAT exemption at sa PWD ay hindi tatanggalin, pero ang gagawin po natin ay aayusin po natin ’yung sistema. For example, through a national ID para ’yung leakage ay maiwasan, na ang benepisyo lang ay mapupunta sa tamang tao,” Chua said. Chua added that the tax-reform measures aim to decrease the poverty

rate from 22 percent to 14 percent and make the Philippines a middle-income country by 2022. He said the tax reform is part of President Duterte’s 10-point socioeconomic agenda. “Nag-promise po siya ng tax reform, ng mas mababang buwis, pero nag-promise rin po siya ng walo pang other priorities na kailangan pondohan. At dahil dito, naisipan po namin na ayusin po ’yung ating income and other tax system,” Chua said. “So ang gusto namin ay maging simpler, fairer, at more efficient ’yung tax system para po ito ay tumulong po sa pag-unlad ng ating bansa,” he added. Chua said that, while some sectors consider the tax-reform measures as a burden, Filipinos should instead look at it as a package. PNA

ELDERLY FAITHFUL IN CEBU Older women buy candles in front of the Santo Niño Church in Cebu City. MAU VICTA

China sees graying generation as quarter of population by 2030

HE world’s most populous country is turning gray at an accelerating pace. That aging has big implications for China’s economic growth, which could be undermined as the labor force declines sharply from 2021 to 2030. It also strains the nation’s expenditures for public services, insurance and health care, and puts a dent in domestic consumption. China’s latest population development plan, released by the State Council late Wednesday, projects about a quarter of China’s population will be 60 or older by 2030. That’s up

from 13.3 percent of the population in the country’s latest census in 2010. The number of children 14 or younger will decline to 17 percent over the same period, the plan estimated. About 36 percent of the population in 2030 will be 45 to 59, it said. That age group accounted for about 20 percent of the total population in the 2010 census. A shrinking labor force would further erode China’s competitive edge in manufacturing but would also be a drag on consumption, now a major pillar of the economy as it transitions away from old smoke-

stack drivers of growth. A year ago, authorities took a big step to try to add to the country’s population pipeline by scrapping the more than three-decade-old one-child policy. That didn’t result in the initial boost that demographers had projected. Births in 2016 reached 17.86 million, the most since 2000, rising by 1.91 million from 2015, the National Health and Family Planning Commission said this month. That still falls short of the official projection. Last June the ministry estimated there would be an increase of 4 mil-

lion new births every year until 2020. China will continue to implement the two-child policy to promote a balanced population, the plan said. Even so, the latest plan said birth rates could remain low. The total population is now expected to peak around 2030 and begin to decline after that. The plan set a population target of 1.42 billion by 2020, and 1.45 billion by 2030. It also supported more urbanization, with more than 13 million people projected to move to cities from rural areas every year between 2016 and 2020. Bloomberg News

Only the old get ahead in Rajoy’s Spain

T’S not just British and German pensioners who enjoy living in Spain. Spanish retirees saw a boost in both their incomes and their net worth between 2011 and 2014, while working-age families bore the brunt of the nation’s worst economic crisis in modern history. That’s according to a study by the Bank of Spain this week analyzing households’ finances. The study illustrates how Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy succeeded in shielding his core supporters from the effects of the financial crisis after he took power in 2011. While his government cut public salaries, slashed spending on health and education and introduced more flexible labor laws that helped to drive down wages, he also raised pensions and maintained health programs for the elderly. The result: While median incomes for Spanish households fell 10 percent over Rajoy’s first three years in office, those where the head of the family were aged between 65 and 74 saw an increase of 13 percent. For even older families, income rose 7 percent. The study examines the fortunes

PRODUCTIVE ROADSIDES Maximizing the productivity of the shoulders of a farm-to-market road beside his rice farm in Villa Gonzaga, Santiago City, Isabela, 67-year-old Peny Balberan cultivates mustard vegetables on the roadside. A father of 10, he claims he has sent his children to school armed with practical farming technology. LEONARDO PERANTE II

of Spanish families during the second phase of an economic crisis, which began in 2008, and saw unemployment soar to a record 27 percent in 2013. The central bank interviewed 6,120

families about their financial situation between September 2014 and March 2015. During the first three years of the crisis, under Rajoy’s Socialist predeces-

sor Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, older voters shared more of the costs, with the younger cohort of retirees seeing their incomes tick down marginally. Bloomberg News

news.businessmirror@gmail.com

The Millennials BusinessMirror

Saturday, February 4, 2017

Generation X more addicted to social media than millennials, report finds By Jonah Engel Bromwich | New York Times News Service

E all know the stereotype: silly millennials, tethered to their phones, unable to accomplish the simplest tasks without scrolling their Instagram feeds, snapping their friends and/or tweeting inanely. But a Nielsen report released last week shows that Americans from 18 to 34 are less obsessed with social media than are some of their older peers. Adults 35 to 49 were found to spend an average of six hours and 58 minutes a week on social media, compared with six hours and 19 minutes a week for their younger counterparts. More predictably, adults 50 and older spent significantly less time on social media, with an average of four hours and nine minutes a week on the networks. Sean Casey, president of Nielsen’s social division, said the finding had initially surprised him, because “the going thought is that social is vastly owned by the younger generation.” “It’s kind of synonymous,” said Casey, who wrote the foreword to the report. “When you think of millennials, you think of social.”

Casey, 46, said that eventually, the finding started to make more sense to him. “At a time when we wanted to be connected, it came out right when we were at the top of our media consumption,” he said. “It’s become second nature to our generation.” The finding emphasized how ubiquitous the smartphone has become. The report, released on January 17, found that in the United States, 97 percent of people 18 to 34 and 94 percent of people 35 to 49 had access to smartphones. Seventyseven percent of those 50 and older used smartphones, the report found. The 29-page report was based on data from 9,000 smartphone and 1,300 tablet users from across the country from July through September. The data was not self-reported. The report also broke out which social networks were most popular

Commuters use their cell phones on a subway in New York on January 11. A Nielsen report shows that Americans, ranging from ages 18 to 34, are less obsessed with social media than adults from 35 to 49. Christopher Lee/The New York Times

on smartphones, finding that Facebook still ruled the roost on mobile, with about 178.2 million unique users in September. It was followed by Instagram, with 91.5 million unique users; Twitter, with 82.2 million unique users; and Pinterest, with 69.6 million users. Despite the hype, Snapchat, a

favorite of younger users, was sixth on the list, behind the professional networking site LinkedIn. Finally, the report looked at second-screen activity on social media, measuring how many times Facebook and Twitter users used those sites to post or tweet about programs that they were watching, or interact

with others’ posts and tweets. Again, in this category, it was Generation X that couldn’t look away from its device screens: On an average day, the report found that 42 percent of those interacting with television on Facebook were 35 to 49, while only 40 percent of millennials were doing the same thing.

Young Filipino men shop more online, OLX Data Hub reveals Y

OUNG Filipino men have replaced women as shopaholics, latest statistics from OLX Inc. revealed. The New York-based data hub online classifieds-site operator based its statement on information gathered by its data hub from search history and sessions on their platform in 2016. In a statement, the company said it found that the three biggest growth drivers for online shopping last year are furniture, sports and health items, and baby-related goods. Additionally, across all three categories, the majority are men aged between 25 and 34 years old. For baby-related goods, 55 percent of shoppers are male, suggesting that more Filipino men are open to searching for quality items for their children. “While it’s likely millennial men are first-time fathers, they’re more aware that not everything needs to be new for their babies since children outgrow a lot of items, fast,” the company said. “The top 5 items searched for in each category also give further insight to the life of the Pinoy millennial man.” Additional findings based on OLX’s data suggest that millennial Filipino men are practical shoppers who are looking for the most lucrative deals when it comes to furnishing their homes. Looking

at the popularly searched items, pieces like sofas, tables, cabinets and beds are all essentials when filling up their living space or bachelor pad, OLX said. “Outside the home, millennial men are both adventurous and environment conscious.” According to the company, its data “hint that their hobbies include motor, mountain and city biking.” “This tells us that Pinoy millennial men are trying to find ways to dodge traffic jams and that they’re also concerned about leaving less of a carbon footprint in their quest for an adrenalin rush.” Whether for their hobbies or for their homes, data also suggest that Pinoy millennial men highly do their research online and find communities who can help them stay informed about their chosen interest. “More than the usual buy-andsell transactions on our platform, it has also become an avenue for different communities to share information and foster camaraderie online,” OLX Marketing Head Jean Magboo was quoted in a statement as saying. “Aside from the exchange of items, tips and recommendations also get shared, too. Meetups become more than just a business deal, but an enriching experience—making it

a win-win situation for both buyers and sellers.” The increase in millennial Filipino men shopping online can also be attributed to communities that are present in platforms like OLX, according to the company. Millennial women also have communities that continue to grow, especially for those into fashion, makeup and fitness, it added. Oliver Samson

SIDEBAR 1 Top 5 Searches for Furniture

1. Sofa set, sala set or sofa bed 2. Tables 3. Cabinet 4. Bed 5. TV

SIDEBAR 2 Top 5 Searches for Sports and Health Items 1. Bikes 2. Helmet 3. Motorcycle 4. Bike Parts 5. Scooter

SIDEBAR 3 Top 5 Searches for Baby Stuff 1. Crib 2. Stroller 3. Baby Shoes 4. Walker 5. Baby Clothes *Source: OLX Data Hub

BPO catering to passions of workers in salad days B

USINESS-process outsourcing (Bpo) firm Telus International Philippines (TIP) takes on the challenge to find creative ways to understand, adapt, recruit and retain millennials while responding to the factors that impact their decision to join a company, particularly in the information technology-BPO industry. “We see the value of understand-

ing the factors that shape millennials, as this helps us recruit new team members,” TIP Vice President for Human Resources Cris Rosenthal was quoted in a statement as saying. “Understanding this unique generation enables us to design programs that utilize their strengths, supports their success, and involves them in highly engaging activities that will bring out the best in everyone.”

Born between the years 1983 and 2000, millennials grew up surrounded by the influences of social media and have easy access to personal technology, which makes it no surprise that these individuals are often characterized as collaborative, social, self-expressive and adventurous. Another characteristic that significantly differentiates them from

their baby boomer parents is their emphasis on personal development and individualism. Millennials want to develop different facets of their lives and are generous when it comes to exploring their various interests and hobbies. As such, many of them find personally constraining jobs and one-track careers insufficient to appease their need for variety and self-discovery.

TIP learned that millennials look at the company’s values, excellent career-development programs and engagement initiatives, apart from a competitive wage and benefit package. TIP said its efforts contributed to high morale, resulting to an impressive retention rate, currently at 65 percent per annum against the industry’s retention rate of 19.97 percent. Rizal Raoul Reyes

Damon, Affleck hope ‘Bending the Arc’ inspires millennials

ARK CITY, Utah—The story of the global nonprofit Partners in Health is the story of a few young idealists who couldn’t have started any smaller—trying to deliver primary health care in rural Haiti 30 years ago. With no structures, little money, undaunted spirits and a belief that all lives are worth saving, the tireless work of Paul Farmer, Jim Yong-kim and Ophelia Dahl revolutionized the global health movement. Partners in Health now employs 18,000 people and impacts rural communities around the world. Their story is recounted in the documentary Bending the Arc, from directors Kief Davidson and Pedro Kos, which premiered this week at the Sundance Film Festival. “Paul and Jim and Ophelia are personal heroes for me,” Matt Damon said recently by phone. Damon’s an executive producer on the film, as is Ben Affleck. Both have known Farmer for years, having sought him out for his extraordinary contributions to the global health-care movement. Affleck met him in Rwanda, Damon met him in Haiti, and both civically minded Hollywood stars didn’t blink at lending their support to the project when producer Cori Shepherd Stern approached them. Both believe the film will be inspiring and galvanizing for millennials as they seek a theatrical distributor at Sundance. “What’s so great about their story is it didn’t start grand and big,” Damon said. “It started with these people who had incredible passion.” Affleck, speaking by phone from Los Angeles, was drawn to the fact that the three-decade partnership all started with a shared conviction that “preventable suffering was totally unacceptable”. For Dahl, when she thinks about it, the origin of the movement really goes back to their upbringings, where they’d been socialized to expect the best, or at least know that when things go wrong, that there are always steps you can take to make it better. “When I went to central Haiti and saw what I saw there, it kind of in some ways didn’t occur to me that we couldn’t improve it in some way,” Dahl said. “It’s the good side of arrogance. You don’t expect it for yourself and if you can translate that and think that it should be much better for all of these people, and you put into it the same kind of effort that you would be looking after your own children, your own parents, and you see results, that’s really powerful to see things happen.” Stern got started pursuing the story in 2003, following the publication of Tracy Kidder’s book about Farmer, Mountains Beyond Mountains. It took over seven years to make Bending the Arc, which chronicles the origins and the strides Farmer, Dahl and Kim made in treating tuberculosis and HIV in developing countries through community-based care, fair pricing and global funding. “Ultimately, the story is an invitation. It’s an invitation for all of us who have some power and who can bring out voices to influence power to reject the mind-set that health care is simply too hard or too expensive or too complicated,” Affleck said. “They’ve shown how to build systems that are rooted in equity and quality and efficiency and compassion. Bending the Arc brings those to life and forces us to wrestle with an urgent imperative to create a new, just health-care norm for everyone.” Dahl is a bit worried about the new political climate under President Donald J. Trump, but said that throughout her years of work around the world, she’s always found people in government at every level who are willing to help. AP

A10

Saturday, February 4, 2017

BusinessMirror

HE Philippines joins Brazil, Indonesia and Mexico among the top 10 countries for Android malicious software (malware) detections, a report by Malwarebytes Inc. revealed.

“The high prevalence of And roid ma lwa re detect ions in [these] countries can be attributed to the extensive use of relatively unsecured third-party app [application] stores in these countries,” the American Internet security company said. “In the last year, we have seen a huge transition in the top malware threats and how they are distributed,” Malwarebytes Director of Malware Intelligence Adam Kujawa was quoted in the statement as saying. “Attackers are always seeking the greatest possible profit, causing them to shift methodolog y per region and geography, based on user awareness and attack success rate.”

“In 2016 we observed the increased use of randomization utilized by the malware authors to evade detection from mobile security engines, resulting in an increase in the amount of mobile malware detected,” the nineyear-old cyber-security firm said in a statement on January 31, the release date of its report, titled “State of Malware Report”. The security firm said mobile malware evades detection from mobile-security engines, resulting in an increase in the amount of mobile malware detected. “ To protect users from cyber criminals, we need to intimately understand their methodologies and tactics,” Malwarebytes CEO Marcin K leczynski was quoted

in the statement as saying. “Our findings demonstrate that the frequency and variety of new cyber attacks has crashed into people a nd businesses at a n alarming rate.” Kleczynski said the year 2016 involved an onslaught of ransomware, a surge of pernicious

ad fraud and new, dangerous uses for botnets. “These threats have the potential to erode many of the gains that computing is providing global society,” he said. “Both consumers and businesses need to better understand how these new attack methodologies may impact them.” Oliver Samson

O N E Y W E L L I nt e r n a tiona l Inc. recent ly unveiled its infrared sensing technolog y, the A mer ican mu lt i n at ion a l con g lome r at e company said is idea l for the oil-and-gas industr y. The device Honeywell calls “BW Clip4” is a new four-gas, portable monitor that once turned on can operate continuously for two years without the need to change sensors or charge batteries. The company said this helps customers boost safety compliance and reduce maintenance costs. “Ideal for oil and gas, wastewater, heav y manufactur ing , confined space and other applications, BW Clip4 significantly reduces maintenance costs associated with f leets of portable gas detectors by eliminating repair work and the need to stock additional sensors and spare units,” Honey well said. “Because it’s always on, the BW Clip4 helps drive safety compliance by assuring that workers wearing the device are protected.” According to Ken Schmidt, one of the company’s managers, the device offers a whole new combination of benefits in multigas detection that haven’t been possible until now: two

By Cecilia Kang

Conservative outreach

OV ER the last eight years, the compa ny was c losely assoc iat e d w it h for me r P re s id e nt Barack Obama. Google employees over whelmingly sup por ted Oba m a’s president i a l campaigns and some later took roles in his administration. Eric Schmidt, chairman of Alphabet, Google’s parent company, advised the Obama White House. And last year Google employees gave $1.3 million to Hillary Clinton’s campaign to succeed Obama, compared with $26,000 to the Trump campaign, according to federal filings. Now, the tech giant is scrambling to forge ties with Trump’s ne w a d m i n i s t r at io n a nd t o strengthen its relationship with a Republican-dominated Congress. Most important, Google is trying to change the perception that it is a Democratic stronghold. That has led to events like the party at the Smithsonian, which the institution said had cost at least $50,000. Schmidt

years of batter y runtime without recharging or changing batteries; small size and ease of use; the functionality of a multigas detector, and improved safety compliance. T he company said the dev ice u ses nond i s persive i n f r a red tec hnolog y prev iou sly ava i lable only in fixed-gas detectors from Honey well Analytics. The dev ice, according to the fir m, consumes less batter y power than a catalytic bead (pellistor) sensor—the traditiona l technolog y used to detect f lammable gases in a por table dev ice. Rizal Raoul Reyes

a for me r se n ior adv i se r for Trump’s campaign. “Mr. Schmidt spent millions and millions of his personal money to defeat Donald Trump,” Bennett said. “It takes a particular amount of gumption to pretend that never happened.” Google has denied it tweaked its search results, which are determined by algorithms, and the company declined to comment on Schmidt. W hite House officials did not respond to a request for comment. For many years, Google’s support of Democrats was plain. Google’s PAC a nd employees ranked third in all donations to Obama’s 2012 campaign at $804,240, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. In 2008 Google’s PAC and employees were sixth, with $817,855. The company did not rank in the top 20 for donations to Obama’s Republican opponents in either of those elections.

New York Times News Service

A SHINGTON—Few companies have been as intimately tied to the Democratic Party in recent years as Google. So now that Donald J. Trump is president, the giant company in Silicon Valley parlance, is having to pivot. The shift was evident a day after Congress began its new session this month. That evening, about 70 lawmakers, a majority of them Republicans, were feted at the stately Smithsonian Arts and Industries Building, where they clinked Champagne and bourbon glasses and posed for selfies with the 600 guests assembled in their honor. The event’s main host was not from the Republican establishment. Instead, the party was primarily financed and anchored by Google. “We’ve partnered with Google on events before, but nothing like this party,” said Alex Skatell, founder of T he Independent Journal Review, a news start-up with a right-leaning millennial audience, which also helped host the event. “I’ve never heard of an event as big.” The event was emblematic of an about-face by Google.

This undated photo, courtesy of Honeywell International Inc., shows workers wearing the company’s yellow-colored four-gas, portable monitor BW Clip4 on their chests. The monitor detects hydrogen sulfide, carbon monoxide, oxygen and combustible gases.

Little notice President Barack Obama participates in a Google Portal virtual event with entrepreneurs at Stanford Memorial Auditorium in Stanford, California, on June 24, 2016. Google, strongly tied to Democrats in the Obama era, is now scrambling to forge ties with President Donald J. Trump’s new administration and strengthen its relationship with a Republican-dominated Congress. Zach Gibson/The New York Times

has embarked on an East Coast charm offensive of Republican political leaders, including twice visiting Trump and his advisers at Trump Tower. Last month Google also posted an opening to fill a position for a “conservative outreach” employee in its Washington office. “Google has a target on its back because it is fundamentally viewed as a Democratic company,” said Gigi Sohn, a former senior adviser to Tom Wheeler, who was chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. “Even though it has reached out to Republicans, it can’t shake the image.”

Personal cost

GOOGLE said it had long had Republican lobbyists and had not changed its strategy. “We’ve worked with both Republicans and Democrats for over a decade, advocating policies to encourage economic growth, innovation and entrepreneurialism,” the company said in a statement. “We’ll continue to do exactly that.”

A spokesm a n for Sc h m idt added, “Eric has a long record of working constructively and e n e r g e t i c a l l y o n i m p o r t a nt technolog y issues with American and world leaders across the political spectrum.” Other Silicon Valley tech companies, like Facebook, are in a similar predicament. The perception is that they lean left and their executives backed Clinton. Many are now also pledging to work with Trump and paid court to the new president at a December tech summit meeting. One week into the administration, Google and other tech companies began to push back, cr iticizing Tr ump’s executive order on immigration bans. The company said an estimated 187 employees were affected by the order, and it urged any of those employees who were abroad to work with the company to return safely to the US. “It’s painful to see the personal cost of this executive order on our colleagues,” Sundar Pichai, Google’s chief executive, said in

a memo to employees over the weekend. “We’ve always made our views on immigration issues known publicly and will continue to do so.”

Warning shots

GOOGLE has much at stake as it repositions itself. During the Obama years, Google avoided US antitrust charges, even as European regulators accused the firm of antitrust violations in search a nd i n it s mobi le bu s i ne s s. Google also successfully pushed a policy agenda that included the creation of net neutrality rules in 2015 and the defeat of online piracy laws in 2012. Now warning shots against Google have been fired by those in Trump’s circle. Some of the president’s advisers have debated whether the tech behemoth deserves more antitrust scrutiny, according to two people briefed by the new administration’s transition team, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. In a recent inter view with The New York Times, Peter Thiel,

a venture capitalist and Trump transition adviser, also compared the power that Google had under Obama to that which the oil giant Exxon Mobil had under President George W. Bush. Under Bush, the administration largely agreed with Exxon’s skeptical stance on climate change policy. Trump’s team is particularly wary of one Google executive— Schmidt—who has been allied w ith Democrats. Dur ing last year’s presidential campaign, Schmidt counseled Clinton on strategy. A photo of him wearing a staff badge at her electionnight party circulated widely in the conservative media.

Plain support

TRUMP ’S adv isers, including his chief strateg ist, Stephen Bannon, have complained about Schmidt’s funding of a start-up called the Groundwork, which provided data and other technolog y for Clinton’s campaign. They also suspected Google was skewing search results in favor of Clinton, said Barr y Bennett,

ABOUT five years ago, Google began diversifying its bets. The company forged ties with the Republican-dominated House of Representatives and star t ed addressing t he beg inning of an antitr ust investigation into whether the company was using its search dominance to suppress competing travel, map and restaurant sites. Even so, Google’s Republican ties got little notice because of the company’s strong relationship with Democrats. Several Google employees joined the Obama administration whi le dozens of government bureauc rat s were employed by t he tech company. Google’s head of global public policy, Caroline Atkinson, was Obama’s former n at ion a l sec u r it y adv i ser. A former Google executive, Megan Smith, became the nation’s chief technolog y officer. D u r i n g h i s p r e s i d e n c y, Oba m a a l so re peated ly sup p or te d prop os a l s bac k e d b y Google, including net neutrality in 2015 and cable set-top box reforms last year. “Google was very much treated as the golden child by the Obama administration,” said Jeffrey Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy, which has been critical of Google for privacy policies.

BusinessMirror

Saturday, February 4, 2017

A11

briefs

YBER-SECURITY solutions developer Comodo Group Inc. announced on January 31 the release of its updated Advanced Endpoint Protection product. The company said in a statement the product “extends availability of its default-deny endpoint security to Mac OS X and Linux platforms, in addition to Microsoft Windows”. The company said it added new capabilities into the product, including enhanced protection against emerging fileless malware attacks and remote admin access and remote control. The company added it released the updated product as “the constant stream of enterprise disclosures of reputation-damaging and costly data breaches proves that both conventional and socalled next generation endpoint solutions using techniques such as machine learning are inadequate in stopping new, previously unknown malware and zero-day threats”. Citing analyst firm Gartner Inc., Comodo Group said that when 44 percent of reference customers for endpoint protection platform solutions have been successfully compromised, it is clear that the industry is failing in its primary goal: blocking malicious infections. Comodo said it believes a primary reason is that the antimalware industry stubbornly sticks to an outdated “default-allow” approach that permits unknown applications and files to run with unfettered access to system resources. “The antimalware industry is clearly broken because it has been chasing its own tail with a default-allow security approach that, by definition, is going to allow malware infections,” Comodo CEO Melih Abdulhayoglu was quoted in the statement as saying. “The only effective way to stop zero-day, unknown threats is for our industry to move to a defaultdeny security posture.”

Oliver Samson

Google offers grant for digital literacy

By Rizal Raoul Reyes brownindio

ELL Technologies Inc. recently announced the expansion of its converged systems portfolio by integrating technologies with EMC Corp., which it bought two years ago, and subsidiary VMWare Inc.

The launch of the solution in the local market reflects the leveraging of the merger between two technology behemoths and its integration with VMware Inc. The merger and integration has allowed customers to partner w ith a single vendor for end- to - end hy per - converged

infrastructure (HCI) with comprehensive service and support offerings that provide a path to assisting business growth and investment protection to modernize their data center, according to Dell Technologies. “Owning both the compute a nd storage por t ions of t he

hy per-converged stack is a game-changer for the HCI portfol io,” Ter r i McC lu re, De l l ’s Enter pr ise Strateg y Group senior ana lyst, was quoted in the statement as say ing. “It allows [Dell Technologies] to deliver more value choices for customers via investment protection, faster innovation, supply chain advantages and savings it can pass on.” Dell Technologies has rolled

This undated photo courtesy of Vivo Mobile Communications Co. Ltd. shows models using “selfie” sticks to take self-portraits at an event organized by the Chinese technology firm’s Philippines office. The company expects its Vivo V5 Plus to dominate the local market composed of consumers fond of taking selfies.

ENOVO Corp. launched its sub-brand of gaming personal computers (PC) from a declining shipment last year, as noted by the International Data Corp. (IDC). In a statement, the Beijing, China-based technology company said its PC it calls Lenovo Legion caters to “the growing community of online gamers”. “ The new gaming sub-brand offers gamers powerful gaming devices and community engagement,” the company said. “It’s a user experience designed around what they’re passionate about—the most immersive gaming experiences.” The roll out of the firm’s sub-brand PC comes as IDC said 2016 shows a 5.5-percent year-on-year decrease in traditional shipments of PCs to 101.8 million units. “The consumer market for traditional PC shipments also continued its decline, dropping by 9.5 percent for the total year 2016 amid ongoing soft demand coming from end users” across Asia/Pacific (including Japan), according to IDC. IDC added the soft demand particularly affected consumer desktops, with shipments dropping by as much as 17.7 percent in the fourth quarter. Nonetheless, Lenovo may get lucky with its stake on the gaming segment as IDC said the consumer PC market seems “to benefit from an uptake in demand for gaming PCs, which are expected to continue to grow in share in the overall devices sales in the future.” “Many vendors have increased focus and efforts to grow their gaming PCs portfolio in recent quarters, with several new gaming brands coming into the market,” IDC said. “ The gaming PC sector is seen as very lucrative by PC vendors, with gamers likely to spend much more money and renew their machines more frequently,” Maciek Gornicki, research manager for Client Devices Research at IDC Asia/ Pacific, was quoted in a statement as saying. “ This segment remains, however, highly competitive and multinational vendors are likely to face heated competition from local brands, which offer end users more customizable high-end solutions better suited to the needs of hardcore gamers.” Michael Ngan, country general manager for Lenovo Philippines, said by introducing Legion, the firm hopes to grow the local gaming community. Rizal Raoul Reyes

HINESE technology firm Vivo Mobile Communications Co. Ltd., is confident its f lagship model can dominate the loca l market for selfie-centr ic smar t phones. The firm’s optimism comes as International Data Corp. (IDC) noted that 2016 was a rollercoaster year for the smartphone market. Our Vivo V5 Plus is likely to win the hearts of a nation of selfie-lovers, with the Philippines now known as a certified selfie hot spot and with Filipinos putting a premium on selfie-friendly camera features when purchasing smartphones, the company’s Philippines office said. According to IDC, vivo remained the No. 5 vendor with 24.7 million smartphones shipped in the holiday quarter. That number was up from the 12.1 million shipped in the fourth quarter of 2015. IDC added that over the year, vivo shipped a total of 77.3 million smartphones, up 103 percent

out the solution which is an integration of PowerEdge ser vers into VxRail Appliances and VxRack Systems. According to McClure, the solution provides a major example of the synergy of the acquisition by Dell of EMC Corp., and the benefits of the companies coming together. T h is prov ides “more va lue, more c hoice a nd ma int a ined investment protection for customers,” he added.

from the 38 million in 2015. “The majority of the shipments continue to be in China, however, and much like Oppo, Vivo has been extremely aggressive with its marketing in a number of countries in Asia as it looks to extend its global reach,” IDC said. While ahead of Vivo, Oppo remains trailing Huawei in IDC’s ranking of fourth quarter 2016 shipments. Still, Vivo and the two other China brand continue to challenge the dominance of the Samsung and Apple brands. “As the two leading players continue to battle for the top spot, several Chinese vendors have solidified their position as valid contenders,” Anthony Scarsella, research manager with IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, was quoted in a statement as saying. “The top three Chinese vendors are persistently applying pressure on Samsung within China thanks to a vast portfolio of affordable, well-built devices.” Rizal Raoul Reyes

GOOGLE Corp. announced it is giving an undisclosed amount to a nationwide digital literacy program that “promotes digital inclusion among Filipinos”. In a statement on January 26, Google said the grant is expected to extend the program to cover one million Filipinos in Visayas and Mindanao. “While Internet penetration has improved over the last five years, two out of 5 Filipinos are still missing out on the huge opportunities that come with being online,” Ken Lingan, Google Philippines country manager was quoted in the statement as saying. “We want to empower them with digital know-how so that they can make the most of the Internet.”

Oliver Samson

Zadara Storage sees strong demand for enterprise Staas

STORAGE-as-a-service (Staas) provider Zadara Storage Inc. announced on January 31 record revenue in 2016. The company said its success demonstrates the alignment between the market requirement for operating expense (Opex)-based, flexible storage solutions and the firm’s cloud enterprise Staas solution. Market research has predicted that the storage-as-a-service market will grow from about 16 percent of the overall storage market in 2016, to at least 80 percent by 2023. “Market demand for enterprise storageas-a-service was exceptional in 2016,” Zadara Storage CEO Nelson Nahum was quoted in the statement as saying. “It is clear that the market is making a dramatic transition” from traditional capital expensebased storage to Opex-based Staas. Oliver Samson

PayCommerce bullish on network expansion

ENTERPRISE cross-border payments network and banking consortium PayCommerce Inc. announced on January 30 the completion of its realtime, cross-border payment, clearing and settlement testing. It is the first phase of its multicountry global roll out strategy. PayCommerce said it will continue to focus on the rapid expansion of its network, which includes more than 95 banks in 75 countries. This strategic growth increases the company’s global market share by region and accelerates the expansion of its correspondentbanking consortium and network. With the network expansion, PayCommerce said it is targeting introducing instant payments in Mexico, Grupo Cementos de Chihuahua region and the UK this year followed by Singapore, Canada and the Philippines in 2018. Oliver Samson

Samsung rolls out QLED TV

This undated photo courtesy of Lenovo Philippines Inc. shows (R) Vinson Chua, Lenovo Philippines consumer product manager, presenting the firm’s entrylevel gaming device called Legion Y520.

SAMSUNG Electronics Co. Ltd. (SECL) recently announced the roll out of its new Quantum Dot Light-Emitting Diode (QLED) TV series—Q9, Q8, and Q7— during the company’s 2017 product unveiling in Las Vegas. SECL Visual Display Business President Hyun Suk Kim said with the advent of its QLED TV, the company has been “successful in solving for past inconsistencies in the viewing experience and consumer pain points while redefining the fundamental value of TV”. SECL said picture quality remains a top priority for consumers around the world, especially as the average TV continues to increase in size. QLED TVs are capable of reproducing 100-percent color volume.

Oliver Samson

BusinessMirror

A12 Saturday, February 4, 2017

IDC Philippines unveils its top I.C.T. predictions for 2017 and beyond

DC Philippines announced its top predictions for the Philippine information and communications technology (ICT) industry for this year and beyond. In a statement on January 30, the local office of International Data Corp. (IDC) said it predicts 25 percent of the country’s top 1,000 companies will see the majority of their businesses depend on their ability to create digitally enhanced products, services and experiences by 2020. “IDC expects digital transformation [DX] will attain macroeconomic scale over the next three to four years, changing the way organizations operate and reshaping the global economy and calls this as the dawn of the ‘DX Economy,’” IDC Philippines’s statement read. “The rise of DX definitely has an incredible effect on the market,” IDC Philippines Business Operations Head Jubert Alberto was quoted in the statement as saying. “It opens massive opportunities for businesses as it helps strengthen relationships with end users, flattens organizational structures and redefines traditional industries.” IDC Philippines’s technology and industry analysts also revealed the strategic top predictions and major technology trends that are set to present opportunities and challenges to IT leaders in 2017 and beyond.

DX economy. By 2020, 25 percent of

top 1,000 companies in the Philippines will see the majority of their businesses depend on their ability to create digitally enhanced products, services, and experiences. The market dynamics are quickly changing, and the enterprise must continually improve productivity and effectiveness, while lowering costs, in order to enable a transformation that will allow it to best compete in the constantly evolving market environment. “Year 2020 will see Filipino companies level up their DX journey to a macroeconomic scale, as their ability to offer digitally transformed offerings and experiences becomes an important measure of competitiveness and success in the market,” Karen Rondon, IDC Asia/Pacific research manager for enterprise computing-networking, was quoted in the statement as saying.

Pinoy DX teams. By 2018, 25 per-

cent of Philippine organizations will have dedicated digital transformation/innovation teams. “These specialized ‘PH DX teams’ will be in charge of formulating plans both for internal and external applications of digital technology, Jan Edward Tañeca, IDC Philippines market analyst-imaging, printing, document solutions (IPDS), was quoted as saying. “These include identifying and using new technologies to improve opera-

tions, creating digital marketing strategies, developing their IT capabilities and other related initiatives.”

More strategic ICT push. By 2021,

the government will have a more strategic ICT push to enable technology adoption among Philippine organizations. Year 2016 has been a good year as far as the country’s ICT agenda is concerned. According to the latest findings of the United Nations E-Government Survey, the Philippines went up 24 notches to rank 71st out of 193 countries in e-government development. With a dedicated, centralized agency at the helm of the country’s ICT development, IDC sees that by 2021, the government will be able to lay the much-needed groundwork that would enable robust technology adoption among Philippine organizations and raise the nation’s standards to be on a par with other digital economies.

Cyber security. By

information may vary from customer data to consumer buying patterns,” said Nicolo Santos, market analyst-IPDS, IDC Philippines. “This opportunity requires a constant effort for organizations to address data privacy and security issues, and government regulations that surround the collection, storage, use and sale of consumer data.”

Hyperdisruptive marketplaces. By 2019, 40 percent of custom-

er-facing top 1,000 companies will experiment with augmented reality/ virtual reality (AR/VR) as part of their marketing efforts. The potential impact of AR/VR across industries will become so big that by 2019, IDC sees 40 percent of the Philippines’s top 1,000 companies experimenting with these technologies to create their own unique experiential marketing strategies. “Consumer brands will be compelled to think out of the box and reinvent their marketing approaches—incorporating more AR/VR elements and placing emphasis on gamification—in a bid to gain the patronage and loyalty of consumers, especially young and tech-savvy millennials,” said Sean Agapito, market analyst-Client Devices, IDC Philippines.

Customer-ecosystem-facing digital services. By 2019, 65 percent of

2018, cyber security will become a tier-1 business priority receiving fixed capital spending for 30 percent of the top 1,000 companies in the Philippines. Increasing security breaches and attacks has significantly raised interest in and awareness of the need to modernize security infrastructure in the Philippines. “In the coming years enterprises will realize that rather than reacting to global security trends, the best-run businesses try to anticipate them. Thus, they will make cyber security a core part of their overall business strategy, taking into account the existing security industry trends and evolving criminal tactics and couple those factors with the organization’s risk tolerance, security program maturity, a holistic security strategy and, most important, business targets,” said Jan Edward Tañeca, market analystIPDS, IDC Philippines.

Philippine IT organizations will create new customer-facing and ecosystem-facing services to meet the business DX needs. Customer-experience initiatives are on the rise across organizations, and as they increase the level of control customers and business-to-business (B2B) organizations have over their own experience, the scale of interactions will concurrently explode. “Failure to scale up the number of direct and indirect customers with whom an organization does business will lead to revenue shortfalls and uncompetitive cost structures,” Alon Anthony Rejano, IDC Philippines market analyst-IT Services, was quoted in the statement as saying. “Improve profitability, we expect organizations to increase their use of virtual agents or digital assistants. Intelligent assistants will use artificial intelligence (AI)/cognitive technology to automatically adjust experiences to the users’ preferences and context.”

Information-based products.

By 2020, revenue growth from information-based products will be double that of the rest of the product/service portfolio for a quarter of the top 1,000 Philippine companies. “In the Philippines companies in the telecommunications, retail and banking industries, among others, have unlocked new opportunities in creating revenue through analyzing and making sense of the aggregated customer information. Some organizations that have explored these options benefited in the form of penetrating new markets and generating new revenue streams, as the

Digitalized customer support interaction. By 2018, 60 percent

of customer support interactions will be digitalized and occur in online communities. With an increasing proportion of the Filipino population—reaching nearly half of the country’s total population in 2016—actively using social media, IDC expects more organizations to interact with customers through social and online communities. Online customer support not only help solve customer problems, it also improves brand image. Additionally, a successful community will cre-

ate brand champions or advocates and will not only recommend the product or the service to customers but will help solve customer problems in behalf of the brand. “This will make the theme of customer reciprocity strong moving forward. Also in the near future, more organizations will use IT to integrate existing customer services and support systems, like integrating pre-built connectors, mining the community for insight into customers’ behavior and proactively solve any emerging issues,” said Jerome Dominguez, market analyst-Client Devices, IDC Philippines.

Next-wave sari-sari store.

By 2020, 30 percent of Philippine sari-sari stores will evolve to become another channel for one-stop payments and remittance centers. Something unique in the Philippine retail scene will be the presence of sari-sari stores in different localities. IDC foresees a future where sari-sari stores, a Pinoy cultural phenomenon, can offer services, such as payment of utility bills, e-loading, and buying of travel tickets can also be done through these neighborhood stores. Serving as complimentary touchpoints especially in the rural areas, sari-sari stores play a pivotal role in filling the “unbanked” gap in the countryside. Organizations looking to engage more in the rural areas will have a viable channel, as in alternative to building brick-and-mortar branches, which may be cost-prohibitive to most companies.

ICT and BPO disruption.

By 2020, ICT and businessprocess outsourcing (BPO) markets will be disrupted by the pivot and policy changes from the administrations of Philippine President Duterte and US President Trump, if the industry does not take critical steps safeguarding the country’s inherent growth drivers. The BPO industry is one of the great contributors to the total ICT spending in the country. IDC maintains that the burgeoning and evolving to highervalue services around contact centers, medical transcription, software development, animation and game development, and global captive operations centers will still be very much viable in the short term, given the country’s inherent strengths. “In the longer-term view, however, this may change due to the shift in pivot and policy changes from the administrations of Mr. Duterte and Mr. Trump,” Alberto said. “This may lead to an impression of the country’s volatility and, together with issues on manpower and availability of skillsets, it may result in the industry stagnating in the near future due to lack of new investments and expansionary plans from incumbents. Far-reaching measures to address key issues are of paramount importance this year.” Oliver Samson

China’s e-commerce boom a tough road for couriers By Ryan McMorrow

New York Times News Service

EIJING—Zhang Heng barged through an exam-room door, surprising a doctor and a patient. He didn’t have time to knock. In Zhang’s business, every second counts. “You have to hand it directly to the person,” said Zhang, one of the legions of package couriers in Beijing who help power China’s online shopping boom. He spoke as he blitzed through a surgical wing, medical storeroom and patient ward delivering parcels small and large, soft and square, to doctors and nurses in an effort to ensure the right person gets the right package. “Otherwise,” Zhang said, “you may get fined.”

The Chinese e-commerce industry has been built on the backs of couriers—called kuaidi, or express delivery, in China—like Zhang. They number 1.2 million, by one survey, and online retailers like Alibaba use them to zip packages to customers by scooter or three-wheeled electric cart. Across China, the world’s largest market for package delivery, a courier shouting “kuaidi!” through a door or a phone signals your package has arrived. But for the couriers—who are largely unskilled workers from China’s interior—the work can be lowpaying and difficult. It is coming under scrutiny from labor activists and legal experts who say many couriers face punishing hours and harsh working conditions.

Nonprofits take to the Cloud to revolutionize public services By Peter Moore

ONprofit organizations (NPOs), much like their counterparts in the private sectors, are always striving for ways to deliver better services to the public within the confines of a much tighter budget. Whether conducting relief operations or gathering data for their public programs, NPOs need to adopt new approaches that streamline operations, enhance productivity and cut down costs so they can allocate more important resources to advance their advocacies. An increasing number of NPOs are turning to cloud computing for cost efficiency and increased agility to better engage the broader public and research communities. Typically with diverse locations and communities around the world, NPOs require a common platform to collaborate where data can be securely stored and shared. This is where cloud computing makes an ideal platform for NPOs. An example of a nonprofit organization in Asia that leverages cloud computing is the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). Headquartered in Los Baños in the Philippines, IRRI has staff spread across rice-growing countries in Asia and Africa. To facilitate more efficient collaboration, IRRI utilizes Amazon Web Services (AWS) to host an integrated Enterprise Resource-Planning (ERP) system in the cloud, allowing IRRI’s partners and offices worldwide to have equal comprehensive access to the organizations systems and operations around the world. Through AWS, IRRI has also been able to eliminate much of its information-technology (IT) hardware infrastructure requirements, and saved in overall technology infrastructure costs, while simplifying IT operation. More important, by turning to cloud computing, IRRI is now able to conduct projects that require huge amounts of data, such as the 3,000 Rice Genome Project (3K RGP). This project involves the sequencing of 3,024 rice varieties from 89 countries that, through analysis, can yield important traits leading to better nutritive value, climate-change tolerance and disease resistance. With the help of AWS, IRRI’s 3K RGP data is now freely available as an AWS Public Data Set so that anyone can use the on-demand computing resources to perform analysis and conduct further research, without needing to worry about the cost of storing the data or the time required to download it. This will help accelerate more innovations on rice genome varieties, creating additional opportunities for public good.

Rice, disasters

ANOTHER project launched by IRRI using the cloud-computing technology of AWS is the Philippine Rice Information System (PRiSM). The project provides satellite “snapshots” of rice-growing regions covering 7 million square kilometers of the South and Southeast Asia. Having this “rice map” allows the IRRI to monitor rice growth, assess damage from droughts, flood and typhoons, and disseminate information that helps policy-makers in local government units and even insurance companies make recommendations on how to avert or recover from disasters, optimize farming sites, pay out insurance claims, and allocate resources for the betterment of farming communities. Cloud computing has also helped NPOs engaged in disaster response. NPOs like Zooniverse, the largest crowd-source science web portal, is using AWS cloud infrastructure to host advanced data analytics, allowing the organization to develop the Planetary Response Network (PRN). Through PRN, Zooniverse takes satellite images of disaster-stricken sites around the world and analyzes big data to inform ground-based humanitarian teams in their relief and rescue efforts. Zooniverse aggregates data from 1.4 million volunteers, and over 65 full-time researchers provide analysis and recommendations that help reduce the impact of disasters. The first version of the platform was field-tested in 2014 using aerial imagery of disaster damage from Typhoon Haiyan, and was deployed after the 2015 Nepal and 2016 Ecuador earthquakes. PRN managed to assess road and building damages, and identify alternative access and egress points. Meanwhile, the open-source flood-mapping platform PetaJakarta lets 28 million citizens of Jakarta share real-time flood information during flood events, collecting data from location-enabled mobile devices as well as water-level sensing devices, and transmitting these data onto the platform for mapping . Using a variety of AWS Cloud services, the PetaJakarta platform inexpensively helps increase the monitoring capabilities across areas most affected by flooding, and is able to scale up as needed to provide continuous service even during traffic peaks, such as during the 2015 to 2016 monsoon, when 23,000 people used the PetaJakarta site, amassing 3,500 reports of flooding on social media and more than 1.6 million Twitter impressions. The PetaJakarta team is now working on a new architecture using AWS that can serve more cities, with wider social-media reach, and pull data from more sources. In addition to empowering NPOs, the general public can now benefit from the information and data that NPOs generate and collect. Large public data sets are being hosted by AWS for free, giving interested individuals easy access to public data sets such as Earth science data sets of Nasa, detailed map of human genetic variation, and a host of other data sets contained in categories touching on sciences, geography and climates, among many others. With these public data sets, AWS enables users and researchers around the world to quickly and easily process data and test ideas with elastic cloud-computing resources, fueling more innovations that deliver far-reaching benefits at a much rapid rate to more people around the world, making the world a better place. Sources (online): • Irri web site (irri.org) • Amazon web site (aws.amazon.com) • Zooniverse web site (zooniverse.org)

Li Pengbo, a courier for Best Express, retrieves packages at a pickup point in Beijing, China, on January 8. The Chinese e-commerce industry has been built on the backs of couriers—they number 1.2 million, according to one survey—and the low pay, long hours and harsh working conditions are coming under scrutiny of labor activists and legal experts. Gilles Sabrie/The New York Times

Peter Moore is managing director of the Amazon Web Services global public sector-Asia Pacific & Japan. Moore’s views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of the BusinessMirror’s.