BusinessMirror January 02, 2019

AMID TIGHT CALENDAR, D.O.F. BULLISH ON PASSAGE OF REST OF C.T.R.P. PACKAGES

By Rea Cu

@ReaCuBM

T FINANCE Undersecretary Karl Kendrick Chua, the government’s pointman in lobbying Congress to pass tax reforms, fields senators’ questions in this November 8, 2018, file photo on a briefing on inflation and the impact of the TRAIN law. ROY DOMINGO

DEPT. OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

PHILIPPINE STATISTICS AUTHORITY

2018 BANTOG DATA MEDIA AWARDS CHAMPION

HE Department of Finance (DOF) has acknowledged that the proximity of the May 2019 elections may dim hopes of getting the remaining packages under the Comprehensive Tax Reform Program (CTRP) passed under the 17th Congress, but it remains optimistic that all packages will be passed within the year.

The DOF said in a statement on Tuesday it specifically hopes the second package, dubbed by the House of Representatives as the Tax Reform for Attracting Better and High-Quality Opportunities (Trabaho) bill,

along with the rest of the tax-reform packages proposed by the Duterte administration, would be approved by Congress this year—if not by the 17th Congress, which exits on June 30, at least by the next batch of lawmakers.

“We will discuss again with them [legislators] and see how we can push [the taxreform packages],” said Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III in an interview.

The DOF chief noted that the current Congress, or the 17th Congress, still has several remaining session days in the first half of 2019 before a new set of lawmakers gets elected in May. However, when they resume session on January 14, they

will be focusing first on the budget. The campaign period starts in early February, and several sitting lawmakers are running for reelection in May. Still, the first few months of the year provide lawmakers some time to tackle the proposals under the CTRP and hopefully approve them, according to Dominguez.

The 17th Congress adjourned session last December 15 for its traditional year-end break and will resume session on January 14.

It will adjourn again on February 9 and resume session on May 20, after which it will adjourn sine die on June 8.

See “CTRP,” A2

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DTI tracks fuel tax impact on prices

T

By Elijah Felice E. Rosales

@alyasjah

HE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has committed to guard closely the impact of new taxes on fuel, as the next round of excise on petroleum products kicks in this month.

Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez said his agency will monitor the impact of the new round of petrol taxes on oil prices. This, as the Department of Energy (DOE) carries out its own efforts against premature price hikes and

profiteering, after reminding oil companies not to sell their old inventory using the new excise rates that are scheduled to take effect this January under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law.

“[The] DOE monitors gas stations and ensures that old inventories should not apply additional excise tax. For [the] DTI, we will continue to watch [the] impact of new round of excise tax on oil price, which, fortunately, is now

on a downtrend following declining world prices,” Lopez said in a text message to the BusinessMirror.

Consumers will have to pay more for petroleum products this year, as the second round of excise takes effect as provided by law. The TRAIN law imposed an additional P2-perliter tax on diesel and gasoline.

On top of this, the TRAIN law levied an additional P1 per liter on kerosene and P1 per kilogram on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and cooking gas. The new round of taxes is estimated to increase pump prices by at least P2 per liter, according to Sen. Sherwin T. Gatchalian.

With the looming increase in oil prices, Gatchalian earlier prodded the DOE and the DTI to work together in monitoring possible cases of profiteering, particularly gas firms who might just apply the

“[The] DOE monitors gas stations and ensures that old inventories should not apply additional excise tax. For [the] DTI, we will continue to watch [the] impact of new round of excise tax on oil price, which, fortunately, is now on a downtrend following declining world prices.”—Lopez

new taxes on old inventories.

Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi last week reminded oil industry players to empty first their stocks last year before imposing the second round of excise. He warned penalties—both administrative and criminal—will be slapped by the government on those found guilty of premature price hikes and profiteering.

For the DTI’s part, Lopez vowed

the agency will assess not only the direct impact of the new taxes, but also its effect on the prices of commodities. He took note, however, that oil prices in the international market are slumping.

The government had earlier suspended the implementation of the second round of excise tax on oil in the face of surging inflation and rising global crude prices.

However, it decided to withdraw its decision when oil prices in the world market fell.

Heftier fuel prices await consumers in 2020, as the last—and the highest of the three rounds— excise tax of P3 under the TRAIN law—will take effect. Gasoline by that time will be higher by P11.20 per liter, diesel and kerosene P5.04 and P5.60 per liter, respectively, and LPG P3.36 per kilogram.

More Pinoys may fall into poverty with TRAIN law–PIDS research

By Cai U. Ordinario

M

@caiordinario

ORE Filipinos will fall into poverty because of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law, according to a study released by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS).

The study, titled “Assessment of TR AIN’s Coal and Petroleum Excise Ta xes: Env ironmenta l Benefits and Impacts on Sectoral Employment and Household Welfare,” was conducted by a research team that included Czar Joseph Castillo of the Labor Research Network and Ramon Clarete of the University of the Philippines.

The authors said this finding requires the government to consider additional assistance such as discounted rice prices from the National Food Authority (NFA), which was also included in the TRAIN law.

“It is thus important to make sure that the poorest households continue to be supported by additional measures that may reduce the impact of the indirect taxes. This may include an additional cash-transfer subsidy beyond the subsidy that is being provided under the unconditional cash-transfer program,” the authors said.

The researchers computed increases using 2015 poverty incidence baselines of 16.5 percent

for households; 21.6 percent, individuals; 21.2 percent, women; 38.9 percent, fisherfolk; 10.5 percent, transport workers; and 42.2 percent, farmers.

They found that TR AIN 1, which includes excise taxes, would increase poverty incidence by 1.72 percent for households and 2.03 percent for individuals; 1.87 percent for women; 3.2 percent for fisherfolk; 2.06 percent for transport workers; and 2.33 percent for farmers.

Considering TRAIN 1 with the unconditional transfers, poverty could still increase for all sectors, except for transport workers whose poverty incidence could decline by 8.16 percent.

See “TRAIN law,” A2

WELCOME 2019! A shower of lights coming from a fireworks display that welcomed 2019 at the Mall of Asia in Pasay City fascinated both passersby and people who deliberately waited for the countdown near the bay area.

NONIE REYES

Palace touts ‘solid and robust’ macroeconomy

By Bernadette D. Nicolas

T NEW YEAR BABY Zairah Bonto smiles as she sleeps on the chest of her mother Lenie at the Dr. Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital in Manila. The baby was born at 1:05 a.m. on January 1. ROY DOMINGO

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 52.7240

@BNicolasBM

HERE is so much to celebrate for the past year owing to the country’s “solid and robust” macroeconomic fundamentals and sustained momentum of the government’s “Build, Build, Build” program, Malacañang said at the New Year.

The Palace also welcomed the recent Social Weather Stations (SWS) Survey showing nine out of 10 Filipinos entering the new year with hope rather than with fear.

“We thank our people for this

universal feeling of optimism under the Duterte administration,” Presidential Spokesman and Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador S. Panelo said in a statement on Tuesday.

“Indeed, there is much to celebrate. The country’s macroeconomic fundamentals remain solid and robust. There is construction everywhere in the National Capital Region with the President’s Build, Build, Build program already in its implementation stage.

Crime rate is down and people now feel safer.”

Moreover, Panelo said the

“Indeed, there is much to celebrate.

The country’s macroeconomic fundamentals remain solid and robust.

There is construction everywhere in the National Capital Region with the President’s Build, Build, Build program already in its implementation stage. Crime rate is down and people now feel safer.”—Panelo

high percentage of Filipinos who are optimistic only proves that the “demolition job and the cli-

mate of negativity depicted by the President’s critics and detractors, better described as the noisy majority, have little or no impact to the silent but much greater majority.”

Malacañang is also confident that the people will continue to rally behind the government toward genuine change and prosperity.

“We could only wish that skeptics finally see the good in the persistent efforts of the President for our nation, given that the results of which will not solely benefit his supporters but the entire Filipino community, including them.

n JAPAN 0.4751 n UK 66.7328 n HK 6.7344 n CHINA 7.6773 n SINGAPORE 38.4706 n AUSTRALIA 37.0702 n EU 60.3110 n SAUDI ARABIA 14.0545

Continued on A8

Source: BSP (28 December 2018 )

News

BusinessMirror

A2 Wednesday, January 2, 2019

Senate to probe ₧20-B deal on use of Chinese CCTVs

By Butch Fernandez

@butchfBM

“I am not allergic to the Chinese. And I don’t just follow the examples and actions of the western powers ...[but] I join the call to be vigilant about how we spend the people’s money.

All projects must have a sensible purpose and must be reasonably priced. There should be no corruption in all government expenditures.”—Pimentel

S

ENATE President Vicente C. Sotto III confirmed on Tuesday an upcoming inquiry by senators into the government’s P20-billion deal with a China-based telecommunications company to install closed-circuit television (CCTV) security cameras in Metro Manila and Davao City’s public areas.

The Senate leader indicated that Resolution 978 filed by detained Sen. Leila M. de Lima seeking scrutiny of the CCTV project will be promptly referred for committee hearings when regular sessions resume on January 14.

“The Public Services Committee,” Sotto told the BusinessMirror, referring to the panel chaired

by Sen. Grace Poe, when asked if Resolution 978 will first be referred to the Rules committee to determine which committee will spearhead the Senate review of the CCTV project.

De Lima sought the inquiry to enable senators look into the details of the China loan agreement intended to bankroll installation of an “initial” 12,000 CCTV cameras in Metropolitan Manila and President Duterte’s Davao bailiwick.

Specifically, de Lima’s Resolution 978 seeks Senate scrutiny of the P20-billion loan deal forged by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the China International Telecommunications and Construction Corp. (CITCC).

For his part, however, Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III said he will not support an inquiry into the

TRAIN law. . .

Continued from A1

This is on account of the Pantawid Pasada program, which provided a fuel subsidy of P5,000 to jeepney drivers in 2018; and P20,500 in 2019 from the Land Transportation Franchise and Regulation Board.

Other sectors, however, will still see poverty incidence increase, albeit at a slower pace.

The TRAIN 1 with the transfers would lead to a 0.26-percent increase in poverty incidence for households; 0.65 percent, individuals; 0.57 percent, women; 1.35 percent, fisherfolk; and 0.06 percent, farmers.

“The provision of the cash transfers [assuming 100-percent coverage for those targeted by the subsidies in the first to fifth lowest income deciles] offsets the increase in poverty incidence across sectors, especially for transport workers; most transportation workers are near poverty so that the income support program results in a significant improvement in their welfare. But at the same time, there is a slightly higher poverty incidence for the other sectors,” the authors said.

Energy-intensive industries

MEANWHILE, in terms of jobs, the impact of the increase in coal and petroleum on industries vary.

This means that workers employed in energyintensive industries would tend to be affected more than those working in less energy-intensive sectors.

This is largely due to the increase in coal

CTRP. . .

Continued from A1

Finance Assistant Secretary Antonio Joselito G. Lambino II echoed Dominguez’s statement and said the DOF would push for the remaining taxreform packages, which will complement the first CTRP package or the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law that took effect on January 1, 2018.

Passage of the rest of the reforms will complete the process of making the country’s tax system fairer, simpler and more efficient.

“We are always supportive of our legislators when they require technical data and analysis for these proposed tax reforms. We are available

project if it simply on account of its being awarded to a Chinese firm. “I am not allergic to the Chinese. And I don’t just follow the examples and actions of the western powers.”

However, Pimentel quick ly added he would support calls to check the project for any possible irregularity. “I join the call to be vigilant about how we spend the people’s money. All projects must have a sensible purpose and must be reasonably priced. There should be no corruption in all government expenditures.”

National security

ACCORDING to de Lima, a former justice secretary, “any agreement that could compromise the rights of our citizens and our national security must first pass through strict scrutiny to ensure that it would not be violative of our Constitution.”

She said senators would be keen to know the China deal’s details to also confirm concerns that the CCTV project forged with a Stateowned Chinese telco firm “would infringe on the constitutionally guaranteed right of privacy of the Filipino public and our country’s national security.” and petroleum taxes. The TRAIN law “mandates a P50-per-metric-ton excise tax on domestic or imported coal and coke from P10 per metric ton.”

This means, the authors said, that prices of these commodities “will go up to P100 per metric ton in January 2019 and to a higher P150 per metric ton in January 2020.”

Biggest decline

THE authors found that the biggest decline in employment will be in the transport services and storage sector at 52,949 workers, which is larger than the aggregate employment loss of over 36,256 workers.

Other sectors that are bound to lose the most jobs are construction at 12,186 jobs; metals, 7,039 workers; paddy rice, 5,061; textile and garments, tanneries and leather, 4,872; and computer, electronic and optical products.

The sectors that will lose the least number of jobs are oil and gas at only 13 jobs; manufacture of sugar, 74 jobs; and iron and steel, 129 jobs.

However, there will be more jobs in certain sectors such as public administration, education and health, which will see an addition of 45,578 jobs; other services, including business services, 8,619; wholesale and retail trade and maintenance and repair of motor vehicles, 7,686; and financial services, 5,845 jobs. Sectors that will not lose or gain any jobs are the banana sector, as well as beverage and tobacco industry.

Full impact

HOWEVER, under the full impact of the TRAIN 1,

25/8,” Lambino said.

The remaining CTRP packages pending in Congress are: ■ Package 1B in line with the reforms in the Motor Vehicle Users’ Charge (MVUC); ■ Package 2 on reducing the corporate income tax, as well as instituting reforms in the country’s fiscal incentives system, with the Trabaho bill pending in the Senate; ■ Package 2 plus, proposing additional excise tax on tobacco and alcohol products, as well as an increase in the government’s share from mining; ■ Package 3 covering reforms in property valuation, which will adopt the Schedule of Market Values as single valuation base for national and local property taxation; and

The senator stressed that the inquiry was prompted by public interest which, she said, “requires that an inquiry be made as to the threats to the Philippines’s national security contract entered into with foreign companies whose questionable track-record raises international concern.”

De Lima’s resolution asserts that “the right of the people to privacy necessitates that an inquiry be made into the information sought to be collected through surveillance using equipment sourced from these Chinese companies.”

She noted that the P20-billion loan agreement for the installation of an initial 12,000 CCTV security cameras in just 30 months was “one of the 29 agreements signed during the state visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping last November 20.”

The CCTV security cameras are to be installed in crossings, roads, public plazas, business districts, science and technology parks, residential areas and stadiums, among others, with a national command center to be in Clark, Pampanga.

According to de Lima, the DILGCITCC contract also provides that Huawei, the Chinese multinational telecommunication equipment and consumer electronics company, will supply the equipment requirements of the multibillion-peso project.

In a statement, de Lima asserted that at least five countries —Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and United States—have “doubted the integrity of Huawei-provided technology as they cited serious national security concerns.”

De Lima added: “Granting China, a country fast gaining international notoriety for its aggressive espionage activities, the opportunity to create a surveillance system in our country should raise a red f lag for our policy-makers to ensure that none of our national interests are compromised by such agreements, particularly our national security.”

She noted reports that Australia was “also preparing to ban Huawei from supplying equipment after its intelligence agencies raised concerns that Beijing could force the Chinese telco to hand over sensitive data.”

De Lima likewise cited the warning of US Intelligence agencies against the use of smartphones made by Huawei on the ground that the Chinese telco has the capacity to maliciously modify or steal information, and even to conduct undetected espionage. “It is not a mere question of getting technological capability to enforce our laws but also of what we are giving up in exchange for this technology, notably giving a foreign government access to information from our country and our citizens,” de Lima said.

At the same time, she said the upcoming Senate inquiry must “determine the extent of these Chinese firms’ access to information relating to classified information, national security and defense, military and diplomatic secrets, and other confidential or sensitive matters.”

the aggregate job gain will reach 364,898 in all industries. The largest gains in jobs was observed in other services, including business services, and tourism at 206,863 jobs; other crops at 121,808; and paddy rice, 91,093 jobs.

In terms of job losses, the largest was observed in construction at 27,418 jobs lost; beverage and tobacco, 25,165; Computer, electronic and optical products, 23,086; and chemicals, cosmetics, rubber and plastic products, 22,082.

The sectors that will experience the least job losses were oil and gas at 25 and petroleum and other fuel products at 118 jobs lost.

The authors also found that with the full impact of TRAIN 1 and the unconditional transfers, the aggregate jobs gained could reach as many as 396,702.

The sectors with the largest increases in jobs are other services, including business services, and tourism at 215,482 jobs gained; other crops, 128,973; and paddy rice, 98,684 jobs gained.

The largest job losses were observed in public administration, education and health at 33,147 jobs; beverage and tobacco, 25,068; and construction, 24,372 jobs lost.

The least job losses were observed in oil and gas at 25 jobs lost followed by petroleum and other fuel products with 109 jobs lost.

“Under the full TRAIN scenario, employment in several manufacturing and service industries will show a decline, but this will be offset by a significant increase in employment in other services. There is a further gain in employment in the TRAIN plus Unconditional Cash Transfer

scenario,” the authors said.

percent, respectively, starting 2019, are adopted by the Congress.

Meanwhile, Package 3 will be revenueneutral for the national government, but would haul in additional funds for the local government units), while Package 4 will initially collect additional revenues for the government and will gradually be revenue-neutral once fully implemented.

The DOF continues to urge the Congress to place Package 2 in the front burner, as this is projected to generate some 1.4 million jobs, mostly in small and medium enterprises, over the next decade and create a business environment conducive to inclusive growth.

Package 2 was certified as an urgent and priority measure by President Duterte last year.

■ Package 4, which is meant to rationalize capital income taxation to address the multiple rates and different tax treatments and exemptions on capital income and other financial instruments.

The DOF pointed out that its proposal under Package1B on the MVUC is expected to bring in an additional P15 billion in a full year of implementation.

Package 2 plus, which will help fund the universal health care program, is estimated to yield an additional P60 billion in the first year, if the DOF proposal to raise tobacco excise taxes to P60 per cigarette pack in 2019 and by 9 percent thereafter, and the schedular excise tax increases of fermented liquors, distilled spirits, and wines, to P40 per liter and P40 per proof liter, and 10

Shortfall

RECENTLY, the PIDS estimated that TRAIN 1 collection may fall short of the government’s target in the next three years.

PIDS Senior Research Fellow Rosario G. Manasan said total tax revenues may be reduced

by P66.097 billion in 2018 and P33 billion in 2019.

The TRAIN law is projected to generate additional revenues of P6 billion, or 0.03 percent of GDP, in 2020 onward.

The TRAIN also had an adverse impact on the poorest households, requiring the government to provide Unconditional Cash Transfers of P300 to P400 a month in the next three to four years.

Manasan said the tax revenue estimates of the incremental revenues are lower than the official estimates, which place the revenue gains from the TRAIN law at P63 billion in 2018, P104 billion in 2019 and P140 billion in 2020.

She said actual revenues from the personal income tax may fall below the 2018 target by P43 billion, which suggests that the revenue loss from PIT reform may actually be closer to P190 billion, larger by P43 billion than the finance department’s P146 billion estimate, and higher by P20.5 billion than the PIDS paper’s P210 billion. Further, she said the collections of the Bureau of Internal Revenue and Bureau of Customs in October indicate that excise and VAT revenues may fall short of their collection targets for the entire 2018 by a combined total of P36 billion.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Demographic dividend means costs along the way for taxpayers

By Cai U. Ordinario

A

@caiordinario

S more Filipinos grow older, attaining the demographic dividend will remain an uphill battle and will cost the government trillions, according to the latest publication of state-owned think tank Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS).

In the study, titled “Are We Missing Out on the Demographic Dividend? Trends and Prospects,” a team of researchers led by PIDS Senior Research Fellow Michael Ralph M. Abrigo found that reaping the demographic dividend will require the continuation of cash transfer programs.

However, PIDS estimates that due to this, public debt could “breach 100 percent of primary income by 2060.” The national debt, the researchers said, could already increase to P29.4 trillion by 2030 from P6 trillion in 2015.

“O u r resu lt s sug gest t h at even relatively sting y public transfer programs may lead to unsustainable public debt burden in the longer term when changes in the population age distribution, particularly population aging, are taken into account,” the researchers said.

“It does not mean, however, that government transfer programs cannot be expanded. Indeed, our results indicate that governments can become more generous as long as these are matched with reforms to raise greater government revenues, e.g., tax reform,” they added.

At the current pace of the country’s population growth, the researchers said the Philippines may not be able to maximize the benefits of the demographic dividend.

While the proportion of the elderly aged 65 years and older has increased only slightly from 3.1 percent in 1990 to 4.6 percent in 2015, the researchers said the country’s demographic trend “will soon change.”

Citing studies from the United Nations, the researchers said the elderly population in the country is expected to increase to 9.9 million in 2032 and to 23.7 million in 2069 from 4.7 million in 2015.

The UN report in 2017, the researchers said, indicates that the Philippines will become an aging society by 2032. They said “this may pose a heavy burden on the country’s resources, particularly on its pension system.”

“Even if average fertility rates drop, it is highly likely that the rates of decline will vary across different populations, thereby potentially exacerbating inequality in the near term. Affirmative actions by government, such as direct cash transfers, may be necessary to ensure that no population gets left behind,” the authors, however, said.

Clark. . .

Continued from A8

Government buildings, residences and other support facilities will be developed in the latter half of the first phase, which is estimated to commence next year.

The government center in New Clark City is part of President Duterte’s plan to decongest Metro Manila by dispersing state offices to the regions from the capital. The government hopes this move will spur economic growth in the provinces, as it develops areas outside of Metro Manila.

On top of the National Government Administrative Center, Filinvest Land Inc.’s 288 hectare mixed-use industrial area in New Clark City is scheduled to break

Even relatively stingy public transfer programs may lead to unsustainable public debt burden in the longer term when changes in the population age distribution, particularly population aging, are taken into account.”—PIDS researchers

Dividend defined

IN a recent statement, the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) explained that the demographic dividend is the economic growth experienced by a country as a result of the change in the country’s population structure.

The Neda said it is the product of the demographic transition, which is characterized by markedly declining mortality and fertility rates, resulting in the shrinking of the dependent age (0-14) group and expanding of the work force (ages 15-64).

This transition, the Neda explained, leads to steadily rising savings and investment rates and, hence, faster economic growth and improved living standards.

Further, Neda said demographic transition has three phases. The first is marked by an initial decline in infant mortality (death rate), with fertility rate remaining high.

The second phase happens when the share of working-age population becomes large relative to the young dependent ages and the older population or 65 years and above.

The Neda said that with the number of those in the productive working-age population at its highest, the economy’s growth w i l l s i g n i f i c a nt l y i n c r e a s e .

This is the third phase of the demographic transition.

It explained that with a bigger work force that can generate higher income and a less dependent population, the government can allocate its resources for economic development and social services (education, health and nutrition). This is also often referred to as the demographiceconomic window of opportunity. ground early this year. The project is envisioned by Filinvest Land to be “ future-ready and sustainable,” as it will adopt an environment fit for the lifestyle of the younger generation.

T he BC DA a nd C h i n a Ge zhouba Group Company Ltd. also tied up to develop a 500 hectare mixed-use industrial park in New Clark City. The parties reached an agreement during the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping last November.

Provision of water and power utilities in New Clark City are also under way, as the BCDA has signed a joint venture deal with the PrimeWater consortium for water services at P9.45 per cubic meter. The agency targets to sign an agreement with the winning partner early this year for power supply.

The Nation BusinessMirror

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TOKYO, E.U. EXPRESS SOLIDARITY WITH PHL

Police tags local terrorists in New Year’s Eve bombing

Comfort woman statue covered by freedom of expression–Palace

A

By Bernadette D. Nicolas

@BNicolasBM

FTER the Japanese government expressed disappointment over the statue of a comfort woman in San Pedro, Laguna, Malacañang said the statue, which was built inside a private property, is covered by freedom of expression.

AUTHORITIES sift through the site of Monday’s bombing at the façade of South Seas Mall in Cotabato City. PHOTO COURTESY OF ARMY’S 6TH ID

T

HE Philippine National Police (PNP) said on Tuesday that local terror groups could be responsible for the mall blast in Cotabato City that left two persons dead and 34 others wounded on New Year’s Eve. Chief Supt. Benigno Durana Jr. said, based on the result of the post-blast investigation, authorities found that the modus operandi and “signature” on the bombing incident initially tag ISIS-inspired local terrorist groups in the area.

“Terrorism, extremism and terror attacks coming from these extremist groups most of them are ISIS and Daesh inspired,” Durana, who is also PNP Spokesman, said in a radio interview.

This Maute group; this is the local ISIS-inspired elements of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters etc. This is their handiwork based on their “signatures,” he said in Filipino.

Durana added that PNP Director General Oscar D. Albayalde has ordered the creation of a special investigation task group to probe the incident.

“It’s a good principle in any investigation that we are not in just one possible suspect at the early stage of the investigation. We are casting a wider net, so we will not be missing some areas,” he said.

“The SITG [Special Investigation Task Group] that the PNP chief ordered to probe [the attack] is now following a lot of leads to know these perpetrators, the individuals, so that we can arrest them as soon as possible and we can crack this case as soon as possible.”

Durana said the PNP believes the safety and security of the people in Mindanao “are better now” due to the signed peace agreements with the Moro National Liberation Front and, recently, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front that “brought, despite some challenges, more stability” and more positive economic outlook in the region.

Homemade bomb

A HOMEMADE bomb on Monday ripped through the front entrance door of South Seas Mall in Cotabato City, killed two people and wounded 32 others, the PNP reports said.

Another improvised explosive device was also recovered on the same day at the mall’s baggage counter at the second floor.

According to the reports, one of the casualties was a staff of the Bangsamoro Transition Commission.

The bombing came weeks before the holding of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) plebiscite on January 21.

Once ratified, the BOL will pave for the establishment of the Bangsamoro government in 2022, which will replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

@lorenzmarasigan

T

HE government will be working on securing overfly permits from Saudi Arabia to allow carriers to launch shorter, direct flights to Israel, a transport official said.

Transportation Undersecretary Manuel Tamayo said his group is pushing for the utilization of the frequencies for the ManilaTel Aviv route. And to do this, the government has to secure permits from Saudi Arabia to allow carriers to fly over the Middle Eastern state.

“We have rights already as far as Israel is concerned. Hopefully, we should get to overfly Saudi Arabia to Israel,” he said in a recent interview.

Presidential Spokesman and Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador S. Panelo said in a statement issued late Monday that the statue also appears to be “simply dedicated to peace and women empowerment.”

A report by Manila Shimbun quoted the Japanese Embassy in the Philippines as saying: “We believe that the establishment of a comfort woman statue in other countries,

including this case, is extremely disappointing; not compatible with the Japanese government.”

A 1-meter tall bronze statue showing a girl seated on a chair with a vacant chair on her right was unveiled on December 28.

“Recently, the erection of a bronze female statue somewhere in San Pedro, Laguna, has caught media attention. We hasten to take note of the differences of this installation from a

seemingly similar female monument that was erected on Roxas Boulevard,” Panelo said.

“The statue subject of this current issue was commissioned using private funds and was built inside private property. This, therefore, forms part of freedom of expression and the government cannot simply delimit or restrain the exercise of such right without a tenable purpose—the aforesaid right being protected by our Constitution,” he added.

Meanwhile, the female statue along Roxas Boulevard was “commissioned for the purpose memorializing a dark and internationally sensitive part of our peoples’ history during the great war.”

Panelo then called on critics to stop politicizing the issue and advised against antagonizing Japan.

“While we, as a nation, should commemorate the dear sacrifices of our people during this period and contemplate on the lessons learned from the same, we should also refrain from unduly politicizing

ON Tuesday the Japanese government and the European Union (EU) sent messages of solidarity with the Philippines following the bombing.

As a country “strongly condemning violent extremism,” Japan stands in solidarity with the government and the people of the Philippines, Japanese Ambassador Koji Haneda said in a statement.

EU Ambassador Franz Jessen, meanwhile, said his thoughts and prayers go to the victims as he reiterated the bloc’s support to the ongoing peace process in Mindanao.

“The EU fully supports the ongoing peace process in Mindanao. I frequently visit Cotabato and I am impressed each time by the progress made, and the commitment of my counterparts to build a better future for the region. Peace and reconciliation is the way forward. Violence and hatred will never succeed,” Jessen said in a separate statement.

“The New Year brings new hope to us all, and we stand together with the Philippine government in its efforts to make the country more peaceful and safer.” PNA

He explained that flying over Saudi Arabia will allow carriers to save at least one hour of travel time for the Manila-Tel Aviv route.

Philippine and Israeli carriers are allowed to fly between any of their cities for 21 times per week, based on the air services agreement signed by the two nations in 2013.

Since then, not a single allocation has been utilized.

Tamayo noted that legacy carrier Philippine Airlines is keen on launching flights from Manila to Tel Aviv.

“So we’re pushing for the signing of the overfly agreement by this quarter, as Israel is a seasonal market. Most passengers would like to travel there during the cold months,” Tamayo explained.

an issue which has already been addressed,” he said. “As then remarked by the President, it would only be counter-productive to antagonize Japan, which has since proven itself to be a strategic and reliable ally and partner, by politicizing the issue.

Japan, after all, has paid dearly for its past deeds, which includes giving reparations.”

Last year, a Filipino-Chinese foundation built a statue symbolizing comfort women along Roxas Boulevard.

However, the government removed the statue a few months after the Japanese government expressed displeasure over the statue.

The Department of Public Works and Highways said the statue was removed to give way to drainage improvement project. This move earned the ire of some women’s rights advocates.

President Duterte has also backed the removal of the statue and suggested that it can be placed in a private property so as not to insult Japan.

Palace orders probe on Chong aide killing

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EU, Japan

Carriers to fly to Israel from KSA soon if permits granted—DOTr

By Lorenz S. Marasigan

Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug • Wednesday, January 2, 2019 A3

WANT NOT, WASTE NOT

In the run up to the New Year’s Eve revelry on Monday, some streets in the country’s capital, like Palanca in Manila, became almost a virtual dumping ground. The clearing of such substantial amount of waste fell on the shoulders of the Bureau of Fire Protection and Manila City Hall (inset) whose personnel used firetrucks at the Divisoria area. ROY DOMINGO

Bill seeks equity in distribution of tips given to service workers

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz @joveemarie

T

HE House of Representatives is pushing for the final approval of a measure strengthening employees’ benefits from service charges.

House Bill (HB) 8784, which was approved on second reading, seeks to increase the benefits of rankand- file and supervisory employees from service charges by amending the Labor Code of the Philippines.

The bill is expected to be approved on third and final reading when session resumes this month.

The proposed bill seeks to increase from 85 percent to 90 percent the share of rank-and-file and supervisory employees in the total service charges being collected by hotels, restaurants and similar establishments.

The remaining 10 percent shall be retained by management to cover pilferages and breakages, and for distribution to local managerial employees.

The bill also provides that the

share of the regular rank-and-file and supervisory employees shall be fully and equally distributed among them.

In case the minimum wage is increased by law or wage order, service charges paid to the covered employees shall not be considered in determining the employers’ compliance with the increased minimum wage.

To implement all these, the bill seeks the amendment of Article 96 (Service Charges), Section 1 of Presidential Decree 442, as amended, otherwise known as the Labor Code of the Philippines.

Rep. Dennis Laogan of Ang Kabuhayan party-list and sponsor of the measure said that for the longest time, rank-and-file employees of various establishments, which collect service charges from clients and customers, have been receiving only 85 percent of such charges, pursuant to the limit set

by PD 442.

In an effort to further aid rankand-file employees, he said the proposal will ensure that the workers

will be better compensated compared to their managerial counterparts because rank-and-file employees are the ones who deal with clients and customers most of the time and have wages that are barely compliant with minimumwage statutes.

Camarines Sur Rep. Raymund F. Villafuerte, principal author of the measure, said the service charge paid by customers in hotels, restaurant and other similar establishment should be distributed among their covered employees and staff in line with the Constitutional mandate to protect the rights of all workers and to promote their welfare.

“Considering that employees who wait on tables and provide direct service to customers at the aforementioned establishments are usually minimum-wage earners, the service charge and other gratuities from customers represent significant addition to their income, as well as an effective incentive to boost their morale at work,” Villafuerte added.

RESIDENT Duterte has ordered an investigation on the “brutal” and “brazen” killing of the aide of election lawyer and former Biliran Rep. Glenn Chong.

In a statement released late Monday, Presidential Spokesman and Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador S. Panelo condemned the killing of Richard Y. Santillan and noted that the President is committed to achieving justice for those left behind by the victim.

“The Palace strongly denounces the brutal and brazen incident, which led to the death of Santillan,” Panelo said. “[The President] has ordered a fair and thorough investigation of the case until the killers, including the mastermind, are put behind bars.”

Although the Palace noted that serious accusations have been made against some members of the Calabarzon police, Malacañang pointed out that the government does not tolerate erring men in uniform.

“Let the chips fall as they may.

As we know by now, PRRD does not condone erring men in uniform who grossly violate the law,” he added.

“Similar to the Batocabe murder case, he certainly has the same commitment of getting justice done for the family, relatives, friends and for all those Santillan left behind.”

An alleged armed encounter on December 10 resulted to Santillan’s death. This was after he was alleged to be part of the “Highway Boys,” a group allegedly involved in robbery, trade in illegal drugs and murder.

However, a forensic examination by the Public Attorney’s Office said Santillan appeared to be tortured first before he was killed.

The PAO noted there were traces of blood in the brain indicating trauma because of blows to the head, as well as lacerations and punctured wounds suggesting the victim was stabbed.

Chong and Santillan’s wife also claimed Santillan was first abducted, interrogated and tortured before he was executed because he went missing three hours before the alleged shootout with the police.

Calabarzon Police Regional Director Chief Supt. Edward Carranza has dismissed these allegations of Santillan’s “torture.” Carranza has also called for a facts-based probe on the case. Bernadette D. Nicolas

BusinessMirror

‘Backward’ economy failed to create jobs for new labor entrants–IBON to 2019 is 10.2 percent, using the old definition.

The group said it does not yet have estimates for 2018, but the real number of unemployed in 2017 was 4.6 million, or almost double the official figure of 2.4 million.

IBON also expressed concern over job-generation trends this year, saying that the quarterly labor force survey showed “drastically worsening” job generation since the start of 2018.

“Measured year-on-year, some 2.4 million jobs were reported created in January 2018, but this fell to 625,000 in April, then 488,000 in July, and then 218,000 jobs were actually lost, rather than created, in October,” Africa said.

Trabaho bill

THIS file photo shows workers assembling the steel frame of a massive building foundation at a construction site along Marcos Highway in Masinag, Antipolo City. IBON Foundation debunked the claim of the government that it created more jobs last year.

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By Bernadette D. Nicolas

@BNicolasBM

HE slower expansion of the country’s economy in the last three years has resulted in the lack of enough decent jobs for new labor entrants, according to research group IBON Foundation Inc. In its year-end report, titled “Are You High? The Economy Isn’t,” IBON Foundation Executive Director Jose Enrique A. Africa described this as the “worst effect of a backward economy” and claimed that the real score on jobs was “twisted.”

“The economic managers hailed 825,000 new jobs created in 2018 and unemployment falling by 140,000 bringing the unemployment rate down to 5.3 percent. Unfortunately, these do not tell the whole story,” Africa said in a statement.

“The Duterte administration has actually created just an average of 81,000 jobs annually with 43.5 million jobs in 2018 compared to

43.4 million in 2016. This is because the economy lost a huge 663,000 jobs in 2017, which was the biggest contraction in employment in 20 years or since 1997,” he added.

Africa also said the largest part of the “supposed job creation”, or some 4 of out of 5 “new” jobs, was really just restoring jobs lost in 2017.

“It seems that huge numbers of Filipinos are no longer seeking work and dropping out of the labor force. This is reflected in how the labor force participation rate dropped to 60.9 percent in 2018, which is the lowest in 38 years or since 1980,” he said.

The results of the October 2018

Labor Force Survey conducted by the Philippine Statistics Authority indicated that the labor participation rate was at 60.6 percent.

The unemployment rate was at 5.1 percent, slightly higher than the 5 percent recorded a year ago.

While employment grew by 162,000 from 2016 to 2018, the number of workers not in the labor force grew by 2.9 million over the same period, according to IBON’s estimates.

“It is likely that the reported 62,000 fall in the number of unemployed between 2016 and 2018 reflects workers dropping out of the labour force because of tight labor markets rather than their finding new work [because of weak job creation].This scenario is supported by IBON’s estimates of the real state of unemployment in the country,” Africa said.

Africa also claimed that the government started underestimating unemployment in 2005 when it adopted a stricter definition that made subsequent estimates incomparable with previous figures.

IBON estimates that the real unemployment rate from 2008

THE Federation of Free Workers has also expressed concern over the impact of the Tax Reform for Attracting Better and High-Quality Opportunities, or Trabaho bill, on the creation of more jobs. The FFW said the measure is a “misnomer” as it would result in more job losses. “[The Trabaho bill] will not necessarily increase employment. Because at the end of the day, this is a tax legislation, not an employment legislation,” FFW Vice President Julius Cainglet told reporters in a recent press conference.

Nonetheless, Presidential Spokesman and Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador S. Panelo in his year-end report said he is optimistic that 2019 will be a “great year.”

“The Philippine National Identification System has been signed into law and the start of full rollout is expected next year. A plebiscite for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao will be held next year. The Philippines is hosting the 2019 Southeast Asian Games. A new major player in the public telecommunications market has been officially confirmed,” Panelo said.

“With all these at the helm, the Duterte administration will certainly enter the new year with enthusiasm and vigor in serving the people. The outpouring support from the Filipinos will continue to inspire this administration to work harder for the benefit of the greater populace. Together, we shall move forward for a better and more prosperous Philippines.”

Residential real estate Immigration bureau vows to fast-track up 4.4% year-on-year processing of departing Filipino workers in July-September: BSP

By Recto L. Mercene

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ESIDENTIAL real-estate prices were higher by 4.4 percent year-on-year in the third quarter of 2018 as the Residential Real Estate Price Index (RREPI) increased to 116.5 from 111.6 for the same quarter a year ago, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) revealed in a statement.

Year-on-year (YoY) prices of townhouses, condominium units, and single detached housing units grew by 18.3 percent, 5.8 percent, and 0.2 percent, respectively. Similarly, prices of duplex units (which account for only 0.76 percent of total new housing units reported) also rose by 30.7 percent year-on-year. Quarter-on-quarter, the RREPI edged lower by 0.6 percent.

The RREPI measures the average change in prices of various types of housing units comprising of single detached house, duplex, townhouse, and condominium unit based on data from housing loans granted by universal, commercial and thrift banks.

The average residential property prices in both National Capital Region (NCR) and Areas Outside NCR (AONCR) went up by 6.8 percent and 2.2 percent, respectively, compared to year-ago prices.

In NCR, price increases were observed across all types of housing units. Meanwhile, the growth in prices of townhouses, duplex housing units, and condominium units outweighed the slight decline in prices of single detached houses in AONCR. For Q3 2018, seven in 10 (71 percent) residential realestate loans (RRELs) were for the acquisition of new housing units. By type of housing unit, 53.2 percent of residential property loans were for the purchase of condominium units, followed by single detached units (38.3 percent) and townhouses (7.6 percent). PNA

@rectomercene

B

UREAU of Immigration (BI) Port Operations Division Chief Grifton Medina has instructed personnel at the departure areas to ensure that overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) lining up for immigration processing are given utmost priority.

Medina said he issued the directive in compliance with the order of President Duterte to BI Commissioner Jaime Morente that immigration departure formalities for OFWs be conducted expeditiously and efficiently. The policy move comes days after the BI put into motion 21 electronic gates, or e-gates, at the airport, in order to speed up the processing of arriving passengers.

“Our objective is to see to it that our modern-day heroes are given all the care and courtesy that they deserve in sacrificing not only for their families but for the country as well,” Medina said.

Medina formed a special team of immigration officers focused on conducting the prescreening of OFWs and attending to the latter’s immigration needs at the airport.

He said designated OFW counters shall be used exclusively by OFWs. In case of long lines at OFW coun-

ters, members of the Bureau’s Travel Control and Enforcement Unit (TCEU) shall speed up the queues by inspecting and ensuring that the passengers’ travel requirements are complete while they are still on the line.

“It’s a matter of deploying more people to focus on OFWs,” said Medina. “It’s a small move, but you’ll be surprised at the impact on easing the lines for them,” he added.

Ordinarily, a departing passenger gets processed within 45 seconds but Medina sees that the scheme may decrease the processing time by up to 33 percent.

He added that OFWs who are referred for secondary inspection due to concerns on their travel documents will, likewise, be given priority and their problem resolved within 10 minutes.

He said OFWs were also given priority through the installation of 21 e-gates in major airports.

Immigration chief Morente announced that the scheme is only part of the series of improvements he plans to implement.

“The year 2019 will be all about process improvement,” he said. “We have studied what we can do to provide better service. The e-gates and the prescreening of OFWs are just the beginning,” he added.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Govt ramps up infra projects to unclog congested roads, ports

FILE PHOTO

A4 Wednesday, January 2, 2019 • Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug

Economy

By Lorenz S. Marasigan @lorenzmarasigan

A

FTER all the merry-making, laughter, and gifts, comes the horrendous traffic—a chronic disease, which many a government has tried, but failed, to cure.

Despite this stark reality— something that experts have previously said would be the norm in the coming years, if drastic interventions would not be put in place— signs of improvement have so far sprouted, thanks to a number of policy reforms.

It will, however, take a few more years before the government could finally unclog the heavily congested arteries of the Philippines.

But roads are not the only ones clogged; airports, rail roads and even seaports are also congested.

The lack of infrastructure has always been the weak point of the country, owing to years of underspending, poor planning, and supposed corruption-ridden under the table, lopsided deals.

In the October 2018 World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Competitiveness Report, the Philippine infrastructure sector was ranked 94th among 140 countries surveyed by the WEF. Removing the Philippines from the “worst performer’s” list in terms of infrastructure is a job that two line agencies are currently working on. The road network of the Philippines is being developed by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH). While aviation, maritime, railways, and utility vehicles are being handled by the Department of Transportation (DOTr).

They are to execute projects through the formulation of road maps and “evidence-based studies” that will promote the use of mass transit systems all while ensuring the development of roads and highways especially in dense urban areas.

Transportation Secretary Arthur P. Tugade said his agency is ramping up projects under the “Build, Build, Build” (BBB) program of the Duterte administration to meet the strong demand in the air, water and land transport subsectors.

Robust air linkages

UNDER the midterm development plan, the transportation department is tasked to “exhaust all possible means to improve the operational efficiency of airports and to address constraints to optimal capacity utilization.”

For 2018, the department was able to deliver three big-ticket airport infrastructure projects: the Mactan-Cebu International Airport Terminal 2, the New Bohol Panglao International Airport and the expanded Puerto Princesa International Airport.

It also started building the second terminal in Clark International Airport and the construction of the 11-year delayed Bicol International Airport.

“Domestic airports in the prov-

inces are also being given a face lift.

At least four have been improved [San Vicente, Tacloban, Virac and Maasin]. Four more are undergoing rehabilitation, and five domestic airports are also programmed for improvements,” Tugade added.

Infrastructure development is also under way for four airports—Laoag, Vigan, Cotabato and Tawi-Tawi—following the signing of the memorandum of agreement with the Department of National Defense.

Better railways

TUGADE added that his office was able to make strides in the development of railway infrastructure and policies that are in line with the midterm development plan, which gives prime importance to the development of train systems to move people and cargo more efficiently.

The government was able to start the establishment of the railway institute, a school that will educate future train operators, drivers and employees on the best practices in the global railroad sector.

It has also signed an P18-billion loan agreement with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) for the rehabilitation of the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) Line 3, the most congested train line in the Philippines.

Tugade added that his office has also started initiatives for the implementation of the Mindanao Railway, the PNR Bicol, and the PNR Calamba, all of which will be opened by 2022.

Preconstruction activities for the extension of the Light Rail Transit (LRT) Line 1 to Cavite also started in 2018.

Aggressive in 2019

TUGADE said five big-ticket projects will start this year—the PNR Bicol, LRT Line 1 Extension, SubicClark Cargo Railway, MRT Rehabilitation Project and the Mindanao Railway Project.

The government has also set its sights on the completion of the following projects: the Road Transport Information Technology Infrastructure Phase I; the construction of Sheltered Port in Barangay Pag-asa, Kalayaan; the Maritime Safety Capability Improvement Project Phase I (MSCIP I) Project; the Davao Sasa Port Phase I Project; the Commercial, Social and Tourism Ports Project; the Isabela Port (Basilan) Project; and Malalag Port Project.

For his part, Villar said his agency will continue to implement the Luzon Spine Expressway Network Program. Next year will see the completion of the North Luzon-South Luzon Expressways (Nlex-Slex) Connector Road, and the Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway Section 3.

It will also implement the Interisland Linkage Program, which is a series of short and long-span bridges linking island provinces to eventually connect Mindanao and Visayas to Luzon via land travel.

The World BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Editor: Angel R. Calso • Wednesday, January 2, 2019 A5

Kim ready to talk more with Trump but warns not to test North Korea

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EOUL, South Korea—North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said on Tuesday that he hopes to extend his high-stakes nuclear summitry with President Donald J. Trump into 2019, but also warned Washington not to test North Koreans’ patience with sanctions and pressure.

During his televised New Year’s speech, Kim said he’s ready to meet with Trump at any time to produce an outcome “welcomed by the international community.” However, he said the North will be forced to take a different path if the United States “continues to break its promises and misjudges the patience of our people by unilaterally demanding certain things and pushes ahead with sanctions and pressure.”

Kim also said the United States should continue to halt its joint military exercises with ally South Korea and not deploy strategic military assets to the South. He also made a nationalistic call urging for stronger inter-Korean cooperation and said the North is ready to resume operations at a jointly run factory park in the North Korean border town of Kaesong and restart South Korean tours to the North’s Diamond Mountain resort. Neither of those is possible for South Korea unless sanctions are removed.

Some analysts say North Korea has been trying to drive a wedge between Washington and Seoul while putting the larger burden of action on the United States. Pyongyang over the past months has accused Washington of failing to take corresponding measures following the North’s unilateral dismantlement of a nuclear testing ground and suspension of nuclear and long-range missile tests.

Washington and Pyongyang are

trying to arrange a second summit between Trump and Kim, who met in Singapore on June 12.

“If the United States takes sincere measures and corresponding action to our leading and preemptive efforts, then [US-North Korea] relations will advance at a fast and excellent pace through the process of implementing [such] definite and groundbreaking measures,” said Kim, who delivered the speech sitting on a leather chair, wearing a black suit and gray-blue tie.

“It is the unwavering position of our party and the republic’s government and my firm will that the two countries as declared in the June 12 joint statement...take steps to establish a permanent and stable peace regime and push toward the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” he said. “Therefore, we have already declared domestically and internationally and took various actions showing our commitment that we will no further create or test nuclear weapons and will not use or spread them.”

Adam Mount, a senior analyst at the Federation of American Scientists, said Kim appears to be hinting at an agreement that falls short of a full disarmament, but could still represent a major limitation of the North Korean threat—a cap that essentially freezes the North’s rudimentary nuclear capability from growing or advancing further. In exchange, the United States would

PEOPLE watch TV news on a screen showing North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s New Year’s speech at Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, on January 1, 2019. The letters on the screen read: “North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s New Year Speech.” Kim says he hopes to extend his high-stakes nuclear summitry with President Donald J. Trump into 2019, but also warns Washington not to test North Koreans’ patience with sanctions and pressure. AP PHOTO/AHN YOUNG-JOON

have to offer major inducements, including sanctions relief.

“US negotiators should move decisively in the new year to find out how far Kim is willing to go toward a verified cap on his arsenal. Discussions on reducing or eliminating that arsenal come later,” Mount said in an e-mail.

However, Kim’s statement could prove problematic if there’s ongoing evidence the North’s nuclear and missile facilities continue to run.

Private analysts have accused North Korea of continuing nuclear and missile development, citing details from commercial satellite imagery.

“Over the last year, signs of continued work on the arsenal were alarming but not duplicitous, because there was never a commitment to stop those activities,” Mount said. “That may no longer be true, raising the risk that the White House feels cheated rather than just stonewalled.”

Kim’s speech also points toward a difficult year for the US-South

Korean alliance with their military cooperation coming under pressure from Pyongyang, Seoul’s process for inter-Korean engagement and Washington’s current inability to reach an agreement on cost-sharing for the US military presence in South Korea. It will be critical for the allies to develop a firmer policy as it’s clear the issue of joint drills is coming to a head, Mount said.

In the speech, Kim hailed the results of the North’s diplomatic activities in 2018, including his three meetings with South Korean President Moon Jae-in. Kim said an interKorean military agreement reached in their last summit in September to reduce conventional military threats was “realistically a nonaggression declaration.”

Kim also emphasized the development of the North Korean economy and, without elaborating, mentioned nuclear power as part of the country’s plans to boost electricity production.

South Korea’s government, in

a statement, welcomed what it described as Kim’s commitment toward peace and said Seoul plans to work closely with the international community for the denuclearization of the peninsula while also advancing inter-Korean relations to an “irreversible level.”

North Korean leaders traditionally use New Year’s statements to issue major policy goals for the year ahead. Kim used his New Year’s speech a year ago to start a newfound diplomatic approach with Seoul and Washington, which led to his meetings with Moon and Trump. Kim also met three times with Chinese President Xi Jinping, which boosted his leverage by reintroducing Beijing—Pyongyang’s main ally—as a major player in the diplomatic process to resolve the nuclear standoff.

But nuclear talks between Washington and Pyongyang have stalled in recent months as they struggle with the sequencing of North Korea’s disarmament and the removal of

US-led sanctions against the North.

The North has also bristled at US demands to provide a detailed account of nuclear and missile facilities that would be inspected and dismantled under a potential deal.

The hardening stalemate has fueled doubts on whether Kim will ever voluntarily relinquish the nuclear weapons and missiles he may see as his strongest guarantee of survival.

In his meetings with Trump and Moon, Kim signed vague statements calling for the “complete denuclearization” of the Korean Peninsula without describing when and how it would occur.

But North Korea for decades has been pushing a concept of denuclearization that bears no resemblance to the American definition, with Pyongyang vowing to pursue nuclear development until the United States removes its troops and the nuclear umbrella defending South Korea and Japan. The North used a blunt statement last month to reiterate its traditional stance on denuclearization, saying it will never unilaterally give up its weapons unless Washington removes what Pyongyang describes as a nuclear threat.

The statement jarred with Seoul’s claim that Kim is genuinely interested in negotiating away his nukes and suggested that the North will potentially demand the United States withdraw or significantly reduce the 28,500 American troops stationed in South Korea, a major sticking point in any disarmament deal.

Washington and Pyongyang have yet to reschedule a meeting between US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and senior North Korean officials after the North canceled it at the last minute in November. There are views that North Korea wants a quick second summit because it thinks it can win major concessions from Trump that they probably couldn’t from lower-level US officials, who are more adamant about the North committing to inspections and verification. AP

US and Israel exit UN cultural agency, claiming bias Oil slumps to first annual loss

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ARIS—The United States and Israel officially withdrew from the United Nation’s educational, scientific and cultural agency at the stroke of midnight, the culmination of a process triggered more than a year ago amid concerns that the organization fosters anti-Israel bias.

The withdrawal is mainly procedural yet serves a new blow to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco), cofounded by the US after World War II to foster peace.

The Trump administration filed its notice to withdraw in October 2017, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu followed suit.

The Paris-based organization has been denounced by its critics as a crucible for anti-Israel bias: blasted for criticizing Israel’s occupation of East Jerusalem, naming ancient Jewish sites as Palestinian heritage sites and granting full membership to Palestine in 2011.

The US has demanded “fundamental reform” in the agency that is best known for its World Heritage program to protect cultural sites and traditions.

Unesco also works to improve education for girls, promote understanding of the Holocaust’s horrors and to defend media freedom.

The withdrawals will not greatly impact Unesco financially, since it has been dealing with a funding slash ever since 2011 when both Israel and the US stopped paying dues after Palestine was voted in as a member-state. Since then, officials estimate that the US—which accounted for around 22 percent of the total budget—has accrued $600 million in unpaid dues, which was one of the reasons for President Donald J. Trump’s decision to withdraw. Israel owes an estimated $10 million.

Unesco Director General Audrey Azoulay took up her post just after Trump announced the pullout.

Azoulay, who has Jewish and Moroccan heritage, has presided over the launch of a Holocaust education web site and the UN’s first educational guidelines on fighting anti-Semitism—initiatives that might be seen as responding to US and Israeli concerns.

IN this November 4, 2017, file photo, the logo of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) is seen during the 39th session of the General Conference at the Unesco headquarters in Paris, France. The United States and Israel have quit the UN’s educational, scientific and cultural agency, arguing the organization fosters anti-Israel bias. AP PHOTO/CHRISTOPHE ENA

Officials say that many of the reasons the US cited for withdrawal do not apply anymore, noting that since then, all 12 texts on the Middle East passed at Unesco have been consensual among Israel and Arab member-states.

In April 2018, Israel’s ambassador to Unesco said the mood was “like a wedding” after membernations signed off on a rare compromise resolution on “Occupied Palestine,” and Unesco diplomats hailed a possible breakthrough on longstanding Israeli-Arab tensions.

The document was still quite critical of Israel, however, and the efforts weren’t enough to encourage the US and Israel to reconsider their decision to quit.

In recent years, Israel has been infuriated by repeated resolutions that ignore and diminish its historical connection to the Holy Land and that have named ancient Jewish sites as Palestinian heritage sites.

The State Department couldn’t comment because of the US government shutdown. Earlier, the department told Unesco officials the US intends to stay engaged at Unesco as a nonmember “observer state” on “non-politicized” issues, including the protection of World Heritage sites, advocating for press freedoms and promoting scientific collaboration and education.

The US could potentially seek that status during Unesco Executive Board meetings in April. AP

IL capped its worst annual showing since 2015 as fears of scarcity turned into panic about a glut.

Futures in New York eked out a small gain on Monday but finished the year down 25 percent, completing a reversal few anticipated just three months ago, when prices jumped to a four-year high.

There’s growing concern the US-China trade dispute and tightening Federal Reserve monetary policy will undercut growth. Five American manufacturing indexes all dropped in December, the first such across-the-board decline in two years.

Highlighting the muscle of US crude drillers, stockpiles at a key storage hub in Oklahoma probably rose 1.2 million barrels last week, according to a Bloomberg survey of analysts released on Monday. Despite encouraging talk on trade from President Donald J. Trump, the coming months still look unsettled, said Phil Streible, senior market strategist at RJO Futures in Chicago.

“We’ll probably start off 2019 on the same foot, weighed down by record US production, as well as the lingering trade war,” Streible said in an interview. “We won’t see a rebalancing of the market until past the first quarter, so I would expect us to get trading right around these lows.”

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for February delivery rose 8 cents to $45.41 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Total volume traded Monday was about 32 percent below the 100-day average.

Brent for March settlement gained 59 cents to $53.80 on the Londonbased ICE Futures Europe exchange.

The global benchmark closed the year

down 20 percent. It traded on Monday at a premium of $8.08 to March WTI. Crude’s moves have been amplified by gyrations in equity markets, which have propelled an oil-price volatility gauge to more than double over the past three months.

“We are most likely past the peak of this long economic uptrend,” said analysts at JBC Energy GmbH in Vienna.

Oil jumped to a four-year high in early October on concern that renewed US sanctions on Iran’s oil exports would tighten supply. But Trump’s surprise decision to grant waivers to many buyers pushed prices into a bear market within weeks.

“Trump has reigned as the ultimate controller of oil prices this year because everything from sanctions against Iran, the trade war with China and even tensions with Saudi Arabia, he’s been involved,” said Sungchil Will Yun, a commodities analyst at HI Investment & Futures Corp. “While prices won’t fall further from here, the pace of increase will also be quite gradual next year.”

Output cut

OPEC and its partners including Russia responded to the downturn earlier this month with a promise to cut 1.2 million barrels a day of output starting January.

Estimates from consultants JBC Energy on Monday showed they’ve already started to make good on that pledge as Saudi Arabia takes the lead in restricting production. But OPEC faces a formidable challenge from American drillers that are pumping at record levels. More than 100 additional oil rigs have been deployed across the US in 2018, with overall crude production topping 11 million barrels a day. Bloomberg News

A6 Wednesday, January 2, 2019 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

editorial

Pockets of hope in PHL agri sector

I

T was on Christmas day when the finance chief, who is also a former agriculture secretary, reminded the country of the difficulties confronting the Philippine farm sector. In a recent business forum, Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said even the private sector has started worrying about the problems hounding the agriculture sector. (See, “Agriculture sector’s woes worry Duterte govt, private sector—DOF,” in the BusinessMirror, December 25, 2018). The ills that have long plagued the sector—low productivity, inability of farmers to access affordable credit, lack of infrastructure—made it difficult for the government to ensure that the country can produce enough food needed by 106 million Filipinos.

While the acceleration of inflation, which peaked in September 2018, was unfortunate for millions of Filipinos, it focused the spotlight on a sector that has been neglected for years. Nearly 11 years after the Philippines was forced to pay through its nose for imported rice, it took several tweaks in the Department of Agriculture’s farm policies, as well as increases in its budget that enabled the agency to roll out a number of initiatives seeking to raise productivity and income.

One such initiative is the mechanization program of the government. Increasing productivity cannot be done sans the equipment that would help farmers do their work and cut costs. In February 2018, Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol announced that the government has earmarked P400 million for the program that would encourage farmers to take out loans if they want to buy agricultural equipment. (See, “Piñol announces P400-M farm mechanization loan program,” in the BusinessMirror, February 20, 2018). The government is also moving toward encouraging foreign businessmen to invest in the assembly of farm equipment in the Philippines. (See, “South Korean firms to assemble farm machines in PHL,” in the BusinessMirror, November 22, 2018).

Part of the mechanization program is the pilot testing of drones to spray fertilizer on vegetable farms in Benguet. Apart from cutting cost, drones will keep farmers from getting sick, as they will no longer have direct contact with dangerous chemicals. Because of these advantages, the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) has also started testing drones in rice farms and is hopeful that young Filipinos will be encouraged to go into planting rice. (See, “Drones may attract youth to rice farming—PhilRice,” in the BusinessMirror, December 11, 2018).

The decision of the Philippine Fiber Industry and Development Authority to strictly enforce a classification-trading scheme for abaca starting 2018 has encouraged farmers to produce more. The resulting increase in the price of the iconic Philippine fiber is likely to have expanded output by 6 percent to 76,000 metric tons in 2018, from the previous year’s 72,000 MT. (See, “Abaca output seen rising as overseas demand soars,” in the BusinessMirror, January 1, 2019). The Philippines is still the world’s top producer and supplier of abaca, and the government would do well to capitalize on this to help boost export receipts.

The opening up of more export markets via trade deals forged by the government in recent years will also allow the Philippines to improve its export numbers. The Philippines can look to its neighbors in Southeast Asia and the members of the European Free Trade Association if it intends to increase its shipments of agricultural products. Manila has yet to take full advantage of the Asean Free Trade Area and the government would do well to undertake a study that will identify more products it can export to this market.

The Duterte administration still has more than three years to implement other strategies for the agriculture sector under its Philippine Development Plan. There is no magic pill that can instantly remove the ills plaguing the farm sector, but inaction and complacency will make it harder for Philippine agriculture to fully recover.

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Susan V. Ople

SCRIBBLES

T

HE latest Social Weather Station poll reveals that 9 out of 10 Filipinos welcome the New Year with hope. This shows great idealism on the part of our largely millennial-dominated population, and cheerfulness on the part of proud senior citizen card-bearers. With a mindset like that, it’s hard to look for the gloom and doom, especially when January 1 steps in bathed in glorious sunlight.

There are reasons to be hopeful. We have the midterm elections coming up, and the ballot is ours for the shading. I hope that we not only elect the familiar but also try to fill up our list with unknowns with excellent credentials. Running a nationwide campaign is extremely expensive. Good intentions are not enough. Yet, in every race, there will always be the do-gooders and idealists who may not be the most popular, but would have made their Senate seats matter. Seek them out.

Listen to them. Give these unknown candidates a chance.

I have high hopes that the government will accelerate its “Build, Build, Build” program from 2019 onward.

With massive infrastructure spending, jobs will be created and opportunities to spread economic growth shall blossom. The members of the government’s infrastructure development team, led by Secretary Mark

A. Villar of the Department of Public Works and Highways and Secretary Vince Dizon of the BCDA, as well as DOTr Secretary Art Tugade, have very good working relations. While they continue to build, the socialdevelopment cluster of the Cabinet must waste no time in developing its own grassroots programs to optimize the direct benefits of such projects to communities on-site and those adjacent to every new bridge, airport, seaport and highway to be built.

Integral to all these plans are the need for new and modern international airports. Overseas Filipino workers leaders from all walks of life are hoping that the New Manila International Airport to be built in Bulacan province through San Miguel Corp. will finally break ground. With 100-percent private sector funding and given the provincial government’s full support to this airport project, I see no reason why

there must be further delays. If the government through its infrastructure projects were a bit slow-footed in the job-creation aspect, then why not give San Miguel Corp. a chance to pitch in and open the doors to more than a million new jobs? This can be a model for OFW reintegration as we shout out to all experienced airport handlers and designers and engineers overseas to come home and participate in the building of this world-class airport.

Let 2019 become the year of Philippine maritime renaissance.

Even as the world acknowledges the excellence of the Filipino seafarer, our competitors continue to step up their game. Indonesia and Myanmar have aggressive overseas maritime programs and are turning out to be our toughest competitors. We need to “upskill” our seafarers and also provide their families with steppingstones to local entrepreneurship.

The Maritime Industry Authority has developed a maritime industry development program for the President’s approval. The major programs under the proposed MIDP include the development of an international maritime hub, coastal and Inland Waterway Transport System, and Philippine Maritime Safety Enhancement. They also want to step up Marina’s services and programs for our seafarers. According to maritime industry experts, there will be a shortage of 92,000 officers by the year 2020, which is projected to reach 147,500 in 2025. For our seafarers, this shortage represents enormous income and career

2019: The year of the wolves

Lorenzo M. Lomibao Jr., Gerard S. Ramos Lyn B. Resurreccion, Efleda P. Campos Dennis D. Estopace

Online Editor Social Media Editor

Chairman of the Board & Ombudsman President VP-Finance VP Advertising Sales Advertising Sales Manager Group Circulation Manager

2019 will be a good year

David Brooks

NEW YORK TIMES

I

N Willa Cather’s novel My Antonia, there are two kind Russian farmers named Peter and Pavel who have settled on the Nebraska prairie. On his deathbed, Pavel tells the story of how they came to emigrate there.

Many years before, back in Russia, the two young men had been the groomsmen at a friends’ wedding. The party went on well after midnight and eventually a caravan of seven sledges carried the families through the snow, back to where they were staying. As they rode, faint streaks of shadow—hundreds of them—could be seen dashing through the trees along the trail. Suddenly, the howling of wolves erupted from all directions.

The horses took off and the wolves attacked. The rear sledge hit a clump

and overturned. The shrieks were horrific as the wolves pounced on their human prey. Another sledge tipped, and then another, and the swarms of wolves descended on the families.

Pavel and Peter were in the lead sledge, carrying the bride and groom.

They were careening at top speed, but one of their horses was now near death with exhaustion. Pavel turned to the groom. They would have to lighten their load. He pointed to the bride. The groom refused to let her be tossed over. Pavel fought with

him and tried to rip her away. In the scuffle, he threw them both out and to the wolves.

Peter and Pavel survived—but lived in infamy. They were the monsters who had thrown a bride to the wolves. They were forced to flee to the New World.

The story reminds us how thin the crust of civilization really is. It reminds us of what otherwise good people are capable of at moments of severe stress and crisis, when fear is up and when conflict—red in tooth and claw—takes control.

It’s an especially good story to tell as we enter 2019, because this looks to be the year of the wolves— the year when savage and previously unimaginable things might happen.

It will be a year of divided government and unprecedented partisan conflict. It will be a year in which Donald Trump is isolated and unrestrained as never before.

And it will be in this atmosphere that indictments will fall, provoking not just a political crisis but a constitutional one.

There are now over a dozen

boosters. The government must support our maritime sector to maintain our excellent reputation in global shipping industry.

If there were one field where more collaboration and work needs to be done, it would have to be in culture and the arts. As we soldier on to build a stronger nation, we have to also feed the national soul. Over the holidays, I binged on Netflix, and discovered this funny, romantic and oftentimes silly Korean series, entitled What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim. It was delightful. Can’t we revitalize our own series-making machineries as cultural exports to the world? I know that some of our TV networks are already doing this, but mostly because Filipinos are now global citizens. It would be great to see more world-class Filipino-made shows on Netflix, as well.

We also have the best songs. A new song penned by my good friend, Dennis Garcia of the Hotdog Band—“500 Tulog na Lang”—brought tears to OFW listeners during the holidays.

I did wonder why very few of our local radio stations have picked this up.

Perhaps, the talented Miss Universe Catriona Gray can lend her beautiful voice to help promote original Pilipino music during or immediately after her reign.

Our national life must have a purpose, a vision and greater moral clarity. Hope is here, and it walks our corridors with a swagger unmatched by other nations. It will be a good year because our faith and hard work will make it so.

Happy New Year, everyone!

investigations into Trump’s various scandals. If we lived in a healthy society, the ensuing indictments would be handled in a serious way—somber congressional hearings, dispassionate court proceedings. Everybody would step back and be sobered by the fact that our very system of law is at stake.

But we don’t live in a healthy society and we don’t have a healthy president.

Trump doesn’t recognize, understand or respect institutional authority. He only understands personal power. He sees every conflict as a personal conflict in which he destroys or gets destroyed.

When the indictments come down, Trump won’t play by the rules.

He’ll seek to delegitimize those rules.

He’ll seek to delegitimize our legal institutions. He’ll personalize every indictment, slander every prosecutor. He’ll seek to destroy the edifice of law in order to save himself.

We know the language he’ll use.

It will be the antiestablishment, anti-institutional language that See “Brooks,” A7

Opinion BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Consumers at the heart of competition policy

Securities borrowing and lending for the insurance industry Dennis B. Funa

INSURANCE FORUM

Arsenio M. Balisacan

COMPETITION MATTERS

F

OR nearly three years now since its establishment in 2016, the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) has sustained its momentum in promoting consumer welfare and competitive processes under the game-changing Philippine Competition Act (PCA).

The transitory period provided by the PCA ended on August 8, 2017, two years after the law’s enactment.

Affected parties were given this two-year grace period so that they could adjust their business practices to fully comply with the law.

Considering the lag between policy issuance and firm uptake, we can reasonably say that the year 2018 was truly the first full year of the new regime of Philippine competition policy.

The past year also proved to be challenging for the Philippine economy. Prices of basic goods rose at a faster clip and major players in the global market enacted disruptive protectionist measures stemming from populist sentiments within their domestic spheres.

Thus, the country’s transition to a new competition regime came at a time when Filipino consumers and businesses were experiencing pressing challenges. Nonetheless, the PCC forged ahead steadily to fulfill its mandate. As we welcome the new year, let me share with you the key accomplishments of the commission in 2018 in our core functions of competition enforcement, merger review and competition advocacy.

First, cognizant of how spikes in prices of necessities disproportionately harm the poor, the commission opened and continues its investigation of the rice, energy and fuel markets. It is unfair and unacceptable that a few unscrupulous businesses and groups should benefit at the expense of millions who are left with increasingly meager budgets for their basic needs.

In 2018, we opened four new investigations, so that there are now seven ongoing full administrative investigations. To aid enforcement efforts, the commission executed memorandums of agreement with the Department of Justice-Office for Competition and the Office of the Ombudsman. These agreements aim to strengthen enforcement action through complementation of resources and sharing of institutional capacities.

Second, the commission continued to review mergers and acquisitions that have a potentially high impact on consumers. In 2018, we received 39 M&A transactions with a total value of P438 billion, of which 33 were approved.

The commission has exercised its power to subject M&As to commitments that seek to remedy anticompetitive effects expected to arise from such transactions.

For example, we subjected Grab’s acquisition of Uber to stringent pricing and quality standards to address competition issues arising from the merger of the country’s two biggest ride-hailing apps.

Moreover, we have been studying the voluntary commitments proposed by concerned parties in two other M&A transactions: one in the sugarcane industry and the other in the passenger and cargo shipping services. When a transaction is expected to harm market competition, the commission is ready to act and implement measures to correct for outcomes that are disadvantageous to both consumers and the competitive process.

Third, we directed the commission’s competition advocacy efforts in 2018 at sectors, such as telecommunications, that need significant reform through the injection of a

The commission has undertaken several issue papers on priority sectors, such as rice, pharmaceuticals, poultry and livestock, manufacturing, and transportation and logistics.

These studies assist the PCC to identify risks to consumers and the competitive process that may require our enforcement or advocacy intervention. healthy market competition. To ensure that the principles of competition are considered in the selection process for a third player in the telecommunications market, the commission provided inputs to the Department of Information and Communications Technology and the National Telecommunications Commission. We, likewise, provided comments on complementary legislative measures such as mobile number portability, open access in data transmission, spectrum management reform and the common tower policy. These procompetition reforms are expected to benefit Filipino consumers who may soon enjoy improved service at lower costs.

The commission has undertaken several issue papers on priority sectors, such as rice, pharmaceuticals, poultry and livestock, manufacturing, and transportation and logistics. These studies assist the PCC to identify risks to consumers and the competitive process that may require our enforcement or advocacy intervention. The commission also successfully organized numerous advocacy and capacity-building activities to educate consumers, businesses and public institutions, keeping in mind that fostering a culture of competition is a building block of a strong competition regime.

In summary, consistent with the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2017-2022, the PCC has allocated its resources toward enforcement, merger review and advocacy activities in sectors with the highest impact on consumers. Having set up our institutional architecture within a short time, I am proud to say that the commission has transitioned quickly by accumulating experience and enhancing competencies in its core functions.

As the country’s economy is expected to continue on a highgrowth trajectory, the commission firmly believes that the benefits of economic growth must be felt by all through a fairer distribution of incomes and opportunities. Our commitment to Filipino consumers is this: we will staunchly carry out PCC’s mandate of protecting and promoting a free and fair competition landscape. This is because consumers are at the heart of the Philippine competition policy. Our track record in 2018 attests to this.

I look forward to what will surely be an exciting year ahead for competition!

Dr. Arsenio M. Balisacan is the chairman of the Philippine Competition Commission and a professor of economics (on secondment) at the University of the Philippines. Prior to his appointment to the Commission, he served as socioeconomic planning secretary and, concurrently, director general of the National Economic and Development Authority. He also served as dean of the School of Economics in UP Diliman.

Wednesday, January 2, 2019 A7

T

HE Insurance Commission issued Circular Letter (CL) 2014-31 on July 8, 2014, providing for the Guidelines for Securities Borrowing and Lending, where insurance companies were allowed to participate in SBL transactions as lenders only. The borrowing period shall in no case exceed two years from the date of execution of the SBL Confirmation Notice. The circular also provided for the acceptable collaterals in SBL transactions.

The Master Securities Lending Agreement will have to be registered with the Bureau of Internal Revenue.

For the lending insurance companies, the benefits are: a) earning lending fees from the borrowers; b) generate income from the reinvestment of collaterals; and c) cut the costs of custody fees levied on idle securities.

However, concerns were raised in the Financial Stability Coordinating Council, which led to the issuance of an Advisory by the Insurance Commissioner in September 2014 deferring the implementation of CL 2014-31.

SBL is a temporary loan of securities between the lender and the borrower. This is done to allow the borrower who expects the price of

a stock to fall to hold a short position for a longer duration, while the lender who loans the stock receives a lending fee from the borrower. It is also defined as the transfer of securities during the period from one lender to the borrower. The borrower agrees to transfer the securities back to the lender on the due date of the contract. To prevent the risk of the borrower being unable to deliver the securities lending fee, the borrower agrees to transfer collateral to the lender. This could be either cash or securities.

SBL is “growing globally”. It is an important activity, contributing to greater liquidity, and improved risk management. Most SBL activities occur over-the-counter and are bi-

lateral or are transacted directly between the lender and the borrower.

They can also be transacted through lending agents. These stock lending activities have generated annual revenues of $3.2 billion for lenders and agents around the world. Regulations have also developed, such as the Stock Borrowing and Lending Code by the UK Securities Lending and Repo Committee. Standard market agreements, such as the Global Master Securities Lending Agreement issued by the International Securities Lending Association, have also evolved. The general regulatory framework for SBL in the Philippines was put in place in 2006, when it was issued by the PSE and approved by the SEC. The main purpose of borrowing stocks is to short-sell them in the market. It is also called “shorting” of stocks. When a trader has a negative view on a stock price (meaning he believes a stock is overvalued), he then borrows shares from the SBL, sell them, and buy them back when the price falls. The act of returning the stock to the broker is known as “closing” or “covering” the short position. On the other hand, the lending is done by long-term investors who own large number of shares that they do not intend to sell in the near future. These long-term investors would include insurance companies.

They may also be characterized as

“short sellers”. The profit margins are small, so the business is compensated by volume. In short-selling, profit is made even if one does not own the stock. Short-selling can also be risky because it may lead to losses should the stock rise instead of fall. And then there are, of course, the credit and counterparty risks.

Short-selling was introduced for the first time in the Philippine market by the PSE in 2018. Thus, the Philippine Stock Exchange’s Guidelines for Short Selling Transactions (Short Selling Guidelines) was approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission on June 5, 2018. According to PSE President Ramon Monzon, “Since this is the first time we are introducing shortselling, our guidelines were crafted with the goal of ensuring that shortselling transactions are transparent and effectively monitored. Even with a limited number of eligible securities and a cap on short interest to begin with, we believe that the ability to take short positions will further spur trading activity and attract more investors to our market.” Indeed, prior to being allowed, short-selling was prohibited and penalized.

Dennis B. Funa is the current insurance commissioner. Funa was appointed by President Duterte as the new insurance commissioner in December 2016.

E-mail: dennisfuna@yahoo.com.

Why your New Year’s resolutions won’t work out

By Barry Ritholtz Bloomberg Opinion

I

T’S the time of the year when we are barraged with lists: Stocks to buy, books to read, explanations of why the bad choices made in the past year will work out better this year. And, the forecasts, so many forecasts. Worst of all are the horrible suggestions for New Year’s resolutions.

Rather than my usual pedantic finger wagging, let’s take a page from the Charlie Munger playbook, and invert. Consider my list of resolutions, each one less likely to succeed than the next.

1. Save more money: This is the year when the Ritholtz household will tighten our belts, and sock away some money for a rainy day.

Out: going to expensive restaurants, vacation travel, Broadway shows, music concerts and standup comedy, two-day delivery on unimportant stuff from Amazon. The expensive car leases, the boat and marina docking fees, first-class seat in the plane—all gone. Oh, and no more Starbucks lattes.

In: Streaming, cooking at home,

borrowing books from the library, staycations.

Make a budget, stay with it. See, this is easy, right?

2. Spend more time with the family: How hard can it be to carve out an extra 10 hours a week to spend more time with your loved ones?

Schedule a date night or three each week with the spouse, go to the kids’ games and recitals, invite the inlaws over for brunch, read bedtime stories to your children. Family is everything, right?

3. Invest more: Put together a few themed investments—say, cannabis companies, or emergingmarket small cap value—throw some money into that each month. Also, any time the market falls 10 percent, overcome your own panic and throw a few bucks into a Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fund. Saving more money is easy. So is this.

4. Lose weight/eat better: I mean, how hard is this one? Cut the sweets and fat, reduce your portions, don’t eat after 8 p.m., add more fresh fruits and vegetables, eat less processed food. (You’ve already stopped going out to restaurants). Oh, and limit yourself to one glass of red wine

a day—no more spirits or beer. The pounds will just disappear.

5. Read more books: The US publishes about 300,000 new titles a year, surely you can find some time to read a few of them? Cut out a television show (or some of that family time you just regained) to pick up a few hours of time for you. Then pick a few books each month to read—I’ll give you a start with a list twice a year. You will be smarter and betterinformed before you know it!

6. Get to the gym: We all know the health benefits of exercise. Lift some free weights, hit the speed bag for a while, jump rope, work up a sweat. Buy yourself a rowing machine, stepper or elliptical, and stick to a routine. You’re guaranteed to live longer and better.

7. Get more sleep: Why didn’t I think of this before?! I will just sleep two hours more each night. Start by going to bed earlier and waking up a bit later and not putting in that halfhour on the computer before heading to the office. This is something you’ve dreamed of doing forever. How hard can it be?

8. Stop multitasking: Don’t respond instantly to every e-mail

and text. Also, turn off the flashing, pulsing, vibrating notifications on your smartphone for each new email or text message. Pick two times a day to read and respond. Almost instantly, you will be present in the moment.

9. Reinvent yourself: Learn a new language, take up a new hobby, volunteer for charity. If you’ve done the above, you will now have enough time that you can surely squeeze in another few hours a week to reinvent yourself. While you’re at it, indulge your creative side, let go of negative things from the past, revel in what the future holds. See, making yourself into a better you is possible.

10. Stop procrastinating/being late: Just because I waited until now to get this list published doesn’t mean I am any less committed to ending my habit of putting things off to the last minute. If I can do it, so can you.

And with that, one last piece of advice—one to be taken seriously: Make small, achievable changes toward a set of measurable goals or a clearly defined objective that has a positive feedback loop. That’s a resolution I can get behind.

A warming world will require more nuclear power

I

N light of the recent stark warning from the United Nations that the world is on course to reach the limit of tolerable warming in a scant 21 years, nuclear power is getting some overdue attention and enthusiasm.

The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is coming around to the view that nuclear power has a crucial role in climate protection. The Nature Conservancy, long silent on nuclear, is calling for capacity to be expanded—enough to provide a third of the world’s energy by 2050 (from a little more than a tenth today). Most striking of all, the Union of Concerned Scientists—a leading watchdog for nu-

Brooks. . .

continued from A6

has been coursing through the left and right for the past few decades: The establishment is corrupt, the game is rigged, the elites are out to get you.

At that point congressional leaders will face the defining choice of their careers: Where does their ultimate loyalty lie, to the Constitution or to their party?

clear safety for decades—is now pushing to prevent existing plants closing before their time.

Nuclear accounts for almost 60 percent of emissions-free power in the US, and when plants shut down, utilities mostly turn to fossil fuels to fill the void.

More than one-third of the country’s plants, representing 22 percent of total nuclear capacity, are either scheduled to close or at risk of closure within the next five to 10 years, says a new UCS study.

This could lead to a 4-percent to 6-percent increase in carbon emissions from the power sector by 2035.

Nuclear power is expensive, and it’s under pressure from market forces—no-

tably, the falling price of solar and wind power. Then why not simply let it lose market share to those safe, clean fuels?

Because wind and solar can’t immediately fill the gap. They still account for less than 8 percent of energy produced in the US (nuclear is 20 percent). It’s crucial that their growth displaces coal and natural gas, not nuclear.

In principle, a carbon tax is the best way to keep nuclear power competitive.

As the voters of Washington State have again demonstrated, however, taxes on fuel remain prohibitively unpopular.

(French President Emmanuel Macron has just made the same discovery.)

Nonetheless, states can reward nuclear

power’s climate advantage in other ways —by giving zero-emissions credits for nuclear power, as Illinois, New York and New Jersey have done, or by revising their energy portfolio standards to stop utilities’ switching from nuclear to fossil fuels.

If enough states take such measures, old plants could be kept running until the next generation of nuclear plants is ready. Building these might also require subsidy—for example, in the form of investment tax credits. These and other options need to be on the table as the world wakes up to the role nuclear power must play in avoiding a climate catastrophe.

Bloomberg Opinion

If their loyalty is to the Constitution, they will step back and figure out, in a bipartisan way, how to hold the sort of hearings that Congress held during the Watergate scandal —hearings that inspired trust in the system. They will step back and find men and women of integrity—the modern versions of Archibald Cox, Elliot Richardson and Judge John Sirica—who would work to restore decency amid the moral rot.

On the other hand, if they put party above nation, they will see

this crisis as just another episode in our long-running political circus.

They’ll fall back in partisan lines.

They’ll hurl abuse. Their primary concern will be: How can this help me in 2020?

If that happens, then the roughly 40 percent of Americans who support Trump will see serious evidence that he committed felonies, but they won’t care! They’ll conclude that this is not about law or integrity.

It’s just a political show trial. They’ll see there is no higher authority

that all Americans are accountable to. It’s just power and popularity straight through. If that happens, we’ll have to face the fact that our Constitution and system of law were not strong enough to withstand the partisan furies that now define our politics. We’ll have to face the fact that America has become another fragile state—a kakistocracy, where laws are passed and broken without consequence, where good people lay low and where wolves are left free to prey on the weak.

2nd Front Page BusinessMirror

A8 Wednesday, January 2, 2019

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Clark SEAG sports venues on track–BCDA

A

By Elijah Felice E. Rosales

@alyasjah

S the Philippines hosts the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games this year, the government and its private-sector partner have said they are on track to finish the sports facilities in New Clark City that will be used for the event.

The Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) and its partner, MTD Philippines Inc., said they are poised to complete the facilities needed for the country’s hosting in November of the 30th SEA Games. BCDA President and CEO Vivencio B. Dizon claimed the first phase of the project made significant progress since its groundbreaking last January. “[The first phase] of the National Government Administrative Center in New Clark City has

“[The first phase, including sports facilities] of the National Government Administrative Center in New Clark City has significantly progressed since it broke ground January [of last] year. This proves that [the] government is true to its promise of building quality infrastructure within set deadlines.”—Dizon

significantly progressed since it broke ground January [of last] year. This proves that [the] government is true to its promise of building quality infrastructure within set deadlines,” Dizon said in a recent statement.

The first phase of the National Government Administrative Center involves the development of backup offices of various agencies intended to make sure business operations and services run in case of disasters or national ca-

lamities. It will cover about 200 hectares of New Clark City.

The first phase also involves sports facilities, such as the Athletics Stadium, Aquatics Center and Athletes’ Village, as well as government housing that will soon benefit thousands of athletes and public servants.

The BCDA is looking to fully operate the National Government Administrative Center by the end of this year.

See “Clark,” A2

Damage to rice, high-value crops swells Usman farm loss to ₧300M

O

VER 11,000 farmers in four regions have lost P299.44 million in earnings due to damage brought by Tropical Depression Usman over the weekend, according to the latest assessment of the Department of Agriculture (DA).

A report released by the DA Disaster R isk Reduction and Management (Operations Center on the evening of December 31 showed that damage to the farm sector due to Usman grew by P104.08 million, from the previous reported P195.36 million on December 30.

“The increase in overall values is attributed to the reports in rice and high-value crops in the provinces of Quezon, Oriental Mindoro, Albay, Camarines Sur, Catanduanes, Masbate and Sorsogon,” it said in the report, which was updated as of 5 a.m. of Tuesday.

The DA report noted that Usman damaged 13,862 hectares of farms with an estimated volume loss of about 9,606 metric tons (MT). It affected around 11,231 farmers.

Losses in the rice sector, which

suffered the brunt of the typhoon damage, reached P266.98 million with an estimated volume of 7,496 MT in 12,858 hectares of farm.

About 9,622 rice farmers in the provinces of Quezon, Oriental Mindoro, Albay, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Catanduanes, Masbate, Sorsogon and Samar were affected.

Damage to high-value crops was valued at P31.48 million with an estimated production loss of about 2,098 MT in 441 hectares in Albay, Camarines Sur, Masbate and Sorsogon. The damage thus far reported included production losses from fruit trees, assorted vegetables and root crops.

Furthermore, some 276 corn farmers lost 11 MT of produce planted on 563 hectares in Albay, Camarines Sur and Masbate, which was valued at P976,267.

The figures are still up for validation, according to the DA.

Rice distribution

THE National Food Authority (NFA) on Tuesday said it has released a total of 6,262 50-kilogram

NORTHEAST MONSOON AFFECTING LUZON AND VISAYAS as of 4:00 pm - January 1, 2019

bags of rice for victims of Typhoon Usman in Regions 4, 5 and 8.

Bulk of the volume or around 5,785 bags, were distributed in the hardest-hit areas of Bicol region, according to the NFA. The NFA said as of December 31 noon it has issued 1,350 bags of rice in Albay, 406 bags in Camarines Norte, 2,075 bags in Camarines Sur, 150 bags in Masbate and 1,804 bags in Sorsogon.

Region 4 has received 432 bags of rice from the NFA, while Region 8 got 45 bags.

The NFA said their operations centers have been activated as early as December 27 to anticipate Usman’s projected landfall.

All NFA offices in Regions 4, 5, 8 and other provinces along the track of Usman are also open 24/7 to respond to any need for rice for relief operations.

“Our employees are rendering overtime work far from their families during the holidays to ensure that we can provide quick response to any need for rice,” NFA OIC Administrator Tomas R. Escarez said . Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

MEMBERS of the Team Trauma Surgery at the Emergency Department of the East Avenue Medical Center in Quezon City examine the injuries of a firecracker victim on New Year’s Eve. According to the Department of Health, the New Year revelry of 2019 saw a historic low in the number of fireworks-related injuries. NONOY LACZA

‘HISTORIC’ DECLINE IN ‘CRACKER INJURIES

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EALTH Secretary Francisco Duque III said on Monday there had been a significant drop in the number of fireworks-related injuries (FWRIs) this year compared to last year.

“We are happy to see a 68-percent decline in the number of cases, but we also expect cases to increase as there are still late reports coming from other regions.

Additional cases may come from children picking up unexploded fireworks on the streets, so we remind parents to be on the lookout for their children’s safety,” he said in a press briefing at the East Avenue Medical Center in Quezon City.

Duque said the 139 FWRIs this year is much lower compared to the 289 cases last year.

The FWRIs were recorded by 60 sentinel hospitals from December 21, 2018 to 6 a.m. of January 1, 2019. Two of the total cases included fireworks ingestion. There were no cases of death and stray bullets.

The FWRIs mostly involved males aged between two and 69 years old, and 64 percent of them are active users of fireworks while the rest are passive users.

A total of 102 cases suffered from blast or burn without amputation, while five suffered from blasts resulting in amputation. The remaining 36 cases suffered eye injuries.

Sen ior Supt. Cec i l io Ison, Philippine National Police (PNP) Public Safety Division officer in

68%

The decline in the number of fireworks-related injuries (FWRI), with 139 FWRIs this year much lower compared to the 289 cases last year charge, said the increase in the number of eye injuries could be related to the increase of boga users in lieu of piccolo.

“Ito po iyong gawa sa PVC pipe o lata ng soft drinks na pinagdugtong tapos nilalagyan ng denatured alcohol tapos sinisindihan. Maaring magkaroon ng injury dahil sa back blast, kasi kapag may mga batang naglalaro nito ang nasa likod nila puwede matamaan [This is made from PVC pipe or connected soda cans filled with denatured alcohol then lit up. There could be injuries due to back blast, if there’s a child playing with this, the one at his back could be hit],” he said.

The fireworks that caused the most injuries are kwitis with 30 cases, boga with 16 cases, piccolo with 15 cases, luces with eight cases, and Five Star and Triangle with seven cases each.

The regions with the most number of cases are the National Capital Region with 53 cases, Western Visayas with 26 cases, Central Visayas

with 13 cases, and Central Luzon and Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) with 10 cases each.

A total of 73 cases happened on the streets; 59 took place at home; five occurred in other places, while the remaining two happened in the designated fireworks display area.

Duque said the FWRIs in the designated fireworks display area could have been caused by incorrect management of fireworks display.

“Baka hindi miyembro ng kapulisan ang nagsindi ng paputok. [The fireworks could have been lit not by the policemen]. They could have not been trained... I’m just theorizing but this warrants the investigation of our field epidemiologist,” he added.

Citing his earlier experience as a Department of Health secretary, Duque said this year’s FWRI statistics is a historic low in the many years of surveillance done by the DOH every New Year’s Eve. “This is because of that executive order the substantive downward in the FWRIs began, because of which there was a 27-percent decline last year compared to the year before it.

Nature this time took the side of DOH as it has been raining in the past days,” he said.

Under Executive Order 28, the use of firecrackers shall be confined to community fireworks display areas to minimize the risk of injuries and casualties. PNA

Palace touts ‘solid and robust’ macroeconomy Continued from A1

The Palace wishes each Filipino a happy, peaceful and successful new year,” he said.

In a separate New Year’s Day message, President Duterte also encouraged Filipinos to work with the government to “defeat the ills of drugs, criminality and corruption that stunt our development.”

“I have no doubt that our patriotic fervor and with our solidarity as a people, we can overcome the challenges that impede our continued march towards a more prosperous and progressive future.”

Although the SWS survey results showed 92 percent of Filipinos are hopeful, this was still 4 points below the record-high 96

percent in 2017.

The four-point decline was attributed to the declines in all areas, especially in the Visayas.

Compared to 2017, hopefulness for the New Year also declined in all socioeconomic classes.

The survey was conducted from December 16 to 19, 2018, using faceto-face interviews of 1,440 adults.

Editor: Efleda P. Campos

Companies BusinessMirror

Wednesday, January 2, 2019

B1

PSE: Stock market has nowhere to go but up

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By VG Cabuag

@villygc

HE benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index is expected to perform better this year, boosted partly by the midterm elections, PSE President and CEO Ramon S. Monzon said.

“The second half of 2018 was really bad. So hopefully there’s no other way to go, but up this year [for the stock market],” Monzon said.

He said the country’s economic managers were able to address the inflationary expectations, while the foreign-exchange rate has been

stabilized that may result in a better gross domestic product (GDP) for 2019.

Inf lation, foreign exchange (forex) and the country’s GDP are the three major items being watched by the foreign investors, which make up half of the traders at the PSE, he said.

“If those three items are stable, foreign investors will come in. And when foreign investors come in, that’s when the volume will increase.

Without the volume, the market will not go up. You need the volume,” he said. For the last five years, trading at the PSE is about half local traders and half from overseas.

Data from the PSE showed foreign

investors were net sellers at P60.87 billion. Funds from overseas make up 51 percent of all the trades at the exchange. Average daily trading for the year was only at P6.3 billion, lower than in the previous years that reached as high as P9 billion.

The benchmark index closed at 7,466.02, down 1,092.40, or 12.7 percent, from its high during the year.

“The main index hit a new high earlier in 2018, slightly closing above 9,000 and then by the end of the year, closing -12 percent which is its biggest yearly loss since the Asian financial crisis back in 2008 when the index lost almost half of its value,” said Christopher Mangun, head of

Grab users spent average of ₧7K for rides in 2018

research at Eagle Equities Inc. “After hitting a new high in January, a pullback was expected. However, several economic and global factors weighed in, forcing it into bear territory at one point in the year. A big factor was the exodus of foreign funds with more than $1 billion leaving our market because of the strong US equities market, the appreciation of the dollar and rising interest rates,” he said.

Rising inflation in the country because of higher oil prices also dampened economic growth and the general investor sentiment. Overall, local investors really picked up the slack and supported the mar-

House creates TWG to help IPO determine copyright infringement

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A LINE of Grab taxis wait at a Grab pickup point at a mall in Quezon City. NONOY LACZA

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USTOMERS of ride-sharing firm Grab spent an average of P7,000 in fares for their trips in 2018.

This, as the company traveled more than 920 million kilometers reaching destinations across the country in the year 2018.

“Our most engaged users—the top 5 percent—spent an average of P5,000 and did around eight times more trips than the average user,” Grab Philippines Country Head Brian Cu said in a statement over the week-

end. “The uptake in demand for Grab rides this year reflects the Filipinos’ strong need for convenient and safe transportation solutions,” he added.

Cu made the disclosure following Grab’s initiative to release to the public its report on the number of rides and their corresponding amounts for 2018. He said users may log on to the web site: https:// hub.grab.com/ to view their booking history and accumulated amount spent for their trips.

Cu vowed that Grab’s manage-

ment would continue to implement initiatives to improve the quality of its services, as it lauded the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) for approving an additional 30,000 slots for transportation network vehicle services (TNVS) units in the latter part of the year.

“We continue to improve the quality of our services and further enhance app features and protocols as part of our 100-day plan, #SaferEveryday road map and #BetterEv-

eryday campaign. In 2019, Grab will continue to double down on safety by reinforcing features, protocols and existing government partnerships to ensure safer trips every day,” Cu added.

The ride-sharing firm has earlier urged the LTFRB to increase the common supply base for TNVS units to around 80,000 to meet the riding public’s growing demand. The current supply base for TNVS units stands at 66,750 in Metro Manila, Metro Cebu and Pampanga. PNA

General Electric’s CEO turns the page on a horrible 2018

I

N the annals of General Electric Co.’s storied 126-year history, 2018 will go down as a year almost everyone with ties to the company would like to forget.

GE lost nearly $90 billion of its market value, its A-level credit rating, its place in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, and any pretensions it still had of being a breeding ground for managerial excellence. The company’s executives, employees and investors were hit with one piece of bad news after another as write-downs piled up, profits in its power unit plummeted, regulators scrutinized its accounting practices and muddy messaging derailed a promised pivot to greater financial transparency.

All at once, decades of attempted reinventions—from Jack Welch’s creation of a sprawling conglomerate and push for ever-higher profits, to Jeff Immelt’s post-crisis embrace of GE’s industrial core and ill-fated ramp-up in power and energy— caught up with GE, undermining a company once envied for corporate

know-how, admired for best-in-class leadership and respected as a financial gold standard.

It now falls to Larry Culp, GE’s first CEO bred outside the company, to halt the slide and steer the company into a healthier future. Culp, 55, served as CEO of Danaher Corp. from 2001 to 2014 and was respected

by Wall Street for successfully buying and rebooting businesses. He was added to GE’s board in April as then-CEO John Flannery, a 30-year veteran of the company, sought to bolster a turnaround investors were panning as too slow. Flannery also needed to rebuild GE’s credibility after the surprise disclosure of a $15-billion reserve shortfall in a legacy insurance business. But his efforts fell short and in October— on the same day the company first flagged a $22-billion writedown largely related to its misguided Alstom SA energy deal—Flannery was out and Culp was in his seat. Just two years earlier, it would have been unthinkable for an executive groomed

outside of GE’s vaunted Crotonville, New York, management school to land the top job. Today, though, an outside perspective is exactly what GE needs.

Years of overly rosy forecasts have sapped GE’s credibility. So one of the first orders of business for Culp is to give investors guidance the company can actually achieve—and the definitions he chooses to use for earnings and cash flow will matter almost more than the actual numbers. GE has long been a master of pushing accounting rules to their limits and using financial engineering to its advantage, but earnings adjustments in the later years of Immelt’s tenure were comically elastic.

And while Flannery tried to clean up GE’s metrics, his cherry-picked definitions failed to give a complete picture of the company’s underlying financial health.

Culp’s most pressing challenge is tackling what analysts estimate to be in the ballpark of $100 billion in net liabilities. Just as the power unit’s

struggles sapped cash-flow expectations for the industrial businesses, that $15-billion insurance reserve shortfall transformed GE Capital from a cash spigot into a dark web of potential trouble spots. New accounting rules, rising medical costs and extended life spans threaten to further balloon its long-term care insurance headaches, and GE is still awaiting the outcome of a Justice Department investigation into its legacy subprime mortgage business. Other unknowns include a bigger-than-expected bill from the US tax overhaul; a large, unfunded pension balance; and a shareholder lawsuit alleging both financial mismanagement of the legacy long-term care business, as well as accounting fraud related to the way it recorded revenue and earnings for product service agreements (GE denies these accusations). Until Culp puts a credible handicap on the company’s overall liabilities, investors will struggle to get comfortable with the valuation math. Bloomberg News

ket which prevented it from a total meltdown, he said. With the coming midterm elections, Monzon said if it turns out peaceful, it could generate growth to the stock market and create a lot of consumer spending, which means many listed companies can generate higher revenues.

The midterm election is not like choosing a president could really affect the direction of the market depending on who wins. But there’s also the danger of inflation if you have too much money. So let’s see. But I don’t see midterm elections having a negative effect on the market. If anything, it should have a positive effect,” Monzon said.

HE House Committee on Information and Communications Technology and the House Committee on Trade and Industry has jointly created a technical working group (TWG) to fine tune a proposal enabling the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) to cancel licenses of Internet service providers that allow web sites to infringe or to facilitate infringement of copyright.

Rep. Ron Salo of Kabayan party-list, chairman of the TWG, said proposed Online Infringement Act seeks to protect the entire Filipino entertainment industry.

Once this bill becomes a law, Salo said local creative wizards—musicians, filmmakers, content providers, and the entire Filipino entertainment industry will be protected from unauthorize use of their works, saving them losses amounting to billions of pesos.

The bill seeks to prevent access to common sites used for infringement and empower IPO to shut down rogue web sites within Philippine jurisdiction.

According to Salo, the IPO should have the power to disable access to web sites that are being used to infringe on copyrights or facilitate copyright infringement.

“House Bill 8001 lays down the necessary legal framework, which will facilitate the proper coordination and support between

the IPO and the National Telecommunications Commission [NTC], in restricting access to web sites that are being used to facilitate copyright violations,” Salo said.

Under the bill, IPO shall make recommendations to the NTC to cancel the license of an Internet service provider that refuse to comply with an order from the IPO to take reasonable steps to disable access to an infringing online location; failure to comply with an order within 10 day of its issuance and without the requisite written explanation and action plan; and any gross violation of this proposed act.

The lawmaker said there are common sites used for illegal distribution of copyrighted materials which operate outside the Philippines, oftentimes in Eastern Europe.

“Since those rogues operate outside of Philippine jurisdiction, the proper course of action would be to prevent our access to those sites,” he added.

Salo said that for “meritorious cases” the IPO would have the authority to recommend to the NTC, the cancellation of licenses of Internet service providers involved in copyright infringement.

“With the advent of cyberspace, copyright infringement has taken a new form which is beyond the reach of the country’s administrative and regulatory agencies such as the NTC and IPO,” the party-list lawmaker said. Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz

Emirates to spend $1.36B to improve catering service to more global passengers

By Lorenz S. Marasigan @lorenzmarasigan

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ULF carrier Emirates is spending roughly $1.36 billion in 2019 as it further develops its catering services to bring the so-called Emirates experience to more and more passengers this year.

Joost Heymeijer, who sits as a senior vice president at Emirates, said his group views inflight services as part of the overall passenger experience that the carrier offers—safe, luxurious and comfortable.

“We take the catering as part of our offering to the passengers,” he said. “Our overall budget for it should sit probably at around 5 billion dirhams for 2019.”

Emirates serves over 60 million passengers per year, and it sources its food and wine from Emirates Flight Catering, a separate company run by, but not exclusive to, Emirates.

“When you serve over 60 million passengers and provide over a hundred million meals—even in economy, we use proper cutlery and melamine instead of disposable, use wedge wood and proper glassware— those investments add up quickly,” Joost said.

He noted that Emirates changes

its onboard menus monthly and continually reviews its recipes.

It also localizes food based on origin and destination. Flights to Japan, for example, offer authentic Kaiseki cuisine and Bento boxes served with Japanese crockery, cutlery and tea sets to ensure an unrivalled food experience on board.

Emirates, Joost added, also pays special attention to its wine lists, boasting world-class champagne and wines.

He explained that wines on each route are carefully selected to complement the menu and include exclusives found only on Emirates, such as the Dom Pérignon 2005 Rosé champagne and 1963 Graham’s Colheita Port.

A long-term buying strategy also means that the airline has 3.8 million bottles of wines currently stored in its cellar in Burgundy, France, to be served in the next seven to 10 years.

“We have created an image on Emirates being an aspirational airline that aims to reach the top of the market—that’s what we want to do.

We want to be the very best on what we do,” Joost said.

Emirates flies between Manila and Dubai on a daily basis via its fleet of Boeing 777s on a bi-class configuration.

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Companies BusinessMirror

Wednesday, January 2, 2019

PSE STOCK QUOTATIONS

December 28, 2018

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

ASIA UNITED 59 59.3 58.1 59.3 58.1 59.3 26040 1537765 644340 BDO UNIBANK 130.6 130.8 129.7 132.4 129.5 130.8 4058540 528483356 89670283 BANK PH ISLANDS 93.9 94 93.55 94.5 92.95 94 1526340 143418893 6175578.5 CHINABANK 27 27.1 27.25 27.25 26.95 27.1 83500 2259145 -316085 EAST WEST BANK 11.66 11.9 11.5 11.9 11.5 11.9 1471300 17398834 -1351802 METROBANK 80.05 80.95 80 80.95 79.5 80.95 3407500 274629150 101795946.5 PB BANK 11.98 12.48 11.92 11.98 11.9 11.98 4500 53648 PHIL NATL BANK 42.7 42.75 42.5 43 42.5 42.75 92600 3963490 562825 PSBANK 62.3 62.95 62.2 62.8 61.8 62.3 12900 803558.5 PHILTRUST 109.5 145.2 130 145.2 128 145.2 9370 1348671 RCBC 28.5 28.6 28.2 28.5 28 28.5 205500 5773585 -302735 SECURITY BANK 155 156 156.7 158 154.1 155 250060 39033383 -8730664 UNION BANK 63.9 63.95 65.35 65.4 63.95 63.95 12770 817805 -547137 BRIGHT KINDLE 1.43 1.49 1.5 1.5 1.42 1.5 134000 193340 BDO LEASING 2.17 2.19 2.2 2.2 2.19 2.19 15000 32880 COL FINANCIAL 15.9 16.24 15.6 16.24 15.6 16.24 271100 4346770 FIRST ABACUS 0.61 0.72 0.67 0.72 0.67 0.72 740000 508390 -259439.9999 FERRONOUX HLDG 4.46 4.47 4.65 4.78 4.47 4.47 592000 2691480 14100 IREMIT 1.39 1.53 1.53 1.53 1.53 1.53 1000 1530 MEDCO HLDG 0.46 0.465 0.46 0.48 0.46 0.465 340000 159450 9600 MANULIFE 770 825 760 760 750 750 100 75400 NTL REINSURANCE 0.88 0.91 0.91 0.91 0.89 0.91 218000 198260 PHIL STOCK EXCH 177.6 180 178.6 180 178.5 180 970 173935 41245 SUN LIFE 1801 1849 1800 1800 1800 1800 170 306000

INDUSTRIAL ALSONS CONS 1.24 1.28 1.28 1.29 1.24 1.28 97000 124540 ABOITIZ POWER 35.05 35.1 35.45 35.55 34.75 35.1 2202200 77370160 -52498275 BASIC ENERGY 0.24 0.25 0.25 0.25 0.238 0.24 370000 88940 FIRST GEN 19.96 19.98 19.8 20.2 19.8 19.98 2055300 41052307 1033198 FIRST PHIL HLDG 64.05 64.75 64.8 64.85 64.25 64.75 194240 12576612.5 4039183.5 MERALCO 380 390 394.4 394.4 380 380 280020 108307986 13269212 MANILA WATER 27.85 28.25 27.7 28.25 27.15 28.25 1161000 32534055 2762325 PETRON 7.7 7.71 7.78 7.78 7.69 7.71 3644700 28137263 -18308626 PETROENERGY 3.49 3.6 3.9 3.9 3.5 3.5 2965000 10679110 43220 PHINMA ENERGY 1.13 1.15 1.15 1.16 1.11 1.15 7981000 9,067,920( 1,793,999.9997) PH RESORTS GRP 5.2 5.45 5.21 5.45 5.2 5.45 87600 465595 166000 PHX PETROLEUM 10.58 10.74 10.8 10.8 10.58 10.74 116700 1250892 PILIPINAS SHELL 47.75 48 47 48 46.95 47.75 409200 19453730 739555 SPC POWER 5.44 5.45 5.5 5.5 5.44 5.44 79600 433587 -2740 AGRINURTURE 16.72 17 16.74 17.08 16.62 17 846900 14357232 38502 CENTURY FOOD 15 15.2 14.82 15.2 14.82 15.2 293800 4435368 -68170 DEL MONTE 6.2 6.38 6.2 6.38 6.2 6.38 103600 643037 -581037 DNL INDUS 10.98 11 10.78 11 10.74 10.98 7051400 76680108 -14750942 EMPERADOR 7.1 7.11 7.1 7.2 7.08 7.11 3081700 21909994 -1784778 SMC FOODANDBEV 81 82 81.1 82 80 82 395550 32,293,322( 14,502,471.9996) ALLIANCE SELECT 1.05 1.06 1.02 1.08 1.02 1.06 11139000 11771890 15360 GINEBRA 25.05 26.75 25.05 26.75 25 26.75 31100 781555 122500 JOLLIBEE 291.8 294 295 299.8 291.8 291.8 425440 125709488 54016912 MACAY HLDG 8.55 9.68 8.53 9.7 8.5 9.68 21100 180828 MAXS GROUP 10.26 10.3 10.26 10.34 10.22 10.26 168400 1730446 -37980 MG HLDG 0.175 0.18 0.172 0.18 0.172 0.176 870000 154170 PEPSI COLA 1.33 1.34 1.35 1.35 1.31 1.34 1052000 1394650 -182860 SHAKEYS PIZZA 11.9 11.96 11.78 11.98 11.68 11.9 668800 7950946 -4640540 ROXAS AND CO 1.91 1.98 1.96 2.02 1.95 1.98 542000 1092010 RFM CORP 4.82 4.89 4.8 4.89 4.6 4.89 309000 1448350 ROXAS HLDG 2.67 2.79 2.67 2.67 2.67 2.67 12000 32040 SWIFT FOODS 0.123 0.126 0.125 0.125 0.125 0.125 110000 13750 UNIV ROBINA 127 127.1 128.5 128.5 126.3 127 386430 49144674 -18699104 VITARICH 1.98 1.99 1.91 1.99 1.9 1.99 24950000 49009530 3251650 VICTORIAS 2.33 2.44 2.33 2.33 2.33 2.33 41000 95530 CEMEX HLDG 1.89 1.9 1.8 1.95 1.8 1.9 17915000 33864740 -1990610 DAVINCI CAPITAL 6.49 6.5 6.92 6.93 6.5 6.5 376000 2483263 -2063 EAGLE CEMENT 15.4 15.46 15.5 15.5 15.16 15.46 530200 8187476 7145094 EEI CORP 7.94 7.95 8 8.1 7.95 7.95 331800 2651000 -585358 HOLCIM 5.76 5.8 5.8 5.9 5.76 5.8 81700 477208 -426400 MEGAWIDE 18 18.5 18.28 18.6 17.9 18.5 7271200 133421060 -43162126 PHINMA 8.49 9.09 8.8 9.2 8.8 9.09 95100 862047 TKC METALS 0.83 0.85 0.85 0.85 0.85 0.85 2000 1700 VULCAN INDL 1.6 1.62 1.66 1.66 1.58 1.6 7775000 12553850 101510 CROWN ASIA 1.77 1.8 1.77 1.8 1.73 1.8 129000 231260 204780 EUROMED 1.5 1.69 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.7 2000 3400 LMG CHEMICALS 4.28 4.37 4.3 4.3 4.3 4.3 46000 197800 MABUHAY VINYL 3.18 3.3 3.18 3.3 3.18 3.3 7000 22380 PRYCE CORP 5.75 5.8 5.8 5.8 5.79 5.8 143000 829399 CONCEPCION 37 37.85 37 37.9 37 37 71100 2632480 -382269.9997 GREENERGY 1.99 2.01 2.02 2.02 1.97 1.99 5972000 11956100 1861609.9997 INTEGRATED MICR 10.6 10.72 10.72 10.96 10.56 10.6 1822600 19558098 5910662 IONICS 1.8 1.81 1.86 1.86 1.8 1.81 298000 540820 -32760 PANASONIC 5.73 5.84 5.88 5.88 5.71 5.85 3900 22648 SFA SEMICON 1.4 1.43 1.38 1.41 1.35 1.41 141000 195410 -14100 CIRTEK HLDG 30.9 30.95 31.05 31.6 30.95 30.95 402100 12456275

HOLDING & FRIMS ABACORE CAPITAL 0.6 0.61 0.61 0.62 0.6 0.61 14885000 9063810 -660 ASIABEST GROUP 25.8 26 26 26.3 25.4 26 60200 1550840 -62400 AYALA CORP 900 906 910 914 900 900 382040 345382560 -86407605 ABOITIZ EQUITY 55 55.5 55.8 55.8 54.65 55 663970 36572110.5 4129994.5 ALLIANCE GLOBAL 11.88 11.9 11.98 12 11.74 11.9 3413200 40571036 -22495400 ANSCOR 6.5 6.54 6.5 6.5 6.5 6.5 11000 71500 71500 ATN HLDG A 1.42 1.43 1.39 1.45 1.39 1.42 26463000 37856990 ATN HLDG B 1.42 1.43 1.4 1.46 1.4 1.42 5764000 8252090 -238200 COSCO CAPITAL 6.71 6.75 6.83 6.83 6.7 6.71 582600 3915504 -1578172 DMCI HLDG 12.6 12.78 12.56 12.78 12.5 12.78 1706300 21705184 2155260 FILINVEST DEV 11.8 12.28 12.4 12.88 11.8 11.8 257100 3105382 210460 FJ PRINCE A 4.04 5.3 5.1 5.3 5.1 5.3 35000 181500 FJ PRINCE B 5.19 5.2 5.1 5.19 5.1 5.19 12000 61380 FORUM PACIFIC 0.203 0.219 0.202 0.219 0.202 0.219 120000 25940 GT CAPITAL 974 975 955 975 955 975 67230 65147955 29054405 HOUSE OF INV 5.77 5.83 5.84 5.84 5.83 5.83 25600 149418 JG SUMMIT 55.7 55.75 55.9 55.9 54.75 55.7 2679310 149247279.5 20688548 JOLLIVILLE HLDG 5.55 6.78 5.57 6.78 5.55 6.78 102600 683250 KEPPEL HLDG B 4.91 5.99 4.91 4.91 4.91 4.91 11000 54010 LODESTAR 0.54 0.55 0.54 0.56 0.54 0.56 54000 29200 LOPEZ HLDG 4 4.05 4.1 4.1 4 4 1917000 7740820 -4572990 LT GROUP 16.5 16.6 16.74 16.88 16.58 16.6 896500 14954910 1771908 MABUHAY HLDG 0.58 0.6 0.62 0.62 0.58 0.59 352000 206860 61660 MJC INVESTMENTS 2.56 3.47 2.56 2.56 2.56 2.56 10000 25600 -25600 METRO PAC INV 4.63 4.64 4.7 4.76 4.64 4.64 13847000 65055420 -3000000 PACIFICA 0.036 0.037 0.038 0.038 0.036 0.037 3200000 119600 PRIME ORION 2.37 2.41 2.42 2.42 2.37 2.37 498000 1187950 -23700 PRIME MEDIA 1.18 1.22 1.17 1.23 1.17 1.23 350000 413900 REPUBLIC GLASS 2.51 2.65 2.5 2.62 2.5 2.62 12000 30710 SOLID GROUP 1.3 1.32 1.33 1.34 1.3 1.32 52000 67690 SM INVESTMENTS 917 917.5 925 926 915 917.5 316700 290906070 -44574890 SAN MIGUEL CORP 147 147.8 148.2 149 147 147 843500 124,369,215( 7,243,423.9996) SOC RESOURCES 0.74 0.78 0.74 0.74 0.74 0.74 40000 29600 SEAFRONT RES 2.25 2.6 2.57 2.6 2.57 2.6 32000 83000 TOP FRONTIER 247 249.8 250 250 247 249.8 1580 394674 -117320 WELLEX INDUS 0.242 0.247 0.243 0.247 0.242 0.247 4270000 1039480

PROPERTY ARTHALAND CORP 0.95 0.96 0.89 0.98 0.84 0.96 19492000 17948410 ANCHOR LAND 11 11.46 11.46 11.48 11.46 11.46 500 5732 AYALA LAND 40.6 40.85 41.1 42 40.6 40.6 11717100 479096625 -40699955 ARANETA PROP 1.72 1.73 1.73 1.73 1.73 1.73 44000 76120 -22490 BELLE CORP 2.31 2.33 2.3 2.35 2.28 2.31 4972000 11,540,860( 4,767,849.9997) A BROWN 0.78 0.79 0.8 0.8 0.78 0.78 949000 747370 CITYLAND DEVT 0.86 0.88 0.87 0.87 0.87 0.87 36000 31320 CROWN EQUITIES 0.235 0.237 0.239 0.243 0.233 0.235 1250000 295580 -24000 CEBU HLDG 6.05 6.37 6.37 6.37 6.37 6.37 600 3822 CEB LANDMASTERS 4.08 4.14 4.08 4.14 4.04 4.14 1474000 6083700 -789890 CENTURY PROP 0.42 0.43 0.415 0.43 0.415 0.43 6650000 2807150 CYBER BAY 0.38 0.39 0.39 0.39 0.38 0.38 180000 68700 -19000 DOUBLEDRAGON 17.84 17.96 17.8 17.96 17.8 17.84 419900 7512128 -1942574 DM WENCESLAO 7.79 7.8 7.75 7.85 7.75 7.8 958100 7484832 -3379395 EMPIRE EAST 0.48 0.485 0.49 0.495 0.485 0.485 530000 259950 132300 FILINVEST LAND 1.41 1.42 1.43 1.44 1.41 1.41 5302000 7512520 -4091280 GLOBAL ESTATE 1.12 1.13 1.07 1.13 1.05 1.13 5072000 5592210 74020 8990 HLDG 8.05 8.1 8.02 8.17 8.02 8.1 2045700 16606955 805835.9998 PHIL INFRADEV 2.2 2.25 2.26 2.27 2.19 2.25 7044000 15649870 494310 MEGAWORLD 4.75 4.77 4.7 4.78 4.69 4.75 10000000 47430280 10431420 MRC ALLIED 0.445 0.45 0.46 0.465 0.435 0.45 39880000 17762050 325150 PHIL ESTATES 0.455 0.47 0.46 0.47 0.455 0.47 140000 65300 PRIMEX CORP 3.54 3.55 3.59 3.6 3.54 3.54 203000 720830 71100 ROBINSONS LAND 20.15 20.5 20.4 21.1 20.15 20.15 1661000 33921640 -12951505 PHIL REALTY 0.42 0.425 0.42 0.43 0.42 0.425 800000 338400 ROCKWELL 2 2.01 2 2.01 1.99 2.01 106000 211590 -19900 SHANG PROP 3.07 3.12 3.06 3.12 3.06 3.12 109000 336930 -37200 STA LUCIA LAND 1.24 1.25 1.24 1.25 1.23 1.25 1556000 1920020 -22320 SM PRIME HLDG 35.8 35.9 35.9 36.05 35.5 35.8 9044100 323672280 48300340 STARMALLS 5.4 5.65 5.65 5.7 5.4 5.4 338100 1879308 -46075 SUNTRUST HOME 0.72 0.74 0.7 0.74 0.7 0.74 66000 48280 -740 PTFC REDEV CORP 36.05 41 39.95 40 39.95 40 1600 63975 VISTA LAND 5.37 5.41 5.31 5.46 5.31 5.41 13893300 75004659 -45980832

SERVICES ABS CBN 19.92 20 20.05 20.05 19.9 20 65100 1301276 GMA NETWORK 5.43 5.44 5.49 5.49 5.41 5.44 115000 624682 MANILA BULLETIN 0.365 0.37 0.315 0.405 0.315 0.37 1400000 521800 MLA BRDCASTING 16.32 18.98 16.26 16.26 16.26 16.26 1000 16260 GLOBE TELECOM 1900 1905 1900 1919 1896 1900 26285 49973060 -14149335 PLDT 1125 1128 1150 1150 1125 1125 110775 125333535 -20595870 APOLLO GLOBAL 0.039 0.04 0.04 0.04 0.039 0.039 10100000 395300 DFNN INC 6.51 7.69 7.5 7.69 7.1 7.69 75600 550220 IMPERIAL 1.87 1.96 1.87 1.87 1.87 1.87 11000 20570 ISLAND INFO 0.128 0.129 0.134 0.135 0.125 0.129 11920000 1550320 12700 ISM COMM 6.03 6.04 6.15 6.15 6.01 6.03 6120000 37070621 -2867708 JACKSTONES 3.14 3.39 3.12 3.39 3.12 3.39 59000 184960 NOW CORP 3.44 3.45 3.39 3.59 3.38 3.44 2876000 10061040 495340 TRANSPACIFIC BR 0.435 0.44 0.46 0.46 0.43 0.44 40970000 18168100 328300 PHILWEB 3.22 3.24 3.17 3.34 3.15 3.22 2828000 9194410 351520 2GO GROUP 13.78 13.8 13.4 14.08 13 13.78 352900 4794812 24840 ASIAN TERMINALS 13.52 13.88 13.88 13.88 13.5 13.88 214100 2937236 2794950 CEBU AIR 73.2 74 73.55 74.1 72.85 73.2 114330 8410377.5 -2952957 CHELSEA 6.45 6.46 6.54 6.64 6.46 6.46 1684700 10962973 INTL CONTAINER 98.5 100 98.25 100.1 98 100 734990 72942014 22001600 LBC EXPRESS 14.14 14.8 14.02 14.1 14.02 14.1 300 4214 LORENZO SHIPPNG 0.8 0.82 0.8 0.82 0.8 0.8 169000 135760 MACROASIA 16.78 17 17 17.08 16.7 17 2017900 34224170 -5975376 METROALLIANCE A 1.98 2.09 1.96 2.09 1.9 2.09 390000 769010 PAL HLDG 8 8.33 8.33 8.33 8.33 8.33 1000 8330 8330 HARBOR STAR 2.94 2.95 2.95 3 2.94 2.95 1104000 3273420 -74250 ACESITE HOTEL 1.35 1.4 1.32 1.4 1.32 1.4 174000 236310 WATERFRONT 0.69 0.7 0.7 0.71 0.69 0.7 726000 506650 IPEOPLE 11.4 12.28 11.2 11.2 11.2 11.2 200 2240 1120 STI HLDG 0.78 0.79 0.8 0.81 0.77 0.79 12127000 9487290 -598220 BERJAYA 4.49 4.5 4.4 4.55 4.35 4.5 4890000 21863860 22190 BLOOMBERRY 9.41 9.44 9.41 9.64 9.4 9.41 5235800 49598523 -1398632 PACIFIC ONLINE 9.82 9.99 9.82 9.99 9.82 9.99 6300 62053 LEISURE AND RES 3.25 3.26 3.38 3.45 3.26 3.26 1494000 4980040 -44830 PREMIUM LEISURE 0.79 0.8 0.8 0.83 0.79 0.8 5067000 4094500 PHIL RACING 9.47 9.48 7.5 9.49 7.5 9.48 15700 121918 TRAVELLERS 5.3 5.31 5.28 5.32 5.28 5.31 271300 1438561 METRO RETAIL 2.49 2.5 2.55 2.55 2.45 2.49 1121000 2816680 -49800 PUREGOLD 43 43.05 43.45 43.45 42.85 43 6067300 260906935 -139899905 ROBINSONS RTL 80 80.5 78.5 80.9 78.35 80 1093370 87015393 -32214923.5 PHIL SEVEN CORP 117.5 124 114 124 113 124 92120 10884925 5506460 SSI GROUP 2.37 2.38 2.4 2.4 2.35 2.38 2509000 5974950 142570 WILCON DEPOT 12.6 12.62 12.6 12.6 12.5 12.6 7374000 92757118 53100890 APC GROUP 0.405 0.42 0.415 0.42 0.405 0.405 840000 347250 41500 EASYCALL 14.92 14.98 15.5 15.5 14.2 14.92 111700 1656164 17820 GOLDEN BRIA 317.2 325 315.4 325 315.4 325 3090 1003764 IPM HLDG 7.77 8.2 7.8 8.2 7.5 8.2 269200 2175440 PAXYS 3.19 3.49 3.5 3.5 3.25 3.25 3000 10050 PRMIERE HORIZON 0.32 0.33 0.32 0.33 0.32 0.325 550000 176300 SBS PHIL CORP 7.49 7.5 7.5 7.55 7.5 7.5 216300 1624080

MINING & OIL ATOK 14.44 15.38 15.5 15.5 14.54 15.48 3200 47852 APEX MINING 1.66 1.67 1.68 1.68 1.64 1.67 1431000 2383590 1670 ABRA MINING 0.0019 0.0021 0.002 0.0021 0.0019 0.002 634000000 1252200 62000 ATLAS MINING 2.56 2.6 2.53 2.65 2.53 2.56 173000 442760 -63609.9998 BENGUET A 1.25 1.5 1.48 1.5 1.48 1.5 694000 1039800 BENGUET B 1.5 1.55 1.35 1.5 1.35 1.5 258000 382800 COAL ASIA HLDG 0.29 0.305 0.295 0.3 0.29 0.3 830000 246200 5800 CENTURY PEAK 2.07 2.08 2.07 2.08 2.04 2.08 2807000 5801640 DIZON MINES 7.26 7.3 7.32 7.33 7.21 7.27 2500 18160 FERRONICKEL 1.66 1.67 1.66 1.68 1.66 1.66 40857000 67923990 138610 GEOGRACE 0.201 0.206 0.205 0.206 0.201 0.206 440000 88570 LEPANTO A 0.106 0.112 0.109 0.112 0.104 0.112 8570000 911560 LEPANTO B 0.109 0.115 0.114 0.115 0.113 0.115 1660000 189570 MANILA MINING A 0.0066 0.007 0.007 0.007 0.007 0.007 10000000 70000 MARCVENTURES 1.18 1.19 1.23 1.24 1.18 1.18 509000 611800 NIHAO 1.01 1.06 1.01 1.08 1.01 1.08 101000 102080 NICKEL ASIA 2.2 2.21 2.25 2.25 2.19 2.2 2794000 6162670 1314170 OMICO CORP 0.6 0.61 0.6 0.61 0.6 0.6 161000 96620 ORNTL PENINSULA 0.93 0.95 0.95 0.99 0.94 0.94 208000 198910 PX MINING 3.09 3.1 2.97 3.22 2.96 3.09 6463000 20206000 109990 SEMIRARA MINING 23.05 23.45 23.6 23.6 23 23.05 1366100 31778585 -4724805 UNITED PARAGON 0.0056 0.0059 0.0055 0.0055 0.0055 0.0055 3000000 16500 ORNTL PETROL A 0.012 0.013 0.012 0.013 0.012 0.013 8500000 106300 PHILODRILL 0.012 0.013 0.013 0.013 0.012 0.013 45300000 543900 PHINMA PETRO 3.18 3.37 3.17 3.37 3.17 3.37 5000 16060 PXP ENERGY 15.2 15.26 15.2 15.3 15.14 15.2 693800 10550664 -837840

PREFFERED HOUSE PREF A AC PREF B1 DD PREF SMC FB PREF 2 FGEN PREF G GLO PREF P LR PREF PNX PREF 3A PCOR PREF 2B SFI PREF SMC PREF 2C SMC PREF 2D SMC PREF 2E SMC PREF 2F SMC PREF 2G SMC PREF 2H SMC PREF 2I

95 451 96 980 100 461.4 1 99 990 1.09 76 71.55 72.8 74.2 71.35 71.1 72.6

PHIL. DEPOSITARY RECEIPTS GMA HLDG PDR

5.25

96 456 98.8 997.5 101.2 480 1.02 100 1490 2.18 76.5 74.95 73 75 74.9 74.5 73.5

96 450 98.8 980 101.2 480 1.02 100 1490 2.15 76.2 74.5 73 74.5 73.7 74 73.5

96 450 98.8 997 101.2 480 1.02 100 1490 2.15 76.2 74.95 73 75 74.9 74.5 73.5

96 445 98.8 980 101.2 480 1.02 100 1490 2.15 76 74.5 73 74.5 73.7 73.7 73.2

96 445 98.8 997 101.2 480 1.02 100 1490 2.15 76 74.95 73 75 74.9 74.5 73.5

200 10000 10 1000 310 520 5000 500 5 1000 16240 15100 500 516310 14100 4470 517930

19200 4465830 988 991900 31372 249600 5100 50000 7450 2150 1234808.5 1131700 36500 38473232.5 1055970 332807 38067555

-1064245 -

5.36

5.27

5.36

5.25

5.36

50100

263502

-

WARRANTS LR WARRANT

1.94

SMALL & MEDIUM ENTERPRISES ITALPINAS 4.83 XURPAS 1.71

1.95

1.97

1.99

1.95

1.95

274000

535750

-

4.85 1.72

4.65 1.68

5.04 1.82

4.65 1.68

4.85 1.72

2531000 28513000

12343180 50248260

-28770 1783950

EXHANGE TRADE FUNDS FIRST METRO ETF

111

111.5

111.5

112

111.5

111.5

3170

354193

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Editor: Efleda P. Campos

Stoxx Europe 600 records worst year since 2008 Financial Crisis

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HE Stoxx Europe 600 Index finished the year with the worst performance in a decade, marked by the weakest volume since 2000 despite a broad sell-off and high outflows.

“Economic momentum is deteriorating in the US, and there is little evidence of a stabilization, not to mention an improvement, in the rest of the world,” said Fabrizio Quirighetti, chief investment officer for Syz Asset Management.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index rose 0.5 percent on Monday, ending December with a drop of 5.5 percent.

For the whole of the year, the broad European gauge recorded eight negative months and fell 13 percent, the most since 2008. The index has so far managed to stay away from bear market territory, in contrast with the Euro Stoxx 50, Germany’s DAX and Italy’s FTSE MIB, which all entered bear markets earlier this year.

The optimism around European equities at the beginning of 2018 proved short-lived as stocks succumbed to the shocks of trade wars

and slowing economic growth that battered global markets. The continent brought more misery upon itself as investors recoiled from the neverending Brexit saga, budget turmoil in Italy, mayhem sparked by the Yellow Vest protests in France and renewed worries about Greek debt.

To make matters worse, European companies delivered lackluster earnings and gains in corporate profits lagged their US counterparts, which got a boost from massive tax cuts by the Trump administration. Once again, the Stoxx Europe 600 Index proved unable to make a sustained breakthrough in the ceiling that has capped gains since 2000, and the benchmark has now broken the longterm bull trend it started in 2009.

The gauge is closing out its worst year since the financial crisis, a decline that has depressed stock valu-

Einhorn’s Greenlight extends decline to 34% in worst year

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AVID Einhorn closed out 2018 with his biggest annual loss ever for the 22-year-old Greenlight Capital.

The firm’s main hedge fund fell 9 percent in December, extending this year’s decline to 34 percent, according to an investor update viewed by Bloomberg.

Greenlight posted some of the industry’s best returns in its early years, but has stumbled since losing more than 20 percent in 2015.

Other value-investing managers have also struggled, as a decade of historically low interest rates and the rise of passive investing and quant trading pushed growth stocks past their inexpensive brethren. Three Bays Capital and SPO Partners & Co., which sought to make wagers on undervalued stocks, closed in 2018.

Einhorn has repeatedly expressed his frustration with the poor performance this year, while remaining steadfast in his commitment to value investing.

Greenlight, which posted gains only in May and October, underperformed both the broader market and its peers in 2018. The S&P 500 In-

dex dropped 4.4 percent, including dividends, while the HFRX Global Hedge Fund Index, an early indicator of industry performance, fell 7 percent through December 28. A spokesman for the New York-based firm declined to comment.

At the start of the year, Greenlight managed $6.3 billion in assets, according to a regulatory filing. By May, the firm was down to $5.5 billion. With redemptions and losses, it may start 2019 with less than $5 billion under management.

Greenlight’s largest holdings as of September 30 included homebuilder Green Brick Partners Inc., insurer Brighthouse Financial Inc. and aircraft leasing firm AerCap Holdings NV, which each declined more than 25 percent during the fourth quarter.

Einhorn has been a steady critic of Tesla Inc. and a prominent shortseller of the stock. In November, he told investors the third quarter “will be as good as it gets” for the electric-car maker, which slid in December but was up 26 percent over the last three months of the year. Bloomberg News

Prosecutors: Fires may mean PG&E violated criminal sentence

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AN FRANCISCO—A California utility’s role in igniting wildfires last year could allow a judge to find that it violated terms of its criminal sentence in a 2010 gas-pipeline explosion that killed eight people, federal prosecutors said on Monday.

In a court filing, the US attorney’s office in San Francisco said state investigations blamed Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) power lines for some fires in October 2017. Investigators also found evidence that state law was violated.

“These facts, specifically if PG&E started a wildfire by reckless operation or maintenance of its power lines, may serve as a basis for the court to find that the defendant corporation violated” terms of its probation, prosecutors said.

A US judge in 2017 put PG&E on five years of probation following its conviction on pipelinesafety charges stemming from an explosion of one of its pipelines in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The filing by prosecutors came after a

judge overseeing the pipeline case asked PG&E to explain any role it may have played in a massive wildfire last month that leveled the Northern California town of Paradise and killed at least 86 people.

Investigators have not determined the cause of the wildfire that began on November 8, but speculation has centered on PG&E, which reported an outage around the time and place that the fire ignited.

The judge could impose new requirements on the utility if it’s found to have violated its probation in the pipeline case. The company already has been ordered to pay a $3-million fine, run television commercials publicizing its convictions and have an independent monitor oversee the safety of its gas-pipeline system.

PG&E said it is focused on assessing infrastructure to further improve safety and help protect customers from the “ever increasing” threat of wildfires. AP

ations to a six-year low. The index’s price-to-earnings ratio is back at 2013 levels, and dividend yields haven’t been this high since 2012. For months, analysts have been saying European stocks are cheap, few more so than the pummeled auto sector, where price-to-earnings ratios have dropped to 5.8, while bank stocks trade at just eight times estimated 2019 earnings.

That’s failed to entice investors, who have used just about any bounce in stock prices this year to sell. More money fled European stocks in 2018 than any other major region, with net outflows in 40 out of the past 41 weeks. EPFR Global’s numbers show that European equity funds have lost about $73 billion of assets this year.

The closest thing to a silver lining is that 2016 was even worse, when the exit totaled $100 billion.

“Yes, valuations are cheaper than three or six months ago, but in a context of deteriorating macro backdrop, as we are now, they probably aren’t cheap enough to justify per se a sustained rebound,” Quirighetti said.

The broad sell-off has left every sector in the red, with autos in the bottom spot, closely followed by banks. Top-performing industries in the first half, such as basic resources, technology and retail, were

MUTUAL FUNDS

later overwhelmed by trade tensions and faltering economies. High-flying oil stocks began to fall to Earth in October as crude prices tumbled.

WTI crude slumped 40 percent in 55 trading days and remains near $46 a barrel, compared with $76 less than three months ago. Defensive sectors such as utilities and health care were clear outperformers.

Not only is this the worst year for European equity returns since the financial crisis, trading volume has also dwindled to the lowest since 2000. That long list of uncertainties from London to Rome and Paris to Athens has driven investors away.

This has certainly been a year to forget for European equities, but it will leave some other memorable milestones for investors. Cash outperformed equities and bonds for the first time since 1994, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

You need to go all the way back to 1969 for the last time cash returns were positive while equity, credit, and government-bond returns were all negative. If that’s not sobering enough, consider that the slump in stocks from January highs wiped out about $17 trillion in global market capitalization, equivalent to the gross domestic product of the European Union. Bloomberg News

December 28, 2018

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

PER SHARE RETURN* RETURN STOCK FUNDS ALFM GROWTH FUND, INC * 252.07 -13.38% 0.59% 2.96% -14.03% ATRAM ALPHA OPPORTUNITY FUND, INC.* 1.4262 -10.94% 7.22% 3.17% -10.68% ATRAM PHILIPPINE EQUITY OPPORTUNITY FUND, INC.* 3.9056 -14.26% 2.11% 1.26% -14.96% CLIMBS SHARE CAPITAL EQUITY INVESTMENT FUND CORP.* 0.8908 -11.97% N.A. N.A. -12.41% FIRST METRO CONSUMER FUND ON MSCI PHILS. IMI, INC. * ********* 0.8227 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN EQUITY FUND,INC.* 5.2643 -11.68% -0.1% 2.17% -12.45% MBG EQUITY INVESTMENT FUND, INC. * ****** 117.97 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. ONE WEALTHY NATION FUND, INC.* 0.8351 -15.24% N.A. N.A. -15.88% PAMI EQUITY INDEX FUND, INC.* 49.3338 -11.63% 1.62% N.A. -12.52% PHILAM STRATEGIC GROWTH FUND, INC.* 515.03 -11.62% 0.47% 2.32% -12.48% PHILEQUITY DIVIDEND YIELD FUND, INC.* 1.2564 -9.79% 2.16% N.A. -10.53% PHILEQUITY FUND, INC.* 36.6902 -10.01% 2.59% 4.91% -10.72% PHILEQUITY PSE INDEX FUND INC.* 4.9704 -11.72% 2.31% 4.76% -12.4% PHILIPPINE STOCK INDEX FUND CORP.* 830.36 -11.51% 2.07% 4.9% -12.2% SOLDIVO STRATEGIC GROWTH FUND, INC. * 0.861 -10.15% 0.02% N.A. -10.97% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY PHILIPPINE EQUITY FUND, INC.* 4.0643 -10.59% 1.83% 3.17% -11.26% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY PHILIPPINE STOCK INDEX FUND, INC.* 0.9565 -11.84% 2.11% N.A. -12.51% UNITED FUND, INC.* 3.5002 -8.63% 3.48% 4.07% -10.12% EXCHANGE TRADED FUND FIRST METRO PHIL. EQUITY EXCHANGE TRADED FUND, INC.* ***110.9856 -11.19% 3.22% 5.97% -11.89% ATRAM ASIAPLUS EQUITY FUND, INC.** $0.9256 -14.9% 1.43% -0.6% -16.48% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY WORLD VOYAGER FUND, INC.* $1.0903 -13.48% N.A. N.A. -13.82% BALANCED FUNDS PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES ATRAM DYNAMIC ALLOCATION FUND, INC.* 1.6537 -10.67% -1.78% -0.98% -11.26% ATRAM PHILIPPINE BALANCED FUND, INC.* 2.2096 -9.54% 1.1% 1.06% -10.07% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN BALANCED FUND INC.* 2.5423 -7.66% -1.83% -0.98% -8.22% GREPALIFE BALANCED FUND CORPORATION* **** 1.3061 -9.86% N.A. N.A. -10.23% NCM MUTUAL FUND OF THE PHILS., INC* 1.8446 -6.6% 0.98% 2.42% -7.42% PAMI HORIZON FUND, INC.* 3.5357 -8.95% -0.19% 1.65% -9.76% PHILAM FUND, INC.* 15.9137 -8.62% -0.14% 1.48% -9.36% SOLIDARITAS FUND, INC.* ******** 2.0715 -7.24% 1.07% 2.9% -7.61% SUN LIFE OF CANADA PROSPERITY BALANCED FUND, INC.* 3.6542 -8.09% 0.6% 1.65% -8.56% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DYNAMIC FUND, INC.* 0.9212 -8.96% -0.28% N.A. -9.71% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY SECURITIES COCOLIFE DOLLAR FUND BUILDER, INC.* $0.03519 -2.49% -0.18% 1.65% -2.52% PAMI ASIA BALANCED FUND, INC.* $0.9254 -11.78% 1.63% -1.33% -11.61% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR ADVANTAGE FUND, INC.* $3.296 -9.44% 2.18% 0.61% -9.76% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR WELLSPRING FUND, INC.* $1.0056 -9.3% N.A. N.A. -9.58% BOND FUNDS PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES ALFM PESO BOND FUND, INC.* 343.38 1.94% 2.14% 1.86% 1.86% ATRAM CORPORATE BOND FUND, INC.* ******* 1.8568 -2.4% -0.69% -0.49% -1.88% COCOLIFE FIXED INCOME FUND, INC.* 2.9702 5.4% 5.35% 5.25% 5.25% EKKLESIA MUTUAL FUND INC.* 2.1303 1.35% 1.78% 1.35% 1.34% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN FIXED INCOME FUND,INC.* 2.2089 - 0.23% 0.13% 0.29% -0.33% GREPALIFE FIXED INCOME FUND CORP.* P 1.5639 -2.82% 0.08% -0.71% -2.83% PHILAM BOND FUND, INC.* 3.9198 -2.96% -0.17% -0.06% -3.21% PHILEQUITY PESO BOND FUND, INC.* 3.5135 0.41% 0.86% 0.48% 0.25% SOLDIVO BOND FUND, INC. * 0.8925 -3.02% -0.76% N.A. -3.33% SUN LIFE OF CANADA PROSPERITY BOND FUND, INC.* 2.7647 -0.49% 1.35% 0.73% -0.44% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY GS FUND, INC.* 1.5389 -0.65% 0.85% 0.24% -0.7% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY SECURITIES ALFM DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC. * $448.26 0.61% 2.35% 3.07% 0.52% ALFM EURO BOND FUND, INC. * Є212.61 -0.52% 1.04% 1.58% -0.52% ATRAM TOTAL RETURN DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC.** $1.1253 -0.82% 0.95% 1.89% -0.78% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC.* $0.0249 - 0.4% 0.82% N.A. -0.4% GREPALIFE DOLLAR BOND FUND CORP.* $1.6904 -4.43% -0.39% 1.12% -4.58% MAA PRIVILEGE DOLLAR FIXED INCOME FUND, INC. N.S. N.S. N.S. N.S. N.S. MAA PRIVILEGE EURO FIXED INCOME FUND, INC. ЄN.S. N.S. N.S. N.S. N.S. PAMI GLOBAL BOND FUND, INC* $1.0338 -3.21% -0.65% -2.37% -3.7% PHILAM DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC.* $2.1709 -3.44% 0.92% 2.66% -3.56% PHILEQUITY DOLLAR INCOME FUND INC.* $0.0569919 -0.75% 0.92% 1.86% -0.36% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR ABUNDANCE FUND, INC.* $2.8716 -4.53% 0.42% 1.66% -4.69% MONEY MARKET FUNDS PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES ALFM MONEY MARKET FUND, INC.* 120.82 2.78% 1.89% 1.57% 2.73% PHILAM MANAGED INCOME FUND, INC.* 1.1815 2.08% 0.66% 0.51% 2.08% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY MONEY MARKET FUND, INC.* 1.2186 2.66% 2.27% 1.59% 2.79% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY SECURITIES SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR STARTER FUND, INC.* ***** $1.0156 1.67% N.A. N.A. 1.69%

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

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

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

Banking&Finance BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

No more years-long wait: VAT refunds to be done in 90 days

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By Rea Cu @ReaCuBM

HE Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has issued Revenue Regulation (RR) 262018, which implements the 90day processing of claims for valueadded tax (VAT) refunds, expediting the processing of claims to three months—far from the previous experience where it could take as long as years.

The BIR on December 27, 2018, issued RR 26-2018, which implements the 90-day claims processing for VAT refunds in line with the enhanced VAT refund system provision under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law.

The RR amends sections 4.1065 on zero-rated sales of goods or properties, 4.08-5 on zero-rated sales of services, and 4.112-1 or claims for refund/credit of input tax, which removes the provision of VAT refund and tax credit certificate claims filed prior to Januar y 1, 2018, to still be governed by the 120-day processing period.

“The 90-day period to process and decide shall start from the

filing of the application/claim for refund up to the release of the payment of the VAT refund.

Provided, that the claim/application is considered to have been filed only upon submission of the official receipts or invoices and other documents in support of the application as prescribed under pertinent revenue issuance,” the RR said.

Furthermore, Section 4.112-1 reiterates the accountability of the BIR official, agent or employee in terms of the timely processing of claims, providing that persons from the bureau who have caused a delay will face penalties.

In case of full or partial denial of the claim for tax refund, the taxpayer may appeal to the Court

@BcuaresmaBM

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of Tax Appeals within 30 days from the receipt of the decision denying the claim.

“Provided further, that, in the event that the 90-day period has lapsed without having the refund released to the taxpayer-claimant, the VAT refund claim may still continue to be processed administratively. Provided however, that the BIR official, agent or employee who was found to have deliberately caused the delay in the processing of the VAT refund claim may be subjected to penalties...,” the RR added.

A week before the issuance of R R 26 -2018, t he Depa r t ment of Finance reported that reforms in the country’s VAT refund system have been provided for under the TRAIN, expediting the processing of VAT refund for exporters and qualified

entrepreneurs.

Finance Undersecretary Karl Kendrick T. Chua pointed out that an Enhanced VAT Refund System is established by the government in line with the TRAIN law, which entails the creation of a special trust account in the general fund, which will take 5 percent of the total VAT collections of the BIR and the Bureau of Customs.

The enhanced VAT refund system also implements a risk-based post-audit, as well as an electronic invoicing and receipts system.

The TR AIN law or Republic Act 10963 was signed into law by President Duterte on December 2017, and took effect on January 1, 2018. It slashes personal incometax rates but implements offsetting measures like increasing excise taxes on fuel and tobacco, among others.

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More banks opt for ‘branch-lite’ strategy to expand reach in rural areas

By Bianca Cuaresma

THE façade of the BIR

Wednesday, January 2, 2019

ORE banks are opting to open up “ branchlite” units, particularly in the countryside, in an effort to expand their reach without adhering to the stricter policy of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) required in opening a regular branch.

Data from the BSP as published in Circular Letter 2018.085 showed thrift and rural banks opened a total of 54 branch-lite units in July to September 2018 alone.

T his is about a year after the BSP allowed the establishment of these so-called branchlite units as annexes of banks, in an effort to “promote access to ef f ic ient a nd competitive banking services.”

Thrift and rural banks took par t icu lar advantage of t his regulation, with 27 new branchlite units stemming from thrift banks, and 27 new branch-lite units branching from rural and cooperative banks in the third quarter of the year.

The BSP defines branch-lite units as an office or place of business of a bank that performs limited banking activities and records its transactions in the books of the head office or the branch to which it is annexed.

Since these units are lim-

ited in the services they are offer ing , they are a lso subject to propor t ion ate reg u l ator y framework, which means less strict rules and more flexibility to execute financial strategies and innovations.

Bulacan, Batangas, Pangasinan and Puerto Princesa were a mong t he top a rea s where thrift banks established their branch-lite units, while Quirino, North Cotabato and Isabela were the top picks for rural and cooperative banks.

While branch-lite units are particularly attractive for these sma l ler banks as their main market is the countryside, some big banks also put up their own branch-lite units during the third quarter of the year.

In particular, the Development Bank of the Philippines put up a branch-lite unit in Naga City during the period while LandBank of the Philippines put up a branch in Tuao, Cagayan.

The Philippine National Bank, meanwhile, put up three branchlite units dur ing the per iod: one in Baybay City, one in Hinunangan, Southern Leyte and one in the Island Garden City of Samal.

The country is also looking to have more of these simpler banking offices as the BSP also approved more than 100 branchlite unit applications in the third quarter of the year.

BSP exec: PHL banking system robust amid external concerns UCPB creates first automated clearing T house for e-payment

By Manuel T. Cayon @awimailbox Mindanao Bureau Chief

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AVAO CITY—The United Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB) set the trend in electronic payment system when it established the InstaPay, the country’s first automated clearing house.

The InstaPay Service will now enable clients to transfer funds “real-time to other Philippine bank accounts through UCPB Connect, the Bank ’s suite of electronic banking facilities, including Internet and mobile banking.”

InstaPay was established under the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’s (BSP) National Retail Payment System Framework, which aims to facilitate and promote electronic payments in the country, a UCPB statement said.

Through this service, the UCPB said it would allow its clients “to instantly send and receive funds or make payments of up to P50,000 per transaction, with a service fee of only P25 per transaction.”

“The service is accessible 24/7 and eliminates the need for clients to go through the trouble of physically traveling and transacting at bank branches or payment counters,” it added.

Transactions would be possible with participating banks and e-money issuers

in the Philippines, it said, and added that the fund transfer service “is geared more for retail payments such as domestic remittances, payments to service providers, e-commerce and peer-to-peer payments,” according to Charina D. Balanquit, UCPB vice president and head of the marketing group.

“As BSP Governor Espenilla said, InstaPay moves us closer toward financial inclusion by connecting Filipinos through account-to-account, instant fund transfers or payments,” she said.

Meanwhile, the bank announced that its Mindanao Regional group was awarded by the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) as the Fourth Best Collecting Agent in Region 9 for generating more than P80 million collections in 2018.

It said the recognition was given to companies with the highest transactions among PhilHealth’s authorized collecting agents.

UCPB Mindanao Region Head Joel P. Javier received the award during the first PhilHealth Regional Forward on November 23, 2018, at the SMX Convention Center, SM Lanang Premiere, Davao City.

Early this year, UCPB was also recognized by PhilHealth for its 19-year partnership with the institution as an accredited collecting agent since 1999.

HE Philippine banking system has remained fundamentally strong despite having its share of challenges over the years; and 2018 proved to be no exception.

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Deputy Governor Maria Cecilia G. Fonacier said the country’s banking system “remained robust and continued to exhibit strong capital position and sustained growth in core earnings.”

Citing BSP data, Fonacier told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) the industry’s assets expanded by 11 percent year-on-year and totaled to P16.239 trillion as of end-October this year.

These assets were primarily funded by deposits, which grew 9 percent at the end of the third quarter this year, she said.

“The expansion of the banking system’s assets was evident in the broad-based growth of the total loan portfolio [TLP] across various borrower and industry types,” she said.

At the end of the first nine months this year, TLP amounted to P9.758 trillion while non-performing loan (NPL) ratio remained low at 1.8 percent.

“The satisfactory quality of the banking system’s loan portfolio shows that banks continued to adhere to sound credit underwriting standards,” she said, citing that “banks are prepared to bear credit losses as they have set up adequate provisions for possible defaults.”

Capital position

TO date, domestic banks’ NPL coverage ratio is over 100 percent, Fonacier said.

This positive ratio, along with a very little exposure to foreign funds, are the main factors why the domestic banking system is not greatly affected by the negative developments that their counterparts overseas had experienced.

The BSP official said domestic banks’ have sufficient liquidity and funding buffers even as regulators continue to increase capital requirements.

As of August this year, the liquidity coverage ratio (LCR) of universal and commercial banks (UKBs) stood at 161.8 percent on solo basis, higher than the 90 percent threshold set by the BSP. During the same period, big banks’ capital adequacy ratio (CAR) remained above the 10-percent regulatory requirement, with the solo basis at 15.2 percent and 15.8 percent on consolidated basis.

“Banks’ sustained core earnings have contributed to the industry’s strong capital position,” she said.

The industry’s net profit as of end-September this year reached P129.9 billion, 6.6 percent up year-on-year.

“The overall profitability was buoyed by the 13.2-percent increase in net interest in-

come to P371.2 billion primarily from lending activities,” she said.

within the financial cycle,” BSP Governor Nestor A. Espenilla Jr. earlier said.

Healthy sector

Stakeholder base

IHS Markit Asia Pacific Chief Economist Rajiv Biswas told the PNA that the research firm has a moderate risk assessment with a stable outlook on the Philippines’s banking system.

Biswas explained that the moderate risk score “is due to a combination of factors signaling a healthy banking sector.”

He said the industry enjoys low credit risk amid strong credit growth.

This, he added, reflects “a balanced loan portfolio and robust economic growth.”

Other factors that boost the domestic banking sector are the higher capital ratios with good asset quality and strong regulator y supervision.

Biswas also cited that NPL and restructured loans or the “distressed asset ratio” account for only 2.4 percent of TLP. This figure, he said, is “a low level by historical and regional comparison.”

“Bank capital buffers are expected to remain robust in the near term, strengthening further after full Basel-3 implementation in 2019,” he added.

Basel 3 is the third Basel reform on banks’ capital base that is focused on the quality of capital to increase resilience of banking systems around the world to periods of stress.

Basel 3

THE Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) has set a staggered implementation of Basel 3 from 2016 to 2018 but the BSP’s policymaking Monetary Board (MB) decided to implement it in full four years ahead of the deadline, starting on January 4, 2014 for UKBs. This reform requires banks to have not only a 10-percent CAR but also a Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio of at least 6 percent and Tier 1 capital ratio of at least 7.5 percent by 2019.

Recently, the BSP announced the Basel 3 countercyclical capital buffer (CCyB) rules, which covers UKBs and their subsidiary, as well as the quasibanks, using the players’ CET1 capital.

The BSP said that during periods of stress, the MB can lower the CCyB requirement, which was initially set at zero percent, to provide banks with more risk capital to deploy.

The Board may also raise the CCyB during positive periods to allow banks to be more ready in times of need, it said.

“The CCyB expands our toolkit for systemic risk management and is specifically designed to provide a steadying hand to counter the common occurrence of boom-and-bust periods

ASIDE from this new policy, Fonacier said the Central Bank “shall continue to build on our existing regulatory and supervisory framework to proactively mitigate emerging risks that may affect the financial system.”

She emphasized that “over the years, the BSP has adopted significant policy reforms covering capital, liquidity and enhanced risk governance standards that are aligned with international standards.”

“Our policy reform agenda for 2019 shall further embed effective risk management systems in banks.”

Fonacier said monetary officials “will also look into the conduct and culture in our supervised financial institutions cognizant that good corporate governance is the underpinning of safe and sound financial institutions.”

“Apart from promoting risk management at the institutional level, the BSP shall expand our existing financial risk surveillance toolkit through improvements in our supervisory processes, better capture of data to gain a deeper understanding of the interconnectedness of the financial system and potential spillover and feedback effects of external developments and the prudent use of pioneering technology,” she said.

The BSP executive added that “enhancements to our financial risk surveillance toolkit shall be accompanied by an interactive, transparent and clear communication agenda and strengthened collaborative arrangements with a wider stakeholder base, including financial regulators, the financial industry associations, as well as information technology experts and providers, given the country’s shift toward a more digital economy.”

“Insights obtained from these arrangements enable the BSP to better understand industry developments and emerging risks, which are used as input to the BSP’s surveillance and policy-making process,” she added. PNA

B4 Wednesday, January 2, 2019

CARTOON NETWORK INSPIRES ‘PINOY’ KIDS THRU ARTWORK CONTEST

M FIRST METRO, THE ONLY INVESTMENT BANK AMONG TOP MARKET MAKERS

First Metro Investment Corp., the investment-banking arm of the Metrobank Group, has been awarded as one of the top government securities-eligible dealer (GSED) market makers in 2018 by the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr). First Metro is the only investment bank included in Top 10. Along with nine banks, First Metro was commended for its support to capital-market development through its presence in the primary and secondary markets for government securities. In photo at the awarding ceremony are (from left) treasurer of the Philippines Rosalia de Leon, deputy treasurer Gisela Lood, First Metro Senior Vice President and Financial Markets Group head Christopher Ma. Carmelo Salazar, First Metro Vice President, and Debt and Equity Securities Trading Division head Annagraziela Banaad, deputy treasurer Sharon Almanza and deputy treasurer Erwin Sta. Ana.

ORE than 1,000 students from de la Paz Elementary School in Pasig City have received special notebooks as part of a Cartoon Network initiative. The covers were designed by talented Pinoy students who entered the Cartoon Network ImagiNATION Building notebookdesign contest.

The contest was created to encourage kids to do original artwork and provide them with a platform to unleash their full potential and creativity.

“At Cartoon Network, we want to inspire kids to be creative leaders [with] one notebook at a time. Through the contest, kids were not only able to express themselves, but could also act as role models, encouraging other kids to also hone their skills,” said Jia Salindong-Du, country manager of Turner Philippines, the company behind Cartoon Network.

At a recent event at the school to announce the winners, the students said that they were really inspired by the designs. They were also excited to receive their notebooks from Grizzly, Panda and

Ice Bear from the show We Bare Bears, which made a special appearance.

“Wearesothankfulfortheopportunity from Cartoon Network. This is very important for us because this will serve as motivation for our students to show their creativity, knowing that the notebooks were designed by their fellow learners, as

well,” added Ramon Evangelista, assistant principal of de la Paz Elementary School.

For more information about the event and other Cartoon Networkrelated news and updates, log on to www. cartoonnetworkasia.com or Like them on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ CartoonNetworkAsia.

CATCH THE LAST SHOWS OF DISNEY ON ICE PRESENTS MICKEY’S SUPER CELEBRATION AT THE MALL OF ASIA ARENA THIS JANUARY!

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A HISTORIC DRIVE Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. (MMPC) recently invited a group of Motoring media to an out-of-town test drive event featuring the all-new Xpander. Driving from Manila to Subic and finally to the scenic Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar in Bagac, Bataan. The goal of this road trip is to provide the media an opportunity to test drive the all-new Xpander and see for themselves the performance, riding comfort and features, which make the Xpander one of the most desirable MPVs in the country. After their first driving experience with the Xpander, the media were very impressed with the Xpander. They have noted the powerful performance of the engine, the roominess and comfortable ride and amenities, such as 12-volt power outlets that can be found at the first, second and third rows. They also commented the Xpander is easy to drive and fuel-efficient, as well as which makes it among the top choices in the market. MMPC general manager for Product Planning and Marketing Communications Arlan Reyes Jr. said that the destination was perfect to demonstrate the capabilities of the Xpander given the varied traffic and road conditions. The picturesque Las Casas perfectly blends as the Xpander’s backdrop given the futuristic styling and the dynamic shield design concept, which makes this vehicle truly standout.

VICTORIA SKIN ADDRESSES TOP BEAUTY CONCERNS WITH LUXURIOUS TOUCH

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ESIGNED to help everyone address top concerns in their continued pursuit of beauty, Victoria Skin Philosophy is the new destination to visit. While some ladies— and most gentlemen—don’t put high priority on having a regular skin-care regimen, the brand aspires everyone to go beyond quick fixes and delve into the very core of how one can achieve true and long-lasting beauty.

Fueled to provide the safest and most effective services, not to mention the luxurious touch of our professional team, Victoria Skin houses state-of-theart equipments, which is at par to the global competition.

With its minimalist, yet posh and

hotel-like facilities, the 1,500-square-meter space screams optimum relaxation perfect to start and even cap off anybody’s day.

Coupled by genuine care and excellent service, the beauty hub’s soothing vibe serves as refuge to people on the go and suit their nerves amid the exhausting week.

Among the most demanded treatments is Revlite, a noninvasive laser treatment that stimulates collagen, which brightens and smoothens the skin by targeting skin pigmentation, sun damage, enlarged pores, wrinkles and lines and aging skin.

Meanwhile, the thermage skin tightening is a cosmetic procedure that can effectively and safely treat fine lines and wrinkles on most visible areas, including the face, neck, eyes and hands. It can also smooth uneven, dimpled skin on the body and temporarily reduce the appearance of cellulite.

To combat aging signs, Ulthera is an FDA-cleared noninvasive procedure to lift skin on the neck, under the chin and on the eyebrow, which uses time-tested ultrasound energy to lift and tighten the skin naturally, without surgery or downtime.

Victoria Skin is the first phase of the brand’s integrated hospitality concept.

Playing a crucial part to Victoria Skin’s holistic approach to wellness is Victoria Spa and Victoria Sports, the country’s largest indoor sports complex that offers updated equipment and facilities for sports, strength and conditioning, and even arts and leisure.

Victoria Skin Philosophy, the newest passion project of New San Jose Builders Inc., is located on the seventh-floor level of Victoria Sports Tower.

s Christmas comes to a close this January, Disney On Ice continues to bring on the magic of the holiday season through Mickey’s Super Celebration. The production is up until January 6th, with an additional show added due to popular demand on January 4, 6PM.

For this year’s event, the production commemorates 90 years of Mickey Mouse and honors Walt Disney’s legacy by bringing acclaimed stories to life on the ice.

Mickey Mouse is joined by Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy on a journey to discover his favorite memory of all time. Using Mickey’s “Mouse Pad”, show hosts encourage fans to be part of the action and help the gang venture through Disney stories, sharing memorable moments from treasured tales. Along the way, families sail away with Moana as she displays courage to save her island on a high-seas adventure with the demigod, Maui. Families will continue the voyage to the wintery world of Arendelle as royal sisters Anna and Elsa discover true love is the most powerful magic of all, and experience the mysterious magic of Fantasia as a Sorcerer’s Apprentice makes brooms come to life.

“Live Your Story” alongside Disney Princesses as they use perseverance, determination and hard work inspire Mickey and Children around the

world to share their favorite Disney memories.

Join the fun this holiday season with the ultimate celebration of Mickey Mouse with Disney On

Ice! Tickets start at Php 190, and is available at all SM Tickets Outlets nationwide, or online through www.smtickets.com.

URATEX PHL SALES DIRECTOR STEPHEN CHENG-LEE IS NEW PFMDA PRESIDENT

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E W LY e le c te d Ph i l ip pi ne Furniture Manufacturers and Dealers Association (PFMDA) President Stephen Cheng-Lee, Uratex Philippines sales director, has called on his peers and their organization to focus on adapting to catch up with the rapidly changing needs of the local market.

In his inaugural address, Cheng-Lee said, “Social-media and online-sales

platforms are becoming the preferred medium for sourcing and purchasing products, and this digitization compels us to innovate our display and selling methods to successfully cater to the evolving Filipino customers.”

He also focused on the Japanese concept of “Kaizen”, or continuous improvement, something that Uratex applies in its work culture, and is relative

to their manufacturing methods and marketing efforts not only locally, but also globally.

“New technology is important to provide us advanced and cost-effective production processes and creativedesign capabilities. This will give us the opportunity to export and compete in the global markets,” he stressed, adding that taking care of the environment by using sustainable and eco-friendly raw materials in their production is equally important.

Catching up with the times as one of his main goals, Cheng-Lee also noted that it is a high time for the Philippine furniture industry to bloom as tremendous growth is anticipated.

“Major infrastructures are being built across the country. We are seeing more condominiums, offices, houses and resorts being constructed— all of which will require furniture,” he said.

He also noted that collaborations between the government and the business sector need some boost to promote growth in the industry. “We can have trade missions and exhibits promoting what the Philippine furniture industry can offer and eventually make the Philippines the top destination for furniture in Asia.”

Sports BusinessMirror

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| Wednesday, January 2, 2019 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

ANDY MURRAY has a noticeable limp between points but doesn’t show many injury signs during rallies of strain from his troublesome hip. AP

COMPETING AGAIN B

By John Pye

The Associated Press

RISBANE, Australia—Andy Murray doesn’t know how long his latest comeback can last, so he’s planning on making the most of it.

The 31-year-old Murray returned to competitive tennis for the first time since September and gradually warmed into it, going on a late roll to take the last four games in a 6-3, 6-4 win over Australian wildcard entry James Duckworth at the Brisbane International on Tuesday.

“It’s been really hard. Eighteen months, a lot of ups and downs. It was tricky just to get back on the court competing again,” said Murray, who had a noticeable limp between points but didn’t show many injury signs during rallies of strain from his troublesome hip. “I’m happy I’m back out here competing again.”

He appeared stiff and rusty to start the match but managed to chase down Duckworth’s chips and drop shots and moved across court well, twice manufacturing forehand winners from defensive positions on important points.

Winner of three majors and a five-time finalist at the Australian Open, Murray is playing on a protected ranking in Brisbane after sliding to No. 240 in a 2018 season in which he finished 7-5 from 12 matches after surgery on his right hip in January. He missed the last five weeks of the season with an ankle injury.

“I want to try to enjoy it as much as I can,” Murray, a two-time champion in Brisbane, told the crowd in a post-match interview. “I’m not sure how much longer it’s going to last.”

No. 2-ranked Rafael Nadal is also scheduled this week to play his first competitive match since September, but he is taking a cautious approach after being restricted to nine tournaments last year because of injuries.

“After the surgeries, I don’t want to do it a step back. I want to move forward,” he said. “After all, I suffered last year in terms of injuries, I don’t want to do mistakes in terms of playing without being 100 percent.”

Nadal is set to play either Jo-Wilfried Tsonga or Thanasi Kokkinakis in the

second round on Thursday.

“I’m here, so I hope to be ready for it. My goal is, of course, to be on court on Thursday and to be on court with a positive feeling.”

Despite the disruptions last season, Nadal won his 11th French Open title and reached the semifinals of Wimbledon and the US Open, where he had to retire because of an injury, and finished the season ranked No. 2.

He had ankle surgery in November and played one match at an exhibition tournament before traveling to Australia to build up for the season’s first Grand Slam tournament.

In first-round women’s matches, Johanna Konta ousted No. 3-seeded Sloane Stephens, 6-4, 6-3, to set up a second-round meeting with Ajla Tomljanovic, who beat Katerina Siniakova, 1-6, 6-3, 6-0.

Stephens, the 2017 US Open champion, finished last season in the top 10 for the first time and is more concerned about the Australian Open later this month than recording a loss in her season-opener in Brisbane.

“I’m always like ‘It’s going to work out, like in the long run...when it really matters, when it’s really important,’” she said. “Just doing little things now to try to help me in the long run.

“It’s the first match of the year—I have like 80 more matches to go,” she added. “Ask me in November what I think about my first-round loss in Brisbane.”

Maria Sharapova also returned to competitive tennis with a 6-2, 7-6 (3) win against Timea Bacsinszky in the first round of Shenzhen Open on Monday in Shenzhen, China.

Sharapova cut short her campaign in September to recover from shoulder complaint.

The fifth-seeded Russian, a semifinalist here last year, hit 23 winners against the unseeded Swiss player.

Bacsinszky broke Sharapova’s serve early in the first set and went 2-0 up in the second set, but the Swiss player was also erratic with 11 unforced errors and four double faults.

Sharapova, a five-time Grand Slam champion, next faces 17-year-old Wang Xinyu.

She defeated Xun Fang Ying, 7-6 (3), 6-4, in an all-Chinese match.

Also in the first round, Ivana Jorovic of Serbia upset second-seeded Caroline Garcia of France, 6-4, 6-2, and Alison Riske of the United States defeated No. 3 Wang Qiang of China, 6-3, 6-3.

Russian players Veronika Kudermetova and Ekaterina Alexandrova, and Ons Jabeur of Tunisia also reached the second round.

FARCE IN SAITAMA S

FLOYD MAYWEATHER JR. stops Tenshin Nasukawa in the first round, flooring the Japanese kickboxer thrice. AP

P

HOENIX—The Golden State Warriors needed until midway through the second quarter to find their rhythm against the West’s last-place team.

Once they did, the National Basketball Association (NBA) champions rolled to victory again.

Stephen Curry scored 34 points and Kevin Durant added 25, leading the Warriors over the Phoenix Suns, 132-109, on Monday night.

The Warriors beat the Suns for the 17th straight time, including eight in a row in Phoenix.

Golden State (25-13) was 14 for 28 on three-pointers, with Curry going 5 of 9.

In Houston, James Harden had 43 points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists in his fourth straight 40-point game, leading the Houston Rockets over the Memphis Grizzlies, 113-101, for their fifth consecutive victory.

Harden set an NBA record with his eighth straight game with at least 35 points and five assists, besting Oscar Robertson, who twice had seven-game streaks.

Harden finished with his fourth triple-double this season and 39th overall.

Houston has won 10 of its last 11 to improve to 21-15.

“Pretty much the whole second quarter and beyond, we were just disciplined defensively and played with a purpose on offense,” Curry said. “Created good shots. It was a great night.”

Deandre Ayton had 25 points and 10 rebounds for the Suns, who have lost five of six. TJ Warren added 24 points and Devin Booker 20.

Golden State led for all but one minute and 17 seconds of the first half, though the Suns stayed close early. The Warriors went ahead 39-31 on a three from Curry with 10 minutes to go in the second.

Curry had 12 points in the second quarter and added a team-high nine rebounds for the game.

The Suns scored the next eight points to tie it, and were even at 45 before the Warriors closed out the half on a 24-7 run.

A three from Andre Iguodala, a lay-up and free throw from Jonas Jerebko and Iguodala’s pair of free throws gave the Warriors a 69-52 lead at the break.

“There’s such a low margin for error when you play the champs,” Suns Coach Igor Kokoskov said.

Ayton’s hook shot with 6:19 left in the third quarter cut the Warriors’ lead to 82-72, but Golden State took control again. A three and two free throws from Durant gave the Warriors a 100-81 lead with 1:38 to play.

“I thought we slowed them down and we beat them with our minds instead of just outrunning them,” Durant said. “Our offense and our talent just take over, and we just made shots.”

Quinn Cook knocked down a three just before the thirdquarter buzzer for a 108-87 lead, and Curry’s two threes early in the fourth quarter helped Golden State go up by 27 points.

“They just turned it up,” Ayton said. “They got a lot of transition baskets, they got a lot of early stops and forced a lot of tough shots.”

Russell Westbrook, meanwhile, promised he’d be

AITAMA, Japan—It took less than three minutes for Floyd Mayweather to knock down his Japanese kickboxer opponent Tenshin Nasukawa three times in a totally one-sided bout of exhibition boxing on New Year’s Eve. Nasukawa’s father threw in the towel after 140 seconds of the first round on Monday as his 20-year-old son bravely teetered around the ring trying to get up.

It was a quick and definitive victory for the 41-year-old American. Mayweather was gracious in victory, hugging the weeping Nasukawa and calling him “still a great champion.” Nasukawa, however, barely landed a clean punch against the vastly more experienced Mayweather.

The rules for the three-round contest—organized by The Rizin Fighting Federation and held at Saitama Super Arena on the northern outskirts of Tokyo—were no kicking allowed and no official record of the match.

Mayweather said: “Tenshin is still undefeated. I’m still undefeated.”

Mayweather has won all 50 of his pro fights, while Nasukawa has an undefeated record in kickboxing and mixed martial arts.

“It’s all about having fun,” Mayweather told reporters after the fight, praising Nasukawa as a “young hungry lion.”

The Mayweather-Nasukawa bout culminated an evening of more than a dozen fights, streamed by FITE for a fee, but not in the US Fuji TV was the broadcaster in Japan.

Mayweather, who hadn’t fought since beating Ultimate Fighting Championship star Conor McGregor more than a year ago, said he was retired and came to Tokyo to give an opportunity to a younger fighter like Nasukawa.

“I told Tenshin to ‘hold your head up high,’” Mayweather said.

Nasukawa said after the bout that he was grateful for the experience and that he had learned a lot.

Fans—and possibly Nasukawa himself—appeared taken back that Mayweather showed little mercy in the exhibition.

“He is first class,” Nasukawa said. AP

Curry, Harden, Westbrook wax hot on New Year’s Eve better on Monday night against the Dallas Mavericks, and he kept his word.

Westbrook had 32 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists for his 10th triple-double of the season and the Oklahoma City Thunder gained a split of their back-to-back against the Mavericks, never trailing in a 122-102 victory.

Paul George added 22 points and Jerami Grant had 16 for the Thunder, who had dropped three of their last four games. That included a 105-103 loss at Dallas on Sunday, when Oklahoma City blew a six-point lead in the final 1:59 and Westbrook went 4 of 22 from the field and scored only nine points.

Westbrook promised after that game, “We play tomorrow, and I’ll be better from then on,” and he responded by going 13 of 24 from the field and Indiana 116, Atlanta 108 knocking down midrange shots Charlotte 125, Orlando 100 with regularity—often banking them in—as the Thunder built a Houston 113, Memphis 101 60-43 halftime lead. AP

NBA RESULTS

San Antonio 120, Boston 111 New Orleans 123, Minnesota 114

THE Warriors’ Stephen Curry tries to keep the ball alive against the Suns’ Mikal Bridges. AP

Oklahoma City 122, Dallas 102 Golden State 132, Phoenix 109

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Wednesday, January 2, 2019

Pet Corner BusinessMirror

Is it unethical to give your cat catnip?

z

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Today’s Horoscope

By Eugenia Last

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Kate Bosworth, 36; Dax Shepard, 44; Taye Diggs, 48; Cuba Gooding Jr., 51.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Emotions will fuel your fire this year. The desire to get things done will mount as you speed up and focus on what will bring about positive changes mentally, emotionally and financially. Your desire to help others will encourage new friendships as well as opportunities. Equality will be achieved if you strive to give as much as you take. Your lucky numbers are 5, 11, 23, 30, 39, 45, 48.

a

ARIES (March 21-April 19): It’s a new day and a new beginning. An opportunity should not be ignored. Look at the possibilities and what you can do to position yourself for success. Use your intelligence, and a positive turn of events will take place. «««««

b

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Take on a new outlook or attitude that fits into your changing lifestyle. Be ready to use your muscle in order to make things happen. Don’t trust or depend on anyone else to take care of your personal affairs. «««

c

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): It’s nice to help others, but don’t let anyone take advantage of you. Ulterior motives will be behind some of the compliments you receive. Consider who really needs your help before you make promises. Charity begins at home. «««

By Debra Merskin University of Oregon

A

S the Christmas season got under way, thoughts no doubt turned to buying gifts for the entire family. For some, companion animals are on the gift list, particularly cats and dogs who share our homes and hearts.

Whether they’ve been naughty or nice matters not, as the more than $1-billion pet toy industry has everything from the whimsical to practical to keep Fluffy and Spot occupied and caretakers entertained.

Many of the go-to items for cats contain catnip.

This herb, which goes by the botanical name of Nepeta cataria, induces changes in cat behavior. In my view, it’s worth considering whether giving a mood-altering substance to a pet is ethical.

THIS undated photo provided by Shelly Broniec in December 2018 shows Eric and Tiffany Dybas with dogs Sam and Cosmo at the shelter of PAWS Tinley Park in suburban Chicago. The two dogs escaped death when a northwestern Indiana veterinarian refused the previous owner’s request to have the healthy canines euthanized. Shelly Broniec via AP

2 dogs that escaped man’s euthanasia request find new home VALPARAISO, Indiana—Two dogs that escaped death when a northwestern Indiana veterinarian refused their owner’s request to have the healthy canines euthanized have found a new home together with an Illinois couple.

A rescue group said that the man who had owned Sam, a pointer, and Cosmo, a Lab mix, got divorced and was moving in with his girlfriend, who said she was allergic to dogs.

He visited the veterinarian in Portage and requested a “convenience euthanasia,” which is when owners have healthy pets euthanized for personal or convenience reasons, said Penny Emerson, president of Begin Again Rescue Co. in Valparaiso. The man had owned the dogs for 10 years. AP

Kitty crack?

CATNIP is sold in small packets and toys, as well as in highly concentrated forms such as oils and sprays. The concentrated forms are different from its availability in nature. If a cat were to encounter catnip in the wild, it would be in the form of leafy greens growing on plants, not concentrated.

Not all cats are affected by the drug, but for some it can have a five- to 15-minute marijuana-kind of effect.

About 30 percent do not respond at all—which means 70 percent do—and it doesn’t have an impact on kittens until they are about six months old, the time they attain sexual maturity.

When under the influence, some cats roll around, salivate, and at times, fight with other cats. It is not clear if there are any medicinal benefits. Cat owners often laugh at this behavior of their feline friends as being “high.”

Babes and beasts AS an animal media studies scholar, I argue laughing at a cat who has been given a drug even if they seem happy should raise questions about human power and animal autonomy.

Several philosophers have made an argument for giving the same moral consideration to animals as we would give to humans. Philosopher Jan Narveson, for example, asked in context of eating meat, whether animals suffer and if that was sufficient reason not to eat them.

One animal ethics theory denies moral standing to other animals, stating they lack characteristics that only humans are thought to possess, such as rationality, autonomy and consciousness. But another theory of moral equality argues that there are parallels in mental capabilities between humans and other animals, and that moral consideration should not be limited to only our own species.

Philosopher Peter Singer calls for “equal consideration of interests.”

Singer argues that we should not use our species as a measure of the worth or abilities of others, or their worthiness of ethical consideration.

Other philosophers, too, have argued that simply because dogs or other animals don’t have the same vocal structure as humans doesn’t mean they should be treated with less compassion.

Furthermore, humans share many traits–empathy, ability to communicate, eating habits, sociability—with other species. For example, the capacity to love one’s young, the need to have food, water and to spend time with others of one’s own species are not exclusively human traits. According to philosopher Julia Tanner, “It would be arbitrary to deny animals with similar capacities a similar level of moral consideration.”

So, if is unethical to drug a child and to laugh at how he or she

responds, should we unthinkingly do the same with our cats?

Consider animal ethics THE discussion on whether giving catnip is ethical has been an ongoing one on social media and other web sites.

On Reddit, for example, one person commented, “Think of it as your cat going out for a few beers after work.” To that, another reader from an Alcoholics Anonymous family responded, asked whether it was ethical to give someone a drug in an otherwise substance-free home.

I asked the nonprofit People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) where they stand on this issue.

Media Officer Sophia Charchuk responded: “Peta is all for treating cat companions to reasonable amounts of high-quality catnip—and for keeping them indoors, where they’ll be safe from cars, contagious diseases, predators, and cruel humans and able to enjoy toys [including those filled with catnip] for years to come.”

However, my point here is not only about whether cats feel pleasure or pain. It’s about taking responsibility for our actions toward our pets and giving them the same moral consideration as we do to humans.

We rarely notice how advertising, television programs, movies and photographs often present a onedimensional view of animals using them to say something about us, but very little about them. Wolves, for example, are widely shown in advertising and film as intent solely on harming us, rather than the complex, multidimensional pack animals that they are.

This has an impact on how we view animals. I agree with scholars who have pointed out that we need to view animals as subjects of their own lives rather than objects in ours. I believe we need to reconsider the ethics of “catnipping” them. AP

d

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Have patience and let others do as they please. Your focus should be on maintaining good relationships and striving for equality, not possession. How you treat the ones you love will dictate how you are treated in return. «««

e

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): An energetic attitude to learning and exploring new territory will spark your imagination and encourage you to make changes to your lifestyle or daily routine. Before you sign up for something, make sure it is an affordable venture. «««««

f

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Don’t let a situation at home escalate. Put a stop to what’s going on by not taking part. By taking the high road, you will set an example. Gravitate toward the people who are responsible and support the position you take. ««

g

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Learn as you go and keep moving forward. Don’t let criticism make you second-guess your choices or let others make decisions for you. Put your energy into an important relationship, as well as your personal growth and physical improvements. ««««

h

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Live life your way. If there is something or someone you enjoy, take the time to explore the possibilities. What you learn through the connections you make will change the way you do things moving forward.

Share your thoughts and feelings. «««

i j

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Get your house in order. If there is something you don’t like, change it. It’s up to you to put your time and energy where it will make the biggest difference to the way you live and handle your responsibilities. ««« CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Take part in family traditions or visit a place that grounds you and encourages you to make plans for the upcoming year. Make personal changes that will help you purge what is no longer of use to you. «««

k

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Share your thoughts and feelings. You will get the goahead to make the changes you desire. An opportunity is within reach to use your skills and do the things you enjoy doing most. Stop dreaming and start doing. ««««

k

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Stick close to the people you know you can trust to tell you the truth. Empty promises will be offered by someone trying to manipulate you emotionally. Consider what you want and the best way to go about getting it. «« BIRTHDAY BABY: You are talkative, approachable and curious. You are persistent and fair.

‘a different animal’ BY PAUL COULTER The Universal Crossword/Edited by Timothy E. Parker

ACROSS 1 Sonogram target 5 Select 11 AARP members 14 Bassoon’s higher relative 15 Emotion of pity 16 Pirouette perch 17 Marine predator that’s technically a dolphin 19 Poe’s ___ Morgue 20 Lieu 21 The Americans star Russell 22 Pay (up) 23 Drill attachment 25 Chinese herbivore that’s technically closer to a raccoon 27 Key 31 Dance partner?

32 Compost bin smell 33 Lakers star Bryant 36 Scarecrow stuffing 39 Big name in outdoor gear 40 Southeast Asian omnivore that’s technically unrelated to either part of its name 42 Lord’s Prayer start

3 Show host 4 45 Willy Wonka’s creator 46 Achy 47 Looked at 49 Footstool 51 Marine invertebrate that’s technically an echinoderm 55 Objective 56 Head pests 57 ___ Piper (“Silicon Valley” start-up) 59 Old-fashioned “Cool!”

63 Muesli morsel 64 African carnivore that’s technically closer to a weasel 66 Ace 67 Dodges 68 Kuwaiti, e.g.

69 Corn serving 70 Gentlemen (Abbr.)

71 Shoots the breeze DOWN 1 Stir-fry pans 2 Final notice, for short 3 Beauty mark 4 Dwell on 5 EMT’s skill

6 Peddle 7 “None of the above” answer 8 Chicago airport 9 One side in eight-ball 10 Albuquerque-to-Dallas dir.

11 Bank vault 12 Pub order 13 “Later” 18 Get to work on Time?

22 Breathe hard 24 “___ it or leave it” 26 Hitching or scratching place 27 Skin opening 28 The same, in footnotes 29 Animated film star 30 Laundry unit 34 Bumper accessory 35 Bounce back, in a way 37 Certain something 38 Youngest “Baby Blues” child 40 Poultry alternative 41 Opposite of baja 44 Bronte heroine 46 Down the road 48 Kind of antenna 50 Louise of Gilligan’s Island

1 Incline 5 52 Pageant crown 53 Nasal cavity 54 Obeys 58 Textile worker 60 Site of the Taj Mahal 61 Durable wood 62 Eyes, poetically 64 Bottom of a shirt 65 Engineers’ undergrad degs.

Solution to yesterday’s puzzle:

Show BusinessMirror

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

Wednesday, January 2, 2019 C3

Santa, romance and horror?

‘Bird Box’ bucks holiday trend

By Mark Kennedy

N

The Associated Press

EW YORK—For so long, movies around the holidays have been merry and bright. Lately, more and more seem murderous and designed to fright.

Take this winter, where, of course, sugary options abounded, such as Mary Poppins Returns on the big screen and A Christmas Prince: The Royal Wedding on TV. Then there’s the postapocalyptic survival story Bird Box. Released just days before Christmas on Netflix, the Sandra Bullockled thriller is about monstrous entities that compel any human who sees them to quickly try to kill themselves. Not exactly the stuff of sugar plum fairies.

But even though Netflix declines to release viewership numbers, Bird Box seems to have struck a nerve, triggering the creation of memes and online chatter for a very dark film dropped into the festive period.

“I have never ever had as much attention or as many page likes, post likes/ shares and comments on any of my other pages as I have had on this one,” says Heather Drake, who started a Facebook page for fans of the story and is not affiliated with the film or distributors. “It’s been insane. I can’t even come close to responding to all the feedback, if that tells you anything.”

Critics have been mixed toward Bird Box, with many noting similarities to John Krasinski’s A Quiet Place. Variety complained about the “inexplicably bland ensemble” and The Hollywood Reporter sniffed that it was “not all that it might have been.” The Guardian declared it “a bird-brained mess.”

In some ways, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that a film about monsters attacking people showed up on the online video streamer on December 21. Alternate Christmas movies are all the rage these days, from Die Hard, In Bruges, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and Lethal Weapon.

Drake thinks the holiday timing of Bird Box isn’t that important, noting the need for fresh and intriguing movies during the holidays far from usual stale fare like It’s a Wonderful Life or Rudolph the RedNosed Reindeer.

“I don’t honestly think it would have mattered if it was December 21 or July 21,” she said. “However, December 21 would give an advantage as many people are on vacation from school and work. And who doesn’t want to cozy up and ‘Netflix and chill’ on a cold night when they don’t have to worry about school or work the next day?”

Netflix’s decision may also be an attempt to replicate last lateDecember’s hit Bright, starring Will Smith and Joel Egerton. That

supernatural cop drama also wasn’t received well by critics but garnered strong word-of-mouth interest and a sequel has been promised.

Bullock has been one of Hollywood’s top stars since her 1994 hit Speed but had never made a horror movie until Bird Box. She told The Associated Press before a special screening in New York this month that the risks she and the cast undertook were somehow appealing.

To evade the movie monsters, Bullock and two young children are

DUA LIPA WRITES SONG FOR ‘ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL’ GLOBAL pop singing sensation and 2019 double Grammy nominee Dua Lipa will cowrite and perform a new single, “Swan Song,” for 20th Century Fox’s Alita: Battle Angel, the epic action-adventure from producers James Cameron and Jon Landau (Avatar) and director Robert Rodriguez (Sin City). The film will be released in Philippine cinemas on February 6.

“From the moment we saw her video for ‘New Rules,’ we knew that Dua Lipa would be the perfect artist to do a song for Alita: Battle Angel,” said Landau. “She has the kick-ass strength, power and attitude in her performances that Alita embodies in the movie. James, Robert and I are thrilled to have her onboard and are confident she will make ‘Swan Song’ the perfect inspiring and empowering anthem for our film.”

Said Lipa, “I am intrigued at both Alita herself and the amazing team of creators that came together to make this movie possible. I see a little of myself in her, in both her badass spirit and our shared haircut. Alita is all about empowerment and standing up for who you are, which are two things that resonate with me.”

“Swan Song” was written by Justin Tranter, Kennedi Lykken, Mattias Larsson, Robin

DETROIT—Aretha Franklin’s estate has paid at least $3 million in back taxes to the IRS since her death in August, an attorney for the late Queen of Soul’s estate said on Thursday.

The estate is being audited by the IRS, which filed a claim

UNFOLLOWED AND UNLOVED

ROSA SALAZAR takes on the titular character in Alita: Battle Angel.

Fredriksson, Tom Holkenborg and Dua Lipa.

Alita: Battle Angel stars Rosa Salazar, Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Connelly, Mahershala Ali, Ed Skrein, Jackie Earle

Haley and Keean Johnson. The screenplay was written by James Cameron and Laeta Kalogridis, based upon the graphic novel series Gunnm by Yukito Kishiro.

this month in a county probate court north of Detroit, David Bennett told The Associated Press.

Earlier on Thursday, TMZ reported that legal documents it obtained showed the IRS claimed the singer owes more than $6.3 million in back taxes from 2012 to 2018 and $1.5 million in penalties.

“We have a tax attorney. All of her returns have been filed,” Bennett told the AP. “We have disputes with the IRS regarding what they claim was income. We claim its double-dipping income because they don’t understand how the business works.”

He added that Franklin had a lot of expenses whenever she toured.

“She had to pay for transportation, hotel rooms, backup singers, musicians. When she did that the IRS was questioning the returns she filed,” Bennett said. “We’re going through audits.

Returns were filed as timely as we could get them filed.”

Franklin died of pancreatic cancer in August in her Detroit apartment. She was 76.

At the time of her death, Franklin owned a home in

Oakland County’s Bloomfield Township. The IRS filed the claim this month in Oakland County Probate Court in Pontiac.

Documents filed in an Oakland County court after Franklin’s death did not mention the value of her estate, which could run into the tens of millions.

Franklin left no will when she died. She was not married and left four sons: Clarence Franklin, Edward Franklin, Kecalf Franklin and Ted White Jr. Clarence, Aretha’s eldest, is incapacitated and is represented by a guardian. And a niece of hers is the executor.

Franklin’s estate also has paid money to the state of Michigan and other jurisdictions “where she would have had some income,” Bennett said.

Franklin had been the target of a number of lawsuits by creditors during the late 1980s and 1990s.

In 2008 the singer said an attorney’s mistake caused her $700,000 mansion in Detroit to slip into foreclosure over $445 in 2005 taxes and late fees. The Detroit Free Press reported then that Franklin owed a total of $19,192 in back taxes on the property through 2007. AP

‘STRIKE BACK’ SEASON 6 PREMIERES ON JANUARY 26 THE action-packed Cinemax drama series Strike Back will kickoff its sixth season on January 26, the same time as the US at 11 am, with a same day encore at 10 pm, exclusively on HBO Go and Cinemax. Starring Warren Brown, Daniel MacPherson, Alin Sumarwata,

BLIND SPOT BRUCE C.

Franklin attorney: $3 million in back taxes paid to IRS

ARETHA FRANKLIN

blindfolded while navigating through a forest and a treacherous river.

The title refers to a literal box of birds that her character carries—the birds begin to chirp when the unseen evil approaches. Like the timing of the final film, it seemed to be a fresh challenge.

“Anytime that they yelled ‘Stop!’ we knew we had gotten to a place where we could all get injured,” Bullock said. “And we fell. And I said don’t stop the camera unless I say, ‘Stop!’”

Jamie Bamber and Yasemin Kay Allen, the show follows the explosive escapades of Section 20, an elite, multinational, covert special ops team, as it spans the globe fighting a vast web of interconnected criminal and terrorist activity.

Stream all past five seasons of Strike Back on HBO Go. From January 1 onward, viewers can also catch the repeat telecast of the series from Season 1 to 5 on Cinemax with an episode airing every night after the 10 pm movie.

SO the former sweethearts have unfollowed each other on social media? We say we’re not surprised because the actress is reportedly still sore at her ex for getting her pregnant. It’s not clear whether she is still pregnant at this point. But she hates it that her ex, after effectively ending her blossoming career with his controlling ways, is now flirting with another young actress. Let’s put it this way: The actor ex is far from being an ideal man.

He’s an okay guy but he isn’t husband material.

BITTER AND SALTY SO the young actor is on the rampage again. Be careful when you meet him, make sure you know who he is because he apparently resents it when he isn’t recognized. This is the same actor who complained to his management that they weren’t posting his pictures on social media when his body is so great. He also fought with fans of his supposed best friend’s screen partner. Will someone give this guy a good project so he becomes busy? He is apparently resentful of the fact that his former partner was teamed up with another guy and that loveteam is now very popular.

SHOPPING FOR A CONTRACT THIS actor has been sending feelers to a network, hoping they’d hire him. But nobody is interested, which is a pity. The actor is very talented. He acts, sings and even is a visual artist. With the cuthroat competition in the industry, it’s not a surprise that the actor’s career is at a standstill. Some say he has a nit of an attitude but it’s not so bad that no one wants to hire him anymore. He’s still a good and solid talent who deserves a break.

LEVEL-HEADED SO people are scared that important celebrity has succumbed to the “charms” of the infamous older guy. But no worries: important celebrity is level-headed. She is not dazzled by money. She’d rather work for it. But there are rumors that she’s disenchanted with her boyfriend for whatever reason. The guy, on the other hand, is telling people that they’re just going through a slightly rough patch, nothing that can’t be solved by proper communication.

‘OBRA MAESTRA’ IN MASTERFUL YEAR-END WIN

Sports BusinessMirror

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| Wednesday, January 2, 2019 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

PBA holds inaugural Media Day at Solaire

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O

BRA MAESTRA delivered another masterful performance this time on a rainy New Year’s Eve as she pulled off an emphatic victory in the 2018 Juvenile Championships at the Saddle and Clubs Leisure Park in Naic, Cavite.

The Sandy Javier Jr.-owned two-year-old filly measured the mettle of the heavy 12-horse field in the early goings, before going full throttle in the final 400 meters to book an eight-length win for its third stakes triumph for the year.

“This was the first time she raced with so many horses that’s why I needed to calculate my moves.

But at the half-mile mark, I felt she had the kick and approaching the final 400 meters, we made our move,” jockey JB Guce said.

With the victory, Guce declared his horse’s readiness for the bigger races, including the 2019 Triple Crown.

“She’s ripe for the Triple Crown,” he stressed.

Obra Maestra, which was also coming off a dominant victory in the P2-million Philippine Racing Commission (Philracom) Juvenile Fillies Stakes only last month, gifted her owner the top purse of P1.5 million from the guaranteed total pot of P2.5 million put up by the commission. Javier also took the P75,000 prize as breeder of the winning horse.

Javier and his wife Karen personally received the Juvenile Championship trophy from Philracom Commissioner Victor Tantoco and Philippine Racing Club Inc. Manager Antonio Alcasid. Richard Tupas received the trainer’s award on behalf of his father Ruben.

Full of Grace (jockey MA Alvarez, owner Alfredo Santos) took the runner-up purse of P520,500, while My Jopay (CP Henson, Moises Villasenor) received P312,500.

Lady Mischief (KB Abobo, SC Stockfarm) placed fourth, worth P125,000.

MARCIAL

HE Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) holds a special media day apart from its annual press conference ahead of the opening of Season 44 on January 13 at the Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan.

The league launches the season on January 8 at the Conrad Hotel in Pasay City then mounts the media availability event on January 10 over at the Solaire Tent.

“The Commissioner’s Office and members of the PBA management committee as well as coaches and the key players of all 12 teams will be there to answer the queries of the media,” PBA Commissioner Willie Marcial said.

“PBA personalities will be made available for photo shoots, on-cam TV interviews, live or taped radio interviews or interviews on whatever media platform. We will give these opportunities for our media friends to convey talks, messages and greetings to the fans,” Marcial added.

The PBA will announce the official rosters of the 12 teams and the conducts of the three conferences in the coming season during the press conference.

Marcial and the 12 PBA governors, headed by league Chairman Ricky Vargas, will also be available for a question-and-answer session.

The coaches and the players could be scrutinized deeper on the media day.

“It’s the first time that the PBA conducts this event, and we hope this could be of help to our media friends and partners on their stories and shows,” Marcial said.

Pagdanganan, Dy lead Am Open cast SANDY JAVIER JR. (right) receives the Breeder’s Award from Philippine Racing Commission Commissioner Victor Tantoco. With them are (from left) Richard Tupas, representing his father Ruben for the Trainer’s Award, Philippine Racing Club Inc. Manager Antonio Alcasid, Karen Javier and jockey JB Guce.

Forest Cover, the second-leg winner of the Philracom Juvenile Colts Stakes Race, could only finish fifth in the 1,600-meter race.

The other winners in the last Philracom offering for the year were AZAP (Race 1), Misha (Race 2), Aim Thirty One (Race 3), Yosemite (Race 4), War Dancer (Race 5), Always On Time (Race 7), Hail Storm (Race 8), Universe (Race 9), Beautiful Star (Race 10), Nostradamus (Race 11) and Native American (Race 12).

Philracom races are being conducted in accordance with the Philracom’s Rating-Based Handicapping

System, which is a result of the commission’s affiliation with the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA), whose mission is to promote good regulation and best practices on international matters pertaining to the sport.

As a member of IFHA, the Philracom is ready to embrace the world standards set by the international body, such as the rating-based handicapping system, equine drug-testing and transfer of technology, thereby making sure that horse racing in the Philippines is held at the highest level.

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RESH from their successful team-up in the National Doubles, Bianca Pagdanganan and Jed Dy seek individual honors this time as they lead the crack international field in the Philippine Amateur Open Golf Championship starting on Thursday at Riviera’s Langer course in Cavite.

But while Pagdanganan, 21, looms as one of the players to watch in the ladies division of the 72-hole stroke-play championship sponsored by the MVP Sports Foundation, the 15-year-old Dy faces tall odds in his side of the event, which features the country’s leading players headed by Aidric Chan, Carl Corpus, Weiwei Gao, Miguel Ilas, Peter Po, Paolo Wong and Kristoffer Arevalo, among others.

The Koreans dominated last year’s staging of the annual event organized and conducted by the National Golf Association of the Philippines and serving as part of the PLDT Group National Amateur Golf Tour with Kim Joo-hyung nipping Luis Castro by one and Hwang Min-jeong scoring a

record 16-shot romp over compatriot Kim Hee-ji.

But the locals are raring to reclaim the crown last won by the Filipinos in 2016 courtesy of now pro Jobim Carlos and Harmie Constantino, with Pagdanganan hoping to ride the momentum of her doubles victory against a field that includes Japanese Tae Saito, Ayumi Takahashi and Riko Nagai along with Koreans Kim Seo Yun, Lee Yeonseo and Kim, Malaysians Natasha Oon and Eliza Kho, Linette Chua, Inez Ng, Linna Loh and Callista Chen of Singapore.

For details, call NGAP at telefax No. (02) 706-5926 or at Riviera Golf Club Inc. at (02) 888-9089 or 0956-8821149 e-mail ngap2009handicap@yahoo.com.

Also on tap is the Special Division for boys’ and girls’ 12 years old and below as part of NGAP’s continuing talent search. Leading the boys’ cast are Santino Pineda, Vince Tiamsic and Zack Villaroman, while Alethea Gaccion, Venice Tiamsic and Jody Castillo banner the girls’ roster that also drew a slew of Koreans.

BusinessMirror D1 | Wednesday, January 2, 2019 • Editor : Tet Andolong

Linear Parks, PHirst Homes, Tanza, Cavite

Century Properties Group bullish in 2019

By Rizal Raoul S. Reyes

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@brownindio

ENTURY Properties Group, Inc. (CPG) is bullish on the Year of the Pig as it expressed optimism on the country’s property sector in 2019.

“We remain to be bullish if not stronger in 2019 in terms of our desire to provide more homes and office spaces. So we think, overall as an industry, we will keep growing and we’ll grow with it. We’ll put our signature on our future projects,” said CPG co-chief operating officer and manager director Jose Marco R. Antonio in an interview on December 12 at the sidelines of the inauguration Asian Century Center, a P1.6-billion green office building at the 27th Street corner Third Avenue in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig.

“We plan to have several project launches next year,” Antonio added.

The 21-story green office building at the 27th Street corner Third Avenue in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig has been 75-percent leased.

Antonio added three out of the four information-technology companies with confirmed leases are holding office in the building, which has a net leasable area of 29,628 square meter. Moreover, he said that Asian Carmakers plans to put up a showroom of Peugeot at the ground floor.

Once fully leased out, the Asian Century Center is expected to contribute approximately P500 million in annual revenues to CPG’s leasing portfolio.

For residential in-city development, Antonio said CPG will continue to be a prominent player in the affordable housing market

Calista Model House rendering, Tanza, Cavite

citing the company is boosting its affordable housing portfolio under the brand PHirst Park Homes, a joint venture with Japanese conglomerate Mitsubishi Corp.

Together with CPG, Antonio said Mitsubishi is looking to build around 20,000 homes around the country in the next five years.

After launching projects in Tanza, Cavite, and Lipa City, Batangas, Antonio said PHirst Homes will launch its third project in San Pablo, Laguna, in 2019. He added PHirst Homes will launch another 11 to 12 projects in various both the north and southern part of Metro Manila.

“I was surprised to learn that 50 percent of the country’s gross domestic product is coming from Metro Manila and the Calabarzon. This means that a high concentration of people and purchasing power will also require high housing requirements in these areas. There’s much concentration of wealth in these areas,” he pointed out.

Being an accredited building by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority, the Asian Centur y Center is suitable for the information technology-business process management operations, as it has 100-percent power backup, provision for high-speed internet and infrastructure, and a building management system.

Moreover, the tower has been pre-certified for the core and shell rating of LEED (or the Leadership

Asian Century Center

in Energy and Environmental Design), a globally recognized green building and sustainability certification system. Pre-certification is awarded to projects with achievable sustainable targets that demonstrate the project’s commitment to LEED certification. Asian Century Center is working toward a LEED Silver.

PHirst Park Homes entered the affordable housing market in 2017.

Its first project PHirst Park Homes Tanza in Cavite was a success. In its first phase, PHirst Homes sold out 1,200 units valued at approximately P1.4 billion. Moreover, ap-

proximately 600 units of single attached models and town homes are scheduled for completion in 2018.

In June 2018, it launched PHirst Park Homes Lipa, a 20-hectare development in Lipa City, Batangas, with 1,867 units valued at P2.8 billion.

Earlier, Ambassador Jose E.B. Antonio, chairman and chief executive officer of CPG, said the partnership with Mitsubishi is a big milestone for the company that will enable them to be a quality housing provider for the middle market.

“We are pleased to announce this new chapter in the company’s his-

tory of serving the housing needs of our Filipino first home buyers in a much larger scale. It has always been Century’s desire to contribute to nation-building, and through PHirst Park Homes, we will provide the increasing middle-class segment with quality homes that inspire pride of ownership. Mitsubishi Corp. has been instrumental in PHirst’s initial success in Tanza, Cavite. We thank Mitsubishi for its continued trust and confidence in CPG, and we look forward to working with them on more projects in the future,” Antonio said in a press statement.

Business

D2 Wednesday, January 2, 2019

Anthology Architecture and Design Festival 2019 Amor Maclang

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first dibs in real estate

VER since I have met Architect William Ti, I have always been stuck by his sense of passion for serving his country through design and architecture.

When I was invited to speak in one of the Anthology events a few editions ago, I was touched by the sense of camaraderie that was forged by this comic-collecting- Philippineloving champion of architecture.

Never in the history of the Philippines have we spent more on construction and infrastructure than we do today. In 2017, President Duterte launched grand plans under his “Build, Build, Build” program, wherein the government is set to

embark on an ambitious $180-billion infrastructure spending bonanza to transform the Philippines’s economy. This will be rolled out with 75 flagship projects, which include six airports, nine railways, three bus rapid transits, 32 roads and bridges, and four seaports.

Improved infrastructure within our cities serves as the platform for better daily life. It will help bring down the costs of production, improve rural incomes, encourage

countryside investments, and make the movement of goods and people more efficient. Infrastructure is the very pavement from which we tread; is the urban glue that binds the individual buildings together and the quality of that infrastructure determines the quality of our lives.

The role architects play within the greater community is imperative in creating the blueprints that serve as the foundations of a nation we envision up to several generations after us. The urban fabric that we create today has implications on the way people live even 50 years from now, bestowing upon architects a social responsibility to effectively shape the cities that, in turn, shape the buildings that shape our lives.

Three years ago, “Anthology Architecture and Design Festival” was founded to promote the idea that architecture matters. Its main drive is both to create awareness about the value and importance of architecture in our communities, and to elevate the level of the built environment in our nation by showcasing the best of Philippine design and presenting to the world the ideas that Filipinos are capable of.

On the 15th, 16th and 17th of February 2019, the fourth annual Anthology Festival will take place at Fort Santiago in Intramuros, Manila, and anticipates 7,000 attendees.

The festival is a place to forge debate and provide a broad and inclusive platform that questions, provokes, inspires, innovates and educates on all aspects of architecture in our lives. It will bring together 125 local

and international leading architects, urban planners, developers, government officials and thought leaders from various disciplines to spearhead “The Golden Age of Philippine Infrastructure.” Anthology Festival is an incubator for fresh ideas about the built environment. By understanding the past, critically interrogating existing situations, presenting current thinking, new ideas arise, allowing us to propose informed solutions for the future.

The festival is jam-packed with a myriad of events. The highlights are “Anthology Talks” and “Shelter Dialogues.” Anthology Talks is a series of 60-minute lectures by seven local and 20 foreign architects and designers. The Philippine representatives include Bong Recio, Cathy Saldana, Edson Cabalfin, Jojo Tolentino, Kenneth Cobonpue, Terence Yu and William Ti, while the foreign speakers include Ole Scheeren, Aaron Betsky, Qingyun Ma, Takaharu Tezuka to name a few.

Shelter Dialogues is a series of dialectic panel discussions consisting of five to six leaders in their respective industries. Day 1 looks at conversations about architecture on a macroscale, from Nation Building, Future Cities, Infrastructure, Asian Cities and Sustainability, to be lead by a star-studded cast including Pinky Webb, Karlo Nograles, Tomas Lorenzo, Royal Pineda, Paulo Alcazaren, Rebecca Plaza and Buds Wenceslao. Day 2 looks at the practice of architecture with topics on Heritage, Art and Process lead by Toby Guggenheimer, Dom Galicia,

Steph Kienle, Anna Sy, Jorge Yulo, Jason Buensalido, Cynthia Almario and Buck Sia. Day 3 looks into the profession with topics on ClientArchitect Relationships, Philippine Architecture, Global Practice, Technology and Education. Hans Sy Jr., Gelo Mañosa, Conrad Onglao, Meloy Casas, Sylvester Wong, Choie Funk will lead these talks, among others.

In partnership with leading institutions and world renowned practices such as Arup, Aecom, Arcadis, Bruce Mau, SHAU and SoFa, Anthology Workshops will be carried out in small class sizes for a more in-depth pedagogy on topics on transport design, design process, sustainable façade design in the tropics, quantity surveying and project management.

To stir up excitement and celebrate radical architectural ideas, the festival has teamed up with Lotus Central Malls Inc. to launch a competition to design an events pavilion in Silang, Cavite. The winning proposal will be awarded P150,000. and the opportunity to work with the developer to bring ideas to reality by constructing the pavilion. Further, Anthology has launched a Photography Competition where participants submit a photo for three categories: Impact Architecture, Interiors and Exteriors. Winners will receive a Huawei P20 Pro. Together with the country’s leading universities, Anthology has launched two student competitions.

The first competition, Frame, gives students the opportunity to showcase their school spirit by constructing a pavilion. Winners will receive a

prize of P50,000. The second competition, Live Design, invites students to respond to a brief that will be given on the spot. The winning proposal will be awarded a prize of P100,000.

The Suppliers Gallery will showcase some of the most exciting products and technologies available in the market today. This includes products from Hanergy, Rapid Steel, Sunland Building Solutions, Omni, Boysen, Cenit, Globalhome, Scavolini, Mazzini, Diamond Concept, World Home Depot, Atlanta Pipes, Zhu Bamboo, Accentik, Schuco, Fabtech, Domus, HMR, SDW, Landlite, Focus Global, ABC, Emerald Vinyl and Wallcrown.

To add a bit of camaraderie and competition, Pilipinas Obstacles will erect a racecourse where students and professionals alike will be invited to enter in teams of three. There will also be a Food Market with fantastic food choices like Auro Chocolate, Allegro Coffee, Andok’s Chicken, Torres Trading Sausages, Bar Dolci, Taho and many others.

Anthology Festival will open and close with fellowship galas supported

by One Mega Group’s Bluprint Magazine and Pino Design Magazine. The event serves as an incredible collection of the best and the brightest architects in the country and acts as a crucible through which a better kind of architecture can be pursued. It is copresented by Plaza + Partners Inc, WTA Architecture and Design Studio, UAP Manila Metro Chapter, Intramuros Administration and The City of Manila. Tickets are available on the web site http://anthologyfest.org or in all SM Ticket branches nationwide.

niture, homeowners shouldn’t be scared of utilizing colors that deviate from their interior’s color story.

Rooms can be punctuated with statement pieces that add to the vibe of the

area. For the living room, we stuck to its color story of browns and muted earth tones by choosing a moss green color for the ottoman that adds a kick vibrancy which isn’t too loud.”

The HardieFlex Tibay Team’s entire renovation process with Wilcon Depot can be viewed on the James Hardie Philippines page at @JamesHardiePH.

Home

7 tips when renovating small spaces P LANNING a house renovation nowadays can be difficult especially on small spaces. Based on home renovation project of Kenny Roger Onate, the HardieFlex Tibay Team along with Josham Builders and Wilcon Depot proved that small space renovation is no big problem. Together, they provide ideas on how to go about practical home renovations and how to choose the right furnishings that will help any homeowner transform their living space:

On the home renovation

1. Use building materials that serve more than one purpose

Roland Badilla from James Hardie Technical Team said, “Always go for the one that’s not only easy to install but also durable being resistant to damage from fire, moisture and termites. That way you’ll be prepping yourself up to do repairs/ renovations less and less each time, which also will lessen waste, making your carbon footprint smaller.”

2. You don‘t have to demolish everything

When it comes to rebuilding certain areas of the house, Badilla underlines the importance of assessing the space and prioritizing which areas need to be redone and which can go on with a simple retouch.

“A lot of times when renovating, homeowners make the mistake of tearing everything down—even the walls or other areas that are still good. This is one of the slippery slopes in decision making that can overshoot any budget easily...”

“Like here in the Onate house, we opted to work around the existing concrete walls and reuse the existing HardieFlex fiber cement boards of the homeowner to keep our expen-

ditures low,” said Badilla.

3. Consider lightweight wall partitions instead of traditional concrete

If part of the renovation plan includes building a new room, wall partitions made of lighter but resistant to impact materials will be a better alternative to the traditional concrete divisions.

“Constructing an entirely new wall made of concrete will take longer since there is more process to complete it,” said Badilla. He recommends walls made of HardieFlex fiber cement board installations as durable substitutes that can do the job faster, allowing to save 2 to 3 inches of floor space versus using concrete hollow block for walls.

4. Follow an overall mood with paint and wall accents

Finally, Badilla offered his insight on the finishing touches to the build. “Smaller spaces are better off with cool, light-colored walls; it opens up the area making the space look bigger.”

However, he also noted the importance of adding touches of other complementary colors to the walls to prevent them from looking dull.

“Accents can be made with paint, but here we also used 7.5 mm thick HardiePlanks on the exterior for a more modern vibe to a typical wood looking finish, while we used HardieFlex 9.00 mm precut as a belt to run across the white walls of the interior to give it impact and design appeal.”

On choosing the best furniture

When it comes to furniture, leading home improvement and construction retailer, Wilcon Depot brings in their expertise on interiors with simple yet tasteful furnishings.

As the overall design and look

of a home reflects the people living under its roof,marketing manager, Dheza Paras shared the advice they regularly give customers:

5. Choose timeless pieces with uncompromising quality

According to Paras, Filipinos prefer furniture that revolves around comfort and visually appealing pieces that can stand the test of time, she encourages them to continue choosing long-lasting pieces.

Paras said, “Filipino taste varies, but choosing to invest in high-quality home products that complement the look and feel of their landscape will continue to be a wise decision for them to make.”

6. Small isn‘t terrible

When it comes to small spaces, Paras reminds homeowners not to be scared of blank areas around the house.

“Filipinos are said to have ‘Horror Vacui’ or the fear of empty spaces, so they keep adding more pieces of furniture or knick-knacks around the home to fill every nook. This can make an already small area feel even smaller,” she said. “Space is good, so choose compact pieces that are easy on the eyes, don’t take a lot of space, and can serve a dual purpose.”

For the Onate’s family of five, Paras opted not to bring in a huge couch that could easily eat up the living space. Their team brought in a quaint cream-colored couch plus a functional ottoman in the living room instead of the usual coffee table to provide more seating while serving as additional storage.

7. Choose furniture with colors that can serve as room accents

Paras said, “Though sometimes taking color cues from the house’s palette is a safe bet in choosing fur-

sMirror

Wednesday, January 2, 2019 D3

US-based WeWork opens first hub in PHL

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By Rodel Ambas Jr.

MBARKING on an aggressive expansion in Southeast Asia, New York-based coworkingspace provider WeWork recently launched its first hub in the Philippines—a two-level, impeccably designed space in Uptown Bonifacio Tower Three that can accommodate up to 800 members.

Common area of WeWork’s first Philippine location in Uptown Bonifacio Tower Three. WeWork

WeWork Southeast Asia’s Managing Director Turochas “T” Fuad, during the coworking-space provider’s launch in Bonifacio Global City. Bryan Barredo

Founded in 2010 in New York City, WeWork has since grown to 287 physical locations in 74 cities in 23 countries across the globe. Although a global company, WeWork is known to adhere to a local playbook in entering new markets in order to create an experience that is distinct and personal to each new location.

The Philippines is WeWork’s third market in Southeast Asia, after Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

According to Turochas “T” Fuad, WeWork Southeast Asia’s managing director, the company places emphasis on thoroughly understanding the local culture before entering any market. “This gives us an additional edge by keeping our business attuned to the unique needs and op-

portunities of each market.”

Asked why the company chose the Bonifacio Global City as its flagship location in the Philippines, Fuad said that the area is perhaps the country’s most important business district at the moment. “A nexus of Philippine economic activity is found in BGC, [and] this best demonstrated by the transfer of the Philippine Stock Exchange [PSE] to BGC from its former headquarters in Ayala Avenue in 2017.

“BGC provides a strategic location for WeWork as it allows its members— local and multinational enterprises, tech start-ups, small to medium businesses, creators and freelancers—to tap into the locale’s dynamic and diverse business opportunities.”

Community bar of WeWork’s Uptown Bonifacio Tower Three property. WeWork

Boosting presence in Southeast Asia

Fortifying its presence in Southeast Asia, WeWork has grown to 12

Casas is APEA 2018 awardee

locations servicing more than 6,000 members across the region. Aside from a strong presence in Singapore and Indonesia, WeWork is also gear-

ing to open its second Philippine property in Makati in early 2019, and will open in new markets before the end of 2018, including Bangkok, Ho

Chi Minh City and Kuala Lumpur.

Fuad said, “This move could not have been made at a more opportune time given the Philippines’s favorable business climate. We see positive contributions to the country’s thriving start-up ecosystem and micro-, small- and mediumsized enterprises [MSMEs].”

Data released by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) show that there are almost 912,000 MSMEs currently operating in the Philippines, which account for 99.57 percent of all establishments and represents 70 percent of total employment.

Fuad expounded, “We see a deep bench of individuals and companies that we can help grow through our community, culture and technology. The Philippines continues to be a promising hub for businesses of all sizes, and its young population, who is well-versed in technology, can help spur innovation that will benefit the national economic ecosystem and allow the Philippines to connect and collaborate with the rest of the world.”

Discovery Country Suites takes home prestigious awards

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Dato William Ng (from left), president of Enterprise Asia; Architect Carmelo Casas; and Zenaida Cuison Maglaya, undersecretary of Regional Operations Group of the Department of Trade and Industry

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RCHITECT Carmelo Casas, founder and CEO of Casas+Architects Inc., was recently recognized as Outstanding for Professional and Business Services by the Asia Pacific Entrepreneurship Awards (APEA) last December 6, 2018, at the Manila Marriott Hotel.

APEA is a regional awards program that aims to recognize Asia’s outstanding entrepreneurs and enterprises for demonstrating sustainable growth, responsible leadership and operational excellence. The event also seeks to gather entrepreneurs to spur innovation, fair practices and

sustainable entrepreneurial practices across the Asia-pacific region.

Architect Casas received the award from Dato William Ng, president of Enterprise Asia; and Zenaida Cuison Maglaya, undersecretary of Regional Operations Group of the Department of Trade and Industry.

ISCOVERY Country Suites was a big winner at the prestigious Haute Grandeur’s Global Hotel Awards, winning the Best Bed and Breakfast in Asia, Most Unique Guest Experience in the Philippines, Best Hotel View in the Philippines, and Best Country House in the Philippines.

The Haute Grandeur’s Global Hotel Awards is a prestigious awards system that honors the very highest achievements from across the global hotel industry, recognizing exceptional contributions by outstanding hotels with Marinique De Wet as CEO at the helm.

Unbiased results are guaranteed by placing emphasis on quality feedback from guests, rather than quantity of votes by a panel of judges or general public.

As a proud member of The Discovery Leisure Company’s group of hotels and resorts, the homey Discovery Country Suites in Tagaytay is known for its stunning view of Taal Lake and personalized service. Each of its seven suites is uniquely themed to depict a distinct feel of country living from

different parts of the world.

Restaurant Verbena, the multiawarded culinary gem of Discovery Country Suites, made the Best Bed and Breakfast in Asia award possible by making the Country Breakfast a highlight of each stay, along with the signature wine and cheese platter at sundown, which guests can upgrade

into a romantic suite or garden picnic. The house’s lakeside view of Taal and colorful garden make for the perfect intimate wedding straight out of a fairy-tale book for brides-to-be.

The awards is an honor for Discovery Country Suites, and is fitting as Tagaytay’s first Bed and Breakfast.

Entrepreneur BusinessMirror

D4 Wednesday, January 2, 2019

Even start-up PHL bakers can now compete, with help from the Internet

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By Rizal Raoul S. Reyes

@brownindio

Contributor

HE country’s staple food is rice but the pan de sal culture, developed during the Spanish era, has created such a huge impact on the Filipino breakfast table that until this age of globalization, the country’s baking industry is experiencing a boom. This, thanks to the emergence of social media where aspiring bakers have the opportunity to sell their products anytime and anywhere.

“The baking industry is booming because people can bake a cake and sell it at once. You don’t need a shop.

You just post it on the Internet and people will buy. That’s how good the market is right now,” said Filipino Chinese Bakery Association Inc. (FCBAI) President Peter Fung in a recent interview with the press in Quezon City.

“As a result, sales of physical or traditional stores in the baking and food industry were affected.”

To counter this trend and remain competitive, Fung said bakers with physical stores also introduced online selling to their clients.

The older and traditional bakeries were forced to close because they could not catch up. Moreover, the

entry of industrial bakeries such as Gardenia became a threat as they have the size and resources to scale up their production process.

Fung said on the positive side, this development always keeps those in the baking industry on their toes.

“It’s either you compete on the net front or the retail front.”

Fung, also the president of Ling Nam, said the baking industry offers opportunities in entrepreneurship as Filipinos develop a stronger affinity for wheat-based products such as breads and other products.

“We also want to encourage the people to embrace entrepreneurship by entering the baking industry.

There are lots of opportunities in the baking industry,” he pointed out.

Moreover, he said competition is also making the prices of breads lower for the benefit of the industry and consumers.

To enhance and professionalize the industry, Fung said the FCBAI is organizing the Bakery Fair 2019 that seeks to upgrade the industry and teach aspiring entrepreneurs to be more hygienic.

“The Philippines is one of the fastest-rising markets for breads in Asia because of the changing lifestyle, exposure to foreign ideas and tastes of overseas Filipinos. We are

FUNG

banking on promoting wheat bread for a healthier lifestyle. As you get more exposure, you tend to be more discriminating in terms of taste,” Fung explained.

“The market is expanding and we see a lot of potential in the Philippines,” he added.

The three-day “Bakery Fair 2019” —this year’s version of an event organized every two years by the FCBAI—will run from February 15 to 17 at the World Trade Center. It will feature exhibitors, seminars and demonstrations by local and international industry experts. All kinds of modern baking supplies and equipment will be showcased and the public is invited to participate.

Started in 2001, the Bakery Fair

is a biennial event which aims to foster awareness on the importance of updating the industry on the latest trends in baking technology and ideas, new equipment and ingredients, latest packaging concepts and materials.

“We at FCBAI hope the ‘Bakery Fair’ can promote, strengthen and also elevate standards of the Philippine bakery industry not only as part of the country’s dietary, lifestyle and culinary culture, but also to help boost economic development through expansion of small and medium-scale enterprises or SMEs,” said Fung.

The 52-year-old FCBAI is a nonstock, nonprofit organization of mostly SMEs in Chinese-Filipino bakery industry. Among its objectives include promoting better baking standards and service, including educational and socio-civic projects.

Although ethnic Chinese entrepreneurs have been in the Philippine baking industry for centuries, the FCBAI was organized in September 1966 in Manila by a group of civic-minded entrepreneurs led by its founding President Mariano Sioco. The FCBAI is also an organization under the Federation of FilipinoChinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Corona maker invests $100 million to boost female entrepreneurs

By Jordyn Holman Bloomberg

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ONSTELLATION Brands Inc., maker of Corona beer for the US and Svedka vodka, will invest $100 million in female-founded alcoholic beverage companies over the next 10 years in an effort to support women in the male-dominated liquor and beer industry.

“I don’t think that women are represented enough in alcoholic beverage in a lot of different ways,” Bill Newlands, chief operating officer and incoming chief executive officer of Constellation Brands, said in an interview. “I don’t think there are enough products that are made and developed with women in mind. The marketing that has largely occurred has focused on men—that’s particularly true in beer.”

The fund, launched through Constellation’s venture capital group, will only invest in alcoholic beverage companies, not marijuana, though that’s a business Constellation is increasingly interested in. If these smaller alcoholic beverage firms succeed and grow, Constellation could eventually take a bigger stake, Newlands added.

Men make up roughly 80 percent of executives in the beverage and tobacco product manufacturing industry, according to the most recent data from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Less funding

NOT only are women a small minority within established companies, female entrepreneurs don’t get funded as readily as men. Only 2.2 percent of venture capital funding went to

all female-founded teams in 2017, according to data from Pitchbook.

Constellation realized the discrepancy particularly impacted them because women control most consumer spending in the US and are the fastest-growing segment of small business owners. Newlands said it may be more challenging to identify women running small breweries.

“A lot of it is just bad history,” Newlands said. “For whatever reason, many of the companies that were founded historically within our industry were founded by paternal sides of families. I think that then has just become the way it was rather than any good logic for it.”

Austin Cocktails, which makes bottled cocktails, and Vivify Beverages, a hard soda maker, will be the first recipients of Constellation Brands’ investment. The entrepreneurs said the backing from Constellation Brands gives them more clout.

“I think approaching retailers, venues and distributors and having that credibility really allows us to grow,” Jill Burns, cofounder of Austin Cocktails, said. “That’s really exciting as a small brand that’s been in the trenches for the last five years.”

Constellation will also give the female founders access to its supply chain, distributor relationships and consumer research. For their part, the female founders are bringing a needed perspective and insight into what women want from their beverages, Mallika Monteiro, Constellation Brands’ chief growth officer, said. “It’s also a pipeline of talent that we can tap into broadly,” Monteiro said. “There’s the pipeline of ideas and products, of course, and access to talent.”

IN photo at the opening ceremonies are AFFI President Joyce Yu (from left), BSLBA Chairman Ana Maria Tanchanco, Makati Vice Mayor Monique Lagdameo, Mayor Mar-Len Abigail Binay, Rep. Luis Campos, Ayala head for Central Malls Joseph Reyes and San Lorenzo punong barangay Ernesto Moya.

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Entrepreneurship highlighted at San Lorenzo Business Week

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S part of its continuing business literacy program for its constituency, Barangay San Lorenzo in Makati City recently held the Barangay San Lorenzo Business Week with the theme “Developing an Entrepreneurial Mindset.”

The four-day event is a partnership with the Barangay San Lorenzo Business Association, the local chamber of commerce which covers establishments in Legazpi Village, Ayala Center and Arnaiz Avenue.

The group, which has a membership of over 1,000 firms, is mandated to organize effective education and training programs for the improvement of business skills and encourage corporate social responsibility. It is the private sector’s official channel of various business concerns through its representation in the Makati Liga ng mga Barangay Business Council.

According to barangay chairman Ernesto Moya, the activity is part of their continuing education program to promote the spirit of enterprise within the business and residential community.

The event opened with a trade fair at the Glorietta Activity Center featuring programs and products of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the Department of Science and Technology, the Asian Institute of Management and members of the Association of the Filipino Franchisers Inc. DTI Assistant Secretary Mary Jean Pacheco keynoted the formal opening and talked on the provisions of the newly enacted Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act of 2018 (Republic Act 11032), followed by talks from renowned motivational speaker Francis Kong and Potato Corner CEO Jose Magsaysay Jr. The Business Week was highlighted by the Entrepreneurial Module series with lectures on Entrepreneurial Mindset by Asian Food Project President Jorge Noel Wieneke, Franchise 101 by GMB Franchise Developers President Armando Bartolome, and Digital Marketing by StartUp Village Director Carlo Calimon.

20 entreps from various industries join Endeavor Philippines network

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WENTY entrepreneurs from 16 start-ups across various industries have become part of Endeavor Philippines, the local network recently reported.

This was made possible by the access of support received from global and local business mentors, access to professional services, and growth capital, according to Endeavor Philippines Managing Director Manny Ayala.

Now on its fourth year of operations in the country, the local chapter of the global entrepreneurship network shared how it has enabled the local start-up community to thrive, and how it intends to continue doing so in the years to come.

After joining the Endeavor network, the entrepreneurs have created

over 1,700 jobs, and have increased their annual revenues by P3.6 billion, leading to over P6.3 billion in revenues generated as of 2017.

“Since we started in the Philippines in 2015, we have been steadfast in fulfilling our mission of creating an economic multiplier effect by accelerating the growth of high-impact entrepreneurs. We are also proud to have a diverse mix of companies in our network as we have a range of tech companies and those that follow traditional brick-and-mortar format.

This is a testament to how even traditional businesses are able to prove their high impact in today’s tech-driven society,” said Ayala in his presentation.

Ayala said Endeavor has been successful in fostering the growth of the

local entrepreneurial ecosystem in the country as the network abides by a “pay it forward” philosophy.

“We recognize the importance of sharing our knowledge and resources with other local businesses to be able to aid in the growth of both the entrepreneurs and their businesses. Our members have been able to do this by mentoring, personally investing in companies, and connecting them to industry contacts in a bid to help them scale, and eventually, pay it forward as well.”

He said Endeavor entrepreneurs themselves have invested in and mentored over 50 local companies, and have taken seats at several advisory boards of these businesses. At the same time, most of the Endeavor entrepreneurs have been sought after thought leaders in their

respective industries being invited to speak in conferences locally and internationally.

He added Endeavor is inviting other high-impact entrepreneurs into the network in order to fulfill its mission of catalysing economic growth. Ayala said Endeavor entrepreneurs receive support from global and local business mentors from Fortune 500 consulting firms, access to world-class professional and customized services, and growth capital.

In the Philippines, Endeavor’s board members include Chairman Jaime Augusto M. Zobel de Ayala II, Vice Chairman Jasen T. Ko, Cezar P. Consing, Anton T. Huang, Eugenio L. Lopez III, Roberto L. Panlilio, Edgar “Injap” Sia II, Wilfred Steven Uytengsu and Julio Sy Jr. Rizal Raoul S. Reyes

Region 2 LGUs get tech help to promote projects to investors

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UGUEGARAO CITY—Local government units (LGUs) in Region 2 are getting some technical help from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) in promoting their proposed projects to investors.

Recently, the regional offices of the DTI and the DILG held in this

city an activity called “On-Site Technical Assistance on the Preparation/ Updating of Project Profiles and Investment Promotion Collaterals” for select Region 2 LGUs. During the activity, the team of DTI R02 and DILG R02 met with the Local Economic and Investments Promotion Offices to discuss and finalize proposed projects, which the LGUs want to communicate to

prospective investors. The Investment Promotion Collaterals, or marketing tools, of the LGUs were also reviewed.

“By capacitating the local investment promotion officers with the essential investment promotion strategies, LGUs are assured that they get to communicate the most relevant messages to investors,” Charles Irvin P. Tagarino, DTI

Region 2’s trade and industry development specialist, said.

Among the LGUs given technical assistance are Tuguegarao City and Baggao town in Cagayan province; the cities of Ilagan, Cauayan and Santiago in Isabela province; Bambang town in Nueva Vizcaya province; and the provincial governments of Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya and Quirino. PNA