BusinessMirror January 29, 2020

NO VISA ON ARRIVAL FOR CHINESE VISITORS

A Bureau of Quarantine employee mans thermal imaging cameras installed at the arrival area of Naia Terminal 1 in this January 2020 BusinessMirror file photo, as Philippine authorities stepped up measures to keep the country free from the 2019 novel coronavirus that began in China and spread to other countries. NONIE REYES

w

By Samuel P. Medenilla @sam_medenilla

& Recto Mercene @rectomercene

T

HE government is now considering imposing travel restrictions to and from China as the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) spread across all of its provinces, except in Tibet.

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), for one, said it is now considering imposing a deployment ban to China to minimize the number of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who may be exposed to the virus.

“It is under study,” Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III said on Tuesday.

n

This, as the airport Immigration Bureau (BI) suspended the visa-upon-arrival (VUA) privilege extended to visiting Chinese nationals from the mainland, following concerns on the spread of the 2019-nCoV. Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente made the announcement on Tuesday.

He said the VUA facility—often used by Chinese tour groups visiting the Philippines—will be temporarily suspended as China has imposed a travel lockdown in several cities.

The lockdown caused the massive shutdowns of public transport services in several areas in China in a concerted effort to contain the new strain of the coronavirus, which so far has no known vaccine.

Wednesday, January 29, 2020 Vol. 15 No. 111

Higher alcohol tax seen to curb use for18 mos

By Cai U. Ordinario

T

@caiordinario

HE rapid increase in the country’s per-capita income will prevent higher “sin” taxes from radically reducing Filipinos’ consumption of alcoholic beverages, legislators and economists have said.

In a briefing on Tuesday, House Committee on Ways and Means Chairman Joey Sarte Salceda said that by his own reckoning, the impact of the newly signed Republic Act 11467 which amended the country’s tax code will only be good

for 18 months.

Salceda said with this, it is not only important to conduct a review of the rates after the third year of implementation, but also consider higher rates.

“The number of bottles may go

down a bit, there would be some reduction in the volume” after the second round of tax hikes, Salceda said, but added this impact won’t be for long. “We need to increase [the rates] further after three years because per-capita income will

“We need to increase [the rates] further after three years because percapita income will catch up with the rates. The increase in our nominal GNP [Gross National Product] is also very rapid.”—Salceda

catch up with the rates. The increase in our nominal GNP [Gross National Product] is also very rapid. After 18 months, consumption will return to its current level.”

Senate Committee on Ways and Means Chairman Pia S. Cayetano agreed that higher sin tax rates are needed to reduce alcohol consumption, especially in the case of binge drinkers.

See “Alcohol tax,” A2

T

PESO exchange rates n

The House unanimously adopted Majority Leader Martin Romualdez’s proposal to invite Duque to attend the plenary session on January 29 as guest for its “Question Hour.” Legislators stressed the session is neither in aid of legislation nor an investigation, but an exercise of the House’s oversight powers, given the life-and-death implications of an outbreak on their constituencies.

Romualdez moved for the adoption of the Question Hour period after Rep. Angelina Tan, who chairs the House Committee on Health, delivered a privilege speech raising questions on the government’s preparedness in dealing with the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak that now affects several countries.

Continued on A12

See “No visa,” A2

P25.00 nationwide | 5 sections 42 pages |

MINUS EXTERNAL RISKS, INSURANCE TO POST DOUBLE-DIGIT GROWTH

By Bernadette D. Nicolas @BNicolasBM

T

HE Insurance Commission (IC) has expressed optimism that the insurance industry would pose a double-digit growth for this year, barring external risks including the Wuhan coronavirus.

On the sidelines of the IC’s 71st anniversary, IC Commissioner Dennis B. Funa told reporters on Tuesday he keeps a bullish outlook this year considering that the industry has grown for the past three years.

“Barring external issues, I continue to be confident…[that] the performance of the basics are undisturbed. Fundamentals are okay,” Funa said, noting that the impact of the Wuhan coronavirus still remains to be seen.

Nonetheless, Funa expressed concern over the possible impact of the virus as he said there are

As PHL stays free from nCoV, Cabinet panel lays down measures HERE are still no confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in the Philippines, Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III stressed on Tuesday, as he eased worries over the slight increase in the number of so-called patients under investigation (PUI) for possible infection.

At the press conference on Tuesday, Undersecretary Eric Domingo revealed that five more PUIs, on top of their latest figure which is 22, were added to the list.

Duque will face lawmakers on Wednesday, after the House of Representatives summoned him to its plenary session to shed light on the government’s response on a possible Wuhan coronavirus outbreak in the country.

“The Civil Aeronautics Board has already suspended direct flights from Wuhan,” Morente added, referring to the once-bustling city in Hubei province that is deemed ground zero for the 2019-nCoV. “We are now temporarily suspending the issuance of VUA for Chinese nationals to slow down the influx of group tours.”

A similar move was done by Taiwan immigration authorities, who, according to the Taipei Times, canceled permits for 429 people in 24 tour groups from Wuhan, China. However, Morente clarified that there is no order barring Chinese nationals from entering the country.

already signs of a slowdown in global economic activity, given that equities are down and gasoline prices are up.

Asked what his industry growth projection for the year is, Funa said he prefers not to give an exact figure but added that he wants a “steady growth.”

Premiums in 2019 soared by 32.67 percent to P224.97 billion in a span of three years.

This is a 2.768-percent increase from P218.91 billion in the same period in 2018.

Prior to this, premium income was recorded at P181.51 billion and P169.56 billion in Q3 2017 and Q3 2016, respectively.

Life-sector premiums also amounted to P172.05 billion as of end-September 2019, while the nonlife sector contributed P44.02 billion in net premiums written.

See “Insurance,” A2

Expected BSP rate cut shot in arm for economy

T

TEARS AT THE TENEMENT People from different walks of life visit the open basketball court at the Tenement complex in Taguig City where Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna were honored with a mural done by about a dozen Tenement visual artists. The Tenement homeowners also encouraged fans to write messages on the walls ringing the court. NONIE REYES

HE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) will continue to cut interest rates this year despite tamer inflation in recent months as this is expected to boost growth, local economists said.

Economists at the ING Bank and Fitch Solutions believe that BSP Governor Benjamin E. Diokno may cut rates by another 25 basis points (bps) as an “insurance” to support economic growth.

Fitch Solutions, the research arm of Fitch Group, also said in a recent research note that a rate cut of 25 bps is possible this year.

“The BSP cut its key policy rate 75 basis points in 2019 and lowered the reserve requirement ratio [RRR] from 18 percent to 14 percent.

See “Rate cut,” A2

US 50.8720 n japan 0.4672 n UK 66.4236 n HK 6.5415 n CHINA 7.3636 n singapore 37.4776 n australia 34.3895 n EU 56.0609 n SAUDI ARABIA 13.5619

Source: BSP (28 January 2020)

News

BusinessMirror

A2 Wednesday, January 29, 2020

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Temporary ban on Chinese tourists sought by groups

By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo

M

@akosistellaBM Special to the BusinessMirror

ORE tourism stakeholder groups have joined the call for government to impose a temporary travel ban on tourists from China, amid the widening spread of novel coronavirus (nCoV) infections in that country.

The Philippine Hotel Owners Association (PHOA) Inc. and Philippine Tour Operators Association (Philtoa) are among the latest groups which have joined the Tourism Congress of the Philippines in appealing for a clampdown on inbound Chinese arrivals, in a bid to protect Filipinos from nCoV infections.

Al Jazeera on Tuesday reported total deaths from the nCoV have reached 81, with 2,700 confirmed cases in China alone. Beijing has stopped all travels in and out of

Wuhan, a city in Hubei Province, and ground zero for the nCoV infection. It has also asked Chinese travel agencies to suspend all domestic and international tours.

The Department of Health in a news briefing on Tuesday said there were still no confirmed nCoV cases in the Philippines so far.

In a message on Facebook, Philtoa President Cesar Cruz told the BusinessMirror, “The lockdown in Wuhan, where the virus originated, is really a serious indication on how this thing can spread

No visa. . .

Continued from A1

“We have not received any directive imposing policy changes on Chinese nationals. But we are taking this proactive measure to slow down travel, and possibly help prevent the entry of the 2019-nCoV,” he said.

“Should there be policy changes pertaining to foreign policy,” said Morente, “it would be relayed through the Department of Foreign Affairs or the Office of the President, as advised by the Department of Health.”

At least 106 people have died in China from the officially dubbed 2019 novel coronavirus.”- More than 4,500 others have been infected in more than a dozen countries, including five confirmed cases in the United States. More than 60 additional people in the US were being tested for the disease, according to CBS News.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said the 2019-nCoV is a virus (more specifically, a coronavirus) identified as the cause of an outbreak of respiratory illness first detected in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. Early on, many of the patients in the outbreak in Wuhan reportedly had some link to a large seafood and animal market, suggesting animal to person spread, sparking fears that the consumption of socalled exotic food like bats may have caused the virus jump across species. However, a growing number of patients reportedly have not had exposure to animal markets, indicating that a person to person spread is occurring.

Morente, meanwhile, clarified their role in inspecting suspected carriers of the virus at all of the country’s ports. “It is the Bureau of Quarantine who conducts monitoring of arriving passengers to see if they are manifesting symptoms of the corona virus.”

He said quarantine officials have put up measures in place in international airports across the country to strictly check arriving passengers. “They have been very active in giving information to frontline port personnel on how to prevent the transmission of the virus, given the risk of direct contact with possible carriers,” he added.

No nonessential trips

In a press conference on Monday, Health

out. Banning Chinese travelers at this time is the bullet we have to bite as far as our tourism industry is concerned, and for the national interest, as well. A temporary total ban on Chinese travelers is the next step, should the situation in Wuhan worsen.”

Regarding hotels and resorts which have received cancellation requests from Chinese travel agencies and tourists, Cruz said, “Rebooking with no penalty would be a reasonable policy to be applied for the hotels and resort to prevent total loss of business.”

Hotels and resorts in Boracay are reporting requests on cancellations for bookings from their Chinese clients, but many establishments are opting not to allow refunds on payments. (See, “Boracay, Manila tourist hubs’ China guests canceling bookings,” in the BusinessMirror, January 28, 2020.)

For his part, Diony Salme, owner of the popular Jony’s Beach Resort and Jony’s Boutique Hotel in Boracay, said they have also received a number of cancellations from Chinese guests. Salme, who

Secretary Francisco T. Duque III said they will recommend that Filipinos postpone any nonessential trip to China due to the threat of 2019-nCoV. Presidential spokesman Salvador S. Panelo said they are now waiting for the recommendation of the DOH and WHO on whether the immigration bureau should expand the suspension of VUA to the 11 other countries with confirmed 2019-nCoV cases.

Repatriation efforts

The Department of Foreign A ffairs (DFA) said about 50 of the the 150 Filipinos currently stay ing in Wuhan Cit y have ex pressed interest to be repatr iated due to their concer ns to the 2019 -nCoV. However, Panelo said the lockdown imposed by the Chinese government for Hubei to prevent further spread of the disease may render the repatriation efforts difficult for Manila.

Despite this, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Brigido Dulay said they will be accommodating OFWs who would like to be repatriated from China, on condition they undergo a 14-day quarantine period upon their arrival in the country.

He said China has committed to coordinate with the government to repatriate its nationals either by land or by air.

Panelo said it is carefully weighing the repatriation of Filipinos, particularly those from Wuhan, because of the risk some of them may bring the disease to the country.

With this risk in mind, Blas F. Ople Policy Center Head Susan Ople said an alternative for bringing home of the OFWs would be to place them under the 14-day quarantine, while they are still in China.

Forewarned

The large number of OFWs in some of the countries with confirmed 2019-nCoV has prompted the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) to issue four related advisories.

Three of the advisories, which contained measures to prevent exposure to the virus, were meant for OFWs in Singapore, Macau and South Korea.

The fourth advisory contained the WHO advice for international travel in relations to the outbreak of pneumonia caused by 2019-nCoV. All of the advisories reminded OFWs to exercise frequent hand-washing, practice proper cough etiquette, wear a mask when visiting health facilities for respiratory symptoms, and provide a travel history to relevant authorities.

As of Tuesday, DOH said they have yet to get any confirmed report of any Filipino infected by the 2019-nCoV. Duque, however, said the number of patients under investigation for the virus increased to 27 cases on January 28 from just 11 cases the day before.

is also chairman of the Boracay Foundation Inc., and one of the respected veteran hoteliers on the island, said in Filipino, “In our case, we have already received a lot of cancellations and [requests] for refunds. It’s okay for me to give them a full refund. Their situation is also saddening and they didn’t ask for it. I am sure others [hotels] will also understand their [Chinese] situation.”

PHOA President Arthur Lopez also agreed with the TCP’s call on the temporary travel ban on Chinese tourists. He said in a text message, “For [our] safety and health, it is the right thing to do.”

The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. on Monday instructed Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators to quarantine for 10 days, all their employees returning from their Chinese Lunar New Year holidays, especially from areas with reported nCoV cases. The Department of Finance earlier estimated that there were as many as 100,000 Chinese citizens working in Pogo, but a BusinessMirror source believes this to be closer to 300,000.

Rate cut. . .

Continued from A1

We expect another ‘insurance cut’ to the key policy rate in early 2020, by 25 bps to 3.75 percent, and note further reductions to the RRR are also likely,” it said. ING Bank Manila economist Nicholas Mapa said the rate cut will help the Philippines battle headwinds that threaten its economy.

“Diokno will look to sneak in a rate cut or two to help provide the economy an additional shot in the arm, all the more now with headwinds threatening to slow already compromised economic growth momentum,” said Mapa.

Fitch Solutions said a rate cut should also support credit supply, which slumped through 2019 and will fuel domestic demand.

While Diokno previously indicated he was in “no hurry” to reduce the banks’ RRR given last year’s aggressive reduction of 400 bps, Mapa said he expects further reductions to the RRR this year, but only if bank lending growth improves.

“Bank lending has reversed its downtrend but it may take a couple more months before we see monetary policy feed through,” the economist said.

The Monetary Board is expected to have its next monetary policy meeting on February 6.

In their December 12 meeting, Diokno and the Monetary Board decided to keep the country’s monetary policy levers unchanged, as growth trended higher and inflation remained within target range towards the end of 2019.

For both 2020 and 2021, inflation is projected to settle at 2.9 percent.

Insurance. . .

Continued from A1

Industry assets also grew by 31.72 percent in a span of three years from 2016. As of end of third quarter of 2019, industry assets reached a record high of P1.74 trillion. This showed an increase of 12.258 percent from P1.55 trillion in the same period in 2018.

Industry assets were posted at P1.54 trillion and P1.32 trillion as of endthird quarter of 2017 and 2016, respectively.

As of end-September 2019, the life sector alone posted P1.39 trillion in assets while the nonlife sector accounted for P248.99 billion.

As for the preneed industry, the sector’s assets also rose by 3.70 percent in Q3 2019 to P127.62 billion from P123.07 billion in Q3 2018. Its premium income also increased by 20.60 percent year-on-year to P16.99 billion from P14.08 billion as of end-Q3 2018.

The HMO (health maintenance organization) industry also showed an upswing, with total assets of P37.27 billion for the same period. This was up by 8.64 percent from P33.83 billion from the same period in 2018.

Forty million Filipinos are also covered by micro-insurance as of endSeptember 2019.

In terms of insurance density, the amount of premium per capital also rose by 1.16 percent year-on-year. This means that each individual is willing to spend P2,077.30 on insurance.

The insurance sector’s contribution to the national economy in terms of premium as a share of GDP reached 1.69 percent in the third quarter of 2019.

Market penetration has also reached 59.15 percent as of end-September 2019.

DSWD. . .

Continued from A12

“The administration’s goal of eradicating extreme poverty in the country by 2040, and lowering poverty incidence to just 11 percent by 2022 would get a significant boost if rural incomes go up by way of higher farm-gate prices of palay, given that most Filipinos living below the poverty line live in the countryside,” he said in a statement.

He added that both committees at both chambers of Congress should fast-track the passage of the bill to help local growers recover the losses they incurred due to

BOC examiners wear masks to check cargo amid fears of infection

A

IRPORT customs personnel assigned at various bonded warehouses have been ordered to wear protective masks when examining incoming cargo, especially from China.

To see that her directive is followed, district collector Mimel Talusan distributed N95 protective masks to all her examiners assigned in different terminals and warehouses.

So far the 2019-nCoV virus has also been confirmed in Thailand, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Macau and the United States.

The Department of Health (DOH) announced that despite several persons being examined, the new coronavirus has not infected a single person in the country.

Nonetheless, Talusan said in Filipino, “It’s better to be cautious, as immigration officers and customs are considered frontliners in every

Alcohol tax. . .

Continued from A1

Cayetano told the BusinessMirror that to begin with, the rates that she was pushing for in the law were significantly higher.

She, however, said it was not right to conduct a review of the law only after a few months a piece of legislation is passed.

Cayetano said it is important that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) be allowed to do its job of regulating sin products.

“The rates that I wanted were much higher, there’s no question there. But you know, its our democratic process, I was outvoted on the rates so these are the rates for now,” Cayetano said.

‘Index rates to income growth’

Action for Economic Reforms Coordinator Filomeno Sta. Ana III said one of the most ideal ways to lower consumption of sin products is to index tax rates to the growth of incomes.

Currently, he said, sin taxes are indexed to inflation, which are higher than the increase in incomes. This is able to address the erosion of revenues in real terms.

A better solution, Sta. Ana said, is to index tax rates to the growth of nominal GDP to take into consideration price increases and Filipinos’ incomes.

“The increase should be equal to the growth rate of nominal GDP. It will be more effective in addressing affordability,” he added.

Inelastic demand

Salceda estimated that at the current rate of alcoholic beverage consumption, Filipinos are consuming 240 million liters of pure alcohol.

Of this amount, Salceda said around 100 million liters are consumed through various beers and fermented alcoholic beverages while the rest or 140 million liters are consumed through gin.

He expects that under the most recent law, this can decline to around 200 to 225 million liters.

But after 18 months, he sees con-

the drop in palay farm-gate prices.

“Congress can throw a lifeline to the country’s beleaguered rice farmers by reversing the continued plunge in farm-gate prices of palay by way of a measure that would let government buy this year a sizable volume of the grain from local growers for use in the multibillion-peso annual rice subsidy program for low-income families,” said Villafuerte.

As the retail prices of rice continued to fall, the average farm-gate price of paddy posted a turnaround in the first week of January, rising by 1.02 percent to P15.79 per kilograms, from P15.63 per kg in the last week of December.

However, the latest average buying price

airport; they’re the ones mixing with arriving passengers.”

The World Health Organization (WHO) had assessed that the outbreak is a very high risk in China, as well as a high risk regionally and globally, but that it would not recommend any broader restrictions on travel or trade.

The WHO recommended “exit screening at airports as part of a comprehensive set of containment measures. All countries should have in place measures to detect cases of coronavirus, including at health facilities.”

According to WHO, the virus can cause severe sickness and can even kill, but causes milder symptoms for most people.

At present, there is no evidence of human-to-human transmission outside China, but that doesn’t mean it won’t happen, WHO said.

Recto L. Mercene

sumption reverting to its original level of 240 million liters per year.

“Each drinker consumes 4.6 liters per year,” Salceda said. “I explained it this way so that we will understand that the impact is not that dramatic. We need the next administration to make the necessary adjustments to reduce consumption and make a significant impact on noncommunicable diseases.”

Sta. Ana explained that the reason consumption will increase after 18 months is the fact that demand for sin products like alcoholic beverages have become inelastic.

Products and services that are said to have inelastic demand refer to those that will be purchased or be in demand regardless of the cost or price.

If incomes increase in the next few months, those who cut back on their consumption of alcoholic beverages will have the purchasing power to be able to buy more or at the same rate they did before the law was passed. “[People] will adjust to the new price level to return to the previous level of consumption,” Sta. Ana told the BusinessMirror. “[This is highly plausible] remember, people’s incomes are increasing.”

Sta. Ana said this is actually the argument against the claim of the industry that higher taxes will cause their sales to decline.

Tax terms

The National Sin Tax Coalition said the law increased excise tax on distilled spirits to P42 per proof liter with a 22 percent ad valorem tax effective this year.

The specific will be raised to P47 in 2021; P52 in 2022; P59 in 2023; P66 in 2024; and 6 percent every year, thereafter.

The tax on fermented liquors will be raised to P35 this year from P25.4 prior to passage of the law.

This will be raised to P37 in 2021; P39 in 2022; P41 in 2023; P43 in 2024 and 6 percent annually in each succeeding year.

For alcohol, a specific tax of P50 will be imposed on all wines beginning this year with a 6-percent increase annually in succeeding years.

for unhusked rice was 20.85 percent lower than the quotation of nearly P20 per kg last year, data from the PSA showed.

Historical PSA data showed that the average farm-gate price of palay is still the lowest in eight years owing to the detrimental effects of higher rice imports.

On an annual basis, the average farmgate price of palay in 2019 settled at P16.20 per kg, 20 percent lower than the average quotation of P20.20 per kg in 2018, the PSA said in a separate report.

Also, the average palay price last year was the lowest in eight years as its previous average price of P16.20 per kg was recorded in 2012, according to historical PSA data.

The Nation BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

DENR chief to Manila Bay biz owners: Install sewer treatment plants

E

NVIRONMENT Secretary Roy A. Cimatu said business establishments along Manila Bay are still required to put their own sewerage treatment plants (STPs) to prevent the discharge of untreated wastewater that contributes to water pollution.

Meeting with several guests, that include Sen. Cynthia Villar, chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Natural Resources; Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairman Danilo S. Lim; and Engr.

Lito Abuyan, the New Zealandbased chemical engineer who designed the STP, before the ceremonial “Turn-On” event along Roxas Boulevard on Sunday, Cimatu reiterated the need for business establishments to comply with the order, or face the consequence.

One of the highlights of the first anniversary celebration of the Battle for Manila Bay, the Duterte administration’s ambitious P4.7-billion, seven-year Manila Bay rehabilitation program, the commissioning of the STP expects to treat an average of 500,000 liters of water from three major esteros along Roxas Boulevard that drain to Manila Bay. He said the DENR has already issued cease-and-desist orders to many business establishments during the past year for failing effluent standards for “Class SB” (Coastal and Marine Waters).

Class SB is the designated water quality for recreational Water Class 1, or areas regularly used by the public for bathing, swimming, skin diving and fishery, while Water Class 3, or spawning areas for bangus and similar species.

Cimatu said while Metro Manila households are already covered by the private water concessionaires of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS), business establishments need to invest in such facility in compliance with existing policies, particularly Republic Act 9275, or the Philippine Clean Water Act. He said even the Philippine Navy camp along Roxas Boulevard will

“Households, they are not required to put up STP. But business establishments along Manila Bay are required to put up their water treatment facilities.”—Cimatu

soon construct its own STP. “The Philippine Navy will have its own STP. I’ve already asked them to put up an STP,” Cimatu told a group of fellow government officials during the STP Turn-On ceremony near the Manila Yacht Club on Sunday.

“Households, they are not required to put up STP. But business establishments along Manila Bay are required to put up their water treatment facilities,” he insisted.

The DENR chief reported that coliform level in Manila Bay has greatly improved, but added that much needs to be done to achieve the desired water quality to make the waters of the historic bay “swimmable” as mandated by a decade-old Supreme Court continuing mandamus.

Citing data from the Environment Management Bureau, Cimatu earlier said the fecal coliform count at the Padre Faura outfall is now down to 920,000 most probable number per 100 milliliter (mpn/100ml) from its pre-rehab record of 7.21 million mpn/100ml.

Meanwhile, from 35 million mpn/100ml recorded before the rehabilitation began, Cimatu said the coliform level at the Raja Soliman/ Remedios drainage outfall across Aristocrat Restaurant went down to 11 million mpn/100ml.

On the other hand, the coliform level at the Manila Yacht C lub out fa l l i s now 5 4 m i llion mpn/100ml, from a high of 110 million mpn/100ml.

The desired standard fecal coliform level in Manila Bay is 100 mpn/100ml based on its classification as Class SB coastal and marine water. Jonathan L. Mayuga

As Taal simmers down, DENR steps in to manage trash from evacuees

By Jonathan L. Mayuga @jonlmayuga

T

AKING advantage of Taal’s relative calmness over the past few days, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is stepping into the picture to help address the garbage problem in over 400 evacuation centers in Batangas, Laguna and Cavite.

Environment Undersecretary for Solid Waste Management and Local Government Units Concerns Benny D. Antiporda said members of Task Force Basura composed of field personnel from various DENR Regional Offices, together with the DENR Central Office, will conduct an information drive on proper solid-waste management.

“You can expect us from the DENR that we will act on it as early as now,

@awimailbox Mindanao Bureau Chief

D

AVAO CITY—The country’s newest named province, Davao de Oro, would start implementing its clear-cut policy on no-habitation in highrisk areas which would serve as the lynchpin of the province’s disaster-preparedness plan.

Davao de Oro, formerly the Compostela Valley, has been frequently ravaged by flash floods and landslide, but the provincial administration appeared to be determined to tackle disaster-risk reduction and management seriously.

Last week, its Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMC) issued Resolution 2 to relocate families in Bankerohan Sur of Montevista town; Pasian, Rizal, Upper Ulip and Baylo of Monkayo town; San Antonio of Mabini; and Mipangi of Nabunturan.

The provincial government has alloted P13 million for this measure.

The provincial government said that it learned its lesson the hard way in 2012 when the former Compostela Valley was inundated by Typhoon Pablo’s wrath that cuased floods and landslides.

“To lessen susceptibility of the communities to these disasters, the province allotted P37 million

from 2018 up to the present, funding 19 disaster-mitigating infrastructure projects. These include the slope protection project from San Jose to Awao, Monkayo Provincial Road, and rehabilitation and improvement project of tributary canal in Purok 20, Poblacion, Nabunturan,” it said.

It has now trained more than 2,100 disaster responders.

Also recently, Davao de Oro donated P6.1 million to the victims of earthquake in the southern part of Mindanao.

“As the Province of Davao de Oro continually reaches its triumphs step by step in different aspects, the province still manages to care for the environment as a priority, which basically is the foundation of everything,” it said.

The administration of Gov. Jayvee Tyron L. Uy has also pegged the provincial development direction to the management of solid waste, the protection of water systems, greening and reforestation, promotion of green and responsible miming, and effective disaster management.

He reported that while the Provincial Solid Waste Management Plan was approved way back in 2014, it has achieved a waste diversion rate of 88 percent, higher than the 83 percent of 2014, “which directly means that wastes are successfully diverted or recycled, making our landfills shrunk or decrease in number.”

rather than be taken aback by the mountains of garbage that will be produced because of this calamity in Taal Volcano,” Antiporda said.

Antiporda has also appealed to the public to avoid donating singleuse plastic cups, plates and utensils to evacuees, as these “environmentally unfriendly” items could create another problem.

“Plastic forks, spoons, cups, plates and coffee stirrers may be convenient, but they are wreaking havoc on the environment,” Antiporda pointed out.

He lamented that “calamity and the displacement of individuals make proper waste management the last and least among the priorities of the people.”

However, Antiporda assured that the DENR is willing to help affected local government units (LGUs) in

dealing with garbage resulting from Taal Volcano’s activity.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said Taal Volcano remains under Alert Level 3, and reminded the public that sudden steam-driven, and even weak, phreatomagmatic explosions, volcanic earthquakes, ashfall and lethal volcanic gas expulsions can still occur and threaten areas within Taal Volcano Island and nearby lakeshores.

Phivolcs has recommended to prohibit human activities on Taal Volcano Island, as well as areas near Taal Lake, and communities west of the island within a 7-kilometer radius from the main crater must be strictly prohibited.

As such, Phivolcs advised LGUs to assess areas outside the 7-kilometer radius for damages and road accessibility, and to strengthen

preparedness, contingency and communication measures in case of renewed unrest.

“People are also advised to observe precautions due to ground displacement across fissures, frequent ashfall and minor earthquakes. Communities beside active river channels, particularly where ash from the main eruption phase has been thickly deposited, should increase vigilance when there is heavy and prolonged rainfall since the ash can be washed away and form lahars along the channels,” Phivolcs said in its latest Volcano Bulletin issued at 8 a.m. on January 28.

The air space above Taal remains dangerous, and Phivolcs advised civil aviation authorities to put in place necessary measures as explosions and wind-remobilized ash may pose hazards to aircrafts.

262 Leyte rebel returnees receive land from DAR

A

TOTAL of 262 former rebels will soon each get a piece of land upon President Duterte’s instructions.

Agrarian Reform Secretary John R. Castriciones said the former rebels will receive their parcels of land from a 2,200-hectare agricultural property in San Isidro, Leyte.

On January 23, 2020, the President visited the San Isidro Civic Center to distribute assistance under the Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program for the rebel returnees.

It was Leyte Gov. Leopoldo Dominico Petilla who informed Duterte about the availability of around 2,000 hectares of land in San Isidro, which Castriciones confirmed.

The vast tract of land Castriciones was referring to is around Barangays Daja-Daku and Taglawigan within the declared economic zone pursuant to Presidential Proclamation 247.

Meanwhile, the President led the distribution of financial assistance to different organizations of the former rebels: Taglawigan Farmers Association, P1.650 million; Catu-ugan Farmers Association, P1.825 mil-

Davao de Oro, PHL’s newest province, off to a good start in disaster preparedness

By Manuel T. Cayon

Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug • Wednesday, January 29, 2020 A3

The province has also banned the single-use plastic and commended the municipalities of Monkayo, Maco, Maragusan and Montevista for implementing their own policies to regulate, while the provincial capitol compound has banned it.

Uy said some 180 hectares were reforested last year, leading to the recovery of the watershed health in the 28 barangays, “especially the protected watershed of Bongabong, Tibagon and Matiao of Pantukan; and Bucana of Maco.”

“Davao de Oro, from whose name itself was derived from its gold reserves, allotted a total of P5 million for the 2019 to 2020 Green Mining Research and Development Project for a much more environmentfriendly mining. The promotion of a responsible small-scale mining were acknowledge by the National Movement of Small-Scale Miners during the First National Assembly of Small-Scale Miners in Davao de Oro,” it added.

The province has also crafted the master plan to rehabilitate and revive the mercury-contaminated Naboc River, three years after the Department of Environment and Natural Resources ordered the transfer of gold-processing activities to a designated site in Diwalwal, Monkayo, to avoid further using the tributaries of the river as its dump site for used mercury.

lion; Cabatu-an Farmers Association, P925,000; Jubay Farmers Association, P1.175 million; Surusimbahan Farmers Association, P625,000; and Airport Farmers Association, P1.775 million.

The former rebels, likewise, received P3.930-million cash assistance from the Department of Social

Welfare and Development.

The Office of the President will also provide each former rebel with P5,000 and a cellular phone.

During the event, President Duterte also handed over a check worth P5 million to Gov. Jericho Petilla, chairman of the Leyte Provincial Elcac, or Ending

Local Communist Armed Conflict, for the construction of a halfway house for the former rebels, and certificates of eligibility for lot award for the recipients in the 52.2-hectare Peace and Prosperity Village, a resettlement project in Sitio Linite, Barangay Daja-Daku, San Isidro.

A4 Wednesday, January 29, 2020 • Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug

Economy BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

PHL, S. Korea ready P3.87-B fund to bankroll BBB projects

By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario

T

HE Duterte administration’s “Build, Build, Build” (BBB) program has gained another major boost after Manila and Seoul opened a $71-million fund to hasten the rollout listed infrastructure projects, and leave behind P1.4 trillion worth of projects in the pipeline for the next administration.

In a briefing on Tuesday, Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said an amount equivalent to P3.87 billion would be financed by a loan from the Export-Import Bank of Korea (Kexim) Economic Development Cooperation Fund and government funds.

DOTr remits P10.89M in fines collected from ‘erring’ PETC to National Treasury

T

HE Department of Transportation (DOTr) will remit roughly P10.89 million to the National Treasury collected as fines from private emission testing centers (PETCs) who violated their mandates, the agency’s chief said on Tuesday.

Transportation (DOTr) Secretary Arthur P. Tugade said his group has “recorded millions of pesos worth of fines collected” from various testing centers nationwide, after the Investigation, Security and Law Enforcement Staff (ISLES) and the Franchising Review Staff (FRS) found numerous violations including the lack of testing machines and falsification of results, among others.

He noted that his agency has been more stringent in reviewing the compliance PETCs, authorized private facilities that test the opacity and analyze emissions of motor vehicles, since 2017.

In 2017, the agency collected a total of P90,000 in fines. This figure jumped to P450,000 in 2018, and ballooned to P10.89 million last year. In the first few days of January, 86 PETCs have been found to be non-compliant with agency standards, resulting in P9.9 million in fines.

“This increasing number of violators is a clear manifestation of their defiance to the law. Your accreditation as emission testing center is just a privilege given to you by the government. Do not wait for us to issue suspension orders, or revocation of your permits to operate,” he said.

The DOTr is mandated to aid the Department of Environmental and Natural Resources in implementing the Clean Air Act by checking the roadworthiness of vehicles, including their compliance to emission standards under the law.

Lorenz S. Marasigan

The bulk of the funds worth $50 million, or P2.73 billion, will be sourced from Kexim nd the remaining $21 million, or P1.14 billion, will be financed by the government through its implementing agencies.

“This year, we expect President Duterte’s BBB program to be firing on all cylinders. The stage has been set.

The National Expenditure Program [NEP] has been enacted on time this year, our infrastructure agencies are poised to execute hundreds of infra projects all over the country in the next few months,” Dominguez said.

The finance chief said the $50 million loan from the South Korean government will enjoy a zero concessional interest rate and a repayment period of 40 years.

There is also a 10-year grace period at which time the Philippines will not be required to pay its dues. Dominguez also said service charges are set at only 10 basis points, or one-tenth of 1 percent of each disbursement.

The Philippines-Korea Project Preparation Facility (PKPPF) would be tapped for project preparation activities, such as the conduct of pre-feasibility studies, as well as detailed engineering and safeguard assessment analysis for projects undertaken by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the National Irrigation Administration (NIA).

He said these activities under the PKPPF are necessary and integral

aspects of any project as they will help the government determine whether a particular project is economically viable and sustainable over the long term “and, ultimately, whether the Filipino people will reap the economic benefits and outweigh the public resources that the government might invest.”

The PKPPF, Dominguez said, would also enable the government to subject proposed project to rigorous analysis to determine the best source of financing.

“The total pipeline we have is around P50 billion. When we leave in 2022, the total pipeline will be around P1.4 trillion. So that is our legacy to the next administration,” Dominguez said.

Kexim Chief Representative Sungho Jang, for his part, said the PKPPF is “envisioned to play a key role not only in the conceptualization, but also in the implementation of a strong and interactive programs and initiatives” under the BBB program.

He said there are currently 15 projects being considered under the facility.

Public Works Secretary Mark Villar said preparation activities of the projects to be funded through the fund includes the Pampanga and Agusan river basin flood controlprojects, as well as the Central Luzon Link Expressway project Phase 2 and the Zamboanga City bypass project road, among others.

NIA Deputy Administrator Czar Sulaik said their list includes a multipurpose irrigation power project in San Mariano, Isabela, and another irrigation project in Palanan, Isabela, as well as a catch basin irrigation project in North Cotabato, among others.

Dominguez said the loan for the PKPPF is the second accord signed between the two countries as part of Korea’s $1-billion pledge in official development assistance to the Philippines under President Duterte’s term.

The DOF and Kexim signed a $173-million loan agreement for the construction of the Cebu International Container Port during the official visit of Duterte to Korea last year.

ERC okays lower FiT-All rate for power consumers

By Lenie Lectura @llectura

C

ONSUMERS will soon pay a lower feed-in-tariff rate of P0.0495 per kilowatt hour, lower by P0.1731 per kWh from the current FiT-All rate of P0.2226 per kWh, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) ruled.

The FiT-All is a uniform charge collected annually from all electricity users. Distribution utilities (DUs), the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) and Retail Electricity Suppliers (RES) serve as collecting agents and proceeds go to the FiT-All

Fund administered by the National Transmission Corp. (TransCo).

The current FiT-All rate of P0.2226 per kWh is the applied FiT-All rate for 2018. DUs will soon implement the 2019 FiT-All rate of P0.0495 per kWh after it has received the ERC order.

“The approved 2019 FiT-All rate will be charged to all on-grid consumers supplied with electricity through the distribution or transmission network starting the immediately succeeding billing period following TransCo’s receipt of the ERC decision. The 2019 FiT-All will result to a reduction in the existing FiT-All

rate and will increase the consumers’ purchasing power,” ERC Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Agnes VST Devanadera said.

The ERC also said that the approved 2019 FiT-All is lower by P0.1976/kWh vis-à-vis TransCo’s proposed rate of P0.2471.

“The ERC, in computing the 2019 FiT-All rates, made use of the actual generation billed and the actual cost recovery rate from January until August 2019, among others,” it added.

The 2019 FiT-All considered the FIT-eligible plants with certificate of compliance (COC) for FiT and the 2019 forecasted incoming run-

of-river Hydro and biomass plants in view of the extension by the Department of Energy (DOE) of the installation target for ROR hydro and biomass up to December 31, 2019, or its full subscription, whichever comes first.

Moreover, TransCo in its manifestation estimated an under recovery in the amount of P122.7 million. The commission, however, used the actual over recovery reflected in the books of TransCo as of October 7, 2019, amounting to P6.7 billion.

The FiT-All mechanism was established pursuant to the Renewable Energy Act of 2008, which

aims to spur the development of emerging renewable power sources, such as wind, solar, ROR hydro and biomass facilities.

Basically, the amount is meant to cover payments to renewable-energy (RE) developers who are assured of a fixed rate per kWh for electricity generated by their projects over a period of 20 years.

Under the FiT-All guidelines, TransCo has to make an annual determination of the FiT-All rate and file an application for the approval of the following year’s FiT-All rate before the ERC not later than end of July each year.

Cargo throughput PASIG VILLAGE at Batangas port DONATES SHOES hits 9-year high AND SLIPPERS at 310,000 TEUs

By Lorenz S. Marasigan @lorenzmarasigan

C

ARGO throughput at the Batangas Container Terminal (BCT) rose by a quarter in 2019 to 310,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), the highest volume that the port handled since it started operations in 2010.

Driving the growth is its growing customer base, including economic locators in the Calabarzon area, and the support of shipping line partners, a news statement from the BCT read.

“Equally important, this meant reducing around 150,000 truck trips from Metro Manila’s roads, with consignees opting to ship cargoes through BCT, a world-class terminal located a few kilometers from industrial hubs and conveniently accessible 24/7 through major highways,” the statement added.

With four ship-to-shore cranes, eight rubber-tired gantries, and other equipment, BCT has a capacity of 500,000 TEUs per year. The port is operated by listed Asian Terminals Inc.

TO TAAL VICTIMS

F

AR from the usual donations given to Taal victims, a village in Pasig City has donated 2,700 pairs of new shoes and slippers to the victims of the eruption of Taal Volcano over the weekend.

The distribution of the donations in Mahabang Parang, Talaibon, Ibaan in Batangas, was led by Barangay San Antonio Chairman Raymond Lising.

Barangay San Antonio is the first village in Pasig City to give aid to the Taal victims.

“Highly Exclusive Inc., owned by Mr. Raul Roque, donated 1, 500 pairs of shoes, while Krooberg gave 1, 200 pairs of slippers. The donations were turned over to Junior Chamber International Ortigas [JCI-Ortigas Chapter], then, they collaborated with us in the barangay for transportation and distribution,” Lising said.

The JCI-Ortigas Chapter, where Lising was the former president of the chapter, envisioned a society composed of individuals passion-

OFW RIGHTS, WELFARE

Sen. Joel Villanueva, chairman of the Senate Committee on Labor, fields questions to Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III during the Senate hearing on the resolution related to the government’s migration policies and the promotion of the welfare and rights of Filipino migrant workers amid reported incidence of abuse and maltreatment of overseas Filipino workers, and escalating security tensions in the Middle East. ROY DOMINGO

ately serving and making a difference in the community.

It also provides e development opportunities that empower young people to create positive change.

“They are very thankful for the new shoes and slippers that we gave them. Sobrang nakakataba ng puso ang pasasalamat nila [Their gratitude is very heartwarming],” he added.

He said various donors are sending clothes, foods, and other usable

items but the JCI, in collaboration with the barangay, came up with the different donations which are unusual from the others.

“Shoes and slippers because isa sa mga pangunahing needs na nalimutan din na ibigay sa mga evacuees [it is one of their primary needs that is forgotten to be given to the evacuees],” he also said.

Lising also thanked the donors for their generosity, saying it is important during these trying times

to come together and help victims of a calamity.

“I am very grateful to all the donors. Labis nilang napasaya ang mga biktima ng Taal [They have made the victims of the eruption very happy],” Lising said.

“It is high time to come together and help the victims of Taal. Mahalagang iparamdam natin sa kanila na hindi sila nag-iisa [It is important that they [evacuees] are not alone],” he said. PNA

New economic zone institute seen to attract more investors to Ilocos Norte capital city

L

AOAG CITY—The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) looks forward to seeing the province of Ilocos Norte grow and develop into a “smart community” now that a Special Economic Zone Institute

(Sezi) is now accessible to all Ilocanos.

Located in a small corner at the newly inaugurated National Bioenerg y Research and Innovation Center (NBERIC) of the Mariano Marcos State University in its main campus in Batac City, the establishment of Sezi, in partnership w ith state universities and colleges (SUC) like MMSU, is one of the biggest projects of Peza to provide skills training and research to make ever y Filipino a worldclass worker.

During the January 23, 2020 signing of memorandum of agreement between Peza and MMSU held at the university’s hostel, Peza Director General Charito B. Plaza

A COVENANT of commitment was signed last week by officials and employees of the Mariano Marcos State University, the Philippine Economic Zone Authority and government officials of Ilocos Norte to provide quality service, and develop cutting-edge technologies and innovations to synergistically transform the people and communities of the province. The Special Economic Zone Institute is seen to transform the people and communities of Ilocos Norte into a global work force.

LEILANIE G. ADRIANO

said“more ecozones are being created now to promote investment throughout the world for export industries.

“Let us transform the Philippines as an investment haven and transform every Filipino to become multiskilled. So, we are inviting all institutions, including the indigenous peoples to open up economic zones, develop our idle lands, and create hundred and thousand jobs for all Filipinos,” said Plaza as she lauded the leadership of MMSU President Shirley Agrupis for being the first SUC in the country to establish a Sezi.

For his part, Ilocos Norte Gov. Matthew Joseph Manotoc expressed hopes to have more ecozones to be established in the province.

“I hope this will go a long way for Ilocos Norte to become more business-friendly,” said Manotoc as he administered the oath of office of the newly formed Sezi council to oversee its operations. PNA

Agriculture/Commodities BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Editor: Jennifer A. Ng • Wednesday, January 29, 2020 A5

Govt to establish hybrid rice cluster farms

T

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

@jearcalas

he Department of Agriculture (DA) will spend P90 million for setting up clustered hybrid rice farms as part of government’s efforts to expand areas planted with the variety to hike production.

DA Technical Adviser for Hybrid Rice Program Frisco M. Malabanan said the agency will establish the

three pilot hybrid rice farm clusters in Regions 3, 6 and 11 where the government will extend subsidies

amounting to P30 million.

The interventions would include free hybrid rice seeds, machines for planting to drying, fertilizer, and other required inputs, according to Malabanan.

Each cluster will consist of 100 hectares and would be managed by farmers’ cooperatives to realize the DA’s vision of turning planters into agripreneurs, he added.

“We want to show that they should not be just producers. They should be transformed into agripreneurs wherein the income [from that clustered farm] would go to every member of the cooperative,” Malabanan told reporters in an

interview on Tuesday.

Malabanan said he is proposing to the DA to convert all farms in the country into clusters to achieve economies of scale, and ensure that interventions will enhance efficiency. “[The DA] chose these regions because these are already top rice producing regions and have areas that are planted with hybrid. Of course, we will start organizing clusters this year, hoping that by 2021, if we are given a higher budget for hybrid rice, we will expand these areas,” he said.

Malabanan disclosed that at present the DA is only able to provide interventions to 320,000 hectares for hybrid rice production.

He added that the DA is targeting to expand areas planted with hybrid rice in the country to 1.5 million hectares by 2024, to prop up the supply of the Filipinos’ staple food.

Citing latest available DA figures, Malabanan said about 577,000 hectares of land in 2018 were planted with hybrid rice.

In an interview in November, Malabanan said the Philippines could stop depending on rice imports if it steps up investments in hybrid rice production.

Data from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) showed that the Philippines’s rice imports in 2019 rose to an all-time high

of 3.2 million metric tons (MMT), making the country the top buyer of imported rice last year.

In its first monthly forecast report, the USDA revealed that the Philippines has “soared to become the top global importer” of rice as its total purchases last year surpassed China’s 2.4 MMT. China has been the world’s top rice importer since 2013.

Malabanan, senior technical consultant at SL Agritech Corp., said the estimated 7 percent to 10 percent shortfall in local palay output could be wiped out if hybrid rice is planted in 1.5 million hectares. This, he said, should be coupled with support, such as fertilizer and irrigation.

DA needs higher budget to hike milk output, revitalize dairy industry

T

he Department of Agriculture (DA) said on Tuesday it will seek more funds from Congress to bankroll the crafting of a new dairy road map that will detail strategies for improving local milk production.

The DA made the pronouncement after its attached agency, the Philippine Carabao Center (PCC), was scolded by Sen. Cynthia A. Villar for its supposed failure to help improve the performance of Filipino students.

The revitalized road map is the initial salvo in the campaign of the government to overhaul all its dairyrelated programs. It will serve as the foundation to adequately meet the country’s annual per-capita milk consumption of 22 kilograms (kg).

The DA said it would encourage

the private sector, local government units (LGUs), and other concerned agencies to invest in improving the local dairy industry.

In particular, the DA wants the PCC and another one of its attached agencies, the National Dairy Authority (NDA), to “massively improve the genetics of dairy buffaloes and cattle to produce 7 liters and 18 liters, respectively.”

The PCC and the NDA would also expand the population of dairy buffaloes and “tropicalized” dairy cattle, which is currently at 7,573 heads and 14,354, respectively.

“We will seek [a higher] budget from Congress to launch a revitalized dairy industry road map up to 2022,” Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar said in a statement on Tuesday.

“We will optimize the limited

Milk is poured into a glass in Pennsylvania in this file photo. Bloomberg News

dairy stocks of PCC, NDA and BAI [Bureau of Animal Industry] together with the LGUs, and select the best males as semen donors for artificial

Flight to safety pounds commodity markets rattled by fears of virus

C

ommodity investors are taking flight as fears deepen that the spread of coronavirus could curtail China’s demand of everything from crude oil to soybeans.

Prices are slumping as the death toll rises, prompting China to extend its Lunar New Year holiday to contain the infection whose spread is accelerating around the world.

Fears over the economic impact sent most energy, base metals and grains futures down more than 1 percent, while pushing havens like gold higher.

The traders who keep commodities flowing in and out of the world’s biggest consumer would typically be expecting an uptick in demand after a lull during the Lunar New Year holidays that officially started last week. But the rapid spread of coronavirus has upended the outlook.

“We should short everything,” said Jia Zheng, a portfolio manager at hedge fund Shanghai Minghong Investment Management Co. “With the spread of the epidemic, the domestic consumer market will shrink sharply, and construction will be delayed after the holiday.”

The Bloomberg Commodity Total Return Index slipped 1.5 percent on Monday, heading for the lowest close since August. Here’s how commodity markets are faring:

Energy

Oil slumped on speculation that curtailed travel and industrial activity will hit fuel demand. Brent crude slid 3 percent to $58.86 a barrel after capping its longest run of weekly losses since June. While Goldman Sachs Group Inc. predicted that global oil demand may take a hit, the sell-off has prompted Opec behemoth Saudi Arabia to say it is seeing very little impact on consumption so far.

“For now it is primarily a matter of confidence getting hit but a prolonged outbreak, combined with a continued spreading, will alter the way people travel and commute,”

A man wearing a protective face mask walks along a street in Wuhan, on January 26, a city at the epicenter of a viral outbreak that has killed at least 56 people and infected nearly 2,000. Bloomberg News

said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank A/S. “A supply glut of fuel in China would filter through to the rest of the world through exports, and on that basis the market is reacting in this defensive manner.”

Metals

It’s no surprise that base metals and bulk commodities—which are closely aligned to China’s industrial activity—are getting hurt. Copper fell 3.1 percent in London, heading for its longest slump since 2014, while iron ore plunged more than 6 percent in Singapore. Still, the risk off mood benefited havens, with gold heading for the highest close in more than six years.

“I always own gold, especially when risks are high and interest rates are low, and I will up those allocations,” said Stephen Innes, chief market strategist at AxiCorp., adding that he doesn’t yet see an opportunity to buy into the dip in other commodities. “Until I get something that hits me in the face telling me to buy this stuff, I will not. The fear factor is manifesting.” The timing of the virus could hardly be worse for copper bulls. Net-long wagers on the LME contract reached the highest in at least two years just before the outbreak, in part on bets that the recent United States-China trade deal would trigger a rebound in manufacturing and consumer spending.

“Demand concerns linked to the virus spreading continue to weigh on economic activity,” pushing base and ferrous metal prices lower, ING commodity strategists Warren Patterson and Wenyu Yao wrote in a note Monday. That could limit industrial activity in China in the first quarter, particularly amid an extended New Year holiday and if restrictions on movement remain in place, the analysts said.

Agriculture

Travel restrictions and a reluctance by China’s people to visit restaurants while the outbreak rages may hurt demand in a nation already ravaged by a hog virus that slashed pig herds and cut consumption of livestock feed. The coronavirus is also another blow to crop markets hoping for more Chinese purchases of US farm products in the wake of the trade agreement.

Soybeans, corn and wheat dropped in Chicago with the oilseed touching the lowest in more than a month.

Rubber slid in Tokyo, while sugar and coffee retreated in New York.

“Commodities are being hit across the board and grains are no exception,” said Michael McDougall, managing director at Paragon Global Markets in New York. “The virus problem in China is going to get worse. The timing after we finally signed on a truce couldn’t have been worse.” Bloomberg News

insemination throughout the country, transforming about 100,000 native animals every year as potential dairy milk producers,” Dar added.

He said the DA’s new dairy program will invest in provinces that have the comparative advantage in producing dairy milk.

The DA said the country’s milk output last year grew by 5.4 percent to 23.69 million liters, which Dar pointed out “is not enough” for the Filipinos’ total demand.

The Philippines is virtually importing its milk requirement as the country is only able to produce a percent of its domestic demand.

The country’s total milk imports last year likely reached a recordhigh 3.5 million metric tons liquid milk equivalent, some 21 percent higher than the 2.9 MMT-LME imported in 2018, according to a Global Agricultural Information Network report.

On Monday, Villar blamed the

PCC for the poor performance of children in schools, saying they could not afford to buy milk due to high prices, as most of the country’s milk supply is imported. She also said the PCC is unable to hike domestic milk output as some of its officials are busy using the agency’s budget to buy vehicles.

“What I’m saying is, poor children cannot drink milk because they cannot afford to buy imported milk because it’s expensive. That’s the problem,” she said in Filipino.

“So all poor children are unable to drink milk, and that has a detrimental effect on their mental ability. What I’m saying is, it’s not just DepEd’s [Department of Education] fault, and PCC is partly to blame also for our inability to provide good nutrition to our children,” she added.

Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

A6

Wednesday, January 29, 2020

The World BusinessMirror

China virus outbreak smashes global tourism, costing billions B

usiness around the world that have grown increasingly reliant on big-spending tourists from China are taking a heavy hit, with tens of millions of Chinese residents restricted from leaving their country as the coronavirus spreads.

Hotels, airlines, casinos and cruise operators were among the industries suffering the most immediate repercussions, especially with the outbreak occurring during the Lunar New Year, one of the biggest travel season in Asia.

What happens in China means a lot more to the world economy than it did when the SARS outbreak struck nearly two decades ago. In 2003, China accounted for 4.3 percent of world economic output. Last year, it accounted for 16.3 percent, according to the International Monetary Fund.

Tourism from China was already down before the virus hit due in part to the Hong Kong protests, and the trade dispute between Beijing and Washington.

But about 134 million Chinese traveled abroad in 2019, up 4.5 percent from a year earlier, according to official figures. Before the outbreak, the China Outbound Tourism Research Institute predicted some 7 million Chinese would travel abroad for the Lunar New Year this year, up from 6.3 million in 2019.

Hong Hong, Thailand, Japan and Vietnam were top destinations, but Chinese tourists are big spenders in

cities like London, Milan, Paris and New York.

Economist and tourism industry officials said the biggest threat so far is to China’s closest neighbors, with the US and Europe likely to face major repercussions only if the coronavirus outbreak proves long lived.

In Thailand, a favorite destination for Lunar New Year travel, officials estimate potential lost revenue at 50 billion baht ($1.6 billion). Many drugstores in Bangkok ran out of surgical masks and the number of Chinese tourists appeared to be much smaller than usual for the Lunar New Year. The government announced it was handing out masks, and that the airport rail link would be disinfected.

Spillover is also probable in Vietnam, Singapore and the Philippines, said Tommy Wu and Priyanka Kishore, of Oxford Economics.

Hong Kong is especially vulnerable because its economy and its appeal to tourists have already been weakened by months of sometimes-violent political protest. By November, inbound tourism to Hong Kong was already down 56 percent from a year earlier.

Visitors from mainland China to the autonomous Chinese gambling capital of Macau was down 80 percent on Sunday from a year earlier, a threat to a regional government that depends on gaming revenue.

Gaming and lodging operators in Macau reported higher-than-expect-

ed cancellations over the weekend as the death toll from coronavirus rose and the Chinese government extended travel restrictions, according to Instinet analyst Harry Curtis.

“Cancellations soared across all of the properties we contacted,” Curtis said in a note. “Pessimism rose on how long it could take for business to recover.”

Shares of Wynn Resorts, Las Vegas Sands and MGM Resorts International— which all have operations in Macau—have declined 18.3 percent, 14.6 percent and 12.1 percent, respectively, since January 17. But analysts said it was too soon to tell how deeply their finances would be affected. Adding to the uncertainty was the possibility that Macau’s government could shut down all casinos.

Jefferies, an equities research firm, predicted the v irus outbreak would affect first-quarter results for the companies “ but how large and w ill it linger onward remain the questions.”

Wynn Resorts said it had scaled back Lunar New Year events in Macau, begun screening the temperature of all guests and taken other steps to comply with the directives of the Macau government. MGM and Las Vegas Sands also said they were following government guidelines. The companies declined to provide any cancellation figures in Macau.

At least 80 people have died and 2,744 people have fallen ill since the

coronavirus was first found in the central Chinese city of Wuhan.

China extended the weeklong Lunar New Year holiday by an extra three days to February 2 to help prevent the epidemic from spreading.

Travel agencies in China were told to cancel group tourism, and governments around the region were restricting travel from Wuhan, closely monitoring other travelers and helping arrange evacuations of some foreigners stuck in Wuhan.

The outbreak comes just as hopes were rising that Chinese tourism to the US would start to recover following two years of decline due to the prolonged trade dispute between the two countries.

Tourism industry officials said it was too soon to say whether the outbreak would significantly effect expectations for a recovery, saying much depends on how long the outbreak lasts and if the Chinese government extends travel restrictions to major cities such as Shanghai.

“A ny t h i ng t h at goes on for a su st a i ned per iod of t i me wou ld obv iously have a sig nif icant i m p a c t ,” s a i d C h r i s H e y w o o d , spokesm a n for N YC & Co., t he of f ic i a l tou r ism orga n i z at ion of New York C it y. “ For u s, C h i n a is a c r it ic a l ly i mpor t a nt m a rket.”

Heywood said China was the second-largest source of foreign visitors to New York, following the UK. AP

Editor: Angel R. Calso

Asian shares sink on mounting worries over China outbreak

T

OKYO—Asian shares skidded again on Tuesday on deepening worries over the expanding outbreak of a new virus in China.

Markets in Hong Kong and mainland China were closed Tuesday for Lunar New Year holidays, while South Korea’s benchmark tumbled 3.4 percent to 2,170.88 as it reopened after its own holidays.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index lost 0.9 percent to 23,128.24, while Australia’s S&P ASX/200 slipped 1.4 percent to 6,988.60. Shares also fell in Taiwan, Jakarta and Singapore.

China has extended its national holiday by three days so that offices should reopen on Monday. Shanghai’s holiday was extended until February 9.

Overnight, a sell-off on Wall Street gave the Dow its first five-day losing streak since early August and handed the S&P 500 its worst day since early October. The latest bout of selling on Wall Street came after China announced a sharp rise in cases of the virus.

“How long and how deep the correction lower will last, depends both on the success of China’s efforts to control the viral spread, and the prevalence of its occurrence internationally,” Jeffrey Halley of Oanda said in a commentary.

Airlines, resorts and other companies that rely on travel and tourism suffered steep losses.

Gold prices rose as did bonds as traders sought refuge in safer holdings.

“Over the weekend you saw more cases,” said Quincy Krosby, chief market strategist at Prudential Financial. “That got investors and traders worried that this may be a longer event.

The next question is, ‘What happens to global growth if this does continue and magnify?’”

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 453.93 points, or 1.6 percent, to 28,535.80. The Dow had been down nearly 550 points. The S&P 500 index dropped 51.84 points, or 1.6 percent, to 3,243.63. The Nasdaq lost 175.60 points, or 1.9 percent, to 9,139.31. The Russell 2000 index of smaller company stocks gave up 18.09 points, or 1.1 percent, to 1,644.14.

The virus has spread to a dozen countries, including the US. Besides the threat to people’s lives and health, investors are worried about

how much damage the virus will do to profits for companies around the world.

Even if they’re thousands of miles away from Wuhan, the interconnected global economy means US companies have plenty of customers and suppliers in China. It’s the world’s secondlargest economy, and it accounts for 6 percent of all revenue for S&P 500 companies over the last 12 months. That’s nearly double any other country besides the United States, according to FactSet. “Markets hate uncer tainty, and the coronavirus is the ultimate uncertainty in that no one knows how badly it will impact the global economy,” said Alec Young, managing director of global markets research at FTSE Russell.

Resort operators were among the biggest losers in the S&P 500. Wynn Resorts led all company’s in the index lower with an 8.1 percent tumble, while Las Vegas Sands dropped 6.7 percent. The companies get most of their revenue from the Chinese gambling haven of Macao. MGM Resorts fell 3.9 percent.

American Airlines lost 5.5 percent and Delta dropped 3.4 percent as part of a broad slide for airlines because of concerns international travel will decline amid the virus’ spread.

Booking companies and cruise-line operators also got hurt. Expedia Group fell 2.7 percent and Carnival slid 4.7 percent.

Chinese companies that trade shares in the US also declined. Search engine operator Baidu fell 2.9 percent and e-commerce company JD.com dropped 4.8 percent.

The technology sector, the biggest in the S&P 500, also saw heavy selling. Apple, which relies on China for supplies and sales, fell 2.9 percent.

Financial stocks also took steep losses.

Citigroup dropped 2.2 percent.

Energy stocks fell broadly as US oil prices fell 1.9 percent on worries about reduced demand from China. Schlumberger skidded 5.1 percent.

Utilities, real-estate stocks and household goods makers held up better than the rest of the market, though they still finished in the red. The sectors are viewed as less risky and are not as affected by international issues and developments. AP

The World

BusinessMirror U.K. faces choice on Huawei with global implications www.businessmirror.com.ph

L

ONDON—Britain faces a crucial choice on Tuesday over whether to allow China’s Huawei Technologies to build its nextgeneration wireless networks.

The decision has implications for the country’s diplomatic relations with the United States, which is pushing allies to shun the Chinese company over cyber-security concerns.

And Britain’s choice will feed into a wider battle between the US and China over technological supremacy that has seen the world’s two biggest economies engage in a damaging trade war.

wants to thread a middle route. “The way forward for us clearly is to have a system that delivers for people in this countr y the kind of consumer benefits that they want through 5G technology or whatever, but does not, in any way, compromise our critical national infrastructure, our security or jeopardize our ability to work together with other intelligence powers around the world,” he said. “We are going to come up with a solution that enables us to achieve both those objectives and that’s the way forward.”

What’s happening

Britain’s National Security Council is poised to decide whether to allow Huawei to build parts of its new high speed cellular network known as 5G, an infrastructure program the country sees as critical to its economic future. But Huawei has come under scrutiny because of worries that communist leaders in Beijing could, under China’s 2017 national intelligence law, compel the company to carry out cyber espionage. The United States has been pressing allies to shun Huawei and has threatened to cut off intelligence cooperation with Britain if it gives Huawei access. Supporters say Britain needs Huawei’s expertise and that security issues can be managed. The company denies it would give data access to the Chinese government.

Don’ t be fooled by the name. The fifth generation of cellular net works is not merely an upgrade from existing 4G wireless network technology. It’s billed as a radical transformation delivering ultrafast download speeds combined with vastly reduced signal lag—the slight delay that occurs between, say, tapping out a command on your phone and getting a response. The other difference is that it will be built into thousands of new devices, like thermostats and sensors in medical devices. The aim is for 5G to be instrumental for self-driving cars or for telemedicine, allowing doctors to control robots in remote surgery on patients thousands of miles away.

Underpinning all this new connectivity will be a lot more software that can lead to more vulnerabilities.

Why is this so important

Why is 5G important?

Day s away from leaving the European Union and desperately needing to secure its future outside of the trading bloc, Britain is now caught in the middle of a geopolitical battle between the US and China—both important trading partners. Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government finds itself in the awkward position of risking the fury of its closest ally at just the moment it really needs President Donald J. Trump’s administration to quickly strike a trade deal. Britain is also loathe to insult Beijing. The UK made a point of courting Chinese investment with the State Visit of Xi Jinping in 2015, a gilded affair meant to underline the dawn of a new era.

J o h n s o n h i nte d o n M o n d ay t h at h e

What is 5G?

It’s not just about letting smartphone users download a high-definition movie in seconds instead of minutes. This next generation of mobile infrastructure promises to usher in a new wave of innovation that can drive economic growth. Supporters say Huawei, the world’s biggest maker of networking equipment, such as switches and antennas, can help countries meet that goal because it makes cheap, good-quality gear that appeals to wireless carriers. Banning Huawei puts Britain at risk of falling behind economically, they say. Complicating matters, some British w i re l e s s c a r r i e r s h ave a l re a d y s t a r te d installing Huawei 5G gear and don’t want to spend more money ripping it out.

What are the cyber-security risks?

Cell networks have traditionally consisted of t wo par ts. There’s the “radio access network ” made up of antennas and base stations on rooftops and masts. There’s also the “core,” the brain keeping track of smar tphones connec ting to the network so account holders can be billed along with managing data traffic flowing across the entire network. With 5G, US officials worr y that the core will run ex tensively on software. Millions of lines of computer code would present a huge “attack sur face” and it could be nearly impossible to spot an accidental vulnerability or a malicious “backdoor ” that can be used for siphoning information or crippling vital connec ted infrastruc ture like a power grid. These fears aren’t entirely unfounded. Huawei equipment has for years been inspec ted at a lab overseen by British officials, who said in their latest annual repor t that the company ’s software was buggy.

Aren’t there other options?

N ot m a n y. H u a w e i m a i n l y c o m p e t e s with t wo Scandinavian rivals, Finland’s Nokia and Sweden’s Ericsson, for wireless i n f ra s t ru c t u re co nt ra c t s. S o u t h Ko re a’s Samsung and Cisco in the US are smaller co m p e t i to r s. A b i g re a s o n t h e H u awe i decision has become so fraught is that the global telecom equipment industr y has been whittled down to just a handful of players. UK security officials have been hesitant to ban Huawei completely because they want to maintain a diverse range of suppliers to guard against risks. One less c o m p a ny m e a n s t h e s e c u r i t y r i s k s a re concentrated in the remaining players.

Is it just Britain?

A similar debate has been playing out in Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, whose decision could influence smaller neighbors.

A n d t h e E u r o p e a n U n i o n ’s e x e c u t i v e Commission is set to release on Wednesday nonbinding guidelines for 5G. Europe is Huawei’s biggest market outside China and it has effectively been barred in the US. AP

Wednesday, January 29, 2020

A7

Trump to unveil Middle East peace plan amid skepticism W A SHINGTON—President Donald J. Trump is set to unveil his administrat ion’s muc h-ant icipated Mideast peace plan in the latest A merican venture to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conf lict.

Odds of it taking shape, though, appear long, given the Palestinians’ preemptive rejection of the plan and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s shaky political standing.

For both men, the White House summit looks to be a welcome diversion.

Trump is expected to present the proposal alongside the Netanyahu at noon on Tuesday. The event comes the same day as Trump’s impeachment trial continues in the Senate and the Israeli parliament holds a hearing to discuss Netanyahu’s request for immunity from criminal corruption charges.

The proposal is expected to be very favorable to Israel, and Netanyahu has hailed it as a chance to “make history” and define Israel’s final borders. Trump insists it has a chance despite skepticism.

“It’s been worked on by everybody and we’ll see whether or not it catches hold. If it does, that would be great and if it doesn’t, we can live with it, too.

But I think it might have a chance,” he said on Monday alongside Netanyahu.

A key element will be whether the proposal includes an American ap-

proval to any Israeli annexation of the West Bank.

In the run-up to Israel’s March 2 election, Netanyahu has called for annexing parts of the West Bank and imposing Israeli sovereignty on all its settlements there. Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war, and the Jordan Valley in particular is considered a vital security asset.

Reports in Israeli media have speculated Trump’s plan could include the possible annexation of large pieces of territory that the Palestinians seek for a future independent state. American approval could give Netanyahu the type of cover to go ahead with a move that he’s resisted taking for more than a decade in power.

But Netanyahu leads a caretaker government ahead of the countr y’s third election in less than a year, and such a far-reaching move, under the cloud of criminal corruption indictment no less, could lack public legitimacy.

Such a policy shift would appeal to Netanyahu’s hard-line nationalist supporters but would almost certainly torpedo the viability of an independent Palestinian state and likely infuriate neighboring Jordan. In 1994, Israel and Jordan signed a peace treaty, the second between Israel and its Arab neighbors after Egypt.

The Palestinians seek the West Bank as the heartland of a future in-

dependent state and east Jerusalem as their capital. Most of the international community supports their position, but Trump has reversed decades of US foreign policy by siding more blatantly with Israel. The centerpiece of his strategy was recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and moving the American Embassy there. He’s also closed Palestinian diplomatic offices in Washington and cut funding to Palestinian aid programs.

Those policies have proven popular among Trump’s evangelical and proIsrael supporters, and could give him a much-needed boost from his base as the Senate weighs whether to remove him from office and as he gears up for a reelection battle this year.

Jared Kushner, a Trump adviser and the president’s son-in-law, has been the architect for the plan for nearly three years. He’s tried to persuade academics, lawmakers, former Mideast negotiators, Arab governments and special-interest groups not to reject his fresh approach outright.

But the Palestinians refuse to even speak to Trump, calling him biased in favor of Israel, and are calling on Arab representatives to reject the Tuesday event at the White House. The Palestinian leadership has also encouraged protests in the West Bank, raising fears that the announcement in Washington could spark a new round of violence. AP

A8

Wednesday, January 29, 2020

The World BusinessMirror

Fighting escalates in Yemen, endangering peace efforts

S

ANAA, Yemen—A drastic escalation in fighting between the Saudi-led military coalition and Houthi rebels in Yemen has killed, and wounded, hundreds of people over the past week, officials and tribal leaders said on Monday.

The US-backed Arab coalition battling to restore Yemen’s internationally recognized government stepped up air strikes on rebel targets northeast of the capital, Sanaa, following a monthslong lull, while Houthis shelled government-held areas.

The sudden spike in violence across long-stalemated front lines threatened to exacerbate the fiveyear conflict, and complicate indirect peace talks between Saudi Arabia and the Iran-backed rebels.

T he U N S e c u r it y C ou nc i l called emergency consultations for Tuesday morning at Britain’s request on the latest develop-

ments. Britain’s UN ambassador, Karen Pierce, said the council would receive a closed-door video briefing from the UN envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths.

T he warr ing factions have concent rated t hei r forces i n three main areas: Nehm, a halfhour dr ive f rom the capita l; Jawf, a mountainous northern district; and Marib, a western province that saw one of the deadliest rebel attacks earlier this month. Fighting this week w a s t he most i nten se t hose prov inces had seen in t hree years, according to obser vers.

A wave of over 40 coalition air

strikes hit rebel targets, destroying many of their tanks and armored vehicles, Houthi officials said. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

Despite heavy losses on both sides, the Houthis are gaining ground, officials said. Rebels seized a key supply line, linking Marib with Jawf, and were approaching the capital of the northwestern province. Artillery shelling in the district killed three civilians on Monday.

Throughout the day, President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi deliberated with military chiefs and local governors. He stressed the need to “upgrade military institutions to the highest level of training, armament and vigilance,” according to a government statement. Yemeni military setbacks have drawn recent complaints that the army lacks the technically advanced weaponry propelling Houthi advances.

Fighting also f lared up on Monday in the large governmentcontrolled city of Taiz, where a mortar shell fired by Houthis struck a busy market, killing

three civilians and wounding 10.

Meanwhile, heavy clashes in the central province of Bayda killed 13 fighters on both sides.

Yemeni Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik Saeed vowed that government forces would “harshly confront” Houthi militias, which he accused of trying to “prolong the war, and relieve the pressure and international isolation of Iran.”

The Houthi offensives signal “their explicit rejection of peace efforts,” he said.

For months, back-channel negotiations in Oman between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis stirred modest hopes for reconciliation.

But sharply escalating violence has put the political process on shaky ground.

Peter Salisbury, Yemen expert at the International Crisis Group, said the Houthis may be using their military successes to gain leverage before talks resume next week in Oman.

“Both sides seem to want some sort of truce,” Salisbury said. “But the danger is that if the Houthis feel they’re on the front foot, they’ll keep pressing advances and that will make these negotiations very difficult.”

Yemen, the Arab world’s poorest country, has been convulsed by war since Houthi rebels seized the capital and ousted Hadi’s Administration in 2014. The conflict set off one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, killing over 10,000 people, displacing more than 3 million and pushing the country to the brink of famine.

Potent i a l ly fat a l d iseases, such as cholera, spread as the country’s public health and sanitation systems collapsed. Following intense international pressure on the Saudi-led coalition, the foreign ministry announced on Monday that for the first time in years, Yemen would start direct flights for seriously ill patients seeking medical treatment in Egypt and Jordan.

To weaken the Houthis, the coalition imposes a blockade on the Sanaa International Airport, along with other ports in rebelheld areas. The closure has hindered the delivery of humanitarian aid and barred thousands of sick Yemenis from traveling abroad for urgent care. “ T h i s hu m a n it a r i a n s t e p aims to alleviate the suffering of citizens unable to endure the hardship of traveling by road to other air ports,” the ministr y said of the medical f lights, adding that the f lights would begin next month. AP

Editor: Angel R. Calso

Prince Andrew uncooperative in Jeffrey Epstein investigation

N

EW YORK—Britain’s Prince Andrew has provided “zero cooperation” to the American investigators who want to interview him as part of their sex trafficking probe into Jeffrey Epstein, a US prosecutor said on Monday.

Speaking at a news conference outside Epstein’s New York mansion, US Atty. Geoffrey Berman said prosecutors and the FBI had contacted Andrew’s lawyers, and asked to interview him.

“To date, Prince Andrew has provided zero cooperation,” said Berman, the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan. Buckingham Palace declined to comment.

Andrew announced last year that he was withdrawing from his royal duties amid renewed public attention on a woman’s claim that she had several sexual encounters with the prince at Epstein’s behest, starting when she was 17.

Virginia Roberts Giuffre says that after meeting Epstein in Florida in 2000, the millionaire flew her around the world and pressured her into having sex with numerous older men, including Andrew, two senior US politicians, a noted academic, wealthy financiers and the lawyer Alan Dershowitz, who is now part of President Donald J. Trump’s impeachment defense team.

All of those men have denied the allegations.

Epstein killed himself in his jail cell last summer, while he was awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

Giuffre has said she had sex with Andrew three times, including once in London in 2001 at the home of Epstein’s girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell.

It isn’t clear what legal exposure Andrew might have in the case, if any. The age of consent for sex is 16 in England, and 17 in New York. However, Giuffre claims that she was paid by Epstein for her sexual encounters with Andrew. That could constitute a violation of US sex trafficking laws if she was under age 18, or was coerced into unwanted sex acts.

Andrew, who is eight in line for the British throne, and Maxwell have both denied any knowledge that

Epstein was sexually abusing teenage girls. In a TV interview last fall, Andrew insisted he was out having pizza with his children on the night Giuffre says they were together in London.

US Atty. General William Barr has vowed to aggressively investigate and bring charges against anyone who may have helped Epstein.

Andrew, in the statement he released in November announcing his intention to “step back from public duties,” said he regretted his “ill-judged association with Jeffrey Epstein.”

“Of course, I am willing to help any appropriate law enforcement agency with their investigations, if required,” he wrote.

Berman made his remarks about the case during a joint appearance with members of Safe Horizon, a nonprofit victim services agency, to discuss a new New York law that made it easier for people to sue over childhood sexual abuse.

He wouldn’t discuss the Epstein investigation in detail but reiterated that the case didn’t end with his death.

“Jeffrey Epstein couldn’t have done what he did without the assistance of others, and I can assure you that the investigation is moving for ward,” Berman said.

Numerous women who said they were sexually abused by Epstein as teenagers have claimed in lawsuits, and inter views, that he got help recruiting young girls from both Ma xwell and several assistants.

Giuffre’s lawyers have, for months, been calling on Andrew to agree to be interviewed both by investigators and by the lawyers helping the women with those civil lawsuits.

To date, the only people besides Epstein who were charged in connection with the scandal are two jail guards who were supposed to be monitoring Epstein the night he was found dead. Both have been charged with falsif ying the jail ’s log books to indicate they were performing checks on prisoners, when they were actually sleeping or browsing the Internet. AP

Brazil storms kill 54, displace 30,000 people R

IO DE JA NEIRO — Over 30,000 people have been displaced by heavy rains in southeast Brazil that also killed 54 people and left 18 missing.

T he storms in recent days caused floods and landslides, submerging entire neighborhoods and sending homes tumbling down hillsides in the states of Minas Gerais, Espirito Santo and Rio de Janeiro. Rains subsided by Monday, but were expected to resume later this week in some areas.

Flooded roads created violent

rapids, sweeping up victims, cars and other debris.

Those evacuated were being housed in makeshift shelters in churches, schools and fire stations.

Local authorities have asked for donations of clothes, sheets and mattresses for the victims.

In Minas Gerais, 15,000 people were evacuated; and in Espirito Santo nearly 10,000 more, according to local rescue efforts. In Rio, at least 6,000 were evacuated, according to local news media, citing figures from various municipali-

ties. Rio state authorities didn’t immediately respond to a request for official data.

Local authorities warned that the Belo Horizonte metropolitan area, home to nearly 6 million people, could see up to 100 millimeters (4 inches) of rain in the next three days.

The city had 171 millimeters (6.7 inches) over one 24-hour period from Thursday to Friday, the highest rainfall in 110 years.

Over 120 municipalities in Minas Gerais state have declared a state of emergency. AP

News BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

PCG: 2 Chinese vessels in Manila cleared of virus

Wednesday, January 29, 2020 A9

LGUs call for temporary cruise ship ban in Subic due to 2019-nCoV fears

By Henry Empeño Correspondent

S

THE World Dream cruise ship docked at Pier 15, South Harbor in Port Area, Manila, on Tuesday (January 28). The Philippine Coast Guard said its port state control officers and the Bureau of Quarantine cleared the cruise ship, and another ship, for the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV).

PHOTO COURTESY OF PCG

T

WO Chinese ships berthed in Manila were cleared of the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019nCoV) on Tuesday, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) reported.

In a message sent to reporters, PCG communications officer Joy Dianne Gumatay said the World Dream cruise ship from Hong Kong and MV Ligulao from Lianyungang, Jiangsu, China—both berthed at Pier 15, South Harbor in Port Area, Manila—were both cleared by the Bureau of Quarantine and PCG port state control officers.

“Upon coordinating with the PCG port state control officers at Pier 15, they confirmed that both vessels were cleared and declared safe by the Bureau of Quarantine during mandatory inspections,” Gumatay said.

MV Ligulao, she said, arrived on Monday and originated from a port almost 900 kilometers away from Wuhan, China—the epicenter of the 2019-nCoV epidemic—with 20 crew members onboard.

She said all crew members of the vessel were not granted a “shore pass” and did not set foot outside of the ship.

She added that the vessel will return to China in the afternoon.

Meanwhile, the World Dream cruise ship arrived from Hong Kong Tuesday morning with 778 passen-

gers that have all been cleared of 2019-nCoV. Gumatay said the cruise ship was scheduled to leave for Subic at 9 p.m. and will arrive at about 10 a.m. the next day.

Meanwhile, PCG spokesman, Capt. Armando Balilo said the World Dream cruise ship came directly from Hong Kong and did not visit any other points in China prior to their arrival, reducing the expected 4,000 passengers of the luxury vessel to 778.

“Dapat 4,000 ’yung expected na passengers. Pero hindi na dumaan sa mga ports ng China at Hongkong na lang, kaya 700 mahigit na lang [Expected passengers were 4,000. But they did not go through the ports in China, only in Hong Kong. That’s why they were only 700],” Balilo said in a message sent to reporters.

Earlier, the death toll in China caused by 2019-nCoV has reached 106, according to Chinese news agency Xinhua.

It added that the number of confirmed cases of pneumonia caused by the virus had climbed to 4,515 and was reported in 30 provincial-level regions on Monday.

The virus originated and has swept through Wuhan, China, which Chinese officials had already put on a lockdown in an effort to stop the further spread of the deadly disease.

Rene Acosta, PNA

UBIC BAY FREEPORT—The scheduled arrival here today (Wednesday, January 29,2020) of a cruise ship from Hong Kong has set alarm bells ringing among residents of communities surrounding this premier free port, impelling local government officials to call for a temporary ban in cruise liner arrivals here in view of the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, or 2019-nCoV, in China.

In separate letters to Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Chairman and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma on Tuesday, Subic Mayor Jonathan John Khonghun and Olongapo City Mayor Rolen Paulino Jr. asked the Subic agency to stop cruise ship visits while the outbreak is not yet to be contained.

SBMA had confirmed early on the scheduled arrival here of the cruise ship MV World Dream, which had docked in Manila on Tuesday prior to its Subic tour.

Khonghun and Paulino both said that while the Subic Bay Freeport is becoming a prime tourist and cruise ship destination, the health and safety of the local communities must be prioritized.

“We support the Subic Bay Freeport Zone’s thrust to establish itself as a premier cruise ship destination and believe that its success redounds to the benefit of Olongapo City, as well,” Paulino said. “[However], we are appealing to your good office to temporarily stop accepting cruise ships, which are bound to enter the Subic Bay Freeport Zone, until such time that the threat has been totally managed and controlled,” Khonghun, said.

The mayors’ letters were a sober version of the hysteria that local residents had expressed on social media.

Some residents called for the SBMA to stop outright the arrival of World Dream, or if that can’t be done, for

RESIDENTS of Olongapo City, most of them wearing face masks, express their opposition to the arrival of cruise ships at the Subic Bay Freeport Zone in view of the novel coronavirus threat from China during a mass action at a city park on Tuesday.

the people to stage some “mass action” to prevent the ship passengers from disembarking here.

Amid the hysteria, SBMA’s chief executive appealed to stakeholders in the Subic Bay area for sobriety, adding that the Subic agency is also open to suggestions from local stakeholders on how to address the 2019-nCoV problem.

In news statements to mainstream and social media, Eisma pointed out that the Department of Health (DOH) is confident that the multilayer protocols in place “are enough to ensure the safety of host communities that cruise ship passengers visit during their tour.”

Eisma said she has been personally coordinating with Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III on the matter and DOH officials assured her that the quadruple safety procedures in place are enough.

However, she said that if Subic stakeholders “feel there is a need for the DOH to reverse its position, then we have to unify our call.”

“We have to decide on this as a team,” she added.

Eisma also noted that Presidential spokesman and Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo had clarified in a news conference at Malacañang on Tuesday, that there would be no basis to stop a cruise ship

House leader proposes creation of PHL Navy cites urgent need to phase disease control and prevention center out aging assets, upskill personnel

By Cai U. Ordinario

T

@caiordinario

HE chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means is proposing to create the country’s own version of the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to monitor and address diseases like the 2019 novel coronavirus, or 2019-nCoV, from China.

On Tuesday, Albay Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda told reporters the new center will combine the functions of the Disease Prevention and Control Bureau (DPCB) and Epidemiology Bureau of the Department of Health (DOH). The lawmaker said, however, that the new independent agency will be given additional powers and functions, as well as the necessary funding.

“We are giving it more power and resources so that it will be independent to allow the DOH to focus on its regular public health functions and its maintenance of the entire health system,” Salceda said.

Salceda said creating a separate agency will also assure the public that the government has the appropriate institutions that can handle medical emergencies, such as emerging communicative diseases and pandemics.

The Bicol lawmaker said he will be filing the bill on Tuesday. As of this writing, there is no confirmation yet if he was able to file his new pet bill.

However, if the center is already needed, Salceda said the President can issue an executive order to create such an agency. The proposed law can be used as a means to institutionalize the change in the DOH. “The Executive can immediately combine the DPCB with Epidemiology. The problem there is it cannot be independent. The need to make it independent is very critical,” Salceda said. “We want an organic combination through legislation.”

Earlier, economists said the spread of the virus to other parts of China, dubbed the factory of the world, will hit not only the tourism sector but also Philippine manufacturing firms and international trade.

Over the weekend, Bloomberg reported that the lockdown imposed in Wuhan is a concern as the ground zero for the 2019-nCoV is one of China’s major industry and logistics hubs.

Economists said the tourism sector would bear the brunt of the spread of nCoV in China. The disease could easily reduce the growth of the tourism sector by half, or even cause the sector to post flat growth.

They also said the spread of the disease has the potential to disrupt trade and affect the Philippine manufacturing sector’s performance this year.

T

HERE is an urgent need to decommission aging assets of the Philippine Navy (PN) so that naval personnel will be given sufficient training and skill sets to handle new ships which are in the pipeline, its chief said Tuesday.

“The only way to modernize is to retire old capabilities so we can train or capacitate our personnel for new capabilities,” Navy Flag Officer in Command, Vice Admiral Robert Empedrad said in a message to reporters.

He was responding to questions on the formal decommissioning of the service patrol corvette BRP Rizal (PS-74) and patrol killer medium gunboat BRP Nicolas Mahusay (PC-119) at the Capt. Salvo Pier, Naval Base Heracleo Alano, Sangley Point, Cavite City, set on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Empedrad said they are scheduled to receive two new missilearmed frigates, the BRP Jose Rizal (FF-150) and the BRP Antonio Luna (FF-151) by May and September this year as possible replacements for these ships.

These ships are capable of anti-air, antisurface, anti-submarine warfare.

“We [also] hope to acquire [an] additional Pohang-class corvette from the ROK [Republic of Korea] Navy,” Empedrad said.

Empedrad’s remarks were echoed by Navy’s Public Affairs Office chief, Lt. Commander Maria Christina Roxas.

“This is in line with the PN strategic plan of moving from legacy vessels to more capable and modern vessels,” she added.

Roxas said the decommissioning will allow the PN to transition into a “more and advance level of personnel training and materiel acquisition that will conform to the demand of the evolving maritime challenges.”

from entering the Subic Bay Freeport if there was no one afflicted by the virus among the passengers.

Eisma sounded the appeal for sobriety even as passengers of MV World Dream were allowed to disembark after arriving in Manila on Tuesday.

MV World Dream, which is one of the frequent visitors to Subic in the last two years, usually carry more than 3,000 passengers on a trip but now had only 778 passengers on board.

The ship had reportedly skipped picking up the majority of its bookings from Guangzhou, a port city northwest of Hong Kong and located further inland, because of a government lockdown at the Wuhan area, the epicenter of the 2019-nCoV infections.

Eisma said the multilayered safety protocol imposed by the DOH in-

BRP Rizal was acquired by the Philippines from the US on June 12, 1965, and it served 54 years, while BRP Nicolas Mahusay was acquired from South Korea in 1998 and served the Navy for 22 years.

Meanwhile, Philippine Fleet commander, Rear Admiral Giovanni Carlo Bacordo said there is a need to phase out old ships as personnel manning these vessels will be the ones who will operate the new vessels.

He added that these vessels have also outlived their usefulness which means they can no longer perform well in their designated missions as their speeds and other equipment have deteriorated through their long service. PNA

volved the quarantine of cruise ship passengers upon entry and exit at their last port of call in Hong Kong during the trip to Manila when they were processed again by personnel of DOH-Bureau of Quarantine who were aboard the ship, and again when they arrived in Manila before they were allowed to disembark.

“The same procedure will be repeated in Subic where the passengers will be heavily guarded when they would be allowed to leave the ship,” she added.

Eisma said the SBMA has placed the Port of Subic on heightened alert as early as January 6, after the DOH’s Bureau of Quarantine issued an alert on the viral pneumonia that has infected people in Wuhan. This heightened alert status covered both sea ports and airport in the Subic Bay Freeport Zone.

She added that she had personally discussed the Subic situation with Duque last Monday, and was advised that there was not a need just yet to stop the entry of cruise ships in Subic.

But Duque further advised Subic to be on standby should drastic measures, such as a temporary ban on cruise ships, be deemed necessary, she said.

Eisma said the SBMA will continue to coordinate with all concerned parties, including local residents, Freeport locators, and government agencies on how Subic would best address the nCoV emergency.

A10 Wednesday, January 29, 2020 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

editorial

Getting millennials to cultivate the land

W

hen one thinks of a farmer in the Philippines, the image that usually comes to mind is that of an old man wearing tattered clothes and pulling his carabao.

Sometimes, the Filipino farmer is depicted as carrying a heavy plow en route to his land. The common theme among these images, one that is even supported by government data, is that farmers are poor and the work they do is not financially rewarding.

Government data indicate that farmers and fishermen are consistent when it comes to one thing: they have always posted the highest poverty incidence among the basic sectors of Philippine society. The latest available data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), which was released in June 2017, showed that the poverty incidence among farmers and fishermen had exceeded the national average in 2015. For farmers, the figure is at 34.3 percent, while poverty incidence among fishermen is at 34 percent, higher than the national average of 21.6 percent.

Historical data from 2006 up to 2015 don’t show any improvement in terms of the poverty incidence ranking. The three basic sectors that posted the biggest rate during the period were farmers, fishermen and children. The government has yet to release its latest poverty statistics for basic sectors, but it would be interesting to find out if policies, such as the rice trade liberalization law, had a positive impact on the data.

All these figures, and the perception that most Filipinos harbor about farmers only point to one thing: farming is an unattractive proposition.

It does not help that a friend or a family member know a farmer who would rather let his children take up medical courses, such as nursing, so they can work abroad than plant rice or raise livestock here. The oftrepeated pronouncement of farmers, particularly the smallholders, is that their children will earn nothing from the land.

The Department of Agriculture is hoping to change this perception, and attract millennials to farming via a P2-billion loan approved by the Agricultural Credit Policy Council (See, “DA unit approves P2-billion loan for millennial farmers,” in the BusinessMirror, January 10, 2020). The ACPC, a government-owned and -controlled corporation attached to the DA, will launch two credit programs targeting millennials, or the “agri-preneurs.” The terms of the credit programs are attractive even to established businessmen—zero-percent interest, payable in five years for borrowers under the Young Agripreneurs Loan Program.

It is good that the government is now putting its money where its mouth is, but it must not stop at credit programs. Government must invest more in research and development activities that will allow aspiring agri-preneurs to gain access to modern production methods. These R&D activities should also yield machines and equipment that would make the operations of agri-preneurs cost-efficient.

The money and mentoring that the youth will get under the credit programs will jump-start their foray into the sector, but government must see to it that the borrowers will be able to sustain their enterprise.

Outside of these initiatives, the government must hasten efforts to lift more farmers and fishermen from poverty. This is the only way to erase the perception that agriculture is not financially rewarding, and change the image of the Filipino farmer—from a poor and miserable old man, to a young and prosperous agri-preneur.

Since 2005

BusinessMirror A broader look at today’s business ✝ Ambassador Antonio L. Cabangon Chua Founder Publisher Editor in Chief Associate Editor News Editor

T. Anthony C. Cabangon Lourdes M. Fernandez Jennifer A. Ng Vittorio V. Vitug

Senior Editors

Lorenzo M. Lomibao Jr., Gerard S. Ramos Lyn B. Resurreccion, Dennis D. Estopace Angel R. Calso

Online Editor

Ruben M. Cruz Jr.

Creative Director Chief Photographer Chairman of the Board & Ombudsman President VP-Finance VP Advertising Sales Advertising Sales Manager Group Circulation Manager

Eduardo A. Davad Nonilon G. Reyes Judge Pedro T. Santiago (Ret.) Benjamin V. Ramos Adebelo D. Gasmin Marvin Nisperos Estigoy Aldwin Maralit Tolosa Rolando M. Manangan

BusinessMirror is published daily by the Philippine Business Daily Mirror Publishing, Inc., with offices on the 3rd floor of Dominga Building III 2113 Chino Roces Avenue corner De La Rosa Street, Makati City, Philippines.

Tel. Nos. (Editorial) 817-9467; 813-0725. Fax line: 813-7025.

(Advertising Sales) 893-2019; 817-1351, 817-2807.

(Circulation) 893-1662; 814-0134 to 36. E-mail: news@businessmirror.com.ph.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Printed by brown madonna Press, Inc.–Sun Valley Drive KM-15, South Superhighway, Parañaque, Metro Manila MEMBER OF

A brighter 2020 amid catastrophe Aurora C. Ignacio

All About Social Security

N

ew year, a new decade. Everyone welcomed the new year with festivities, celebrations everywhere, with high hopes that 2020 will be a better year, a new decade to start anew.

But on January 12, everybody was shocked by the eruption of Taal Volcano in Batangas, causing massive ashfall all over Calabarzon, and even reaching as far as Metro Manila and nearby provinces of Central Luzon. More than 700 volcanic earthquakes were felt and recorded in surrounding areas near the volcano based on reports released by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC).

Nearly 300,000 people were affected, most of whom are now taking temporary shelter in about 500 evacuation centers.

The disruptive activity in Taal prompted our kababayans in Batangas and Cavite to temporarily vacate their homes due to threats of a major eruption and the hazardous ashfall. Their livelihood, particularly agriculture and tourism, were

severely affected by the calamity.

I know this is an unfortunate event but looking at the positive side, when help across the country poured in all affected areas, our spirit of bayanihan is something to be thankful for. Even those who have little in life did not hesitate to share whatever they can with the affected individuals and families.

There were good samaritans who offered their houses for the displaced families, some gave face masks for free, households sprinkled water on passing vehicles that were covered by volcanic ash, relief assistance were organized by individuals, government and nongovernment organizations. The Filipino spirit of bayanihan truly lives on.

And SSS wouldn’t let this chance pass to help our fellow Filipinos through programs that will

that in times of contingencies like these, there is an institution that will assist them with their immediate financial needs.

We have been offering the CAP during calamities, especially in areas directly hit by such disasters. In 2019, SSS released more than P58.50 million in calamity assistance to more than 5,700 pensioners and members. At present, SSS is still accepting CAP applications for members who are residents of areas declared under the state of calamity caused by the devastations of Typhoons Tisoy and Ursula, as well as the earthquakes in Mindanao.

For more information, members and pensioners can visit the nearest SSS branch, contact the SSS Call Center hotline at 1455, or send an email to member_relations@sss.gov. ph. Application forms are downloadable from the SSS web site at www. sss.gov.ph.

It may have been a rough start for the Philippines, but looking at the bright side, it is just the start of the year, and we still have 11 months to hold our hopes high.

support them with their immediate financial needs, like our Calamity Assistance Program (CAP).

Qualified SSS members and pensioners residing in calamitystricken areas that have been declared under the state of calamity by the NDRRMC may avail themselves of the advance three-month pension for pensioners; and calamity loan assistance and direct house repair and improvement loan for regular paying-members.

The program includes a loan assistance program, which is a separate loan window from the regular salary loan where members are allowed to borrow up to P20,000 depending on their monthly salary credit, and a financial assistance to pensioners wherein they can avail themselves of three months of their monthly pension.

Since some of our Batangas offices are also affected by the eruption, members are encouraged to file their applications at any SSS branch at their convenience. They may submit their applications at our offices located in Tagaytay, Lipa and Batangas City, except for Lemery, which is temporarily closed due to lockdown.

The CAP is our way of extending help to our members and pensioners.

With their regular monthly contributions with SSS, they are assured

Aurora C. Ignacio is the SSS president and chief executive officer.

We welcome your questions and insights on the topics that we discuss. E-mail mediaaffairs@sss. gov.ph for topics that you might want us to discuss.

Music can make children better learners

By Racquel T. Guerrero

A

N article published in The Conversation and coauthored

by Dr. Anita Collins and Misty Adoniou said that neuroscience has found a clear relationship between music and language acquisition. In other words, learning music in the early years of schooling can help children learn how to read.

The authors said “music processing and language development share an overlapping network in the brain.

From an evolutionary perspective, the human brain developed music processing well before language and then used that processing skill to create and learn language. At birth, babies understand language as if it was music. They respond to the rhythm and melody of language before they understand what the words mean.”

Studies have shown that when you hear music that you like, the brain releases a chemical called dopamine that has positive effects on mood. Music can make you feel strong emotions, such as joy, sadness or fear. In short, music has the power to move you. Researchers also contend that music may even have the power to improve your health and well-being.

Several studies on the effects of experiencing calm music suggest that it can reduce aggressive behavior and regulate moods, particularly

feelings of anxiety and stress. When kids are able to manage their emotions in positive ways, they can enhance their learning potential and excel in school. This underscores the importance of music education among children.

Here are 10 benefits of music education that validate why it should remain an integral part of school life: 1. Language skills development. According recent studies, “listening to music develops the part of the left side of the brain known to be involved with processing language, and can actually wire the brain’s circuits in specific ways.” Learning how to play a musical instrument also improves how the brain understands human language, which can help students learn a second language.

2. Improved test scores. Studies have shown that kids who are involved with a high-quality music education program in school perform better on tests than students who don’t engage in music. Kids involved

in music, likewise, have better grades in Math and English.

3. Self-esteem. Music allows students to try something new and develop confidence as they master singing or playing an instrument.

When students are working toward a common goal, they appreciate that their “voice,” and interests, are heard and understood by others. This effort creates a sense of secure acceptance that is critical to their self-esteem.

4. Listening skills. Music involves listening to yourself, and to the rest of the ensemble. Musicians need to hear tempos, dynamics, tuning and harmonies. This helps auditory development in the brain.

5. Math skills. Reading music includes learning quarter, half, and whole notes, which are essentially fractions. According to gettingsmart. com, “When a music pupil has spent time learning about rhythm, he has learned to count. He is not counting numbers, per se, but he is most certainly using logic to count out the rhythms and bars, and working his way methodically through the piece.

Many musical concepts have mathematical counterparts.”

6. Making the brain work harder. Research shows that the brain of a musician works differently than a nonmusician. Children

involved in music have larger growth of neural activity than people who have no music training.

7. Relieving stress. We all know that listening to a favorite artist, or song, can lift a mood and relax us. The same goes for creating music. It gives kids a great release, allowing them to immerse themselves in something that’s fulfilling and calming.

8. Nurtures creativity. Music certainly nurtures children’s creativity. This can have an impact on their future. Finally, graduates of music programs report that creativity, teamwork, communication, and critical thinking are skills and competencies necessary in their work, regardless of whether they are working in music or in other fields.

9. Helping special needs children. Music can have a powerful impact on kids with special needs.

It helps them find a way to communicate and open up.

10. Higher graduation rates.

Schools with music programs have higher graduation rates. With the full implementation of DepEd’s K to 12 program, the country’s dropout rate is expected to decrease with more students expected to finish high school and continue to college.

The author is Teacher 3 at Enrile Vocational High School in Enrile, Cagayan.

Opinion BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

No to blood money!

Susan V. Ople

Scribbles

T

he Kuwaiti Ministry of Foreign Affairs denounced an earlier statement issued by Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. that called for “blood for blood” in exchange for the brutal murder of overseas Filipino worker Jeanalyn Villavende.

In a Twitter message, the country’s chief diplomat wrote: “I renounce and reject any offer of blood money for her [Villavende] torture/ murder. I want two lives for the life they took.”

In response to Locsin’s tweet, an official source at the Kuwaiti Ministry of Foreign Affairs was quoted to have said: “The remark contained an unacceptable transgression against jurisdictions of Kuwaiti security and judicial authorities. It runs counter to the simplest rules of international relations.”

The DFA chief vowed to fire anyone from his department that is involved in any effort to persuade the family to accept blood money in exchange for the freedom of the detained Kuwait employers.

In yesterday’s (January 28) Senate labor committee hearing, DFA Undersecretary Sarah Arriola said that a more recent draft Special Power of Attorney has been transmitted to the labor department for review prior to submitting this to the victim’s family for his signature. The more recent and official DFA draft no longer mentions anything about authorizing the Kuwait lawyer who will represent the Villavende family in court to discuss any offer of blood money.

The Villavende family has publicly rejected any financial transaction that would lead to the eventual freedom of their daughter’s murderers. Any government official or employee that even attempts to discuss this without the full knowledge and authorization of the family is

committing an act of personal and national betrayal.

In Muslim countries, there is the private aspect to a serious crime like murder, and a public aspect that involves the Court sentence to be handed down by the judge. If the family agrees to accept money from the accused and executes a letter of forgiveness, the alleged murderers can regain their freedom after serving the Court sentence. In short, the acceptance of blood money would exempt convicted murderers from the death penalty. This is what the private aspect of such crime is all about.

How much did Jeanalyn suffer?

The senators present during the labor committee hearing had to request the NBI representative who handled the autopsy to stop enumerating his findings. The narrative was just too painful to listen to.

“Buto’t balat,” was the description given. Jeanalyn’s stepmother failed to identify the body until she saw a familiar mole on the victim’s knee. The OFW that came home in a wooden box last December was just a bloody, skinny shadow of the young lady that boarded the plane for Kuwait in July. A few days before the New Year, she was dead, with too many wounds and scars to count.

Sen. Joel Villanueva asked the

The WTO must reform or die

By Bryce Baschuk | Bloomberg Markets

A

merica’s longest-serving secretary of state, Cordell Hull, is best known for winning the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in establishing the United Nations at the end of World War II. Today, 75 years later, another important piece of his legacy looks increasingly at risk as President Donald J. Trump realigns the US’s relationships across the globe.

Hull helped create the modern global trading system that eventually led to the advent of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1995.

He viewed tariff battles as a threat to international peace and advocated for unconditional trade liberalization among nations. Indeed, he considered barriers to the exchange of goods and unfair economic competition as synonymous with war.

Hull’s vision is running aground on the shores of Lake Geneva at the WTO’s headquarters in Switzerland.

Under Trump, the US is weaponizing tariffs and has effectively neutralized the organization’s disputesettlement function at the very moment when global trade arbitration is needed most.

Some economic historians fear that the new chapter of rising protectionism has led to an existential moment for the WTO. “Cordell Hull would be fretting over the state of the debate,” says Douglas Irwin, an economist at Dartmouth College whose book, Free Trade Under Fire, is being updated for 2020. “He would be very concerned about the deterioration of the WTO system, as he worked hard to replace a powerpolitics, law-of-the-jungle approach to trade in the 1930s with the ruleof-law approach that was capstoned in his time.”

Hull’s beliefs helped pave the way for Western nations to sign the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, or GATT, in 1947. The accord sought to lower import duties and was an unparalleled success. Setting the rules for world trade, it reduced average tariff levels among its participants to 5 percent, from more than 20 percent, over its lifetime.

Just as the UN replaced the League of Nations after it failed to prevent war, the international trading system has been forced to morph into something else after losing its influence. By the end of the 1980s, GATT was outmoded and slipping into irrelevance.

President Ronald Reagan’s administration fomented a crisis by hammering the US’s trade partners with unilateral tariffs and stonewalling them when they pursued justice via GATT’s disputesettlement system. In the 1990s the

Clinton administration pivoted and agreed to shelve some of the country’s unilateral tools in return for new rules to govern trade in services and intellectual property. The 120-plus GATT member-nations also agreed to create a more muscular dispute-settlement system to enforce those rules, and the deal was packaged into a comprehensive agreement called the WTO. “Most businesses want the WTO process to work. A system of rules for international trade with the US both abiding by and benefiting from those rules is a good thing” Today the Trump administration is pursuing a Reaganesque playbook that’s disrupting international trade flows and blunting the WTO’s power to arbitrate disputes. The rebirth of American unilateralism has spurred a rise in global trade restrictions, which now cover more than $700 billion worth of imports. That, in turn, has reduced global trade growth projections to the lowest level since the financial crisis a decade ago.

At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, last week, Trump told reporters that he and WTO Director-General Roberto Azevêdo had discussed a “very dramatic” change in the WTO’s future.

“We’re talking about a whole new structure for the deal or we’ll have to do something,” Trump said, without elaborating on details. To prevent a return to the last century’s era of power politics, some observers see an opportunity to reform the WTO for the 21st century. Meanwhile, this question remains: Will the US’s maximum­ pressure approach to trade result in the organization’s reinvention or obsolescence?

Over the coming year, governments have a decision to make. Will they try to work with Washington to converge on a new set of trade rules for the 21st century? Or will they, on their own, try to patch together a temporary fix while the US brandishes trade penalties at allies and foes alike rather than pursuing liberalization through the WTO? “It may be that we are in another moment where the rest of the world says that going down this road threatens economic growth because of the chaos and the uncertainty that

result from not having these bedrock rules to rely on,” says Jennifer Hillman, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.

The two most important functions of the WTO are negotiations, which must be adopted by a consensus among all members, and dispute settlement, which forces nations to comply with WTO rules or face retaliation. The WTO is like a bicycle whose two wheels are represented by the organization’s negotiating and dispute-settlement functions. The bicycle is able to operate smoothly with minimal effort as long as the two wheels are working properly. “If we take away one of those wheels, however, and rely solely on the dispute-settlement system, things suddenly get quite wobbly,” Harvard lecturer Craig VanGrasstek wrote in his 2019 book, Trade and American Leadership: The Paradoxes of Power and Wealth From Alexander Hamilton to Donald Trump.

A smoothly functioning WTO provides businesses with the certainty and predictability they need to invest and operate abroad. That, in turn, can foster global economic growth and the political integration of large and small economies.

Since the organization was born, the volume of global trade has almost tripled, while its value has almost quadrupled.

“Most businesses want the WTO process to work,” says Rufus Yerxa, president of the National Foreign Trade Council in Washington. The stability of the WTO was dealt a major blow last year when the US paralyzed the dispute-settlement system after blocking new appointments to the seven-member panel that hears appeals. A quasi-supreme court for trade, it was unable to issue any judgments on future cases as of December 11 because there weren’t enough active members.

Although WTO members can still receive an initial ruling on a dispute, any party can now appeal the decisions into legal limbo. As a result, governments are essentially free to impose unilateral measures on their trade partners without fear of WTOsanctioned retaliation.

Trump’s gripe is that the WTO evolved into a legal tool for nations to exert pressure on the US, or what his top trade official called a “litigationcentered organization” two years ago.

“Too often members seem to believe they can gain concessions through lawsuits that they could never get at the negotiating table,” US Trade Rep. Robert Lighthizer told attendees at the WTO’s 11th ministerial conference in 2017.

NBI, “What physical strength was needed to inflict those wounds?

Can it be done by just one person?”

The resource person said that “one, two, or three persons” could have committed the crime. He also said that based on old scars, the abuse could have started in October. In reply to Sen. Bong Go’s query, OWWA Administrator Hans Cacdac said that the Kuwaiti employers have three sons. The male employer worked for the Ministry of Interior as a policeman.

The owner of the recruitment agency that deployed Villavende said that the OFW’s family only reported a delay in monthly salary, and had not mentioned any request for assistance due to physical abuse. Administrator Cacdac offered a logical explanation for this. “On October 27, during her phone conversation with the family, Jeanalyn said that her lady employer was seated beside her.” This meant that the worker could not speak freely.

Deprived of freedom and stripped of life and dignity, Jeanalyn was already dying by the fourth or fifth month of her employment in Kuwait.

The agency owner claimed that the secretary of his foreign partner in Kuwait was able to see Jeanalyn on December 10. The agency secretary reported that she was okay. But why did the agency owner rely solely on

The rebirth of American unilateralism has spurred a rise in global trade restrictions, which now cover more than $700 billion worth of imports. That, in turn, has reduced global trade growth projections to the lowest level since the financial crisis a decade ago.

Indeed, the organization has a poor record of negotiating deals among its members. Nations have concluded only two multilateral trade agreements since 1995, and the most recent round of trade talks— the Doha development agenda— failed spectacularly. The WTO has fallen behind the massive shifts that have taken place in the global economy, such as the proliferation of digital trade and China’s rise.

Ending China’s state-led mercantilist approach to trade and investment policy is a key American objective at the WTO. The US argues that the Chinese system of governance isn’t compatible with WTO norms.

What’s more, it was a mistake to let China into the organization because Beijing failed to adopt an open, market-oriented trade regime, the US says. Specifically, the Trump administration has alleged that Beijing steals American intellectual property and deploys massive state subsidies that created a glut of cheap steel and aluminum. The US has also sought to curb China’s ability to benefit from WTO preferences intended for the world’s poorest nations.

Trump reiterated those complaints in Davos. “Our country hasn’t been treated fairly,” he said. “China is viewed as a developing nation. India is viewed as a developing nation.

We’re not viewed as a developing nation. As far as I’m concerned, we’re a developing nation, too.”

Lighthizer and Trump argue that China’s WTO status as a developing country—which it’s had since it joined in 2001—provides it with unfair advantages, including longer implementation periods for tariff cuts. But China, now the world’s second-largest economy, has resisted efforts to rescind special privileges that it argues were hard-won concessions obtained during its entry into the organization.

“Our country is facing various challenges, difficulties, and gaps in achieving a balanced and adequate development,” China’s ambassador to the WTO, Zhang Xiangchen, said during a meeting in October. “So we will not make commitments beyond our capabilities, nor will we give up

Wednesday, January 29, 2020 A11

the word of a secretary employed by his counterpart agency? Had he immediately notified our labor attaché in Kuwait about the concerns raised by the victim’s family, the latter could have asked the employers to physically present Jeanalyn before him. He had that kind of authority.

Unfortunately, that option was not even considered. Instead, the agency owner chose to believe the secretary of his Kuwaiti partner.

Several recruitment agency owners deploying domestic workers consider foreign employers and foreign recruitment agencies as clients; they think of OFW applicants as people in need of help. This is wrong. The OFW is the chief clientele because without her, the agency will not be in business.

And this is why Locsin’s tweet may be worthy of Kuwait’s condemnation, but never that of ours. He reminds everyone that Jeanalyn was a person imbued with human rights.

Through a single tweet, he planted the Philippine flag on the heroic grave of Jeanalyn Villavende. “Blood for blood. Two lives for one.” Because, damn it, we are not your slaves.

Susan V. Ople heads the Blas F. Ople Policy Center and Training Institute, a nonprofit organization that deals with labor and migration issues.

She also represents the OFW sector in the InterAgency Council Against Trafficking.

our legitimate and institutional rights as a developing member.”

Defending the US’s sovereignty over trade has been a decades-long crusade for Lighthizer, who first honed his protectionist tendencies as a deputy trade representative in the Reagan administration. Following his initial stint in public service, Lighthizer jumped to the private sector, where he defended clients, including US steel companies in WTO disputes. He even interviewed in 2003 to be a member of the organization’s Appellate Body, but his nomination was rejected. Now, Lighthizer is waging a broad campaign of deploying tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars of foreign goods using the sharpest weapons in America’s trade arsenal.

His strategy is already producing limited results. In January the US forged a “phase one” trade agreement with China to purchase more American goods and curb Chinese policies that force US companies to give up their technology secrets. In addition the Trump administration’s decision to impose national security tariffs on global steel and aluminum imports has resulted in trade concessions from America’s strategic allies, such as Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan, Mexico and South Korea.

On one hand, the US has drawn attention to the WTO and provoked nations to try to reform it. There’s broad agreement the institution has problems, and even insiders acknowledge there’s validity to the Trump administration’s concerns with the appeals process. “Without this sense of crisis, there would probably be an accommodation and members would not be so very inclined to change things and to change the system,” says the WTO’s Azevêdo.

On the other hand, most WTO member-nations disagree with the Trump administration’s strategy of shutting down the Appellate Body, fearing the move will lead to the return of a more dangerous era in trade relations, where economic might equals right. “The way to restore the balance is to strengthen the negotiating function and strengthen the executive function,” says Hillman, who was previously an Appellate Body member. “Instead, the US has decided to put down the judiciary function. To me that is the absolute wrong way to go.”

It’s too soon to say whether the US’s unilateralism can help forge a new mandate for the global trading system as it did 25 years ago. But it’s clear that its support for multilateralism is waning in a way that would vex Cordell Hull.

China calls for investors to assess epidemic ‘rationally’

By Christopher Anstey & Claire Che Bloomberg Opinion

C

hina’s top securities regulator said that investors should evaluate the impact of the deadly coronavirus objectively, following a slide in equities across the globe and a retreat in the yuan in offshore trading.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) said in a statement issued during the Lunar New Year holiday on Tuesday that securities firms should guide investors to assess the disease “rationally and objectively,” and “adhere to the concept of long-term investment and value investment.”

China’s domestic markets remain shut for the break, and are scheduled to reopen on Monday. That session may prove volatile, coming after worries about the economic impact of the spreading virus saw contracts tied to Chinese stocks tumble in recent days. FTSE China A50 futures have slumped almost 6 percent since the close on Thursday, when trading on the mainland last occurred.

The outbreak has wrecked what would otherwise be a strong period for retail sales, with hundreds of millions of Chinese traveling and spending during the new year celebrations. The disease also emerged just as China’s economy was picking up steam, with the securing of a phase one trade deal with the US and signs of an upturn in manufacturing.

The CSRC called for companies to make dealing with the virus their top priority, and to “implement detailed prevention and control measures.”

At the same time, the regulator ordered contingency planning to ensure the “safe and stable operation of the transaction-settlement system.” Brokerages should provide support for off-site trading amid the focus on preventing the spread of the disease, the CSRC said. Reopening China’s markets could prove challenging as individuals and employers alike grapple with how to get back to business while, at the same time, strengthening health-safety standards. The CSRC also urged companies to be forthright in their disclosures and told stock exchanges to ensure that investor rights are protected.

“All listed companies are to disclose information in a true, accurate, complete and timely manner,” the regulator said.

China stocks

China’s domestic stock market, the world’s second largest, is famous for being dominated by retail traders, who can sometimes engage in crowd behavior. News of the government’s latest initiatives—a new subsidy or regulation—can send stocks soaring as individual investors rush to pile in. And official calls for calm aren’t unusual.

In 2018, the CSRC urged local authorities to help ease pressure on listed companies threatened by sales of shares that had been pledged as collateral for loans. Back in 2015, China took even sterner measures, suspending a swathe of shares during an epic bursting of a domestic stock bubble. It also deployed the “national team,” as state-backed funds are called, to prop up shares.

Policy-makers have, at the same time, tried to nurture a long-term investment culture. China is allowing full foreign ownership of life insurers, futures, securities and mutual fund companies in stages this year.

Foreign investors have also been an increasing presence in the onshore market. Overseas capital now accounts for 10 percent of daily equity trading in Shanghai, up from 2 percent just 12 months back, Zhu Min, a former central bank official who is now chairman of the National Institute of Financial Research at Tsinghua University, said earlier this month.

That all raises the stakes for how regulators handle the domestic markets as they reopen next week.

A12 Wednesday, January 29, 2020

Solon bats for quick okay of DSWD rice subsidy bill

A

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

@jearcalas

lawmaker on Tuesday called for the swift passage of a bill that would require the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to buy palay from local planters for its rice subsidy program.

Deputy House Speaker Luis Raymund Villafuerte said he has filed House Bill 5583 that requires the DSWD to buy unhusked rice from local farmers, and distribute this as subsidy, instead of cash, to Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) beneficiaries.

Villafuerte said the DSWD should do this in partnership with the Department of Agriculture (DA) and National Food Author-

ity (NFA) as price support to help farmers cope with the “detrimental effects” of the deregulation of the rice industry.

He noted that under the 2019 General Appropriations Act, the allocation for rice subsidy amounts to P28.51 billion, and the same amount has been allocated for 2020.

Villafuerte’s bill is pending at the House Committee on Appropriations.

See “DSWD,” A2

‘Muntinlupa City still free from coronavirus’

By Roderick L. Abad

T

@rodrik_28

HE Muntinlupa City Health Office (MCHO) has dispelled rumors circulating on social media that there is a confirmed case of coronavirus in a hospital in the city.

City Health Officer Teresa Tuliao said there is no confirmed case of novel coronavirus (2019nCoV) in Muntinlupa to date.

“Upon coordination and monitoring with our local hospitals, we have no verified novel coronavirus case in Muntinlupa City as of Janu-

ary 27,” she said.

“We are also closely coordinating with public health officials from DOH and Research Institute for Tropical Medicine regarding this issue,” she added.

The virus was first identified in Wuhan, China, on December 31 of last year. Since then, it has infected over 2,700 people globally, including a few cases reported in the United States.

The Philippines, though, has no confirmed case yet of the fatal virus outbreak that already has afflicted more than a dozen other countries.

MCHO advised the public to

NORTHEAST MONSOON AFFECTING EXTREME NORTHERN LUZON as of 4:00 pm - January 28, 2020

stop sharing unverified information on the 2019-nCoV and track updates from official sources, including the Department of Health (DOH) and the local government units (LGUs).

Hospitals and medical centers in Muntinlupa were suggested to observe high standard of infection prevention and control in handling patients suspected to have contracted the virus, according to Muntinlupa Public Information Officer Tez Navarro.

She said Ospital ng Muntinlupa has put up priority lanes for patients experiencing flu-like symp-

toms and is equipped to respond in emergency situations involving people with respiratory infections.

While the DOH announced that there is one person under investigation in the city, Ospital ng Muntinlupa Director Edwin Dimatatac clarified that the subject is not admitted in the LGU-subsidized hospital.

T he C it y G o v e r n me nt o f Muntinlupa is scheduled to inspect emerging Chinese restaurants and conduct a census of Chinese nationals in the city as a preventive measure to avert the virus from spreading.

Mu nt i n lupa M ayor Ja i me Fresnedi called for his constituents to be vigilant amid the scare, while advising them to practice proper hygiene, observe right cough etiquette and live healthy lifestyles to strengthen their resistance against infections.

Local residents are urged to immediately visit local health centers or Ospital ng Muntinlupa if they experience symptoms of 2019-nCoV. They may also coordinate with Ospital ng Muntinlupa at 8771-0457, or DOH at 8771-1001 or 8711-1002.

SEN. PIA PRODS PARENTS TO GUARD KIDS ON E-CIGS

S

EN. Pia Cayetano pleaded on Tuesday for parents to safeguard their children against e-cigarettes.

Cayetano aired the appeal following the passage of the “sin” tax law that substantially raised taxes on e-cigarettes, advising parents to educate their children on the dangers of picking up “these new dangerous vices”that she said seem to be targeting the youth.

In a statement, Cayetano said, “This is my call to all Filipino parents, please discourage your children from using these heated tobacco products [HTPs] and vapes. These devices are harmful to their health.”

As chairman of the Ways and Means committee, the senator cosponsored the sin tax measure setting higher tax rates on HTPs and vapes, citing evidence from health experts that such products could not be considered as effective cessation devices, and that they could cause harm to nonsmokers and the youth.

“I based my position on [scientific evidence and] the recommendations of health advocates, no less than the World Health Organization [WHO], that we treat these e-cigarettes and HTPs equally as

if they are cigarettes,” she stressed during a press conference with sin tax advocates on Tuesday.

She added: “It is my job to veer on the side of safety. That‘s why the position I’ve always taken is, unless there is convincing evidence that these are truly cessation products, and that these companies are willing to register them as such, then we should treat them as harmful products.”

The senator renewed her call for young Filipinos and nonsmokers to avoid using e-cigarettes, HTPs and vapes, warning that “these could cause serious damage to their health.”

“I call on all our young people.

I will never get tired of reminding you that these products—HTPs, ENDS/ENNDS [Electronic Nicotine/ Non-Nicotine Delivery Systems], and vapes—can be dangerous to your bodies. We don’t want you to take on these brand-new vices,” Cayetano stressed.

At the same time, Cayetano commited to work with fellow legislators, other government agencies, and advocacy groups in assessing and strengthening the country’s smoking- and drinking-cessation programs. Butch Fernandez

Duterte’s ‘tete-a-tete’ with Panelo postponed anew

P

RESIDENT Duterte deferred his one-on-one interview with Presidential spokesman Salvador S. Panelo for the second time on Tuesday.

In a televised speech, Panelo said Duterte was not feeling well after several meetings and going over several documents the day before.

“We are sorry that you had to wait for sometime for this tete-atete with the President. However,

the President is presently under the weather,” Panelo said.

He said the tete-a-tete may be rescheduled in February.

“We will let you know as soon as we know the specific date,” Panelo said.

The event was originally scheduled on January 22, but was postponed due to alleged pressing family matters of Duterte.

Samuel P. Medenilla

As PHL stays free from nCoV, Cabinet panel lays down measures Continued from A1

The Question Hour is a period where lawmakers ask members of the Executive department, particularly Cabinet secretaries, and hold them accountable for their acts and the operation of the government As of Tuesday, three of the PUIs have already been discharged as their laboratory results revealed other diseases. DOH is now awaiting results for 13 PUIs from the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) for screening, and six PUIs’ laboratory results from the Victoria Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory in Melbourne for confirmation.

House hearing

“We have to clarify that the House is invoking its Question Hour privilege not in aid of legislation nor for investigation purposes. We are exercising our oversight function to allay the fears of our constituents brought about by reports of the Wuhan virus reaching our shores,” Romualdez said.

“There are numerous reports about possible infection in several areas of the country. We need to know which of these are real and which are fake news. We are giving Secretary Duque a bigger platform to address the concerns of our constituents,” he added.

Interagency Task Force

The DOH convened the first Interagency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases Meeting on Tuesday with the Departments of Foreign Affairs, the Interior and Local Government, Justice, Labor

and Employment, Tourism, Transportation, and Information and Communications Technology.

Also present to discuss updates on the 2019-nCoV were representatives from attached agencies, Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, Civil Aviation Authority and Civil Aviation Board, and the Philippine Coast Guard, as well as officials from the World Health Organization (WHO).

WHO Country Representative Dr. Rabindra Abeyasinghe said that at present, there are 2,798 confirmed cases of the 2019-nCoV globally, 37 of which were reported in 11 countries outside of China. The current global case fatality rate of the 2019-nCoV is 2.9 percent, with all 80 deaths recorded in China.

WHO has classified the risk level for the spread of the 2019-nCoV as very high in China, and high at the regional and global levels.

Repatriation

Duque disclosed that during the interagency committee meeting, members resolved and agreed to ensure support for overseas Filipinos in China, as well as comprehensive transport and quarantine plans for overseas Filipinos from Hubei province who wish to voluntarily return to the Philippines.

The committee also agreed on proposing temporary restrictions on the issuance of visas for travelers from Hubei province, and issuing advisories temporarily discouraging nonessential travel to China.

Meanwhile, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Brigido Dulay said that the order of President Duterte is to “Bring home everyone. Bring home everyone safely.” Dulay however, noted that the process of the repatriation will be in accordance with the “protocol” of the government of China.

“We call on our [Filipino] nationals to remain calm,” he said, stressing that communication lines were already established in the province of Hubei and in Wuhan. “We will constantly coordinate with the Chinese authorities,” he added.

Duque continued, “I wish to inform our kababayans that the government will take care of you whether you choose to stay or return home. For those who choose to return, you will be taken care of in a health facility for monitoring and further medical management.”

For Filipinos who wish to stay in China, DOH reiterated its advice for them to follow the guidelines and measures taken by local authorities.

Likewise, the DOH vowed to ensure that all Filipinos in other countries will receive sufficient information and health support through telemedicine.

“I urge the public to remain vigilant. Let us continue practicing good hand hygiene, observing proper cough etiquette, maintaining distance from people manifesting flu-like symptoms, cooking food properly and adopting healthy lifest yles,” Duque concluded.

Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco and Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

www.businessmirror.com.ph

BusinessMirror

Wednesday, January 29, 2020 A13

A14 Wednesday, January 29, 2020

BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

www.businessmirror.com.ph

BusinessMirror

Wednesday, January 29, 2020 A15

A16 Wednesday, January 29, 2020

BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

www.businessmirror.com.ph

BusinessMirror

Wednesday, January 29, 2020 A17

A18 Wednesday, January 29, 2020

BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

www.businessmirror.com.ph

BusinessMirror

Wednesday, January 29, 2020 A19

A20 Wednesday, January 29, 2020

BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

www.businessmirror.com.ph

BusinessMirror

Wednesday, January 29, 2020 A21

A22 Wednesday, January 29, 2020

BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

www.businessmirror.com.ph

BusinessMirror

Wednesday, January 29, 2020 A23

A24 Wednesday, January 29, 2020

BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

www.businessmirror.com.ph

BusinessMirror

Wednesday, January 29, 2020 A25

In the ad material of Notice of filing of application for Alien Employment Permits published on December 12, 2019, the name of Mr. Xia, Feng under VERTEX DIGITAL ENTERTAINMENT TECHNOLOGIES INC. should have been read as Mr. Xia, Yafeng and not as published.

Any person in the Philippines who is competent, able and willing to perform the services for which the foreign national is desired may file an objection at DOLE NCR Regional Office located at 967 Maligaya St., Malate, Manila, within 30 days after its publication.

Please inform DOLE NCR if you have any information on criminal offense committed by the foreign nationals.

ATTY. SARAH BUENA S. MIRASOL REGIONAL DIRECTOR

BusinessMirror

A26 Wednesday, January 29, 2020 Republic of the Philippines

36

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. SHIJUN LI / Chinese

37

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. FAKE SU / Chinese

Mandarin Customer Service Representative

38

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. QI ZENG / Chinese

Mandarin Customer Service Representative

Position and Brief Description of Functions

39

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. CHENXI MEI / Chinese

Mandarin Customer Service Representative

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT Regional Office No. IV-A 4th Flr. Andenson Bldg. II, Brgy. Parian, Calamba City Telefax No.: (049) 545-7362 January 29, 2020

NOTICE OF FILING OF APPLICATION FOR ALIEN EMPLOYMENT PERMIT (AEP)

Notice is hereby given that the following employers have filed with this Regional Office application/s for Alien Employment Permit/s.

Name and Address of Company/Employer

Name and Citizenship of Foreign National

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Mandarin Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. JUN HANG / Chinese

Mandarin Customer Service Representative

40

Mr. YUANQIAN ZHANG / Chinese

Mandarin Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. HUIQIANG WU / Chinese

Mandarin Customer Service Representative

41

Mr. SUYU LI / Chinese

Mandarin Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. JING XU / Chinese

Mandarin Customer Service Representative

42

Mr. JIAOLONG ZHANG / Chinese

Mandarin Customer Service Representative

4

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

Ms. WENQI LI / Chinese

Mandarin Customer Service Representative

43

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

Ms. WEIYA CAO / Chinese

Mandarin Customer Service Representative

5

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. RUNZE ZHANG / Chinese

Mandarin Customer Service Representative

44

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. LINXU PU / Chinese

Mandarin Customer Service Representative

6

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. JIE WANG / Chinese

Mandarin Customer Service Representative

45

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. JIAYOU MIAO / Chinese

Mandarin Customer Service Representative

7

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. WANXIANG LUO / Chinese

Mandarin Customer Service Representative

46

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. SHAOSHENG FANG / Chinese

Mandarin Customer Service Representative

8

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. XUAN PENG / Chinese

Mandarin Customer Service Representative

47

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. BIN JIAO / Chinese

Mandarin Customer Service Representative

9

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. QIN ZHANG / Chinese

Mandarin Customer Service Representative

48

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

Ms. JINGJING LI / Chinese

Mandarin Customer Service Representative

10

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. BIN LIANG / Chinese

Mandarin Customer Service Representative

49

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. KAIWEI XU / Chinese

Mandarin Customer Service Representative

11

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. PENG LI / Chinese

Mandarin Customer Service Representative

50

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. ZONGYUAN LI / Chinese

Mandarin Customer Service Representative

12

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. LEI JING / Chinese

Mandarin Customer Service Representative

51

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. JUNHUI CAO / Chinese

Mandarin Customer Service Representative

13

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. GUANGLIANG LI / Chinese

Mandarin Customer Service Representative

52

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. PENG ZHANG / Chinese

Mandarin Customer Service Representative

14

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. BO LIU / Chinese

53

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. HAITO HE / Chinese

Mandarin Customer Service Representative

15

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. HONG ZENG / Chinese

Mandarin Customer Service Representative

54

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. QIQI GUO / Chinese

Mandarin Customer Service Representative

16

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. XIONG LU / Chinese

Mandarin Customer Service Representative

55

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. XIN JIN / Chinese

Mandarin Customer Service Representative

17

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. JUNPENG ZHANG / Chinese

Mandarin Customer Service Representative

56

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. HAO CHE / Chinese

Mandarin Customer Service Representative

18

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. TAN KOK KEONG/ Malaysian

Mandarin Customer Service Representative

57

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

Ms. TEE PEI SHI / Malaysian

Mandarin Customer Service Representative

19

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. YU ZHOU / Chinese

Mandarin Customer Service Representative

58

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. PEIJIAN WU / Chinese

Mandarin Customer Service Representative

20

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. ZONGSHUI ZENG / Chinese

Mandarin Customer Service Representative

59

SHING HUNG PLASTICS COMPANY INC. Mr. GUOLIANG YANG / FPIP, Sta. Anastacia, Santo Tomas, Chinese Batangas

21

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. SHUNHAI WANG / Chinese

Mandarin Customer Service Representative

60

SHING HUNG PLASTICS COMPANY INC. Mr. SHINICHI FURUKAWA/ FPIP, Sta. Anastacia, Santo Tomas, Japanese Batangas

22

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. JIAN LI / Chinese

Mandarin Customer Service Representative

61

MITSUBISHI MOTORS PHILIPPINES CORPORATION GAP-SEZ, Santa Rosa City, Laguna

Mr. TAKANOBU SUZUKI / Japanese

23

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. FONG KIT HOE / Malaysian

Mandarin Customer Service Representative

62

R 12 EMS PHILS., INC. CPIP, Bgry. Batino, Calamba City, Laguna

Mr. SANGHUN KIM / Korean

QC and Engineering General Manager

Mr. XU LIU / Chinese

Mandarin Customer Service Representative

63

KOLEN PHILIPPINES INC. CEZ, Rosario, Cavite

Mr. YOO SIK JANG / Korean

Production Director

24

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

64

NIHON HOUZAI LAGUNA CORPORATION LTI, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. TERUO NISHIMURA / Japanese

Vice President/Treasurer

65

C-JOY POULTRY MEATS PRODUCTION, INC. Brgy. Sta. Teresita, Santo Tomas, Batangas

Mr. JUAN JOSE HERRERA GOMEZ / Honduran

President/Chief Executive Officer

66

CASTEM PHILIPPINES CORPORATION CEZ, Rosario, Cavite

Mr. SATOSHI YAMAGUCHI / Japanese

Technical Adviser Nationality

67

RRG PROJECT CARGO INC. San Jose, Carmona, Cavite

Mr. KOKI SONE / Japanese

68

LEADING SUCCESS (PHILS.) GARMENTS INC. Maduya, Carmona Cavite, Carmona, Cavite

Mr. CHUNYING ZOU / Chinese

Cutting Manager

69

LEADING SUCCESS (PHILS.) GARMENTS INC. Maduya, Carmona Cavite, Carmona, Cavite

Ms. ZAOYAN HUANG / Chinese

Sewing Technician

70

LEADING SUCCESS (PHILS.) GARMENTS INC. Maduya, Carmona Cavite, Carmona, Cavite

Mr. WENFA TENG / Chinese

1

2

3

25

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. JUNHONG ZHU / Chinese

Mandarin Customer Service Representative

Mandarin Customer Service Representative

26

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. SHOO WEE CHEOW / Malaysian

Mandarin Customer Service Representative

27

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. GAN CHU ANG / Malaysian

Mandarin Customer Service Representative

28

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. SIOW SHENG FENG/ Malaysian

Mandarin Customer Service Representative

29

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. BINBIN ZHENG / Chinese

Mandarin Customer Service Representative

30

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. CHUN LI / Chinese

Mandarin Customer Service Representative

31

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. ZHONGXIANG PAN / Chinese

Mandarin Customer Service Representative

32

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

Ms. XIAOPING ZHANG / Chinese

Mandarin Customer Service Representative

33

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

Ms. LANLAN LIU / Chinese

Mandarin Customer Service Representative

34

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. WUMING LUO / Chinese

Mandarin Customer Service Representative

35

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. CONG SUN / Chinese

Mandarin Customer Service Representative

Printing/Painting Assistant Manager Director for Sales

Executive Vice President

Consultant

Pattern Maker

Any person in the Philippines who is competent, able and willing to perform the services for which the foreign national is desired may file an objection at the DOLE Regional Office within 30 days from the date of publication.

Please inform the DOLE Regional Office if you have an information of any criminal offense committed by the foreign nationals.

HENRY JOHN S. JALBUENA Regional Director To avail of free job referral, placement, and employment guidance services, visit the nearest Public Employment Service Offices (PESO) or log on at http://www.philjobnet.gov.ph AEP20201007325

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Companies BusinessMirror

Wednesday, January 29, 2020

B1

COL: Volatile trading ahead for stock market; possible decline to 6,800 pts

By VG Cabuag

B

@villygc

ROKER COL Financial Group Inc. said the benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) may further go down to the 6,800-point level before it can recover to its current level, with the domestic market being weaker than expected compared with other emerging market peers.

“While our fundamentals are ‘too robust to ignore,’ we are also facing certain issues that are

hurting foreign investor sentiment. These include heightened regulatory and environmental

uncertainties, and growing irrelevance of the Philippine market in the emerging market basket,” April Lynn Tan, COL’s chief equity strategist said.

“Nevertheless, we are confident that the Philippines will eventually overcome these issues and, as such, continue to recommend investors to buy Philippine stocks,” she said.

Tan, however, said no one knows when and, at what level, the Philippine market will bottom, adding that one must expect volatile trading at least during the first quarter.

“We would like to stress the importance of risk management, which can be achieved through diversification and proper asset allocation,” she said.

According to the technical analysis of Juanis Barredo, the broker’s chief technical analyst, the worst-case scenario is that the main index may fall at 6,800 points and, if this happens, it can only recover up to 7,600 points.

If the PSEi falls to 7,000, its recovery space will be up to 7,870 but if it falls to 7,300, it can come back up to 8,030.

The broker still believes that the main index could close at 9,000 points by the year-end, but such target is based on the country’s economic fundamentals and not on investors’ sentiment, which is currently negative, given the events in both the global and domestic fronts.

“This is not a runaway market.

If you see it going up, that will

be just temporary, it will also go down,” Barredo said.

He advised investors to sell their holdings when it goes up to a certain band, and said this is the only way to make money from the current market.

Technically, Barredo said, the market is not in the bear market, an occurrence when the market prices drop 20 percent from its top and must stay that low for the next three to four months.

With the PSEi reaching 9,058 points sometime in May 2018, it needed to drop below 7,250 points, and remain there for months.

Still, Barredo noted that while the main index may not be in the bear territory, three quarters of the basket of shares at the PSEi have al-

Injap’s MerryMart supermarket T to list at PSE, eyes to raise ₧1.6B

ready been there for months, with only the SM Group, the Gokongwei Group of Cos., and some smaller firms able to lift the entire market.

For instance, DMCI Holdings Inc.’s shares were the biggest loser—with an over 60-percent drop from the top, and its unit Semirara Mining and Power Corp. falling 56 percent. LT Group Inc. was down by 60 percent, and Metro Pacific Investments Corp., also at 56-percent decline from its top.

“The PSEi may try to rebound but may yet feel some pressure into the short term. We await its major low to project its possible recovery,” Barredo said.

The benchmark index on Tuesday fell 118.93 points to close at 7,468.70 points, with value of trade reaching P4.44 billion.

Bid invite issued for Malaya

HE Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management (PSALM) Corp. has issued a bid invite for the operation and maintenance service contract (OMSC) for the Malaya Thermal Power Plant (TPP).

The state firm said it has set aside an approved budget of P224,800,000 for the contract as payment to the winning bidder.

“PSALM now invites bids for the procurement of Operation and Maintenance Service Contract for the Malaya plant. Bides received in excess of the approved budget contract shall be automatically rejected at bid opening,” PSALM said.

Deadline for bid submission is on February 17. A pre-bid conference is

M

ERRYMART Consumer Corp., the supermarket operator led by DoubleDragon Properties Corp.’s Edgar “Injap” J. Sia II, plans to list at the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), hoping to raise some P1.6 billion.

MerryMart filed its registration statement at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), with the company hoping to sell some 1.59 billion shares with an offer price of at least P1 per share.

PNB Capital was the sole issue manager, lead underwriter and book runner for the deal.

Proceeds of the offer will mainly be used for capital expenditures and initial working capital to fund store expansion and acquisition, and lease of distribution centers.

The principal owner of MerryMart, which it said will embark on the franchise model of its retail concept, is Injap Investments Inc., the holding firm of the Sia family.

“Sia leverages the MM [MerryMart] business model on his previous success with the franchising model, through his brainchild, fastfood favorite Mang Inasal,” according to the registration statement.

AirAsia suspension of flights to Wuhan extended till Feb. 29

merrymart.com.ph

“He is taking his learnings from growing Mang Inasal brand—a chain which managed to expand 338 branches nationwide within seven years of its operations—and applying it to the supermarket format, to allow for the rapid growth of a new player in the Philippine supermarket and grocery retail industry.”

At the moment, MerryMart owns only four branches nationwide, with

an aggregate selling space of 5,316 square meters.

The legacy branches are both in Roxas City and carry the name Injap Supermart. The other two are located in DD Meridian Park in Pasay, and in CityMall in Calamba, Laguna.

“The MM group aims to actively pursue its 2030 vision...to have 200 MerryMart groceries and markets, and 1,000 MerryMart stores in operation nationwide, equivalent to a

total of 1,200 branches and systemwide sales of P120 billion by 2030,” it said.

The company said it will invest in distribution centers with the midterm goal of achieving 100 percent coverage of supply chain for all branches, and to have 81 distribution centers nationwide.

If its papers are approved in March, the company may list in April. VG Cabuag

Meralco’s RE arm Spectrum to add 20 MW to portfolio in ’20

By Lenie Lectura @llectura

T

HE renewable-energy (RE) subsidiary of Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), Spectrum, is eyeing to add 20 megawatts (MW) to its portfolio this year, on the back of a strong demand for electricity.

Spectrum has sealed various contracts totaling “close to 20 MW,” according to Meralco First Vice President and Head of Customer Retail Services and Corporate Communications Victor Genuino.

“We are going to aim to double that. We will add an additional 20 MW this year,” he said on the sidelines of the inauguration of City of Dreams’ (CoD) 1.2-MW solar-power facility early this week.

“It’s going to be a hot summer so it’s good for the people to take advantage of solar. If this hot temperature will persist, it will be a good year,”

added Genuino.

The new contracts being eyed by Spectrum this year will come from the residential and commercial sectors. “It will be a combination of residential and commercial. This is the unregulated side business of Meralco so [Spectrum] can go nationwide,” he said.

Included in the additional 20 MW is the installation of “less than 1 MW each” in Isla Verde and Cagbalete Islands. “Spectrum is doing projects for both Isla Verde and Cagbalete Islands no later than this year.”

Spectrum recently provided a P76-million solar-power project for CoD Manila, the country’s first integrated resort to harness solar energy.

There are 3,120 solar PV panels installed on a 6,436-square meter area across two buildings of CoD. The solar project can generate power of up to 1,730 megawatt

scheduled on February 4 this year.

The contract is good for one year.

Interested bidders should have completed a contract similar to the project. The Malaya TPP is being managed by PSALM through an OMSC. Located in Pililla, Rizal, the Malaya TPP was designated as a must-run unit by the Department of Energy in 2014. As an MRU, it is compelled to run and provide the power supply as deemed necessary in order to ensure reliability of power supply in the Luzon grid, particularly in times of supply shortfall, system security and voltage support. In 1995, it was rehabilitated by Korea Electric Power Corp. under a 15-year rehabilitate-operate-manage-maintain agreement. Lenie Lectura

hour (MWh) annually, equivalent to 923,820 kilogram of carbon footprint reduction, which is enough to power almost 1,000 households every year.

CoD Manila Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Kevin Benning said the solar panels could power up 20 percent of its total consumption, which is estimated at about 7 MW. Investment can be recovered in seven years, he said.

“This venture is a significant step in our vision to be sustainable in our operations. Utilizing clean and renewable energy is only one of our numerous green initiatives, and we hope that as we set the bar for sustainable operations, we also inspire positive change as we all take part in the growing movement toward a more sustainable future,” Benning said.

CoD Manila is also considering

Spectrum to provide more solar panels for the luxury integrated casino resort.

“It’s already under review.

We are currently evaluating our roof-deck where we can build additional panels. It will be done this year with our evaluation,” added Benning.

Genuino said the 1.2-MW solar project is the single largest installation in a commercial rooftop of Spectrum. “Why did Meralco, a company whose core business comes from the distribution of electricity, set up a subsidiary that effectively reduces consumption? Isn’t this counterintuitive?

“The simple answer is because you, our customers, demanded it.

Our customers are evolving. They are becoming more conscious of their impact to diminishing resources— and they want to do something about it,” he said.

A

IRASIA has further extended—this time, until February 29, 2020—the suspension of all its flights from Kota Kinabalu, Bangkok and Phuket to Wuhan, China, ground zero of the novel coronavirus.

“AirAsia is making provisions for guests with flight bookings to and from all destinations in mainland China to obtain credit account, or full refund,” the carrier said in a statement on Tuesday. Certain destinations within AirAsia’s flight network have imposed travel bans for guests based on nationalities, cities of origin, travel history, or the purpose of travel. Guests are recommended to check with respective governments or embassy offices prior to travel.

The following options are available to AirAsia guests who were affected by the flight changes and travel bans: n Credit account: Retain the value of your fare in your AirAsia BIG Loyalty account for future travel with AirAsia. The online credit account is to be redeemed for booking within 90 calendar days from the issuance date for your travel with us. The actual travel dates can be after the expiry date as long as our flight schedule is out. Applicable for all flights to/from mainland China until February 15, 2020 (or February 29, 2020, for flights to/from Wuhan only) that was ticketed prior to January 28, 2020; or n Full refund: Obtain a full refund to your original payment method for the amount equivalent to your booking. Applicable for all flights to/from

mainland China until February 15, 2020, and return flights from February 16 to 29, 2020 that was ticketed prior to January 28, 2020.

The low-cost carrier said guests whose flights fall into the above date range may obtain a full refund in the amount equivalent to that booking in the form of original payment.

Refund requests may be made with AVA at support.airasia.com. From the main menu categories available, click on “Refund” then “New Refund Request” and finally “AirAsia flights to/from Wuhan” for flights to/from Wuhan or “China Voluntary Refund” for flights to/from other mainland China destinations. From there, simply follow the instructions as directed by AVA. For bookings made through travel agents including online travel agents, refund requests are to be made via the respective travel agents.

“AirAsia assures that the safety and well-being of our guests, and Allstars is our top priority. AirAsia is complying with advice and regulations from the local government, CAAC, global and local health authorities, including the World Health Organization,” its latest advisory said.

AirAsia advised guests who are in Wuhan to abide by announcements made by the government and health authorities, and to contact their respective diplomatic missions or embassies in mainland China for assistance. “AirAsia is closely monitoring this situation and reserves the right to announce further policies according to the latest developments.” Recto L. Mercene

B2

Companies BusinessMirror

Wednesday, January 29, 2020

Hyundai upbeat about 2020 prospects with new dealership in bustling Angeles

H

By Elijah E. Felice E. Rosales

@alyasjah

YUNDAI Asia Resources Inc. (Hari) has boosted its chances of recovering sales this year by opening a new dealership in Pampanga to take advantage of the booming business, tourism and transport industries of the province.

Last week, Hari unveiled its newest full-service passenger car (PC) dealership in Angeles City, Pampanga. The Philippine distributor of the South Korean automobile brand said it chose the city as it is highly urbanized and is the business center of Central Luzon.

“Being home to the Clark International Airport and former United

States military-operated Clark Air Base, Angeles City was heavily affected by the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1991. Three years after, the city recovered with the creation of the Clark Special Economic Zone,” Hari said in a statement.

“Angeles City today is a first-class, highly urbanized [site]—Pampanga’s commercial, financial and industrial

LWUA uncovers bigger mess in Angeles City Water District

A

NGELES CITY—The exposé made by Councilors Jesus “Jay” Sangil and Alfie Bonifacio on the alleged overpricing of ultra violet (UV) ray machine acquisition of the Angeles City Water District (ACWD) uncovered a much bigger anomaly.

“Unnecessary,” was how the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) described the ACWD’s purchase of UV ray machines, which had cost about P30 million, and installed in various pumping stations for its water supply treatment.

But upon thorough investigation, Sangil said the LWUA discovered that the ACWD outsourced its water treatment services for the next 25 years, and is locked down in another contract which could cost the district more than P800 million.

Sangil said, “as per LWUA, they [ACWD] will pay more than P800 million, aside from the di-

rect purchase they made amounting to more or less 30 million. For the next 25 years, the ACWD is locked in a contract with Texin.”

Some of the documents obtained by Punto showed that ACWD contracted Texin Inc., represented by Allan E. Avenido, VP for sales and operations, for the supply, delivery and commissioning of Hydro-Optic Disinfection UV for ACWD’s central pumping station for P29,940,326.

A nother showed two units were contracted by ACWD and Texin President Glenn P. Flores.

Sa ng i l sa id d at a gat hered showed ACWD’s average water production at 1.6-million cubic meter per month, while the average consumption is 1.2-million cubic meters more or less.

Sangil said the ACWD has accepted a bid by the supplier for the supply of goods and services in the sum of P3.50 per cubic meter per month as the contract price.

Ashley Manabat

hub, and entertainment and gaming center of Central Luzon,” it added.

Based on the 2019 Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index by the National Competitiveness Council, Angeles City is second in the Most Improved Rankings for Highly Urbanized Cities category.

The Pampanga town also obtained its Seal of Good Local Governance from the Department of the Interior and Local Government in 2016.

Hyundai Angeles is the second Hyundai PC dealership in Pampanga and the third in Central Luzon operated by the Hizon Group.

The Hizon Group is one of the four leading Hyundai dealers in the Philippines.

Hari President and CEO Maria Fe Perez-Agudo said the third Hyundai dealership under the Hizon Group is right where it should be, as it can supply the transportation needs of such a busy city, like Angeles.

“We are right where it should be.

mutual funds

The third Hyundai dealership under the Hizon Group is designed to respond to the needs of the booming business, tourism and transport industries of Angeles,” Agudo explained.

Aside from the inauguration of the dealer store, last week saw the signing of a memorandum of understanding allocating some 700 units of the Hyundai H-100 Class 1 Modern Jeepney to local transport groups, as well as the turnover of an H-100 ambulance to the local government. According to Agudo, both signify the car firm’s support for the public-utility vehicle modernization program.

Hari is looking to recover this year after its 2019 sales declined nearly 5 percent to 33,763 units, from 35,401 units in 2018. It has been the second consecutive year the automobile dealer saw its sales fall following the introduction of new taxes on vehicles.

PSE STOCK QUOTATIONS

January 28, 2020

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

ASIA UNITED BDO UNIBANK BANK PH ISLANDS CHINABANK CITYSTATE BANK EAST WEST BANK METROBANK PBCOM PHIL NATL BANK PSBANK RCBC SECURITY BANK UNION BANK COL FINANCIAL FERRONOUX HLDG IREMIT MEDCO HLDG MANULIFE NTL REINSURANCE PHIL STOCK EXCH

52.15 153.5 82.8 25.15 7.02 11.9 64.55 20 33.6 53.95 21.95 187 61.6 18.48 4.05 1.15 0.385 841 0.8 170.5

53.95 153.8 83 25.25 8.47 11.92 64.6 20.8 33.95 54 22.45 189 62 18.5 4.19 1.19 0.41 879.5 0.85 178.7

52.15 155 82.7 25.15 8.48 12.12 64.65 20 33.3 54.9 22 187.5 61 18.48 4.3 1.19 0.41 841 0.83 178.8

52.15 155 83.25 25.25 8.48 12.14 64.75 20.8 34.3 54.9 22.1 189 63 18.48 4.32 1.19 0.41 841 0.83 178.8

52.15 152.5 81.85 25.1 8.48 11.9 64.45 20 33.1 50.35 22 186.5 61 18.02 4.1 1.15 0.38 841 0.8 170.3

52.15 153.5 83 25.25 8.48 11.9 64.6 20.8 33.6 54 22 187 62 18.48 4.19 1.15 0.38 841 0.8 170.5

120 1497920 745580 331500 100 164800 2592630 12000 729800 13520 23200 164950 108460 30100 14000 4000 1700000 10 179000 640

6258 229740791 61654078.5 8326995 848 1981376 167505240.5 248640 24,594,270( 721717 510415 30882671 6753612 556110 59540 4640 674600 8410 145670 109266

INDUSTRIAL

AC ENERGY ABOITIZ POWER BASIC ENERGY FIRST GEN FIRST PHIL HLDG MERALCO MANILA WATER PETRON PETROENERGY PHX PETROLEUM PILIPINAS SHELL SPC POWER AGRINURTURE AXELUM CENTURY FOOD DEL MONTE DNL INDUS EMPERADOR SMC FOODANDBEV ALLIANCE SELECT FRUITAS HLDG GINEBRA JOLLIBEE MAXS GROUP PEPSI COLA SHAKEYS PIZZA ROXAS AND CO SWIFT FOODS UNIV ROBINA VITARICH VICTORIAS CONCRETE A CONCRETE B CEMEX HLDG DAVINCI CAPITAL EAGLE CEMENT EEI CORP HOLCIM MEGAWIDE PHINMA TKC METALS VULCAN INDL CROWN ASIA EUROMED LMG CHEMICALS MABUHAY VINYL PRYCE CORP GREENERGY INTEGRATED MICR IONICS SFA SEMICON CIRTEK HLDG

-23875691 -637458 -593089.9997 -62418546.5 248640 7,050,509.9997) -6000075 535920 -0 37530

2.03 32.6 0.243 21.05 66.55 282 10.3 3.87 3.86 11.74 30.05 9.01 12.02 3.22 15.02 4.97 8.92 7.22 73.5 0.53 1.64 36.6 205 11 1.82 9.7 1.69 0.118 156.4 1.26 2.43 61.6 65 1.65 5.03 13.18 8.85 12.7 14.9 9.51 0.98 0.95 2.13 1.6 4.85 3.07 4.71 1.99 7.64 1.29 1.14 9.8

2.08 32.65 0.244 21.1 66.65 286 10.32 3.88 4.15 11.92 30.5 9.14 12.08 3.23 15.28 5.05 8.95 7.23 73.8 0.54 1.65 37.1 205.4 11.08 1.85 9.78 1.7 0.12 157.5 1.27 2.56 66.45 70.9 1.66 5.39 13.6 8.86 12.9 14.98 9.84 1.02 0.96 2.15 1.69 4.9 3.28 4.73 2.01 7.65 1.33 1.16 9.88

2.12 33.15 0.233 21.2 66.5 293 10.24 3.9 4.15 11.92 31.5 9.3 12.1 3.39 15 5.28 8.98 7.22 73.9 0.56 1.78 36.55 213.2 11.14 1.82 9.6 1.65 0.118 158.5 1.27 2.43 61.7 65 1.6 5.02 13.7 8.99 12.84 15.48 9.71 0.99 0.95 2.16 1.61 4.9 3.15 4.71 2 7.74 1.31 1.29 11.44

2.12 33.15 0.244 21.75 66.9 298 10.4 3.9 4.15 11.92 31.5 9.3 12.1 3.45 15.02 5.3 8.98 7.23 75 0.56 1.78 37.1 213.2 11.14 1.87 9.8 1.7 0.118 159.9 1.31 2.43 61.7 65 1.66 5.4 13.7 8.99 12.9 15.48 9.93 1.02 1.04 2.16 1.61 4.9 3.15 4.71 2.02 7.89 1.34 1.3 11.5

2.03 32.5 0.232 21.1 66.5 282 9.95 3.85 4.15 11.74 30 8.85 11.94 3.17 15 4.95 8.88 7.22 73 0.53 1.64 36.55 204.4 11 1.82 9.52 1.65 0.118 155.6 1.26 2.42 61.6 65 1.58 5.01 13.18 8.86 12.7 14.8 9.48 0.98 0.95 2.13 1.6 4.9 3.15 4.71 1.96 7.65 1.27 1.14 9.67

2.03 32.65 0.243 21.1 66.65 282 10.3 3.86 4.15 11.92 30.05 9.14 12.08 3.23 15.02 5.05 8.92 7.23 73.5 0.53 1.65 37.1 205 11 1.82 9.7 1.69 0.118 157.5 1.26 2.42 61.6 65 1.66 5.39 13.18 8.86 12.9 14.98 9.93 1.02 0.96 2.15 1.61 4.9 3.15 4.71 2.01 7.65 1.33 1.14 9.8

3959000 1430900 4520000 880200 51880 166530 9066900 832000 2000 55600 266300 128400 694400 6030000 167700 172200 566100 22600 86830 750000 55938000 200 795770 144100 147000 57400 90000 130000 805570 6596000 6000 200 1070 13195000 26500 15200 64300 526400 1686700 20100 268000 4472000 66000 54000 2000 1000 9000 8365000 76500 228000 2703000 7005800

8205570 46720945 1076740 18797075 3456081 47591650 92262211 3214870 8300 660500 8156790 1167802 8351100 19768680 2515792 871748 5050975 163202 6387427 404640 95357000 7365 163332396 1585648 270680 559052 152240 15340 126885645 8424590 14560 12335 69550 21518180 136443 201500 570880 6741136 25244792 192134 263380 4433850 141700 86780 9800 3150 42390 16705170 586902 292680 3247720 73623044

202970 -20979055 13980 345850 1971585.5 -34439234 13643508 -820900 -32076 -347290 -136184 4947340 151410 1023008 -20226 1640893 -11552 -4261213.5 1836890 -32925970 -968016 -23750 -264465.0001 9440149 95400 32500 -3741850 -9390 -280106 -10313766 -9900 -5101240 -78030 121380 39058

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

0.87 10.32 727.5 50.9 10.86 2.58 6.22 0.71 0.93 0.93 6.48 6.07 13 0.207 752.5 74.25 6.11 0.495 3.73 10.44 0.59 3.24 5.82 1.14 182 1015 145.5 0.8 2.1 183.3 0.21 0.215

0.88 10.64 728 51 10.88 2.6 6.25 0.72 0.94 0.97 6.5 6.09 13.1 0.225 758 75 6.77 0.51 3.78 10.46 0.6 3.25 5.89 1.23 195 1025 147 0.81 2.34 197 0.216 0.225

0.89 10.8 738 52.8 10.92 2.65 6.25 0.71 0.92 0.95 6.48 6.18 13.2 0.206 783 75.45 6.72 0.52 3.76 10.56 0.58 3.22 4.45 1.24 190 1025 148 0.82 2.1 183 0.205 0.231

0.89 10.8 739.5 52.8 10.92 2.65 6.25 0.74 0.95 0.98 6.51 6.18 13.2 0.206 783.5 75.45 6.77 0.52 3.78 10.56 0.6 3.32 6.1 1.24 190 1025 149.6 0.83 2.1 199 0.21 0.231

0.87 10.32 721 50.9 10.82 2.58 6.25 0.71 0.91 0.94 6.41 6.05 13 0.206 752.5 73.15 6.72 0.5 3.74 10.42 0.58 3.18 4.45 1.13 190 1012 143.9 0.8 2.1 183 0.205 0.215

0.87 10.64 727.5 50.9 10.88 2.58 6.25 0.72 0.94 0.97 6.48 6.09 13 0.206 752.5 74.25 6.77 0.52 3.78 10.46 0.6 3.25 5.82 1.23 190 1015 147 0.81 2.1 199 0.21 0.225

6664000 10100 226870 477400 6858900 1370000 70700 569000 2236000 297000 237300 1700600 35200 20000 54940 687760 129200 128000 429000 3527200 110000 19806000 627000 607000 130 214510 175610 27000 4000 1620 170000 260000

5826760 106372 165047380 24455212.5 74519974 3616980 441875 408470 2050350 280900 1537789 10354021 459640 4120 41851605 50901964 870847 65620 1614990 36880716 64040 64488240 3444950 708520 24700 218226220 25531843 21850 8400 318496 35590 57270

-90740 -1891495 -13856120.5 2527758 -63570 980 56925 -3628838 -23513610 -30292513 -808140 -11643952 -4683140 26970 12300 -130635060 -13822364 -

PCOR PREF 3A PCOR PREF 3B SMC PREF 2C SMC PREF 2H

1041 1060 76.85 75.7

1050 1065 77 75.9

1049 1050 76.8 75.9

1050 1065 77 75.9

1040 1050 76.8 75.9

1050 1060 77 75.9

3520 2475 30990 1000350

3694200 2601875 2380370 75926565

-187300 -

15.6

15.5

15.7

15.5

15.6

582700

9089160

-5010460

HOLDING & FRIMS

January 28, 2020

www.businessmirror.com.ph

NAV One Year Three Year Five Year Y-T-D per share Return* Return Stock Funds ALFM Growth Fund, Inc. -a 245.34 -8.74% -1.33% -2.18% -2.6% ATRAM Alpha Opportunity Fund, Inc. -a 1.3216 -10.97% -1.91% -4.42% -4.37% ATRAM Philippine Equity Opportunity Fund, Inc. -a 3.4475 -17.13% -5.43% -5.19% -6.27% Climbs Share Capital Equity Investment Fund Corp. -a 0.8615 -9.59% n.a. n.a.

-3.97% First Metro Consumer Fund on MSCI Phils. IMI, Inc. -a 0.8253 -6.64% n.a. n.a.

-2.83% First Metro Save and Learn Equity Fund,Inc. -a 5.1713 -7.19% -0.11% -2.22% -2.95% First Metro Save and Learn Philippine Index Fund, Inc. -a,6 0.8265 -7.58% -3.92% n.a.

-3.17% MBG Equity Investment Fund, Inc. -a 101.73 -17.42% n.a. n.a.

-1.55% PAMI Equity Index Fund, Inc. -a 49.7253 -6.11% 0.82% n.a.

-3.03% Philam Strategic Growth Fund, Inc. -a 517.18 -5.78% -0.12% -1.93% -2.93% Philequity Alpha One Fund, Inc. -a,d,8 1.0022 n.a. n.a. n.a.

-2.71% PROPERTY Philequity Dividend Yield Fund, Inc. -a 1.2521 -5.99% 0.64% -0.89% -2.7% ARTHALAND CORP 0.8 0.81 0.8 0.81 0.8 0.81 495000 397220 Philequity Fund, Inc. -a 36.7674 -6.01% 1.49% -0.78% -2.98% 41.5 41.6 41.1 41.75 40.75 41.5 14436200 599061755 106630630 AYALA LAND 1.8 1.81 1.96 1.96 1.73 1.81 1114000 1988610 136060 ARANETA PROP Philequity MSCI Philippine Index Fund, Inc. -a,1 0.9918 -5.92% n.a. n.a.

-2.58% BELLE CORP 1.66 1.67 1.7 1.7 1.66 1.67 808000 1357200 166790 A BROWN 0.69 0.7 0.69 0.72 0.69 0.7 159000 112320 -3.01% Philequity PSE Index Fund Inc. -a 5.0665 -5.23% 1.46% 0.05% 0.83 0.86 0.84 0.87 0.83 0.87 4000 3370 CITYLAND DEVT CROWN EQUITIES 0.181 0.187 0.182 0.188 0.182 0.188 730000 132920 Philippine Stock Index Fund Corp. -a 845.89 -5.28% 1.39% -0.09% -3% CEBU HLDG 6.4 6.55 6.4 6.55 6.4 6.55 1400 8990 CEB LANDMASTERS 4.68 4.69 4.67 4.69 4.67 4.68 98000 458690 Soldivo Strategic Growth Fund, Inc. -a 0.8014 -12.14% -2.27% -3.87% -5.87% 0.52 0.53 0.53 0.53 0.51 0.53 4513000 2378460 28050 CENTURY PROP Sun Life Prosperity Philippine Equity Fund, Inc. -a 4.045 -6.57% 0.59% -1.03% -3.9% 0.39 0.4 0.39 0.39 0.39 0.39 500000 195000 CYBER BAY DOUBLEDRAGON 17.76 17.8 17.92 18 17.68 17.76 509500 9053776 -2046362 Sun Life Prosperity Philippine Stock Index Fund, Inc. -a 0.9708 -5.58% 1.25% n.a.

-3% DM WENCESLAO 9.15 9.22 9.23 9.25 9.15 9.22 237500 2186389 -593658 0.405 0.41 0.41 0.42 0.405 0.41 370000 150950 -121750 EMPIRE EAST United Fund, Inc. -a 3.5417 -4.93% 2.39% 0.52% -3.05% EVER GOTESCO 0.101 0.117 0.101 0.105 0.101 0.105 70000 7270 FILINVEST LAND 1.5 1.51 1.53 1.53 1.5 1.51 9679000 14612020 -3988460 Exchange Traded Fund 1.06 1.07 1.1 1.1 1.07 1.07 1221000 1309610 96300 GLOBAL ESTATE First Metro Phil. Equity Exchange Traded Fund, Inc. -a,c 113.4623 -4.98% 2.09% 0.85% -2.99% 14.72 14.74 14.72 14.72 14.72 14.72 453900 6681408 8990 HLDG PHIL INFRADEV 1.24 1.25 1.23 1.24 1.22 1.24 2371000 2925610 -8600 ATRAM AsiaPlus Equity Fund, Inc. -b

$1.0218 5.41% 4.69% 0.2% -0.64% MEGAWORLD 4.15 4.16 4.26 4.26 4.13 4.15 26191000 109548870 -65683820 0.225 0.226 0.236 0.236 0.225 0.225 20500000 4717990 114500 MRC ALLIED Sun Life Prosperity World Voyager Fund, Inc. -a $1.4122 19.53% 9.71% n.a.

2.43% 0.4 0.42 0.395 0.4 0.395 0.4 2000000 795000 PHIL ESTATES PRIMEX CORP 2.1 2.11 2.12 2.17 2.08 2.11 1065000 2240240 210000 Balanced Funds ROBINSONS LAND 27.05 27.2 27.5 27.55 26.85 27.2 1509800 41128780 -3604220 0.345 0.35 0.35 0.35 0.35 0.35 110000 38500 PHIL REALTY Primarily invested in Peso securities ROCKWELL 2.06 2.12 2.06 2.06 2.05 2.05 25000 51360 ATRAM Dynamic Allocation Fund, Inc. -a 1.5335 -11.59% -3.97% -4.88% -1.87% SHANG PROP 3.11 3.19 3.19 3.19 3.15 3.15 68000 214920 57420 2.53 2.57 2.58 2.58 2.55 2.57 162000 415860 STA LUCIA LAND ATRAM Philippine Balanced Fund, Inc. -a 2.1175 -8.27% -2.65% -2.46% -2.92% SM PRIME HLDG 39.75 40 41 41 39.75 39.75 8836800 353482695 -118266360 VISTAMALLS 5.5 5.6 5.64 5.64 5.5 5.5 110400 610580 2240 First Metro Save and Learn Balanced Fund Inc. -a 2.5816 -2.58% 0.78% -2.3% -1.9% SUNTRUST HOME 1.84 1.85 2.01 2.07 1.81 1.84 15196000 29122870 -11700 7.26 7.29 7.29 7.29 7.23 7.29 575100 4182773 -731277 VISTA LAND First Metro Save and Learn F.O.C.C.U.S. Dynamic Fund, Inc. -a,5 0.2253 n.a. n.a. n.a.

-1.4%

Grepalife Balanced Fund Corporation -a N.S. N.S. N.S. N.S. N.S. SERVICES ABS CBN 16.84 16.9 16.8 16.92 16.5 16.9 194200 3272934 NCM Mutual Fund of the Phils., Inc. -a 1.942 1.37% 1.83% 0.07% -1.07% 5.32 5.33 5.28 5.32 5.28 5.32 65100 345145 GMA NETWORK MANILA 0.405 0.42 0.405 0.42 0.405 0.405 100000 40950 BULLETIN PAMI Horizon Fund, Inc. -a 3.7177 2.32% 0.68% -0.96% -1.88% GLOBE TELECOM 1962 1980 2000 2008 1962 1962 17075 33825365 -17768530 PLDT 1006 1020 1038 1040 1006 1006 75795 77617900 -22189825 Philam Fund, Inc. -a 16.6423 1.08% -1.02% -1.88% 0.62% 0.049 0.05 0.047 0.05 0.047 0.049 89600000 4395400 APOLLO GLOBAL Solidaritas Fund, Inc. -a 2.0839 -3.53% 0.22% -0.09% -1.97% IMPERIAL 1.56 1.62 1.56 1.62 1.56 1.62 7000 11040 ISLAND INFO 0.103 0.104 0.107 0.107 0.104 0.104 1280000 134280 Sun Life of Canada Prosperity Balanced Fund, Inc. -a 3.767 -1.6% 1.14% -0.66% -2.51% ISM COMM 3.61 3.62 3.76 3.76 3.6 3.62 2648000 9667250 230750 2.36 2.37 2.48 2.56 2.36 2.37 2833000 6857150 24960 NOW CORP Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2028, Inc. -a,d,2 0.9951 n.a. n.a. n.a.

-2.03% 0.275 0.28 0.275 0.285 0.275 0.275 3080000 852250 TRANSPACIFIC BR PHILWEB 3.82 3.83 4 4.25 3.79 3.83 30739000 122211720 58550 Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2038, Inc. -a,d,2 0.9707 n.a. n.a. n.a.

-2.58% 2GO GROUP 9.39 9.5 9.5 9.6 9.39 9.39 6000 56899 5.23 5.3 5.4 5.4 5.23 5.23 307100 1611727 -581785 CHELSEA Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2048, Inc. -a,d,2 0.9671 n.a. n.a. n.a.

-2.63% CEBU AIR 83 83.05 83.4 83.5 82.6 83 70360 5830034.5 -2085578 Sun Life Prosperity Dynamic Fund, Inc. -a 0.9455 -2.41% 0.34% -1.91% -3.01% INTL CONTAINER 131.9 132 131.5 133.3 131.5 131.9 890070 117436609 -3071726 12.94 13.58 12.92 12.92 12.9 12.92 6600 85252 3876 LBC EXPRESS Primarily invested in foreign currency securities 0.88 0.95 0.88 0.95 0.88 0.95 29000 27010 LORENZO SHIPPNG MACROASIA 11.18 11.2 11.4 11.46 11.02 11.2 2357700 26534842 -11600106 9.1% Cocolife Dollar Fund Builder, Inc. -a $0.03872 3.21% 2% 1.28% METROALLIANCE A 1.07 1.09 1.11 1.29 1.09 1.09 749000 862400 1.05 1.14 1.19 1.3 1.06 1.14 229000 273550 METROALLIANCE B PAMI Asia Balanced Fund, Inc. -a $1.04 9.11% 4.51% 0.82% 0.2% PAL HLDG 7.4 7.45 7.36 7.5 7.35 7.4 3800 28227 Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Advantage Fund, Inc. -a $3.9843 14.71% 7.65% 4.33% 1.88% HARBOR STAR 1.38 1.39 1.3 1.39 1.28 1.38 3724000 5050110 -2700 ACESITE HOTEL 1.34 1.4 1.34 1.34 1.34 1.34 2000 2680 Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Wellspring Fund, Inc. -a,7 $1.1424 10.15% 4.62% n.a.

1.2% 9.64 12.72 13.48 13.48 13.48 13.48 100 1348 GRAND PLAZA WATERFRONT 0.59 0.61 0.61 0.61 0.59 0.59 668000 395650 Bond Funds CENTRO ESCOLAR 6.6 7.05 7.04 7.04 7.04 7.04 200 1408 7.94 9.34 7.92 7.92 7.9 7.9 22400 177166 IPEOPLE Primarily invested in Peso securities STI HLDG 0.62 0.63 0.63 0.65 0.62 0.63 7146000 4520110 567000 BERJAYA 2.89 2.9 3 3 2.85 2.88 868000 2519930 -14750 ALFM Peso Bond Fund, Inc. -a 358.19 3.97% 2.7% 2.18% 0.11% BLOOMBERRY 9.85 9.99 9.87 10.12 9.81 9.85 6145300 60927312 4218966 ATRAM Corporate Bond Fund, Inc. -a 1.9051 1.92% 0.37% -0.84% 0.16% 2.1 2.15 2.28 2.28 2.1 2.1 670000 1444120 64679.9999 PACIFIC ONLINE 2.51 2.52 2.59 2.64 2.52 2.52 340000 870340 32670.0001 LEISURE AND RES Cocolife Fixed Income Fund, Inc. -a 3.1232 4.74% 5.11% 5.15% 0.22% MANILA JOCKEY 3.07 3.15 3 3.15 3 3.15 196000 589410 PH RESORTS GRP 4.3 4.74 4.3 4.3 4.3 4.3 1000 4300 Ekklesia Mutual Fund Inc. -a 2.2248 3.88% 2% 1.64% -0.01% 0.56 0.57 0.57 0.57 0.55 0.56 2333000 1305430 -194370 PREMIUM LEISURE 8.03 8.97 8.03 8.03 8.03 8.03 3300 26499 PHIL RACING 2.06% 1.26% -0.23% First Metro Save and Learn Fixed Income Fund,Inc. -a 2.3537 5.87% ALLHOME 11.18 11.22 11.28 11.28 11.18 11.22 1045600 11724454 3267328 Grepalife Fixed Income Fund Corp. -a P N.S. N.S. N.S. N.S. N.S. METRO RETAIL 2.04 2.05 2.1 2.1 2.04 2.05 321000 659430 8140 38.95 39 39.5 39.75 39 39 357100 13966180 -4808490 PUREGOLD Philam Bond Fund, Inc. -a 4.3559 12.22% 2.05% 1.18% -0.39% 78 79.2 79.25 79.3 77.5 79.2 33380 2638578.5 627951.5 ROBINSONS RTL PHIL SEVEN CORP 139.5 142 141 142.5 141 142 370 52580 Philequity Peso Bond Fund, Inc. -a 3.7695 5.83% 2.6% 0.61% -0.49% 2.44 2.5 2.53 2.53 2.43 2.44 1688000 4139320 -1005290 SSI GROUP 18.84 18.86 18.9 18.9 18.8 18.84 915600 17249778 15058522 WILCON DEPOT Soldivo Bond Fund, Inc. -a 0.9634 5.97% 1.06% -0.26% -0.09% APC GROUP 0.415 0.42 0.415 0.425 0.41 0.42 1980000 825450 Sun Life of Canada Prosperity Bond Fund, Inc. -a 3.0605 8.81% 3.98% 1.92% -0.5% EASYCALL 8.65 8.75 8.89 8.89 8.57 8.59 6000 52130 434 447.6 437 448 432.2 432.2 560 248260 GOLDEN BRIA Sun Life Prosperity GS Fund, Inc. -a

1.6858 7.77% 3.42% 1.24% -0.9% PRMIERE HORIZON 0.375 0.385 0.41 0.415 0.375 0.375 15970000 6207000 -106900 SBS PHIL CORP 9.1 9.19 9.2 9.2 9.11 9.19 28100 256740 Primarily invested in foreign currency securities

MINING & OIL ALFM Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a $469.97 4.49% 2.78% 2.67% 0.37% ATOK 10.1 11.88 11.96 11.96 11.96 11.96 100 1196 1.08 1.09 1.08 1.14 1.08 1.09 4102000 4538660 -1519790 APEX MINING ALFM Euro Bond Fund, Inc. -a Є220.09 3.09% 1.84% 1.28% 0.16% 0.0014 0.0015 0.0015 0.0015 0.0015 0.0015 5000000 7500 ABRA MINING 6.35% 3.07% 2.3% 0.24% ATRAM Total Return Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -b $1.2101 ATLAS MINING 2.51 2.54 2.6 2.6 2.5 2.55 740000 1853540 -1750040 BENGUET B 1.1 1.23 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.1 20000 22000 22000 First Metro Save and Learn Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a $0.0259 4.02% 1.59% 1.28% 0.39% 3.11 3.15 3.06 3.2 3.06 3.15 2466000 7685960 1971110 CENTURY PEAK 7.16 7.17 7.2 7.24 7.16 7.17 3200 23006 DIZON MINES Grepalife Dollar Bond Fund Corp. -a N.S. N.S. N.S. N.S. N.S. FERRONICKEL 1.52 1.53 1.51 1.52 1.5 1.52 1716000 2590570 52880 GEOGRACE 0.201 0.208 0.21 0.21 0.201 0.201 770000 155800 PAMI Global Bond Fund, Inc -a $1.1042 6.09% 1.59% -0.23% 0.82% 0.095 0.099 0.095 0.095 0.095 0.095 10000 950 LEPANTO A Philam Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a

$2.4278 10.52% 3.78% 2.56% 1% MANILA MINING A 0.0078 0.0086 0.0079 0.008 0.0079 0.008 3000000 23900 MARCVENTURES 0.81 0.83 0.83 0.83 0.8 0.81 158000 127970 Philequity Dollar Income Fund Inc. -a $0.0606306 6.08% 2.36% 1.85% 0.52% NIHAO 1.01 1.04 1.03 1.05 1.03 1.05 10000 10320 3.1 3.15 3.09 3.17 3.04 3.15 4987000 15453420 -1915040 NICKEL ASIA Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Abundance Fund, Inc. -a $3.2306 11.47% 3.49% 2.57% 1.74% PX MINING 2.95 3 3.11 3.17 2.94 2.95 783000 2391180 158480 SEMIRARA MINING 20.65 21.5 21.65 21.65 20.65 20.65 217100 4567130 -735505 Money Market Funds 0.0056 0.0058 0.0056 0.0056 0.0056 0.0056 1000000 5600 UNITED PARAGON ACE ENEXOR 8.01 8.17 7.9 8.2 7.7 8.17 552700 4423254 2764 Primarily invested in Peso securities ORNTL PETROL A 0.01 0.011 0.011 0.011 0.01 0.01 6000000 65000 ALFM Money Market Fund, Inc. -a 126.13 3.94% 2.89% 0.28% 2.21% ORNTL PETROL B 0.011 0.012 0.011 0.011 0.011 0.011 100000 1100 0.01 0.011 0.01 0.011 0.01 0.011 5500000 60000 PHILODRILL First Metro Save and Learn Money Market Fund, Inc. -a,3 1.0304 n.a. n.a. n.a.

0.4% PXP ENERGY 9.75 9.76 9.1 10.34 8.77 9.76 6952100 68617341 1389926

Philam Managed Income Fund, Inc. -a 1.2504 5.73% 2.92% 1.59% -0.5% PREFFERED

AC PREF B1 498 505 505 505 505 505 60 30300 Sun Life Prosperity Money Market Fund, Inc. -a 1.2675 3.7% 2.92% 2.4% 0.23% 100.4 103.1 103.1 103.1 103.1 103.1 200 20620 ALCO PREF B Primarily invested in foreign currency securities AC PREF B2R 495 504 504 504 504 504 20 10080 CPG PREF A 100.9 101.9 101.9 101.9 101.9 101.9 7300 743870 Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Starter Fund, Inc. -a $1.0386 2.06% n.a. n.a.

0.13% DD PREF 100.5 101 100.6 101 100.6 101 20020 2020480 985 995 990 990 990 990 1000 990000 SMC FB PREF 2 Feeder Fund GTCAP PREF A 970 980 970 970 970 970 50 48500 MWIDE PREF 100.1 100.5 100.1 100.5 100 100.1 31010 3104215 Primarily invested in foreign currency securities PNX PREF 3A 101.5 102 102 102 102 102 300 30600 ALFM Global Multi-Asset Income Fund Inc. -b,d,4 $0.99 n.a. n.a. n.a.

0% 106 108 108.9 108.9 108 108 1230 133047 108000 PNX PREF 3B a - NAVPS as of the previous banking day. b - NAVPS as of two banking days ago. c - Listed in the PSE. d - in Net Asset Value per Unit (NAVPU).

1 - Launch date is January 3, 2019. 2 - Launch date is January 28, 2019. 3 - Launch date is February 1, 2019. 4 - Launch date is November 15, 2019.

5 - Launch date is September 28, 2019. 6 - Renaming was approved by the SEC last October 12, 2018 (formerly, One Wealthy Nation Fund, Inc.).

7 - Adjusted due to stock dividend issuance last October 9, 2019. 8 - Launch date is December 09, 2019.

"While we endeavor to keep the information accurate, the Philippine Investment Funds Association (PIFA) and its members make no warranties as to the correctness of the newspaper’s publication and assume no liability or responsibility for any error or omissions. You may visit http://www. pifa. com.ph to see the latest NAVPS/NAVPU."

PHIL. DEPOSITARY RECEIPTS ABS HLDG PDR

15.5

WARRANTS LR WARRANT

1.25

SMALL & MEDIUM ENTERPRISES ITALPINAS 3.93 KEPWEALTH 10.8 0.88 XURPAS

1.26

1.25

1.28

1.24

1.25

156000

196580

-

4.02 10.84 0.89

4.07 11.8 0.92

4.08 12.78 0.93

3.93 10.6 0.87

3.93 10.84 0.89

320000 5036400 2591000

1286480 60213522 2297500

-81510 15818 44000

EXHANGE TRADE FUNDS FIRST METRO ETF

112

113

113.8

114

112

112

20800

2354879

1154329

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Banking&Finance BusinessMirror

Central Bank to include climate, disaster data in setting policy stance

T

HE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said it is going to pay more attention to disaster- and climate-related incidents in conducting monetary policy in the country.

In a recent speaking engagement, BSP Governor Benjamin E. Diokno said they are incorporating more and more climate- and disasterrelated data in monetary policy analysis, forecasting, monitoring and risk assessment.

“As we recognize the impact of uncertainties, we are aware of the potential effect of climate- and environment-related risks to the local and global economy,” Diokno said. The BSP is known to extend regulatory relief packages to banks and nonbanks in areas affected by typhoons, earthquakes and armed conflicts to assist in their recovery, and allow them to resume normal operations.

Apart from this, Diokno said they are looking for other ways to ensure that the BSP is climate- and disaster-ready to respond to such events.

“We put our money where our mouth is. Consequently, the BSP has invested $150 million in the green bond fund launched by the Bank for International Settlements,” Diokno said. “This bolsters environmentally responsible finance and investment practices.”

He added that the BSP, together with the Department of Finance, now cochairs a newly formed interagency task force that is “mandated to facilitate green finance initiatives.”

The Philippines has been one of the countries known to be hit by natural calamities. The Department of Agriculture said typhoonrelated damages to agriculture in 2019 would hit P16 billion; thereby also putting a dent to the growth potential of the economy.

More recently, preliminary estimates by the National Economic and Development Authority showed that Taal Volcano’s eruption has resulted in economic losses of P7.63 billion for the province of Batangas alone.

Diokno said their efforts to recognize the uncertainties of climate- and disaster-related risks are part of their mandate to make the Central Bank more accessible to the common folk.

“I have always said that a Central Bank cannot operate from an ivory tower,” the governor said. “It is imperative that our stakeholders understand what we are mandated to do.”

Investors troop to year’s first RTB issue; ₧134B awarded

By Bernadette D. Nicolas

T

@BNicolasBM

HE Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) has awarded an initial P134 billion worth of three-year retail treasury bonds (RTBs), which is almost five times oversubscribed from the P30billion offering.

The coupon rate for the IOU—the 23rd tranche of RTBs offered by the government and the first for 2020— was set at 4.375 percent, with tenders amounting to P149.827 billion.

For minimum denominations of P5,000, the general investing public could take advantage of the issuance, which will be offered until February 6, 2020.

National Treasurer Rosalia V. de Leon said the increasing participation in the RTBs and the recently issued Premyo (prize) Bonds shows that the government is charting the right path in making basic investment products accessible.

“The republic first launched the RTBs in 2001 and, since then, it

has not only become a staple fundraising exercise for the national government’s priority programs, but has also provided an avenue for the investing public to work together with the government to promote the advancement of the economy,” de Leon was quoted in a statement as saying.

RTBs are generally considered low risk for investors as these allow them to earn on a fixed interest based on prevailing market rates, and are paid quarterly during the term of the bond.

Moreover, de Leon also told financial reporters that they considered the volume in pricing the RTBs at a coupon rate of 4.375 percent.

“You also have to see the volume

and, obviously, because this is an RTB catering to the retail [investors], then we’ll have to provide some incentive for them to participate,” she said.

The issuance of RTBs by the government was done to urge the country’s unbanked population to open bank accounts, as well as save and invest their money.

According to the BTr, proceeds from the issuance of RTBs will be used for general budgetary purposes, infrastructure projects and social services.

Interested investors of RTBs should have a peso account with selling agent banks accredited by the BTr. It is through this peso bank account that investors will receive their quarterly interest payments and principal amount on maturity.

Interested investors may also participate through using the online ordering facility available through Land Bank of the Philippines (LandBank) and Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP).

Likewise, the BTr is also introducing a switch tender offer where bond holders of RTB 3-08—issued in April 11, 2017, and maturing on April 11, 2020—will be allowed to exchange their holdings for the latest RTB offering.

RTB 3-08 holds a coupon rate of 4.25

Indonesia readies rescue plan for scandal-hit state insurer

I

ndonesian authorities are weighing the induction of a strategic investor into a unit of the nation’s oldest insurer that’s on the brink of collapse after alleged fund mismanagement left a $2-billion hole in its books.

PT Asuransi Jiwasraya has submitted a restructuring proposal to the Financial Services Authority that includes the stake sale in unit PT Jiwasraya Putra and securing financial assistance from a planned holding company for state insurers, according to Riswinandi, commissioner for nonbanking financial industry at the authority, known as OJK. Jiwasraya is in dire need of a lifeline after audits revealed violations of investment guidelines, leading to the insurer reporting a negative equity of 27.2 trillion rupiah ($2 billion). The crisis, stemming from alleged product mispricing, reckless investment activities, aggressive window dressing and liquidity pressure has hurt its more than 7 million clients.

The insurer’s revamp plan has been approved by Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, Riswinandi said. The State-Owned Enterprises Minister Erick Thohir has said the government was formulating a plan to rescue the insurer, and OJK Chairman Wimboh Santoso has hinted a stake sale in the unit handling life insurance may ease the cash crunch at the company.

“Our requirement is that the investor must also be an insurance company, or is part of a business group that runs an insurance business,” Riswinandi said in an interview. “We want the investor to have

Sri Mulyani Indrawati Bloomberg

competence in this industry. Foreign entities are also welcome to invest.”

Authorities plan to make Jiwasraya’s life insurance unit more attractive to prospective investors by partnering it with state-owned lender PT Bank Tabungan Negara, pawnshop PT Pegadaian, railway operator PT Kereta Api Indonesia and mobile services provider PT Telekomunikasi Selular. Jiwasraya Putra will meet the insurance needs of tens of thousands of employees of these companies and a captive market

Movies as management tool

O

ne of the pleasures of browsing through the “sale” bin of a bookstore is finding titles that you would never have looked for, and enjoying the treasure you have found.

This is true of a book I found ages ago, entitled Movies to Manage By: Lessons in Leadership from Great Films by John K. Clemens and Melora Wolff. It included nine great movies, which were categorized under groupings as: (1) Guiding the Ship, under which were discussed the movies, The Hunt for Red October, Apollo 13 and Dead Poets Society; (2) Creating a Team, with the movies Hoosiers and Norma Rae; (3) Conflicts and Turnarounds, with the movies 12 Angry Men and Twelve O’Clock High; and (4) Self Leadership, with the movies Citizen Kane and Wall Street.

At the time, I bought the book when I had been teaching ethics, and the chapter on Wall Street was related to my subject. So I gave my class the pleasurable assignment of watching that old movie. The movie was an excellent example on morality and

Wednesday, January 29, 2020 B3

Finex free enterprise Mercedes B. Suleik leadership. Without going into a summary of the movie itself, the story is about the Wall Street of the 1980s, then described as the “Decade of Greed,” a time when almost everything—ethics, ideals, honesty —was sacrificed at the altar of “The Hot Deal.”

The protagonists are Gordon Gekko (played by Michael Douglas) and Bud Fox (Charlie Sheen).

Gekko is a highly successful, amoral investment executive whose vision statement is: “Greed...is good.

Greed is right. Greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all its forms— greed for life, for money, for love,

of that size will attract investors, Riswinandi said.

The insurer may also get funding from the insurance holding company the government will soon establish through a regulation, Riswinandi said, adding income from new premiums may help ease the cash crunch at the firm.

Jiwasraya may raise about 5 trillion rupiah from the stake sale and through the holding firm, and improve its negative capital, Riswinandi said.

Jiwasraya will be allowed to partner with an insurance company to reinsure its products in due course and subject to it meeting all requirements, Riswinandi said.

The crisis at Jiwasraya has exposed the inadequacy in existing regulations and lax supervision of the insurance industry, with the government pledging to set up a rescue agency and tighter surveillance.

Regulators have also cracked down on volatile penny stocks at the center of the Jiwasraya scandal besides arresting some former executives for their alleged role in causing financial losses.

OJK is partnering with the stock exchange and the market custodian to obtain investment data for verification of those filed by the insurance companies to prevent future defaults, Riswinandi said.

“One thing that we have started changing is our approach to supervision. It is now based on risks, not on compliance,” Riswinandi said. OJK is also working with Bank Indonesia to raise supervision standards of the nonbanking financial industry to the same level as the banking industry, he said. Bloomberg News

k no w l e d ge — h a s m a r k e d t he upsurge of mankind.”

Bud is a young, upcoming stockbroker trying to build his career on Wall Street, who falls under the spell of Gekko. Together, Gekko and Bud illustrate that decade when sleaze and insider trading were on a par for the course, and the stock market had more to do with stock values rather than fundamentals. Bud dreams of money, power, luxury, stature and reputation as he sees in Gekko, and is seduced to shaking himself free of his father’s (played

by Martin Sheen) burdensome ethics. The movie takes us through Bud’s journey from the surrender of his soul to Gekko, as he acquires a fancy lifestyle and, thus, breaks up with his father to his eventual plunge from the roller coaster he has ridden, when he is frisked and handcuffed by the SEC. Sometimes, one is provoked to think that “business ethics” is an oxymoron. One wonders whether Gekko’s “Greed is good” is an offshoot of Adam Smith’s argument

that “self-interest” is what propels progress, where an individual pursuing his own good is led by an invisible hand to achieve the best good for all.

We might consider that the frenzy of the ’80s and ’90s, and its obsession with Wall Street’s quarterly reporting resulted in pursuing the stock price as an end in itself, rather than treating it as the natural by product of a successful company. Those were heady days for companies that were feted and recognized on the covers of magazines, only to end up in a tsunami of corporate failures led by Enron (the mother of all bad corporate governance stories), Tyco, Worldcom, Parmalat, etc., etc.

I had chosen the movie Wall Street for my students in “Ethics and Corporate Governance,” for in the end the lesson from the downfall of Gekko and Bud should be a new mantra that good corporate governance avers: fairness, transparency, accountability and, indeed, ethics.

E-mail: merci.suleik@gmail.com

percent, which is lower than the coupon rate of the latest tranche of RTBs. De Leon said this offer provides RTB 3-08 holders with a convenient reinvestment option for their current holdings at no cost.

In the same interview, she said the bureau at present has set an initial cap of P15 billion per working day for the switch tender offer.

Interested holders just need to approach their broker or dealer to facilitate submission of their offers.

For the first time, the National Registry of Scripless Securities, through its Switch Module, will serve as the economic platform whereby offers to exchange will be submitted, allocated and settled.

The DBP and LandBank are the joint lead issue managers for the 23rd RTB offering. They are joined by BDO Capital and Investment Corp., BPI Capital Corp., China Bank Capital Corp., First Metro Investment Corp., PNB Capital and Investment Corp., RCBC Capital Corp. and SB Capital Investment Corp. as joint issue managers.

The BTr is also set to hold road shows on the issuance of RTBs in key cities throughout the country.

In 2019, the government sold P235.935 billion in five-year RTBs, which had a coupon rate of 6.25 percent.

World’s pile of negative debt surges by the most since 2016

T

HE global rush for safer assets has fueled a huge jump in the world’s stockpile of negative-yielding bonds, snapping months of decline in the value of subzero debt.

The pool of securities with a yield below zero surged by $1.16 trillion last week, the largest weekly increase since at least 2016 when Bloomberg began tracking the data daily. Another injection looked certain on Monday, as investors worldwide ditched riskier assets and piled into bonds amid mounting fears over a deadly virus spreading from China.

“I would not go short in the global rates markets now,” said Ian Lyngen, the head of US rates strategy at BMO Capital Markets. “The health scare needs to run its course and going with the trade makes the most sense to me.”

It all threatens to reignite a debate about the phenomenon of bonds guaranteed to post losses for buy-and-hold investors. While the total fluctuated day-by-day, it shrank for four straight months through December on signs a slowdown in global growth may be bottoming out and that central banks may pause their easing cycle.

That means no immediate relief for markets that had started to feel the burden of negative yields lift. Last week brought the addition since midJanuary to about $1.5 trillion and the pile overall to $12.4 trillion—the highest level in two months.

The resurgence is a potent reminder that the market distortions synonymous with loose monetary policies have not gone away. Their impact and effectiveness was one of the key topics at a gathering of world and business leaders in Davos last week. Among the voices, Cantor Fitzgerald LP President Anshu Jain said repercussions for insurers and pension funds “will be felt for years to come.” US President Donald J. Trump wanted to know who was buying it all.

Even with the handwringing at Davos and growing sub-zero stockpile, policy makers setting ultra-low rates have assured markets the easy money will keep flowing. European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said last week policy must remain “highly accommodative” with inflation struggling to stay much above 1 percent, though she did reiterate the bank will keep looking at the impact of negative rates.

The risk-off mood sparked by the coronavirus and worries about its impact on companies and growth may yet prove temporary. The total of negative-yielding debt remains well below its high of more than $17 trillion in August, and many analysts expect it to stay that way.

“The peak of negative yields is behind us for now, for sure,” said Luke Hickmore, a money manager at Aberdeen Standard Investments. “We have a new ECB president, a German government who may well get round to fiscal spending in a new Europe, and we may even see a bit of inflation.” Bloomberg News

B4 Wednesday, Janaury 29, 2020

Boost workplace productivity with the right tools!

Fortune Life, DSWD Region II sign MOA on 4Ps

O

RGANIZATIONS face challenges every day such as missed targets, lost time, rejects and wastage to name a few.

With these happening in your office, desired output is not always achieved. Investments are made on hiring and training the right people. But investing on the ‘right tools’ that deliver organizational performance, is often overlooked. Not anymore! The Center for Global Best Practices is hosting a special training entitled “Productivity Tools in the Workplace” to be held on February 19 & 20, 2020 at the Marriott Grand Ballroom, Resorts World Complex, Pasay City, Philippines.

[Visit www.cgbp.org for a complete list of Best Practices programs including Business Etiquette and Professional Conduct in the 21st Century Workplace, Complete Staff Work, Total Performance Management, etc. Or call (Manila) at (+63 2) 8842-7148/ 59 or (+63 2) 8556-8968/ 69 and Cebu at (+63 32) 5123106 or 07].

In this training, participants will learn the tools are practical, time-proven and used

by leading global organizations. Attendees will gain valuable knowledge in the fields of productivity, planning, quality and problemsolving, in a language spoken and best practiced by world-class organizations!

This program will feature Dene Hurtado who is the lead trainer and managing director of Total Performance Management at the Center for Global Best Practices. Total Performance Management program was developed and honed from over 9 years with IMPAC Ltd USA – the world’s leading productivity improvement organization, handling over 50 client companies in Asia, helping them reduce operating costs in excess of 300 million US dollars. His last position was Chief of Operations for Asia Pacific.

Registration is open to the general public and is highly recommended for business owners, managers, supervisors, HR practitioners, professionals, rank-andfile employees, front liners of all industries and anyone who would like to achieve peak performance in their organization.

Find unique encounters with nature, culture at Lio Beach

F

ORTUNE Life Insurance Company represented by its First Vice President for Group Sales, Virgilio Aquino and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Region II represented by Fernando De Villa, Jr. formally signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) last December 12 in Taj Hotel, Tuguegarao. This pertains to the accreditation of Fortune Life as insurance provider for the members of Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program

otherwise known as 4Ps. The said agreement was made possible through the efforts of Branch Manager (BM) Sonny Guillermo of Isabela and BM Gina Dela Cruz of Tuguegarao.

Also present in the MOA signing were DSWD Asst. Regional Director Lucia Alan, AVP for North and Central Luzon Sales Alvin Perez and Sr. Manager for Group Sales Carlos Frederic Lago.

In the photo are (front row, from

left) DSWD Asst. Regional Director Lucia Alan; DSWD Region II Director Fernando De Villa, Jr.; Fortune Life First Vice President for Group Sales, Virgilio Aquino and BM Sonny Guillermo of Isabela. Also present were (second row from left) Insurance Specialist (IS) Leonicel Matocenio; AVP for North and Central Luzon Sales Alvin Perez; BM Gina Dela Cruz of Tuguegarao; IS Ellaine Joy Asil and Sr. Manager for Group Sales Carlos Frederic Lago.

O

NE is never too young or too old to cultivate a healthy respect and love for the environment, according to the planners of Lio Beach, a pristine fourkilometer stretch of ivory sand in an Ayala Land community in El Nido, Palawan.

In this haven for nature and culture encounters highlighted by limestone cliffs, sea turtles continue to lay their eggs free from the dangers of pollution and crowded habitations. Families seeking to foster among their children awe and respect for their surroundings have likewise made it a vacation destination.

Top model and entrepreneur Rissa Mananquil-Trillo and her family, the celebrity family of Douglas and Chesca Kramer among other well-loved couples and their children

visited Lio Beach mainly because they could freely enjoy the sand and sun there.

Model Vanessa Matsunaga and husband Jun Sunga allowed their kids Isabella and David to run barefoot and frolic on the beach, jump into the azure waters and run back out.

When they were hungry, they tried a range of restaurants at Shops at Lio – offering from burgers to pizza to Filipino favorites as well as vegan dishes. “We loved that you don’t ever (feel you) have to leave Lio Beach,” they said.

Lio Beach activities like an obstacle course that simulates the struggles of marine life with ocean trash instill a desire among guests to care for the environment. Kayaking at the lagoon highlighted by the screeches of the Palawan hornbill and other wildlife sounds also fosters an appreciation for the surrounding flora and fauna. During special times of the year, families likewise have the chance to actually witness sea turtles hatch and find their way to the ocean for the first time.

Better yet, Lio Beach has been carefully masterplanned to remain a natural playground for the family. No beachfront structures will be taller than the coconut trees to keep the focus on nature and the richness of the marine life all around.

Rissa and Paolo Trillo with kids

Angels Walk for Autism celebrates neurodiversity

T

HE Autism Society of the Philippines (ASP), together with SM Cares, the Corporate Social Responsibility arm of SM Prime Holdings, held the annual Angels Walk for Autism on January 26, at the Mall of Asia Arena, as the closing ceremony to the Philippine National Autism Consciousness Week.

Autism is a complex and lifelong developmental exceptionality, challenging an individual’s ability to communicate, socialize and adapt to the world around him. This spectrum condition manifests uniquely in different persons and may or may not be coupled with sensory and intellectual disabilities. It is a variation of the human condition affecting approximately 1.2 million Filipinos.

“The Angels Walk for Autism began in 2007 as awarenessraising with only 200 people,” said Mona Magno-Veluz, ASP National President. “Now, with more than 20,000 registered participants, the event has become a celebration of how far we have come in appreciating human diversity.”

“SM Supermalls is happy to support ASP in the Angels Walk for Autism, and to help nurture an active autism advocacy ecosystem all

over the country,” shares Engr. Bien Mateo, SVP for Mall Operations and Program Director of SM Cares Program on PWD’s.

This year’s Angels Walk for Autism showcases the talents of individuals on the autism spectrum with a pre-walk show and recognizes visionary contributions of our growing community of advocates.

With thousands of participants, the community attempted to do the biggest “Tala” dance challenge yet — with steps simplified for the mobility or coordination levels of all!

Ms. World Philippines 2019 Michelle Dee will be honored as the ASP’s first Goodwill Ambassador.

She is joined young men from across the autism spectrum in the new advocacy video called "Kakaiba". S

The Hans T. Sy Leadership Award for Inclusion and Welfare, the ASP’s highest recognition was bestowed on our beloved John and Harvey Chua, the creative giants behind the Photography with a Difference advocacy.

Pancake House and Manulife Business Processing Services brought home the ASP Autism Works Partners of the Year for innovative practices in autism-inclusive employment. The ASP Autism Angel Achievement Awards is presented to Ron Adea (Performing Arts) and Keith Ignacio (Information Technology).

After the walk, the ASP held its very first inter-city ASP Authletics Tournament at the SM Mall of Asia Music Hall.

Get big discounts on your phone with the new McDonald’s App!

I

T’S out with the old and in with the new, as McDonald’s welcomes the year with a new way to avail of discounts and deals, with the new McDonald’s App, your new one-stop shop for all McDonald’s discounts and deals.

The new McDonald’s App gives customers exclusive and exciting deals that can be redeemed at the Front Counter, Take-Out Counter, and Drive-Thru in all McDonald’s stores nationwide.

Upon registration, customers can enjoy big discounts on their McDonald’s favorites—from a Big Mac for only P75 to a Buy 1

Get 1 Cheeseburger deal at P99.

Even better: it’s completely free to download and register!

Simply search “McDonald’s” on the App Store or Google Play Store, download the app and register for an account, select the deal that’s best for you, and show it to the friendly McDonald’s Crew.

Aside from deals and discounts, the McDonald’s App also makes it more convenient for customers to find the nearest McDonald’s store with its Store Locator or book their next celebration at McDonald’s through the McDo Party website!

By Tim Reynolds The Associated Press

S

HE had next.

Her name was Gianna Maria-Onore Bryant. The world, now and forever, knows her as Gigi. Her dad, Kobe Bryant, called her Mambacita. He was Mamba, of course, and she was going to be the basketball’s female version of him. She was going to play at Connecticut and head to the WNBA. That was the plan.

Over the years, the world watched her grow from a baby in her father’s arms, to a small child trying to hold his Finals MVP trophy, to his companion at WNBA, college and NBA games around the country, listening to her father break down play and watching every detail on the court, just as he always did.

“Gigi was really turning into a special player,” said Russ Davis, the women’s basketball coach at Vanguard University in Southern California and someone who became close with Bryant in recent years. “It’s hard to predict her future, but with the way she was improving and the way she understood the game, she was going to have a bright one.”

Gigi was 13. She was one of the nine people, her father also among them, on the helicopter that crashed Sunday morning into a hillside in Calabasas, California, as the group made its way to a basketball tournament where she was supposed to be playing. The helicopter burst into flames. All nine—including two of her teammates—died, officials said.

Kobe and Vanessa Bryant had four daughters. Gigi was the baller of the group. She was going to carry on the Bryant name in basketball. Few things in life made Bryant happier than that realization.

“I try to watch as much film as I can,” Gigi said in an interview with Las Vegas CBS affiliate KLAS in 2019, when she and her dad attended the Las Vegas Aces’ WNBA opener. “More information, more inspiration.”

She was even sounding like her dad.

The film study was working.

So, too, was the five-, six- or seven-times-a-week workouts that Bryant would host for Gigi and her teammates on the team he coached. They ran the triangle offense, the one Bryant had so much success with during his career. Grown men, professionals, the best players in the world, struggled with the triangle. Bryant had preteen girls figuring it out.

“He never yelled or anything,” Davis said. “They just listened to him.”

Earlier this month, Bryant posted a short video clip of Gigi in a game. The sequence: dribble-drive, pass to the corner, post up, wait for the ball to come back, catch, footwork, shoot the fadeaway.

Her father’s unstoppable fadeaway.

She scored. Of course.

“Gigi getting better every day,” her dad wrote.

Bryant and Gigi went to a UConn home game against Houston last March. Bryant wore a UConn shirt—just like Gigi was—and told SNY television during an in-game interview that he was thrilled that one of his daughters wanted to follow in his sneakers and take up the family basketball business.

“It’s pretty cool. It’s pretty cool,” Bryant said. “She started out playing soccer, which I love.

But she came to me about a year-and-a-half ago and said, ‘Can you teach me the game?’ I said, ‘Sure.’ We started working a little bit, and the next thing you know it became a true passion of hers. So, it’s wonderful.”

GIGI LEAVES OWN LEGACY Sports BusinessMirror

C1

| Wednesday, January 29, 2020

mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

Gianna mariaonore Bryant, 13, was going to carry on a basketball legacy.

Kobe’s second act cut tragically short

By Tim Dahlberg

K

The Associated Press

obe Bryant was barely a few years into his postNational Basketball Association (NBA) life when it was suddenly cut short in a helicopter crash so unimaginable that we had to keep reminding ourselves it actually did happen.

The greats just aren’t supposed to die like that. It’s so overwhelming that it’s difficult to process the thought that Kobe is really gone and that his 13-year-old daughter died alongside him.

At the age of 41, he was awaiting certain induction into the Hall of Fame after a brilliant career with the Los Angeles Lakers. He had already won an Oscar in his post-basketball work as a film producer, written one book and started another, and was a mentor to a number of NBA players.

What really put the sparkle in his eye, though, were a group of girls just entering their teenage years. They were the Mambas, and one of the greatest players in basketball history was one of the coaches.

“The girls are making incredible progress,’’ he told an interviewer last year. “Just wait until you see us in six years.”

Those six years were going to be magical. They had to be, because almost everything Bryant threw himself into turned out that way.

An Oscar for his film, maybe a Pulitzer for his book. And, of course, a lot of wins for his daughter Gianna’s AAU team.

Maybe that’s why there was such a big smile on Bryant’s face as he sat courtside last June for season opener of the WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces. He talked to an inquiring reporter about being happy in retirement because he could spend more time with his family, and about the things he saw on the court in front of him that day.

“Their skill set, their athleticism,’’ he said. “It’s really a beautiful game to watch.’’

So, of course, was any game dad played in. Buy a ticket to watch Bryant on the basketball court, and you always got your money’s worth.

He won five NBA titles with a revolving cast of characters in Los Angeles, but it was more than that. He won over the town by being everything he could be every night he laced his sneakers up.

A fan told the story on Twitter about going to the florist Sunday to get purple and gold flowers to take to the impromptu memorial that quickly grew at Staples Center.

The women behind the counter gave him the flowers, but refused to take his money.

“It’s LA,’’ she said.

Now he’s gone, before we could witness what was coming next. And Los Angeles and the basketball world will never be the same.

There are people in Pittsburgh who still tear up at the memory of the last day of 1972, when Pirates superstar Roberto Clemente died in a plane crash while delivering aid to earthquake victims in Nicaragua. There are people around the world who will grieve deeply just as long now that Bryant is no longer with us.

Clemente’s legacy lives on a half-century later, driven both by the memory of his spectacular play and the fact he died while on a humanitarian mission. His name also lives on in his native Puerto Rico, where buildings, parks and baseball fields are named after their hero.

Auto racing fans still talk about Dale Earnhardt nearly two decades after his death at the Daytona 500. Earnhardt’s death was widely credited with safety advances that have helped limit the carnage in auto racing in recent years.

Bryant’s legacy is more complicated, and not just because

of the 2003 sexual assault charges in Colorado that some have never forgiven him for. While the basketball stuff is written in the record books, Bryant seemed determined in his second act in life to do more with his life.

He wanted to show the world he was more than just a basketball player. He wanted to erase the stain of what happened in Colorado nearly two decades ago.

That meant producing films and writing books, something Bryant couldn’t have imagined when drafted as an 18-year-old out of high school by the Lakers. It also meant being on the court with his daughter and her friends, and telling anyone who would listen that girls can play basketball, too.

He had no interest in coaching in the NBA, but the WNBA surely intrigued him. Indeed, it wouldn’t have been hard to imagine Bryant—the father of four girls—not only being involved in the league but also finding ways to help make it far more successful.

We’ll never know how the second act would have played out. One thing we do know from the tremendous outpouring of grief upon his death is that Bryant was loved by many—and for many different reasons.

Smoke was still coming from the crash scene in the hills north of Los Angeles when hundreds of fans made their pilgrimage to Staples Center to lay flowers and show their respect. The Grammy Awards happened were Sunday night at Staples, and in the rafters they lit his No. 8 and No. 24 jerseys for all to see.

There will be many tributes in the days ahead because there’s grief everywhere. It will take time to mourn Bryant’s passing, and figure out what his life meant to both a city and a sport.

All of that can wait. All of that must wait.

For now, all that matters is that the Black Mamba is gone.

Many of Gigi’s favorite players had UConn ties, like Katie Lou Samuelson—she had played for Davis, which led to the initial connection between him and Bryant—and Gabby Williams.

“From what I saw,” Williams said Monday, “she was going to be heaps better than me.”

Williams was floored when Gigi told her she was her favorite player. She would FaceTime with the Bryants before games, gave Gigi her Chicago Sky uniforms, even practiced with Gigi and her teammates, and was blown away by how hard she had to play against them.

“She had the right mentality; so confident, relentless, so mean and aggressive,” Williams said. “And then [she would] walk off the court with the biggest, sweetest smile on her face. But my favorite part about her was just seeing how much she loved the game and loved to learn.

“It’s intimidating to have to follow in those footsteps,” Williams added, “but she really embraced it.”

The UConn allegiance made all the sense in the world. Bryant played in Los Angeles, but he was a Philadelphia guy. So is UConn Coach Geno Auriemma, who was heartbroken by the news of the crash Sunday.

UConn has been the gold standard in the women’s college game for a generation, driven by excellence. Bryant identified with that quality.

UConn was aware of Gigi’s affinity for the Huskies, and paid a fitting tribute. Before its game with the US women’s national team Monday night, UConn draped a No. 2 jersey with a bouquet of flowers across it on the team’s bench. Gigi wore No. 2 for her dad’s team.

Jewell Loyd of the WNBA’s Seattle Storm knew plenty about Gigi. Loyd sponsors an AAU team in Seattle. They played against Bryant’s team and, over the years, Loyd and Bryant forged an extremely special, extremely close bond.

They looked at one another as family.

Her description of Gigi?

“Awesome,” Loyd said.

“When I went to work out with Kobe, most kids her age would be on the tablet,” Loyd said. “She stayed still, and watched the entire time. Didn’t say anything. She was studying the game of basketball. If that didn’t say Kobe, I don’t know what does.”

Even NBA players were impressed. Atlanta’s Trae Young couldn’t believe it when Bryant told him that Gigi was a huge fan of his, and was trying to emulate parts of his game. So Young paid tribute Sunday by opening a Hawks game in a No. 8 jersey, before switching back to his customary No. 11.

Afterward, Young recalled some of his final conversation with Bryant.

“He said how proud he was of me and how he wants me to continue to be a role model for kids growing up, for Gigi,” Young said.

There were similarities in how father and daughter looked—the dark, piercing eyes, especially—but Loyd also saw similarities in the way father and daughter played the game.

Both, she said, were methodical.

Both were willing to outwork their opponents. Gigi knew who her father was and knew that meant a lot of eyeballs would be on her, that comparisons between her and her dad on the court were going to be inevitable.

Gigi didn’t care, either.

She wanted to be like Dad. “That’s his legacy,” Loyd said.

That’s now Gigi’s legacy, as well.

Spo

Business

C2 Wednesday, January 29, 2020

Author deletes book cowritten with Bryant

S

ãO PAULO—Kobe Bryant and Brazilian writer Paulo Coelho were working together on a children’s book, but the author of The Alchemist said he deleted the draft after Bryant’s death in a helicopter crash.

The 72-year-old novelist told The Associated Press on Monday that the two men started discussing the project in 2016, when Bryant retired after a 20-year National Basketball Association (NBA) career.

They began writing a few months ago.

Within hours of hearing of Bryant’s death Sunday, Coelho announced that he would delete the draft, rather than finish the book without the 41-year-old five-time NBA champion.

“I deleted the draft because it didn’t make any sense to publish without him,” Coelho said by phone on Monday from his home in Geneva. “It wouldn’t add anything relevant to him or his family.

“That doesn’t stop me from writing someday about things I learned from Kobe, and how much of a larger-than-life person he was,” Coelho said. “But the children’s book did not make sense anymore.”

Coelho’s decision disappointed many of Bryant’s fans, who flooded the writer’s social-media channels asking for the draft not to be erased.

Bryant was a fan of Coelho’s, and called The Alchemist his favorite book. He recommended it to everyone, from former teammate Kyrie Irving to Rob Pelinka, his former agent who now runs the Lakers’ basketball operations.

Pelinka read a passage from the book before a news conference in July 2018 shortly after the Lakers signed LeBron James, who was photographed reading The Alchemist before a shootaround in the 2018 Eastern Conference finals when he played for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Coelho, who has sold tens of millions of books, said the idea behind his collaboration with Bryant was to inspire underprivileged children to overcome adversity through sports. AP

A DIFFICULT TIME IN L.A. L

OS ANGELES—The National Basketball Association (NBA) has postponed the Los Angeles Lakers’ next game against the Clippers on Tuesday night after the deaths of retired superstar Kobe Bryant, his daughter and seven others in a helicopter crash.

The league announced the decision in

Fans pay respect at a memorial for Kobe Bryant near Staples Center. AP

Grief shrouds Super Bowl media night M IAMI—Chants of “Kobe! Kobe! Kobe!” broke a moment of a silence that kicked off a more subdued Super Bowl media night.

The National Football League (NFL) opened the most hyped week in professional sports with mixed emotions Monday night, one day

after retired superstar Kobe Bryant, his daughter and seven others died in a helicopter crash in California.

The Kansas City Chiefs took the stage first on what typically is a wild evening filled with zany antics by quasi-media members. One television

reporter wearing a short, white dress and sailor’s cap asked a few players to do the Floss dance with her but the atmosphere was mostly deflated.

Fans of the Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers made some noise. Still, it seemed there were more media than fans in the seats at Marlins

Park, making it look a lot like a baseball game in the middle of summer than the NFL’s annual version of a music festival.

Players tried to soak in the excitement of their first trip—for many—to the Super Bowl while struggling with the news of Bryant’s death.

“I wasn’t lucky enough to get to meet Kobe,” Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes said. “But the impact that he made in my life, it was huge.

The way he was able to go about every single

a statement Monday, saying it “was made out of respect for the Lakers organization.”

The Lakers learned about the crash while flying home from an East Coast road trip Sunday.

LeBron James and several other players appeared to be visibly affected by the news when they got off the plane.

James made his first public comments Monday night in an Instagram post, including several photos of himself with Bryant. The four-time NBA MVP and 16-time All-Star said he was “heartbroken and devastated,” and had been crying repeatedly while trying to write about Bryant.

James, who joined the Lakers last season, said the two spoke by phone Sunday morning after James passed Bryant for third place on the NBA’s career scoring list Saturday night.

“Didn’t think for one bit in a million years that would be the last conversation we’d have,” James wrote. “I promise you, I’ll continue your legacy man! You mean so much to us all here, especially #LakerNation, and it’s my responsibility to put this [team] on my back and keep it going!! Please give me the strength from the heavens above and watch over me!”

The Lakers made grief counselors available to employees Monday after the loss of Bryant, who spent his entire 20-year NBA career with the 16time NBA champion franchise.

day, when I was a kid, and the work ethic and the intensity that he had to be great every single day.

“Even to this day, I still watch videos on YouTube the day before games, and just listen to him talk and how he puts everything in perspective of being great—on and off the field with his kids, and his business ventures and then, obviously, his play. It’s a tragic thing. Prayers to his family, but he made a huge impact in my life, for sure.”

Lakers owner Jeanie Buss was quite close to Bryant, and Lakers General Manager Rob Pelinka was Bryant’s agent during his playing career.

“The Los Angeles Lakers would like to thank all of you for the tremendous outpouring of support and condolences,” the Lakers organization said in a statement after the postponement was announced. “This is a very difficult time for all of us.”

Dwight Howard is the only current Lakers player who played with Bryant for the franchise for one season back in 2012-13, but the players all knew him. James and Bryant teamed up on the US Olympic teams in 2008 and 2012, and Anthony Davis played a backup role on that 2012 London Olympics team.

Bryant had attended a handful of Lakers games in recent years with his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, who also died in the crash in Calabasas, California. The NBA says the game between the Los Angeles rivals will be rescheduled later.

The next game on the Lakers’ schedule is Friday night at home against Portland.

The Lakers lead the Western Conference standings and have the NBA’s second-best record at 36-10. After trading for Davis and teaming him with James in the off-season, the Lakers are all but certain to end their franchise-record playoff drought at six seasons. AP Mahomes was the one who broke the news to teammate Tyreek Hill on the team’s flight to Miami.

“It was like, ‘Man do you believe this?’ And I was just like waking up. So I was like ‘Dude, I don’t want to see that right now,” Hill said. “He was like ‘Dude, wake up, wake up, wake up!’ and I saw it. I was like, ‘No, I don’t believe it because you know you see stuff online, and it be like fake...especially someone like that. Man, that’s Kobe man. AP

orts

sMirror

Wednesday, January 29, 2020

RAMIREZ

PSC tackles NSAs’ annual budget

T

HE Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) will hold a series of budget hearings with national sports associations (NSAs) starting next Tuesday.

“The PSC, as mandated by law, is here to support each of the NSAs. With the assistance coming from the President and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp., we want to know their budget proposals and programs, and see where we are headed,” PSC Chairman William Ramirez said.

Special attention will be given to NSAs which qualified—or can still qualify—athletes to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

Gymnast Caloy Yulo and pole vaulter EJ Obiena are the only Filipino athletes who have so far qualified for Tokyo 2020.

Aside from the annual budget, each NSAs priority programs and major international events will also be tackled, as well as each of their grassroots programs, updates on their international federations and Philippine Olympic Committee

accreditation, and their athletes’ profile.

PSC Commissioners Celia Kiram, Arnold Agustin, Charles Maxey and Ramon Fernandez will tend to their respective NSAs during the hearings.

The PSC spent P1.2 billion for NSA’s— double the initial allocation of P600 million— because of the country’s hosting of the 30th Southeast Asian Games, which the country dominated.

TENNIS PHENOM EALA ON A ROLL

T

ENNIS phenom Alex Eala beat France’s Julie Belgraver, 6-0, 3-6, 6-1, to advance to the third round of the Australian Open Junior Girls singles tournament on Tuesday in Melbourne.

Eala, 14, disposed of an error-prone Belgraver, reaching match point after a 4040 deuce in the third set.

Eala, ranked No. 4 in the tournament, clashes with 16thranked Hong Yi Cody Wong of Hong Kong in the round of 16.

Eala was also on a roll in doubles with

Russia’s Avanesyan and Ukraine’s Liuboy Kostenko, 7-5, 4-6, on Monday.

Eala, who trains at the Rafael Nadal Academy, earlier eliminated Israel’s Shavit Kimchi, 6-0, 4-6, 6-2, last Sunday.

ALEX EALA advanced to the quarterfinals.

T

JUNE MAR, AGAIN, C LEADS MVP RACE

“There are around 1,500 families who evacuated to our city from nearby areas affected by the explosion of Taal Volcano,” Maliksi said.

“We laud the PSL for coming up with the idea of turning this event into a relief drive for the victims of the volcano eruption.”

PSL stars from other teams like Petron, Marinerang Pilipina, PLDT Home Fibr, Chery Tiggo and F2 Logistics as well as two key players from the Japanese squad will also auction their jerseys to raise fund for the evacuees on Wednesday.

The Japanese players will visit the evacuees to personally hand their donations on Tuesday.

PSL Chairman Philip Ella Juico said this is their way of giving it back to the community.

“This is our way of helping those in need,” said Juico, a former Philippine Sports Commission chairman who now leads the Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association.

“We are lucky to have the city of Imus as our partner in this very noble endeavor,” he added.

LADY BLAZERS UNBEATEN IN VOLLEYBALL

T

HE Philippine Basketball Association Season 44 Most Valuable derby went down to a tight contest among the season’s Best Player of the Conference winners and the top rookie who wowed the league like a grizzled showman.

June Mar Fajardo is on course to stretching his record reign as PBA MVP to a sixth straight year as the San Miguel Beer (SMB) ace behemoth faces challenges from TNT KaTropa’s Jayson Castro, NorthPort’s Christian Standhardinger and Columbian Dyip’s CJ Perez.

The season’s top performer will be awarded with the coveted trophy during the Leo Awards that usher PBA Season 45 on March 1.

Fajardo bagged the Philippine Cup BPC tophy, Castro took the honors in the midseason Commissioner’s Cup, Standhardinger had his own BPC coronation in the Governors’ Cup and Perez contended

for the top player award in two conferences.

Statistics-wise, Fajardo and Perez lead the pack with the SMB star piling up a whopping statistical points average of 39.6 and the Columbian Dyip super rookie coming up with 33.47 SPs per game.

Perez even emerged as the league’s new scoring champ with 20.8 points per game.

Matthew Wright was a close second with 18.89, followed by Fajardo with 18.87.

Castro barely missed the Top Five with 31.5 per outing while Standhardinger came in 16th with 26.7.

NorthPort’s Sean Anthony (33.46), Ginebra’s Stanley Pringle (31.8) and TNT’s RR Pogoy (31.7) finished third, fourth and fifth in the statistics race, thus, putting themselves in good positions to make the Mythical Selections.

Ginebra’s Japeth Aguilar (29.9) came at seventh, followed by Wright (29.0), Magnolia’s Ian Sangalang (28.7) and SMB’s Moala Tautuaa (27.5)

to round out the Magic 10.

In the race for the Mythical First Team and Second Team are players in the top 25.

Others making the list Troy Rosario (TNT), Scottie Thompson (Ginebra), Alex Cabagnot (SMB), Robert Bolick (NorthPort), Rashawn McCarthy (Columbian), Jeron Teng (Alaska), Chris Ross (SMB), Paul Lee (Magnolia), LA Tenorio (Ginebra), Poy Erram (NLEX), Chris Banchero (Magnolia), Arwind Santos (SMB) and Greg Slaughter (Ginebra).

As MVP contender, Perez is the top favorite for the Rookie of the Year award.

His closest rivals are Bolick, Javee Mocon and Bobby Ray Parks.

The Leo Awards also feature the winners of the Most Improved Player, the Sportsmanship Award and the All Defensive Team.

DE LIAñO, RAVENA STRIKE FOR MIGHTY

J

uan Gomez de Liaño and Thirdy Ravena finally made their presence felt as Mighty Sports-Creative Pacific rolled to its third straight win—84-66 win over Tunisia’s ES Rades—in the 31st Dubai International Basketball Championship late Monday at the Shabab Al Ahli Club in the United Arab Emirates.

The former collegiate rivals combined for six triples with Gomez de Liaño of the University of the Philippines posting an impressive four-of-five shooting from the three-point area for 12 points.

Ravena, a former Ateneo superstar, added eight points on two-of-five shooting from the same area aside from providing the intangibles to help Mighty Sports-Creative Pacific post its first blowout win after two tough victories.

The Philippine Basketball Association hopefuls struck hardest in the third quarter when Mighty Sports-Creative Pacific post a 63-54 lead going into the payoff period.

Naturalized Filipino Andray Blatche and World Cup veteran Renaldo Balkman then took charge in the middle of the fourth to finally break the game wide open to the delight of team owners Alexander Wongchuking and Bong Cuevas, and hundreds of wildly-cheering Filipino fans.

“It’s a good win for us,” said Coach Charles Tiu

who immediately dedicated the victory to National Basketball Association legend Kobe Bryant who died in a helicopter crash Sunday in California.

“I’m happier this time because two of our local standouts finally showed what they are capable of,” Wongchuking said.

For the third straight game, the 6-foot-10 Blatche tallied a double-double of 18 points and 13 rebounds on top of five assists, while Balkman also finished with 18 points and six rebounds but turned the ball seven times for the team also backed by Go for Gold, Gatorade and Discovery Primea.

Tiu hopes to use the win as motivation when they battle last year’s runner-up Beirut Sports Club for Group B’s top seeding on Tuesday at 9 p.m. (1 a.m. Wednesday in Manila).

Although already assured of a quarterfinals berth, Mighty Sports-Creative Pacific needs to beat the Lebanese to face the No. 4 team in Group A of the 11-team tournament.

“We need to sweep our group eliminations for better chances in the semifinals,” Wongchuking said.

THIRDY RAVENA finally finds his rhythm.

ollege of Saint Benilde made San Sebastian College eat dust, 25-18, 25-15, 25-17, to stay unbeaten in five matches in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Season 94 women’s volleyball tournament on Tuesday at the Filoil Flying-V Centre in San Juan, Pasig.

Marites Pablo led the Lady Spikers with 11 points, two aces and six excellent receptions, and Klarisa Abriam added 10 points and five excellent digs, while Arianne Daguil had seven excellent digs and Christine Lim finished with 10 excellent sets in the match that lasted only 58 minutes.

The Lady Blazer now share the top spot with the four-peat-seeking Arellano University.

“Our goal is to be first or second [in the standings] with that twice-to-beat advantage,” the Lady Blazer’s assistant Coach Jay Chua said.

Reyanne Canete scored a team-high eight points with two blocks, one ace and 10 excellent

receptions for the Lady Stags who remained winless in five matches.

Lyceum of the Philippines University also swept Emilio Aguinaldo College (EAC) in straight sets, 25-18, 25-17, 25-15, to notch its second straight win.

Mary Onofre led the Lady Pirates with 13 points, two blocks and two aces, and Monica Sevilla added 11 points.

Camille Bellaro made 17 excellent digs and 16 excellent receptions and Venice Puzon had 15 excellent sets for Lyceum, which improved to fifth spot with a 2-3 won-lost record.

Catherine Almazan top-scored for the Lady Generals with 12 points, theee blocks and nine excellent digs, while Jan Cabrera added nine points for EAC (0-4).

EAC, however, remained unscathed in men’s action at 4-0 after beating Saint Benilde, 25-20, 25-23, 25-17. Ryniel Berlanga

Apollo triathlon set in Subic

A

pollo Petroleum Jelly will be copresenting the first leg of the Bike Run 2020 events dubbed the Apollo Petroleum Jelly TRI 2020 on February 23 in Subic Bay. There will be two distances—Sprint involving a 1.5-km swim, a 40-km bike and a 10-km run; Standard distance with a 750-meter swim, a 20-km bike ride and a 5-km run—in the event.

The categories include individual (Standard and Sprint) and relay (Standard Distance), which have sub-

THAT’S ALL

Bryant’s ‘other world’ just starting to bloom

Superliga preseason tilt in Imus HREE teams stake their mettle against a powerhouse squad from Japan when the Philippine Superliga (PSL) holds a preseason tournament at the Imus City Sports Center in Cavite on Monday.

Sta. Lucia, Cignal and Generika-Ayala will parade their overhauled rosters against a selection from West Japan University in the pocket tourney that serves as an opening salvo of the women’s league.

Mika Reyes will be in a Sta. Lucia jersey while Rhea Dimaculangan debuts for Generika-Ayala in the event co-hosted by Imus City headed by Mayor Emmanuel Maliksi.

The league and the city will also display their bayanihan spirit as they provide aid to the victims of the recent Taal Volcano eruption.

Instead of selling tickets, organizers will give free access to the games in exchange for relief goods like used clothes, canned goods, bottled water and face masks.

Al Mendoza alsol47@yahoo.com

Ryniel Berlanga

teammate, Indonesia’s Prisk Madelyn Nugroho, reaching the round of 16 after defeating Belgraver and Slovenia’s Pia Lovric, 6-2, 4-6.

Eala and Nogroho dominated the tandem of

JUNE MAR FAJARDO (from left) is back in his comfort zone but has Jason Castro and Christian Standhardinger hoping to snap his streak.

C3

categories all-men, all-women and mixed team.

Widely known as a staple in every Filipino’s household, Apollo Petroleum Jelly can help lubricate skin areas that are predisposed to chafing—perfect for triathletes who have constant contact between skin, clothing and footwear during their races.

To use Apollo Petroleum Jelly, apply on the skin area of choice and rub liberally. For optimum usage, apply to areas prone to chafing, such as the shoulders, armpits, nipples, underarms, feet, lower back or hips, butt cheeks, inner thighs and the groin area.

I just can’t control myself writing again about Kobe Bryant, whose passing after a helicopter crash on Sunday brought the world to its knees in utter shock.

Gone too soon as he was only 41.

Snuffed was his innate character to be a man for others.

My “All Write” column at SunStar talked about the death of Bryant, tragically together with Gianna, his 13-year-old daughter, and seven others that included a couple and their child. A baseball coach was also in that chopper bursting into a ball of fire after it slammed a hillside in Calabasas, Los Angeles, CA, in foggy conditions, at approximately 10 in the morning. All nine aboard perished.

Before the tragedy, Bryant’s “other world” is almost a-bloom after he retired on April 13, 2016, firing 60 points in his farewell NBA (National Basketball Association) game. No surprise there; his career-best is 81 points.

What’s that “other world” again?

His family.

Finally reconciling in 2013 with his wife, Vanessa, after their divorce triggered by Bryant’s darkest moment when he was accused of a sexual assault in a Colorado hotel (the case was dismissed) in 2003, Kobe became a devoted family man— embellishing this with a foundation to assist the homeless, among other charity works, he and Vanessa had put up.

After emerging from this career-threatening rape scare that tarnished his reputation (he apologized publicly), Bryant, whose cache of accomplishments include five NBA crowns, two Olympic titles, two NBA Finals MVPs, one league MVP and 18 All-Star stints, leaned on the counsel of a Catholic priest to build his new world: “God will not give you something that you cannot handle. So let go and move on.”

From then on, he’d rather be with his wife and children (Capri, the youngest of his four daughters, was born in June 2019) every single minute than being with his buddies.

Because Bryant loved to fly, he took helicopters around LA just to spend more time with family. In a 2018 podcast, he said: “Even if I only got to spend 20 minutes in the car with my kids after school, ‘I want that.’”

A devout Roman Catholic, Bryant was seen hearing Mass that fateful day before he joined the eight others in the ill-fated flight bound for Bryant’s gym named Mamba, Kobe’s basketball nickname as a Los Angeles Laker for 20 years—starting at the tender age of 17. Gianna was to play a game with her basketball team being coached by Bryant.

Jack Nicholson, the eminent Oscar winner and an ardent LA fan who would postpone Hollywood location shootings just to watch a Laker game, recalled the first time he met Bryant.

In an interview with CBSLA’s Jim Hill, Nicholson said: “My reaction is the same as almost all of LA. Where we think everything’s solid, there’s a big hole in the wall. I was used to seeing and talking to Kobe that...it kills you. It’s just a terrible event.”

Continued Nicholson: “I teased him the first time we met. It was at the Garden in New York and I offered him a basketball and asked him if he wanted me to autograph it for him. He looked at me like I was crazy...I sat right behind his jump shot on the left hand side. I can see him going up and I can tell the first instant if it’s going in...I remember the totality of how great a player he was.... We’ll think of him all the time and we’ll miss him.”

There will never be another Kobe Bryant.

THAT’S IT Just hours before Bryant’s tragic death, he even took the time to tweet LeBron James after James had passed him for third place in the NBA’s list of alltime scoring leaders in a game in Philadelphia, Kobe’s birthplace: “Continuing to move the game forward @ King James. Much respect my brother.” Humility at its best.

UCI continental race up in Clark

P

ru Life UK will again stage the PRURide PH from March 11 to 15 in Clark and Bataan with more than 2,500 cyclists, including local and international professionals, seeing action in 10 race categories.

“We are excited to launch PRURide PH 2020 after the success of our first three editions,” Pru Life UK Senior Vice President

and Chief Customer Marketing Officer Allan Tumbaga told Tuesday’s Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum at Amelie Hotel Manila.

A three-day race is again calendared by the Union Cycliste Internationale, the worldgoverning body for cycling.

Race Director Ian Alacar also told the forum presented by San Miguel Corp., Braska Restaurant, Amelie Hotel Manila and the

Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. that Stage 1 in Clark will cover 120 kms on a 30-km loop, Stage 2 in Mount Samat in Bataan and Stage 3 on a 15-km loop inside Clark.

The route will feature flat roads, as well as uphill and downhill stages.

A total of 13 international teams will vie against five local squads. The lineup will be finalized on February 10. More than P2 million in cash prizes will be at stake.

Sports

NEYMAR: A PLAYER TRANSFORMED P

BusinessMirror

C4

| Wednesday, January 29, 2020 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

NEYMAR is in fine form once more. AP

PRESSURE ON BARTY M

By John Pye

The Associated Press

ELBOURNE, Australia—Ashleigh Barty is a step closer to ending a four-decade drought for Aussies at the national championship.

Top-ranked Barty was under pressure on her serve and saved a set point in the tiebreaker before seizing the momentum against two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova in a 7-6 (6), 6-2 quarterfinal win at the Australian Open on Tuesday.

The so-called Barty Party in 2019 ended in a quarterfinal loss to Kvitova. The start of a new decade is cause for a bigger celebration at Melbourne Park.

Barty next faces Sofia Kenin, who reached the semifinals at a major for the first time with a 6-4, 6-4 win over No. 78-ranked Ons Jabeur.

In a first set that lasted almost 70 minutes, Barty fended off eight of the nine break-point chances she faced before finally getting the upper hand when she won a 22-shot rally, defending for much of it and sending up lobs just to stay in the point, at 3-2 down in the tiebreaker.

“I felt like I was run ragged around everywhere, just trying to throw the ball up to give myself some time,” Barty said. “I just remember trying to stay alive in the point because I knew it was a big one. A big difference swapping ends at 2-4 than there is at 3-all.

“More of a survival mode point than anything else.”

She went on a roll to take a 4-0 lead in the second and take all the momentum away from Kvitova, who beat her here in the quarterfinals last year before before losing the final to Naomi Osaka.

Barty rebounded from that to win her first major title at the French Open, where she beat Kenin in the fourth round. Until she arrived in Australia, Kenin’s

run at Roland Garros—which included a thirdround upset over Serena Williams— was her best at a Grand Slam.

There’s a lot of local expectation riding on Barty, who is aiming to be the first Australian woman since Chris O’Neil in 1978 to win the Australian Open. The first major of the decade may see the end of the 42-year wait, and an Australian man hasn’t won since 1976. Barty is already the first Australian woman since 1984 to reach the semifinals of the home Open.

Barty doesn’t expect to feel the pressure.

She won her first title on home soil in Adelaide in the lead-up to this season’s first major.

“I’m not going to have anything but a smile on my face when I walk out onto this court,” she said.

Kvitova said she’d had tough matches before here and was able to win them.

Barty, though, “Was really proving to be No. 1,”she said. “It was a great, great match, great fight.”

Kenin and Jabeur were both into the quarterfinals for the first time at a major.

For Kenin, who was born in Moscow but moved to the United States as a baby and grew up in Florida, the degree of difficulty

will only increase.

“I’m excited. Of course, she’s playing at her home, so it’s a little bit different,” Kenin said. “I played a lot of big names.

I don’t think I’ve played anyone big in their home crowd.

It’s going to be a different atmosphere obviously. But it’s exciting. I’m really looking forward to it.

Kenin is playing her best tennis, too. Her best previous run at Melbourne Park ended in the second round, when she lost to Simona Halep last year.

She finished last year ranked 14th, and although she’s 1-4 in career meetings she was able to match Barty in one category: they were tied for most hard-court wins on the women’s tour last year with 38 wins each.

Kenin’s run here included a comeback win in the third round against 15-year-old Coco Gauff, when she made only nine unforced errors across the second and third sets.

In the second set against Jabeur, she saved three break points in a long sixth game, then broke serve in the seventh game to set up the win.

“It was a tough moment,” Kenin said. “I didn’t know it was 10 minutes [but] it was pretty long, the game. After that I got my momentum.”

Jabeur, a 25-year-old Tunisian, was the first Arab woman to make it to the last eight at a major. “Ï think I proved that I can be in the quarterfinals in a Grand Slam, even if I have a lot of things to improve probably physically and mentally,” she said. “But I’m happy that I pushed through a lot of things. I proved to myself that I could do a lot of great things.””

In later men’s quarterfinals, 20-time major winner Roger Federer was playing 100th-ranked Tennys Sandgren, and seven-time Australian Open winner Novak Djokovic had a night match against Milos Raonic of Canada.

Ashleigh Barty advances to the Australian Open semifinals. AP

By Jerome Pugmire The Associated Press

ARIS—After spending the whole summer pushing for a move away from Paris SaintGermain (PSG), Neymar is now enthralled with the club that made him the world’s record signing at €222 million ($245 million).

It has been a staggering turnaround. Only months ago, Neymar was persona non grata in the eyes of many PSG fans after trying his utmost to rejoin Barcelona, which sold him for that enormous sum.

Neymar even missed the start of PSG’s season in doing so. When he finally appeared on September 14, he was given a nasty reception by a section of PSG fans incensed at his behavior. PSG’s hardcore ultras, in particular, were merciless in their expletive-laced tirades against him in that game.

They felt betrayed that he wanted to leave and let him know. Even though he scored a late winner in that game with a stunning scissor-kick volley, they still jeered him as he celebrated in a low-key manner so as not to antagonize them.

Even though this was only a few months ago, it all seems to be consigned to history with a new page turned.

Neymar is back in favor at PSG, something that seemed unfathomable during the tense final days of the summer transfer window in August.

Now he is in fine form once more.

On Sunday night he scored both goals in PSG’s 2-0 win at Lille to take his league tally to 13 goals in 13 games, and 47 in 50 league games since joining in the summer of 2017.

His first goal against Lille was a superb curling shot into the top right corner, the second a coolly-struck penalty. But what stood out above those goals and his undoubted artistry was his seemingly newfound attitude.

Whisper it quietly: Yes, Neymar is becoming a team player, and a hardworking one.

Gone, it would appear, are the attention-hogging histrionics of the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Back then, Neymar’s constant tumbling and theatrical rolling on the ground drew the ire of opposing teams, fans from around the globe on social networks, and even exasperated Brazil fans.

These days Neymar is a player transformed. He rides tackles, even if they’re hard or unfair, such as an awful lunge on his ankle from Lille midfielder Benjamin André.

And he even tracks back to help his teammates defend.

His work ethic has increased considerably and, so far, it has not impeded his impact in attack.

“I’m very happy to help the team play in this way, to score goals and to provide assists,” Neymar said through a translator after the Lille game. “I know what I need to do on the field.”

Neymar is developing his passing range and link play, too.

He has formed a fine understanding with silky midfielder Marco Verratti, who seems to read his elusive runs as telepathically as Neymar senses his astute passes, and with France’s World Cup-winning star Kylian Mbappé.

Neymar, who turns 28 on February 5, is approaching his peak years as a player.

Now, after two injury-hit seasons where he twice broke his foot and where he arguably didn’t help himself at times with his attitude, he seems to be hitting his stride at last.

“I’m playing at 100 percent and dedicated to PSG this season. I think we will do great things,” he said. “I think I am in my best form of the season. I’m feeling good.”

That’s welcome news for PSG, which has failed to reach the quarterfinals of the Champions League for the past three seasons and has only once reached the semifinals back in 1995.

After scoring a penalty against Lille, Paris Saint-Germain star Neymar held up two fingers on his right hand and four fingers on his left to make Kobe Bryant’s famed No. 24 jersey for the Los Angeles Lakers.

Bryant, basketball’s 18-time National Basketball Association All-Star who won five championships and became one of the greatest basketball players of his generation during a 20-year career with the Lakers, died in a helicopter crash Sunday. He was 41.

Neymar, who said after the game that he knew Bryant, looked solemn-faced as he held his fingers up to the camera on the side of the field. He then clasped his hands together in a prayer sign.

Earlier, Neymar had scored a superb goal in the 28th minute as league leader PSG won 2-0 to move 10 points ahead of second-place Marseille.

Speaking to French broadcaster Canal Plus after the game, Neymar explained why he dedicated his second goal of the night to Bryant. He scored in the first half but at this point he hadn’t found out about Bryant’s death, which he learned in the locker room at halftime.

“I went to look at the messages on social media at halftime, I found out that Kobe was dead,” Neymar said on TV through a translator. “It’s very saddening for the world of sport and for all of us. Not only for basketball fans but for everything he did for the sport.

I knew him and made this celebration for him, for his number. I hope he rests in peace.” AP

Canoeist wins dope case citing bodily fluids from boyfriend

L

ELEVEN-TIME world champion Laurence Vincent Lapointe escapes a four-year ban. AP

AUSANNE, Switzerland—A world champion canoeist won a doping case on Monday after persuading a tribunal that her positive test was caused by bodily fluid contamination from her boyfriend.

The International Canoe Federation (ICF) ended its investigation into 11-time world champion Laurence Vincent Lapointe, who tested positive for a steroid-like substance in July. She faced a four-year ban and could have missed her event’s Olympic debut at the 2020 Tokyo Games.

The Canadian canoe sprint racer and her lawyer detailed in a news program that laboratory analysis of hair from her then-

boyfriend showed he was likely responsible for a tiny presence of ligandrol in her doping sample.

“It’s pretty incredible,” Vincent Lapointe’s lawyer, Adam Klevinas, said at a news conference on Monday in Trois-Rivieres, Quebec. “It took months to get results, and then at the end, we got the idea to analyze the hair of her ex and to test a product he finally admitted to taking.”

The key evidence came back from a laboratory ahead of the tribunal hearing in December called by the governing body of canoeing in Switzerland.

“The ICF has accepted Ms. Vincent Lapointe’s evidence which supports that she was the victim of third-party contamination,” the governing body said in a statement,

clearing her to return to competition.

The legal debate is similar to tennis player Richard Gasquet’s 2009 acquittal in the “cocaine kiss” case. The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) accepted Gasquet’s defense that kissing a woman who had taken cocaine in a Miami nightclub, after he had withdrawn injured from a tournament, caused his positive test.

The 27-year-old Vincent Lapointe was provisionally suspended for almost six months and missed the 2019 world championships, which was a key qualifying event for the Tokyo Olympics.

“You can’t even imagine how relieved I am,”Vincent Lapointe said at the news conference. “It feels good to put an end to this journey and just be able to concentrate on what I love, and get back on the water to prepare for the [Olympics].” AP

D

Redeeming God

EAR God, in Jesus You fulfill Your covenant of peace.

We rejoice with Saint Francis and all the saints, and pray: Gracious God, receive our prayer. Support missionaries, peacemakers, and contemplatives in their call to proclaim and witness the good news. Inspire teachers, administrators, and students in the religious instruction offered by Catholic schools and parishes. Grant clement weather for the protection and well-being of fruit trees and cedars, crops and animals, as well as countries with sport activities that unite athletes for healthy competitions. May God fan into flame our zeal for the Gospel, and enlighten our vision by the example and prayer of the saints. Amen.

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

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

Life BusinessMirror

A healthy consumer means more retail disruption

T

BY BAR�Y RITHOLTZ Bloomberg News

HE most recent retail sales data provides a glimpse into the mind of the US consumer.

The latest monthly retail sales report from the US Census Bureau recorded December sales (excluding gasoline, automobiles and restaurants) of $384.6 billion. Compared with the prior year’s $ 360.5 billion, that’s a solid year-overyear gain of 6.7 percent. Sales in November 2019 were $330.2 billion for a 1.1 percent gain over 2018’s $325.9 billion. Average these two-monthly totals and you get a 4.1 percent year over year gain for the holidayshopping period.

Those are strong numbers. Delving deeper reveals several interesting data points: ■ Consumer sentiment has fully recovered from the lows after the financial crisis and is back to levels that prevailed in mid-2000s; ■ Sentiment is still below the frothy dot-com peak of the late 1990s, suggesting that consumers are confident about the future but not in a reckless or unsustainable way; ■ Consumer debt relative to disposable income remains at the lowest level in at least four decades, indicating that there’s room for them to spend more: These three data points suggest that the next few quarters of gross domestic product growth, retail sales and durable goods orders are likely to be robust.

In the typical election year, these economic positives tend to benefit the White House

incumbent. I will let others debate whether this is a typical election year. Two other interesting issues worth mentioning: Online sales measured by point-of-sale credit-card transactions from MasterCard’s SpendingPulse showed that e-commerce in 2019 reached all-time highs.

E-commerce now accounts for 14 percent of US retail sales and likely will continue to claim a growing piece of the pie.

Worldwide, online sales have nearly tripled during the past five years from $1.3 trillion in 2014 to more than $3.5 trillion in 2019, according to Statista.

Projections are for this to more than double during the next five years.

One surprise from the MasterCard data is that online shopping is accelerating, rising 18.8 percent last year compared with 2018’s 18.4 percent. There are few signs online retail is slowing. If anything, the generation that grew up online doesn’t think of e-commerce as anything special; it’s simply retail.

One other observation: Perhaps the most intriguing online retail outlet is Instagram’s Checkout.

It was named 2019’s Technology of the Year by Mobile Marketer. Fashion site Glossy describes Instagram as the next big sales channel “for direct-to-consumer companies and traditional retailers alike.”

More than just promoting a brand or product, Instagram is facilitating the sale of products directly to consumers. The company takes its slice of the transaction. Combine this with the lethally accurate algorithms deployed by parent company Facebook Inc. and you can imagine the sort of sales growth that

might lie ahead.

To give you an idea of the size of this marketplace, Instagram has more than 1 billion accounts active each month worldwide (Facebook has 2.45 billion active users). Most of them have some form of payment system, including credit cards, Venmo, PayPal or Apple Pay. So far, Instagram Checkout has been rolled out slowly since the platform introduced it in March.

It has been testing product tags in posts since 2016.

Again according to Glossy, tags came to “Instagram Stories” about two years later. The fashion site, quoting Instagram, reports that 130 million people tap a product tag to shop or see a price every month.

Instagram is native to mobile, which is where the new generation of consumers spend most of their connected time.

Although Instagram hasn’t made a big splash in online retailing yet, the potential is there. To be sure, there are some inklings of problems with counterfeit goods. This has been an issue that has haunted both Amazon.com Inc. and eBay Inc. If Instagram wants to become a serious player in retail, it needs to nip this in the bud.

Disruption doesn’t sleep. Don’t be surprised if the incumbent stars of e-commerce—the leading members of the last generation of disruptive technologies—become the new victims of creative destruction.

The relative health of the American consumer makes the disruption all the more likely—and sooner rather than later. ■

Workers criticize Amazon on climate despite risk to jobs SAN FRANCISCO—Hundreds of employees are openly criticizing Amazon’s record on climate change, despite what they say is a company policy that puts their jobs at risk for speaking out.

On Sunday, more than 300 employees of the online retail giant signed their names and job titles to statements on blog post on Medium.

The online protest was organized by a group called Amazon Employees For Climate Justice, an advocacy group founded by Amazon workers that earlier this month said the company had sent letters to its members,

threatening to fire them if they continued to speak to the press.

“It’s our moral responsibility to speak up, and the changes to the communications policy are censoring us from exercising that responsibility,” said Sarah Tracy, a software development engineer at Amazon, in a statement.

Amazon said that its policy on external communications is not new, and is in keeping with other large companies. It said the policy applies to all Amazon employees, and is not directed at any specific group.

“While all employees are welcome

to engage constructively with any of the many teams inside Amazon that work on sustainability and other topics, we do enforce our external communications policy and will not allow employees to publicly disparage, or misrepresent, the company or the hard work of their colleagues who are developing solutions to these hard problems,” according to an Amazon spokesman.

Amazon, which relies on fossil fuels to power the planes, trucks and vans that ship packages all over the world, has an enormous carbon footprint.

And its workers have been vocal in

criticizing some of the company’s practices.

Last year, more than 8,000 staffers signed an open letter to CEO and founder Jeff Bezos demanding that Amazon cut its carbon emissions, end its use of fossil fuels and stop its work with oil companies that use Amazon’s technology to locate fossil-fuel deposits.

Amazon said in a statement that it is passionate about climate-change issues and has already pledged to become net zero carbon by 2040 and use 100-percent renewable energy by 2030. AP

SUI GENERIS: DEVELOPING HIGHPERFORMANCE TEAMS D4

Wednesday, January 29, 2020

D1

Realme Philippines to set a new standard of value FASTEST-GROWING smartphone brand Realme Philippines offers tech-savvy, cost-conscious Filipinos another device that brings real smartphone value without the high price tag: the Realme 5i, a quad-camera value smartphone to be launched in the Philippines on January 29.

Designed to offer hardworking Filipinos high-performing phones at more accessible price points, the Realme 5i packs top-tier specs enjoyed by midrange smartphone users. The device is the first in its price segment to have a quad-camera setup comprising a primary lens, wide-angle lens, macro lens and portrait lens. It is also the first in its category to run on a Snapdragon 665 processor.

The Realme 5i delivers immersive entertainment with its 6.5-inch screen with a large field of view. Its 5,000-mAh large-capacity battery capacity ensures many hours of use, while the new splash-resistant design that comes in two color variants—forest green and aqua blue—guarantees a stylish daily companion.

“We at Realme Philippines are very excited to start the year with a bang through the launch of the Realme 5i. We heard the Filipinos’ demand for a smartphone that doesn’t compromise real value for its price. Our commitment to upgrade the smartphone user experience is stronger than ever.

This is just the first of many surprises in store for Realme fans this year,” shares Realme Philippines Marketing Director Austine Huang.

Packed with midrange features, the handset caters to every Filipino user looking for an affordable smartphone that delivers over and beyond its cost, be it in gaming, photography or overall device performance.

Fans of Realme products are also welcome to join the brand’s community on Facebook for the latest news and discussions.

GLOBAL SHIPMENTS OF HUAWEI MATE 30 SERIES HIT 7 MILLION UNITS IN 60 DAYS GLOBAL tech giant Huawei Consumer Business Group (CBG) announced recently that it has shipped 7 million units of Huawei Mate 30 Series devices globally in 60 days, up 75 percent compared to the performance of last year’s Mate 20 Series over the same duration.

The continued success of the Huawei Mate 30 Series can be attributed to the company’s commitment to consumers, and an unrelenting focus on innovation. Huawei CBG CEO Richard Yu announced a series of sales milestones achieved by the latest flagship smartphones. On Huawei Vmall, the Huawei Mate 30 Series broke RMB500 million in sales in the first minute it was available for purchase in China. Bolstered by the increased purchase intent during the Singles’ Day period (November 1 to 11), the Huawei Mate 30 Pro 5G and Huawei Mate 30 5G soared to the top of the 5G smartphone sales chart on www.jd.com, ranking first and second, respectively. On the same platform, the Mate 30 Pro 5G was also the best-selling device priced above RMB6,000 during the period. Powered by the Kirin 990 series, the Huawei Mate 30 Series delivers outstanding performance and connectivity with camera features recognized as market-leading by numerous technology publications around the world.

In the 2019 Smart Hardware Quality Report recently published by China Mobile the Huawei Mate 30 Series was evaluated as the best-performing smartphone series across multiple tests and was given a full five-star rating as a recommendation to consumers.

D2

Pet Corner BusinessMirror

Wednesday, January 29, 2020

New rules could bump emotionalsupport animals from planes OSCAR the cat, who is not a service animal, sits in his carry-on travel bag after arriving at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix. Industry officials believe that hundreds of thousands of passengers scam the system each year by claiming they need their pet for emotional support. Those people avoid airline pet fees, which Oscar’s owners paid. AP

T

z

By David Koenig The Associated Press

HE days of passengers bringing their pets on airplanes as emotional-support animals could be ending.

The US Department of Transportation on Wednesday proposed that only specially trained dogs qualify as service animals, which must be allowed in the cabin at no charge. Airlines could ban emotionalsupport animals, including untrained dogs, cats and more exotic companions, such as pigs, pheasants, rabbits and snakes.

Airlines say the number of support animals has grown dramatically in recent years. They lobbied the Transportation Department to crack down on what they consider a scam—passengers who call their pets emotional-support animals to avoid pet fees that generally run more than $100 each way.

“This is a wonderful step in the right direction for people like myself who are dependent on and reliant on legitimate service animals,” said Albert Rizzi, founder of My Blind Spot, an advocacy group for people with disabilities. He said some people “want to have the benefits of having a disability without actually losing the use of their limbs or senses just so they can take their pet with them.”

The main trade group for large US airlines praised the proposal. Nicholas Calio, president of Airlines for America, said, “The proposed rule will go a long way in ensuring a safer and healthier experience for everyone.”

Flight attendants had pushed to rein in support animals, and they too were pleased.

“The days of Noah’s Ark in the air are hopefully coming to an end,” said Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants. She said some of her union’s members were hurt by untrained pets.

Veterans groups also sided with the airlines, arguing that a boom in untrained dogs and other animals threatens their ability to fly with properly trained service dogs. Last year, more than 80 veterans and disability groups endorsed banning untrained emotional-support animals in airline cabins.

On the other side are people who say that an emotional-support animal helps them with anxiety or other issues that would prevent them from traveling or make it more stressful. They aren’t a very organized group, but there are lots of them.

Southwest Airlines handles more than 190,000 emotional support animals per year. American Airlines carried 155,790 emotional support animals in 2017, up 48 percent from 2016, while the number

Today’s Horoscope

By Eugenia Last

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Sara Gilbert, 45; Heather Graham, 50; Oprah Winfrey, 66; Tom Selleck, 75.

Happy Birthday: Control will be required to take the edge off anxiety. A settled mind will help fight against making impulsive decisions that can lead to mistakes, insult or injury. Channel your energy wisely, and the world will be yours; make a fuss, and you’ll achieve little.

Optimize your chance to advance using precision and detail to flourish. Your lucky numbers are 9, 17, 23, 28, 30, 35, 42.

a

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Keep life simple and moving forward. Refuse to let what others do influence you or lead to emotional, financial or physical excess. Put time and energy into whatever will benefit you the most. Use your intellect to win your battles. HHH

b

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Make changes that are in your best interest. Watch what others do, and refuse to get pulled into something that is all hype and no action. Have a plan in mind, and you will exceed your expectations. HHH

c

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Chitchat, consider your options and contribute to something that you find worthwhile. Refuse to let anyone mess with your emotions, lead you astray or take what’s rightfully yours. Plan to win, and you will outsmart the competition. HHHH

d

of checked pets dropped 17 percent. United Airlines carried 76,000 comfort animals in 2017.

Transportation Department officials said in a briefing with reporters that they proposed the changes to improve safety on flights. Some passengers have been bitten by support animals, and airlines complain that they relieve themselves on planes and in airports.

The public will have 60 days to comment on the proposed changes. Officials highlighted a few areas where they are most eager to get comments, including whether miniatures horses should continue to qualify as service animals.

The Transportation Department proposes a narrow definition in which a service animal could only be a dog that is trained to help a person with a physical or other disability. Passengers with a service dog would have to fill out a federal form on which they swear that the dog is trained to help them. A dog trained to help with psychiatric needs would qualify as a service animal.

Current rules do not require any training for emotional-support animals. However, airlines can demand that the animal’s owner show them a medical professional’s note saying they need the animal for

support. The proposed rules would prohibit airlines from banning particular types of dog breeds if the animal qualifies as a service dog, although they could refuse to board an individual dog they deem a threat. Delta Air Lines, which bans pit bulls, said it is studying the proposal.

The president of the Humane Society of the United States said airlines like Delta had maligned pit bulls.

Kitty Block said the Transportation Department’s proposal to prohibit breed-specific bans “sends a clear message to airlines that their discriminatory practices are not only unsound, but against the law.”

The new rules would also bar the current practice by many airlines of requiring animal owners to fill out paperwork 48 hours in advance. A department official said that practice can harm disabled people by preventing them from bringing their service dog on last-minute trips.

The proposal also says people with service animals must check in earlier than the general public.

Airlines could require that service animals be on a leash or harness and fit in its handler’s foot space.

They could limit passengers to two service animals each, although it is unclear how often that happens under the current rules. n

World-class canines show off at Philippine Circuit Show 2020 A DOG from South America and two from Asia were awarded Best in Show among the participating canines in the Philippine Circuit dog show from January 16 to 19 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Hundreds of adorable and highly trained dogs from owners around the world converged at the Big Dome in a series of 12 all-breed championship dog shows.

A Doberman from Argentina, a Pomeranian from South Korea, and a Welsh Corgi also from South Korea were awarded at the end of the four-day event.

According to Ilaria Biondi, one of the judges from Peru, these dogs stood out the most because they carried a proud and poised demeanor. “The dogs need to be confident in themselves and the way that they carry themselves,” Biondi said.

Though breeds, such as Welsh Corgis,

www.businessmirror.com.ph

French Bulldogs, and Dobermans usually garner a podium finish in dog shows, winning the event ultimately boils down to the quality of the canine trainer.

According to Augusto Santos III, president of Philippine Canine Club Inc. (PCCI), what makes a successful dog trainer is the rapport he builds with his pet. He adds

that a dog, much like a child, must not be forced to do things. The trainer must first establish a good relationship with his dog, and also learn about dog psychology.

“Come to dog shows and watch how the trainers handle the dogs. Or go online and watch the dog shows there. To make dogs obedient, go online and see how they train the dog,” Santos said. The PCCI’s Philippine Circuit has been held for the fifth straight year at the Big Dome. It is a fitting event in Araneta City, which is now a pet-friendly area where registered animal companions can freely roam through the Pet Pals initiative. Pet owners simply need to avail themselves of the free Pet Pal ID at the concierge of any mall in Araneta City to enjoy this privilege. Download the Araneta City Mobile app at the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): An emotional matter will consume you if you aren’t careful.

Put concerns in perspective, realize success is your best revenge, and don’t waste time on people or situations that are not worth your while. Focus on peace and love, not creating chaos. HH

e

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Keep moving. Idle time is the enemy. Line up the people who enjoy the same things you do, and make plans to do something that will bring results and keep you out of trouble. Make smart decisions. HHHHH

f

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Don’t leave anything to chance. Changes you make at home will not please everyone. Don’t let an emotional situation end up costing you financially.

Change can be useful, but it has to be done for the right reason and be within budget. HHH

g

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Get out and about.

Spend time with people who share your beliefs and opinions, and you will discover information that will help you expand on a plan or idea you want to pursue. HHH

h

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Getting out of your typical environment will be enlightening. Sharing space with someone who is working toward a similar goal or lifestyle will be encouraging. Personal growth, love and peace of mind are within reach. HHHHH

i

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Use your intelligence, knowledge and experience to bypass someone who is trying to lead you astray. Know in your heart what you want, and make adjustments that will ward off temptation and promote personal gain. Let go of the past. HH

j

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Share what you have, what you know and what you want to pursue with someone you love. A change at home will end up being much better than anticipated.

Don’t fight the inevitable. HHHH

k

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Be direct, precise and willing to do the work to get results. A simple approach to whatever you do will help you keep your costs down and leave more time to add small but essential details. HHHH

l

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): You’ll benefit the most if you work alone. Interference is the enemy, and argumentative people will leave you in limbo regarding how to move forward. Keep your financial and personal matters private, and your opinions and feelings to yourself. HHH Birthday Baby: You are smart, trendy and perceptive.

You are relentless and curious.

‘good start’ by jason creighton The Universal Crossword/Edited by David Steinberg

ACROSS 1 You may drive one in a garage 6 Angry 9 Picked hairstyle 13 Anti-inflammatory brand 14 Fishing rod 15 Lunchtime for many 16 Series of toy cars?

18 8 on the Beaufort scale 19 Rejection might bruise it 20 Loonie or toonie 21 Aromas and odors 23 Singer Yoko 24 Duck’s beak 25 Auto additive brand 28 A company’s may increase through innovation 33 Price-fixing group 35 No from Kamala Harris 36 Graduate, for short 37 First zodiac sign 38 Not gross 39 Ecological community 40 Capital of Italia 41 Many a free shirt

42 Electronic arrow 43 Like Romeo and Juliet 46 “Don’t ___ this at home” 47 Chinese currency 48 Amer. currency 49 Think highly of 52 Prevent from having puppies 53 Exec who tracks cash flow 56 Feet of ___ 57 Certain guitar music combo 60 Doughnut feature 61 Untrustworthy sort 62 Revealed a secret about 63 Had a debt 64 Tree with an American variety 65 Weevils, e.g.

DOWN 1 On the ___ page 2 Liquid-Plumr target 3 Completely change 4 December 24, for one 5 Greets in a friendly way 6 Ghostly sound 7 Boxing great Muhammad 8 Compactness

9 Thin pasta 10 Young horse 11 Cinnamon ___ 12 Tip jar fillers 14 Previous 17 Like most music 22 Real-estate database: Abbr.

24 A drummer keeps it 25 Marks for life 26 Clairvoyant’s set of cards 27 ___ donna 29 Joints with caps 30 “It’s ___ cause!”

31 Mill product?

32 Nail file material 34 Visibly upset 38 Gas in an OPEN sign 39 Genre of Rush Hour 41 Stomp on 42 Longtime labor leader Chavez 44 Stage prompt 45 Great, or what can precede the starred answers’ beginnings 49 Bat’s navigational signal 50 Like the fabled tortoise

51 “Tall” story 52 Did the crawl, say 53 Temporary beds 54 Worry 55 Bookie’s concern 58 It’s crude at first 59 Hot pink or fire-engine red

Solution to yesterday’s puzzle:

Show BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Wednesday, January 29, 2020

ACTOR IN CRISIS

THE actor is having problems with his career and finances. It has gotten so bad that he had to borrow money from his network’s lending facility to reimburse a plane ticket for a work-related flight he didn’t make because he didn’t wake up on time. And this flight was just a domestic one so it didn’t cost much. While his former girlfriend and contemporary is doing well, the actor has been struggling for a while.

After his loved one died, the actor really struggled. He also got involved in drugs and fell into bad company so his career suffered, as well. He is also dating a younger woman who wants him to check on the paternity of his child from a previous relationship when, in fact, he has already recognized the child.

HARVEY WEINSTEIN

FAMILY FEUD

ACCORDING to rumors, one reason why the celebrity is avoiding a close relative is because she was abused by someone close to the relative. Years ago, the close relative remarried and her husband became close to the celebrity, who was still a child. They seemed close but through the years, the celebrity has been telling people that the close relative’s husband molested her. Her bitterness also stems from the close relative’s turning a blind eye to what her husband was supposedly doing. The celebrity said she has suffered tremendously through the years, and she has gotten therapy for what happened while the close relative ignored her and pretended like nothing happened.

SLIDING INTO DMs

IS it true that a singer tried to date a much younger guy who is also a celebrity in his own right but was rebuffed by someone close to the guy? Truthfully, the younger guy could be the singer’s nephew. Honestly, just a few years more and he could be the younger guy’s father. The singer tried to meet the younger guy by sliding into his DMs. Nothing wrong with that.

Many people start dating via DMs. The strange thing about the singer is he doesn’t seem to find their age gap disturbing. The younger guy is not comfortable around the singer. It’s not that he isn’t nice. It really is the age gap. One day, someone close to the younger guy intervened to put a stop to everything. And so their (almost) romance has ended, thanks or no thanks to the young guy’s relative.

ALOOF

A BLIND item seemed to be pointing to the actress, a former child star, as someone who’s not friendly in person. But those who have followed the actress and her career for many years will know that she’s always been a bit snobbish. In fact, there are many stories of her ignoring fans who try to talk to her in public.

Some celebrities would try to fake it when it comes to children who are fans but not the actress. She’s not rude or anything. She is just distant. She has very few real friends in the business and has a very small circle.

She’d rather spend time with her family than party.

And, really, there is nothing wrong with that. It just seems that the actress’s being too aloof to showbiz folks seems to make her lose her personality.

SHE LIKES BAD-MOUTHING OTHERS

THE female comedian was doing well until her career kind of fizzled out, and she got married and had a child. Allegedly, her career lost steam after people realized she likes bad-mouthing her coworkers. It came to a point that so many people complained about her that her management let her go. The comedian got married and her career situation has resulted in her having money troubles to the point that she had to sell some things that were valuable to her. Her husband doesn’t really have a permanent job and she is sort of a breadwinner. Anyway, the comedian was lucky to get an acting job and you’d have thought she learned from her past mistakes. She was recently caught badmouthing a young and famous colleague, something that drew the ire of the producers.

MIMI HALEYI

‘I’m being raped’: Weinstein accuser details alleged assault

By Michael R. Sisak & Tom Hays The Associated Press

N

EW YORK—At times sobbing, former production assistant Mimi Haleyi told jurors on Monday at Harvey Weinstein’s rape trial how she tried to fight off the disgraced movie mogul and told him “no, no, no” while he sexually assaulted her.

“I did reject him, but he insisted,” said Haleyi, whose allegations against Weinstein led to his charges and trial. “Every time I tried to get off the bed he would push me back and hold me down.”

Haleyi testified she thought: “I’m being raped” and considered different options. “If I scream rape, will someone hear me?” she said before she “checked out.” “I couldn’t get away from him at all, let alone get away,” Haleyi said. “I checked out and decided to endure it. That was the safest thing I could do.”

Weinstein, 67, is charged with forcibly performing oral sex on Haleyi in his New York City apartment in 2006 and raping another woman, an aspiring actress, in a Manhattan hotel room in 2013. He insists any sexual encounters were consensual.

The 42-year-old Haleyi, whose legal name is Miriam Haley, is the first of the two women whose accusations are at the heart of the charges against Weinstein to take the stand at the closely watched #MeToo-era trial, which is in its fourth day of testimony.

Last week, Sopranos actress Annabella Sciorra testified that Weinstein overpowered and raped her after barging into her apartment in the mid-1990s.

While outside the statute of limitations for criminal charges, Sciorra’s allegations could be a factor as prosecutors look to prove Weinstein has engaged in a pattern of predatory behavior.

Haleyi went public with her allegations at an October 2017 news conference, appearing in front of cameras alongside lawyer Gloria Allred, who also represents Sciorra, and other Weinstein accusers.

Haleyi, born in England and raised in Sweden, said she met Weinstein while in her 20s at the 2004 London premiere of the Leonardo DiCaprio film The Aviator. They crossed paths again at the Cannes Film Festival in 2006, and when she expressed interest in working on one of his productions, he invited her to his hotel room and asked for a massage.

She declined, saying she “extremely humiliated.”

“I felt stupid because I was so excited to go see him and he treated me that way,” she testified.

More meetings followed, and Weinstein secured Haleyi a job helping on the set of Project Runway, the reality competition show he produced. She testified that before the alleged assault, Weinstein showed up at her apartment and begged her to join him a trip to Paris for a fashion show.

“At one point, because I just didn’t know how to shut it down so to speak.... So I said, ‘You know you have a terrible reputation with women, I’ve heard,’”

Haleyi said.

The then-revered Hollywood honcho “got offended,” she said. “He stepped back and said, ‘What have you heard?’”

Asked by prosecutor Meghan Hast if she had any romantic or sexual interest in Weinstein, Haleyi firmly answered: “Not at all, no.”

The Associated Press does not typically identify people who say they have been victims of sexual assault, unless they agree to be named as Haleyi and Sciorra have.

In testifying, Haleyi will have to deal with a defense team that said it plans to confront Weinstein’s accusers with their own words—messages they exchanged with Weinstein well after the alleged assaults. Weinstein’s lawyers argue the positivesounding e-mails and texts call into question the accusers’ accounts.

The jury of seven men and five women also heard testimony from Dr. Barbara Ziv, a forensic psychiatrist who said that most sex assault victims continue to have contact with their attackers, often under threat of retaliation if the victims tell anyone what happened.

Some of Haleyi’s messages were made public last year when Weinstein’s lawyers sought to get his case dismissed. One sent to Weinstein’s phone in 2007 reads: “Hi! Just wondering if u have any news on whether Harvey will have time to see me before he leaves? X Miriam.” n

Transcom goes green in Dinagyang 2020 Transcom Worldwide Philippines Inc., one of the business-process outsourcing companies that maintain presence in Iloilo, joined in this year’s celebration of the much-anticipated Dinagyang Festival.

Held on the 25th of January, the festivity is attended by at least 20,000 mix of local and tourist revelers who flocked to the streets for the parade and to witness the live performances of OPM bands in the Viva Music Fest held at the Iloilo Business Park.

Transcom took this event as an opportunity not only to engage its people and the local community by supporting the different fun activities, but also by ensuring that Dinagyang 2020 would be a waste-

free festival. The company, which employs at least 1,000 Ilonggos, provided waste-segregation bins for the event instead of the usual branded items or paraphernalia that just end up in landfills, if not clog drainage systems, or waterways when not properly disposed.

Mark Lyndsell, Transcom’s CEO for the Global English Region, explained: “Transcom is committed to reducing ecological footprints and contributing to the sustainability of the communities where it operates. In August last year, we started a ‘green’ project in partnership with the Iloilo Business Park wherein we planted more trees along its perimeter. This year, we thought that we could help

the city by reducing and properly disposing rubbish from the festival.”

Dinagyang Festival is one of the grandest festivals in the Philippines.

It traces the history of devotion to the Holy Child Jesus, popularly known to Filipino devotees as “Señor Santo Niño.”

D3

D4

Image BusinessMirror

Wednesday, January 29, 2020

www.businessmirror.com.ph

INTERMITTENT FASTING: SAFE AND SUSTAINABLE— OR FAD DIET? IT’S the hottest two words on every dieter’s lips these days—intermittent fasting. Celebrities are obsessed with it: in Hollywood, A-listers Jennifer Aniston, Halle Berry, Hugh Jackman and Chris Pratt all swear by IF, while local showbiz hunk Carlos Agassi, and actors Christopher Roxas (husband of Gladys Reyes) and Marco Alcaraz (Precious Lara Quigaman’s other half) have attributed their slimmer figures to it.

But what exactly is IF? Will it get us all moody and “hangry” (that is, hungry and angry at the same time) the way other fad diets do? And, more important, is it safe and sustainable?

The country’s leading health institution, Makati Medical Center (MakatiMed, www.makatimed.net.ph), through its Department of Nutrition & Dietetics, gives us the skinny on the weight-loss trend that could help jump-start our dream to get leaner (and, hopefully, healthier) in 2020.

■ NOT AN EATING PATTERN BY DEFINITION. “An eating pattern is defined as a combination of different foods or food groups. As its name suggests, intermittent fasting is more of alternating eating and abstaining from food. It is a way of eating that focuses more on when than on what you eat,” explains Maricar M. Esculto, RND, MD. Such a practice is not new.

Various religions, including Catholicism and Islam, observe fasting at specific times of the year, and our prehistoric ancestors who hunted for their food did not eat until they caught their next meal.

“There are different ways to do intermittent fasting,” adds Esculto. “The most popular and simplest is 16/8 or fasting for 16 hours and eating within 8 hours. For example: you can eat from 1 to 9 pm then abstain from eating from 10 pm to 1 pm. In Eat-StopEat, fasting lasts for 24 hours. In other words, one can skip dinner and abstain from eating until dinner the next day. In the 5:2 diet, you spend two days in a week eating no more than 500 calories a day.” Water, tea and black coffee are allowed during the period of fasting.

■ THE SCIENCE—AND SENSE—BEHIND IF. “Eating only for a certain period naturally limits your caloric intake,” says Esculto. “It lowers the insulin level in the blood and if the person has no intake of food for a prolonged period of time, fat will be mobilized to supply the body’s energy needs.” Dieters who think they can eat all they want during IF’s eating phase will be disappointed, says Esculto. “It’s still all about eating sensibly, avoiding high-calorie foods and practicing portion control. If you binge-eat after your fast, then you are sabotaging your weight-loss goals.”

■ IT OFFERS OTHER THINGS, TOO. Aside from the desired weight loss (talk show host Jimmy Kimmel shed 25 lbs. in 2015 via IF), the eating/fasting pattern has also been credited for reducing inflammation, decreasing low-density Lipoproteins (LDL) or “bad” cholesterol and triglycerides, and lowering the risk of cancer and heart disease. “IF has been credited for triggering the increase of the brain hormone BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor) and protecting individuals against Alzheimer’s disease. However, this was observed among animal models so far,” Esculto points out.

■ NOT SO FAST... While it sounds too good to be true, IF comes with a few caveats. According to Esculto, “Hunger is the chief complaint of those on intermittent fasting, especially if they’re just starting. People initially feel weak and not as mentally sharp, too.” Experts have also discovered that depriving yourself of food for some time increases the body’s level of cortisol, otherwise known as the stress hormone.

Moreover, IF isn’t for everyone—particularly women who are pregnant, breastfeeding, or trying to conceive, and individuals with diabetes, low blood pressure, a heart condition, a history of eating disorders, and other preexisting conditions.

“It is strongly recommended to consult with your physician before trying this way of eating,” advises Esculto. The verdict? While intermittent fasting has been used as a safe way to initiate weight loss or break a weight-loss plateau, doctors do not recommend it be practiced long term.

“I would rather people develop a healthy attitude toward food and eating,” says Esculto. “Eat fresh fruits and vegetables, and high-quality protein. Eliminate processed and junk foods. Exercise regularly.”

Developing highperformance teams

T

EAM accomplish more than the sum of its individual parts. This is what’s called the synergistic effect. That is why when bands part ways, individual artists cannot rise to the same popularity as when they belonged to a group. Of course, there are exceptions, but the norm still remains that individuals perform better when they are part of a team. Organizations acknowledge this and are investing in research and development to take advantage of the synergistic effect of teams, and they take pains in screening candidates who are not only competent in what they do but would also fit into the current culture of their teams. And when all the members contribute significantly to the goals of the group, it becomes a high-performance team.

One of the leading frameworks used in developing high-performance teams was developed

by Pro. Sattar Bawany in a 2014 article, titled Building High Performance Teams Using SCORE Framework.

The acronym SCORE stands for cohesive strategy, clear roles and responsibilities, open and transparent communication, rapid response and effective team leadership. Most of these are fairly easy to implement and can help guide a new team manager in getting a head start and become the catalyst of their team’s success.

A well-defined and clear strategy goes a long way in getting everybody’s buy-in. People need to understand what the strategy is and how it will benefit them in the long run. Team members need to understand what the entire group is aiming for and how their own personal sets of values and beliefs align with the team. Differences in personalities and opinions will result to conflict later on, especially when people are not convinced with the overall

Open lines of communication will help in rapidly responding to an ever-changing technological landscape. Innovations in the way we work entail steeper learning curves and faster reaction times. For teams to cope with these demands, they need to look at creative ways of thinking without a box. strategy or if what they do is not aligned with the team’s goals and objectives. Leaders have a responsibility to let people know where the team is headed and to encourage them to move in the same direction. Leaders also need to convince themselves of the feasibility of their goals because if they are not, how can they convince others to follow? That is why it is important for the leader to understand each member of his team so he can articulate the team strategy and goals effectively in a language every team member understands.

In line with the strategy and goals of the team, members need to understand their specific roles and responsibilities so they will know how their unique skills, abilities and even their personalities contribute to the overall achievement of the team’s goals. It will also help them take accountability for their actions by understanding how their work adds value to the overall progress of the team. Clear roles and responsibilities also help avoid members from comparing each other’s workload. Instead, they would understand the value each member brings to the table and they would respect each other’s strengths

THE SPARKLING WAY TO HYDRATE

IF you are to believe most health gurus, beauty bloggers and wellness authorities, we are supposed to be consuming anywhere from seven to 12 glasses of water a day. That’s a lot of water. And let’s face it, water boredom can begin to set in.

Sometimes your hydration needs a little bit of flavor and even a little bit of sparkle. Agua Prima Lemon in Still and Sparkling is a sugar-free flavored water drink without any artificial sweetener. It’s a delicious and refreshing way to quench your thirst without resorting to sugary drinks.

And though you might be tempted to keep that beautiful glass bottle, it’s completely returnable. Staying hydrated has never been more eco-friendly or stylish.

and look for ways to complement each other’s opportunities for improvement.

One way for you to get to know your members better is to maintain an open line of communication and being transparent about organizational changes and shifts in strategy. This will help your team adjust to what is about to happen and helps them make informed decisions, not only about how they can contribute to the team’s goals, but also on how the changes will affect their personal lives.

This reminds me of the adage “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” Your team needs to know that when they come to you with problems about work, they expect you to at least listen and not to dismiss their concerns outright. There should also be open lines of communication among the members so they can work efficiently and not have to go through you for all concerns. Empowering your team to adjust their own strategies and to work with each other to achieve the team’s goal helps foster trust with one another and with you, as their leader.

Open lines of communication will also help in rapidly responding to an ever-changing technological landscape. Innovations in the way we work entail steeper learning curves and faster reaction times.

For teams to cope with these demands, they need to look at creative ways of thinking without a box. A team which can rapidly adjust to changes, who are willing to be flexible in their ways of working in order to fulfill their objective as a team, will outlast teams which could not. Teams who can work as a group and brainstorm for a solution speedily will continue to be relevant to the organization, and will continue to be an integral part of its initiatives and innovation programs.

And, last, a high-performing team has an exemplary leader who can adjust their leadership style as needed. Someone who can encourage and motivate when the team is doing well, and someone who can provide useful and effective feedback when a member is having difficulty in their work.

But then again, you will not be able to do these if there are no open lines of communication and you do not know your team’s preferences and tendencies.

A good leader is someone who knows what they are doing, but is flexible enough to know when to adjust the sails. In times of transitions and confusion, a good leader will provide the beacon so the team will not get tossed by waves of confusion or drown in a sea of uncertainty.

High-performance teams are the result of deliberate planning and meticulous recruitment of members who will bring value to the team and the organization as a whole. You do not look at skills alone but also culture fit to your existing group.

Your role as a leader is to understand how your team works and influence them by ensuring there is a clear direction for all, everyone has defined roles and responsibilities, there is seamless flow of information, and the team positively adjusts to change. And once you have done these, expect your team to exceed not only your expectations but the organization’s, as well. ■

BusinessMirror

Editor: Tet Andolong

Wednesday, January 29, 2020 E1

Araneta City aims to recapture old grandeur

By Rizal Raoul S. Reyes

A

@brownindio

RANETA City, branded as the City of Firsts, aims to regain its old grandeur enjoyed in the ’60s and the early ’70s by beefing up its facilities and infrastructure.

“With the completion of Gateway Mall, we are going to be competitive as far as the critical mass is concerned.

It is the same with hotels as we are also going to have a critical mass as far as hotel rooms are concerned,” Araneta City Senior Management Consultant Rowell Recinto told reporters in an interview on the sidelines of the ceremonial topping of ibis Styles Hotel on January 20.

Recinto said the ongoing and future developments of Araneta City will give them the critical mass not only for shoppers and hotel goers, but also for people going to the Araneta Coliseum and dining aficionados. “As you know, Araneta City is not known to be a place for late dining activities,” he said.

“But we are trying to establish that by pairing that with the roof-deck bar Ibism” he added.

He said they will be inspired by the hangout bars in Bangkok and New York. By introducing those innovations, Recinto said they hope Araneta City can bring in the crowd that can compete with major business districts in the area.

Recinto admitted getting the critical mass is going to be a huge challenge for Araneta City as it has to compete with the property titans SMDC and Ayala, which has SM City North and Vertis North, respectively. “I think we

Megawide AVP for Operations Engr. Romeo Furigay (fourth from left); Megawide Deputy Head for Construction Engr. Frederick Tan; Megawide Construction Corp. Chairman and CEO Engr. Edgar Saavedra; Araneta City Principal Design Consultant Sudhakar Takurdesai; Araneta City Senior Management Consultant Rowell Recinto; Accor Group Vice President of Operations for Midscale & Economy Brands in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam, the Philippines and the Maldives Emmanuel Marion; Novotel Manila General Manager Mike Brown; and Accor Group Director of Design & Technical Services for Southeast and North Asia Roger Huet

Ibis Styles Hotel artist’s rendition are going to be competitive because we span two market segments that of Novotel and ibis,” he said.

Developed by the international hospitality company Accor, the Frenchbased ibis Hotel brand is going to be positioned as an affordable yet creative brand for both leisure and business

travelers. The Araneta group brings the brand to the Philippines via a P1.5-billion 15-story hotel along General Roxas Avenue, one of the latest additions to Araneta City’s growing offerings.

Recinto said the ibis Styles Hotel will offer an eclectic atmosphere with warm service in a unique design

environment that will match the fastpaced and demanding lifestyle of an on-the-go traveler.

The ibis Styles Hotel will house 286 comfortable and spacious rooms, with 22 guest rooms available per floor.

Each of these rooms will treat travelers with ibis Styles’ signature and re-

laxing Sweet Bed, a trademark of the ibis brand.

Consistent with its design philosophy, the ibis Styles Hotel in Araneta City will display individuality and stylish comfort reflecting the soul, and heritage, of its location.

A stone’s throw away from the historic Smart Araneta Coliseum, the property will showcase the legacy of the country’s sports and entertainment mecca. Interiors of the hotel will feature designs based on historical events in the coliseum, such as the 1975 Thrilla in Manila, Binibining Pilipinas pageants, and some unforgettable sports and music events.

The ibis Styles Hotel will be constructed above the much-awaited expansion of the Gateway Mall, the New Gateway.

It will be conveniently accessible from the metropolis’s main road arteries Edsa, Aurora Boulevard and P. Tuazon Boulevard in Quezon City.

Recinto stressed the ibis Styles Hotel will be an exciting addition to the reinvigoration of the Araneta City. Together with the New Gateway, it is the latest addition to the Gateway area that currently features the Novotel Hotel, the Smart Araneta Coliseum, the Gateway Tower Building and the Parking Garage South Building.

Business

E2 Wednesday, January 29, 2020

Co-building and co-working with tech start-ups

Amor Maclang

first dibs in real estate

I

T opened its doors to the public on the very first day of Philippine Startup Week on November 18, 2019. The date was providential as the facility is essentially inspired by and made for the start-up community.

Enter Dragon’s Nest—Lessons from CNN Philippines’s The Final Pitch was the soft launch event, that was the first time people were welcomed into what will be a start-up hub, unlike any other in the country. For one, the facility will be the new home of Streetpark Productions Inc., producer of the country’s first business reality TV show The Final Pitch, which has now successfully finished filming its fifth season.

“This facility is inspired by successful technology hubs from around the world, and will be the home of up-and-coming start-ups, as well as our own future startup ventures” said Dragon’s Nest founder and Chief Exponential Officer John Aguilar. “We wanted a place where we could bring the best minds and technology of the world to the Philippines, and the best Philippine start-ups to the world.”

Dragon’s Nest is a co-working technology hub strategically located inside Thames International along Calle Industria, in Quezon City, now a buzzing start-up corridor with the likes of Launch Garage, Kation Technologies, PayMongo, and a few other start-ups located within walking distance from each other.

Start-up venture builder

Dragon’s Nest was formed specifically to build, launch and scale numerous technology start-ups simultaneously, attracting talent that will comprise its core team in the coming years. “We will be launching five start-ups this 2020 in partnership with corporate and venture partners and, possibly, with government, with the goal of building companies that address challenges and opportunities not just in the Philippines but across the region,” said John. The company is currently recruiting for its team as it puts together the best

talents in the various functional areas of marketing, finance, product, design and tech.

Dragon’s Nest is currently meeting with various corporate partners that would want to back exciting solutions or opportunities related to their industry. “The ideas for the start-ups we build will be jointly formed by us, our corporate and government partners, and the executive founders we will work with who will run our start-ups,” shared John. “This model for building start-ups is one that we are very confident will do well, having analyzed and assessed the reasons start-ups fail, and what has worked for the few who have successfully scaled their ventures.”

Dragon’s Nest tour

The Dragon’s Nest facility itself is conducive to building start-ups.

The first thing that will greet you as you approach the entryway are the glass doors with the 10X decal, signifying the exponential nature of the facility. “We want to set the tone that when you enter Dragon’s Nest, you are entering a place where big ideas and dreams are encouraged, where exponential takes the place of incremental, both in thinking and in action,” said John.

As soon as you enter, visitors are greeted by the dragon unicorn, a majestic commissioned sculpture by rising Philippine steampunk artist Ram Mallari. The head is a replica of the Dragon’s Nest logo— that of a dragon’s head curled up amid the embrace of the nest. The sculpture’s unicorn horn and horse body caught in mid-gait signifies the company’s technology aspirations and aggressive trajectory.

With his signature use of scrap metal and various objects, such as typewriters, computers and motorcycle parts, sculptor Mallari successfully utilized and married

John and Monica Aguilar

the use of parts from different industries, even eras, to represent the industrious nature of the dragon unicorn, and the constant change and reinvention that technology necessitates. The sculpture sets the tone for the kind of work that will be done in the space, and the people that will call it their home base.

As you enter the reception area, what greets you is not your typical office lobby furniture. The weaves and organic nature of the pieces are a dead giveaway to the kind of furniture that originates from the renowned artisans of Cebu.

We notice pieces of intricately woven rattan and familiar recurring patterns borne from the imagination of furniture designer Allan Murillo. Design cues come mostly from nature, with disparate images inspired by jellyfish for the co-working area stools, lava flow for an elevated chaise lounge and earthquake-induced cracks for a corner chair.

The conference room which sits a maximum of 14 people is perched above the lobby, giving new meaning to the term high-level meetings. The conference room, highlighted by a one-piece 12-foot long solid narra table, is available for rent on an hourly basis.

Noticeable and playful points of the design include grass carpet turf and three functioning swings that serve to divide the lobby from the work spaces.

Available for co-working are various areas, including dedicated desks that start-ups and freelancers can rent on a monthly basis.

Serviced offices

Individua l ser v iced of f ices furnished for four but can sit a maximum of six people are also available for those looking to start their operations at the drop of a hat. The offices come with desks and chairs, and are available for short or long-term lease. These offices are perfect for start-ups or foreign companies looking for a base of operations in Manila.

Virtual office

Dragon’s Nest also offers virtual office services for those looking to have an office address without the need for an actual serviced office or desk. The virtual office is ideal for freelancers and independent professionals who work from home or hold meetings in coffee shops. Having Dragon’s Nest as a virtual office gives people the office address that they can use for their business, use of the lobby and business lounge to meet with people, and usage of the address to forward mail and packages.

They also have access to dedicated desks and meeting rooms in the co-working area, and can arrange to hold events at Dragon’s Nest, all for an additional fee.

“We’ve been getting inquiries from various companies, associations and individuals who would like to hold their launch events, workshops, even board meetings here,” said Dragon’s Nest cofounder and COO Monica Aguilar. “We are ecstatic that we have been received so warmly and we are looking forward to working with and collaborating with more partners

in the future.”

Dragon’s Nest’s future tenants and locators will also have access to a future UFC gym, auditorium and meeting rooms at the Thames International Business School where Dragon’s Nest is located.

John, who is also the creator and host of The Final Pitch, is bullish with the future of the start-ups that they will be working with on the show, and the start-ups they will be launching on their new TV series The Venture Builder, which will also be seen on CNN Philippines.

“More than a facility, we would like for Dragon’s Nest to be a place

that people in the start-up and innovation ecosystem will gravitate to, a collaborative environment where exciting partnerships will form from the sheer agglomeration of creative and technical people who visit or hold office here,” said John. “Ultimately, we would like for our locators to be able to work with each other, as well as with us as we scale our start-ups in the Philippines and across the region.”

Dragon’s Nest is located at 27 Calle Industria (within Thames International Business School), Bagumbayan, Quezon City.

Munti offers discount for punctual real-property tax payers

By Roderick L. Abad @rodrik_28

T

HE local government of Muntinlupa has released the schedule for payment of realproperty tax (RPT) in the city for 2020, and launched its incentives program for those who will pay on or before quarterly deadline.

The dates are as follows— March 1, 2020 (first installment, first quarter or Q1); June 30, 2020

(second installment, Q2); September 30, 2020 (third installment, Q3); and December 31, 2020 (fourth installment, Q4).

Nondelinquent taxpayers who will pay their RPT on or before deadlines of payment are entitled to a 10-percent discount.

Mayor Jaime Fresnedi lauded the incentive system as it will help bolster tax revenues to be used in various programs and services for his constituents.

He said that the city government is transitioning to being more customer-driven that accelerates public services, bringing ease transactions to the people.

Per the incentive program introduced by the Muntinlupa City Treasurer’s Office, it is noted though that once the periods given expire, an interest of 2 percent per month not exceeding 36 months, or 72 percent shall be imposed upon delinquent properties for

failure to pay the basic RPT, or any other tax levied under the Revenue Code.

RPT payers can settle their taxes at Muntinlupa Online Real-Property Payment System (MORPS) through the electronic banking system of the Land Bank of the Philippines.

The first of its kind e-payment system in Metro Manila aims to course transaction of the city’s major taxpayers through electronic channels to provide them with efficient

and less time consuming delivery of services.

An interface with MORPS will handle real-time property tax payment and can process transactions in less than 15 minutes.

Apart from expediting the transaction for the convenience of taxpayers, it targets to cut red tape and under-the-table propositions.

Fresnedi encouraged Muntinlupeños to pay their respective bills ahead of time to avoid penalties.

sMirror

Editor: Tet Andolong

E3

Damosa tops off its Diamond Tower

P

REMIER real-estate developer Damosa Land Inc. (DLI) recently topped off the Damosa Diamond Tower.

Strategically situated in the Damosa IT Park along JP Laurel Avenue, the building is seen to bolster Davao City’s rapidly growing office space needs as more investments make their way to the south.

Only a 10-minute ride from Davao International Airport, and about five minutes away from key establishments, the office tower stands 17 stories high, has a land size of 2,200 square meters, and a building footprint of around 1,800 sq m.

“As Davao continues to experience a stream in investments, we see Damosa Diamond Tower as a welcome addition to its interesting skyline. As one of our biggest projects, this is truly a milestone for the company,” said Cary FloirendoLagdameo, head of DLI. “We owe it to the community to not only provide an area where they can thrive as they live, work and play, but to also create an iconic space that captures our region’s pride which is our agricul-

tural resources and the ingenuity of Davaoeños.”

Expecting its completion in April, Damosa Diamond Tower’s unique architectural design, such as the sleek curved lines and the distinctive panels, as well as its engineering works, are curated by some of the most trusted names in the country, such as Arch. Cathy Saldaña of PDP Architects and Carwill Construction.

More than the interesting aesthetic, as the development boasts of a façade depicting the wavy lines of banana fibers—Davao’s top export—the Damosa Diamond Tower is also DLI’s way of committing to provide a more sustainable option to businesses.

The tower promotes the use of

Engr. Ruel A. Tan (from left), vice president, Anflo Construction Corp.; Christian Cambaya, investor and servicing unit head, Davao City Investment Promotion Center (DCIPC); Willy T. Ho, president, Carwill; Oscar V. Grapa, president, Management, Investment, Financing, and Security Companies of the Anflo Group; Ricardo F. Lagdameo, first vice president, Damosa Land Inc.; Linda F. Lagdameo, chairman of the Board, Anflo Group; Cathy Saldaña, managing director, PDP Architects; Ricardo R. Floirendo, president, Real Estate and Livestock Operations of the Anflo Group; Vincent R. Floirendo, president, Agri Operations of the Anflo Group of Cos.

renewable energy and will give its locators access to alternative power sources. Custom-made exterior

fins are installed to help divert heat, and the development poses environmentally sound features,

which include the use of LED lighting, and eco-friendly insulation.

The addition of Damosa Dia-

mond Tower in DLI’s portfolio expands its properties for lease in the complex, as it offers 20,000 sq m of leasable area to other premier companies. The building will also be housing around 50 locators upon completion, including the corporate offices of the Anflocor Group and DLI, expansive co-working spaces such as that of Regus, business-process outsourcing (BPO) and knowledge-process outsourcing (KPO) firms.

To complement the expected rise of economic activity in the area, DLI will also construct a car park building in the Damosa IT Park that will hold about 350 cars and is set to be fully operational later this year.

“Damosa Diamond Tower will allow us a firmer foothold in the region, as our portfolio continues to grow. We are steadfast in our commitment to become a significant figure in the property industry and to take on a bigger role in the community,” Lagdameo said.

As DLI continues to innovate and diversify its portfolio, the company has also been drawing notable commendations in the industry. Most recently, DLI has garnered recognitions from the 2019 PropertyGuru Philippines Property Awards as the office building bagged Best Office Architectural Design Award Highly Commended Award for Best BPO Office Development and the Highly Commended Best Office Development Award.

community

BRIA Homes gives back through ‘Share the BRIA Love’

S

Harmonizing suburban and urban living essentials L

IFE in Marikina has always appealed to those looking for a nurturing community with green spaces, quiet neighborhoods and a strong sense of kinship. Among the pioneers of high-rise living in Marikina is Horizon Land a subsidiary of prime realestate developer Federal Land Inc. Horizon Land’s previous developments—Marquinton Residences and Tropicana Garden City—have helped residents reimagine their lifestyle, one that is heightened with vibrance, comfort and security.

Horizon Land makes living in Marikina more enticing as it continues to develop exclusive residential and commercial estates like Siena Towers.

This two-tower condominium project sits on a 5,473-square-meter land area

along Sumulong Highway. The one-bedroom units range from 23 sq m to 39.50 sq m, while the two-bedroom units range from 48 sq m to 68 sq m, both with balcony or amenity deck options. These provide comfortable living spaces suitable for businessmen, small families, and OFWs who want the laid-back feel of suburban living and the conveniences of urban modernity.

Siena Towers features top-notch amenities like a swimming pool, gym, karaoke, game room, landscaped gardens and more. Complementing the residential segment of Horizon Land community in Marikina are several retail centers, such as the Blue Wave Mall, the Marquinton Hub and the upcoming S&R Membership Shopping.

Siena Towers’ location along

Sumulong Highway, Marikina, makes everything practically a few minutes’ drive or a jeep ride away; most destinations are even on easy walking and biking distance. Residents have access to business centers, premier educational institutions, medical facilities, as well as homegrown restaurants, weekend destinations, recreational parks and a sports complex.

Living in a master-planned community like Siena Towers, residents can enjoy a healthy and carefree lifestyle where what matters most are in perfect balance. Exciting developments are, likewise, under way with Horizon Land set to build more projects to further transform the landscape of Marikina.

For more information about Siena Towers, visit www. federalland.ph

PARKED by its vision of providing a home for ordinary Filipinos, nothing has stood in the way of success for BRIA Homes (www.bria.com.ph), now considered the fastest-growing mass housing developer in the country. Thus, with a strong sense of gratitude, BRIA spread its blessings by joining Alay Pag-Asa Christian Foundation Inc., a nongovernment organization that helps indigent children, the youth, and their families, in a feeding program held last December 21.

In an effort aptly termed “Share the BRIA Love,” officials and employees of BRIA Homes held a donation drive prior to the event, collecting rice; vitamin C; canned goods; kitchen utensils and equipment; milk and sugar; condiments, such as vinegar, soy sauce, fish sauce, cooking oil and salt; and cleaning products and materials, such as mops, soaps, and detergent powder—the identified needs of Alay Pag-Asa. During the event, Maris Masilungan and Melly Basilio received the goods in behalf of Alay

Pag-Asa, which started as a shelter for street children and has since embraced more individuals and families that need support and compassion.

“Share the BRIA Love” is just one of the many efforts of BRIA Homes to help the Filipino people.

After all, its winning formula, Affordability (Mura) + Quality (Dekalidad) = a Beautiful BRIA Home for Every Filipino, was formulated in line with the company’s goal: to help every Filipino have a home of their own.

Through this formula, ordinary Filipinos can now purchase a BRIA unit for very affordable monthly amortizations, and through flexible payment schemes, such as bankfinancing and Pag-IBIG Funding.

BRIA Homes, likewise, takes pride in building sustainable, secure, and wholesome communities in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, providing recreational facilities for, and accommodating the needs of, Filipino individuals and families.

Accessibility is also a key factor in all BRIA communities, which

Now considered the fastest-growing mass housing developer in the country, BRIA Homes shared its blessings by joining Alay Pag-Asa Christian Foundation Inc., a nongovernment organization that helps indigent children, the youth, and their families, in a feeding program held last December 21.

are located near schools, hospitals, churches, commercial establishments, and major roads and highways.

Finally, the mass housing developer recognizes the varying and growing needs of different Filipino individuals and families, thus offering residential units in a variety of sizes and styles.

Because BRIA’s ultimate goal is to help Filipino individuals and families, it will continue to ensure that its every step is geared toward the betterment of Filipino lives.

BRIA Homes is a subsidiary of Golden Bria Holdings Inc., considered the third-largest real-estate company in terms of market capitalization valued at more than P250 billion. The fastest-growing mass housing developer in the Philippines, BRIA Homes is primed to bring affordable house-and-lot packages and condominium units closer to ordinary Filipino families.

This is the goal that drives every single employee in the company, for which the ultimate fulfillment is seeing a client happily moving into Bria’s homes.

Entrepreneur

E4 Wednesday, January 29, 2020 • Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug

BusinessMirror

Tesda, PCCI tie up to enhance enterprise-based TVET in PHL

By Roderick L. Abad

T

@rodrik_28

Contributor

O enhance the enterprise-based technical-vocational education and training (TVET) system on a national scale, the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) has tied up with the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) to establish a Nationwide Pre-employment Dual Education and Training System (NPDETS).

To be formed under the “TesdaPCCI Partnership on Strengthened Enterprise-Based TVET System in the Philippines,” the NPDETS seeks to nationalize the Dual Education and Training (DET) system in the country as piloted in 2014 by PCCI via its Human Resources Development Foundation, wherein students are trained both in schools and in

companies. This was proven to increase chances of employment in developed markets like Germany.

The same instructional method has been also used by Tesda since the enactment of Republic Act 7686, or the Dual Training System (DTS) Act of 1994, which implements a training plan designed altogether by certified institutions and training centers,

including business establishments, to make sure that industry skills and knowledge on recent and developing technologies are shared effectively.

“As Tesda works toward becoming the transformational leader in the technical education and skills development of the Filipino work force, we make sure to be constantly updated on various industries’ trends and best practices, which also involves convergence with other institutions, such as PCCI,” Tesda Secretary Isidro Lapeña said.

“We show our support to the country’s various businesses and industries by extending our services in the form of technical assistance provided to our partners, who are front liners in the said areas,” he added.

For the DTS, under DET, students who have undergone TVET trainings will gain from the combined practical, on-the-job and enterprisebased trainings, as well as theoretical education.

“Once operationalized, our ACES [business associations, chambers, enterprises and schools] will be able to take more active roles in establishing competency standards, developing curriculum and training plans, as well as conducting

assessment and certification of students/trainees,” said Dr. Alberto P. Fenix Jr., president of PCCI Human Resources Development Foundation.

For this collaboration, activities involve the identification of priority industry sectors where DET will be enforced. The major concerned industries include agriculture, hotel and restaurant/tourism, construction, and information and communications technology.

In partnership with Tesda, ACES will be able to determine qualifications and competencies from these sectors, which will translate into the development of DET programs for duplication. Regulations developed for the training will help students/ trainees meet the results expected by priority sectors.

What’s more, NPDETS will capacitate and accredit ACES, form assessment procedures and establish a joint-certification system honored by both the business sector and Tesda.

Lapeña recently signed the memorandum of their partnership agreement with PCCI President Ambassador Benedicto Yujuico and Fenix at the Tesda Boardroom in Taguig City.

Russian steel billionaire invests $20M in start-ups

B

illionaire Alexey Mordashov built his fortune churning out tons and tons of commodity-grade steel. Now, Russia’s fifth-richest man is preparing for a world that wants more technologically advanced building materials.

To keep Severstal PJSC at the cutting edge of the sector, Mordashov’s steelmaker started a venture fund that invests in start-ups focused on anything from steel coatings to robots. Severstal Ventures will also

consider materials, such as concrete and wood, and this month it invested in Airborne, a Dutch company developing composites used in airplanes, ships and construction.

After evaluating about 5,000 projects, Severstal Ventures invested about $20 million in start-ups last year. The focus on new technologies, including carbon-free steelmaking, is part of a plan intended to ensure it remains one of the most profitable companies in the industry.

“We need to move toward

Startups and Funds Invested in by Severstal Ventures n Pangaea Ventures: venture capital fund specializing in projects on advanced materials. n Chrysalix RoboValley: specializes in investments in artificial intelligence, robotics and creation of new materials. n Modumetal Inc.: makes corrosion-resistant nano-alloys. n Arcanum Alloys: makes steel-based alloys, including product with properties equivalent to stainless steel, but with lower costs.

A worker pours molten cast iron he has collected from a blast furnace at the Novolipetsk steel plant, operated by NLMK Group, in Lipetsk, Russia. BLOOMBERG

offering new solutions for the clients and not only on the basis of the steel,” Mordashov said in an interview near Moscow.

Severstal will have a seat on Airborne’s board, said Andrey Laptev,

director of the fund.

In the case of Arcanum Alloys, Severstal plans to license the technology in Russia, and is already conducting tests in Cherepovets, he said.

Bloomberg News

Entreps urged to review contracts amid Taal’s restiveness

B

usiness owners and entrepreneurs should review their contracts and insurance coverage in the wake of Taal Volcano eruption, according to Aclan Reyes Alcaraz (ARA) Consulting, an Alabang-based firm that provides legal and business advisory services.

Atty. Neil Noe Reyes, the legal management director of ARA Consulting, said companies should ensure that their contracts, such as lease and financial agreements have provisions on “fortuitous events,” or force majeure, for their own protection. He said this would minimize their exposure to financial risks brought about by natural disasters such as volcanic eruption.

Atty. Pauline Alcaraz, also of ARA Consulting, said that while the Civil Code of the Philippines has general provisions covering natural disasters, “it is safer for businesses to have those stipulations in their contracts.”

“Fortuitous events are those which cannot be foreseen, or those which can be foreseen but inevitable. They are either acts of men or acts of God. Acts of men include war, or riots, while acts of God include disasters, such as typhoons, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions,” said Alcaraz. “From our point of view, what the small businesses lack is the provision in their contracts that would protect them against these fortuitous events.”

ARA Consulting, a part of the Aclan Group of Cos., is a full-suite business consulting enterprise with solid legal

expertise and comprehensive commercial services from contract drafting and reviews to assistance in accounting and tax management.

Reyes said some establishments in Tagaytay are now complaining that they have to pay rent when their restaurants are not operating. “That basically is a problem for them. For businesses that haven’t engaged a lawyer to review a contract, they will be forced to pay rent, even if their businesses haven’t been operating,” Reyes said.

“For clients who have contracts prepared by lawyers, their businesses are somewhat protected because they are exempted from paying rent in events like volcanic eruption, and other calamities,” he said.

Alcaraz said that under the law, businesses and organizations which had to close operations as a result of a natural disaster could temporarily stop paying salaries to their employees. “In the Philippines, we adopt the ‘no work, no pay’ principle. It is unfair for the employers to continue to pay their employees once the company ceased operations, only that they have to follow the proper procedures. There should be notices sent to DOLE [Department of Labor and Employment],” she said.

“So long as employees work, they should be paid. But if they decide not to go to work which is their right because it will be detrimental to their health and safety, and there was a determination by DOLE that an imminent danger situation exists, then

they should not be paid because they are not in the work place, unless the company policy provides otherwise,” said Alcaraz.

She said workers also have the right to refuse to go to work because in the case of Taal Volcano eruption, the ashfall poses risks to their health.

“If determined by DOLE, employees can refuse to go to work, without fear of losing their jobs permanently. The employers cannot do that,” she said.

Reyes said establishments affected by the calamity could also ask for leeway from banks in terms of loan repayments. “Basically the contract with banks is a contract of adhesion. It is a ‘take it or leave it’ contract. Usually, even in the face of fortuitous event, you still have to continue paying the loans or amortizations. One can ask banks or financial institutions to give leeway for the restructuring of the loans or you can ask for several months of nonpayment because the non-operation of the establishment means it has no income,” he said.

Reyes said the same is true with lease. “If it is not in the lease contract, the advice is that when the renewal of the contract comes, you should review the terms and insert provisions on fortuitous events,” he said. Reyes said Taal’s unrest also pointed to the need of having a comprehensive insurance coverage to protect real properties and livelihood from damage.

Alcaraz said insurance is often overlooked in the Philippines. “The usual

insurance products are life insurance, fire insurance and auto insurance. But coffee and pineapple farmers and fishermen were also affected. There should also be crop insurance,” she said.

The two lawyers also cited the need for businesses and households to secure their documents.

“If birth certificates were destroyed or lost, it would be easy to get duplicate copies from the Philippine Statistics Authority. But in the case of original certificates of titles or transfer certificates of titles, it is not as easy to file an action for the reconstitution of titles. It is still a hassle, so we have to focus on the importance of safekeeping the documents,” Reyes said.

To avoid such hassle, Alcaraz advises property owners to avail themselves of the Voluntary Title Standardization Program of the Land Registration Authority which provides title owners the option to upgrade manually issued titles to eTitles. “Once you have eTitles, they are already registered in the system of LRA. This is important so you would not worry about losing your paper titles anymore,” she said.

Reyes said natural disasters, such as the Taal Volcano eruption should change Filipinos’ view of contracts and insurance. “Usually, we wait for these calamities before we act. We overlook insurance and we overlook contract reviews. In case of leased properties, the lessee only looks at the amount and does not bother to review the other terms of the contract,” he said.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Pangasinan millennial finds passion in candle making

Raymond Rusell, 29, from Bayambang, Pangasinan, is into candle making. His micro, small and medium enterprise is called Denmark’s Candle, producing decorative, scented and even organic candles. Photo by Hilda Austria

B

AYAMBANG, Pangasinan— Denmark’s Candle, a micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) in this town that is expanding its market within Pangasinan and Metro Manila with its unique decorative and organic scented candles, is actually being managed by a millennial.

In an interview last Saturday, 29-year-old Raymond Rusell said it was in 2017 when he decided to explore the business of candle making, which used to be the bread-and-butter of his family.

Rusell is a graduate of Hotel and Restaurant Management course, and worked as a bartender, among his other list of employment.

“I felt that I don’t want to be an employee, I wanted to go into business, and I had the interest in continuing my father’s candlemaking business since I was the only one among us six siblings who wanted it,” he added.

His father, Romer, 59, used to work in a well-known candle factory in Metro Manila. He even became a subcontractor, wherein the factory gave him raw materials and he got to produce the candles back here in his hometown.

“He used to bring me at the factory and at 12 [years old], I learned to curve for orchid design candles. I actually earned as much as P500 per day by just curving during those times,” Rusell recalled.

However, the factory stopped giving them raw materials as many other subcontractors, who were also able to produce the same product as theirs, emerged that made the competition stiffer.

“My father continued the business on his own, but it did not do well since candle making is a seasonal business and there were already many other candle manufacturers unlike before,” he said.

Rusell said with the help of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), through the Kapatid Mentor Me (KMME) program, he was able to acquire some knowledge on how to enhance their product, as well as manage the business properly.

KMME aimed to assist MSMEs scale up and sustain their enterprises by equipping them with the needed skill sets by way of theoretical, or conceptual lectures and mentoring, or coaching sessions.

It is a coaching and mentoring program consisting of 10 modules to be conducted in 12 weeks, and undertaken in partnership with institutions specializing in functional areas of entrepreneurship, according to DTI. “I’ve learned about mind

setting, development of the product, marketing strategy, even documentation and labeling of our products, and many other things that I didn’t know about business. It is not that easy to do business but I gained confidence to do it anyway,” Rusell said.

He added there was even collaboration with one of the mentors in the program, who is an artist and owner of an arts and craft store, turning their ordinary candles into something more with designs they came up with. The DTI, Rusell said, provided also an opportunity for him to market their candles in Japan, along with other MSMEs from the country, last December.

“We were trained during our stay in Japan, and sold our products in the booths provided by DTI,” he said.

Rusell recently became a member of the Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. “Denmark’s candle started with a P20,000 capital with just my father, and I as worker. Since I got an additional capital of P100,000 from a loan from Small Business Corp. of the DTI at a very low interest and there was no collateral, our business expanded. We now have two regular workers and more during peak seasons,” he said.

Currently, Rusell’s clients are hotels and funeral homes in the province, and some stores in Metro Manila.

From ordinary candles, Denmark’s is now into decorative, scented, and even organic candles. The best seller is the Callalily.

“Our candles are still handmade. It was our advantage that my father is very good at carving molders. Our designs cannot be done by machines. I also use organic materials now as requested by our hotel clients since it is smokeless and aromatic, as well as environment-friendly,” he said.

Rusell hopes to acquire machines in order to mass produce ordinary candles, and sell his products to more stores.

Rusell is encouraging his fellow millennials to find their passion, and explore doing business on their own.

“If they have ideas then, they should try to implement it. They should try to start even with little capital. Also, that they take advantage of the training and other support from the national government through DTI. They need to undergo training because on our own, we know little; and after all, there is help for us to expand our business and they will provide updates and opportunities,” he added. PNA