BusinessMirror July 18, 2019

GOVT CRAFTS LEGAL STRATEGY VS. T.R.O. ON D.O.E.’S FUEL UNBUNDLING

By Lenie Lectura

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@llectura

HE Department of Energy (DOE) is consulting with government lawyers on how best to deal with the temporary restraining orders (TROs) issued by local courts suspending implementation of the agency’s fuel unbundling policy.

DOE A ssistant Secretar y Leonido Pulido said on Wednesday the agency is in discussions with the Office of the Solicitor

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just wait. We have to be careful because we heard that there are more groups that may file more TROs, so we need to know if it is beneficial to appeal only for the purpose of setting some kind of precedent whether the petitioners are entitled for a TRO,” added Pulido.

The Taguig court issued a 20-day TRO on July 3 while the Makati court’s TRO, which also takes effect for 20 days, was issued last June 28.

See “Unbundling,” A8

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n Thursday, July 18, 2019 Vol. 14 No. 281

Govt moving to build a local train industry T

By Cai U. Ordinario

@caiordinario

HE Philippines may soon source trains for future rail projects from Filipino suppliers as the government is already taking steps to build a local train industry, according to the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).

Science Secretary Fortunato T. de la Peña told BusinessMirror that the agency is now in talks with possible investors and the National Development Corp. (NDC) to jump-start these efforts. De la Peña revealed the plans on the

sidelines of a briefing at the opening on Wednesday of the National Science and Technology Week (NSTW) in Pasay City.

De la Peña said he hopes that even before 2022 ends, the Philippines would have its own train

industry.

“That’s what we want. Kasi nga ang dami-daming nakaplanong rail projects, meron sa Mindanao, meron sa Visayas, eh gusto sana namin locally sourced na siya [Because there are a lot of planned

₧200M

The estimated cost of building prototypes that local train manufacturers could already use. The DOST will provide licenses to these firms for the project rail projects such as in Mindanao and the Visayas. That’s why we want locally sourced trains],” de la Peña said.

According to the science secretary, private-sector investors are keen on bankrolling road trains.

Initially, he said, the investors are keen on using their trains for their own manufacturing operations.

Continued on A2

Alert up on slides, floods on TS Falcon

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Stagnant industrialization, stagnant wages, and weakened unionism Rene E. Ofreneo

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NRECONSTRUCTED neoliberal economists have been arguing that a rise in minimum wages is harmful for it drives investors away and keeps unemployment high. This kind of thinking puts the burden of investment and growth promotion on the workers. The unwritten order to the unions and their members: Be quiet and accept your lowly fate in the labor market. When investment and growth kick in, jobs and wages will eventually rise, as soon as unemployment is reduced and the economy becomes a lot stronger.

Continued on A7

BSP kicks off road show to explain amendments in central bank charter

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@reneacostaBM

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HE government continued to warn residents living in areas susceptible to flooding and landslide to take precautions as moderate to heavy rain is forecast to prevail due to the prevailing southwest monsoon, which is being enhanced by Tropical Storm Falcon.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said monsoon rain whipped up by Falcon triggered flooding in some areas in Albay and in Lanao del Norte, and cut from traffic two highways in the Cordillera.

Five barangays in Libon, Albay, and the towns of Kapatagan, Lala, Sapad, Salvador and Sultan Naga Dimaporo in Lanao del Norte were submerged in floodwater, while two highways in Ifugao and Kalinga were likewise flooded.

The NDRRMC said the five affected towns in Lanao del Norte also experienced power outages.

Falcon made landfall at 12:30 a.m. in Gattaran, Cagayan, on Wednesday and dumped rain as it moved to affect other provinces in Northern Luzon and in the Cordillera Administrative Region.

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See “TS Falcon,” A8

General (OSG) on whether to file for a motion for reconsideration or wait for the TROs to lapse.

“The...meeting with OSG is critical because we need to meet a decision point to decide if it is practical to appeal the TRO and file a motion for reconsideration or just wait for the [TRO] to lapse.

“I’m sure we [could] do enough to convince the relevant courts that the preliminary injunction should not be issued,” Pulido said.

“If you think about it, we might

SCIENCE Secretary Fortunato de la Peña and Education Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones share a light moment at the opening of the 2019 National Science & Technology Week (NSTW) celebration on Wednesday. Briones read the message of President Duterte at the event. This year’s NSTW celebration has the theme “Enabling Technologies for Sustainable Development.” NONIE REYES

‘Communities key to mitigating disaster risks’

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OCAL communities are essential to managing risks and building resilience in the era of climate change, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda).

In a statement delivered at the Asia-Pacific Disaster Report 2019: A High-Level Roundtable Discussion in New York, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M.

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Pernia said community-driven disaster-risk reduction is the country’s “best hope” when disasters strike.

“Let me emphasize that super typhoons, droughts, floods and earthquakes are inevitable. There will always be perfect storms, of one kind or another, coming our way. Nevertheless, an effective and community-driven disaster-

risk reduction seems to be our best hope,” Pernia said.

Based on the experience of the Philippines, after Supertyphoon Yolanda laid waste to various provinces in the Visayas, the Neda chief said communities were crucial in the post-disaster recovery and rehabilitation efforts.

He added that the poorest and See “Communities,” A2

@BcuaresmaBM

ANGKO Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) officers will go around the country to talk about the recent amendments made to the central bank charter, in an effort to connect with and inform banks and other stakeholders in the countryside.

The regional information campaign, the BSP said in a statement on Wednesday following the first round of a series of talks at the SMX Convention Center in Davao City, aims to promote better appreciation of Republic Act (RA) 11211, or “An Act Amending Republic Act No. 7653, Otherwise Known as the ‘New Central Bank Act’, and for Other Purposes” among bankers, the media and regional stakeholders.

According to BSP General Counsel and Senior Assistant Governor Atty. Elmore O. Capule, RA 11211 enhances the central bank’s capacity “to promote price stability, financial stability and a safe and reliable payments system. The law, which central bankers worked on for more than 20 years, is ultimately aimed at enhancing the economic and financial well-being of Filipinos.”

Capule was joined by Financial Supervision Sector Managing Director Arifa A. Ala; and Department of Economic Research Deputy Director Sittie M. Butocan for the Davao leg of the campaign.

“As a financial regulator, the BSP

“Under my watch the BSP shall have strict and prompt implementation of recently approved structural reforms.”

—Diokno

is further enhancing its supervision and examination framework in alignment with the BSP charter amendments, as well as international best practices,” Ala said.

In her discussion of the Philippines’s growth story, Butocan said, “The Philippines is expected to remain one of the fastest-growing economies in the region and in the world in 2019-2020.”

The briefings on the amended BSP charter will also be conducted in the cities of Cagayan de Oro, Cebu, Iloilo, Batangas and Baguio.

Early this year, then-BSP Governor Nestor Espenilla Jr. welcomed the enactment of the new Central Bank Act, saying the new provisions will align the BSP further with international best practices.

Now at the helm of BSP, Governor Benjamin Diokno said one of the key objectives of his leadership is to implement the newly passed laws in the banking sector—including the provisions of the new Central Bank Act. “Under my watch the BSP shall have strict and prompt implementation of recently approved st r uc t u ra l refor m s,” D iok no earlier said.

US 50.9440 n JAPAN 0.4707 n UK 63.2266 n HK 6.5173 n CHINA 7.4089 n SINGAPORE 37.5085 n AUSTRALIA 35.7219 n EU 57.1235 n SAUDI ARABIA 13.5836

Source: BSP (17 July 2019 )

News

BusinessMirror

A2 Thursday, July 18, 2019

SSS sets guidelines in giving unemployment insurance

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By Rea Cu

@ReaCuBM

HE Social Security System (SSS) has issued a circular embodying the implementing guidelines for the payment of unemployment insurance or involuntary separation benefit, in accordance with Republic Act (RA) 11199 or the Social Security Act of 2018.

The benefit is meant to help members of the state-run pension fund who were involuntarily separated from their jobs.

Under SSS Circular 2019-011, to be eligible for the unemployment insurance or involuntary separation benefit, employees must not be over 60 years of age at the time of involuntary separation from employment, with the exception of underground mine workers who should not be over 50 years of age and race horse jockeys who should not be over 55.

The covered employees must also have paid at least 36 monthly contributions, “12 months of which should be in the 18-month period immediately preceding the month of involuntary separation.”

They also must have no settled unemployment insurance or involuntary separation benefit within the last three years prior to the involuntary separation from employment.

Reasons for the involuntary separation may include redundancy, retrenchment or downsizing, closure of the operations, commission of a crime or offense of the employer against the employee or any of the immediate members of his family, and inhuman and unbearable treatment by the employer of the employee, among others.

Disqualification

MEANWHILE, an employee will not be qualified for the unemployment insurance or involuntary separation benefit if he or she has shown serious misconduct, willful disobedience to lawful orders, as well as gross and habitual neglect of duties, among others.

“The reasons for involuntary separation of OFWs shall be determined by the DOLE [Department of Labor and Employment],” the circular read.

Claims for the unemployment insurance and involuntary separation benefit should be filed within one year from the date of the employee’s involuntary separation.

The benefit payout will be done through the member’s SSS unified multipurpose ID (UMID) enrolled as an automated teller machine (ATM) or through the Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank) Quick Card account, and not through cash or check payments.

For documentary requirements, the SSS listed an original copy as well as a photocopy of one of the primary ID cards or documents, namely: passport, UMID card and driver’s license, among others.

The applicants must also provide a certification from DOLE establishing the nature and date of involuntary separation from employment, which can be sourced in DOLE regional offices and Philippine Labor Offices (Polo).

The SSS circular also prescribed limitations in applying for the unemployment insurance and involuntary separation benefit.

Covered employees may only claim once every three years starting from the date of involuntary separation, and in case of concurrence of two or more compensable contingencies within the same period, only the highest benefit shall be paid.

For cases such as overlapping benefits, when the involuntarily separated employee files a case against the employer, when the

filing or payments involves fraudulent or false claims, or when the employee is rehired within the same compensable period, “the settled unemployment insurance or involuntary separation benefit shall be deducted either in partial or full from the future benefits of the member.”

The unemployment insurance or involuntary separation benefit is a cash benefit granted to covered employees including kasambahay (domestic workers) and overseas Filipino workers (OFW) who were involuntarily separated from their employment.

“The guidelines shall be applicable for compensable contingencies occurring on or after March 5, 2019,” the circular added.

SSS Circular 2019-011 was signed by SSS President and CEO Aurora C. Ignacio last July 8, 2019.

In February this year, the SSS said that RA 11199 will increase the life of the pension fund by 13 years to 2045 from 2032.

Former SSS President and CEO Emmanuel F. Dooc said the fund’s extension until 2045 is projected on the back of the implementation of the contribution increase and adjustment in minimum and maximum salary credits under the newly signed law.

Under the law, the SSS will implement a gradual increase in monthly contributions by 1 percentage point starting on the year of implementation until it reaches 15 percent in 2025.

Govt moving to build a local train industry Continued from A1

He estimated that this could reach around P200 million to build prototypes that could already be used by these local firms.

The role of the DOST in this undertaking is to provide licenses to these firms for the project.

The DOST chief also said they are in talks with the NDC, a government-owned and -controlled corporation (GOCC), which invests in pioneering industries.

De la Peña said the DOST had earlier secured NDC financing for radiation facilities. The NDC and private sector firms built local radiation facilities.

“Since we cannot source funds to expand our radiation facilities, where the demand has become so high because of the expanded exports, we approached the National development Corp. and also the private sector,” de la Peña said.

Cabinet, Rody back DOST–Briones

EDUCATION Secretary Leonor Magtolis-Briones said President Duterte and the Cabinet fully support the DOST and its projects.

“The President never said a word against science and technology [S&T]. All members of the Cabinet have a 100-percent ap-

DTI. . .

Continued from A8

On top of this, the agriculture sector is also seen to have the highest risk to automation at 90 percent, according to a 2019 study conducted by the Asian Institute of Management (AIM).

Agriculture, forestry and fishing was also seen to have the highest average probability of jobs being automated at 90 percent, followed by finance and insurance at 79 percent and mining and quarrying at 78 percent.

proval for S&T projects,” Briones said in a speech she delivered for the President at the opening of the National Science and Technology Week on Wednesday.

Briones said whatever amount the DOST’s projects would entail, Duterte would just say “we will look for funds” for their implementation.

Railway institute

SOME three weeks ago, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) revealed plans to boost its rail expertise and equipment— as it struggles to provide efficient mass transport systems to Filipinos.

The establishment of a Philippine Railway Institute—an educational organization aimed at training and producing quality rail experts and employees— will pave the way for the world to recognize the country as a railway expertise leader, according to Transportation Undersecretary for Rails Timothy John R. Batan.

“Today, there are a lot of Filipinos working abroad for foreign railway lines. I think we can level up to that. Our own companies can eventually do that for other countries,” he said.

Batan noted that this is the broader vision for the Philippines, whose railway sector is currently

In a separate interview, Aldaba told the BusinessMirror that there’s hope for the agricultural workers who may lose their jobs due to automation, as the potential job losses give the government even more reason to really develop the manufacturing sector.

From the current average manufacturing growth rate of 7.3 percent, Aldaba said she personally wants to see this sector post a double-digit growth as high as 10 percent by 2030.

“Those who will be losing their jobs in agriculture will be trans-

still building up capacity both in terms of infrastructure and manpower. Much of the financing and technical assistance is being provided by Japan, the country’s largest source of official development assistance (ODA).

The DOTr is moving to build roughly 1,900 kilometers of railway across the country through 2022—from just the existing 77-kilometer railway portfolio in Metro Manila.

Five mega projects are being funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) through Tokyo’s ODA program: the first tranche of the Metro Manila Subway Project, the NorthSouth Commuter Railway (NSCR) Project and its extension, the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 Rehabilitation Project, the Light Rail Transit Line 1 Cavite Extension Project, and the Line 2 East Extension Project.

Jica has committed to partially fund these through a loan commitment of roughly ¥1.3 trillion.

So far, ¥400 billion has been disbursed to the Philippine government to bankroll these projects.

Kiyo Kawabuchi, a senior Jica representative to the Philippines, was earlier quoted saying these developments are key to helping provide greater convenience

ferred to manufacturing,” she said.

That is why manufacturing should be developed because it will absorb [the job losses],” she said.

Despite the transfer of agriculture workers to manufacturing, she said this will not spell the death of the agriculture sector, adding that a non-labor intensive agriculture sector can still result in a huge production.

“Even if you have less people, [if you’re] using technology, your production will still be huge. Can you imagine how other countries were able to sustain their agriculture sec-

to Filipinos. “The railway sector could transform the daily lives of Filipinos,” she said.

Sona wish list

CREATING a local train industry is part of the State of the Nation Address (Sona) wish list of DOST to the President along with the passage of the Philippine Space Development Act. De la Peña earlier told the BusinessMirror: “[The passage of the bill] will ensure the continuity of the space technology development programs we [at DOST] have started.”

These programs include the Philippine Scientific Earth Observation Microsatellite Program that launched Diwata-1 and 2 microsatellites in orbit, and was succeeded by the Space Technology and Applications Mastery, Innovation and Advancement, more popularly known as Stamina 4 Space Program.

Once established, the PhilSA will be an attached agency to the Office of the President. The PhilSA “shall be the primary policy, planning, coordinating, implementing, and administrative entity of the Executive branch of the government that will plan, develop and promote the national space program in the Philippine Space Policy.”

tor which is not labor-intensive? It is because they are using machines that will allow you to do agriculture in large tracts of land,” she said.

Besides, the manufacturing sector provides high-paying jobs with benefits, she added.

“If you will not grow the manufacturing sector, where will the agriculture workers go? They cannot be absorbed by call centers.

Otherwise , they will just go sell [things] or go to retail, which are also low-value jobs but if they go to manufacturing, they will have high-paying jobs,” she said.

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Planters seek review of rice trade lib law on record-low prices

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

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@joveemarie

HE Department of Agriculture (DA) on Wednesday said the average farm-gate price of unhusked rice has dropped to a record low of P12 to P14 per kilogram in many parts of the country.

Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol said the prevailing farmgate price of palay is 30 percent to 40 percent lower than the average of P20/kg recorded earlier this year.

If this trend continues, Piñol warned that Filipino rice planters could lose an estimated P114 billion for the whole year.

“In contrast, the market prices of rice, expected to drop by P7/ kg with the rice tariffication law, have remained almost constant, with some areas reporting a drop of only P1/kg to P2/kg, even with the deluge of imported rice,” he said.

The decline in farm-gate prices, Piñol said, prompted farmers and other rice industry stakeholders to urge President Duterte to review into the loopholes of Republic Act (RA) 11203. “[However, it is] too early to say if the law should be amended, we just have to check the loopholes and plug these,” he said in a statement posted on his Facebook page.

Piñol told reporters in an interview in Quezon City on Wednesday that the government will strictly implement the Price Act to ensure that rice, particularly imports, will remain affordable for consumers.

“We will come up with the SRP [suggested retail price for rice], because beyond that is profiteering,” he added.

According to Piñol, the DA is now drafting a joint memorandum of agreement with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to implement the Price Act. The MOA will be signed this month.

“Traders are eager to import because they believe that no entity will regulate prices. The margin of profit is too huge for importers, but this was not the intent of the law.

The intent is to make affordable rice available to consumers,” he said in a mix of English and Filipino.

Communities. . .

Continued from A1

vulnerable communities also participated in identifying disaster risks and prioritizing efforts to manage these risks.

The communities, Pernia said, organized themselves, assessed their situation, crafted project proposals, and implemented and maintained their community projects.

“While the devastation was truly shocking, some lessons are also worth mentioning. One of these is the community-driven development strategy that has proven to be effective in strengthening community disaster resilience,” Pernia said.

The Neda chief said results from the Asia-Pacific Disaster Report 2019 disclosed that if drought is accounted for, the region’s economic loss due to disasters in a year quadruples to $675 billion.

Pernia said the value is already equivalent to the combined economic output of two countries in Southeast Asia. The amount, he said, should be enough to convince governments in the region to close ranks and cooperate in finding solutions and ways to adapt.

“The losses resulting from disasters and calamities may even outpace the region’s economic growth and reverse the gains that have been achieved,” Pernia said.

In June, the World Bank said the Philippines is one of the economies

“As for the SRP for imported commercial rice, the government will set it based on the landed cost.

The DTI, the Department of Finance and the National Economic and Development Authority will come up with a computation,” he added.

Cheap imports

DURING a dialogue with rice farmers, Piñol said the unrestricted entry of imported rice pulled down the average farm-gate price of local paddy to a level not seen in decades.

Farmer leader Pedro Lim of Caraga region said rice farmers will lose over P100 billion this year, but the government will only deliver P10 billion worth of interventions under RA 11203 which took effect on March 5.

Lim said the drop in rice prices of P1/kg to P2/kg does not even come close to the financial sacrifices of rice farmers.

Citing industry stakeholders who looked into the shipment entry records of the Bureau of Customs, Piñol said importers are making a lot of money from imports.

“The landed cost of Myanmar’s 25-percent broken rice is only P18.22/kg, Vietnam’s 5-percent broken is at P25.33/kg, while Thailand’s 5-percent broken is at P23.06/kg,” he said. Premium rice or the 5-percent brokens imported from Vietnam and Thailand is sold in the Philippines for P50/kg to P60/kg. Traders, he said, earn a “whopping” margin of P25/kg to P35/kg.

Piñol also said monitoring of market prices by the DA’s regional offices on Monday showed photos of rice stalls with prices ranging from a low of P32/kg to a high of P70/kg. The average selling price is P42/kg.

“The only area which posted a huge drop in price was Region 2, considered as the rice granary of the Philippines, where rice could be bought for as low as P30/kg, but farm-gate prices there also dropped to about P12/kg,” he said.

Piñol assured farmers and other rice industry stakeholders that their concerns will be submitted in a formal memorandum to Duterte. that have the highest exposed generation capacity to multiple hazards, second only to China. These hazards are landslides, tsunamis, earthquakes, cyclones, extreme heat, water scarcity, floods and volcanic eruptions.

The exposed capacity of the Philippines to various hazards is over 300 percent because some facilities like power plants can be exposed to more than one hazard. China’s exposure, meanwhile, is just above 500 percent.

The report also stated that without coral reefs the annual damage from coastal f looding would double worldw ide. For countries like the Cuba, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, and the Philippines, having coral reefs leads to annual savings of more than $400 million each.

To prevent these losses, the World Bank said there is a need to combine “green and gray infrastructure that can provide lower-cost, more resilient and more sustainable infrastructure solutions.”

The Washington-based lender said contingency plans should be put in place. Transport operators could focus on restoring connections to critical nodes, such as hospitals and ports.

In the Philippines, as part of its contingency plans in the water sector, water tankers were contracted after a typhoon to ensure that services will continue despite infrastructure damage. Cai U. Ordinario

The Nation BusinessMirror

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Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug • Thursday, July 18, 2019 A3

Solon pushes passage of ‘tougher’ anti-terrorism law

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By Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz @joveemarie & Rene Acosta @reneacostaBM

PARTY-LIST lawmaker is pushing for the passage of a bill that would toughen the country’s anti-terrorism law on the heels of a recent suicide-bombing incident of an Army camp in Sulu involving a Filipino.

In filing House Bill 2082, Puwersa ng Bayaning Atleta (PBA) Party-list Rep. Jericho Nograles said the incident might be the beginning of similar attacks in the future.

Nograles said that the incident last June 28 where a Filipino named Norman Lasuca was identified as one of the two suicide bombers that attacked an Army command post in Indanan, Sulu, is a grim indication that foreign terrorists have already spread their violent ideology to local Islamic insurgents.

Nograles, who ser ved as a caretaker congressman of Sulu

province, said that government security authorities should also look at the possibility that Sulu province might have become a training ground for Filipino suicide bombers.

The bill seeks to amend Republic Act 9272, or the Human Securities Act of 2007, to “make it rational, balanced, realistic and truly effective in the fight against terrorism.”

The bill provides a clearer definition of key concepts, including what “terrorist acts” are punishable.

It also allows for a graduation of penalties based on an offender’s participation and penalizes “incit-

ing to commit terrorist acts.”

The bill also defines and penalizes “foreign terrorism” and “foreign terrorist” and imposes the penalty of perpetual disqualification from public office to offenders.

HB 2082 also provides greater powers to the Anti-Terrorism Council (ATC), especially over telecommunications and Internet service providers.

It also mandates the creation of focus programs on countering violent extremism, counterterrorism operational readiness, legal affairs, anti-terror financing and international affair.

The bill also empowers the ATC to take measures to prevent terrorists from acquiring weapons of mass destruction (WMDs).

The measure also mandates the ATC investigate motu propio reports of abuse, malicious application and improper implementation of the law.

“The passage of the HSA in 2007 was intended to provide a legal framework that would allow the Philippines’s criminal justice system and institutions to prevent counterterrorism,” Nograles said.

Unfortunately, he said 12 years

DOLE defers consent to ILO mission to probe labor ‘killings’

By Samuel P. Medenilla

@sam_medenilla

T

HE Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) on Wednesday announced it will defer its acceptance to a high-level mission from the International Labor Organization (ILO) investigate alleged mass killings of local trade unionists.

Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III said the deferment stays until DOLE could conduct their own probe on the allegations of local labor groups there were about 43 recorded labor-related deaths in the country during the current administration.

“It is not their business [to investigate]. It is our business and our obligation. Now if you think we are sleeping on job to investigate that is another thing,” Bello told reporters in an interview.

“We will not allow any murder taking place without being investigated whether it is labor-related or not,” he added.

Labor Assistant Secretary Benjo M. Benavidez said Bello made the reiteration after the killings was raised by representatives of the Global Unions and the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) last Tuesday during a meeting.

Lack of details

BELLO renewed his call to labor groups to

submit the details on alleged killings to enable the department to coordinate with the Philippine National Police (PNP) for investigation.

Partido Manggagawa Chairman and Nagkaisa Spokesman Renato Magtubo said they already told DOLE to coordinate with the Center for Trade Union and Human Rights (CTUHR) for the needed information.

Benavidez expressed his frustration on the sketchy details from labor groups since it caused ILO’s Committee on the Application of Standards last June to call for the probe in the Philippines in the first place.

“We cannot contact anyone from CTUHR. This is the problem now. They are now fingerpointing even after they used the 43 cases in their statements,” Benavidez lamented.

“If I was the one giving that statement, I would have verified first the facts [about the 43 cases],” he added.

DOLE maintained there were only five labor-related killings during the current administration, which is now already being investigated by the PNP. “Some of these incidents all ready led to the filing of charges,” Benavidez said.

He explained that for a killing to be tagged as labor-related, the victim must have died after exercising his or her freedom of association.

BI to foreigners: Shun Sona protest gatherings

By Joel R. San Juan

T

@jrsanjuan1573

HE Bureau of Immigration (BI) on Wednesday reminded foreigners that they are prohibited by law to join in any political activity in the country.

Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente issued the reminder in light of previous incidents of deportation and exclusion of foreign nationals who took part in protest actions and mass actions.

Protest actions are expected to be held by various groups during President Duterte’s State of the Nation Address (Sona) scheduled on Monday.

Morente said foreigners cannot exercise their political rights and privileges being mere visitors in the country.

“Joining political demonstrations is an utter display of disrespect to the country’s authorities, and is equivalent to meddling in our internal affairs as a sovereign nation,” Morente stressed.

He cited the case of Dutch citizen Thomas van Beersum who was deported after being

photographed joining a protest granting and taunting a crying policeman in 2013.

Likewise, Canadian student Kim Chatillon-Miller was also deported for joining an anti-Sona demonstration.

In 2018, Australian nun Patricia Fox was denied renewal of her visa for violating the conditions of her stay and participating in partisan political activities, while in the same year, Zimbabwean Tawanda Chandiwana, American Adam Thomas Shaw and Malawian Miracle Osman were ordered to leave for involvement in leftist activities.

“It is very simple and clear. Foreign visitors are not allowed to partake in political demonstrations. We allowed your stay in the Philippines, please respect our government and our laws,” the BI chief said.

Under BI Operations Order SBM-2015025, foreigners are prohibited from engaging in political activities while in the country.

Morente said it is the agency’s mandate to implement the law by deporting foreign protesters.

after its passage, the HSA has provided little to nil contribution in the fight against terrorism.

“To this date, there have only been two cases where the HSA has been applied. First was in the 2008 case of Jun Guevarra where the accused plea bargained and in the proscription of the Abu Sayyaf Group [ASG] as a Terrorist Organization in 2015,” Nograles said.

“The vagueness of the definition of the crime of terrorism, the almost absurd provisions for awards of damages, and the unreasonably restrictive measures which negate the very intent of the HSA are but a few of the reasons raised why the law has become inutile,” he added.

Mindanao offensive

IN Mindanao, meanwhile, nine members of the ASG and two supporters of the Dawlah Islamiyah (DI) yielded to government troops in Mindanao, amid an intensified counterterrorism operations in the provinces of Sulu, Basilan and Lanao del Sur. Lt. Col. Gerald Monfort, spokesman of the military’s Joint Task Force Sulu, said the nine ASG members surrendered to the Army’s 2nd Special Forces Battalion as a

result of ongoing operations against the terrorist group in the province.

The operations were principally directed against the group of Hadjan Sawadjaan, the group blamed behind the suicide-bombing incident on a military camp in Indanan, Sulu, on June 28, which was perpetrated by two men, one of them a Filipino.

T he bombing k i l led seven people and wounded 22 others.

Monfort said the suspects, whom he did not identify, turned over two M-16 rifles, five Garand rifles and two .45 caliber pistols.

Brig. Gen. Corleto Vinluan Jr., commander of the task force, promised not only to hunt those responsible behind the bombing of the camp of the 1st Brigade Combat Team in the town of Indanan, but all of the ASG members in Sulu.

In Lanao del Sur, two DI supporters also surrendered to the 55th Infantry Battalion at Barangay Matitikop, Tubaran, Lanao del Sur, according to Maj. Clint Antipala, spokesman of the 1st Infantry Division. “ T he t wo sur renderors revea led that they’ve prov ided logistical support to the group of Owayda Marohombsar, also

known as Abu Dar, before he was neutralized in the neighboring barangay,” Antipala quoted Lt. Col. Ian Noel Ignes, 55th IB commander, as saying.

Abu Dar, leader of the DI in Lanao del Sur, and three of his men were killed on March 14 in an encounter with soldiers in Barangay Dinaigan, Tubaran.

Antipala said the two DI supporters yielded two .45 caliber pistols. Their surrender was facilitated by Mayor Khaledyassin Papandayan of Tubaran.

“The death of top DI-Lanao leaders and Maute Brothers and the surrender of their members have significantly contributed to the sustained peaceful environment in the province of Lanao del Sur,” said Brig. Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr., 103rd Infantry Brigade commander, who has operational jurisdiction of Lanao del Sur. “We continuously collaborate with local chief executives and other stakeholders to encourage other supporters or even the locals with loose firearms to surrender and submit themselves to the fold of the law in order to stop the criminalities and attain a more peaceful community,” he added.

A4

TheBroa

Business

Thursday, July 18, 2019

Engines for Dutertenomics may need mo

By Cai U. Ordinario & Bernadette Nicolas

T

HE Philippine economy, some experts say, is purring like an expensive sports car; and it’s all because of the policies implemented by the current administration in its first three years.

PANELO also attributes the tempering of inflation to the Rice Trade Liberalization (RTL) law “plus the measures adopted by the economic managers.”

University of Asia and the Pacific School of Economics Dean Cid Terosa agrees, saying that policies such as the RTL law contributed to the slowing of inflation.

Terosa added that efforts to address the country’s infrastructure deficit through the Build, Build, Build (BBB) program is also one of the best policies the government crafted.

“While this is one expensive undertaking, the benefits of these investments are long term and would “yield profitable returns in the future.”

Investments needed

PRIVATE sector economist Calixto V. Chikiamco told the BusinessMirror that the same reasons have also helped make the growth rate of 5.5 percent to 6.5 percent possible, even without much structural reform.

However, Chikiamco and Ateneo Center for Economic Research and Development (ACERD) Director Alvin P. Ang believe that more needs to be done to push the economy’s growth engines further given its current capacity.

Chikiamco said a growth of 7 percent to 9 percent, which “the economic managers are crowing about,” requires more reforms that will boost growth in the trade sector.

Ang added that the economy is not built to post a growth of 7 percent or 8 percent. He said more investments are needed to make this happen and meet the targets set out in the Philippine Development Plan (PDP), the country’s mediumterm socioeconomic blueprint.

“You cannot expect a 1300-engine car to run like a 2500; so don’t dream that we will grow 7 percent every time because the engine is not built for that yet,” Ang told the BusinessMirror. “We are still getting this infrastructure to run.”

‘Considerably slowed’

BOTH Chikiamco and Ang agree that more needs to be done to boost growth in the manufacturing and agriculture sectors.

Chikiamco said the country’s manufacturing sector has “considerably slowed” since 2017. Put simply, Ang said, the manufacturing sector “seem to be losing steam.”

Ang earlier said the manufacturing sector has been slowing since the fourth quarter of 2017.

Except for a slight growth in the last quarter of 2018, factory output has followed a downward trajectory.

Chikiamco said the government needs to address the structural weaknesses in the manufacturing and agriculture sectors given the lack of each sector’s capacity, a lack being blamed for the spike in imports.

He noted that the country’s cement, steel, rice, and meat imports

Agriculture, agri-business

ANG believes there’s a need to undertake a “rebooting [of] agriculture” given that a third of the country’s labor force heavily relies on the sector. He explained that for a “largely agricultural population” such as the Philippines’, more private investment is needed in agriculture.

Chikiamco also noted that the agriculture sector growth of 0.56 percent growth in 2018 was significantly lower than the country’s population growth rate of 1.5 percent. This could cast doubt on the sector’s ability to produce its own food.

What is needed, Chikiamco said, is an increase in investments in the manufacturing and agriculture sectors. However, he said, investments are not coming in because of, among others, rigid labor laws and populist legislation, which makes hiring expensive relative to worker’s productivity.

Other hurdles to investments include: weak infrastructure particularly in ports, shipping and airports; and, restrictive laws on foreign investment in transport and telecommunications.

“In the case of agriculture, the persistent uncertainty in property rights in rural land is a major deterrent to more investment and the growth of agribusiness,” Chikiamco said. “Most of our farms are atomized, due to the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law’s prohibition of land ownership beyond five hectares.”

Inequalities, investments

HOWEVER, attracting investments, particularly those made through privatization, are not that welcome, particularly in utilities, according to Eduardo C. Tadem of the University of the Philippines Center for Integrative and Development Studies.

In his presentation at the “State of the People’s Address” on Tuesday, Tadem said the global crisis in the 1980s forced governments to favor privatization to spur economic development and deliver public services. He said privatization aimed to reduce the government’s involvement in businesses; promote competition, efficiency and productivity; stimulate entrepreneurship; avoid monopolies; and, cut red tape.

Unfortunately, Tadem said, these promises were left unfulfilled and created new problems such as crowding out small and mediumsized enterprises. He added that these firms turned into monopolies, subsequently causing inequalities in the delivery of social services. On top of these, he said, patronage and corruption continued.

Tadem said water privatization efforts in the Philippines also failed to meet what was promised

to citizens. This became evident in the recent “artificial water shortage” episode in Metro Manila, which led to households having little to no water for days, he said.

verde and Administrator Reynaldo V. Velasco. This, after the MWSS Board unanimously approved the recommendation of the MWSS Regulatory Office on the imposition of the penalty relative to Manila Water’s failure to comply with Article 10.4 of its concession agreement with the MWSS. However, Tadem said, water privatization created other problems such as: a class bias in the pricing of water; profit-taking that went “beyond allowable limits”; poor water sanitation and wastewater treatment services; and, non-involvement or diminished role of local governments and communities, among others.

“Twenty years later, however,

Old, new problems

THE water shortage led to the decision of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) to slap Manila Water Co. Inc. with a total fine of P1.134billion.

The decision included a P534.050-million fine and a required additional P600-million fund for the development of a new water-supply source. The decision was jointly announced by MWSS Chairman Franklin J. Demonte-

studies have shown that the goals of Philippine water privatization continue to fall short of what it promised to do,” Tadem said.

Reforms, resolutions

IN the medium to long term, Ang saw a need to focus on efforts to address the poverty and inequality not only in Metro Manila but in all regions.

Aside from the water crisis, the government also needs to address airport and traffic congestion, especially in Metro Manila; slow Internet; corruption; large housing backlog; the drug war; and the long running armed struggle waged by the Communist Party of the Philippines.

“Y

“Y

ou cannot expect a 1300-engine car to run like a 2500; so don’t dream that we will grow 7 percent every time because the engine is not built for that yet. We are still getting this infrastructure to run.”—Ateneo Center for Economic

ou compare what this President has done visa-vis the old Presidents; the past Presidents are no match to this President. Look at his accomplishments.”—Presidential Spokesman Salvador S. Panelo ATENEO.EDU

Rice trade lib

He said programs such as the Condition Cash Transfer (CCT), which was institutionalized under the current administration, also enabled the government to take matters into its own hands to help the poor.

“Indeed, economic policies for the last three years have helped the country navigate troubled economic waters and remain mightily afloat,” Terosa told the BusinessMirror.

PNA.GOV.PH

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia said that while the economy was hit by setbacks—the 2019 budget impasse and the election ban prevented government from implementing billions-worth of infrastructure projects—things will look up in the second half of the year.

The economy sped past high commodity prices, ending the 2018 race against inflation with a fullyear growth of 6.2 percent. Prior to last year, GDP growth was higher at 6.7 percent in 2017 and 6.9 percent in 2016.

Such performance of the economy is considered by Presidential Spokesman Salvador S. Panelo as accomplishments by President Rodrigo Duterte.

“You compare what this President has done vis-a-vis the old Presidents; the past Presidents are no match to this President. Look at his accomplishments,” Panelo said in an interview with the BusinessMirror at his office overlooking a restaurant once the home of the freedom-fighting Roces family members.

“If you remember, economic growth slowed in the first quarter of 2019 due to the impasse in Congress when the [passage of the] national budget was [delayed],” added Panelo, who said offhand he doesn’t read business news.

The Palace spokesman, likewise, noted that the Philippine peso strengthened 0.8 percent in February “and that is considered to be the best performance among Asian countries.”

“And 17 regions grew in 2018, with Bicol region growing the fastest at 8.9 [percent], followed by Davao with 8.6 and the country’s inflation was reduced [to] 2.7 percent in June, the lowest recorded since September of two years ago,” said Panelo, wearing a black jacket embroidered with SPOX/OPLC in white letters at the right breast.

have increased significantly in the past few months. Chikiamco said it’s also ironic the Philippines imports fish despite the fact the Philippines is archipelagic.

Ang said the government should boost the agriculture sector not only by addressing the needs of rice farmers but of all farmers.

He said the Department of Agriculture is aware of this and knows where best to plant certain crops.

Research and Development Director Alvin P. Ang

aderLook

sMirror

Editor: Dennis D. Estopace | Thursday, July 18, 2019

A5

ore torque midpoint of growth highway “The Chinese workers are not the enemy,” Bello said. “These people are just as much victims of this illegal industry that is mainly servicing gambling interests in the mainland because they cannot operate legally there, so they have to ship their operations to the Philippines.”

Not helpful

CHIKIAMCO said ultimately, the biggest risk to the economy is “uncontrolled populism” which paves the way for a lot of free services such as free irrigation, free college tuition and free fees for first-time job hunters.

The list includes increased Social Security Systems (SSS) pensions; a 105-day Maternity Leave Law; and, more nonworking holidays, etc.

Further, he said populist policies include restrictive labor laws, particularly the impending security of tenure bill and administrative orders outlawing contractual labor. These would likely drive away much-needed investments.

“The risk is that the increased tax revenues will not go into productive investment spending but will go to populist giveaways. Instead of raising the country’s productive capacity, inflation and stagnation will be the result,” he said.

“With national elections in 2022, this risk of uncontrolled populism will only grow.”

ANTONIO OQUIAS | DREAMSTIME.COM

Additional taxes

Make the environment for investments in manufacturing and agriculture more favorable,” Chikiamco said. “This means: liberalizing foreign investment restrictions, particularly those restrictions in the Constitution, modernizing the labor code, and removing the 5-hectare limitation on agricultural lands and allowing consolidation by rent or ownership to encourage the growth of agribusiness.”

‘Death sentence’

HOWEVER, former Akbayan Party-list Representative Walden F. Bello said liberalization brings with it its own problems.

According to him, the recent passage and signing of the RTL law

was the “final nail in the coffin” of Filipino farmers. It was nothing more than a “death sentence” for the local rice industry, he added.

By liberalizing the rice sector, Bello said the Duterte administration lifted the only protection for Filipino farmers. He said countries like Thailand and India are providing direct and indirect subsidies to their farmers, allowing them to survive even without quantitative restrictions.

But in the Philippines, Bello said decades of underinvestment in the agriculture sector have made it difficult for farmers to cope. This is the reason, Bello said, why the quantitative restriction was the only protection of farmers from

unfair trade and production woes.

Influx of Chinese

APART from rice, Bello said government’s recent decision to allow more foreign investments in the country paved the way for real estate prices to skyrocket, especially in Metro Manila. The influx of Chinese investments and workers in the country has made real estate prohibitive for OFWs and millions of employees in the megacity.

He noted that real-estate prices in Makati, Pasay and Manila have seen “massive” increases. This is because Chinese investors and workers would tell real estate developers to “name their price” and they would pay it.

Rebuilding the economy

IN terms of the proposed Trabaho bill, the reduction of corporate income tax is expected to go down to as low as 20 percent. Salvador said this is not peanuts since a mere 10-percent reduction could lead to billions worth of losses for the government.

In the coming years, Salvador said the impact of these tax reforms could undermine the government’s ability to raise revenues, especially for health and

FORUM-ADB.ORG

n the case of agriculture, the persistent uncertainty in property rights in rural land is a major deterrent to more investment and the growth of agribusiness.”—Private sector economist Calixto V. Chikiamco

In women’s defense

UNDERTAKING the alternative economic approach means, Ofreneo said, encouraging Public-Poor Partnerships by raising research and development spending and scaling up domestic value addition in industry and agriculture and adopting redistributive reforms and social protection together.

He said the economy’s policies must come from the cooperation and solidarity of informal grassroots entrepreneurs, MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises) and associative sector, such as cooperatives and social enterprises.

The future of the economy, Ofreneo said, is also female, given that many of the successful cooperatives and social enterprises are female-led. There are also many lessons learned from various instances when women take up the leadership in communities.

“Lessons from [Supertyphoon] Yolanda and other disasters show that women are the ones who stay in the community to keep the family together, weather the storm and its impact by reaching out and exchanging experiences with other mothers in the community, and, in leading successful cases of community recovery,” Ofreneo said. “We are simply stating the bare truth: women are in the best position to lead economic solidarity network, especially at [the] community level.”

Optimistic journey

ECONOMISTS and the government may seem to have infinite knowledge about the economy and what can be done to respond to challenges. But one thing that they will not be able to determine is what lies ahead for this country, especially in the next three years.

Nonetheless, it is clear that much needs to be done and accomplish. It is time that we realize that economic growth is not just about a number but a number that is made up of many moving parts just like any vehicle.

The road is long and Filipinos need a car that is dependable. It must have the horsepower that can carry the country through to its destination.

“W

“I

APP.IREMITX.COM:

Chikiamco added that the solution to the country’s economic woes cannot be solved by the services sector and overseas Filipino worker (OFW) remittances, which have been the traditional sources of growth in the past several decades.

Headwinds are in the horizon, Chikiamco said, and the Philippine economy needs to gird its loins for what’s to come. For one, as the oil fields dry up in the Middle East, the jobs of over a million Filipinos are under threat. Further, the onset of artificial intelligence poses a threat to “local dollar earners” who are working in the businessprocess outsourcing sector.

“What does the government have to do in the next three years?

APART from these freebies, Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC) Board Member Tony Salvador said efforts to introduce tax reform through the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law and the pending Tax Reform for Attracting Better and High-Quality Opportunities (Trabaho) bill did not lead to positive results.

Salvador said the TRAIN Law only increased diesel prices and the tax breaks granted to those earning P250,000 and below did not benefit the poor. He said minimum wage earners were already tax-exempt to begin with, while informal sector workers also did not pay any tax.

Further, the failure to distinguish between compensation tax and professional tax under the TRAIN resulted in a larger disparity in Personal Income Tax (PIT).

Salvador said that 87 percent of PIT is paid for by the compensation tax of employees averaging P16,000 per year.

Professional taxes paid for by lawyers, certified public accountants, doctors, and other professionals accounts for 13 percent of the PIT. This amounts to an average of around P13,000 per year, or P3,000 less than ordinary workers.

education where millions of Filipinos depend on.

In order to reform the economy, FDC President Rene Ofreneo said it’s time to consider what they call “A People’s Economy” approach which promotes inclusion, equality and balanced development.

Ofreneo said this means rebuilding the economy through genuine structural reforms by implementing an industrial policy; integrated agriculture and agrarian reform; trade arrangements; consumption-production nexus; and sustainable finance.

He added that the alternative economic approach means going green to create green industries and jobs that will be good for the people and planet; increasing productive capacity through social protection and reforms; building a grassroots-based economic movement; and establishing an activist propeople government.

e are simply stating the bare truth: women are in the best position to lead economic solidarity network, especially at [the] community level.”—FDC President Rene Ofreneo

A6 Thursday, July 18, 2019 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

editorial

Preventing another measles outbreak

A

T the turn of the century, the Philippines had nearly eliminated measles. Sadly, the virus has made a strong comeback this year. From January to May, we experienced one of the worst measles outbreaks in the world: More than 33,000 cases and over 400 deaths from the vaccine-preventable disease. The outbreak was driven by distrust of vaccines, as well as by declining rates of routine childhood immunization all over the country.

To try to contain the outbreak, the government launched a massive nationwide measles vaccination campaign. In a video made for this purpose, President Duterte urged parents to have their children immunized.

As a result, health workers inoculated 5.5 million children nationwide.

However, this number is still way below the government’s target of 15 million children immunized this year.

Although the vaccinations significantly slowed the spread of the disease, health authorities continue to see new cases every week. To prevent another measles outbreak, the Department of Health and the Department of Education (DepEd) signed a joint memorandum circular that makes it mandatory for all learners from kindergarten to Grade 6 to be given a second dose of measles vaccine.

We commend the ingenuity of 39 officials of the DepEd in Zamboanga City, headed by Dr. Felix Romy Triambulo, City Schools Division superintendent, who got themselves immunized against measles in front of parents and students as the school-based immunization program kicked off on Monday in this southern port city. Corazon Pagotaisidro, immunization program coordinator of the City Health Office, said the DepEd officials submitted themselves for immunization to show the parents that the anti-measles vaccines are safe.

Measles is a highly contagious airborne virus. It can linger in a room for a couple of hours if an infected person coughs or sneezes. Health officials say that to effectively stop the spread of measles in a community, 95 percent of the population needs to be immune. The Philippines must strive to reach a high rate of vaccination coverage. Childhood immunization rates peaked in 2009 when 89 percent of kids were considered fully immunized, but that rate dropped to just 66 percent in 2018.

Most everyone knows why vaccination rates are currently so low: The Dengvaxia vaccine scandal has left many Filipinos distrustful, even fearful, of vaccines.

This makes the country ripe for another measles outbreak if health officials can’t convince parents to immunize their children. We know it’s much harder to do this after the Dengvaxia scandal. We hope there are more people showing genuine concern, like the DepEd officials in Zamboanga City. We have to convince more parents that the measles vaccine is safe for their children. They must be informed that unvaccinated young children are at the highest risk of measles and its complications, including death.

Most measles-related deaths are caused by complications associated with the disease, and these are more common in children under the age of five. The most serious complications include blindness, encephalitis (an infection that causes brain swelling), severe diarrhea and related dehydration, ear infections, and severe respiratory infections such as pneumonia.

Filipino parents must know that measles is a vaccine-preventable disease, and anti-measles vaccines are safe. All they need to do is to go to their health centers to have their children immunized for free against this deadly disease.

Since 2005

BusinessMirror A broader look at today’s business

It’s opinion, not analysis John Mangun

OUTSIDE THE BOX

O

PINION is supposed to be “opinionated.” That is a person expressing his viewpoint, which may or may not be supported by accurate data, and may reflect an agenda. It is by definition biased and, on the best day, may be for the purpose of getting the listener to think about a particular topic. We cannot always expect an opinion to present the whole truth and nothing but the truth. No problem.

Analysis, on the other hand, is expected to be founded on accurate and complete data. Then an educated—meaning the person knows the subject matter—conclusion is drawn from the data. The conclusion may be rightfully challenged. Was the data accurate and complete? Is the person making the conclusion adequately “educated”? Does the conclusion logically and reasonably follow the data?

We can have a fiery debate about whether chocolate or vanilla ice cream tastes better. We can add the data that vanilla is the best selling although the “most loved” is choco

mint chip. Yet, it all comes down to personal bias. And note also that with the super premium brands, vanilla is the most profitable for the ice-cream store. So you cannot even “trust” the ice-cream industry to not be opinionated.

However, we can talk about which ice-cream flavor can make you gain weight faster based on facts. The US Department of Agriculture’s National Nutrient Database reports the following: One cup of vanilla ice cream contains about 274 calories, one cup of strawberry provides about 254 calories and one cup of chocolate

Project EnLIST to mitigate smuggling

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contains about 286 calories. The conclusion: If you are calorie-conscious, you should eat strawberry. That is analysis.

The headline reads: “Duterte’s Bull Market in the Philippines May Not End Well.”

First off, the more than 10-year “bull market” should probably be called “Gloria’s” since it began during the Arroyo administration. Second, the recent rise in local stock price is no more “Duterte’s” than the market drop in 2015 was “Aquino’s bear market.”

Then comes the “analysis”: “A few theories for why inflation cooled to a 2.7 percent annualized rate. The peso is no longer cascading lower.

Trouble is, much of the change to which investors are responding is happening beyond Philippine borders. Inflation, for example, is easing virtually everywhere.”

That may be true in general—if not virtually—but absolutely no mention is made of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion law’s impact on 2018 inflation. Many other countries are seeing lower inflation because their economies are not growing. Further, both Singapore and Germany, for example, saw the inflation rate increase month-on-

L

AWYER and reform-minded former Bureau of Customs Director Ramon Cuyco who retired in 2014 remembered having been invited to a focus group discussion by an equally reformist retired general who was then the BOC deputy commissioner supervising the accreditation outfit.

They were to discuss the pitfalls of the agency’s accreditation process, and Cuyco ardently joined in the discussion and, in the end, he recommended an alternative solution: a two-phase measure called Project EnLIST. The insiders, including staffers of the accreditation office, agreed on Phase 1 of Cuyco’s proposal, which will make the process fast and less cumbersome. Unfortunately, they did not like Phase 2, where abuses in Phase 1 can be checked and exposed, the whole shebang being no longer within the exclusive control of the unit, but by a process that will now dilute the insider’s absolute authority and wide latitude of discretion.

“The resistance from within was

so clear to me—I sensed they were taking the reformist general for a ride, Cuyco said as he remembered confronting a co-participant: “Mister, it seems like you don’t want the system changed!”

“He was nonplussed. The objection was loud and clear. So, I got out of the room of that Pasay-based hotel where the zarzuela was held.

I know I would have gotten the nod of the General had they decided to refer my proposal to him; but they did not. Unfortunately, Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim resigned from BOC out of exasperation,” Cuyco said.

The BOC accreditation process, Cuyco explained, “is not a hopeless case. We only have to recognize that it is not necessarily a case of bad people—rather a case of bad

The BOC accreditation process, Cuyco explained, “is not a hopeless case. We only have to recognize that it is not necessarily a case of bad people— rather a case of bad systems.

And it gets compounded when this bad system is handled by bad people.”

systems. And it gets compounded when this bad system is handled by bad people.”

So, what’s this two-Phase EnLIST System all about? How will it function?

EnLIST is an acronym for Enrollment of Legitimate Importers for Security in Trade. But more than just an acronym, the two-phase system will address the evils that have been besetting the agency year after year, administration after administration: consigneesfor-hire, single-proprietorships bringing in billion pesos-worth of goods, fly-by-night importers, or missing containers in hundreds or even thousands, in addition to the more paramount issues of national security, among them the entry of goods like drugs, knockoff products, firearms and explosives, and terrorist’s gadgets.”

month in June. And Singapore’s GDP just went negative by 3.4 percent.

Therefore, an “educated analysis” should probably include the inflation “why” and also put the inflation rate in context with economic growth.

Then the author moves into: “The Philippines, remember, is still stuck with the same political uncertainty and policy drift that slammed both stocks and the peso in 2018.” The presidential approval rating is not mentioned that would sort of belie the political uncertainty. Further, an authentic stock market analysis would have put 2018 against the inflation rate since he already said the 2019 bull market was, at least, in part fueled by low inflation.

The author concludes: “In the longer term, the optimism coursing through Philippine stocks confront a sobering reality: there’s little going on in Manila to justify a rally based more on spin than reality.”

How about this? Get out of Tokyo and come to the Philippines and I will show you the reality. My treat.

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

So, how does it operate?

Cuyco said: “Phase 1—eliminates the yearly registration. There shall be a onetime registration only. This will facilitate trade, and it will make the legitimate importer’s administrative burdens much lighter.

“To ensure that the legitimacy of importers, and security interests are not imperiled, Phase 1 shall be attached to a regularly updated firms and importers risk management system [FIRMS], that shall be the starting mechanism for a merit and demerit system [MADS] whose scorecard shall be inputted into the Phase 2 of Project EnLIST. “This MADS, together with other derogatory information [DERO] that are crowd sourced and carefully validated, shall become the bases for reclassifying FIRMS, if not totally blacklisting or revoking the company’s accreditation.

“In other words, Phase 2 consists of outsourced and validated inputs from internal subsystems of the Bureau, as well as from externally sourced out DEROs like those emanating from the courts, the Department of Justice, the National Bureau of Investigation, the BIR, the DOF, the local government units, including the Office of the President.

See “Arillo,” A7

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Opinion

Shit matters

For the love of God

BusinessMirror

Msgr. Sabino A. Vengco Jr.

Val A. Villanueva

BUSINESSWISE

T

HE government’s unrelenting and unapologetic war on drugs has now taken center stage with the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) voting on July 11 to adopt the Iceland-led resolution that calls for a “comprehensive report” into the human-rights situation in the Philippines and to hold liable culprits of alleged abuses.

In its 41st regular session, 18 UNHRC members voted yes; 14, no, while 15 abstained.

Expectedly, President Rodrigo Duterte and his rabid administration subjects retaliated with insults, threats and intimidation to those who would “support” such action. Possible impeachment for Vice President Leni Robredo, jail time for dissenters, and directly threatening the countries that supported the UN body’s resolution with “far-reaching consequences,” including but not limited to cutting diplomatic ties with those nations.

How the government will execute such action remains suspect, most especially because the Duterte official who invokes the latter would rather be known for his mastery of the English prose.

I find it absurd why a president, purportedly basking on a very high trust ratings based on recent polls, would be very insecure with his tenure. So sensitive has he been with his centerpiece program, war on drugs, that he turns ballistic whenever it is questioned here and in international fora. His mouth virtually froths like a mad dog spewing invectives and profanities, which his minions ape with abandon. Maybe deep within him, he fears that the so-called extrajudicial killings (EJK) allegedly perpetrated by state actors would ultimately be his waterloo.

VP Robredo urges the government to welcome the UNHRC probe because she rightfully says that if there’s nothing to hide, there’s nothing to be worried about. And for saying that, she could be impeached, according to Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission Commissioner Atty. Manuelito Luna. He later backtracked to say that he merely warned the VP so she could temper her statements. But why subject the VP with such veiled admonition as if she is about to commit a crime?

The purported EJK death toll varies depending on which side you’re on. But whether there is only one dozen or tens of thousands killed in this administration’s drug war is beside the point. The inviolability or sanctity of human life is what is at stake in all this.

It has been well documented by human rights groups and borne out by police records that there have been unintended casualties in Duterte’s brutal war on drugs, which the government merely dismisses as collateral damage.

Records of children and those mistakenly killed have been increasing

Arillo . . .

continued from A6

“ The validated DERO from the various externalities of the Bureau of Customs, together with the inputs from the various ports and subports, their enforcement units—CIIS, ESS and the OCOM, will periodically and automatically revise—upgrade or downgrade of the firms’ and importers’ risk categories; or, whenever warranted, blacklist or totally delete the importer’s name from the registry of accredited importers, of course, following a summary proceeding that observes due process.”

According to Cuyco, “this is what the insiders did not like in my proposal—the Phase 2, where they lose their centralized authority and un-

Let us all welcome the UNHRC probe. Hopefully, it would answer a lot of questions, and possibly hold accountable those responsible. In it, we may have a chance to prove that there are other options to solve the drug problem other than killing. by the day. There seems to be no letup. After all, drug addicts (note: even those who are mere suspects), in Duterte’s eyes, are the dregs of society who do not deserve a second chance.

And yet, how many second chances have been given to big-time personalities who peddle drugs?

They’ve been practically untouched and are still laughing all the way to the bank.

Just weeks before the UNHRC resolution, another child died, allegedly caught in a “cross fire” between the police and her father whom the police claimed used his daughter as a human shield. Sen. Ronaldo “Bato” dela Rosa could only mutter tongue-in-cheek that “shit happens.” Although he later apologized for his insensitive remark, the harm to the child and her family has been done. Threeyear-old Myka Ulpina can never be brought back to life.

One then wonders if the police is capable of properly enforcing the rules on engagement, especially in operations where children are in the periphery. But then again, their president is forceful in his directive to cleanse the country of drug addicts, whatever it takes.

Policemen are protected by the state, while their hapless, innocent victims have no means to protect themselves. Such is the reality in the streets.

The daily killing is slowly tearing apart the country’s moral fabric. The frequency by which it occurs is numbing. The public is being made to accept it as a normal way of life.

Let us all welcome the UNHRC probe. Hopefully, it would answer a lot of questions, and possibly hold accountable those responsible. In it, we may have a chance to prove that there are other options to solve the drug problem other than killing; and that “shit” as dela Rosa says happens, is deplorable, and matters in how we avoid it.

For comments and suggestions, e-mail me at mvala.v@gmail.com

bridled discretion.

“They preferred the present practice—only the Phase 1, the Enrollment Phase, where post-enrollment incidents will not be factored until a controversy erupts and ends up in a congressional probe. And, there can only be one reason for this: your guess is as good as mine, yet we both stand a good chance of being correct—100 to nil, if you may.”

“Again,” Cuyco said, “it is not necessarily a case of bad people; rather a case of bad system—and it stinks, and it sucks!”

“Kalakaran na? OMG! If only they would, they could. If they buy in, Project EnLIST will clean the list—but this is precisely what they dreaded the most,” he said.

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

ALÁLAONG BAGÁ

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AST Sunday’s message about the love of neighbor as oneself is correlated with the other great commandment of the love of God with one’s whole being. This Sunday’s gospel account (Luke 10:38-42) now considers what the love of God basically consists of for the disciples of Jesus.

One thing needed MARTHA’S behavior, setting the stage for the proper delineation of the fundamental love of God, should not be anachronistically interpreted in terms of medieval and monastic ideals: the “active” life as opposed to the “contemplative.” She was plain overburdened in trying singlehanded to look after the needs of the company of Jesus just arrived, not only preparing the food but also providing for amenities like water for the washing of feet and hands and oil for the anointing of the head. She approached Jesus and complained about His apparent lack of concern about her taxing situation, and with

some resentment demanded that her sister be told by Him to help her.

Martha has made her “busyness” her principal concern, and she expected others to join in with her, but Jesus thought otherwise.

Jesus clarified that Martha is worried about many things, which however important remain mundane and passing. One cannot allow oneself to be disoriented. Even amid the many worries of life, it should not be forgotten that there is one thing really necessary. That is what is indicated by Mary’s activity: sitting at the feet of Jesus and diligently listening to His every word. “Mary has chosen the better portion and

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she shall not be deprived of it.” It is now no longer simply an argument between two sisters about distribution of works. The issue is now the seeking of the kingdom of God (Luke 12:29-31). This is the one thing necessary for everyone—the eternal life of communion with God. As the psalmist puts it, “One thing I seek: to live in the house of Yahweh all the days of my life, to enjoy the sweetness of Yahweh” (Psalm 27:4).

Listening to the word of God

MARY at the feet of Jesus demonstrates that she is one like a disciple, studying under Him and learning from Him. That is what every true disciple must do: be seated at the feet of the master with undivided attention. In the company of Jesus the one thing required to belong and to be happy is to be a listener and hearer of the divine word. Hearing the word of God and acting on it is the character Jesus looks for in those whom He counts as His brothers (Luke 8:21). It is the measure of the fruitful disciples that they embrace the word with a generous and good heart (Luke 8:15). In fact, true blessedness is for those “who hear the word of God and observe it” (Luke 11:28).

Stagnant industrialization, stagnant wages and weakened unionism Dr. Rene E. Ofreneo

LABOREM EXERCENS Continued from A1

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HIS thinking has been part of the theoretical arsenal used by the exponents of the export-oriented industrial strategy for over four decades already, from the 1970s to the present.

In the 1970s, the EOI was given a long name—labor-intensive export-oriented industrialization strategy (LIEO). The argument then went this way: the Philippines had too much surplus labor and the export market was wide and offered great opportunities for export-oriented industries. So the economic policy regime was organized to make the economy FDI-friendly and export-oriented.

When the debt crisis exploded in the early 1980s, the IMF and World Bank came to the rescue, offering a bundle of “structural adjustment loans” that were aimed at making the economy more outward looking. However, the SALs were accompanied by policy conditionalities, conditionalities requiring the government to reduce or eliminate the “protectionist” barriers hindering FDI entry and Philippine global market participation. These are the triple programs of trade and investment liberalization, deregulation of the various sectors of the domestic economy and privatization of government corporations, assets and services. All these SAL conditionalities or SAP policies are being continued to the present.

The problem is that, almost five decades after, the Philippines has failed to become an export dynamo compared to Japan, South Korea and China.

Why? One explanation is that our industrialized Asian neighbors have become export-oriented without giving up protection to their home markets and without following the standard IMF-World Bank EOI/ SAP prescription focused on cheap labor-intensive export-oriented production.

Moreover, these countries have been using the upward wage adjustment as a tool for higher level of industrialization. Thus, China, which has a huge number of unemployed in various provinces, has been issuing a series of minimum-wage increases in the last one and a half decades in order to force Chinese industries to restructure themselves upward technologically, that is, for these industries to get out of labor-intensive, low-technology production mode. In

a way, this is what Singapore did in the first half of the 1980s, when Lee Kuan Yew and his National Wages Council “communicated” to industry a series of “ideal” annual wage increases to accompany a program of technology upgrading. Companies heeding the twin programs (technology upgrading and wage increase adjustment) were given assistance by the government’s Economic Development Foundation, NWC and other government agencies, including the Skills Development Fund, in terms of R& D, upskilling training, technology adjustment, market development and so on.

In the case of South Korea, the best and most talented workers were deployed, with full labor protection, in the steel, shipbuilding and other industries being developed by the government to strengthen the domestic market as well as Korean participation in the global market. One outcome of the Industrial Policy of South Korea is the development of Korean products as global brands such as Samsung, which, in a way, is a replication of the Japanese post-war experience, e.g., Toyota and Sony.

There are more lessons in history.

One well-documented example is the response of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to the Great Depression of the 1930s, when unemployment went over 20 percent and many American workers and families had to endure “rag times” and long lines in the “soup kitchens” run by charity groups. Instead of pursuing austerity and keeping the market “free”, Roosevelt came up with a series of bold “New Deal” labor reforms that were unthinkable to the free traders: laws guaranteeing workers’ rights to form unions

and bargain collectively, enactment of Social Security law, huge publicworks spending, and so on. On wages, Roosevelt, upon assumption to the presidency, criticized companies that did not pay their workers fairly; in 1937, he succeeded in pushing for a minimum-wage law. As a result of the foregoing, hostile politicians branded Roosevelt as another Marx.

And yet, Roosevelt labor reforms, branded later by macroeconomists as Keynesian, did not only help revive the American economy but also enabled it to be strong in facing World War II and its aftermath.

However, in the case of the Philippines, the economic planners simply stuck to the program of labor-intensive production for exports without a clear program of how the country can develop its own export champions and how the domestic industries can develop alongside the growth of the EOI industries. Unlike in the experience of our neighboring Asian countries, most of these EOI industries have become enclaves, with limited linkages with the domestic industries.

Some EOI industries even became the “enemy” of domestic industries, instead of developing symbiotic or synergistic relations with them. Example: the domestic-oriented textile

To love God with one’s whole heart, soul, mind and strength means to be a follower of Jesus Christ, who is God’s Word Incarnate. And single-hearted attention to Him is essential for any disciple, not a preoccupation with material things. An apostolic endeavor or service that skips listening to the word of God is doomed to irrelevance and without lasting value.

Being an intent listener of Jesus is the “better portion” really needed that will never be taken away or be superfluous.

Alálaong baga, Mary at the feet of Jesus, as especially narrated by Saint Luke, is the model disciple who has learned that to love God with all one’s being is to listen to Jesus and live accordingly, because “one does not live from bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Deuteronomy 8:3 in Matthew 4:4). One cannot attain to a life of communion with God except through and with Jesus Christ, God’s Word made flesh who dwelt among us (John 1:14).

Join me in meditating on the Word of God every Sunday, from 5 to 6 a.m. on DWIZ 882, or by audio streaming on www.dwiz882.com.

Cambodia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh where labor is presumably cheap and non-unionized.

The point is that a country cannot rely on cheap labor as the instrument for promoting growth in the medium and long terms. Certainly, not for five long decades, as what has happened in the Philippines.

This brings us to the state of unionism in the country today. In terms of membership, the union movement is appallingly small. As reported by the ILO decent work diagnostics for 2017, only around 200,000 workers were covered by collective bargaining agreements; the PSA data even gave a lower figure: around 50,000 or so.

However, in fairness to the present crop of trade union leaders, they have been militantly assertive about the rights of the workers. They have also been waging an arduous struggle against the tendency of some companies to avoid their responsibility to the workers by resorting to various maneuvers to avoid regularizing those who should be regularized and respecting their rights to form unions and bargain collectively.

The unions’ role in the campaign for minimum-wage adjustment for the benefit of all workers is truly a heroic one. However, there is a

The collapse of domestic manufacturing in the 1980s-1990s due to the poorly-crafted SAP program and the weakening of the export-led manufacturing at the turn of the millennium due to the poor Philippine strategizing of its position in the global market have painful lessons to the country, to the unions and workers, in particular.

After four and a half decades, is it not high time that all sectors of Philippine society took a closer scrutiny of the SAP program and ask the economic technocrats why SAP has failed to deliver jobs and welfare to the working people? industry, unionized and vibrantly growing in the 1960s-1970s, fell victim to the selling in the domestic market by EOI garments exporters of imported duty-free “surplus” textiles, buttons and other garmentstextile paraphernalia. The textile industry became comatose in the 1980s, with tens of thousands of union members losing jobs without any social protection.

And then the garments industry followed the textile industry in the exit door. In the 1990s-2000s, most of the EOI garments companies shut down given the lack of a national readiness and adjustment program for the much-anticipated regime of no more quotas (WTO Agreement on Clothing and Textiles) and the decision of investor producers to fly to new EPZ sites in Asia such as

need for the unions to connect their struggle for decent wages and decent working conditions to the search for the right industrial policy for the country. The collapse of domestic manufacturing in the 1980s-1990s due to the poorly-crafted SAP program and the weakening of the export-led manufacturing at the turn of the millennium due to the poor Philippine strategizing of its position in the global market have painful lessons to the country, to the unions and workers, in particular. After four and a half decades, is it not high time that all sectors of Philippine society took a closer scrutiny of the SAP program and ask the economic technocrats why SAP has failed to deliver jobs and welfare to the working people?

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‘IRR of EODB boosts govt bid to cut red tape’

By Elijah Felice E. Rosales

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@alyasjah

ITH the signing of the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the Ease of Doing Business (EODB) law on Wednesday, government officials found to be promoting red tape and corruption may now be suspended on first offense and jailed on second count.

In a news briefing, Anti-Red Tape Authority Director General Jeremiah B. Belgica said the IRR created the mechanism for filing complaints against erring government officials. With this in place, the public can now reach out to the

Arta and lodge cases against public servants who failed to deliver services on time.

Under the EODB law, simple government transactions should be completed within three days; complex transactions within seven days;

and highly technical transactions within 20 days.

“The IRR was meant to supply all of the details for the full implementation of [the EODB law]. One of the details that was applied was the procedure on how complaints would be made,” Belgica said Under the mechanism, complainants may send a case report to the Arta through text, e-mail or social media. In doing so, they are required to provide their identity, contact details, the agency that disadvantaged them and the service that was not delivered on time. Further, they should come up with evidence supporting their claim.

If the evidence is substantial, the complainant can proceed with a formal charge, after which the accused will be asked by the Arta to defend himself or herself.

As provided under the IRR, the Arta can recommend the preventive

suspension of the accused while the case is ongoing. Once there is a final complaint, the anti-red tape body will relay the case to either the Office of the President, the courts, Commission on Civil Service, Office of the Ombudsman and other administrative agencies relevant in acting on the complaint.

Government officials guilty of committing red tape will be suspended for six months on the first offense. One to six years of imprisonment; a fine of no less than P500,000 but not more than P2 million; and termination of retirement benefits await those who will commit a second count.

International treaties

THE law, however, does not cover government bodies that are required to abide by international treaties and standards in delivering their services, such as the Food and Drug

Administration, which may take up to 180 days to complete specific services.

Arta Deputy Director General Ernesto V. Perez said the Arta is forced to surrender to international treaties and agreements that govern the services of some agencies. As a result, the EODB law cannot cover their transactions under its standardized calendar.

“These [agencies] are part of the exemptions. We respect international treaties and agreements. We have been saying [the EODB law] is a general law. If it is in conflict with a special law, then the special law will govern,” Perez said.

According to Belgica, his agency is targeting to publish the IRR in a national newspaper on Thursday. It will become effective 15 days after publication.

The EODB law was approved by President Duterte in May of last year.

However, only the Arta chief, who was just appointed in early July, is allowed to sign and promulgate its IRR. As a law aimed at cutting red tape, the government is banking on it to improve the country’s rating in competitiveness surveys, which, in turn, can be used to attract more investors to do business here.

For the second consecutive year, the country’s ranking in the World Bank’s Doing Business report fell by double digits. The Philippines’s rank dropped by 11 points to 124th among 190 economies in the 2019 edition of the survey after obtaining poor scores in getting credit, starting a business and enforcing contracts.

When pitted against regional counterparts, the Philippines placed behind Singapore (second), Malaysia (15th), Thailand (27th), Brunei Darussalam (55th), Vietnam (69th) and Indonesia (73rd).

DTI: Manufacturing must create Duterte eyes GOVT EARNS P142.6M military man jobs for FIR-displaced farmers FROM PRIME MAKATI as agri chief

By Bernadette D. Nicolas @BNicolasBM

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HE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is eyeing to further boost the country’s manufacturing sector, which it deems the cushion to reduce an

estimated 6 million job losses in the agriculture sector, with the Fourth Industrial Revolution (FIR).

Citing a 2018 study from McKinsey Global Institute on the employment impact of Industry 4.0, Trade Undersecretary Rafaelita M. Aldaba said a total of 18.2 million jobs could

TROPICAL STORM “FALCON” ESTIMATED AT 265 KM EAST OF CALAYAN, CAGAYAN SOUTHWEST MONSOON AFFECTING CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN LUZON AND WESTERN VISAYAS as of 5:00 pm - July 17, 2019

be lost in the country due to automation.

“And mostly, it’s gonna affect agriculture with 6 million jobs being lost due to automation; retail, 3.4 million jobs; in manufacturing, 2.4 million jobs,” Aldaba said in a Palace briefing.

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RESIDENT Duterte said he is keen on appointing a military man as the next agriculture secretary following the transfer of Emmanuel F. Piñol to the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA).

Aside from heading MinDA, Piñol was also designated as the President’s “point man” in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

The President issued the statement in a one-on-one interview with Pastor Apollo C. Quiboloy on Give Us This Day where he was asked about Piñol’s replacement.

“I’m scouting around. I may appoint a military man again as military men do the tasks given to them without question. When I tell you do this, do that, do not question because I will never give you an order to do something that is illegal,” he said.

The President reiterated that he has no problem with Piñol, who he even described as a “very good Cabinet member.”

“My problem is, I do not have a man in the BARMM. There is nobody on my side talking to the BARMM to make necessary arrangements for this entity to grow and address their needs,” Duterte said.

“You must remember [BARRM] is an agricultural region and Piñol is a farmer. He was once a governor and he was born there. And he’s good.

He’s really very good,” he added.

In a related development, Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Martin Andanar said on Wednesday there could be “minor changes in the Cabinet in the next few weeks” as the President mentioned during the last Cabinet meeting.

“As to who and when the exact date is, I don’t know. What I know is we all serve at the pleasure of the President,” Andanar said in a text message to reporters. Bernadette D. Nicolas

TS Falcon. . .

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With a maximum sustained winds of 65 km per hour and a gustiness of up to 80 km per hour, it was moving toward north, northwest direction.

The NDRRMC said provinces in the country’s northern portion, Central Luzon and even some areas in Southern Tagalog and Visayas should expect moderate rain.

It warned residents in these areas to watch out for landslide and flooding.

PROPERTY–D.O.F.

By Rea Cu

@ReaCuBM

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HE government has earned P142.6 million from the Mile Long property in Makati City since it took over the management of the state-owned prime real estate in August 2017, the Department of Finance (DOF) said on Wednesday.

Gerard Chan, chief privatization officer of the Privatization Management Office attached to the DOF, said the government collected a total of P185 million in rental fees over a 21-month period.

Net earnings reached P142 million after expenses recorded from August 2017 to June 2019 totaling P42.46 million were deducted from the total collection, Chan said in his report to Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III. “That’s roughly [an income of] P7 million a month from zero,” Dominguez said in a statement.

The finance chief noted that the government did not earn from the property for 14 years because it was embroiled in a legal battle with Sunvar Realty Development Corp.

(Sunvar Realty), which refused to vacate the property even after its lease contract had expired in 2002.

Before the government took over the management of the Mile Long property, it was not able to

Unbundling. . .

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Pilipinas Shell sought the TRO before a Taguig court while the Philippine Institute of Petroleum Inc. (PIP)—composed of Petron Corp., Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp., Chevron Philippines Inc., PTT Philippines, Total Philippines Corp. and Isla LPG Corp.—filed for the TRO application before a Makati court.

The TROs effectively stopped the DOE from requiring oil firms to submit a detailed price computation of their weekly price adjustments—whether downward or upward—to the DOE. “The problem is during the hearing of the preliminary injunction, we cannot implement the unbundling circular during the hearing of the main petition,” said Pulido.

“Without going into the merits of the case, the unbundling circular was issued in the first place since the DOE secretary is of the belief that the asking of information, and not the dissemination of information, is expressly authorized under

collect rental fees from its former lessee, Sunvar Realty, owing to the then-pending legal case over the property.

The number of establishments housed by the property as of June reached a total of 128 representing a 71-percent occupancy rate, as they occupy 219 units of the 309 available units in the Mile Long property in Makati City, according to Chan.

In June 2018, Dominguez said the government plans to redevelop the Mile Long property into a mixed-use high-rise area. All the revenues generated from the project will go fund the military’s pension.

He said the government is mulling over the transfer of the ownership of Mile Long to a governmentowned and -controlled corporation (GOCC), such as the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA), which could go into a joint venture with the private sector for the development of the area.

Noted Architect and urban planner Felino A. Palafox Jr. has already submitted four concept designs on how to redevelop the Mile Long property, according to Dominguez.

In June 2017 the Court of Appeals (CA) ruled in favor of the government in the case involving the 2.9-hectare property known as the “Mile Long” property in Makati City. the oil deregulation law. It is in no way a form of regulation,” Pulido pointed out.

Oil firms: back to regulation

WHILE the oil firms recognized the DOE’s mandate to monitor oil price movements, they expressed the view that the circular leads the industry back to the path of regulation.

“It restricts the timing of price adjustments and requires the submission of critical unaudited information that could be prejudicial to the industry players. The circular is also unclear and administratively impossible to comply with,” Shell said earlier.

Pulido argued, however, that while the oil deregulation law has been beneficial to the country and allowed competition to flourish “it does not mean that it has robbed the secretary or the DOE of its mandate of being able to implement the proper policies under the oil deregulation law.”

That mandate, Pulido stressed, “cannot be fully satisfied unless the department can be given all the information required.”

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If you have any information / objection to the above mentioned application/s, please communicate with the Regional Director thru Employment Promotion and Workers Welfare (EPWW) Division with Telephone No. 400-6011.

ATTY. SARAH BUENA S. MIRASOL REGIONAL DIRECTOR

Editor: Efleda P. Campos

Companies BusinessMirror

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Zamcelco, WMPC agree to extend compromise deal

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HE Zamboanga City Electric Cooperative (Zamcelco), through its investor-managers Crown Investments Holdings Inc. and Desco Inc., and Western Mindanao Power Corp. (WMPC) of the Alcantara-led Alsons Power Group, have agreed to extend their compromise agreement, which will include an additional payment of P150 million to the power supplier.

The compromise agreement will be signed next week. Upon signing, Zamcelco will pay WMPC P150 million and pay an additional P80 million in security deposit. In exchange for the payment, WMPC run its plant for 90 days and supplies its output to Zamcelco.

This was agreed upon during a hearing held Wednesday at the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).

Last May 2, both parties signed a compromise agreement in a bid to put to an end the rotating brownouts in the city. The terms and conditions set forth in the May agreement were met. These include

a partial payment of P220 million to WMPC, which, in turn, resumed the supply of electricity to Zamcelco for 60 days. The agreement lapsed last July 3.

The compromise agreement is without prejudice to the respective claims of both parties before the ERC. “We are still waiting for the ERC’s decision on our motion for a claim for refund and for the dismissal of the application for Zamcelco-WMPC PSA’s [power supply agreement] approval. We want to make sure that Zamboangueños get their P441 million back,” said

Zamcelco Chief Management Officer Henry Virola.

Crown-Desco was awarded the investment-management contract for Zamcelco in September 2018. It began managing the operations of Zamcelco in January 2019.

In February this year, Zamcelco flagged overbillings from WMPC in the amount of P441 million made from 2015 to 2018. Zamcelco maintained that these overpayments covered the pending payables it incurred to the power supplier. Responding to this, WMPC unilaterally cut its power supply to Zamcelco.

“Of Crown-Desco’s P2.5-billion capital infusion into Zamcelco, P370 million have already gone to WMPC,” said Virola. “So far, we paid P370 million of the disputed amount of P441 million in payables that WMPC is demanding—on top of our overpayments.”

In April, Crown-Zamcelco filed a motion with the ERC for a claim for refund of its overpayments. The motion also prayed for its withdrawal from and the ERC’s dismissal of the application for approval of Zamcelco’s PSA with WMPC. The motion said the overpayments were made as WMPC overbilled Zamcelco for capacity recovery fees, and operations and management. This was done without basis as the PSA between Zamcelco

NGCP: Transmission system stable even at highest-demand peak period

By Lenie Lectura @llectura

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HE country’s transmission system remained reliable during the summer period when demand for electricity is at its peak, the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) said on Wednesday.

The grid operator said it did not encounter any major transmissionrelated issues despite the El Niño phenomenon, which brought about a more dry and humid summer season causing high demand for electricity.

The highest peak load for the year was recorded last June 21 at 11,344 megawatts, 468 MW higher than 2018’s peak, which reached 10,876 MW. This is slightly lower than the Department of Energy’s (DOE) projected demand of 11,403 MW for 2019.

“With DOE’s forecast for this year breaching 11,000 MW, NGCP

worked round-the-clock to ensure the reliability of its systems and to avoid any issues or difficulties during this critical period.

We constantly coordinated with other industry players—power generating plants, the market operator and the DOE—to fully mitigate the impact of the recordbreaking demand for power and the limited generating capacity of plants. To further mitigate the supply-demand balance, NGCP campaigned for energy use efficiency in national, local and social-media channels,” said NGCP. Visayas and Mindanao have yet to reach their peak demand for the year. For 2019, the DOE projects an 11.98-percent increase in the Visayas load growth with forecasted peak at 2,299 MW, while demand in Mindanao is estimated at 2,130 MW, both expected by the last quarter of 2019.

With the onset of the rainy season, the system condition is expected

to improve, but until the situation normalizes, more grid alerts may be issued. NGCP appealed to the public to continue to use energy efficiently.

“Now that the summer season is officially over, this does not mean that we should stop implementing energy-saving measures. Let us make it a part of our lifestyle to be wise electricity consumers so that we can do our part in ensuring improved power flow within the grid,” NGCP said.

NGCP assured its stakeholders that it is continuously improving, expanding, and reinforcing the power grid to accommodate additional loads from power generators and enable better transmission of power across the country.

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

CLI negotiates for campus township project with XU

By Roderick L. Abad @rodrik_28 Contributor

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UBLICLY listed company Cebu Landmasters Inc. (CLI) bared its negotiation with Xavier University-Ateneo de Cagayan (XU) on a proposed campus township project in Cagayan de Oro City (CDO) with more than double the capacity of its main campus in downtown area.

According to the real-estate firm based in Visayas and Mindanao (VisMin) regions, it has received a Notice of Interest from XU to develop its 63.5-hectare property known as Manresa into a premier university town over the next several years.

“I am pleased to note that our mastery of the VisMin area allowed us to win the trust and confidence of Xavier University’s leaders. Our proposed master plan is inspired not only by the best campuses here and abroad, but also

inspired by our deep roots in the Ateneo. We are highly committed to meet their expectations,” said Jose Soberano III, president and CEO of CLI. The proposal features modern school buildings, dormitories, a main plaza, interconnected courtyards, an amphitheater, and a university forum that incorporates a museum, theater and gallery. Also, it includes open spaces and greenery.

Per the plan, CLI intends to acquire a 14.3-hectare portion of Manresa to integrate complementary commercial, residential, office and leisure uses to the campus town.

It also pushes to obtain a portion of XU’s main 6-hectare campus along Corrales Avenue and convert this into a central business district, with its Church of the Immaculate Conception at the center.

These acquisitions will fund the development of the Manresa project and the redesign of the existing campus for XU’s School of Medicine, College of Law and most of its graduate programs which are envisioned to remain in downtown Divisoria.

For the past 10 years, XU has been considering to move most of its operations out from its Corrales campus so as to provide a better learning environment for its college students.

Prior to the K to 12 implementation, it accommodated up to as many as 11,000 students. A proposed new school at Manresa can potentially cater to as many as 25,000 students. It is near XU’s 12-hectare basic education campus at Pueblo de Oro. The proposed project will be subject to final approval from the Jesuit central leadership.

Consultations and discussions are ongoing with stakeholders.

“This possible venture with Xavier University will potentially be our second estate project in Mindanao after our Davao Global Township [DGT]. It is in line with our thrust to expand our mastery to key VisMin cities by going up the real-estate value chain and uplifting entire communities and neighborhoods through our estate projects,” Soberano said.

B1

and WMPC was not yet in effect, the motion added..

“WMPC charged Zamcelco for a fixed capacity of 50 megawatts, when Zamcelco would not use over 25 MWs a month. Without an effective PSA, WMPC should have only charged the cooperative for actual nominated or utilized capacity,” Virola said. “WMPC also uses diesel, so their power is actually the most expensive in Zamboanga City.”

In the first seven months of Crown-Desco’s management, Zamcelco said it has been focused on improving facilities and equipment. It has already installed a new transformer in the Cabatangan substation, with more installations in other substations to follow. Rehabilitation of Mercedes substation has already begun.

It also started repairing and installing electrical poles, and conducting city-wide right-of-way clearing to minimize fluctuations.

Zamcelco has also rolled out its meter replacement program and upgraded nearly half of its target of 18,000 meters. This has driven down systems loss rate and the number of power interruption hours per day, compared to 2018 figures.

A P900-million capital expenditure plan to modernize the city grid has also been finalized. Lenie Lectura

SEC cheers as GenSan court junks KAPA petition against it

By VG Cabuag @villygc

T

HE Securities and Exc h a nge Com m i ssion (SEC) on Wednesday said it has received a favorable ruling from the Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 35 of General Santos City, dismissing the injunction case filed by K APA Community Ministry International Inc. against the agency.

The SEC said the local court on June 17 denied KAPA’s motion for the issuance of a show-cause order against the SEC, which said this paves the way for the legal issues surrounding KAPA’s operations to proceed.

The group, counting thousands as members and which is facing investigations for allegedly pulling off a Ponzi-like scheme, filed the petition last April 4 after the regulator issued a cease-anddesist order on February 14. The CDO stopped KAPA from selling and offering securities to the public without the necessary license.

The said case was filed a day after the SEC issued on April 3 an order of revocation of KAPA’s corporate registration.

The local court initially issued a writ of preliminary injunction against the SEC on April 10. The SEC, however, maintained that the court did not have jurisdiction over the matter.

“In the interest of affected in-

vestors, the Commission, through the Anti-Money Laundering Council, then obtained a freeze order from the Court of Appeals on June 4 to preserve assets linked to KAPA,” the SEC said.

On June 18, the SEC filed a criminal complaint against KAPA along with its operators and promoters before the Department of Justice (DOJ) for violations of some sections of the Securities Regulation Code.

The DOJ is currently conducting preliminary investigation on the complaint filed by the SEC. The RTC of Davao City on July 4, on the other hand, issued a precautionary hold departure order against the operators and promoters of KAPA, while the National Bureau of Investigation, along with three aggrieved investors, filed a complaint against K APA b efore t he D OJ on July 8 for syndicated estafa.

The SEC issued an advisory against KAPA as early as March 2017 for enticing the public to “donate” at least P10,000 in exchange for a 30 percent monthly “ blessing” or “ love gift” for life, without having to do anything other than invest and wait for the payout.

The arrangement between KAPA and its members constituted an investment contract, a form of security regulated by the SEC, the agency said.

B2

Companies BusinessMirror

Thursday, July 18, 2019

PSE STOCK QUOTATIONS

July 17, 2019

Net Foreign Stocks Bid Ask Open High Low Close Volume Value Trade (Peso) Buy (Sell) FINANCIALS ASIA UNITED BDO UNIBANK BANK PH ISLANDS CHINABANK CITYSTATE BANK EAST WEST BANK METROBANK PB BANK PBCOM PHIL NATL BANK PSBANK RCBC SECURITY BANK UNION BANK BRIGHT KINDLE BDO LEASING COL FINANCIAL FERRONOUX HLDG IREMIT MEDCO HLDG NTL REINSURANCE PHIL STOCK EXCH

58.5 147.2 89.9 27.55 5.01 12.6 76.75 13.2 20.65 54.65 58.05 27.5 182.1 60.85 1.2 2.34 18.6 4.65 1.32 0.465 1.01 190

58.9 147.5 89.95 27.6 7.97 12.64 77 13.24 22.5 54.7 58.1 27.55 182.5 60.9 1.24 2.41 18.7 4.78 1.37 0.475 1.02 194.9

58.9 147.3 89.9 27.6 7.98 12.6 77.45 13.2 22.2 55.5 58.4 27.4 185 60 1.24 2.32 18.6 4.78 1.31 0.48 1.03 189.2

58.9 148.3 89.9 27.65 7.98 12.76 77.45 13.2 22.5 55.5 58.4 27.55 186 60.9 1.24 2.34 18.7 4.89 1.31 0.48 1.05 195

58.5 147.2 88 27.45 7.98 12.56 76.5 13.2 22.2 54.6 58.1 27.4 181 60 1.24 2.32 18.6 4.64 1.31 0.465 1.01 189.1

58.9 147.2 89.9 27.6 7.98 12.62 77 13.2 22.5 54.7 58.1 27.5 182.1 60.9 1.24 2.34 18.6 4.79 1.31 0.465 1.02 194.9

9670 1159440 5550570 132000 1200 768400 1810610 30000 4000 474580 10310 74300 140810 8200 17000 125000 10700 184000 10000 170000 1191000 9100

569138.5 170954325 494678591 3640885 9576 9722244 139273076.5 396000 89400 25973559.5 599136 2043635 25669566 495313.5 21080 292210 199030 860160 13100 80750 1225620 1757612

INDUSTRIAL

476930.5 17497151 280926647.5 -355140 -1016510 46867242 -3799756.5 -586348 -1235300 12885177 -358832.5 13980 38570 1548922

ALSONS CONS ABOITIZ POWER BASIC ENERGY FIRST GEN FIRST PHIL HLDG MERALCO MANILA WATER PETRON PETROENERGY PHINMA ENERGY PHX PETROLEUM PILIPINAS SHELL SPC POWER AGRINURTURE CNTRL AZUCARERA CENTURY FOOD DEL MONTE DNL INDUS EMPERADOR SMC FOODANDBEV ALLIANCE SELECT GINEBRA JOLLIBEE MACAY HLDG MAXS GROUP PEPSI COLA SHAKEYS PIZZA ROXAS AND CO RFM CORP ROXAS HLDG 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 CHEMPHIL CROWN ASIA PRYCE CORP CONCEPCION GREENERGY INTEGRATED MICR IONICS PANASONIC SFA SEMICON CIRTEK HLDG

1.35 37.3 0.265 26.3 90.2 378.6 24.35 5.84 4.81 2.59 11.86 39.75 6.5 14.22 16.02 14.5 6.26 10.18 7.54 103.8 0.81 60.5 281.2 9.05 14.36 1.78 14.76 1.44 4.92 1.94 0.128 170.8 1.28 2.49 83 93 2.77 5.51 15.22 11.08 14.16 18.62 9 1.16 1.39 111 2.02 4.9 41 2.39 9.5 1.68 5.6 1.13 16.8

1.36 37.5 0.27 26.4 90.4 379.8 24.6 5.85 4.83 2.6 12 39.8 6.51 14.4 16.5 14.72 6.28 10.2 7.55 104.9 0.82 61 282 9.3 14.42 1.79 14.8 1.45 5 2.11 0.13 171 1.29 2.53 83.3 97 2.8 5.65 15.46 11.1 14.2 18.64 9.3 1.17 1.41 115 2.05 4.99 41.75 2.4 9.55 1.69 5.68 1.14 16.9

1.33 37.8 0.265 26.35 90.55 381 25 5.85 4.81 2.58 11.86 39.6 6.59 14.5 15.56 14.52 6.3 10.4 7.6 104 0.82 61.9 284.6 9 14.3 1.87 14.8 1.48 5 1.94 0.128 171.1 1.27 2.55 81.6 96 2.88 5.01 15.22 11.34 14.16 18.74 9.3 1.17 1.43 100.1 2.05 4.83 41 2.34 9.8 1.7 5.52 1.15 16.82

1.35 38 0.275 26.65 90.9 382.4 25 5.92 4.84 2.67 12 39.9 6.6 14.5 16.5 14.78 6.3 10.42 7.6 104.9 0.83 61.9 285.6 9.3 14.48 1.88 14.9 1.48 5 1.94 0.13 173.9 1.29 2.55 84.5 97 2.9 6 15.26 11.34 14.5 18.88 9.3 1.17 1.45 116.9 2.05 4.9 41 2.48 9.81 1.7 5.68 1.16 16.98

1.33 37.3 0.265 26.2 90.2 378.6 24.2 5.81 4.8 2.55 11.86 39.55 6.51 14.2 15.56 14.46 6.28 10.16 7.51 103.8 0.8 60.1 281 9 14.3 1.78 14.68 1.45 4.95 1.94 0.128 170.7 1.25 2.5 80 93 2.75 5.01 15.2 11 14.08 18.62 9.3 1.16 1.39 100.1 2.05 4.8 41 2.3 9.46 1.67 5.52 1.11 16.7

1.35 37.5 0.265 26.4 90.2 378.6 24.6 5.85 4.81 2.59 12 39.8 6.51 14.4 16.2 14.5 6.28 10.2 7.55 104.9 0.81 61 282 9.06 14.42 1.79 14.8 1.45 5 1.94 0.13 171 1.28 2.5 83 93 2.77 5.5 15.22 11.08 14.2 18.64 9.3 1.17 1.4 115 2.05 4.9 41 2.4 9.5 1.69 5.68 1.13 16.9

73000 1156700 2550000 3346400 200460 199910 1193000 1251200 74000 12775000 98900 135700 328100 804900 1000 2419800 113200 890800 245700 268070 2228000 83390 503210 5100 291900 7412000 300200 186000 385000 4000 1310000 724810 4242000 61000 12780 1480 4607000 524500 444600 342400 164500 1140700 200 261000 4176000 10330 5000 244000 2000 15002000 946800 257000 26400 493000 140700

97690 43,556,095( 692950 88265510 18123534 76031598 29059480 7348902 356450 33635620 1182658 5395010 2140736 11584714 15910 35128310 711107 9119598 1854175 27878147 1810200 5083054.5 142157792 45990 4201982 13392170 4444342 270410 1924850 7760 170160 124151084 5406930 152600 1048659.5 141871.5 12947200 2980520 6770072 3792644 2351836 21372294 1860 304550 5903840 1177533 10250 1192930 82000 36032430 9102142 431850 149119 553110 2371756

39150 7,518,785.0001) -5400 -5154595 -9100639.5 -29189400 -5676015 -786832 -1138160 -623212 -709440 3260 105044 -5268758 -2207282 293824 -20851950 462510 2514457.5 -755912 1576632 -6247880 2388880 -1900000 -86753673 -125650 -295350.0003 -5517282 -3448 77660 -6788496 -134780 4810 82000 6941420 -144253 126078

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 GT CAPITAL HOUSE OF INV JG SUMMIT LODESTAR LOPEZ HLDG LT GROUP MABUHAY HLDG METRO PAC INV PACIFICA PRIME MEDIA REPUBLIC GLASS SOLID GROUP SM INVESTMENTS SAN MIGUEL CORP SOC RESOURCES TOP FRONTIER WELLEX INDUS ZEUS HLDG

0.99 15.14 945 56.2 15.64 3.99 6.91 0.75 1.28 1.3 7.13 10.42 14 910.5 6.45 69.5 0.51 4.6 15.94 0.63 4.73 0.039 1.73 2.9 1.38 981 175.6 0.83 263.4 0.236 0.295

1 15.16 948 57.4 15.7 4 7 0.76 1.29 1.31 7.14 10.5 14.04 914 6.54 69.6 0.52 4.62 16.1 0.65 4.74 0.04 1.74 2.94 1.4 982 176.1 0.84 264.4 0.24 0.3

1.01 13.8 942 58.4 15.84 4 7 0.74 1.31 1.31 7.09 10.7 14 915 6.48 69.95 0.495 4.6 15.96 0.64 4.7 0.04 1.81 2.9 1.37 990.5 175.1 0.83 266.6 0.241 0.3

1.02 15.46 948 58.4 15.84 4.02 7.01 0.75 1.32 1.31 7.17 10.7 14.06 922.5 6.48 70.05 0.55 4.6 16.18 0.65 4.76 0.04 1.98 2.9 1.4 1010 177 0.84 266.6 0.242 0.3

0.98 13.8 938 56.2 15.64 3.95 7 0.73 1.28 1.31 7.06 10.48 13.76 910 6.42 69.3 0.495 4.51 15.94 0.62 4.7 0.039 1.67 2.9 1.37 977 175 0.81 264 0.235 0.29

1 15.14 948 56.2 15.64 4 7 0.75 1.28 1.31 7.14 10.5 14.04 910.5 6.45 69.5 0.51 4.6 15.94 0.65 4.74 0.039 1.74 2.9 1.37 982 175.6 0.84 264.4 0.24 0.3

19297000 602800 434970 424850 9960500 5963000 152500 324000 1675000 189000 2786100 5745000 91700 49530 84300 867230 1250000 4968000 1211800 1357000 11256000 19700000 22638000 21000 25000 224550 87680 245000 200 1350000 8600000

19302570 8963676 409993570 24084167.5 156141552 23834560 1067528 240720 2175990 247590 19886199 60670228 1285486 45191675 544213 60346061 662050 22822760 19404372 863500 53342650 776300 40990740 60900 34400 220769370 15410407 204900 52890 324330 2535750

537420 211888 254405860 -849162.5 -12871732 -4144660 -693000 -63000 -1317051 -37908408 70144 -1697490 -328726 42055102 -910100 -1345414 288070 3009080 -8700 -35409345 3915744 -5280 265500

HOLDING & FRIMS

PROPERTY

ARTHALAND CORP 1.05 1.08 1.07 1.11 1.04 1.08 14421000 15547540 -556460 ANCHOR LAND 10.58 11.42 11.54 11.54 10.32 11.5 7800 86974 55500 AYALA LAND 52.2 52.25 52 52.75 52 52.2 10579870 551606156.5 19062444 ARANETA PROP 2.04 2.1 2.11 2.11 2.04 2.1 47000 98480 BELLE CORP 2.32 2.33 2.32 2.35 2.31 2.33 212000 493950 -72180 A BROWN 0.89 0.9 0.87 0.9 0.87 0.9 3839000 3421220 -32810 CITYLAND DEVT 0.92 0.93 0.93 0.93 0.92 0.93 56000 52060 CROWN EQUITIES 0.243 0.247 0.246 0.246 0.243 0.243 1530000 374080 24400 CEBU HLDG 6.1 6.2 6.15 6.2 6.1 6.2 7000 42994 -13640 CEB LANDMASTERS 5.18 5.2 5.19 5.21 5.13 5.2 988900 5131315 -300364 CENTURY PROP 0.63 0.64 0.65 0.66 0.62 0.63 47579000 30625400 -484040 CYBER BAY 0.48 0.485 0.465 0.51 0.465 0.48 13490000 6662750 -24750 DOUBLEDRAGON 25.25 25.3 25.3 25.55 24.5 25.25 881400 22159965 6738795 DM WENCESLAO 9.85 9.9 10 10.1 9.82 9.9 246100 2450138 -789294 EMPIRE EAST 0.47 0.475 0.48 0.48 0.47 0.475 1760000 833000 -614700 EVER GOTESCO 0.124 0.133 0.124 0.124 0.124 0.124 10000 1240 FILINVEST LAND 1.97 1.98 2.01 2.02 1.96 1.98 26138000 51891610 9383260 GLOBAL ESTATE 1.41 1.42 1.39 1.41 1.39 1.41 353000 495420 8990 HLDG 15.66 15.8 15.66 15.8 15.66 15.8 163000 2569960 -696276 PHIL INFRADEV 1.73 1.74 1.72 1.76 1.72 1.73 2546000 4426060 20940 CITY AND LAND 0.81 0.82 0.78 0.82 0.78 0.82 49000 39270 MEGAWORLD 6.25 6.27 6.29 6.4 6.25 6.25 12061000 75685587 -13386405 MRC ALLIED 0.35 0.355 0.355 0.36 0.345 0.355 18050000 6377050 220650 PHIL ESTATES 0.51 0.52 0.49 0.52 0.49 0.52 8100000 4155000 -317200 PRIMEX CORP 2.14 2.15 2.15 2.17 2.13 2.14 464000 996430 -12960 ROBINSONS LAND 26.35 26.4 27 27.9 26.35 26.4 3891500 104663265 680695 PHIL REALTY 0.43 0.435 0.42 0.43 0.42 0.43 770000 329000 ROCKWELL 2.26 2.28 2.25 2.28 2.21 2.26 264000 598930 SHANG PROP 3.15 3.19 3.18 3.2 3.15 3.19 49000 156360 STA LUCIA LAND 2.04 2.07 2.07 2.09 2.04 2.07 891000 1837100 -139510 SM PRIME HLDG 38.7 38.9 39.25 39.25 38.65 38.7 4155900 161278680 -18054990 STARMALLS 6.3 6.33 6.35 6.35 6.21 6.3 77200 482969 97968 SUNTRUST HOME 0.81 0.82 0.83 0.84 0.82 0.82 125000 103490 VISTA LAND 7.75 7.8 7.79 7.83 7.65 7.8 8339800 64752181 10195884

SERVICES ABS CBN 17.28 17.44 17.32 17.46 17.28 17.3 108000 1871230 GMA NETWORK 5.4 5.42 5.4 5.42 5.4 5.4 92100 497734 MANILA BULLETIN 0.53 0.55 0.57 0.57 0.53 0.53 646000 351420 GLOBE TELECOM 2180 2196 2142 2208 2142 2180 19070 41677350 22184700 PLDT 1184 1185 1228 1228 1185 1185 66910 79923735 -20438535 APOLLO GLOBAL 0.048 0.05 0.051 0.051 0.05 0.05 700000 35300 DFNN INC 6.01 6.1 6.11 6.29 6 6.01 22000 133741 IMPERIAL 1.84 1.91 1.92 1.92 1.81 1.84 421000 789590 129700 ISLAND INFO 0.118 0.119 0.118 0.119 0.118 0.119 540000 63730 ISM COMM 5.78 5.79 5.7 5.85 5.7 5.78 4029400 23376030 -2015667 JACKSTONES 2.97 3.09 2.96 2.97 2.96 2.97 71000 210850 NOW CORP 2.57 2.59 2.58 2.63 2.55 2.57 3070000 7991040 -322400 TRANSPACIFIC BR 0.36 0.365 0.36 0.365 0.355 0.36 3730000 1340950 PHILWEB 4.25 4.27 4.38 4.38 4.2 4.25 5204000 22143640 -4843410 2GO GROUP 11.12 11.2 11.1 11.2 11.02 11.2 1500 16624 CHELSEA 8 8.01 8 8.08 7.99 8 1346900 10819441 -51490.9997 CEBU AIR 95.3 95.5 96 96.7 95 95.3 172310 16563736.5 4651817.5 INTL CONTAINER 141.3 141.4 143.2 147 141.4 141.4 862810 122704067 27812466 LBC EXPRESS 14.16 14.88 14.12 14.12 14.12 14.12 100 1412 LORENZO SHIPPNG 0.89 0.9 0.88 0.91 0.88 0.9 263000 235910 MACROASIA 19.38 19.4 19.28 19.42 19.28 19.4 200600 3885364 1391408 PAL HLDG 9.33 9.35 9.35 9.35 9.33 9.35 21600 201796 HARBOR STAR 2.19 2.2 2.12 2.21 2.12 2.2 2132000 4656370 -288800 BOULEVARD HLDG 0.061 0.063 0.063 0.064 0.061 0.062 12770000 796820 WATERFRONT 0.83 0.84 0.83 0.84 0.82 0.83 4360000 3618270 CENTRO ESCOLAR 7.05 7.19 7.02 7.2 7 7 21900 153702 41300 IPEOPLE 9.62 9.7 9.89 9.9 9.62 9.62 45100 438152 STI HLDG 0.79 0.8 0.81 0.81 0.79 0.8 6814000 5453180 1452650 BERJAYA 2.57 2.62 2.57 2.65 2.55 2.56 143000 367780 BLOOMBERRY 11.9 12 11.96 12.14 11.88 11.9 7987800 95552658 -16906368 PACIFIC ONLINE 2.97 2.98 2.94 2.97 2.94 2.97 81000 239760 -50320 LEISURE AND RES 3.81 3.85 3.88 3.88 3.8 3.8 779000 2973420 -530090 MANILA JOCKEY 3.8 3.88 3.8 4.08 3.75 3.88 2159000 8431230 PH RESORTS GRP 5.27 5.35 5.21 5.35 5.21 5.35 12900 68464 PREMIUM LEISURE 0.73 0.74 0.73 0.75 0.73 0.73 2536000 1870640 -251410 PHIL RACING 8.21 9.49 9.49 9.49 9.49 9.49 100 949 TRAVELLERS 5.48 5.55 5.5 5.55 5.48 5.48 1140200 6295582 -3356300 METRO RETAIL 2.8 2.84 2.81 2.86 2.79 2.84 5574000 15795010 3081650 PUREGOLD 45.5 45.6 46 46.1 45.5 45.5 863700 39431810 11537765 ROBINSONS RTL 75.6 75.9 74.8 76.8 74.8 75.6 531210 40321122.5 21916809.5 PHIL SEVEN CORP 142 143 138.5 142 135 142 67740 9442550 24070 SSI GROUP 3.55 3.56 3.49 3.63 3.49 3.56 11680000 41720720 6541260 WILCON DEPOT 16.38 16.4 16.72 16.72 16.36 16.38 8482000 139351826 5413356 APC GROUP 0.55 0.56 0.54 0.55 0.53 0.55 4318000 2348570 -110000 EASYCALL 10.3 10.34 9.8 10.4 9.8 10.3 100100 1012825 GOLDEN BRIA 419 427.6 427.6 427.6 427.6 427.6 10 4276 IPM HLDG 5.75 5.9 5.75 5.8 5.7 5.7 11800 68010 PRMIERE HORIZON 0.83 0.84 0.87 0.87 0.83 0.84 20767000 17665640 134200 SBS PHIL CORP 9.14 9.46 9.47 9.47 9.46 9.46 5000 47310

MINING & OIL ATOK 14.2 14.8 15.04 15.96 13.8 14.8 331000 4902444 -326506 APEX MINING 1.23 1.24 1.17 1.26 1.17 1.23 15106000 18440790 -1253580 ABRA MINING 0.0016 0.0018 0.0017 0.0017 0.0016 0.0017 274000000 465000 11900 ATLAS MINING 2.7 2.78 2.7 2.7 2.7 2.7 50000 135000 COAL ASIA HLDG 0.28 0.285 0.285 0.285 0.28 0.28 120000 34100 CENTURY PEAK 2.79 2.81 2.79 2.79 2.79 2.79 40000 111600 DIZON MINES 7.68 7.69 7.83 7.85 7.63 7.69 23200 178871 FERRONICKEL 1.45 1.46 1.47 1.47 1.45 1.45 270000 393660 GEOGRACE 0.219 0.22 0.219 0.22 0.217 0.22 1200000 261680 22000 LEPANTO A 0.108 0.109 0.108 0.111 0.108 0.109 2230000 243520 MANILA MINING A 0.0075 0.0078 0.0076 0.0076 0.0076 0.0076 3000000 22800 MANILA MINING B 0.0076 0.0079 0.0076 0.0076 0.0076 0.0076 1000000 7600 MARCVENTURES 1.14 1.16 1.15 1.17 1.14 1.16 293000 337650 NIHAO 1.05 1.06 1.04 1.07 1.04 1.06 318000 336410 37800 NICKEL ASIA 2.33 2.34 2.35 2.38 2.3 2.33 6617000 15603300 -2837590 OMICO CORP 0.54 0.56 0.53 0.56 0.53 0.56 13000 6950 ORNTL PENINSULA 0.85 0.87 0.86 0.87 0.84 0.87 712000 601320 PX MINING 3.75 3.8 3.8 3.87 3.7 3.8 1196000 4559090 451410 SEMIRARA MINING 23.5 23.55 23.9 23.9 23.35 23.5 1421500 33460385 -804380 ORNTL PETROL A 0.012 0.013 0.013 0.013 0.012 0.013 26500000 324300 ORNTL PETROL B 0.012 0.013 0.012 0.012 0.012 0.012 3400000 40800 PHILODRILL 0.01 0.012 0.011 0.012 0.01 0.01 25500000 278700 PHINMA PETRO 6.02 6.1 4.8 6.82 4.8 6.02 5883000 33199350 52600 PXP ENERGY 9.09 9.1 8.2 9.22 8.2 9.09 13079200 115109393 2576784

PREFFERED

AC PREF B1 453.8 485 490 490 488 488 20 9780 AC PREF B2 487 494 490 490 490 490 11500 5635000 ALCO PREF B 100 101 101 101 100 100 53150 5315220 DD PREF 99 99.5 99.5 99.5 99 99 2020 200490 FGEN PREF G 104 105 107 107 102.1 102.1 5510 564790 72100 GLO PREF P 485 498 498 498 498 498 20 9960 GTCAP PREF B 920 944 940 940 940 940 690 648600 LR PREF 0.97 0.99 0.99 0.99 0.97 0.97 259000 253790 PNX PREF 3B 105 107.5 107.5 107.5 107.5 107.5 10 1075 PCOR PREF 2B 1000 1014 1000 1000 1000 1000 65 65000 PCOR PREF 3A 1010 1011 1010 1011 1010 1011 5590 5650990 PCOR PREF 3B 1013 1014 1012 1013 1012 1013 7820 7918840 SFI PREF 1.36 1.75 1.36 1.36 1.36 1.36 4000 5440 SMC PREF 2B 75.2 75.85 75.85 75.85 75.85 75.85 900 68265 SMC PREF 2C 76.8 76.9 76.85 76.9 76.85 76.9 3210 246743.5 769 SMC PREF 2D 73.1 73.85 73.5 73.5 73 73 24000 1755000 SMC PREF 2F 74.6 75 75 75 74.2 75 2290 171742 SMC PREF 2H 74.1 74.5 74.3 74.5 74.3 74.5 10600 789300 SMC PREF 2I 74.5 75 74.5 75 74.5 74.5 67050 5009971.5 -

PHIL. DEPOSITARY RECEIPTS ABS HLDG PDR

16.72

17.2

16.78

16.78

16.72

16.72

111400

1866442

WARRANTS ABS HLDG PDR

16.72

SMALL & MEDIUM ENTERPRISES ITALPINAS 5.36 MAKATI FINANCE 2.6 XURPAS 1.12

17.2

16.78

16.78

16.72

16.72

111400

1866442

-1866442

5.37 2.89 1.13

5.51 2.63 1.08

5.52 2.7 1.13

5.3 2.63 1.07

5.37 2.7 1.12

601700 34000 8020000

3248940 90680 8916170

-210440

EXHANGE TRADE FUNDS FIRST METRO ETF

124

-1866442

124.2

124

124.2

123.9

124

10120

1254459

980356

www.businessmirror.com.ph

DFNN board creates a unit for offshore gambling ops entry

T

By VG Cabuag

@villygc

HE board of DFNN Inc. has approved the incorporation of another unit that will serve as its entry into offshore gaming operations.

In its disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, DFNN said it is incorporating Nico Bayan Inc., which will have a capital stock of P15 million. Out of the subscription of DFNN, it will own 100 percent

of the outstanding shares of capital stock of Nico Bayan worth P5 million.

“The incorporation of Nico Bayan is intended to be used as a vehicle for the expansion of its offshore gaming operations,” it said.

It did not give further details.

The board of DFNN, a firm that operates gambling kiosks and supplies software solutions to other firms, also resolved to authorize the amendment of paragraph (f) of the Secondary Purposes in the Second Article of the Articles of Incorporation to allow the company to borrow money.

The said funds will be “in aid of the corporation’s purposes, and for such purposes to issue, receive, and hold bonds, notes and obligations, and to guarantee the obligations of any entity it has legal interests in, whether directly or indirectly,” it said.

DFNN, formerly known as Diversified Financial Network Inc., was incorporated in 1999 as an information-technology solutions provider and systems integrator. It then transformed itself into a gambling software company.

With the advent of the opening of the regulated gaming industry— both land-based and electronic—in Asia, DFNN created a division to cater to the needs of the emerging Asian gaming industry, it said.

“The company is currently delivering innovative new game content through a wide array of products, systems and solutions,” it said.

Logistics firm J&T Express, Shopee team up

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&T Express has forged a partnership with Shopee, which strengthens its business operations and encourages it to deliver quality services for the increasing number of online sellers and buyers in the Philippines.

Next to Indonesia, this is the second market where the leading fast delivery company in Southeast Asia is partnering with the e-commerce platform provider.

“Shopee is so famous. I’m very proud to partner with one of the best players in the e-commerce industry,” J&T Express Philippines Sales and Marketing Director Tommy Li told reporters in an interview following the ceremonial contract signing at the office of Shopee Philippines Inc. at the Net Park Building in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig, on Tuesday.

The local e-commerce sector is expected to continue gaining ground, especially with the growing number of Filipinos who shop online, according to J&T Express Philippines CEO Dean Ding.

Citing The Internet World Stats report, the top executive said that around 67 million Filipinos do their shopping on the Web as of January 2018, representing a 12-percent growth year-on-year.

This figure is encouraging for entrepreneurs to bring their businesses online and contribute to the rising

number of local e-commerce players.

“The increasing population of online businesses in the country opens new opportunities for big players in the e-commerce industry,” said Ding.

“By partnering with Shopee, we get to continue J&T Express’s mission of delivering quality express package delivery services that support the growth of local online businesses and fuel this promising economic growth.”

As the leading e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia and Taiwan, Shopee recognizes the importance of delivering products in a timely and organized manner to provide hassle-free and more convenient shopping experiences to customers, per Shopee Philippines Associate Director Martin Yu. “We believe that shipping is an essential part of any e-commerce company and giving a good delivery experience to our consumers is key to maintaining a loyal customer base. We stand with J&T Express as they continue to give the ultimate package express delivery quality for customers and support the growth of e-commerce in the Philippines, especially for small and medium enterprises,” he said.

Though a newbie foreign player to enter the local e-commerce logistics industry, J&T Express offers a realtime tracking system for deliveries,

Nlex confident SFEX expansion on sked; 1st phase seen completed for SEA Games

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OLLWAYS operator Nlex Corp. said on Thursday that its P1.6-billion Subic Freeport Expressway (SFEX) Capacity Expansion program is “well under way to further ease travel in and out” of the free-port zone.

Under the program, two new lanes—including a tunnel and two bridges—will be built at the 8-kilometer expressway to expand its capacity.

Traffic along the SFEX continues to increase as demand rises for greater convenience, connectivity, and access to the free port.

The expansion also includes the deployment of expressway-standard LED lights that will ensure the safety of motorists at night.

“These SFEX improvements, which are expected to be completed by September 2020, all aimed at supporting trade and commerce in Subic and enhancing the travel experience of our motorists,” Nlex Corp. President Luigi L. Bautista said.

Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Chairman and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma said the project will help expedite the delivery of products and boost tourism.

“This project will be instrumental in sustaining Subic’s position as a prime business and leisure hub, as well as helping complement our infrastructure development program, which includes widening of free-port roads and improvement of our airport, seaport, and other logistics facilities,” she said.

Bautista noted that aside from improving the road capacity, the project also involves raising the Maritan Highway-Rizal HighwayTipo Road junction and enhancing the drainage system to help alleviate flooding in the area.

This part of the project, he said, will be done in two phases, with the first phase expected to be completed by October 2019, in time for Subic’s hosting of 16 sports in the 2019 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in November.

However, to start the road raising and f lood-control works, one part of the Maritan-RizalTipo junction has been closed to traffic since July 13. Motorists are now being diverted to alternate routes along the Causeway Road and the Argonaut-Kalayaan Access Road. Lorenz S. Marasigan

high transmission speed, 365 operation days, a 24-hour hotline and insurance claim facilities. It covers nine regions in the country at present.

The company delivers parcels and packages through its over 300 branches and 41 distribution centers nationwide. Also, it has a fleet of more than 300 trucks and hires almost 6,000 riders.

“I’m quite confident with our business with Shopee. So I think we need to catch up to have more people, to buy more trucks and build more facilities,” Li said, without citing the exact amount needed for this initiative. “As long as Shopee needs us, as long as our

MUTUAL FUNDS

e-commerce customers need us, we’ll keep investing.”

As for the company’s plan to open over a thousand branches nationwide and double the capacity of its delivery service in the domestic market from 500,000 packages to more than a million daily, he said they are on track to achieve it.

J&T Express first penetrated the Indonesian market in 2015. Because of its extensive network that supports delivery services within city, intercity, interprovincial and e-commerce customers, it then widened its regional reach to Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines and, soon, in Thailand. Roderick L. Abad

July 17, 2019

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

PER SHARE RETURN* RETURN STOCK FUNDS ALFM GROWTH FUND, INC. -A 273.62 8.65% -0.15% 1.7% 8.49% ATRAM ALPHA OPPORTUNITY FUND, INC. -A 1.6895 17.47% 7.77% 3.58% 17.26% ATRAM PHILIPPINE EQUITY OPPORTUNITY FUND, INC. -A 4.2349 6.47% -0.52% 0.67% 8.5% CLIMBS SHARE CAPITAL EQUITY INVESTMENT FUND CORP. -A 0.9864 11.55% N.A. N.A. 9.48% FIRST METRO CONSUMER FUND ON MSCI PHILS. IMI, INC. -A 0.9075 9.07% N.A. N.A. 10.58% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN EQUITY FUND,INC. -A 5.6708 8.95% 0.91% 1.66% 7.54% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN PHILIPPINE INDEX FUND, INC. -A,6 0.9132 7.23% -3.26% N.A. 9.14% MBG EQUITY INVESTMENT FUND, INC. -A 122.52 15.23% N.A. N.A. 5.47% PAMI EQUITY INDEX FUND, INC. -A 54.4504 11.69% 0.74% N.A. 10.62% PHILAM STRATEGIC GROWTH FUND, INC. - A 565.86 10.58% -0.27% 1.61% 9.93% PHILEQUITY DIVIDEND YIELD FUND, INC. -A 1.3768 12.17% 1.68% 3.7% 9.79% PHILEQUITY FUND, INC. -A 40.3968 12.64% 2.29% 3.38% 10.28% PHILEQUITY MSCI PHILIPPINE INDEX FUND, INC. -A,3 1.0902 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. PHILEQUITY PSE INDEX FUND INC. -A 5.5268 12.73% 1.74% 3.85% 11.45% PHILIPPINE STOCK INDEX FUND CORP. -A 922.94 12.78% 1.45% 3.82% 11.41% SOLDIVO STRATEGIC GROWTH FUND, INC. -A 0.9609 13.76% 0.62% N.A. 11.73% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY PHILIPPINE EQUITY FUND, INC. -A 4.5069 12.93% 1.6% 3.24% 11.04% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY PHILIPPINE STOCK INDEX FUND, INC. -A 1.0602 12.19% 1.4% N.A. 11.1% UNITED FUND, INC. -A 3.8695 11.01% 2.87% 4.05% 10.53% EXCHANGE TRADED FUND FIRST METRO PHIL. EQUITY EXCHANGE TRADED FUND, INC. -A,C,2 123.5335 13.16% 2.31% 4.88% 11.54% ATRAM ASIAPLUS EQUITY FUND, INC. -B

$0.9984 -3.22% 5.14% -0.34% 7.46% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY WORLD VOYAGER FUND, INC. -A $1.3273 2.22% 9.21% N.A. 20.1% BALANCED FUNDS PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES ATRAM DYNAMIC ALLOCATION FUND, INC. -A 1.7949 8.34% -1.11% -0.68% 8.7% ATRAM PHILIPPINE BALANCED FUND, INC. -A 2.371 5.7% -0.09% 1.1% 7.32% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN BALANCED FUND INC. -A 2.7287 6.98% 0.59% -0.69% 7.3% GREPALIFE BALANCED FUND CORPORATION -A 1.3789 4.43% N.A. N.A. 5.72% NCM MUTUAL FUND OF THE PHILS., INC. -A 1.9768 7.83% 0.54% 1.8% 7.25% PAMI HORIZON FUND, INC. -A 3.8401 8.49% -0.55% 1.14% 8.81% PHILAM FUND, INC. -A 17.2831 9.33% -0.37% 1.15% 8.65% SOLIDARITAS FUND, INC. -A 2.2004 7.02% 0.85% 2.32% 6.34% SUN LIFE OF CANADA PROSPERITY BALANCED FUND, INC. -A 3.987 10.45% 0.58% 2.16% 9.19% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY ACHIEVER FUND 2028, INC. -A,D,4 1.0455 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. SUN LIFE PROSPERITY ACHIEVER FUND 2038, INC. -A,D,4 1.0496 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. SUN LIFE PROSPERITY ACHIEVER FUND 2048, INC. -A,D,4 1.0463 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DYNAMIC FUND, INC. -A 1.0256 12.2% 0.95% 1.99% 11.27% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY SECURITIES COCOLIFE DOLLAR FUND BUILDER, INC. -A $0.03745 6.76% 1.43% 2.01% 6.09% PAMI ASIA BALANCED FUND, INC. -A $1.0017 -0.62% 3.22% -0.77% 9.63% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR ADVANTAGE FUND, INC. -A $3.8064 3.5% 6.33% 3.04% 15.05% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR WELLSPRING FUND, INC. -A $1.1168 4.12% 3.83% N.A. 10.57% BOND FUNDS PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES ALFM PESO BOND FUND, INC. -A 351.37 3.6% 2.05% 2.23% 2.3% ATRAM CORPORATE BOND FUND, INC. -A,1 1.9025 2.11% -0.05% -0.15% 2.33% COCOLIFE FIXED INCOME FUND, INC. -A 3.0524 5.3% 5.22% 5.25% 2.56% EKKLESIA MUTUAL FUND INC. -A 2.1951 3.66% 0.99% 1.91% 3.1% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN FIXED INCOME FUND,INC. -A 2.3197 4.69% 1.02% 1.42% 5.2% GREPALIFE FIXED INCOME FUND CORP. -A P 1.6055 1.91% -1.99% 0% 2.63% PHILAM BOND FUND, INC. -A 4.2045 6.83% -0.26% 1.34% 7.26% PHILEQUITY PESO BOND FUND, INC. -A 3.6949 6.01% 0.66% 1.47% 5.06% SOLDIVO BOND FUND, INC. -A 0.9406 4.49% -0.7% N.A. 5.54% SUN LIFE OF CANADA PROSPERITY BOND FUND, INC. -A 2.9755 8.22% 0.94% 2.19% 7.58% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY GS FUND, INC. -A 1.6526 8.21% 0.46% 1.73% 7.32% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY SECURITIES ALFM DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC. -A $459.64 3.71% 1.67% 2.75% 2.51% ALFM EURO BOND FUND, INC. -A Є218.18 2.28% 1.31% 1.51% 2.59% ATRAM TOTAL RETURN DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC. -B $1.1855 6.49% 1.76% 2.52% 5.31% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC. -A $0.0256 3.64% 0.66% N.A. 3.23% GREPALIFE DOLLAR BOND FUND CORP. -A $1.7146 1.17% -2.13% 0.6% 1.44% PAMI GLOBAL BOND FUND, INC -A $1.0858 4.85% -0.59% -2.02% 4.78% PHILAM DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC. -A $2.3513 8.61% 0.77% 3.26% 8.31% PHILEQUITY DOLLAR INCOME FUND INC. -A $0.0593415 4.59% 1.55% 1.84% 4.11% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR ABUNDANCE FUND, INC. -A $3.0829 6.92% 0.03% 2.69% 7.34% MONEY MARKET FUNDS PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES ALFM MONEY MARKET FUND, INC. -A 123.79 3.8% 2.47% 1.97% 2.41% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN MONEY MARKET FUND, INC. -A,5 1.0162 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. PHILAM MANAGED INCOME FUND, INC. -A 1.219 4.2% 1.86% 1.13% 3.14% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY MONEY MARKET FUND, INC. -A 1.2469 3.78% 2.69% 2.07% 2.27% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY SECURITIES SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR STARTER FUND, INC. -A $1.0291 2.19% N.A. N.A. 1.3%

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 - ADJUSTED DUE TO CASH DIVIDEND ISSUANCE LAST JANUARY 29, 2018. 2 - ADJUSTED DUE TO STOCK DIVIDEND ISSUANCE LAST JUNE 5, 2018.

3 - LAUNCH DATE IS JANUARY 3, 2019. 4 - LAUNCH DATE IS JANUARY 28, 2019. 5 - LAUNCH DATE IS FEBRUARY 1, 2019.

Editor: Angel R. Calso

The World BusinessMirror

U.S. FEARS IRAN SEIZED U.A.E.-BASED OIL TANKER IN STRAIT OF HORMUZ

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UBAI, United Arab Emirates—A small oil tanker from the United Arab Emirates traveling through the Strait of Hormuz entered Iranian waters and turned off its tracker three days ago, leading the US to suspect Iran seized the vessel amid heightened tensions in the region.

Iranian state media quoted its Foreign Ministry spokesman early Wednesday as saying the Islamic Republic had aided a foreign oil tanker with a malfunction, but the report didn’t explain further. Oil tankers previously have been targeted in the wider region amid tensions between the US and Iran over its unraveling nuclear deal with world powers.

The Panamanian-flagged Riah turned off its transponder late Saturday night but an Emirati official said it sent no distress call.

The concern over its status comes as Iran continues its own high-pressure campaign over its nuclear program after President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew America from the accord over a year ago.

Recently, Iran has inched its uranium production and enrichment over the limits of its 2015 nuclear deal, trying to put more pressure on Europe to offer it better terms and allow it to sell its crude oil abroad.

However, those tensions also have seen the US send thousands of additional troops, nuclear-capable B-52 bombers and advanced fighter jets into the Mideast. Mysterious attacks on oil tankers and Iran shooting down a US military surveillance drone has added to the fears of an armed conflict breaking out.

The 58-meter (190-foot) Riah typically made trips from Dubai and Sharjah on the UAE’s west coast before going through the strait and heading to Fujairah on the UAE’s east coast. However, something happened to the vessel after 11 p.m. on Saturday, according to tracking data.

Capt. Ranjith Raja of the data firm Refinitiv told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the tanker hadn’t switched off its tracking in three months of trips around the UAE. “That is a red flag,” Raja said.

A US defense official later told the AP that the Riah was in Iranian territorial waters near Qeshm Island, which has a Revolutionary

Guard base on it.

“We certainly have suspicions that it was taken,” the official said. “Could it have broken down or been towed for assistance? That’s a possibility. But the longer there is a period of no contact...it’s going to be a concern.”

The official spoke on condition of anonymity, as the matter did not directly involve US interests.

An Emirati official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing security matter, said the vessel “did not emit a distress call.”

“We are monitoring the situation with our international partners,” the official said.

Iran’s IRNA news agency quoted Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abbas Mousavi as saying Iran had helped an unnamed tanker by towing it to an Iranian port, without elaborating. The report did not identify the ship, nor explain the malfunction and the lack of a distress call or any crew contact with home.

The ship’s registered owner, Dubaibased Prime Tankers Llc., told the AP it had sold the ship to another company called Mouj Al-Bahar. A man who answered a telephone number registered to the firm told the AP it didn’t own any ships. The Emirati official said the ship was “neither UAE owned nor operated” and carried no Emirati personnel, without elaborating.

Separately Tuesday, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said his country will retaliate over the seizure of an Iranian supertanker carrying 2.1 million barrels of light crude oil. The vessel was seized with the help of British Royal Marines earlier this month off Gibraltar over suspicion it was heading to Syria in violation of European Union sanctions, an operation Khamenei called “piracy” in a televised speech.

“God willing, the Islamic Republic and its committed forces will not leave this evil without a response,” he said. He did not elaborate.

British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said Saturday that Britain will facilitate the release of the ship if Iran can guarantee the vessel will not breach European sanctions on oil shipments to Syria. AP

MEXICAN DRUG LORD ‘EL CHAPO’ FACES SENTENCING IN U.S. CASE

IN this January 19, 2017, file photo provided by US law enforcement, authorities escort Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman (center), from a plane to a waiting caravan of SUVs at Long Island MacArthur Airport, in Ronkonkoma, NY Guzman, who was convicted in February on multiple conspiracy counts in an epic drug-trafficking case, will be sentenced in a New York courtroom on Wednesday. U.S. LAW ENFORCEMENT VIA AP

N

E W YORK—Will the notorious Mexican drug lord known as “El Chapo” go quietly? For Joaquin Guzman, that’s the biggest question at his sentencing in New York City on Wednesday.

The highly anticipated hearing could be his last chance to speak publicly before spending the rest of his life behind bars at a maximum security US prison.

Guzman, 62, was convicted in February on multiple conspiracy counts in an epic drug-trafficking case. The guilty verdict at an 11-week trial triggered what the government says is a well-justified mandatory sentence of life without parole.

The evidence showed that under Guzman’s orders, the Sinaloa cartel was responsible for smuggling mountains of cocaine and other drugs into the United States during his 25year reign, prosecutors said in court papers re-capping the trial. They also said his “army of sicarios”was under orders to kidnap, torture and murder anyone who got in his way.

The defense argued he was framed by other traffickers who became government witnesses so they could get breaks in their own cases.

Guzman has been largely cut off from the outside world since his extradition in 2017.

Wary of his history of escaping from Mexican prisons, US authorities have kept him in

solitary confinement at a Manhattan jail and under close guard at his appearances at the Brooklyn courthouse where his case unfolded.

While the trial was dominated by Guzman’s persona as a near-mythical outlaw who carried a diamond-encrusted handgun and stayed one step ahead of the law, the jury never heard from Guzman himself, except when he told the judge he wouldn’t testify.

But evidence at Guzman’s trial suggested his decision to stay quiet at the defense table was against his nature: Cooperating witnesses told jurors he was a fan of his own rags-toriches narco story, always eager to find an author or screenwriter to tell it. There also were reports he was itching to testify in his own defense until his attorneys talked him out of it, making his sentencing a last chance to seize the spotlight.

It’s likely whatever he says on Wednesday will stick to the defense script that he was the fall guy for other kingpins who were better at paying off top Mexican politicians and lawenforcement officials to protect them while the US government looked the other way.

Prosecution descriptions of an empire that paid for private planes, beachfront villas and a private zoo were a fallacy, his lawyers say. And the chances the US government could collect on a roughly $12.5 billion forfeiture order are zero, they add. AP

Thursday, July 18, 2019

B3

Hong Kong’s economy starts to feel effects of protest chaos

H

ONG KONG is beginning to reckon with the economic cost of ongoing protests against the government’s extradition bill, as the disruption risks driving away local shoppers and deterring tourists from mainland China.

The Hong Kong Retail Management Association said Tuesday that “most members” reported a single-to-double-digit drop in average sales revenue between June and the first week of July, when multiple demonstrations converging on major office and retail districts took place.

The threat to Hong Kong’s vital retail sector will hit its economy at a time when it is already slowing.

Retail sales data for June is due for release on August 1, with the value of goods sold having contracted every month since February.

The “industry is worried that these events will damage Hong Kong’s international image as a safe city, a culinary capital and a shopping haven,” the association said in a statement.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam’s bid to ease extraditions to the mainland prompted hundreds of thousands of protesters to take to the streets in a wave of histor ic protests that has brought parts of the city to a halt since early last month.

Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan said at a briefing on July 15 that second quarter economic output is expected to be “slow,” though there haven’t been obvious capital outf lows amid the demonstrations.

Sales drop

SA Sa International Holdings Ltd., a seller of cosmetics, reported a 15.3-percent drop in same store sales in Hong Kong and Macau for the three months through June.

The company said the demonstrations had affected some stores, as had a high comparison from the previous year.

For the same period, Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group Ltd. reported an 11-percent decline. The political backdrop and a decline in mainland visitors increased the likelihood of a two-percentagepoint reduction in its first-half operating margin, Catherine Lim, an analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence in Singapore, wrote in a note.

The chances of a marked economic impact from the protests

IN this July 14, 2019, photo, riot policemen use shields to protect themselves from things thrown by protesters during a demonstration in Sha Tin District in Hong Kong. What began as a protest against an extradition bill has ballooned into a fundamental challenge to the way Hong Kong is governed—and the role of the Chinese government in the city s affairs.

AP/KIN CHEUNG

raises comparisons with the Occupy movement that blocked parts of central Hong Kong five years ago. Economic growth slowed in the fourth quarter of 2014 from the previous period, and the government at the time partially blamed that weaker performance on the protest, saying it “affected tourism, hotel, catering, retail and transport industries.”

Carry on

THIS year, the number of visitors to the city from mainland China has been increasing strongly, thanks in part to the opening of a new bridge linking Hong Kong with the city of Zhuhai, in Guangdong province. Arrivals in May surged 23.6 percent from a year earlier, with the June tally not yet available.

Images of protesters blocking major city thoroughfares—and retail outlets—will likely pose a significant risk if the demonstrations continue. On July 1, a gathering that ultimately saw protesters break into and vandalize the city’s legislative building hampered retailers in the shopping district of Causeway Bay and elsewhere.

Yet most businesses are attempting to carry on. “ There were so many people, it was a mess, no one wanted to come in,” said Chen Yan, 30, who works at the counter of a pharmaceutical store in Causeway Bay. “But we haven’t changed our operations because of the protests. We ex pect it to be temporar y.” Bloomberg News

Trump administration blasts WTO decision on China

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A S H I N G T O N —T h e Trump administration blasted a World Trade Organization decision on Tuesday that could let China levy sanctions on the United States.

The 2-1 decision by the WTO’s appellate body was actually a mixed verdict in a case that dates back to 2007 and is unrelated to

the tariffs the administration has slapped on $250 billion in Chinese goods. In its final decision, the WTO agreed with the US that China lets state-owned enterprises (SOEs) subsidize Chinese firms by providing components at unfairly low costs.

But it said the US wrongly calculated the tariffs imposed

Cryptocurrencies, digital tax top agenda for G-7 meeting

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A R IS ­— Finance of f icia ls from the Group of Seven rich democracies will weigh risks from new digital currencies and debate how to tax tech companies like Google and Amazon when they meet at a chateau north of Paris starting on Wednesday.

Those issues, raised by the impact of digitalization on the world economy, are at the top of the agenda for a two-day gathering hosted

by French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire and including US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

T he f inance ministers are meeting in the town of Chantilly to prepare the ground for a summit of the G-7 heads of state and government, scheduled for August 24-26 in the French Basque Country resort of Biarritz.

Hanging over the ministers when they sit down for a working dinner Wednesday: slowing global growth and the Americafirst trade policies of US President Donald Trump, which have led to a tariff war with China and tensions with Europe.

The G-7 countries are Europe’s Germany, France, Britain and Italy, plus Canada, Japan and the United States.

Europe and the US have exchanged a limited number of tariffs but Trump has threatened more damaging ones on European auto imports in an attempt to renegotiate overall trade relations.

The talks have been slow as the two sides differ on whether agricultural as well as industrial products should be included. The US wants to include farm products and the Europeans do not.

Those disagreements could be exacerbated by a newer point of contention: host France’s decision to impose a 3-percent tax on the revenues of giant tech companies, which are mainly American.

The tech companies do huge business across Europe but pay taxes only in the European Union nation where their local headquarters are based, often a lowtax haven like Luxembourg or the Netherlands. The result is they pay a far lower rate than traditional businesses.

The US has advocated a broader international approach being developed by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a Paris-based organization representing much of the more developed world.

to punish China for the subsidies. If the US doesn’t recalculate them, China can retaliate with its own sanctions.

The Office of the US Trade Representative said the ruling “undermines W TO rules, making them less effective to counteract Chinese SOE subsidies that are harming US workers

and businesses and distorting markets worldwide.”

Separately, the US-China are locked in a yearlong standoff over US allegations that China u s e s p r e d at o r y t a c t i c s — i n c lud ing outr ight thef t of trade secrets—in an ag gressive push to cha l lenge A mer ican technolog ica l dom ina nce. AP

US officials have said they’re investigating the French move as a possible unfair trade practice that could lead to retaliation. Mnuchin told journalists Monday “this will definitely be high on the agenda.”

Le Maire, in turn, said the French tax was intended to spur international action: “As soon as there will be an international solution, we will withdraw the national ta xation.”

“I w i l l u rge my A mer ic a n friends, instead of...threatening France through sanctions to go the way of dialogue and entering into a fair negotiation to find a compromise at the level of the G-7, so that we will give a new impetus to the work that is currently done in the OECD,” he said.

Where the US may find more common ground with its G-7 partners will be in its mistrust of cryptocurrencies like Facebook’s recently announced Libra.

Mnuchin said the US Treasury Department has “very serious concerns that Libra could be misused by money launderers and terrorist financers...this is indeed a national security issue.” Le Maire has voiced similar concerns and has commissioned a report by top central bankers.

Libra would be based on distributed technology similar to that which underpins Bitcoin, but with

key differences. Bitcoin’s value fluctuates, limiting its use to pay for things. In contrast, Facebook hopes to keep the value of the Libra fairly steady by tying it to a basket of major currencies. The social network envisions it as a way to send money around the world without significant fees. Facebook won’t run Libra directly but instead is setting up a nonprofit with its partners to oversee the new currency.

A broader issue is the state of international cooperation represented by the G-7 itself.

Trump has disrupted earlier summits by refusing to sign on for final statements, which traditionally summarize the group’s shared views on key issues like global warming. US officials have also spiked earlier language explicitly rejecting trade protectionism such as tariffs. After last year’s G-7 hosted by Canada, Trump retracted US support for the meeting’s joint statement and tweeted criticism of the host, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Le Maire is hoping that unity will win out over divisions.

“Since we are facing an unstable world, we are facing key challenges related to global warming, to the rise of new technologies, the new power of China, reinforcing the G-7 should be our common goal,” he said. AP

B4 Thursday, July 18, 2019

A.U.B., GCASH TO BOOST MERCHANT ACQUISITION IN QR-PAYMENT SPACE

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HE Asia United Bank (AUB), one of the country’s fastest-growing publicly listed banks, has partnered with GCash, operated by Globe Fintech Innovations Inc. (Mynt), an affiliate of Globe Telecom; Ant Financial (an Alibaba Group affiliate); and Ayala Corp.

AUB is the pioneer Philippine QR Partner of e-wallet giants WeChat Pay, AliPay and UnionPay. QR-payment acceptance enabled close to 7,000 merchant outlets in the country to accept QR payments from Chinese tourists in a span of one year. It has launched the AUB PayMate, a mobile app, a web portal and an API that allow AUB to service merchants operating in different payment-acceptance environment, whether self-employed, small and medium businesses, or large retail chains.

Said Manuel Gomez, AUB president: “AUB is now poised to tackle the local QR-payment acceptance from Filipinos customers, and what better way to do this than partner with GCash, the biggest e-wallet provider in the country, with more than 20 million customers.”

This technology-driven initiative enables AUB to utilize technology and introduce the QR innovation to the local market.

“AUB is GCash’s first bank QR acquirer-partner in the Philippines. Our customers can now do payments in AUB PayMate’s QR partner-merchants. Both GCash and AUB will collaborate as there’s so much work to be done to enable over 1 million traditional and nontraditional merchants in the country to accept QR payments.” said Anthony Thomas, Mynt chief executive officer and Globe president.

“With the AUB and GCash partnership, our existing and potential AUB PayMate merchants can generate more sales revenue from payment transactions of GCash users, providing more value to our AUB merchant customers,” said Mags Surtida, first vice president and AUB head of cards and acquiring business.

The AUB and GCash partnership demonstrates a union of highly innovative companies, with the goal of providing better financial service to Filipino customers through digital technology while envisioning an inevitable cashless economy.

To become an AUB PayMate merchant, please call AUB Customer Service at 282-8888 or download the merchant accreditation forms at https://www.aub.com.ph/ aubpaymate/contactUs.

FEDERAL LAND WINS B.C.I. ASIA TOP DEVELOPER AWARD

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RIME real-estate company Federal Land Inc. was named one of the country’s top developers in the 2019 BCI Asia Top Ten Awards held at the Grand Hyatt Manila in Bonifacio Global City.

The annual BCI Asia Top Ten Awards is given to property developers and architectural firms that have made the greatest contribution toward environmentally responsible projects in the prior year. The selection criteria considered the extent of their sustainability efforts and confirmed green building ratings.

Federal Land submitted The Seasons Residences Haru tower in Sunshine Fort as its entry for the awards program.

The Philippines’s BCI Asia Top Ten Awards is

organized by the BCI Media Group, a leading provider of building and construction information across the Asia Pacific region, with 20 offices across nine countries, reporting on construction projects across 13 countries.

Aside from the Philippines, the award is also held in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Photo shows Federal Land general manager Thomas F. Mirasol, and Senior Vice President and head of sales and marketing John Frederick C. Cabato receiving the BCI Asia Top Developer award from Michael Dauden, director for commercial air-conditioning group (Concepcion Midea Inc.), together with Matthias Krups (right), founder and chairman of the BCI Media Group.

MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL, SAVE THE CHILDREN PHILIPPINES SIGN HUMANITARIAN PACT

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ARRIOTT International in the Philippines proudly partners with Save the Children, Philippines the world’s leading independent children’s organization. Save the Children has been working in the Philippines for over three decades and is dedicated to helping children.

The joint venture marks a new milestone for the Marriott International as it continues to expand its advocacy in the Philippines. Recently it launched the Marriott Worldwide Business Council, its communityadvocacy group in the country that will lead the charge of achieving Marriott’s sustainability objectives.

Following the partnership, Marriott also unveils their nationwide program “A Dollar for Change”, in which each guest of its four hotels contributes P50—the equivalent of a dollar—through their stay to fund initiatives for children in need. Contributions are optional.

“People often underestimate the power of a dollar. We noticed that our guests often forego their change, and so we developed a program whereby each dollar can actually drive real change within our communities,” says Bruce Winton, Marriott Worldwide Business Council chairman and Marriott International in the Philippines cluster general manager.

“Marriott International is always passionate to give back, and we are extremely pleased [to partner with] Save the Children Philippines. [In] January we’ve launched the Marriott Worldwide Business

Council locally to consolidate our fast-growing Philippine portfolio of hotels and provide a positive impact in our communities as a group. With four hotels upcoming in Cebu, Ortigas, Palawan and Boracay, we look forward to a greater role of the Marriott Worldwide Business Council Philippines in driving our advocacy.”

Marriott International is the fastest-growing hotel group in its category in the country. In the next two years it will launch Sheraton Mactan, Cebu, Westin Sonata Ortigas Four Points by Sheraton, Puerto Princessa and Marriott Boracay Gateway in Caticlan, bringing its Philippine portfolio to eight.

The Marriott Worldwide Business Council Philippines joins 100 other business councils worldwide, including 13 in the Asia-Pacific Region.

In 2016 Marriott Business Councils contributed $30 million in cash and kind donations, and almost 800,000 associate work hours.

Aside from the dollar program, the Marriott Worldwide Business Council Philippines will also have a Run For A Cause event on August 25. Registration is now open for 5 and 10 kilometers.

For more information or to support the Marriott Worldwide Business Council Philippines, e-mail Michelle Garcia at michelle.garcia@marriott.com.

Photo shows Winton and Chief Operating Officer lawyer Albert Muyot shaking hands after signing the partnership agreement.

GRAB, SPLYT MERGE FOR EASY-ACCESS RIDE ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD

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RAB, Southeast Asia’s leading everyday super app; and Splyt Technologies, the London-based global mobility marketplace, made collaborate to give travelers convenient access to ride-hailing services anywhere in the world.

While the ride-hailing industry has moved toward consolidation in recent years, it remains a highly fragmented service for global travelers. International visitors often have to download local mobility apps or rely on traditional curbside taxi hailing. Grab and Splyt share a common vision to make it easy for anyone to get a ride when they need it wherever they may be, through the app of their choice.

Grab and Splyt already enable international travelers to book a Grab rides across 336 cities in eight Southeast Asian countries, through their preferred apps. Ctrip and AliPay customers visiting Southeast Asia can already take Grab rides through their own apps, via a solution powered and enabled by Splyt.

Splyt is also working with Booking Holdings to integrate ride-booking into their OTA platforms. Booking.com consumers will be able to book Grab rides through the Booking.com app by the third quarter this year.

Southeast Asia receives 130 million international visitors a year—a number that is expected to hit 155 million by 2022. As Splyt continues to bring more partners onboard, working with them to integrate mobility directly into platforms, more travelers will be able to access Grab’s diverse range of safe and affordable transport options without having to download another app.

“As the world’s largest mobility marketplace, we bring renowned providers and platforms together to provide customers with world-class, quality transportation in over 1,000 cities. Our partnership with Grab is driven by a shared vision of offering seamless mobility catering to demands and needs of global travelers. We’re excited to work with Grab, the leading ride-hailing provider in Southeast Asia, adding their diversified range of transport solutions and breadth of

coverage to the global marketplace we are growing,” said Philipp Mintchin, Splyt chief executive officer.

Grab and Splyt will also work together to give Grab users access to ride-hailing options everywhere in the world. Targeted for completion next year, the second phase of the partnership will integrate Splyt and Grab’s global network of mobility partners into the Grab app.

Grab users traveling beyond Southeast Asia can continue to book rides through the Grab app and have them fulfilled

by Splyt’s partners. Travelers can use their app in their native language and even pay in their home currency. Grab also plans to add features, such as inapp travel tips, restaurant reviews and attraction recommendations, to offer an even richer travel experience to its users.

“This partnership will unlock a world of options for the increasingly welltraveled Southeast Asia, letting them roam easily across the world through an app they already know and trust. At the same time, we’re excited to enable more international travelers to explore the beauty and diversity of Southeast Asia through safe and efficient transport options, whether in a taxi, private car or even local favorites, such as tuktuks and motorbikes,” said Mark Porter, Grab chief technology officer for transport.

“Splyt has a unique vision of wanting

to make travel a truly interconnected global experience, and we look forward to work with them to help make it easy to get from A to B, anywhere in the world.”

As part of Splyt’s recent $8-million Series A funding round, Grab has also invested into Splyt. This investment will be used to accelerate Splyt’s expansion into new markets, improve its proprietary technology, and strengthen its wide network of institutional demand and supply partners for ground-based transportation. The round is considered the largest Series A funding within the transportation connectivity-platform segment; and brings the total raised by Splyt Technologies to over $14 million.

Mark Porter also joins Splyt’s board of directors. He lends his leadership in shaping Grab’s technology and strategy to Splyt’s 50 strong team.

“We see this investment from Grab as a natural next step in developing and deepening our strategic partnership. As a global leading mobility marketplace, Splyt will continue to maintain its neutrality and agility while leveraging on Grab’s regional footprint to enhance our capabilities. This will take both companies further in our journeys to solve existing pain points for travelers,” Mintchin added.

For more information, visit https:// splyt.com/.

‘JUAN TAMAD’ NO MORE

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HE Ph i l ippi nes’s best a nd br ightest gat hered for t he launch of Juan Disiplinado, t he debut book of businessm a n R ay mond Domingo featur ing Pinoy success stories. The author celebrated the launch as a thanksgiving to his mentors and advocates—his book ’s subjects— amid sumptuous Filipino dishes in Bench Café on June 25.

R ay mond ’s jour ney took four years of perseverance and willpower to complete and he believes it’s been absolutely worth it. “ This book is a product of my love for our countr y and gratitude to all people who have shown how discipline can take us even further,” he said.

Juan Disiplinado aims to highlight several forms of discipline along w ith key lessons that advocates learned on their way to success. For Raymond himself, this started at the age of 12, when he helped run their family business on summer breaks.

Retired genera l and for mer AFP chief Dionisio Santiago also c r e d it s h i s p a r e nt s . “ I w a s a n ordinary tricycle boy, carpenter, fish vendor...I did a lot of menial jobs.

Without discipline, my life could ’ve gone the other way around,” he said.

“Instead of being the director of prison, I could have been the one inside. Even if the environment isn’t ideal, you can still survive whatever challenge you face.”

For Sunrise Buckets co-owners Abigai l Co-Haw and Br idget Co, their 10 years in the food industr y

cou ld b e s u m m a r i z e d i nto t wo things. Bridget values having the right passion for what you do: “If you are ver y passionate from Day One, you will be ver y consistent in ever ything you do.” For Abigail, it’s the discipline of consistency. “You have to keep your food, recipes, processes and ser vice the same to ever y body. The whole experience has to be the same for each and every person who comes into our house.”

Motivational speaker and author Chinkee Tan emphasizes on the importance of financial discipline as a means of attaining financial stability in the long term. “ The goal is to learn how to discipline your income so that, once it grows larger, you won’t h ave a ny proble m s ,” Chinkee said. “It all starts from t here —lea r ning how to ma nage your finances when your income is small. If you know how to save with a few thousand pesos, you will also know how to save when you start earning hundreds of thousands or even millions.”

First Life Financial ’s President and Chief Executive Officer Peter Coy iuto puts similar importance to delayed g ratif ication: “ T he basic necessities we pay for, we get immediate satisfaction for today.

But f i n a nc i a l d isc ipl i ne doesn’t just answer what’s needed today, but also what’s needed tomorrow.”

In writing his book, R aymond turned to the workshops of minister and financial management expert Bo Sanchez, who shared that

discipline for him is twofold: “One is a dream, then a desperation. That you have a pur pose, but there is pain. There has to be a really big and exciting dream.” Bo added, “I see the hardships Filipinos go through, buried in debt, star ving—it pains me. My dream is for more Filipinos to become m i l l ion a i res not for greed, but to have more chances of giving more to people.”

Cent ur y Proper t ies e xecut ive chairman Jose Eduardo Antonio, Raymond ’s former boss and mentor, wa s t he f i rst to encou rage h i m to share his experiences through this book. His advice is the same for ever yone striving to be Juan Disiplinado: “You see a lot of people w it h a m i l l ion id e a s but d on’t achieve anything, right? Because t he y ’re not fo c u s e d . D i sc ipl i ne means focus.” “ It ’s a c t u a l l y f o r t it u d e i n a focused way of achieving your goal, so you’re not distracted by other things,” he added. “Your discipline will work toward that goal.”

Raymond asks his advocates and colleagues to help him spread the message of Juan Disiplinado —to change the overall mindset and to encourage more Filipinos to take the leap.

A re you ready to ta ke t hat challenge? Be a partner.

Juan Disiplinado will be available in National Bookstore and Fully Booked for P395 by August. You may also order through juandisiplinado. com or their Facebook page.

Sports BusinessMirror

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| Thursday, July 18, 2019

mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

TECHNOLOGY VS. ROMANTICISM LONG-HAUL trips still take place at the Tour de France nowadays, but they are almost never rewarded. AP

By Samuel Petrequin

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The Associated Press

LBI, France—With all the technology stacked against them, the six breakaway riders at the Tour de France had no hope of making it to the finish without being caught.

Race directors were watching their every move on TV screens set up in their cars, and rival competitors riding behind were informed in instant time of the gap through earpieces.

It was a day for a bunch sprint, and it could not be any different.

At the Tour, long gone are the days when bold riders would launch long-range attacks and foil the sprinters at the finish line. The sport has changed so much in the space of 20 years that, on the many long and flat stages peppering the thee-week racing program, breakaways have nearly no chance of succeeding.

“A stage victory in the style of Jacky Durand or Thierry Marie? It’s nearly impossible on Grands Tours, and even more at the Tour de France,” Arkea Samsic Team Manager Emmanuel Hubert told The Associated Press.

Hubert, a former pro rider, mentioned Durand and Marie, two riders who epitomized the idea of panache.

In the 1980s and ‘90s, both were capable of launching long-range victorious rides that made them fan favorites.

Such long-haul trips still take place nowadays, but they are almost never rewarded.

Take the six who spent Monday at the front of the pack in the southwestern Aveyron region. If they had any hopes of reaching Albi ahead of the pack, they quickly found out their grand day out would not feature a happy ending.

There were four climbs on the day’s program, but the flat finale gave sprinters a golden opportunity to get a stage win. Tony Gallopin, Michael Schär, Natnael Berhane, Anthony Turgis, Mads Würtz Schmidt and Odd Christian Eiking moved away from the pack soon after the start.

With none of them a threat in the general classification, the peloton was happy to let them go.

But once their lead reached three minutes, the fugitives were kept on a tight leash, with sprinters’ teams speeding up

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HERE was an unmistakable sense of déjà vu at Team Ineos’s first rest day press conference, in the Tour de France as the British team settled back in their chairs to face the assembled media in a crowded and slightly sweaty conference room in their team hotel.

For the seventh time in eight years, the overall classification tide is swimming strongly in favor of Ineos, albeit in the team’s previous incarnation as Sky—Geraint Thomas and Egan Bernal second and third overall—with all of their prerace general classification (GC) competitors now trailing them time-wise.

When asked whether Team Ineos, and formerly Sky, were better prepared than other teams to take on the Tour, and if that explained stages like Monday’s where a number of rivals were dropped on theoretically inoffensive terrain, Thomas answered that Ineos’ single focus, on winning the race rather than dividing their energies, was crucial to their success.

Using Jumbo—now the winners of four stages—as a point of comparison, Thomas argued that, “we just have one goal.”

“You look at [George] Bennett, for instance,” who was sent back for bidons at a crucial point in the race, while lying fourth overall, “They’ve got stages [where they are working] for sprinters, and a lot of the other teams have riders in

COLOMBIA’S Egan Bernal puts on the best young rider’s white jersey on the podium after the 10th stage on Monday. AP

the pace at the front of the pack to make sure they would not open a gap too difficult to bridge later in the stage.

A classic scenario then developed.

Using all the data available to determine the right time to move, sprinters’ teams organized the chase about 50 kilometers from the finish to rein in the audacious group.

“There is so much at stake for the sprinters’ team,” Cofidis Manager Alain Deloeil told the AP. “For them it’s nearly a professional mistake if, on a flat stage, they don’t bring back the breakaway. They need to set up a sprint for their fast man.”

These scenarios, which also affect racing in the mountains, are a real problem for organizers who need to maintain the excitement over a three-week period. At a closed-door meeting before the race started, Tour director Christian Prudhomme urged riders to be more audacious in their strategies after a somewhat boring start to the race last year.

Deloeil and Prudhomme are nostalgic for an era when ear pieces and power meters were words still to

be invented. They believe riders don’t use their instinct anymore, with their eyes glued to screens determining whether they should attack or chase down fugitives.

Team Ineos, the former Team Sky, often relies on data from power meters—the small devices fitted to riders’ bikes measuring their power output—when tackling climbs. It’s a strategy that produced five Tour victories with three different riders since 2012.

Prudhomme would like to see restrictions on power meters.

“Riders should not have permanent access to their data,” Prudhomme told the AP. “In days gone by, Fausto Coppi used to attack Gino Bartali when he noticed the little blue vein coming out on his rival’s leg. It was a sign that Bartali was getting tired. And Bernard Hinault waited until Joop Zoetemelk’s leg moved aside, because it meant he was tired. And that was the moment Bernard chose to attack.”

According to Prudhomme, banning power meters would add a refreshing dose of romanticism to a sport heavily relying on data.

“If riders could not read their power meters, there would be more emotions,” he said. “But obviously the biggest teams don’t want that.”

Stephane Rossetto, a Tour rookie who twice tried his luck over the past 10 days in long unsuccessful breakaways, said many competitors are too conservative in their approach.

“That’s modern cycling, and we need to adapt,” the 32-year-old said. “Many riders are just looking at their power meter and don’t go beyond a certain limit. And with ear pieces, we get the gaps in real time. There is not much room for surprise. Me, I never look at my power meter.”

Luke Rowe, a teammate of defending champion Geraint Thomas at Ineos, hit back at Prudhomme’s remarks.

“He is living in the Stone Age with comments like that,” Rowe said. “I can tell you, from a guy who spends a lot of time riding on the front, you don’t ride on power.

You ride on feel, you ride on who is in the break, how far ahead they are, on wind direction, terrain. You take all these factors into consideration to see how you are going to ride. You don’t stare at power meters.”

Boosting Rowe’s case, it was the good positioning of Ineos riders at the front of the pack—and not technology—that allowed them to gain around 100 seconds on three dangerous rivals when crosswinds played havoc in the finale of Monday stage.

Thomas: We have just one goal—winning Tour de France

FOR the seventh time in eight years, the overall classification tide is swimming strongly in favor of Geraint Thomas and Team Ineos. AP

breakaways, whereas we have just have one goal. Trying to win the Tour. That makes a big difference.”

Broadening his point to look at how Team Ineos were able to exploit their rich mine of past victories in order to handle situations like the echelons of Stage 10, Thomas argued that, “yesterday was a great day, it shows anything can happen in this race, it shows you’ve always got to be attentive and on the ball.

“Nine times out of 10 nothing happens, and it’s kind of like you think that was a stressful day for nothing, but then something like yesterday can happen, too. We’ve got a lot of experience in the race, as well, a lot of our riders have ridden this race numerous times and been in the winning teams. So, it all adds up.”

Sitting by his side, Bernal indirectly confirmed that “all for one” goal strategy by saying that the best young rider’s classification, which he currently commands, was not something he is thinking about in the long term right now.

“Yellow is better than white,” he argued, “and that’s the team’s overriding objective.”

Unsurprisingly, Thomas argued that he had had a great start to the first week, although team boss Dave Brailsford remained careful to point out that they still have two cards in the shape of Thomas

and Bernal to play as they move into week two.

But in any case for the Welshman, two minor injury-free crashes, the five-second time loss in Épernay, and the 20-second time loss in Saint-Étienne surely count for next to nothing when weighed up to a single time gain of 100 seconds on their most dangerous GC rival on a theoretically easy stage, a strong team time trial, and an impressive climbing performance on La Planche des Belle Filles. A quick glance at the state of play on the general classification only confirms that.

As for outside the race itself, Thomas was equally adamant that there was no difference between this year and last year for him in terms of how he was experiencing the Tour, despite being the focus of attention and having the No. 1 dossard on his back.

“It’s only on days like today when everyone asks me instead of Froome. Other than that it’s the same, I don’t go on social media or read all the white noise around the race, I stay in my own little bubble, things [haven’t] changed too much. Like I say, I just have to answer more questions and I’m enjoying it so far.”

Assuming there are no further surprise setbacks like

in Saint-Étienne, the big question that is perhaps yet to be resolved for Ineos is over race leader Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-QuickStep) and how long he can hold onto yellow.

“Obviously it would be better if it was only a couple of seconds between me and Alaphilippe, not a minute, but other than that it’s great.” Thomas reflected.

“Coming into the race, we wouldn’t have talked of Alaphilippe being a GC contender, but to get time on everybody else is massive, a big bonus. Now the real harder Alpine and Pyrenean stages will start, so I can’t complain.”

Is he confident of beating Alaphilippe? “We didn’t mind him gaining a few seconds here or there because he’s never really ridden for GC before,” Thomas argued. “But you’ve got to be more and more aware of him as the race goes on.

“The big days are yet to come, the time trial and the mountains. On the second day, we’ll know a lot more. If he’s increased his advantage, then we’ll be more concerned. It’s an unknown for him, too, so it should be an interesting second week,” Thomas concluded, but for the bulk of the Tour peloton, perhaps, it was beginning to look ominously familiar.

Cyclingnews

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Thursday, July 18, 2019

Brazilian grabs women’s 5K open-water tile G

WANGJU, South Korea—Ana Marcela Cunha improved on her already impressive career in open-water swimming at the world championships with a win in the 5-kilometer race on Wednesday.

It was the 27-year-old Brazilian’s fourth gold and 10th medal overall at the world championships since 2011.

Cunha, who was consistently in the top 10 throughout the race, pulled away in the final 300 meters to finish in 57 minutes, 56.00 seconds, a second ahead of Aurelie Muller of France. There was a tie for the bronze medal: American Hannah Moore and Leonie Beck of Germany both finished in 57:58, two seconds behind Cunha in the nonOlympic event.

Defending 5-kilometer world champion Ashley Twichell of the US placed seventh.

Cunha has won the 25-kilometer race three times at the worlds, but this was her first gold at the 5-kilometer distance. Her previous best finishes over 5 kilometers were bronze medals at Barcelona in 2013 and at Budapest in 2017.

On Sunday, Cunha finished fifth in the 10-kilometer race to earn a Tokyo Olympics berth for 2020. At the Olympics, only the 10-kilometer distances for men and women will be staged.

“In the 10k, I really wasn’t happy with that result,” Cunha said. “Today my strategy was to swim a bit more relaxed in the first half. I was behind the girls until the third lap when I started to move up. In the final lap, I just got myself to where I needed to be.”

Moore was thrilled with her tie for the bronze medal at her first world titles.

“This has by far exceeded my expectations,” the American said. “I knew it would be really rough, just based on watching the other races.

The girls went out really fast, so I tried to stay calm and be a little braver than I wanted to be, and it worked out in the end.”

She said she was inspired by the performances of her American teammates in Gwangju.

“Watching Haley [Anderson] win a silver medal in the 10k, and to see that she and

Ashley [Twichell] both achieved the Olympic qualification in the 10k really fired me up,” Moore said. “I just got into this sport last year and I’m kind of learning from them.”

All 54 starters completed Wednesday’s race.

The open-water races continue Thursday with the 5-kilometer team relay. The 25-kilometer races for men and women, also non-Olympic events, conclude the open-water program on Friday.

China’s golden run at the world swimming championships continued when it won the mixed team event diving final.

It was China’s eighth consecutive diving gold at the world championships in Gwangju, with five more events to come.

Lin Shan and Yang Jian won with a total of 416.65 points and didn’t face a strong challenge on their way to victory.

It was China’s first gold in the mixed team event—involving 3- and 10-meter dives—since it was introduced at the world championships in 2015.

“I only knew I would compete in this event one week ago,” said Yang, men’s 10-meter platform

bronze medalist in Budapest two years ago. “We did not have time to train together. The most important thing was to show our best in the competition.”

Three-time youth Olympic champion Lin was afraid of the competition when young, “but I am not anymore.”

“I tried to adjust my breath and told myself to relax. It was my first world title and also first for China in this event, I was proud of that,” Lin said.

Russian pair Iuliia Timoshinina and Sergey Nazin took silver with 390.05, followed by Andrew Capobianco and Katrina Young of the United States with 357.60.

The best result for China until Tuesday in the mixed team event was a bronze medal in 2015

by Chen Ruolin and Xie Siyi. AP SPAIN performs its routine in the artistic swimming team free preliminary event, as well as Ukraine at the World Swimming Championships in Gwangju, South Korea, on Wednesday. AP

WNBA suspends Sparks ace for domestic violence

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EW YORK—Los Angeles Sparks guard Riquna Williams was suspended without pay by the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) on Tuesday for 10 games— nearly a third of the season—for a domesticviolence incident.

Williams was arrested on April 29 and charged with two felony counts, one involving the assault of an individual with whom she was in a relationship and the other involving a threat to another person with a firearm. Her criminal case is ongoing.

The WNBA conducted its own investigation and consulted with a panel of experts in the field of domestic violence. Among other factors, the league said it took into account the nature and seriousness of the allegations, including the involvement of a gun. The WNBA also will require Williams to participate in counseling.

“As an organization, we abhor violence of any kind and specifically take domestic-violence allegations very seriously,” the Sparks said in a statement. “We will provide whatever resources we are allowed to help Riquna learn and grow from this unfortunate situation.”

The union said they would file a grievance on Williams’s behalf.

“We are disappointed with the league’s actions. There is an ongoing criminal proceeding and in fairness to the player, the league could have and should have awaited its completion before taking any action,” said Terri Jackson,

executive director of the union.

“Riquna has not had a fair opportunity to fully defend herself. We are immediately filing a grievance and will seek the arbitrator’s review.”

The suspension, which surpassed the seven games given to Brittney Griner and Glory Johnson in 2015 for their domestic-violence arrests, will begin with Thursday’s game against the Dallas Wings.

It’s not the longest in league history: The WNBA dismissed Rhonda Mapp, who also played for Los Angeles, in 2003 for violating its drug policy. Mapp never returned after being suspended by the league for two years.

According to an arrest report, Williams forced her way inside a Florida home and repeatedly struck Alkeria Davis in the head and pulled her hair on December 6. Two men told Palm Beach County sheriff’s deputies they spent 10 minutes trying to break up the fight. When they finally separated the women, the 28-year-old Williams grabbed a gun from her car, placed it on the trunk and pointed it at one man, saying “you’ll get all 18” before speeding off, authorities said.

Davis said she and Williams had been together on and off for five years and had broken up a month earlier. She told authorities she thought Williams was jealous but had never been violent in the past. AP

NO SIMMONS FOR BOOMERS M

ELBOURNE, Australia— Ben Simmons’s new contract extension with the Philadelphia 76ers came with bad news for Australian basketball fans: The Melbourne-born National Basketball Association (NBA) All-star won’t play for the Boomers at the World Cup. Hours after Simmons and the 76ers agreed to a $170 million, five-year contract extension on Tuesday, Simmons said he preferred to spend time with his new teammates in September instead of traveling to China for the August 31 to September 15 World Cup. “I wanted to let everyone know that after consulting with my representative, I’ve made the difficult decision to forego playing in the World Cup in China,” Simmons said in a statement.

“Ultimately, we decided it was best that I use the time in September to return to Philadelphia to acquaint myself with my new teammates and prepare for the upcoming NBA season.”

Simmons had been selected for Australia’s World Cup squad and had earlier indicated he planned to play the tournament in China.

He now plans to play only for the Boomers in two exhibition games against the United States in Melbourne on August 22 and 24 at a stadium that is expected to be sold out—50,000 fans— for each game. He also said the Olympics next year in Tokyo remain on his schedule.

“I will still be heading back home to Australia to host my camps, as well as train and play with the Boomers in the upcoming exhibition games,” Simmons said. “I’m really excited about the talent we have on the Boomers squad, especially moving closer to

2020 where I will be honored and humbled to represent my country on the world’s biggest sporting stage at the Olympics in Tokyo.”

Simmons was the No. 1 overall draft pick in 2016. He made his NBA debut in the 2017-18 season and was the Rookie of the Year. He was an All-Star for the first time last season. He has averaged 16.4 points, 8.5 rebounds and 7.9 assists in his two seasons.

Australia’s World Cup lineup is set to feature San Antonio’s Patty Mills, Joe Ingles of Utah Jazz, Phoenix center Aron Baynes, Cleveland’s Matthew Dellavedova, former No. 1 draft pick Andrew Bogut, Detroit center-forward Thon Maker and Simmons’s 76ers teammate Jonah Bolden. AP

BEN SIMMONS withdraws from Australia’s Word Cup squad. AP

Skateboard hopeful rolls out of Dasmariñas

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HE country won’t have to look far for the next Margielyn Arda Didal, the 2018 Asian Games skateboard gold medalist, Skateboarding and Roller Sports Association of the Philippines Inc. President Monty Mendigoria stressed.

“Princess Jaramillo could be our next Margie.

She definitely has that potential,” said Mendigoria, who came with the athlete in tow in Tuesday’s Philippine Sports Association (PSA) Forum at the Amelie Hotel-Manila.

A native of Dasmariñas, Cavite, Jaramillo, 23, took runner-up honors behind the illustrious Didal, scoring 24.57 points behind the latter’s 28.73 points in the women’s street finals of the National Skateboarding Championships held over the weekend in Barangay Tapo, Santa Rosa, Laguna.

“I want to become a member of the national team, that’s my dream,” said Jaramillo, who took up

Mighty takes much-needed break

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IGHTY Sports-Go For Gold Philippines hopes to use its two-day break to the hilt ahead of pressing its bid for a second title in four years in the William Jones Cup in Changhua, Taiwan.

The country’s representative to the annual tournament played five straight days since

arriving on Thursday in the Taiwanese capital and Coach Charles Tiu said his players need to soothe their aching bodies and relax a bit especially McKenzie Moore and Zach Graham.

The two played in pain with various injuries in the team’s crucial 89-82 win over World Cup-bound

street skateboarding at 16 after being drawn to the sport by the male streetboarders in her Parañaque neighborhood.

“I have witnessed Cess [Jaramillo’s nickname] for quite some time. What I admire about her just like Margie is her consistency,” noted Mendigoria, adding Jaramillo still has to go through the screening process to make it to the national team to the 30th Southeast Asian Games where skateboard will make its debut as a medal sport.

Only two entries are allowed in each of the eight events—four each in the men’s and women’s divisions—in the SEA Games and Fil-Am Christiana Means are already seeded in the street skateboard competitions, he explained.

“If Ces doesn’t make the cut, she definitely will be a part of our national pool because, as we said, South Korea in the battle of front-runners last Tuesday.

The scary win put Mighty Sports in a strong position to regain the title it won via an eight-game sweep three years ago.

The team also backed by HealthCube could emerge as virtual champion on Saturday if it beats Taiwan A which is toting a 3-1 win-loss card—the same record of Japan.

Having beaten fancied teams like Iran (98-72),

HALEP UP TO NO. 4, SERENA NO. 9

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IMBLEDON, England—Simona Halep’s Wimbledon championship lifted her from No. 7 to No. 4 in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) rankings on Monday, while runner-up Serena Williams moved up one spot to No. 9, her best placing since returning to the tour last season after having a baby.

Coco Gauff’s magical run from a wild-card entry in qualifying all the way to the fourth round at the All England Club allowed her to move into the WTA’s top 150 for the first time.

The 15-year-old American rose 172 places to No. 141, from No. 313 before the tournament. Gauff was the youngest player to ever qualify for the main draw at Wimbledon, then beat five-time champion Venus Williams

on the way to reaching the fourth round. That is when Gauff lost to eventual champion Halep.

Two other big jumps came from Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic and Lauren Davis of the US. The 33-year-old Strycova became the oldest first-time Grand Slam semifinalist in the professional era before losing to Williams, allowing her to move up 22 places to No. 32. Strycova also took over at No. 1 in the doubles rankings on Monday by winning that title at Wimbledon.

After losing in qualifying, Davis made it into the main draw when someone else withdrew.

She then eliminated Angelique Kerber in the second round to become the first “lucky loser”

SIMONA HALEP reaps from her Wimbledon success. AP

we would like to groom a new generation of Margie Didals,” added Mendigoria in the session presented by San Miguel Corp., Braska Restaurant, Amelie Hotel and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.

Currently a dental technician who makes protective mouthguards, Jaramillo said she practices after work at a makeshift street skateboard park with other enthusiasts near the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 in Pasay City.

“My favorite trick is the 50-50 explosive grind,” bared the petite skateboarder of the routine where she skates over a rail or ledge then suddenly leaps in mid-air then lands back on the rail again.

Mendigoria bared that the skatepark being built in Tagaytay, Cavite, which will be the sight of the street and park events of the SEA Games, is facing some slight delays because of the onset of the rainy season.

Jordan (90-74), and Japan (94-59), Mighty Sports needs only to win two of its next three games to give the country its sixth Jones Cup title.

Against Taiwan A, Mighty Sports should start strong to ensure a trouble-free win.

Mighty Gilas returns to action on Friday against Indonesia before capping its campaign with a showdown with Taiwan B. Both the Indonesians and Taiwanese (Team B) are carrying similar 1-3 records.

to beat a defending champion at a major in the professional era and went up 13 spots to 75th.

Kerber dropped from No. 5 to 13th.

French Open champion Ash Barty remains at No. 1 in singles, followed by two-time major champion Naomi Osaka and Karolina Pliskova.

Wimbledon men’s champ Novak Djokovic stayed atop the ATP rankings after his 7-6 (5), 1-6, 7-6 (4), 4-6, 13-12 (3) victory over Roger Federer on Sunday in the longest final in tournament history. Rafael Nadal is No. 2 and Federer is No. 3.

Roberto Bautista Agut, who lost to Djokovic in the semifinals, went from No. 22 to No. 13, equaling his career high.

Daniil Medvedev’s third-round showing let him crack the top 10 for the first time at No. 10; he was ranked 13th before Wimbledon. Sam Querrey, beaten

by Nadal in the quarterfinals, lifted his ranking by 26 spots to No. 39. AP

orts

sMirror

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HAILAND’S Chonlada Chayanun hit two late birdies at the front to turn in a plucky three-under 69 in wet and windy conditions to catch Japanese Mayuna Furukawa at the helm at the start of the International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) Pradera Ladies Classic at the Pradera Verde Golf and Country Club in Lubao, Pampanga, on Wednesday.

The brave 91-player field from at least nine countries, including some of the leading campaigners on the Ladies Professional Golf Association of Taiwan (TLPGA) and the cream of the country’s pro crop, endured two rain delays spawned by Typhoon Falcon with the powerhitting Furukawa leading the assault on the par-72 layout with chip-in eagles on the two par-5s at the front.

She went five-under with back-to-back birdies from No. 12 against a bogey on the 10th but lost her poise in tough conditions with bogeys on two of the last three, including the last, a par-five hole, to settle for that three-under card.

That enabled Chayanun, who teed off at the backside, to gain a piece of the lead as the Thai, still in pursuit of a breakthrough victory on the Ladies Philippine Golf Tour, gunned down three straight birdies from No. 11 and recovered a three-bogey, one-birdie card in the next seven holes with backto-back birdies from No. 6 to match Furukawa’s 69 in the early going of the $80,000 event that was played under summer rules.

Thursday, July 18, 2019 C3

THAI ACE SETS PACE

But six churned out identical 70s, including local bet Daniella Uy, four others carded similar 71s, led by Princess Superal, while seven matched par 72s at the bunker, hazard-laden layout which played longer than its 6,346 in soft conditions, ensuring a wild chase for top honors in the last 36 holes of the event put up by ICTSI and sanctioned by TLPGA. Despite her shaky finish, Furukawa, 22, said she “played pretty good” and looked forward to contending for the crown and improving her joint 29th finish in the ICTSI Manila Golf Ladies Classic last April.

“I like the course, I’m used to playing in this kind of condition,” said Furukawa from Nagoya Prefecture, who chipped in for eagle from 48 yards off a superb 5-wood second shot from 200 yards on No. 3 (529 yards). After a missed green bogey on No. 7, she knocked down another eagle from 36 yards off another solid drive on the 510-yard No. 9 and a 7-iron second shot from 190 yards.

But she wavered at the finish, three-putting

No. 16 from 60 feet and failing to rescue a par from the bunker on the last.

Chonlada, who had contended for a number of LPGT titles but still looking for that strong finishing kick, sizzled early with those three-birdie binge but stumbled with missed green bogeys before recovering her form at the finish.

“The course is perfect and it suits to my liking,” said Chonlada.

Uy, runner-up at Royal Northwoods last April, actually made the turn with an impressive four-under effort, spiked by a three-birdie string from No. 11. But the former Junior World titlist stumbled with two bogeys in the last five holes at the front and dropped to joint third with Thais Wad Phaewchimple and Pimpadsorn Sangkagaro, former LPGT leg winner Ching Huangand fellow Taiwanese Hsuan Ping Chang and amateur Yu-Chiang Hou, winner of the TLPGA Ladies Open last year.

Superal, taking a break from Japan LPGA Step Up Tour, flashed top form with a threebirdie,

one-bogey card after 11 holes. But the former LPGT Order of Merit winner struggled a bit from unreceptive greens, missing a couple of birdie chances and dropping a stroke on No. 17 to slip to joint ninth with Thai Trichat Cheenglab and Taiwanese Ai Chen Kuo and Shih Chen Hsuna.

Manila Golf Classic winner Arpichay Yubol opened with a pitch-in eagle on No. 10, birdied the 18th and went four-under with another birdie on No 3. But she slipped with back-toback bogeys form No. 5 and holed out with a double-bogey in the rain for a 72 in a tie with compatriots Saraporn Chamchoi, Mookharin Ladgratok, Dolnapa Phudthipinij and Wanchana Poruangrong and two-time LPGT leg winner Hwang Ye Nah of Korea.

PART OF THE GAME

This glorious off-season

CHONLADA CHAYANUN hits two late birdies and cards a plucky three-under 69 in the first round. NONOY LACZA

PHISGOC CLEARS UP MISLEADING CLAIMS T

HE Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizational Committee (Phisgoc) Foundation Inc. has complied with all directives issued by President Duterte on the conduct of the biennial sports competition this year in the country.

The Phisgoc also put in place safeguards to ensure that funds for the event are all accounted for and properly spent.

Ramon Suzara, Phisgoc Foundation Inc.’s chief executive officer, said both the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) and Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) are properly represented in the organizational committee and take part in all decisions of the body.

Suzara also clarified that the P5-billion budget approved by Congress for the SEA Games this year, as well as the P1-billion augmentation fund approved by the President, are all lodged with the PSC. “Not a single centavo of government funds is handled by the Phisgoc,” Suzara noted. “All government funds are duly accounted for, and are being disbursed in accordance with government procurement procedures.”

Suzara said procurement procedures are performed either by the PSC or the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), as proposed by Phisgoc Chairman Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano.

“That’s to ensure that every peso allotted for the SEA Games are wisely and properly spent,” Suzara said in a statement.

He said that because the ideal budget for the SEA Games this year is around P7.5 billion, the Phisgoc helped make up for the remaining P1.5billion shortfall by raising sponsorship funds which continue to grow as the November 30 to December 11 Games draw near.

Suzara stressed that suggestions to either have the POC or PSC take over the organizational tasks just four months away from the conduct of the Games this November will unduly prejudice Filipino athletes and jeopardize the carefully set preparations for the event.

“All this talk about another body taking over the organization of the Games at this late period has not only caused apprehension among our athletes, but among our sponsors and private sector partners as well,” Suzara said. “We appeal to both the POC and PSC to work together from within the Phisgoc, where they are both prominently represented as originally intended by the President, with his vision of a multistakeholder approach to the organization of the Games.”

Suzara said that from the start, the President had not wanted either the POC or PSC alone to organize the Games, because he wanted the athletes, national sports associations (NSAs) and the government properly represented, which was the same approach done when Malaysia hosted the Games in 2017 and Singapore in 2015.

“Congressman Cayetano was chosen by the President as the consensus leader to lead this tripartite entity that is now Phisgoc. Even the POC officially recognized Congressman Cayetano when it appointed him as chairman and delegated the

Games organization to Phisgoc,” Suzara said.

Suzara reassured the public that even with these issues being raised now, “it’s all systems go” for the Philippines’s hosting of the 30th SEA Games, which Cayetano envisions to be “the biggest, best-hosted and most viewed ever, for the glory of the country and to bring pride to the Filipino people.”

As for questions on why Phisgoc was incorporated and made into a foundation, Suzara said that this was to comply with the rules of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which requires the organizing body of the SEA Games to be a legal entity authorized to transact under the law. This was the same thing done during the country’s hosting of the 1991 and 2005 Games.

“In fact, it was even then POC President Jose ‘Peping’ Cojuangco and Vice President Joey Romasanta who advised Phisgoc to have this entity incorporated,” Suzara said.

Suzara added that when Phisgoc was formed, Cayetano saw to it that both the POC and PSC were well represented, with both the heads of these organizations serving as co-vice chairpersons of the body.

“Thus, all acts of the Phisgoc are duly authorized by its board and executive committee where both the POC and PSC are represented.

With their inclusion in the board and even the management committees, the POC and PSC are able to exercise control and supervision over all transactions of the Phisgoc,” Suzara said.

Suzara recalled that last January 25, the President formally recognized the Phisgoc by issuing Memorandum Circular 56, which directs all government agencies and governmentowned and-controlled corporations to extend their full support to the body.

Moreover, the IOC, Olympic Council of Asia, and the SEA Games Federation and domestic and international sponsors also recognize the Phisgoc as the entity tasked to organize this year’s SEA Games, Suzara said.

Suzara also assured the public that there “is absolutely no comingling of public and private funds for the SEA Games. Any disbursement or sponsorship are approved by the Executive committee of Phisgoc, whose financial statements will be audited by the Commission on Audit.

“In fact, Congressman Cayetano categorically turned down the offer of PSC Chairman [William] Ramirez to give the entire P5-billion budget for the Games to the Phisgoc precisely to avoid the intermingling of funds and to ensure full transparency. It was also Congressman Cayetano who proposed that DBM oversee the procurement process for the Games to ensure that we comply with the law and the funds are spent prudently,” Suzara said.

Bolick assumes lead role for Batang Pier

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OBERT BOLICK is ready to assume the mantle of leadership at NorthPort following the exit of his mentor Stanley Pringle.

The rookie guard immediately showed he’s up to the challenge by consistently taking charge for the Batang Pier following the trade of Pringle to Barangay Ginebra, steering the franchise to a first ever top two finish going to the playoffs of

the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Commissioner’s Cup. Bolick, 23, was quick to lead the way for the Batang Pier shortly after Pringle’s departure last June 18, steering the team to back-to-back wins over Rain or Shine and Blackwater before losing a close one against Phoenix.

In NorthPort’s first three games in the post-

CHAMP’S IN VEGAS Manny Pacquiao arrives to a festive welcome at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas ahead of his World Boxing Association super welterweight fight against American Keith Thurman on Sunday. PHOTO COURTESY BY WENDELL ALINEA

POC tackles polls

in general assembly

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HE Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) will hold an extraordinary general assembly on Thursday to tackle the impending special election next week.

Penciled at 11 a.m. at the Manila Golf and Country Club in Makati City, the 45 voting members of the general assembly and remaining officers of the Executive Board will approve the composition of the election committee and confirm the vacancies in the executive board.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has ordered for Thursday’s general assembly and election of president, chairman and one board member following the resignation of key officials of the organization.

Narinder Dhruv Batra of the Indian Olympic Committee was tasked by the IOC and the Olympic Council of Asia to observe the exercise.

Board member Robert Manangquil said they have nominated former Commission on Elections Commissioner Rene Sarmiento to lead the POC election committee with Fr. Victor Calvo of Letran and a representative from the Philippine Dispute Resolution Center Inc. as members.

The creation of the election committee is a delicate issue because the three-member team will set the qualifications of the aspirants for the vacant positions. Because Acting President Joey Romasanta is functioning upon the orders of the executive board, the body will determine who will preside over the exercise.

Ramon Rafael Bonilla

ROBERT BOLICK is named Player of the Week.

ECOSTRONG PREVAILS IN ORCHARD

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COSTRONG scored a 5.5-4.5 victory over Perry’s Group to clinch its first Orchard Intra Club Golf League title after a string of runners-up finishes in the last five years.

Ecostrong opened with a 3-2 lead with triumphs in Pinehurst Foursomes, Four Ball B and Aggregate formats at the Player course of the Orchard Golf and Country Club over the weekend.

At the Palmer course, it won in the High Low and Aggregate formats then halved point in Four Ball B for a 5.5 total, to capture the trophy.

The triumph also completed a big comeback for Ecostrong, from being outside the top 10 to serious title contender at the end of the elimination round.

“This come-from-behind championship was built on hard work and trust. We were counted out already but we proved doubters wrong,” manager Gino Olivares said.

Perry’s Group was humble in defeat, saying: “We tried our best but we ran out of holes. The Ecostrong guys played well, they deserved to win,” said skipper Louie Garcia.

M.A.E.L.S. triumphed in the battle for third place with a 4-1 decision over SAGO Rover in the 10th edition of the Intra Club, where 13 barkadahan teams competed.

“This year, we had 344 Orchard members.

Next year, it will increase as more have signified their intention to participate,” said Orchard golf Director Francis Montallana.

GENERALS BATTLE RED LIONS

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TESSA JAZMINES tessa4347@gmail.com

MILIO Aguinaldo College (EAC) hosts defending champion San Beda University in the first tour game of the National Collegiate Athletic Association Season 95 Season 95 men’s basketball tournament on Thursday at the Generals’ home court in Manila.

Coming off a huge 84-82 upset over the two-time runner-up Lyceum of the Philippines University Pirates to split their first two games, the Generals hope to continue their giant slaying ways when they gather the home crowd against the unbeaten Red Lions (2-0) at 4 p.m.

Jethro Mendoza wore the hero’s cape for EAC, sinking a crucial basket at endgame that pulled the team from total disaster after it blew away an 18-point lead in the second half.

The graduating Mendoza ended up with 21 points and four rebounds. Guard Marwin Taywan also scored 21 points, while JP Maguliano chipped in big numbers of 10

points and 15 rebounds.

EAC Head Coach Oliver Bunyi rallied his squad to perform at the same level against reigning titlists.

“We will try to visualize again that we can defeat the defending champions and do our job scouting them. They are really a strong team, no doubt,”Bunyi said.“We’re hoping were going to do the right thing to at least have a chance against San Beda.”

The Red Lions came from a 74-52 thrashing of the Jose Rizal University Bombers for their second straight win.

Calvin Oftana and James Canlas each had 17 points for the Mendiola-based team against the Bombers.

“EAC is doing great and the coaching staff is doing its assignment. I have so much respect for them. We need to match their intensity and stop their shooters,” Coach Boyet Fernandez said of the Generals. Ramon Rafael Bonilla

Pringle era, it was Bolick who was at the forefront, averaging 16.3 points, 5.6 rebounds and 7.3 assists.

Overall, Bolick submitted numbers of 15.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 6.0 assists in six games last June to earn his first PBA Press Corps Rookie of the Month honor.

During that stretch, the Batang Pier went 4-2 in the six games they played.

The prolific guard out of San Beda was the unanimous choice for the citation, with

Columbian Dyip’s CJ Perez receiving honorable mention after getting four out of the 19 votes tallied.

Perez, last year’s top rookie pick, averaged 25.0 points, on 55 percent shooting, 7.8 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 2.8 steals in five games which saw the Dyip posting a 2-3 record.

Also nominated for the monthly honor was Blackwater’s Bobby Ray Parks, who tallied 23.3 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists as the Elite went 2-2 in four games during the month.

IT’S the off-season. Many regard this period as down time, a period of inactivity, the blahs. But no.

Just like in the cyclical turn of our universe, the offseason corresponds to winter, when everything sleeps, is dormant, inactive or cold. Or so it seems.

Actually, things are happening underfoot. There is movement, but most of it is unseen. There are events, but not everyone can see or is invited to the party.

What happens is developmental—germination, gestation, and eventually, maturation.

The fans may not see it, but this period is probably the most frenetic of all. It is like the time of darkest night before the dawn breaks through. Or the death of winter that suddenly stirs into spring.

I’ll quote a graf in one of my favorite books Celestially Auspicious Occasions: Seasons, Cycles & Celebrations by Donna Henes which might as well describe exactly what’s happening in the sports world when the off-season eases into the pre-season.

“The life that has stayed hidden, in exile or underground, during the long deep sleep of the season now shifts and starts to stir. Poking and peeking, it seeks the surface. Space. Air. Light. Stretching skyward, bulbs, shoots and buds burst forth from the earth, exploding open, exposing their tender green growth.

The sweet sap rises.”

And soon there will be overt frenzy anew, just like what’s happening in the earth. “The birth waters break. The skies open. It rains, it pours, it mists. The defrosting sodden soil teems, churns with every creepy-crawly thing that ever slithered out of a swamp.

Hordes of birds descend....Animals awaken from their pregnant hibernations....Birds and beasts set out on a concerted feeding frenzy, gorging themselves and their ravenous, insatiable mouths-ever-open offspring.”

And so we have pre-season basketball tournaments such as the Father Edgar Martin Basketball Invitational Tournament or the Father Martin Cup, Milcu Sports Basketball, City Hoops and the most celebrated—the Filoil Flying V Preseason Cup where the San Beda Red Lions and the National University Bullpups emerged as the 2019 senior and junior champions, respectively.

Apart from team building sojourns whose main goal is to create and seal chemistry among team members, collegiate teams have also taken to joining camps abroad to hone their skills and pick up new tricks, if not to strengthen and condition their bods to prepare for the expected banging and bruising when the season starts. Some of the favorite camps to visit are Impact Basketball Camp in Las Vegas headed by Founder-Director Joe Abunassar who is famous for having trained players like Kevin Garnett and Chauncey Billups, among others. Training is said to combine weights, skills training, five-on-five games and specialty work. And the results, say devotees and the founder-director himself, speak for themselves.

Greece, which teems with basketball camps, is another training destination in the off-season. The UAAP champion Ateneo Blue Eagles went there last year and is doing a repeat this year. Head Coach Tab Baldwin described last year’s training in Greece as a series of “very, very tough games” where the Eagles played the Greek under-21 national team twice and five other A2 teams which apparently placed them notches above the competition in mind, body and spirit.

Serbia is another off-season mecca for basketball teams, with the University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons going to Novo Sad last year to undergo boot camp training with intensive drills and sessions with players from different Serbian ball clubs.

Or else teams join tournaments abroad to test their wings, gain added confidence and toughen themselves to a different level for the season proper. Last year, the De La Salle Green Archers joined the Buddha’s Light International Association (BLIA) Cup University Basketball Tournament in Taiwan. This year the UP Fighting Maroons are in the same boat, competing against teams from Taiwan, China, New Zealand and Canada.

Between now and the opening of Season 82 of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP), the eight teams will be doing a combination of boot camp training, tournaments and some serious R&R to put everything together.

Until finally, it is spring. The quiet, understated winter will be a thing of the past. The time will be ripe to peep out of the earth to unfurl the wings that stayed carefully folded for quite some time. Time to take off the wraps and put the goods and talents in full display.

“In order to go somewhere, you got to go through something,” a good pastor once eulogized at the funeral of United States Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall.

The off-season is that crucible through which the dreams of glory of the coming season are born and refined. It’s not a boring, dead season after all. It is potent, mysterious and dangerous.

Sports BusinessMirror

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| Thursday, July 18, 2019 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

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By Doug Ferguson The Associated Press

ORTRUSH, Northern Ireland—Tiger Woods was on the practice range when the gates at the British Open opened Tuesday, and before long he was on the tee and ready to go. He just didn’t go for very long.

Woods played a full round at Royal Portrush when he arrived Sunday morning, and then again on Monday. For his third day of getting to know a links course that hasn’t hosted the British Open in 68 years, Woods made it down No. 1 and then skipped over to the 13th and played the homestretch.

It would be simple to assume it was fatigue. After all, Woods hasn’t competed since June 16 at the US Open, and he has only 10 rounds under his belt since his victory in the Masters for his 15th career major.

In this case, no one wants to overdo it at a major, so this was nothing out of the ordinary.

Then again, very little is ordinary with golf’s biggest star these days.

When asked if there was anything physically bothering him outside the norm, Woods smiled and said, “Anything outside the norm.” The laughter made it hard to hear him say, “No.” His chances at the British Open are nearly as mysterious as Royal Portrush.

Even at age 43, with four knee surgeries and, more recently, more back surgeries behind him, he showed how capable he was against a young generation of talent by winning at Augusta National with smart, strategic golf to overcome a two-shot deficit and win a fifth green jacket.

It’s everything since then that speaks to his outlook on golf.

He took a month off to recover emotionally and physically from his taxing win at the Masters, only to miss the cut at the Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) Championship. He played the Memorial and then the US

TIGER WOODS catches a golf ball as he prepares for his practice round and Rory McIlroy plays his shot off the seventh hole watched by spectators on Tuesday. AP

Open, and then he was off to Thailand for a family holiday before returning home to Florida. At this rate, he’ll play no more than 14 times in the PGA Tour season, though he still has a few events overseas at the end of the year.

This is the new norm.

Woods played plenty last year trying to get back inside the top 50 in the world—he now is up to No. 5—to become eligible for World Golf Championships he once took for granted.

It led to more golf than he wanted to play.

“So this year I made a conscious effort to cut back on my schedule to make sure that I don’t play too much,” he said. “I want to play here as long as I possibly can. And you have to understand, if I play a lot, I won’t be out here that long.”

The trick now is to figure out how much he needs to compete in tournaments to be ready, and listening to his body.

And still to be determined is what kind of weather—the wind, in particular—Woods and the rest of the players will see. The wind has not been the prevailing direction for two days of practice, and it hasn’t been much wind at all.

The forecast? Take a pick.

One bulletin provided by the R&A said the tournament days would feature “changeable conditions continuing with showers or longer spells of rain interspersed with drier and brighter interludes.” It concluded by saying, “Confidence low in any details at this stage.”

That was about as clear as picking who stands the best chance at Royal Portrush.

Woods sees it as other links courses, where power can be equalized by control. Darren Clarke, who forged his game on these links as a junior, felt the same way. He even pointed to a

TIGER’S NEW NORM 6-foot-wide swath of fairway on a slope at the 17th that would send the ball down toward the green. Now that’s control.

US Open champion Gary Woodland sees it differently.

“The last couple of days, power has been a huge deal,” Woodland said. “I’ve hit a lot of drivers.”

He played with Matt Kuchar and Zach Johnson on Monday—it would be exaggerating to say Woodland can hit it longer than their drives combined, but not much— and he found a “huge advantage” by being able to send it a long way in the air.

Woods used as references Greg Norman and Tom Watson, two former British Open champions who nearly won in their 50s because length is not as paramount at Augusta National or the other two US majors.

Norman was 53 (and still on his honeymoon with ex-

wife Chris Evert) when he had the 54-hole lead at Royal Birkdale in 2008. A year later, a 59-year-old Watson was an 8-foot putt away from winning at Turnberry. He lost in a playoff.

Woods isn’t that old. There was some speculation that cool air—at Bethpage Black in May, at Pebble Beach any time of the year—at the previous two majors didn’t help his cause as he tries to keep his back loose.

“It’s just part of, unfortunately, dealing with the procedures I’ve had, and being a little bit older,” Woods said.

“It just doesn’t move quite as fast when it’s a little bit cooler.

But the great thing is playing in an Open Championship, you can do it. Look what Tom did at Turnberry, what Greg did at Birkdale. The golf course is fast enough. You just have to navigate the bunkers and navigate around the golf course.”

And their bombs, and their guns...in your head, in your head,...

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ORTRUSH, Northern Ireland—Darren Clarke was a teenager working at a bar in his hometown of Dungannon when the call came in.

The message was simple: Get out or get killed.

It was a few days before Christmas in 1986 and Northern Ireland was at war with itself—and by proxy, the government in London. “The Troubles,” as they are euphemistically known here, were raging and no one knew who the next target would be.

Clarke and his fellow workers took heed and got out.

“The bomb scare at 8:30, everybody out, bomb went off at 9:00,” Clarke said, “and the place was flattened.”

Clarke recalled the close escape this week, amid preparations for a home British Open he thought he would never see. The Open is back in Northern Ireland for the first time in 68 years, and Clarke will step up to the first tee early Thursday morning and hit the first shot.

As with anyone who grew up around here during the time, though, The Troubles are never far from his mind.

“That was life in Northern Ireland. Bombs were going off quite frequently,” Clarke said. “And a lot of people, unfortunately, paid a heavy penalty for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

The Troubles that killed more than 3,700 people have largely ended, thanks to the Good Friday peace agreement in 1998. Still, tensions between unionists, mostly Protestant, and Roman Catholic

supporters of a united Ireland still simmer beneath the surface and there are occasional incidents like the shooting death earlier this year of journalist Lyra McKee during rioting in Londonderry.

But with prodding from Clarke—the 2011 Open champion— and some others, the R&A felt comfortable enough to bring the tournament back to Royal Portrush, where it was last held in 1951—the only time it had ever been played in Northern Ireland.

And with more than 200,000 fans expected to flood the course before play ends Sunday, the focus for both them and Clarke is now on golf.

“It goes without saying, it’s a huge thing to have it back here in Northern Ireland again,” Clarke said. “It’s going to be an amazing tournament. The atmosphere is going to be sensational.”

Indeed, the atmosphere might already be ahead of projections, with fans streaming out of the nearby train station to get a glimpse of their favorite players in Tuesday’s practice round. In between they could look at the spectacular vistas that spread for miles from the links course perched on a cliff overlooking the sea.

It’s a bucolic setting that belies the violence that is mostly past.

And it’s an important way to spread the idea that Northern Ireland is not only the home of major champions like Clarke, Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell, but some of the best golf courses in the world.

It’s also a way to show the world that Northern Ireland is

moving on from its past.

“We want people to think of Northern Ireland and immediately then think of golf,” Peter Robinson, the then-deputy first minister of Northern Ireland, said when the tournament was announced five years ago. “Those are the positives from a Northern Ireland point of view.”

The golf, at least at Royal Portrush, could be as spectacular as the views. This is a British Open with a little of everything for golf fans, from Tiger Woods trying for another major to McIlroy, McDowell or even the 50-year-old Clarke winning on home soil.

Quite a change from 1951 when an Englishman named Max Faulkner, who spent one winter milking cows to strengthen his golfing hands, won an Open that only two Americans bothered to enter. But one thing that hasn’t changed all that much is a golf course as pleasing to see as it is to play.

“The thing about Royal Portrush, it’s a fair golf course,” Clarke said.

“If you play well around Portrush you should have the opportunity to score well. If you’re missing too many shots you’re not going to get around Portrush, and that’s the way it is.”

Still, to a newcomer there seems to be an increased police presence outside the course than there has been at other Opens. There are signs posted that warn plainclothes officers are around, too, should anyone contemplate anything nefarious. AP

THE Open is back in Northern Ireland for the first time in 68 years, and Darren Clarke will step up to the first tee early Thursday morning and hit the first shot. AP

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Gracious God

RACIOUS God, You fortified Saint Maria in virtue and courage. In company with her and all the saints, we pray: Fortify Your Church to assist young people in their search for meaning. Heal wounds and divisions between parents and children. Console parents and guardians who suffer the death of a child. Inspire parents and grandparents to be loving, caring and forgiving to their loved ones. May the God of abundance bless us and strengthen us to be leaven for the coming of the Kingdom, through Christ and by the working of the Holy Spirit. 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

REELING: ROMANCING SILENCES IN TWO JAPANESE ROM-COMS D4

Thursday, July 18, 2019

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RAINY SEASON OFFERS FROM F1 HOTEL MANILA SUMMER, as we know it, is over and the wet season has commenced, with F1 Hotel Manila (www. f1hotelmanila.com) opening up a roof of deals. Relax in a classic City Suite until August 30. For only P7,200 per night, try F1’s Rainy Day Package good for two persons. Experience an overnight stay with free use of the swimming pool and gym facilities together with complimentary in-room massage for two to end a day activities with a relaxed mind and body.

Located in Bonifacio Global City, F1 Hotel Manila also makes the night even more exciting at the Canary Lounge with a glass of Frozen Margarita tropically mixed with guyabano and guava.

Pair this tropical thirst-quencher with the Seafood ala Plancha featuring a variety of crustacean bits sizzled on a pan topped with mushroom and assorted spices for a more harmonious blend. Nothing beats a fun night other than a freshly made breakfast in the morning, and the Rainy Day Package also includes a breakfast buffet for two that would make the morning worth getting out of the bed for.

Full speed ahead for PHL tourism with Philippine Business Mission to Japan AS part of the invigorated thrust to attract bigger tourist arrivals from Japan, the Philippines once again concluded a series of successful Philippine Business Mission (PBM) in Sapporo, Nagoya and Tokyo. Japan ranks 4th in terms of tourist arrivals, with a growth rate of 8.15 percent or a total of 631,801 Japanese visitors in 2018, compared to 581,180 arrivals in 2017.

The PBM continues to be one of the most important annual projects of the Department of Tourism (DOT) through the Tourism Promotions Board (TPB) Philippines. It provides the ideal business platform for suppliers of the country’s tourism products— hotels and resorts, tour operators and airlines—in the process of expanding trade relations with their Japanese counterparts while establishing new contacts in the travel trade industry in Japan.

Major components for this year’s PBM were: a Philippine seminar that provided a comprehensive report on important Philippine travel and tourism developments; business-to-business (B2B) meetings wherein DOT Tokyo and DOT Osaka had a total of 400 industry players for one-on-one business discussions with Japanese travel trade and Philippine sellers; and a Philippine reception that served as a venue for further business networking, in recognition of the strong ties between the Philippines and Japan.

Shanghai nights and days: What to do while you’re in China’s big�est city

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By DinnA chAn VAsQUeZ

IKE beautiful poetry, Shanghai is a mix of several elements. Old and new, modern and ancient, skyscrapers and structures with history, global brands and tried and tested Chinese names, and many other factors make Shanghai the city that it is.

It is a destination that would make travelers swoon, with the breathtaking skyscrapers, lush trees, Instagram-worthy parks and many other attractions.

But what else do you do in Shanghai, aside from go to The Bund, Shanghai Disneyland, or go on the Huangpu River Cruise?

A lot of things, as it turns out. We recently visited Shanghai with a group of media people upon the invitation of Cebu Pacific, which flies to the city out of Manila daily at 8:15 pm and arrives there around 12:05 am. I quite liked flying out so late rather than doing so early in the morning.

That’s because you can still catch a few hours of sleep in your hotel before setting out.

We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express Shanghai New Hongqiao, which was some distance from the airport and other places. Yes, when they said Shanghai was China’s biggest city, they weren’t kidding at all.

Another thing we discovered about Shanghai is that the people are not big fans of air-conditioning like we are. For instance, the lowest temperature in our hotel room was 22 degrees Celsius.

It doesn’t get any lower. It’s the same thing for malls, shops and restaurants. The weather when we were there was kind of late spring-early summer but our tour guide said it gets really hot and humid in the summer.

So here are some things to do in Shanghai. Please note that this is from my point of view as a tourist. I am not the type to cram so many activities in one day.

I like to enjoy every activity, every sight.

WATCH AN ACROBATIC ACT “ERA—Intersection of Time” is not something you should watch if you’re looking for a relaxing evening.

But it is a must-see especially for those who have childhood memories of watching Chinese acrobatic acts like myself. My childhood memories are vague but I do know that acrobatic techniques and the performers’ level of expertise have improved since then. My favorites that night were the love story played in silk ribbons while the couple was suspended in midair and the seven motorcycles in one globe.

Amazingly, it was a relatively small group performing the stunts and moving the groups. The gadgets used in the acts were quite ingenious, too, and reminded us of the fact that the Chinese have, in fact, invented many of the things we use and even eat now.

GO TO STARBUCKS THERE is practically a Starbucks in every street corner, which is an exaggeration but there really is one practically everywhere. They have refreshing drinks like a Citrus Mint Mojito (no alcohol) that we don’t have here.

There are also tea-based drinks with ice cream (also not available here). Their merchandise, including mugs and drinking bottles, are also very different from those that I have seen elsewhere, even cosmopolitan Asian cities like Hong Kong and Singapore. If you are a big Starbucks fan, Shanghai is home to the second largest Starbucks in the world.

In fact, up until early this year, it was the home of the biggest Starbucks branch in the world. The Reserve Roastery—a 30,000-square-foot two-story tribute to coffee and tea—is located on Nanjing Road, which is Shanghai’s version of Fifth Avenue in New York. The Reserve Roastery is like a theme park for those who love coffee and tea. There’s always a long line to enter.

But once you’re inside, it really is a coffee wonderland that’s worth an hour or more of your Shanghai visit.

The centerpiece of the cafe is a two-story 40-ton bronze cask where the beans are deposited after roasting. The Reserve Roastery actually houses three restaurants. There’s a cafe, a tea bar and the Italian bakery chain Princi. If you don’t like coffee, enjoy the breads and pastries, which are superb. If your cup of tea is, well, tea, they have a Teavana Bar. SHOP FOR souvenirs, we went to a “market,” which we initially thought would be like a wet market but was actually a mini grocery. If you like high street brands, my colleagues who shopped at Zara said it was cheaper in Shanghai. Someone in the group also shopped at Pull&Bear and he said it was very cheap compared with the prices in Manila. I bought stuff from Adidas and their prices were higher but their models and styles were quite unique.

EAT THE best meal we had was at Quanjude Peking Duck Restaurant, it was our first lunch in Shanghai and everything was good. I don’t eat Peking duck but I enjoyed the sweetish pork, the shrimps and all the dishes served. We also had a buffet lunch at the CocaCola Restaurant in Oriental Pearl Tower. Another excellent restaurant was the Rome May Buffet Restaurant where there were cooked dishes and also ingredients to cook in a hotpot. We also had a dinner at Hai Di Lao Hotpot, one of the most famous hot pot chains in China. I love hot pot and in China, they have an abundance of mushrooms (a favorite).

Cebu Pacific offers daily flights between Manila and Shanghai, with lowest year-round base fares starting at P5,888. The Cebu and Shanghai route, which was launched last April 16, 2019, has flights six times a week (Mondays-Saturdays). The carrier now also flies to Shenzhen. This is Cebu Pacific’s 5th destination in China. n

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Entertaining BusinessMirror

Thursday, July 18, 2019

Breakfast pizza makes an ideal dish for a brunch crowd

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Today’s Horoscope

By Eugenia Last

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Chace Crawford, 33; Kristen Bell, 38; Vin Diesel, 51; Wendy Williams, 54.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Look at the possibilities; structure how you proceed based on what you want to achieve. A dream can turn into a reality if you are willing to accept the changes necessary to reach your goal. Trade-offs may be emotionally difficult, but in the end, the benefits will outweigh the initial losses. Think big and focus on forward motion. Your lucky numbers are 9, 16, 21, 23, 26, 35, 41.

a

By America’s Test Kitchen The Associated Press

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Constructive criticism can help you make an adjustment that will put you in the running for something special. Pitch in and help someone who can offer you something in return. A personal change will improve your emotional outlook. HHH

A

LTHOUGH it sounds like a bad Saturday morning commercial (Pizza?! For breakfast?!!), it turns out breakfast pizza is just a creative version of the classic breadeggs-cheese-meat combo.

It makes an ideal dish for a brunch crowd and isn’t difficult if you start with store-bought pizza dough.

Our challenge was getting a crisp crust without overcooking the eggs.

To get there, we pressed room-temperature dough into a lightly oiled baking sheet and parbaked it for five minutes to give the crust a head start before we added the toppings. The remaining minutes in the oven cooked the eggs just right.

The surprising addition of cottage cheese tethered all the ingredients together with a silky creaminess.

Room-temperature dough is much easier to shape than cold, so pull the dough from the fridge about one hour before you start cooking.

b

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Live and learn. What you experience or observe today will help you initiate the personal changes you want to make in your personal life or to the way you take care of yourself physically. A change in status or reputation will follow. HHH

c

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Get emotional issues out of the way. Discussing what you’d like to see happen will clear the way for better days ahead. Expand your options and be willing to make concessions if it will help you get what you want. HHHH

d

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Don’t lose sight of what you want to achieve. Much can be accomplished if you set your emotions aside and concentrate on how best to get along with those who can help you make your dreams come true.

HH

e

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Take care of emotional matters concerning a partner or relative. Listen and respond to what others have to say. Making a fuss will not solve anything.

Compromise. HHHH

BREAKFAST PIZZA Servings: 6 Start to finish: 1 hour 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling 6 slices bacon 8 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded (2 cups) 1 ounce Parmesan cheese, grated (1/2 cup) 4 ounces (1/2 cup) small-curd cottage cheese 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano Salt and pepper Pinch cayenne pepper 1 pound store-bought pizza dough, room temperature 6 large eggs 2 scallions, sliced thin 2 tablespoons minced fresh chives Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 500°F. Grease rimmed baking sheet with 1 tablespoon oil. Cook bacon in 12-inch skillet over medium heat until crisp, seven to nine minutes.

Transfer to paper towel-lined plate; when cool enough to handle, crumble bacon. Combine mozzarella and Parmesan in bowl; set aside. Combine cottage cheese, oregano, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, cayenne and 1 tablespoon oil in separate bowl; set aside.

Sprinkle counter lightly with flour. Roll dough into 15-by-11-inch rectangle with rolling pin, pulling on corners to help make distinct rectangle. Transfer dough to prepared sheet and press to edges of sheet.

Brush edges of dough with remaining 1 tablespoon oil.

Bake dough until top appears dry and bottom is just beginning to brown, about five minutes.

Remove crust from oven and, using spatula, press down on any air bubbles. Spread cottage cheese mixture evenly over top, leaving 1-inch border around edges. Sprinkle bacon evenly over cottage cheese mixture. Sprinkle mozzarella mixture evenly over pizza, leaving 1/2-inch border.

Create two rows of three evenly spaced small wells in cheese, each about 3 inches in diameter (six wells total). Crack one egg into each well, then season each egg with salt and pepper. Return pizza to oven and bake until crust is light golden around edges and eggs are just set, nine to 10 minutes for slightly runny yolks or 11 to 12 minutes for soft-cooked yolks, rotating sheet

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f

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Don’t put too much onus on what others are doing.

Follow through with your plans, and make the changes that support your efforts. A physical improvement will boost your confidence. HHH

g

halfway through baking. Transfer pan to wire rack and let pizza cool for five minutes. Transfer pizza to cutting board. Sprinkle with scallions and chives, and drizzle with extra oil. Slice and serve.

shredded Manchego cheese for Parmesan. Cook chorizo in 12-inch skillet over medium heat until lightly browned, seven to nine minutes. Let cool completely before proceeding.

VARIATION: CHORIZO and Manchego Breakfast Pizza: Substitute 6 ounces chorizo sausage, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/2-inch slices, for bacon and one cup

n Nutrition information per serving: 492 calories; 250 calories from fat; 28 g fat (10 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 248 mg cholesterol; 1190 mg sodium; 36 g carbohydrate; 2 g fiber; 1 g sugar; 26 g protein.

KUYA J BIRTHDAY OFFERINGS BIRTHDAYS happen only once a year, but who’s to say you can’t celebrate it throughout the month.

Make your entire birth month special by spending it with loved ones at Kuya J (www.kuyaj.ph), the fastestgrowing chain of Filipino casual dining restaurants in the country.

What better way to celebrate you than getting a free meal every day during your birth month at Kuya J? Simply bring, at least, four of friends and family, along with any of your valid government-issued IDs with a picture and birth date printed on it. The discount will be calculated by dividing the total bill by the number of guests.

The treat may be claimed once per day during your birthday month, so go ahead and indulge in the restaurant’s best selling and mouth-watering dishes as much as you can during your birthday month.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Consider how best to use your energy. Fixing or rearranging something that will improve your living or working conditions will ward off criticism or complaints. HHH

h

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Don’t jump to conclusions or make statements or assumptions that will lead to an argument.

Stay focused on what you want to accomplish and the changes you want to incorporate into your everyday routine. Be creative and use your imagination. HHH

i

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Look for ideas that have substance and can offer the kind of return you need to make it worth your while to explore. Insight, experience and knowledge will help you uncover exactly what’s needed to succeed.

HHHH

j

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Be careful how you word things. Someone will get the wrong impression, causing emotional fallout if you aren’t diplomatic in the way you approach sensitive subjects. Romance and commitment will lead to personal stability and positive change. HH

k

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Don’t forget to tuck away some money for something you want. Investing time and money in the future will bring better results than squandering your money by trying to keep up with someone who isn’t the best influence. Choose to be practical. HHHHH

l

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Look for a creative outlet that will give you the opportunity to use your skills. What you come up with will surprise others and bring you the recognition you desire. Socialize with people who show support. Celebrate with someone you love. HHH BIRTHDAY BABY: You are outgoing, generous and receptive.

You are goal-oriented and determined.

‘culture shock’ BY ARI RICHTER The Universal Crossword/Edited by David Steinberg

ACROSS 1 Aftermath of a white Christmas eve?

7 Part of RSVP 10 Power grab 14 Cuban capital 15 Org. with a PreCheck program 16 “It comes ___ surprise” 17 Mafia code of silence 18 Pitcher’s asset 19 Emulates Eminem 20 “Alla vodka” pasta 21 Signature Maryland appetizers 23 Bon ___ (cleaner brand) 24 Insurance might cover it 25 Singled out on stage 27 Put on board 28 McKellen who portrayed Gandalf 29 Over again 31 Beethoven dedicatee 35 Made something with unexpected consequences 39 Composer Jule 40 Try to annoy 41 Place for a “me day” 42 Succeeds in annoying

5 Springtime bloomers 4 47 With 63-Across, business fable with two mice...or a hint to a word hidden in each starred answer 51 Mess up 52 Jalapeños’ spicier cousins 53 Like a sea battle 55 Part of QED 56 Jack’s value in blackjack 57 Tuna relative 58 BBs and such 59 Anderson Cooper’s channel 60 Tropic of ___ 61 Old Russian monarch 62 Half a laugh 63 See 47-Across DOWN 1 Breakfast chain that temporarily flipped its “p” to a “b” 2 Broke into pieces 3 50-50 bet 4 “Rats!”

5 Pot starter 6 Goat’s call 7 Beatles’ beat guy

8 Haifa’s country 9 Letter between kappa and mu 10 Chewy candies 11 Tennis star Naomi 12 Let float, as a currency 13 Crew 21 Included in a bibliography 22 Concerto solo passage 24 “Be that way!”

25 Commands to attack 26 Storyteller’s “fast forward” 30 ___ of attrition 32 PC support 33 Splits up 34 Notable times 36 Hanna or Barbera 37 Polite addresses 38 Black Sabbath’s Osbourne 43 Gripe 44 Very calm 46 HGTV designer Ford 47 Cream of ___ 48 Injures 49 Michelle who wrote Becoming 50 A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning

poet 3 Animal pair rescuer 5 54 Often-repeated tales 57 Stealthy e-mail letters

Solution to yesterday’s puzzle:

Parentlife BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Thursday, July 18, 2019

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FROM left: Art is an integral part of my kids’ life because I believe it teaches “trial and error”; Meagan with her first grade teacher, Lim, to whom I am grateful for pointing out early on Meagan’s difficulty in math; Marcus with a toy that teaches combining the three primary colors in a graduated cylinder to make your own unique colored markers.

What is your child’s learning journey?—Part II STOCKING UP FOR SCHOOL CAN BE ECO-FRIENDLY— AND ECONOMICAL EARTH-FRIENDLY school supplies can be expensive, but going green doesn’t mean asking your kid to open a lemonade stand to help pay. You can be gentle with the planet and respectful of your wallet.

Start by widening your idea of what’s “green.”

LOOK FOR FREEBIES FIRST USING what you already have is the ultimate environmentfriendly move and fits with a frugal lifestyle. Look for pens, pencils, unused journals picked up at a convention, binders no longer in use, and unused or lightly used supplies from last year. You may not have to buy at all. Chelsea Brennan, who blogs at Smart Money Mamas, says she sees posts on her hyperlocal Buy Nothing Facebook group every fall requesting notebooks and other school supplies. “And then someone may comment, ‘We have those, plus three composition books that have never been written in. Do you need those?’”

Brennan says she borrows, donates and receives items through the group.

SAVE ON BACKPACKS AND OFFICE SUPPLIES FOR backpacks, Mary Hunt, founder of the web site Cheapskate Monthly, recommends Jansport or Eastpak for durability. If you are shopping resale, those are labels to look for because they’ll last longer. And Jansport backpacks have a lifetime warranty. Or, you could choose a backpack made from recycled materials. Whether you choose new, used or recycled, look for sturdy zippers, pockets and supportive, padded straps. You don’t want this year’s backpack to be in a landfill next year.

Many stores now carry office-supply lines that are Earth-friendly, but check the price. Several companies offer pens made from recycled plastic. Pencils can be made from recycled newspaper, but they’re more expensive than pedestrian wooden pencils. A mechanical, refillable pencil might be the more economical green choice. Notebooks and loose-leaf paper made from recycled paper can be fairly pricey. If recycled paper products don’t fit your budget, you can still be green by making sure your student recycles used paper instead of throwing it in the trash. Derek B. Davis, a spokesman for Earth.com, said that some schools now bundle required items and offer them to parents. You may not save money but you’ll save gas and time.

CUT COSTS ON FOOD AND DRINK CONTAINERS DAVIS says he thinks the item likely to have the biggest impact on the planet is your student’s reusable water bottle— hardly a budget breaker.

Reusable packaging for lunches and snacks also saves you money and lets you contribute less to the already enormous problem of plastic in oceans and landfills. To estimate the impact of a water bottle, know this: Americans use an average of 13 single-use plastic bottles per month, according to the nonprofit Earth Day Network. One reusable bottle, over a nine-month school year, could keep 117 singleuse bottles out of circulation. Tap water is vastly cheaper than bottled and eliminates plastic waste and the carbon emissions needed to distribute bottled water for sale.

There are also reusable—and dishwasher-safe— containers or bags for sandwiches and snacks. You can put those reusable bags inside a reusable lunch container. Bento boxes, which have compartments for various types of food, are another alternative. Reusable lunch bags and boxes can be purchased fairly inexpensively new—or you can keep an eye out for used ones.

Davis, the father of a rising second-grader, suggests taking into consideration that kids lose things. You might consider buying backups of water bottles or lunch containers if you see an especially good price.

MOMMY NO LIMITS

MAYE YAO CO SAY

mommynolimits@gmail.com

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AST week, I related how my learning journey influenced my life choices. I shared that for my kids, my primary goal has been to foster their love for learning to prepare them for their own future pursuits in life. This week let me expound on the four important points I have learned through the years in guiding my children’s learning journey.

1. CHILDREN NEED DISCIPLINE AND IT SHOULD BE GIVEN AT HOME. The book Dare to Discipline by James C. Dobson made me understand the balance between free-flowing and authoritative parenting and its effect on learning. A teacher also once pointed out to me that a child who does not respect authority at home actually hampers a child’s learning because he or she will also not respect the teachers in school who are trying to impart knowledge.

2. IT’S UP TO THE PARENTS TO CHOOSE AND CREATE THE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT. I have chosen a “learn through play” environment for my kids. I introduced and augmented concepts of math, English and other subjects since my kids were toddlers with the use of play and art. I also remember Queena Lee-Chua’s answer when she was asked what school she would recommends. She pointed out that each school values different things. Some recognize athletes more.

Others post tarpaulins of academic achievers. It is for parents to decide what they would like to value

for their kids’ education. For me, I wanted a learning environment where my kids would be exposed to books, learning tools and learned people; where they would not just listen and get tested but learn to love learning. However, I also decided early on that discipline is important to develop. I still chose a traditional route for the big school until they were eight but employed a lot of games and art-infused learning at home. During summer, I would enroll them in Montessori programs.

3. CHILDREN DON’T JUST NEED TO LEARN FROM BOOKS; THEY NEED TO LEARN FROM AND ABOUT LIFE. The best illustration for this is when I discovered the book series called Who Was. This is a book series published

by Grosset & Dunlap, which makes kid-friendly the biographies of important people. One of the first books we enjoyed was about Steve Jobs. It started with them using the iPad, then challenging them to ask which company it came from, which then led to one of the founders, Steve Jobs. My daughter found him so fascinating that to date, she has read three different books about him. One of the most important life skills I would like my kids to learn is not being afraid of committing mistakes. I foster a lot of trial-and-error at home. For example, over something as simple as when my kids spill their soup, I keep calm and guide them on where to put the soup bowl in the future to prevent it from happening again. I also discovered that art is the best way to develop this. Kids can draw freely. They can create at their own pace. I especially love the idea of kids creating something beautiful from something messy.

4. CHILDREN SHOULD ENJOY LEARNING. I want my kids to be happy and enjoy the process of learning. I take the cue from how much they like going to school every day. I also take time to talk to my kids’ teachers.

I ask how they are in class; what they find enjoyable and frustrating; what they are interested in. Then, I try to supplement their experiences at home. For

instance, when Marcus got interested in science, I bought him toys where he could experiment with colors because I knew he loved coloring.

My learning path for my kids started with me observing through play how each child effectively learns. I observed through sensory exercises that Meagan was a visual learner. She learned through pictures. So, when it came to memorizing a song or poem, we would draw pictures and add plus signs in between them. She also learned better through stories. When she had a hard time with math in the first grade, I combined her love for fashion with math.

I asked her how she would sew a dress one day if she did not know how to measure the amount of fabric needed. When she finally got a gold medal in school, I challenged her to try theater just to experience it.

Today at 13, I do not need to push Meagan on her school work. She has consistently been topping her class. But more important, I see her dig deep into topics from her own curiosity.

She would ask her sports coaches on her own on the required practice time and drills. After she joined MTAP (math) out-of-school competitions, she asked me if I could talk to her teacher to be coached more, because they got eliminated on the early rounds. She also initiates to try things she is not familiar with, like choir or instruments.

Why is it important to build your child’s learning journey? I believe the best gift we can give our kids are tools for their accountable and fulfilled futures. Their learning journey is a practice to real life. How they put in the work, learn from mentors, accept mistakes and try again—these are choices they would need to make on their own one day. It is good to prepare them early.

It is good to expose them to the perspective of learning beyond external accolade. Gradually, they will set the pace on their own. And we can be on the sidelines, confidently cheering them on, toward a journey they chose on their own. n

Mommy Matters by Milk Matters: A Parenting Convention PARENTHOOD is the most challenging full-time job there is. Nevertheless, when the journey is shared with others, it becomes easier and vastly more fulfilling. This is what inspired the Phi Lambda Delta Sorority to organize Mommy Matters, a convention that aims to share the joys and demands of parenthood.

Scheduled on August 3 at Bayview Park Hotel Manila, Mommy Matters is an event under the arm of the Phi Lambda Delta Sorority’s flagship project, in cooperation with the Breastfeeding Committee of the Philippine General Hospital (PGH), chaired by Dr. Stella Marie L. Jose. Milk Matters will serve as a comprehensive resource of nontraditional knowledge that will empower parents, whether they’re first-time parents or experienced ones.

Mommy Matters will touch on the informational aspects of parenting through its plenary talks on breastfeeding and kangaroo mother care, to be discussed by Dr. Maria Estrelita T. Villanueva-Uy; child immunization, to be discussed by Dr. Anna Lisa T. Ong-Lim; and, finally, a talk on parenting in the digital age. In addition, the convention will tackle the emotional aspects of parenting such as handling postpartum depression, to be discussed by Dr. Victoria de la Llana, as well as issues like infertility, to be discussed by Dr. Maria Jesusa Banal-Silao. A talk on mommy fitness will also be given by Dr. Maria Lora Garcia-Tansengco.

Although PGH physicians will handle most of the talks, other esteemed personalities such as Chef Michelle Adrillana will address issues on proper

nutrition for mothers, along with Teacher Patricia Franco-Velasco, who will talk on how to provide responsive care for infants and children.

Mommy Matters, in partnership with the PGH, is brought to the public by WhenInManila.com and Wave 89.1 FM. Lots of prizes and giveaways from event sponsors Chicco, Zyji, Babymama, VPharma, Tender Foot Jewels, Kiddie Art Kart, Mommy Treats and Milking Bombs by ABC also await participants.

Tickets (inclusive of lunch, two snacks and freebies from our sponsors) are priced at P1,000. To register, visit tinyurl.com/MommyMattersReg. Program details are available at Phi Lambda Delta’s web page (www. philambdadelta.com/Mommy-Matters).

The Phi Lambda Delta Sorority organized Mommy Matters to celebrate the fifth anniversary of Milk Matters, its flagship service project created in 2014.

Milk Matters has established itself as the pioneering youth-led project in the country that advocates for exclusive breastfeeding, garnering many regional and national awards such as being declared National Winner during the 12th Ten Accomplished Youth Organization ceremonies; being lauded as the Most Gender Sensitive Organization by the UP Center for Gender and Women’s Studies in 2013; as well as winning both the Service Project of the Year of NCR Award and the FAIMER Student Projects for Health Competition in 2014.

By exclusively breastfeeding their infants for the first six months of life, mothers and their babies reap many health benefits such as improved lifetime immunity for the child through colostral antibodies

FROM left: Dr. Anna Lisa T. Ong-Lim, section chief, Pediatrics Section of Infectious Diseases; Dr. Ma. Esterlita T. Villanueva-Uy, pediatrics section of Neonatology; and Dr. Stella Marie L. Jose, chairman of the Breastfeeding Committee of Philippine General Hospital.

and a lowered risk of breast cancer and pregnancy for the mother. In fact, the Department of Health’s Unang Yakap campaign for Essential Intrapartum and Neonatal Care in the country encourages non-separation of the mother and baby for early breastfeeding initiation (within the first 60 to 90 minutes), as this has been linked to higher infant survival and better mother-baby bonding.

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Show BusinessMirror

Thursday, July 18, 2019

www.businessmirror.com.ph

JAPANESE films’s Perfect World (left) and The 8-Year Engagement.

Judges to decide on bond hearings for R. Kelly indictments CHICAGO—Federal judges will decide how to proceed with bond hearings in two separate federal indictments against R. Kelly.

The 52-year-old singer was arrested on Thursday night while walking his dog on a 13-count indictment that includes sex crimes and obstruction of justice. A federal indictment was also unsealed in New York on Friday that charges him with racketeering and sexrelated crimes.

Kelly remained in federal custody over the weekend following his arrest. His attorney denied the allegations on Friday.

A status hearing scheduled for 1 pm on Monday in Chicago will determine if a federal judge will rule on Tuesday on Kelly’s bail in both federal criminal cases.

Federal prosecutors have requested Kelly stay in custody, saying he is a flight risk and dangerous. AP

CINEMALAYA TAKES A BOLD STAND WITH LAV DIAZ’S ‘ANG HUPA’

FOR its 15th year, Cinemalaya makes a striking move deciding to open the film festival with Lav Diaz’s Ang Hupa (The Halt) on August 2, 6 pm, at the Main Theater of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP).

For the first time in the film festival’s history, Cinemalaya will screen a four hour and 30 minute film to kickstart the most anticipated cinematic event in the country.

Known for defying filmmaking traditions, Filipino director Diaz has been a hardcore believer of slow cinema movement, having written and produced numerous films with the longest narratives. Also, Diaz films have been known for being politically charged, with themes depicting the harsh social and political realities happening in the country. He is the creative brain behind some of the best independent films in recent years, including Batang West Side, Hele sa Hiwagang Hapis, Ang Babaeng Humayo and Norte, the End of History, among others.

This screening is a homecoming of sort for Diaz’s Ang Hupa after making its world premiere at the prestigious Directors’ Fortnight, the noncompetition section of Cannes Film Festival, in France early this year.

The film is set in the year 2034 AD. Southeast Asia has been in the dark for the last three years, literally, because the sun hasn’t shone as a result of massive volcanic eruptions at the Celebes Sea in 2031. Madmen control countries, communities, enclaves and bubble cities. Cataclysmic epidemics razed over the continent. Millions have died and millions have left.

Diaz’s new film, a mix of sci-fi and horror, is “about death of a dictator, the death of morality, the death of truth.”

Actor Piolo Pascual, veteran director-actor Joel Lamangan and actress Shaina Magdayao topbill the film. Joining them are actors Hazel Orencio, Mara Lopez, Pinky Amador, Susan Africa, Noel Miralles, Joel Saracho, Philip Heremans and Gala Athena Diaz, among others.

Cinemalaya is rolling out the red carpet during the opening, with a spectacular prescreening program, to be directed by CCP artistic director and festival director Chris B. Millado. The invitational opening night kicks off the Cinemalaya 2019, which will run from August 2 to 11 at the CCP venues, and August 5 to 13 at selected Ayala Malls Cinemas and Vista Malls nationwide.

For full screening schedule, visit the CCP web site (www. culturalcenter.gov.ph).

Romancing silences in two Japanese rom-coms REELING

TITO GENOVA VALIENTE

titovaliente@yahoo.com

T

WO films in the 2019 Eigasai or Japanese Film Festival share many things in common: wheelchairs and disabilities; the fleeting seasons; and that awesome use of silences all throughout the narrative. And we are not talking yet here of the charismatic and organic charm of the actors playing the leads in the films Perfect World (Pafekuto Warudu) and The 8-Year Engagement (8-nengoshi no Hanayome).

Perfect World is a story of a young woman who, after many years, meets again her first crush.

Tsugumi Kawana presently works in an interior design firm and the man she admires is a first-class architect engaged in an office that is part of her network. Her associates find out she knows this cool, good-looking architect whose photo is the focus of interest of the ladies. She is, thus, compelled to attend the party where this architect, Itsuki Ayukawa, will also be attending.

Ayukawa recognizes Kawana and she knows her admiration—and love—for the handsome man is rekindled. At the end of the party, she, however, sees the man of her dreams as no longer that man who played basketball and who was admired by all, but a man with disability who needs assistance to move from where he is seated to a wheelchair. Despite this, their works bring them back together. Ayukawa, the man who earlier had opted to stay away from being involved, becomes interested in Kawana.

But what is a Japanese romance movie without sad moments threatening to banish once for all love and happiness from the lives of lovers. In any Japanese romance genre, the dark clouds are never far from the bright days of spring. And the season of spring itself points to us one of the eternal aesthetics of Japanese arts—the ephemeral.

In the middle of the blooming love affair, the parents of Kawana enter the picture. Kawana’s father

and mother are not happy at all that their youngest child should bear the burden of taking care of a man who is strapped to a wheelchair. Then there is also the nurse of Ayukawa who seems to show a sense of entitlement with regards to the situation of the man she is caring for.

Are our lovers star-crossed? The stars do not figure in the narrative of Japanese romance movies.

The seasons and the cherry blossoms do. After Kawana and Ayukawa separate, we find Kawana going back to the high school where it all began.

There, in front of the huge cherry blossom tree, with the flowers threatening to engulf the universe of anyone, she stands. In a room, the soft, pink petals drift. The power of the mono no aware—things are beautiful because they do not last—pervades the film, which makes us ask the question: Shall our lovers meet again?

As Ayukawa, Takanori Iwata satisfies the male pulchritude much admired and vetted in the world of Japanese cinema and popular culture. Tall and with soft features, and bangs that perpetually endow him with juvenile charm, Iwata is also a good actor.

When he cries, the emotions make him the man all women in Japan and in the movie house that evening want to embrace, let go and forgive. It is that letting go that formulates the bittersweetness, which makes Japanese romance movies a genre on its own.

As Kawana, Hana Sugisaki has that face that is really not Japanese but one that commands attention.

As a young actress, Sugisaki demonstrates restraint and gentle presence, two traits admirable in a culture that values quietude.

Perfect World is based on a manga series (Japanese comics) of the same name by Rie Aruga. The film is directed by Kenji Shibayama.

The 8-Year Engagement is a darker film compared to Perfect World. The story begins with the inauspicious meeting between a man and a woman. The man is Hisashi, a man lacking in social skills, and Mai, a young woman who would not hide her opinion about Hisashi. In the party, Hisashi does not talk and, after the drinking party, leaves the group. Mai runs after him and, thus, finds out why the young man was quiet in the party.

The candor that Mai shows Hisashi makes them a good team. They fall in love, get engaged and fix a date for their wedding with a planner. One day, Mai feels a throbbing pain in her head. She runs away from Hisashi and becomes violent. In the hospital,

the doctors discover what is affecting Mai, a disease that causes brain inflammation and brings about psychosis. She goes into a coma. Hisashi continues to be with her in the hospital even when Mai’s parents asked him to move on and leave Mai to her real family.

Hisashi, however, persists and the parents relent.

Hisashi is there when Mai wakes up. Hisashi is there as Mai recovers slowly. And yet, Mai’s memory never comes back. Hisashi finally bids goodbye.

Shall our lovers see each other again?

Based on the biographical story of Hisashi Nakahara and Mai Nakahara, the story will end with how the real story ended. The narrative signposts seem to indicate a morbid, if not a sad, resolution to the plot.

Mai is played by Tao Tsuchiya. From a pretty young woman, the disease transforms her into a phantom of her original self. We believe her mother, played by the popular singer of the 1980s, Hiroko Yakushimaru, when she said that it is not her daughter there, referring to Mai all distraught and wild.

As Hisashi, Takeru Satoh downplays the magic and suave presence that made him Kenshin in Rurouni Kenshin and comes out as a credible car repairman.

This leading man sure knows how to break down and cry, all naïve and vulnerable—thespic skills that seem required for Japanese love stories to fly. It is with his Hisashi that we cry our heart out.

The 8-Year Engagement is directed by Takahisa Zeze, who was known for his so-called pink films or softporn, in the 1990s.

Filipino film directors should watch these two films not to imitate the style of the filmmakers but to be amazed at the kind of editing employed. The two films actually move at a generously slow pace. This did not deter the audiences in the movie house last Sunday to savor the unfolding of the stories. And the silences in many scenes in the two films! Except for two couples who were ill-mannered, to say the least, you could hear the deep breathing, broken by hushed giggles and swooning from the girls and women (and boys and old men), as the cameras in the two films, respectively, do close-up shots of Takanori Iwata and Takeru Satoh. Cameras have never been so in love with faces of men as in these two films.

The Eigasai is ongoing until August 25 in Manila.

It will screen at the University of the Philippines Film Institute from August 14 to 17, and at Gateway in Cubao from August 22 to 25. The festival is an annual offering of The Japan Foundation. n

Rep names Liesl Batucan as new artistic director REPERTORY Philippines (Rep, www.repertoryphilippines.ph), one of the country’s leading theater companies, has appointed Liesl Batucan as its new artistic director, following in the footsteps of theater stalwarts Zenaida “Bibot” Amador, Baby Barredo and Joy Virata. Batucan returned to Rep as its managing director in 2018.

Prior to this, she was the associate artistic director of Tanghalang Pilipino, the resident theater company of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP).

As one of the Rep’s celebrated alumna, Batucan has performed in over 100 plays, ranging from dramas, comedies, musicals and Shakespearean classics, to children’s theater, while extensively training under Amador and Barredo for over 20 years.

She also portrayed diverse roles, from Maria in The Sound of Music to Portia in The Merchant of Venice.

Batucan is also an Aliw Award Hall of Famer, winning the Best Actress title three times for her performances in Wait Until Dark, A Portrait of the Artist as Filipino and Baler Sa Puso Ko; as well as a two-time Gawad Buhay Awardee for Best Featured Actress for her exceptional performances in Sweeney Todd and August: Osage County. Batucan has performed Off-Broadway at the La Mama Theater in New York and in various international musical shows.

Batucan had also directed a Triple Threat concert for CCP and numerous CCP Main Theater concerts with the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of the Philippines and served as a corporate finance consultant at SGV & Co. before pursuing a career in theater.

According to the Rep’s Board of Trustees, “Liesl brings a wealth of experience to her new role of providing artistic leadership in the planning and implementation of quality-based productions. The Board of Trustees wishes her every success and will give her all the support she needs to lead Repertory Philippines through the 21st century.” With her new role, Batucan is expected to bring creative guidance and control to Rep’s dramatic realm in keeping with the theater company’s mission of producing excellent, resilient, entertaining theater to Filipino audiences for the last 52 years. Rep’s new artistic director also aims to champion the integrity of the Filipino artist, as well as to enrich the cultural life of the community.

Batucan has started in her new role at the Rep last June 1 as the theater company prepares to produce The Quest for the Adarna, an original Rep’s Theater for Young Audiences play that will run from September 14 to January 12, 2020.

LIESL BATUCAN

Envoys&Expats

www.businessmirror.com.ph | Thursday, July 18, 2019 E1

Envoy espouses women empowerment, while enhancing Sweden’s ties with PHL

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By Recto L. Mercene

MBASSADOR of Sweden to the Philippines Harald Fries hosted a simple get-together at his residence for members of the local media one fine Tuesday morning.

In the invitation, the gathering was curiously called “Fika,” which the European envoy explained was a social tradition of some sort in his country.

The name of the event, Fries explained, was roughly a play on the word “coffee,” with the syllables interchanged. (It was derived from an old Swedish word that basically means to meet up, have a sip from a warm brew and do some ‘chitchat.’)

And converse the guests did, with the gracious host and his lovely wife,

including embassy officials, as well as other personalities who would discuss an important topic afterward.

The fare was composed of a variety of pastries; the occasion, warmed up with a dedicated time to talk and impart views.

Our powwow’s topic gravitated toward the bespectacled Fries’s motherland. From his accounts, it can be deduced that Sweden is way ahead of the developed world in many aspects: the quality of life and longevity of its citizens, the country’s

peace situation and overall stability. It possesses many liberal ideas that the rest of the world are only currently adapting (think of samesex marriages, or extended parental leaves, to name just a few).

Over the decades, the Scandinavian country of 10 million inhabitants has exported not only cutting-edge technologies, but also the talents of its world-renowned citizens: highly acclaimed musicians ABBA, one of history’s greatest tennis champions in Björn Borg, and countless others.

Speaking of the singing quartet, the Swedish diplomat expressed surprise about its residual popularity, aware of the group’s plan to regroup and record a new album.

However, the business-minded ambassador pointed out the combo was famous 40 years ago, and that he wants “people to know there are more modern things that Sweden offers, such as Skype and Spotify.”

“I’d rather talk about those things…like Ikea,” which is said to be planning a grand entry in the country this year.

Sweden is the envy of the developed world. Data from the World Bank lists the nation’s gross domestic product per capita as of 2018 at $54,112 (about P2.8 million).

Fries explained that the roots of his country’s successes stem from the social democratic government’s progressive policies, where it created free education, health care and day-care centers. He proudly proclaimed fathers can avail themselves of a substantial number of days for paternal leave, and trumpeted the many social reforms embraced by the Swedish public.

He said Swedes acknowledge the benefits of paying taxes, because they saw that the nation’s money was used for good purposes.

Also, the diplomat noted that his countrymen see that their govern-

ment has always been very businessfriendly, “that’s why there are many companies that have been able to do well.”

According to Fries, Sweden had to rely heavily on exports to be competitive. “And, in order to be competitive, we had to be innovative. That way, Swedish companies were successful in competing in the world market.”

Sweden actually has a strong business foothold in the Philippines with the presence of 30 to 40 enterprises, of which 20 are multinational behemoths.Some of these companies include the Volvo Group, which is involved in urban transportation; ABB in energy; and SAAB in port and airport management surveillance, telecommunications, and closed circuit television units, with a number of those already installed in Manila and Davao for monitoring traffic.

Fries explained that SAAB is an expert when it comes to providing unmanned air-traffic control sys-

tems in small airports. (It also offered to the Department of Transportation a remote ATC system that promises to be more efficient, but employs less number of personnel, while still able to manage several airports from a distant location.)

Currently, Fries said many Swedish firms operating locally are into engineering, waste management, urban transportation and bus systems.

“Swedish businesses are not just focusing on one sector in the Philippines. We are [also] looking at infrastructure through the ‘Build, Build, Build’ program, and that’s very interesting for our companies.”

Apart from these, Fries said there are also small- and medium-sized Swedish firms establishing their presence in information technologybusiness-process outsourcing, or IT-BPO, software engineering and software development.

Continued on E4

Envoys& BusinessMirror

E2 Thursday, July 18, 2019

EMBASSIES, EVENTS, ETC.

Israel engages in PHL agriculture, defense

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N a bid to strengthen the agriculture industry and support local farmers, the Department of Agriculture (DA) recently closed a deal with the Israeli government for a P44-billion loan to complete a proposed solar power plant project.

Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol and Israel’s Ambassador to the Philippines Rafael Harpaz signed the Implementing Agreement (IA) on Agricultural Cooperation at the DA Central Office in Quezon City.

The IA on Agricultural Cooperation is the final output of a series of negotiations between Israel and the Philippines, which started during the visit of President Duterte to the Holy Land in 2018.

“The banner program under the agreement is the transfer of technology, funding and establishment of solar-powered irrigation systems all over the country funded by a long-term loan of P44 billion being offered by the Israeli government,” Piñol said in his statement posted on social media.

‘High-tech’ irrigation

THE project will involve the establishment of 6,200 units of computerized solar-powered irrigation systems (SPIS) intended to irrigate 500,000 hectares of rice farms and other high-value agricultural products over the next three years.

SPIS units will be interconnected with a computer program, which would allow the DA Central Office to monitor the performance of each system all over the country.

“The Israeli government is currently completing the installation of two prototypes of the SPIS: one for a small farm setup of up to 5 hectares and the other, for a big farm setup of up to 100 hectares,” the DA chief added.

The prototypes are a donation from an Israeli company, which is also one of those interested in undertaking the SPIS projects in the Philippines.

The prototypes are expected to be operational by the end of July.

Harpaz, in an interview with Philippine News Agency, added that the agreement also includes that of Mashav, the agency that offers international workshops and courses.

“Israel has been sharing knowledge and skills for many years in various areas such as agriculture, water management and innovation through Mashav. We are looking forward to deepen our cooperation with

AMBASSADOR of Israel Rafael Harpaz (foreground, left) and Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE/PNA

the Philippines in the near future,” the diplomat explained.

He added that the signed agreement reflects the good bilateral relations between the two countries.

Exchanging views on counterterrorism

MEANWHILE, Harpaz also had a meeting with the chief of the Philippine Army (PA), Lt. Gen. Macairog S. Alberto in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City, to exchange views on counterterrorism.

Harpaz’s courtesy call is in line with the Counter-Terrorism Trainers Training (CTTT) between the PA and the Israel Defense Forces

HARPAZ and Philippine Army chief Lt. General Macairog S. Alberto OFFICE OF THE ARMY CHIEF PUBLIC AFFAIRS/PNA

(IDF) conducted at Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija.

During his visit, the Israeli official recalled the time when former Philippine President Manuel L. Quezon opened the country to 1,300 Jewish refugees from Europe in 1937 to 1941. He said this gesture is one of the reasons Filipinos are welcome in Israel even without a travel visa.

Alberto added the PA is looking forward to more training exchanges with Israel to raise the army’s determination to defeat threats of terrorism.

In light of the recent terror attack in Sulu, the army chief pointed out the need for the country to learn from the IDF’s years of experience and victories against counterterrorism. He also emphasized that the mandatory military service in Israel is also key in addressing terrorism.

“Be strong,” the Israeli envoy told the audience composed of high-ranking officers of the PA. “We cannot have 100-percent success against terrorism, but we must continue to share our experiences on best addressing it.”

After the call, the PA’s commanding general and Harpaz flew to Fort Magsaysay to observe the ongoing CTTT. “The Philippine Army recognizes the evolving security environment in the country and its neighboring states. Thus, we welcome the help from our international counterparts to enhance our counterterrorism capabilities through various training and information exchange,” Alberto said. Christine Cudis, Priam Nepomuceno/PNA

France open to possible defense cooperation Bangladesh officials visit

DSWD-Bicol for good practices

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RANCE fully supports the establishment of defense cooperation with the Philippines, similar to its partners in the IndoPacific region, Ambassador Nicolas Galey said.

“We are happy that the Philippines clearly wants to play a bigger role in the region. Obviously, we are 100-percent available to have the same kind of cooperation with [your country], like the one we have with other countries in the world, and in this region like Malaysia and Australia,” Galey told reporters in an interview during the local celebration of France’s National Day, or Bastille Day, in Makati City. “[France is] also an Indo-Pacific power. We have the second-largest economic zone in the world—thanks to the French territories in the Pacific and in the Indian Oceans, New Caledonia, French Polynesia and the Reunion Island.... This gives us a particular reason and motivation to have good cooperation with the Philippines,” the envoy said.

Aside from 8,000-strong French military complement, Galey mentioned that France also has naval bases posted in the said region.

In a separate interview in the same reception, Defense Secretary Delfin N. Lorenzana told reporters that Manila would like to canvass for military equipment and submarines from the European country. “I plan to visit France this September and look at their equipment [to see if we can buy something from them]. It has been making [quality equipment for the longest time]. The [Philippine Navy considers] France as a source of our submarines,” the defense chief noted.

UNHRC resolution won’t affect ties

IN another development, Galey

S

AMBASSADOR Nicolas Galey CESAR CRUZ JR.

pointed out that the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) resolution seeking a comprehensive review into Manila’s human-rights situation is not entirely the essence of relations between the Philippines and the states that supported it.

“We are friends with Iceland. We are friends with the Philippines.

We are friends with many countries that have cosponsored or not cosponsored [the resolution]” the French ambassador told reporters in an interview.

“That is not the ‘alpha and omega’ of international relations. We have our views on the situation…

We don’t think that our relations will be so much affected,” he added.

France and Sweden are among the non-UNHRC members that backed the recently adopted UN resolution. Under the UN system, nonmembers of the council can only cosponsor resolutions.

Among the 18 countries that voted “yes” included Argentina; Australia; Austria; the Bahamas; Bulgaria; Croatia; Czech Republic; Denmark; Fiji; Iceland; Italy; Mexico; Peru; Slovakia; Spain; Ukraine;

the United Kingdom, including Northern Ireland; and Uruguay.

A total of 14 nations, on the other hand, voted in the negative: Angola, Bahrain, Cameroon, Hungary, China, Cuba, Egypt, Eritrea, India, Iraq, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and the Philippines.

Fifteen abstained, including Japan, South Africa, Brazil and Pakistan.

With the continued cooperation on various areas between the two nations, Galey is confident its friendship with Manila will endure. “[It is], first of all, part of international diplomatic life. We may have differences and again, when we are friends and when we have been friends for so many years, I’m sure [we] want to continue to be friends,” the French ambassador emphasized.

Galey said Lorenzana’s presence at the event showed that the issue on the UN resolution “is something which is part of international life; which should not put in danger [the] very old and fruitful friendship between France and the Philippines.”

Joyce Ann L. Rocamora/PNA

ENIOR government officials from Bangladesh, led by the Chairman of the National Advisory Committee of Autism and Neurodevelopment and daughter of the prime minister Saima W. Hossain, visited the Bicol region for a twoday study visit to learn about the good practices implemented by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Field Office V, as well as experiences of the local community.

Other delegates from Bangladesh included Director General and Department of Women Affairs Additional Secretary Badrun Nessa; Health Service Division Additional Secretar y Habibur Rahman Khan, Additional Secretary Anwar Hossain; Bangladesh National Nutrition Council Director General Mohammad Sha Nawaz; Head of World Food Program-Bangladesh Rezaul Karim; Shuchana Foundation COO Malka Shamrose; Maternity Allowance Program Director A J M Rezaul A lam Bin A nsar; Ministr y of Women and Children Affairs Secretary Kamrun Nahar; Maternal, Neonatal and Child Reproductive Health Care Director Mohammad Sharif; Additional Secretary Md Aynul Kabir; Cabinet Division Add itiona l Secretar y Sha han Ara Banu; Deputy Chief Shakil Akhter; Ministry of Finance Additional Secretary Habibur Rahman; as well as Bangladesh World Food Program’s Program and Policy Officers Masing Newar and Mamunur Rashid.

Present for the Philippines’s side were DSWD Undersecretary Camilo G. Gudmalin, Deputy Program Man-

BANGLADESH’s Chairman of the National Advisory Committee of Autism and Neurodevelopment Saima W. Hossain

ager for Operations Irene Dumlao, Regional Director Arnel B. Garcia and other DSWD field staff.

Hossain said she aimed at knowing the challenges faced by the program, the manner they have been addressed and the good practices being implemented.

“Through this visit, I would like to understand the programs and services being implemented for the poor families, including persons with disabilities who are vulnerable and marginalized. And also, the things they [need] for support to come up with strategies, focused ideas and solutions that could be implemented in our country,” she said.

Karim expressed his gratitude to the DSWD-Bicol for hosting the activity. He said that the visit was an excellent opportunity as they obtained detailed information, while they discovered good practices being implemented by the region.

Bangladesh’s Ambassador to the

Philippines Asad Alam Siam mentioned that his country would like to learn from the successful implementation of Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) in Bicol that can be useful for common future projects and cooperation.

Garcia said his aim for the delegates was to deepen their understanding of the programs and services extended by DSWD, as well as share and exchange information and expertise that are beneficial to both countries to effectively deliver their services to those who are in need, while both sides establish linkages and networks.

During the visit, Kabir gave an overview of the profile and primary front-line services being implemented in their country. After that, DSWD Assistant Regional Director Arwin Razo shared the latest accomplishments of 4Ps, along with the Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP) and “Listahanan.”

&Expats

envoys.expats.bm@gmail.com | Thursday, July 18, 2019 E3

Germany launches book on good biz practices

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HE Embassy of Germany in Manila, by invitation of Ambassador Dr. Gordon Kricke, recently hosted the launch of More Than a Market: How German Companies are Growing Roots in Filipino Society, a collaborative publication of the German-Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc. (GPCCI) and the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ).

More Than a Market is a testament to Germany’s dedication in engaging with the Philippines and its people through socially responsible and sustainable business practices that adhere to the United Nations’s Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

The special publication reflects Germany’s understanding of global challenges brought about by globalization, urbanization and economic interdependence.

In 2016, the German government adopted the National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights (NAP) based on the UN’s Guiding Principles. It aims to “improve the human-rights situation worldwide through increasing accountability, creating policy coherence and, most important, making the UN Guiding Principles applicable to all players in practice, while ensuring that businesses remain sustainable and competitive,” explained Kricke.

The NAP seeks to encourage sustainable business practices among German companies, wherever they may be along their global supply chains.

Sustainable business practices are familiar aspects in German history. According to GPCCI President Tristan Loveres, the “Honorable Merchant” principles have been established by Hanseatic traders centuries ago, which created a tradition among German merchants to uphold responsible conduct in doing business.

Part of its efforts to implement the NAP today, the German government, together with the GPCCI and GIZ, actively promotes awareness of and engagement in corporate social responsibility (CSR) among companies in the Philippines. They are held accountable for implementing sustainable as

well as socially responsible policies and practices.

The embassy stated that German companies in the Philippines already enjoy a superb reputation for quality products and services.

The brand “Made in Germany” is recognized as state-of-the-art and technologically innovative, and more recently, as sustainably efficient and environment-friendly, as well.

Beyond their products and services, these German companies also offer vocational training, as well as implement labor and environmental standards through their business conduct. In addition, the “DeveloPPP” initiative by the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), which is implemented by the GIZ in the Philippines, provides companies with the tools, such as professional support and funding opportunities, to build long-term benefits through company engagement.

More Than a Market shares the growth of German companies in the Philippines. Its case studies illustrate that the relations between German companies and the Philippine society is more than just business-based.

Promoting CSR

THE publication seeks to achieve three important goals, said Loveres.

It hopes to provide a platform for German and Philippine businesses to showcase their own business practices that promote CSR and motivate others to do the same. It also seeks to encourage the business community to implement their own efforts to support and promote sustainable business conduct.

Finally, it aspires to provide a guide on exploring options for social engagement as “honorable merchants.” Two options are presented in particular: 1) to use the

AMBASSADOR Dr. Gordon Kricke (fifth from left) hosts a media breakfast session to launch a publication on German industries’ conduct of business. EMBASSY OF GERMANY IN THE PHILIPPINES

Ideal ‘Build, Build, Build’ partner

MORE Than a Market is a collaborative publication of the German-Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc. and the German Society for International Cooperation. EMBASSY OF GERMANY IN THE PHILIPPINES

UN Global Compact as a helpful tool to align business strategies and operations according to the universal principles on human rights, labor, environment and anti-corruption; and, 2) to cooperate with the German government in discussing possible project ideas and designing a meaningful activity together

with GIZ in a personal DeveloPPP project.

“Germany is committed to strengthen the relationship between the German and Philippine business sectors, [while supporting] the private sector in advocating the importance of inclusive growth and sustainable development in the Phil-

ippines,” Kricke declared.

With the NAP in place and the support of GPCCI, GIZ and the German government, German companies, committed to socially responsible business conduct, will be instrumental in creating a future-oriented and sustainable world economy.

DURING the launch of the publication, Kricke declared that Germany is an ideal partner in the Philippines’s “Build, Build, Build” program, as the European country has the expertise and companies that offer services on infrastructure development.

“We have companies like the Herrenknecht AG, which is one of the world leaders in building tunnels for infrastructure development,” he told reporters in an interview.

While no German company has participated in any project under the ambitious government undertaking, Kricke expressed optimism on the possibilities of German companies being “part of it.”

In Febr uar y, t he d iplomat said a delegation composed of Germany’s leading construction firms visited Manila to scope out opportunities in the country. Aside from Herrenknecht AG, other representatives present were from MULAG Fahrzeugwerk Heinz Woessner GmbH & Co. KG, AuCom MCS GmbH & Co. KG, Hauff Technik GmbH & Co. KG and ThyssenKrupp AG. Embassy of Germany in the Philippines, with a report

by Joyce Ann L. Rocamora/PNA

Kim primed as next US envoy to Indonesia

A

MBASSADOR of the United States to the Philippines Sung Y. Kim is eyed as the next top American diplomat to Indonesia, the White House announced last Thursday.

President Donald J. Trump’s plan to nominate Kim as the US ambassador to Jakarta comes as the envoy nears the end of his tour of duty in the Philippines this year.

“Ambassador Kim has an extensive history of public service at the Department of State, including as ambassador to the Republic of Korea, special envoy for the Six-Party Talks, director of the Office of Korean Affairs, special representative for North Korea Policy, and deputy assistant secretary of state in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs,” the White House said.

Kim earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania, doctor of jurisprudence degree from Loyola University Law School, and a master’s degree in law from the

Chang ‘USAID exec, not envoy’

US Ambassador Sung Y. Kim INC PHOTO

London School of Economics and Political Science.

Two years into his post as the US’s top diplomat in Manila, Kim received the Presidential Meritorious Honor Award in 2018. He assumed his post in the Philippines in December 2016, as he replaced Philip Goldberg, who served beginning 2013.

The announcement did not mention who will replace Kim as the next US envoy in the Philippines.

LAST week the embassy denied rumors that Mina Chang, deputy assistant secretary of the State Department Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations, would be the next US ambassador to the Philippines.

The embassy said Chang will serve as an executive of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), as it dismissed reports she will replace Kim. “We’ve seen this claim. It is not true,” the embassy, through acting Press Attaché Trude Raizen, said in a statement.

It said Trump’s intent to nominate Chang as the USAID’s assistant administrator for the Bureau of Asia was announced in September 2018.

“The nomination was referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in January 2019. There have been no additional White House announcements regarding her nomination to the USAID position,” the embassy clarified. Joyce Ann L. Rocamora/PNA

MOST OUTSTANDING SERVICE PROJECT The Rotary Club (RC) of Manila recently presented its Centennial Award to the

Rotary Club of Makati West-Rotary International (RI) District 3830’s “Gift of Life” as grand winner. In the photo are RC Makati West President Lou del Rosario (from left), District Governor Al Montecillo, Past Rotary International (PRI) Director Guiller Tumangan, US Ambassador Sung Kim, RC Manila President Jesus Pineda, Cynthia Andrade, PRI President Gary Huang, President-elect Eric Tensuan, Immediate Past President Dave Caldwell and Past President Mon Guerrero. Other Rotary Club executives include RI President Mark Maloney, RI Director Raffy Garcia and Past District Governor Tony Rufino.

Envoys&Expats BusinessMirror

E4 Thursday, July 18, 2019

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Sweden, Asean to enhance economic ties

S

TOCKHOLM—Six ambassadors representing the Asean Committee in Stockholm (ACS) recently engaged Swedish Minister for Foreign Trade Ann Linde in a dialogue.

Linde affirmed that the Asean is an important region for Sweden, as the Nordic country is determined to enhance its cooperation with the Asian regional bloc within the framework of European Union (EU)-Asean relations.

The trade minister recalled the agreement of the 22nd Asean-EU Ministerial Meeting in January 2019, which aimed to upgrade the two region’s relations toward a strategic partnership and a future freetrade agreement.

ACS Chairman and Ambassador

of Indonesia to Sweden Bagas Hapsoro invited Sweden to further its cooperation with Asean, notably in the fields of trade and investments, environmental protection, humanresources development and sociocultural exchanges. He mentioned the opportunities for cooperation within the bloc’s three key economic areas: equipping Asean for the Fourth Industrial Revolution; enhancing the region’s connectivity through the Asean Trade, Investment and Tourism Single Window; and enabling its sustainable

SWEDEN’S Foreign Trade Minister Ann Linde (center) with Asean ambassadors OSLO PE

economic development.

Ambassador of the Philippines to Norway Jocelyn Batoon-Garcia said that Asean is pleased with the increasing interest of Sweden in intensifying its engagement and dialogue

with the region, as she described it as one of “economic vibrancy.”

Batoon-Garcia cited the continuing impressive economic performance of the Philippines and its 6.2-percent gross domestic

Filipina artists exhibit masterpieces in Stockholm

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TOCKHOLM—Filipina artists Aya Sunga Askert, Helen Svendgard, Maria Nanette del Rosario, Emelia W. Eklund and Mayline Tano-Blomberg held an art exhibit at Galleri Movitz at Horsgatan 40, Stockholm, in mid-June.

The Philippine Embassy in Oslo described the artists’ media in the exhibit are “as varied as their per-

sonalities.” Askert explored the fragility of humankind through sculptures and assemblages, while Svendgard used natural scenery as inspiration for both paintings and photography.

For her part, del Rosario showed her art using a mixture of clay and acrylic. She also uses charcoal in some of her drawings.

AMBASSADOR Jocelyn Batoon-Garcia (third from left), with the five Filipina artists in Stockholm. OSLO PE

HELEN SVENDGARD and her oeuvres OSLO PE

Eklund expressed her affinity to nature through her photographs, while Tano-Blomberg displayed her photographs of the Höga Kusten and Värmdö. (Höga Kusten is a province in northeast Sweden and a Unesco World Heritage site for its unique and scenic landscape and seascape, as well as its distinctly red Nordingrå granite cliffs and

rocks. On the other hand, Värmdö is a municipality in Stockholm County in the east-central part of the country.)

With its unassuming atmosphere, Hornsgatan is emerging as one of Stockholm’s unofficial art quarters with its small, independent galleries that display works of local artists. DFA

AYA SUNGA ASKERT and her artworks OSLO PE

MASTERPIECES by Maria Tano-Blomberg OSLO PE

product growth in 2018, which has been the average rate for the last 10 years. She affirmed the Philippines’s keen interest to increase exchanges in trade and investments with Sweden. She welcomed the

Envoy espouses women empowerment, while enhancing Sweden’s ties with PHL Continued from E1

Also, there is a Sweden-based match and lighter factory, as well as a multinational pharmaceutical company (AstraZeneca).

Advocacy of empowerment

DURING the media event, the #RespetoNaman campaign, inspired by the global #MeToo and #TimesUp movements, was reintroduced to Philippine media. Its aim is to bring the issue of gender-based violence into local mainstream consciousness, while empowering women to rise and speak up.

Binibining Pilipinas Supranational 2019 Resham Saeed was announced as the campaign’s newest celebrity ambassador to help spread awareness and encourage discourse outside Metro Manila.

Fries emphasized that Sweden is the first feminist government in the world, which places great importance on ensuring that the fundamental human rights of women and girls are protected and promoted. He said that among Sweden’s priorities under the Swedish Feminist Foreign Policy is the elimination of genderbased violence all over the world.

Office of the Vice President Spokesman Barry Gutierrez, as well as representatives of Spark Philippines and EMPOWER, joined the ambassador for the forum.

In 2014, Sweden became the first country in the world to publicly adopt what it explicitly called “a feminist foreign policy,” putting the promotion of gender equality and women’s rights at the center of its diplomatic agenda.

Since its launch in November 2018, the campaign has made the rounds all over Metro Manila, in the Senate, at the Quezon City Hall, as well as malls and schools.

Exports bearing fruit

ARTWORKS by Maria Nanette del Rosario OSLO PE

CREATIONS by Emelia W. Eklund OSLO PE

recent decision of Business Sweden to increase its manpower complement in Manila, as well as the recent announcement of Ambassador Harald Fries that their country offers employment opportunities for Filipino software engineers and health-care workers.

Noting the presence of more than 600 companies in Southeast Asian countries, the Asean ambassadors and ministers believe that there remains great potential for increasing and strengthening two-way trade and investment flows between the regional bloc and Sweden. Toward this end, the envoys and Linde agreed to continue their dialogue in finding new areas to cooperate and learn from each other.

The ACS is chaired by Hapsoro, and is composed of ambassadors from Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. DFA

THE ambassador also underscored the need to elevate the levels of trade between the Philippines and Sweden: “It has actually increased by 60 percent in just two years since we reopened the embassy in Bonifacio Global City in Taguig City.”

Fries said Philippine exports to Sweden have gone northward in the last few years, particularly with vegetable oils.

They are also into electronics, but the diplomat sees great potential in food, with focus on fruits: “We love your mangoes and bananas.”

He recalled that his country does not buy much fruit products when shipping used to be the means of transport. Today, it’s possible

through refrigerated cargo containers.

“So, I believe there’s a great potential. We used to buy from the Caribbean, but Filipino fruits are better.”

“Another ‘exportable’ service is in BPO. There are companies in the Philippines that have clients in Sweden, which, in turn, outsource services here,” he added, then said that one organization from his homeland currently has 30,000 employees.

Other multinational companies operating in the country include Ikea, a popular furniture depot; H&M, a highly successful, ultra-modern fashion store; and famous household electronics brand, Electrolux.

Trade, tourism and more

DIPLOMATIC relations between the Philippines and Sweden were established on January 17, 1947.

Fries explained the Swedish Embassy’s aim to reestablish their presence in the country, after it closed doors for a brief spell some years ago.

To emphasize the seriousness of their return, he said a business delegation is visiting the Philippines this year for bilateral consultations. The schedule is being arranged with the Department of Foreign Affairs, the envoy revealed, then added that his compatriots expect to discuss cooperation in trade, tourism and sports.

“Trade will be the main topic,” he told our small group, as we converged in a corner of the room, “and [we’re] also looking more broadly on multilateral levels in terms of organization.” He said there are current challenges, brought about by the trade row between the United States and China: “We’re supportive of multilateral systems.”

On another topic, Fries said the Philippines could increase its share of Swedish tourists, as he noted that Thailand receives about 300,000 to 400,000 visitors from his country.

As there were just about 30,000 Swedes whom the country welcomed last year, the ambassador said there is a need to improve local infrastructure, so that the main tourist attractions all across the country are accessible, “especially the ‘paradise spots,’ such as Coron [in Palawan] and Boracay.”

The ambassador admits of having grown accustomed to Filipino cuisine. On his way to a friend’s birthday party, the Swedish gentleman expects the likes of lechon and kare-kare to be served.

He also admitted, “I like balut.”

Perhaps it won’t come as a surprise if the next Fika would feature a fusion of Filipino-inspired food.

BusinessMirror

Health&Fitness July 18-24, 2019

PHILIPPINE MEDICAL DEPOT A SHOWCASE OF MEDICAL ECOSYSTEM IN THE HEART OF QUEZON CITY PAGES 8-9

ACHIEVING A SWEETER TOMORROW THROUGH STEVIA

ENTHUSIASM AND PASSION

Vital elements for a happy and fulfilling life

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PAGES 4-5

GO THE EXTRA MILE FOR CHARITY WITH MEG, ROVILSON AND RIO IN RUN WITH ME X

A

CTRESS Meg Imperial and TV host and model Rovilson Fernandez join Coach Rio de la Cruz as they lead thousands of runners in a race for charity in Run With Me X, Resorts World Manila’s annual celebrity-led charity fun run.

Running enthusiasts with charitable hearts can now register online and join Coach Rio, Meg Imperial, Rovilson Fernandez and other celebrities in Run With Me X, RWM’s annual celebrity charity run which will be held on August 25, 2019, at the SM Mall of Asia Concert Grounds.

Now on its fourth year Run With Me X promises to be the biggest yet, as RWM celebrates its 10th year as the country’s first integrated resort.

Television and movie actress Meg Imperial first joined Run With Me in 2017 as a celebrity team leader, where she and her team emerged as the champions.

“I was happy and proud to win Run With Me 2017, of course,” Meg, who again joins Run With Me X as a celebrity team leader, said. “But beyond the physical achievement, the experience was made more meaningful knowing we helped people in need by doing something we loved. It was also a lot of fun to run alongside my friends from the showbiz industry and of course, the fans.”

Joining Meg in her return to Run With Me as a celebrity team leader is TV host and model Rovilson Fernandez who has joined Run With Me every year as a team leader since it was opened up to the public in 2017.

“I’m an active guy, and getting me to sign up to endorse an activity that encourages people to get fit would have been easy enough,” said Rovilson. “The fact that we raise millions for charity makes it a nobrainer. Run With Me is the sort of event that deserves people’s time and energy, because just by signing up, you’re already a winner because it means you’ve already helped someone.”

Celebrity running coach Rio de la Cruz who is best known for helping popularize the sport of running in the Philippines has also been working with RWM from the very first Run With Me when it was

2 Health&Fitness July 18-24, 2019

just an RWM employee-exclusive event in 2016.

His running organization RUNRIO has been RWM’s event partner for Run With Me, helping the company with race logistics and even providing expert advice to race participants with the Run With Me run clinics in the months leading up to the race.

“I’ve always advocated running as a sport and hobby, and I’m happy that so many Filipinos are now into running,” Coach Rio said. “We’ve helped organize hundreds of races over the years, but Run With Me holds a special place in my heart because it lets us give back to the community through the millions we raise for charity.”

RWM, through Run With Me and two smaller employee charity runs in 2014 and 2015, has raised nearly P10 million for charity, with nearly 10,000 total runners. Beneficiary charities over the years include HERO Foundation, YesPinoy Foundation, ERDA Tech Foundation, Right Start Community Development Inc., Tzu Chi Foundation Philippines, EPCALM Adult Leukemia Foundation of the Philippines, Empowering Brilliant Minds Foundation and more.

Interested runners may register online through www.runwithme.ph and run alongside Run With Me X celebrity team leaders Meg, Rovilson, Coach Rio and other celebrities for a day of camaraderie and charity.

Health&Fitness

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P.I.T.A.H.C.

PARTICIPATES IN DOH’S 121ST ANNIVERSARY neck pains and spine misalignment.

In addition to Dr. Camara’s group, Rob Walcher and his group, together with his wife Patricia Javier, likewise, perform free chiropractic treatment to DOH officials and employees.

Acupuncture and ‘hilot’ for pain management

PHILIPPINE Institute of Traditional and Alternative Health Care director general Dr. Annabelle Pabiona-de Guzman (seated, right) with Dr. Leslee Anne Tandoc and selected acupuncturists

T

HE Department of Health (DOH) celebrated its 121st anniversary on June 23 with the theme “ToDOH Arangkada Tungo sa Universal Health Care: Alamin mo, kasama ka rito”. It is a weeklong celebration emphasizing the significance of employees with respect to its effort in the implementation of the UHC law.

Since June 23 falls on Sunday, the DOH celebrated its anniversary from June 17 to 21.

At the DOH flag-raising ceremony, Philippine Institute of Traditional and Alternative Health Care (Pitahc) director general Dr. Annabelle Pabiona-de Guzman introduced the series of activities, including traditional- and complementary-medicine practices,

Chiropractors of the Philippines. He is also the current board chairman of the Pitahc and, at the same time, the National Certification Committee for Chiropractic Medicine.

Together with his team consisting of a chiropractic doctor, medical doctor, nurse, physical therapist and chiropractic assistants, they treated DOH employees of their back pains,

ACUPUNCTURE is a traditional Chinese medicine originated thousand of years ago. This healing modality is based on the principle of a blockage or disturbance in the flow of the body’s life energy, or “Qi”, which can cause health problems.

The Philippine traditional healing (hilot), on the other hand, is an ancient Filipino art of healing used by our ancestors even before the Spanish colonization. It is a popular method of healing that is commonly used in the province. It uses traditional Filipino herbal medicine and oils as part of the practice.

This form of healing was the only form of medical care in early times.

Even today in the province, specially in far-flung areas, hilot is still used by many people.

On the fourth day of the DOH anniversary the Pitahc showcased acupuncture medicine and the traditional Filipino healing (hilot). DOH employees got a free acupuncture treatment and hilot for pain healing.

namely, chiropractic medicine, acupuncture and hilot.

Chiropractic medicine for wellness

DOH officials and employees lined up for free chiropractic treatments.

The treatment was headed by Dr. Martin Camara, a chiropractic doctor and the current president of the Association of Professional

CHIROPRACTIC doctors and their team, together with Philippine Institute of Traditional and Alternative Health Care director general Dr. Annabelle Pabiona-de Guzman (second from right), on a free chiropractic treatment for Department of Health officials and employees (Photo courtesy of Patricia Javier)

PHILIPPINE Institute of Traditional and Alternative Health Care director general Dr. Annabelle Pabiona-de Guzman with hilot practitioners on the fourth day of the Department of Health’s anniversary

PHILIPPINE Institute of Traditional and Alternative Health Care director general Dr. Annabelle de Guzman (fourth from left) and Dr. Martin Camara (second to the right) together with Department of Health officials: (from left) Health Assistant Secretaries Laxamana, Grande and Punzalan, and Health Undersecretaries Domingo and Bayugo at the DOH flag-raising ceremony

Health&Fitness July 18-24, 2019 3

ENTHUSIASM AND PASSION

Vital elements for a happy and fulfilling life

H

AVE you ever been alongside someone who is highly enthusiastic?

It’s very contagious, isn’t it? Strive to be that person. people. But how do we do that?

We perform our duties as if we are doing them for the very first time.

I was a professional singer/ pianist for more than 25 years.

Let me tell you, I performed six nights a week, singing the most requested songs of the time every single night, sometimes

those songs for the first time.

I saw many of my colleagues sing and play in venues as if they had played the tunes over and over again (probably 7,000 times). It was very boring to watch, and everyone in the room looked bored as well. I decided then and there that if I had to play audience-requested songs over and over again, I would play them as if it was the first time.

The incredible enthusiasm that came from me and my songs created such excitement that I constantly was asked to

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It invigorates your body and creates excitement in your career’s daily activities that easily can become mundane if you allow them to do so.

Routine is what we are made of, and we cannot possibly get away from it. But we can stop it from being boring to us and, even worse, boring to other

two or three times in a night.

When calculated, it means that I sang each song approximately 7,000 times during a 25 year period. I was wellrenowned for my live performances because I was exciting to watch and had incredible enthusiasm.

I was always in demand and often performed at the same venue for more than two or three years. How did I keep my audience captivated and coming back to see me entertain again and again? I sang and played as if I was performing

4 Health&Fitness July 18-24, 2019

back, I sometimes think to myself, how did I ever sustain that workload?

I did so because of the high energy that I created through my enthusiasm. Once you achieve your goal in your career, you will need high energy to keep it going. High energy will see you through the days when you think you feel tired, but you complete the tasks anyway.

Find work that you have a passion for, and you will never have to find enthusiasm or high energy again. Tony Robbins, an American self-help author, and the motivational speaker knows this too well. He always signs off with, “Live with passion.”

He is talking about all areas of your life and, considering you will spend most of your time in your working activities, make sure you find what you’re passionate about, and then search for your vocation that matches those activities.

Are you passionate about fishing? See what you can find that will generate income from that source. Are you passionate about cooking or cleaning? My 80-year-old mother, whom I love dearly, is so passionate about both of these “chores” that she has done them every single day of her life, no matter how tired she was. She will tell you that she despises doing these activities, but she loves seeing people’s faces after they have devoured her dishes and say how delicious they were. She also cannot stand being in a house where there is a trace of dust.

If she had chosen to turn these chores into income-generating

activities, I have no doubt she would have become a happier and wealthier human being than she is right now.

My brother, when he was very young, liked to freehand draw anything that caught his eye. Many people believed that he traced them and said that it was not possible to freehand draw his pictures. And yet he did. I have no doubt that if he chose to find a vocation that includes these tasks, he would feel fulfilled and satisfy a burning desire that once was there when he was a young boy; but he was not aware of it, and still does not to this day.

Source: www.bewellbuzz.com

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return, but I always was booked out in advance.

I believe the people just wanted to be around enthusiastic and exciting people, and that is what I created in my music and performance.

Can you imagine if you had the same attitude in your chosen job or business? How would you be successful?

You would attract more business, better opportunities and enjoy your day much more than you would otherwise. No employer would let you go if you were excited about your job and attracting customers. You would be more valuable to them if you stayed. And if they did not see this, then you are with the wrong company.

Once you have your enthusiasm working for you, it naturally flows to the next ingredient for an ultimate living, which you cannot stop from shining through you, and that is high energy.

Try creating high energy without enthusiasm. You can’t. They go hand in hand. You have high energy in your career, and nothing will stop you from being a success. You never will feel tired.

At one time in my musical career, I was singing eight gigs a week within a five-day period of about 12 months. I was doing Tuesday night, Wednesday night, Thursday night, Friday afternoon, Friday night, Friday late night, Saturday night and then Sunday afternoon. And all this while carrying my own musical equipment, sometimes up and down stairs. No one could believe my stamina. And looking

If you are challenged to find a passion in your life, then look no further than when you were a young child. This will give you a big clue as to what that passion would be. What did you do?

What made you happy? What did you enjoy doing?

As for me, when I was about 12 years old, I loved playing the guitar and singing. I never stopped and never was tired. I even paid for my own tuition, as I have been working after school since I was 10 to earn some money. When I left school, after some initial jobs, I studied music, then lived and worked my passion for more than 25 years.

At 10 years of age, I used to sell newspapers on the street corner and now, at the age of 54, I have retired from music to become a sales representative. It is an advancement from my newspaperselling days and, you guessed it, I love my sales role and also the company.

At this moment, I am on the journey to my next passion in life, and that is self-development.

I want to share it with as many people as possible so they can benefit from the same knowledge that turned my own life around. I also would like to make it a source of income; sharing the insights and strategies that will help people live a more fulfilled life and allowing me to live my passion at the same time.

So, live with enthusiasm, passion and high energy and see your world just fall into place.

Health&Fitness July 18-24, 2019 5

STEVIA

ACHIEVING A SWEETER TOMORROW THROUGH

By Cesar M. Cruz Jr.

I

T is no secret that more and more people are making their health and wellness their top priority. After all, who does not want to look and feel good as they age? A crucial factor that contributes to the state of our health has a lot to do with what we eat.

While everyone wants to indulge in their favorite sugary treats, nobody wants to impact the blood sugar levels in the body in a negative way.

Thankfully, there is a noncaloric sustainable sweetener that comes to the rescue. The organic sugar substitute is known as stevia. This shrub type of plant, first found in Paraguay, could hold the potential to provide the solution to weight management goals. Could this be the solution sweet-tooth individuals are looking for?

In the 58th Philippine Association of Food Technologies Inc. annual convention held recently at the Crown Plaza Manila Galleria, Ortigas Center, Ms. Cecille Miciano, export/marketing officer of Glori-

6 Health&Fitness July 18-24, 2019

ous Industrial and Development Corp. (GIDC) was among the guest speakers to lecture on the theme of “Future Food.” She spoke on the

topic of plant-based sweetening alternative ingredient for tomorrows need. Her findings based on the 2020 Global Consumer Trends

showed that the world market is ripe for the introduction of stevia. Likewise, she mentioned that among the five global trends according to Kroger (an American retailing company), plant-based food is one of them—consumers choosing to go meatless or dairy free gave rise to “Meatless Monday” and “Flexitarian Friday,” for example.

The local scenario seems to support this trend. In the Philippine sugar tax bill, because stevia is not sugar but purely steviol glycosides, it was exempted from the excise tax. Added to this, the guidelines on food and drinks as stated by the Department of Education, is the message that there is a need for students to limit the intake of free sugar for health reasons. The sequence of events makes it conducive or ripe for stevia to generate a buzz and penetrate mainstream consciousness.

The GIDC officer left the audience with the famous words attributed to Hippocrates, “Let food be thy medicine, thy medicine shall be thy food.”

Dessert application of Stevia

A SHINING example of stevia’s application in dessert was witnessed by the those who partook of the Philippine Culinary Heritage Food Festival of Diamond Hotel held during the country’s independence month. While it has been a practice of the hotel to feature celebrity chefs and their signature dishes, this time around was different. Diamond Hotel GM Vanessa Suatengco got hold of Chef Christopher Cariangan for an exciting collaboration. His passion for food research has brought to life culinary treasures of yesteryears.

Aside from being the founder and president of Razorchef Philippines and being the chief general of the Culinary Generals of the Philippines, there is more to this Filipino-cuisine expert than meets the eye. His role as a brand ambassador of Sweet & Fit Stevia food supplement powder proved to be the ace up his sleeves as his tasty creations made a splash at the dessert station of the food festival. His three kinds of ice cream flavors, which were sweetened by Sweet & Fit Stevia were Ube Kinampay, Activated Charcoal, and Criollo.

The Ube Kinampay, for example, pays tribute to the root crop native to Bohol. Its inherent creamy texture proved to be a good match for stevia.

On the other hand, heavy cream and eggs were added in the making of charcoal ice cream to achieve the desired texture as it is mixed with Sweet & Fit Stevia. Lastly, Criollo refers to the rare and expensive variety of heirloom cocoa. The ice cream flavors were a hit. The ice-cream flavors made with stevia had their share of fame as they made their rounds in social media.

The locally produced stevia pride itself of having no bitter aftertaste.

Continuous research and development were key ingredients in developing great tasting food with stevia.

Glorious Industrial and Development Corp.

GIDC is the Philippines’s first stevia company established in 2004. To

insure the nutrients of the stevia are intact after undergoing the production process, the company avails of the service of a third party lab test.

To further its credibility, there is an ongoing organic certification

from the Organic Certification Center of the Philippines and Nicert organic inspection and certification. The issuance of the certificate would be a big boost to the company as it grows its list of satisfied clients both

locally and abroad. Sweet & Fit Stevia was first marketed to the dietary department of hospitals catering to diabetic and borderline diabetic patients, as it positions itself as a health alternative to sugar. In recent years, on the other hand, the product demand has been on the upswing as health conscious individuals who turned into ketogenic diet looked for a sugar substitute.

Not only does stevia meet the criteria, the product also has a zero reading in the nutritional facts department in terms of calories, total fat, cholesterol, sodium and total carbohydrates.

The stevia company is certified by FDA, Phils.,ISO 9001-2015, Good Manufacturing Practices, Halal and DOST-Assisted Project.

GIDC supports the Stevia farming communities as it improve the quality of their life by way of higher income, educational assistance, health care and additional training.

Health&Fitness July 18-24, 2019 7

PHILIPPINE MEDICA

A SHOWCASE OF MEDICAL ECOSYSTEM IN THE H

P

By Leony R. Garcia

EOPLE seek treatment in the hospital or medical clinic for comfort and immediate diagnosis.

When one is in the hospital or medical facility, he or she expects easy accessibility to medical devices.

With that, he is more likely to get a rapid diagnosis with the presence of precise and highly technical equipment. Whether it is a scan, specialist opinion or other invasive treatment, the patient expects the hospital to get what he needs quickly, often within hours.

This is the ideal hospital scenario, which the Philippine Medical Depot (PMD) would love to address. Highly dependent on imports, the medical supplies and equipment industry in the Philippines is almost 100 percent sourced abroad. But with the PMD, the health sector would not have to go through lengths just to update their medical facility as the leading brands are showcased in just one place.

The grand opening

THE PMD officially opened its door on February 25 and held its locator’s launching on June 28 at the NBS Building in Quezon City. The strategic location—at the heart of Quezon City—very accessible to cars and commuters, is a convenient place for buyers and suppliers to meet. PMD offers

8 Health&Fitness July 18-24, 2019

an all-year exhibit of medical equipment featuring the latest in technology carried by the most prestigious and trusted brands.

Current locators and exhibitors at the PMD are provided free use of a meeting room and a conference hall for their small meetings/seminars and product launching.

LAWYER Donel Transporto, Anil Wadhwa, commissioner Sandy Montano, commissioner Manuelito Luna, Dr. Luis Rodriguez, Dr. Caroline Rodriguez, Rep. Leah Paquiz, councilor Hero Bautista, Dima and Joan from Lonwin, Donald Ong, James Tumulak and Belle from MediXserve.

One-stop-shop for medical devices, equipment

“THE PMD is the first of its kind in the Philippines, a one-stopshop highlighting the medical ecosystem as it should be in the country. We aim to help ease the procurement for institutions by creating a database with partners who are experts in the field,” said PMD founder Dr. Luis Ramon Rodriguez, MDM. In his many years of practice as an ENT doctor and his medical update travels abroad, Dr. Luis, realized that the country has been left behind in terms of medical technology. Thus, together with his wife Dr. Caroline and his family, he persevered to put in place this medical depot, which is a full-line,

GUESTS OF HONOR: Hero Clarence Bautista, Rep. Leah Paquiz, commissioner Sandy Sanchez-Montano, fommissioner Manuelito Luna

full-service showroom of medical equipment focused on providing exceptional products in private and government hospitals, medical centers, long-term care, home health, ambulatory surgicenters and other health-care facilities.

With this, different players in the medical-equipment industry can easily provide the most relevant information to showcase why their items are the best in the market. It is also the easiest way for consumers to get comparative information on different local and international brands of medical products.

Besides being a centralized marketplace for the medical equipment, the PMD also made a major breakthrough by tapping one of the world’s leading brands in medical and surgical simulation showcasing a virtual dissecting table and virtual reality to supplement cadavers in the study of human anatomy. The PMD also features problem-based virtualpatient software bringing the

process to life, allowing medical students to asses, diagnose and evaluate client progress with realtime feedback and scoring to hone their skills.

The advocacy: To take medical education, service onto greater heights

INDEED, innovation and technology continues to play an important role in the health-care system and improve people’s lives.

It is Dr. Luis’s and his team’s dream to take medical education to newer and greater heights.

“On a bigger picture, it is our advocacy to provide medical and surgical simulation nationwide to update, and further hone and equip our medical practitioners—doctors and nurses down to the ground level among the local government units [LGUs]—with knowledge and skills in health care. With the new learning technology, it is also our goal to give medical students a fun-worthwhile learning experience and mastery,

AL DEPOT

HEART OF QUEZON CITY

while keeping schools at par with the latest innovations in medical education,� he said.

Thus, the PMD shall be open for medical students and health enthusiasts. It can also be a good educational trip venue for students to encourage more young people to proceed to medical practice.

Further, the PMD also caters biomedical-equipment solutions, such as servicing, preventive maintenance, repair and calibration for both health care and equipment providers. Also joining the PMD is a group of architects to showcase hospital designs for future investors on health-care business.

In recent years architects and health-care organizations have been coming together to incorporate principles of social design into the built health-care environment. Such design showcases the design of relationships, including those that are invisible and intangible, addressing the needs of whole communities or societies. In

health care, it means reimagining the role a building can play in the health of its inhabitants by dedicating walking spaces to help speed convalescence and shorten hospital stays, for example.

The PMD aims to be the most established center nationwide for medical product and service trading, business-to-business transactions and professional networking, and among healthcare organizations business and clients. This early, the PMD is eyeing expansion in Cebu and Davao, and a stand-alone depot in Manila.

The PMD also encourages partnership with startup and small medical-business incubation.

Let the PMD provide you with the help you need. Visit Philippine Medical Depot now on the third-floor level of the NBS Building, Quezon Avenue corner Scout Borromeo Streets, Diliman, Quezon City. For more information, visit www. philmeddepot.com.

CUT AND PRESENT THIS TO PMD TO GET BIG DISCOUNT ON ITEMS YOU ARE INTERESTED TO PURCHASE

FITNESS RULES

By Greggy H. Romualdez

THREE LIFTS/EXERCISES THAT WILL HELP POWER KAI SOTTO’S NBA DREAM

A

T 7 feet and 2 inches tall, Kai Zachary Sotto is the tallest Filipino basketball player of all time. The 17-year-old has made a good account of himself in the international basketball scene, consistently averaging in double digits, while representing the national team in various Fiba age group meets.

He has shown that he can hold his own against the world’s best big men his age. In the recent 2019 Fiba World Cup U19 tournament, he emerged as one of the top shot blockers in the tournament (tied for No. 2 averaging three blocks per game), while competing mostly with players two years his senior.

Filipino basketball fans are pinning their hopes on the lanky teener to be the first-ever full-blooded and homegrown Pinoy to make it into the National Basketball Association (NBA). And this isn’t just a pipe dream. The youngster has shown footwork, speed, agility and athleticism that is rare for someone his size. Currently listed as weighing 223 lbs, Kai would seem skinny for his towering height. His current weight though is a marked improvement from his 210 lbs two months ago, before he started on a program with athlete management agency East West Private in the United States, which hopes to transform him into an NBA-ready baller.

I am not sure what kind of weighttraining program he is on, but here are three lifts/exercises that should be (or probably is) on Kai’s plate to make him pack on the size and prepare him to soar in the big leagues.

Barbell bench presses—Anyone who walks

into a weights room would gravitate

10 Health&Fitness July 18-24, 2019

towards the bench press. After all, this is the king of all upper-body exercises that will primarily build the chest, shoulders and also hit the triceps. If Kai is to bang bodies with world-class bigs, he needs a barrel chest and boulder shoulders for him to stay in the game. When jostling for position in the post where he is quite comfortable, Kai would need to lean in with sturdy strong shoulders and a solid upper body that won’t fold under pressure.

Barbell back squats—

An increased vertical leap and explosive leg power are among the benefits of squatting consistently on a proper program. Squats work out the entire legs, improving strength and size. Also, stronger legs contribute to increased speed and agility.

Now imagine, Kai Sotto, all 7 feet and 2 inches of him, with an explosive vertical to swat away those shots and soaring for those powerful slams. More muscular legs will also mean he can stand his ground in the paint and say no to other big guys trying to push him out of position.

Deadlifts—This is a whole body exercise that requires our lower and upper bodies to work in unison in moving the weight. Deadlifts mainly hit the posterior chain (hamstring, glutes and back muscles).

And what is the benefit of a stron-

KAI ZACHARY SOTTO INSTAGRAM/FACEBOOK ACCOUNT OF KAI SOTTO

ger posterior chain? A higher vertical since these muscles are heavily involved in jumping. Strengthening the muscles involved in a particular activity, like jumping for instance, will result in increased power and explosiveness. Also, deadlifts strengthen our abdominal muscles, since we recruit them when executing and stabilizing a lift. Lastly, this also strengthens grip since it takes a lot of hand and grip strength to execute a heavy deadlift. This surely comes in handy when a bulky big will attempt to take the ball from Kai’s hands or when he is trying to wrestle the ball away during a rebound play.

Undoubtedly, Kai Sotto has the potential to crash the ranks of the

world’s basketball elite in the coming years. Yes, his frame will need some bulking-up. But with the proper weight training program—including the three power-lifting exercises enumerated above—our young NBA hopeful may see strength and physique gains that are essential to pushing his game to the next level.

Endless squats, deadlift and bench press sessions await the young Filipino prospect on the road to getting in shape to do battle with the big, bad boys of the NBA. He certainly has his work cut out for him. The intense weight training sessions, however, pale in comparison to the more difficult challenge of carrying on his back the lofty expectations of Filipino basketball fans.

BULLETIN BOARD

HEALTHY JAPANESE DINING

AT SHABURI KINTAN IN GLORIETTA 2

SHABU-SHABU and yakiniku are two great and healthy ways to best enjoy Japanese food, and you can experience the best of both at the newly opened Shaburi Kintan at Top of Glo in Glorietta 2, Makati City. It is a dining concept by the founder of the No.1 yakiniku restaurant in the world, who also introduced the dining innovations of shabu-shabu, udon and yakitori in over 200 restaurants in different countries.

“I’m very happy to have Shaburi and Kintan at the center of Makati. The Philippines has a very big market for Japanese cuisine with its large population, which is only second to Indonesia in Southeast Asia,” Nishiyama said.

He was joined by Universal Alliance Dining Concepts Inc. President Hubert Young, who brought the new dining concept here in the Philippines. Young is also the entrepreneur behind many of the successful Japanese dining establishments in Metro Manila that include the UCC chain of food and coffee concepts, Coco Ichibanya, Mitsuyado House of Tsukemen, Mit-

12 Health&Fitness July 18-24, 2019

suyado Ramen Shokudo and Tendon Kohaku, among others.

Shaburi Kintan encourages customers to satisfy their craving for authentic Japanese dishes in shabu-shabu, yakiniku and buffet settings. They can enjoy a delicious feast with their choice of meat, seafood and vegetables, along with healthy broth with their shabu-shabu.

They can also choose to grill delectable meats in the yakiniku.

Your dining options

IF you want the kintan buffet, you can choose from four options: the Regular Buffet, Kintan Buffet, Premium Kintan Buffet and Special Wagyu Buffet. You can then choose your type of rice and the meat you want. The best thing about grilling the meat in the Kintan setting is that the smoke that comes from the grill is sucked up.

For the shabu-shabu buffet, you can choose from the Regular Shabu, Special Shabu, Sha-

buri Wagyu or Special Wagyu. What makes the shabu-shabu option different in the restaurant is that each customer gets his/her own pot of preferred soup or soups.

Meat choices for both the kintan and shabu-shabu include quality chicken, pork and beef cuts.

More Shaburi Kintan in the future

“I HOPE you would give Shaburi Kintan the support you have afforded UCC throughout the years,” Young said, adding that they are planning to open five to 10 more of the dining concept in the coming years.

“The concepts can either be broken into a combination again of Shaburi and Kintan, which is shabu-shabu and yakiniku. Or, we can also break it down to just a shabu-shabu store and a yakiniku store,” he explained.

Apart from the Philippines, Shaburi Kintan restaurants can be found in Indonesia, Taiwan, Cambodia, Singapore and the United Kingdom.

BULLETIN BOARD

RICHMONDE HOTEL ILOILO’S F.A.B. OFFERS ‘FOUR YOU’ RICHMONDE Hotel Iloilo turns another year older this July, and to celebrate this happy occasion, this first-class hotel at the heart of Iloilo Business Park treats its fabulous guests to equally amazing F.A.B. (Fourth Anniversary Bash) offers just “Four You”!

1Marked-down Room Rates.

For one whole month, from July 20 to August 20, 2019, Richmonde thanks its loyal patrons by dropping its room rates to as low as P4,400 net for an overnight stay and P4,000 net for a minimum stay of two nights. These promotional rates are valid for accommodations upto two adults and two children five years old and below, and include hearty breakfast buffets at The Granary, Wi-Fi access, use of the swimming pool and gym, 10-percent service charge, applicable taxes, plus special discounts. Terms, conditions and blackout dates apply.

2Treats Four You.

The marked-down anniversary room rates also come with four exclusive discounts to make each hotel stay and Iloilo visit more fun and memorable.

Relish the gastronomic delights of Richmonde’s restaurant outlets at 10-percent discount on all dine-in food and beverage orders at The Granary, BizBar and Zabana Bar. Indulging in all their delectable dishes and refreshing drinks will definitely be satisfying and easy on the pocket.

Sightsee in comfort and get the most out of day trips with guided tours of the city and neighboring islands at 15-percent discount. Whatever your interest—sun and sand, food and culture, nature and religion—there’s an adventure for you. Available tours include heritage, pilgrimage, countryside farm, culinary, mystery house, Isla

de Gigantes, Sicogon Island and Guimaras.

Relax and de-stress as you luxuriate in your room with a soothing massage, or indulge in some pampering like a manicure and pedicure— all at 20-percent discount and expertly serviced

by Iloilo’s premier wellness center, Skinetics.

Toast to the good life with the hotel’s signature Zabana cocktails at 30-percent off. Inspired

by Filipino hospitality, made with local ingredients, and mixed with homegrown rum brand, Zabana, these thrilling concoctions are the perfect accompaniment whether you want to party or wind down.

All Treats Four You are included in all bookings under the promotional anniversary room rate.

33+1 Buffet Four You.

From July 5 to 27, 2019, weekend dinner binges will be more delightful at The Granary, as it presents a 3+1 buffet deal for groups of four. Pay for just three and get the other one for free! This is valid for guests paying the full buffet rate of P950 net per person. The Weekend Dinner Buffet is available on Fridays and Saturdays.

4Bolder, better dishes Four You.

Richmonde launches the new a la carte menus of The Granary, BizBar and Zabana Bar on its birthday, July 20! Savor an enriching dining experience with the fresh, bold flavors and improved variety of the culinary creations of Richmonde’s kitchen team headed by Chef Jeffrey Ticao. Menu highlights include enhanced Richmonde signature items, Filipino comfort food with a twist, award-winning dishes and reimagined all-time favorite international fare.

For inquiries and reservations, email rhireservations@richmondehotel.com.ph. To get instant

confirmation, book online at www.richmondehoteliloilo.com.ph.

Terms, conditions, and blackout dates apply to this promotion. Rates are not valid in conjunction with other promotions and discount privileges. Per DTI Iloilo Permit 06-157, Series of 2019.

Richmonde Hotel Iloilo is at Megaworld Boulevard cor. Enterprise Road, Iloilo Business Park, Mandurriao, Iloilo City 5000, Philippines. Connect with us on Facebook (@ RichmondeHotelIloilo) and Instagram (@rhi. richmonde) and be updated with the hotel’s latest promos and offerings.

‘SECRET TO SUCCESS’ IS NO SECRET AT ALL THERE are success stories and there are Success Stories. And the story of how Bria Homes, until recently a newly established player in the real estate industry, became the fastest-growing mass housing developer in the Philippines is a remarkably simple one.

From the start, Bria Homes’ vision has been to offer hardworking Filipinos their dream homes in the form of economical house and-lot packages and budget-friendly condominium units. Every single employee in Bria Homes is driven by this purpose—not merely to earn but to help ordinary Filipino families acquire superior quality, well-designed houses that will last a lifetime.

Bria Homes has more than 50 housing projects spread on more than 700 hectares of land, which are located in over 40 of the Philippines’s progressive towns and cities nationwide, with even more projects currently in the pipeline.

This affirms that Bria Homes remains earnest in addressing the mass housing problem in the country. Towards this end, Bria Homes has developed a formula: Affordability (mura) + Superior Quality (dekalidad) = a beautiful Bria Home for Every Filipino. This formula has empowered ordinary Filipinos—new entrepreneurs, blue-collar workers, young professionals, newly married couples and small families—to go after their dream home for as low as P1,897 a month, through flexible payment options such as PagIBIG Funding or bank financing.

Aspiring homeowners can choose from a wide range of house models, all located in pleasant and wholesome communities that are secured by guarded gates and perimeter fences, and feature recreational facilities, such as basketball courts and swimming pools.

Bria communities also enjoy proximity to schools, religious institutions, hospitals, retail establishments, and major roads and highways. All these and more have made Bria Homes a leading mass housing developer in the country.

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 P200 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.

To know more about Bria Homes, like “Bria Official” on Facebook, and follow “@TheBriaOfficial” on Twitter and Instagram.

Health&Fitness July 18-24, 2019 13

HEALTH MONITOR

BDO FOUNDATION UPGRADES PANGLAO HEALTH FACILITY F

OR the local officials of Panglao in Bohol, health care is a top priority. For its dedication to serve the people of Panglao, the local government unit has received recognition from the Center for Health Development of the Department of Health (DOH).

The town’s two-story rural health unit—almost the size of a small hospital—also stands as a testament to the commitment of local government leaders and health workers to provide the best patient care possible to thousands of constituents.

Helping the LGU fulfill this commitment is BDO Foundation, the corporate social responsibility arm of the country’s largest bank. Backed by the DOH Region 7 office and supported by BDO branches in Bohol, the foundation recently rehabilitated Panglao Rural Health Unit as part of efforts to help improve the health-care delivery system in the Philippines.

The newly renovated health facility was turned over to the community

REHABILITATION of Panglao Rural Health Unit in Bohol, an initiative that helps improve the health and well-being of more than 37,000 people from 10 barangays.

by BDO Foundation President Mario Deriquito, BDO Foundation Program Director Rose Espinosa and BDO

Bohol-Panglao Branch Head Gwen Jonos. The completion of the project was graciously welcomed by residents

6 FOODS THAT TRIGGER PMS

P

REMENSTRUAL Syndrome or PMS is a bunch of symptoms that even the strongest women would usually face several days before that time of the month. Feeling totally frazzled and waking up with a different kind of fatigue is a reality, a zit on the nose that wasn’t there a night before. And oh, those tender breasts plus the soreness and heaviness. Worst, you can’t stop thinking about that fudgy chocolate cake you saw on Instagram!

According to Anne Price, a Certified Holistic health coach, an average woman experiences PMS 450 times in her lifetime. While hormones play a part in these biological changes, there’s a way on how to manage it by avoiding these foods that are likely to alleviate the symptoms.

fats and 1Trans hydrogenated fats.

Trans fats and hydrogenated fats are unhealthy by-products of a chemical process called hydrogenation.

Manufacturers alter the fats to solidify liquid oils and lengthen shelf life and flavor of oils and foods that contain them. Go for saturated fats found in coconut or the healthier monounsaturated fats, like olive and avocado oil.

2

Food allergens. Food allergies cause digestive issues and skin breakouts

14 Health&Fitness July 18-24, 2019

that are obvious signs of a possible hormonal imbalance. But, what if you have no idea, which food you are allergic to? Either you have yourself checked by a doctor, or try an elimination diet.

High fructose corn 3 syrup and refined sugar.

High fructose corn syrup is a chemically produced sugar found in sodas and fruit-flavored drinks, while refined sugar is the ones usually stored in your pantry. It comes from sugar cane, processed to extract sugar used to sweeten cakes, desserts, cookies, coffee and cereals. The difference between these and the natural sugars found in fruits is that the former have empty calories with no nutritional value, while the latter are loaded with fiber and other nutrients that your body needs, especially right before the shark week. The absence of fibers makes you digest these artificial sugars rapidly, resulting in insulin and blood sugar skyrocket. The result?

It fuels mood swings and worsens headaches and difficulty concentrating. That’s the reason as well why you don’t feel full even after giving in to your sweet tooth.

4Salt.

Ever wonder why you’re bloated or your hands and feet swell during PMS? These symptoms are caused by none other than

hormonal changes that cause water retention.

Swapping salty food with nuts and loading up on fruits and veggies are good choices to reduce the accumulation of water weight because of a diet that’s high in sodium!

5Caffeine.

PMS is usually associated with fatigue, mental exhaustion and depression. A lot of women try to counter these by increasing caffeine intake. But because caffeine is a stimulant chemical, it causes increased heart rate and blood pressure. This consequently leads to tension, anxiety, difficulty sleeping and greater exhaustion.

6Alcohol.

When alcohol enters the bloodstream, it alters the brain function that produces serotonin. Now imagine that PMS is at its peak, and you decide to wreck them further by drinking your favorite bar drink. Not very helpful, right? And like the previous item, it is also diuretic.

It will rob you of your much-needed bodily fluids that will lead to prolonged dysmenorrhea. That said, abstaining from drinking alcohol during this time is strongly encouraged.

Remember that diet plays a key role in balancing the fluctuating hormones in a woman’s body.

But aside from choosing the right food, picking the right sanitary pads will keep you centered. The

and health workers led by municipal health officer Dr. Julita Cogo.

“I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to BDO Foundation and BDO Unibank for supporting the people of Panglao through the rehabilitation of our rural health unit,” said Dr. Cogo.

“We are truly blessed to be a beneficiary of your rehabilitation program.”

BDO Foundation improved Panglao Rural Health Unit’s layout and interior design, lobby and waiting areas, offices, clinics, consultation rooms, treatment rooms and facilities. New furniture, fixtures and equipment were also installed. Originally constructed in 2011, the health center now has a play area for children, complete with books and toys, as well as a waiting lounge for senior citizens.

With rehabilitation work completed, Panglao’s doctors, nurses and midwives are now better equipped to provide primary health-care services more effectively to mothers and babies, children, senior citizens, persons with disabilities and other patients.

first anion sanitary pad in retail that’s available at Watsons, Mercury Drug, all leading supermarkets and groceries nationwide, it’s also on offer at www. lazada.com.ph and www.shopee.ph. The anion strip feature helps to ward off bacteria and fungi that cause a foul odor, while keeping its freshness up to three hours. The findings are a result of the clinical trial by the Laboratory of Inorganic Nanomaterials, Institute of Chemistry, UP Diliman; that’s why women who are looking for a menstrual pad with better benefits should try Jeunesse Anion. On top of these unique benefits, it’s made from sterilized virgin-pulp material that provides extraordinary softness and absorption capacity, leaving you fresh and comfortable all day! Jeunesse Anion comes in ultra-day non-wing, ultra-day pad, ultra-night pad, all-night pad and panty liner to help every woman to go through their period with ease and comfort.

Wellgold International Inc. distributes Jeunesse Anion Sanitary Napkin and Liners, arecurrently available at Watsons, selected Mercury Drug and South Star Drug outlets, SM department store’s health and beauty section, Robinson’s Supermarket and selected department stores, Shopwise, Rustan’s Supermarket, Waltermart, Landmark Department Store, PCX stores, selected Metro Gaisano outlets, plus other selected stores in Visayas and Mindanao.