BusinessMirror February 06, 2019

CABINET TACKLING SLOW FARM GROWTH

By Bernadette D. Nicolas

A FARMERS in Laguna hold palay ready for planting in this file photo. The Cabinet, taking note of agriculture’s sluggish growth amid concern by the President it is dragging down the entire economy, will tackle the problems of the farm sector at its meeting on Wednesday (February 6). NONIE REYES

DEPT. OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

PHILIPPINE STATISTICS AUTHORITY

2018 BANTOG DATA MEDIA AWARDS CHAMPION

@BNicolasBM

FTER the agriculture sector posted lackluster growth last year, the Cabinet is set to reassess today its programs dedicated to fisherfolk and farmers.

Budget Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno said in a text message on Tuesday that Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol will “discuss programs to improve lives of farmers and fisherfolk” while the Land Bank of the Philippines (LandBank) will “discuss [a] program to allow small farmers access to loan facilities” in today’s Cabinet meeting.

To recall, LandBank was criticized

by Piñol for failing to provide loans to small farmers.

President Duterte had also ordered LandBank last year to go back to its original mandate of helping farmers and not burden them with too many requirements that are hard to comply with.

Diokno also said last week that the President expressed concern about the agriculture sector dragging down the country’s economy. The Department of Budget and Management is also conducting a study to help the government craft a “solid” strategy to address slow farm production, he added.

The study was originally targeted to be finished in time for the Cabinet

meeting, but Diokno told BusinessMirror that it is still not finished.

“No, the statistical analysis is still a work in progress,” he said in a text message when asked if they are ready to present the study during the meeting.

The government would have been able to hit its GDP growth target of 7 percent last year if farm production had expanded by 4 percent, considering the good performance of the Services and Industry sectors in 2018, Diokno earlier said.

Diokno also belied the Department of Agriculture’s claim that a lower budget is the culprit behind the productivity woes of the sector.

BusinessMirror A broader look at today’s business

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Wednesday, February 6, 2019 Vol. 14 No. 119

PHL’s inflation woes far from over–economists 4.4% T

By Cai U. Ordinario

@caiordinario

HE inflation data released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) for January may have allowed economic managers to heave a sigh of relief, but local economists said the latest figures highlight “threats” to millions of poor Filipinos.

The PSA reported on Tuesday that the January inflation rate settled at 4.4 percent, slower than the 5.1 percent recorded in December, but higher than last year’s 3.4 percent. Excluding select food

and energy items, core inflation in January was also at 4.4 percent.

University of the Philippines School of Statistics Dean Dennis S. Mapa noted, however, that inflation for food and nonalcoholic

beverages remained high at 5.6 percent, even if it is lower than the 6.7 percent posted in December 2018.

Mapa said this will translate to a 5.1-percent inflation for the

The inflation rate for January as reported by the PSA on Tuesday‚ slower than the 5.1 percent recorded in December, but higher than last year’s 3.4 percent.

Excluding select food and energy items, core inflation in January was also at 4.4 percent

bottom 30 percent, or the poorest 30 percent of the population. The poorest Filipinos are considered very sensitive to the movements in food prices.

Continued on A2

By Elijah Felice E. Rosales @alyasjah

HE rice tariffication bill should be signed into law and sugar imports must be deregulated if the government intends to temper inflation this year, the country’s largest network of local firms said on Tuesday.

In a text message to the BusinessMirror, Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) President Maria Alegria Siba l-Limjoco sa id President Duterte should sign into law the rice tariffication bill in order to control inflation this year. The bill is now on the President’s desk awaiting his signature.

Government economists estimate prices of rice will go down P4 to P7 per kilogram once the bill is approved.

The measure will convert the country’s rice-import cap into tariffs as part of the government’s commitment to the World Trade Organization. It will also strip the National Food Authority of its power to control the volume of imported rice entering the Philippine market.

The PCCI call comes on the heels of lobbying by other groups for a veto of certain provisions of the rice tariffication bill, which they said could seriously impair the

By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo

@akosistellaBM Special to the BusinessMirror

E

XPECT more volatility in the stock market in the Year of the Earth Boar (Pig).

This was the forecast of geomancer Princess Lim-Fernandez, as the world enters the autumn and winter period in terms of feng shui cycles—as such, the Philippine economy will continue being sluggish.

“It is more damp, quieter, colder. People are lazy to go out; they’d rather stay home. When it comes to business though, it’s not such a good thing. People are more laid back, so there is a general slowdown and that started last year after summer,

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 52.2350

around July. The next six years are going to be like that. We are now in the autumn and winter cycle, so the most volatile will be the stock market, it will be the first to feel it.”

Because earth is the dominant element this year, industries related to earth will flourish in 2019, she told the BusinessMirror on the sidelines of Tuesday’s feng shui ceremony at the Luxe Duty Free outlet in Pasay City. These are media, entertainment, the “glamour industry” (e.g., skin-care products, cosmetic surgery), wellness and health (e.g, food supplements), and agriculture.

“There has been a surge in demand for organic products and natural sources; Five to six years Continued on A8

House sure it can ratify 2019 budget

T

Sugar lib

See “PCCI,” A2

BUSINESS NEWS SOURCE OF THE YEAR

‘PHL ECONOMY TO STAY SLUGGISH IN THE YEAR OF THE EARTH PIG’

operations and cash flow of local rice millers that have taken out multimillion-peso loans for such.

LIMJOCO, meanwhile, also called on the government to focus on the liberalization of the Philippine sugar industry. “[The] PCCI continues to be optimistic inflation will stabilize at below 5 percent with prices of food and nonalcoholic beverages going down. We also think the enactment of the rice tariffication bill and measures to remove the import quota on sugar, [as well as] addressing port congestion and high shipping charges, will contribute to the reining in of inflation,” Limjoco told the BusinessMirror.

PCCI Chairman George T. Barcelon argued the liberalization of sugar will contribute to government efforts to deal with inflation, as the staple is a primary input in many food items.

Barcelon added the government should “control what it can control,” such as measures on staple food items, as it has no capacity to manage domestic fuel prices that depend on the global market.

Inflation peaked at 6.7 percent in September and October of last year largely due to supply pressures and unstable crude-oil prices.

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PCCI to govt: Tweak policies to temper hike in consumer prices

T

See “Farm growth,” A8

CMMA FUND-RAISER MANILA Archbishop Luis Antonio G. Cardinal Tagle (fourth from left) makes the “heart” gesture with officials of the Catholic Mass Media Awards (CMMA) at a fund-raising dinner-concert held on February 4 at the Citystate Tower Hotel in Manila, as part of CMMA’s 40th anniversary celebration. He is joined by (from left) Benjamin V. Ramos, assistant to the CMMA acting chairman and president; Rev. Fr. Rufino C. Sescon Jr., CMMA executive director and trustee; D. Edgard A. Cabangon, CMMA acting chairman; Rev. Fr. Joselito L. Buenafe, CMMA trustee and chairman of production; and Rev. Fr. Hans Magdurulang, CMMA judges coordinator. For full details on what Tagle, CMMA honorary chairman, said, see story on page A8. NONOY LACZA

‘Murang kuryente’ bill OK’d on 3rd reading

T

HE House of Representatives has approved on third and final reading a measure seeking to reduce the cost of electricity bills down to the household level by allocating parts of the Malampaya Fund for the payment of the stranded contract costs and

stranded debts of the National Power Corp. (NPC).

House Committee on Energy Chairman Lord Allan Velasco said House Bill 8869, otherwise known as the “murang kuryente” bill, will allocate about P123 billion from the net national government share of

the Malampaya Fund to NPC. According to Velasco, the projected savings as a result of this measure is about P0.574 per kilowatt-hour, or savings of P115 per month for an average household consuming 200 kWh per month.

See “Kuryente bill,” A2

HE House of Representatives said it will stretch its session until Friday to ratify the proposed P3.757-trillion General Appropriations Act (GAA) for 2019.

In a text message, House Secretary General Roberto Maling told lawmakers that several pending measures, including the 2019 appropriations, will be approved on Friday.

“Roll call will be conducted immediately after the daily Call to Order at 3 p.m. Approval of measures on second reading and third reading, as well as the ratification of the bicameral conference committee report on the 2019 budget, are scheduled to be taken up during this period,” said Maling.

The bicameral conference committee has yet to approve a reconciled version of the 2019 budget.

The House will hold sessions until February 6 before it adjourns from February 9 to May 19 for the 2019 midterm elections.

House Appropriations Chairman Rolando Andaya Jr., meanwhile, said the 2019 GAA will be ready for President Duterte’s signature next week. Andaya, also chairman of the House contingent to the bicameral conference committee on the budget, said they will approve the bicameral version of the national budget on February 6.

“All talk of a reenacted budget is baseless. The 2019 national budget will be ready for the President’s signature next week,” he said.

Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

n JAPAN 0.4770 n UK 68.2920 n HK 6.6571 n CHINA 7.7969 n SINGAPORE 38.7127 n AUSTRALIA 37.8599 n EU 59.8091 n SAUDI ARABIA 13.9294

Source: BSP (4 February 2019 )

News

BusinessMirror

A2 Wednesday, February 6, 2019

Consumers eye challenge to tax on cement imports

A

By Elijah Felice E. Rosales

@alyasjah

CONSUMER group is firming up plans to ask the court to issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the provisional tax on cement imports with respect to hearings at the Tariff Commission.

Consumer group Laban Konsyumer Inc. is eyeing to ask the court to hold off the implementation of the safeguard duty on imported cement imposed by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). This is to ease buyers of the burden of paying higher prices for their cement requirement.

Laban Konsyumer President Victorio Mario A. Dimagiba told the Tariff Commission—as a quasijudicial body—to suspend the duty of P210 per metric ton (MT) on cement imports while it is investigating the matter.

If the Tariff Commission declines to do so, Dimagiba said his group will appeal to the court to intervene and issue a TRO halting the tax on imported cement.

He argued that consumers are already reeling from higher costs of food and fuel and can no longer afford price spikes in other basic goods.

Cement is listed as a prime commodity under the Price Act. “That is another option that Laban Konsyumer can do: filing a case in a regional trial court. We will just wait for the order of the

₧210 The per-metric-ton duty on cement imports provisionally slapped by authorities supposedly to protect the locals, but which the Laban Konsyumer wants the Tariff Commission to suspend

Tariff Commission,” Dimagiba said in a phone interview.

The Tariff Commission on Monday started probing the merits of imposing a definitive safeguard measure against imported cement as endorsed by Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez.

The tariff body will hear for a period of 120 calendar days the arguments of local manufacturers and importers on whether there is a need to protect the domestic industry. According to Tariff Commission

Chairman Marilou P. Mendoza, this is the first time the agency will look into a safeguard measure case lodged by the government.

Mendoza also said should the Tariff Commission decide in favor of local players, the safeguard measure will be in place for three to four years.

Under the DTI’s Department Administrative Order 19-02, an import duty of P210 per MT was slapped on cement. The protectionist measure will take effect for a period of 200 days starting February 9.

The DTI imposed a provisional tax on imported cement after the domestic industry complained about being adversely hit by the surge in imports from 2013 to 2017.

Market share of imports rose to 15 percent in 2017 from 0.02 percent in 2013, according to data from the DTI. Further, sales of the local industry reportedly fell 12 percent, or P11.1 billion in 2017, as manufacturers were compelled to trim prices by nearly 10 percent to compete with imports.

‘Not an inch’ of PHL territory to be given to China

By Rene Acosta

@reneacostaBM

W

HILE China is a friend of the Philippines, the country is not giving away even an inch of its territory in the West Philippine Sea to Beijing, Defense Secretary Delfin N. Lorenzana said.

Lorenzana was reacting to Beijing’s militarization of the islets and features in the South China Sea and its latest construction and operation of a maritime rescue center in the Philippines-owned Kagitingan Reef.

“While we recognize China as a bilateral partner for joint ventures and other endeavors, it is worth emphasizing that our territorial sovereignty and integrity, maritime entitlements and rights should not be compromised,” he said.

“We are not compromising them, we are not giving them away,”Lorenzana said, adding that the Philippines “continues to view the Arbitral Tribunal ruling as valid and legitimate. We have not, and we will never surrender any part of our territory.”

The defense chief spoke over the weekend before the alumni and students of the National Defense College of the Philippines based at Camp Aguinaldo, where he admitted that the contending claims in the South China Sea constitute the foremost external security challenge to the country.

As part of its response, the Philippines has issued again its call to China and the other claimant states to finalize and adopt a “valid, binding and mutually acceptable” Code of Conduct in the South China Sea. In the area of security, Lorenzana said that the military is also maintaining its

“While we recognize China as a bilateral partner for joint ventures and other endeavors, it is worth emphasizing that our territorial sovereignty and integrity, maritime entitlements and rights should not be compromised.”—Lorenzana

presence within the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) “and with its limited resources, does its best to safeguard the farthest ends of the country’s territory.”

He continued: “Since it is imperative to secure the national territory, sovereignty and sovereign rights of our country’s maritime claims and entitlements, to include the West Philippine Sea and the Philippine Rise, the AFP is steadfast

in performing this constitutional duty.”

Earlier, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin Jr. said the country will protest the presence of the maritime rescue center in the Kagitingan Reef, as he backed the belief of Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio T. Carpio that the rescue center and its operations are tantamount to Beijing’s exercise of jurisdiction and sovereignty.

Locsin said he was relying on the military and National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. for an official report that would back the protest.

However, instead of coming out with an official report, Esperon issued a statement saying that what should be protested is China’s development of man-made islands in the contested territory that have turned into massive and fortified Chinese bases.

PHL’s inflation woes far from over–economists Continued from A1

“The relatively higher food inflation brings the inflation rate of the poorest 30 percent of the households to about 5.1 percent in January 2019, using a comparable 2012 base year. Thus, threats to the welfare of the poor still persist,” Mapa told the BusinessMirror via e-mail on Tuesday.

“The poor inflation figure that I am quoting has base year 2012, so it will be comparable with the headline inflation. The poorest inflation of the PSA now has a base year 2000, so relatively higher.

Income growth and inflation rate will have an impact on poverty incidence,” he added.

Mapa noted that Regions 1, 2, 4B, 5, 7 and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) experienced higher food inflation.

PSA data showed food and nonalcoholic beverage inflation in Region 1 (Ilocos Region) was at 8.1 percent; Region 2 (Cagayan Valley), 7.8 percent; and Region 4B (Mimaropa), 6.9 percent.

Inflation in Region 5 or Bicol was at 6.3 percent; Region 7 (Central Visayas), 6.6 percent; and the ARMM, 6.6 percent.

Poorest regions, higher food inflation

MANY of the regions that recorded higher food inflation are among the poorest nationwide.

Based on the 2015 poverty data, ARMM’s poverty incidence was highest at 53.7 percent while poverty incidence in the Bicol region

was at 36 percent. Also, poverty incidence in Region 7 was at 27.6 percent while Mimaropa’s poverty rate was at 24.4 percent, still above the country’s national poverty rate of 21.6 percent in 2015.

“Much work is needed for the appropriate government agencies to bring down food prices in the regions and the fine-tuning of the social protection programs for the poor households,” Mapa said.

Ateneo Center for Economic Research and Development (Acerd) Director Alvin P. Ang said food supply remains a critical factor in the inflation outlook for this year. However, he said inflation would likely average 3.3 percent this year, “ barring unforeseen circumstances.”

“We expect inflation to fall to an average of 3.3 percent for the year barring unforeseen circumstances.

The January figure is close to our estimate of 4.5 percent. Again it is food supply that’s more critical for inflation and that we could manage than oil,” he said.

Triggers

WHILE the January inflation rate indicates that commodity prices are stabilizing, University of Asia and the Pacific School of Economics Dean Cid Terosa told the BusinessMirror that the upcoming elections could trigger an increase in prices.

Terosa added that a possible increase in world pump prices and adjustments to fuel excise taxes due to the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law could

jack up inflation in the short-term.

“Inflation can be tempered by sustained stable prices for petroleum products and agricultural commod it ies, inc lud ing r ice.

Stronger production and higher productivity across sectors in the economy can tame wild price fluctuations,” he said.

The Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) also sees the volatility in the global oil market as a factor that will likely continue to influence the outlook for inflation.

Interventions

IN a briefing on Tuesday, National Statistician Lisa Grace S. Bersales said the top 3 contributors to inflation were food and nonalcoholic beverages at 49.7 percent; housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels, 20.4 percent; and restaurant and miscellaneous goods and services, 12.6 percent.

The food and nonalcoholic beverages segment has a weight of 38.34 percent, the highest share in the basket of goods or the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Rice alone accounted for 9.59 percent, the highest share of any single commodity in the CPI. In a joint statement, the National Economic and Development Authority, Department of Finance, and the Department of Budget and Management urged the Department of Agriculture to facilitate a comprehensive crop management system to ensure adequate food supply this year.

In the fishery sector, the economic

managers said, more efforts should be geared toward sustainable management of coastal and other marine resources, particularly in addressing the decline of available fish in open waters.

“These are measures for the short term. There is a resounding consensus among members of the Economic Development Cluster that the agriculture sector needs greater attention now more than ever. The agriculture sector must work toward resiliency and be adaptive to extreme weather events,” the economic team said.

Malacañang gave assurances that the government will be vigilant in monitoring the movement of consumer prices.

From a peak of 6.7 percent in October, inflation started to ease in November last year. Despite this, the BSP said it will remain watchful of price movements and their potential impact on the next monetary policy move of the Monetary Board.

The Monetary Board will hold its first policy meeting of the year on February 7. Market analysts and economists expect the BSP to keep all monetary levers unchanged.

In their last meeting in December, the Monetary Board decided to keep rates unchanged due to expectations that inflation will stabilize in the coming years. The BSP projected inflation to average 3.18 percent and 3.04 percent for 2019 and 2020, respectively.

With reports by Bianca Cuaresma and Bernadette D. Nicolas

www.businessmirror.com.ph

TAAL LAKE STAKEHOLDERS DEBUNK I.U.C.N.REPORT ON VANISHING ‘TAWILIS’

F

ISHERMEN, vendors, restaurant owners and residents of communities around Taal Lake on Tuesday debunked the report of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) that the Sardinelia tawilis, the only freshwater sardine endemic to the unique lake, is “endangered” and accused the Switzerland-based organization of “economic sabotage.”

“We, the community of concerned fishermen, fish vendors, restaurant owners, tourist guides and professionals in Batangas, strongly condemn IUCN’s report. It is not true that tawilis is an endangered species. It is baseless, and it is causing economic sabotage and social injustice among the Filipino people,”the United Stakeholders of Taal Lake (USTL) said in a position paper e-mailed to the media.

The group aims to debunk the latest IUCN report which states that the Sardineila tawilis is seriously threatened to the point it has become “endangered”because of various threats, including overfishing, pollution and “predation with introduced fishes, resulting in continuing declines in habitat quality and number of mature individuals.”

According to the USTL, the tawilis continues to thrive in Taal Lake and is the main source of livelihood for many communities in the area.

Josie Mendoza, a 58-year-old fish vendor, and wife of a fisherman in Laurel, Batangas, said tawilis has been thriving in Taal Lake since she was a child.

“Tawilis is a natural resource of Taal Lake. Fishing of tawilis is seasonal because they disappear from the surface during cold season or from December to February. This is because they go deeper in the lake during this time to reproduce,”she said. During the hotter months of April to August, the population of tawilis returns to the surface, providing fishermen with an abundant catch, she added.

“They are so plentiful that prices become so low and we almost give

Kuryente bill. . .

Continued from A1

Such savings, he says, would mean more money spent on other essential consumer goods, such as rice for the family.

Under the bill, the net national government’s share from Malampaya Fund will be remitted to a special trust fund which will be administered by the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM).

Velasco added that one of the goals of the “Murang Kuryente” bill is also to provide substantial funds to the Philippine National Oil Co.(PNOC) for research and exploration of indigenous energy resources that will ultimately help in lowering electricity rates.

He said the bill also mandates the Joint Congressional Power Commission (JCPC) to exercise oversight function over the implementation of the bill to ensure that the amount allocated is reflected fully as a reduction in the amount of universal charges (UC) being collected from all electricity consumers nationwide from 2020 to 2022.

PCCI. . .

Continued from A1

Inflation—or the general increase in commodity prices—rose 4.4 percent in January, according to data from the Philippine Statistics Authority.

Inflation in January was faster than the 3.4 percent recorded during the same month last year, but was slower than the 5.1 percent last December. It was also still over the government’s target range of 2 percent to 4 percent.

‘Junk TRAIN’

TO manage inflation, consumer groups Laban Konsyumer Inc. and Bantay Konsyumer, Kuryente, Kalsada maintained their position that the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law should be junked.

Laban Konsyumer President Victorio Mario A. Dimagiba told the BusinessMirror

them away,” Mendoza explained.

She said the wrong report by IUCN has resulted in lower demand for tawilis. “The report was fabricated.

It was a lie,” she said.

In the same news statement, Nora Castor, another fish vendor from Tagaytay City, criticized reports that tawilis has disappeared from the lake.

“It is natural for tawilis to go deeper into the lake when the surface of the water is cooler. They will surely resurface during the hotter months,” she said. “Nobody in our area reported that tawilis is an endangered species.

The one who said it is not from here,” Castor said.

Alma Alitagtag, a fish vendor from Tanauan City, said: “When the temperature is lower, the population of tawilis lives deeper in the lake to lay eggs. Then the mature tawilis resurface again in the bigger population. The younger tawilis stay deep in the lake. This is why the population of tawilis has thrived over the past decades and continues to thrive,” she said.

“The catching of tawilis is also seasonal. Mostly, fishermen use nets to catch them during this time until February. From March to August, fishermen use pukot because they are so abundant. We almost give them away to our neighbors because of abundant catch. So what was reported on TV was far from the truth. They made the report without studying about tawilis,” Alitagtag said.

The challenged IUCN to disclose its methodology and how it conducted the research on tawilis.

“Who conducted the research in the first place? Did experts countercheck the data and information?

Did they conduct proper coordination with regulatory agencies and policy-makers? Did they use global protocols such as social preparation, identification of the problem and root causes of the problem, the definition of short-term and long-term objectives and threat analysis” the group asked. Jonathan L. Mayuga

The Senate has already approved its version of the bill. The two chambers are expected to set the bicameral committee hearing to reconcile their different versions of the proposal.

With this, Rep. Carlos Roman Uybarreta of 1-CARE party-list, one of the principal authors of the bill, said, “considering how many of the provisions of HB 8869 are essentially similar to Senate Bill 1950, it would also be possible for the Department of Energy to undertake preparatory steps for the crafting of the implementing rules and regulations, so that when the bill becomes law, it can be carried out sooner rather than later or even hit the ground running, thereby bringing immediate cost relief to all electricity consumers.”

According to the Epira law,“stranded contract costs of NPC or distribution utility” refer to the excess of the contracted cost of electricity under eligible contracts over the actual selling price of the contracted energy output of such contracts in the market. In electricity billings, the stranded cost is part of the universal charges.” The same law also defines stranded debts of NPC as “any unpaid financial obligations of NPC which have not been liquidated by the proceeds from the sales and privatization of NPC assets.

Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

the January figure is additional evidence the TRAIN law—which slapped excise taxes on fuel, sugar-sweetened beverages, among others—should be blamed for the higher prices of basic goods.

“Inflation at 4.4 percent in January is still high and above the maximum target, and yet we enjoyed lower prices of fuel, rice and electricity for much of the month. This should prompt economic managers to admit mea culpa that the tax-reform law is a bad law,” Dimagiba said.

“Res ipsa loquitor [The thing speaks for itself],” he added.

Bantay Konsyumer Convenor Louie C. Montemar, for his part, advised the government to reassess its decision to implement the imposition of the second tranche of fuel taxes.

“As before, [the] government needs to step on the brake [by] suspending the TRAINimposed tax on petroleum products. That is the culprit, all things considered,” Montemar said.

The Nation BusinessMirror

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Palace slams de Lima’s ‘insensitive’ remarks on Mindanao bombings

By Bernadette D. Nicolas @BNicolasBM

M

A L AC A ÑA NG blasted on Tuesday detained Sen. Leila M. de Lima for her “insensitive” remarks that virtually pinned the blame on the Duterte administration the recent bombings in Mindanao.

Presidential Spokesman and Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador S. Panelo said the senator is already “talking nonsense as her confinement has “dulled her senses.”

“Instead of giving words of support to the ground forces in Mindanao and consoling the bereaved loved ones of those who perished in the bombing incident, which is the least she could have done, she opted to be indifferent if not callous to the military men who were killed in the line of duty, as well as to the bravery of our soldiers who are ferociously hunting the terrorists and risking their lives in pursuing the barbaric criminals to bring them to justice,” Panelo said in a news statement.

He added the fact that the soldiers were not able to detect the terrorists who disguised themselves as churchgoers is no reason for the “criminally accused legislator to be so insensitive as to blame them for the tragedy.”

According to de Lima, if indeed the terrorists were the ones who did the bombings, this only proves that the “gangster-like antics” of the President cannot protect people against terrorists, and neither can he scare them away to end their killing spree.

De Lima said it is ironic that the bombings happened at the time when Mindanao has been under the grip of martial law, the Bangsamoro Organic Law plebiscite and the cathedral in Jolo has been walled by security forces for several months prior to the bombing.

“The first was Marawi, now Jolo and Zamboanga. His [Duterte’s] threats are nothing but empty words

to real terrorists. To put it bluntly, he is mighty in words, but inept in action. What are our intelligence assets doing, or where are the funds to run the intelligence gathering?” said the senator, who is also a staunch critic of the Duterte administration.

De Lima also questioned the “hasty pronouncement of the President that suicide bombers were behind the attacks without waiting for the results of the official investigation and validation from experts.

“His statements achieve nothing but add more confusion and fear among the people. It is highly irresponsible, especially coming from the top official of the land,” she said.

“In these bombings in Mindanao, is he again misleading the public and selling us the wrong story?,” she added.

The senator said this is her reason for supporting the call for an independent investigation for fear of cover-up and whitewash in the bombings in Jolo and Zamboanga.

But Panelo was quick to dismiss de Lima’s remarks, saying Duterte was also the same President who “crushed the dreaded and ruthless ISIS [Islamic State of Iraq and Syria] and their local counterparts in the Marawi siege.”

Panelo also reiterated that if not for the President’s martiallaw declaration in Mindanao, the bombings and killings would have been a “daily occurrence.”

“This is also the same President who has declared a war on drugs, criminality and corruption and gained headway in all those fronts by his swift action and enforcement of the law, without fear or favor,” Panelo said.

Moreover, the Palace spokesman added, de Lima has already become an “irrelevant” political entity who tries to enter into the public’s consciousness by dishing out “reckless and offensive rants against the President, reducing herself into a pathetic figure and a pitiful caricature.”

Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug • Wednesday, February 6, 2019 A3

Comelec sees lower voter turnout in Feb. 6 BOL poll as PNP, AFP vow tight security in precincts

S

By Samuel P. Medenilla @sam_medenilla & Rene Acosta @reneacostaBM

ECURITY concerns and the lower stakes in the second part of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) plebiscite on Wednesday might lead to a lower voter turnout, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said.

At a news conference on Monday, the poll body said it is now closely monitoring the situation in Lanao del Norte and North Cotabato for possible security threats, which could affect the plebiscite.

Last month, three separate explosions in the provinces of Sulu, Zamboanga City and North Cotabato led to several casualties.

Government military forces are also currently engaged with Abu Sayaff bandits in Patikul, Sulu.

“So far, the biggest concern coming into the [BOL plebiscite] elections is that there’ll be a spillover of the violence from other parts of Mindanao to the plebiscite areas,” Comelec Spokesman James B. Jimenez said.

Security recalibration

THE Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), meanwhile, recalibrated their security plans on Tuesday for today’s (Wednesday) last phase of the plebiscite for the BOL, which will be held this time in North Cotabato and Lanao del Norte.

Police and military officials are expecting that the plebiscite in the two provinces will go smoothly as they have adopted the security template that they have earlier implemented during the first phase of the BOL’s ratification in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

Still, PNP Spokesman Senior Supt. Bernard Banac said that the government is not taking chances by further recalibrating its security protocols for the final phase of the voting and was making adjustments as it see it.

On Sunday, PNP chief Director General Oscar Albayalde and other police officials inspected the PNP’s final deployment of its forces in North Cotabato and Lanao del Norte where a final briefing was also held with the Comelec and military officials. “[Albayalde] will also visit some voting centers tomorrow to ensure that the plebiscite will run smoothly, and safely,” said Banac, adding all regional directors of neighboring Police Regional Offices have been directed to provide strong border controls and checkpoints to ensure that no spoilers from other areas will disrupt the plebiscite.

In Lanao del Norte, Capt. Clint Antipala, spokesman of the Army’s 1st Infantry Division, said that soldiers have also been ready for the plebiscite following the beefing up and deployment of two brigade-size forces in the province.

“We were hoping to have a peaceful and orderly plebiscite, and we are asking the residents of the provinces to respect each other, give each other the chance to vote and respect their wishes,” he said.

While the first phase of the plebiscite in the ARMM and in Sulu have

been peaceful as government officials claimed, twin bombings, however, rocked Sulu in its aftermath, claiming the lives of 23 people and more than 90 others.

Officials however said that the “suicide bombings” at the Jolo cathedral that were believed to be carried out by an Indonesian couple were not in any way connected to the BOL, but a plain terrorism.

Sulu rejected its proposed inclusion into the coverage of the BOL with an overwhelming vote during the plebiscite.

Preparing for the worst

AS of Tuesday, the Comelec said the PNP has yet to inform them of any new “hot spots” in Mindanao.

Jimenez, however, said they preparing for the possibility of any security concern, which would compel some of the teachers, who are supposed to volunteer as Plebiscite Committee (Plebcom), from doing their election duties.

To recall, in the first part of the BOL plebiscite on January 21, some teachers in Cotabato City refused to serve as members of the Plebcom after allegedly being threatened by the members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

He said they already coordinated with the local government units in the Lanao del Norte and North Cotabato in preparing possible alternates for Plebcom members.

“We have also trained elements of the PNP [to serve as Plebcom members] just for extreme cases when we can no longer get [any other volunteers],” Jimenez said.

Dispassionate vote

ANOTHER factor, Jimenez said, which could affect voter turnout is the less controversial topic for the second plebiscite.

He explained since the more “polarizing” issues of the ratification of the BOL had already been decided upon on January 21, and that there could be a lower degree

interest from voters.

During the second plebiscite, concerned voters will be just deciding if they want their areas to be included in the soon to be created Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

“It is less of an emotional issue and more of a practical issue for the people on the ground.... A little less triggering for a lot of people. So we hope cooler heads will be in place, and we could avoid tension like [what transpired] in Cotabato City,” Jimenez said.

The Comelec issued a projected voter turnout of just 70 percent, for the second part of the plebiscite—slightly lower than its 75percent voter turnout target in the first plebiscite.

“Stakes are a little different, no longer ratification, its just inclusion, I don’t know If it will necessarily generate the same level of interest,” Jimenez said.

He said they still hope the voter turnout in the second plebiscite will go beyond their expectation just it did with the first plebiscite, where they registered a 85 percent turnout.

Smaller coverage

A TOTAL of 639,361 voters are expected to participate in the second round of the BOL plebiscite today, Wednesday.

The Comelec expects to complete its canvassing and declare the outcome of the second plebiscite four days after it is held.

It will cover the towns of Baloi, Munai, Nunungan, Pantar, Tagoloan and Tangkal in Lanao del Norte.

For North Cotabato, it will include the 67 barangays in the municipalities of Aleosan, Carmen, Kabacan, Midsayap, Pigkawayan, Pikit and Tulunan.

T his is a smaller coverage compared to the first plebiscite, which was conducted in the entire ARMM, Cotabato City and Isabela City of Basilan.

Marina opens missionary perks to 19 Roro shipping routes Government, private sector embark on PHL flag distribution project

By Lorenz S. Marasigan @lorenzmarasigan

S

HIPPING companies that take part in the Maritime Industry Authority’s (Marina) 19 new roll-on, rolloff (Roro) missionary routes are set to receive incentives from the government to upgrade the domestic shipping industry.

Luisito U. Santos, a spokesman for Marina, said the agency is seeking shipping companies to ply the listed missionary routes to generate more domestic traffic, as the regulator implements its 10-year Maritime Industry Development Plan (MIDP).

The 19 new routes are as follows:

Basco, Batanes—Currimao, Ilocos Norte;

Batangas City—San Jose, Occidental Mindoro;

San Juan, Batangas—Abra de Ilog, Occidental Mindoro;

Real, Quezon—Polillo Island, Quezon;

Lucena,Quezon—Odiongan,Romblon;

Lucena, Quezon—Buyabod, Marinduque;

Lucena,Quezon—Romblon,Romblon;

Lucena, Quezon—Masbate City;

Maasin, Southern Leyte—Ubay, Bohol;

San Narciso, Quezon—San Pascual, Masbate;

Pantao, Albay—San Pascual, Masbate;

Calbayog City, Samar—Cataingan, Masbate;

Taytay, Palawan—Cuyo, Palawan;

Cuyo, Palawan—San Jose de Buenavista, Antique;

Oslob, Cebu—Dumaguete, Negros Oriental;

Punta Engaño, Mactan Island, Cebu— Jetafe, Bohol;

Poro, Camotes, Cebu—Isabel, Leyte;

Lipata, Surigao del Norte—Dapa, Surigao del Norte; and

Siaton, Negros Oriental—Dipolog City; “We have opened these routes for interested shipping companies,” he said,

adding that his group encourages industry players to participate in this endeavor to enhance the country’s Road Roro Terminal System (RRTS), a seamless stretch of roads and ports to improve interisland transportation, enhance tourism, and expand regional markets, among others.

These routes are considered missionary because have no existing shipping service due to geographical limitations, or absence of market viability. Because of this, a shipping company which will serve a missionary route may enjoy protection of investment for five years and 50-percent discount on the regular fees of all applications and renewal of ship documents, licenses, certificates and permits.

“Once there are applicants and we have issued necessary permits, then we can start seeing service on these routes,” Santos said.

Aside from serve these routes, the regulator also encouraged industry players to propose new links to further develop the local shipping sector.

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HE Department of Education (DepEd), in partnership with Ayala Foundation Inc., Chooks-to-Go of Bounty Agro Ventures Inc. and the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP), recently distributed 163 Philippine flags to the schools division of Quezon City to kick off the #MagingMagiting Flag Campaign at the Bagong Silangan Elementary School in Quezon City.

“This [event] is very important…for the first time, in partnership with Ayala Foundation Chooksto-Go, and NHCP, we have this campaign to honor our flag by giving out new flags to our schools,” DepEd Undersecretary for External Partnerships and School Sports Tonisito M.C. Umali said.

Republic Act (RA) 8491, otherwise known as the Flag and Heraldic Code of the Philippines, states that “all public buildings, official residences, public plazas and institutions of learning every day throughout the year.”

The Schools Division of Quezon City and Ayala Foundation Inc., signed a memorandum of agree-

ment before handing out the flags to schools under the congressional districts of the said city.

NHCP Executive Director III Ludovico Badoy lauded the plan to distribute the flags first to public elementary schools nationwide, saying it will teach the students to respect the flag.

For his part, Ayala Foundation Inc. President Ruel Maranan said “we give the proper respect when we see the flag, and when we hear and sing the Lupang Hinirang.”

“We should really give it the respect and fervor it deserves,” he added.

Bounty Agro Venture Inc. President Ronald Mascariñas, Quezon City Schools Division Supt. Natividad Bayubay and Gilas Pilipinas member Kobe Paras were, likewise, present during the event.

The NCR Flag Campaign is the first of 17 on-ground flag distribution events that will be done in all 17 regions nationwide. The goal of the campaign is to distribute 10,000 flags to public schools nationwide by 2019. Claudent Mocon-Ciriaco

Bacolor mayor challenges Pineda scion for Pampanga governorship

By Ashley Manabat Correspondent

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LARK FREEPORT­—“I will deliver Pampanga to be a better Pampanga in the years to come, especially in terms of commerce, peace and order, agriculture, livelihood and not only social services.”

Thus, declared three-term Bacolor Mayor Jose Maria “Jomar” O. Hizon during the Balitaan media forum organized by the Capampangan in Media Inc. (Cami) in cooperation with the Clark Development Corp. (CDC) at the Bale Balita here last Friday.

Hizon said if elected governor, “Pampanga will be a lot better in five years in many things.” He said, “right now Pampanga is not even in the top 10 provinces in the country.”

“You will be surprised that Pampanga is not even in the top 10 most competitive provinces nationwide,” Hizon stated.

“Among the top 10 in Central Luzon is Bataan; meaning better than Pampanga.

But a lot of people know that Pampanga is a lot better than Bataan. But Pampanga is only No. 18,” the mayor said.

Based on the National Competitiveness Council , the top 10 most competi-

tive provinces in the country in 2018 were: 1. Rizal, 2. Laguna, 3. Davao del Norte, 4. Cavite, 5. Saranggani, 6. North Cotabato, 7. Sultan Kudarat, 8. South Cotabato, 9. Batangas and 10. Bataan.

Hizon said the competitiveness ranking among the local government units was rated with the participation of various government agencies, such as the Department of Trade and Industry and Department of the Interior and Local Government , as well as private organizations—both local and international.

He said the No. 1 issue in the gubernatorial race is “mismanagement.” Hizon said in governance, “you should not

concentrate on just one aspect because there is a formula for other services.”

“If you come to our plant, Pampanga’s Best, [you’ll get this weird feeling] you are not in the Philippines,” he said proudly. “It’s an entirely different institution. We can do it,” he said. “It is just a matter of good leadership,” Hizon added.

He, likewise, vowed to continue with the “good government projects” of the present administration. “Whatever is good, maintain them and we provide more ideas for Pampanga,” he said.

Hizon said the most dramatic change the Capampangans will no-

tice in his administration will be government hospitals that would be modernized just like high-end hospitals in Manila.

“Government hospitals now are like a slaughterhouse or like memorial parks. Even very poor people would not like to go there because they have poor services,” he said. “Can we not improve them? Yes, we can,” Hizon said.

The mayor said, “Election is a decision-making process in which the electorate is given an opportunity to choose a leader. If there will be no other candidate that would run against them [referring to the family of current gov-

ernor Lilia Pineda], as if there would be no election in Pampanga.” Hizon will be running against incumbent vice governor Dennis Pineda.

Hizon began his political career when he was elected barangay captain of Cabalantian, Bacolor, in 2002.

He was reelected in 2007 and became the Association of Barangay Captain president before his election as mayor of Bacolor in 2010, 2013 and 2016.

Hizon said Bacolor is a lot different now as compared when he took over as mayor with an annual projected budget then of only P59 million to the present P200 million.

A4 Wednesday, February 6, 2019 • Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug

Economy BusinessMirror

Amid PHL manufacturing decline, Neda prescribes liberalization of sugar industry

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By Cai U. Ordinario

@caiordinario

HE liberalization of the sugar industry will boost the country’s food and beverage manufacturing industry, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda).

This developed as the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Tuesday that the manufacturing sector’s Volume of Production Index contracted 10.1 percent, the first time the VoPI declined in 2018.

In a news statement, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia said efforts to liberalize would benefit the food manufacturing. PSA data showed food-manufacturing production slowed to 6 percent in 2018, from a growth of 11 percent in 2017.

“We see the need for a more liberalized regulatory environment in the sugar industry in order to bring down the domestic price of sugar, and in turn, benefit food and beverage manufacturers, as well as ordinary households,” Pernia said.

Based on the latest Monthly Integrated Survey of Selected Industries , full-year VoPI grew 7.2 percent in 2018, from a contraction of 0.5 percent in 2017.

The VoPI in December was lower than the 6.1-percent contraction posted in December 2017 and was the lowest since November 2017, when the VoPI also contracted 10.1 percent.

Pernia said that while the government

expected the decline due to the holidays, there is a need to boost manufacturing output. He added the government may look into the concerns raised by exporters and importers.

These concerns include the management of empty containers, the need for an alert status on chemical importations and the processes involving x-ray cargo inspection (particularly outside the Mindanao Container Terminal), which hamper the flow of goods in the country’s international ports.

“If found to warrant government action, the early resolution to these concerns can ease trade facilitation and would benefit the country’s manufacturing sector, particularly micro, small and medium enterprises,” Pernia said.

Pernia assured that the country’s manufacturing output will see a better performance this year on the back of the exemption of key infrastructure projects from the 2019 election spending ban.

He said the exemption would ensure continuous implementation of national infrastructure projects under the “Build, Build, Build” program and mitigate any slowdown in economic growth.

This will also have an impact on other major manufacturing items, which dragged total manufacturing output.

These were food, chemical products, tobacco, basic and fabricated metals, and machinery (except electrical).

Further, Pernia said a decline in rice prices, downward adjustment of electricity rates, and the slight appreciation of the peso may help improve consumer outlook and prop-up demand.

“Moreover, election-related spending is projected to benefit manufacturing subsectors, such as food, beverage, tobacco and printing and paper products,” Pernia said.

“However, domestic oil-price hikes and the upcoming El Niño could translate to price pass-through in manufacturing,” he warned.

The PSA data showed Value of Production Index for manufacturing further showed an annual drop of 9.3 percent in December 2018. In the same month of the previous year, VaPI also went down by 7.1 percent.

Average capacity utilization rate in December 2018 for total manufacturing was recorded at 84.3 percent. Fifty-five percent, or 11 of the 20 major industries, operated at least 80-percent capacity utilization rates.

The proportion of establishments that operated at full capacity was more than one-fourth, or 28.3 percent, of the total number of establishments in December 2018.

About 53.5 percent of the total establishments operated at 70-percent to 89-percent capacity, while almost onefifth, or 18.2 percent, operated below 70 percent capacity.

Solon sets review of govt’s concession agreement with Manila Water, Maynilad

By Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz

@joveemarie

A

MID the Duterte administration’s bid to rehabilitate Manila Bay, members of the House Committee on Metro Manila Development have agreed to conduct a thorough review of the contract between water concessionaires Manila Water and Maynilad Water Services Inc. and the Philippine government.

During last Monday’s panel hearing, Senior Deputy Minority Leader and Buhay Rep. Lito Atienza affirmed that the two water concessionaires—Manila Water and Maynilad Water Services Inc. —are responsible for the continued deterioration of the waters of Manila Bay. “We have been saying since day one that the continued degradation of Manila Bay is due to the nondelivery of the two water concessionaires, Manila Water and Maynilad Water Services Inc., of their contractual obligation to provide wastewater-treatment facilities. What is worse is they have been charging consumers for this nonexistent service for the past 21 years,” he said in a news statement. “ T his wastewater-treatment facilit y should be treating, processing and cleaning sewage from over 2 million households and commercial establishments before it is released back into the bay,” sad Atienza, also a former mayor of Manila.

According to Atienza, the bay has suffered from the lack of these facilities. Their contract with the Philippine government states that they should not only be providing water service to consumers, but sewage treatment, as well.

“They have failed to do this,” the lawmaker said.

Upon a motion by Atienza, the committee members unanimously agreed to compel the two concessionaires to submit the following documents, namely: 1) A full accounting of their collections from consumers since 1997; 2) Total amount of loans secured from the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, Jica and other funding agencies in the name of the Philippine

Groups hit Palace order empowering Duterte to OK land-reclamation deals

By Jonathan L. Mayuga

M

www.businessmirror.com.ph

@jonlmayuga

ILITANT groups on Tuesday criticized Malacañang’s move to take over the Philippine Reclamation Authority’s (PRA) newly restored powers to approve land-reclamation projects.

Sought for reaction on the recent issuance of an executive order signed by President Duterte recently, the Kalikasan-People’s Network for the Environment (KalikasanPNE) said the move reveals Duterte’s hand in promoting what it described as a destructive coastal activity.

Duterte has signed Executive Order 74 transferring the power of the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) to approve reclamation projects back to the PRA and placing the latter from the supervision of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to the Office of the President.

During a news conference prior to the launching of Battle for Manila Bay on January 27, Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu said part of the rehabilitation of Manila Bay is the reforestation of mangroves and beach forests, and a review of all approved land-reclamation projects along the 190-kilometer coastline from Cavite to Bataan. Many of the PRA-approved development projects requested by local government units through the Public-Private Partnership program involve land reclamation, also called dump-and-fill.

Land reclamation causes enormous damage to coastal ecosystems and the death of habitat-forming species like mangroves, seagrasses and corals, the group said.

“This is alarming knowing full well that there are many oligarchs close to Duterte who have interests in reclamation. Davao-based businessman Dennis Uy and San Miguel magnate Ramon Ang, known friends of Duterte and campaign finance contributors, have multibillion-peso reclamation deals across the bay,” Leon Dulce, national coordinator of Kalikasan-PNE, told the BusinessMirror.

The group noted that no new regulation was introduced in the executive order, indicating that Duterte “intends to wield the PRA in its business-as-usual mode of indiscriminately promoting reclamation projects.”

“This puts the so-called Battle for Manila Bay rehab program under question. How can you achieve the Supreme Court-mandated objective of restoring Manila Bay’s coastal ecosystems if your end game is to dump, fill, and pave them for big-ticket infrastructure and economic zones?” Dulce asked. “If the Duterte government is sincere in rehabilitating this historic water body, the current reclamation projects should be canceled and a moratorium should be imposed until a rational coastal resource management policy is put in place,” he added.

For its part, the Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) said Malacañang’s latest move has become apparent that behind the efforts to rehabilitate Manila Bay is the government’s plan to privatize it in the form of an environmentally destructive reclamation.

Republic; 3) Report on the status of completion of the construction of wastewater-treatment facilities; and 4) Total money spent on the construction of facilities related to wastewater treatment.

Atienza said representatives of Manila Water and Maynilad reported a measly 20-percent delivery at present and estimated that it will take them until 2037 to deliver fully.

“You have been collecting from all of us for the past 21 years and you have even borrowed money in the name of the Philippine government by way of sovereign guarantee—meaning if these two companies fail to pay, it is the Filipino people who will pay for it. Now you are asking us to wait another 18 years for you to deliver on your obligation?!” said Atienza.

Earlier, Atienza said President Duterte should use his executive powers to coerce compliance —so that both Manila Water Co. Inc. and Maynilad Water Services Inc.­—will finally provide adequate sewage-treatment plants.

Alarm

MEANWHILE, Atienza expressed alarm over news video clips showing thousands of people swimming in the bay.

“We saw thousands of adults and their children swimming in Manila Bay. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has been saying that they are cleaning the bay, but they have merely started removing the garbage and solid waste along the shores. But the waters still pose a health risk and would endanger people who make the mistake of thinking that it is safe to swim in. The two water concessionaires should be made to face the consequences of their continued failure,” Atienza added.

“It is horrible to see Manilans diving into the waters, believing that the waters are already clean enough to swim in. The removal of solid garbage is just the first step. But to clean the water, we have to stop the continued outflow of untreated household and commercial waste into the bay. We need wastewater-treatment facilities to do this!” he said.

House endorses food waste reduction measure to Senate

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HE House of Representatives has endorsed for Senate approval a measure to cut food waste through food donations and food waste recycling.

Voting 183 affirmative and zero negative, the lower chamber approved on third and final reading on Monday the House Bill 8873, or the proposed “Food Waste Reduction Act.” The bill seeks to adopt a system to promote, facilitate and ensure the reduction of food waste through redistribution and recycling of food surplus.

Under the bill, the establishments covered by the proposed law include supermarkets, culinary schools, food manufacturers and food establishments, such as restaurants, cafés, diners, fast-food chains or hotels.

It mandates the implementation of a National Food Surplus Campaign—through the Department of Social Welfare and Development— to raise awareness on the impact of food surplus and strategies to decrease wasted food starting at the household level.

It also establishes the linkages between food businesses, food banks and local government units to create a community-based food distribution system for the food insecure.

The measure imposes penalties—ranging from P1 million to P5 million—for selling food donations and causing edible food surplus to be unfit for human consumption.

The bill requires the education of the youth on current global and national food waste situations, ways to minimize food surplus; and the national and local food surplus prevention programs.

It also provides guidelines and standards for the collection, storage and distribution of edible food donated to food banks.

The bill said the local government unit shall enter to contract services of waste management and recycling enterprises to recycle inedible food waste into fertilizers or compost.

It said the self-sufficiency program will provide skills training in managing food banks and livelihood programs to avoid the dependence on donation solely.

Citing figures obtained from the Philippine Statistics Authority, Deputy Speaker Sharon Garin of Aambis-OWA Party-list, one of the principal authors of the proposed Food Waste Reduction Act, said a Filipino household wastes 1.676 kilograms (kg) of rice annually.

This amount of food waste represents a total of 38.507 million kg valued at P1.617 billion.

“There is a need to address our country’s lack of system when it comes to addressing food waste. For instance, food items continue to end up in dump sites instead of being repurposed as livestock feed, which can help our farmers,” Garin said.

From the proposed education-information-communication campaign to the comprehensive multisectoral approach, the Food Waste Reduction Act seeks to create a system that will effectively address the problem of food wastage in the country, she said.

She added the bill is also in line with the Sustainable Development Goal of eliminating hunger (SDG 2).

Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz

www.businessmirror.com.ph

The World BusinessMirror

Editor: Angel R. Calso • Wednesday, February 6, 2019 A5

Trump has solid US economy for SOTU

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ASHINGTON—President Donald Trump will enjoy the backdrop of a mostly solid economy as he delivers his second State of the Union (SOTU) address on Tuesday night, though questions about its sustainability linger.

Trump will likely tout the latest signs of strength: Friday’s jobs report showed that employers added the most jobs in January in nearly a year. The proportion of Americans working or looking for work reached a roughly five-year high.

And a separate report showed that factory output rose at a healthy clip in December.

Those figures, however, haven’t fully erased concerns about an array of headwinds facing the US economy this year.

Several challenges loom: Overseas growth is stumbling, led by weakness in China, the world’s second-largest economy. Europe is hamstrung by a recession in Italy and the potential for an unruly Brexit. A trade war between the US and China and higher US mortgage rates, partly engineered by the Fed-

eral Reserve, remain threats. The impact of the administration’s tax cut may fade. And a 35-day partial government shutdown will likely trim official measures of growth for the first quarter, economists say.

US businesses are defying those headwinds, for now. Many analysts attribute the economy’s current health to Trump’s tax cuts in late 2017 and a jump in government spending last year, as part of a budget deal between the administration and Congress.

“No other major economy in the world did what we did,” said Ethan Harris, global economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. “The stimulus did a very good job of covering up all the blemishes of the economy, including the risks of the trade war.”

Economic growth reached 3.8 percent last spring and summer, the

fastest six-month pace in four years.

It also accelerated job gains at a time when many economists expected hiring to slow. With the unemployment rate already low, analysts figured that companies would have fewer unemployed people to hire.

Yet, employers stepped up their hiring and drove the unemployment rate down to 3.7 percent in November, the lowest in five decades. It has since ticked up to 4 percent, partly because of government workers who were temporarily unemployed because of the shutdown.

White House officials say the good times will continue. Kevin Hassett, a top administration economist, forecasts that growth will clock in at 3 percent a year for the next decade. He predicts that the administration’s corporate tax cuts will entice businesses to invest more in machinery, software and buildings, which will make workers more productive and generate longer-term growth.

So far there is little evidence that that is happening, economists say.

After a burst of investment in the first half of last year, companies have since pulled back on spending. Some economists attribute their caution to the administration’s trade war with China.

“They’re willing to add more people—that’s good,” said Diane

IN this January 30, 2018, file photo, President Donald Trump delivers his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington. AP PHOTO/PABLO MARTINEZ MONSIVAIS

Swonk, chief economist at Grant Thornton, referring to US businesses. But “right now they’re not willing to pull the trigger and bet on building more capacity. That undermines your foundation for future growth.”

Most economists expect the impact of the tax cuts and extra government spending to fade as the year progresses and for the rate hikes the Fed has already imposed to hold back growth somewhat. Inevitably, too, a prolonged global slump would weaken the US economy, as well.

Harris forecasts that growth will slow to a 2 percent annual rate in the final three months of this year.

Economists at JPMorgan Chase expect it will be just 1.5 percent.

Exactly how the US economy is faring is harder than usual to judge because many data reports, including the quarterly figures on growth, are still delayed from the shutdown.

The government hasn’t yet said when it will release its first estimate of gross domestic product—the broadest gauge of the economy— for the final three months of 2018.

Trends that had looked alarming a month or two ago now appear benign, perhaps even supportive of growth. The stock market, having plunged nearly 20 percent late last year, rose 8 percent in January, its best monthly performance since 2015. Americans who are invested in stocks typically cut spending when market indexes fall steadily. That is now less likely to happen.

And suddenly the Fed under Chairman Jerome Powell looks like an economic ally. The central bank had raised its benchmark short-term interest rate four times last year—action that helped make mortgages and other consumer and business loans costlier. In December, the Fed’s policy-makers said they envisioned raising rates twice more this year.

But this week, the Fed held its benchmark rate steady and sent its strongest signal to date that it saw no need to raise rates in the coming months—perhaps even for the rest of the year. Its message ignited a rally on Wall Street, which cheered the prospect of continued modest borrowing rates for the near future.

At the same time, Swonk points out that home and auto sales are declining, suggesting they have peaked. A slowdown in such major purchases could weigh on growth in the coming months. AP

S. Korea reach cost-sharing Oil halts drop as traders weigh Opec US, deal for troops ahead of summit output cuts versus US stockpiles T O IL halted a decline as traders weighed output cuts from the Opec producer group and its partners against expectations for rising US crude inventories.

Futures in New York were little changed after a 1.3-percent drop on Monday. Russia curbed output by 47,000 barrels a day in January from its October baseline level, in line with the country’s pledge to Opec, Energy Minister Alexander Novak said. Meanwhile, US government data due on Wednesday is forecast to show American crude inventories rose a third week.

Crude has rallied about 20 percent this year as production cuts by the Organization of Petroleum

Exporting Countries and allies including Russia have taken effect.

Rig data signaled US shale drilling is slowing down despite record output from the nation. A battle for leadership of oil-rich Venezuela threatens further disruption to supplies.

“Both non-Opec leader Russia and Opec leader Saudi Arabia are complying with production cuts,” said Satoru Yoshida, a commodity analyst at Rakuten Securities Inc. in Tokyo. “If Venezuela’s output significantly falls, say by 1 million barrels a day for months, there would be a big impact.”

West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery traded at $54.86

a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up 30 cents, at 12:32 p.m. in Tokyo. The contract declined 70 cents to $54.56 on Monday.

Brent for April settlement climbed 30 cents to $62.81 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The contract fell 24 cents to $62.51 on Monday. The global benchmark crude was at a $7.63 premium to WTI for the same month.

Novak said Russia is following its obligations in line with an earlier announced pledge to gradually cut production by May. Still, Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih said last month that Russia’s reductions were slower than he likes, though he was certain the

country can ultimately contribute to balancing the market.

Output from Opec’s 14 current members fell by 930,000 barrels a day last month to 31.02 million with Saudi Arabia cutting deeper than it pledged, according to a Bloomberg survey of officials, analysts and ship-tracking data.

In the US, crude inventories probably increased 1.5 million barrels last week, according to a Bloomberg survey of analysts before Energy Information Administration data.

Extremely cold temperatures that hit the US last week due to the polar vortex could lead to unusual changes in crude and fuel inventories, Rakuten’s Yoshida said. Bloomberg News

Japan, Germany want to curb Brexit’s global economic impact

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OK YO —T he le ade r s of Germany and Japan said on Monday they will try to minimize the global economic impact from Britain’s upcoming departure from the European Union and pledged to defend free trade in the face of rising protectionism.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged Britain to avoid a no-deal Brexit.

Last Friday, Japan and the EU ushered in a landmark trade deal that creates one of the world’s largest free-trade areas. Combined, the two sides account for almost a third of the world’s economy.

Abe said Japan and Germany would work together to keep the global economy growing.

“In order to do so, we need to minimize the impact on the global economy from Brexit,” Abe said at a joint news conference following their meeting. “We definitely hope [for Britain] to avoid a no-deal Brexit.”

Abe told Merkel that their countries’ commitment and leadership in defending free trade is extremely important.

Merkel suggested at the news conference that it’s still possible for the EU and Britain to come to an agreement on how the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland will function after Brexit. She said, however, that London needs to come

HE US and South Korea reached a cost-sharing deal for American forces on the Korean Peninsula, relieving pressure on the seven-decade alliance after the Trump administration demanded that Seoul pay as much as 50 percent more.

The State Department said in a statement on Monday that the US reached an agreement with South Korea on the so-called Special Measures Arrangement. The statement didn’t offer details of the deal, which was struck just weeks before President Donald Trump was set to hold a second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The deal calls for South Korea to contribute about $1 billion a year and setting the terms of the agreement for a single year, Yonhap News Agency of South Korea reported, citing a diplomatic source. The new funding pact is about 18 percent more than what Seoul had paid under the previous five-year agreement.

Failure to reach a deal could have shaken the regional security balance, clouded the nuclear summit and raised the possibility of Trump

seeking to pull back American forces.

The US president has repeatedly expressed frustration with the openended deployment, saying after his first summit with Kim in June that he would “like to bring them back home, but that’s not part of the equation right now.”

“The US commitment to the security of the ROK and its people remains ironclad,” the State Department said, referring to South Korea’s formal name. The department said technical details were still being worked out.

‘Ashes and darkness’

SOON after the troop deal was announced, the State Department said in a separate statement that US nuclear envoy Stephen Biegun will travel to Pyongyang on Wednesday for talks with his counterpart Kim Hyok Chol to prepare for the next summit.

South Korea has said it paid an estimated 960 billion won ($850 million) last year, financing the construction of US military facilities and paying South Korean civilians who work at military posts. Bloomberg News

Asia greets year of the pig

IN this January 28, 2019, photo, travelers wait for their trains at a railway station in Hangzhou in east China’s Zhejiang province. The world’s largest annual migration has begun in China with millions of Chinese traveling to their hometowns to celebrate the Lunar New Year on February 5 this year, which marks the Year of the Pig on the Chinese zodiac. CHINATOPIX VIA AP GERMAN Chancellor Angela Merkel, left, speaks to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, right, at the start of their meeting at Abe’s official residence in Tokyo, Japan, on February 4, 2019. FRANCK ROBICHON/POOL PHOTO VIA AP

forward with a proposal.

The withdrawal agreement can’t be renegotiated, but questions surrounding the border arrangements could still be addressed in a declaration on the future relationship between the EU and Britain, Merkel said. “One has to be creative, and we must listen to one another,” she said.

But first, “we must hear from Great Britain how they envision that.”

Merkel also joined other European leaders in recognizing opposition leader Juan Guaido as “the legitimate interim president” of Venezuela.

Germany and several other countries in the European Union had set President Nicolas Maduro’s govern-

ment an eight-day deadline to call a new presidential election. The ultimatum expired on Sunday.

Guaido, who heads the opposition-led National Assembly, declared himself Venezuela’s legitimate ruler on January 23. He has the support of Washington and most South American nations. AP

T

HE Lunar New Year is being celebrated around Asia with lanterns, performances, decorations and food. People are bidding farewell to the year of the dog in the 12-year Chinese astrological cycle and welcoming the year of the pig with hopes of happiness and fortune.

On the eve of the New Year, people gathered for reunion dinners, gave red packets of pocket money to youngsters and lit firecrackers at midnight.

Early Tuesday, the first day of the

year of the pig, hundreds lined up outside famous temples to burn the first joss sticks of the year, expecting it to bring them good luck.

Ornaments were readied, kiosks set up and traditional dragon dancers leapt in the air. Everywhere, the color red dominated—on lanterns, clothes and signs. In homes and in shops, cute pig dolls were displayed for the festival, which is also celebrated in Vietnam and by ethnic Chinese communities across Asia. AP

A6 Wednesday, February 6, 2019 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

editorial

Good intentions not enough for agri sector

T

HE ills that have plagued the agriculture sector over the years have multiplied, and the government is now having a difficult time identifying which problem should be prioritized. Filipinos are reminded of these problems when rice prices go up due to a production shortfall, or when producers are forced to throw away their crops because traders simply stop buying them due to oversupply. This was the recent experience of some vegetable growers in the Cordillera region, who incurred losses when they threw away their produce that traders in Baguio and the Benguet Trading Post won’t buy.

In a country where many people go to sleep half-hungry (See, “Food waste, postharvest losses where millions remain hungry,” in the BusinessMirror, October 18, 2018), throwing away food is unforgivable. Some government officials tried to downplay it by saying that the losses were minimal. But how many other farmers in far-flung provinces were also forced to do the same—letting their crops rot—because they hate traders who want to buy their produce at dirt cheap prices?

One of the strategies pitched by the regional office of the Department of Agriculture to prevent oversupply is to provide farmers “timely” information that would help them rationalize their planting intentions.

(See, “DA to boost aid to upland veggie growers in crop production programming,” in the BusinessMirror, January 15, 2019). But the regional office can only encourage farmers to heed their advice.

There is no law that compels farmers to follow government’s guidance concerning the crops they should plant.

But there is a law that calls on the national government to implement a more comprehensive strategy for agriculture. Republic Act (RA) 8435, or the Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act of 1997, mandates the establishment of so-called Strategic Agriculture and Fisheries Development Zones. It is within these SAFDZs that the national government can program agriculture production, taking into account the suitability of areas for particular crops or agricultural ventures, such as pig farming.

The SAFDZs would have allowed the government to rationalize the allocation of the agriculture budget for particular areas or provinces. The goal of RA 8435, specifically the setting up of SAFDZs, is to ensure the efficient use of land for agriculture and agro-industrial development.

But the government failed to do what the law mandates, practically rendering RA 8435 useless.

Perhaps it is time for the government to revisit RA 8435 and other laws pertinent to the agriculture sector, such as RA 10000, or the Agri-Agra Reform Credit Act of 2009. Based on the sector’s experience, Congress appears to have wasted its time because these laws did little to uplift the lives of farmers and fishermen. What is the use of enacting measures for the agriculture sector if these laws are not funded or implemented?

Thus far, the changes in the agriculture front are being done on a piecemeal basis. If government wants to overhaul its food-production strategy, it could start with an inventory of existing laws to determine which ones need to be amended to suit the requirements of the times.

Filipino taxpayers have paid for the crafting of these laws, and it would be an insult to the Filipino people if the government disregards these well-intended legislations.

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My father’s remarkable life Susan V. Ople

SCRIBBLES

L

AST Sunday, my father would have been 92 years old. I miss him still.

I miss opening the door to his bedroom and seeing him reading every newspaper, while my mom scratched his back. That was their daily morning routine.

I miss him petting our dogs with the same gentle hand that would pat the heads of his grandkids.

I miss him talking to people, never at them or over them, listening intently to every word because their time was as precious as his.

I miss Christmas trips to his humble home in Hagonoy, Bulacan, where, like just-getting-by Santa Claus, he would hand out envelopes containing P20 to P50 to town-mates lining up outside the gate, oblivious to inflation rates and the ages of his recipients. He just wanted to make them happy.

I miss him working at his desk, head bowed and a frown across his forehead, writing in longhand a speech to be delivered the next day.

I miss hearing him talk shop with journalists before dishing out information that would give their by-lines prominence the next day.

I miss counting the number of press releases that he wrote in preparation for his weekly press conference.

Blas Fajardo Ople of Hagonoy led such a remarkable life that when peo-

ple who knew him gather around, it seems like he had just recently passed on. Has it really been 16 years since he left us?

For a college dropout like Ka Blas to have served the country during successive administrations from Marcos to Arroyo, as labor minister, constitutional commissioner, senator, senate president and secretary of foreign affairs, while maintaining a weekly column for Panorama Magazine and Manila Bulletin, affirms the statesmanship that he possessed.

With a prophetic eye, he saw the need to establish a welfare fund for overseas workers, thus establishing the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, a trust fund that has grown to P19 billion with welfare attachés posted all over the world.

Millennials never had the chance to know him, but they see his name emblazoned on the top of the POEA Building at the corner of Edsa and Ortigas Avenue. Labor Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas had named the edifice after my father, her former boss and mentor. Most millennials associate the Ople name with my

nephew, Carlo, a top “vlogger” and digital expert who has stupendous following among sneaker fans.

They have no recollection of Ka Blas as labor minister during the Marcos administration when the Philippine overseas employment program opened the doors to opportunities for Filipinos to work abroad, including members of their family.

Their parents may not have even met each other when the Labor Code of the Philippines, authored principally

by Ka Blas, set labor standards that protect our labor force. That the policies, programs and services he started continue to be relevant until today proves that leadership has no expiration date.

Commission on Audit Chairman Michael Aguinaldo, in his speech as guest of honor during the Blas F. Ople Day celebration in Malolos, Bulacan, said: “Opportunities for Filipinos to work abroad, the financial advancement of families that benefit from remittances from abroad, and economic benefits derived from the sacrifices and contributions of our OFWs are also the fruits of the hard work and vision of Ka Blas in his desire to provide jobs to our workers.”

Bulacan Gov. Wilhelmino SyAlvarado, in flawless, eloquent Tagalog, expressed the province’s appreciation that one of Bulacan’s favorite sons continues to influence the national life despite humble beginnings.

There is an innate courage in a true leader’s veins that make him or her rise above all the pettiness in the world. My dad never had a malicious streak; he always wished people well. He kept his eyes on the prize

—the fulfillment of his mandate as senator and Cabinet official, making sure that every administration benefitted from the vision that he generously shared.

My brother, Dionisio Ople, shared his own sentiments about our father (we grew up calling him “Amang”) through our family Viber group: “Amang had such a fighting spirit that even after the EDSA revolt, he wasted no time writing columns, leading the opposition as a senatorial candidate, then finally winning a seat in the Senate in 1992 until he became secretary of foreign affairs.

What was also remarkable was that he never forgot his family throughout his career.”

We remain close as siblings, as protective as can be of our 90-year old mom, and deeply mindful of the good memories left behind by Ka Blas. And when an OFW comes to anyone of us for help or advice, we remember him as we pause to listen, hoping to be of help.

My brother, Toti, continues to serve my father’s constituents in Bulacan as board member of the First District. He filed his candidacy as second nominee of Alay Buhay partylist. My nephew, Kris Blas Ople San Jose, my sister’s eldest son, will also be running as councilor of the town of Hagonoy on the ticket of Charo Alvarado, our governor’s highly capable daughter. We do what we humbly can to live up to my father’s inspiring example. His good reputation is our best inheritance.

Dear reader, if you have lost a parent, then you know how it feels to be whole but never complete. I feel that way about my dad. I miss him and always will.

How Bezos lost out to billionaire Ambani in poll-bound India

By P. R. Sanjai & Saritha Rai Bloomberg Opinion

A

MAZON.COM and Wal-Mart Inc.’s plans to dominate India’s online retail landscape have been ambushed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s political priorities heading into a tightening election.

The vote, which must be held by May, has increased the influence of local retailers that lobbied for growth-crimping curbs on the US giants. On cue, India this month rolled out constraints on foreign ecommerce players, including Amazon and Wal-Mart-owned Flipkart, which together control 70 percent of its online shopping. The tighter rules, aimed at protecting small traders, may end up benefiting the country’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani, who is building a homegrown competitor.

Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party is still licking its wounds after being trounced in three key recent state polls and a year ago fighting an unexpectedly close contest in Gujarat —Modi’s home state. Among small

businesses, which are a traditional support base, the government’s popularity has been eroded by 2016’s surprise cash ban and the subsequent chaotic rollout of a new sales tax.

The rules now bar Amazon and Flipkart Online Services Pvt. Ltd. from owning inventory, and require them to treat all vendors equally, throttling discounts and exclusives —a huge advantage to homegrown companies, including Ambani’s new venture. His Reliance Industries Ltd., which owns India’s largest retail chain and third-biggest telecom network, has the potential to evolve into a local version of Amazon or Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., UBS AG said last month.

“Whether serendipitous or not,

India’s tightened regulatory regime for online retailers is a huge win for Reliance with its new retail ambitions,” said Sanchit Vir Gogia, chief executive officer of consultancy Greyhound Research. “This could be a field leveler for them.”

Ambani wants his consumer offerings—covering telecom, fiber-tohome broadband, media and entertainment, and retail—to contribute nearly as much to the conglomerate’s overall earnings as its bread-andbutter energy and petrochemicals businesses.

He’s fresh from disrupting the nation’s telecom sector, which he entered in 2016 with services so cheap that rivals have quit, merged or gone bankrupt, including a carrier controlled by his younger brother.

Unique model

ON the back of that success, he last year unveiled plans to create a model that combines Reliance’s consumer offerings into a “hybrid, online-tooffline new commerce platform.”

Analysts at UBS predict Reliance

can gain market share in new-age retail given its starting point of 280 million telecom subscribers, a broadband offering, extensive content and a web of 10,000 stores nation-wide.

The company also wants to partner with India’s 12 million mom-andpop shops to create distribution and delivery centers. Reliance resembles Alibaba in its ability to offer bundled services in a fast-growing, fragmented market with low online penetration, according to UBS. “In retail/e-commerce, despite competition from well-funded global companies, Reliance’s wide footprint of physical stores along with its omni-channel focus, subscriber reach and regulations governing foreign e-commerce entities,” could help it gain market share, analysts including Mumbai-based Amit Rustagi wrote in a January 24 report.

Representatives for Reliance, Wal-Mart, Amazon and India’s commerce ministry didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Meanwhile, the US retail giants See “Bezos,” A7

Opinion BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Russia’s growth looks too good to be true Leonid Bershidsky

BLOOMBERG

R

USSIA’S official statistics agency is displaying a feverish optimism under its new boss, Pavel Malkov, who took office in December. On Monday, the agency reported that in 2018, the country’s economy grew the fastest since 2012. Coming on top of a recent data revision that eliminated the 2016 recession, the recent numbers seem increasingly fishy, including to some government economists.

On December 20, President Vladimir Putin was asked at a news conference why Russia’s economic statistics looked rosier than people’s actual lives would suggest and whether the data could be trusted. Putin admitted the statistics were “not perfect” and needed to be improved. A mere four days later, Alexander Surinov, head of Rosstat, the official statistical agency, was asked to resign and Malkov, a former Economics Ministry official, was appointed in his place. Finance Minister Anton Siluanov commented on December 24 that the quality of Rosstat’s data was “terrible” in some areas, such as people’s incomes (which went down in four of the previous six months) and inflation (which was higher than government forecasts for most of the year).

Before Malkov’s first week in office was over, Rosstat issued a major revision to 2016 and 2017 gross domestic product data. It corrected the 0.2-percent drop in output in 2016 to growth of 0.3 percent, asserting that the recession that followed a steep decline of oil prices in the fall of 2014 and the introduction of Western sanctions against Russia only lasted a year. Rosstat also corrected upward the 2017 growth number, to 1.6 percent from 1.5 percent.

On Monday, Rosstat released 2018 growth data: 2.3 percent for the year. That beat every one of the 36 forecasts tracked by Bloomberg. The highest of those was 2.1 percent, and it was an outlier; 1.7 percent was the consensus.

The likely reason is a jump in Rosstat’s estimate of the increase in construction activity. The agency initially estimated a rise for January through November at 0.5 percent, but a revised estimate in January put the increase at 5.3 percent for the full year. The jump fixed an earlier incongruity in Russian statistics: Rosstat had reported a large increase in investment in the third quarter of the year that didn’t quite dovetail with stagnating construction.

There’s an innocuous explanation for the construction jump: Novatek PJSC finished its $27-billion liquefied natural gas facility on the Yamal Peninsula in northwest Siberia, and a large part of

Bezos. . .

continued from A6

are being curbed in a market where they have committed billion of dollars and, till recently, looked to have already won.

Both will have to cut back on cashback payments and discounts—a sore point for smaller sellers, who accuse the pair of predatory pricing.

To meet rules, the companies have also removed thousands of products from virtual shelves and must redraw contacts with merchants and brands, as well as brace for a full-fledged ecommerce policy that is under review.

Flipkart’s losses may rise 20-25 percent following the changes, according to Morgan Stanley, which said in a report that it didn’t think Wal-Mart was considering walking away from the investment. The world’s largest retailer is “financially and strategically invested in India,” analysts including Simeon Gutman wrote, adding that it may make sense to exit if Wal-Mart can’t see a longterm path to profits.

the project was likely registered by Rosstat in 2018 even if the actual construction took place earlier. But the credibility of Rosstat’s numbers is questionable.

On January 2, Alexei Kudrin, who heads Russia’s budget watchdog, the Accounting Chamber, and who served as finance minister before Siluanov, tweeted that Russia’s GDP likely increased by 1.5 percent in 2018. Even after Rosstat released its optimistic estimate of 2.3 percent on Monday, another prominent government economist, Andrei Klepach of the state development bank VEB, also estimated the 2018 economic expansion at 1.5 percent. “I’m not inclined to trust anything else for now,” Klepach told the state-owned news agency TASS. Whether the pessimism of Kudrin and Klepach is justified, Rosstat has a clear incentive to massage numbers. Putin’s approval is down, and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev’s numbers are suffering even more. For the first time since 2013, a plurality of Russians say the country is going down the wrong path. As Putin looks for ways to boost his popularity and reduce the potential for mass protest, firing Medvedev and reshuffling the unpopular cabinet, and perhaps even starting corruption investigations against some top economic officials, look like attractive options.

Putin likes statistics and is proud of his ability to keep a lot of economic data in his head. Giving him good numbers to juggle could be a matter of survival for the government.

The recent revisions and the 2018 growth estimate are nothing if not bold. Even if the seeds were planted under Surinov, Malkov, the young careerist who succeeded him, won’t find it easy to release disappointing data after this burst of optimism. He’s promised to modernize Rosstat and bring it fully into the digital age. But “Garbage In, Garbage Out” is one of the key rules of our data-driven era.

In today’s Russia, dealing in garbage could be better for self-preservation than recording faithfully what’s going on in the economy.

In any case, economists following Russia should watch Rosstat’s hands especially carefully now.

Other setbacks WAL-MART has suffered other setbacks: During the course of its Flipkart acquisition and soon after, it lost the cofounders of its new purchase.

Their know-how and connections would have helped the US retailer better navigate this latest regulatory wrinkle.

Reliance will probably use the opportunity posed by the government’s tighter rules to make a “grand entry” into e-commerce, said Praveen Khandelwal, national secretary-general for the Confederation of All India Traders, a lobbying group that had threatened political repercussions if the February 1 rollout was delayed.

Ambani had last month mapped out the beginnings of his strategy, rolling out a shopping platform to 1.2 million store-owners in western India. As the initiative expands, the company will enlist more neighborhood shops as distribution and delivery centers for products that will be available on its mobile platform, people familiar with the plans said at the time.

Wednesday, February 6, 2019 A7

Zimbabwe lesson for Venezuela: Fixing broken states is hard

By Antony Sguazzin & Brian Latham Bloomberg Opinion

S

IMUKAI TABVURA knew nothing other than Robert Mugabe’s strongman rule in Zimbabwe until his ousting little more than a year ago. The promise of change that accompanied the end of Mugabe’s near-four-decade reign has long since withered for the used clothes seller.

“It’s like a year of being able to speak freely never happened,” said Tabvura, 41, sitting on a homemade wooden stool at her secondhand stall on a broken sidewalk in the capital, Harare. “One day we were able to support who we wanted and the next they came back like before with guns and whips and batons.”

The bitter reality of Zimbabwe’s political transition offers lessons for countries such as Venezuela, where Nicolas Maduro is clinging to power in the face of mass protests and economic collapse. For if you think it’s easy to fix a broken state after the decades-long reign of one brutal leader, Zimbabwe shows that’s not the case.

“They say one thing, talk of freedom and openness, let it happen for a while, then with no warning, it’s back to the old tactics they always used,” said Tabvura.

Hollow pledges

WHEN Mugabe was deposed by the military in late 2017, citizens spilled onto the streets in celebration. Yet pledges of economic recovery and political freedom made by their new leader, Emmerson Mnangagwa, have come to nothing.

Fifteen months into his rule the economy is in the worst state since 2008. Fuel prices are the world’s highest, basic goods are scarce and Mnangagwa has presided over the most brutal suppression of urban protests since independence in 1980.

Mugabe, now 95 and in ill health, has left a legacy of a dysfunctional economy and a ruling party at war with itself.

It could all have been so different.

When Mugabe, the schoolteacher

who led a guerrilla army in the 1970s, spoke after winning elections at independence, he preached reconciliation with the white minority that had ruled the nation since 1896.

He took over a country that, like Venezuela, was blessed with resources. Zimbabwe produced grain surpluses, tobacco rivaling the quality of that produced in Virginia, had Africa’s second-largest industrial sector and a functional road and rail network, a rarity on the continent.

Where Venezuela boasted oil, Zimbabwe’s potential was boosted by platinum and chrome reserves second only to South Africa and a host of other metal and mineral deposits.

“It had a phenomenal agricultural industry and had Zimbabwe kept that pace of development and growth you would probably have seen it develop into a significantly powerful neighbor for South Africa,” said Aditi Lalbahadur, a researcher at the South African Institute of International Affairs.

Currency crisis

MNANGAGWA has adopted the mantra of “Zimbabwe is open for business” and has attempted to lure investment from the west as well as the country’s traditional partners, Russia and China. But his attempts have been stymied by a currency crisis that’s triggered a resurgence of inflation and is causing many of the few remaining businesses to close.

Complicating his job is resistance from within the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front. Many of its leaders, some of them influential members of the military, are opposed to changing the status quo.

In addition to being distrustful of the west, which the party blames for helping to orchestrate last month’s fuel-price riots, some in the leadership benefit from preferential access to hard currency, control of the lucrative fuel-import trade and opportunities to smuggle diamonds, party officials said, asking not to be named discussing sensitive political matters.

Mnangagwa, who appointed former armed forces leader Constantino Chiwenga as his deputy, was caught unaware as soldiers, or men in military uniform, killed six people in August and 12 last month when they fired live ammunition, the officials said. Both times the president condemned the use of excessive force but hasn’t followed through by punishing the perpetrators.

Mnangagwa’s allies blame Chiwenga and other military officials for the violence. Repeated calls to Chiwenga’s office have gone unanswered, and he hasn’t spoken publicly about the issue.

Mugabe turned a blind eye to the activities of military leaders who operated money-making schemes under his rule, including securing one of the world’s biggest diamond fields in eastern Zimbabwe and spiriting away most of its output.

Economic and political reform would end such operations, but the current situation isn’t sustainable.

Zimbabwe abandoned its currency in 2009 after inflation reached 500 billion percent and now mainly uses the dollar. Hard currency is scarce with little foreign exchange coming in after Mugabe’s violent land-reform program decimated the farming industry and threats of nationalization, or local control, halted mining investment.

The issuing of so-called bond notes, securities the government insists are tied to the dollar but aren’t accepted outside the country, has created a black market that’s stoked inflation. Up to a quarter of the population has left the country.

The crocodile

MNANGAGWA’S Oxford-trained finance minister, Mthuli Ncube, faces the choice of paying off $2 billion in arrears that need to be settled before the country can win new loans from multilateral lenders or purchase essential imports such as gasoline and wheat. Talks are ongoing to secure a $1.2-billion loan from South Africa, but it doesn’t have cash to spare.

As in Venezuela, the increasingly desperate situation is fanning unrest —teachers on Tuesday began a strike following earlier industrial action by state doctors—and confronting the leadership with hard choices. Mnangagwa can purge his opponents from the government and risk a coup, or he can stick with the status quo and face further protests and a deepening economic crisis.

After 25 years of turmoil, “the problems in Zimbabwe are longterm systemic,” said Lalbahadur.

“Zimbabwe’s pressing concern is an economic one, but it is intertwined with a political one.”

THE conundrum the former spy chief, known as the crocodile, faces is that Chiwenga led the coup that put him in power and the military ultimately guarantees his position. Even so, that means his trips to Davos and New York to kick start an investment drive and win support from lenders such at the International Monetary Fund have achieved little.

“The international community is not convinced that Zimbabwe has changed,” Lalbahadur said.

Mnangagwa himself faces credibility problems when he speaks of openness and chastises the military.

He was minister of state security in the mid-1980s when a military crackdown saw an estimated 20,000 people from the Ndebele minority killed.

And in 2002 a United Nations panel urged that he be slapped with sanctions because of his alleged involvement in looting in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the Zimbabwean army had been deployed.

Fanning unrest

Brexit or not, Britain’s real economic threat is here to stay

By Tara Patel & Lucy Meakin Bloomberg Opinion

I

N the relentless political drama of Brexit, the closure of a small ball-bearing factory 95 miles (152 kilometers) west of London barely registered outside the local community.

The loss of the Stonehouse plant will cost 185 jobs, hardly the thousands some companies say are under threat because of the upheaval from leaving the European Union. Nor did the December announcement come with the kind of political noise surrounding Japanese carmaker Nissan Motor Co.’s recent decision to scrap plans to build a model in the United Kingdom.

By ending manufacturing at the site in 2021, though, Swedish owner SKF AB highlighted a dangerous undercurrent in the British economy that exists regardless of what happens with the divorce from the EU: the country’s productivity. And uncertainty about Brexit has made companies cautious about investing in the automation that might help boost it.

The problem has been on the radar of politicians, executives and central bank policy-makers for a while, but it’s now becoming more urgent. Businesses are looking to a future outside the common European market as Prime Minister Theresa May tries to get her Brexit deal through Parliament, and they face a stark choice: modernize or die.

It’s not that the country isn’t working hard enough, more that it’s not working smart enough. On average, French workers toiled for 10 percent fewer hours in 2017, yet they produced more while they did so.

That’s aggravating an already dismal standing among peers. Indeed, SKF said it’s shuttering Stonehouse and moving production to sites in Italy and France, where the company can “make better use of more mod-

ern machines and manufacturing technologies.”

Data compiled by the International Federation of Robotics, an industry group that champions the deployment of automation equipment for manufacturing, shows that the UK is falling behind. By one measure called robot density—the number of automated machines per 10,000 employees—the country ranks 22 in the world, bang in line with the average. Germany is third, underscoring the scale of challenge facing the ambitions of Brexit supporters to boost the UK’s global standing.

The damage caused by that shortfall can be seen in the UK’s productivity record, said Ram Ramamoorthy, assistant professor at the Edinburgh Centre for Robotics.

“If the UK wants to be competitive with peers that are investing in modern technology, then we have to do that too,” he said. “We’re not at a point of no return, but it would take a sustained effort to turn things around and that won’t happen overnight.”

Britain is home to some of the weakest growth in output per hour worked among Group of Seven nations. Between 2010 and 2015, it near flatlined at 0.2 percent a year, far below its long-term average of 2.4 percent from 1970 to 2007 and lagging that of France and Germany. That’s particularly troubling because consulting firm McKinsey estimates about 90 percent of future economic growth will need to come from improvements in productivity just to keep pace with historical growth rates.

“Some damage to the economy can’t be undone even if Britain does stay in the EU. The difference between our pre-referendum potential GDP forecast and how we think trend GDP has evolved since the vote…is 1.4 percent. We think Brexit can explain about a third of that with the remainder reflecting the UK’s persistent [and persistently surprising] productivity weakness,” said Dan Hanson of Bloomberg Economics.

In part, it’s down to Britain’s more flexible labor market. Following the global financial crisis, UK companies went on a hiring spree fueled by easy access to millions of cheap workers primarily from the EU’s poorer eastern members such as Poland.

Not only did that create an investment-weak recovery, with spending falling in areas like equipment, but one that could prove unsustainable should May’s government ultimately succeed in its Brexit goal of curbing the freedom of workers to settle in the UK. The pro-Brexit argument suggests productivity might benefit because companies will no longer be able to rely on cheap labor and be forced to invest in robots and smarter working.

“Productivity is arguably still the No. 1 issue for the UK over the medium term,” said Dean Turner, economist at UBS Wealth Management. “That’s where the focus of government and industrial policy really needs to be if the UK is to offset some of the possible negative impacts of leaving the EU.” People aren’t the only thing the economy stands at risk of cutting off.

Foreign-owned businesses have, on average, productivity that is double that of domestically oriented firms.

That underscores the importance of openness to trade and overseas investment, according to the Bank of England’s chief economist, Andy Haldane.

The Bank of England has slashed its forecasts for business investment to zero for 2018. Haldane has likened the situation to companies simply pressing the “pause button.”

A new start might just be the impetus firms and the government need, though, according to Benjamin Craig, who specializes in the tax related to research and development at international business performance consultancy Ayming.

“We are lagging far behind our main competitors France and Germany, a dangerous position to be in ahead of Brexit if we want to remain a competitive economy,” he said.

“However, following Brexit, it’s possible that we could see a shake-up in the R&D space as we gain more independence over measures.”

Whatever happens, it looks too late for Stonehouse. In the 1930s and then World War II, the factory’s making was its location out of range of Luftwaffe bombers yet on transport routes. Now its major client, Rolls Royce, is phasing out its use of Stonehouse’s ball bearings in favor of others made in SKF’s more modern and flexible Italian and French plants.

SKF’s strategy is to consolidate its 80 or so global production sites and Brexit wasn’t to blame, said spokesman Theo Kjellberg. The company opened a fully-automated production line in Valenciennes, France, on January 21 to make components for airplane engine maker Safran.

Employees at the Stonehouse plant long feared they weren’t a priority, according to Nick Bailey, regional officer of the Unite labor union.

“They say lots of the tooling and machinery is quite old,” he said.

“Without investment, how can you attract new work?” During talks with staff about the plan to close the site, SKF executives said the workload will decline by 40 percent, according to Bailey. “It’s like being left to wilt on the vine.”

2nd Front Page BusinessMirror

A8 Wednesday, February 6, 2019

Tagle urges media workers: Fight online abuse of children

M

ANILA Archbishop Luis Antonio G. Cardinal Tagle called for vigilance against the sexual exploitation of children online, urging mass-media workers to counter this growing menace by promoting gospel values in social media.

Tagle gave a special message at the “Dinner with the Cardinal: Sharing a Moment of Grace,” a fundraising dinner-concert hosted by the Catholic Mass Media Awards (CMMA) on Monday (February 4) at Citystate Tower Hotel in Ermita, Manila, as part of its 40th anniversary celebration.

The event was attended by project supporters and sponsors, CMMA judges and members of the board of trustees headed by D. Edgard A. Cabangon, acting chairman, officers and staff.

Leading the featured artists in the concert were top Filipino soprano Rachelle Gerodias and her husband, premier South Korean baritone Byeong-in Park; and two well-known church-based singing

groups, namely One Voice Choir of Santo Niño de Paz Greenbelt Chapel in Makati City and the Light Side Movement Choir of San Felipe Neri Parish in Mandaluyong City.

Tagle said he was dismayed to hear a report at an interfaith alliance conference he attended in Abu Dhabi that the Philippines is listed among countries where online exploitation of children is widespread.

“The Philippines is named as one of the top producers of such horrible materials, with Cebu known as the center of online exploitation of children,” the Cardinal lamented, adding, “In two years, we will be celebrating the 500th year of the coming of Christianity to the Philippines

“In two years, we will be celebrating the 500th year of the coming of Christianity to the Philippines through Cebu, but now Cebu is known not as the cradle of Christianity but as the center of online exploitation of children.”—Tagle

through Cebu, but now Cebu is known not as the cradle of Christianity but as the center of online exploitation of children.”

While admitting that modern information and communication technology has brought about benefits for mankind, Tagle said that social media “in the wrong hands would lead to dire consequences.”

For the CMMA, he said, the challenge is “how to infuse social media with gospel values, how to make the family a caring abode for children, how to make social communication a vessel of graces and andinstrument of love.”

In his welcome remarks, Cabangon, acting chairman of the CMMA, said the organization is “blessed to be an instrument of giving kindness to others. Proceeds of the

dinner –concert will be used to fund the holding of a soup kitchen for low-income families, where gifts will also be given away.

He said Ambassador Antonio L. Cabangon Chua, who headed the CMMA from 1999 to his passing in 2016 as chairman and president, “must be happy and grateful, for that is what he taught us, to share our blessings with others.”

In a light departure from his serious topic, Cardinal Tagle delighted guests when he rendered two songs in a surprise number for the evening. Fathers Jojo Buenafe, chairman of Production, and Hans Magdurulang, judges coordinator, also sang some duet numbers.

The CMMA was established in 1978 by Jaime L. Cardinal Sin, then-archbishop of Manila, as the means by which the Church “pays tribute to those who serve God through the mass media.”

It is considered the longestrunning and most prestigious awards body today, with thousands of t he countr y’s bestknown mass-media practitioners having received its Rock award the in the fields of print, radio, television, advertising, cinema, music and the Internet.

Soc-med rules for now, but legislation to follow

By Samuel P. Medenilla

T

@sam_medenilla

HE Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Monday said it is pushing for legislation that will finally institutionalize regulations for social-media use

during election campaign.

In a press conference, Comelec SpokesmanJames B. Jimenez said this is part of their advocacy to further level the playing field among the election candidates.

He noted in a previous interview that in the past elections,

NORTHEAST MONSOON AFFECTING EXTREME NORTHERN LUZON as of 4:00 pm - February 5, 2019

some candidates were able to take advantage of social media to promote themselves, since it was unregulated back then.

“We asked the Senate to craft laws on this, but they said we will study it some more so they might not be able to do it right

now,” Jimenez said.

While waiting for a law on socialmedia campaigns, Jimenez said they hope their newly issued guidelines governing such under Comelec Resolution (CR) 10488 will at least minimize its abuse by some candidates.

“This is not to say that this is going to be easy.... This has never been done before, and Comelec is going to be first government institution to even try to do this,” Jimenez said.

He noted that among the challenges they will face in enforcing CR 10488 is dealing with so-called social-media influencers, who are not operating legitimately.

“These are the people who do it on the side. Perhaps without formal arrangements. Those are probably going to be more challenging to spot, but they are not going to be impossible to detect,” Jimenez said.

The poll official stressed the importance of spotting these “guerrilla” media influencers so they could appropriately be included in the Statement of Contribution and Expenditures (Soce) of the candidates, who benefited from their services.

The Comelec is scheduled to start the Soce monitoring during the start of the campaign period for the May 13 midterm polls. For national candidates, this will be on February 12, and for local candidates, on March 29.

Prior to the start of the campaign period for the national candidates, Jimenez said they already informed local representatives of social-media firms like Facebook about their new social-media guidelines.

“We already spoke with them, and they are aware of the burdens we have placed on them,” Jimenez said.

He admitted their current guidelines for social media is still far from perfect, and will still undergo adjustments.

“The fact that these regulations are imperfect should not be taken as a signal by the people or by the concerned individuals to take them lightly.... We will be fighting for the implementation of these rules throughout the entire campaign,” Jimenez said.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

‘PHL ECONOMY TO STAY SLUGGISH IN THE YEAR OF THE EARTH PIG’

Continued from A1

DUTY Free Philippines Corp. celebrates the Chinese New Year 2019 with a dragon dance inside their newly opened premier outlet, Luxe Duty Free, at the Mall of Asia complex. NONIE REYES

ago, people were not willing to pay an extra P100 for a tray of organic eggs, but now they are. The energies have been shifting since last year.”

As the year’s dominant element is earth, while the Pig is ruled by the water element, 2019 is bound to be a year of conflicts. “In general, people have to keep open lines of communication to lessen the chances of misunderstanding,” she advised. When raising issues or commenting, do it in a gentle, friendlier tone. “You may have the best intentions, but if delivered in a bad way, then it doesn’t achieve what you want.”

When mixing earth and water, we get mud, Lim-Fernandez said, in explaining the conflict in the year and the animal’s elements.

“Our view might be muddied,” she stressed, “so do not believe the first thing that is told to you; do your own research and make background checks. People will have a limited view this year, but we need to have more foresight to prepare for the next few years.”

Businesses that won’t be so lucky are largely ruled by the unfavorable elements this year, which are water and metal. Such businesses include travel and tourism, the hospitality industry (e.g., hotels), transportation and the mining industry.

However, Lim-Fernandez encourages CEOs in these industries not to take this negatively.

“From a business standpoint, they can assess their existing rules and regulations, their polices and maybe they can see how they can streamline some of their operations. Even if the top figure [i.e., revenue] doesn’t significantly increase, if they are able to streamline their operations, it will also positively affect the bottom line.” This way, they will be able to prepare their businesses for the boom cycles when the metal and water elements rule

Farm growth. . .

Continued from A1

Citing historical data from previous administrations, Diokno said the farm sector has already shown that it has the potential to grow by 4 percent even though the increase in spending for the sector was consistently flat.

Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority indicated that the Agriculture, Hunting, Fishery and Forestry sector grew by 0.8 percent in 2018, slower than the 4 percent recorded in 2017. In contrast, Industry expanded by 6.8 percent, while Services rose by 6.6 percent last year.

In terms of share to GDP last year, the farm sector contributed the least as it accounted for only 6.8 percent.

The country’s economy expanded by 6.2 percent in 2018.

Philippine economy was buoyed by the Services sector, which accounted for 48.3 percent of economic growth, followed by Industry with 28.6 percent.

again, she stressed.

She encouraged self-reflection, especially for those whose businesses are not expected to do so well in the Pig Year. “It’s important to know your core, whether it’s in the business or the social setting.

You know these are people who will give you honest feedback, and who will help you lift that muddied view. But first you have to identify who they are.… When there’s a long weekend coming up, instead of going out [on vacation], go on a retreat or recollection, or engage in some activity that involves selfrealization. Ask yourself these three questions: 1) What matters to me the most? 2) What makes me happy? and 3) What is my core?

Who is my core? Who belongs to my core? You will be surprised by the answers you will get.”

New premier duty-free outlet

LUXE Duty Free, which opened last October, is the new premier outlet of the Duty Free Philippines Corp. (DFPC). It primarily targets foreign tourists and tour groups who will be visiting the Mall of Asia complex. The outlet has an extensive line up of popular luxury fashion brands like Coach, Bally, Longchamp, Michael Kors and famous fragrance and cosmetic brands such as Chanel, Estee Lauder, La Mer, La Prairie, Clarins, Mac, Dior, Lancome, Laneige, Bobbi Brown, Tom Ford, Jo Malone, Sulwhasoo, Shiseido, as well a limited array of select premier liquor brands.

DFPC COO Vicente Angala recently said the state-run retail agency is targeting sales of some $220 million this year, with the opening of more duty-free outlets in international airports in the country. (See, “Duty Free sets $220-million sales goal this year,” in the BusinessMirror online of, January 25, 2019.)

Spending ban exemption MEANWHILE, Diokno said their memorandum to the President requesting exemption of certain infrastructure projects from election spending ban “is still being finalized.”

After the memorandum is submitted to the President, economic managers are hoping that Duterte will then ask the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to exempt at least the 75 big-ticket projects to avoid delays in the government’s massive infrastructure program.

In line with the law, the Comelec is banning the release, disbursement or expenditures of public funds as well as the construction of public works and delivery of materials from March 29 to May 12.

Yet another crimp on the infrastructure program: the government is currently operating under a reenacted budget, at least for the first quarter of the year, due to Congress’ failure to approve the 2019 national budget before the end of 2018. At least P500 billion worth of big-ticket projects is targeted to start this first quarter.

Companies BusinessMirror

Editor: Efleda P. Campos

Wednesday, February 6, 2019

B1

Mislatel 3rd telco franchise up for Senate vote on Feb. 6

By Butch Fernandez @butchfBM

& Lorenz S. Marasigan @lorenzmarasigan

S

ENATORS are set to vote on Wednesday on House Resolution 23 seeking the transfer of ownership of Mindanao Islamic Telephone Co. Inc. (Mislatel) to a consortium recently named by the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) and the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) as the third telco.

The resolution, if approved, will pave the way for the transfer of Mislatel’s ownership to the consortium owned by Davao-based businessman Dennis Uy’s Udenna Corp., Chelsea Logistics Holdings Corp. and stateowned China Telecom.

Sen. Grace Poe, who chairs the Senate committee tasked to review franchise applications, confirmed that Mislatel’s franchise application would be submitted for plenary voting on the February 6 session.

“As chair, I sponsored it. It will still go through a vote. The reason why we did this is because this is the mandate of the Senate. I cannot decide on it as chairman [alone]. It has to be the collective wisdom of the body,” Poe said.

The senator, however, did not rule out the possibility that Mislatel’s franchise, if approved, “could still be questioned in courts.”

She clarified that the Senate panel “took out anything that pertains to calling Mislatel as a new major player or third telco [as] we are treating it as a regular franchise because later on, someone might go to the court and say Congress recognized Mislatel as the third telco.” Poe conceded that even if the Senate gives the green light for Mislatel to continue operating, interested parties are not precluded to avail themselves of legal remedies in the courts, explaining that she sponsored the Mislatel franchise “because of the public’s desperation” to have a new player that

promises better telco services. She added that she felt it would be “unfair” not to present it on the floor to allow senators to debate on the issue.

“We are all looking forward to using a fast Internet service,” Poe said in Filipino. “It’s for the national interest that I’m doing this.”

Poe warned that Mislatel also risks losing more than P25 billion in performance bond “should they mess up” with their commitments in the first year of their operation. Poe further clarified that the resolution does not in any way preclude Congress from altering, modifying, amending or repealing Mislatel’s franchise granted under Republic Act 8627 “should it fail to make good its commitments regarding coverage and Internet speed.” She added “it does not also mean an automatic renewal of its franchise that is set to expire in 2023.”

‘Non sequitur’

IN a related development, Eliseo M. Rio Jr., DICT chief, on Tuesday called the argument against the capability of third telco-designate Mislatel to improve Philippine Internet as a logically flawed claim.

His statement came on the heels of an online news report that seems to infer that China Telecom Corp. Ltd. allegedly has no capability to deliver quality Internet services in the Philippines, as China lags behind countries such as South Korea, Japan and Singa-

pore in terms of Internet speeds.

“This argument is non sequitur, at the very least,” Rio said.

He explained that if he were to follow the reasoning of the article, then Internet quality in the Philippines should have been on a par with Japan and Singapore by now, given that PLDT Inc.’s foreign partner is NTT of Japan, while Globe Telecom Inc.’s foreign investor is Singtel of Singapore.

“Both of these countries are ranked in the top 10 in Internet speed worldwide. Our Internet speed will improve based on the commitments of our local telcos, not on who their foreign partners are,” Rio added.

This, he said, is precisely the reason his group championed the highest committed level of service model for the selection of the new major player (NMP), and not the regular procurement scheme of an auction.

‘Stick to the law’

MEANWHILE, senators cautioned third telco applicant Mislatel to stick to the law to avert a repeat of the aborted national broadband ZTE deal.

This even as Sen. Panfilo M. Lacson Sr. said on Tuesday it is up to the Court to render a verdict on Mislatel’s bid to challenge the Smart-Globe duopoly.

Asked if Congress should require Mislatel to reapply for a new franchise after it was deemed revoked based on issues raised by Senate Minority Leader Franklin M. Drilon citing failure to comply with conditions, Lacson said he would rather leave it for the judiciary to decide.

“My view is, whether Mislatel’s franchise has been revoked or not is for the Court to interpret.

Nevertheless, Senator Drilon has evoked a healthy discussion on the issue at hand,” Lacson told the BusinessMirror.

At the same time, Sen. Francis Pangilinan reminded Mislatel to just follow the law to stay out of legal entanglements in doing business as third telco provider.

“Mislatel should be mindful that if it seeks to operate unhampered by possible lawsuits in the future, it should comply with all legal and constitutional requirements to establish its franchise operations,” Pangilinan said in a separate text message to the

BusinessMirror Recalling the scuttled North Rail and ZTE NBN contracts, Pangilinan said these aborted deals “should serve as a warning to Mislatel and all other investors to keep all transactions above board.”

Mislatel—a group led by Udenna Corp. and China Telecom Corp.

Ltd.—won the selection process in November, after two hopefuls failed to comply with the requirements on different counts. Based on its offer, Mislatel will cover roughly 37 percent of the whole Philippines with a minimum Internet speed of 27 Mbps through a P150-billion capital and operational expenditures budget during its first year of operation. Its five-year commitment entails P257 billion in total money spent, which should provide for an 84-percent coverage with a minimum Internet speed of 55 Mbps.

“As the NMP, Mislatel Consortium has committed Internet speeds that would bring us on a par with Singapore in five years. It is a commitment backed by a hefty performance bond of around P25.7 billion if it fails to deliver on its commitment,” Rio said. Under the terms of the selection process, parties will have to post a performance bond—among other securities — equivalent to 10 percent of its total investment to ensure that it will deliver on its commitments to the government.

“Globe and Smart never gave such a commitment backed by a performance bond in their more than 20 years of operation. Their foreign partners won’t back them on this unlike that of Mislatel’s,” Rio said.

Currently, Mislatel’s fate is hanging by a thread, after lawmakers questioned the validity of its congressional franchise due to its inactivity.

The Senate has yet to vote on the legitimacy of its franchise.

However, it continues to finish the completion of the post-qualification requirements of the auction.

It has until February 17 to submit all the documents that the NTC has required from it based on the terms of reference. Once completed, the regulator may then award Mislatel its own certificate of public convenience and necessity and a swathe of radio frequencies, both of which will allow it to operate telco services across the Philippines.

Edukasyon portal gets $10-million new investment from Gobi-Core PHL Fund

By Roderick L. Abad @rodrik_28 Contributor

A

CADEMIC portal provider Edukasyon has received a new round of investment from both local and foreign venture capitalists to help bankroll its expansion plan.

“Unfortunately, we’re not releasing the amount to the public,” the company said through text message on Tuesday when pressed by the BusinessMirror.

The local youth platform, however, bared the undisclosed value of capitalization will come from the recently launched $10-million Philippine Fund from Gobi Partners, a Shanghai and Kuala Lumpur-based venture capital, and homegrown Core Capital.

This brings them onboard, together with Edukasyon’s Asian and European investors, including

Mustard Seed, KSR Ventures and French Partners.

“We are excited to partner with Gobi-Core,” said Henry Motte-Muñoz, CEO and founder of Edukasyon, Their alliance, he said, leverages on their “experience and network in Asia Pacific alongside Philippinespecific expertise.”

“These will prove invaluable as we expand our product offering, and grow our reach nationwide,” he said.

Edukasyon is the leading onestop online channel for gen Z Filipino youth, aged 13 to 23 years old.

Despite spending over $13 billion on education, this age group of students in the Philippines is faced with a fundamentally inefficient system where only 15 percent of them will get into higher education and find a job at graduation.

As a result, 25 percent of the young populace in the country is either unemployed or under-

employed. Hence, informed decision-making and proper support is imperative to ensure the students’ success.

This is where Edukasyon comes in to guide them and ensure that they do not only get into college, but also achieve their desired careers. “ E du k a s y o n ’s d e d i c a t i o n through education access is an important topic to address in the country,” said Carlo Delantar of Core Capital.

“Working with their passionate team, together with Core Capital, we can impact and create opportunities for millions of Filipinos,” he added.

Initially serving a small segment of senior high schools in Metro Manila in 2015, Edukasyon has since expanded nationwide to related verticals.

In 2018 alone, it reached more than 10 million student visitors, connecting them for free to over

10,000 colleges, technical-vocational schools, review centers, online education providers and foreign universities.

It, likewise, opened last year offices in Central Luzon and Mindanao, as well as started exploring various partnerships with other institutions seeking to empower the youth, including Asus, FWD, Ayala Malls, Cebu Pacific, and with high-impact projects like Investing in Young Pinays, a partnership with the Australian government.

Edukasyon aims to further develop both its user- and client-base outside Metro Manila, when in fact by 2020, it aims to become the goto online youth platform for every gen Z Filipino by developing an ecosystem of relevant services and solidifying its presence nationwide.

“Through our investment, we aim to boost Edukasyon’s mission to reach all students nationwide,” Delantar said.

2 multilateral agencies invest in AC Energy

By Lenie Lectura

@llectura

F

OLLOWING the $225 million worth of green bonds raised last week, AC Energy Inc. announced investments from two large multilateral agencies last Monday night.

The power arm of conglomerate Ayala Corp. said the International Finance Corp. (IFC) provided an investment of $75 million.

IFC’s investment raises AC Energy’s five-year green bonds to $300 million. Last January 30, AC Energy raised $225 million. The five-year bonds carry a coupon rate of 4.75 percent per annum, and will mature in five years. It was listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange (SGX-ST).

AC Energy’s wholly owned unit AC Energy Finance International Ltd. issued the bonds, which were guaranteed by the former.

Moreover, Asian Development Bank (ADB) invested $20 million in AC Energy’s maiden climate-bond issuances.

This, after AC Energy completed a $110-million private placement of 10-year bonds with a coupon rate of 5.25 percent. The ADB is an anchor investor in the 10-year bonds that will also be listed on SGX-ST. Both the five-year and 10-year bonds, totaling $410 million, are the first Climate Bond certified, publicly listed green bond in Southeast Asia. The certification provides assurance that the proceeds will be used to finance projects and assets that are consistent with delivering a low-carbon and climate-resilient economy. Proceeds will be used for AC Energy’s renewables expansion around the region including the Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam.

“AC Energy’s inaugural public placement of green bond opens the

door to a wider investor base and enables our renewable-energy investments. It also crystallizes our commitment to sustainable growth,” AC Energy President Eric Francia said.

Director General of ADB’s Private Sector Operations Department Michael Barrow said the green bond will contribute to Asean’s target of drawing 23 percent of its energy mix from modern, clean and sustainable renewable sources by 2025.

“AC Energy aspires to be a regional leader in renewable energy in Southeast Asia, and ADB is delighted to support the Ayala Group’s efforts to crowd in other investors,” Barrow said.

IFC, meanwhile, said its partnership with the Ayala group successfully mobilized substantial international investment in the public placement of AC Energy’s five-year bond.

“This demonstrates the excellent potential of the green-bond asset class as a tool for mobilizing international institutional capital into infrastructure assets, and we look forward to expanding our support of such issuances across Asia, advancing the integration of regional power and financial markets,” IFC’s Director for East Asia and the Pacific Vivek Pathak said.

AC Energy said its green bond framework sets out well-defined guidelines for the use of proceeds for renewable- energy projects, with comprehensive monitoring and reporting commitments.

In 2018, AC Energy generated 2,800 GWh of attributable energy, of which 48 percent was from renewable sources. AC Energy’s 2025 goal is to reach 5 GW of renewableenergy capacity, with renewables contributing at least 50 percent of total energy output.

ABS-CBN counters GMA claim of TV ratings dominance in Jan

A

BS-CBN Corp. claimed on Tuesday to have dominated the nationwide ratings war in January, after recording an average audience share of 45 percent during the month, a 15-point lead over competitor GMA Network Inc.’s 30 percent.

Citing data from ratings provider Kantar Media, the Lopez-led company said it also fared better than the competition in Metro Manila, where it scored 44 percent versus GMA’s 23 percent.

It, likewise, claimed to have higher viewership in Mega Manila, GMA’s bailiwick, with a 37-percent share as opposed to the Gozon-led network’s 28-percent score.

Among all time blocks, ABS-CBN gained the highest viewership in prime time with an average audience share of 50 percent, 21 points higher than that of GMA’s.

The prime-time block is the most important part of the day when most Filipinos watch TV and

advertisers put a larger chunk of their investment in to reach more consumers effectively.

It also fared batter than the competitor in the morning block, where it scored 37 percent versus GMA’s 27 percent; noontime block with 42 percent versus the competitor’s 31 percent; and afternoon block, where it cornered 44 percent of the Philippine households, as opposed to GMA’s 33 percent.

The Lopez-led broadcaster also attracted more viewers than GMA in other areas. It won the ratings game in Total Luzon with an average totalday audience share of 40 percent, versus GMA’s 33 percent; in Total Visayas with 54 percent versus GMA’s 25 percent; and in Total Mindanao with 55 percent, versus GMA’s 26 percent. Kantar Media uses a nationwide panel size of 2,610 urban and rural homes that represent 100 percent of the total Philippine TV viewing population. GMA bases its ratings from Nielsen’s monthly and annual consumer reports. Lorenz S. Marasigan

PCC wants Congress to set regulatory framework for SPSB

T

HE Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) sees the need to establish a regulatory framework before lawmakers act on Solar Para sa Bayan (SPSB) Corp.’s franchise application to construct, install, establish, operate and maintain distributable power technologies (DPTs) and mini-grid systems.

“The PCC is of the position that there is a need to establish a regulatory framework for the generation, transmission, distribution of electric power through DPTs and mini-grid systems that will ensure competitive neutrality and fair competition in the market,” it said in a position paper submitted to the Senate.

The framework, it said, is a prerequisite to the grant of a franchise “to avoid potential competition concerns.”

Considering that DPTs and mini-grid systems are “defined for the first time in a piece of

legislation” and not only to a specific entity, the PCC said there is a need to define these based on a broader regulatory framework rather than on the terms of a specific franchise.

“Otherwise, it would result in a situation where a franchise is allowed to shape the market in which the franchisee will operate, giving the franchisee undue advantage against potential competitors,” it noted.

The PCC said this framework should be competitively neutral, one that will apply to all similarly entitled entities and activities, and not just SPSB. “Considering that this is an important emerging market, it is imperative to provide a level playing field and this includes not giving competitive advantage to any market participant.”

The PCC is suggesting either the passage of law or the promulgation of rules. Lenie Lectura

B2

Wednesday, February 6, 2019

Companies BusinessMirror

Vista Land receives recognition from International Finance Awards

V

By VG Cabuag

@villygc

ILLAR-LED property developer Vista Land and Lifescapes Inc. was awarded as the Most Innovative Community Developer during the sixth International Finance Awards 2018 in Thailand.

“The year 2018 saw Vista Land being recognized by several major award-giving bodies both in the Philippines and abroad. The Most Innovative Community Developer

award conferred to us by the International Finance Awards is a testament to the innovations we are doing on our Communicities,” Vista Land Chief Financial Officer and Head of

Investor Relations Brian N. Edang said during the awarding ceremony held late last month.

“Recognitions like this are the propulsion the company needs to keep going and to keep growing,” he said.

With its over four decades of experience, Vista Land has a track record in building what it called a “communicity” model—a development with homes surrounded by features including retail complexes, leisure amenities, office centers, school campuses and places of remembrance and worship.

As of September 2018, the company has built almost half a million homes in projects located across 47

provinces in 145 cities and municipalities all over the Philippines.

Its commercial leasing portfolio has grown to more than 1 million square meters in gross floor area.

Vista Land said net income for the three quarters of 2018 grew 16 percent to P8.3 billion from the previous year’s P7.14 billion.

Consolidated revenues for the nine-month period also grew 16 percent to P31 billion from last year’s P26.9 billion.

Real-estate sales also posted a 16-percent increase to P24.2 billion from last year’s P20.8 billion.

The company is expecting to grow its income between 15 percent to 17 percent in 2018.

Europe stocks rise on earnings, US futures drift

E

UROPEAN stocks advanced on Tuesday as strong results from oil giant BP gave some direction to otherwise listless markets during a week in which much of Asia is on holiday. US equity futures and most government bonds drifted.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose for the sixth day in a row, even as chip suppliers Infineon Technologies and AMS issued warnings about future growth. BP spurred energy shares as it joined Big Oil peers with an earnings beat. Futures for the S&P 500 Index fluctuated in a tight range in the wake of Monday’s rally. Australian shares jumped the most in more than two years as financial stocks rallied after the results of a yearlong inquiry into misconduct in the industry.

Japanese equities nudged higher.

The relative calm in markets belies an undercurrent of uncertainty as trade talks between the US and China remain unresolved and America lurches toward another government shutdown. HSBC Holdings Plc. analysts said that signals from the Treasuries yield curve suggest volatility ahead, while it seems corporate results are no longer beating estimates in the

numbers they once were.

In Australia, an index of financial stocks advanced to the highest since November after a Royal Commission report stopped short of demanding a structural overhaul of the scandal-plagued industry, or tighter lending rules that would threaten profits. The Aussie dollar reversed a slide prompted by disappointing retail sales data after the central bank refrained from adopting a dovish tilt as it left interest rates unchanged.

Asian markets closed on Tuesday: China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Pakistan.

Futures on the S&P 500 Index fell less than 0.05 percent as of 8:45 a.m. London time, the largest fall in a week. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 0.5 percent, reaching the highest in almost 12 weeks.

The UK’s FTSE 100 Index jumped 0.7 percent, hitting the highest in more than 12 weeks with its sixth consecutive advance. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.3 percent to the highest in almost four months. The MSCI Emerging Market Index gained 0.1 percent.

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose less than 0.05 percent to

Wal-Mart’s new sick pay plan isn’t good enough for US senator

U

NITED States Senator Bernie Sanders took aim at Wal-Mart Inc. again on Monday, this time to criticize its plan to offer 48 hours of paid sick leave to some employees for not going far enough.

In a tweet, the former presidential candidate, who is considering a second run for the Democratic nomination in 2020, described the move as “a small step forward, but not nearly good enough.”

Earlier on Monday, Sanders and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said they’ll introduce legislation barring companies from buying back their own stock unless they first increase workers’ pay and benefits. Writing in a New York Times opinion piece, the senators said their plan would require companies to implement actions such as a $15-an-hour minimum wage or offering seven days of paid sick leave. They pointed to recent incidents of companies, including Wal-Mart and Wells Fargo & Co. repurchasing billions of dollars in shares at about the same time they cut jobs. Bloombrg News

the highest in more than a week.

The euro decreased 0.2 percent to $1.1412, the weakest in more than a week. The British pound dipped less than 0.05 percent to $1.3036, the weakest in two weeks. The Japanese yen fell less than 0.05 percent to 109.90 per dollar, the weakest in more than five weeks.

The yield on 10-year Treasuries gained one basis point to 2.73

MUTUAL FUNDS

percent, the highest in more than a week. Germany’s 10-year yield rose one basis point to 0.19 percent. Britain’s 10-year yield increased less than one basis point to 1.279 percent, the highest in more than a week.

Gold declined less than 0.05 percent to $1,312.24 an ounce, the weakest in a week. West Texas Intermediate crude declined 0.2 percent to $54.45 a barrel. Bloomberg News

February 4, 2019

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

PER SHARE RETURN* RETURN STOCK FUNDS ALFM GROWTH FUND, INC * 271.6 -8.28% 5.31% 4.21% 7.68% ATRAM ALPHA OPPORTUNITY FUND, INC.* 1.5392 -6.96% 14.15% 4.84% 6.83% ATRAM PHILIPPINE EQUITY OPPORTUNITY FUND, INC.* 4.2141 -9.53% 7.26% 2.65% 7.97% CLIMBS SHARE CAPITAL EQUITY INVESTMENT FUND CORP.* 0.9668 -3.41% N.A. N.A. 8.57% FIRST METRO CONSUMER FUND ON MSCI PHILS. IMI, INC.* 0.8912 N.A. N.A. N.A. 8.59% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN EQUITY FUND,INC.* 5.6594 -6.76% 5% 3.51% 7.37% MBG EQUITY INVESTMENT FUND, INC. * 123.35 2.69% N.A. N.A. 5.92% ONE WEALTHY NATION FUND, INC.* 0.9033 -9.58% -2.57% N.A. 8.52% PAMI EQUITY INDEX FUND, INC.* 53.515 -6.85% 6.74% N.A. 8.76% PHILAM STRATEGIC GROWTH FUND, INC.* 555.34 -7.22% 5.11% 3.45% 7.89% PHILEQUITY DIVIDEND YIELD FUND, INC.* 1.3447 -5.11% 6.78% N.A. 7.23% PHILEQUITY FUND, INC.* 39.5125 -5.36% 7.7% 6.13% 7.86% PHILEQUITY MSCI PHILIPPINE INDEX FUND, INC.* **** 1.0631 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. PHILEQUITY PSE INDEX FUND INC.* 5.4054 -6.55% 7.67% 6.14% 9.01% PHILIPPINE STOCK INDEX FUND CORP.* 902.94 -6.33% 7.54% 6.19% 8.99% SOLDIVO STRATEGIC GROWTH FUND, INC. * 0.9223 -6.62% 4.65% N.A. 7.09% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY PHILIPPINE EQUITY FUND, INC.* 4.3751 -6.21% 7.23% 4.6% 7.79% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY PHILIPPINE STOCK INDEX FUND, INC.* 1.0392 -6.73% 7.39% N.A. 8.9% UNITED FUND, INC.* 3.7618 -3.56% 8.47% 5.04% 7.45% EXCHANGE TRADED FUND FIRST METRO PHIL. EQUITY EXCHANGE TRADED FUND, INC.* ***^ 120.7381 -6.02% 8.71% 7.32% 9.02% ATRAM ASIAPLUS EQUITY FUND, INC.** $0.9994 -15.8% 8.15% 1.7% 7.57% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY WORLD VOYAGER FUND, INC.* $1.2084 -9.67% N.A. N.A. 9.35% BALANCED FUNDS PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES ATRAM DYNAMIC ALLOCATION FUND, INC.* 1.7451 -6.83% 1.56% 0.12% 5.69% ATRAM PHILIPPINE BALANCED FUND, INC.* 2.3241 -6.06% 4.15% 2.05% 5.2% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN BALANCED FUND INC.* 2.6912 -3.73% 2.15% 0.01% 5.79% GREPALIFE BALANCED FUND CORPORATION* 1.375 -6.68% N.A. N.A. 5.42% NCM MUTUAL FUND OF THE PHILS., INC* 1.9275 -3.99% 3.51% 2.95% 4.58% PAMI HORIZON FUND, INC.* 3.6694 -7.47% 2.04% 1.98% 3.97% PHILAM FUND, INC.* 16.6272 -6.31% 2.36% 2.03% 4.52% SOLIDARITAS FUND, INC.* 2.1731 -4.01% 3.79% 3.8% 4.86% SUN LIFE OF CANADA PROSPERITY BALANCED FUND, INC.* 3.8605 -4.88% 3.74% 2.86% 5.73% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DYNAMIC FUND, INC.* 0.9775 -5.13% 3.29% N.A. 6.05% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY SECURITIES COCOLIFE DOLLAR FUND BUILDER, INC.* $0.03567 -0.64% 0.23% 1.92% 1.19% PAMI ASIA BALANCED FUND, INC.* $0.9733 -11.74% 5.2% 0.17% 3.96% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR ADVANTAGE FUND, INC.* $3.5336 -7.11% 6.1% 2.28% 6.81% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR WELLSPRING FUND, INC.* $1.0556 -7.5% N.A. N.A. 4.51% BOND FUNDS PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES ALFM PESO BOND FUND, INC.* 344.89 2.14% 2.12% 2.1% 0.44% ATRAM CORPORATE BOND FUND, INC.* ^^ 1.8708 -0.84% -0.29% -0.2% 0.62% COCOLIFE FIXED INCOME FUND, INC.* 2.9839 5.4% 5.33% 5.26% 0.44% EKKLESIA MUTUAL FUND INC.* 2.1463 1.52% 1.62% 1.83% 0.74% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN FIXED INCOME FUND,INC.* 2.2336 0.69% 0.44% 0.73% 1.1% GREPALIFE FIXED INCOME FUND CORP.* P 1.597 -1.46% -0.27% 0.4% 2.08% PHILAM BOND FUND, INC.* 3.914 -3.26% -0.7% 0.36% -0.15% PHILEQUITY PESO BOND FUND, INC.* 3.5769 2.38% 0.95% 1.15% 1.7% SOLDIVO BOND FUND, INC. * 0.9104 -1.35% -0.31% N.A. 1.99% SUN LIFE OF CANADA PROSPERITY BOND FUND, INC.* 2.828 1.09% 1.44% 1.54% 2.25% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY GS FUND, INC.* 1.5738 0.81% 1.08% 1.1% 2.2% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY SECURITIES ALFM DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC. * $450.35 1.27% 2.17% 3.09% 0.46% ALFM EURO BOND FUND, INC. * Є213.89 0.24% 1.24% 1.55% 0.58% ATRAM TOTAL RETURN DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC.** $1.1415 1.3% 1.16% 2.17% 1.39% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC.* $0.025 0.4% 0.95% N.A. 0.81% GREPALIFE DOLLAR BOND FUND CORP.* $1.6943 -3.3% -0.9% 1.11% 0.24% MAA PRIVILEGE DOLLAR FIXED INCOME FUND, INC. N.S. N.S. N.S. N.S. N.S. MAA PRIVILEGE EURO FIXED INCOME FUND, INC. ЄN.S. N.S. N.S. N.S. N.S. PAMI GLOBAL BOND FUND, INC* $1.0469 -1.23% -0.56% -2.22% 0.9% PHILAM DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC. * $2.2144 -0.43% 0.9% 3.03% 1.99% PHILEQUITY DOLLAR INCOME FUND INC.* $0.0572963 0.63% 1% 1.89% 0.55% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR ABUNDANCE FUND, INC.* $2.9072 -2.45% 0.08% 1.93% 1.22% MONEY MARKET FUNDS PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES ALFM MONEY MARKET FUND, INC.* 121.44 3.07% 1.99% 1.65% 0.5% PHILAM MANAGED INCOME FUND, INC.* 1.1847 2.11% 0.82% 0.57% 0.24% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY MONEY MARKET FUND, INC.* 1.2231 2.78% 2.33% 1.67% 0.34% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY SECURITIES SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR STARTER FUND, INC.* $1.018 1.87% N.A. N.A. 0.21%

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

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

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

Editor: Efleda P. Campos

PSE STOCK QUOTATIONS

February 4, 2019

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

ASIA UNITED 59.1 59.45 59 59.5 59 59.5 11350 670150 BDO UNIBANK 134.9 135 136.1 140 135 135 5543800 762018213 BANK PH ISLANDS 90.8 91 91 92.7 90.55 91 2515690 230703998 CHINABANK 28.2 28.3 28.6 29 28.2 28.2 135700 3859130 EAST WEST BANK 12.4 12.42 12.5 12.5 12.3 12.42 310000 3847104 METROBANK 82.5 84 83.8 84 82.1 84 3795400 317998236.5 PB BANK 14.08 14.1 13.68 14.4 13.68 14.1 309300 4343658 PBCOM 20.95 22.85 21 21 21 21 1000 21000 PHIL NATL BANK 44.9 45 44 45 44 45 127800 5746455 PSBANK 58.3 58.5 60 60 58.5 58.5 14440 846325.5 PHILTRUST 115 120 116 120 116 120 330 39280 RCBC 25.85 26 26 26 25.6 26 447000 11584875 SECURITY BANK 178.8 179 176.5 182 176 179 1421070 255542687 UNION BANK 64.5 64.55 64.55 64.6 64.35 64.55 43100 2781107 BRIGHT KINDLE 1.41 1.44 1.39 1.46 1.39 1.41 172000 243850 BDO LEASING 2.16 2.17 2.17 2.17 2.16 2.17 108000 234330 COL FINANCIAL 17 17.02 16.8 17 16.2 17 275000 4649976 FERRONOUX HLDG 4.7 4.84 4.88 4.88 4.67 4.87 13000 61350 FILIPINO FUND 7.77 8.88 7.78 7.78 7.78 7.78 8600 66908 MEDCO HLDG 0.45 0.465 0.475 0.475 0.45 0.465 460000 209700 MANULIFE 785 800 785 785 785 785 200 157000 NTL REINSURANCE 1.09 1.1 1.09 1.15 1.09 1.09 1585000 1749890 PHIL STOCK EXCH 183 185.8 185.8 185.8 185.8 185.8 310 57598 SUN LIFE 1800 1810 1800 1800 1800 1800 105 189000

INDUSTRIAL ALSONS CONS 1.34 1.38 1.33 1.39 1.33 1.39 318000 423830 ABOITIZ POWER 38.4 38.8 38.25 39.5 38.25 38.4 1867300 72537140 BASIC ENERGY 0.25 0.255 0.255 0.255 0.245 0.255 7000000 1758310 FIRST GEN 20.4 20.45 20.05 20.45 20.05 20.4 2041500 41573230 FIRST PHIL HLDG 72.8 73 73.9 73.9 72.75 72.8 60700 4421910 MERALCO 365.8 368.2 371 374.4 365.6 365.8 454250 167705962 MANILA WATER 27.05 27.5 27.5 27.5 27 27.5 473000 12983025 PETRON 7.48 7.49 7.62 7.67 7.48 7.48 5283600 39879314 PETROENERGY 3.63 3.67 3.6 3.7 3.6 3.63 36000 132670 PHINMA ENERGY 1.27 1.28 1.27 1.28 1.26 1.28 17244000 21870050 PH RESORTS GRP 5.98 6.06 6.17 6.17 5.92 6.06 780300 4677126 PHX PETROLEUM 10.66 10.74 10.74 10.74 10.66 10.74 29200 312060 PILIPINAS SHELL 48 48.15 47.95 48.2 47.8 48 971000 46619580 SPC POWER 6.42 6.46 6.48 6.48 6.46 6.47 2000 12940 VIVANT 16.02 16.98 16.98 16.98 16.98 16.98 100 1698 AGRINURTURE 16.16 16.36 15.96 16.44 15.5 16.38 599400 9769000 CNTRL AZUCARERA 16.8 17.04 17.2 17.2 17 17 60000 1024276 CENTURY FOOD 15.92 15.96 15.92 15.96 15.9 15.92 940800 14986526 DEL MONTE 6.5 6.6 6.6 6.61 6.45 6.6 15700 102900 DNL INDUS 11.32 11.34 11.58 11.68 11.28 11.34 5278100 60249994 EMPERADOR 7.5 7.51 7.37 7.51 7.37 7.5 2230900 16712589 SMC FOODANDBEV 94.9 95 94 95 93.5 95 392970 37058256.5 ALLIANCE SELECT 1.01 1.02 1.02 1.02 1 1.02 5001000 5056620 GINEBRA 26.2 27.75 27.2 27.95 26 27.8 521000 14055555 JOLLIBEE 316 318 317 320 315 316 1041850 332073624 MACAY HLDG 9.55 10.48 10.2 10.2 10.2 10.2 3700 37740 MAXS GROUP 12.3 12.34 12 12.72 12 12.3 8522000 104589360 MG HLDG 0.175 0.178 0.175 0.177 0.17 0.177 830000 145150 PEPSI COLA 1.34 1.36 1.36 1.37 1.31 1.34 5744000 7679510 SHAKEYS PIZZA 12.18 12.28 12 12.2 12 12.18 140600 1704576 ROXAS AND CO 1.87 1.89 1.86 1.9 1.84 1.9 503000 941180 RFM CORP 4.8 4.85 4.84 4.85 4.8 4.8 4020000 19296690 SWIFT FOODS 0.122 0.13 0.121 0.121 0.121 0.121 120000 14520 UNIV ROBINA 147.8 148.1 146 149 145.6 148.1 1409320 208531925 VITARICH 1.67 1.68 1.85 1.85 1.57 1.67 36597000 61754530 VICTORIAS 2.48 2.49 2.4 2.63 2.4 2.48 1755000 4370550 CEMEX HLDG 2.67 2.69 2.64 2.8 2.59 2.67 76402000 204398250 DAVINCI CAPITAL 6.12 6.3 6.11 6.4 6.08 6.3 43900 267634 EAGLE CEMENT 15.9 16 15.56 16.02 15.5 16 1024000 16285750 EEI CORP 8.08 8.14 8.02 8.14 7.99 8.08 678200 5455871 HOLCIM 8.57 8.59 8.3 8.71 8.27 8.57 4553400 39138778 MEGAWIDE 18 18.1 18.28 18.28 18 18 2819100 50783712 PHINMA 8.9 9.37 8.91 9 8.91 8.91 2400 21429 TKC METALS 0.9 0.92 0.93 0.94 0.9 0.93 89000 81120 VULCAN INDL 1.4 1.41 1.46 1.46 1.38 1.4 6597000 9305230 CHEMPHIL 140 145 140 140 140 140 390 54600 CROWN ASIA 1.74 1.78 1.75 1.79 1.74 1.75 111000 195280 EUROMED 1.57 1.62 1.58 1.58 1.57 1.57 15000 23610 LMG CHEMICALS 4.28 4.5 4.3 4.3 4.28 4.28 161000 690390 MABUHAY VINYL 3.15 3.26 3.28 3.28 3.18 3.27 10000 32030 PRYCE CORP 6 6.01 6.02 6.02 6 6 404900 2429404 CONCEPCION 40.05 40.2 40.2 40.2 40.05 40.05 1500 60180 GREENERGY 2.98 2.99 2.42 3.36 2.39 2.99 267107000 810703350 INTEGRATED MICR 12.34 12.38 12.06 12.48 12.06 12.38 779700 9617434 IONICS 1.6 1.61 1.67 1.68 1.56 1.61 1461000 2345700 PANASONIC 6.01 6.45 6 6.6 6 6.6 14200 87321 SFA SEMICON 1.33 1.34 1.4 1.4 1.34 1.34 305000 412430 CIRTEK HLDG 29.95 30 30.4 30.4 30 30 105000 3169930

HOLDING & FRIMS ABACORE CAPITAL 0.61 0.62 0.63 0.64 0.6 0.62 19050000 11724820 ASIABEST GROUP 26.55 27.8 28.8 29.3 26.8 27.8 141400 3950740 AYALA CORP 923 927 924 927 915 927 423480 390741755 ABOITIZ EQUITY 64.25 64.3 64.4 66.55 64 64.25 1924040 125152786.5 ALLIANCE GLOBAL 13.7 13.78 13.64 13.94 13.64 13.7 13581800 187069336 ANSCOR 6.5 6.54 6.5 6.5 6.5 6.5 62600 406900 ANGLO PHIL HLDG 0.76 0.79 0.77 0.77 0.77 0.77 102000 78540 ATN HLDG A 1.43 1.45 1.46 1.46 1.43 1.43 5996000 8640140 ATN HLDG B 1.46 1.47 1.47 1.48 1.46 1.46 360000 527400 COSCO CAPITAL 7.38 7.39 7.45 7.45 7.38 7.39 513700 3804333 DMCI HLDG 12.38 12.58 12.38 12.58 12.38 12.58 5326300 66459074 FILINVEST DEV 12.36 12.5 12.28 12.78 12.2 12.5 2088500 26167140 FORUM PACIFIC 0.215 0.225 0.227 0.227 0.227 0.227 10000 2270 GT CAPITAL 1067 1068 1021 1068 1021 1067 105595 112203420 HOUSE OF INV 5.79 6.1 6.15 6.15 6.15 6.15 300 1845 JG SUMMIT 64.65 64.9 64.9 65.9 63.8 64.65 1594720 103289287.5 LODESTAR 0.58 0.61 0.62 0.62 0.58 0.6 134000 79110 LOPEZ HLDG 5.2 5.23 5.2 5.32 5.15 5.2 1918000 10049203 LT GROUP 15.32 15.5 15.26 15.56 15.26 15.5 1085000 16782806 MABUHAY HLDG 0.57 0.58 0.58 0.58 0.56 0.57 711000 405470 METRO PAC INV 4.86 4.93 4.94 4.99 4.86 4.86 25155000 123535450 PACIFICA 0.038 0.039 0.039 0.039 0.038 0.038 13000000 494800 PRIME ORION 2.53 2.58 2.45 2.58 2.45 2.58 1266000 3207760 PRIME MEDIA 1.15 1.22 1.16 1.16 1.15 1.15 416000 479340 SOLID GROUP 1.34 1.35 1.33 1.35 1.32 1.35 43000 57090 SYNERGY GRID 440 464 464 464 440 440 40 17840 SM INVESTMENTS 990 992.5 979.5 997 975 990 478750 474649130 SAN MIGUEL CORP 164 165 165 167 163.8 165 365770 60341975 SOC RESOURCES 0.77 0.8 0.78 0.78 0.77 0.77 125000 96550 TOP FRONTIER 271 278.8 278.8 278.8 278.8 278.8 100000 27880000 WELLEX INDUS 0.248 0.25 0.26 0.26 0.247 0.25 1130000 282840 ZEUS HLDG 0.231 0.245 0.229 0.249 0.227 0.231 5390000 1257070

PROPERTY ARTHALAND CORP 0.87 0.89 0.89 0.89 0.86 0.89 1634000 1422500 ANCHOR LAND 10.54 11.1 11.1 11.1 11.1 11.1 200 2220 AYALA LAND 44.4 44.55 43.75 44.75 43.75 44.4 20312100 902824200 ARANETA PROP 1.7 1.73 1.7 1.7 1.69 1.7 106000 180040 BELLE CORP 2.43 2.44 2.45 2.5 2.42 2.43 1719000 4191950 A BROWN 0.8 0.81 0.81 0.82 0.8 0.8 2125000 1712470 CITYLAND DEVT 0.87 0.89 0.87 0.87 0.87 0.87 1000 870 CROWN EQUITIES 0.245 0.247 0.239 0.25 0.238 0.247 11310000 2764810 CEBU HLDG 6.1 6.2 6.2 6.2 6.1 6.2 27100 165435 CEB LANDMASTERS 4.15 4.16 4.17 4.3 4.16 4.16 528000 2229000 CENTURY PROP 0.475 0.48 0.48 0.49 0.475 0.475 18270000 8763250 CYBER BAY 0.385 0.39 0.38 0.38 0.38 0.38 70000 26600 DOUBLEDRAGON 20.4 20.45 20.6 20.95 20.35 20.45 1647900 33726655 DM WENCESLAO 8.98 9 9.12 9.12 8.9 9 1673700 14966244 EMPIRE EAST 0.485 0.5 0.49 0.49 0.485 0.49 510000 249650 EVER GOTESCO 0.119 0.123 0.12 0.12 0.12 0.12 280000 33600 FILINVEST LAND 1.49 1.5 1.47 1.53 1.46 1.49 13581000 20306790 GLOBAL ESTATE 1.16 1.18 1.16 1.19 1.16 1.16 407000 473470 8990 HLDG 9.64 9.65 9.7 10 9.65 9.65 3418500 33551096 PHIL INFRADEV 2.3 2.31 2.22 2.44 2.21 2.3 16347000 38112730 CITY AND LAND 0.8 0.82 0.82 0.82 0.82 0.82 10000 8200 MEGAWORLD 5.16 5.24 5.16 5.29 5.16 5.16 21511700 112299590 MRC ALLIED 0.435 0.445 0.445 0.445 0.435 0.435 20360000 8940800 PHIL ESTATES 0.455 0.465 0.46 0.47 0.45 0.46 2090000 954450 PRIMEX CORP 3.16 3.2 3.2 3.24 3.12 3.2 548000 1729000 ROBINSONS LAND 22.05 22.2 22.55 23 22.05 22.05 2952400 66071670 PHIL REALTY 0.43 0.44 0.435 0.44 0.43 0.44 490000 213100 ROCKWELL 1.97 1.98 2 2 1.98 1.98 65000 128730 STA LUCIA LAND 1.34 1.37 1.38 1.38 1.33 1.37 401000 540680 SM PRIME HLDG 38.1 38.45 39.1 39.6 38.1 38.1 11119400 429915690 STARMALLS 5.82 5.88 6 6 5.8 5.82 546400 3189355 PTFC REDEV CORP 46 46.05 44 49.5 43.9 46.05 3600 163864.5 VISTA LAND 5.81 5.84 5.84 5.88 5.8 5.84 2337100 13633457

SERVICES ABS CBN 22.75 22.8 22.8 23 22.75 22.75 264100 6037085 GMA NETWORK 5.79 5.8 5.78 5.85 5.77 5.79 64600 375280 GLOBE TELECOM 2020 2030 2084 2086 2020 2020 92925 189283770 PLDT 1290 1310 1310 1324 1290 1290 184135 239997135 APOLLO GLOBAL 0.039 0.04 0.04 0.04 0.039 0.039 6800000 265500 DFNN INC 7.02 7.25 7.27 7.27 7.08 7.08 4600 32682 IMPERIAL 1.85 1.96 1.85 1.95 1.82 1.95 57000 106310 ISLAND INFO 0.122 0.124 0.122 0.127 0.121 0.124 5190000 640340 ISM COMM 6.74 6.75 6.46 7.35 6.32 6.75 71089800 487417474 JACKSTONES 3.13 3.25 3.18 3.25 3.11 3.25 19000 59640 NOW CORP 3.3 3.31 3.43 3.45 3.05 3.3 9195000 30161120 TRANSPACIFIC BR 0.455 0.46 0.47 0.475 0.445 0.455 50600000 23161600 PHILWEB 2.99 3.03 3.05 3.07 2.98 2.99 1503000 4506170 2GO GROUP 13.04 13.06 13.38 13.38 13 13.06 94500 1240052 ASIAN TERMINALS 15.02 15.12 15 15.1 15 15.1 59600 899170 CEBU AIR 87.95 88 88 88.5 85.1 88 165420 14565453.5 CHELSEA 6.61 6.62 6.75 6.95 6.5 6.62 4861200 32837540 INTL CONTAINER 108.2 108.5 106.3 109.5 106.3 108.2 3840200 415460993 LBC EXPRESS 14.32 14.86 14.86 14.86 14.86 14.86 200 2972 LORENZO SHIPPNG 0.79 0.8 0.79 0.79 0.79 0.79 107000 84530 MACROASIA 19 19.02 19 19.18 18.84 19 3310300 62769768 METROALLIANCE A 2.06 2.1 2.15 2.17 2.05 2.1 735000 1521290 METROALLIANCE B 2.11 2.3 2.37 2.37 2.1 2.3 19000 41750 PAL HLDG 12.8 12.88 14.12 14.12 12.7 12.8 1679900 21930604 HARBOR STAR 2.84 2.85 2.86 2.87 2.8 2.84 2233000 6317220 ACESITE HOTEL 1.31 1.34 1.31 1.34 1.31 1.31 789000 1033820 BOULEVARD HLDG 0.06 0.061 0.059 0.061 0.058 0.061 46410000 2778090 WATERFRONT 0.69 0.7 0.71 0.72 0.69 0.69 1651000 1146650 FAR EASTERN U 894 1000 900 900 892 892 200 178480 IPEOPLE 10.72 11.16 11.16 11.16 11.16 11.16 900 10044 STI HLDG 0.79 0.8 0.85 0.86 0.79 0.8 55452000 45485520 BERJAYA 2.71 2.72 2.85 2.85 2.69 2.72 1764000 4832300 BLOOMBERRY 11 11.02 10.62 11.14 10.62 11.02 24550400 269879950 PACIFIC ONLINE 9.24 9.48 9.23 9.49 9.23 9.25 52400 488702 LEISURE AND RES 3.2 3.27 3.23 3.28 3.2 3.2 1350000 4341210 MANILA JOCKEY 4.85 4.95 4.77 4.95 4.76 4.95 112000 535390 PREMIUM LEISURE 0.94 0.95 0.9 0.97 0.89 0.94 33243000 31330650 TRAVELLERS 5.5 5.53 5.5 5.54 5.49 5.5 641000 3527812 METRO RETAIL 2.53 2.54 2.63 2.64 2.54 2.54 1782000 4588070 PUREGOLD 45.25 45.5 45.8 46 45.15 45.5 2767200 126446980 ROBINSONS RTL 87.5 88 86.1 88 85 88 535330 46941578.5 PHIL SEVEN CORP 121.6 125 121.5 125 121.5 121.6 12800 1565262 SSI GROUP 2.38 2.39 2.39 2.42 2.38 2.39 3329000 7987880 WILCON DEPOT 13.68 13.72 13.6 13.78 13.6 13.72 4143100 56893982 APC GROUP 0.445 0.45 0.455 0.455 0.44 0.445 1970000 873250 EASYCALL 14.9 14.92 15.74 15.9 14.6 14.9 364500 5468810 GOLDEN BRIA 346.8 350 343.2 350 330 350 8830 3037704 IPM HLDG 7.12 7.27 7.27 7.27 7.27 7.27 1500 10905 PAXYS 3.5 3.6 3.55 3.6 3.55 3.6 4000 14250 PRMIERE HORIZON 1.6 1.61 1.52 1.65 1.43 1.61 288486000 445242090 SBS PHIL CORP 8.18 8.26 8.28 8.28 8.15 8.18 154000 1264746

MINING & OIL ATOK 13 13.5 13.5 13.5 13.48 13.5 7600 102574 APEX MINING 1.55 1.56 1.59 1.59 1.56 1.56 2591000 4063280 ABRA MINING 0.0021 0.0022 0.0021 0.0021 0.002 0.0021 344000000 721900 ATLAS MINING 2.84 2.87 2.84 2.89 2.84 2.87 180000 514240 BENGUET A 1.29 1.47 1.35 1.5 1.35 1.49 52000 76450 COAL ASIA HLDG 0.29 0.3 0.29 0.29 0.29 0.29 80000 23200 CENTURY PEAK 2.04 2.05 2.03 2.05 2.02 2.05 673000 1363280 DIZON MINES 7.59 7.67 7.9 7.9 7.6 7.6 8800 67527 FERRONICKEL 1.53 1.54 1.45 1.53 1.41 1.53 9364000 13712230 GEOGRACE 0.214 0.218 0.214 0.22 0.213 0.218 240000 51800 LEPANTO A 0.134 0.135 0.131 0.138 0.131 0.134 12550000 1703420 LEPANTO B 0.132 0.137 0.136 0.14 0.132 0.132 4330000 579060 MANILA MINING A 0.0075 0.0077 0.0075 0.0075 0.0075 0.0075 5000000 37500 MANILA MINING B 0.0073 0.008 0.0073 0.0073 0.0073 0.0073 7000000 51100 MARCVENTURES 1.11 1.12 1.1 1.12 1.1 1.12 12000 13410 NIHAO 1.04 1.07 1.1 1.1 1.02 1.07 434000 447970 NICKEL ASIA 2.45 2.47 2.49 2.5 2.43 2.45 865000 2137460 OMICO CORP 0.66 0.68 0.67 0.67 0.66 0.66 285000 188200 ORNTL PENINSULA 0.96 0.98 0.97 0.98 0.94 0.98 653000 622300 PX MINING 4.03 4.05 4.27 4.27 4.03 4.03 2421000 10118270 SEMIRARA MINING 23.65 23.7 23.3 23.7 23.3 23.7 524200 12351980 UNITED PARAGON 0.007 0.0073 0.0073 0.0078 0.0069 0.007 95000000 672900 ORNTL PETROL A 0.012 0.013 0.013 0.013 0.012 0.013 32400000 415000 ORNTL PETROL B 0.012 0.013 0.013 0.013 0.012 0.012 676500000 8123100 PHILODRILL 0.012 0.013 0.013 0.013 0.012 0.012 52100000 639600 PHINMA PETRO 3.65 3.67 3.65 3.67 3.65 3.67 28000 102270 PXP ENERGY 14.34 14.4 14.42 14.66 14.34 14.4 1326700 19142848

PREFFERED HOUSE PREF A DD PREF SMC FB PREF 2 GTCAP PREF B LR PREF MWIDE PREF PCOR PREF 2B SMC PREF 2B SMC PREF 2C SMC PREF 2E SMC PREF 2F SMC PREF 2G SMC PREF 2H SMC PREF 2I

94.5 98 985 899 0.99 101.6 1020 75.05 75.9 72.3 74.55 72.95 72.6 73.1

PHIL. DEPOSITARY RECEIPTS ABS HLDG PDR GMA HLDG PDR

20 5.6

1.91

SMALL & MEDIUM ENTERPRISES ITALPINAS 4.41 XURPAS 1.48

118.9

3510 -300080 -5839240 10116181 16706932 406250 1540 487322 -9660338 2939332 36669925 12792141.5 -340435 -785240 -13749190 -124500 -4640 150269590 12573478 -17500 21500 214543950 -886160 8000 -100000 -471700 939850 710800 7163707 -196000 8598260 -1657676 95760 41214115 479600 -20090 -30470 15840 -18038795 2915 -1789186 -38242560 -64049255 -8820 11267385 -6720220 8350 -1146640 2560 757670 2245324 963768 20733897 37265322 50728 -8520 -1049180 161260 80096944 -408270 -999631 619650 26028825 4935359 560950 -1339980 38460548 17700 -43482 195604 -6460490 -1241590 143230 627980 347170 -628250 5928275 -66300 3038116

95 98.5 985 900 0.99 102 1050 75.15 76.5 73.95 74.85 73 72.6 73.1

95 98.5 985 900 0.99 102 1050 75.15 76.55 74 74.9 73 72.6 74

94.05 98.5 985 900 0.99 101.6 1050 75.1 76.5 73.95 74.85 73 72.5 73.1

94.05 98.5 985 900 0.99 101.6 1050 75.1 76.55 74 74.9 73 72.6 74

500 12880 3090 210 500000 110420 20 4280 2000 1250 4760 11470 17400 540400

47490.5 1268680 3043650 189000 495000 11220836 21000 321492 153055 92494 356449 837310 1261900 39539450

19800 -472310 -

20.1 5.68

19.82 5.67

20 5.69

19.74 5.6

20 5.6

290600 170600

5781306 959463

3856 3390

1.94

1.91

1.97

1.9

1.91

265000

508600

-

4.42 1.5

4.55 1.57

4.55 1.57

4.33 1.46

4.42 1.48

1268000 23399000

5599870 35583210

-13260 -9904950

EXHANGE TRADE FUNDS FIRST METRO ETF

28120715 30401745 -294431.0001 28533888 -851100 -5775767 -11100 -1595050 74620 -18884165 -32810 2251750 34320 -31428904 137955 10850901 70700 1626446 398960 104999.9999 2060370 669602 20350 -12418040 124118822 -14832190 -10975510 13476280 1875429.9999 -10771114 -17485044 -1830 44650 -3270 1613400 -16678110 1949716 -2700 -132425

96 98.5 992 918 1 103 1040 75.1 76.55 74 74.9 74.5 74.25 73.9

WARRANTS LR WARRANT

80150 46135095 -18205867.5 -2218615 -331908 71630799 -901210 8400 1271585 8792.5 4363110 -20059292 -889993 78500 -

119

118.5

120

118.5

119

9980

1194345

83300

Banking&Finance BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Wednesday, February 6, 2019

Pagcor’s income from gaming rises 18.3% to ₧67.8B in 2018

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By Rea Cu @ReaCuBM

HE Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) has reported a total income from gaming operations of P67.854 billion as of end-December 2018, breaching its target of P61.659 billion for the year.

In its latest financial statement, Pagcor reported that its P67.854-billion collection was higher by 18.34 percent than revenues it collected in 2017, of P57.335 billion.

Netting out the state-run gaming regulator’s total gaming taxes and contributions for the year, which amounted to P35.623 billion, total gaming income stood at P32.230 billion—still higher compared to the P27.234 billion in gaming revenues for 2017.

Its total gaming taxes and contributions breached the target set for the year of P32.371 billion.

Pagcor’s gaming taxes and contributions include a 5-percent franchise tax and 50 percent of

its gaming share, as well as dividends to the Dangerous Drugs Board of P60 million as mandated under the Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act. Its expenses as of end-December 2018 amounted to P36.864 billion, or higher by 49.09 percent than 2017’s P24.726 billion.

T h i s i nc ludes operat ion a l expenses, funding for cor porate social responsibility projects, as well as contributions to other agencies as mandated by special laws.

For 2018, the agency reported a net income of P31.490 billion, which expanded by 536.62 percent from the P4.946 billion

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

recorded in 2017.

Pagcor traced the increase in net income for 2018 to the “gains on the sale of [a] [Philippine Reclamation Authority] lot amounting to P32.718 billion.”

It was reported earlier that Pagcor sold in 2018 two parcels of land in Metro Manila to Sureste Proper-

Of Codes of Conduct

‘I

N the next century, a company will stand or fall on its values,” Robert Haas, Levi Strauss CEO, was quoted as saying around year 2000. I would believe he was proven right after all the humongous financial scandals in America, Europe and Australia exploded. Indeed if we were to dig deep down on what did them all in, we could really conclude that it was when corporations and their executives began to sashay around values and play around the semantics of right and wrong that they began to slide down the primrose path to perdition.

Corporate governance became a byword after those events. One of its more important aspects is the Code of Conduct which is expected of corporations. In the Philippines, the three regulators—the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP, the Central Bank of the Philippines) and the Insurance Commission (IC)—encourage a Code of Conduct specifically or implicitly in the Codes of Circulars that they have issued to promote good corporate governance among publicly listed and other public companies, banks and financial institutions and insurance companies in the Philippines.

A Code of Conduct for the institutions mentioned above is aimed at promoting the highest ethical and professional standards in boards of directors and individual company directors. Such a code should guide directors and help them carry out their duties and responsibilities, and should define the standards of professional competence and conduct which companies and their stakeholders must expect of their directors.

In crafting a code of conduct, we need to answer questions such as: “What ought one to do?” or, “What may be done and what may not be done?” or “Am I acting rightly or wrongly?” Further, one has to ask, “According to what, or according to whom?” In other words, the company should define what are the right things to do, and what things the company will not tolerate. Moreover, in implementing such a code, policy must definitively state the sanctions for misbehavior or acts that violate specific provisions of the code. The one thing that a Code of Conduct must never be, is to be just a wish list,

FINEX FREE ENTERPRISE Mercedes B. Suleik a grandiose description of good behavior perhaps enshrined in a bronze plaque in the company’s main lobby.

Some guides to craft a code of conduct may include: n Business must be conducted in keeping with the highest moral, ethical and legal standards and be absolutely committed to ethical standards; n Maintain a workplace environment that encourages frank and open communication in matters of ethics; n Strive to make decisions that are “good” from a business standpoint, and that are “right” from an ethical standpoint; and n To determine if a decision is right or wrong, consider the likely consequences for all stakeholders, the company’s policies and procedures and its values; Benefits that companies derive from the adoption of codes of conduct and ethical behavior include: n Enhancement of the company’s reputation for fair and responsible dealing; n The maintainance of high standards of behavior throughout the organization, thus providing a greater degree of transparency and accountability for professional behavior; n The provision to all employees of a clear idea of what the company sets out to do, and how it will do it, thus developing a sense of pride among the staff; n A degree of permanence in a code of behavior that is distinct from sometimes changing legal and regulatory tenets; and n Enhancement of the image and standing of companies before regulators, investors and of the public as a whole.

Finally, companies that develop codes of conduct provide tangible evidence that they are committed to meet the expectations of their shareholders, stakeholders, and the general public. Such codes, especially if these are made public, help companies with their compliance and fiduciary obligations.

ties Inc., a unit of casino operator Bloomberry Resorts Corp.

Last month, the Department of Finance (DOF’s) Corporate Affairs Group (CAG) reported collections of a total of P40.17 billion from government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs) for remittance to the National Treasury.

This represented a 32-percent jump from the P30.46 billion c ollected in 2017.

Among those which remitted dividends to the government was Pagcor, which was included among the top dividend contributors in 2018, with remittances of P2.593 billion.

MILLENNIAL CARDHOLDERS WARNED VERSUS VISHING, PHISHING

R

CBC Bankard together with the Credit Card Association of the Philippines (CCAP) recently reminded young professionals to keep their bank information private.

CCAP said that young bank clients and new cardholders should know how to protect their creditcard account and be on the lookout for fraud.

Phishing and vishing scams were two of the most common ways fraudsters steal personal information.

Phishing is a method used by identity thieves to trick credit-card users to providing their personal information. They send unsolicited e-mails posing as seemingly legitimate sources like a creditcard company. They ask for your CVV code, login details and other personal information. Most phishing e-mails hook cardholders by threatening them with account deactivation/cancellation which they can only prevent by validating their account through a link.

“Never click on a link or download anything from suspicious emails trying to get account information from you. Always remember, a real credit-card company will never ask for these kinds of information or make you click on a link via e-mail,” said CCAP’s executive director, Alex Ilagan.

While phishing is done online,

a vishing scam refers to fraud tactics made over the telephone by criminals to gather personal information. A fraudster poses as a bank employee threatening you to either go through a process where you have to give your personal information or run the risk of getting your account blocked by the bank.

From the information obtained, fraudsters can not only use your credit card, but they can even take over your account.

Upgrade modus

ANOTHER scheme is the upgrade modus where fraudsters pretend to be credit-card employees who offer to upgrade your credit card, asking for your personal information in the process. They will eventually ask you to surrender your card.

These schemes can sometimes be convincing and feel so legitimate that you would not think anything untoward is ongoing.

CCAP strongly advises cardholders against divulging their credit-card numbers, online passwords and most important, the last three digits at the back of their credit cards.

Be sure to memorize the Personal Identification Number (PIN and destroy the mailer on which it was sent. The same is advised for one-time-passwords (OTP), which are valid only for one transaction or session on a computer or

other digital device, must never be shared with anyone.

Ilagan, also tells cardholders to never respond to fraudulent e-mails especially those requesting for confidential account information.

“If you’ve received any e-mails like this or responded to one already, please contact your bank issuer immediately,” he said.

As for the scheme of fraudsters to fool people into upgrading a credit card, CCAP said that creditcard users should never surrender their credit card to anyone for whatever reason.

“Your bank issuer can provide all the necessary services you need such as balance transfer, card upgrade or replacement, increase in credit limit, without getting your credit card. Taking care of your demographic information is one of the strongest protections against identity theft,” CCAP added.

It’s also a good rule of thumb that when dining or shopping, cardholders should always personally hand over their card to the cashier and take note of the length of time before the card is returned. CCAP advises that no matter how short of time cardholders are, they should still always make sure to check if the amount printed on the transaction receipt is the actual amount of purchase before signing it.

PTI: New excise rates to boost illicit tobacco

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URTHER increases in the excise tax on tobacco products will exacerbate the incidence of illicit cigarettes in the country, the Philippine Tobacco Institute (PTI) has pointed out.

At a Senate Committee on Ways and Means hearing on Monday, the PTI cautioned senators against high increases in tobacco excise tax rates, as this is seen to contribute to the incidence of illicit cigarettes in the country which the government is wanting to put an end to.

PTI Rep. Atty. Carmen Herce pointed out that further excise tax increases on tobacco products will aggravate the incidence of illicit cigarettes which could go up from 13.3 percent to 14.2 percent in 2019 to 2022, with equivalent revenue losses of about P14.2 billion to P16.8 billion, based on projections from the Euromonitor International.

According to Herce, the local tobacco industry has, so far, contributed P126 billion in excise tax revenues

to the government for 2017.

She reported that the high tax increases for cigarette products has not only caused the tobacco industry to shrink in terms of volume, but has also enabled illicit trade of tobacco products.

She explained that legal cigarette volume went down by 43 percent to 73 billion in 2017 coming from 127 billion in 2012, “mainly driven by the 1,187-percent excise tax increase from 2012 to 2017.”

“Illicit remains and is growing. This means that smokers shift to cheaper illicit cigarettes during excise tax-driven price increases,” Herce said.

Earlier, the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines mentioned that seized counterfeit cigarettes in 2018 amounted to P20.25 billion, which formed bulk of all the pirated items hauled in that year. Rea Cu

B3

Australian banks surge by most in a decade on inquiry reprieve

A

USTRALIA financial shares surged the most in a decade after an inquiry into decades of wrongdoing stopped short of demanding a structural overhaul of the scandal-plagued industry or tighter lending rules that threatened to crunch bank profits.

While banks will face a tougher future with regulators empowered to crack down on wrongdoers, the 76 recommendations in the Royal Commission’s final report were widely seen as a reprieve for the banks, which had been battered as the probe unearthed a string of scandals from charging fees for no service and pushing people into poorly performing products to meet bonus targets.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia, the nation’s largest lender whose many scandals helped give impetus to the inquiry, jumped 4.7 percent, its biggest one day gain in almost nine years.

Westpac Banking Corp. surged 7.4 percent, for it’s best day in more than a decade. Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. climbed 6.5 percent.

National Australia Bank Ltd., whose top executives were lashed by Commissioner Kenneth Hayne for failing to accept criticism or the gravity of its wrongdoing, lagged its rivals with a 3.9 percent gain.

The rally added about A$20 billion ($14.5 billion) to the market value of the big four banks, and helped push an index of financial stocks to its biggest gain since March 2009. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 Index climbed 2 percent, its best day in more than two years.

“The soft recommendations of the Royal Commission final report is a clear win for the banks,” UBS Group AG analysts led by Jonathan Mott wrote in a note. “We do not believe that any of the 76 recommendations by themselves will have a material financial impact on the banks.”

In his 1,000-page report, Hayne lambasted senior bank executives, said the fees-for-no-service scandals could lead to criminal charges, and urged the securities regulator to get tough and start considering prosecution rather than negotiation as its first step.

But he steered clear of recommending financial firms be forced to split off financial advice and wealth management units to avoid the conflicts of interest that were at the heart of much of the wrongdoing.

“Enforced separation of product and advice would be a very large step to take,’’ Hayne wrote. “It would be both costly and disruptive. I am not persuaded that it is necessary to mandate structural separation between products and advice.’’

That’s a boon for wealth managers AMP Ltd. and IOOF Holdings Ltd., which suffered some of the biggest reputational and share price damage during the inquiry. Both companies rallied on Tuesday, with AMP gaining 10 percent, and IOOF jumping 8 percent.

“The report is not as stringent as people might have expected,” said Eleanor Creagh, Sydney-based Australian market strategist at Saxo Capital Markets. “I don’t think that the Royal Commission did anywhere near enough to cover what’s needed there.” Bloomberg News

B4 Wednesday, February 6, 2019

INDULGENTLY AUSPICIOUS DELIGHT FOR THE YEAR OF THE EARTH PIG

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ROSPERITY, luck and happiness abound at Crowne Plaza Manila Galleria and Holiday Inn Manila Galleria, as the two hotels managed by the InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) usher in the Year of the Earth Pig with a fittingly indulgent array of dining delights at Xin Tian Di; and festive décor at the hotel lobby.

At the Crowne Plaza lobby, a prosperity tree with red and gold ang pao and Chinese lanterns attract positive energy into the property, while a red and gold bridge invite guests to signify of crossing over to the new Lunar Year’s bountiful beginnings.

On the fourth-floor level is Xin Tian Di, the venue’s premium oriental dining destination, with a festive display of koi fish nian gao, elegantly encased boxes of red and gold available for takeaway as gifts to friends and family. Each box contains two koi fish and is priced at P1,188+ available until February 15.

The restaurant’s yu sheng salad, a staple during Chinese New Year celebrations, can also be brought home or shared at gatherings as guests toss to wealth, health and prosperity. Ordered two days in advance, the yu sheng is offered with a choice among mixed seasonal fruits (P728+), salmon fillet (P988+) or sliced abalone (P1,288+), available until February 15.

Adorable pink piggy buns filled with luscious lotus cream and egg yolk are also available to share with loved ones in the Year of the Earth Pig for P288+, until February 15.

Xin Tian Di highlights a decadent feast until the day of the Chinese New Year, comprising a choice of set and a la carte menus. Each set menu includes a box of the koi fish nian gao, a choice of Eight Treasure fish maw with shredded sea abalone soup or the double boiled conch meat, chicken with conpoy soup; a choice of rice or noodles with the braised e-fu noodle with crab meat and assorted seafood with egg white or fried organic rice with veal and asparagus in XO sauce; and taro pearl with coconut cream and pan-fried sweet glutinous rice cake for dessert.

The “Wealthy Menu” starts off with a choice of either the Great Glory yu sheng (prosperity salmon salad with jellyfish) or a cold-cut combination (Chinese or Japanese style), followed by main dishes deep fried, stuffed US scallop with wasabi salad dressing, steamed codfish fillet with black bean sauce; and roasted duck in plum sauce. The menu is offered at P12,888+ for four persons.

For groups of six, the “Happiness Menu” begins with Fortune yu sheng (prosperity salmon fillet salad) or a coldcut combination (Chinese or Japanese Style); main dishes hot prawn salad, one-half roasted Peking duck served t wo -way (w it h C h i nese pancake), steamed halibut fillet in golden garlic sauce; braised brocolli with wild mushroom bean curd roll in abalone sauce; and wok-fried minced duck in lettuce cup. The menu is offered at P16,888+ for six persons.

The “Prosperity Menu” also starts with the Great Glory yu sheng (prosperity salmon salad with jellyfish) or the divine combination platter; roasted Peking duck served two-way (with Chinese pancake and condiments); deep-fried crispy taro shrimp with honey plum sauce and scallop with chun sauce; stewed home-style pork knuckle with mushroom and deep-fried homemade bean curd a la patatim; steamed codfish fillet in crushed soya bean; and wok-fried minced duck in lettuce cup. The set menu is offered at P22,888+ for eight persons.

The “Fortune Menu” begins with Fortune yu sheng (prosperity salmon fillet salad) or a cold-cut combination (chinese or japanese style); main dishes hot prawn salad; roasted Peking duck served two-way (with Chinese pancake); stir-fried tiger prawn with butter and garlic sauce; stewed home-style pork knuckle a la patatim; steamed live garoupa with superior soya

sauce; and wok-fried minced duck in lettuce cup. Ideal for ten persons, the set menu is offered at P26,888+.

The “Great Glory Menu” also suits groups of ten and starts with the Great Glory yu sheng (prosperity salmon salad with jellyfish) or divine combination platter; deep-fried crispy taro shrimp with honey plum sauce and scallop with wasabi sauce; roasted Peking duck served two-way with Chinese pancake and condiments; steamed live codfish fillet with deep-fried home-made bean curd in crushed soya bean; stewed home-style pork knuckle with black mushroom and sea moss a la patatim; and wok-fried minced duck in lettuce cup. The Great Glory menu is at P29,888+.

For orders and inquiries, guests can call Xin Tian Di restaurant at 633-7222 local 7296/7298 or visit the official Facebook page at www.facebook.com/ XinTianDiRestaurant.

Philippine video subscription faces new threat

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CHINESE BAZAAR AT THE SM MALL OF ASIA’S MAIN ATRIUM SM City Fairview’s Chinese New Year centerpiece depicts a Chinatown highlighting Peppa Pig. Lanterns filled the Atrium giving shoppers the oriental feel. Peppa Pig’s prosperity bridge attracts the young and young at heart to pose and take wonderful snapshots.

A MILLION OF BLESSING The Metrobank Foundation Inc. (MBFI) raised a total of P7 million from a number of individuals and groups who voluntarily contributed to chosen charities, in memory of Metrobank founder Dr. George SK Ty. The amount will be donated to CBCP Caritas Filipinas Foundation, Philippine Red Cross and the Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation (PDRF) as previously announced. In a recent turnover, Butch Meily, PDRF president, received the first tranche of donations from MBFI President Aniceto Sobrepeña.

GT Foundation Inc. (GTFI), the Ty family foundation, added P3 million and designated two more organizations to be recipients of the Federation of Filipino Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Inc., for its schoolbuilding program and the Tzu Chi Foundation. MBFI President Aniceto Sobrepeña (second from right) and executive director Nicanor Torres Jr. (right) led the turnover of the first tranche of donations to the PDRF, represented by President Butch Meily (second from left) and executive director Veronica Gabaldon (left).

N a recently conducted YouGov study of the content-viewing behavior of Filipino consumers, it was revealed that more than one in four consumers (28 percent) use a TV box, which can be used to stream pirated television and video content. These TV boxes, also known as illicit streaming devices (ISDs), allow users to access hundreds of pirated television channels and video on demand, usually with a low annual fee. TV boxes often come preloaded, with pirated applications allowing plugand-play access to pirated content.

The survey found that Showbox (11 percent), CloudTV (9 percent), FunTV (6 percent), and Hug U Box (5 percent) are among the most popular pirated applications among Filipino consumers.

The survey, commissioned

by AVIA’s Coalition Against Piracy (CAP) and conducted by YouGov, also highlights the detrimental effects of streaming piracy on legitimate online-subscription services. Of the 28 percent of consumers who purchased an ISD, close to one in five (18 percent) stated that they cancelled all or some of their subscription to legal pay TV services. 15 percent asserted that they cancelled their local pay-television subscriptions as a direct consequence of owning an ISD. International-subscription services, which include pan-Asiaonly offerings, were impacted the most, with almost one in four (23 percent) Filipino users in favor of ISD purchases.

Globe Telecom President and Chief Executive Officer Ernest Cu revealed that the behavioral insights in the study found by YouGov

have strengthened the company’s resolve to reach more Filipinos in its education drive against pirated web sites and illicit streaming devices.

“We will actively collaborate with members of AVIA and CAP and other content partners to push our #PlayItRight anti-piracy campaign to ensure a wider reach,” Cu said.

“The PCTA has always stood against piracy and the association is alarmed at the results of the YouGov survey, which serves as a call to work even harder to stamp out piracy in the Philippines, together with AVIA and CAP” said Joel Dabao, president of the Philippines Cable Television Association.

In addition to the short-term problem of cancelled subscriptions, many of the people using ISDs are young. The survey found that ISDs are particularly favored among 18-24 year-olds, with more than half (57 percent) cancelling legitimate subscription services as a result of owning ISDs, especially international subscriptions (32 percent).

Canceling legitimate subscription services and paying less for access to pirated content is fraught with risks, as Neil Gane, general manager of AVIA Coalition Against Piracy (CAP) said that: “However, the damage done to consumers themselves, because of the nexus between content piracy and malware, is only beginning to be recognized.

Piracy web sites and applications typically have a ‘Click Happy’ user base, and as such are being used more and more as clickbait to distribute malware.

Unfortunately the appetite for ‘free’ or cheap subscription, pirated content blinker-users from...malware infection.”

Sports ‘WHAT SUPER BOWL?’ BusinessMirror

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| Wednesday, February 6, 2019 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

SUPER Bowl Most Valuable Player Julian Edelman and New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, (right) celebrate with Mickey Mouse during their parade in the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, on Monday. AP

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By Arnie Stapleton The Associated Press

N a Super Bowl snoozer featuring a single touchdown by victorious New England and the high-scoring, newfangled, all-the-rage Los Angeles Rams managing a measly three points, the Most Valuable Player (MVP) trophy went to Patriots receiver Julian Edelman.

Where’s the love for the defense?

Sure, Edelman caught 10 passes for 141 yards, including two grabs on the drive that ended with rookie running back Sony Michel plowing into the end zone with the

NEW England Patriots’ Lawrence Guy kisses the trophy. AP

VIEWERSHIP DOWN

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ASADENA, California—The New England Patriots’ competitive but action-starved Super Bowl victory over the Los Angeles Rams was seen by 100.7 million people on television and streaming services, the smallest audience for football’s annual spectacle in a decade.

A boycott by disgruntled New Orleans Saints fans, a campaign by fans of quarterback Colin Kaepernick and a game with only one touchdown combined to shrink the audience. On CBS alone, the game was seen by 98.2 million people, compared to 103.4 million who watched on NBC last year, according to the Nielsen company.

Since reaching a peak of 114.4 million viewers for the Patriots’ 2015 victory over the Seattle Seahawks, the Super Bowl audience has slipped each year since. The Super Bowl is traditionally the most-watched television event of the year in the US, and its audience hadn’t dipped below 100 million since the Pittsburgh Steelers-Arizona Cardinals game in 2009.

CBS dealt with a city that held a major grudge. Many fans in New Orleans, where the hometown Saints were victimized by a blown referee’s call toward the end of its loss to the Rams in the National Football Conference championship, skipped the game entirely. Preliminary ratings from New Orleans showed that Super Bowl viewership this year was half what it was in 2018.

New Orleans’s Times Picayune newspaper printed a mostly blank front page on Monday with the words, “Super Bowl?” What Super Bowl?”

The newspaper asked, “you think the National Football League [NFL] is sad that the Saints weren’t in it to spice up the night?”

There was also a campaign on Twitter by people who said they would not watch the game because of Kaepernick, the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback who hasn’t been able to land a job in the NFL since leading demonstrations in protest of police treatment of minorities.

After a season of offensive fireworks and conference championships that both went into overtime, Sunday’s game was a defensive struggle where the teams were tied 3-3 entering the fourth quarter. That’s a tough slog for the casual fan, and the Super Bowl draws millions who don’t watch football regularly.

At one point CBS commentator Tony Romo said, “this is hard to watch.”

Others were blunter still. The web site The Ringer said that “the historically boring Super Bowl sent football back to the Stone Age.” Cindy Boren of The Washington Post wrote that it was “a snore of a Super Bowl.” The New York Times headlined a story: “How boring was the Super Bowl? The punts got exciting.”

The words “boring” and “Super Bowl” appeared in the same tweets more than 70,000 times in the past 24 hours. The words “worst” and “Super Bowl” were matched more than 50,000 times.

If anything, football fans have been spoiled by a string of competitive Super Bowls after many years in which big game blowouts became commonplace. This year the game’s outcome was in doubt until the final seconds, but it had only one touchdown and few scoring threats.

The one growth area for CBS was streaming. The network said an average of 2.6 million people streamed the game, up 31 percent over last year.

CBS did achieve its goal of having a large audience sample its new talent show, The World’s Best. Nielsen said 22.2 million people watched the show’s debut, the most-watched entertainment show since the Oscars last year and the biggest entertainment premiere on TV since Undercover Boss debuted after the Super Bowl nine years ago. AP

PEOPLE watch Super Bowl LIII at the Westgate Superbook sportsbook in Las Vegas. AP

Fans in three states legally bet almost $185.5M on Super Bowl

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AS VEGAS—Football fans in three states legally bet almost $185.5 million on the Super Bowl this year, with sportsbooks ending on Sunday with mixed results and Nevada operators seeing the first drop in the total amount wagered on the game since 2015.

The game between the New England Patriots and Los Angeles Rams was the first major professional sporting event to be posted on the boards of sportsbooks outside Nevada. All opened after the US Supreme Court ended a federal ban on wagering on sports last year.

Figures released on Monday by gambling regulators in Nevada show people wagered $145.94 million at the state’s 200 sportsbooks, $12.65 million less than in 2018. Sportsbooks operators in New Jersey accepted about $34.9 million in wagers and lost money, while in Mississippi, fans bet around $4.67 million at nontribal casinos.

“I would characterize it as a solid day. It wasn’t a bad day or a great day; it was right in the middle,” said Jay Kornegay, vice president of race and sportsbook operations at Westgate Las Vegas Superbook.

Nevada’s effective monopoly on sports betting ended last spring, when the Supreme Court ruled the ban should be lifted. Casinos in seven other states—Rhode Island, Delaware, Mississippi, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and New Mexico—now accept wagers on sports. The list is expected to grow by next year.

New Jersey gambling regulators said sportsbooks lost $4.6 million

when they paid $39.5 million to those who won bets. Many gamblers backed the Patriots, who beat the Rams, 13-3, and covered the spread of 2 1/2 points.

Super Bowl on Sunday “was by far our biggest day ever in New Jersey in terms of handle,” said Joe Asher, CEO of William Hill US, which runs sportsbooks at two casinos and a racetrack in New Jersey, as well as dozens of sportsbooks in Nevada. “It was really good.”

He said William Hill’s take for the day “was pretty much break even win/loss. We couldn’t be more pleased overall—the retail locations were strong, especially the Ocean Resort Casino, which had an unbelievable crowd.”

DraftKings, which runs mobile wagering in New Jersey along with an in-person lounge at Resorts casino, also set a new record for the amount wagered. Spokesman James Chisholm said the company paid out about $11 million in winning bets to customers, “and took a small, barely seven-figure loss.”

The Westgate lost on the game itself, but did well on proposition bets—wagers on unique and various outcomes offered starting a few days ahead of the game—and on futures bets, which allow gamblers to wager on outcomes way in advance. Some bettors picked the Rams to win the title at the start of the season, for example, and lost their bet on Sunday. AP

game’s lone touchdown.

Yet, if there ever was a case for another defensive MVP like Von Miller in Super Bowl 50, this was it.

Of 54 MVPs (Cowboys DT Randy White and DE Harvey Martin shared the honors in 1978), 42 have been offensive players, 11 were defenders and one was a special teamer (Desmond Howard in 1997).

There were plenty of worthy candidates from the Patriots defense that hit Goff 16 times, collected four sacks, broke up eight passes and picked off another.

Two defenders really stood out: n Jason McCourty raced across the field to break up a would-be touchdown toss to Brandin Cooks, who was wide open—but...had...to...wait...forever...for Jared Goff’s rainbow pass that was knocked away just as it arrived. n Stephon Gilmore intercepted Goff’s pass in front of his end zone with 4:17 remaining on a pass intended for Cooks to seal the sixth title for Tom Brady, who outplayed Goff, and Bill Belichick, who outsmarted Sean McVay. Calais Campbell, for one, insists Gilmore was the real MVP of SB53 after forcing a fumble, intercepting a pass, breaking up three other throws and collecting five tackles.

“The offense only scores 13 points and they give MVP to Edelman but the D only gives up three points and Gilmore” does all of that, Campbell complained on social media. “Smh no respect for the masterpiece on defense.”

The Rams may very well represent the future with their 33-year-old coach and 24-year-old quarterback, but the 66-year-old coach and his 41-year-old QB still reign supreme in 2019—thanks again to a defense that allowed the duo to survive another masterful game plan by Rams defensive coordinator Wade Phillips.

Brady’s worst Super Bowl—three scores in 11 drives that didn’t end in kneeldowns—also was his easiest—a 10-point margin of victory was his highest ever.

McVay and Goff both accepted the blame for a miserable showing in which Rams never adjusted to New England’s zone defense and aggressive D-line and managed to score just once in a dozen drives, the first eight of which ended in punts.

When it was over, the high-flying Rams, who led the National Football Conference in scoring with a 33-point average, had nine punts, an interception, a field goal and a missed field goal to show for all that firepower that had so many National Football League (NFL) teams trying to find the next Sean McVay. After the red-white-and-blue confetti was cleaned up with leaf blowers at MercedesBenz Stadium in Atlanta, Rams quarterbacks Coach Zac Taylor became the third assistant hired off McVay’s staff. He was hired as head coach the Cincinnati Bengals. At 35, Taylor becomes the second-youngest head coach in the NFL behind his former boss.

The Dolphins hired Brian Flores, the Patriots linebackers coach and de facto defensive play-caller who has cut his teeth in Foxborough since 2004.

With those two hires, the coaching carousel has eight new head coaches, six of them with offensive roots, as owners seek the next McVay or Kyle Shanahan to keep up with all this innovative run-pass optioning, jet-sweeping, scoreboard-busting offenses.

The kind that didn’t show up in this Super Bowl.

Vic Fangio, who spearheaded Chicago’s dominant defense, was the only other defensive assistant hired as a head coach this cycle, replacing Vance Joseph in Denver.

The other jobs all went to offensive minds promising innovation in this age of change.

The Packers hired Matt LeFleur, who was McVay’s offensive coordinator in 2017.

The Cardinals dipped into the college ranks to hire Kliff Kingsbury, who tutored MVP Patrick Mahomes at Texas Tech.

The Cleveland Browns promoted offensive coordinator Freddie Kitchens, who worked wonders with Baker Mayfield after his midseason promotion from running backs coach. The Jets hired Adam Gase, Peyton Manning’s former OC who wore out his welcome in Miami, and the Buccaneers brought Bruce Arians and his deep offensive roots out of retirement.

Miami fans should be ecstatic about the arrival of Flores, 37, after watching him help their American Football Conference (AFC) East rival win yet another Super Bowl title.

Saints fans didn’t pay much mind to Super Bowl 53.

Thousands of New Orleans football fans partied in the French Quarter while the Rams and Patriots were trudging into the fourth quarter tied at three.

A “Boycott Bowl” festival and a jazz funeral procession putting the football season to rest encapsulated how New Orleans residents felt about the Super Bowl, and even the city’s police department got in on the disenchantment.

NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune reports the New Orleans Police Department made a spoof video showing their investigation into the infamous “no-call” in the NFC championship that the Saints lost to the Rams.

The newspaper’s nearly blank front page also summarized what those in the Big Easy thought of the Patriots’ win over the Rams on Sunday: “Super Bowl? What Super Bowl?”

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Business

C2 Wednesday, February 6, 2019

ANOTHER 40-POINT GAME FOR HARDEN P

HOENIX—Another 40-point game for James Harden. That makes 20 of them this season.

The reigning Most Valuable Player scored 44 points and the Houston Rockets beat Phoenix, 118-110, on Monday night to hand the Suns their seasonworst 11th straight loss.

Harden joined Wilt Chamberlain, Michael Jordan and Rick Barry as the only players with 20 games of at least 40 points in the first 50 of a season.

Harden, who also had eight rebounds and six assists, extended his streak of games with at least 30 points to 27, third-longest in National Basketball Association history. The only longer streaks are 65 and 31 games, both

by Chamberlain.

“I’m just trying to keep going. Nothing can slow me down,” Harden said. “Nothing can stop me. I’m trying to give that same motivation to my teammates and it’s not about scoring, it’s about attacking the game, being aggressive with the game of basketball—defensively, offensively.

That’s all I can give to them.”

Chris Paul scored 18 and Kenneth Faried had 17 points and 14 rebounds for the Rockets, who were without two starters.

Josh Jackson scored 25 points, Kelly Oubre Jr. 23 and Devin Booker 19 for the Suns. Deandre

Ayton added 15 points and 11 boards. Booker left in the fourth quarter with a tight hamstring.

The Suns never led but stayed close through the first half before falling behind by 20 in the third quarter.

Phoenix cut it to single digits on several occasions in the fourth only to be thwarted by a basket from Harden or Paul. Harden scored 14 in the final quarter.

Up by six at halftime, the Rockets opened a big lead in the third quarter. Harden sank a three-pointer from the corner and Faried dunked a rebound to cap a 13-4 run that put Houston up 84-68. The Rockets boosted the lead to 20 three times in the quarter, the last at 94-74 on Paul’s two free throws with 1:02 left. But the Suns finished the period on a 6-0 spurt as Oubre’s three-pointer at the buzzer cut the Rockets’ advantage to 94-80 entering the fourth.

The run reached 10-0 when Phoenix scored the first four of the final quarter, making it 94-84 on Oubre’s dunk with 10:57 to play.

Harden sank a pair of threes in an 8-0 run and Houston led, 101-88, with 7:05 remaining.

The Suns kept it close in the first half, despite Harden’s 22 points, five assists and five rebounds.

Harden scored inside twice to ignite a 9-2 spurt that put Houston up 50-42 on

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“I want to represent the country in major international meets someday that’s why I’m working hard in trainings and actual competitions.”

Rodriguez’s triumph is just half of the story on a very busy day in this conclave that is part of the government’s grassroots sports program for young athletes 15 years old and below.

In archery, South Cotabato bet Grace Signacion and Koronadal City’s Justin Matthew Basadre followed up their golden victories in the yeoman girls 20-meter and bowman boys 30-meter events by topping their respective individual Olympic round division.

Signacion edged Koronadal City’s Samantha Isabel Loreno in the yeoman girls’ final round while Basadre defeated South Cotabato’s Quin Myer Loreno in the bowman boys.

Karl David Mejillano and Geanne Gasendo of South Cotabato shared the podium by triumphing in the yeoman boys and bowman girls’ individual Olympic rounds.

Over at the Bulwagang Pangkarunungan, General Santos City bagged two of the four gold medals at stake in rapid chess.

Clint Calvin Atoc ruled all six rounds of the boys 12-under class to finish with six points for the gold medal, beating Dipolog City’s Ghian Michael Aleria (five points) and Gov. Generoso’s Kyle Johann Ylanan (4.5 points).

Haein Angelito Aparte, meanwhile, ruled the boys 13-15 division via a superior tiebreak after he and Kidapawan’s Nick Danuel Pabroquez finished with identical five points.

Aliyah Rae Lumangtad of host province also won after tiebreak, beating Cotabato Province’s Joannah Love Marie Olay for the girls 13-15 gold.

Cagayan de Oro’s Ruelle Canino also shared the podium after finishing with 5.5 points for the girls 12-under gold.

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NBA RESULTS

Atlanta 137, Washington 129 Detroit 129, Denver 103 Milwaukee 113, Brooklyn 94 Indiana 109, New Orleans 107 Houston 118, Phoenix 110 Sacramento 127, San Antonio 112

JAMES HARDEN, who also had eight rebounds and six assists, extends his streak of games with at least 30 points to 27, third-longest in National Basketball Association history. AP

Paul’s wide-open three with 6:03 left in the half. Austin Rivers’s three gave Houston its biggest lead of the half, 57-46, with 3:21 left.

The Rockets led, 63-57, at the break.

The Suns tried a new defensive strategy on Harden and, overall results notwithstanding, it worked pretty well some of the time.

“James forces teams to do a coverage that you usually don’t do,” Booker said.

“It was new for us, first time to do it....

I feel we did pretty well, kept it close, [were] in striking distance most of the game.”

3 GOLDS FOR GENSAN JIN AUL ANTHONY RODRIGUEZ made his presence felt by scooping three gold medals in the taekwondo competitions of the 2019 Batang Pinoy Mindanao leg on Tuesday at the Gaisano Mall in Tagum City.

Competing under the banner of General Santos City, the 13-year-old Rodriguez ruled the junior individual, junior pair and junior team poomsae events to emerge as the most successful athlete in the early stretch of this prestigious multisport competition.

He scored 7.815 points to edge Clint Solitana of Malita (7.335) and Daniel Abella of Cagayan de Oro (7.130) to clinch his first gold medal in the event organized by the Philippine Sports Commission and province of Davao del Norte.

He then partnered with Aleya Rayzel Labao to reign supreme in the pair event with a total score of 8.020 points, leaving Ezekiel Limpin and Aliyah Baquial also of General Santos City (7.550) and Abella and Kyle Canios of Cagayan de Oro (7.485) settling for the silver and bronze medals, respectively.

To complete his triple crown, Rodriguez connived with Limpin and Benedict Opao for a total score of 7.685 points to capture the gold in team event while Nica Indino, Abdul Usop and Henry Lu of Maguindanao (7.400); and Earl Visaya, Louise Valle and Hannah Blanagan of Davao del Norte (7.350) claimed the silver and bronze medals, respectively.

The victory was such an impressive feat for Rodriguez, who has been dreaming someday making it to the Olympics.

“My dream is to compete in the Olympics someday,” said Rodriguez, a Grade 7 student at Holy Trinity College in General Santos City who made it to the national juniors team following an impressive performance in the Mindanao leg last year where he won a pair of mints.

Thai golfers out to relive glory in Ladies Am Open

U JOEBERT ALMODIEL claims his second straight men’s Most Valuable Player trophy.

In New York, Giannis Antetokounmpo had 30 points, 15 rebounds and nine assists, and the Milwaukee Bucks beat the cold-shooting Brooklyn Nets, 113-94, on Monday night.

The injury-depleted Nets missed 19 of their first 20 three-point attempts, making it another easy night for the team with the NBA’s best record. Brooklyn finished five for 42 (11.9 percent) behind the arc.

Andre Drummond scored 14 of his seasonhigh 27 points in the third quarter and Detroit snapped Denver’s six-game winning streak with a 129-103 victory. AP

Altas’ Almodiel bags MVP title

NIVERSITY of Perpetual Help System Dalta produced another Most Valuable Player (MVP) after Joebert Almodiel claimed his second straight men’s trophy in the 94th National Collegiate Athletic Association volleyball tournament.

Almodiel powered the Altas to a ninegame elimination round sweep and a 23-25, 25-19, 23-25, 25-23, 15-12 Game One victory that pushed them a win shy of claiming their second consecutive title—and 12th overall in the league.

Almodiel, who also took the First Best Spiker plum, will became the second athlete from Perpetual Help to win the most coveted individual

award this season after Prince Eze ran away with the trophy in senior basketball late last year.

“We are proud of him, he’s really a hard worker,” Perpetual Help men’s Coach Sammy Acaylar of Almodiel said.

Interestingly, Almodiel will be the focal point of Perpetual Help’s bid to become the third team to win the juniors, men’s and women’s crowns this season next to former member Ateneo, which did it once, and San Sebastian, which accomplished the feat six times.

Arellano University’s Nicole Ebuen emerged as the women’s MVP, while Letran’s Christian Wilsan de la Cruz was adjudged juniors MVP.

EGIONAL powerhouse Thailand sets out to relive its glory years in the Champion Philippine Ladies Amateur Open, pinning its hopes on a troika of young guns eager to showcase its wares when the country’s premier championship is held from February 19 to 21 at the Manila Golf and Country Club.

The Thais racked up three straight PLO titles from 2013, courtesy of Supamas Sangchan (twice) and Pimnipa Panthong but were shut out from the title race the last three editions of the annual event with the local aces re-asserting their might while cashing in on the proverbial homecourt edge to prevail in Tagaytay (Princess Superal), Wack Wack (Bianca Pagdanganan) and Orchard (Yuka Saso).

But Yosita Khawnuna and Natthakritta Vongtaveelap, both 16 year olds, and Chanettee Wannasaen, who will turn 15 in April, are all geared up to put Thailand back in the spotlight in the 57th staging of the annual event which incidentally is making its return to its home at the well-kept layout inside the posh Forbes Park.

South Koreans Park Eun-suk and Lim Mi-jin are also in the fold, both aiming to duplicate compatriot Lee Jeong-hwa’s title feat in 2012, while Japanese Airi Mitsuhashi a regular campaigner on the Ladies Philippine Golf Tour, likewise hopes to contend in the 54-hole championship organized and conducted by the Women’s Golf Association of the Philippines.

Thirty-one Taiwanese, six Singaporeans, one from Hong Kong, three Australians and six Americans are also competing in the event, all going flat out to end the hosts’ reign.

Still, focus will be on the local top guns with Asian Games gold medalist and world No. 33 Saso bannering the hosts’ title drive.

Saso, who powered the Philippines to the team and individual gold in last year’s Asiad in Jakarta, also won a pro tournament last year, easily making her the player to beat in the tournament which also lured top Filipinas Eagle Ace Superal, Mafy Singson, Samantha Dizon, Arnie Taguines, Laia Barro, Angela Legaspi, Monica Mandario, Junia Gabasa, Kyla Nocum and Nicole Abelar.

TRAINING SESSION

SailGP USA Team (left) and SailGP Australia Team practice side to side in Sydney. Taylor Canfield, of the America’s Cup challenger Stars & Stripes Team USA, has joined the US team in the fledgling SailGP league just two weeks before the inaugural regatta in Sydney. AP

ARMYMEN MAKE DO WITHOUT TOP RIDER A

RMY-BICYCOLOGY riders will have to make do without injured skipper Cris Joven who will miss the LBC Ronda Pilipinas 2019 set to start on Friday in Iloilo City.

The 31-year-old Joven injured his left elbow during training in Cavite two weeks ago, leaving the Armymen without a leader and top rider as they compete against some of the best riders not just in the country but in Asia and the world, as well.

Warren Bordeos will fill the spot left by Joven while former Southeast Asian Games gold medalist Alfie Catalan takes over as captain for the squad also composed of Reynaldo Navarro, Marvin Tapic, Mark Julius Bordeos and Robinson Estevez.

“Cris Joven will be a big spot to fill because he’s our best rider and leader of this team,” said Army-Bicycology manager Eric Buhain, who is sponsoring the Armymen for the second straight year.

“But we will do our best to be as competitive without him because we will not only represent Army but the country as well,” he added.

Army-Bicycology will be vying against Navy-

Standard Insurance, Tarlac, Team Franzia, Bike Xtreme and 7-Eleven Cliqq-Air21 by Roadbike Philippines and will also face a foreign challenge from Terengganu, Matrix, Nex Cycling Team, Korail Team Korea, Custom Cycling Indonesia, Cambodia Cycling, PGN Road Cycling and Sri Lanka Navy Cycling Team.

The Ronda is sanctioned by the International Cycling Union for the first time in its nine-year history. Points earned from the race will be considered for qualification for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

The race opens with the 197.6-kilometer Iloilo-Iloilo Stage One on Friday and will proceed with the 101.8-km Guimaras-Guimaras Stage Two the next day.

The cavalcade will then go back to Iloilo for the 179.4-km Iloilo-Roxas City Stage Three on February 10 followed by the 146.9-km RoxasRoxas Stage Four on February 11.

It will conclude with the 148.9-km RoxasAntique Stage Five on February 12. The awarding ceremony will be in Boracay the same day.

Enriquez, Haro share GenSan MVP honors

GIMME FIVE!

The Dominican Republic’s Emilio Gustave (top left) gives a high five to teammate Alfredo Reyes during their team Las Estrellas Orientales game against Puerto Rico’s Cangrejeros de Santurce in the Caribbean Series baseball tournament at Rod Carew Stadium in Panama City on Monday. AP

S

YDNEY ENRIQUEZ played true to form and racked up two titles while Kurt Haro grabbed the spotlight in boys’ singles as they shared top honors in the Palawan Pawnshop-Palawan Express Pera Padala (PPSPEPP) General Santos national age-group tennis tournament at the General Santos City Tennis Club last Sunday.

The top-seeded Enriquez stopped unranked doubles partner Kyle Rivera twice, scoring a

6-3, 6-1 romp in the girls’ 16-under finals then running away with the 18-under plum via a 6-0, 6-2 victory in the Group 2 tournament which kicked off the six-leg Mindanao swing of the circuit sponsored by Palawan Pawnshop.

The fourth-ranked Haro, on the other hand, survived unseeded EJ Sta. Maria, hacking out a 6-7(3), 6-4, 10-8 decision to snare the 16-under plum. But the rising Davaoeño star failed to match Enriquez’s feat as he retired against top-

seed Bruce Hurtado from Koronadal and yielded the 18-under crown in the five-day tournament presented by Dunlop.

“We may see more of Enriquez and Haro’s exploits in the next stops of the Mindanao swing but we also expect new faces to emerge as we continue to provide the venue for these young players who could be the country’s next tennis stars,” Palawan Pawnshop President and CEO Bobby Castro said.

Other winners in the event sanctioned by the

orts

sMirror

Wednesday, February 6, 2019

BASKETBALL executive Sonny Barrios says the goal is to sweep the four gold medals in the 30th SEA Games.

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HE Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) targets a sweep of the four basketball gold medals at stake in the 30th Southeast Asian Games.

SBP Executive Director Sonny Barrios said “to win them all” is the directive of the country’s top basketball officials—the men’s and women’s five-on-five and three-onthree.

“That’s the mandate,” Barrios disclosed during the first Philippine Sportswriters

SWEEP WE WILL!

Association Forum for 2019 on Tuesday at the Tapa King Restaurant in Farmers Plaza, Cubao.

The challenge at the moment, though, is for the women’s team to deliver because the Filipinas have yet to win a breakthrough gold in the biennial meet, unlike, their men counterpart that had won all but two editions since the country joined the Games in 1977.

Multititled Coach Patrick Aquino will continue to call the shots for the women’s squad.

“That’s why Coach Pat said the challenge is tough for him. For the men, if they win by less than 50 points, we get mad at the coach,” Barrios told the session presented by San Miguel Corp., Tapa King and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.

“That’s because our men’s team is up there in the Southeast Asian level. But our women have yet to win the gold. We missed it a few years back,” added the former PBA commissioner.

“Now that were playing here, Coach Pat is really

Beermen try to check slump against similarly skidding Elite

F

OUR teams try to salvage impressive wins to stay on track in the Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup that reaches its halfway mark of the eliminations on Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

Defending champion San Miguel Beer (2-3 won-lost) tries to end a two-game slide when it battles Blackwater (1-3) in the main game at 7 p.m.

Governors’ Cup runner-up Alaska (0-1) hopes to barge into the win column when it takes on the top rookie CJ Perez-led Columbian Dyip (2-3) at 4:30 p.m.

In an unusual position at the bottom half of the standings, the Beermen dropped two games to fall in sixth to ninth places with NLEX, Columbian Dyip and Meralco.

Terrence Romeo returned to the game for San Miguel Beer, but the four-time champions could not hold veteran James Yap as Rain or Shine scored a 108-98 victory last Friday.

Marcio Lassiter had a game-high 27 points for the Beermen, while June Mar Fajardo

MIGHTY EYES ELIMS SWEEP

Unified Tennis Philippines made up of PPS-PEPP, Cebuana Lhuillier, Wilson, Toby’s, Dunlop, Slazenger and B-Meg were siblings John and Mae Melendres from Polomolok, South Cotabato; Andre Mateo from Tupi, Cotabato; local bet Rey Napala; and Sarangani’s Sheloh Ripdos.

John Melendres upended third seed Emmanuel Florida, 5-4(3), 4-0, to claim the 10-under unisex title; Mae stunned No. 2 Merrycris Cordova, 6-4, 6-4, for the girls’ 12-U plum; Mateo ripped Vanz Abecia, 6-4, 6-0, for the boys’ 12-under title; Napala edged Yassan Al Anazi, 7-6(10), 7-5, for the boys’ 14-under diadem; and Ripdos scored a 6-2(ret.) win over Sandra Mosqueda for the girls’ 14-under title.

providing the best team for the SEA Games,” said Barrios, stressing that the country couldn’t leave anything to chance as SEA Games host.

“When you’re the host, there’s nothing as an overkill. We want to win, and not just win, but win big,” he said. “But don’t quote me as if it is cast in stone.”

The SBP executive bared during the discussion that a lot of basketball events were also considered to be included in the SEA Games calendar aside from the 5x5 and 3x3.

SON ALSO RISES RULES JAPAN CUP

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HE success of Son Also Rises spilled into the new racing season as it ruled the Philippine Racing Commission’s (Philracom) 2019 Japan Cup Stakes Race at the Manila Turf Club Race Track in Malvar and Tanauan City, Batangas, on Sunday.

With Japan Racing Association (JRA) representatives Hiroyuki Koezuka and Teruhisa Nishiyama watching at the VIP lounge of the Metro Turf, Son Also Rises and star jockey Kelvin Abobo made their move in the final 75 meters to claim the Japan Cup Stakes Race that showcased seven local and imported horses four years and older.

The win was worth P300,000, courtesy of the sponsoring Philracom.

It was a fitting follow-up victory for the Benhur Abalos Jr.-owned Son Also Rises, which also ruled last December’s Philracom Grand Sprint Championship also at the Malvar track.

“My horse made a veteran move in this race,” said Abobo, whose partnership with Son Also Rises have resulted to three stakes race wins already.

The star jockey had a lucky weekend by winning all five races he took part in.

Son Also Rises ran third most of the way and made it a two-horse battle with Lakan in the last 400 meters—with the six-year-old horse finally getting the lead in the final 75 and taking the 1,400-meter race by a thrilling half a length.

listed a double-double of 24 points and 14 rebounds.

Yet, it was Yap, who registered 21 points off the bench, and the Elasto Painters’ steady plays down the stretch that proved lethal against San Miguel Beer, which also took a 93-104 beating from TNT over a week ago.

A victory would give the Beermen a share of fourth spot with the Katropa (3-3).

The Elite, meanwhile, absorbed a 114-95 loss to the league-leading Phoenix Fuel Masters (4-0) in Antipolo City also last Friday.

Rookie Abu Tratter showed off his potential as a first-round pick in the draft when he tallied 24 points and eight rebounds in a losing cause.

Mac Belo and Allein Maliksi added 13 and 12 points, respectively, but Blackwater trailed the entire way as Calvin Abueva and Matthew Wright proved unstoppable.

Ramon Rafael Bonilla

MARCIO LASSITER and the Beermen have to double their efforts to get back on track.

M

IGHTY Sports goes for a four-game sweep of Group B when it collides with AlWahda on Wednesday in the 30th Dubai International Basketball Championship at the Shabab Al Ahli Club in the United Arab Emirates.

Despite an inspiring 98-89 win over Lebanese champion club Homenetmen on Sunday, Mighty Sports Coach Charles Tiu sees another exciting finish in their 9 p.m. clash (1 p.m. Wednesday, Manila time) with a 7-foot-4 center reinforcing the Syrian club.

“Better prepare guys, Al-Wahda also has three imports, one stands at 7-foot-4,” said the younger brother of retired Rain or Shine star Chris Tiu. “So we can’t afford to relax although we’re now assured of finishing either as No. 1 or No. 2.”

Tiu, however, is hoping to get significant numbers this time from former LA Lakers star Lamar Odom, who was practically reduced to a mere spectator after going scoreless in the team’s last two games.

The 6-foot-10 Odom scored four points in his comeback game against American University in Dubai in the opener after a near-death experience four years ago.

But if he can’t do the things he normally does during his celebrated days with the Lakers, Ginebra resident import Justin Brownlee and Chinese league veteran Randolph Morris will have to work doubly hard to help the team gain extra motivation in time for the knockout quarterfinal stage of the tournament on Thursday.

Coowned by brothers Alex and Caesar Wongchuking and backed by Go For Gold, Oriental Group, Healthcube and SMDC, the sports apparel and accessories club team also hopes to get a little of everything from Fil-Ams Jason Brickman, Jeremiah Gray, and Roosevent Adams and even from crafty UP star Juan Gomez de Liano.

In their finest games so far, the 6-foot-4 Gray erupted for 24 points with the 6-foot Brickman finishing with 12 points and five assists, and de Liano adding 11 points—not to mention providing some highlight plays. “‘While we have already surpassed our one-win showing two years, our mission is far from over. So stay focused guys,” said the older Wongchuking in a text message to Tiu.

preparing the team.”

The Philippines is hosting the 30th SEA Games from November 30 to December 9, with the basketball games set at the MOA Arena.

Members of the men’s team have yet to be named, although Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) President Ricky Vargas already expressed his desire to see an all-pro team. Vargas is also the chairman of the Philippine Basketball Association.

“The PBA and SBP are discussing about

“We just followed the game plan, which is to shadow whoever is the fastest in the race. And when I started to pull her, she made her move,” Abobo said. “We ran a calculated race and when there were 300 meters to go, I felt we had the win in the bag.”

Mar Tirona’s Lakan (7YO male) settled for the P112,500 runner-up purse, while Summer Romance (5YO male) placed third, worth P62,500.

The others winners on Sunday were Willing Willie (Race 1), King Curry (Race 2), Tanforan (Race 3), Magical Bell (Race 5), Mighty Bon (Race 6), Can You Giub (Race 7), Lemon Drop Title (Race 8), Hantik (Race 9), Magaskawee (Race 10) and Ace Up (Race 11).

The JRA has been a big partner of Philippine horseracing for years. Only last year, the Philracom sought the advice of JRA Facilities Co. LTD. Director Kazuhiro Youfu and JRA Facilities Co. LTD. Adviser Sadamichi Imabayashi to help raise the standards of the Philippines’s three premier racetracks—Manila Jockey Clun Inc.’s San Lazaro Leisure and Business Park at Lantic, Carmona, Cavite; Saddle and Clubs Leisure Park (Santa Ana Park) Race Track at Sabang, Naic, Cavite; and the Metro Manila Turf Club.

“The JRA has been an ally of the Philracom for years. It is a partnership that has raised our racing standards as we hope to further strengthen this bond in the years to come,” Philracom Chairman Andrew Sanchez said.

JAPAN Racing Association representatives Teruhisa Nishiyama (left) and Hiroyuki Koezuka (second from left) lead the awarding ceremony and are joined by (third from left) Philippine Racing Commission Commissioner Atty. Dondon Bagatsing, Metro Turf’s Dr. Nick Cruz and Willie Afan Jr., jockey Kelvin Abobo, winning trainer Jojo Angeles and Melvin Villegas, representing Son Also Rises owner Benhur Abalos Jr.

BATAAN CONTINUES TO RISE IN M.P.B.L.

T

HE Bataan Risers are picking up their second wind in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League Datu Cup after surviving another tough grind late Monday night at the packed People’s Center in Balanga.

Bataan added Muntinlupa to its growing list of victims, as the upand-coming squad repulsed the runners-up last season, 67-63, to keep the lead in the tournament put up by Sen. Manny Pacquiao with Philippine Basketball Association legend and former Most Valuable Player Kenneth Duremdes as commissioner.

The win enabled the Zetaprobacked Risers to improve to 19-2 won-lost. They are the No.1 seed in the tough northern division and are already assured of a top four berth and home-court advantage in the playoffs.

But Head Coach Jojo Lastimosa

would want to see his team staying on top for a better reason.

“If we get the No.1 spot, we’ll be having home-court advantage in each round in the playoffs,” Lastimosa said. “We want to win our remaining games as we want to carry the momentum all the way to the playoffs.”

Beating Muntinlupa was a great test and the Risers were able to live up to the challenge posed by the formidable Cagers team that battled the host squad toe-to-toe.

The biggest play of the night happened in the closing seconds of the game made possible by prized guard Yvan Ludovice.

Prized guard Yvan Ludovice came up with the night’s biggest play at crunch time.

Picked up in the free agency after being released by Pasay, Ludovice challenged the Muntinlupa

defenders and fed Rob Celiz for the marginal basket that assured the Risers’ victory.

Muntinlupa suffered its third straight loss and fell to 12-8. It was the second time this season that the Cagers lost three in a row and the latest setback put them half a game ahead of closest pursuer Batangas City Athletics in the southern division.

Laguna turned to Ralph Olivarez and frontliner Raymond Ilagan in beating Valenzuela, 74-66, in the other game.

Olivarez finished with 20 points, while Ilagan had a double-double of 15 points and 17 rebounds as the Heroes stayed in the hunt for a playoff berth by improving to 10-13 at eighth spot.

The loss was crucial for Valenzuela, which dropped to 8-14 and fell to 11th spot.

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AL MENDOZA alsol47@yahoo.com

THAT’S ALL

Garcia’s golf folly

GOLF took the spotlight globally last weekend—both for reasons weird and spectacular.

The weirdest was the behavior of Sergio Garcia on the golf course— bordering on the abominable.

While Garcia is known for his Spanish temper, sometimes uncalled for, his outburst on Saturday went from queer to bizarre.

Not once but twice did he vent his rage against the greens during third-round play of the just-ended Saudi International tournament in King Abdullah Economic City, Saudi Arabia.

Literally almost, Garcia destroyed two greens in frustration over a game that had gone haywire.

Although he was able to finish his round, scoring a 71 to be at even par, he was 16 shots off coleaders Dustin Johnson of the US and Li Haotong of China.

Then came the hammer on Garcia’s head: He was disqualified and barred from playing the last round.

But I give credit to Garcia, the former Masters champion.

When he realized the horror of his misconduct, he apologized immediately—and profusely at that.

“In frustration, I damaged a couple of greens, for which I apologize for,” Garcia said. “And I have informed my fellow players it will never happen again.”

Garcia’s misconduct somehow stained the tournament as the Saudi International is the newest European Tour leg, which was largely seen as a cosmetic to Saudi Arabia’s human-rights record following an international condemnation on the recent killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey, with some of Saudi’s top-ranking officials being linked allegedly to the murder.

Johnson won the tournament in style, if not spectacularly, using his last two birdies on the final two holes of the fourth and final round to win by two strokes over the eagle-energized Li, Johnson’s coleader with 18 holes left to play.

Li’s four eagles in Round 3 was a record in the Open era of the sport and Johnson needed tons of courage to hold back the surging Chinese on Sunday’s dramatic finish.

“Any time you can win a professional tournament, no matter where it is in the world, it’s a big win,” said Johnson, who had five birdies for a final three-under-par 67 to Li’s 69.

“Haotong was one ahead on the back nine, but I knew I was playing well enough to make up some strokes, and I didn’t let it bother me. I just played my game and kept on trying to make birdies.”

His birdies on 17 and 18 had clinched it, coming after Li succumbed to pressure with three bogeys pulling him down coming home.

But still, good enough that Li finished second behind Johnson, the No. 3 player in the world.

As for Garcia, who won the Masters on April 9, 2017, he will have a lot of repairing in mending his broken heart, if not his damaged reputation worldwide.

The least he could do in restoring his stature is pay for the repair of the damaged greens—and next do a janitorial job in a mosque in Saudi? For a week?

THAT’S IT Please say a little prayer for the speedy recovery of the still hospital-confined Ray Butch “Elvis” Gamboa, a mainstay of the rambunctious group called The Only Super Origs (TOSO), which will kill time and a bottle on Wednesday to celebrate the visit of the esteemed fellow of the man behind the nom de guerre LFS (Life From Singapore).

By Wayne Parry

The Associated Press

ATLANTIC CITY, New Jersey—America’s major professional sports leagues are split on how to get a piece of the action from legal sports betting after failing to get early adopting states to cut them in.

But they are back in the game this year with several state legislatures considering granting them fees from sports bets.

The National Football League (NFL), Major League Baseball (MLB), National Basketball Association (NBA) and the National Hockey League (NHL) uniformly fought to stop the spread of sports gambling for years, but retrenched in their positions after a key loss—a US Supreme Court ruling last year that granted New Jersey and other states the option to allow wagering.

That shift from the courts to statehouses, Congress and the open market has revealed divisions among the leagues in how to approach the inevitability of expanded legal betting.

Some are lobbying individual states to include a 0.25-percent cut of all sports bets placed in their states.

Others are concentrating on making free-market deals with individual gambling companies. Some are doing both those things and others say they don’t want or need payments from sportsbooks.

The US Supreme Court ruled last May that all states are free to legalize sports betting. Eight states currently accept bets with many more expected to follow suit— some soon, others in future years. None of the laws passed in 2018 gave leagues what they’d hoped for.

But at least six states have included fees for the leagues in sports betting bills they are considering this year, with more bills expected.

The NBA, MLB and golf’s Professional Golfers Association (PGA) Tour began lobbying individual states for direct payments, an idea widely known among legislators and lobbyists as an “integrity fee” but that the leagues prefer to call a royalty. The leagues say they deserve to be reimbursed for costs to make sure their games are free from scandal and manipulation. They also feel that outside companies making money from games should share profits with those organizing the sports.

“It obviously helps the leagues in providing compensation to us for our product,” said Bryan Seeley, a senior vice president of Major League Baseball. “It also helps defray the costs for us for integrity and regulatory costs.”

Those costs include hiring additional people to monitor games and betting activity, training players, referees and other league employees on integrity measures, developing special software and hiring outside consultants, said Dan Spillane, an NBA senior vice president. But neither of those leagues would quantify exactly how much integrity measures are costing them or how much is new spending, given that illegal sports betting has been popular in America for a long time and other countries offer legal wagering on their games.

Seeley said gambling companies need to partner with leagues so both sides have incentives to grow appeal and profitability, he said.

“I can’t think of another industry where a class of people is able to make hundreds of millions of dollars off someone else’s product, put risk on that party, and pay them nothing,” Seeley said. “Some of the revenue that’s going to be made by the gambling companies needs to be shared.”

The NFL—even with the most popular betting sport in the United States—says it never sought such payments.

“Rather, we are focused on game integrity and consumer protection,” NFL Spokesman Brian McCarthy said.

‘INTEGRITY FEE’ DIVIDES LEAGUES Sports BusinessMirror

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| Wednesday, February 6, 2019 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

LAUREN GREENBERG, a New England Patriots fan, reacts while watching Super Bowl LIII at the Westgate Superbook sports book in Las Vegas. AP

The National Hockey League has put most of its energy into reaching direct deals with gambling companies, including gambling giant MGM Resorts International, one of a flurry of deals the leagues made last year. These pacts have included sportsbooks licensing official league data, as well as using league and team logos in marketing and advertising.

“Instead of seeking legislation at the federal level

or even at the state level, our approach has been to work directly with the industry,” NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said. “We believe that, whether it’s our intellectual property, our data, whether it’s video of our game, we have important assets, and if somebody is going to avail themselves or want to avail themselves of those assets in order to conduct their business, then we’re going to need to have a negotiation.”

MLB and the NBA say they are pursuing state-bystate fees and deals with private companies as parallel but independent efforts. David Schwartz, director of the Center for Gaming Research at the University of NevadaLas Vegas, sees that as “an adjustment by the leagues to the political reality of the situation.”

“I imagine that as the market grows, they will seek various ways to monetize public interest in sports

betting, perhaps even some they haven’t thought of yet,” Schwartz said.

At least five states considered royalties to leagues last year before deciding against paying them. The leagues think they’ll do better this year with more lobbying. So far this year, Missouri, New York, Kansas, Illinois, Iowa and Massachusetts have introduced bills providing fees of between 0.2 percent and 1 percent for the leagues.

Referees undergo training with VAR for Women’s Cup

W

OMEN’S World Cup referees are undergoing training with Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system in matches over the next two weeks, The Associated Press has learned, paving the way for the Fifa council to approve the use of video reviews at the tournament in France.

Fifa has faced criticism for not committing to using video assistant referees at the June 7-to-July 7 Women’s World Cup just as they were for the men’s tournament for the first time in Russia last year.

Amid growing demands for clarity on the deployment of VAR, United States women’s team Coach Jill Ellis said it would be “insulting” if female players didn’t have an equal right to have decisions reviewed by video at their biggest tournament. England counterpart Phil Neville has also criticized the standard of refereeing in the women’s game and the lack of technology which could reduce mistakes.

Fifa only gave the first indication on Monday that it does plan to use the technology in France after the AP discovered previously undisclosed training with VARs was taking place in seminars and matches in Qatar.

It ensures the 27 referees and 47 assistant referees will gain the necessary experience that allows Fifa executives at a meeting in Miami in March to approve the use of the technology for the World Cup. “The final decision if VAR will be used at the Women’s World Cup will be taken by the Fifa council,” Fifa told The Associated Press on Monday. The governing body had previously only said a decision about VAR would come “in due time.”

Fifa is now ramping up testing with VAR as referees preside over matches with the assistance of

THIS photo release by the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch shows the rear left side of the fuselage, including part of the aircraft registration N264DB, that went missing carrying soccer player Emiliano Sala. AP

Body visible in wreckage of plane carrying player

L REFEREE Matt Conger from New Zealand watches the Video Assistant Referee system, known as VAR, during the Group D match between Nigeria and Iceland at the 2018 World Cup in the Volgograd Arena in Volgograd, Russia, in June. AP

technology at the Al Kass International Cup for men’s under-17 teams, including Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain, from Monday through February 15 at Qatar’s Aspire Academy.

It is a rare deployment of female referees at men’s games. Uruguayan official Claudia Umpierrez made the first VAR call of the tournament near Doha to disallow a

goal for offside in a game involving Aspire and Moroccan side Raja Club Athletic on Monday evening.

While the Women’s World Cup referees and their assistants are women, most of the VARs are men, with some having gained experienced at the World Cup in Russia. No domestic women’s competition currently uses VAR. AP

ONDON—One body is visible in the seabed wreckage of a plane that went missing carrying Argentine soccer player Emiliano Sala and his pilot two weeks ago over the English Channel.

Britain’s Air Accident Investigation Branch did not say on Monday if the underwater camera identified Sala or pilot David Ibbotson, the only two people onboard the small aircraft that disappeared from radar over the English Channel on January 21 as it flew from the French city of Nantes to Cardiff, Wales.

Wreckage from the plane was located on Sunday after Sala’s family raised funds for a private search

by American-born shipwreck-hunting specialist David Mearns because authorities called off the official search.

Although the seabed search on Sunday was conducted in conjunction with British air accident investigators, they have not said if they plan to raise the wreckage to the surface.

“Let’s hope they can rescue it as soon as possible

to find out what happened and have some sort of certainty,” Horacio Sala, the footballer’s father, told The Associated Press outside the family’s home in Progreso, about 300 miles (500 kilometers) northwest of Buenos Aires.

“I feel very empty. For a father to lose a son, is not something that you expect.”

The 28-year-old Sala was preparing to start a new career in the English Premier League at Cardiff after the striker was sold by French topflight club Nantes.

An underwater remotely operated vehicle (ROV) surveyed the seabed and confirmed an object was the missing Piper Malibu aircraft, with the registration N264DB visible in a picture of the fuselage released on Monday.

“It’s imperative that the plane is recovered, and now even more so now we know someone is down there,” Mearns said.

Recovering the body without raising the wreckage is complex, according to Ross Taylor of A-to-Sea Solutions, whose survey ship was used in the search. AP

Compassionate God

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EAR God, You favor and bless us in the name of Jesus Christ. We rejoice in Your Love and pray: Gracious God, hear our prayer. Unite Christians and other religious organizations as the one body in Christ. Satisfy our hunger for beauty, peace, hope and love. Calm those who are anxious, troubled, excited because of the failures of others, especially the fearful. May the peace of God that surpasses all understanding guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, now and always.

Amen.

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

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

Life BusinessMirror

MARIAH CAREY SHAKES OFF BOYCOTT CALLS FOR HER SAUDI CONCERT D3

Wednesday, February 6, 2019

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14-year-old’s FaceTime bug discovery could rattle Apple

By MAtt O’Brien GRANT THOMPSON and his mother, Michele, look at an iPhone in the family’s kitchen in Tucson, Arizona.

The 14-yearold stumbled upon a bug in the iPhone’s FaceTime groupchatting feature on January 19 while calling his friends to play a video game.

With the bug, a FaceTime groupchat user calling another iPhone, iPad or Mac computer could hear audio, even if the receiver did not accept the call. AP

A

The Associated Press

T the heart of Apple’s shocking FaceTime bug, which allowed just about anyone to turn an iPhone into a live microphone, stands a 14-year-old boy who stumbled upon the eavesdropping flaw more than a week before Apple took action.

“The thing that surprised me the most was that this glitch happened in the first place,” said Grant Thompson, a high-school freshman in Tucson, Arizona. “I’m only 14 and I found it by accident, instead of the people at Apple that get paid to find glitches.”

Not only that, but Grant and his mom said they spent a week unsuccessfully trying to get Apple to do something about the bug in its FaceTime group-chatting feature. The bug allowed callers to activate another person’s microphone remotely even before the person has accepted or rejected the call.

“It took nine days for us to get a response,” he said. “My mom contacted them almost every single day through e-mail, calling, faxing.” Of the fax, he jokes, “I’m not even sure what that is. It’s probably older than I am.”

This eavesdropping scare is over now that Apple has disabled group chats, but the problem could dog the company for much longer. New York state officials have opened a consumer rights investigation. Others are raising questions about how long it took Apple to address the bug.

In a statement on Friday, Apple thanked the Thompsons as it announced that it has identified a fix and will release it next week. FaceTime group chatting will resume then.

Grant, a straight-A student who plays basketball, does community volunteering and enjoys the video game “Fortnite,” was calling friends to play the game on a Saturday night, January 19, when he discovered the flaw.

“If a 14-year-old kid discovered it, I wonder how many other people discovered it,” said Chris Wysopal, chief technology officer with the security firm Veracode.

Apple hasn’t said whether it has records that could answer that question.

Friday’s statement said Apple’s engineers worked quickly once it got the details needed to reproduce the bug. Although Apple didn’t acknowledge a delay, the company said it was “committed to improving the process by which we receive and escalate these reports, in order to get them to the right people as fast as possible.”

The company—at first widely praised for its swift response—could come under increased scrutiny as regulators seek to learn more about the vulnerability.

New York Attorney General Letitia James and Gov. Andrew Cuomo said on Wednesday that they’re investigating “Apple’s failure to warn consumers about the FaceTime bug and slow response to addressing the issue.” They said the bug jeopardized the privacy of New York consumers. James said her office’s review will include a “thorough investigation into Apple’s response.”

PARENTS can create hearty snacks for the kids with the Samsung Smart Oven

Bring tech smarts to mealtimes

Last October, Apple introduced the 32-person video conferencing feature for iPhones, iPads and Macs. With the bug, a FaceTime group-chat user calling another Apple device could hear audio—even if the receiver didn’t accept the call. The bug was triggered when callers turned a regular FaceTime call into a group chat, making FaceTime think the receiver had accepted the chat.

In Grant’s case, he had just gotten his Xbox ready and called to invite a friend, Nathan, to play “Fortnite” with him online.

“You can swipe up and add another person, so I added another friend of mine, Diego, to see if he also wanted to play,” he said. “But as soon as I added Diego, it forced Nathan to respond.”

They were shocked at first, then tried to repeat the bug and it happened every time, he said. His mother, Michele Thompson, said she started trying to reach Apple the next day.

“They could have tested it within two minutes, realized it was true and brought it up the chain at Apple,” said Thompson, who works as an attorney.

“There needs to be a better process for the average citizen to report things like this. And a timelier response.”

She eventually reached someone who advised that she could register as a software developer to submit the bug. Such reports can sometimes lead to “bug bounties” so that those who discover a flaw

can get a financial reward. The family hoped Grant could receive such an award, or at least some credit, for his discovery.

“Every day he would ask me, ‘Did we hear from Apple, yet?’” she said.

The family tried reaching Apple through multiple channels. They left comments on Twitter, one of them directed to CEO Tim Cook, and uploaded a video to walk Apple engineers through the problem.

But it wasn’t until a tech blog reported the flaw earlier this week—leading many people to experiment with the spying bug themselves—that Apple took the unusual measure of temporarily shutting down the group-chat feature.

Apple has declined to say when it learned about the problem. The company also wouldn’t say if it has logs that could show if anyone took advantage of the bug before it became publicly known this week. The company reached out to the Thompson family on Tuesday offering to give some public credit for their efforts, according to an e-mail Michele Thompson shared with The Associated Press.

“It would be cool to just have Apple say thanks to me,” Grant Thompson said before Friday’s announcement from Apple. “And of course, the bug bounty, that would be pretty awesome to get, but as long as we got rid of this pretty groundbreaking bug, and Apple said thank you, that would be pretty cool.” n

LIMITED-EDITION PORSCHE DESIGN HUAWEI MATE 20 RACES TO THE PHILIPPINES THE most recent mobile luxury device born from the collaboration between industry leaders Huawei and Porsche has finally arrived around these parts.

Blending state-of-the-art technology with a new height of luxury design, the Porsche Design Huawei Mate RS represents the pinnacle of mobile luxury and mobile AI, expressed in timeless functional design and built to bring the ultimate form of artificial intelligence to every Filipinos.

On February 9, the limited-edition phone will be available at select Huawei experience stores for P99,990. (Yes, that’s no typo—but, hey, luxury comes at a premium.)

The Huawei Mate 20 RS will also be available exclusively via Globe The Platinum Plan P4999 with a cash out of P32,400 with inclusions of: Globe Priority Network, Platinum Digital Assistant, 25GB mobile data with rollover or all-month data

surfing for P999 deductible from the consumable allowance, unlimited texts to all networks and calls to Globe/TM numbers, and P2,250 consumable allowance, among others (bit.ly/2TtrZIR).

The Porsche Design Huawei Mate RS is packed with Kirin 980, the most powerful Kirin SoC to date. As the world’s first commercially available 7nm SoC, the Kirin 980 is currently the most densely packed mobile processor on the market, packing 6.9 billion transistors into a form factor the size of a fingernail, set to deliver blazing-fast performance.

The phone’s all-new Leica Ultrawide Angle Triple camera comprises a 40MP RGB sensor, a 20MP Leica sensor with ultrawide angle lens and an 8MP sensor with telephoto lens. The Leica Ultra-Wide-Angle lens enables users to capture an impressively wide perspective even within the

confines of tight spaces. With the inclusion of the special lens, the phone supports video capture in ultrawide 21:9 resolution—the same aspect ratio used by cinemas worldwide to give you a cinematic feel, right from the start.

The Porsche Design Huawei Mate 20 RS sports an industry leading 4200mAh battery that supports 40W Huawei SuperCharge fast-charging technology. Tested relentlessly to the limits by Huawei’s engineers, the battery can be used for more than a full day of intensive use and can be charged back at an industry leading speed. With Huawei’s 40W SuperCharge technology, users can charge their phones from approximately 70 percent in just 30 minutes. Furthermore, it also supports the 15W Wireless Quick Charge and world’s first Wireless Reverse Charge, which lets the exclusive device to act as a wireless power bank.

AS in romantic relationships, the singletons among us are in search for the perfect partner. For homemakers, they just might find it in the Samsung Smart Oven, a smart ally in making nutritious dishes and snacks for the whole family. It is packed with ingenious features that ensure quick and even cooking while preserving food’s nutritional values, so families can enjoy delectable food.

Parents can explore all the possibilities for their little ones’ baon and make their lunch breaks as exciting and nourishing, starting with these suggested recipes. n ROAST CHICKEN. A healthy source of protein, roast chicken is a versatile dish that can be served in many ways.

With the Smart Oven’s Hot Blast technology, roast chicken comes out crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside. This dynamic appliance also comes with a Wide Grill that lets users cook food more evenly by ensuring consistent heat distribution, allowing them to enjoy perfectly grilled and browned chicken every time. n GRILLED FISH. Parents can introduce heart-healthy omega-3 to their kids’ diet with juicy grilled salmon or tuna.

Rub the fish with herbs before cooking for a refreshing taste, or coat it with teriyaki sauce for a sweet and meaty flavor. It’s easy to cook this tasty dish with the smart appliance. Just place the marinated fish on the high rack that comes with the appliance, press the Grill button, and set the grilling time.

In just 60 minutes or less, they’ll get a flavorful serving of healthy and evenly cooked meal. n HEALTHY PIZZA. Mom and dad can add a fun twist to this popular Italian dish by topping sliced bread with baked vegetables (such as bell pepper and eggplants), mushrooms, tomato sauce and cheese. They can also add pesto or nuts for added flavor and crunch. The oven comes with 10 Hot Blast Auto features that provide preprogrammed cooking times for many great tasting dishes, including homemade pizza. n FRUITY DESSERTS. There’s nothing like a healthy dessert to complete a kid’s baon. With the Smart Oven’s Fermentation Function, mom can bake her own bread or create homemade yogurt. Transform bananas into fluffy muffins, or chop them up together with apples and berries for a filling yogurt snack.

The Samsung Smart Oven’s ECO Mode reduces electricity consumption with its low standby power. When not in use, it consumes minimal energy to maintain its basic functions.

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Pet Corner BusinessMirror

Wednesday, February 6, 2019

MU researchers study cat genomes to treat human allergies

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z

By Eugenia Last

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Charlie Heaton, 25; Rick Astley, 53; Kathy Najimy, 62; Tom Brokaw, 79.

a

ARIES (March 21-April 19): If you feel compelled to make a change, look for a way to alter your appearance without attracting a lot of attention or visit a place you’ve never been. Don’t share personal information or secrets. HHH

b

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Consider what you can do for others. Lending a helping hand will encourage better relationships. If you love someone, let them know how you feel. Make plans that will give you something to look forward to. Romance is highlighted. HHHH

c

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Stick to the truth, and hang out with people who aren’t excessive or who ask for too much. Balance and integrity will help you get ahead and ward off trouble. A personal change will help you financially. HH

d

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Don’t worry so much about what others do or think. Do your own thing and enjoy life and those who fit into your plans. It’s OK to be unique and to follow the path that feels most comfortable. Romance is featured.

HHHHH

the program that black-footed cats in zoos around the country were going blind. Lyons and other researchers got involved and found the genetic cause.

The first presenting cat was from the Kansas City Zoo—then other zoos in the US sent in samples of their black-footed cats for screening.

The result helped prevent inbreeding between two cats, which would have been more likely to reproduce the genetic cause of blindness in their offspring, Lyons said.

Reuben Buckley, a postdoctoral fellow, works on storing and interpreting genomic data. Buckley looks for genetic differences between sick cats and healthy cats by studying their DNA sequence.

“Basically, I have to figure out the signal from the noise,” Buckley said.

Instead of skim sequencing, which is a lowresolution analysis of a cat’s genome sequences, 99 Lives does deep sequencing, which requires repeatedly sequencing each cat’s genome for a clearer picture.

“When you do deep sequencing, you are very certain that the variations you have identified are true and accurate,” Lyons said.

The public has shown support for the program by donating through the Mizzou Give Direct crowdfunding portal. Initially, Lyons set $21,000 as the goal of online fundraising. As of October 2018, the

program has brought in more than five times that amount.

Because of the improvement of technology and human medicine, those funds stretch further today than when the program started. In 2013, sequencing a whole genome would cost $7,000. The cost today is $3,000.

For future research, however, 99 Lives needs to continue raising funds. Lyons said donors can write in how they want the program to use their money.

The program’s first goal was to sequence 100 cats.

They’ve sequenced close to 200, according to Lyons.

The program cooperates with nearly 40 institutions, comprising over 50 researchers from different countries, including the United States, New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Italy, Sweden and Germany.

“I’ve noticed that the more a group can pull together and share their resources together, the more powerful your tools will be,” Lyons said.

Along with improving treatment of diseases in humans, Lyons said there are two main reasons 99 Lives’s work is important.

The program reminds people how important pets are in people’s lives, Lyons said. They bring us love, joy and passion. They teach children responsibility.

Service animals help people with disabilities.

Plus, as their keepers, humans have responsibility for the animals’ welfare, Lyons said. n

Milo the puppy with wrong-way paws improving STILLWATER, Oklahoma—A puppy named Milo born with his front paws facing up instead of down has had another procedure as veterinarians in Oklahoma try to help the dog learn to walk.

A statement from the Oklahoma State University’s Center for Veterinary Health Sciences in Stillwater says Milo was released on Friday but still needs therapy. Officials with an animal rescue group, Oliver and Friends Farm Sanctuary,

Today’s Horoscope

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Take your time and systematically initiate changes you want to make. You have plenty to gain if you are willing to work hard and follow through with what you want to see happen. Reconnecting with old friends will help you put your life in perspective and prompt you to consider making a move or taking on a new project. Your lucky numbers are 2, 9, 15, 29, 33, 38, 42.

By Xinyu Wei The Associated Press

OLUMBIA, Missouri—Cat genome sequences don’t just tell us about cats anymore. The work of University of Missouri researchers is unlocking cat genomes so they can help us better understand human diseases.

Researchers from the MU College of Veterinary Medicine are looking at genetic causes for diseases common among cats and other animals, including humans. Finding the genetic root of afflictions such as allergies in cats could help researchers find treatments for allergies in humans, the Columbia Missourian reported.

Leslie Lyons, the Gilbreath-McLorn endowed professor of comparative medicine at MU, has led the 99 Lives Cat Genome Sequencing Initiative since 2013.

The initiative has been building a database of cat genomes from veterinarians, researchers and cat owners who are curious about their cats’ diseases.

Other researchers use the database to look for genetic causes of the health problems.

Cats and humans share a lot of common diseases such as allergies, asthma, obesity and diabetes, according to Lyons.

She studies the polycystic kidney disease, which causes cysts in the kidney. It’s not discussed often, Lyons said, but it’s common in cats, and it’s more common in humans than sickle cell, cystic fibrosis and muscular dystrophy combined.

The similarity between cat and human genomes means a treatment that works for one could also work for the other. If research showed there was a diet that could be therapeutic for cats with polycystic kidney disease, Lyons said researchers would try the diet on humans.

Along with common diseases, researchers are also looking into rare genetic health problems.

Yoshihiko Yu, a visiting scholar at MU, works in the program researching epilepsy. The program sequenced four cats from the same colony and analyzed them for epilepsy.

In that colony, many cats from the same family had epilepsy, meaning it should be genetic, Yu said.

Genome sequencing helped narrow down the region where researchers would find traits related to epilepsy, which will be helpful for further research.

Cats and larger animals are more useful for the study than smaller ones. It’s difficult to see kidney cystic changes in mice or rats, Lyons said.

The program also accepts genomes of wild felids, including lions and tigers. 99 Lives works with zoo associations that work to conserve endangered species.

The Felid Taxon Advisory Group once alerted

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are caring for Milo.

Dr. Erik Clary says Milo, apparently part beagle and coonhound, suffered from congenital elbow dislocation.

Clary did Milo’s first surgery on January 9, inserting pins in the dog’s elbows to realign the joints.

The splints and pins were removed on Monday. Clary says the alignment appears to be working but Milo still needs rehab to improve joint function and strengthen his limb muscles. AP

e

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Look for a unique way to use your skills. A little will go a long way if you use precision and detail to make what you have to offer stand out. An unexpected change will turn out to be a blessing in disguise. HHH

f

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Dreams can come true if you make plans and follow through. You don’t have to spend a lot to have a good time. Look for simple but effective ways to reach your objective. Romance is on the rise.

HHH

g

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Be careful what you wish for. Changes made can upset someone close to you. Make sure you get the go-ahead before you put your plans in motion. Think matters through, find out where you stand and proceed with confidence. HHH

h

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Talk less and do more. If you really want to keep the peace, be sure to live up to your promises.

An interesting development will improve your living conditions. Romance will bring you closer to someone you love. HHHHH

i

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Make changes that make sense. Don’t let anyone sidetrack you or convince you to do something that is extravagant. Stay in control, and make a point to be a leader, not a follower. HH

j

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Personal improvements can be made that will calm your nerves and make you feel good about who you are, the way you look and how your life is unfolding.

Simplicity and moderation will be the keys to happiness.

HHHH

k

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Embrace change. Look for new beginnings, pursuits and interests. The more you learn and expand your horizons, the more you will end up accomplishing. A job opportunity will encourage you to use your skills and experience in different ways.

HHHHH

MILO the puppy recovering after another procedure to help fix his paws. Milo was born with his front paws facing up instead of down and had another procedure as veterinarians in Oklahoma try to help the dog learn to walk. AP

l

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Use your intuition when dealing with people who can influence your progress or future. A kind word or gesture will go a long way when you want assistance.

Romance is on the rise and will improve your personal life. HHH BIRTHDAY BABY: You are compassionate, helpful and insightful.

You are resourceful and encouraging.

‘mixed messages’ BY PAUL COULTER The Universal Crossword/Edited by David Steinberg

ACROSS 1 “Terrific!”

6 Dietary supplement 10 Botch 14 Woolly Peruvian animal 15 Great Fire of Rome emperor 16 Go up 17 Loosened, as a knot 18 Read Braille 19 Luau instruments, for short 20 Certain a cappella performers 23 Be a busybody 24 Scammer’s scheme 25 Address for a queen 26 Cocktail vessel 31 Sacrilegious 34 Decimal points 35 “My ___ tells me...”

36 Like the score 7-7 37 Close to the ground 38 Shimmer makeup mineral 39 Chicken-king connector 40 Biodiesel, e.g.

42 Just swell

4 German fish delicacy 4 47 Hatcher or Polo 48 Same-old grind 49 Employee of Santa 52 Cable company’s encryption, or what connects both words in 20-, 26and 44-Across 57 “Regretfully...”

58 Gushing review 59 Kiss-up 60 ___ guy (reliable sort) 61 Where things get heated?

62 Mother’s brother, say 63 Eve’s first home 64 Desire 65 Pumpkin eater of rhyme DOWN 1 Batter’s dry spell 2 Of a forearm bone 3 Rice wetland 4 Dubai bigwig 5 Extreme 6 One in a onesie 7 Revolving-spool device

8 Mine metals 9 Kind of hold’em 10 Penny-wise 11 Amazingly effectively 12 Word before “fee” or “ID” 13 “Porgy and ___” 21 Not for the squeamish 22 Old horses 26 Reddit admin 27 Teen heartthrobs 28 Without delay 29 “No __ luck!”

30 Time at a hotel 31 Bryce Canyon locale 32 River through Egypt 33 60-100 bpm, normally 37 Shin’s place 38 Incensed 40 Unlikely to sag 41 “Line” over the eyes 42 + 43 Savor a compliment 45 It may be hard to listen to 46 Passionate

9 Pass, as a statute 4 50 Gravy server 51 Advertising handout 52 Wise person 53 Lump of dirt 54 Mauna Loa flow 55 Unvarying 56 “I’m ___!” (“See ya!”)

Solution to yesterday’s puzzle:

Show BusinessMirror

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Mariah Carey shakes off boycott calls for her Saudi concert

Wednesday, February 6, 2019

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BLIND SPOT BRUCE C.

By Aya Batrawy | The Associated Press

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UBAI, United Arab Emirates—Mariah Carey, one of the world’s most celebrated artists, is performing in Saudi Arabia on Thursday for the first time, but there’s a growing chorus of Saudi women calling on her to cancel the concert to show support for detained women’s rights activists.

Carey is the highest-profile star to perform in the kingdom since it began loosening decades of restrictions on entertainment, music and fun as part of a push by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to overhaul the economy and transform society.

But activists say her concert is an attempt by the government to polish its image after the October 2 killing of Saudi critic Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. It’s a dilemma that other celebrities could face as they ink multimillion-dollar deals to perform in Saudi Arabia.

The kingdom’s General Entertainment Authority has promised a roster of major performances and sports exhibitions by the world’s biggest names.

Carey’s publicists told The Associated Press in a statement that, when “presented with the offer to perform for an international and mixed gender audience in Saudi Arabia, Mariah accepted the opportunity as a positive step toward the dissolution of gender segregation.”

“As the first female international artist to perform in Saudi Arabia, Mariah recognizes the cultural significance of this event and will continue to support global efforts toward equality for all,” the statement said, adding that Carey looks forward to bringing inspiration and encouragement to all audiences. In December the kingdom hosted a Formula-E car race in Riyadh, where thousands of young Saudis and hundreds of international visitors partied into the night at concerts by Enrique Iglesias, The Black Eyed Peas and DJ David Guetta.

Omaima Al-Najjar, a Saudi woman who fled the kingdom to seek political refuge abroad, said the concerts are a diversion from the Saudi-led war in Yemen against the neighboring country’s Houthi rebels, human-rights abuses committed under the crown prince and repressive maleguardianship laws that restrict women’s freedoms.

“The Saudi government is using entertainment to distract the people from human-rights abuses because it can sense the anger among the public,” she said.

Al-Najjar is a cofounder of Women for Rights in Saudi Arabia, or Warsa, which launched a petition calling on Carey to boycott the country. The petition aimed to publicly pressure Carey because “she has power to stand for women... as an artist and as a female,” Al-Najjar said.

Activists are tweeting at Carey directly, urging her to take notice of the prominent Saudi women’s rights activists imprisoned since May who had long campaigned for social changes and women’s empowerment. The women, who include activists in their 20s, as well as mothers, grandmothers and retired professors, have been accused of vague national security violations in connection to their human-rights work.

Al-Najjar said artists like Carey should make their performances in Saudi Arabia conditional on the release of the women’s rights activists. A boycott would not impact ordinary Saudis because many cannot afford the concert’s ticket prices anyway, she said.

Tickets for Carey’s concert start at around $80, and VIP seats—already sold-out—cost $530. The average monthly wage for Saudis is around $2,600, according to the General Authority for Statistics.

Alia al-Hathloul called on Mariah Carey to remember her sister, Loujain al-Hathloul, who she says has been abused and threatened with death while in detention because of her activism, which included defying the kingdom’s ban on women driving before it was lifted last year.

“Remember, thanks to my sister @LoujainHathloul, you r able to perform in Saudi Arabia. I wish she can attend your

RIGGED

DO you sometimes wonder if reality star search contests are rigged or not? Well, they are rigged in such a way that several contestants don’t need to go through a screening. Instead they join the other contestants in the contest proper. If you think this is unfair, wait until you hear that this also happens in beauty pageants. Favored contestants don’t go through the rigorous screening process. They just join the others in the “main round.”

BITTER AND PETTY

SO it’s true that the male singer dated the celebrity model. It Is not clear whether they are still together but according to a source, the singer reportedly told the model why he and another singer don’t see eye to eye. According to the singer, the other male singer was infatuated with him and he did not reciprocate the feelings. So what happened next? The other single tried again and again but nothing happened. So he became very bitter and tried to find fault with anything.

ATTITUDE PROBLEM

THE singer is doing well career-wise but is she really? She might be successful but we’re not sure if she will go the distance. The singer isn’t a stickler for punctuality. She is always late for her commitments and she has an attitude problem. The singer was recently four hours late to an event, for which the organizers paid her handsomely. She refused to have her pictures taken—even with the sponsors of the event. That is because she believes she doesn’t look good from all angles. The truth is that she is quite pretty. The singer just needs a shift in attitude.

IN this January 2018, file photo, Mariah Carey arrives at the 75th annual Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California. AP

concert. But she’s locked behind bars because she tried to improve women’s condition. Don’ forget to thank her on stage,” she wrote to Carey on Twitter.

Saudi female artist Ms Saffaa wrote on Twitter: “Will @MariahCarey be singing ‘It’s a long road when u face the world alone. No one reaches out a hand 4 u 2 hold’ to imprisoned female #Saudi activists @LoujainHathloul, @Saudiwoman, & @azizayousef?”

Both women, as well as Al-Najjar, made their pleas from abroad, where they do not face the prospect of arrest for speaking out. Carey is to perform at King Abdullah Economic City, a two-hour drive north of Islam’s holiest site of Mecca.

The Economic City, built as a sort-of enclave for foreigners and Saudis, is gated and can only be entered with permission from security.

The concert, which includes DJ Tiesto, has also drawn the ire of some ultraconservatives on Twitter, angered that it is taking place in the greater region of Mecca.

The General Entertainment Authority’s online flyer for Carey’s concert shows her only from the waist up, with a red scarf draped over her arms. Women in Saudi Arabia are required to wear loose, long black robes, known as abayas in public. Most Saudi women also cover their hair and face.

Still, a concert like this would have been unthinkable until recently. Religious police used to enforce strict gender

segregation, scolded women for not covering their hair and barged into restaurants to demand music be turned off.

The changes have a powerful backer in the crown prince, who is seeking to boost domestic spending and draw attention to his reforms.

Efforts to brand him a reformer took a hits after Saudi agents close to the crown prince killed and dismembered Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist who was critical of the prince’s crackdown on dissent. The US Senate and US intelligence have blamed the crown prince for the killing, but Saudi Arabia insists he had no involvement.

Thursday night’s concert is taking place at the Saudi International golf tournament. The European Tour has drawn several of golf’s biggest stars, including four of the top 5 players in the world.

The purse is $3.5 million, though the primary income for these players is appearance money, likely to be in the $1-million range for the biggest names. The golfing champions signed up to play for the European Tour event last April, well before Saudi agents killed Khashoggi. Even so, at least one big-name player pulled back. Unicef Ambassador Paul Casey has also said he’d “sit this one out.” n The Associated Press music editor Mesfin Fekadu in New York contributed to this report.

HAPPY AND IN LOVE

THE romance between the actor and the social-media superstar is going well. We know the there has been an exchange of “I love yous” and that they are already planning to travel together. The social-media superstar is blooming while the actor is very indulgent. Those who know the social-media superstar can only say she deserves a love like this. She has suffered enough, they say, in believing that a man who didn’t love her was nonetheless deserving of her affection.

‘Eat Bulaga’ remains with GMA; EA Guzman signs with network TAPE Inc. and GMA officially sealed the renewal of their blocktime agreement for the airing of the hit noontime show Eat Bulaga in a contract-signing held on February 1.

“Pang 24th year na namin ngayon sa GMA,” said TAPE Inc. President and CEO Antonio P. Tuviera. “Nagpapasalamat kami dahil GMA ang nagbigay sa amin ng tahanan. At hindi lang ’yun, pati na rin ng pagkakataon na mai-celebrate ang 40th anniversary namin ngayong taon.”

The Eat Bulaga “Dabarkads” including Sen. Tito Sotto, Vic Sotto, Joey de Leon, Jimmy Santos, Anjo Yllana, Ruby Rodriguez, Allan K., Pauleen LunaSotto, Jose Manalo, Wally Bayola, Paolo Ballesteros, Ryan Agoncillo, Pia Guanio, Luanne Dy, Ryzza Mae Dizon, Baeby Baste, Maureen Wroblewitz, Maine Mendoza and Alden Richards, together with TAPE Inc.’s SVP and COO Malou Choa-Fagar, SVP Production Creative and Operations Jenny P. Ferre, AVP Production Helen Atienza-de la Cruz, AVP Production-Studio Operation Sheila Macariola-Ilacad, Director Poochie Rivera came in full force to witness the

occasion.

GMA Chairman and CEO Atty. Felipe L. Gozon expressed his admiration for the show and its hosts: “Ako’y talagang hangang-hanga dito sa grupo ng Eat Bulaga na walang kupas, kaya matagal pa ito. ’Yang tandem nina Tito, Vic, at Joey, at ’yung mga susunod, mahabang-mahaba pa ang itatakbo ng programang ito.”

Meanwhile, GMA Executive Vice President and CFO Felipe S. Yalong is happy for Eat Bulaga’s continued success. “Tayo’y natutuwa dahil nag-sign ulit sa atin ang Eat Bulaga. It’s an exciting show, it’s the longest continuous running show in the world with the original hosts Tito, Vic and Joey. We’re very happy that they continue to be with the Kapuso Network,” he shared.

Also present during the contractsigning were GMA’s First Vice President for Program Management Jose Mari R. Abacan, and Vice President for Corporate Affairs and Communications Angela Javier Cruz.

Meanwhile, GMA Artist Center welcomed EA Guzman to its roster of talents as he inked a management

THE Eat Bulaga family with GMA executives led by GMA Chairman and CEO Atty. Felipe L. Gozon (seated, third from left) during the contractsigning.

contract on January 31.

EA started his showbiz career in Eat Bulaga where he won the “Mr. Pogi” tilt in 2006. The talented actor is filled with gratitude and high spirits as he officially joins the network: “Dito talaga ako nagsimula. Masaya ako na ngayon pa lang, ramdam ko na ’yung pag-aalaga at suporta ng GMA sa akin. I’m proud to say na Kapuso ako.”

Viewers should look forward seeing his comeback on television via the upcoming GMA afternoon fantasy series Dragon Lady alongside Janine Gutierrez

and Tom Rodriguez.

Of his character in the show, EA said: “Isa akong Chinese businessman. Nagkakilala kami ni Janine nang pumasok siya sa company namin as an executive. Dahil babae siya, hinusgahan ko siya na hindi niya kayang magpatakbo ng isang kumpanya. Habang minamaliit ko siya, nai-in love na pala ako sa kanya.”

GMA Entertainment Group Senior Vice President Lilybeth G. Rasonable expressed her happiness to have EA in the network.

“We are very happy that EA has chosen to put his trust in GMA and GMA Artist Center. He is an award-winning and versatile actor kaya natutuwa tayo na madagdag siya sa stable ng talents ng GMA.” Present in the contract-signing were GMA Entertainment Group Senior Vice President Lilybeth G. Rasonable, GMA Senior Assistant Vice President for Alternative Productions Gigi Santiago-Lara, Senior Talent Manager Daryl Zamora and EA’s comanager Arnold Vegafria.

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Wednesday, February 6, 2019

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Telus employee engagement reflects exceptional company culture

Putting your best foot forward SUI GENERIS CARLO ATIENZA

biblisko@gmail.com

F

IRST impressions last. And yet, it seems people keep forgetting that first impressions go beyond what we wear. If you want to make the best of meeting new people, you have to do more than dress the part. You need to make a good first impression. As I mentioned when I started out this year, this column is all about improving yourself. So here are some of the things you can do to make a good first impression, and help you become more likable.

Like yourself first because no one likes a wet blanket. A positive outlook on life and what happens along the way is key to enjoying what you have right now. Having a sense of satisfaction and pride in your accomplishments and what you have done in your life gives you a positive sense of self. When you are positive about yourself and about life, it translates into how you project yourself to others. It must be said, however, that being positive does not mean bragging about what you have accomplished. You need to be humble. The peculiar thing about humility is that it is not something you claim for yourself. The moment you claim it for yourself, you lose it. A healthy dose of self-awareness and being content and comfortable in your own skin goes a long way in ensuring you will be liked by others. It has to start with yourself.

People like a person who can laugh at themselves.

A healthy sense of self also helps in being comfortable with laughing at yourself. There is always a time for being serious, such as in a business meeting, but when

meeting new people, you need to relax and be able to laugh at yourself. We all have insecurities and a good part of being able to laugh at ourselves is being comfortable with our imperfections. People who can laugh at themselves are perceived as selfconfident and self-assured, and these qualities make you likable in return. On social occasions, it is never a good thing if people tiptoe around you unless that is the image you want to project. But if you want to be likable, then go ahead and let your guard down and laugh at yourself.

Be passionate about what you do. Your work defines most of what you are going to do for the day and if you do not like your work, it shows. People notice. People are drawn toward those who are passionate about their work in the hopes they can also find that spark which will make them enjoy their work. I have noticed the same with my team. When I am feeling really disinterested and uncreative, they can feel it when I review their work. When I am excited to review their work, they also become excited to showcase what they have accomplished.

And so it goes when we meet people for the first time. They can sense how passionate we are about what we do. A word of caution though: if all you ever do is talk about your work, it becomes a turn off.

The way you talk about your work should be enough to give them an idea of not only what you have accomplished but also your passion and dedication.

Too much of it and all they will hear is you and that can easily become insufferable.

Which brings me to another point: be genuinely interested in people. A quick trick to be instantly likable is to ask someone you have just met to explain something to you. Asking such lets their guard down because, in a way, you are asking their help and you are acknowledging their expertise, which, in turn, makes it easier for them to like you. But it also does not stop there. Ask follow-up questions. A good sign that you are interested in what they are saying is when you ask follow-ups because it means you are listening to them. Another way you can show interest

is by using their name once in a while. This gives them a sense of importance because you have taken note of their name. All of these are borne out of actively listening to them and being genuinely interested.

There is also a counterintuitive approach you can do to make people like you more. It is called the Benjamin Franklin Effect, which posits that people like you more when you ask favors from them.

This has been confirmed by a group of Japanese psychologists from Hosei University, and the results are published in the Journal of Social Psychology. Asking people for favors works because if they did a favor for you, it means they actually like you enough to have done the favor. Simple favors like asking them to pass the bottle or hand you something reinforces their belief that they like you enough to have done what they did. Oddly enough, this makes you more likable.

Another way you can become more likable is your body language. A simple handshake communicates more than just pleasantries, it also shows your confidence. A quick glance of the history of the handshake will show you it was done to show the other person you are not concealing any weapons.

So when you do the handshake, you are actually saying you are a safe person. A quick trick to make yourself likable is to mimic the body language of the person you are talking to. If they take a sip of their drink, do the same. If they turn their body toward you, do the same. This gives the person you are talking the impression you are like them, and you are saying you are the same and there is nothing to be afraid of.

These simple tips are guaranteed to make you more likable and help you avoid stepping on the wrong foot. You will also notice that the more you employ these tips in your personal or professional life, the more likely you are to avoid social faux pas.

If you want to be the kind of person who walks into the room and puts a smile on everybody’s face, make sure you put your best foot forward by putting these tips to good use. n

Create your good luck in the Year of the Pig SOME people believe that good luck is purely a chance event, but did you know that you have the power to steer yourself toward a better life in 2019, the Year of the Pig? You can create your own luck by taking better care of yourself, preparing for inevitable life events and by constantly paying it forward. One of the country’s leading insurance companies, AXA Philippines (www.axa.com.ph) offers these tips to help ensure your best future. n TAKE CARE OF YOUR HEALTH. Make it your priority this year by eating healthy, exercising regularly, getting enough water and sleep, and having an executive checkup.

Consider getting a good health insurance, one that you can use to have your treatment

here or abroad, whatever is necessary.

Remember, when you take care of your health, you are happier and more able to enjoy life. n SAVE FOR THE FUTURE. When you receive your monthly salary, set aside a fixed amount for your savings. Investments, whether they are to be used for education, retirement or real estate, are a great idea to ensure you and your family will be financially secure. When you know your future is secure, you worry less and you face every day with optimism. n PREPARE FOR EMERGENCIES. When you are traveling or find yourself in an emergency situation, it helps to be secure and have peace of mind. Protect yourself

while you enjoy your vacation with Smart Traveller; not only will it provide protection for your personal belongings, but it also comes with 24-hour medical assistance, personal accident coverage, liability and personal safety coverage, and even refunds for unexpected expenses like lost baggage.

You can also protect yourself from expenses arising from bodily injury with a personal accident insurance. n STAY POSITIVE. They say optimistic people create lots of good luck. While bad circumstances are inevitable, those with a positive outlook are able to overcome them. Their optimism makes them resilient.

Consciously focus on all the good things in your life. Keep a gratitude journal.

When you constantly practice being grateful for everything around you, positive things start happening in your life, relationships and to your resources. n DO GOOD TO RECEIVE GOOD. It may be a grand gesture like organizing a feeding program for the less fortunate, but it can also be as simple as helping out a friend in need. These acts of kindness are very powerful. Not only do you help others, but you also gain a new perspective that you can use in your own life. When you give kindness, you attract kindness and good luck. Creating your own good luck isn’t as hard as you may think. With these tips in mind, a future full of positivity and happiness is within reach.

THESE days, employers looking to recruit the best new team members face greater challenges than they did a decade ago. Today’s job seekers, first-timers and shifters alike tend to look beyond salary and benefits. Nowadays, employers are scrutinized for their work and office culture, and how it bleeds into the prospective employee’s personal and family life, as well as how the job could potentially impact the community and society.

One of the country’s leading digital solutions and business-process solutions companies, Telus International Philippines (www.telusinternational.com) understands the values of today’s work force, and what is important to the same. The company uses these values as guides to boost recruitment and drive employee engagement. Programs and initiatives dedicated to team members’ need for growth and purpose are given priority. This has resulted in a world-class employee satisfaction and engagement score of 90 percent, as noted by the recent 2018 Telus International Philippines Pulsecheck Survey, a yearly engagement survey conducted

by Aon, an independent third party and a global leader in Human Resource solutions. Telus International Philippines’s score is 17 percent higher than world-class standards, and participation was overwhelming with 83 percent of the company’s over 14,000 team members across its five offices responding to the survey.

The company further strengthens its employee engagement programs by conducting periodic checkups with people managers whose team members measure employment brand, client servicing, executive leadership, diversity and inclusiveness, career development, company processes, daily tasks and influences, and performance recognition. Based on the results of these check-ins, team leaders and senior leaders strategize and create action plans in response to the expressed needs of their team members.

In addition to action plans that would benefit the entire organization, there are also plans that focus on the specific needs of particular teams to ensure that improvement programs are customized to the unique needs of the company’s different departments and groups. All of these employee-centric efforts are part of the company’s socalled #HappyHere program, which incentivizes not only participation in the employee engagement activities but also the pursuit of their personal interests and passions.

This way, the program works to keep employees motivated and satisfied within and outside work, and brings them a sense of pride in being part of the company.

FOSTERING A CARING CULTURE ONE of the significant findings of the Pulsecheck Report is that team members respond well when they are given the chance to dedicate their time and channel their interests to purposeful causes—from among a list of items related to employment brand, the Telus Days of Giving was scored 95 percent by team members.

“These are yearlong volunteer opportunities for team members to experience the joy of sharing and taking care of our communities, the core of our caring culture at Telus International Philippines,” says Director for Operations Paul Abello. “All year-round, there are activities that are aligned with team members’ personal passions and advocacies.”

Inclusiveness and diversity is another employee engagement area that the company continuously scores very high in. Team members have noted extraordinary pride in the company’s diversity and inclusiveness practices, management of work force diversity and communication of its diversity strategy.

These positive experiences of team members have encouraged family and friends to join them in the company.

Because employees are highly engaged, proactive and more satisfied, they have longer tenure and tend to refer their friends more often, belying the misconception that businessprocess outsourcing jobs can be dead-end jobs.

Aside from world-class engagement scores, Telus International Philippines has already received peer and industry recognitions that celebrate their company culture.

Most recently, they were awarded one of the Best Employers in the Philippines by the Aon Best Employers Awards, and one of the Top Workplaces in Asia by the Asia Corporate Excellence and Sustainability Awards for 2018.

These employee programs have enabled the company to continuously grow, offering more employment and growth opportunities within and ensuring there is clear career path for those who join them. Satisfied employees, in turn, drive better company results, enabling it to pour more resources into employee programs.

Business

E2 Wednesday, February 6, 2019

Starchitect designs future of retail Amor Maclang

FIRST DIBS IN REAL ESTATE

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F there’s anyone who has changed the course of the retail industry in a major way, it has to be Rem D Koolhaas—star architect, cofounder of Dutch designer footwear brand United Nude, and the creative genius behind the brand’s innovatively designed shoes.

Although architecture and shoe design may be two intrinsically different disciplines, Rem has effectively fused the two concepts together to come up with a creatively unique yet thoroughly logical approach to footwear design.

While buildings need to be structurally sound to carry the weight of their occupants, shoes need to be designed to carry the weight of their wearer. But that’s not all there is to it. Much like architects, shoe designers work with shape and structure to come up with something usable and

are necessarily involved in influencing behavior—which buildings and footwear do.

This is exactly what Rem did— skillfully creating architectural shoes that carry designs and ideas that can be put into buildings on a different scale.

Rem was recently in town to conduct a master class billed “Reinventing Shoes—Pushing the boundaries of footwear design” at the United Nude flagship store in Newport Mall, Resorts World Manila.

The United Nude brand has be-

REM D KOOLHAAS recently conducted a master class on Reinventing Shoes, in the newly opened flagship store of United Nude in the Philippines, at Resorts World Manila.

come known for producing some of the world’s most technically advanced footwear, with designs that are instantly recognizable. The clarity, elegance, and innovation are all evident in every pair of shoes, and much of the credit goes to Rem D Koolhaas (not to be confused with his renowned architect-uncle Rem Koolhaas).

The younger Koolhaas studied architecture at TU Delft (Technical University of Delft), and this training has been quite evident in his sculptural shoes. The architectural approach of Koolhaas alongside his “visionary architect” personality has been pivotal in successfully ushering a new wave of footwear into the marketplace.

The future of retail is convergent THE United Nude Flagship Store in the Philippines, designed by Dutch Architect Rem D Koolhaas who is also the creative genius behind the shoe brand

IN retrospect, when Koolhaas came up with the Möbius shoe in 1999

while studying architecture, he set out to prove one thing: the future of retail is convergent. Blurring the lines between industrial design and fashion, Rem brings a lot of different things to the United Nude brand.

Koolhaas designs the brand’s signature retail stores and product range in a way that generates the requisite level of awe. “I always start from a very clear and basic concept that is either a play on space or on gravity,” he revealed.

This design philosophy is evident in each United Nude store. Each store conveys the idea that “beautiful things can happen when you are United Nude.”

The flagship store in Amsterdam, for instance, embodies the main concept where the shop is designed like a theater and the products are the performers.

Countless studies underscore that

the retail store environment, with its ambient and social elements, offers a rich set of informational cues that consumers use to make inferences about products and service. These, in turn, drive purchasing decisions.

The recently opened store of United Nude at Newport Mall is eyeriveting from many angles. It focuses on the significance of the simple yet avant-garde. It attracts cool fashionsavvy individuals who are unafraid to dress up and show off unique, futuristic footwear.

Elevated footwear to a functional work of art, United Nude naturally beckons consumers who are individualistic, independent, informed and involved.

From architect to brand builder

REM’S signature designs for United Nude encompass and even go beyond retail installations to include prod-

uct design and brand environment.

Still an architect at heart, Rem does not just design spaces, but strives to strike a balance between the aesthetics and usability of United Nude footwear. The outcome is a striking line of designer footwear capable of altering the wearers’ experience of space.

Just as landmark architectural sites have back stories, every pair of iconic footwear, likewise, has a story to tell. Those stories add to the appeal that architecturally inspired footwear in many interesting shapes and combinations of materials have for modern-day shoe wearers.

Just as certain buildings inspire awe, one-of-a-kind footwear can also create visual stimulation and ignite more than just a passing interest from stylish consumers who are always on the prowl for something novel, desirable and trendsetting.

A FAMILY CONDO ELEGANTLY DESIGNED FOR COMFORT

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RUST is an important element in interior design.

Designing a space is a collaborative process between the owner and the designer, with the latter entrusted to create interiors that truly reflect its dweller's personality and lifestyle.

For the past five years, Adefuin Design Studio has established a creative brand that clients can trust. The latest testament to this is a condo project at the Sky Villas, 160-square meter unit that IDr. Jigs Adefuin designed for a family of four.

Classic elements

FUNCTIONALITY before aesthetics—that’s one of the core principles of Jigs’s design philosophy, which he applied to this project. “When I design, I always make sure that everything is done the right way. The space is maximized; every little detail is functional,” he shared.

Designing the unit wasn’t easy, as Jigs had to mediate the differing opinions and tastes of the mother, son, and wife while trying

to future-proof the home. “Interior design is not just one-design-fitsall. It is a matter of designer’s taste at the moment, what the trend is at the time the space is being designed, and how to balance these with what the clients want. It is a matter of trusting the designer’s aesthetic judgment,” he said.

By merging the different requests of his clients, Jigs narrowed down his concept to a contemporary neo-classical style with Victorian design elements—a classic, elegant, and timeless design that remains sensitive to the clients’ wants and needs for their space.

Shades of elegance

JIGS played with colors to make the design young and contemporary, matching white with beige, brown with gray, blue with white.

Shades of taupe, beige and copper welcome guests to the spacious condo unit. The neutral palette dominates the common areas of the house such as the living room and the kitchen.

For the master bedroom, the

walls were splashed with light green that matches the pieces of furniture in brown and beige undertones. The two children’s rooms are a study of contrasts—the boy’s room radiates with a vibrant blue, while lilac and magenta shades highlight the femininity of the girl’s room.

All the furniture pieces were customized by Sigvard Selections, the lifestyle concept store that specializes in bespoke furniture and furnishings. “I selected pieces that really complement the couple’s personality and lifestyle. Every piece of furniture was designed with the comfort of the clients in mind. The ergonomic backrests make sitting on the beige accent chairs a delight.

Jigs handpicked several accessories to further refine the contemporary vibe of the unit. Each one has a purpose—a large mirror and several framed prints and artwork break the bareness of the walls, brass and wood décor harmonize with the mostly wooden furniture; curtains and other soft furnishings in neutral tones soften the warmth from the wood accents.

Functional space

THE living room is a representative of the unit’s modern yet timeless style, and echoes the couple’s personality and taste. “The best thing about this project was that the clients trusted my taste and creativity.

They were clear about their budget, as well as what they did or didn’t like, which made it a very rewarding project,” said Jigs.

Space was maximized, leading to a spacious layout for the unit that accommodates the client’s every request. Jigs put a console table and sitting area in the master bedroom, and allotted space for the study areas in the children’s room. In the hallway leading to the living room, the wife’s teapot collection is displayed in a wooden cabinet specifically designed by Jigs.

Lighting is equally important for Jigs. While the huge glass windows bring in natural light, he had a lighting system installed so different moods and ambiance can be set by the owners whenever they wish. www.adefuindesignstudio.com.

BESPOKE tables and chairs in neutral palette dominate the dining area, with the chandeliers and other accessories bring out the elegance.

THE modern master bedroom echoes the couple’s personality and taste, with pieces of furniture in brown and beige undertones, with touches of black, blending well with light green walls

sMirror

Wednesday, February 6, 2019 E3

MEGAWIDE BAGS P4.36-BILLION E.P.C. CONTRACT FOR MEGAWORLD PROJECT

By Roderick L. Abad

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@rodrik_28

UBLICLY listed firm Megawide Construction Corp. has been tapped anew as contractor by leading real-estate company Megaworld for its latest development called the Gentry Manor situated along Seaside Boulevard in Westside City in Pasay.

With a total contract price of P4.36 billion, this project involves the construction of a podium and four 16-level towers.

Initial works already started in January of this year. The new township is targeted for completion by January 2023.

“Megawide is proud to help deliver Megaworld’s first-world vision for Gentry Manor,” said Edgar Saavedra, chairman and CEO of Megawide.

As the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) partner of Andrew Tan-led property developer, the infrastructure and engineering firm vows to bring its expertise and vast experience to ensure the consistency of the project’s design and quality as planned.

“We are committed to delivering only the highest standards of construction technology and excellence for Gentry Manor,” he said.

This is the fourth time that both

leading brands in construction and property development are tying up for a premier project.

Currently, Megawide serves as contractor for other ongoing Mega-

world offerings, such as the One Manchester Place in Mactan Newtown, Cebu; and the Albany and Saint Mortiz properties in McKinley West, Taguig.

“Megaworld is one of our most, valued long-term clients, and we are grateful for their continued trust in Megawide,” Saavedra said.

Megawide is the private partner

for other key infrastructure projects in the country, such as the MactanCebu International Airport and the Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange.

Prestigious property awards honor Primehomes and Larossa

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E A L -ESTAT E developer Primehomes and its flagship property, Larossa, scored major recognition from Lamudi’s The Outlook and Dot Property Philippines, two of the most prestigious property award-giving bodies.

At Lamudi’s The Outlook Awards Night, Primehomes was recognized as the Best Boutique Developer for Luzon for exemplifying excellence through conceptualization, design and construction of world-class residential projects in the region. This year, the online real-estate platform brought together industry professionals who congratulated the leading projects that bring outstanding communities for Filipinos.

Meanwhile, Dot Property Philippines Awards cited Larossa as the Best Residential Botanical Development for creating an ideal environment where residents can coexist with nature and enjoy green spaces for everyday quality living.

Dot Property Philippines is one of

PRIMEHOMES marketing head Dimi Cordero (right) receiving the award from Dot Property Philippines country manager Tanya Yu and Dot Property Magazine editor-in-chief Cheyenne Hollis.

the country’s most visited property portal, and it recently awarded the top developers who have been contributing to the country’s growing property sector.

“It is a great privilege to have been awarded as one of the best developers in the country. We recognize this success as a motivation to continue developing and innovating communities to provide better living for the Filipinos,” says Dimi Cordero, Primehomes marketing head.

Nestled in Quezon City’s Capitol Hills, Larossa is the first urban botanical community of Primehomes and boasts of the Garden Row, the first of the flagship property’s four development phases. It is comprised of three 10-story buildings, Camia, the first tower, is now completed and ready for occupancy. Sampaguita and Magnolia (Tower 2 and 3) are in the final stages of completion and are set to welcome its residents early 2019.

www.primehomes.com.ph/larossa/

COMMUNITY

Building learning environments for the future

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OME say that the way forward is recognizing what the future demands and working to realize it today. At REX Book Store, we believe that the solutions to today's problems can be solved by building a stronger nation through an educated and empowered citizenry.

Today, in the landscape of the 21st century shaped by the structural changes brought about by the Fourth Industrial Revolution, how we respond both as a community and as a people through building social and economic resilience is important. Educating today's learners toward the challenging future means

that, as a community, we must not only prepare them with skills and knowledge that they would need, but also build their character and values.

At REX Book store, we provide learners with a symphony of learning solutions that provides a comprehensive learning experience: developed and designed to enable the learner at the center of everything, with all the stakeholders of learning forming a circle of encouragement and support for the Whole Child. Teachers, schools, parents and concerned communities all help in sustaining the holistic learning

experiences to learners, ensuring their long-term development and future success. Aided by software advancements aimed at transforming the classroom experience and the latest in learning technologies, these small steps toward building a better future for our children today are essential.

Certain learning methods never go out of style: some read PDFs from tablets or e-ink readers, some still use colored highlighters on paper. Traditional doesn’t always equate to backward, and it’s not always a case of “out with the old and in with the new.” There’s nothing wrong with both: fusing the old with the new creates a great combination of approaches when it comes to learning. With the availability of disruptive new technologies like cloudbased storage, interactive modules and multimedia materials, becoming adaptive with what is necessary for better learning efficiency is crucial.

More than just offering high-quality learning materials, providing these resources and tools to everyone from learners, educators and also to education stakeholders such as parents and partner academic institutions is a critical task that a learning solutions provider like REX fulfills. With learning materials

that are relevant to social transformation, and engaging activities and discussions that foster critical thinking and problem-solving oriented methods, these learning solutions supplement and answer to the demands of living meaningfully in the 21st century.

With the Department of education's implementation of the K to 12 program, the shift to a higher and more dynamic learning process has become evident in the classrooms of today. With these developments, REX's learning solutions are geared towards progressive approaches to assessment and research, with the purpose of sustaining learning goals for students through performance and analysis, examinations and evaluations, deriving insights from test results and continuous development of instruction methods through guided intervention programs. Excellence is the hallmark of academic success, and fusing this passion for excellence with a thorough understanding of holistic education produces learning experiences that enhance the value of a young learner's journey with progressive education. www.rexpublishing.com.ph/solutions/

2018’s most popular property types and locations

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NTERESTED in finding out the most popular property types and locations for the past year?

Property24, the country’s fastestgrowing real-estate property portal, and OLX, the world’s leading classifieds platform, have gathered data from January to November 2018 to identify which specific property type and location Filipinos are looking for.

“The vast number of property listings on OLX and Property24 enables us to study what our users are searching for,” said Tina Bautista, Head of Real Estate for OLX Philippines and Property24. “Through this data, we get to understand our users better and see their real-estate property preference in terms of location, property type and budget.”

In Metro Manila, where condominiums are the most popular property type, Quezon City is the top choice, with 27 percent of users searching the location for possibilities. Pasig City is second with 14 percent, followed by Makati City with 12, Mandaluyong City with 9 percent and Parañaque City with 8 percent. The most searched price range for condominiums in Metro Manila is P1 million to P5 million, which is equivalent to studio to two-bedroom units.

In provincial areas, house and lot is the preferred property type, with Cebu City leading at 9 percent as the most searched city. Angeles City comes close with 8 percent, Tagaytay and Antipolo are tied at 7 percent.

Santa Rosa makes it to the top 5 most searched provincial cities with 5 per-

cent. In terms of price range, most users are searching for a house and lot worth P1 million to P3 million.

In the province of Cebu, the most popular property type, is house and lot, having 55 percent of searches in the area. Cebuanos recorded P5 million to P10 million as the most popular budget for this property type. The condominium is the next most searched residential property type with 37 percent of the search volume, and townhouse got 8 percent. In terms of location, some 62 percent has made Cebu the most searched city. Also in the top 5 cities are Lapu-Lapu City with 12 percent, Mandaue City with 7 percent, Talisay City with 5 percent and Minglanilla with 3 percent.

For Davao region, house and lot remains the preferred property type, with 88 percent choosing Davao as the top city where they look for property. Samal Island Garden City is the choice of 8 percent, Digos of 2 percent, Tagum of 1 percent and Panabo with 0.4 percent. In terms of price range, most users are searching for a house and lot worth P1 million to P3 million.

Property24 and OLX Philippines are part of the OLX Group, the world’s leading classifieds platform in growth markets. The platforms’ partnership dubbed as “The Power of Two” brings together the country’s top real-estate portal and the biggest buy and sell community. Posting on Property24 entitles the real-estate seller to cross-sell with the massive audience of OLX.

BusinessMirror

Editor: Tet Andolong

Wednesday, February 6, 2019 E1

Federal Land, Japanese partners launch for $400-million BGC project

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Story & photos by Rodel Ambas Jr.

ILIPINOS love everything Japanese, whether it’s electronic products, Uniqlo, matcha latte, mango or ramen. This affinity to Japanese culture is perhaps one of the reasons Japan is one of the Philippines’s major export partners and the country is a rapidly growing overseas destination among Filipino travelers in recent years.

THE Seasons Residences ARTIST’S PERSPECTIVE

A SCALE model of The Seasons Residences featuring the project’s four towers: Haru (spring), Natsu (summer), Aki (autumn) and Fuyu (winter) FEDERAL LAND

But soon Filipinos won’t have to travel to Japan to experience Japanese culture, as we’ll be able to do so in Federal Land’s latest offering in Bonifacio Global City (BGC)—The Seasons Residences.

Set to rise in the developer’s Sunshine Fort development, this mixed-use project is a joint venture between the Ty-owned Federal Land

and two of Japan’s top real-estate companies: Nomura Real Estate Development and Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings, the owner of the Isetan and Mitsukoshi department stores well known around the world. To complete the Japanese experience, the podium section of The Seasons Residences will feature the first Mitsokoshi Mall in the Philippines.

According to Federal Land, the $400-million Seasons Residences will be a mixed-use, integrated lifestyle center that will be home to four residential towers ranging from 41 to 51 levels and boasting units that highlight signature Japanese design philosophy.

“The residential towers of The Seasons Residences will focus on four key aspects: functionality, safety, harmony with the environment and Japanese technology,” according to Sophia Nuñez, Project Director at Federal Land. Uniquely Japanese elements in the units’ designs include smart storage solutions like kitchen floor cabinets and spacious shoe rack, kitchen sinks with builtin chopping boards that can double as counters, and eco-friendly solutions like energy-efficient lights and Japanese-branded ecological bathroom fixtures.

The condo also features amenities inspired by Japan’s four seasons: Haru or spring, Natsu or summer, Aki or autumn and Fuyu or winter, which incidentally are also the names of the development’s four towers. The first one, Haru, is scheduled for completion in 2023 and will feature one-bedroom units and suites (44–62 square meters), two-

ZEN-VIBE bedroom

Ty-owned Federal Land partners with Japanese developers Nomura Real Estate Development and Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings Ltd. to build The Seasons Residences and first Mitsukoshi Mall in the country. bedroom suites (78–93.5 sq m), and three-bedroom units (168–177.5 sq m). In addition, the project will also feature two bi-level penthouses at

ZEN-VIBE kitchen

ZEN-VIBE living-room

approximately 238 sq m and two villas that range between 296 and 345 sq m. Prices of the units, range from P16 million for the smallest up

to P66 million.

Aside from these, residents’ can host relatives and family members in the condo’s unique feature, its very own guest house, which is at the amenity deck. It features a tea room and spacious bedroom for guests to spend a night or two.

The first Mitsukoshi Mall in the Philippines

BUT perhaps what will get Filipinos more excited about this project is the first Mitsukoshi Mall in the Philippines, which will be at the residences’ podium area. Set to open in 2021 way ahead of the first tower’s completion, the 17,000-sq-m Mitsukoshi Mall will feature a well-curated mix of Japanese and international brands and the retailer’s signature food hall. In fact, Vogue magazine even cited Mitsukoshi Ginza’s food hall as one of the best food places in Japan.

Federal Land’s partnership with Nomura and Isetan Mitsukoshi is the latest in a string of joint ventures the developer has entered into in recent years. The company partnered with ORIX Corp. of Japan for its upscale project Grand Hyatt Manila Residences, also in BGC, while Sy-owned SMDC is its partner for an uber-prime condo project along Ayala Avenue in Makati.

Entrepreneur BusinessMirror

E4 Wednesday, February 6, 2019

Start-up taps Pinoys’ innate talent to compete in electronics market

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By Rizal Raoul S. Reyes

@brownindio

Contributor

OR 24 years, EMS Group of Companies Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Ferdinand “Perry” Ferrer was enjoying his job as a high-ranking executive in the aerospace industry working with different companies in Europe, the United States, Canada and China.

In fact, he planned to stay abroad for good.

However, this changed when he got an overseas call from his father, the late Francis Ferrer, former president of the Ayala-led Integrated Micro-electronics Inc., who said he plans to enter into a business after his retirement.

Interestingly, the son did not have the slightest idea that the Ferrer patriarch would establish

an electronics company because he thought his father was done with electronics when he retired.

“It was never in my wildest imagination or dream that it would be in electronics. My father used to send me pictures of his produce from his farm in Batangas [which then led me to think he was interested to go into farming],” Perry recalled.

It was never in my wildest imagination or dream that it would be in electronics.”—Ferrer

Two weeks later, Perry came back to Manila and discussed with Francis the risks and challenges in putting up an electronics company. Moreover, Francis told Perry the overall objective of putting up a company was to save the manufacturing jobs in electronics from going out to China.

“There was no reason for me to say no,” Perry recalled.

Before moving back to the country for good, Perry crafted a transition plan for previous his employer to ensure a seamless turnover.

In 2007, he started his formal stay in the Philippines. Thus, EMS was born. The company started with 800 people. Business was doing great and the work force reached 1800.

In 2009, the global financial crisis struck hard and EMS was not spared.

Ninety percent of the production output of EMS was wiped out. Nevertheless, Francis told Perry that as much as possible, there will be no layoff. Instead of firing people, Francis told Perry to retrain their workers to learn new skills.

“My dad told me we have enough funds to retrain them. Then, I realized it was not all about money. That was my complete transformation,” Perry fondly recalled.

“We only let go of a few hundreds.

Some of them were shifted to other jobs, while the rest were retrained for the new jobs,” Perry added.

The gamble paid off as EMS was back on track in 2011.

Perry also realized that the

FERRER

retraining program yielded a substantial pool of man power that can run the idle plants that were shut down during the global economic turmoil. This gave birth to the Alliance Mansols Inc. (AMI) in 2010. The EMS subsidiary offered their trained man power to run their factories.

“We offered them all the benefits of the production process from value engineering, quality control, among others,” he said.

As an engineering company, Perry said, EMS made a track record in training people. To share it’s best industry practices, EMS put up Creotec Philippines Inc. Creotec provides solutions ranging from training equipment provision, work

immersion, learning systems, technology curriculum, on-the-job exposure for tertiary students, and providing industry-relevant workshops and training sessions.

“In a span of 15 years, we grew to seven companies complementing each other and each one having its own center of excellence,” Perry said.

EMS will celebrate its 15th anniversary this month.

Other companies in the EMS group are EMS Components Assembly Inc.; EMS Resources Technology Inc.; EMS Services Philippines Inc. and EMS Services International Inc. EMS Services International recently opened its office in Japan.

Just like his father, Perry believes that people should be given continuous training despite the growing presence of automation. “Our objective is to train people to make them better workers. If the worker was an operator before, he or she can now be a technician.”

Moreover, EMS has also an incubation facility for foreign investors who want to know more about the business environment and hopefully start putting up their own facilities.

“We want them to experience Filipino workmanship,” he said.

“We tell them [when to invest] because it is a big risk for them. They can run it in our own factories,” Perry pointed out.

“Once they experience the Philippine investment climate, a lot of them will stay,” he added.

PHO sets opening of a spacious, modern, family-oriented obstacle course at BGC

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HE Philippines continues to be one of the attractive investment destinations for famous foreign brands, one of the most recent of which is Pretty Huge Obstacles (PHO), because of several factors such as consistent above average gross domestic product growth, openness to foreign cultures and the fluency of the English language.

“What we see in the Philippines is a population that is waking up, that has more pocket money, eating out often and more health conscious,” said Chard Kelso, chief strategic officer of PHO, in an interview on the sidelines of the recent launch of the 23,000-square-meter facility hailed as Asia’s largest indoor obstacle course training facility at the SM Aura Premier in the Bonifacio Global City.

Kelso also noted the strong camaraderie and bonding among members of the Filipino family as another factor PHO considered in establishing their first branch. This sterling quality made them more serious to

solidify their plan on their health and fitness business facility.

“When we first came here to find a venue for the obstacle sports, we saw a community that is extremely strong. This also means it has the right people, professional people with kids, attend church and people who are active in their community.

We saw this as amazing,” Kelso explained.

Thus, the die was cast. PHO proceeded to build an obstacle course facility that aims to provide worldclass facilities to obstacle course race athletes and family members who want to pursue a healthy and active lifestyle, as well.

Kelso described the facility as an adult playground with people coming in and realizing that working out is really fun and relaxing and that they don’t feel stressed in burning calories. At the same time, it allows the children to engage in their own physical activities.

In this digital age, he emphasized that PHO is raring to encourage chil-

FROM left: Mike Yung, chief financial officer, Pretty Huge Obstacles; Atty. Al Agra, president, Pilipinas Obstacle Sports Federation, OCR Asia; Charz Kelso, chief strategic officer; Ian Adamson, president, World OCR; and Ritsuo Arao, chief operating officer. ROY DOMINGO

dren to pursue a healthy and sporty lifestyle so they will not be young couch potatoes.

In line with its family-centric theme, Kelso said PHO staff are trained to prevent the spread of bullying culture in the facility. “This will be a bully-free zone,” he stressed.

Unlike in the typical health facility where the strong is cool, Kelso said the PHO will discourage members in bragging their performance over other members to prove they are the fittest and strongest.

Kelso said PHO is “washing all the bugs” before it formally opens to the

public on March 1 this year. For now, Kelso said the venue for the obstacle training course is being checked to ensure it is safe.

“We want to stay focused on this and keep up the level needed for the Philippines,” he said.

Kelso said PHO has plans to open branches in Quezon City, Cebu, Davao and other growth centers in the country but for now, it wants to make a perfect vibe for the whole family.

PHO has a huge number of obstacles configurable to over 100 combinations. It includes both an adult and kid obstacle zones, a 100-meter elevated indoor racetrack, functional and obstacle training classes, five-star level changing rooms and a health food lounge.

Obstacles available in the PHO are quintuple angles steps, monkey bars, 5-foot wall, balance beam, small wheels, 9-foot wall, island-hops, gymnast rings, weaver, cliff-hanger, Tarzan swing and the wave wall.

Rizal Raoul S. Reyes

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Laoag trade fair attracts farmers, entreprenuers

By Leilani Adriano Philippines News Agency

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AOAG CI T Y— About 42 homegrown entrepreneurs and several farmers’ groups gathered at the Dap-ayan Center here last Friday for an 11-day trade fair showcasing the best products in this Northern Luzon province.

Organized by the provincial government of Ilocos Norte, the “Tienda ni Gob” trade fair continues to attract local entrepreneurs and farmers’ associations to sell their produce in downtown Laoag.

In time for the opening of the Laoag Pamulinawen festival, the trade fair’s venue this year is more accessible to buyers as it is strategically located the heart of the city proper or just across the Ilocos Norte Capitol building.

Aside from the usual processed food products, such as bagnet and longganisa, abel handwoven cloth and wood furniture, products the province is known for, organized associations of farmers also displayed their unique farm produce and livestock. Some micro, small and medium entrepreneurs, including online shops, also participated in the trade exhibit, which will culminate on February 11.

The exhibit runs from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily.

Fresh from mainland United States to promote her latest dragon fruit products, such as dragon fruit energy tea and coffee drinks, Edita Dacuycuy, president of the Ilocos Norte micro, small and medium enterprises, said they are thankful to the Ilocos Norte local government for coming up with a unique trade fair showcasing the various products and services of the Ilocanos.

“We are so blessed for the all-out support of our governor and other government agencies for they are one with us in this endeavor. Here is also our way to share our products we are so much proud of,” said Dacuycuy, a multiawarded farmerscientist-entrepreneur who pioneered the establishment of the first science and technology-based dragon fruit plantation in Barangay Paayas, Burgos, Ilocos Norte.

An online seller of Ella’s fashion and beauty shop also joined the trade fair this year to promote her products and gain more customers.

Other local producers of native Ilocano delicacies, such as dudol and tupig, also expressed their joy as their products emerged as best sellers.

Adding more fun and excitement to the activity is the awarding of winners for the “best-dressed booth,” best in visual merchandise, and top 3 sellers to encourage better presentation of local products.

Consumer brands no longer want your loyalty. Now they want your love

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ONE are the days when the only goal of a company was to persuade you to buy its product. Now, making you feel kinship with a brand—even love—takes precedence.

At least, that’s what a group of influential start-ups believe. Eyewear maker Warby Parker, makeup seller Glossier, mattress retailer Casper—all of these companies are “direct-to-consumer” brands largely born on the Internet. Sure, advertising has been about identity since before there was a Marlboro man. But these “digital native” retailers, known for indulgent niche products at accessible prices, have given an entirely new meaning to the phrase “brand affinity.”

From luggage-seller Away inviting customers to walk through a pretend airport security line to seamless using its own data for a cute subway ad campaign (a Bronx neighborhood was deemed least ideal for “making out” because residents order the most garlic bread), digital native brands have created a new algorithm. The traditional

buy-sell model doesn’t fly anymore, said Americus Reed, a marketing professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. Younger generations weaned on the Web demand a new kind of interaction—and much more attention.

This is forcing legacy companies to play catch up on yet another front. “Retailers in the physical space are going to have to provide something that is more experiential, that is going to draw people in to hang out and do stuff,” Reed said.

But they’ll have to move fast. Close to 7,000 physical stores were shut down by the end of 2017, according to research and advisory firm FGRT. In the same period, e-commerce builder Shopify Inc. powered over 600,000 online businesses, with 73 percent of purchasing traffic coming from mobile devices. The ability to instantly feed customer data back into a business model is perhaps the most critical change. “While these disrupter companies are obviously much smaller, they are advantaged in their ability to obtain and to use that first-party data

much, much more rapidly,” said Randall Rothenberg, chief executive of the Interactive Advertising Bureau.

The growth of direct-to-consumer retailers is most apparent when it comes to personal products for men.

IAB notes that Gillette’s share of the US men’s razors business, for example, dropped to 54 percent in 2016, from 70 percent in 2010, while the combined US share of shaving upstarts Harry’s and Dollar Shave Club rose to 12.2 percent, from 7.2 percent, in 2015 alone. (Perhaps this explains Gillette’s audacious new ad campaign).

For men’s start-up, Hims, founder Andrew Dudum said making a sale (at least in the short run) ranks lower than building a long-term customer relationship. Like many of his peers, the 30-yearold said he’s trying to do more than just sell products, which in the case of Hims means generic versions of Viagra and skin-care items for men. The San Francisco-based company hopes to create an “emotional trust” that will encourage

men to talk openly about health issues without feeling embarrassed.

“It’s so easy to build a brand—get it live and throw up Instagram ads—that I think building a serious depth of trust with your consumers involves so much more than that,” said Dudum. “When they need something, we’re here to help them.”

It may sound a bit precious, but responsiveness with a veneer of loyalty can make a start-up stand out in a world where anyone with a phone can call themselves an entrepreneur. A company’s brand—the feeling, image or story consumers immediately recognize when they see it—is now everything.

With this shifting landscape comes a new generation of branding firms​.​​​​​​Hims brought in Gin Lane, the creative brains behind Sweetgreen, SmileDirectClub and Harry’s. The Manhattan-based firm had to build a strategy that would overcome the male tendency to remain utilitarian when it comes to hygiene. The trick was to make men feel empowered when

buying health products.

San Francisco-based Hims first approached Gin Lane in June 2017 and launched the following November.

The central question for the brand was, how do you stop men from buying plastic razors in a 20 pack or skulking down the hair-care aisle for a package of Rogaine? The answer, it turns out, was humor.

“We wanted to be that uncle that men could feel comfortable asking the uncomfortable questions,” said Dan Kenger, digital creative director at Gin Lane. Over the course of four months, the firm drafted every little detail of the brand’s persona. This even included how the “voice” of Hims would change, depending on whether its message was on Instagram or in a text.

Hims’s play on innuendo, from cheeky cactus visuals to eggplant emojis, became a way for the company to inject humor into the men’s health space. Emojis, what Gin Lane cofounder Emmett Shine calls the “universal language of

millennials”and a useful tool to break the masculine ice, also became a big part of the marketing strategy.

The secret, he said, is to take the form of a friend, with ads that converse on an emotional level. “People are expecting their brands to be more intelligent, to know who they are, to speak to them as you would expect another human to speak to you,” Shine said.

Hims now has about 60 employees and, with a line of prescription-based products and medical services in some states, a network of more than 124 licensed physicians. The company has raised $97 million from such investors as Institutional Venture Partners, Forerunner Ventures and Josh Kushner’s Thrive Capital. The latest round valued the company at $500 million, according to data firm PitchBook. And since the brand’s launch 15 months ago, the numbers show they might be on to something: Hims said it booked $1 million in sales during its first week, and that sales have climbed ever since. Bloomberg News