Businessmirror February 22, 2019

‘Hot money’ inflows propped up peso–analyst

By Bianca Cuaresma @BcuaresmaBM

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HE local currency has gained value against the dollar over the week, with the latest foreign-exchange trade values showing the peso trying to break the 51 territory on Thursday.

Data from the Bankers Association of the Philippines showed that the local currency ended Thursday’s trade at P52.13 to a dollar. The total traded volume for the day was at about $1.2 billion.

The peso opened the day at 51.98 to a dollar and tested the 51 band during the day. It reached a

DEPT. OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

PHILIPPINE STATISTICS AUTHORITY

2018 BANTOG DATA MEDIA AWARDS CHAMPION

Lowest GIR in years The country’s gross international reserves (GIR) hit its lowest in recent years in October, when it settled at $74.71 billion, due mainly to the local currency’s bouts of weaknesses.

See “Peso,” A2

A broader look at today’s business

Basic goods pricier; weak peso, costly materials cited

By Elijah Felice E. Rosales @alyasjah

HE retail prices of basic goods have gone up in February largely due to the surging cost of raw materials and the depreciation of the peso against the dollar, according to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

In the latest suggested retail price (SRP) list released by the DTI, about one in five basic goods have recorded higher prices in February. Trade Undersecretary Ruth B. Castelo said these were price adjustments implemented just now after several manufacturers held off increases during the holiday season.

“Due to the three-month price hold-off that was implemented in the last quarter of 2018, no price increase was effected despite peak in inflation, oil-price hikes, peso devaluation and increase in the prices of raw materials in the world market,” Castelo said in a statement. “[The price hikes are] only this time when the DTI implemented SRP adjustments after thorough evaluation and consultation with the manufacturers of basic and prime goods,” she added.

Out of the 242 basic necessities and prime commodities Continued on A8

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Friday, February 22, 2019 Vol. 14 No. 135

@ReaCuBM

HE national government reported a budget deficit of P558.26 billion for 2018, as its expenditures of P3.408 trillion outpaced its revenues pegged at P2.85 trillion.

Based on documents obtained by reporters, the fiscal deficit recorded by the government last year was 59.23 percent higher than the 2017 deficit of P350.6 billion.

The figure is also higher than the programmed deficit of P526.8 billion for 2018. The initial programmed nominal deficit for 2018 was P523.7 billion.

Government revenues amounted

to P2.85 trillion, which is 15.38 percent higher than the 2017 record of P2.47 trillion. The figure is also higher than the target of P2.82 trillion for 2018.

However, expenditures last year reached P3.408 trillion. The figure is 20.85 percent higher than the P2.82 trillion posted in 2017 and the P3.34 trillion programmed for 2018.

In December 2018, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) reported that the government ran a P39.1-billion budget deficit for November, widening the fiscal gap owing to strong growth in disbursement of 19 percent combined with a moderate increase in revenue collection of 7 percent.

In January to November 2018, the BTr reported that the government’s fiscal deficit reached P477.2 billion, up by 96 percent from the P243.5 billion recorded in 2017.

Spending on infra, human capital

THE Department of Finance (DOF) said the widening of the fiscal gap was “not surprising,” given the government’s goal of rolling out more infrastructure projects under the “Build, Build, Build” (BBB) program

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By Bernadette D. Nicolas @BNicolasBM

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RESIDENT Duterte is mulling over how to move forward with the country’s 29 deals with China, especially the countr y ’s agreement on energy cooperation in oil and gas development in the West Philippine Sea. He has asked Beijing to “give me a week” to study the matter.

Chinese Ambassador Zhao

Jianhua and the President had a “productive conversation” late Wednesday on the memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed by both countries in November during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit, Presidential Spokesman and Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador S. Panelo told the B usiness M irror.

Zhao’s courtesy call on Duterte in Malacañang lasted for about one hour and a half, Panelo said.

See “China,” A8

See “Deficit,” A8

5 Manila Bay hotels get notices of violations

By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo

@akosistellaBM Special to the BusinessMirror

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GRAY BRIGHTENS THE DAY Miss Universe 2019 Catriona Gray waves to the crowd at Ayala Avenue in Makati City during her homecoming parade that wound through three cities on Thursday (February 21), drawing thousands of well-wishers who enthusiastically lined the streets, filled pedestrian overpasses and climbed public structures that gave them a vantage view of the beauty queen. NONIE REYES

New SSS law adds 13 years to pension fund’s life HE signing into law of the Social Security Act of 2018 will increase the life of the pension fund by 13 years to 2045 from 2032, the Social Security System (SSS) has reported.

President Duterte earlier in the week signed Republic Act (R A) 11199 providing for the new SSS. SSS President and CEO Emmanuel F. Dooc said the fund’s extension until 2045 is projected on the back of the implementation of the

2017 EJAP JOURNALISM AWARDS

’18 fiscal deficit hits ₧558.26B China prods PHL on WPS T joint energy exploration

By Rea Cu

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Stock Exchange and the local bond market see a good start to the year,” Mapa said.

Mapa further said the appreciation trend the country is seeing is largely beneficial to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), as it will help the country’s monetary authority rebuild its international reserves portfolio this year.

BusinessMirror

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low of 51.97 and a high of 52.145 to a dollar.

The direction of the peso is toward an appreciation trend from the 52.23 to a dollar average in the previous month and from the 54 to a dollar average just about four months ago.

ING Bank Manila economist Nicholas Mapa said the peso enjoyed the appreciation pressure in the first few weeks of 2019, as portfolio flows helped lift the local currency.

“Data collected by the BSP shows that roughly $800 million worth of portfolio investments [both bond and equity] have entered in 2019, helping the currency, the Philippine

contribution increase and adjustment in minimum and maximum salary credits (MSC) under the newly signed law.

Under the law, the SSS will implement a gradual increase in monthly contributions by 1 percentage point starting on the year of implementation until it reaches 15 percent in 2025. The current monthly contribution rate is at 11 percent.

Based on the SSS Actuarial and Risk Management Group’s

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 52.1090

study, there will be an additional P31 billion in contribution collections of the pension fund in 2019 if the 12-percent contribution rate with adjustments in the minimum and maximum MSC will be implemented.

According to the SSS, the fund life of the agency in 2016 was until 2042, which was slashed by 10 years when the P1,000 additional benefit for pensioners was implemented in 2017.

SSS shelled out an extra P33.26

billion in 2017 for the implementation of the P1,000 additional benefit for more than 2.3 million qualified pensioners.

“We would like to appeal to our members to see these reforms as additional savings and not as a burden for them. We would like to ensure that the SSS would have enough funds for their short-term and immediate financial needs during times of contingencies,” Dooc said.

See “SSS,” A2

T least 10 percent of inspected hotels and other accommodations establishments around the Manila Bay area were found to have violated environmental regulations.

Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo Puyat revealed this during a press conference on Monday, after she unveiled the reworked Philippines brand campaign anchored on the slogan, “It’s More Fun in the Philippines.” (See, “DOT unveils ‘refreshed’ PHL brand campaign,” in the BusinessMirror, February 19, 2019.)

She disclosed that government teams have already inspected 50 hotels around the Manila Bay area. Of the 50, she said, “five have been given three months to comply.” She declined to reveal the names of the five hotels, only identifying “some” as part of large hotel chains, while “others aren’t. We would rather not announce their names because we gave t hem t hree months. If they don’t comply, then we will close them.” The notices of violations issued by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) had to do with water pollution.

As per the web site of the Department of Tourism, in the National Capital Region alone, there are 91 accredited hotels, 12 apartment hotels and 14 Mabuhay accommodations (inns and pension houses) as of 2018. Of the 91 accredited hotels

50

The number of hotels inspected by government teams around the Manila Bay area. Of the 50, “five have been given three months to comply,” said Tourism Secretary Romulo Puyat 46 are located in Manila, Pasay and Parañaque. For apartment hotels, only two are located in Pasay and Manila, while nine out of 14 Mabuhay accommodations are in Manila and Pasay.

As this developed, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) vowed to go after erring local government officials who don’t enforce Republic Act 9353, the Tourism Act 2009, in their areas.

The government agency issued Memorandum Circu lar 2019 17, signed by Interior Secretary Eduardo M. Año, reiterating the implementing rules and regulations of TA 2009, requiring pr imar y tour ism enter pr ises (PTEs) such as hotels, resorts, inns and other accommodation establishments to secure accreditation from the DOT prior to being issued a license or permit to operate by local government units (LGUs).

“Kakasuhan namin sila! [We will file cases against them!],” said Año See “Manila bay,” A8

n JAPAN 0.4702 n UK 68.0335 n HK 6.6388 n CHINA 7.7577 n SINGAPORE 38.5650 n AUSTRALIA 37.3100 n EU 59.1020 n SAUDI ARABIA 13.8950

Source: BSP (21 February 2019 )

News

BusinessMirror

A2 Friday, February 22, 2019

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₧37.8-T energy savings eyed in efficiency law

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By Lenie Lectura

@llectura

N energy-efficiency measure must be signed within the first quarter of the year if the country wants to realize P37.8 trillion in energy savings until 2040.

The Philippine Energy Efficiency Alliance (PE2) on Thursday stressed the importance of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Act, which is in the process of transmittal to President Duterte for approval.

PE2 President Alexander Ablaza said delays in the passage of the bill push back the effects of mandatory EE&C implementation, specifically dampening the rise in energy prices.

“Our energy market badly needs to arrest the businessas-usual escalation of electricity tariff and fossil fuel prices, and a further delay in the implementation of energysaving projects, programs and investments will only serve to delay their decelerative effects on energy price increases,” Ablaza said.

He said a scaled-up energy efficiency program slows energy price escalations be-

28

The number of years it has taken the energy-efficiency measure to go through Congress cause it allows players to defer new capital expenditure requirements for energy infrastructure capacity upgrades from generation, transmission and distribution, and also reduces the forecast rise in dependence on imported energy.

Every month of delay in passing the EE&C measure deprives the entire economy of a chance to benefit optimally from the P37.8 trillion in energy savings estimated through 2040, he said.

“This means that households, small businesses, buildings, industries, public facili-

ties and other energy end-use sectors stand to collectively save less than P37.8 trillion in avoided energy purchases between now and 2040 if the passage of the EE&C Act slips beyond this first quarter of 2019,” he said.

Ablaza stressed that the Philippines has had no energy efficiency law for over 28 years, and is the last among the Asean nations to enforce EE&C through legislation and catalyze EE&C investments through fiscal incentives.

“The EE&C bill had a 28year history of being refiled since the 8th Congress. The country cannot afford to prolong this delay,” he said.

The Bicameral Conference Committee earlier convened to reconcile the disagreeing provisions of Senate Bill 1531 and House Bill 8629 and approved the EE&C Act in January.

The committee agreed to

reanchor the fiscal incentives provision on existing Executive Order 226, otherwise known as the Omnibus Investments Code of 1987, as amended.

It, however, considered the last-minute recommendation of the Department of Finance (DOF) to reduce the period of mandatory inclusion of energy-efficiency projects in the investment priorities plan of the Board of Investments from the House-proposed 15 years to an adjusted 10 years.

T he Senate panel sa id this adjustment ref lects a reasonable balance between the incentive rationalization objectives of the DOF and the requirements of private investors.

Both also agreed to exempt energy-efficiency investments from Article 32(1) of EO 226, thereby enabling foreignowned projects to avail themselves of fiscal incentives.

105-day maternity leave, PNP ranks signed P

RESIDENT Duterte has signed into law two measures, the 105-day paid Expanded Maternity Leave and Philippine National Police (PNP) Rank Classification.

Under Republic Act (RA) 11210 signed by the President on Thursday, women can now avail themselves of 105 days of paid maternity leave period for public and private-sector workers covering every instance of pregnancy.

Prior to the enactment of the law, employed women were entitled to 60 days of paid leave for normal delivery and 78 days for caesarean delivery.

Meanwhile, Malacañang is confident that the implementation of the new law will not lead to employers discriminating against women just like what happened in other countries.

“Discrimination is not allowed here. They

Peso. . .

Continued from A1

As of January this year, the BSP has been able to rebuild its reserves back up to $82.49 billion.

The GIR is the level of foreign exchange holdings of the BSP during a given period. It is a crucial component of the economy as it is often used to manage the country’s foreignexchange rate against excess volatilities.

“With the tide flowing inward in 2019, the

SSS. . .

Continued from A1

OFWs, displaced workers

DOOC also pointed out that the benefits and privileges of its members will also see an improvement under the new law, as it also provides unemployment insurance as well as coverage for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

“This law also provides unemployment insurance for those who will be

Rice lib law. . .

Continued from A8

Piñol disclosed that the DA will run a series of nationwide public consultations with rice farmers from February 26 until March 1. Consultations will be held in Northern Luzon, Southern Tagalog, Batangas, Davao City and Iloilo City. He said the DA’s policy and planning office will collate and consolidate all the results of the consultations into one report. The report will be submitted and presented to the NFA Council on March 5, when the Neda is also expected to present the revised draft of the IRR. Neda Assistant Secretary for Regional Development Mercedita Sombilla told the BusinessMirror that the agency is currently analyzing the safeguard measures that the government will implement.

“The reason we’re hesitant to get it [draft IRR] out first, there are still some issues. For example, the transition period of NFA, some want it faster; [others] don’t want it as fast as being recommended.

There are also safeguard measures that we need to put in place in case of extreme eventualities so there’s a lot to be dis-

will be accountable to that. I don’t think they will [resort to that] and Filipinos are familyoriented. These industrialist businessmen will understand,” Presidential Spokesman and Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador S. Panelo said during Thursday’s briefing.

Under the new law, women can now also opt to extend their maternity leave for an additional 30 unpaid days, while single parents can also get an additional 15 maternity leave days.

Employers who will not confer the expanded maternity leave on employees will also be fined at least P20,000 to P200,000, or will be imprisoned for at least six years and one day or not more than 12 years.

Moreover, their business permits shall no longer be renewed.

Meanwhile, the President also inked the mea-

sure modifying the rank classification in the PNP and standardizes how police officers are being called.

The new law or RA 11200 signed by the President on February 8 also clarifies the command responsibility in the PNP for effective and efficient supervision and control among its uniformed personnel.

The new rank classification in the PNP shall be as follows: Police General; Police Lieutenant General; Police Major General; Police Brigadier General; Police Colonel; Police Lieutenant Colonel; Police Major; Police Captain; Police Lieutenant; Police Executive Master Sergeant; Police Chief Master Sergeant; Police Senior Master Sergeant; Police Master Sergeant; Police Staff Sergeant; Police Corporal; and Patrolman/Patrolwoman.

BSP has been steadfast to stem the appreciation pressure, helping the BSP rebuild its war chest and restore peso liquidity that was lost during the 2018 defense of the peso when the tide was flowing the opposite direction,” Mapa siad.

The improvement in the country’s current account narrative is also expected to give the peso the boost it needs to sustain the appreciation run, but only in the short term. “Although the current account will likely remain in the red due to a projected trade deficit, a smaller oil

import bill and a possible slowdown in capital goods imports may help the exports close the gap with inbound shipments, resulting in a less wide trade deficit,” Mapa said. “This, together with the current tide of hot money flows will likely lend some appreciation pressure to the Peso in the short term.”

“But medium-term prospects for the peso may rest on the tide, given expectations that traditional sources of foreign exchange [remittances and BPO receipts] are unable to offset the trade deficit,” he added.

involuntarily displaced from employment. Under the law, displaced workers will get financial assistance from SSS in the form of cash equivalent to half of their average monthly salary credit for two months,” he added.

At present, SSS members are covered with sickness, maternity, disability, retirement, funeral and death/survivor benefits.

“Filipinos who work outside the country are more prone to risks as they are exposed to unfamiliar environment while they are trying to earn for their

family. Our goal here is to ensure that all of OFWs will be protected under the SSS,” he said.

Meanwhile, Dooc stressed that the agency is doing its best to provide protection to its members, as reports earlier stated that the SSS should “first improve its collection rate which has resulted in at least P437 billion in uncollected premiums and penalties since 2010.”

“We at the SSS actually are doing our very best to provide protection to the members, which now number to 38 million,” he added. Rea Cu

cussed,” Sombilla said.

“It’s premature to let it out without us analyzing and putting in the measures that are necessary to control situations,” she added.

Self-sufficiency goal

DUE to the expected influx of rice imports, the DA said it will no longer pursue its 100-percent rice self-sufficiency target. Piñol argued that the increase in imported rice will “depress” farmgate prices and discourage farmers from planting the staple.

“It would be foolish for us to still target the 100-percent [self-sufficiency rate]. It will be foolish to still encourage our farmers to reach that when we know that cheap imported rice will be coming in,” he said.

“We might just be contented with where we are right now, which is at 93 percent. The inflow of imported rice may affect the prices in the market and further dampen the buying price of palay,” he added.

The DA is targeting to produce 20 million metric tons this year, nearly 5 percent higher than the output of 19.06 MMT recorded in 2018.

UHC. . .

Continued from A8

PhilHealth CEO Dr. Roy Ferrer stressed that the proposal to impose higher sin taxes among tobacco and alcohol products would help sustain the implementation of the UHC. “In the coming years, with the additional taxes that will be imposed for the cigarettes and alcoholic beverages, [our] projection [is that we can] sustain [this]. Aside from the GAA [General Appropriations Act], the budget coming from the DBM, [the] premium collections [from] PhilHealth and other sources of funds, definitely [we can] sustain this even in the year 2027,” Ferrer said.

Meanwhile, Duque stressed that health is everybody’s business.

“Health systems only work when everyone works together to ensure that no one is left behind,” Duque said, as he thanked legislators and different stakeholders from civil-society organizations, local government units, other national government agencies and international partners in pushing for the UHC Act. UHC provides the full range of quality health care services—from preventive to promotive, curative, rehabilitative and palliative—at affordable cost.

It will shift the health system’s current treatmentoriented approach toward a more balanced approach emphasizing prevention and health promotion.

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The Nation BusinessMirror

Criminal raps for grave coercion, attempted homicide filed vs CamSur lawmaker, mayor

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EVERAL employees of the Camarines Sur provincial government have sought the criminal prosecution of Rep. Rolando Andaya Jr., a town mayor and several others for allegedly assaulting workers and caused disruption of construction clearing operations at the Naga City airport last year.

The criminal complaints were filed before the Naga City prosecution office of the Department of Justice (DOJ) by nine members of the Sagip Kalikasan Task Force (SKTF) of the Camarines Sur provincial government and a member of the Camarines Sur Civil Security Unit (CSCSU).

The complainants specifically charged Andaya, Pili town Mayor Tomas Bongalonta and six unnamed armed bodyguards of the congressman of attempted homicide, grave threats, grave coercion and disturbance to public order.

The complainants alleged that Andaya, accompanied by his armed bodyguards and by Bongalonta, had assaulted, threatened and harassed them last April 18, 2018, when the congressman went to the Naga airport expansion project site in an attempt to stop clearing operations for the airport expansion project, which is one of the key infrastructure initiatives of the Duterte administration

for the Bicol region.

CSCSU member Ruel Abajero, one of the complainants, accused Andaya of strangling him at a police precinct until he had almost ran out of breath, while the congressman was threatening to kill him.

Andaya’s assault was recorded on video, which has since then gone viral on social media.

He said in his complaint that he was only able to break free from Andaya’s grip when other people came to his aid. But even after that, Andaya continued to threaten and insult him.

Abajero also named Bongalonta in his complaint for leading Andaya to the precinct and for failing to stop the congressman from assaulting him.

SKTF members Roselito Costales, Ben-hur Pio Ortiz, Uldarico Dazo, Leo Moises, Anghelo Refran, Lito Sumpay, Anna Macarubbo and Ryan Herrera filed charges of robbery against Andaya for seizing their handheld radios, mobile phones and tablets and a backpack containing various items with the help of his armed bodyguards.

Bongalonta and Andaya’s six armed bodyguards were included in the complaint for aiding the congressman in committing his alleged criminal acts. Joel R. San Juan

Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug • Friday, February 22, 2019 A3

NBI motion on drug smuggling case draws rebuke from DOJ

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By Joel R. San Juan

@jrsanjuan1573

PANEL of prosecutors from the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Thursday reprimanded the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) after the latter attempted to withdraw as one of the respondents in the illegal importation of drugs complaint in connection with the smuggling of more than 300 kilos of illegal drugs concealed inside magnetic lifters last year.

During Thursday’s continuation of the preliminary investigation on the case, Assistant State Prosecutors Mary Jane Systat, who heads the prosecution panel, told the NBI that it was apparent that the NBI “did not study [the case very] well.”

Prior to this, the NBI told the panel that it would be submitting a motion for clarification clearing the Bureau of Customs (BOC) Deputy Collector for Operations at the Manila International Container Port (MICP) Michael Vargas from any

culpability in connection with the smuggling of the illegal drugs.

The NBI said based on its review on the procedure on the bill of lading which contains information about the shipment, it would appear that it did not reach his office.

Thus, the agency admitted that including Vargas in the complaint was premature and extended its apology to Vargas, who was present during the hearing.

When sought for his reaction on the development, Vargas told report-

ers: “They [the NBI] apologized [and] it’s on record and I accepted it. Let the wheels of justice take its course. I trust that there is justice in the Philippines.”

However, Systat refused to formally accept the NBI’s motion for clarification, saying that it is only beneficial to one person and detrimental to the interest of the other respondents.

“This motion we cannot accept because it’s very prejudicial to other respondents. We don’t want to make as confusing as it was,” Systat commented.

Instead, Systat directed the NBI and the other parties to submit until March 12 their position paper, where the former may manifest their intent to remove Vargas as one of the respondents.

Systat said the panel will conduct a clarificatory hearing on the same day, after which, the case is deemed submitted for resolution.

The panel added that it would also conduct an ocular inspection of the abandoned magnetic lifters on March 4 and March 7 at the Port of Manila and at a warehouse in General Mariano Alvarez in Cavite, respectively, to aid them in resolving the complaint.

Former Customs Commissioner now head of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority Isidro Lapeña also personally appeared before the DOJ panel to submit his counteraffidavit in con-

nection with the case.

Lapeña was assisted by his lawyer John Telan in filing his counter-affidavit.

The NBI is seeking Lapeña’s prosecution for alleged violation of the AntiGraft and Corrupt Practices Act, dereliction of duty and grave misconduct due to his failure to file complaints against the consignees, importers and brokers of the two magnetic lifters.

Aside from Lapeña, the NBI also sought the prosecution of former Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency Deputy Director for Administration Ismael Fajardo, Customs intelligence officer Jimmy S. Guban and dismissed Senior Supt. Eduardo P. Acierto, “being the maincore conspirators” in the entry of the magnetic lifters containing illegal drugs both from MICP and Cavite.

The agency said the said the respondents should be prosecuted for violation of Section 4 (importation of illegal drugs) in relation to Section 26 of Republic Act 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, grave misconduct and violation of the anti-graft laws together with other customs officials, police officers and several individuals.

The magnetic lifters containing shabu slipped past BOC and were later discovered at the Port of Manila and in Cavite.

A4

Economy BusinessMirror

Friday, February 22, 2019

Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug

Hefty fine eyed for tourists, travelers with pork from ASF-affected countries

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By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

@jearcalas

HE Department of Agriculture (DA) is looking into the possibility of imposing penalties on tourists who will bring in pork products from African swine fever (ASF)affected countries to deter the entry of meat and/or meat products that could transmit the dreaded hog disease.

Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol told the BusinessMirror that he would discuss with his policy officials on how the government could impose such measure in light of the spread of ASF in Asia, which has been recently confirmed to be present in Vietnam’s hog population.

“That’s a good idea,” Piñol said in an interview on Thursday, when he asked if the Philippine government would penalize tourists for smuggling pork products from ASF-affected nation just like what Taiwan is doing right now.

Pork Producers Federation of the Philippines (ProPork) President Edwin G. Chen told the BusinessMirror that they support the proposal and even encourage the government to also consider filing cases of economic sabotage against erring tourists.

“Not only [should the government] confiscate [the pork products] but consider penalty and imprisonment [on charges of] of economic sabotage,” Chen said in an interview.

“If they know [the products are] banned [then] why will they [even] try [to] bring [them] in? We have to protect [our] P200billion [hog] industry,” Chen added.

Chen also urged the government to strengthen its information campaign on ASF, especially to tourists and returning Filipinos from abroad, so that people would be aware on the possible impact of the disease to the local industry.

Tourists that try to bring in or smuggle pork products from abroad to Taiwan are fined with NT$200,000, as a first offense, and would not be allowed to enter the country if they would not pay the penalty. Erring tourists that are caught bringing in meat products two or more times would be fined with NT$1 million, according to online news reports.

Vietnam submitted its ASF-outbreak report to the World Organisation for Animal

Health (OIE) on February 20, confirming its first-ever incidence of the dreaded swine disease. The report indicated that over 260 hogs are already suspected to be affected by the ASF. Vietnam is the first Asean memberstate to confirm the outbreak of ASF in its territory.

Chen also urged concerned government agencies, such as the Bureau of Customs (BOC), to intensify its measures on inspecting luggage and hand-carry bags of tourists entering the country.

He added that he have received reports that luggage brought by tourists to the country are not allegedly thoroughly inspected by airport authorities.

The control over the inspection of luggage entering airports are not within the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) but with BOC and other airport authorities.

Nonetheless, the BAI said that the government has already issued a memorandum order authorizing an importation ban on pork and pork products from Vietnam as part of its preventive measures. Furthermore, BAI Officer in Charge Director Ronnie D. Domingo said the Philippines does not import any meat products from Vietnam in the first place.

“We have ‘closed’ our gate for these ASF-affected countries. We need to sustain airport interventions,” Domingo told the BusinessMirror.

Pork products brought in by tourists and returning Filipinos from abroad have been flagged by the BAI as one of the most possible means for the ASF virus to enter the country.

The OIE and the United Nations’s Food Agriculture and Organization have pronounced that ASF virus could still thrive even in processed meat products, such as bacon and siomai, among others.

Military, police, SUC lands may again be excluded from CARP 2 coverage

By Jonathan L. Mayuga @jonlmayuga

A

GRICULTURAL lands owned by military and police institutions, as well as state universities and colleges (SUCs), may again elude Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program coverage under Executive Order (EO) 75, or the Duterte administration’s CARP Phase 2.

The legal issues on whether lands owned by military and police, as well as that of SUCs, would have to be sorted out by the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) and Department of Justice in the formulation of the implementing rules and regulations of EO 75.

DAR Undersecretary for Legal Affairs Luis Meinrado Pangulayan said that in the last 25 years under previous administrations, vast tracts of government lands were able to escape CARP coverage despite several EOs issued by then-President Corazon C. Aquino after the signing into law of Republic Act 6657, or the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law. These are EO 407, EO 448 and EO 506. These policies were issued at that time to tap unused government lands that were given to government agencies for the performance of their respective mandates.

Since these lands are not being used and are devoted to agriculture, Aquino

then sought to acquire these lands and distribute them under CARP. “The second component of Aquino’s EOs, states that if the lands are acquired by national government agencies or government-owned and -controlled corporations [GOCCs], a deed of transfer would have to be executed. This process requires a joint determination by the DAR and concerned government agencies. However, sometimes, heads of government agencies refuse to work with the DAR to execute the deed of transfer,” he said.

Duterte’s EO 75 seeks to address some of these loopholes.

Duterte’s agrarian reform, described

by Agrarian Reform Secretary John R. Castriciones as the second phase of CARP or CARP Phase 2 was finally set in motion with the signing of EO 75 by President Duterte on February 15.

The order mandates the DAR and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to jointly identify public lands that can be devoted to agriculture for distribution to qualified farmer-beneficiaries.

There are around 400,000 hectares of government-owned lands but the figures obtained from the DAR’s Fields Operation office are still subject to validation, Pangulayan told the BusinessMirror.

The figure includes vast tracts of lands owned, acquired or assigned to various national government agencies and GOCCs.

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

The World

Saudi crown prince in China on latest stop of Asian tour

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EIJING — Saud i Crow n P r i nce Moh a m me d bi n Salman arrived in China on Thursday on the latest stop of a sweep through Asia that seeks to boost relations with the kingdom’s neighbors amid frictions with the West.

Prince Mohammed’s visit follows trips to India and Pakistan, which send millions of laborers to Saudi Arabia and are seeking closer economic ties.

He is to meet Chinese officials, including President and ruling Communist Party leader Xi Jinping, on Friday, highlighting Saudi Arabia’s importance as one of China’s top oil suppliers and a market for its exports, including military drones.

The visit underscores China’s attempts to balance its relationships in the Middle East, a major component of its “Belt and Road” initiative to link its markets to those in Asia, Africa and Europe through rail and road networks and infrastructure, such as power stations and factories.

Prince Mohammed’s visit to Beijing follows one earlier this week by a high-powered delegation from Saudi Arabia’s chief strategic rival, Iran.

At a meeting on Wednesday, Xi told Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani that “China’s resolve to develop a comprehensive strategic partnership with Iran will remain unchanged,” regardless of the evolving international situation, according to China’s official Xinhua News Agency.

China has also pursued robust ties with Israel.

The crown prince’s trip comes five months after he came under intense pressure in the United States and elsewhere following the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. Some reports allege Khashoggi was killed on orders of the royal family. In the US Congress, criticism over the kingdom’s handling of the war in Yemen has also been building for months.

China is facing growing international criticism over its treatment of its Muslim minority groups as part of a wideranging crackdown on religion and minority languages.

Thus far, Turkey has been the only majority Muslim country to criticize Beijing, with its Foreign Ministry this month calling treatment of minority Uighurs “a great cause of shame for humanity” and saying it is “no longer a secret” that China has arbitrarily detained more than a million Uighurs in “concentration camps.”

Saudi Arabia’s Al Saud royal family has long cast itself as the defender of Muslims across the world. Its king describes himself as the protector of Islam’s two holiest mosques at Medina and Mecca. Observant Muslims pray five times a day in the direction of the cube-shaped Kaaba at the mosque at Mecca.

Saudi Arabia’s silence on the Uighur issue is partly explained as a show of appreciation for China’s noninterference policy in other states’ domestic affairs, which contrasts with Western states’ linkage of foreign and economic relations and human rights, said Jonathan Fulton, a political scientist at Abu Dhabi’s Zayed University.

It also reflects China’s success in framing its policies toward Muslim minorities as a struggle against political Islam, Fulton said.

“Many Arab countries are also concerned with Islamist political groups...and see these as ideological threats to their governments,” he said.

Commenting on Wednesday on the crown prince’s visit, Chinese foreign ministry Spokesman Geng Shuang said recent years have “seen a positive momentum in our cooperation with fruitful outcomes in various areas, such as infrastructure and space satellites.”

“We hope that through this visit we will enhance our relations, enhance mutual trust, deepen cooperation...and inject momentum into our bilateral relations,” Geng said.

Prince Mohammed is to visit South Korea after Beijing.

In New Delhi, he offered intelligence sharing and other cooperation with India in fighting extremism and terrorism, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi tackles rising tensions with Pakistan following a suicide bombing last week on Indian paramilitary soldiers in disputed Kashmir. AP

Britain urges Germany to ease curbs on arms sales to Saudi

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ERLIN—Britain’s top diplomat has urged Germany to relax its ban on arms sales to Saudi Arabia because they are affecting United Kingdom sales of weapons to—and by extension its influence with—the oil-rich kingdom.

The German weekly Der Spiegel reported on Wednesday that British Foreign Minister Jeremy Hunt sent a blistering letter to his counterpart in Berlin earlier this month, warning that Germany’s credibility as a partner is at stake over its restrictions on arms exports to the Gulf nation.

Germany rescinded existing arms export permits to Saudi Arabia last year in response to the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

The move, which amounts to an export ban, means Britain can’t ship warplanes, such as the Typhoon to Saudi Arabia, because they contain German-made components.

Asked about the letter ahead of a meeting on Wednesday with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, Hunt said both Britain and Germany have a common interest in ending the war in Saudi Arabia’s southern neighbor Yemen, where a major humanitarian crisis has claimed tens of thousands of

civilian lives. A Saudi-led coalition has been fighting with Yemen’s government against Shiite Houthi rebels since 2015, leading to criticism of arms exports to Saudi Arabia.

Hunt insisted that Britain has strict rules on arms exports that include “independent assessment of whether our arms exports are likely to be used in breaches of international humanitarian law.” “ The strategic relationship that the UK has with Saudi Arabia is what allows us to have a huge influence in bringing about peace in Yemen,” he said. “We need to be able to continue that strategic relationship in order to make sure that there is a European voice at the table doing everything we can to press for peace.”

Hunt made no mention of the Khashoggi slaying.

Berlin and London have stressed in recent months that cooperation on defense and security must remain a pillar of Anglo-German cooperation even after Britain leaves the European Union at the end of March.

Spea k i ng a f ter h i s meet i ng w it h Hu nt, Ger m a ny ’s foreig n m i n i ster i nd ic ated t h at B er l i n i s w i l l i ng to recon sider it s

BusinessMirror

Friday, February 22, 2019

A5

US, China working on MOUs to resolve trade war issues

U

NITED STATES and Chinese negotiators are working on multiple memorandums of understanding (MOUs) that would form the basis of a final trade deal, according to a person briefed on the talks.

The MOUs would cover areas, including agriculture, nontariff barriers, ser vices, technolog y transfer and intellectual property, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the discussions are private. The enforcement mechanism remains unclear, but would likely be a threat that tariffs would be reimposed if conditions are not met, the person said.

No breakthrough is expected during this week’s talks in Washington on major structural issues, the person said, but there is an effort under way to potentially extend a March 1 deadline for US tariffs to rise on Chinese goods.

Liu He, China’s chief negotiator,

Thais give Russia, US right to extradite hacking suspect

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ANGKOK—A Thai court ruled on Wednesday that a Russian man who allegedly was part of a gang that stole millions of dollars online from bank accounts can be extradited to the United States to stand trial, but the suspect could end up in Russia anyway.

The court approved a request from US authorities that Dmitry Ukrainsky be extradited to the US, where he has been indicted on fraud and money laundering charges. The court said Ukrainsky’s group was charged with stealing more than 1 billion baht ($32 million) from victims in the US, Australia, Japan, England, Italy and Germany by planting malware on their computers.

However, Ukrainsky’s extradition to Russia was previously approved last year by a Thai court after he agreed to return there after he finishes serving a 10-year, eight-month prison term in Thailand for fraud, money laundering and conducting business illegally as a foreigner.

He was arrested in July 2016 in the beach resort town of Pattaya, where he ran a yacht rental business, and sentenced in 2017.

His alleged accomplice, Olga Komova from Uzbekistan, was arrested in the beach resort of Koh Chang where she worked at a hotel as a guest relations officer.

It is unclear to which country Ukrainsky would eventually be extradited. In other cases of alleged Russian hackers arrested abroad, usually at a US request, Moscow has strongly opposed them being sent to the United States.

The court said on Wednesday that although Ukrainsky had denied the charges on which he is sought by US authorities, Komova had already been extradited to the United States and was convicted there on the same charges. The court said in its ruling that it had considered evidence from the arresting officers and the US request for Ukrainsky’s extradition. AP

is expected to meet with US President Donald J. Trump on Friday, according to a separate person familiar with the situation.

The US is also asking China to keep the value of the yuan stable to neutralize any effort by Beijing to devalue its currency to counter US tariffs, according to other people familiar with the ongoing talks. The Chinese gover n ment spokesm a n sa id on Wednesday that the nation wouldn’t use the yuan as a tool to deal with trade dispute.

A spokesman for the US Trade Representative didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. China’s commerce ministry didn’t immediately reply to

faxed questions. Reuters earlier reported that US and Chinese officials were discussing language on six MOUs that would resolve the trade war’s most contentious issues.

The issues

W HILE President Tr ump has been most vocal on bilateral trade deficit with China, the US has numerous issues with China’s economic and trade policies, and the administration is pushing for what it terms “ fair and reciprocal ” trade.

In response, China has repeatedly offered to increase purchases of agricultural and energy products to shrink the deficit. Since the tariff truce agreed in December it has resumed imports of some farm products and a deal may see a substantial increase in that trade.

The question of technology transfers and protection for US intellectual property has been one of the most contentious in the dispute, with the US accusing China of stealing the results of US research and development to advance its own development, and also of forcing US firms to

give their technology to Chinese companies to gain access to China’s market.

Hacking allegations

CHINA denies the thef t and cyber hacking allegations, and while it claims that it has never forced companies to provide technolog y for access, it has started debating a law to make that practice illegal.

The inability of US services companies to get access to China is also another bone of contention. W hile China is relaxing the rules on foreign banks and insurance companies ow ning majority shares in their Chinese operations, companies like Visa and Mastercard are still shut out of the market.

The subsidies and targeted industrial policy grouped under the “Made in China 2025” name are seen as nontariff barriers for US companies. In addition, while the government promised to treat foreign, private Chinese companies or state-owned enterprises equally for regulatory purposes late last year, there are still areas of the economy that are off-limits to foreign investment. Bloomberg News

A6 Friday, February 22, 2019 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

editorial

The new laws: It’s about time

I

N the past week, President Duterte has signed into law some 19 measures. Our question is, why has it taken so long for these bills to become the law of the land?

Perhaps, the one that all of us have a vested interest in is the “Mobile Number Portability Act” that allows us to keep the same cell-phone number for as long as we want. While this is not a matter of national security, it is a matter of convenience for the tens of millions of cell-phone users. Certainly, the telecom companies could have done this easily a long time ago with only some expense on their part. But it is a national issue that has long-term consequences and should be a law.

So again, why did it take so long?

Article VI of the 1987 Philippine constitution creates a bicameral legislature that vest in Congress, among other powers, “the power of investigation and inquiry in aid of legislation, the power to declare the existence of a state of war and the power of eminent domain.” While these duties are important, we thank the current Congress for taking time off from “investigation and inquiry” to actually write some important laws.

It is hard not to be a little sarcastic and cynical about the Legislative process. However, all the “television face-time” spent in public hearings and shouting matches do not seem to translate into actual law unless we are missing something, which is probably the case.

Two of the new laws are systemic in nature—meaning they improve and enhance current regulations. These are “The New Central Bank Act,” which increases the monetary authority’s paidup capital to P200 billion from P50 billion, and the “Revised Corporation Code.” The financial strength of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas is now better and it expands regulatory powers to other nonbank financial institutions, such as money service businesses, credit-granting businesses, and payment system operators critical in 2019 and beyond.

The changes in the Corporation Code should make it much easier for entrepreneurs to get into business at a higher level, and the law does more to protect minority stockholders, which is also very important.

We will withhold judgment on the creation of a Human Settlement Department and the law on career guidance counseling for high school because the implementation may be the key to these issues.

Nonetheless, expanding PhilHealth coverage to all Filipinos and expanding the maternity leave law to guarantee 105 days of paid maternity leave from the current 60 days of paid leave credits are both overdue. Why did these laws take so long to come to the people? What prevented their passage in previous congressional sessions?

Thorough review and deliberations are absolutely necessary before a law is presented to the President for signature. But you have to wonder why these important laws were all able to come to life at the same time only now?

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The stuff you post James Jimenez

SPOX

M

UCH has been said of the Commission on Election’s recent foray into establishing a rudimentary regulatory framework for the use of social media in the coming midterm elections. The woefully—and sometimes willfully—uninformed trumpet the fear that the Comelec’s social media “regulations” curtail freedom of expression. Whether or not arising from a genuine misunderstanding of what these regulations actually are, these apprehensions are unfounded.

The new Comelec rules on socialmedia use for elections, contained in Comelec Resolution 10488, in fact, seeks to monitor only two aspects of such use: the cost of content production, and the cost of content promotion.

Cost of content production relates to the expenses incurred by the candidate and the campaign in, well, producing content. As anyone with more than a glancing familiarity with social media ought to be able to tell you, the only way to really make an impact on social media is to release content that is likely to be shared

from user to user. Some people call this virality, or the tendency of an image, video, or piece of information to be circulated rapidly and widely from one Internet user to another.

If content is king, then a viral video is king of kings. In the past—back when uploading video was nowhere near as easy to do as it is now—videos that went viral were often those that captured real life shenanigans of real people. Today, a few short years after videos began to be routinely uploaded and shared on social-media platforms, virality is no longer confined to authentic, shot-from-

the-hip, content. Virality can now, in fact, be synthetically manufactured, albeit at significant cost, with public relations professionals now typically including “viral videos” in their list of deliverables.

Up until this point, the cost of producing content for online use has gone largely unreported, allowing candidates to essentially circumvent the campaign spending limits imposed by election laws. By specifically requiring campaigns to report how much is being spent on the kind of highly produced and well-funded content that now forms the cornerstone for may political campaigns, the Comelec hopes to plug this particular leak.

Another gap in the reporting law involves the cost of online content promotion. Apart from monitoring traditional political advertisements online—essentially the online versions of print ads and television commercials—the Comelec is now going to monitor the cost of engaging in the practice of boosting.

On social media, the size of the audience exposed to the content you produce (political advertisements, for example) is determined by the number of “followers”—the accounts that are subscribed to your account—you have. “Boosting” in-

volves paying the social-media platform to make your content available to people who are not even subscribed to your account. And there is a great deal of customization available here.

An account that boosts its content is actually able to determine which categories of users (i.e., users aged 18 to 32, for example; or users who live in particular geographic areas, and so on) receive your unsolicited content. It is targeted advertising in its most cost-efficient form. And until the new regulations promulgated by the Comelec, the campaigns could have literally poured millions of pesos into this practice without ever reporting the expenditure on their Statements of Contributions and Expenditures. Needless to say, this ability all but renders the campaign spending limits illusory.

Cost of content production and cost of content promotion are the two main objects of the Comelec regulation; not how many times you post political messages, or express your political opinions, and certainly not what’s in the stuff you post online. nnn

LISTEN to Voter Education on the air, via Radyo Comelec on DWIZ. It’s voter education like you’ve never heard before. Every Saturday, 1 to 2 p.m.

Amazon’s winner-take-all approach to small business

S

By Noah Smith | Bloomberg Opinion

MALL businesses are a pillar of capitalism and of a healthy economy. They provide a path into the middle and uppermiddle class for people who don’t have elite connections or a fancy college degree. And they distribute capital income broadly, so that the gains from business ownership aren’t concentrated among a few wealthy shareholders.

Retail is a big component of small business. In recent decades, big chains have pushed out mom-andpop stores. But there has been hope that e-commerce would provide a lifeline for small retailers.

T here’s just one problem.

E-commerce in the United States is increasingly dominated by a single platform—Amazon.com Inc. As of 2018, the e-commerce giant had grabbed about half of the online retail market.

That wouldn’t necessarily be a problem for small retailers if Amazon simply provided a venue that allowed small businesses to connect with customers.

But increasingly, Amazon sells its own products, including privatelabel goods that compete with the offerings of independent merchants on its platform. A recent paper by economists Feng Zhu and Qihong Liu observed Amazon’s behavior over time, and found that it tends to introduce products in niches that smaller merchants did the work

of discovering by finding out what consumers like. Amazon then piggybacks on their efforts. This kind of tactic could be increasingly important as Amazon makes its own private-label products. This is similar to a classic move used by supermarkets—observe which products sell well, then introduce private-label brands to try to grab some of those markets. But technology has given online platforms superior tools to outcompete their suppliers.

One of these tools is search.

Customers look for products using Amazon’s internal search function.

Independent sellers can try to take sales from rivals by buying placements in the search results for a rival’s brand-name product—for example, when a customer searches for Purina dog food, she might see a promoted result for Kibbles ‘n Bits.

But Amazon doesn’t allow other sellers to compete with its products this way—if you search for an Amazon product, you’re invariably going to see an Amazon product

Retail is a big component of small business. In recent decades, big chains have pushed out mom-and-pop stores. But there has been hope that e-commerce would provide a lifeline for small retailers. There’s just one problem. E-commerce in the United States is increasingly dominated by a single platform— Amazon.com Inc.

first. But if you search for another company’s product, you might see an Amazon product promoted at the top of the list. Amazon now is experimenting with a feature that could, if adopted, automatically include Amazon products in searches.

And search isn’t the only advantage a platform has in the digital age; Amazon also collects potentially crucial sales and marketing data that it can choose not to share with third-party merchants.

Of course, any online retailer could do the same. But the world of e-commerce is subject to stronger network effects. When you buy something from a brick-and-mortar retailer, you tend to go to one that’s conveniently located, whether it’s a Wal-mart, a Target, a Best Buy or a local convenience store. But online, unless you’re searching for a specialized product, there’s often no reason

to go anywhere but Amazon. This naturally tends to push the platform market toward winner-take-all. And it’s exacerbated by Amazon’s practice of requiring merchants not to offer their products more cheaply on any other platform—a type of agreement known as a most-favored nation provision or MFN. This means that merchants who want to sell their products online have no choice but to be on Amazon, the biggest platform, and play by its rules.

Some, such as business professor Andre Hagiu, argue that Amazon would be foolish to outcompete its merchants, because this would deter them from offering their products on Amazon in the future. But researchers have long known that this logic doesn’t necessarily apply in the presence of dominant market power; back in 2000, economists Joseph Farrell and Michael Katz showed that a monopoly can have incentives to confiscate the profits from the innovation of companies who produce complementary products, thus stifling innovation. Tech publisher Tim O’Reilly argues that even if eating the third-party ecosystem isn’t a good long-term decision, a platform may be tempted to do it anyway just for the short-term profits.

So if Amazon is chewing up the small-business world—and the ecommerce world in general—what’s See “Amazon,” A7

Opinion BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Goodwill hunting is a disaster movie in China

A

Writing enchantment

By Shuli Ren | Bloomberg Opinion

N interstellar spectacular is currently keeping China’s moviegoers entertained. Behind the scenes, the film also has a minor role in the stock market’s next disaster epic.

The Wandering Earth, a sciencefiction feature released ahead of the Lunar New Year on February 5, has become the second-highest grossing film in Chinese history in just two weeks. Beijing Jingxi Culture & Tourism Co., which made the movie, has said it expected to earn 73 million yuan to 83 million yuan ($10.9 million to $12.3 million) from the first six days of showing alone. That’s equal to more than 5 percent of its total 2018 revenue.

Yet, Beijing Culture’s shares got only a one-day pop when markets opened after the holiday, and have since failed to share in the Shenzhen stock exchange’s post-new year rally.

The lukewarm response stands in sharp contrast to Beijing Culture’s previous hits. Its 2017 release Wolf Warrior 2, the second episode in a Rambo-like franchise, topped the box office with 5.7 billion yuan in gross sales. The film accounted for more than 20 percent of the company’s revenue that year. Last year, medical drama Dying to Survive captured the hearts (and wallets) of the middle class. Both times, Beijing Culture’s shares got a more sustained lift.

While investors may be giving the stock the cold shoulder partly because of a history of unseemly selling by insiders, what they fear most is potential write-downs. About a quarter of Beijing Culture’s total assets is goodwill, which represents the amount paid in excess of a target’s book value in acquisitions.

Goodwill is a ticking time bomb for Chinese companies. In mid-November, ahead of the 2018 full-year earnings season, the China Securities Regulatory Commission warned that all firms must reevaluate their goodwill at least once a year, as part of an effort to crack down on inflated values.

Mainland-listed companies held 1.3 trillion yuan of goodwill on their balance sheets as of the third quarter of 2018. Roughly half is on the books of smaller private enterprises, which last year set off one of the world’s worst stock market routs after pledged-share loans triggered margin calls. Goodwill

Amazon. . .

continued from A6

to be done? One approach is to identify and ban Amazon’s specific anticompetitive practices, as European authorities are trying to do in the case of data sharing. Another approach is to try to introduce competition into the e-commerce platform space by banning MFNs and other anticompetitive practices. But these efforts may be inadequate, since the former involves a continuous cat-and-mouse game between regulators and Amazon, and the latter probably won’t be enough to overcome the strong network effect driving the concentration of online retail.

Another alternative, of course, is simply to break up Amazon. But

averages 21 percent of net assets for companies on the ChiNext Index, versus only 4.4 percent for Shanghai’s main board.

Already, 58 firms have issued profit warnings involving goodwill impairments, only one month into the full-year earnings season for A shares, according to CICC Research.

New economy sectors, such as media, software and health care, have the highest goodwill-to-asset ratios, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

This fact alone will cap how much of a rebound we can expect from the technology-heavy Shenzhen exchange this year.

A-share companies started to accumulate goodwill assets in 2015, as looser monetary conditions made it easy for China Inc. to finance acquisitions with debt. Between 2015 and 2016, domestic credit grew by more than 20 percent.

The takeover spree picked up after China’s securities regulator shut the IPO window again in 2016. If an entrepreneur wants equity financing and can’t list, an obvious way is to sell the company to a peer that already has a ticker on the Shanghai or Shenzhen exchange.

The government knows that firms with too many intangible assets often spell trouble.

Wintime Energy Co. is a good example. One of China’s largest defaulters last year, the coal miner again rattled bond investors when it missed payments earlier this month.

Over the years, Wintime has amassed 60 billion yuan of net debt, backed by 100 billion worth of long-term assets, over half of which is in the form of intangibles, such as goodwill and coal-mining rights. With solar panel makers perceived as national champions and the cost premium for new projects over coal withering, how much are Wintime’s assets really worth? Had the company been forced to write down assets earlier, it might not have been able to raise so much debt.

Earnings season will go into full swing next month. Impairments and profit warnings won’t make for pleasant viewing. But it’s a show that Beijing is willing to sit through. before such a drastic step is taken, economist Hal Singer argues, antitrust authorities should consider a gentler alternative—a nondiscrimination regime. This would basically allow any third-party merchant to lodge a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission or another independent tribunal. Although only larger merchants would have the resources to lodge such complaints, any victories they won would benefit smaller businesses as well, by curbing Amazon’s anticompetitive stratagems.

As e-commerce becomes a more important part of the US retail landscape, questions like this will inevitably become more pressing. If small businesses are to survive in the digital age, the online economy can’t be allowed to be winner-take-all.

Tito Genova Valiente

ANNOTATIONS

I

AM writing my second book, after the first one—called The Last Sacristan Mayor and the Most Expensive Mass for the Dead: Tales from Ticao—have been bought.

They would not be about enchantment, I almost assured friends. There is nothing wrong about enchantment, especially if one’s book on magic and enchantment has been well received. I guess my response was this desire to tell the world that I have more tricks, more tales.

If I wrote about Erlina, the storyteller who went into the world of encantos, and the Onglo, the man who was half-horse, half-man, without being an animal, and Nanay Gurang, she who could whip to submission and to love any enchanted being guarding sacred gardens, I would, this time, talk about humans. These were men and women who populated my memory.

As with Tales from Ticao, I would rely on memory.

Memory is not remembering, or drawing things from the past. Memory is a travel. Memory would bring footprints. I would be like Antonio Machado’s call: Traveler, your footprints/are the only road, nothing else.

There are roads in my mind. They are clear, as clear as the day when I travelled with a grandfather who was reminded not to stay late out in the uma or farm. Going home, we would pass by the tallest coconut tree on the island. On one of the palm fronds, a young man tried to walk up to its tip when the moon was shining bright.

My other grandmother thought the sight of that young man would be too much for a young boy of four or five years of age.

The stories in my next book would be about roads and paths. And, if I may repeat, they would be about

real people, with real names and real birthdates.

First on the list is the story of a woman who was so lovely that a young seminarian on a sabbatical refused to return to the seminary after he saw her. The woman was called “Siete Figuras,” because she had seven ways of walking, seven manners of carrying her umbrellas.

On some days, she would hang the umbrella around her lithe arm; when the sun was harsh, she angled the umbrella so that the fervid admirer hiding behind the half-open window could still see her faintest smile.

I would write about an old man and old woman who got lost at 12 noon in the town. The first was a certain Lolo Podong. He was seen going out of his home a little halfpast 11 in the morning. As his home was at the corner of a street, people could see him about to cross to the other side of the street. People were not minding him as he stood there, walking a bit as if about to cross and then stepping back again to the low gate of his home. This went on for some 30 minutes until young men, one of them his grandson, went to him and held his hand. The old man looked up and looked across again.

He stood there appraising the rich growth of tuba or tuba-tuba plants around the edge of the convento of the old church. It took him another day to tell the story: He was trying to cross the street but he could not because the rush of vehicles was endless, this on an island that had only about three or four cars and some trucks plying irregularly each day.

I

Bloomberg Opinion

F Donald J. Trump’s summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Hanoi next week goes as the US president hopes, the two will emerge trumpeting promises of North Korea’s denuclearization, the proclamation of an end to the Korean War, and commitments by the international business community and multilateral lending institutions to transform the nation led by “Little Rocket Man,” in Trump’s words, into the “economic rocket” of Asia.

While there’s probably a better chance of pigs flying over Pyongyang,

it is important to consider the latter prospect for one important, but neglected, reason: Trump will never realize his dream of seeing North Korea trade its missile launch pads for beachfront condominiums and casinos unless he addresses the regime’s massive humanrights abuses.

Trump’s loudest pronouncements on the North’s horrific human-rights record came in 2017 after the death of Otto Warmbier, a US college student detained during a tourist visit to the country. The president even invited the Warmbier family to the State of the Union speech to highlight the issue. But since Trump met Kim in Singapore last summer, he’s

The other old woman was lost “shopping.” Around noon again, an old woman was returning to her home. Instead of climbing up the low stairs, she was trying to enter the lower portion of the house, which was fenced in by bamboo slats. She kept on going in while her kin on the porch watched amused and laughing. One of the women came down and tugged at her. She looked at her and then looked at that part of the house she was trying to enter. There was nothing there. Breathlessly, the woman regaled everyone with a huge emporium with treasures and goodies hanging above. She merely wanted to have a look.

Then there was this huge ship.

One early morning, at sunrise, the townspeople woke up to find a huge merchant ship flying a Greek flag.

It ran aground. The town officials and some teachers went as a group to ask what happened. Did they not know with their navigating devices that the area was shallow? The ship crew looked at the throng of people gathering below. It was when they came down and allowed some of the town officials onto the ship that the story was revealed.

The ship had just left the port of Masbate when they spotted another well-lighted port. They checked their maps but could not see any indicator about the place. The sea seemed to bring them closer to the port and as

Why does press freedom matter?

Rev. Fr. Antonio Cecilio T. Pascual

SERVANT LEADER

D

EAR brothers and sisters, an important pillar of democracy is a free press. If a man is free to deliver news and significant information about the doings of people in power, we get to hold our leaders more accountable to us. This is why people who know the importance of press freedom are anxious about the arrest of Rappler editor and CEO Maria Ressa.

The government says the arrest of Maria Ressa has nothing to do with press freedom. Immensely, many extraordinary cases have occurred after the revival of an old case dismissed by the court, and Ressa was not the only person who presumably wrote articles relating to cyber libel. Since Ressa and Rappler are well known for their observance of truth in the stories they share, some groups consider Ressa’s arrest as an attempt to suppress press freedom, especially in delivering critical and fault-finding

opinions contradicting the interests of the current administration.

Ressa is also known for combating fake news on social media. Her work helps in the fight against the spread of lies on social media. And Rappler’s actions are becoming unpleasant for those spreading these lies. In the events that seem to suffocate Rappler and Ressa, it is possible to question if public interest is truly addressed.

Our Church recognizes the rights of any society to seek information

To get North Korea deal, talk about human rights

By Victor D. Cha

Friday, February 22, 2019 A7

gone quiet on human rights.

Over two years into his term, Trump still hasn’t appointed an envoy for human-rights abuses in North Korea, a position mandated by Congress. He seems to think that raising the issue in Hanoi with Kim would be impolite and distract from the question of denuclearization.

Washington’s silence has had palpable consequences: Five years after a United Nations Commission of Inquiry report created a groundswell of support for charging the North Korean leadership with crimes against humanity, the Security Council in December voted against raising the issue at the behest of China and Russia.

What Trump doesn’t seem to realize is that human rights are critical to his negotiation strategy. For one thing, stopping North Korea’s bomb-making activities means blocking the hard currency flows that finance them. Much of that money comes from the regime’s slave-labor exports and other abusive business activities.

Second, in order to verify any nuclear deal, inspectors have to be able to move around the country to different sites. That will require a much more open North Korean society than exists today, for which the US should be pressing simultaneously with denuclearization.

they got closer, they could see a busy city, with cars of all make moving. As they have not yet reached the open sea, they decided to check the place.

That was when the ship ran aground.

In the morning, they saw they were on a lonely spot of a lovely deserted beach. The locals call the place Borobarangay, (literally, like a “barangay,” pronounced without the hard “g”).

The spot where they docked was facing the old municipal cemetery.

What is a collection of stories without any mention about faith and religion.

There is this story of a rich man who did not believe in God. When the priest was summoned to give him the last sacrament, he began cursing the priest and his family. As he would not receive the host, the priest then asked him to touch the rosary. The man grabbed the rosary and, with his remaining strength, broke it and flung it out of the massive open window of his room. That was in the evening. The next day, the man’s guard dog came rushing with the rosary intact between its teeth.

These are real stories and there are more. They are not about unseen devils. They are not about magic and enchantment.

I have already the title: “Siete Figuras and the Forms of the Real in My Island.”

E-mail: titovaliente@yahoo.com.

based on truth. Hence, the Church also recognizes press freedom, which is important in the development of humanity, as well as the different fields of economics, politics, culture, education and faith. The Church has several principles regarding good media. First is to help the greater good of humanity. Second is to help raise society’s awareness of their rights.

Third is to help in the spiritual wellbeing of the people. And fourth is to develop the understanding and responsibility of everyone toward each other, especially to the less fortunate and weak in society.

The government must protect journalists adopting these principles. They should not be oppressed or harassed. They work along with the government in pursuing and developing the wellbeing of the people.

Expressing and spreading the truth is the true form of respect for the people, especially in exposing the abuses of leaders in government. This is the reason why press freedom needs to be protected. From free expression, we are able to evaluate if the information the public receives is true or false through fact checking. If there

isn’t anyone to evaluate the truth in news, most of us will be deceived with false information, which continues to spread even now.

It is clear that having reliable journalists is a foundation of a society that prioritizes truth in its mass media. If truth itself is important to the people, they will defend these journalists who express the truth.

If free press is gradually repressed, the same will happen to other rights of the people. Because if no one will inform the people of true events, how will we know about the wrongdoings or abuses of people in power?

Brothers and sisters, it truly is worrying when journalists are surrounded by fear. This is what the adversary of truth wants: the fear of the people from spreading and defending the truth. A question we must answer: What are we prepared to give for the truth?

Third, raising human rights can strengthen US leverage in the talks. Over the past three decades, North Korea has barely cracked a yawn when Washington has condemned its nuclear activities. But when the international community began shining a spotlight on Pyongyang’s human-rights abuses in 2014, the reclusive regime, feeling vulnerable, quickly dispatched diplomats abroad to lobby against punitive resolutions at the UN. Fourth, for Trump to integrate human-rights demands into the negotiations would be smart politics at home, given how reluctant Congress will likely be to accept any deal that doesn’t address those issues.

And finally, Trump’s promise of economic betterment for Kim in return for his nukes simply won’t be credible unless there is tangible progress on human rights. Current Security Council resolutions as well as US laws make it difficult for private-sector companies or international financial institutions to engage economically with North Korea absent certification that the country is in compliance with international labor standards. Even at Trump’s behest, no general counsel of any US company would recommend investing in North Korea if human-rights abuses in the supply chain might put them in violation of US law.

Make it a habit listening to Radio Veritas 846 Ang Radyo ng Simbahan in the AM band, or through live streaming at www.veritas846.ph and follow its twitter and instagram accounts @veritasph and YouTube at veritas846.ph. For your comments, e-mail veritas846pr@gmail.com.

2nd Front Page BusinessMirror

A8 Friday, February 22, 2019

www.businessmirror.com.ph

After applause, ₧40-B UHC gap a challenge

T

By Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco | Correspondent

HE signing of the Universal Health Care (UHC) Law will not produce results overnight as the P40billion gap in the funding, including lack of health-care manpower, must also be addressed, Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III said on Thursday.

“Just because the President [Duterte] signed it yesterday [February 20], you can already see [the result] like magic!...Tomorrow all barangays [will have] sprouting

health centers like mushrooms. It’s not gonna happen like that,” Duque pointed out to the media in a press briefing at the DOH Central Office in Manila.

Duque also admitted there is also shortage of health workers at the moment.

He earlier disclosed that only 50 percent of barangays have functional barangay health units. However, under the UHC, there will be one barangay health unit for every 3,000 to 4,000 patients and one city or rural health unit for every 20,000 patients.

The health chief said that for its first year of implementation, UHC would need a funding requirement of P257 billion, but was appropriated only with P217 billion under the proposed national budget for 2019.

“This [UHC] is a work in progress,” he said, as he expressed hope that the agency would be able to

‘Don’t rush rollout of rice lib law’

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas @jearcalas

& Cai U. Ordinario

T

@caiordinario

HE government could face lawsuits if it would rush the implementation of the rice liberalization law sans its implementing rules and regulations (IRR), warned officials of the Department of Agriculture (DA).

Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol said the government will not be able to issue the IRR of Republic Act 11203 by March as it would still be subjected to consultations.

Piñol said implementing the new law without the IRR will violate RA 11203 and the government could be slapped with lawsuits.

Under Section 17 of RA 11203, agencies including the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda), DA and the Department of Budget and Management, after consulting affected industry

stakeholders must promulgate the IRR “to effectively implement the provisions” of the law.

However, some of the country’s economic managers had announced earlier that the law will take effect on March 5, or 15 days after its publication, even without the IRR. “We cannot violate the law. We cannot allow the entry of imports [by March 5] if the IRR is not yet finished,” Piñol told reporters in a news briefing on Thursday.

Justice Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra told the BusinessMirror that the law could be already be effective by March 5 but its full implementation is deferred sans the IRR. “The law is in effect after approval and due publication but may not be implemented without the necessary implementing rules and regulations,” Guevarra said.

Consultations

IN a separate interview, Agricul-

NORTHEASTERLY SURFACE WINDFLOW AFFECTING LUZON AND VISAYAS as of 4:00 pm - February 21, 2019

ture Undersecretary for Policy and Planning Segfredo R. Serrano told the BusinessMirror that allowing stakeholders to voice out their concerns over the IRR will remove the “motivation” to challenge the law in the courts.

“It’s hard to rush the IRR if you will not consult the stakeholders.

You need [to do] legal scrubbing,” Serrano said in an interview.

“There is a provision in the law that there would be 45 days [to craft the IRR] so the stakeholders are expecting to be provided with that time period. This would remove the motivation to challenge [the law] in the court. So let’s not do it with undue haste,” he added.

Among the issues that should be clarified and threshed out in crafting the IRR would be the import rules that traders and private entities would follow under the new rice trade regime, Serrano said.

See “Rice lib law,” A2

”Health systems only work when everyone works together to ensure that no one is left behind.”—Duque

meet the challenges.

Current sources for UHC include: DOH budget, Philippine Health Insurance Corp., funds from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. and the Medical Assistance for Indigent Patients (MAIP) program of the DOH. These will also be pooled under PhilHealth to

leverage the government’s position in purchasing health services.

For his part, Sen. Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito, one of the principal authors of the Senate version of the measure, said an P18-billion fund was added by the Senate during the bicameral budget deliberations.

“The restoration of the HFEP [Health Facilities Enhancement Program]—we can also include that, and the HRH [Human Resource for Health]. The HFEP is about P15.2 billion and another P4.6 billion for the HRH,” Ejercito said, making a total of P19.8 billion.

Since the period for drafting the law’s implementing rules and regulations immediately follows its signing with public consulta-

JANUARY N.C.A. DOWN

BY NEARLY HALF DUE TO REENACTED BUDGET

By Bernadette D. Nicolas

P

@BNicolasBM

ARTLY because of the government operating under the reenacted budget, the releases of Notice of Cash Allocation (NCA) in the first month of the year slid by almost half compared to the same period last year.

From P405.4 billion in January 2018, the NCA releases were significantly down to P211.9 billion in January this year.

“We had to calibrate NCA releases considering the 2019 budget had yet to be passed in January 2019,” Budget Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno said in a statement.

NCAs refer to the cash authority issued by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to line agencies to cover the cash requirements of their programs and projects.

NCAs are utilized when agencies issue checks or advice to debit account against their cash authority. NCA utilization also includes outstanding checks, or checks issued by the agency but not yet encashed at the bank by the creditor/s.

Despite this, the budget department said a higher NCA utilization rate was posted in January 2019 compared to January 2018 as 60 percent of the NCA releases were already utilized. This is equivalent to P127 billion of the P211.9billion NCA releases.

In January 2018, the NCA utilization rate was only 33

percent, or P133.8 billion of P405.4 billion.

Diokno said the higher utilization rate means agencies are quicker on their feet in implementing programs and projects in the first month of the year.

“We expect the NCA utilization rate to increase in the coming months considering NCAs lapse at the end of every quarter,” he said.

In January 2019, P172.2 billion of NCA releases were for line departments, while P39.7 billion were sourced from Special Purpose Funds. In terms of NCA utilization, cash disbursements amounted to P111.3 billion, while P15.6 billion were outstanding checks.

Diokno earlier said they expect the proposed P3.757trillion national budget to be transmitted to Malacañang by March 1. The country should have a new budget by the end of the first quarter.

Due to Congress’s failure to pass the budget before yearend, the government is operating under a reenacted budget at least for the first quarter of the year.

“As we anticipate the passage into law of the 2019 General Appropriations Act [GAA], the DBM is devising a catch-up plan in the release and utilization of funds. In coordination with implementing agencies, we will cover all bases from allotment releases, NCA releases, to NCA utilization and disbursement plans,” he said.

Basic goods pricier; weak peso, costly materials cited Continued from A1

on the SRP list, it was reported that the prices of 186 goods were maintained. However, 56 products recorded price increases.

Most surges were recorded in 155 grams canned sardines, ranging from P0.40 to P1.30. Producers of this basic good attributed this to the sustained increases in the prices of fish input, tin can, tomato paste, fuel and other costs.

They also claimed the price of fish input was 33 percent more costly in December of last year due to the implementation of the closed fishing season that started in November.

Further, prices of milk products rose to as much as P1.10 for evapo-

rated and P1.20 for condensed due to significant increases in the cost of skimmed milk powder and anhydrous milk fat.

Price hikes were also registered in processed meat, canned beef, vinegar, fish sauce and soy sauce.

Manufacturers attributed this to the escalating cost of raw inputs and packaging materials.

“The DTI assures the consuming public that all increases in the SRPs are kept at the absolute minimum level. Amid the SRP adjustments, the DTI remains vigilant and steadfast in its commitment to ensure reasonableness of prices of basic and prime goods and maintain the adequacy its supply, and to stop trade malpractices in the market,” Castelo said.

tions and multisectoral dialogues scheduled in the coming months, Ejercito said his campaign “will take a back seat.”

“This law is my crowning glory,” Ejercito told the media.

‘Sin’ taxes

TO ensure the implementation of this comprehensive and long-term reform, the DOH is also actively working for higher excise taxes on both tobacco and alcohol.

The agency seeks the support of all legislators who made UHC possible to also advocate for the passage of these twin landmark health reforms of “smart taxes for health.”

See “UHC,” A2

Manila Bay. . .

Continued from A1

in an interview with the BusinessMirror, when asked how much teeth his memo had over LGU officials.

“If local officials fail to do their mandate under the law, they can always be administratively liable,” explained DILG Undersecretary Epimaco V. Densing III in a text message.

He added, the memo is “just reminding PTEs to have DOT accreditation and LGUs should cancel business permits if PTEs don’t have DOT accreditation.”

Deficit. . .

Continued from A1

and increasing its investments in human capital.

The BBB comprises 75 flagship infrastructure projects identified by the government, which will help usher in the “golden age of infrastructure” in the country. Projects include railways, roads, bridges and airports, among others.

To keep the BBB’s momentum, the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) revised in July its budget deficit program for 2019 to 3.2 percent, from the original 3 percent.

The Duterte administration is aiming to boost infrastructure spending to 5 to 7 percent of GDP in the medium term, in its bid to upgrade public infrastructure.

China. . .

Continued from A1

In a Palace briefing, Panelo said Zhao “suggested to the President” if he could already implement the MOUs with respect to the countries’ shared interest.

Asked for clarification by the BusinessMirror, Panelo said Zhao inquired on when the MOU can be implemented since both countries have already have signed agreements to cooperate. “[He is] asking because your basis is we already agreed. When can we implement this [MOU] because your basis is we already agreed? When can we implement these so that we can already both get benefits,”Panelo said in Filipino, paraphrasing Zhao. Panelo said Duterte asked for time to ponder on how will they go about the MOUs. “The President said, give me a week and I’ll study,” he said.

‘Not impatient’

PANELO denied that China is growing impatient about the progress of the agreements.

He said there were no particular orders issued by the President as a result of the meeting.

And, according to Panelo, the issue of he maritime rescue center being put up China in the Spratly Islands was also not brought up during the courtesy call. Moreover, Panelo said, Zhao extended an invitation to Duterte to attend the Belt and Road Forum in late April this year.

After denials that an oil-exploration deal is in the works in time for Chinese President Xi’s visit, the Philippines and China signed an agreement on cooperation on oil and gas development in the West Philippine Sea, along with at least 28 other accords last November.

Companies BusinessMirror

Editor: Efleda P. Campos

PCC makes second revision of threshold for company mergers T

Friday, February 22, 2019

B1

Drilon: Revised corporation code to boost more competitive economy

By Elijah Felice E. Rosales @alyasjah

T

HE country’s antitrust body on Thursday adjusted yet again the threshold for mandatory notification for company mergers.

In a commission resolution, the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) raised the thresholds to P5.6 billion from P5 billion for the size of person, and to P2.2 billion from P2 billion for the size of transaction.

This was the second recalibration the PCC put in place since the Philippine Competition Act was passed.

The revised thresholds, when met together, are considered triggers for entities to notify PCC of their transactions. “Size of per-

son” refers to the value of assets or revenues of the ultimate parent entity of at least one of the parties, while “size of transaction” refers to the value of assets or revenues of the acquired entity.

Under Memorandum Circular 18-001, the PCC is mandated to conduct an annual adjustment of the thresholds based on the nominal GDP growth of the previous year rounded up to the nearest hundred millions. Citing esti-

mates from the Philippine Statistics Authority, the PCC said nominal GDP growth last year stood at 10.23 percent.

PCC Chairman Arsenio M. Balisacan said it is just right for the competition regulator to attune the threshold for acquisitions to the real value of the economy.

“The PCC observes that the appetite for mergers and acquisitions within a rapidly growing economy remains high. The adjustment based on nominal GDP growth ensures that the thresholds maintain their real value over time and relative to the size of the economy,” Balisacan said.

“A well-designed threshold must be reflective of the country’s economic condition, such that the scope of merger control remains faithful to the intent of the law. The rationale for setting a notification threshold is to ensure that mergers

and acquisitions that are more likely to substantially lessen competition are subject to compulsory notification and review, and to exclude those that are less likely to pose competition concerns,” he added.

The new thresholds will apply to transactions with definitive agreements executed on or after March 1. They do not apply to acquisitions pending review by the PCC, notifiable transactions consummated before March 1 and transactions already subject of a decision by the commission.

The antitrust agency has so far received a total of 177 transactions and approved 161 of them amounting to a combined value of P2.83 trillion. The sectors with the most mergers remain largely unchanged from last year: manufacturing, finance and insurance, real estate, electricity and gas, and transportation and storage.

Puregold raises authorized capital to ₧5B

By VG Cabuag @villygc

T

HE board of directors of grocery-chain operator Puregold Price Club Inc. has approved the company’s increase in authorized capital stock to P5 billion from the previous P3 billion, a measure aimed at raising more capital in the future.

It said the company would amend its articles of incorporation, which would need the shareholders’ approval, to reflect the changes.

“After the recent top-up placement of the company, there are only around 100 million shares left in the unissued portion in its capital stock. The increase in the autho-

rized capital stock will prepare the company in case there is a need or opportunity to raise fund in the future,” it said.

“The company is just getting ready, if ever there are good opportunities—for example, acquisitions—in the future. We are very near our maximum for authorized capital. So far, there are no plans for equity capital raising,” said John Marson Hao, the company’s investor relations officer.

Lucio Co, the company’s chairman, last month, sold 104 million common shares in a top-up placement deal at a P45 apiece.

The price is equivalent to a 6.8-percent discount from its last close of P48.30 on January 16.

The company said it completed the placement upon the approval by its board of directors.

T he s a i d s h a re s re p re s e nt about 3.8 percent of the company’s total issued and outstanding stock.

“The deal was done via an overnight book built offering with Mr. Lucio L. Co as the sole selling shareholder,” it said earlier.

The shares sold by Co represent part of his indirect holdings at the company lodged with Deutsche Regis Partners Inc. Co signed a subscription agreement to subscribe to the same number of Puregold shares and price per share.

The company said it would use

the proceeds for general corporate purposes, capital expenditure and potential acquisitions.

Puregold reported a consolidated net income of P4.62 billion for the three quarters of 2018, an 18-percent increase from last year’s P3.9 billion.

Its stores registered stronger than expected same store sales growth (SSSG) of 5.8 percent during the period, while S and R registered a SSSG of 8.8 percent.

“We are optimistic we will be able to sustain our SSSG in the last quarter of 2018 to be driven by higher consumer spending fueled by higher levels of take-home pay as a result of the tax reform law,” the company said.

Holcim completes La Union plant expansion

H

OLCIM Philippines Inc. on Thursday said it completed the capacity expansion project of its La Union plant two months ahead of schedule.

The cement manufacturer said it finished the installation of the new grinding equipment and storage facilities in its plant in Bacnotan, La Union, last month to increase the annual cement production capacity by 80 percent to around 1.8 million tons.

Holcim President and CEO John Stull said the increased capacity of its La Union plant enabled the company to better support the development of North Luzon.

“This project is proof of our commitment to support our customers as construction activity picks up with the government’s ‘Build, Build, Build’ program. With our expansion and efficiency initiatives, we can better provide a reliable supply of high-quality cement to help our partners advance the region’s development,” Stull said.

The La Union plant upgrade is part of the first phase of Holcim’s expansion program.

The second phase involves improvements to its Bulacan and Misamis Oriental plants amounting to $300 million to raise the company’s annual cement production capacity by 30 percent to 13 million metric tons by 2020.

Latest government data showed two of the three regions in Northern Luzon outpaced the national economic growth rate in 2017, led by the Cordillera Administrative Region, which topped the other 16 regions and whose construction industry surged by 23.6 percent. VG Cabuag

UDENNA SIGNS MOU WITH NGCP FOR FIBER- OPTIC FACILITIES USE Udenna Corp. (Udenna) Chairman Dennis A. Uy (left)

and National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) President and CEO Anthony L. Almeda sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for Mislatel Consortium’s use of NGCP’s fiber-optic facilities. The recently held MOU signing signified Udenna’s intention to conduct joint studies to determine the feasibility of the Consortium’s use of NGCP’s fiber-optic facilities. This is in line with the Consortium’s resolve to achieve its committed level of speed and coverage as the new major player (NMP) in the Philippine telecommunications industry. The Consortium, composed of Udenna Corp., Chelsea Logistics Holdings Corp. and China Telecom, was declared by the National Telecommunications Commission as the NMP.

HE Congress-approved Revised Corporation Code of the Philippines, recently signed into law by President Duterte, is touted to make the Philippines more attractive to investors and boost its “dismal ranking” in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Report, where it slipped to 124th from 113th out of 190 countries. Senate Minority Leader Frank Drilon, who pushed passage of the enabling legislation that codified international best practices, projected on Thursday that its early enactment will transform the country as “an attractive investment destination conducive to business and entrepreneurship.”

“The new law will strengthen corporate governance standards with the end view of improving the ease of doing business in the country,” Drilon said.

He added that the Revised Corporation Code came “very timely given the country’s dismal ranking in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Report 2019,” where it slipped to 124ththis year from 113th previously out of 190 countries. He noted that the World Bank study measured how easy or difficult it is for an entrepreneur to open and run a small- to medium-sized business while complying with relevant regulations.

Drilon said “the passage into law of this measure is critical in our bid to improve the country’s business climate and make our economy more competitive with the rest of the world.” The Senate Minority Leader explained the remedial leg-

islation amends the 38-year-old Corporation Code of the Philippines and contains provisions that remove the minimum number of incorporators, allow the registration of a one-person corporation, remove the requirement for minimum capitalization, permit the electronic filing of reportorial requirements and allow attendance in meetings via remote communication or in absentia, provide protection to minority stockholders, among others.

Drilon added that the updated Corporation Code would also simplify the process of incorporation to make the present corporate code attuned with the changing business landscape. “With the amendment permitting the establishment of a one-person corporation, it will be a lot easier for local business owners and investors to register their business with the Securities and Exchange Commission,” Drilon said.

He said the new law would also simplify the name verification process, and grant a perpetual life as the default option for corporations.

He added that the new law likewise provided key reforms in four areas of corporate governance, namely: improving the ease of business in the country, prioritizing corporate and stockholder protection, instilling corporate and civic responsibility, and strengthening the country’s policy and regulatory corporate framework. “In general, the proposed amendments promote efficiency and encourage transparency in all corporate dealings—from formation to daily operations,” he said. Butch Fernandez

B2

Companies BusinessMirror

Friday, February 22, 2019

Japan used-vehicle supplier partners with Subic trader

By Henry Empeño

S

Correspondent

UBIC BAY FREEPORT—One of the biggest suppliers of used heavy machinery from Japan has partnered with a company inside this free port to provide trucks and heavy equipment that could power up development in the countryside.

Japanese used machinery supplier AA Japan formally joined Filanka Subic Corp. here to open a $15-million investment project for a full-service vehicle dealership to sell high-quality used vehicles.

With this partnership, AA Japan officials said the firm may help in the country’s development program in the field of infrastructure,

agriculture and energy, as they demand high-quality, heavy-duty trucking and transportation, and heavy equipment services.

Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Director Julius Escalona, who congratulated the partners in the launching ceremony here last Friday, said the new venture will most likely draw a lot of customers in

the Central Luzon area, which is now experiencing a construction boom.

He noted that a lot of local companies engaged in transportation, construction and agribusiness have benefited from using affordable used vehicles supplied from Japan.

AA Japan President and CEO Hameed Ramzan said they decided to partner with Filanka because of its proven track record in the industry.

“This will allow us to adapt our services and products to a broad customer base and develop multiple service offerings,” added Ramzan, who also expressed hope that their operations would boost economic growth in Subic.

“We aim to boost our network here, which may, in turn, strengthen the industry in this part of the country, as well as provide livelihood opportunities to nearby communities,” he added.

The $15-million partnership, slated to undertake expansion and

provide full service in the country, would hire 200 skilled employees to do conversions, painting, engine maintenance, bodyworks and other vehicle-assembly jobs.

The two companies also plan to lease additional spaces for their yards.

Since 1996, AA Japan has become a source of quality vehicles, equipment, and machineries for contractors and procurers around the world, and has developed a global network of branches and exclusive partners over the years.

Razman said that the firm deals with more than 10,000 customers throughout the world every year.

“And our reputation of quality has never faltered,” he said.

The company helps individual customers choose the best car in stock and assist them in procurement. It also gives car dealers the opportunity to buy directly through a Japanese online auction with full export and shipment assistance.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

PSE STOCK QUOTATIONS

February 21, 2019

Net Foreign Stocks Bid Ask Open High Low Close Volume Value Trade (Peso) Buy (Sell) FINANCIALS ASIA UNITED BDO UNIBANK BANK PH ISLANDS CHINABANK EAST WEST BANK METROBANK PB BANK PHIL NATL BANK PSBANK RCBC SECURITY BANK UNION BANK BRIGHT KINDLE BDO LEASING COL FINANCIAL FIRST ABACUS FERRONOUX HLDG FILIPINO FUND IREMIT MEDCO HLDG MANULIFE NTL REINSURANCE PHIL STOCK EXCH SUN LIFE VANTAGE

59 128.9 88.9 27 12.52 82 13.64 47.8 59.05 26.45 171.9 61.85 1.46 2.24 17.6 0.64 4.5 7.78 1.43 0.465 800 1.08 186 1800 1.14

59.3 129 88.95 27.15 12.62 82.5 13.98 48 59.1 26.7 173 62 1.47 2.3 17.86 0.66 4.58 8.48 1.54 0.48 810 1.1 186.2 1820 1.16

59 129.8 89.75 27.65 12.7 81.8 14 47.05 58.9 26.9 173 62 1.42 2.23 17.88 0.62 4.48 7.78 1.54 0.465 800 1.15 186.7 1805 1.14

59 130.5 89.75 27.7 12.7 82.5 14.02 48.45 59.1 26.9 173 62 1.47 2.24 17.88 0.66 4.64 7.78 1.54 0.48 800 1.15 186.7 1805 1.16

59 129 88.7 27 12.52 81.65 14 47 58.8 26.5 170.9 62 1.41 2.23 17.88 0.62 4.45 7.78 1.54 0.465 800 1.07 186.3 1800 1.14

59 129 88.95 27 12.52 82.5 14 48 59.1 26.5 173 62 1.47 2.24 17.88 0.66 4.58 7.78 1.54 0.48 800 1.08 186.3 1800 1.16

750 2335000 1888450 298300 585000 1348670 88700 247500 1650 106800 203270 1140 58000 6000 2700 44000 89000 600 1000 200000 220 3220000 40 1060 14000

44250 301953979 168052274.5 8122620 7358860 110963762.5 1241900 11879670 97382 2839400 34917414 70680 84370 13430 48276 28820 401410 4668 1540 93800 176000 3507570 7456 1908520 15980

INDUSTRIAL ALSONS CONS ABOITIZ POWER BASIC ENERGY FIRST GEN FIRST PHIL HLDG MERALCO MANILA WATER PETRON PETROENERGY PHINMA ENERGY PHX PETROLEUM PILIPINAS SHELL SPC POWER AGRINURTURE CNTRL AZUCARERA CENTURY FOOD DEL MONTE DNL INDUS EMPERADOR SMC FOODANDBEV ALLIANCE SELECT GINEBRA JOLLIBEE LIBERTY FLOUR MACAY HLDG MAXS GROUP MG HLDG PEPSI COLA SHAKEYS PIZZA ROXAS AND CO RFM CORP ROXAS HLDG UNIV ROBINA VITARICH VICTORIAS CEMEX HLDG DAVINCI CAPITAL EAGLE CEMENT EEI CORP HOLCIM MEGAWIDE TKC METALS VULCAN INDL CHEMPHIL CROWN ASIA EUROMED LMG CHEMICALS MABUHAY VINYL PRYCE CORP CONCEPCION GREENERGY INTEGRATED MICR IONICS PANASONIC SFA SEMICON CIRTEK HLDG

1.55 36.65 0.247 20.9 73 371.6 27 6.97 3.75 1.32 11.5 48 6.33 16.6 16.8 15.8 6.42 11.4 7.62 98.5 1.07 26.75 307.2 54 11.5 12.44 0.207 1.37 12.76 1.85 4.72 2.69 146.5 1.7 2.7 2.39 6.16 16.02 8.08 9.49 18.98 1.16 1.37 120.1 1.89 1.65 4.4 3.43 6.06 40 3.24 12.8 1.76 6.1 1.39 29.55

ABACORE CAPITAL ASIABEST GROUP AYALA CORP ABOITIZ EQUITY ALLIANCE GLOBAL ANSCOR ANGLO PHIL HLDG ATN HLDG A ATN HLDG B COSCO CAPITAL DMCI HLDG FILINVEST DEV FORUM PACIFIC GT CAPITAL HOUSE OF INV JG SUMMIT LODESTAR LOPEZ HLDG LT GROUP MABUHAY HLDG METRO PAC INV PACIFICA PRIME ORION REPUBLIC GLASS SYNERGY GRID SM INVESTMENTS SAN MIGUEL CORP SOC RESOURCES TOP FRONTIER WELLEX INDUS ZEUS HLDG

0.71 22.85 949 62.95 14.28 6.51 0.8 1.38 1.39 7.82 12.46 13.64 0.235 1020 6.09 66.05 0.58 5.24 15.6 0.56 4.76 0.041 2.99 2.62 455 972 174.2 0.78 279 0.25 0.325

1.57 36.95 0.25 21.3 73.05 374 27.15 6.98 3.78 1.33 11.68 48.25 6.35 16.68 17.18 16 6.5 11.44 7.64 99 1.08 27 308 59 11.6 12.48 0.21 1.38 12.8 1.88 4.74 2.78 149 1.71 2.73 2.4 6.32 16.08 8.1 9.5 19 1.17 1.38 128 1.93 1.68 4.55 3.6 6.13 41.9 3.25 12.82 1.77 6.15 1.4 29.9

1.54 36.25 0.255 20.9 72.9 374.4 27 7.12 3.78 1.31 11.32 48.2 6.35 16.76 16.82 15.9 6.5 11.56 7.62 99.45 1.04 27 310 59 11.6 12.72 0.204 1.36 12.76 1.9 4.74 2.75 146.5 1.69 2.73 2.27 6.16 15.88 8.06 9.5 19.06 1.13 1.36 128 1.85 1.74 4.36 3.8 6.05 40.95 3.24 12.58 1.77 6.1 1.38 29.2

1.57 36.95 0.255 21.35 73.15 374.4 27.05 7.12 3.79 1.33 11.8 48.25 6.35 16.76 16.82 16 6.5 11.56 7.64 101.9 1.08 27 310.6 59.25 12.14 12.74 0.207 1.38 12.76 1.92 4.74 2.78 149 1.72 2.73 2.41 6.33 16.14 8.17 9.52 19.24 1.22 1.38 128 1.94 1.74 4.4 3.8 6.06 40.95 3.28 12.86 1.77 6.15 1.4 30

1.54 36 0.246 20.7 72.8 371 26.95 6.95 3.75 1.31 11.32 47.85 6.35 16.1 16.8 15.8 6.42 11.4 7.56 98.1 1.02 27 306.4 58.9 11.5 12.44 0.202 1.35 12.72 1.88 4.74 2.65 144.8 1.67 2.73 2.27 6.16 15.88 8.06 9.45 18.78 1.08 1.36 128 1.83 1.65 4.36 3.6 6.05 40 3.2 12.58 1.72 6.1 1.38 29.2

1.55 36.95 0.25 21.3 73 374 27 6.98 3.75 1.33 11.68 48 6.35 16.68 16.8 15.8 6.42 11.4 7.64 99 1.07 27 307.2 59.25 11.54 12.48 0.207 1.38 12.76 1.88 4.74 2.78 149 1.71 2.73 2.4 6.32 16.08 8.1 9.5 19 1.17 1.36 128 1.93 1.68 4.4 3.6 6.05 40 3.25 12.8 1.76 6.15 1.4 29.9

870000 772100 140000 5028900 295490 198970 551000 10959000 416000 3927000 922100 1249300 32800 513600 4100 83500 9800 1208400 420600 1297970 5581000 50300 980260 1640 68600 600700 470000 3246000 23900 103000 3000 69000 732410 6004000 101000 12980000 2100 8028400 293200 1527400 2937500 1375000 751000 230 552000 5000 62000 6000 8700 103500 5650000 559100 140000 600 26000 78800

1347910 28339020 35110 106713770 21565456 74138894 14877975 76589581 1572660 5190860 10739740 60116660 208280 8540708 68892 1319618 63189 13841982 3184517 129199886.5 5908980 1358100 302073718 96817.5 797926 7554816 96620 4444970 304280 195970 14220 185970 107904591 10160060 275730 30505560 13133 128761812 2374070 14503975 55538972 1604170 1028940 29440 1048750 8460 270400 21800 52655 4236585 18289770 7132102 245120 3665 36060 2352775

HOLDING & FRIMS

Nickel Asia’s 20th annual medical-surgical mission benefits over 500 patients

N

ICKEL Asia Corp. (NAC) conducted its 20th annual medical and surgical mission held from February 13 to 19.

The mission completed 597 surgical cases—229 major and 339 minor operations on cleft palate and lips, hernia, gall bladder stones, goiter, ovarian cyst, myoma, hemorrhoids, cysts, breast mass and other lump removals.

The surgical procedures benefited residents in and around the mining communities in Surigao del Norte, Dinagat Island and Rio Tuba in Palawan.

Among the beneficiaries from this year’s mission was 60-yearold Mila Peralta, a resident of Surigao City. Mila had a volleyballsize mass under her arm that she had been carrying for the past 30 years. It took a while for Mila to come to the mission. Last February 12, after a major operation that lasted almost six hours, her life changed. Her daughter Tere-

0.72 22.95 950 63 14.3 6.6 0.83 1.39 1.42 7.83 12.64 13.8 0.249 1035 6.13 66.5 0.61 5.25 15.62 0.57 4.77 0.042 3 2.79 460 980 174.5 0.8 285 0.255 0.33

0.69 23.7 944 63.15 14.24 6.59 0.84 1.39 1.42 7.72 12.7 13.7 0.237 1020 6.13 66.7 0.62 5.13 15.34 0.56 4.8 0.042 2.94 2.67 460 980 174.5 0.8 275.4 0.25 0.32

0.73 23.75 950 64.4 14.3 6.6 0.84 1.39 1.42 7.88 12.78 13.86 0.244 1035 6.13 66.95 0.62 5.47 15.6 0.57 4.84 0.042 3.04 2.83 460 984 175 0.8 285 0.26 0.335

0.68 22.8 940 62.6 14.08 6.59 0.8 1.36 1.4 7.71 12.46 13.3 0.235 1007 6.13 65.45 0.59 5.13 15.34 0.56 4.76 0.041 2.89 2.61 460 967.5 173.6 0.8 275.4 0.25 0.31

0.72 22.95 950 63 14.3 6.6 0.83 1.38 1.42 7.82 12.46 13.64 0.235 1035 6.13 66.5 0.61 5.24 15.6 0.57 4.76 0.042 3 2.83 460 972 174.5 0.8 285 0.26 0.325

22530000 44800 276190 1005770 7725300 5200 136000 1403000 499000 1802000 3454100 2226300 1220000 120825 8500 2055830 288000 3067200 1716300 814000 16850000 19600000 4236000 16000 470 189180 952160 1000 2070 1090000 39680000

16105090 1036665 261240570 63393890.5 109739282 34270 111090 1930910 703580 14033803 43646974 30571584 287010 123412365 52105 136179303.5 170340 16642789 26608152 456980 80415740 815200 12607440 42730 216200 184056010 166088689 800 582736 273150 12982650

44250 -156681086 -62985307.5 -775900 -2921210 24879160 -420100 -1080830 -30717 1028125 -5775278 14304 -16000 465910 -5589 3479820 71169090 -654174 42474116 2972710 51804700 -13735840 3810754 -674820 -9227228 -2800799 -11116748 -66850 -92547016 -7104 1490092 1648280 -0 22676949 -80920 -5425470 4660668 -863545.0002 5646854 11073314 26030 -18150 -113340 1567360 1426680 -541930 867759.9997 37939205 11580752.5 -26469156 695060 2833130 12224982 541316 40178895 21455 -9826777 -694716 -10804230 230160 -20484200 -75000 -56517755 10635154 31304 1669000

PROPERTY

VOLUNTEER-SURGEONS busy with a surgical procedure on a beneficiary patient.

sa, who accompanied her, smiled and cried when her mother had her first meal after the operation, sans the tumor.

Another beneficiary patient was Reynald Salvador from Narra, Palawan. He had a massive growth in his right chest that was estimated to weigh about 50 kilograms. The lump, diagnosed as angiomyoma, started growing from Reynald’s chest when he was 15. It was only removed after 27 years, now that he is 42, when Reynald was brought to NAC’s Medical Mission last week. Reynald went home after a couple of days of rest following four hours of surgical procedure. He is a new man.

Dr. Bimbo T. Almonte, the medical director for the RTN leg of the mission, said a bigger challenge was persuading members of the communities to come forward and not hesitate to accept NAC’s offer of free medical-surgical procedures.

“Some residents from far-flung barangays continue to dilly-dally in seeking medical help. They have various concerns, ranging from financial and logistical issues. Our goal as a responsible member of these mining communities is to totally eliminate any unease the communities may have of these medical procedures,” Almonte said.

The missions started 20 years ago in Rio Tuba Nickel Mining (RTN), the NAC subsidiary in Palawan. Eight years ago, the mission was extended to cover Surigao del Norte and Dinagat Island where three other NAC subsidiaries are based—Cagdianao Mining, Hinatuan Mining and Taganito Mining.

Each year a team of volunteer medical experts would convene for the six-day annual mission—three days in Surigao and three days in Palawan. This year, the medical team had grown to 75-strong, most of whom are repeat returnees to the mission.

Dr. Archie LaMadrid, the head surgeon who has been with the mission from the very beginning, said, “the medical team are proud of the numbers of accomplished operations, it keeps us going.”

LaMadrid said the 297 surgical procedures completed in Rio Tuba this year alone is a record. Last year, the major and minor procedures done in RTN totaled 182.

Dr. Robinson Baron, the original proponent of the mission, said they are looking forward to coming back next year.

“The members of the communities that NAC serves acknowledge the impact of the mission. In the 20 years we have been doing this, eight years in Surigao and Dinagat, many lives have been changed for the better. After all, how often do you get the opportunity for a special surgical procedure free of any charges. We take care of the patients. We take care of our communities, that is our commitment,” NAC President Martin Antonio G. Zamora said.

ARTHALAND CORP 0.88 0.89 0.89 0.9 0.88 0.88 922000 817080 8800 ANCHOR LAND 10.4 10.6 10.9 10.9 10.4 10.4 9500 99488 1090 AYALA LAND 43.95 44 43.9 44.05 43.6 44 17149000 752844960 -8153095 ARANETA PROP 1.83 1.9 1.88 1.93 1.83 1.9 124000 231070 BELLE CORP 2.53 2.54 2.54 2.57 2.52 2.54 2318000 5879150 -10020 A BROWN 0.8 0.81 0.8 0.81 0.8 0.81 974000 782370 32400 CITYLAND DEVT 0.9 0.92 0.92 0.92 0.9 0.92 44000 39900 CROWN EQUITIES 0.255 0.26 0.25 0.255 0.25 0.255 2400000 603200 -250000 CEBU HLDG 6.46 6.5 6.07 6.5 6.07 6.49 134100 864890 730861 CEB LANDMASTERS 4.25 4.27 4.22 4.29 4.22 4.27 937000 3992980 -102960 CENTURY PROP 0.495 0.5 0.495 0.51 0.495 0.495 10680000 5326450 CYBER BAY 0.415 0.425 0.415 0.415 0.41 0.415 130000 53450 DOUBLEDRAGON 22.35 22.55 22.8 22.8 22.35 22.35 391200 8816260 -768980 DM WENCESLAO 10.58 10.6 10.28 10.6 10.26 10.6 3211500 33813146 -92270 EMPIRE EAST 0.54 0.55 0.54 0.55 0.52 0.54 494000 265110 EVER GOTESCO 0.134 0.137 0.135 0.135 0.134 0.134 360000 48440 FILINVEST LAND 1.52 1.53 1.5 1.54 1.5 1.52 7886000 12030390 1672300 GLOBAL ESTATE 1.24 1.25 1.23 1.24 1.22 1.24 1157000 1422850 -1230 8990 HLDG 12.42 12.44 11.92 12.46 11.6 12.44 2555200 30520390 -1866872 PHIL INFRADEV 2.14 2.15 2.15 2.19 2.14 2.14 1748000 3771270 8680 CITY AND LAND 0.85 0.88 0.83 0.88 0.83 0.87 194000 168250 MEGAWORLD 5.3 5.31 5.34 5.34 5.27 5.31 13029400 69152886 13863098 MRC ALLIED 0.43 0.435 0.44 0.445 0.43 0.43 12850000 5597000 PRIMEX CORP 2.85 2.92 2.85 2.92 2.81 2.92 395000 1132820 -157290 ROBINSONS LAND 23.6 23.7 23.6 23.95 23.2 23.7 1697600 40181235 6187420 PHIL REALTY 0.48 0.485 0.47 0.485 0.46 0.485 430000 200600 ROCKWELL 2.01 2.02 2.02 2.02 2 2.01 62000 124680 SHANG PROP 3.12 3.15 3.15 3.15 3.15 3.15 277000 872550 STA LUCIA LAND 1.41 1.42 1.41 1.43 1.36 1.42 2278000 3125140 142000 SM PRIME HLDG 38.5 38.6 38.95 38.95 38.2 38.5 7595600 292387285 -42555325 STARMALLS 6.68 6.7 6.63 6.74 6.41 6.7 417400 2736576 349607 SUNTRUST HOME 0.78 0.8 0.78 0.79 0.76 0.79 308000 238130 VISTA LAND 7.14 7.29 7.02 7.29 6.96 7.29 35897400 258014549 -88547147

SERVICES ABS CBN 22.15 22.2 22 22.4 22 22.2 109400 2421430 GMA NETWORK 5.72 5.73 5.71 5.74 5.71 5.73 239400 1371813 MANILA BULLETIN 0.71 0.72 0.74 0.74 0.69 0.71 3165000 2239990 MLA BRDCASTING 16 17.4 17.4 17.4 17.4 17.4 100 1740 GLOBE TELECOM 1884 1890 1899 1899 1871 1890 61780 116747080 22564390 PLDT 1080 1087 1096 1100 1070 1080 176520 191245035 -19735085 APOLLO GLOBAL 0.046 0.047 0.046 0.048 0.045 0.047 48800000 2268200 DFNN INC 7.21 7.46 7.4 7.49 7.4 7.49 3000 22344 IMPERIAL 2 2.13 2 2.15 2 2.13 40000 84890 ISLAND INFO 0.134 0.135 0.135 0.135 0.13 0.135 1890000 249170 ISM COMM 5.98 6 6 6.05 5.9 5.98 1437200 8612503 -247043 JACKSTONES 3.1 3.24 3.15 3.23 3.15 3.23 24000 75680 NOW CORP 3.12 3.15 3.05 3.2 3.03 3.12 3513000 11003640 -499620 TRANSPACIFIC BR 0.445 0.45 0.445 0.455 0.445 0.445 3770000 1688950 283800 PHILWEB 3.11 3.13 3.09 3.14 3.09 3.13 246000 767940 -87400 2GO GROUP 12.7 12.76 12.88 12.88 12.66 12.7 68900 878710 ASIAN TERMINALS 14.08 15.7 15.7 15.7 15.7 15.7 100 1570 CEBU AIR 84.3 85.9 84.1 86 83.5 84.3 85150 7219466.5 3282733.5 CHELSEA 6.15 6.25 6.28 6.28 6.1 6.25 557400 3439282 46310 INTL CONTAINER 119 119.5 119.5 120 118.6 119 3988990 475184854 313090884 LBC EXPRESS 15.26 15.76 15.26 15.26 15.22 15.24 9500 144822 LORENZO SHIPPNG 0.89 0.92 0.89 0.92 0.89 0.92 394000 350690 MACROASIA 19.5 19.6 19.64 19.8 19.6 19.6 71900 1413478 -287672 METROALLIANCE A 2.05 2.08 2.1 2.13 2.03 2.08 55000 114370 METROALLIANCE B 2 2.23 2.01 2.01 2 2 65000 130100 -130099.9997 PAL HLDG 11.4 11.56 11.5 11.62 11.24 11.56 24100 276078 HARBOR STAR 2.99 3 3 3.1 2.97 2.99 3556000 10725700 150000 ACESITE HOTEL 1.29 1.35 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.3 66000 85800 BOULEVARD HLDG 0.067 0.068 0.066 0.068 0.066 0.068 22670000 1514680 DISCOVERY WORLD 2.15 2.35 2.1 2.15 2.1 2.15 7000 14840 WATERFRONT 0.71 0.72 0.71 0.72 0.7 0.72 488000 343960 FAR EASTERN U 891 900 900 900 900 900 20 18000 IPEOPLE 10.9 11.1 11.1 11.1 10.96 10.96 200 2206 STI HLDG 0.73 0.74 0.75 0.75 0.73 0.74 3778000 2807830 374790 BERJAYA 2.95 3 2.94 3.02 2.94 2.96 270000 799410 -18000 BLOOMBERRY 12.3 12.6 12.4 12.6 12.16 12.6 6396400 79157186 -16432722 PACIFIC ONLINE 9.23 9.25 9.26 9.26 9.25 9.25 27800 257203 LEISURE AND RES 3.33 3.34 3.27 3.34 3.27 3.34 439000 1453010 3340 MANILA JOCKEY 4.75 4.9 4.85 5 4.85 5 20000 98300 PH RESORTS GRP 5.06 5.15 5.17 5.17 5.05 5.15 309400 1580988 -25650 PREMIUM LEISURE 0.96 0.97 0.95 0.97 0.95 0.96 3710000 3551350 -311720 TRAVELLERS 5.55 5.6 5.6 5.6 5.54 5.57 16700 92809 -38809 METRO RETAIL 3.05 3.06 2.99 3.08 2.95 3.05 399000 1211750 131470 PUREGOLD 48.7 48.75 48.2 49 47.5 48.7 5988700 291295090 175142615 ROBINSONS RTL 87 87.2 86.25 88.4 86.25 87 1307530 113790941.5 -691147.5 PHIL SEVEN CORP 129.1 133.8 131 133.8 131 133.8 970 128177 128177 SSI GROUP 2.23 2.24 2.25 2.25 2.2 2.23 1958000 4347880 1832920 WILCON DEPOT 14.32 14.38 14.22 14.8 14.22 14.32 3047700 43903052 -1991740 APC GROUP 0.445 0.45 0.45 0.45 0.445 0.445 1250000 556400 EASYCALL 15.18 15.2 15.2 15.26 14.98 15.2 146400 2206772 1500 GOLDEN BRIA 351.8 360 358.6 360 351.8 360 820 292400 PRMIERE HORIZON 1.41 1.42 1.43 1.48 1.41 1.41 52756000 76200890 -1964400 SBS PHIL CORP 8.51 8.96 8.5 8.97 8.5 8.93 56900 499365 148764

MINING & OIL ATOK 13.1 13.4 13.4 13.4 13.1 13.4 800 10630 APEX MINING 1.52 1.53 1.57 1.57 1.52 1.52 1256000 1923140 -837650 ABRA MINING 0.002 0.0021 0.0021 0.0021 0.002 0.0021 101000000 212000 ATLAS MINING 2.97 2.99 3.04 3.09 2.97 2.99 23000 69440 100 BENGUET A 1.3 1.44 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.3 6000 7800 COAL ASIA HLDG 0.3 0.31 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 10000 3000 CENTURY PEAK 2.18 2.19 2.17 2.2 2.17 2.19 371000 813650 DIZON MINES 8 8.08 7.95 8.13 7.9 8.13 6700 53136 FERRONICKEL 1.5 1.53 1.47 1.53 1.47 1.5 4813000 7219370 -57000 GEOGRACE 0.28 0.29 0.285 0.3 0.275 0.29 5050000 1435350 -14000 LEPANTO A 0.129 0.13 0.129 0.13 0.129 0.13 260000 33700 LEPANTO B 0.128 0.136 0.13 0.136 0.13 0.136 570000 75630 MANILA MINING A 0.0091 0.0096 0.0092 0.0092 0.0089 0.0091 15000000 137100 MANILA MINING B 0.0093 0.0097 0.0093 0.0093 0.0093 0.0093 6000000 55800 MARCVENTURES 1.09 1.12 1.12 1.12 1.09 1.12 173000 190460 NIHAO 1.06 1.09 1.11 1.12 1.06 1.09 94000 101480 NICKEL ASIA 2.85 2.86 2.79 2.87 2.79 2.85 6744000 19136890 9275580 OMICO CORP 0.66 0.68 0.69 0.69 0.65 0.68 289000 190060 ORNTL PENINSULA 1 1.01 1 1.01 1 1 63000 63090 PX MINING 4.23 4.25 4.35 4.35 4.21 4.23 732000 3100850 -156480 SEMIRARA MINING 22.75 22.8 22.8 22.85 22.6 22.75 875000 19889370 -13538735 UNITED PARAGON 0.0081 0.0082 0.0083 0.0083 0.0081 0.0081 13000000 105800 ORNTL PETROL A 0.012 0.013 0.012 0.013 0.012 0.012 39400000 484700 PHILODRILL 0.012 0.013 0.012 0.013 0.012 0.013 15600000 188100 PHINMA PETRO 3.26 3.45 3.5 3.5 3.5 3.5 6000 21000 PXP ENERGY 14.72 14.76 14.72 14.86 14.5 14.72 461800 6790314 -830648

PREFFERED

HOUSE PREF A 92.55 96 95 95 90 90 20000 1804962 AC PREF B1 462.4 475 470 475 462.2 475 9980 4655796 ALCO PREF B 98.15 100 100 100 100 100 12000 1200000 DD PREF 96.85 97 97 97 97 97 60 5820 SMC FB PREF 2 980 989 989 990 980 980 5670 5588700 FGEN PREF G 102 103 103 103 103 103 970 99910 GLO PREF P 484 496 484 484 484 484 10 4840 GTCAP PREF A 900.5 910 910 910 910 910 1570 1428700 GTCAP PREF B 899 900 900 900 900 900 100 90000 LR PREF 0.99 1 1 1 1 1 19000 19000 MWIDE PREF 100 100.5 100 100 100 100 2000 200000 PNX PREF 3A 98.75 101.9 102 102 98.75 98.75 2030 201626.5 PCOR PREF 2A 985 990 985 985 985 985 30 29550 SMC PREF 2B 75.05 75.45 75.5 75.5 75.05 75.05 20630 1548715.5 SMC PREF 2C 76.2 76.5 76.2 76.2 76 76.1 60000 4561650 SMC PREF 2D 73.8 73.85 73.8 73.85 73.8 73.8 8950 660610 SMC PREF 2E 72.9 73 73 73 73 73 15100 1102300 SMC PREF 2F 74.55 75 74.9 74.9 74.3 74.5 47500 3544520 SMC PREF 2G 73.6 74.5 74 74 74 74 500000 37000000 SMC PREF 2H 72.2 73.7 72.2 72.2 72.2 72.2 2000 144400 SMC PREF 2I 72.6 72.95 73 73 72.95 72.95 529950 38685152.5 14590

PHIL. DEPOSITARY RECEIPTS ABS HLDG PDR GMA HLDG PDR

20.1 5.66

20.4 5.81

20 5.78

20.4 5.8

20 5.78

20.1 5.8

22600 73400

453650 425225

WARRANTS LR WARRANT

1.93

SMALL & MEDIUM ENTERPRISES ITALPINAS XURPAS

4.9 1.48

1.96

1.96

1.96

1.96

1.96

5000

9800

-

4.92 1.49

4.89 1.53

4.9 1.58

4.76 1.47

4.9 1.48

390000 48125000

1882290 73533080

-14400 1362190

EXHANGE TRADE FUNDS FIRST METRO ETF

117.8

285446

118

118.5

118.5

117.7

117.8

10070

1188608

-

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Banking&Finance BusinessMirror

Govt seeks funds anew via retail Treasury bonds

T

By Rea Cu

@ReaCuBM

HE Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) will be offering fiveyear retail Treasury bonds (RTBs) on February 26 marking the start of the government’s funding exercise for this year.

T he not ice i s sue d b y t he BTr on Thursday said the RTBs w i l l have a n init ia l of fer of P30 billion.

The Treasur y’s rate-setting auction on February 26 will mark the start of the offer period for the security that ends March 8.

RTBs are made available to small investors for a minimum denomination of P5,000. The RTB tranche will mature in the year 2024.

Government securities eligible dealers are allowed to submit one bid per interest rate with a

maximum volume of P10 billion.

“The RTB sale is part of our funding program,” National Treasurer Rosalia de Leon said. “This is also to enable small investors [to have] access to government securities.”

The BTr has offered a new online ordering facility for the RTB sale, to enable more investors to partake in the fund-raising exercise through the Land Bank of the Philippines (Land Bank) and Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) web sites.

In May 2018, the Treasury awarded P66 billion in its initial auction for three-year RTBs from the P30 billion on offer, at a coupon rate of 4.875 percent, on the back of a very liquid system.

De Leon said the auction committee is pleased with the turn-

out of the first-day auction for the 21st RTB, as tenders rose to P92.788 billion prompting the Treasury to award P66 billion, from the P30 billion on offer at a coupon rate of 4.875 percent.

At the end of the offer period on June 8, the BTr issued a total of P121.8 billion for the threeyear RTB. T he LandBank was named lead bank for the 21st RTB issu a nce wh i le t he DBP, BDO Capital & Investment Corp., the Bank of the Philippine Islands Capita l Cor p., Secur it y Bank Capital, and the Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. were named issue managers.

RTBs are medium- to long-term investments issued by the Philippine government offered to small investors.

Local unit of European insurer expects growth in election year

T

HE Philippine subsidiary of Munich, Germany-headquartered Allianz SE expects factors for growth, rather than risks, would bode well for insurers this year.

This optimism was expressed

by Allianz PNB Life Insurance Inc. (Allianz PNB Life) President and CEO Olaf Kliesow during the firm’s celebration of its partnership with Philippine National Bank (PNB). Allianz and PNB entered into a 15-year bancassurance partnership in 2016. “ We ex pect to continue to grow above market. We see an-

other strong year for the Philippine insurance market coming up,” K liesow said on Wednesday. “Two years ago, we had an 11-percent growth. Last year, probably something around 15 percent; I would expect for 2019, where the macroeconomic environment has been improving so far. And it’s an election year [this year].”

K l iesow f u r t her sa id t h at complementing the elections as growth driver is the “Philippines’s young population, as well as the opportunities that are being presented by the country’s

low insurance penetration rate.” “ T h at ’s why I be l ie ve t he macroeconomic outlook would be better: inf lation is coming down and that’s what we expect throughout 2019,” he said. “And the other big driver is the demographics and it’s also something that doesn’t change quickly. So you have a young population that is growing; you have the middle class.”

He added the company believes there is still a huge need for insurance in the country, as insurance penetration remains at only 1.7 percent as of third

Associations as thought leaders

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POST I read in the Associations Now magazine web site, written by Allison Torres Burtka, is on “How Associations can be Thought Leaders.” Allow me to share this with you today.

A thought leader, according to Wiktionary, is a person, organization, or a publication regarded as an authoritative source of new ideas or intellectual trends.

“As an individual, a thought leader is a professional who is deeply embedded in his/her field and who regularly communicates his/ her knowledge, intelligence, and insight out to the overall industry—and associations can be broader extensions of that,” said Jason Meyers, senior director of content strategy at SmithBucklin, a Chicago-based association management company.

Associations that are thought leaders are recognized as experts in their field and authoritative sources of knowledge. Many associations have this type of knowledge but share it only internally.

“There’s so much intelligence and insight about professions that exist within the membership of associations—it’s just a matter of figuring out the best way of capturing, conveying and communicating all of that out to other members, as well as to the industry overall,” Meyers added. He suggests the following for an association to boost its knowledge community and become a thought leader: Establish some kind of “industry-facing platform” that gives your association an opportunity to showcase the thought leadership of members, such as through speaking opportunities at conferences, online content hubs, blogs and publications.

Make “members-only” publications into something that would be more broadly accessible to the industry and the profession that your association represent overall, for the purposes of both positioning yourself as a thought leader and educating the larger industry about what you offer.

Be more open about sharing knowledge and expertise beyond your members and shift toward a more online-focused publishing strategy. Many associations have seen that it’s more beneficial for their organization to “un-gate” their content and open up their thought leadership to a broader audience. This doesn’t mean, however, that everything needs to be shared,

Association World

Octavio Peralta but opening up more of it can help educate the industry.

Create a committee of members who are very interested in the concept of content and thought leadership and understand the expertise that their peers have. These committees can help identify the best possible people to contribute an article or do an interview on certain subjects.

These actions can also attract new members who value your association’s thought leadership.

“If I’m a professional in a given industry or sector, I want to be recognized as an expert in my field, and one way to do that is to be affiliated with this association of experts,” Meyers said.

Finally, Meyers cited that in thought leadership, frequency is important. So the association should endeavor to publish articles or to have staff and members speak at conferences on a regular basis. While not everyone has the time or inclination to write a long article, a mix of formats can work well, such as videos, podcasts, interviews, case studies that staff can prepare and articles that members might write. There are lots of different ways to draw intelligence out of members and get it published and disseminated out there.

The contributor, Octavio ‘Bobby ’ Peralta, is concurrently the secretary-general of the Association of Development Financing Institutions in Asia and the Pacific (ADFIAP), founder and CEO of the Philippine Council of Associations and Association Executives (PCAAE) and president of the Asia-Pacific Federation of Association Organizations (APFAO).

PCAAE is holding a conference on branding, marketing, PR and communications on March 21, 2019 at the Philippine International Convention Center.

PCAAE enjoys the support of ADFIAP, the Tourism Promotions Board and the PICC. Email: obp@adfiap.org

quarter of 2018.

“That’s the highest penetration the Philippines has ever seen as of third quarter.”

According to the Insurance Commission, Allianz PNB Life’s premium income grew 95.6 percent to P5.30 billion in 2017, from P2.71 billion in 2016. This was more than double the average industry growth rate of only 11 percent.

“We opened 2019 with a deliberate campaign to make [each] PNB client and depositor ask about insurance,” Kliesow said in his speech. Rea Cu

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Maximize opportunities in amended Corporation Code, young Pinoys told

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OLLOWING the signing of a law updating the decades-old Corporation Code, 1-Ang Edukasyon Party-list Rep. Salvador B. Belaro Jr. encouraged students to become entrepreneurs.

Belaro, one of the principal authors of the amended law, said students at least 18 years old and studying in senior high school or college can soon establish their own companies.

The lawmaker said this could be accomplished because the amended Corporation Code now allows the creation of one-person corporations and removes the minimum capitalization requirements enshrined in the old law.

According to Belaro, students can avail themselves of microloans for start-up capital from the Small Business Corp. of the Department of Trade and Industry, or from any microfinance conduits accredited by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

Belaro also said starting a business will no longer be just practice sets, on-the-job training, or through a practicum program because the amended Corporation Code can let them become entrepreneurs who deal with the hard realities of owning and running a business.

The bill’s principal coauthor, House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability Chairman Xavier Jesus D. Romualdo, said the law will allow corporations in the Philippines to respond to and meet the needs and realities of the present times.

“Our Corporation Code was enacted in 1980,” Romualdo said.

“Obviously, much has changed in how the world does business, communicates and undertakes commercial transactions over the last 38 years.”

He added that by updating and modernizing the main

Dominguez wants American as World Bank president for stronger link with ADB

INANCE Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said he is supporting the nomination of United States Treasury Undersecretary David R. Malpass as the new president of the World Bank, citing his leadership would be a good opportunity for the multilateral institution to work closely with the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

Dominguez said that with Malpass leading reforms from the World Bank, a close collaboration between the two lenders would strengthen the global financial reform agenda in Asia Pacific.

This will also allow both institutions to build on each other’s strengths, added Dominguez, who currently serves as the governor for the Philippines in the board of governors of the World Bank Group.

A statement said Dominguez called Malpass on Thursday morning and informed him of his proposal. Dominguez told Malpass he wants the ADB to “reinvent itself and to realign its programs to meet new realities.”

The secretary of the Department of Finance first broached the proposal when he was in Yokohama, Japan, for the ADB’s 50th annual meeting in 2017. He said he brought this up again when he was chairman of the Bank’s board of governors for the 51st annual meeting in Manila last year.

Dominguez said a good opportunity exists for the World Bank and ADB to collaborate closely in the Asia-Pacific region, given the ADB’s operational efficiencies and strong balance sheet, its in-depth knowledge and understanding of the region and the culture of its people because of its proximity, its sensitivity to the unique development needs of the region, and as a trusted brand in infrastructure finance.

“I want to congratulate you on your nomination and to let you know that we fully support your candidacy as president of the World Bank,” Dominguez said he told Malpass in a phone conversation.

Dominguez noted Malpass thanked him for the support and is looking forward to have further discussions with the finance chief on the Philippines’s development agenda.

Malpass, the US treasury undersecretary for international affairs, is American President Donald J. Trump’s nominee as World Bank president, replacing Jim-yong Kim, who resigned last month. Rea Cu

Friday, February 22, 2019

body of corporate law, the revised Corporation Code will encourage entrepreneurship and the creation of new businesses, contribute to ease of doing business, strengthen corporate governance, better protect the rights of stockholders, deter corporate abuse and fraud, and bolster anticorruption measures and the regulatory authority of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Recently signed into law by President Duterte, the revised Corporation Code aims to strengthen and simplify corporate governance standards for a more business-friendly environment.

The new Corporation Code will improve ease of doing business in the country by allowing a one-person corporation, removing the minimum capital requirement and providing for a perpetual existence of corporation.

Since the new code allows for a one-person corporation, local business owners and investors could also stop the practice of naming the entire household as incorporators simply to comply with the stringent requirement of the law.

Moreover, the new code also allows a one-person corporation to apply for loans and grants.

The new code also introduces provisions that seek to remove the minimum number of incorporators, permit the electronic filing of reportorial requirements and attendance in meetings via remote communication or in absentia, among others— practices that were not recognized in the old law.

It also aims to strengthen corporate governance standards and provide protection to minority stakeholders by requiring, among others, corporations vested with public interest to have independent directors. Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz

B4 Friday, February 22, 2019

FINANCIAL-INCLUSION LEADERS INAUGURATE FIRST ORADIAN COMMUNITY SUMMIT VILLAR WELCOMES MORE FARMERS TO MECHANIZATION, RICE-SEED PRODUCTION TRAINING COURSE

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EADERS from over 30 visionary financial institutions gathered at the New World Hotel in Makati City for Oradian’s first community summit to share experiences, know-how and global best practices in financial inclusion. More than 80 representatives of these financial institutions are engaged in knowledge-sharing, as well as celebrating their recent growth.

Driven by a shared vision, members of the Oradian community provide individuals with access to financial services in the most remote areas of the Philippines. These institutions deliver financial services through Oradian’s platform Instafin, a cloud-based core banking system that enables efficiency and growth. The summit emphasized the digital transformation journey that Oradian offers and included an interactive knowledge building session with attending members. The Oradian journey enables financial institutions to quickly go digital, reducing the need for costly manual processes and time-consuming administration while building internal capability with hands-on training.

“For us, customer success means ensuring customers achieve their desired outcomes using Oradian’s platform and services. Additionally, we empower financial institutions with methodology, knowledge and best practices to ensure the success of onboarding them to our platform. During the entire journey with our customers, we aim to predict changes in their environment by analyzing their business needs and offering services that help them achieve their strategic goals,” said Ivana Tomisic, Oradian head of global account management and customer support lead.

At the summit Oradian officially launched two of its recently added services: the Instafin field officer and Instafin messaging. The field officer is built specifically for the needs of financial institutions’ field officers who travel to hard-to-reach areas to provide financial services. Instafin messaging enables financial institutions to send messages directly and automatically to their clients detailing their account activity, which has been found to lead to stronger loan-portfolio performance as a result of better relationship engagement with clients.

“Cloud banking is fast-tracking our ability to provide more financial services to underserved individuals. Our business has seen outstanding results, the main benefits being our increasing operational efficiency and the quality of our data. With Oradian’s additional services, our field officers save 70 percent of their time to spend collecting data manually. Since partnering with Oradian, we have been able to focus our resources on developing our core business,” said Estrella Andres, vice president of ASHI, who presented their success story at the summit.

Earlier in February Cantilan Bank, whose representatives also participated at Oradian’s community summit, became the Philippines’s first financial institution regulated by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to leverage Oradian’s cloud-banking system. Cantilan Bank’s pioneering of cloud-based technology was supported by the Asian Development Bank. The successful partnership serves as a primary example for all participating financial institutions striving toward boosting financial inclusion and strengthening the community.

Within three years in the Philippines, Oradian has built a community of more than 45 visionary financial institutions in the Philippines that are embracing technology to reach the country’s bold financial inclusion targets and expand their client bases.

Said Antonio Separovic, cofounder and chief executive officer of Oradian, “Since our start, our vision has been to go beyond offering software. In executing this vision, we have grown side by side with many of you through strategic projects, ongoing community partnerships and truly delivering financial inclusion. In only four years, through our pioneering efforts, Oradian has established a dominant position in the market. Now, we are proud to be the first to provide cloud technology for a regulated bank in the Philippines....”

With a fully engaged audience of financial inclusion leaders, Oradian’s community summit enabled unprecedented knowledge sharing that will bring global best practices to underserved communities throughout rural provinces.

EN. Cynthia Villar led the opening of the training course on rice-farm mechanization, and inbred and riceseed production at the Villar Social Institute for Poverty Alleviation and Governance (Villar Sipag) farm school in Bacoor, Cavite.

Villar, chairman of the Committee on Agriculture and Food, said training the farmers how to mechanize farming practices and produce certified inbred seeds will address the need to lower the production cost of growing palay.

“Through this training program, we are preparing our farmers to switch to the modern way of farming and help them to be able to compete against imported rice, which will start coming in as a result of the expiration of the quantitative restriction on rice, prescribed by WTO,” Villar said.

Thetrainingprogramwasconductedfor free in partnership with the Philippine Rice Research Institute(PhilRice), thePhilippine Center for Post-Harvest Development and Mechanization (PhilMech) and the Agricultural Training Institute (ATI).

T hirt y-five farmers from the Cordillera Autonomous Region and Regions 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 are the participants in this nine-day training program. The first phase was conducted from February 4 to 7, and the second phase happened from February 11 to 15.

After the program, participants are

expected to acquire the knowledge that will help improve farm yield through mechanization and production of highquality inbred seeds.

“Once they graduate from the course, the participants are expected to also share their learnings in their respective communities and help us transform more farmers into seed growers engaged in seed production and trade,” Villar added.

Under the rice tariffication bill, which

is now submitted for President Duterte’s signature, among the programs which will be funded by the P10-billion rice competitiveness enhancement fund, is the development, propagation and promotion of inbred rice seeds to farmers, as well as farm mechanization programs.

Alongthisline,VillarSipagpartneredwith PhilRice, PhilMech and ATI to conduct the training course on rice-farm mechanization, and inbred and rice-seed production.

MILLIONS UP FOR GRABS IN CASHANDOG

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PDATING one’s contact details could end up in a multimillion-peso bonanza. Insular Life (InLife) recently relaunches Cashandog that aims to get policyholders updates on their contact information and compliance requirements.

10 policyholders will win P5,000 each in the monthly raffle draw. Monthly draws will run for 22 months until the grand raffle in November 2020, where P1.1 million cash prize will be at stake.

In addition to the regular monthly draw, policyholders are also entitled to participate in the Supra Cashandog. They simply have to choose six unique numbers from 1 to 40, which will become their raffle entry for the monthly draws. P100,000 cash prize shall be given away monthly.

Six numbers will be drawn to determine the winning six number combination for the month. If the drawn number combination does not match

any Supra Cashandog raffle entry, the monthly prize will be added to the next month’s prize, which could potentially accumulate up to P2.2 million on its grand raffle draw in November 2020.

If you are a policyholder of Inlife, simply fill up and submit a customer information and compliance form (CICF) and you are in for the chance to be one of the lucky winners of P5 million total cash prizes, tax free!

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URHAM, North Carolina—Freshman sensation Zion Williamson was knocked out of the North Carolina-Duke rivalry game with a knee sprain after his Nike shoe blew out during the top-ranked Blue Devils’ opening possession on Wednesday night.

While describing the sprain as mild and the knee as stable, Coach Mike Krzyzewski said he doesn’t know how much time Williamson will miss.

Williamson grabbed his right knee in pain after slipping awkwardly and falling when his left shoe fell apart as he planted hard while dribbling near the free-throw line. The blue rubber sole ripped loose from the white shoe from the heel to the toes along the outside edge, with Williamson’s foot coming all the way through the large gap.

Nike said in a statement that it was “concerned” and wished Williamson a speedy recovery. It said it was “working to identify the issue.”

Williamson, the ACC’s secondleading scorer at 22.4 points per game and arguably the most exciting player in college basketball, walked off with a slight limp but under his own power before heading back to the locker room with no shoes on his feet.

No. 8 North Carolina took advantage of Williamson’s absence to beat the Blue Devils, 88-72.

Duke is four years into a 12-year deal with Nike as the exclusive supplier of uniforms, shoes and apparel. The private school didn’t disclose terms of the 2015 contract extension.

Nike has had an exclusive deal with the university since 1992. AP

The blue rubber sole of the Nike shoes ripped loose from the white shoe from the heel to the toes along the outside edge, with Zion Williamson’s foot coming all the way through the large gap.

Sports BusinessMirror

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| Friday, February 22, 2019 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

DUKE star Williamson sprains knee after Nike shoe blows out. AP

BREAKDANCING IN OLYMPICS? W ORLD DanceSport Federation (WDSF) President Shawn Tay has admitted the potential inclusion of breakdancing at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris would be a “fantastic achievement.”

Breakdancing, otherwise known as breaking, has emerged as a serious contender to be included in the Paris 2024 program as an additional sport.

Paris 2024, like Tokyo 2020, will be able to add their preferred sports to the core sports on the program.

French media reports have suggested sport climbing, skateboarding and surfing could retain their places, having been among five sports added for Tokyo 2020, along with baseball/ softball and karate.

Breakdancing has also been heavily touted for inclusion.

In an e-mail to member-federations, seen by insidethegames, Tay conceded breakdancing currently is their best chance of having a discipline included as a medal event at the Olympic Games.

He called on members to celebrate the discipline’s potential addition to the program and suggested inclusion could be a platform to have further dance sport events added in the future.

“The WDSF strongly believes that we are a reliable and perfect partner in the Olympic Movement that can add significant value at low cost to the IOC [International Olympic Committee] and a Summer Olympic Games,” Tay wrote.

“Should breaking eventually be included in the Paris 2024 Olympic program, it would be a fantastic achievement.

“New doors would open, visibility of all of our activities would increase significantly, and we could prove the value of our dance sport community in its entirety, as well as further build valuable relationships with NOCs [national Olympic committees] and national governments for the good of our beautiful sport.

“We have the vision that it will also be possible for other disciplines to be included in the Olympic program at a later stage.

“At this point in time, there is no doubt that breaking has the best chance of being considered as a medal event at a Summer Olympic Games.

“For all of us with the vision of getting our sport officially featured at the Games, let us celebrate breaking’s possible inclusion and continue to work hard for the development of our other disciplines.

“Rest reassured that the WDSF Presidium is fully committed to do so.

“Colleagues, this is a very important time in the history of our sport and we need to show how well we can all work together.”

A proposal for breakdancing’s inclusion was put forward by the French Dance Sport Federation led by Charles Ferreira.

Breakdancing’s prospects are believed to have been boosted by the sport’s appearance at last year’s Summer Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires.

The Games in Argentina’s capital city marked the sport’s debut at an Olympic competition.

Potential inclusion of breakdancing would appear to chime with the IOC’s efforts to ensure the Games appeal to young people and continue the urbanization of sport.

When the sport was added to Buenos Aires 2018, alongside karate and sport climbing, the trio were hailed by the IOC as “emerging, universal and urban sports with a significant youth appeal.”

A first Olympic “digital” qualification process was used to find breakdancing competitors for Buenos Aires 2018, where athletes upload videos of their breakdancing routines.

A row did emerge in the buildup to the Games when a Lebanese-Armenian breakdancer accused the WDSF of exploiting breakdancing as a “Trojan horse” to “get its foot in the door of the Olympics”.

The WDSF responded by claiming they were

collaborating with a number of organizations in competitive breakdancing to ensure communities’ voices were being heard in the buildup to the Youth Olympics.

A similar row could yet emerge should the sport be included at Paris 2024, with Erwin Mahroug, president of breakdancing media company bboyworld, having claimed the breakdancing community had not been involved in any attempts to include it at Paris 2024.

The company, which claims it has over 5 million subscribers, helped in the selection of breakdancers at Buenos Aires 2018.

Mahroug called for a meeting with the IOC, having claimed the breakdancing community do not have a vote within any national governing body or the WDSF, while they claim to have no ability to present to the IOC. The dispute over who represents breakdancing appears reminiscent of the fractious debate over skateboarding prior to its inclusion in the Tokyo 2020 program.

The International Roller Sports Federation (FIRS) led skateboarding’s bid for inclusion, despite the International Skateboarding Federation (ISF) and the World Skateboarding Federation claiming to run the sport.

FIRS and ISF later merged to form World Skate, who are overseeing the sport’s debut at Tokyo 2020.

Squash is among the sports to have sought inclusion at Paris 2024 having campaigned for Olympic inclusion for some time, having been rejected for London 2012, Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020.

Other sports to have already launched campaigns for inclusion include snooker, chess and the electric motorcycling format Trial-E. Insidethegames

FORMER President Barack Obama and Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry address the My Brother’s Keeper Alliance Summit in Oakland on Tuesday. AP

Obama, Curry tell minority boys ‘you matter’ O

BREAKDANCING, otherwise known as breaking, has emerged as a serious contender to be included in the Paris 2024 program as an additional medal sport.

AKLAND, California—Former President Barack Obama and Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry told a roomful of minority boys on Tuesday that they matter and urged them to make the world a better place.

Obama was in Oakland, California, to mark the fifth anniversary of My Brother’s Keeper, an initiative he launched after the 2012 shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. The death of the African-American teen sparked protests over racial profiling.

The initiative was a call to communities to close opportunity gaps for minority boys, especially African-American, Latino and Native American boys, Obama said to roughly 100 boys attending the alliance’s first national gathering. The My Brother’s Keeper Alliance is part of the Obama Foundation.

“We had to be able to say to them, ‘you matter, we care about you, we believe in you and we are going to make sure that you have the opportunities and chances to move forward just like everybody else’,” Obama said.

Obama, who left office in 2017, was joined by basketball star Curry. The men spoke for about an hour, answering questions from the audience and joking around. They talked about lacking confidence or being aimless as teens.

Obama praised single mothers, including his own. He advised the boys to look for a mentor, and to find opportunities to guide others.

Curry joined the former president in praising the value of teamwork.

“What we do on the court and the joy that comes out of that is second to none,” he said, “because nothing great is done by yourself.”

The former president cracked up the audience, and Curry, when asked a question about being a man. He said that being a man is about being a good person, someone who is responsible, reliable, hardworking and compassionate. Being a man, he said, is not about life as portrayed in some rap or hip-hop music.

“If you are very confident about your sexuality, you don’t have to have eight women around you twerking,” he said to applause. “’Cause I’ve got one woman who I’m very happy with. And she’s a strong woman.” AP

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TOP JUNIORS HONORED T

WO budding protégés in tennis and chess have been chosen as the Milo Junior Male and Female Athlete of the Year in the San Miguel Corp.Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) Annual Awards Night at the Centennial Hall of the Manila Hotel.

Tennis player Alexandra Eala and chess wizard Daniel Quizon are the latest recipients of the award traditionally handed out by Milo in partnership with the country’s oldest media organization.

Eala is 13 years old and formerly from Colegio de San Agustin who earned a full-time scholarship at the Rafael Nadal Academy in

Spain where she is an eighth grader.

The highlight of her 2018 campaign came in France where she won the Les Petits As, earning for her a wild card in the Roland Garros Junior French Championships.

Quizon is 14 from Dasmariñas, Cavite.

He earned an International Master title after ruling the Eastern Asian Juniors Open Championships in South Korea.

Although he finished only second to compatriot John Marvin Miciano in the Asian Youth Championships in Chiang Mai, Thailand, Quizon made a ripple in the tournament after he stunned top seed Tran

Super Crunch untangle Heroes, Capitals turn back Imus cagers

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Tuan Minh of Vietnam in the second round.

Both Eala and Quizon’s feats were earned through hard work and discipline and at the same time, are living proofs that great things start from small beginnings.

As Milo Junior Male and Female Athletes of the Year, both will be receiving a year’s supply of Milo products.

At the same time, PSA President’s Awardee National University Lady Bulldogs will receive the first-ever Milo Nutri Up Your Galing Recognition during the February 26 event also presented by Milo, the Philippine Sports Commission and Cignal TV. The unbeaten Lady Bulldogs will

be cited for their excellence in displaying adult level energy to ensure claiming their fifth straight University Athletic Association of the Philippines women’s basketball championship. For their feat, the entire team will also receive a month’s supply of Milo Nutri Up for adults.

Eala and Quizon will join 73 others in the year’s honor roll bannered by coAthlete of the Year winners Hidilyn Diaz, Margielyn Didal and golfers Yuka Saso, Bianca Pagdanganan and Lois Kaye Go.

as commissioner.

Makati now carries a 20-4 won-lost card and the team wraps up the eliminations against Quezon City.

Quezon City, meanwhile, bounced back from a mediocre performance in its previous game with an inspiring 80-71 triumph over Imus also on Wednesday night.

The Black Mamba Energy Drink-sponsored Capitals firmed up their hold of sixth spot with an 11-11 record in the northern division.

Jay Collado and Hesed Gabo each had a

double-double for Quezon City, and so did Mon Mabayo.

Collado, the team’s premier big man, finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Gabo, on the other hand, had 14 points on top of 11 assists, but it was Mabayo’s stepped up performance that proved to be a much-needed lift for the Capitals.

Mabayo had 13 points and six rebounds.

“We really needed this one. Right now, we’re at No. 6 and hopefully, we could move farther,” Quezon City Coach Vis Valencia said.

HE Makati Super Crunch made mincemeat of the Laguna Heroes, 76-65, to extend their unbeaten run to 14 games in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League Datu Cup on Wednesday night at the Blue Eagle Gym in Quezon City.

The win allowed Makati to vault back to the second spot in the northern division of the tournament organized by Sen. Manny Pacquiao with Philippine Basketball Association legend and former Most Valuable Player Kenneth Duremdes serving

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Youth five faces tough challenge in Greece

HE national youth basketball team faces a tall order in the 2019 Fiba Under-19 World Cup in Heraklion, Greece, in June.

The Philippines is bracketed in Group C along with host Greece, Argentina and Russia in the four-group tournament set from June 29 to July 7.

The national squad made the worlds by finishing fourth place in the Fiba U18 Asian Championships last August in Thailand. The

other qualifiers are champion Australia, second-place New Zealand and third-place China.

Kai Sotto remains as the main weapon of the team. At 7-foot-2, Sotto is joined by a fellow giant, 6-foot-10 AJ Edu. Also on the team are Dalph Panopio and Dave Ildefonso.

Ranked 30th in the world, the Filipinos will have its hand full against the No. 9 Argentina, No. 15 Greece and No. 19 Russia.

The boys will first face Greece on June 29, followed by Argentina the next day and Russia on July 2.

The country is competing in the Under-19

world championships for the first time since 1979.

Ramon Rafael Bonilla KAI SOTTO will have to level up in Under-19 World Cup.

LIZLEE ANN PANTONE and Shola Alvarez keep the ball alive for PLDT.

WILSON, PAAT LIFT HD SPIKERS PAST P.L.D.T. GALS IN SUPERLIGA

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MPORT Erica Wilson and local star Mylene Paat delivered the goods as Cignal swept PLDT Home Fibr, 25-22, 27-25, 25-19, for its first win in the Philippine Superliga Grand Prix on Thursday at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan.

Wilson shone with 21 points on 15 kills, five service aces and a block for the HD Spikers, who bounced back from a sluggish start in the women’s club tournament that has ESPN5 and 5Plus as broadcast partners.

Paat, a national team mainstay, chipped in 12 spikes, five blocks

and two aces for 19 points, while Rachel Anne Daquis and Anastasia Artemeva delivered nine and five points, respectively.

“We adjusted Ana‘s position. At first she was hesitant, but she was very professional and did her best and followed my instructions,” said Cignal Head Coach Edgar Barroga, who moved his Azerbaijani guest player to the middle spot to give Paat bigger room to operate at the opposite.

“For Erica, I don’t have any problem because she will always do what she has to for the team.”

The HD Spikers erased a 7-11 deficit in the third set, as they unloaded six straight points for a 13-11 turnaround before PLDT threatened at 22-19.

But Paat came to the rescue with a strong hit and back-to-back aces to seal their first victory.

Grace Lazard carried the cudgels with 15 points, while other import Kendra Dahlke and Shola Alvarez added eight and seven points, respectively, for PLDT, which fell to 0-2 wonlost.

SOLONS PRAISE P.S.T.C.

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Net series goes to Kidapawan

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OUR aces from Zamboanga seek to steal the show from the locals, as action in the Palawan Pawnshop-Palawan Express Pera Padala (PPS-PEPP) national age-group tennis circuit shifts to Kidapawan City on Friday at the Kidapawan City Tennis Club in Cotabato.

Multititled Sydney Enriquez, Rica Labrador and Marlyn Mesiona banner the Zambo squad’s title drive in girls’ singles play, while Eric Tangub braces for a fierce challenge in the boys’ 16- and 18-under divisions, where he is the top seed, in the Group 2 tournament dubbed as the President Ronald Barrios Cup presented by Dunlop.

Enriquez and Labrador also topbill the main two categories, while Mesiona vies in the 10-under unisex and 12-under sides of the five-day event serving as the fourth of the six-leg Mindanao swing of the nationwide circuit put up by PPS-PEPP headed by President and CEO Bobby Castro.

Zkyla Cervantes, meanwhile, hopes to ride the momentum of her two victories in last week’s PPSPEPP stop in Kabacan, joining Labrador and Enriquez in the title hunt along with Ysay Ysulat, Zhela Zaldivar, Princess Haro, Sheloh Ripdos and Pauline Binoya.

Cervantes, from Alamada, leads the locals’ charge along with Reyman Saldivar Jr., Ben Flores, Yusuf Maldo, Cian Ramirez and Ysulat from Kabacan, Jeanne Rayray from Midsayap, Rey Napala from General Santos, Herald Aton from Kidapawan and Pete Mateo from Tupi.

Like his fellow fancied Zambo bets, Tangub also expects a tough outing in his side of the battle with Bruce Hurtado, Herald Aton, Kurt Haro, Yassan Al Anazi, JV Comendador, Joross Manangking and Rey Napala tipped to step up in the 18-under side, and Reyman Saldivar Jr. joining the likes of Manangking, Aton and Kurt Haro in the 16-under play of the event sanctioned by the Unified Tennis Philippines made up of PPS-PEPP, Cebuana Lhuillier, Wilson, Toby’s, Dunlop, Slazenger and B-MEG.

EELECTIONIST Sen. Sonny Angara vowed continued strong backing to the sports sector and more support for Filipino athletes following the enactment of a law creating the Philippine Sports Training Center (PSTC), which he vigorously pushed in the Senate.

1Pacman Party-list Rep. Mikee Romero on Thursday also thanked President Duterte for signing the law creating the Philippine Sports Training Center (PSTC), which will greatly help national athletes realize their dreams of winning the ultimate prize—an Olympic gold.

“We will continue to listen to views of athletes, coaches and people in the sports sector and respond proactively, with a view to providing the strongest support to Filipino athletes, who, despite being deprived of world-class training facilities, still managed to bring honor and pride to the country,” Angara said.

Angara issued the statement after the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) thanked him for his instrumental role in bringing the PSTC to fruition with the signing into law of Republic Act 11214 by President Duterte.

The senator said he was “overwhelmed by the kind words” he received from the PSC, through its chairman, William Ramirez.

In his letter to Angara, Ramirez extended the PSC’s “sincerest gratitude” to the senator for “staunchly supporting our goal and vision to

produce world-class Filipino athletes with the creation of the [PSTC].”

“As the chairman of Senate Committee on Sports during the 16th Congress and a believer in the capability of Filipino athletes, both abled and differently abled, this is just one in the long list of support the sports community has received from you and your office,” Ramirez said.

“It’s a dream cometrue for our national athletes because, in two years’ time, they will have a modern sports facility that is at par with some of the best in the world,” Romero said. “Certainly, this is one of the landmark sports projects under the administration of President Duterte.”

The construction of the state-of-the-art sports complex is in line with the government’s policy “to promote and develop sports in the country.”

“Everything about the PSTC must be a labor of love, graft- and corruption-free and must meet world-class standards,” said Romero, who was joined by Philippine Olympic Committee Chairman and Tagaytay Rep. Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino and Manila Rep. Manny Lopez in rallying behind the PSTC. It will cater to athletes in archery, athletics, badminton, baseball, basketball, beach volleyball, bowling, taekwondo, karate, judo, wrestling, cycling (velodrome), dancesport, football, gymnastics, handball, lawn tennis, sepak takraw, shooting, softball, squash, swimming, table tennis, volleyball, wall climbing, water polo and weightlifting.

BABY TAMS BAG FOOTBALL TITLE

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AR Eastern University (FEU)-Diliman turned to Pocholo Bugas in scoring a 1-0 victory over National University (NU) to snatch its ninth straight crown in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines Season 81 juniors football championship on Thursday at the Moro Lorenzo Field.

After two scoreless draws between both squads in the eliminations, the Baby Tamaraws came up with a breakthrough win to underscore their domination of the league.

With a one touch, Bugas struck in the 16th minute—his seventh in the tournament that was all FEU-Diliman needed to top the series.

In the men’s division, University of the East

earned its first full point of the season with a shock 1-0 win over Ateneo, while Adamson University claimed its second straight draw, 1-1, with University of Santo Tomas.

Joshua Polinag’s header from a well-executed corner kick by Mark Lerion in the seventh minute spelled the difference for the Red Warriors, who bounced back from last Sunday’s season-opening loss to the Growling Tigers.

The Blue Eagles tried for a late equalizer, but Red Warriors goalkeeper Frank Rieza made a fabulous save of an attacking Luca Alleje in the 89th minute.

Ateneo missed first choice goalkeeper AJ Arcilla to national team commitments.

orts

sMirror

Friday, February 22, 2019

SASO TRIUMPHS Y

UKA SASO played relentlessly and staved off all resistance from the talented field to keep the Champion Philippine Ladies Amateur Open crown in runaway fashion at the Manila Golf and Country Club in Forbes Park on Thursday.

No one got closer than three strokes to Saso, whose superb driving and near-impeccable irons earned her five birdies against a lone bogey to cruise to a fiveshot victory over Thailand’s Yosita Khawnuna at six-under 207 in the 54-hole championship.

“There’s nothing special with my win. I just played steady and I’m happy I made it for the second straight time,” said the reigning Asian Games gold medalist, who

surged ahead by three with backto-back 70s on Wednesday.

Khawnuna turned in a decent 69 but just couldn’t keep pace with the unflappable Fil-Japanese, who birdied Nos. 4 and 6 then added three more at the back against a bogey.

The Thai, who tied Saso and Mafy Singson after 18 holes but fell behind by three in the second round, wound up with a 212.

Sofia Chabon also stayed in the background all throughout in the featured flight and failed to get her game going to finish with a 70 for third with 215 in the event organized and conducted by the Women’s Golf Association of the Philippines.

Chantee Wannasaen placed fourth at 217 after a 73, while

compatriot Natthakritta Vongtaveelap shot a 72 for fifth at 223.

Australia’s Olivia Kerr shared the spotlight by claiming the Class A crown with a 252, while Ina Guingona took the Class B plum with a 281.

Saso’s victory was in stark contrast to her previous win at the Orchard last year where she rallied from three down to beat Mikha Fortuna by two. And it will surely boost her confidence as she goes up against an elite field, including world No. 2 Sung Hyun Park, in the inaugural The Country Club (TCC) Ladies Invitational from March 6 to 8.

“This is a big morale boost heading to the TCC Ladies,” Saso said. “I hope to make it.”

PAL INTERCLUB IN 4 CEBU COURSES I N a very rare instance, this year’s staging of the prestigious Philippine Airlines Interclub championships will be played over four courses in the Queen City of the South starting with Senior play on February 27.

Canlubang will be shooting for yet another title in the 55-over division by bringing back the multititled Tommy Manotoc and the Sugar Barons will be contending with perennial rival Luisita in two layouts that are very similar in character.

Alta Vista and Club Filipino de Cebu in Danao will be the site of Senior action, with both courses carved out of mountains where precision off the tees and accurate approaches will be the premium.

The Barons won coming from behind in

Bacolod last year even with Manotoc missing in the team for the second straight year because of family commitments in the United States.

Manila Southwoods will be shooting to equal an Interclub record fifth Championship Division title in Men’s play starting on March 6.

Cebu Country Club (CCC), that exclusive layout in the heart of the city, and Mactan, an air force layout very near the city’s modern international airport, will be the host clubs for the centerpiece division.

The CCC and Mactan courses are traditional courses, with CCC again expected to determine the champion because of its difficult layout.

This year’s Interclub is sponsored by Asian Air Safari and Radio Mindanao Network. Also extending support are ABS-CBN Global Ltd.

(The Filipino Channel), Rolls-Royce, Primax Broadcasting Network, UM Broadcasting Network (Mindanao), Fox Sports, GECAS, Boeing and Lufthansa Technik AG. Official hotel is Quest Hotel Conference Center Cebu.

BCDA-MTD-PSA GOLF CUP II

Arrey Perez, Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) vice president for business development and deputy director general of the Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee, hits the ceremonial tee in the BCDA-MTD PhilippinesPhilippine Sportswriters Association Golf Cup II at the Mimosa Golf and Country Club in Clark, Pampanga, on Tuesday. NONIE REYES

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Thai takes charge in PGT Q-School

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HAILAND’S Tawan Phongpun surged past Spain’s Marcos Pastor despite a faltering finish, shooting a 67 and zeroing in on top honors in the 2019 Philippine Golf Tour (PGT) Qualifying School for foreign players at Splendido Taal Golf Club in Laurel, Batangas, yesterday.

Phongpun actually bucked a shaky start and a wobbly finish with a sparkling run in a 12hole stretch from No. 2 that saw him gun down seven birdies that cushioned the impact of his bogey-bogey struggle from No. 14.

But his 32-35 card proved enough to put him in the lead at 211 heading to the final 18 holes of the 72-hole elims where the top 17 plus ties will earn Category 6 spots in the 2019 PGT starting fields of the circuit put up by the International Container Terminal Services Inc. The rest of the 41-player field, which survived the 36-hole eliminations, will settle for Category 8 berths.

Pastor, who took charge after 36 holes with 70-71, rallied with two birdies in the last seven holes to save a 72 for 213, while Japanese Kenichi Iwao moved to solo third at 215 after a 70.

Sean Talmadge of the US shot a 71 for fourth at 216, while Kei Matsuoka, also of Japan, pooled a 218 after a 71 followed by Thai Kammalas Namuangruk, who carded a 73 to tie Japanese Kei Takahasi, who limped with a 76, at sixth at 219.

Joe Kawada and Issei Mori fired identical 70s to firm up their respective bids for full playing rights at 221 with Korean Park Jun Hyeok, who turned in a 75, and Andy Kang of the US, who stumbled with a 76.

The new PGT season kicks off on April 22 with the rich The Country Club Invitational.

Kvitova, Halep advance in Dubai Championships

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UBAI, United Arab Emirates— Former champions Petra Kvitova and Simona Halep overcame windy conditions to reach the quarterfinals of the Dubai Championships on Wednesday.

The second-seeded Kvitova beat American Jennifer Brady, 7-5, 1-6, 6-3, despite struggling with her serve, while No. 3 Halep ousted Lesia Tsurenko of Ukraine, 6-3, 7-5.

A day after Naomi Osaka lost her first match since moving up to No. 1 in the Women’s Tennis Association rankings, fifth-seeded Angelique Kerber was also upset in a 5-7,6-4,6-0 loss to Hsieh Su-Wei of Taiwan.

Kvitova, the 2013 champion in Dubai, struggled badly in the second set when she failed to convert four break points in the opening game and then was broken twice to trail 4-0—double-faulting twice in each of those service games.

But the two-time Wimbledon champion saved two break points in the first game of the decider before breaking the American’s serve to take a decisive lead. After a 10th double-fault on her first match point, Kvitova sealed the win with a winner at the net.

“The wind was just terrible today, to be honest. It was really difficult to find a way with it,” Kvitova said. “I couldn’t really serve well today at all. It’s been [a] big struggle for me.”

Halep had fewer problems in earning her second win over Tsurenko in two weeks, after beating her at the Qatar Open as well. Although she did have to break back when Tsurenko served for the second set at 5-4, winning the final 12 points to seal the victory.

“I feel close to my highest level,” said Halep, the 2015 champion.

“My mindset now is just to finish the points as quick as possible. I’m trying to be more aggressive.... I’m more relaxed. I don’t put pressure on myself. Also I have no expectations.

When I feel that, I play better.”

Also, fourth-seeded Karolina Pliskova beat Alison Riske of the United States, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (5), and No. 6 Elina Svitolina breezed past Garbine Muguruza of Spain, 6-1, 6-2. AP

TIGER WOODS looks at Dustin Johnson as he tees up during a practice before the World Golf Championship-Mexico Championship at the Chapultepec Golf Club in Mexico City on Wednesday. AP

MERCEDES driver Lewis Hamilton stops at the team box during a preseason testing session at the Barcelona Catalunya racetrack in Montmelo, Barcelona. AP

Hamilton eyes stronger challenge from Ferrari

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BusinessMirror

FORMER champion Petra Kvitova struggles, but prevails, in the strong Arab wind. AP

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ONTMELO, Spain—Ferrari’s early dominance in Formula One preseason testing has caught Lewis Hamilton’s attention.

Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc have been among the fastest drivers in the first week of testing in Spain, with the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas unable to keep pace.

Daniil Kvyat, back in F1 after a one-year absence, was the fastest in his Toro Rosso on the third of four test days at the Barcelona-Catalunya Circuit on Wednesday, ahead of former Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen, now with Alfa Romeo. Daniel Ricciardo was third with Renault, ahead of Vettel.

“Ferrari are very, very strong right now,” said Hamilton, who was 12th fastest, just behind Bottas. “As you have seen, they are racking up great mileage as well, and it appears that they have a better package than they had last year, which means it is going to be even more of a challenge for us this year.”

Hamilton won his fifth world title last year, beating Vettel and Raikkonen in the drivers’ championship.

Sports

| Friday, February 22, 2019 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

“Ferrari always looks particularly strong, for the last few years they have looked very strong, so that is to be expected,” Hamilton said. “For us, we are just going about our process and trying to understand, so everyone is working incredibly hard.”

He said it’s too early to be overly concerned with the rival’s performance.

“It’s not a time when we need to focus on others, we let everyone else do their thing and really dig deep and focus on making sure our processes are better than ever before, that we are analyzing the data better than ever before and that from a driver’s point of view the feedback is more accurate than ever before,” Hamilton said. “That is what we are trying to focus on and making sure we get through our run plans.”

There was some concern that Mercedes may lose ground this year because it didn’t do as well as Ferrari with the design of the new front wings, which are part of regulation changes for this upcoming season. Red Bull, which also is using a similar front-wing design to Mercedes, had Max Verstappen fifth-

quickest after 109 laps on Wednesday.

Kvyat’s time of one minute and 17.704 seconds was the fastest of the week. Raikkonen ran the most laps with 138, one more than Kvyat, and four more than Vettel.

Williams finally made it to the track after missing the first two days of testing because of delays with its 2019 car. Rookie George Russell managed only 23 laps and was the slowest driver of the day.

“It’s embarrassing not bringing a race car to a circuit when everyone else has managed to do that, particularly a team like ours that has managed to bring a race car to testing for the past 40-odd years,” Williams team principal Claire Williams said. “We can only apologize.”

There were three red flags on Wednesday, all prompted by problems with Haas cars.

Testing will continue through Thursday and then again from February 26 to March 1 at the Barcelona-Catalunya Circuit, home to the Spanish Grand Prix in May. The season-opening Australian GP is on March 17. AP

EXICO CITY—Two small openings on both sides of a tree-covered path were packed with fans young and old, some with caps they wanted signed, others holding phones to capture the moment. They were screaming one word that translates in any language at the Mexico Championship.

“Tiger!”

Tiger Woods eventually walked by on his way to the range at Chapultepec Golf Club, and the volume got louder.

He is used to receptions like this wherever he goes, particularly since he made a full return to golf last year and ended the season with his 80th career victory. Take him somewhere new, such as Bellerive for the Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) Championship or Innisbrook for the Valspar Championship, and it can feel like a rock concert.

This World Golf Championship brings another element. This is his first competition in Mexico.

“I’m sure the energy will be up, people will be excited,” Woods said on Wednesday. “I think yesterday was a closed day, but there was a lot of people out there, a lot of members and a lot of kids that somehow didn’t go to school. I’m sure it will be like that the rest of the week, and it will be a lot of fun for all of us.”

It certainly will be an experience for Abraham Ancer, who will play with Woods and Bryson DeChambeau the opening two rounds.

The Mexican player with the best world ranking gets into the 72-man field. Ancer, who grew up just south of the Texas border in Reynosa, played last year at No. 260 in the world. Now he is at No. 61, knowing he has an outside shot at cracking the top 50 in the world to earn a spot in the Masters.

He said he idolized Woods and

TIGER MANIA HITS MEXICO playing with him “will be something unforgettable.”

If he stands too close to DeChambeau, that might be unforgettable, too. Mexico City is at roughly 7,800 feet altitude, though that depends on the definition of altitude, for DeChambeau mentioned 9,000 feet.

So is 7,800 feet incorrect?

“Maybe,” DeChambeau said with a grin. “It’s more than just altitude. You could have an air pressure system that is like sea level coming through here and effectively change it. That’s what I mean by that.”

He also mentioned the slower decay of spin rate with no air resistance, but suffice to say the ball goes farther this week for everyone.

Ian Poulter was preparing to hit driver on the 316-yard opening hole on Wednesday when Dustin Johnson interrupted him.

“Isn’t that going to fly over the green?” Johnson said.

Poulter looked up and replied, “I don’t carry the ball 370 yards in the air.”

Johnson played the front nine with Woods, and they were joined by defending champion Phil Mickelson and Jon Rahm. It was the final day of practice, and yet the right side of the fairway looked like Sunday at Chapultepec last year. That’s the Tiger effect.

Mexico is the 21st country where Woods has competed, so he is used to the reaction from those seeing him for the first time.

Golf is still in its relative infancy in Mexico, though the appeal changes when one of the most recognizable athletes in the world is in town.

Security has increased this year, most of that because of Woods.

Grupo Salinas took over sponsorship of this WGC in the summer of 2016, when Woods was recovering from two back surgeries. There was no guarantee if his game would get back, so news

of his decision to play last week was massive for small sector of golf fans in Mexico.

“Tiger definitely moves the needle,” said Benjamin Salinas, the CEO of TV Azteca and lead voice for Grupo Salinas at the Mexico Championship. “When he announced he was coming, ticket sales leaped tenfold. He moves Mexico.”

Salinas announced two more chapters of The First Tee in Cancun and Puerto Vallarta, bringing the total to five chapters with the goal of one in every state. He said 100 boys and girls are involved, so it’s a slow start.

Next on his list of priorities is building public facilities, which at some point would require government help in a country that worships soccer, baseball and the NFL. But they all know Tiger.

“This event goes a long way to showcasing what the possibilities are,” Woods said. “After that, it’s trying to get access, trying to get the kids. We can get them excited about the game, but it becomes problematic when the excitement doesn’t really turn into participation.”

Excitement doesn’t appear to be an issue.

Woods hasn’t play in altitude in 20 years, at Castle Pines outside Denver, so there are adjustments to make for the air and a new golf course to learn.

Woods has a history of winning on courses familiar to him—42 of his 80 victories on the PGA Tour have come on seven courses.

But this World Golf Championship illustrates anew that at his best, Woods can win anywhere. He has won this event seven times on six courses—Valderrama in Spain (1999), Mount Juliet in Ireland, (2002), Capital City Club outside Atlanta (2003), Harding Park in San Francisco (2005), The Grove outside London (2006) and twice at Doral near Miami (2007, 2013). AP

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Forgiving God

EAR God, by the power of the Holy Spirit, You animate us to call upon your name. In hope we pray: Shine Your face on us, oh God. Confirm us in our vocation so we can bloom and flourish. Heal those who seek help for emotional, sexual or physical abuse so once more they become normal again.

Grant gifts of compassion and wisdom for teachers, counselors and spiritual companions. May God grant us holy perseverance in times of trial, wisdom in times of decision and faith in times of doubt, through Christ, our Shepherd. Amen.

GIVE US THIS DAY SHARED BY LUISA LACSON, HFL Word&Life Publications • teacherlouie1965@yahoo.com

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

Life

AP OSCAR PREDICTIONS: WHAT WILL WIN, WHAT SHOULD WIN D4

BusinessMirror

Friday, February 22, 2019

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NICHOLAS HOULT IS A HOLLYWOOD ‘FAVOURITE’

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ORN in Buckinghamshire, England, in 1989, actor Nicholas Hoult made his big screen debut at just seven years old, in the film Intimate Relations alongside Julie Walters and Rupert Graves. But the young actor’s real breakthrough came six years later when he played the key role of Marcus Brewer alongside Hugh Grant in 2002 comedy About a Boy, based on the hit novel

by Nick Hornby. The film was a worldwide box-office success and was nominated for an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay.

He has worked consistently since, with standout roles in the TV series Skins, and films including A Single Man, X-Men: First Class (and its two sequels), and Mad Max: Fury Road, transforming him into one of the most sought-after stars of his generation.

He plays Robert Harley in Yorgos Lanthimos’s The Favourite, one of the most widely praised films of 2018 which is now screening exclusively in Ayala Malls Cinemas, and leading the Oscar race with 10 nominations including Best Picture. The role demanded every ounce of Hoult’s theatricality as he embraced the outlandish costumes and big wigs of the dapperly dressed 1st Earl of Oxford, whose role as Queen Anne’s (Olivia Colman) chief minister puts him in direct conflict with Lady Sarah Churchill (Rachel Weisz) and the newest member of Anne’s court, Abigail Hill (Emma Stone).

What did you make of this script?

It was one of the best things I had ever read because it painted its world so well. You knew what you were stepping into. I could feel it within Yorgos’s mind, but what was interesting was it was the first time he was dealing with a real story. A period story.

He has created these strange, weird worlds of his own beforehand. So it was a departure to a degree, but it

definitely still felt within his universe.

Usually, with period drama, the writing can be quite dry and boring. That was not the case with this script, and how Tony (McNamara) had adapted it. It was very funny, sharp, dry and moving.

The movie is focused on this love and power triangle between these three women, and the male characters are kind of orbiting it. (Joe Alwyn’s character) Masham gets used in a romantic sense for gain for Emma’s character, and then my character is trying to forge his own political gains, but needs to try and navigate their connections to gain a foothold to get his voice heard. It is very much about grabbing who you can and trying to gain some sort of foothold.

Considering how well it fits Yorgos’s sensibilities, it is also surprisingly accurate, historically.

There were moments, I think, that Yorgos took an almost twisted pleasure out of staging. So you would bow to the Queen in a grand fashion, and then the rule was you were not allowed to turn your back on her as you left the room. So we would be in a room that was 40, 50-feet long, and there would be 30 of us, bowing to the Queen and shuffling out awkwardly and backwards. A lot of times when you get on a film set, that is the kind of detail you would cut away from; even if it was historically correct it would be too silly. But Yorgos leans right into it and embraces it.

Yorgos seems particularly interested in awkwardness and embarrassment. Is it challenging to lean into that?

I think it was helped by the rehearsal period that Yorgos set up. We had two weeks of rehearsal with the entire cast in the room. It was not about sitting

around talking about the period, the characters, the scenes, with highlighter pens out. It was about being silly in front of each other. There were a lot of strange, weird exercises and scene readings that made everyone feel comfortable with looking stupid in front of each other. That bond, in a sense, was built in those two weeks. So when you get to the set, you can jump in and be foolish.

How did you see your character, Harley?

He’s Machiavellian, dry, funny and very twisted.

I thought it would be so much fun to play him. But to be honest, I was not too aware of the era, and in the version of the script that I read there were few character descriptions. I went in and read with Yorgos for the audition, and then ended up at the readthrough a week later and met Nadia Stacey, who was the hair and makeup designer. She was like, “Has anyone spoken to you about your look for the movie?” I said, “No...Should they have?” And she goes, “Right, OK...I guess I’ll show you what we’re thinking.”

It was a bit of a whirlwind, then, being thrown into this world with Sandy Powell, the costume designer, who put me in 3-inch heels, and then the huge wigs and all this wonderful costume and makeup. It became more and more eccentric and more and more bizarre as we went on, and the personality was built up. He was meant to be a very snappy dresser for the time. It really all came together through that.

There was never really a moment of sitting down with Yorgos. I think at one point in the audition I had said, “What kind of thing do you imagine for this character?” He just said, “We’ll find out.” I think that was the only time we ever really spoke about him.

How would you describe your working relationship with Yorgos?

Well, he is not as mad as maybe his films would lead you to suspect. (Laughs) He is not mad at all. He is quite quiet, in fact. The wonderful thing is, if you hear nothing from Yorgos, you know you have done well.

He is not one of those directors that will come to you with endless praise. If he moves on, you know he got what he needed.

I remember one moment where he came up and said, “What kind of movie do you think this is?”

We went, “We are not entirely sure; we are still trying to work it out, to be honest with you.” He kind of thrives on that playfulness. You feel like it should not work; if most directors put actors in that position, you would feel quite vulnerable and maybe it would make you seize up. But it has the opposite effect with Yorgos, and he somehow manages to create an atmosphere where the playfulness and freedom that he gives you is precisely what makes the film what it is, and somehow you’re able to perform it just as he wants it to be.

And you let go, because it just would not work if you tried to fight it. There is no room for ego within the dynamic of this, which is lovely. It is liberating, really, to put your full faith in him and just go the way that feels right. You can get quite caught up in overthinking things, so this approach is quite clean in that sense.

How do you think the film will play with audiences?

What I love is how many moments there are that will really split the audience. Moments where some will laugh, and others will whimper at the same time.

It is what’s so brilliant about the film; it works either way. Even watching the film myself, knowing where it is going, I think, “Oh that’s funny, but it is also really tragic.” It’s a great contradiction. n

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Friday, February 22, 2019

Society BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

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Today’s Horoscope

By Eugenia Last

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Drew Barrymore, 44; Thomas Jane, 50; Jeri Ryan, 51; Kyle MacLachlan, 60.

SUYEN Corp. Business Development Vice President Bryan Lim (from left), Foodee Global Concepts COO Eric Dee, Foodee Global Concepts CEO Rikki Dee and Suyen Corp. Chairman Ben Chan

FOODEE Global Concepts CEO Rikki Dee (from left), Ayala Malls’ Mariana Zobel de Ayala, Beng Dee and Eric Dee

MON GONZALEZ (from left), Tweetie de Leon-Gonzalez, Beng Dee and Rikki Dee

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Search for opportunities. Put energy and enthusiasm into whatever you do. Turn this into an eventful year because of the actions you take. If something is worth going after, do so wholeheartedly.

Don’t end up having regrets because you didn’t follow through. Life is for living, not sitting back and letting it pass you by. Look, see and do. Your lucky numbers are 9, 15, 22, 27, 30, 34, 42.

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ARIES (March 21-April 19): A change may be your desire, but don’t leap before you look.

Get the lowdown, find out the facts and ward off making a mistake that will take a long time to reverse.

Trust in yourself and what you know, not hearsay. HHH

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TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Take on a challenge. Your energy and capacity to finish what you start will be hard to beat.

Change can be achieved that will make a difference to you and those you help. Romance will improve your personal life. HHH

MARCO PROTACIO (from left), de Leon-Gonzalez, Jackie Aquino, Jojie Dingcong, Keiki DOMINIC ROQUE (from left), Christiana Collings, Chloe Collings, Jessica Yang, Justin Tomoyose and Rey Lanada Ruth Gascon and Miles Ng

Getting Benched N O other local brand carries Filipino pride quite like Bench. With a diverse product line that crosses over seamlessly from retail to food, Bench has established itself as a champion of Filipino craftsmanship, style and— this past year—culinary heritage.

As the brand’s most recent innovation, dining concept restaurant Bench Café, celebrates its first anniversary at the Bench flagship store in Bonifacio High Street, it has also expanded through a second branch in Greenbelt 3.

A partnership between Foodee Global Concepts, one of Manila’s largest multi-brand food groups run by father-and-son tandem Rikki and Eric Dee, and Suyen Corp., headed by Chairman Ben Chan, President Virgilio Lim and Business Development

Vice President Bryan Lim, Bench Café is now a fullfledged restaurant with its second branch. With over three decades of experience under its belt, the Foodee group created a restaurant concept that was uniquely Bench, applying Suyen’s retail philosophies to what— in just a year—became a successful culinary venture.

Foodee Global Concepts Chief Operating Officer Eric Dee shares, “Bench Café brings traditions from all over the islands to create flavors that are distinctively Filipino, in a style that is uniquely Bench—casual but sophisticated, simple but substantial, local but global, all at good price points.

We are proud and happy to continue to partner with Suyen Corp. in Bench Café’s expansion and bringing its unique flavors to more Filipinos as we open our second restaurant in Greenbelt 3.” n

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GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Keep moving forward, and concentrate on what you can achieve. Refuse to let someone distract you or lead you astray. An emotional situation handled with care will help you avoid a costly mistake. Act with love and compassion, regardless of what others do. HHHH

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CANCER (June 21-July 22): Visit someone you don’t get to see very often, or reconnect with someone you miss. Share your thoughts and plans to see who is up for an adventure. It’s time to try something new and to revive your dreams. HH

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LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): You may feel you need a change, but before you begin, set a budget. Now is not the time to be excessive or to let others take advantage of your generosity. Don’t buy into someone’s fast-cash scheme. HHHH

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VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Don’t let a partner cost you. Surround yourself with people who can pay their own way and contribute to what you are trying to make happen.

Put more energy into accomplishing your goals and bringing about positive change. HHH

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LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): An emotional change will surface. Don’t let anyone interfere with what you feel is the best move you can make. Protect what’s yours, and take care of personal documents before it’s too late. Focus on health, happiness and peace of mind. HHH

RIKKI DEE and Ben Chan

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SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Go places that will inspire you. Collaborate with people you find creative and forwardthinking. Expand your mind, take care of your body and follow your intuition when dealing with money matters.

Romance will improve your personal life. HHH

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SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Listen carefully, then make up your own mind. A problem with someone close should not be left up to you to straighten out. Offer suggestions, but don’t offer to pay for someone else’s mistake. HHHH

KERI (from left) and Francis Zamora with daughter Amanda

CHAN (from left), Paolo Trillo, Dee and Rissa Mananquil- KAI LIM (from left), Victor Basa and Stephanie Dan Trillo

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CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Think about what you do. Refuse to let emotions override what you know in your heart is the right thing to do. Focus on making positive lifestyle changes that will ease stress and put an end to unfavorable situations.

HH

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AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Someone you least expect will make an innocent comment that will spark your interest and prompt you to make a personal change. An opportunity is good only if you take advantage of it. Step up and do your own thing. HHHHH

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PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Keep the personal changes you want to make a secret.

If you are too open regarding your plans, you will face interference. Emotional matters will surface if you don’t stick to the truth or you share personal information. HH LIM (from left), Kai Lim, Zobel de Ayala, AC Legarda and Raymart Santiago

BRYCE RAMOS (from left), Angelina Cruz, Chan, Leila Alcasid, Magui Ford and Andre Lagdameo

BIRTHDAY BABY: You are playful, inspiring and unique.

You are flexible and big-hearted.

‘special delivery’ BY MARK MCCLAIN The Universal Crossword/Edited by David Steinberg

ACROSS 1 Source of the “package” that traverses the grid via the starred answers 5 Quite often 9 Board, in “room and board” 14 Soon, poetically 15 Interstate rig 16 Give permission 17 Touching tenderly 19 Nick in Cape Fear 20 Hyundai alternative 21 Deep perception 23 Consumed 24 Baseball great Nolan 26 Hearing range 28 Work event?

32 Most expensive 35 Sense scents 39 Crazy, in Veracruz 40 Lacking color 43 Spoken 44 “Tag, ___ it!”

46 Former tiny music player 48 The Price Is Right host

1 Sicilian wine 5 54 “Famous” cookie guy 57 Lemon suffix 58 Four squared 62 Crafty laugh syllable 64 “If I Were a Rich Man” singer 66 Horror film shocker 68 Cloudless 69 NYC theater award 70 Fife’s partner 71 Provides aid 72 Unadorned 73 Destination of the package from 1-Across DOWN 1 Break into a system 2 Studio warning sign 3 Carnivorous eel 4 Kansas City-to-Chicago dir.

5 NBA division?: Abbr.

6 Luau garlands 7 Westin alternative 8 Striped Pooh friend 9 Meditative chants 10 “Strange Magic” grp.

1 Mullah’s deity 1 12 State fundraiser 13 ___ potato fries 18 Mideast peninsula 22 Consumed 25 Peace treaties 27 Thesaurus word 29 Stephen of V for Vendetta 30 Soviet capital?

31 Moral standard 32 Layer 33 Hopping Pooh friend 34 Grey’s Anatomy setting, briefly 36 A Gershwin 37 Portable cooler 38 Progressive pitcher 41 Gov. pollution watchdog 42 Neither partner 45 Whiteboard cleaners 47 College VIPs 49 Giant Manning 50 Day spa service 51 Go together 52 “25” vocalist 53 Take pleasure (in)

5 Fictional Scarlett 5 56 Syringe contents 59 Trombone’s neighbor 60 Mideast bigwig 61 Olympics blade 63 Rope fiber 65 Go on and on 67 Gov. health agency Solution to yesterday’s puzzle:

www.businessmirror.com.ph

WHAT MEN NEED TO KNOW WHILE most men are aware that prostate cancer exists, it remains a disease largely not discussed.

The fact remains, however, that prostate cancer is the second most common cancer in men and is actually more widespread than breast cancer in women. MakatiMed (www.makatimed.net.ph), a top hospital in the Philippines, answers questions about prostate cancer. n WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS? Signs of prostate cancer include trouble urinating, a weaker flow of urine, erectile dysfunction, blood in the urine or semen, discomfort in the pelvic area, bone pain and loss of appetite. According to Jaime S.D. Songco, MD of MakatiMed’s Urologic Oncology Section, it is quite common that men don’t exhibit any symptoms during the early stages of the disease, making routine checkups like digital rectal exams and prostate-specific antigen blood tests all the more important. Dr. Songco also reminds men that “if they have a male relative with prostate cancer, the chances of them getting the disease are doubled.” n AT WHAT AGE DOES PROSTATE CANCER BECOME A SERIOUS RISK? Sixty-five percent of men with prostate cancer are diagnosed at age 65 or older. “However,” he clarifies, “that means that the rest of the cases are younger patients, so prostate cancer can very much affect men below 65. When it is diagnosed at an earlier age, the disease is usually more aggressive and therefore more urgent.” n HOW CAN I PREVENT PROSTATE CANCER? Dr. Songco recommends a healthy diet of fruits and vegetables.

“Avoid fatty food and choose natural sources of vitamins over supplements,” he says. “Research suggests diets high in meat and high-fat dairy may increase the risk of prostate cancer.” Dr. Songco also tells his patients to exercise regularly, because obese men are at greater risk of an advanced form of prostate cancer that is more difficult to treat. n WHAT ARE THE CHANCES OF BEING CANCER-FREE AFTER GETTING DIAGNOSED? There is actually close to a 100-percent rate of being declared cancer-free, five years after treatment. “The odds against prostate cancer have been steadily increasing over the years, making a promising future,” says Dr. Songco. “A study conducted in 2017 stated that only about four percent of newly diagnosed prostate cancers spread to other organs. Of course, early diagnosis is still key, as it further increases your chances of being declared cancer-free.” n WILL SEX LIFE BE COMPROMISED BY PROSTATE CANCER? One of the primary concerns many men have about prostate cancer treatment is that it will affect their virility. According to Dr. Songco, “doctors can prescribe medications such sildenafil citrate to ensure that men can still maintain an active sex life while living with prostate cancer.” In fact, men can still have children even if their prostrate is removed—they just need to go through artificial insemination to harvest their sperm.

If you are exhibiting any of the symptoms, have a family history of prostate cancer you want to discuss, or simply want to know more about the disease, have a thorough and personal consultation with a doctor.

Relationships BusinessMirror

Friday, February 22, 2019

Japanese same-sex couples sue for equal marital rights T

By Mari Yamaguchi The Associated Press

OKYO—Thirteen gay couples filed Japan’s first lawsuit challenging the country’s rejection of same-sex marriage on Thursday, arguing the denial violates their constitutional right to equality.

Six couples holding banners saying “Marriage For All Japan” walked into Tokyo District Court to file their cases against the government, with similar cases filed by three couples in Osaka, one couple in Nagoya and three couples in Sapporo.

Plaintiff Kenji Aiba, standing next to his partner Ken Kozumi, told reporters he would “fight this war together with sexual minorities all around Japan.”

Aiba and Kozumi have held onto a marriage certificate they signed at their wedding party in 2013, anticipating Japan would emulate other advanced nations and legalize same-sex unions.

That day has yet to come, and legally they are just friends even though they’ve lived as a married couple for more than five years. So they decided to act rather than waiting.

“Right now we are both in good health and able to work, but what if either of us has an accident or becomes ill? We are not allowed to be each other’s guarantors for medical treatment, or to be each other’s heir,” Kozumi, a 45-year-old office worker, said in a recent interview with his partner Aiba, 40. “Progress in Japan has been too slow.”

Ten Japanese municipalities have enacted “partnership” ordinances for same-sex couples to make it easier for them to rent apartments together, among other things, but they are not legally binding.

Japanese laws are currently interpreted as allowing marriage only between a man and a woman.

In a society where pressure for conformity is strong, many gay people hide their sexuality, fearing prejudice at home, school or work. The obstacles are even higher for transgender people in the highly gender-specific society. The Supreme Court last month upheld a law that effectively requires transgender people to be sterilized before they can have their gender changed on official documents.

The LGBT equal rights movement has lagged behind in Japan because people who are silently not conforming to conventional notions of sexuality have been so marginalized that the issue hasn’t been considered a human-rights problem, experts say.

“Many people don’t even think of a possibility that their neighbors, colleagues or classmates may be sexual minorities,” said Mizuho Fukushima, a lawyer-turned-lawmaker and an expert on gender and human-rights issues. “And the pressure to follow a conservative family model, in which heterosexual couples are supposed to marry and have children, is still strong.”

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his ultraconservative supporters have campaigned to restore a paternalistic society based on heterosexual marriages.

The government has restarted moral education class at schools to teach children family values and good

deeds. “Whether to allow same-sex marriage is an issue that affects the foundation of how families should be in Japan, which requires an extremely careful examination,” Abe said in a statement last year. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party has repeatedly come under fire for making remarks deemed discriminating against LGBTQ people. In January, party veteran Katsuei Hirasawa said “a nation would collapse” if everyone became LGBTQ. Last year, another ruling lawmaker, Mio Sugita, was condemned after saying in a magazine that the government shouldn’t use tax money for the rights of LGBTQ individuals because they are “not productive.”

But while the law and many lawmakers lag behind, public acceptance of sexual diversity and same-sex marriage has grown in Japan. According to an October 2018 survey by the advertising agency Dentsu, more than 70 percent of the 6,229 respondents aged 20 to 59 said they support legalizing same-sex marriage.

Some companies have adopted policies to extend employee benefits to their same-sex partners. A few women’s universities have announced they will start accepting male-to-female transgender applicants, and some schools are allowing both boys and girls to choose between trousers and skirts.

Increasingly, genderless public toilets are becoming available for “everyone.”

Aiba said he feels a bit “scared” to go public and is worried about possible repercussions. But he and Kozumi decided to act on behalf of all their peers “who are too afraid of coming out because of discrimination and prejudice that we still face.”

“It will be our dream come true if our marriage certificate is accepted one day,” Aiba said. “We want to make that happen.”

Pressures for change are mounting.

Japan’s refusal to issue spouse visas to partners of same-sex couples legally married overseas is a growing problem, forcing them to temporarily live separately. A group of lawmakers is lobbying the Justice Ministry to consider a special visa for them.

In August, The American Chamber of Commerce in Japan, and its counterparts from Canada, Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, called for legalizing same-sex marriages, saying Japan loses out because talented LGBTQ people choose elsewhere to work. The primary goal of the lawsuit filed on Thursday is to win marital equality for same-sex couples. But transgender people are also hoping for such a change, which would eliminate the need for anyone to be sterilized just so they can get married. n The Associated Press journalist Kaori Hitomi contributed to this report.

Is it love? Maybe not, as romance scams proliferate

By Sarah Skidmore Sell The Associated Press IS it love? Maybe not.

The Federal Trade Commission announced recently that romance-related scams have surged and generated more losses than any other consumer fraud reported to the agency last year. The number of these romance scams reported to the agency jumped from 8,500 in 2015 to more than 21,000 in 2018. And the amount lost by victims has quadrupled over that period—reaching $143 million last year. The median reported loss for victims was $2,600, about seven times more than other fraud tracked by the FTC. Romance scams vary but criminals typically find their victims online, through a dating site or social media. Scammers create a phony profile, often building a believable persona with the help of a photo of someone else and direct communication. They woo the victim, building affection and trust until they see an opportunity to ask for money.

The reason for the request can run the gamut but money to pay for a medical emergency or travel costs for a long-awaited visit are common. Some victims report sending money repeatedly for one false crisis after another, according to the FTC. The money is often wired or given as gift cards, which allow the criminals quick and anonymous access to cash that cannot be easily tracked.

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Anyone can be a victim, experts warn. But FTC data found reported romance scams happened most often to those in the 40 to 69 age group. Those 70 and older paid out the most to scammers, with median losses per person of $10,000.

“It can happen to you. Whatever you think, whatever you believe, you could be a victim,” said Alan Brill, senior managing director of the cyber risk

practice at Kroll, a risk management company.

The criminals are “masters of manipulating human emotion” and are targeting victims when their defenses are down, Brill said.

While romance-related scams have been around for ages, they’ve become more common and successful as people spend more time socializing and finding dates online. It’s become so common that the AARP

recently launched an educational campaign that urges consumers to recognize the warning signs of a fraudster. These include: professing love too quickly, reluctance to meet in person, requests for money and photos that look more professional than an ordinary snapshot. Other warning signs include your suitor pressing you to leave the dating web site or other forum to communicate via e-mail or instant messaging. Romantic scams have an emotional and financial toll. But criminals may seek more— sometimes asking for personal information that can facilitate identity theft. This may be done under the guise they need a birthdate, Social Security number or bank information to help complete a visa application, travel information or other lie.

If you are a victim, don’t be too embarrassed to report the crime. And if you believe a friend or family member may be falling for a fraudster, speak up.

“You are not the first or last to fall for this,” Brill said. “It’s happening a lot...be willing to admit to yourself that it happened and then report it to law enforcement.” Reporting will help law enforcement track down criminals and sometimes help victims move on with their lives.

“You have to remember the scammers are out there and they are very good at what they do,” Brill said. He urges people to think critically about what is being told to and asked of them. “The person responsible for your cyber security comes down to you.”

KENJI AIBA (left) speaks as his partner Ken Kozumi listens during an interview with The Associated Press in Tokyo.

AP

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Friday, February 22, 2019

Show BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

AP Oscar predictions: What will win, what should win

By Lindsey Bahr & Jake Coyle The Associated Press

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HEAD of Sunday’s 91st Academy Awards, Associated Press film writers Lindsey Bahr and Jake Coyle share their predictions for a ceremony that has few sure things.

BEST PICTURE THE Nominees: Black Panther, BlacKkKlansman, Bohemian Rhapsody, The Favourite, Green Book, Roma, A Star Is Born and Vice BAHR: n Will Win: Roma n Should Win: A Star Is Born Not to go all Sean Penn here, but A Star Is Born really should win best picture, even though it probably won’t. Roma is wonderful, but I fear it’s one of those films that won’t be rewatched or even talked about much five or 10 years from now, whereas A Star Is Born is not only great, but feels like a classic already.

And that’s something special.

COYLE: n Will Win: Roma n Should Win: Black Panther The guild wins, which usually point the way, have been all over the map making this a hard one to call. The momentum is with Roma thanks, in part, to an all-out blitz of a campaign from Netflix (which has eyes for an Oscar the way Jackson Maine wants another look at Ally) and because of, well, it’s a fairly astonishing movie. But Black Panther and the response it provoked epitomized the cultural height of movies, something some doubted was still possible. Wakanda for February 24.

BEST ACTRESS THE Nominees: Yalitza Aparicio, Roma; Glenn Close, The Wife; Olivia Colman, The Favourite; Lady Gaga, A Star Is Born; Melissa McCarthy, Can You Ever Forgive Me? BAHR: n Will Win: Glenn Close, The Wife n Should Win: Olivia Colman, The Favourite The conventional wisdom is that Glenn Close is overdue for an Oscar. Thankfully, she’s really wonderful in The Wife, as the dutifully supportive spouse of a newly minted Nobel-winning writer.

A “career Oscar” isn’t a bad sentiment and definitely not a “pity Oscar.” But love definitely has no limits when it comes to my own appreciation of Olivia Colman’s performance as Queen Anne in The Favourite, which could get passed over because Colman hasn’t been a fixture on the schmooze circuit (she was busy shooting The Crown, which is a totally reasonable excuse).

COYLE: n Will Win: Glenn Close, The Wife n Should Win: Glenn Close, The Wife There’s not a bad choice in the bunch and many more, too, that didn’t make the cut. There may be

room here for an upset from Colman, whose Queen Anne was a delirious heap of emotions. Surely there will be some voters who’d like to see Colman thank “my bitches” again at the Oscars. But it feels like this belongs to Close whose subtle performance in The Wife overflows with the kind of intricacy that can go (and, in Close’s case, often has gone) overlooked at the Academy Awards.

BEST ACTOR THE Nominees: Christian Bale, Vice; Bradley Cooper, A Star Is Born; Willem Dafoe, At Eternity’s Gate; Rami Malek, Bohemian Rhapsody; Viggo Mortensen, Green Book BAHR: n Will Win: Rami Malek, Bohemian Rhapsody n Should Win: Bradley Cooper, A Star Is Born That Rami Malek somehow became the consensus choice here still kind of baffles me, especially when there’s Bradley Cooper giving the performance of a lifetime as sad, sweet, awful and tragic Jackson Maine.

He felt realer than the sanitized Freddie Mercury of Bohemian Rhapsody, that’s for sure.

COYLE n Will Win: Rami Malek, Bohemian Rhapsody n Should Win: Willem Dafoe, At Eternity’s Gate In an Oscars full of question marks, Malek’s win seems the most assured. His performance is the kind of showstopper that Oscar voters love. (Malek chews so much scenery they gave him extra teeth.)

But another biopic, Julian Schnabel’s At Eternity’s Gate, featured a far more searching and deeply felt performance in Dafoe’s Vincent Van Gogh. For the second year straight, Dafoe (a nominee in 2018 for The Florida Project) won’t win an Oscar he deserves.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS THE Nominees: Amy Adams, Vice; Marina de Tavira, Roma; Regina King, If Beale Street Could Talk; Emma Stone, The Favourite; Rachel Weisz, The Favourite BAHR: n Will Win: Regina King, If Beale Street Could Talk n Should Win: Regina King, If Beale Street Could Talk Sometimes will and should match up, and it definitely does for Regina King’s heart-wrenching turn as Sharon Rivers, protective and supportive mother and almost grandmother who will do whatever it takes to keep her daughter’s family intact.

She is the foundation and beating heart of If Beale Street Could Talk.

COYLE: n Will Win: Rachel Weisz, The Favourite n Should Win: Regina King, If Beale Street Could Talk Regina King is the favorite and deservedly so, but there’s a sneaky chance for an upset here. King wasn’t nominated by the Screen Actors Guild, whose picks often correlate to the Oscars. That could leave open a window for Rachel Weisz, who won at the British Academy Film Awards. The love for The Favourite and its terrific cast could bubble up in a few categories, including this one.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR THE Nominees: Mahershala Ali, Green Book; Adam Driver, BlacKkKlansman; Sam Elliott, A Star Is Born; Richard E. Grant, Can You Ever Forgive Me?; Sam Rockwell, Vice BAHR: n Will Win: Mahershala Ali, Green Book n Should Win: Sam Elliott, A Star Is Born At this point Mahershala Ali is the only safe way for Green Book-loving academy members to give the film an award, and it won’t be undeserved. Ali brings dignified complexity to the fascinating character of Dr. Don Shirley, but, much like The Favourite, it’s really a colead anyway. And is there a single image that can conjure up as many emotions as seeing a tearyeyed Sam Elliott backing out of the driveway where he’s just dropped off his troubled half-brother off at home for what could be the last time? It’s a perfect supporting performance.

COYLE n Will Win: Mahershala Ali, Green Book n Should Win: Richard E. Grant, Can You Ever Forgive Me? An unheralded avenue for a successful Oscar campaign, if you can pull it off, is starring concurrently in HBO’s True Detective. Just as Matthew McConaughey did a few years ago before winning for Dallas Buyers Club, Mahershala Ali is proving every Sunday how good he is. A win for Ali, two years after he took home the same Oscar for Moonlight (a, uh, different movie than Green Book) would be something to applaud. But so would an Oscar for Richard E. Grant, a brilliant character actor who has enjoyed the Oscar spotlight more than anyone.

DIRECTOR THE Nominees: Spike Lee, BlacKkKlansman; Pawel Pawlikowski, Cold War; Yorgos Lanthimos, The Favourite; Alfonso Cuaron, Roma; Adam McKay, Vice BAHR: n Will Win: Alfonso Cuaron, Roma n Should Win: Spike Lee, BlacKkKlansman Cuaron did an astonishing job writing, directing and shooting Roma, which feels like an epic although it’s in fact a very small and contained story. But it is Lee’s BlacKkKlansman that is the big, cinematic achievement to be celebrated in the directing category.

Lee has made it more than the sum of its parts, more than just a great movie: It’s a rollicking, unforgettable indictment of the deplorable foundation of the film industry and the country.

COYLE n Will Win: Alfonso Cuaron, Roma n Should Win: Spike Lee, BlacKkKlansman Alfonso Cuaron’s achievement in Roma is staggering in the precision of its obsessiveness.

But who wouldn’t want to see Spike Lee win?

BlacKkKlansman is equally as chock-full of Lee’s own passions and perfectly synthesizes the themes that have long propelled the filmmaker. Also, with the Knicks this bad, Lee deserves to catch a break. n

MIGUEL TANFELIX and Bianca Umali star in Sahaya.

Bianca Umali, Miguel Tanfelix team up anew in ‘Sahaya’ THIS year, GMA charts new ground as it presents the inspiring story of a young Badjao woman with the much awaited launch of the prime-time series Sahaya.

Headlining this extraordinary series is the very popular love team of Bianca Umali and Miguel Tanfelix. Their combustible chemistry captured the hearts of viewers in various GMA shows, including Mga Basang Sisiw, Niño, Once Upon A Kiss, Wish I May, Ismol Family, Daig Kayo ng Lola Ko and Kambal, Karibal.

This time around, viewers will again witness the magic of their tandem where Bianca plays the title character who embraces her own identity and heritage as a Badjao, even defying the power of love. Her positive outlook in life will inspire her family and her people as she becomes their role model. Miguel, in turn, portrays the role of Ahmad, a simple Badjao who falls in love with Sahaya. He will do everything in order to win her heart.

For this prime-time offering, Bianca and Miguel underwent diving lessons and dance workshops and learned the cultures and traditions of the Badjaos. Popular young leading man and StarStruck Season 6 Ultimate Male Survivor Migo Adecer completes the love triangle as Jordan, a Manileño who will become Ahmad’s rival.

Portraying equally important roles are Zoren Legaspi, Mylene Dizon, Eric Quizon, Ana Roces, Pen Medina, Ashley Ortega and Jasmine Curtis-Smith. The show is under the helm of esteemed director Zig Dulay.

MEGHAN MARKLE SPOTTED IN NEW YORK FOR RUMORED BABY SHOWER

NEW YORK—Meghan Markle has been spotted at several swanky venues in New York City, cradling her baby bump as she visited friends for what is rumored to be a baby shower.

The 37-year-old pregnant Meghan, formally known as the Duchess of Sussex, was seen on Tuesday entering The Mark hotel on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, at a restaurant on the ground floor of The Met Breuer and at The Surrey Hotel.

Meghan wore sunglasses, a black William Vintage trapeze coat and neutral high heels with a matching bag. As photographers waited outside the Mark, a high-end boxed crib and pink flowers were delivered.

Abigail Spencer, a costar on Meghan’s former TV show Suits, was spotted at one of the gatherings. Meghan and Prince Harry announced the pregnancy in October. AP

Motoring BusinessMirror

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

Editor: Tet Andolong

RONALD ANG COO of Maxxis Tires and Reynan Jayme, president of NasFOR, seal their partnership with a handshake. Also, in the picture is Ramon To-ong, events director-NasFOR, and Jaybee Atanacio, assistant director for sales Maxxis Tires.

Friday, February 22, 2019

TEAM Maxxis at the Rainforest Challenge Malaysia

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Moto

Business

E2 Friday, February 22, 2019

THE REINA REIGNS

ALL-NEW NISSAN TERRA 2.5L VL AT 4X4

NEVER TOO LATE FOR A

THE all-new Reina’s Fluidic Sculpture 2.0 design philosophy Story & photos

by Randy S. Peregrino

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ESS than two weeks after the soft launch of the all-new Reina, Hyundai Asia Resources Inc. (Hari), which is the official distributor of Hyundai passenger cars in the Philippines, hosted a drive event for the members of the motoring media to finally experience the vehicle. Hari is offering the Reina for the young professionals looking for their first-ever affordable yet reliable car. After all, priced at just P598,000 for the 1.4 GL 5MT and P648,000 for the 1.4 GL AT, this makes the Reina one of the most affordable cars in the country today. As a new breed of subcompact sedan made it to the local market, we were as curious as everybody else and wanted to test the new small car.

Exterior-wise, this small sedan also inherited the Fluidic Sculpture 2.0 design philosophy. Like its bigger sedan siblings, the Accent and the Elantra, the Reina highlights the combination of hexagonal grille and sharp-looking headlamps along with flowing body lines for that unmistakable Hyundai design cues.

Even the rear end has curvatures matching the sleek-looking taillights. Open that trunk and you’ll find a generous bay that provides up to 475 liters of cargo space at your own disposal. With its neatlooking steel rim covers, the overall appearance looks way appealing for an affordable car.

Also notable was the interior layout. Again, for its price, the overall appearance suggests otherwise.

The dashboard, center console, and door sidings all bear that stylish and modern look accented with metallic trims. While the units we tested were fitted with a one-din audio head unit, the ones on display inside the showroom were endowed with large touch-operated infotainment with connectivity functions. We’d like to think that the latter are the ones being offered, if not, being sold as an option. The seats, meantime, are draped with two different fabric materials to highlight the center portion. Understandably, there’s only one 12-volt socket but at least there are cup holders everywhere.

Noteworthy is the centralized window controls found just below the air-con controls.

Propelling the all-new Reina is a 1.4-liter, inline four-cylinder, MPI gasoline engine generating 93 hp and 132 N-m of maximum torque.

It is mated to an option of five-speed manual gearbox or a four-speed automatic transmission. But for the vehicle’s size and weight, the engine displacement and output ratings suggest a better power-toweight ratio favoring fuel economy.

As for safety features, the vehicle is equipped with dual front SRS air bags, Anti-lock Brake System (ABS), and remarkably, with speed-sensing door locks.

Interestingly, Hari pioneered an initiative to innovate the car-

STYLISH and modern look dashboard accented with metallic trims THE front end’s streamlined V-motion grille along with the edgier “boomerang” LED headlamps

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Story & photos by Randy S. Peregrino

AST year, Nissan broke its longoverdue offering when it finally introduced its own version of a pickup-based midsized sport-utility vehicle—the all-new Terra.

THE Reina’s smooth operating 1.4-liter MPI gasoline engine

shopping experience by marketing the Reina through O Shopping—a TV shopping platform being aired on ABS-CBN Channel 2 and other channels. “Hyundai’s partnership with O Shopping ushers in a transformative new era of the carshopping lifestyle in the Philippine market, as it accords customers the convenience of two powerhouse retail channels, TV and online shopping, thereby shaping a more convenient and rewarding car shopping experience for Filipinos,” said Hari President and CEO Ma. Fe Perez-Agudo.

Reina rules the road

THE drive destination was the Pililla Wind Farm in Rizal province. As soon as we boarded the 1.4 GL AT variant, our initial surprise of the day was the generous leg and head rooms. With its 2,570mm wheelbase, it should be easy to accommodate five passengers. Likewise, everything feels just right behindthe-wheel. With little adjustments on the tilt steering and seats, you’ll find that perfect driving position with nice vantage point and reach to all switches. Air-conditioning, meantime, easily achieved that cold temperature even before we took off.

On the road, the Reina accelerates smoothly with very little effort to reach cruising speeds.

The frame definitely feels light for the motor to propel. Understandably, the drive-by-wire throttle setup has noticeable delay on downshifting whenever you step on it for a more aggressive acceleration. But utilizing the

sequential shifter allowed faster cogs for more torque every gear.

It also aided in doing engine braking whenever needed. Tackling ascents, meantime, necessitated quick and constant downshifting to lower gears to retain optimal power in the midrange.

As we went through the ascents and tight zigzags on Marilaque Highway, we were in for another surprise. To begin with, we were not expecting for the Reina to handle that well. Looking at the lead car up front, the car was in great form turn after turn with very little to none body rolls. Inside, meantime, we also felt how nimble the car was even on sudden bends.

More so, the steering demonstrated excellent response, resulting to a superb maneuverability. Another noteworthy observation was the composed and quiet ride. Tire echoes were considerably muffled.

We reached our destination feeling amazed with the kind of dynamics we never expected from a car this affordable. We then proceeded to Bulawan Floating Restaurant for lunch and to cap off the drive.

There, we were welcomed by no less than Hari President and CEO Ma. Fe Perez-Agudo along with other executives.

Not all cars can pull off that level of surprise as the all-new Reina did.

Just when we thought that the design elements already surpassed its price points, the driving dynamics was another remarkable element to consider. This only proves that the all-new Reina is not only about affordability and reliability. Because it also has that fun-to-drive factor.

The much-awaited global launch was certainly not a case of a “better late than never” kind of move just to satisfy the clamor of the many because, in terms of the development alone, the Japanese automaker already poured in over 60 years of SUV heritage.

Now up against the veterans and major players in the sought-after vehicle segment, the all-new Terra is banking on its integrated Intelligent Mobility/Driver Assist features as one of its selling points. Along with its bold and muscular character, this newcomer is definitely not just another addition to the array of pickup-based SUVs in the market, but rather, it has something new and different to offer. For this month’s feature, we get to test the topof-the-line 2.5L VL AT 4x4 dressed in shimmering Flare Metallic Gold shade.

At a glance, of course the front end has that striking resemblance with the Navarra pickup. But if you look closely, there are actually several differentiations. Like the streamlined V-motion grille along with the edgier “boomerang” LED headlamps. Also, the flowing delineations on the front fenders were matched by the ones at the tail end, which gave the Terra that muscular appearance. While the rear end highlights the segment’s conventional form, still there are several distinctions coming from the tailgate’s V-shape definition along with edgy lamps. Standing tall at 225 mm ground clearance, those wheel arcs complement well with the twotoned 18" rims wrapped in 255/60 R18 rubbers. Overall, the muscular profiles gave the exterior that imposing appearance worthy of being a head-turner.

Likewise, you’ll find the cabin layout pretty much Navarra-like. It has that modern and stylish appearance. But what makes the Terra more sophisticated are the premium trims utilized, including the fine leather materials found on sporty seats with stitching design as well as with the armrest everywhere.

One of the cringe-worthy innovations made standard to all variants are the switches in the center console to remotely and automatically tumble the second row 60:40 benches in order to provide access to the third row. Now that’s a clever way to offer a whole new level of convenience. There’s also the new capacitive touchscreen infotainment with connectivity functions, plus the drop-down monitor. We also liked the ample provision of 12-volt sockets, particularly the extra ones on top of the dashboard and cargo bay area.

Motivation comes from the same 2.5-liter YD25 DDTi turbodiesel mill from the Navarra mated to a smoothshifting seven-speed automatic transmission. Delivery-wise, it’s absolutely unrelenting. Period. Summon it and it’ll deliver the power you need to tackle any terrain even at low rpm ranges.

Add to that the good shifting cogs that match optimal torque ranges. In fact, during the all-new Terra’s regional launch last summer, we were able to witness its uncompromising performance both on and off the road. It’s like in a flick of a switch, the new SUV transformed from a composed vehicle on the tarmac into a mean off-roading machine tackling the treacherous terrains of the lahar-stricken areas. Its impressive 4WD system, utilizing the correct settings, made going through those difficult paths seemed like a walk in the park, at least with some coaching from an off-roading expert co-pilot.

But throughout our recent test, we spent more time doing real-world drives going through where we would normally drive our vehicles every day—the urban jungle and quick outof-town jaunts. While 2H (standard two-wheel-drive) setup was the most practical approach, that didn’t stop us from exploring the 4H setting whenever applicable. That gave us the extra traction and pulling power from the front wheels every time we felt the

EQUALLY stunning rear end with V-shaped delineati

NAVARRA-like modern, stylish, spacious and conduci

need, thanks to the “switch on the fly” operation. How the Terra behaved on the road was another reason to like this new SUV. We were impressed with how it handled road imperfections with composure. The ride quality has that nice and soft rebound. But on highway runs, everything was smooth, relaxing and quiet. Steering was also good on constant curves providing good feedback.

When it comes to the Terra’s Intelligent Mobility/Drive Assist features,

oring

sMirror

Friday, February 22, 2019

AN SUV THAT’S GREAT THUMBS UP n Nissan Intelligent Mobility / Drive Assist

E3

GO THE EXTRA MILE WITH LANDERS SUPERSTORE’S SUPER FUEL SALE

n Bold exterior design n Unrelenting engine performance n Comfy ride n Abundant 12-volt socket provision

THUMBS DOWN n No sunroof (but there’s a drop-down monitor)

SPECIFICATIONS n Vehicle All-new Nissan Terra 2.5L VL A/T 4x4 n Type Midsize SUV n Engine 2.5-liter inline four-cylinder, DOHC,

Variable Turbocharger (VGS) with Intercooler, Common Rail Direct Injection (CRDi), diesel fed n Maximum power 187hp at 3,600rpm n Maximum torque 450 N-m at 2,000rpm n Transmission seven-speed automatic with manual shifting mode

DIMENSIONS n Length

4,885 mm

n Width 1,865 mm n Height

1,835 mm 2,850 mm n Ground Clearance 225 mm n Tire size 255/60 R18 n Price as tested P2.096 million n Wheelbase

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EMBERS of Landers Superstore (http://landers.ph/) can now enjoy longer drives as the fastest-growing membership shopping establishment in the country extends its Super Fuel Sale for the whole year of 2019.

Enjoy huge fuel discounts at Landers’s very own Caltex gasoline stations. Simply collect coupons every time you shop at any Landers Superstore until December 31, 2019. Members automatically get fuel discount coupons for every minimum purchase worth P3,000.

The more you shop at Landers Superstore, the more fuel coupons

you collect. Present these coupons along with your membership card at any Landers-Caltex gas station and enjoy a minimum of P7 off per liter of Platinum, P7 off per liter of Silver and P4 off per liter of Diesel. Members may use one of his/her discount coupons to fuel up one car only.

You can use your discount coupon anytime within the year until March 1, 2020. Purchases made at Landers Central, Doppio, Federal Barbers, Capital Care and Landers gas stations are ineligible for fuel discount coupons. Regular discounts of P3 off per liter of Platinum and Silver and P2 off per

liter of Diesel are still applicable for members who just wish to fuel up.

Step on the gas now. Shop at Landers Superstore and get super fuel discounts all-year-round.

Visit Landers Superstore at Landers Alabang West-Daang Hari Road, Almanza Dos, Las Piñas City; Landers ArcoVia City, 1604, 99 Eulogio Rodriguez Jr. Avenue, Pasig; Landers Balintawak-1240 Edsa-Balintawak, Apolonio Samson, Quezon City; Landers Otis, 1890 Paz Guazon Street, Paco, Manila; or Landers Cebu, 23 Minore Park, Cardinal Rosales Avenue cor. Pope John Paul II Avenue, Cebu.

Get P60,000 cash savings with Ford Ranger

ion

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ive cabin with advanced driving technologies

this is where it really set the bar in terms of safety and convenience. Let alone the intelligent rearview monitor equipped with smart adjustable settings, which gives a full 360-degree view. Truth be told, driving an SUV this big necessitate features that endows the ability to see your surroundings. Not only does it provide a clear view of your blind spots, the virtual top view lets you see all corners when going through tight spaces and during parking. More important, seeing every-

THEN unrelenting 2.5-liter turbocharged engine

thing from the rearview monitor also allows the driver to maintain a better line of sight while driving. More so, there’s the Lane Departure Warning and Intelligent Around View Monitor (AVM), which is equipped with moving object detection and blind-spot warning. With these, it makes changing lanes and moving out from a parking spot safer. Other intelligent features are Hill Start Assist and Hill Descent Control. As for other safety features, there are six SRS air bags, antilock brak-

ing system with electronic brake force distribution, Vehicle Dynamic Control, and interestingly, Tire Pressure Monitoring System, among others.

Coming in late into the ball game also has its benefits. As it turned out, the all-new Terra actually has what it takes to take on the lead, thanks to its Intelligent Mobility/Driver Assist features. Seemed like Nissan took all the time to assess carefully the vehicle segment’s needs and was able to come up with the right essentials.

ORD Philippines is aiming to expand ownership of the Ford Ranger in the country by offering customers cash savings of up to P60,000 available only this month.

The Ford Ranger 2.0L Bi-Turbo Wildtrak 4x4 AT is available to customers with a cash discount of P60,000 or an all-in low down payment of P128,000.

On the other hand, the Ranger 2.0L Turbo Wildtrak 4x2 AT is available on an all-in low down payment of P118,000, while the manual transmission variant is offered with an all-in low down payment of P108,000. Both 4x2 variants also come in with a cash savings of P40,000.

“We are excited to offer great deals for our Ranger lineup this

month to get more Filipino customers to experience our “Built Ford Tough” truck. The Ranger has definitely set the benchmark for the pickup segment with its unmatched features and capabilities,” said Ryan Lorenzo, AVP, Marketing, Ford Philippines.

The Ranger Wildtrak 4x4 runs on the new-generation 2.0L Bi-Turbo diesel engine and is paired with an advanced 10-speed automatic transmission that delivers greater torque, improved engine refinement with fuel economy improvements, and a quieter, more comfortable drive. The 2.0L Bi-Turbo takes advantage of sequential turbocharging to deliver greater responsiveness, drivability and maximum efficiency with 213 PS and 500 N-m of torque.

With 500Nm from a low 1750rpm, the Bi-Turbo delivers greater torque spread, with the 10-speed’s close ratios reducing gaps in power and acceleration to make steep, slippery hill-climbs, for instance, much easier. The Wildtrak variant optioned with the new engine maintain Ranger’s equal class-leading payload and superior towing capability.

The Ford Ranger achieved record sales in the Philippines last year, with full-year retail sales rising 9 percent to an all-time best of 11,604 vehicles, capturing over 20 percent of the segment. In Asia Pacific, the Ranger also achieved all-time record sales for the 10th consecutive year, with retail sales increasing 5 percent from the previous year to 139,501 vehicles.

Motoring BusinessMirror

E4 Friday, February 22, 2019

A day in the life with ‘I am Sam’ at Visor

THE participants and judges Al and Sam (first and second, second row).

LAST year’s Philippine delegates posing with their futuristic cars as Pilipinas Shell sends them off to the Shell Eco-marathon 2018.

Logistics A BusinessMirror Special Feature

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Friday, February 22, 2019

F1

‘I WANT IT NOW’ PARTNERS WITH ‘WHATEVER IT TAKES’ AS DIGITAL TRANSPORT SERVICES BOOST E-COMMERCE

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By Lorenz S. Marasigan

N-DEMAND digital transport services will continue to help the Philippine e-commerce industry balloon to a $10-billion industry in the next half a decade, as they continue to address the last-mile requirements for transporting goods from one point to another.

The e-commerce industry in the Philippines today—ruled by digital shopping platforms Lazada, Shopee, Zalora and the like—continues to be on a roll in terms of growth. In 2018, the industry grew to $1.5 billion, according to data from Temasek, a Singaporean government-owned corporation.

By 2025, it predicts that the value of the e-commerce industry in the Philippines will balloon to $10 billion, as demand for online shopping continues to rise incrementally through the next half a decade.

This, however, will mean that there will also be huge demand for logistics solutions to address the need for deliveries.

As such, Grab is beefing up its position as a platform to help the e-commerce industry reach its full potential by innovating its parcel delivery service—GrabExpress—and help more small and medium enterprises (SMEs), which are largely enrolled in ecommerce platforms, address the need for last mile delivery.

“We want to be able to move into e-commerce—into online shopping—and supporting that whole online shopping

infrastructure like what we are doing in Indonesia,” Grab Philippines President Brian P. Cu said in an interview.

Grab Indonesia has partnered with local online shopping platforms to service their delivery needs. In the Philippines, Grab has partnered with Shopee for several of its sales to address the on-demand segment of the latter’s customer base.

2 new features

TO further help social sellers, Grab is introducing two new features that will make the sameday delivery experience more flexible for entrepreneurs and their customers.

First is the multistop delivery feature, which essentially allows users to send deliveries to five different recipients and locations using one single rider. And the second feature is the multiple concurrent bookings feature, which will allow social sellers and micro-entrepreneurs to send a maximum of 10 parcels using different delivery partners at the same time.

Consumer preferences, he said, are evolving constantly, and the need for express parcel

services will continue to increase, as Filipinos grow more and more accustomed to the digital economy, which champions convenience as its top product.

“Convenience will be the number one reason why people would be using our services,” Cu said. “ These are all supporting the ‘I-Want-It-Now’ millennial generation.”

GrabFood

GRAB is also addressing the delivery needs of restaurants in the Philippines through its GrabFood service, an on-demand digital food delivery solution that lets users book for their meals through the Grab app.

Since it was launched a few months ago, GrabFood has grown to be the top food delivery app in the Philippines, growing at a pace of 12x in the last six months alone.

It has 5,000 restaurants onboard the Grab platform, which created a digital storefront for these merchants, allowing them to tap into the 3 million active users in the Grab app.

Just recently, it signed an agreement with McDonald’s Philippines, one of the largest quick service restaurants in the country, for the on-boarding of an initial 60 stores in Metro Manila and Metro Cebu.

“Now, more than ever, we really see the trend of convenience being such an important thing for people. More than ever, people are using delivery apps for convenience,” GrabFood Head Edward Joseph dela Vega said.

Cu noted that the demand for more delivery services in the Philippines will continue to increase, as Grab intends to form partnerships with more merchants, digital platforms, and e-commerce sites in the future.

“As we push that more and work with more online sellers —the large selling aggregators —we think that demand would increase,” he said.

F2

Logistics A BusinessMirror Special Feature

Friday, February 22, 2019

www.businessmirror.com.ph

EMBRACING OMINICHANNEL SOLUTIONS TO IMPROVE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

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By Roderick L. Abad

OBILITY and digitization continue to open a lot of growth potentials for the Philippines that businesses, which are too slow to adapt to the everchanging digital world, should now take advantage of. Otherwise, they face a tough road ahead, warned technology and retail experts.

“In the Philippines, 92 percent of people are placing their orders online,” JDA Software Vice President (VP) for Solutions Advisor Sriharsha Ilindala told reporters during the 1st Omnichannel Asia Summit Philippines 2019 held on Thursday at the SMX Convention Center Aura, SM Aura Premier, Taguig City. “That’s the opportunity you don’t have to miss.”

While local enterprises— whether small, medium or large—are open to changes, the “wait-and-see” attitude of some of them holds them back to shift to digitization, according to him.

“The first of all the things you’re going to do is recognize the opportunity, and then grab, believe and make it happen. That seems to be a problem here in the Philippines at the moment,” he said. “So I think you need a more positive integration attack or approach on how you move forward to this opportunity, whether online or omnichannel.”

Omnichannel facilities are now changing the brand-tocustomer experience, especially with the advent of mobile devices and digital tools.

From the stores to the apps, desktops, or tablets, they are

proven technologies that provide a seamless customer journey.

These solutions link multichannel listing, point-of-sale or POS, inventory management, and other solutions to consolidate customer data from all points of the buying process.

With more than 67 million Filipinos now using the Internet, this trend about connecting the customer experience is seen highly suitable to the Philippine market.

“Retail is not complicated but old strategies are failing to address customer problems due to the changing demands of the market. By taking advantage of omnichannel facilities, businesses can provide an even better experience to their customers,” said Mahesh Gopinath, chief operating officer of GenieTech Philippines.

Citing AC Nielsen’s 2018 study that shows the global fast-moving consumer goods (GFCG) e-commerce platform will reach over $400 billion and will account for 10 to 20 percent market share, he urged the local retailers to integrate them to their stores so as to tap more potential customers on the web and even those still turning to brick and mortar outlets.

“Retailers are competing to provide the best customer experience. Omnichannel solutions are the way to provide customers with a seamless online and offline experience,” he noted.

The impact of these emerging platforms has been apparent in the profitability of various stores in Asia and other parts of the world.

GenieTech Senior Director on Consulting Services John Boe pointed out that in Vietnam, for instance, store sales growth averages at around 12 percent.

Both in the United States and Europe, on the other hand, it stands at a “single-digit’

growth between one percent and two percent per the last quarterly report, he added.

“We’re also seeing growth here in the Philippines,” Boe said, without citing the exact figure.

But compared to the Philippines, he stressed that there are many retailers in Asia that have put changes in their business model, or have larger footprint stores that are profitable.

“What these retailers are doing to achieve their one percent or two percent growth is a lot of work to change their business model,” he said.

In order to catch up with them, Filipino enterprises, particularly those in retail, must em-

brace a new approach to engage with their customers through omnichannel technologies.

“If businesses don’t evolve, then there will be other businesses that will take that and seize the opportunity for growth,” he said.

A bevy of upcoming innovations that they ought to adapt in so far as predicting and resolving customer issues in scientific ways are concerned are in the fields of Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Algorithms, Boe predicted.

“There will also be a continuous migration to Cloud. The tide won’t be stopped because of the ease that’s compensated

in Cloud and the ease with rich innovative and added capabilities on Cloud. That’s going to happen. So you have to pick technologies that will have a big game-changing impact on your business,” he said.

With the theme, “Connecting the Customer Journey,” the 1st Omnichannel Asia Summit Philippines 2019 gathered more businesses and professionals for a day of learning with retail and innovation industry experts sharing their knowledge and expertise in logistics, supply chain, customer service, data-driven insights, and social media for a complete, hasslefree customer experience.

In reviving missionary RoRo routes, govt to boost rural development

By Lorenz S. Marasigan

T

HE government aims to spread economic development in rural areas of the provinces across the Philippines by introducing new nautical highways, which maritime regulators aim to develop such that they replicate the success of the Batangas International Port.

Initially known as missionary routes — due to the lack of demand for trade in the areas — 19 new roll-on, roll-off (RoRo) routes were introduced recently by the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) with the intention of spurring domestic traffic in unserved areas in the Philippines.

“The creation of RoRo routes will certainly improve connectivity of the islands of the country,” Luisito U. Santos, a spokesperson for Marina, said. “More RoRo routes mean more options for our traders as well as our people and goods to move them from one island to the other.”

He added that these will ensure that products from the northern part of the country can reach the southern islands and

vice versa.

These routes go all the way from the tip of the Philippine archipelago down to the southernmost parts of Mindanao, connecting the three nautical highways, namely: the Eastern Nautical Highway, the Central Nautical Highway, and the Western Nautical Highway.

These missionary routes are part of the remaining 109 lateral routes that need to be served, considering the availability of RoRo-capable ports. These are as follows: nBasco, Batanes – Currimao, Ilocos Norte nBatangas City – San Jose, Occidental Mindoro nSan Juan, Batangas – Abra de Ilog, Occidental Mindoro nReal, Quezon–Polillo Island, Quezon nLucena, Quezon – Odiongan, Romblon nLucena, Quezon –Buyabod, Marinduque nLucena, Quezon – Romblon, Romblon nLucena, Quezon – Masbate City nMaasin, Southern Leyte – Ubay, Bohol nSan Narciso, Quezon

BUSINESSMIRROR FILE

– San Pascual, Masbate nPantao, Albay –San Pascual, Masbate nCalbayog City, Samar – Cataingan, Masbate nTaytay, Palawan–Cuyo, Palawan nCuyo, Palawan – San Jose de Buenavista, Antique nOslob, Cebu–Dumaguete, Negros Oriental

nPunta Engano, Mactan Island, Cebu–Jetafe, Bohol nPoro, Camotes, Cebu –Isabel, Leyte nLipata, Surigao del Norte – Dapa, Surigao del Norte; and nSiaton, Negros Oriental – Dipolog City

According to Santos, the government is giving shipping

companies some forms of incentives to make these routes more economically viable, given that demand for trade in these routes is quite low.

“There are routes that need to be marketed by giving prospective operators some incentives such as protection of their investment for five years, which means no other shipping company will be allowed to compete with them,” Santos said.

Aside from the five-year investment protection guarantee, shipping companies that will serve missionary routes shall enjoy a 50-percent discount on the regular fees of all applications and renewal of ship documents, licenses, certificates, and permits.

So far, the government has received interest in seven of the 19 missionary routes from shipping companies.

The routes that received interest so far are: Batangas City - San Jose, Occidental Mindoro Coron, Palawan; Lucena, Quezon – Odiongan, Romblon - Caticlan/ New Washington; Lucena, Quezon – Romblon, Romblon; Lucena, Quezon – Masbate City-Calbayog, Northern Samar; Maasin, Southern Leyte – Ubay,

Bohol; San Andres, Quezon – San Pascual, Masbate- Pasacai, Masbate; and Taytay, Palawan – Cuyo, Palawan.

“In my view, market forces will create the demand for the missionary routes — like what happened before to Batangas Port. Back then, demand was not that high, but today, ships are already jammed here and there. In some other places like in Mindoro, there are islands that were quiet before, but have a lot of economic activities now,” Santos said.

He added that shipping companies are also encouraged to propose new missionary routes in addition to the above list that can be developed.

“The Marina continuously studies its existing policy on missionary routes and is open to consider providing incentives to prospective operators,” Santos noted.

The government is aggressively promoting the development of the Philippine maritime industry through its 10-year Maritime Industry Development Program, which costs a whopping P94.57 billion to implement.

F4 Friday, February 22, 2019

NEW MCCANN HEAD CREATIVE IS AWARD-WINNING OFFICER

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CCANN Worldgroup Philippines, the biggest advertising firm in the Philippines, amplifies its creative firepower with the promotion of award-winning Joe Dy to chief creative officer.

Having been with the agency as ECD since 2015, Joe has helped steer McCann into becoming one of the most awarded agencies in the region.

Recent highlights include the agency’s first Cannes Lion Gold, being named Creative Guild’s Kidlat Awards Agency of the Year, and ranking among the Philippines’s top three agencies in both Campaign Brief Asia and adobo magazine.

Joe is among the most awarded creatives in the Philippines, having won metal at almost every major international and local award show. His wins cover a range of disciplines, including digital, film, radio, outdoor, media, print, direct response, design and effectiveness.

A member of McCann’s Asia-Pacific Creative Council and recent inductee into the Philippine Creative Guild Hall of Fame, Joe was also listed among Campaign Brief’s Top 20 Creative Leaders in Asia for 2017-2018.

Joe takes on the role from Raul Castro, chairman and chief executive officer of McCann Worldgroup, who adds that, “Leading the creative culture of McCann, one needs to be brave with his decision making, generous with his knowledge and always have clear intentions. Without a doubt, Joe fits these descriptions and more. I know he will raise McCann to even higher creative greatness.”

Joe’s promotion reaffirms McCann’s commitment in pushing standards and values of creativity as he takes on a bigger role in the company.

The role is a focus of the agency as it pushes the boundaries of creativity. “I believe the biggest challenge we face right now is how to reaffirm the value of creativity in our clients’ business,” Joe says.

“The drive to raise the standard of quality will always be a constant, but so is our duty to affect our clients’ business. Given the volatility of the market, it is natural for brands, even the strongest, to face challenges.

Now, more than ever, we need to be providing brand owners with a real and measurable creative advantage.

We hope to do so with a creative-driven culture where we push ourselves to, if I may borrow from our Global

RP ENERGY PROMOTES ‘PAWIKAN’ CONSERVATION IN ZAMBALES

I Creative Chief Rob Reilly, ‘out-think, outwork and outcare’ the competition.”

“McCann Philippines has always been a revered institution in our industry, and has seen larger-thanlife personalities take its creative helm, such as the legendary Emily Abrera and our current CEO Raul Castro.” Joe adds. “I am both humbled and honored to be given the chance to take on this challenge.

Naturally, there’s a lot of pressure that comes with the job but, fortunately, the office and the network continues to provide ample support to help me reach our shared objectives.”

Joe comes from a family of entrepreneurs but he chose a different path. He entered the industry as a copywriter for Leo Burnett Manila, where he distinguished himself as a rising young talent before moving to JWT Manila. There, he won his first two Cannes Lions, including the country’s second Gold. He has also had stints at BBDO Guerrero and JWT Shanghai.

Dy is an industry leader and an influential voice in the creative industry. Aside from having been the director of competition for the Philippine Creative Guild, Joe has also served on the jury for a number of award shows, including The Clio Awards, The New York Festivals, The Busan AdStars, The Adobo Design Awards, the Kidlat Awards, the YouTube Awards, the 4As and the Tambuli Awards.

PROVIDING MODERN TECHNOLOGY FOR FILIPINO FARMERS

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DA Manufacturing Corp. (Adamco), a 100-percent Filipino-owned company engaged in manufacturing and distributing agricultural equipment, recently celebrated its 20th year of business in the Philippines with a newest campaign for the Filipino farmers.

Adamco is part of the Ropali Group of Companies, which has a presence in banking, real estate and motorcycling. Together with Yanmar Philippines, Adamco launched its newest brand campaign, titled “Kita Tayo sa Adamco”, with its first-ever brand ambassador Robin Padilla on February 9 at the Manila Hotel.

For 20 years Adamco believes in empowering the

lives of Filipino farmers by increasing profitability and productivity in agribusiness through farm mechanization.

The company offers rice-combine harvesters, four-wheel tractors, rice transplanters, rice and corn threshers, corn shellers, small gasoline and diesel engines, trailer beds and other small farm equipment.

Also launched at the event is the GPS-ran rice harvester with price range between P800,000 and P2 million.

Adamco also offers customer-friendly terms and flexible financing, and the Life Made Better program to support small farmers that do not have enough capital to secure farm inputs and equipment.

PTV 4 WELCOMES CEASAR SORIANO AS HOST, PRODUCER

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ROADCAST journalist Ceasar Soriano, who has turned movie producer and director last year via Ang Misyon: The Marawi Siege Story, formally joined PTV4 People’s Television Network as anchor host and producer.

Starting on February 23 from 5 to 6 p.m., Soriano will anchor the Saturday news program Magandang Gabi Pilipinas. It is a one-hour public affairs show that aims to provide more detailed and accurate information on projects, programs, services of a specific government department or agency, or non-governmental organization. It shall feature stories on environment, current issues and developments in the countryside.

His other show will be Isyu One-on-One every Sunday from 5 to 6 p.m., a straightforward truthful interview bringing out facts and getting across all audience the answers and updates on

relevant issues or concerns. Soon he will also have Pambatong Pinoy every Saturday and Sunday from 4:15 to 5 p.m., a nationwide talent search from the different localities and provinces, in cooperation with the local government units, in which his own production outfit GreatCzar Media Productions will produce for PTV-4.

The Pambatong Pinoy will be hosted by actor Martin Escudero, Juan Miguel Soriano and a renowned celebrity as guest cohost every week.

They will also invite three celebrity judges to create awareness, so people will be interested to join the talent search.

Welcoming Soriano at PTV 4 are executive assistant Von Francis Mesina, network officer in charge Julieta C. Lacza, and sales and marketing head Emelie Katigbak, with assistant director Aurel Ayson and Escudero also joining the group.

N line with the company’s Protect t he B ay i n it i at ive, R e dondo Peninsula Energy (RP Energy) employees and volunteers went to the Pawicare Hatchery, a sea-turtle conservation site in San Narciso, Zambales, on February 7 to release 60 new hatchlings and learn more about local sustainability efforts for these creatures.

The PawiCare Hatchery is currently managed by environment organization Katimpuyog Zambales together with the local government of San Narciso and the local fisherfolks called “La Paz rangers”. “ We admire t he malasakit of the Pawicare volunteers who stay up all night to help preserve our r ich biodiversit y. T heir stor y is worth replicating throughout the country,” according to Litz Santana, vice president and head of external affairs at Meralco PowerGen, the parent company of RP Energy.

“I believe every Filipino, especially kids, should experience a pawikanreleasing activity at least once in their lifetime,” said Jason Gavina, corporate social responsibility (CSR) officer of RP Energy. “This is how we can effectively teach them the value of protecting our environment while, at the same time, learning more about our rich biodiversity.”

Protect the Bay is RP Energy’s

CSR program for the protection and conservation of Subic Bay. Its members include various partners from SBMA, local government units, private sector and civic organizations, such as JCI Olongapo, Kabalikat Civicom and the Rotary and Rotaract Clubs. The group organizes coastal cleanup, recycled art competitions, river cleanups, information drives, environmental forums and other related programs.

Besides regular releases of new pawikan hatchlings, RP Energy has

been exerting efforts to promote sea creatures. In July 2018 the company partnered with Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf Philippines to host a forum titled “Lessons from Pawicare”.

RP Energy is the developer of a 2x300-megawatt coal-fired power plant in the Subic Bay Freeport Zone.

Photo shows awed volunteers, together with Pawicare rangers, while carefully releasing the newly hatched sea turtles by the beach in Barangay La Paz, San Narciso, Zambales.

DPWH, PARTNERS TO CONDUCT DRY RUN FOR NLEX HARBOR LINK SEGMENT 10

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HE Department of Public Works and Highways to be lead by Secretary Mark Villar, together with Metro Pacific Tollways Corp.

(MPTC) officials led by President Rodrigo Franco and North Luzon Expressway (Nlex) Corp. President Luigi Bautista, will conduct a dry-run for the opening of the Nlex Harbor Link Segment 10 from Karuhatan, Valenzuela City to the new Caloocan Interchange in C3 Road, Caloocan City.

Set for opening in few days, the new segment is envisioned to alleviate traffic congestion in Metro Manila, as it will serve as an alternate corridor for motorists traveling from Central and North Luzon, Valenzuela City and Quezon City to Manila. “The Nlex Harbor Link Segment 10 will be a traffic gamechanger since this will drastically cut

travel time from port area to Nlex,” Villar said, adding that “once opened, around 30,000 vehicles daily will be diverted away from busy roads in Metro Manila.”

Villar also noted that, because of the reduction in travel time, motorists will gain significant savings in vehicle operating costs and increase their productivity, as they will not need to go through heavy traffic. “In a recent Jica [Japan International Cooperation Agency] study, traffic congestion in Metro Manila is costing the country P3.5 billion a day. This new road will be a big boost to our economy as billions of pesos will be saved annually with the improved travel time.”

With the direct and quick access between Nlex and Manila Port, the Nlex Harbor Link Segment 10 is being eyed to provide direct access for commercial

vehicles, especially heavy trucks.

Villar added that truckers and freight forwarders are expected to greatly benefit from the elevated expressway, since their cargo trucks will be spared from the truck ban, thus, translating to faster delivery of goods to and from the provinces.

Bautista cited that, “Aside from connecting Nlex to key areas in Metro Manila, the Nlex Harbor Link Segment 10 is seen to bring more opportunities in nearby communities, such as generation of employment and increase in land values.”

Franco said on his part, “Metro Pacific remains committed in supporting the government in its infrastructure projects to improve accessibility between airports, seaports, and growth corridors in both north and south.”

IT’S BACK-TO-BACK GOLD ANVIL FOR FULL CIRCLE!

F

OR the second year in a row, Full Circle Communications Inc. (Full Circle) wins another Gold Anvil for its excellent public relations (PR) execution of AsiaPOP Comicon Manila 2018, making the agency as among the top winners under the PR Tools: Convention category. Presented annually by the Public Relations Society

of the Philippines (PRSP), the Anvil Awards, considered as “the Oscars” of the PR industry, is the symbol of excellence in PR for outstanding programs and tools.

In photo are (from left) Jeric Sevilla, PRSP treasurer; Cherie Mijares, PRSP director; Genson Gan, head of Full Circle’s accounts department; Karla de Quiros;

accounts manager of Full Circle; Paul de Quiros, president of Full Circle; Melissa de Quiros-Gan, head of communications and strategic planning department; Miyabi Matsuzawa, assistant manager of Full Circle’s media relations department; and Mikey de Quiros; head of Full Circle’s external relations and media relations departments.