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Sen. Leila M. de Lima is escorted to her detention a day after a warrant for her arrest was issued by a regional trial court on Friday in Pasay City. De Lima was arrested on drug charges but professed her innocence and vowed she would not be intimidated by a leader she called a “serial killer”. AP/Bullit Marquez

Drug war lands de Lima in jail

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en. Leila M. de Lima, a vocal opposition senator and leading critic of President Duterte’s deadly antidrug crackdown, was arrested on Friday on drug charges, but professed her innocence and vowed she would not be intimidated by a leader she called a “serial killer”.

De Lima’s arrest came a day after the Regional Trial Court in Muntinlupa City issued the warrant for her arrest, along with other officials who have been charged by state prosecutors for allegedly receiving bribes from detained drug lords.

De Lima has denied the charges, which, she said, were part of an attempt by Duterte to muzzle critics of his crackdown, which has left more than 7,000 drug suspects dead. She questioned why the court suddenly issued the arrest

order, when it was scheduled on Friday to hear her petition to void the three nonbailable charges.

“If they think they can silence me, if they think I will no longer fight for my advocacies, especially on the truth on the daily killings and other intimidations of this Duterte regime, it’s my honor to be jailed for what I’ve been fighting for,” she said before policemen took her into custody at the Senate.

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Justice Secretary Vitaliano N. Aguirre II (left) and National Bureau of Investigation Director Dante A. Gierran display nearly 1 metric ton of seized methamphetamine hydrochloride, or shabu, at a news conference in Manila on December 27, 2016. Aguirre said the 890 kilograms of shabu seized in the series of raids that started from December 1 to 26 has a street value of nearly P6 billion ($120 million), the biggest drug haul in the country so far. Ten people, including three Chinese nationals, were arrested during the raids. AP/Aaron Favila

Inflation spike may prompt BSP to adjust monetary-policy settings

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By Bianca Cuaresma

fter years of keeping monetarypolicy settings unchanged, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is likely to pull the trigger and start raising interest rates this year to abate rising pressures on the inflation front.

PESO exchange rates n US 50.2320

For 19 consecutive times since September 2014—sans the operational adjustment in May last year for the shift to the Interest Rate Corridor (IRC) system—the Monetary Board (MB) has been maintaining rates on its overnight lending and overnight borrowing facilities, along with keeping other monetary-policy levers untouched, saying domestic conditions and inflation expectations remain within control.

At present, the Central Bank’s

monetary-policy setting is at 3 percent for the main overnight reverserepurchase facility—with the ceiling of the corridor still at 3.5 percent and the floor at 2.5 percent. The reserve requirement ratio, meanwhile, is also still at 20 percent.

Rosy outlook

However, in the Standard and Poor’s (S&P) Global Ratings’s latest assessment of Asia-Pacific economic dynamics, the international credit

watcher said the Central Bank is likely to start raising its rates this year while the growth outlook for the economy remains rosy.

“GDP growth of 6 percent to 6.5 percent is easily achievable for the Philippines. A growing middle class continues to support domestic demand. The weak peso will also contribute via a boost to remittances. Inflation is likely to rise significantly this year, and we expect See “Inflation,” A2

‘G

DP growth of 6 percent to 6.5 percent is easily achievable for the Philippines…. Inflation is likely to rise significantly this year, and we expect the BSP to begin raising interest rates in response.”—S&P

n japan 0.4456 n UK 63.0512 n HK 6.4733 n CHINA 7.3081 n singapore 35.7091 n australia 38.7389 n EU 53.1706 n SAUDI arabia 13.3956

Source: BSP (24 February 2017 )

News

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A2 Saturday, February 25, 2017

Drug war lands de Lima in jail Inflation…

Continued from A1

A police convoy, trailed by media vans, took de Lima to the main police camp, where officers will take her photograph and fingerprints before her detention.

Presidential Spokesman Ernesto C. Abella called de Lima’s arrest “a major step forward in the administration’s antidrug war”.

When de Lima headed the government’s Commission on Human Rights, she tried unsuccessfully to have Duterte prosecuted when he was mayor of Davao City for alleged unlawful deaths that occurred during an antidrug crackdown in the city. No witnesses came forward then to testify against the mayor, human-rights officials said.

Duterte expanded the crackdown nationwide after becoming president last June, and de Lima has continued to criticize him after winning a Senate seat last year.

In one of her strongest statements against the President this week, de Lima called Duterte a “sociopathic serial killer” who has not been made to answer for more than 1,000 deaths during his crackdown in Davao City as its mayor, and now for the thousands of drug suspects killed in his national fight against illegal drugs.

She urged Duterte’s Cabinet members to declare him unfit to serve as president. Justice Secretary Vitaliano N. Aguirre II warned that such remarks were seditious, but de Lima replied Aguirre and Duterte are “the rebels and inciters

against a constitutional order that values life and due process above everything else”.

Prosecutors allege that de Lima, while she was justice secretary under former President Benigno S. Aquino III, received bribes from detained drug lords to finance her senatorial campaign, and they say some of the drug lords would testify against her.

The bribes were allegedly solicited by her former driver and lover, who was also charged and arrested on Thursday in northern Pangasinan province.

Duterte has lashed out at de Lima with foul language, calling her a sex-crazed immoral woman whose election opened “the portals of the national government... to narcopolitics”.

De Lima said the case against her might be the “wake-up call” the country needs, referring to the absence of a public outcry in the country over the killings in the antidrug campaign.

De Lima said people were starting to fight back, citing recent accounts by a former militiaman and a retired police officer, who acknowledged their roles as assassins in the Davao deaths and Duterte’s alleged involvement in the killings.

A court ordered de Lima’s arrest on Thursday, after she was indicted over allegations she let illegal drugs flourish inside the national jail during her time as justice secretary. Judge Juanita Guerrero found “sufficient probable cause” to issue the warrant, according to a copy of the order.

“I am innocent, and there is no truth to allegations that I benefited from the illegal-drugs trade, that I took drug money, that I protected drug convicts—these are all lies,” de Lima told reporters on Friday outside her Senate office, where she spent the night before surrendering to authorities.

De Lima has called the indictments politically motivated, and said they were meant to clamp down on her opposition to the President’s deadly drug war. She has been a critic of Duterte for years, leading the Commission on Human Rights when it investigated his drug war in Davao City when he was mayor.

Prosecutors last week filed three separate criminal complaints, accusing de Lima of conspiring to distribute illegal drugs dating back to when she had oversight of the prison system from 2010 until 2015.

She could face life imprisonment and a fine if convicted.

Aguirre has denied pressuring prosecutors to indict the senator, saying probable cause was established after a careful study of the cases. Duterte, who has previously responded to her criticism by accusing her of drug trafficking and conducting an extramarital affair, was quoted by CNN Philippines last week as saying: “She will have to face the music”.

“We are really disappointed with this issuance, because there’s still a hearing tomorrow,” Alex Padilla, de Lima’s lawyer, told ABSCBN on Thursday. “The court made a decision based on nothing.”

AP, Bloomberg News

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Continued from a1

the BSP to begin raising interest rates in response,” S&P said in its Apac Economic Snapshots report.

In September 2014—when the BSP last decided to move its monetary policy to hike it by 25 basis points—the MB made the decision on the basis of its assessment that its inflation target is at risk, as baseline forecast shifted closer to the ceiling of its target range indicating elevated inflation pressures.

In particular, inflation then was hitting above 4 percent— peaking at 4.9 percent in July and August 2014. The Central Bank’s target range for inflation then was also at 2 percent to 4 percent.

Policy meeting

At present, inflation is at 2.7 percent for January. This is projected to rise to average at 3.5 percent this year, based on its forecasts announced in this month’s monetary-policy meeting. For 2018, it is seen to hit 3.1 percent.

Thus, the forecasted rate hike from the Central Bank could come as early as next month, according to Singapore-based regional player DBS Bank.

DBS Bank’s research team, in particular, said a rate hike of 25 basis points “looks likely next month” to kick off the BSP’s own policy normalization.

This will put the BSP’s main rate at 3.25 percent, with adjustments likely to be made accordingly in the IRC’s ceiling and floor.

The BSP is set to meet next on March 23. This will be the MB’s second meeting for the year and

the third to the last monetary-policy meeting for Central Bank chief Amando M. Tetangco Jr. as BSP governor before he is scheduled to step down in July.

Local research partnership First Metro Investment Corp.

(FMIC) and University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P), however, said that, while their outlook aligns with those seeing a rate hike this year, the BSP is likely to postpone this in the second half of the year.

In its most recent issue of the Market Call, its monthly research views on the Philippines, FMIC and UA&P said the BSP is seen to hike rates not earlier than June this year, given that the Federal Reserve rate increase only occurs in the second quarter of the year.

Adding to that, FMIC and UA&P believe inflation—while projected to go up—will still be contained within the Central Bank’s 2-percent to 4-percent target range for the year.

‘Not worrisome’

The threat of rising inflation pressures, economists said, is not at an alarming level for the growing economy.

“We believe that inflation in the next few months will continue to lodge within the BSP’s 2-percent to 4-percent target anchored on stable weather, which should usher in more stable food prices. In addition, we believe there is little further upside to crude-oil prices, as other countries [i.e., Libya, Nigeria, the US] continue to ramp up supply,” FMIC and UA&P said.

“With inflation still well within the 2-percent to 4-percent target, the BSP may postpone rate hikes to the second half of the year, especially if the next Fed policyrate increase occurs only in the second quarter,” the research group added.

Tax shifts

S&P also said that while pending tax shifts, such as new taxes on petrol and luxury foods, are generating further inflation pressures, this is “not a big concern”, given inflation’s low starting point.

Inflation has been undershooting its target in 2015 and 2016—with last year hitting 1.8 percent and the previous at 1.4 percent—due largely to the global oilsupply glut causing international petroleum prices to drop.

While the BSP also said among the upside pressures to inflation include the weakening of the local currency, the DBS Bank said it does not see this as a reason to worry, as the Central Bank “seems comfortable with the recent currency movements.”

The peso has been hitting above the 50-to-a-dollar territory in the previous week, with the weakness attributed by the Central Bank to “market demand to service legitimate dollar requirements”, along with domestic concerns, including the external payments deficit.

“These are normally part of a healthy vibrant market. But this is not to say that we will stand back when we see that the movements are disruptive or excessive,” Tetangco earlier said of the peso.

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Saturday, February 25, 2017

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Chemical weapon killed Kim Jong Nam

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he banned chemical weapon VX nerve agent was used to kill Kim Jong Nam, the North Korean ruler’s outcast half brother who was poisoned last week at the airport in Kuala Lumpur, police said on Friday. The announcement raised serious questions about public safety in a building that was never decontaminated.

The substance, deadly even in minute amounts, was detected on Kim’s eyes and face, Malaysia’s inspector general of police said in a written statement, citing a preliminary analysis from the country’s Chemistry Department.

“Our preliminary finding of the chemical that caused the death of Kim Chol was VX nerve,” said Inspector General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar. Kim Chol is the name on the passport found

on the victim, but a Malaysian official previously confirmed he is North Korea leader Kim Jong Un’s older half brother.

Khalid said the police were still investigating how the lethal agent entered Malaysia.

The death of Kim Jong Nam, whose daylight assassination in a crowded airport terminal seems straight out of a spy novel, has unleashed a diplomatic crisis that escalates by the day. With each new twist in the case, international speculation has grown that

Pyongyang dispatched a hit squad to Malaysia to kill the exiled older sibling of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. North Korea has denounced Malaysia’s investigation as full of “holes and contradictions” and accused the authorities here of being in cahoots with Pyongyang’s enemies.

According to Malaysian investigators, two women—one of them Indonesian, the other Vietnamese—coated their hands with chemicals and wiped them on Kim’s face on February 13 as he waited for a flight home to Macau, where he lived with his family.

He sought help from airport staff but he fell into convulsions and died on the way to the hospital within two hours of the attack, the police said. The case has perplexed toxicologists, who question how the two women could have walked away unscathed after handling a powerful poison, even if—as Malaysian police say—the women were instructed to wash their hands right after the attack.

Dr. Bruce Goldberger, a leading toxicologist who heads the forensic medicine division at the University of Florida, said even a tiny

amount of VX nerve agent—equal to a few grains of salt—is capable of killing. It can be administered through the skin, and there is an antidote that can be administered by injection. US medics and military personnel carried kits with them on the battlefield during the Iraq war in case they were exposed to the chemical weapon.

“It’s a very toxic nerve agent.

Very, very toxic,” he said. “I’m intrigued that these two alleged assassins suffered no ill effect from exposure to VX. It is possible that both of these women were given the antidote.” He said symptoms from VX would generally occur within seconds or minutes and could last for hours, starting with confusion, possible drowsiness, headache, nausea, vomiting, runny nose and watery eyes. Prior to death, there would likely be convulsions, seizures, loss of consciousness and paralysis.

Malaysian police previously said the airport was not decontaminated and no one else besides Kim Jong Nam had been sickened. But if VX was indeed used as Malaysian officials assert, it could have contaminated not only the airport but anyplace else Kim had been,

including medical facilities and the ambulance he was transported in. The nerve agent, which has the consistency of motor oil, can take days or even weeks to evaporate.

VX is banned under the Chemical Weapons Convention, which North Korea never signed. The country is believed by outside experts to have the capacity to produce up to 4,500 metric tons of chemical weapons during a typical year, which it could increase to 12,000 tons per year during a period of crisis. Its current inventory has been estimated at 2,500 to 5,000 tons.

It is suspected of being particularly focused on mustard, phosgene, sarin and V-type chemical agents—substances including VX that are designed to poison through contact and remain lethal for long periods of time.

The North’s development of such agents has been of special concern because of fears it might try to put them in artillery shells for an attack on South Korea’s capital, potentially threatening the lives of millions. Joseph Bermudez, a well-known North Korea analyst, wrote an article for the respected

38 North web site in 2013 that said the North is capable of not only employing “significant quantities and varieties of chemical weapons” across the Korean Peninsula but also using those weapons worldwide “using unconventional methods of delivery.”

He also said there is a “growing body of evidence” indicating the North has shared chemical weapons capabilities with Syria, Iran and others. Malaysia has three people in custody in connection with Kim Jong Nam’s death, including the two suspected attackers. Authorities are also seeking several other people, including the second secretary of North Korea’s embassy in Kuala Lumpur and an employee of North Korea’s stateowned airline, Air Koryo.

The case has marked a serious turnaround in relations between Malaysia and North Korea. While Malaysia isn’t one of Pyongyang’s key diplomatic partners, it is one of the few places in the world where North Koreans can travel without a visa. As a result, for years, it’s been a quiet destination for Northerners looking for jobs, schools and business deals. AP

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News

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Saturday, February 25, 2017

Duterte relies on his childhood hunting buddy to fund drugs war

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efore his childhood friend Rodrigo R. Duterte decided to run for president, Carlos “Sonny” G. Dominguez III used to spend his days hunting a white-tailed deer in Idaho and watching episodes of Narcos on Netflix.

Now, instead of following the escapades of narcotics kingpin Pablo Escobar on TV, he has a drug war at home to pay for. As Duterte’s finance minister since last year, it’s Dominguez’s job to ensure his old companion can afford to implement election promises to wipe out drug dealers and boost police pay, while cutting income tax and finding billions for infrastructure projects.

To raise the money, Dominguez is pushing for a package that will raise levies on automobiles and fuel to boost annual revenue ultimately by P162.5 billion ($3.2 billion). Politicians want only the populist measures passed. “You have to have an agenda, finish it, then go,” said Dominguez, who, like Duterte, is 71.

It’s a mantra that he’s repeated many times in a career that spans half a century and includes top jobs at some 20 companies, including banking, real estate, hotels, agriculture and mining. He was once at the helm of Philippine Airlines Inc., Philippine Associated Smelting and Refining Corp. and Bank of the Philippines Islands (BPI) Agricultural Bank, before focusing on his own businesses. He ran the ministry of natural resources and then agriculture during Corazon

Aquino’s presidency in the late1980s. Dominguez said he had no desire to return to public service, but agreed to do so after running the fund-raising campaign for Duterte’s election bid.

“I didn’t expect to be asked. I’m an old tired horse,” Dominguez said in a January 17 interview in his office overlooking Manila Bay, where a powerful spotting scope allows him a close-up view of the luxury boats at the yacht club and of “women sunbathing”, he jokes.

Dominguez is part of a close circle that Duterte admits is limited to his law school, college dorm mates in Manila and those from Davao, the city where he grew up.

Few are as close as Dominguez. In the 1950s their families lived in a middle-class downtown neighborhood of Davao City called Matina, their homes separated only by an empty lot. Dominguez said “Dut” was a rowdy boy, the family’s black sheep. For Duterte, Dominguez is the friend who ate better food, dressed smarter and got higher grades.

“Even when we were kids, Carlos Dominguez had a fondness for money and that’s why he’s now the finance secretary,” Duterte told tycoons and major taxpayers on February 6. “I chose him because

Dominguez

he is my childhood friend and I trust him.”

They were biking and basketball buddies, and went to the same high school until Duterte got kicked out. And they shared a passion for hunting. Dominguez was given his first rifle before he was 10 and he and Duterte would shoot at birds sitting on power lines. Dominguez still hunts, often with his sons, and his family has a house in Portland, Oregon, where he has won state shooting competitions.

Through the years Dominguez helped bankroll Duterte’s political adventure, from his birth-control projects during the president’s two decades as mayor of Davao City, all the way to the May 2016 polls, without asking for anything in return, according to Duterte. He was a regular benefactor to the charity work of the president’s late mother, Soledad Duterte.

“He’s very focused, very driven and very passionate with his ideas,” said Joey Leviste, a friend of Dominguez the since they studied economics at Ateneo de Manila University in 1961. The finance minister has experience in running every aspect of a business, from managing operations to setting payrolls and meeting the bottom line, said Leviste,

chairman of Oceanagold Philippines Inc., who once managed a copper smelter with Dominguez.

“Sonny knows what he’s doing on the ground and not from a textbook.”

Dominguez says the tax reforms he’s proposing are necessary to keep the Philippines’s credit rating above junk grade. Aside from funding Duterte’s drug war, Dominguez must finance $160 billion of infrastructure projects in the next five years to keep the Philippines among the fastest-growing economies in the world. Boosting revenue will be crucial to keeping the budget deficit from exceeding 3 percent of GDP. “I knew finance wou ld be in ver y good hands because Sonny is ver y comfor table w ith numb e r s ,” s a i d Jo e y B e r mu d e z , a ba n ker who worked u nder Dominguez in BPI’s agriculture unit dur ing the early-1980s.

“He’s a dr il l master who wants any execution to be f lawless.”

Dominguez’s first banking job came when he was still in college. He took a summer job at Citibank N.A. and remembers being balled out one time by his manager for forgetting to log a P3,000 overdraft in the ledger.

Once he graduated in the mid1960s, the bank hired him.

Bermudez said when Dominguez joined client meetings in places like Laguna, south of Manila, and General Santos in Mindanao to chat with farmers and fishermen, he would be interested in the smallest details—costs of fish pens, the price of cages.

I n t he p a s t t wo d e c a d e s , Dominguez would emerge from s e m i - r e t i r e m e nt e v e r y f o u r years or so, usually to turn a company around. One of his most recent projects was in 2006, when he was appointed to try to rehabilitate the Rapu-Rapu gold, copper and silver mine after its operator had poisoned the local environment through cyanide spills. Back in retirement, he would take out his gun.

In the autumn of 2015 Dominguez spent 10 hours a day on a hill in Idaho, waiting for the chance to take a 325-yard shot to bag a male white-tailed stag to add to his collection in the Eagles Bar of his hotel in Davao. For five days he ignored the other deer that came well within his range. “I really wanted to take as far a shot as I could,” Dominguez said. “Hunting is patience.” Bloomberg News

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Biz groups back lower PIT rates under CTRP proposal

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

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usiness groups have expressed support for the passage of a proposal to lower individual income tax rates, which is the main intent of the Comprehensive Tax Reform Package (CTRP).

During the fifth hearing of the House Committee on Ways and Means, the Tax Management Association of the Philippines (TMAP), Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines (Finex), as well as the National Tax Research Center (NTRC), said the lowering of income tax rates will make the tax system simpler, fairer and more efficient, especially for low- and middle-income Filipino families.

TMAP President Malou Lim said her group appreciates government efforts in pursuing a tax-reform program that would promote a simpler income tax system.

“On the reduction of income tax rates, where the taxable income exempting P250,000 and below, we [are] fully supportive [of] that,” Lim said.

However, she asked the lower chamber to lower the top rate from the proposed 35 percent to 30 percent.

“On the top rate—the 35 percent—is very progressive. You know one of our goals is to be more competitive. We hope that this would be revisited, [and] we are proposing that the higher tax rate will be at 30 percent,” she said.

“We understand the 35 percent; we comparing it to Vietnam and Thailand, but if you will check the visions of the two countries effectively, there are a number of tax exemptions that they [give]...,” he added.

Long overdue

For her part, NTRC Director Trinidad Rodriquez said lowering individual income tax rates is actually long overdue.

“We support the lowering of income tax [since] this is been long overdue. It’s been there for almost two decades and it’s just right to lower the bracket to address the so-called bracket creeping, and this will also correct some inefficiencies and inequities in our present tax system,” he said.

“We also agree to the features of the bill, specifically on compensation income earners, which exempt annual income of P250,000 and below and the number of bracket from seven to six,” Rodriguez said.

Finex President Benedicta Du-Baladad said his group also agree, and strongly support House Bill (HB) 4774, which envisions to create a tax system that is more efficient and characterized by low rates and broad taxpayer base that promotes investment, job creation and poverty reduction.

“We agree to the tax exemption base of P250,000, but we request to cap the tax rate at 30 percent or, alternatively, to increase the threshold if a 35 percent rate is to be imposed,” Baladad said.

All or nothing

For his part, Finance Undersecretary Karl Kendrick Chua said the proposed CTRP has to be passed as a whole.

Chua said only with this sizable increase in revenues through tax can the government be able to meet its goal of drastically reducing poverty, and transforming the country into an upper middle-income economy come 2022 by spending big on infrastructure, human capital— education, health, lifelong training, and research and development (R&D)—and social protection for the poor and other vulnerable sectors.

Earlier Act Teachers Rep. Antonio Tinio, a member of the panel, said he will vote against the passage of the tax-reform bill if the committee will retain inflationary provisions in the package.

Tinio said the proposed offsetting measures, which will be shouldered by low-income earners and poor families, should be discussed separately by the lower chamber.

According to the lawmaker, there are no opposition to the income-tax reform unlike the other reforms it is proposed with, such as the excise taxes and value-added tax.

4.66 million Filipinos

Meanwhile, Chua said some 4.66 million taxpayers, or more than double the current figure of 1.8 million, will no longer pay their personal income tax (PIT) under the government’s highly progressive CTRP. “This a part of the bigger package, although we are giving away a lot of money to the people, we also need to remember that, as a part of the package, we also need to provide for the President’s other promises,” he said.

“So we want to emphasize that, while we want to reduce the personal income tax broadly, we also need to look at the bigger picture,” Chua added.

According to Chua, the Department of Finance - endorsed tax-reform bill now pending in Congress will exempt 83 percent of individual taxpayers from the PIT, including 1.8 million minimum-wage workers who are already paying zero income tax as mandated by law, and close to another 3 million earners with a net taxable income of P250,000 and below, based on Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) data.

He said HB 4774, which represents Package One of the CTRP, also provides for revenue-enhancing measures to offset the revenue erosion from the lower PIT rates.

The bill was authored by Quirino Rep. Dakila Carlo Cua, who chairs the House Ways and Means Committee.

“These revenue-enhancing measures primarily target rich consumers and taxpayers so the government can still raise enough money for its unprecedented massive public investment program under the Duterte administration,” Chua said.

At the hearing, which focused on the PIT reductions, Chua said those earning between the above-minimum wage rate and P22,000 a month will pay zero tax under HB 4774. The first P82,000 in the 13th-month pay and other bonuses will be exempted from the PIT computation.

Balitaan sa Rembrandt At the Balitaan sa Hotel Rembrandt, lawyer Levi Baligod appealed to Solicitor General Jose C. Calida to review

his decision and not to waste the effort of the government and the citizenry in pinning down Janet Napoles’s Priority Development Assistance Fund scheme. He added that there are several syndicates operating and nine of them are prominent, where Napoles was the first to be exposed with more than 80 non-governmental organizations involved in such scam. Antidrugs advocate Jonathan Morales warned that online gaming casino is now disguised as business-process outsourcing operation run mostly by Chinese triad drug cartel, and our government regulators should be wary as to the scheme of these syndicates. Psychic Danny Atienza was the first to predict that several corrupt officials will be jailed and declared in advance that Sen. Leila M. de Lima will be jailed soon. While inventor Robert Marin alerted that an increase in the frequency of earthquake around the world is now deemed by scientists as the “new normal”. He quoted Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology Director Renato U. Solidum Jr.’s assessment the other day that a “big one” will hit Metro Manila soon. Marin adviced the populace to take all the necessary precautions and prepare for possible eventuality. With them in photo is Erick San Juan, the forum host.

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

Sports

BusinessMirror

Saturday, February 25, 2017 A5

EASING PAIN OF WAR YOUNG Syrian refugees attend a soccer-training session at a private sports club in Beirut. AP

The Sport 4 Development program, run by the United Nations children’s agency, aims to bring 12,000 children, mostly Syrian refugees, to blacktops and turf pitches this year to teach the basics of soccer and basketball, and to ease the pain of war and displacement.

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By Philip Issa

The Associated Press

EIRUT—Every Sunday the gymnasium along Beirut’s airport highway echoes with the shouting and laughter of dozens of Syrian children enjoying a rare escape from a grim and confined life in exile.

The Sport 4 Development program, run by the United Nations children’s agency, aims to bring 12,000 children, mostly Syrian refugees, to blacktops and turf pitches this year to teach the basics of soccer and basketball, and to ease the pain of war and displacement.

“We try to get them out of their stressful environments and the frights that they’ve lived through,” said Maher Nakib, 40, the technical director of Hoops Lebanon, the sports association behind the project.

Of the 1 million Syrian refugees the UN says are living in Lebanon, more than half are under 18 years old. Syrians here face legal and other forms of discrimination, and many parents are hesitant to let their children play outside in the

crowded alleys of Beirut’s poorer neighborhoods, where most of the refugees live.

The monthlong Hoops program provides a safe environment where the children can blow off steam, as well as learn self-confidence and teamwork.

“They come back home and they’re too tired to fight,” smiles Fatima Tayjan, a refugee from the Syrian city of Aleppo who has enrolled three of her four children in the program.

When her family of six returns home to their crowded twobedroom apartment, the children have “released all their energy and they are ready to talk to each other,” she said.

Maram al-Malwa, a 17-year-old paid volunteer who came up in the program, recalls her own feelings of isolation when she and her family fled from Aleppo to Lebanon five years ago. “It was a new country, even a new accent,” she said.

But now she is irrepressible, rising on the balls of her feet when she speaks and helping coaches reach through to children in the group activities. She is one of a handful of the children pulled aside for a six-month mentorship on leadership and coaching.

THE Lady Falcons have yet to fully adjust to American Coach Airess Padda’s system.

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playing games and sports.’”

Staffers are trained to identify struggling children, those who lash out and those who retreat into their shells.

Psychologists meet with parents weekly to discuss healthy relationships and domestic violence.

The group sessions often bring to light domestic disputes, learning disabilities or experiences of sexual violence. The children are then referred to specialized nongovernmental organizations for further support.

In other cases, children will reveal that they are not enrolled in school, and staffers will direct them to organizations that can help. Two-thirds of Syrian children in Lebanon do not attend school, according to UN figures, in part because the country’s underfunded public education system has been overwhelmed by the new arrivals.

On a recent Sunday, the children lined up to dribble through cones, shoot lay-ups and learn cheers and stretches.

“You see a lot of cases of shyness or stubbornness, and you immediately see them change when they’re here,” said al-Malwa, the teenage volunteer. “I feel like I’m responsible, like I’m in charge of a group.”

Bornea fights Yu in GenSan boxing card

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NDEFEATED Jade Bornea faces Raul Yu for the vacant International Boxing Federation Youth super-flyweight title in the main event of the Sanman Boxing’s “Laban Pinoy 3: Rise of Champions” on Sunday at the Lagao Gym in General Santos City.

Bornea (six wins with four knockouts) of Sanman-Amoy Stable takes on Yu (9-1, 8 KOs) of Ala Promotions in the mainer of the card that features other championship bouts.

In the comain event, seasoned brawler Glenn Porras (29-5, 17 KOs) of North Cotabato clashes with Sanman’s Ben Manangquil (12-1, 3 KOs) for the the vacant World Boxing Federation (WBF) International bantamweight crown.

“All of them are prepared to fight and we will try to upset the local fighters,” Sanman CEO Jim Claude Manangquil said.

ADAMSON U’S QUEST

ATIONAL University (NU) goes for a bounce-back victory against Far Eastern University (FEU) today in Season 79 University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) women’s volleyball action at the Filoil Flying V Center in San Juan City.

The Lady Bulldogs and Lady Tamaraws clash at 4 p.m., right after the tussle between University of Santo Tomas (UST) and Adamson University at 2 p.m.

The Tigresses have been struggling to live up to the off-season hype that they could contend for the crown. They are hoping to improve on their 1-3 start against the winless Lady Falcons (0-5), who are trying to adjust to the system of American Coach Airess Padda.

The Lady Bulldogs are hoping to bounce back from a three-set loss to defending champion De La Salle last week that smirched their 3-0 start.

The loss to the Lady Spikers was a bitter

“You grow, you experience victories, setbacks, you learn to fight for yourself, and you become more confident,” she said.

When hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled their homes or were forced into Lebanon during the 1948 ArabIsraeli war, they set to work mending the national fabric through schools, scouts and athletics, with the support of Arab nationalist groups.

But Syrians have not been able to count on the same sense of solidarity. And as the UN and aid groups have struggled to assist the nearly 5 million Syrian refugees scattered across the region, the focus has been on schooling, aid and shelter, with few resources left over for cultural or recreational activities.

“Children won’t necessarily express themselves unless you give them an outlet, and sports are an excellent medium to do so,” said Nakib, the technical director.

Rania Qadri, who fled from Syria’s southern Daraa province, said she saw her oldest daughter change before her eyes.

“She used to be introverted, she wouldn’t speak to anyone,” she said. “Now she comes home and tells me, ‘I’ve made friends, we’ve been playing soccer, we’ve been

pill for NU Head Coach Roger Gorayeb.

“It’s okay to lose games sometimes, because you’ll learn something from it,” Gorayeb said. “But it’s hard to accept it and I don’t understand that we lost not because of La Salle, but to our poor service and reception.

Gorayeb wanted a better performance from Jaja Santiago, Jasmine Nabor, Risa Sato, Aiko Urdas and Jorelle Singh when they face FEU. Lady Tamaraws Head Coach Shaq de los Santos, meanwhile, has yet to see something special from his team, especially from Bernadeth Pons, Remy Palma, Jerrilli Malabanan and Chin Basas. They are currently sporting a 2-2 win-loss record this season.

“NU has been playing well so far, compared to us,” de los Santos said. “So we have to work harder and double our efforts.”

Adamson University (1-3) and UST (2-2) square off at 8 a.m., while NU and FEU, tied at second place with 3-1 records, take the floor at 10 a.m. in the men’s division. Lance Agcaoili

In the other featured bouts, Jovany Rota (9-9, 6 KOs) battles former world title contender Eden Sonsona (35-6-2, 12 KOs) for the vacant WBF international super-featherweight crown.

Renren Tesorio (15-9-3-4 KOs), a former Philippine lightflyweight titleholder with a record, will have his hands full against Eden’s younger brother Lolito Sonsona (20-1-4-9 KOs) for the vacant WBF Asia super-flyweight title.

“Sanman boxers are also in top shape and I’m sure we will have a great night of championship boxing,” Manangquil added.

The Laban Pinoy 3: Rise of the Champions is the official boxing event of this year’s Kalilangan Festival.

Ramon Rafael Bonilla

Trump’s sons to open golf club in Dubai

D

UBAI—Two of US President Donald J. Trump’s sons arrived in the United Arab Emirates for an invitation-only ceremony on Saturday to formally open the Trump International Golf Club in Dubai.

The visit to Dubai, the first joint business trip abroad by Eric and Donald Trump Jr. since their father’s inauguration, comes as questions still swirl about how the Trump Organization’s many international business interests will affect the administration of America’s 45th president.

Photographs shared on social media by real-estate brokers showed Eric and Donald Jr. first attending a private luncheon on Saturday afternoon in Dubai with Hussain Sajwani, the billionaire who runs Damac Properties, the developer that partnered with Trump on the golf course.

Trump’s two sons gave brief remarks at the billionaire’s mansion on Dubai’s manmade Palm Jumeirah archipelago, speaking underneath an ornamental clock whose face spelled “SAJWANI VILLA”.

“It’s rare in the world where you can be such great friends with a partner and that’s what we have right here,” Eric said. “Hussain, he is an amazing person and Damac is an amazing company.”

The two Trump brothers later met with over 80 people gathered at the event, attendee Niraj Masand told The Associated Press.

They were “expressing their gratitude to Mr. Sajwani, who is the chairman of Damac, and sort of expressing their happiness to meet with all the partners,” said Masand, a director of the realestate firm Banke International.

After sunset, the two sons arrived at the golf course designed by American golf architect Gil Hanse. A string octet played classical music on the edge of the course as guests munched on gourmet canapés, including tuna tartare and Vietnamesestyle spring rolls.

A pro shop inside the clubhouse sold Trump International Golf Club baseball caps for 150 dirhams ($40) and Trump-branded golf balls for $5.50. Absent were the red “Make America Great Again” caps made famous by Trump’s campaign.

The golf course sits inside a larger villa and apartment building project called Damac Hills on the outskirts of Dubai. Some 100 Trump-branded villas also are on the property, selling from 5 million dirhams ($1.3 million) to over 15 million dirhams ($4 million).

Eric and Donald Jr., who now run the Trump Organization, receive Secret Service protection as immediate family members of the president.

It’s unclear what additional security protection the two sons will receive while in Dubai as experts already have warned the Trump brand abroad now faces a global terror risk .

The US Embassy in Abu Dhabi has declined to comment about the trip, while Dubai police did not respond to a request for comment. AP However, the United Arab Emirates, a

San Pedro High makes semifinals

S

AN PEDRO Relocation National High School surprised Chiang Kai Shek College, 25-17, 25-10, to make the semifinals of the 17-Under Competitive Division of the 21st Women’s Volleyball League recently at the Xavier School Gym. The San Pedro spikers will meet their counterparts from La Salle College- Antipolo, who survived their quarterfinal rivals from San Antonio de Padua College, 22-25, 25-16, 1513, at 10 a.m. on Sunday in the tournament organized by the Basketball Efficiency Scientific Training Center and sponsored by Milo.

The other half of the semifinals will pit King’s Montessori, a 25-10, 25-18 victor over Colegio San Agustin-Makati, against Hope Christian School, which beat Escuela de Sophia, 25-23, 23-25, 15-11, at 9 a.m.

Saint Pedro Poveda won by default Miriam College and advanced into the semifinals of the 17-Under Developmental Division against Colegio de Santa Rosa, a 25-18, 25-17 quarterfinals winner over Saint Bridget School, at 9 a.m. also on Sunday.

Saint Paul College-Makati, had to sweat it out for a 25-19, 21-25, 15-8 win over Saint Scholastica’s College for the right to meet Saint Anthony School, which beat Notre Dame of Greater Manila, 25-8, 20-25, 15-5, in the other half of the semifinals.

ACTION shifts to the semifinals in the 21st Women’s Volleyball League.

BusinessMi

A6 Saturday, February 25, 2017 | Editor: Jun Lomibao

‘My life hasn’t been without punishment’

W

HEN Lance Armstrong reunited with former teammates Christian Vande Velde, George Hincapie and Dylan Casey to race the 24 Hours of Old mountain-bike race last weekend, he also took the opportunity to host them on his Forward podcast. Over the course of more than 80 minutes, the former US Postal Service (USPS) riders discussed both the past and the present and took questions, as well.

Armstrong opened the show by addressing the recent decision of a US district judge to rule that his legal battle with Floyd Landis and the USPS must be heard by a jury. The District Court granted the government’s motion to set the amount in question at $32,267,279, the total of the payment invoices that team owners Tailwind Sports submitted to USPS. A jury could decide Armstrong and Tailwind should pay damages as much as three times that amount, or $96,801,837.

“I was a little surprised with how widely spread the news was. That’s fine but I wanted to address a few things,” Armstrong said.

“First of all, we believe in this case from our perspective. We believe the Postal Service greatly benefited. While the situation certainly is not perfect, I’ll be the first to admit that we do not believe that they can go back and undo all the good that was done all of those years ago.

“I think the most important thing I want to say to y’all and to anybody who works for the Postal Service, is that I absolutely loved representing your company. I loved wearing that jersey, I loved riding around Europe, riding down the Champs Elysees, hearing our national anthem with that jersey on. It could have been any other team. It could have been a foreign team. It could have been another American team. But it was a real pleasure to represent that organization, and I think we did great things.

“So, while I know many out there feel as if I need to be punished, severely, which is fine and your opinion, I understand that.

My life hasn’t been without punishment.

Some of it has been public, some of it not, but there’s been many other cases that have to be resolved, that have certainly changed the look and feel of our life, I mean myself and my family. On this one, we believe the law and the merit is on our side, so we will see it through. If you’re supportive, then thank you. If you’re not, then just know this: I get it. I understand. That’s fair.”

Armstrong led the debate during the 80-minute podcast, talking about the 24 hours of racing they were about to face but also answering questions from listeners and social media.

Armstrong is often asked if he would do everything he did during his racing career all over again. He gave his answer and also

solicited answers from Casey, Vande Velde and Hincapie. They revealed their own feelings about doping, racing in Europe in the 1990s and the consequences of their actions.

“It’s a fair question, but at 45 years old, do you want to go back and evaluate what you did at 22 and 25? It’s tough, so where I always end up on this is that to me, the wish that I had, was that I came into a different generation, a different era, a different environment,” Armstrong said.

“We didn’t think we were heading over to what we were heading over to. There’s been a lot of regret about the whole situation but we do not lack the regret that we stepped into the environment. Yes, we made the mistakes that we all well know but if I could change one thing, I’d say, ‘Boys, here’s our bottle of water, here’s a bag of bread, lets go.’ I’m me, and I’m biased, but I don’t think the results change, so yeah, I certainly would love...I’m not trying to opine on the current state of cycling, because

I don’t know it. But, of course, on a truly level playing field, I’d love to toe that line.”

Dylan Casey, who quit professional cycling after a short career to work for Google and then Yahoo in Silicon Valley, said his professional career taught him how to persevere.

“Sometimes I try to answer the question.

Sometimes, I think, it’s impossible to answer it just because of what I know now,” he said.

“My story is so different because I got into cycling so late. And three years later, when I decided to do it later, I found myself on the start line of the Tour of Flanders. I didn’t even know what that race was. I just had no idea what I was getting into.

Regardless of the mistakes I made, that I learned to persevere through just about anything. That’s the thing that has stick with me. So it’s difficult to say what I would or wouldn’t do. But coming away with that ability has been priceless.” Cyclingnews

LE TOUR DE FILIPINAS AGAIN A SUCCE LANCE ARMSTRONG: There’s been a lot of regret about the whole situation but we do not lack the regret that we stepped into the environment. CYCLINGNEWS

Russia recruiting Australian cyclist for Olympic team

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OSCOW— Russia is hoping to recruit former world champion track cyclist Shane Perkins of Australia in a push for medals at the 2020 Olympics.

Perkins said on Wednesday in a Facebook statement

FORMER world track champion Shane Perkins says on social media he “will now be riding for Russia”. AP

THE peloton passes through fresh flowers on the well-paved roads in Irosin town in Sorsogon in Stage One. NONOY LACZA

that he “will now be riding for Russia”, alongside a picture of himself in Russian team gear. “’The Russian Cycling Federation [RCF] has given me another opportunity to chase my dreams of Olympic representation in Tokyo 2020, which has special significance to me as my father [Darryl Perkins] raced the Olympics in Tokyo 1964,” he added.

Perkins said his move had the backing of Australian cycling officials.

However, Russia said the switch isn’t yet complete.

RCF General Secretary Yuri Kucheryavy told Russia’s R-Sport news agency Perkins was training with Russia’s

sprinters recently and “we’re interested in him for the team sprint, where we need a third person”, as well as the keirin.

“We still need to sort everything out officially,” Kucheryavy added.

Perkins has won two gold medals at the track world championships and Olympic individual sprint bronze in 2012, though he didn’t make the team for last year’s Games in Rio de Janeiro.

Russia has long been open to naturalizing athletes from neighboring countries but stepped up its program for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, bringing in South Korean speedskater Viktor Ahn and US snowboarder Vic Wild, both of whom won gold medals.

Other Russian recruits include former world boxing champion Roy Jones Jr., who was awarded Russian nationality by a special order of President Vladimir Putin.

The tough final climb up the Cauberg hill, meanwhile, has been cut from this year’s Amstel Gold Race cycling classic, with organizers saying the move should create a more open race.

Climbing specialists often wait until the short but steep Cauberg shortly before the finish line to make their move in the race that passes through the rolling hills of Limburg province.

Race Director Leo van Vliet says he now hopes “to create a more open race, which leads to more potential winners and the attacking riders will have more chance”.

Fans of Dutch climbs will still get the chance to see riders going up the Cauberg— the racers have to climb it three times during the April 16 event. AP

EIGHTH’S A A USTRALIAN Jai Crawford proved his 33-year-old legs still have all it takes to beat a field of enthusiastic youngsters to rule the eighth edition of the Le Tour de Filipinas that started in Legaspi City and made stops in Sorsogon, Naga City and Daet, before winding up in Lucena City last Tuesday.

Crawford pulled off an amazing chase in the general classification and erased the more than two-minute lead of three-day leader, 22-year-old Daniel Whitehouse, heading into the final Stage Four—a 207-kilometer grind that was the longest in the race organized

by Ube Media Inc.—to rule the Category 2.2 International Cycling Union Asia Tour race.

The fourth stage was punishing for the 63 surviving cyclists from a starting field of 73, as the riders pedaled over 170 km of flat and winding roads rendered more difficult by the sun’s heat before making a Category 2 climb on top of Tatlong Eme in Atimonan, Quezon.

But the hill turned out to be a mere mole for Crawford.

“It’s not really a race for me, because there’s no mountaintop finish,” said the former member of the Australian national team. “I normally get a better result in the mountains, but I’m still happy for my team to start the year with a win.”

Crawford, unsuccessful with his Kinan Cycling Team last year, finished fifth in the stage

7-ELEVEN Roadbike Philippines’s Spanish rider Edgar Nohales Nieto relaxes before the start of Stage Two in Naga City.

behind South Korean Park Sanghong (LX Cycling Team), but it was enough to win the crown with a 28-second advantage over Whitehouse.

Whitehouse consoled himself with the Best Young Rider award, while Park was named Sprint King and Mario Vogt claimed the Mountain King trophy in the race presented by Air21, and backed by Petron, UPS, Philippine Airlines, Advanced Solutions Inc., Cargohaus Inc., CCN Sports Philippines, IWMI, NMM Customs Broker, Phenom Sportswear, UFL Philippines and WARM. Mark Galedo of 7-Eleven Roadbike Philippines finished 14th overall to emerge as the Best Filipino Rider. Team Ukyo from Japan won the team GC championship.

JAI CRAWFORD (left) and Daniel Whitehouse pose wi Stage Four. NONOY LACZA

irror CYCLING

mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph | Saturday, February 25, 2017 A7

DISC BRAKES RETURN THIS YEAR D

ISC brakes will make their reappearance in the professional road peloton this year, with the International Cycling Union (UCI) set to begin a second trial period with modifications designed to address the safety concerns that led to the halting of the original introduction.

The UCI is yet to officially announce the new trial, but Cyclingnews understands it will begin at the start of the 2017 season with new discs that are “rounded”—or blunted—to mitigate the danger of the sharp spinning edges, which some have described as “blades”. There are also plans for a protective casing for the discs, which could protect against burns of the kind Orica-BikeExchange rider Sam Bewley complained about on Twitter recently.

The UCI originally tried disc brakes in road racing at the end of the 2015 season, and allowed widespread use in 2016, but they were abruptly rebanned after Fran Ventoso suffered a deep gash to his leg at ParisRoubaix last April.

Since then, negotiations have been taking place between the UCI, the Cyclistes Professionels Associés (CPA), which is the riders’ association, and the Association Internationale des Groupes Cyclistes Professionels (AIGCP), which represents pro teams and called for the ban after the Ventoso injury.

While the associations have expressed reservations over the use of disc brakes, the UCI is under intense pressure from a cycling manufacturing industry hungry for progress and—as key sponsors of many pro teams— with not a little influence.

Fruitful talks took place in Bern on the second rest day of the Tour de France this July, where the UCI Technical Manager Mark Barfield showed off a prototype of the new, rounded disc. A prototype of the protective housing should be ready in the coming weeks. In August an independent study commissioned by the UCI was made available to the sport’s stakeholders, detailing the safety improvements of the proposed system, and there were further discussions in Milan on the

THE new discs that are “rounded”—or blunted—to mitigate the danger of the sharp spinning edges, which some have described as “blades”. CYCLINGNEWS

eve of Il Lombardia at the end of September.

One condition of the new trial, in addition to the new safety features, will be a working group that will see representatives of the UCI, AIGCP and CPA come together on a monthly basis to discuss how the trial is progressing and how suitable the new discs are.

“We are happy to give this another try,” AIGCP Director Javier Barrio told Cyclingnews, saying the association was convinced during the summer.

“We saw the independent study, and there was a reaction, a commitment, from the industry, and with the monitoring process on top, we were satisfied.”

The disc brakes issue has been a divisive one, with some riders defending their use and some teams using them, while others have spoken about about the dangers, and also the needlessness of the discs given the effectiveness of current caliper brakes.

The CPA represents opinions on both sides of the divide but told Cyclingnews that the “majority” of pros have been against them.

The association has been critical of the UCI in the past over this issue, saying the governing body “clearly wanted to continue the planned tests [in 2015] without taking into account the CPA remarks and despite the numerous red flags”. This time, however, they are satisfied with the planned 2017 trial under the proposed conditions, and are pleased with the UCI’s recent levels of communication and engagement.

“We talked to many people—we were very concerned about the use of disc brakes.

We know someone very knowledgeable who is very critical, and we asked the UCI to listen to the concerns, and they said ‘yes, we will’,” a CPA spokesman said.

“We are happy that the UCI is now listening to us.” Cyclingnews

Could organizers charge spectators to watch races?

ESS IN ITS EIGHTH EDITION

AMAZING! Completing the general classification were Fernando Grijalba (Kuwait Cartucho.Es, 51 seconds), Benjamin Hill (Attaque Team Gusto, 52 seconds), Ryu Suzuki (Bridgestone Anchor Cycling Team, 55 seconds), Edgar Nohales Nieto (7-Eleven Roadbike Philippines, 1:02), Salvador Guardiola (Team Ukyo, 1:05), 2015 champion Thomas Lebas (Kinan Cycling Team, 1:05), Vogt (Attaque Team Gusto, 1:28) and Nathan Earle (Team Ukyo, 2:32).

Crawford was in the thick of the race in all of the first three stages of the race, which has Petron and UPS as principal sponsors and Philippine Airlines as official airline partner.

It marked another successful year of the Le Tour de Filipinas, the only UCI-sanctioned

ith enthusiastic children in the Lucena City finish in

road race in the country.

“We are very thankful with the support and cooperation, particularly the local government units in the Bicol region and Quezon, who were unrelenting in helping us stage another successful Le Tour de Filipinas,” said Donna May Lina, president of race organizer Ube Media Inc. “With the warm welcome that we had in all four stages, a return to the Bicol region looks inevitable,” Lin added.

The race drew major support from the national federation of cycling, PhilCycling, which

is led by President Abraham Tolentino and Chairman Alberto Lina.

“It was, indeed, Eighth’s Amazing this year,” Lina stressed, referring to this year’s race slogan “Eighth’s Amazing” for its eighth edition, which again drew 15 continental, club and national teams, including the Philippine National Team, Terengganu Cycling Team (Malaysia), Uzbekistan National Team, CCN Cycling Team (Lao PDR), Keyi Look Sport Cycling Team (China), United Arab Emirates National Team, Kuwait Cartucho.ES (Kuwait) and Sapura Cycling Team (Malaysia).

GENERAL classification champion Jai Crawford (yellow jersey) of Australia is joined by the jersey winners—Best Filipino Rider Mark Galedo, Best Young Rider Daniel Whitehouse and King of the Mountain Mario Vogt (third, fourth and fifth from left, standing, respectively), as well as members of the team classification winner Team Ukyo during the Awarding and Closing Ceremony at the Queen Margaret Hotel in Lucena City. With them are (from left, standing) Quezon Province General Services Offices Chief Engr. Rowell Radovan, Ube Media President and Le Tour Chairman Donna May Lina, PhilCycling Chairman Alberto Lina, International Commissaire Navaratnaraja Karunaratna and Le Tour Vice Chairman Rudy Fulo.

PETER SAGAN wins the 2016 Tour of Flanders.

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NE of professional cycling’s biggest draws is that anyone can turn up at the side of the road and watch the world’s best race for free. However, with budgets getting tighter and the economic future of the sport uncertain, half of Belgium’s major race organizers believe that charging spectators is an inevitability.

Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad surveyed 22 organizers, including those that put on the Tour of Flanders, E3 Harelbeke and GentWevelgem. What once seemed unthinkable, several of the organizers believe may become a normal way of funding races.

Fortunately for fans, the organizers of the Flanders Classics and KWC Hand in Hand vzw were among the half that did not think the move was necessary. According to Het Nieuwsblad, it is the organizers of the smaller events that are feeling the financial pinch. With no money coming from general spectators, most of them are heavily reliant on sponsorship, VIPs and some subsidies from hosting towns. Television rights

also help with funds, but it is the bigger races that benefit most from those.

At present, only the one-day Nokere Koerse makes any spectators pay. The charge €5 for anyone watching in the final 30 or so kilometers, in what is known as the “zone of truth” (zone van de waarheid).

The report states that as many as six organizers have really felt the pressure of funding. Outside of Belgium, we’ve seen races folding due to sponsorship and funding issues, including the Tour of Qatar, La Méditerranéenne and the Philadelphia Classic in the US. Other races have shortened their events for the same reason.

Organizers accept that making people pay will require a change in mentality for fans, and it is likely to face plenty of resistance.

“A major change of mentality will be needed,” Rob Discart, of Golazo Sports, who organizes the Baloise Belgium Tour and Eneco Tour among others, told Het Nieuwsblad.

“People are so used to the course being free.”

Cyclingnews

OurTime

A8 Saturday, February 25, 2017 • Editor: Efleda P. Campos

BusinessMirror

2.8M poor senior citizens to get monthly stipend from DSWD T

news@businessmirror.com.ph

Alvarez wants elderly, PWDs to take precautions in local absentee voting

HE leadership in the House of Representatives wants senior citizens and persons with disabilities (PWDs) to avail themselves of local absentee voting to ease their difficulties during elections.

In a statement last week, Speaker Pantaleon D. Alvarez said there is no law granting PWDs and senior citizens the privilege to vote under the local absenteevoting system, which is meant to increase participation by citizens who are in situations that prevent them to vote.

Alvarez said the law requiring the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to set up precincts accessible to PWDs and senior citizens is not enough to facilitate voting, considering many people still failed to vote because of their mobility limitations or their physical and health conditions.

Alvarez filed House Bill 5019 to ensure senior citizens and PWDs —who are unable to vote in their

T

HE Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is planning to provide a monthly stipend to 2.8 million indigent senior citizens this year.

The figure is more than double the 1.3 million target beneficiaries of the Social Pension for Indigent Senior Citizens (SPISC) Program in 2016, the department said in a release issued on Thursday.

The program has an approved budget allocation of P17.94 billion this year, compared to P8.71 billion last year.

The SPISC program grants poor senior citizens P500 to augment their daily subsistence, including their medical needs.

Started in 2011 through Republic Act 9994, or the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010, the program aims to improve the living condition of eligible indigent senior citizens and to protect them from neglect and deprivation.

The target beneficiaries are those aged 60 years old and above who are frail, sickly or with dis-

ability; with no regular income or support from family and relatives, and without pension from private or government institutions.

The program is being implemented by the DSWD through its 17 field offices, in partnership with local government units and with help from the city and municipal social-welfare offices and the Office of the Senior Citizens Affairs.

As of January 31, a total of 1,331,747 senior citizens, or 96.79 percent of the target 1,375,970 beneficiaries for 2016, were able to receive their social pension.

The conduct of payout is still ongoing for the remaining 44,223 beneficiaries.

Out of the total P8.7-billion allocation for the program last year, P8.5 billion, or 98.21 percent, have been used up for the program. PNA

PLANTING IN ARID SOIL An elderly farmer readies his farmland while waiting for the rain. Like many farmers in Barangay Batiawan, Subic, Zambales, he practices organic farming. LEO VILLACALOS

When older age comes with daily doses of medical marijuana

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EW YORK—Ruth Brunn finally said yes to marijuana. She is 98.

She pops a green pill filled with cannabis oil into her mouth with a sip of vitamin water. Then Brunn, who has neuropathy, settles back in her wheelchair and waits for the jabbing pain in her shoulders, arms and hands to ebb.

“I don’t feel high or stoned,” she said. “All I know is I feel better when I take this.”

Brunn will soon have company.

The nursing home in New York City where she lives, the Hebrew Home at Riverdale, is taking the unusual step of helping its residents use medical marijuana under a new program to treat various illnesses with an alternative to prescription drugs. While the staff will not store or administer pot, residents are allowed to buy it from a dispensary, keep it in locked boxes in their rooms and take it on their own.

From retirement communities to nursing homes, older Americans are increasingly turning to marijuana for relief from aches and pains. Many have embraced it as an alternative to powerful drugs, like morphine, saying that marijuana is less addictive, with fewer side effects.

For some people, it is a last resort when nothing else helps.

Marijuana, which is banned by federal law, has been approved for medical use in 29 states, including New York, and the District of Columbia. Accumulating scientific evidence has shown its effectiveness in treating certain medical conditions. Among them: neuropathic pain, severe muscle spasms associated with multiple sclerosis, unintentional weight loss, and vomiting and nausea from chemotherapy. There have also been reports that pot has helped people with Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia, as well as Parkinson’s disease.

Across the nation, the number of marijuana users who are in their later years is still relatively limited, but the increase has been significant, especially among those 65 and older, according to recent studies.

“It’s a bigger issue than we

thought,” said Brian Kaskie, a professor of health policy at the University of Iowa who cowrote a study published in January, “The Increasing Use of Cannabis Among Older Americans: A Public Health Crisis or Viable Policy Alternative?” “This is an elephant we’re just starting to get our hands on.”

A medical marijuana education and support club started by residents of Rossmoor Walnut Creek, a retirement community east of San Francisco, has grown to 530 members—so many it has changed meeting rooms three times.

“I would be in a lot worse shape if I wasn’t using cannabis, both physically and mentally,” said Anita Mataraso, 72, a grandmother of six who is the program director and takes marijuana daily for arthritis and nerve pain, among other ailments.

In the state of Washington, at least a dozen assisted living facilities have formal medical marijuana policies in response to demands from their residents, said Robin Dale, executive director of the Washington Health Care

Association. T he association, an industry group, has posted a sample medical marijuana policy on its web site.

In March an influential group of medical providers, AMDA— The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine—will tackle the issue at its annual conference. Cari Levy, the group’s vice president, will offer a “Marijuana 101” lesson on the benefits, the risks and the potential pitfalls for providers.

“People are using it, and we need know how to respond,” she said.

But as older people come to represent an emerging frontier in the use of marijuana for medical purposes, questions are being raised about safety and accessibility. Even in states where medical marijuana is legal, older people who stand to benefit often cannot get it. Most nursing homes do not openly sanction its use, and many doctors are reluctant to endorse pot use, saying not enough is known about the risks in the oldest age groups.

“This is a target demographic that may have their access limited,

if not cut off altogether, simply because they reside in a facility,” said Paul Armentano, deputy director of NORML, a group that advocates the legalization of marijuana. “It is a problem that may infringe on their quality of life.”

While there is no shortage of research on marijuana, relatively little of it has focused explicitly on older users even as their numbers grow—and not just in the United States. In Israel, for instance, older people have been treated with medical marijuana for years.

And Americans for Safe Access, an advocacy group, helped open a research center in the Czech Republic that is evaluating its effect on older people.

“It’s an area that’s very important to look at,” said Dr. Igor Grant, director of the Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research at the University of California, San Diego, adding that older people are one of the center’s research priorities.

“Older people can be more sensitive to medicine,” he said. “It’s possible a dose safe for a 40-year-old may not be in an 80-year-old.”

New York Times News Service

ORGANIC-FARMING PRACTITIONER Wearing a raincoat, Virgie Oray, 61, defoliates extra leaves from the eggplants organically grown at the OceanaGold Sustainable Agro-forestry Inc. nursery in Tuccod, Cabarroguis, Quirino. LEONARDO PERANTE II

registered precincts during election day on account of their physical and health conditions—can cast their votes as local absentee voters in places other than where they are registered, subject to the rules and regulations issued by the Comelec.

“The State must ensure they are able to exercise their right to vote in a comfortable manner and with greater accessibility,” Alvarez said.

The bill proposes an amendment to Republic Act 10380, or “An Act Providing for Local Absentee Voting for Media”, to extend the right to vote under the local absentee-voting system to PWDs and senior citizens.

The new law shall be known as the “Expanded Voting Act of 2017”.

The Comelec is given 60 days from the effectivity of the Act to promulgate the necessary implementing rules and regulations.

Under the current law, the absentee-voting system covers members of the media and government officials and employees. PNA

House to debate on early voting for seniors, PWDs

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HE House Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms has formed a technical working group (TWG) that will finalize the bills seeking to give advance voting privileges to senior citizens, persons with disabilities (PWDs) and those required to work during election day, such as lawyers and teachers.

The TWG will work on the following bills: House Bill 45 by Deputy Speaker and Marikina City Second District Rep. Romero Quimbo, authorizing the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to establish precincts assigned to accessible polling places, exclusively for PWDs and senior citizens; HB 743 by Rep. Emmline Y. Aglipay-Villar (Partylist-Diwa), providing for qualified early voting for senior citizens, PWDs, and workers required to work on election day; HB 1371, providing for local absentee voting for lawyers, HB 1372, providing for local absentee voting for PWDs, and HB 1373, providing for local absentee voting for senior citizens by Rep. Angelina “Helen” D.L. Tan (Fourth District, Quezon); HBs 2486 and 2487, providing for local absentee voting for senior citizens and PWDs respectively, by Reps. Estrellita B. Suansing (First District, Nueva Ecija) and Horacio P. Suansing Jr. (Second District, Sultan Kudarat); and HB 4539, providing for early voting for the national and local elections, by Rep. Maximo B. Rodriguez Jr. (Second District, Cagayan de Oro City).

The committee, chaired by Rep. Sherwin N. Tugna (Partylist-CIBAC), tasked the TWG to study the bills and recommend how to minimize or avoid the disenfranchisement of registered voters, namely senior citizens, PWDs and those assigned to work during election day, such as lawyers and teachers.

Tan said she refiled her three bills because these were not tackled during the 16th Congress.

“I hope these will be passed this time and enacted into law,” Tan said.

Quimbo said the 2016 elections is the new benchmark for having the best elections in the country.

But what must be addressed is really the disenfranchisement of senior citizens as well as PWDs, particularly in Metro Manila.

Quimbo said he personally saw most voting precincts designated for senior citizens and PWDs, such as public school buildings, are four- or five-story high.

“I have personally seen that. And the data will show that in terms of turnout, while senior citizens are

approximately almost 15 percent of the total voting population, quite a great number of them, in fact, did not turn out,” Quimbo said.

Quimbo said Comelec data showed there are 318,013 PWDs and 6.695 million senior citizens registered to vote during the May 2016 elections.

“After the 23 percent low voter turnout of these two sectors during the 2013 midterm elections, there was a clamor for disability inclusivity in the elections. Thus, the past administration enacted Republic Act 10366, which mandates the Comelec to establish accessible polling places [APPs] exclusively for PWDs and the elderly,” Quimbo said.

Despite said law, Quimbo said Mia Esteban, aged 74 , and Josefa Basarde, 65, waited in line under the heat of the sun for three hours to vote at the designated emergency APPs at the President Corazon Aquino Elementary School in Batasan Hills, Quezon City during the May 2016 polls.

“Through HB 45, which seeks to amend Republic Act 10366, or “An Act Authorizing The Commission On Elections To Establish Precincts Assigned To Accessible Polling Places Exclusively For Persons With Disabilities And Senior Citizens”, and improve the voting experience of the vulnerable sector by assigning an earlier voting day for the elderly and the PWDs, the voting process will be expedited, streamlined and convenient,” Quimbo said.

The bill mandates the Comelec to designate an APP within the premises of the municipal or city hall exclusively for senior citizens and PWDs. Under RA 10366, an APP is the venue where the Board of Election Inspectors (BEIs) conducts election-related proceedings and where the voters cast their votes. The APP shall be located at the ground floor, preferably near the entrance of the building, and is free of any physical barriers and provided with necessary services, including assistive devices.

Suansing said suffrage is one of the people’s most fundamental rights and the hallmark of the country’s democracy. “Thus, all barriers to exercise this right must be minimized or eliminated. The elderly and PWDs are susceptible to encountering these barriers. Many of them are unable to vote simply because they do not have the ability to travel to voting precincts, thus, laws should be enacted to eliminate the barriers we face to exercise this right,” said Suansing. PNA

news.businessmirror@gmail.com

The Millennials BusinessMirror

Saturday, February 25, 2017

A9

Business rides on crest of young eSports sector

A

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

@jearcalas

Chinese feel of network gaming is now in the country. That feel is offering expensive per-hour rates, coupled with coffee and meals.

This is what network-gaming firm TheNet.Com (TNC) Inc. wants to try out in the Philippine market with its latest business computer-use rental venture called High Ground TNCPredator Café.

“What we want to do is to make High Grounds Café [HG] the highend branch of TNC. So, when you say ‘High Grounds’, it’s the high-end of TNC, composed of full restaurant and coffee,” CEO and President of TNC Eric M. Redulfin told the BusinessMirror at the sidelines of HG TNC-Predator Café’s soft launch in early February.

According to documents provided

by Redulfin, HG TNC-Predator Café is a partnership between TNC, the biggest network cafe in the Philippines with more than 100 branches nationwide; and Taiwanese firm Acer Inc. The latter allowed the use of the “Predator” brand of its latest line of gaming laptops, desktops, tablets and other devices.

Redulfin said the partnership involved the supply of 110 units of Acer’s high-end Predator desktops—100 units of Predator G3 and 10 units of Predator G1—for the 1,500-square-meter-wide i-Café at a “discounted price”.

“This was a win-win situation for both parties. HG became the showroom of Predator while, at the same time, we were given a good price for the computers,” Redulfin said, without disclosing how much the “discount” was.

According to Redulfin, at prevailing market price, a complete set of Predator G1 desktop would cost at around P180,000, while a package of Predator G3 units is estimated at around P120,000. A unit of a Predator G1 desktop central processing unit (CPU) alone costs around P70,000, while a Predator G3 CPU is pegged at P60,000. On the other hand, the gaming monitor—2a 24inch full-HD Predator XB241H— costs around P30,000.

The Predator G1 is powered by Intel Corp.’s Core i7 6700 processor (8M cache, up to 4.00 Gigahertz) partnered with a 32-Gigabyte (Gb) DDR4 (double data rate fourth-generation) 2133-megahertz memory. The unit has a combined storage drive of 3-terrabyte, 3.5-inch 7200RPM (revolution per minute) and 256-Gb M.2 22280 Solid State Drive (SSD). To top the unit’s overwhelming specs, its graphics processing unit is invigorated by Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 8GB DDR5 graphics card.

Meanwhile, the Predator G3 is powered by the same processor, only with a little bit lesser memory, storage space and graphics card. Predator G3 is comprised of 16GB DDR4 2133-MHz memory, 2TB 3.5-inch and 128GB SSD and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3GB GDDR5 graphics card.

“This is the first branded iCafé not only in the Philippines but in Southeast Asia,” Redulfin said. “All units are comprised of i-gaming monitors and other paraphernalia.”

Clark Gurden, so-called Predator brand ambassador, said they partnered with TNC, because “we saw a great opportunity” with the company that would result in a favorable outcome for both companies.

“Working with TNC, you know you are working with someone like Eric that would form a strong business relationship,” Gurden, who flew to Manila from Taiwan for the soft launching of HG TNC-Predator Café, told the BusinessMirror. “It’s going to benefit both groups.”

“And the eSports community in the Philippines is growing. Predator wants to be part of that growing industry, and also to be part of the

daily life of gaming in the Philippines,” Gurden added.

Innovation

STILL, HG TNC-Predator Café is not just made of beastly computer machines.

The HG TNC-Predator Café is a two-floor building with a glass façade smacked in the middle of the food-and-beverage district of Tomas Morato. The Internet café offers full dining and gaming experience.

The ground-floor area hosts the café and restaurant bar with a dining area and lounge. Around 70 computer units could be found in the middle of the ground floor in an octopus-like table setup. The tournament stage with 10 booths of Predator G1 units is also in the middle the coffee shop.

The second floor holds the remaining 40 Predator G3 computer units, with a balcony overlooking the first floor of gaming area.

“We chose this [Tomas Morato] area, because this is the center of ‘gimmicks’ and businesses. HG cannot be put within the vicinity of universities, because our target market for this one is not really students,” Redulfin said. “If there would be student customers [at all], they would be the ones capable of paying not only the hourly rates but what they get in total.”

With the overwhelming computer units and unusual amenities come the higher-than-usual per-hour rate.

HG TNC-Predator Café’s hourly rate is fixed at P100, with the computers on the stage priced at P150 per-hour use. Only those who availed themselves of the membership subscription of HG TNC-Predator Café could rent the computers on the stage platform. Based on its hourly rate, HG TNC-Predator Café deviates from the usual P15- to P30-per-hour rate and four-hour to 10-hour gaming promos offered by standard computer shops in the country.

This is what is happening in China. This is what business café owners in China are experiencing.

What’s happening in the Philippine i-Café industry is that a lot of Internet cafés are being established and hourly rates are being dragged down, Redulfin said. That was the problem of China before, which they (i-Café operators in China) corrected through this concept of (high-end) i-Cafés.

Redulfin noted that, with the current business model of computer shops, the return of investment takes long due to logistical problems and technical concerns. “You’re at losing end if you are always upgrading your computer units. So, it makes it unprofitable,” Redulfin said.

“I, myself, went to China and saw that most of i-Cafes there are big and at the high-end level, and they are the ones that are surviving,” Redulfin added. The (i-Cafés surviving are the) ones with coffee shop and restaurant and offer costly hourly rates.

He disclosed around P35 million to P40 million was spent to put up the HG TNC-Predator Café.

Redulfin is confident and aggressive with his latest business venture in the growing network-gaming industry in the country.

“The target here is a two-year ROI [return of investment],” Redulfin said. “Within two months this should be full of gamers already [on] a daily basis. Meaning, by April, there should be 100 or so Filipino gamers using the units,” Redulfin added.

Redulfin admitted that given with the setup and luxury of HG TNCPredator Café, their target market is really focused on the Class A and Class B market segment. And if the

Young people line up for the soft opening of the High Ground TNC-Predator Café on February 8. The coffee shop, honoring the 2016 World Electronic Sports Games Champion TNC Pro Team, is banking on the China model for sustaining business catering mainly to cash-rich millennials. Photos courtesy TheNet.Com (TNC) Inc.

HGC-type of network gaming would be marketable to Filipino gamers, Redulfin argued: just take a look at the automotive industry.

“It’s just like buying a car. Why are there people buying Jaguar, BMW [brands of vehicles]?” Redulfin said “That’s the same with network-gaming industry. It’s impossible that no one will [buy] it.”

He cited the location of the HG TNC-Predator Café as example.

“Within the 1-kilometer radius, its impossible that we cannot get a market of people who are willing to pay for a great ambiance. What you are paying here is the ambiance and the specs of computers that are not available in an ordinary computer shop,” Redulfin added. If you want to experience the feeling of competing at the international level, go to HG (TNC-Predator Café).

Beyond café and computers

THE HG TNC-Predator Café is not just a café-plus-computer shop.

According to Redulfin, he wants it to be one of the next hubs of the gaming and information-technology (IT) industry. “We plan to hold tournaments here and not just gaming tournaments, but also host product launching and events of IT companies,” Redulfin said. “A lot of IT companies have already expressed interests to hold events here by March.”

One of their plans, Redulfin said, is hosting fan-focused events.

He said he give Filipino gamers the chance to play alongside the country’s top-caliber e-sports players.

“Our plan here is like play with Kuku [a famous Filipino Dota-2 player]. We also want to make this as a viewing party venue,” Redulfin said. He cited as example making the i-Café into a viewing party venue for the TNC Pro Teams match in China on February 28.

For the restaurant, Redulfin said they would use “paperless technology” in taking and queuing orders of customers. He added waiters would take orders for food and beverage using a handheld device.

“True, we designed HG more for gamers,” according to Redulfin. He added, however, “family bonding” was also considered.

Redulfin said they plan to hold LAN (local area network) parties, wherein parents could dine while they wait for their children who are playing.

“It’s a chance for bonding. Instead of preventing your child to play, why not join them?”

eSports industry

FOR Irymarc Gutierrez, executive di-

rector of the Philippine eSports Organization, the HG TNC-Predator Café venture is a testament to the growing eSports industry in the country.

“I think this is a great opportunity for gaming. There’s someone who invested to test if there’s really a high-end eSports market,” Gutierrez told the BusinessMirror at the sidelines of the i-cafés soft launch. If you think about it, almost all gaming cafés in the country at present offer cheap hourly rates.

Gutierrez, who is also a longtime eSports events organizer, said the series of big events being hosted in the Philippines is neither a proof of the real eSports market landscape nor the buying power of Filipino gamers.

“You will really see the buying power of Filipino gamers with this one [Refulfins i-Café, since] this is an everyday consumption,” Gutierrez said. “You will see here, based on consumption, the behavior of Filipino gamers, whether there are really rich hard-core gamers.”

He added that should the HG TNC-Predator Café achieves its goal of filling all its units on a daily basis, it would be a sign of “camaraderie” within the Filipino gaming community.

“If this will be filled on a regular basis, we can finally see and say Filipinos love to interact through games, and they don’t mind about the price they pay.”

Gutierrez noted HG TNC-Predator Café could be the “go-to” venue for eSports and gaming-related events due to its ideal concept and establishment.

“As an events organizer and being in eSports for a long time, the

biggest barrier in holding an eSports event is venue. How will you book the venue? How much would it cost?

You’ll rent computers, you’ll tap service providers for Internet and other logistics concerns,” Gutierrez explained.

He said with Redulfin’s i-café, organizers’ concerns and costs are removed.

“You’ll just pay them [TNC] a certain amount, and you’re ready to go, [as] everything is here already,” Gutierrez said. “You just have to bring the people.”

Home of champions

THE i-cafés laurels rest on the TNC Pro Team. And these are big laurels, as the team took home the championship trophy in the game DotA (Defense of the Ancients) 2 at the grand finale of the 2016 World Electronic Sports Games (WESG) held from January 12 to 15.

Alisports (Shanghai) Co. Ltd. said in a statement on February 17 Filipino player “Staz” and South Korean player “TY” earned the championship titles for Hearth Stone and StarCraft II, respectively.

After four days of battles, the Philippine team bested players from 35 other countries.

Alisports said the TNC Pro Team shared the $5.5-million prize money with the French team EnVyUs, which won the last and much-celebrated game CS:GO (Counter-Strike: Global Offensive).

“Backed by more than $14.6-million investment from Alisports, the WESG has sent a shock wave through the eSports industry since its launch in March 2016, not only due to the size of the investment, but also as

a result of its innovative worldwide open audition and promotion mechanism and the ‘Spirit of Sport’ that is based on fairness,” Alisports’s statement read.

The company added that other than the World Cyber Games, it considers the WESG as the first eSports competition to select players and hold competitions worldwide, “opening a new chapter for the industry.”

The final competition drew 6,000 spectators.

Rare experience

FOR 27-year-old working student Andrew Lacsina, queuing for almost an hour is fine.

Lacsina was one of nearly a hundred young people who waited outside the HG TNC-Predator Café on February 8.

“I just want to see for myself the top line of the gaming computers today,” Lacsina told the BusinessMirror. “As a gamer and consumer it’s rare for me to experience such.”

Lacsina, who is gunning for a master’s degree in Sociology at a state-run university, said he spends around P300 every weekend—usually on Saturdays—for five to six hours of gaming at a TNC computer rental store branch in Lagro, Quezon City.

“I want to go back here in HG, because I want to test the computer units,” Lacsina said. “The Internet [connection] speed seems so fast.”

After touring the café, Lacsina considered Redulfin’s establishment really a different type of computer shop.

“It’s spacious [and] the gaming gears are great. Maybe I’ll go back during pay days or when there’re no more bills to settle.”

A10 Saturday, February 25, 2017

BusinessMirror

With new invention, VR’s potential for magic gets real

news@businessmirror.com.ph

Israelis eye PHL ICT potentials

Gero

Story & photo

By Rizal Raoul Reyes @brownindio

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James Jensen, a founder of The Void, at the virtual-reality (VR) experience’s warehouse and buildout space in Lindon, Utah, on January 28. The Void, a Utah-based start-up, bets that by making VR both social and spontaneous, it can draw throngs and make a mint. Jason Henry/The New York Times

By Brooks Barnes

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New York Times News Service

INDON, Utah—In an ordinary office complex here, past stacked cartons of Mountain Dew and a throng of hoodie-wearing employees, sits a prototype for an attraction that Hollywood thinks will become the next entertainment craze—an offering that could mint money for its developers, throw a lifeline to struggling shopping malls and, at long last, jump-start sales of virtualreality (VR) gear.

“I have seen a lot of great VR experiences, and nothing comes close to what the Void is doing,” said Cliff Plumer, a former Lucasfilm technologist and manager who joined the VR start-up the Void as its chief executive on February 9. “If anything is going to inspire massconsumer adoption of virtual reality, this is it.”

The Void’s invention looks like nothing special. Four black wooden walls form a 30-foot square. The interior is divided into rudimentary, interconnected rooms. There is no ceiling, unless you count a latticework of cables and sensors.

But everything changes when you put on a special VR headset, pick up a rudimentary plastic gun, slip into a snug vest and strap on small backpack, which has a lightweight computer inside: You and your friends instantly become Ghostbusters.

Pink poltergeists

THE first room is now a furniturefilled New York apartment crowd-

ed with pink poltergeists.

That plastic weapon is now a functioning proton gun, just like in the films, and you can use it to zap apparitions (and anything else in view). As the 10-minute adventure continues, your group tracks ghosts through the apartment tower—in a fast-moving elevator, outside on a rickety window-washing platform—as some ghouls float through you, arriving with a whoosh of air in your face and a vibration of that vest.

A demonic Stay Puft Marshmallow Man arrives at the climax. Do your job correctly and the scent of toasted white fluff fills the air.

Would people, especially young people, pay $20 a head to experience this kind of “hyper-reality”?

The Void, which has refined the concept of mapping a virtual world over a physical set, believes they will—in fact, a first location near Times Square is making money.

Featuring the same Ghostbusters storyline, the attraction opened in July at Madame Tussauds New

York and has since sold more than 43,000 tickets, translating to nearly $900,000 in revenue.

The Void intends to open 20 additional hyper-reality attractions this year; some Void Experience Centers will have more than one “stage”, as it refers to the sets, and there will be non-Ghostbusting storylines: roaming a jungle filled with dinosaurs, perhaps, or searching for treasure in an Egyptian pyramid.

Influential people

SO far, the Void has been funded by one of its three founders, Ken Bretschneider, who has invested millions. He previously started an internet security firm called DigiCert, which he sold in 2015.

The Void is now working with the Raine Group, a merchant bank known for its investment in Vice and ties to the William Morris Endeavor talent agency, to raise expansion funding.

Circling, at the same time, have been mall owners, multiplex chains and theme-park operators.

“All of a sudden, we have some of the most influential people on the planet asking for tours,” said James Jensen, another Void founder. (The third founder is the chief creative officer, Curtis Hickman, whose background is in visual effects and Las Vegas illusionist shows; he is a member of the Society of American Magicians.)

Stephen B. Burke, chief executive of NBCUniversal, has been through a Void prototype. So has Robert A. Iger, chief executive of the Walt Disney Co. Last year Disney even had a Void rig brought to a board meeting so its board of directors could go for a test spin.

Various Hollywood filmmakers have tried it themselves, including Steven Spielberg. “It’s very repeatable, just like a film, and it’s an extraordinarily visceral and effective way to tell a story,” said Ivan Reitman, who directed the original Ghostbusters and its sequel, GhostbustersII.

Complex ecosystem

BRAVADO aside, the Void faces

plenty of challenges. One involves scale: How do you move enough people through the stages? The Ghostbusters experience in New York can accommodate only about 450 customers a day; it takes about 15 minutes for participants to move through, including getting in and out of the gear.

There is also the question of long-term sustainability: Even if the Void does take off, what makes it more than a fad—the laser tag, motion-simulator ride or ShowBiz Pizza arcade of its day?

And competition is mounting.

Last week Imax said it planned to open six VR centers this year, some in partnership with AMC Theaters and Regal Entertainment, at a cost of up to $400,000 each, not including real estate. One opened in January in Los Angeles. Tickets start at $7.

“Virtual reality is a complex ecosystem that’s in need of a jumpstart, and we’re here to provide the spark,” said Rich Gelfond, Imax chief executive.

Proprietary technology

ALSO announced last week was Dreamscape Immersive, which hopes to open its first center dedicated to VR experiences in the fall.

It has cobbled together $11 million in funding from companies like 21st Century Fox, Westfield Corp. and Warner Bros. Spielberg is also involved.

“We’ve assembled a team with years of proven success in the creation and distribution of global entertainment,” said Walter F. Parkes, an Oscar-nominated producer who is a Dreamscape founder.

Still, Void leaders contend that their head start, proprietary technology and much more elaborate approach make competition an afterthought.

“We’ve gained a lot of knowledge and data over the past three years that has put us miles ahead of everybody,” Jensen said. “We know what story moments stop people from engaging with the content, what’s not scary enough, what’s too scary.”

BPO software developer banks on Asia talent pool

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USTOMER-service software developer Zendesk Inc. is banking on the Asia-Pacific region’s talent pool it describes as “huge”.

This was pointed out by founder and CEO Mikkel Svane during the launch of the San Francisco, California-based firm’s new office hub in Taguig City.

“The launch of the new office in Manila shows our commitment to grow in what is an important market for us for both customer experi-

ence and sales,” Svane said during the news briefing after the launch on February 20. “We’re expanding into a space four times bigger than our previous location, with double the seats.”

While Svane said their investment contributes to local job creation, he declined to put a number on the cost of his firm’s expansion.

The Danish-born executive said the new office will provide job opportunities for over 200 people. Svane

added the Asia-Pacific region is a key focus for Zendesk with paid customer accounts growing by over 35 percent year-over-year.

The number of employees grew by over 50 percent during the same period, he addded.

Svane said they chose the Philippines as its regional “customer experience” hub to access “the local pool of highly skilled, technical talent with strong English-language ability.”

Zendesk first opened its offices in Manila in 2014 with a team focused on sales, support and presales. The Zendesk Manila office measures over 2,200 square meters.

The new Asia-Pacific headquarters joins four other Zendesk offices in the region: Zendesk’s Asia Pacific Development Centre based in Melbourne, the Apac commercial headquarters in Singapore, and a sales office in both Tokyo and Bengaluru. Rizal Raoul Reyes

HE Philippines has the great potential to be a major global player in the information and communications technology (ICT).

So says Itamar Gero, president of the Israel Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines.

“What we see is ICT potential, something that the Philippines can follow suit, something we can do and cooperate in governmental level, on the personal, private level, entrepreneurial level,” said Gero in a speech during a forum on ICT on February 9. “We have improvement of [telecommunications] infrastructure and bandwidth, and obviously this is the biggest spending point.”

However, Gero, who is also president of TrueLogic Online Solutions Inc., said he has an ICT company with 150 people in it, “and still the Internet is a huge problem.”

“We know that investing in infrastructure is important, and governments tend to look at it in the old-school way.”

Gero said IT is one of the sectors Israel is looking to invest in.

“IT is one that is very close to my heart,” he said, explaining he has “been a programmer ever since I could touch the keyboard and make sense out of it”.

ICT was also emphasized by Israeli Ambassador to the Philippines Ephraim Matityau.

In his speech, Matityau emphasized “ICT has made diplomatic relations between Manila and Jerusalem stronger”. He added ICT development is quite important if the Philippines wants to enhance its capabilities in the digital economy.

Matityau explained Israel built its capability in the digital economy through the formation of the ecosystem of start-ups. “It was the beginning of an industry.”

He added ICT transformed Israel into an economic powerhouse, despite its small size and population.

Matityau also mentioned that innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship (ICE) as factors that helped his country along its journey to economic progress.

“Without ICT, Israel will not survive as a state,” he said. “Without this innovation and creativity, we will never be able to cope with elements and in Israel, the elements are very simple, they are political and geoclimatic.”

Matityau said venture capitalists must be prepared to “waste money”.

They must give seed capital in the range of $150,000 to $200,000 and to be prepared to suffer losses, he added.

“Because failure in the IT and technology industry is not a failure but a learning curve. It’s impossible to win all the time,” Matityau said.

“But those who fail are far more mature to do the next step and to do the next jump into a success story.”

In a World Bank document, titled “Best Practices and Lessons Learned in ICT Sector Innovation: A Case Study of Israel”, the Washington-based institution cited the Israeli government’s goal of putting ICT at the forefront of development.

“It has been the Israeli government’s explicit goal to position Israel at the core of the knowledge economy,” the report said. “The Israeli higher-education system, supported by the government, contributed greatly to the success of Israel in the high-tech arena.”

Meanwhile, Department of Information Communications Technology consultant Ramoncito Ibrahim said the Philippines looks upon Israel as model for innovation. Ibrahim added that innovation is ingrained in every ministry of Israel.

That can be an inspiration for government offices in our country, he said.

Govt, telcos to I.D. telecom issues G OVERNMENT and the private sector have teamed up to address the problems and issues surrounding the state of telecommunications in the Philippines today.

“The consensus among all players is to work on concrete solutions. It will not be a blame game,” Philippine Chamber of Telecommunications Operators Chairman Eric de los Reyes said during a news briefing on February 22.

“This way, we will be able to move forward and fast-track ICT [information and communications technology].”

De los Reyes said the PCTO will cosponsor with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) the first-ever Philippine Telecommunications Summit.

He explained the confer-

ence will address three main concerns: cost, coverage and speed of telecommunication services in the country. The summit will also discuss how these concerns can be fixed with the cooperation of all stakeholders, de los Reyes added.

Representatives from the different interest groups will be given the opportunity to deliver their concerns and establish dialogue with all the participants, he said.

DICT Secretary Rodolfo A. Salalima promises the summit will be a no-holds-barred discussion.

“I want the problems and challenges all out during the summit, because if not, we will not know how to find a solution,” Salalima said during the briefing. “The problem of one is the problem of all.”

Rizal Raoul Reyes

BusinessMirror

T

By Oliver Samson | Correspondent

HE Philippine Institute of Cyber Security Professionals (PICSPro) is offering free seminars to small and start-up business organizations in a bid to help secure the country’s information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructures.

T

HE compromise of the security of account bothers the majority of people online, Kaspersky Lab ZAO said.

In a survey, 70 percent of respondents were found to have awareness of the fact that their account was hackable and were anxious about that possibility, the cyber-security firm said in a statement on February 21.

“A ccou nt sec u r it y wor r ies Inter net users more than any ot he r a re a s of t he i r on l i ne

l i v e s ,” K a s p e r s k y L a b s a i d . “ T his is the highest rank ing of a l l c yber threats.”

Fewer by just a thin feather, some 69 percent were also worried of breaches capable of stealing their passwords, while 65 percent were disturbed by threats that could compromise their financial information, the Russian firm said. Internet users were also found to have more concern for password than their photos and videos.

Saturday, February 25, 2017

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Aside from big and rich firms, small and struggling enterprises are also facing threats, Angel T. Redoble, PICSPro cofounder and president, said in a phone interview on February 21. “Small-business organizations are also facing threats since attackers are more likely tempted to assume that they are less capable of securing their data than their big counterparts.”

In a recent interview, Isaac Sabas, founder and CEO of Pandora Security Labs, said many small enterprises are not keen

on taking data-security measures, as they think attackers are not interested in them due to the size of their business. But Redoble believes that attacks on a number of small-business organizations drawn together can equal and even go beyond the extent of compromise and losses sustained by a big company from an attack.

And this could draw the attention of attackers as small businesses could be easier to penetrate.

“Securing the country’s ICT infrastructures is everyone’s concern

and responsibility,” Redoble said.

“Even if you are a small organization, you are responsible for securing your infrastructure.”

Even every single individual has responsibility to safeguard his data, he added. The seminars would also help small organizations understand their responsibility and accountability in terms of information and communications. The seminars that PICSPro offer to small and start-up business organizations are free of charge. Interested parties should

just provide the venue. PICSPro, a group of patriotic cyber-security practitioners and advocates, is seeking to help stakeholders to proactively secure the country’s cyber space. Its members include personnel from the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine National Police and other government agencies, students, professionals and entrepreneurs.

It also has affiliate organizations of cyber-security practitioners and advocates outside of Metro Manila gathering around its advocacy.

“When asked about the type of data that could be accessed by cyber criminals, users are also most concerned about their passwords [50 percent],” Kaspersky Lab said.

“Even private photos and videos are less important, with only 24 percent of respondents worried about these.” The same survey revealed that the accounts of 18 percent of respondents encountered hacking threat in a year.

“Importantly, according to the victims themselves, accounts were

most often hacked by simply guessing the password [40 percent of cases],” Kaspersky Lab said. “This comes as no surprise, however, if you consider how many users today neglect to create strong passwords and fail to store them securely.”

Kaspersky Lab Head of Consumer Product Management Elena Kharchenko was quoted in a statement as saying most Internet users keep as many accounts as they can. These accounts involve electronic mail, social networking,

banking, gaming, messaging and other platforms. “It’s hard to create and memorize a strong password for each account,” she said.

“However, there are apps designed for such situations: they can generate strong passwords that are different for different services, store them securely, synchronize them on various devices and automatically enter them in forms on web sites.”

A single master password is all one needs to remember instead of

several other passwords, Kharchenko noted. Kaspersky Lab disclosed the findings of the survey as it announced its new Password Manager, a solution to account security threats. “In addition to standard features, its updated version can import passwords from other similar solutions, generate strong passwords on PCs and Macs and automatically check passwords entered by users to determine whether they are secure,” the firm said. Oliver Samson

Bulk Movers BusinessMirror

Scania leads the way in sustainable transport solutions

Loading and rolling toward progress

A12 Saturday, February 25, 2017 | Editor: Tet Andolong

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Stylish and aerodynamic fascia of the new FI 1217R.

Fuso’s new mid-duty hauler Story & photos by Randy S. Peregrino

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MONG all the cargo vehicles we see on the road today, the medium-duty truck is one of the majorities (along with the light-duty trucks) that roam around the metro and provinces to deliver goods. These haulers come in different shapes and forms depending on their major application.

Perhaps one of the most versatile platforms for average deployment is the pallet-type frame. It can accommodate myriads of container designs applicable to the company’s delivery operations.

The first in its class to have a fully air-conditioned cabin.

With deeper and thicker frame members that are shot-peened and powder-coated for maximum strength and protection.

New-generation and Euro 3-compliant 4D37 turbodiesel engine

One of the major truck manufacturers, Mitsubishi Fuso, now offers the latest lineup in its class.

Belonging to the frontrunners in this type is the new Fuso FI 1217R six-wheeler pallet body. Recently introduced, the FI is the latest addition in the world-class workhorses, particularly in the medium-duty truck segment. This six-wheeler offers a modern design, advanced technology and greater agility that promotes lower operating cost for the cargo operators.

Indeed, new trucks have evolved in terms of exterior designs to go along with the modern world. And one of the FI’s appealing points is its new stylish fascia layout. The front end is now more aerodynamic to reduce air drag and improves fuel efficiency, as well as lessening the wind noise penetrating the cabin. Winds will not only

smoothly flow over and under the frame, but also through the front grille to aid in cooling the engine bay. Illumination has also progressed, thanks to the fresh wide halogen headlamps with manual adjustments that allow the driver to adjust the brightness distance, depending on the vehicle load, for better road visibility.

As for the FI’s 22-feet-long frame, it’s fitted with deeper and thicker chassis frame members for maximum and undisputable durability. Moreover, it is reinforced with higher flange width and web height for better stability and load-bearing ability. The alligator-type cross members, on the other hand, support the frame for excellent strength. And for additional sturdiness and protection against corrosion, the structure is shot-peened and powder-coated.

Meanwhile, taller stacks of laminated leaf springs were installed to match the heavy load on the frame and in turn increasing the capacity as well. All six tires are sized at 8.25R20 series and installed in 6.5 x 20-inch steel rims.

In order to provide versatility to various cargo applications, dealers collaborate with their customers to determine the ideal chassis and container configurations.

“Usually, we include the body; to let the customer know the ideal container, so that we can alter/ modify the truck chassis depending also on the region’s requirement to comply. Also, to determine the routes being traveled appropriate for the overall dimension,” said Diamond Motor Corp. (Mitsubishi Fuso authorized distributor) Fuso Truck and Bus department sales manager Meynard Oruga.

Of course, the cabin also has its fair share of enhancements, making it more ergonomic. For one, the FI is the first in its class to have a standard air-conditioning system. Power features also came in standard for windows and centrallocking functions. Additionally, the tilt/telescopic power-steering wheel, along with the adjustable seats, will definitely provide that

perfect driving position for drivers. Correspondingly, it has an impressive tight turning radius of 9.8 meters with wheel lock angle of 43 degrees. Aside from the space, the center console also has beverage holders for easy access.

Propelling the FI’s sturdy body is the new-generation 4D37 (Euro 3 compliant) 3.9-liter, four-cylinder, common rail direct injection (CRDi), turbocharged diesel engine. It is capable of delivering 170 hp at 2,500 rpm and a staggering 520 N-m of maximum torque early on at 1,500 rpm. Fuel efficiency is now even better, thanks to the electronically controlled CRDi, which produces finer atomization of fuel for better combustion and consumption. Transferring power through the single-differentialdriven wheels is a smooth-shifting, six-speed manual gearbox.

Employing multiple synchronizer rings, not only does it operate smoothly but also lessens wear and tear. The cable-type mechanism, on the other hand, reduces the efforts in shifting.

Safety-wise, the cab frame is armored with an all-steel rigid heavy-duty brace, and side-impact bars embedded into the doors, offering greater shield from collisions. Braking is also reinforced with full air/pneumatic system for superior stopping power on downhills and high speeds. For that excellent driving vantage point, additional convex-type proximity and under-view mirrors were installed, along with the conventional side rear-view glasses—making maneuvering in tight spaces easier.

The six-wheeler Fuso FI 1217R with a gross vehicle weight of 11,990 kilograms is already available in the market at a suggested introductory retail price of P1.9 million.

ITH customer profitability as the starting point, Scania wants to be the leading provider of sustainable transport. This means integrating sustainability fully into the business and working with others to tackle impacts, transform our industry and create lasting value.

“Scania entered the local market not just to sell trucks and buses, but to create a positive impact on the local transport industry. We offer products and solutions that promote road safety and help preserve the environment, while at the same time boosting our customers’ profitability through reduced downtime and efficiency in operations,” said Leilani Lim-Tan, vice president of BJ Mercantile Inc., the local distributor of Scania.

One such initiative is Ecolution by Scania, which is a complete package for reducing fuel consumption and emissions, and consequently, operating costs for transport companies.

Ecolution by Scania focuses on cutting fuel consumption and CO2 emissions to a minimum. It has the potential to decrease fuel consumption by more than 10 percent. This can be done through a package of activities, including CO2 optimized vehicles specified for the lowest fuel consumption, and thus re-

duced carbon-dioxide emissions.

The driver is normally the single most important factor for minimizing fuel consumption and emissions. Being a Scania owner allows access to Scania Driver Training—a program that provides the skills and tools for outstanding driver performance.

Scania Driver Support is an on-board coaching system that helps drivers maintain and use their acquired skills every day.

Scania Driver Follow-up sets personal goals for drivers with individual feedback over time.

Add to this specific maintenance programs and services designed to keep the vehicle in the best possible condition.

A number of Scania’s local clients have availed themselves of the Scania Fleet Management System. This system enables Scania to provide individual driver coaching based on vehicle and environmental reports from Scania Fleet Management.

“We recently joined the Green Philippines exhibit at the SMX to drive awareness about Scania’s role in promoting a more sustainable future. With Ecolution, you get a lasting fuel reduction, reduced emissions, more motivated drivers, less wear and tear, more uptime, a common goal and tight teamwork with our clients and a harmonious way to improve results,” said Tan.

www.scania.com

Fight against climate change

The Environment and Energy Control Agency and the French Ministry award the Michelin members.

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HE French Ministry of Ecology, Energy, and the Sea and the Agency for the Environment and Energy Control have awarded Michelin the Circular Economy Grand Prize, “fighting against climate change” special Mention, for the eco-design and retreading process of its Truck tires as well as for its Michelin Solutions offers.

Michelin truck tires are eco-designed with the objective of maintaining their performances over several lifetimes. The regrooving process, which brings depth to the sculptures, extends the initial life of the tire by 25 percent, while reducing the fuel consumption of the truck by up to two liters per 100 km.

Retreading consists in replacing the tread band and thus giving a second useful life to the tire which can be regrooved under the same conditions as a new casing.

During COP21, in November 2015, Michelin committed to reducing the carbon footprint of its tires by 20 percent between 2010 and 2030. The Michelin Solutions entity that designs, develops and commercializes services and solutions participates in this effort by proposing innovative mobility solutions to enhance fleet management and improve their profitability. This includes the outsourcing of a fleet’s tire expenditures, roadside assistance, enhanced vehicle productivity, management consulting and reducing fuel consumption.

Michelin, the leading tire company, is dedicated to sustainably improving the mobility of goods and people by manufacturing and marketing tires for every type of vehicle, including airplanes, automobiles, bicycles/motorcycles, earthmovers, farm equipment and trucks.