BusinessMirror June 24, 2019

PORK IMPORTS BAN ON 4 ASF ‘HIGH-RISK’ COUNTRIES SEEN TO SPARK TRADE ROW

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas @jearcalas

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EAT importers, traders and end users have warned that the suspension of pork imports from four European nations could aggravate the concerns of the European Union (EU) on the Philippines’s animal disease regulations, which may in turn lead to possible trade frictions.

The suspension of import permits for pork products from the Netherlands, Germany, France and Austria by the Department

A MAN at a meat stall takes a peek at a slice of roasted pork belly, a popular fare among Filipinos, in this photo taken on June 22, 2019. The Department of Agriculture has taken strict measures to keep the Philippines’s status as free from African swine fever (ASF), saying an outbreak could wreak great damage on the P200-billion local hog industry. BERNARD TESTA

DEPT. OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

PHILIPPINE STATISTICS AUTHORITY

2018 BANTOG DATA MEDIA AWARDS CHAMPION

of Agriculture (DA) could put at risk the trade preference being extended by the EU to local products, according to an industr y source.

The DA has been called out by various quarters for what is seen as its overly strict preventive measures against African swine fever, after it extended its ban on imports not just to ASF-hit countries but to those it tagged “high-risk,” meaning, they have no outbreaks but share borders with countries that have reported outbreaks.

The DA has suspended for three

GSP+ in the balance

“IT will put at risk our GSP+ if the DA’s decision to suspend imports continue. We have to remember we do not operate in a vacuum. We cannot allow the shooting from the hip just because we fear ASF,” a highly knowledgeable industry source told the BusinessMirror.

See “Pork,” A2

BusinessMirror A broader look at today’s business

www.businessmirror.com.ph

n Monday, June 24, 2019 Vol. 14 No. 257

‘NCR ban could dent ecozone investments’

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By Elijah Felice E. Rosales

@alyasjah

EVELOPERS over the weekend warned that investment inflows to economic zones could further decline in the face of President Duterte’s moratorium on economic zone development in Metro Manila.

Philippine Ecozones Association President Francisco S. Zaldarriaga said the President’s order will prevent business-process outsourcing expansions, as BPO operations are mostly located in the capital. This could further slow down the devel-

opment of the information-technology industry, where companies are mostly registered with the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza).

“It may have nominal effects on the BPOs, specifically the Pogo [Philippine offshore gaming op-

erations],” Zaldarriaga told the BusinessMirror.

Industry sources indicated, however, that while the immediate impact may not be deep or extensive, the blow could be felt in the medium and long term as most of the BPOs

are headquartered and operate in the National Capital Region.

Investments in the IT industry from January to April declined 7.08 percent to P4.63 billion, from P4.98 billion in the same period last year.

This was reflective of the overall slower investment inflows to the Peza that slumped 24.54 percent to P29.49 billion, from P39.08 billion, in the four-month period.

See “Ecozone,” A2

By Bernadette D. Nicolas @BNicolasBM

HE Philippines and Indonesia cheered at the weekend the completion of domestic requirements for the entry into force of a landmark agreement on the delimitation of exclusive economic zone (EEZ) boundary between two countries.

Malacañang said on Sunday this was considered to be the highlight of the bilateral meeting between President Duterte and Indonesian President Joko Widodo.

Duterte and Widodo met on Saturday night on the sidelines of the 34th Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit in Bangkok.

“Both leaders see this development as a clear demonstration of

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n

the strong and tight bond between the Philippines and Indonesia, which incidentally are celebrating their 70th anniversary of formal diplomatic and bilateral relations,” said Presidential Spokesman and Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador S. Panelo in a statement.

Moreover, Panelo said the Palace considers the legal instrument to be a “good precedent” on how to address maritime concerns and settle disputes in accordance with international law, particularly the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos), noting the archipelagic nature of the Philippines which inherently shares common borders with many Asean member-states such as Indonesia.

See “EEZ,” A2

BUSINESS NEWS SOURCE OF THE YEAR

2016 LAND AREA MASTER LIST ADOPTION SPELLS HARD TIMES FOR LGU

By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario

24.54% N The decline in overall investment inflows to the Peza in JanuaryApril 2019, from P39.08 billion in the same four-month period last year, to P29.49 billion

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EWLY elected local officials looking to spend more for various public services and projects during their term may have to consider some belt-tightening measures with the adoption of the 2016 master list of land areas.

Undersecretary Adoracion M. Navarro of the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) Regional Development Office (RDO) said the National Land Use Committee (NLUC) has instructed concerned agencies to adopt the 2016 master list of land areas based on the latest cadastral survey of the Land Management Bureau (LMB).

Based on the 2015 cadastral survey, the land area of the Philippines became significantly smaller than previously estimated. This, Navarro said, will impact not only on the size of the LGUs but also

Landmark pact on EEZ between PHL, Indonesia nearing entry into force

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months the issuance of sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) permits for pork imports coming from the four European countries, which it deemed to be ASF high-risk countries.

on the internal revenue allotment (IRA) they receive from the national government. “[Nung] 2015 natapos yung cadastral survey, 2016 may masterlist [na] and now its 2019, hindi pa din siya officially adopted so kung susundin ko yung recommendation ng NLUC member, kasi yun ang naging agreement nila in the technical working group, kung susundin yung kanilang recommendation na ’yun, baka matagal na naman [The cadastral survey was completed in 2015 and a master list (of land areas) was created in 2016 but this has not yet been officially adopted. If I follow the recommendation of the NLUC member, since this was their agreement in the technical working group, if their recommendation is followed, we may have to wait longer to have a master list of land areas],” Navarro said in an interview with the BusinessM irror.

See “Land area,” A5

EU pushes anew lifting of foreign equity curbs

By Manuel T. Cayon

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PRESIDENT Duterte attends one of the meetings at the Asean summit in Bangkok, joined by two Cabinet secretaries—Ramon Lopez of Trade and Industry (right) and Teodoro L. Locsin Jr. of Foreign Affairs. PNA PHOTO

@awimailbox Mindanao Bureau Chief

AVAO CITY—The ambassador of the Europeran Union batted anew for the removal of the restriction on foreign ownership in order to rev up the economy, and gave assurances that the EU would be generally “happy” to work out strategies to stimulate new and more economic activities for Mindanao.

The European Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines (ECCP) also pitched its recommendation on the government’s economic reforms.

While it lauded the strides in correcting gaps in taxation, investment security and foreign investments, it suggested further cuts in corporate income tax and a moderate approach

US 51.7170 n JAPAN 0.4821 n UK 65.6961 n HK 6.6201 n CHINA 7.5474 n SINGAPORE 38.1422 n AUSTRALIA 35.7985 n EU 58.4040 n SAUDI ARABIA 13.7883

See “EU,” A2

Source: BSP (21 June 2019 )

News

BusinessMirror

A2 Monday, June 24, 2019

www.businessmirror.com.ph

₧160-M fake cigarettes, machines seized

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By Rea Cu

@ReaCuBM

HE Bureau of Customs (BOC) has seized P160 million worth of fake cigarettes, cigarettemaking machines and other smuggled goods inside warehouses in Bulacan, in line with its tightened enforcement operations.

The BOC said in a statement on Sunday that its Enforcement and Security Service (ESS) group investigated the warehouses located

EU. . .

Continued from A1

to contractualization, which foreign and Filipino business groups have made an issue of. Congress recently passed the security of tenure bill proscribing all forms of illegal contractualization, but employer groups said this was too sweeping.

Nabil Francis, incumbent president of the ECCP, the oldest European Chamber outside of Europe with close to 800 members, said the ECCP wanted to be granted certain exemptions from the policy to allow foreign companies to contract some labor for certain limited work.

Ownership restrictions

“ON the EU side, we highlight the 60-40 ownership on foreign direct investment. In order to attract more investments, the economy may have to remove the restriction,” said EU Ambassador Franz Jessen in his speech before the Davao City Investment Conference in Davao on Thursday.

He said European businessmen were particular about having full control of their operations overseas, which include full ownership of their facilities. Countries with this particular offer commonly attract a number of good investments, Jessen said, “and their economies grow very fast because this [policy] is good for the companies and this is also good for the respective host countries.”

“Only look north and see what growth these countries have experienced,” he added.

He said the EU only wishes to see a continued adherence to open market and full access to economic benefits.

Will on reforms

NONETHELESS, he lauded the audacity with which the Duterte administration implemented the series of game-changing economic reforms.

“I just hope and look at the consistency of the implementation of the 10-point agenda of the President in the remaining three years,” Jessen added.

Francis of ECCP said the Philippines has done an “exceptional” feat in pulling out a consistent high growth rate in the last few years.

He said it would be interesting to hear how the Philippines did it.

Tourism, for instance, is one major driver of the growth, but he noted that the sector was experiencing a slowdown in Europe due to several factors, including the lingering effect of Britain’s exit from the EU. Last year, the Philippines grew by 6.2 percent, the second-highest among the 10 member-economies of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. It was second to Vietnam’s 7.1 percent. He said the ECCP wanted some more strides in the economy. “Thirty percent is still a high corporate income tax compared to the other Asean countries.

We are looking at 20 percent in the future.”

“We agree with the points raised by the EU on the issues it raised to further improve the reforms being done,” Francis said. Like the EU, the ECCP has suggested a constitutional amendment to the foreign equities restriction, the bank secrecy law and the build-operate-transfer act.

He said the country should also do more work in the area of traffic and transportation, which eats up an estimated $66 million a year.

Jessen said the EU would like to work out with the Duterte administration strategies to develop the country, but especially in Mindanao.

in Marilao and Santa Maria towns in Bulacan, as it was armed with letters of authority (LOAs) issued by the Office of the Commissioner.

BOC-ESS Director Yogi Filemon L. Ruiz and his team conducted the investigation and examination of the warehouses.

The warehouse in Marilao contained 1,339 master cases of fake Mighty, Fortune, Hope, Belmont, Marlboro, Modern, Double Happiness and Camel cigarettes valued at P40.170 million.

Meanwhile, nine cigarette-making machines and fake cigarette tax stamps worth P120 million were discovered inside the warehouse in Santa Maria town.

“Warrants of Seizure and Detention [WSDs] will be issued against the subject items pursuant to Section 1113 of Republic Act 10863, otherwise known as the Customs

₧120M

The estimated value of nine cigarettemaking machines and fake cigarette tax stamps discovered inside the warehouse in Santa Maria town alone Modernization and Tariff Act in relation to Section 1401, thereof and RA 8293 or the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines,” the BOC said.

In May, the Department of Finance (DOF) and Department of Health (DOH) said they will continue to urge Congress to further raise “sin” taxes on tobacco and

House members agree on Oct budget deadline to give Senate enough time

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

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@joveemarie

EMBERS of the 18th Congress have reached a consensus to pass the 2020 national budget by October to ensure that it will be transmitted to President Duterte before the year ends, a lawmaker said on Sunday.

Leyte Rep.-elect Martin Romualdez said House members will prioritize the deliberations of the 2020 national budget, apparently with an eye to avoiding the fate of the 2019 appropriations, which got snagged in a prolonged standoff between the House and Senate, forcing the government

Pork. . .

Continued from A1

The source, who requested anonymity, also pointed out that the import suspension by the DA on the four EU countries, following verbal orders from Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol, could lead to possible legal and trade disputes.

The source argued that DA’s import suspension was not based on science and relevant international guidelines on animal health and diseases.

And, the source added, trade disputes could happen despite the DA not issuing a formal order suspending pork imports from four “ASF high-risk” European countries.

“The Philippine government cannot really issue a written statement because he has no basis in the first place,” the source said. “And if the DA issues a written order, it just leaves the country open to disputes.”

Exporters’ complaint MEAT Importers and Traders Association President Jesus C. Cham had also noted that the same pork exporters from the EU could complain to their government about the sudden suspension of import permits by the Philippines for their products.

This, Cham explained, could lead to possible government-to-government bilateral discussions over the regulations being imposed selectively by the Philippines on concerned European nations.

“We know that the EU has already made their representations to the Philippines regarding the case of Belgium.

EEZ. . .

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“In line with the independent foreign policy course that PRRD charted for our country—where we are friends to all and enemies to none —we hope that this accord would serve as a benchmark for future agreements with other countries with shared or similar concerns as we continue to deepen cooperation with our strategic allies in the region,” Panelo added.

to live with the reenacted 2018 budget. The latter was seen by economists as the main factor behind the lower than expected growth in the first quarter.

With the House timetable for the 2020 budget, Romualdez said, senators will have more time to scrutinize and deliberate the proposed national budget, providing them with enough time to pass the General Appropriations Bill before the end of year.

“In consultation with my colleagues in the 18th Congress, all of them agreed to work double time to ensure that the House of Representative will approve the General Appropriations Bill be-

fore November,” said Romualdez in a statement.

“Our mission in the House: pass the GAB in October and give the Senate until early December to act on it. Then we can both approve the General Appropriations Act before the Christmas break,” said Romualdez, one of the frontrunners in the speakership race.

Romua ldez sa id an overwhelming number of congressmen elected in the 18th Congress are supportive of President Duterte and his legislative agenda, so “No. 1 on the list of priority bills, of course, is the General Appropriations Bill for year 2020.”

We have been urging the DA to abide with OIE [World Organisation for Animal Health] guidelines,” Cham told the BusinessM irror. “[The import suspension] could really aggravate the concern of EU on Philippine regulations. A lot of EU-based exporters are now complaining about the import suspension,” Cham added.

Cham pointed out that the import suspension could also force EU suppliers to divert their pork products and shipments to other importing countries that won’t give them a headache over import permits and other policy-related issues.

“We are a very tiny market. If the exporters find a hard time sending shipments to the Philippines then they would just shift to other markets,” he said.

Meat industry sources told the B usi ness M irror the suspension of pork imports from the four European countries could cause pork prices to shoot up in the coming months and may even limit the supply of ham this Christmas season.

Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol had earlier declared readiness to face possible legal or trade disputes over the import suspension on identified ASF high-risk countries.

Piñol argued that he is more concerned over the livelihood of thousands of hog raisers that could be destroyed by ASF, rather than the threat of complaints.

“In fact, I am not just concerned. I am scared. The moment that ASF enters this country, thousands of Filipino families will suffer and even our consumers [will as well],” he said.

“People may look at it as a violation,

but I will always look at it as an effort to protect [the industry],” he added.

Piñol explained that the import suspension was meant mainly to protect the over P200-billion local hog industry from ASF and does not mean “severing ties” with the country’s trade partners.

“We want to assure our trading partners that this action is actually not aimed at severing our trade relations with them but protecting our local hog industry,” he said. “And as soon as we are able to establish an impenetrable quarantine wall, then everything will be okay,” he added.

After two decades of negotiations, the Philippines and Indonesia signed the agreement on EEZ boundary in 2014 during the state visit of former Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

In a bid to delimit the overlapping EEZs of two countries, the agreement included the annexed charts showing the EEZ boundary of two counties in the Mindanao Sea and the Celebes Sea in the southern Philippines and in the Philippine Sea on the southern section of Pacific Ocean.

The agreement was also considered a milestone for PhilippinesIndonesia relations as it opens new opportunities for closer cooperation in the preservation and protection of the rich marine environment in the area as well as increased maritime and trade security.

The EEZ boundary line also gave the fishermen and other stakeholders a clear extent of the area where they can exercise sovereign rights over the waters as provided by the laws and treaties, including Unclos.

Belgium’s plea BELGIUM has been urging Manila to lift the blanket import ban it imposed on pork products from Belgium last year following the outbreak of African swine fever (ASF), as Belgian traders have lost over €4 million due to the trade restriction.

European Union Ambassador to the Philippines Franz Jessen earlier told the BusinessMirror that the EU wants to address the import ban imposed on Belgian pork products through bilateral talks.

In February, Belgian Ambassador to the Philippines Michel Goffin told the BusinessMirror that the EU wrote a letter, signed by its commissioners on trade, health and agriculture, to Piñol and Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez.

The letter asked Philippine officials to reconsider the import ban on Belgian pork products.

“It said that the principle of regionalization should be the standard, as it is the international standard. So, it should be accepted [by the Philippines],” he said.

alcohol products to close a cumulative funding gap, estimated at around P426 billion over the next five years, for the full and proper implementation of the Universal Health Care (UHC) program.

The new set of excise tax rates jointly proposed by the DOF and DOH backs the proposal of Sen. Emmanuel D. Pacquiao under Senate Bill (SB) 1599 in the 17th Congress. This proposes to increase the current uniform excise tax rate on cigarettes and other tobacco products from P35 to P60 per pack in the first year of its implementation and an additional 9 percent per year thereafter.

Aside from tobacco products, the DOF and DOH are likewise pushing

to increase excise taxes on alcohol to at least P40 per liter and impose a unitary tax system on fermented liquors.

A new set of lawmakers will comprise the 18th Congress when it opens on July 22.

Asked if the government is ready to go after fake cigarette manufacturers—which critics of higher excise taxes had warned might even increase with the imposition of further excise taxes on tobacco products—Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said the government is ready to do what must be done to fight the business saboteurs and build up resources for state services like health care.

Sara Duterte bats for localized martial law, wants Davao exempted

By Manuel T. Cayon @awimailbox Mindanao Bureau Chief

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AVAO CITY—Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio said she would would recommend to Malacañang a localized imposition of martial law, which is still effective in Mindanao two years after it was imposed to contain the movement of local and foreign terrorists in Marawi City.

Duterte-Carpio issued the statement in response to the inquiry of European ambassadors and ranking embassy officials who attended this year’s investment conference.

She met the European diplomats in a separate room at the sidelines of the investment conference at the SMX Convention Center here.

She said the recommendation would be done through a resolution of the City Peace and Order Council which will also ask the Office of the President to exempt this city following the return to normalcy of the security situation in many areas of Mindanao.

Mihail Bujor Sion, Chargé d’Affaires of the Embassy of Romania, said that while his compatriots here have made a positive impression of the impact of martial law, other Europeans have little knowledge of what happened here and were expected to carry the usual impression of what martial law denotes.

He said he believed that more European visitors and tourists would be glad to go around to more places in Mindanao “to enjoy its nature” if they would know that these were not under martial law.

“We understand the concern of foreigners, especially seeing the military in the cities. We understand that there are questions if

Ecozone. . .

Continued from A1

Economic zone developers and firms are apparently holding on to their expansion plans in anticipation of an overhaul in the country’s corporate tax and incentives regime.

Zaldarriaga said investments in the manufacturing industry, however, will remain steady as long as the government does not rationalize tax incentives for economic zone firms.

He added the President’s order will most likely benefit developers who poured in capital in putting up economic zones outside of Metro Manila.

Manufacturers, such as semiconductor exporters, locate their assembly plants near but not within Metro Manila, such as in Southern Tagalog provinces Laguna and Cavite.

“For the main line manufacturing investors, however, there should be little effect assuming the existing Peza incentives are not tampered with. It will have positive impact on our lo-

they have overtaken the function of the police,” the mayor told Ambassador Franz Jessen of the European Union and the other ambassadors of European countries.

She clarified that the Army was only there in the cities to augment the police and to enhance security visibility.

She said there was a general feeling of security, at least in Davao City, with the increased presence of uniformed personnel, citing the reduced incidence of common crimes and the containment of terrorists’ activities in other areas of Mindanao.

Big improvement

DUTERTE-CARPIO said the security situation has improved significantly since 2017, when Marawi came under siege from the Maute Group and key leaders of the Abu Sayyaf, including the late Isnilon Hapilon, who was then tagged anointed emir for Southeast Asia of the Middle East-based Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. Hapilon and Omar Maute, one of two sons commanding the Maute Group, were slain in October 2017 signalling the end of their siege of Marawi.

President Duterte asked Congress for authority to extend martial law to contain any further coordinated movements by local and foreign terrorists seeking to mount another siege in any part of Mindanao.

While martial law remained controversial and continued to be a concern among foreigners, DuterteCarpio said the uncertainty among them was felt only for a brief period, about two months after it was imposed.

But the influx of visitors soon picked up after that, she said. cal ecozone developers who have invested billions of dollars in an effort to decongest Metro Manila,” he added.

Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Foundation Inc. President Danilo C. Lachica said in a text message there is not much land in the capital at present to accommodate the registration of more economic zones.

“Our members are outside Metro Manila. There may not be big enough land in Metro Manila to accommodate factories of electronic companies,” Lachica said.

The President last Monday issued an administrative order that seeks to spur growth in rural areas through the development of economic zones in the countryside.

In doing so, Duterte instructed the Peza to no longer accept, process or evaluate applications for the establishment of economic zones in Metro Manila. The order, however, does not prevent firms from operating on existing economic zones in the capital.

A4 Monday, June 24, 2019 • Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug

Economy BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Envoy: Taiwanese investors prefer Vietnam over PHL

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By Elijah Felice E. Rosales

@alyasjah

AIWANESE investors prefer locating in Vietnam and Indonesia than in the Philippines, as labor cost in these two Southeast Asian economies are apparently more competitive, according to a diplomat.

Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in the Philippines Economic Counselor Alfred Wang said the Philippines is at a disadvantage in terms of securing capital from Taiwanese businessmen. He said Taiwanese investors prefer to locate operations in other Southeast Asian countries as they apparently find wages here too “burdensome.”

“What we are doing is attracting more Taiwanese investors to be here, [so] we can tell them the advantages and the disadvantages [in investing in the Philippines],” Wang told reporters last week.

“Advantages are there are many young people here, the labor force is no problem and most people speak English. However, comparing the wage level, the Philippines is not as

competitive with Vietnam and Indonesia,” he added.

The Metro Manila wage board in November of last year increased the daily pay rate of nonagricultural workers in Metro Manila to P537, from P512.

However, in an issuance on June 7, the wage board denied petitions filed by four labor groups in April. It said it cannot yet entertain petitions to raise daily pay rates due to the rule that prevents the government from processing new wage-hike demands until after a year their previous wage order took effect, or unless there is a supervening event.

The Philippines is in a position to attract more Taiwanese capital under Taipei’s New Southbound

WORKERS are seen at a semiconductor factory in Laguna in this 2018 BusinessMirror file photo. Taiwanese investors are shying away from the Philippines due mainly to “uncompetitive” wages.

Policy, implemented by President Tsai Ing-wen, under which the East Asian state is heavily shifting its trade and investment

activities to economies south of its location.

“I cannot say the Philippines is the most favorite location [in South-

east Asia for Taiwanese investors].

Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand have more competitive regimes,” Wang said.

Last year investments from Taiwan fell by 61.21 percent to P4.2 billion, from P10.83 billion in 2017, which Wang attributed to a number of factors, including uncertainties brought about by the government’s plan to rationalize tax incentives of economic zone firms.

However, Wang said Taiwanese firms in the Philippines, such as the New Kinpo Group, are here to stay. NKG, the world’s leading consumer electronics maker, announced in May its plans to put up a new 24,000-square-meter facility in Batangas and increase employ ment to 18,000, from 11,000 at present, over the next three years.

“There are no Taiwanese investors already making an investment in the Philippines that would move out to other Southeast Asian countries,” Wang said.

The Taiwanese envoy called on Manila to take advantage of Taipei ’s aggressive economic policy to pour capital into South Asian and Southeast Asian economies. He said holding investment briefings, such as those conducted by the Department of Trade and Industry, will help beef up Taiwanese investments in the Philippines.

Asean leaders commit to prepare PHL efforts to hit UN goals on education, climate change ‘promising’–report workers for shift to automation

By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario

By Bernadette D. Nicolas @BNicolasBM

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OUTHEAST Asian leaders have put up a united front and vowed to support the enhancement of workers’ skills, especially those in micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), as the region braces for challenges brought about by the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

President Duterte urged his fellow leaders during the 34th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Summit in Thailand to invest in the countries’ greatest resource, its people.

In their joint Asean Leaders’ Vision Statement on Partnership on Sustainability, leader said they have agreed to support inclusive human capital development, regional cooperation and public-private partnership initiatives such as mentorship programs to further enhance skills and capacities of Asean human resources.

Moreover, the leaders also committed to promote inclusive economic growth by equipping Asean to maximize the opportunities of the Fourth Industrial Revolution through deepening trade facilitation measures for stronger economic cooperation.

Leaders said they are looking forward to enhancing digital integration with the development of Asean Digital Integration Framework Action Plan 2015-2025 and improving connectivity through sustainable infrastructure, as well to achieve inclusivity by narrowing development gaps in the region.

Duterte also expressed the Philippines’s support for the establishment of an Asean Technical and Vocational Education and Training Development Council.

“MSMEs are the backbone of A sean economies. L et us help MSMEs harness digital technology so they can play a bigger role in the global value chain. We need to recognize that MSMEs can be powerful engines of growth and job creation in our region,” Duterte said in his speech during the plenary session of the summit.

While technological advancements also improve the day-to-day lives of people, the President also acknowledged its downside.

“Cutting-edge [technological] breakthroughs are changing our societies in ways we have yet to fully understand.

They empower people. But they also widen existing divisions,” he said.

“Let us maximize the benefits of the unfolding Fourth Industrial Revolution to accelerate growth, alleviate poverty and bridge socioeconomic gaps,” he added.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) said 56 percent of workers in Southeast Asia could be displaced by the global shift to automation.

In the Philippines alone, ILO Enterprise Development and Skills Technical Officer Jordi Prat Tuca said at least 18 million workers could lose their jobs to automation over the next 20 years if Manila will not retool them for the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

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HE country’s chances of meeting the education and climate change-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are promising based on the findings of the Voluntary National Review (VNR) crafted by the government.

In the VNR, the Philippine Institute and Development Studies (PIDS) and National Economic and Development Authority (Neda), through the help of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (Unescap), also found that efforts to achieve other goals show mixed progress.

“What we can only say is that overall education goal is promising, among the six goals [we included in the report]. Battling climate change was also promising given the country’s disaster plans.

But other goals especially on human rights show mixed progress,” PIDS Senior Research Fellow Jose Ramon Albert told the BusinessMirror over the weekend.

According to the report, achieving the targets is feasible due to the institutionalization of the Alternative Learning System (ALS) and the efforts of the Department of Education (DepEd) in reaching out to the private sector in terms of the “last mile.”

Reaching out to the last mile means including out-of-school youth and other vulnerable groups in education services.

Based on the VNR, the Philip-

pines improved from the baseline data on several indicators such as the elementary net enrollment rate to 94.2 percent in 2017 from the 91percent baseline in 2015; completion rate, 92.4 percent from 84 percent; and cohort survival rate, 93.7 percent from 87.5 percent.

In the secondary level, improvements were seen in the net enrollment rate to 76 percent in 2017 from the 73.6 percent-baseline in 2015; completion rate, 84.3 percent from 74 percent; and 85.6 percent from 81.6 percent.

The report also noted that in terms of the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), certification rate improved to 92.9 percent in 2017 from the 91.1-percent baseline.

However, dropouts or school leavers rate both in primary and secondary declined to 1.6 percent and 5.2 percent in 2017, respectively. The 2015 baseline dropouts or school leavers rate in primary and secondary was at 2.7 percent and 6.6 percent, respectively.

The VNR noted that data is not available in terms of tracking the proportion of children at the end of primary and secondary to achieve at least a minimum proficiency level in reading and mathematics.

Climate-change mitigation

IN terms of SDG 13 on climate action, the VNR showed that efforts such as the passage of the Climate Change Act of 2009 which created the Climate Change Commission (CCC), helped push for the achieve-

ment of the goals.

This was followed by the passage of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010 and the People’s Survival Fund Act of 2013 which established a P2-billion fund to augment financial support for local adaptation projects.

Efforts to support climate action also included the establishment of the Cabinet Cluster on Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation, which helped strengthen Disaster Risk Reduction nationwide.

The VNR noted that there is improved knowledge and awareness on low-emission development through the passage of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Act of 2019; Green Building Code of 2016; and Green Jobs Act of 2016.

“The government, through Neda, is also developing a National Action Plan on Sustainable Consumption and Production,” the report noted.

Based on the VNR, only the indicator on the number of directly-affected persons attributed to disasters declined to 682,315 as of 2018 from the baseline of 846,651.

Data showed, however, that the number of deaths attributed to disasters per 100,000 increased to 352 in 2018, from the baseline of 116 in 2016. The same happened to the number of missing persons attributed to disasters per 100,000, which increased to 38 in 2018, from 29 in 2016.

The VNR stated that the latest data was not available for the proportion of local governments

that adopt and implement local disaster risk-reduction strategies in line with national disaster riskreduction strategies.

Of the 17 regions, only Region 5 or the Bicol region does not have a baseline rate. But Regions 2, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) had a baseline rate of 100 percent.

The region which has the lowest proportion of local governments that adopt and implement local disaster risk-reduction strategies in line with national disaster risk-reduction strategies was Region 6, or Western Visayas, at 25.1 percent.

“One hundred percent of the LGUs in nine of the 17 regions have incorporated risk-reduction strategies in their respective local plans; yet, LGU capacity to implement remains limited by financial constraints and technical expertise. Beyond funds, LGUs need knowledge in translating their risk-informed plans into implementable and bankable projects,” the VNR stated.

Albert said efforts to monitor and meet the SDGs are “complicated.” Based on the VNR, the midterm update of the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) could see the addition of more targets in the SDGs that the country will have to meet by 2030.

This is because of the addition and changes in the indicators that have to be met nationally in relation to the global targets. Not all the global SDGs will have to be met given that some targets are not applicable to some countries.

House oversight panel seeks to find solutions to water shortage

By Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz @joveemarie

T

HE leadership of the House of Representatives will open on Tuesday an oversight hearing to look into the impending water shortage as Angat Dam in Bulacan reaches critical level.

Last week Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo called for an oversight hearing on the water shortage on Tuesday, before new members of the House of Representatives begin their term of office.

Invited to the hearing are officials from the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage Systems (MWSS), National Water Resources Bureau, Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA), National Ir-

rigation Authority, Departments of Agriculture, Budget and Management, Environment and Natural Resources and Public Works and Highways, the National Economic and Development Authority and water concessionaires Manila Water Co. Inc. (MWCI), and the Maynilad Water Services Inc. (MWSI).

LWUA Acting Administrator Jeci Lapus said the agency is now seeking for solutions for the Angat water problem, as well as long-term measures to prevent a water crisis from happening.

Arroyo said the proposed creation of a Department of Water will be included in the agenda, which will be evaluated by the committee for the next Congress to act upon.

Last March, at the height of the

water crisis in the east side of Metro Manila, the lower chamber also conducted an oversight hearing to help find solutions to the problem. As a result, Maynilad agreed to open five of its surplus valves with Manila Water to supply 50 million liters of water per day (MLD) to ease the burden of the estimated 1.2 million households in the area.

Exempted

THE Metropolitan Manila Development Authority said over the weekend that trucks of MWSI and MWCI are still exempted from the numbercoding scheme to facilitate the delivery of water supplies to different areas experiencing water shortage.

“We have a standing order authorizing tankers bringing water to af-

fected areas, with no restrictions on number coding,” said Danilo Lim. As the water level of Angat Dam continues to drop, the Metro Manila Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (MMDRRMC), chaired by Lim, concerned government agencies and water concessionaires, had discussed contingency measures on how to prepare for a worsening water shortage last week.

“The public, especially those located in vulnerable areas, must know what to expect with the water level of Angat Dam now at critical level,” said Lim during a special MMDRRMC meeting.

The meeting was attended by officials of MWSS and water concessionaires, Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services

Administration (Pagasa), and other concerned government agencies.

During the meeting, Pagasa said that while it had declared the start of the rainy season last week, the amount of rainfall is still not enough to boost the water level of Angat Dam. Meanwhile, the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) assured its readiness to supply water to critical establishments that could be affected by the impending water shortage in Metro Manila as the water level in Angat Dam nears critical level.

PRC Chairman Richard Gordon gave orders to prepare PRC’s fleet of water tankers and water treatment equipment.

If the water level in Angat Dam dips further, PRC will prioritize hos-

pitals to ensure that health-care services will not be interrupted and to avoid health complications, such as sepsis, diarrhea, and other hygienerelated diseases.

During the first wave of water crisis last March to April, PRC was able to supply 1,435,475 liters of clean and safe water to hospitals such as National Kidney and Transplant Institute, East Avenue Medical Center, Rizal Medical Center, National Center for Mental Health and Quirino Memorial Medical Center.

PRC also served affected communities, Barangay Old Balara and Barangay Culiat in Quezon City; Barangay Nangka and Barangay Tumana in Marikina; and Barangay Addition Hills in Mandaluyong.

With a report from Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco

The Nation BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Namfrel: Don’t postpone barangay, SK elections

By Samuel P. Medenilla @sam_medenilla

A

POLL watchdog rejected the call for the postponement of the 2020 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections saying that by doing so is antidemocratic.

National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) issued the warning after Senator-elect Christopher Go said he will file a legislation to reset the barangay and SK elections from 2020 to 2022.

Go said the new date aims to address the reduced term of the incumbent barangay and SK officials, whose term were unintentionally reduced from the supposed three year to just two years due to delays in the conduct of the previous elections.

If passed into law, Go’s proposal will allow these officials to serve a four-year term.

“Here we go again, postponing regular elections. There was already an attempt to do that the last time,” Namfrel Secretary-General Eric Jude O. Alvia said. “[Postponing the barangay and SK elections] is unacceptable. Elections must have regularity and is one of the ways to assess our local leaders,” Alvia added.

To recall, the last barangay and SK elections was supposed to be held on 2016. It was then initially moved to 2017 before finally being scheduled to 2018.

The delays, which was pushed by President Duterte, was supposed to help in state’s campaign against narco-politics.

Land area. . . continued from a1 Navarro said it’s not only the delay in the adoption of the master list that is crucial, but also the need for the national government to prepare for the implementation of the Supreme Court’s decision on the Mandanas petition in 2022.

In its July 3, 2018, decision, the Court increased the IRA of LGUs to include the tax collection of other agencies aside from the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) as basis for the computation.

National govt concerns

HOWEVER, concerns on the implementation of the decision were raised by the national government in a motion for reconsideration filed soon after the SC decision was released.

In April this year, the Supreme Court maintained its decision declaring that the IRA share of all LGUs be based on the collections of all national taxes, and not only from national internal revenue taxes collected by the government. The SC also moved to implement the new computations in 2022.

With this delay, Navarro said the national government heaved a sigh of relief given that the immediate implementation of the decision could negatively affect the government’s fiscal position, specifically the deficit target.

This, she said, is behind the NLUC decision to adopt the 2016 master list of land areas. “So kaya I said I will get to the bottom of this. Pinapasubmit ko sila ng information so that the Neda can analyze, ano ’yung kulang bakit hindi siya officially ma-adopt [This is why I said I will get to the bottom of this. I am asking them to submit information so that the Neda can analyze why it has not been officially adopted],” Navarro said.

Navarro earlier told the BusinessMirror that 71 percent of cities and municipalities are contesting their land areas, even after a nationwide cadastral survey conducted by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources Land Management Bureau (LMB).

After the LMB’s cadastral survey, however, Navarro said 1,163 of the 1,634 cities and municipalities nationwide are contesting the survey results. She said these LGUs are contesting the results at the LMB. She added that there is a need to resolve these concerns before 2022, given the Supreme Court’s final decision granting the petition of Batangas Gov. Hermilando I. Mandanas to automatically release the IRA of LGUs. Navarro explained that a land area impacts LGUs significantly, given that it helps determine the level of their IRA and revenue collections, as well as shapes its politics, particularly during elections.

Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug • Monday, June 24, 2019 A5

Duterte to sign EO cutting red tape after Asean meet

By Manuel T. Cayon

D

@awimailbox Mindanao Bureau Chief

AVAO CITY—President Duterte’s admonition for government offices to accord due attention and speedy processing of citizens’ official documents would now be mandatory and legally binding after his promise to issue an executive order (EO).

The Chief Executive said he would also encourage aggrieved citizens to name the government official or personnel who would cause delays in the processing of documents.

“When I go back after [attending the 34th Asean Leaders’ Summit in Bangkok, Thailand], I will just write an EO,” he said on Friday night here at the oath taking of his youngest son Sebastian as this city’s vice mayor.

In that EO, government officials or personnel attending to a citizen’s request for official document must list down the things that are to be submitted in connection with the application or clearance.

“Don’t add anything else; don’t tell him to come back,” the President said in Tagalog. “[If you weren’t able to come up with a list], then you explain to me in writing to your head office [why

you weren’t able to list the things and why the citizen keeps coming back],” he added.

Duterte said he has repeatedly reminded government bureaucracy that “when citizens come to you, it has to be in connection with your duties.”

“Then give them a paper containing the list of the things they must comply and produce. And if there’s any correction, request them to leave an address or a cell-phone number where they can be called to submit a more detailed or a corrected [information]. But never tell them to return tomorrow only to tell that the documents were still being processed.”

The President added that the EO would be mandatory for all offices under the Executive branch of the

Group cites cases of human-rights violations in Masbate, Mindoro

By Rene Acosta

@reneacostaBM

T

HREE human-rights advocates have been killed in Masbate while a fact-finding mission seeking to look into the reported cases of strafing and even deaths of three people in Mindoro was being prevented by the government, human-rights group Karapatan claimed over the weekend.

A report by Karapatan said that Arnie Espenilla, Zando Alcovendas and Pizo Cabug, residents of two barangays in the town of San Fernando, Masbate, were killed by state forces.

The three farmers who are members of Masbate People’s Organization, an organization member of Karapatan-Bicol, were reportedly killed on separate occasions from June 9 up to 14, with the incidents happening at night.

Cristina Palabay, Karapatan secretarygeneral, said the three victims were allegedly killed by soldiers from the Army’s 2nd Infantry Battalion, who broke into their homes at Barangay Lahong and Buenavista.

“All unarmed, Espenilla, Alcovendas, and Cabug were murdered in the same week that Sorsogon-based human-rights workers [Ryan] Hubilla and [Nelly] Bagasala, as well as former activist Neptali Morada, were killed,” Palabay added.

Palabay said that Espenilla was at home in Barangay Lahong with his family when a “number of soldiers forcibly entered the house and shot him to death.”

At about 5 p.m. of the following day, uniformed men forcibly entered the house of Zando Alcovendas in Barangay Buenavista, and shot him dead, according to Palabay. On June 14, Pizo Cabug,

BOC. . . continued from a12

should go back to the 2012 levels once the quantitative restriction (QR) on rice is removed.

The QR on rice was removed and converted into ordinary customs duties once Republic Act (RA) 11203 took effect on March 5. The Department of Agriculture had argued that the reversion of MDM tariff to 40 percent is automatic by virtue of EO 23, but meat processors, led by the Philippine Association of Meat Processors Inc. (Pampi), disagreed with this.

The BOC also told the BusinessMirror that traders whose shipments were slapped a lower tariff rate after the effectivity of RA 11203 will have to pay the government the 35-percent tariff difference.

The President’s issuance of EO 82 repeals the BOC’s memorandum circular, which temporarily reverted the tariff on chicken MDM to 40 percent.

EO 82, signed on June 13 and released to the media on June 17, also retained the lower tariff rate on frozen turkey meat and turkey offal at 20 percent. Provisions of EO 82 are applicable until December 31, 2020.

Some BOC workers reported that they

a resident of Barangay Buenavista, was at home and was about to retire for the night when soldiers killed him, she added.

Karapatan said that Bicol region was fast becoming a killing field as the government “intensifies its crackdown on activists” after the issuance of Memorandum Order 32, an order deploying more soldiers and policemen in Bicol region.

In Mansalay, Oriental Mindoro, Palabay said that members of the Karapatan-Southern Tagalog fact-finding and humanitarian mission were been repeatedly harassed by policemen and soldiers as they attempted to look into the strafing cases and deaths of three people in the town as reported by Mangyan leaders.

“Karapatan-Southern Tagalog mission members have been blocked twice and prevented by soldiers from reaching the communities.

In one instance, military personnel pointed their firearms at the group’s service vehicle,” Palabay added.

She narrated that on June 17, at noon time, while members of the mission were conducting dialogues with local government officials and assisting relatives of victims, elements of the PNP Regional Mobile Group and the Philippine Army went to the United Methodist Church in Barangay Dangay, Roxas, Oriental Mindoro, and interrogated church officials for accommodating members of the mission.

“Church leaders insisted they were just assisting those in need,” she added.

Karapatan said the fact-finding mission has yet to reach the “communities affected by the bombings and strafing incidents.”

continue to encounter the 40-percent tariff rate on MDM despite the issuance of EO 82.

The BOC said, however, that this was only because of an error in the system of valueadded service providers (VASPs), which are from private entities.

“BOC-MISTG has already adjusted the rate back to 5 percent. However, the VASPs show 40 percent upon lodgement. This can be easily remedied and adjusted once the entry/goods declaration has been filed. Thus, as far as BOC is concerned, it’s [the 5-percent tariff rate] already implemented,” said BOC Spokesman Erastus Sandino B. Austria.

The bureau had also issued Customs Memorandum Order (CMO) 30-2019, which was signed by BOC Commissioner Rey Leonardo B. Guerrero on June 18. The memo contained an official list of fees and charges being collected by the BOC. “Due to the issue of unjust fees being charged by unscrupulous individuals allegedly in favor of BOC, all customs officials and employees entrusted with the collection of taxes, fees and other imports are enjoined to strictly comply with the said order,” the BOC said.

government as “Congress and the Supreme Court are not under my territory.”

“I am [also] encouraging people to name you publicly on 8888,” he added.

He said the Philippines could not expect to develop and progress “for as long as we do not have a clean government, for as long as corruption is

there and for as long as there is no law and order.”

“We cannot hope to rise. For every table in the government, be it in the local or in the national, [when a document is placed on the desk of a government office, there’s always grease money]. It’s either they delay [the processing of the paper]…until money is given: plain extortion,” Duterte said.

A BusinessMirror Special

MANIL A6

Monday, June 24, 2019 | www.businessmirror.com.ph

Manila: The land of m I

By Leony R. Garcia

T’S the usual scenario we see on the port, airport or bus terminals, and usually portrayed in movies and television drama series: People from provinces flock to Manila to look for jobs and opportunities.

That’s because being the country’s capital city, and the center of trade and commerce, many investors and business owners put their companies in Manila. Other people also go to Manila to study and, in turn, increase their potential for employment or business ventures.

Despite being densely populated, with more and more promdis visiting and staying in the city, the capital is still full of opportunities that are waiting to be discovered.

The country’s center of industrial development, Manila is also the international port of entry on one of the finest sheltered harbors of the Pacific region, about 700 miles (1,100 Kilometers) southeast

of Hong Kong. Most of the Philippines’s imports and exports pass through the port of Manila.

Adjacent to the heavily populated districts on the northern shore is the Manila North Harbor.

While Manila South Harbor, the main international port, is on the southern shore.

Brief history

HISTORY books showed that the late 16th-Century Manila was a walled Muslim settlement whose ruler levied customs and duties on all commerce passing up the Pasig River. When the Spaniards, led by Miguel López de Legazpi (who became the first Spanish governor-

general of the Philippines), successfully entered the mouth of the river in 1571, they destroyed the settlement and founded the fortress city of Intramuros. As Spanish colonial rule became established, churches were built near the marketplaces, where the concentration of population was greatest. Manila spread beyond its walls, expanding north, east and south, linking together the market-church complexes as the we see them today and known as town plaza.

At various periods Manila was seriously threatened and occupied by foreign powers. It was invaded by the Chinese in 1574 and raided by the Dutch in the mid17th Century. In 1762, during the Seven Years’ War, the city was captured and held by the British, but the Treaty of Paris (1763) resulted in its restoration to Spain.

It was opened to foreign trade in 1832, and commerce was further stimulated by the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869.

Manila led the anti-Spanish sentiment in the 1890s. The execution of Filipino patriot and national hero José Rizal in the city in December 1896 sparked a yearlong insurrection.

Upon the outbreak of the Second World War, Manila was declared an open city and was occupied by the Japanese in January 1942. The city was said to suffer little damage during the war but was leveled to the ground, in the fight for its recapture by US forces in 1945.

Architectural design

MANILA’S architectural styles, therefore, reflect American, Spanish, Chinese and Malay influences. Rizal Park and several government buildings were designed by US architect and city planner Daniel H. Burnham.

American-made buildings— including multistoried commercial houses, and public and private buildings—were commonly made of reinforced concrete blocks and cement.

Sprawling ranch houses with spacious lawns were made and are still common in the districts of Ermita

and Malate. Spanish-style houses, with tiled roofs, barred windows, and thick walls, which were common before the Second World War, have also remained popular these days. The churches of the city are American, Spanish, or European in character.

Business and manufacturing

BUSINESS areas in Manila are widespread, the districts to the north of the river—especially along the bay and in the city’s west central region—constitute the chief centers of trade and commerce.

The diverse manufacturing activities of Manila, which Filipinos from the provinces would like to engage in, including textile production, publishing and printing, food and tobacco processing, and chemical processing. Manila also produces lumber and wood items, rope and cordage, soap and other goods. Factories generally are small and, mostly, in the congested dis-

tricts of Tondo, Binondo, and Santa Cruz. while heavy industries are in the districts of Paco, Pandacan and Santa Ana. With the advent of modern technology and the rise of Business Process Outsourcings, urban migration remain constant as more Filipinos are lured to the contact center and ICT industries.

Education

IT’S every student dream to study in Manila, where more than 100 free public schools, are maintained, in addition to the night vocational and secondary schools and the Manila branch of the University of The Philippines. Educational opportunities are also provided for children with disabilities, orphans of school age and adults.

As the education center of the Philippines, Manila houses many of the major institutions of higher education, including the University

MANILA AT 448

AN APPETIZING ARRAY OF CULTURES

By Stephanie Joy Ching

A

S the capital city of the Philippines, Manila is not only the seat of power, but also home to a wide array of ethnicities. A true melting pot of cultures, Manila can certainly boast of many kinds of cuisines found within the city. After all, what better way to celebrate Manila Day than to indulge in the traditional cuisines that characterize Manila?

Kinilaw

KINILAW is not really a dish, but rather a way of cooking.

The meat or seafood is soaked in vinegar, the flavor further enhanced by an acidic agent, like calamansi or green mangoes.

Then, it is seasoned with peppers, ginger, or even sugar, and young coconuts. Kinilaw means “eaten raw” but unlike the seafood kinilaw, the meat variant is cooked. Kinilaw made from meat is also traditionally served with a bittering agent made from animal gallbladder.

If meat or seafood doesn’t strike your fancy, fear not, kinilaw also comes in a vegetable variety!

Vegetable kinilaw, or ensalada (salad), is usually made from cucumbers, papaya and even banana flowers.

Binatog

ALSO known as bualaw, this popular soft-boiled-corn delicacy comes in variety. It can be served hot or cold, salty or sweet. People with a sweet tooth might enjoy this treat sprinkled with grated coconut or sugar. If you want a saltier variety, the buttered version or the salted binatog might be for you. Another alternative version of the binatog is the creamy gata with its evaporated or coconut-milk topping.

Pancit

PANCIT came to the Philippines along with the early Chinese traders. Derived from the Hokkien word for “convenient food,” noodles have been adopted into a multitude of different ways. Each region in

the archipelago has its own variety of pancit. Noodles can be made from rice, egg or starch, then seasoned with meat, broth and even squid ink. Famous varieties of pancit include palabok, sotanghon, mami and molo. As a symbol of long life and health, pancit, in any way, shape or form, is a staple in many Filipino celebrations, such as weddings and birthdays.

Satti

ALTHOUGH Manila has a predominantly Christian population, the Muslim community has grown quite a lot over the years. If you want to have a taste of Muslim culture, satti is a good place to start.

Satti, also known as satay, is three pieces of meat grilled and seasoned with a spicy red sauce.

It is considered as a Muslim variant of barbeque and is a popular breakfast food among Filipino-Muslims. This dish is more popularly served in the Zamboanga regions, but has slowly made its way into the streets of Manila.

l Feature

LA DAY www.businessmirror.com.ph | Monday, June 24, 2019 A7

many opportunities of the Philippines (with its main campus in Quezon City), the Philippine Normal College and the Technological University of the Philippines. There are several universities sponsored by religious bodies, including The University of Santo Tomas (founded in 1611) and the Ateneo de Manila University, as well as nonsectarian institutions, such as the University of the East and the Far Eastern University.

Arts and culture

THE center of the performing arts in the country is the Philippine Cultural Center. There is also the Folk Arts Theater facing Manila Bay; the historic Metropolitan Theater with its on-andoff renovation; and an open-air theater at Rizal Park. Libraries and museums include the National Library and the National Museum known for its anthropological and archaeological exhibits; the National Institute of Science and Technology with a scientific reference library and large collections of plants and animals; the geological museum of the Bureau of Mines and Geosciences; the Planetarium; Fort Santiago, which houses original works of the Philippine patriot José Rizal; and the Manila city library and museum, which contains valuable carvings, paintings, and archives.

The foremost outdoor recreational area is Rizal Park, with a Japanese garden, a Chinese garden, an open-air theater, a playground, a grandstand, and a long promenade adjacent to the Manila Bay. Other areas include the Manila Zoological and Botanical Gardens, the Mehan Garden, and Paco Park.

Health

HEALTH facilities in Manila are among the best in the region.

The city government maintains numerous health centers, as well as the Philippine General Hospital, San Lazaro Hospital, Fabella Hospital and Jose Reyes Memorial Hospital, where patients are treated free of charge. There are

also many missionaries and private hospitals in the city.

Revitalization of new Manila

THE city has undergone rapid economic development since its destruction in the Second World War and its subsequent rebuilding. It has remained vibrant through the years, progressing by leaps and bounds—thanks to many businesses and property developers coming to Manila.

The city stands to benefit with the current administration’s Build, Build, Build (BBB) project. For instance, the Metro Manila Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Line 1 project is a fully segregated 12.3-kilometer highway with 16 stations starting from the Quezon Memorial Circle in Quezon City and ending at the Manila City Hall. Passengers will be conveyed by 280 buses.

The BRT Line 2, on the other hand, is a 48.6-kilometer track divided into 63 terminals, to be traversed by a total of 1,151 buses. According to the BBB web site, the system consists of four corridors, including the main corridor along Edsa, and corridors along Ayala Avenue to the World Trade Center, Ortigas to Bonifacio Global City and the three Ninoy Aquino International Airport terminals.

However, like many cities in the world, Manila is now plagued with the familiar urban problems of pollution, traffic congestion, overpopulation and housing shortage.

Residential buildings in Manila now include the high-rise condominiums dotting even the highly congested Divisoria and Taft Avenue. This is aside from single-family dwelling, the duplex, large-family compound, and apartment units, which most families still prefer.

Unfortunately, the barongbarong, a makeshift shack built of salvaged materials (scrap lumber, and wrought iron, cartons or billboards) has also become a common fixture in the city, especially in poor areas.

The disparity between the

BOC, ATI assure movement of empties at Manila South Harbor

S

OUTH Harbor’s cargo handling operator Asian Terminals Inc. (ATI) recently boosted its the manifesto of support on empty and overstaying containers signed in mid-March, as well as PPA administrative orders clearing Manila ports of such boxes, with the implementation of the Empty Loadout shipping agreement (Elsa).

Elsa process provides that every cargo discharge, vessels docked at the Manila South Harbor would load empty containers already available at the port, regardless which shipping line owned such container. The participating shipping lines to the Elsa process include the CMA-CGM Group, TS Lines, Evergreen, Yang Ming Lines, Wan Hai and Hyundai Merchant Marine.

“Two weeks from the implementation of the Manifesto, the Manila South Harbor is already loading out at least 10,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) and relocated the same to other Asian destinations. But with ELSA, the container loadout at the port per week has reached 14,000 TEUs, the highest figure posted in the 60-day implementation span of the agreement,” PPA General Manager Jay Daniel R. Santiago said.

The manifesto of support aims to prevent the imbalance of inbound and outbound containers borne by the unscrupulous practice of using ports for

prolonged storage of their containers, until the withdrawal of goods will yield to maximum profit.

Meanwhile, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) has assured Filipino-Chinese businessmen that the government is doing everything it can to address the crippling port congestion, which is seen to impede commerce and slow trade facilitation in the country.

In a forum on February, hosted by the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Inc. Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo B. Guerrero presented the actions taken by the bureau to address various trade challenges.

It was also discussed that international shipping lines should be required to have their own container depots outside Metro Manila and not port terminals, as what is being practiced at present.

The container yards would be for the storage of their empty containers, “with the space allocation of the facility to be efficiently managed to maximize storing capacity.”

“And, as much as possible, these shipping line-owned depots must be near industrial areas. The Philippine Economic Zone Authority should, therefore, be urged to have a space for empty containers, and BOC should accredit these depots,” the BOC said.

rich and the poor, which is right before our eyes, the condo and the makeshift shack standing side by side makes Manila a city of contrasts.

New hope, new leadership

SPEAKING before a gathering of dignitaries, businessmen, investors and seafaring Filipinos, Manila mayor-elect Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso promised a different Manila in the next 12 months.

“I cannot promise to bring and to see you all on the new horizon. But this one thing I assure you, there will be a new Manila in one year time,” the former show-businessheartthrob said.

Domagoso ran on the platform of the restoration of the “deteriorating Manila.” He vowed to revitalize the city’s physical development by building more green projects and more breathing spaces. He said he intends to pattern his development plan for Manila

from Singapore’s hybrid-city perspectives, without consuming too much space. This will be part of Domagoso’s 10-year infrastructure plan intended to boost jobs, health care and tourism.

At the business opening of WMOC, a maritime company which facilitates necessary documents, maritime licenses and endorsements for seafarers joining various flag states, like Panama and Marshall Islands, on June 15, Domagoso also encouraged the private sector to

do business in Manila. “If you want Manila to be the face of the country, help me because I cannot do it alone. We all want a clean, revitalized vibrant Manila, the city that we all love,” he said.

He likened himself to be the rudder, or steering wheel (timon), with the city policy as the captain of the boat and the citizens as crew members (tripulante) of the ship. “We should all work together in the direction that we want to be. Help me, I beg of you,” he added.

Green Monday BusinessMirror

A8 Monday, June 24, 2019

www.businessmirror.com.ph • Editor: Lyn Resurreccion

Half of world’s power will be from wind, solar by 2050

N

early half the world’s electricity will come from renewable energy by 2050 as costs of wind, solar and battery storage continue to plummet.

That titanic shift over the next three decades will come as electricity demand increases 62 percent and investors pump $13.3 trillion into new projects, according to a report released last week by BloombergNEF. The move away from fossil fuel has sweeping implications for energy markets and the fight to stave off climate change.

Wind, solar and batteries are poised to enable the power sector to meet its share of emission cuts required under the Paris climate agreement, at least until 2030, according to BNEF. But after that, nations will need other technologies to make deeper cuts at a reasonable cost, said Matthias Kimmel, the lead analyst on the report.

“To get emissions where we want them to be, we need something else,” Kimmel said in an interview.

By 2050, solar and wind will supply almost 50 percent of the world’s electricity, with hydro, nuclear and other renewable-energy resources providing another 21 percent, according to BNEF.

Coal will be the biggest loser in the power sector, with its share of global generation plunging from 37 percent today to 12 percent in 2050, BNEF said.

Those other renewables could include geothermal systems, fuel cells and devices that harvest energy from ocean waves and tides.

But it’s unclear which, if any, will be economical to deploy on a mass scale. And other low-emission technologies could be developed between now and 2030.

BNEF sees a more ambitious transition to clean power than one oil giant BP Plc. laid out in its 2019 Energy Outlook.

BP foresees renewables generating about 30 percent of power by 2030 under its “evolving transition” scenario, while BNEF calls for 41 percent.

Under a different scenario, however, BP is even more bullish than BNEF, saying renewables could hit 50 percent by 2040.

BNEF forecasts that many nations can cut power-sector emissions through 2030 in line with goals set in Paris to limit the

The Dave Johnson coal-fired power plant is silhouetted against the morning sun in Glenrock, Wyoming, in this July 27, 2018, photo. AP/J. David Ake

increase in world temperatures to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit). And they can do that without additional subsidies for solar and wind, BNEF said.

Since 2010, the cost of wind power has dropped by 49 percent, and solar has plummeted 85 percent, according to BNEF. That makes them cheaper than new coal or gas plants in two-thirds of the world.

Battery storage costs, meanwhile, have dropped 85 percent since 2010.

If the world is to completely eliminate greenhouse-gas emissions from the electricity sector, technologies—including carbon capture and storage, hydrogen power and solar thermal plants— will compete to provide about

13,000 terawatt hours of generation by 2050, according to BNEF. That’s equivalent to about half of all electricity produced today.

And even if every nation scrubs emissions from the power sector, there are still ample greenhouse gases from cars, trucks, ships, airplanes, heating systems and agriculture.

Europe is taking the lead on the shift to renewables, which will supply 92 percent of the region’s electricity by 2050.

China and India, which are still adding coal plants to their grids, will both get almost two-thirds of their power from mostly solar and wind by then.

The US will get just 43 percent of its power from renewables by 2050, according to BNEF. Bloomberg News

Marijuana industry sets environmental, ethical goals

L

OS ANGELES—An alliance of large marijuana businesses had a message for the public on Tuesday: We’re good corporate citizens. The 45-member Global Cannabis Partnership, which includes Canopy Growth Corp. and other companies operating in the sector, issued guidelines aimed at minimizing greenhouse-gas emissions and promoting ethical conduct and responsible pot use.

The emerging legal industry is “in a unique position to set a new bar for socially responsible practices,” the group’s executive director, Kim Wilson, said in a statement.

As the once-illegal marijuana economy evolves into a multibilliondollar industry backed by a flood of investment dollars, the guidelines appeared aimed at assuring consumers that those companies are operating with public interests in mind, not just the bottom line.

The cannabis marketplace “is Wall Street now,” said Adlai Wertman, a professor of social entrepreneurship at the USC Marshall School of Business.

The group is “saying that even though we are Wall Street, we are still aligned with the values our customers have.”

And it could have other payoffs, including potentially luring a broader range of investors for pot companies.

“Anything the industry does to show responsibility—both as an operator and to their community—is in their benefit,” said Adam Spiker, executive director of the Southern California Coalition, a cannabis industry group.

“Things like this can narrow the gap of trust between industry, community and policy-makers.

Summer’s heat is blazing in faster than it ever has in 100 years

Residents of a housing society cool off with a “rain dance” organized to beat the heat on a hot summer day in Greater Noida in the outskirts of New Delhi, India, on June 15. Many parts of India are experiencing extreme heat conditions. AP/RS Iyer

I

t has been hotter in May in the past few years than in more than a century.

The world’s land and oceans combined to reach 60.13 degrees Fahrenheit (15.63 Celsius) in the month that just ended, or 1.67 degrees above the 20th century average, the National Centers for Environmental Information said in a statement last week.

That means the top-5 hottest Mays in records going back to 1880 have all occurred since 2015.

“What we have been seeing is the temperatures have been increasing, not only on a monthly, but annually and seasonally, as well,” said Ahira Sanchez-Lugo, a climatologist at the centers in Asheville, North Carolina.

Nine of the 10 warmest Mays occurred since 2010, with 1998 as the only outlier. “We have seen quite a spike since 2010 at least,” Sanchez-Lugo said.

While the rest of the world baked, the western US, central and

southeastern Canada, and northern and central Europe were actually cooler than average.

The lower readings and heavy rains were caused by a low pressure trough draped across the American continent that’s sent rivers over their banks, and left corn and soybean planting lagging the five-year average.

Northern Canada and Antarctica had temperatures rise about 7.2 degrees above normal in May. Year to date, 2019 is the thirdwarmest year on record and has a 99.9 percent chance of finishing in the top 5, Sanchez-Lugo said.

“We are virtually certain it is going to be a top 10 year,” she said.

“The trend is to continue to warm so that is how the temperatures are moving,” SanchezLugo said. “The rate of change is to continue to increase. I am not surprised by this year being a top 10 and most likely the next few years will be among the top 10.”

Bloomberg News

Siargao’s Cloud 9 in General Luna town is one of the most popular surfing spots in the world. Siargao Island is pushing toward sustainability with policies like the ban on single-use plastics, and by acquiring clean and renewable energy to power the island.

Siargao Island gets greener S

iargao Island in Surigao del Norte has been known for its pristine white beaches, marine life, rich mangrove forests— and world-class surfing spots.

With tourist arrivals expected to hit around half a million in 2019, the island’s leaders have started the path to sustainability.

In 2018, the municipality of Pilar passed an ordinance banning the use of single-use plastics—a pioneering move for the island whose biggest industry depends

on its rich natural resources.

The island’s power distributor, Siargao Electric Cooperative (Siarelco), pushed the sustainability envelope even further. The island—rated one of the world’s best in 2018 by prestigious travel magazine Condé Nast Traveler—is now mostly powered by clean and renewable energy.

“Siargao is one of the top tourist destinations. While we welcome more guests, local and foreign alike, we wanted to ensure that we continue to do our part

in taking care of our island,” said Siarelco General Manager Sergio C. Dagooc.

Siarelco’s demand for power has almost tripled in only three years to an estimated 8 megawatts to 9 MW this year. The majority of the island’s power supply come from the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management (PSALM), which is powered by the AgusPu lang i hydropower complex and the Mount Apo geothermal power plants.

With more trust should come less of a perceived need to overregulate and overtax,” Spiker added.

The goal of the five-page “social responsibility framework” is for the industry to be recognized for practices in good corporate citizenship.

It outlines guiding principles that include transparency and responsibility, such as prohibiting illicit sales to minors.

The group said its members have agreed to adhere to the guidelines that will set “a standard for the new and rapidly growing cannabis industry worldwide.”

While light on specifics, the document said members will develop polices to manage greenhouse-gas emissions, package materials that reduce the consumption of raw materials and follow farming practices that reduce environmental effects.

Other guidelines seek to promote responsible use, education and scientific research.

Wertman noted that the guidelines steered around sticky matters like labor practices and mentioned only lightly a touchstone issue in the industry: repairing the damage from decades of tough marijuana enforcement, even for minor infractions, which hit black and other minority communities hard.

The guidelines also could help businesses gain mainstream acceptance and shake off a lingering stoner stereotype the industry has sought to escape.

Morgan Fox, a spokesman for the National Cannabis Industry Association, said the industry has an opportunity “to set the standard for corporate responsibility and build an emphasis on ethical environmental, business and social practices into its foundation.” AP When it had the opportunity to get power from private suppliers, it added at least 1 MW from AboitizPower’s Hedcor hydropower plant in Bukidnon, under the company’s Cleanergy brand.

“After the ban on single-use plastics on the island last year, led by our local government, we take pride in contributing our sustainability efforts for Siargao by adding more renewable energy to our energy supply mix,” added Dagooc, an incoming congressman of the Party-list Association of Philippine Electric Cooperatives (Apec).

Siarelco entered into a renewable-energy supply contract with AboitizPower subsidiary Hedcor for 1 MW. The energy will come f rom the company’s recent ly completed hydropower plant in Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon.

“We are excited to be a partner of Siarelco in its efforts to make Siargao more sustainable.

This partnership highlights the high value that both Siarelco and AboitizPower place on sustainability, driven by our shared commitment to bettering the communities we serve,” said AboitizPower First Vice President Juan Alejandro Aboitiz for Energy Trading and Sales.

Aboitiz said an increasing number of distribution utilities and Open Access customers are seeing the opportunities brought by a push for sustainability.

Responding to this need is AboitizPower’s brand Cleanergy, coming from the company’s vast portfolio of geothermal, hydro and solar power plants located all over the country.

“With our portfolio and more than 50 years of experience in the energy sector, we are able to tailor fit solutions that will meet the demands of our customers,” Aboitiz added.

Hedcor is a whol ly ow ned subsidiary of AboitizPower that operates 21 run-of-river hydropower facilities across the country with a total installed capacity of 258 MW.

Biodiversity Monday BusinessMirror

Asean Champions of Biodiversity Media Category 2014

Monday, June 24, 2019

Editor: Lyn Resurreccion • www.businessmirror.com.ph

A9

Desertification ‘more dangerous than wars’

A

NKARA—Businesses are being encouraged to follow the lead of the youth to halt desertification, reduce degradation, improve agricultural sustainability and restore damaged lands.

“The youth is a very particular case. The youth give me a lot of hope because I see their passion, and I see their vision,” Ibrahim Thiaw, head of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), told Inter Press Service (IPS).

“For the youth it’s basically ‘I care for the planet, this is our future,’” Thiaw said.

23 hectares of land lost to desertification each minute

Each minute, 23 hectares of productive land and soil is lost to desertification, land degradation and drought, according to UN Environment Programme (Unep).

Thiaw said when this happens, young people are forced to leave their homeland, and most never return.

He said restoring land will help in reducing risks of irregular migration—a major component of population change in some countries.

According to a new UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs’ Population Division report launched on June 17, between 2010 and 2020 some 14 countries or areas will see a net inflow of more than 1 million migrants, while 10 countries will see a net outflow of similar magnitude.

“What is left for the young girl or young gentleman of Haiti if 98 percent of their forest have been degraded and they have barren hills that cannot generate food anymore? What is left for them to do but to flee?” Thiaw asked. “ T herefore, restor ing land would reduce migration, it will keep people on the ground, help them generate their own income and live their own lives. They don’t want to leave their families. They migrate because they have no choice. So, restoring land is also

sures before lands lose their productivity and become completely uninhabitable.

“While taking these measures, we must act in unison and adopt the principle that all lands around the world should be protected,” Pakdemirli added.

Degradation of land, not expansion of deserts

bringing stability in our countries,” he explained.

Grenada fighting desertification

Like Haiti, Grenada—another Caribbean Community memberstate—has seen its share of land degradation.

As countries observed World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought (WDCDD) on June 17, Grenada’s Minister of Agriculture and Lands Yolande BainHorsford said while soils and land continue to play an integral role in the economic shift that the island nation is experiencing today, these resources are under threat.

“The agricultural sector is a major contributor to national development through the provision of employment, household income, food and government revenues,” Bain-Horsford told IPS. “As we boast of the importance of this sector to our economies, unfortunately we must face the harsh reality of the challenges facing the sector, which include land degradation, lack of sustainable farming practices, climatic variations and droughts,” she said.

Bain-Horsford said Grenada has been spearheading the fight against desertification at local, regional and global levels.

Ambitious targets

Locally, the island nation has set ambitious targets to ensure it addresses and, in some cases, reverse the impacts of negative agricultural, construction and other actions that lead to desertification.

Some of the actions taken include the Cabinet approving Grenada’s Voluntary Land Degradation Neutrality targets that should be achieved by 2030.

To achieve the targets, Grenada has agreed to: n Increase the fertility and

Grenada has been spearheading the fight against desertification at local, regional and global levels. Desmond Brown/IPS

productivity of 580 hectares of cropland by 2030; n Transform 800 hectares of abandoned cropland into agroforestry by 2030; n Implement soil conservation measures on 120 hectares of land by 2030; n Rehabilitate 383 hectares of degraded land at Bellevue South in Carriacou by 2030; n Rehabilitate 100 hectares of degraded forests in Grenada and Carriacou by 2030; and n Increase forest carbon stocks by 10 percent by 2030.

T he island a lso completed and submitted its 2018 National Report on the state of land degradation, nationally linking it to gender and the Sustainable Development Goals 2030.

Mobilize communities, private investments

But Thiaw said land restoration cannot be left in the hands of governments alone, explaining that it will not be sufficient.

With 2 billion hectares of land in need of restoration, the UNCCD head said the best solution would be for the governments to not only mobilize communities, but also to mobilize private investments.

“As long as business does not see that investing on land and restoring land is a good business case, it will not happen,” Thiaw said.

“Governments will have to review some of the land-tenure systems that they have. It may be just a concession saying if you restore this land, I will give you the con-

cession over the land for the next 50 years or for the next 60 years.

Then they can harvest and they will leave the land restored rather than leaving it barren,” he added.

The government of Turkey hosted the three-day activities in observance of the 25th anniversary of the UNCCD and the WDCDD.

Silent danger

Turkey’s Agriculture and Forestry Minister Bekir Pakdemirli said countries are facing a silent danger that constantly grows and threatens the planet.

“This danger is indeed more dangerous and more insidious than wars,” he said. “This danger that takes our lands away, makes them unusable and risks our future is nothing but desertification.”

Pakdemirli said just as desertification is a disaster that threatens the entire world regardless of national borders, degraded and destroyed lands pose a direct threat to the lives of people living on land-based activities.

He said these social problems sometimes force people to migrate, especially in countries, such as Africa, that are most affected by the consequences of desertification.

“Nobody wants to leave the land where they were born, grew up and felt belonging to. Migration is a way to addressing the most desperate and needy situations,” Pakdemirli said “In such cases, children and women are viewed as the most vulnerable category of victims.

Therefore, before it is too late, we should take necessary mea-

Before listing the main causes and consequences of this mounting threat, people should know that, according to the UN, desertification does not refer to the expansion of deserts, but rather the degradation of land in arid, semiarid and dry subhumid areas, primarily as a result of human activities and climatic variations.

Now, alerting against such a disaster, specialized world bodies, like the UN, have just reported on the WDCDD, that as much as 24 billion tons of fertile land are lost—every single year.

Moreover, degradation in land quality is responsible for a reduction in the national domestic product of up to 8 percent—also every single year.

Among other consequences, desertification, land degradation and drought will increase forced migrations, and worsen the growing climate crisis.

The World Day, which raises awareness of international efforts to combat desertification, was established 25 years ago, along with the UNCCD, the sole legally binding international agreement linking environment and development to sustainable land management, the UN explained.

Three key issues

Running under the slogan “Let’s Grow the Future Together,” the 2019 World Day focused on the following three key issues as reported by the UNCCD in relation to land: drought, human security and climate.

Land and drought: By 2025, 1.8 billion people will experience absolute water scarcity, and two thirds of the world will be living under water-stressed conditions—when demand outstrips supply during certain periods.

It is a complex and slowly encroaching natural hazard with significant and pervasive socio-

economic and environmental impacts that to cause more deaths and displace more people than any other natural disaster; Land and human security: By 2045 some 135 million people may be displaced as a result of desertification.

Achieving land degradation neutrality—by rehabilitating already degraded land, scaling up sustainable land management and accelerating restoration initiatives—is a pathway to greater resilience and security for all, Land and Climate Change: Restoring the soils of degraded ecosystems has the potential to store up to 3 billion tons of carbon annually.

The land use sector represents almost 25 percent of total global emissions. Its rehabilitation and sustainable management is critical to combating climate change.

‘It isn’t just about sand’

Thiaw said there are only three things all people need to know about the World Day to Combat Desertification: n It isn’t just about sand: n It isn’t an isolated issue that will quietly disappear; and n It i s n’t some one e l s e ’s problem.

“It’s about restoring and protecting the fragile layer of land which only covers a third of the Earth, but which can either alleviate or accelerate the double-edged crisis facing our biodiversity and our climate,” Thiaw said.

Thiaw explained that “poor land management has degraded an area twice the size of China and shaped a farming sector that contributes nearly a quarter of all greenhouse gases.”

He added that there are even more stories about how half the people on the planet are affected by that damaged land or live in urban areas, consuming resources that require 200 times as much land as their towns and cities, and generating 70 percent of emissions.

“If we take action to restore our degraded land, it will save $1.3 billion…a day to invest in the education, equality and clean energy that can reduce poverty, conflict and environmental migration,” he said. Desmond Brown/IPS and Baher Kamal/ Human Wrongs Watch

Asean, Germany conclude cooperation project EDC joins global effort to save on econ development, biodiversity protection threatened tree species R A

fter four years of implementation, the Asean-German Cooperation Project, “Biodiversity-based Products (BBP) as an Economic Source for the Improvement of Livelihoods and Biodiversity Protection,” celebrated its success in a recent regional project closing event in the Lao PDR ancient capital of Luang Prabang.

The BBP Project was funded by the German government through the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, and implemented by the GFA Consulting Group and the Asean Centre for Biodiversity (ACB).

It piloted biodiversity-based product development in three Asean member-states (AMS) for the improvement of the livelihood of local communities living around protected areas, while at the same time ensuring that biodiversity is better protected.

Hosted by the government of Laos, the event brought together the stakeholders from Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, who have been part of the project since its inception in 2015.

Guests from other AMS were invited to participate in the discussions based on the stories shared by representatives from government offices, small-scale businesses and villages from the different pilot sites.

The event served as a venue for the officials from the ministries of Environment, Agriculture and Forestry, Trade, Science and Technology; national park management, private-sector partners; research and members of the village groups to exchange on further cooperation for the promotion of biodiversity-based products in Asean.

Souksamone Pathammavong, deputy director general of Planning and Cooperation of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources of Laos, opened the event.

Clarissa C. Arida, director of the Programme Development and Implementation Unit of the ACB, delivered the opening message on behalf of ACB Executive Director Dr. Theresa Mundita S. Lim. “Harnessing the potentials and benefits of products from natural resources through sustainable means is key to achieving the global goal of sustainable development, which encompasses three important dimensions: environmental, economic and social aspects,” Lim said in her message.

“In the Asean, we acknowledge the vital role and potential of biodiversity for socioeconomic development. We also recognize the important role of the private sector and local communities in conserving biodiversity and enhancing livelihood opportunities for a better quality of life,” she added.

“In all these pilot initiatives, a functioning ecosystem is a key to exploring sustainable economic opportunities. Adding value to a product and, at the same time, maintaining the value of nature is crucial to enhancing competitiveness from farm to markets. The ACB joins hands with GIZ and GFA in recognizing the milestones of the BBP project at the conclusion of this cooperation

project,” Lim said in her message.

Khamlay Sipaseuth, director of the Provincial Agriculture and Forestry Office Luang Namtha of Laos, and Dr. Dicky Simorangkir, program director of GIZ, also delivered their opening messages. The latter also gave a presentation on the overview of the GIZ program, including the BBP component.

Bianca Schlegel, project manager from GFA Consulting Group, provided a brief introduction to what biodiversity-based products are, and on value chains.

Value chain experiences and lessons learned on developing the black ginger, vine, bamboo, local herbs, honey and medicinal bath herbs product value chains were presented by Bopreang Ken, deputy director of the Department of Biodiversity General Secretarial for the National Council for Sustainable Development in the Ministry of Environment of Cambodia; Oukeo Xayatham, deputy head of the Nam Ha National Protected Area of Laos; Pham Van Nam, vice director of Ba Be National Park of Vietnam; Tam Thanh Nguyen, deputy head of Financial Planning of Hoang Lien National Park in Vietnam; and Nguyen Van Hieu, director of

Geoinformatics Research Center Thai Nguyen University of Agriculture and Forestry in Vietnam.

Christian Elloran, database specialist from the Biodiversity Information Management Unit of the ACB, gave an overview of the BBP Project’s web platform and its contents, and shared its use to the AMS. On the other hand, Elpidio Peria, program specialist from the Programme Development and Implementation Unit of ACB, provided a presentation, titled ”The Mainstreaming of Biodiversity across Sectors through Promotion of Biodiversity Value Chains.” He discussed the different ways on how mainstreaming of biodiversity-based products into policy can be achieved, and how the ACB support the AMS in these actions.

Other highlights of the project closing event included an exhibition area where the BBP Project stakeholders were able to showcase and sell their products.

It also launched the BBP Project Video, which featured the stories of villagers from all the pilot sites in the three AMS, as well as messages from officials from the relevant government organizations.

enewable energy leader and geothermal producer, Energy Development Corp.

(EDC) was tapped as the first and only local partner for Global Tree Assessment program (GTA).

Th e B o t a n i c G a rd e n s Co n s e r vat i o n International (BGCI), the world’s largest plant conservation network, and the secretariat of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) made the significant move.

IUCN is the global authority on the status of the natural world and the measures needed to safeguard it, such as data gathering and analysis, research, field projects, advocacy and education.

Through GTA, BGCI aims to come up with the world’s first global list of tree species and their conservation assessments by 2020.

According to BGCI, only 25,000 of the world’s 80,000 tree species have been assessed globally or nationally for their risk of extinction. Through EDC’s Binhi corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative, BGCI will be able to obtain information on 800 Philippine endemic tree species.

Binhi is EDC’s flagship environmental program since 2011 that has successfully reforested 9,500 hectares with indigenous species, and has also succeeded in searching, sampling and propagating 96 premium native tree species under threat of extinction.

Most recently, as par t of Binhi’s aim to upgrade the conservation status of 35 species, EDC submitted data on five endemic Xanthostemon species to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), as

well as to the IUCN, which paved the way for the partnership.

Under the partnership, EDC will receive a grant of £16,160 or more than P1 million over a two-year period.

BGCI will also train the Binhi team, its partner organizations and the DENR on the IUCN Red List methodology, a vigorous and internationally respected procedure following strict guidelines and data requirements on extinction risk assessments.

“We want to enhance and harness the Philippines’s expertise and share it with the world. Hopefully, the Red List Assessments we’re producing for the Philippines will enable us to do that, to share what you’re learning in the Philippines with the world through our networks,” said visiting BGCI conservation specialist Megan Barstow.

For EDC, the partnership boosts ongoing efforts to protect the environment, promote s u s t a i n a b l e p ro g re s s a n d a d d re s s a n unprecedented pace of species extinction.

“This partnership with the IUCN and BGCI could not have come at a more opportune time.

We welcome the privilege—albeit the daunting task of being the Philippines’s first and only assessor of 800 native trees species,” said EDC Chairman and Chief Executive Federico Lopez.

“The engagement can only take EDC’s biodiversity conversation programs several steps further as we learn best practices in proper global tree assessment and link up with BGCI’s network and other botanic gardens all over the world,” Lopez said.

A10 Monday, June 24, 2019 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

editorial

Goldilocks economy

‘T

HE Story of the Three Bears” is one of the most popular fairy tales in the English language. It has evolved over the past century to tell the story of a young girl who wanders into the house of a family of bears. She finds three bowls of porridge, and one is too hot, one too cold and one “just right.”

This past week Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin Diokno described the current Philippine economic condition.

He said that the Philippine economy has entered “a state of having ‘just the right’ mix of high growth and low inflation.”

While an oversimplification, from a central banker’s point of view, the “Goldilocks” idea of inflation/economic growth is exactly the objective. In this age of manually controlled interest rates and money supply, this is the mix that the BSP is looking for.

It is similar to the operation of an internal combustion engine. For the engine to function efficiently there must be a balance between the amount of air and the amount of fuel. Monetary policy is aiming for just enough inflation to create investment and spending today rather than waiting for tomorrow. Japan has lived through decades of flat economic growth because consumers in particular felt no urgency to buy today. If you know that the price of a refrigerator will be higher next year, then you might make a purchase now rather than later.

However, we also need to look at the balance—the Goldilocks effect—in relation to other economies. Maybe it was “just right” for Goldilocks because she had low tolerance for hot and cold temperatures. How is the Philippine economy balanced?

The monetary policy of similar economies is now geared to lower interest rates, and the cost of money in general. Policy-makers in Russia, India, Sri Lanka and Chile all cut their key policy interest rates. Like the BSP, the Reserve Bank of India has also signaled future interest-rate decreases.

But the current data shows that the Philippine economy is just right based on a variety of factors. However, we need to look at nations such Egypt, Turkey, Malaysia, and also China and South Korea.

All these economies have various inflation rates and economic growth, therefore having different policy goals. But those policies also depend on current conditions. Nominal interest rates range from 66 percent in Argentina to 1 percent in Hungary. The Philippines is slightly lower than the middle of the group.

Real Interest Rates taking into account inflation go from Argentina’s 13 percent to negative 3 percent in Hungary. The Philippines is slightly above the middle at 2+ percent. Currency movement against the US dollar shows the peso with slight appreciation than the others for the past month. The same is true for the increase in our local stock market. Also important and interesting is that the market interest rate on Philippine government debt denominated in US dollars is exactly in the middle, tracking the move of US government debt perfectly, as does Indonesian debt.

The point is that in comparison with our economic peers, Governor Diokno is correct. The internals show that overall, the Philippine economy is performing just right in regard to those factors that are influenced by BSP monetary policy.

Since 2005

All about Libra, the new digital currency Atty. Jose Ferdinand M. Rojas II

RISING SUN

J

UST last week Facebook announced that it will be launching Libra, its own cryptocurrency, next year. What’s promising about Libra is that it can be used by people who don’t have credit cards and bank accounts. And we all know that there are just too many people who fall under this category. They need ways to transact online: pay for goods and services, send money to friends and relatives. Presently, the systems that support these kinds of transactions offer limited value, or are sometimes more expensive.

Libra is being compared to bitcoin and to PayPal, but the difference is that the rules are not that strict. A PayPal account, for example, needs to be linked to a bank account. With Libra, all you need is a mobile phone and Internet connection. Plus, transactions done using Libra will be way cheaper than other means outside the banking and credit-card systems.

David Fickling

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just by texting. And the value of this currency? It’s based on an existing currency, like the dollar.

Apparently, there are quite a few reasons Libra will most likely click with Pinoys. We’ll find out next year when it launches. nnn

THE 34th Asean Summit just recently finished in Thailand. Southeast Asian leaders gathered in Bangkok to talk about trade, the South China Sea and ocean pollution, among other things. As of this writing, the leaders are expected to sign a “Bang-

kok Declaration,” a move to fight ocean waste. Another highlight, of course, is the talks on trade, especially amidst the trade war going on between the US and China. Exportled economies are facing uncertain times because of this.

The Asean leaders seem eager to hasten the approval of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which covers India, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and the Asean members.

China drafted this commercial deal after Trump decided to pull out from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

RCEP is, therefore, seen by the Asean economies as key to economic recovery, which will help increase trade volume.

In the past, India, New Zealand and Australia expressed concern over some aspects of the trade deal. But further negotiations are happening later in the year, including the signatory economies outside of Asean.

After this, everyone expects that RCEP will be signed and new rules of trade will then be in effect in the Asia-Pacific region.

Global population could peak sooner than we think

BusinessMirror A broader look at today’s business Publisher

Libra Association is handling the new digital currency, under the leadership of Facebook. The other players include eBay, PayPal, Spotify, Uber and other companies. To be able to use Libra, one needs to download a wallet/app, Calibra. For starters, Facebook is planning to incorporate the app within Messenger and WhatsApp so people can easily use it

Libra is being compared to bitcoin and to PayPal, but the difference is that the rules are not that strict. A PayPal account, for example, needs to be linked to a bank account. With Libra, all you need is a mobile phone and Internet connection. Plus, transactions done using Libra will be way cheaper than other means outside the banking and credit-card systems.

S

INCE the days of Thomas Malthus, we’ve worried that overpopulation is about to overwhelm our planet.

Those fears haven’t gone away. A further 2 billion people will be added to the current world population of 7.7 billion by 2050, the United Nations Population Division said in a report this week. Numbers will still be rising as the total approaches 11 billion people in 2100, according to the UN’s central forecast.

Agricultural productivity has confounded Malthus’s predictions by keeping the world’s population well fed despite its headlong growth in the past century. Still, a further 40percent increase in the number of humans would put fresh pressure on the globe’s 33 million square kilometers of agricultural land—not to mention a climate that’s already at risk from population levels.

At the same time, signs are starting to emerge that this picture may be too pessimistic. Malthus’s key error was his failure to foresee how fertility rates would fall with increasing incomes – and the pace of change on that front has been staggering in recent years.

While India is forecast to overtake China as the world’s most populous country around 2027, its number of inhabitants will start to level off by mid-century thanks to a fertility rate

that’s already fallen to 2.24 births per woman, around where Ireland was in the late 1980s. By 2025 the rate will fall to 2.14, roughly the levels at which population hits a steady state.

Other large countries in Asia have seen even sharper declines. The rate of 2.05 in Bangladesh is already below where it was in the US during the mid-2000s. Thailand’s 1.53 is barely higher than Japan’s, at 1.37. Of the world’s top 30 countries by population, 19 are already around or below replacement-level fertility.

The exception is sub-Saharan Africa. More than half the growth the UN expects to see in the global population up to 2050 will happen there. From about one-seventh of the world’s population at present, the region will grow to account for a fifth in 2050, and a third in 2100, according to the latest forecast. In Nigeria, where the fertility rate is 5.4, there

are about 43 million women between the ages of 15 and 45, and a further 43 million who’ll hit childbearing age by the mid-2030s.

Bullish expectations for African population growth depend on the idea that the region is fundamentally different from the rest of the emerging world. Demographic transition— the process whereby countries switch from high to low fertility rates as they urbanize and women get better access to education, contraception and employment—is expected to play out there in a unique way.

While most Asian, Latin American and Middle Eastern countries took about two decades to make the transition to fewer than three children per woman from more than five, the UN expects sub-Saharan African countries to take almost twice as long. Indonesia made the switch in just over 16 years; Tanzania is expected to take about 50.

Is that forecast right? There’s reason to think that after overestimating the pace of African fertility decline in previous decades, demographers are now underestimating it. If most countries in the region haven’t started a steep drop yet, it’s plausible that in most cases it’s because most countries have only just hit the sub-five levels at which the process starts to gather pace. Those that reached that point early, such as Botswana, South Africa and Kenya, seem to be transitioning at a similar pace to countries elsewhere.

Sharp improvements in infant mortality also suggest a change

may be around the corner. One tragic reason that African women have so many children is that so many of them die before their fifth birthday. But there’s now only a handful of countries where the chance of that happening is higher than 8 percent, roughly the level at which fertility rates start to fall.

Fewer infant deaths and mouths to feed will mean less heartache and stress for African families. At the same time, a proportionately larger working-age population will help generate the “demographic dividend” experienced by other countries at their most rapid stages of development, a boon that some analysts have feared Africa may miss out on.

Beyond that, population growth more in line with the rest of the world will put less pressure on the planet’s climate and farmland.

To be sure, fertility rates are unpredictable. The availability of contraception in west and central Africa is still shockingly low by global standards, as is female education; 31 of the 39 countries where less than half of girls enroll in secondary school are in sub-Saharan Africa. Health-care improvements can be reversed, too, while chaos and conservative social policies can cause birth rates to spike, as has happened in Egypt since the Arab Spring.

Still, those who fear a Malthusian outcome for the world’s population should think twice. Shrinking families confounded his grim predictions about the world’s future. The same may go for our current forecasts.

Opinion BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Leadership in the eyes of accountants

Waging a war!

Siegfred Bueno Mison, Esq.

THE PATRIOT

John Paolo L. Leynes

DEBIT CREDIT

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EADERS today are becoming more transformative in innovation, empowered in raising morale, and responsive in devising complex situations. Leaders are good not because they are always right but because they are willing to learn. A leader’s openness to change allows him to map out his art of creative leadership.

As accountants, one of the many aspects of our professional life is to stay abreast with the practice. This also includes the appreciation for developing leadership skills. However, most accountants think that they are not well suited for such concept because of the notion that accountants are better off computing until the wee hours of the night. My two years of professional practice life witnessed how harnessing leadership skills not only allows us to stretch the abilities we have already synthesized, but also prepare us for future professional opportunities.

When accountants are clustered, various approaches to leadership can be seen. From being too passive to severely chaotic, accountants are really fluid as to what side of the spectrum they want to be at. No two leadership situations are alike. This is because of the variables involved, such as human complication, the work environment and numerous circumstances. With that being said, these situational-driven circumstances indicate that there is no tailored-fit leadership style.

The Situational Theory of Leadership by Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard is a model that argued that there is no single best style of leadership. The fundamental principle centers on how flexible leaders can be given the different kinds of situation at hand. Such flexibility requires genuine responses to failure, firm guidance during times of adversity and sincere accolades for success. It boils down to being flexible in thought, in response and in action.

The workplace celebrates when the team that comprises it brings diverse sets of skills to the table. It is up to leaders to uncover, evaluate and strengthen each unique ability. An example would be having members possessing astounding technical skills, but one has better communication skills over the other. A flexible leader is required to know how and when to use his members’ skill.

Times have become too rapid and dynamic. Intensified political views, cultural progression,

When accountants are clustered, various approaches to leadership can be seen. From being too passive to severely chaotic, accountants are really fluid as to what side of the spectrum they want to be at.

No two leadership situations are alike. This is because of the variables involved, such as human complication, the work environment and numerous circumstances. changes in industry, and customer demands all point to a direction where leaders who are able to respond appropriately are needed.

As social media, technology, and worldviews march forward, flexible leadership is and will be challenged on how it will adapt to such.

Everyone begins here. No accountant is already on the top of his game upon commission to the corporate life. Leaders started from soliciting feedback. Personally, this is my favorite part of developing my leadership skills. Constructive criticisms helped me to become contemplative in my work ethics. Additionally, it increased the trust and the level of camaraderie I have with my team members. A true flexible leader pays attention to all aspects in a situation. It is then one can push the edge of his comfort zone.

I have a long way to go, but I have decided to invest in nurturing this skill. Becoming an effective flexible leader takes time, patience, trial and error, and experiences. What is important is that I continually seek the opportunity to learn in each scenario I face every day.

John Paolo L. Leynes is a Certified Public Accountant who passed the May 2017 licensure examination. He is also a Certified Management Accountant who passed the June 2017 certification. He is currently a Tax Associate at Reyes Tacandong & Co. This column accepts contributions from accountants, especially articles that are of interest to the accountancy profession, in particular, and to the business community, in general. These can be e-mailed to boa.secretariat@gmail.com.

Conclusion

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ONTINUING from the MOOSE (Mass, Objective, Offensive, Security, Economy of Force) MUSS (Maneuver, Unity of Command, Surprise, Simplicity) from last column, Maneuver as a principle of war, implies mobility to either outflank or place the enemy at a disadvantage in terms of position. In the Battle of Thermopylae, a small force composed of soldiers from Greek city-states (Sparta being the most known then) and led by Leonidas managed to initially repel a large Persian Army led by Xerxes. Leonidas strategically selected a narrow and constricted passage in Thermopylae to neutralize the numerical superiority of the Persian Army. However, as depicted in the Hollywood movie, 300, Leonidas and his men were eventually defeated when Xerxes managed to outflank the small yet stubborn Spartan resistance.

Maneuver was exhibited twice in this battle; first, by the Spartans in choosing a narrow passageway and second, by the Persians, when, through an act of treachery by one Greek, exploited a flanking movement.

Unity of Command simply means that there should be one commander responsible to make decisions and/or to execute the plans. For every task, there should be one PPR, “person of principal responsibility,” who is not only authorized but is expected to be in charge of all assets under him to accomplish the objective. When Tata Motors, an Indian company that specialized in cheap cars, acquired the Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) luxury brand more than 10 years ago, business insiders were not as optimistic since the iconic automakers in the UK

had already failed. Applying unity of command, Tata’s management style called for a decentralized decisionmaking whereby JLR managers, designated as PPR in their areas, were not micromanaged by the new leaders of Tata. I can only surmise that these JLR dealers, virtually at odds with Tata’s different business practices, managed to have a financial turnaround principally because they were given enough responsibility, authority and freedom to make critical decisions at their own respective dealerships.

Professional who?

Dr. Jesus Lim Arranza

MAKE SENSE

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HE substitution bid of former National Youth Commission Chairman Ronald Cardema as first nominee of the Party-list group Duterte Youth, a few days before the 2019 midterm election, looks like a repeat of the 2016 election where the professional sector might have also been hustled.

In the 2016 election, the LPGMA Party-list group, which is composed of liquefied petroleum gas dealers for its members, presented itself as representatives of the small professionals during Commission on Elections (Comelec) deliberations for its accreditation as a party-list group.

And while Sixto Brillantes, even as Comelec chairman then, questioned the character of LPGMA’s claim that it represented the small professionals, the group nevertheless got the

Comelec en banc’s nod. It was, after all, based on a collegial decision.

But like Brillantes, I am also in limbo on how the professional group can be categorized into big and small professionals. Of course, we have the health professionals, the engineers, accountants, lawyers and many more. But not one of them, I believe, can claim that they are the big professionals. Neither do their Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) licenses

Monday, June 24, 2019 A11

Surprise, as a principle of war, is achieved by striking the enemy, within the company or your competition, at a time and place and in a manner that he least expects. In mergers and acquisitions, the term “dawn raid” refers to the sudden purchase by a potential acquirer of a substantial number of a target company’s shares the moment the stock market opens. Viewed as one of the more effective methods that lead to a hostile takeover, a dawn raid is a preliminary operation to get a significant proportion of a company’s shares in anticipation to acquire the rest of the company.

Finally, simplicity entails the preparation of clear and uncomplicated orders to insure thorough understanding. When there are too many moving parts, when there are too many chefs preparing the broth, when there are too many specifics of a plan that curtail flexibility, then the war plan is doomed to fail. Men on the ground should be given a briefing before and after the operation for them to understand objectives of the mission and the lessons learned for future operations.

War was a very recurrent event throughout the Biblical times. A distinct yet not tangible advantage was given to those who trusted in God. One of my favorite battle verses is found in 2 Chronicles 20:17, which said, “You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you, Judah and Jerusalem.

Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you.” But having faith in God does not necessarily mean one has to go to war!

American statesman and general Colin Powell, who occupied various significant positions including Secretary of State and National Security Adviser, once said: “War should be the politics of last resort. And when we go to war, we should have a purpose that our people understand and support.” Reasons for going to war must be explained to those who will be affected by it—the soldiers on the ground and the taxpayers who will finance it, so that the war effort can be sustained. Communications play an important role in any war effort.

We have to be mindful that everybody loses in a war. While one side can claim victory in terms of territorial gains or human casualties, inevitably, both sides would have suffered losses. For instance, the Battle of the Somme, one of the bloodiest campaigns during World War 1, was claimed as a victory for the Allied forces at a cost of 600,000 human casualties while the Germans lost 550,000 lives during the 141 days of trench warfare. The effects of war are also felt in terms of financial costs.

For example, the desert campaigns of the United States in Iraq have been estimated to cost more than $1 trillion in a span of seven years although the direct cost was pegged only at $757.8 billion, according to a US Defense Report.

Whether the war is waged in the context of a military battle or in a corporate buyout or acquisition, or in the field of sports competition, applying the principles of war complemented with faith in our Greatest Ally above will secure victory no matter what.

indicate anything about big and small professional groups.

This time, Cardema is claiming to represent the young professionals. A desperate move, perhaps, to save his substitution bid as first nominee for the party-list group Duterte Youth.

Cardema’s substitution bid is being questioned because, at age 34, he is no longer qualified to represent the youth. The Party List System Act provides that a nominee of the youth sector must not be more than 30 years old.

And still consistent with his earlier position on the LPGMA party-list group Comelec accreditation, Brillantes believes that Cardema’s substitution as Duterte Youth group’s first nominee is invalid, as it violates the Party List System Act. Fortunately for us in the professional sector, we have the likes of former Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes who remains steadfast in his position that professionals can only be categorized based on certain specific fields of specialization, training and education, and not based on big

or small, and even young or old.

I am just amazed at how semantics can conveniently be exploited to suit one’s need. Anyway, kudos to Commissioner Brilliantes for living up to the honor and dignity of professionals.

After all, professions are hard earned. These are titles that are gained not only by spending a lot of money, but through hard work and a lot of sacrifices, as well. Claiming that some professionals are big, small, young and old is practically a disservice and an insult to the real professionals.

This should not be used to circumvent the strict classification of sectors that can qualify under the party-list system, as mandated by the Constitution and enabling laws and jurisprudence.

For questions and comments, please e-mail me at sbmison@gmail.com.

Dr. Arranza is the chairman of the Federation

of Philippine Industries and Fight Illicit Trade, a broad-based, multisectoral movement intended to protect consumers, safeguard government revenues and shield legitimate industries from the ill effects of smuggling.

What’s wrong with modern buildings? Everything, starting with how they’re made

By Reed Landberg & Jeremy Hodges Bloomberg Opinion

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MBEDDED in the sleek lines and elegant cantilevers of modern buildings sprouting up in city centers is a huge amount of pollution.

Whether it’s the distinctive Shard skyscraper in London or the World Trade Center in New York, modern structures rely on cement and steel. And while those materials may look benign, making each involves chemical processes that throw off tons of carbon dioxide in addition to the energy they consume.

Construction is responsible for 11 percent of global carbon emissions, according to a report from C40, a group of leading metropolitan authorities. Those figures underscore how efforts to rein in greenhouse gases will touch almost every part of the economy. After concentrating on the energy industry, policy-makers now are scrutinizing buildings as a major source of pollution, prompting companies from steelmaker ThyssenKrupp AG to cement supplier LafargeHolcim Ltd. to look for greener alternatives.

“Everyone’s aware that we use

electricity and energy to heat our homes and turn our lights on, but they might not have thought that loads of energy is needed in all the materials required to build the building in the first place,” said John Barrett, professor at the school of Earth and environment at Leeds University in northern England. “It’s a massive issue.”

A significant part of a building’s lifetime carbon footprint is locked into the materials used in the structure. Those “embodied emissions” are not regulated by anyone, according to the UK Green Buildings Council, which brings together 400 designers, construction companies and property developers.

One example it noted was the Leadenhall Building in London’s financial district, known for its cheese grater silhouette. Its construction required emissions of 92,210 tons of carbon, the council said in a report citing data from the building’s developer, British Land Co. That’s about the same as the annual emissions of 20,000 cars. About 60 percent of that came from steel and cement.

By switching to greener versions for the materials that go into construction and improving efficiency, lifetime

emissions for buildings can be slashed 44 percent by 2050 if local governments and mayors push through ambitious climate rules to reduce the harm cities have on the environment.

“Material efficiency is the real win,” said Christina Lumsden, an energy consultant at the construction company Arup Group in London. “Low carbon cement as a real potential solution.”

Those are the findings of a report by C40, designers Arup Group Ltd. and Leeds University, which examined where emissions are coming from in 96 of the world’s largest cities. C40 is a network of cities committed to fighting climate change. Michael Bloomberg, the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, is president of the group’s board of directors.

Emissions from making the cement, steel and rubber materials that are used in construction make up 60 percent of a building’s emissions taken across extraction, transport and on-site, the report said. Almost half of the source emissions from buildings come from fossil fuel extraction and electricity.

Steel beams support many commercial buildings and an increasing number

of homes. Making them is one of the most polluting industrial processes.

A number of steps in the manufacturing process put CO2 into the air, the most significant being when iron is extracted from its ore in a blast furnace. Heated to more than 1,000 degrees Celsius (1,832 Fahrenheit), the furnace draws in both iron ore and carbon, often in the form of coal. Baking the two together makes pure iron plus carbon dioxide.

For each ton of steel produced, about 1.83 tons of carbon leak into the atmosphere, according to the World Steel Association. That’s more than the emissions from the average US car driven from New York to Salt Lake City and back, based on data from the US Energy Information Administration.

Modern skyscrapers have thousands of tons of steel. London’s 95-floor Shard has 500 tons of the metal in its 66-meter spire alone, according to its Montrealbased structural engineer, WSP. Companies such as ThyssenKrupp are looking at using hydrogen instead of coal to purify iron ore, which would slash emissions. That would require making big quantities of hydrogen, which requires energy. Another solu-

tion is finding ways to use less steel or other materials.

“It might require 10 to 20 years before we really see the roll-out,” Andrew Purvis, director of safety, health and environment at the World Steel Association, said by phone from Brussels.

Cement making is another massively polluting process. It requires baking limestone, or calcium carbonate, at more than 1,400 degrees Celsius until it turns to a material called clinker, the key ingredient that makes concrete harden.

The kilns used to break carbon out of the limestone release CO2. They also need a great deal of energy to operate.

Each ton of cement produces about half a ton of CO2, according to the Global Concrete & Cement Association. About 13 tons fit in the average cement truck.

Cement alone is responsible for about 7 percent of the world’s carbon emissions, the IEA estimates. And many modern buildings are using more cement.

While the old World Trade Center buildings were supported by external steel columns, the new one finished in 2016 has a concrete core rising to the uppermost floors in the 104-story structure, the engineer WSP says on its web

site. About 200,000 yards of concrete were used, enough to build a sidewalk from New York to Chicago, according to its developer, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

Lafarge, based in Switzerland, and companies such as Wagners Holding Co. in Australia are looking at ways to reduce the amount of clinker in cement and also to find substitutes like fly ash or blast furnace slag.

“We have done a lot as a sector, but acknowledge more has to be done to achieve the targets in the Paris Agreement,” said Claude Lorea, cement director at the Global Cement & Concrete Association.

“We are working hard to reduce our direct emissions but collaboration across the built environment is also hugely important. The whole value chain using all possible levers will be how we can make the most progress.”

Policy-makers are looking for solutions, and industry and research groups are coming up with suggestions. Their challenge is to balance the environment against the needs of the population for more infrastructure. They’re confronting forecasts that pollution from building materials will only expand.

2nd Front Page BusinessMirror

A12 Monday, June 24, 2019

Restraint in South China Sea Asean’s mantra once again

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By Bernadette D. Nicolas

@BNicolasBM

OUTHEAST Asian leaders, including President Duterte, have vowed to exercise selfrestraint in the conduct of activities in the South China Sea as they agreed to “avoid actions that may further complicate the situation.”

All the 10 leaders attended the 34th Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit (Asean) in Thailand.

In the Asean Leaders’ Vision Statement on Partnership for Sustainability, all the 10 leaders also agreed to “work actively toward the full and effective implementation of the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea in its entirety,” as well as the “early conclusion of an effective

Code of Conduct.”

They also affirmed the importance of maintaining and promoting peace, security, stability, safety and freedom of navigation in, and overf lights above the South China Sea, and vowed to pursue peaceful resolution of disputes in accordance with international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos).

The Philippines is the chair of

the Asean-China Dialogue for Partnership from 2018-2021.

Asean has failed to come up with a Code to Conduct for more than a decade, even under the Philippines’s chairmanship of the annual summit in 2017.

Last year the President said he will push for the Code of Conduct “at all costs” but noted that the country is tied to a Mutual Defense Treaty with US, which keeps it from telling the Western superpower to stay away.

The President’s attendance at the Summit in Bangkok comes on the heels of controversy surrounding the sinking of a Filipino fishing vessel that was hit by a Chinese fishing vessel. A huge uproar has greeted not just news of the “allusion,”—with some critics insisting it was a ramming—but also the Chinese side’s abandonment of 22 Filipino fishermen as their boat sank. They were rescued hours later by Vietnamese fishermen.

The Philippine government has

since condemned the abandonment of the Filipino fishermen in distress although President Duterte has yet to publicly express his outrage against China over the incident.

Duterte has also accepted China’s offer to conduct a joint probe on what really transpired on June 9 in Recto Bank.

Before he departed for the Asean Summit last Friday, the President said he will be posing a question on whether it is right for China to claim all of the ocean.

The President also said he is not afraid of China, but that Filipinos may die helplessly if both nations will go to war over the territorial dispute. A diplomatic protest has been filed by the Philippines against China over the June 9 Recto Bank incident.

Although the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration issued a landmark decision in 2016 invalidating China’s “excessive” claims to the West Philippine Sea, China has opted not to recognize the arbitral ruling.

BOC starts imposing 5% tariff on chicken MDM

By Rea Cu

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@ReaCuBM

HE Bureau of Customs (BOC) is now implementing the 5-percent tariff rate on mechanically deboned meat (MDM) of chicken and turkey after President Duterte issued an executive order (EO) retaining the lower tariff rate on MDM. The BOC issued Customs Memorandum Circular (CMC) 144-2019, which called for the collection of a 5-percent tariff on MDM, pursuant

to EO 82 signed by the President on June 13.

A separate memo was issued by the BOC’s Management Information System and Technology Group (MISTG), which instructed the bureau’s employees and district subport collectors to collect a tariff rate of only 5 percent on MDM. “In accordance with CMC 1442019 dated June 18, 2019, please be informed that this office [MISTG] has implemented the modified nomenclature and rate of import duty in the E2M system pursuant to the

executive order effective June 19, 2019,” BOC Deputy Commissioner Allan C. Geronimo said in the memo.

The E2M (electronic-to-mobile) system was rolled out by the BOC in 2008 to streamline imports and exports processing.

BOC Public Information and Assistance Division chief Administrative Officer Elenita Abaño told the BusinessMirror via SMS that the lower tariff rate on MDM has already been encoded in the bureau’s system. It was supposed to

take effect on June 19.

With this, the BOC will no longer collect a 40-percent tariff on chicken MDM. The BOC had issued a memorandum dated May 23, which authorized the collection of a 40-percent tariff on MDM. The bureau argued that the reversion of MDM tariff to 40 percent was in accordance with the law. It cited in particular EO 23 issued by the President in 2017, which stipulated that concessionary rates on certain agricultural products See “BOC,” A5

96 immigration intelligence men shuffled at Naia LOW PRESSURE AREA ESTIMATED AT 890 KM EAST NORTHEAST OF GUIUAN, EASTERN SAMAR as of 4:00 am - June 23, 2019

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HE Bureau of Immigration (BI) said on Sunday it has shuffled nearly a hundred of its intelligence officers assigned at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) as part of measures to prevent corruption at the airports.

BI Port Operations Division (POD) Chief Grifton Medina said the reshuffle covers a total of 96 immigration intelligence officers, agents and job order employees assigned to the bureau’s border control and intelligence unit (BCIU) at the Naia.

The revamp took place two weeks ago upon the issuance of a directive from BI Commissioner Jaime Morente.

Morente directed the POD to rotate the terminal assignments of BCIU personnel whose primary tasks are to monitor and profile alien passengers and assist immigration officers in detecting suspected human-trafficking victims.

“We are continuously reshuffling and rotating the assignments of our airport personnel to reenergize our work force, eliminate boredom, and enable our employees to take on new tasks and responsibilities that will enable them to gain added experience and skills,” Medina said.

Medina said the continuous reshuffle of BI personnel at the country’s airports are also intended to improve their services.

The official noted BCIU personnel at the Naia have not been shuffled for nearly three years, during which time each of them reported to only one of the three Naia terminals.

“Henceforth, the BI will rotate the terminal assignments of its BCIU personnel quarterly, similar to the rotation scheme being implemented for BI officers manning immigration booths at the Naia,” he said.

Medina said the rotation of the BI officers was overdue, but the agency had to wait for the lifting of the ban on transfer of government employees during the recent election period.

Joel R. San Juan, Recto L. Mercene

www.businessmirror.com.ph

UMAK TOURISM COED CROWNED MISS MAKATI

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N 18-year-old Tourism student at the University of Makati (UMak), Micah Beatrice Santos from Barangay West Rembo, has been crowned Miss Makati 2019, besting 23 other candidates at the coronation night held on Friday at the Makati Coliseum.

Makati Mayor Abby Binay said the newly crowned Miss Makati 2019 impressed the judges with her striking beauty, self-confidence, and intelligence, which have made her an ideal partner of the city government in promoting a “smart, sustainable and future-ready Makati.”

“Miss Makati 2019 has risen above the challenges she has faced and turned these into opportunities to grow and become a stronger and better person. I am confident that she will be able to fulfill her crucial role

in accelerating Makati’s transformation as a Smart City,” the mayor said.

Miss Ma k at i 2019, she added, will serve as the city’s ambassador of goodwill while inspiring fellow young Makatizens to strive for excellence and take an active part in citybuilding, as defined by the 2019 pageant theme, “Creating the Future Now.” Santos, who is also the current titleholder of Miss UMak 2019, won the “Miss Photogenic” award during the pageant finale. She stated that her advocacy is to campaign against bullying, having been a victim of bullies herself, and vowed to help fellow victims overcome adversity.

Mayor Abby, accompanied by Miss Makati 2018 Karla O’Hara and Rep. Luis Campos, crowned Miss Makati 2019.

Senators nix joint inquiry into Recto Bank incident

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ESPITE President Duterte’s preference for a joint inquiry—albeit, with a neutral third-party participating—senators at the weekend shot down a joint inquiry with China into the June Recto Bank incident involving a Chinese vessel that hit a Filipino fishing boat in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), then abandoning 22 Filipino fishermen as their boat sank.

The 22 Filipinos were later rescued by Vietnamese fishermen.

Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon warned over the weekend that such a joint inquiry could “prejudice the Philippines’s maritime claim” over the West Philippine Sea, even as President Duterte was reported, at the sidelines of the Asean meeting in Ba ngkok , to h ave accepted Beijing’s bid to join the investigation.

“We should not allow it,” said Drilon, referring to Beijing’s pitch for a joint investigation. Earlier, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin Jr., also shot down the notion of a joint inquiry.

Asserting that “the law is on our side,” Drilon pointed out that “there are clear violations of international treaties and our local laws committed by the Chinese vessel.”

He warned that “a joint investigation will only serve their interest, not ours.”

The Senate Minority Leader, who served as Secretary of Justice in a previous administration, voiced concerns that “a joint investigation would derogate our jurisdiction and prejudice our claim in the WPS.” He recalled that in 2016 the Permanent Court of Arbitration already agreed with the Philippines’s claim that “China has unlawfully interfered with the enjoyment and exercise of the sovereign rights of the Philippines”

with respect to the resources of its exclusive economic zone, adding that the “Recto Bank is part of the country’s EEZ.” Drilon continued: “All that is left for the government to do is to implement and execute our laws.

Sadly, our laws were put in the backseat in favor of China. Drilon added that “aside from violation of international treaties, there are clear violations of the country’s laws.”

The senator cited the Philippine Fisheries Code which, he noted, limits access to the country’s fishery and aquatic resources “for the exclusive use and enjoyment of Filipinos” and asserts the country’s jurisdiction over Philippine waters, including the country’s 200-nautical-mile EEZ and continental shelf.

He added that the Chinese vessel that rammed the Philippine fishing vessel could be slapped with up to $1.2 million under the law.

Lacson weighs in

AT the same time, Sen. Panfilo Lacson likewise asserted that a 2016 UN arbitral tribunal ruling expressly states that Recto Bank is part of the Philippines’s 200-nautical mile EEZ, and therefore cannot be claimed by China.

“Having said that, allowing a joint investigation with China and a third party may be interpreted as a waiver of our right of ownership of Recto Bank,” Lacson said, adding that while the intention of the Duterte administration “may be laudable in trying to preserve our country’s bilateral relations with China, presumably for political and economic reasons in order to uplift the living standards of our people, we should also consider the more important issue of sovereignty and territorial integrity.” Butch Fernandez

Editor: Efleda P. Campos

Companies BusinessMirror

Monday, June 24, 2019

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Megaworld allots ₧300-B capex from 2019 to 2024

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By VG Cabuag

@villygc

ROPERTY developer Megaworld is allocating P300 billion in capital spending starting next year through 2024 as it buys more land to expand its reach outside of Metro Manila.

Kevin Andrew L. Tan, the company’s senior vice president for commercial division, said the company will buy more land to fuel its expansion. By next year, it will add 2,000 hectares to its land bank of about 4,700 hectares.

“We anticipate a huge addition to that beyond 2020,” Tan said, adding the business-process outsourcing (BPO) industry, which served

as the bed rock of its growth over the past decade, continues to grow.

Tan said the company now wants to start selling office spaces rather than renting it out to the BPO firms.

“We want to do office for sale, but we want to do that outside of Metro Manila. [It’s where we] will be positioning as the next Makati. It’s a format we will be expanding because

of higher margins and I think that demand is strong,” Tan said.

Out of the P300-billion capex it will spend over a five-year period, Megaworld said it will allocate 65 percent or approximately P195 billion for its residential developments and investment properties, which mostly account for its offices, malls and hotels.

The remaining 35 percent or around P105 billion will be set aside for land acquisition and land banking.

For 2014 to 2019, Megaworld allocated P285 billion for its five-year capex program, most of which have been utilized for property and township developments.

“Our existing land bank would be sufficient for the next 10 years to 15 years of development,” Tan said.

Around 3,000 hectares of land is covered by the company’s township developments in Luzon,

mostly in the Calabarzon area.

In Metro Manila, Megaworld has a total key land holdings of almost 300 hectares, with significant presence in Makati, Fort Bonifacio, Quezon City, and even in the bustling Manila Bay Area, particularly within Entertainment City where the company is currently the largest land owner and developer.

Megaworld’s townships, likewise, covers 600 hectares of land in Visayas and Mindanao, with key presence in Iloilo, Bacolod, Boracay, Cebu and Davao.

Dur ing the past 30 years, Megaworld built around 700 residential developments, 1.6 million square meters of leasable spaces under both Megaworld Premier Offices and Megaworld Lifestyle Malls, and over 3,000 room keys across its hospitality developments under Megaworld Hotels.

₧5.5-B Boracay bridge proposal seen approved

By Lorenz S. Marasigan @lorenzmarasigan

D

IVERSIFIED conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMS) may soon receive the original proponent status (OPS) for its P5.5-billion Boracay Bridge unsolicited proposal, a Cabinet official said.

Public Works Secretary Mark A. Villar said his office is about to finish the evaluation of the proposal of the listed food-to-infrastructure firm and all indications point at a positive result. “We will soon issue a decision on the OPS. We are still finalizing it,” he said in a chance interview.

Through San Miguel Holdings Corp. (SMHC), the company proposed to build a 1.2-kilometer

limited-access bridge between Boracay Island and Panay. When completed, the facility will serve as an all-weather access for vehicles and pedestrians going to and from the premier tourist destination.

Currently, boat services connect Boracay and Panay. The bridge, however, will not cater to vehicular through-traffic, but will provide loading and unloading areas to facilitate the movement of commuters, solid waste, goods and supplies.

“After we’ve granted it, we will then submit the project to the National Economic and Development Authority [Neda]. It will evaluate the merit of the project,” Villar said.

When asked if the government can launch the Swiss Challenge for

the proposal within the year, Villar said: “It depends on the Neda. I cannot preempt the Neda. They may have questions. Once they are done with the evaluation, then we can have clearer idea as to our targets.”

Unsolicited proposals, under the law, are required to undergo a competitive challenge, wherein other groups that may be interested in the same project may offer a better deal to the government. The original proponent will have the chance to submit a counteroffer to subsequently win the project. The Boracay Bridge aims to “free up Boracay Island from pressures due to overcrowding and overuse of existing facilities, which ultimately produces adverse environmental impact.”

Local oil firms seek TRO vs. fuel unbundling

A

GROUP of oil firms is seeking a temporary restraining order (TRO) to stop a Department of Energy (DOE) policy that requires all oil companies to unbundle their fuel cost.

“The Philippine Institute of Petroleum Inc. [PIP] filed a Petition for Declaratory Relief with Application for a TRO and/or Preliminary Injunction to question DOE’s Department Circular DC2019-050008,” a statement released over the weekend said.

The PIP is composed of Petron Corp., Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp., Chevron Philippines Inc., PTT Philippines, Total Philippines Corp. and Isla LPG Corp.

The petitioners contend the DOE circular contravenes the dynamics of a deregulated oil market.

“The relief sought is necessary to protect the industry and the public, and to foster market-driven competition. As the DOE Circular becomes effective on June 29, 2019, petitioners are, likewise, seeking injunctive relief to stop its implementation until the case is heard and decided on the merits,” it said.

The DOE said it consulted the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) on this.

“We consulted the Philippine Competition Commission, the agency with primary jurisdiction under the Philippine Competition Act, and not only did they agree that it does not violate the PCA; it, in fact, enhances competition,”

DOE Assistant Secretary Leonido Pulido said in a text message.

He said the agency welcomes the petition filed by PIP. “Living in a healthy democratic society, we welcome comments, constructive criticism, and even legal challenges to the unbundling circular as it provides us with an opportunity to further learn and strengthen future administrative issuances of the department. However, we are quite confident that the unbundling circular is on firm legal ground considering the express provisions of the oil deregulation law authorizing the DOE secretary to require virtually all kinds of information from oil companies,” Pulido added.

Meanwhile, consumer advocacy group Laban Konsyumer Inc. (LKI) commented that the PIP’s move was “disheartening.”

“LKI reiterates that the DOE circular is a good start and good news for consumers,” LKI President Victor Dimagiba said.

LKI has also been pushing for transparency in retail prices of petroleum products as part of endusers’ right to information and to provide them access to fair and reasonable pricing of petroleum products.

DC 2019-05-8, entitled Revised Guidelines for the Monitoring of Prices in the Sale of Petroleum Products by the Downstream Oil Industry in the Philippines states that for every price adjustment of petroleum products, oil companies

must comply with the submission of the detailed computation with corresponding explanation and supporting documents on the reasons of the movement.

In particular, oil firms must unbundle their fuel cost with the following details: n International content, which makes up import cost, freight cost, insurance and foreign-exchange rate; n Taxes and duties, which include excise tax, value-added tax, duties and other imports; n Biofuel cost; and n Oil company take components. Details on port charges, refining cost, storage cost, handling cost, marketing costs, transshipment cost, other cost, oil company profit margin and total oil company price are required to be turned over to the agency.

“Within two months after effectivity of this circular or whenever required by the DOE or by the DOE-Department of Justice [DOJ] Task Force, oil companies shall be required to submit a report to the Oil Industry Management Bureau [OIMB], on a per liter and per product basis for liquid fuel and automotive LPG, and on a per kilogram basis for household LPG, containing the detailed computation with corresponding explanation and supporting documents on the unbundled items comprising the oil company price as of December 1, 2018,” it said. Lenie Lectura

MAYBANK FOUNDATION

Ranking Philippine government officials join executives of Maybank Foundation during the launch last week of the foundation’s financial education and scholarship programs. Present during the launch are (from left): Undersecretary Diosdado M. San Antonio of the Department of Education, Deputy Governor Chuchi G. Fonacier of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Chairman Puan Fauziah Hisham of Maybank Philippines Inc. and Shahril Azuar Jimin, CEO of Maybank Foundation. NONOY LACZA

B2

Companies BusinessMirror

Monday, June 24, 2019

PSE STOCK QUOTATIONS

June 21, 2019

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

58.55 140.9 80.4 27.35 11.66 74.45 13.2 21.15 48.8 57.4 112 28.3 169.9 60.2 2.32 18.6 4.81 1.36 0.51 765 0.96 187.8

59 141.3 80.5 28.7 11.68 74.6 13.3 21.2 49 57.8 115 28.4 170 64.05 2.34 18.68 4.9 1.39 0.52 790 0.99 188

58.55 140.2 80.5 27.35 11.66 75 13.2 21.15 49.5 57.65 112 28.6 165.5 60 2.3 18.72 4.9 1.44 0.49 785 0.97 184.6

59 141.3 80.85 28.7 11.82 75.05 13.2 21.15 49.7 57.65 112 28.6 170 64.05 2.34 18.72 5.09 1.44 0.52 785 1 188

58.55 139.1 80.15 27.2 11.6 73.5 13.2 21.15 48 57.65 112 28.3 165.5 60 2.3 18.6 4.8 1.36 0.48 785 0.96 184

59 141.3 80.5 28.7 11.66 74.6 13.2 21.15 49 57.65 112 28.3 170 64.05 2.31 18.68 5.03 1.36 0.52 785 0.99 188

1500 3667010 2531800 516400 189400 5091210 29000 100 413300 100 10 39100 616890 26890 246000 20700 722000 71000 758000 20 393000 670

88275 516650901 203708033 14698505 2221794 378728509 382800 2115 20192640 5765 1120 1107870 104158448 1685402 570620 386680 3599830 97040 374560 15700 378910 124088

INDUSTRIAL ALSONS CONS ABOITIZ POWER BASIC ENERGY FIRST GEN FIRST PHIL HLDG MERALCO MANILA WATER PETRON PETROENERGY PHINMA ENERGY PHX PETROLEUM PILIPINAS SHELL SPC POWER AGRINURTURE BOGO MEDELLIN CNTRL AZUCARERA CENTURY FOOD DEL MONTE DNL INDUS EMPERADOR SMC FOODANDBEV ALLIANCE SELECT GINEBRA JOLLIBEE MACAY HLDG MAXS GROUP MG HLDG PEPSI COLA SHAKEYS PIZZA ROXAS AND CO ROXAS HLDG SWIFT FOODS UNIV ROBINA VITARICH VICTORIAS CONCRETE A CEMEX HLDG DAVINCI CAPITAL EAGLE CEMENT EEI CORP HOLCIM MEGAWIDE PHINMA TKC METALS VULCAN INDL CROWN ASIA EUROMED LMG CHEMICALS PRYCE CORP CONCEPCION GREENERGY INTEGRATED MICR IONICS PANASONIC SFA SEMICON CIRTEK HLDG

1.38 35 0.275 25 78.5 379.4 24.35 5.92 4.54 2.58 11.96 37.9 6.48 14.34 89.05 15.12 15.28 5.52 10.34 7.57 107.1 0.76 56 285 9.22 14.28 0.186 1.4 14.22 1.43 1.91 0.123 175.9 1.26 2.6 65.05 2.92 5.27 15.92 10.56 13.76 19.76 9.05 1.27 1.34 2.09 1.71 4.25 4.92 41.6 2.42 10.18 1.66 5.5 1.17 22.3

ABACORE CAPITAL ASIABEST GROUP AYALA CORP ABOITIZ EQUITY ALLIANCE GLOBAL AYALA LAND LOG ANSCOR ANGLO PHIL HLDG ATN HLDG A ATN HLDG B COSCO CAPITAL DMCI HLDG FILINVEST DEV FORUM PACIFIC GT CAPITAL HOUSE OF INV JG SUMMIT LODESTAR LOPEZ HLDG LT GROUP MABUHAY HLDG METRO PAC INV PACIFICA PRIME MEDIA REPUBLIC GLASS SOLID GROUP SYNERGY GRID SM INVESTMENTS SAN MIGUEL CORP SOC RESOURCES TOP FRONTIER WELLEX INDUS ZEUS HLDG

0.8 12.38 898 54.55 15.12 3.66 6.7 0.74 1.35 1.36 6.77 10.48 14 0.243 960.5 6.22 66.35 0.47 4.29 15.12 0.65 4.77 0.038 1.21 2.45 1.34 430 966 176 0.85 265 0.233 0.305

1.39 35.3 0.28 25.45 78.6 380 25 5.95 4.58 2.59 12.2 38 6.5 14.36 96 16.62 15.5 5.64 10.4 7.58 113.5 0.77 56.25 288 9.58 14.3 0.194 1.41 14.24 1.46 1.98 0.133 176 1.27 2.83 74.9 2.93 5.3 16 10.58 13.78 19.78 9.4 1.29 1.35 2.1 1.72 4.39 5.02 43.95 2.44 10.22 1.67 5.95 1.19 22.7

1.38 35.6 0.275 25.4 78 383.2 23.8 5.95 4.5 2.57 12 38.85 6.5 14.4 96.75 14.98 15.1 5.64 10.4 7.6 104 0.74 54.95 284.8 9.24 14.28 0.186 1.4 14.14 1.43 1.98 0.124 173.4 1.27 2.59 70.4 2.84 5.3 15.92 10.4 13.86 19.76 9.05 1.26 1.33 2.06 1.71 4.2 5.1 44.75 2.48 10.1 1.68 5.95 1.18 22.8

1.38 35.65 0.285 25.6 78.6 383.2 25 5.99 4.57 2.61 12.2 39.1 6.58 14.42 96.75 14.98 15.5 5.64 10.4 7.6 113.5 0.76 56.35 288 9.24 14.44 0.186 1.44 14.32 1.46 1.98 0.124 176 1.28 2.6 74.9 2.98 5.3 16 10.8 13.86 19.88 9.05 1.3 1.37 2.12 1.71 4.25 5.1 44.75 2.49 10.22 1.68 5.95 1.19 22.8

1.38 35 0.275 24.9 78 380 23.65 5.92 4.46 2.51 11.98 37.9 6.47 14.22 96 14.94 15.06 5.5 10.2 7.56 103.4 0.74 54.75 282 9.2 14.02 0.186 1.4 14.1 1.38 1.9 0.122 169 1.25 2.59 70.4 2.84 5.25 15.92 10.4 13.7 19.52 9.05 1.26 1.32 2.06 1.71 4.2 5.1 41 2.42 10.04 1.66 5.95 1.18 22.25

1.38 35 0.275 25 78.6 380 25 5.92 4.54 2.58 12.2 38 6.5 14.38 96 14.94 15.5 5.64 10.4 7.57 113.5 0.76 56 288 9.2 14.3 0.186 1.4 14.22 1.43 1.97 0.123 176 1.26 2.6 74.9 2.92 5.25 16 10.56 13.76 19.76 9.05 1.29 1.34 2.1 1.71 4.25 5.1 41.5 2.42 10.22 1.67 5.95 1.19 22.3

388000 2103200 600000 3708800 110980 493910 1982500 830300 100000 16949000 25200 960700 51800 405300 20 2400 395700 144600 4482500 1627500 433650 511000 382310 1273820 1600 585700 40000 6574000 328500 1153000 27000 180000 1590730 2089000 36000 1320 33509000 27600 67300 778600 309500 576700 10000 409000 5270000 712000 38000 766000 200 8700 2511000 363500 203000 1500 72000 50300

535440 73682940 165900 93417410 8683033 187813152 49395625 4942058 450990 43444830 306400 36727080 336461 5827878 1927.5 35860 6089882 811002 46568310 12342516 47396462 384570 21283060 364080038 14732 8359314 7440 9296220 4672018 1639840 52390 22040 277921877 2635660 93540 97330 97447840 145780 1074454 8265542 4252844 11403650 90500 522340 7080270 1492760 64980 3248200 1020 371620 6118800 3,702,392( 339870 8925 85550 1135570

HOLDING & FRIMS 0.81 12.42 900 54.85 15.3 3.67 6.78 0.75 1.37 1.38 6.82 10.54 14.02 0.25 961 6.52 66.6 0.495 4.31 15.38 0.66 4.78 0.039 1.27 2.82 1.39 445 969 176.5 0.87 274 0.24 0.31

0.82 12.2 896.5 55 15.38 3.63 6.7 0.74 1.36 1.4 6.9 10.46 14.04 0.25 950 6.22 64.7 0.485 4.32 15.26 0.65 4.78 0.039 1.29 2.81 1.38 428 970 176 0.87 265 0.235 0.3

0.83 12.5 902.5 55.05 15.56 3.67 6.78 0.75 1.39 1.4 6.9 10.54 14.04 0.25 961 6.22 66.6 0.495 4.39 15.38 0.68 4.87 0.039 1.29 2.81 1.39 428 970 177 0.87 274 0.24 0.31

0.79 12.18 896.5 53.9 15.12 3.62 6.7 0.74 1.34 1.36 6.76 10.36 13.98 0.25 933 6.22 63.8 0.46 4.28 15.12 0.65 4.76 0.038 1.24 2.81 1.34 427.2 951 175.2 0.85 264 0.235 0.3

0.8 12.38 898 54.85 15.12 3.67 6.7 0.75 1.35 1.38 6.77 10.54 14.02 0.25 961 6.22 66.6 0.495 4.31 15.12 0.66 4.77 0.038 1.28 2.81 1.39 427.2 966 176 0.87 274 0.24 0.31

33826000 91100 636750 1863320 6582400 5006000 47900 1058000 7959000 164000 1618900 9540600 207200 50000 186860 10000 2603460 620000 314000 3238500 3685000 93371000 2200000 35000 26000 20000 160 550460 423630 190000 15340 310000 9580000

27346490 1123854 572308520 101935647 100126682 18312340 321002 793180 10823200 224340 11121883 100090278 2904236 12500 177450110 62200 172961587.5 299550 1355900 49127070 2430240 448045280 84900 43700 73060 27450 68432 530451170 74521257 162540 4149952 72900 2943750

149695508 -14985982 10794845 -515268 -9135026.5 -775995 -5765 -22580 9898493 504284.5 26700 -41514005 -6226345 -2067487.5 -85933888 49275010 58162 1641110.0001 -6490010 1955 195552 5546910 123280 -22195756 -3677376 10789487 35720 7123223.5 -122724106 4203594 445750 -1526090 1230 40725709 261590 21385750 639196 1510058 741170 7196272 -277040 126000 1019.9999 25050 61250 1,615,438.0003) 724480 -54385760 15278382 -28369552 695960 13400 -131061 -5944922 1826798 8337715 129295366.5 303590 -20358028 -98360 30754270 -16244040 -8463124 316490 -1215600

PROPERTY

ARTHALAND CORP 0.87 0.88 0.89 0.89 0.86 0.88 1542000 1357560 ANCHOR LAND 10.1 11.1 11 11 11 11 100 1100 AYALA LAND 50.75 51 50.7 51.2 50.55 50.75 15389290 782230694.5 71564062.5 ARANETA PROP 2.01 2.03 2.07 2.07 2 2.01 135000 275870 BELLE CORP 2.31 2.32 2.33 2.35 2.32 2.32 521000 1213510 613560.0001 A BROWN 0.79 0.8 0.81 0.81 0.79 0.8 593000 473670 20000 CITYLAND DEVT 0.93 0.97 0.94 0.98 0.92 0.97 380000 364170 -19300 CROWN EQUITIES 0.24 0.244 0.23 0.24 0.23 0.24 9290000 2209650 CEBU HLDG 6.1 6.12 6.35 6.35 6.1 6.12 25200 154370 -73936 CEB LANDMASTERS 4.85 4.92 5 5 4.78 4.85 1297000 6354030 CENTURY PROP 0.58 0.59 0.6 0.6 0.58 0.59 6098000 3588870 -11210 CYBER BAY 0.445 0.455 0.44 0.46 0.44 0.445 4810000 2157450 -40950 DOUBLEDRAGON 25.2 26.45 25.5 26.45 24.9 26.45 1676900 43155375 17063800 DM WENCESLAO 9.92 9.94 9.88 9.94 9.85 9.94 20800 206501 8871 EMPIRE EAST 0.47 0.48 0.475 0.48 0.47 0.475 2080000 980050 -287750 FILINVEST LAND 1.72 1.73 1.74 1.75 1.71 1.72 22647000 39131580 -22874270 GLOBAL ESTATE 1.33 1.34 1.34 1.34 1.33 1.33 1657000 2204380 -79800 8990 HLDG 15.9 16.02 15.92 16.26 15.8 16.02 718400 11428786 364072 PHIL INFRADEV 1.84 1.85 1.83 1.85 1.82 1.85 3062000 5639550 1347910 CITY AND LAND 0.8 0.82 0.83 0.83 0.78 0.82 761000 602220 7800 MEGAWORLD 6.01 6.07 5.95 6.07 5.93 6.07 27352800 165327652 36430030 MRC ALLIED 0.31 0.315 0.32 0.325 0.315 0.315 19230000 6108100 809100 PHIL ESTATES 0.465 0.47 0.465 0.465 0.465 0.465 60000 27900 PRIMEX CORP 2.12 2.14 2.11 2.16 2.1 2.12 2062000 4403370 111950 ROBINSONS LAND 26.3 26.8 26.2 26.8 26 26.8 2541800 67104495 37815950 PHIL REALTY 0.42 0.425 0.42 0.42 0.42 0.42 320000 134400 ROCKWELL 2.15 2.16 2.15 2.17 2.13 2.16 537000 1158330 -107800 SHANG PROP 2.98 3 3 3 2.95 2.98 68000 203520 5960 STA LUCIA LAND 1.87 1.88 1.96 1.96 1.88 1.88 1257000 2394820 190000 SM PRIME HLDG 38.25 38.3 38.4 38.8 38.3 38.3 29575800 1135112660 -225471925 STARMALLS 6.21 6.29 6.3 6.3 6.16 6.29 56700 351711 SUNTRUST HOME 0.74 0.78 0.74 0.74 0.73 0.74 238000 176100 -96200 VISTA LAND 7.02 7.06 7.14 7.14 7.02 7.02 10390200 73102513 -52139482

SERVICES ABS CBN 17.22 17.26 17.5 17.5 17.24 17.26 207000 3596934 GMA NETWORK 5.38 5.39 5.37 5.4 5.35 5.39 44300 238126 MANILA BULLETIN 0.53 0.55 0.53 0.56 0.52 0.53 2146000 1131490 GLOBE TELECOM 2210 2230 2228 2230 2204 2230 48175 107181870 28613580 PLDT 1272 1280 1263 1280 1252 1280 293410 373468130 51982975 APOLLO GLOBAL 0.042 0.044 0.043 0.044 0.042 0.044 15500000 672100 DFNN INC 5.82 6.42 5.85 5.85 5.8 5.8 13000 75763 IMPERIAL 1.79 1.85 1.79 1.79 1.79 1.79 1000 1790 ISLAND INFO 0.117 0.121 0.118 0.118 0.116 0.117 3350000 393220 ISM COMM 6.98 6.99 6.86 7 6.86 6.99 5031300 34890443 -1923949 JACKSTONES 2.99 3.03 3 3.11 2.9 3.07 67000 203160 NOW CORP 2.52 2.53 2.43 2.55 2.42 2.52 3371000 8395050 70660 TRANSPACIFIC BR 0.38 0.385 0.395 0.4 0.385 0.385 17290000 6730550 -19750 PHILWEB 3.47 3.48 3.62 3.67 3.45 3.47 5217000 18425070 1683530 2GO GROUP 11.2 11.22 11 11.5 11 11.22 15200 169694 CHELSEA 8.07 8.08 7.97 8.16 7.97 8.08 4743300 38311175 -211764.9997 CEBU AIR 89.3 90.2 89.4 90.2 88.8 90.2 94340 8476493 5124434 INTL CONTAINER 144.3 146.4 144 146.8 143.5 144.3 4566410 659328759 -31915131 LBC EXPRESS 14.14 14.98 14.02 14.02 14.02 14.02 500 7010 LORENZO SHIPPNG 0.81 0.83 0.81 0.83 0.81 0.83 262000 212260 -162000 MACROASIA 19.42 19.44 19.26 19.5 19.26 19.44 267100 5182380 343685.9999 METROALLIANCE A 1.6 1.72 1.76 1.76 1.72 1.72 10000 17240 PAL HLDG 9.24 9.35 9.29 9.35 9.24 9.35 23000 214045 HARBOR STAR 2.28 2.3 2.3 2.32 2.27 2.3 686000 1568750 -62670.0001 ACESITE HOTEL 1.38 1.43 1.41 1.43 1.41 1.41 22000 31180 BOULEVARD HLDG 0.056 0.057 0.057 0.058 0.056 0.056 10310000 582410 WATERFRONT 0.76 0.77 0.75 0.77 0.74 0.76 3398000 2569520 CENTRO ESCOLAR 7 7.19 7.19 7.2 7.19 7.2 4300 30936 IPEOPLE 10 10.1 10.1 10.1 10.1 10.1 1500 15150 STI HLDG 0.73 0.74 0.74 0.74 0.73 0.74 2161000 1591170 394550 BERJAYA 2.64 2.76 2.7 2.77 2.65 2.76 1193000 3209610 -185230 BLOOMBERRY 11.3 11.4 11.5 11.54 11.3 11.3 3357700 38295076 -23349792 PACIFIC ONLINE 3.08 3.09 3.07 3.08 3.06 3.08 111000 341480 -104620 LEISURE AND RES 4.18 4.19 4.2 4.2 4.14 4.18 634000 2645830 640230 MANILA JOCKEY 3.15 3.32 3.15 3.15 3.15 3.15 16000 50400 PH RESORTS GRP 4.87 4.9 4.87 4.87 4.87 4.87 13000 63310 PREMIUM LEISURE 0.8 0.81 0.81 0.83 0.79 0.8 4554000 3651690 149480 TRAVELLERS 5.19 5.2 5.11 5.2 5.11 5.2 5808000 29816846 -23667565 METRO RETAIL 2.55 2.56 2.49 2.58 2.49 2.56 5522000 14089140 308479.9999 PUREGOLD 44.55 44.95 44.9 44.9 44.2 44.55 375100 16722765 -8867995 ROBINSONS RTL 75.8 76.55 76.7 76.7 75.5 75.8 653060 49557312.5 -24041919 PHIL SEVEN CORP 133.5 136.5 134 136.5 134 136.5 2420 327175 304105 SSI GROUP 3.46 3.47 3.47 3.58 3.43 3.47 7878000 27653840 -5684540 WILCON DEPOT 17.06 17.4 17.02 17.4 16.98 17.4 1519700 26118524 12242936 APC GROUP 0.48 0.485 0.51 0.51 0.48 0.485 2825000 1382665 48500 EASYCALL 10.22 10.3 10.38 10.38 10.2 10.22 13500 138304 GOLDEN BRIA 400.2 412.2 401 412.2 398 412.2 1220 501348 IPM HLDG 5.83 6 6 6 6 6 2100 12600 PAXYS 2.94 3.01 3.03 3.03 2.94 2.94 6000 17820 PRMIERE HORIZON 0.82 0.83 0.84 0.84 0.81 0.82 11258000 9238510 -121340 SBS PHIL CORP 9.29 9.4 9.65 9.65 9.3 9.4 67800 637452

MINING & OIL ATOK 11.02 12.3 12.38 12.38 12.38 12.38 300 3714 APEX MINING 1.3 1.31 1.29 1.33 1.28 1.3 9984000 12977410 89100 ABRA MINING 0.0018 0.0019 0.0018 0.0019 0.0018 0.0018 80000000 144200 ATLAS MINING 2.68 2.8 2.75 2.82 2.65 2.8 554000 1480690 7980 BENGUET A 1.18 1.2 1.18 1.18 1.18 1.18 6000 7080 CENTURY PEAK 2.8 2.85 2.76 2.85 2.7 2.85 3196000 8783390 -334100 DIZON MINES 7.49 7.56 7.57 7.58 7.43 7.5 8400 63045 FERRONICKEL 1.46 1.48 1.44 1.49 1.44 1.48 1104000 1620640 544030 GEOGRACE 0.221 0.229 0.218 0.229 0.218 0.229 200000 45110 LEPANTO A 0.114 0.115 0.114 0.116 0.114 0.115 4280000 491020 LEPANTO B 0.116 0.125 0.125 0.125 0.125 0.125 10000 1250 MANILA MINING A 0.0076 0.0077 0.0075 0.0076 0.0075 0.0076 7000000 53100 MANILA MINING B 0.0076 0.0079 0.008 0.008 0.0075 0.0076 7000000 54200 MARCVENTURES 1.03 1.04 1.06 1.06 1.04 1.04 801000 842860 NIHAO 0.96 0.99 1 1 0.97 1 11000 10920 NICKEL ASIA 2.1 2.19 2.18 2.24 2.1 2.1 8792000 18827860 -11799650 OMICO CORP 0.55 0.57 0.55 0.57 0.55 0.56 220000 123370 ORNTL PENINSULA 0.86 0.87 0.87 0.87 0.87 0.87 10000 8700 3480 PX MINING 3.43 3.44 3.37 3.48 3.37 3.43 3514000 12050100 -138850 SEMIRARA MINING 21.8 22 22.15 22.15 21.8 21.8 1774000 38723230 -22591780 UNITED PARAGON 0.0065 0.0067 0.0068 0.0068 0.0068 0.0068 2000000 13600 ORNTL PETROL A 0.011 0.012 0.011 0.011 0.011 0.011 5300000 58300 PHILODRILL 0.01 0.011 0.011 0.011 0.01 0.011 9400000 99000 PHINMA PETRO 4.1 4.19 4.3 4.3 4.07 4.28 257000 1067220 PXP ENERGY 8.17 8.18 8.3 8.34 8.08 8.18 1059100 8668146 583025

PREFFERED

HOUSE PREF A 96.85 97 95.2 96.85 95.2 96.85 590 56316.5 AC PREF B1 480 484.4 480 480 480 480 140 67200 ALCO PREF B 98 100 99.5 99.5 99 99 10000 991000 DD PREF 97.5 99.95 98.5 100 98.5 100 15360 1529546 SMC FB PREF 2 963 979.5 963 963 963 963 700 674100 FGEN PREF G 104.5 109.6 109.6 109.9 109.6 109.9 9480 1039776 FPH PREF C 418.6 439.4 418.6 439.6 418 439.6 420 176024 GLO PREF P 478 482 485.2 485.2 478 478 20000 9635210 9680 LR PREF 0.98 0.99 0.99 1 0.99 1 254000 251520 MWIDE PREF 100.4 100.5 100.5 100.5 100.5 100.5 1230 123615 PNX PREF 3A 100 101.5 99.8 99.8 99.8 99.8 200 19960 SMC PREF 2C 75.8 75.85 75.9 75.9 75.85 75.85 5890 446856.5 SMC PREF 2D 73.85 73.9 73.5 73.85 73.5 73.85 6580 485676.5 SMC PREF 2F 73.5 74 73.9 74 73.9 74 4000 295725 SMC PREF 2G 72.8 74.4 73.2 73.2 72.8 72.8 50300 3669440 SMC PREF 2H 72.9 73.45 73 73 73 73 3500 255500 -

PHIL. DEPOSITARY RECEIPTS ABS HLDG PDR

16.8

17.04

17

17.06

17

17

121200

2062272

WARRANTS LR WARRANT

1.95

SMALL & MEDIUM ENTERPRISES ITALPINAS 4.96 XURPAS 1.07

1.96

1.97

1.95

1.97

288000

563000

-

5 1.09

4.86 1.09

5 1.09

4.85 1.07

4.96 1.09

373000 3849000

1847690 4161960

1146860

EXHANGE TRADE FUNDS FIRST METRO ETF

119.5

-2036712

1.97

120.5

120

120.5

119.4

120.5

3150

378999

-

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ArthaLand launches ‘green’ pioneering township project

By Roderick L. Abad

A

Contributor

@rodrik_28

RTHALAND Corp. recently broke the ground for its first township development called Sevina Park, an 8.1-hectare mixed-use property located in Biñan, Laguna, that boasts of being the first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)-certified neighborhood in the country.

“It is consistent with the commitment of ArthaLand that all of its developments will be green and sustainable,” said Jaime C. Gonzales, vice chairman, president and CEO of ArthaLand. “It is another important milestone in the development of the projects of ArthaLand, and for me, it’s one of the more exciting projects that we have, which will take a few years to complete and develop.”

Sevina Park is envisioned to become a sustainable, close-knit neighborhood that will be conveniently located jus a few minutes from everything the residents and locators

SM Home holds biggest fair on June 28-30

would need. The whole project will have about 60-percent green and open spaces.

This township development will have different types of residential components. Already built is a 348bed dormitory. The company has just started constructing the 108 villas or townhouse clusters, composed of two to four bedrooms, for completion and turnover by the second quarter of 2021. This will followed by low-rise residential condominiums.

Designed as a modern-day community, its commercial aspect will consist of neighborhood retail and

S

M Home, which has become the go-to home store for consumers and designers/architects alike, will be holding its biggest home fair yet from June 28 to 30 at the SMX Convention Center Manila at the Mall of Asia Complex.

Attendees will save up to 50 percent off on

STOCK-MARKET OUTLOOK LAST WEEK

SHARE prices slightly gained last week, with the main index managing to close at the 8,000-point level, as both the US Federal Reserve and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) kept their respective rates steady.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index gained 65.27 points to close at 8,055.47.

The main index started the week low, but recovered mid week.

“The main index finally ends the week above 8,000 after hovering around this level for the last four weeks. The next resistance now comes in at 8,150 which has been the dreaded support since hitting that level back in January,” said Christopher Mangun, head of Research at AAA Securities Inc. Foreign investors, however, were net sellers at P1.17 billion, and average value of trade was at P6.34 billion. Among the subindices, only the Property index went down by 9.08 points to 1,703.95 points, while all others ended on the green. The broader All Shares index gained 42.90 to 4,927.81; the Financials index rose 14.07 to 1,756.86; the Industrial index added 118.67 to 11,849.99; the Holding Firms index surged 150.79; the Services index was up 9.08 to 1,703.95; and the Mining and Oil index expanded 151.32 to 7,304.1.

The number of gainers edged losers 118 to 98 and 34 shares were unchanged.

Top gainers were Prime Media Holdings Inc., Metro Alliance Holdings and Equities Corp. A, Concrete Aggregates Corp. A, Chelsea Logistics and Infrastructure Holdings Corp., Arthaland Corp. and PXP Energy Corp.

Top losers were Central Azucarera de Tarlac Inc., LBC Express Holdings Inc., Cyber Bay Corp., Cirtek Holdings Philippines Corp., Manila Jockey Club Inc. and Makati Finance Corp.

THIS WEEK

SHARE prices may continue its climb this week as fund managers take their positions for the release of the first- half financial figures of listed firms.

“This week, the BSP’s second phase of reserve requirement cut will take effect, that will pump up available liquidity in the financial system,” broker 2TradeAsia said.

“Go for stocks with promising aspects as major infrastructure backbones are deployed,” it said, placing resistance level of the main index at 8,200 points. Companies may also take up more stocks this week on their first-half window dressing.

“With second-quarter earnings coming out in the next few weeks, and with companies across the board expecting robust growth, this could be the fuel that this market needs to go higher,” Mangun said. “However, the main index has ended positive for the last five weeks which means there is a strong possibility that we see a pullback next week.”

STOCK PICKS

BROKER Regina Capital and Development Corp. advised to buy during pullbacks on the stock of GT Capital Holdings Corp. as it nears the overbought region.

“Shares of GTCAP closed at a high of P960 per share, only a few points below an immediate resistance of P979.29, so it may be testing the said upper bound within the next few days,” the broker said.

“The upturn may persist—albeit with less momentum—until it reaches reaches the oversold region, wherein profit-taking would ensue after. That being said, the most immediate support can be placed at P849.98,” it said.

GT Capital shares closed Friday at P961 apiece.

Meanwhile, the broker gave a trade-the-range advice on the stock of Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) after the stock started to consolidate sideways following its breakout during the start of June. “A solid upper bound of P51.70 has been maintained for the past three weeks, while the support is strong at P49.80. ALI can be seen trading between these upper and lower bounds at least within the next few days. It is very likely that the said range holds, given the bearishness of the indicators,” it said.

Shares of Ayala Land closed last week at P50.75 apiece. VG Cabuag

landmark green offices. In partnership with World Wild Fund for Nature, ArthaLand planted endemic and endangered trees around the property to provide lush and an airy environment.

All these components make it eco-friendly and promote walkability, water and energy conservation features not seen in other similar projects.

“By integrating all the principles of LEED into a community, we’ll be able to further push the envelop in terms of sustainability because not only are we focusing on making one building LEED; we’re making an entire community LEED,” ArthaLand EVP and Treasurer Leonardo Po told reporters after the groundbreaking ceremony.

“That means that the units will have optimized energy consumption and optimized use of water. We will minimize wastes and maximize the resources we have available to us,” he said.

While construction on site is now in full swing, preselling of the designer villas just started this month. The introductory price per square meter is around P110,000.

“Because the major infrastructure that’s upcoming—the Calax highway [or the Cavite-Laguna Expressway— will soon open by the end of the year, selected items from more than 50 participating SM Home brands, including fair exclusive deals on a wide variety of home products like furniture, kitchenware, tableware, linens, appliances, storage solutions and home décor.

In keeping with SM Home’s reputation of providing a wide range of home product

MUTUAL FUNDS

all of you know what happens the moment a major highway infrastructure happens and in correlation to real-estate prices,” said Christopher G. Narciso, EVP for business and development at ArthaLand. “So our introductory price is really good for now.” Apart from families in Laguna, Cavite and Southern Metro Manila areas, Sevina Park also targets the top executives of various companies from the industrial zones nearby who want [to] live and work within walking distance of each other.

“This is a turnkey option of a very high-end development designed by one of the top architects in the country today. So these are designer homes available to you turnkey at the highest quality,” Po said. “We’re also looking for tenants and locators that have a very high focus on sustainability.”

Publicly listed ArthaLand is mainly engaged in property development of residential, commercial, leisure and industrial projects. The company has an existing land bank in Laguna, Tagaytay and Batangas of close to 50 hectares.

“We continue to be out there looking for properties to acquire,” Gonzales said of their initiative to support their constant expansion to other growth areas in key cities nationwide.

options for customers with varying budget constraints, this year’s SM Home Fair will feature premium, value for money and even budget brands. Some of the participating brands include Breville, Canadian, Cascade, Happy Call, Masflex, Salem, Slumberland, Tefal and Tiger.

June 21, 2019

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

PER SHARE RETURN* RETURN STOCK FUNDS ALFM GROWTH FUND, INC. -A 267.02 6.84% 0.07% 1.41% 5.86% ATRAM ALPHA OPPORTUNITY FUND, INC. -A 1.6356 9.89% 8.45% 3.2% 13.52% ATRAM PHILIPPINE EQUITY OPPORTUNITY FUND, INC. -A 4.1319 4.33% 0.01% 0.55% 5.86% CLIMBS SHARE CAPITAL EQUITY INVESTMENT FUND CORP. -A 0.9525 8.39% N.A. N.A. 6.96% FIRST METRO CONSUMER FUND ON MSCI PHILS. IMI, INC. -A 0.8861 8.86% N.A. N.A. 7.97% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN EQUITY FUND,INC. -A 5.5224 7.91% 0.79% 1.22% 4.77% MBG EQUITY INVESTMENT FUND, INC. -A

121.31 9.61% N.A. N.A. 4.16% ONE WEALTHY NATION FUND, INC. -A 0.889 6.51% -3.87% N.A. 6.8% PAMI EQUITY INDEX FUND, INC. -A 52.9165 10.07% 0.9% N.A. 7.54% PHILAM STRATEGIC GROWTH FUND, INC. -A 551 8.48% -0.01% 1.33% 7.04% PHILEQUITY DIVIDEND YIELD FUND, INC. -A 1.3403 10.21% 1.87% 3.83% 6.88% PHILEQUITY FUND, INC. -A 39.3313 10.53% 2.58% 3.37% 7.37% PHILEQUITY MSCI PHILIPPINE INDEX FUND, INC. -A,3 1.061 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. PHILEQUITY PSE INDEX FUND INC. -A 5.3682 11.15% 1.94% 3.65% 8.26% PHILIPPINE STOCK INDEX FUND CORP. -A 896.37 11.19% 1.65% 3.63% 8.19% SOLDIVO STRATEGIC GROWTH FUND, INC. -A 0.9344 10.63% 0.76% N.A. 8.5% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY PHILIPPINE EQUITY FUND, INC. -A 4.3853 10.82% 1.88% 2.89% 8.04% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY PHILIPPINE STOCK INDEX FUND, INC. -A 1.03 10.61% 1.58% N.A. 7.93% UNITED FUND, INC. -A 3.7838 9.85% 3.39% 3.41% 8.08% EXCHANGE TRADED FUND FIRST METRO PHIL. EQUITY EXCHANGE TRADED FUND, INC. -A,C,2 120.0054 11.63% 2.59% 4.71% 8.36% ATRAM ASIAPLUS EQUITY FUND, INC. -B

$0.9848 -6.09% 6.45% -0.06% 6% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY WORLD VOYAGER FUND, INC. -A $1.2939 -0.04% 9.12% N.A. 17.08% BALANCED FUNDS PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES ATRAM DYNAMIC ALLOCATION FUND, INC. -A 1.7516 6.76% -0.98% -0.93% 6.08% ATRAM PHILIPPINE BALANCED FUND, INC. -A 2.332 4.42% 0.38% 1% 5.56% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN BALANCED FUND INC. -A 2.6742 5.91% -0.12% -1.13% 5.13% GREPALIFE BALANCED FUND CORPORATION -A 1.3632 4.01% N.A. N.A. 4.52% NCM MUTUAL FUND OF THE PHILS., INC. -A 1.9467 6.82% 0.82% 1.65% 5.62% PAMI HORIZON FUND, INC. -A 3.7723 6.97% -0.17% 0.94% 6.89% PHILAM FUND, INC. -A 16.9643 7.63% -0.13% 0.94% 6.64% SOLIDARITAS FUND, INC. -A 2.1611 5.89% 0.86% 2.12% 4.29% SUN LIFE OF CANADA PROSPERITY BALANCED FUND, INC. -A 3.9067 8.77% 1.05% 1.91% 6.99% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY ACHIEVER FUND 2028, INC. -A,D,4 1.0247 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. SUN LIFE PROSPERITY ACHIEVER FUND 2038, INC. -A,D,4 1.0233 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. SUN LIFE PROSPERITY ACHIEVER FUND 2048, INC. -A,D,4 1.0201 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DYNAMIC FUND, INC. -A 1.003 8.82% 1.24% N.A. 8.82% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY SECURITIES COCOLIFE DOLLAR FUND BUILDER, INC. -A $0.0375 8.16% 1.72% 2.15% 6.38% PAMI ASIA BALANCED FUND, INC. -A $0.9804 -4.01% 3.84% -0.81% 4.72% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR ADVANTAGE FUND, INC. -A $3.7371 2.03% 6.69% 2.69% 12.96% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR WELLSPRING FUND, INC. -A $1.1043 3.17% 4.15% N.A. 9.34% BOND FUNDS PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES ALFM PESO BOND FUND, INC. -A 349.8 3.38% 2.01% 2.2% 1.87% ATRAM CORPORATE BOND FUND, INC. -A,1 1.8923 2.09% -0.15% -0.22% 1.78% COCOLIFE FIXED INCOME FUND, INC. -A 3.0464 5.58% 5.28% 5.28% 2.54% EKKLESIA MUTUAL FUND INC. -A 2.183 3.12% 1.33% 1.86% 2.46% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN FIXED INCOME FUND,INC. -A 2.3097 4.21% 1.05% 1.39% 4.54% GREPALIFE FIXED INCOME FUND CORP. -A P 1.6059 2.19% -0.64% 0.05% 2.65% PHILAM BOND FUND, INC. -A 4.1655 5.4% 0.11% 1.14% 6.27% PHILEQUITY PESO BOND FUND, INC. -A 3.6796 5.37% 1.73% 1.52% 4.62% SOLDIVO BOND FUND, INC. -A 0.9403 3.91% -0.24% N.A. 5.34% SUN LIFE OF CANADA PROSPERITY BOND FUND, INC. -A 2.9521 7.84% 1.96% 2.07% 6.73% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY GS FUND, INC. -A 1.6409 7.83% 1.63% 1.63% 6.56% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY SECURITIES ALFM DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC. -A $458.13 3.62% 1.9% 2.77% 2.2% ALFM EURO BOND FUND, INC. -A Є217.22 2.12% 1.54% 1.47% 2.15% ATRAM TOTAL RETURN DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC. -B $1.1811 6.3% 1.87% 2.48% 4.91% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC. -A $0.0257 4.05% 1.2% N.A. 3.63% GREPALIFE DOLLAR BOND FUND CORP. -A $1.7161 1.35% -1.34% 0.7% 1.53% PAMI GLOBAL BOND FUND, INC -A $1.0861 4.93% -0.05% -1.86% 4.67% PHILAM DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC. -A $2.3504 9.86% 1.59% 3.32% 8.25% PHILEQUITY DOLLAR INCOME FUND INC. -A $0.0589149 3.88% 1.5% 1.76% 3.39% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR ABUNDANCE FUND, INC. -A $3.0846 7.01% 0.81% 2.79% 7.4% MONEY MARKET FUNDS PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES ALFM MONEY MARKET FUND, INC. -A 123.35 3.66% 2.37% 1.91% 2.08% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN MONEY MARKET FUND, INC. -A,5 1.0142 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. PHILAM MANAGED INCOME FUND, INC. -A 1.2126 3.84% 1.67% 1.03% 2.6% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY MONEY MARKET FUND, INC. -A 1.243 3.64% 2.63% 2.01% 1.97% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY SECURITIES SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR STARTER FUND, INC. -A $1.0275 2.11% N.A. N.A. 1.14%

A - NAVPS AS OF THE PREVIOUS BANKING DAY. B - NAVPS AS OF TWO BANKING DAYS AGO. C - LISTED IN THE PSE. D - IN NET ASSET VALUE PER UNIT (NAVPU).

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

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

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Banking&Finance BusinessMirror

Monday, June 24, 2019

B3

Pagcor issues ‘final warning’ to noncompliant Pogo firms

T

By Rea Cu

@ReaCuBM

HE Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) has warned Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators to strictly comply with the country’s laws and regulations, as well as pay proper taxes due the government, adding that operations of Pogos that remain noncompliant will be seized.

The state-run agency said tax agencies are closely monitoring the Pogo sector and how they do business in the country.

“Let this serve as a final warning for everyone to strictly comply with all the rules, regulations and directives of all other government agencies which may have jurisdiction over the other aspects of your operations…,” said Jose Tria Jr., special assistant to the Pagcor chairman.

Tria pointed out that aspects of Pogo operations which include applications for the necessary and appropriate visas or permits for all their employees, and payment of proper taxes and fees due to gov-

ernment agencies, should be strictly adhered to.

“Finally, for those under-declaring the income tax of their employees, be sternly warned that you will be placed under strict scrutiny by the Bureau of Internal Revenue [BIR] for such actions. The practice of declaring income tax below industry standards will not be tolerated by the BIR and will be dealt accordingly,” he added.

He said those companies who need more clarity in line with their operations and requirements should not hesitate to approach Pagcor.

Victor Padilla, senior manager of Pagcor’s policy and offshore gaming licensing division, pointed out

More bank branches sprouted by end-April

T

HE Philippine banking system continued to expand its reach in the country as data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reveal that more bank branches were put up by the end of April.

Central Bank numbers show that about 70 bank branches were added to the banking industry’s network nationwide in the first four months of the year, putting the total number of bank branches to 12,434 by the end of April this year.

The bulk of the bank branches across the nation are still dominated by the bigger players in the industry. More than half, or 6,661 branches nationwide, are universal and commercial banks operating in the country. These include private domestic banks, government banks and foreign bank branches.

Banks operating in the countryside, meanwhile, also took up a significant chunk of the total banking network in the country during the period. Rural and cooperative

banks have 3,106 branches nationwide by the end of April. Thrift banks, meanwhile, have 2,667 branches during the period.

The steady expansion of the banks’ physical network across the country reflects their overall growth in terms of profit and balance sheet.

In a recently published assessment of the local banking system, S&P Global said they believe the banks’ “well-established domestic franchise will continue to help them to sustain a strong, stable and diversified customer deposit profile.”

“In our opinion, the Philippine economy’s strong growth trajectory will drive constructive development outcomes and close infrastructure gaps. Supportive fiscal policies and an improving investment climate will aid growth. All these factors provide sound growth opportunities for the country’s banks,” the credit watcher said.

Also over the weekend, Moody’s released their banking system outlook on the Phil-

NG turned to domestic borrowings vs offshore sources in April–BTr

T

HE national government (NG) borrowed more from the local debt market in April rather than tapping offshore sources, data from the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) revealed.

Gross borrowings by the NG in April amounted to P37.923 billion, higher by 3.35 percent compared to the borrowings made in the same month last year.

Broken down, external gross borrowings accounted for P3.430 billion of the total, a 0.72-percent contraction from the P3.455 billion recorded in 2018.

Domestic gross borrowings comprised P34.493 billion of the total, which posted a growth of 3.77 percent from the previous P33.237 billion.

All of the borrowings from offshore lenders for the month came in the form of project loans, which amounted to P3.430 billion.

Fixed rate Treasury bonds of P20 billion and Treasury bills amounting to P14.493 billion comprised that of local borrowings.

From the January-to-April period, the government’s gross borrowings amounted to P661.521 billion, which increased by 172.38 percent compared to the P242.871 billion the NG borrowed during the same period in 2018.

GOVERNOR’S STAND

Domestic gross borrowings for the four months expanded by 452.66 percent to P525.108 billion compared to the P95.014 billion the NG borrowed in the first four months of 2018.

Offshore gross borrowings amounting to P136.413 billion posted a decline of 7.74 percent from the P147.857 billion made in the same period for 2018.

Earlier, the BTr said the NG has programmed its gross borrowings for both domestic and foreign IOUs at P1.19 trillion, with the government eyeing a borrowing mix of 75:25, with domestic borrowings accounting for 75 percent and foreign borrowings at 25 percent.

Earlier in the month, National Treasurer Rosalia V. de Leon said that the borrowing program for the third quarter of this year may be recalibrated, as the government operated on a 2018 reenacted budget during the first four months of the year.

De Leon said that the borrowing program for the third quarter will likely be lower than that of the borrowing program for the second quarter of P315 billion, as the government’s spending performance was slow during the first few months starting 2019. Rea Cu

During the Wallace Business Forum held recently in Makati City, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Benjamin E. Diokno (standing, right) explains that the country is now experiencing a favorable mix of high economic growth and stable prices. In view of this, Diokno said there is optimism that the Philippine economy is poised to sustain its growth momentum amid lingering global headwinds.

ippines’s financial system, painting a rosy picture for banks in the next 12 months.

“Banks will continue to benefit from strong economic growth. The Philippines’s economic growth rate will remain among the highest in Asia, underpinned by strong domestic consumption and an expansionary fiscal policy despite a budget delay and an export slowdown due to a weakening of global economic growth,” Moody’s said.

The major credit watcher also said the banks’ profitability will remain stable this year as higher interest rates and lower reserve requirement ratios will balance out the banks’ investments and expenditure.

“Continued loan repricing following rate hikes by the Central Bank in 2018 and reductions in reserve requirement ratios will boost net interest margins. At the same time, however, operating expenses will increase due to investment in branch expansion and IT infrastructure,” Moody’s said. Bianca Cuaresma

PNB to issue $750-million fixed-rate senior notes

T

HE Philippine National Bank (PNB) announced recently it is set to return to the US-dollar bond market as it priced $750 million in fixed-rate senior notes (FRSN) to be drawn down from its recently increased $2-billion medium-term note (MTN) program.

In a statement, the PNB said the issuance follows the successful meetings with investors by the Lucio Tan-led bank in Hong Kong, Singapore and London from June 18 to 20.

According to PNB, the FRSNs will be rated “Baa2” by Moody’s, or two notches above investment grade.

PNB President and CEO Jose Arnulfo A. Veloso was quoted as saying he is grateful to investors “for this landmark deal which is the largest US-dollar bond issuance to-date by a Philippine bank.”

Over 240 accounts participated in the transaction, according to PNB. With the transaction oversubscribed with an order book of over $3.25 billion, the FRSN were priced at 99.473 percent and will carry a yield of 3.391 percent and a coupon of 3.28 percent. The FRSN will be issued on June 27, 2019. The bond matures on September 27, 2024.

that penalties and demerits will be imposed on Pogo that have yet to submit the lists of their respective foreign workers.

“Pagcor will seize the operations of those that remain noncompliant despite repeated warnings,” Padilla said.

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and the Bureau of Immigration (BI) reported last month to Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III that based on the reconciled list from both agencies, 138,001 foreign national workers are employed in Pogo. Of thse, 54,241 were issued alien employment permits and another 83,760 granted

special working permits.

Dominguez asked agencies like the DOLE and the BI to find ways to reconcile the workers’ list by physically checking establishments where these foreign workers have been hired.

BIR Deputy Commissioner Arnel SD. Guballa also said earlier the agency had been working on the list to check how many years these workers have been here in the country and whether they have paid taxes.

According to the BIR, Pagcor has so far submitted a list of 126 out of 205 Pogo, which employ a total of 53,239 foreign workers with an average salary of about P41,000 each.

Perspectives What exactly is a ‘digital strategy’?

I

T goes without saying that the priority of any COO is to improve performance within the value chain, whether that’s reducing costs, improving service, lowering working capital or, more realistically, a combination of all three.

There are now a myriad of ways that digital technology can be applied across the value chain. Whether it’s businesses looking to automate repetitive back-office tasks with robotic process automation (RPA) software, the use of cognitive solutions to anticipate future demand, or visibility solutions being used to identify and address continuity issues, the opportunities are endless. Sometimes, however, this broad spectrum of opportunity can lead to confusion. When we talk about digital strategies, are we referring to specific software solutions?

Cloud-based technologies? Robotic innovations? Are we looking to optimize existing strategies, or transform an entire business model?

It doesn’t have to be complicated.

When it comes to the performance of a supply chain, it’s really just a function of two things; how efficient the processes are, and how effective the decisionmaking is. No matter how well an organization streamlines its processes and optimizes its operating model, if it still makes bad decisions its performance will suffer. Conversely, if an organization is adept at decision-making, but doesn’t have the necessary processes to execute them, then it will perform poorly.

That’s why we believe that companies need to define their performance ambition, before they look to the factors that hinder their ability to meet that ambition. Only then should digital process and technology innovation be considered as a means to address these problems. The sole focus of any digital strategy should

be to improve performance.

Looked at through the lens of frictionless processes and effortless decisions, the broad list of digital technologies becomes clearer. Those aimed primarily at process improvement, such as physical robots or indeed intelligent automation, tend to be “point solutions” and relatively straightforward to implement. Others lend themselves to improved decisionmaking, such as data analytics, blockchain, artificial intelligence, machine learning, or Internet of Things (IoT) devices. These technologies, however, tend to be components rather than complete solutions, and need to be harnessed in combination to deliver their full potential. This is where “decision management” is emerging as a crucial capability.

Almost every executive has, at some point, mapped his company’s processes and knows the value of simple tools like brown paper and post-it notes to gain a fresh perspective on existing activities.

Until now, however, very few leaders have been able to look at supply-chain decisionmaking in the same way. Without this competency, they tend to see analytics as one-off projects looking for insight in existing data pools. In doing so they miss the opportunity of exploring advanced analytical solutions and the real value that comes from predictive decision support.

The excerpt was taken from the KPMG publication, entitled Supply Chains for a digital world. © 2019 R.G. Manabat & Co., a Philippine partnership and a member-firm of the KPMG network of independent member-firms affiliated with KPMG International Cooperative (“KPMG International”), a Swiss entity. All rights reserved. Printed in the Philippines For more information on KPMG in the Philippines, you may visit www.kpmg.com.ph.

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products to sales outlets, or consumers, whether directly or indirectly, within the City in the amount of:

HON. ROVIN ANDREW M. FELICIANO

HON. CRISSHA M. PINEDA

Councilor

Councilor

repealed accordingly.

SECTION 12. EFFECTIVITY CLAUSE. -This Ordinance shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication

1 , For ten wheelers and above

P750.00

2. For six wheelers

P450.00

ENACTED.

3. For four wheelers

P225.00

MAY 06, 2019.

VALENZUELA CITY, METROPOLITAN MANILA.

HON. JENNIFER PINGREE-ESPLANA ***Excerpts from the minutes of the 113th Regular Session of the 7th City Council of Valenzuela held on April 29, 2019 at 2:13 P.M. at the City Council’s Session Hall, 3rd Floor, Legislative Building, Valenzuela City Hall,

HON. LAILANIE P. NOLASCO

Councilor

Councilor

Karuhatan, Valenzuela City, Metropolitan Manila.

HON. RICARDO RICARR C. ENRIQUEZ

ORDINANCE NO. 559

HON. KRISTIAN ROME T. SY

Councilor

Councilor

Series of 2019 AN ORDINANCE ADOPTING AND APPROVING THE DRAINAGE MASTER PLAN OF VALENZUELA CITY.

HON. RAMON L. ENCARNACION

HON. MARIA CECILIA V. MAYO

Councilor

Councilor

====================================== Authored by: Coun. RAMON L. ENCARNACION Co-authored by : Coun. ANTONIO R. ESPIRITU, Coun.

ROVIN ANDREW M. FELICIANO, Coun, JENNIFERPINGREE-ESPLANA, Coun.

MARLON PAULO C. ALEJANDRINO, Coun, RICARDO RICARR C. ENRIQUEZ, Coun. KIMBERLY ANN DV. GALANG, Coun.

CRISSHA M. PINEDA, Coun. LAILANIE P, NOLASCO, Coun. KRISTIAN ROME T. SY, Coun. JOSEPH WILLIAM D. LEE and Coun. CHIQUI MARIE N. CARREON.

HON. JOSEPH WILLIAM D. LEE

HON. CHIQUI MARIE N. CARREON

Councilor (President, League of Barangays)

The manufacturer, producers, wholesalers, dealers and retailers referred to paragraph above shall be exempt from the tax on peddler prescribed elsewhere in this Code.”

Councilor (President, Sangguniang Kabataan

WHEREAS, the existing Revenue Code has, already served its purpose of generating revenue and must now be updated, restructured and modernized to meet and satisfy the steadily growing need of the City for more revenue in order to be able to promote the general welfare of the people of Valenzuela;

HON. KIMBERLY ANN DV. GALANG Councilor

Federation)

ATTESTED:

Minority Floor Leader

HON. MARLON PAULO C. ALEJANDRINO Councilor Asst. Majority Floor Leader

WHEREAS, to ensure the prosecution, operation and completion of the development projects and to assure the delivery of basic services, there is a need to update the rates to maximize revenue collections of the City;

“Section 16. General Welfare. - Every local government unit shall exercise the powers expressly granted, those necessarily implied therefrom, as well as powers necessary, appropriate, or incidental for its efficient and effective governance, and those which are essential to the promotion of the general welfare. xxx;”

Councilor

Majority Floor Leader

WHEREAS, progressive urbanization in the City of Valenzuela calls for adequate and equitable delivery of basic services, the prosecution of physical social and economic development projects to continually enhance the quality of life of its inhabitants;

WHEREAS, under Section 16 of the Local Government Code states that:

HON. ROSALIE ESTEBAN-CAYCO

HON. ANTONIO R. ESPIRITU

HON. CRISSHA M. PINEDA

Councilor

Councilor

HON. ROVIN ANDREW M. FELICIANO

HON. LAILANIE P. NOLASCO

Councilor

Councilor

====================================== WHEREAS, it is the policy of the City Government of Valenzuela to safeguard life, property and public welfare consistent with the principle of sound environmental management and control; WHEREAS, the Supreme Count issued a writ of continuing mandamus for the clean-up and rehabilitation of Manila Bay;

FLAVIO C. DIAZ

Secretary

WHEREAS, under Section 458 (a)(5)v of the same Code states that: x x x Regulate the use of streets, avenues, alleys, sidewalks, bridges, parks and other public places and approve the construction, improvement repair and maintenance of the same; establish bus and vehicle stops and terminals or regulate the use of the same by privately-owned vehicles which serve the public; regulate garages and the operation of conveyances for hire xxx;

CERTIFIED CORRECT:

WHEREAS, the City External Services Office (CESO), Flood Control Division had designed a Drainage Master Plan;

WHEREAS, there is a need to adopt the Drainage Master Plan designed by the City External Services Office (CESO); NOW, THEREFORE, the Sangguniang Panlungsod ng Valenzuela do hereby ORDAIN, as it is hereby ORDAINED, the following:

HON. ANTONIO R. ESPIRITU Councilor Temporary Presiding Officer

SECTION 1. TITLE. – This Ordinance shall be known as “ADOPTION OF DRAINAGE MASTER PLAN” Ordinance.

SECTION 2. ADOPTION OF THE DESIGNED DRAINAGE MASTER PLAN. – The drainage master plan designed by the City External Services Office (CESO), Flood Control Division is hereby adopted as a pre-requisite for purposes of laying out the plans and construction of a drainage system in the City. The drainage master plan is hereto attached as Annex “A” and forms part of this Ordinance.

As the case may be applicable, no business permits, building permits and related licenses shall be issued in favor of any applicant, who is not compliant with the standards set forth in the drainage master plan designed by the City External Services Office (CESO), Flood Control Division and its implementing Rules and Regulations.

SECTION 3. IMPLEMENTING RULES. – The Office of the City Mayor thru the City External Services Office (CESO), Flood Control Division is hereby mandated to implement this Ordinance.

It is further mandated that the City External Services Office (CESO), Flood Control Division shall promulgate implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) subject to the approval of the City Mayor for the enforcement of this Ordinance and to categorize violations of the drainage master plan, to light violations, less grave violations and grave violations and to impose administrative fines therefor but not exceeding Php10,000.00 per violation.

Task Force Disiplina created under Ordinance No. 92, Series of 2013 in collaboration with the City External Services Office (CESO), Flood Control Division or any other office or individual duly authorized by the City Mayor shall have the authority to enforce the provisions of this Ordinance.

SECTION 4. OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE. – An oversight committee which is primarily tasked to monitor the implementation of this Ordinance and to ensure that the drainage system herein provided is completed within the period of ten (10) years from the date of effectivity of this Ordinance, is hereby created to be composed of the following: 1.) The Chairman – the Honorable City Mayor;

Members:

2.) The Chairman of the Committee on Urban Planning, Housing and Development; 3.) The Chairman of the Committee on Public Works and Flood Control; 4.) The Head of the Engineering Department; 5.) The Head of the City External Services Office 6.) And such other person to be designated by the City Mayor.

SECTION 5. SEPARABILITY CLAUSE. – In the event that any part or provision of this Ordinance shall be held invalid, the other parts or provisions hereto which are not affected thereby shall continue to be in full force and effect.

SECTION 6. REPEALING CLAUSE. – All existing ordinances, executive orders and administrative regulations or part or parts thereof which are inconsistent with any provision of this Ordinance are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.

City Vice Mayor APPROVED:

HON. REXLON T. GATCHALIAN City Mayor Date Signed: _MAY 17, 2019_ ________________________________________________

***Excerpts from the minutes of the 114th Regular Session of the 7th City Council of Valenzuela held on May 06, 2019 at 2:45 P.M. at the City Council’s Session Hall, 3rd Floor, Legislative Building, Valenzuela City Hall, Karuhatan, Valenzuela City, Metropolitan Manila.

ORDINANCE NO. 563 Series of 2019 AN ORDINANCE MANDATING ALL REGISTERED BUSINESS AND COMMERCIAL DELIVERY TRUCKS AND/OR VANS TO POST STICKERS ISSUED BY THE CITY GOVERNMENT OF VALENZUELA AND PROVIDING PENALTIES THEREOF. ========================================= Authored by: Coun. KRISTIAN ROME T. SY Co-authored by: Coun. ANTONIO R. ESPIRITU, Coun. ROVIN ANDREW M. FELICIANO, Coun.

JENNIFER PINGREE-ESPLANA, Coun. MARLON PAULO C. ALEJANDRINO Coun. RICARDO RICARR C. ENRIQUEZ, Coun. RAMON L. ENCARNACION, Coun.KIMBERLY ANN DV. GALANG, Coun. CRISSHA M. PINEDA, Coun.LAILANIE P. NOLASCO, Coun.

JOSEPH WILLIAM D. LEE and Coun. CHIQUI MARIE N. CARREON. =========================================

WHEREAS, Pursuant to the aforementioned power to tax, the then Sanggunian Bayan of Valenzuela enacted Tax Ordinances No. 92-012 and 92-013, better known as the Revenue Code of the Municipality of Valenzuela, Books I and ll on 07 December 1992; WHEREAS, Ordinance no. 39, series of 2011 amended certain provisions of the above mentioned Ordinance;

HON. ROSALIE ESTEBAN-CAYCO

Councilor Majority Floor Leader

Councilor Minority Floor Leader

HON. MARLON PAULO C. ALEJANDRINO Councilor Asst. Majority Floor Leader

HON. RICARDO RICARR C. ENRIQUEZ

HON. MARIA CECILIA V. MAYO

Councilor

WHEREAS, there is a need to regulate delivery truck/van to protect the public, promote public safety and ensure welfare of residents, transients and traversing public of Valenzuela City.

HON. RAMON L. ENCARNACION

NOW, THEREFORE, be it ORDAINED by the Sangguniang Panlungsod of

Councilor

HON. JOSEPH WILLIAM D. LEE

Councilor

Councilor (President, League of Barangays)

HON. CHIQUI MARIE N. CARREON

SECTION 1. TITLE. – This ordinance shall be known as “DELIVERY TRUCK/VAN REGULATORY STICKER”

Councilor (President, Sangguniang Kabataan Federation)

SECTION 2. DEFINITION OF TERMS. – a) DELIVERY TRUCK / VAN – refers to motor vehicle designed to transport cargo. It may vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, with the smallest being mechanically similar to an automobile.

For the purpose of this ordinance, delivery truck/ van includes any vehicle used by manufacturers, producers, wholesalers, dealers or retailers in the delivery or distribution of products to sales outlets, or consumers, whether directly or indirectly. b) DELIVERY TRUCK / VAN STICKER (DT/V STICKER) – refers to a sticker issued by the Business Permit and Licensing Office (BPLO) posted at the front windshield lower part or driver side door of the truck/ van. Its specification shall be determined by the implementing authority.

WHEREAS, Section 305 of the same Code provides that local revenue shall be generated only from sources expressly authorized by law or ordinance;

HON. KIMBERLY ANN DV. GALANG

Councilor

ATTESTED:

FLAVIO C. DIAZ

Secretary

CERTIFIED CORRECT:

VALENZUELA CITY, METROPOLITAN MANILA.

Councilor

HON. LORENA NATIVIDAD-BORJA

SECTION 7. EFFECTIVITY. – This Ordinance shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in a newspaper of general circulation, copies of this ordinance shall also be posted in the barangay hall of all the barangays in Valenzuela City and in two (2) conspicuous places in the City Hall of Valenzuela City.

APRIL 29, 2019.

HON. KRISTIAN ROME T. SY

Valenzuela in session assembled that:

WHEREAS, Republic Act No. 7160, otherwise known as the Local Government Code, empowers each local government unit to create its own sources of revenue and to levy taxes, fees and charges subject to the provisions of the same and consistent with the basic policy of local autonomy;

ENACTED.

HON. JENNIFER PINGREE-ESPLANA

WHEREAS, Section 1. Item No. 11 and 11.1 of Ordinance No. 39, series of 2011 provides, to wit:

“11. Annual Fixed Tax for Every Delivery Truck or Van of Manufacturer or Producer, Wholesalers of, Dealers, or Retailers in Certain Products Not exceeding P500.00 + 50% if City: 11.1 The City shall not levy an annual fixed tax for delivery truck, van or any vehicle used by manufacturers, producers, wholesalers, dealers or retailers in the delivery or distribution of distilled spirits, fermented liquors, softdrinks, cigars and cigarettes, and other

SECTION 3. WHO ARE REQUIRED TO APPLY– Business and commercial entities, whether it be sole proprietor, partnership or corporation, in furtherance of its business and/ or commercial interest are required to apply and post the sticker.

This includes business and commercial entities directly affected by the Truck Ban Regulation being implemented by this City.

SECTION 4. APPLICATION – in addition to fees, charges and taxes being collected during application of Business/Mayor’s Permit, there shall be an additional payment of One Hundred Sixty Pesos (Php160.00) per Truck /Van for the cost of sticker as an additional item indicated in their Business/Mayor’s Permit issued by the BPLO. SECTION 5. LOSS OF DT/V STICKER – In case the DT/V sticker issued by the BPLO was lost, the owner thereof shall submit Affidavit of Loss and pay the amount of Two Hundred Pesos (Php200.00) for the processing and reprinting of the lost Sticker.

HON. LORENA NATIVIDAD-BORJA City Vice Mayor Presiding Officer

APPROVED:

HON. REXLON T. GATCHALIAN City Mayor Date Signed: _MAY 22, 2019_ ________________________________________________

SECTION 6. COPY OF BUSINESS/MAYOR’S PERMIT OR RECEIPT PAID FOR – A copy of Business/Mayor’s Permit or receipt showing the payment made for the Delivery Truck/Van Sticker shall be carried at all times and must be presented by the driver of the vehicle whenever asked.

SECTION 7. IMPLEMENTING AUTHORITY – This Ordinance, with respect to the application and issuance of DT/V Sticker shall be implemented by the BPLO. Any violation of this Ordinance shall be apprehended by Traffic Management Officer under the Public Order and Safety Group (POSG). However, the City Mayor may issue rules and regulations for the proper implementation of the same.

SECTION 8. ADMINISTRATIVE PENALTY – Any person, corporation, partnership or entity has no or failed to post sticker in its designated area shall be liable for an administrative fine of: First Offense – One Thousand Pesos (Php1,000.00) Second Offense – Three Thousand Pesos (Php3,000.00) Third and succeeding Offense – Five Thousand Pesos (Php5,000.00) and subject to revocation of Business/Mayor’s Permit

SECTION 9. CRIMINAL LIABILITY – any person, corporation, partnership or entity who shall forge, alter or reproduce the sticker without authority shall be punishable by a fine of Five Thousand Pesos (Php5,000.00) per Sticker or imprisonment of not more than one (1) year, or both at the discretion of the court.

SECTION 10. SEPARABILITY CLAUSE. -If for any reason, a part of this Ordinance is declared illegal or invalid, other parts or provisions hereof which are not affected thereby shall remain valid and in full force and effect.

Further, this Ordinance is separate and distinct from Truck Ban Ordinance which is also being implemented by this City.

SECTION 11. REPEALING CLAUSE. -All previous Ordinance and rules/regulations which are inconsistent with the provisions of this ordinance are hereby deemed, modified or

***Excerpts from the minutes of the 114th Regular Session of the 7th City Council of Valenzuela held on May 06, 2019 at 2:45 P.M. at the City Council’s Session Hall, 3rd Floor, Legislative Building, Valenzuela City Hall, Karuhatan, Valenzuela City, Metropolitan Manila.

ORDINANCE NO. 564 Series of 2019 AN ORDINANCE REGULATING AND IMPOSING NEW PARKING FEES / CHARGES FOR THE USE OF PARKING SPACES, GOVERNMENT FACILITIES OWNED OR OPERATED OR EVEN PORTION OF ROADS OF STREETS DECLARED ALLOTTED FOR PARKING SPACE BY THE CITY GOVERNMENT OF VALENZUELA. =========================================== Authored by: Coun. KRISTIAN ROME T. SY Co-authored by: Coun. ANTONIO R. ESPIRITU, Coun. ROVIN ANDREW M. FELICIANO, Coun.

JENNIFER PINGREE-ESPLANA, Coun. MARLON PAULO C. ALEJANDRINO Coun. RICARDO RICARR C. ENRIQUEZ, Coun. RAMON L. ENCARNACION, Coun.KIMBERLY ANN DV. GALANG, Coun. CRISSHA M. PINEDA, Coun.LAILANIE P. NOLASCO, Coun.

JOSEPH WILLIAM D. LEE and Coun. CHIQUI MARIE N. CARREON. =========================================== WHEREAS, Section 16 of the Local Government Code of 1991 (R.A. 7160) provides that every local government unit shall exercise

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Monday, June 24, 2019 B5

Trump-Xi G-20 summit meeting seen easing trade war tension

C

ENTRAL bankers hand back the spotlight to presidents and prime ministers this week as leaders from the Group of 20 gather for a summit in Japan.

The highlight of those talks will be the face-to-face meeting between President Donald J. Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. That they are meeting at all was enough to send stocks higher last week.

Now there is pressure for the two sides to ensure at the very minimum that their tariff battle doesn’t worsen.

Any hint they’re prepared to get talks back on track toward a deal would be welcome news

for a global economy dented by the uncertainty. A truce may also prompt markets to rethink how aggressive the Federal Reserve and fellow central banks still need to be after they last week sh if ted c loser to new stimulus measures.

“The Trump-Xi meeting at the G-20 summit in Japan holds the potential to dramatically reshape the outlook for trade tensions,” said Bloomberg Economics’ Carl Riccadonna, Yelena Shulyatyeva and Eliza Winger. “A rocky outcome would compel the Fed to act sooner.” Bloomberg News

Device to trap plastic waste in Pacific Ocean relaunches S AN FRANCISCO —A floating device designed to catch plastic waste has been redeployed in second attempt to clean up a huge island of trash swirling in the Pacific Ocean between California and Hawaii.

Boyan Slat, creator of The Ocea n C lea nup project, a nnounced on Twitter that a 2,000foot (600-meter) long floating boom that broke apart late last year was sent back to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch this week after four months of repair.

A ship towed the U-shaped barrier from San Francisco to the patch in September to trap

the plastic. But during the four months at sea, the boom broke apart under constant waves and wind, and the boom wasn’t retaining the plastic it caught.

“Hopefully nature doesn’t have too many surprises in store for us this time,” Slat tweeted.

“Either way, we’re set to learn a lot from this campaign.”

Fitted with solar-powered lights, cameras, sensors and satellite antennas, the device intends to communicate its position at all times, allowing a support vessel to fish out the collected plastic every few months and transport it to dry land.

The plastic barrier with a tapered 10-foot-deep (3-meterdeep) screen is intended to act like a coastline, trapping some of the 1.8 trillion pieces of plastic that scientists estimate are swirling in the patch while allowing marine life to safely swim beneath it.

During its first run, the organization said marine biologists on board the support vessel did not observe any environmental impact.

Slat has said he hopes one day to deploy 60 of the devices to skim plastic debris off the surface of the ocean. AP

Two finalists in UK leadership race make pitch to Tory members

Kim receives ‘excellent’ letter from Trump

L

ONDON—The two finalists in the race to lead Britain’s governing Conservative Party—and become the country’s new prime minister—made their first formal pitches to party members on Saturday, both vowing to be the right man to deliver Brexit.

Ex-Foreign Secretary and former London Mayor Boris Johnson, the runaway favorite of Tory lawmakers, faced off with Jeremy Hunt, the current foreign secretary, at a Conservative conference in central England’s Birmingham.

Opening his address with a focus on delivering Britain’s stalled exit from the European Union, Johnson told the audience, “We need to get Brexit done” and be prepared to leave the EU without a withdrawal deal in place.

“I am here to tell you that in all confidence we can turn this thing around,” he said. “I am utterly convinced that with the right energy and the right commitment, common sense will prevail. But just in case it does not, we must prepare to come out anyway.”

Johnson has won backing from the Conservative Party’s die-hard Brexiteers by insisting the UK must leave the bloc on the rescheduled date of October 31, with or without a divorce agreement with the EU to smooth the way.

Both Johnson and Hunt said they would succeed in seeing Britain out of the EU, a challenge that defeated Prime Minister Theresa May. She quit as Conservative leader earlier this month after repeat-

edly failing to win Parliament’s backing for her Brexit deal and will leave 10 Downing Street when her successor is selected.

Hunt pitched himself as the better negotiator, warning that “catastrophe awaits,” if the wrong leader is sent to Brussels for talks with EU leaders.

“If we send the wrong person, there’s going to be no negotiation, no trust, no deal, and if Parliament stops that, maybe no Brexit,” he said. “Send the right person, and there’s a deal to be done.”

For the party conference in Birmingham, both contenders were given time to make a short speech before answering questions from the host and audience members.

The Saturday “hustings” was the first of more than a dozen such party meetings set to take place across Britain in coming days.

Johnson refused to comment when asked about a police visit early on Friday to the London home he shares with partner Carrie Symonds after a neighbor reported an altercation. The incident dominated news headlines in Britain on Saturday.

The Guardian newspaper said neighbors repor ted hear ing screaming, shouting and banging inside the home. The responding officers found all the occupants “safe and well” and no legal offenses were committed, police said.

Johnson said the public could judge his character and ambition by his track record as London mayor and his plans for the country. AP

S

EOUL, South Korea—President Donald J. Trump sent North Korean leader Kim Jong Un an “excellent” letter, the North’s state-run news agency reported on Sunday, quoting Kim as saying he would “seriously contemplate it.”

The White House declined to confirm that Trump had sent a letter to Kim. It comes as nuclear talks between the US and North Korea broke down after the failed summit between Kim and Trump in February in Vietnam.

The US is demanding that North Korea abandon its nuclear weapons entirely before international sanctions are lifted. North Korea is seeking a step-by-step approach in which moves toward denuclearization are matched by concessions from the US, notably a relaxation of the sanctions.

Kim “said with satisfaction that the letter is of excellent content,” Pyongyang’s Korean Central News Agency reported.

“Appreciating the political judging faculty and extraordinary courage of President Trump, Kim Jong Un said that he would seriously contemplate the interesting content,” the agency said, without elaborating.

South Korea’s presidential office said it sees the exchange of letters between Kim and Trump as a positive development for keeping the momentum for dialogue alive.

Trump’s letter also came days after Kim’s summit with visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping, which experts say underscored China’s emergence as a major player in the diplomatic push to resolve the nuclear standoff with the North. AP

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US launches attack vs Iran military computers

W

ASHINGTON—US military cyber forces launched a strike against Iranian military computer systems on Thursday as President Donald J. Trump backed away from plans for a more conventional military strike in response to Iran’s downing of a US surveillance drone, US officials said on Saturday.

Two officials told The Associated Press that the strikes were conducted with approval from Trump. A third official confirmed the broad outlines of the strike. All spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the operation.

The cyberattacks—a contingency plan developed over weeks amid escalating tensions—disabled Iranian computer systems that controlled its rocket and missile launchers, the officials said. Two of the officials said the attacks, which specifically targeted Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) computer system, were provided as options after Iranian forces blew up two oil tankers earlier this month.

The IRGC, which was designated a foreign terrorist group by the Trump administration earlier this year, is a branch of the Iranian military.

The action by US Cyber Command

was a demonstration of the US’s increasingly mature cyber military capabilities and its more aggressive cyber strategy under the Trump administration. Over the last year US officials have focused on persistently engaging with adversaries in cyberspace and undertaking more offensive operations.

There was no immediate reaction on Sunday morning in Iran to the US claims. Iran has hardened and disconnected much of its infrastructure from the Internet after the Stuxnet computer virus, widely believed to be a joint US-Israeli creation, disrupted thousands of Iranian centrifuges in the late 2000s.

Tensions have escalated between the two countries ever since the US withdrew last year from the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and began a policy of “maximum pressure.” Iran has since been hit by multiple rounds of sanctions. Tensions spiked this

past week after Iran shot down an unmanned US drone—an incident that nearly led to a US military strike against Iran on Thursday evening.

The cyberattacks are the latest chapter in the US and Iran’s ongoing cyber operations targeting the other. Yahoo News first reported the cyber strike.

In recent weeks, hackers believed to be working for the Iranian government have targeted US government agencies, as well as sectors of the economy, including finance, oil and gas, sending waves of spear-phishing e-mails, according to representatives of cyber-security companies CrowdStrike and FireEye, which regularly track such activity. This new campaign appears to have started shortly after the Trump administration imposed sanctions on the Iranian petrochemical sector this month.

It was not known if any of the hackers managed to gain access to the targeted networks with the emails, which typically mimic legitimate e-mails but contain malicious software.

Tensions have run high between the two countries since the US withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran last year and began a policy of “maximum pressure.” Iran has since been hit by multiple rounds of sanctions. Then Iran shot down an unmanned US drone this week.

“Both sides are desperate to know what the other side is thinking,” said John Hultquist, director of intelligence analysis at FireEye. “You can absolutely expect the regime to be

leveraging every tool they have available to reduce the uncertainty about what’s going to happen next, about what the US’s next move will be.”

CrowdStrike shared images of the spear-phishing e-mails with the AP. One such e-mail that was confirmed by FireEye appeared to come from the Executive Office of the President and seemed to be trying to recruit people for an economic adviser position. Another e-mail was more generic and appeared to include details on updating Microsoft Outlook’s global address book.

The Iranian actor involved in the cyberattack, dubbed “Refined Kitten” by CrowdStrike, has for years targeted the US energy and defense sectors, as well as allies such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, said Adam Meyers, vice president of intelligence at CrowdStrike.

The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement released Saturday that its agency tasked with infrastructure security has been aware of a recent rise in malicious cyber activities directed at US government agencies by Iranian regime actors and proxies.

Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Director Christopher C. Krebs said the agency has been working with the intelligence community and cybersecurity partners to monitor Iranian cyber activity and ensure the US and its allies are safe.

“What might start as an account compromise, where you think you might just lose data, can quickly

become a situation where you’ve lost your whole network,” Krebs said.

The National Security Agency would not discuss Iranian cyber actions specifically, but said in a statement to the AP on Friday that “there have been serious issues with malicious Iranian cyber actions in the past.”

“In these times of heightened tensions, it is appropriate for everyone to be alert to signs of Iranian aggression in cyberspace and ensure appropriate defenses are in place,” the NSA said.

Iran has long targeted the US oil and gas sectors and other critical infrastructure, but those efforts dropped significantly after the nuclear agreement was signed. After Trump withdrew the US from the deal in May 2018, cyber experts said they have seen an increase in Iranian hacking efforts.

“This is not a remote war [anymore],” said Sergio Caltagirone, vice president of threat intelligence at Dragos Inc. “This is one where Iranians could quote unquote bring the war home to the United States.”

Caltagirone said as nations increase their abilities to engage offensively in cyberspace, the ability of the United States to pick a fight internationally and have that fight stay out of the United States physically is increasingly reduced.

The US has had a contentious cyber history with Iran.

In 2010, the so-called Stuxnet virus disrupted the operation of thousands of centrifuges at a uranium-enrichment facility in Iran. Iran

accused the US and Israel of trying to undermine its nuclear program through covert operations.

Iran has also shown a willingness to conduct destructive campaigns.

Iranian hackers in 2012 launched an attack against state-owned oil company Saudi Aramco, releasing a virus that erased data on 30,000 computers and left an image of a burning American flag on screens.

In 2016, the US indicted Iranian hackers for a series of punishing cyberattacks on US banks and a small dam outside of New York City.

The Defense Department refused to comment on the latest Iranian activity. “As a matter of policy and for operational security, we do not discuss cyberspace operations, intelligence or planning,” Pentagon Spokesman Heather Babb said in a statement. The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

Despite the apparent cyber campaign, experts say the Iranians would not necessarily immediately exploit any access they gain into computer systems and may seek to maintain future capabilities should their relationship with the US further deteriorate.

“It’s important to remember that cyber is not some magic offensive nuke you can fly over and drop one day,” said Oren Falkowitz, a former National Security Agency analyst. It takes years of planning, he said, but as tensions increase, “cyber impact is going to be one of the tools they use and one of the hardest things to defend against.” AP

Saudi state airline changes flight routes to avoid Iran’s airspace

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IYADH, Saudi Arabia—Saudi Arabia’s state airline Saudia says it is rerouting flight paths to some Asian destinations in order to avoid Iranian airspace amid heightened tensions in the Persian Gulf.

The statement on Saturday

evening follows the US Federal Aviation Administration’s decision to bar US-registered aircraft from operating over parts of the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, after Iran shot down a US military drone on Thursday.

The airline says it’s a precautionary measure for aviation safety, and

Saudi-owned Al Arabiya news channel says the airline’s decision affects flight routes over the Gulf of Oman and the Strait of Hormuz.

Other regional carriers like Etihad and Emirates on Friday announced they too have changed their flight paths in the Persian Gulf region. AP

Trump threatens new sanctions on Iran

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RESIDENT Donald J. Trump said the US will impose major new sanctions on Iran on Monday, days after he abruptly called off a plan for air strikes against the Islamic Republic based on the concept of proportionality after Iran shot down a US Navy drone.

The sanctions move, announced on Twitter with no additional detail, came as Trump spent the day at the Camp David presidential retreat having meetings and phone calls. The president foreshadowed the sanctions action earlier, in remarks at the White House.

“Iran cannot have Nuclear Weapons! Under the terrible Obama plan, they would have been on their way to Nuclear in a short number

of years, and existing verification is not acceptable. We are putting major additional Sanctions on Iran on Monday. I look forward to the day that.... Sanctions come off Iran, and they become a productive and prosperous nation again—The sooner the better!” Trump tweeted on June 22, 2019.

Trump told reporters he intended to impose additional economic sanctions and that military action is “always on the table until we get this solved” and that if Iran’s leadership “behaves badly, it’s going to be a very bad day for them.”

He also said that having the Strait of Hormuz open to shipping is less important to the US because of its large domestic oil production,

and benefits China, Japan, Indonesia and other countries much more.

“We’ll see with Iran,” he said. “Everyone was saying I’m a warmonger and now they’re saying I’m a dove.”

Instead, Trump offered, he is “a man with common sense.”

‘Plane in their sights’

“I DON’T want to kill 150 Iranians” unless it’s absolutely necessary, said Trump, expressing a fondness for Iranian people he’s known in New York. “Anything’s a lot when they shoot down an unmanned drone,” in terms of casualties. Trump also said that Iran “had a plane in their sights, 38 people on the plane and they didn’t shoot it down. That was a very wise decision.” Bloomberg News

Trump postpones nationwide immigration enforcement sweep

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A SHING TON — President Donald J. Trump on Saturday delayed a nationwide immigration sweep to deport people living the United States illegally, including families, saying he would give lawmakers two weeks to work out solutions for the southern border.

The move came after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called Trump on Friday asking him to call off the raids. But three administration officials said scrapping the operation was not just about politics.

They said Immigration and Customs Enforcement leaders had expressed serious concerns that officers’ safety would be in jeopardy because too many details about the raids had been made public.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to speak about private discussions.

“At the request of Democrats, I have delayed the Illegal Immigration Removal Process [Deportation] for two weeks to see if the Democrats and Republicans can get together and work out a solution to the Asylum and Loophole problems at the Southern Border,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “If not, Deportations start!”

The operation, which sparked outrage and concern among immigrant advocates, had been expected to begin on Sunday and would target people with final orders of removal, including families whose immigration cases had been fast-tracked by judges.

The cancellation was another sign of the Trump administration’s difficulty managing the border crisis. The number of people crossing the US-Mexico border has risen dramatically under Trump, despite his tough rhetoric and hardline

policies. Balancing a White House eager to push major operational changes with the reality on the ground is a constant challenge for the Department of Homeland Security. Trump gave the first public word of the planned sweep earlier this week, saying in a tweet that an operation was coming up and the agency would begin to remove “millions” of people who were in the United States illegally.

Later, leaks to the media included sensitive law-enforcement details, such as the day it was to begin, Sunday, plus specific cities and other operational details.

On Saturday, ICE Spokesman Carol Danko criticized the leaks in context of their potential impact on ICE personnel, saying in a statement that “any leaks telegraphing sensitive law-enforcement operations is egregious and puts our officers’ safety in danger.” AP

Agriculture/Commodities BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Editor: Jennifer A. Ng • Monday, June 24, 2019 B7

‘Tariff-free corn to cut animal feed prices’

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By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

@jearcalas

OCAL poultry and livestock raisers expressed their support for the proposal of the Department of Agriculture (DA) to import 300,000 metric tons (MT) of yellow corn at zero tariffs to cut animal feed prices and the cost of meat production.

CORN is unloaded from a grain truck in Sheffield, Illinois. Poultry growers and hog raisers from the Philippines are pushing for the tariff-free importation of yellow corn to reduce the prices of animal feeds. BLOOMBERG NEWS

PHL agrees to review safeguard duty on Indonesian coffee

By Elijah Felice E. Rosales @alyasjah

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HE Philippines will review the special safeguard duty (SSG) it imposed on coffee imports in light of Indonesia’s commitment to balance twoway trade by easing, if not lifting, restrictions on agricultural products.

Trade officials over the weekend agreed to resolve the issue on the SSG applied by the Philippines on Indonesian instant coffee. Indonesia is appealing the trigger price of P203.74 per kilogram set by the Philippines before the World Trade Organization and during bilateral talks.

However, the Philippines stood its ground and insisted that the SSG on coffee imports was imposed to protect local coffee makers that were displaced by cheaper instant coffee products from Indonesia, according to Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez.

Lopez said Manila will consider Jakarta’s moves in relaxing restrictions on agricultural imports in its review of the SSG on Indonesian instant coffee. He argued Indonesia must make the

first move if it is really committed to balancing trade with the Philippines.

“The issue has also prompted a review of the current restrictive market access of Philippine products to Indonesia,” Lopez told reporters via SMS. “The current trade imbalance [is] in favor of Indonesia, prompting trade officials from both countries to find ways to narrow the trade gap while growing two-way trade. It was agreed that greater efforts must be done to allow more Philippine products to access the Indonesian market,” he added.

Merchandise trade between the Philippines and Indonesia expanded 10.32 percent to $7.8 billion last year, from $7.07 billion in 2017, according to data from the Philippine Statistics Authority.

Shipments to Indonesia improve d b y 21.78 p erce nt to $881.99 million, from $724.21 million. However, bulk of the trade was largely brought about b y i mp or t s f rom I nd one s i a that expanded by nearly 9 perce nt to $6. 92 bi l l ion , f rom $6.35 billion.

During the weekend meeting, Philippine trade officials tabled

Restaurants could be 1st to get GM salmon

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EW YORK — Inside an Indiana aquafarming complex, thousands of salmon eggs genetically modified (GM) to grow faster than normal are hatching into tiny fish. After growing to roughly 10 pounds (4.5 kilograms) in indoor tanks, they could be served in restaurants by late next year.

The salmon produced by AquaBounty are the first genetically modified animals approved for human consumption in the United States. They represent one way companies are pushing to transform the plants and animals we eat, even as consumer advocacy groups call for greater caution.

AquaBounty hasn’t sold any fish in the US yet, but it says its salmon may first turn up in places like restaurants or university cafeterias, which would decide whether to tell diners that the fish are genetically modified.

“It’s their customer, not ours,” said Sylvia Wulf, AquaBounty’s CEO. To produce its fish, Aquabounty injected Atlantic salmon with DNA from other fish species that make them grow to full size in about 18 months, which could be about twice as fast as regular salmon. The company says that’s more efficient since less feed is required. The eggs were shipped to the US from the company’s Canadian location last month after clearing final regulatory hurdles.

As AquaBounty worked through years of government approvals, several grocers including Kroger and Whole Foods responded to a campaign by consumer groups with a vow to not sell the fish.

Already, most corn and soy in the US is genetically modified to be more resistant to pests and herbicides. But as genetically modified salmon make their way to dinner plates, the pace of change to the food supply could accelerate. AP

their long-standing demand to address the trade imbalance, compelling their Indonesian counterparts to provide improved market access for agricultural products, including bananas, shallots, coconut products, food and beverages, as well as industrial items, such as car parts. “ The Philippines expressed that it shall consider positively these developments, and that the Philippines must ensure that these commitments materialize.

These shall be considered as it reviews the current SSG imposed on instant coffee,” the trade chief said.

“Indonesia’s openness to narrow down the trade gap and have a more balanced and mutually beneficial trade relationship are seen to grow the total trade between the two countries,” he added.

Indonesia in April allowed the entry of Philippine agricultural products, particularly those coming from Mindanao, following successful bilateral negotiations between the two parties. Jakarta removed procedures that hinder banana and other farm exports from Manila from entering its market.

United Broiler Raisers Association President Elias Jose Inciong told the BusinessMirror that animal feeds are still expensive as yellow corn prices have remained elevated.

“Prices have not gone back to the levels seen in 2016 and 2017,” Inciong said via SMS. Pork Producers Federation of the Philippines Inc. President Edwin G. Chen said his group is also in favor of the DA’s proposal, which could give feed millers access to cheaper raw materials.

Chen’s group has been pushing for the tariff-free importation of yellow corn since August of last year, when the average prices of the animal feed material rose by double-digits.

The DA recently filed a petition before the Tariff Commission to allow the importation of 300,000 MT of yellow corn at zero duty to plug the shortfall in local output.

The proposal, the DA argued, is also in line with its plan to boost local meat output amid declining global pork stocks caused by the increase in the purchases of countries that have reported African

swine fever (ASF) outbreaks.

The DA added that it would only allow the importation of yellow corn from ASF-free countries and the shipments must not arrive during harvest.

During the TC hearing last week, DA National Focal Person for Corn, Cassava and Soybean Lorenzo Caranguian disclosed that El Niño destroyed some 254,000 MT of yellow corn.

Philippine Association of Feed Millers Inc. (Pafmi) has been urging the DA to allow tariff-free importation since last year due to the shortfall in local yellow corn supply.

However, the DA denied Pafmi’s request to import 200,000 MT of yellow at zero tariff last year. The group again asked the government’s permission to import corn this year and hiked the volume due to the destruction of crops caused by typhoons and El Niño.

“Our reason primarily is the cost.

If we import it with tariffs, it would increase the cost of corn, which could translate to higher production cost of livestock, primarily swine, and poul-

try. A higher production cost would result in higher farm-gate price,” Pafmi President Terence S. Uygongco told the BusinessMirror.

Uygongco noted that the landed cost of yellow corn from the United States at 50-percent tariff is more than P20 per kilogram, which is on a par with prevailing domestic retail prices.

At zero tariffs, he said, the landed cost of yellow corn from the US would only be around P14/kg to P15/kg.

“If it’s expensive to bring in imported corn, then we will just purchase from local producers because it’s useless. Even with the in-quota rate of 35 percent, imports are still expensive,” he said.

The country slaps a 35-percent tariff on yellow corn imports within the minimum access volume, while those outside the quota are levied a tariff of 50-percent. Manila slaps these tariff rates on yellow corn from countries outside of Asean.

The average farm-gate price of yellow corn in the first week of June reached P14.01/kg, slightly higher than the P13.87/kg recorded in the same period last year, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

Farm-gate prices of yellow corn have remained above P13/kg since January 2018, data from the PSA showed.

Before 2018, PSA data indicated that the average farm-gate price of corn hovered around P11/kg to P12/kg.

Historical PSA data also showed that the retail prices of yellow corn have remained above P24/kg since January, higher than the average of P22/kg recorded in 2017.

B8 Monday, June 24, 2019

MARKES DRYER FOR ENERGY-SAVING WASHWORK DSWD, FORTUNE LIFE INK 4PS AGREEMENT

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LEANLINESS is a virtue. More than washing often, keeping your body clean and wearing clean clothes puts your body and mind heathy, enabling you to do more and be more. Markes’s brand of appliance ensures to help the Filipino community by providing options to making life easier with its continuing update on classic spin dryers.

Despite the availability of tumble-type dryers in the market, Filipinos still tend to stick with the conventional spin dryer for easier maintenance and affordability.

Spin and tumble dryers may also work hand in hand. A spin dryer does not use heat to get clothes dry. Instead, it rotates the tub at great speed enabling water to be spun out due to centrifugal force. When using a tumble dryer, putting the clothes in the spin dryer first will remove majority of the water and the time taken to dry clothes will be greatly reduced.

Therefore, clothes are subject to less heat exposure to better maintain its color and longevity.

A typical tumble dryer uses around 2,400 watts of electricity, while a spin dryer uses just around 240 watts. This is purely because heating up of a tumble dryer requires a lot of electricity, whereas powering the small motor in a spin dryer does not. Typically, using the spin dryer for five minutes will reduce the

time required in the tumble dryer by half an hour.

Therefore, savings in electricity per load can be achieved.

The efficiency of a spin dryer is the key, since it should ideally be able to pay for itself within its operational lifetime with electricity savings.

In addition, if the aim is to get clothes dry using as little energy as possible, an efficient unit is naturally preferable.

When purchasing a spin dryer, users must typically check the rotational speed or rotations per minute, which is typically around 1,600. Aside from RPM, users must also check the power consumption, efficiency and the load capacity.

The newest addition to the Markes spin-dryer models is the T90 series, available in gray (MSDGYB) and green (MSD-T90GRB) panels. It has all this technical feature that will surely save you money and drying time, plus it has a large 8.5-capacity stainlesssteel tub and plastic body to do away with rust. A true value for money, indeed.

Markes is exclusively distributed by Continental Sales Inc. For inquiries and more information, visit www.lkggroup.com.ph/csi. Markes appliances are available in all major appliance stores nationwide.

VILLAR TAPS CAVITEÑAS FOR TARPAULIN-RECYCLING PROJECT

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E-ELECTED Sen. Cynthia Villar has tapped the help of a group of women in Dasmariñas, Cavite, to make bags out of the tarpaulins used in her campaign for the recent elections.

Villar, chairman of the Committee on Environment and Natural Resources, said this recycling project benefits a small tailoring business, which employs mothers as sewers.

“We are very glad that we have now a way for the proper disposal of these used tarpaulins. Through this initiative, we were not only able to recycle used tarpaulins into something useful, we were also able to help women earn additional income for their families, ” Villar added.

Christine Joy Ferrer, 27, just started MXD Tailoring two months ago in the garage of the apartment she is renting. For five years, she worked for her older sister’s tailoring shop until closure. She then borrowed the sewing machines and started her own business.

“Tuwang tuwa po ako kasi nagsisimula pa lang ako, tapos nagtiwala na po sa akin si Senator Villar na gumawa ng bags niya.

Malaking tulong po ito sa akin at sa mga sewers ko,“ Ferrer said.

The two-by-three-foot tarpaulins collected by the staff of Villar were delivered to Ferrer’s shop to be made

into bags for P16 a piece. On the first week, they were able to finish 550 bags. They will be making more as tarpaulins collected from the provinces start to arrive.

Ferrer said her four sewers are mothers who live nearby. One of her sewers has to look after a baby. Ferrer loaned one of her machines, so she could work from home.

Ferrer said she appreciates Villar for providing a source of additional income for mothers like her. She said she was able to look after her kids, aged 10 and 7, while operating her small business.

The finished product has a dimension of 12 by 18 by 4 inches; it is white with the printed side of the tarpaulin made as the inside of the bag. Tarpaulin bags are the more durable and environment-friendly substitute for plastic bags. Villar said she will distribute the bags for free to further promote her advocacy for plastic recycling.

The Nacionalista Party senator also initiated a plastic-recycling project, which turns plastic wastes into school chairs. Through a plastic factory she built in Las Piñas City, 20 kilos of soft plastics, such as food wrappers, were recycled into a plastic chair with changeable parts and has a life span of 20 years. These chairs were donated to different public schools all over the country.

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HE Department of Social Welfare and Development National Capital Region (DSWD-NCR) signed a memorandum of agreement with Fortune Life Insurance Co. Inc. to implement a program, under which Fortune Life, through its agents, aims to promote financial literacy among Filipinos.

In particular, the program will help

beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) to save and protect the future of their families.

Formalizing the signing of the agreement, DSWD-NCR regional director Vicente Gregorio B. Tomas (center) while shaking a hand with Fortune Life branch ,anager Tranquilino T. Daigdigan (third from right), together with Senior Vice

President, and assistant general manager and officer in charge for marketing and sales division Emma M. Abad (third from left) at the DSWD-NCR office in Sampaloc, Manila. Also present were 4Ps regional program director Joel D. Cam (left), and assistant regional director for operations and OIC Edna J. Sacedor (second from right).

HYUNDAI STRENGTHENS SUPPORT FOR PUBLIC-RIDE MODERNIZATION PROGRAM

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ROM May 21 to 24 Hyundai A sia Resources Inc. (Har i), the officia l distr ibutor of Hy u nd a i pa ssenger c a rs a nd commercial vehicles in the Philippines, participated in the Land Transportation Office’s (LTO) 2019 Motor Show to celebrate the agency’s 107th anniversary.

The event’s theme, “e-DRIVE na @ 107”, was chosen to emphasize the agency’s push to modernize public transport in the Philippines. The “e” stood for electronic, while “DRIVE” was an acronym for driver’s license, road sa fet y, i nspec t ion, veh ic le registration and enforcement.

Hari President and Chief Executive Officer Ma. Fe Perez-Agudo said, “Hyundai stands with the LTO and the administration’s admirable plan for the moder nization of public transport in the Philippines. To show our all-out support, we brought our two vehicles that are best-suited to solve the Filipino’s mass transport or business needs.”

Hari showcased two vehicles at the 2019 Motor Show held at LTO’s East Avenue compound in Quezon City: the Hyundai Class 1 modern jeepney and the all-new Hyundai Reina.

Hyundai's Class 1 modern jeepney utilizes the tried-and-tested H-100 light-truck platform, unlike other Class 1 designs that predominantly use multicab as base. This means higher capacity, more space and, importantly, a safer ride. It is driven by a 2.5-liter, Euro-4 CRDi engine,

which offers proven fuel-efficiency, reliability and cleaner emissions, and promises better stability and safety. Measuring 4,500 millimeters (length) by 1,750 mm (width) by 1,500 mm (height) and weighing roughly 3,000 kilograms with the cab attached, the Hyundai Class 1 modern jeepney can comfortably seat 13 (12 passengers + 1 driver) and features a cashless-pay ment system (Beep card), side-facing seats and conveniently located handles.

What used to be seen as “add-ons” are now basics—Wi-fi, LCD Monitor, GPS tracking, CCTV cameras and a speed limiter—that further assure commuter convenience and safety while on the road.

The Hyundai Reina features a stylish, yet affordable, rendition of Fluidic Sculpture 2.0, Hyundai’s design philosophy. Its hexagonal grille and f lowing body lines help this sedan stand out on the road.

Reina marks Hyundai ’s strong return to the Segment A market, redefining and bringing new energy to the PC-A segment with more space, more safety and convenience features, better styling, and improved fuelefficiency to suit the needs of transport network-vehicle service operators.

Agudo added, “...We will continue to develop and offer vehicle options that help promote the countr y’s growth by getting goods and people where they need to go.”

SM WANTS YOU TO SHOP ANYWAY YOU LIKE ONLINE!

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HE largest department-store chain in the Philippines makes way to your superb shopping experience with the launch of ShopSM, The SM Store’s very own online shopping platform.

As Filipinos become busier and more mobile, they’re always looking for better ways to shop. ShopSM aims to be just as much a go-to destination for shopping as The SM Store online.

It carries your favorite items from every department—home basics, kids and baby essentials, beauty products, shoes, bags, and a variety of clothing for men, women and children.

The platform lets you use your SM Advantage or SM Prestige card to earn points, apart from regular discounts. A range of payment options is also available, including cash on delivery, credit payments and debit payments.

But what makes ShopSM even more super is how it introduces “Click and Collect” to the Philippines, a feature that gives you the option to pick up your online purchases at selected branches of The SM Store if it’s more convenient.

For the Filipino shopper, ShopSM makes sure to turn every shopping experience into a super experience. Head online to ShopSM.com and shop anytime, anywhere, anyway you like!

ORTO ALEGRE, Brazil—Both Copa America guests are still alive as the last round of group stage matches begins, a feature that doesn’t seem to please some of their South American opponents.

Qatar and Japan, who this year played in the Asian Cup final, are in third place in their groups. The top 2 in each group and the two best third-place finishers advance to the quarterfinals.

If Argentina is prematurely eliminated, it will be because of Qataris with little international experience who are preparing for the 2022 World Cup. Japan sent to Brazil an under-23 team that is being groomed for the Tokyo Olympics next year.

Asian champion Qatar has so far drawn with Paraguay, 2-2, and lost to Colombia, 1-0.

“We have come to compete, not to take pictures, even if we admire the players of the teams we are facing,” Qatar’s Spanish Coach Felix Sanchez said on Saturday. “Our main goal is to evaluate ourselves in a tournament of this caliber, so demanding.”

After winning the Asian Cup, Sanchez’s contract was extended until the end of the next World Cup. On Sunday, his team will have the chance to upset Lionel Messi.

“It would be beautiful to qualify no matter if it is against a monster like Argentina,” Sanchez said. “It will be a great step, even though we know they are also trying to advance to the next stage.”

The Qataris have already been invited to return to next year’s Copa, split between Colombia and Argentina.

Australia will be a guest side in 2020.

Japan was thrashed by Chile 4-0 but held favorite Uruguay to 2-2 after leading twice. On Monday the young Japanese can eliminate Ecuador to advance and, depending on other results, possibly face host Brazil in the quarterfinals on Thursday.

Venezuela Coach Rafael Dudamel is particularly upset with Japan’s decision to bring its Olympic team.

“I do not agree that a guest like Japan gives due importance to its participation by coming with players that are mostly under 23,” Dudamel said on Saturday after Venezuela beat Bolivia 3-1 and qualified to the quarterfinals of Copa America.

“I raise my voice and say Copa America needs to be only for South American teams,” he added. “We have not seen South American teams be invited to the African Cup of Nations, tournaments in Europe.... We have to respect the hierarchy that we have historically built.”

The list of Copa America guests in past editions is long: Mexico, Costa Rica, the United States, Jamaica, Honduras, Panama, Canada and Japan. Mexico had

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the best result among those, reaching the final in 1993 and in 2001.

Paraguay Coach Eduardo Berizzo said he doesn’t like the idea of teams outside of the Americas such as Qatar and Japan playing the Copa America.

“Playing among all American teams, that is logic,” Berizzo said after drawing Qatar. “We should think of a Copa America with Central and North Americas

integrated. I never saw any European cup with South American teams. I strongly believe that Copa America needs to be played by American teams.”

Uruguay Coach Oscar Tabarez said business was the main reason to invite teams to the Copa America.

“We are few countries in South America to organize a tournament with 10 teams, even more so with four phases like in a World Cup,” Tabarez said. AP

Copa America guests still alive before final decisive matches

JAPAN’S players celebrate a goal against Colombia at the Arena Gremio in Porto Alegre, Brazil. AP

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The Associated Press

ALENCIENNES, France—Having a male coach spares the England Women’s World Cup squad from being subjected to a lengthy verbal barrage in the dressing room.

Phil Neville, who was accustomed to receiving the renowned “hairdryer treatment” from Alex Ferguson during his Manchester United career, only has a couple of minutes to dish out halftime instructions to his Lionesses. Immediately after coming off the field, the players have some time without their coach since he limits his time in the dressing room.

“It allows me just time to breathe, speak to my three assistants,” Neville said ahead of Sunday’s round of 16 meeting with Cameroon. “As a player, when you come into the dressing room you are highly charged and highly emotional. Probably that’s the optimal time to let them have their room to vent at each other, vent at themselves, and when I come up in they have clarity of mind to listen to my team talk.”

Neville doesn’t want to take up too much of the 15-minute break.

“I need only two minutes with them,” he said on Saturday. “If I need longer, we’re in serious trouble.”

Half of the managers in the round of 16 are men—including Cameroon’s Alain Djeumfa, who will coach against Neville on Sunday in Valenciennes.

The post-match routine also varies with having a male manager in charge of a women’s team and the new Fifa regulations that have players facing a line of reporters immediately after leaving the field.

Neville conducts the post-match debrief in view of the world. In the huddle on the field the emotions can be in full view, and Neville was seen comforting Fran Kirby after the second game against Argentina.

“It’s difficult at the end of the game,” Neville said. “In the women’s game a lot of huddles do go on the pitch after the game because of the fact [that] if you’re a male

By Rob Harris

BEING a male coach limits Phil Neville’s team time at the Women’s World Cup. AP

ALEXANDRA POPP keys Germany’s entry to the quarterfinals. AP

GERMANY IN QUARTERS

ALEXANDRA POPP had just scored a go-ahead goal against Nigeria in her 100th international appearance when Japanese referee Yoshimi Yamashita signaled for a video

manager you don’t go back into the dressing room.”

Fifa said it gives no instructions to Women’s World Cup teams regarding access to the dressing room for male managers.

“What we decided as group is we had to speak to the players before they speak to the media because they like to know what I’m thinking, they like messages,” Neville said. “Normally, you go into the dressing room and the manager gives a conclusion of the game and they go out probably singing from the same hymn sheet.

“Straight from these games they have to go straight down the tunnel. They are emotional, tired, fatigued. So we just like that little three to four minutes of clarity in our thinking.”

Popp’s goal stood, and a few minutes later the match was stopped for another video review, this time to determine whether Germany’s Lina Magull had been fouled in the penalty area by Evelyn Nwabuoko.

Having seen the stud marks in her teammate’s leg, Popp was pleased the referee took a look and awarded a penalty kick.

“Otherwise, I would have asked myself why we were using this technology,” Popp said, “so it was quite obvious in the pictures.”

Germany advanced to the Women’s World Cup quarterfinals for the eighth straight time, beating African champion Nigeria, 3-0, on Saturday at Grenoble, France.

Nigeria Coach Thomas Dennerby endorsed VAR but said it caused disruptions.

“Football is also a game with a rhythm, and if you break the rhythm, sometimes that is not good,” he said. “It’s good for the game, but I don’t think anybody really has the final solution for VAR yet.”

Popp scored in the 20th minute. Sara Däbritz made it 2-0 in the 27th with the penalty kick and Lea Schüller got the final goal in the 82nd.

“All the interruptions are quite difficult to handle, especially emotionally, but we tried to keep calm,” Germany Coach Martina VossTecklenburg said through a translator. “Maybe they can speed up the whole process.”

Players are unsure when a video review will

review to determine whether a German teammate Svenja Huth, who was in an offside position, obstructed the view of goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie.

“I was a bit irritated to be honest,” the German captain said through a translator.

be signaled.

“It was a bit of insecurity throughout the match because we didn’t quite know what was assessed in a certain moment,” Popp said. “But in general I think it’s important to have this sort of assessment.”

Second-ranked Germany, which has outscored opponents 9-0, plays the winner of Monday’s match between Sweden and Canada on June 29 at Rennes.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel called VossTecklenburg after the match, “She congratulated us,” Voss-Tecklenburg recalled.

“She said she was very delighted.”

The weeklong layoff gives time for midfielder Dzsenifer Marozsán’s broken left middle toe to heal.

Injured in the opening win over China on June 8, Marozsán recovered sufficiently to be available as a substitute on Saturday if she had been needed.

“Based on today’s physical appearance, I would say she’s able to play the next match,” VossTecklenburg said, The Germans, who won the tournament in 2003 and 2007, have never failed to reach the quarterfinals.

No. 38 Nigeria was in the knockout phase for the second time, the first since it lost in the quarterfinals to Brazil in 1999, and it joined Cameroon to become the first pair of African teams to reach the knockout stage in the same Women’s World Cup. The Indomitable Lionesses play England on Sunday.

Popp scored on a four-yard header off Magull’s corner kick, her 48th international goal.

Däbritz scored on a low penalty kick beyond the outstretched left hand of Nnadozie, her third goal of the tournament and 13th of her international career.

Nigeria had an excellent chance to cut its deficit in the 50th when second-half substitute Rasheedat Ajibade streaked up a flank and passed to an open Desire Oparanozie, but the ball was just ahead of the forward and rolled by.

Schüller got her ninth international goal following a giveaway by Halimatu Ayinde.

The Super Falcons were missing defender Ngozi Ebere and midfielder Rita Chikwelu, who served suspensions for yellow card accumulation, and forward Asisat Oshoala, who was injured.

“I think we showed the whole world that Nigeria has a team that improved a lot,” Dennerby said. “It’s going the right way.”

onday, June 24, 2019 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

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Barty eyes Birmingham crown, world No. 1 spot

ANDY MURRAY is on the verge of completing a remarkable return. AP

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IRMINGHAM, England—French Open champion Ashleigh Barty will play Julia Goerges for the Birmingham Classic title on Sunday, and clinch the world No. 1 spot if she wins.

Barty extended her winning streak to 11 games and secured her third final of the season with a 6-4, 6-4 win over two-time runner-up Barbora Strycova on Saturday.

Goerges defeated Croatia’s Petra Martic 6-4, 6-3 in the other semifinal.

Second-ranked Barty needs to win the grass-court tournament to overtake Naomi Osaka in the rankings on Monday. Osaka lost to Yulia Putintseva in the second round on Thursday and must wait to see if she’ll still be top heading into Wimbledon, which starts July 1.

Barty, who can become the first Australian female No. 1 in 43 years, says: “If I win, it’s a bonus. There are all things that come with it, but those things are certainly not what I’m worried about.”

Groundbreaking black tennis player Arthur Ashe Jr.’s hometown of Richmond, Virginia, meanwhile, has renamed a major thoroughfare after him, after years of effort.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that thousands of people attended Saturday’s ceremony to celebrate the formal renaming of Arthur Ashe Boulevard.

The event drew several elected officials.

Congressman John Lewis of Georgia, renowned civil-rights activist, urged the crowd to remember Ashe’s legacy. US Sen. Tim Kaine, a former mayor of Richmond, called the new name “an act of healing.”

Ashe was the first black player selected to the US Davis Cup team and the only black man to ever win the singles title at the US Open, Wimbledon and the Australian Open.

He also was a well-known philanthropist who promoted education and civil rights.

Ashe’s once-segregated hometown boasts an athletic center named after him, and a bronze sculpture of Ashe sits among Richmond’s many Confederate statues. But a proposal to rename a historic street for Ashe was been defeated twice since his death in 1993. AP ASHLEIGH BARTY extends her winning streak to 11 games and secures her third final of the season. AP

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ONDON—Andy Murray is on the verge of completing a remarkable return after hip surgery.

The three-time Grand Slam champion and Feliciano Lopez completed a busy Saturday at the Queen’s Club by defeating the third-seeded Henri Kontinen of Finland and John Peers of Australia, 7-5, 6-7 (5), 10-7, to book their place in the doubles final.

Murray and Lopez had only just completed their 6-4, 7-6 (3) quarterfinal win over British duo Daniel Evans and Ken Skupski after that had been delayed by darkness the night before.

Murray and Lopez were leading 6-4, 4-5 when play was suspended on Friday.

Lopez played three matches on Saturday, starting by booking his place in the singles final with a hard-fought win over Canadian teenager Felix Auger-Aliassime over three sets.

Lopez and Murray will play Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury in the doubles final, when Murray can complete a noteworthy week 146 days after undergoing what he hoped was career-saving hip surgery. In January he had said he was planning to retire after Wimbledon because of

I

MURRAY ON TRACK the severe pain he felt on a daily basis.

But talk of retirement is shelved as Murray seeks his first doubles title since 2011 when he won with his brother Jamie Murray in Tokyo.

Lopez will play Gilles Simon in the singles final first, when the Spanish veteran will become the tournament’s oldest finalist.

The 37-year-old Lopez rallied to beat the 18-year-old Auger-Aliassime 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-4 in a semifinal that saw the biggest age differential in an Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) semifinal or final since the 43-year-old Ken Rosewall defeated 23-year-old American Pat Dupre to reach the Hong Kong Grand Prix final in 1977.

Lopez saved all eight break points he faced and converted two of his own to beat Auger-Aliassime in two hours, 16 minutes and advance to his first final since 2017, when he

defeated Marin Cilic here. Then 35, he became the tournament’s oldest champion.

Auger-Aliassime hit 25 aces compared to the Spaniard’s 15 and will have to wait before cracking the top 20 in the rankings. A win would have been enough for the Canadian, who is a career-high No. 21. Simon earlier defeated the fourth-seeded Daniil Medvedev 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-3 in two hours and 37 minutes.

Lopez has won five of their seven meetings and all four of their matches on grass.

Roger Federer, meanwhile, will play David Goffin in the final as he bids for a recordextending 10th Halle Open title on Sunday in Halle, Germany.

Federer defeated the 43rd-ranked PierreHugues Herbert of France, 6-3, 6-3, and Goffin brought an end to Matteo Berrettini’s eight-

NEW ERA FOR SPORTS IN JAPAN T

OKYO—Japanese basketball officials, fans and media hailed the selection of Rui Hachimura in the National Basketball Association (NBA) draft, saying the move will usher in a new era for the sport in Japan.

Hachimura became the first player from Japan to get chosen in the first round of the NBA draft, taken with the No. 9 overall pick by the rebuilding Washington Wizards on Thursday.

“The Birth of the NBA’s Hachimura, a

huge step for Japan,” read the headline in the Nikkansports newspaper’s online edition.

The 6-foot-8, 235-pound forward averaged a team-leading 19.7 points and 6.5 rebounds last season as a junior at US college Gonzaga, where he was the West Coast Conference player of the year.

The only other Japanese player drafted in NBA history was Yasutaka Okayama, who went 171st overall in 1981. He never appeared in

SEMENYA

ASTER SEMENYA was accused by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) of intentionally running slowly at times to mask her alleged advantage from elevated natural testosterone, according to recently released court documents.

Semenya angrily denied the accusation.

The exchange was included in 163 pages of court records from the South African runner’s appeal of the international track body’s testosterone rules at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in February. They were released in redacted form four months after the hearing after both parties agreed.

In the documents, the two-time Olympic 800-meter champion also described her “atrocious and humiliating”treatment before and after her first world championships in 2009.

Just 18 at the time, she was subjected to two intrusive “gender-verification”tests without her consent, she said.

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Aiba head hits back at critics

a regular-season game, something just two players from the country have done: Yuta Tabuse for the Phoenix Suns in 2004-05, and Yuta Watanabe for the Memphis Grizzlies in 2018-19.

“The fact that Hachimura, a product of the Japanese basketball system, has been selected in the NBA draft makes us very proud,” said the Japan Basketball Federation’s Yuko Mitsuya.

While it has grown in popularity with the introduction of a pro league in 2005, basketball

match winning streak with a 7-6 (4), 6-3 win in the semifinals on Saturday.

Federer had one of his easier matches on his way to his 13th final in Halle, converting three of eight break opportunities without facing any himself.

Goffin had lost six consecutive tour-level semifinals before he saved all three break points he faced to beat Berrettini—who won the Stuttgart Open on Sunday—in one hour and 37 minutes. Berrettini had won 83 of his previous 84 service games before their semifinal.

Goffin has won only one of his eight previous meetings with Federer, who lost last year’s final at the grass-court tournament to Borna Coric.

Federer already has the best grass-court record in the Open era with 18 titles, and the 37-year-old can set a personal record with his 10th at a single event in Halle. AP

still lags far behind baseball and soccer in Japan.

Hachimura’s NBA career is sure to help the sport grow in leaps and bounds.

The son of a Japanese mother and father from the Republic of Benin, Hachimura is the latest Japanese of mixed race to make a splash in the sporting world following the likes of Naomi Osaka and Yu Darvish.

“This is a huge step forward for Japan,” said Keisuke Tsutsumi, an office worker who follows the NBA. “It will take the sport to a new level here.”

Hachimura’s junior high-school Coach Joji Sakamoto welcomed the news of his draft selection.

NTERIM International Boxing Association (Aiba) President Mohamed Moustahsane hit back at critics who he accuse Aiba officials of using the organization’s crisis to “leverage personal gain” as he claimed the governing body would conduct an extensive review of all officials working in leadership roles.

In a letter sent to National Federations, the Moroccan promised Aiba would work with its Ethics Commission to review the positions of “elected/appointed members, including myself” as part of its bid to be reinstated as the Olympic governing body for the sport.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) suspended Aiba and stripped the embattled federation of any involvement in the boxing tournament at Tokyo 2020, a decision which has led to a schism within the Executive Committee and prompted Executive Director Tom Virgets to admit the future of the organization was in serious jeopardy.

The split has seen at least two Aiba Executive Committee members—Ukraine’s Volodymyr Prodyvus and Bulgaria’s Emilia Grueva—rally against the leadership and Moustahsane.

They have called for an Extraordinary Congress to take place so elections can be held, which they claim will boost the chances of the IOC lifting the suspension after Tokyo 2020.

In his response, Moustahsane claimed it was an inappropriate time to be having such a discussion as he made another plea for unity as Aiba considers how it can move forward following the decision from the IOC. “I understand the concerns that some of you have raised and I also believe that it is regrettable that there are some people in our sport who are trying to take advantage of this difficult period to leverage personal gain,” he wrote.

“Discussions about elections and positions should never be the focus of our organization.

“What Aiba needs now more than ever is unity, especially as we step into the next phase of renewing our organization.” Insidethegames

THE Washington Wizards introduce Rui Hachimura, the team’s first-round pick in the Draft, during a press conference at Capital One Arena in Washington. AP

Sakamoto coached Hachimura in his native Toyama Prefecture and said he saw potential in his student from a young age.

“I told him to visualize his dream, and now it will be a reality,” the 59-year-old Sakamoto said.

Japan’s education minister Masahiko Shibayama said Hachimura had given hope to a generation of young players in his home country.

“It’s really wonderful,” Shibayama said. “By taking a prominent role in a league that is difficult for Japanese players to enter, he will give hope to many Japanese people.”

Hachimura’s rise couldn’t come at a better time with Tokyo building to host the 2020 Olympics.

Japan’s national men’s team has qualified as host country and Hachimura could play a leading role at both the Olympics and the World Cup in China later this year.

Wizards interim General Manager Tommy Sheppard mentioned the 21-year-old’s play for Japan’s national team.

“For Japan to qualify for the world championships, he’s the focal point. And when the [Tokyo] Olympics come in 2020, he’s going to be the focal point of that country on that basketball team,” Sheppard said. “To be able to shoulder that load at his age—the maturity he has—I think that’s going to bode well for him in the NBA.” AP

Documents reveal new details in bitter Semenya-IAAF battle A gynecologist said the IAAF then pushed for the young Semenya to have surgery to cut off her testosterone. The gynecologist pushed back against the IAAF. Semenya reluctantly agreed to take hormone-suppressing drugs.

SEMENYA’S STORY

IN witness statements, Caster Semenya described extensively for the first time her experiences around the worlds, her first major championships, in Berlin a decade ago.

She said South Africa’s track federation sent a gynecologist to perform tests that included an examination of her genitals and taking blood samples without telling her what they were for. After she won the world 800 title, the IAAF conducted more tests on the then-teenager at a German hospital. It was “an order by the IAAF” and she was given no choice, Semenya said.

It didn’t stop there. Semenya agreed in 2010 to take hormone-suppressing medication—oral

contraceptive pills—but only after the IAAF said she could only continue competing if she medically reduced her natural testosterone. Semenya was put on medication the year before the IAAF first introduced highly contentious testosterone regulations. She was still a teenager.

Greta Dreyer, a South African gynecologist treating Semenya, testified the IAAF “made it clear” at the outset that its “preferred treatment” was surgery. Dreyer said she resisted and said if Semenya should undergo any treatment it should be hormone suppression. The IAAF denies that any athlete is forced to undergo surgery under its rules but surgery is one of the treatments the world body recommends alongside oral contraceptive pills and hormone-blocking injections.

THE TREATMENT

CASTER SEMENYA took the oral contraceptives for five years from 2010-15 and said they caused a myriad of unwanted side effects: weight gain,

fevers, a constant feeling of nausea and abdominal pain, all of which she experienced while running at the 2011 world championships and 2012 Olympics. A South African track team doctor said the medication also affected Semenya’s mood and ability to train and she was “visibly depressed.” The doctor, Philda de Jager, said the medication caused Semenya’s metabolism to go “haywire” and she displayed symptoms of a menopausal woman.

During the treatment, Semenya said the IAAF also accused her of deliberately not taking the medication and manipulating her testosterone levels in the lead-up to major championships, something she also denied. She had to have two sets of blood tests every month and unannounced random blood tests over the five years. Her overall feeling, she said, was of being treated like a “lab rat” as the IAAF experimented with medically reducing athletes’ testosterone.

‘BIOLOGICALLY MALE’

THE IAAF waited until the closed-doors hearing

at sport’s highest court in Switzerland to argue Semenya and other athletes with certain “differences of sex development” (DSD) conditions were “biologically male.” Now 28, Semenya was born with the typical male XY chromosome pattern and a condition that results in male and female biological characteristics and testosterone higher than the typical female range. She was legally identified as female at birth and has identified as female her whole life.

She called the IAAF’s “biologically male” assertion “deeply hurtful.”

Stephane Bermon, the head of the IAAF’s medical and science department and chief architect of the testosterone regulations, testified.

Under cross-examination by Semenya’s lawyers, Bermon conceded he had made false statements.

In one of his concessions, he acknowledged that not every athlete with a so-called 46 XY DSD condition who underwent testosterone-reducing treatment like Semenya returned to track. AP

orts

sMirror

By Ramon Rafael Bonilla

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IEFER RAVENA is set to rejoin his ball club and the Gilas Pilipinas practices after serving a Fiba-imposed ban that forced the explosive guard from playing since May 2018.

In a series of social-media posts, the 25-year-old former Ateneo star said the long layoff made him “tougher, hungrier and a lot wiser” as anticipation grows on his return to action in August.

“People will never understand what I went through,” he said on Twitter. “It’s a long and crazy process, but we’ll go through it again together every step of the way.”

The 6-foot guard of NLEX also had some words for his detractors.

“To all the doubters/haters, I respect you guys as much as I respect my supporters. We all have different opinions/point of views,” he said. “But you definitely motivated me to even be better than before. For that, I appreciate the criticism even though you guys only know the preface of my story.”

The ban will end on August 24, and Ravena is expected to attend the national team practice on Monday. National Coach Yeng Guiao, also Ravena’s mentor with the Road Warriors, has his high hopes with the all-around guard.

Ravena’s return in the national squad also created relief on the absence of mainstay Jayson Castro and PBA rookie Ray Parks Jr. Castro begged off due to personal reasons, while Parks said he is paving way for the players who worked to earn the World Cup spot.

Monday, June 24, 2019

KIEFER BACK SOON

KIEFER RAVENA is at the tail end of serving an 18-month ban.

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and see his progress as a basketball player.

Our hope is if he returns to our country, he’ll comeback as a better player,” added the elder Jaymalin, who played college ball for Mapua and Jose Rizal University.

The young Jaymalin’s love for basketball began at an early age at three when his father would bring him to the games.

Jaymalin joined several training camps, including the National Basketball Training Center (NBTC), Jr. NBA and Alaska Power Camp where he won two Most Valuable Player Awards.

His favorite players are Scottie Thompson of Barangay Ginebra San Miguel and Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks.

“I hope to one day play in the professional league like my idols. I’m looking forward to improving my skills in Canada, and when the time comes for me to come back, it’ll help me compete against the best players in the country.

I don’t know what the future holds, but I’ll put in the hard work in training and in every game,” said Jaymalin, who now stands 5-foot-7.

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BACK-TO-BACK CHAMP Juvic

Pagunsan holds his trophy after ruling the International Container Terminal Services Inc. Negros Occidental Classic for the second straight year last Saturday, completing a backto-back title romp on the Philippine Golf Tour following his runaway triumph in Bacolod Golf Classic two weeks ago. With him are organizing Pilipinas Golf Tournaments Inc. Executive Director Narlene Soriano (left) and Negros Occidental Golf and Country Club President Jose Marie Limjap.

SENIORS TILT WINNER

New Zealand’s William Houng-Lee (right) receives his trophy from National Golf Association of the Philippines (NGAP) Vice President Jose Iñigo (second from left) after nipping former champion Abe Rosal in sudden death to become the first foreign player to win the Philippine Seniors crown at the Mount Malarayat Golf and Country Club in Lipa, Batangas last Friday. With them are Mount Malarayat Golf Manager Mike Carr (left) and NGAP Director Caloy Coscoluella.

RICK OLIVARES bleachersbrew@gmail.com

BLEACHERS’ BREW

Battle rejoined

These make Ravena a top candidate to secure a slot in the final 12 of the national team that will compete in the August 31 to September 15 Fiba World Cup in China.

Ravena served the country in the early windows of the Fiba World Cup Asian Qualifiers. He was also part of several youth squads in his teens. He was drafted second overall by NLEX in 2017 behind Christian Standhardinger.

He worked alongside Kevin Alas to give the Road Warriors their first semifinals stint the following year.

But all his hard work quickly disseminated after he tested positive for a substance banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency last year.

He was barred to join NLEX and the national team for an 18-month period.

YOUNG JAYMALIN TO TRAIN IN CANADA RESH from helping the NLEX Road Warriors win the title in the Batang Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) 15-Under category, teen prospect Liam Jaymalin will train in Canada starting next month to further improve his skills.

The 14-year-old Jaymalin was a key player in NLEX’s successful campaign in the Batang PBA where they beat the TNT KaTropa in the championship game, 102-85.

Jaymilin, who played for La Salle Antipolo, will fly to Vancouver on July 3. He is already enrolled and is expected to join the basketball squad of Saint Patrick Regional Secondary School as a Grade 9 student.

“He’ll study and train in Canada, hopefully for a better career in basketball,” said the player’s father, Rjay Jaymalin, a businessman in Vancouver. “Because all of us are already here [Canada], including his three siblings who are all Canadian citizens, we decided to bring Liam to study here and at the same time be able to train.”

“Here, as parents, we’ll be able to guide him

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Blu Boys earn precious experience

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LIAM JAYMALIN in action for the NLEX Road Warriors in the Batang PBA

By Rick Olivares

O Carl Tamayo. No Gerry Abadiano. No Terrence Fortea.

With the three on national team duty, the Nazareth School of National University (NU) still had enough firepower, championship experience, talent and depth to put away the San Beda University Red Cubs, 7669, and bag the juniors championship of the 2019 Filoil Flying V Preseason Cup. After a crucial non-call on NU where a driving Justine Sanchez was hit twice, the San Beda coaching staff led by Manu Iñigo went ballistic at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan.

The coaching staff was assessed with a technical foul that Bullpup Kevin Quiambao converted for a 61-49 lead at the 9:29 mark of the fourth period.

But the technical foul fired up the Red Cubs who came charging back in a five-minute spree where they sliced the lead to one, 68-67, after two Troy Valencia

HE Philippine Blu Boys wound up winless—capping their campaign with a 2-12 loss to Mexico—in the XVI World Baseball and Softball Confederation (WBSC) Men’s Softball World Championship 2019 in Prague, the Czech Republic, last week.

But the experience the world No. 17 Blu Boys reaped was priceless, according to Amateur Softball Association of the Philippines (Asaphil) President Jean Henri Lhuillier.

Lhuillier didn’t expect the Blu Boys to advance to the quarterfinal round of the prestigious tournament that gathered 16 of the world’s top softball nations, but the longtime softball patron is hoping the experience would be a boost to the team’s learning curve.

“The results may be disappointing to sports fans like me, but that is exactly what we need to emphasize—the need to address the further development of softball in the country,”Lhuillier said.

“We now know that the Blu Boys need to focus on their skills level for us to be able to

match up with the world’s premier teams and, at the same time, we plan to work on developing our coaches’ skills,” Lhuillier added.

Asian champion Japan (7-0), Argentina (6-1), defending champion New Zealand (4-3) and host Czech Republic (3-4) advanced to the quarterfinals from Group A, while Canada (7-0), Australia (6-1), USA (5-2) and Venezuela (4-3) moved up from Group B. The Philippines was bracketed in Group A. “We will go home with unbowed heads and the determination to do better. We remain steadfast in our belief that Philippine softball can and will get better in the future but only if all of the stakeholders get together and do their respective roles. Asaphil is committed to do just that,” said Lhuillier, who was in Prague to cheer for the Blu Boys.

Lhuillier met with Andrea D’Auria, a member of the WBSC Coaching Commission, and described the meeting as “helpful for the further development and growth of both the Blu Boys and the Blu Girls.”

BULLPUPS FILOIL HOOPS JRS. CHAMPS free throws with 2:13 to play.

San Beda was able to force a stop in the next possession but failed to convert during a poor offensive set that saw NU veteran guard Ernest Felicida scoot away for an uncontested lay-up, 70-67, 1:38 left.

After San Beda’s Justine Sanchez retrieved a poor alley-oop pass by Kent Pelipel, Felicida picked the former’s pocket that led to a Reyland Torres bucket with 38 seconds left to play, 72-67.

Needing a big bucket, NU forced San Beda’s Josh Alcantara into throwing up an air ball of a three. Felicida converted two free throws to put the game away, 74-67, with 14 ticks left.

Tulabut added two free throws for the game’s final points as NU came away with the title.

“We committed some mistakes in the fourth quarter that saw San Beda take advantage and come back,” noted

NU Head Coach Goldwyn Monteverde. “But our veterans, Kevin [Quiambao] and Ernest [Felicida], were able to lead our team to victory.”

“Felicida, even during the last UAAP finals [against Ateneo where NU came away triumphant] was able to get some crucial steals,” Monteverde said. “Missing three key players gave our team a chance to step up, which is good not only for this UAAP season but even the next.”

Harold Alarcon led the Bullpups with 17 points while Quiambao tallied a double double of 15 points and 15 rebounds.

Nat Tulabut, who transferred from Lyceum of the Philippines University, added 14 points and eight rebounds for NU. Troy Valencia led San Beda with 14 points, while Justine Sanchez contributed 12.

I STILL say that Creamline and Petro Gazz will meet each other in the Premier Volleyball League (PVL) Reinforced Conference Finals.

The Creamline Coolsmashers avenged their opening day loss with a 3-1 win over the Petro Gazz Angels (25-18, 21-25, 25-19, 26-24).

This was the game the Coolsmashers wanted; the team everyone is measuring them against. After all, in seven previous matches, Petro Gazz dropped only one set having won 21 others.

Aside from coming out with a higher intensity, I felt that Creamline wanted this so bad. A loss would have really cast a pall on their title aspirations.

In our preview of this match, we opined that for Creamline to pull off a win, they would need Venezuelan middle hitter Aleoscar Blanco to really step up. And she did, scoring 12 points and playing very good net defense.

We pointed out that they would need more than Alyssa Valdez and Kuttika Kaewpin to score. In the first day match, Michelle Gumabao was hardly used. A mistake by their former coach who doesn’t seem to really know his players. Gumabao was huge yesterday scoring eight points and playing great defense.

Aside from Valdez, Kaewpin, Blanco and Gumabao, setter Jia Morado provided some big points and top-notch playmaking. Morado was the conductor who directed Anusorn Bundit’s symphony. Whatever your team, you really have to tip your hat to one of the best playmakers in the country today.

And third, we thought that Creamline needed to be aggressive on offense.

The Petro Gazz Angels have three of the best receivers in the league in Janisa Johnson, Wilma Salas and Cienne Cruz. Because of the quick offense of Creamline, the Angels were scrambling.

We previously reasoned that for Petro Gazz to fulfill their ttile aspirations, they simply need others to step up. Their overreliance on Johnson and Salas hurt them. Jeanette Panaga has been contributing but she should tack on more numbers than a measly four points.

Cai Nepomuceno-Baloaloa, who started in three of the four sets, did not score a point. And that hurt. You have Jovie Prado and Stephanie Mercado there. Why not use them?

Volleyball analysts have pointed out that Petro Gazz has the two best imports in the league and that has really covered up a lot of holes in their lineup. While the All-Filipino lineup may not be the best, they do have some weapons in there. I don’t think they should be for show or fillers in a lineup.

Of course, it is just one game thus far. But now, the battle has been rejoined. With two games to play, all teams are jockeying for third and fourth position in the next round as the top two seeds have been locked up by Petro Gazz and Creamline regardless of how they finish.

They would still want to finish strong because you get the feeling they will meet in the finals barring some unfortunate circumstance.

While that is looking far ahead, it would be interesting how both teams come out and what changes in strategy there are for Petro Gazz because it is now their turn to adjust.

BanKo-Perlas rallies back in 5-set thriller

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OWN two sets and 12-14 behind in the fifth, BanKo-Perlas kept its composure and its semifinal bid alive as it hacked out a stirring 19-25, 23-25, 25-18, 25-22, 1715 victory over a shocked Motolite side in the Premier Volleyball League Season 3 Reinforced Conference at Alonte Sports Arena in Biñan, Laguna, on Sunday.

Playmaker Jem Ferrer kept going to Nicole Tiamzon in the nerve-wracking finish and the latter responded in style, firing three straight hits to lift the Perlas Spikers to the victory that pushed them past the Power Builders in their spirited battle for the fourth and last semis berth.

The win snapped BanKo-Perlas’s alarming three-game skid as it improved to 3-5 with two games left in the double round elims of the season-ending conference of the league organized by Sports Vision.

Motolite, which came into the match brimming with confidence after carving a five-

set escape over also-ran BaliPure on Saturday to move to solo fourth, took its sixth loss against three wins and slipped to fifth with one game left.

Tiamzon pounded a through-the-block shot that tied the count at 15 in the decider then fired a power hit after Sue Roces kept the ball alive off an equally strong spike from Motolite’s Channon Thompson, and the former University of the Philippines (UP) stalwart capped his endgame brilliance with another blast that sealed the victory and kept the Power Builders stunned for a couple of seconds.

“We just needed to reset after going two sets down. Then in the fifth, patibayan na lang ng loob,” said Tiamzon, who finished with a top-scoring 19 points, including 18 attacks.

BanKo-Perlas imports Sutadta Chuewulim and Yasemin Yildirim, overshadowed by Thompson and fellow reinforcement Krystel

Esdelle in the majority of the match, stepped up late in the match, combining for key hits as the Perlas Spikers bucked two match points to force extension.

Still, Thompson atoned for another foiled attempt with a vicious attack to shove Motolite to 15-14 but Ferrer and Tiamzon had other things in mind, combining for those crucial plays gave the Perlas Spikers some kind of a push in their semis drive in the tournament sponsored by Mikasa, Asics and KFC. Kathy Bersola, another former UP mainstay, backed Tiamzon with 17 points, while Yildirim and Chuewulim combined for 31 points.

Motolite, which used its superb blocking to take the first two sets, drew 30 points from Thompson and 27 markers from Esdelle, but the Power Builders sputtered in the third and fourth sets, enabling the Perlas Spikers to gain ground and momentum going into the fifth.

Park moves up at Women’s PGA

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HASKA, Minnesota—Inbee Park has felt both reflective and inspired this week, with the Women’s Professional Golf Association (PGA) Championship being played in Minnesota.

The Ladies PGA (LPGA) Tour Hall of Fame member has been hoping, too, she could conjure that dominant performance on the greens from the last time a major tournament was

held in the land of the lakes more than a decade ago.

“I was really pleased that so many people still remember me, with the 11 years that it’s been,” Park said. “There are so many fans out here, still rooting for me, still remembering the 2008 US Women’s Open in Interlachen, so I was really happy with that. I got really good vibes from them.”

Park, who will turn 31 next month, pushed herself up the leaderboard on Saturday at Hazeltine National with a four-under 68 on the daunting course that played a little nicer in the third round with less wind than the previous day.

The first of her seven major championships came in this state in 2008, when she won the Open at Interlachen in Edina by four strokes to become—at age 19—the youngest winner of the event. She took home the trophy that weekend with a steely set of nerves backing her impeccable short game, setting the foundation for a career that now includes 19 tournament victories. She has two top-10 finishes this year.

“I’m definitely looking for one of the Interlachen days of putting tomorrow,” said Park, who entered the final round in a five-way tie for seventh place at three under, six strokes behind leader Hannah Green.

Park’s putter hasn’t been as sharp in recent years, though the ball-striking part of her game has improved. Park, who entered the week 10th in the world ranking, took a 12th-best-on-tour percentage of greens reached in regulation (74.8) into the Women’s PGA Championship. She’s sixth in driving accuracy. In putts per round, though, she ranks 68th in the world (30.14).

She finished the 2008 season tied for ninth in putts per round (27.68). In 2015, the year of her last of three straight Women’s PGA Championship victories, she still ranked 11th on the tour (29.11).

As for whether she can catch Green?

“I think it’s just a matter of how I can putt.

Today’s front nine was probably the putting

stroke that I was look for,” said Park, who went bogey-free after making three of them on Friday.

She added: “On the back nine I think I could’ve made a couple more, but I think opportunities just flew by. But just another day like today would be nice.”

With the increase in big-hitting competition at the top of the tour these days, Park isn’t likely to win a tournament off the tee.

Her current average driving distance rank is 129th, at 251.944. Park’s playing partners in the first two rounds were long-hitters Lexi Thompson and Ariya Jutanugarn.

“I really felt like I was really behind and couldn’t keep up with them,” Park said. “They hit it really, really far, and the golf course that they’re playing is totally different than mine.”

Park was one of the scores of South Korean girls who took up golf in the late 1990s, motivated by the success of Sei Ri Pak. Eventually, Park became that kind of inspiration in her country, including a young Sei Young Kim. Kim, who shot a 67 on Saturday, the best of the round, played one group behind Park. Kim, who has seven career wins in five seasons on tour with five top-10 finishes in majors, was tied for fifth at four under.

“After the front nine, I felt like I really needed birdies, because Inbee, she made a lot of birdies.

I can hear that,” Kim said.

Kim, ranked 11th in the world, eagled the 336-yard 14th hole.

“I tried to just pitch at the pin,” Kim said, “but when I made it I was just so surprised.” AP

Sports

Reavie cards 63, takes 6-stroke lead at Travelers

BusinessMirror

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| Monday, June 24, 2019 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

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THE 37-year-old Chez Reavie matches a tournament record with a back-nine 28 to shoot a seven-under 63. AP

HAMILTON UNTOUCHABLE?

By Jerome Pugmire The Associated Press

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E CASTELLET, France—Lewis Hamilton again peaked when it mattered to clinch a recordextending 86th career pole position at the French Grand Prix on Saturday.

It was a completely different story for Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel, who qualified only seventh in a race he needs to win to get his increasingly fading Formula One title challenge somehow back to relevancy.

At the same stage last season, Vettel led the championship by one point ahead of Hamilton coming into this race. Now Hamilton is leading with Vettel trailing him by 62 points in third place.

Hamilton, the defending champion, is chasing his sixth world title and has won five of the seven races this season.

“I definitely don’t feel untouchable.

I never have felt that way,” Hamilton said. “But I do feel strong, each weekend I come in and feel I’m starting on the right foot.”

Hamilton again surged at the end of qualifying, finishing 0.286 seconds ahead of Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas, who was quickest in the first two sections of qualifying and earlier topped the third and final practice.

“Valtteri has been quick all weekend. I am really happy that I got the potential out of the car,” Hamilton said. “That’s why we’re such a strong team. On all elements we’re firing on all cylinders.”

He credited Bottas for helping him up his level, saying “I’m constantly being pushed by Valtteri.”

Bottas, who is driving far better than last year, missed out on a 10th career pole but thinks he has a good chance to pressure Hamilton at the start of Sunday’s race.

“Second is a good place here [because] there’s a long run into Turn 1,” the Finnish driver said. “I think Lewis had a really good lap, and it’s been super close between us, and it’s all about fine details in qualifying.”

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc placed third with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen fourth.

“We are quite strong on the straights and they [Mercedes] are strong in the corners,” Leclerc said.

“So it should be a good race.”

However, it was disappointing from Vettel, who took an excellent pole at the Canadian GP two weeks ago. But here the four-time world champion was beaten by McLaren drivers Carlos Sainz Jr. and Lando Norris, a 19-year-old driver competing in his debut F1 season.

“I don’t know what happened, I lost so much momentum,” Vettel said.

“It was up and down. Some laps it felt good and others didn’t. I didn’t get the best out of the car but it was difficult for me.”

Earlier, Bottas was fastest ahead of Hamilton in the third and final practice, giving Mercedes 1-2 in all three sessions.

Leclerc was third best in all three, underlining his consistency this weekend.

He will likely need to produce something special to catch Bottas and Hamilton on Sunday.

Ferrari has not won a race this season, with Mercedes winning all seven—the other two for Bottas.

Vettel thought he should have won the Canadian GP two weeks ago in Montreal. He crossed the line first but was given a five-second time penalty which meant Hamilton won.

Ferrari’s request to officially review the decision—in the hope Vettel would get the win—was turned down following a hearing with Montreal’s race-day stewards on Friday.

Hamilton felt Ferrari put unnecessary pressure on itself.

“It was definitely odd coming here when I heard Ferrari was spending time focusing on something else,” Hamilton said.

Ferrari changed leadership this season, with Mattia Binotto promoted from chief technical officer to replace Maurizio Arrivabene.

It followed two frustrating seasons in which Vettel led the title race, but then buckled under pressure from Hamilton in the second half of campaigns featuring bewildering strategical team errors on top of

ROMWELL, Connecticut—Chez Reavie was plodding along during the third round of the Travelers Championship, watching playing partner Zack Sucher extend his lead.

Then came the turn, both for the round and in the fortunes of the two players.

Coming off a third-place tie last week in the US Open at Pebble Beach, the 37-year-old Reavie matched a tournament record with a back-nine 28 to shoot a seven-under 63. He took advantage of Sucher’s problems and turned a six-stroke deficit into a six-stroke lead heading into Sunday.

The 2008 Canadian Open winner for his lone Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) Tour title, Reavie had a 16-under 194 total at TPC River Highlands. He birdied Nos. 8, 10-13, 15 and 17-18 and has the largest 54-hole lead in Travelers history.

“Zach got some tough breaks early,” Reavie said. “I was able to kind of keep plugging along and make a few putts and the rest was history. I kind of caught fire at the end.”

Sucher had a 71 to drop into a tie for second with Keegan Bradley (69) at 10 under.

Looking for his first PGA Tour win, Sucher—the 32-year-old former college star at AlabamaBirmingham—seemed to have it all going his way, until he didn’t.

He took a share of the lead in the last group on Thursday night, came into Saturday with a twoshot advantage and shot 31 on the front nine.

But his drive on the 10th hole went left, hit a tree and bounced backward landing in the rough just 154 yards from the tee. He ended up with a bogey on that hole. He needed two shots to get out of a plugged lie at the lip of a green-side bunker on the 11th and ended with a double bogey, and put his ball into two bunkers on the par-4 13th for another double.

It took just a half hour for Sucher to go from five strokes ahead of Bradley to four strokes behind Reavie.

“Ten was awful and I deserved bogey, but man, three straight holes I hit shots that weren’t that far off all behind the lip, so two of them plug and, yeah, rough, that’s all you can say about it,” Sucher said. “Other than those three holes, it was a great day.”

Reavie needed just 23 putts in the round, consistently putting his approaches near the pin, despite a strong wind.

“On nine and 10, I kind of started to get a feel for the wind and how it was affecting my golf ball,” he said. “Fortunately, today it kind of stayed steady in the same direction, so I just kind of navigated around in my yardage book to figure out where it was.”

Roberto Diaz (67) and Jason Day (68) were tied for fourth, seven shots back. But Day said he does not think that’s an insurmountable deficit on course where Bubba Watson overcame a six-stroke finalround deficit a year ago.

“There are a lot of emotions that come with Sundays, but I think Chez has been there and won before,” Day said. “But every win is different and how you feel is different, so I just try to stick to what I am doing right now, and hopefully, the chips fall my way.”

Brooks Koepka, coming off his runner-up finish at Pebble Beach, shot a 72 and was one under.

“It’s hard to focus,” Koepka said. “I don’t think I am even over the PGA and then to exert all your energy last week—I’m just fried. I caught myself yawning out on the golf course. I don’t think I’ve ever done that before.” AP Vettel’s mistakes.

But this season Ferrari is doing even worse and the strain appears to be getting to Vettel—despite him saying he is not frustrated by his barren streak.

Early into qualifying, Leclerc requested the team to ask Vettel to go faster so Leclerc didn’t get held up on the track.

The race engineer asked Vettel: “Can you be faster?”

Vettel gave a strange response: “How much more margin do you need? I’m not trying to kill him, so don’t worry.”

LEWIS HAMILTON (right) celebrates his pole position with Valtteri Bottas. AP

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Sovereign God

EAR God, in Jesus Your saving power is made known through all the Earth. In faith and love we pray: God in Your wisdom, hear our prayer: Bless Pope Francis, bishops, church leaders and newly elected servant leaders in other countries with compassion, courage and perseverance in faith. Animate the actions of Your church toward peace, unity, solidarity and reconciliation. Inspire the preaching and teaching of deacons, pastors, religion teachers and catechists. May God be gracious to us, bless us and radiate the light of faith through us, in Jesus, our hope for eternal salvation. Amen.

GIVE US THIS DAY SHARED BY LUISA LACSON, HFL Word&Life Publications • teacherlouie1965@yahoo.com

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

Life BusinessMirror

ALL ACCESS: THE REDISCOVERED PASSION OF PAOLO PARAISO D3

Monday, June 24, 2019

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Pride and beauty at PhFW Holiday 2019 known to do jackets, this collection has different types which every guy must have. The look is relaxed and contemporary—jackets are cut close to the body (as men work out these days) and no lining except for the velvet jacket for evening; unlined and no padding on shoulders for a natural look. Pants are high-waisted, pleated and “carrot”-shaped in houndstooth pattern on denim; pinstripe is stretch cotton; and neo-crepe (lightweight and soft crepe-textured) which is like jersey knit, wrinkle-free. Denim is used not as jeans or typical jean jacket; I gave them a new look as an overoat (unlined), peacoat and blazer. n JUN-JUN CAMBE FOR ESAC: “Andros + Gyne” is an assortment of unisex ensembles. I highlighted individualism in Euro tailoring and Japanese kimono combination by mixing and matching. Fabrics I used by mixing and matching are linen, rayon, organdy, leather, mesh and cotton in this casual yet edgy line of apparel for the men’s collection. “Hollywood Glam” for my Cambe woman is in simple silhouettes, ruffled, cutouts and embellished in heavy lace with a 3D effect.

The base fabric for the body is in lamé and soft tulle.

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VEN with the proliferation of cluster shows, Philippine Fashion Week remains the barometer. For its Holiday 2019, it found a new home at Crowne Plaza Manila Galleria.

From June 11 to June 16, Runway Productions’ Audie Espino and Joey Espino Jr. , the brainchild behind the longest-running fashion presentations in the country, mounted an exhibit, bridal fair and shows.

Some of the standout collections are the following, in the designers’ own words: n ANTHONY NOCOM: My collection are in the shades of blue and with an accent of red as a breaker. As I am

PHOTOS FROM WWW.PHILIPPINEFASHIONWEEKLIVE.COM

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Monday, June 24, 2019

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Today’s Horoscope

By Eugenia Last

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Minka Kelly, 39; Mindy Kaling, 40; Sherry Stringfield, 52; Jeff Beck, 75.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Take a different approach when collaborating with others. Don’t be afraid to share your ideas and let your imagination take over. Expressing unique ideas and the changes you want to make will help weed out the people who don’t belong in your group and attract those who do. Set a goal, eliminate deadweight and sprint into the future. Your lucky numbers are 2, 15, 21, 27, 35, 43, 46.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Your plan of attack should be quiet and reserved. Work as hard as you can behind the scenes to flawlessly construct what you are trying to achieve. Distance yourself from negativity and distractions, and gravitate toward love and laughter. ★★★

MIXY DY

JUN-JUN CAMBE FOR ESAC

JEROME SALAYA ANG

JEFFREY ROGADOR

ARNOLD GALANG

ANTHONY NOCOM

Pride and beauty at PhFW Holiday 2019 CONTINUED FROM D1 n MIXY DY: My collection this season is very close to my heart since denim has been a fashion staple all my life. I wanted to make something more wearable that can be used in any occasion and show how many ways you can rock denim. The print I used at the back of my denim jackets is my exact forearm tattoo of a lineart that I drew myself in honor of my mom and my grandma and may also represent a lot of things anyone could relate to.

Fabrication: almost denim all the way! I used different shades, weights and textures of denim. I also included an interesting checkered denim and a touch of tulle to break the monotony. I included a bedazzled Swarovski piece also just for being extra.

You will see a variety of jacket shapes. I played with my signature wide pants and added exaggerated bell bottoms. Mainly a mix of oversized denims plus sleek, edgy sexy dresses. I really enjoyed doing this collection because it is really what my style DNA is all about. n JEFFREY ROGADOR: My in-season Spring/ Summer 2019 collection, now available at Lazada and Shopee, is a collaboration with Brgy 143, the first Filipino Japanese animĂŠ depicting the way of life of Filipinos in Tondo. Inspired by the well-loved

Filipino sport of basketball, the 30 pieces are urban streetwear staples like T-shirts, hoodies, bomber jackets and shorts. Stylish wash-and-wear garments in black and white with hints of neon green. Fabrics in cotton, neoprene, denim, silk, mesh and wool. I also collaborated with Saucony shoes and The Electricianz watches. n JEROME SALAYA ANG: “Unf#%kwhitable� is a state of mind where you don’t actually care about anything.

The same can be said about fashion: now anything goes. So the collection is mostly a mishmash of styles and silhouettes from comfort to luxe. I used variations of overlaid tulles, laces and trims. There is also a fresh vibe to the color palette by mixing pastel tones, whites and some pinks and reds. n ARNOLD GALANG: “Stained� was inspired by the current state of our society. It reflects on corrupt holiness and an uncertain tomorrow. The collection speaks of lightness and darkness, beauty and ugliness, and form and shapelessness. Extremes. In lightweight microfiber fabric and printed black and white jerseys, it has suede/vinyl printing details of paint strokes, paint blots and paint stains echoing the prints on the jerseys. n AUDIE ESPINO FOR ESAC: My womenswear is a continuation of my Ascot series, formal dressing reminiscent of the English Ascot races.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Pay more attention to what you want, how you feel and the improvements you want to make. Patience along with honesty and good intentions will help you bypass manipulative individuals trying to distract or mislead you. Don’t rely on others. ★★

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Ask a lot of questions and share your thoughts, and you’ll make progress. Don’t expect to please everyone or waste too much time laboring over situations that you cannot change. Focus on what you want, and don’t stop until you reach your objective. ★★★★★

Pieces you can mix and match and build on by starting with a dress, then later on you can add on a cape or blazer. The materials are gazar and Mikado, jusi for my barong Tagalog caftan, and organdy for my barong Tagalog blouses. I also did a stylized cattleya pattern embroidered on organdy appliquĂŠs with minimal beading.

We at PhFW have had the LGBTQI community as an integral part of our existence from Day 1 and this season our shows coincide with Pride Month. I paid tribute by walking down the runway at curtain call with a rainbow flag to demonstrate our inclusivity.

Here’s what my model, Rhonee Rojas, had to say: “Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought I would have the opportunity to celebrate Pride with my husband [Háť“ VÄŠnh Khoa] on an international fashion runway, let alone at Philippine Fashion Week. I am overwhelmed with mixed emotions of appreciation and happiness for the huge amount of love and support we received from everyone this weekend. I would like to send the biggest thank you to my one and only mudra, Audie Espino, for giving us this opportunity to spread nothing but our love to the world. Thank you for all that you do!â€? n

Putting on makeup can be tedious, but it is a skill that women are proud to have.

All makeup products are interconnected; the process is a very personal art form for every woman. n “GUYS PREFER GIRLS THAT ARE MORE NATURAL-LOOKING.� Society has this dated idea that women make all this effort just to be noticed by a man. But in reality, women couldn’t care less about what others think about their

makeup. Putting it on takes an ample amount of time and work, and all that isn’t for anyone else but herself. n “YOU LOOK TOTALLY DIFFERENT WHEN YOU DON’T HAVE MAKEUP ON.� Makeup is a way to transform yourself, so of course the end result looks different.

After all, it’s an art for expressing different moods and emotions— regardless of what other people think.

Such is the idea behind the

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): You may want to rethink whatever you are going to do before you venture out. Having a set plan, proper directions and a budget will help you avoid wasting time and money. Update your look or enhance your fitness routine. ★★★

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): The less time and money spent on personal matters or items, the better. Your skills are best spent on maintenance, helping others or personal growth. Refuse to let an emotional situation take over. ★★★

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): You’ll learn something new about your family background that will help you recognize how to combat letting others take advantage of you. Keeping the peace may be your objective, but not when it’s at your expense. Learn to say no. ★★★

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): The dynamics of your relationships with others is changing.

Recognize what others want as well as what you can receive in return. Setting boundaries can help you even out the score so that no one feels left out or used. ★★★★★

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): It’s essential to recognize the difference between compliments and manipulation. Refuse to let someone play with your emotions, use you to get ahead or deceive you with empty promises. Walk away from temptation. Indulgent behavior will be costly. ★★

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Share your vision and turn your dream into something tangible. Set a schedule that will allow you to take care of promises made to those who need your help. ★★★★

It’s time to cut these unsolicited comments about makeup FOR most women, glamming up is second nature. It looks good, feels good, and can even bring a good bit of fun.

However, there are still people who feel like they need to throw shade at a woman for something as routine as putting on makeup.

And among all the unsolicited words makeup-wearing women get, these are just some that should be retired immediately: n “DO YOU REALLY NEED ALL THAT PRODUCT ON YOUR FACE?�

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Zoom in on what’s important to you and how best to get what you want. Great goals can be met if you are enthusiastic, mentally alert and unwilling to give up until you reach your destination. Size up situations before making your move. ★★★★

new mark. Lip Prism Lipstick

by Avon (www.avonshop.ph), which encourages women to be unapologetic about their beauty, with the collection featuring the hottest colors for 2019.

Every swipe gives you 4,000 prismatic pearls that shine with every move, creating a showstopping look that lasts for hours. It’s the perfect lipstick for when a woman wants to make a statement—the type that needs no explanation.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Make changes at home that will encourage you to spend more time there. Develop your skills, and use your talents to create an atmosphere that promotes doing more with loved ones. ★★★★

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): You will come up with exciting ideas and concepts. Before offering solutions or promising to take care of something, make sure you can afford the time, effort and expense required to finish what you start. ★★★ BIRTHDAY BABY: You are creative, expressive and determined.

You are caring and entertaining.

‘you are what you drink’ BY RICHTER AND JEFF CHEN The Universal Crossword/Edited by David Steinberg

ACROSS 1 Pet adoption org.

5 Dog’s fur 9 50/50 quiz answer 14 From Bangkok, say 15 Solo at the Met 16 Big petting-zoo animal 17 Thanksgiving staples (circle letters 2-4!)

18 Highway hauler 19 Certain saxophones 20 No. on a business card (letters 1-3) 21 Valiant effort 23 Headey of Game of Thrones 25 24/7 med. facilities 26 Creator of Atticus Finch 27 Expired 29 Boot bottoms 31 “Xanadu� rockers, briefly 32 The Minotaur, e.g.

34 Inside look? (letters 3-5) 38 Thumbs-downs 39 Consume 40 Inspired poem 42 Words before “break� or “tear�

(letters 1-3) Real bargain Aired again 10, in dates: Abbr.

Gal in Wonder Woman They’re printed on books’ spines “___ sells seashells...�

Roughly, informally Laptop brand Average guy, and a clue to the starts of 21-Across, 3-Down and 35-Down 59 Consume 61 Far from fitting 62 Omaha stake 63 Barbershop sound 65 Rural skyline sights 66 Senator Booker 67 USC’s archrival 68 Scrumptious 69 Building additions 70 Cry after a close call DOWN 1 Messy room 2 Excellent, in 1990s slang 3 You bend over backward to do it 43 45 47 48 50 52 54 55 56

4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 22 24 27 28 30 33 35 36 37 41 44 46 49 51

Ushers’ paths Goes through a chain reaction Shake cookie Without a goal (letters 3-5) Component on a chopper’s rear (letters 3-5) Mark as important Everything but the last resort ___ art (barista’s creation) Campfire treat “Settle down now�

Subj. with conversation practice Interstellar cloud Bender of light Loads and loads Like paradise Soaring business?

Doritos flavor in a blue bag ___ bitten, twice shy Chinese Zodiac rodents Secrets to cracking some codes Skin cream target Common biofuel Reformer Dorothea Prepares to swing

52 53 56 57 58 60 64

Sotomayor of the Court Recovers Barely Teeny ___+Z (undo, on a PC) Z is a valuable one in Scrabble Rabbit’s foot

Solution to Friday’s puzzle:

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Show BusinessMirror

Monday, June 24, 2019

The rediscovered passion of Paolo Paraiso ELTON JOHN GETS TOP FRENCH AWARD, JOINS AIDS FIGHT CALL PARIS—Elton John, a newly awarded Legion of honor

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URING the closing ceremonies of a local film festival a few years ago, Paolo Paraiso told us that his passion as an actor has been reignited. He was part of the main cast of two festival entries that time, and he even garnered a nomination for best supporting actor during the awards night.

“I’m all pumped up, and I have started to take interest not only in improving my craft as an actor but also to learn about the art and business of filmmaking,” we remember him telling us.

It’s been more than 16 years since Paraiso crossed over from modelling to show business. He was an active member of the elite Professional Models Association of the Philippines before being lured to try out acting. He was launched as part of the Star Circle in 2003 and was immediately signed to join the youth drama series Tabing Ilog in ABS-CBN. A year after, Paraiso was introduced to movie audiences, kicking off his film acting journey by way of a project, titled Happy Together, which featured Kris Aquino in the lead role.

Sometime later, he found romance in his new work environment which led to his becoming a father. His world now revolves around his two sons, his work as an actor, his business interests in the food industry, and his sports activities. Even when he was in school, Paraiso would try out different sports. “I played and competed in tennis, soccer, basketball and even taekwondo. I also run and I bike,” he volunteered.

Paraiso added that he has been training in Brazilian jiu-jitsu for about three years now. “I was at the gym when I got started. One day, I got bored in my usual routine of boxing, muay thai and lifting weights, so I gave jiu-jitsu a try, seeing some friends already into it. On my first day, I got choked out by a guy half my size, and I got very curious how he was able to do that to a much taller guy. So I started training regularly.” He shared that aside from enjoying these physical activities, he also learned

a lot about discipline, focus and respect. “Brazilian jiu-jitsu isn’t just a hobby or sport. It’s a lifestyle and a mindset, too.” Paraiso also started doing yoga recently to balance out his workout regimen.

At the moment, Paraiso juggles between promoting the movie Kontradiksyon, which opens this week in cinemas under the direction of Njel de Mesa, and shooting Alpha Kid One, a new hardcore action film in Bacolod City with director Richard Somes, for whom Paraiso has so much respect as both a film creator and a friend.

In Kontradiksyon, Paraiso plays a really dark character that makes things hard for lead actor Jake Cuenca. The movie deals a lot with current political and socioeconomic issues, and delves into issues related to the controversial drug war in the country.

On the movie currently being shot in the province of Negros, Paraiso and Somes have already worked together in films like Historiographika Errata and We Will Not Die Tonight, where their friendship grew. “I love that direk Richard is a collaborator. He knows his every scene by heart. He is a great visualizer. He is also detailed, having been trained in production design when he was starting. Now that he has achieved so

much, if you are his actor, you carry the seal ‘Tatak Somes’ with you!”

On television, Paraiso will soon start working on a new series in GMA with Derek Ramsey. He is thankful for the many opportunities that are coming his way. “I love it when I am busy. I enjoy every aspect of working as an actor, be it for film or television. I am happy that I am constantly reminded that you need a burning passion to be truly happy in whatever you do.” n

pinned to his suit, joined a call on Friday by French President Emmanuel Macron to fund AIDS research and treatment.

The world-acclaimed singer spoke alongside Macron before thousands of people packed into the presidential Elysee Palace courtyard for an event of the annual Fete de la Musique. John was clearly moved at receiving France’s highest award, pinned on him by Macron in a private ceremony, attended by the singer’s husband David Furnish and their two children, among some 20 people in his entourage present.

The president saluted the virtuoso musician as “an icon that knew how to set an example,” the Elysee Palace said.

“To receive this decoration the day of the Fête de la Musique makes it even more special,” John said later in the palace courtyard.

Macron used the occasion to make a call to youth and world leaders to replenish the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria before an October summit in Lyon, France. He said that 27 million people have been treated and saved through the Global Fund that raised about €13 billion in 2016.

“We must do better,” he said, calling on all to mobilize over the next 110 days.

“Make life impossible for us,” he told the crowd, appealing to the youth of Europe and the world to badger their leaders.

John took up the call.

“Success is essential,” he said, adding, “It is of great importance to me.”

John has his own AIDS foundation, which celebrated its 25th anniversary last year. Macron said he had just “decorated someone who created a unique foundation” that gathered €450 million for the fight against AIDS. That fight, the singer said, reminds him “each day of the extraordinary power of the human spirit.” AP

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Monday, June 24, 2019

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MECCA muse Jasmine CurtisSmith with founder and CEO Mars Balajadia

Ulthera isn’t just for the mature

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LTHERA is an aesthetic procedure that we normally associate being done on women who are more mature. Ultherapy is a Food and Drug Administration-cleared, noninvasive procedure that lifts and tightens the neck, chin and brow, and improves lines and wrinkles on the chest.

It’s been proven effective in giving women and men a more youthful appearance.

Ulthera Youth is telling people that it is never too early for antiaging procedures.

“All of us will age. When a person reaches his or her mid 20s, that is when collagen starts to deplete and this is why having Ulthera Youth at the age of 25 may be beneficial,” said Dr. Gigi Rodriguez, a consulting physician at Mecca Aesthetic Clinic and Spa in Quezon City, which recently marked its first anniversary.

Collagen is the body’s most abundant protein, and the major component of connective tissues that make up several body parts, including tendons, ligaments, skin and muscles.

Collagen is responsible for strengthening your bones and giving your skin structure.

Ultherapy basically stimulates your skin so

that it produces more collagen to make up for those that had been depleted.

So what causes collagen depletion?

Sunlight, high sugar consumption, smoking and, of course, aging are some of the causes.

“I choose my projects. I don’t do a lot of things but I make sure that my projects are good and solid. It’s the same thing with aesthetic procedures. I don’t have a lot done but those that I have, like Ulthera Youth, give guaranteed good results,” said actress Jasmine Curtis-Smith, who is Mecca’s new muse and ambassador.

Jasmine’s beauty secret, aside from Ulthera Youth, is sunscreen.

Ulthera Youth has been proven to improve the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles for a younger and fresher look from brow to chest.

What’s good about Ulthera Youth is that it’s a lunchtime procedure. There is no downtime.

Effects, according to Dr. Rodriguez, can be seen in three months.

“For optimum results, Ulthera Youth can be done every year,” she said.

According to Mecca Aesthetic founder and chief executive Mars Balajadia, they chose Jasmine to be the face of their Ulthera Youth campaign because she represents today’s generation of active, confident and passionate young women who are beautiful inside and out.

Balajadia put up Mecca Aesthetic because it was her dream to provide a place where women could relax and feel beautiful.

“Our goal is to provide results without breaking the bank.”

Mecca Aesthetic Center and Spa is at 238 Scout Bayoran Street, Tomas Morato Extension, Quezon City.

For more information, call: 794 5036. n

WORLD BALANCE LAUNCHES NEWEST COLLECTION WITH DISNEY BACK by popular demand, Disney and World Balance spreads more magic with the new Mickey and Minnie collection of sneakers designed to keep you forever young. The recently launched collection features fashionable and timeless footwear for men and women which are emblazoned with the iconic Mickey Mouse silhouette, nostalgic artwork, and Mickey and Minnie icons. n MICKEY X CRUSADE FOR LADIES. The timeless, court-inspired black and white sneaks feature perforated details and Mickey’s signature silhouette outlined for a more sophisticated effect and detailed with a nylon pull tab on the heel and tongue with printed Mickey Mouse logo. What makes this shoe even more

special is the translucent outsole with different Mickey Mouse artworks on full display at the bottom. n MICKEY X HORIZON FOR MEN / MINNIE X HORIZON FOR WOMEN. World Balance’s new Mickey and Minnie Mouse sneakers will put a little pep in your step. In honor of the world famous mice, the footwear brand teamed up with Disney to release not one but two pairs of sneakers honoring the two iconic characters. Each pair has tiny details paying homage to our favorite icons.

Whether you’re wearing the sneakers to run errands or to simply just chill, let the world know what a big fan you are with these clean, white and classic sneaks. The new Minnie sneakers are sure to make Mickey jealous because it comes with an interchangeable red shoelace with Minnie Mouse details and a translucent outsole with different Minnie Mouse artworks on full display at the bottom. n MICKEY X ODYSSEY MEN AND LADIES. Celebrate Mickey with this sleek and fabulous new collection inspired by The True Original. The Mickey Odyssey is made from premium knitted uppers that fit like a sock, and the famous Trampolite Foam cushioning of World Balance. The pair comes in all black with an embroidered red Mickey silhouette on the sides as accent, which puts a fun twist on this fusion of technology and style.

These and more make up the latest collaboration between Disney and World Balance (www.facebook. com/worldbalance). Now, go add some kick to your kickers.

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Monday, June 24, 2019 E1

CAN ALGORITHMS HELP US DECIDE WHOM TO TRUST?

Scaling culture in fast-growing companies

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By David de Cremer, Jack McGuire, Yorck Hesselbarth & Ke Michael Mai

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If AI is to become an important management tool in our organizations, algorithms need to be seen as trusted advisers to human decision-makers.

We analyzed the responses of 136 participants in an online simulation. Participants were told they would be partnered up with another person to work on a task.

They then received a judgment score indicating their partner’s trustworthiness, determined by either an algorithm or a 15-minute conversation between the leader of the study and the unknown person.

Our results suggest that people think of humans and algorithms as good at providing different types of information, including about whom to trust. Humans are more intuitive, more socially adept and better at taking up another person’s perspective. But algorithms can provide information about whom to trust when information is less intuitive and more

factual.

So, although humans were judged to possess the necessary social skills to assess trustworthiness, they did not feel that the use of an algorithm would provide less reliable trust information. When participants were asked which assessment method they preferred to use, most participants opted to use AI (61 percent) rather than the judgments of the human (39 percent).

What are the implications of these findings for organizations?

First, many team projects are often temporary, and trust needs to be built quickly. Our findings show that AI presents a reliable and legitimate assessment tool to facilitate this type of “cognitive” trustworthiness information. Second, social skills like perspective-taking, intuition and sensitivity are prerequisites to determine someone’s trustworthi-

WHY EVERY COMPANY NEEDS A CHIEF EXPERIENCE OFFICER

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By Denise Lee Yohn

USTOMER experience and employee experience are now two of the driving forces of business. Independently, each function leads to valuable relationships—with customers and employees—but when CX and EX are managed together, they create a unique, sustainable competitive advantage. Companies should consider integrating the two disciplines and installing a chief experience officer to lead the combined effort across the entire organization.

What a lot of companies miss is that a great employee experience leads to a great customer experience. Skillful leadership that integrates and aligns the customer and employee experiences is needed in the C-suite.

A chief experience officer, or CXO, can help an organization develop and unleash the combined power of both disciplines.

If an organization separates leadership of CX from EX, disconnects are likely to arise, even if those roles are part of the executive team. Moreover, separating the functions leads to competition between the two for re-

sources and attention. Integrating them into a single department, or at least uniting the two departments under a single leader, lets companies take advantage of synergies between the two. A CXO can be responsible for: n Increasing customer understanding among all employees. n Increasing employee understanding among company leaders. n Driving deliberate, disciplined design and delivery of experiences to customers and employees. n Creating connections between CX and EX, and advocating for the integration they require. n Championing customers’ and employees’ perspectives in the company’s strategic decision-making. n Measuring the impact of CX on employees, the impact of EX on customers and the impact of both on the company’s key performance indicators.

Denise Lee Yohn is a leading authority on positioning great brands and building exceptional organizations.

© 2019 Harvard Business School Publishing Corp. (Distributed by The New York Times Syndicate)

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HE use of artificial intelligence and algorithms to manage business processes, hire employees and automate routine organizational decision-making is increasing. But the reality is that, at least in some cases, humans display strong feelings of aversion to the use of autonomous algorithms.

ness, and are considered to be uniquely human. Our findings nevertheless indicate that when it comes down to starting a work relationship with a colleague, algorithms seem to be accepted as being equally reliable.

Third, supervisors will have to learn to develop a sense of awareness about when it is effective to delegate assessments of the work climate to an algorithm. Finally, supervisors will also have to learn how to communicate the trustworthiness infor-

mation provided by AI to their teams in ways that will not be ignored.

David de Cremer is a professor at NUS Business School, National University of Singapore. Jack McGuire is a lab manager and research assistant at Judge Business School, University of Cambridge. Yorck Hesselbarth is a doctoral student at ESCP Europe in Berlin. Ke Michael Mai is an assistant professor at NUS Business School, National University of Singapore.

Customers notice size reduction more than growth

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By Pierre Chandon

OES this sound familiar? You are marketing a new option, say with 20 percent more product or 50 percent more minutes on a calling plan, but you can’t get customers to pay for even a fraction of the additional value. However, the moment you shave just a few percentages off the regular quantity, the same customers notice it immediately.

Why do people get so mad about product downsizing? Part of the answer is that our eyes are much better at spotting size decreases than size increases. In a series of studies with Nailya Ordabayeva, a colleague at Boston College, we found that human eyes are very bad at geometry.

When an object is doubled in size through a proportionate increase in all dimensions, it looks smaller than it really is.

This is because our eyes act as if they are adding the increase in the height, width and length of objects instead of multiplying them.

When it comes to downsizing, however, our research shows that judgments of size are amazingly accurate, hence the negative reaction when companies try to downsize their products. We replicated this phenomenon, which we called “the accuracy of less,” in five studies. On average, we found that a portion that is doubled in size is judged to be only 72 percent larger than the original size, whereas one that is halved appears to be 53 percent of the origi-

nal size. In the end, we found that this asymmetry exists because a decreasing size cannot go below zero, which helps people estimate sizes as they diminish. When sizes increase, however, they can theoretically grow to infinity.

Without an upper bound, it is hard for people to estimate how large something has become.

One effective solution to this problem is to make information about the product quantity loud and clear. When customers have the information they need, we find that they interpret it accurately. Another solution is to prompt people to think about just how many times smaller a downsized package is when compared with the original; formulating size ratios reduces the asymmetry in estimations of change.

Another idea is to highlight the increase in quantity as a percentage, because this percentage is always mathematically larger than the percent decrease in cost of the same nominal value. For example, a 50-percent increase in product quantity (package size) leads to the same improvement in the product’s unit price as would a 33-percent price discount. The reason 50 percent = 33 percent is that the former is applied to the denominator (quantity), and the other to the numerator (price).

Pierre Chandon is a professor at INSEAD and director of the INSEAD-Sorbonne Behavioral Lab. This article originally appeared on March 7, 2017.

By Jordana Valencia

VER the past few years, there has been a marked increase in “hypergrowth” companies across the globe. Hypergrowth refers to the steep part of the S-curve, where industries and firms grow at an explosive pace. Human capital also grows dramatically, as employee count steeply rises to support business growth.

While hypergrowth companies face many obstacles, research shows that talent is their primary growth challenge. And one of their biggest talent priorities is how to scale and maintain culture. Culture, or the underlying beliefs and values that shape an organization, can indeed be difficult to manage when a company scales from 10 to 1,000 employees.

But it is possible.

Here are a few tips for hypergrowth firms that want to scale their culture to hundreds (or thousands) of employees across the globe:

n Define culture in terms of a few clear, observable behaviors.

This ensures that everyone is working from the same cultural definitions, and that abstract values can be seen in concrete ways. Thus, employees can more easily learn, measure and reinforce values.

n Build an accessible digital library of learning content. Ask

yourself: What knowledge, skills and attitudes are needed to produce each behavior? What content could help employees learn these, and how can it be accessible to all?

n Use blended learning programs to scale culture training. For

hypergrowth companies, blended learning expands employee reach dramatically, which is especially helpful if head count is quickly skyrocketing, and lowers training costs over time, which helps preserve valuable resources during rapid growth.

n Ensure managers relentlessly reinforce target behaviors. Studies

show that highly personalized recognition is crucial in reinforcing desired behaviors. It is especially valuable for hypergrowth firms because it requires little to no resources to execute: It is free, very easy to implement and highly effective in shaping employee behavior.

What’s important is that recognition is immediate, frequent and highly personalized. It takes only a few seconds, but it can make a strong and lasting impact on institutionalizing target behaviors.

Jordana Valencia works with startups in Southeast Asia.

E2 Monday, June 24, 2019 • Editor: Efleda P. Campos

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4 PHL math contests launched

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HIS year’s 14th Philippine Sudoku Super Challenge (PSSC) and three other math contests have been officially launched, aiming to improve and test the skills of young Filipinos.

SM Supermalls and the Mathematics Trainers Guild-Philippines (MTG) have signed a memorandum of agreement for the holding of the 14th PSSC, MTG-SM-DepEd Family Math Quest, National Mathematical Olympiad for Senior High School and the 2019 MTGSM-Sharp-DepEd Math Trail and Problem Solving Competitions.

APPLICATIONS NOW OPEN FOR CAMP COMCO MENTORSHIP PROGRAM CYCLE 11

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MERGING communications powerhouse ComCo Southeast Asia has opened the 11th cycle of its award-winning ComCo Mentorship Program. A Gold Anvil Award winner for Specialized Public Relations Program at the 54th PRSP (Public Relations Society of the Philippines) Anvil Awards, Camp ComCo is now in search for its new creative rebels and apprentices to join its ranks and push the boundaries of the global practices and emerging disciplines of New PR and Smart Social.

Built by the agency’s pool of experts, Camp ComCo Mentorship Program is an intensive and comprehensive talent incubation initiative, industry linkage course and apprenticeship program designed to transform communication, marketing and multimedia arts students, and fresh graduates into revolutionary practitioners of the industry.

Presented in three phases, Skills Calibration, Strategic Communications Immersion and Specialization Elective, the Camp ComCo curriculum is facilitated by ComCo Southeast Asia’s pool of marketing and communication experts and its network of industry practitioners in the region.

Camp ComCo gives participants the opportunity to interact with experts in the field, work on actual communication projects and learn about the latest trends in the industry.

On its third year, The Camp ComCo Mentorship Program was able to graduate 39 apprentices from 10 cycles, all hailing from various colleges and universities, such as the University of the Philippines, University of Santo Tomas, De La Salle University, Ateneo de Manila University, Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila, Polytechnic University of the Philippines, Trinity University of Asia, University of Perpetual Help Dalta and Treston International Colleges, among others.

Most Camp ComCo graduates are now doing communications, marketing and digital work in ComCo Southeast Asia and other companies, as well as government institutions, pursuing graduate studies, and teaching in universities, passing on what they learned in school and the camp. Those who joined ComCo SEA have worked on groundbreaking projects for brands and organizations like AirAsia, SM Cinema, Lamoiyan Corp., Eastern Communications, Pioneer Insurance, WWF and World Vision; and have garnered industry recognition here and abroad from prestigious award-giving bodies such as IABC (International Association of Business Communicators) Quill Awards, Anvil Awards, PR Asia Awards, Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, Marketing Event Awards in Singapore and MarCom Awards in USA. “Camp ComCo is a result of what I witnessed in my career journey, the best practices in the region and the worst conditions around us. Running the Camp takes time and is an extra effort for us, but we are committed to doing this as the advocacy is something we take to heart.

We are a believer that it is not solely the school that defines the lifelong craft of a student, but more important it’s the kind of apprenticeship he will experience—the jumping board of what his life’s work will be,” said Ferdinand Bondoy, Regional Integration and chief executive director of ComCo SEA and creator of Camp ComCo Mentorship Program. “We want that experience to be extremely valuable and memorable to an apprentice because, not only the agency, brands and industry will benefit from it, but in combined little ways, the society we take part of.”

Millie Dizon, SM senior vice president for marketing, and Dr. Isidro Aguilar, MTG president, led the signing together with MTG officers Dr. Simon Chua and Myrna Agtarap.

SM Supermalls will be the exclusive sponsor of the contests, while MTG will be the main organizer.

The winners of the sudoku con-

test will represent the country in the World Sudoku Championship and other international contests in Bangkok and other countries.

Dizon said the contests help improve the math skills of young Pinoys.

“We’ve had this partnership for many years, and we’ve really seen it grow. We’ve seen how it has impacted the lives of young Filipinos, especially since it introduces to them the importance of mathematics. These are skills which are now very, very much in demand and very, very important,” Dizon said.

In addition, MTG signed an agreement with Sharp Calculators, which will be the cosponsor of the contests, and MTG’s 2020 Young Mathematicians In-House Intensive Training Program (YMIITP), a rigorous selection of Filipino

students who will represent the Philippines in international math competitions.

Signing the accord were MTG officers Arvie Ubarro and Agtarap; and Sharp Calculators representatives John Christopher Domingo, brand marketing officer; and Gervin Abad, brand marketing associate.

“We thank SM Supermalls and Sharp Calculators for being our partners in these contests. For over 20 years, MTG has been training Filipino students to be the country’s contestants in international math competitions and we will continue to do so as our commitment to help in uplifting their skills,” said Aguilar.

MTG is an association of math experts with the aim of providing extensive math training to Filipino students.

1st Lockton Philippines Legacy Awards

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HINK green for a sustainable future. Leading insurance and risk management provider Lockton Philippines invites college students to join the first Legacy Awards and submit their bright ideas to help build a better future.

Lockton Philippines, one of the country’s leading insurance and risk management providers, is now accepting entries for the first Legacy Awards, designed to recognize action research initiatives that promote responsible and efficient use of resources.

The deadline of application is on August 31, while the submission of entries is until October 2.

Winning entries will be announced in November, with the possibility of collaborating with partner companies to have the proposals implemented. The awards program is selecting winners from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, and special award categories alongside the over-all grand prize to encourage participation of more schools outside the Metro. Cash prizes up to P1 million are to be awarded to the winning student groups, faculty advisors and schools.

Participating groups are required to submit an evaluative, analytical, investigative action research that suggests better practices for business to operate. The

Legacy Awards is open to teams of three to five college students, currently enrolled in a BA/BS program in any Philippine tertiary education institution. Each team is required to have one faculty adviser who is duly recognized by their school.

Those who want to join must fill out the first Lockton Philippines Legacy Awards application form provided in the entry kit. Submissions must be sent to legacy.awards@locktonph.com in a zip file containing two PDF copies of the research paper, and a one-page letter with the school’s letterhead from the faculty adviser stating that the students made the research and is still unpublished.

Aboitiz, St. Joseph Foundation donate assistive devices to visually impaired

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BOITIZ Group corporate social development arm Aboitiz Foundation and Cebu-based, education-oriented St. Joseph Foundation are helping the visually impaired gain a new perspective in life through the help of an assistive-technology device.

On June 13, 25 OrCam MyEye 2.0 kits were turned over to six beneficiary foundations following the signing of a memorandum of agreement among the Aboitiz Foundation, St. Joseph Foundation and OrCam to help uplift the lives of the blind and visually impaired.

The beneficiaries were from the Philippine National School for the Blind (PNSB); Adaptive Technology for Rehabilitation, Integration and Empowerment of the Visually Impaired; Luke Foundation; Northern Luzon School for the Visually Impaired; Low Vision Group of the Philippines; and the Ortigas Foundation.

“With this adaptation, we will now be able to give better education to our visually impaired learn-

Issues of assessment in creative writing classes in Ateneo

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HE Ateneo Center for English Language Teaching (ACELT) will offer a workshop on assessing creative writing on July 5, 13 and 20, 2019, at the Ateneo de Manila University. The workshop aims to provide participants a venue for designing class activities that meet institution-prescribed objectives for creative writing while also encouraging creativity, the imagination and the courage to perform these through writing.

The Father Joseph Galdon Fund will provide subsidy for novice teachers.

Application period for Workshop one is from June 14 to 30. Workshop one deals with issues of assessment in creative writing classes.

ers, who would be able to work side by side with sighted children,” said Corazon Salvador, PNSB principal.

An OrCam MyEye 2.0 device, which has intuitive features, help a visually impaired user read printed and digital text aloud, among other features.

OrCam MyEye is a breakthrough wearable artificial-vision device that empowers the blind, visually impaired or those who have reading difficulties, allowing them to study, work or go about their dayto-day activities.

The device, which is about the size of a finger, is wireless, lightweight and has intuitive features that allow it to read printed and digital text aloud, and recognize faces, products and other things in real time.

“Today with this project, may you be reminded that you can absolutely do many things—that if you fix your path toward your full potential, no disability can stop you from achieving who you want to be,” Maribeth L. Marasigan, Aboitiz Foundation

first vice president and chief operating officer, told the foundation’s beneficiaries.

Other officers present were: Corazon Salvador, Philippine National School for the Blind principal; Emma Dacquigan, Luke Foundation executive director; Romel Gaoiran, St. Joseph Foundation finance and admin officer; Jon Wolff, OrCam regional director for Asia Pacific and China; John Silva, Ortigas Foundation executive director; Remir Romualdo, Adaptive Technology for Rehabilitation, Integration and Empowerment of the Visually Impaired board member, and Dr. Sheila Santos-Jimenez, Low Vision Group of the Philippines officer.

“Beyond these devices, we give you a helping hand that will assist you in pursuing your dreams. More important, we give you the gift of trust. May this project symbolize a strengthened belief in yourselves from knowing that many of us believe in your capabilities to be special,” Marasigan added.

Seminar on Tax Amnesty IRR for Estate Taxes and Delinquent Accounts

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FTER decades of waiting, taxpayers and businesses in the Philippines are given a one-time opportunity to wipe out all their tax liabilities on unpaid tax fines and penalties with the general tax-amnesty program of the Philippine government. The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has finally released its implementing rules and regulations 4-2019, effective April 23, and 6-2019, effective June 16, for the tax amnesty on delinquent accounts and estate taxes, respectively.

This special program will feature former BIR Commissioner Joel L. Tan-Torres, CPA, who will teach and enable everyone who has the need to avail themselves of this tax-amnesty program. It will provide attendees with valuable information to help maximize tax savings when paying one’s delinquent tax obligations, and also finally transfer the title/s of the properties inherited years or even decades ago without the exorbitant penalties.

Participants will gain knowledge on how to compute for amnesty tax aligned with the BIR regulations. This training will guide attendees

on how, when and where to file for this tax amnesty to hurdle and solve their tax problems.

Interested participants are encouraged to avail themselves of the early-payment savings and group discounts for three or more participants.

Seats are limited and preregistration is required.

To help businesses and individuals avail themselves of the benefits of this law, the Center for Global Best Practices will launch a pioneering program, entitled “IRRs of the Tax Amnesty Law on Estate Taxes and Delinquent Accounts” to be held on Friday, July 5, 2019, at the Marriott Grand Ballroom, Resorts World Complex, Pasay City. For inquiries, you may call landlines in Manila (+632)842-7148/59 and (+632)556-8968/69, in Baguio (+6374) 423-2914, and in Cebu (+6332)512-3106 or 07.

You may check www.cgbp.org for a complete list of best practices programs including Local Government and Real Property Taxation, BIR Computerized Accounting System Compliance for Large Taxpayers, best practices in Financial and Operational Budgeting and more!

GT FOUNDATION SCHOLARS Nine GT Foundation scholars under its Scholarships for TechnicalVocation Education Program (STEP) were conferred formally with two-year certificate degree on general automotive servicing course by Toyota Motor Philippines School of Technology (TMP Tech). The ceremony was held during TMP Tech’s 8th Commencement Exercises on May 30, 2019, at the TMP Tech campus in Santa Rosa City, Laguna. They are (second from left): Mark Joseph Bombeza, Christian Nieles, Rodrigo Sorromero Jr., Rio Glenn Corbin, Shena Lyn Anoche, Jonathan Umandap, Joe Jerrie Benolirao, Arthur Ycay and Franz Vincent Diana. Umandap and Sorromero Jr. received academic awards (two of only three bronze medalists in the entire batch). Sorromero was also recognized with the Best in Drive Train System certificate.

They are joined by GTFI senior program officer Marla Angeli Dator (left) and Toyota Motor Philippines Foundation Assistant Vice President and Operations Manager and TMP Tech scholarship and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) officer Ronald Gaspar (right). In his keynote address, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) Laguna Provincial Director Pascual Arriola told the graduates that completing their studies in technology-based education is something they should be proud of as it is an important driver in economic growth and development. To date, a total of 54 GT Foundation STEP scholars have earned TMP Tech certification and are now employed in the automotive industry.

Unicef commends NG for protecting children from armed conflict

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NICEF has commended the Philippine government in taking the next critical step toward improving the plight of children in conflict zones with the recent signing of the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the law to protect Children in Situations of Armed Conflict (CSAC).

Unicef supported the government’s Inter-Agency Committee (IAC) for the CSAC, led by the Council for the Welfare of Children (CWC) in the nationwide consultation process and drafting of the IRR of Republic Act 11188.

Unicef Chief for Child Protection Grace Agcaoili congratulated the committee, saying that “the release of the IRR of this first-ever comprehensive national law on CSAC is further proof of the government’s commitment to the Convention on the Rights of the Child.”

She also reaffirmed Unicef’s support in implementing the law as it marks the 30th anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. “A very exciting and challenging work awaits the government at this crucial stage of implementation, and to focus on the priorities identified in the IRR,” she added.

CWC Executive Director Mitch Cajayon-Uy said, “We are confident that this law will enable us to strengthen our mechanism to place special emphasis on the rights of these children, toward building a caring and protective society for, by and with the children, with the recognition that they need a peaceful environment to thrive.”

Child rights advocates, under the umbrella alliance Child Rights Network (CRN), expressed optimism with the release of the IRR and called on its partners to “help ensure that the law will be fully implemented at the soonest possible time.” Under the law passed in January 10 this year, the Inter-Agency Committee is also tasked to ensure its full implementation, which upholds humanitarian principles and the rights of children to be treated as victims.

Agencies of the government who signified their commitment include the Department of National Defense, Department of Social Welfare and Development, Department of the Interior and Local Government, Department of Education, Department of Health, Department of Justice, Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine National Police, Office of Civil Defense, National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, Philippine Commission on

Women and the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos.

The IRR clearly defines the individuals covered under the law (persons aged 18 and below), provides rules on age verification, outlines the rights of children in situations of armed conflict, identifies the enforcement agencies and how the law will be carried out.

Salient features of the law include: n Adoption of an expanded definition of schools and hospitals/ health facilities to provide wider protection for these civilian facilities and serve as a stronger deterrent for attacks on these structures, and places of worship; n Expansion of the definition of Zones of Peace, not limited to “demilitarized zones” but covers any community site of sacred, historic, cultural, or environmental importance; and n Inclusion of gender-specific provisions on access of girls to education, as well as to Menstrual Hygiene Management packs and services Globally, children in armed conflict are among the most vulnerable according to Unicef. The UN Secretary-General reported that in 2017, some 10,000 children were either killed or maimed in conflict and 8,000 were recruited or used as combatants in 20 countries, including some identified hot spots.

Unicef has identified the Philippines among these hot spots where children continue to be affected by armed conflict. The five-month long Marawi crisis in 2017 showed how children remain particularly vulnerable when armed conflict breaks out. From January to October 2018, approximatively 160,000 persons were displaced in Mindanao due to armed conflict, crime and violence—half of them are children according to the Unicef report on the Situation Analysis of Children in the Philippines.

Unicef is committed to help the government in facilitating productive dialogue among parties in conflict situations, building social cohesion and strengthening services for all children, especially in conflict-affected areas in Mindanao. In particular, the completion of the 2017 Action Plan of the UN and Moro Islamic Liberation Front showed that some 1,869 children have already disengaged from MILF and receiving support through follow up care from social workers, psychosocial support, help with education and birth registration and other social welfare service.

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By Millie F. Dizon

How can I develop a positive attitude at work?

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Christoff said that “how you present yourself in a work environment shows others whether or not you’re worth working with. Cultivating a positive mindset takes time and practice, especially if you are used to a negative train of thought.

But it can enhance your professional life drastically.”

EAR PR Matters, I am beginning my work in communications in a start-up PR agency. During the first few months, I have come to realize that the first step to good PR is to have a positive attitude about work and life.

After all, a large part of public relations is spreading the good news, and this can best be done with a mindset that looks at the bright side of things.

That can be difficult in daily life, with so many challenges—commuting, family concerns, as well as the problems we encounter at work.

How can I and my colleagues develop an optimistic attitude at work?

This will be very helpful in servicing and thinking of programs for our clients.

PR Matters is a roundtable column by members of the local chapter of the United Kingdom-based International Public Relations Association (Ipra), the world’s premier association for senior professionals around the world. Millie Dizon, the senior vice president for Marketing and Communications of SM, is the former local chairman.

Sincerely, Terry S. Dear Terry, My colleagues and I are happy that early on, you have realized how a positive attitude can help you in your work in public relations. We would like to add that this can also have a positive impact in any kind of work.

In an article “How to Have a Positive Mindset at Work” in Inc.com, Chris Christoff, the co-founder of MonsterInsights, cited a Harvard Medical School study that “a positive mindset can keep your heart healthy, as well as reduce stress and make you a happier person.”

Christoff admitted, however, that “it can be challenging to remind yourself to stay positive— sometimes life happens and things don’t go your way. That’s normal, but it’s essential to remember that it’s not the end of the world and you can conquer anything if you train your brain to think about it the right way.”

Think how your world could be a better place if you decided to “change your mindset and see things in a different light, and view your obstacles as opportunities rather than setbacks.” Christoff then gave us a few tips on how to get started to cultivate a positive mindset at work.

Practice gratitude

WHEN was the last time you thanked someone who has given you good service or done you a personal or professional favor?

We live in a world of entitlement, and sadly, we often forget to be grateful.

Research by Harvard Medical School found that “gratitude is linked to happiness and helps people think and feel more positively.

When you’re actively going over the aspects of your life or your day that make you feel thankful, it changes your perspective from negative to positive.”

“Imagine all the wonderful things you could accomplish more efficiently if you focused on how to achieve those goals rather than complaining about them,” Christoff said. “It makes a world of difference in your attitude, as well as your work ethic.”

He suggested that we write down at least two or three things we’re grateful for every day at work—the fact that we are able to help our family through our job, submitting our report on time, something new we learned—and make it a continuous habit.

Help your colleagues

ACTS of kindness—without expecting anything in return—are powerful. And there’s a science behind it.

Christoff said “several studies outlined in Psychology Today demonstrate that people who perform

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Editor: Efleda P. Campos • Monday, June 24, 2019 E3

kind acts for others without expecting anything in return feel happier, healthier and more fulfilled. That’s why it’s essential to apply this to the people you work with every day.”

After all, who wouldn’t want to “cultivate a healthy, team-work oriented relationship with your colleagues? If you have to see them every day, you want to make sure you’re nurturing a positive environment so you can manifest a positive mindset when it comes to work life.”

Stop complaining

WE all have our frustrations and bad days, and a little venting session here and there is natural.

However, “that doesn’t mean the workplace is the spot to do it or the appropriate company to do it.

Is there an upcoming project you’re dreading to complete, or a meeting you’d rather not attend?

Christoff said that “it’s okay to feel negative emotions concerning different aspects of your job, but if the reality is that you just love to complain, it’s time to stop that behavior.”

Being negative, he said, “will only hinder you from doing your best work and put you behind.

Stop thinking of hurdles as unfair and instead view them as a better way to perform.”

Smile often

IN his article, Christoff said “research conducted by the University of Kansas found that smiling reduces stress and lowers your heart rate during tense situations.

When you’re facing obstacles and all you want to do is scream and rip someone’s head off, take a second to relax your breathing and practice smiling instead,” Smiling, amazingly, “can help trick your brain into believing you’re in an ideal situation for feeling content even if you aren’t.

When you come in contact with your coworkers, be friendly and smile.”

Wearing a scowl “will present you as standoffish and will give your colleagues the wrong idea about you. It’s always better to let people see the best of you, especially when you are stuck with them.”

Over to you

MEETING everyday work challenges is difficult enough, and having someone around you with a negative attitude makes things even tougher. Don’t be that person.

We are devoting a special column each month to answer the reader’s questions about public relations.

Please send your comments and questions to askipraphil@gmail.com.

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Israel could strike first as tensions with Iran flare

IN this June 8, 2018, file photo, a poster of US President Donald Trump is set on fire during the annual anti-Israeli Al-Quds, Jerusalem, Day rally in Tehran, Iran. AP/EBRAHIM NOROOZI

By Doreen Horschig | University of Central Florida

I

Risks of an Israeli strike

THE CONVERSATION

RAN shot down a US drone on June 19, further escalating tensions between Iran and its adversaries.

Relations with Iran have been worsening for months. In early May, one year after the United States withdrew from the nuclear deal negotiated in 2015 between Iran, the US, the European Union and five other countries, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that his country may also withdraw from the agreement, which limits its ability to develop nuclear weapons in exchange for lifting sanctions.

In June, Rouhani announced that Iran will restart uranium enrichment, which could put the country on track to develop a nuclear weapon within a year.

Rouhani’s government insists its uranium will go to civilian nuclear power, not weapons.

As a “deterrent” to Iran, the United States is sending an additional 1,000 troops to the Middle East.

The US is not the only country considering a military response in Iran.

“Israel will not allow Iran to obtain nuclear weapons,” said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on June 17. Netanyahu also said Iran must be punished for violating the nuclear agreement.

Israel, which has faced threats to its national security since its founding as a Jewish homeland in the Middle East in 1948, is known to take aggressive, preventive action to protect itself—including by launching preemptive strikes on neighboring nations it perceives as threatening.

If international relations with

Iran grow more volatile, Israel could take dramatic, unilateral action against its neighbor and longtime adversary.

How the Begin Doctrine justifies preemptive strikes

I’M an international security scholar who studies Israel’s proactive use of its military to prevent nuclear buildup in the Middle East.

Israel has a counterproliferation policy, called the Begin Doctrine, which allows it to wage preventive strikes against enemies with weapons of mass destruction programs. Using the Begin Doctrine as a justification for preemptive strikes, the Israeli government has for decades quietly decimated nuclear and chemical facilities across the Middle East.

When President Saddam Hussein’s potential nuclear military ambitions raised concerns in 1981, the Israeli government destroyed an Iraqi nuclear reactor in a surprise attack called Operation Opera.

“On no account shall we permit an enemy to develop weapons of mass destruction against the people of Israel,” a government release stated at the time. “We shall defend the citizens of Israel in good time and with all the means at our disposal.”

In 2007, Israel responded to Syria’s failure to report its uranium processing by striking a nuclear reactor in the Deir ez-Zor region. The United States, which was reportedly informed ahead of the attack, made no effort to stop Israel.

Israel has also been accused of

IN this April 30, 2018, file photo, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presents material on what he described as Iranian nuclear weapons development during a news conference in Tel Aviv. AP/SEBASTIAN SCHEINER

sponsoring the assassinations of at least four Iranian nuclear scientists since 2010. The incidents have never been fully investigated, and Israel has neither confirmed nor denied responsibility for the targeted killings.

Israel has also deterred nuclear proliferation in the Mideast using less lethal, more high-tech strategies.

In 2008 and 2009, Israel used computer malware called Stuxnet to disrupt Iran’s nuclear infrastructure. The program infected the software that controlled centrifuge speed at the Natanz nuclear plant, alternately speeding up and slowing down the machines that produce enriched uranium to cripple production of the material. The Obama administration secretly supported the cyberattacks.

Though the United States, United Nations and other world powers officially condemned some of these unprovoked Israeli military aggression, other preemptive Israeli attacks have been met with silence from the international community.

The international community may even appreciate Israel’s role as a nuclear nonproliferation watchdog in the Middle East, my research suggests. Israel has never been punished for attacking its neighbors’ weapons programs.

Decades after Israel’s 1981 attack on Iraq’s nuclear plant, President Bill Clinton called it “a really good thing.”

“It kept Saddam Hussein from developing nuclear power,” he said at the 2005 Davos World Economic Forum.

“But it’s not clear to me they

have that option in Iran,” he added.

Israel vs. Iran

THAT was 14 years ago. In 2005, Iran was just beginning its nuclear buildup.

Today, Israel’s government seems strong in its belief that it has the option to strike Iran.

Iran’s Islamic fundamentalist government is openly hostile to Israel. Citing fears that Iran would use nuclear weapons against Israel, Netanyahu has warned, “Iranian acquisition of nuclear weapons would be infinitely more costly than any scenario you can imagine to stop it.”

He told Iran and other adversaries not to “test” Israel.

If the nuclear deal ruptures further and Iran does restarting uranium enrichment, Israel might launch targeted airstrikes against it.

HISTORY suggests other countries are unlikely to actively deter Israeli military aggression in the guise of nuclear nonproliferation.

The Trump administration has expressed anti-Iranian sentiment and is a staunch backer of Netanyahu’s government.

And while European powers will recognize preemptive Israeli strikes on nuclear facilities as a violation of international law and of the sovereignty of Israel’s neighbors, they also see Iran’s nuclear program as a grave global security concern.

A nuclear Iran could escalate ongoing Middle East conflicts into nuclear exchanges, and, as some commentators say, spur other regional powers like Saudi Arabia and Egypt to develop nuclear weapons themselves.

Of course, potential Israeli attacks on Iran present their own serious risks. Because most of Iran’s reactors are in full operations, air strikes may mean cutting off the power supply to Iranian citizens and could release large amounts of radioactive contaminants into the air.

Iran, a militarily wellequipped country, would surely retaliate against any Israeli attacks.

That, too, would trigger a conflict that would spiral throughout the Middle East.

Of course, Israel faced similar dangers when it went after the weapons programs of Syria, Iraq and other neighbors.

If history is any guide, Israel may strike Iran while the world quietly watches.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article here: http://theconversation. com/israel-could-strike-first-as-tensions-with-iran-flare-119146.