Businessmirror June 01, 2019

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Saturday, June 1, 2019 Vol. 14 No. 234

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DUTCH EXPERT: MANAGING MANILA BAY TO COST

$1B A YEAR RESIDENTS relax on Manila Bay seawall in Tondo, Manila. At the background, across the bay, is the port area with some houses. NONIE REYES

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By Jonathan L. Mayuga

ANILA Bay, a region currently populated by around 30 million people from Cavite to Bataan, will require a budget of $1 billion a year for it to be sustainably managed, a Dutch expert working with Filipino counterparts in crafting the Manila Bay Sustainable Development Master Plan said.

A project being spearheaded by the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) in partnership with the Netherlands, the master plan aims to ensure the sustainability of the pollutionchallenged Manila Bay, one of the most important bodies of water in the Philippines.

Now the subject of massive rehabilitation, Manila Bay is covered by a continuing mandamus by the Supreme Court ordering 13 government agencies to clean up, rehabilitate and preserve the bay and maintain its waters to SB level to make them fit for swimming, skin diving, and other forms of contact recreation.

Along Roxas Boulevard in

Manila, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has approved the dredging of garbage and silt from the bay.

Estero cleanup is also being done within the Manila Bay region, following the order of the Department of the Interior and Local Government directing barangay units to conduct cleanup operations in their respective jurisdictions.

Jaan Jap Brinkman, team leader for the Netherlands Study Team for the Manila Bay master plan, said the bay, which is projected to have one of the most populated urban centers in the world, needs to be managed. The BusinessMirror interviewed Brink-

man at the sidelines of a policy forum organized by the National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) at the Philippine International Convention Center on Wednesday.

In the next 30 years, based on conservative population growth estimate, the population in areas around Manila Bay is estimated to reach 50 million, underscoring the need to sustainably manage one of the country’s most economically important urban areas.

In the next three months, Brinkman said the study team from the Philippine and Dutch sides would try to reach out to various stakeholders around Manila Bay to promote the concept of program co-

ownership in developing and implementing its action programs.

The NAST policy forum, where Brinkman was among the resource persons, aimed to discuss the current status of Manila Bay, including the geological, physical, chemical and water quality, biodiversity, fisheries and aquaculture; learn about the development and management plans for the bay, and gather sciencebased recommendations relating to its sustainability.

An attached agency of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), the NAST is mandated

by Executive Order 818, Series of 1982, to serve as an adviser to the President of the Philippines and Continued on A2

Japan’s path to war and Trump’s Huawei ban

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By James Gibney | Bloomberg Opinion

HE strategic rivalry between China and the US has incited an outbreak of historical analogies—Athens versus Sparta, the UK versus Wilhelmine Germany, or the US versus the Soviet Union. But the fracas over the US actions against the telecommunications giant Huawei recalls another antecedent: the pre-World War II US pressure campaign against Japan, culminating in Franklin Roosevelt’s momentous decision in July 1941 to freeze Japan’s assets in the US.

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 52.2570

LOGOS of Apple and Huawei are displayed outside a mobile-phone retail shop in Shenzhen, China’s Guangdong province. AP/KIN CHEUNG

Once again, the US faces an aggrieved Asian power seeking to claim its place in the geopolitical sun, displace the US from Asia, transcend its economic dependency on the West and rewrite international rules to advance its interests.

That Asian power is stoking nationalist fervor and repressing dissent at home. And the US is attempting to use economic leverage to change its behavior while increasing military deployments to shore up alliances and assert its presence.

Of course, the 2010s are not the 1930s. China has not invaded any neighbors, as Japan did to the Chinese. China and the US are much more intertwined economically than were pre-war Japan and

the US. Their joint status as nuclear superpowers immeasurably raises the stakes of armed conflict. And so on. I’m not arguing that sanctions on Huawei—a private company, not a country—will light the fuse for a 21st-century Pearl Harbor, or that Roosevelt intentionally goaded Japan into its day of infamy. Yet the dynamic of the US pushback against China is reminiscent of its earlier effort against imperial Japan, with many of the same pitfalls.

The decision to put Huawei and its affiliates on an entity list requiring US suppliers to obtain licenses to do business with them is an existential threat to a highContinued on A2

n JAPAN 0.4768 n UK 65.8961 n HK 6.6592 n CHINA 7.5720 n SINGAPORE 37.8976 n AUSTRALIA 36.1148 n EU 58.1673 n SAUDI ARABIA 13.9352

Source: BSP (May 31, 2019 )

News

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A2 Saturday, June 1, 2019

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Dutch expert: Managing Manila Bay to cost $1B a year Continued from a1

the Cabinet on policies concerning science and technology in the country.

According to Brinkman, Manila Bay management would entail huge investment that will take into consideration the various factors—such as water distribution, wastewater treatment, sewerage system and solid-waste management disposal.

By a conservative estimate, he said the population in the region in the next 30 years would reach 50 million people from various sectors—all of whom will demand space—with Manila Bay having multiple uses and functions.

“For the 50 million people that will be living around Manila Bay in the next 30 years, for solid-waste management, water and wastewater treatment, we are looking at an initial $1-billion annual budget,” Brinkman said.

This is a far cry from what the Duterte administration has initially allocated—P47 billion for a seven-year rehabilitation program.

Such a huge amount of money, he said, should be considered as a long-term investment to ensure the sustainability of Manila Bay. He said master planners will come up with a zoning plan that will ensure inclusive growth vis à vis the multiple uses and purposes of the Manila Bay area—including ship navigation, seaports operation, fisheries, aquaculture and tourism.

Brinkman, who works for Deltares, an independent institute for applied research in the field of water and subsurface, said the study team is expected to complete the first draft of the master plan by October this year.

“Then we will have another year for reality check if the plan is good,” he said.

According to Brinkman, cli-

mate-change effects like sea-level rise, storm surges, flooding, even earthquake and external factors like economic crisis, will have to be taken into account in crafting the Manila Bay master plan.

The crafting of the master plan has a broad stakeholders’ participation and is being done in consultation with various national government agencies—such as the DENR, Philippine Reclamation Authority, Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) and Laguna Lake Development Authority.

Brinkman, who discussed the salient features of the master plan at the NAST forum, underscored the need to bring in various stakeholders in the crafting of a sustainable management plan, rather than simply coming up with a development plan, considering the many challenges that need to be addressed.

Since the government had already started the rehabilitation,

the master planners, he said, will have to cope with the various activities and support the ongoing action programs in planning how to implement them, including the weekly cleanup, and garbage collection and disposal.

Kevin Gilbert M. Manzano, senior economic development specialist at Neda who gave an overview of the formulation of the master plan, said the target is to come up with a final report in May 2020.

“So far, all our deliverables have been delivered,” he said, citing the Strategic Plan component to come up with an Inception Report including Work and Financial Plan.

By March 2020, the study teams are expected to come up with an Action Plan and Investment Report that will be the basis for the development of the Updated Final Master Plan by May 2020.

By July 2020, the Final Action

Plan and Investment Report will be submitted to the Office of the President.

Manila Bay area covers eight provinces and 178 local government units in three regions of the country, namely: National Capital Region (NCR), Central Luzon and Calabarzon.

Of the eight provinces, four are coastal (Bataan, Bulacan, Cavite and Pampanga); and four are non-coastal (Laguna, Nueva Ecija, Rizal and Tarlac). Its drainage area covers 1,994 km2, or 199,400 hectares. Its coastline measures some 190 kilometers.

On January 27, Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu led the launching of “Battle for Manila Bay,” an ambitious program to rehabilitate Manila Bay and restore the water to its pristine state. The target is to make the water quality in Manila Bay “swimmable” and fit for recreation.

During the NAST forum, Ja-

cob F. Meimban Jr., deputy executive director of the Manila Bay Coordinating Office of the DENR, discussed the environmental management in Manila Bay, while Eligio P. Fortajada, acting manager of the Project Management Office, NCR South of the PPA, discussed the port’s development plan in Manila Bay. Atty. Joseph John M. Literal, assistant general manager for Reclamation and Regulation of the Philippine Reclamation Authority, briefed the participants on the pending land-reclamation project applications in Manila Bay. Academician Cesar L. Villanoy, member of the Mathematics and Physical Sciences Division of the NAST, tackled Physical Oceanography of Manila Bay, while Dr. Gil S. Jacinto, a professor at the Marine Science Institute of the University of the Philippines, Diliman, discussed the Chemical Oceanography of Manila Bay.

Japan’s path to war and Trump’s Huawei ban Continued from a1

profile Chinese firm that relies on US components. It is also an upward ratcheting in the treatment of China as a “whole-of-society threat.” The Donald Trump administration has intensified maritime operations to counter China’s territorial encroachments in the South China Sea, blasted Beijing for its exploitative behavior in advancing its Belt and Road Initiative, imposed tariffs to force it to reverse its unfair trade practices, blocked Chinese investments in the US and increased support for Taiwan.

Trump naturally sees political benefit in firing up his base by

bellowing that “we can’t continue to allow China to rape our country.” But as fair-minded Chinese observers have also pointed out, “US policy has changed because China changed,” with Xi Jinping charting a more aggressive course for his country since taking power in 2012.

The US decision in the summer of 1941 to freeze Japanese assets and impose an effective embargo on the oil that its economy and military needed to survive was likewise a drastic step. Following Japan’s savage invasion of China in July 1937, its threats to US, British and other foreign interests grew, as did its increasing cooperation with Germany

(solidified by the Tripartite Pact three years later). In October 1937, Roosevelt gave a speech likening the outbreak of war to a sickness that had to be stopped: “When an epidemic of physical disease starts to spread, the community…joins in a quarantine of the patient.”

A fitful US response followed.

Reacting to Japan’s bombing of Chinese cities, the State Department counseled aircraft manufacturers in June 1938 not to sell planes to countries that bombed civilian populations—a so-called “moral embargo.” In July 1939, the US notified Japan that it would abrogate their bilateral treaty of commerce. In 1940, the US restricted

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OST US and Japanese policymakers had a remarkably blinkered view of one another and their respective countries. Ironically, one of the few who didn’t was Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto— future planner of the Pearl Harbor attack—whose time in the US (including two years at Harvard) led him to warn against a war that Japan was highly unlikely to win: “Tokyo will be burnt to the ground three times.” the sale of aviation fuel and scrap iron (Japan’s steel industry relied on the US for three-quarters of its scrap imports) and embargoed machine tools that could help Japan’s war effort.

Yet, Roosevelt and Secretary of State Cordell Hull left these restrictions riddled with loopholes.

As the historian Jonathan Utley told me, “Hull’s strategy was not to cripple Japan but to keep it economically dependent on the Western powers and deter it from expanding further south.” (Utley’s Going to War with Japan is an invaluable guide to these years.)

Roosevelt’s administration was focused more on the growing threat posed by Adolf Hitler’s Germany.

And many of the commercial restrictions against Japan were essential to building up the US defense-industrial base in the event of a war in Europe. Japan was still permitted to buy some types of scrap; moreover, US restrictions on aviation gasoline deliberately left it able to buy lower-octane fuel that its planes could use.

As Hull and many US flag officers saw it, the US military wasn’t ready to fight a two-front war. A sudden shutoff of US raw materials might spur a Japanese attack on resource-rich Southeast Asia, something Roosevelt warned his Cabinet about in the fall of 1940.

But Roosevelt’s team was also divided, with hawks such as Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau and Secretary of War Henry Stimson holding that Japan would fold under pressure.

Those differences played out fatefully in Roosevelt’s decision to freeze Japan’s assets the following summer. Via decrypted Japanese signals, the US learned of Japan’s plans to occupy southern Indochina, a jumping-off point to take over British and Dutch possessions that were rich in oil, rubber and other resources. To deter that—as well as any Japanese attack on the Soviet Union in the north—he bolstered the US military presence in the Philippines, bringing back Douglas MacArthur as commander. The British and Dutch likewise put a lock on Japanese assets.

All this potentially cut off Japan’s access to oil, 75 percent of which was imported from the US. (In 1940, the US accounted for more than 60 percent of global oil output.) “Potentially,” however, be-

cause Roosevelt didn’t want a full cutoff. At a Cabinet meeting before the decision was announced, he explained that Japan would still be able to apply for licenses, which the US would approve on a caseby-case basis. As Utley put it in his book, Roosevelt wanted “to bring Japan to its senses, not its knees.”

Then Dean Acheson, who would later rise to secretary of state, got involved. A hardliner in Morgenthau’s camp, Acheson was an assistant secretary in the State Department and heading up the joint Treasury-State committee that controlled foreign funds. His bosses had rebuffed his earlier efforts to draft a strict embargo. But after Roosevelt’s announcement, his committee found reason after reason to deny all Japanese requests for licenses, stiff-arming complaints from other departmental divisions about the dangers of doing so. Why Roosevelt and Hull didn’t then step in is a matter of historical conjecture. But the result was clear: a de facto total embargo on commerce with Japan.

Japan had an oil stockpile of some 18 to 24 months of normal consumption, and far less if it were to fuel more military expansion. Its foreign minister cabled its embassy in Washington that “our Empire must immediately take steps to break asunder this ever-strengthening chain of encirclement which is being woven under the guidance and with the participation of England and the United States, acting like a cunning dragon seemingly asleep.” The momentum within Japan’s government for an invasion of Southeast Asia and accompanying attack on Pearl Harbor accelerated apace.

The idea that Roosevelt tightened the screws on Japan in order to provoke an attack on the US has been dismissed by most historians, according to Robert Dallek, as “reductionist and unconvincing.” With some flexibility on both sides, peace was still possible. But the sanctions as transmogrified

by Acheson put huge pressure on Japanese policymakers, shortening their time horizons and empowering anti-US hardliners. As Utley wrote, “If a confrontation with Japan could have been put off to the spring of 1942 it might have been avoided indefinitely, because by then American military power would have been much greater and

German victory in Europe less certain.” Instead, the sweeping embargo, as a Japanese cable to its Washington embassy in August 1941 noted, gave “antagonists a strong talking point,” which they used to press ahead with their plans.

The US insistence on stiff terms for a resumption of normal trade—resignation from the Tripartite Pact and a military withdrawal from Indochina and China, for starters—didn’t help.

Moreover, most US and Japanese policymakers had a remarkably blinkered view of one another and their respective countries.

Ironically, one of the few who didn’t was Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto—future planner of the Pearl Harbor attack—whose time in the US (including two years at Harvard) led him to warn against a war that Japan was highly unlikely to win: “Tokyo will be burnt to the ground three times.”

In confronting latter-day China, Trump isn’t knowingly playing for such world-shattering stakes.

He would likely be content with a big trade win, however loosely defined, to tout on the campaign trail. His administration may have cited Huawei’s connections to the Chinese government security apparatus as a severe national security threat, but in Trump’s transactional mindset, it’s likely just another bargaining chip in his unending quest to burnish his reputation and political fortunes.

Yet, in a contest for global power and influence, such disputes can take a dangerous turn. Trump’s nationalist rhetoric, zero-sum thinking and willingness to entertain a ban on all Chinese student visas— a toxic reminder of earlier limits on Chinese immigration—empower hardliners on both sides. Xi is calling for a new “Long March.” Moreover, with hardline Trump advisers like John Bolton—like Acheson, a mustachioed, Yale-educated lawyer with a history of going rogue— the possibility of fatal policy misadventure is all too real.

In his memoirs, Acheson justified his tough stand on sanctions by saying that “no rational Japanese could believe that an attack on us could result in anything but disaster for his country.” Yet that attack happened just months later.

As the US and China struggle to find peaceful co-existence, that history is worth remembering.

ExportUnlimited

A4 Saturday, June 1, 2019 • Editor: Efleda P. Campos

BusinessMirror

7 new Filipino chocolate treats debut at Ifex PHL

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ELECTABLE, decadent and delicious.

These are just some of the flavors that describe the country’s chocolates and cacao-based products, which were showcased from May 24 to 26 at the Philippine Cacao Pavilion in Ifex Philippines NXTFOOD Asia at the World Trade Center Metro Manila, Pasay City.

“Buyers and visitors from major target markets abroad were delighted with heavenly treats by makers of cacao—also known as the Food of the Gods—at the Philippine Cacao Pavilion,” said Pauline Suaco-Juan, executive director of the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (Citem), the organizer of the event.

Here are seven of the newest Filipino chocolates spotted at the Philippine Cacao Pavilion:

6‌ 8% Dark Chocolate-Mango

by Auro Chocolates

AURO Chocolates presents a new experience to enjoy Philippine-sourced chocolate and mango with 100 percent of the fruit but without the added sugar. Each piece of this new product is carefully freeze-dried to a crisp, giving everyone the crunch and none of the oil.

pili nuts which are a significant source of essential minerals, proteins and vitamins.

Tangy Granola with Green Mango and Cacao Nibs by Wit’s Sweets and Savouries Wit’s Sweets and Savouries prepared its Tangy Granola by combining mood-boosting cacao nibs with the tangy flavor of green mangoes to give an energizing and palatable flavor in every bite. Aside from tangy, granolas are also available in classic tasty, spicy, zesty and in coffee flavors.

100% Cacao Bar by Chocoliz/ Saret Organic Farmville

A‌ rabica Chocolates by Dulche Chocolates BRINGING the first chocolate brand from Benguet, Dulche Chocolates offers in its Arabica Chocolates two of the best Philippine agri-commodities from the highlands: coffee and cacao.

This bitter-sweet concoction is a perfect treat for coffee lovers.

Dark Chocolate Nibs Cranberries by Chocoloco

CACAO nibs are basically the purest form of chocolate that give you more cacao bean health benefits since it undergoes less processing stages. With its Dark Chocolate Nibs, Chocoloco uses fermented cacao beans which are then perfectly roasted, cracked and coated with premium organic coconut sap sugar.

VISITORS arrive in droves on the opening day of IFEX Philippines on May 24, 2019 at the World Trade Center in Pasay City.

Cacao Tea by Cacao Culture

DIFFERENT from the usual tablea, Cacao Culture offers Cacao Tea that is made of 100-percent cacao husk, or the outer shell of the cacao beans.

The husks are from high-quality cacao beans grown, harvested and processed in Davao City—the “Chocolate Capital of the Philippines.”

Pili Choc by MS3 Choco

ANOTHER energizing offering under the Philippine cacao pavilion is the Pili Choc by MS3 Choco made from premium cacao combined with

THIS new offering by Chocoliz is a sugar-free, guilt-free, dark chocolate-tasting candy bar made with organic cacao grown in Luzon by Saret Organic Farmville. This chocolate bar undergoes minimal processing to retain the natural health benefits of cacao.

Minimally processed cacao helps fight against cancer, cardiovascular and kidney diseases, stress and anxiety. It is good for the brain, heart, blood and skin.

Cacao is one of the Philippines’s “Premium 7” export products and has been produced in the country since the 17th century. The Premium 7 exports include coconut, coffee, banana, pineapple, mango and tuna.

All of the three varieties of cacao beans are present and grown in the country. The majority of cocoa beans produced are mid-value Trinitario beans. Criollo beans, which are mainly from older trees, have lower yield but are still being produced while higher value varieties of Forastero beans are beginning to be planted in some local farms.

Ifex PHL opens to PHL exporters urged to tap Norwegian market Fresh food demand in Thailand seen rising overwhelming buyer response F D

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HE 13th edition of Ifex Philippines NXTFOOD ASIA recorded a successful opening on May 24 at the World Trade Center in Pasay City. Inaugurated by top government officials and diplomats, the event is considered the biggest gathering of delectable and export quality food finds.

Philippine food exporters are now enjoying the encouraging response of local and foreign trade buyers, foodies and consumers as the event continues to attract thousands of visitors.

Beyond efforts to expand food exports, Ifex Philippines NXTFOOD ASIA also aims to pique the interest of local consumers to appreciate the exquisite quality of Filipino offerings on a par with the world’s standards.

The event features the Islands on a Plate special setting that serves mouthwatering dishes prepared by Chef Bea Nitard of Via Mare, who lent her expertise in curating the use of Premium 7 ingredients, such as cacao, coffee, mango, tuna, banana, pineapple and coconuts.

Chef Helmut Holzer, award-winning culinary master and certified European and American Master Chef, graced Ifex Phillippines NXTFOOD Asia as a luminary guest.

ILIPINO exporters are urged to take advantage of the trade deal between the Philippines and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) to tap into Norwegian market.

“We are open for business!” said Norwegian Embassy Manila Second Secretary Stian Arvid Hegland.

He identified several export opportunities to Norway, such as furniture, clothing and footware, fruit and vegetables, including organic, groceries, flowers, chemical products, ceramics and handicrafts, and groceries.

Hegland said importers’ requirements for products entering into Norway are quality, health and safety, traceability and reliability.

He noted that Norway implements Responsible Business Conduct international standards, such as Organisation for Economic Co-operation (OECD) Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, the United Nations (UN) Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, and UN Global Compact. In 2017 Norway’s top imports from the Philippines included electrical machinery other electronics;

clothing and accessories; office and information-technology (IT) equipment; travel accessories, handbags, garments; and vegetables and fruits, he added.

Hegland said Philippine exports to Norway reached $43 million. He added Norway currently has 5.3 million population and has gross domestic product (GDP) of $398 billion in 2017. Apart from Norway, other EFTA member-states in which the Philippines has a free-trade agreement (FTA) include Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland.

Philexport News and Features

Franchise players encouraged to expand in Asean markets

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RANCHISE owners are encouraged to expand in other Southeast Asian countries, as more Filipino brands are getting access to a larger share of the population of the region.

Eric Elnar, Trade Service Officer of the Foreign Trade Service Corps at the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), said they could use the Asean Economic Community (AEC) to penetrate the Asean region.

“We have an Asean free trade agreement so basically, it just says that franchising is one of the sectors that is being promoted in the Asean agreement. So it’s a good idea for franchise owners in the Philippines to look at expanding first in other Asean countries before you expand

elsewhere,” he said.

Elnar pointed out that franchising is considered under distribution services, same with retail and wholesale services, stipulated in the packages of services commitments in Asean Framework Agreement on Services (AFAS).

To expand presence in the Asean region, he said Philippine players need to consider Halal certification.

Elnar cited as examples Muslim-dominated countries --Malaysia and Indonesia, where they should be “conscious” about Halal requirements.

“Part of it is food that Muslims can take so definitely no pork and then no pork derivatives, and then there’s Halal meat so there is a lot of technical stuff

that you have to learn. But basically, if you are targeting a Muslim-dominated country, you have to look for Halal if your product is mainly food,” he advised.

Elnar said they have to also intensify marketing strategies, know the industry, market readiness and market size.

“If you are already planning to enter one country, make sure to register in terms of your brand first, make sure that there is no other brand that are registered, that are similar, or the same as yours in that country,” he added.

Asean groups Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

PhilExport News and Features

EMAND for fresh food is expected to increase in Thailand, as more consumers become health conscious.

The Euromonitor Digest, the online publication of the Export Marketing Bureau of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), also noted the rise of food service operators serving less processed and more natural food options.

“As Thailand develops, consumers’ lives are becoming increasingly fast-paced, and they have little time to cook. At the same time, consumers now perceive health as a lifestyle choice, and are willing to pay for foods that offer better nutrition and fewer preservatives,” it said.

The report said fresh food is perceived as superior to packaged food, as it is lower in preservatives and fully natural. The broader availability of organic fresh food through modern grocery retailers and online channels has made it easier for consumers to consider organic options, it noted.

“Consumers are demanding convenience, affordability and nutrition, with less regard for product prices. Price is no longer the main deciding factor in the purchasing decision. Provenance, quality and nutritional benefits are accorded higher weight compared with price,” it added.

The Euromonitor Digest further said it is likely that consumers will gradually look for more convenient food products with extra health benefits. “Fresh food manufacturers are likely to respond with value-added products which speed up the food preparation process in exchange for higher price points,” it said.

The report further said consumers are choosing to eat out at organic restaurants or order healthy food delivery to justify their lack of cooking with the aim of achieving a healthy work-life balance amid busy lifestyles.

“In this regard, more restaurants and food delivery services are meeting consumer demands by providing healthier, organic, low calorie or superfood-rich options. Hence, there is expected to be a greater need for fresh food for foodservice,” it added. Philexport News and Features

Sports BusinessMirror

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

Saturday, June 1, 2019

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TORONTO’S Kawhi Leonard escapes Golden State’s Stephen Curry and Andre Iguodala in a first-half action in Game One of their Finals series. AP

Either way, Golden State’s offense was not at its usual high-octane level on Thursday night in Game One of the National Basketball Association Finals—and for the first time in a long time, the Warriors are facing a 1-0 deficit in a playoff series.

ALL’S well that ends well for No. 1 Naomi Osaka. AP

TIGER WOODS off to a slow start. AP

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Saturday, June 1, 2019 | Editor: Mike Besa

By Mike Besa

CAME to golf late in life at the ripe old age of 36. I wasn’t a junior golfer, groomed by my parents to be the next big thing in the game. I spent my childhood playing every sport that my parents would allow. It didn’t much matter what it was as long as I was outdoors running, sweating and having a good time.

I loved soccer, baseball and like most Filipino kids, basketball was a huge part of my childhood. Golf was always there or thereabouts. My grandfather was a great golfer, the degree of his passion was unknown to me until much later in life. I spent summers at his house in Silay City in Negros Occidental doing what kids do. In the evenings, we’d sit by the television; he’d let me watch cartoons and other kiddie shows but at the appointed hour, he’d ask me to get up and change the channel (no remote control in those days) so he could watch Shell’s Wonderful World of Golf.

It was my introduction to the golf greats; Hogan, Snead, Palmer, Nicklaus, Player and many others. We saw a few Filipinos, too. I remember Ben Arda in a match with Frank Beard; I think it was the final match of the series. This was in the late ’60s.

The next day, my brother and I would play on the back porch, often wearing our grandfather’s dirty golf shoes, walking around in the steel spikes, trying not to fall flat on our faces. We tracked mud all over the floor and often got a scolding for our efforts, but those memories will stay with me forever.

The first time I picked up a golf club was at the birthday party of an elementary-school classmate. His dad was an avid golfer and arranged to have the party at the old driving range across from the Manila Domestic Airport. We all took turns hitting balls and had a great time. But I didn’t touch a club again for almost thirty years.

As I got older, I started a love affair with racket sports. I played tennis and squash competitively but if a racket or paddle and ball were involved, I was usually first in line to give it a try. The hand-eye coordination I developed was to stand me in good stead.

I developed a lot of fitness playing competitive squash and after a pretty severe ankle injury, I hung up my rackets and dove headfirst into endurance sports. I always loved to run. It was a chore for others but never for me. I loved it.

I later branched out into cycling after I made enough money to afford a proper road bike. I was insatiable. I found like-minded neighbors in the village and we went on many adventures that covered hundreds of kilometers a week.

But nothing lasts forever and that ankle injury I suffered playing squash came back to bite me. I was out on a training run and felt a sharp pain in my right ankle. I tried to alter my stride to mitigate the pain in the hopes that I

could run my way through it, but the pain just got worse. I hobbled home and sought out a doctor.

The news was crushing. After reviewing my x-rays, the doctor informed me that I had developed osteoarthritis in my ankle. It’s a degenerative condition and although the painkillers he prescribed allowed me to walk without pain, it was apparent that my active athletic career had come to an end.

Sports had been my refuge and I was crushed to have to give it up. Playing sports was the time when I was truly happy and at ease with myself. I slipped into depression.

After gathering my wits, I sought out new activities in which I could immerse myself. It would have to be something that challenged and stimulated me and would allow me to pursue it, despite my disability. That’s when I turned to golf.

Ironically, I remember telling a friend that had asked me to golf years earlier that I would pursue the game when I could no longer run or jump. I should have chosen my words more carefully.

It didn’t matter. The moment that little white ball jumped off the clubface and arced into the air down the driving range, I was hooked.

I was hooked so bad; it was almost comical. In all my life, I had never picked up a sport that was this difficult and counterintuitive to learn. But that was exactly what I needed. If golf were easy, I probably would have given it up at some point. It was far from easy. It was so incredibly difficult and frustrating, but the successes were infinitely satisfying.

It was perfect. Putting in long hours at the range was easy. I loved the work. It was a period of self-discovery. I was a child again.

Arnold Palmer once said, “Golf is deceptively simple and endlessly complicated; it satisfies the soul and frustrates the intellect.

It is, at the same time, rewarding and maddening—and it is without a doubt the greatest game mankind has ever invented.”

No one has ever summed up the game so succinctly.

Twenty-five years on and I am even more enamored with the game than I ever was. I have gotten so much more out of the game than I ever imagined possible that first time I picked up a golf club. Golf has returned my love. It’s taught me self-control, patience and reinforced the lessons of honesty and integrity that my parents drilled into me as a child.

Golf has introduced me to great people of like mind, and enabled me to travel and experience the game in all its wonderful forms. You can golf almost anywhere with a little imagination—from your mom’s yard with a stick and a rock to the swankiest golf clubs on the planet, it’s golf and the game connects us all.

Golf not only gave me solace; it defines me much in the way that a child does a couple. I eagerly anticipate the days on the range and

WHY GOLF?

on the golf course. The buzz we feel when we walk off the golf course is electric, contagious.

I live for the game; I live for golf.

Golf gives so much that it makes you want to give back. So, I endeavor to spread the gospel of golf; to help more people make their way in this, the greatest game ever played.

To offer a way in, to hold their hands and lift them up when they stumble along their way.

To celebrate their successes and commiserate with the failures. In golf, so much is like life.

This is what the game does. It fills you with passion and gratitude to the point that you absolutely need to share it with others.

Golf is the last sport that you ever need. It’s the one that you can play almost from cradle to grave.

It is the greatest game ever played.

‘The Art of Putting’ I

By David MacKenzie

’VE called this article “The Art of Putting,” because if you want to get better at it, it’s important that you think about it as more of an art and less of a technical science.

Good putting is performed with the senses. You need to see and feel everything, and learn to trust your instincts.

The more intense your focus is on your imagined line and speed, the better the stroke you will make.

SWITCHING ON THE ‘ATHLETIC MIND’

THE ball being stationary in golf can be both good and bad. It’s good in the sense that you get time to consider the situation in front of you and figure out the best shot.

But it’s (potentially) bad in the sense that it can open up a window of time for you to think before and during your putt. Athletic motion is proven to be optimal when the mind is quiet—you’re not thinking—you’re simply reacting to the target.

Putting requires feel and touch. In order for you to make the right length and speed of stroke, and to square the face to your intended start line (once you’ve set up and aligned correctly) requires you to have your “athletic mind” switched on and your “thinking brain” switch off.

The athletic mind doesn’t do technical instruction or thinking about what the consequence will be if you make or miss a putt—instead it uses the senses and your imagination to be instinctive. The best putters are both artists and athletes. They can engage the right side of the brain (the visual and creative side) and turn off thinking, allowing the stroke to happen without conscious thought.

Unlike poor putters, they don’t overthink the putt (line/ pace and consequence of making/missing), have doubt or guide the stroke. If the athletic mind is engaged over the ball, the movement centers of your brain will have all the information about that putt to make a positive stroke.

HOW TO PRACTICE THE ART OF PUTTING VISUALIZATION BEING able to “see” the line of the putt before you start

your stroke is important sensory information which your subconscious mind will use to perform the action. Try to imagine how fast or slow the ball will be rolling down the line and where on the hole it will enter. Will it be dying into the hole and going in on one side, or going more into the center of the cup with pace? There is more than one line into the hole!

FEEL

CAN you imagine what a putt will feel like without moving your putter? Try to do this. Fortunately, we get to use our rehearsal strokes to give us an idea of how the putt will feel. With each rehearsal stroke, imagine how the ball will feel coming off the putter face, and then try to hold onto that sensation when you are over the ball. Again, this is information about the putt that your subconscious will use to make the right length of backstroke. Try closing your eyes while putting (in practice), so you are forced to anticipate and improve your sense of feel for different lengths of putt.

TEMPO

YOUR tempo (the relative time of your backswing to through swing before you hit the ball) is an important factor in putting and something that should be practiced.

Why does tempo matter in putting? The best putters have the same tempo whether it’s a 5 feet or 50 feet putt. This means the putting stroke will have a consistent rate of acceleration into the ball and deceleration afterwards (the ball gets in the way of the stroke and slows the putter down). Train your tempo using a metronome or music, or apps such as Tour Tempo and experiment with using it in your pre-putt routine.

TEEING off at the Manila Southwoods Legends Course

What are the most important things for you to focus on before and during a putt?

Experiment to find your most effective putting “feels” and hold yourself accountable to them on the golf course. Your routine is what maximizes your chances of making a putt on the course. If you can do all your “process goals” during your routine, you will have made your best effort whatever the outcome.

In summary, it’s important that you work on your imagination and the sensory aspects of putting and include this in your routine for every putt. Overtime, this will lead to better putting, more confidence and lower scores. n David MacKenzie is a mental coach

for Golf and the founder of Golf State of Mind. While studying at the University of Saint Andrews in Scotland, David began in-depth research into Sports Psychology and how elite performers apply their minds to practice and play. He turned this research into his Ultimate Mental Game Training System for Golf which has been used by over 100,000 golfers worldwide. David currently works individually with all levels of golfer, from Junior and College golfers to Tour winners.

PERFORMANCE TRAINING FOR PUTTING

A PART of your practice should be dedicated to pressurized “performance drills,” where you simulate the golf course and practice your pre-putt routine. If you’re in need of drills, I’ve got over 50 performance drills in my Golf State of Mind Putting System.

PUTTING is the game within the game.

www.pinoygolfer.com | Saturday, June 1, 2019

THE author hits the ceremonial tee shot at the recent Mercedes Trophy.

MIURA GOLF

The unicorn of golf clubs I

N the realm of golf clubs, particularly with irons, there is one name above all others. That name is Miura. Miura irons have always been a unicorn in golf. They are renown for their beauty, ease of use and unmistakable feel. They are also quite rare and famously (or infamously) expensive, which adds to their mystique. Everyone speaks reverently of them, but few know the brand’s real story and the level of commitment that it takes to produce a golf club of this quality.

Miura’s history is deeply rooted in this tradition of excellence, creating a unique ancestry in the manufacturing of steel golf clubs. Katsuhiro Miura began making golf clubs in 1957 when he began working with Morita Golf. It was here that he learned the art of making golf clubs; how they were forged, ground and adjusted to fit the golfer.

In 1960, Miura-san joined Kojima Iron Works Ltd. where he learned the science and technique of processing metals. From there he joined Kyoei Golf Industry Ltd. in 1970. Here, he learned about the forging technique and its impact on an iron’s feel and performance. For the next seven years, Miura-san dedicates himself to refining his craft, which fuels his passion to create the best forged irons in the industry.

In February of 1977, Miura-san establishes Miura Giken. Although it is seen as a bold move, Miura-san manages to create strong relationships with other Japanese manufacturers—including Kyoei Golf where Miura Giken establishes its satellite location. By subcontracting for other equipment companies, the factory cements a reputation for quality and reliability, which remains intact to this day.

Miura produced the first Miura-stamped golf club appropriately named the Craftsman’s Spirit.

Although Miura Giken produced this club in small numbers, the company’s main business was still producing large quantities of equipment on behalf of other companies. This means there was little time to work on producing irons under the Miura brand.

In 1990, Miura-san discovered he could not manipulate the grain structure of the club head by using the current techniques. Believing the manufacturing process was fundamentally flawed, he approached the forging company with a modified plan, but his ideas were rejected.

It was at that point that Miura-san decided that in order to improve the manufacturing process, Miura Giken needed to take complete control. This would mean reinventing how club heads are made,

including designing proprietary machinery. Miurasan’s pursuit for perfection had begun.

He established the company’s forging division in January of 1991. Word of this quickly made the rounds of the industry and top equipment companies start reaching out to Miura-san. He made the decision to produce one model for each OEM company, which includes producing clubs for professionals under contract with these companies.

In May of 1997, the factory moved to its current location in Himeji, Japan. By having the forging and finishing process under one roof, Miura-san is able to oversee all aspects of production. This allows Miurasan to increase OEM production while continuing to expand the Miura Giken lineup.

In 2002, many manufacturers moved production of their golf clubs out of Japan in an attempt to lower their costs. OEM production declined and subsequently stopped altogether in 2003, although the custom work they farmed out to Miura Giken continued. While this might be a disaster for some companies, Miura-san saw this as an opportunity for the family to focus on the Miura brand.

In 2004, Miura-san worked tirelessly to build Miura into a global brand. Although Miura Giken was very well known in Japan, the rest of the world was unaware of Miura and their marvelous golf clubs. He traveled the world for the next six years, speaking to dealers and promoting the Miura brand tirelessly.

Miura-san retired as the president of Miura Giken and transitioned into his current role as the company’s chairman. The company continues to grow under the stewardship of his sons, Shinei and Yoshitaka, but Miura-san is far from leaving the business altogether. He still occupies the last chair of the grinding process; his are the last hands to handle the iron heads before they make their way to production. Those hands were christened, “the hands of God.” What is it, really, that makes Miura irons so special? In these days of forged “players game improvement irons,” ball speed has become king. Feel and control seem to have taken a back seat in a golfer’s priorities of what they want to see in their irons. In this age, Miura irons seem

U.S. COLLEGE GOLF CAMP RETURNS TO THE PHILIPPINES

U

.S. COLLEGE Sports Camp (USCC) returns to the Philippines this summer with two great events lined up for local junior golfers.

The USCC Philippines 2019 Summer US College Golf Camp will be the follow-up event to the very successful US College Golf Camp held in November 2018, a groundbreaking event in Philippine junior golf where US college coaches ran golf camps in the country for the first time. They will also hold their very first local junior golf event, the 2019 USCC Philippines Summer Junior Challenge.

The Camp will be held at the Orchard Golf and Country Club on June 1 and 2, and the tournament will have the Southlinks Golf Club as host on May 29, and the Orchard Golf and Country Club on May 30 and 31, for the tournament.

The camp will give the participants a college training day experience in a small group setting directly under the US coaches. Each camper will receive in-depth expert instruction on full swing, short game, course management, tournament preparation, mental game, fitness and instruction. They will also be given an overview on NCAA recruitment and the transition from junior golf to college.

The tournament on the other hand is open for all camp participants and will have Boys and Girls Age Divisions in 18 Under, 14 Under and 12 Under. The tournament will be a World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), Junior Golf

Scoreboard (JGS) ranking and Global Junior Golf Ranking (GJGS) event.

The tournament will also serve as a qualifier for the Boys and Girls 15-18 years old to the 40th North and South Junior Golf Championships in Pinehurst, North Carolina, in July this year.

The camp will be handled by US NCAA Division I coaches, Richard Church, the golf director for Men’s and Women’s Golf at Southern Utah University, and Lisa Strom, the Women’s head coach at Texas State University.

Church has been with Southern Utah for more than 22 years while Strom is in her third year at the helm at Texas State. Prior to that, she spent almost six years at her alma matter, Ohio State University, as an assistant after being a professional for 10 years. She played in the LPGA in 2003 and from 2007-2010. A third coach still to be named will also join the team during the camp.

George Duangmanee, founder and president of USCC, said, “We want to open opportunities for Philippine junior golfers to further shine in the international stage and to introduce them to US college coaches and recruiters. There’s a lot of talent here who can play college golf in the US. They just need to be properly seen and introduced to the right people.”

All interested parties may register with the Secretariat at infoi@uscollegeshowcaseasia.com. Inquiries and registration may also be messaged and texted to +639178983568 and +639613588816 or to the US College Sports Camp Philippines FB page (@uscollegecampPHL). The field will be limited to forty (40) participants. The event fee for both the camp and the tournament is P4,000.

The event is made possible by US College Sports Camp Thailand in cooperation with Golf Globally, Llc. JLM Hotel and Food Management Inc. (Jollibee-Lopez, Quezon) and venue benefactors, The Orchard Golf and Country Club the Southlinks Golf Club.

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A7

MIURA irons are the stuff of legend.

MIURA-SAN at the grinding wheel

KATSUHIRO MIURA

like dinosaurs. Beyond the proprietary forging techniques, there is no new tech here. So, what warrants the reverence that the company enjoys?

Let’s examine their forging process.

The flaw that Miura-san found in the forged iron manufacturing process was that given the one-piece forging process that all other companies use was that forging the clubhead and hosel in one piece tended to leave voids in the grain structure. Miura’s solution was twofold; instead of striking the head twice in the forging process, Miura strikes their heads three times to make sure there are no voids in the clubhead’s grain structure.

FELICIA MEDALLA

Second, Miura postulated that forging the clubhead and hosel in one piece bent the grain structure upwards towards the shaft, which could cause the voids that he so fastidiously sought to eliminate. To avoid this eventuality, Miura forges their irons in two pieces; the head is forged as described above and the hosel is manufactured separately, then joined to the clubhead by a process called spin forging.

Spin forging takes the CNC-milled hosel and joins it to the clubhead by spinning the hosel at speed while under heat.

The process attaches the hosel and clubhead without affecting either’s grain structure. The iron heads are then hand ground and polished to the most exacting tolerances. No head passes quality control without passing Miura-san’s inscrutable hands and eyes. The scorelines and other markings are all pressed into the clubhead to maintain the integrity of the club’s grain structure.

The result are the tightest tolerances in the industry. Each clubhead is the correct weight so that when the club is assembled, hardly

any effort is put into matching the individual irons’ swing weights. The density of the grain structure provides an incredibly dense, butter-soft feel at impact. This consistency carries over into the clubs’ performance. You might lose some ball speed because of the lack of distance-enhancing technologies, but you gain consistency of trajectory and distance control, something all good ball strikers crave.

It is this feel, consistency and control that have elevated the reputation of Miura irons to that of legend. They are quite simply the best irons in the world. Mike Besa

Medalla parlays golf into a degree in kinesiology

F

ORMER junior golfer Felicia Medalla completed her journey as a student-athlete by graduating from California State University-Fullerton with a degree in kinesiology with a concentration in sports studies. She also brought home top academic honors as she graduated magna cum laude. She was a consistent dean’s lister, Women’s Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) Academic AllAmerican and a top player for the Titans’ Women’s Golf team.

Congratulations Felicia and to the proud parents, Oscar and Lally!

A8 Saturday, June 1, 2019 • Editor: Efleda P. Campos

OurTime BusinessMirror

Angara bares legislative plans for senior citizens, PWDs

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Cash gift sought for 90, 95-year-old senior citizens

I

LOILO CITY—The elderly in this city need not wait to reach the centennial age to avail themselves of cash incentives once the proposed ordinance, granting benefits and

EELECTED Sen. Sonny Angara on Wednesday vowed to push for vital measures that would improve the lives of members of vulnerable sectors, such as senior citizens and persons with disabilities (PWDs).

In a statement, Angara said he will prioritize bills seeking to double the pension for the elderly, create a national commission for seniors, increase the wages for teachers and provide better opportunities for PWDs. Angara also proposed a new “Made in the Philippines” campaign that aims to enhance the country’s services and manufacturing sectors, thus creating more job opportunities for Filipinos.

Angara thanked his supporters for allowing him to serve another term as senator, and offered his victory to his late father, former Senate President Edgardo Angara.

“The victory is as much the result of the long hours and hard

work we and our supporters poured into the campaign, as it is an affirmation that the Filipino people want to continue the present momentum for reform toward building a government that actively cares for every member of the Filipino family,” he said.

“With my return to the Senate, I will continue my father’s legacy and push for reforms on education, health, social benefits and employment for every Filipino,” Angara said.

He also expressed gratitude to President Duterte and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio for their endorsement.

Angara ranked sixth in the senatorial race with 18,161,862 votes, based on the final and official results from the Commission on Elections. PNA

www.businessmirror.com.ph

THE MAESTRO AND THE FIRST MUSIC ALUMNA Maestro Ryan Cayabyab, the National Artist for Music, meets up with the first

alumna of the UP Conservatory of Music, Madam Minervina Lola Ambin Singson, during the onset of the first Candon Music Festival. Cayabyab expressed pride and surprise that Singson, 99, the beloved mother of Rep. Eric Singson, was able to compose music only in her latter years. Her music should be enshrined in the city museum, Cayabyab said, adding he wished that when he reaches her age, he can still be that sharp to play the piano. In a once-in-a-lifetime experience, Cayabyab and Lola Ambin played music and sang together at the latter’s home at Candon City. MAU VICTA

privileges to residents celebrating their 90th and 95th birthdays, is approved.

The Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP), in its regular session on Tuesday, approved on first reading the proposed ordinance that will grant 90-year-olds with P5,000 and P10,000 for 95-year-olds.

The money will be given just one time once the elderly will turn 90 or 95.

“Living for almost a century is very challenging in this modern time. Maintaining a healthy and active lifestyle has become a great endeavor,” said proponent Councilor Lyndon Acap in pushing for the ordinance.

He said that while centenarians are entitled to avail themselves of P100,000 from the national government and another P10,000 as provided for in the city ordinance, benefits seemed to be “useless.”

“That benefit supposedly is for them to enjoy. So how can they enjoy if they are already bed-ridden and some could not even recognize the money,” he said in a follow-up interview.

He added that giving them the said amount is a way for them to avail themselves of the cash incentives without waiting to become centenarians.

He recalled that the late councilor Armand Parcon passed an ordinance two years ago, increasing the P10,000 incentive to centenarians to P50,000, but it was vetoed because it might affect the delivery of other services.

Acap said the city is progressing, and senior citizens need support.

Once the ordinance is passed, the qualified senior citizen has to submit the same requirements as the process for the national incentive.

Added to those, they have to be residents of this city for at least five years.

As of 2018, Iloilo City had 59,293 registered senior citizens.

The proposed ordinance is now with the committees on appropriations and the elderly for appropriate action. PNA

BusinessMirror

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

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Saturday, June 1, 2019 A9

This isn’t just water

BLACKBERRY KEY2 Lite

PRIMETIME

DINNA CHAN VASQUEZ @dinnachanvasquez luckydinna@gmail.com

M

Black is back

BY RIZAL RAOUL S. REYES Contributor AFTER a long hiatus in the local market, BlackBerry is back in the Philippines.

Rudolph Santos, country head Philippines TCL Communication Ltd., told the media that BlackBerry’s “rebirth” will be focused on the high-end market, mainly the movers and shakers of business. “It is really going to be a device for the few,” Santos said.

Since it’s a new kid on the block, Santos said they would tap the wealth of experience of the parent company TCL gained from its TV manufacturing business. For its reentry in the Philippines, Santos said they will introduce new BlackBerry new models—the Key2 and Key2 LE. Santos said the two variants are Android-powered system that boasts of innovative new features and an unparalleled level of privacy.

He added the Key2 and Key2 LE have an iconic design, featuring a diamond pattern, nonslip textured back, a 4.5-inch impact-resistant Gorilla Glass display, durable aluminum alloy frame.

Santos said BlackBerry increased the size of the physical keyboard by 20 percent to ensure more comfortable typing with an all-new speed key with 52 custom shortcuts. Instead of just launching the clock, a user can go straight to timer; instead of just opening a text messaging app, a user can go directly to composing a text message.

He said BlackBerry also brought back the popular QWERTY keyboard that has become popular among the users of earlier BlackBerry models because it brings tactility and accuracy, not to mention that there’s just something uniquely satisfying when a user’s fingertips glide over and hit those keys. It’s so unlike a virtual keyboard on glass, which is prone to typographical errors; Santos said a lot of smartphone users experience difficulties in typing without looking on the virtual keyboard.

To ensure a user can take pictures, Santos said BlackBerry’s dual rear camera delivers more control and better image quality with its 12MP photo experience.

Santos said BlackBerry continues to give premium on security and enhanced privacy. He said BlackBerry’s locker is a private app that a user can access only through his or her fingerprint or password. The locker can also block screenshots and screen recordering. Putting your sensitive documents and apps like your banking app in the locker gives them an added layer of security.

Within locker is Firefox Focus for private browsing that blocks unwanted ads and automatically deletes your browsing history when the user exits. A quick three-finger swipe on the screen gives an individual the privacy shade, a “peep-hole” feature that a user can use to read sensitive documents in public without worrying that his or her neighbors may see. A user can even use his or her thumbprint to snap and save photos directly to locker where all his or her other secret stuff is.

OST people will say, “It’s just water.”

Maybe that is true but Evian is the most trusted name in bottled water. If you are in a foreign country and you don’t know the local brands, you’d go for the brand you are familiar with, like Evian.

Also, Evian uses polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles, which are the most recyclable bottles worldwide.

Evian is also known for their limited-edition bottles in collaboration with designers. Since 2007, Evian has been known to pioneer fashion collaborations. Diane von Fürstenberg produced the limited-edition bottle for 2013. Elie Saab designed the one for 2014. The brand has also worked with Christian Lacroix, Kenzo and Alexander Wang. Evian is also working with Virgil Abloh for a new series of limited-edition Soma refillable glass water bottles, but that’s another story for another time.

This year, Evian is pleased to welcome for the first time a young French painter, Inès Longevial, to design its iconic annual limited edition.

Art has always been intimately linked to fashion as a major inspiration. This is why this year, Evian has decided to celebrate this unique relationship by inviting the young and talented Longevial to create the new masterpieces for the collection. Based in Paris, the 28-year-old Longevial has already made herself widely known by hosting exhibitions in Paris, Berlin, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Longevial’s paintings, simultaneously tender and strong, and inspired by such masters as Pablo Picasso and Pedro Almodovar, concentrate on two principal themes: femininity and nature. She has brought new meaning and relevance to traditional painting with her distinctive expression of the world.

For the design of the Evian Limited Edition, Longevial took inspiration from the 15-year long journey of Evian through the French Alps.

“The ink stroke symbolizes the journey of the natural mineral water through the rocks of the French Alps, while the flowers represent the blossoming nature on the surface—a source of pleasure,” said

THE limited-edition designed bottles capture Inès Longevial’s expression of Evian Natural Mineral Water’s 15-year long journey through the French Alps

Longevial of the collaboration that celebrates creativity and aesthetics, and tells the story of Evian.

As part of the iconic annual limited edition this year, six key influencers across Asia Pacific were also invited to be part of the local campaign, to be inspired

by Inès’s artistic celebration of femininity and nature, as well as to inspire a theme of their own. The influencers included Issa Pressman (@pressmanissa) for the Philippines, Rosalyn Lee (@heyrozz) for Singapore, Amber Yo (@amberyosuper) for Taiwan, Binko Bhapfah (@bbinko) for Thailand, and Marianne Tan (@mariannetpy) and Afa Lee (@afa_leeishere) for Hong Kong.

The Evian x Inès Longevial Limited Edition bottles are available in two versions—glass bottles (750 ml), which was launched earlier this year, and the Prestige

PET bottles.

Get the a chance to win the grand prize of a threeday, two-night staycation for two at Conrad Manila worth P50,000 with every purchase of the Inès Longevial Limited Edition bottle.

To participate, all you have to do is: ■ STEP 1: Purchase two Evian x Inès Longevial bottles from any participating retail outlet.

■ STEP 2: Snap a creative photo of two Evian x Inès Longevial bottles.

■ STEP 3: Upload and tag #evianxInesLongevial #evianPH. Remember to set your account to “Public” for your entry to be counted. The contest is exclusive to the Philippines and its permanent residents only. More information is available at www.facebook.com/evian. ■

GCash powers passion at YouTube Fanfest Manila 2019 WHETHER it’s livestreaming a once-in-a-lifetime occasion, purchasing your next dinner, bingewatching your favorite TV show, or donating to a worthy cause, you need something to power your passion.

GCash, the Philippines’s leading mobile wallet, understands this. On a rainy Sunday afternoon, GCash fired up thousands of its young, upbeat users as it copresented with Globe the much-anticipated YouTube Fanfest Manila 2019.

The biggest YouTube stars in the Philippines gathered at the Mall of Asia Arena on May 26 for a day of fun and free-flowing entertainment.

Their fans braved the summer downpour for a chance to get selfie-close and truly personal with the collection of local talents, many of whom have reached rock star status that would be the envy of, well, rock stars!

Pinoy online loveteam JaMill’s performance at the festival reached more than 1 million views in less than 24 hours and became the No. 1 trending video on YouTube in the Philippines, to the delight of the couple, JayZam Manabat and Camille Trinidad.

In a Big Brother-inspired skit, beauty bloggers Lou Sanchez, Mae Layug and Helen on Fleek took time off from posting budget-friendly makeup tips and style recommendations to prove that one could be glamorous and LOL-level funny at the same time.

Not to be outdone, vloggers Benedict Cua, Kyo Quijano, Luigi Pacheco and Rozel Basilio displayed their acting and comedic chops in a classroom skit that left everyone in stitches.

No festival will be complete without a bevy of musical talents that included Lesha Litonjua, the first Pinoy to win in the YouTube original series for Best Cover Ever and had the chance to collaborate with

Joe Jonas; songbird Janine Teñoso, who serenaded everyone with her popular covers; New Zealandbased social-media sensation Kimpoy Feliciano, who charmed the crowd with a viral-worthy performance; and Internet vocal powerhouse Sam Mangubat, who proved once more why his videos regularly garner millions of views.

GCash was in on the fun by giving away P1,000 worth of GCash vouchers. All the participants had to do was take a creative selfie with its lovable mascot GCat, post the photo with the event hashtag #YTFFPH, and tag the official GCash account on Instagram.

Outside the main performance area, hundreds visited the GCash booth to take part in the festival’s

exclusive contests. Those who downloaded the GCash app on their mobile devices had a chance to play for exciting prizes.

With YouTube Fanfest Manila 2019, GCash recognizes how YouTube Creators and the people who support them are making the online space a legitimate stage for dreamers, whether in the field of entertainment, beauty, comedy or fashion.

Technology has made both fame and financial inclusion possible for ordinary Filipinos. As these young rock stars make the Internet a better place by creating and sharing original ideas, GCash is literally at their fingertips to power their passions and upgrade their lifestyles.

BusinessMirror

A10 Saturday, June 1, 2019

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GABY DALKIN shopping for oranges at Santa Monica Downtown Farmers Market in Santa Monica, California.

Dalkin, the chef behind the popular web site and socialmedia accounts “What’s Gaby Cooking,” is forging her own path. AP

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Is Siri sexist?

UN cautions against biased voice assistants NEW YORK—Are the female voices behind Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa amplifying gender bias around the world?

The United Nations thinks so.

A report released on Wednesday by the UN’s culture and science organization raises concerns about what it describes as the “hardwired subservience” built into default female-voiced assistants operated by Apple, Amazon, Google and Microsoft.

The report is called “I’d Blush If I Could.”

It’s a reference to an answer Apple’s Siri gives after hearing sexist insults from users. It says it’s a problem that millions of people are getting accustomed to commanding femalevoiced assistants that are “servile, obedient and unfailingly polite,” even when confronted with harassment from humans.

The agency recommends tech companies stop making digital assistants female by default and program them to discourage gender-based insults and abusive language. AP

Who needs a TV cooking show when you can host one online?

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BY ALICIA RANCILIO The Associated Press

EW YORK—Almost every Monday night, Gaby Dalkin hosts a live cooking demo from her home in southern California on her Instagram account, What’s Gaby Cooking.

The show is under an hour and Dalkin’s husband, Thomas Dawson, records it and reads out questions and comments from viewers.

Dalkin, who went to culinary school and has worked as a private chef, will offer tips for deboning salmon, cleaning mushrooms, and joke about her polka dot sweatsuit that Thomas says resembles pajamas. It’s all very casual and doable, which Dalkin said is the point.

“It’s like you’re cooking alongside your best friend in the kitchen,” said Dalkin in a recent interview. “I don’t want to spend five hours cooking a meal and I know everyone else doesn’t. Let’s show people how to make something simple and delicious and go about

our lives.” It turns out there is an audience who make tuning in a ritual.

“We have people in India where it’s their morning when they’re watching,” said Dalkin.

She recently got a message from a viewer’s husband who said every Monday night he falls asleep listening to her voice because his wife is watching as they go to bed. He wanted to not like her, but now he’s a fan. She also encourages her followers to make the recipes throughout the week and tag her on Instagram, which as Dalkin notes is free marketing and publicity.

Thomas may be heard and not seen in the cooking demos, but he’s earned his own devotees. There’s an Instagram account, What’s Thomas Eating, where he’s often poking fun at his wife. He sometimes posts his own videos when he’s home alone and cooking her recipes.

“He started What’s Thomas Eating as a total joke and I think sometimes he’s more influential than I am,” laughed Dalkin.

Dalkin says she’s not looking for a traditional

cooking show because she feels like she’s already doing that online.

“Back in the day, all I wanted was to be the Next Food Network Star. I applied three years in a row and got denied three years in a row. Yes, we would do some sort of TV series, but I would need it to be a lot more animated and fun and maybe even lifestyle and travel-related.”

Dawson is in the process of transitioning from his day job in advertising to work with Gaby full-time.

The goal is to ramp up their content and produce more videos for her web site, YouTube and Instagram accounts. Dalkin also has two cookbooks, Absolutely Avocados (fans know she seriously loves avocados,) and What’s Gaby Cooking: Everyday California Food. She’s now working on a third.

“I haven’t taken a day off in the last probably five years,” confesses Dalkin. “Sometimes I’ll have a full meltdown because I can’t think of any recipes and Thomas is good about being like, ‘Let’s go for a walk and remove ourselves from the kitchen and where we normally work.’” ■

MediaTek accelerates design of smart connected devices MEDIATEK announced recently a rich Internet of Things (IoT) program to bring a series of artificial intelligence-enabled chipset platforms to companies that want to innovate and develop products across the intelligent devices market.

The platform, based on open and industry standard software and hardware, is founded on MediaTek’s commercially proven chipsets that today power most voice, smart speaker, display-centric and AI-infused devices available globally.

Under the new program, MediaTek is unveiling new chipsets that include powerful edge AI technology for voice, display, object recognition and other features needed for today’s smart IoT devices. In addition, the company has aligned with independent design houses in China, Europe and the United States, including BayLibre and StreamUnlimited.

The design houses support the chipsets with industry standard software and offer the needed hardware, software and technical support for companies designing AI devices with MediaTek’s

AI IoT platforms.

“We are bringing AI to mainstream IoT products to make it easier for diverse industries to access MediaTek chipsets and technologies through a valueadd partner network,” said MediaTek Corporate Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Intelligent Devices Business Group Jerry Yu. “The Internet of Things has entered its next phase. AI features are being integrated into nearly every type of consumer device imaginable. That means connected devices now require a processor to support AI applications, rather than a more limited microcontroller unit that has been historically used. MediaTek’s rich IoT program lets companies of all sizes bring devices to market with advanced AI, multimedia and connectivity features,” said Yu. The AI IoT market is poised for growth as connected devices need to do more processing at the edge and are being integrated into new product lines. According to Market and Research, an industry research group, IoT will represent 83 percent of the

entire AI chipset market by 2023. And globally, AI in the embedded IoT devices market will approach $26 billion by 2023.

The chipsets in MediaTek’s new program have a variety of standard-based support through the design houses, including an evaluation kit that will be offered to companies through Seeed Studios. Features supported on the platform through the design houses include: 4.19 Linux Kernel; Yocto 2.6; Android Pie 9.0; OP-TEE (compatible with GlobalPlatform API specification); Amazon Voice Service with audio frontend algorithms (wake-word engine, far-field); and connectivity such as Wi-Fi 5 and 4G. MediaTek’s AI and rich IoT chipsets are highly integrated, boast ultra-low power consumption to maximize battery life, and deliver superior computing power (including CPU, GPU and AI Processing Units) to support next-generation AI devices. The chipsets have ARM’s TrustZone security built-in and come with long-term support—up to seven years—for operating system updates and security patches.

LITE VERSION OF BOOKING APP LAUNCHED ONE of the fastest-growing chain of leased and franchised hotels, and homes and living spaces in the region, OYO Hotels & Homes (www.oyorooms.com) recently announced the global launch of OYO Lite, a lighter version of the consumer app. The new Lite app has been designed to work in low-connectivity areas or low networks to enhance the user experience. With a size of less than 800 KB, OYO Lite app consumes less space while offering an optimized user interaction time and a seamless experience no matter how connected the user is. With this launch, the company reiterates its commitment to providing quality living spaces to travelers.

OYO offers quality and affordable accommodations at the tap of a button with technology by its side. This launch further reinforces the fact that technology is deeply embedded in OYO’s DNA and plays a key role in solving all areas of guest experience.

Anil Goel says, OYO Hotels & Homes chief technology officer, “At OYO, we are committed to creating multiple touchpoints with guests for a seamless, convenient and comfortable experience by leveraging our technology prowess. The Lite app is a step forward in that direction and will enable travelers to make last-minute travel plans without worrying about network and availability of quality accommodations at the tap of a button. With security, quality, location and price being key considerations for a majority of travelers in the budget- to midscale segment, OYO aims to help create a perfect space in every place by solving for each of the said considerations through a combination of technology and on-ground interventions. OYO Lite has also been designed as a solution to key problems users face— connectivity and space/storage constraints on phones.

We feel this product would be ideal for travelers who are remotely connected to the Internet, as well as those with basic smartphones.”

At less than 800 KB, it is less than 7 percent of the size of the current OYO app.

OYO Lite is currently live and available to consumers across the globe on Android.

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Saturday, June 1, 2019 A11

First real QLED 8K TV from Samsung unveiled

Facebook: Fake account removal doubles in 6 months to 3 billion S

BY BARBARA ORTUTAY The Associated Press

AN FRANCISCO—Facebook removed more than 3 billion fake accounts from October to March, twice as many as the previous six months, the company said on Thursday.

Nearly all of them were caught before they had a chance to become “active” users of the social network.

In a new report, Facebook said it saw a “steep increase” in the creation of abusive, fake accounts.

While most of these fake accounts were blocked “within minutes” of their creation, the use of computers to generate millions of accounts at a time meant not only that Facebook caught more of the fake accounts, but that more of them slipped through.

As a result, the company estimates that 5 percent of its 2.4 billion monthly active users are fake accounts, or about 119 million. This is up from an estimated 3 percent to 4 percent in the previous six-month report.

The increase shows the challenges Facebook faces in removing accounts created by computers to spread spam, fake news and other objectionable material.

Even as Facebook’s detection tools get better, so do the efforts by the creators of these fake accounts.

The new numbers come as the company grapples with challenge after challenge, ranging from fake news to Facebook’s role in elections interference, hate speech and incitement to violence in the US, Myanmar, India and elsewhere.

Facebook also said on Thursday that it removed 7.3 million posts, photos and other material because it violated its rules against hate speech. That’s up from 5.4 million in the prior six months.

The company said it found more than 65 percent of hate speech on its own, before people reported it, during the first three months of 2019.

That’s an improvement from 52 percent in the

third quarter of 2018.

Facebook is under growing pressure to combat hate on its platform, as material continues to slip through even with recent bans of popular extremist figures such as Alex Jones and Louis Farrakhan.

Facebook employs thousands of people to review posts, photos, comments and videos for violations.

Some things are also detected without humans, using artificial intelligence (AI).

Both humans and AI make mistakes and Facebook has been accused of political bias, as well as hamfisted removals of posts discussing—rather than promoting—racism.

A thorny issue for Facebook is its lack of procedures for authenticating the identities of those setting up accounts. Only in instances where a user has been booted off the service and won an appeal to be reinstated does it ask to see ID documents.

While some have argued for stricter authentication on social-media services, the issue is thorny. People including UN free expression rapporteur David Kaye say it’s important to allow pseudonymous speech online for human-rights activists and others whose lives could otherwise be endangered.

Dipayan Ghosh, a former Facebook employee and White House tech policy adviser who is currently a Harvard fellow, said absent greater transparency from Facebook there is no way of knowing whether its improved automated detection is doing a better job of containing the disinformation problem.

“We lack public transparency into the scale of disinformation operations on Facebook in the first place,” he said.

And even if just 5 million accounts escaped through the cracks, Ghosh added, how much hate speech and disinformation are they spreading through bots “that subvert the democratic process by injecting chaos into our political discourse?”

“The only way to address this problem in the long term is for government to intervene and compel transparency into these platform operations and privacy for the end consumer,” he said.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has called for government regulation to decide what should be considered harmful content and on other issues. But at least in the US, government regulation of speech could run into First Amendment hurdles.

And what regulation might look like—and whether the companies, lawmakers, privacy and free speech advocates and others will agree on what it should look like—is not clear.

Of the 3.4 billion accounts removed in the sixmonth period, 1.2 billion came during the fourth quarter of 2018 and 2.2 billion during the first quarter of this year.

More than 99 percent of these were disabled before someone reported them to the company. In the AprilSeptember period last year, Facebook blocked 1.5 billion accounts.

Facebook attributed the spike in the removed accounts to “automated attacks by bad actors who attempt to create large volumes of accounts at one time.” The company declined to say where these attacks originated, only that they were from different parts of the world.

Starting with this report, Facebook is disclosing how it deals with the sale of “regulated goods”— that is, drugs and firearms. Facebook prohibits the purchase, sale or gifting of firearms, as well as drugs including marijuana, which is legal in some states and countries. The company said it “took action” on 1.5 million cases involving drugs and 1.4 million involving firearms. This generally means removing the material from Facebook but can also involve suspending users or adding warning screens to videos showing objectionable content. ■

SAMSUNG, on its 13th consecutive year of producing the world’s No.1 TV, has introduced its QLED 8K TV in the Philippines. The QLED 8K TV gives consumers a brand-new, never-before-seen experience of premium quality television screens. The product’s Philippine launch started with an exclusive event at The Fifth ballroom in Rockwell last April.

The QLED 8K TV features a new Quantum Processor 8K, which can produce images in greater detail and depth, in 7,680 x 4,320 resolution. Available in super large sizes of 75-, 82-, and 98-inch screens, with over 33 million pixels, the QLED 8K TV provides an experience that is fully immersive and pristine, as films and TV shows are meant to be seen.

“Over the past years, what we watch, when we watch, and how we watch has fundamentally changed,” said Lauro Guevara, head of product marketing for Samsung TV and Audio. “Today, more consumers are looking to enjoy their favorite content on larger and smarter screens, with minimal image noise, for a viewing experience that is almost true-to-life.”

The QLED 8K TV boasts of a remarkable artificial intelligence Upscaling technology, which automatically converts lower-resolution content into 8K quality. Enabled by the processor, AI Upscaling analyzes the quality and resolution of any image— whether it is in 4K, Full HD, HD, or even SD, or watched through a streaming service, HDMI, USB, or even mobile mirroring—and upscales the content to appear in 8K quality.

Aside from optimizing noise reduction, the AI Upscaling function restores the integrity of the smallest of details in a scene to provide greater texture, and sharpens edges of objects and texts for greater clarity. This feature, along with the highest levels of contrast with the Direct Full Array Technology, and dramatically enhanced, deeper blacks and brighter whites, make the QLED 8K Samsung’s best TV to date.

Bixby on TV, a highlight of the 2019 QLED lineup, is a clever feature that enables viewers to easily access films and shows through voice command, which helps search for content based on previous viewing preferences. The launch event also marked the entry of Samsung’s 2019 full TV lineup, featuring the new QLED 4K TVs that also have AI Upscaling capabilities.

A wider selection of 2019 Soundbars, which includes new models Samsung has developed with audio masters Harman Kardon, were also featured.

Samsung Philippines President James Jung, in his opening speech, remarked on the historical relevance of the brand’s groundbreaking TV innovations. “This year is the 50th anniversary of the moment that mankind took his first step on the moon and changed history forever. This year is also Samsung Electronics’ 50th anniversary of meaningful innovations. These milestones provide important context as we introduce a product that we believe will forever change the future of TVs,” he said of the QLE.

Pelosi slams Facebook for not removing altered video SAN FRANCISCO—House Speaker Nancy Pelosi slammed Facebook on Wednesday for not removing a doctored video that has spread widely on the social network in which she appears to slur her words.

The altered video had been slowed down, giving the false appearance that Pelosi was drunk, ill or otherwise impaired. Facebook did not respond to messages seeking comment.

In an interview last week with CNN’s Anderson Cooper, Facebook’s Head of Product Policy and

Counterterrorism Monika Bickert defended the company’s decision, noting that users are being told that the video is false when they view or share it.

Pelosi said in San Francisco that she is no longer giving Facebook the benefit of doubt that it is “unwittingly” spreading false information. She said Facebook is serving an accomplice and enabler of false information and Russian elections interference.

Facebook does not prohibit false information from being shared on its service. Instead, the company says it “downranks” such material to make

it less prominent in people’s news feeds and more difficult to find.

It also employs outside fact-checkers, including The Associated Press, to determine the veracity of questionable material. It includes such fact-checks around the disputed articles and videos but does not directly label them as false.

Tech industry trade group NetChoice, whose members include Facebook, called Pelosi’s comments “hyperbole” that makes it hard to identify the “real bad actors.” AP

SPEAKER of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi

/

A TOAST TO A NEW ERA OF INNOVATION

Samsung continues to push the boundaries of picture quality and technology in television as it recently launched its QLED 8K TV in the country.

Photo shows (from left) Samsung Philippines Product Marketing Head for TV and Audio Lauro Guevara, Business Director for TV and Audio Brian Yim, President James Jung, Vice President for Consumer Electronics Brian Filart Jr., Chief Marketing Officer Patrick Tolentino, and Product Manager for Flagship TV Mahir Al-Rubah.

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

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Galaxy A50 is Samsung’s best midranger in years TECHNIVORE ED UY

whereiseduy@gmail.com

I

T’S been almost four years since I last held a Samsung smartphone even for review purposes. Sure, their Galaxy S and Note flagships were great—but they had to be, considering their ever-increasing price tag. But as far as their midrange devices, most were utterly incompetent, overpriced and way behind in features compared to similarly priced phones being offered by the likes of Oppo, Vivo, Xiaomi and Huawei.

That ends with the revamped Galaxy A series starting with the A50. It’s been getting a lot of good press since it launched in April and I must agree: Samsung finally has a midrange phone that is not just easy to recommend, but something I’d want to use.

According to Samsung, the A50 was built for the era of live, for a generation that grew up in a post-digital era surrounded by smartphones and heightened social-media presence. The Galaxy A50 offers improvements to essential device features such as an immersive viewing experience, longer lasting battery and a camera that captures the world as one sees it.

Does it live up to that promise?

Let’s start with the design and build quality. The first thing you’ll notice when you pick up the A50 is its sleek and lean physique. It feels nice to hold and if you are so over the gradient color trend, you’ll absolutely love the A50’s finish.

It has a reflective coating that scatters light through the “glasstic” rear panel, but instead of changing colors you get a rainbow-like sheen that makes for some beautiful hues depending on the lighting. It’s still a fingerprint and scuff magnet so you better use a case to avoid those smudges.

Unfortunately, the unit that was sent to us didn’t have a box so I’m not sure if Samsung included a case.

Overall, the A50 looks nice, the build quality is solid, and it feels light in hand and pocket.

One of the main features of the Samsung Galaxy A50 is its triple camera. In terms of specifications, it has a 25MP main camera with f/1.7 aperture, a 5MP depth sensor for Live Focus, and an 8MP Ultra-Wide lens. The selfie camera also has a 25MP shooter with f/2.0 aperture.

In real-world use, the Galaxy A50 is capable of taking really good pictures under daylight and well-lit conditions, which is no surprise. Photos are detailed and the colors look natural. You can further improve your shots by using HDR mode to improve contrast and saturation. As for selfies, the 25MP camera is also just as good and there’s not much aggressive beautification happening unlike with other phones.

Sadly, however, like other phones at this price range, you cannot expect much when it comes to low light shots, as there is considerable noise and lack of detail.

Triple cameras have somewhat become a standard for

smartphones, and now equipping them with a wide angle lens is becoming one of this year’s biggest trends. The A50’s 8MP Ultra-Wide lens does a good job using its 123-degree fieldof-view. Now you can capture those landscapes/ cityscapes in an entire frame without having to move so far back, but be wary of the barrel effect if you do plan on using wide angle to take group shots (best to stay at the center). Video quality is likewise respectable but you are limited to only 1080p video, which I think for social-media purposes is enough.

Where the A50 stands out is in its display. Samsung has always had the best displays and the A50 proves that Super AMOLED is Love. The Galaxy A50 has a 6.4-inch Full HD+ Super AMOLED with Infinity-U display. Yes, the company finally adopted the notch but instead of calling it waterdrop or dewdrop, they’re going for Infinity-something and you can’t hide it, as well. The display is awesome for consuming content with its big screen, vibrant colors and deep blacks.

Switch to dark mode to see what I mean.

For audio, there’s a fairly decent speaker on the bottom which you’d want to keep at 80 percent max. Good thing it still has a headphone jack because it makes the audio experience so much better.

The Galaxy A50 can easily get you through your daily tasks smoothly with its Exynos 9610 octa-core processor that clocks in at 2.3GHz. This is paired with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of expandable storage. I love the new One UI (which now has less bloatware) and switching apps, and doing multiple tasks is fairly smooth. The same goes for gaming as the A50 can handle most of your favorite games like Asphalt, Mobile Legends, NBA2K19 at high settings with pretty good framerates.

Powering the A50 is a 4000mAh battery which can easily last you an entire day of normal use and if you do need to plug it in, the A50 supports 15W fast-charging and completely tops up in about an hour and 45 minutes.

Where the A50 fails is in its in-display fingerprint scanner.

It’s just frustratingly slow. As in you have to place your enrolled print on the device for more than a second — and it still can’t recognize it sometimes. It may still be fixed by future updates, but it just ruins an almost perfect product. They should’ve just opted for the traditional fingerprint sensor on the back.

Final word: Good job, Sammy! Competition in the midrange segment has been fierce but Samsung is not waving the white flag to the Chinese brands that have been dominating this market. It’s been years but it seems Samsung has finally learned its lesson. The A50’s got a great build, nice crisp display, long-lasting battery, and a camera that gets the job done. While there are several phones from the Galaxy A series (with just a couple of thousand pesos price difference), the A50 is right in the middle of the group with a price tag of P17,990 — which makes it a good choice and a good buy.

FUJIFILM X-T30: THE LITTLE GIANT

TRUE to its moniker, the Little Giant¸ the Fujifilm X-T30 is a light and chic powerhouse camera that produces superior image quality delivered with the company’s proprietary color reproduction technology at a more accessible price than ever before.

Equipped with amazing features such as a 425 point phase-detection AF system with approximately 100 percent Frame Coverage, Color Chrome effect and Sports Viewfinder, the Fujifilm X-T30 is the perfect companion for creative

including the “ETERNA” motion picture simulator. Lastly, 4K/30P videos can be recorded at 4:20 8bit to an SD card.

F-log recording and 4:2:2 10bit via the HDMI capabilities means the camera can record video suitable for more serious videographers.

The best part of it all is that this little juggernaut weighs only 333g (excluding accessories, battery and memory card), making the Fujifilm X-T30 an exemplary and light partner in all your adventures.

Available in three sleek colors, namely, Black, Silver and Charcoal Silver, the Fujifilm X-T30 inherited the popular exterior design features of its predecessor, the Fujifilm X-T20.

It retails at P52,990.

NEXT GEN IN-FLIGHT ENTERTAINMENT

individuals with a passion for photography and videography.

The epitome of balance between performance and style, this sleek camera takes your visual craft to the next level.

The Fujifilm X-T30 allows you to capture every pictureperfect moment with its supreme AF and continuous shooting performance. It also has powerful video-recording features to step up your output. With its more advanced 4K/30P video functionality, it has the ability to record high-resolution audio without requiring additional equipment, and eye tracking functionality during video recording. To add to this, the Fujifilm X-T30 records in 6K (6240 x 3510 resolution) to produce stunning quality in 4K (3810 x 2160), and it supports the DCI format (17:9), which gives an even more cinematic look to your videos. Its Film Simulation modes can be applied not only when shooting stills but also while recording video,

Acer kicks off back-to-school promo WHETHER it is technology or fashion, millennials are always at the center of things. They know what’s hot and what’s not. Thanks to technology, the youth is always updated on style, trends, current events and anything viral.

To keep up with the generation’s desire to be trendy, technology firm Acer Philippines welcomes the new school year with an irresistible back-toschool promo wherein students get complimentary Adidas vouchers for every purchase of any selected Acer products.

With any Intel Core i3- or AMD Ryzen 3-powered Aspire laptops and desktops comes a P3,000 worth of complimentary Adidas vouchers.

This Acer line scores some major points with its hardware combination of a powerful Ryzen 3 2200U APU, a fast SSD and 8 GB of dual-channel RAM. Meanwhile, buyers of Acer’s everyday productivity lines with a huge boost in performance, Intel Core i5/ i7- or AMD Ryzen 5/7-powered Aspire laptops and desktops, and Aspire AIO and Nitro laptops will get P5,000 worth of Adidas vouchers.

ROYAL Air, one of the Philippines’s fast-growing airlines, announced the launch of its new in-flight entertainment system, called Sapphire. In partnership with Global JD Capital Pte. Ltd., the Sapphire In-Flight Entertainment Platform brings connectivity, entertainment, financial freedom and comfort while flying Royal Air. The very powerful BYOD IFE System (Bring Your Own Device In-Flight Entertainment System) provides passengers with thousands of hours of premium content from favorite movies, music, games and news that are streamed directly to passengers’ personal devices. The in-flight entertainment system allows travelers to pair their devices and stream digital content while in the sky. Passengers also can chat or ask for assistance using the Sapphire Cube chatbox, enjoy financial services, purchase insurance while in-flight, book a hotel and tour package, enjoy duty-free shopping at the comfort of your seat.

“We always explore innovative ways to render added value to our passengers. The Sapphire IFE System manifests Royal Air’s sincerity in continuously enhancing the experience of our customers,” said Ed Novillas, CEO of Royal Air Philippines.

Royal Air opened a hub in Cebu on May 20. With the opening of its five new routes, the airline now allows passengers to fly direct from Cebu to Manila, Davao, Puerto Princesa, Caticlan and Cagayan de Oro. Cebu, the newest addition to Royal Air’s strategically placed hubs, carries an important role in Royal Air’s growth. With the Department of Tourism reporting a whopping 8,099,346 million tourist arrivals in 2018, Central Visayas is expected to be one of the leading tourism destinations in the country.

To date, Royal Air serves over seven routes across the Philippines out of three major hubs: Manila, Cebu and Clark (Pampanga). ■

ACER Spin 5

FROM left: Microsoft’s Verlyn Perez, Sports Central AVP for Operations Jan Bangayan, SM Megamall’s Bunny Javier, Acer Philippines Managing Director Manuel Wong, Acer Philippines Marketing Director Sue Ong-Lim

Finally, Aspire desktops, the effective multitaskers that let you free your creativity with the demanding school tasks like video and photo editing, come with a P7,000 worth of Adidas vouchers.

“Acer is happy to offer the best of its products, including the Aspire and Nitro laptops, for this promotion. These top-of-the-line gadgets are every

student’s perfect companions for the coming school year’s study sessions,” said Sue Ong-Lim, Acer Philippines sales and marketing director.

Vouchers can only be used on Adidas shoes and/ or bags. The promotion is ongoing until July 15, but redemption is within 60 days after the start of the issuance date.

ACER Swift 3

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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. ANA C. DIONE, CPA REGIONAL DIRECTOR