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Fate of 75 MPSAs facing cancellation still hangs a year after Lopez’s order Cargo ships loaded with nickel ore in Claver, Surigao del Norte, where a nickel mining boom began in the 2000s, April 9, 2017. The Philippines, which exports more nickel ore than any country in the world, is in the midst of a wide crackdown on mines accused of violating environmental protection laws. Jes Aznar/The New York Times

‘A watershed is a watershed is a watershed’ By Jonathan L. Mayuga

t’s been a year since former Environment Secretary Regina Paz L. Lopez gave her “gift of love” to the Filipino people on Valentine’s Day in the form of show-cause orders to miners with contracts to operate in areas near or within watersheds.

Lopez’s argument was simple: “A watershed is a watershed is a watershed.” Today, the fate of these mining contracts—75 mineral production sharing agreements (MPSA) and one financial and/or technical assistance agreement (FTAA)— still hangs in the balance. This is because the Department of Environment and Natural Resources

LOPEZ: “It is my duty to protect the people who live there [watersheds]. Now and in the future. If you put at risk the water supply, you put at risk the quality of life of the people for gold, nickel.”

(DENR), now under Secretary Roy A. Cimatu, could not resolve which definition of watershed, or laws and their rules and regulations pertaining to areas closed to mining, will prevail in resolving the appeals made by holders of the mining contracts. DENR Undersecretary for Climate Change Service and Mining Continued on A2

The ‘favorites’ and ‘dark horse’ in race for next PNP chief

By Rene Acosta

tion, Deputy Director General Ramon Apolinario; PNP Director for Intelligence Chief, Director Greg Pimentel; and National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) chief, Director Oscar Albayalde, have emerged as front-runners on the list to succeed dela Rosa. Apolinario, the No. 2 man of the PNP, and Pimentel are members of the Philippine Military Academy Class of 1985, while Albayalde is a member of Class 1986, and a mistah (or classmate) of dela Rosa himself. While Apolinario and Pimentel have ties with Duterte, who is the appointing authority, Albayalde, an articulate and media-savvy officer, is banking on his accomplishments as chief of the NCRPO as his passport in bagging the PNP’s top post.

o final decision has been made so far to push through this time with the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections in May. But for the appointment of the next Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, the “campaign” may have “unofficially” started. The race is on for the successor of PNP Director General Ronald dela Rosa, as he transitions toward his incoming post as director of the Bureau of Corrections, where he is expected to continue the government’s campaign against illegal drugs. And just like in normal races, there now emerge the “favorites” and the “dark horse.”

Dela Rosa was supposed to have retired last month, but—like Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Rey Leonardo Guerrero—his term was extended for another three months by President Duterte so his anti-drugs drive as head of the PNP will not be cut.

Front-runners

PNP Deputy Chief for Administra-

PESO exchange rates n US 52.0240

Ties that bind

Officers and members of the Philippine National Police march past the grandstand during flag-raising ceremony to mark the police’s 26th founding anniversary at the PNP General Headquarters in Quezon City, February 6, 2017. AP/Bullit Marquez

Apolinario worked with Duterte before as head of the Davao City Police, while the President was among Pimentel’s wedding sponsors last month. Continued on A2

n japan 0.4866 n UK 72.9272 n HK 6.6508 n CHINA 8.2057 n singapore 39.5921 n australia 41.2550 n EU 64.8479 n SAUDI arabia 13.8727

Source: BSP (February 15, 2018 )

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‘A watershed is a watershed is a watershed’ Continued from a1

Concerns Analiza R. Teh said the agency has yet to formally start reviewing the appeals submitted by the various mining companies, whose MPSAs for projects are situated within or near watersheds.

Show-cause order

Clarifying that no cancellation orders have been issued by the DENR as far as the 75 MPSAs are concerned, Teh said only “show cause” orders were actually issued by the DENR asking the companies to explain why the mining contracts should not be canceled. She said all companies have already replied or answered. Of the 75 MPSAs with showcause orders, 27 are in Luzon, 11 in the Visayas and 37 in Mindanao. All these mining contracts cover nonoperating mines, or mines that are not yet in commercial operation. The sole basis of the showcause order is these MPSAs are within or near a watershed. According to the River Basin Control Office (RBCO), the Philippines has 142 critical watersheds, 18 major rivers and three principal river basins. It also has 79 natural lakes. Teh said that, last year, the DENR focused more on resolving the cases of more than two dozen operating large-scale mines with closure or suspension orders, as a result of the controversial mining audit initiated by Lopez. She added the DENR is also in the process of capacitating Community Environment and Natural Resources Offices (Cenros) nationwide to equip personnel with the tools to address mining and environmental regulation problems.

Valentine’s Day gift

To recall, on February 14 last year, Lopez announced that as her “gift of love” to the Filipino people on Valentine’s Day, she is canceling 75 MPSAs and the FTAA for the multibillion-dollar Tampakan Copper Project—mining deals whose target operation areas are within or near watersheds. In justifying her decision to protect the right of present and future generations to a healthy and balanced ecology, Lopez underscored the importance of protecting the country’s precious water resources that are seriously threatened by destructive development projects like mining.

Consolidation of appeals

Teh told the BusinessMirror that the DENR will just begin consolidating the appeals of the mining companies, some of which fell on the lap of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB), while others went directly to the DENR’s Legal Department. She said there is kind of a mixup because of the so many orders issued by the DENR to various

Workers remove toxic red nickel laterite covering a road, caused by frequent landslides in the mountains of Carrascal and other mining towns, in Surigao del Norte, April 10, 2017. The Philippines, which exports more nickel ore than any country in the world, is in the midst of a wide crackdown on mines accused of violating environmental protection laws. Jes Aznar/The New York Times

mining companies during Lopez’s 10-month crackdown on “irresponsible” mining operations. “We still need to consolidate all these appeals before we start the review. As far as I know, all mining companies have already answered,” Teh said.

The meat of the matter

Teh, Cimatu’s point person for mining, said she will sit down with the MGB and the DENR’s Legal Department to resolve the pending appeals, starting with the legal basis of the show cause orders, and a thorough discussion that will revolve around the definition of watershed and the areas that are supposed to be closed to mining under various laws and policies, including their rules and regulation. “If you remember, one of the issues brought up during the confirmation hearing of Secretary Lopez with the CA [Commission on

Appointments] was: What is a watershed? This we have to resolve,” she said. Teh noted that mining companies have also raised the issue of the definition of a watershed. She said that, as the DENR is also currently crafting a new mining policy, the various definitions of watershed need to be harmonized. The varying definition of a watershed, Teh stressed, will be looked into thoroughly by the DENR in evaluating the appeals of the concerned MPSA holders. There are varying definitions of a watershed that are being looked into—watershed as defined by Republic Act (RA) 7942, or the Philippine Mining Act of 1995; Presidential Decree (PD) 705, or the Revised Forestry Code of the Philippines; and Executive Order (EO) 79 and its implementing rules and regulation (IRR).

The watershed referred to under the IRR of RA 7942 is “critical watershed,” which means a drainage area of a river system, lake or water reservoir supporting existing and proposed hydroelectric power, domestic water supply, geothermal power and irrigation works that need immediate rehabilitation and protection to minimize soil erosion, improve water yield and prevent possible flooding. Under Section 19 of RA 7942, MPSA and FTAA applications shall not be allowed in waterways, reservoirs and dams; and proclaimed watershed forest reserves. PD 705 defines watershed as “a land area drained by a stream or fixed body of water and its tributaries having a common outlet for surface run-off.” Moreover, the same law defines watershed reservation as “a forest land reservation established to protect or improve

the conditions of the water yield thereof or reduce sedimentation.” This was also expressed in EO 79, which states: “Mining contracts, agreements and concessions approved before the effectivity of the order shall continue to be valid, binding, and enforceable so long as they strictly comply with existing laws, rules and regulations, and the terms and conditions of the agreement. As such, review and monitoring of such compliance shall be undertaken periodically.” “We don’t want to be legalistic about the definition of a watershed,” Teh said, adding that the DENR is not setting aside the possibility that a future mining project may actually have adverse environmental and social impact. Teh pointed out that even if a company has a prior right over the mining area in case the MPSA was issued before an area was declared

or proclaimed as a watershed, it will not exempt the company from possible cancellation if there’s a grave violation of the mining or environmental laws that have caused environmental degradation and suffering to communities. “In the meantime, we need to have discussions with MGB to clarify what is a watershed. We really need to clarify what is a watershed,” she said, referring to the different definitions. For the meantime, Teh said the DENR and MGB will have to verify whether the MSPA areas are, in fact, within a watershed—proclaimed or not—through mapping activities. “There is now an ongoing mapping of mining no-go zones as against mining [MPSA] areas. What we will do is overlay the two maps to show whether the mining area is within or near the proclaimed watersheds,” she said.

The ‘favorites’ and ‘dark horse’ in race for next PNP chief Continued from a1

Just days before Duterte extended the term of dela Rosa, senior police officials have already been addressing Apolinario as “chief,” having gotten wind of his impending designation as PNP chief by Duterte. While Apolinario remains as the top contender to succeed dela Rosa, the equation, however, may be fast changing, especially if merits and accomplishments were to be considered by Duterte, where Albayalde is proving to be a runaway winner, according to observers.

‘Doer’

Albayalde, as the head of the NCRPO that is considered as “window” of the PNP, is known as a “doer” and a strict disciplinarian while eclipsing any given task.

In ridding the NCRPO of unworthy members, he had implemented his own version of the PNP’s internal cleansing by directly taking and even heading the campaign on the ground, and in the “gravest” hour through his unannounced visits of police stations around Metro Manila at night and in the wee hours of the morning. A number of policemen have been relieved from their posts, stripped of their firearms and badges and are facing disciplinary sanctions because they have been caught sleeping or imbibing alcohol while on duty. “He went for the basics, which is discipline, even in the middle of the many campaigns and programs of the PNP. He knows that the success of any campaign in the PNP is inherent upon the character of the

policemen,” according to a police observer who requested not to be named. Albayalde’s tack was unprecedented in the PNP, that no less than the PNP-Internal Affairs Service has decided to duplicate his night visits. When the PNP reassumed its “Oplan Tokhang,” Albayalde, leading a team of policemen from Quezon City, was the first to implement the controversial anti-drug operation in Metro Manila. For the first time, the NCRPO, under Albayalde, has not only met its yearly accomplishments, but even surpassed them. Last year the NCRPO managed to pull down crimes against persons by 13.87 percent, from 8,841 in 2016 to 7,305; and crime against properties by 20.58 percent, from 13, 200 in 2016 to 10,483.

The crime clearance efficiency (CCE) also increased by 4.27 percent, from 82.88 in 2016 to 86.42 percent. The NCRPO’S “8-Focused Crimes” also decreased compared with 2016, with a total decrease of 17.96 percent in crime volume. Murder decreased by 23.38 percent, from 1,976 to 1,514; homicide by 26.69 percent, from 577 to 423 incidents; physical injury by 7.62 percent, from 4,830 to 4,462; and rape by 17.49 percent, from 1,098 to 906 incidents. Robbery cases also went down by 16.04 percent, from 3,603 incidents to 3,025; theft by 19.92 percent, from 8,059 to 6,454 incidents; and carnapping by 48.90 percent, from 317 to 162 incidents. Motorcycle theft also decreased by 31.04 percent, from 1,221 to 842 incidents.

Albayalde attributed the continued drops in these eight focused crimes to the NCRPO’s intensified implementation of Project Double Barrel Alpha, Project Double Barrel Reloaded and the intensified implementation of their Enhanced Managing Police Operations. “Our accomplishments on war against illegal drugs have been notable, which resulted in the voluntary surrender of another 29,087 and arrest of 17,487 drug offenders. We have seized a total of more or less 755 kilograms of shabu, 34.6 kilograms of marijuana and 211 ecstacy tablets, which collectively amounted to more than P3.77 billion,” Albayalde said then. In the war against illegal gambling, the NCRPO conducted 2,759 police operations that resulted in the arrest of 8,093 offenders.

For crime prevention, the NCRPO conducted 64,502 check points; 263,709 “Oplan Bakal Sita”; 977,074 Beat Patrol; 478,011 Mobile Patrol; 70,379 “Oplan Galugad”; and 21,986 “Oplan Katok,” wherein as a result, a total of 44,452 persons with standing warrants and in flagrante delicto were arrested. For internal security operations and counterterrorism efforts, the Metro Manila police also implemented and carried out a total of 98,138 target-hardening measures, implemented 114,974 border-control security measures and conducted 25,880 social investigations. Likewise, it has arrested a total of 11 members of terrorist groups that included seven members of Maute Group and four members of the Abu Sayyaf Group.

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Amid gains in shifting rules of banking, small-time beneficiaries remain losers

Saturday, February 17, 2018

By Bianca Cuaresma

he Philippine banking system, despite being relatively small compared to its regional counterparts, has been repeatedly assessed by local and international analysts as among the most resilient globally in recent years.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and international credit watchers largely owed the lending industry’s recent strength to a carefully calibrated regulatory

regime, one that largely made the shift from a “mandatory” regime to a more “enabling” regime. At a recent speaking engagement, BSP Deput y Gover nor

for the Super v ision and Examinat ion Sector Chuchi Fonacier sa id since 20 05, t he cou nt r y ’s c e nt r a l mo ne t a r y aut hor it y h a s t r a n sit ione d f rom com pl i a nce -based to a r isk-based reg u l ator y approac h. “We learned that the best regulatory approach remains to be one that is ‘enabling’—f lexible and risk-based; providing g uidel ines rat her t han mandates; considering banks’ risk appetites and business models and applying standards proportionate to the size, structure and complexity of their operations,” Fonacier said. While banks and other sectors, at large, remain key beneficiaries to these new monitoring and regulatory system of the BSP,

the long-overdue reforms on the mandated lending to the agriculture sector and micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) have yet to come. The good thing is the banking system continues to reap the benefits of a new and calibrated credit program. The mandated lending to agriculture and agrarian reform, known as the Agri-Agra Reform Credit Act of 2009, requires banks to allocate 25 percent of their total loan portfolio to the two sectors—10 percent for agrarianreform credit and 15 percent to other agricultural credit. The MSME sector also has a credit benefit on its way, as the law requires banks to set aside another tenth of their total loan portfolio to MSME lending.

Should local lenders—big or small—fail to meet the quota, they will be subject to monetary fines and penalties. However, for years, banks have chosen to pay the monetary penalty instead of complying with the mandatory lending to these sectors, as banks, especia l ly t hose unfa mi l ia r w it h MSME or agricultural clients, would rather pay the fixed fine instead of facing the many risks of lending to unknown territory. In the third quarter of 2017, for example, rural and cooperative banks, whose primary market is the countryside, were able to exceed the 10-percent mandate with a total compliance of 13.09 percent. Universal and commercial banks, on the other

hand, only have a 0.77-percent compliance rate. The trend is similar to the agricultural credit mandate, where rural and cooperative banks exceed the mandate of 15 percent to hit 26.68 percent, while universal and commercial banks, while making the cut, were only at 12.69 percent. Fonacier told the BusinessMirror that despite calls from the BSP to lawmakers to amend the mandatory credit laws, these remain unchanged and are still in effect for the year. Asked on what kind of provisions the BSP deems fit should these mandated laws actually be amended, Fonacier said: “Lending to agri-agra should have a guarantee mechanism in place and also an insurance component.”

Cauguiran pilots DFA leveraging Demafelis’s death for optimum OFW treatment CIAC to new heights By Recto Mercene

By Ashley Manabat Correspondent

LARK INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT—With barely one year and six months in office, Alexander S. Cauguiran has brought this airport, through the Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC), to heights never before seen since the conversion in 1993 of this former US military facility into a civil aviation complex. Readily available records from CIAC indicate an impressive 21-percent, or P814.14-million, increase in total revenues from January to December 2017 from CIAC operations as compared to the same period in 2016. The growth was a result of a significant increase in the number of passengers both domestic and international. Clark International Airport (CRK) generated a total of 1,514,531 passengers in 2017 that translated to a 59-percent growth as compared to 2016 figures. There are now 420 weekly flights with an average of 65 daily flights, as compared to only seven flights a week before Cauguiran assumed as OIC of CIAC in the last quarter of 2016. The new flights mounted by Philippine Airlines (PAL), additional flight frequencies, and base training flights are notable on the 2017 revenue figures. In addition, the new leases and increase in other business income as a result of the improved collection of vehicle parking and check-in counter fees and miscellaneous income contributed to the revenue growth. For the period of January to December, CIAC generated a total net income amounting to P174.93 million, which is equivalent to a 126-percent increase, as well as an Ebitda (earnings before taxes, interests, taxes, depreciation and amortization) of P357.84 million, translating to a 32-percent growth as compared to 2016. In addition, CIAC did not incur penalty charges from delayed payments or settlement of loan amortizations and interest payments to Philippine Veterans Bank and Land Bank of the Philippines.

Traffic highlights summary

The summary of the 2017 new flights for domestic and international passengers include Cebu Pacific with destinations in Kalibo, Aklan, starting last October 30; China Eastern to Pudong, China, starting last October 18; Jetstar Airways to Singapore starting last November 28; and PAL to Cebu starting on January 30; Davao February 1; Busuanga March 26; Puerto Princessa March 28; Basco, Batanes, October 1; Masbate and Catarman beginning December 1; Calbayog December 2; Bacolod and Tagbilaran, Bohol, starting December 15; Cagayan de Oro December 16; Virac, Catanduanes, December 18; and Incheon January 1. There are now four new airlines—Philippines Air Asia, Air Swift, China Eastern and Jetstar Airways—with 13 new domestic destinations: Bacolod, Basco, Busuanga, Cagayan de Oro, Calbayog, Catarman, Davao, El Nido, Kalibo, Masbate, Puerto Princesa, Tagbilaran and Virac; and a new international destination in Pudong, China. It can be noted that the domestic-aircraft movement at CRK grew substantially from 360 to 5,399 represented by a 1,400-percent increase during the comparative year with the entry of PAL’s domestic air services for Basco, Cebu, Davao, Puerto Princesa, Busuanga, Masbate, Catarman, Calbayog, Bacolod, Cagayan de Oro, Tagbilaran and Virac; Air Asia Philippines’s domestic air services for Kalibo, Davao and Caticlan; Cebgo’s domestic air services for Caticlan and Busuanga; Air Swift’s domestic air services for El Nido; and Cebu Pacific’s air service for Kalibo. As a result of additional air services, the domestic air-passenger market also witnessed an impressive growth in 2017. CRK posted 431,343 domestic passengers in 2017, equivalent to a 736-percent increase from the previous year. CRK registered 23-percent and 20-percent increases in aircraft and passenger movement, respectively, for its international operations. The increased flight frequency of Cebu Pacific Air to Hong Kong from seven to 10 per week, the entry of PAL’s sole international destination, Incheon; the inaugurated flights of China Eastern for Pudong, China, air service and Jetstar Airways’s Singapore air service led to the positive operational performance of CRK. Overall, CRK recorded a 103-percent rise in aircraft movement at 12,620 and a 59-percent increase in passenger traffic, totaling 1,514,531 passengers, surpassing the 1,315,757 highest recorded figure in 2012. Cauguiran said much of the increase is attributed to the breakthrough entry of PAL, as it aims for CRK to be its secondary hub. On average, the daily aircraft movement for year 2017 was 35, composed of 20 international and 15 domestic flight movements with an average of 4,149 passengers passing through the airport terminal daily. Of the passengers, 2,967 were for international destinations, while 1,182 were for domestic destinations.

he remains of Joanna Daniela Demafelis, the household service worker killed in Kuwait and placed in a freezer, arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) on Friday morning. A sister of Demafelis broke into tears and tried to embrace the casket but was pulled away at the Manila airport on Friday. Demafelis’s death is the latest tragedy to befall a Filipino worker abroad and the government banned Filipino workers from being deployed to Kuwait since her body was found. Her body, placed in a wooden casket, was received by her grieving family gathered at the Pair Cargo warehouse. Demafelis’s brother Joejet and sister Jessica burst into tears upon seeing the remains of their sister. Demafelis became a symbol of Filipino domestic helpers being abused in Kuwait when she was murdered by her employers, a suspected Lebanese and a Syrian woman, who allegedly left Kuwait after authorities found the body. The remains of Joanna arrived at the Naia onboard Gulf Air Flight GF154 that touched down around 10:25 a.m. and was towed to the Pair Cargo warehouse. Aside from the family of the deceased, ranking government officials were on hand at the airport, headed by Foreign Secretary Alan Peter S. Cayetano. Cayetano said the Philippine and the

Government officials comfort Jessica Demafelis (center), sister of Joanna Demafelis whose corpse was found in a freezer in Kuwait, as the wooden casket of Joanna’s remains arrives at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport on Friday. AP/Bullit Marquez

Kuwaiti governments are digging deeper to solve the mysterious death of Demafelis. He added that the Philippines-Kuwait relations is now in a rocky situation, although the Kuwaitis love their Filipino workers very much. The Demafelis family is asking the government for justice for their slain relative, demanding that those who killed their sister be put in jail.

Cayetano said the government is hoping the case of Demafelis will be the “rallying point” of cases of abused Filipino workers abroad. “Her death is very tragic, but this will also be a rallying point for all agencies to be more aggressive abroad.” President Duterte, he added, already ordered authorities to do everything to protect the overseas Filipino workers. The 29-year-old Demafelis was report-

edly beaten several times before she died, according to initial autopsy findings, said Philippine Ambassador to Kuwait Renato Villa on Thursday. The Kuwaiti government is running after the main suspects in the killing of Joanna. The duo allegedly escaped Kuwait after the authorities found the body of Joanna inside the freezer. With AP

Saturday, February 17, 2018

The World BusinessMirror

Did FBI miss a warning before Florida high-school shooting?

he massacre at a Florida high school is again raising concerns about whether the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) missed signs that might have stopped a mass shooting.

Last fall a Mississippi bail bondsman and video blogger noticed a comment on one of his YouTube videos that said: “I’m going to be a professional school shooter.” He immediately reported it to YouTube and the FBI and the next day two agents came to his office to take a printout of the comment and ask him whether he knew anything about the person who posted it. A lthough the commenter’s username was “Nikolas Cruz”— the same name as the 19-yearold man who author ities say killed 17 people at his former high school on Wednesday—the FBI couldn’t identify the poster, said Robert Lasky, the special agent in charge of the FBI office in Miami, on Thursday. Federal agents interviewed the man who reported the comment and searched public records databases, actions in line with those done during an FBI assessment— the lowest level, least intrusive and most elementary stage of an FBI inquiry—but came up short. The FBI says they still haven’t conclusively linked the account to the shooter. A day earlier Cr uz wa lked into his former high school in Florida with an AR-15 rif le and opened fire, shooting at students and teachers in hallways and on school grounds. It is the latest attack to raise questions about whether people who once caught the attention of law enforcement should have remained on the FBI’s radar. In the last two years, a man who massacred 49 people at an Orlando nightclub, another who set off bombs in the streets of New York City and a third who gunned down travelers at a Florida airport, had each been looked at by federal agents but later determined not to warrant continued law-enforcement scrutiny. FBI assessments are routinely opened after agents receive a tip, which could be sparked by something as simple as noticing odd activity in a neighbor’s garage or a classmate’s comments. Agents routinely face a challenge of sifting through which of the tens of thousands of tips received every year—and more than 10,000 assessments that are opened—could yield a viable threat. Had agents been able to confirm Cruz was the same person

as the YouTube poster, they would have found dozens of photos of rifles, ammunition, targets filled with bullet holes, which likely would have led to a face-to-face interview. The FBI did not notify police in Florida about the post before the mass shooting. “They owe us some more detail on what they did,” retired FBI Assistant Director Ron Hosko said. The questions come as the FBI is already under intense scrutiny and facing unprecedented attack from President Donald J. Trump and some congressional Republicans, who have seized on what they say are signs of anti-Trump bias, particularly as it relates to special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe. But it’s not clear the agency dropped the ball in this case, Hosko said.

“ With any thing that the FBI receives t hey are constra ined to act based on what t hey have in f ront of t hem,” Hosko sa id. “ You have a random Inter net posting t hat sug gests t he person wa nts to do somet h ing , not t hat t hey are planning on doing somet hing.” FBI guidelines meant to balance national security with civil liberties protections impose restrictions on the steps agents may take during the assessment phase. Agents, for instance, may analyze information from government databases and open-source Internet searches, and can conduct interviews during an assessment. But they cannot turn to more intrusive techniques, such as requesting a wiretap or Internet communications, without higher levels of approval and a more solid basis to suspect a crime. “It’s a tricky situation because sometimes you get information regarding individuals and they may be just showing off, blustering,” said Herbert Cousins Jr., a retired FBI special agent in charge. A vag ue, uncor roborated threat alone may not be enough to proceed to the next level of

investigation, according to Jeffrey Ringel, a former FBI agent and Joint Terrorism Task force supervisor who now works for the Soufan Group, a private security firm. Many assessments are closed within days or weeks when the FBI concludes there’s no criminal or national security threat, or basis for continued scrutiny. The system is meant to ensure that a person who has not broken the law does not remain under perpetual scrutiny on a mere hunch—and that the FBI can reserve its scarce resources for true threats. Had he had pledged his allegiance to the Islamic State, for example, investigators might have had enough evidence to proceed with a more intrusive probe. Tips like the one that came in about the Florida gunman are among countless complaints that come into the FBI daily with varying degrees of specificity. “How many of these do you expect the FBI to handle before it becomes the Federal Bureau of Complaints,” Hosko said. “They could spend their entire work force tracking down Internet exchanges that are never going to go anywhere.” AP

In this February 14 file photo, students are evacuated by police from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, after a shooter opened fire on the campus. It was the final period of the day at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High and Jonathan Blank was in history class, learning about the Holocaust. AP

Two Swiss athletes are first at Olympics found with norovirus

YEONGCHANG, South Korea—Two Swiss athletes on Friday became the first at the Winter Olympics to be confirmed to have the norovirus, which has affected hundreds of people in Pyeongchang. The Swiss Olympic delegation said in a statement that the two athletes had shown signs of the highly contagious virus “in the past several days” and that they no longer had symptoms after receiving care. It said they were sequestered in private rooms and were not staying at the Olympic Village. The statement did not identify the athletes or their sport, but it said they were staying in a location close to where freestyle skiing events were being held.

It was not immediately clear whet he r t he at h letes wou ld compete. But t he st atement said, “ We wou ld like to point out that athletes affected by norov ir us w il l be admitted to the competitions in good physica l condition and after examination by a Sw iss team doctor,” adding, “ it is a lso not out of the question that the athletes are competitive after sur viving the disease.” Reuters repor ted t hat t he athletes were freestyle skiers, and it quoted a team spokesman as saying that one was Fabian B o e sc h . B o e sc h ’s I n st a g r a m v ideo show i ng h i m h a ng i ng from the railing of an escalator by one hand, allowing it to pull

him up, went viral this week. Nearly 250 people, including security workers and members of the organizing committee, have been affected by norovirus while in Pyeongchang. Its symptoms ty pically include extreme vomiting and diarrhea. The outbreak was first announced on the Tuesday before the Games’ opening ceremony, with 41 security guards having tested positive for the virus. The guards were staying near Olympic venues but not in any official Olympic Village buildings. Cases quickly spread to members of the Pyeongchang Olymp i c s O r g a n i z i n g C om m it t e e staff, venue personnel and cafeter ia workers, ra ising fears

that athletes would be affected. Because the v ir us can easily spread through close contact with infected people or through contaminated food, water or surfaces, organizers worried about controlling the outbreak. Park Kisoo, emergency commu n ic at ion d i rec tor for t he South Korean Centers for Disease Control, would not confirm on Friday whether any other athletes had been affected by the virus. He said the health agency was working with the International Olympic Committee and the Olympic committees of individual countries to “decide on the disclosure about health information of athletes.”

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Layoffs arrive in Brexit Britain, and auto workers are up first

n his 50 years working in Britain’s car industry, John Cooper has survived plenty of upheavals. None is scarier than the prospect of Brexit. Being split off from their biggest market means the job cuts and production slowdown UK carmakers have imposed the past few months could be just a prelude to wholesale shutdowns. The shock is only beginning to hit. Since October, 650 of Cooper’s colleagues have lost their jobs at the factory where Vauxhall Motors churns out Astra hatchbacks. The remaining 1,200 staff worry the plant may close if the UK loses tariff-free access to Europe. Across the River Mersey from Vauxhall’s factory, Jaguar Land Rover is planning production cuts. “People shouldn’t underestimate the dangers that Brexit’s bringing,” Cooper, a union representative, said outside the sprawling factory in the town of Ellesmere Port, near Liverpool, where he’s worked since he was 18. “Why would Nissan continue to invest in the northeast when it’s got a plant in Spain where it can build the same car without a 10-percent tariff?” If Prime Minister Theresa May gets her way, by next year Britain will start severing ties with the bloc after a transition period, including quitting the customs union it’s been part of since 1973. Whether duties are imposed after that is still up in the air as London and Brussels wrangle over the terms of their divorce. Tariffs and other hurdles to trade could be disastrous for the automotive industry since parts routinely move across borders several times during the manufacturing process. Take the BMW Mini, manufactured in Oxford. Before reaching the production line, each eng ine crankshaft is made in France, shipped to BMW’s United Kingdom engine plant in Hams Hall near Birmingham and then to Steyr, Austria, for assembly. The fate of the Vauxhall plant depends on whether its French parent company, PSA Group, decides to build the next Astra, a 2021 model, there. PSA, which bought Vauxhall from General Motors Co. last summer, has other options: it designs Peugeots and Citroens in France and Opels in Germany and could ship those to Britain with Astra logos. Foreseeing these risks, Cooper had ardently campaigned against Brexit by canvassing workers at the plant, yet the leave vote still prevailed in the neighboring area—along with most of the other towns where UK carmakers operate factories. “It’s hard to see how anybody could sanely vote for anything t hat wou ld ma ke t he business more difficult,” said Peter Southwood, 44, who’s worked at Vauxhall for 21 years. “ They see the cars coming down the line, they see how many are going abroad, and they see where the parts come from.” Southwood’s grandfather and two uncles worked at Ellesmere Port and he hopes his son or daughter might uphold the tradition. But, Brexit or not, employment in Britain’s automobile industry isn’t what it used to be. In the heyday of the 1970s, 12,500 people worked at the Vauxhall plant. Headcount has since fallen 90 percent, largely due to automation. The European Union departure is dealing the industry an additional blow just as it scrambles to adjust to the transition into electric cars and government plans to phase out gas and diesel engines in the coming two decades. After

touching a record in 2016, UK car sales suffered their biggest annual decline since 2009 last year, as Brexit and the Volkswagen dieselemissions scandal tarnished buyer confidence. The cost of assembling a car in Britain could increase by £2,372 pounds ($3,337) under a so-called Hard Brexit, where a 10-percent tariff is imposed, according to estimates of London-based PA Consulting. Plant closures are most likely at Japanese-owned Honda Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp. since they export most of the cars they make in Britain, it said. Foreign companies won’t stay “if there is no profitability of continuing operations in the UK,” Japan’s ambassador to the UK, Koji Tsuruoka, said in an interview carried by BBC News this month. “It’s as simple as that. These are high stakes that I think all of us need to keep in mind.” It will probably be too risky for both sides to let negotiations fall apart without a deal that allows goods to move between borders with few or no tariffs, according to Tim Lawrence, head of manufacturing at PA Consulting. “Britain is Europe’s second-biggest car market and it’s hugely important for EU companies like the German premium manufacturers,” he said. But talks on trade haven’t even started—and the EU doesn’t expect a full detailed trade deal to be completed until after the United Kingdom has left. In and around Ellesmere Port, a nerve center for the industry, work ers a re u nderst a nd a bly anxious. On a snowy day this month outside Jaguar’s Halewood plant where it makes Range Rover Evoque and Land Rover Discovery Sport SUVs, several workers wearing green sweaters and trousers bearing the signature Jaguar cat logo said they’d been warned not to comment. One man said he’d voted to leave the EU because migrant workers crossing the bloc’s open borders had depressed UKK wages. “I’m happy to get out of Europe, just not with the way the government have gone about it,” he said. Another, 50-year-old Brian, was hopeful demand would pick up: “Rich people are still going to buy high-end cars,” he said. Owned by India’s Tata Motors, JLR is more shielded from Brexit because it exports a lot to the United States and China, and a spokesman said new investments are planned at Halewood. Vauxhall’s Ellesmere Port site, by contrast, ships eight out of 10 cars to Europe, according to Cooper. He’s lobbying management for new production along with Len McCluskey, the general secretary of Britain’s national Unite union and an ally of opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn. The pair went to Paris last mont h to t r y to conv ince PSA C h ief E xec ut ive Of f icer Carlos Tavares to grant two new models to Ellesmere Port. That’s the deal Cooper says is needed to guarantee survival, and both should include electric versions. Tavares hasn’t yet obliged. A Vau x ha l l spokesma n sa id he couldn’t speculate. After half a century at the plant, Cooper won’t give up without a fight. Vauxhall is an iconic brand in the UK, appealing to Britons who want to support local industry and local jobs— something that, ironically, Brexit campaigners said leaving the EU would help safeguard. “I don’t believe if you put a Vau xhall badge on a Peugeot 308 it would sell it in the same volume,” Cooper said. “I don’t want my legacy to be we didn’t get a car.” Bloomberg News

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

Saturday, February 17, 2018

PETRON, FOTON KICK OFF SUPERLIGA GP CAMPAIGN

RUSSIAN supporters wait before the preliminary round of the men’s hockey game between Slovakia and a team from Russia at the Winter Olympics in Gangneung, South Korea, on Wednesday. AP

Keita Horiko, 10, practices a move during his second workout of the day at the Ice House in Hackensack, New Jersey. AP

OLYMPIC-SIZE DREAMS By Deepti Hajela The Associated Press

ACKENSACK, New Jersey—Keita Horiko glided across the rink at the Ice House, picking up speed as he attempted a jump—and sprawled in a fall as he came

back down. Unfazed, the 10-year-old US Figure Skating juvenile boys champion got up and started skating again. His older brother, 13-year-old Yuki, also was on the ice, practicing his own moves as they wound down their second practice of the day before heading home to Manhattan and doing it all again the next day. They’ve got Olympic-size dreams, and when they watch figure skating at the Pyeongchang Games, they’ve got plenty of role models—a history-making US figure skating team where half of the 14 members are Asian-American. “It’s very inspiring and it makes you

think, I want to be like them,” Keita said. While there have been Asian-American figure skaters representing the United States at past Olympics—the most high-profile being gold medalist Kristi Yamaguchi in 1992 and silver and bronze medalist Michelle Kwan in 1998 and 2002—there never has been anything like this. For the women, there’s 24-year-old Mirai Nagasu and 18-year-old Karen Chen; on the men’s side, 18-year-old Nathan Chen and 17-year-old Vincent Zhou; among the ice dancers, sibling pair Alex Shibutani, 26, and Maia Shibutani, 23, and Madison Chock, 25. It’s a heady moment, especially because Asian-Americans as a minority group have long faced stereotypes of being more about books and brains than anything else. “I think it’s supercool and exciting,” said Mai Hoang Parmentier, 35, of Yakima, Washington, who got into watching skating when she saw Yamaguchi compete. “For me growing up you had the stereotype of oh, Asians are good at math or

academia or art or music,” she said. “I just like the idea that my daughter can see that she doesn’t have to be pigeonholed, that she can actually be good at sports.” Ryan Morris, 28, of Berkeley, California, agreed. The skating fan planned on making sure his young nieces and nephew watched it with him. “They’re going to see in the most important sport in the Winter Olympics... people who look like them,” he said. “It’s a good feeling.” Olympian Scott Hamilton said Yamaguchi’s and Kwan’s not only skating on a world stage but winning was likely an impetus for a younger generation of Asian-Americans, and their parents, even to consider it. “A lot of it is seeing a sport and seeing others be successful and saying, I want to do that, and that’s what you need,” he said. “Winning really creates interest.” There’s already been some success— skating in the team event, Nagasu became

the first American woman to complete a triple axel in the Olympics. That led to some controversy when Bari Weiss, an op-ed writer for The New York Times, tweeted about the feat with the words, “Immigrants: They get the job done.” Nagasu was born in California, and the since-deleted tweet was criticized by some who said it touched on Asian-American concerns about continually being assumed to be foreigners. Even that has echoes in previous Olympics, as in 1998, when a headline after American Tara Lipinski won the gold medal read, “American beats out Kwan.” Kwan was born and raised in California. In this year’s games, much of the hoopla around possibly winning has focused on Nathan Chen in particular. The Salt Lake City, Utah, native, who predicted as a 10-year-old novice champion that he would be at the 2018 Olympics, has been showcased as an athlete to watch at these games because of his athleticism and multiple quadruple jumps. He is considered

a front-runner in the individual men’s event, even though he got off to a rough start by finishing fourth in the men’s short program for the team skating event after an uncharacteristic fall during a triple axel. That Asian-Americans are being represented on the men’s side as well as the women’s is important, said Phil Yu, who writes about pop culture and other subjects on his Angry Asian Man blog. Chen’s overall presence and success “is a powerful statement for Asian-American men who have generally had this stereotype hang over them of being not athletic, not expressive,” he said. “To have someone like Nathan Chen excel, not only excel but blow all these other people out of the water, it’s a powerful thing,” Yu said. It certainly is for Yuki Horiko. Seeing someone Asian-American like him go after Olympic gold “gives me more confidence” for his own hopes, the 13-year-old said. “If he can do it, maybe I can do it.”

Lady Eagles face winless UE belles A

TENEO eyes its second straight win against hapless University of the East (UE), while Far Eastern University (FEU) hopes to arrest a twogame skid against also struggling University of the Philippines (UP) in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) women’s volleyball tournament today at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan City. After a dismal 0-2 start losing to FEU and National University in five sets, the Lady Eagles finally flaunted their “heart strong mantra” by beating University of Santo Tomas, 16-25, 25-22, 25-22, 25-23, last week. In men’s action, unbeaten FEU seeks its fourth straight win against UP (1-2) at 10 a.m., right after Ateneo goes for its third win in four games against UE (0-3) at 8 a.m. The Lady Eagles are hoping to get a streak going in their 2 p.m. game against the Lady Warriors, who are winless in three outings. For skipper Maddie Madayag and Bea de Leon, trust will play a big role if they want to be in championship form. “It’s been hard. I think obviously regardless of your attitude, it’s really hard to lose,” de Leon said. “We just have to learn to keep on lifting each other up.” “I guess our trust for each other is important.

We talked about that when someone makes a mistake, we have to keep her head up and let her make up for her mistake,” Madayag said. “I guess it’s really teamwork, trust and confidence.” Ateneo Head Coach Tai Bundit will also lean on Jho Maraguinot, Kat Tolentino, setter Deanna Wong and libero Dani Ravena against the Francis Vicente-coached UE side, led by Shaya Adorador, Roselle Baliton, Judith Abil and Mary Anne Mendrez. FEU, on the other hand, failed to ride the momentum of its 19-25, 25-21, 18-25, 25-20, 15-9 season-opening victory over Ateneo as the Lady Tamaraws lost two five-set matches in a row to Adamson University last Saturday and De La Salle on Wednesday, 22-25, 17-25, 26-24, 25-23, 7-15. “We badly need this win,” FEU Head Coach George Pascua said. “We cannot underestimate UP because they put up a big fight in their past two games. It will be a battle of character and pride. We just have to minimize our unforced errors.” UP also won its first game against UE but lost to De La Salle and Adamson University in straight sets. Ateneo, FEU, UP and University of Santo Tomas are tied for fourth to seventh places with 1-2 win-loss cards. Lance Agcaoili

SOLANE GOLFEST Solane recently hosted the Fourth Solane Cup at the Manila Southwoods Golf and

Country Club to nurture camaraderie with its business partners. The annual event was attended by top executives of Isla LPG Corp. (ILC), the company behind Solane. Photo shows ILC CEO Soichi Watanabe, CFO Willie Sarmiento and General Manager for Sales Tonito Gonzalez with business partners who attended the event.

ETRON and Foton start trekking the road to redemption as they take on separate foes in the Chooks-to-Go Philippine Superliga (PSL) Grand Prix today at the Ynares Sports Center in Pasig City. Petron and Foton, both former champions of the import-flavored conference with the Blaze Spikers winning the 2014 edition and the Tornadoes dominating in 2015 and 2016, are seeking to regain the lost glory after failing last year. The Blaze Spikers will be licking their wounds from a 20-25, 19-25, 25-20, 25-18 Game 3 Finals loss to F2 Logistics last December and will open a brand-new campaign against Generika-Ayala at 4 p.m. Petron won Game One of the finals in dominant fashion, 25-14, 25-21, 25-16, but allowed F2 Logistics to turn the tables around and snatch the championship. Now, Petron Head Coach Shaq de los Santos said they have moved on and reassessed themselves as they try once more to win the crown. “Definitely, we’re going to bounce back. That Finals lost really hurt us,” de los Santos said. The Blaze Spikers are parading this season the same core, led by American imports Lindsay Stalzer and Hillary Hurley, as well as Japanese Yuri Fukuda with a strong local support from Mika Reyes, Ces Molina, Aiza Maizo-Pontillas and Rhea Dimaculangan. They will be facing Generika-Ayala now coached by Sherwin Meneses of Ateneo, who will have imports Darlene Ramdin and Symone Hayden, who replaced injured Katarina Pilepic. Foton also has a new coach, Rommel Abella, and a new set of imports—Brooke Kanda, Elizabeth Wendel and Katarina Vukamanovic of Serbia when it takes on Sta. Lucia in the 2 p.m. curtain raiser. Foton lost its bid for a third straight crown at the hands of Petron in a semifinal duel. And the Tornadoes will miss Jaja Santiago, who is playing her final season with National University in the ongoing University Athletic Association of the Philippines Season 80 tournament. But Abella, who replaced Serbian Moro Branislav, has an intact local roster composed of Dindin Santiago-Manabat, Maika Ortiz, Gen Casugod, Mina Aganon, libero Jen Reyes and setter Gyzelle Sy, when they face Sta. Lucia, which will lean on Bohdana Anisova of Ukraine and Kristen Moncks and Marisa Field of Canada. The Lady Realtors are handled by George Pascua this time. Lance Agcaoili

A6 Saturday, February 17, 2018 | Editor: Mike Besa

M3-HERO

M4-D-type

M4-hero

The view from the 9th tee is spectacular.

www.pinoygolfer.com | Saturday, February 17, 2018 A7

The 12th is in the midst of Anvaya Cove’s most beautiful stretch of golf.

The clubhouse at Anvaya Cove Golf and Sports Club

Josh Burack

Asian Tour CEO

Prosecutors’ league takes to the greens: The Liga ng mga Taga-Usig ng Lungsod Quezon—formerly Quezon City Prosecutors’ League— will hold its “Drive & Putt Golf Tournament” on February 24 at the Veterans Golf Course. This event welcomes players and enthusiasts to participate in a day filled with golf action, with green fee at P2,500. The “Liga” is an association of all public prosecutors based in Quezon City. For inquiries or more information on the “Liga” and the tournament, get in touch with “Liga” President Reynaldo Garcia at 0917-8805557 or Assistant City Prosecutor Arnel Pabellar at 0917-8389520.

OurTime BusinessMirror

A8 Saturday, February 17, 2018 • Editor: Efleda P. Campos

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Kidapawan City vies for Guinness ‘largest’ samba dance

IDAPAWAN CITY—It broke the world record in 2016 for the Cha-cha dance and this time, this city has attempted to break another Guinness World Record for the “largest samba dance” in one setting. About 17,000, or 8,500 pairs of samba dancers, led by Kidapawan City Mayor Joseph Evangelista, performed on Monday the largest samba dance in another attempt to break a world record. “I am confident we break the record of the current world-record holder,” Evangelista told reporters after the dance showdown along a 3-kilometer stretch of the Maharlika national highway here. He lauded those who participated in the attempt to get world recognition. The samba dance forms part of the 20th charter anniversary celebration of this city.

The city, Evangelista said, is awaiting the results of validation conducted by a team from the Guinness Book of World Records. Kidapawan City is the titleholder for the largest number of performers dancing Cha-Cha after besting Singapore in the Guinness. Students from all levels, village and city officials, employees and senior citizens, with a total number of 14,275, joined the Cha-cha dance in August 2016 along the same highway here. Kidapawan City dislodged Edgefield Primary School in Singapore in the Guinness, which had only 3,379 participants.

Krezel Dianne Sampani-Beñez/PNA

For health-care workers, the worst commutes are in NYC

EW YORK—Delrisa SewellHenry, a home-health aide, was resigned to spending two hours on a bus and three subway trains just to get across Queens to care for a disabled man. But when one train recently stopped for a sick passenger, her commute expanded to a mind-boggling three hours and 15 minutes. She was late. To make up the lost time, she stayed longer with her patient instead of picking up her granddaughter from school. She had to enlist a neighbor to do that—for $35. Then last week, another train was delayed. And she was late again. “It makes me angry,” said SewellHenry, 54, who earns $13 an hour. “It’s not like we’re sitting around watching TV and doing nothing. We’re doing something. We have to be there on time.” By now, the many ways New York City’s failing subway system has upended countless lives has been well-documented. But a new report finds that no group has been hurt more than the city’s army of healthcare workers who fan out across the city every day to take care of older people, the frail and the sick. They ride trains and buses because they do not earn enough to take taxis or Ubers. Every disruption impacts patients and their families who count on them to arrive on time to provide medication and meals. For the workers, it can lead to reprimands, docked pay and being fired. The report, “An Unhealthy Commute,” by the Center for an Urban Future, a research institute, concluded that health-care workers endure some of the worst commutes in the city. Many rely on public transit— yet live and work in neighborhoods with limited and unreliable bus and subway service. The median commuting time for health-care workers using public transit stands at 51.2 minutes—the longest for any class of private-sector workers—compared with 47.3 minutes citywide, the report said. “Although many straphangers face long commutes, those who work in the city’s health-care sector experience unique challenges,” wrote Jonathan Bowles, the executive director of the Center for an Urban Future. “Not only is health care a 24/7 business, it is one in which workers are required to be on time, alert and enthusiastic—qualities that are necessary for providing lifesaving services, but that are difficult to sustain when transit shortcomings take a grinding toll multiple times per day.”

The report warns that transit challenges have been especially tough for the health-care industry, which is the city’s largest employer with nearly 500,000 jobs, in part because almost two-thirds of those jobs are in the boroughs outside Manhattan. The underlying problem, the report said, is that the city’s transit system is laid out in a “century-old radial design” that was “intended to get workers in and out of Manhattan” and has left transit gaps elsewhere. Nearly 1 in 3 major health-care employers—including hospitals, urgent care centers, nursing homes and doctors’ offices—are more than eight blocks from a subway stop, according to the report, which will be released on Wednesday and relied on census and labor data. Others draw much of their work force from neighborhoods that are at least two or three bus or subway rides away. At Interfaith Medical Center in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, which is close to the A and C trains, most of its 1,400 employees do not live near those trains, the report said. For instance, 188 of them live in two other Brooklyn neighborhoods, Canarsie and Flatlands, which are served by the L train. So they take two buses—or one bus ride and a long walk—to get to work. Ajayi used to start her day with a one-and-one-half-hour commute on three subway trains from her home in the Bronx to her job at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn. Then it was another hour and a half at the end of the day. Finally, she had enough and moved to Brooklyn, paying $500 more a month in rent. Her commute is now 45 minutes each way on two subway trains. “It’s totally worth it. I should have done it sooner,” she said. “I put a dollar value on my time, too, so the time I’m not commuting I’m getting back.” But other health-care workers said moving is not an option, and they simply cannot afford to live in centrally located neighborhoods. More than 11,200 health-care workers make their home in Queens Village, Cambria Heights and Rosedale— where there is not a single subway station, the report noted. Slow buses and limited schedules and routes draw frequent complaints. About 80,700 health-care workers commute to work by bus every day, or more than all retail and food-service workers combined, the report said. Health-care workers have pushed up ridership in neighborhoods in Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx. New York Times News Service

Figure skater saves pups from S.Korea dog-meat trade

GRANDMA’S SALAD GARDEN Lola Joving Perante puts pegs in her lettuce garden in Magsaysay, Bayombong, Nueva Viscaya. The 90-yearold vegetarian who celebrated her birthday on February 15 claims the secret of her healthy body is her love for vegetables. LEONARDO PERANTE II

Canteen elders patronize running out of time

AMBURG, Germany—Ask the regulars seated at the sturdy, rectangular tables in the Staff Restaurant Billstedt, the cafeteria for workers in the basement of a municipal building in Hamburg, whether they have a favorite dish. They all give the same answer. “It’s all good,” insisted nearly a dozen patrons, most of them over 60, packing four rows of five tables each, when asked about their favorite meal on a recent Wednesday. “You can get salads, soups, a proper meal and whatever you choose, it is good,” said Karin Ahlf, sitting at a table along the back wall watching patrons arrive, hang up their coats on a row of hooks beside the door and head past the tables for the rack of melamine trays at the counter near the back. “I have been coming here every day for more than 20 years,” she added. She’s not alone. Many of the older people in this heavily immigrant district of Billstedt have come to depend on the cafeteria, which although intended for city employees is also open to the public. They like the traditional German fare, affordable prices and the willingness of the chef, Stephan Kulosa, to cut slabs of meat into bite-size pieces for guests who have trouble managing a knife and fork. Some days, patrons wait 30 min-

utes in line for plates heaped with slices of juicy roast pork and boiled waxy potatoes, terrines of steaming semolina pudding topped with blueberries or silvery strips of Hamburg’s traditional herring fillets covered with a sauce of sour cream, apples and onion. Some diners regularly ride several stops on the subway or drive 10 kilometers (6 miles), just for the lunch. But the canteen’s very success among the pensioners—and increasing lack of popularity among city workers—has become a problem for Hamburg authorities. They plan to close the cafeteria at the end of June, citing the need for renovations estimated at around €1.7 million, or about $2 million. That is too high a price, they say, for the income the cafeteria generates. Jennyfer Dutschke, a lawmaker with the opposition Free Democrats in the Hamburg legislature, asked the government about the decision to shutter the canteen. The answer she received further provoked patrons’ ire; in a formal response, the government said the cafeteria was intended as a place where municipal employees can enjoy each other’s company over a quick, warm meal and suggested that “the missing atmosphere of a staff canteen, given the many ‘foreign guests,’” may be a reason many city workers choose to stay away. Although Hamburg is booming,

Billstedt has remained the port city’s poorest district, with an average annual income of €21,400, or about $26,000, less than half the pay in the city’s hip districts. It is also home to a large number of immigrants, whose culinary traditions are visible in the fast-food shops selling falafel, burgers and kebabs. “Kebabs and more kebabs,” Ahlf said, shaking her head. “There are three Chinese and several Italians. But since the department store closed, no one else offers traditional German food.” Elke Horn, 77, nodded as she cut bites of her green beans, praising their tenderness and her meal’s affordability. “We are all asking ourselves: Where are we supposed to go?” Horn and Ahlf, who would not give her age because “all of the men who keep asking me for it, said pensions more than doubled between 2003 and 2015, according to the Sozialverband VdK, an independent social-justice lobby group based in Berlin, as more pensioners struggled to meet their basic needs. Dutschke notes that older people are often misrepresented in public policy debates because of their reduced buying power and influence. But as Germany ages, focusing on how to keep them active in public life will become increasingly important.

New York Times News Service

AGING FLORIST Lola Naty, 65 and a florist in Baguio City, helps her daughter arrange different bouquets in their flower stall in Burnham Park. Lola Naty says they have been in the business for the past 20 years. MAU VICTA

YEONGCHANG, South Korea—Canadian figure skater Meagan Duhamel is hoping to win a gold medal in South Korea this month—though no prize could be more life-changing than her previous Pyeongchang souvenir. Not after last year, when the twotime world champion pairs skater brought home Moo-tae—an affable miniature dachshund mix with big ears, bowed legs and the bad luck of being born into the Korean dog meat trade. Duhamel, a vegan and animal lover, helped rescue Moo-tae by accompanying him on his flight from South Korea to Canada last February. The two-year-old pup has been living with her and husband/ coach Bruno Marcotte in Montreal since, spending his days doing yoga with Duhamel and making friends at the local dog park. “He’s like a saint,” Duhamel said. It’s been a different life for Mootae. Like roughly 2 million dogs each year, he was supposed to be raised on a Korean dog meat farm, where conditions are often poor. Moo-tae may have been locked in a cage, beaten or left without food or water. Certainly, he would have been sold and slaughtered, then probably served in soup at one of many restaurants still popular among Korea’s elderly population. Koreans have been eating dog for thousands of years, though the practice has waned recently and most in the country don’t do it regularly. Many older Koreans believe dog meat aids virility, though younger citizens are largely either against the practice or indifferent to it. The country has begun shifting away from dog consumption as pet ownership has increased, with one in five households owning either a dog or a cat as of 2016. Some major dog meat shops—like the Moran Market in Seongnam— have been shuttered, and President Moon Jae-in even made a campaign promise to adopt a shelter dog if he won last year’s presidential election. He welcomed a four-year-old mixed breed named Tory in July. Still, the industry persists, and despite pressure from animal rights groups—particularly from Western countries—Pyeongchang won’t completely shelter Olympic visitors from the trade this month. Area restaurants were offered government aid if they stopped selling dog meat, but some declined to change their menus, fearing they’d spurn regular patrons and be left without customers once the tourists left town. “I have been selling dog meat for decades. It is really difficult for me to change my menu just because of the Olympics,” said Park Young-ae, 60, whose Young Hoon Restaurant is nearly in the shadow of the Olympic Stadium. A Gangwon province official told The Associated Press there were no plans to relocate dog farms situated near Olympic areas. There is one farm near Pyeongchang; six near Jeongseon, where the downhill skiing course is located; and 10 in Gangnueng, the coastal town that will host events like figure skating and hockey. Gangwon has 196 registered dog farms, though most are closer to Seoul. Groups like Humane Society International want South Korea to ban the slaughter of dogs entirely, while smaller groups have established volunteer systems to rescue dogs and close farms. Moo-tae’s adoption was organized through one such group: Free Korean Dogs. Founder EK Park was born in South Korea and now lives in Toronto, and she oversees adoptions that bring dogs to Canada and the United States. She worked on Mootae’s adoption personally. AP

A10 Saturday, February 17, 2018

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Holidaying frog game finds fans among China’s harried youth B

BY SHANSHAN WANG The Associated Press

EIJING—Wang Zhuyin studies 10 hours a day preparing for a series of tests to obtain a United States physician’s license. But like millions of young Chinese adults, the 26-year-old has found a new way to cope with the pressure: an online game about a frog. A frog that’s perpetually on vacation. Wang’s diversion, the Japanese mobile game “Travel Frog,” has attracted a massive following in China by speaking to a desire for a more passive existence among harried young people that some have termed “Buddhist style” for its desired goal of Zen-like serenity. The game has only two scenes, a loft home and a courtyard where users can collect clover leaves to buy food and other travel supplies for their frog. There isn’t much else a user can do, either. The virtual frog randomly spends time reading a book at home, eating or going on vacation around Japan. Since users have no control over their frog’s behavior, waiting takes up most of the playing time. “When your frog goes sightseeing, there is nothing you can do but go with the flow,” said Wang, a native of the high-tech center of Hangzhou outside Shanghai. “This is similar to the situation young people are facing. Suffocated by stress, we learn to pretend we don’t care.” The game’s popularity underscores the degree of pressure Chinese millennials face in a highly competitive society where stability and opportunity have become ever more elusive. Developed by Nagoya-based Japanese company Hit-Point, Travel Frog—also known as Tabi Kaeru— has become the most downloaded free game app in China, despite never having been translated into Chinese. The game’s simplicity has users enthralled. Wang and others describe a sense of healing when gallivanting frogs send photos from their trips, or just relax at home. The frog “doesn’t interact with you or talk to you. You just watch the frog living its own life,” said Jia Weiwei, 37, who works with autistic children in Beijing. “There isn’t a lot of information, which gives you plenty of space for imagination.” Jia has studied an online translation guide and checks her phone regularly to see whether her frog will surprise her by sending a photo or bringing home souvenirs. Psychologist Hai Ming says the popularity of the game shows that human relations have declined in an increasingly data-driven digital society. “Behind every frog-raising player is a lonely person,” Hai said. “How do you externalize your loneliness, your indecision? Through the frog.” On Weibo, China’s Twitter-like social-media

platform, the topic #TravelFrog# has received over 1.96 billion views. According to Travel Frog developer Mayuko Uemura, Travel Frog has racked up about 30 million downloads on Apple’s App Store and Google Play since its launch last November. Fully 95 percent of downloads of the game from the App Store were in China. “We were hoping to some extent that people overseas would be able to enjoy this game, as well, but I would never have imagined that it would become so popular with people in China,” Uemura said. The company is now considering producing an international version that could be tailored to appeal to local audiences, she added. Social media have played an important role in the game’s success, said Chenyu Cui, a game analyst with IHS Markit in Shanghai. Gamers can show off on Chinese social-media sites by comparing photos of their frogs’ “travels,” Cui said. Some users refer to the frog as their child and will worry if it hasn’t been home for even two days. “It connects with people’s common experience,” said Shao Yuanyu, 32, a Taiwanese doctor based in Beijing. “Now I know how my mom felt when she waited for me to come home.” For young people living in China’s fast-paced modern society, the game provides a sense of connection, said Xu Ziwei, a counselor from the mental health center at Beijing’s Renmin University. “To some extent, you feel that you have a stable

relationship with the frog. If it leaves, it will always come back, it will send you a postcard,” Xu said. Not all are as positive. The game and the social trends it embodies run counter to the ruling Communist Party’s frequent exhortations to the public to strive for economic advancement. In a speech last year, President Xi Jinping called on young people to “write a vivid chapter in your tireless endeavors to serve the interests of the people.” The party’s official newspaper, People’s Daily, stated in a recent Weibo post that young people should spend their time enriching themselves “instead of just being a lonely frog-raising person.” But others see the frog game and the popularity of Buddhist-style thinking as examples of young Chinese expressing a newfound independence. People born in the 1990s are largely better off than earlier generations of Chinese and they’re searching for meaning beyond material wealth, said Jia, the frog raiser in Beijing. “This is like the western lifestyle we always envy: to be able to really be ourselves and not care about how others judge us,” Jia said. “The Buddhist style doesn’t mean a lack of pursuits or simply giving up,” Jia said. “I think it’s a spiritual pursuit. It’s not harmful if it makes people more at peace.” ■ The Associated Press reporters Dake Kang and Emily Wang contributed to this report.

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YOUTUBE SUSPENDS ADS FROM VIDEO STAR LOGAN PAUL’S CHANNELS

NEW YORK—YouTube has temporarily suspended all ads from video star Logan Paul’s channels after what it calls a pattern of behavior unsuitable for advertisers. In an e-mailed statement, YouTube said that the videos on Paul’s channels are also “broadly damaging to the broader creator community.” Late Friday YouTube also updated a set of policies outlining new steps it could take against video creators who violate its guidelines. Those include shutting off ad support, deleting YouTube Original videos by the creator and barring channels from being able to be recommended or put on its home page. “When one creator does something particularly blatant—like conducts a heinous prank where people are traumatized, promotes violence or hate toward a group, demonstrates cruelty or sensationalizes the pain of others in an attempt to gain views or subscribers—it can cause lasting damage to the community, including viewers, creators and the outside world,” YouTube Vice President Ariel Bardin said in a blog post. Last month Paul posted video of himself in a forest near Mount Fuji in Japan near what appeared to be a body hanging from a tree. YouTube suspended the 22-year-old at the time for violating its policies. But Paul returned, and has since posted a video of himself using a Taser on dead rats. That video is still up, with an age restriction. An e-mail sent to Paul’s merchandise company for comment was not immediately answered last Friday. YouTube is owned by Google parent company Alphabet Inc., which is based in Mountain View, California. AP

PREPARE FOR LIFE’S UNEXPECTED SETBACKS USING YOUR SMARTPHONE

THERE’S no denying how technology and gadgets have made our lives easier in ways never before possible. Who would’ve thought that through an app on your smartphone, you can now hail a ride, get in touch with someone across the sea, buy movie tickets or even buy insurance online? Now, you can even plan for your financial future using your smartphone. AXA Philippines, one of the country’s leading insurance companies, recently introduced its Financial Needs Analysis (FNA) platform as part of its promise to empower customers to live the life they choose by helping them create a solid financial game plan. Through the FNA—whether taken via the AXA website or the MyAXA app (available in the Apple App Store)—you can now learn more about the various steps to take today in order to gain financial security down the road. All it takes is five minutes online. For a more in-depth analysis of your financial needs, a full version may also be taken with the assistance of an AXA financial coach (www.axa.com.ph/appointments). From the data gathered, your financial coach can explain in easy terms why life protection is important. He can then help you plot the proper path to take by giving you a clear picture of your current financial situation and where you want to be. Armed with an appropriate financial plan, you can be on your way toward living the life you choose, whether that’s starting your own business, raising a family, owning your first house or car or even going on trips abroad.

Shopee sees growth in local mobile shopping in 2018 BY RIZAL RAOUL S. REYES SHOPEE Philippines is quite bullish that it will have a banner year in 2018 as more Filipinos use their smartphones for their shopping activities. “Today, we’re looking at over 6 million downloads in the Philippines. Moreover, we have over 3 million active listings, plus more than 200,000 sellers,” Agatha Soh, regional marketing head of Shopee told BusinessMirror recently. She said Shopee’s strong focus on the mobile platform has enabled the Singaporean company to be a competitive force in online shopping. “Delivering a great mobile experience to the customer is one of the key factor’s in our rapid growth,” Soh said. She added localization is another element in their growth. To cater to every country’s differences, Soh said Shopee made it sure it hired local people who understand the customs and practices. “What we have observed is that every country is different from one another. From then, we tailor our tools to suit the taste of the local users,” she said. “When it comes to messages, it’s even more obvious. In Thailand and the Philippines, we have observed that celebrity-driven programs are very popular. That is why we need to tailor our strategies,” Soh added.

She emphasized the concept of localization has given Shopee the homecourt advantage. Soh said Shopee is currently continuing optimizing its platforms, and a key focus in expansion is boosting the shops by tapping leading brands. She pointed out that Shopee wants to ensure that it has a platform that caters to all kinds of sellers and a variety of products to its sellers, as well. The e-commerce executive added Shoppe will continue to empower all sellers ranging from big names to small players as it wants to be the platform for everybody, and to make sure it can empower all of them. Being the market with the heaviest exposure in digital technology, Soh said millennials are the first users of Shopee. Nevertheless, she added the company wants to grow beyond millennials as the main market in the country. As e-commerce will continue to grow in the Philippines, Soh said Shopee is optimistic there’s more room for growth given that a lot of shoppers are still into the conventional way of shopping. Soh added Shopee is also bullish on Southeast Asia for its strong economic growth performance and huge market base, mainly Indonesia and the Philippines. With a population of more than 200 million, Indonesia offers a lot of growth potential for any business. She said

that the Philippines also offers a lot of room for growth because of a huge and young population and strong macroeconomic fundamentals, such as the 6.7 growth in its gross domestic product. “Overall, the economy is opening up to e-commerce. It’s exciting to be in the Philippines,” said Soh, who identified health and beauty, mobile and home gadgets, and home living as the top 3 categories in Shopee. Moreover, she added women outnumber the male shoppers in Shopee. She said the Philippines is an interesting market because Filipinos basically possess an entrepreneurial spirit. Soh added Shopee encourages people to pursue their entrepreneurial aspirations. “Shopee doesn’t discriminate against any kind of seller, whether it is big or small. Generally, the trend is moving online. What we aim to do is empower all kinds of sellers to be able to sell online or put their business online,” she said. She added Shopee adopts a zero tolerance on counterfeit products. It has placed a team that conducts on a daily basis quality checks and listings on the products on their platform. “We make sure that we catch these products and fraudulent sellers, and remove these products from our platform by doing checks daily,” she said.

BusinessMirror

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

UBER C.E.O. AIMS TO PARE LOSSES AND GET ‘THE LOVE BACK’

THE 2017 indie blockbuster hit Kita Kita, starring Alessandra de Rossi and Empoy Marquez, is now streaming on Hooq.

THE Huawei Nexus 6P may be two years old already but it’s still an excellent phablet.

Watching movies on a ‘play’ phone PRIMETIME

DINNA CHAN VASQUEZ @dinnachanvasquez luckydinna@gmail.com

ITA Kita, 2017’s surprise hit movie, made its exclusive debut recently on the video-ondemand service Hooq. This development is perfect for those who weren’t able to catch the movie during its theater run, which was quite long. Kita Kita, by the way, is the No. 1 performing indie film in the Philippines to date. It has broken box-office records by grossing over $6.5 million. The video-on-demand service release of Kita Kita is exclusive to Hooq. The movie can be viewed in all other territories where Hooq is available, including Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and India. “We are very proud to have the exclusive streaming video on demand [SVOD] rights to Kita Kita. This movie has broken all the Filipino boxoffice records to date. The February debut on the service is perfect, as February is the month for love. Everyone appreciates a good and solid love story,” Hooq Philippines Content and Programming Head Jeffrey Remigio said. Kita Kita is a romantic comedy produced by Spring Films and Viva Films, starring Alessandra de Rossi and Empoy Marquez. Shot on location in Sapporo, Japan, it was 2017’s surprise hit. Written and directed by Sigrid Andrea Bernardo, it tells the story of a tourist guide (de Rossi) who temporarily loses her vision after her engagement falls apart and how she crosses paths with Tonyo (Marquez), who wins her heart with his charm and humor. It is the story of how two lonely people found love in a foreign land.

“We are very excited to have such a high-caliber Filipino movie on Hooq. Filipino content is very important to Hooq and the addition of Kita Kita will further boost the service’s already impressive library of Filipino movies,” said Jennifer Batty, Hooq’s chief content officer. Hooq subscribers who watch the movie until March 15 will qualify for a chance to win a trip for two to Sapporo, Japan. The four days-three nights trip includes round trip plane tickets, economy class hotel accommodation, and tour and pocket money for meals. One winner will be selected and announced

on March 22. I’m not really a fan of romantic movies but I’m going to watch Kita Kita on Hooq for the cinematography and to see de Rossi act. This actress should be given more lead roles because she’s quite talented. I know that most people watch videoon-demand movies and TV shows on their TV (via Chromecast or Apple TV) or computer. I, on the other hand, watch videos on my two-year-old Huawei Nexus 6P. All other Android devices aside, I think Huawei has the best screens. The resolution is simply amazing. By the way, the OnePlus 5T (which I had already talked about) has been called the new and updated version of the Nexus 6P. Note to self: Save up for a OnePlus 5T. I’ve always been confused by what phablets really were until I got my hands on the Nexus 6P. Now, this is a real phablet. It feels like one because you need two hands to use it. I’ve stopped using the Nexus 6P as a phone (it’s permanently on flight mode) because I have a thing for not mixing my personal and professional phones. So, my iPhone 6S Plus is for work, and the Nexus 6P is my “play” phone. The Nexus 6P’s 5.7-inch, 2560x1440-resolution Amoled display is very, very impressive. The colors are very vivid but look natural and accurate. The images are very sharp and quite pleasing to the eye. It’s been said that the Nexus 6P’s camera is “is the best of any Nexus phone.” Taking selfies using the phone is great because it doesn’t make you more unbelievably beautiful/young/flawless. The images are realistic but sharp and visually appealing. Hooq, by the way, has the most impressive collection of Tagalog movies. Their library includes such titles as One More Chance, Starting Over Again, A Very Special Love, That Thing Called Tadhana and many many more! Customers can download the Hooq app from Apple Store or Google Play, sign up or log in to access Hooq’s extensive library of Hollywood and Asian hits. Globe customers can get to try Hooq for up to 60 days on selected mobile and broadband plans. Find out more and sign up today for a complimentary trial at www.hooq.tv. ■

Apple reseller puts the spotlight on Manila

AARON QUINTO

Saturday, February 17, 2018 A9

YOU’VE seen how photos inspired ideas, sparked debates, or moved people to action especially in this social-media age. You may even have shared some of them yourself. This time, premium Apple partner Power Mac Center is inviting you to let your visual voice be heard and show the world that #ThisIsManila through the lens of your iPhone. The #ShotoniPhone worldwide campaign is Apple’s way of showcasing the creativity and diversity of its users with only the powerful cameras on the iPhone as their instrument. Power Mac Center hopes to put the spotlight on Manila by inspiring users to show the beauty of the city via fresh perspectives. To participate, just take your iPhone around Metro

Manila and shoot what inspires you or piques your interest. You may focus on what the place is like, what the people are like or what life looks like in this corner of the world. Upload it to your Instagram account, tag @powermaccenter and include the hashtags #ThisIsManila and #ShotoniPhone. For inspiration, you may look at the works of Power Mac Center’s featured photographers Aaron Quinto (@aieos), Aly Mananquil (@alleyttle), JC Gellidon (@jcgellidon), Je Villaroman (@jevillaroman), JL Javier (@jljavier), Koji Arboleda (@kojiarboleda), Regine David (@reginedavid), Renzo Navarro (@_renzonavarro), Ryle Uy (@rylejustinuy) and Tristan Tamayo (@tamayotristan).

“We want to show that there’s beauty and art in the simplicity or chaos of Manila. We want users to capture these images using their iPhone and share them with the world in the hope of preserving moments that could have easily faded away. Who knows what extraordinary things we can discover in the process,” Marketing Director Joey Alvarez said. The campaign is powered by Polaroid, OtterBox, DJI, Leef, Pictar, Anker and UAG. As the first of a series of iPhone photography activities for the year, Power Mac Center will be featuring #ShotoniPhone photos on their social-media accounts, and in a photo exhibit to be held at the SM Mall of Asia Level 1 Main Mall from February 16 to 22.

SAN FRANCISCO—Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi is focused on cutting the company’s massive losses and “getting the love back” after a year of damaging revelations about the ride-hailing service’s sometimes heartless treatment of its employees, drivers, regulators and rivals. “We strive to be and should be a brand that is as beloved as Amazon and Google,” Khosrowshahi said late Wednesday during an appearance at a Goldman Sachs technology conference. “We have a long way to go, but we have to re-earn our consumer and driver trust. Just getting the love back is a very important priority for us.” The job is proving to be even more difficult than Khosrowshahi anticipated five months ago after Uber lured him away from online travel agency Expedia to replace its embattled cofounder, Travis Kalanick, as CEO. Khosrowshahi inherited a mess after Uber acknowledged rampant sexual harassment within its ranks and its use of duplicitous software to thwart government regulators while dealing with the fallout from a video that captured Kalanick berating one of its own drivers. To make matters worse, Khosrowshahi discovered that Uber had covered up a computer break-in that stole personal information about millions of riders and drivers. He also landed in the midst of a court battle that pitted Uber against a Google spinoff alleging that the ride-hailing service had conspired to steal its self-driving car technology while Kalanick was running things. “It looked messy and it was messy,” Khosrowshahi said. As part of the cleanup, Uber last week agreed to pay $245 million to settle the trade secrets case brought by Waymo, the company spawned by a self-driving car project started by Google. The settlement came after four days of trial testimony that included a dramatic appearance by Kalanick, who fended off accusations of orchestrating a elaborate high-tech heist during more than two hours on the witness stand. “I thought Travis was terrific,” Khosrowshahi said. “I thought he really held up well, and spoke his mind. I think that helped us get to the settlement.” Uber didn’t acknowledge any wrongdoing in the settlement that gave Waymo’s corporate parent, Alphabet Inc., more stock in the ride-hailing service. Google, which is also owned by Alphabet, had already accumulated Uber stock as one of the company’s early investors. Alphabet and other investors stand to reap big gains on their stakes if Uber files for an initial public offering of stock next year, as Khosrowshahi plans. But how well Uber’s stock fares on Wall Street will likely be tied to whether the company proves it can make money— something it isn’t close to doing now. Uber lost $4.5 billion in 2017, widening from a $2.8 billion setback in the previous year. The results released earlier this week showed Uber pared its fourth-quarter loss by 25 percent from the third quarter, a modestly encouraging sign. Gross revenue for the year rose 85 percent over 2016, to $37 billion. In a sign that the negative publicity surrounding its problems alienated many consumers, Uber’s share of the ride-hailing market in the United States fell from 82 percent at the start of last year to 70 percent in the fourth quarter. People’s view of Uber has become “appropriately negative,” Khosrowshahi conceded last Wednesday. Those numbers underscore Uber’s tenuous position, despite its pioneering role in the ride-hailing industry that enabled it to build a substantia lead over rivals such as Lyft, said Stephen Beck, managing partner of cg42, a management consulting firm. “Their app is just a download away from people moving on to a competitor,” he said. In his appearance, Khosrowshahi said Uber could quickly reverse its losses by retreating from less-developed markets outside the US and reducing the money it pours into expensive projects like its work on self-driving cars. That, he said, is something Uber isn’t ready to do yet. “I am pretty confident that we can turn the knobs to make this business profitable, but it would sacrifice growth and innovation,” Khosrowshahi said. AP

Tinder love CONTINUED FROM A12 why not gift them with a device that doesn’t just give you a hard copy of each photo, but also prints the magic that comes along with it: the HP Sprocket. Whether it’s couple selfies, group photos or shots taken at one of your favorite places or hangouts, the HP Sprocket instantly makes every moment more meaningful. The HP Sprocket is a very compact printer that can print your photos in full color and, with the HP Sprocket App, you can even edit your photos with frames, texts, stickers and filters on the go. Use HP Sprocket app’s Scan Mode and it can even transform your photos into augmented reality. Check out goo.gl/rNA13C. The HP Sprocket is available in HP stores and selected retail stores, and through Lazada at www. lazada.com.ph/hp-sprocket. ■

BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Saturday, February 17, 2018 A11

Clap on your Bose, baby, ’cause it’s noisy as heck out there BY TEDDY WAYNE New York Times News Service

MICROSOFT Cofounder Bill Gates and his wife Melinda pose for a photo before an interview with The Associated Press.

Melinda Gates embraces public role, calls out Trump BILL and Melinda Gates say they’re concerned about some of President Donald J. Trump’s policies and statements. Here are excerpts from their recent interview with The Associated Press: ■ GIVING PLEDGE. Bill Gates says he’s met with Trump twice since he took office. The Microsoft cofounder hasn’t asked Trump to sign “The Giving Pledge,” a movement Gates founded that asks billionaires to commit to donating most of their wealth to charity. “We’ve never had a direct conversation about that,” Gates said. “It’s always a voluntary thing, and as I do dinners, I meet with a lot of people but never discussed it with him.” ■ WOMEN, MINORITIES. Melinda Gates, who left her job at Microsoft to raise their three children before turning to the foundation full-time, has lately embraced her role as a public figure more boldly. She called out Trump’s behavior, including what she described as his habit of using Twitter to attack women and minority groups. “Those kinds of comments just don’t belong in the public discourse,” Melinda Gates said. ■ TAX OVERHAUL. Bill Gates is among the billionaires who have advocated for more taxes on the wealthy. He says Trump’s tax overhaul mostly benefits corporations. “We’ve in a broad sense said taxes should be more progressive, and this was not a move toward being more progressive.” ■ FEMINISM. Melinda Gates says some of Trump’s comments about women have troubled her, but his rejection of the “feminist” label has not. “Some men have trouble— and some women, quite frankly—have trouble embracing that term and what it means, so that, honestly, doesn’t bother me. It’s more the specific comments he’s made over and over again about specific people or minorities or women that just do not reflect the values I see across the United States.” AP

‘W

HAT if death is nothing but sound?” asks the protagonist of White Noise, Don DeLillo’s 1985 novel. “Electrical noise,” his wife responds. “Uniform, white.” For DeLillo, the background aural oversaturation of quotidian life—beeping microwaves, commercial jingles, cars on highways—signified death and our attempted denial of it. Compared with the modern digital soundscape, though, his era is positively muted. Bombastic, attention-grabbing inorganic noises are becoming the norm, disruptive sonic alerts trigger Pavlovian feedback, and simulated sounds are supplanting analog ones. Consider the cacophony produced by today’s mobile phone or tablet. Beyond an all-you-can-hear buffet of ringtones, there is the default whoosh and ding of text messaging; the click of typing; alarms that sound like analog clocks or tweets (of actual birds); the shutter click of the camera; and noises for a bevy of other functions and apps, such as a cha-ching effect for Venmo payments. Then, too, the racket on computers: the clatter of files being “tossed” into the trash or recycle bin (and of being “emptied”), e-mail alerts, start-up and shutdown chimes. We are sufficiently habituated to these sound effects that their presence in TV shows and movies is no longer a novelty; it is stranger to hear a landline ring in a contemporary show than to hear the default iPhone marimba beat. Mobile games may be where sounds have changed most over the past decade. Phones have a small dynamic range, meaning the difference between the softest and loudest portions is limited compared with, say, a high-quality movie theater sound system. “Everything is loud for games,” said Jean-Luc Cohen-Sinclair, an assistant professor of electronic production and design at the Berklee College of Music and New York University who has worked on games’ sound designs. “They’re designed to have transient-rich sounds that have a snappy attack—a quick, percussive

buildup of energy, like someone snapping their fingers, as opposed to a fading note on a violin.” Why can you so often overhear other people’s games? Cohen-Sinclair said designers accentuate the midrange sound frequency, which translates best to earbuds and small speakers, and to which humans are most sensitive. Because mobile games often compete with external noise, they also contain louder sounds that often carry beyond the player’s earbuds. Constant earbud and headphone use and highdecibel public venues have led to hearing loss (the World Health Organization estimates that more than 1 billion teenagers and young adults are at risk), forcing listeners to crank up the volume even more. And, of course, there is the occasional altruist who eschews earbuds altogether and generously allows others to share in the melodious sounds of his game, music or video. We tend to think of visual stimuli as the dominant forces of distraction in modern culture, but sounds too make bids on our attention in the raucous marketplace of noise. Moreover, we have been conditioned physiologically to respond to these auditory cues with dopamine spikes, especially when the alert is for the reward-based feedback of social-media validation. It’s hard to be nonreactive to the sound of an incoming text or new Twitter follower. Something similar was certainly at play with the ringing landline of yesteryear, but phone calls come at a far slower pace, take more time and rarely involve the caller (let alone hundreds of them) affirming how much they “like” you. Digital brands have developed imprinting strategies that pander to our shorter sonic attention spans. Television and film networks and production companies have always had audio signatures so long as there have been talkies; think of the fanfare accompanying the iconic 20th Century Fox logo, the growling lion of MGM, the three-tone chime of NBC. Contrast those with the popular networks of the cable and streaming age. HBO has long begun its shows with a television zapping onto a static field that resolves into an ethereal hum. Netflix has a foursecond double timpani strike followed by a wash of strings. Amazon Originals offerings start with

a whooshing, revolving sound and conclude with a series of vibrant chimes. The new 21st Century Fox logo forgoes the orchestral arrangement and ends in a series of R2-D2-like bleeps. Whereas the old guard privileged pleasing musicality or organic sounds and tried to create distinctive signatures that somehow represented their brand, the new wave seems primarily concerned with securing the viewer’s attention immediately, at a minimum of time, through jarring, synthesized noises that are ultimately interchangeable with those of other companies. “It’s a ruthlessly corporate way of trying to coerce the attention of the viewer,” said Paul Grimstad, a writer and composer in New York who has scored a number of films. “The scale of attention asked of the viewer for a Netflix episode is comparably smaller than the grand cinematic experience the 20th Century Fox orchestral fanfare sets you up for.” “Someone who’s 80 and someone who’s 12 are going to have different responses to a sound,” said Will Mason, a visiting professor of music theory at Oberlin. But the 12-year-old isn’t necessarily at a disadvantage, he said: “We want to privilege the real sounds over the synthesized ones, and we want to think a shift to a landscape characterized by these artificial sounds is a dystopian element. But I wonder why it is that we want to call it dystopian. There seems to be some knee-jerk, intuitive way in which that’s the default stance and in which the real is preferable.” One reason, aside from our long-standing skepticism over synthetic imitations, may be the preponderance of malevolent or duplicitous artificialintelligence voices in science fiction, from HAL 9000 in 2001: A Space Odyssey to Samantha in the 2013 film Her. Most of us now have our own HALs and Samanthas in the form of Siri and other virtual phone assistants, which, though rudimentary at this point, should eventually approach the fluency of their fictional forebears. Their speech-simulation abilities, along with their mobility, are helping acculturate us to a future in which public spaces are flooded with digitized and recorded voices on top of all the dings and chimes to which we have grown accustomed. ■

Globe gives ‘Go Unli’ offerings a big push “WE want all customers to enjoy a superior Internet experience. This is the reason why we spend billions of pesos every year to improve our network and expand Internet connectivity in the country.” So said Globe President and CEO Ernest Cu at the launch of the wireless communications leader’s new “Go Unli” campaign that touted not only new wired and wireless unlimited offerings under the Globe At Home brand, but also new and reinvigorated content partnerships with Viu (for the latest Korean entertainment), FOX+ (for all kinds of entertainment, including sports and documentaries), Disney, HOOQ and Netflix. The launch was held on February 9 at TriNoma in Quezon City. For information on the new Globe At Home unlimited plans, visit goo.gl/5dCcsX.

GLOBE executives, together with its newest partner Viu. From left are Winsley Bangit, VP for Globe At Home Prepaid Business; Erin Chau, Business Development Digital Media PCCW; Arianne Kader-Cu, Viu Philippine country manager; Ernest Cu, Globe president and CEO; Helen Sou, SVP Digital Media PCCW; Albert de Larrazabal, Globe chief commercial officer; Barbie Dapul, VP for Marketing, Globe At Home; Chesca Ambrosio, Globe Content Business Group, SVOD head; Jil Go, Globe VP for Portfolio and Partner Management, Content Business Group; Beverly Robles, head of Content and Device, Globe At Home Marketing; and Binky Piedad, Globe Content Business, SVOD manager. GLOBE officers with one of its biggest global partners, Neflix. From left are Barbie Dapul, VP for Marketing, Globe At Home; Chesca Ambrosio, Globe Content Business Group, SVOD head; Albert de Larrazabal, Globe chief commercial officer; Martha Sazon, SVP for Globe At Home; Dipashree Das, Netflix Partner Marketing Manager for India and SEA; Ernest Cu, Globe president and CEO; and Gerry Soler, Globe Content Business, head of Content Integration.

GLOBE President and CEO Ernest Cu, together with Globe At Home SVP Martha Sazon and VP for Portfolio and Partner Management, Content Business Group Jil Go, reveal the latest Go Unli No-lock up home broadband plans.

Play favorite Pinoy street game on your mobile phone DOMINATE the local neighborhood in “Hop Pico Piko,” a vertical scrolling casual game set in the streets of Quezon City. Inspired by the classic kalye or street game piko, the Filipino version of hopscotch, this game brings Filipino culture and nostalgia to all smartphones here and around the globe. All you have to do is tap active squares while trying to reach the end of each street. After that, it becomes a game of endurance in Endless Mode, where you have to go as far as you can as the street scrolls faster and faster. It’s the perfect mix of simple mechanics and addictive gameplay that will keep you tapping that Retry button again and again. Players will also jump with Pinoy pride as local Filipino indie rock blares through the streets in the game. From

concept to music to graphics, everything about this game is all-original and proudly Pinoy. Bringing this mobile game to life is technocreative lab Digify Inc., the same company behind hit mobile games Kapuso Milyonaryo and Encantadia Blast of GMA Network. Unlike these games that were promo- and program–driven, Hop Pico Piko draws inspiration from the fun and nostalgia of playing one of the well-loved street games that many have fond childhood memories of. “We created this app to reminisce all those old games we used to play in the streets back in the 1980s. Nowadays, kids are always on their phones or tablets; they really love their apps. Hop Pico Piko is one way for us to keep that Pinoy tradition alive and pass it on to the next generation in a

way that they will appreciate and enjoy,” explains Binky Belardo, vice president for marketing and content. “Hop Pico Piko is just the first of a series of Kalye Games that we plan on developing.” Digify has partnered with Gamecon Philippines that mounts a yearly event aimed to bring gamers of all ages together for two full days of gaming fun. Hop Pico Piko is available as a free download at the Google Play Store and Apple App Store. A wholly owned subsidiary of GMA New Media Inc., Digify is a technocreative lab that specializes in sensor technologies, such as augmented reality and proximity marketing, and end-to-end software and creative solutions for stand-alone and integrated digital marketing campaigns.

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

BusinessMirror

Saturday, February 17, 2018 A12

Tinder love THE TECHNIVORE ED UY

whereiseduy@gmail.com

‘A

LOVE so tender, holdin’ me close to you, baby I surrender....” Only the “feelennials” will get this reference. Love is the thing that makes the world go round and, for one day a year, the world slows down to let an old guy in diapers (with wings) take over everything else. Still you have to hand it to Cupid, as his bow and arrow has withstood the test of time. It has evolved from love letters, cards, pen/phone pals to e-mails, textmates and, now, dating apps. Back in the 1990s I discovered what is called “crosslines,” perhaps the most primitive form of “group calling or a conference call.” It was the time when PLDT was migrating from six- to seven-digit phone numbers, and we still had those bulky rotary phones. A crossline, not to be confused with a “party line,” is a “room” where you can hear a lot of people talking simultaneously over a busy tone. Think of it as a secret chat room—or one of those radio groups UV drivers use to ask about traffic or just talk nonsense— but with a lot of noise. To enter, you need to dial a certain six-digit number and press the switch (or plunger) quickly after the last number and, if you are lucky or persistent, you get to access the twilight zone of the telephone system. Once you get in, usually after dialing several times (depending on the number of people joining in), there isn’t actually much you can do but listen to the people yelling out their phone numbers hoping someone will hear it. If by chance people could hear your voice, you can actually join the screaming and broadcast your number as well. That is, if you dare, as this was the time before caller ID was a thing, and everyone could get away with prank calls. What I typically did back then was wait for a girl to give out her number, which took a looong time (usually hours but often never), and that’s the time you hurriedly put down the phone and dial her number. Remember, this was also the time before call waiting, so you had to be really fast if you wanted to be the first to contact “her.” “Her” because they often turn out to be gay guys who just sounded like girls. Yeah, it totally sounds crazy, and it is. But I did get to talk to a few people, and most of them were a lot older than me, as I was just in high school then. Even crazier was that some wanted to meet with me, which I, of course, declined, fearing that they might just kidnap me and just sell my organs. I met a few girls who said they’d just broken up with their boyfriends and were charmed by my modulated voice; a housewife who just caught her husband cheating; another lady who wanted to cheat; and yayas—a lot of yayas. I was never sure if they were telling the truth, but all of them wanted the same thing: they just wanted someone to talk to. I guess it’s the same thing that makes these dating apps so enticing to try for a lot of people looking for love, although after watching Black Mirror’s “Hang The DJ” episode, I know a people would pay for a real “Coach.” Well, you could go to https://coach.dating and see how long your current relationship would last. I tried to do a Frank, and it recalibrated to two mins, and coincidentally my partner and I had a fight two minutes after and she still hasn’t talked to me as of this writing. So, how has technology affected our search for romance? According to a recent New York Times article, we view tech in all areas as being a shortcut, since we can solve problems faster and work smarter, using less energy while doing more. It also allows us to love “smarter.” As with online dating, you can find the perfect person more efficiently, make contact more easily and rule that person in or out faster. Daniel Jones, who edits the “Modern Love” section for The New York Times, says “Having too many choices is in itself inefficient and fantasy-inducing.” “Love is best found not in a haystack but in a pea pod.” If you are really searching for a partner, the article notes that it’s best to narrow it down to a single-digit

number, as the human brain can reasonably consider only nine or 10 choices. Beyond that, they turn to noise. Meaning, if you were to limit yourself to nine people and get to know them, give each a chance, you’d probably fall in love with one. So if you are tired of waiting for Mr. or Ms. Right and ready to meet Mr. or Ms. Hopefully Okay, here are some of the dating apps you should probably give a try. ■ MATCH.COM. Described by AskMen.com as arguably the most recognizable name in online dating today, Match.com has been facilitating dates, relationships and marriages for the last 23 years. It has a one-of-a-kind matching algorithm that individually improves it’s matching capabilities the more each member uses the site. Unlike other sites that calculate who you are and who you “should” meet based on lengthy questionnaires, Match uniquely takes into consideration what (features, attributes, qualities, etc.) you say you want, as well as what your actions on the site indicate you want. ■ TINDER. Perhaps the most popular dating platforms of all time, Tinder is better suited for young singles looking for casual dates. The swiping app is essentially a hot or not game on steroids, but its simplistic variation changed the mobile-dating game, generating over 9 million matches to date. With a massive 25-million-member user base, over 1 million paid Tinder Plus subscribers and an app that is currently available in 24 languages, you’ll likely find a match before you could finish that Starbucks Butterfly Pea Lemonade Cold or Tahitian Vanilla Macchiato. ■ eHARMONY. Ready for true love? eHarmony has maintained its position as a leader in the online dating industry for being the go-to site for finding true, lasting love. Unlike other mainstream dating sites that continually update features to adapt to current trends, eHarmony stays true to its roots, dating back to its launch in 2000. The backbone of the eHarmony matching system is its unique 29 Dimensions of Compatibility matching system, based

on years of research into an ever-increasing number of relationships. Other dating sites worth mentioning are Zoosk, Coffee meets Bagel, Sapio, Skout, Happn, Blume and, for our LGBT readers, there’s OKCupid, Bumble HER, Grindr, ManHunt and my former officemate’s favorite, Planet Romeo. Be warned though: these apps may be popular, but it’s still best to exercise a lot of caution when meeting people for the first time. Don’t be ashamed to tell a friend or loved one that you are seeing someone you met online, and tell them where you plan on going just to be safe.

WIN AN OPPO F5 RED AT THE ARENA OF VALOR WEEKEND TOURNAMENT

OPPO Philippines has teamed up with Arena of Valor, the fastest-growing 5v5 multiplayer online battle arena in the Philippines, and will be having a special Lunar Year offer (February 16 to 18), giving away red packets for every 5v5 Grand Battle or Ranked game that contains in-game items—and the rare Oppo F5 Red. Each day, players may acquire up to two red packets, which could contain eight Hero Shards, eight Skin Shards or the grand prize: the Oppo F5 Red. Players are encouraged to play over the long weekend for a chance to win one out of the five Oppo F5 Red smartphones to be given away. Experience seamless gaming with Oppo smartphones featuring its game acceleration, stop unwanted notifications feature and effortless boost system, best for playing games like Arena of Valor. Get to enjoy games in the best way you can with the latest 2.5GHz octa-core processor on the Oppo F5 series and A83, and that 18:9 Full Screen Display.

HOW TO GET FACE UNLOCK ON YOUR HUAWEI NOVA 2i

HUAWEI is showing some love to its Nova 2i users as it releases a new software upgrade that adds the faceunlock feature to their smartphones. To upgrade your phone, go to Settings-System

Update, click the upper right-corner button with three points and download the latest full package, install and you are done. With this new Face Unlock feature, the Huawei Nova 2i is expected to stand out against competitors at the same price point. This can easily be set up in Settings: let the front camera detect your face so it can unlock the phone using advanced facialrecognition software. Comparing it with other phones with similar features, the Huawei Nova 2i is more user-friendly, as it offer two options: 1) Direct Unlock or 2) Slide to Unlock. If you choose the slide-to-unlock setting, you can take advantage of the intelligent notification display—smart lock-screen notifications. If the Huawei Nova 2i identifies the smartphone user is not the face ID owner, it will automatically hide the information or content from any notifications; in this way, your privacy is protected perfectly. The Huawei Nova 2i face ID recognition has three dimensions of protection, namely, 1) Storage Security, where consumers’ face information are stored in the Kirin chipset’s CPU TEE (Trusted Execution Environment) area, which achieves chip-level security; 2) Algorithm Security, which means that the algorithm collects more than 1,000 points of face information to make your phone only recognize your face; and 3) To prevent being unlocked when your eyes are closed, which ensures that someone can’t unlock your phone while you’re sleeping. You can get the Nova 2i for P14,990 at Huawei Experiences Stores and partner retailers nationwide, or by adding P500 on top your Smart Postpaid plan, or via Home Credit on or before February 28 at zeropercent interest for over six months.

EXPRESS YOUR LOVE WITH PHOTOS THAT GO BEYOND THE SCREEN

HERE’S a cute techie gift idea for your creative significant other. Because remarkable moments shouldn’t be kept hidden away in your camera roll,

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