BusinessMirror July 31, 2019

BSP: MANUFACTURING GETS 1/3 OF FDI

By Bianca Cuaresma @BcuaresmaBM

T

HE manufacturing sector continued to get the lion’s share of the gross foreign direct investments (FDI) channeled to the Philippines in the first four months of the year, according to data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

Of the $2.9 billion FDI that flowed into the Philippines in January to April, the manufacturing sector received one-third, or 33.51 percent. Other recipients of large FDI are the transportation and storage sector with 28.84 percent; financial and insurance services, 26.52 percent; and real-estate activities, 26.16 percent.

FDI is the type of investment that is often more coveted, as it stays longer in the economy and creates job opportunities for locals. These investments are also usually an indicator of longterm sentiment of the global community regarding the country’s economy as FDI are not easily

DIGITAL JUAN Globe Telecoms President and CEO Ernest L. Cu speaks at the Angat Lahat sa Digital forum in partnership with the Office of the Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship on Tuesday. The Angat Lahat sa Digital initiative is meant to help every Juan dela Cruz access digital platforms for better business opportunities with several online platforms such as Grab, Angkas, Lazada, Shopee and Food Panda, among others. BERNARD TESTA

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pulled out of the market, unlike its shorter-term counterpart, the foreign portfolio investments.

In contrast to manufacturing, agriculture, education and human health and social work activities attracted few foreign investments, and accounted for only less than 2 percent of gross FDI during the period.

In terms of growth, however, FDI to the manufacturing sector were down by 78 percent from last year’s record. The decline was offset by the strong growth in FDI obtained by the transportation and storage sector, administrative and support service activities, and the information and communications sector.

Earlier this month, the BSP reported a 14-percent decline in the country’s FDI. Total net FDI inflow in the first four months of the year dropped by about $500 million to $2.9 billion, from last year’s $3.4 billion.

country’s FDI numbers are set to recover by the last quarter of the year.

Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) Head of Economics & Industry Research Team Michael Ricafort, for instance, said the low interest rate regime in the country, as well as the recent S&P Global rating upgrade given to the Philippines, will be positive for the country’s image in the international investing community.

“S&P upgraded the Philippine credit ratings by one notch to BBB+, two notches above the minimum investment grade. This reflects improved international investor sentiment/confidence on the Philippines, and may increase the inflows of foreign direct investments into the country,” the RCBC economic team said.

“If the United States-China trade war lingers or worsens, some FDI may be redirected from China to Asean countries, such as the Philippines, to avoid higher tariffs on US imports from China,” it added.

Recovery

SOME economists, however, believe that the

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n

Wednesday, July 31, 2019 Vol. 14 No. 294

Congress told: Focus on key economic bills L

By Elijah Felice E. Rosales

@alyasjah

OCAL and foreign business groups on Tuesday asked Congress to prioritize the passage of 28 measures, most of which seek to reform the country’s tax structure and liberalize key economic sectors before President Duterte’s term concludes in 2022.

In a joint statement, business groups listed 13 measures for immediate passage, as well as 15 bills that should be legislated thereafter.

Among those for immediate passage

are amendments to the Public Service Act, Foreign Investment Act and the Retail Trade Liberalization Act. “We welcome presidential certification of three important bills to

amend the Public Service Act, the Retail Trade Liberalization Act and the Foreign Investment Act, which failed to pass the Senate for lack of time,” the statement read.

We believe these reforms will generate substantial impact in improving the country’s global competitiveness, increasing investment and making economic growth more inclusive by creating more and better jobs.”

—Business Groups See “Economic bills,” A2

By Cai U. Ordinario

T

@caiordinario

HE Asian Development Bank (ADB) is planning to undertake a regional project that aims to improve broadband connections in 15 countries in the Asia and the Pacific region.

A draft report released this month said the $50-million Asia-Pacific Remote Broadband Internet Satellite Project intends to benefit countries including the Philippines, Indonesia, Myanmar and Bangladesh.

The project will be financed with a $25-million loan from the Leading Asia’s Private Infrastructure Fund (LEAP) and another $25 million from the ADB’s Ordinary Capital Resources.

“The project entails the construction, launch, and operation of a shared, geostationary earth orbit, high-throughput

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satellite [Kacific-1], featuring Ka-band technology, which will be dedicated to low-cost, highspeed, easily accessible broadband Internet in Asia and the Pacific,” the ADB said.

The project involves the development and manufacture of a satellite by Boeing Satellite Systems International Inc. (Boeing); launching the satellite through the services of the Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX); and operating the satellite through the Japanbased Sky Perfect JSAT Corp.

(JSAT).

In terms of the teleport locations, one is in Southeastern Australia and two are near Surabaya on Java island in Indonesia.

Two locations were also identified in the Philippines near Subic Bay and the New Clark International Airport.

See “ADB,” A13

Makati inks JVA for $3.5-B subway

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P

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DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

ADB WANTS BETTER ASPAC BROADBAND CONNECTION

@BNicolasBM

RESIDENT Duterte has signed an executive order mandating the inclusion of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) in the Infrastructure Cluster given its significant role in the government’s “Build, Build, Build” program.

Under the Executive Order (EO) 86 signed by the president on July 25, the BCDA will be represented by its president in the cluster.

“The mandate of the BCDA in the conversion of the Clark and Subic military reservations and their extensions into alternative productive uses, its vital public infrastructure projects such as tollway, railway, airport, seaport, and new economic growth corridor, and its role in the ‘Build, Build, Build’ program, warrant its inclusion as a member of the Infrastructure Cluster,” the EO read.

The new EO amended EO 24. s. 2017, which created the Infrastructure Cluster tasked to focus on infrastructure development.

The BCDA, which is under the direct control and supervision of the Office of the President for purposes of policy direction and coordination, is mandated under its charter to adopt, prepare and implement a comprehensive and detailed development plan for the conversion of the Clark and Subic military reservations into productive uses.

Chaired by the Secretary of the Department of Public Works and Highways, the Infrastructure Cluster includes the Executive Secretary, the Cabinet Secretary, head of the Presidential Management Staff, as well as the secretaries of different departments.

The Departments of the Interior and Local Government, Budget and Management, Transportation, Finance, Information and Communications Technology, Trade and Industry, Agriculture, Health, Social Welfare and Development, Education, and of Tourism, and the National Economic and Development Authority are also part of the cluster.

The order shall take effect immediately upon its publication in the Official Gazette or a newspaper of general circulation.

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Duterte EO has BCDA included in infra cluster to boost economic devt

By Bernadette D. Nicolas

2018 EJAP JOURNALISM AWARDS

DYNAMIC LOOK, BIG PLANS Megaworld Lifestyle Malls unveils a new logo, sporting a young, vibrant and dynamic look for Megaworld’s signature brand of malls and commercial centers. The company also announced on Tuesday that it is expanding its mall footprint in the provinces, with the opening of eight new malls in the next three years. Leading the ceremonial launch are Megaworld executives (from left) Kevin L. Tan, chief strategy officer; Lourdes T. Gutierrez-Alfonso, chief operating officer; and Graham Coates, first vice president and head of Megaworld Lifestyle Malls.

Story in Companies, page B1.

Survey: SEC one of top performing agencies

By VG Cabuag

T

@villygc

HE Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said its effort to cut processing time for company registration and its other initiatives to make the country business-friendly allowed it to

be recognized by businessmen as one of the top performing government agencies.

The SEC landed in the top 10 in the latest Executive Outlook Survey conducted by the Makati Business Club (MBC), in partnership with the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP), on the perfor-

mance of government agencies.

The agency joins the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, National Economic and Development Authority, Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration, Department of Trade and Industry, Philippine See “SEC,” A13

HE construction of the first and ambitious subway project will begin in December after the Makati City government signed on Tuesday a joint venture agreement with a private firm.

Makati Mayor Abigail Binay and listed Philippine Infradev Holdings Inc. chaired by businessman Ren Jinhua, signed the joint venture agreement for the $3.5-billion subway project, touted as the biggest private-public partnership for a local government unit.

Philippine Infradev, formerly IRC Properties Inc., earlier received the green light to proceed with the subway project after the firm hurdled a 60-day competitive Swiss Challenge and obtained the approval from City Council.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Philippine Infradev also said it submitted to the Makati Government a $350-million performance bond for the project, which was a pre-condition for the signing of the joint venture agreement with the city.

A few weeks ago, Philippine Infradev President and CEO Antonio Tiu announced the completion of a six-month soil testing along the proposed alignment of the 10-kilometer intracity subway system with no adverse findings.

The proposed subway would connect key points in Makati like the current Central Business District at the corner of Ayala and Sen. Gil Puyat Avenues, Circuit City, Makati City Hall, University of Makati, Ospital ng Makati and other new growth areas within the city.

The subway will have up to 10 airconditioned, underground island stations. It can accommodate up to six car trains, with room for over 200 persons per car, with more than 700,000 passengers per day to be accommodated and served by the proposed mass transport system.

US 51.0160 n JAPAN 0.4690 n UK 62.3467 n HK 6.5220 n CHINA 7.4016 n SINGAPORE 37.2353 n AUSTRALIA 35.2061 n EU 56.8573 n SAUDI ARABIA 13.6035

Source: BSP (30 July 2019 )

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A2 Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Senate to probe rice trade lib law’s implementation

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By Butch Fernandez

@butchfBM

HE Senate is poised to open an inquiry into the implementation of the rice trade liberalization law, particularly the establishment of a fund that aims to improve the competitiveness of farmers.

In filing Senate Resolution 39, Senator Cynthia Villar cited the need to monitor the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) embodied in Republic Act (RA) 11203, by the designated government agencies, stressing that “this law involves a very important and sensitive commodity—rice— for every Filipino.”

She added that the Senate inquiry is being mounted to also “ensure that funds are allocated for the purpose actually intended.”

Villar’s resolution recalled that the law signed by President Duterte on February 14 mandated the lifting of rice import restrictions amid government hopes this will “make the food staple more affordable to

Filipinos.”

She recalled that the law was passed precisely to “liberalize the importation, exportation and trading of rice, lifting for the purpose the quantitative import restriction on rice.”

R A11203 amended Republic Act 8178, also known as the Agricultural Tariffication Act of 1996, and replaced the quantitative restriction (QR) in rice imports.

The resolution recalled that “instead of limiting the amount of rice that will enter the country, rice imports will instead be charged with corresponding tariffs, the collected amount of which shall be given to farmers to strengthen their productive capacities in the amount of at

least P10 billion a year, for the next six years, through the RCEF.” The Villar resolution noted that imported rice from Southeast Asian countries is slapped a 35-percent tariff, which is the import duty rate commitment of the Philippines for rice in the Asean Trade in Goods Agreement.

For non-Asean member-states, the tariff is set at 50 percent or the tariff equivalent calculated in accordance with the World Trade Organization (WTO) agreement on agriculture upon the expiration of the waiver relating to the special treatment for rice of the Philippines.

RA 11203 provides that the RCEF will fund programs to increase income of Filipino farmers through various forms of assistance, such as development of inbred rice seeds, provision of rice farm equipment, cheap credit with Land Bank of the Philippines and the Development Bank of the Philippines and education-training on skills enhancement, adding that “the fund would be allocated and disbursed to rice -producing areas.”

The law’s implementing rules mandates that a new rice roadmap should be crafted within 180 days after its effectivity, with the De-

partment of Agriculture (DA) as lead agency to be joined by the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda), the Department of Finance and the Department of Budget and Management “in the formulation and adoption of a new rice roadmap.”

It specified that this roadmap should be based on the following principles: sustainable investments, particularly on rice support infrastructure and post-harvest facilities; improved productivity, efficiency and profitability of small rice farmers and landless farm workers; strengthened research and development programs; preservation and enhancement of rice production capabilities; provision of accessible, targeted and technology-oriented support services that cover the entire value chain; setting up of responsible, participatory and effective governance mechanisms; and, addressing the impact of income loss due to rice tariffication.

The law indicated that this will be implemented “through a complementation of the DA’s rice sector programs which are separately funded by the General Appropriations Act, on one hand, and the RCEF programs, on the other.”

’Bleak outlook in shipping may force domestic carriers to take drastic measures’

T

HE domestic shipping industry is in dire straits. A former official of the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) projects that the Philippine domestic s​ hipping i​ndustry will continue to have a bleak outlook for the rest of 2019.

The former government official and leading industry analyst based his forecast on the 2018 performance of the Philippine domestic shipping industry.

Records show that local shipping operators collectively reported net income losses of about P4 billion.

“With the way things are going now, the domestic shipping industry is projected to bleed even more in 2019,” according to Emerson Lorenzo, formerly Marina administrator.

He pointed out that while cargo volumes are still growing moderately

PCSO. . .

Continued from A12

separate interview.

Panelo also said it is not true that the decision to shut down PCSO gaming operations was meant to favor Chinese-dominated Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (Pogos), which resulted in the influx of illegal Chinese workers in the country and illegal gambling like jueteng.

Senator Risa Hontiveros earlier expressed concern that the President is setting double standards as he seemed to be heavy handed against selected local licensed gambling operations, such as PCSO, while being lax toward Chinese online gambling and jueteng.

“That is what the critics think,” Panelo said. “They are wrong.”

Senate probe

THE Senate is poised to open a full-blown inquiry into allegations of anomalies at the PCSO and the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth).

Pro-administration Senator Christopher Lawrence Go, however, gave assurances on Tuesday that the upcoming inquiry into the health sector mess will not hamper delivery of public services by the PCSO and Malasakit Centers.

“The interest of the Filipino people should be put above everything else and those who committed corruption should be held accountable,” said Go. Go, recently named chairman of

due to domestic consumption growth, shipping operators are burdened by continuously increasing operating costs, partially attributed to the excise tax on petroleum products as provided for under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Industrialization (TRAIN) Law. Fuel consumption remains the biggest component of operating cost.

Inefficiency and congestion in a number of major ports in the country hamper vessel turnaround times. Due to lack of available berths for example, vessels incur significant delays, reducing their ability to generate more trips and volumes to offset the high cost of operations.

“While the government’s efforts to modernize port facilities and reduce inefficiencies in the Port of Manila have

the Senate Committee on Health and Demography, affirmed in a press statement his readiness to spearhead an inquiry into alleged anomalies in the PCSO and PhilHealth.

At the same time, Go noted that Senator Panfilo Lacson had also disclosed Health Secretary Francisco Duque III’s alleged “conflict of interest” in some PhilHealth transactions in a privilege speech at Monday’s plenary session.

Signaling his readiness to chair the Health Committee inquiry, Go affirmed his willingness “to set aside friendships” as what Duterte advised him to do, adding: “The President told me to always do what is right.”

He, however, clarified he has no reasons to prejudge Health Secretary Duque. “As chairman of Committee on Health, I’m willing to investigate if there’s really conflict of interest but I still trust Secretary Duque, until it’s proven sufficiently that he did something wrong.”

In a press statement, Go also assured that operations and services offered by Malasakit Centers are not affected by the closure of PCSO gaming outlets. Patients can seek financial assistance from various government agencies in Malasakit Centers established in 38 public hospitals all over the country.

He added that “enough funds have been allotted or released for the services offered by Malasakit Centers.”

According to Go, the current collections of PCSO will be used

been bearing fruit, the same cannot be said about many other ports in the country,” the former maritime industry official continued. “Any efficiency gained in the Port of Manila is subsequently lost downstream.”

Unfortunately, the financial inefficiencies have only been borne by domestic shipping operators. Coupled with the constant rate pressure from customers, this leaves the viability of many local carriers doubtful. He explained that for local shipping companies to turn things around, they may have to resort to a significant reduction of capacity and shipping frequencies.

Lorenzo cautioned, however, that such a stopgap strategy may have serious implications on overall supply chains, impacting product delivery to

next year. “Funds have been allocated for the PCSO this year. Money collected this year will be used as PCSO’s budget for next year.”

He clarified that while gaming outlets have been closed, PCSO remains open for medical financial assistance.

The former presidential aideturned-senator disclosed that the President was prompted to order the suspension of gaming activities upon receiving reports of corruption from newly appointed PCSO General Manager Royina Garma.

“She told the President that she needs his help because she’s having a hard time stamping out corruption at the PCSO and that in the past few months, PCSO has been bleeding due to the operation of some games that it has authorized,” he said.

‘Unconstitutional’

C AGAYAN de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, the chairman of the House Committee on Constitutional Amendments, on Tuesday said President Duterte’s order to stop all gaming operations of the PCSO is unconstitutional.

In an interview with CNN Philippines, Rodriguez said franchise holders may question Duterte’s order before the courts.

“It is not accordance with a law and it is against the Constitution’s [tenet of] due process first before closure,” he added.

Rodriguez said the President’s order deprives franchise holders and operators of their right to

many points of sale in different parts of the country. This could result in consumer products not reaching the consumer within the desired delivery times, increased stock outs and eventually inflated product costs.

A reduction of capacity and frequency by domestic shipping companies will result in increased inventories in many locations in the Philippines.

This will eventually translate to higher costs of fast-moving consumer goods, for example.

“Unless carriers see improved profitability, we see a serious capacity challenge that will ultimately hurt shippers and their customers. Over the last few months, we have been hearing ship owners selling their ships or stopping operations altogether”.

due process.

“Franchise holders of the PCSO are protected by the Constitution; it provides that no person shall be deprived of life, liberty and property without due process of law.

While it is true that you were able to cancel a franchise [however] it cannot be done arbitrarily [and] it has to have process with hearing the other side,” he added.

“If you believe that the franchise was secured by corruption or there was no remittance, therefore there has to be a notice from the other party, the franchise holder, for them to be able to explain why, whether their contracts are through corruption. Then after that due notice and hearing, then it can be cancelled, but only then,” Rodriguez said.

Duterte ordered the immediate closure of all gaming operations of the PCSO over the weekend. This prompted the Philippine National Police to shut down more than 30,000 PCSO outlets.

Earlier, Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate described the President’s move as “unfair and illegal.”

Also, Zarate challenged President Duterte to fire and file cases against PCSO officials involved in corrupt practices.

“If the corrupt people involved are President Duterte’s appointees then he should have sacked these officials and overhaul the said office.

But what is happening now is that he is punishing everybody, including the people who rely on PCSO for help for their medical needs,” said Zarate.

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China’s top envoy avows peace, but Lorenzana scores ‘bullying’

By Rene Acosta

@reneacostaBM

& Recto Mercene @rectomercene

D

EFENSE Secretar y Delfin Lorenzana has scored China over its double talk on the South China Sea issue, saying its “preaching” of peace was not reflective of its action in the territory that it disputes against its neighbors, most especially the Philippines.

“They want peace in South China Sea, blah blah blah, but it does not match what they are doing on the ground,” the defense secretary said on Tuesday in reaction to the speech of Chinese Ambassador Zhao Jianhua that Beijing is following the path of peaceful development.

“That is what I have questioned during the Shangri-La (Dialogue) wherein they said we do not bully people around, they follow international law.

But I said, you are not. What you are [saying] is not what you are doing on the ground,” Lorenzana said.

Zhao said on the occasion of the 92nd founding anniversary of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) that the situation in the South China Sea has been stabilized through the concerted efforts of China with the Philippines and the other claimant states.

“We stay committed to the peace and stability in the South China Sea,” he also said.

China’s top envoy to the Philippines said Manila and China should not allow a tiny part of the problem in the South China Sea “to hijack the 99 percent of friendship and cooperation that has been developed between the two countries.”

Zhao added: “We should have confidence in our wisdom that sooner or later we can settle it peacefully…We cannot let the 1 percent differences to hijack the whole 99 percent of friendship and cooperation as hostage. This is what I call the realistic and pragmatic approach.”

He then added,“Pending the peaceful settlement in the future, we will need to put our differences in proper context.”

After a Chinese boat struck a Philippine fishing boat at Recto Bank on June 9, then abandoned 22 Filipinos as they swam for their lives when their boat sank, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin Jr. filed a diplomatic protest and denounced the action of the Chinese in a speech at the United

Economic bills. . .

Business groups are also pushing for the quick passage of the remaining tax reform packages of the Duterte administration, including the Tax Reform for Attracting Better and High Quality Opportunities (Trabaho) bill.

However, they warned against removing fiscal incentives for locators in economic zones, as this could result in the loss of the Philippines’s competitiveness.

“We convey our support on key provisions of the Trabaho bill that are beneficial to our country’s economic growth, but urge policymakers to review the other conditions that may negatively impact our global competitiveness,” the statement read.

Investors have long made public their opposition to the Trabaho bill’s component on incentives rationalization. They are particularly concerned with the proposed removal of the perpetual 5-percent tax on gross income paid in lieu of all local and national taxes.

They want the government to hasten the reduction of corporate income tax (CIT) to put it on a par with the rate in other Southeast Asian countries. The Philippines currently has the highest CIT in the region at 30 percent, while Singapore imposes the lowest at 17 percent.

Business groups are also pushing for the immediate enactment of the Apprenticeship Program Reform; amendments to the Build Operate Transfer law; Freedom of Information Act; amendments to the Bank Secrecy law; lifting of foreign equity restrictions; tax reform on property valuation and assessment; tax reform on capital income and financial taxes; open access in Data Transmission Act; and a measure creating a water department.

Nations in New York.

Both countries have conducted separate investigations.

“I know you are all concerned about the situation in the South China Sea. The South China Sea issue is not something we have today. It’s being part of the history,”Zhao said on Monday night in Manila.

Zhao said he is aware that the SCS issues “are very sensitive issues,” adding that “for China, for the Philippines and for other claimant countries, it’s not easy to settle. It cannot be settled overnight.”

He said China remains committed to peace and stability in the South China Sea. China, Zhao said, “will continue to work with the Philippines and other states directly concerned to resolve the relevant disputes in the South China Sea through bilateral negotiation and consultation on the basis of respecting historical fact and in accordance with international law which also includes Unclos.”

‘Nothing new’ HOWEVER, Lorenzana said the Chinese ambassador’s speech was “nothing new.”

“I have heard that version of those speech many times already. I heard that from the mouth of Xi Jinping when we met him with the President, first time we met in 2016,” he said.

“I heard it from the mouth of other ministers, and then again [at the] last Shangri-La Dialogue, I heard that again from their Minister of Defense. So nothing new from what they are saying,” he added.

The defense secretary said that “until such time that their action is matched by their words,” then all of the pronouncements of Chinese officials are “doubtful.”

“Those are [words that] just may be narrative...good to be heard just to keep us maybe calm, or just a consolation for us,” Lorenzana said.

“But the bottom line is, their statements do not match with what they are doing in the West Philippine Sea,” he added.

The defense chief insisted that Beijing is bullying the country, citing the Asian giant’s constructive control of the Scarborough Shoal, traditional fishing ground for several Asian countries, off western Luzon.

“The way that they took over Scarborough Shoal, to me that is, that was bullying,” he said.

Continued from A1

“We believe these reforms will generate substantial impact in improving the country’s global competitiveness, increasing investment and making economic growth more inclusive by creating more and better jobs,” the statement added.

Those on the second-priority list are Farm Entrepreneurship Act; amendments to the charter of the Philippine Economic Zone Authority; excise tax on alcoholic beverages; amendments to the Agri-Agra Reform Credit Act; Holiday Rationalization Act; National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority Act; and the National Land Use Act. Also part of the second-priority list are the National Traffic and Congestion Crisis Act; amendments to the charter of the Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board; amendments to the charter of the Philippine Ports Authority; Water Regulatory Commission Act; amendments to the charter of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines; amendments to the Commonwealth Act 541; National Transportation Safety Board Act; and Philippine Airports Authority Act. The joint statement was signed by Alyansa Agrikultura, Bankers Association of the Philippines, Foundation for Economic Freedom, Makati Business Club, Management Association of the Philippines, Philippine Association of Multinational Companies Regional Headquarters Inc., and the Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Foundation Inc. Chambers of American, Australia-New Zealand, Canadian, European, Japanese and Korean firms also signed the statement.

A4 Wednesday, July 31, 2019 • Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug

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Unfazed by global trade slump, PHL online job hiring posts 16-percent growth in June

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By Cai U. Ordinario

@caiordinario

HE slowdown in global trade will not dampen the Philippine online job market, according to online career and recruitment resource firm Monster.com.

In a news statement issued on Tuesday, Monster.com said the Monster Employment Index (MEI) data showed online hiring in the country saw a growth of 16 percent in June.

Data showed that all 12 industries monitored by the index posted positive growth and surpassed

the year-ago level.

“Online hiring demand in the Philippines has been reflecting strong positive growth for many months now, and this is likely to stay the same in the near future, despite a predicted economic slowdown,” the statement read.

“While a slowdown in global

trade has hit the Filipino economy and businesses, higher household consumption and slowing inflation continue to propel certain sectors, such as consumer goods—which has been driving the nation’s online recruitment demand for three consecutive months now,” it added.

Based on the MEI, the consumer goods/fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry posted the highest annual growth of 29 percent in June. This was the third consecutive month that the industry’s growth outpaced others monitored in the index.

The FMCG sector also fared well on a short-term basis, up by 2 percent and 13 percent, respectively, over a three-month and six-month period.

The advertising industry saw a 23-percent year-on-year growth for the month of June 2019, up from last month’s 20-percent growth. The IT/telecom sector also continued to rank among the top hiring sectors, with a 21-percent YOY growth for the month.

In terms of occupation, Monster.com said human resource and administration professionals led the growth with a 34-percent YOY increase since last June. This is the highest growth for this occupation since December 2018.

Online recruitment demand for finance and accounts, as well as marketing and communication, saw robust growth in June, up by 25 percent and 24 percent YOY, respectively.

Data showed hospitality and travel professionals charted a 16-percent growth between June 2018 and 2019. While this was a slowdown from the 23-percent growth posted in May, Monster. com said “it continues to reflect high demand for the occupation role in the Filipino job market.”

The MEI is a gauge of online job posting activity compiled monthly

by Monster.com. It records the industries and occupations that show the highest and lowest growth in local recruitment activity.

It is based on a real-time review of millions of employer job opportunities culled from a large representative selection of career web sites and online job listings across the Philippines.

Bill authorizes Oceana renews call for ‘political will’ to enforce fisheries law Duterte to order Pagcor to provide funds for CHED, PSC

By Jonathan L. Mayuga @jonlmayuga

By Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz @joveemarie

A

LAWMAKER on Tuesday filed a resolution authorizing President Duterte to direct the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) to provide funding support to the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED).

In House Resolution 147, Ako Bicol Rep. Alfredo Garbin Jr. said with Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office operations indefinitely suspended, “there is an urgent necessity to urge President Duterte to exercise his executive powers and for Congress, which has the ‘power of the purse,’ to authorize the President to cause Pagcor to fund the PSC and CHED.” Garbin said the PSC and CHED are among the government agencies the PCSO is mandated by law to finance with its earnings.

The resolution also requires the PSC, CHED, and Departments of Budget and Management and of Finance to determine the exact levels of funding support needed from Pagcor.

“It is urgently necessary that the operations of the programs and projects of the PSC and CHED [to] proceed unhampered, considering that the preparations for this year’s hosting of the Southeast Asian Games are under way and the collegiate academic year for most higher education institutions commenced last June and the remaining to commence in the month of August,” he added.

President Duterte has ordered on Friday night the suspension of games managed and supervised by the PCSO.

A

N international ocean advocacy nongovernment organization (NGO) reiterated its call to the Duterte administration to exercise “political will” in implementing Republic Act 8550 as amended by Republic Act 10654 to protect the livelihood of small fishermen against commercial fishing vessels that regularly “raid” municipal fishing grounds.

In particular, Oceana said all commercial fishing vessels with a gross tonnage of 3.1 metric tons and above should be required to install a vessel monitoring device for proper monitoring and tracking of their movements.

At a news conference in Quezon City on Tuesday, Oceana President Jim Simon and Senior Advisor Michael Hirshfield together with Oceana Philippines Vice President Gloria Estenzo-Ramos said the installation of monitoring device will help prevent illegal fishing activities in areas where these commercial fishing vessels are supposed to be “off-limits.”

Commercial fishing vessels are not allowed to fish within the 15-kilometer municipal fishing grounds, including national and local marine protected areas (MPAs).

Hirshfield highlighted the sci-

ence behind declaring the municipal fishing ground as an exclusive fishing ground for small fishers. The 15-kilometer fishing ground, generally, is the area where mangroves, seagrass beds and corals sit.

These so-called ecosystem-forming species help replenish fish stocks as they are feeding and breeding grounds of small fish.

He said that unlike commercial fishing vessels that use active fishing gear, small fishing boats that use hooks and gillnets have minimum impact on these ecosystems.

“Also, fishermen with small boats cannot go out farther away like commercial fishing vessels to fish. In a way, the wisdom behind it is ensuring equity,” he explained.

Simon said the Oceana, which is present in at least 12 countries, including Europe and in Asia, including the Philippines, is advocating the installation of a vessel monitoring device in commercial fishing vessels to monitor their fishing activities.

A l l of t he world ’s f ishing grounds, including those in the Philippines, are already overfished.

In the Philippines, commercial fishing vessels are known to catch fish within the 15-kilometer municipal fishing ground and, in some cases, even in MPAs like the Tañon Strait Protected Seascape.

Noting that the implementing

rules and regulation of RA 8550 and its amendatory law, RA 10456, are not enough to compel commercial fishing companies to install vessel monitoring devices on their fleets, Ramos said Oceana is pushing for the adoption of a policy that will compel the government, specifically BFAR, or the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, to implement the law.

She said some gray areas in the amended Fisheries Code are being used as an “alibi” by commercial fishing companies from defying the law.

“We have very good laws. The problem is its implementation. We are appealing to the government now to exercise political will in implementing the law on vessel monitoring,” she said.

Ramos, a lawyer, said there are other ways to compel commercial fishing vessels to install a vessel monitoring device as mandated by law.

“The for commercial fishing vessels that dock and pass through Tañon Strait are now required to install vessel monitoring device. We have a resolution from the Protected Area Management Board for that. There are also some local governments, like the Provincial Government of Cebu, which are supporting the policy,” Ramos said.

Ramos also called on Protected Area Management Boards and local

government units (LGUs) to put in place similar measures that will add another layer of protection for MPAs and municipal fishing grounds across the country.

Oceana Philippines had earlier called for transparency on the amount the BFAR is planning to spend to subsidize the vessel monitoring requirements of the commercial fishing industry.

According to Ramos, unlike sma ll fisher men, commercia l fishing companies are financially capable of spending monthly subscription for the installation of a vessel monitoring device that will allow the fishing company, BFAR and other law-enforcement agencies to track their movement.

In a way, she said, vessel monitoring is useful in times of calamities where fishing vessels sometimes are lost at sea and the crew in danger of being swept away by the strong currents and lead to tragic deaths.

Hirshfield and Simon added that vessel monitoring, more important, will address the global concern of unreported, illegal and unregulated fishing, as well as monitoring compliance of the fisheries law across the globe.

The Philippines, they said, currently ranks as the 12th-biggest source of captive fisheries in the world, making it one of Oceana’s advocacy priority areas.

DPWH adds four lanes along Nueva Ecija bypass road

By Lorenz S. Marasigan @lorenzmarasigan

T

HE Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has added four lanes along Nueva Ecija’s Cesar Angeles-Emilio Vergara Bypass Road, providing motorists with better connectivity in the northern part of Luzon.

Public Works District Engineer Ricardo M. Puno said with the addition of the four new lanes, the

12.35-kilometer road is now widened to six lanes, a move in anticipation of the Cabanatuan Interchange Exit of the Central Luzon Link Expressway in Barangay Caalibangbangan, Cabanatuan City.

“The expansion of the Cesar Angeles-Emilio Vergara Bypass Road is among our priority projects in the province as it serves as an alternative road to Cabanatuan, eastern side of Nueva Ecija and Aurora Province. It has also opened a whole new area of

residential and commercial development in the province,” he said.

Likewise, the development of the Emilio Vergara Bypass Road is now under Phase 2 and a total of 4.16 kilometers of the road will soon be completed.

“We are glad to announce that we are close to completing the second phase covering a total of 2.02 kilometers of the bypass road. This is in addition to the 2.14-kilometer segment that was widened under Phase

1 in 2018,” Puno said.

The DPWH has already requested for the allocation of funds to finance the widening of the remaining sections of the project, which also includes the widening of existing two-lane bridges.

A total of P100 million was initially allocated for Phases 1 and 2 of Cesar Angeles-Emilio Vergara Bypass Road Widening Project. It should be completed in the next two years.

NIA breaks ground for P775-million Quezon farm irrigation project

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas @jearcalas

T

HE National Irrigation Administration (NIA) said it has broken ground for the construction of the P775million Macalelon Small Reservoir Irrigation Project (SRIP) that aims to provide irrigation to 830 hectares of farmlands in 12 barangays in Macalelon and Lopez in Quezon province.

The Macalelon SRIP, which is expected to be completed by early 2022, includes the construction of a 22.5-meter high zoned-earthfill embankment dam and its appurtenant structures with active storage capacity of 3.504 million cubic meters.

Upon completion, the project would irrigate 830 hectares of agricultural lands in 12 barangays of Macalelon and Lopez, Quezon, benefiting 700 farmers.

“Macalelon SRIP aims to enhance the agricultural productivity of the Municipality of Macalelon, to create more employment opportunities, and to improve the living environment of the locals,” NI A said on Tuesday.

The Macalelon SRIP would also provide the beneficiaries with incidental benefits, such as flood control, aquaculture, agro-tourism, hydroelectric and solar power generation, and watershed management, NIA added. “ Through the years, we see how irrigation brings significant changes to the lives of Filipino farmers and to the community where they reside,” NI A Administrator R icardo R. Visaya said.

“Now we also want to see that change here in Macalelon and Santa Elena, and nearby villages. We thank our projectaffected families who were supportive and cooperative in order to kick-start this project,” Visaya added.

NIA said the construction of Macalelon SRIP would submerge about 99 hectares of timber/ coconut land at the reservoir and dam area, and 75 hectares for canal and appurtenant structures.

NIA added that 87 families residing in two barangays of Macalelon were relocated to a barangay in Lopez, Quezon, as they would be adversely affected by the project.

Visaya led the groundbreaking ceremony last July 29 witnessed by Roger Panganiban, executive assistant to the Municipal Mayor of Macalelon, some national and local government officials, project beneficiaries, project-affected families and NI A employees.

Group says Pasig River viaduct project proposal to reduce Edsa traffic by 39%

T

HE Lilac Center for Public Interest, a policy research and advocacy organization, is urging the Duterte administration to take a look and favorably consider the Integrated Pasig River Viaduct Elevated Highway and Personal Rapid System as the ultimate solution to Metro Manila’s worsening traffic congestion.

In a news statement issued on Tuesday, the Lilac Center said the President’s directive in his Fourth State of the Nation Address (Sona) to the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) and concerned officials “to undertake immediate action to ensure the speedy and smooth flow of vehicular traffic,” one of which is “to reclaim all public

roads being used for private ends,” should not only be heeded, but also improved upon through out-of-thebox solutions and an investment of tremendous political will.

“Look, one of the President’s avowed goals is to reduce travel time along Edsa from Cubao to Makati in five minutes. Is this possible? Yes, but only if he will exercise his famed political will and prioritize infrastructure projects to unburden and relieve Edsa,” Nicon F. Fameronag, president of the Lilac Center, said.

Fameronag recalled that in his first Sona in 2016, President Duterte said that due to lack of road infrastructure, there is a need to maximize the use of existing roads as well as build secondary routes.

“The President should direct the Department Public Works and Highways, Department of Transportation, and National Economic and Development Authority to fast-track their action on an unsolicited proposal of the private sector for the realization of the Integrated Pasig River Viaduct Elevated Highway and Personal Rapid System, which consists of a fourlane elevated highway or viaduct, a Pneumatic-Wheeled Tranvia and Personal Rapid Transit traversing the Pasig and Marikina rivers,” Fameronag said.

The Integrated Pasig River Viaduct Elevated Highway and Personal Rapid System, proposed by Armando U. Khong Hun General Contractor

Inc. (AUKH), was conceived to mitigate and relieve the worsening traffic condition in the metropolis, which the President admitted in his Sona was estimated to cause economic losses of P3.5 billion per day.

“These losses are expected to pile up to P6 billion per day in 2030,” Fameronag said, citing the well-referenced 2012 study of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica), an amount that the government could very well use to build 3,680 classrooms or 215 kilometers of farm-to-market roads.

The AUKH has said the Integrated Pasig River Viaduct Elevated Highway and Personal Rapid System, once completed, will reduce vehicular traffic along Edsa by 39 percent. It said

it proposes to construct a viaduct that will run through the lengths of both the Pasig and Marikina rivers, both being the only open space available in Metro Manila that will sustain both a vehicular freeway, a gondola-type people mover, and an elevated railway system. It also said the project will not entail any rightof-way costs since rivers are classified as public patrimony.

The Lilac Center also lauded Public Works Secretary Mark Villar for assuring the public that the completion of some infrastructure projects across the metropolis this year, such as the C-5 South Link, Skyway Stage 3 and Harbor Link extension, will ultimately help reduce vehicle volume along the

24-kilometer Edsa artery.

However, Fameronag said these may not be enough.

“Opening up the 41.6-kilometer integrated transport system (Pasig River, 22.36 kilometer and Marikina River [19.24 km] would be the ultimate economic solution to Metro Manila’s perennial traffic woes,” he said.

The AUKH submitted its proposal, a public-private partnership (PPP) project, complete with a prefeasibility study and preliminary designs to the DPHW in 2017, but the department said the project is still being studied to align it to related projects of the DPWH along the Pasig River. It referred the proponent to the DOTC where the proposal is also being studied.

LEAGUE OF CORPORATE FOUNDATIONS A BusinessMirror Special Feature

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Wednesday, July 31, 2019

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2019 CSR Expo Braces for ‘Collective Impact’

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EAGUE of Corporate Foundations to Push for MultiSectoral Collaboration. The League of Corporate Foundations (LCF) has inspired and moved the nation once more to unite in uplifting the lives of Filipinos who need help the most.

With the 2019 CSR Expo organized by LCF, the two-day expo has connected people to more opportunities to work together and sustain efforts in light of calls for inclusive development and collective impact in addressing Philippines’ pressing social issues, particularly poverty. The CSR Expo was held last July 4 to 5 at the Jose Rizal Hall of the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) in Pasay City.

Aptly themed Toward Collective Impact: Collaborations that Work, the 2019 CSR Expo gathered like-minded individuals, top corporations, and corporate foundations that has shared the passion to make lasting change for future generations.

“The LCF CSR Expo brings together the Philippine business community and other sectors to discuss the latest trends, models and practices in CSR, and promote a common framework for action in support of sustainable national development,” said LCF Chair Mario Deriquito.

For her part, Cecile Alcantara, 2019 LCF CSR Expo Chair and LCF Vice-Chair, explained, “This event aims to elevate the discussion on collaboration as a powerful tool that would create the change that is needed now, which seems to be impossible for a single organization to do on its own.”

With this, the 2019 LCF CSR Expo featured special sessions that target to create discussions that bring people together for a common purpose, and to empower them by providing a platform for collaboration. These sessions include: n4 Main Plenary Sessions Global speakers and representatives from the Philippine government talked about opportunities for partnerships and strategies on how the private sector can contribute to the achievement of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). n4 Committee-sponsored Sessions There were four plenary sessions

led by four LCF Programbased Committees: Education, Enterprise Development, Environment, and Health. The session speakers shared stories and provided concrete examples on how the private sector can collaborate with the Philippine government and other sectors toward collective impact. n6 Breakout Sessions These included a workshop on Collective Impact; Emergency Operation Center and Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience; and Arts, Culture, and Heritage. nLCF Sectoral and Geographic CSR Impact Study The results of the study conducted from March to June were presented. The aim of the study is to highlight the socio-economic investments made by the corporate foundations and corporations with CSR and to look at opportunities where they can forge partnership with other stakeholders to complement initiatives and broaden social development outreach. nLCF CSR Marketplace A CSR Marketplace fashioned as a speed dating/ networking event was held for delegates to have an opportunity to find key partners, donors to engage or support their new or on-going CSR programs or projects. nLCF CSR Programs Live and Virtual Exhibitions A showcase of the CSR programs of the country’s leading corporations and corporate foundations were exhibited. Aside from this, an interactive online version of the CSR booths was exclusively accessed by the conference delegates. A QR code was provided to the delegates to personally experience the virtual exhibitions on different CSR programs and initiatives of the LCF member organizations. nLCF CSR Guild Awards 2019 A seal of excellence in corporate citizenship given to the most reputable and premier organizations implementing social good initiatives with a sustainable

and meaningful impact were recognized.

CSR Speakers

SPEAKERS for this year’s CSR Expo included Liz Weaver of Tamarack Learning Centre in Canada, Y. W. Junardy of United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), and Mary Jane Ortega of Institute for Solidarity in Asia.

Joined them were Chito Macapagal of SM Investment Corporation; Elizabeth Dantes of Manila Doctors Hospital; Ma. Victoria Tan of Ayala Corporation; Sec. Ernesto Pernia, NEDA Socioeconomic Planning Director-General; Gen. Benjamin Madrigal of the Armed Forces of the Philippines; Chuchi Fonacier of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas; Undersecretary Zenaida Maglaya of the Department of Trade and Industry; Undersecretary Nepomuceno Malaluan of Department of Education (Deped) and Undersecretary Tonisito Umali of Department of Education; Kennedy Tuazon of Feed the Children Philippines, Inc.; Mardi Suplido of The Fred Hollows Foundation, Inc.; and Katrina Chan of QBO Innovation Hub. Since 2001, the LCF has annually held the LCF CSR Expo.

It includes a conference and exhibition as its main attractions: the conference being a platform for CSR practitioners to discuss new ideas and trends, address issues and challenges, provide new knowledge and skills, and showcase CSR success stories.

The LCF CSR Expo presents an excellent opportunity to network with a highly targeted delegate base. In the previous years, about 500 delegates coming from diverse sectors attend the LCF CSR Expo, from the private sector, business community, civil society, the government and the academe.

It is held every first week of July, following Former President Joseph Estrada’s Presidential Proclamation No. 299, s. 200 that the first week of July shall be known as “National CSR Week.”

Outstanding CSR Winners.

The League of Corporate Foundations (LCF) recently awarded top corporate foundations and corporations in the Philippines for their outstanding social development projects during the first-ever Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Guild Awards 2019 held at the Jose Rizal Hall of PICC in Pasay City.

The winners of outstanding CSR projects are ABS-CBN Lingkod Kapamilya Foundation, Inc. for the Arts and Culture category; Vivant Foundation, Inc. for Education category; Aboitiz Foundation, Inc. for Enterprise Development

category; Energy Development Corporation for Environment category; Unilab Foundation, Inc. for Health category; and Knowledge Channel Foundation,

Inc. for Collaboration Project category. The LCF is a network of the largest operating and grantmaking corporate foundations and corporations in the Philippines.

The League has continued to be at the forefront of promoting and enhancing strategic CSR practice in the country since its formation in 1991.

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A BusinessMirr

Wednesday, July 31, 2019 | www.businessmirror.com.ph

USE PROFESSIONAL SERVICE

TO GROW YOUR B W

By Leony R. Garcia

E always admire business people who are hands on in their business. They wear multiple hats, so to speak. But this cannot always be the case especially as their businesses grow. legal, marketing and virtually every type of consultant you can think of.

Professional Services Firms Have Time on Their Side

UNLIKE other types of organizations, professional services firms sell knowledge and expertise – not tangible, physical products. These firms possess something else that many smallbusiness owners consider to be in short supply: time.

Time – or rather, the lack of it – is one of the main reasons that small-business owners turn to professional service firms.

Running a business is a job that's full-time plus, leaving little, if any, quality time to address the financial, legal and marketing issues that cross their desk, demanding attention.

Most surveys of smallbusiness owners often cite a “lack of time,” as one of their top 10 worries or problems. For example, Guidant Financial

PIXABAY.COM

Consider this: the owner is torn between running his business and doing the behindthe-scenes tasks that keep the business humming along – be it an accounting, a legal or a marketing matter. This requires a lot of time juggling which may not be successful over time.

But business owners cannot be experts in everything. They may be comfortable dealing with management, sales and marketing matters, but they are not schooled in these disciplines.

Nor are they practitioners of them. Similarly, they did not go to law school or pass the certified public accountant exam. Their business specialty represents their area of expertise – not on the ancillary issues that have sprung up around it.

This is where professional services firms come in.

Professional services firms literally offer professional services that can span multiple industries, including finance,

spoke with more than 2,600 business owners who they said that managing their time was their third-biggest challenge, behind lack of cash flow and marketing/advertising dilemmas: From constant interruptions, such as emails, phone calls and instant messages, to busy meeting schedules and lastminute deadlines, distractions abound.

Not to mention many entrepreneurs end up performing multiple job functions. It’s no wonder time is an issue.

And here's the fourth biggest problem cited by the same business owners: performing administrative work, including

bookkeeping and payroll.

Approximately 24 percent of small business survey respondents cited administrative work as a real challenge in their daily operations, the survey said.

How Professional Services Firms Can Help You

BY outsourcing the necessary tasks to professional services firms can provide relief to owners and their businesses.

Put certain services in the hands of experts. And if you vet the firm carefully, it should produce well on your behalf, too.

Freeing up time that you need to focus on your core business, not on those ancillary issues

you're not an expert on anyway.

If you run your business on the principle that people should undertake tasks that play to their strengths, working with a professional services firm should be a natural extension of this principle.

Small-business owners also outsource certain tasks to relieve their core staff of tasks they may not specialize in, either, freeing them to do what they do best. Reduce or at least control costs, especially by lightening payroll and benefits expenses and office overhead bills. Achieve a standard of excellence that may have proved elusive. Gain access to new markets, thereby gaining

an edge over competitors.

Professional Services and Tasks

IN addition to accounting/ bookkeeping, legal and marketing functions, other professional services involve providing specialist business support to businesses of all sizes and in all sectors; this can include tax advice, supporting a company with accounting, IT services or providing management advice.

The list of services and tasks includes the following:

Administrative, which can run the gamut from appointment-setting and returning phone calls to

BEYOND ACCOUNTING:

RT&CO. PROVIDES SERVICES TO GROW FIRMS, EMPOWER PEOPLE

R

UNNING a business requires time, talent and effort to address the financial, accounting and auditing challenges that cross the companies’ path. This is where professional services firms come in.

These highly specialized firms offer professional services that can span multiple industries, including finance, legal, marketing and virtually every type of consultant you can think of.

One of the industry leaders is Reyes Tacandong & Co. (RT&Co) whose partners have solid combined experience of more than 600 years in different industries.

As one of the leading firms in the country, RT&Co. hires the best and the brightest people who share the same passion and joy in doing what it does.

Reyes Tacandong & Co. provides audit, tax and advisory services. Audit services can be statutory audits, agreed-upon procedures, financial due diligence, regulatory compliance, among

others. While tax services can be tax compliance reviews, tax returns preparations, transfer pricing study, tax advocacy and other tax consultancy services. Internal audit services, Information Technology Services, Valuation, Due Diligence are among the services of our Advisory division.

Reyes Tacandong & Co. boasts of being guided by 14 values: Integrity, Leadership, Excellence, Teamwork, Professionalism, Passion, Commitment, Reliability, Respect, Credibility, Nurturing, Stewardship, Discipline and Business Smart. These values shaped and defined the way they deliver services to their clients.

"Client’s concerns become ours, what keep them awake at night also keeps us awake. We

always go the extra mile to our clients by providing wise solutions without compromising our principles -- living to our tagline: "Firm Principles, Wise Solutions," said Protacio T. Tacandong, Chief Operating Officer.

A game-changer in raising the bar of professional services in the country, Reyes Tacandong & Co. acts as advisers to its clients. It offers guidance to them regarding audit and advisory services, so clients can improve their top line and their revenue.

"We do not just think of ourselves as external auditors. We do not just deal with the principles of accounting. We go beyond this by helping our clients conduct business efficiently and productively," said Tacandong.

From the company’s humble beginnings in June 2010, in a 200-square meters office space in Rockwell, tucked away on the fifth floor of the PHINMA Plaza, Reyes Tacandong & Co. currently resides at Citibank Tower in Salcedo Village, Makati, where it occupies three floors in the Citibank Center and two floors in Citi Tower.

Reyes Tacandong & Co. started with nine partners, an executive assistant, and a mix of staff and managers. With just 20 people, it presented itself as the first alternative to the Big Four—the accounting industry’s top four firms in the country. Providing and delivering better value, time, and attention to its clients, people began to talk about the firm.

"By word of mouth, people have become curious about us.

People wanted to know, see, and

experience how different we were, and if we could be better than the others," Tacandong narrated.

A year after, Reyes Tacandong & Co. had a hundred people and it became necessary to move to a bigger space, which is the current office today. Moreover, Reyes Tacandong & Co. also expanded to new and thriving locations in Davao, Cebu, Iloilo, and Clark.

Indeed, Reyes Tacandong & Co. is a home of topnotch talents. And the company continues to hone the skills of its staff and develop them to a more effective partner. This is because the firm puts a strong emphasis on trainings, providing new hires and existing members of the Reyes Tacandong & Co. family with several opportunities to learn, grow, and share their knowledge.

At Reyes Tacandong & Co., getting through the company’s day-to-day operations and duties is not enough. One must always consider how they can better themselves personally and professionally, no matter where they are in the corporate ladder. From programs that send excellent performers to study abroad to inhouse workshops that cover everything from personality development to improving your tech know-how, Reyes Tacandong & Co. takes care to mold the minds of those who will lead the firm and its people into the future.

Existing for only less than a decade, Reyes Tacandong & Co. experiences a continuous rise to be one of the country's best in the industry. Its plan includes keeping moving forward to serve

TACANDONG

more clients and nurture the brightest minds.

"We intend to continuously grow our client base and hire more aspiring professionals who

could be the future partners of the firm, government officials or key management of growing Philippine companies,” Tacandong concluded.

ror Special Feature

www.businessmirror.com.ph | Wednesday, July 31, 2019

PROVIDERS

A7

Reyes Tacandong & Co. Turns 9!

BUSINESS monitoring social media accounts, which can be a huge time drain for small-business owners. A cottage industry has sprung up in the administrative arena, in the form of virtual assistants, who will never need to set foot in your business to make their presence known.

Content marketing, which could be grouped with marketing but has become such a force that it merits a category of its own. As the cornerstone of an inbound marketing strategy, it can drive more customers to your website – if it’s done skillfully by writers with talent.

Customer service, which isn’t getting any easier as customers grow more demanding and expect answers 24/7. As you may have learned from personal experience, many Fortune 500 companies outsource this function. But this is not to say it’s right for your business and the personal touch you may have developed with your customers.

Graphic design, which is usually a sporadic small-business need. But when an artistic need strikes – for a website overhaul, an ad campaign, a new brochure, – it demands the skill of a graphic designer.

Information technology.

Some of the more common outsourced tasks include website

hosting and maintenance and data collection, storage and backup. Using outside vendors or cloud solutions to manage your IT functions makes you more agile as a company and provides flexibility as your business grows.

Logistics, if you're a retailer who wants to focus on selling and merchandising, whereas a professional services firm handles fulfillment, storage and delivery.

Professional services are occupations in the tertiary sector of the economy requiring special training in the arts or sciences. Some professional services require holding professional licenses such as architects, accountants, engineers, doctors and lawyers.

They also include advertising professionals, architects, accountants, financial advisers, engineers, and consultants, among others. Basically, they can be any organization or profession that offers customized, knowledge-based services to clients.

The best time to outsource

THERE are a lot of areas to outsource. Look at your team, your processes and the work you have to do on a regular basis. Consider outsourcing those areas where you and your team struggle.

In this way, outsourcing

can relieve you and your team of feeling frustrated with a task you don't enjoy and on results you're probably not particularly proud of, while allowing you to fortify your business or improve your work-life balance at the same time.

And before you sign a contract with the services firm, be sure to align your goals with their area of expertise and portfolio to ensure a good fit. Seek referrals from other small-business owners or your local chamber of commerce.

Ask for references, and speak with them candidly about their experiences with the firms. Be clear about your expectations. Do you expect a firm representative to attend staff meetings? To visit your place of business once a week? Do you want to see regular progress reports? The better you can visualize your notion of a successful collaboration, the better you should be able to articulate it and make it happen.

Trust your gut instinct and choose someone with whom you believe you can develop a friendly and trusting rapport.

They won't be employees, and they won't be business partners, but over time, they could become more than adjuncts to your business: you might come to regard them as an invaluable part of your extended team.

ALL Partners of Reyes Tacandong and Co.

LOYALTY Awardee

R

EYES Tacandong & Co. (RT&Co.), the fastest growing Firm in the Philippines, celebrated its 9th Anniversary Ball entitled “Color Full Nine,” at the Rizal Ballroom of the Manila Shangri-La Hotel, Makati last July 16, 2019. This year’s anniversary ball was all about opulence and colors, celebrating in style.

“Color Full Nine” was more than the lavish decorations. It also took the attendees down memory lane as it commemorated the Firm’s journey for the past

nine years — both colorful and eventful. This year’s anniversary ball celebrated the hard work and triumphs that the people of RT&Co. share.

RT&Co. also recognized the outstanding individuals for their performance for the past fiscal year. The Firm announced the promotions of their new senior associates, managers and director. Furthermore, the Firm also celebrated the commitment of the loyalty awardees and took pride as they recognized the individuals who exercised the 14 values of

ABACUS Awardee

the Firm and attained significant achievements through the course of their work for the past fiscal year — the Abacus awardees.

What sets the Firm’s ball unique from the rest is that it was tailor fit to the attendees and apt to the Firm’s culture. This was always made possible because the Firm’s events are organized by creative Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) of the Firm. These are always done by the people, for the people.

Congratulations, RT&Co. Its been a colorful journey as they enter their 10th year in the industry.

A8

Wednesday, July 31, 2019 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

The World BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

South China Sea tensions cast shadow over Asean Summit

R

ISING tensions in the South China Sea and the fallout from United States-China trade war are set to dominate talks this week as top diplomats converge in Bangkok for a key Southeast Asia summit.

US Secretary of State Michael “Mike” Pompeo will be joined at the Asean Foreign Ministers’ Meeting by his Chinese counterpart, Foreign Minister Wang Yi, on the heels of trade negotiations between the two countries in Shanghai on Tuesday.

The meetings come amid accusations from Vietnam and the Philippines that China has become more aggressive in asserting its claim to vast swathes of the South China Sea—a move the US last week termed “bullying behavior.”

Still, China will be looking to further advance a long-anticipated maritime code of conduct with Asean—Southeast Asia’s 10-nation bloc—after the two sides agreed to a preliminary draft, an Indonesian official said on Monday.

“The South China Sea will be an important agenda item—they will be seeking to curb any further hardening of stance by the Philippines,” said Alexander Neill, an

expert on Chinese military affairs at the International Institute for Strategic Studies. “They will likely reiterate their sovereignty over the island and reefs, and criticize external interference.”

Trade tensions

NORTH Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho will not be attending, Yonhap News reported last week, dashing any chance of a meeting with US officials. It would have been the first encounter between the two sides since US President Donald J. Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un shook hands in the Demilitarized Zone last month.

“We hope that we can have working-level discussions starting again very soon so that we can unlock the Rubik’s Cube,” Pompeo told the Economic Club of Washington on Monday, adding nothing was in the works for a third, formal summit. Despite agreeing at their first meeting in June 2018 to “work

MIKE POMPEO speaks during an Economic Club of Washington event on July 29. ANDREW HARRER/BLOOMBERG

toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” the two sides have been divided over the scale of disarmament steps offered

by Kim and the pace of sanctions relief proposed by the Americans.

While North Korea may not be in the cards, Pompeo will seek to soothe trade tensions between two American allies—South Korea and Japan—according to a US

official discussing Pompeo’s trip who asked not to be identified. A dispute between the two escalated this month when Japan slapped curbs on the export to South Korea of three materials vital to semiconductor and display manufacturing.

Pompeo, who is on a six-day trip through Thailand, Micronesia and Australia, will also give speech on US economic engagement in the region as part of the Trump administration’s vision of a “free and open” Indo-Pacific.

For China, the meetings will serve as an opportunity to curb growing anxieties from

Southeast Asian countries like the Philippines, who accuse them of deploying their Coast Guard and maritime militias to assert control in the South China Sea.

Maritime Code

CHINA’S Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday stressed the situation in the South China Sea “has been stabilized in general, with growing momentum for cooperation and increasing positive factors.”

But Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said at a briefing in Manila on Tuesday that China’s assurances of peace in the

disputed sea do not match its actions. “The way China took over Scarborough Shoal, to me, that is bullying,” Lorenzana said, referring to a disputed chain of reefs off the Philippines’s western coast.

Meanwhile, Indonesian Foreign Ministry’s Director General for Asean affairs Jose Tavares, said while there’s no timeline for negotiations, China and Asean recently finished a preliminary draft on a maritime code of conduct.

“We are envisaging the continuation of the negotiation between Asean and China on the single draft negotiating text of the code of conduct moving to the next stage,” Tavares said.

The negotiations follow the adoption of an Asean Indo-Pacific Concept last month that analysts say is a nod to the US’s concerns.

Still, the US State Department has argued that China is mounting pressure on Asean to adopt unfavorable terms in the code of conduct. The dispute underscores the region’s difficulty in handling growing tensions between the world’s two superpowers.

Trade will also feature heavily at the summit given the ongoing USChina trade conflict, said Harsh Pant, professor of international relations at King’s College London, adding it will be tough for the bloc to maintain a balance between the two economic superpowers.

“Asean is under unusual stress as a result of growing contestation between the US and China,” Pant said. “The traditional comfort of having China as an economic partner and the US as security partner is no longer very valid.” Bloomberg News

In Shanghai, China uses jazz-age glamor to get trade talks going

C

HINESE trade negotiators will host their United States counterparts at a landmark of jazz-era Shanghai on the city’s riverside Bund, reopening trade talks with a marked change of atmosphere after an almost threemonth hiatus.

US delegates including Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer are set to attend a dinner at the Fairmont Peace Hotel on Tuesday evening, according to people familiar with the matter.

Members of the US delegation were seen arriving at a separate hotel on the Bund waterfront shortly after 1:30 p.m. local time.

The 1920s art deco structure is among the most celebrated buildings on the Shanghai riverside, and has seen guests including Charlie Chaplin and Noël Coward when it was known as the Cathay Hotel. It played a brief role as municipal offices after the founding of the People’s Republic.

Ex pectations for a breakthrough in the trade talks remain low. The two sides are further apart than they were three months ago, when negotiations broke down and each side blamed the other for derailing attempts to reach a deal. China is pushing for compromise in the talks,

with state media underlining this week that the US should meet it “halfway.”

Further apart

SINCE the initial tariffs in June last year, both Washington and Beijing have further raised and expanded the duties. The conflict between the world’s two largest economies has also spread, dragging in companies such as Huawei Technologies Co. and FedEx Corp., farmers in the Midwest, factory workers across Asia, and the World Trade Organization.

The official trade talks will take place at the Xijiao State Guest Hotel on Wednesday, the people said. The “guest house” is a leafy compound of luxury reception buildings and accommodation in the west of the city.

A spokesman for the USTR couldn’t immediately confirm the plans. The Commerce Ministry didn’t immediately respond to request for comment on the arrangements. A spokesman for the Fairmont Peace Hotel declined to comment on the arrangements.

Complicated history

SHANGHAI is mainland China’s financial capital and its busiest port. The Peace Hotel’s setting in the former International Settle-

ment, which the US helped manage during a period of foreign interference that the Communist Party has vowed never to repeat, is also freighted with the complicated history of America’s relationship with China.

On the east passage from the lobby, the walls show off the hotel’s glamorous past. There’s Chaplin posing on the famous staircase in 1936, and scenes from the Chinese movie blockbuster Shanghai Triad, set in the 1930s.

US President Bill Clinton appears with Hillary Clinton on the roof in 1998, posing with Shanghai’s then-mayor.

The hotel plays up its origins in Shanghai’s pre-WWII jazz age.

The only clear nod to China’s present-day politics are at least two standing signs declaring “Socialism’s Core Values”—a 15-strong list including patriotism, honesty and harmony. Only the heading is rendered in English, though, as “China’s Core Values.”

On Tuesday, an editorial in the state-owned China Daily argued that the city was an “auspicious” venue to restart the talks, and referenced the visit by former US President Richard Nixon there in 1972, in the course of the diplomatic thaw between the communist and capitalist states. Bloomberg News

Pound heads for worst slump since 2016 as Johnson sets ultimatum

T

HE pound headed for its worst run of losses in almost three years after UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson raised the stakes over a no-deal Brexit, issuing an ultimatum to the European Union that he won’t start divorce talks unless the withdrawal agreement is reopened.

The pound has slumped almost 3 percent in the past four days with investors increasingly pricing a higher chance of the UK crashing out of the bloc on October 31.

Johnson has stepped up preparations for no-deal as the differences between the two sides grow.

“The biggest threat to GBP for

the remainder of this year is the risk of [an accidental] no-deal Brexit,” wrote Credit Agricole SA strategists led by Valentin Marinov in a note to clients. “We continue to estimate a long-term fair value for GBP/USD that is consistent with a disruptive Brexit outcome of around 1.20.” Bloomberg News

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Wednesday, July 31, 2019

A9

Johnson presses EU to give way amid no-deal warnings

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ONDON—Prime Minister Boris Johnson pushed Britain closer to a no-deal exit from the European Union on Monday, insisting he will not hold Brexit talks with EU leaders unless the bloc lifts its refusal to reopen the existing divorce deal.

Johnson is trying to pressure the EU to give ground by intensifying preparations for the UK to leave in three months without a withdrawal agreement.

But the pound fell to a two-year low as business groups warned that neither Britain nor the EU is ready for a no-deal Brexit, and that no amount of preparation can eliminate the economic damage if Britain crashes out of the 28-nation trading bloc without agreement on the terms.

Johnson became prime minister last week after winning a Conservative Party leadership contest by promising the strongly pro-Brexit party membership that the UK will leave the EU on the scheduled date of October 31, with or without a divorce deal.

The EU struck a withdrawal agreement with Johnson’s predecessor, Theresa May, but it was rejected three times by Britain’s Parliament. Johnson is insisting the bloc make major changes to May’s spurned deal, including scrapping an insurance policy for the Irish border that has been rejected by UK lawmakers.

“The withdrawal agreement is dead, it’s got to go,” Johnson said Monday as he visited a submarine base in Scotland. “But there is scope to do a new deal.”

He said he was “very confident” of getting a new agreement, even though Britain is due to leave the EU in less than 100 days, and the EU insists it won’t reopen negotiations or remove the border “backstop.”

Johnson has spoken to several EU leaders by phone since he took office but has no meetings scheduled. His spokesman, Alison Donnelly, said he would not agree to negotiations unless the bloc lifts its refusal to change the withdrawal agreement.

“He remains confident that the EU will stop claiming that the withdrawal agreement can’t be changed,” she said.

If they don’t, she added, “we must assume there will be no deal on the 31st of October.”

Before he took office, Johnson said the odds of Britain leaving the EU without a deal were a million to one.

At one point Monday, the pound had fallen by nearly 1.5 percent to trade at $1.2214, its lowest level since March 2017.

The pound’s woes illustrate concerns in the markets over a no-deal Brexit.

Economists warn that leaving the bloc without an agreement on terms would disrupt trade by imposing tariffs and customs checks between Britain and the bloc. The British government’s financial watchdog says that could send the value of the pound plummeting further and push the UK into recession.

The Confederation of British Industry, the country’s biggest business lobby group, urged both Britain and the EU to accelerate Brexit preparations. It made 200 recommendations, including new laws, new IT systems and agreements to temporarily maintain some common regulations.

But it said “the unprecedented nature of Brexit means some aspects cannot be mitigated.”

“It’s like putting sandbags down for a flood. Your kitchen’s still going to be underwater but maybe we can save the bedrooms upstairs,” said the group’s Head of EU negotiations, Nicole Sykes.

Another warning came from French automaker PSA, which said it could move production of its Vauxhall Astra model out of Britain if Brexit makes it unprofitable.

Chief Executive Carlos Tavares told The Financial Times that would mean closing Vauxhall’s Ellesmere Port plant in Wales, which employs 1,000 people.

Johnson, contradicting the opinion of most experts, has said leaving without a

divorce deal will be “vanishingly inexpensive” if Britain is properly prepared.

He says he will “turbo-charge” plans for a no-deal Brexit—including beefed up border measures and a multimillionpound information campaign for individuals and businesses—and has set up bodies including a high-level Cabinet “exit strategy committee” to oversee preparations.

However, he faces strong resistance from Parliament, which has consistently opposed a no-deal Brexit.

Beyond Brexit, Johnson has made ambitious domestic policy promises, including more money for police and schools, and major infrastructure projects including high-speed trains.

But, independent think tank, the Institute for Government said in a report that the effects of a no-deal Brexit would consume much of the government’s energy for years, pushing out other issues and sucking up large sums of money.

“Rather than ‘turbo-charging’ the economy, as Johnson has suggested, the government is more likely to be occupied with providing money and support to businesses and industries that have not prepared or are worst affected by a no-deal Brexit,” it said.

Johnson’s hard line may be popular with Conservative Party members, but it is strongly opposed by pro-EU Britons, including some members of his own party.

The new prime minister met Monday with Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson, who says she won’t support leaving the EU without an agreement.

While the UK as a whole voted to leave the EU in 2016, Scotland backed remaining by a large margin.

Johnson was booed by pro-EU and proindependence demonstrators as he arrived for a meeting with Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon in Edinburgh.

Sturgeon, who leads the semi-autonomous Edinburgh-based government, says Scotland should hold a vote on independence from the UK if it is dragged out of the EU against its will.

After the meeting Sturgeon said Johnson had “set the UK on an almost-inevitable path to a no-deal Brexit.”

“And I think that is extremely dangerous for Scotland, indeed for the whole of the UK,” she said. AP

Venezuela’s economic decline among most severe globally W ASHINGTON—The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says the cumulative decline of the Venezuelan economy since 2013 will surpass 60 percent and is among the deepest fiveyear contractions the world has seen over the last half century.

Alejandro Werner, director of the IMF’s Western Hemisphere Department, describes the Venezuelan decline as a “historical case” because it is unprecedented in the hemisphere and also because it is the only one of the top global five-year contractions that is unrelated to armed conflicts or natural disasters.

The IMF on Monday also adjusted its 2019 forecast for the South American country to a contraction of 35 percent—up from the 25-percent decline expected back in April —due to a sharp fall in the oil production, which has already plunged to its lowest level in seven decades. AP

Global weather chaos takes toll on Asia’s crops

I

N a year when record heat is scorching Europe and the heaviest rain in decades has inundated parts of the US Midwest, the Asia Pacific region is suffering from its own maelstrom of extreme weather.

Drought, and floods in some areas, have devastated the livelihoods of thousands of people, and damaged crops in an area that produces most of the world’s palm oil, natural rubber and rice and more than a third of its sugar. While parts of China endured the most rain in almost 60 years, water levels on the Mekong, one of Asia’s largest river systems, have fallen to among the lowest ever, and areas of southern India are battling relentless drought.

“Over the past several years, we’ve been seeing more dryness than not in the region,” said Donald Keeney, senior agricultural meteorologist at Maxar, a US-based weather consultant. “These conditions will cause a decline in production of the main crops later this year and into next,” he said.

Dry conditions have wilted rice fields in Thailand and Indonesia and parched sugarcane plantations and oilseed crops in India. Here’s a snapshot of how weather is affecting output in some key areas:

China

IN northern regions, lack of rain and drought have threatened some crops, though the impact is mitigated by irrigation. By contrast, some southern provinces had the heaviest rainfall since 1961 in the five weeks to early July, according to the meteorological administration, hampering early rice output and worsening pest problems. China is the top producer of wheat and rice, and second biggest for corn, according to US Department of Agriculture data.

India

INDIA jostles with Brazil as the biggest producer of sugar. Output this year may drop to the lowest in three years as a prolonged drought shrivels cane in the states of Maharashtra and Karnataka, trimming the domestic surplus and potentially curb-

ing exports. Deficient rainfall from the annual monsoon also threatens oilseed crops, which could boost foreign purchases of edible oils, including palm oil, where the country is the largest importer. Still, Mumbai has been hit by heavy downpours, a sign of the weather’s erratic nature.

Indonesia, Malaysia

THESE are the world’s top palm oil producers. The next three months will be crucial to determine how output will turn out next year and dryness in areas of Borneo island will be closely watched, said Ling Ah Hong, director of plantation and consultant Ganling Sdn, who’s worked in the industry for more than four decades. Rice production is threatened by dry weather on Java Island, where some areas are without rain for more than 60 days.

Indonesia is also stepping up efforts to prevent a repeat of haze that blanketed much of Southeast Asia four years ago by deploying thousands of firefighters and emergency response teams in palm oil- and rubber-producing regions. Bloomberg News

A10 Wednesday, July 31, 2019 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

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editorial

Maximizing PHL agri’s strengths

F

ILIPINOS are fond of eating fruits, such as bananas and pineapples, with their meals. Cost is oftentimes a major consideration in choosing these items as panghimagas or dessert because fruits in season are cheaper than popular sweets like cakes. There is also a growing awareness that it is healthier to consume fruits than sugar-laden desserts.

Apart from this, fruits that grow in abundance in the country also enable local traders to earn dollars. Export earnings from bananas, for example, have already breached the $1-billion mark, and businesses that thrive on the shipment of this tropical fruit have created jobs for thousands of people, especially in the rural areas.

Traders also earn millions of dollars in export revenues from shipping other fruits such as mangoes. Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) indicated that last year, the country’s export earnings from bananas and canned pineapple reached nearly $1.7 billion (See, “Mindanao produces agri export winners,” in the BusinessMirror, July 29, 2019).

Despite the export potential of these agricultural products, a huge chunk of government funds for the sector is channeled to rice. Aside from the money directly allocated to the subsector, the government sets aside billions of pesos for the National Irrigation Administration every year to support rice and corn farms. As expected, the support given to the subsector has encouraged farmers to cultivate the crop.

The rationale given by the government in pouring huge sums of money on the rice subsector is the fact that it is our staple food. However, this rice-centric agriculture policy has been detrimental to the development of other subsectors, which could have allowed farmers to earn more if they were given the proper support. Aside from production loans, planters and firms need help in implementing systems that will make their products acceptable to the export market.

Given the decision of the Duterte administration to further open up the country’s rice market, the government must now seriously implement its plan to encourage farmers to plant other crops. As it is, planting rice is no longer profitable given the high cost of production. In the immediate future, earnings from rice could decline further as the influx of cheap imports will make it harder for our farmers to compete.

Based on the latest data from the PSA, farmers earned an average of P0.47 for every peso of investment in palay production. Earnings were affected by expensive fuel and labor, according to PSA data. Farmers who planted fruits earned more than their counterparts who cultivated the staple, according to government data. In a report released in September 2018, the PSA said a peso invested in pineapple production generated a net gain of P3.57, while the net profit in watermelon production was P2.72.

Apart from promoting the cultivation of fruits, the government must also encourage value adding by helping farmers acquire their own processing equipment. This way, farmers will not have to throw away their surplus output. A well-thought-out program on fruits production and processing, one that will have the full support of the government, will allow the Philippines to expand its shipments to markets where Manila has existing trade deals. Thailand is earning some $27 billion annually from its food exports. The Philippines can learn from Thailand and cash in on the opportunities presented by the increasing global demand for food.

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All About Social Security

T

HE use of telephone in communications is perhaps one of the most significant inventions of all time. If in the past, ownership of a phone was a luxury, today, it has become a necessity for business and home use.

No less than President Rodrigo Duterte recognizes the importance of telephone in communicating with our people. Upon assumption of office, he instructed the creation of the 8888 Citizen’s Complaint Hotline.

In his last State of the Nation Address, President Duterte enumerated the five agencies that received the most number of complaints coursed through 8888 and the Contact Center ng Bayan (CCB). Unfortunately, Social Security System (SSS) was one of the five agencies mentioned by the President.

The inclusion of SSS in this list comes as no surprise since it is, perhaps, the biggest government agency with the most number of benefits— seven types of benefits to be exact, aside from loan privileges given to members.

SSS has 36 million registered members, 16 million of whom are actively paying, and the agency is

processing an average number of 216,290 transactions per day in 309 branches nationwide. In addition, the pension fund serves about 2.3 million pensioners. SSS clients come from a very diverse background across all social strata.

Against this background, SSS responded to 6,129 concerns referred

by Hotline 8888 and CCB in 2018. Of this number, 6,074 were resolved for a 99.10-percent resolution rate.

A majority of the concerns referred by 8888 were about claims on retirement, death, disability and funeral. When the issues were analyzed, most of the causes of delay in processing the claims were due to discrepancies in the member’s records like name or date of birth.

The primary document for SSS transaction is the birth certificate issued by the Philippine Statistics Authority.

Members should also update their beneficiaries with SSS. There have

Susan V. Ople

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been numerous cases of death claims that took time for SSS to process because the name of the spouse or legal heirs were not included in the members’ records.

Faster processing of claims and benefits in SSS is a two-way process.

Members have to be vigilant in monitoring their personal records with SSS, more so, for employed members who have to religiously check if their employers are paying their monthly contributions.

Eventually, we hope too, that our members would shift to available electronic platforms.

At present, SSS services such as online application for SS number issuance, generation of the Payment Reference Number (PRN), employment report submission, submission of contribution (R-3) and loan collection lists (ML-2), salary loan application, certification of salary application, as well as filing of maternity and sickness notification, can now be made through different electronic and self-service facilities of the pension fund.

These services can be made through different electronic channels of the SSS such as the (1) SSS web site—My.SSS, (2) SSS Mobile App, (3) Self-Service Information Terminal, (4) Interactive Voice Response System and (5) Text-SSS. Other services that may be done through these channels are filing of retirement claim applications, request for branch appointment, inquiry on the location of SSS branches,

feedback submission, inquiry on SS information, Personal Equity Savings Option fund enrollment, flexfund enrollment and requesting of records.

Apart from these member services, the SSS has also implemented the Real-Time Posting of Contributions program in 2018, wherein contribution payments are posted immediately through the use of a Payment Reference Number. When contributions are posted on time, there are no delays in claims processing.

Going back to the 8888 issue, SSS bagged the Second Best Agency in Resolution of 8888 complaints in 2018. The award was given by Linya ng Pagbabago under the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO).

But even with this recognition from PCOO, SSS understands President Duterte’s desire for government offices to improve services, simplify procedures and shift to electronic transactions.

SSS started its e-services more than a decade ago but with the advent of fast-paced technologies, the journey to a full digital platform continues. After all, help today is not just a phone call away. It is also right at our fingertips with online access anytime, anywhere.

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

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

The DOLE’s version of a Department of Overseas Filipinos

Lourdes M. Fernandez

Ruben M. Cruz Jr. Angel R. Calso

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When help is just one phone call away

SCRIBBLES

L

AST Thursday, various migrant workers’ groups, including the Blas F. Ople Policy Center, were invited by the labor department to a consultative meeting to discuss the creation of a new department catering to the needs of Filipinos overseas.

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III solicited comments from the overseas Filipino workers and nongovernment organizations that were present that afternoon. One of my colleagues, Luther Calderon, asked the secretary if the labor department was leaning toward any version of the proposed law, or if it had its own version to present.

The secretary said yes, his office came up with its own version. He instructed his staff to send each participant a soft copy via e-mail. We all agreed to submit our inputs to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) version within two weeks.

The short title of the DOLE version reads: “Department of Over-

seas Filipinos Act of 2019.” It envisions the new department to serve as “the primary policy planning, coordinating, implementing, and administrative entity of the executive branch of the government that will plan, develop, and manage the national migration and development agenda of overseas Filipinos that is supportive and complementary to national efforts to create, sustain, and strengthen local employment.”

Under the DOLE version, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), the Overseas Workers’ Welfare Administration, and the National Reintegration Center for OFWs (NRCO), which is currently attached to OWWA, shall

function as the new department’s attached agencies. This setup is similar to the proposed bill of Sen. Cynthia Villar.

In contrast, the proposed bills of Senators Bong Go and Koko Pimentel specify the transfer of OWWA, POEA, NRCO as well as the Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) and the International Labor Affairs Bureau of the DOLE. The powers and functions of the Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs under the Department of Foreign Affairs will also be transferred to the new department.

By transferring the POEA and OWWA to the new department, our legislators would be abolishing the existing governing boards that are tripartite in nature. This means, the functions, powers and staff of these agencies—subject to Civil Service rules—would still be there but under the leadership and management of an undersecretary. There are no provisions for a designated representative from both the industry and the workers.

Sen. Bong Go’s bill sees the need for six undersecretaries, namely: 1) Undersecretary for Administration and Finance; 2) Undersecretary for Foreign Employment (basically

takes over from the work of the POEA administrator); 3) Undersecretary for Reintegration and Social Services (will take over the mandate and functions of the OWWA Administrator’s Office); 4) Undersecretary for Overseas Filipinos; 5) Undersecretary for Assistance to Overseas Filipinos in Distress that shall undertake all repatriation activities in coordination with foreign posts; and, 6) Undersecretary for International Labor Affairs that will oversee the activities of the offices of labor attachés.

The DOLE version was not as specific and merely recommended four undersecretaries and four assistant secretaries. Both the DOLE version and that of Senator Go’s included the establishment of Overseas Filipinos Malasakit Centers in all cities and municipalities nationwide to ensure vital and relevant services to migrant Filipinos and their families.

In Senator Villar’s bill, there is a similar provision for the establishment of a One-Stop Migrant Assistance Center in all major capital towns and cities nationwide.

In all versions, including that of the labor department’s, the special needs of our seafarers and their manning agencies were not given See “Ople,” A11

Opinion BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Wednesday, July 31, 2019 A11

How to stop Iran’s Types of life insurance: Term life vs whole life maritime misadventures

By The Editors Bloomberg Opinion

E

UROPEAN nations, alarmed

by Iran’s capture of a British oil tanker, are mounting a response to protect their commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and Persian Gulf. The Royal Navy has started to escort British ships, and a plan for a European naval mission has been endorsed by Denmark, France and Italy.

It’s a promising start. But effectively curbing Iran’s misbehavior and safeguarding ships in the region will require a more ambitious—and truly international—effort. Most important, it needs to involve the US Navy.

The Europeans are wary of combining their fleets with a nearby American operation for fear of being identified with President Donald J. Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran. France’s foreign minister says a separate effort is needed to reduce tensions and “create the conditions for inclusive regional talks on maritime security.”

This is both naïve and shortsighted. A disjointed naval effort increases the likelihood of accidents and miscalculations. It might leave open gaps that could be exploited by the marauding speedboats of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

And it creates unnecessary quandaries for ship captains: If, say, an American tanker with British nationals aboard were attacked while under US Navy protection, would the HMS Duncan not respond to a call for assistance, for fear its intentions might be misconstrued by the Iranian regime?

Far better to present a united front. By fully joining their resources, the Americans and Europeans

would be better able to police sealanes and respond to provocations.

In fact, they should be working together to recruit other countries— India, for instance—into a unified coalition, akin to the multinational task force formed to counter Somali pirates a decade ago. That effort, first headed by the US, drastically reduced attacks, helped strengthen local navies and coast guards, and safeguarded commercial traffic and humanitarian missions.

Mounting such a response in the Gulf may sound politically difficult.

But Europe should remember that the capture of the British ship, the Stena Impero, had essentially nothing to do with the nuclear deal: It was retaliation for the British Navy’s seizure of a vessel carrying Iranian crude to Syria, in contravention of European Union sanctions. Iran should’ve contested the seizure through legal processes. Instead, it’s holding the British ship hostage and demanding as ransom the release of its own tanker—and the freedom to keep sending oil to Syria, in support of the dictator, Bashar al-Assad.

It’s yet another reminder of how Iran’s misconduct threatens the entire region, and part of a disturbing pattern. In recent weeks, the regime has attacked ships and oil installations, shot down an American drone, restarted its uranium enrichment program, and even test-fired a ballistic missile, all while refusing goodfaith efforts at mediation. It’s lashing out in the hopes that it can intimidate the world into doing what it wants.

The US and Europe shouldn’t give in to this kind of aggression. They should instead be united in opposing it. The waters of the Persian Gulf would be a good place to start.

The Fed might not cut rates more than once

By Bill Dudley Bloomberg Opinion

T

HE US Federal Reserve is poised to make a monumental move: At its policy-making meeting this week, it will cut interest rates for the first time in more than 10 years. Many see this as just the first step in a new stimulus policy aimed at supporting a fragile economy.

I’m not so sure. I think there’s a good chance the Fed won’t be cutting further anytime soon.

Some think this week’s cut in the federal funds rate could be as large as half a percentage point. I don’t agree.

There’s no consensus for such an aggressive move on the policy-making Federal Open Market Committee, and the most recent data show the economy gaining momentum. Also, it might compromise the Fed’s independence, creating the impression that the central bank was caving to President Donald J. Trump’s insistent calls for deeper cuts. Even a quarter-point cut—which is what I expect—entails significant risks. What if, in hindsight, it proves to have been a mistake?

Right now, the Fed is focused on the risk that the economy will slow and inflation will keep falling short of its 2 percent target. If this erodes people’s expectations of future inflation, it will undermine the central bank’s ability to provide stimulus. With inflation already low, it’s hard to justify any action—including standing pat this week—that could precipitate such an outcome. The public and the president would inevitably blame the Fed. Also, the Fed faces the question of how best to maintain its recession—

Ople. . .

continued from A10 sufficient emphasis. Maritime employment and work conditions are highly specialized and are aligned with global practices. It would require a section of its own, and even the creation of an office for an

fighting firepower at a time when interest rates are already much lower than they typically are at this stage in the economic cycle. Officials believe that earlier and more aggressive action is needed to ensure that the US doesn’t end up like Japan, with interest rates stuck at zero. As Chairman Jerome Powell put it, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

That said, there’s another risk: that of needlessly stimulating the economy when it is already growing at an abovetrend rate and pushing bond and stock prices to new and perhaps unsustainable heights. By focusing on downside threats, such as the uncertainties of US trade policy and foreign growth, the Fed might ultimately go too far. After all, the current level of short-term rates is already stimulative. If the economy maintains its momentum and inflation accelerates, the central bank could be forced to tighten again—an abrupt about-face that could burst a financial bubble of the Fed’s own creation, increasing the chances of a painful recession.

This second risk deserves greater attention. In recent weeks, the US has seen stronger-than-expected employment gains, retail sales and growth in gross domestic product. The GDP reading for the second quarter, in particular, was considerably stronger than it appeared on the surface: Real final sales to domestic purchasers, which excludes fluctuations in inventories and trade, rose at a 3.5percent annualized rate, nearly double the 1.8-percent rate of the first quarter.

Also, core inflation accelerated a bit in June, while bond prices and consumer surveys suggest that inflation expectations have also ticked upward.

undersecretary adept in maritime affairs, in bills creating a department for overseas Filipinos.

As stakeholders, we do welcome the initiative of the labor department to come up with its own version of the bill considering that it led other agencies in objecting to the creation of this new agency. That it felt the need to do so means the creation

Atty. Dennis B. Funa

INSURANCE FORUM

T

HERE are two types of life insurance in the Philippines: Term life insurance and permanent life insurance. Permanent life insurance may either be whole life or endowment life insurance. A third type may, perhaps, be added in the form of variable unit-linked life insurance (VUL), which some quarters classify as a form of whole life insurance.

Term life insurance TERM life insurance (or term insurance) only provides death benefit or the face amount for a fixed period of time, let us say, between five to 30 years. The term is chosen by the insured, i.e., 5, 10, 15, or 30 years. The term refers to how long the policy will be active. If the policyholder does not die within that period of time, meaning he outlives the term coverage, the coverage ends and the insured will not get any benefit. In most likelihood, the beneficiaries will receive no benefit because the insured will survive the insurance coverage. The insured must die within the covered term for his beneficiaries to be entitled to benefits.

The policy bears no other or added value. In other words, the insurance

coverage is for a specified “term” only. After the coverage ends, it can be renewed but usually at a higher premium. As the policy expires, the premiums paid are deemed spent.

So while it is attractive for its simplicity and its low premium, it has a built-in expiration date.

The premium increases as the insured grows older as the morbidity and mortality risks also increases. It has also been described as a “pure” or “straightforward” life insurance.

There are no hidden fees or exclusions. This is the most basic life insurance and is the cheapest life insurance in the market because it has no savings component. There is no cash value and no dividends. No capital is being built up.

The choice between term life and

whole life could be a question of affordability and purpose, perhaps taking into consideration the financial needs of the beneficiaries. In both, the death benefits are guaranteed.

Most term life insurance are convertible into whole life, subject to a cut-off period. There is usually a default term conversion rider.

Whole life insurance (Permanent insurance)

WHOLE life insurance provides coverage for the entire lifetime (or the whole life) of the insured or until the insured is 100 years old as long as the policy is in force. Unlike in term life, there is no need to decide on the length or duration of the coverage.

It does not expire. In other words, the policy matures when the insured reaches the age of 100. But since the age of 100 is much beyond the average life expectancy, it is unlikely for whole life policies to mature. In addition to a death benefit, there is a savings component, which makes it more complicated than term life. This savings/investment component, which are placed in low-risk investment, guarantees returns which are modest. Whole life, therefore, is a conservative investment option. It earns annual dividends, although it is not guaranteed, as a participating plan, which then goes to the savings component. The policyholder can draw cash or borrow from the

Big tech in a small economy

Not all is well, however. In recent years, tech companies have gone on the defensive, as government regulators (including competition authorities), politicians, academics, and consumer groups decry and scrutinize perceived abusive conduct.

In 2017, the European Commission imposed a hefty $2.7-billion penalty on Google for favoring its own service over those of its competitors that also use its popular search engine. Similarly, the United States Federal Trade Commission recently approved a $5-billion fine against Facebook for its much-publicized misconduct concerning users’ personal data. Indeed, it appears that the assault on big tech companies is far from over.

The European Commission is now investigating Amazon, a dominant global shopping platform, for possible anticompetitive conduct involving the exploitation of information provided by third-party merchants.

The United States Department of Justice has also just announced a broad antitrust review of big tech companies involving “widespread concerns that consumers, businesses, and entrepreneurs have expressed about search, social media, and some retail services online.”

T he cases aga inst Google, Facebook, and Amazon demonstrate the dangers posed by market power and dominance. While

these technological marvels have greatly enhanced our way of life, they have given rise to a host of new issues, especially those involving competition, data privacy, and the (re)shaping of political and social values.

These cases are taking place in large economies where the stakeholders, including the big tech companies and their citizens, have substantial stakes on the issues. Should a small economy such as the Philippines be also concerned with the issues? If so, how would the country’s leaders proceed with tackling them?

In particular, what approach, mechanism, or remedies would the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) employ in addressing these issues?

The PCC has prioritization frameworks for addressing potential competition concerns involving any industry. Under merger review, it has thresholds on the size of the party and the size of the transaction. It can open an investigation in response to a verified complaint, a referral from a sector regulator or government agency, or motu proprio, i.e., on its own initiative. If any transaction or conduct involving big tech companies merits scrutiny under the frameworks, then the Commission is duty-bound to investigate it.

Note that dominance or having significant market power is not prohibited per se. What the

competition law prohibits are the abuses of dominance such as foreclosure or exclusionary conduct, which results in substantially restricting or lessening competition in the market.

For instance, foreclosure can occur when a company’s search engine favors its own price comparison web site over other price comparison web sites that attempt to reach users through the same search engine.

The issues surrounding big tech companies become very thorny because of the very nature of their products. Three of these come to mind.

One, advances in computing techniques have allowed the use of algorithms that do a nearly perfect job of matching consumer preferences with products offered in the market. Operating as platforms, tech giants have been able to collect massive amounts of buyer and seller data that allowed them to peek at individual-level behavior and tweak their services accordingly. One outcome would be that, even as overall efficiency improves, consumers may be disproportionately benefited from having to pay for perfectly calculated or “personalized” prices.

Efficiency is promoted but the distribution of the gains is not deemed fair. Should a competition authority be concerned?

Two, prohibiting conduct in the rapidly evolving tech sector carries the risk of creating a “chilling effect” where innovation is discouraged.

This effect is damaging to the longrun prospects of an economy because it can dampen productivity growth and desirable technological upgrading. As economic history of nations shows, it is productivity growth over the long haul that brings about prosperity and human development.

However, as observers have noted, significant market power may lead dominant companies and monopolies to acquire political power, or cause them to capture political institutions and processes for the enhancement or preservation of their economic dominance and market power. The evidence is clear: Unduly high-market power that remains unchallenged and protected by public

of a separate department has now become inevitable.

The DOLE version seeks to preserve the status of the POEA, OWWA and the NRCO as attached agencies.

In the forthcoming legislative hearings, it would have to show why retaining the status quo, meaning attachment rather than transfer, is the wiser thing to do.

To be honest, even if you create the biggest bureaucracy in the world to cater to our modern-day heroes, their protection will not be assured as long as unethical and illegal recruitment practices go unpunished. In the Declaration of Policy, this has to be made clear: “No Filipino overseas shall be enslaved. Henceforth, only qualified, carefully screened foreign employers

and qualified, carefully screened migrant workers, would be allowed to participate in the country’s overseas employment program.”

Unless we define and embrace the concept of ethical recruitment, while streamlining existing procedures and rationalizing the costs relevant to overseas recruitment, then many Filipinos desperate to work abroad

Arsenio M. Balisacan

COMPETITION MATTERS

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UCH has been said about the dominance of the so-called tech titans: Google, Facebook, Amazon, Apple and the like. Not a day goes by that the decisions and policies of these companies fail to touch the lives of millions of citizens, a testament to the success of their business models, which include heavy investments in R&D and the introduction of new products. These innovations have generally made life more convenient, efficient and pleasant. Tasks that previously took hours and money to accomplish can now be done in much less time and sometimes “for free”.

policy for any reason. If a policy loan is taken out, it does not have to be repaid but it will simply reduce the benefits. The unpaid amount will just be deducted from the face value of the policy. Compared to term life insurance, whole life is more expensive. It is estimated that whole life is six to 10 times more expensive than term life. The premium is fixed even as the insured grows older. Unlike in term life where the premium increases as the mortality risk increases. This need for higher premiums has been offset by the high premiums collected in the early years of the policy.

A part of the premiums, though, goes to build up or accumulate what is known as the “cash value” (meaning the face value plus the dividends) or the savings/investment part as the so-called living benefits. This cash value is, perhaps, the central feature of whole life. This cash value typically takes some time, i.e., at least 10 years, to build up. This living benefit can be used for any purpose and can be exhausted to the point that the policy terminates.

A whole life usually requires a medical examination, although such can be waived but at a higher premium.

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

E-mail: dennisfuna@yahoo.com.

policy or regulation can also lead to lower levels of innovation and productivity growth.

The competition authority and other government agencies must therefore carefully weigh the long-run effects of their policies, regulations, and administrative issuances in consideration of these circumstances.

And three, technology has evolved and seeped into the very fabric of human interaction. We are seeing how it influences the way politics and businesses are organized and the way personal information is valued. From an analytical standpoint, such issues are separate from—but not necessarily unconnected with—the efficiency standard that competition authorities usually employ. In some instances, sector regulators and civil society— not the competition authority—are perhaps in a better position to pass judgment on these matters.

In other instances, there may be a need for effective coordination between the competition authority and the sector regulators to address overlaps in the effects or outcomes of their enforcement or actions on their respective objectives. After all, regardless of their respective objectives, the goal of public action or intervention—by the competition authority or any other agency—has to be the promotion of the common good, the general welfare.

Many Filipinos, especially our young, have become attached to their smartphones, earning for the Philippines the moniker of being the “social-media capital” of the world.

Given this situation and the alarm being sounded across the globe over potential risks that can affect the choices and welfare of millions of citizens, clearly we must be concerned and be prepared to act.

would prefer to take the risk of leaving as tourist workers instead of following the legitimate government-approved process.

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

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

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

2nd Front Page BusinessMirror

A12 Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Halt to PCSO games still good for biz–DOF

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By Bernadette D. Nicolas @BNicolasBM Butch Fernandez @butchfBM, & Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz @joveemarie

HE Department of Finance (DOF) said on Tuesday that President Duterte’s order to suspend gaming activities under the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) in a bid to stop “massive corruption” will boost investor confidence in the country instead of dampening it, as critics warned.

DOF spokesman and Assistant Secretary Antonio Joselito G. Lambino II argued that corruption is one of the top concerns by investors, so addressing this will bode well for the country. This, even as lawmakers in both chambers prepared to launch their own inquiry into the allegations of corruption that triggered the sudden suspension of the games, including the popular Lotto, effective Saturday.

“I think a reduction in corruption is something that increases confidence, so if you look at the surveys, like the World Economic Forum for instance, one of the top concerns is corruption. That is one of the things that investors consider as a disincentive to invest in a country. That is the case specifi-

cally for the Philippines. It is one of the top 3 concerns so I think as corruption issues are addressed, investor confidence will increase,” Lambino said.

However, local economists interviewed by BusinessMirror shared a different view of the matter, adding that the President’s decision to shut down PCSO’s lotto operations, among others, will have dire consequences on investor confidence as well as the public health programs.

Private sector economist Calixto V. Chikiamco said the President’s decision poses a greater risk which is “increased investment uncertainty and policy instability which will turn off investors.”

Following the President’s verbal

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Sona 2019: State of the Nation’s attire, or don’t tell women how to dress

order last Friday, lawmakers have also called for an investigation to assess the impact of this directive.

While Lambino said it is too early to tell the impact on this aspects, he is positive that the move will produce favorable results in the long run in terms of increasing government revenues.

“It’s a bit early in the game [but] I think the ultimate outcome of this as the corruption issues are addressed, PCSO will be able to provide more revenue support to our priority programs. So again, it remains to be seen. We are assessing all of the factors but in the end, we will have more resources because corruption would have been addressed,” he said.

Lambino reiterated that he sees little impact of the PCSO games’ suspension on the Universal Health Care funds, since the agency’s share in the UHC’s fund is only P3 billion or less than 1.2 percent of the total P257 billion required by UHC in 2020.

This is why, he said, they are focusing their efforts on passing the increasing the taxes on alcohol products as well as raise taxes on heated tobacco and vapor products.

‘Not a diversion’

IN a related development on See “PCSO,” A2

SOUTHWEST MONSOON AFFECTING WESTERN SECTION OF LUZON as of 4:00 pm - July 30, 2019

LILOAN MAYOR Christina Garcia-Frasco in a Len Cabili for Filip+Inna (top photo, from left); Ilocos Norte Rep. Ria Fariñas in an Em Adizas; and Audrey Tan-Zubiri in an Ito Curata. Above, from left: Tingog Rep. Yedda Marie KittilstvedtRomualdez in a Cary Santiago; Lucy Torres-Gomez and Sen. Nancy Binay, both in Randy Ortiz gowns. PHOTOS BY NONOY LACZA AND FROM INSTAGRAM ACCOUNTS OF FRASCO, FARIÑAS, TORRES AND ZUBIRI

By C. Mendez Legaspi

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Contributor

T’S 2019, but some people still tell women what to wear. This brusque “requirement” was on sordid display on social media during and after the President delivered his 4th State of the Nation Address (Sona) at the House of Representatives on July 22.

As women attendees descended on the red carpet and posed for photographs at the plenary hall in their Filipiniana finery, these keyboard “clothing experts” suddenly became conservatives overnight, demanding that women be chaste in their sartorial choices.

That, amid their indifference to the misogyny being normalized nowadays.

Men, unbothered by expectations, came in boring barong Tagalog (except for some with exquisite embroidery). Some in suits, like a certain spokesman with a limited fashion vocabulary. Or with venom, such as washed-up actors/wannabe politicians.

The Sona may have mutated into a fashion spectacle like the Met Gala or blockbuster-movie premieres, but the women still treat it with the reverence it deserves. That’s why we don’t tell them, the most powerful women in the country, how to dress.

Too sexy for a senator?

AS the author of the Bawal Bastos Law, Sen. Risa Hontiveros would have none of this slut-shaming, especially the ones directed viciously at her. She was

captured in a “sexy” pose for a group photo with her fellow senators, and her detractors were scandalized.

“The Dress That Launched A Thousand Tweets.

The dress I wore at #SONA2019 is a contemporary piña barong with sleeves patterned after the baro’t saya,” she posted on her Instagram. “I used my old pair of shoes made in Marikina - matibay!”

The modern design is by Joel Acebuche, who said that the piña weave is from Kalibo, Aklan, and the hand embroidery was made by the women of Lumban, Laguna.

What can he say to people who comment that the dress is too sexy for a senator?

“I think the comment is malicious. The dress complies with the dress code of the occasion. The one who posted that comment thought that the senator was not wearing anything underneath because the nude dress is close enough to the color of her skin.

That person missed big time on seeing this [detail],” said the designer, who has been creating clothes for Hontiveros since she was an Anakbayan party-list representative.

Representation matters

BATAAN First District Rep. Geraldine Roman, one of the few and proud transgender politicians in the world, was glamorous in a Maria Clara by Paul Cabral. It was a (gloomy) Monday but she wore a floorlength, two-toned pink skirt.

Continued on A13

News BusinessMirror

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Wednesday, July 31, 2019 A13

‘Boracay loses out to Vietnam, Thailand after govt suspends charter flights to island gateways’

By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo

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@akosistellaBM Special to the BusinessMirror

HE damage has been done. Resorts on Boracay Island have yet to get back their mainland Chinese and Korean guests despite the government aviation body allowing new and additional charter flights to Kalibo and Caticlan. Both municipalities are gateways to the island resort, known as one of the best beaches in the world.

A sales director of a large chain of resorts on the island disclosed to the BusinessMirror, “we haven’t been able to recover the old bookings. Of course, when the CAB [Civil Aeronautics Board] suspended the charters, our guests went to other countries instead.” She noted Viet-

nam, for one, became a beneficiary of this government action.

Another sales manager of a popular resort on the island also revealed that their property had yet to regain its Chinese bookings. “It’s a good thing we had FIT [free and independent travelers] guests who came in,”

“Tour packaging is a whole process that takes months to plan, develop, price, negotiate, market, operate and implement.”—Lopez

she said, although these were still not enough to recover the losses from the earlier group bookings that were canceled as a result of the sudden order.

The Hotel Sales and Marketing Association Inc. had estimated losses of its Boracay members to be, at least, P2.2 billion on canceled bookings from July to September.

No warning

WITHOUT warning, the CAB suspended new and additional charter flights to Kalibo and Caticlan in a

memo issued on June 19.

Pressed by local tourism stakeholders on the issue, the CAB finally lifted the suspension on July 15, and allowed carriers with scheduled flights to continue with their summer season schedule. The government agency, likewise, restricted aircraft to be used by charters and noncharter services to fewer than 200 seats. (See, “CAB changes mind, allows charter flights anew to Boracay gateways,” in the BusinessMirror, July 17, 2019.)

In a letter to Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo Puyat dated July 17, Philippine Hotel Owners Association (PHOA) President Arthur M. Lopez described the situation as a “financial disaster for our hotels, as they can only recover their bookings after three to four months.” The tourism chief is the vice chairman of the CAB.

Based on feedback from PHOA members and their foreign operators, he pointed out, “damage has been done and our credibility suffers,” and that “other operators and airlines lost trust [in our market] because they lost money.” This also resulted in losing the momentum of the hotels and operators in promoting and selling Boracay.

He pointed out, “it’s already too late to chase the lost bookings during the lean months—July to September groups were all diverted to Danang in Vietnam, Phuket and Pattaya [in Thailand]. Some groups have gone to Korea and Japan.”

He also noted that “tour packaging is a whole process that takes months to plan, develop, price, negotiate, market, operate and implement.”

Lopez expressed hope that tourism stakeholders would be consulted in future decisions that

would affect the industry, and that this be “based on more facts and substantive data.” He averred, the CAB cited data in its new decision lifting the moratorium on new and additional charter flights to Caticlan and Kalibo, which proved this “did not, in the first place, warrant a moratorium at all.”

The PHOA, he also said, suggests the government adopt a tourism strategy with respect to Boracay, after the millions of pesos spent on rehabilitation and upgrading of the island’s facilities and services.

“The proportion of the markets to the island vis-à-vis arrivals by air and land/maritime, likewise need further review,” he added.

Establishments on Boracay are still trying to recoup the massive losses they recorded last year during the island’s six-month closure in 2018.

Sona 2019: State of the Nation’s attire, or don’t tell women how to dress Continued from A12

Lady Fatima Umpar of the Office of the President and Joanne Roa Sagulay, wearing ternos with ethnic touches

by Enan Almando Couture, became badass body-positive poster girls as they sashayed down the red carpet.

Former Senator and current Antique Rep. Loren Legarda was regal in a Michael Leyva ensemble. She wrote on her Instagram: “Walking down the red carpet in this year’s #SONA is extra special for me. I walked down with my head high, proud to bring with me the voice of my people, my kasimanwas.

I’m very proud to wear this stylish magenta #patadyong [rainbow] pants matched with a modern Filipiniana top. Patadyongs are mostly used in making shawls and skirts but you don’t usually see patadyong as pants. This innovative and unique creation was a total head turner. In support for the LGBTs, I am also donning with pride the rainbow pin.”

The ‘terno’ is eternal THE national dress remains the de riguer outfit for

the Sona. With only the butterfly sleeves as its only fundamental feature, the terno can be anything its designer wants it to be.

Em Adizas crafted a floor-sweeping green terno from Abel Iloco and pleated crepe in a collaboration with Ilocos Norte First District Rep. Ria Fariñas and daughter Naya to celebrate Ilocano pride; Michael Leyva made an ankle-grazing “pretty lilac drape dress” for model April Tanhueco; and Ivarluski Aseron, showing his technical prowess, created a banig terno for Las Piñas Rep. Camille Villar.

It took 30 manual hours for Arcy Gayatin to make a lace-collage terno for Emmarie Ouano-Dizon. “Proud to have represented the Sixth District of Cebu at Sona 2019. Sincere thanks to my good friend, Cebu’s pride, Arcy Gayatin, for her exquisite creation—beautiful, timeless, and utterly comfortable. Many remarked on its artistry and technique, as they always do when I’m wearing an Arcy Gayatin,” enthused Ouano-Dizon, adding, “I first saw Neil Felipp’s one-of-a-kind creations in the movie Crazy Rich Asians. It was exciting to carry a Cebuano designer’s minaudiére for the first time, and at the most illustrious event!”

Randy Ortiz made Leyte Fourth District Rep. Lucy Torres-Gomez even more glamorous. “Today was a blue day. I wore a column gown by my forever favorite @randyortiz in pale blue and lilac overlay piNa with callado and pattern embroidery detail. With it I wore my #ltgxjbdkalachuchi earrings in hand-carved [mother of pearl] with aquamarine centers,” she gushed on

ADB. . .

Continued from A1

“The Australian teleport site will host one gateway site while the Indonesian and Philippines teleports would be operating two gateway sites each.

For the Indonesia and Philippines, one gateway will be the primary site and the second gateway would be defined as a delivery site,” ADB documents read.

Based on the documents, in terms of environmental impact, the project is categorized as “B”given that one of the teleport sites in the Philippines is within the Subic Bay Forest Reserve.

The construction of the teleport site could cause some disturbance in the area, including noise. However, other teleport sites are not expected to experience the same

Instagram. “The Kalachuchi is the official flower of Ormoc City, the symbol of a people resilient, strong, and beautiful even in adversity. I am endlessly happy to have been able to collaborate with my @julbdizon family for this.”

‘Traje de mestiza’

ANOTHER beauty and brain, Tingog Party-list Rep. Yedda Marie Kittilstvedt-Romualdez, dazzled in a Cary Santiago traje de mestiza. “My muse Yedda has been modeling for me even before she became Binibining Pilipinas International 1996. For the Sona, she wore a terno inspired by the old and traditional sleeves. I created my own molder made of wood to achieve the wider and broader sleeves. The dress is distinctively Filipino but the color combination is very Spanish as a tribute to Spain which conquered the country for centuries. The silhouette is very classic with a serpentina cut at the bottom to accentuate the figure,” explains Santiago, the best Filipino designer practicing in the country.

Cocktail/balintawak

THE balintawak, a more carefree precursor/variation of the terno more suitable for daytime wear, also made an appearance at the Batasang Pambansa Complex.

Edgar Buyan of Davao City, a staunch proponent of edgy, contemporary clothing with cultural images, made an eye-catching skirt with jeepney images for Daby Bautista, who represented her sister Claudine Bautista, the rep for the Party-list Dumper Philippines Taxi Drivers Association Inc. (Dumper-PTDA). Daby also wore a Filipiniana top by Akmad Kari and carried a Jeepney Clutch by Zarah Juan.

Rajo Laurel possibly made the most outfits for the Sona, including the Villafuertes of CamSur, the Ongs of Samar, Alvarezes of Palawan, Fuentebellas of Bicol and the dashing Dy congressmen of Isabela. For Tootsy Angara, wife and stylist of Senator Sonny, Laurel made a cocktail terno embellished with seed-pearl tambourine medallions and her signature mini-butterfly sleeves.

Viva ethnica

VICE President Leni Robredo and her children Aika, Tricia and Jillian wore ensembles made by the Lamitan City Yakan Weavers in Basilan and weavers in devastated Marawi City. These communities are supported by Angat Buhay, the Veep’s flagship antipoverty initiative that creates projects that help impoverished Filipinos uplift themselves. Aika also wore a necklace made by Agsan Fashion Fern, which sells sustainable fashion pieces handcrafted by in-

environmental disturbance.

Category B means the proposed project could have potential adverse environmental impacts that are site-specific; few if any of them are irreversible, and in most cases, mitigation measures can be designed more readily than for category A projects. An initial environmental examination (IEE), including an environmental management plan, is required.

In terms of involuntary resettlement and indigenous peoples, the project received a category “C” given that it does not involve land expropriation and involuntary resettlement of indigenous peoples.

A project is deemed a category C if the proposed project is likely to have minimal or no adverse environmental impacts. An environmental impact assessment or IEE is not required, although environmental implications need to be reviewed.

SEC. . .

Continued from A1

Statistics Authority, Department of Finance, Board of Investments, Department of Tourism, Armed Forces of the Philippines and Philippine Economic Zone Authority in the top 10.

“The results of the latest survey serve as another vote of confidence in our unwavering determination to create an enabling regulatory environment for business and investment,” SEC Chairman Emilio B. Aquino said.

“We will remain proactive and progressive in developing the corporate sector and capital market toward good corporate governance, protection of investors, widest par-

digenous women of Surigao del Sur. Former President and outgoing House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has dethroned Sen. Nancy Binay (smashing in a Randy Ortiz piña terno with callado cutwork and baroque embroidery details) as the most meme’d attendee of the Sona. She wore a one-shouldered dress in shocking orange, mockingly likened by netizens to the color of a prison garb, by Capampangan designer Philip Torres.

“It was supposed to be red but I suggested orange. I think it’s flattering with her skin tone and she agreed,” Torres said. “It’s inspired by the Aetas.

I put red accents and I used the bengala seeds which grow in the Aetas’ village. Then I matched and coordinated the dress with my Pidayit handmade doilies flower components.” Pidayit is a Capampangan term that means an approach to garment production. Its key principle is based on the traditional home economics maxim of zero wastage of materials.

Kaayo Modern Mindanao makes the traditional trendy, the costumey more sophisticated and the ethnic more chic. Former Lanao del Norte Rep. Aliah Dimaporo Cimafranca (who made modest Muslimah more fashionable), Kaayo founder Marga Nograles, socialite Ching Cruz and lawyer Cristine Garcia all wore custom Inaul ball skirts handwoven by Maguindanao women.

She wears the pants

THE most impactful clothes, however, were the ternos paired with trousers.

Aika and Tricia Robredo wore the combo, giving the terno a youthful look. Binibining Pilipinas Iloilio 2019 Sigrid Grace Flores looked classy and immaculate in a barong Tagalog she paired with crisp white pants.

Ronaldo Arnaldo made a tailored pantsuit sans butterfly sleeves in ecru silk embroidered with beige solihiya-inspired horizontal panels for Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte: “I actually suggested a pantsuit to her. I believe an event like the Sona requires business-like outfits like suits and not red-carpet gowns.”

Ito Curata made an awesome design for Audrey Tan-Zubiri, fashionable wife of Senator Miguel of Bukidnon: “It’s a terno top in emerald/teal Mikado satin, draped on the bias matched with off-white silk crepe pants. I designed three options and she picked this one.” ticipation of ownership and democratization of wealth. Among others, we will continue to improve our company registration and information systems and pave the way for innovative securities and ventures,” he added.

The survey asked 100 executives from 100 companies whether they were satisfied with the performance of government agencies in the past year, from July 2018 to June 2019.

Of the 69 government agencies assessed, 42 received positive satisfaction ratings.

The SEC has consistently landed in the top 10 in the past surveys conducted by the MBC. The last survey on the performance of government offices, agencies and services was conducted in 2015.

After seeing the terno in all its permutations— albeit in sedate, understated and dignified designs, nothing outlandish in deference to the occasion—it was so refreshing to see the fashion-forward yet tradition-bound ensemble worn by Liloan Mayor Christina Garcia-Frasco.

The terno jacket and pants were creations by Len Cabili of Filip+Inna, a brand at the forefront of making Filipiniana more accessible. “The Pakudos embroidery on this terno ensemble was hand-embroidered by the Mangyan of Mindoro,” Cabili, who hails from Iligan City, explained. “Coined from the Spanish word Cruz, the embroidery pattern is believed to ward off evil spirits.”

Christina was with her husband Duke Frasco to attend his first Sona as congressman of the Fifth District of Cebu. “I wanted to wear something that had a meaningful connection to Liloan and Cebu, while also giving tribute to our country’s rich culture and talented artisans,” Christina wrote on her Instagram. “And so for my Terno, I turned to @filipinna and @lencabili whose father, Camilo Pepito Cabili, proudly hails from Liloan.

My minaudiere is proudly made in Cebu by @neilfelipp.

I am honored to wear such pieces of Filipino art, and to represent Liloan on this historic day.”

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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

Wednesday, July 31, 2019

B1

Megaworld to spend ₧10B to build 8 malls outside MM

M

By VG Cabuag

@villygc

EGAWORLD Corp., Andrew Tan’s property development arm, said it is expanding its shopping mall footprint outside of Metro Manila, spending some P10 billion to open eight new commercial centers in key regional centers across the country in the next three years.

The company is offering around 200,000 square meters of fresh retail inventory that will open through

Priorities for PAL’s chief pilot: Keeping high-quality service, boosting profitability

By Recto L. Mercene @rectomercene

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EWLY appointed Philippine A irlines (PA L) P re s ide nt a nd C h ie f Operating Officer Gilbert Santa Maria said on Tuesday his priorities would include maintaining the airline’s current quality of service as well as profitability.

“I’ve been across multiple industries, so I’m not intimidated by industry change. This is day one for me. We have a lot of work to do,” he said, after a courtesy call on Manila International Airport Authority General Ed Monreal at 10 a.m. Tuesday.

Earlier at 9 a.m., Santa Maria called on Capt. Jim Sydiongco, director general of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, at their compound in Pasay City “ The f lag carrier matters.

That’s one of the reasons I took the job,” he added.

Santa Maria, who was handpicked by PAL Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Dr. Lucio C. Tan, toured the Naia Terminal 2, accompanied by Vivienne Tan, PAL executive vice president and chief executive officer.

The daughter of the tycoon introduced Santa Maria to aviation industry leaders and to the PAL employees.

Santa Maria has three decades of executive management and leadership experience across multiple industries in companies around the world.

He said his appointment came as a shock for him since he has been living “on the other side of the Pacific.”

“So for me this is coming home. I guess leaders from Mindanao are ‘in’ these days. I’m from Mindanao. I was born in Butuan, grew up in Cagayan de Oro,” he added.

For the last 15 years, Santa Maria was a key leader and contributor in the Philippines’s highly successful BPO industry, serving as COO of Washington, D.C.-based BPO company IBEX Global. Before IBEX, he was COO and CFO of IQ BackOffice, a California-based finance and accounting outsourcer that was an investee company of LiveIt Investments, Ayala Corp.’s BPO holding company, and more.

2022 in Cebu, Bacolod, Davao, Boracay, Cavite and Pampanga.

“For the next three years, the

Megaworld Lifestyle Malls brand will be seen in key growth areas around the country as we continue to tap opportunities for our retail partners to further expand and grow their brands with us,” Kevin Andrew L. Tan, the company’s senior vice president for commercial division, said.

“We veer away from standardizing our malls. We study and curate them based on what its location is all about. We want each mall to have its own charm and identity—something that makes each one ‘endemic’ to the city where it is located,” Tan said.

Among the malls that will be opened in the next two years are the Maple Grove Mall in General Trias in Cavite, which will be a greenhouse-

inspired mall surrounded with gardens and trees; and the Northill Town Center in Northill Gateway in Bacolod, which will showcase the “hacienda-style” town center for which Negros has been known for.

“Our goal is to have a mall in each township that we have. And in every mall, we will always help and support local entrepreneurs in that area to flourish and build their businesses with us,” Tan said.

To date, Megaworld has 17 shopping malls across the Philippines, and a total retail space portfolio of around 710,000 square meters.

In 2018, Megaworld’s mall rental revenues reached P5.5 billion, almost 40 percent of the company’s rental revenues for the year.

MGreen seen to seal RE deals to beef up portfolio by 350 MW

By Lenie Lectura @llectura

M

GEN Renewable Energy Inc. (MGreen), a wholly owned subsidiary of Meralco PowerGen Corp. (MGen), is expected this year to seal deals in renewable energy (RE) that will beef up its portfolio by 350 megawatts (MW).

“There are potential deals in the pipeline. One or two deals this year,” said Meralco President Ray C. Espinosa. He declined to provide details, saying the deals are covered by a nondisclosure agreement (NDA) signed by the company. “Once a deal has been firmed up, we will make the necessary announcements.”

MGen is a wholly owned subsidiary of Meralco. MGen President Rogelio Singson said the RE projects being eyed by MGreen are “almost near completion.”

“In terms of our commitment, of the group to expand our RE projects, we are lining up in the immediate future, as early as 2020, about 350 MW of RE projects that are almost near completion. Unfortunately, we

are covered by an NDA, so we can’t disclose until we sign agreements with them,” said Singson.

He said the RE deals will be signed this year but the commercial operation date of these RE projects, which include solar and microgrid, “could be next year.”

Meralco Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan had said that RE would play a significant role in Meralco’s power portfolio, following President Duterte’s State of the Nation Address.

Duterte reiterated the need for the country to develop more RE sources and reduce dependence on traditional energy sources such as coal.

MGen is pushing for the completion of 1,000 MW of RE projects in the next five to seven years.

As part of this plan, it established MGreen to serve as the platform for the strategic push to develop renewable-energy projects, primarily solar, wind and run-ofriver hydro.

In addition, the large RE requirement of distribution utilities and electric cooperatives under the Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS)

is more than compelling reason for MGen to allocate resources into this area.

Singson said the RE deals this year are “definitely” targeted to be completed in time for the release of RPS guidelines.

“My recollection is 500-600 MW RPS requirement, may kick in by 2022,” he said.

RPS mandates distribution utilities to source a minimum portion of energy from renewable sources, thus guaranteeing a market for renewable-energy generators. This minimum will be increased on a yearly basis.

“We are working on several renewable-energy prospects and we recognize the significant reduction in the development cost, particularly for large-scale solar and wind over the past years. Notwithstanding the ongoing requirement for new reliable base-load generation to support the fast-growing Philippine economy, we believe that the time is right to focus on building our green energy capacity and we intend to be a key player in this expanding sector,” Singson said earlier.

Alviera: Changing the Porac landscape

By Ashley Manabat | Correspondent

P

ORAC, Pampanga—What used to be a hilly and mountainous area with pockets of farmlands once covered by volcanic debris is now slowly shaping up to be a luxurious haven—a residential, leisure and industrial park.

Alviera, the 1,800-hectare mixed-use, master-planned estate jointly developed by Ayala Land and Leonio Land Holdings, has marked another milestone with the new phase of the Alviera Industrial Park and the launching of the Alviera Country Club on July 31.

Leo Grape, Alviera project associate manager and acting general manager of the Alviera Country Club, said from the first phase of the industrial park, a new one was launched with an additional 32 hectares following strong demand for more industrial lots.

Grape said at a press briefing at the newly opened Alviera Country Club here on Friday that Phase 1 of the park already has “moveins” from noodle manufacturer Monde Nissin and Badan Building Materials, a company in stone engineering.

Their operations, with about 350 combined employees, will begin this month.

Another locator, Heavy Duty Manufacturing Inc., will provide quality exhaust components

for different industries.

The Alviera Industrial Park is located near the entrance of the sprawling estate development where it is strategically accessible from the Porac exit of the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx).

On Friday, Grape showed members of the media the various amenities of the Alviera Country Club, which is nestled on a 5.6-hectare lot at the foot of a mountain range here.

Grape said Phase 2 of the industrial park is on track for completion early next year.

Alviera Industrial Park is dedicated to light to medium, nonpolluting industries and is open for non-Peza locators.

A public transport terminal linking Alviera to major points like Dau, Mabalacat, Angeles and San Fernando cities, as well as Clark, will be developed later this year. He also said discussions are ongoing with public transport groups.

Meantime, the Alviera Country Club is set to become Central Luzon’s premium fitness and recreation destination.

Designed by Leandro V. Locsin and Partners, the sprawling country club is in the heart of the estate. It features a network of swimming pools, a gym with dance studio, and multiple indoor courts for basketball, volleyball, tennis and badminton.

Continued on B2

ERC blocks bid of Transco, PSALM to intervene in NGCP’s IPO delay

T

HE National Transmission Corp. (Transco) and the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) were not allowed by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to intervene in the petition for the approval of the IPO (initial public offering) extension filed by the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP).

In its 12-page order, the ERC denied for lack of merit the petition for intervention filed by Transco and PSALM. At the same time, the ERC ruled that it has jurisdiction to hear and decide on NGCP’s petition.

“It is clear that RA 9511 and the Concession Agreement affirmed that neither PSALM nor Transco has the authority to regulate or supervise NGCP’s compliance with its franchise law, only this commission.

“Therefore, PSALM and Transco has no direct and substantial interest in the instant petition, more so on its outcome, lacking one of the requirements of the commission to grant their petition for intervention.

Hence, the same should be denied,” stated the ERC order which was signed by the chief of the oversight committee for legal service, ERC Commissioner Josefina Patricia Magpale-Asirit.

The ERC said there are two requisites for granting the petition for intervention: one, if the petition has a direct and substantial interest in the proceedings; and two, if the intervention would not unduly broaden the issue.

“Applying the said parameters, Transco and PSALM failed to show that they have direct and substantial interest in the petition, hence, the same is hereby denied,” said the ERC. “A mere invocation of the Epira which created Transco and

PSALM does not automatically vest them the right to intervene in the instant proceedings, absent any clear legal standing as required by the rules of the commission.” Also, the ERC pointed out that it has the jurisdiction to hear and decide NGCP’s petition, as it is the regulatory agency of the government with sole authority to regulate the transmission business.

“The very subject matter of this petition is the obligation of NGCP for public listing under Section 8 of RA 9511. This is squarely within the jurisdiction of the commission pursuant to the Epira,” added the ERC. Under the law, NGCP should make a public offering of the shares representing at least 20 percent of its outstanding capital stock within 10 years from the commencement of its operation or until January 14, 2009.

On November 13, 2018, NGCP filed a petition for extension for the listing of the shares.

Among others, the NGCP cited the following reasons for delaying its IPO: n The pending arbitration case filed by NGCP before the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) against Transco and PSALM. n The delay in the implementation of its Regulatory Reset. n The period provided for compliance with Section 8 of RA 9511 is merely directory. n There is no implementing rules and regulations for compliance with Section 8 of RA 9511. n The timing of the public offering is addressed to the discretion of NGCP’s board if directors.

Transco and PSALM filed their opposition questioning the jurisdiction of the ERC in December 2018. Lenie Lectura

Congress extends franchise of Home Radio owner Insular Broadcasting System

9

79 Home Radio, this year’s winner of the Golden Dove Award as Best FM Station in Metro Manila from the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster sa Pilipinas (KBP), is owned and operated by Insular Broadcasting System (IBS).

Ely Aligora, executive vice president of Insular Broadcasting, said the award “came at a very auspicious time as Congress had recently extended IBS’s franchise for another 25 years through Republic Act 11318.”

Insular Broadcasting System is headed by D. Edgard A. Cabangon as chairman, and D. Adrian Cabangon as president. The network was established

by the late Ambassador Antonio L. Cabangon Chua in 1995. With the call letters DWQZ, 979 Home Radio is a sister station of 882 DWIZ AM radio station.

The KBP’s Golden Dove Award for Best FM Station-Metro Manila given in ceremonies last July 23, 2019, is the second to be won by 979 Home Radio.

In April 2018, the station also won the Golden Dove trophy for its public service announcement “Think Before You Post” aimed to combat cyber-bullying and the proliferation of fake news.

The Golden Dove for Best FM Station-Metro Manila was received by Braggy Braganza, station manager, during awarding ceremonies in Pasay City.

B2

Companies BusinessMirror

Wednesday, July 31, 2019

PSE STOCK QUOTATIONS

July 30, 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 MEDCO HLDG MANULIFE NTL REINSURANCE PHIL STOCK EXCH VANTAGE

58.5 148 90.35 26.95 6.1 12.4 75.75 13.1 20.55 49.45 59.15 30.55 183.1 60.05 1.16 2.23 18.6 4.66 0.46 760.5 1.16 186 1.12

58.8 148.4 90.6 27 7.96 12.42 75.9 13.2 22.9 49.5 59.3 30.6 184 60.15 1.21 2.31 18.7 4.75 0.47 790 1.17 191.5 1.19

58.5 149 90 27 7 12.5 75.3 13.1 21.5 49.5 59.2 30.05 185 60.1 1.15 2.3 18.6 4.72 0.47 770 1.15 192 1.13

58.8 149 90.9 27.05 7.97 12.5 76.1 13.1 21.5 49.9 59.3 32 185 60.95 1.23 2.3 18.6 4.75 0.47 770 1.16 192 1.13

57.65 147.4 89.55 26.95 7 12.4 75.3 13.1 20.55 49.3 59 29.55 182.4 60 1.15 2.23 18.6 4.72 0.47 770 1.12 186 1.12

58.8 148.4 90.6 27 7.96 12.42 75.9 13.1 20.55 49.5 59.3 30.55 184 60 1.23 2.23 18.6 4.75 0.47 770 1.16 191.5 1.12

4020 1390420 2611980 266100 1900 632300 2336630 50000 200 1009400 6700 868900 172310 22090 14000 2100000 700 15000 10000 100 1458000 240 3000

234265 206191349 235866886 7184815 13523 7869362 176936051.5 655000 4205 49966315 396043.5 26546020 31698355 1328817 16980 4724960 13020 70980 4700 77000 1682390 45111 3370

INDUSTRIAL

59970 -13829294 95156869 -6363980 -1218492 7347545.5 -3660450 3141050 -6270272 -712207.5 -4704750 -143800 5580 -

ALSONS CONS ABOITIZ POWER BASIC ENERGY FIRST GEN FIRST PHIL HLDG MERALCO MANILA WATER PETRON PETROENERGY PHINMA ENERGY PHX PETROLEUM PILIPINAS SHELL SPC POWER VIVANT AGRINURTURE CNTRL AZUCARERA CENTURY FOOD DEL MONTE DNL INDUS EMPERADOR SMC FOODANDBEV ALLIANCE SELECT GINEBRA JOLLIBEE LIBERTY FLOUR MACAY HLDG MAXS GROUP MG HLDG PEPSI COLA SHAKEYS PIZZA ROXAS AND CO RFM CORP ROXAS HLDG 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 SFA SEMICON CIRTEK HLDG

1.31 36.15 0.265 26.15 86.85 367.4 23.8 5.57 4.84 2.41 11.96 38.5 6.76 16.1 14.02 15.6 15 6.3 10.36 7.53 100.3 0.78 61 255 35 8.8 14.1 0.187 1.75 13.7 1.43 4.9 2.1 167.3 1.22 2.48 76.4 88.8 2.97 5.2 14.5 11 14.04 18.92 8.75 1.1 1.27 106.4 2.03 5.22 40.1 2.24 9.72 1.66 1.06 16.16

1.32 36.2 0.275 26.2 86.9 369 24 5.58 4.88 2.42 11.98 38.55 6.83 16.96 14.26 16.68 15.1 6.37 10.38 7.54 100.8 0.79 61.4 255.2 50 8.99 14.12 0.194 1.76 13.78 1.47 5.05 2.16 167.5 1.24 2.56 78 91.5 2.98 5.4 14.54 11.1 14.06 19 9.1 1.12 1.28 116.7 2.07 5.35 41.75 2.25 9.75 1.69 1.09 16.18

1.32 36.5 0.27 26.25 87.2 372 23.6 5.59 4.87 2.53 11.98 38.75 6.85 16.12 14.26 15.36 15.1 6.38 10.38 7.54 102 0.78 60.85 253 29.3 9 14.18 0.186 1.72 13.7 1.39 5.05 2.15 168.1 1.23 2.48 80 88.6 2.98 5.2 14.46 10.86 14.02 19.04 9 1.13 1.3 110 2 5.22 41.75 2.2 9.6 1.69 1.06 16.4

1.32 36.5 0.27 26.25 87.5 373 24 5.65 4.87 2.53 11.98 38.75 6.85 16.12 14.28 16.84 15.22 6.38 10.38 7.55 102.2 0.79 64.65 256.8 29.3 9 14.18 0.194 1.77 13.78 1.47 5.05 2.15 168.9 1.25 2.48 81.5 93.5 3.02 5.2 14.54 11.1 14.1 19.14 9 1.13 1.3 110 2.03 5.4 41.75 2.27 9.78 1.7 1.09 16.4

1.31 36.2 0.27 26.05 86.85 367.4 23.5 5.58 4.8 2.4 11.76 38.2 6.7 16.12 13.84 15.36 15.1 6.22 10.3 7.53 100.2 0.77 59 248 29.3 8.8 14.1 0.186 1.72 13.68 1.36 5 2.15 167 1.22 2.48 76.1 88.6 2.96 5.2 14.46 10.86 14 18.96 9 1.1 1.27 110 2 5.22 41.75 2.18 9.6 1.66 1.06 16

1.31 36.2 0.27 26.2 86.85 367.4 24 5.58 4.87 2.41 11.98 38.55 6.76 16.12 14.28 16.7 15.1 6.37 10.38 7.54 100.8 0.78 61.4 255 29.3 8.8 14.12 0.194 1.75 13.7 1.47 5.05 2.15 167.5 1.22 2.48 79 88.8 2.97 5.2 14.5 11 14.04 19 9 1.12 1.28 110 2.03 5.22 41.75 2.25 9.75 1.69 1.09 16.18

93000 1027600 310000 3122700 352730 216260 24800 778700 30000 19952000 13200 97000 165400 1600 1338400 1100 106400 62900 118500 6268100 65690 385000 1162290 1597640 10 3300 125700 30000 2341000 101100 781000 1890200 5000 1714340 1015000 20000 3930 1100 11440000 100 694400 316700 385400 176400 1000 327000 2252000 50 201000 10400 1200 6884000 135900 22000 175000 112700

122020 37282755 83700 81675310 30690237.5 79903788 591955 4360795 145650 48923470 157036 3726120 1113197 25792 19076418 18116 1610964 396267 1223764 47266328 6609830 299880 71920805.5 404519030 293 29079 1774610 5660 4088110 1385320 1089100 9453784 10750 287501689 1249310 49600 309851 99162 34178410 520 10056352 3490492 5406274 3359202 9000 361820 2885140 5500 408000 54326 50100 15399920 1317268 36740 186750 1817598

-16772735 -33591405 -19543331 -14366772 -133670 122960 -1200450 3528 55065 163172 -495214 -103727 41486 2231321 -1446165 2195160.5 186104206 -16996 -708920 489224 -29200 -348750 -51493061 -282130 16241940 8931404 3157950 -1075486 1498118 196500 -50100 -1253160 649549 -16660 -106800 80500

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 FJ PRINCE A FORUM PACIFIC GT CAPITAL HOUSE OF INV JG SUMMIT JOLLIVILLE HLDG 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

0.96 16.9 952 53.95 15.6 4.04 7 0.71 1.28 1.29 6.88 10.28 13.82 3.99 0.22 953 6.35 67.5 6.05 0.495 4.52 14.24 0.72 4.81 0.039 1.5 2.83 1.36 1004 175.6 0.83 259.2 0.232 0.28

0.97 17.04 952.5 54.5 15.74 4.05 7.08 0.73 1.29 1.32 6.9 10.3 13.98 4.87 0.228 955 6.41 67.65 6.44 0.5 4.57 14.32 0.73 4.82 0.04 1.51 3.01 1.4 1013 175.9 0.85 260.2 0.239 0.285

1.06 17.3 956.5 55.5 15.7 4.3 7.01 0.72 1.33 1.35 7 10.48 13.8 4.47 0.227 960 6.41 66.1 6.05 0.48 4.52 14.8 0.71 4.79 0.039 1.5 2.83 1.4 1020 176 0.83 259.2 0.232 0.285

1.06 17.3 969 55.5 15.8 4.3 7.1 0.72 1.35 1.36 7.03 10.48 14 4.48 0.228 963.5 6.41 67.5 6.44 0.495 4.57 14.8 0.74 4.86 0.039 1.55 3.01 1.4 1020 176.5 0.84 260.2 0.232 0.29

0.97 16.82 944.5 53.95 15.54 4.05 7 0.72 1.27 1.3 6.85 10.24 13.8 4.47 0.22 950 6.41 65.3 6.05 0.48 4.52 14.1 0.69 4.78 0.039 1.46 2.83 1.4 993 175.1 0.83 259.2 0.232 0.28

0.97 17.02 952.5 53.95 15.6 4.05 7 0.72 1.29 1.33 6.9 10.3 13.98 4.48 0.228 955 6.41 67.5 6.44 0.495 4.57 14.24 0.72 4.81 0.039 1.5 3.01 1.4 1013 175.9 0.84 260.2 0.232 0.28

95135000 86500 281790 930750 3393100 9890000 37500 133000 10759000 1155000 456400 12786100 7557700 25000 680000 80030 61500 1123980 4100 20000 345000 3288600 10747000 26771000 10900000 2197000 3000 20000 863125 350270 132000 302520 110000 1250000

94856240 1464406 268628555 50654497.5 52993906 40840810 263069 95760 14218850 1548110 3161611 131699340 104460752 111980 151460 76498030 394215 75114791.5 26255 9750 1561220 46955854 7711860 129046530 425100 3324010 8850 28000 867023757.5 61510434 110450 78415332 25520 355300

-811010 -11788 -66058420 -33065703 7477148 1724820 -236413 -72000 437100 381074 -24654240 1050284 17600 20333330 -352550 -35788052.5 516990 -21118246 40952210 -544200 547769425 11211181 140344 -

HOLDING & FRIMS

PROPERTY

ARTHALAND CORP 1.07 1.08 1.15 1.17 1.04 1.08 36873000 40882160 -91719.9999 ANCHOR LAND 10.8 11.16 11.28 11.34 10.3 10.8 27600 296674 AYALA LAND 51.05 51.15 51.55 51.55 50.95 51.1 3898780 199303701 -69354452 ARANETA PROP 2.04 2.14 2.17 2.17 2.01 2.15 128000 262770 BELLE CORP 2.23 2.26 2.23 2.27 2.2 2.23 640000 1424140 -93110 A BROWN 0.82 0.83 0.85 0.85 0.83 0.83 1048000 870240 CROWN EQUITIES 0.236 0.24 0.238 0.238 0.236 0.236 16550000 3915950 CEBU HLDG 6.08 6.1 6.1 6.16 6.08 6.16 44500 270838 -30500 CEB LANDMASTERS 5.1 5.11 5.12 5.12 5.08 5.1 321800 1640312 25500 CENTURY PROP 0.61 0.62 0.61 0.63 0.6 0.62 14888000 9188840 150750 CYBER BAY 0.45 0.47 0.46 0.47 0.45 0.47 520000 237550 DOUBLEDRAGON 24.5 24.6 23.9 24.8 23.8 24.5 397600 9705055 4408380 DM WENCESLAO 11.02 11.04 10.56 11.2 10.56 11.04 1896100 20804380 -82580 EMPIRE EAST 0.465 0.47 0.47 0.47 0.465 0.465 810000 377400 -149500 EVER GOTESCO 0.125 0.13 0.124 0.125 0.124 0.125 80000 9990 FILINVEST LAND 1.95 1.96 1.93 1.98 1.93 1.95 59612000 116985430 32694620 GLOBAL ESTATE 1.37 1.38 1.38 1.39 1.37 1.37 814000 1122280 8990 HLDG 15.7 15.84 15.84 15.84 15.7 15.84 456000 7171442 -1624528 PHIL INFRADEV 1.79 1.8 1.79 1.84 1.75 1.79 18273000 32887100 -10803520 CITY AND LAND 0.8 0.81 0.83 0.83 0.81 0.81 2000 1640 MEGAWORLD 6.29 6.3 6.2 6.3 6.1 6.3 10075000 62657212 13386663 MRC ALLIED 0.335 0.34 0.34 0.345 0.335 0.34 6270000 2131600 217600 PRIMEX CORP 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.06 2.02 2.03 804000 1634790 ROBINSONS LAND 27.5 27.55 27.8 27.8 27.2 27.5 2068700 56905400 -5115215 PHIL REALTY 0.4 0.41 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 70000 28000 ROCKWELL 2.43 2.45 2.4 2.47 2.36 2.45 958000 2323670 -31850 SHANG PROP 3.12 3.27 3.28 3.28 3.03 3.27 161000 507550 STA LUCIA LAND 2.14 2.17 2.17 2.18 2.13 2.17 501000 1082300 43400 SM PRIME HLDG 37.5 37.65 38.2 38.2 37.5 37.5 19576000 736281815 268447700 STARMALLS 6.02 6.09 6.1 6.15 6.01 6.09 112800 680427 SUNTRUST HOME 0.81 0.82 0.81 0.83 0.81 0.82 325000 265570 33200 VISTA LAND 7.63 7.73 7.67 7.74 7.62 7.73 6523600 50279301 -9294522

SERVICES ABS CBN 18.3 18.32 18.54 18.54 18.1 18.32 204500 3726878 GMA NETWORK 5.37 5.38 5.38 5.4 5.38 5.38 73600 396178 MANILA BULLETIN 0.51 0.52 0.52 0.52 0.51 0.51 285000 146720 GLOBE TELECOM 2190 2200 2200 2244 2190 2190 36335 79813410 -48720360 PLDT 1138 1153 1135 1163 1134 1138 118375 136567100 -94097585 APOLLO GLOBAL 0.047 0.048 0.048 0.048 0.047 0.048 7100000 335800 DFNN INC 6.04 6.5 6.38 6.7 6.38 6.5 290000 1879368 IMPERIAL 1.87 1.9 1.85 1.9 1.85 1.9 42000 79700 ISLAND INFO 0.112 0.113 0.112 0.113 0.112 0.113 340000 38170 ISM COMM 5.38 5.39 5.38 5.43 5.32 5.38 1010600 5442505 -346670 NOW CORP 2.55 2.58 2.59 2.59 2.53 2.58 1340000 3430890 -583329.9997 TRANSPACIFIC BR 0.36 0.365 0.365 0.37 0.36 0.365 1780000 646150 3650 PHILWEB 4.04 4.06 3.95 4.07 3.91 4.04 2026000 8100830 452480 2GO GROUP 10.64 11 11 11 10.62 10.64 7200 78390 ASIAN TERMINALS 19.7 20.5 20 20 19.7 19.7 2300 45910 CHELSEA 7.52 7.53 7.46 7.55 7.36 7.52 1059600 7918125 221130 CEBU AIR 95 95.2 95.5 95.6 95 95.2 72840 6939055.5 4797636 INTL CONTAINER 133.8 135 129.3 135 129.3 135 1514890 202645760 22761485 LBC EXPRESS 14.12 14.68 14.12 14.7 14.12 14.12 300 4294 LORENZO SHIPPNG 0.91 0.93 0.92 0.93 0.9 0.93 244000 223160 MACROASIA 19.46 19.48 19.46 19.5 19.44 19.48 957300 18616146 11340 PAL HLDG 8.95 9 8.99 9 8.95 8.95 59300 532995 HARBOR STAR 2.03 2.04 2.06 2.1 2.03 2.04 1740000 3579040 1940 ACESITE HOTEL 1.46 1.51 1.49 1.49 1.46 1.46 7000 10280 BOULEVARD HLDG 0.063 0.064 0.065 0.065 0.063 0.063 5140000 326050 WATERFRONT 0.75 0.76 0.79 0.79 0.73 0.75 8009000 6055120 225000 CENTRO ESCOLAR 7.02 7.17 7.01 7.18 6.98 7.02 20900 146525 53191 FAR EASTERN U 890 920 895 895 895 895 10 8950 IPEOPLE 9.35 9.69 9.7 9.7 9.31 9.69 25000 235662 STI HLDG 0.73 0.74 0.74 0.75 0.73 0.74 1382000 1023290 164600 BERJAYA 2.38 2.39 2.44 2.44 2.31 2.38 945000 2221970 2360 BLOOMBERRY 11.5 11.56 11.46 11.64 11.42 11.5 2496700 28692118 -18497086 PACIFIC ONLINE 2.58 2.6 2.54 2.74 2.54 2.6 1002000 2596260 -114500 LEISURE AND RES 3.54 3.58 3.62 3.65 3.52 3.54 1742000 6248390 233750 MANILA JOCKEY 3.25 3.4 3.39 3.45 3.3 3.4 155000 520080 PH RESORTS GRP 5.25 5.48 5.22 5.57 5.22 5.48 6600 35387 -11025 PREMIUM LEISURE 0.7 0.71 0.7 0.71 0.69 0.71 5124000 3612050 -52490 PHIL RACING 8.23 9.38 9.4 9.4 8.5 8.5 10200 86880 TRAVELLERS 5.47 5.5 5.53 5.53 5.45 5.47 900 4917 METRO RETAIL 2.61 2.62 2.6 2.64 2.59 2.61 939000 2447600 216270 PUREGOLD 45.45 45.5 46 46 45.2 45.5 584100 26600875 -12804485 ROBINSONS RTL 78.05 78.2 78 78.5 78 78.05 509350 39770539 3663582.5 PHIL SEVEN CORP 146.1 150 155 155 150 150 1480 224152 -30027 SSI GROUP 3.2 3.21 3.16 3.28 3.16 3.2 3522000 11386660 -1340750 WILCON DEPOT 15.8 15.9 15.96 15.96 15.8 15.9 909900 14436700 1131144 APC GROUP 0.51 0.52 0.5 0.53 0.5 0.53 860000 443300 EASYCALL 9.66 9.75 9.64 9.75 9.61 9.66 7400 71650 GOLDEN BRIA 413.2 422 412.2 423.8 412.2 413.2 120 50318 -4122 IPM HLDG 5.7 5.75 5.8 5.8 5.75 5.75 5000 28900 PAXYS 2.91 3.06 2.91 2.91 2.91 2.91 3000 8730 PRMIERE HORIZON 0.8 0.81 0.81 0.82 0.79 0.81 17315000 13984530 2066400 SBS PHIL CORP 9.28 9.39 9.4 9.49 9.4 9.4 7600 71832 -17082

MINING & OIL ATOK 12.32 12.7 12.88 12.88 12.04 12.78 1200 14762 APEX MINING 1.24 1.25 1.23 1.26 1.23 1.25 9364000 11650320 -1583670 ABRA MINING 0.0016 0.0017 0.0017 0.0018 0.0017 0.0017 115000000 195600 ATLAS MINING 2.67 2.79 2.67 2.67 2.67 2.67 2000 5340 BENGUET B 1.14 1.29 1.14 1.14 1.14 1.14 1000 1140 -1140 COAL ASIA HLDG 0.27 0.28 0.27 0.27 0.27 0.27 200000 54000 CENTURY PEAK 2.72 2.8 2.75 2.75 2.72 2.72 617000 1682580 76410 DIZON MINES 7.55 7.65 7.76 7.76 7.55 7.55 15600 118264 FERRONICKEL 1.44 1.45 1.45 1.45 1.43 1.45 1304000 1879090 -963070 GEOGRACE 0.218 0.225 0.222 0.228 0.219 0.225 860000 189550 LEPANTO A 0.105 0.107 0.107 0.107 0.105 0.105 2860000 301610 MARCVENTURES 1.08 1.1 1.1 1.11 1.08 1.08 196000 212040 NIHAO 1.04 1.07 1.09 1.09 1.08 1.08 2000 2170 NICKEL ASIA 2.55 2.56 2.5 2.59 2.5 2.56 1489000 3808450 801040 OMICO CORP 0.495 0.51 0.53 0.53 0.5 0.51 103000 52460 ORNTL PENINSULA 0.84 0.85 0.84 0.87 0.84 0.85 183000 155480 PX MINING 3.48 3.49 3.47 3.52 3.44 3.49 335000 1170260 -629450 SEMIRARA MINING 23.25 23.3 24.2 24.2 23 23.3 17617300 410265790 -43468055 UNITED PARAGON 0.0062 0.0065 0.0063 0.0063 0.0061 0.0061 6000000 37200 ORNTL PETROL A 0.012 0.013 0.012 0.012 0.012 0.012 8200000 98400 PHILODRILL 0.011 0.012 0.011 0.011 0.011 0.011 11800000 129800 PHINMA PETRO 5.72 5.74 6.03 6.07 5.55 5.74 879300 5081345 116000 PXP ENERGY 9.12 9.15 9.03 9.27 9.03 9.15 3538200 32414880 -1071345

PREFFERED

HOUSE PREF A 96.1 99.5 99.7 99.7 99.7 99.7 20 1994 AC PREF B1 475 488.6 480 480 475 475 9500 4537500 AC PREF B2 495 496 495 496 495 496 1610 796960 ALCO PREF B 100 101 100 100 100 100 200 20000 DD PREF 99.25 100 99.9 100 99.8 100 35880 3586924 FGEN PREF G 104 105.2 105.2 105.2 105 105 5010 526052 GLO PREF P 485 498 490 490 490 490 2890 1416100 GTCAP PREF A 926.5 967.5 928 928 928 928 40 37120 LR PREF 0.98 0.99 0.98 0.99 0.96 0.98 2125000 2079240 MWIDE PREF 99.7 102.1 102.3 102.3 99.7 99.7 6160 615318 -16368 PNX PREF 3A 101 101.7 101 101 101 101 1000 101000 PNX PREF 3B 106 107.4 107.4 107.4 107.4 107.4 240 25776 PCOR PREF 2A 992 993 993 993 993 993 320 317760 PCOR PREF 3A 1011 1014 1011 1014 1011 1014 36000 36458590 -10120 PCOR PREF 3B 1015 1016 1017 1017 1015 1016 6040 6142610 SMC PREF 2B 75.2 76.5 75.7 77.5 75.2 75.2 55280 4239730 SMC PREF 2C 77 77.55 76.75 77 76.75 77 21400 1643775 SMC PREF 2E 75 75.5 75.2 75.2 75 75 455000 34126000 SMC PREF 2F 75.3 75.45 75.3 75.3 75.3 75.3 413000 31098900 SMC PREF 2G 75 75.4 75 75 75 75 50 3750 SMC PREF 2H 75 75.3 75 75.5 75 75.5 26700 2015750 SMC PREF 2I 75 75.5 75.3 75.5 75.3 75.5 13210 996255 -

PHIL. DEPOSITARY RECEIPTS ABS HLDG PDR

17.5

17.56

17.8

17.8

17.56

17.56

72000

1272992

WARRANTS LR WARRANT

1.77

-915724

1.83

1.81

1.89

1.75

1.83

236000

428930

-

ITALPINAS 7.11 XURPAS 1.03

7.12 1.04

6.5 1.06

7.14 1.06

6.5 1.03

7.11 1.03

6450000 2352000

44907905 2433650

-557185 -13620

FIRST METRO ETF

122

SMALL & MEDIUM ENTERPRISES

EXHANGE TRADE FUNDS 121.9

122.2

122.2

121.7

122

6140

748794

-12188

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Fruitas bullish, sees revenue growing 25% to hit ₧2B in ’19

P

By Elijah Felice E. Rosales

@alyasjah

OWERHOUSE food retailer Fruitas Holdings Inc. is bullish it will grow revenue this year by over 25 percent to hit P2 billion, as it is poised to open its 1,000th store in the coming months.

Fruitas is eyeing to diversify its distribution channels and maximize synergies from its recent acquisitions for the remainder of the year. With over 970 stores nationwide, the food kiosk is looking to introduce more brands and hit its 1000th store mark in the coming months.

Coupled with a favorable economic environment and more opportunities for expansion, Fruitas

is targeting to generate a full-year consolidated revenue of P2 billion this year.

This should be 26.58 percent than last year’s revenue of P1.58 billion.

Fruitas improved its revenue in 2018 by 37.39 percent, from P1.15 billion in 2017.

Fruitas has added more than 150 stores since the end of 2017.

Further, it completed its buyout of

Sabroso Lechon assets in the second half of last year and has already grown the number of stores to 17, from only two.

The food kiosk has also introduced Lucky Chan, a new food retail concept offering Filipino rice meals in bowls. This is on top of the provincial expansion of Shou, Fruitas’s kiosk concept of hand-pulled noodles and Chinese delicacies.

Earlier this year, Fruitas partnered with Grab to make its products available on the delivery service platform in order to reach and serve more consumers in Metro Manila. Among the brands available on Grab’s platform are Fruitas, Buko Loco, Buko ni Fruitas, De Original Jamaican Pattie, Johnn Lemon, Sabroso Lechon, House of Desserts, Black Pearl, Tea Rex, among others.

At the same time, Fruitas fresh

coconut water is also now available in 50 Andok’s stores within Metro Manila.

The company is also supplying fresh coconut water to CocoDelivery, a new coconut water delivery provider in Metro Manila. Orders may be coursed through its hotline and can be delivered to any point in the nation’s capital.

Fruitas President and CEO Lester C. Yu said the growing market demand for the firm’s products provides an opportunity to expand distribution networks.

“We are always finding ways to make it easier for Filipinos to access our products. We want to encourage more frequent consumption and continue to reach out to first-time customers. The evolving needs of our customer base provide an opportunity for us to expand distribution channels,” Yu said in a statement.

MPIC still looking for ways to fund hospital business if IPO hits snag

M

ETRO Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan said the company continues to look for ways to raise funds for its hospital business in case the planned initial public offering (IPO) does not take place anytime soon.

“The process has started for the hospitals and the main path they are taking is an IPO…I think we will eventually put to bed the IPO, [I don’t know] whether the schedule is firm enough that we can conclude it within the year,” said Pangilinan.

As such, Pangilinan said MPIC could issue exchangeable bonds to start raising funds for its hospital arm Metro Pacific Hospital Holdings Inc. (MPHHI).

“So, we’re thinking... perhaps, to be certain, that we can raise the funds for MPIC and for the hospitals itself, that maybe we should issue an exchangeable bond in the next two to three months, that is convertible directly to the hospitals, to the hospital holding company,” said Pangilinan after he presented the Manila Electric Co.’s (Meralco) first-half financial and operational results on Monday.

Pangilinan is the chairman of Meralco.

Details of the bond issuance, including the price, have yet to be firmed up. “Depends on what the es-

timated IPO proceeds are. It’s gonna be the same people who are going to buy the exchangeable bonds because what we are looking at is a mandatory exchange into MPHHI shares at predetermined ratio, so then you are not pressed for time to do the IPO,” explained Pangilinan.

MPIC officials said earlier that the company was also looking at selling a portion of its stake in MPHHI to raise funds that could reach between P15 billion and P20 billion.

MPHHI’s hospital portfolio includes Makati Medical Center, Asian Hospital, Cardinal Santos Medical Center, Manila Doctors Hospital, Jesus Delgado Memorial Hospital, De Los Santos Medical Center, Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital and Marikina Valley Medical Center.

MPHHI also has at least six provincial hospitals—Davao Doctors Hospital, Riverside Medical Center in Bacolod, Central Luzon Doctors’ Hospital in Tarlac, West Metro Medical Center in Zamboanga, Sacred Heart Hospital in Malolos, Bulacan, and St. Elizabeth in General Santos City. When asked if his group is keen to acquire more hospitals after St. Elizabeth, Pangilinan said yes.

“We have a whole list. It takes a bit of time, [they were] distracted because of the Makati Med tender offer and this IPO,” he said. Lenie Lectura

Alviera: Changing the Porac landscape Continued from B1

There are facilities for children and for relaxation. There are three restaurants topbilled by Manyaman (delicious) Restaurant, a 112-seater restaurant that offers Filipino and international dishes; the Sabyan (tell) Café which offers hot and cold beverages, and a wide array of sandwiches, and freshly baked bread and pastries; and the Galo (move) Sports Bar which offers tasty bar chow.

At Galo, patrons can enjoy darts, billiards and table tennis over their drinks.

“We look forward to welcoming members and guests at Alviera Country Club to experience Capampangan hospitality at its finest,” said Melanie Eugenio, Alviera project development manager.

To head the food and beverage operations, the club appointed Executive Chef Raffy Borromeo Hubilla, who has over 25 years in the culinary business, including international experience.

Aside from sports and family activities, Alviera Country Club was created for intimate celebrations and large-scale events. There are meeting rooms and a boardroom on the ground floor.

Two ballrooms on the second floor may be combined into a grand hall to fit as many as 500 to 600 guests. A pre-function area running the length of the hall provides a view of the entire club.

Aside from the industrial park and club, land development on the estate continues, Grape said.

The Alviera East Commercial Center will be completed next year. He said campuses for Miriam College Alviera and Holy Angel University are in the planning stage and will begin construction in the next years for their target completion and operations in 2022 and 2023 respectively, as is the 23-hectare La Salle Botanical Garden, which will be operational by 2020.

In terms of residences, all three AyalaLand brands—Avida Land, Alveo Land and Ayala Land Premier—are present on the estate to provide options.

Grape said the estate continuously supports its nearby communities like barangays Sapang Uwak and Hacienda Dolores with livelihood, education and medical programs.

Alviera will be developing another 300 hectares over the next five years covering commercial lots and new residential options from the three brands, he said.

MUTUAL FUNDS

July 30, 2019

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

PER SHARE RETURN* RETURN STOCK FUNDS ALFM GROWTH FUND, INC. -A 271.49 3.58% -0.63% 1.51% 7.65% ATRAM ALPHA OPPORTUNITY FUND, INC. -A 1.6565 12.66% 6.06% 3.03% 14.97% ATRAM PHILIPPINE EQUITY OPPORTUNITY FUND, INC. -A 4.2121 1.33% -1.48% 0.49% 7.92% CLIMBS SHARE CAPITAL EQUITY INVESTMENT FUND CORP. -A 0.9807 7.71% N.A. N.A. 8.85% FIRST METRO CONSUMER FUND ON MSCI PHILS. IMI, INC. -A 0.9028 4.76% N.A. N.A. 10% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN EQUITY FUND,INC. -A 5.62 3.28% 0.23% 1.44% 6.57% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN PHILIPPINE INDEX FUND, INC. -A,6 0.9041 2.07% -4.16% N.A. 8.06% MBG EQUITY INVESTMENT FUND, INC. -A 120.77 11.57% N.A. N.A. 3.96% PAMI EQUITY INDEX FUND, INC. -A 53.9563 6% 0.22% N.A. 9.61% PHILAM STRATEGIC GROWTH FUND, INC. -A 562.13 6.06% -0.73% 1.47% 9.21% PHILEQUITY DIVIDEND YIELD FUND, INC. -A 1.3665 7.3% 1.07% 3.35% 8.97% PHILEQUITY FUND, INC. -A 40.0629 7.67% 1.68% 3.09% 9.36% PHILEQUITY MSCI PHILIPPINE INDEX FUND, INC. -A,3 1.0764 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. PHILEQUITY PSE INDEX FUND INC. -A 5.476 6.92% 1.17% 3.62% 10.43% PHILIPPINE STOCK INDEX FUND CORP. -A 914.45 6.99% 0.88% 3.6% 10.38% SOLDIVO STRATEGIC GROWTH FUND, INC. -A 0.9586 9.48% 0.3% N.A. 11.47% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY PHILIPPINE EQUITY FUND, INC. -A 4.478 7.63% 1.12% 3.13% 10.33% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY PHILIPPINE STOCK INDEX FUND, INC. -A 1.0504 6.46% 0.82% N.A. 10.07% UNITED FUND, INC. -A 3.8467 6.77% 2.4% 3.98% 9.88% EXCHANGE TRADED FUND FIRST METRO PHIL. EQUITY EXCHANGE TRADED FUND, INC. -A,C,2 122.4173 7.4% 1.72% 4.65% 10.54% ATRAM ASIAPLUS EQUITY FUND, INC. -B

$0.993 -4.85% 4.32% -0.72% 6.88% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY WORLD VOYAGER FUND, INC. -A $1.3291 1.26% 8.79% N.A. 20.26% BALANCED FUNDS PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES ATRAM DYNAMIC ALLOCATION FUND, INC. -A 1.7859 5.61% -1.42% -0.82% 8.16% ATRAM PHILIPPINE BALANCED FUND, INC. -A 2.3669 2.97% -0.56% 1.02% 7.14% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN BALANCED FUND INC. -A 2.7154 3.31% 0.06% -0.81% 6.78% GREPALIFE BALANCED FUND CORPORATION -A 1.3728 2.04% N.A. N.A. 5.25% NCM MUTUAL FUND OF THE PHILS., INC. -A 1.9736 5.65% 0.29% 1.76% 7.08% PAMI HORIZON FUND, INC. -A 3.8379 5.95% -0.81% 1.15% 8.74% PHILAM FUND, INC. -A 17.2686 6.8% -0.58% 1.13% 8.55% SOLIDARITAS FUND, INC. -A 2.1892 4% 0.57% 2.18% 5.8% SUN LIFE OF CANADA PROSPERITY BALANCED FUND, INC. -A 3.9803 7.44% 0.37% 2.14% 9.01% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY ACHIEVER FUND 2028, INC. -A,D,4 1.0428 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. SUN LIFE PROSPERITY ACHIEVER FUND 2038, INC. -A,D,4 1.0424 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. SUN LIFE PROSPERITY ACHIEVER FUND 2048, INC. -A,D,4 1.0392 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DYNAMIC FUND, INC. -A 1.0192 8.25% 0.61% 1.91% 10.58% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY SECURITIES COCOLIFE DOLLAR FUND BUILDER, INC. -A $0.03747 6.27% 1.44% 1.97% 6.15% PAMI ASIA BALANCED FUND, INC. -A $1.0027 -0.84% 2.84% -1% 9.74% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR ADVANTAGE FUND, INC. -A $3.8129 2.84% 6.12% 3.07% 15.24% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR WELLSPRING FUND, INC. -A $1.1189 3.76% 3.76% N.A. 10.78% BOND FUNDS PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES ALFM PESO BOND FUND, INC. -A 351.85 3.63% 2.07% 2.26% 2.44% ATRAM CORPORATE BOND FUND, INC. -A,1 1.9047 2.36% -0.05% -0.14% 2.45% COCOLIFE FIXED INCOME FUND, INC. -A 3.0647 5.48% 5.3% 5.31% 2.98% EKKLESIA MUTUAL FUND INC. -A 2.2008 3.88% 0.96% 1.97% 3.36% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN FIXED INCOME FUND,INC. -A 2.3288 5.07% 1.16% 1.46% 5.61% GREPALIFE FIXED INCOME FUND CORP. -A P 1.607 1.94% -2.04% 0.08% 2.72% PHILAM BOND FUND, INC. -A 4.2412 7.96% -0.12% 1.57% 8.2% PHILEQUITY PESO BOND FUND, INC. -A 3.7053 6.49% 0.48% 1.49% 5.35% SOLDIVO BOND FUND, INC. -A 0.9452 5.14% -0.66% N.A. 6.06% SUN LIFE OF CANADA PROSPERITY BOND FUND, INC. -A 2.9959 8.77% 1.04% 2.35% 8.32% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY GS FUND, INC. -A 1.662 8.69% 0.54% 1.9% 7.93% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY SECURITIES ALFM DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC. -A $460.37 3.77% 1.68% 2.71% 2.67% ALFM EURO BOND FUND, INC. -A Є218.9 2.57% 1.28% 1.54% 2.93% ATRAM TOTAL RETURN DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC. -B $1.1873 6.44% 1.86% 2.46% 5.47% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC. -A $0.0257 3.63% 0.79% N.A. 3.63% GREPALIFE DOLLAR BOND FUND CORP. -A $1.7146 1.16% -2.15% 0.48% 1.44% PAMI GLOBAL BOND FUND, INC -A $1.0867 5.03% -0.64% -1.94% 4.86% PHILAM DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC. -A $2.3569 8.49% 0.82% 3.21% 8.57% PHILEQUITY DOLLAR INCOME FUND INC. -A $0.0594412 4.73% 1.52% 1.83% 4.28% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR ABUNDANCE FUND, INC. -A $3.0924 7.23% 0.12% 2.65% 7.67% MONEY MARKET FUNDS PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES ALFM MONEY MARKET FUND, INC. -A 124.05 3.96% 2.53% 2.01% 2.62% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN MONEY MARKET FUND, INC. -A,5 1.0174 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. PHILAM MANAGED INCOME FUND, INC. -A 1.2246 4.6% 2.01% 1.22% 3.61% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY MONEY MARKET FUND, INC. -A 1.2487 3.86% 2.72% 2.1% 2.42% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY SECURITIES SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR STARTER FUND, INC. -A $1.0298 2.2% N.A. N.A. 1.37%

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.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Banking&Finance BusinessMirror

Wednesday, July 31, 2019

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Govt fully awards debt papers ahead of Fed meeting

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By Rea Cu

@ReaCuBM

HE Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) has awarded the full P20 billion on offer for 20year Treasury bonds (T-bonds) on Tuesday, anticipating that US Federal Reserve officials would cut rates.

National Treasurer Rosalia V. de Leon said the auction committee awarded the full P20 billion on offer for the reissued debt papers as demand for T-bonds was “strong.”

“Again, we saw very good and healthy results of the auction. So we have strong demand for the long end of the curve, also [with] the anticipation of the cut coming from the FOMC [Federal Open Market Committee] meeting tomorrow,” de Leon said.

Bids for the reissued 20-year Tbond amounted to P29.814 billion.

The average annual rate for the security settled at 5.015 percent, which posted a 15.5-basis-point decrease from the 5.17 percent recorded on June 11, the day the security was previously auctioned.

De Leon added the full awarding of the offer was also reflective of sentiments “from the earlier pronouncements of [BSP] Governor [Benjamin E.] Diokno about the cut in the policy rate that it would still be on the table. But, of course, it’s still dependent [on data].”

De Leon believes monetary au-

thorities “will continue to be patient as well, given that the market already would like to make sure that they are able to get something from the issuance of the 20 years [T-bonds] before rates go down eventually because of the possible rate cuts; and, of course, the inflation.”

Last week, the BTr reported that the national government’s outstanding debt as of end-June amounted to P7.868 trillion, which is 12.1 percent higher than the P7.1016 trillion recorded in June

last year.

Based on latest data from the BTr, the government’s outstanding debt in June was lower than the P7.195 trillion recorded in May. Broken down, domestic debt comprised P5.294 trillion of the total while external debt was at P2.573 trillion.

The country’s domestic debt increased by 15.6 percent from the P4.579 trillion recorded in 2018.

This also posted an increase of 0.7 percent compared to the end-May level of P5.256 trillion.

BTr targets $750M Capital One says breach hit 100 million individuals in US from samurai bonds C T APITAL One Financial Corp. said data from about 100 million people in the US was illegally accessed after prosecutors accused a Seattle woman identified by Amazon.com Inc. as one of its former cloud service employees of breaking into the bank’s server.

While the complaint doesn’t identify the cloud provider that stored the allegedly stolen data, the charging papers mention information stored in S3, a reference to Simple Storage Service, the popular data storage software of Amazon Web Services (AWS).

An AWS spokesman confirmed that the company’s cloud had stored the Capital One data that was stolen, and said it wasn’t accessed through a breach or vulnerability in AWS systems. Prosecutors alleged that the access to the bank data came through a misconfigured firewall protecting one of its applications.

Paige A. Thompson was arrested Monday and appeared in federal court in Seattle. The data theft occurred some time between March 12 and July 17, US prosecutors in Seattle said.

Thompson was previously an AWS employee. She last worked at Amazon in 2016, spokesman Grant Milne said. The breach described by Capital One didn’t require insider knowledge, Milne added.

HE Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) has reported that the Philippine government has launched its samurai bonds bearing four tenor buckets on Tuesday, eyeing to raise at least $750 million from the issuance.

National Treasurer Rosalia V. de Leon told reporters the Philippines has gone back to the yen-denominated market on Tuesday as it markets its samurai bond issuance to Japanese investors.

“We are already in the market, given also the initial price guidance for the three-, five, seven-, and 10-year [tenors], so the official marketing starts today,” de Leon said.

She said the expected earnings from the issuance can go up to a maximum of $1 billion depending on the results of the marketing efforts of the BTr. “We still have to see in terms of the whole results of the first day marketing. We still have to discuss that [until when we will market] with the underwriters,” de Leon added. But, obviously, maybe within the week we would already [identify a] price.

Hopefully, within the week, depending on the results [of our discussion].”

De Leon explained that issuing bonds in

the different debt markets is in line with the government’s plan to diversify its financing sources. “[The issuance should be before] August 8. Actually that’s really the target since we have to avoid what we call [the] ‘Obon,’” she said.

The Obon is a Japanese Buddhist custom to honor the spirits of one’s ancestors, which begins August 13 and lasts until August 15.

In August last year, the Philippine government returned to the yen-denominated samurai bond market after an eight-year hiatus, with a multitranche ¥154.2-billion transaction, or $1.39 billion, which yielded a weighted average spread of 34.7 basis points above benchmark.

The three-year tranche was priced 25 basis points above the benchmark, the fiveyear tranche at 35 basis points and the 10year tranche at 60 basis points.

The banks that acted as joint lead managers and book runners for the Samurai bond issuance were Daiwa Securities Co. Ltd., Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co. Ltd., Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd., Nomura Securities Co. Ltd., and SMBC Nikko Securities Inc. Rea Cu

Citigroup plans to cut hundreds of trading jobs

BOJ trims inflation outlook ahead of expected Fed cut

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ITIGROUP Inc. is preparing to cut hundreds of jobs in its trading division—stark new evidence that an industry-wide slump in revenue this year may be more permanent than the tweets and policy moves rattling clients.

The New York-based bank plans to slash jobs across its fixed-income and stock-trading operations over the course of 2019, according to people familiar with the matter.

That includes at least 100 jobs in the equities unit, which would amount to almost 10 percent of the division’s work force, said the people, who asked not to be named because details aren’t public.

For months, as global banks watched their revenue from trading slump, industry leaders have said clients were temporarily taking to the “sidelines” amid unpredictable twists in President Donald J. Trump’s trade negotiations and the Federal Reserve’s shifting stance on interest rates. Yet, a growing number of banks are now cutting staff, a sign that executives are worried about more permanent challenges.

“This won’t be the last trading-related job cuts story,” Jeff Harte, an analyst at Sandler O’Neill, said in a telephone interview. “The rest of Wall Street is thinking the same way.”

A constellation of factors have been weighing on trading desks, aside from this year’s market swings. Hedge funds, typically banks’ most active clients, have suffered outflows while struggling to outperform lower-cost funds. New rules are limiting lenders’ ability and willingness to make principal bets with their own money. And technological advancements are narrowing spreads in many corners of the market.

Trading revenue at the five biggest US banks on Wall Street dropped 8 percent in the second quarter, following a 14-percent slide in the first three months of the year—setting up global banks for their worst first half in more than a decade. Bloomberg News

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HE Bank of Japan (BOJ) kept its monetary policy unchanged while trimming its inflation forecasts, taking a wait-and-see stance ahead of an expected interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve tomorrow.

The BOJ maintained the settings on its yield curve-control program and asset purchases, it said in a statement last Tuesday, a result expected by most economists in a Bloomberg survey. It also left unchanged its pledge to keep interest rates extremely low through at least spring 2020. Roughly a third of economists had expected the BOJ to strengthen its commitment to keeping interest rates at rock-bottom levels.

Amid growing expectations that it will need to increase stimulus, the BOJ’s decision likely reflects policy-makers’ hopes that markets may already have reacted to expectations of additional stimulus by the Fed and European Central Bank, meaning the yen won’t strengthen much more. A stronger yen would hurt the BOJ’s efforts to stoke inflation.

“It’s not entirely clear how close the BOJ is to taking actual action,” Hideo Kumano, chief economist at Dai-ichi Life Research Institute and a former BOJ official, said. “I don’t expect further easing in the immediate future. But the key is the yen. If the yen looks certain to test 100, that would be a likely trigger for the BOJ to take action.”

In its quarterly outlook report, the BOJ said risks to inflation and economic activity were both skewed to the downside, with the latter due particularly to developments in overseas economies, including protectionism. The BOJ added language to the report that said it wouldn’t hesitate to expand its stimulus if greater risks to its inflation target materialize.

With global economic growth cooling, much will hinge on US-China trade talks, which are resuming today in Shanghai.

In its updated forecasts, the BOJ effectively said 2-percent inflation remains out of sight, with core inflation projected at 1.6 percent in the year ending in March 2022. It trimmed its inflation projection for this fiscal year to 1.0 percent, while say-

ing inflation is currently rising at around 0.5 percent year-over-year, down from 0.5 percent-1 percent previously.

The yen touched its strongest level of the day against the US dollar after the BOJ decision. It was trading at 108.65 as of 1:02 p.m. in Tokyo.

The interest rate pledge was a focus of BOJ watchers ahead of this meeting.

Some said the central bank would use a change to the language to try to preemptively thwart any yen strengthening likely to result from the Fed’s first rate cut since 2008.

Yet, some BOJ officials saw little to be gained from such a move, particularly since it tweaked the language only three months ago, according to people familiar with the matter.

The market stability that followed the ECB’s policy meeting likely gave BOJ policymakers added confidence that they could stand by. The yen weakened after the ECB signaled further stimulus, which indicated investors are taking rate cuts by the ECB and Fed as good signs for the global economy, rather than focusing on interest rate differentials with Japan.

Fed is next

IT remains to be seen, though, how markets will react after the Fed meeting. A Fed cut of at least a quarter percentage point is widely expected, but a bigger move or a stronger signal of further action ahead could still strengthen the yen. It is that scenario that had economists predicting the BOJ’s next move would be to add stimulus.

Some 77 percent of economists expect the BOJ’s next policy step to be strengthening stimulus, up from 62 percent last month, according to a Bloomb e r g s u r v e y.

Bloomberg News

“I am deeply sorry for what has happened,” Capital One CEO Richard D. Fairbank said in a statement. “I sincerely apologize for the understandable worry this incident must be causing those affected.”

About six million individuals in Canada were also impacted by the breach, Capital One said.

The largest category of data stolen was supplied by consumers and small businesses when they applied for credit cards from 2005 through early 2019, the bank said. It included a wide array of personal data, such as names, addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth, self-reported income, credit scores and fragments of transaction history.

About 140,000 Social Security numbers were accessed, as well as 80,000 bank account numbers from credit-card

customers, the bank said.

In court on Monday, Thompson broke down and laid her head down on the defense table during the hearing. She is charged with a single count of computer fraud and faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Her lawyer declined to comment.

US Magistrate Judge Mary Alice Theiler ordered Thompson to be held. A bail hearing is set for August 1.

Capital One, which is based in McLean, Virginia, has been one of the most vocal advocates for using cloud services among banks. The lender has said it is migrating an increasing percentage of its applications and data to the cloud and plans to completely exit its data centers by the end of 2020—a move the company says will help lower costs. Bloomberg News

B4 Wednesday, June 31, 2019

Mobile phone-based leprosy teleconsultation now available

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HE Philippines eliminated leprosy at the national level in 1998, seven years after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared its vision of a world-free leprosy. However, pockets of leprosy cases still exist in some regions, particularly in Ilocos Sur and Southern Mindanao.

Over 1,000 leprosy cases are reported in the country annually, according to the Department of Health (DOH).

The DOH is implementing the National Leprosy Control Program (NLCP) in partnership with other government agencies, local government units (LGUs), civil-society groups and the private sector.

The NLCP aims to achieve a leprosy-free Philippines by the year 2022, ensuring the provision of comprehensive, integrated

quality leprosy services at all levels of health care in the country.

In 2013 Novartis Healthcare Philippines and the DOH, in partnership with the Novartis Foundation, organized “Best Practices and Innovative Ideas in the Fight against Leprosy Contest” to encourage innovation to sustain the country’s fight against leprosy in the postelimination phase.

“Mobile Teledermatology E-Referral System for Active Case Finding of New Leprosy Case”, the concept submitted by local tech company MetaHelix, was adjudged best entry in the Innovative Ideas category. Building on this innovative teledermatology approach, Metahelix, with support from the DOH-Novartis Task Force and Philippine Council for Health

Research and Development, developed the leprosy alert and response network system (LEARNS), the country’s first mobile phonebased leprosy-teleconsultation system.

LEARNS is a mobile-health tool that enables government health workers to send teleconsultations via either SMS or the LEARNS application. Aside from case finding, LEARNS also provides data for diseasesurveillance-, reaction- and treatmentoutcome monitoring, message broadcasting, patient education and report generation.

After its successful pilot in Iloilo province in 2014, LEARNS is now being implemented in 29 provinces in nine regions, with over 6,000 health-care providers already trained in the system. LEARNS is now part of the DOH national leprosy-management guidelines.

Co Ban Kiat seals partnership with Lincoln Electric for welding expertise

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OST industries that are continuously expanding, such as construction, infrastructure and development mining, find welding process vital to its operation. Moreover, the welding process is also one of the widely used procedures in manufacturing, with promising production demands from automotive, ship building, aerospace, furniture and agriculture industries, to name a few.

Like all other countries, welding in the Philippines continuously serves as a critical enabling technology. Unfortunately, with the existing project of the current administration—the Build, Build, Build

program—it has been found out that the country is in need of experts among our skilled workers, which includes reliable tools and the latest technology in the welding industry.

Thus, the recent collaboration between Co Ban Kiat (CBK) Hardware and Lincoln Electric comes as an answered prayer for the Filipinos, at least in the welding department.

Co Ban Kiat Hardware Inc., known as “the hardware solutions provider”; and American company Lincoln Electric venture together to change the game in the welding industry in the Philippines.

For a hundred years now, CBK has established its name to be the largest

distributor of trusted global hardware and home-improvement brands in the Philippines. Lincoln Electric, on the other hand, is the world’s leader in the design, development and manufacture of arc-welding products, robotic arc-welding systems, plasma- and oxyfuel-cutting equipment, and has a leading global position in the brazing and soldering alloys market for over 120 years.

Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Lincoln Electric has 47 manufacturing locations, including operations and joint ventures in 19 countries, and a worldwide network of distributors and sales offices covering more than 160 countries. Its proven expertise and worldwide domination make it ahead of the game.

The partnership will not end with just having CBK as the largest authorized distributor of Lincoln Electric. Johnny Co Ban Kiat, CBK president, proudly announces that his company is coming up with its own foundation, which main objective is to teach the younger generation to become expert welders that the Philippines needed most.

In photo are (from left) Victor Lim, Scot Strawn, Johnny Cobiankiat, Carl Peters and Nahanni Nagle, Gil Saulon, Scott Strwn, Anna Soriaga, Jan Wesley Cobankiat, Nahanni Nagle, Victor Lim, Rod de Dios and Jackson Ong.

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South Korea complains over disputed island appearing on torch relay map S

OUTH Korea has made an official complaint after a Tokyo 2020 Olympic Torch Relay map included disputed islands as Japanese territory.

The map on the official web site for next year’s Games includes the Liancourt Rocks, which are governed by South Korea but claimed by Japan.

Japanese officials said they had rejected the Korean complaint, which was made through the country’s embassy.

The Rocks appear on the map, used to show the route of the torch relay, as a small dot. They lie in the Sea of Japan in between the two countries and are valuable due to rich fishing waters and natural gas deposits.

South Korean calls the islands Dokdo but in Japan they are known as Takeshima. Both countries claim historical ties with around 50 people currently living there.

“South Korea, through the Japanese embassy in South Korea, has lodged a protest on the issue,” Japan’s Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said.

“Japan told the South Korean side that the protest is not acceptable given that Japan owns Takeshima and given Japan’s position on the Sea of Japan.”

This is not the first time that the dispute has spilled over into the Olympics.

At the Opening Ceremony of Pyeongchang 2018, both South Korea and North Korea marched together behind a unification flag which did not include the islands as part of a map outline.

The islands had appeared on a flag at a practice event with Suga describing this as “unacceptable.”

Earlier this month the islands were the location for a major diplomatic incident after a Russian military plane allegedly entered their airspace.

South Korean jets fired 360 machine-gun rounds in response with Japan saying it also scrambled aircraft.

Russia, carrying out a military exercise with China, has denied violating another nation’s airspace.

Japan and South Korea have both protested against Russia and each other over the incident.

The rocks consist of two main islands and dozens of other islets. Insidethegames

TOKYO 2020 Olympic medals are unveiled during the One Year to Go Olympic ceremony in Tokyo recently. AP

Sports BusinessMirror

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| Wednesday, July 31, 2019 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

‘THE DRESSEL STANDARD’

CAELEB DRESSEL sets his own standard in Gwangju, where he again wins three golds in a single night. AP

Caeleb Dressel won eight medals, including six golds, at the world swimming championships, the biggest meet outside the Olympics.

Two years ago in Hungary, he tied Michael Phelps’s record of seven golds at a single worlds, including three in one night.

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By Beth Harris The Associated Press

WANGJU, South Korea—Exhaustion and relief flooded Caeleb Dressel. Maybe now the comparisons with Michael Phelps can fade away.

Dressel won eight medals, including six golds, at the world swimming championships, the biggest meet outside the Olympics. Two years ago in Hungary, he tied Phelps’s record of seven golds at a single worlds, including three in one night.

Dressel set his own standard in Gwangju, where he again won three golds in a single night.

“There’s parts during the meet where it’s not the greatest feeling—the stress that you feel, the pressure I put on myself,” he said, adding, “I do enjoy it, the challenge that it brings.”

On Sunday, Dressel capped his eight-day run with silver in the 4x100-meter medley relay. He hauled the US from fourth to first on his butterfly leg with a split of 49.28 seconds—the only sub-50 second fly leg in the field.

Had anchor Nathan Adrian not been overtaken by Britain’s Duncan Scott in the closing meters, Dressel would have won a seventh gold. Adrian and relay teammates Ryan Murphy and Andrew Wilson were upset they didn’t deliver.

“I was the first guy in the water and I would say I had a pretty embarrassing performance,” Murphy said.

“It kind of put us in a hole from the beginning.”

Wilson added, “All of us are just finding places where it’s on us. We just all need to be better and we will be next year. It’s frustrating now but it’s fuel for the next year.”

Heading into its first Olympics in the post-Phelps era, the US appears in good shape for Tokyo.

After a slow start in Gwangju, the Americans finished with 27 medals in the pool, including a leading 14 golds. They won the team title and Dressel earned male swimmer of the meet honors. The US set five world records, including two by 17-year-old backstroker Regan Smith.

Australia was second with 19 and five golds.

The US likely would have had two more medals if Katie Ledecky hadn’t gotten sick. She withdrew from the 200 free heats and 1,500 free Final while spending two days away from the pool. Her lone gold came in the 800 free after a gutsy last lap in which she pulled away from Italy’s Simona Quadarella.

The Americans were limited to one medal on two different nights—both earned with Dressel’s involvement.

“It’s pretty evident that we didn’t start on the best note,” said sprinter Simone Manuel, who swept the 50-100 freestyles, “but also we did have a great meet, and I think that’s getting a little lost because we had amazing swims, people got best times.”

Dressel’s golds came in the 50 and 100 free, 50 and 100 butterfly, mixed 4x100 free relay and 4x100 free relay. His other silver was in the mixed 4x100 medley relay.

Dressel took down Phelps’s world record in the 100 fly, going 49.50 in the semifinals.

He came close in Hungary, but didn’t get it done.

“Two years ago I was a little scared, I’ll admit, coming that close,” Dressel said. “It can be a scary thought to do something that’s never been done before.”

The difference in Gwangju was that Dressel woke up the day of the race and wanted to go after the mark.

“I hope he was happy watching me,” he said.

Phelps was watching from his home in Arizona, and told The Associated Press that Dressel would have to be perfect to win seven or eight golds in Tokyo. Phelps, of course, won eight golds at the 2008 Beijing Games.

“If there’s someone who doesn’t care how hard it’s going to be, how hard they’re going to have to work, how much pain they’re willing to put their body through, we might see it,” he said by phone.

Phelps suggested Dressel could be a “great addition” to the 4x200 free relay.

“Clearly, he’s got the speed,” he said. “At this point, he’s just got to have better endurance.”

Dressel still feels his retired teammate’s influence.

He knows the 23-time Olympic gold medalist’s times and watched how Phelps swam his races.

“It’s really special for me just to have that one little moment where I claimed I was the best in the history of swimming,” Dressel said. “Just a young kid from a small town, it’s just crazy how far the sport can go.”

Like Phelps, Dressel is his own worst critic.

The 22-year-old Floridian picks apart each of his races, whether the result is gold, a world record or something less lofty.

“I always look for the bad,” he said. “There’s plenty to improve on. I know what to look for heading into next year, even for small meets. I take each event and I have to learn from it.”

What he learned in Gwangju is that he’s his own man.

BRITAIN’S bronze medalist Duncan Scott (right) refuses to stand with gold medalist China’s Sun Yang (second from left) as silver winner, Japan’s Katsuhiro Matsumoto (left) and joint bronze medal winner, Russia’s Martin Malyutin, pose on the podium following the men’s 200-wm freestyle Final. AP

Fina exec describes Sun podium protests as ‘unfortunate’

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NTERNATIONAL Swimming Federation (Fina) Executive Director Cornel Marculescu has described the podium protests against Sun Yang at the World Aquatics Championships as “unfortunate.”

Action at Fina’s flagship event concluded in Gwangju on Sunday with Australia’s Mack Horton and Britain’s Duncan Scott both protesting against the controversial Chinese, who has left South Korea with two gold medals.

Sun, who served a three-month drugs ban in 2014, has another case hanging over his head after it was alleged a blood sample was deliberately smashed following an argument with testers earlier this year.

Fina opted to issue just a warning to the three-time Olympic champion but this decision has been appealed by the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

Horton, who won silver behind Sun in the 400 meters freestyle, refused to step onto the podium for the medal ceremony.

Britain’s bronze medalist Scott then did not shake hands with Sun or pose for photos on the medal rostrum after the Chinese won the 200-m freestyle Final.

Sun screamed angrily in Scott’s direction as he climbed onto the podium and the now 11-time world champion allegedly called the Briton a “loser” as the medalists were walking away.

All three swimmers have been issued with warning letters by Fina but Sun is facing a lifetime ban if CAS rules in Wada’s favor, due to his earlier suspension for prohibited substance trimetazidine.

The Chinese denies all wrongdoing and Fina reportedly fast-tracked a new rule stating that athletes could be banned or lose their medal if they take part in “any political, religious or discriminatory statement or behavior” on the podium.

“We’re here to demonstrate the value of the aquatic sports,” said Marculescu, according to South Korean news agency Yonhap. “We’re here to show to the world that we have fantastic swimming athletes.

When Gwangju people see [protests] happen, it’s unfortunate.

“These things happen and, hopefully, they’re not going to happen anymore. Hopefully, after we continue discussing with federations and with athletes, everything will now come together again.”

The Romanian claimed that Fina were among the best performing governing bodies in the fight against doping and said the organization would accept any outcome in the Sun case.

“CAS will decide,” he said. “And whatever CAS decides, we need to accept. I think we’re leading other international federations in the fight against doping.”

In all, more than 450 doping tests were carried out in Gwangju over the 17 days of competition.

An anti-doping education program also took place in the Athletes’ Village, but Australia’s Commonwealth Games gold medalist Shayna Jack did not compete after a failed test.

The 20-year-old’s failure for banned anabolic agent ligandrol is seen as an embarrassment for the country following Horton’s earlier stance, although Jack has vowed that she “did not and would not cheat.”

More than 2,500 athletes from 194 countries took part at the championships, as well as a refugee team.

Ten world records were set in the swimming at the event which was a key stop on the way to next year’s Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

Despite the protests threatening to overshadow the sporting action, Fina declared the event a success.

“First, I would like to congratulate all of the athletes who competed in what has been a hugely successful Fina World Championships here in Gwangju,” Fina President Julio Maglione said. Insidethegames

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BEERMEN EYE SLOT IN FINALS S

AN Miguel Beer tried to wrap up its semifinal series with Rain or Shine on Wednesday with the Beermen hoping to land in the Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup Finals for a potential shot at a rare grand slam on Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Game Three of the best-of-five series is set at 7 p.m.

The Beermen are without Marcio Lassiter, who will be out for six weeks because of a knee injury. But Chris Ross, the defense specialist, crossed over on offense and scattered 10 three-pointers en route to a career-high 34 points, giving the Beermen a 117-105 Game Two victory on Sunday night.

Ross’s incredible shooting spree helped San Miguel erase a 29-point deficit that Rain or Shine built in the first half.

“If we play our best, I think it’s hard for them to beat us,” Beermen Head Coach Leo Austria said as his team moved a victory away from returning to the Finals after they lost the title last year to Barangay Ginebra.

The Elasto Painters were poised to equalize the series after knocking down their own barrage of triples that gave them a huge lead midway in the second quarter.

But San Miguel scattered 36 points to nibble on the deficit before the half. They completely turned the tables around by putting up a 40-21 scoring in the third quarter.

Import Chris McCullough had 22 points

Petron extends unbeaten record to eight games

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and 11 boards for the Beermen, while June Mar Fajardo added a 14-15 sheet as the squad followed up its 111-105 seriesopening win.

Carl Montgomery tallied 24 points for Rain or Shine, while Rey Nambatac, Ed Daquioag and James Yap had 15, 13 and 12 points, respectively.

Ramon Rafael Bonilla SAN Miguel Beer’s Von Pessumal shoots over Rain or Shine’s Mark Borboran.

Filipina dribblers gain experience in Taiwan hoops

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HE national women’s basketball team kept its morale for future international tournaments despite losing all of its five games in the recent Women’s William Jones Cup in New Taipei City.

“We did not win a game in the Jones Cup but the fact that we were there for the first time means we gained the experience,” head coach Pat Aquino told Tuesday’ Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum at Amelie Hotel Manila.

The Filipina dribblers saw action in the Jones Cup for the first time, and with very little time to train as a team, lost to New Zealand, Japan, Taipei A, South Korea and Taipei B. Japan swept its way to the title.

“We had a tough time because it was the first time for our players, including the Fil-Americans, to play together. It was a short tournament. Our players had tough time communicating inside the court,” Aquino said.

“That [communication in the court] was our problem,” said Aquino, a five-time champion with National University in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines. He is now in charge of the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) women’s basketball program.

Aquino said his team has so much to improve on.

“We did not have the chemistry and fluidity. The talent is there. It’s just that the other teams had chemistry,” he added of the squad that is bound to compete in the Fiba Women’s Asia Cup in Bangalore, India, from September 22 to 29.

The same team will also play in the 30th Southeast Asian Games, which the country is hosting from November 30 to December 11.

“We will be a much better team heading to the SEA Games. I hope we can deliver in December,” said Aquino during the forum presented by San Miguel Corp., Braska Restaurant, Amelie Hotel and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.

LETRAN’S Jeo Ambohot has his sight blocked by Mapua defenders. NONIE REYES

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DGAR CHARCOS heaved a floater with 3.4 seconds left, while Kim Aurin pulled off a gamesealing stop on the other end as University of Perpetual Help narrowly beat Arellano, 75-73, in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Season 95 men’s basketball tournament on Tuesday at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.

Tied at 73, Charcos drove past two defenders then nailed a basket that gave the Altas a two-point lead. Perfectly sensing the play intended for the Chiefs’

‘Little Piranha’ learns from loss to ‘Mighty Mouse’

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UYA “LITTLE PIRANHA” WAKAMATSU was nervous and pressured when he took on Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson in Japan.

Although he lost in the second round with a guillotine choke, Yuya “Little Piranha” surprised everyone when he put up a fight against Johnson using his striking skills.

After the match, he discovered that he can perform at a higher level, which is something he hopes to do again when he faces Geje Eustaquio at One: Dawn of Heroes on Friday at the Mall of

Asia in Manila, Philippines.

“It was in Japan, so a lot was expected of me, and I was a bit scared that I’d lose quickly,” Wakamatsu said. “That was the scariest thing for me. I wanted to win and leave a statement.

Right after it, I realized that I can compete at a world-class level, but I know it’s not an easy world.”

The Pancrase Flyweight Tournament champion now has a better understanding of how the competition works in One Championship, which has given more confidence in facing the former One flyweight world

champion in his hometown.

“He’s a veteran, so I don’t think he’ll fight very differently from what I’ve seen,” Wakamatsu said.

“He’ll look to time his takedowns off my attacks, and look for counter punches.”

Wakamatsu lost his first two matches at One, but from each setback, he gained experience and saw some positive takeaways which he can use in the match against Eustaquio, where he hopes to score his first win.

“The fans can expect to see what I’m known for—knockout finishes,” he said.

EIGNING champion Petron raced to its eighth straight win after making short work of Sta. Lucia, 25-13, 25-10, 25-13, in the Philippine Superliga All-Filipino Conference on Tuesday at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City.

Sisi Rondina was back to her big-scoring ways to lead the Blaze Spikers past the struggling Lady Realtors entering the crucial stretch of the women’s club tournament bankrolled by Team Rebel Sports, SOGO, Eurotel, PCSO, Cocolife, UCPB Gen, Mueller, Senoh, Asics, Bizooku and One Sport.

Rondina unleashed 18 kills, two blocks and two aces to finish with 22 points and seven digs for the Blaze Spikers, who are tipped to go all out to defend their crown in this tourney that also has ESPN and Kapatid TV5 as broadcast partners.

Ces Molina and Remy Palma were also instrumental with seven and six points, respectively, while Bernadeth Pons had five markers and seven digs for Petron, which missed the services of Mika Reyes.

“I’m happy and satisfied with the win. We showed another great performance but we have to work harder so we could sustain our momentum for our succeeding matches,” said Petron Head Coach Shaq de los Santos, who captured their 10th win in 11 matches.

If Petron stayed at No.2 while Sta. Lucia continued to reel at seventh place in the end of the preliminary, they will clash anew in the knockout quarterfinals.

“With our standings right now, we might face them again in the quarterfinals. We have to prepare well for that. But for now we need to focus on our last three preliminary matches,” de los Santos said.

Petron dominated at the attack zone with 38 kills while limiting Sta. Lucia to just 16. The Blaze Spikers also fired eight aces unlike the Lady Realtors, who failed to score a single ace and gave up 21 errors.

Filipino-American spiker MJ Phillips had to return to the United States due to family reason, while reserve spiker Jasmine Alcayde was activated.

Rachel Austero and Amanda Villanueva delivered seven points apiece for the Lady Realtors, who dropped to 2-11.

CHARCOS, ALTAS SLIP PAST CHIEFS Rence Alcoriza in the left wing, Aurin charged to the shooter and thwarted a potential gamewinning three-point attempt.

Aurin topscored for Perpetual Help with 17 points and also had eight rebounds and four blocks, while Charcos added 15 points, five assists and a steal.

The victory halted the Altas’

three-game skid to improve to 2-3 won-lost.

“This was a good win for us after three losses. This should boost our morale in moving forward,” Altas Coach Frankie Lim said.

Ben Adamos also had solid contributions for Perpetual Help with his double-double of 16 points and 11 rebounds.

Justin Arana registered 20 points, 10 rebounds and seven blocks for the Chiefs, while Gelo Sablan and Kent Salado added 13 and 10 points, respectively. Arellano University fell to 1-4.

Letran, meanwhile, sneaked past Mapua, 89-84, to extend its streak to five and move behind San Beda (4-0) and College of Saint Benilde (3-0), which played San Sebastian later on Tuesday.

Edson Batiller nailed a trey with 19.1 seconds to bring the Knights to a five-point lead they protected to the end.

Larry Muyang had 24 points and nine rebounds, while Batiller tallied 15 points for the Knights.

Chris Bunag led Mapua with 17 points and 12 rebounds for the Cardinals, who remained winless in five games. Ramon Rafael Bonilla

YOUNG CHAMP Monique Arroyo poses

with her coach, former national champion Gerard Cantada, at the scoreboard showing her victory in the US Kids Golf 12-14 age division at the San Ramon Golf Club in San Ramon, California. She is accompanied by her mom, Angela Arroyo, during the tournament and was met at the airport on their return by her dad, Rep. Mikey Arroyo.

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AL MENDOZA alsol47@yahoo.com

THAT’S ALL

PHILIPPINE Olympic Committee President Rep. Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino answers questions at Tuesday’s Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum at the Amelie Hotel-Manila. NONIE REYES

BAMBOL: UNITY A PRIORITY N

EWLY elected Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) President Rep. Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino is looking to healing wounds and bridging gaps as he convenes the POC executive board for the first time this Friday.

Tolentino will meet his board at the POC office at the PhilSports Complex in Pasig City in his first official capacity as head of the country’s Olympic body since being elected to the post last Sunday.

The PhilCycling president said the first order of the day is to extend his hands to the

members of the board, and show his sincerity and readiness to working with them.

At the same time, he would clarify issues previously raised by the board during the term of immediate past president Ricky Vargas.

“I will answer all of their questions. And it would be up to them if they would accept my answers. But hopefully, this would be a good start for the POC,” Tolentino told the Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) Forum on Tuesday at the Amelie Hotel-Manila.

Tolentino said his immediate course of action is to focus on the preparations for the hosting of the 30th Southeast Asian Games.

Leyte ace Lago, Sta. Mesa’s Emana top Biñan netfest

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EYTE’S Sal Andrei Lago hacked out a pair of semifinal reversals and went on to bag the boys’ 14- and 16-under crowns which Mica Emana matched in the Palawan Pawnshop-Palawan Express Pera Padala (PPS-PEPP) Fr. Fernando Suarez national age-group 2019 at the Brent Tennis Center in Biñan, Laguna, over the weekend.

The fourth-ranked Lago, a MAC’s Crankit Foundation protégé, stunned top seed Thomas Bernardo, 7-6(5), 6-4, in the semis then held off unranked Marcus Guinoo, 6-2, 7-6(3), in the 14-under finals. The De La Salle-Lipa team mainstay also ripped Bernardo, 6-1, 6-1, in the 16-under Final Four then foiled Lance Fernandez, 6-4, 6-4, to complete his romp in the Group I tournament of the country’s biggest age-grouper put up by PPS-PEPP and presented by Dunlop.

The top-seeded Emana, 14, dominated her age category, dropping just seven games in four matches capped by a 6-1, 6-1 victory over No. 2 Ma. Sophia Moreno in the finals. As No. 2, the rising star from Santa Mesa upended top seed Gaby Zoleta, 6-3, 6-4, to snare the 16-under diadem in the event held in honor of healing priest Father Suarez for the second straight year.

Reversals actually marked the event held side-by-side with the Open tournament with Elijah Guillermo from Taguig (boys’ 18-under), DLSULipa’s Lorin Idjao (girls’ 18-under), Kean Enriquez from Imus, Cavite,

(boys’ 12-under) and Taguig’s Godwin Jumarang (10-under) upending a slew of fancied rivals on their way to victories.

“It continues to motivate us seeing new faces emerge week-in and week-out in the circuit. And we thank Father Suarez, a tennis buff himself, for helping provide the venue for these young talents to showcase their wares,” Palawan Pawnshop President and CEO Bobby Castro said.

The unseeded Guillermo blasted No. 4 Jester Ocio, 6-1, 6-4; Idjao, another unranked bet, surprised top seed Bliss Bayking, 7-6(0), 6-3, in the quarters, repulsed No. 4 Zoleta, 6-3, 0-6, 10-6, in the semis then shocked third seed Kaye Ann Emana, 6-3, 6-3; No. 4 Enriquez crushed top seed John Prince Lim, 6-1, 6-0, in the semis then ripped No. 2 Frank Dilao, 6-0, 6-1; and Jumarang capped the lesser-lights’ big run by winning the 10-unisex diadem with a walkover win over top seed Kris Roque Lim. Moreno, also from DLSU-Lipa, took the girls’ 12-under title with a 6-4, 4-6, 10-6 triumph over Czarina Ilano, while Zoleta and Idjao, and Stefano Gurria-Laurenz Quitara (18-under) led the doubles winners, who included Melody Dizon-Shaira Silva, and Lago-Jeff Jimenea (14-U) and Avegail AnsayJana Diaz (10-under) in the event sanctioned by the Unified Tennis Philippines made up of PPS-PEPP, Cebuana Lhuillier, Wilson, Toby’s, Dunlop, Slazenger and B-MEG.

“But everything won’t move forward if the entire POC would not be on board,” according to the representative of the Seventh District of Cavite.

“Unity first. You cannot have those directions if you don’t have unity,” said Tolentino in the forum presented by San Miguel Corp., Braska Restaurant, Amelie Hotel and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.

“We have to focus on the SEA Games so we have to unite. If we’re not united, forget about everything,” he stressed.

Tolentino said he would update the board members on the SEA Games preparations and

would invite a member of the Philippine SEA Games Organizing Committee (Phisgoc) to the meeting.

Tolentino also announced in the forum his resignation as head of the Sports Department of the Phisgoc.

“As POC president, I’ll automatically assume the position of Phisgoc vice chairman,” he said.

He will be serving as POC president for 16 months or until the POC elects its new set of officers for the next Olympic cycle in November 2020. But for him, the short term will be his priority for the meantime—SEA Games, SEA Para Games and Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

“Let’s set aside for the meantime any longrange planning. That’s not doable because of the short term I have to serve,” he said.

Tolentino also vowed to just pursue the reforms that his predecessor, Vargas, laid down and emphasized that he would be a more hands on leader.

“I will try to put everything in order because I have long been a ‘graduate’ of crises,” said Tolentino, who was a three-term councilor and three-term mayor and now three-term congressman of Tagaytay City.

“I’ve been through all sorts of ‘trouble’ but I managed to fixed all of them,” he said.

RAMIREZ: SAFETY PROTOCOLS IN PLACE P HILIPPINE Sports Commission (PSC) Chairman William Ramirez said on Tuesday that safety protocols are in place to make sure that every peso is spent appropriately by government for the 30th Southeast Asian Games.

Ramirez said that all parties involved— PSC, Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) and the Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee (Phisgoc) are exercising their roles in the hosting of the biennial event.

“We have the country’s best interest in mind,” he said.

The government allocated P6 billion through general appropriations for the hosting of the Games.

June and July were tumultuous months for the POC which underwent a leadership change with the election of cycling’s Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino as president. But Ramirez said the PSC was able to shield the athletes from the crisis.

“As instructed by the President [Duterte], we shall shield the athletes to allow them to focus on their training, assist in the country’s hosting of the games by ensuring the proper and timely processing of funds,” Ramirez said.

The set up for SEA Games tasks the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to disburse the government funds and, together with the Procurement Service, oversee the purchase of equipment, fixtures and other requirements for the Games.

The PSC, Ramirez explained, receives a request from the Phisgoc—with supporting papers such as board resolutions from its officers approving the said request—and, in effect, makes the PSC an initial line of check and balance.

“It is the DBM that has the final say whether or not certain transactions pass thorough evaluation, before it is given a go to process,” he said. “They [DBM] will also be

PHILIPPINE Sports Commission Chairman William Ramirez, and Social Security System (SSS) Chairman and CEO Aurora Ignacio seal a memorandum of agreement that would protect members of the national team, specifically athletes and coaches, during a ceremony on Tuesday at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex in Manila.

required to clear previous releases before new funding is released. This is the same policy the PSC applies to national sports associations to avoid ‘unliquidated’ accounts.”

Out of the three parties, the PSC, being a government entity, owns the burden of accountability.

“This is why we are one of the most invested in ensuring that everything is aboveboard—it is our signatures that are on the documents,” said Ramirez, adding that the PSC must work within government auditing and accounting rules in all its transactions.

After the unity meeting held last July 24 at the Malacañang, Executive Secretary

Salvador Medialdea formed a monitoring group for the Games composed of his deputy, Atty. Kim Raissa Uy, Assistant Secretary Joseph Encabo of the Presidential Management Staff and PSC Executive Director Merlita Ibay. The group will report weekly to Medialdea.

In his meeting last week with Ramon Suzara and Tom Carrasco, Phisgoc COO and executive director, respectively, Ramirez assured the PSC’s commitment of cooperation encouraging them that “if there are problems, share them with us, don’t own up to the problem, we might offer a solution.”

Memory athletes set high goal after successful PHL open bid

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HE Philippine memory sports athletes are now preparing for a bigger task of also dominating the Asian region after their success in the Sixth Philippine International Open Memory Championship.

Six countries—74 memory athletes— competed in the Philippine International Open held last July 13 and 14 at Hotel Dreamworld North Edsa in Quezon City with the host team claiming the overall title.

After tallying the total score from the top 3 players for each country, Team Philippines garnered 13,178 points to bag the overall

EGAN MANIA A boy sells yellow jerseys

at the main square in the hometown of newly crowned Tour de France champion Egan Bernal in the last stage in Zipaquira, Colombia, on Sunday.

Bernal became the first Colombian to win the cycling’s biggest race. AP

championship. Indonesia was second with 10,589 points followed by China with 9,937 points.

In the Open category, the Philippines’s Erwin Balines earned 5,835 points to claim the gold and compatriot Jamyla Lambunao scored 4,973 points to bag silver. Indonesia’s Shafa Annisa Rahmadani Arianata was third with 4,805 points.

In the Kids division, Shi Jiaming of China (2,328 points), Muhammad Daffa Dhiyauddin of Indonesia (1,873) and Patricia Vnyz R. Lopez of the Philippines (1,667) placed in the top 3.

Indonesians Shafa Annisa Rahmadani Arianata (4,805) and Aisha Nadine Sharikha (4,085) claimed the top 2 spots and Ananya Narayanaswamy (3,922) of India settled for the bronze in the Juniors division.

The top 3 performers in the Adults division were Balines (5,835), Lambunao (4,973) and Liu Renjie of China (4,315).

Anne Bernadette Bonita, national coach and president of the Philippine Mind Sports

Can RoS rise from ruins?

THERE is only one way for San Miguel Beer (SMB) not to win today: Do what Rain or Shine did on Monday.

Rain or Shine self-destructed in this manic Monday in a gory fashion that defied all logic and forms of sanity.

Up by 29 points, 50-21, the Painters brushed themselves out of reality in one fell swoop so bizarre it made them look suddenly like victims of witchcraft.

They could not make decent plays.

They could not guard snipers from afar.

They could not shoot baskets.

Have they been possessed?

Well, they forgot to call the Ghostbusters?

In short, they forgot about magically piling up 50 points in 1-1/2 quarters so easily, shockingly transforming themselves into a pitiful bunch of toddlers haplessly being manhandled by foes old enough to be their fathers.

I was about ready to change channels when the Beermen, led by Chris Ross, woke up from what seemingly looked like a deep slumber.

When Ross started burying his threes—he totaled for a spectacular 10-of-16 triples—I thought he might have injected hope for SMB. More than that was what SMB did.

With huge help from Von Pessumal, Alex Cabagnot, June Mar Fajardo, Christian Standhardinger, Terrence Romeo and import Chris McCullough, SMB rambled on to its seventh win in its last eight games.

After erasing that 29-point deficit, the Beermen even sped ahead to 19-point margins.

And, with the winning 117-105 count for SMB, that meant, in simple arithmetic, a 41-0 scoring margin for the Beermen, who even slowed down in the end.

“Unbelievable,” said SMB Coach Leo Austria after the game.

Indeed, it was.

And so, it would be naturally believable if San Miguel Beer could ride on that momentum as it tries to wrap up the best-of-five semifinal series today in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Thus, with a Finals prospect looking virtually certain again for SMB, talks of a possible second Grand Slam for the lone remnant among PBA’s founding teams are once again wafting in the air.

For, I don’t know what kind of a recovery measure will Rain or Shine employ today to rise from the ruins of that Game Two devastation.

The wound is still so fresh that the Painters, frighteningly down 0-2, need a surgeon with a scalpel sharp enough to be able to sew it up— infection-free.

Is Dr. Shivago for real?

THAT’S IT That was quite touching—Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino going to church with his family hours before the election in the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) on Sunday. When he was elected POC president, beating athletics’ Philip “Popoy” Juico, Bambol said: “Sports is my second family.” It tugs at the heart. Family first, sports second. To paraphrase the alcohol ad: “Pam-pamilya na, pang-sports pa!” I can read a profound mind in our new Olympic boss, who retained, quite correctly, the well-respected Pato Gregorio as the POC secretary-general. In his victory speech, Bambol said: “I am here to serve, not to be served.” A true leader is truly the servant of the people. Let us all wish him well.

His success will mean the success of Philippine sports long embroiled in squabble and chaos.

Association Inc., said she is now preparing the team for the 2019 Asian Memory Championships to be held in Bali, Indonesia, on October 5 and 6.

“The competition in the Asian level is much tougher that is why I wanted the team to prepare early,” Bonita said. “It will be an exceptional battle of minds as each country will try to outperform each other in a friendly but challenging competition that attempts to break the limits of the human brain through memory sports.”

The Philippine International Open Memory Championship was organized by the Philippine Mind Sports Association Inc. and sanctioned by the Asia Memory Sports Alliance and Global Association of Memory Athletics.

Memory sports is a battle of mind agility and metal prowess. It covers 10 disciplines where competitors demonstrate their ability to memorize numbers, words, dates, abstract images, playing cards, spoken numbers, names and faces.

ROUSING DEBUT FOR SURFING Sports BusinessMirror

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| Wednesday, July 31, 2019 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

Bill could harness Congress authority over USOPC board

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BILL spurred by Larry Nassar’s sex crimes and other mishandled abuse cases would allow Congress to fire the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee’s entire board and would quadruple the money the federation provides to the US Center for SafeSport.

The bill, to be introduced Tuesday, is the most far-reaching response to 18 months of outrage, investigations and recriminations in the wake of the USOPC’s handling of the cases involving Nassar and others who combined to victimize dozens of Olympic athletes.

“The best way for the USOPC and the national governing [bodies] to show they’re serious about stopping abuse is to support this legislation,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Connecticut, who cosponsored the bill with Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kansas. “It’ll be a test to their commitment to turning a new page and bringing in a new era.”

The bill would increase athlete representation on the USOPC board and boards of other Olympic sports organizations (NGBs) from 20 percent to 33 percent. It would make the USOPC and NGBs legally responsible for not reporting sexual abuse or failing to take measures to prevent it.

The law calls for the USOPC to provide $20 million a year to the US Center for SafeSport, but offers no specifics as to how the additional $15 million will be funded. The USOPC, which receives no federal funding, gave $3.1 million in 2018 and NGBs doubled their pledge to a total of $2 million.

Last year, Congress provided a $2.2-million grant to the center that was spread over three years and could not be used for investigations.

Blumenthal said having a concrete number that’s separate from the Congressional appropriations process is a better way of ensuring the success of the center and the USOPC’s responsibility for funding it. The USOPC brings in around $500 million over a typical two-year period.

But as much as the money, this bill is a virtual top-to-bottom reset of the Ted Stevens Amateur Sports Act, passed in 1978 during a time when the biggest concern was corralling the amateurism and cronyism

that festered throughout Olympic governance in the United States.

The law was hazy, at best, regarding the USOPC’s power to dictate to the NGBs it oversees. It said even less about athlete welfare and

what, if any, legal repercussions existed for failing to protect them. Those flaws created an environment that allowed Nassar to abuse dozens of gymnasts while volunteering for USA Gymnastics, and for his crimes to go unchecked for more than a year after the concerns were first presented to the USOPC. This bill, called the “Empowering Olympic and Amateur Athletes Act of 2019,” would attempt to change that, in part by leaving little gray area about the USOPC’s oversight responsibilities of NGBs, especially in regard to sex abuse. It calls for the USOPC to renew an NGB’s standing every four years, subject to a review that would include how the organization is complying with safe-sports rules. It gives Congress the right to decertify an NGB. It would also eliminate the tactic currently being used by USA Gymnastics, as it faces decertification: filing bankruptcy to forestall the proceedings.

And though the USOPC has always had to answer to Congress, the stakes would be much higher—and written in plain black and white.

The 14-person board, which has gone largely—and, in many minds, inappropriately—unscathed in a series of damning reports that detailed the failings of the federation, could be dismissed by a simple majority vote in Congress. The bill includes language that would expedite the vote, while also giving lawmakers the tricky task of figuring out how the board would be replaced.

USOPC CEO Sarah Hirshland said that while the bill complements the federation’s push for reforms, it “could result in unintended consequences and disruption for athletes in operational reality.” AP

A PELICAN hovers over an athlete at the Pan American Games surfing competitions. AP

THE United States’s Riley McCusker competes on the balance beam in the women’s individual allaround artistic gymnastics at the Pan American Games in Lima on Monday. AP

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By Luis Andres Henao The Associated Press

IMA, Peru—Surfers Kevin Schulz of the United States and Cody Young of Canada made history on Monday as the first competitors in the ocean during the sport’s debut in the Pan American Games.

Young earned 10.43 points to Schulz’s 7.50 at Punta Rocas beach, a reef break located about 60 kilometers south of the Peruvian capital of Lima. Surfing will also make its Olympic debut next year in Tokyo, and is one of the “wait and see” sports at the Pan Am Games. That means top man and woman surfers not yet qualified for the Olympics will earn a spot, although the top finishers from the Pan Ams won’t be confirmed until May 2020.

The 20-year-old Young said his victory was bittersweet.

He was glad to qualify for the next round. But he said it was tough to compete against Schulz because he’s a close friend and they often meet to catch waves.

“It’s crazy. I don’t usually like to be first heat of the day. If you ask a lot of surfers it’s not their favorite thing, but now that I think about it, it’s pretty insane that I get to do it for this event,” Young told The Associated Press. “The first heat ever of the Pan American Games for surfing, and to win it, it means the world.”

Surfing’s debut at the Pan Am Games coincided with Schulz’s 24th birthday. He will now compete for a spot in the final against other surfers who placed highly but failed to win their heats.

“It was a pretty cool experience. Obviously it’s hard to have a heat with one of your good friends early on and I didn’t win that heat. But it was a good experience and I’m not done yet. I have more heats coming up and I’m excited,” Schulz told the AP. “Regardless of how I turned out, it’s a huge honor to represent my country.”

Young said since the waves were small, he tried to hit as many as possible.

“I was a little bit nervous to be surfing this first day, you know, with the waves being small, because I like big waves. Personally it’s kind of more in my wheelhouse,” he said. “The events that I’ve done well are usually in Hawaii, where the waves are big.”

He’s amped about waves that are expected to reach up to 15 feet later this week. “It’s supposed to be at least twice as big as it is today,” Young said.

Canadian Coach Shannon Brown said he also had mixed feelings when he saw Young and Schulz in the water.

“Kevin spends a lot of time in Canada, so he’s really good friends with the entire team and the entire organization. He’s like an honorary Canadian,” Brown said.

“And we’re so happy that he’s here with us but we’re also bummed that we had to have a heat with him.... Kevin is such an amazing surfer that I’ve no doubt he can fight his way back to the final from here.”

Schulz won the 2018 Jack’s Pro QS 1500 and competed in the ISA World Surf Games in 2018, contributing to the team that won the bronze medal.

“Going into the next rounds I just need to focus on putting myself into the best waves possible and I should win,” Schulz said. “I know I can go all the way to the final and win the gold.”

Schulz: Love wave pools but Olympic surfing should be at sea L IMA, Peru—American surfer Kevin Schulz loves wave pools but he’s on firm ground when it comes to his opinion on surfing at the Olympics: it should always be in the ocean.

The inclusion of surfing on the program for next year’s Tokyo Olympics has generated a wave of excitement and a fresh dimension as the International Olympic Committee seeks younger

audiences. Perhaps the only question is Tokyo’s wave quality.

Japan’s surfing culture goes back more than a century, but it’s not known for the kind of giant waves found at

famed surfing hot spots like Hawaii’s North Shore or California’s Big Sur. “Surfing began in the ocean and it should be represented in its purest form in the Olympics,” said Schulz, who along with Canada’s Cody Young made history Monday as the first competitors in the ocean

during the sport’s debut in the Pan American Games in Lima.

“Consistency can be replicated in a pool...but in the ocean you have factors that play into a contest-priority,” Schulz told The Associated Press. “There are more than one, or two, or three waves at KEVIN SCHULZ: Surfing began in the ocean and it should be represented in its purest form in the Olympics. AP

a time. There’s a larger playing field. So there are more inconsistencies, but more opportunities.”

Surfing is one of the “wait and see” sports at the Pan Am Games. That means the top male and female surfers not yet qualified for the Olympics can earn a spot for Tokyo.

Before surfing was included in the Olympics, the president of the International Surfing Association said that the introduction of wave pool technology would be a “game changer” for surfing and that would “drive us toward the goal of Olympic inclusion.”

If wave pools were used, potentially any city hosting the games could have surfing on the sports program.

Surf parks featuring massive pools with repeating, artificial waves have amped the surf community for years, as supporters from top athletes to retailers look for ways to swell the sport, lift sales and build a standardized way to train that could help surfing, even more so now that it has earned its coveted Olympic pedigree.

Kelly Slater, the 11-time world champion, has also been credited with creating the perfect artificial wave. Last year, Slater introduced his Surf Ranch, which is located in a patch of California’s Central Valley, about 100 miles from the Pacific Ocean.

With the push of a button, a hydrofoil moves along a track in a manmade lake to form waves for surfers to ride in a controlled environment. The World Surf League has run the Founders’ Cup at Slater’s ranch.

Many surfers have used wave pools as a supplement to the ocean to refine their skills on a consistent wave or just to enjoy some rides when natural conditions wouldn’t allow it.

But some critics say that on the rush to surf parks, the sport could lose its soul.

They say artificial waves could sanitize and commercialize a sport that the most passionate surfers describe as a rugged, solitary pursuit where athletes commune with nature.

Schulz, the 2018 Jack’s Pro QS 1500 champion, says he “loves” wave pools.

Last month, he won Stab High’s “Freak Peak” event with what has been called the biggest air landed in Waco, Texas’ BSR Wavepool’s history. AP

God of everlasting love

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EAR God, You love us like a mother. In hope we pray: Unite our hearts with Yours, oh God. Enkindle in Your Church the fire of Your love. Help us to extend Your compassion to the forgotten places in this world. Instruct all those who hold positions of authority in your ways of mercy, reverence and self-giving love. Continue to inspire us daily to know You more through the scriptures, love You most with others and serve You endlessly through our everyday task. May the liberating love of God empower us to go beyond ourselves in joyful sacrifice for the good of others. 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

LOOKING TO DECLAW YOUR CAT? DON’T LOOK IN NEW YORK ANYMORE D2

Wednesday, July 31, 2019

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Twitter reports strong user growth

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AN FRANCISCO—Twitter reported surprisingly strong second-quarter user numbers and revenue on Friday, as it works to make the platform more user-friendly and eliminate robotic and fake accounts on its platform.

On that front, the social media messaging service said instances of suspicious behavior and spam dropped by 18 percent during the quarter. But Twitter’s push to cut down on fake accounts costs money, and its adjusted profit fell 36 percent to about $37 million, or 5 cents per share. At the same time, revenue surged 18 percent, to $841 million, better than the $829 million that Wall Street was looking for, according to a survey by FactSet. In April, Twitter had forecast revenue of $770 million to $830 million for the quarter.

Twitter’s daily user base rose 14 percent to 139 million, an increase of 5 million users.

Analysts were expecting 134.7 million daily users. The revenue surge was due to higher advertising revenue. The company said it is on track to hire 20 percent more people than last year. “The health first conversation is a way to continue to grow the audience, our revenue product and sales and platform,” said CFO Ned Segal.

“And so the head count growth is really

thinking about all of those areas.”

The San Francisco company started disclosing its daily user base earlier this year. These are users who log into the site at least once a day and see advertisements on the platform. This metric has replaced its monthly user number disclosures.

Segal said the user growth was broadbased, both in the US and internationally, driven by the site’s continued relevance in the national conversation.

“We look at this 14 percent year-overyear growth we delivered and we see the cumulative benefit of the last few years of work that we’ve done to improve the service to drive relevance to make Twitter more conversational, to make it easier to find the topic and events that people care about most,” Segal said.

Twitter has been trying to improve what the company calls the “health” of conversations on its platform amid widespread criticism that it doesn’t do enough to remove hate speech, abuse and harassment.

In a call with analysts, CEO Jack Dorsey said “health” remains the top priority.

“Health is a long-term growth factor for us, and we have been doubling our efforts to make sure that we can address all the issues

that we’re seeing on the service,” he said. “A big focus for us over the past year has been to proactively identify content on Twitter that would violate our rules, so that we don’t require a report.”

In June, the company began placing warning labels on abusive and otherwise offending tweets by politicians and world leaders. Twitter has long argued that tweets from world leaders are in the public interest and should remain even if they violate the site’s terms. This became an issue with the election of US President Donald J. Trump, who routinely uses Twitter to disparage enemies and rile up supporters.

With the new feature, users have to tap through the warning to see the underlying message, but the tweet won’t be removed, as Twitter might do with a regular person’s posts.

Twitter has redesigned its web site in an attempt to make it simpler to use and encourage exploration. People who use Twitter on a desktop computer rather than mobile tend to be the more serious users who tweet for work—social media professionals, journalists and the like.

Twitter’s shares jumped $3.66, or 9.6 percent, to $41.76 in afternoon trading. AP

D2

Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Pet Corner BusinessMirror

Looking to declaw your cat? Don’t look in New York anymore

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Today’s Horoscope

By Eugenia Last

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Rico Rodriguez, 21; B.J. Novak, 40; Zac Brown, 41; J.K. Rowling, 54.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Take your time. Don’t make aggressive changes without thinking matters through.

Do your research and plan your actions. Preparation will make the difference to the way the year progresses and the benefits that come your way due to patience and thought-out plans. Turn this into a year of thought, detail and precision; you will exceed expectations. Your lucky numbers are 8, 19, 22, 27, 32, 35, 41.

a

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Take part in events that will stimulate your mind and challenge you physically. Show appreciation for others and listen to advice offered, but don’t share your secrets. Youngsters or your lover will offer insights that will change your way of thinking. HHH

By David Klepper The Associated Press

LBANY, New York—New York became the first US state to ban the declawing of cats Monday, joining most of Europe, several Canadian provinces and a growing list of American cities that already prohibit a procedure animal advocates call cruel and unnecessary.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, signed the New York ban. Supporters of the new law, which took effect immediately, predict it will lead to similar proposals across the country.

“This is a real triumph for cats and the people who love them,” said Assemblyman Linda Rosenthal, who pushed for years and who yielded to temptation when it came to feline-themed puns upon the signing of the ban. “This has catapulted New York to a leadership position when it comes to cruelty against felines.”

Declawing a cat involves slicing through bone to amputate the first segment of a cat’s toes. The operation was once commonly performed to protect furniture and human skin from feline scratching but has, in recent years, come under scrutiny by animalwelfare advocates, cat owners and many vets.

While many vets urged lawmakers to pass the ban, the state’s largest veterinary organization opposed the bill. The New York State Veterinary Medical Society argued that declawing should be allowed as a last resort for felines that won’t stop scratching furniture or humans—or when the cat’s owner has a weakened immune system, putting them at greater risk of infection from a scratch.

“Medical decisions should be left to the sound discretion of fully trained, licensed and state supervised professionals,” the society said in a memo opposing the legislation. Declawing a cat is already illegal in much of Europe and Canada, as well as in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Denver, but no other US state has voted to ban the procedure, which involves amputating a cat’s toes back to the first knuckle.

According to The Paw Project, a California-based group that supports bans on declawing, bills to prohibit the procedure are pending in several states,

b

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Don’t waffle when change is required. Timing is crucial if you want to get ahead. Don’t waste time arguing with someone who is just as stubborn as you.

Do your own thing and allow others the same privilege.

Personal improvement is favored. HHHH

c

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Listen to what a friend or relative has to say, but make up your own mind when it’s time to make a decision.

Ulterior motives on the part of someone you are dealing with can lead to uncertainty. HH

d

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Put a unique twist on whatever you do, and you will bring about positive changes that will encourage others to follow your lead. Romance will improve your personal life and encourage you to open up about the way you feel. HHHHH

e

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Keep situations in perspective. If you overreact or make a fuss, it will encourage others to do the same.

Focus on how best to stay out of debt. Make health a priority by practicing discipline when it comes to diet and fitness. HHH

f

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): A personal change will do you good. Self-improvement projects will turn out well and result in a positive change in attitude. A partnership will help you explore new possibilities, and improve your current lifestyle and standard of living. HHH A CAT named Rubio walks in front of the podium during a news conference in Albany, New York. Massachusetts lawmakers are weighing a ban on the practice of declawing cats. New York became the first state in the nation to ban the declawing of cats. AP

including New Jersey, California and Massachusetts, where lawmakers held a hearing on the measure on Monday. Supporters of bans cite estimates that a quarter or more of all domestic cats in the US have had the procedure.

“For a cat, declawing is both psychologically and physically harmful,” said Becky Robinson, president

and founder of Alley Cat Allies, a Bethesda, Marylandbased organization. “The surgery is traumatic, and the resulting disfigurement causes severe pain.”

Under the bill, which easily passed the Democratled Senate and Assembly in early June, veterinarians could still perform the procedure for medical reasons, such as infection or injury. n

Don’t fret, you won’t get wet SEVERAL pet owners believe that it is nearly impossible to give their pets a proper workout during the rainy season. However, owners are reminded that there are several activities that they can do to ensure that their beloved four-legged companions get their daily dose of exercise.

Staying in and teaching their pets new tricks is a great example of a mental workout. Teaching one’s pet new tricks can help improve their behavior, increase bonding with their human and help the pet be comfortable around people. When training one’s pet, owners are reminded to be patient and to take into consideration factors, such as their pet’s abilities and age when they teach them tricks. If their pet is old, owners must not force them to learn strenuous tricks such as standing on their hind legs.

Climbing up and down the stairs is a

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different form of exercise that owners can enjoy with their dogs and cats. Owners with a staircase at home may use this to strengthen their pet’s strength and stamina.

This simple exercise also helps strengthen the bond between owner and pet as synchronicity is required to avoid untoward incidents. If climbing up and down the stairs is not an option, owners may play a game of fetch by sitting on top of the stairs and throwing a toy to their pet. This can also help the owner get exercise as well, as they bring the ball back up the stairs.

Another game that pet owners might want to explore is the fun nose game. The nose game challenges pets to find treats their owners hid around the house. Playing this simple yet interesting game physically and mentally challenges pets, and helps them rely on their instincts and senses, particularly their sense of smell.

For those who are looking for a more active game play, setting up an obstacle course for their pets is a great way to beat the boredom during the rainy season. Pet owners may use boxes, towels, cushions, and other household items that may serve as barriers and hurdles their pets can jump over and avoid. This activity is the perfect exercise for pets because it challenges them physically. Moreover, this activity strengthens the bond and trust between owner and their beloved pets.

Pet Food Institute is committed in educating pet owners about proper pet nutrition to keep pets healthy and happy.

Through its local initiative, the Well-Fed, Well-Nurtured campaign in partnership with the Veterinary Practitioners Association of the Philippines, PFI seeks to advocate responsible pet ownership to the evergrowing Filipino pet community.

g

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Don’t sit idle or wait for someone else to take care of things.

Step up your game and put a little muscle behind what needs to be done. Your actions will give you more clout when you ask for a favor. HHH

h

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Keep life simple. If someone comes on too strong or tries to bully you, walk away. Lean toward creative endeavors or projects that deal with something or someone unusual. Explore what’s available and how best to proceed. HHHHH

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SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Don’t be fooled by a “get rich quick” scheme someone offers. Listen, but acknowledge the probability of this person taking advantage of you. Refuse to let an emotional plea overpower your ability to say no. HHH

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CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Size up whatever situation you face, and look for alternative methods that will help with negotiations, finances or health issues. A commitment can be made that will improve the way you live.

Romance is in the stars. HHHH

k

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Small and simple maneuvers are in your best interest.

Change requires thought and proper planning if you want to be successful. Discipline and hard work will pay off in the end and help you avoid making an untimely mistake. HHH

l

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Share your thoughts and feelings, and be willing to work alongside someone who you feel can contribute something unique. A moneymaking opportunity is within reach, and a partnership looks promising. HHH BIRTHDAY BABY: You are outgoing, persistent and adaptable.

You are sensitive and imaginative.

‘unplugging’ BY CAITLIN REID The Universal Crossword/Edited by David Steinberg

ACROSS 1 Hound 4 Yom Kippur observance 8 Hard time 13 Final ___ (March Madness stage) 14 Wight or Capri 15 Pay for play?

16 Rebuke to Brutus 17 LaBeouf of Hollywood 18 Prone to swings 19 Be completely wasted 22 It covers most of Canada 23 Fishing rod attachments 24 Onset 27 Playful sea animals 29 Food label amt.

30 Purplish brown hue 31 “Hiss!”

32 Sometimes-tidy amount 33 Form a leaf pile 34 Lose it 38 “Gotta Catch ‘Em All” app 40 Financial claim 41 Unused 43 Chips go-with

4 Left stunned 4 45 Antitraffic org.?

46 Completely cover 50 Spoil 51 Peter and Catherine were great ones 53 Like Cantonese 54 Eschew a modern lifestyle, or a hint to the starred entries 56 Love, in Lille 59 American Pie actress Reid 60 Stir up 61 Father of Esau and Jacob 62 Presidential terms, often 63 Lenovo competitor 64 Split the bill 65 Hester Prynne’s humiliation 66 ___ school DOWN 1 Perform with precision 2 Defeat in a mental battle 3 Nirvana, e.g.

4 Match game?

5 Grandson of 61-Across 6 Beefy happy hour orders 7 Began to cry

8 Analyze This director Harold 9 Use in excess, informally 10 Alien abduction vehicle 11 Test for a dropout: Abbr.

12 Call to Alexa or Siri 13 Gave, as kibble 20 Egerton of the Kingsman films (RAN TO anagram) 21 Pie order option 24 US territory in Oceania 25 Fashion brand featuring a rhino symbol 26 Many a Snapchatter 28 Old what’s-his-name 30 Code in advance 34 Tattle 35 Audio equipment brand 36 Want’s relative 37 Attend to 39 Kunta ___ of “Roots” 42 Armed conflict 47 How food from a wok may be served 48 Flaked (on) 49 Venerable leader 51 An ex might carry one

2 Prized violin, briefly 5 54 Burrito add-on, familiarly 55 Tries 56 Grant, perhaps 57 East Lansing sch.

58 Cheerios ingredient

Solution to yesterday’s puzzle:

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Show BusinessMirror

Jury: Katy Perry’s ‘Dark Horse’ copied Christian rap song L

BLIND SPOT BRUCE C.

ONE PLUS ONE

WHO is this gay couple who charges P50,000 per event just to appear and post? And they’re not alone in this situation. So many influencers are pulling 1 + 1 packages to include their significant others and, in some cases, even their friends. This former editor, for instance, always forces her husband, who has a very low social-media following, upon PR practitioners.

If it’s just a meal and a loot bag, it would be OK but the former editor wants her hubby to get paid, too.

Even socialites, who used to fight for column space in newspapers, now want to be influencers and get paid to attend events! They also want to bring along their husbands/boyfriends/children.

By Andrew Dalton The Associated Press

OS ANGELES—A jury on Monday found that Katy Perry’s 2013 hit “Dark Horse” improperly copied a 2009 Christian rap song in a unanimous decision that represented a rare takedown of a pop superstar and her elite producer by a relatively unknown artist.

The verdict by a nine-member federal jury in a Los Angeles courtroom came five years after Marcus Gray and two coauthors first sued in 2014 alleging “Dark Horse” stole from “Joyful Noise,” a song Gray released under the stage name Flame.

The case now goes to a penalty phase, where the jury will decide how much Perry and other defendants owe for copyright infringement.

Questions from the jury during their two full days of deliberations had suggested that they might find only some of the defendants liable for copyright infringement. The case focused on the notes and beats of the song, not its lyrics or recording, and the questions suggested that Perry might be off the hook.

But in a decision that left many in the courtroom surprised, jurors found all six songwriters and all four corporations that released and distributed the songs were liable, including Perry and Sarah Hudson, who wrote only the song’s words, and Juicy J, who only wrote the rap he provided for the song. Perry was not present when the verdict was read.

Other defendants found liable were Capitol Records, as well as Perry’s producers: Dr. Luke, Max Martin and Cirkut, who came up with the song’s beat.

Gray’s attorneys argued that the beat and instrumental line featured through nearly half of “Dark Horse” are substantially similar to those of “Joyful Noise.” Gray wrote the song with his coplaintiffs Emanuel Lambert and Chike Ojukwu.

“Dark Horse,” a hybrid of pop, trap and hip-hop sounds that was the third single of Perry’s 2013 album Prism, spent four weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 in early 2014, and earned a Grammy nomination for Perry, who performed the song during her 2015 Super Bowl halftime show.

Her attorneys argued that the song sections in question represent the kind of simple musical elements that if found to be subject to copyright would hurt music and all songwriters.

“They’re trying to own basic building blocks of music, the alphabet of music that should be available to everyone,” Perry’s lawyer Christine Lepera said during closing arguments Thursday.

The defendants’ musical expert testified that the musical patterns in dispute were as simple as “Mary Had a Little Lamb.”

But the jury of six women and three men disagreed, finding that the bumping beat and riff at

Wednesday, July 31, 2019

AGGRESSIVE GIRL

SO everybody’s wondering how and why these two recently controversial celebrities hooked up. While working together recently, the girl started coming on very strongly to the guy. Apparently, she’s liked him for awhile now and this was her only opportunity to tell him her feelings straight to his face. If you look at the male celebrity, you’ll know that he is exactly the type of the female celebrity. Her ex fake boyfriend was never her type. She was pushed into the relationship by the need for her career to properly take off.

MISS PUSHY

the center of “Joyful Noise” were original enough to be copyrighted.

Perry and the song’s coauthors testified during the seven-day trial that none of them had heard the song or heard of Gray before the lawsuit, nor did they listen to Christian music.

Gray’s attorneys had only to demonstrate, however, that “Joyful Noise” had wide dissemination and could have been heard by Perry and her coauthors. They provided as evidence that it had millions of plays on YouTube and Spotify, and that the album it’s included on was nominated for a Grammy.

“They’re trying to shove Mr. Gray into some gospel music alleyway that no one ever visits,” said plaintiffs’ attorney Michael A. Kahn during closing arguments, when he also pointed out that Perry had begun her career as a Christian artist.

Jurors agreed, finding that the song was

distributed widely enough that the “Dark Horse” writers may well have heard it.

Kahn and Gray declined comment but smiled as they left the courtroom after the verdict.

Lepera and other defense attorneys also declined comment outside court. Perry’s publicist did not immediately return an e-mail message seeking comment Monday evening.

Perry, a 34-year-old pop superstar and American Idol judge, brought laughs to the proceedings when she testified during its second day when her lawyers were having technical troubles getting “Dark Horse” to play in the courtroom.

“I could perform it live,” Perry said.

No performance was necessary after the audio issues were fixed. Jurors heard both songs played back-to-back in their entirety at the end of closing arguments last week. n

THE pushy girl and her family didn’t just try to manipulate people, but they also paid trolls to attack her perceived rival on social media. The pushy girl never forgot her rival for “stealing” her desired leading man so she and her doting family gladly obliged her by giving in to her whims, one of which was getting her perceived rival out of the way. This included throwing shade at the poor girl’s character and making her lose potential endorsements. But their management got to the bottom of things and this is why pushy girl is not with them anymore. The girl is beautiful and relatively talented, but she’s like the plague who kills everything she touches. She is relentless when she wants something. Sadly for her perceived rival, pushy girl hasn’t given up.

A CHANGED MAN

THE actor was known for having a superb resting bitch face. He was every PR person’s nightmare, answering every question with either a yes or a no accompanied by a smirk. But maybe he realized that this would not work because there are so many who are way more talented and good-looking than he is, so he has to play nice. Now, he’s OK to take selfies with fans and even sign autographs when he refused to do these things only a few months ago. The lesson in this story is that it pays to be nice, so let’s see if the young actor’s change in attitude will work.

Anne Hathaway opens up about fertility struggles BEVERLY HILLS, California—Anne Hathaway, who announced this week she was expecting her second child, says she came forward about her struggles with getting pregnant because infertility can be deeply isolating.

“I think that we have a very one-size-fits-all approach to getting pregnant,” Hathaway told The Associated Press on Saturday. “And you get pregnant and for the majority of cases, this is a really happy time. But a lot of people who are trying to get pregnant: That’s not really the story. Or that’s one part of the story. And the steps that lead up to that part of

the story are really painful, and very isolating and full of self-doubt. And I went through that.”

The 36-year-old Oscar winner revealed on Instagram this week that she and husband Adam Shulman, an actor and jewelry designer, are expecting another child. The two have a three-year-old son, Jonathan. Hathaway posted a picture of her pregnant self with the caption “It’s not for a movie,” then went on to say that she was sending “extra love” to anyone with fertility issues because she’s experienced it, too, with both pregnancies.

“I didn’t just wave a magic wand and, ‘I want to

be pregnant and, wow, it all worked out for me, gosh, admire my bump now!’” she told the AP. “It’s more complicated than that.”

She made her remarks at an event promoting Modern Love, her new TV series for Amazon, saying she has been blown away by how many women go through this, and how unspoken it can be.

“I was just aware of the fact that when it came time to post that I was pregnant, somebody was going to feel even more isolated because of it,” Hathaway said. “And I just wanted them to know they have a sister in me.” AP

Darna Funko Pop is home after delightful SDCC journey DARNA is home. The limited-edition Funko Pop of the celebrated Pinoy comics superheroine is officially here in the Philippines after exploring the San Diego Comic-Convention (SDCC) 2019 in the US—the prime focus of the world of comic conventions.

After the thrilling collaboration was announced at Toycon 2019, Darna Funko Pop first appeared in SDCC and she wasted no time embarking on adventures at the international convention.

The Funko Pop

collectible—mirroring the classic pose and exuding the distinct spirited presence of the iconic Pinay superhero— first dropped by Gaslamp Quarter, San Diego’s premier entertainment district, right before joining the fun at a panel in Hall H, the biggest stage at the convention.

True to her patriotic background, Darna also took the time to visit the booths of Pinoy comic book artists showcased at SDCC, and eventually mingled with Filipino-Americans and the Pinoy Funko community

who were in attendance at the con.

Now that she is finally in the country, Filipinos can soon get their hands on their own #DarnaFunkoPop toy at Fun Con 2019, happening from August 2 to 4 at the Glorietta Activity Center in Makati City.

Darna is a creation of legendary komiks artist Mars Ravelo, and this partnership with Funko, one of the top makers of licensed pop culture products, fires up the yearlong celebration of her 70th anniversary.

EBE DANCEL KICKS OFF AUGUST AT SHANGRI-LA PLAZA

MULTI-AWARDED singer-songwriter Ebe Dancel brings his signature brand of music to Shangri-La Plaza with an anticipated performance at the Grand Atrium on August 3 at 7 pm. The former Sugarfree frontman is well-known for the band’s hit songs like “Mariposa,” “Prom” and “Wag Ka Nang Umiyak.” As a local music stalwart, Ebe has also released two successful solo albums: Dalawang Mukha ng Pag-ibig and Bawat Daan.

In 2016 he won the Song of the Year plum at the Awit Awards for the poetic “Bawat Daan.” Beloved for his deft songwriting and sentimental appeal, Ebe is an essential act to catch in the Manila music scene. More information is available at www.facebook.com/shangrilaplazaofficial.

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Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Why you should go on a social-media detox and move to a messaging app WE know you don’t want to hear this but trust us, social media can be bad for you. We’re not just talking about how absently scrolling through your feed can lead you off the edge of a cliff or into oncoming traffic. It runs deeper than that. Social media can wear you out mentally, encourage unhealthy habits and threaten your security.

Here are four—just four—of the reasons why social media is a scourge in the digital world. n IT’S STRESSING YOU OUT. The pressure of having to keep up with all your friends 24/7 can stimulate an increase in cortisol, the stress hormone. This state of disorientation can give you short-term memory loss or lead to depression. Ma. Teresa Gustilo-Villasor, PhD of Allied Mental Health, and Lovie Hope O. Go-Chu, MD, chief of Makati Medical Center Section of Psychiatry, acknowledge the links between indiscriminate social-media use and increased incidence of mental-health issues. “Increased socialmedia use has been associated with higher rates of depression, anxiety, and psychological distress, particularly in children, adolescents and young adults,” the experts explain.

And even if you haven’t noticed a spike in your stress levels, being on social media has also been shown to mess with your sleep patterns. Many people spend one to two hours browsing their social-media accounts on their phones before going to bed—that’s less hours of catching some valuable zzzs. n IT’S MESSING WITH YOUR SELF-IMAGE. Seeing everyone curate the best of their lives online can really weigh down on you. For starters, it could trigger a sense of dissatisfaction. Comparing everyone’s beautiful, filtered posts to your own life can make you feel inadequate. Gustilo-Villasor and Go-Chu add that irresponsible social-media use can cause people to develop “a perceived lack in the quality or quantity of social support systems; a predilection for upward social comparison with seemingly superior others, leading to poor self-esteem and negative self-evaluation; a constant desire for positive peer feedback; and a susceptibility to cyberbullying and online harassment,” which may later progress to a mental illness. It’s no surprise, then, that social media can give people the false impression that they aren’t good enough. n IT’S NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR REAL LIFE. Have you heard of The Outside? It’s a lovely place on the other side of your door. You don’t need Wi-Fi to access it, but you can still have lots of fun adventures. Getting off social-media opens you up to the wonders of real life, where you can nurture face-to-face relationships and pursue new interests. Gustilo-Villasor and Go-Chu advise that social media use should be restricted to “consistent time limits and supervision for children and adolescents ages six and older.” Plus, being out and about means less time sitting down for extended periods, which doctors have said can be dangerous for your health. n IT’S INVADING YOUR PRIVACY. Social media turns your digital life into an open book. Things like GPS, data tracking and more keep tabs on you all the time.

Even when you aren’t navigating a road, social-media apps can still track your location. What’s more, your social-media profile is prone to being breached by third parties that use people’s online activities to create targeted content, from regular ads to dangerous propaganda campaigns. You don’t want your private information to be used for someone else’s ulterior motives, so why put it out there in the first place?

If these do sound familiar, it’s best to quit or at least ease up on your social-media use. It’s not like this would mean becoming disconnected from family and friends. Messaging apps are a great alternative for keeping communication lines open, since they let you chat with your contacts while insulating you from all the hazards of social media.

Moreover, popular messaging app Viber lets you keep the perks of social media without any of its security risks, as it is touted to be the most private and secure. On Communities, you can start massive group chats that connect you with people who share your interests. Share photos, polls, news articles and more without any of your private info being compromised. Not only that, this feature also allows you to keep up with the latest happenings—minus the social-media stress.

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The benefits of keeping a journal SUI GENERIS CARLO ATIENZA

biblisko@gmail.com

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R. Doogie Howser got it right. If you watched comedy-dramas in the early part of the 1990s, you would remember this medial prodigy who ended each episode with a journal entry in his computer. And what does he write? He writes about what happened to him and the lessons the experience taught him. It made him realize the values he should hold on to and his impact in other people’s lives.

I used to keep a journal back in college. I did not write on it daily but I did when there were significant events in my life—finding an organization I could join, a squabble with a close friend, or accidentally deleting my final paper. Looking back, journaling helped me cope by helping me see things from a different perspective. Seeing my thoughts on paper helped me evaluate I was too involved in some things I should have ignored, and spent too little time on things which mattered. Keeping a journal helped me before see milestones in my life and how to go further.

Reflective thinking helps in making us mindful where we are now in our lives and forces us to assess where we want to go. In the words of Oliver Wendell Holmes, “The greatest thing in this world is not so much where we are but in what direction we are moving.”

Not only do you track your milestones, but you also get a better sense of your goals and the steps you need to make to get there. The reason why we have New Year resolutions is to remind ourselves of what we want to accomplish for the year. Putting them down helps reinforce those goals and serves as reminders of what you need to accomplish. If you still have your resolutions for this year, where are you now in terms of accomplishing them? If you do not write them down, chances are you will forget them.

Recent studies have also shown there is a

direct correlation to remembering something longer when you write it down, probably because seeing a visual cue to your thoughts the moment you write them reinforces recall.

Writing down your goals and your thoughts not only boosts your memory of significant events in your life but also increases your understanding of what happened. Remember the time when somebody said something and you glossed over it, and then you remember it later and realize they were actually insulting you? Putting your thoughts down in words helps you the same way. It shows you your pattern of behavior over time and gives you a better understanding of yourself and how you react to others. This is why when you read something you wrote years ago, you sometimes cringe because you do not realize how much you have changed or how badly you treated and thought of another person. Reliving past events and your state of mind during those times can help you get a better grasp of how much you have grown as a person and your capability to change.

Which brings me to another advantage of having a journal—it invigorates your personal growth. In times of self-doubt or regret, you can always go back to your journal to see your progress and how much you have overcome to get where you are right now. It gives you the needed encouragement and confidence to strap your boots tighter and keep walking. There will be days when you are down and find it difficult to keep going. Your journal’s entries will help you see your life from the perspective of years, not minutes, and realize this too will pass. It is only a slight hump on your way to your goals.

Keeping a journal reinforces positive experiences and helps you look at negative events as constructive.

You will not only recall your past accomplishments, but you will look at difficulties you encountered as character-building, and that these taught you life lessons which made you a better person. It makes you appreciate that everything happens for a reason and events, whether good or bad, led you to where you are right now.

A journal will also help you with insights on how you treat other people—whether to let them stay in your life or let them go. Too often, we do not see the value people bring to our lives and we end up pushing good people away and letting friendly users take advantage of us. A journal will help us see clearly who

In this age when unfiltered thoughts are published indiscriminately on social media, keeping a journal helps you appraise where you are in your life and realize the needed steps to achieve your goals, rather than be persuaded by whatever fad becomes trending. have been with us during our trying times, and who were there just because they needed something. It gives you an objective measure of where you stand in the person’s life and how you place in theirs.

Understanding your place in other’s lives will help you act accordingly and fairly, not only to them but also to yourself.

In this age when unfiltered thoughts are published indiscriminately on social media, keeping a journal helps you appraise where you are in your life and realize the needed steps to achieve your goals, rather than be persuaded by whatever fad becomes trending.

It is never too late to start keeping a journal. You might be surprised to discover that the best version of yourself is between those pages. n

Celebrating 25 years with Philippine fashion’s finest for one historic collaboration IN 1994, Plains & Prints cofounder Roxanne A. Farillas had a simple dream—to make timeless, elegant style accessible to Filipinas. That dream set its roots in a small Greenhills store, where she sold simple tops and blouses.

Twenty-five years later, Roxanne’s small dream has taken on a life of its own. Plains & Prints has expanded to more than 90 branches run by a team of over 400 people. Her pieces even go overseas through online portals. Top names in the Philippine fashion scene continue to collaborate with the brand, producing timeless pieces worn by local style icons.

Plains & Prints owes its success to Filipino artistry. Every print, every fabric and every garment is crafted in-house.

It’s the proud tradition that keeps the company together, the kind that drives pioneer employees to stay with the brand even after all these years. The whole value chain is driven entirely by homegrown talent. Beyond the atelier, Plains & Prints is worn by style icons who embody the brand’s classic Filipina sensibilities. This year, all these fashion visionaries are returning for one historic collaboration to mark Plains & Prints’ 25th anniversary. Dubbed “Beyond 25,” the collection features artists who have worked with Plains & Prints, as well as several new ones in the brand’s growing list of partners.

The project is one of the biggest of its kind, involving 15 artists collaborating for over a year to create a snapshot of modern Philippine fashion. It includes 30 stylish pieces— symbolizing the timelessness of Plains & Prints elegance.

“Our anniversary collection might celebrate the people who have supported us in the last 25 years, but the beautiful thing about Beyond 25 is that it’s not bound by the styles of that era,” says Roxanne.

“That’s the secret—it is timeless. We will stick to our core and continue creating classic pieces for the modern Filipina.”

The Beyond 25 collection is now available online on Amazon.com, Zalora.com and PlainsAndPrints.com.

Shoppers can purchase the collection in select preview events at the SM Megamall’s Mega Fashion Hall from now until August 2. The entire collection will be available in all Plains & Prints branches nationwide starting July 31.

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Editor: Tet Andolong

Wednesday, July 31, 2019 E1

AboitizLand rolls out expansion plan in Batangas

By Roderick L. Abad

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@rodrik_28

ARKING its 25th year in the real-estate industry, property developer AboitizLand recently rolled out an integrated township within its industrial city called the Lima Technology Park, with the official launch of its residential community dubbed “The Villages at Lipa.”

The entire 600-hectare project will not just be a home to top global manufacturing companies, international and local retailers, but soon to Filipino families.

On top of what the real-estate arm of the Aboitiz Group has invested so far to fully own Lima from the time it acquired the existing part of it from the Alsons Group and then subsequently its partner Marubeni, it is pouring in P7 billion worth of investments to complete the residential and commercial components of the project.

“We’ve actually doubled the size of the [Lima Technology] Park. We’ve began to grow, not just the industrial part, but the commercial component, and we’re launching the first residential community,” AboitizLand President and Chief Executive Officer David Rafael told reporters recently during their media briefing before the launch. At 50 hectares, The Villages at Lipa is planned with three residential communities, collectively offering around 2,700 units of lots and house and lots fit for mid- to the upper mid-markets.

First is the Sierra Village with “Lot Only” packages, as well as townhouses with a floor area of 93 square meters, and single-attached and single-detached homes from 103 sq m to 150 sq m. The Brook Village has “Lot Only” packages, as well as townhouses with a floor area of 53 sq.m and single-detached homes from 65 sq m to 80 sq m.

“We’re focused on the modern Filipino architecture because we want to do something that represents our heritage and also our response to the climate [change and] to the preferences of the people that are going to live in the community. We draw inspirations from our past, but we execute it in a modern way,” said Rafael de Mesa, first vice president for operations of AboitizLand.

ABOITIZLAND Assistant Vice President of Sales Fritz Dimayuga (from left), President and CEO David Rafael, First Vice President of Operations Rafael Fernandez de Mesa and Assistant Vice President of Sales Joey Zamora

The way the developer plans is what also makes it in sync with its other community projects yet distinctive from the competition, according to him.

“You’ll notice that versus other developers, we tend to have a little more open space. And those open spaces are typically connected to a network of pedestrian pathways and smaller pocket parks,” he noted.

Lots and house and lots in The Villages at Lipa are now on presale. Prior to the launch, however, sales takeup has already been impressive, confirming its attractiveness as a future home and an investment. Current prices range between P12,000 and P13,000 per sq m.

“I think this is a very good introductory price considering how prices of land are rising so quickly, even as you move south out of Metro Manila. So it’s really a bargain and a great entry, and it’s surely going to appreciate over time,” de Mesa said.

Currently, the site is under construction. Roadworks are about to start. Building the first houses for both Brook and Sierra villages will begin within 2019, and turnover is expected next year. The entire residential

component of Lima is set for completion over the course of three years.

“Depending on how fast the take-up is, then, we are already prepared to expand it maybe to double the size of the residential. Within Lipa, we’ve got more land that we can expand the residential component,” Rafael bared.

“We take pride in these milestones and we plan to take it up a notch this year, starting with the next big thing in the south,” added de Mesa. “With Calabarzon sustaining its place as an economic center and hub for investors, we are set to further develop Lima.”

Aside from The Villages, the industry city houses The Outlets at Lipa, the country’s biggest outlet mall spanning at 9.3 hectares. This commercial area boasts hundreds of top retail and food and beverage brands.

It is set amid an open area with pocket parks, al-fresco dining and an Olympic-sized multisport field.

AboitizLand will also usher in a new level of convenience with Lima Exchange. Set to open in the first quarter of 2020, this one-stop location will have daily basic needs and services together, such as a transport

terminal, a supermarket, a multisports gym and fastfood restaurants.

Soon, developments such as offices for businessprocess outsourcing firms and other tenants, dormitories, schools, hospitals, hotels and places of worship are expected to liven up the township and give growing Filipino families a holistic city experience.

A subsidiary to one of the country’s biggest and best-managed conglomerates—the Aboitiz Group of Companies—AboitizLand has nurtured Cebu’s residential, industrial and commercial communities.

The firm has since expanded to Luzon with the launch of Seafront Residences in San Juan, Batangas, in 2017, and Ajoya in Nueva Ecija and Tarlac in 2018. It is in a position to acquire and develop more properties across the country to reach more Filipino families and businesses.

“We continue to expand our residential portfolio north and south of Metro Manila, as well as Cebu. But, at the same time, we’re also looking at other areas of high growth in the country for opportunities,” de Mesa stressed.

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E2 Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Black House: Modern living for millennials by millennials

THE top floor of Black House featuring the master’s bedroom and a spacious roof deck

THE living area of Black House

HIGH ceiling coupled with a full glass wall to harness natural light

been exposed to cooler light temperatures in his/her office. It also helps that the ceiling height in the living area is high, which minimizes unecessary glare, and lets the eyes easily take in the generous space facing the beautiful tree” she added.

Even the marketing strategy of the developer of Black House suits today’s tech-savvy millennials. It has an online website that boasts of an immersive 3D presentation of the duplex’s perspectives (Blackhouse.ph).

Mikko Baranda, cochairman of the ULI YLG and associate director of Leechiu Property Consultants, shared, “We believe that millennials will lead the charge into the housing market in the coming years as the older millennials had some time to grow in their careers, save and are looking for investment opportunities in real estate. Also, this group looks at the housing market very differently from their parents, where they give importance to design, technology and minimalism. We believe that Black House has been able to create a unique product that’s both modern but yet affordable.”

Amor Maclang

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FIRST DIBS IN REAL ESTATE

UR decision to purchase a home for the very first time serves as an important milestone to adulting. Nevertheless, it’s a very daunting task for us given that this will define how and where we spend the better part of our lives.

Recently, the ULI Young Leaders Group (YLG) Philippines culminated a property tour event in suburban Parañaque last July 23, which featured a unique concept of housing that greatly appeals to the biggest demographic of the Philippine population—millennials.

And who better suited to envision this one of a kind modern home than a team of millennials, as well.

“The problem is, townhouses and duplexes in the Philippines are still being done the traditional way with a look that hasn’t been updated in years,” shared Toby Catral, CEO of JARC Group who developed the unique house. “I believe houses that utilize a smaller land area and vertical concepts are

BLACK HOUSE—A modern duplex in suburban Parañaque

the future. We have to be more creative with the way we design these spaces similar to places like Bali and Japan.”

metry in its interior design and lighting. The house aggressively harnesses natural light through its high ceiling glass wall. The architecture and interior design was jointly done by Mary Bocalid, managing partner of VBo Architects + Engineers and Crystal Ventura, principal architect of Design Space Eleven.

Toby Catral, CEO of JARC Group, talks about how living spaces in CBDs are exponentially becoming unaffordable

The living area of Black House featuring a high ceiling coupled with a full glass wall to harness natural light.

“HOUSING prices have been going up at an exponential rate for the past Five to 10 years but salaries have remained the same. The only way the young generation can afford property is if they settle for a small condo or get a smaller lot sized property like a duplex or a townhouse.” Catral added.

The duplex features minimalism coupled with amazing sym-

DESPITE utilizing only 160 square meters of land, Black House was able to maximize space and offer a spacious feel inside through excellent interior design and lighting. Ventura opined, “Lighting design is not about using the latest models in illumination technology. Rather, it’s meant to target the subconscious desires of the end user. For Black House, we

The ULI YLG with the Developers of Black House

ATTENDEES of the Black House Property Tour

wanted to make the homeowner feel comfortable and relaxed once they arrive from a long day’s work.

This usually happens at dusk or at night, therefore lighting plays an integral role in making someone ‘feel at home.’”

Crystal Ventura talks about lighting design

“WE also chose warm lights over cool ones because this visually transitions better from yellowish lamps along the street. Furthermore, the homeowner might already have

AS a background, the ULI YLG is a group of emerging leaders in real estate committed to the responsible use of land, building thriving communities and enhancing the future of the industry. The organization provides a setting for the leaders of tomorrow to learn and collaborate with their peers and senior leaders of the organization. One of our core activities in YLG, apart from The Mentorship Program, Industry Mixers, Lunch and Learns, is organizing property tours. This allows our members to stay on top of the latest trends in real estate and to learn from the visionaries themselves explaining their developments firsthand.

Why ordinary Filipinos consider Bria Homes their dream-come-true

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OR most Filipinos, having a home of their own is a seemingly unattainable dream. For the average worker, especially, the prices of house-and-lot packages are simply beyond their reach. How can ordinary Filipinos aspire for a future abode when the rising costs of living and raising a family leave them with little or no means to save for it?

But now, thanks to Bria Homes, a leading mass-housing developer in the Philippines, moving into a home they can call their own has become achievable.

In fact, Bria Homes has always asserted that the company’s goal is not just to earn but also to provide affordable house-and-lot packages and condominium units for ordinary Filipino families and average Filipino workers. Because of this vision, and because of the modern functionality of its communities, Bria Homes is now the preferred housing brand of many Filipinos.

At P1,897 a month, residential units in Bria communities are not just affordable, they are also stylishly designed, with contemporary architecture giving them a patina of class.

Bria Homes’s units are available at reasonable prices: P480,000 to P1.5 million for house-and-lot packages and P1.5 million to P1.8 million for condominium units.

And because Bria wishes to make owning a home more convenient for Filipinos, the mass-housing-brand offers easy payment schemes, such as Pag-IBIG funding or bank financing.

Bria Homes also guarantees su-

perior-quality construction, with highly skilled engineers and architects ensuring the timely delivery of units that are built to last for a long time.

Bria Homes are sprawled in nature-friendly communities that encourage green living amid an abundance of trees. Residents will appreciate recreational amenities like covered basketball courts and feel secure with perimeter fences

and a guarded entrance.

Finally, Bria Homes’s residents will have easy access to retail and trade destinations and religious, medical, and educational institutions. Its communities are also close to major roads and highways.

Because of Bria Homes’s vision of making sure that ordinary Filipinos have a chance to own homes, the average Filipino can now achieve the dream of residing in a functional, modern and budget-friendly home.

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 masshousing 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.

FEDERAL Land Senior Vice President and Head of Sales & Marketing, John Frederick C. Cabato receives the award from Michael Kempf, awards event venue host

Federal Land wins Philippines Best Brand Award 2019

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RIME real-estate developer Federal Land Inc. received recently the Philippines Brand Leadership Awards 2019 from CMO Asia and World Marketing Congress in Makati City.

The annual Philippines Brand Leadership Awards recognize and celebrate outstanding brands and marketers who achieved extraordinary success from innovative and

effective marketing practices in the Philippines.

The awards event is organized

by World Marketing Congress and supported by CMO Asia, a peer networking body that endeavors to help connect all marketers across sectors on a common platform. The event aims to foster marketing awareness in the professional community and inspire marketing excellence.

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Editor: Tet Andolong

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Cebu Landmasters expands presence in Northern Mindanao DEVELOPER RACES TO HOUSE PHL’S LOW-COST HOUSING BUYER

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EGAWIDE Construction Corp. Chairman Edgar Saavedra recently shared the company’s plans to strengthen its engineering solutions, such as precast technology, aimed at horizontal residential developments for affordable housing.

Speaking at a press briefing, the CEO of the listed engineering and infrastructure developer said one of their main objectives is to help ease the socialized housing backlog in the country, estimated at around 4 million in 2018.

“These opportunities will drive the company’s geographic expansion outside Metro Manila, with Megawide’s advantage being its engineering solutions, such as precast, which will be key in accelerating supply faster than the growth in demand,” he explained.

CASA Mira Towers CDO is an economic development with midmarket amenities giving more value to a homeowner’s investment

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EADING VisMin property developer Cebu Landmasters Inc. (CLI) boosts its presence in underserved Northern Mindanao with the recent launch of two residential projects valued at P1.26 billion that innovatively meet the needs of midand economic-income housing clients.

Casa Mira Towers CDO is a P824-million, two-tower condominium development offering 986 units ranging from 20 sq m studios to 36 sq.m one-bedroom units in a strategic Barangay Kauswagan location and generous amenities.

Projected completion date will be in the fourth quarter of 2022.

The P437-million Velmiro Uptown CDO offers 396 house-andlots in a 14-hectare gated subdivision in the rapidly developing Upper Canitoan area of Uptown Cagayan de Oro with 80 percent open spaces. Velmiro is set for

turnover to clients by the fourth quarter of 2021.

CLI Chairman and CEO Jose Soberano III disclosed that “we focus our projects in VisMin and serve the diverse needs of the region’s property markets. Cagayan de Oro is the second largest economic driver of Mindanao and Cebu Landmasters is rapidly expanding to serve the evolving realestate market needs in the area.”

CLI’s popular housing brand Casa Mira, for example, has sold close to 6,000 units in four Cebu province locations and another

Bullish about construction

VELMIRO Uptown CDO units are designed to maximize space and use natural light and good air circulation

location in Dumaguete City by “offering more to the Filipino family,” according to Soberano. The economic housing project gives clients amenities, such as pool, gym, clubhouse and play area, all of which are more closely associated with higher-end residential products.

Velmiro, likewise, exceeds client expectations with its strategic and rapidly developing location in CDO near schools, hospitals and malls and upscale amenities. It offers units designed to maximize

space, optimize views, and use natural lighting and ventilation.

Cebu Landmasters has mastery of its VisMin markets and was recently named best developer in the country by PropertyGuru Philippines Property Awards. It now has 58 projects in different stages of development, covering residential, office, retail, hotels and a 22-hectare township in Davao City. “We expect to roll out 29 more before the year ends,” declared Soberano, who remains bullish about prospects of the VisMin markets.

Building a legacy of genuine living solutions

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ERHAPS nothing else than a sold-out project affirms a developer’s success in coming up with a truly relevant residential product that genuinely meets the needs of today’s generation of homeseekers.

For independent real-estate fir m GeoEstate Development Corp., it could be said that such a goal has repeatedly been reached with the notable track record of its developments in terms of take-up.

Since the launch of its very first project in 2007—the high-rise, three-tower The Beacon condominium in Makati—the company has enjoyed sales surpassing expectations, leading to sold-out status in less than expected time frame.

“It is a happy problem, of course, so to speak. But more than anything, it is a humbling and gratifying experience for our efforts to be appreciated by the market—by Filipinos wanting to own a piece of our properties,” said Francisco H. Licuanan III, chairman and chief executive of GeoEstate.

Even as it forayed into new realestate territories, such as with its upscale, low-density Sonria condominium in Alabang and gated house-and-lot subdivision Soluna in Bacoor, Cavite, GeoEstate has enjoyed the following of both loyal

clientele and new buyers convinced of the living propositions that the company has crafted.

Interestingly, all these come as no surprise to Licuanan, who had envisioned a tightly run ship from the very beginning. A real-estate veteran of more than four decades, he deliberately formed GeoEstate as an independent player that can make decisions that may not be immensely profitable, but more beneficial for the residents and buyers.

“It is difficult to be attuned to buyers’ needs if you are working in the context of a publicly listed enterprise. You have the bottom line to consider all the time,” he explains. “I’ve always believed that if I was to stake it out on my own in the property sector, I want to have a team and a company that can truly keep to the traditional way of doing real estate—studying the market carefully, listening to people’s needs, and not shortchanging them in terms of quality of design and construction.”

Its latest project, the masterplanned township of Solviento, also in Bacoor, is another case for GeoEstate facing a happy problem.

Barely a year after the unveiling of the first phase of Solviento Villas, the maiden residential component within Solviento, it has al-

DURING the briefing, Megawide officials said the company expects a rebound in the construction business this year.

“We are expecting an upturn in 2019, especially in the construction business with the completion of new projects toward the second half of 2019,” said Louie Ferrer, Megawide’s director and head of transport infrastructure.

“Megawide secured a healthy pipeline of new projects in the first quarter of 2019, amounting to P6.2 billion to sustain a healthy order book of projects moving forward.”

Megawide reported a net income of P1.9 billion on revenues of P16 billion last year.

Construction remained its core business, accounting for 79 percent, while airport operations contributed 19 percent and airport merchandising (two percent).

Sky-high potential

SAAVEDRA stressed Megawide’s determined push to introduce building solutions that

ready been sold out and the next phase has already been launched in response to continuing strong demand.

Homebuyers seeking a traditional residential atmosphere in a suburban setting have been finding the perfect living solution in the house-and -lot offerings of Solviento Villas. Thoughtfully designed to maximize living space and expertly constructed to provide enduring value, Solviento Villas is in many ways setting a new standard for midmarket properties in the burgeoning area south of Metro Manila.

“With the way things are turning

out well with Solviento Villas, the community may be filled with happy residents sooner than we think, and we may have to launch a new phase yet again,” said Licuanan.

“We are glad to know that we are helping shape this area of Cavite into the ‘next best thing’ for value-for-money residential developments—where people can take root, and their dreams for their families and children can truly take flight,” he added.

And by all indications, Filipinos can look forward to the same rewarding experience with the upcoming projects of GeoEstate.

Precast technology

MEGAWIDE claimed that its precast structural system can be used for multiple projects and locations, and provide cost-efficiency for clients due to its transferable production set up. Saavedra noted that the fast installation connection system increases the speed of production.

The technology is currently being used at several low-cost housing development projects, namely, PHirstPark homes in Tanza, Cavite (2,800 units) and Lipa (1,900 units).

PHirstPark homes is a subsidiary of Century Properties.

“We’re custom-building precast units to the exact specifications of our clients in our precast factory in Taytay, Rizal, which has a tightly controlled manufacturing environment,” Saavedra said. “This will be complementary to our use of architectural components, such as façade walls, unit partition walls and stairs among others.”

HOME

Holcim eases customer transactions with online portal

L SOLVIENTO Villas

would help address the affordable housing challenge in the Philippines.

“The potential of the Philippine real-estate sector is sky high—there are opportunities for growth and development all around us,” he declared.

“Along with these opportunities, however, come the very real threats of homelessness and inadequate shelter presented by the country’s low-cost housing shortage,” he said.

According to the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council, the housing backlog was 1,373,981 units as of 2012, which climbed to 1,749,408 units between 2013 and 2015. The agency warned the backlog could skyrocket to 12.5 million housing units by 2030 if the housing problem is not addressed.

EADING cement maker Holcim Philippines Inc. has enhanced its online customer service portal and made this available as a mobile app—part of its innovation thrust to further ease channel partners’ transaction with the company and adapt to an increasingly digital environment.

Called Easybuild, the customer service portal provides channel partners a 24-hour connection with Holcim Philippines and solutions for a hassle-free experience in placing orders, checking delivery status and reviewing account history and credit standing, among others. Easybuild is also meant to lessen the administrative tasks of customers, and smoothen their transactions with the company so they can give more attention to improving and growing their business.

Close to 700 of Holcim Philippines’s channel partners are already using Easybuild, which was launched last year. It is the latest version of Holcim Philippines’s online customer service portal, which it pioneered in the cement industry in 2001.

Easybuild sends an SMS and e-mail to users once the order is confirmed and allows customers to

track orders—removing the need for constant follow-ups. The portal provides customers an option to have orders delivered at their preferred sites. Holcim Philippines has initially partnered with leading financial institution Metrobank for an online payment facility.

Holcim Philippines Senior Vice President for Sales William Sumalinog said the improvements to Easybuild are important in keeping up with the growing digital habits of customers.

“The advances in digital technology allow our company to continuously refine and develop new tools that enhance our service to customers. Easybuild further demonstrates to customers our commitment to improving our offerings through innovations that respond to their needs,” added Sumalinog. Aside from easing transactions, Easybuild also provides information on the company’s commercial offerings to help channel partners guide their own customers in using Holcim products.

Customers may check their accounts at https://easybuild.holcim. com. Easybuild is available as an app on Andriod, with iOS version to come out in August.

Entrepreneur

E4 Wednesday, July 31, 2019 • Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug

BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

DTI bares participation of 70+ PHL MSMEs in 2019 China-Asean expo A

A hotel called Watergate in Butuan rises sans any raging political scandal

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By Elijah Felice E. Rosales

@alyasjah

HE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is eyeing to fly over 70 micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to China for the only international trade show dedicated to promote regional economic relations between Beijing and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).

In a news statement issued on Tuesday, the DTI’s Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (Citem) announced it is organizing a delegation that will present trade, investment and tourism opportunities in the Philippines. According to Citem Executive Director Pauline Suaco-Juan, this delegation will represent the country in the 16th China-Asean Expo (Caexpo) in China.

“We are forming a Philippine delegation composed of exporting companies and representatives from the public and private sectors at Caexpo to promote the best of the Philippines and streamline efforts to strengthen the country’s economic ties with China, Asean nations and other

partner regions,” Suaco-Juan said.

Last year the Philippines was represented by 70 firms and trade officials.

They were able to secure $22 million in the Caexpo, of which most of the sales are on coconut products, buri bags and tropical fruit snacks, such as vacuum freeze dried durian, mango and banana chips.

This year Manila is maintaining its 2018 head count, as it targets to bring over 70 MSMEs to penetrate the Chinese and Southeast Asian markets.

“Together with our partners, we are confident that we can emulate last year’s success, as we seek to elevate the Philippines’s position as a source for high-quality products and services, as well as a premier

tourism destination. This is also an opportunity to show our goodwill to our economic partners in China and other Asian neighbors,” Suaco-Juan said.

The Philippine delegation to the 16th Caexpo will be headed by makers of home décors, fashion items, wearables, gifts, handicrafts, personal care and food products.

On top of export opportunities, SuacoJuan added participation in the Caexpo will give the Philippines access to diverse opportunities for trade and investments in China, which are seen to grow under its ambitious Belt and Road Initiative. Joining the MSMEs are officials from the Tourism Promotion Board and the Board of Investments, as they will present to participants cultural tourism and investment priority areas in the country.

Caexpo is one of the largest trade events in China with a 124,000-square-meter exhibition space.

It is the only international trade show in the Asia-Pacific dedicated at promoting the China-Asean Free Trade Area. Last year’s Caexpo drew over 2,700 exhibitors, and 96,000 buyers and participants from all over the world. Total trade between the Philippines and China amounted to $30.83 billion last year, according to records from the Philippine Statistics Authority.

However, a huge chunk of the trade can be owned to Chinese exports to the Philippines, which expanded 26.05 percent to $22.01 billion last year, from $17.46 billion in 2017. Exports also grew, but at a slower pace of 9.98 percent to $8.81 billion, from $8.01 billion.

Together with our partners, we are confident that we can emulate last year’s success, as we seek to elevate the Philippines’s position as a source for high-quality products and services, as well as a premier tourism destination. This is also an opportunity to show our goodwill to our economic partners in China and other Asian neighbors.”—Suaco-Juan

DOST’s OneLab seen boosting product development, global competitiveness

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ILIPINO companies, especially those engaged in food and information-technology (IT) businesses, can avail themselves of one-stop laboratory services to boost product development and achieve quality assurance for their products.

Admer Rey Dablio, Senior Science Research Specialist at the Standards and Testing Division of the Department of Science and TechnologyIndustrial Technology Development Institute (DOST-ITDI), cited the benefits of availing of DOST’s One-stop Laboratory Services for Global Competitiveness (OneLab) system.

“For example, you are an exporter. You want to export your product to the US [United States].

Then the US has technical barriers to trade. It will look for the result of the quality of your product. If it is not tested by an accredited laboratory, it will test [the product] again and then the exporter will shoulder the cost,” he said.

The OneLab is a network of laboratories anchored on an IT platform to provide a

referral system for testing and calibration services at a single touch point. Its services include chemical testing, calibration, clinical testing, radiological testing, physical testing, microbiological testing, biological testing and halal testing.

Dablio noted that member-laboratories of OneLab network are ISO-accredited ones. “The mantra of the ISO is, once tested, accepted everywhere. Let’s say it is tested in our laboratory in Cagayan de Oro, it can be accepted anywhere in the world where we have mutual recognition agreement,” he added.

Dablio advised companies to determine first their requirement before going at nearest DOST’s OneLab network.

To avail of OneLab services, they can visit web.onelab.ph or the laboratory nearest them and fill out the request form.They have to bring sample to the nearest laboratory, and later receive the test results via courier, fax, e-mail or pick up.

BUSINESS name really matters when a budding entrepreneur launches a business, and the owners of Watergate Boutique Hotel in Butuan City had this in mind when they decided to name their business enterprise that connotes an infamous episode in American politics.

John Ngo, general manager of Watergate Boutique Hotel said in a recent e-mail interview with the BusinessMirror that the family decided to name the business enterprise like the five-star hotel in Washington, D.C., because of the strong recall of the name.

“It was a funny thing. Our hotel has a canal at the back. Instead of calling the hotel Canal Suites or Estero Hotel, we decided to name it Watergate,” Ngo quipped.

To recall, the Watergate scandal was an outrageous event in American political history that lasted from 1972 to 1974 after five men robbed the Democratic National Committee (DNC) headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C., on June 17, 1972, which saw former President Richard Nixon attempting to cover up his administration’s involvement. This resulted in a constitutional crisis that from the White House on August 9, 1974.

Ngo said Watergate Hotel has been established both for business and leisure. Aside from being strategically located in the heart of the city, Watergate Hotel introduced affordable rates.

Furthermore, Watergate Hotel has an adjoining lifestyle center where guests can enjoy wellness related activities and can handle from small business meetings to grand wedding celebrations.

Ngo added Watergate Boutique Hotel has a wide network of the leading event coordinators, photographers, and food and beverage service providers in the region to ensure no details are left unattended for the guest’s special occasion.

Realizing the potential of Butuan City, Ngo said his family decided to open the boutique hotel to cater to the market with various needs. “The growth potential of the city created a demand for better accommodation and relocation for mid-market earners and young professionals. This is our target market, which we aim to capture. Besides, more and more conventions are held in the city,” he said.

Ngo said their goal is to create a one-stop shop establishment for their guests when they visit the hotel property. He added the hotel put its best foot forward to combine the lifestyle needs of the guests and create an experience that can create an impact and a strong brand recall. “Thus our motto #theplaceyoudratherbe,” he said.

Since the target market are mostly young professionals, Ngo said Watergate Boutique Hotel maximizes the use of social media where it can promote the experiences of the guests freely without bias or prejudice.

To boost the brand, Ngo said, Watergate Boutique Hotel plans to tap other market segments of growth within the hospitality industry. Moreover, he added, perhaps they can develop a new brand of experience for their guests. “Our aim is to offer something unique that visiting guests in Butuan can enjoy. We enhance our service offering. We will soon launch our convention center.” Rizal Raoul S. Reyes

JB Music and Sports Inc.; The melodious rhythm of entrepreneurship

By Rizal Raoul S. Reyes

likewise calls for reliable musical equipment, and we are committed to making a difference with our sound. Our partnership with JB Music will significantly reinforce Sennheiser brand awareness and recognition toward strengthening our position in the Filipino professional audio solutions segment,” Low said.

Sennheiser is optimistic its new partnership with JB Music will help further grow its market in the country.

@brownindio

Contributor

J

B Music and Sports Inc. has solidified its position in the local music scene as a provider of musical instruments and professional audio equipment and accessories for the last 45 years.

Just recently, the company signed a memorandum of understanding with German brand Sennheiser which will enable Filipino audiophiles to experience quality sound.

The partnership, which was sealed on July 16, 1991, at the JB Music Flagship Store in Mandaluyong, grants JB Music the right to distribute Sennheiser Asia’s products in the Philippines. Through this venture, Sennheiser’s audio technology and systems will be made more accessible to Filipino audiophiles.

“We at Sennheiser always look for business opportunities. The Philippines is one of the strategic markets and since we want to increase our business here, we are on the lookout for a strong partner and a distributor for our Sennheiser products,” said Sennheiser Asia Managing Director Martin Low during the recent media interview.

Low pointed out JB Music stood out in their selection process, and Sennheiser believes JB Music and Sports is passionate with music. “After entering with various meetings, we think JB Music is the perfect fit. That was the start of the partnership,” he said.

“The partnership will be more centered on the relationship with clients. To be always on the top of their game, there will be trainings,

Elevating the Filipino sound experience

PHOTO above shows (left) JB Music and Sports Inc. President Jerico Fernando and Sennheiser Asia Managing Director Martin Low during the signing of Memorandum of Understanding ceremony held at the JB Music flagship store.

seminars and after-sales activities. The target is to educate the people to appreciate the quality musical instruments,” Jerico Fernando, president of JB Music and Sports Inc., said.

Since Sennheiser is known to develop quality products and good price points in every category, it will also reach out to the consumer segment who are music aficiona-

dos. Low said the Filipinos’ natural love for music is a big driver for Sennheiser to put up a big presence in the Philippines.

“The Philippines is a crucially strategic market for us in the region. Known for their love of karaoke and good music, the Filipinos are certainly one of our target customers.

The thriving local entertainment industry

FILIPINOS can now conveniently walk in any of JB Music stores to personally check out high-quality Sennheiser audio equipment and products, including its highly acclaimed Pro Audio Solutions: the XS Wireless Digital, Evolution Wireless G4 and Digital 6000.

Sennheiser’s latest wireless microphone system, the XS Wireless Digital is perfect for stage performances, DSLR setups and musical instrument audio, allowing room for more creativity and higher energy and giving users the ability to move freely. It eliminates the hassle and complexity of wired setups and uses a 2.4 GHz connection to create a wireless peer-to-peer connection, effectively syncing the portable transmitter and receiver. The compact transmitter and receiver can run up to five hours with their nonremovable batteries, which are charged through a USB-C port.

The Evolution Wireless G4, the fourth generation of Sennheiser’s most popular series worldwide, bears the DNA of its predecessors—flexibility, ease of use and reliability. Featuring more bandwidth than the

G3, EWG4’s 300 and 500 series can reach up to 88 MHz. The high bandwidth benefits users, especially those in major cities with its better allowance for RF audio transmission despite telecommunication frequency blocks and heavy RF traffic.

Humble beginnings

JB Music and Sports Inc. has gone a long way since it was established in 1974 in Raon, Quiapo. After 45 years, the small music store has grown, expanding into other areas in the country and branching out into other businesses as it ventured into distributing sporting goods and equipment.

Jerico Fernando told reporters his grandfather started the business when he decided to retire as a trumpet player.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth, or Beth, the mother of Jerico helped his grandfather in her own little way in running the store during her younger years.

When Beth married Jerico’s father, Jose, they decided to open their own store in Cubao.

And the rest is history as JB Music and Sports Inc. has grown some 120 dealers nationwide and 26 retail stores around the country.

“We use our 45 years in the business to promote the brand in the country and provide the Filipino customers the best after-sales experience we can deliver,” Fernando said.

Moreover, Jerico said, his father (an engineer by training) and mother (an accountant) persevered in the business driven by their passion, learned the ins and out of the business and equipped with the values of hard work, frugality and integrity.