BusinessMirror January 04, 2020

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Saturday, January 4, 2020 Vol. 15 No. 86

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PHL takes a step closer to becoming Southeast Asia’s natural gas-fuel hub

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By Lenie Lectura

OME promising developments taking place in the liquefied natural gas (LNG) sector have brought the country closer to its dream of becoming Southeast Asia’s hub for LNG a step.

“With the number of interested parties [aspiring] to build [the proposed] LNG terminal, I have no reason to doubt the realization of LNG hub in the Philippines that can serve not only our needs but also [of] the region,” said Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi in a text message when asked how these developments are affecting the agency’s goal.

For instance, the number of interested LNG players is grow-

ing. The latest that joined the list is the group of business tycoon Lucio Tan. According to DOE Undersecretary Donato Marcos, Tan’s group had asked the DOE to issue a notice to proceed (NTP) for its LNG project that will be located in Pinamucan Ibaba in Batangas City.

“They have applied already,” said Marcos, who added that the application has already reached his Continued on a2

“We are acting as a de facto transshipment point for gas that is going to China… Now, we are closer to the realization of this project…

The country now will become part of the LNG value chain because we can receive and export gas.”—Cusi

The year Indian tycoons faced bankruptcies, jail and death

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By Bhuma Shrivastava and P R Sanjai

Here are some of the country’s biggest and most-storied businessmen who saw their fortunes fade.

Spokespersons for none of these tycoons, except Essar, immediately replied to emails and text messages seeking comments.

Bloomberg

OR many Indian tycoons, 2019 turned woeful as lenders— empowered by the nation’s recent bankruptcy law and desperate to clean up soured debt from their books— started seizing assets of delinquent firms or dragged them into insolvency.

Indian banks wrote off a record $39 billion of loans in the 18 months through September in a bid to repair their balance sheets as they battled the world’s worst bad debt pile. Making matters worse, a shadow banking crisis led to a funding squeeze, crushing debtladen businesses that were critically dependent on rollover financing.

“Life has come a full circle for tycoons that had enjoyed debt-fueled growth,” said Nir-

mal Gangwal, founder of distress and debt restructuring advisory firm Brescon & Allied Partners LLP. “Many firms collapsed like a house of cards. The downfall was rather unprecedented.”

The government has also been cracking down on economic crime to assuage public anger over absconding businessmen.

It’s even barred some from traveling overseas if they were deemed a flight risk.

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 50.6460

Anil Ambani

THE chairman of Reliance Group, which makes movies to metro lines, had a close shave with jail time in March before his elder brother and Asia’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani, bailed him out at the last minute. The woes of the ex-billionaire came to the fore when India’s top court asked him to pay Ericsson AB’s India unit about $77 million of past dues or go to jail since Anil Ambani, 60, had given a personal guarantee. His telecom carrier slipped into insolvency this year, while unprofitable Reliance Naval & Engineering Ltd. faced a cash crunch. Reliance Capital Ltd. is selling assets to pare debt. Ambani is also fending off Chinese lenders in a London court.

RELIANCE Group chairman Anil Ambani

DHIRAJ SINGH/BLOOMBERG

Continued on a2

n JAPAN 0.4666 n UK 66.5539 n HK 6.5030 n CHINA 7.2722 n SINGAPORE 37.5796 n AUSTRALIA 35.3813 n EU 56.5766 n SAUDI ARABIA 13.5034

Source: BSP (January 3, 2020)

News LNG DASH

BusinessMirror

A2 Saturday, January 4, 2020

Continued from a1

office and is now being evaluated.

Since Tan holds interests in the airline, banking, liquor, tobacco, real-estate industries and education, Marcos said the LNG project is expected to be viable because of its prospective off-takers.

“Their business model, or captive market, to assure viability are Tanduay, Asia Brewery, Eton, JG Summit and others,” he said.

If and when Tan’s group would secure the permit to proceed, it would be the fourth LNG player in the country.

Huge interest

“THE interest is huge,” commented Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, who leads the Senate Committee on Energy.

Gatchalian recalled that Tan’s MacroAsia Corp., a leader in aviation support services, was earlier eyeing to partner with Gen X Energy, a company backed by Blackstone Energy Partners.

“MacroAsia and a foreign firm…will pursue a plan to put up an LNG regasification terminal,” said the lawmaker.

Other firms awarded with NTPs are Tanglawan Philippine LNG Inc., the joint venture between Phoenix Petroleum and CNOOC Gas and Power Group Co.; FGEN LNG Corp. (FGEN LNG); and US-based firm Excelerate Energy L.P.

Uy factor

ANOTHER positive development brewing in the gas sector is the new

composition of the Malampaya consortium.

Davao businessman Dennis Uy’s Udenna Corp. (UC), the parent firm of Phoenix, is acquiring the 45-percent interest of Chevron Malampaya LLC in the Malampaya gas-to-power project.

Other consortium members of the offshore Palawan gas discovery—the country’s only find so far—are Shell Philippines Exploration B.V. (SPEx), with a 45-percent stake, and state-led Philippine National Oil Co. Exploration Corp.

(PNOC EC), with 10 percent.

The power sector is closely watching the next move of the Malampaya consortium, which is seeking DOE approval for an extension of the service contract, particularly because Phoenix and partner CNOOC have separately asked the DOE to suspend their planned LNG project.

“The extension of the contract is a separate matter. Indeed, there are many things that are unfolding now. Bottom line, we want to develop our LNG and find another gas discovery,” said Cusi.

For the suspension request filed by Phoenix and CNOOC, Cusi commented that the two firms merely wanted to reassess and submit a new concept that will most likely integrate the planned LNG terminal and UC’s participation in the Malampaya project. “They want to revisit their LNG terminal program in lieu of the Malampaya development. I think they are going to tie it together. They are pursuing LNG albeit on a different ap-

proach and we welcome this,” said the energy chief.

Meantime, the Lopez-led First Gen is the only LNG player among those issued with NTP that have moved forward with their proposed LNG project. The company has completed predevelopment work to make the site construction-ready.

The Lopez firm believes First Gen LNG terminal will play a critical role in ensuring the energy security of the Philippines, and the Luzon grid particularly when the indigenous Malampaya gas resource no longer produces sufficient fuel for the country’s existing gas-fired power plants, and certainly not for additional gas-fired power plants.

“The FGEN Batangas LNG Terminal Project is intended to serve the natural gas requirements of existing and future gas-fired power plants of third parties and FGEN LNG affiliates,” it said.

Cusi said the LNG project of First Gen is “putting the Philippines in the value chain of LNG.” “We are acting as a de facto transshipment point for gas that is going to China… Now, we are closer to the realization of this project… the country now will become part of the LNG value chain because we can receive and export gas,” commented Cusi, who led the groundbreaking ceremony last May.

Other prospective players

THE country’s aspiration to be Southeast Asia’s LNG hub has also caught the attention of Texas-

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MALAMPAYA Deep Water Gas to Power facility in Palawan

based Excelerate, which is the pioneer and market leader in innovative floating LNG solutions.

Expectations are high with this one, especially after the DOE announced that the power unit of conglomerate San Miguel Corp.

(SMC) expressed interest to be the off-taker of Excelerate.

SMC Global Power Holdings Corp. (SMC GPH), starting January 2022, will require a supply of natural gas for a continuous period of at least 15 years at commercially viable tariff rates of their existing and future gas-fired power plants with a total gross capacity of up to 1,800 megawatts (MW) on a base­ load basis.

DOE Assistant Secretary Leonido Pulido had said that SMC GPH “can be a potential market for [Excelerate],” citing Ilijan power plant’s proximity to Excelerate’s proposed LNG facility.

South Premier Power Corp.

(SPPC), a unit of SMC GPHC, is the independent power producer administrator (Ippa) for the 1,200MW natural gas-fired power plant

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in Ilijan, Batangas.

“Excelerate offers a full range of floating regasification services from FSRU [floating gas regasification unit] to infrastructure development to LNG supply. On top of this, we are seeing a partnership with SMC, which will be Excelerate’s off taker. Thus, the LNG project of theirs is seen to be viable,” noted an industry expert.

Sustainability goals

THE energy chief pointed out that these developments would help the country attain long-term security and sustainability as domestic gas supplies from the Malampaya field are set to run out in 2024 at the earliest.

Cusi said the establishment of the natural gas facility could further boost the economy through local employment, which will benefit the host community.

“With our continuing efforts to provide energy security, especially since we are anticipating the depletion of Malampaya gas, the establishment of LNG facilities

brings a promising future for the country,” said Cusi.

The DOE recently completed site inspections of the LNG players’ progress on their respective LNG projects, a year since the agency started issuing permits to players deemed fit to undertake such a capital-intensive power project.

The site inspection is necessary to keep track of the firms’ work progress. “Inspection are being conducted to determine actual compliance to work plans,” said Cusi.

Meantime, LNG players are determined to fulfill their work plan. If successfully implemented, the LNG market will flourish and consequently bring down electricity prices.

“With many LNG players, a more competitive LNG market is expected. If this happens, and we are strongly pushing for this to happen, it is not only our country that will benefit from it. Consumers, more importantly, are the sure winners here,” said Cusi.

The year Indian tycoons faced bankruptcies, jail and death Continued from a1

Malvinder & Shivinder Singh

KARMA caught up with ex-billionaires and brothers Malvinder Singh, 47, and Shivinder Singh, 44, and how. Scions of a prominent business family, they once helmed India’s top drug maker and second-largest hospital chain. In October, the two were arrested on charges of fraudulently diverting nearly $337 million from a lender they controlled. India’s market regulator found in 2018 that the brothers had defrauded their hospital company of about $56 million. The collapse of the $2-billion empire turned brother against brother, prompting their mother to broker a peace deal that was shortlived. In February, Malvinder accused Shivinder and their spiritual guru of fraud.

Shashikant & Ravikant Ruia

AFTER a hard-fought battle to keep their flagship steel mill, the first-generation entrepreneurs finally saw the bankrupt Essar Steel India Ltd. pass on to ArcelorMittal last month. The $5.9-billion takeover was almost two years in the making with multiple legal wrangles. The group, controlled by Shashikant Ruia, 76, and Ravikant Ruia, 70, were also reprimanded by a UK judge in March this year for concealing documents. Started in 1969 as a construction firm, Essar Group diversified, investing about $18 billion between 2008 and 2012, and piled on debt. In 2017, the group had sold another prized asset, Essar Oil. Selling an asset to pare a li-

ability shouldn’t be seen as a “lost asset,” an Essar spokesman said, adding that the group remains a diversified conglomerate.

V.G. Siddhartha

BEFORE jumping off a bridge into a river in July in an apparent suicide, the founder of India’s biggest coffee chain Cafe Coffee Day had penned a letter that spoke of pressure from lenders, a private equity firm and harassment by tax officials. He had spent much of the last two years pledging ever more of Coffee Day Enterprises Ltd. shares to refinance loans for ever shorter periods, at ever higher interest rates. “I would like to say I gave it my all,” V.G. Siddhartha, 60, wrote in the letter. “I fought for a long time but today I gave up.”

Naresh Goyal

THE former ticketing agent who built India’s largest airline by value stepped down as chairman of Jet Airways India Ltd. in March, caving in to pressure from banks who took over the company. Cutthroat price wars and surging costs pushed Jet deeper into loss. The airline stopped flying in April and went into bankruptcy two months later as lenders failed to find a buyer. In July, an Indian court barred Naresh Goyal from flying overseas after the government said it was investigating an alleged $2.6-billion fraud involving Jet Airways.

Rana Kapoor

THE founder of Yes Bank Ltd., which became India’s fourth-largest non-state lender, tweeted in September 2018 that his shares

were invaluable and requested his children never to sell them upon inheritance. But trouble was brewing. The nation’s banking regulator, which found the lender had repeatedly under-reported its bad loans, refused to extend his tenure as chief executive officer. This forced Rana Kapoor, 62, to step down by end-January. Kapoor, who has pledged some of his Yes Bank shares in July, sold almost his entire stake in the lender by October.

Subhash Chandra

THE rice trader-turned-media mogul, 69, who brought cable television into Indian homes in the early 1990s with his ZEE TV, resigned as chairman of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. in November and lost control of his crown jewel. Subhash Chandra has been selling stake in Zee Entertainment in the past few months to repay the group’s debt.

Gautam Thapar

A DEFAULT by Gautam Thapar, founder of the paper mill-to-power transmission Avantha Group, on pledged shares made Yes Bank Ltd. the biggest shareholder in CG Power and Industrial Solutions Ltd. In August, the firm was hit by an accounting scandal forcing the board to remove Thapar, 59, from the chairman’s post. A month later, the market regulator ordered a forensic audit of the firm and barred Thapar from accessing securities market.

News

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www.businessmirror.com.ph • Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug

Some 1,000 MMDA personnel to be fielded for ‘Traslación’ 2020

By Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco

A

T least 1,000 personnel of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) will be deployed for an orderly, safe and peaceful Traslación 2020 of the Black Nazarene.

“Our action plan is already in place. Aside from manpower, ambulances, road emergency vehicles, traffic mobile cars, and other necessary equipment will also be dispatched,” said MMDA Chairman Danilo Lim, adding that the contingent is composed of personnel from Metro Public Safety Office (MPSO), Traffic Discipline Office, Metro Parkways Clearing Group and Sidewalk Clearing Operations Group.

The contingent, Lim said, is tasked to assist the police, concerned government agencies and local government of Manila in maintaining order during this year’s annual religious activity.

According to Lim, volunteers have also committed to help this year’s Traslación. They will be hand in hand with MPSO in rendering first-aid treatment to devotees and providing rescue and emergency response when needed.

Michael Salalima, concurrent chief of staff of the Office of the General Manager and Focal Person for Disaster Risk Reduction and Management, said tents, plastic barriers and fences are now being set up at Quirino Grandstand in

Manila City where several activities would happen.

These include the Pahalik or kissing of the Black Nazarene image, procession of Black Nazarene replicas, vigil and Eucharistic Celebration.

“We are now installing barriers for the traditional Pahalik as crowd control measure and help bring order during the queuing of devotees,” said Salalima.

Lim also ordered the clearing of the procession’s route of obstruction and debris for the safety of the devotees.

On January 9, several roads in Manila will be temporarily closed to vehicular traffic for the procession. The route of the Traslacion will start at the Quirino Grandstand, Katigbak Road through Padre Burgos St., Finance Road through Ayala Boulevard, Palanca St., Quezon Boulevard, Arlegui St., Fraternal St., Vergara St., Duque de Alba St., Castillejos St., Farnecio St., Arlegui St., Nepomuceno St., Concepcion Aguila St., Carcer St., Hidalgo through Plaza del Carmen, Bilibid Viejo through Gil Puyat, JP De Guzman St., Hidalgo St., Quezon Boulevard, Palanca St. through under Quezon Bridge, Villalobos through Plaza Miranda and end in Quiapo Church.

Street sweepers and road-clearing group members will be positioned at the tail end of the procession to immediately clear roads of all types of trash and clutter.

Customs seizes meat products, assorted vegetables at Naia

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IRPORT Customs authorities confiscated 22 kilos of meat and meat products brought into the country by arriving passengers from China, Malaysia and Vietnam.

The meat and meat products are sausages and chicken feet placed inside their luggage.

Customs also seized some 8.2

kilos of various fruits and vegetables from China brought in by passengers. The said items were turned over to the Bureau of Animal Industry for disposition.

Customs said that the confiscated items were not covered with import and health certificates from the port of origin upon arrival at the airport. Recto Mercene

Pneumonia outbreak in China spurs fever checks in Singapore, Hong Kong

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MYSTERIOUS pneumonia outbreak that’s sickened dozens of people in China has prompted airports in Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan to introduce fever screening, as scientists search for the infectious source.

From Friday evening, temperature screening will be implemented at Changi Airport for all travelers arriving from the central Chinese city of Wuhan, Singapore’s Ministry of Health said.

In Hong Kong, thermal imaging systems will be deployed as part of increased fever surveillance at boundary check points, authorities said. Taiwan has implemented similar measures, its Center for Disease Control said Tuesday.

Several clinics and hospitals in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province, received patients suffering from pneumonia, officials announced on New Year’s Eve. Twenty-seven people associated with a fresh seafood and produce market fell ill with symptoms, including fever and shortness of breath. Seven were in serious condition and the others were in stable condition, officials in Hong Kong said Thursday.

The market, which has since been closed, sold birds, pheasants, and snakes, along with organs of rabbits and other wildlife, the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy in Minneapolis said Thursday, citing local media reports. That’s triggered worries about the potential jump of an unknown virus to

humans—reminiscent of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS, which killed almost 800 people about 17 years ago.

The World Health Organization said it has activated an incident management team over the Wuhan cases to “ensure disease detection systems are sensitive, communication channels are open, and reporting is rapid across the region,” the South China Morning Post reported.

Investigations are still under way and authorities haven’t yet confirmed the pathogen that’s causing the illness, Paige Snider, a WHO spokesman, told the paper. The Wuhan Institute of Virology didn’t respond to an emailed request for comment on the infectious source.

Fake news

SEVERAL people were arrested for circulating fake news online about the viral spread of pneumonia, provincial authorities said, adding that rumors on social media alleging that there had been an outbreak of SARS are untrue and no person-to-person transmission has been found so far.

Three travelers from Wuhan were admitted to hospitals in Hong Kong, though two were subsequently released, the South China Morning Post reported late Thursday. The city has hasn’t received any Wuhan-related severe pneumonia cases, Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan told reporters Thursday. Bloomberg News

Saturday, January 4, 2020

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DOLE chief Bello widens coverage of HSW deployment ban to Kuwait

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By Samuel P. Medenilla

HE Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) announced the expansion of the coverage of its partial deployment ban for household service workers (HSWs) bound for Kuwait.

In an interview on Friday morning, Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III said he directed the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) Governing Board (GB) to expand the ban to HSWs who are returning to Kuwait with new contracts.

This will ensure that only HSWs with existing contracts and have taken their vacation in the countr y will be allowed to go back to Kuwait.

Initially, he said, the ban was supposed to only cover first time HSWs. “This is to deliver the message [to the Kuwaiti authorities] that we mean business in protecting our OFWs [overseas Filipino workers],” Bello said.

The ban will be implemented through the moratorium on the verification, accreditation, and processing of individual contracts and additional job order for the said category.

Exempted from the said restrictions, however, are newly hired HSWs, who were able to get their overseas employment certificate (OEC), a document issued by POEA to allow Filipinos to work abroad, on or before 5 p.m. of Januar y 3, 2020.

The issuance, however, authorized the POEA administrator to “issue appropriate circulars to clarify and/or amend the Governing Board resolution upon instructions of the Board.”

Not directly stipulated

WITH the effectivity of the partial deployment ban, Bello said local recruitment agencies should now return the fees paid by their clients, who were affected by the deployment ban.

“For the agencies, please take note that if there are OFWs on the

EVEN with Bello’s pronouncement, the POEA Governing Board issued on Friday afternoon its Resolution 1, Series of 2020, imposing a deployment ban only for newly hired HSWs, who are bound for Kuwait.

Guaranteed reimbursement

way out but were caught by this temporary partial deployment ban, and they ask for reimbursement, please reimburse them the expenses,” Bello said.

He said they expect the reimbursed fees will be minimal because HSWs do not pay for placement fee.

Recruitment agencies, who will refuse to do so, Bello pointed out, will face possible administrative sanctions from POEA.

Kuwaiti govt response

BELLO, however, said the span of the ban will depend on the action of the Kuwaiti government on the case of Filipina HSW, Jeanelyn Villavende, who was allegedly killed by her employer in Kuwait last month.

The labor chief revealed the Kuwa it i gover nment had re quested the Philippine government to defer imposing the ban so they will have time to “give justice to Jeanelyn.”

Bello said he was informed by the Kuwaiti ambassador that Villavende’s employers, who are working for the Kuwaiti Ministry of Interior, are already under detention.

DOLE said the Kuwaiti ambassador committed to submit the proof that they have already filed the appropriate charges against the two suspects by Monday.

“If the two suspects are eventually charged for the murder of Jeanelyn, then we will consider the lifting of the partial deployment ban,” Bello said.

Bello warned they will impose a total deployment ban to Kuwait, if they will find the Kuwaiti government’s action on the said matter insufficient.

Whitewash

THE House of Representatives Committee on Overseas Foreign Workers chaired by Trade Union Cong ress of t he Ph i l ippi nes (TUCP) Party-list Rep. Raymond Mendoza said he will call for a Congressional probe on the case of Villavende.

“The investigation will help us know what happened, how it happened, and what can we do concretely to prevent these deaths from happening,” Mendoza said.

He said they would use the inputs from the probe to craft the bill creating the Department of Filipino Overseas and Foreign Employment (DFOFE).

Mea nwh i le, Mendoz a a l so ca l led on DOLE a nd Depa r tment of Foreig n A f fa irs (DFA) to send a “monitor ing committee” to Kuwa it to ensu re t here w i l l be no wh itewash in t he Kuw a it i gover n ment ’s probe on Vi l l avende’s case. “ The monitoring committee must be convened immediately because the spouse of the suspect is an employee at the Kuwait Interior Department and we fear that it might inf luence t he go ve r n me nt aut hor it ie s investigating the incident and alter the facts and evidences of the case around Villavende’s death,” Mendoza said.

‘A more dangerous world:’ Iran killing triggers global alarm

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ARIS—Global powers are warning that the world has become a more dangerous place after US President Donald Trump ordered the targeted killing of Iran’s top general and are urging restraint on all sides.

China, Russia and France, all permanent members of the UN Security Council, took a dim view of the US air strike near Baghdad’s airport early Friday that

killed Gen. Qassem Soleimani.

“We are waking up in a more dangerous world. Military escalation is always dangerous,” France’s deputy minister for foreign affairs, Amelie de Montchalin, said on RTL radio. “When such actions, such operations, take place, we see that escalation is under way.”

Russia’s Foreign Ministry, via an unnamed diplomat quoted by

the state-run TASS news agency, condemned the killing as “an adventurist step that would lead to growing tensions throughout the entire region.”

C h i n a de s c r i b e d it s e l f a s “highly concerned.”

“Peace in t he Midd le East a nd t he Gu l f reg ion shou ld be preser ved ,” C h i nese Foreig n Ministr y Spokesman Geng Shuang sa id. “ We urge a l l par t ies

concerned, especially the United St ates, to m a int a in c a l m and restraint and avoid further esca l at ion of tensions.”

Montchalin, the French minister, indicated that urgent reconci liation ef for ts are being l aunc hed behind t he scenes.

Frenc h P resident Em m a nue l Macron and his foreign minister were reaching out to “all the actors in the region,” she said. AP

Taiwan defense execs meet after crash killed top officer

400,000 flee as Jakarta flood leaves 42 dead–BNPB report T

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T least 42 people have died from the New Year’s Day flooding in Indonesia’s greater Jakarta area, and hundreds of thousands were evacuated, according to the government’s disaster mitigation agency.

More than 400,000 people, mostly from Bekasi, east of Jakarta, fled their homes, the agency known as BNPB said. Some people in evacuation centers have returned to their houses as floodwater subsides and power is turned back on, according to Kompas TV. As many as 17 people drowned, while 12 were killed by landslides, according to BNPB. The agency’s tally of 43 victims

includes one missing person. In Januar y 2013, f looding in Jakarta metropolitan area killed dozens of people and sent about 84,000 people to evacuation centers.

Power in 85 percent of the affected areas have been restored, PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara said on Friday.

Operations at Halim Perdanakusuma, the city’s second-biggest airport, returned to normal on Thursday.

Still, parts of Jakarta and surrounding areas remain flooded and without electricity after heavy monsoon rains since New Year’s eve.

The weather agency expects the adverse weather to persist in the next two weeks.

President Joko

Widodo ordered gover nment agenc ies on T hu rsd ay to pr ior it i ze sec u r it y a nd resc ue measu res. T he d isaster m it igat ion agenc y sa id it w i l l implement weat her mod if icat ion on Fr id ay to reduce t he intensit y of ra in in t he Ja k a r t a a rea.

The government will deploy almost 300 personnel to assess how to prevent another severe flooding as the weather agency forecasts heavy rain on January 11 to January 15, Public Works and Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono told reporters on Friday.

The new capital that Indonesia will build on the island of Borneo will be flood proof, Hadimuljono said.

Bloomberg News

AIPEI, Taiwan—Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen convened a meeting of top defense officials Friday following a helicopter crash that killed the island’s top military officer and other prominent personnel.

In a tweet, Tsai said the morning conference focused on ensuring military morale, security in and around the Taiwan Strait and the importance of “complete equipment inspections.”

That followed the grounding for inspection of Taiwan’s 52 UH-60M Black Hawk choppers belonging to the air force, army and National Airborne Service Corps.

Thursday morning’s crash in forested mountains outside the capital Taipei killed eight people including chief of the general staff Gen. Shen Yi-ming, 63.

A former pilot and air force chief, Shen had since July been largely responsible for overseeing the self-governing island’s defense against China.

“The best way for us to honor the memory of the fallen is to ensure Taiwan’s security and maintain military morale,” Tsai wrote.

Others killed in the crash included both pilots, the deputy head of the Political Warfare Bureau and the deputy chief of the General Staff for Intelligence, while two lieutenant generals and a major general were among the five survivors.

Tsai and her two rivals in January 11’s presidential election suspended their campaigns to observe a period of mourning.

The crash, which is under investigation, is not expected to affect the holding of the election, which Tsai is highly favored to win, but will require an urgent reshuffling of top military staff. Questions have also been raised as to why so many high-ranking officers were aboard a single flight.

China threatens to use military force if necessary to annex what it considers part of its territory and a vacuum within Taiwan’s military leadership could embolden it to step up its military intimidation.

Shen’s death comes as Taiwan’s military is undergoing a substantial upgrade with the arrival of the most advanced version of the US F-16V fighter, along with tanks, missiles and improved military software. AP

A4 Saturday, January 4, 2020

ExportUnlimited BusinessMirror

Exporters urged to tap African markets

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ILIPINO manufacturers, particularly of personal-care products and beverages made from indigenous materials and goods, are encouraged to scout opportunities for business in African markets.

Agnes Legaspi, assistant director at Department of Trade and Industry-Export Marketing Bureau (DTI-EMB), identified some products that will be strong in South Africa, or other African countries, including personal-care products using indigenous materials. “These are the raw materials like coconut, calamansi, rice, papaya and even pili,” she said.

“We pride ourselves of being one of the leading exporters of coconut

products. And we believe that we are actually one of the countries that has gained recognition in terms of the quality of our coconut products that we export.”

Legaspi said the country currently has different types of coconut products like coconut sugar, coconut water, coconut juice, in addition to dessicated coconut, medium-chain triglyceride oil, virgin coconut oil, coconut flour and young coconut chips.

“And because we are an archipelagic country, we also produce a lot of marine products, actually, export a lot of these, as well as processed sea food…,” she said.

The trade official also cited beverages, w ines, and spirits using indigenous products like calamansi and mango. “We have exporters [who] also have been gaining grounds producing quality natural wellness supplements that are good for all of us because we are espousing healthy lifestyle. These are supplements that we think we can contribute to the well-being, hopefully of African consumers,” Legaspi said.

She added many exporters have also obtained organic certification. “[These are] certified from different markets from all over the world and are in mainstream shelves—they are right beside the products that are being sold not

only to the Filipino communities.

We have organic products that are now in the US, UK and EU, and many other parts of the world,” she said.

Legaspi also underscored the need to tap the trillion-dollar halal market, noting that many of the African consumers are Muslims.

“That’s the reason why we currently have the halal export promotion. The law that has been enacted to promote certifications for all halal that would be compliant to the markets that we serve and, hopefully, would want not only to tap the food, the personal care, but other sectors, as well, like logistics and services, [and] even financing,” she said.

“Other culture-based products that we are quite strong, we have certification also for these kosher products and they are also in mainstream markets,” she added.

How to import goods PIDS: Implementation of i3S strategy ensures to the Philippines

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MPORTATION of goods can be your new source of business, or a great way to save on costs to stay competitive for those who want to go direct to their source of supply of goods and commodities overseas.

To teach you the secrets of importers, the Center for Global Best Practices will host a pioneering program, entitled “Best Practices Guide on How to Import Goods to the Philippines” scheduled on Monday, January 20, 2020, at the Edsa Shangri-La Hotel, Mandaluyong City, Philippines.

This special training is for those who want to really learn the best practices for a trouble-free importation of goods to the Philippines. The lecture will include an easy step-by-step guide on the intricacies in dealing with the Bureau of Customs, import license issues, entry processes and procedures, compliance and documentary requirements, solving the technicalities, frequently encountered issues at Customs and many more.

Learn the secrets of informed importers to save you on costs, valuable tips and insights for faster Customs clearance and remedies. This program will also highlight the common errors committed by importers, provide you with ready-made procedures and forms, and showcase which goods and commodities have lower, zero tariffs or exempted from the payment of import taxes!

This training will feature Atty. Ferdinand “Randy” Nague, author of the Handbook on the Tariff and Customs Code of the Philippines and the Customs Brokers Act of 2004, and The Customs Modernization and Tariff Act of 2016/2019

edition. He was one of the Customs experts hired toward the compliance and accession of the Philippines to the International Convention on the Simplification and Harmonization of Customs Procedures, otherwise known as the Revised Kyoto Convention (RKC).

He was also hired by the USAID as one of its consultants and technical experts who drafted and finalized, the Republic Act 10863, or the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA).

He is the immediate past president of the Chamber of Customs Brokers Inc. (CCBI) and presently the managing partner of Nague Malic Magnawa & Associates Customs Broker.

Registration is open to the general public. CGBP is accredited by the Civil Service Commission. Attendees from the government can earn points for their career advancement and are exempted from the P2,000 limit when attending training conducted by the private sector based on DBM Circular 563 dated April 22, 2016. Interested participants are encouraged to avail of the early registration savings and group discount for three or more attendees. Seats are limited and preregistration is required.

Check www.cgbp.org for a complete list of other International Trade Programs, such as the New Incoterms 2020, Mastering the Basics of Letters of Credits, Revised ISBP on LC Transactions, and Business Guide to Preparing and Handling Transfer Pricing Audits, and many more! You may also call landlines in Manila (+632) 88427148/59 and (+632) 8556-8968/69, in Baguio (+6374) 423-2914, and in Cebu (+6332) 512-3106 or 07.

MSME growth, devt

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HERE is a need to ensure i mplement at ion of t he gover n ment ’s I nc lu sive Innovation Industrial Strategy (i3S) ensuring growth and development of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) as the country promotes sustained economic growth, according to the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS).

A discussion paper, titled “The Philippines’s Voluntary National Review on the Sustainable Development Goals” (SDG) underscored the importance of implementing i3S given most of the dynamic sectors, such as manufacturing and information technology, have not reached their full potential due to the structure of the Philippine economy. i3S also aims to build new industries, clusters and agglomeration, and strengthen human resources.

“There is a need to prepare industries [especially MSMEs] and people for the age of technological disruption. Aside from investing in research and development, it is also important for these investments to be complemented by appropriate skills for the country’s human capital,”it said.

The paper further said provision of full and productive employment and decent work must also not be the sole responsibility of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).

“This should employ a wholeof-government approach involving various concerned agencies,” it said.

The paper cited other agencies, such as the Departments of Trade and Industry, Agriculture, Finance, Budget, Education, and Public Works and Highways, National Economic and Development Authority, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, coupled with partnerships with the business community, given that the private sector is the main engine of the economy.

One of the SDG is promoting decent work and economic growth. In September 2015, the Philippines, together with 192 other United Nations memberstates, committed to achieving the 17 SDGs and their concomitant 169 targets by 2030.

While the country has seen robust gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate for the seventh straight year last 2018, the report said this growth has been largely fueled by the service sector.

“As the country strives to sustain economic growth through added support to the agricultural sector, and through attaining free trade and other agreements that will further bolster industry and service sectors, it will be important for us to see the changing landscape fueled by emerging technologies of the fourth industrial revolution,” it added.

PHL choco brand among top 10 innovative food products in major Dubai trade show

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UBAI, United Arab Emirates—A rising Davao-based chocolate brand, MS3 AgriVentures Corp., has been selected as one of the top 10 finalists in the Food Innovation Awards in the recently held SIAL Middle East at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre, Dubai, UAE, from December 9 to 11. Part of the SIAL Network, SIAL Middle East is backed by more than 50 years of experience, industry know-how and a broad international network of eight leading B2B events.

The 75 percent Dark Chocolate with Coco Sugar from MS3 Agri-Ventures won for its innovation on its “original recipe composition.” The product is wrapped in a packaging inspired by patterns from the Tausug people and don the color of dark purple, which signifies the royal color of excellence.

“We had a very good experience in SIAL. It gave us the opportunity to meet new buyers, traders and friends.

It allows us to discover the different types of cultures that represents the

creative food innovations in the Middle East,” said Neil Santillan, managing director of MS3 Agri-ventures.

Aside from MS3 Agri-ventures, 12 companies that showcased in SIAL include Edna and Rebecca’s Banana Chips & Coated Peanut, Filipinas Oro de Cacao Inc. (Auro Chocolate), Fruits of Life Inc., JNRM Corp., Mapagmahal Foods, Marigold Manufacturing Corp. (Mama Sita’s), Miguelito’s International Corp., Mira’s Turmeric Products, ProSource International Inc., RPO Fine Foods Corp. and See’s International Food Mfg. Corp.

This participation under FoodPhilippines is led by DTI-Citem, in partnership with the Philippine Trade and Investment Center in Dubai; and the Foreign Trade Service Corps, Export Marketing Bureau; the Philippine Exporters Confederation; and the Philippine Embassy in UAE as part of the government’s unified effort to promote the Philippines as a source of quality food products in the global market.

DTI reports rising sales of packaged food sales in Thailand in next 5 yrs

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ACKAGED food is set to post positive retail value sales and growth in Thailand over the next five years, with the health and wellness trend, and social media, both impact on their sales.

“Offerings of low fat, no sugar, high fiber, organic and premium are set to do well, and consumers will benefit from explicitly highlighting the beneficial qualities of products, on their packaging,” said the Euromonitor Digest, the online publication of the Export Marketing Bureau of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

The report said baked goods, processed meat and seafood, drinking

milk, and edible oils all saw substantial growth through diversifying offerings and adding premium, healthy options for consumers.

“However, ready meals recorded the most substantial level of growth, with busy consumers appreciating the convenience and variety that these products provide. Ready meals have also benefited from expansion in convenience stores, a channel more frequently used by consumers, to purchase daily essentials,” it said.

Social-media marketing is also a tool that encourages healthy eating among consumers—be it through influencers, advertisements or following the lifestyles of favorite celebrities.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

OurTime BusinessMirror

NO TO AGEISM, YES TO INTERGENERATIONAL EQUALITY

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By Srinivas Tata & Eduardo Klien

ANGKOK, Thailand—In line with the recent celebration of the International Day of Older Persons, we recognize that population aging is a human success story, a story of longer and often healthier lives of the world’s people. The many faces of older persons that we see in Asia and in the Pacific, and, indeed, all over the world, attest to this fact. Still, however, aging is considered a threat.

There is talk about the “burden of aging,” exploding health-care costs, and concerns about plummeting economic growth due to the shrinking labor force. In many cities of AsiaPacific, we see advertisement for “anti-aging cosmetics” and surgeries. The current ideal is that we must be young, dynamic and without wrinkles or grey hair, especially older women.

Population ageing is a human success story and an inevitable outcome of the demographic transition. In Asia-Pacific, the pace of change is unprecedented, with fertility rates falling rapidly across the entire region and life expectancy rising, resulting in a rapid increase in the proportion of older persons. In 2000, those aged 65 or older made up 6.1 percent of the population; in 2019 it was 8.7 percent, and in 2050 it is projected to be 18.4 percent. In many European countries, it took almost a century to increase the share of the older population from 7 percent to 14 percent. In Asia-Pacific, this is happening in as little as 18 to 20 years, such as in Sri Lanka and Vietnam. This means that countries, and in particular policy-makers need to act fast.

The region continues to be the prime driver of global economic growth, yet a significant proportion of the working age population is not covered by pensions. In several countries of the region, especially ones in Southeast Asia and South and Southwest Asia, coverage is well below 20 percent. Similar challenges exist in terms of providing accessible and affordable health care, particularly for those left furthest behind. Robust social protection systems must be developed to address population aging in a comprehensive manner. Because the majority of older persons are women, their needs must be specifically addressed.

Older persons make vital contributions to society; their role should not only be acknowledged, it should be made easier, including through improving their knowledge

and skills through lifelong learning, promoting flexible working arrangements, and allowing them to have easy access to everyday conveniences, like public transportation. A study on the time use of men and women shows that overall, older persons provide more care than they receive. They provide care to grandchildren and other older persons who need care, with many intergenerational benefits, including indirect contributions to family income by making younger women freer to participate in the paid labor force. Aging surveys have also found that the health of older persons tends to be better if they are socially connected, volunteer and contribute to society.

Through older persons associations, older persons generate income, build up social support structures and provide access to credit, allowing them to stay more active and healthier. Mindsets need to change; we can worry less about shrinking working-age populations when we consider that people live longer and healthier. Pensions systems should be adapted to cover those in the informal sector and retirement ages adjusted to provide the choice to older persons to work up to a later age. We must alter our perception of ageing as a burden. Rather, policies and plans should see ageing as opportunity, with benefits to be harnessed.

Population aging provides attractive business prospects, often identified as the “Silver Economy.” More products should be tailored to the needs of the growing older population, while universally designed products and the care economy can grow exponentially.

Financial products and instruments, like reverse mortgages, can be designed to adapt to needs of older persons, including to use their immovable assets to fund financial requirements.

The young people of today are the older persons of tomorrow. Population ageing can only be addressed systematically if an intergenerational approach based on equity and seeing youth and aging are part of a single continuum is adopted.

Let us celebrate population ageing and embrace it. A fair society for older persons is a just and prosperous society for all ages.

ESCAP and HelpAge have recently joined forces to address population ageing more comprehensively through the organization of advocacy events and the collaboration on research on older persons. We stand ready to support countries in the region in designing and developing policies and programs to ensure that older persons are not left behind. IPS

Editor: Angel R. Calso • Saturday, January 4, 2020

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Dapitanons urged to reflect on relevance of Rizal today

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By Gualberto Laput

APITAN CITY, Zamboanga del Norte—More than a century after Jose Rizal tried to create his ideal society in this town, Dapitanons are challenged to reflect on the relevance of the national hero in their lives today.

“I believe this year’s theme ‘Jose Rizal: Huwaran ng Pilipino sa Ika-21 Siglo’ is very much relevant as it is an admission that nothing much has changed in our society since he died,” said Rex Angelo Hamoy, an official of the Dapitan Historical Society.

In an interview with the Philippine News Agency, Hamoy noted that during Rizal’s time as it is today, “there was discrimination, inequality in the application of the laws, rampant corruption that placed the Indios [lowest-ranked social classification in places under Spanish rule] in very deplorable situation.”

Hamoy, who is also a history professor at Jose Rizal Memorial State University here, added it was because of these inequalities that Rizal wanted to change the Filipino society “the way President Duterte want it changed.”

He said Rizal can be a model to emulate by Dapitanons in particular and Filipinos in general. “First we can pursue quality education so

that we cannot be fooled or blinded by others,” he said.

He cited Rizal’s letter to the women of Malolos, in which he advised them that “God, fountain of wisdom, does not expect man, created in His image, to allow himself to be fooled and blinded.”

In today’s age of Wi-fi and social media, Hamoy also lamented that many Filipinos have always been victims of “fake news.” “How many of us accept as Gospel truth the rantings of media personalities who glorify one and degrade the other?” he added.

He said ignorance has deeply divided Filipinos, a modern-day factionalism that also plagued the Philippine society under Spain.

“But if we have quality education, we would be capable of recognizing fact from fiction so that we can move forward without being tangled in the snags of factionalism,” Hamoy said.

Hamoy added “we can learn from Rizal how to give the best of ourselves in the worst circumstances.”

POLICE perform 21-gun salute to honor Dr. Jose Rizal during the commemoration of the national hero’s 123rd death anniversary in Dapitan City, on December 30, 2019. The government of Spain sent Rizal to exile in Dapitan, where he lived the last but best four years of his life. A university in Dapitan was named in his honor. GUALBERTO M. LAPUT

The local historian noted that Rizal—a city boy, educated in the Philippines and in Europe and was able to visit other countries—was suddenly sent to the remote Dapitan that had nothing to offer.

“But in his exile in this city, Rizal was able to live the last but best four years of his life. It was here that he was able to use his knowledge and talents in ophthalmology, engineering, arts, agriculturist, teacher, entrepreneur, and others,” he said.

“And it came to his mind to make Dapitan [City] his ideal society—a society whose people are educated, have great love to their country, having a sense of civil service, are economically advanced and taking care of each other,” Hamoy added.

Hamoy said Dapitanons should also rekindle Rizal’s critical yet

courteous ways in dealing not just to people at his level, but most particularly to lowly individuals.

“When in Dapitan, Rizal was always the first to greet the people he met,” Hamoy said. “Asked why he did so, Rizal answered it is up to the more educated to lead and give example so others may learn.”

Today, Hamoy said Filipinos are still far from Rizal’s ideals of what society should be because the social evils he fought before are still present today.

“While there are no more Spaniards who take advantage of Filipinos, it is sad to know that it is now Filipinos who are taking advantage of their fellow countrymen,” Hamoy said. “I hope we can still change ourselves, the way Rizal wanted us to be.” PNA

A6 Saturday, January 4, 2020 | Editor: Mike Besa

BACK TO BAS

THE short but treacherous 17th at Calatagan

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Story & photos by Mike Besa

OMING off the 70th Fil-Am Invitational Golf Tournament in Baguio City, I’ll be the first to admit that my golf game was getting a bit…well, stale. Despite my frequent practice sessions and playing dates, my game was erratic, and it was getting frustrating.

Then there was the knee pain. It star ted in my build up to the Fil-Am. The pain star ted in the lef t knee under the knee cap. Favoring the lef t knee put an inordinate amount of strain on the right. Things came to a head when the right knee began to swell. Straightening it became a problem. For tunately, the Christmas holidays rolled around and golf took a back seat. Both knees responded to treatment and rest, but it was clear that they would continue to bother me moving for ward.

Add a personal crisis to the mix and it’s all a golfer can do to keep his head in the game.

In a stroke of luck, I received an invitation from Ricky Yabut, proprietor of the Calatagan bed and breakfast Cortijo del Charro, to spend the Christmas holidays with him. You may remember Cortijo del Charro from a Calatagan guide published in this section many issues ago. It is tranquility personified and would be a good place to heal both body and spirit.

A round at Calatagan Golf Club was always in the plan. It is a spiritual home base for my golf. The connection with Calatagan is emotional; I play more challenging,

better conditioned golf courses, but none touches my soul as does Calatagan. It was the perfect place to heal both body and mind.

The golf course is a Rober t Trent Jones Jr. design and by my reckoning, it’s his best work in the Philippines af ter the two courses at Canlubang. Above all else, Calatagan Golf Club is beautiful. Enrique Zobel, who commissioned the golf course, planted trees from all over the world, including the frangipani (kalachuchi) that have come to define the golf course. They create a hominess that makes it feel like you’re playing golf in someone’s billion-peso garden in the 70s. It’s a window back in time.

The golf course twists and turns as it makes its way down the hill, winding around until it makes its way back up again. It doesn’t favor one ball flight; the best will need to move the ball both ways to take full advantage of the treelined fairways.

This isn’t a golf course that you can bomb your driver and make it up as you go along. You need to play to cer tain positions on the golf course to put yourself in position for the next shot.

Course knowledge is incredibly impor tant. It’s possible to be in the fairway and not have a shot at the green.

The golf course is roughly untouched from the time that it was built back in the 70s; a testament to the ease of maintenance and sustainability of the golf courses of that era. The ball rolls very well on the zoysia greens, which are deceptively fast but grainy, as is the nature of the grass. They are

ONE of the most memorable tee shots you’ll face at Calatagan is on the three

CALATAGAN Golf Club is the perfect place to get back to what matters most

SICS

www.pinoygolfer.com | Saturday, January 4, 2020 A7

predictable and that’s all a golfer can ask.

Although length isn’t required here, when combined with accuracy, it certainly provides an advantage. But the beauty of Calatagan Golf Club is that you don’t need to hit it 300-yards off the tee to score well. You do need to be patient and methodical and if you can manage that, your playing partners are in trouble.

The first hole sets the trend. It’s a short par 5 that most are happy to play in regulation. Undue aggression off the tee tends to be more trouble than it’s worth. A birdie is just as easy with a well-placed wedge and a good putt.

Calatagan has its share of hero shots, none nervier than the tee shot on three. Long hitters can get into prime position to attack the green by carrying their tee shot over the lake. This isn’t a good play in the summer when the fairways are hard as your drive will find its way into the trees beyond the fairway. But just after the rains, the fairways are soft and will hold the tee shot.

Most of the long holes are on the outward nine. The fifth and ninth are the most difficult of the lot. Five is the one handicap. Its length and position relative to the prevailing wind make this hole all but unmanageable. Nine isn’t as long but plays uphill more directly into the prevailing breeze. The green slopes severely from left to right putting severe pressure on your approach.

The inward nine might be shorter but it is more enigmatic. The fairways twist and turn, first one way then another. This is where intellect trumps brute force. Finesse and correct positioning are what make a good score here.

I arrived at the club the day after the Christmas storm. The course had been inundated, but fortunately the absence of destructive gale force winds left the golf course just a bit soft in places but ultimately playable.

Taking advantage of a club promo, I set out on the golf course with my caddy. The goal today was to enjoy myself, hit good shots and try to post a good score. Given my physical infirmities and emotional baggage, I had no expec tations.

If you like hitting shots, Calatagan is a golf course that will test you. What I love about this place the most is that you don’t need mad skills to score well. Sure, they help, but thoughtful play and a good short game pay dividends here.

Playing alone takes me back to my roots, back to my beginnings in the game. As a beginner, I of ten played alone to develop my skills while not embarrassing myself in the presence of others.

It proved to be a great way to relax and clear my head, a benefit that I would lean on repeatedly in my golf life.

This was such a round. Licking my emotional and physical wounds, I plotted my way around the golf course, losing myself in the golf course, the process and the game. Although I didn’t give it much thought, I knew that I was playing well.

The round went quickly. Since it was the day after Christmas the halfway house wasn’t open, so we didn’t bother to stop at the turn.

The good play continued until the end of the round. Best of all we completed the round in just three hours.

It was gratifying to play well but even more gratifying was that my emotional demons seemed to have deserted me. I felt refreshed, energized, optimistic and excited for tomorrow’s prospects. The results were heaven-sent.

Golf had again bestowed on me its healing, restorative powers, and I’ve come away renewed in body and mind. My gimpy knees are better, and my game seems to have found another gear. I’ve found motivation to keep moving for ward in both golf and life and that’s really all anyone could ever want.

LIVING THE DREAM S

By Chuah Choo Chiang

UCH is his attitude toward life that Dou Zecheng is the kind of athlete who looks at his golf ball as being in the middle of the fairway rather than in an unlucky divot after unleashing a perfectly executed drive.

The young China rising star has been to golfing heaven and back over the past three seasons that he remains unfazed and undeterred after narrowly missing out on a quick return to the PGA Tour via the Korn Ferry Tour last season.

Dou, who turns 23 in January, finished 28th in the Korn Ferry Tour Regular Season points list, which was an agonizing three rungs outside the top-25 which rewards players with PGA Tour cards for the 201920 season.

What may have stung him more was the fact that he won the season-opening Tournament, The Bahamas Great Exuma Classic at Sandals Emerald Bay, and sat comfortably inside the top 25 for most of the season.

Inexplicably, from the joy of winning his second Korn Ferry Tour title, Dou’s fortunes took a dip where he missed 15 cuts over his next 23 starts and subsequently missed out on a PGA Tour card which he held in 2018. He had secured entry into the world’s premier Tour then through the Korn Ferry Tour back in 2017.

“A lot of media has been asking me the same question,” said Dou. “Although it was up-and-down, I see it as a successful year. I didn’t see it as a failure although I ended up not getting the [PGA Tour] card. If I didn’t play good [win] in Bahamas, I could have been back playing in China as I didn’t have full ex-

DOU ZECHENG

empt on the Korn Ferry Tour. Winning was a good thing.”

Dou is prepared to continue the grind on the Korn Ferry Tour which he feels is a great platform to help make him a more complete golfer. When he played on the PGA Tour in 2018 which he made only four cuts from 23 starts, he knew he just wasn’t good enough to compete at the highest level.

“I don’t want it to happen so fast. If I get my card back, it’s like maybe too fast.

I want to take it slowly and this might be good for me. Maybe slow and steady wins the race,” he said.

After the dust settled down in 2019, Dou reviewed all the hard work he put in with Coach Cameron McCormick, who also teaches Jordan Spieth. He gave himself full marks for staying the course with his routine and work ethics.

“When I played on the PGA Tour, I didn’t spend enough time doing what I needed to do. And then coming out with a win in early 2019, I kept working hard and focused on

THE HALF SET I

’M a regular on the Internet golf forums and just the other day, I happened across an article on the Half Set on Golfwrx.com. It struck a chord with me as one of my favorite matches of my golf year occurs every January at Tagaytay Midlands Golf Club when the Xavier School Ryder Cup tournament comes around. For several years, I represented my team, the Tigers, in a 6-club singles match which was one of several formats we played in the series.

I absolutely loved it.

It was a chance to exercise creativity and shotmaking, things that seem to be conspicuously absent from the game these days. You played less by distance and more by feel and shape of shot. A couple of years ago, the tournament committee changed the tournament format in order to accommodate more golfers. One of the casualties was the 6-club singles match.

Modern golf has become a numbers game. You bomb your drive, get to your ball, get the precise yardage to your target and hit as short a club as you can right at it. There isn’t much room for creativity in that system. Even more damaging is the fact that if the golfer catches himself in between yardages, the solution is often to take the shorter club and hit it hard.

Now I know the higher handic ap golfers among you are already thinking, “That’s all well and good for you since you’re a good golfer. I’m just trying to make good contact with the golf ball, that doesn’t sound like a game I can play.”

In truth, the newbies have the most to gain.

Think about it. Most beginners have trouble hitting one club in the center of the clubface. This is complicated by having a lot of clubs in the bag. In fact, I’ll wager that most beginners play their golf with just six or seven of the 14 clubs that they have their caddy lug around for them. So why not just simplify matters and reduce your caddy’s burden?

You’ll learn to judge distance by how hard you hit each club. If you play a normal length (as opposed to single length) set, it will reduce the number of clubs with which you need to develop proficiency.

Last, if you’re in the process of putting together a set, it will reduce the size of your investment significantly.

Companies like Titleist, Ping and others will allow you to custom order a set of however many irons you desire. Or if cost is truly an issue, buy an experienced set and take out every other iron from the longest iron you can hit.

The first time I ever played with a half set or something approximating one was at a birthday golf game of a dear departed friend at Royale Tagaytay Golf and Country Club. I had already come from my Saturday game at Eagle Ridge when I got the call that the group was getting together for drinks and a game of night golf.

I got to Royale Tagaytay well before any of my friends and proceeded to have a couple of beers while waiting for them to arrive. Royale Tagaytay is a short course made up of seven par 3s and two par 4s.

When we were complete, the game master announced that we would be playing the golf course with just six clubs plus whatever we needed to drive the green of the finishing par 4.

I hastily scoured the club scorecard looking for the longest of the three pars.

I put the iron I needed for that hole and added shorter clubs to fill in the gaps down to my putter. We also stuffed as many bottles of beer as we could into our golf bags and set out on our round. I won’t go into the gory details but suffice it to say, we had a roaring good time.

I played my first game of the New Year with a half set at the Nicklaus Course of Forest Hills. The game started poorly; bogey-double wasn’t quite the start I had in mind. But I adjusted and the game began to flow. I worked my way around the course and finished at 1-under my handicap. The beauty of playing with a half set is the simplicity of the decision-making process and the commitment that you can give to each shot. A good result is almost a given with that sort of mindset.

The game of golf has undergone lots of changes in the last couple of years, all with the goal of simplif ying the game and to make it more accessible to people that are looking to get into golf.

One of the most intimidating prospec ts for a newbie is purchasing his first set of golf clubs. It isn’t just the expense either, having to choose your first set, that investment is no less daunting a task for the uninitiated.

This movement of simplif ying the game has caught on with legendary iron maker Miura. Miura, together with the golf lifestyle brand, recently announced the Miura + Linksoul Color Theory iron set. This set is Miura’s attempt to increase its appeal and reach in a market now densely populated with competitors in the high-end golf club space. Ultrapremium offerings from companies like PXG, and mainstream OEMs such as Callaway (EPIC Forged Irons/Epic Star) and, Titleist (CNCPT) have all taken market share away from Miura.

Consisting of four clubs with the lofts 25, 32, 40, and 49 degrees, each one is marked by a color instead of a number as a way to differentiate, and in true Linksoul style creates something both understated and unique. The price for this set is rather high at $1,300 but is in line with Miura’s pricing and should come as no surprise to those familiar with the company’s irons.

my fitness. I might play around 20 events in 2020 and see how it works out. I played a lot in 2019 and at one stretch played 14 of 15 weeks and maybe that got to me.”

Dou believes his association with McCormick, where they are both based in Dallas, will help transform him into the kind of golfer he wants to become. “He introduced this fitness program which I now go to the gym three times a week. My body started feeling really good and we’re making changes in my game, focusing on my swing plane with the aim of creating more consistency with my ball striking and putting.

“I see Cameron once a week now which is good and there’s not a day at home [in Dallas] where I don’t have anything to do.

I’m always working on something, trying to get better all the time.”

He is eager to start his 2020 Korn Ferry Tour campaign on a strong note with his defense at the Bahamas. “I feel good with my game. I finished second twice on the China Tour [toward the end of 2019] and I had three good rounds at the WGC-HSBC Champions. I feel confident about getting my PGA Tour card,” he said.

While Dou is living the American dream, he admit ted that being away from China and his family offers different challenges. “Living in Dallas­— golf is the biggest thing. There are good courses, good coaches, good players around you which is big. However, being Chinese out here [in the US], the hard par t is you think about your family all the time. It can be tough if you’re not doing well and it can get hard.”

Chuah Choo Chiang is senior director, communications of the PGA Tour and is based in Kuala Lumpur.

MY hastily cobbled together half set

If you’d like to try this minimalist approach to golf, there’s no need to go out and drop big bucks for a special set. If you already own a set of golf clubs, you already own a half set. The trick is deciding which clubs to keep in your bag.

One way is to check on the par 3s of the course you’re about to play and build your set around the club you need for the longest of the three pars. There are pros and cons to this strategy. The inherent disadvantage is that you might have little use for the club you’re building your set around other than that one hole.

You need to understand that you will need your putter and most of your shots will still be inside of 100 yards, so you’ll need to take this into account when you’re choosing your half set. Know too that it’s easier to hit a long club a shorter distance than to try and eke out a little more distance from a shorter club. So, you’ll want to choose the most versatile clubs in your bag to make sure that you can deal with any distance that you face out on course.

If you don’t already know, find out what the lofts of your iron set are. Modern iron sets have loft gaps of 4 to 5 degrees between clubs, but this number shrinks as you move to the longer irons. You may not need every other iron in your bag.

If you’re any good with your driver, you’ll want to keep it in your bag. It has the largest clubface and it’s generally the most forgiving club off the tee. It will be a good way to set up the hole for you and crystalize which clubs need to make the trip with you to the course.

This is one equipment trend that deserves notoriety and our support. It brings creativity and feel back into the game and heightens the sense of satisfaction of a shot well-played. It simplifies a game that can get so complex that it can be off-putting to people that might otherwise be interested in the game. It’s a wonderful way to practice and the shotmaking you learn playing with a half set will translate seamlessly into your game with all your clubs.

Get back to basics. Play with a half set today. You can thank me later. Mike Besa

A8

Saturday, January 4, 2020

Sports BusinessMirror

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

THE STERN LEGACY

By Tim Reynolds

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getting too black,” Stern said in his Hall of Fame induction speech. “I remembered this guy named Russell who played with this other guy named Cousy. The best basketball that I think ever existed in the world and it dawned on me that we had something to teach the world.”

With that, equality—all sorts of it, including racial and gender—became a passion of Stern’s. He championed the creation of the WNBA. He was Magic Johnson’s biggest advocate when the Lakers star announced he had been diagnosed with HIV in 1991. And he supported Johnson when he returned to the league after his first retirement, plus pushed for him to be part of the first Olympic “Dream Team” in 1992.

“We were able to change the world,” Johnson said.

The Associated Press

IAMI—Nick Nurse has quite a few reasons to be thankful for David Stern.

The coach of the National Basketball Association (NBA) champion Toronto Raptors first encountered Stern around 20 years ago.

Nurse, who was coaching in London, met Stern—then the NBA commissioner—through a mutual friend remembers how fascinating it was to have conversations with him. Fast forward a few years, and Nurse had an idea to bring a team from what was then called the NBA Development League to his native Iowa.

Stern and the NBA liked the idea. The Iowa team was born. Nurse was its first coach. The rest is history.

And Nurse is one of countless people reflecting now on Stern’s impact, after the man who ran the NBA for 30 years died on Wednesday about three weeks following a brain hemorrhage.

“There’s no denying how much he grew the game. He was the leader behind all that,” Nurse said. “Obviously, lots of important people play important roles there, but still, somebody’s got to lead that thing and he was doing that at a level that was unseen.”

For all of Stern’s accomplishments—and there are many—growth of the game may be the biggest one of all.

Nurse is the perfect example. If what is now called the G League wasn’t born, at Stern’s behest, then Nurse probably wouldn’t be coaching the reigning champions right now.

And if Stern didn’t push to reach out into more markets, including Canada, then the Raptors might not even exist.

“This was his baby,” Toronto guard Kyle Lowry said. “He helped grow this thing into what it is today. And you’ve got to give him a lot—I wouldn’t say all—but a whole lot of the credit.”

Stern, when he stepped down as commissioner, said growth of the league was his top achievement.

“My greatest accomplishment was in hiring the now 1,200 people—that used to be 24—that have taken the league to where it is,” he said.

Some of Stern’s other accomplishments of note:

ALL-STAR WEEKEND

STERN turned the NBA’s All-Star Game—which long predated

DRAFT LOTTERY

THE formula and the system has been tweaked a bit in recent years, but Stern also oversaw the league when the draft lottery was added and first used in 1995.

In short, the lottery allows non-playoff teams a chance to choose first in the next NBA draft. The National Hockey League subsequently added a lottery of its own.

It didn’t stop NBA teams from tanking, despite Stern’s hopes otherwise.

“The draft lottery is responsible only for ameliorating the possible side effects of having the same kind of draft that others have,” Stern said.

SALARY CAP BASKETBALL great Bill Russell (left) hugs then-Commissioner David Stern during an award ceremony for the WEB Du Bois Medal at Harvard University, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in October 2013. AP

his work with the league—into a weekend festival. The slam dunk contest was added in 1984, the three-point contest in 1986, what started as the rookie game arrived in 1994 and the skills contest was born in 2003.

The game itself, always held on Sunday night to cap the weekend, is now just a part of the show.

“It was a showcase of what David Stern knew was the

backbone of the NBA—its stars,” Larry Bird, the first three-point contest winner, said in 2014.

EQUALITY

BOSTON’S Bill Russell was arguably the first black player to achieve superstar status in the NBA, though Stern always wasn’t a

Doncic, Antetokounmpo early All-Star vote leaders

Top golf topics in new year Woods, Koepka, Olympics

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APALUA, Hawaii—Tiger Woods has inspired new hope. Brooks Koepka is the No. 1 player in the world.

A new year brings a sense of familiarity, except for the details.

Woods went into 2019 having won again after five long years, but he still had yet to win a major. He took care of that at the Masters, and now it’s a question of whether he can catch the 18 majors won by Jack Nicklaus, the gold standard in golf.

Koepka is the first player since Woods in 2009-10 to start consecutive years at No. 1 in the world ranking. How much longer he keeps it depends on when he plays. Koepka has a knee injury that has kept him out since October.

Their performances are among the top topics of conversations going into 2020.

D

ALLAS’ Luka Doncic received more fan votes than any other player in the opening week of balloting for the National Basketball Association (NBA) All-Star Game.

The NBA released the first voting totals on Thursday and Doncic has received 1,073,957—599 more than Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo.

LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers is the only other player to top the million-vote mark so far, putting him well on his way to what would be a 16th consecutive All-Star appearance.

James, Lakers teammate Anthony Davis and the Los Angeles Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard are the runaway leaders in the Western Conference frontcourt. Doncic and Houston’s James Harden also are off to enormous leads in the West guards race.

In the East, Antetokounmpo, Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid and Toronto’s Pascal Siakam are the leaders for the three starting frontcourt spots. Atlanta’s Trae Young has gotten the most votes so far in the East guard race, about 11,000 ahead of Brooklyn’s Kyrie Irving. Boston’s Kemba Walker is 450 votes back of Irving.

Other notables from the first week of fan voting, which began on Christmas Day: Boston’s Tacko Fall is sixth in the East frontcourt balloting, Golden State’s Stephen Curry is fourth in the West guard vote so far despite being sidelined by injury, and Portland’s Carmelo Anthony is holding the No. 8 spot in the West frontcourt race.

Fan voting continues through January 20. The starters for the game—three frontcourt, two guards per team—will be determined through a system that gives fans 50 percent of the vote, players 25 percent and a media panel the remaining 25 percent.

Starters and the two player captains who will draft teams will be announced on January 23. The reserves, who are selected by NBA coaches, will be revealed on January 30.

The All-Star Game is February 16 in Chicago.

Meanwhile, on a night when Paul George only played half a game, the Los Angeles Clippers had plenty in reserve.

Bench stars Montrezl Harrell scored 23 points and Lou Williams added 22 in a 126-112 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Thursday night that gave the Clippers consecutive wins for the first time since December 13.

George didn’t return after halftime because of left hamstring tightness. He finished with 12 points. He’ll be evaluated on Friday.

“Nothing happened. He just felt tightness,” Clippers Coach Doc Rivers said.

“We just decided not to bring him back.”

Kawhi Leonard scored 18 in three quarters for the Clippers, who had alternated wins and losses for nearly three weeks.

Bruce Brown led nine Pistons in double figures with 15 points. Andre Drummond added 10 points and 12 rebounds. They’ve lost four in a row on the road and eight of nine overall.

Trailing by nine, the Clippers took control in the second quarter. They outscored the Pistons, 35-20, including runs of 9-0 and 10-0, to take a 69-63 lead into halftime. George hit back-to-back 3-pointers and Leonard followed with another three. Seven different Clippers scored in the spurts.

“Everybody is ready when their name is called,” Harrell said. “We’re not really relying on one or two people. We just carried over our defensive mentality in the game and came out with a big win.”

Once George was sidelined, his teammates stepped up. Landry Shamet hit consecutive 3-pointers that extended the lead to 18 points in the third. Maurice Harkless, who started, Williams and Harrell combined to score 13 of the Clippers’ final 15 points and send them into the fourth leading, 106-79. AP

fan. He rooted for the Knicks, not the Celtics, and thought Harry Gallatin was a better player.

“That’s what fanship does,” Stern said.

In the end, Russell might have become Stern’s favorite player.

Stern loved Russell. He loved the way he expressed his political views. He loved his grouchiness. And when Stern saw the way Russell and Bob Cousy—a star white guard for Boston—played seamlessly together, he had a realization.

“Our sport was under duress because people said it was

STERN inherited a troubled league—some teams were in terrible financial shape—when he became commissioner in 1984, and at that time adding a salary cap was considered risky.

Stern knew it would work. He was right, of course.

The first cap was $3.6 million. The cap now is around $109 million. What it does, in simplest terms, is make the teams and the players partners: If one side succeeds financially, so does the other side.

There was labor strife on his watch, numerous times—but the game has never been on better financial footing than it is now.

TIGER’S ENCORE

WITH all the trauma and drama involving Woods, what made his Masters victory so appealing was that a younger generation only saw him win majors on video, and an older generation of fans had reason to believe they might never see it again.

The rest of the year was a dud, and then Woods had minor surgery on his left knee to clean out cartilage. His knee was strong enough to play, but not to practice or squat

AS the last decade has shown, it’s not wise to bet against Tiger Woods. AP

EYES ON GO IN NATIONAL STROKE PLAY L OIS KAYE GO will all have the motivation to shoot for a repeat as she banners the women’s field in the National Stroke Play Championship firing off on Tuesday at Riviera’s Langer course in Silang, Cavite.

Member of the gold medal winning teams in the Asian Games in 2018 and in the SEA Games last December, the University of South Carolina senior hopes to keep her winning ways in the event she ruled last year by humbling the likes of Asian Games and Southeast Asian Games gold medalist Bianca Pagdanganan and Thai world No. 1 Atthaya Thitikul at the hazard-laden par-71 layout.

Go surged past Thitikul with a third round 70 then held off Pagdanganan’s final round charge with another one-under card to claim the coveted crown.

Though the fancied duo won’t be around to challenge the Cebuana ace, this year’s cast remains as talent-laden as ever with reigning WExpress RVF Cup and MVPSF Visayas regional champion Junia Gabasa, Philippine Junior Amateur, Philippine Amateur Open Match Play and

Northern Luzon Regional titlist Rianne Malixi leading the roster of challengers.

Put in Cangolf Open winner Nicole Abelar and Riviera MVP Sports Foundation Amateur champion Kim Seo Yun of South Korea, Go indeed headed for another challenging week at one of the country’s toughest courses.

Beefing up the roster in the 72-hole championship kicking off this year’s PLDT Group National Amateur Tour are Diana Araneta, Tomi Arejola, Laia Barro, Sophia Blanco, Sofia Chabon, Samantha Dizon, Laurea Duque, Bernice Ilas, Samantha Martirez and Eagle Ace Superal with Hong Kong’s Vivian Lee out to pull off a surprise.

Japanese Riko Nagai, a sophomore at Radford University in Virginia, is also in the list, ready to foil Go and the rest of the locals with hopes of completing a sibling sweep of the event with Gen Nagai seeking to defend his crown in the men’s side of the tournament sponsored by the MVPSF and backed by Cignal, Metro Pacific Investments and Summit Ridge as official hotel.

Other Koreans in the roster are Bang Hee Yeon, Jane Jeong, Kim Ka He, Kim Ye Rin, Min Seo Kwon and Park Hyun Jo, all hoping to cash in on their local knowledge of the layout in quest of the championship in the event organized and conducted by the National Golf Association of the Philippines.

EXPECT a motivated Lois Kaye Go to go all out.

to read putts. After the surgery, he played for the first time in 10 weeks and won the Zozo Championship in Japan for his record-tying 82nd victory. Then, he played even better by going 3-0 as the playing captain of the US team in the Presidents Cup. All that did was build hope for Augusta National and beyond. Is the pursuit of Nicklaus back in play? Woods turned 44 this week. When he gets to the Masters, only six players older than Tiger Woods will have won a major—Lee Trevino, Hale Irwin, Jerry Barber, Nicklaus, Old Tom Morris and Julius Boros. No one that age has won more than two majors. Woods needs three.

As the last decade has shown, it’s not wise to bet against him.

KOEPKA’S CHALLENGE

KOEPKA has a chance to join one of the most exclusive lists in golf as he tries to win a major championship for the fourth consecutive year. Only four other players have done that.

Woods won majors in four straight years on two occasions—1999 through 2002, and 2005 through 2008.

The others were Tom Watson (1980-1983), Nicklaus (19701973) and Walter Hagen (1924-1927).

But first, he has to play.

Koepka hasn’t played a 72-hole event since the Tour Championship. He missed the cut in Las Vegas and then hurt his knee when he slipped on a wet piece of concrete walking off the tee in Korea, landing awkwardly. He is eager to return. He will not return too early. And it’s too early to say when that might be.

But the measure is in April at the Masters and the three months that follow when it comes to chasing history.

OLYMPICS

THE world ranking after the US Open determines who qualifies for the Olympics in Tokyo. Unlike the return at Rio in 2016, don’t expect as many players to skip for reasons ranging from security to mosquitoes.

The competition figures to be fierce for the Americans.

A country that sends a maximum of four players, provided they are among the top 15 in the world ranking. Going into the new year, the US has nine players in the top 15.

Tiger Woods, lukewarm about a gold medal when golf in the Olympics first was mentioned two decades ago, wants a shot at it. He currently holds down the No. 4 spot for the Americans and would be helped by his limited schedule. Justin Thomas has said he might consider adding a tournament to his schedule if necessary to make it to Tokyo.

Expect strong competition from Britain, too, with Rio gold medalist Justin Rose (No. 8), Tommy Fleetwood (No. 10) and Paul Casey (No. 15) very much in the mix. Britain had two players in Rio.

BREAKTHROUGH MAJOR

GONE are the days when it’s easy to identify the best player without a major because more are winning them. The 29 players who won majors over the last 10 years were the most in any decade.

Any list starts much younger, and three players might be suited to break through for their first major this year. AP

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

BusinessMirror

Saturday, January 4, 2020 A9

Beware of the smart device: Ways to stay private and safe

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BY ANICK JESDANUN The Associated Press

EW YORK—Did someone invite a spy into your home over the holidays? Maybe so, if a friend or family member gave you a voice-controlled speaker or some other smart device. It’s easy to forget, but everything from Internet-connected speakers with voice assistants, such as Amazon’s Alexa to television sets with builtin Netflix can be always listening—and sometimes watching, too. As with almost all new technology, installing such devices means balancing privacy risks with the conveniences they offer.

The research firm IDC estimates worldwide shipments of 815 million smart speakers, security cameras and other devices in 2019, up 23 percent from 2018. Many of the sales are for gifts.

You could sidestep the risks altogether by returning the devices right away. But if you decide to keep them—and the artificial intelligence behind them—there are a few things you can do to minimize their eavesdropping potential.

■ THE SPEAKERS LISTEN...AND WATCH. Smart speakers, such as Amazon’s Echo and Google Home let you check weather and appointments with simple voice commands. Fancier versions come with cameras and screens.

Many of these devices listen constantly for commands and connect to corporate servers to carry them out. Typically, they will ignore private chatter and transmit sound recordings only when you trigger the device, such as by pressing a button or speaking a command phrase like “OK Google.” Some gadgets also have a mute button to disable the microphones completely. But there’s no easy way for consumers to verify those safeguards. In one case, the Alexa assistant in an Echo device misheard background conversation as a command to send the chatter to an acquitance—and so it did.

One more catch: Voice commands sent over the Internet are typically stored indefinitely and may include conversations in the background. They can be sought in lawsuits and investigations.

Reputable companies let you review and delete your voice history, Amazon now lets you request automatic deletions after three or 18 months—but you need to set that up, and there’s no option to keep Amazon from saving your command history at all.

Until recently, tech companies allowed employees and contractors to review the voice interactions for quality control—and some of those details leaked.

Following a backlash, many companies are at least making it clearer and easier to opt out of human review. Pay attention to your choices.

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BEAUTY expert Wayne Goss discusses mascara on his YouTube channel.

If you have kids, set up a passcode for shopping if your speaker allows it. Otherwise, it can be child’s play for a kid to order toys and other goodies through Alexa. As for those screen models, many also have cameras for video chats.

When you’re not using the device, consider turning it around to face the wall, especially in the bedroom, and other private settings. Or stick a bandage or some tape over the camera. It shouldn’t be recording, but why tempt fate?

■ SECURITY WITH SECURITY VIDEO. Online security cameras let you check in on your pets or kids when you’re not home. Amazon’s Ring doorbell lets you check who’s at the door without getting up. Here’s the rub: If you can view video on an app, it’s possible that a skilled hacker can, too. When you use the same password at multiple services, a hacker stealing your password from one place can try it on the camera service, too. So don’t reuse password. When available, enable two-factor authentication, which requires you

to enter a temporary code sent as a text to ensure it’s you. Again, you might want to turn the camera to face the wall when you’re home. It’s a pain, though, and if you forget to turn it back when you leave, it defeats the purpose of having a security camera.

■ ARE SMART LOCKS SMART? Smart locks let you unlock doors with an app, so you can let in guests even when you’re not home. Burglars might try to hack the system, though it’s often easier for them to just break a window. As a precaution, disable any capabilities to unlock doors through a smart speaker voice command, especially if you have prankster kids—or teens who might want to sneak someone in.

Though digital keys can be convenient for letting in guests and contractors, they can also leave a digital trail. In a child-custody dispute, for instance, your ex might subpoena the records to learn that you’ve been staying out late on school nights. If you rent and create a guest key that’s used daily, the landlord might suspect an unauthorized occupant.

■ ABOUT THOSE TVS. Many smart TVs and TV streaming devices come with mics for voice-activated playback controls and video search. That means having audio snippets transmitted over the Internet.

The same warnings for smart speakers apply here.

There’s a simple fix if you aren’t using the Internet features on your smart TV: Just don’t connect the TV to your Wi-Fi in the first place. Of course, this won’t work if you’re not using a separate gadget for streaming video.

■ TOYS THAT TALK. Kids might get a kick out of dolls and other toys that talk back. But if the toy is connected to the Internet, pay attention to how much control it’s giving parents and whether it’s letting kids connect to the outside world. You can check online to see if other parents or consumer groups have identified problems.

And be sure to install the latest apps and other software updates, as they may come with fixes for flaws that can otherwise be exploited by hackers. ■

is truly goals. The account mostly just reposts but the talent for content curation is really remarkable.

MAC Cosmetics Korea (@maccosmeticskorea) also has great content considering that it’s a brand. I think that because Korea is such a big market for cosmetics, MAC has a sizable budget for marketing and PR there so their social-media content is very fresh, from the graphics to the innovative use of products. I love their lip looks so much and how they combine several

textures and colors to come up with new looks.

My friend Juvy (@plumpcheeksblog) is one of the best sources for lip swatches. She has beautiful selfies, which I really appreciate because that is how she looks in real life. She hardly edits her selfies so you’re sure that the lipstick she’s wearing really looks like that.

There really is a wealth of content on the Internet.

There is so much good content that you really need to sift through everything to find those that suit you.

Where to find the best beauty content online PRIMETIME

DINNA CHAN VASQUEZ @dinnachanvasquez luckydinna@gmail.com

PEOPLE always ask me about my skin-care routine and I wish I could list down a number of products, one more amazing than the other. Unfortunately, my skin-care routine is simple and very basic. I am a big believer in sunscreen being the best skin-care product out there.

I did not make the mistake of writing my beauty column today. Today, it’s all about sources of beauty content online.

Angie or HotandFlashy on YouTube (bit.ly/2FbquJR) is a 50-something lady who talks about makeup and skin care. I obviously can relate with Angie on so many levels but my favorite thing about her is that she makes everything easy to understand. For instance, if Angie does a video about her skin-care routine, she really walks you through it instead of just saying, “Oh, I love this. It’s fabulous.” She tells you about the pros and cons of every product she uses in the simplest and most understandable way possible.

Raiza Contawi (bit.ly/35eTXx6) is a Filipino makeup artist and content creator who is very popular on YouTube and Instagram. I go to Rai more for her makeup content than skin care. She really is a very skilled makeup artist and the looks she creates are simple but stunning. I also like that in person, Rai’s personality is much like her bubbly online self. She is nice and friendly.

Wayne Goss is one of the few men whose videos on makeup and skin care I watch (bit.ly/37CUV8f).

Wayne, like me, loves Charlotte Tilbury makeup so I rely on his reviews a lot. He also applies makeup quickly and efficiently so his videos would be perfect for women who go to the office everyday and don’t have 30 minutes to waste in front of a mirror. Wayne also teaches a lot of his tips and tricks for makeup application.

Anthea Bueno (@antheabueno on Instagram) is one of my favorite makeup artists. Her looks are always clean and fresh-looking. On her clients, Anthea spends a lot of time prepping the skin so that very little makeup is required. Her color palette is something I would describe as “autumn” because it’s very natural and earth-toned. But natural is different from unmade-up. Anthea concentrates on skin care first, then applies makeup as needed—a technique that I love. Even her brow looks for clients are natural and not scarily perfect.

I follow Hypebae Beauty (@hypebaebeauty) for their aesthetic. I am not so shallow that I don’t read the articles in their web site but their Instagram content

BusinessMirror

A10 Saturday, January 4, 2020

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www.businessmirror.com.ph

GENESYS CEO Tony Bates

Genesys sees great potential for cloud business in PHL

BY RIZAL RAOUL S. REYES CLOUD-BASED and on-premises software provider Genesys recently said it sees a great potential in its business operations in the Philippines because the country is a powerhouse not only in the traditional business-process outsourcing (BPO) industry but also in the knowledge process outsourcing.

Tony Bates, chief executive officer of Genesys, told BUSINESSMIRROR in a recent e-mail interview that the country is also going to be a leader in the BPO industry’s next wave, the “PPO,” or personalized process of optimization.

“We made the decision to open an entity in the Philippines in 2016 and by the beginning of 2017, we opened our Manila office and hired our first employees under that entity. Since then, the company has been investing significantly into our Philippine operations to the point that today, our Manila office is our second-largest office by head count, and has more than 520 employees across our company’s diverse divisions including customer service, finance, professional services, engineering, IT, sales, marketing, human resources, and more,” Bates said.

“In mid-2017 we started to build our Apac Finance shared services team in Manila. This team has grown to 90-plus employees and is now supporting global finance operations and not just Apac,” Bates added.

With a big number of businesses in the AsiaPacific region converting to the cloud, Bates said Genesys is planning to double the size of its Manila office. In the next five years, Genesys will invest in its resources and develop their Manila office into a first class, multidiscipline design function center which can house a thousand employees and add more departments, including a research and design function. He said this will enhance Genesys’s ability to deliver game-changing customer service capabilities that leverage the cloud, artificial intelligence, and other emerging technologies to businesses across the country. He said Genesys is going its strategy depending on the hunger for digital transformation of a certain region or country. In the Asia-Pacific region, he pointed out that Genesys’s customers are hungry for cloud solutions and highly personalized interactions supported at scale through AI. “The market moves in this direction and Genesys is well-positioned to capitalize on the opportunity.

We also have a rich partner ecosystem in the country, including technology leaders, such as Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Salesforce, and more. We plan to continue to grow our ecosystem with complementary partners that can enhance our footprint in Asia and across the globe,” he said.

He said the objective of Genesys for the Philippines is to support the market in becoming more globally competitive by providing customer experience capabilities that are on a par with global standards. He added the country’s transformation from KPO to PPO, which the company see as the major driving force of the country’s BPO industry, will be a real opportunity not to lose jobs but to increase efficiency.

Bates said the key for organizations in the country to adopt this intelligent technology is to help employees understand its potential to make their jobs more fulfilling by taking the mundane, easily automated tasks off their plates. If successfully implemented, he said AI will help boost the country’s BPO industry, and at the same time allow people to keep jobs and increase their productivity and their companies’ customer satisfaction level.

“As we expand our business footprint in the Philippines, we also plan to continue to grow our partners ecosystem with complementary partners that can enhance further our footprint in the Philippines, in Asia and across the globe,” he said.

3 Internet language trends from 2019, explained

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BY ZACHARY JAGGERS University of Oregon

OCIAL media has created an entirely new linguistic ecosystem, with new words, phrases and features for expressing ourselves cropping up all the time.

In 2018, Internet language expert Gretchen McCulloch —whose best-selling book Because Internet is its own noteworthy language event of 2019— identified multiple terms that have become popular among Gen Z users in recent years.

They included “finsta”—a social-media user’s second account with a more private, selective audience—and the interjection “yeet,” which is meant to convey surprise or approval.

With 2019 having come to a close, we’ll walk you through some other recent trends to get you up to speed before you’re inevitably barraged with new ones in 2020.

1. FROM DRAG QUEENS TO VSCO GIRLS. Two new language features—“sksksk” and “and I oop”—are often talked about together. That’s because VSCO girls—largely white, teenage, middle-class girls who promote a certain style and aesthetic on social media—have popularized their use.

The first, “sksksk,” is a popular “keysmash,” representing someone furiously hitting the “S” and “K” keys back and forth.

It can mean laughter, excitement or nervousness.

As Buzzfeed explained, “It’s sort of like saying ‘I can’t even’ as if it were still 2013.”

What helped it catch on? The two keys are spaced fairly far apart on mobile devices with a more crowded

keyboard layout, so they’re easier to smash back and forth with each thumb. And it’s more pronounceable than a traditional keysmash—“as;ldfkjls”—so it can be said out loud. However, this out-loud pronunciation is often used for mockery—so use it carefully.

The next, “and I oop,” comes from a video that went viral in 2019. In it, drag queen Jasmine Masters—a competitor on RuPaul’s Drag Race—interjects an “oop!” mid-sentence, after “and I...” She explained that the interjection occurred because she’d painfully hit her testicles.

The phrase became widely used in a similar fashion—to acknowledge—and lighten the mood after—an embarrassing or jarring situation.

Neither “sksksk” nor “and I oop” was born in 2019.

The “sksksk” has been around since at least 2014, while Masters’ video clip that “and I oop” originates from first streamed in 2015.

But that’s how language trends proceed. They aren’t widespread and popular immediately.

Like a lot of language innovations, these two can trace their origins to queer people of color and Black English. So there’s an element of appropriation. As they become more widely used—and associated with speakers like VSCO girls—their origins are forgotten.

2. A GENERATIONAL EYE-ROLL. “OK Boomer” might be the most discussed and debated 2019 language trend.

There’s a lot under the hood of this phrase, which is a signpost for intergeneration sociopolitical tension.

It gained traction through the “OK Boomer” song, recorded by Peter Kuli and Jedwill, that TikTok users started including in their videos. It then spread as a hashtag on social-media platforms like Twitter.

Vox does a good job distilling the meaning of

the phrase. It’s intended to convey “the perceived irony that while Boomers nitpick and judge younger generations for their specific choices, it’s the Boomers’ own choices that created the bleak socioeconomic landscape that millennials and Gen Z currently face.”

It can be deployed simultaneously as a prod—for Boomers to think about the political tension and their role in it—and as a deflection, stopping the conversation to indicate “You already have all the power.”

Other times, it’s simply used derisively to indicate that someone is out of touch with technology, pop culture or current events.

3. YOU’RE TYPING ALL WRONG! We’ll often see people use all caps for emphasis.

But recently, people have started using alternating capital letters to express a different kind of intonation—mockery or exasperation.

While you might argue, “That’s technically from 2017,” I might just say “ThAt’S tEchNiCaLly FrOm 2017!” back at you.

Yes, this was mainly popularized a couple of years ago in a SpongeBob SquarePants meme. (And it likely originated even earlier, assuming an even snobbier tone.)

But in 2019, it broke from its original meme mold.

It doesn’t have to include repetition, nor does it need an accompanying SpongeBob image. But it stills signals mockery, outrage or exasperation.

As we enter 2020 and beyond, we’ll have a sense of which of these trends have stuck around, and which were passing fads. Next year will surely have its own quirky trends that might make you go “sksksk.” ■

Araneta City becomes country’s first Smart 5G Lifestyle hub ARANETA City in Quezon City is now the country’s first Smart 5G Lifestyle hub, as Araneta Group seals a partnership with PLDT and Smart Communications Inc. enabling 5G technology in and around the commercial and business center.

The partnership also includes the activation of fast, free and open fiberpowered Wi-Fi connectivity through Google Station in key Araneta City areas, including Gateway Mall, Smart Araneta Coliseum, New Frontier Theater and Araneta City Bus Port, to name a few. The recent contract-signing ceremony at the Gateway Mall Activity Area was led by Araneta Group of Cos. Chairman and CEO Jorge L. Araneta and PLDT Chairman and CEO Manuel Pangilinan along with top executives of both companies.

“Smart and Araneta have had a long fruitful relationship. Think of Smart Araneta Coliseum and many other things, and lately we have been putting Wi-Fi connectivity in major outlets, and we are thankful for that.

As you know, we have launched the new brand name—we are now Araneta City, the city of firsts, and today we are having a very

FROM left: PLDT-Smart Enterprise Head Juan Victor I. Hernandez (from left), PLDT Chief Technology and Information Advisor Joachim Horn; PLDT Chief Revenue Officer and Smart President and CEO Alfredo S. Panlilio; PLDT Chairman and CEO Manuel Pangilinan; Araneta Group of Cos. Chairman and CEO Jorge L. Araneta; and Araneta’s Group Senior Management Consultant Rowell Recinto, SVP for Business Development John Castelo and SVP for Operations Antonio Mardo

significant first: the first Smart 5G Lifestyle hub in Araneta City. This is a big deal, this is a game changer as they say. This will change the way we work, we live, we play,” said Araneta.

“I would like first to thank Sir Jorge Araneta for joining us this morning, and for this opportunity to partner with them in the digital side of things. We at PLDT

and Smart are thankful for the opportunity to provide to Araneta City all of the latest digital technologies, starting with 5G and the Smart Google Wi-Fi stations. These are just two of the first digital initiatives we are looking forward to in a long and enduring partnership with the Araneta City and the Araneta Group,” said Pangilinan.

Also at the launch were PLDT Chief

Revenue Officer and Smart President and Chief Executive Officer Alfredo S. Panlilio, PLDT-Smart Enterprise Head Juan Victor I. Hernandez, PLDT Chief Technology and Information Advisor Joachim Horn, Araneta Group’s Senior Management Consultant Rowell Recinto, SVP for Business Development John Castelo and SVP Operations Antonio Mardo.

BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Saturday, January 4, 2020 A11

Even amid af�luence of tech capital, local news strug�les O

AKLAND, California—The cities and suburbs on the eastern side of San Francisco Bay are home to 2.7 million people, a world-class University of California campus and bedroom communities for Silicon Valley that produce median incomes 50 percent higher than the national average.

What they no longer have is a thriving landscape of local daily newspapers.

Gone is the Oakland Tribune, the Contra Costa Times, The Daily Review of Hayward, The Argus of Fremont and the Tri-Valley Herald, among others.

Ownership changes and consolidations have left the region known as the East Bay with just a single daily. The East Bay Times, based in Walnut Creek, attempts to cover a region nearly the size of Delaware with a fraction of the staff of the former dailies.

The growing number of places across the country with dwindling or no local news options has been associated with mostly rural and lower-income areas, places that have little resilience to counter the trend among readers and advertisers to go online.

But the East Bay—among the wealthiest and highest educated regions in the country—shows that no place is immune to the struggles of the traditional news industry.

“It is really shocking that the place with the demographics and the business and the universities and the progressiveness, that this is a news desert...” said US Rep. Mark DeSaulnier, a Democrat who represents a significant part of the East Bay. DeSaulnier is so concerned about the state of local news that he has backed legislative action in Congress to support it. One of those bills target what he and others believe is a main culprit of the industry’s woes—the big tech and social-media companies that profit from the content news outlets produce without adequately sharing the profits.

Former journalists, civic leaders and others in the East Bay lament the loss of the community coverage that was once the staple of local dailies.

In Richmond, a working-class city of 110,000 dominated by Chevron and its oil refinery, Mayor Tom Butt recalls a time when two reporters were posted full-time in the press room of City Hall.

Today, coverage of Richmond falls largely to two online publications. The graduate journalism school at the University of California, Berkeley staffs Richmond Confidential, which goes on hiatus during summer and winter breaks. The city’s largest employer, Chevron Corp., runs the other through a public relations firm.

A few miles down Interstate 80, Martin Reynolds gazes up at the 22-story Tribune Tower that defines the Oakland skyline and was home to the Oakland Tribune for decades before the paper was sold and its headquarters moved.

The 142-year-old Tribune was the first African American-owned major metropolitan daily, and its staff took pride in its deep connection to the racially mixed city of over 400,000.

“We were just out there covering stuff all the time,” said Reynolds, 51. “We even had a Berkeley bureau.”

But ownership consolidated and newsrooms shrank. The Digital First-owned Bay Area News Group eventually announced it would collapse the East Bay’s daily papers into one.

“There was a time when newspapers were so powerful and so meaningful and so influential to the community,” Reynolds said. “To have lost that is a shame.”

Digital First has a record of consolidating newspapers and trimming staff, but it also has said that its business model keeps local journalism alive.

The company staffs reporters throughout the region and has separate regional sections on the East Bay Times’ web site.

Bay Area News Group Executive Editor Frank Pine said he understands the loyalty people have for the newspapers they grew up with, but said there is no way to turn back time.

The East Bay Times has collaborated with other publications in efforts to beef up local reporting, he said, including a recent in-depth project about law enforcement officers with criminal convictions.

“Our business—the business of news—continues to be distressed, and we’re doing our level best to stabilize that business and make it sustainable into the future,” Pine said.

The loss of so many daily news outlets in this relatively well-to-do region has a ring of irony: Much of the East Bay’s wealth and growth is due to tech giants—Apple, Facebook and Google—whose headquarters are a mere bridge crossing away on the other side of San Francisco Bay. The online dominance of Facebook and Google, which rake in the majority of digital ad dollars, is a key reason the traditional news business has declined.

Since the iPhone debuted in 2007, employment in US newspaper newsrooms has dropped by nearly half, according to the Pew Research Center. Newspaper ad revenue was $50 billion in 2005, according to the Pew Research Center. Today, it’s $14 billion.

Representatives of Google and Facebook reject the suggestion that their companies are responsible for that decline, saying business models, readership and the way society operates changed dramatically.

They say they are making it easier for people to subscribe and are offering grants, partnerships and

training programs to boost local news, but draw the line at sharing digital revenue at the levels news executives want.

“It’s not about providing artificial props to models that frankly are no longer valid,” said Richard Gingras, vice president of news for Google.

Both companies are putting money behind attempts to build different business models. Facebook sees promise in its accelerator program, which brings leaders from various news outlets together to brainstorm.

The program has helped several news outlets in the San Francisco Bay area, including a hyper-local web site in Berkeley that used what it learned last year—along with grant money from Facebook— to sign up 343 members during its year-end membership drive.

“The program really injected a lot of discipline into what we were doing,” said Tracey Taylor, cofounder and managing editor of the site, Berkeleyside.

In a major boost for local journalism, Berkeleyside announced recently that it was branching out to cover Oakland with $3 million in backing from Google and the American Journalism Project. ■

AF Payments bullish new Hello Kitty beep cards sold out before year-end

BY RODERICK L. ABAD Contributor AF Payments Inc., (AFPI), in partnership with Sanrio and Daiso Japan, released the limitededition Hello Kitty beep cards, following the success of their partnership’s initial kickoff early this year.

For P188 (with no load) apiece, a total of 20,000 cards with four new kawaii designs are up for sale in all Metro Manila branches of Daiso Japan and its official store in Shopee.

They come in classic black, white and gold combo styles.

AFPI Marketing Head Agnes Padilla is confident that the collections will duplicate the success of the first launch of beep cards designed with the world-renowned Japanese cartoon character last March.

“We hope that before New Year, they will be sold out already,” he told BUSINESSMIRROR

/

OWNERSHIP changes and consolidations have left the region known as the East Bay with just a single daily newspaper.

The East Bay Times, based in Walnut Creek, attempts to cover a region nearly the size of Delaware with a fraction of the staff of the former dailies. AP

BY JANIE HAR The Associated Press

at the sidelines of the launch event held over the holiday season at the Daiso Robinsons Magnolia in Quezon City.

“Based on our experience from the last release, they were immediately sold out. So we encourage everyone to visit the Daiso branch right away. They can get the full set as a collector’s item or buy to give as gifts for their friends,” she added.

The iconic character is commemorating its 45th anniversary. As a special treat to customers nationwide, Daiso Japan is holding an exclusive promo for online shoppers at Shopee.

“Hello Kitty-branded items are among our all-time best sellers so we’re really excited for our customers to cop the new beep card designs in our branches and also online now in our Shopee store,” said Bernice Jayne Chioa-Bunoan, marketing services manager of Daiso Japan.

“This is to accommodate requests from our loyal customers outside the Metro who also like to get their hands on the limited-edition cards, as well as for those who simply enjoy the convenience of online shopping,” she added.

The beep card is used in all three elevated railways in Metro Manila, select bus lines, e-trikes, modern jeepneys, tollroads and select retail partners. It is reloadable and valid for four years.

“Expect another two or three releases next year because it’s an ongoing partnership,” Padilla concluded.

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

BusinessMirror

Saturday, January 4, 2020 A12

TDTW: The Decade That Was TECHNIVORE ED UY

whereiseduy@gmail.com

B

EFORE there was Baby Yoda, there were the Minions (both cute but resolutely astute).

Before “Old Town Road,” we had “Gangnam Style.” Before the “floss,” we first learned how to “twerk” and do the Harlem Shake, and before we took on the bottle cap challenge (and the rest of those TikTok dares), we “planked” and poured “ice buckets” for a cause.

The 2010s was an incredible decade. A decade of inventions and immeasurable innovation that changed the way we lived. Thanks to the iPad, tablets became more than just a form of medicine. Our watches and homes have become smarter, and we continue to find ways to make our daily lives a little easier. Why do a “take out” when you can GrabFood or just book foodpanda. The same way we book a ride via Grab or Angkas and save ourselves the trouble of having to argue with taxi drivers who hate their jobs.

We also experienced a lot of inspiring moments just as there were equally a number of “WTF” events that continue to haunt us (and I’m not just talking about the elections) and, at least, we had two “Miss Universes” this decade.

But I think the biggest change this decade has affected us journalists, the way we write and deliver the news. Before, it was the news that made the trends; now, it’s the trends that usually make the headlines.

So let’s look back at the best (and worst) of The Decade That Was. Lets start with Google Trends. In 2010, the fastest-rising search topic was “jejemon” followed by the “iPad” lyrics to the song “Pyramid,” Facebook emoticons and Justin Bieber, while Pacquiao, Major Venus Raj, Aquino III, Jason Ivler and Gibo were the most searched personalities.

I wonder what Gibo is doing now, and what might have been had he become President.

Other top trending topics throughout the decade were Angry Birds (2011), Magnum Ice Cream (2012).

Google had no 2013 records but I’m pretty sure it would have included Supertyphoon Yolanda, or Megan Young’s Miss World win. Vhong Navarro’s

“foods” and Flappy Bird were the most searched in 2014, while in 2015 it was AlDub (Alden Richards and Yaya Dub) and Pope Francis that captured the interest of Pinoys. “Love Yourself” and the game “slither.io” were the top searches for 2016 followed by Pokémon Go, Train to Busan and The Chainsmokers’ “Closer” were in the top 5 even besting the “Elections” and “Rodrigo Duterte” searches. Music again topped the searches in 2017 with “Despacito” and “Versace on the Floor,” followed by Miss Universe 2017, and I’m not sure whether the Lucia Joaquin story or Xander Ford transformation was scarier.

Games were the most searched topics in 2018 with MemoryHackers, Hot Shot Gamers and Rules of Survival making it to the top 5 along with the NBA Playoffs and the lyrics to Ex Batallion’s “Hayaan Mo Sila.”

And this year it was the chat web site Omegle which topped the searches, followed by MemoryHackers (again!), Codashop, Idol Philippines Vote, and the finger-snapping baddie from Avengers, Thanos.

In the world of tech, who could forget the debut of the iPad and tablets in 2010. People thought it was going to be the end of laptops because of their versatility but instead it has become a niche device for watching movies and playing games.

The launch of the original iPhone was in 2007, but the iPhone 4S—unveiled in 2011—was the big gamechanger for Apple’s business. The freshly redesigned device included three new features that would define the way we use personal tech devices: Siri, iCloud, and a camera that could capture both 8-megapixel still photos and 1080p HD videos.

The era of selfies began and the Selfie Stick was dubbed one of the most important inventions of 2014

by Time magazine. Now, we get ready for the age of “slofies.”

The Apple Watch also changed the way we view wearables and now almost everyone owns or is using a fitness band or some other smartwatch.

We already mentioned Siri, and the past decade also introduced us to other Virtual Assistants: Alexa, which can turn your lights on and play music; and Google Assistant to help you find pasta recipes—of course, they could do all sorts of other stuff, as well.

On the Android side, Google came out with the Pixel and Samsung’s supremacy was challenged by Huawei and now the entire market is dominated by Chinese smartphone brands like Xiaomi, One Plus, Oppo, etc.

We still don’t have self-driving cars, and I doubt they would survive Edsa, but autonomous vehicles are already in the streets in other countries. Even ridehailing companies like Uber have stepped up to the

plate. Even if we lost Uber (RIP), we still have Grab and the endangered Angkas service to help us find a ride around the city.

As they say, there is an app for everything and this decade exploded with all sorts of apps for just about anything you can think of. From a mere 140,000 in the App Store when Steve Jobs unveiled the iPad in 2010, there are now millions of apps available for download from the App Store and millions more from Google Play.

The app explosion coupled with cheaper smartphones amped up online interactions over the decade, enabling users to connect to even their immediate environment through the phone, thus fueling the rise of social media. Posting on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram became a daily habit much like brushing your teeth, or taking a bath. There are even those who even draw their inspiration, motivation (some, their reason for existence) from the number of likes and comments they get. If you regularly get (or buy) those likes, you might even transition into becoming an “influencer”—now a real profitable career, much like being a blogger, YouTuber, and soon maybe a TikTok-er.

With digital payment services like PayMaya, you don’t have to bring cash anymore. More and more stores are accepting cashless payments—plus you even get cashbacks!

Just like finding a ride, finding a room besides hotels has also become possible thanks to Airbnb.

Originally created by two roommates who were unable to afford the rent for their apartment, they came up with an idea of putting an air mattress and turning the living room into a bed and breakfast. A year later, Airbnb won the “app” award at the South by Southwest conference and is now used by millions of travelers all over the world.

And then there’s the online streaming services which has almost killed TV. Millennials and the zennials don’t know channels; they know Netflix, Disney Plus, Fox, HOOQ, iWant, iFlix, Amazon Prime, etc., and they all watch their favorite shows and movies on these streaming platforms.

Recently, Netflix revealed the most popular titles in the Philippines, with the Netflix Original 6 Underground as this year’s most-watched title. Filipino movies like Mikhail Red’s Eerie, Viva Films’ Miss Granny, and Ang Babaeng Allergic sa Wi�i also made the list.

The Witcher dominated as the most popular series for 2019. The Filipinos’ love for Korean titles is further validated by the inclusion of Hotel del Luna, Kingdom and Love Alarm in the most popular series list for 2019.

Several other fan favorite Netflix Original Series, such as The Umbrella Academy, Sex Education and Stranger

Things also made this year’s list.

We’ll try to do more features on past tech and trends in the next few weeks as we still have a lot of topics to talk about and not enough space, but for now—Happy New Year, everyone. May the start of this new decade bring forth happy endings and even better beginnings.

■ For your comments, questions and suggestions, e-mail thetechnivore@gmail.com and follow @whereiseduy on social media.

GLOBE AT HOME PREPAID WIFI INTRODUCES NEW DATA PROMOS WITH FREE 4GB YOUTUBE DAILY

STAYING true to its commitment of making the digital lifestyle more special for Filipino families, Globe at Home (www.facebook.com/GlobeAtHome) brings, yet, another lineup of new and exciting product promos and data offers.

Globe at Home Prepaid WiFi gives more bang for your buck with their newest and biggest data package yet— the HomeWATCH promos. For HomeWATCH199, you can get 34GB with free 4GB of videos daily for YouTube, iWant, Netflix, iFlix, HOOQ, TikTok and NBA. Plus, your favorite HomeSURF promos just got bigger: from 12GB, you can now score 15GB plus free 1GB of YouTube daily when loading HomeSURF199, and up to 70GB plus free of 1GB YouTube daily with HomeSURF999. With the same prices, you can stream more of your favorite movies and series with everyone in the family.

“There is no better way to spend holiday season and beyond here in the Philippines than with everyone in the family,” shared Winsley Bangit, VP at Globe at Home Prepaid. “These new promos will, hopefully, enable more Filipino homes to maximize the power of affordable home Internet to connect and bond with their loved ones.”

Globe At Home Prepaid customers may avail themselves of their favorite HomeSURF and HomeWATCH promos via the Globe At Home App. The app can be downloaded for free via Google Play Store or the App Store.