BusinessMirror January 22, 2019

TRABAHO BILL PASSAGE, B.B.B. SEEN TO BOOST S.M.E. GROWTH IN REGIONS

By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario

T THE Estrella-Pantaleon Bridge linking the cities of Makati and Mandaluyong was closed this week to give way to what public works officials describe as a wider bridge to accommodate the huge volume of vehicular traffic. The government has been ramping up infrastructure projects as a centerpiece program. NONIE REYES

DEPT. OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

PHILIPPINE STATISTICS AUTHORITY

2018 BANTOG DATA MEDIA AWARDS CHAMPION

HE passage of the Tax Reform for Attracting Better and High-Quality Opportunities (Trabaho) bill and the full implementation of the “Build, Build, Build” (BBB) program will boost the growth of small and medium enterprises in various regions, according to government officials.

On the sidelines of a data dissemination forum of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), Trade and Industry Assistant Secretary Rafaelita Aldaba told the BusinessMirror

that the Trabaho bill can even help firms do business outside of Metro Manila because of dedicated tax incentives.

Aldaba said longer-term incentives are granted to firms that are either willing to relocate from Metro Manila or will be starting up in various provinces nationwide. The same incentives are granted to firms that will focus on sectors such as agribusiness.

“In fact, if you will invest in agribusiness and resource-based [sectors], as well as invest in the region, the period of incentives is actually longer than the normal. So in that aspect, the Trabaho bill can help. And if companies in NCR [National Capital Region],

BusinessMirror A broader look at today’s business

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Tuesday, January 22, 2019 Vol. 14 No. 104

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Senate OKs ’19 budget, reenacted timeline cut T

By Butch Fernandez

@butchfBM

HE Senate, voting 14-0, on Monday passed the Palace-proposed P3.757trillion 2019 budget bill, paving the way for bicameral talks with the House of Representatives to quickly hammer out a reconciled Senate-House version of the annual money measure.

The goal is to have the reconciled version signed into law by President Duterte soon, cutting short the period that the government would have to operate on a reenacted 2018 national budget.

Immediately after the vote, the Senate leadership confirmed the designation of the 10-member

Senate panel in upcoming bicameral talks with the House. They are Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto, Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri, Finance Committee Chairman Loren Legarda, Minority Leader Franklin Drilon and Senators Cynthia Villar, Panfilo Lacson Sr., Paolo “Bam” Aquino, Juan

Edgardo Angara, Nancy Binay and Joseph Victor Ejercito.

“Hopefully, by this afternoon we would have approval of the amendments,” Senate President Vicente Sotto III said in an earlier interview Monday before convening their plenary session for the week.

Reporting that the additional

₧3.7 trillion

The Palace-proposed 2019 budget approved by the Senate, which will meet right away with the House in a bicameral conference committee budget amendments were submitted over the last four days, Sotto added: “Of course, there were amendments that were already proposed weeks ago, but we will finalize all of them in a while. I am sure there would be voting to accept or reject these amendments today; we will leave it up to the individual senators on how they view them.”

“Right after the amendments,” the Senate President said he would “call for a plenary vote to approve the budget bill on second and third See “Budget,” A2

DBM sets terms for awarding contracts

See “DBM,” A2

BUSINESS NEWS SOURCE OF THE YEAR

19% OF FUEL RETAIL OUTLETS NOW IMPOSE HIGHER OIL EXCISE TAX

By Lenie Lectura

N

@llectura

INETEEN percent of all fuel retail outlets in the country are already implementing the second tranche of the fuel excise tax.

Based on Department of Energy (DOE) monitoring, 1,639 fuel retail outlets out of the 8,630 service stations nationwide have implemented as of January 17 the higher rate imposed under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TR AIN) law.

The next-round hike entails an additional excise tax of P2 imposed per liter of diesel and gasoline, and P1 per kilogram on household LPG. There will also be an additional 12-percent value-added tax, for a total of P2.24 for both diesel and gasoline, and P1.12 for LPG. Meantime, oil firms will implement a price increase in gasoline by

P0.10 per liter, diesel by P0.40 per liter and kerosene by P0.15 per liter.

The price adjustment takes effect 6 a.m. of Tuesday, January 22.

PTT Philippines, Phoenix Petroleum Seoil Philippines, Total Philippines announced the price hike on Monday afternoon. Other oil firms are expected to follow suit.

The DOE, which earlier warned oil players against prematurely imposing the new excise tax rates on their old inventor y, conducted validation activities across various fuel retail outlets on January 10 and 11 and 14 and 15. On those dates, a total of 22 retail outlets (ROs) across Quezon City, Caloocan and Malabon were found to have implemented the second tranche of taxes earlier this month.

DOE field offices also conducted validation activities, with 57 ROs visited by the Luzon Field See “Excise tax,” A2

Big turnout as first leg of Bangsamoro plebiscite conducted

By Manuel T. Cayon

@BNicolasBM

WARDING of contracts may already proceed for programs and projects that underwent early procurement if the amount needed can be covered by the funds available under a reenacted budget, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said.

The DBM said a number of contracts for ongoing projects, particularly those that had undertaken early procurement activities (EPA) last year, will be awarded under the reenacted budget this 2019.

Under early procurement, agencies begin their procurement activities, short of award, using figures in the National Expenditure Program (NEP) as basis for amounts specified in their contracts.

Circular 09-2018 issued by the Government Procurement Policy Board guides procuring entities in the award of contract undertaken through the Early Procurement Act. It stipulates that “procurement projects covering recurring activities or projects, hence appropriations therefor are included in both the FY 2018 GAA and FY 2019

2017 EJAP JOURNALISM AWARDS

P25.00 nationwide | 4 sections 20 pages | 7 DAYS A WEEK

By Bernadette D. Nicolas

A

for example, will relocate in other parts [of the country] that are less developed, there are additional incentives. Normally, incentives last for five years but in this case, firms can be granted an additional two years of incentives,” Aldaba said.

Apart from the Trabaho bill, the BBB will also play a part in not only boosting SME growth but also in spreading development to provinces and regions, according to Director Bien A. Ganapin, officer in charge of the National Economic and Development Authority’s (Neda) Trade, Services and Industry Staff.

See “Trabaho bill,” A2

S WOMEN voters wait outside the Simuay Elementary School in Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao, on Monday, on the first leg of a two-part plebiscite to ratify the Bangsamoro Organic Law. MANUEL T. CAYON

Biz groups tell Duterte to sign rice tariff bill

By Elijah Felice E. Rosales @alyasjah

B

USINESS executives want no less than an enactment into law of the rice tariffication bill, as they advised President Duterte on Monday to approve the measure and dismiss calls to veto it.

Business groups told the President to sign the measure that will convert the country’s quantitative restriction

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 52.4550

on rice into tariffs. The statement was made in the face of mounting calls from industry stakeholders, as well as from a senior agriculture official, to veto the measure.

“The bill is now with Malacañang, and we urge the President to sign it into law,” business groups said.

They are of the view that the bill, once enacted into law, will “decisively and quickly address the rice supply disruption problem and concomitant

high prices experiences last year to the detriment of consumers.”

“Upon enactment [into law of the rice tariffication bill], the financial resources, management expertise, logistics support and extensive nationwide distribution system of the private sector will be harnessed to ensure food security, particularly of the most important food staple—rice,” business groups argued.

See “Rice tariff,” A2

@awimailbox Mindanao Bureau Chief

ULTAN KUDARAT, Maguindanao—Under tight watch from security forces, polls closed mid-afternoon on Monday in the historic plebiscite on whether or not to ratify the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) that will expand the current Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), with stakeholders observing a huge turnout of voters.

Hours before the polls closed, the chairman of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), Ebrahim Murad, assured Filipino Muslim voters his group would respect a vote of rejection for the BOL, which would give the legal stakes to establishing the new, expanded autonomous body in Mindanao. However, administration officials predicted a landslide win for the “yes” camp, which President Duterte bolstered with his presence at the weekend.

Fielding questions from reporters after he voted at 10:23 am in his hometown school precinct here, Murad said, “We are ready to accept

if there’s a no vote.”

A negative vote in the plebiscite would scrap the BOL, which Congress passed last year after its predecessor, the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), failed to hurdle legal challenges.

Moving forward in case the “no” vote wins in the plebiscite ratifying the BOL, Murad told the media, “Then we will continue to strive that that agreement be implemented. But it is now the duty of the government to implement it,” he added, referring to the government’s peace agreement with the MILF. The national government, including the regional and provincial leadership under the current Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), is confident, however, of a landslide win for a “yes” vote in this plebiscite, the third to be held since 1977, when then President Ferdinand Marcos created the regional government composed of Regions 9 (Western Mindanao) and 12 (Central Mindanao); and in 2001, which sought to expand the original autonomous territory covered by the ARMM. See “Bangsamoro,” A2

n JAPAN 0.4784 n UK 67.5673 n HK 6.6881 n CHINA 7.7373 n SINGAPORE 38.6295 n AUSTRALIA 37.5840 n EU 59.6256 n SAUDI ARABIA 13.9865

Source: BSP (21 January 2019 )

News

BusinessMirror

A2 Tuesday, January 22, 2019

www.businessmirror.com.ph

House OKs Road Board abolition

T

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

@joveemarie

HE House of Representatives on Monday endorsed for Senate approval a measure abolishing the Road Board.

Voting 180 affirmative and zero negative, lawmakers passed the House Bill 7436 on third and final reading.

The bill will be transmitted to the Senate immediately for its own deliberations.

Under the bill, the motor vehicle user’s charge (MVUC) will go directly to the General Fund.

T he projec t s t h at w i l l be funded by the MVUC will be itemized in the annual General Appropriations Act (GA A).

Earlier, the both Houses of Congress agreed to abolish the Road Board and its funds shall be transferred to the General Fund under the GAA. Before approv ing t he bi l l, Rep. Rolando Andaya Jr. said the House has already withdrawn its earlier bill which is similar to the Senate version.

Upon consultation with the Members of Congress, Andaya said they discovered there was an erroneous referral of the particular bill. It was passed by the House Committee on Government Reorganization.

But in reality, Andaya said

BI posts record ₧7B in revenue in 2018

the bill was a tax measure and the creation of the Road Board was merely incidental to the establishment of the MVUC being collected by the Land Transportation Office.

Just l i ke a ny ot her t a x measure, Andaya said that under the Constitution, the House will have the first crack and the Senate will wait for the House version.

Andaya said they will hold the bicameral meeting immediately as requested by the Senate and make sure that the bill is specific to what President Duterte has instructed.

T

Continued from A8

Bangsamoro. . .

Continued from A1

In Monday’s plebiscite, political violence reared its ugly head again in Cotabato City, one of only two cities outside the ARMM areas to be included in the plebiscite. The other one is Isabela City, of Basilan, which belongs to the ARMM. The Comelec placed Cotabato City under its control following a mall explosion on December 31 that killed two persons.

On Sunday night, a motorcycle rider lobbed two grenades at the residence of Judge Angelito Razalan in Santa Maria Street, Rosario Heights along Sinsuat Avenue.

In response, National Police chief Director General Oscar Albayalde ordered a stronger police presence in Cotabato City and other areas in Mindanao.

Razalan is the brother of Aniceto Razalan, current secretary of Cotabato City Mayor Cynthia Guiani Sayadi. The mayor is against the BOL. Albayalde said that while they were not discounting the possibility of terrorism in the attack, its motive could have been unrelated to the plebiscite.

“If the objective is to create fear among the people, then the grenades should have been thrown into public places, but they lobbed them into the compound of the judge,” he said.

While no one was injured in that 9:10 pm explosion, police and the Army had yet to explain why the gunman escaped, and why would somebody mount such attack when the highest security alert was in place in a city already under Comelec control.

Aside from the Sunday night explosion, police said they also found another unexploded grenade in another business establishment downtown.

Budget. . .

Continued from A1

reading so we can convene the bicameral panel either tonight or tomorrow.”

Still, the Senate President voiced confidence that the bicameral panel can opt to fast-track the process.

“Hopefully, we can ratify the budget bill soon and it will be ready for the signature of the President, except that it will take some time to be ready for signing because it takes a lot of time and documents to be finalized. Mahaba, printing pinakamabigat [It’s long, printing such a heavy document takes time].”

for an intervention program.

At the same time, Sotto promptly clarified that his bill provides that youth offenders be detained at state-run Bahay Pag-Asa, instead of the city jails. “We provided additional funding and we mandated the local government units, with the help of the Department of Social Welfare and Development and the Department of Health to manage the Bahay Pag-Asa that should be put up in every province. “All highly urbanized cities should also have one,”he added.

The House bill

UNDER the House panel-approved measure, a child below nine years of age at the time of the commission of the offense shall be exempt from criminal liability.

But a child who is nine years of age up to 15 years of age and who commits parricide, murder, infanticide, kidnapping and serious illegal detention where the victim is killed or raped; robbery with homicide or rape, destructive arson, rape or carjacking where the driver or occupant is

killed or raped or offenses under Comprehensive Dangerous Act of 2002 punishable by more than 12 years of imprisonment, shall be deemed a neglected child under PD 603 as amended, and shall be mandatorily placed in a special facility within the youth care facility or Bahay Pag-Asa called the Intensive Juvenile Intervention and Support Center.

Under the bill, the parents of children who committed any of the serious crimes under the proposal, and parents of children who are repeat offenders shall undergo mandatory intervention programs, including parenting seminars and counseling. The failure of such parents to undergo mandatory intervention, unless prevented by a lawful and justifiable cause, shall be a ground for imprisonment for at least 30 days but not more than six months.

Reactions

THE Council for the Welfare of Children (CWC) reiterated its firm opposition to the lowering of the minimum age of criminal responsibility

Mayor Sayadi complained about supposed MILF leaders who allegedly coerced “Christian voters.”

At least two poblacion Cotabato schools complained of rowdy watchers from the pros and cons camps. At the Cotabato City institute, one suspected flying voter was nearly mauled by voters when he was detected. He escaped unhurt.

At the Cotabato City Central Pilot School, four voters, including a female, were ganged up on by non-Cotabato City residents for still unknown reasons.

Several polling places opened late over security concerns.

Polling precincts opened on time in many areas of Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur, but in Cotabato City, long queues had formed several minutes before the scheduled opening of the school premises at 7:00 am. As of 7:27, a polling center along downtown Quezon Avenue had remained closed, as did the Sero Central Elementary School along Sinsuat Avenue.

Radio stations monitoring the plebiscite were still heard monitoring several precincts which remained closed to voters near 8:00 am.

In Sero Central Elementary School, election materials were delivered by Army-escorted vans at 7:15 am but the school did not open 30 minutes after.

Reports of vote-buying had surfaced days earlier when an alleged citizen arm asked voters to get identification in exchange for P200. But incidents of flying voters were still widespread, with the accusation levelled against the MILF. It was less bloody though, with peaceful and orderly conduct reported from many areas in Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur.

elements of the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Force (Biaf) on Sunday night. Although the Army said the Biaf fighters were unarmed, government officials said their presence has created fear among residents.

On Monday, Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo M. Año assured the public that the government is ready to thwart any attempt to sabotage the plebiscite.

He said that while the plebiscite was a ticket to peace, it also posed “an opportunity for communist terrorists, extremists, and anti-BOL factions to sow violence and prevent the voting from happening. Thus, all hands are now on deck to ensure the peaceful and orderly conduct of the plebiscite.”

A combined force of 20,384 members of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) were deployed to keep the peace.

Of this, around 10,000 were deployed to secure polling precincts while battalions of the PNP Special Action Force and those from PNP Calabarzon and Central Luzon were on standby for any eventuality.

PNP officers also helped substitute teachers serve as Board of Election Inspectors in one area where 100 teacher-inspectors did not show up reportedly after receiving threats by SMS. The BOL once ratified will be key in replacing the ARMM with the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

The first BOL plebiscite will cover ARMM and the cities of Isabela and Cotabato; the second plebiscite on February 6 will focus on the provinces of Lanao del Norte and North Cotabato.

FORMER Armed Forces chief and current Presidential Peace Adviser Carlito Galvez had also asked the MILF to pull out the unarmed

MURAD said this was his first time to exercise suffrage, as with the bulk of the followers and fighters of the MILF who he said had been

Pullout

Rice tariff. . .

First exercise, expectations

Continued from A1

“Consumers must be freed of food-supply apprehension and provided with price stability at an affordable level. This measure will address those concerns through free and open competition,” they added.

Further, the measure will accord rice farmers with enough protection from unfair competition through the imposition a 35-percent duty on imported rice, they said. The business groups recommended sustained government support for farmers through the provision of essential support services and facilities, including irrigation, better seedlings, harvesting technology, safe farm chemicals and postharvest equipment. They said this is crucial for the farm sector to raise productivity and increase rural income.

The statement was issued by the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, Bankers Association of the Philippines, Financial Executives of the Philippines, Foundation for Economic Freedom, Judicial Reform Initiative, Makati Business Club, Management Association of the Philippines, Philippine Investment Funds Association, and the Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Inc.

DBM. . .

(MACR) from 15 years of age down to nine.

“Lowering of MACR is a short-sighted solution which places blame on children rather than recognizing and addressing the underlying factors which drive children to engage in criminal activities, and working toward eradicating adult-initiated organized crimes,” the agency said in a news statement.

Akbayan Rep. Tom Villarin, for his part, said the bill lowering the minimum age of criminal responsibility to nine years old is a complete reversal of the gains under the JJWA or RA 9344.

“Putting children under our much-flawed criminal justice system condemns them to a life of crime and punishment. Instead of a welfare system that won’t stigmatize and isn’t punitive in approach, we imprint on their minds that society see them as criminals,” he said.

“Children are now presumed to be criminally liable unless they show proof they lack discernment. It does away with the doctrine of doli incapax or incapable of wrong as defense for children in conflict with the law,” he added.

waging war against the government “during the last 40 or 50 years (including their stint with the then monolithic Moro National Liberation Front of Nur Misuari).

“This would signify that it (MILF) it is now transforming the revolutionary process into a democratic process,” Murad told reporters, as he spoke at the gymnasium stage with several Maguindanao voters listening.

Murad was listed on the 88th slot as “Ebrahim, Ahod “Murad” Balawag” at Precint 140-B of Simuay Junction Central Elementary School. He said he wrote in English, “the international language”, when he answered in his ballot. The Comelec has allowed a yes or a no answer in the vernacular or local dialect.

“I see this as historic. We have been travelling for 50 years and it’s only now that we see the light at the end of the tunnel,” he added. “With this development, we can now address peace.”

After the plebiscite, Murad said he hoped the Bangsamoro Transition Authority would be immediately established “and start to organize our governance.”

Transparent

HE vowed to make transparency as a policy, saying“this would make our people understand” what they would be doing. He said he would also be appealing for understanding “that real work would only come in 2022 when the budget would be done for the new BARMM.” For now, the transition government administration will ride on the current budget of the ARMM. He appealed also to donor countries and international donor agencies to continue helping them “and to maximize your help because our people would badly need them”.

With reports by Rene Acosta and Jonathan L. Mayuga

Trabaho bill. . .

Continued from A1

Ganapin said the BBB will pave the way for economic growth to reach far-flung and less-developed areas of the country. This will improve the business climate in these regions and provinces, and bring economic growth and development to a larger number of Filipinos.

He said this will make it possible for growth and incomes to be more distributed nationwide. Currently, Metro Manila is a magnet for investments and employment because it is one part of the country where the amenities and services, including those offered by the government, are complete. “[Based on] the principle of agglomeration economics, they [firms] are attracted to places where there is a lot of economic activity. So you need to create businesses, upstream and downstream businesses along the way,” Ganapin said.

“One of the drivers of agglomeration is you develop a Metro Manila in Mindanao or in other regions in the Visayas, that kind of scale of development. Infrastructure is really one of the drivers of growth,” he added.

Aldaba said data from the 2016 Annual Survey of Philippine Business and Industry (ASPBI) indicated that most of the firms and employees are concentrated in NCR or Metro Manila, Calabarzon and Central Luzon.

Across regions, there were a total of 35,835 establishments nationwide in 2016, a 1.7-percent growth from the 35,238 recorded in 2015.

40% of establishments in NCR HOWEVER, around 40.2 percent or 14,414 establishments with total employment of 20 and over were located in NCR, which is the least poor region nationwide.

Calabarzon ranked second with 5,116 or a 14.3-percent share, while Central Luzon placed third with 3,311 establishments or 9.2 percent.

Unfortunately, areas like the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), the poorest region nationwide, recorded the least count of 103

Excise tax. . .

Continued from A1

Continued from A1

NEP, undertaken through EPA under the FY 2019 NEP may be awarded on the basis of the FY 2019 Reenacted Budget.”

It also stated that procuring entities shall not award any procurement project if the amount appropriated under the FY 2019 Reenacted Budget is lower than the amount of contract to be awarded. The DBM pointed out that the circular is “consistent” with its earlier pronouncements that there would be no new projects under a reenacted budget.

The circular states that “[new] activities or projects that are included in the FY 2019 NEP, hence not part of the FY 2018 GAA, may be awarded on the basis of the FY 2019 GAA”. New projects will have to wait until the passing of the GAA before they can have their contracts awarded. We still encourage them, however, to conduct early procurement activities if they have not done so,” Budget Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno said in a statement.

@jrsanjuan1573

HE Bureau of Immigration (BI) has attributed to the government’s aggressive efforts to market the country as a tourist and investment destination its record high income of more than P7 billion in 2018.

BI Commissioner Jaime Morente noted that the agency’s revenue collections jumped to record levels since the past six years.

As of November 2018, Morente said the BI’s total revenue collections had already stood at P7.03 billion, which is nearly P1.5 billion more than the P5.58-billion earned in 2017.

Six years ago, the BI’s collection stood only at P2.7 billion.

“We expect our total income in 2018 to surpass P7.5 billion in 2018 after all revenue from our main office and field and satellite offices for December are added to the 11-month collection figure,” Morente said. “The dramatic increase in our revenues indicates that this government is succeeding in its efforts to lure more foreign tourists and investors,” he stressed.

Aside from the remarkable marketing of the country as a tourist and investment destination, Morente traced the increase in BI’s revenue in efforts to improve its facilities and simplify its procedures for travelers.

“We have been strictly monitoring our collections not only in the main office but in our subport offices, as well to ensure that all our revenues are remitted to the government coffers,” BI Finance Chief Judith Ferrera noted.

Senators split on bid to lower age of kids’ criminal liability Sen. Gregorio B. Honasan II also sidestepped the query with his own question: “What does the historical data of related crimes tell us, as basis for what I always say —informed, rational, intelligent long-term policy decisions?”

Soon after returning to the Senate in 2010, Sotto moved to amend the law but due to strong opposition, he was compelled to accept a compromise amendment to set the age of liability at 15 years old to 12 years old, or 12 years old and below with no criminal liability. However, offenders between 12 and 15 years old need to prove “no discernment [in order] to be released or undergo intervention program.”

Sotto recalled that unfortunately, this led to conflicting interpretations of the law.

“So now, once and for all, I filed Senate Bill 2026; let us bring it down to 12 years old so there will no more questions on discernment or no discernment,” the Senate leader said, adding that the proposed law also provides

By Joel R. San Juan

Office, seven by the Visayas Field Office and 29 by the Mindanao Field Office.

The agency validated copies of depot-issued delivery receipts and sales invoices with the official receipts being issued by the ROs to determine the specific excise implementation dates and to verify that the outlets are imposing the correct excise tax rates.

It also verified the ROs’ compliance in clearly displaying the 1 meter by 1 meter signs which inform consumers of the implementation date of the additional excise taxes and the petroleum products that are covered.

The DOE also served show-

establishments or 0.3 percent.

“It is understandable why these firms choose to locate in these areas. These locations offer the amenities that will make it easier for them to do business,” Aldaba said.

“This is why our strategy is focused on the regions. The current situation is not sustainable where [wealth] is highly concentrated in three regions,” she added.

However, changing the situation for the better will not come easy, nor will it come in the next survey rounds of the ASPBI, according to Ganapin. He said it is likely that the situation in 2016 will be the same in 2018.

Digital economy NONETHELESS, National Statistician Lisa Grace Bersales told the Business M irror that the PSA will be working hard to push for better data. She said better results may be seen particularly in e-commerce transactions nationwide.

Bersales said the PSA welcomed suggestions of Aldaba and Ganapin as well as Jasmin B. Eleazar of the Department of Information and Communications Technology to measure the size and breadth of the digital economy.

The wish list of these experts when it comes to measuring the digital economy includes making data collection for e-commerce a separate activity. This will enable the PSA to come up with detailed information on the number of firms, employment, value added and other important details of the digital economy.

Aldaba said there is also a need to review industry activities/classification to take into account and reflect developments such as Industry 4.0, artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, robotics, cloud computing, 3D printing, AR, and VR, among others.

She also said the DTI is proposing a memorandum of understanding with the PSA to collaborate on monitoring ecommerce and logistics statistics, creative industry, IT-BPM and electronics.

This will include other industry priorities such as those activities that firms are undertaking to move toward applying disruptive technologies.

cause orders, directing the ROs to explain in writing and under oath their early implementation of the second tranche. They were asked to submit all the supporting documents to substantiate the validity of the imposition.

“We are vigilantly monitoring the implementation of the TRAIN law so that our consumers will be amply protected,” Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi said.

The DOE is set to conduct a second round of validation activities in the coming days and a full report will be released once all the data is consolidated.

“The second tranche of fuel excise tax will fund crucial infrastructure projects and poverty alleviation programs needed to strengthen our ability to compete globally,” added Cusi.

The Nation BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug • Tuesday, January 22, 2019 A3

Neda official: More funds needed for Marawi rehab

T

By Cai U. Ordinario

@caiordinario

HE government may be forced to secure more loans if the government fails to allocate additional funding for the rehabilitation of the devastated city of Marawi this year, a National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) official said on Monday.

Neda Undersecretary for Regional Development Adoracion M. Navarro told the BusinessMirror that securing more private-sector loans or additional loans are just some of the options, which also include asking for a supplemental budget for the Marawi rehabilitation’s programs and projects.

Navarro said, however, that loans are the least of the government’s priorities in terms of funding the rehabilitation. The government can still find ways to maximize its resources, such as its savings, to finance projects and programs for Marawi.

“The Senate wants to remove the

P75-billion [funds] for the DPWH [Department of Public Works and Highways]. If they are thinking of where to put those funds, they can provide some more funding for Marawi,” Navarro suggested.

“In the past [when this happens], the government requests for a supplemental budget for the NDRRMC [National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council] fund. But what I’m thinking is we should not wait for the time that a supplemental budget will be required. If we already see the potential funding gap, we should already fill it. That is if the Senate is really thinking of realign-

ing some portion of that P75 billion for [the] DPWH,” Navarro said.

On Monday, Navarro lamented on social media that estimates from the ground revealed the government needs at least P12 billion to rehabilitate Marawi.

Navarro said the amount is based on over P6-billion requirement for 2019 of the most affected area (MAA) and over P6 billion in total amount of programs, projects and activities.

The estimated cost is nearly three times the P3.5 billion allocated for the rehabilitation of the municipality included in the budget of the NDRRMC for 2019.

“Given that only P3.5-billion Marawi component of the 2019 NDRRMC fund is in the National Expenditure Program, it is clear that there can be a funding shortage should that amount in the NEP be carried into the General Appropriations Act [GAA] 2019,” Navarro said on Twitter.

The projects and programs will be implemented by the national government agencies, the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and the local government units.

These, Navarro said, all have

Andaya quits House majority leadership, takes role as appropriations panel head

By Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz @joveemarie

A

MID controversies surrounding the delay in the passage of the 2019 national budget, Camarines Sur Rep. Rolando G. Andaya Jr. on Monday stepped down as majority leader to head the House Committee on Appropriations.

Andaya has nominated Deputy Speaker Fredenil Castro of Capiz as a new majority leader and chairman of the House Committee on Rules, who “will assume that task, and other responsibilities that go with the position, but in a manner better than I had done it.”

Andaya, in his speech, said there is one unfinished major business left, and that is the passage of the 2019 national budget.

“The duty of preparing this annual catalogue falls upon us. The duty to apportion tax payments falls on us. The division of labor, when it comes to appropriations, is that the Executive proposes, and Congress disposes,” he said.

“This is the next field of assignment I want to volunteer to. I have done my part in the rules committee. From the perch of the majority leader, I would like to go down and be involved in settling the great unfinished business of this House—the national budget,” he added.

The lower chamber is currently investigating the questionable insertions in the 2019 P3.757trillion national budget by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) headed by Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno.

Andaya has accused Diokno of another insertion by revising the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the Government Procurement Reform Act to allegedly transform the DBM into a super bidding body.

Andaya said the DBM, under Diokno, allegedly bidded out P198 billion worth of projects last year for 20 different government agen-

cies that form part of the Duterte administration’s“Build, Build, Build” program.

He bared that the government will spend at least P37 billion to pay the consultants of big-ticket infrastructure projects through a small office in the DBM. But before stepping down as chairman of the rules committee, Andaya has moved to refer the said investigation to the House Committee on Appropriations from the House Committee on Rules.

“Contrary to mongered fears, January 1 came to pass without a budget, but the sky did not fall, and neither did the government collapsed. We were confronted with two choices: Rubber-stamping the passage of a greatly flawed budget on time, or using more time to craft a better one purged of its in-born defects,” he said.

“If we choose the path of surrender and subservience, then such legislative haste would have surely led to budgetary waste. We cannot pass a budget marinated in flood-control funds, or drowning in DBM-inserted infrastructure projects, which the DPWH [Department of Public Works and Highways] remains clueless about,” Andaya said.

Earlier, Andaya revealed an alleged multibillion-peso flood-control scam in the national budget involving Diokno’s in laws.

“We cannot be casual or cavalier about the most important bill the Constitution assigns us to pass annually. In fact, in our mandate to represent our people, the duty to appropriate funds for and in their behalf ranks among the highest.

This is so because, to quote a wit, worse than taxation without representation is taxation without appropriation,” Andaya said.

“And that is what appropriations is all about. The systematic rebate of revenues to those from whom these have been systematically collected. As I have always

said, taxes are paid in cash but must be reimbursed in kind,” he added.

Welcome

MEANWHILE, Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund F. Villafuerte Jr. has welcomed the mini-leadership shakeup in the House of Representatives.

Villafuerte said Andaya’s resignation was a virtual admission that his position as majority leader has become untenable amid his ploy to torpedo the congressional approval of the 2019 General Appropriations Bill (GAB) by mounting a hatchet job on Diokno and the DBM. “This leadership switch—in which Deputy Speaker Fredenil Castro took over as majority leader while Andaya assumed the chairmanship of the House committee on appropriations—was obviously meant to provide him with a facesaving or graceful exit as majority leader,” he said.

“The House majority coalition, Malacañang and the people will be at the losing end here because his new position as appropriations committee chairman would enable him to wreak havoc at the Bicam [Bicameral Conference Committee] that would eventually be formed to craft the consolidated GAB bill,” he added.

Villafuerte said the latest news reports quoted Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel F. Zubiri as saying that senators would try to pass their version of the GAB this week so the bicam could then be convened to hammer out the consolidated bill for submission to the President.

This leadership switch wouldn’t have been necessary, said Villafuerte, if Andaya hadn’t entered into his unholy alliance with the minority group in introducing a House resolution seeking Diokno’s ouster and then initiating the “bootleg inquiry” by the rules committee.

been previously submitted during the Bangon Marawi Comprehensive Rehabilitation and Recovery Program preparation.

Navarro said given this, the budget allocation must be amended in order to address the needs of residents in Marawi. She said the legislature must not wait until a supplemental budget is approved to amend the allocation.

She explained that for changes in the budget, agencies usually request for a supplemental budget after the GAA is passed into law. However, given that the national budget for 2019 has not yet been approved, Na-

ing some items in the GAB [General Appropriations Bill], it can already look at the Marawi rehab requirements and consider such in their deliberations of realignments, should there be any,” Navarro said on Twitter.

In December 2018, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Board approved a $408 million worth of financing package for the rehabilitation and rebuilding of Marawi City.

The package consists of a $300 million worth of quick disbursing loan for educational and health projects, and $100-million loan for rebuilding all bridges in Marawi and 30 to 40

The Senate wants to remove the P75-billion [funds] for the DPWH. If they are thinking of where to put those funds, they can provide some more funding for Marawi.”—Navarro varro said Congress still has time to make the necessary changes.

“Why wait until such time that a supplemental budget is needed? If @SenatePH is thinking of realign-

percent of its road network.

The remaining $8 million will be extended as grants composed of a $5-million grant for water and health infrastructure from ADB’s Urban Cli-

Govt offices along Manila Bay coastline told to comply with environmental laws

By Jonathan L. Mayuga

for bathing and swimming.

@jonlmayuga

G

OVERNMENT offices along Manila Bay should set a “good example” by ensuring compliance with various environmental laws, Secretary Roy A. Cimatu of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said on Monday.

Cimatu made the call as the DENR leads 12 other government agencies to embark on an ambitious project to rehabilitate Manila Bay. In particular, Cimatu wants all government offices along the 194-kilometer coastline fronting Manila Bay to ensure their compliance with the country’s laws, particularly Republic Act 9725, or the Clean Water Act, and Republic Act 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act.

Wise spend

AS this develop, the Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) urged the DENR to use the proposed P47billion rehabilitation fund to restore Manila Bay’s degraded coastal and marine ecosystems and restore its water to pristine state.

In a news statement, Pamalakaya National Chairman Fernando Hicap said restoring the mangroves, sea grasses, and coral reefs that were destroyed by past and present projects is a must for Manila Bay’s revival.

Part of the DENR’s rehabilitation plan is to conduct massive cleanup of Manila Bay, particularly along Roxas Boulevard and esteros, including the relocation of 300,000 squatters, to bring prevent water pollution.

Specifically, the DENR targets to bring down the fecal coliform level which has reached up to 333 million most probable number per 100 milliliters to SB level which is 100 MPN/100 ml, the standard

Comply with STP requirement

ALL establishments along Manila Bay that are not yet connected to proper sewer lines have been ordered to put up their own sewage treatment plants (STPs) to prevent the direct discharge of untreated wastewater into the environment.

There are several establishments along Manila Bay, which serve as main or central, or satellite offices of various government agencies and government-owned and -controlled corporations.

According to Cimatu, the seven-year, P47-billion Manila Bay rehabilitation will affect or cover establishments in 128 local government units in eight provinces in Regions 3, 4A and the National Capital Region.

Along Roxas Boulevard sits the buildings occupied by the Department of Foreign Affairs, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Main Building, Philippine Gaming Corp. Main Corporate Office, Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions of the Department of Trade and Industry, and Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several local government buildings are also situated along the 194 coastlines fronting Manila Bay from Cavite to Bataan.

According to Cimatu, government agencies with buildings along Manila Bay should set a good example for commercial and residential establishments to emulate.

“Manila Bay is in critical condition and proper wastewater discharge and solid waste disposal play a key role to reviving it,” Cimatu said in a news statement.

The DENR and other government agencies which will comprise the interagency task force are set to begin rehabilitation works at Manila Bay on January 27.

Cimatu said that it is important for government offices, particularly those in the Manila Bay area,

Police, military offer assistance to recover ‘missing’ UST legal management coed

P

OLICE and military authorities have expressed desire to help the parents of a University of Santo Tomas (UST) student who went missing after a supposed “immersion” with farmers last December.

Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Director General Oscar D. Albayalde advised the family to coordinate with police personnel in searching for 18-year-old Rizza Divine Camingawan.

“We want to help the relatives of this student so talk to us and we will help you search for your daughter,” Albayalde said in a report published by a daily broadsheet on Sunday.

Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) public affairs office chief, Col. Noel Detoyato, in a text message added that they will extend help to find the missing legal management student.

“Help will be given if the parents demand

that we step in. Right now, it is a police matter and the concern of the school,” Detoyato said in a message on Monday. Albayalde, for his part, said this incident only validates their belief that some students are being recruited by communist rebels to join them in toppling the government.

“This is what we have been saying before that we have recovered IDs of students during encounters with communist rebels. Some of

mate Change Resilience Trust Fund, and $3 million for social services and livelihoods under ADB’s Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction.

The ADB said the loans, because of its nature as an emergency loan, will have a tenure of 32 years and a grace period of eight years. This is the maximum term for a loan given by the ADB. The interest rates to be used are Libor, or the benchmark rate that represents the interest rate at which banks offer to lend funds to one another, plus 50 basis points. This means that if the prevailing Libor rate is 0.45 percent, the interest rate to be used for this loan is 1.05 percent.

Under output 1 or the output of all projects under the $300 million worth of quick disbursing loan, the ADB said it covers around 449 projects, including social services such as education.

The ADB said the loan will also finance selected programs, projects and activities under the government’s Bangon Marawi Comprehensive Rehabilitation and Recovery Program covering local governance and peace building, housing and settlement, business and livelihood, and social services.

them are 22, 23 years old who were supposed to be in school but became casualties of this ongoing war against rebellion,” Albayalde said.

The PNP chief also advised parents of other students who have the same experience to surface and talk to the police.

Rizza Divine’s father, Roland, initially went out to look for her and asked for help from the public but retracted his call, saying his daughter is already

home and later asked The Varsitarian, the official student publication of UST, to take down the story.

On January 19, Luisa, the mother, refuted Roland’s statement clarifying that their daughter is not yet back with them.

Last Wednesday, Luisa shared that she would sometimes exchange messages with Rizza Divine but is not sure whether it is really her daughter she is talking to. PNA

to make sure they are connected to sewer lines or have their own STPs for proper wastewater disposal.

He also reminded them to ma nage t heir sol id waste to minimize garbage that ends up in landfills or oceans.

Solid waste management, he said, remains a huge problem in the country owing to non-segregation, rampant use of single-use plastic products and improper waste disposal.

The DENR will clamp down on all establishments discharging untreated wastewater either directly into the Manila Bay or into esteros and rivers leading to the bay starting on January 27.

Establishments found to be ig nor ing env ironmenta l laws could face closure or fine of up to P200,000 a day.

“We will issue notices of violation to noncompliant establishments or we will shut them down,” Cimatu warned. “Until they comply, they cannot operate.”

Cimatu also underscored the need for these establishments to “consciously practice” the 3Rs—reduce, reuse and recycle—for better solid waste management.

“Segregation at source is a simple practice that, when done habitually, will rid not just Metro Manila but the entire country of solid waste that pollutes land, water and air,” he pointed out.

The DENR chief also appealed to local government units to manage their septage by ensuring that all commercial and residential establishments in their areas are treating their wastewater prior to discharge to water bodies.

At the same time, Cimatu said, it is also important to educate the residents on their responsibility to help cleanup Manila Bay. “With education, we can cleanup Manila Bay, we can sustain it, and we can preserve the revived Manila Bay,” he said.

A4 Tuesday, January 22, 2019 • Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug

Economy BusinessMirror

Arroyo tells bicam: Raise 2019 budgets for agriculture, urban poor housing program

By Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz @joveemarie

T

HE leader of the House of Representatives wants the Congressional Bicameral Conference Committee on the 2019 national budget to raise the allocation for the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the budget for the urban poor housing program this year.

In a news statement issued on Monday, Speaker Gloria MacapagalArroyo said she will push her earlier move to increase by about P20 billion the proposed P123.7-billion allocation for 2019 of the DA. Arroyo had earlier asked the House Small Committee on Appropriations to increase the budget of the DA by P20 billion to help in further lowering inflation.

Since her administration, Arroyo noted, the budget for the DA had dropped significantly. “The House had increased the budget of DA by P20 billion upon my instruction...,” Arroyo said.

The bulk of the DA’s 2019 budget will go to the National Rice Program, National Livestock Program, National Corn Program, National High-Value Crops, National Organic Agriculture and Halal Food Industry Development.

Instruct

WITH the impending passage of the

P3.757-trillion 2019 budget by the Senate, the Speaker said she will instruct the members of the bicameral committee from the House of Representatives to make sure that the P20 billion remain in the final budget.

“We have to make sure the increase in the DA budget is retained in the final budget because it will enable the DA to implement measures that will help farmers and increase production needed to control inflation,” she stressed.

Arroyo added there is a correlation between the budget allotted to a department to the growth in the particular sector it manages.

“As we were analyzing the budget, we realized that from 6 percent of the budget in my time, agriculture went down afterwards to 1.5 percent. No wonder we have shortage of food,” Arroyo noted.

Earlier, Sen. Cynthia Villar, chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture, sponsored in the Senate the proposed P122-billion budget of the DA for 2019. Villar said the DA’s budget is 3.34 percent of the proposed national budget amounting to P3.757 trillion.

Urban poor

ARROYO said she will, likewise, ask members of the bicameral committee on the budget to work to provide funding for the acquisition of titles of urban poor housing beneficiaries.

Convening for the first time the Oversight Committee on the National Government Center for Urban Poor Housing, Arroyo said she will ask the House contingent of the Bicameral Conference Committee on the 2019 budget if they can put P100 million to facilitate the acquisition of titles of more than 6,000 urban poor beneficiaries at the NGC Health Center land along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City.

Arroyo, citing the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), said that no funding was allocated for the 2019 budget for the acquisition of titles and reblocking of individual lots for the 422-hectare NGC Health Center land in Quezon City.

Thousands of urban poor families at NGC Health Center at Barangay Holy Spirit in Quezon City were awarded by then-President Arroyo their own land as a result of RA 9207 (National Government Center Housing and Land Utilization Act of 2003).

While most of them had already been awarded their own titles, some problems still exist, particularly reports of land-grabbing and failure in the reblocking of some properties.

She said the Oversight Committee will monitor the implementation of RA 9207, a law she signed when she was President in 2003, to make sure that the law is properly implemented.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

How does corruption hurt us?

F

By Henry J. Schumacher

OR years the Integrity Initiative has tried to create Integrity Nation, a nation where transparency and integrity rule, and where corruption is no longer part of everybody’s life. Have we succeeded? Not yet. One day we claim: Corruption is dead! And then we realize: Long live corruption!

Given the fact that business allegedly does not like corruption, but unfortunately—at the same time—is not willing to financially support anti-corruption, it may be useful to highlight once again how corruption hurts and convince society at large or better—every individual—to fight corruption and make a choice to only deal with companies that evidently are involved in anti-corruption and have been verified or even certified that they adhere to transparency in business and implemented anti-bribery and anti-corruption policies.

Let’s be very clear that corruption impacts all of us in many ways. The pain corruption creates can be divided into four categories: political, economic, social and environmental. Politically, corruption is a major obstacle to democracy and the rule of law. In

a democratic system, offices and institutions should lose their legitimacy when they are misusing their influence for personal advantage. As we see on a daily basis, it is extremely challenging to develop accountable behavior in a corrupt environment.

Economically, corruption depletes national wealth (that belongs to the people). Corrupt officials invest scarce public resources in projects that will line their pockets rather than benefit communities. In 60 local government units, the Integrity for Jobs project has created integrity circles that will see to it that infrastructure projects are benefiting less spectacular sectors like schools, hospital and farm-to-market road also. Corruption also hinders the development of fair market structures and distorts competition. In this context we are happy to see that the Philippine Competition Commission is doing its best in achieving their mandate in creating fair market conditions that will provide Juan de la Cruz with better products and services at better prices.

Socially, corruption is exploitive. Inequality breeds corruption by: leading ordinary citizens to see a system as stacked against them; creating a sense of dependency among ordinary citizens and a sense of pessimism for the future, which, in turn, undermines the moral dictates of treating everybody honestly; and distorting the key institutions of fairness in society, the courts, which ordinary citizens see as their protectors against evil-doers, especially those with more influence than they have.

Corruption aggravates inequality: the well-off can afford bribes, but the poor often do without basic services. Inequality, trust and corruption form a vicious circle that is very difficult to break. There is one institutional factor that has a big impact on corruption: the fairness of the legal system. This is an institutional measure of inequality: whether courts and the police treat people of different backgrounds and incomes as equals before the law. This is the reason the Integrity Initiative is supporting the Judicial Reform Initiative started by Finex.

Let me conclude by saying that working against corruption is everybody’s mandate. As we at the Integrity Initiative say: Integrity starts with I. Every person must make the decision: I am part of the solution! I will contribute to positive change! Because, if I don’t do it, I am part of the problem!!

If you agree with this, you must join the Integrity Initiative. Contact me at Schumacher@eitsc.com and I will provide you the details for joining.

Economists urge Duterte to sign rice tariffication bill

By Bernadette D. Nicolas @BNicolasBM

& Jonathan L. Mayuga @jonlmayuga

A

GROUP of economists, led by former Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Romulo Neri, is urging President Duterte to sign into law the rice tariffication bill, even if such measure stipulates provisions that remove the regulatory power of the National Food Authority (NFA) to control the entry of imported rice in the country.

Neri, also a former budget secretary under the Arroyo administration, said the measure should have been signed into law a long ago, adding that NFA’s regulatory power is a “source of corruption” and “financial waste.”

“The NFA is inefficient and a cash drain to government and has been [a] failure in its mission,” Neri told the BusinessMirror in a text message.

He, however, clarified that he is against the NFA’s outright abolition in concurrence with Sen. Cynthia A. Villar’s proposal to limit the agency’s function to maintaining the country’s buffer stock by buying from local farmers.

“No more power to import or give import licenses, which is a source of corruption and financial waste,” Neri stressed.

Last week rice industry stakeholders and Agriculture Undersecretary Segfredo R. Serrano sought for a presidential veto of the measure because of the provision deregulating the NFA. Serrano pointed out that the provision under Senate Bill 1998 would fully liberalize the sector.

Industry stakeholders, including rice farmers and retailers and some NFA employees, converged on the Mendiola bridge last Thursday to call on Duterte to veto the measure, which they described as “anti-poor.”

But Neri begged to differ on this

observation, as he said it is a “misunderstanding of the market and human greed dynamics.”

Neri argued that the passage of the rice tariffication bill will also benefit farmers.

“The tariff rate will protect the farmers and revenues can be used to support farmers’ productivity and competitiveness,” he said.

Although Neri hopes that the signing into law of the measure will make a significant impact on the growth of the agricultural sector and remove it from being the weakest link in the economy, he hastened to add, such is not the main intention of the measure.

According to Neri, the bill is intended to lower rice prices and make the system less prone to corruption and manipulation by rice cartel.

Foundation for Economic Freedom President Calixto V. Chikiamco also agreed with Neri that corruption in the NFA will be minimized once the NFA is deregulated.

“The rice tariffication will be good for the economy. It will lower food prices and minimize NFA corruption.

Those opposing it are benefitting from NFA corruption due to regulating the rice trade. I hope President Duterte will not veto the bill as it is a major economic reform,” Chikiamco told the BusinessMirror.

He explained that corruption takes place in the agency, as he alleged that the agency gets kickbacks from purchase to transport of rice.

Neri also said passing the measure may finally pave the way for agriculture to grow since too much of the agriculture budget is going to rice subsidy.

University of the Philippines Prof. Ramon L. Clarete, who specializes in international economics and multilateral trade policy, believes that Serrano is “mistaken,” as he also favored that the bill be signed into law.

But economic consultant John Paolo Rivera agreed with Serrano

and rice industry stakeholders that deregulating the NFA would mean unregulated entry of rice from the world market, which will decrease price as it competes with local rice.

“Regulating entry of rice will allow us to assess quality and if it meets our standard. I think this is important and should be maintained, as far as this aspect is concerned,” Rivera said, adding that the government must talk first to the stakeholders extensively before passing the bill.

“For me regulation is very important, as this is our control. It is really needed. The fact that there are apprehensions means consultations are still needed,” he said.

Meanwhile, Southern Tagalog’s rice stakeholders have banded themselves together and formed an alliance to promote affordable rice and food for every Filipino.

Called Ugnayan ng Lahat ng Inagawan ng Murang Bigas (UNLI RICE), the group is composed of farmers, scientists, academe, church people, government employees and urban poor, who claim to have been severely affected by what they describe as “unli-rice crisis.”

“UNLI RICE aims to forward the demands of different rice stakeholders and engage the local and national government to address the worsening rice crisis and ensure affordable rice and food for Filipinos,” UNLI RICE coordinator Eddie Billones said in a statement.

“This effort to gather and unite various groups is an expression of the strong desire of the Filipino farmers and consumers to put an end to the government’s dependency on importation and agricultural liberalization. Now that Duterte is set to sign the Rice Tariffication Bill, there is a greater need to unite and reject the bill that will bring about ‘unli-rice crisis’ and food insecurity to the country,” rice watch group Bantay Bigas spokesperson Cathy Estavillo said.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

The World BusinessMirror

Editor: Angel R. Calso • Tuesday, January 22, 2019 A5

Oxfam says world wealth inequality out of control, advocates fairer taxes

D

AVOS, Switzerland—Wealth inequality around the world is “out of control” and doing particular harm to women, antipoverty campaigner Oxfam warned on Monday ahead of the annual gathering of business and political leaders in the Swiss ski resort of Davos.

Oxfam, which has for years been trying to bring attention to the issue ahead of the World Economic Forum, said in a report that billionaire fortunes increased by 12 percent last year—the equivalent of $2.5 billion a day—while the 3.8 billion people who make up the world’s poorest half saw their wealth decline by 11 percent.

“This is not inevitable, this is unacceptable,” Winnie Byanyima, Oxfam International’s executive director said in an interview with The Associated Press.

In the report, which is based on figures from Credit Suisse’ Wealth Databook and Forbes’s annual list of billionaires, Oxfam said the number of billionaires has almost doubled since the financial crisis a decade ago yet tax rates on the

wealthy and corporations have fallen to their lowest levels in decades.

“While corporations and the super-rich enjoy low tax bills, millions of girls are denied a decent education and women are dying for lack of maternity care,” Byanyima said.

Ox fa m sa id m a k ing t a xes fairer will help address many of the world’s ills. It said getting the world’s richest 1 percent to pay just 0.5-percent extra tax on their wealth could raise more money than it would cost to educate the 262 million children out of school, and provide lifesaving health care for 3.3 million people.

It also suggested governments look again at taxes on wealth such as inheritance or property, which have been reduced or eliminated

PEOPLE set up the main stage at the congress center where the annual meetings of the World Economic Forum 2019 took place in Davos on Sunday, January 20, 2019. AP PHOTO/MARKUS SCHREIBER

in much of the developed world and barely implemented in the developing world.

“Governments must now deliver real change by ensuring corporations and wealthy individuals pay their fair share of tax and investing this money in free health care and education that meets the needs of

everyone—including women and girls whose needs are so often overlooked,” said Byanyima.

Byanyima, who has been a regular participant at the Davos gathering, defended the organization’s continued participation at the World Economic Forum despite mounting evidence of growing inequality.

China’s 2018 economic growth declines to 3-decade low

B

EIJING—China’s 2018 economic growth fell to a threedecade low, adding pressure on Beijing to settle a tariff war with Washington.

The world’s second-largest economy expanded by 6.6 percent over a year earlier, down from 2017’s 6.9 percent, official data showed on Monday. Growth in the three months ending in December dipped to 6.4 percent—the lowest quarterly level since the 2008 global crisis—from the previous quarter’s 6.5 percent.

Communist leaders are trying to steer China to slower, more self-sustaining growth based on consumer spending instead of trade and investment. But the deceleration has been sharper than expected, prompting Beijing to step up government spending and order banks to lend more to shore up growth and avoid politically dangerous job losses.

“Growth will remain under pressure,” said Louis Kuijs of Oxford Economics in a report. “Key risks are the ongoing trade tension with the US and that credit growth does not recover.”

Exports held up through most

of 2018 despite President Donald J. Trump’s tariff hikes on Chinese imports in a fight over Beijing’s technology ambitions. But they contracted in December as the penalties began to depress US demand.

Economic growth in 2018 was the lowest since 1990’s 3.9 percent in the aftermath of the violent crackdown on pro-democracy protests centered on Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.

Growth in investment, retail spending and factory activity all declined, the National Bureau of Statistics reported.

The impact of US tariffs was limited, but China faces pressure from growing global support for import controls, volatile financial markets and declining investment spending, said the bureau commissioner, Ning Jizhe.

“Downward pressure on the economy is increasing,” said Ning at a news conference. Still, he added later, “the Chinese economy’s resilience and ability to resist shocks and the long-term trend of stability will not change.”

The slowdown is adding to pressure on President Xi Jinping’s government to settle its costly dispute with Washington.

The two sides have imposed tariff hikes of up to 25 percent on tens of billions of dollars of each other’s goods in the fight over US complaints Beijing steals or pressures companies to hand over technology.

Washington is pressing China to roll back plans for state-led industry development that its trading partners say violate its marketopening obligations.

That dispute has rattled Chinese consumers that Beijing is counting on to drive growth. Some are cutting spending, which might worsen the downturn.

In a possible sign of progress, Beijing announced on Friday its top trade envoy, Vice Premier Liu He, will visit Washington for talks on January 30 and 31. Business groups and economists said a decision by Liu and his American counterpart, Robert Lighthizer, to get directly involved would suggest earlier talks by lower-level officials made progress.

Trump said on Saturday that trade relations with China were “going very well” and “a deal could very well happen.”

Forecasters expect Chinese growth to bottom out this year as Beijing’s stimulus efforts gain trac-

tion. However, they have pushed back the time frame for that due to weakening exports.

Government-led spending on public works construction “is shaping up to be the engine for 2019,” Iris Pang of ING said in a report.

“However, non-infrastructure business activities will be dismal this year. And debt will grow.”

A meeting of leaders of the ruling Communist Party in December promised tax cuts, better access to bank lending for entrepreneurs and other steps to help the private sector that generates China’s new jobs and wealth.

Chinese leaders warned earlier any recovery would be “L-shaped.”

That means companies and investors shouldn’t expect growth to rebound to the previous decade’s double-digit levels.

Forecasters expect growth to decline further this year to 6.3 percent or lower.

“A key downside risk to the Chinese growth outlook will be if the US-China trade war escalates, should the temporary truce expire without any trade deal being struck,” Rajiv Biswas of IHS Markit said in an e-mail. AP

Byanyima said “the people in Davos” have the power to be “the solution to end extreme inequality.”

“The solutions are there and that is why we come to Davos, to remind these leaders that you have made the commitment; now get on with the action. The policies are there, the solutions are proven.” AP

‘Nothing to sing about’ as Taiwan delivers global trade warning

T

AIWAN’S December export orders plunged the most in almost three years in the latest warning sign for global trade.

Export orders fell 10.5 percent in December versus the same period a year ago, according to Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs, the biggest decline since April 2016. The US was a rare bright spot, with orders gaining 5.6 percent, while orders from Europe were the worst hit, falling 28.1 percent.

Machinery products were the worst sector affected, falling 22.5 percent. Taiwan’s economy can act as a bellwether for global trade, given the nation’s pivotal role in smartphone manufacturing.

Monday’s numbers will likely confirm market fears that Taiwan’s economy will have “nothing to sing about” in the first quarter, Anita Hsu, an economist from Masterlink Securities Investment Advisory, said by phone. Bloomberg News

Oil steadies near 2-month high as drilling in US slows down

O

IL steadied near a twomonth high in New York amid a pullback in US drilling activity, while ongoing USChina trade talks left an uncertain outlook for demand.

Futures declined 0.3 percent after surging 3.3 percent on Friday. The number of rigs drilling for oil in the US fell to the lowest since May, according to data from Baker Hughes. China and America, the world’s biggest oil consumers, have made little progress in talks on intellectual property, a major sticking point as they pursue a deal to end a tariff battle, according to people familiar with the discussions.

“The price volatility seen over the latter part of last year certainly appears to have made producers hesitant to pick up drilling activity,” said Warren Patterson, senior commodities strategist at ING Bank NV. Oil is off to its best start to a year since 2001 after plunging almost 40 percent last quarter on fears of a global supply glut and weaker consumption. The International Energy Agency expects relatively strong demand this year, while the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its partners have started to cut production to balance the market.

Still, concerns persist after China’s economy expanded at the slowest annual pace since 1990.

West Texas Intermediate crude for February traded at $53.62 a barrel, down 18 cents, on the New York Mercantile Exchange, at 9:43 a.m. in London. The contract jumped $1.73 to $53.80 on Friday to close at the highest level since November 21, capping a weekly gain of 4.3 percent.

Brent for March settlement fell 33 cents to $62.37 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange, after advancing $1.52 on Friday. The global benchmark crude was at an $8.52 premium to WTI for the same month.

Even as the US rig count tumbled by 21 to 852, the biggest decline since May 2016, Energy Information Administration data last week showed American drillers pumped 11.9 million barrels a day. That’s a concern for the global market, as US output is set to expand by 1.1 million barrels a day this year and may exceed Saudi Arabia’s maximum level within the next six months, according to the IEA. The pullback in drilling “is not expected to significantly slow down US crude production growth,” analysts at consultants JBC Energy GmbH in Vienna said in a report. Bloomberg News

Prime Minister says Vietnam won’t Thailand commits to policy of not detaining migrant children devalue dong amid trade tensions B

V

IETNAM won’t devalue the dong to boost exports even as the US-China tension starts to hurt Southeast Asia’s trade-reliant economies.

“We will keep the dong stable,” Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said in an interview with Bloomberg TV’s Haslinda Amin. “That’s our policy.”

“Investors, both domestic and international, have been confident in growing businesses in Vietnam due to our macro-stability and because we have been able to keep the dong stable in any circumstances, no matter what had happened,” the premier said.

The dong was relatively stable in 2018 compared with other currencies in Asia, such as India’s rupee and Indonesia’s rupiah, which suffered large declines amid an emerging-market rout. The central bank has said it plans

to maintain its policy interest rates and exchange rates in 2019 to stabilize markets.

Vietnam still plans to allow foreign investors to own bigger stakes in banks, Phuc said.

“However, with some big state banks, we still need to retain sizable stakes in order to maintain economic stability,” he said in the January 17 interview. “With private banks, we see more investors coming. Foreign banks are also doing well in Vietnam.

The government will try to cut interest rates and reduce bad debt in banks.”

The dong slipped about 2 percent last year, compared with a 5-percent drop of the Philippine peso and an 8.5-percent decline of the Indian rupee.

The dong was little changed at 23,199 per dollar as of 2:35 p.m. in Hanoi, according to data from banks compiled

by Bloomberg. Bloomberg News

ANGKOK—Advocates for the protection of refugees and asylum seekers are lauding a commitment

by T hailand to release children held in its immigration detention centers.

The United Nations Refugee Agency, or UNHCR, says Thai government ministries involved with the issue signed a memorandum of understanding on Monday providing a framework to meet a 2016 pledge by Prime

Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha to end the practice of detaining migrant children.

The document is an agreement in principle and does not specify the ways and means of taking care of such children.

T he UNHCR and inter national and Thai advocacy groups are urging Thailand to take the commitment a step further and release mothers with their children in order not to separate families. AP

In rare move, Israel confirms attacking Iran forces in Syria

J

ERUSALEM—In an extraordinary statement, the Israeli military confirmed early on Monday that it attacked Iranian military targets in Syria, hours after carrying out a rare daylight air raid near the Damascus International Airport.

The statement was issued hours after Israeli missile defenses intercepted an incoming missile over the Golan Heights in the wake of the airport raid.

“We have started striking Iranian Quds targets in Syrian terri-

tory,” the military statement said.

“We warn the Syrian Armed Forces against attempting to harm Israeli forces or territory.”

Until now Israel has largely refrained from public admissions of its covert military operations in neighboring Syria, in order to avoid large-scale involvement in the eight-year civil war.

The Syrian military said Israel carried out intensive air strikes with successive waves of guided missiles shortly after 1 a.m., but added that Syrian air defenses de-

stroyed most of the missiles before they reached their targets.

On Sunday, Syrian state media said air defenses repelled an Israeli air raid near the international airport south of Damascus. State TV said Syria’s air defenses “prevented” the attack from achieving its goals. It said Israel targeted six missiles on an area near Damascus International Airport, of which five were shot down and one diverted to nearby empty farmland.

Residents of the capital said they heard five explosions early Sunday

afternoon, apparently the sound of air defenses firing into the air.

The Israeli military had initially declined to comment on the air strike, though it said a rocket fired at the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights was intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome defense system.

Israeli warplanes have used Lebanon’s airspace recently to strike deep inside Syria, including attacking a warehouse near Damascus International Airport earlier this month, according to Syrian state media. AP

A6 Tuesday, January 22, 2019 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

editorial

Carbon cleaning

B

UILDING a power supply that is as clean and reasonably priced as possible should not just be the government’s goal but also the private sector’s.

We should continue showing the way toward developing clean energy sources, considering our vulnerabilities to climate risk and the vast availability of wind, solar, geothermal, hydro and other nonconventional and sustainable power sources in our country.

The development of renewable-energy resources and the implementation of new clean technologies offer the opportunity to diminish our dependence on fossil fuels and reduce our carbon-dioxide emissions, thereby helping mitigate climate change.

Many local companies are showing they are up to the task. First Gen and Energy Development Corp. were recently included in the Carbon Clean 200, a list compiled by As You Sow, a nonprofit organization in the US, and market research group Corporate Knights of Canada.

The rankings recognize the greenest companies in the world based on the size of their revenues from clean energy sources. To qualify, a company must have over $1 billion in market capitalization and generate more than 10 percent of its total revenues from clean energy sources.

First Gen and EDC were the only Philippine companies to make it to the list. It was the first time for First Gen, which ranked 113rd with estimated clean energy revenues of $632 million in 2017, coming from 3,490 megawatts of installed capacity; and the third time for EDC, ranked 139th with $494.72 million in revenues from an installed capacity of 1,471.8 MW. In 2016, Lopez-owned First Philippine Holdings, the parent firm of First Gen and EDC, vowed it would not invest, build, or develop any coal-fired power plants, totally committing to greening its footprint and supply chains.

While other power producers have not totally abandoned ownership of coalfired energy assets, they have started long-term investments in RE technologies.

Aboitiz Power Corp. has investments in various thermal and renewable power generating facilities with a total net sellable capacity of 3,350 MW (together with its partners), and it is further expanding its Cleanergy portfolio by landbanking on solar developments.

Together with its partners, AboitizPower has 1,294 MW of Cleanergy, which come from 32 out of 50 power plants with a portfolio of hydro, geothermal and solar facilities, and other RE projects in the pipeline.

The power unit of conglomerate San Miguel Corp. also vowed to invest in the RE sector (up to 10,000 MW, according to Ramon Ang), in a bid to further expand its presence in the energy industry.

Manila Electric Co. executives had previously announced that the company is eyeing to build a portfolio of at least 500 MW of RE in the next four years, looking at all RE technologies, whether it’s solar, wind or hydro.

Solar Philippines has taken full advantage of our tropical climate, producing energy through its solar farms and making its own solar panels for local use and export. It has eight solar projects with a total value of P85.96 billion.

We have a unique opportunity to break away from our fossil fueled past and head toward a greener future.

These companies as well as others are taking advantage of new technologies and new sustainable ways to power the country. The Philippines could, indeed, be the most aggressive Asean member when it comes to renewableenergy development.

The National Grid Corp. of the Philippines should be ready to connect RE projects to the power grid. RE developers might be much faster than they are ready to accommodate new projects.

The Philippines’s National Renewable Energy Program, under the RE Law of 2008, targets to install 15,304 MW of installed renewable capacity by 2030.

All these RE power plants would help mitigate climate change. They would displace hundreds of thousands of tons of carbon emissions in the country, even as they generate a significant number of jobs and boost economic activity in the host provinces where they operate.

They would prove, as some companies are already proving, that with cheaper, cleaner, greener power comes more environmental as well as economic benefits.

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Reenacted budget per se is not bad Manny B. Villar

THE ENTREPRENEUR

T

HE Philippine government is effectively operating on a reenacted budget in January 2019 after the House of Representatives and the Senate failed to pass the proposed 2019 General Appropriations Act last year.

While I hope that Congress and Malacañang will soon resolve the budget impasse, I believe the situation is not as worrisome as in the United States, where some 800,000 federal workers were affected by the government shutdown.

The situation here is also not as serious as some people would like to exaggerate. In the Philippines, a reenacted budget means the government still has money to support its programs and projects and pay for the salary of state employees based on the previous year’s program. Second, it is not the first time it happened in the country. Third, there is still enough time to pass the new budget and implement it by the second quarter of 2019.

I remember that the national government operated on reenacted

budgets three times under the Arroyo presidency, and yet the economy still grew by an average of 4.3 percent annually in her nine-year term.

The change in the House leadership last year partly explains the delay in the approval of the budget. It is an inevitable result of the change of leadership in Congress and I don’t think the effect on the economy will be significant.

It cannot be compared to the US government shutdown, stemming from US Congress opposition to President Donald J. Trump’s demand for federal funding of the US-Mexico border wall.

In the Philippines, the approval of the budget is like a game of patintero between the Executive and Legislative departments, which requires careful maneuvering by both sides. When former

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activities just because of a minor delay in payments.

What will likely happen is that the government would operate on the reenacted budget for a month or two until the new budget is passed in February.

As the Senate resumed sessions on January 14, it would likely focus on the immediate enactment of the budget measure. Once passed and signed into law, the budget bill would be implemented by the second quarter this year, putting the government on track of its program.

Despite the slight implementation gap in new infrastructure projects, I believe the Duterte administration’s centerpiece “Build, Build, Build” infrastructure program would take off this year, generating jobs in the construction sector and stirring domestic demand for construction materials.

An infrastructure-driven policy would enable the Philippines to sustain an annual growth of 7 percent to 8 percent in the medium term and join the ranks of upper middle-income economies in the next decade.

For the meantime, let us not worry too much about the budget impasse because it would not lead to a government shutdown.

For comments, e-mail mbv.secretariat@gmail. com or visit www.mannyvillar.com.ph.

The people want globalism, not populism

Founder Publisher

President Glor ia Macapaga lArroyo became Speaker in July last year, she and other House leaders apparently preferred the existing “obligation-based” framework to the “cash-based” system proposed by the Department of Budget and Management.

The budget proposal prepared by the DBM has been clearly supported by the previous House leadership, and it is obviou s that the new Congress leaders have other ideas on how the budget should be programmed.

To me, this is not surprising and is to be expected.

Despite the deadlock, I’m sure it will be resolved soon. For the meantime, there are enough funds under the recycled 2018 budget of P3.767 trillion to support government projects and programs in the first quarter of 2019. Last year’s budget is actually P10 billion higher than the proposed P3.757-trillion spending plan this year.

To mitigate the impact of the budget impasse, Budget Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno issued Budget Circular 2019-01, which authorizes government agencies to spend a quarter of their 2018 budget allocations in the first quarter.

While the start of new infrastructure projects might be delayed a bit, majority of public works would not be affected. I don’t think contractors would stop their construction

OUTSIDE THE BOX

T

HE headline was intriguing: “Majority of World Population Supports Globalism, Survey Finds.” The first sentence read: “Maybe populist political movements don’t have as much support as often presumed.” That statement was a little shocking considering national elections during the past four years that brought leaders like Trump, Duterte and most recently Brazil’s Bolsonaro.

The United Kingdom leaving the European Union through the “Brexit” vote was surely populist.

France’s Emmanuel Macron was its first president in decades that didn’t come from the two main political parties. Prime Minister of Greece Alexis Tsipras is from the Syriza Party that translates as “Coalition of the Radical Left,” which sounds rather “populist.”

Giuseppe Conte in Italy was elected through a coalition of the “Five Star Movement”— founded by popular comedian Beppe Grillo— and the Lega Nord, which at one time advocated that the northern part of Italy secede from the rest

of the country.

The term “globalism” is used by political scientists to describe “attempts to understand all the interconnections of the modern world—and to highlight patterns that underlie [and explain] them.”

The above-mentioned article goes on to read, “The global public favors cooperation between nations according to a poll of 10,000 people in every region of the world.” Further, “People in Southeast Asia and Africa were the strongest believers in countries working together, with 88 percent saying it’s extremely or very important.”

However, this is an age that was

sort of predicted by George Orwell in his book 1984, which begins with the motto of the fictional nation Oceania: “War is Peace. Freedom is Slavery. Ignorance is Strength,” a world where words are twisted to mean something that they are not supposed to mean.

The term “globalist” has come to mean not someone who promotes the beneficial good-neighbor policies as in Southeast Asia—except of course for China. Instead, it is someone who strongly believes more in a unified global government if not that, ultimately, all borders and nations should be dissolved, resulting in one world government. Of course, this government should be owned and operated by the global elite of the rich and powerful. It would be like those who attend the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, every year.

Anyone can join the WEF for a membership fee of $52,000 and an admission charge of $19,000. But don’t call them; they will call you if they think you should be part of the group. The WEF prefers the global elite group of bankers, industrialists, oligarchs, technocrats and politicians.

You cannot blame them though.

It takes a special group of people— that certainly does not include you

or me—to achieve the WEF goal of “Improving the State of The World.”

This year, President Donald J. Trump did not attend due to the US government being shut down without a budget. French President Emmanuel Macron was also absent, dealing with 10 weeks of riots in the streets by the “Yellow Vests,” a populist movement. British Prime Minister Theresa May also pulled out because the popular vote in favor of “Brexit” is not appreciated by the globalists.

Rwandan President Paul Kagame —in office since 2000—spoke at the forum. He is a Clinton Global Citizen Award winner, although he did change the nation’s constitution to stay in office until 2034. He has been described as Africa’s most impressive and most repressive leader.

But as the survey told us, we the people actually favor globalism over populism no matter what happens in the voting booth. We can certainly believe the results of the opinion survey. It was bought and paid for by the World Economic Forum.

E-mail me at mangun@gmail.com. Visit my web site at www.mangunonmarkets.com. Follow me on Twitter @mangunonmarkets. PSE stockmarket information and technical analysis tools provided by the COL Financial Group Inc.

Opinion BusinessMirror

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An efficient VAT refund system: Will it see the light of day?

Atty. Kara Louisse B. Eramis

TAX LAW FOR BUSINESS

O

N January 4, 2019, the Bureau of Internal Revenue issued a revenue memorandum circular (RMC 3-2019) publishing the joint circular issued by six government agencies: The Department of Finance, Department of Budget and Management, Bureau of Treasury, BIR, Bureau of Customs (BOC) and the Commission on Audit. The joint circular provides for the guidelines on the establishment of a fund to answer for the value-added tax refund claims, as provided under Sections 31 and 33 of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law. The source of this fund will be the 5 percent of the total VAT collection from the immediate preceding year. This fund shall be reverted to the general fund every end of the year and shall be filled in again with the portion of VAT collection for the year in reservation for the claim to be made the next year.

The rule then is that the amount that will cover the claims for VAT refund shall come from the reserved account, which is composed of the 5 percent of the total VAT collection.

But in case the refund claims are higher than the allocated fund, what shall be the remedy of the BIR and BOC? Will they simply wait for the next year’s replenishment of the reserved account? The circular is silent on this part. Though this is within the internal procedures needed to be resolved by the tax bureau, the same is a concern to the taxpayer.

Regardless, the fixed procedure is that the payment for VAT refund claims will be shouldered by this special account composed of the 5 percent of total VAT collection from the preceding year.

We note that this appropriated special account is intended to attain the new rule on the shortened 90-day processing of refunds. The law provides for this special appropriation to ease the process and to achieve the 90-day period under the TRAIN law.

However, can this really be achieved if the readily available funds are only limited to 5 percent of the total collection? This question needs to be answered with the implementation of this special appropriation.

In addition, let’s also take a look at the recently issued Revenue Regulation 26-2018. This new regulation aims to further improve the process of VAT refund claims. Under this regulation, the 90-day period will be counted from the filing of the application up to the release of the payment of the VAT refund. It amends the prior issuance that limits the 90day period only up to the approval of the recommendation report. With this new rule, taxpayers will be less worried when they are faced with the filing of applications for VAT refund.

Aside from shortening the period of

the process, the regulation also provides that in case the official, agent or employee of the BIR deliberately causes the delay in the processing of such claim, he shall be subjected to penalties as imposed by the Tax Code.

This means that the government is serious with its implementation of the 90-day period.

This move by the government is of great relief to the taxpayers, who are oftentimes skeptical of the process and in doubt of proceeding with the refund process, knowing the many uncertainties associated with the process, such as the time and other resources needed to be spent before a resolution on the claim is made.

This, however, will be of great challenge to the government, in ensuring that the 90-day period is properly complied with. The system may not be perfect, but it is a good sign that the responsible agencies are doing their best in improving the system.

These issuances are indications that the government is continuing to improve its processes to help citizens.

Last, the taxpayer should know that this special appropriation is applicable only to certain tax claims, particularly for VAT refund solely issued by the BIR or the BOC, pursuant to Section 112 of the Tax Code and on the provisions on Duty Drawback and Refund under the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act. The author is a senior associate of Du-Baladad and Associates Law Offices (BDB Law), a memberfirm of WTS Global.

The article is for general information only and is not intended, nor should be construed as a substitute for tax, legal or financial advice on any specific matter. Applicability of this article to any actual or particular tax or legal issue should be supported, therefore, by a professional study or advice. If you have any comments or questions concerning the article, you may e-mail the author at karalouisse.eramis@bdblaw.com.ph or call 403-2001, local 170.

Tuesday, January 22, 2019 A7

What country invaded China in the past 200 years?

Cecilio T. Arillo

DATABASE

W

AS it Japan, France, Germany, Russia, Great Britain or the United States?

“If you are not Chinese or a student of Asian history, you may be surprised to learn that the correct answer to this question is actually all of the above,” said Dr. Peter Navarro, a Harvard-trained economist in his best-selling book, Crouching Tiger, recently published by Prometheus Books.

“In fact, China’s fear of being dominated by foreign powers and its pursuit of homeland protection are the most obvious reasons why it is seeking to build up its military,” said Navarro, who heads President Donald J. Trump’s White House Trade Council.

Navarro, also an expert on Communist China, is helping shape the Trump administration’s increasingly robust approach toward that nation, which has been waging “unrestricted warfare” against the US for at least two decades.

Navarro explained: “China’s security concerns are both fully justified and deeply rooted in its so-called ‘century of humiliation,’ which began in 1839 with Britain’s first opium war against China. It ran through the end of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1945 and featured everything China fears today—from military domination and naval blockades to massive

landgrabs, equally massive war reparations, repeated assaults on Chinese sovereignty and the slaughter of millions of Chinese citizens.”

Prior to 1839, he said, beginning in the 1600s, an imperial China, through a succession of emperors, was the undisputed superpower in Asia. “Vassal states, which regularly paid tribute to China’s dynastic rulers, included Burma and Vietnam in Southeast Asia, Nepal on China’s western flanks, and Korea and Japan in East Asia. By 1683, a dynastic China had also conquered a critical gateway to the Pacific Ocean—the island of Taiwan.”

He explained that “China’s undisputed regional hegemony would, however, come to an abrupt and inglorious end in 1839 when Britain and its powerful navy forced China’s emperor to cede the territories of Hong Kong and Kowloon—along with effective control of all of China’s major ports.”

“Over time,” he said, “the British Empire would also wrest Nepal from China’s sphere of influence and colonize Burma. Czarist Russia would militarily coerce China into surrendering a large chunk of its northeast territory—along with its strategic access to the Sea of Japan.

“And Imperial French forces would use, among other tactics, a naval blockade of Taiwan to force China to turn over control of all of northern Vietnam to France—thus paving the way for French hegemony in Indochina.”

“Despite these humiliations, the worst was yet to come as China’s once-loyal vassal Japan was quickly emerging from two centuries of isolation; and unlike China, the Land of the Rising Sun was eagerly embracing the new technologies of modern warfare. By 1894, under cover of the First Sino-Japanese war, Imperial Japanese forces would assume de facto control of the Korean Peninsula while taking the prize of Taiwan as a spoil of war,” Navarro said.

In hostilities that set the stage for the Second Sino-Japanese War, Japan would then seize mineralrich Manchuria in 1932 under cover of the puppet state of Manchukuo.

By 1940, Japan’s brutal occupation would encompass most of eastern China and all of China’s major ports.

China’s century of humiliation would come to an end only with the defeat of Japan by Allied Forces in 1945.

Throughout this century of humiliation, it wasn’t just the loss of so much territory that so deeply scarred the Chinese psyche. It was also the

Bloomberg Opinion

T

HE global elite descending on Davos are richer than ever.

A decade after the financial crisis poured flat champagne on the World Economic Forum, goldcollar executives set to gather there this week have bounced back, and then some.

David Rubenstein has doubled his fortune since 2009. Jamie Dimon has more than tripled his net worth. And Stephen Schwarzman has increased his wealth sixfold.

It’s a remarkable showing given the economic and political tumult of the past decade, from Lehman Brothers to Brexit to Donald J. Trump. The fortunes of a dozen 2009 Davos attendees have soared by a combined $175 billion, even as median US household wealth has stagnated, a Bloomberg analysis found.

The data illustrate the ever-widening gap between the true haves— those in the 0.1 percent—and the have-nots of a global economy. UBS and PwC Billionaires Insights reports show that global billionaire wealth has grown from $3.4 trillion in 2009 to $8.9 trillion in 2017. A report from Oxfam on Monday revealed that the poorest half of the world saw their wealth fall by 11 percent last year.

Central bank actions to fight the financial crisis—record low interest rates and bond-buying programs— have underpinned this ballooning wealth by driving up the prices of stocks and other assets.

“Ten years ago, ironically at the lows of the market, what you wanted to own was capital, and if you did own capital, you did incredibly well,” said Michael Hartnett, Bank of America Corp.’s chief investment strategist.

It means the conference’s attendees—overwhelmingly male— exert more authority and visibility than ever.

To reach the writer, e-mail cecilio.arillo@ gmail.com.

Europe is as clueless as Britain about Brexit

By Clive Crook Bloomberg Opinion

A

T the moment, despite strong competition from the US, Britain leads the industrialized world in political breakdown. Prime Minister Theresa May’s plan for Brexit has been crushingly rejected by the House of Commons—the margin of defeat was unprecedented—yet the government plods on robotically. As May explained: One, she has heard what Parliament just said and respects it; two, her deal with Europe is the right deal for the country.

There’s something about “no, no, a thousand times no” that she doesn’t seem to understand.

So the United Kingdom’s current preeminence in dysfunction is not to be questioned. Nonetheless, it’s still worth asking if Europe is handling its part in this crisis all that well.

Until now the European Union’s basic posture has been that Brexit is indeed a crisis—but for the UK, not so much for the rest of Europe. Britain made this problem, Britain is grossly mismanaging it and Britain must expect to suffer the consequences. It’s a shame, but there’s little Europe can do and, anyway, it isn’t our problem.

Perhaps this will turn out to have been a smart negotiating position; it’s hard to be sure before the final outcome is known. But how odd if Europe’s leaders really think that Brexit is anything but the biggest setback the union has suffered since the project began. One of the world’s biggest economies is quitting the European project, with potentially serious economic consequences for the rest of the EU, at a time when Europe’s economies are faltering anyway. You might have thought that avoiding Brexit altogether, or at least mitigating the harm it might do, deserved some attention.

As a matter of fact, Europe could have avoided Brexit altogether. It could have agreed to the request for modest concessions on free movement of people within the union that Prime Minister David Cameron made when he first set out to renegotiate the UK’s terms of membership. Europe’s other leaders sent him back with nothing, deeming freedom of movement to be “indivisible” from free trade in goods, services and capital.

Since it’s obvious that free movement of people is easily divisible from the others, Europe wasn’t really saying it couldn’t be done; it was merely refusing to do it.

The result of that intransigence was the referendum and Brexit.

Once Britain had amazed itself and everybody else by voting to quit, and before it had given formal notice to leave, Europe’s leaders could have reconsidered and prevailed on it to think again.

They didn’t.

Once the Article 50 notice to quit had been issued, they could have allowed wide-ranging talks on a close UK-EU partnership, preserving as much as possible of the economic integration achieved to great mutual advantage over the previous decades. Instead, they insisted on a strict separation between the terms of withdrawal, to be settled first, and the longer-term arrangements, to be discussed in detail only when the first was all done. This logically nonsensical separation of the two strands had one especially serious consequence. Europe’s negotiators wanted a provision in the withdrawal agreement—the so-called backstop— to avoid the reintroduction of a hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland. In effect, this demand anticipated and constrained the long-term agreement before detailed talks on the long term had even started.

So the EU first insisted on a strict and counterproductive sequencing of the talks, and then departed from its own

What crisis? Fortunes of Davos billionaires surge since 2009

By Tom Metcalf & Simon Kennedy

sheer brutality of the foreign powers themselves. For example, during the Boxer Rebellion between 1899 and 1901, when Chinese citizens rose up to protest the foreign occupation, a full 20,000 troops from an eight-nation alliance (including the United States) stormed into Beijing and crushed the uprising.

“In what newspapers of the time described as an orgy of looting, this German-led expeditionary force committed numerous atrocities; rape, particularly by French and Russian troops, was so prevalent that thousands of Chinese women committed suicide just to avoid it,” Navarro said.

“As a prelude to the atrocities committed in the 1930s,” he continued, “Japanese soldiers were likewise reported to be particularly skillful in the beheading of Chinese men suspected of being Boxers. Given this indelible history of humiliation, it should hardly be surprising that the China of today wants to develop a military force powerful enough to avoid the kind of wanton imperialistic abuses it suffered for more than 100 years.”

“But this homeland-protection rationale for China’s military buildup is not the end of our detective story—it is simply the beginning,” said Navarro, who is also a professor of Economics and Public Policy at the Paul Merage School of Business, University of California, Irvine, in his balanced narration and exposition of historical events.

Dimon is returning to the WEF with JPMorgan Chase & Co. larger and more profitable than ever. Schwarzman—recognizable in his tan winter coat over suit—has built Blackstone Group LP into the world’s largest alternative asset manager with $457 billion of assets as of September 30, 2018, up from $95 billion at the end of 2008. And Davos remains as popular as ever. The forum—titled “Globalization 4.0”—is expected to host 3,000 people. This year, George Soros is hosting a dinner at which he will speak and Dimon’s JPMorgan is throwing a cocktail party. Bill Gates will be present again, as will billionaire Carlyle Group cofounder Rubenstein, who hosts a show on Bloomberg Television and whose fortune has doubled over the past decade.

Billionaire success was difficult to envisage a decade ago, when the gathering was marked by fear, anger and bitterness.

“Everyone I spoke to says it’s the grimmest Davos they’ve ever been

Davos remains as popular as ever.

The forum—titled “Globalization 4.0”—is expected to host 3,000 people. This year, George Soros is hosting a dinner at which he will speak and Dimon’s JPMorgan is throwing a cocktail party. Bill Gates will be present again, as will billionaire Carlyle Group cofounder Rubenstein, who hosts a show on Bloomberg Television and whose fortune has doubled over the past decade.

to,” academic Kenneth Rogoff said at the 2009 meeting. “The mood has been very depressed.”

The intervening years have given attendees plenty of reasons for cheer.

Business owners and financiers have benefited from the longest bull market in history, while the benefits from an era of cheap money and recent US tax cuts have largely flowed to the wealthy.

Even as the meeting’s reports and

agendas have repeatedly flagged inequality as one of the chief risks to a stable society, the global economy’s bifurcation has only quickened.

“The financial crisis was the kind of event that shakes things out, but it didn’t happen 10 years ago,” said Anand Giridharadas, author of Winner Takes All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World. “The same rigging that caused the crisis ensured the losses were socialized.”

For those with minimal or no assets, it’s been a more challenging decade. Wages have stagnated and while equity markets have risen, fewer US adults are invested in the stock market than in 2009. Compensation for chief executive officers in America’s largest firms is now 312 times the annual average pay of the typical worker, compared with about 200 times in 2009, 58 times in 1989 and 20 times in 1965, according to a 2018 report by the Economic Policy Institute. The recent turmoil in the stock markets means some attendees

position on that principle by implanting a potentially long-term provision that was especially poisonous for the UK. The most remarkable aspect of this amazing maneuver is that May agreed to it.

Many supporters of Brexit reviewing this history would see calculated ruthlessness on the EU side. Once Britain had decided to leave, it had to suffer and be seen to suffer, so other countries wouldn’t try to do the same. Yet it’s hard to see why the EU should be so defensive: If the blessings of its many indivisible freedoms are so apparent, you’d think letting Britain go without inflicting further avoidable damage would send a sufficiently clear message to the other members. When it comes to Brexit (and not just Brexit, by the way) they’ve mainly been simply absent—intellectually, politically and diplomatically. They put blithely unyielding bureaucrats in charge of the exit negotiations, as though not much was at stake.

Britain is the principal author and victim of this sorry saga, no doubt, but Europe has a lot to lose as well, not just from a cliff-edge Brexit, but also from any outcome that leaves both sides seething with rage. Is it too much to ask that Europe’s leaders start acting as though they understand that?

may have discomfiting flashbacks to 2009. US stocks in 2018 had their worst year since the financial crisis, while oil ended the year mired in its steepest quarterly slump since 2014. And plenty of risks loom this year, from the United Kingdom’s impending exit from the European Union to US-China trade talks and the continuing showdown between President Donald J. Trump and Congress over the budget.

It’s possible this means the Davos pow-wow has peaked. Bank of America’s Hartnett detects a transition in which “Joe Six Pack” will benefit relatively more as central banks withdraw easy money, populist politicians win at the ballot box and nationalism tops globalization.

“Wall Street has done worse lately while Main Street has done better,” he said. “You’re going to be in that world for the foreseeable future, and I can only see that world accelerating.”

If the last decade is any guide, don’t bet on it.

2nd Front Page BusinessMirror

A8 Tuesday, January 22, 2019

Senators split on bid to lower age of kids’ criminal liability

By Butch Fernandez @butchfBM & Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz @joveemarie

S

ENATE President Vicente C. Sotto III is batting for a middle ground in a budding national debate to reset the minimum age of criminal liability to anywhere between 15 and nine years old.

“My bill is for 12 [years old],” the Senate leader said. He recalled it was previously set at nine years old, but the Juvenile Justice Welfare Act (JJWA) passed during the 13th Congress raised it to 17.

Sotto issued the statement after the House Committee on Justice on Monday endorsed for plenary approval a measure punishing nineyear-old children who will be involved in serious criminal offenses.

This, after the committee, chaired by Oriental Mindoro Rep.

Doy C. Leachon, passed a substitute bill lowering the Minimum Age of Criminal Responsibility (MACR) to nine, from 15 years old.

Leachon said the bill is included in the legislative priorities of the Duterte administration, saying “the House Committee on Justice gives utmost importance to reforming or amending the juvenile system of the Philippines.”

The bill seeks to amend certain provisions of Republic Act 9344 or the JJWA of 2006.

According to Leachon, the committee has conducted careful deliberations and consultations with experts and various stakeholders before approving the bill.

“This bill was brought about by the alarming increase in the number of criminal syndicates using minors to carry out criminal acts based on recent news reports. It is high time to pass this bill in order to protect our children from being used by ruthless and unscrupulous criminal syndicates to evade prosecution and punishment,” he said.

The lawmaker added the committee considers the bill a “priority matter of legislation” as the current Congress gives utmost importance to measures that ensure the safety of the country’s future generations.

Misgivings

SENATE President Pro Tempore Ralph G. Recto aired his misgivings over the proposal. “No to nine years old. If at all, I will support bringing it down to 13 years old,” Recto said in a text message

Lowering of MACR is a shortsighted solution which places blame on children rather than recognizing and addressing the underlying factors which drive children to engage in criminal activities, and working toward eradicating adult-initiated organized crimes.”

—Council for the Welfare of Children to the BusinessMirror.

Former Senate President Aquilino L. Pimentel III, however, dodged the question on whether he would support Speaker Gloria MacapagalArroyo’s advocacy to bring down the minimum age of criminal liability from 15 years old to nine years old.

“I will have to think about it very well,” Pimentel said.

Continued on A2

PHL, Asean aim for effective financial sector

By Rea Cu

@ReaCuBM

T

HE Philippines is working closely with other member-states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) to harmonize policies and share best practices among institutions to achieve financial stability, according to the Department of Finance (DOF).

At the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipi-

nas (BSP) and International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) first Regional Dialogue on Financial Stability for Asean Central Banks at the Philippine International Convention Center on Monday, the DOF said the Asean’s ultimate goal is not only to establish an effective common market but also an effective common financial system.

“Ours is a region composed of some of the most dynamic economies in the world. Rapid growth and technologi-

TROPICAL DEPRESSION “AMANG” ESTIMATED AT 105 KM EAST OF CATARMAN, NORTHERN SAMAR NORTHEAST MONSOON AFFECTING LUZON as of 4:00 pm - January 21, 2019

cal change create many challenges, especially for regulators tasked with managing risks and ensuring stability,” said Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III in his speech, which was read by Finance Undersecretary Bayani H. Agabin.

The DOF said the Philippine government has put in place at least four lines of defense to ensure financial stability, including an interagency council tasked to provide timely in-

terventions to identify and manage the buildup of systemic risks in the domestic economy.

The Financial Stability Coordination Council, created in 2014, provides a venue for financial authorities and stakeholders to candidly discuss risk issues, including those that may not be immediately apparent to market participants, so that they can better calibrate responses to emerging risks.

Dominguez said the task of managing systemic risks to improve predictability and stability is made easier with the signing into law by President Duterte of the Personal Property Security Act, which aims to broaden access to financial services, especially for micro, small and medium enterprises; and the National ID System, designed to improve the delivery of services and widen financial inclusion.

A pending bill in Congress seeking the approval of a Philippine Warehouse Act—enabling the agricultural sector to convert their produce and goods into credit in a simpler and faster way —completes the set of defenses being put in place to achieve “the right balance between financial stability and financial deepening and development,” according to Dominguez.

The BSP said the role of financial stability as key policy consideration is “very important,” not just in the Philippines but also on a global scale.

“By this we mean that the financial system efficiently serves the needs of all financial consumers while mitigating the buildup of systemic dislocations. Financial stability is therefore more than just the absence of instability or preventing the next crisis,” said BSP Governor Nestor A. Espenilla Jr. in his keynote address, which was delivered by Deputy Governor Chuchi G. Fonacier.

“There is a positive side to it, which is to ensure that the financial system continues to be a transformative tool for the public. This is the compelling case for why the authorities should be engaged in this policy sphere,” Espenilla added.

Structured as a “regional dialogue,” the event brings together governors and other high-level officials from Asean member-states. Also participating are experts from the IMF, the World Bank, the Bank for International Settlements and the South East Asian Central Banks Research and Training Centre, as well as bank CEOs and other government officials working in the area of financial stability.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

NUKE POWER IS CHEAP, CLEAN, SAFE, INSISTS ENVIRONMENT ACTIVIST

MICHAEL SHELLENBERGER, a Time magazine “Hero of the Environment,” award-winning author and lifelong peace and environment activist, discusses how nuclear energy can lift people out of poverty and protect the environment. ROY DOMINGO

By Recto Mercene @rectomercene

I

F the Philippines wants to join the community of economically developed nations, it must turn to nuclear power as a source of cheap electricity to power its industries and the homes of millions of consumers, a former antinuclear power activist who is now a passionate advocate of nuclear energy said on Monday.

“Millions of your overseas workers would now be able to use their washing machines and refrigerators and other appliances, and in the near future, if electric cars replaced the combustion engine, it would be nuclear plants that would be the source of cheap electricity to charge their batteries,” said Michael Shellenberger at the Manila Hotel media forum. He is a Time magazine “Hero of the Environment,” and president of a nongovernment organization promoting nuclear power.

Shellenberger is in Manila on the invitation of former Pangasinan Rep. Mark Cojuangco to meet other lawmakers and Department of Energy officials to set the ball rolling on the viability of nuclear energy as a better source of power than renewables like solar and wind power.

He, along with well-known climate scientists and environmentalists, have written to President Duterte, urging the Chief Executive to reduce the nation’s reliance on fossil fuels by switching to nuclear energy.

Shellenberger said the US, Japan, South Korea, China and Taiwan “were able to become rich nations by expanding the use of nuclear energy. The Philippines can do the same, but it will require presidential leadership.”

“There’s only one way to rapidly grow the economy while reducing air pollution, and that’s nuclear energy,” he added.

Shellenberger urged the media to spearhead the campaign for the country to go nuclear because he noted that it had been remiss in properly informing the people about the advantages of nuclear power.

Cojuangco said the politicians cannot be relied upon to help spread the gospel of nuclear energy as a cheap source of power, “because politicians are not courageous enough to do it, and they simply follow the flow of public opinion.”

With a PowerPoint presentation, Shellenberger showed how expensive solar power could be, requiring vast areas of flat real estate to set up the solar panels.

Due to the energy density of nuclear fuel, coastal nuclear power plants in the Philippines would require 180 times less land and 17 times less construction materials than solar.

“Solar panels are 100-percent effective at 12 noon but drop to 50 percent at 9 a.m. and 3 p.m., and when the sun sets at 6 p.m., it provides zero power,” he said. He added that solar panels are made of plastic, which would be very dif-

ficult to dispose of.

On the other hand, wind turbines are also very expensive to build, requiring areas with high-velocity winds while also posing significant danger to bats and migrating birds.

“To replace just the quantity of the Philippines’s fossil electricity production from 2017,” he said 193 wind farms at the size of the largest existing one in the country would need to be constructed, covering 1,320 square kilometers and at a scaled cost of P4.5 trillion ($87 billion).

There have been zero fatalities from nuclear plants for the last 60 years with the exception of Chernobyl, which killed two persons but rose to 31 following the disaster itself.

Six Fukushima workers in Japan died when the plant was swamped by a tsunami following a large earthquake in March 2011.

But to go nuclear would take time, and Shellenberger advocates that the country develop a culture of excellence, sophistication and rigorousness. He said nuclear power is the cheapest source of power compared to coal and liquefied natural gas, or other fossil fuels like crude oil.

Coal and crude oil are pollutants that kill 4.2 million a year across the globe from associated illnesses like heart and lung diseases.

“Nuclear power has saved 1.8 million lives by preventing the burning of biomass and fossil fuels,” Shellenberger said.

“On the other hand, nuclear plants do not produce smoke or any form of pollution, and the accumulated nuclear waste are tiny in comparison to the mountains of coal the Philippines uses,” he said Coal is currently the largest source of electricity in the country and is expected to grow significantly. Half of the coal the country consumes is imported at a cost of about P50 billion ($1 billion) a year.

The Philippines has the 16th-most expensive electricity out of 44 nations, according to a 2016 study by Manila Electric Co. He said the amount of nuclear waste the United States had produced “can fit in a thirty-foot stack of drums on a football field, while Sweden’s nuclear waste could fill a large room.”

Cojuangco is now a private citizen, and has been advocating for years for the country to go nuclear.

He proposes to revive the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP). The country has been paying P61 billion for nearly two decades and will still have to cough up P6.3 billion more to pay off the $2.2-billion loans, despite not producing even a single watt of electricity.

Shellenberger said it would take about nine nuclear power plants for provide cheap electricity for the entire country, while Cojuangco said previous studies have shown there are 13 possible sites where a nuclear plant in the country could be built.

The BNPP could be revived at a cost of $1 billion (P50 billion), said earlier estimates.

Editor: Efleda P. Campos

Companies BusinessMirror

Tuesday, January 22, 2019

B1

Meralco expects better power revenue in 2018

T

By Lenie Lectura

@llectura

HE Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) is expected to post better results for 2018 compared to the previous year mainly on account of improved electricity sales.

mand for 2018 to grow by 4.5 percent to 5 percent from 2017. Actual figures have yet to be released.

Pangilinan noted that demand for electricity is “quite strong” for the fist few days of the month. “ We remain optimistic on Meralco’s prospects,” Pangilinan commented, adding that forecast for this year “would have to wait.”

Meralco President Oscar Reyes had said the company might end 2018 with about 4.5-percent to 5-percent sales growth, which could be attributed to increased consumption from all consumer segments. At end-September last year, Meralco recorded 6.5 million customers.

In 2017, energ y sa les volumes grew by 5 percent to 42,102 gigawatt hours, brought about by a growing customer base, positive economic conditions, stable power

supply and low power-plant outages during the year.

This was underpinned by customer retail and networks initiatives to accelerate new customer acquisitions and energization, and to minimize distribution system interruption, Meralco said.

The Meralco official noted developments in the sector that could slow down electricity consumption. These include cooler temperature, higher inf lation, interest rates, weaker peso and increasing adoption of rooftop solar, battery and energy storage, which adversely affected consumer spending.

“These are headwinds that potentially mean that growth in electricity may decelerate. These will impact not only demand for electricity but also demand for products and services,” Reyes noted.

“Quite well. The profits could be ahead of 2017,” Meralco Chairman Manuel Pangilinan said.

For full-year 2017, Meralco recorded a 3-percent increase in core net income at P20.2 billion, before exceptional items. Reported net income was up 6 percent to P20.38 billion.

Core income excludes the effect of foreign-exchange gains or losses, impairment charges, mark-

to-market adjustments, gain on disposal of investment and other one-off items.

Revenue for 2017 was 10 percent higher at P282.55 billion, from P257.18 billion in 2016. Of this, electricity revenues amounted to P275.2 billion, while the remaining P59.6 billion accounted for distribution revenue.

The power-distribution utility firm was expecting electricity de-

AirAsia opens Clark-Seoul route

ICTSI reaches milestone 200,000 TEUs in 2018

B

UDGET carrier AirAsia Philippines has expanded its route network with the introduction of a new service to Seoul, South Korea, from Clark International Airport.

The inaugural flight, held on Monday, had a load factor of 100 percent, AirAsia Philippines Director for Flight Operations Gomer B. Monreal said.

“We are staying true to our commitment to provide the much-needed international connectivity and convenience for travelers in Metro Manila, and Central and Northern Luzon,” he said.

AirAsia Philippines is beefing up its Clark operations with the intention of returning to the north to make it its home base.

“The future of aviation, travel and tourism is taking shape in Clark. Now more than ever, Clark is truly saving us from air-traffic congestion, and enabling airlines and travelers to enjoy the convenience of traveling,” Monreal said.

The thrice-weekly service will utilize the company’s fleet of Airbus A320s, which currently number 21 jets. Lorenz S. Marasigan

I

NTERNATIONAL Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) reported on Monday its terminal in Subic has breached the 200,000 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) mark, with a company official calling it a “milestone.”

Subic Bay International Terminal Corp. President Roberto R. Locsin said the group reached the said volume last December, thereby

hitting its goals for 2018.

“More than hitting our targets, this new record highlights Subic Bay International Terminal’s capability to continuously outpace market growth, and readiness to serve the vibrant Subic Freeport market,” he said. Subic Bay International Terminal has an annual capacity of 600,000 TEUs. Locsin vowed to continue improv-

ing the services of the facility, which directly benefits the northern provinces of Luzon.

“Along with further investments in port equipment and systems, we continue to work hand in hand with our customers to improve the efficiency of our operations and processes, and inevitably make their experience a more pleasant one,” he said. Lorenz S. Marasigan

Maynilad starts operating its P1.7-B Parañaque STP

SM scholars flood social media with messages of gratitude for Henry Sy Sr.

By Roderick L. Abad

@rodrik_28

Contributor

H

ENRY SY SR. stood out as a titan in Philippine business during his lifetime. He not only led the list of the wealthiest Filipinos for the past few years with his net worth of $18.3 billion; his philanthropy also changed the course of thousands of young lives who otherwise would have languished in poverty and desperation had he not helped them with their education.

While amassing wealth few people in the country could match, the business tycoon’s benevolence was shown by the various causes spoused by his SM Foundation Inc. (SMFI), the corporate social responsibility arm of his business empire. Noteworthy was his unwavering support of the education of underprivileged, but brilliant Filipino youth he called “SM Scholars,” the future of this nation.

Shortly after news of his death became public on January 19, an outpouring of messages of love and gratitude began to flood social media. Former and current SM scholars posted on their Facebook accounts their heart-warming messages to “Tatang,” the monicker he was known for.

The demise of a revered Filipino-Taipan was “very sad news” for Shawie Aguinaldo. She expressed her gratitude of Tatang, through the SMFI, for supporting her college education way back in 1993.

The SM College Scholarship Program (SMCSP) was established by the foundation 26 years ago to help provide quality education to bright, but underprivileged public highschool graduates.

“We will be always be grateful for your generosity and kindness to many less fortunate Filipinos,” said Aguinaldo, a member of the pioneering batch of student-beneficiaries of SMCSP. Nove Ellema also expressed her gratitude to Tatang, saying “We owe a lot to you and your family. We are forever grateful for the blessings you shared to all of us SM scholars.”

Alma Bautista Dimalanta lauded all his contributions “to make life easier for a lot of people and especially for sending me and my co-scholars to school.”

April May Brioso Banayat said Sy even gave them gifts and bonuses when they excelled in their studies, thus motivating them to persevere more.

“All you wanted was for us to study, the only thing you asked from us,” she said. “You were very considerate. When one of us failed, you gave us another chance, and another and another.”

Ma. Pearly Joan stressed that “the baton of leadership is passed on to your children, our bosses, who have been trained by the best mentor they could ever have—the Great Henry Sy.” “As we mourn your loss, we pray for the repose of your soul, Tatang.

Heaven’s door will certainly open and welcome you. And please do not worry; they got everything for you in there,” she ended.

While many people will remember Sy as the richest man in the country, the SM scholars “will never forget how his vision made our dreams reachable,” John David Adrid said.

Teofrenz Ycot will forever be grateful for the huge positive difference the scholarship grant made in his life. He hopes they will “be able to continue and multiply what he has done.”

In fact, a core group of six SM scholars calling themselves “Scholars for Scholars” presented Debbie P. Sy, executive director of SM Foundation, with a seed money of P100,000 they raised among themselves during a get-together of past and current SM scholars on January 6. The group vowed to increase this further in time for enrollment in July.

The group is composed of Loida Ongteco-de Vera, now operations manager of SM Hypermarket; Ellyson C. Bala, SAVP, IT Department, SM Prime Holdings; Novelyn B. Donoso, finance analyst, San Miguel Foods Inc.; Emylou M. Cadalzo, RS Department manager, NKC Manufacturing Philippines Corp.; and Jeffrey C. Manhulad and Junnair B. Manla, network engineers, NTT Singapore Pte. Ltd. Sy is survived by his wife, Felicidad Tan-Sy, and his six children.

His remains lie at the Heritage chapels. Public viewing is ongoing until January 23. Interment will be on January 24.

Cebu Pacific gets more aircraft orders, increasing fleet to 72

W

ESTZoneconcessionaireMayniladWater Services Inc. (Maynilad) recently began operating its newly constructed P1.7billion sewage treatment plant (STP) in San Dionisio, Parañaque City.

“Maynilad has always been supportive of government’s move to clean up Manila Bay. Building new STPs is in line with this initiative, and the Parañaque Water Reclamation Facility is now our 22nd wastewater-treatment facility in the West Zone. This is part of the P23.3 billion we have already invested since 2007 to improve wastewater infrastructure in our concession area,” Maynilad President and CEO Ramoncito S. Fernandez said.

The new Parañaque Water Reclamation Facility can treat up to 76,000 cubic meters of wastewater per day, and will help ease pollution loading in Manila Bay. It can serve about 500,000 households in Barangays San Dionisio, Santo Niño, San Isidro, Moonwalk, San Antonio, Marcelo Green, BF, La Huerta and Don Bosco in Parañaque City.

The facility, which is part of Maynilad’s program to expedite the provision of sewerage and sanitation services in Metro Manila, is funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency through the Development Bank of the Philippines.

With the completion of the STP in Parañaque, Maynilad now operates 19 STPs, two sewage and septage treatment plants, and one septage treatment plant with a combined treatment capacity of an estimated 662,000 cubic meters of wastewater per day.

SUBWAY SANDWICHES A Subway store at United Nations Avenue in Manila serves sandwiches, cookies and salads. Customers can specify which ingredients to include as they build their own salads and sandwiches.

ROY DOMINGO

Hyundai sells 6% fewer vehicles in 2018, sees rebound this year

T

HE Philippine distributor of Hyundai vehicles closed 2018 with sales slower by 6 percent, but is bullish it will rebound this year due largely to favorable market conditions.

Hyundai Asia Resources Inc. (Hari) on Monday reported that its sales for the whole of last year dipped 6.04 percent to 35,401 units from 37,678 units in 2017. The car importer still viewed the slowdown in positive light, as “this is in contrast to an industry that has been declining in the double digits.”

Passenger cars (PC) remained Hari’s strongest link, as the firm

sold 19,905 units from this segment.

However, this was 22.02 percent lower than the 25,529 PC units sold

by Hari in 2017.

Sales of light commercial vehicles (LCV) expanded 27.54 percent to 15,496 units in 2018 from 12,149 units the preceding year.

Accent was Hari’s top brand in the PC segment at 15,041 units sold, while H-100 was its best seller in the LCV bracket at 5,203 units sold.

Hari is banking on the government’s infrastructure program to rebound its sales this year, as well as on the expected easing of inflation, stronger inflow of investments and

higher spending related to the midterm polls. It is depending on these economic conditions to weather global uncertainties that may imperil the growth prospect of the country.

President and CEO Maria Fe Perez-Agudo vowed Hari will exploit the favorable market conditions to provide consumers better products and services. “Amidst the uncertainty faced in the automotive industry this year, Hyundai has proven itself able to weather the odds and exceed expectations. The economic landscape shows to be more optimistic. You can expect more from us in 2019,” Agudo said. Elijah Felice E. Rosales

By Lorenz S. Marasigan @lorenzmarasigan

L

OW-COST carrier Cebu Pacific received its first A321 new engine option (neo) from French jet manufacturer Airbus, increasing its fleet to 72 airliners.

After receiving the first of 32 aircraft orders, Cebu Pacific is also set to receive another five A320 neos from Avolon, a Dublin-based aircraft-leasing company, Airbus said in a statement.

In a separate media advisory, Cebu Pacific said it flew the most number of passengers in a single day in the country last December 21.

The airline carried a total of 68,284 passengers on 414 domestic and international flights that day, surpassing its previous record of 65,298 passengers flown last May 7.

During the Christmas season, it flew a total of 1.391 million passengers, or 7.4 percent higher than the same period the year prior.

“We are pleased to have enabled hundreds of thousands of passengers to make memories and moments during the yuletide season,” Cebu Pacific COO Michael Ivan Shau said.

On any given day, Cebu Pacific and subsidiary Cebgo operate over 400 flights from different hubs in the Philippines, namely Manila, Clark, Iloilo, Kalibo, Cebu, Cagayan de Oro (Laguindingan) and Davao.

It operates in 37 domestic and 26 international destinations across Asia, Australia, the Middle East, and the US. “As passenger traffic continues to grow, we are committed to improving our service to make flying with Cebu Pacific more pleasant, safer and more efficient,” Shau added.

So far, Cebu Pacific has invested in technology and infrastructure to help facilitate the boarding and deplaning of passengers at the airports and to make inflight operations more efficient.

B2

Companies BusinessMirror

Tuesday, January 22, 2019

PSE STOCK QUOTATIONS

January 21, 2019

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

ASIA UNITED 59.5 59.7 59.9 59.9 58.15 59.7 1490 88974 BDO UNIBANK 129.6 130 132.5 132.8 129.6 130 1191230 155479140 BANK PH ISLANDS 91.9 92 93.95 93.95 91.2 92 1739150 160110372 CHINABANK 27.95 28.1 27.8 28 27.8 27.95 575500 16110895 CITYSTATE BANK 5.03 7.6 7.59 7.6 7.59 7.6 2100 15949 EAST WEST BANK 12.64 12.68 12.7 12.82 12.64 12.64 578400 7383350 METROBANK 82 82.35 82.5 82.65 82 82.35 1373160 113061022.5 PHIL NATL BANK 45.65 45.7 44.3 45.7 44.3 45.7 287500 13,043,730( PSBANK 59.25 59.55 58.85 59.95 58.85 59.25 26250 1554677 PHILTRUST 113 122 122 122 122 122 20 2440 RCBC 26.7 27 26.7 27.2 26.6 26.7 61200 1639450 SECURITY BANK 176.5 177.6 179.7 179.9 175.9 177.6 222670 39671172 UNION BANK 64.5 64.75 64.6 65 64.5 64.5 6530 421506.5 BRIGHT KINDLE 1.45 1.46 1.43 1.48 1.43 1.46 137000 197050 BDO LEASING 2.4 2.44 2.37 2.4 2.34 2.4 145000 346840 COL FINANCIAL 16.1 16.2 15.82 16.18 15.82 16.18 600 9672 FERRONOUX HLDG 4.58 4.65 4.62 5 4.58 4.58 419000 1946040 IREMIT 1.45 1.49 1.43 1.45 1.43 1.45 2000 2880 MEDCO HLDG 0.455 0.475 0.455 0.475 0.45 0.475 70000 31900 MANULIFE 785 815 815 815 815 815 60 48900 NTL REINSURANCE 1.01 1.03 1.03 1.03 1 1.01 963000 974060 PHIL STOCK EXCH 179.5 180 180 180 179 179 4250 762897 SUN LIFE 1805 1820 1805 1805 1805 1805 545 983725 VANTAGE 1.15 1.17 1.16 1.18 1.16 1.18 143000 166740

INDUSTRIAL ALSONS CONS 1.39 1.4 1.38 1.41 1.38 1.4 298000 416210 ABOITIZ POWER 37.4 37.45 37.95 38.2 37.45 37.45 1327200 50140105 BASIC ENERGY 0.24 0.241 0.249 0.249 0.24 0.24 910000 219410 FIRST GEN 19.86 19.9 20.2 20.2 19.56 19.9 1719600 34,122,884( FIRST PHIL HLDG 75.9 75.95 73.95 76.15 73.4 75.95 298120 22340313.5 MERALCO 362.8 365 370 377.6 362.8 362.8 427120 157431532 MANILA WATER 27.15 27.5 27.5 27.6 27.15 27.15 12200 335215 PETRON 7.77 7.79 7.8 7.89 7.77 7.77 1923900 15043979 PETROENERGY 3.75 3.79 3.74 3.76 3.74 3.75 73000 273650 PHINMA ENERGY 1.26 1.27 1.3 1.3 1.27 1.27 16267000 20885500 PH RESORTS GRP 6.96 6.98 6.6 7.05 6.52 6.98 1717300 11744636 PHX PETROLEUM 10.9 11 11 11 10.9 11 29100 318904 PILIPINAS SHELL 47.25 47.3 47.95 47.95 47.1 47.25 1020700 48369825 SPC POWER 6.28 6.3 6.4 6.49 6.3 6.3 160600 1021827 AGRINURTURE 16.24 16.36 16.22 16.7 16.1 16.36 369500 6051052 BOGO MEDELLIN 82.05 90 82.5 90 82 90 140 11815 CNTRL AZUCARERA 16.22 17 16.52 17 16.52 16.52 15700 259556 CENTURY FOOD 15.1 15.14 15.2 15.2 15.1 15.1 159000 2404328 DEL MONTE 6.45 6.62 6.54 6.63 6.34 6.62 18600 119875 DNL INDUS 11.74 11.76 11.76 11.8 11.64 11.76 2955200 34647600 EMPERADOR 7.33 7.34 7.4 7.52 7.3 7.34 925000 6829581 SMC FOODANDBEV 91.7 91.75 90.2 94 90.2 91.75 779150 72143552.5 ALLIANCE SELECT 1.09 1.1 1.09 1.1 1.07 1.09 3638000 3960570 GINEBRA 25.85 26.8 26.9 26.9 26.9 26.9 100 2690 JOLLIBEE 324.4 325.2 324.6 325.2 320 325.2 401380 130252054 MACAY HLDG 10.2 10.48 10.1 10.6 10.1 10.6 1900 19750 MAXS GROUP 12.48 12.6 12.46 12.98 12.46 12.48 1731600 22017080 MG HLDG 0.175 0.181 0.183 0.183 0.176 0.176 620000 109260 PEPSI COLA 1.39 1.4 1.4 1.44 1.39 1.4 10117000 14252370 SHAKEYS PIZZA 11.9 12 11.82 12.28 11.64 12 2499500 29500996 ROXAS AND CO 1.82 1.83 1.83 1.87 1.83 1.83 491000 904670 RFM CORP 4.7 4.84 4.71 4.71 4.71 4.71 4000 18840 ROXAS HLDG 2.79 2.98 2.75 2.99 2.75 2.99 50000 138660 UNIV ROBINA 143.1 144 142.9 146.2 142.7 144 2908390 418607637 VITARICH 2.12 2.13 2.13 2.13 2.08 2.13 5315000 11221560 VICTORIAS 2.31 2.32 2.32 2.32 2.32 2.32 37000 85840 CEMEX HLDG 2.39 2.41 2.51 2.62 2.39 2.4 54436000 134,904,750( DAVINCI CAPITAL 6.49 6.5 6.66 6.67 6.49 6.5 21900 143406 EAGLE CEMENT 15.76 15.78 15.9 16 15.76 15.78 1909200 30353358 EEI CORP 8.06 8.07 8.22 8.25 8.07 8.07 227500 1847818 HOLCIM 6.17 6.19 6.5 6.5 6.13 6.19 1135000 7140111 MEGAWIDE 17.3 17.5 17.2 17.88 17.2 17.3 7526200 132063202 PHINMA 9.09 9.2 9.08 9.09 9.08 9.09 6000 54530 TKC METALS 0.88 0.9 0.88 0.9 0.87 0.9 69000 60260 VULCAN INDL 1.55 1.56 1.55 1.57 1.53 1.55 1836000 2840310 CHEMPHIL 133.3 140 140 140 140 140 40 5600 CROWN ASIA 1.75 1.8 1.8 1.8 1.8 1.8 10000 18000 EUROMED 1.55 1.69 1.55 1.55 1.55 1.55 12000 18600 LMG CHEMICALS 4.31 4.4 4.31 4.31 4.31 4.31 5000 21550 MABUHAY VINYL 3.1 3.15 3.15 3.15 3.15 3.15 15000 47250 PRYCE CORP 5.81 6 6 6 6 6 400 2400 CONCEPCION 40 41.4 39.55 41.4 39.55 41.4 8500 346520 GREENERGY 2.19 2.2 2.18 2.26 2.1 2.2 21331000 46875020 INTEGRATED MICR 12.14 12.16 12.78 12.78 12.02 12.14 1535600 18994344 IONICS 1.77 1.78 1.86 1.86 1.77 1.78 1123000 2029100 SFA SEMICON 1.46 1.5 1.51 1.51 1.45 1.46 145000 212420 CIRTEK HLDG 30.9 31.2 31.3 31.3 30.8 30.85 67200 2075350

HOLDING & FRIMS ABACORE CAPITAL 0.69 0.7 0.7 0.72 0.69 0.7 14798000 10385360 ASIABEST GROUP 27.05 27.3 25.9 27.75 25.9 27.3 93200 2530750 AYALA CORP 920.5 925 939 945 915 925 414410 382627190 ABOITIZ EQUITY 66.6 66.75 67.9 69.5 66.6 66.6 629600 42689290 ALLIANCE GLOBAL 14.06 14.08 14.14 14.26 13.98 14.08 15844500 223249798 ANSCOR 6.5 6.55 6.5 6.5 6.5 6.5 5000 32500 ANGLO PHIL HLDG 0.76 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.8 4000 3200 ATN HLDG A 1.54 1.55 1.43 1.54 1.43 1.54 50491000 76104980 ATN HLDG B 1.53 1.54 1.45 1.54 1.45 1.53 7006000 10491040 COSCO CAPITAL 7.22 7.24 7.2 7.27 7.2 7.24 1578100 11424553 DMCI HLDG 12.2 12.26 12.12 12.4 12.1 12.26 5511000 67490992 FILINVEST DEV 12.28 12.3 12.26 12.48 12.02 12.3 401900 4914372 FORUM PACIFIC 0.213 0.23 0.23 0.23 0.23 0.23 10000 2300 GT CAPITAL 1030 1037 1040 1050 1022 1037 59920 62211560 JG SUMMIT 66 67.1 66.5 67.3 66 67.1 2159270 144107316 LODESTAR 0.62 0.63 0.61 0.64 0.6 0.62 129000 80590 LOPEZ HLDG 5.68 5.69 5.69 5.79 5.6 5.69 1352900 7693573 LT GROUP 14.78 14.8 15.3 15.48 14.72 14.78 4297400 64551150 MABUHAY HLDG 0.61 0.63 0.61 0.63 0.61 0.62 640000 391690 METRO PAC INV 4.95 4.96 5.04 5.18 4.94 4.96 25503300 129141035 PACIFICA 0.036 0.038 0.037 0.037 0.036 0.037 3600000 132800 PRIME ORION 2.57 2.6 2.6 2.6 2.56 2.57 293000 755330 PRIME MEDIA 1.16 1.2 1.16 1.16 1.16 1.16 77000 89320 SOLID GROUP 1.41 1.43 1.38 1.43 1.38 1.43 84000 118760 SYNERGY GRID 470 516 474 474 470 470 500 235880 SM INVESTMENTS 962.5 970 980 984 960 970 105240 102181190 SAN MIGUEL CORP 161 162.8 155.6 164 155.6 162.8 822150 132098637 TOP FRONTIER 251.4 260 251 260 251 260 80710 20259390 WELLEX INDUS 0.255 0.26 0.26 0.26 0.255 0.26 2760000 704100 ZEUS HLDG 0.219 0.227 0.227 0.227 0.227 0.227 10000 2270

PROPERTY ARTHALAND CORP 0.87 0.88 0.89 0.92 0.86 0.88 3316000 2916070 ANCHOR LAND 10.6 11.38 10.6 10.6 10.6 10.6 7500 79500 AYALA LAND 44.2 45.3 44.6 45.75 44.15 45.3 7445000 335666795 ARANETA PROP 1.66 1.69 1.7 1.7 1.66 1.66 120000 201020 BELLE CORP 2.48 2.49 2.47 2.52 2.43 2.48 3947000 9848580 A BROWN 0.83 0.85 0.85 0.85 0.82 0.84 1768000 1469620 CITYLAND DEVT 0.87 0.91 0.87 0.91 0.86 0.91 362000 314700 CROWN EQUITIES 0.249 0.25 0.255 0.26 0.25 0.25 13840000 3504600 CEBU HLDG 6.12 6.18 6.2 6.2 6.14 6.2 3600 22140 CEB LANDMASTERS 4.19 4.2 4.2 4.25 4.19 4.2 118000 496550 CENTURY PROP 0.455 0.46 0.455 0.475 0.45 0.46 50880000 23538050 CYBER BAY 0.375 0.4 0.38 0.38 0.37 0.37 1210000 450800 DOUBLEDRAGON 20.9 20.95 21.4 21.4 20.9 20.95 325000 6838260 DM WENCESLAO 8.71 8.86 8.71 8.88 8.7 8.71 410600 3593407 EMPIRE EAST 0.495 0.51 0.51 0.51 0.495 0.495 2831000 1418765 FILINVEST LAND 1.62 1.63 1.59 1.64 1.57 1.62 30524000 49075740 GLOBAL ESTATE 1.22 1.23 1.19 1.22 1.18 1.22 1538000 1862190 8990 HLDG 8.76 8.77 8.74 8.77 8.51 8.77 480900 4166538 PHIL INFRADEV 2.17 2.19 2.17 2.23 2.14 2.19 5167000 11292750 CITY AND LAND 0.81 0.82 0.81 0.81 0.81 0.81 30000 24300 MEGAWORLD 5.31 5.36 5.39 5.39 5.27 5.36 18772500 100274455 MRC ALLIED 0.425 0.43 0.425 0.43 0.42 0.43 13870000 5938150 PHIL ESTATES 0.455 0.47 0.465 0.47 0.46 0.47 510000 237700 PRIMEX CORP 3.36 3.4 3.55 3.55 3.35 3.36 1798000 6161800 ROBINSONS LAND 23 23.2 23.2 23.4 22.95 23.2 684600 15870380 PHIL REALTY 0.415 0.42 0.42 0.42 0.41 0.42 1850000 766550 ROCKWELL 1.98 2.02 2.03 2.03 1.98 1.98 1314000 2635430 SHANG PROP 3.11 3.15 3.11 3.15 3.11 3.11 969000 3013730 STA LUCIA LAND 1.36 1.38 1.36 1.38 1.33 1.38 2496000 3398420 SM PRIME HLDG 39.15 39.9 39.35 39.95 38.8 39.9 11058100 437279785 STARMALLS 6.04 6.14 6.15 6.24 6.03 6.14 371600 2290690 PTFC REDEV CORP 38.55 43.9 43.9 43.9 43.9 43.9 4900 215110 VISTA LAND 5.86 5.88 5.87 5.9 5.85 5.88 3458700 20339844

SERVICES ABS CBN 23.85 23.9 22.6 24 22.6 23.9 461300 10963770 GMA NETWORK 5.88 5.9 5.9 5.99 5.86 5.88 555600 3280942 MANILA BULLETIN 0.35 0.375 0.37 0.385 0.35 0.35 70000 25850 GLOBE TELECOM 2070 2080 2092 2098 2060 2080 14750 30768770 PLDT 1222 1225 1250 1258 1225 1225 21605 26808505 APOLLO GLOBAL 0.041 0.042 0.041 0.041 0.041 0.041 4200000 172200 DFNN INC 7.13 7.4 7.11 7.44 7.11 7.4 35800 254863 IMPERIAL 1.9 1.98 1.88 1.88 1.88 1.88 10000 18800 ISLAND INFO 0.127 0.128 0.138 0.138 0.125 0.128 14470000 1868050 ISM COMM 6.03 6.04 6.26 6.3 6 6.03 11711100 71588654 JACKSTONES 3.13 3.2 3.13 3.13 3.13 3.13 9000 28170 NOW CORP 3.81 3.82 3.8 3.87 3.8 3.82 1816000 6947220 TRANSPACIFIC BR 0.435 0.44 0.43 0.45 0.425 0.44 20540000 9036050 PHILWEB 3.17 3.2 3.17 3.28 3.17 3.2 1161000 3727540 2GO GROUP 13.88 13.9 14 14.42 13.9 13.9 93200 1312646 CEBU AIR 82.4 82.5 82.3 82.5 81.5 82.5 84510 6953913 CHELSEA 6.66 6.67 6.76 6.84 6.66 6.67 1399400 9401167 INTL CONTAINER 104 107.9 108 110 104 104 430370 46441057 LBC EXPRESS 14.42 14.88 14.88 14.88 14.3 14.88 9000 133296 LORENZO SHIPPNG 0.81 0.84 0.8 0.87 0.8 0.84 262000 222620 MACROASIA 17.52 17.54 17.56 17.78 17.52 17.54 252200 4428562 METROALLIANCE A 2.02 2.05 2.14 2.14 2.01 2.02 669000 1354170 PAL HLDG 8.92 8.93 8.95 9 8.93 8.93 4000 35812 HARBOR STAR 2.99 3 2.99 3.05 2.98 3 1096000 3303160 ACESITE HOTEL 1.32 1.39 1.35 1.35 1.3 1.31 443000 583880 BOULEVARD HLDG 0.054 0.055 0.057 0.057 0.054 0.055 45570000 2515500 DISCOVERY WORLD 2.1 2.22 2.1 2.1 2.08 2.08 70000 146040 WATERFRONT 0.74 0.75 0.76 0.77 0.73 0.75 4266000 3172030 CENTRO ESCOLAR 7.68 7.99 7.99 8 7.99 7.99 7400 59186 FAR EASTERN U 890 929.5 890 891 890 890 80 71230 IPEOPLE 10.9 11.16 10.84 11.18 10.7 11.18 20900 225190 STI HLDG 0.75 0.76 0.75 0.77 0.75 0.75 2587000 1956290 BERJAYA 3 3.01 3.08 3.15 2.96 3 2778000 8401530 BLOOMBERRY 10.2 10.28 10.8 10.88 10.2 10.2 6525900 67951972 PACIFIC ONLINE 9.45 9.83 9.84 9.84 9.56 9.56 25500 244831 LEISURE AND RES 3.27 3.3 3.35 3.36 3.27 3.3 1002000 3323680 MANILA JOCKEY 4.97 5.05 5.15 5.15 4.97 5.05 137900 690712 PREMIUM LEISURE 0.92 0.93 0.94 0.94 0.92 0.93 6934000 6461110 TRAVELLERS 5.5 5.51 5.5 5.54 5.48 5.51 1191900 6555027 METRO RETAIL 2.72 2.75 2.78 2.85 2.75 2.75 2396000 6668020 PUREGOLD 45.7 45.75 46.85 46.85 45.75 45.75 792300 36429890 ROBINSONS RTL 82 85.7 86.1 86.3 82 82 151200 12466217.5 PHIL SEVEN CORP 120 121 120 120 117 120 2540 304550 SSI GROUP 2.47 2.48 2.5 2.53 2.47 2.48 8777000 21897740 WILCON DEPOT 13.24 13.4 13.26 13.5 13.24 13.24 1586900 21103168 APC GROUP 0.44 0.445 0.435 0.45 0.435 0.445 4150000 1845800 EASYCALL 16.32 16.38 16.88 16.88 16.32 16.32 111900 1839998 GOLDEN BRIA 319.2 330 320 330 315.2 330 6320 2082460 IPM HLDG 7.25 7.3 7.35 7.35 7.2 7.3 17000 123795 PAXYS 3.4 3.7 3.5 3.6 3.45 3.59 100000 359090 SBS PHIL CORP 7.7 7.82 7.82 7.82 7.82 7.82 8800 68816

MINING & OIL ATOK 14.46 14.5 14.54 14.98 14.44 14.5 14400 209168 APEX MINING 1.61 1.62 1.61 1.63 1.6 1.61 2377000 3821830 ABRA MINING 0.002 0.0021 0.0021 0.0022 0.002 0.0021 592000000 1243000 ATLAS MINING 2.8 2.82 2.82 2.84 2.79 2.8 332000 933810 CENTURY PEAK 2 2.02 1.97 2.02 1.91 2.02 8027000 15736960 DIZON MINES 7.74 7.85 7.9 7.94 7.69 7.84 3700 28690 FERRONICKEL 1.52 1.53 1.68 1.68 1.43 1.52 45632000 69928670 GEOGRACE 0.219 0.222 0.219 0.223 0.219 0.219 360000 79150 LEPANTO A 0.12 0.122 0.12 0.122 0.118 0.12 7100000 850870 LEPANTO B 0.123 0.126 0.126 0.126 0.122 0.122 3830000 478140 MANILA MINING A 0.0075 0.0076 0.0075 0.0075 0.0075 0.0075 6000000 45000 MARCVENTURES 1.21 1.22 1.23 1.23 1.22 1.22 215000 263070 NIHAO 1.02 1.07 1.09 1.09 1.02 1.07 53000 55830 NICKEL ASIA 2.52 2.53 2.64 2.64 2.51 2.52 6868000 17515870 OMICO CORP 0.68 0.69 0.69 0.69 0.69 0.69 265000 182850 ORNTL PENINSULA 1.01 1.03 1.02 1.04 1 1.03 853000 871980 PX MINING 4.19 4.2 4.17 4.28 4.09 4.19 3216000 13512910 SEMIRARA MINING 24.2 24.25 24.4 24.4 24.05 24.2 1157900 28041810 UNITED PARAGON 0.0066 0.0067 0.0068 0.0068 0.0067 0.0067 4000000 27000 ORNTL PETROL A 0.012 0.013 0.013 0.013 0.012 0.013 13200000 171500 ORNTL PETROL B 0.012 0.013 0.013 0.013 0.013 0.013 590400000 7675200 PHILODRILL 0.012 0.013 0.012 0.013 0.012 0.013 52600000 651400 PHINMA PETRO 3.63 3.83 3.57 3.64 3.57 3.63 11000 39770 PXP ENERGY 15.32 15.34 15.42 15.48 15.34 15.34 713900 10978654

PREFFERED HOUSE PREF A AC PREF B2 DD PREF SMC FB PREF 2 FGEN PREF G GLO PREF P GTCAP PREF B LR PREF MWIDE PREF PNX PREF 3A PNX PREF 3B PCOR PREF 2A PCOR PREF 2B SMC PREF 2B SMC PREF 2C SMC PREF 2D SMC PREF 2F SMC PREF 2I

95.05 494.8 98 971 102.5 489.4 899 1.01 99.5 100 105 996.5 1000 75.2 76 73.2 74.05 73

PHIL. DEPOSITARY RECEIPTS ABS HLDG PDR GMA HLDG PDR

20.1 5.69 1.95

SMALL & MEDIUM ENTERPRISES ITALPINAS 4.9 XURPAS 1.55

118

-511000 -213530810 12317569.5 2327194 32500 1642710 2540697 -2873632 -1244452 27511015 26265334 1114102 -30126402 -46811552 -20129275 43956968 -105420 51037895 1700 -932370.0001 166000 455000 -68800 93750 -10935 -971819 -1349660 10830610 -95820 253565 356000 74654948 215000 -69000 349910 9852475 -2408820 -0 229019945 1234 -13311459 8735890 -5245125 -8200 -245295 12800 -5653351 65000 -155450 -814370 7100 806008.5 3854274 4302 -799306 13424.9998 -57330 343320 264020 -21169490 8604 3300 27000 -25940 -58778 48110 -1644810 -482663 235190 -413659.9999 1727788 16100 -0 57600 -25541660 -155110 -63479.9999 1757170 -3806865 -1496588

95 494.8 98.45 970 103 490 905 1 99.1 100.5 106 996.5 1010 75.25 76.4 73.45 74.5 73.5

95 494.8 98.45 971 103 490 905 1 100.5 100.5 106 999.5 1020 75.35 76.75 73.5 74.5 73.5

95 494.8 98.45 970 102.5 489.4 900 1 99.1 100.5 106 996.5 1010 75.25 76 73.45 74 73.35

95 494.8 98.45 971 102.5 489.4 900 1 100.5 100.5 106 999.5 1020 75.35 76 73.5 74 73.35

100 4000 40 1540 500 1550 130 1000 2160 21950 120 1500 115 890 20600 24700 5100 2700

9500 1979200 3938 1495290 51290 758594 117150 1000 216520 2205975 12720 1495440 116800 67039.5 1570490.5 1815350 378200 198354

27150 50250 30150 12720 46944

20.3 5.7

18.76 5.74

21 5.76

18.74 5.7

20.1 5.7

940000 842800

18750304 4809053

-10273909 -4674511

1.99

1.99

1.99

1.93

1.99

234000

456880

-

4.92 1.57

5 1.59

5.01 1.61

4.9 1.55

4.9 1.55

1129100 5526000

5569060 8713620

15000 -1528790

EXHANGE TRADE FUNDS FIRST METRO ETF

-49350 -19328680 8,138,573.9996) 541756 -66439390 225335 -1243833 -7454410 -2966589 -28060805 -2594 394191.9997 -668602 6500 7474632 526013 27836732.5 1191500 65227008 -1307742 -4924580 -1222944 67478674 -854980 6,253,859.9996) -20114728 -1707872 -84082 -1288750 -73060 18000 314615 1730320 777916 -951790

96 495 98.4 985 104 496 905 1.02 100.5 100.9 107 1050 1020 75.35 76.75 73.5 74.8 73.35

WARRANTS LR WARRANT

71640 -5249025 -46194765 -12720050 -2271232 20614461 1,633,384.9999) 317790 589650 5120983 -320081 11900 48900 -250200 -

118.8

119.1

119.7

118

118.8

18800

2238268

-134989

Editor: Efleda P. Campos

PSALM asks bidders to join pre-deal conference in sale of MTPP Land

T

By Lenie Lectura

@llectura

HE Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) urged interested parties to participate in the pre-negotiation conference for the negotiated sale of the Manila Thermal Power Plant (MTPP) Land.

The state firm said the conference is scheduled at 2 p.m. on January 23, at its office in Quezon City.

The conference aims to clarify issues that interested parties may have on the terms and provisions of the asset for sale.

“PSALM aims to solicit the insights of interested parties to help further refine the negotiation documents and provide proper information to assist them with submitting an offer that complies with the requirements.

Interested parties will also be informed of the responsibilities of the winning party

in view of the circumstances underlying the sale of property,” PSALM said.

The expression of interest and Acceptance of the Negotiation Procedures need to be submitted to the PSALM Privatization, Bids and Awards Committee before an interested party is considered eligible and allowed further participation in the negotiation process.

Interested parties may conduct their due diligence until January 29. The deadline for the submission of offers is at noon on January 31, at the PSALM Office, 24th Floor Vertis North Corporate Center 1, North Avenue, Quezon City.

HK’s $4.8-B stock wipeout shows risk H ONG Kong’s second unexplained wave of stock plunges in three months shows the risks investors face in the world’s fourth-largest equities market.

Ten mid- and small-cap shares plummeted as much as 81 percent for no apparent reason on Thursday, wiping out $4.8 billion of investors’ money. The firms hadn’t published news that would move markets and said they knew no reason for the drop, fueling speculation that ranged from debt repayments to missing executives.

The next day, as several of these stocks rebounded, another inexplicably tumbled.

The swings should concern investors sitting in London or New York because some of these shares are included in global benchmarks. Local observers speak about “ dark corners” of Hong Kong’s market where a web of cross-holdings and low liquidity fuel corruption and keep valuations at

one of the lowest levels in the world.

Hong Kong’s small- and midcap space is a corporate governance “minefield,” said Manuel Schlabbers, chief executive officer of small-cap focused investment firm Accudo Capital Ltd. “For something to blow up 80 percent, it is unlikely to be driven by fundamentals.”

Much of the losses on Thursday came from Chinese developer Jiayuan International Group Ltd., which plunged 81 percent. After some traders pointed to Jiayuan’s $350 million of maturing debt, the company said it has fully repaid the notes, its financial condition is healthy and operations are normal. It rose 75 percent on Friday.

However, another small-cap, Chong Sing Holdings FinTech Group Ltd., fell 33 percent on Friday. As recently as November, the company was part of the MSCI China index.

Calls to Chong Sing’s office went unanswered.

People trust their boss a lot more than the govt or media

E

MPLOYERS are emerging as a powerful source of trust as people turn to more local relationships and remain skeptical of institutions, including the government and social-media platforms, a survey of global attitudes compiled by public-relations firm Edelman found.

Among the respondents, 75 percent said they trust their employer, 27 points more than the government and 28 points more than the media, the survey found. People increasingly look to their employer as a relationship because it’s closer and more controllable, Edelman said.

“People have low confidence that societal institutions will help them navigate a turbulent world, so they are turning to a critical relationship: their employer,” CEO Richard Edelman wrote in an essay summing up the main findings of the annual survey, which the company entitled “Trust at Work” this year.

Consumption and sharing of traditional media has also rebounded, marking a dramatic reversal from a year ago, because there is a growing desire for fact finding, the report found. Conversely, social-media trust hasn’t kept pace, leading to a gap between traditional and social media of 20 points globally and as high as 35 points in some

developed markets, the survey found.

Edelman’s survey of trust, which the company defines as the fabric that holds together society, found that pessimism remained widespread. That feeling is most pronounced among the mass population, particularly in countries like the United Kingdom, Canada and France, which showed the greatest divide between a mass class and the informed public. Women also remain more skeptical of institutions than men, the survey found.

Last year’s survey, entitled “The Battle for Truth,” found a dramatic erosion in trust in the US, where the barometer recorded its steepest decline on record. The rise of street protests like the Gilet Jaunes in France, the #MeToo movement and mass corporate disobedience at companies, including Google and Amazon. com Inc., have revealed a tendency of people taking power into their own hands, rather than seeking change through the traditional electoral process, the survey said. Companies should focus on acknowledging their employees’ concern about their future, give workers a voice, build local communities and have the CEO directly address issues from immigration to diversity, the survey said. Bloomberg News

Just Eat CEO exits with threat from Uber, Deliveroo growing

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HE CEO of Just Eat Plc. is leaving the UK food delivery company as competition from rival apps grows, alongside calls from a shareholder to speed up decision-making and consider the sale of noncore assets.

Peter Plumb is stepping down with immediate effect, with Peter Duffy, chief customer officer, being appointed as interim CEO. In December, shareholder Cat Rock Capital Management LP recommended Just Eat’s board consider selling its minority stake in Brazilian start-up iFood, arguing it could generate up to £650 million ($837 million) that could potentially be returned to investors.

Shares in Just Eat fell as much as 5.8 percent in early trading on Monday.

Plumb was appointed to the top role in mid2017 with a target of getting the company in the FTSE 100, a target achieved in December that year.

However, over 2018 shares fell 26.2 percent, after facing increasing competition from new rivals including Deliveroo and Uber Eats, causing the company to fall out of the FTSE 100 last month.

The food delivery operation of Uber Technologies Inc. is looking to expand how users can pay for meals and generate more business via its web site rather than its app—a key part of Just Eat’s business. Bloomberg News

The swings bring back memories of Hong Kong’s small-cap tumble in November and the so-called Enigma Network crash in 2017. While the wild moves haven’t roiled confidence in the broader market—the Hang Seng index on Friday completed its first three-week gain in almost a year—the gauge is valued at less than 10 times its companies’ reported earnings as price volatil-

MUTUAL FUNDS

ity and the US-China trade war restrict potential.

A representative for the Securities and Futures Commission declined to comment. Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd. conducts robust monitoring of the market to support orderly trading, makes inquiries as needed and will continue to do so, a representative said by e-mail. Bloomberg News

January 21, 2019

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

PER SHARE RETURN* RETURN STOCK FUNDS ALFM GROWTH FUND, INC * 268.44 -10.41% 6.03% 3.97% 6.43% ATRAM ALPHA OPPORTUNITY FUND, INC.* 1.4835 -9.02% 13.77% 3.59% 2.96% ATRAM PHILIPPINE EQUITY OPPORTUNITY FUND, INC.* 4.1619 -11.54% 8.49% 2.35% 6.63% CLIMBS SHARE CAPITAL EQUITY INVESTMENT FUND CORP.* 0.9609 -5.09% N.A. N.A. 7.91% FIRST METRO CONSUMER FUND ON MSCI PHILS. IMI, INC.* 0.8791 N.A. N.A. N.A. 7.12% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN EQUITY FUND,INC.* 5.612 -8.48% 5.89% 3.14% 6.47% MBG EQUITY INVESTMENT FUND, INC. * 122.06 4.75% N.A. N.A. 4.81% ONE WEALTHY NATION FUND, INC.* 0.8942 -12.06% -2.9% N.A. 7.42% PAMI EQUITY INDEX FUND, INC.* 52.9307 -8.7% 7.72% N.A. 7.57% PHILAM STRATEGIC GROWTH FUND, INC.* 549.79 -9.2% 5.83% 3.27% 6.81% PHILEQUITY DIVIDEND YIELD FUND, INC.* 1.3309 -6.77% 7.34% N.A. 6.13% PHILEQUITY FUND, INC.* 39.1152 -6.97% 8.45% 5.78% 6.78% PHILEQUITY MSCI PHILIPPINE INDEX FUND, INC.* **** 1.0549 N.A. N.A. N.A. PHILEQUITY PSE INDEX FUND INC.* 5.3434 -8.53% 8.63% 5.92% 7.76% PHILIPPINE STOCK INDEX FUND CORP.* 892.61 -8.33% 8.57% 6% 7.74% SOLDIVO STRATEGIC GROWTH FUND, INC. * 0.912 -8.11% 5.2% N.A. 5.9% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY PHILIPPINE EQUITY FUND, INC.* 4.3158 -8.38% 7.97% 4.25% 6.33% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY PHILIPPINE STOCK INDEX FUND, INC.* 1.0277 -8.67% 8.37% N.A. 7.69% UNITED FUND, INC.* 3.7285 -5.47% 9.96% 4.78% 6.5% EXCHANGE TRADED FUND FIRST METRO PHIL. EQUITY EXCHANGE TRADED FUND, INC.* ***^ 119.323 -8.01% 9.75% 7.09% 7.74% ATRAM ASIAPLUS EQUITY FUND, INC.** $0.9631 -17.78% 6.53% 0.18% 3.66% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY WORLD VOYAGER FUND, INC.* $1.1748 -10.8% N.A. N.A. 6.31% BALANCED FUNDS PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES ATRAM DYNAMIC ALLOCATION FUND, INC.* 1.7343 -8.56% 1.9% -0.09% 5.03% ATRAM PHILIPPINE BALANCED FUND, INC.* 2.3056 -7.54% 4.86% 1.85% 4.36% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN BALANCED FUND INC.* 2.6676 -4.67% 2.64% -0.27% 4.87% GREPALIFE BALANCED FUND CORPORATION* 1.3635 -7.93% N.A. N.A. 4.54% NCM MUTUAL FUND OF THE PHILS., INC* 1.9136 -5.29% 3.9% 2.8% 3.83% PAMI HORIZON FUND, INC.* 3.6343 -9.06% 2.43% 1.76% 2.98% PHILAM FUND, INC.* 16.4763 -7.82% 2.76% 1.84% 3.57% SOLIDARITAS FUND, INC.* 2.1587 -5.2% 4.22% 3.62% 4.17% SUN LIFE OF CANADA PROSPERITY BALANCED FUND, INC.* 3.8166 -6.4% 4.14% 2.53% 4.52% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DYNAMIC FUND, INC.* 0.9656 -6.8% 3.56% N.A. 4.76% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY SECURITIES COCOLIFE DOLLAR FUND BUILDER, INC.* $0.03544 -1.66% 0.04% 1.75% 0.54% PAMI ASIA BALANCED FUND, INC.* $0.9527 -12.33% 4.83% -0.81% 1.76% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR ADVANTAGE FUND, INC.* $3.4568 -8.07% 5.64% 1.41% 4.49% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR WELLSPRING FUND, INC.* $1.0387 -8.33% N.A. N.A. 2.84% BOND FUNDS PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES ALFM PESO BOND FUND, INC.* 344.32 2.08% 2.17% 2.04% 0.27% ATRAM CORPORATE BOND FUND, INC.* ^^ 1.8575 -2.14% -0.5% -0.4% -0.09% COCOLIFE FIXED INCOME FUND, INC.* 2.9803 5.49% 5.39% 5.27% 0.32% EKKLESIA MUTUAL FUND INC.* 2.1406 1.48% 1.68% 1.72% 0.47% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN FIXED INCOME FUND,INC.* 2.223 0.14% 0.35% 0.43% 0.62% GREPALIFE FIXED INCOME FUND CORP.* P 1.5881 -1.64% 0.17% 0.14% 1.51% PHILAM BOND FUND, INC.* 3.8758 -4.3% -0.72% 0.02% -1.12% PHILEQUITY PESO BOND FUND, INC.* 3.5644 2.07% 1.14% 0.92% 1.34% SOLDIVO BOND FUND, INC. * 0.9084 -1.51% -0.07% N.A. 1.77% SUN LIFE OF CANADA PROSPERITY BOND FUND, INC.* 2.8087 0.84% 1.73% 1.28% 1.55% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY GS FUND, INC.* 1.5634 0.53% 1.36% 0.88% 1.53% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY SECURITIES ALFM DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC. * $449.26 0.68% 2.28% 3.09% 0.22% ALFM EURO BOND FUND, INC. * Є212.89 -0.46% 1.15% 1.52% 0.11% ATRAM TOTAL RETURN DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC.** $1.1335 0.09% 1.09% 1.99% 0.68% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC.* $0.0249 -0.4% 0.96% N.A. 0.4% GREPALIFE DOLLAR BOND FUND CORP.* $1.6922 -4.56% -0.53% 1.06% 0.12% MAA PRIVILEGE DOLLAR FIXED INCOME FUND, INC. N.S. N.S. N.S. N.S. N.S. MAA PRIVILEGE EURO FIXED INCOME FUND, INC. ЄN.S. N.S. N.S. N.S. N.S. PAMI GLOBAL BOND FUND, INC* $1.0381 -2.76% -0.59% -2.3% 0.05% PHILAM DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC.* $2.1932 -2.59% 1.03% 2.79% 1.01% PHILEQUITY DOLLAR INCOME FUND INC.* $0.0570958 0.06% 0.92% 1.83% 0.2% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR ABUNDANCE FUND, INC.* $2.8913 -3.99% 0.38% 1.76% 0.67% MONEY MARKET FUNDS PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES ALFM MONEY MARKET FUND, INC.* 121.25 2.98% 1.96% 1.63% 0.34% PHILAM MANAGED INCOME FUND, INC.* 1.1813 1.91% 0.74% 0.51% -0.05% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY MONEY MARKET FUND, INC.* 1.2214 2.74% 2.3% 1.65% 0.2% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY SECURITIES SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR STARTER FUND, INC.* $1.0171 1.81% N.A. N.A. 0.12%

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

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

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

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Banking&Finance BusinessMirror

Perspectives

AI’s impact in reshaping organizations, work force

A

CCORDING to one senior human resources leader at a large global bank: “The HR function is moving from a world where it used to match people to jobs to a world where it matches skills to work.”

This atomization of jobs—an unprecedented division of labor between bots and employees as artificial intelligence (AI) takes on not only tedious, repetitive, low-value job functions but also increasingly cognitive tasks such as medical diagnosis or financial loan approval—holds significant implications for organizations and their work forces, among them: The emergence of “boundaryless” functions and, in time, functionless enterprises.

AI affects tasks not jobs. Job atomization opens the possibility of reconfiguring organizations and radically transforming their job functions and processes. If organizations want to achieve productivity gains from deploying AI, they need to reorganize work at the task level, otherwise it will have a fractional “arms and legs” impact from AI which likely won’t deliver productivity gains. Our work with businesses in today’s insurance sector, for example, illustrates this fast-emerging fluidity in work structures and the way tasks are performed as AI technology enters the workplace.

Traditional insurance underwriting can be highly automated by AI but, as one multinational insurer observed, any reduction in traditional underwriting work has coincided with the emergence of a new role embracing both underwriting and adjacent disciplines such as risk consulting and product development.

Similarly, an engineering firm described an emerging discipline that’s focused on engineering information integration. This new role draws on a systems-thinking mindset and disciplines, and connects traditional engineering disciplines underpinned by such technologies as “digital twins.”

They also commented on the fact that these skills and capabilities are not adequately covered in the training and education of engineers, which was seen as too narrow and not oriented toward a systemsthinking mindset and capability.

We will witness similar changes affecting jobs in all sectors and industries in the future—from HR, information technology and finance managers to professionals in journalism, medicine, engineering, law, accountancy and beyond.

Business leaders all describe similar dynamics at play amid the adoption of AI and related technologies.

They can be summarized as follows, based on the conclusions of a major global bank that explored the impact of AI on their work structures and organization: n The belief that there will be a reduction in the number of people employed for any particular role; n Bigger, more systemic and integrating roles for those who remain; n Roles evolving to embrace adjacent job functions; n The need for organizations to be increasingly agile and networked to deliver greater crossboundary connections and collaboration among job roles and tasks; n Decision-makers having access to “one source of the truth” as decision-making becomes cognitively enabled by AI and new data-based insights; and n The need to reinvent the way work gets done in order to realize productivity gains.

The unfolding reinvention of work is a historic opportunity.

Yes, AI will have both a disruptive and a disturbing effect on workers, especially in the short term.

But it will also deliver remarkable new opportunities for skilled employees to play to their strengths,

while unleashing new levels of productivity and value to employers. This is particularly significant when you consider that business productivity has not boomed in proportion to the untold billions of dollars invested in technology in the last 10 years, notably in non-manufacturing sectors.

Research by the KPMG Data Observatory and the Data Science Institute at London’s Imperial College suggests that the productivity puzzle will continue even amid AI’s introduction unless we inherently rethink work.

Why? Because AI will, at least initially, affect tasks within jobs, not whole jobs. Therefore, potentially significant productivity gains will be realized only if work, processes and organizations are reinvented to assign, integrate and optimize the roles performed by machines humans with machines and humans alone.

The gig economy offers a perfect example of how work will be transformed in the future, how the global work force will be impacted, and why work force shaping is vital for the future. More skilled professionals are rejecting the nine-to-five working life and choosing the gig economy as a long-term career and lifestyle choice. Some 54 percent of independent workers have embraced flexible work by choice to meet their personal needs and goals, according to research by Adecco and LinkedIn. Only 36 percent of respondents regard gig work as a stopgap between direct, permanent roles. Flexible working is becoming an attractive part of the status quo, rather than a temporary solution.

This phenomenon poses a new “innovation imperative” for modern organizations and there are early signs that forward-looking leaders are finally waking up to this reality. The Economist magazine recently suggested that perhaps the lingering “productivity paradox” is slowly becoming extinct. Whether there will be less work for humans to do in the future is the subject of much debate—but not the point of our discussion. What we do know for now, however, is that if business leaders embrace the need to strategically reinvent their organizations via AI investment, the impact on how efficiently, productively and profitably tomorrow’s work forces can operate will be unprecedented.

In just about any industry, the use of AI will affect how humans in evolving roles interact with each other. Consider health care around the world, which is under intense strain. Productivity gains arising from AI and new technologies can bridge the current productivity gap and help the sector meet soaring future demand for health services as the global population ages.

In this scenario, more people will be needed in healthcare. But as Mark Britnell, Global Chairman of Infrastructure, Government and Health at KPMG points out in his forthcoming book Human: Solving the Global Workforce Crisis in Healthcare, health sector workers will need different skills within redefined roles that relate to each other in diverse new ways. Pharmacists will operate wellness centers, treatment and consultation will move to virtual interaction supported

by AI, and care pathways will be completely redesigned via cognitive AI augmentation. The excerpt was taken from the publication titled “Rise of the Humans: Shaping the work force of the future.”

R.G. Manabat & Co., a Philippine partnership and a member-firm of the KPMG network of independent member-firms affiliated with KPMG International Cooperative (“KPMG International”), a Swiss entity. For more information on KPMG in the Philippines, you may visit www.kpmg.com.ph.

Tuesday, January 22, 2019

B3

Firms need not wait to adopt new accounting standards–IC

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HE Insurance Commission has pointed out that insurance players are not being prevented from adopting the International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) 17 ahead of the IC-deferred implementation schedule of 2023.

A statement issued on Monday quoted Insurance Commissioner Dennis B. Funa as saying that local insurers who are “willing and ready to comply with IFRS 17 before the deferred effectivity date are not precluded to implement the same.”

“In fact, based on the issue papers submitted to the IC, there are insurance companies set to implement IFRS 17 due to the requirement of their respective parent companies,” Funa added.

He said that preneed companies, health-maintenance organizations and mutual benefit associations shall maintain compliance with the current accounting standards until further required

Investors lap up 364-day T-bills

T

HE Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) received mixed results in its Treasury bills (T-bills) auction, awarding P16.347 billion from the P20 billion on offer, with demand for the IOU seen to settle in the longer tenors.

Deputy Treasurer Erwin D. Sta. Ana considered the T-bill auction on Monday as having a “good turnout” as tenders for the government security was more than twice oversubscribed at P51.404 billion from the P20 billion offering.

“Well, good turnout: [it was] above P51 billion in total tenders; [and] we were able to raise about P16 billion.

We have opened the tap [facility] for the 364-day tenor, obviously, [because] P36 billion in total tenders— there’s really excess demand on the 364 day,” Sta. Ana said.

Tenders for the 91-day T-bill was undersubscribed at P3.160 billion, from the P6-billion offering. The auction committee decided to award the tenor bucket with P2.347 billion at an average annual rate of 5.418 percent.

This showed an increase of 2.20 basis points from the annual average rate set in the previous auction of 5.396 percent.

The 182-day T-bill was awarded the full P6 billion as tenders for the security amounted to P12.037 billion.

The rate for the security settled at 5.914 percent which posted a decrease of 24 basis points from the previous rate of 6.154 percent.

Meanwhile, the oversubscription in tenders for the 364 day at P36.207 billion prompted the auction committee to fully award the P8 billion on offer and open its tap facility for the tenor bucket.

The average annual rate settled at 5.969 percent which also posted a contraction of 28.4 basis points from the previous 6.253 percent rate. Rea Cu

by the IC to comply with IFRS 17.

Earlier the IC announced it is deferring the effective date for IFRS 17—which affects insurance contracts or policies—for life and nonlife insurance companies in the country to January 1, 2023 from the original January 1, 2021.

The IC also granted an additional one-year period from the date of effectivity proposed by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB).

According to the IC, the implementation of IFRS 17 was marked with challenges, such as tight timeline, determination of model, lack of clarity, resources and expertise, tight budget, report and disclosure, and lack of information

technology infrastructure.

Funa cited that other countries have varying implementing periods for IFRS 17 in their jurisdiction. He also noted that countries, such as China, Hong Kong, Japan, Macau, Taiwan and the United Arab Emirates are still assessing the feasibility of implementing the IFRS 17.

“In the case of India, they will have an early adoption of IFRS beginning either year 2020 or 2021,” Funa said. “Malaysia, on the other hand, will adopt it on 2021 but subject to the development of IASB. In fact, only Thailand intends to comply with IFRS 17 based on the deferred date proposed by the IASB.” The IFRS is a set of accounting standards that are recognized by at least 166 countries, including the Philippines, and provides a guide on how particular types of transactions and other events should be reported in the financial statements.

The new system supersedes IFRS 4 Insurance Contracts, which establishes principles for the recognition, measurement, presentation and disclosure of insurance contracts issued.

The IFRS 4 “has caused problems, particularly for investors and analysts in comparing and understanding insurance contracts across jurisdictions,” the IASB said in its document titled “The forthcoming IFRS insurance contracts standard.” “Limited information in the financial statements can lead, in turn, to narrow investments, ambiguity in reporting and ultimately defective decision-making.”

According to the IASB, the “forthcoming insurance contracts standard will require all companies that issue insurance contracts to account for all insurance contracts in a way that provides current estimates at each reporting date of the obligation created by the insurance contracts, reflecting up-to-date information about cash flows arising from insurance contracts, and the timing and risk associated with those cash flows.”

The IASB added that the new standard is also expected to provide “information about the sources of profit or losses through underwriting activity and investing premiums from customers and the extent, and nature of risks arising from insurance contracts.” Rea Cu

Customs issues order awarding itself power, authority on traders

I

N a bid to further improve its revenue collection capabilities, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) ordered traders to undertake prior disclosure in their declaration of goods and a post-clearance audit.

The order was contained in Customs Administrative Order (CAO) 1-2019, which the BOC issued on Monday.

In a statement on Monday, the BOC said the document prescribes the policies and guidelines governing the conduct of post-clearance audit. It also requires importers, customs brokers and other stakeholders to keep records.

The CAO, which was signed by Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo B. Guerrero, also indicates the establishment of a nonpunitive facility for importers to voluntarily disclose or report any errors related to any goods declaration.

The post-clearance audit, according to the BOC, covers the profiling or information analysis on importers. The profiling includes gathering data on and evaluating the operations of importers and exporters. The BOC justified this as “a means to measure and improve compliance of stakeholders.” This is done after the release of goods from customs control “to ensure the accuracy of declarations before the bureau.”

The conduct of the post-clearance audit and the implementation of the prior disclosure program were placed under the purview of the BOC’s post clearance audit group, or PCAG. This unit is currently headed by lawyer and Customs Assistant Commissioner Vincent Philip C. Maronilla, the BOC statement said.

According to the BOC, the prior disclosure program is based on

“international best customs practice and provides for the power of the customs commissioner to accept prior disclosure by importers of errors and omissions in goods declaration, which resulted to the deficiency in duties and taxes on past importations.”

By issuing the CAO, the BOC gave itself authority to a full and free access to records of importers and stakeholders as it conducts a post-clearance audit.

Furthermore, the order gave the BOC power to punish a trader it accuses of violating provisions of the CAO. Punitive actions include suspension or cancellation of customs accreditation of the importer, imposition of a 20-percent surcharge on the dutiable value of the goods, hold the delivery or release of imported goods, or criminal prosecu-

tion, as the case may be.

Still, Guerrero said the conduct of the post-clearance audit would be “in an open and transparent manner.”

“Communication and cooperation between the BOC and the importer or entity is very important in the implementation of this new policy and program. We will ensure that the importer or entity will be kept informed on a regular basis during the audit process,” Guerrero was quoted in a statement as saying.

According to the BOC, these measures are geared toward ensuring that the lawful duties and ta xes are col lected w ith least administrative cost to impor ters a nd t he gover nment through an “informed compliance” regime. Rea Cu

B4 Tuesday, January 22, 2019

HALF THE PRICE ON BUFFET EVERY MONDAY AND WEDNESDAY AT MARRIOTT CAFÉ 2018 IS RECORD-BREAKING YEAR FOR D.P.W.H.’S R.O.W. PROCESSES—VILLAR

P

N

OW there’s one good reason to look forward to Monday and Wednesday—a 50-percent discount at the widespread buffet in Marriott Café! Marriott brings back its half-on-buffet promo every Monday and throws in on Wednesday as a treat to food and tourism employees.

From January to February turn your Manic Monday to Marriott Monday with a massive feast and a fully satisfied stomach to welcome the week! Catch up with your friends or workmates or bond with your family and enjoy an exquisite dining experience.

Marriott Café is also throwing in an additional treat exclusive for food and tourism guests by cutting half the price on buffet every Wednesday—a well-deserved reward to get through the busy week.

Start off at the charcuterie and artisan cheese station to prep you for the main course. Indulge in fork-tender steak and fresh sustainable seafood—raw and cooked to your liking. You can even have the chefs surprise you with

an exciting new dish!

Marriott Café also boasts a stellar selection of international offerings like sushi and sashimi from Japan, noodles, dim sum and pork char sui from China, pasta from Italy, curried dishes from India and, of course, Filipino favorites, such as kare-kare. If you’re looking for a healthier option, there are more than 10 salad varieties to choose from, and you can even make one for your own.

The bite-size cakes and homemade gelato is the perfect way to end your gustatory adventure.

Don’t miss out on this amazing buffet deal with lunch for only P1,050 per person and dinner for only P1,150 per person.

Discount applies to a maximum of 10 persons and runs until the last Monday and Wednesday of February. Food and tourism employee must be part of the dining group to enjoy the discount and cannot be availed in conjunction with other promotional discounts.

For more information, visit www.manilamarriott.com.

DE LA SALLE LIPA OFFICIATES GLOBAL EDUCATION CONFERENCE

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E La Salle Lipa (DLSL) officiates an international conference, dubbed as “Future of Education Conference”, on January 21 and 22 at the SMX Convention Center.

Two world-renowned subject-matter experts Dr. Jay McTighe (from the US) and Mr. David Price (from the UK) serve as plenary speakers. McTighe, an experienced educator and noted author, will be imparting on developing the 21stcentury skills of critical and creative thinking, communication and collaboration. Meanwhile, Price, a learning futurist and an expert in organizational learning, will be delving on education and the workplace of the future.

Aside from the plenary sessions, research authors all over the world with studies on basic, primary, junior and senior high-school education; Higher Education, professional training and development, and change management and challenges in technology transformations in educational institutions are invited to submit their abstracts and full paper. Publication opportunities await those who passed the selection process.

Likewise, talks by Filipino change-makers in the education industry will take place, along with academic and sponsored workshops (on educational technologies) for school administrators.

UBLIC Works Secretary Mark Villar calls that key reforms done to improve right-of-way processes (ROW) have now bear fruit.

“Since the issuance of Department Order 65, which created a ROW Task force [RTF] for each of the projects being implemented, with the director of the public-private partnership service, concerned regional directors, as well as UPMO project directors as heads, significant progress in ROW acquisition of certain big ticket projects included in the Build, Build, Build program can be seen,” Villar says.

“We are happy to announce that the Nlex [North Luzon Expressway] Harbor Link project will be accessible to the public [this month]. When this is completed, travel time from C3 in Caloocan to the Nlex will be reduced to

10 minutes,” Villar adds.

The Nlex Harbor Link segment 10 is composed of the 5.65-km elevated expressway traversing the Nlex from Mac A rthur Highway K ar uhatan, Valenzuela City, passing through Malabon City and C3 Road, Caloocan City; and the 2.6-km section between C3 Road, Caloocan City and R10, Navotas City. “The next phase will connect it to R-10 and reduce travel time from Port Area in Manila to Quezon City to approximately 10 minutes.”

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is currently undertaking the finishing works in concreting the additional 600-meter segment,whichwouldmake2.7kilometers of Mindanao Avenue Extension accessible within the first quarter of this year.

“The project was started in the 1980s

but was stopped for decades due to rightof-way issues. We are happy that it was [in]the term of President Duterte that we are able to deliver this project,” he says. “The P118-million project, which is now 87.78 percent [complete], also involves construction of drainage and slope protection, reinforced concrete box culvert and street lighting.”

Resumed in 2017, the construction resulted to the additional 700-meter road section from P. de la Cruz Street to MGM Road, which was completed last June, making 2.1 kilometers accessible by the public.

“Upon completion of the additional 600-meter segment, [the] DPWH will be working on right-of-way issues along the missing 500-meter gap, which will soon complete the full 3.2-kilometer stretch of the Mindanao Avenue Extension.”

IT’S ALL INFANT STUFF AT LAZADA TODAY!

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OMS and dads should start adding infant stuff to their carts now, as Lazada is set to have its biggest online three-day baby fair.

Happening from January 22 to 24, parents can expect up to 80 percent off on well-curated lineup of products and the best bargains at Lazada. With over 100 brands ready to give great deals, there are indeed many reasons to get excited for Lazada’s biggest baby fair. Over 50 thousand deals w ill be made available from popular brands, like Pa mpers, A keeva, Cot ton St u f f, Chicco, Enfant, Tiny Buds, Avent, Johnson and Johnson, and Mustela.

Here’s a lowdown of some of the best deals available at the upcoming Lazada Baby Fair: Purchase 68 pieces of Pampers Baby dry diaper pants for only P371, 30 percent off from the original price of P530!

How about this Buy One, Take One 500-milliliter Johnson’s milk-plusrice baby bath for only P238? That’s 50 percent off from the original price of P476!

Save almost 30 percent upon purchasing this Philips Avent natural 4-ounce twin-pack bottle, priced at only

P669 from P950!

This Black Akeeva Aerolite pocket stroller is about 55 percent off! Get it for only P5,500 from the original price of P12,000!

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NGCP BOOSTS LEYTE-SAMAR POWER CORRIDOR

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HE National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) commits on improving the transmission of electricity in the Eastern Visayas region before the year 2018 ends, with the completion of Line 2 of the Ormoc-Babatngon 138-kiloVolt (kV) transmission line.

Line2ofOrmoc-Babatngon138-kVline was successfully powered last December, reinforcing power-transmission delivery in Leyte and Samar.

Before the second circuit was powered, the line was originally a single circuit.

Outages along the line, planned or unplanned, result in a loss of power in Samar, which rely heavily on power supply from other islands.

“With the energization of the second circuit, transmission services in the area will now become morereliableandprolonged power interruptions will be minimized or avoided altogether,” the NGCP said.

Besides the overhead transmission lines added, the Ormoc and Babatngon substations were also upgraded to serve the increasedcapacityoftheline.

The project, with an ERC-approved project cost of P697.6 million, gives way

to a stronger transmission corridor from geothermal plants to other generating capacities in Leyte and Samar.

The Ormoc-Babatngon line serves five customers, particularly the Leyte Electric Cooperative Inc. II, Samar Electric Cooperative Inc. I and II, Eastern Samar Electric Cooperative Inc. and Northern Samar Electric Cooperative Inc., which cover parts of Leyte, and the provinces of Samar, Eastern Samar and Northern Samar.

“It is part of NGCP’s commitment to continually upgrade and improve the country’s transmission network,

especially with the increasing demand for power year on year. The energization of the second circuit of the OrmocBabatngon 138-kV transmission line will greatly benefit our customers in Eastern Visayas. Our customers can be assured that we are working on more projects to improve our network nationwide and deliver quality services to our people,” the NGCP added.

NGCP is a Filipino-led, privately owned company in charge of operating, maintaining and developing the country’s power grid, led by majority shareholders Henry Sy Jr. and Robert Coyiuto Jr.

Sports ANGRY OUTBURST RATTLES MELBOURNE BusinessMirror

ALEXANDER ZVEREV just couldn’t control his frustration and vents his ire on his racket. AP

NAOMI OSAKA heeds her big sister’s suggestion to wear a wig and sunglasses to conceal her identity as she walks around in Japan. AP

OSAKA IN DISGUISE

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AOMI OSAKA recently took up her big sister’s suggestion to wear a wig and sunglasses to conceal her identity as she walked around in Japan.

The 21-yearold Osaka has become a big star in Japan since beating Serena Williams in last year’s US Open final.

“I wasn’t really walking around [but] when I did, I went at night and had a wig on,” she said, smiling. “I wanted to try to do that. For me it was fun.”

She got the wig from her sister and tried it for a joke, but doesn’t feel like it’s necessary.

“I personally think she was making it a bigger deal than it had to be,” Osaka said. “Honestly, I feel like people don’t look at other people when they’re walking around.”

Her mother is Japanese and her father is from Haiti.

She was born in Japan and lived there as a child before moving to the United States.

“I get that I’m tan and I would stand out a little bit in Japan,” Osaka said. “I think the only way people would really care is if I’m wearing some sort of athletic (gear), like, if I was walking around with my tennis racket.

“You know, other than that, I don’t think people really care too much.” AP

ByJohn Pye

The Associated Press

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ELBOURNE, Australia— Milos Raonic was just overwhelming Alexander Zverev with consistency, compounding the frustration with every service break.

Raonic dropped serve in the opening game of their fourth-round match at the Australian Open but then went on a roll, winning eight straight games before fourth-seeded Zverev held serve.

No letup. Raonic held and then broke the 21-year-old German player’s serve again to lead 4-1 and that’s when Zverev lost it.

At the change of ends he destroyed his racket by smacking it into the court eight times, then tossing it away.

The angry outburst only served to highlight Raonic’s dominance.

“I played incredible today,” the 2016 Wimbledon runner-up said. “I did a lot of things very well. Proud of that.”

And so he should be. He’s into the Australian Open quarterfinals for the fourth time. And he’s achieved that from a tough part of the draw.

He opened with a win over the enigmatic Nick Kyrgios, who had all the home-won support, and followed that up by coming back to beat three-time major winner Stan Wawrinka in four tiebreak sets. The 16thseeded Raonic then beat Pierre-Hugues Herbert in three tiebreakers.

At 28, Raonic feels like he’s on the verge of being back as a contender at the majors. Zverev, an undoubted talent, is yet to beat a top-20 player at a Grand Slam.

Raonic was so consistent with his serve—15

aces, one double-fault, 16 of 19 first serves into play for the second set—and kept his unforced error count down to 24 for the match. He said he could sense his rival’s growing rage.

“It was pretty clear what was going on,” he said. “It can have an effect a lot of different ways.

You know, if you’re a top guy and you do that against somebody who doesn’t have experience, it might sort of cause them to retreat a little bit.

“I have sort of faced that situation, and I was also ahead at that point, so I was just really focusing on myself.”

Zverev got the inevitable warning for racket abuse, took a break at the end of the second set and returned from the locker room a much calmer, more composed player.

“Yeah, it made me feel better,” Zverev said. “I was very angry, so I let my anger out.”

Zverev lost only one point in his first four service games in the third set, but then Raonic stepped up the pressure again.

“I played bad. The first two sets especially I played horrible,” Zverev said. “I mean, it’s just tough to name one thing. I didn’t serve well, didn’t play well from the baseline. Against a quality player like him, it’s tough to come back from that.”

Zverev saved two match points in the 10th game of the third—one with a short slice backhand that Raonic ran for but couldn’t retrieve to end a 29-shot rally and another that clipped the baseline.

But Raonic rallied from 3-1 down in the tiebreaker and finally converted on his fourth match point. He’ll next play either No. 11 Borna Coric or No. 28 Lucas Pouille in the quarterfinals.

Earlier, US Open champion Naomi Osaka was a set down again and looking for a bit of inspiration.

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| Tuesday, January 22, 2019 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

She thought of how 20-year-old Stefanos Tsitsipas had stunned 20-time major winner Roger Federer and how Frances Tiafoe has advanced to the quarterfinals for the first time.

This helped her pull herself together to reach the last eight, too.

No. 4-seeded Osaka had a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 fourth-round win over No. 13-seeded Anastasija Sevastova to reach the last eight at a major for the second time. She’ll next play sixth-seeded Elina Svitolina, who fended off five break points in a game in the third set that went to deuce 11 times, contained 28 points, and was pivotal in a momentum-swinging 6-2, 1-6, 6-1 win over 2017 US Open finalist Madison Keys.

“I wasn’t really sure what to do at a point. I just try to stick in there,” Osaka said. “And also I was watching all these kids winning, like, last night Tsitsipas beat Federer and I was like, ‘Woah’—so I decided I wanted to do well, too.”

Another win now and there’s potential for Osaka to have a rematch of the US Open final against Serena Williams. The seven-time Australian Open champion Williams was playing top-ranked Simona Halep later Monday in the fourth round. The winner of the Williams-Halep contest will meet seventh-seeded Karolina Pliskova, who beat Garbine Muguruzu, 6-3, 6-1, in an hour.

Pliskova, who is on a ninematch winning streak, plans to watch on TV: “For sure, it’s going to be the match of the tournament so far.”

Osaka will be concentrating more now on Svitolina.

More sexual-abuse claims rock South Korean sports S EOUL, South Korea—More South Korean female skaters are accusing their coaches of sexually abusing them, a group representing the athletes disclosed on Monday following claims by two-time Olympic champion Shim Suk-hee that her former coach had repeatedly raped her.

The announcement came amid a growing #MeToo movement in South Korea’s elite sports scene, which has been notorious for brutal training cultures and highly hierarchical relationships between coaches and athletes.

In addition to Shim, female athletes in judo, taekwondo and wrestling have also accused their male coaches of sexually abusing them.

Members of South Korea’s silver medal-winning Olympic curling team, cheered as the Garlic Girls for their hometown’s famed produce, have accused their former coaches of verbal abuse and holding back prize money.

The five-member women’s curling team became an overnight sensation after their improbable silver-medal run in February’s Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Their nickname is a nod to the famous garlic produced in their hometown in Uiseong, in southern South Korea, where they met and began playing together as teenagers.

In a news conference at South Korea’s

parliament, a group called Solidarity for Young Skaters said five other skaters had been sexually abused by their coaches. The group didn’t reveal any names, citing privacy worries.

Lawmaker Sohn Hye-won, who appeared in the same news conference, said one of the alleged victims said she was repeatedly groped as a teen by a coach while training at the Korea National Sport University (KNSU), a powerhouse in producing Olympic athletes. The skater said the unidentified coach would forcibly hug and kiss her and verbally abused her after she rejected his advances, Sohn said.

Sohn also called for an investigation into former national team coach Jeon Myeong-gyu, who is

somewhat of a godfather figure in South Korean skating.

Currently a professor at KNSU, Jeon has long been accused of nepotism for favoring athletes and coaches from the school in international competition and is now under suspicion of pressuring

TWO-TIME Olympic champion Shim Suk-hee has encouraged more South Korean female skaters to come out in the open. AP

ROGER FEDERER, 37, leaves the Rod Laver Arena after losing in the fourth round on Sunday to 20-year-old Stefanos Tsitsipas, 6-7 (11), 7-6 (3), 7-5, 7-6 (5). The loss ended Federer’s bid for a third consecutive championship at Melbourne Park. AP

victims in order to cover up sex crimes committed by coaches he taught.

“There has been frequent sexual abuse in the skating scene, but the offenders in most cases did not receive punishment; that’s because the coaches were members of the KNSU circle led by Professor Jeon Myeonggyu,” said Sohn, adding that the victims are afraid they’ll face retaliation if they come forward with their claims.

Jeon later said at a separate news conference that he feels sorry for Shim and that he didn’t know she was abused. However, he denied that he attempted to cover up the abusive conduct of his pupils.

“There’s no way for me to know about every act of sexual violence taking place. I am not in a position to know that much,” he said.

Sohn and the skaters’ group also urged Korean Sport and Olympic Committee President Lee Kee-heung and other officials to step down for failing to safeguard athletes. The committee said it plans to launch a special committee to investigate abuse across sports and create new rules to protect athletes.

Experts say abusive treatment of female athletes has long been a problem in South Korean elite sports, which are often run by men. Athletes must live in dormitories, where coaches often exercise overbearing control, and they skip school from a young age in order to perform well at athletic events, leaving them with less education and career

choices, which makes it harder for them to resist unjust treatment, critics say.

South Korea has associated Olympic achievements with national pride, and the problems regarding training cultures have often been overlooked as long as the athletes succeed.

But the pressure for change is now coming from a younger generation of athletes, led by Shim, who won two gold medals in women’s short-track speed skating in the 2018 and 2014 Winter Olympics.

Shim earlier this month accused her former coach, Cho Jae-beom, of repeatedly raping her since she was 17.

Cho was fired as the national team coach shortly before the Pyeongchang Olympics last year and is now serving a 10-month prison term for physically assaulting athletes, including Shim. Cho’s lawyers said he denies sexually assaulting Shim.

Shim’s claims have encouraged other female athletes to speak up about the alleged abuse they suffered from their male coaches. Shin Yooyoung, a former judo athlete, has also accused her former high-school coach of repeatedly raping her. Lee Ji-hye, a former taekwondo athlete, told a television interview that she had been sexually abused by her former coach for five years, starting when she was a sixth-grader.

The Korea Wrestling Federation is also investigating claims that a coach groped some female members of the national team while they were training for the Jakarta Palembang Asian Games last year. AP

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Business

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Lady Chiefs try to pierce finals

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SPORTS WITHOUT BORDERS VINCENT JUICO @VJuico Instagram vpjp_j vince.juico@gmail.com

HKAAA and RHKYC THE Hong Kong Amateur Athletic Association’s (HKAAA) process of youth development in athletics is a marathon, not a sprint—no pun intended. According to their web site: 1. “A youngster’s first contact with athletics will be through physical education or school athletic teams (e.g., School Sport Programs), this provides youngsters with the opportunity to participate in and enjoy athletics.

2. They can participate in the elementary training courses (e.g., Hong Kong Junior Athletics Advanced Training Course) or age-group athletic meets to improve their basic skills and get the full enjoyment of their involvement in athletics.

3. Outstanding athletes will be selected to join the advanced training courses (e.g., Young Athletes Athletic Training Scheme) or become members of local clubs. They will receive longterm, higher-level and systematic training.

4. Junior athletes are those 18 years old and younger who have achieved the selection standards. They will be invited to join the Hong Kong Junior Squad. They will have opportunities to participate in local and overseas training camps and competitions. They will receive training on discipline and sportsmanship as to foster them to be the successors of the Hong Kong Team Representatives in the future.

5. Athletes who’ve surpassed the elite standards will become “Elite Athletes,” who will receive professional training from the Hong Kong Sports Institute, including sports science, physiotherapy, sports psychology, medical treatment, etc. The ultimate goal is to train them as Asian or world-class athletes.”

Here in the Philippines, the youth athletics program is in its infancy but headed in the right direction. There’s constant communication and coordination among Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association, local government units or LGUs and Department of Education or DepEd officials.

Quoting the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club (RHKYC) webpage, “The Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club (RHKYC) is one of the oldest and largest sports clubs in Hong Kong, with a rich, colorful history that spans 170 years of community and competitive sailing and rowing. The RHKYC provides training programmes for practitioners of all abilities and ages—both members and non-members—to nurture their development, produce elite athletes capable of competing at the highest levels, and contribute to the growth and popularity of these great pastimes.

The Club also organizes a full calendar of high-profile local and international race events, helping place Hong Kong firmly on the global sporting map.”

Just like the HKAAA, the RHKYC looks to produce world-class yachting practitioners through thorough training programs.

In my next column, an interview with Hong Kong Amateur Athletic Association Chairman Kwan Kee.

MANNY-FLOYD II? MANNY PACQUIAO is attended to by Buboy Fernandez and Freddie Roach after the fight. MP PROMOTIONS/WENDELL ALINEA

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ANNY PACQUIAO’S message to Floyd Mayweather Jr. was loud and clear: Fight me!

Pacquiao’s message resonated following his unanimous victory as a 40-year-old over Adrien Broner on Sunday at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Showing no signs of slowing down, Pacquiao uttered what many expected from him during the post-fight press conference.

“My message is, I’m still active, and if Mayweather goes back to the ring and wants to challenge me, I’m a champion,” Pacquiao said.

“Get back to the ring and we will fight again [if he wants to],” he added.

The ever-flamboyant and vocal Mayweather, however, was tight-lipped after the fight. He was at ringside for his Mayweather Promotions but quietly left the arena while Pacquiao was addressing the press conference and airing his willingness for a rematch with the unbeaten American.

Mayweather Promotions’s Leonard Ellerbe, however, said his boss “doesn’t have the motivation and desire” to come out of retirement. But Pacquiao insisted he is ready for any eventuality.

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INJURIES PLAGUE HOOPS TEAM

OACH Yeng Guiao opened training camp for Team Pilipinas on Monday and found himself with the dilemma of whether to keep injured big men Raymond Almazan and Troy Rosario in the pool or quickly find their replacements.

Compounding Guiao’s worries was naturalized player Andray Blatche, whose physical and mental condition remained suspect until he arrives on February 1 and joins the pool’s practice.

The 14-man pool kicked off its twice-aweek training at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City to prepare for two crucial matches in the last window of the FIba World Cup Asian Qualifiers next month.

The 6-foot-7 Almazan of Rain or Shine sprained his left ankle during a practice, while

Rosario of TNT broke his nose during a tune-up game against NLEX late last year.

There is no timetable for their return.

“There’re some issues we have to settle.

First is the injury of Raymond—we have to know exactly what his medical situation is—including Troy. We have to determine if they can make it because if not, we will think of replacements,” Guiao said.

Almazan and Rosario were named to the pool along with Blatche, five-time Philippine Basketball Association Most Valuable Player June

“If he wants to come out of retirement, then announce it and challenge me. I’m a champion and I don’t pick any opponent,” Pacquiao said.

Mayweather, who turns 42 next month, is unblemished in 50 fights.

The outlandish boxer beat Japanese kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa in an exhibition match on New Year’s Eve in Tokyo and earned $9 million in only 140 seconds inside the ring.

He also fought mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor in 2017 and knocked the Irish out in the 10th round.

Mayweather and Pacquiao faced each

Mar Fajardo, Jayson Castro, Paul Lee, Scottie Thompson, Mark Barroca, Gabe Norwood, Marcio Lassiter, Rogery Pogoy and Poy Erram.

Christian Standhardinger was tapped as second option for the team’s naturalized player.

Guiao also expressed his concern over the 6-foot-11 center Blatche’s form.

“If he’s in shape, that’s going to be a big help. If not, again we have to discuss the problem that’s why we have Christian—he’s available in case there’s a need. But once we see the physical condition of Blatche, we can

other in May 2015 with the American winning the duel dubbed the “Fight of the Century” that earned a record $600 million in revenue.

Pacquiao showed flashes of his old speed in beating Broner to easily defend his World Boxing Association welterweight title. It was the 61st win of a remarkable career in which Pacquiao has won titles in eight weight classes.

The fighting senator stands to earn a cool $10 million, plus the lion’s share of the pay-per-view income.

Ramon Rafael Bonilla

decide the final 12,” he said.

The Filipinos will tackle Qatar on February 21 and Kazakstan on the 24th—both road games.

The Philippines is coming off consecutive defeats in the previous window. With a 5-5 wonlost record, the country was relegated to fourth place behind World Cup-bound Australia (9-1), Iran (7-3) and Japan (6-4).

The top three teams from the two groups will automatically qualify to the World Cup, with the best fourth placer also advancing to the China World Cup. Ramon Rafael Bonilla

FEDERATION International Polo (FIP) Zone D President Peter Predevilla (sixth from right) is flanked by United Polo Players Association Chairman Emeritus Rep. Mikee Romero (left) and Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) President Ricky Vargas. Also in photo are (from right) POC Secretary-General Patrick Gregorio, AirAsia executive Erick Arejola, Robert Bachmann and other FIP officials.

P.S.C. HOLDS PARA SEMINAR, FUN GAMES

C (from left) joins Philippine Sports Commission Commissioner Arnold Agustin, Philippine Asean Para Games Organizing Committee Chief Operating Officer Ramon Suzara and Asean Para Sports Federation President Maj. Gen. Osoth Bahvilai during the ceremonial toast for the official launch of the one-year countdown to the 10th Asean Para Games at Novotel in Quezon City recently. The country is hosting the Games starting January 18 next year. NONOY LACZA

Anthony grabs weekly honors

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ILIPINO-CANADIAN forward Sean Anthony emerged as the first Cignal-Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Press Corps Player of the Week for the 44th season after contributing huge numbers in NorthPort’s strong start in the Philippine Cup. A known hard worker on both ends of the floor, the 6-foot-4 Anthony registered averages of 20.5 points 7.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 4.0 steals, as NorthPort beat Blackwater followed by NLEX in its first two assignments in the All-Filipino conference.

In the Batang Pier’s opening game, Anthony came off the bench and scored 19 points, hauled down five rebounds, issued the same number of assists and one steal as they ripped the Elite, 117-91, last January 16.

Four days later, the PBA’s sixth overall pick in the 2010 rookie draft sizzled with 22 points, nine rebounds, seven steals and five assists to power NorthPort to a 95-90 win over NLEX. NorthPort’s back-to-back wins marked the franchise’s best season start in two years.

“We know Sean, he is a fighter,” NorthPort Coach Pido Jarencio said after his team’s five-point win over NLEX on Sunday. “He’s our sixth man but when he delivers, its double-double. And his hustle is relentless.”

Anthony beat teammates Mo Tautuaa and Robert Bolick, along with Phoenix’s Jason Perkins, Alex Mallari and Justin Chua for the weekly citation.

NorthPort will be gunning for a third straight win this Friday when it collides with Columbian Dyip at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.

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Phisgoc approves polo’s inclusion in PHL SEAG program

PHL PARA GAMES LAUNCH Philippine Paralympic Committee President Michael Barredo

EFENDING champion Arellano University again tries to advance to the finals as it faces off with last year’s finals foe San Beda in the Final Four of the 94th National Collegiate Athletic Association women’s volleyball tournament on Tuesday at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.

The Lady Chiefs were denied of an eliminationround sweep and an outright finals berth after dropping a 25-16, 17-25, 19-25, 25-18, 14-16 decision to San Beda last week.

The loss sent Arellano University into a three-way tie for the lead with College of St. Benilde and San Beda on 8-1 won-lost cards, with the Lady Chiefs winding up as the No. 2 seed in the semifinals.

The Arellano University-San Beda match is set at 2 p.m.

St. Benilde wound up No. 1 and will tackle University of Perpetual Help System Dalta, which finished at No. 4 with a 6-3 record.

The Lady Blazers, now coached by Jerry Yee, are hoping to barge into the finals for the first time since winning the crown four years ago.

St. Benilde owns a slight edge over Perpetual Help after the Lady Blazers won their last encounter, 24-26, 25-20, 25-13, 25-21, last December 4.

No. 3 Arellano University clashes with No. 4 Emilio Aguinaldo College (EAC) in the first stepladder semifinals at 12 noon.

The winner tackles No. 2 St. Benilde next week with the winner advancing to the best-of-three finals against defending champion Perpetual, which swept its way to the championship.

In juniors’ action, No. 3 Letran and No. 4 EAC collide at 10 a.m. with the victor taking on No. 2 Lyceum of the Philippines University also next week.

LOSE to 200 para athletes and persons with disability (PWD) attended the Differently-Abled Women’s Seminar and Fun Games on Monday at the PhilSports Complex in Pasig City.

The three-day program opened with the Philippine Sports Commission’s oversight Commissioner for Women in Sports Celia Kiram encouraging all participants “to turn their challenges into victories and inspire the world.”

“For this year, we are widening our reach by inviting other differently-abled institutions and ultimately, using sports as instrument of unity and hope among our PWDs,” Kiram said.

Philippine Paralympic Committee President Mike Barredo

thanked the PSC for always recognizing para athletes.

Former para table tennis player Irene Louise Angiwan, now the executive director at JPMorgan Chase Philippines, and University of the Philippines professor Francis Diaz lectured on “Life After Sports” and “Developing Your Coaching Philosophies,” respectively.

Delegates from the Person with Disability Affairs Office, National Orthopedic Hospital School for Crippled Children, Philippine National School for the Blind, Tahanan Walang Hagdanan and National Vocational Rehabilitation Center (NVRC) took part in the project.

Sports activities and fun games will cap the activities on Tuesday. The awarding ceremony is set on Wednesday.

NITED Polo Players Association (UPPA) heaved a sigh of relief after the Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee (Phisgoc), led by Chairman Peter Cayatano, approved polo’s inclusion in the Games’ 30th edition the country is hosting later this year.

Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) President Ricky Vargas and Chairman Rep. Bambol Tolentino supported the inclusion of polo in the SEA Games program. The sport will offer three gold medals in the Games set from November 30 to December 11.

“It was a huge relief for all of us after the Phisgoc gave us the green light to stage our sport,” Romero said.

“All our efforts did not go down the drain and we thank Mr. Vargas and Rep. Tolentino for their all-out support.”

Federation International Polo (FIP) Zone D President Peter Predevilla was delighted with polo’s inclusion as one of 56 sports on the SEA Games program.

“I look forward to working with you and make this outcome a success. FIP places a high priority on the SEA Games outcomes and for all the countries that participate and especially in ensuring the reputation of the host country,” Predevilla said.

Predevilla was impressed with the preparation being undertaken in the Miguel Romero Field in Calatagan, Batangas, that he immediately approved of the main venue. The field is named after Romero’s late son.

UPPA President Coco Garcia and SecretaryGeneral Jun Juban vowed to hasten the upgrading of existing facilities.

The other UPPA officials are Tonio Veloso (executive general) and Jun Eusebio (vice chairman).

Polo will be held ahead of the Games with the 0 Goals Mix event set from November 10 to 17 and final on November 29, a day before the opening ceremony.

The two other events are the 5-8 Goals set from November 20 to 26 with the final on December 9 and the 2-4 Goals from December 2 to 9 with final also on December 9.

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sMirror

Tuesday, January 22, 2019

National U Bullpups zero in on semis

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ERRY ABADIANO scored 29 points as National University (NU) moved closer to clinching a Final Four berth with a 112-71 conquest of Adamson University on Sunday in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines Season 81 juniors basketball tournament at the Filoil Flying V Centre.

Terrence Fortea scattered 11 of his 23 points in the Bulldogs’ third period assault as the league leaders bounced back from a 59-62 defeat to the Baby Falcons in the first round to improve to a 9-1 win-loss card.

Kai Sotto produced another monster

performance of 27 points, 22 rebounds and two blocks as defending champion Ateneo dismantled Far Eastern University (FEU)-Diliman, 77-61, to tie its victims in second place at 7-3.

Carl Tamayo had a double-double of 14 points and 12 rebounds while his frontcourt partner Kevin Quiambao pulled down 10 rebounds to go with four assists for the Bullpups.

Brothers Adam and Andrey Doria teamed up for 34 points for the Baby Falcons, who fell to 6-4 in solo fourth.

Rookie Mark Nonoy, meanwhile, booked his third triple-double of the season with 30 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists as University of Santo Tomas improved to 5-5 following a 80-65 romp of

University of the Philippines Integrated School.

Raven Cortez shot 16 points to power De La Salle-Zobel past University of the East, 70-66, for its fourth win in 10 games.

In juniors football also on Sunday, NU secured its first-ever Finals appearance after battling titleholder FEU-Diliman to a scoreless draw.

The Bullpups still sit on the top of the league table with 15 points, while the Baby Tamaraws rose to 14 points in second place.

Ateneo, on the other hand, routed De La Salle-Zobel, 7-1, to move up at 11 points in third place in the other match at the FEUDiliman pitch.

The Junior Archers are still without a point.

THAIS IN FULL FORCE W

ANNASIRI SIRISAMPANT and Saruttaya Ngam-usawan banner a 23-player strong Thailand side out to keep its domination of the Ladies Philippine Golf Tour (LPGT) which resumes on Wednesday with the International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) Beverly Place Ladies Classic in Mexico, Pampanga.

The country’s perennial regional rivals won five of the 12 LPGT tournaments in 2018 and ruled the first of two legs of the new season, making them the players to watch in the P750,000 event which features the country’s top guns and a couple of South Korean aces.

Sirisampant won at Southwoods in her first LPGT stint in 2015 while Ngam-usawan scored a breakthrough at Royal Northwoods in 2016 with the likes of Tiranan Yoopan, Alisara

Wedchakama, Aunchisa Utama, Mookharin Ladgratok, Saraporn Chamchoi and Chonlada Chayanun firming up the Thais’ title drive in the 54-hole championship put up by ICTSI and organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments Inc. But they will be in for a tough outing with two-time LPGT Champion Tour titlist Lee Jeonghwa out to restamp her class, together with compatriot Lee Ji-hyeon, who topped the kickoff leg of the new LPGT season in the ICTSI Camp John Hay Ladies Championship last October.

The locals, however, will also be coming in full force, guaranteeing a fiery chase for top honors at the short, flat but tricky Beverly Place Golf Club layout with Ladies Professional Golfers Association Tour-bound Dottie Ardina leading the hosts’ bid.

Pauline del Rosario, Princess Superal, Cyna Rodriguez and Chihiro Ikeda are, likewise, raring to

join the title hunt with Daniella Uy, Marvi Monsalve, Alex Etter and Gretchen Villacencio also hoping to sneak into contention along with Lisa Kang of the United States, Valerie Tan of Brunei and Baek Sookyung and Bang Choeun of South Korea.

With only the top 15 after 36 holes advancing to the final round, expect a spirited battle right from the start with amateurs Mafy Singson, Samantha Dizon, Eagle Ace Superal and Arnie Taguines of The Country Club along with Laurea Duque and Marianne Bustos spicing up the event backed by Custom Clubmakers, Meralco, K&G Golf Apparel, BDO, Sharp, KZG, PLDT, Empire Golf and Sports, and MY Shokai Technology Inc.

SARUTTAYA NGAM-USAWAN banners a 23-player strong Thailand side. AP

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La Salle alumni in Pampanga to hold 42K run

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HE De La Salle Alumni AssociationPampanga (DLSAA-P) Chapter will hold the 10th Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) Clark Animo International Marathon on March 10 at the Clark Global City.

Some 10,000 runners expected to join the event that will feature a 42.195-kilometer race, a half marathon, as well as 10-km, 5-km and 2.5-km races.

“We initially had 600 participants on our first year,” Atty. Melvin Panlilio, president of DLSAA-P said. “But our runners and members of DLSAA-P gradually grew through the years, giving us the opportunity to give back to more beneficiaries.

Panlilio said the International Association of Athletic Federations and the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races have certified the courses.

Cash prizes will be awarded to the top 3 finishers in all categories both in the men’s and women’s divisions. A special incentive will also be given to runners with the best costume.

One runner each from the Adult (18 and above) and Kiddie (17 and below) categories will also receive cash prizes.

Proceeds of the run will be used to fund DLSAA-P’s environmental and community projects like tree planting, maintenance of the Angeles City Watershed, support for the La Salle Botanical Gardens in Alviera, Porac in Pampanga, as well as the Yellow Boat Foundation for the marginal school children of coastal Pampanga.

Sports

China vs Iran in Asian Cup quarterfinals

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BU DHABI, United Arab Emirates—Iran and China will face off in the Asian Cup quarterfinals on Thursday after they both won their last-16 games, while Vietnam scraped through in a penalty shootout.

Iran, Asia’s top-ranked team, had to save an early penalty against Oman, but rarely looked in danger after that on the way to a routine, 2-0, win on Sunday. Earlier, Marcello Lippi’s China had to recover from a goal down to beat Thailand, 2-1, in a result which highlighted China’s struggles to live up to its ambitions of becoming a football superpower.

Iran nearly went behind right at the start when Seyed Majid Hosseini brought down Oman forward Ahmed Al Mahajiri in the penalty area with a desperate lunge.

However, goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand displayed superb reactions to push Al Mahajiri’s penalty wide of the post.

Brighton winger Alireza Jahanbakhsh gave Iran the lead when he muscled an Oman defender off the ball and calmly slotted the ball past goalkeeper Faiyz Al Rusheidi.

Iran made it 2-0 from the penalty spot with captain Ashkan Dejagah sending the ball down the middle of the goal after Oman’s Saad Al Mukhaini bundled Mehdi Taremi to the floor. Iran could have scored more but missed several late chances.

Iran hadn’t won an Asian Cup knockout game since 2004. It’s won the Asian Cup three times but the last of those titles was in 1976.

Supachai Jaided put Thailand ahead against China in the 31st minute, turning and shooting despite being surrounded by three defenders, before Chinese striker Wu Lei missed a string of good chances.

World Cup-winning Coach Lippi brought veteran Xiao Zhi off the bench in the 64th and three minutes later he scored the equalizer, knocking the ball

into the net on the rebound from his own saved header.

Gao Lin quickly added a second from the penalty spot after he was fouled by Chalermpong Kerdkaew.

China goalkeeper Yun Junling averted extra time when he stopped Chalermpong’s fierce shot in stoppage time.

“The players need to be more focused and keep their concentration during the game,” Lippi said of his team. “This is a psychological aspect of the game that needs improvement.

It’s very important to have the same intensity, the same determination, right from the very first minute.”

Thailand, which got out of the Asian Cup group stage for the first time in 47 years, had caretaker Coach Sirisak Yodyadthai in charge after firing Milovan Rajevac following its opening group-stage 4-1 loss to India. As has often been the case at the Asian Cup, the crowd was sparse and the stadium less than a third full. AP

ROSE RISES IN CRUCIAL MOMENT

By Andres Ybarra The Associated Press

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INNEAPOLIS—Derrick Rose and the Minnesota Timberwolves needed this one.

With 30 seconds left, Rose missed the first of two free throws and was kicking himself for failing to give his team the lead.

“I kept saying, ‘You’re going to get another shot,’” Taj Gibson said he told his longtime teammate. Twenty-nine seconds later, Rose proved Gibson prophetic.

Rose hit an 18-footer with 0.9 seconds left to give the Wolves a 116-114 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Sunday night. He carried his team by scoring 29 of his 31 points in the second half to help Minnesota overcome an 11-point deficit.

Gibson dunked to pull Minnesota within one with less than a minute to play. Karl-Anthony Towns intercepted a bad pass from Booker, and Rose hit the second of two foul shots to tie it at 114 with 30.5 remaining.

After giving Rose his pep talk, Gibson

grabbed the loose ball after Devin Booker lost it on Phoenix’s next possession. With the shot clock off and the crowd on its feet, Rose calmly dribbled down the clock against Mikal Bridges before pulling up and hitting the final shot.

“I missed a lot. it was all up to my teammates and the coaches for giving me that confidence, putting the ball in my hands and just believing in me,” Rose said.

It was a good confidence boost for both the oft-injured guard, and a team that had lost two of its last three home games by a combined seven points.

“He needed that shot, you know what I’m saying?” Gibson said. “He’s been putting in so much work in, we’ve been in that situation a couple times this year and it didn’t go his way.”

Rose picked up the slack for Towns, who had 30 points but only two after halftime. He went 13 of 13 from the free-throw line in the half, but struggled against Phoenix’s double teams in the second.

“We just stepped it up in the second half,” said Dragan Bender, the main man charged with defending Towns. “We came out, tried to double him, try to get the ball out of his hands and make the other players make plays.”

With Towns struggling against double-teams

BusinessMirror

in the second half, Rose kept the Wolves in the game on 11-for-18 shooting in the half.

TJ Warren led Phoenix with 21 points and Booker and Kelly Oubre Jr. each added 18.

Warren’s lastsecond corner three hit off the side of the backboard.

“I think we played well enough to deserve to win this game, but again we didn’t find a way to close the game,” Suns Coach Igo Koksokov said. “It’s just a bad taste in our mouth after this loss, but we have to learn from mistakes.”

The Suns lost all four on their trip to fall to 4-20 on the road this season. A night after losing by 20 in Charlotte, Phoenix shot 46 percent, but went 22 of 32 from the line.

“We had a lot of mistakes that hurt us,” Warren said. “We’ve got to be smarter and value the ball more and just convert.”

In San Antonio, Tobias Harris had 27 points, nine rebounds and nine assists and Los Angeles beat San Antonio, 103-95, to snap a five-game losing streak.

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| Tuesday, January 22, 2019 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

IRAN’S Mehdi Taremi (right) heads the ball with Oman’s Khalid Al-Braiki. AP

THE Timberwolves’ Derrick Rose and the Suns’ Kelly Oubre Jr. go after the loose ball in the first half of their game on Sunday. AP

The Clippers led for all but 14 seconds in handing the Spurs their second straight loss at home.

LaMarcus Aldridge had 30 points and 14 rebounds for San Antonio.

The Spurs had 18 turnovers.

Patrick Beverly added 18 points, 12 rebounds and five assists for the Clippers.

Montrezl Harrell also had 18 points, and Avery

Bradley had 15.

Victor Oladipo scored 21 points and Darren Collison added 19 points and nine assists on Sunday, leading Indiana past Charlotte, 120-95.

Indiana has won four of five to improve to 16 games over .500 for the first time since the end of 2013-2014. Kemba Walker had 23 points for Charlotte.

Long outlasts Mickelson, Hadwin in Desert Classic

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A QUINTA, California—Adam Long bounced around golf’s backwoods for years, winning only a lone Hooters Tour event. Now, he’s headed to the Masters as a Professional Golfers Association (PGA) Tour winner.

Long won the Desert Classic on Sunday at PGA West, beating Hall of Famer Phil Mickelson and Adam Hadwin by a stroke with a 14-foot birdie putt on the final hole after a 6-iron approach from an awkward stance.

“In some ways it’s been a little bit of a rollercoaster, but it’s been a steady improvement throughout my career,” Long said. “I’ve played in pretty much most tours around the world that there are and just kind of steadily progressed.

“It kind of can seem like it came out of nowhere, but my game’s been trending in the right direction for really the last two years now.”

Long closed with a 7-under 65 on the Stadium Course, holing the winning putt after Mickelson’s 40-foot birdie try curled left at the end.

“I got a pretty good read off Phil’s putt,” Long said. “It was one of those putts that you just stand over you just know you’re going to make.

And you can’t control that, but when you have that feeling it’s a good one. I’m in pretty disbelief right now. I don’t really know what happened.”

Mickelson, the leader after each of the first three rounds, shot 69.

“I had a terrible putting day—one of the worst I can recall in a while,” Mickelson said.

“Started right on the first hole with a little 4-footer uphill and three-putting that green. And I missed a bunch of short ones on the front and some birdie opportunities, but it felt awful with the putter. I hit a lot of good shots today, but just couldn’t get the ball to go in the hole.”

Long set up with the winning NOW, Adam Long’s headed to the Masters as a Professional Golfers Association Tour winner. AP

putt with the 6-iron approach from 175 yards with the ball below his feet in dormant grass on a mound to the right of the fairway.

The 31-year-old former Duke player earned his PGA Tour card with a 13th-place finish last year on the Web.com Tour’s regular-season money list. In five previous PGA Tour starts, he had made only one cut—a tie for 63rd in October in the Safeway Open.

Hadwin finished with a 67, losing a threestroke lead on the back nine.

“It’s golf,” Hadwin said. “I made a bunch of putts all week and then honestly I was kind of battling it a little bit swing-wise, didn’t quite have it like I did the first three days.... It just kind of flatlined on me there in the last few.”

The Canadian had his fourth straight top-six finish in the event. He was second in 2017 after a third-round 59 at La Quinta Country Club and tied for third last year.

Long finished at 26-under 262 and earned $1,062,000. He chipped in twice on the back nine to remain in contention.

“Those chip-ins were huge and some putts on the front nine, as well to just kind of hang in there,” Long said, He opened with a 63 on PGA West’s Nicklaus Tournament Course, shot 71 on Friday at the Stadium layout and had another 63 on Saturday at La Quinta to get into the final group with Mickelson and Hadwin.

“It was a huge thrill to play with Phil,” Long said. “I looked up to him my whole life and big fan of his and he couldn’t have been greater to me out there and he was awesome to play with, a lot of fun.”

The 48-year-old Mickelson was making his first tour start since the Safeway and first competitive appearance since beating Tiger Woods in Las Vegas in November in a made-forTV event.

Mickelson entered the day two strokes ahead of Hadwin and three ahead of Long. The tournament winner in 2002 and 2004, Lefty matched his career-low score with an opening 60 at La Quinta.

“It’s a weird game how sometimes if you haven’t played for a while it just can click and come right back,” Mickelson said. “But usually you need a little bit of a foundation there coming down the stretch. When you get to feel the pressure you need to have that foundation of practice and seeing the shots that you want to hit, seeing the ball go in on the greens and so forth and I didn’t really have that today.”

Talor Gooch was fourth at 24 under after a 64, Dominic Bozzelli followed at 22 under after a 66, and Jon Rahm, the 2018 winner, shot 67 to get to 21 under.

Top-ranked Justin Rose closed with a 70 to tie for 34th at 14 under. He’s the first No. 1 player to play the tournament since the world ranking began in 1986. AP

God of abundant goodness

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EAR God, You fill our life with richness and give us an eagle’s strength. In hope we pray: Be our strength, Oh God. Support firefighters and emergency personnel.

Come to the aid of parents who struggle to care for their children. Lift the spirits of those who suffer disappointment, loss or discouragement. Fill with so much love those whose indifference to the world’s situations are unbearable. May the God of salvation fill our hearts with rejoicing and gratitude, and make us blameless for the coming of Jesus. Amen.

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

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

Life

BOX OFFICE: M. NIGHT SHYAMALAN’S ‘GLASS’ IS NO. 1 WITH $40.6-M DEBUT D3

BusinessMirror

Tuesday, January 22, 2019

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IN their East Hampton, New York home shown here, Mark and Kristen Zeff have embraced black both inside and outside. “Black has several properties that make it ideal for interior design,” Zeff says. It’s calming to the eye, elegant, and it underscores organic beauty.” Kristen Zeff says “We used Black Jack paint by Benjamin Moore applied over pine, so the grain can come through to develop a texture that deepens the shade.” Black can open up a small space by disguising the edges of the room. Using black furnishings and accents can add drama, as well as punctuating the depth of other colors and textures in a space. (ERIC LAIGNEL/MARKZEFF VIA AP)

Black walls make a quiet comeback

THIS photo shows how Studio Gild painted the walls of this Chicago home in Benjamin Moore’s Midnight.

“We wanted to create a space that’s calming and cozy,” says Kristen Ekeland. A black sideboard from SABIN adds depth, texture and drama. (MIKE

SCHWARTZ/STUDIO GILD VIA AP)

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By kiM COOk The Associated Press

HERE was a time when black walls were mostly the purview of goth teens and indie movie theaters. But the color has been quietly cultivating a broader following among designers and homeowners who want a cozy, enveloping ambiance that’s still got theatrical flair.

Bedrooms, libraries and bathrooms clad in inky or charcoal tones can be relaxing retreats. If you’ve got loads of windows, the color helps frame exterior views. And if the space is mostly walls, black creates a cocoon-like setting that can showcase a collection of objets d’art, vibrantly patterned rugs and furniture, or meditative warm woods and textures.

Laboratory-white kitchens are also yielding ground to kitchens dressed in dark hues. Houzz.com editor Mitchell Parker says black is having a moment in the cooking space.

“Our community of homeowners is embracing a heavy dose of dramatic color with large swaths of black range hoods, island accent colors and full-on, all-black cabinetry,” he says.

For a kitchen in Brentwood, California, Shannon Wollack and Brittany Zwickl of Studio Life.Style wanted to add a little more punch. “The kitchen’s all-black palette, infused with a large slab of blackand-white marble and bold brass accents, warms and fills the space without feeling too heavy,” says Wollack.

LG, GE, Kitchenaid, Bosch, Frigidaire,

Smeg, JennAir and others are offering suites of charcoal-black appliances with either a matte or satin smudge-proof finish. And there’s black cabinetry, countertop gadgets and cookery as well.

Designer Mark Zeff and his wife, Kristen, have a home in East Hampton, New York, that celebrates black in several ways. The exterior is half-white, halfblack. Inside, black serves as a narrative thread for large design elements including a floating fireplace, a stained pinewood wall in the master suite, and a glass wall in the shower. Punctuation is added with black cowhide rugs; curvy Bibendum chairs by Eileen Gray; and Eero Saarinen Womb chairs.

“Black has properties that make it ideal for interior design: It’s calming to the eye, it’s elegant and it underscores organic beauty,” says Mark Zeff.

“Some may think white is a more ‘natural’ choice, but it’s actually much starker in comparison to black when blended with an environment. Because of the use of black, our home appears to hunker down and stay closer to the earth, like a natural landmark.”

Adds Kristen Zeff: “We also like that black can paradoxically open up a smaller space when applied as a paint, to make a room feel much larger than if white is used. The illusion is achieved by tricking the eye into not knowing where a room ends, by disguising the edges.”

She says they painted pine wood with Benjamin Moore’s Black Jack. “The grain comes through, to develop a texture that deepens the shade.”

Kristen Ekeland of Chicago-based Studio Gild also likes adding black, using Benjamin Moore’s Midnight in a recent bedroom project. “We wanted to create a space that’s calming and cozy. It’s dark, but it has an ethereal feeling,” she says.

Along with the paint, the designers selected a black sideboard from Sabin to

add depth and texture.

Dee Schlotter, PPG’s senior color marketing manager, says using black on feature walls, interior surfaces and furniture serves as an anchor to neutrals, patterns and mixed materials, and provides a solid, classic element in any room while creating a sense of space

and quiet. Her color team liked the hue so much that they chose Black Flame as PPG’s 2018 Color of the Year. Glidden picked Deep Onyx, another black, as theirs. “Black reflects the current state of rebelliousness and contentiousness in the world, but it also provides a feeling of privacy and protection,” says Schlotter. n

Nippon Paint announces top entries for Asia Young Designer Awards NIÑO EMMANUEL TAYAO (center) with his cofinalist Nicole Quiat (left) and his mentor Ley Gatpandan.

NIPPON Paint (Coatings) Philippines recently announced the winners for the Philippine edition of the Asia Young Designer Award (AYDA), Asia’s premier design award that aims to nurture young design talents to share their ideas, in a ceremony held at the GT-Toyota Asian Center Auditorium in Quezon City.

Niño Emmanuel Tayao, a graduating Interior Design (IND) student from De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde (DLS-CSB), bested 10 other finalists for the Best Green Innovation and People’s Choice special titles under the Interior Design Category.

University of Santo Thomas student Odrysa Serino won the Gold Award, Jhessa Mae Romero from University of San Carlos earned the Silver, while Tayao bagged Bronze under the same division.

Tayao’s entry, named “Istasyon,” is a design proposal of an adaptive reuse of the Spanish colonial old Malolos train station into a tourism hub for the

province of Bulacan. It targets to answer different cultural and tourism challenges such as cultural integrity, and to revive its function of service to the community.

“I hope that my project will serve as solutions to some tourism and cultural problems the community is facing,” said Tayao.

The proposal was inspired by Bulacan’s handicraft puni, which refers to the art of coconut leaf folding; pabalat, or colorful paper cutting; and singkaban, or bamboo arches.

Tayao came up with innovative and sustainable ways from the scraps left in the train station. He proposed to maximize the resources that are available in the province, and the use of recycled materials such as plastics and metal scraps; and reconsidered the use of solar energy, and the application of modern technology. He believes the reconnection of the environmental, communal and the economical aspect

of design, being culture as the center of it, is what makes it innovative and sustainable.

The hub will offer spaces to learn and work with one main goal: to provide providing interaction points between location and design, and to enjoy food. It aspires to create a sense of unity in the community and promote its historical culture.

“I look forward to people perceiving this as a challenge to always rethink and reconsider the green environment in their chosen craft,” Tayao shared. “I wish that this recognition will serve as a motivation to do better, and for designers to trust their own skills.

There are disappointments and failures which I also experienced, but trusting the process will definitely lead us to accomplishments.”

AYDA serves as a platform to inspire architecture and interior design students to develop their skills through cross-learning opportunities and networking with key industry players and fellows in the region.

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Tuesday, January 22, 2019

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Real and emotional prisons flow through ‘No Mercy’

By Oline H. Cogdill The Associated Press

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RISONS come in various forms, as Joanna Schaffhausen shows in her second outstanding novel, No Mercy (Minotaur).

There are the mortar-and-brick prisons in which criminals are housed, such as the serial killer who kidnapped and tortured Ellery Hathaway. And there are mental prisons where survivors of violent crimes, such as Ellery, are relegated against their will because of memories or fear that their attacker is free or will be released.

Real and emotional prisons flow through No Mercy. Ellery at age 14 was kidnapped and tortured by serial killer Francis Coben, now in prison. She was the only victim to survive Coben because she was rescued by FBI profiler Reed Markham. Emotionally, Ellery is still locked in that closet, fearful, as if those 15 years have never passed.

Ellery changed her name, reinvented herself and established a solid career as a police officer in Woodbury, Massachusetts. But the past always lurks behind her, and she is now on involuntary leave after shooting a murderer. Her story continues to be fodder for movies, TV shows, articles and mail from those who revere her for surviving another predator and those who criticize her for surviving.

Temporarily living in Boston, she sees a court-appointed psychiatrist who has her attending group therapy with other victims of violent crimes in the hope of

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getting her job back.

Trying to keep her problems from the group, Ellery becomes intrigued with the stories of two members. Wendy Mendoza wants Ellery to try to find who raped her eight months ago, especially since the police investigation has stalled. As she looks into the attack on Wendy, Ellery becomes interested in the background of Myra Gallagher, whose 4-year-old son died in an arson fire more than 20 years before, leaving her badly burned.

Ellery asks Reed for help because she cannot officially investigate either case. Their shared history bound them together but No Mercy finds Ellery and Reed drawing closer together.

Schaffhausen takes advantage of her second novel to delve deeper into Ellery, realistically showing how her past continues to control her life. She will forever be known as “the girl who got away.” She has no real friends and doesn’t date so she will never have to explain her past. Her closest companion is Bump, her loving basset hound. Ellery wants justice for herself and other crime victims, yet is fully aware that she and others in her situation will never be the same.

No Mercy illustrates an increased skill at storytelling that Schaffhausen showed in her excellent 2017 debut, The Vanishing Season, the 2016 winner of the First Crime Novel Competition

by Minotaur Books and the Mystery Writers of America’s First Crime Novel Award.

A long-running series with Ellery will be most welcomed. n

By Eugenia Last

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Beverley Mitchell, 38; Balthazar Getty, 44; Guy Fieri, 51; Diane Lane, 54.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Make your choices carefully. You’ll have plenty of options and little time to make a decision.

If you take on too much, you will fall short, and if your motives aren’t good, you will end up where you started.

Use your intelligence and insight to guide you in the right direction. Walk away from discord, and focus on positive endeavors. Your lucky numbers are 7, 12, 21, 27, 28, 42, 47.

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ARIES (March 21-April 19): Be a participant.

Get involved in your community. Lead the way to a better and healthier way of living and you will coax others to follow suit. Physical fitness, expanding your awareness and making personal improvements are favored. Romance is encouraged.

HHHHH

b

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Concentrate on what’s important to you and what will bring the best results regarding prospects.

Refuse to let the changes someone else makes interfere with your game plan. HH

c

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Personal gain should be your intent. Focus on what and who are advantageous, and consider how best to utilize your skills and experience. An opportunity to work from home or to partner with someone you find mentally stimulating looks promising. HHHH

d

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Take the road less traveled and see where it leads.

Don’t worry about taking extra time; it will encourage you to get things done right the first time.

Walk away from impulsive individuals trying to push you in a different direction. HHH

e

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Mix business with pleasure to get a lot done. The relationships you develop will ensure you get the help you require when needed. A romantic gesture will make your day. HHH

f

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Do things differently. Examine your options and consider what’s in your best interest.

Problems at home or with someone close to you should not be allowed to influence a decision you make or your ability to get things done. HHH

The surprises keep coming in ‘The Perfect Liar’ THE great thing about being an artist, Max tells his students, is that you can imagine things into being. But only he knows the extremes to which he has taken that. After fleeing a miserable childhood, Max spent his teenage years living on the streets of New York City.

Yet now, in his 30s, he is teaching art in a picturesque Vermont college town. He and his new wife, Susannah, are plainly in love. He gets along smashingly with Freddy, her teenage son from a previous marriage. And he is a rising star in his field, commanding lucrative speaking fees. He seems to have fashioned a perfect life.

Max lacks the academic credentials his job requires, but he has more than enough intelligence, boldness and charisma to sustain the fraud.

Everything will be just fine as long as no one finds the body of the real Max buried on a New Hampshire mountainside. But in the very first chapter of The Perfect Liar (St. Martin’s Press), the sixth novel by Vermont College of Fine Arts President Thomas Christopher Greene, Susannah finds a note, written in capital letters, on their front door: “I KNOW WHO YOU ARE.” Susannah, who knows nothing of her husband’s past, is confused and shaken. Max assures her it’s just a stupid prank, but he is secretly determined to track down and eliminate the threat. Once he believes he has done so, however, more notes—“DID YOU GET AWAY WITH IT?” and “I KNOW WHAT YOU DID”—appear on their front door.

Before long, the reader is sure to wonder if Susannah, too, may be harboring a dark secret.

The result is a taut, well-written thriller, but this novel is more than that. It is also both a textured examination of the lies people tell to those they love and a reminder that it is

Today’s Horoscope

never easy to escape the traumas of a troubled childhood. The pace is crisp, the surprises keep coming and there are two big ones that readers are unlikely to see coming. AP

‘REDISCOVERING TRAVEL’ IS A DISJOINTED BOOK

LOVE travel? Love books? Love books about travel?

If the preceding statements are true, do pick up a copy of Rediscovering Travel: A Guide for the Globally Curious (Liveright), written by former New York Times’s“Frugal Traveler” Seth Kugel.

Whether or not you’re familiar with Kugel’s amusing, yet never cloying writing; his self-deprecating and hilarious storytelling; and his inner struggle between his fear of talking to strangers and his compulsion for out-of-the-way adventures, Rediscovering Travel will feel as comfortable as your favorite, wooly pair of socks. He’ll charm your pants off with his amusing and endearing anecdotes about his travels, near and far.

About South Carolina: “Even if you’ve just eaten, you don’t pass up a barbecue buffet at a place called Hog Heaven that has a sign featuring three pigs in bibs and halos.” About the weather: “A travel day that turns rainy is like a piece of chocolate I’ve dropped on the floor: It’s significantly less appealing, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to throw it away.” But despite Kugel’s delightful writing, his book doesn’t fulfill his publisher’s intended promise of becoming an “indispensable” travel companion that conveys “how to make the most of new digital technologies without being shackled to them.”

His advice encouraging travelers to visit places off the well-worn paths, to talk to real people rather than to rely on web sites and apps, and to steer clear of chain restaurants and hotels, seems a tad obvious.

And his chapters exploring crime and health statistics, OTAs (online travel agencies), and consumer review web sites like Yelp and TripAdvisor feel out of place.

It may be best to accept the highly readable Rediscovering Travel for what it is—a funny, inspiring and well-crafted collection of travel essays. AP

g

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Watch what’s going on around you. Problems at home or within a partnership can be expected. Take better care of your health and focus on building your strength, immunity and your reputation. HHH

h

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Refuse to let your emotions take over. Being reasonable without jeopardizing your position, reputation or an important relationship should be your goal. Face-to-face talks, dedication and determination will be required in order to get things done. HH

i

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Keep moving forward, and don’t stop until you are satisfied with the results you get. Refuse to let someone mislead you or cause problems for you and someone you love. Trust must be earned, not bought.

Focus on fitness and home improvements. HHHHH

j

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Size up everything and everyone before you make a move. Time is on your side, so refuse to jump into something because someone is trying to tempt you with an offer based on information that isn’t verified. HH

k

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Open a dialogue with someone you respect or want to collaborate with. Once you engage in talks, you’ll discover exactly what you need to do in order to bring your idea to the forefront. HHH

l

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Turn a negative into a positive. Assess your situation and make adjustments that will encourage you to be better, wiser and more conscientious moving forward. Much can be accomplished if you dedicate more time to self-improvement. HHH BIRTHDAY BABY: You are kind, outgoing and helpful.

You are enthusiastic and changeable.

‘they’re getting away’ BY ROSS TRUDEAU The Universal Crossword/Edited by David Steinberg

ACROSS 1 Silver of FiveThirty-Eight 5 Restroom, briefly 8 Dalmatian mark 12 Wet, melty snow 14 Singer Amos or Kelly 15 Had on 16 Short time out?

18 Senate staffer 19 A liar may spin one 20 Top-shelf 21 Response to “You’re a liar!”

23 Programmer’s problem 26 Scribbles hastily 27 Capitol insiders 28 “Preach!”

30 Port-au-Prince locale 32 ___ Gala (annual NYC event) 35 Pokemon imperative, or hint to 16-, 23-, 45-, and 56-Across 39 “Special” or “covert” follower 40 Standards 41 Bana of “Troy” 42 31-Down insert

3 Shot that uses the backboard 4 45 It’s tossed after a nuptial ceremony 51 Disinclined (to) 52 Home, in Hidalgo 53 “___ the season...”

55 Palm starch 56 Unanticipated piece of good fortune 59 Eve’s partner 60 Extreme angers 61 Mimic’s gift 62 Julia’s role in Ocean’s Eleven 63 Short ___ sweet 64 Dreary color DOWN 1 “Don’t open in the office” letters 2 Soothing creams 3 Powerful plane engines 4 Winter hrs. in Boston 5 Solitary sort 6 Animal pairs’ boat 7 Germanic invader of Rome 8 Hindu wise men 9 “Your ___ being?”

10 Surgeon, informally

1 Braces’ places 1 13 Marriott competitor 14 Fey of SNL 17 Bowls over, say 22 Kate and ___ (1980s sitcom) 24 Wingdings, for one 25 Beowulf and The Aeneid 28 In the past 29 Beatles hairdo 30 Start to go?

31 PIN-entering place 32 Sales specialist 33 Giant Manning 34 Mom’s specialty, briefly 36 Diarist Nin 37 Julius Caesar’s first wife 38 Restaurant window posting 42 They go in old PC trays 43 In use, as a phone line 44 Jordan’s only port 45 Attended 46 Give the slip 47 Impressionist Edgar 48 Secretly looped in

9 Sturdy shade trees 4 50 Princess party crown 54 Vodka brand 57 Large decorative vase 58 Dungeons and Dragons genre, for short

Solution to yesterday’s puzzle:

Show BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Tuesday, January 22, 2019

Netflix has no plans to cut ‘Bird Box’ scene despite outcry NEW YORK—Netflix’s post-apocalyptic survival film Bird Box is drawing criticism for using footage of a real fiery train disaster but the streaming giant has no plans to remove it.

The footage concerns a 2013 tragedy in the Quebec town of Lac-Megantic when an unattended train carrying crude oil rolled down an incline, came off the tracks and exploded into a massive ball of fire, killing 47 people.

Netflix licensed the footage of the disaster from the stock image vendor Pond 5 and used it in Bird Box in an early TV news montage to set up its horrific premise. The Sandra Bullock-led thriller is about monstrous entities that compel any human who sees them to quickly try to kill themselves. To survive, they don blindfolds.

The mayor of Lac-Megantic, Julie Morin, has decried the use of the footage in an interview with The Canadian Press, calling it “a lack of respect.” Criticism has also been leveled by Canadians on Twitter, who argue that the footage may trigger feelings of PTSD and additional victimization.

It’s not the first time Bird Box has caused an outcry. YouTube is cracking down on a wave of users committing so-called Bird Box Challenges—like driving a car while blindfolded. AP

Pope puts Sistine choir under aide’s eye after scandal VATICAN CITY—Pope Francis has put a close aide in charge of the Sistine Chapel Choir following a funding scandal.

The Vatican said on Saturday that the all-male ensemble, believed to be the world’s oldest choir, is now being led by Monsignor Guido Marini, who assists Francis during church ceremonies. Francis named another monsignor, Guido Pozzo, to handle the choir’s finances.

The Vatican last year began a probe of alleged diversion of funds by choir directors. The Holy See’s press office said Saturday that the investigation is continuing into the “economic-administrative aspects” of the choir, and that it would release information about it when it is done. AP

WHILE not quite the blockbuster some expected, Glass, Shyamalan’s final entry in a trilogy begun with 2000’s Unbreakable and followed up with 2017’s Split, attracted enough eyeballs to make it the No. 1 film in North American theaters.

M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘Glass’ is No. 1 with $40.6-M debut

N A SCENE from Snow Flower

‘SNOW FLOWER’S’ CHALLENGE: WOULD YOU PRETEND TO BE IN A RELATIONSHIP WITH A STRANGER FOR ONE MONTH? CALLING all hopeless romantics! You’ll surely fall for this Japanese love story, coming out February 6 in cinemas nationwide that spans four beautiful seasons.

On the love month, dive into an ocean of feels with Snow Flower, a Japanese YA movie that is almost too precious for this world. The film is about a year in the life of a bright young woman named Miyuki (Ayami Nakajo). The sad truth is, it’s her last year ever, according to her doctor’s prognosis. Just as she’s about to abandon all hope, she meets Yusuke (Hiroomi Tosaka), a kind stranger who would become the love of her life in wintertime Tokyo.

In a serendipitous turn of events, Miyuki and Yusuke cross paths again six months later. Her time running out, Miyuki courageously offers Yusuke a deal: be her boyfriend for one month in exchange for ¥1 million. Yusuke, whose café workplace desperately needs a financial boost, accepts the offer to continue supporting his younger siblings.

Beginning in the summer, their romance is a match blessed by the universe as the seasons unfold as beautifully as their story. From the cherry blossoms of Tokyo, their love story crosses oceans to the red aurora of Finland. You see, it’s Miyuki’s last wish to witness the rare phenomenon in the winter wonderland where her parents met.

Based on the iconic Japanese winter song “Yuki no Hana” (“Snow Flower”), this feel-good YA movie will remind you what it truly means to be alive and present in the moment.

Snow Flower is directed by Kojiro Hashimoto and distributed by Axinite Digicinema in the Philippines.

D3

By Jake Coyle The Associated Press

EW YORK—M. Night Shyamalan scored his fifth No. 1 movie as the director’s Glass, while not quite the blockbuster some expected, nevertheless dominated Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend at the box office with $40.6 million in ticket sales according to studio estimates on Sunday.

Universal Pictures predicted that Glass will make about $47 million over the four-day holiday weekend.

Some industry forecasts had gone as high as $75 million over four days. But poor reviews took some of the momentum away from Glass, Shyamalan’s final entry in a trilogy begun with 2000’s Unbreakable and followed up with 2017’s Split.

Shyamalan’s film registered a 35-percent “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences also gave it a mediocre “B” Cinema Score.

Yet, the result still proved the renewed draw of

Shyamalan, the Sixth Sense filmmaker synonymous with supernatural thrillers and unpredictable plot twists. Split, which greatly overshot expectations with a $40-million opening and $278.5 million worldwide, signaled Shyamalan’s return as a box-office force, now teamed up with horror factory Blumhouse Productions. Shyamalan, himself, put up the film’s approximately $20-million budget.

Jim Orr, president of domestic distribution for Universal, said any forecasts beyond how Glass performed were out of whack with the studio’s own expectations. Orr granted that better reviews might have meant a larger return and that the winter storm across the Midwest and Northeast may have dampened results.

But he said Universal was thrilled with the results.

The four-day total ranks Glass as the third-best MLK weekend openings ever, behind only American Sniper ($107.2 million) and Ride Along ($48.6 million). Glass also picked up $48.5 million overseas, where Disney had distribution rights.

“This came in at or above any reasonable industry expectations,” said Orr. Last week’s top film, Kevin Hart’s The Upside, held especially well in its second weekend, sliding only 23 percent with $15.7 million. STX Entertainment estimated it will take $19.5 million over the four-day period, offering further proof that Hart’s fallout as Oscar host over past homophobic tweets hasn’t hurt his box-office appeal.

But the weekend’s biggest surprise was the Japanese anime film Dragon Ball Super: Broly, which earned an estimated $8.7 million on the weekend from just 1,250 North American theaters, according to comScore, and $19.5 million since opening on Wednesday. (It grossed more than $7 million just

on opening day.) The Funimation Films release, an animated martial arts fantasy, is the 20th film in the Dragon Ball franchise.

The result for Dragon Ball Super: Broly caught Hollywood off guard, prompting many to wonder: Just what is Dragon Ball? And who is Broly? (A nutty animé series created by Akira Toriyama, and the film’s warrior antagonist, respectively.)

“The enthusiasm for this movie was certainly reflected in these much bigger than expected numbers for a title that I don’t think anyone was that aware of, other than the true fans,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for comScore. “If you ask the average moviegoer if they’ve ever heard of Dragon Ball Super: Broly, they’d have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about.”

Shyamalan and Broly could do only so much for the overall marketplace. Other studios held back new wide releases to avoid going head-to-head with Glass.

The box office was down 18.4 percent from the same weekend last year when Jumanji: Welcome the Jungle was still packing theaters, according to comScore.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at US and Canadian theaters, according to comScore.

Where available, the latest international numbers for Friday through Sunday are also included.

1. Glass, $40.6 million 2. The Upside, $15.7 million 3. Aquaman, $10.3 million 4. Dragon Ball Super: Broly, $8.7 million 5. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, $7.3 million 6. A Dog’s Way Home, $7.1 million 7. Escape Room, $5.3 million 8. Mary Poppins Returns, $5.2 million 9. Bumblebee, $4.7 million 10. On the Basis of Sex, $4 million. n

TFC at the Movies brings Philippine festival films to the world THE celebration of the Philippine cinema continues as TFC at the Movies brings five of the 2018 Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) entries to the world.

Kicking off the celebration were the screenings last December of the films Fantastica and Jack Em Popoy: The Puliscredibles, which will also soon screen in other regions worldwide.

The comedy-fantasy Fantastica, which stars Vice Ganda, is about the life of Belat (Vice Ganda) who hopes to bring back the life in their carnival for her mother Fec (Jaclyn Jose). She will then meet Prince (Richard Gutierrez), who asks for her help to save the world of Fantastica, and in return will help her restore the life of their carnival that is at the verge of being in possession of the family of her former best friend Dong Nam (Dingdong Dantes).

Meanwhile, the action-comedy Jack Em Popoy: The Puliscredibles, which stars Vic Sotto, Coco Martin and Maine Mendoza, is about police officers Popoy (Sotto), Jack (Martin) and Emily (Mendoza), whose paths cross when they face a life-threatening mission, which also changes their relationship as they get to know each other better.

The three other 2018 MMFF entries that will soon go global via TFC at the Movies are Mary, Marry Me, One Great Love and The Girl in the Orange Dress.

Mary, Marry Me stars real-life sisters Toni

Gonzaga and Alex Gonzaga with their leading man Sam Milby. It is a story about sisters Mary Anne (Toni) and Mary Jane (Alex), whose relationship will be tested after Mary Jane gets engaged with Mary Anne’s old flame Pete (Milby).

A moving love story is what One Great Love offers to its viewers. Starring Kim Chiu, JC de Vera and Dennis Trillo, it tells the story of Zyra (Chiu) who is torn between the two men in her life: Carl (de Vera), who once broke her heart but hopes to start over again with her; and Ian (Trillo), who after helping mend her broken heart became her best friend.

Will Zyra choose to take the risk with the man who once broke her heart, or with the man who picked up her broken pieces?

Another film that falls under the romanticcomedy genre is The Girl in the Orange Dress, which stars Jericho Rosales and Jessy Mendiola.

The film is about the ordinary girl Anna (Mendiola), who one day wakes up in bed beside the popular actor Rye del Rosario (Rosales). As Anna tries to escape from the hotel with the help of Rye, they find themselves caught in the middle of their budding romance and personal dilemmas.

Catch these world-class films from the recent 2018 Metro Manila Film Festival as they soon screen in various international regions. Schedules are available at emea.kapamilya.com.

D4

Art

BusinessMirror

Tuesday, January 22, 2019

www.businessmirror.com.ph

A DRAWING by Leonardo da Vinci is observed after being removed from a briefcase which carried it from the Uffizi Gallery to the Opificio delle Pietre Dure where it will undergo scientific analysis, in Florence, Italy. AP

STUDY OF LEONARDO’S 1ST LANDSCAPE FINDS HE HAD 2ND THOUGHTS

By FRanCeS d’eMiliO The Associated Press ROME—The first-ever scientific study of the oldest known drawing by Leonardo da Vinci has found that he added details to an earlier sketch of a countryside landscape, said the Uffizi Galleries, whose collections include the fragile work.

The Galleries said the 1473 Landscape Drawing for Santa Maria della Neve was taken on Thursday to a Florence restoration laboratory for study, which began right away with microscopic examination.

Aided by sophisticated, noninvasive instruments, such as infrared light, the experts on Thursday scrutinized the front of the drawing. Later they will study the back, where there is a sketch of a human figure, the prestigious Florence art museum said in a statement.

Art historian Cecilia Frosinini, who is supervising the scientific study, said that initial examination showed that Leonardo worked in two different phases.

“It’s possible that Leonardo went back to the drawing in a second moment, maybe right after his studies of geology and rocks,” she said.

The drawing, dated August 5, 1473, in the upper left corner, depicts a bucolic scene, with a castle on a hill in the background and a valley dominating the design’s center.

Leonardo is celebrated as a Renaissance genius who excelled as an artist and who had creative scientific curiosity, as well. Some have hypothesized that the drawing depicted an actual place in Leonardo’s native Tuscany, or as Uffizi Director Eike Schmidt said, “was a kind of ‘photograph’ of this or that valley, of these or those mountains.”

But the discovery that Leonardo worked on the drawing in two distinct phases “tilts the scale toward interpretations that underline the imaginative aspect and the character of intellectual speculation by the artist,” Schmidt said in a statement.

The Uffizi only occasionally displays the work, Leonardo’s earliest known drawing, because it is so fragile. But on April 15 it will go on display for five weeks in Vinci, the artist’s hometown, as Italy marks the 500th anniversary of Leonardo’s death.

The landscape, done when he was 21, is Leonardo’s earliest known dated drawing. Until recently, it had also long been considered his earliest known dated artwork. Then, in 2017, a painted terracotta tile was attributed to Leonardo. Painted when he was 19, it depicts the Archangel Gabriel and is dated 1471.

‘Mindsight’ CIRCLES JT NISAY

jtnisay@gmail.com

A

LL the colors I know used to hinge on whichever type of Crayola box was in my kindergarten backpack.

The first one, of course, was the starter pack, or a box of eight, which led me to assume that all the hues in the world were simply called red or yellow or blue and so on.

Beyond identification practice, however, that small yellow box with the flip cover played a hand on something more important: it helped me

discover an innate interest on colors, particularly its abilities to add, subtract, multiply and divide context and meaning.

The enthusiasm only grew with each new box, and with it, knowledge. My mother upgraded the box of eight to 24, then 48, then 64—each one wider than the last, with new colors adding and old ones mixing. Indigo. Magenta. Yellow Green. Violet Red. I was a happy kid who had to wash his hands a lot.

My eyes were set on the biggest Crayola collection, thinking it contained all the colors life has to offer, all secured within a small box.

I can’t recall having that coveted collection, but years later, in early grade school, I remember my mother taking me along to a cross-stich shop, where her newfound hobby had us searching for patterns and yarns. There, colors weren’t tagged by name but, because of the sheer multitude of shades, by numbers and codes. There, I started to contextualize the vastness of what is to know about colors.

The walls of our ancestral displayed images

of Mama Mary and The Holy Family, as well as my favorite cartoon characters, all sewn up one thread at a time.

If my Crayola boxes drew me into the wondrous capability of colors, then it was those cross-stich images, cased within sturdy, carved, wooden frames, that crystalized my interest in the magic of it all coming together, and, in general, in art.

Of all the things that have been said about art, it’s the lack of a true definition that draws me into it. Art has no rules. It is personal.

This space, from this Tuesday thereafter, will cover excellence in art in whatever form, and exemplary artists, both legendary and up-andcoming, of all mediums. It will feature stories that dig into the stories behind the colors, and the persons who wield them.

Just like the stories of how we fell in love with art, through Crayon boxes and cross-stich or otherwise, our consumption and perception of it is as exclusive.

Here, the focus will not only be on the sights of the eyes, but that of the mind. n

A happy homecoming for US-based Filipino artist Chico Quizon JOSE “CHICO” QUIZON, a Filipino currently residing in New York City, came home for his first solo exhibit in the Philippines. Entitled, Hypervisual, the exhibit was held recently at Gallery Nine of SM Megamall.

At the opening reception, friends and relatives, as well as art collectors and enthusiasts happily welcomed Quizon and hoped that he will frequent the Philippines more often to do art shows. Among those who attended the opening reception were sculptor and art curator Danny Rayos del Sol, art enthusiast Simkin de Pio, painter Al Perez, Gallery Nine’s Amy Loste, art collector Alvin Co and celebrity motivational speaker Chinkee Tan. Quizon said, “I had a wonderful experience working with Gallery Nine. I was quite excited to see everybody’s inquisitiveness and hear everyone’s kind words in reaction to the pieces. I was so grateful that the efforts of my family and friends, who had worked so tirelessly to make the show happen, came to fruition.”

Hypervisual featured mixed media on Mylar (stretched polyester film). Quizon’s pieces depict familiar visual

elements that the artist recontextualized to engage and challenge his audience.

Now 40 years old, Quizon was born and raised in Quezon City. At the age of 10, he and his family immigrated to Alabama in 1989. During his high school years, his art teachers introduced him to Picasso, Matisse and Dali. He was granted a Freshman Art Scholarship at the University of Alabama where he spent two years of college before moving to New York City. Quizon graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Studio Art in 2004 from Hunter College-City University of New York (CUNY).

Aside from being an artist, Quizon was an independent film director whose work was featured in a New York City film festival. While freelancing as a graphic designer, he also found time to study and work as a Web coder and designer.

All these experiences have found their way to his artworks. Quizon’s style has evolved with the use of digital tools to compose, process and enlarge initial sketches to create unique handmade mixed media work.

Among Quizon’s influences include graphic novelists

Jim Lee and Whilce Portacio, British painter Philip Rawson, American statistician and data visualization pioneer Edward Tufte, and American-French painter Marcel Duchamp.

Since 2000 Quizon has participated in several exhibitions and his works have been showcased recently at the Greenpoint Gallery in Brooklyn, New York.

In 2013, he returned to Manila and visited the Ayala Museum where National Artist Botong Francisco’s A Nation Imagined was on display. This was Quizon’s first genuine experience of Philippine art. He found Botong Francisco’s work iconic and nationalistic. From then on, Quizon became more inspired to bring his own art to his country of birth.

With the unveiling of Hypervisual marking his introduction to the local art scene, Quizon hopes to visit the Philippines more often to further reconnect with his roots.

While Quizon has returned to New York and is working on new pieces for the monthly salon shows of Greenpoint Gallery, he is also planning to do another solo exhibit and participate in group exhibitions in Manila. “I want to further establish myself in the art scene in the Philippines,” he said.

Young Filipino artist a top finalist in Unicef contest TWELVE-YEAR-OLD Annika Ocampo was overcome with excitement and disbelief when her comic superhero Althea earned thousands of votes, catapulting it to one of the top eight finalists globally in the Unicef School Superhero Comic contest.

The recently concluded competition, which garnered 3,600 entries from children and young people all over the world, was launched in October 2018 by Unicef to raise awareness to #endviolence in and around schools.

“I was excited but I also thought that other contestants’ artworks were better than mine,” Annika muses. Annika’s is the only entry from the Philippines that made it to the final round of selection.

Annika’s character illustration of Althea, created through online digital software FireAlpaca, is a relatable, young female student who uses music to stop violence in schools.

“Althea uses her musical powers to inspire kids like me to stand up for ourselves, to beat the Silence and end violence in our schools. The blue light from her music wraps her listeners and brings out their own strength and courage to stop the violence on their own.

“Althea plays the ukulele and sings gentle, calming songs.

Music is a big part of the Filipino culture, and Althea depends on music to calm her down,” Annika says.

Having had friends who were once bullied in school, Annika could somehow feel their pain. She would turn to

music to calm her down just as her superhero Althea uses music during troubled times.

To create Althea, Annika took inspiration from an American alternative band whose popular songs conveyed the importance of one’s self-worth, and for which multitudes of its online fans have expressed gratitude for.

“Since I was in Grade 3, my older sister and I would listen to Twenty One Pilots. They’re popular and mainstream, and their lead singer plays the ukulele and sings about mental health. I listen to it a lot and I was glad that they released a new album at the time I was thinking of joining the superhero comic contest. It was great timing and it gave me a big inspiration,” she shares.

Annika, a seventh grader from Laguna, took interest in drawing at a very young age. She has drawn multiple characters and written short stories whipped from her creative imagination. Her parents and siblings have always supported her to keep developing her talents. It was, in fact, her oldest sister Julia, 22, who encouraged her to join the Unicef superhero comic contest, and who guided her in keeping her ideas focused.

“My sister motivated me. As one who really loves music and wants to help a lot of people, I began thinking about it and said yes. “I started drawing first but I wasn’t really good at focusing so I shifted to writing while I was in the middle of the sketch. The next week, I found out that the deadline

ANNIKA OCAMPO

was moved to a later date, so I went back to drawing again. I made four drafts and ended up finishing the last one at past midnight. The last draft became the final story,” Annika says.

“I’m doing art for a cause—not just to feel good or just to have something to do, but also to help others,” she states.

And her superhero Althea can help bring the message to schoolchildren and young adults that being silent about violence in schools, particularly bullying, should finally be broken. “No problem can be solved without taking action.

Bullying and violence is a big problem. The only way to solve

it is to speak out. You don’t have much power but you can speak out to save somebody or yourself,” Annika says.

Unicef Philippines is working with Annika and her parents to produce an expanded story of school superhero Althea to further raise awareness and end violence in schools in the Philippines.

Unicef awarded the Superhero Comic winning prize to 17-year-old Rizka from Indonesia, for her rendition of a girl named Cipta who can turn her drawings into real-life objects and control them to stop school violence.