BusinessMirror June 25, 2019

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‘TOO MANY’ AIRPORT PLANS? NOT REALLY

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By Elijah Felice E. Rosales @alyasjah

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OO many airport development plans? The chief of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) on Monday allayed fears the government is getting disorganized with the pile of airport projects it has in the pipeline.

At the annual meeting of the Makati Business Club, BCDA President and CEO Vivencio B. Dizon said the government is taking it one proposal at a time in constructing new and expanding existing airports. He asserted that authorities are not panicking in trying to resolve the congestion at the coun-

THE entrance to the Clark International Airport, where a new, modern terminal is being rushed for completion next year. BERNARD TESTA

DEPT. OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

PHILIPPINE STATISTICS AUTHORITY

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try’s main gateway, the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia).

The business community raised before Dizon its concern that the government might be all over the place in trying to resolve the Naia congestion.

It feels the government’s strategy in building and expanding airports is scattered and nearly disorganized.

Further, there is apparently no clear message what will be secondary to Naia: Clark International Airport in Pampanga, Sangley Point International Airport in Cavite or the proposed New Manila International Airport in Bulacan.

“We have to build more, whether that be the expansion of Naia or the

construction of Sangley airport. The attitude of the government now is, let’s try to process all of them. However, Clark is a little different, as it is not a plan because it is already there,” Dizon explained.

“The master plan is done, so it is really just a matter of execution. It is about proper phasing and swiftness of execution,” he added.

Most viable

DIZON said the Clark airport is the most viable alternative now that its passenger and flight counts are jumping. In 2016, there were only about 50,000 domestic travelers who See “Airport,” A8

BusinessMirror A broader look at today’s business

www.businessmirror.com.ph

n Tuesday, June 25, 2019 Vol. 14 No. 258

Bottom 30% expenses swell on costlier food 4.6% E

By Cai U. Ordinario

@caiordinario

XPENSIVE food items forced the poorest Filipinos to spend more for their basic needs in May, according to data released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) on Monday.

PSA said year-on-year inflation for the bottom 30-percent income households went up by 4.6 percent in May 2019 after six consecutive months of deceleration.

This was largely due to higher annual rates observed in the indices of food, beverages and tobacco

(FBT) at 4.8 percent. In April 2019, PSA said, inflation was registered at 4.3 percent and in May 2018, 6.4 percent.

“The annual change of food index at the national level picked up by 4.3 percent during the month.

Its annual rate was posted at 3.9

percent in April 2019 and 6.2 percent in May 2018,” PSA said.

Data showed food items that became more expensive in May included dairy products, prices of which increased by 3.3 percent; fish, 7.8 percent; fruits and vegetables, 9.9 percent; and miscellaneous food

Year-on-year inflation for the bottom 30-percent income households in May 2019, after six consecutive months of deceleration items, 5 percent.

However, PSA said a slower increase in prices was noted in the indices of rice at 1.9 percent; eggs, 2.3 percent; and meat, 2.4 percent.

“The index of corn continued to exhibit downward movement as it recorded a 1.8-percent drop during the month, while the cereal preparations index retained its previous month’s annual change of 3.9 percent,” PSA added.

See “Costlier food,” A2

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PESO EXCHANGE RATES n

posted a growth of 0.4 percent and Vietnam, 10.4 percent, in export earnings in April.

The Philippines’s export growth improved from a contraction of 1.8 percent in March 2019 and a decline of 1.9 percent in April 2018.

Vietnam’s export performance improved from a growth of 7.2 percent in March 2019 and 5.3 percent in April 2018.

Amro also said that in regional emerging markets, financial markets continue to see positive net capital inflows, while regional equity markets have rebounded in tandem with global markets.

However, Amro said that despite the Federal Reserve’s dovish stance, most regional currencies have depreciated due to the trade tensions and the recent addition of several Asian countries to the US currency manipulation watch list.

“In May, Singapore and Malaysia were added to the US currency manipulation watch list, which already includes China, Japan, Korea and Vietnam. The Thai baht was the best performer, compared to other regional EM [emerging market] currencies, driven in part by foreign inflows See “Trade row,” A8

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DOLLAR INFLOWS SEEN SUSTAINED TILL END-‘19

By Bianca Cuaresma @BcuaresmaBM

S

TRENGTH in the country’s dollar inflow is expected to be sustained toward the end of the year, a local economist said, as 2019 is looking good for the Philippine economy’s image to foreign investors.

According to Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) economist Michael Ricafort, the recent strength of the country’s balance of payments (BOP)—as seen in the sizeable surplus it incurred in the first five months of the year‚will likely continue toward the end of 2019.

Just recently, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) announced that the country’s BOP hit a surplus of $5.19 billion in the first five months of the year, reversing dollar losses in the same January-to-May period last year, when it was at $2.1 billion in deficit.

The strong performance of the BOP in the first five months of the year—which the BSP attributes to strong remittance inflows from overseas Filipinos, net inflows of

US-China trade row to cut East, SE Asia growth–think tank

RADE tensions between the United States and China could paint an even darker economic future for the region as the Asean+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (Amro) revised its growth projections for this year and next year.

In its Mont h ly Upd ate of Asean+3 Regional Economic Outlook for June 2019, Amro said the trade tensions could further cut the region’s GDP to 4.7 percent in 2019 and 4.5 percent in 2020.

Baseline growth has already been cut to 4.9 percent in 2019 and 2020 from the initial estimate of 5.1 percent. But if the 25-percent tariff on US imports from China materialize, growth in 2019 and 2020 would be even lower.

“Reg iona l economies w it h greater GVC [global value chain] participation oriented toward final demand outside the region will be more affected,” Amro said.

“The downward shift in staff forecasts is underpinned by the shar p wea kening in reg iona l exports. With the exception of Vietnam and the Philippines, export values contracted across the region, led by China and Japan,” it added.

Amro data showed the Philippines

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foreign portfolio investments and the foreign direct investments to the country during the period—is the highest five-month BOP surplus for the country since 2011, when it hit a surplus of $5.2 billion also in the January-to-May period.

The country’s BOP is the summary of the dollar country’s transactions with the rest of the world; a surplus in this economic indicator means the country earned more dollars than what it spent during the period while a deficit means the economy lost more dollars than what it earned.

Ricafort said this may continue to be the trend toward the second half of the year, as 2019 shapes up to be a good year for the country’s economic dynamics—despite the growth slowdown in the first quarter.

“The BOP surplus could be sustained in the coming months of 2019 amid continued growth in OFW [overseas Filipino workers] remittances, BPO [business-process outsourcing] revenues, foreign tourism receipts,” Ricafort said.

See “Dollar,” A2

Sources: DA eased pork import curbs

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

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presented in “human perspective.”

Compliance and continuous technological integration are human traits apparently valued by employers, according to LinkedIn. These skills, the American online professional network said, are particularly prominent in the Philippines.

Other valuable skills for the

HE Department of Agriculture (DA) has resumed the issuance of permits to meat processors who will import pork from African swine fever (ASF) high-risk countries to ensure that the Philippines will have a steady supply of ham during Christmas.

Gover nment a nd i ndu st r y sources familiar with the matter told the BusinessMirror t h at t he B u re au of A n i m a l Industry (BAI) is now issuing sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) permits, which are required prior to importation.

The BAI, an attached agency of the DA, is also issuing SPS permits to traders and importers who could show purchase orders or contracts that prove their shipments will be sold to processors and not in wet markets.

The bureau relaxed the restrictions on pork imports from ASF high-risk countries after the DA found that the shortfall in supply could reach 40 million kilograms in three months if Manila maintains stringent trade rules, which some quarters have questioned.

See “Soft skills,” A2

See “Pork,” A2

MUD, NOT WATER While other places which also have Saint John the Baptist as patron saint were being called out on Monday, June 24, for still dousing water on passersby in a time of water crisis, residents of Barangay Bibiclat in Aliaga, Nueva Ecija, didn’t have this dilemma between tradition and reason. It’s because they bathe in mud on the feast of their patron saint, and don banana leaves to thank him at what is known as their “Taong Putik” festival. NONIE REYES

Firms more partial to ‘rising,’ soft skills–report

By Samuel P. Medenilla

A

@sam_medenilla

NUMBER of tech skills and soft skills are among the qualifications most soughtafter by employers from applicants amid the growing influence of automation and artificial intelligence in the workplace.

In its “Future of Skills 2019

Report,” LinkedIn said one of the top 10 “rising” skills that are in demand among companies is social-media marketing, which will allow them to promote product and services.

Also in demand is frontend Web development, which involves converting data to graphics or web site and “human-centered design” wherein solutions to problems are

@jearcalas

US 51.4730 n JAPAN 0.4797 n UK 65.5663 n HK 6.5876 n CHINA 7.4951 n SINGAPORE 37.9987 n AUSTRALIA 35.6759 n EU 58.5454 n SAUDI ARABIA 13.7250

Source: BSP (24 June 2019 )

News

BusinessMirror

A2 Tuesday, June 25, 2019

PDP-Laban rallies behind Velasco in speakership race

O

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

@joveemarie

NE month before the election of House speaker, President Duterte’s political party PDP-Laban is now strongly moving to regain the top post in the 18th Congress by solidifying its support behind one candidate.

Following a caucus late Sunday in San Juan, the ruling Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan or PDP-Laban solidified its support for the speakership bid of Marin-

duque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco.

At least 30 party members signed a manifesto backing Velasco’s candidacy for the highest position in the House of Representatives.

Pampanga Rep. Aurelio Gonzales, also a PDP-Laban member vying for the speakership, threw his full support to Velasco in order to allow their party to regain the leadership of the lower chamber.

Former Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez of Davao del Norte, who was felled by a “coup” just hours before the President delivered his State of the Nation Address (Sona) in 2018, had expressed a desire to seek the post anew, but said he would abide by his party’s decision to field Velasco.

In the same caucus, Surigao del Sur Rep. Johnny Pimentel said lawmakers would be of great help to Duterte if they come up with a unified decision as to the next House speaker.

“The President is waiting for us,” Pimentel said.

Duterte, the chairman of PDPLaban, is expected to name who he will be supporting for the speakership on June 28.

“Once we, PDP-Laban, decide to endorse Lord [Velasco], other [political] parties will follow,” Pimentel added.

According to Pimentel, 185 lawmakers from four political parties have expressed support for one PDP-Laban bet.

At least 153 votes are needed to secure the Speaker position.

Besides, Velasco, Gonzales and A lvarez, other candidates for the race are Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez and Taguig Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano.

‘Concurrent jurisdiction’ at Recto Bank could hurt PHL case–Ping Continued from A8

For instance, he war ned against an implication that the joint probe could be “interpreted that we are waiving our sovereign rights over the Recto Bank.”

What is investigated are two findings: the Chinese militia vessel hitting the Filipino fishing boat, and then abandoning the 22 Filipino fishermen in midsea. He added that the inquiry should also come up with findings on whether the incident was “intentional or accidental.”

“Of course, it is clear to us the fishermen were abandoned because they were rescued by Vietnamese fishermen. But we must formalize by way of a formal finding in an investigation that they were abandoned by those who hit them accidentally or deliberately,” Lacson said.

It is clear, he said, that a “crimi-

Dollar. . .

Continued from A1

Higher investments due to a confluence of good local economics and global shifts in investor sentiment may also drive dollars toward the country, thereby providing additional boost to the country’s BOP, the economist said.

“FDI [foreign direct investments] and foreign portfolio investments may also improve in the coming months especially after the country’s credit rating upgrade by S&P on April 30, 2019, by one notch to BBB+ [2 notches above the minimum investment grade] that could encourage more foreign investments into the country as some foreign investors search for higher returns in Emerging Market countries with improved economic and credit fundamentals such as the Philippines,” Ricafort said.

“The proceeds of the upcoming $1 billion Samurai/Yen bond issuance of the national government in the third quarter of 2019 is also expected to contribute to BOP surplus in the coming months of 2019,” the economist added.

Pork. . .

Continued from A1

ASF high-risk countries that were disallowed from shipping to the Philippines include the Netherlands, Austria, Germany and France. They were deemed “high risk” even though they have had no outbreaks, because they share common borders with countries that declared ASF outbreaks, such as Belgium and Hungary.

Government sources said the stringent trade rules will hit meat processors the hardest as they source most of their raw materials from the four European countries.

The four European countries accounted for at least 35.5 percent of the country’s total pork imports last year, with a total volume of 139,205.888 metric tons (MT), government data showed.

nal act” was committed when the Chinese militia vessel abandoned the Filipino fishermen to swim for their lives.

Lacson lamented the Philippine government’s initial reaction to the incident: “Kulang at malamya. Alam naman natin ang attitude ng Pangulo na matigas, maski pare, maski European countries, Canada, mga ibang issue. Kung ikukumpara natin ’yan, relatively speaking, malamya at kulang na kulang ang tugon ng ating Pangulo mismo rito [It is lacking and weak. We all know the President’s tough attitude—whether he’s dealing with priests, European countries, Canada, on various issues. If we compare that to his attitude to China, the President’s reaction is really weak].”

President Duterte, he said, is apparently concerned over potential economic implications of

Amro’s outlook EARLIER, regional think tank Asean+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (Amro) also expressed confidence about the country’s improving economic conditions as compared to the previous year.

In particular, while last year’s Philippine external position has weakened due to lingering domestic and global issues, Amro said the major risks to the country’s economy are now fading, thus further lowering the risk of capital flight as seen last year.

“The major risks facing the Philippine economy are mostly short term ones. Externally, escalating global trade tensions remain the major risk.

Domestically, elevated inflation and pockets of financial vulnerabilities are the main concerns. Global trade tensions and a slowdown of the global economy may exert significant drag on Philippine economic activity,” Amro said in its recent report. “As global financial conditions have eased, the pressure from short-term capital outflows has dissipated...Overall, risks appear to be moderating.”

Porkless 22.8 days

DA documents obtained by the BusinessMirror indicated that sans imports, the country’s pork shortage could reach 109,124.696 MT, equivalent to 22.83 days of national consumption.

This is why industry stakeholders viewed the DA’s decision to suspend pork purchases even from ASF high-risk countries as an “overly strict” preventive measure against the hog disease.

“The depar tment has assured [processors] that they would be provided with their SPS permits since the ban could limit their pork supply and also threaten their supply of hams this Christmas,” an industry source familiar with the matter told the B usiness M irror.

Meat Importers and Traders Association (Mita) President Jesus C. Cham and other government sources confirmed to the BusinessMirror that the BAI has resumed the

taking a hardline stance against China. “[He wants to] preserve our bilateral relations....He doesn’t want to detract from the goodwill he helped build up, but at what cost?”

Lacson suggested a review of recent history for a grasp of what is happening in the West Philippine Sea. “As early as 2014 [it had been known that] China has a cabbage strategy in the WPS. They wrap the islands, layer by layer, until such time it becomes impossible to reach these. That information came from the Chinese themselves.”

Simply put, the layered encirclement involves thousands of Chinese militia vessels hovering close to non-Chinese boats; with the Chinese Coast Guard around the militia ring; and finally, the Chinese Navy in the outermost ring.

Soft skills. . .

Continued from A1

so-called fourth industrial revolution (FIRe) are the use of artificial intelligence; workflow automation; robotic process automation; blockchain; and gesture recognition technology.

“Soft skills, such as creativity, problem solving, and critical thinking, are [also] in demand to expand the application of new technology,” the report read.

LinkedIn said companies should determine if their employees already possess these skills to determine if they are ready for FIRe. “Helping current talent to upskill or reskill early can help organizations ensure that their future talent needs are met,” said Feon Ang, LinkedIn vice president for Talent and Learning Solutions, Asia Pacific, in a statement.

“At the same time, employees issuance of SPS permits to meat processors and their suppliers.

The BAI allowed this on the premise that the ASF virus will be killed through thorough cooking at high heat, similar to what is being done to canned goods and hot dogs, according to sources.

‘Discriminatory’

HOWEVER, Cham said the relaxation of stringent import rules is “discriminatory” as importers and traders—the majority of Mita members—that cater to other market segments will still be disallowed from bringing in pork from ASF high-risk countries.

“The Philippines does not understand or appreciate pork production in developed countries. Each animal is inspected and passed as fit for consumption,” he said.

“All the pork products [bound for exports] have been inspected and certified diseasefree. So there is no reason to ban as disease is

A Chinese military expert, Major Gen. Zhang Zhaozhong, indicated what they plan to do, Lacson added. “They said what was stolen from us should be returned to us. They believe all of that sea is theirs. Panatag Shoal, Scarborough Shoal, all of that is theirs, in their belief.”

Lacson said the cabbage strategy aims to make it difficult for non-Chinese claimant countries to supply their troops stationed in remote islands by putting layers of hurdles, hoping this will force soldiers to abandon their posts, giving an opening for China’s expansive territorial claims.

“If the Philippine government or the Executive branch, fails to see that the Recto Bank incident is possibly part of China’s cabbage strategy, that’s our lookout. We will just keep retreating while they keep advancing,” Lacson warned.

need to be empowered and motivated to learn their own terms, given difficulties in finding time and accessing opportunities,” she added. Both employers and employees’ group have already sounded the alarm over the possible mass labor displacement that may be caused by FIRe. A study by the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) estimates that around 800,000 workers in the local business-process outsourcing (BPO) sector are expected to lose their jobs due to automation.

BPO Industry Employees Network (BIEN) said the government could minimize this negative effect of FIRe by enacting a law that will ensure job security despite the shift to automation.

“This should give impetus to the government to advance more policies and legislation that will protect BPO workers’ rights,” BIEN National President Mylene Cabalona said in a statement. nonexistent. It exists only in the unreasoning mind,” Cham added.

The Mita chief said his members have not been given SPS permits since May 29 and that their applications were not processed by the BAI due to the verbal order of Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol.

Despite the resumption of the issuance of SPS permits, Cham said this is not a guarantee that prices will be stable as processors account for only a “small” percentage of total pork imports.

“The impact of this will be felt by the poor as the DA wants to ban palengke items even though all meat products have undergone inspection and have been certified disease-free ...Palengke items will be hit hard so poor people are in the crosshairs,” he said.

Also, Cham said trade relations between the European Union and the Philippines could be harmed by Manila’s policies as pork shipments from European countries will still be lower.

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Women’s work force participation barely moved in 30 years

By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario

W

OMEN’S participation in the workforce barely improved in the past 30 years, according to a study released by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS).

In a discussion paper titled “Examining the Women’s Low Labor Market Participation Rate in the Philippines: Is Housework the Missing Link?,” PIDS Senior Research Fellow Connie BayudanDacuycuy said the labor force participation rate (LFPR) in the country only improved by 3 percentage points from 45 to 48 percent in the 1990s.

Some of the factors that affect women’s LFPR, Dacuycuy said, include “the amount of time women spent on housework that tends to be dictated by gender identity.”

“They (married women) are less likely to work when they spend more time on housework but are more likely to work when their spouses spend more time on non-market production,” Dacuycuy said.

“The time spent on housework by female respondents is negatively correlated with household size and positively correlated with the presence of toddlers,” she also said.

The research found that when married women and their spouses spend 10 hours for household chores, around 60 percent of males still participate in the labor force while for women, the rate is lower at 53 percent.

Dacuycuy’s findings also showed that women’s participation in the labor market significantly increases when they are “completely disengaged from housework.”

Data showed that women’s participation increases by around 42 percentage points while the men’s participation only increases by around 25 percentage points.

However, when males and females spend 20 hours and their spouses devote none on housework, women’s probability of working decreases by 43 percentage points; while for males, there’s a decrease of 34 percentage points.

“Even though the labor market participation of both men and women is affected, that of the women is more so. This is shown in the bigger increase in the women’s market work participation when they do not engage in non-market work and in the bigger decrease when their spouses do not share in the household production. This provides evidence that housework acts as a major constraint in the realization of the full economic contribution of men and women in the country,” Dacuycuy said.

Dacuycuy said due to the findings

Costlier food. . .

Continued from A1

Steady in NCR

MEANWHILE, the poorest Filipinos living in Metro Manila did not experience any reduction in commodity prices. Inflation for the bottom 30 percent remained at 2.6 percent in May 2019 in the National Capital Region (NCR).

In May 2018, PSA data showed that inflation was recorded at 6.3 percent.

Annual rates in the indices of FBT remained at 2.5 percent; services, 3.3 percent; and miscellaneous, 2.1 percent.

“Inflation of the food index during the month retained its previous month’s annual rate of 2.2 percent. Inflation of the group’s index was higher at 5.6 percent in May 2018,” PSA said.

Data showed that inflation for cereal preparations increased to 4.1 percent; eggs, 7.9 percent; and fruits and vegetables, 9.5 percent.

However, prices of dairy products, fish, meat, and miscellaneous food items slowed to 5.7 percent, 1.8 percent, 3.1 percent, and 1.5 percent in May, respectively.

PSA said the prices of rice and corn continued to register annual declines of 4.1 percent and 0.2 percent in May 2019, respectively.

of the research, there is a need to establish that women’s contribution to society does not necessarily have to be in the labor market.

She also said engaging in unpaid work and the care economy are life’s choices for some Filipinos but are considered life roles for others. She said this highlights the need to have a deeper understanding of the motivations and preferences of men and women when to do market and non-market work.

Further, Dacuycuy said the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) should seriously consider including time use questions as riders to its existing surveys such as the Labor Force Survey.

“The lackluster participation of women in the labor force is a continuing concern and this is reflected in the space devoted to it in the Philippine Development Plans and in legislations designed to support working women,” Dacuycuy said.

Stopped job scouting

IN January, the PSA reported that nearly 11 million Filipinas have stopped looking for jobs in January as they were forced to just stay in the house and perform their domestic duties.

PSA Assistant National Statistician Wilma A. Guillen told BusinessMirror that the there were a total of 28.87 million Filipinos who are not in the labor force (NITLF) in January 2019. This was a 7.64 percent increase from the NITLF of 26.82 million in January 2018.

Nearly 40 percent of the total or 10.569 million is composed of women who preferred to stay at home to attend to their duties to their families and own households. However, this was a 2.15-percent contraction from the 10.8 million posted in January 2018.

The total of those in the NITLF due to household or family duties reached 11.604 million, a 0.16-percent increase from the 11.585 million in January 2018.

Only 1.034 million of these individuals were males, a 32.06 percent growth from the 783,000 recorded in January 2018.

Data also showed that some 10.119 million of the NITLF included those aged 15 and over who are not looking for work because of schooling. This was a 9.22-percent growth from the 9.265 million recorded in January 2018.

Further, Guillen said, those aged 15 to 24 years old who were NITLF reached 9.875 million in January 2019, a 6.58-percent growth from 9.265M in January 2018.

Apart from schooling, other reasons for why a lot of Filipinos are NITLF: too young/old or retired/permanent disability; waiting for rehire/job recall; bad weather; temporary illness/disability; awaiting results of previous job application; tired/believe no work available; looking for work but not available; and other reasons.

Areas outside NCR

MEANWHILE, in Areas Outside NCR (AONCR), inflation for the poorest households rose to 4.6 percent in May 2019. It was recorded at 4.3 percent in April 2019 and in May 2018, 6.5 percent.

Food was also the culprit for the increase in commodity prices in AONCR. The indices of FBT and miscellaneous stood at 4.9 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively.

“The food index in AONCR posted a higher annual gain of 4.4 percent during the month. Its annual rate settled to 4 percent in the previous month and 6.3 percent in the same month of the previous year,” PSA said.

Products that became more expensive in May 2019 were dairy products, fish, fruits and vegetables, and miscellaneous food items at 3.2 percent, 7.9 percent, 9.9 percent, and 5.1 percent, respectively.

Previously, economists had said the poorest Filipinos are very sensitive to food prices. This can be explained, they said, by the difference in the inflation felt by all households and the inflation experienced by the bottom 30 percent or the poorest Filipinos.

They explained that the weight of food in the basket of goods used to compute inflation experienced by the poorest 30 percent is 70 percent—against just a weight of 39 percent for all households.

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The Nation BusinessMirror

Emergency powers will not solve Metro water-supply shortage, says MWSS’s Velasco

By Jonathan L. Mayuga

@jonlmayuga

M

E T R O P O L I TA N Wa terworks and Sewerage System Administrator Reynaldo V. Velasco said giving the President, or the MWSS, emergency powers will not help address the current water-supply shortage problem that currently besets Metro Manila residents.

At a news conference jointly held with National Water Resources Board (NWRB) Executive Director Sevillo D. David Jr., Velasco said without rain that will boost the volume of water at the Angat Dam, no amount of emergency powers will help.

“Even with emergency powers, without rain, there will still be supply shortage,” Velasco, a retired police general, said.

The MWSS chief said that, if ever, emergency powers will be needed to fast-track the procurement of equipment for future water-supply projects. “[Assuming that’s the] case, the emergency power is for the future,” he said.

Velasco cited the need to fasttrack the development of new water source like the Centennial New Water Source-Kaliwa Dam Project.

“It takes five years to build a dam. In the case of Kaliwa, it took us 52 years. And yet there is still opposition,” he said.

Velasco said the procurement of equipment is a “slow process” under the current procurement law, a reason President Duterte wants it set aside. He said the government’s hand is tied when it comes to procurement without emergency powers.

David said the NWRB is currently studying various scenarios before deciding on changing the current water-supply allocation for Metro Manila.

“Right now, we are looking at what is still available. What is our scenario, our rainfall projections in a couple of days or weeks, and

the operational capacity of the dam, including the low-level outlet,” he said.

David said, for now, until the end of the month, the current water-supply allocation for Metro Manila will remain at 36 cubic meters per second. The reduced water allocation has compelled the MWSS’s two private water concessionaires —Maynilad Water Services Inc. and Manila Water Co. Inc.—to implement rotational water service interruptions to distribute the water it receives from Angat.

Manila Water’s current supply gap is 170 MLD. David underscored the need to manage whatever is left of the water at Angat until such time that rainfall is experienced at the Angat watershed to augment supply.

For now, the MWSS is appealing to Metro Manila residents to harvest rainwater and use it for nonessential uses, like washing cars, flushing toilets or watering plants.

Meanwhile, Velasco said he had already asked the MWSS and Manila Water to strictly follow their own water service interruption schedules, while urging consumers to conserve just enough water for their day-to-day needs so as not to further deplete the water reserve at Angat.

A s for business establ ishments that continue to “waste” water like carwash and golf courses, Velasco said they had already requested the concerned local government units which have the power to issue executive orders or ordinances to look into the situation in their respective localities and come up with ways to conserve water.

He maintained that there’s a need to develop new water source to address the perennial watersupply shortage.

“Angat is already crying. It cannot support the water requirement of Metro Manila, we have to get outside of Angat Dam,” Velasco said.

DA-BFAR holds test run for FRP boats awarded to fishermen in Recto Bank collision incident

DEPARTMENT of Agriculture-Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources personnel oversee the conduct of actual sea tests in one of the fiberglass reinforced boats awarded to the fishermenbeneficiaries involved in the Recto Bank boat collision incident.

D

EPARTMENT of Agriculture’s Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (DA-BFAR) personnel supervised over the weekend the test run of 30-footer fiberglassreinforced plastic (FRP) boats with 18 horsepower (HP) diesel engines for the 22 Recto Bank fishermen, who figured in a sea “collision” with a Chinese vessel.

The boats can now be used by the fishermen-beneficiaries to fish within the municipal waters abundant with fishes like tulingan, galunggong, tambakol, gulyasan, dalagang-bukid, talakitok, sapsap and tamban, among others, while they wait for the restoration of their motherboat, the F/B Gemver 1.

The distribution of the fiberglass boats is part of an existing livelihood assistance program of the DA-BFAR called FB Pagbabago, under which a

boat is awarded to and shared by two family-beneficiaries who will ensure that the vessel is responsibly used and maintained. The program has already distributed a total of 15,000 boats to fishermen since its launch in 2016.

Made from fiberglass materials, these boats are hardier and more resistant to rot, corrosion and harsh marine environments, and are easier to assemble and repair compared to their wooden counterparts. To top it all, they are engineered to be disaster-resilient that ensures the safety of our fisherfolk at sea.

The fiberglass boat distribution of the DA-BFAR to the 22 Recto Bank fishermen is an effort of the government to prioritize the immediate recovery of the livelihood of the fishermen after the maritime incident they encountered.

Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug • Tuesday, June 25, 2019 A3

Duterte presses Asean, China on maritime code of conduct

By Manuel T. Cayon

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@awimailbox Mindanao Bureau Chief

AVAO CITY—President Duterte is urging Asean nations and China to “immediately conclude” a binding code of conduct (COC) in the South China Sea to reverse what he described as a “fasteroding trust” in their relations with the frequency of incidents between China and several Asean nations in the world’s most contested sea territory today.

Act quickly, Duterte told the leaders of Asean and China, in the AseanChina Dialogue Relations held over the weekend in Bangkok, a side event to the 34th Asean Summit. Duterte moderated the dialogue.

“The faster we finish the process, the more credible Asean and China would be as partners for security and stability,” he said, as Duterte also expressed “grave concern” over activities in the South China Sea that he said “erode trust and confidence, and undermine peace and stability in the region.”

He warned that any further delay in the negotiations for a substantive and effective COC is

detrimental to the region.

The COC has been floated more than a decade ago but it has not been acted upon.

The President returned to Manila on Sunday night.

The Philippines is itself embroiled following a recent smashup between a Filipino fishing boat and regular Chinese ship.

The President said, however, that what happened at Recto Bank was a “maritime incident” which immediately drew criticism.

He also conveyed his gratitude to the captain and crew of the Vietnamese fishing vessel who saved Filipino fishermen near Recto Bank

in the West Philippine Sea last week, a statement from the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) said on Monday.

In the same Asean-China dialogue, Duterte called for the effective implementation of international instruments, such as the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, to create a conducive environment for negotiations and maintain peace and stability.

He called on Asean to be the voice of reason and moderation in the region “in the midst of profound geopolitical shifts, protecting time-honored principles of international law.”

US-China trade war

HE also asked Asean to strengthen its commitment to a rules-based multilateral trading system, even as he appealed to China and the US to resolve their differences, citing the grave impact of the ongoing USChina trade war on global growth and economic integration.

The President also asked Asean leaders to intensify cooperation in addressing nontraditional security threats, such as terrorism, violent extremism, transnational crimes, illegal drugs and climate change, stressing heavy polluters must be held to account, the PCOO statement said.

He said the regional efforts must

be enhanced to combat marine debris and prevent the export of garbage to Asean countries.

Meanwhile, President Duterte joined other leaders at the 13th Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines-East Asean Growth Area (BIMP-Eaga) Summit. The BIMP-Eaga is one of the subregional groupings under Asean.

This subgrouping agreed to promote greater connectivity and crossborder trade, narrow development gap and enhance military and police cooperation to address terrorism and piracy in the high seas.

President Duterte also held bilateral meetings with Indonesian President Joko Widodo and Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha to strengthen bilateral relations.

In his meeting with Widodo, both leaders lauded the completion of the two countries’ respective domestic requirements for the entry into force of the PhilippinesIndonesia Agreement Concerning the Delimitation of the Exclusive Economic Zone Boundary.

The PCOO said that at the conclusion of the summit, Asean leaders adopted four important documents: the Asean Leaders’ Vision Statement on Partnership for Sustainability, the Asean Outlook on the Indo-Pacific, the Asean Leaders’ Statement on the Asean Cultural Year 2019 and the Bangkok Declaration on Combatting Marine Debris in Asean region.

SC clears Enrile, other Experts: Substandard steel may cause Marcos ‘cronies’ in building collapse when ‘Big One’ hits 51-year-old ₧100-M behest loan case

By Joel R. San Juan

T

T

@jrsanjuan1573

HE Supreme Court has cleared former cronies of the late strongman former President Ferdinand Marcos, including former Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile and several others of criminal liabilities, over the alleged behest loans granted to a sugar milling company in 1968 by the Philippine National Bank (PNB).

In a 15-page ruling penned by Associate Justice Jose Reyes Jr., the SC’s Second Division denied the petition for certiorari filed by the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) seeking to set aside the resolution issued by the Office of the Ombudsman on December 29, 2006, and the order dated April 21, 2009, which respectively dismissed for lack of probable cause the criminal complaints filed against the respondents.

The Court held that the Office of the Ombudsman did not err in dismissing the complaint for violation of the provisions of Republic Act 3019, or the Anti-Graft and Corruption Practices Act, filed by the PCGG against PNB directors in 1968, namely Enrile, Roberto Benedicto, Antonio Diaz, Ismael Reinoso, Simeon Miranda, Renato Tayag, Juan Trivinio, Cesar E.A. Virata, Jose Macario Laurel IV and Jose Leido.

Also cleared were Rafael Perez and Felicisimo Gonzalo, both former PNB-Dumaguete branch managers and the officers of Tolong Sugar Milling Co. Inc. (TSMCI), namely Ramon Escafio, Herminio Teves, Evelina Teves, Lorenzo Teves, Catalino Noel and Lamberto Macias.

“Simply stated, no grave abuse of discretion may be attributed to the Ombudsman merely because of its alleged misappreciation of facts and evidence. The petitioner in a certiorari proceeding must clearly demonstrate that the court or tribunal blatantly abused its authority, to a point so grave, as to deprive it of its very power to dispense justice,” the Court ruled.

“In this case, the PCGG failed to show that the Ombudsman gravely abused its discretion when it dismissed the criminal complaint against the respondents. Instead, the instant petition is bereft of any statement or allegation purportedly showing that the Ombudsman exercised its power in an arbitrary or despotic manner by reason of passion or hostility…. Consequently, the instant petition must be dismissed,” it added.

In its complaint, the PCGG said TSMCI was one of the many companies that was investigated by the Presidential Ad Hoc Fact-Finding Committee’s Technical Working Group for possible prosecution arising from behest loans.

The TWG’s examination disclosed that on March 20, 1968, PNB granted TSMCI a standby irrevocable unconfirmed letter of credit in the amount of $27,793,123.45 or P108.91 million to cover the importation of sugar machinery and equipment in connection with TSMCI’s proposed sugar central at Santa Catalina and Bayawan, in Negros Oriental.

HE recent spate of earthquakes that jolted northwestern Japan, southern China, the Flores region in Indonesia and several Mindanao provinces, has authorities in the local steel industry worried.

The lingering fear is that thousands of highrise buildings in the country—built over the last 10 years using substandard, locally made steel bars—may be in peril should a high intensity quake hit the country.

A 6.8-magnitude earthquake jolted northwestern Japan last Tuesday prompting the Japan Meteorological Agency to issue a tsunami alert. Last Monday, a 6.0-magnitude quake hit Sichuan province in southern China, resulting in the collapse of a hotel in Changning country of Yibin City, southwest of the province, causing the death of 11 people and injury to another 122.

Also last Monday, a 5.5-magnitude earthquake happened in Flores region in Indonesia, while six quakes struck in Mindanao, including the provinces of Agusan del Sur, Davao Occidental and Surigao del Sur. Two months ago, a 6.1-magnitude quake hit Luzon, swaying and destroying buildings in Metro Manila and leveling the four-story Chuzon supermarket, in Porac, Pampanga, killing 18 people and injuring 282. In the same month, several 6.1-magnitude quakes rocked Eastern Samar and Zambales.

The ‘Big One’ is real

“THE series of tremors that hit the country and our neighboring nations are quite alarming,” said Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) Director Renato U. Solidum Jr. last week. “But being situated near the Pacific Ring seismic faults, together with countries like Taiwan, New Zealand and Japan, it is expected for the country to experience frequent seismic and volcanic activity.

“Many earthquakes of smaller magnitude occur very regularly due to the meeting of major tectonic plates in the region,” he said.

Solidum added that the 100-kilometer (km) West Valley fault line that stretches from Bulacan up to Laguna is in grave danger once a 7.1-magnitude earthquake occurs.

According to studies, the West Valley Fault appears to move every 400 to 500 years. “For this reason, we feel that what they call the ‘Big One’ could happen in our lifetime, which would kill more than 30,000 people and injure 100,000 others,” he warned.

‘Ampaw’ steel

BUT former chairman of the Association of

Structural Engineers of the Philippines (ASEP) Engr. Emilio Morales, raised a bigger worry in the face of recent quakes in the region: the stability of locally manufactured steel bars for high-rise buildings.

Morales revealed that substandard construction materials, particularly reinforced steel bars (rebars), are still being used to build high-rise commercial buildings and residential condominiums in key business districts.

“Being near the Pacific Ring is the main reason certain types of steel materials are not recommended for use in high-rise buildings in the country,” he explained.

“Substandard construction materials, particularly rebars, would not withstand a 7.2-magnitude earthquake,” Morales stressed.

Morales added that big local steel manufacturers changed the steel bar manufacturing process some 12 years ago, without notifying the government or the public.

These manufacturers reportedly replaced micro-alloyed (MA) steel bars with quenchedtempered (QT) bars without the knowledge of the contractors, developers and end-users.

China, Taiwan banned QT steel, but PHL lags behind

QT steel is made by spraying cold water on a red-hot steel bar. “This process alters the steel’s metallurgy: the outer core becomes very strong and brittle, but it is relatively very thin—about 1 or 2 millimeter in thickness,” Morales said.

“This kind of multilayered steel can kill, as the thin outer layer, which is brittle, can be easily damaged during an earthquake.”

Morales said China has started banning QT steels bars, with Taiwan banning these outright two years ago, despite inconclusive metallurgy test results undertaken on QT rebars. As a precaution, Taiwan government testers decided that QT steel are only strong on the outer layer due to quenching process.

Morales claimed that the standards of testing steel in the Philippines are not as thorough—“a product that is made with grade 40 steel could pass as grade 60 because of QT coating.”

According to the former ASEP chairman, in the event of a high-magnitude earthquake, QT steel bars could cause the foundation of the buildings to crumble. “They cannot weather the pressure because they are not specifically made for the type of building construction. Grade 40 steel bars, experts say, are only for mid-rise buildings, not high-rise condominium units,” he said.

A4 Tuesday, June 25, 2019 • Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug

Economy BusinessMirror

Maynilad, Manila Water likely to evolve from concessionaires to public utilities, lawmaker says

By Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz @joveemarie

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PARTY-LIST lawmaker on Monday said the 18th Congress would work for the passage of a measure declaring water concessionaires Manila Water and Maynilad as “public utilities.”

Recalling on how the water crisis in the early 1990s led to the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System’s privatization and the subsequent entry of the two water concessionaires in Metro Manila, Bagong Henerasyon partylist Rep. Bernadette Herrera-Dy said it is again time to amend the MWSS charter, and this time, explicitly define water concessionaires as public utilities.

Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, meanwhile, has called for an oversight hearing on Tuesday (today) at 10 a.m. on the prevailing water shortage in Metro Manila.

Invited to the hearing are officials from the MWSS, National Water Resources Bureau (NWRB), Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA), National Irrigation Authority (NIA), Departments of Agriculture, Budget and Management, Environment and Natural Resources and Public Works and Highways, Neda and water concessionaires Manila Water Co. Inc., and the Maynilad Water Services Inc., among others.

Moreover, Herrera-Dy said, a public utility status for the water concessionaires will limit their prerogative to adjust rates they collect to their customers.

In the 17th Congress, the House of Representatives has approved House Bill 5828, or an act providing for the definition of public utility, amending for the purpose Commonwealth Act of 146. However, the Senate failed to approve the measure.

The bill provides a clear definition of public utility that covers three sectors: distribution of electricity system, transmission of electricity system and water pipeline distribution system or sewerage pipeline system.

Also, Herrera-Dy, secretary-general of the Party-list Coalition said, making Metro Manila residents suffer through a second round of water service cut offs merits tougher rebuke and deeper probe by Congress.

“We have given MWSS and the electricity sector enough time to solve the persistent problems with their publicutility services,” said Herrera-Dy. “It is now time to clean up the mess and among the areas we shall focus on is declaring the water concessionaires as public utilities,” she added.

After the 18th Congress convenes on July 22, the lawmaker said the lower chamber would resume investigations on the water services as well as electricity services in Metro Manila

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Data privacy, a legal compliance and a social responsibility

and other parts of the country.

Herrera-Dy also said that “since the regulators have either been slow or inept, or both, at doing their job, we shall file a bill that will prescribe details of their regulatory powers.”

“Public utility declaration for water concessionaires has long been overdue,” she said.

“Brownouts in many provinces is an almost daily burden. Mindoro, Panay Island, the Bicol Region and other parts of the country suffer long brownouts and high electricity costs,” Herrera-Dy added.

Failure

MEANWHILE, Anakpawis Rep. Ariel Casilao said, a “government, that could not even secure the basic water needs of its people, is an epic failure.”

He said the Duterte administration should carry out a thorough evaluation of the private concessionaries’ infrastructure, amid the firms’s habitual justification of low water levels of its sources for the shortages.

“This should also serve as basis for a possible amendment on their respective concession agreements,” he said.

“It is a highest feat of immorality that these concessionaires rake up super profits amid its clients’s distress. The quality of their service should be proportionate of their profits,” he added.

‘T

By Henry J. Schumacher

HE world is facing a reset button in how it conducts business,” according to Straits Interactive Chief Executive Officer and Founder Kevin Shepherdson.

The first Data Protection Excellence Network Forum and Masterclass held on June 11 and 12, 2019, in Singapore brought together field experts from across the region to discuss and explore how the global landscape of data protection laws are affecting us.

It provided a platform to network with the data protection and privacy community, especially for those new to the field, as practical and insightful information and guidance was shared on a variety of data protection, privacy and security topics.

With digital revolution, as well as the developments in big data, such as machine learning, artificial intelligence, emerging technologies and Internet of Things, there arise threats to loss of reputation, individual autonomy, dis-

crimination and identity theft.

Privacy Commissioner Raymund Liboro of the Philippine National Privacy Commission (NPC), who attended the meeting, stressed that, “privacy is a right but processing is not. There are legal obligations in processing personal data; with it, comes social responsibility. The data privacy officer should go beyond legal compliance.”

For the first five months of 2019, the NPC has received over 800 complaints and almost 300 notifications.

There are currently 120 jurisdictions in the world with data privacy laws. Indonesia and India are about to pass their comprehensive laws, while China already has its Personal Information Security Specification and Malaysia, its Personal Data Protection Act. “In Asean, digital innovation is encouraged, while promoting consumer protection and greater movement of data where no one is left behind,” Liboro stated.

Among the trends in the “danger zone” of the data protection officer (DPO) are: The increasing number of privacy breaches; Enforcements; New laws and regulations; Greater demand for accountability; and Data privacy skills shortage.

Common mistakes in organizations are: C-level not aware and not committed; DPO takes role reluctantly, not knowledgeable, has little influence; Operational level not properly trained; and Business unit managers do not understand and regard data privacy as extra work.

When incidents and breaches occur, in addition to following procedures, timely communication to all stakeholders is key.

While data privacy is seen in the bigger picture of building trust in business generating employment, promoting social stability and innovation, the heads of organizations and responsible officers must be ready to pay fines and penalties and/or go to jail for violating data privacy laws. And so, companies are advised to prevent risks from turning into disasters.

If assistance is needed, e-mail me at schumacher@eitsc.com.

DA seeking fivefold budget increase to ₧333B for 2020

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas @jearcalas

I

F you are given the chance to shoot for the moon, would you take it? The Department of Agriculture (DA) just did.

The agriculture department is seeking a fivefold increase in its funding next year to about P333 billion as it aims to improve farmers’ productivity and competitiveness.

But industry stakeholders are way off the lack of social protection in the record-high budget pitch by the DA. Nonetheless, the P333-billion 2020 budget proposal has been endorsed by the National Agriculture and Fisheries Council (NAFC) for submission to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).

The DA is proposing a Tier 1 budget of P58 billion, while its Tier 2 funding proposal is pegged at P275 billion, according to government sources.

The NAFC Council is comprised of representatives of the different government agencies, private entities, civil society organizations (CSOs), nongovernment organizations (NGOs), people’s organizations and farmers and fisherfolks groups.

Philippine Council for Agriculture and Fisheries (PCAF) Committee on Food Staples Chairman Raul Q. Montemayor said the increase in DA’s budget was observed across all the department’s projects, commodity programs and attached agencies.

The over 400-percent increase in DA’s proposed budget was due to the pronouncement of President Duterte that it would increase the department’s funding by tenfold next year, Montemayor added.

“They took literally what the

President said and asked for the moon,” he told the BusinessMirror in an interview.

Montemayor was present during the NAFC Council meeting on June 17 when it endorsed DA’s 2020 budget.

For 2019 the DA has been allocated with a P47.293 billion funding while the bugdet for its attached government-owned and -controlled corporations totaled to P20.958 billion.

In March, Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol said they would ask for a tenfold increase in their budget to ensure the country’s food security following the commitment of Duterte.

Rising rice fund

FOR rice programs alone, the DA has proposed a Tier 2 budget of P66 billion on top of the usual P7-billion budget under the Tier 1 and, at least, P10 billion allocation from the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF), Montemayor said.

Montemayor explained that the DA proposed such huge funding to mitigate the adverse effects of the rice trade liberalization (RTL) law, particularly the steep decline in farm-gate palay prices.

Based on the DA’s analyses, farmers’ net income per hectare this year is projected to decline to P23,828 from P31,734 last year due to higher cheaper imports, PCAF Climate Change Committee Vice Chairman Hazel A. Tanchuling told the BusinessMirror.

The increased funding in rice programs is aimed to improve farmers’ yield to 4.57 metric tons (MT) per hectare, with a reduced production cost of P10.73 per kilogram next year, Tanchuling added.

With this, the farmers’ net income per hectare would reach

P28,703, which is relatively lower than 2018 net income but higher than the projected income this year.

Social protection

MONTEMAYOR disclosed that without the increase in funding, farmers’ productivity would remain unchanged from last year’s figures and they could lose much more income than what DA is projecting today.

“We asked them what is the game plan since it is definite that the farmers’ income would really decline,” he said.

“The P66 billion is obviously hard to get and given their projection that with only the Tier 1 and RCEF budget, there would be no change in yield and cost of production,” he added.

Tanchuling echoed the sentiments of Montemayor and added that they are asking the DA what would be the government’s social protection programs for ricebased enterprises that would be displaced by the RTL law.

“It turned out they did not factor in the social protection in the P333 billion which is mainly aimed at productivity and competitiveness.” she said.

“What could be the possible programs or support in lieu of the loss of income? The farmers’ net income are estimated to decline continuously, so how would the government solve that loss in income?” she added.

The DA’s 2020 proposed budget would still be reviewed by the DBM, which stakeholders expect to be cut as it is beyond what the government could afford.

For 2020, the DBM is proposing a national budget of P4.1 trillion, 9.1 percent than the 2019 General Appropriations Act of P3.7 trillion.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

The World BusinessMirror

Pompeo sets out to establish global coalition against Iran

W

ASHINGTON—Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he wants to build a global coalition against Iran during urgent consultations in the Middle East, following a week of crisis that saw the United States pull back from the brink of a military strike on Iran.

Pompeo spoke on Sunday, as he left Washington for Saudi Arabia, followed by the United Arab Emirates, Sunni Arab allies that are alarmed by Shiite Iran’s increasing assertiveness and are working to limit its influence in the region.

His stops in Jeddah and Abu Dhabi were hastily arranged late last week, as additions to a trip to India from where he will join President Donald J. Trump in Japan and South Korea.

But they were not announced until immediately before his departure in a sign of fast-moving and unpredictable developments.

“We’ll be talking with them about how to make sure that we are all strategically aligned, and how we can build out a global coalition, a coalition not only throughout the Gulf states, but in Asia and in Europe, that understands this challenge as it is prepared to push back against the world’s largest state sponsor of terror,” Pompeo said about Iran.

But even as Pompeo delivered his tough talk, he echoed Trump and Vice President Mike Pence in saying the US is prepared to negotiate with Iran, without preconditions, in a bid to ease tensions. Those tensions have been mounting since Trump last year withdrew the US from a global nuclear deal with Iran, and began pressuring Tehran with economic sanctions. A fresh round of Iran sanctions is to be announced on Monday, in a bid to force the Ira-

nian leadership into talks.

“They know precisely how to find us,” Pompeo said.

It was a week of topsy-turvy pronouncements on US policy toward Iran that careened between the bellicose, the conciliatory and back again after Iran shot down an American military drone and boasted it would not bow to Washington’s pressure.

Trump initially said Iran had made a “very big mistake” and that it was “hard to believe” that shooting down the drone on Thursday was not intentional. He later said he thought it was an unintentional act carried out by a “loose and stupid” Iranian, and called off retaliatory military strikes against Iran. On Saturday, Trump reversed himself and claimed that Iran had acted “knowingly.”

But Trump also said over the weekend that he appreciated Iran’s decision to not shoot down a manned US spy plane, and he opined about eventually becoming Iran’s “best friend” if Tehran ultimately agrees to abandon its drive to build nuclear weapons and he helps the country turn around its crippled economy.

Then Trump’s national security adviser, John Bolton, stepped in on Sunday with a blunt warning from Jerusalem, where he was traveling.

Bolton said Iran should not “mistake US’s prudence and discretion

SECRETARY of State Mike Pompeo speaks to the media at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., on Sunday, June 23, 2019, before boarding a plane headed to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. AP PHOTO/JACQUELYN MARTIN

for weakness” after Trump called off the military strike. Trump said he backed away from the planned strikes after learning that about 150 people would be killed, but he said the military option remained.

A longtime Iran hawk, Bolton emphasized that the US reserved the right to attack at a later point.

“No one has granted them a hunting license in the Middle East.

As President Trump said on Friday, our military is rebuilt, new and ready to go,” Bolton said during an appearance with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, himself a longtime and outspoken Iran critic.

On Sunday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani blamed the United States’s “interventionist military presence” for fanning the flames.

He was quoted by the official IRNA news agency. Shortly thereafter, Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen launched an attack against an airport, in southern Saudi Arabia, killing one person and wounding

seven others, according to the Saudi military. Such attacks have been cited by Saudi and US officials as examples of Iran’s “malign behavior” in the Middle East.

Pompeo, who addressed reporters from the tarmac before he boarded his airplane in Washington, declared the goal of his talks with the Saudi kingdom and the UAE is to deny Iran “the resources to foment terror, to build out their nuclear weapon system and to build out their missile program.”

“We are going to deny them the resources they need to do that thereby, keeping American interests and American people safe all around the world,” said Pompeo, who was due to arrive in the region after one person was killed and seven others were wounded in an attack by Iranianallied Yemeni rebels, on an airport, in Saudi Arabia on Sunday evening, the Saudi military said.

The downing of the unmanned aircraft marked a new high in the rising tensions between the United

States and Iran. The Trump administration has vowed to combine a maximum pressure campaign of economic sanctions with a buildup of American forces in the region, following the US withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers.

US military cyber forces on Thursday launched a strike against Iranian military computer systems, according to US officials.

The cyberattacks disabled Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps computer systems that controlled its rocket and missile launchers, the officials said.

Throughout the recent crisis, Trump has wavered between bellicose language and actions toward Iran, and a more accommodating tone, including a plea for negotiations. Iran has said it is not interested in a dialogue with Trump. His administration is aiming to cripple Iran’s economy and force policy changes by reimposing sanctions, including on Iranian oil exports. AP

Tuesday, June 25, 2019 A5

Oil climbs to 3-week high as US-Iran tensions simmer

O

IL rose to the highest level in more than three weeks as political tensions between the US and Iran continued to simmer, with President Donald J. Trump announcing plans for further sanctions against the Opec member.

Futures added as much as 1.4 percent in New York after surging 9.4 percent last week.

Trump tweeted about the sanctions days after abruptly calling off planned air strikes against the Islamic Republic in retaliation for the shooting down of a US Navy drone. Iran’s navy warned the downing of unmanned aircraft could be repeated if intrusions into its airspace continue, according to state news agency Tasnim.

“The events of last week mean that there is much for oil bulls to hang their hats on,” said Stephen Brennock, an analyst at PVM Oil Associates Ltd. in London.

Oil has rallied after falling to the lowest level in almost five months in mid-June, as escalating tensions between Washington and Tehran threaten to disrupt crude flows. Hopes that China and the US will restart trade negotiations have a lso aided prices, with Trump set to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G-20 summit in Japan this week.

West Texas Intermediate for August delivery rose as much as 79 cents, or 1.4 percent, to $58.22 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest since May 30. It traded for $57.82 as of 10:37 a.m. London time.

Prices settled up 0.6 percent on Friday, capping a weekly rally that was the biggest since December 2, 2016.

Brent for August settlement edged up 4 cents to $65.24 a barrel on London’s ICE Futures Europe Exchange, after closing up 1.2 percent on Friday.

The benchmark crude contract traded at a premium of $7.41 to WTI. Bloomberg News

China says US-China China’s Qu Dongyu elected as new FAO general director negotiating teams in R contact ahead of G-20

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EIJING—China says its trade negotiators are talking to their US counterparts on how to resolve disputes ahead of an expected meeting between their two heads of state, at the G-20 meeting, in Japan, later this week.

Wang Shouwen, a Commerce Ministry vice minister, said on Monday the sides were seeking to “consolidate the important consensus reached between the two leaders” in a telephone dis-

cussion last week. Wang gave no further details.

China and the US are in a stalemate after 11 rounds of talks over trade and technology issues that have led to both sides raising tariffs on hundreds of billions of each other’s goods.

In a major blow, the US Commerce Department has effectively barred US companies from selling or transferring technology to Huawei Technologies, a champion of Chinese industry. AP

OME—Qu Dongyu, China’s deputy agricultural minister, was elected on Sunday as the new director general of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, the first person from a Communist country to hold the influential FAO post.

The agency’s 194 member-countries convened, at the FAO headquarters, in Rome, to choose a successor to José Graziano da Silva of Brazil for the four-year term.

Qu, 55, a biologist by training, won 108 votes, followed by France’s Catherine Geslain-Lanéelle with 71 votes and Georgia’s Davit Kirvalidze with 12, according to official results. The United States had backed Kirvalidze.

The FAO, which has over 11,500 employees around the globe, works

QU DONGYU

AP PHOTO

closely with other UN agencies to achieve the goal of a hunger-free world by 2030. Today, more than 800 million people are facing hunger and

many experts doubt that the 2030 goal will be reached.

Prior to the vote, Qu said he aims to focus on hunger and poverty eradication, tropical agriculture, drought land farming, digital rural development and better land design through transformation of agricultural production. An expert on agriculture and rural areas, he has worked in the field for more than 30 years.

“This is a special day,” he said in his speech accepting the post. “This is our day.”

Qu said he was “grateful to his motherland,” but then added he would be faithful to the FAO’s missions.

Ahead of his election, he rejected claims that he would be beholden to instructions from Beijing, pledg-

ing that China would follow “FAO regulations and rules.” He also defended his credentials, saying he is “a scientist” educated in Europe, America and China.

Before joining China’s agriculture ministry, Qu worked at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, where he focused on conducting research and innovation, raising rural income, reducing poverty through science and technology and building a quality assessment system for produce.

From 2008 to 2015, he worked in the government of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, where he applied new approaches to agricultural publications and rural tourism, and provided startup microlending to young and female farmers. AP

Opposition win in Istanbul a blow to Turkey’s Erdoğan

I

STANBUL—The opposition candidate for mayor of Istanbul celebrated a landmark win on Sunday, in a closely watched repeat election, that ended weeks of political tension and broke the long hold President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s party had on leading Turkey’s largest city.

“Thank you, Istanbul,” Ekrem Imamoğlu, 49, said to the tens of thousands of people who gathered to mark his victory after unofficial results showed he won a clear majority of the vote.

The governing party’s candidate,

former Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, conceded moments after returns showed him trailing well behind Imamoglu, 54 percent to 45 percent . Imamoğlu increased his lead from a March mayoral election by hundreds of thousands of votes.

Erdoğan congratulated Imamoğlu in a tweet. Analysts noted the president, who is grappling with an economic downturn and several international crises, could limit the mayor’s power or undermine Imamoğlu’s authority in other ways.

Imamoğlu narrowly won an earli-

er mayoral election on March 31, but Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party, AKP, challenged the vote over alleged irregularities. He spent 18 days in office before Turkey’s electoral board annulled the results after weeks of partial recounts.

The voided vote raised concerns domestically and abroad about the state of Turkish democracy, and whether Erdoğan’s party would accept any electoral loss. AKP has governed Turkey since 2002.

“You have protected the reputation of democracy in Turkey with the whole world watching,” Imamoğlu,

his voice hoarse after weeks of campaigning, told supporters.

Jubilant supporters chanted “Mayor again! Mayor again!” Others hung out of cars, blaring horns and waving red-and-white Turkish flags.

Erdoğan campaigned hard for Yildirim, in Istanbul, where the president started his political career as mayor in 1994. Lisel Hintz, an assistant international relations professor at Johns Hopkins University SAIS, said Imamoğlu withstood a divisive campaign and prevailed with a positive message. AP

EKREM IMAMOĞLU, the candidate of the secular opposition Republican People’s Party, CHP, waves to supporters at a rally in Istanbul, on Sunday, June 23, 2019. The opposition candidate for mayor of Istanbul celebrated a landmark win on Sunday, in a closely watched repeat election that ended weeks of political tension and broke the long hold President Recep Tayyip Erdoğ an’s party had on leading Turkey’s largest city. ONUR GUNAY/IMAMOGLU MEDIA TEAM VIA AP

A6 Tuesday, June 25, 2019 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

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editorial

Time to quit?

C

IGARETTE packs contain warnings about the health hazards of smoking. And with so few public places where people are allowed to smoke, one has to wonder—why do people still smoke? With President Duterte’s imminent enactment into law of a bill imposing a higher tax on tobacco, the government is certainly hoping to dissuade more Filipinos from taking up the vice and to give smokers a reason to quit.

The bill, passed by Congress and waiting for the President’s signature, raises tobacco taxes by P45 in 2020, followed by a series of annual P5 increases until the rate reaches P60 in 2023. It also places a P10 tax for every 10 milliliters of vaping liquids—the “juice” used by e-cigarette smokers.

The new tax on cigarettes is expected to raise P30.1 billion, which can be used to help cover the funding gap for the administration’s Universal Health Care program.

A simulation made by the Department of Finance, Department of Health (DOH), and the WHO also showed that the measure would help prevent approximately 713,000 deaths and result in 3.2 million Filipino adult smokers quitting, bringing down smoking prevalence in the country to 16.8 percent from 23.8 percent.

There is incontrovertible proof that smoking kills. Seven out of the 10 primary causes of death in the country—stroke, cancer, heart attack, chronic lower respiratory disease, pneumonia and disease that occur around childbirth—are tobacco-related diseases.

The Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance (SEATCA) said tobacco is the only product that kills half of its customers prematurely. In the Philippines, it said 10 people die every hour because of smoking-related diseases, which translates to 240 deaths every day or 87,600 deaths every year.

The Philippines is the third highest among Asean countries in terms of smoking prevalence. Smoking costs the country P188 billion yearly in healthcare expenditures.

According to the DOH, the Sin Tax Reform Law of 2012, which imposed a unitary tax rate of P30 on all cigarette packs starting 2017, proved to be the single most effective way of reducing smokers in the Philippines. The DOH is hoping the new tax increases on cigarettes would have a similar effect.

This is what “sin” taxes, or sumptuary taxes as they are sometimes called, are supposed to do: they are financial disincentives meant to turn off people from engaging in activities that harm them and the rest of society.

Sin taxes are not just about raising revenue for a cash-depleted government.

It is not just a matter of where the government can make the most money the quickest. Or, at least, it should not be.

Granted, the government needs the money, and yes, cigarettes and tobacco products have been some of the largest sources of the government’s tax revenues. But the government also cannot afford to stand idle as citizens die prematurely because of cigarette smoking.

Raising cigarettes taxes yet again has never been this morally and economically defensible. With the enactment and implementation of the law, the government has to be more aggressive in stopping cigarette smuggling and counterfeiting activities, illegal operations that routinely proliferate with the imposition of higher taxes, and some of which have reportedly been taking place inside free ports and special economic zones.

Local governments also have to be stricter when it comes to implementing the President’s Executive Order 26, which prohibits smoking in enclosed public places and public-utility vehicles.

Foreigners currently living and residing in the Philippines are not exempted from the smoking ban. Many Filipinos, for instance, have been complaining of cigarette smoke filling the lobbies and corridors of condominiums where Chinese nationals live and work, and in the restaurants they patronize.

We know this is the subject of another editorial, but it bears repeating that the implementation of stricter tobacco control laws in the country applies to everyone and anyone in the Philippines. Authorities need to enforce the country’s laws equally and make everyone accountable.

Since 2005

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

THE ENTREPRENEUR

T

HE government is not missing a beat in its efforts to help Mindanao. President Duterte and his Cabinet, true to their promise, are pouring it on in Mindanao in a bid to make the island more productive.

Helping Mindanao realize its maximum potential, I believe, it will make the Philippine economic growth more inclusive. Tapping its natural resources, generating more jobs in the island and building more farm-to-market roads, in my opinion, are some of the keys to developing the economy of Mindanao.

The restoration of peace and order in the island, of course, is of paramount importance to its economic development.

I am pleased to learn that the government, with the help of the Japanese government, is providing more financial assistance to the island. Philippine and Japanese officials just last week signed a loan agreement amounting to $202.04 million to fund the construction and improvement of roads in Mindanao’s conflict-affected areas, including the war torn city of Marawi.

Fi n a nce S e c ret a r y C a rlos Dominguez III, who signed the

loan in behalf of the Philippines in Clark, Pampanga, said Japan’s credit would fund several roads in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. The loan is designed to reinvigorate the local economies in the island and reduce poverty by linking communities to Mindanao’s trade centers.

The new roads are expected to improve accessibility and ease the flow of goods and services to and from these areas.

The loan is aptly called the Road Network Development Project in Conflict-Affected Areas in Mindanao, with the Japan International Cooperation Agency extending the financial assistance. It aims to fund the construction and improvement of about 176.6 kilometers of access roads, including 19.8 kilometers of the Marawi Ring Road and 23 kilometers of the Marawi Trans-Central Road, according to Jica.

We can expect more loans from

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Japan to fund Mindanao’s development and the rest of the Philippines. Dominguez cited the possible signing within this year of a supplemental loan for the ongoing Davao City Bypass Construction Project.

Tokyo is also set to sign three more loan agreements for the New Mactan Bridge Construction Project in Cebu, the second phase of the Metro Manila Priority Bridges Seismic Improvement Project, and the second tranche loan for the first phase of the Metro Manila Subway Project.

The Department of Finance, meanwhile, is preparing the issuance of Marawi bonds to raise additional funds for the large-scale reconstruction and rehabilitation of war-torn Marawi City. It is now a matter of sweetening the features of the bonds to make them attractive to investors and financial institutions.

Dominguez said the government would issue the Marawi bonds once the ongoing Bangon Marawi Comprehensive Rehabilitation and Recovery Program moves to the next phase of the rehabilitation plan, which involves building large-scale infrastructure projects.

The finance department is considering several features to make the Marawi bonds attractive to investors to supplement the massive funds required for the comprehensive rehabilitation of the city destroyed by the 2017 siege of Islamic State-inspired terrorists.

The government at the moment is using funds from the national budget

The reality about foreign investments

Lourdes M. Fernandez

Ruben M. Cruz Jr. Angel R. Calso

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Mindanao gets new stimulus from govt

OUTSIDE THE BOX

O

NE problem we encounter in the New Information Age is that the volume of information we are exposed to is filtered as never before. In the past, the knowledge that we received about a topic was relatively clean from interpretation and bias.

In return, there was much that was “secret” in that it was shielded from ordinary people. US President Franklin Roosevelt was never photographed sitting in his wheelchair.

Everyone knew that he suffered from polio-like paralysis. But that fact was not paraded in public. Now a public figure can sneeze on camera and the media immediately has “experts” speculating on what that might mean. Of course, this is a silly example but the situation happens constantly on a daily basis.

The events surrounding the maritime incident with the Filipino fishing boat is an example. Even by using the term “incident” would be subject

to intense conjecture if I said that in the media. The sad part is that it is not in the interest of seeking the actual truth but to show some distorted version of “investigative journalism.”

Then you put a billion people on social media with instant global communication and the line between private and public is blurred. Certainly, there is a positive aspect that if someone “publicly” talks about harming himself, intervention can prevent a tragedy. The downside is that we assume that what is said in public carries the same weight and transparency as what is said in private.

Politicians and other celebrities are skilled at manipulating public

thought and opinion through the use of social media. Information can be conveniently “leaked” or “hacked” to serve a purpose and agenda. Even in a distant time, film actor Rock Hudson was “secretly” photographed snuggling with a starlet to help dispel rumors of his sexual preferences that his studio wanted hidden. But the problem now is that we have become accustomed to accepting this veil between public and private as being almost eliminated that we believe or want to believe everything.

We read or hear an interview with one of our local business taipans and we assume it is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. And then the experts weigh in with their perfect analysis. Do you honestly believe that someone—Ramon Ang of San Miguel, for example—fully discusses the plans of his company in a press interview the way he speaks in private with his close associates?

It is said, “Those who can do something, do it. Those who cannot do it, talk/teach about it. Those who cannot do it or teach it, administer it.”

Most of the pundits who talk about business relay their insights based on “private” conversations with individuals such as Mr. Ang and others. And these folks are all

to finance the clearing operations in Marawi and the provision of housing and basic services, such as water, to residents. “...there has been a lot of work, especially in providing housing and water and sewage disposal facilities for the residents in that area already.

So, fortunately, we’ve been able to fund it from the GAA [General Appropriations Act], and when we get to the real big construction projects, that’s when we will be issuing the bonds,” says Dominguez.

More funds should be available for the rehabilitation of Maraw City. The Philippines in November last year received P35.1 billion (about $670 million) in pledges for concessional financing and grants from the international community to aid in the rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts for Marawi. The pledges came from the Asian Development Bank, World Bank, International Fund for Agricultural Development, and the governments of Japan, China and Spain.

I have seen earlier the construction of several infrastructure projects in Mindanao that will certainly boost the island’s economy in the near future. As I’ve written before in this space, the election of President Duterte as the first president from Mindanao has helped in the progress that we are now witnessing in the island.

For comments, e-mail mbv.secretariat@gmail. com or visit www.mannyvillar.com.ph.

experts on foreign investment, even though most if not all of them have never negotiated a “foreign” investment to the Philippines, or more important, got paid for doing it. But they all “know” exactly why foreign investment is low in the Philippines.

In 2019, the foreign investment model has changed dramatically.

Based on my genuinely private discussions in the past few months, this is the reality. Politics is not an issue as they have a sign showing “The Number of Days since the Last Philippine Coup Attempt.” They are interested in almost anything related to “build”— private infrastructure, residential, or commercial and the expansion thereof. Foreign money is interested in companies not “projects.”

These investors want to invest in companies that will earn revenues and profits from the growing Filipino middle economic class that is driving economic growth. Philippine companies are already adjusting and making plans to receive these investments.

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

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The hard part: Getting Iran and the US to talk to each other

PVAO still paying dead pensioners?

Manny F. Dooc

TELLTALES

By Golnar Motevalli, David Wainer & Glen Carey Bloomberg Opinion

D

ONALD J. TRUMP has signaled what he wants from Iran: a new nuclear deal, rather than war.

But the United State’s so-called maximum pressure campaign of sanctions—alongside a carrier group and bombers being deployed near the Persian Gulf—means the chances for formal negotiations anytime soon are slim. Instead the focus, particularly for nations watching with alarm the intensifying barbs between Tehran and Washington, is on opening a basic communication line.

An official at Iran’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday that there was no back channel operating with the United States. But after the US president said he ordered, and then called off military strikes at the last minute, there were renewed efforts to find a way for two countries without formal diplomatic ties to speak to each other.

Trump has called previously for discussions with Tehran—even as he said the US will impose major new sections on Monday, he followed up by saying that he’s prepared to talk without preconditions. And on Friday the door opened a crack: The Iranian foreign ministry said it had called in the Swiss ambassador, the traditional pathway for messages to the US. The Swiss embassy in Tehran didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Mediation is not something anyone is talking about as a realistic short-term prospect. But with navies in close proximity in the Gulf region—through which one third of the world’s oil passes—pick up in attacks on oil installations and tankers in the region, which the US blames on Tehran, and the shooting down by Iran of a US drone, the fear among European nations is that a miscalculation could set off a conflict no one really wants.

To mitigate that risk, which a senior UK official described as a “tinderbox moment,” the focus is on a communication mechanism.

The past 10 days has seen a flurry of visits to Tehran—from Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to Germany’s foreign minister, Russia’s energy minister and a senior French diplomat. British foreign office minister Andrew Murrison will make a “short visit” to Iran on Sunday, the government said.

“Some sort of third-party channel probably is essential for exploring possibilities for de-escalation,” said Paul Pillar, a former Central Intelligence Agency officer who’s now a professor at Georgetown University. “More specifically, the Trump administration is going to have to offer some positive incentive for the Iranians to engage. The current US policy of all sticks and no carrots isn’t working and will never work.”

The difficulty is getting Tehran to see that with mediation off the table (the latest feud is anchored in Trump’s move a year ago to withdraw from the 2015 nuclear accord), there is still value in having some contact. So the European push may be two pronged: Cautioning the US against military action, and coaxing Tehran to interact.

“In the current situation the issue of mediation is irrelevant,” Ali Shamkhani, secretary-general for Iran’s Supreme National Security Council and an aide to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said on Thursday, according to state-run media. “The Americans are not looking for a mediator.

The Americans withdrew from the nuclear deal, and they abandoned their own obligations and started illegal sanctions against Iran.”

The US Special Representative for Iran, Brian Hook, said today that many nations have offered to help diplomatically and there is currently no back channel operating to Tehran.

“President Trump and Secretary Pompeo have made it very

Mediation is not something anyone is talking about as a realistic short-term prospect. But with navies in close proximity in the Gulf region—through which one third of the world’s oil passes—a pick up in attacks on oil installations and tankers in the region, which the US blames on Tehran, and the shooting down by Iran of a US drone, the fear among European nations is that a miscalculation could set off a conflict no one really wants. clear over the last year, that, we are open to dialogue, and Iran responded to that by rejecting the diplomacy of Prime Minister Abe, and then attacking a ship that’s Japanese-owned,” Hook separately told reporters on Friday in Kharj, Saudi Arabia. “We have done our part to try to expand the space for diplomacy.”

Iran’s supreme leader seemingly rejected a role for Japan as a channel, calling Trump “not a party worth exchanging a message with” after meeting with Abe. Making matters worse, a Japanese tanker near the Strait of Hormuz was attacked and disabled while Abe was in Tehran. The US blamed Iran and has released videos that prove the Islamic Republic Guards Corps was behind the attack. Iran has denied involvement.

“The situation is serious,” German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said in a briefing on Wednesday after visiting Tehran. “The risk of a war isn’t ruled out and we must do everything not to reach that point.”

Iran has now said it would breach a cap agreed to as part of the 2015 deal it reached with the US and other countries on stockpiles of low-grade uranium by June 27. It also threatened to raise enrichment purity beyond a 3.67 percent limit meant to prevent it from making weapons-grade material.

Those moves would be designed to come to any future talks with a strengthened hand, according to a western diplomat and Middle Eastern diplomat who both asked not to be identified talking about such matters.

One German official said the grouping known as the P5+1—the countries involved in the 2015 nuclear deal—had provided a framework for direct talks, but that was no longer available.

The recent visit by Maas was not designed to play a mediating role or serve as a back channel, the official said, adding Germany sees no practical prospect of a negotiation right now as it’s unclear what such talks would be based on.

Another European official said the priority right now was simply to avoid an escalation, and to try and avoid the nuclear deal collapsing completely.

“If the purpose of the US exercise is to pressure Iran to come to the negotiating table, there has to be a parallel channel that allows the parties to work their way back,” said James Dorsey, senior fellow at Singapore’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies and its Middle East Institute. Events, so far, “raise the question if either party truly wants one.”

Tuesday, June 25, 2019 A7

C

OMMISSION on Audit recently made public its finding that the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office (PVAO) has been paying deceased pensioners. A similar problem also confronted other pension-paying entities such as the Government Service Insurance System and Social Security System. However, as far as the SSS is concerned, this kind of problem is a thing of the past. To safeguard against dubious claims, SSS has instituted the Annual Confirmation of Pensioners Program (Acop) to ensure the continuous payment of pension and prevent payment of false claims.

All retired pensioners living abroad, total disability and survivor pensioners, including the dependent (minor and incapacitated) children and their guardians are required to comply with the Acop, otherwise it may result to automatic suspension of pension. Suspension or cancellation of benefit will be based on certain grounds, such as the death of the pensioner, failure to establish identity, fraudulent claim, pensioner cannot be located at his given address, remarriage or cohabitation of surviving pensioner and recovery from total disability. SSS maintains regular contact with all its pensioners wherever they are to update their mailing address and contact numbers. It conducts investigations and field visits to establish the fact of pensioner’s existence or medical/

disability condition through medical fieldwork service to determine if the pensioner is still entitled to pension. Its partner banks report payees who have died. SSS has entered into a memorandum of agreement with the Philippine Statistics Authority to match its records of death to avoid erroneous payment. nnn

ROAD accidents all over the country have reached alarming proportions.

Statistics show that vehicular accidents have become a major cause of death in our country. Recently, it was reported that nine passengers died and 31 others injured when an overloaded passenger jeep plunged into a deep ravine in Isabela. In another report, a “bride-to-be” and 12 others were killed when the truck they were riding on after a pamanhikan figured

in an accident in San Fernando, Camarines Sur. Another “killer highway” is the stretch along Atimonan to Pagbilao in Quezon province where road accidents frequently happen.

We have enough laws regulating vehicle speed, passenger load, drunk driving and roadworthiness of vehicles, but what we need is strict implementation of these laws. We need to improve our road safety management.

Unworthy vehicles dubbed “rolling coffins” and driven by reckless drivers called “messengers of death” are often involved in tragic road mishaps. nnn

THE development in the Nordic Seas, which consist of the Greenland Sea, Norwegian Sea and Iceland Sea, bears watching. Like the West Philippine Sea, the area is strategic because it connects the Arctic Ocean to the other oceans of the world, like the North Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean. Recently, these bodies of water have become a zone of interest, both from strategic and economic points of view. Potentially, based on the US Geological Survey, the Arctic “holds the largest remaining supplies of unexplored oil and gas, mostly offshore.” The global warming has resulted to rapid melting of glaciers, which opens up the region to easier navigation and exploration.

All great powers, such as the US, Europe, Russia and China have turned the region into a potential area of international contention. This is not to mention the increasing concern of the five Nordic countries, namely Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland

and Iceland, over the alleged aggressive behavior of China to buy or acquire territories and open up new sea-lanes, which would significantly cut travel time from Asia to Europe.

In a summit of the eight membercountries of the Arctic Council made up of the five Nordic countries plus United States, Canada and Russia, US State Secretary Mike Pompeo has asked the delegates: “Do we want the Arctic Ocean to transform into a new South China Sea, fraught with militarization and competing territorial claims?” As usual, China has dangled its financial largesse to the smaller Nordic countries to expand its sphere of influence in the region.

But this may not be an easy task unlike in Southeast Asia, for instance, where its Belt and Road Initiative and massive investments extended to target nations have softened up their distrust and suspicion about China’s motives and ambition. My question is: Will the economically and politically independent Nordic countries be lured by China’s carrot-and-stick?

No self-respecting country should compromise its independence for the cheap and mighty yuan. nnn

A BOY excitedly told his father that he uncorked a Genie from a bottle who promised to grant him one wish.

“Ask the Genie to make your father win the lotto jackpot,” the father instructed his only child. The next morning, the boy runs to his father and said, “Father, our driver won the lotto.” The father finds no more reason to celebrate Father’s Day.

Deeper understanding of the Estate Tax Amnesty Act Atty. Ronel Andrew R. Morano

TAX LAW FOR BUSINESS

J

UNE 15, 2019, is the start of the two-year period provided for

by Republic Act 11213 (RA 11213) or the “Tax Amnesty Act” within which the taxpayers can avail themselves of the benefits of the Estate Tax Amnesty law. Revenue Regulations 6-2019 (RR 6-2019), which was issued to implement the law, aims “to provide the taxpayers a one-time opportunity to settle estate tax obligations through an estate tax amnesty program that will give reasonable tax relief to estates with outstanding estate tax liabilities.”

From the purpose of the said regulations, it can be gleaned that the Philippine government is encouraging all the concerned taxpayers to avail themselves of the benefits of the Tax Amnesty Act. There would be a substantial decrease in tax liabilities for transferring the properties of the decedent, as all the penalties, surcharges and interest will be foregone by the government in favor of those concerned taxpayers who will avail themselves of the Estate Tax Amnesty.

Note that the Estate Tax Amnesty shall cover the estate of decedent/s who died on or before December 31, 2017, with or without assessments duly issued therefor, whose estate taxes have remained unpaid or have accrued as of December 31, 2017. Would this be unfair or prejudicial to those decedents who died from January 1, 2018, up to the present as their estate cannot avail of the amnesty? The answer is no. To recall, the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law became effective on January 1, 2018.

One of the amendments brought about by the TRAIN law is the tax rate used in computing the Estate Tax. Under the TRAIN law, a tax rate of 6 percent is imposed on the value of the net estate of the decedent.

Likewise, the estate tax amnesty rate of 6 percent is imposed on decedent’s total net estate. In both laws, the tax base used is the net estate at the time of the death of the decedent and all other deductions are applicable. The minimum estate amnesty tax for the transfer of the estate of each decedent shall be P5,000. Thus, there is no grave prejudice to those decedents who died after December 31, 2017, even though their estates cannot avail of the Estate Tax Amnesty.

The gross estate of the decedents

who are residents and citizens at the time of their death should include all properties, real and personal, tangible and intangible, wherever situated. The gross estate of the decedents who are nonresident aliens would include only real and personal properties situated in the Philippines.

How can an ordinary individual avail himself of the benefits of Estate Tax Amnesty? RR 6-2019 provided the step-by-step process on how to avail of the Estate Tax Amnesty.

First, the executor or administrator, legal heirs, transferees or beneficiaries should file an Estate Tax Amnesty Return (Etar or BIR Form 2118-EA) with the Revenue District Office having jurisdiction over the last residence of the decedent. In case of a nonresident decedent with no executor or administrator in the Philippines, the return shall be filed with RDO 39-South Quezon City.

Next, the duly accomplished and sworn Etar, and Acceptance Payment Form (APF or BIR Form 0621-EA), together with the complete documents as enumerated in the Etar, shall be presented to the concerned RDO for endorsement of the APF prior to the payment of the estate amnesty tax with the Authorized Agent Banks (AABs) or Revenue Collection Officers (RCOs).

After payment, the duly accomplished and sworn Etar and APF with proof of payment, together with the complete documentary requirements, shall be immediately submitted to the RDO in triplicate copies.

Under the second step, the concerned taxpayer must submit the complete documents as enumerated in the Etar with the RDO. What are the mandatory documentary evidence or requirements needed? Certain documentary

requirements would vary depending on the type of properties the estate may have. In all cases, the following are the mandatory documentary evidence or requirements to be submitted with the RDO: 1. Certified true copy of the Death Certificate; 2. Taxpayer Identification Number of decedent and heir/s; 3. Estate Tax Amnesty Return; 4. Estate Tax Acceptance Payment Form, Revenue Official Receipt, if paid to RCO; 5. Affidavit of Self Adjudication or Deed of Extrajudicial Settlement of the Estate of the decedent; or Court decision/judgement if the estate has been settled judicially, or if there is a last will and testament; 6. Certification of the Barangay Captain for the last residence of the decedent and claimed Family Home, if any; 7. For “Claims Against the Estate” arising from Contract of Loan, Notarized Promissory Note, if applicable; 8. Proof of the claimed “Property Previously Taxed,” if any; 9. Proof of the claimed “Transfer for Public Use,” if any; and 10. At least one valid government ID of the executor/administrator of the estate, or if there is no executor or administrator appointed, the heirs, transferees, beneficiaries or authorized representative.

For Real Property/ies, if any: 11. Certified true copy/ies of the Transfer/Original/Condominium Certificate/s of Title of real property/ies; 12. Certified true copy of the Tax Declaration of real property/ies, including the improvements at the time of death or the succeeding available tax declaration issued nearest to the time of death of the decedent, if none is available at the time of death; and 13. Where declared property/ies has/have no improvement, Certificate of No Improvement issued by the Assessor’s Office at the time of death of the decedent.

For Personal Property/ies, if any: 14. Certificate of Deposit/Investment/Indebtedness owned by the decedent alone, or decedent and the surviving spouse, or decedent jointly with others; 15. Certificate of Registration of vehicle/s and other proofs showing the correct value of the same; 16. Certificate of stocks; 17. Proof of valuation of shares of

stock at the time of death; and 18. Proof of valuation of other types of personal property.

For the documentary requirements for the real and personal properties, the original copies of each requirement must be presented and two photocopies must be submitted with the concerned RDO. After the submission of the complete documentary requirements with the duly validated APR, the Certificate of Availment of the Estate Tax Amnesty shall be issued by the concerned RDO within 15 calendar days from the receipt of the application for estate tax amnesty. The wordings of the regulations require that it is mandatory for the concerned RDO to issue the Certificate of Availment within 15 days from receipt of the complete documentary requirements from the taxpayer.

Otherwise, the concerned personnel who have been found remiss in their responsibilities shall be meted with the applicable administrative sanctions.

Lastly, one electronic Certificate Authorizing Registration shall be issued per real property including the improvements, if any, covered by Original Certificate of Title/Transfer Certificate of Title/Condominium Certificate of Title or Tax Declaration for untitled properties. For personal properties included in the estate, a separate eCAR shall be issued.

Once you complied with all the requirements provided for by the regulations, you shall be considered immune from the payment of all estate taxes, as well as any increments and additions thereto, arising from the failure to pay any and all estate taxes for taxable year 2017 and prior years, and from all appurtenant civil, criminal and administrative cases, and penalties under the Tax Code.

While it is true that it is taxing and demanding to comply with all the documentary requirements, all your efforts would be worthwhile as you can already enjoy those properties under your name and with peace of mind.

The author is a junior associate of Du-Baladad and Associates Law Offices (BDB Law), a memberfirm of WTS Global.

The article is for general information only and is not intended, nor should be construed as a substitute for tax, legal or financial advice on any specific matter. Applicability of this article to any actual or particular tax or legal issue should be supported therefore by a professional study or advice. If you have any comments or questions concerning the article, you may e-mail the author at ronelandrew.morano@bdblaw.com.ph or call 403-2001 local 170.

2nd Front Page BusinessMirror

A8 Tuesday, June 25, 2019

www.businessmirror.com.ph

‘PHL medical costs second highest in Asean’

F

By Cai U. Ordinario

@caiordinario

ILIPINOS could experience even more expensive healthcare costs this year on the back of more expensive medicines and medical services, according to a new global report on health.

In the Mercer Marsh Benefits 2019 Medical Trends Around the World report, medical inflation in the Philippines is expected to increase to 13.7 percent in 2019 from

13 percent in 2018.

This will make the Philippines the second most expensive country in terms of medical expenses in Southeast Asia. Vietnam currently

has the highest medical costs in the region at 14.2 percent this year, lower than the 14.5 percent in 2018.

“The gap between medical inflation and actual inflation continues in the Philippines. Companies must make employer-sponsored medical plans competitive, and prioritize solutions that will provide quality health care in the long term,” said Teng Alday, Mercer Philippines chief executive officer (CEO) and Health and Business leader.

Medical costs, the report stated, are bound to continue increasing and will even outpace inflation by close to three times this year and even higher in 2020.

Mercer Marsh stated in its report that health care is becoming

more expensive due to “high-cost pharmaceuticals, new diagnostics and procedures, and overprescribing of low-value health tests and procedures.”

Risk factors

GLOBALLY, the top 3 health risk factors influencing medical cost are still metabolic and cardiovascular risk, dietary risk and emotional/ mental risk.

However, on a regional level, there is variation in the top risk factors. For Asia, environmental risks which account for 52 percent of risk factors are causing more citizens to spend more for health care.

Mercer Marsh said poor health in the region is being caused by the

‘Concurrent jurisdiction’ at Recto Geopolitical tensions push Bank could hurt PHL case–Ping up oil prices

By Butch Fernandez

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@butchfBM

HE government panel that may be assigned in a joint inquiry on the June 9 midsea “allision” between a Chinese vessel and a Filipino fishing boat must first make it clear to its Chinese counterpart that the Philippines is not waiving sovereign rights over the Recto Bank, Sen. Panfilo Lacson said on Monday.

“We are expressing our apprehension [over such a joint inquiry] because the United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea [Unclos] affirms the Philippines’s sovereign rights to Recto Bank,” Lacson said on Monday.

“If we allow a joint investigation, it could be viewed as effectively sharing concurrent jurisdiction,” Lacson said, warning that such

action could “affect a 2016 ruling

by The Hague affirming that the Recto Bank is part of the country’s 200 nautical miles of exclusive economic zone [EEZ].”

It is clear, the senator asserted in a mix of English and Filipino, that “we have sovereign rights over Recto Bank” which, he added, means “it is within our jurisdiction, that is all.”

In an interview, Lacson said he was airing an appeal that if a joint investigation with China could not be avoided, the probe panel should at least “address that issue and come up with terms of reference, or whatever agreement, clearly stating we are not waiving our sovereign rights over the Recto Bank.”

Lacson is among several senators who shot down at the weekend the notion of a joint inquiry on the Recto Bank allision, as pitched

by China. The senator said the

LOW PRESSURE AREA 610 KM EAST OF CASIGURAN, AURORA as of 4:00 pm - June 24, 2019

reports arising from the incident clearly established the Chinese vessel was liable on at least two counts—hitting the Filipino fishing boat, whether intentional or not; and abandoning 22 Filipino fishermen as their boat sank. The Filipinos survived only because they were rescued by Vietnamese fishermen.

Lacson recalled that since the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) ruling was “very clear” that Recto Bank is well within the 200 nautical miles of our EEZ,” it made no sense to “share investigation.”

“Let’s conduct our own investigation and if China does not accept the results, then that’s another matter...But sharing jurisdiction in the conduct of an investigation,” he said, could have “possible implications.”

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IL companies announced a price increase effective Tuesday morning.

Prices of gasoline products, they said on Monday, will go up by P0.30 per liter, diesel by P0.55 per liter and kerosene by P0.45 per liter.

The price increase will be implemented at 6 a.m. of June 25 in all service stations of Pilipinas Shell, Phoenix Petroleum, PTT Philippines, Seaoil Philippines and Petro Gazz.

Other oil firms are expected to follow suit. This is the second oilprice hike for the month.

T he DOE said on Monday that crude futures finished higher as geopolitical tensions remained in focus.

Crude futures settled at threeweek highs as the market eyed rising tensions between Tehran and Washington following the downing of a US surveillance drone over the Strait of Hormuz.

It said tensions remain high in the Middle East after last week’s tanker attacks, which boosted oil prices. Fears of a confrontation between Iran and the United States have mounted, it added. Lenie Lectura

Airport. . .

Continued from A1

used Clark, but this is projected to hit 2.5 million local passengers this year.

Domestic f lights surged to over 500 per week this year, from six flights per week in 2016. In a similar trend, international flights doubled to over 240 per week, from 120 per week. Such spike in flights is seen to boost the passenger traffic.

“The first phase is slated to be done next year and our plan after the opening of the terminal next year is we immediately move to the second phase,” the BCDA chief said.

“The construction of the second runway and the expansion of the existing terminal should double our 10-million-passenger-per-year capacity. With this, we are well on our way to expanding Clark to its ultimate design, which is to be able to receive 80 million passengers annually,” he added.

The government is, meanwhile, assessing a 15-year tender by a group of firms that call themselves the Naia Consortium to upgrade and operate Naia.

It is also expanding the capabilities of the Clark airport. On the other hand, San Miguel Corp. will be constructing the P735.6-billion Bulacan gateway in response to the government’s call to the private sector to help decongest Naia.

ill effects of high pollution levels, specifically in many of the region’s major cities.

The report showed a significant increase in the incidence of respiratory diseases, gastrointestinal diseases and those of the circulatory system.

Insurers’ initiatives

IN response, Mercer Marsh said the number of insurers investing in initiatives to enable qualityfocused care, to better guide members to the right care options for them more quickly, has more than doubled. Globally, 29 percent now name this type of investment as a top strategic priority.

Mercer Marsh said insurers are

responding by helping members make smarter health-care choices, with 63 percent of insurers providing education, tools and incentives to drive positive behavior.

The Middle East and Africa had the highest rate of adoption of programs of this type, with 71 percent of insurers proactively using such consumer-focused tactics with plan members. Globally, 78 percent are now considering or already support virtual health consultations.

“It is clear that health is a business imperative. Supporting and nurturing the physical, emotional, financial, and social well-being needs of employees returns many benefits to businesses,” Alday said.

LIGHTNING PROTECTION SYSTEM ENSURES NAIA TERMINALS’ SAFETY

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HE country’s premier airport is safe against lightning bolts, and all the people inside it, as well as sophisticated equipment, are safe from sudden electric surges, airport authorities said on Monday.

Airport General Manager Ed Monreal gave the assurance as the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) has twice been placed on lightning red alert this month, with ramp movement by both people and planes halted as a precaution, after an airport worker died a few years ago while on duty during a thunderstorm.

On Monday, Monreal said the four passenger terminals are equipped with Lightning Protection System (LPS).

“The Ninoy Aquino International Airport has 20 lightning arresters upgraded in 2016 to ensure better protection coverage of the people and equipment within,” Monreal said.

These devices are checked every three years in adherence to internationally prescribed standards on lightning protection for vital facilities, he said.

A lightning arrester is a device used to protect electrical and telecommunication facilities of buildings from the damaging effects of lightning.

“A lightning surge is captured by the array of arresters and the electrical charges are directed into the ground which absorbs it,” Monreal explained.

Lightning alerts are adopted in most airports worldwide as a safety measure to protect ramp workers from death or injury caused by a lightning strike.

The Naia lightning arresters have a spherical (or dome) coverage of 100 meters.

While airplanes have their own lightning protection, the continued movement of ground personnel is discouraged because of the possibility the current might discharge on tall

Trade row. . .

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into its stock and bond markets,” Amro said.

In May, Amro already warned that if the United States and China fail to resolve the trade tensions between them, the Philippine economy stands to lose 0.10 percentage points in real GDP growth this year and next year.

In its Asean+3 Regional Eco-

objects against a level field like the tarmac.

Monreal said personal protection equipment worn by ramp workers may not be enough to shield them from at least 24 megavolts of current carried by a lightning.

Lightning happens during thunderstorms due to friction in air, causing negatively charged particles in the atmosphere to be attracted by the positively or zero-charged ground or pavement.

Apart from the Naia, lightning alert levels are also imposed in different territories, such as Hong Kong, Australia and Brunei, among others.

Monreal appealed for the understanding of Naia passengers when ramp operations are suspended during lightning red alerts.

Alerts are announced over Naia’s public address systems to keep the passengers informed of the situation.

The airport chief also asked airline operators to ensure that announcements are made on board the aircraft when such is held on the ground or are enroute to Naia.

“While we are duty bound to keep flights safe, we are also duty bound to protect the lives of airport personnel while at work, especially those working in areas where exposure to environmental hazards is greater,” said Monreal.

Over the years, several airport personnel have been str uc k dead by lightning bolts during thunderstorms, prompting the weather bureau Pagasa to step in and install a lightning alert system at the Naia.

In coordination with air traffic controllers, the meteorologists decide whether to close the airport by raising the red alert when lightning activities are within 15 kilometers of the premier gateway.

Recto L. Mercene

nomic Outlook (Areo) 2019 report, Amro said this failure to resolve the trade tensions will lead the US to impose a 25-percent tariff on all its imports from China and vice versa.

The US stands to lose 0.3 percentage points while China stands to lose as much as 0.6 percentage points from its real GDP growth.

However, countries like the Philippines will not be spared from the adverse effects on the economy.

Cai U. Ordinario

Companies BusinessMirror

Editor: Efleda P. Campos

Tuesday, June 25, 2019

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DoubleDragon sees P16.1-B uptake from Hotel 101 locations

By Lorenz S. Marasigan @lorenzmarasigan

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OUBLEDRAGON Properties Corp. aims to rake in P16.1 billion from the sale of the new inventory of its homegrown hotel brand Hotel 101 over the next two years, fueled by the demand from the growing Philippine economy and the opening of its new sales lounge in Metro Manila.

Hannah Yulo, the company’s chief investment officer, said her group is focused on developing in-house sales personnel that will offer investors the new real-estate inventory of the eight Hotel 101 locations in the Philippines.

“The new projects of Hotel 101 are expected to bring in P16.1 billion in cashflows over the next two years. This is why the company has focused on building a strong work force of now 101 in-house sales personnel dedicated to selling the new projects of Hotel 101,” she said.

This is on top of the group’s wide network of licensed real-estate brokers and agencies here and abroad.

Already, DoubleDragon has netted roughly P2.56 billion in sales from its hotels in Fort Bonifacio and Davao. Hotel 101 allows the general public to purchase

serviced hotel units that will be offered to people looking for accommodations.

“Our economy is doing great as affirmed by S&P Global Ratings, which recently upgraded the Philippines’s credit rating a notch higher. This gives us more confidence to further expand and grow our businesses across the country. If you look at the economy and its people as a whole, I truly believe there is no other country in the world that has better prospects in the next decade other than the Philippines,” DoubleDragon Chairman Edgar Sia II said.

Currently, the group has 876 operating hotel rooms across five properties and has secured another 4,375 new hotel rooms, bringing its total portfolio to 5,251 hotel rooms today.

DoubleDragon on Monday inaugu-

PNP-HPG partners with Angkas pilot run

By Rene Acosta

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rated its sales lounge at DD Meridian Park, Bay Area, Pasay. The lounge houses a training center, various meeting and conference rooms, the “Happy Room” model unit, scale models of the upcoming Hotel 101 projects and other discussion areas catering to Hotel 101 buyers and unit owners.

“Hotel 101 provides the optimum balance for DoubleDragon as our offices, malls and warehouses are recurring revenue sources which start pouring in upon their respective completion, while for Hotel 101, DoubleDragon derives revenues twice—firstly, from the preselling of the units during the construction phase

PSALM TO FILE RECOVERY OF P10.8-BILLION N.P.C. DEBT

@reneacostaBM

HE Philippine National PoliceHighway Patrol Group (HPG) has thrown its support behind the government-sanctioned pilot run of app-based motorcycle taxi service Angkas, saying it is strongly aligned with their mandate of helping Filipinos safely traverse the streets.

During a news briefing on Monday, HPG Director Brig. Gen. Roberto Fajardo said the mandate of the HPG is to ensure the safety of the country’s highways for the benefit of commuters and motorists alike, and part of that mandate is to help ensure the smooth and safe flow of traffic in thoroughfares.

“We support Angkas, as well as all the transport operators legally franchised by the LTFRB, because it is a service that helps the commuters in safely going to and from their destinations,” Fajardo said.

“The HPG and Angkas have the same objective and therefore, we need to support each other,” he added.

The Department of Transportation recently gave the green light to implement the pilot run of Angkas in Metro Manila and Metro Cebu for six months starting this month. Prior to this, the DOTr organized a technical working group (TWG) to discuss and conduct studies of Angkas’s operations, particularly its safety training program for their motorcycle rider-partners.

Faja rdo sa id A ng k a s bi kers have also been participating in the HPG’s own Motorcycle Riders

ABS-CBN TO REDEEM P6-B BONDS BEFORE FEB. 2021

M

ULTIMEDI A conglomerate ABS-CBN Corp. plans to redeem its P6-billion, seven-year bonds earlier than its due date of February 2021, a disclosure to the stock exchange showed.

“ABS-CBN intends to exercise its option for early redemption of ABS-CBN’s seven-year bonds, five years and six months from issue date, at the early redemption price of 101.0 percent,” the filing read.

The company has already notified BDO Unibank Inc. of its plan to exercise the option for early redemption.

The company issued P6billion bonds in 2014 to bankroll the construction of its sound stages, the rollout of its digital terrestrial television and the expansion of its pay-TV business SkyCable.

Lorenz S. Marasigan

By Lenie Lectura @llectura

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THE Philippine National Police-Highway Patrol Group (PNP-HPG) has expressed its full support for the six-month government-sanctioned pilot run of Angkas, a motorcycle taxi service. George Royeca (from left), head of Regulatory and Public Affairs of Angkas Philippines, joins Brig. Gen. Roberto B. Fajardo, director of the Highway Patrol Group; and Angeline Tham, CEO of Angkas Philippines, during the ceremonial turnover of 50 crash helmets from Angkas Philippines to the PNP-HPG at the press conference held on Monday at Camp Crame. NONOY LACZA

Safety training program.

“In their own little way, and in line with Angkas’s social responsibility, they send their own riders to join our safety training,” Fajardo noted.

He also commended Angkas’ own safety training program.

“It is good to have training because the riders become our partners. They become examples of a disciplined motorcycle rider,” Fajardo said.

Angkas founder and CEO Angeline Tham praised the HPG, saying “The HPG is out every day protecting our streets and since safety is also paramount to Angkas, we join them in their effort to make the street safer

for the general public.”

The press briefing coincided with the turnover of Angkas’s donation of 50 brand-new, high-quality helmets to the HPG, which was held at the HPG office in Camp Crame, Quezon City.

Angkas Regulatory and Public Affairs head George Royeca said the donation is part of their safety advocacy.

“We have always been vocal about our advocacy for the safety of both the bikers and the passengers. Our donation to the HPG is in line with that advocacy, and which we hope will, in some way, contribute to the safety of our friends from the HPG as they patrol our highways and make

them safe,” Royeca said. “This is just the start of a partnership with HPG which we hope will expand to cover other areas that promote and improve road safety.”

Fajardo described the HPG’s partnership with Angkas as a joint effort to work for the benefit of the commuters and the motorists.

“We work hand in hand for the safety, security and discipline of the motorists,” he said.

Fajardo added the donated helmets will be part of the HPG riders’ new uniform and will be the perfect tandem for the new BMW motorcycles that the HPG riders will soon be driving.

‘Business as usual’ at OceanaGold’s Didipio mine pending FTAA renewal

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NVIRONMENTAL groups are criticizing the continued operation of the Didipio mine of OceanaGold in Kasibu, Nueva Vizcaya, despite the expiration of the company’s financial and/or technical assistance agreement (FTAA).

Environmental activists under the Kalikasan-People’s Network for the Environment (Kalikasan-PNE) led by national coordinator Leon Dulce said even with the provincial government’s “advisory” restraining the operations of the mine, OceanaGold continues to operate.

BusinessMirror sources confirmed the continued operations at the mine site, saying the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) under the Department of Environment and Natural Resources has authorized the company to continue its activities while awaiting the renewal of its FTAA. The President of the Philippines has the power to renew the FTAA at the recommendation of the environment secretary.

“We condemn the continuing mining operations of OceanaGold despite its FTAA contract expiration.

OceanaGold clearly violates the recent legal directives of the Vizcaya provincial government to restrain its mine operations. There are plenty of pending reports, complaints, government resolutions, and other documented evidence that OceanaGold violated various environmental, socioeconomic, and human-rights regulations which should warrant the mine’s stoppage and not its perpetuation,” Dulce said.

In an advisory released by Nueva Vizcaya Gov. Carlos Padilla on June 20, 2019, the provincial government cited Section 19.1 of OceanaGold’s FTAA, stating that the agreement “shall be terminated and the parties shall be relieved of their respective obligations” upon the expiration of the contract.

It further enjoined the Nueva Vizcaya Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office, Philippine National Police Nueva Vizcaya Provincial Office, the Municipal Government of Kasibu, Nueva Vizcaya, and the Barangay Didipio Council to “restrain any operations of OceanaGold upon the termination of the FTAA” citing the Environment Code of Nueva Vizcaya and the Local Government Code.

A day after, however, OceanaGold General Manager David Way sent a letter to the Barangay Didipio Council citing a June 20 letter from MGB, which in turn cites Section 18 of Executive Order 292, or the Administrative Code, which states that existing licenses “shall not expire” until the application for renewal has been finally determined.

Dulce said, however, “in the first place, the MGB and DENR were remiss in its endorsement of OceanaGold’s FTAA renewal application to the Office of the President instead of canceling it outright.”

“In the dialogues we conducted with the MGB and the DENR, these agencies admitted they failed to put into consideration the body of evidence submitted to them over the past year. With concerns

such as the full withdrawal of social acceptability and a lack of environmental and human rights due diligence, there is no way a legitimate regulatory body would have let OceanaGold’s license renewal application go any further,” Dulce said.

Kalikasan PNE urged the MGB and DENR to withdraw their endorsement of OceanaGold’s FTAA to the Office of the President. The green group asserted that the MGB’s legal opinion allowing OceanaGold to resume operations amid the absence of a mining agreement and the clear opposition of LGUs is “patently wrong and irresponsible.”

“It would be hypocritical of the Duterte government to claim that it wants to stop mining for creating a monster in our country, but then allowing a foreign corporation like OceanaGold to operate with impunity.

MGB is even lawyering for this foreign mining corporation instead of defending our national patrimony from it. The people of Nueva Vizcaya will definitely take action to halt OceanaGold’s operations and demand indemnification and other just compensations for its various crimes against the people and the environment,” Dulce said.

Last month, anti-mining groups that include Kalikasan-PNE called on President Duterte to deny the company’s application for FTAA renewal on account for the alleged environmental destruction and human-rights violations.

Jonathan Mayuga and Ceasar Perante

and secondly, once the project are completed, the properties start to generate recurring revenue from hotel operations,” Sia said.

The company targets to complete a leasable portfolio of 1.2 million square meters by 2020 comprising of 700,000 sq.m. from 100 CityMalls, 300,000 sq.m. from its Metro Manila office projects DD Meridian Park and Jollibee Tower, 100,000 sq.m. from the pipeline 5,000 hotel rooms of Hotel 101 and Jinjiang Inn Philippines, and another 100,000 sq.m. of industrial space from various CentralHub sites across Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

HE Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) said on Monday it would file next week before the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) two petitions to recover P10.843 billion from consumers to pay for the debts incurred by the National Power Corp. (NPC).

“We are timely filing new petitions for 2018 Universal Charge-Stranded Contract Costs [UC-SCC] amounting to P6.12 billion or equivalent to 6.2 cents per kilowatt-hour [kWh] and for the 2018 Universal Charge-Stranded Debts [UC-SD] amounting to P4.722 billion or equivalent to 63 centavos per kWh,” PSALM President Irene Joy Garcia said during the state firm’s 18th anniversary celebration.

PSALM will propose a oneyear recovery period for UCSCC while the UC-SD would be collected for seven years.

SCC refers to the excess of NPC’s contracted cost of electricity with independent power producers over the actual selling price of the output. SD refers to NPC’s unpaid obligations that were not liquidated by proceeds from the sale of its assets.

The UC, which is a separate line item in consumers’ electric bills, has different subcomponents, depending on the utilization of the funds as specified in the UC collection.

PSALM said it has been diligent in meeting the annual deadline for filing the UC petition, set every June 30.

Just recently, the ERC approved PSALM’s 2014 UC-SCC application amounting to 5.43 centavos per kWh. Garcia said collection would be enforced starting August this year. The current UC-SD, meanwhile, is 4.28 centavos per kWh. Thus, total UC for PSALM is 9.71 centavos per kWh. Garcia said there is a possibility that consumers will no longer pay for additional UC once the Murang Kuryente Act takes effect.

“The reason we need to file this is because if we don’t file it, we will be forfeiting the opportunity because there is a deadline to file it. This is just filing the petition and pwede pa mahabol ng Murang Kuryente bill if they were able to come up with IRR and we start already with the funding from

the Malampaya. Then there’s a possibility there will be no more additional or new UC. Existing UC will still be there.

We will be able to settle them as they fall due,” Garcia said.

Under the proposed measure, which is expected to be signed by President Duterte, the Malampaya Fund will be tapped to cover the SD and SCC of NPC instead of expanding the coverage and increasing the lifeline rate subsidy.

“At this juncture, we want to thank Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian and his A-Team for pushing for the Murang Kuryente bill, which will hopefully address the impact of the UC on the electricity consumers,” Garcia said.

Gatchalian, who was present during the celebration of PSALM’s anniversary, said the bill is expected to be signed soon.

“For the longest time, Filipinos have been burdened by NPC’s debts through the universal charges for stranded debts and stranded contract costs incor porated in the monthly electricity bill. I hope President Duterte will sign this landmark bill immediately for the Filipino people to finally receive tangible benefits from the Malampaya Fund as soon as possible,” Gatchalian said.

To illustrate his point, G at c h a l i a n s a id l i fe l i ne rates—a subsidy for those consuming less than 100 kWh per month—are already being implemented. Households consuming more than 100 kWh shoulder the lifeline rates.

Using the Malampaya Fund to subsidize the lifeline rates w ill only give an average household consuming 200 kWh a total monthly savings of P21.54—equivalent to a half kilo of rice—compared with the P172 monthly savings the same household will get with the implementation of the Murang Kuryente Act. Gatchalian said the bigger savings may be used to buy an additional 3 to 4 kilos of rice per month or roughly a sack of rice per year.

The lawmaker estimated that power consumers have already shelled out P0.1938/ kWh from January 2013 to May 2017 to pay for NPC’s debts through the UC-SD and UC-SCC. Mea nwhi le, f rom Ju ne 2017 to December 2018, Filipino households paid P0.2203/ kWh.

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Companies BusinessMirror

Tuesday, June 25, 2019

PSE STOCK QUOTATIONS

June 24, 2019

Net Foreign Stocks Bid Ask Open High Low Close Volume Value Trade (Peso) Buy (Sell) FINANCIALS

ASIA UNITED 58.4 58.8 58.4 58.8 58.4 58.4 1,100 64,280 BDO UNIBANK 141.5 141.6 141.3 143.4 140.1 141.5 2,935,810 418,064,515 BANK PH ISLANDS 80.05 80.6 80.6 81.25 80.05 80.05 870,630 70,165,735.5(19 CHINABANK 27.9 28.1 28.7 28.7 27.9 27.9 137,600 3,874,610 EAST WEST BANK 11.52 11.54 11.7 11.86 11.48 11.52 760,000 8,792,238 METROBANK 73.5 74 74.6 75.4 73.5 73.5 2,262,750 167,350,540.5 PB BANK 13.2 13.3 13.2 13.2 13.2 13.2 4,600 60,720 PBCOM 20.55 21.2 21.15 21.15 21.15 21.15 200 4,230 PHIL NATL BANK 49.7 49.75 48.5 50.15 48 49.75 645,900 31,692,545 RCBC 28.5 28.6 28.6 28.6 28.4 28.5 86,100 2,459,970 SECURITY BANK 169.1 169.5 170 170 168.5 169.1 402,550 68,071,063 UNION BANK 62 62.1 63.55 63.55 61.45 62 12,460 773,393 BRIGHT KINDLE 1.2 1.26 1.22 1.22 1.22 1.22 2,000 2,440 BDO LEASING 2.32 2.35 2.35 2.35 2.32 2.35 231,000 541,030 COL FINANCIAL 18.6 18.68 18.68 18.68 18.6 18.6 9,500 177,396 FERRONOUX HLDG 5.04 5.05 5.05 5.1 5.02 5.05 341,100 1,725,707 MEDCO HLDG 0.5 0.51 0.5 0.52 0.5 0.5 135,000 70,000 NTL REINSURANCE 0.97 0.99 0.96 1 0.96 0.99 106,000 101,860 PHIL STOCK EXCH 191 192.8 188 192.8 188 191 1,360 259,698 SUN LIFE 1,760 1,800 1760 1,760 1,760 1,760 850 1,496,000 VANTAGE 1.12 1.21 1.13 1.13 1.12 1.12 24,000 26,890

INDUSTRIAL ALSONS CONS 1.38 1.39 1.38 1.39 1.38 1.39 31,000 42,980 ABOITIZ POWER 35.3 35.4 35.35 35.5 35 35.3 536,600 18,940,995 BASIC ENERGY 0.275 0.285 0.285 0.285 0.275 0.285 730,000 202,200 FIRST GEN 25 25.1 25 25 24.75 25 1,827,500 45,448,995 FIRST PHIL HLDG 78.25 78.5 78.15 78.6 78.15 78.25 84,650 6,645,740 MERALCO 382 383 378 384 378 382 139,390 53,272,498 MANILA WATER 24.5 24.6 24.6 24.9 24.35 24.6 1,113,600 27,374,100 PETRON 5.97 6 5.94 6.01 5.92 6 1,621,500 9,698,406 PETROENERGY 4.56 4.64 4.54 4.68 4.54 4.64 78,000 361,680 PHINMA ENERGY 2.6 2.61 2.6 2.66 2.52 2.61 18,377,000 48,183,890 PHX PETROLEUM 12 12.14 12.2 12.2 12 12.14 25,100 304,216 PILIPINAS SHELL 38.2 38.25 38 38.8 38 38.2 136,200 5,208,505(2, SPC POWER 6.5 6.59 6.5 6.59 6.48 6.59 66,500 435,330 VIVANT 16.02 16.98 16.5 16.5 16 16.02 14,000 230,030 AGRINURTURE 14.28 14.36 14.38 14.42 14.26 14.34 1,115,800 16,028,288 CNTRL AZUCARERA 15.1 16.56 16.62 16.62 15.08 16.56 1,500 24,688 CENTURY FOOD 15.12 15.2 15.1 15.2 15.1 15.12 8,800 133,030 DEL MONTE 5.7 5.79 5.68 5.81 5.68 5.7 107,900 616,555 DNL INDUS 10.44 10.46 10.34 10.46 10.3 10.44 2,212,500 22,932,152 EMPERADOR 7.56 7.57 7.47 7.57 7.47 7.57 6,559,900 49,456,088 SMC FOODANDBEV 108.8 109.5 109.9 109.9 107.2 109.5 81,680 8,933,633 ALLIANCE SELECT 0.76 0.77 0.77 0.78 0.76 0.77 966,000 741,970 GINEBRA 59.1 59.4 56.25 59.5 56.25 59.4 593,500 34,484,012 JOLLIBEE 287 288 287.4 288.2 284 287 530,980 152,052,148 MACAY HLDG 9.15 9.48 9.2 9.2 9.15 9.15 41,200 377,262 MAXS GROUP 13.82 13.84 14.26 14.26 13.8 13.82 1,302,200 18,107,560 MG HLDG 0.186 0.195 0.186 0.186 0.186 0.186 70,000 13,020 PEPSI COLA 1.4 1.41 1.43 1.43 1.37 1.4 2,116,000 2,954,310 SHAKEYS PIZZA 13.98 14 14.22 14.22 13.92 13.98 930,200 12,999,188 ROXAS AND CO 1.4 1.42 1.43 1.43 1.38 1.4 941,000 1,311,360 RFM CORP 4.85 5 4.85 4.85 4.85 4.85 14,000 67,900 UNIV ROBINA 175.7 176 175.8 176 173.7 176 538,560 94,673,872 VITARICH 1.24 1.26 1.26 1.28 1.24 1.26 2,941,000 3,707,010 VICTORIAS 2.6 2.78 2.6 2.6 2.58 2.59 26,000 67,180 CONCRETE A 63.5 64 67.8 67.8 58.8 64 99,270 6,028,065.5 CONCRETE B 65.05 70 56 74.95 56 70 382,060 21,520,168 CEMEX HLDG 2.9 2.91 2.93 2.95 2.88 2.9 8,025,000 23,362,350 DAVINCI CAPITAL 5.25 5.4 5.3 5.3 5.25 5.25 34,400 182,140 EAGLE CEMENT 15.94 15.98 16 16.06 15.92 15.94 23,100 368,744 EEI CORP 10.8 10.82 10.62 10.86 10.62 10.8 845,800 9,140,168 HOLCIM 13.62 13.76 13.54 13.76 13.52 13.62 551,900 7,503,822 MEGAWIDE 19.54 19.58 19.78 19.94 19.54 19.54 885,600 17,446,218 PHINMA 9.1 9.46 9.05 9.1 9.05 9.1 91,200 825,370 TKC METALS 1.25 1.27 1.27 1.27 1.25 1.26 2,103,000 2,643,760 VULCAN INDL 1.5 1.51 1.36 1.5 1.34 1.5 51,948,000 75,046,660 CHEMPHIL 105.6 117.4 107 107 105 105 310 33,125 CROWN ASIA 2.11 2.12 2.1 2.12 2.1 2.12 732,000 1,546,050 PRYCE CORP 5.05 5.08 4.99 5.08 4.99 5.05 41,200 208,690 CONCEPCION 41.65 44.4 41.65 41.65 41.65 41.65 200 8,330 GREENERGY 2.47 2.48 2.42 2.49 2.38 2.48 4,585,000 11,141,050 INTEGRATED MICR 10.1 10.12 10.22 10.22 10 10.12 130,200 1,321,546 IONICS 1.65 1.68 1.68 1.68 1.65 1.65 563,000 938,730 PANASONIC 5.65 5.97 5.95 5.97 5.95 5.97 1,500 8,953 SFA SEMICON 1.18 1.22 1.16 1.23 1.12 1.21 377,000 448,650 CIRTEK HLDG 21.15 21.2 22.3 22.3 21.2 21.2 178,800 3,811,385

HOLDING & FRIMS ABACORE CAPITAL 0.8 0.81 0.8 0.82 0.8 0.81 30,552,000 24,568,110 ASIABEST GROUP 12.88 12.92 12.54 12.9 12.5 12.9 86,300 1,104,620 AYALA CORP 896.5 897 904.5 904.5 895.5 897 407,990 366,263,060 ABOITIZ EQUITY 54.85 55.55 55.25 55.6 54.85 54.85 519,650 28,622,257.5 ALLIANCE GLOBAL 15.2 15.28 15.18 15.36 15.18 15.2 1,945,500 29,599,230 AYALA LAND LOG 3.63 3.64 3.66 3.68 3.64 3.64 5,399,000 19,764,210 ANSCOR 6.7 6.78 6.7 6.78 6.7 6.78 6,900 46,382 ANGLO PHIL HLDG 0.74 0.75 0.75 0.75 0.74 0.75 317,000 237,400 ATN HLDG A 1.33 1.34 1.35 1.36 1.34 1.34 761,000 1,025,220 ATN HLDG B 1.34 1.37 1.36 1.37 1.36 1.37 155,000 210,850 COSCO CAPITAL 6.76 6.8 6.77 6.9 6.76 6.76 451,900 3,074,901 DMCI HLDG 10.44 10.48 10.56 10.56 10.42 10.44 3,649,000 38,296,048 FILINVEST DEV 13.84 14 13.72 14.02 13.72 14 22,600 315,838 FORUM PACIFIC 0.242 0.25 0.25 0.25 0.242 0.25 110,000 27,070 GT CAPITAL 941 943 959 959 941 941 76,570 72,406,200 HOUSE OF INV 6.3 6.35 6.23 6.23 6.22 6.22 11,000 68,520 JG SUMMIT 65.5 65.9 66.45 66.6 64.55 65.5 1,446,130 95,220,829 ( JOLLIVILLE HLDG 6.01 6.37 6.01 6.37 6.01 6.37 8,200 49,358 KEPPEL HLDG B 4.85 5.99 4.85 4.85 4.85 4.85 1,000 4,850 LODESTAR 0.47 0.5 0.5 0.51 0.495 0.495 90,000 45,050 LOPEZ HLDG 4.16 4.18 4.28 4.39 4.15 4.16 725,000 3,044,190 LT GROUP 15.18 15.24 15.36 15.36 15.14 15.24 413,600 6,299,190 MABUHAY HLDG 0.65 0.66 0.66 0.67 0.63 0.66 6,692,000 4,350,110 METRO PAC INV 4.86 4.87 4.78 4.88 4.78 4.86 45,499,000 220,562,320 PACIFICA 0.038 0.039 0.038 0.039 0.038 0.038 7,400,000 281,300 PRIME MEDIA 1.24 1.26 1.21 1.27 1.17 1.24 305,000 368,280 SOLID GROUP 1.36 1.37 1.34 1.37 1.34 1.36 22,000 29,710 SM INVESTMENTS 964 970 971 973 953 964 218,230 211,377,290 SAN MIGUEL CORP 177.9 178 177 179 177 178 46,180 8,230,365 SOC RESOURCES 0.86 0.87 0.87 0.87 0.85 0.87 71,000 60,710 TOP FRONTIER 269 270 270 270 268 270 80 21,550 WELLEX INDUS 0.233 0.242 0.24 0.243 0.233 0.242 100,000 24,010 ZEUS HLDG 0.305 0.31 0.305 0.31 0.305 0.305 2,680,000 819,800

(30,408) 69,099,355 ,121,567.9999) 286,440 (4,627,328) 4,019,778.5 (7,131,750) (594,750) 19,233,323 101,330 35,520 (17,290) (2,436,280) 20,863,200 (2,990,246) 1,343,626 24,397,530 (5,554,608) 1,121,310 265,620.0002) 11,718 (76,250) (65,016) (22,886) 3,201,196 (46,987,832) 1,328,689 5,392,798.5 6,635,010 78,690 5,548,118 112,630 (3,194,102) 22,599,667 (101,800) (20,427,680) 7,697,570 (12,832) 53,870 2,690,248 (4,838,640) (619,490) 167,770 (153,730) 187,450 (672,660) 276,432 (5,750) (1,678,840) 3,885,140 (70,630) (68,382,765) 2,021,148.5 (1,656,384) 1,324,220 33,500 75,000 204,000 (709,747) (27,699,860) (29,228) (13,725,475) 14,640,954.5) (1,328,870) 415,774 33,283,550 126,430,395 2,111,551 (5,370) 52,650

PROPERTY

ARTHALAND CORP 0.86 0.87 0.88 0.89 0.86 0.87 2,296,000 2,017,870 870 ANCHOR LAND 10.3 11.1 11 11 11 11 23,500 258,500 AYALA LAND 51.75 51.8 50.5 52 50.5 51.8 11,312,640 584,988,335 134735976.5 ARANETA PROP 2.01 2.08 2 2.09 1.97 2.08 631,000 1,272,710 BELLE CORP 2.31 2.33 2.32 2.35 2.31 2.31 661,000 1,532,360 ( 518,480.0001) A BROWN 0.8 0.81 0.8 0.81 0.79 0.8 1,593,000 1,275,190 292,150 CITYLAND DEVT 0.92 0.95 0.96 0.96 0.95 0.95 7,000 6,670 CROWN EQUITIES 0.236 0.238 0.244 0.244 0.236 0.236 3,370,000 797,330 35,400 CEB LANDMASTERS 4.85 4.9 4.85 4.91 4.85 4.9 587,000 2,855,720 CENTURY PROP 0.58 0.59 0.58 0.59 0.57 0.58 42,455,000 24,554,160 192,350 CYBER BAY 0.445 0.46 0.445 0.46 0.44 0.46 4,980,000 2,251,200 (8,900) DOUBLEDRAGON 25.75 25.8 26.35 26.35 25.8 25.8 439,000 11,405,740 1,708,400 DM WENCESLAO 9.83 9.84 9.92 9.94 9.7 9.84 211,500 2,086,967 13,780 EMPIRE EAST 0.465 0.47 0.47 0.475 0.47 0.47 2,910,000 1,369,450 (1,308,350) EVER GOTESCO 0.125 0.13 0.125 0.125 0.125 0.125 140,000 17,500 FILINVEST LAND 1.73 1.74 1.74 1.75 1.72 1.73 21,676,000 37,571,380 (26,871,740) GLOBAL ESTATE 1.27 1.28 1.33 1.33 1.27 1.27 5,767,000 7,439,260 (1,400,820) 8990 HLDG 15.86 16 16.14 16.14 15.82 16 1,404,900 22,292,512 (131,968) PHIL INFRADEV 1.83 1.84 1.86 1.86 1.82 1.84 2,992,000 5,485,830 273,670 CITY AND LAND 0.8 0.83 0.82 0.84 0.8 0.8 174,000 143,140 MEGAWORLD 6.09 6.1 6 6.11 6 6.1 12,159,400 73,939,819 18,842,209 MRC ALLIED 0.325 0.33 0.315 0.33 0.31 0.33 22,900,000 7,369,900 (557,050) PHIL ESTATES 0.475 0.48 0.465 0.475 0.465 0.475 290,000 136,900 PRIMEX CORP 2.12 2.14 2.15 2.18 2.09 2.14 2,316,000 4,904,180 ROBINSONS LAND 26.45 26.5 26.8 26.8 26.3 26.5 1,533,700 40,649,115 6,545,825 PHIL REALTY 0.41 0.42 0.42 0.42 0.41 0.41 240,000 98,700 ROCKWELL 2.15 2.16 2.17 2.17 2.15 2.15 306,000 661,900 SHANG PROP 2.98 2.99 2.98 2.99 2.98 2.99 21,000 62,780 STA LUCIA LAND 1.9 1.95 1.87 1.96 1.86 1.95 3,288,000 6,295,990 (39,000) SM PRIME HLDG 38.4 38.45 38.6 38.75 38.4 38.45 7,021,300 270,765,245 (110,042,865) STARMALLS 6.58 6.62 6.29 6.8 6.22 6.62 673,200 4,454,993 95,465 SUNTRUST HOME 0.74 0.76 0.74 0.74 0.74 0.74 145,000 107,300 VISTA LAND 7.05 7.09 7.04 7.1 7.03 7.09 3,107,200 21,977,914 (17,240,213)

SERVICES ABS CBN 17.22 17.24 17.26 17.26 17.12 17.2 96,300 1,657,072 GMA NETWORK 5.38 5.39 5.39 5.4 5.35 5.39 77,400 416,521 MANILA BULLETIN 0.52 0.54 0.53 0.54 0.53 0.54 124,000 66,260 MLA BRDCASTING 14.4 15.46 15.5 15.5 15.5 15.5 500 7,750 GLOBE TELECOM 2,208 2,220 2218 2,230 2,182 2,208 37,315 82,543,520 (6,411,250) PLDT 1,290 1,294 1280 1,304 1,276 1,294 96,210 124,210,065 79,161,295 APOLLO GLOBAL 0.043 0.044 0.043 0.044 0.043 0.044 10,600,000 462,900 DFNN INC 5.83 6.41 6.41 6.41 6.39 6.41 10,500 67,145 IMPERIAL 1.75 1.84 1.79 1.79 1.79 1.79 7,000 12,530 ISLAND INFO 0.118 0.119 0.116 0.118 0.116 0.118 690,000 80,990 ISM COMM 7.08 7.09 7.03 7.13 6.98 7.08 11,808,500 83,420,141 (3,141,324) NOW CORP 2.6 2.61 2.55 2.63 2.52 2.6 4,021,000 10,443,650 (14,070) TRANSPACIFIC BR 0.385 0.39 0.385 0.39 0.375 0.385 11,280,000 4,302,000 153,850 PHILWEB 3.43 3.44 3.5 3.65 3.4 3.44 5,077,000 17,673,170 (580,350) 2GO GROUP 11.22 11.3 11.38 11.38 11.3 11.3 15,100 171,056 ASIAN TERMINALS 20.65 21.45 20.75 20.75 20.6 20.65 9,500 196,155 CHELSEA 8.43 8.44 8.1 8.44 8.1 8.43 6,148,100 51,448,073 1,536,972 CEBU AIR 90.2 90.4 89.45 91.5 89.45 90.2 180,580 16,384,077.5 1,874,822.5 INTL CONTAINER 143.4 143.5 143.7 147 143.5 143.5 1,940,500 279,350,283 (134,755,789) LBC EXPRESS 14.18 14.9 14.98 14.98 14.1 14.1 400 5,904 LORENZO SHIPPNG 0.81 0.83 0.81 0.83 0.81 0.83 115,000 93,310 MACROASIA 19.56 19.66 19.46 19.7 19.44 19.66 699,400 13,691,136 (1,087,778) METROALLIANCE A 1.58 1.62 1.76 1.76 1.55 1.56 62,000 104,910 METROALLIANCE B 1.53 1.62 1.65 1.65 1.65 1.65 37,000 61,050 (61,050) PAL HLDG 9.3 9.34 9.3 9.34 9.25 9.3 15,700 146,261 HARBOR STAR 2.24 2.25 2.28 2.28 2.22 2.24 2,330,000 5,227,960 404,660 ACESITE HOTEL 1.38 1.4 1.38 1.38 1.38 1.38 3,000 4,140 BOULEVARD HLDG 0.056 0.057 0.056 0.057 0.056 0.056 39,500,000 2,213,280 (123,200) WATERFRONT 0.77 0.78 0.76 0.81 0.76 0.78 16,549,000 13,060,090 (39,000) IPEOPLE 10.1 10.2 10.1 10.12 10.1 10.12 1,100 11,130 STI HLDG 0.73 0.74 0.74 0.74 0.73 0.74 1,521,000 1,113,560 611,870 BERJAYA 2.86 2.88 2.78 2.86 2.78 2.86 884,000 2,505,010 (119,780) BLOOMBERRY 11.2 11.26 11.3 11.66 11.1 11.2 3,010,500 33,770,100 (22,294,696) PACIFIC ONLINE 3.08 3.09 3.08 3.09 3.08 3.08 50,000 154,200 (52,450) LEISURE AND RES 4.2 4.21 4.19 4.33 4.19 4.22 839,000 3,533,770 25,220 MANILA JOCKEY 3.1 3.22 3.15 3.23 3.1 3.1 123,000 386,710 3,150 PH RESORTS GRP 4.99 5.1 4.98 5.1 4.9 5.1 264,000 1,320,870 (63,920) PREMIUM LEISURE 0.79 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.78 0.8 3,492,000 2,753,360 318,540 TRAVELLERS 5.24 5.25 5.2 5.28 5.2 5.25 4,970,300 26,061,504 (16,129,504) METRO RETAIL 2.62 2.64 2.57 2.67 2.57 2.62 5,640,000 14,837,430 304,080 PUREGOLD 44.65 45 45.25 45.25 44.6 45 914,300 41,185,630 (7,952,520) ROBINSONS RTL 76 76.5 75.85 76.05 75.75 76 1,567,590 119,139,180 (675,714.5) PHIL SEVEN CORP 134.6 141 134.5 141 134.5 141 43,560 5,881,839 5,698,539 SSI GROUP 3.6 3.62 3.46 3.64 3.43 3.6 12,161,000 43,496,580 512,050 WILCON DEPOT 17.28 17.3 17.4 17.4 17.22 17.28 702,100 12,131,952 7 ,774,947.9996 APC GROUP 0.475 0.485 0.485 0.495 0.465 0.485 3,270,000 1,552,550 24,250 EASYCALL 10.22 10.24 10.22 10.3 10.22 10.22 47,400 484,996 GOLDEN BRIA 400 410 401 411 390 410 660 265,240 PAXYS 2.95 3.03 3.01 3.03 3.01 3.03 15,000 45,410 PRMIERE HORIZON 0.81 0.82 0.82 0.83 0.81 0.82 5,440,000 4,439,630 (311,600) SBS PHIL CORP 9.29 9.4 9.28 9.29 9.28 9.29 22,400 208,089

MINING & OIL ATOK 11.4 12.34 12.24 12.38 11.4 12.34 1,900 22,782 APEX MINING 1.21 1.22 1.31 1.31 1.22 1.22 7,201,000 9,051,420 (2,531,640) ABRA MINING 0.0018 0.0019 0 0.0018 0.0018 0.0018 0.0018 142,000,000 255,600 90,000 ATLAS MINING 2.7 2.78 2.75 2.76 2.75 2.75 78,000 214,600 COAL ASIA HLDG 0.28 0.285 0.28 0.28 0.28 0.28 1,250,000 350,000 (5,600) CENTURY PEAK 2.8 2.82 2.82 2.85 2.8 2.8 345,000 968,760 (223,600) DIZON MINES 7.47 7.55 7.44 7.59 7.43 7.48 2,300 17,112 FERRONICKEL 1.43 1.47 1.46 1.47 1.43 1.43 2,051,000 2,970,960 554,660 GEOGRACE 0.22 0.23 0.233 0.233 0.219 0.23 150,000 34,320 LEPANTO A 0.113 0.115 0.118 0.118 0.111 0.112 1,790,000 205,280 MANILA MINING A 0.0075 0.0077 0 0.0077 0.0077 0.0075 0.0075 23,000,000 172,800 MARCVENTURES 1.04 1.06 1.06 1.06 1.04 1.04 217,000 226,180 143,520 NIHAO 0.96 1 1 1.01 0.96 1 16,000 15,950 NICKEL ASIA 2.18 2.2 2.11 2.21 2.11 2.18 3,134,000 6,797,590 (2,531,490) ORNTL PENINSULA 0.86 0.88 0.87 0.88 0.86 0.86 219,000 189,950 2,580 PX MINING 3.6 3.61 3.45 3.61 3.45 3.6 2,284,000 8,096,920 (646,650) SEMIRARA MINING 22.1 22.15 21.8 22.2 21.8 22.1 504,300 11,167,890 1,124,630 ORNTL PETROL A 0.011 0.012 0.012 0.013 0.012 0.012 35,100,000 422,200 PHILODRILL 0.01 0.011 0.01 0.011 0.01 0.011 9,800,000 103,000 PHINMA PETRO 4.1 4.29 4.27 4.34 4.1 4.29 98,000 415,800 PXP ENERGY 7.7 7.73 8.18 8.18 7.5 7.7 2,130,900 16,624,093 (671,154)

PREFFERED

HOUSE PREF A 95.05 97 97 97 97 97 490 47,530 AC PREF B1 467.6 480 480 480 465 465 30 14,250 AC PREF B2 490 494 494 494 490 490 2,500 1,229,000 SMC FB PREF 2 963 979.5 965 965 963 963 50 48,190 FGEN PREF G 106 108.9 109 109 109 109 1,000 109,000 FPH PREF C 425.2 439.6 439 439.6 439 439.6 350 153,792 GLO PREF P 479 496 497 497 497 497 2,100 1,043,700 (422,450) LR PREF 0.99 1 0.99 0.99 0.99 0.99 51,000 50,490 MWIDE PREF 100.4 100.5 100.5 100.5 100.5 100.5 900 90,450 20,100 PNX PREF 3A 100 101.8 100 100 100 100 500 50,000 SMC PREF 2B 74.6 75.85 74.5 74.55 74.5 74.55 1,740 129,655 SMC PREF 2C 75.8 76 75.85 76 75.8 75.8 15,860 1,204,408.5 30,400 SMC PREF 2D 73.5 73.85 73.85 73.85 73.85 73.85 105,000 7,754,250 SMC PREF 2F 73.5 74.1 73.95 73.95 73.4 73.4 2,200 162,635 SMC PREF 2H 72.9 73.7 72.5 72.5 71 72 18,500 1,326,650 -

PHIL. DEPOSITARY RECEIPTS

ABS HLDG PDR 16.82 17 17 17 16.82 16.82 40,600 GMA HLDG PDR 5.17 5.48 5.4 5.54 5.4 5.53 4,500

689,354 24,775

LR WARRANT

WARRANTS 1.95

SMALL & MEDIUM ENTERPRISES ITALPINAS 4.97 XURPAS 1.09

1.98

1.95

1.95

1.95

1.95

118,000

230,100

-

5 1.1

4.96 1.11

5 1.13

4.96 1.07

4.97 1.1

235,000 7,404,000

1,170,780 8,113,570

372,870

EXHANGE TRADE FUNDS FIRST METRO ETF

120.4

(147,054) -

120.9

120.4

121

120.2

120.9

4,560

550,427

-

www.businessmirror.com.ph

PAL Board OKs Bautista retirement— on June 30—as president and COO

T

HE Philippine Airlines Board of Directors on Monday approved the request for retirement of Jaime J. Bautista as PAL president and chief operating officer, to take effect on June 30, according to a statement sent to media outlets by the airline’s communications office.

In a resolution initiated by Directors Atty. Estelito Mendoza and former Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Amando Tetangco, the Board expressed its gratitude and appreciation for Bautista’s work at the national flag carrier for over 26 years.

The Board cited his efforts to steer PAL to greater heights through initiatives anchored on fleet modernization, flight route network expansion and service innovation.

PAL Executive Vice President/ Treasurer and Chief Administrative Officer Vivienne K. Tan is working closely with Bautista for a smooth and orderly transition, the PAL statement said.

The statement quoted Tan as saying, “My family and I express our gratitude and only wish for the best for Jimmy Bautista as he gears up for the next chapter of his life. As we transition to new management, I urge all of you—my Philippine Airlines family—to continue your primary focus: your work, your mandate in the company. When each of us contributes productively, we will collectively succeed. We must show the country and the world at large that our priority is the continued success of the flag carrier.”

Search committee THE board, meanwhile, decided to form a search committee to hire a new president and COO, according

AC Energy completes purchase of 51.48% stake in Phinma Energy

By Lenie Lectura

@llectura

A

C Energy Inc., the energy platform of Ayala Corp., has completed the acquisition of Phinma Inc.’s and Phinma Corp.’s (PHN) combined 51.48-percent stake in Phinma Energy Corp. (PHEN).

“We are pleased to complete this transaction, as we see Phinma Energy as a platform for AC Energy’s domestic growth,” AC Energy President and CEO Eric Francia said. “This is an important step to achieve AC Energy’s goal of reaching 5 gigawatt [GW] of renewables capacity by 2025.”

Based on its equity interest in power generation businesses, AC Energy owns approximately 1.6 GW of generation capacity in operation and under construction. In 2018, AC Energy generated 2,800 gigawatt hours of energy, 48 percent of which was from renewable sources.

AC Energy acquired Phinma’s stake via a purchase of secondary shares for P3.669 billion.

As part of the sale, AC Energy subscribed to P2.632 billion worth of primary shares of PHEN at par value.

The mandatory tender offer for PHEN shares ended on June 19 with a total of 156,476 shares having been tendered.

PHEN said in a disclosure to the stock exchange that the latter has confirmed the special block sale of PHEN shares to AC Energy via crossing of shares.

“This completes AC Energy’s acquisition of the 51.48 percent combined stake of PHI and PHN in PHEN. AC Energy also subscribed to 2.632 billion PHEN primary shares at par value. Moreover, AC Energy’s mandatory tender offer for PHEN shares ended on June 19, 2019, with a total of 156,476 shares tendered as confirmed by BPI Securities Corp.”

Both parties earlier sought approval from the Philippine Competition Commission for the deal.

The commission approved the deal because, among others, “the transaction does not substantially increase the likelihood that the parties will engage in anticompetitive coordinated behavior with other power generators.”

Moreover, the commission said the transaction “does not significantly strengthen the ability or incentive of the merged firm to engage in customer or input foreclosure” and that “competitive constraints remain from other players in the markets for power generation for bilateral contracts and the provision of retail electricity supplier services in Luzon and Visayas.”

SEC okays ACE unit’s ₧1-B IPO

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OSPITAL operator Allied Care Experts (ACE) Group has secured the approval of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for its Butuan subsidiary’s P1billion initial public offering (IPO), proceeds of which will be used to bankroll the construction and operation of a health-care facility in the Caraga region.

In a statement, the regulator said its board approved on Thursday last week the registration statement of ACE Medical Center-Butuan Inc., that covers 228,000 shares with a par value of P1,000 apiece, 36,000 common shares will be offered to the public for P200,000 to P400,000 for every block of 10 shares.

The first 600 blocks will be priced at P200,000, the following 900 blocks at P250,000, the next 1,850 blocks at P300,000, and the last remaining 250 blocks at P400,000.

These will be traded over the counter.

The health-care group aims to raise roughly P951.93 million to fund the construction of the hospital at South Montilla Boulevard, Villa Kanaga, Butuan City. Broken down, construction will take 30 percent of the total; medical equipment, 30 percent; pre-operating expens-

es, 20 percent; debt repayment, 10 percent; furnishing, 5 percent; and professional fees for architects and other professionals, 5 percent.

Once completed in May 2021, the 20,370-square-meter hospital will have capacity of 176 beds. As of last month, the eightstory facility was 42.47 percent complete.

Medical specialists and professionals are the target market of the IPO. Physicians and medical specialists targeting to practice at ACE Medical Center Butuan are required to subscribe to the offer shares. They are required to undergo a screening process based on the company’s rules and regulations.

The offer comes with benefits and privileges such as discounts on medical and dental services, which the principal investor, his/her spouse, dependents and natural parents may avail themselves of in other medical facilities that have entered into a memorandum of agreement with ACE Medical Center-Butuan.

This is the third subsidiary of the ACE Group to launch its own IPO. To recall, its Malolos and Iloilo subsidiaries also listed their shares in the local bourse to raise P1 billion and P1.44 billion, respectively. Lorenz S. Marasigan

to the BusinessMirror sources.

Various insiders said it was PAL Vice Chairman Lucio “Bong” Tan Jr., who suggested that a “professional manager” be hired to pilot the airline, recently conferred the Most Improved Airline in 2019 award by Skytrax in Paris. “He has to be experienced in management, preferably in the airline industry,” is how the search committee has framed its virtual want ad for the next PAL COO, according to sources. “He also has to be a Filipino,” the sources added.

Sources in the board, who requested anonymity, said Bong suggested a professional manager be hired because “we need a more experienced leader.”

The sources added that other members of the board also cautioned that the airline “should be run professionally because it has 89 planes and it has a lot of longrange destinations planned.”

PAL has a fleet of 89 planes, consisting of five Airbus A350900 XWB, 10 Boeing 777-300ER, two A340-313, 15 A330-343, 24 A321-231, six A321-271Neo, sev-

MUTUAL FUNDS

en A320-214, 12 A320-214, three Bombardier Q400, 10 Q400 NG and four Q300.

Among those at Monday’s board meeting were tycoon Lucio Tan, the siblings Vivienne and Bong, the elder Tan’s longtime lawyer Estelito P. Mendoza, Lucio Tan Group President Michael G. Tan; Ryuhei Maeda, representing All Nippon Airways; lawyer Florentino Herrera III, independent directors Gregorio T. Yu, Amando Tetangco Jr., and Johnip Cua. Sources also clarified, now that Bautista is back, that he is still the airline’s president and COO. Vivienne Tan becomes OIC after Bautista’s retirement. Curiously, Bautista did not attend the board meeting despite being a director, as well.

Bong told some reporters after the board meeting, “we’re still in the planning stages, so I cannot say more. What I can say is more about how to make my father’s vision for PAL come true, that is, Philippine Airlines belongs to the Filipinos, and he wants to give pride back to the Filipinos.”

With a report by Stella F. Arnaldo

June 24, 2019

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

PER SHARE RETURN* RETURN STOCK FUNDS PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES ALFM GROWTH FUND, INC. -A 267.8 9.35% -0.09% 1.35% 6.17% ATRAM ALPHA OPPORTUNITY FUND, INC. -A 1.642 11.82% 8.19% 3.08% 13.96% ATRAM PHILIPPINE EQUITY OPPORTUNITY FUND, INC. -A 4.1456 6.55% -0.04% 0.52% 6.22% CLIMBS SHARE CAPITAL EQUITY INVESTMENT FUND CORP. -A 0.9563 10.91% N.A. N.A. 7.39% FIRST METRO CONSUMER FUND ON MSCI PHILS. IMI, INC. -A 0.8904 12.07% N.A. N.A. 8.49% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN EQUITY FUND,INC. -A 5.5469 10.45% 0.92% 1.22% 5.23% MBG EQUITY INVESTMENT FUND, INC. -A 121.7 10.43% N.A. N.A. 4.5% ONE WEALTHY NATION FUND, INC. -A 0.8925 9.17% -3.71% N.A. 7.22% PAMI EQUITY INDEX FUND, INC. -A 53.1311 12.95% 0.84% N.A. 7.98% PHILAM STRATEGIC GROWTH FUND, INC. -A 553.35 11.15% -0.07% 1.26% 7.5% PHILEQUITY DIVIDEND YIELD FUND, INC. -A 1.3455 12.71% 1.8% 3.68% 7.3% PHILEQUITY FUND, INC. -A 39.4689 13.09% 2.43% 3.22% 7.74% PHILEQUITY MSCI PHILIPPINE INDEX FUND, INC. -A,3 1.0672 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. PHILEQUITY PSE INDEX FUND INC. -A 5.3901 14.16% 1.81% 3.56% 8.7% PHILIPPINE STOCK INDEX FUND CORP. -A 900.02 14.16% 1.53% 3.53% 8.63% SOLDIVO STRATEGIC GROWTH FUND, INC. -A 0.9416 13.91% 0.88% N.A. 9.34% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY PHILIPPINE EQUITY FUND, INC. -A 4.4056 13.47% 1.75% 2.85% 8.54% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY PHILIPPINE STOCK INDEX FUND, INC. -A 1.0341 13.54% 1.45% N.A. 8.36% UNITED FUND, INC. -A 3.7901 12.46% 3.31% 3.28% 8.26% EXCHANGE TRADED FUND FIRST METRO PHIL. EQUITY EXCHANGE TRADED FUND, INC. -A,C,2 120.4936 14.62% 2.45% 4.6% 8.8% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY SECURITIES ATRAM ASIAPLUS EQUITY FUND, INC. -B $0.9988 -5% 6.35% 0.17% 7.5% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY WORLD VOYAGER FUND, INC. -A $1.3071 0.52% 8.84% N.A. 18.28% BALANCED FUNDS PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES ATRAM DYNAMIC ALLOCATION FUND, INC. -A 1.757 8.89% -1.04% -0.92% 6.41% ATRAM PHILIPPINE BALANCED FUND, INC. -A 2.3357 5.61% 0.31% 0.98% 5.73% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN BALANCED FUND INC. -A 2.6802 7.47% 0.03% -1.11% 5.36% GREPALIFE BALANCED FUND CORPORATION -A 1.3654 5.31% N.A. N.A. 4.68% NCM MUTUAL FUND OF THE PHILS., INC. -A 1.9493 8.11% 0.64% 1.59% 5.76% PAMI HORIZON FUND, INC. -A 3.7753 8.92% -0.41% 0.86% 6.97% PHILAM FUND, INC. -A 16.9938 9.46% -0.26% 0.88% 6.83% SOLIDARITAS FUND, INC. -A 2.1654 7.32% 0.79% 2.07% 4.49% SUN LIFE OF CANADA PROSPERITY BALANCED FUND, INC. -A 3.9175 10.47% 0.9% 1.87% 7.29% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY ACHIEVER FUND 2028, INC. -A,D,4 1.0262 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. SUN LIFE PROSPERITY ACHIEVER FUND 2038, INC. -A,D,4 1.025 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. SUN LIFE PROSPERITY ACHIEVER FUND 2048, INC. -A,D,4 1.0221 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DYNAMIC FUND, INC. -A 1.0049 10.25% 1.12% N.A. 9.03% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY SECURITIES COCOLIFE DOLLAR FUND BUILDER, INC. -A $0.03762 8.41% 1.89% 2.24% 6.72% PAMI ASIA BALANCED FUND, INC. -A $0.9929 -3.26% 3.83% -0.6% 6.06% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR ADVANTAGE FUND, INC. -A $3.7721 2.67% 6.63% 2.85% 14.02% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR WELLSPRING FUND, INC. -A $1.1128 3.8% 4.11% N.A. 10.18% BOND FUNDS PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES ALFM PESO BOND FUND, INC. -A 349.86 3.4% 1.97% 2.22% 1.89% ATRAM CORPORATE BOND FUND, INC. -A,1 1.8922 1.96% -0.12% -0.2% 1.77% COCOLIFE FIXED INCOME FUND, INC. -A 3.0468 5.58% 5.27% 5.28% 2.56% EKKLESIA MUTUAL FUND INC. -A 2.1799 3.02% 1.11% 1.84% 2.32% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN FIXED INCOME FUND,INC. -A 2.3056 4.02% 1% 1.36% 4.36% GREPALIFE FIXED INCOME FUND CORP. -A P 1.6059 2.18% -0.97% 0.04% 2.65% PHILAM BOND FUND, INC. -A 4.1576 5.63% -0.18% 1.11% 6.07% PHILEQUITY PESO BOND FUND, INC. -A 3.6785 5.31% 1.25% 1.51% 4.59% SOLDIVO BOND FUND, INC. -A 0.9389 4.16% -0.44% N.A. 5.19% SUN LIFE OF CANADA PROSPERITY BOND FUND, INC. -A 2.9492 7.73% 1.61% 2.04% 6.63% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY GS FUND, INC. -A 1.6389 7.69% 1.24% 1.6% 6.43% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY SECURITIES ALFM DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC. -A $457.94 3.57% 1.88% 2.75% 2.15% ALFM EURO BOND FUND, INC. -A Є217.22 2.11% 1.5% 1.46% 2.15% ATRAM TOTAL RETURN DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC. -B $1.1848 6.6% 1.97% 2.48% 5.24% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC. -A $0.0256 3.64% 1.06% N.A. 3.23% GREPALIFE DOLLAR BOND FUND CORP. -A $1.7157 1.33% -1.36% 0.67% 1.51% PAMI GLOBAL BOND FUND, INC -A $1.0891 5.33% 0.08% -1.82% 4.96% PHILAM DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC. -A $2.348 9.74% 1.56% 3.31% 8.14% PHILEQUITY DOLLAR INCOME FUND INC. -A $0.0591199 4.24% 1.6% 1.82% 3.75% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR ABUNDANCE FUND, INC. -A $3.0806 6.88% 0.75% 2.7% 7.26% 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 1.2121 3.78% 1.66% 1.02% 2.56% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY MONEY MARKET FUND, INC. -A 1.2431 3.63% 2.62% 2.01% 1.98% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY SECURITIES SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR STARTER FUND, INC. -A $1.0276 2.11% N.A. N.A. 1.15%

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

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

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

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Banking&Finance BusinessMirror

Tuesday, June 25, 2019

B3

NG debt payments in April up 93.3% to ₧53.8B

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By Rea Cu

@ReaCuBM

HE national government’s debt payments for the month of April hit P53.840 billion, or a 93.3-percent increase compared to April 2018, as amortization outpaced interest payments, data from the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) showed.

Data from the BTr showed the government disbursed P53.840 billion for the payment of some of its debt for April, much higher than last year’s level of P27.846 billion.

Broken down, amortization of P30.304 billion showed an expansion of 548.3 percent from the P4.674 billion made last year; while interest payments of P23.536 billion posted a slight uptick of 1.6 percent from last year’s P23.172 billion.

Under amortization, agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARB) were allotted P344 million while the bond

sinking fund (BSF) received P25.649 billion in the local front.

For domestic interest payments, Treasury bills were paid P1.249 billion, fixed rate Treasury bonds P8.954 billion, and retail Treasury bonds P6.265 billion.

4-month period

IN the January-to-April period, the government made a total of P274.019 billion in payments for some of its debt, a level that is 21.22 percent higher than the P226.046 billion recorded in the same period for 2018.

Authorities seize ₧25-M smuggled cigarettes

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HE Port of Zamboanga and the Philippine Navy have confiscated smuggled cigarettes worth around P25 million, on the back of the intensified anti-smuggling efforts being implemented by the government, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) has reported.

The smuggled cigarettes were on board the MJ Farnaliza, off the vicinity of Baliwasan, Zamboanga City, when seized through the coordinated operations of the Port of Zamboanga and the Navy.

The intensified anti-smuggling efforts in ports nationwide is part of the marching orders of Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo B. Guerrero.

Port of Zamboanga District Collector Segundo Z. Barte Jr. worked with the local Customs Enforcement Security Service (ESS) and the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (CIIS) for the operation. They coordinated with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), Philippine National Police (PNP), Coast Guard, Navy, and other law-enforcement agencies.

On April 9, smuggled cigarettes worth P35 million were also seized at the Port of Zamboanga through the combined efforts of the BOC, Coast Guard and the d as the biggest successful operation in the port’s history.

Barte said an intelligence report forwarded by the CIIS on April 7, coming from Zamboanga residents, led to the close monitoring of vessels going through Baliwasan.

The Navy subsequently intercept the watercraft MJ Andrea I containing 1,159 cases of smuggled cigarettes from Indonesia for delivery to Lower Calarian, Zamboanga City.

Over the weekend, the BOC also reported seizing P160 million worth of fake cigarettes, cigarette-making machines and other smug gled goods inside warehouses in Bulacan, in line with its tightened enforcement

operations.

The BOC said that its ESS group investigated the warehouses located in Marilao and Santa Maria towns in Bulacan, using letters of authority (LOAs) issued by the Office of the Commissioner.

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 cigarettemaking machines and fake cigarette tax stamps worth P120 million were discovered inside the warehouse in Santa Maria town. Rea Cu

RCBC launches awareness campaign, introduces 'Unstealables'

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IZAL Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) has called on the public to be aware of how banking attitudes should be conducted whether online or offline.

RCBC, which was fined for its role in the $100-million Bangladesh bank fund heist, has launched a campaign to reinforce consumer protection. It accused the Bangladesh bank of diverting blame to RCBC for its own neglect.

According to RCBC Chief Marketing Officer Maria Cecilia Natividad, the news campaign hopes to grab the attention of young bank clients “who are more carefree and easier to trust.”

“Because technology has provided us a platform of convenience, sometimes, we fail to evaluate if we can trust the new product or service,” she said.

The campaign urges the public to be aware of three banking at-

titudes, dubbed "Unstealables.": traditionalists, technologists and the online shopper.

RCBC said traditional bankers are young people who prefer the older more secure method of banking: visits the branch to deposit checks, cash and do other overthe-counter transactions.

T he technologist uses mobile and online bank ing features to the fullest. The third ty pe include those who shop

online. The bank gave names to these attitudes as “Brad,” “Mo” and “Olivia.”

Natividad said being aware of these habits w ill hopefully make it easier for bank clients to e xerc ise sa fe a nd secured banking.

“We humanized our consumer protect ion ca mpa ig ns be cause we believe t hat young p e o p l e v a l u e e x p e r i e n c e ,” Natividad said.

Money markets are thriving in an uncharacteristic sweet spot

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TOP TAXPAYER

Photo shows Asian Terminals Inc. (ATI) Assistant Vice President Steve Realuyo (right) along with Corporate Communications manager Doan Bustamante (second from right) and government affairs consultant Jun Balita (left) accepting the recognition from former president and Manila Mayor Joseph E. Estrada (second from left). The City of Manila recognized major trade enabler as the Philippine capital’s top taxpayer and development partner. In ceremonies commemorating the city’s 448th founding anniversary, Estrada lauded ATI and other corporations for serving as Manila’s staunch partners in progress through taxes they dutifully contribute to the city coffers. ATI was named the city’s top real property taxpayer and sixth-highest business tax contributor for fiscal year 2018. ATI operates the Manila South Harbor, one of two international port gateways into Manila, which keeps vital economic goods flowing in the Philippine supply-chain.

N a global financial environment dominated by negative interest rates and central banks signaling even more accommodative policies, the US money-market industry is thriving.

Normally seen as a place to park cash during times of uncertainty, taxable funds have seen roughly $136 billion of inflows this year even with US equity markets surging and bonds posting positive returns, Investment Company Institute data show. Overall assets have swelled to more than $3 trillion, the highest level since the financial crisis.

Demand is being aided in part by attractive US short-term yields relative to bank deposits—helped by three years of Federal Reserve interest-rate hikes, an inverted yield curve and volatility in financial markets. Total assets in government money funds are at a record high and investments in prime funds are the most since September 2016, before industry reforms went into effect. Bloomberg News

Amortization during the fourmonth period amounted to P142.713 billion, an increase of 35 percent from last year’s P105.712 billion. Interest payments hit P131.306 billion, or an uptick of 9.1 percent from the P120.334 billion recorded last year.

The Department of Finance (DOF) had pointed out in May that the country’s level of debt will continue declining, as recorded debt ratios for the first quarter of 2019 showed decreases, on the back of a more proactive debt management under the Duterte administration.

The DOF economic bulletin said the proactive debt management of the government enabled it to maintain a continuously decreasing debt level which led to a more expanded fiscal space. Fears of a forthcoming debt crisis are unfounded, it said.

“Proactive debt management has afforded the Philippines an expanded fiscal space as the level of debt has declined significantly from 87.2 percent of GDP [gross domestic product] in 2006 to 41.8 percent in 2018, [posting] a 45.4-percentage point decline,” the DOF said.

BOC issues new rules for brokers T HE Bureau of Customs (BOC) has issued new guidelines for the registration of brokers transacting with the bureau, in accordance with Republic Act (RA) 10863 or the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA).

Customs Administrative Order (CAO) 05-2019 also gave the commissioner the option to “limit the number of Customs brokers representatives to commensurate only to the number of transactions of every Customs broker in each port.”

The CAO was also issued to help prevent all forms of smuggling, to regulate the conduct of Customs brokers and their representatives transacting with the bureau, to streamline the requirements for their registration, as well as to establish and implement a registration information management system for brokers.

The BOC’s Account Management Office (AMO) is the office responsible for processing the applications for the registration, as well as the issuance of the certificate of registration for Customs brokers transacting with the bureau.

New applicants must submit the required application for registration form at the AMO and pay the registration fee of P1,000, among others. The application for registration shall be approved or disapproved within five working days from the date of receipt of the complete documentary requirements by the BOC. “The certificate of registration shall be valid for three years from the year of issuance unless suspended or revoked by for cause,” the CAO added.

For Customs brokers who are renewing their certificate of registration, the period for renewal is within one month prior to the expiration of their respective certificate of registration, with a renewal fee of P1,500.

“Any application filed after the registration has expired shall be considered as a new application subject to the

provisions of section 5.2,” it said.

Those with disapproved applications may file a motion for reconsideration to the Office of the Customs Commissioner within 10 calendar days from the receipt of the notice of disapproval.

“The practice of Customs broker profession is imbued with the public service, as it involves collection of taxes which is the lifeblood of the government; the facilitation of internal trade, which affects the economic development of the country,” the CAO added.

A group of Customs brokers, or what is known as a general professional partnership, can also file its application for registration at the bureau with new application having a registration fee of P3,000. The renewal of the GPP’s certificate of registration comes with a P5,000 renewal fee.

Penalties for violation of CAO 05-2019 include a severe warning for the light offenses, while grave offenses may be fined P100,000 or a six-month suspension for the first offense.

The second offense entails suspension for one year or a fine of P200,000, while the third offense includes a fine of P300,000 or the revocation of certificate of registration.

“The CAO shall take effect 30 days after its complete publication in the Official Gazette or a newspaper of general circulation,” the CAO said.

Last week the BOC launched six computer information programs in line with its modernization efforts, a move that is also seen to enhance the ease of doing business with the bureau and all ports nationwide.

Rey Leonardo Guerrero said the modernization of its computer systems, which aims to eliminate or lessen human interaction in line with BOC processes, is also meant to cut the avenues for corruption.

He also pointed out that the computer information systems upgrade forms only the first part of its plan to completely modernize the bureau with the help of multilateral agencies. Rea Cu

Bitcoin’s resurgence drives rally in Asian cryptocurrency stocks

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ITCOIN’S climb to above $11,000 for the first time in 15 months sparked gains in related Asian stocks last Monday.

GMO Internet Inc. climbed 7 percent in Tokyo to its highest level since October, while Metaps Inc. jumped 11 percent, Remixpoint Inc. 6.2 percent and Ceres Inc. 4.4 percent. In Seoul, Vidente Co. climbed as much as 5.4 percent

and Woori Technology Investment Co. added 4.6 percent.

“Bitcoin resurgence should be a definite reason behind these gains,” said Supun Walpola, an analyst with LightStream research who publishes on Smartkarma. “Going long on stocks that have exposure to cryptocurrency is something that we have seen in the past during a Bitcoin/cryptocurrency bull

run—especially with those who want to avoid the volatility of crypto but at the same time want to have some exposure into these markets.”

Walpola noted that the impact of cryptocurrency gains differs widely among different companies, with a relatively smaller bottomline boost at larger firms such as GMO than at smaller ones like

Remixpoint. “But something that we have seen in the past is that the stock prices tend to increase more than the actual benefit that these companies would get during a crypto surge, which has always resulted in immediate corrections,” the analyst said in an email.

GMO Internet provides a vast array of Web-related services as well as investments in a number

of listed subsidiaries. In a report dated May 16, Jefferies said “GMO will be putting more focus back on its Bitcoin mining business again,” after moving its servers to a new location with cheaper electricity.

The company’s shares are up 34 percent so far this year.

Crypto stocks tracked the surge in Bitcoin in late 2017, and some tumbled with it last year. So the

question is how long will the latest rally last.

“We have seen from past experiences that any success on this front is short-lived,” Walpola said. While investors see stocks as a chance to cash in at relatively lower risk, “such strategies have often gone wrong when crypto markets turn red— which could happen just about at any time.” Bloomberg News

B4 Tuesday, June 25, 2019

DAD’S DAY OUT AT SM SUPERMALLS

A D.W.I.Z. HOME PROGRAM CONCLUDES SECOND THANKSGIVING In the Heart of Business, hosted by Golden Dove awardee Marou Pahati-Sarne and seasoned corporate-communication specialist Roni Tapia-Merk, is celebrating its second Thanksgiving. In the Heart of Business features regular segments on Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Philippine Stock Exchange, and current news and events with Sen. Cynthia Villar. In the Heart of Business aims to educate listeners on financial literacy, small and medium enterprises, and the stock market and others. In photo are lawyer Nelson Gargoles of Gargoles Law Office, Pahati-Sarne, Vivian Velez, Tapia-Merk and Mike Villareal of Philippine Veterans Bank.

KELLER WILLIAMS OPENS FIRST SUBFRANCHISE IN MAKATI CBD

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FTER recently launching its market centers in Quezon City and in Alabang, Keller Williams (KW), the world’s largest real-estate franchise by agent count, opened its first subfranchise at the Makati Central Business District on May 30.

Present at the event are KW regional and Makati CBD teams, together with leaders and associates from other market centers. Aside from launching the market center, KW Makati CBD also presented its trainings, accreditation, opportunities, and incentives for associates, which includes shared profit, recruitment bonuses and commissions.

“We are fortunate to have the opportunity to work with KW and provide excellent training modules for our associates.

We want to enlighten the associates and make them realize how important it is to have the right culture, to use the technology and to be trained all the time. Education is a nonstop life process,” said Janette Hernandez, team lead and co-owner of KW Makati CBD. KW Makati CBD is led by a group of real-estate professionals who have been in the business for at least three decades. Since its initial launch in 2017,

KW Philippines now has eight market centers, which serve as venues where KW associates train under respected personalities from the field, work on daily tasks, meet clients and closed transactions.

The newest market center is led by regional controlling principal Steve C. Chien and regional director Marla V. Nanadiego.

KW Makati CBD is at Unit 308, The Atrium of Makati, Makati Avenue, Makati City. For more details on KW Philippines, visit www.kwphilippines.com or e-mail at kwcbdmakati@kwphilippines.com.

FAMILY day out with d ad needs not be far and expensive.

T he main man of the house who’s everything rolled into one—a personal cook, driver, family comedian, DIY specialist, motivator a nd a lot more — def initely a lso needs all the love on special days.

T his month show your love and apprec i at ion for you r one - i n- amillion dads by throwing him a feast fit for a king with the whole family at your favorite SM mall! “...We celebrate t hem t hrough e x c it i n g d e a l s , e ve nt s a nd f u n fea sts spec i a l ly m ade for t hem,” SM Supermalls Senior Vice President for m a rket i ng Jonjon Sa n A g ust in inv ites.

SM has become an all-you-needin-one mall for the whole family. The special man of our life will surely love a rela xing day at the mall, simply reminiscing about the good old days over beers and barbeque from participating restaurants.

On his special day make him feel like the king that he is by pampering

him at SM, through exclusive deals for haircuts and massages. Special discounts are also available at men’s section for him to choose from.

Always a boy at heart, fill your d ad ’s hea r t w it h e xc itement by bringing him to a showcase of classic and contemporary automobiles and motorbikes at the cool cars and bikes exhibit.

For a rea l happy tummy, ta ke you r d ad s to a s te a k d ate a nd

ma ke reser vations at his favor ite r e s t au r a nt . It ’s n e v e r t o o l at e t o t r e at y o u r d o o d i e d a d t o a sumptuous feast!

A good movie will also definitely make his day. Complete the movie marathon w ith popcor n and his favorite soda drinks.

Create new memories with your dad through an exciting celebration of f u n , fo o d a nd t re at s at SM Supermalls.

SSS, MANDALUYONG LGU STRENGTHEN TIES TO BRING SOCIAL SECURITY CLOSER TO PEOPLE

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TATE-RUN Social Security System (SSS) officials and employees, headed by President and Chief Executive Officer Aurora C. Ignacio, paid a courtesy visit to Mandaluyong City Mayor Carmelita A. Abalos on June 14.

At the courtesy call SSS and Abalos exchanged plans to further extend the services of the pension fund in the city. Through their dialogue the following plans were made: the SSS New Panaderos branch will join “Pamahalaan sa Pamayanan”, Mandaluyong local government unit’s (LGU) program held every Saturday, wherein various public services are brought to its barangays; the branch will establish a service office in Mandaluyong City hall where an SSS employee will visit frequently; they will also conduct an orientation for the city’s job -order employees regarding the pension fund’s self-employed coverage and social-security protection; the project will also provide mobile datacapture services for the said employees; and LED screens owned by the city will display SSS infographics for free.

T he cou r tes y c a l l w a s done

simultaneously with the SSS’s Service on Wheels and Run After Contribution Evaders campaign in the city. The partnership of SSS and Mandaluyong City shall enable SSS to improve its service delivery. SSS is developing similar partnerships with other LGUs in order to broaden its reach to its members.

Photo shows SSS officials awarding certificates of appreciation to the city

government of Mandaluyong and Abalos (center). In photo are (from left) SSS NCR East Division Acting Vice President Teresita V. Soliman, PCEO Aurora C. Ignacio, NCR Operations Group Senior Vice President Jose B. Bautista, and Large Accounts Division Vice President and Account Management Group concurrent acting head Antonio S. Argabioso.

OSCAR REYES JOINS TEAM ENERGY DIRECTORATE

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EAM Energy Corp. (TEC) recently elected Oscar S. Reyes in the company’s board of directors effective June 1. The said directors are composed of nominees from the company’s owners leading Japanese firms Jera and Marubeni; and independent director retired Chief Justice Artemio V. Panganiban.

John V. Alcordo, TeaM Energy chairman and chief executive officer (CEO), said that Reyes’s decades of experience in the energy industry would further boost the company’s position as a leading provider of reliable and costeffective electricity. “ With Mr. Reyes on board, we for tif y our mission to be the nation’s grow th par tner by generating power that suppor ts the countr y ’s development. The

addition of Reyes to our board will also push the development and execution of the company ’s grow th plans,” he points out.

Reyes was the president and CEO of the Manila Elec tric Co. from May 2012 to May 2019, and senior executive vice president and CEO from July 2010 to May 2012. Prior to joining Meralco, he ser ved from 1997 to 2001 as countr y chairman

of the Shell Companies in the Philippines, and concurrently the president of Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. and managing direc tor from 1997 to 2004 of Shell Philippines E xploration, operator of the Malampaya deep -water natural- gas facilities for the Malampaya Consor tium.

He, likewise, ser ved as direc tor of other leading companies from 1999 up to this time.

SOCCER MOMS IN SPOTLIGHT Sports BusinessMirror

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| Tuesday, June 25, 2019 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

ARGENTINA’S Lionel Messi (right) fights for the ball with Qatar’s Tarek Salma. AP

ARGENTINA ESCAPES ELIMINATION P

ORTO ALEGRE, Brazil—Lionel Messi avoided another disappointment with the national team as Argentina escaped elimination in the group stage of the Copa America.

Lautaro Martinez and Sergio Aguero scored a goal in each half as Argentina defeated guest team Qatar, 2-0, to secure a spot in the quarterfinals of the South American competition.

“We needed a victory to give us confidence and tranquility,” Messi said. “What I liked the most was the team’s attitude, its desire to win the game.”

Argentina finished second in Group B behind Colombia, which did Argentina a huge favor by beating Paraguay 1-0 in the other group match on Sunday.

Colombia finished with nine points, Argentina four, Paraguay two and Qatar one.

The top 2 teams in each of the three groups advance, along with the two best third-place finishers. Paraguay will advance only if Japan and Ecuador draw on Monday in Group C. Argentina, which hasn’t been eliminated in the first round of the South American tournament since 1983, will face Venezuela in the quarterfinals at the Maracana

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Stadium in Rio de Janeiro.

It was Argentina’s first win at this year’s Copa America after opening with a 2-0 loss to Colombia and a 1-1 draw with Paraguay.

Argentina struggled again on Sunday, unable to impose its game against the Asian champion. Messi again was far from his best, unable to spark his team into a dominant performance.

Martinez opened the scoring only four minutes into the match after a mistake by Qatari defender Bassam Al Rawi while trying to pass to a teammate in front of his area.

Martinez intercepted the pass and found the net to open the scoring at the Arena Gremio.

Qatar, making its first appearance as a guest in the Copa America, stayed in contention during most of the match but Aguero sealed Argentina’s win with a run past a couple of defenders in the 82nd.

“The pressure was there,” Argentina Coach Lionel Scaloni said. “Luckily we got an early goal.”

Argentina’s last title with the senior team was the 1993 Copa America. It has come close to victory in recent years with Messi, losing in the final in the World Cup in 2014 and in the Copa America in 2015 and 2016.

S the score remained tied in extra time and the clock ticked toward a penalty kicks shootout, France’s stress kept increasing. Hosting the Women’s World Cup, Les Bleues are expected to win the title or at least come close.

“It’s not simple. We’re playing on our home turf,” Coach Corinne Diacre said through a translator. “There’s a constant reminder that we have this pressure to perform.”

France survived its first knockout match and advanced to the quarterfinals when captain Amandine Henry redirected Amel Majri’s free kick for a tiebreaking goal in the 107th minute of a 2-1 victory over Brazil on Sunday night at Le Havre.

“I didn’t remember what happened,” Henry said through a translator. “I had my teammates jumping on top of me,” The World Cup hosts, in the quarterfinals for the third straight time, will play the defending champion United States or Spain at Paris on Friday.

“France has everything that it takes to win,” Brazil Coach Vadão said through a translator. “France is absolutely prepared to win this World Cup.” France joined England, Germany and Norway in a thus-far all-European quarterfinal field.

“We know that there will be pressure, We know that there will be this burden to bear,” Diacre said. “You have to understand that when you’re playing in front of such a huge crowd, even when you’re on your home turf, it’s not something that’s easy to get your head around. I think that we can be a little bit patient. I think we can allow our players to crumble under pressure, albeit for a couple of seconds.”

Valérie Gauvin, whose first-half goal was disallowed in a video review, put fourth-ranked France ahead in the 52nd minute before a crowd of 23,965 at Stade Oceane, but Thaisa tied the score 11 minutes later for No. 10 Brazil.

Henry scored on a left-footed shot from 7 yards, getting ahead of Monica for her 13th goal in 86 international appearances, her second goal of the tournament.

Brazil had a chance to go ahead near the end of the first extra-time period when Debinha broke in alone and beat goalkeeper Sarah Bouhaddi, but her shot headed toward goal was blocked in front of the line by defender Griedge Mbock Bathy.

“We weren’t at our best.... I didn’t recognize my team,” Diacre said. “There is something that is not jelling. Why? Because people are unfortunately not hitting their potential on an individual basis.”

This marked perhaps the final World Cup game for 33-year-old Brazilian star Marta, a six-time world player of the year who scored a record 17 goals in five tournaments. And it likely was the last game in the showcase for 41-year-old Formiga, who appeared in a record seven World Cups.

“It’s very unlikely that we will see another Marta,” Vadão said. “It’s unlikely that we still see another player like her for her talent, her professionalism, her character, everything.”

France appeared to go ahead in the 23rd minute when Kadidiatou Diani lifted a cross in front of the goal. Brazil goalkeeper Barbara got her hands on the ball and Gauvin crashed into her. The ball went off Gauvin’s shoulder and into the net as both players fell to the ground. After they recovered, Canadian referee Marie-Soleil Beaudoin signaled for a video review, and the goal was disallowed because of a foul. AP

Argentina entered the match last in the group, knowing only a victory would guarantee its place in the next round.

Qatar, led by Spanish Coach Felix Sanchez, was making its first appearance as a guest in the Copa America, hoping to gain experience for when it hosts the 2022 World Cup. It was eliminated despite opening with a gritty 2-2 draw against Paraguay and a late loss to Colombia.

Qatar will also play in next year’s Copa America cohosted by Colombia and Argentina.

Venezuela, Argentina’s next opponent, was second to Brazil in Group A. It drew 0-0 with the hosts in its second game in the Copa America.

“It will be a difficult opponent,” said Scaloni, whose team lost 3-1 to Venezuela in a friendly in Madrid in March.

“It’s an interesting team, it has been playing together for a long time.” AP

France nips Brazil, reaches quarters

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By Ronald Blum The Associated Press

ARIS—Jessica McDonald quickly was put in her place by Jeremiah, her seven-year-old son.

“I tried to explain to him: ‘Buddy, we’re going to the World Cup,’” the American forward remembered. “And he’s just like: ‘OK, can I have a toy now?’”

A 31-year-old forward, McDonald made her World Cup debut at the start of the second half against Chile on June 16, a pinnacle on a circuitous, protracted path to soccer’s highest level. She sparked the offense and her curling shot hit a post in the 62nd minute.

A big part of the joy for McDonald is that Jeremiah is headed to the World Cup to watch the latter stages. The defending champion Americans play Spain on Monday with a chance to advance to the quarterfinals.

“He doesn’t fully understand, but at least he’s at an age right now where he’s actually going to remember this,” she said. “He’s going to look back and be like, ‘Wow, I was there. Wow, my mom actually is cool—like she said.’”

Just a few of the 552 players in the Women’s World Cup are mothers, a group that also includes Argentina goalkeeper Vanina Correa, Jamaica forward Cheyna Matthews, Brazil defender Tamires and South Korea defender Hwang Bo-Ram. American teammates, stressed to the supreme solely by soccer, are amazed

by McDonald’s scheduling skills as a single mom.

“I don’t know how she does it,” midfielder Morgan Brian said. “It’s pretty remarkable when you think about it and know how much we sacrifice and we put into this team and how much effort off the field that we have to give, and to know that her time is limited off the field and recovering and doing all the things that she needs to do. It’s pretty impressive that she’s here at this level.”

A role player on a squad of stars, McDonald was a two-time NCAA champion at North Carolina. Her brother, 33-year-old Brandon, was a defender in Major League Soccer from 2008-13.

She was the second overall pick in the 2010 draft of the old Women’s Professional Soccer League. But her career was interrupted when, in her first professional start for Chicago, she tore the patellar tendon in her left knee at Washington on August 19, 2010. She didn’t return to the field until October 27, 2012, with the Melbourne Victory in Australia.

McDonald’s national team debut was delayed until 2016, when she was 28 years old. She has made just eight international appearances, scoring in exhibitions against Portugal last November and Belgium in April, and has become known for her long, Rory Delap-like throw-ins.

She was at a doctor’s office last month having the yearly knee checkup when US Coach Jill Ellis called.

“My heart’s pounding at that point pretty hard, and so she’s like, ‘You want your answer?’ I’m like, yes,” McDonald recalled, thinking about Ellis’s magic words: “You’re going to the World Cup.” “It was just an ugly cry from that point on—and she said a handful of more things. No idea what she said because I was too busy crying, and just like overwhelming joy,” McDonald said. “I’m 31 years old and I’ve been waiting 31 years just for that phone call, just for that answer.”

Women on the US team have taken a leading role in the push for equal pay and set an example of working moms. Joy Fawcett (1995, 1999, 2003), Carla Overbeck (1999), Tina Ellertson (2007), Kate Markgraf (2007), Christie Pearce (2007, 2011 and 2015), Shannon Boxx (2015) and Amy Rodriguez (2015) were earlier members of the vanguard.

McDonald will have a nanny in France to assist with Jeremiah. The US Soccer Federation has paid for nanny costs on the road since Fawcett and Overbeck reached deals in 1998.

Still, there are child-care costs when McDonald is with her club. She is among seven moms in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), joined by Portland midfielder Dagný Brynjarsdóttir, Chicago defender Sarah Gorden, Orlando forward Sydney Leroux, Washington forward Cheyna Matthews, Utah’s Rodriguez and Chicago midfielder Michele Vasconcelos.

“There hasn’t been any positive steps for moms in the NWSL,” McDonald said. “Now we’re kind of getting our heads together, getting ideas together, and so now we can start somewhere as moms.... Child care is not cheap. And if you look at our paychecks and you look at child care, there goes our paycheck. How are we going to eat? So yeah, it’s needs to change.

We need to do something about it, being helped financially, at least.”

Jerimiah has traveled the road with his mom.

Since his birth, she has played for Melbourne in Australia plus Chicago, Seattle, Portland, Houston, Western New York and North Carolina.

She’s had teammates fill in as baby sitters at times when she’s changed clubs and talks about how a neighboring family in North Carolina assists.

“She’s always talking about how early she has to wake up to make sure Jeremiah is taken care of,” left back Crystal Dunn said. “I wake 10 minutes before training and I’m annoyed training gets pushed up earlier and earlier sometimes. But her ability to balance life is just incredible and I think, hopefully, going forward more women choose her route and not feel like they have to choose their career over having a family. I think the new generation is going to feel like they have the option of doing both.”

A BIG part of the joy for Jessica McDonald is that her seven-year-old son, Jeremiah, is headed to the World Cup to watch the latter stages. AP

THE French celebrate their round of 16 match against the Brazilians at the Oceane Stadium in Le Havre, France. AP

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Sports forum on NCAA Season 95

Curry talks Olympics, Hachimura

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HE coming season 95 of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) highlights Tuesday’s Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) Forum at the Amelie Hotel-Manila.

Peter Cayco of Arellano University and this year’s NCAA management committee chairman will talk about what is in store for the new season of the country’s oldest collegiate league.

Arellano University will be NCAA host for the first time, with the centerpiece event of basketball again ushering the season on July 7 at the Mall of Asia Arena.

PSA members are enjoined to attend the session presented by San Miguel Corp. Braska Restaurant, Amelie Hotel, and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.

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OKYO—Stephen Curry is already looking ahead to the next challenge in his basketball career, including the chance to represent the United States at next year’s Tokyo Olympics.

Just over a week since his Golden State Warriors lost a grueling National Basketball Association (NBA) Finals to the Toronto Raptors, Curry was in Tokyo on Sunday talking about the Olympics and the opportunity to face Japan’s newest basketball sensation.

The US has won the gold medal in the last three Olympics and will be the favorite to top the podium again in Tokyo with a Dream Team that could feature such stars as Curry, LeBron James and Kawhi Leonard.

Curry decided to pull out of the Rio Olympics due to several factors, including ankle and knee injuries.

“I know the energy here is going to be amazing,” Curry said. “I haven’t played in the Olympics before. I’ve played in two World Cup teams so I’ve had the experience of representing my country playing for the national team. But the Olympics, from everybody that I’ve talked to that’s played, there’s no comparison to that experience.”

Curry was in Tokyo for a youth basketball clinic and was asked about Rui Hachimura, who became the first player from Japan picked in the first round of the NBA draft when he was taken with the No. 9 overall pick by the rebuilding Washington Wizards on Thursday.

“It’s exciting for the NBA to have representation from Japan and countries all over the world,” Curry said. “It speaks to how the game of basketball is growing everywhere, especially here. For him to be a trailblazer in terms of doing something that has never been done is good for this country.”

The 6-foot-8, 235-pound Hachimura 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 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 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.

“Just from watching him play, I know he’s got good size, obviously,” Curry said. “He seems to have a high basketball IQ, good touch around the rim, too. I’m sure as he gets into the NBA his game will expand. I think he fits into the direction the NBA is going right now; being able to score and put pressure on the defense no matter what the situation is.”

As for the Warriors, Curry said he’s looking forward to winning more championships with the team.

“The story is still going,” Curry said. “A lot of people said this is going to be the end but I’m not going to let that happen. It’s going to be fun to come back and chase more championships next year and beyond.” AP

STEPHEN CURRY gives a thumbs up while coaching at a high-school basketball camp on Sunday in Tokyo. AP

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ONDON—Andy Murray completed a fairy-tale return from hip surgery by winning the Queen’s Club doubles title with Feliciano Lopez, who ended Sunday with two titles after earlier winning the singles title, as well.

The Spaniard is the first man to win both titles at the grass-court tournament in London since Mark Philippoussis in 1997.

Murray spent five months away from the sport until this week. He and Lopez defeated Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury, 7-6 (6), 5-7, 10-5, in the doubles final—not long after Lopez outlasted Gilles Simon, 6-2, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (2), in the singles.

Murray capped a remarkable week 146 days after undergoing what he hopes was careersaving hip surgery. In January he had said he was planning to retire after Wimbledon because of the severe pain he felt on a daily basis.

The three-time Grand Slam champion is approaching Wimbledon, which starts July 1, full of confidence after playing freely and without pain as he secured his first doubles title since winning with his brother Jamie Murray in Tokyo in 2011. Murray won’t play singles at Wimbledon but has already confirmed that Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert will partner him in the men’s doubles.

Murray and Lopez hadn’t played together in a tournament before beating top-seeded Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah on Thursday. They completed their darknessdelayed quarterfinal win over British duo Daniel Evans and Ken Skupski on Saturday, right before their semifinal win over Henri Kontinen and John Peers.

Lopez, who had been forced to play in three matches on Saturday including his singles semifinal, played almost five hours of tennis altogether on Sunday. He reaffirmed his status as the tournament’s oldest winner at age 37 with the singles title.

The veteran Spaniard was already its oldest winner when he took the title in 2017.

Lopez was playing his first final since defeating Marin Cilic in the decider two years ago and was made to work hard by the 34-year-old Simon.

Lopez saved all but one of the break points he faced and converted three of his 13 opportunities to prevail in two hours and 49 minutes. Lopez had won five of their previous seven meetings and all four on grass.

Lopez is the first wild card to claim the title since Pete Sampras defeated Tim Henman to win in 1999. He would have been the oldest player to win a tour-level title since the 43-year-old Ken Rosewall won the Hong Kong Grand Prix final in 1977, but Roger Federer

FAIRY-TALE RUN A FOR MURRAY

Tornadoes target 1st win in Superliga N overhauled Foton squad tests the mettle of reigning champion Petron in the main game of another explosive triple-header of the Philippine Superliga All-Filipino Conference on Tuesday at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan.

Action starts at 7 p.m. with the Tornadoes set to deploy their powerhouse roster against Blaze Spikers, who are looking to capture a rare three-peat in the midseason conference.

Marinerang Pilipina hunts for its first win against a red-hot PLDT Home Fibr side in the 2 p.m. opener while struggling Sta. Lucia battles Cignal in the 4 p.m. encounter.

Despite beefing up its roster with quality players like Marian Buitre, Justine Dorog and Laizah Bendong to help the solid core of Jaja Santiago, Dindin Manabat, Elaine Kasilag and Jen Reyes, Foton still had a slow start.

The split of their first two games against Sta. Lucia and Generika-Ayala before losing a tough 9-25, 25-23, 22-25, 16-25 setback to F2 Logistics on Saturday at the Imus Sports Center in Imus City, Cavite.

In that match, open spiker Shaya Adorador carried the cudgels, but the Tornadoes failed to draw impressive numbers from other scorers like Santiago, Mina Aganon, Manabat and Kasilag.

Still, Petron Coach Shaq de los Santos will not take Foton lightly.

“They are still contenders, a powerhouse team that has tall players. We cannot let our guards down,” said de los Santos, who steered the Blaze Spikers to the All-Filipino throne for the past couple of years.

De los Santos said his wards are oozing with confidence after making short work of Marinerang Pilipina in their first match since winning the Grand Prix title last month, 25-21, 25-16, 25-10.

Green becomes major champion ANDY MURRAY (left) and Feliciano Lopez pose with their trophy. AP

beat him to that accolade after winning his 10th Halle Open title earlier Sunday. Federer is a month older than Lopez.

FEDERER WINS IN HALLE

6-1, to extend his record of wins at the grass-court tournament and claim his 10th at an individual event for the first time. Only Rafael Nadal had previously achieved the feat in the Open era.

Goffin, who was playing in his first final since 2017, made life difficult for Federer in the first set, forcing him to save three break points without having to face any of his own, but the world No. 3 upped his level in the tie break and

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BARTY EMERGES WORLD NO. 1

ROGER FEDERER set another benchmark in his remarkable career by winning his 10th Halle Open title on Sunday.

The Swiss great defeated David Goffin, 7-6 (2), IRMINGHAM, England—Ashleigh Barty defeated Julia Goerges, 6-3, 7-5, to win the Birmingham Classic title on Sunday, a victory that ensures the Australian will be No. 1 in the rankings on Monday.

The 23-year-old Barty, who lost the final to Petra Kvitova in 2017, did not drop a set all week at the grass-court tournament, and she fought back from being 4-5 down in the second set to beat the German in one hour and 28 minutes.

Goerges fought back tears as she congratulated her friend on taking top spot in the rankings ahead of Wimbledon, which starts on July 1.

French Open champion Barty, currently ranked No. 2, will take over from Naomi Osaka, who lost 6-2, 6-3 loss to Yulia Putintseva in the second round on Thursday. Barty is only the

Reavie ends 11-year drought

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EGAN BERNAL lifts the Tour de Suisse trophy. AP

Bernal makes Team Ineos proud

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LRICHEN, Switzerland—In a rough month for Team Ineos, Egan Bernal lifted the British squad with overall victory on Sunday in the nine-day Tour de Suisse.

Bernal came to Switzerland to support team leader Geraint Thomas, the 2018 Tour de France champion, who crashed out in a nasty fall on Tuesday.

Thomas’s accident followed teammate and four-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome suffering season-ending injuries in a training crash in France.

Bernal is still slated to start the Tour de France on July 6 as Thomas’s top aide, though this confirmed race-winning potential after his Paris-Nice title in March.

The 22-year-old Colombian finished 19 seconds ahead of Rohan Dennis overall after they finished Sunday’s stage together, one minute and two seconds behind Hugh Carthy’s solo breakaway on snow-lined roads.

Bernal was 3:04 clear overall of third-place Patrick Konrad. AP

ROMWELL, Connecticut—Chez Reavie is a Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) Tour winner again after 11 years and 250 events.

Reavie won the Travelers Championship on Sunday, closing with a one-under 69 for a four-stroke victory over Keegan Bradley and Zack Sucher.

The 37-year-old Reavie, whose first title came as a rookie at the 2008 Canadian Open, finished at 17-under 263 at TPC River Highlands a week after tying for third in the US Open at Pebble Beach.

“It means everything,” he said. “I went through some injuries, had some long years there in the middle. But it was great, because it gave good perseverance and good perspective of what life is and what golf is.”

The former Arizona State player took a six-stroke lead over Bradley and Sucher into the

round after shooting a 63 on Saturday. He had an understated celebration, pulling his ball out of the hole at 18 and saluting the crowd with it clenched in his fist.

It was the same calm he showed throughout the day, even as, Bradley, a New England native from nearby Vermont, chipped away to the cheers of the large galleries.

Bradley made back-to-back birdies on 10 and 11 to get within three shots, just missed a 13-foot birdie putt on the 12th, then made a 9-footer on 13 to get within two strokes. His 22 footbirdie attempt at 14 stopped just at the hole.

He got within a stroke on the par-four 15th when he made a 7 1/2foot birdie putt after Reavie missed an 11-footer. AP

maintained it from there to win his 102nd tourlevel title in just over an hour.

It’s Federer’s 19th on grass, ideal preparation for Wimbledon, which the 37-year-old hopes to win for a ninth time.

Federer first played the Halle Open as an 18-year-old in 2000, when both his current coach, Ivan Ljubicic, and Goffin’s coach, Thomas Johansson, played it, too. AP

second Australian woman to hold the top spot after Evonne Goolagong Cawley in 1976.

Barty, who extended her winning streak to 11 matches, and Goerges reached the semifinals in doubles together before Barty withdrew from their semifinal with a right arm injury. AP

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HASKA, Minnesota—Hannah Green held her nerve and saved par from the bunker with a 5-foot putt on the final hole to win the KPMG Women’s Professional Golfers Association (PGA) Championship on Sunday for her first major championship, and the first by an Australian in 13 years.

Green closed with an even-par 72 at Hazeltine for a one-shot victory over defending champion Sung-hyun Park, whose 18-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole gave her a 68 and put the pressure on the 22-year-old Australian.

Green pulled a 4-iron into the bunker, blasted out to 5 feet and made the biggest putt of her life.

“The most nervous I was all day,” she said.

Among those to celebrate with her was Australia’s most prolific major champion, Karrie Webb, which was meaningful in many ways. Webb was the last Aussie to win an LPGA Tour major in 2006 at the Kraft Nabisco.

She also supports junior girls in Australia, bringing two scholarship winners to America each year.

Green was one of those recipients four years ago.

Now she’s a major champion.

“I’m speechless,” she said through the tears. “I was really nervous playing the last five holes.”

She finished at nine-under 279 and won $577,500.

In only her second full year on the LPGA Tour, Green became the first wire-to-wire winner of this major since Yani Tseng in 2011. She also is the third player in the last five majors to make it her first LPGA Tour victory. AP

HANNAH GREEN shows nerves of steel in the final round. AP

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Tuesday, June 25, 2019

STELLAR FOREIGN CAST UP IN ILOILO

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USTRALIAN Tim Stewart seeks to complete an unfinished business and mark his return to the Philippine Golf Tour (PGT) in big fashion as he headlines a stellar international field in the International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) Iloilo Golf Challenge which gets going on Wednesday

AUSTRALIAN Tim Stewart seeks to complete an unfinished business.

at the Iloilo Golf and Country Club in Santa Barbara.

The big-hitting ace from Sydney took charge in the opener of this event last year but failed to match Jobim Carlos’s record-setting 62 in the third and settled for runner-up honors for his best finish thus far in the circuit put up by ICTSI. But with Carlos still out of commission for the seventh straight week and Juvic Pagunsan opting to take a rest after scoring back-to-back title romps in the Bacolod and Negros stops of the four-leg Visayan swing, Stewart could

for third here last year, and fellow Americans Greg Gonzalez. Charles Lee, Sean Talmadge and Pete Vilairatana, who tied for third in last week’s Negros Occidental Classic, along with Aussies Fidel Concepcion and Calum Juniper, Japanese Ryui Hashimoto, Kei Matsuoka, Kanata Nakagawa and Yudai Suzuki, who is out to redeem himself from a poor finish in Negros which he led in the first round with a bogey-free 64 only to end up with three overpar cards and ended up in joint 29th.

Dutch Guido van der Valk, a wire-to-wire in Club Filipino de Cebu Invitational three

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T PHILIPPINE Olympic Committee Chairman Rep. Abraham Tolentino is challenging Jose Romasanta’s ascendancy to the presidency.

By Ramon Rafael Bonilla

HE Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) holds an extraordinary general assembly on Tuesday to tackle an extra unnecessary issue that painted an ugly picture of the country’s hosting of the 30th Southeast Asian Games that is barely five months away.

The issue arose when Ricky Vargas resigned last week, leaving a POC and a country that are hoping to host the biggest SEA Games ever.

Jose Romasanta took over as president by virtue of his position as First Vice President, a post POC Chairman Rep. Abraham Tolentino will contest in the assembly set at the GSIS building in Pasay City.

Tolentino questioned Romasanta’s ascension

to the presidency saying the POC charter allows only national sports association (NSA) presidents of Olympic sports to occupy top positions in the Olympic body.

Romasanta is vice president of the volleyball association while next-in-line to the presidency, Second Vice President Antonio Tamayo, heads the non-Olympic sport of soft tennis.

“Under my [duty]as the chairman of the POC, I will call for an election. When and where [the election], will be announced on Tuesday,” said Tolentino, who intends to call for the special poll within 30 days.

If the assembly approves of a special election, it will be the second of such exercise in two years after Vargas and Tolentino won the race for president

Darkhorse Boss Emong stuns field in Triple Crown 2nd leg

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OSS Emong showed the field who’s the boss, stunning overwhelming pick Real Gold by half a length in a frantic finish marking the second leg of the Philippine Racing Commission’s (Philracom) 2019 Triple Crown series at the Saddle and Clubs Leisure Park on Sunday in Naic, Cavite.

The darkhorse in the seven-horse cast that featured some of the country’s best three-year-olds horses trailed Best Regards halfway through the race but made its move in the final 600 meters with Jayz in tow.

Boss Emong grabbed the lead in the final straight— with Jayz momentarily gaining the edge for a split second—but the Dan Camanero-steered colt unleashed a final burst of energy to stay up front for the close victory, denying first-leg champion Real Gold what could have been the second jewel in its Triple Crown goal.

“I just followed the boss’s orders—if we don’t lead early on, we just stay within striking distance. But I got the opportunity in the final 600 meters and got hold of it,” Camanero said.

The win was worth P1.8 million from the total guaranteed prize of P3 million for owner Edward Vincent Diokno, who personally received the champion’s trophy from newly appointed Philracom commissioner Aurelio de Leon and Victor

BOSS Emong (1) stuns the field that includes first-leg winner Real Gold (7).

Cignal-Ateneo seeks D-League crown against CEU

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IGNAL-ATENEO goes for the kill in Game Four of the Philippine Basketball Association Developmental League Finals against Centro Escolar University (CEU) on Tuesday at Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.

The Blue Eagles righted the ship with a dominant 67-52 Game Three victory on Thursday to go atop the hill in the best-of-five series, calming the tides after a shocking 77-74 Game Two defeat on Tuesday.

Coach Sandy Arespacochaga knows that it’s still a process, and Cignal-Ateneo must stay in the present to win it all in the developmental ranks.

“We have to play each game and be present for each game. We can’t look past every game and we have to make sure we do our job for the next game,” the deputy coach Arespacochaga said.

Conference MVP Isaac Go has returned to

the fort for the Blue Eagles after going under the weather in Game Two, with his arrival providing the stabilizing presence the team lacked when the Scorpions knotted the series.

Add to that the monstrous presence of Ivorian center Ange Kouame, the versatility of Thirdy Ravena, and the overall prowess of the Cignal-Ateneo bench and what we might just have a coronation.

Game time is at 4 p.m.

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Atleta Legacy Walk participated in by athletes and nonathletes, including a huge group from Citi Philippines as key supporter of PPC and the Paralympic movement.

After the walk, the Philippine Olympians Association turned over seedlings to UP officials to express their advocacy that sports can be used for the betterment of the environment.

Exhibitions and participative activities followed in arnis, skateboarding, athletics, karate, underwater hockey, petanque and parasports like Braille Chess, Wheelchair Racing, Wheelchair Basketball and Para Athletics entertained attendees. A Body Combat session conducted by Fitness First turned the event into a sports fair.

“We are overwhelmed by the show of support from our partners in the government and private sectors, especially Citi Philippines. This is a big push for our national athletes who will be competing for the country in the upcoming SEA Games this

November and the Asean Para Games in January 2020,” PPC President Michael Barredo said.

Citi Philippines CEO Aftab Ahmed said that by supporting the event, Citi Philippines is expressing its corporate commitment.

“Para Athletes are truly an inspiration as they overcome the odds to achieve and excel with courage and determination,” Ahmed said. “Today is an opportunity for us to become advocates of their cause, so that we can break down the perceptions around disability, and push for inclusion and equality for all.”

Olympic Day is an annual global event of the Olympic Movement that promotes the sharing of the Olympic Ideals, its Olympic Day pillars of Move, Learn, and Discover, and the Olympic values of Excellence, Friendship, and Respect. The event was introduced in 1948 to commemorate the birth of the modern Olympic Games in June 1894 at the Sorbonne in Paris.

and chairman, respectively, in a court-ordered poll in February 2018. Vargas beat then incumbent Jose Cojuangco Jr., 24-15, while Tolentino defeated table tennis’s Ting Ledesma, 23-15.

Romasanta and company—most of whom are members of the powerful POC executive board who were carried over from the Cojuangco administration and who outnumber Vargas’s allies—have questioned the creation of the Philippine SEA Games Organizing Committee (Phisgoc) Foundation and insisted that the POC, as franchise holder of the Games, should run the show.

Private sponsors have since thrown their support behind the hosting of the SEA Games with the government contributing much of the cash component at P6 billion through general appropriations.

Tantoco, Philippine Racing Club Inc. Manager Oyet Alcasid Jr. and Handicapper Tony Selda.

Antonio Tan received the winning breeder’s prize of P100,000.

The JP A Guce-ridden Real Gold—which obliterated field in the first leg at the San Lazaro Leisure Park in Carmona, Cavite—last month, came from the outside this time and nearly caught up with the leader, but fell short in the end as it settled for the runner-up purse of P675,000 for owner C&H Enterprises.

Jayz, ridden by JA Guce and owned by SC Stockfarm, pocketed the third-place purse of P375,000 in the race ran in 1,800 meters.

Meanwhile, My Jopay (jockey Pat Dilema) ruled the Philracom Hopeful Stakes and rewarded owner Moises Villaseñor the champion’s purse of P600,000.

Two Timer (jockey JA Guce, owner Melaine Habla) placed second and clinched P225,000, while The Accountant (CP Henson, Luis Aguila) ranked third and got P125,000.

In the Philracom 3YO Locally Bred Stakes Race, the placings were My Shelltex (JB Guce, Antonio Tan Jr.), Silab (AR Villegas, Benjamin Abalos Jr.) and Weather Lang (JB Hernandez, Melaine Habla), winning P300,000, P112,500 and P62,500, respectively.

The final leg of the Triple Crown will be held at the MetroTurf in Malvar, Batangas, on July 21, featuring the series’ longest route of 2,000 meters.

For CEU, however, there’s nothing to lose for the boys of Coach Derrick Pumaren, with the veteran bench tactician already proud with what his side has accomplished in reaching the championship.

“Like what I said before, these boys are already champions in my eyes. Whatever happens, we’re just going to go out and try to give a hell of a fight to Ateneo,” he said.

Senegalese slotman Maodo Malick Diouf will banner the Scorpions’ attempt on extending the series to a decider, with Rich Guinitaran, Jerome Santos and Franz Diaz providing support.

LAKAD PARA ATLETA HIGHLIGHTS OLYMPIC DAY HE Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) and Philippine Paralympic Committee (PPC) joined forces on Saturday for a unity walk at the College of Science Oval at the University of the Philippines (UP)-Diliman.

Representatives from various sports sectors involved in the 30th Southeast Asian Games that the country is hosting later this year and the Asean Para Games in 2020 took part in the event.

Billed as Olympic Day and Lakad Para Atleta 2019, the event marked the first time a unity walk of able-bodied athletes walking side by side with para athletes to give life to the event theme, “Unity and Transformation Through Sports.”

The event was highlighted by a torch relay that featured five pairs of Olympians and Paralympians traversing the 500-meter oval—symbolizing inclusiveness and equality for all.

The torch relay culminated in a cauldron lighting ceremony followed by the Lakad Para

weeks ago, is also tipped to contend for the P550,000 purse along with Koreans Myung Chal Hwang and Sangun Lee, Argentina’s Emilio Parodi, Jesus Rafael Parra of Venezuela and Spain’s Marcos Pastor.

Twelve invitees also aim for a strong finish, including former PGT Asia leg winner David Gleeson of Australia, Swede Sebastian Hansson, Colombia’s Mateo Gomez and Sebastian Lopez, and Finland’s Teemu Putkonen.

But the locals will be out to keep crown at home with Clyde Mondilla hoping to settle down with his game after a long layoff and soso finishes in the past two tournaments along with Jhonnel Ababa, Jay Bayron, Michael Bibat, Zanieboy Gialon, James Ryan Lam, Keanu Jahns, Tony Lascuña, Elmer Salvador and Richard Sinfuego.

A select group of pros, meanwhile, will test the short but challenging layout in today’s (Tuesday) pro-am where they will be paired with officials and guests of the event’s chief backers, including ICTSI, Custom Clubmakers, Meralco, Champion, Summit Mineral Water, K&G Golf Apparel, BDO, Sharp, KZG, PLDT and MY Shokai Technology Inc.

AN EXTRAORDINARY MEETING FOR EXTRA UNNECESSARY ISSUE

Villamor gals tie Tagaytay at helm ILLAMOR assembled a 149 then nipped Sta. Elena in the countback to snare the Class B honors and gain a share of the lead with Tagaytay, which struggled at home after three legs of the 2019 Champion Women’s Golf Association of the Philippines (WGAP) Circuit at Midlands and Lucky 9 courses recently.

Angelita Navalta and Beatrice Tronco shot 42 and 39 Stableford points, respectively, and Melissa Gozum and Katrina Yupangco backed them up with identical 34 points as the Villamor ladies foiled their Sta. Elena counterparts from completing a two-title romp in the course-hopping circuit organized by the WGAP. Sta. Elena dominated Class C and settled for second in Class B with Divina Nemec, Misako Ogihara, Nancy Ortiga and Lily Chan carding 39, 38, 37 and 35 points, respectively, for a five-point haul that stood out in the day and put the team in solo third in the overall race with seven points, just a point behind Villamor and Tagaytay.

With Class A winner and defending WGAP circuit champion Forest Hills, Alabang and Canlubang toting identical six points, Wack Wack hiking its output to five and Fernando Air Base improving with four points, a fierce battle looms when the circuit sponsored by Champion heads to Manila Southwoods for the fourth stop on July 15.

Sharing individual honors in the third leg were Jeong Sook Cho of Eagle Ridge (41 points-Class A), Vids Torralba of Alabang (39 points-Class B) and Caroline Cheng of Camp Aguinaldo (50 points-Class C).

Sta. Elena outclassed the Class C field with a 169 behind Calene Ong (45), Cheese Ong (43), Gia Suarez (41) and Surlianti Walker (40) for an 11-shot victory over Camp Aguinaldo, which pooled a 158, with Wack Wack taking third spot with a157 followed by Tagaytay (154), Fernando Air Base (153), Alabang (153), Eagle Ridge (153), Forest Hills (152), Canlubang (140), Orchard (136) and Villamor (134).

Tagaytay, meanwhile, failed to cash in on its so-called home-course edge, settling for a pair of third place finishes in Classes A and B while ending up fourth in Class C although the Highlanders remained in joint overall lead with Villamor with eight points.

Forest Hills, which rallied in the final leg to edge Sta. Elena by one for the overall crown last year, routed the Class A field with a 157 for a huge 13-point romp over Fernando Air Base with Elizabeth Valen and Jonah Ilagan leading the charge with 42 and 41 points, respectively, and Grace Cho and Grace Atienza chipping in 37 points apiece.

Tagaytay came in third with a 142 followed by Wack Wack (141), Camp Aguinaldo (141), Alabang (139), Sta. Elena (138), Canlubang (136) and Villamor (132).

Tagaytay scored a 146 to, likewise, finish third in Class B with Alabang placing fourth with 140 followed by Fernando Air Base (139), Orchard (135), Camp Aguinaldo (132), Wack Wack (125), Manila Southwoods (115) and Forest Hills (109).

be looking to a breakthrough on the circuit organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments Inc. He tied for 11th in his last PGT tournament at The Country Club Invitational last April and toughened for this week’s event with a fiveweek stint on the China tour.

But he will be as much tested as the rest of the 92-player field featuring the other leading players on the PGT, including a host of other foreign aces all geared up for four days of iron duel at what has long been considered as the country’s oldest par-70 course.

They include Lexus Keoninh, who tied

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FORMER long jump queen helps lead the activities during the Olympic Day and Lakad Para Atleta 2019 event.

Parks bags first monthly award

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HE impact brought by Bobby Ray Parks was obvious the moment he suited up for Blackwater in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Commissioner’s Cup. The 26-year-old Parks emerged as the Elite’s top gunner and immediately steered the team to victories in their first four outings to take the early lead in the mid-season conference.

During that stretch, the no. 2 overall pick in last year’s draft averaged 23.5 points, 4.8 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 1.8 steals in an all-around performance he capped with a career-best of 28 points in a thrilling 108-107 overtime win over Barangay Ginebra in only his second game in the league.

Parks’s heroics gained him his first ever PBA Press Corps Rookie of the Month honor for May, beating out Columbian Dyip’s CJ Perez (24.3 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists).

The son of the late great PBA Import Bobby Parks became the third player to win the honor first handed out starting this season. Others who also gained the nod for the monthly citation were Perez (January and March) and Jayvee Mocon of Rain or Shine (February and March).

Curiously, Parks won his initial match-up against Perez in a duel pitting the top 2 picks in last year’s draft.

Parks scored 23 points, five rebounds and five assists as the Elite defeated the Dyip, 118-110, on May 26.

Perez finished with 17 points and seven rebounds in the Dyip’s third straight loss to open their campaign.

By Jerome Pugmire

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The Associated Press

E CASTELLET, France—Lewis Hamilton needed only a few seconds to take control of the French Grand Prix on Sunday.

Once he accelerated away from pole position, leaving Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas trailing, Hamilton was not challenged over 53 laps.

His fourth straight win, sixth overall this season, and 79th of his career looked easy as he finished 18 seconds ahead of Bottas and 19 seconds ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

It moved Hamilton 36 points ahead of Bottas and a massive 76 points clear of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel in a quest for a sixth title which is looking increasingly likely for the British driver. It remains a highly unlikely feat but, if Hamilton wins the remaining 13 races this season, he will break Michael Schumacher’s record of 91 F1 wins.

Yet, despite his imperious dominance, Hamilton has sympathy for F1 fans who want more exciting racing, and long for the overtaking duels of old which gave races an unpredictable edge.

“If you say it’s boring, I totally understand it,” Hamilton said after his win. “Don’t blame the drivers. We don’t write the rules. Put the pressure on the people at the top, who should be doing their jobs. They have made mistakes for many, many years.”

Hamilton’s Mercedes team is favorite for a sixth straight drivers’ and constructors’ double. From 2010-13, Red Bull did the same when Vettel won his four F1 titles.

But Hamilton’s wider point is that—although Ferrari pushed Mercedes during 2017 and 2018—the seasons are somewhat resembling each other in terms of one team’s overwhelming dominance over the rest.

To remedy, this he wants more drivers consulted in the decision-making process leading up to 2021, when new rules will be approved.

Those rules have yet to be defined by governing body FIA, amid the diverging interests of teams.

Drivers should have a greater influence in such matters, Hamilton says.

“We are trying to get in the door...for many years they have not wanted us in the room,” Hamilton said.

“They have to make serious changes to their idea of what 2021 should be.”

Fans want more wheel-to-wheel racing and more overtaking, yet the inflexibility of zealously applied rules works against that.

Vettel thought he had won the Canadian GP two weeks ago, crossing the line first. But he was hit with a five-second time penalty for swerving off and back onto the track when under pressure from Hamilton chasing him.

Ferrari’s request for the penalty to be overruled was turned down flat on Friday.

Sunday’s win was all rather comfortable for Hamilton, especially after he clinched a record-extending 86th pole on Saturday.

The bad news for Hamilton’s fading challengers is that he feels he’s just warming up.

“The car’s improving the more I get into the season,” he said.

Leclerc provided late excitement, at least, when he almost caught Bottas on the last lap.

“I saw an opportunity but unfortunately there weren’t enough laps left,” Leclerc said after his third career podium.

It was a consistent race weekend from the 21-yearold Leclerc, who was third in all three practice runs and qualifying.

By the end, Bottas was relieved Leclerc ran out of time.

“It became a bit close with Charles,” the Finnish driver said. “Closer than we wanted.”

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen placed fourth ahead of Vettel, who took a point for the fastest lap in what was otherwise another disappointing performance from the four-time world champion.

Vettel, who started seventh after a poor qualifying stint, has not won for 16 races dating back to the Belgian GP last August.

When Hamilton won here at the same stage last year, he regained the championship lead from Vettel.

Now he leads third-placed Vettel by 187 points to 111—in what looks like becoming yet another disappointing season from the German driver, who lost the last two titles to Hamilton due to mistakes under pressure.

Hamilton appears much better than Vettel at keeping his cool.

Afternoon track temperatures hit 56 degrees Celsius on the 5.84-kilometer on the Circuit Paul Ricard in southeastern France.

But aside from the heat, there was little for Hamilton to sweat about.

MANAGER VENTS IRE ON REPORTER

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HICAGO—New York Mets Manager Mickey Callaway cursed at a reporter, and pitcher Jason Vargas had to be restrained from charging him during a confrontation in the team’s clubhouse after a loss on Sunday.

The dustup with Tim Healey of Newsday occurred after the Mets blew a late lead in a 5-3 defeat to the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. Reporters asked repeatedly after the game about Callaway’s decision to stick with reliever Seth Lugo during the eighth inning instead of going to closer Edwin Diaz. Lugo allowed a go-ahead three-run homer to Javier Baez.

HAMILTON MAKES IT LOOK SO EASY

Sports BusinessMirror

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| Tuesday, June 25, 2019 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

LEWIS HAMILTON celebrates with his team after winning the French Formula One Grand Prix. AP

FAN INJURED

BY FOUL BALL

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A YOUNG fan is carted away after being hit with a foul ball hit by Los Angeles Dodgers’ Cody Bellinger. AP

After the press conference, Callaway walked past Healey in the clubhouse. Healey told Callaway he would “see you tomorrow,” and Callaway responded by calling Healey an obscenity. Callaway walked away and then returned, cursing at Healey again and telling him to leave the clubhouse.

Vargas then stared down Healey and eventually tried to charge him. Players stepped in to restrain the veteran left-hander.

No punches were thrown, and Healey left the clubhouse moments later.

It’s been a trying season for the Mets following an aggressive offseason. The club is 37-41.

New York is set to open a four-game series at Philadelphia on Monday. AP

METS Manager Mickey Callaway loses his cool. AP

States’ push to legalize sports betting differs by region

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HERRY HILL, New Jersey—In the year since the US Supreme Court cleared the way for every state to legalize sports betting, a regional divide has opened as states decide whether to expand their gambling options.

By year’s end, legalization is possible in a dozen states in the Northeast and Midwest. But most states in the Deep South and far West—SEC and Pac-12 territory in college sports—are staying on the sidelines, at least for now.

State lawmakers are weighing the benefits of a slight boost in state revenue and the ability to add consumer protections against concerns about the morality of allowing another form of gambling. Sorting out complex business interests and opposition from some casinooperating tribes also has emerged as thorny challenges.

It’s not clear whether legalization will happen in all corners of the country over the next few years or if

OS ANGELES—A woman at Dodger Stadium has been taken to a hospital for precautionary tests after being struck in the head by a foul ball from Los Angeles star Cody Bellinger during the first inning of a game against the Colorado Rockies.

The young woman was sitting four rows from the field down the first base line on Sunday, just beyond protective netting that extends to the end of the visiting dugout. She was hit by a sharp line drive

by Bellinger, who checked on her between innings. She, at first, stayed in her seat and was given an ice pack, but she left about 15 minutes later for further attention.

A first-aid person who treated the woman says she was taken to the hospital for precautionary tests but that she was alert and answering questions. The name of the woman was not released.

A woman died last August after being struck in the head by a foul ball at Dodger Stadium.

All 30 major league stadiums expanded protective netting to at least the far ends of the dugouts at the start of the 2018 season after several fans were injured by foul balls two years ago.

Fan safety has received further scrutiny after a young girl was struck by a foul ball in Houston during a game on May 29.

The Chicago White Sox and Washington Nationals recently announced that they will extend their netting to the foul poles. AP

opposition will keep it concentrated in the regions where it’s already taken root.

With just two exceptions, the Deep South states have been among the most resistant to legalizing sports betting.

In Louisiana, a legalization bill passed the Senate earlier this year but died in the House.

Republican state Sen. Danny Martiny favors legalization, saying Louisianans already are betting on sports through bookies, offshore web sites and casinos in neighboring Mississippi. He said Louisiana should regulate and tax sport bets, with the receipts largely earmarked for early childhood education.

“We have all of the ills of gaming,” Martiny said during a committee hearing, “but none of the benefits.”

Opponents such as Rep. Valarie Hodges, also a Republican, said gambling preys on the poor and that the state should find a better way to pay for early education.

“What we legalize, we legitimize,” she said.

Hodges’s side prevailed in the legislative debate, aided by a dispute among gambling interests over whether sports betting should be limited to the state’s 16 casinos and four racetracks or also available at 2,800 truck stops and other locations with video poker terminals.

Before the May 2018 Supreme Court ruling that allowed sportsbooks across the country, full-service ones were running legally only in Nevada. Last year they opened in seven more states. So far this year, sports books have been legalized but haven’t yet begun operating in another five, plus the District of Columbia.

Bills are awaiting signatures from the governors in Illinois, Maine and New Hampshire. Colorado voters will decide the matter for that state in November. In Oregon, the state lottery is working on regulations with the plan of launching sports betting under existing law in time for the start of the NFL season.

Four more states are considering legalization during

their current legislative sessions, but most legislatures have wrapped up their work for the year. Lawmakers in 18 states rejected sports betting legalization bills for 2019, according to a tally of legislation by The Associated Press.

There are several other states where lawmakers might have an appetite for legalization, but there isn’t agreement in the complicated and tightly regulated gambling industry on how or whether to do it.

A common factor in those places, including California and Florida, is the prevalence of casinos operated by Native American tribes. Agreeing to allow sports betting might mean the tribes would face increased competition.

Chris Grove, a gambling industry strategist at Eilers & Krejcik, said he expects several states—mostly in the Northeast and upper Midwest—to legalize sports betting in the next year, and then for the spread to slow because the remaining states are reluctant to allow gambling generally or because of tribal influence.

“As you move farther west, the more complex the stakeholder picture and the harder it is to get anything done,” he said.

But Bill Pascrell III, a lobbyist for some gambling companies, expects that even some states that have been traditionally reluctant to legalize gambling will allow sports betting in the future. He points to Tennessee, a state without any casinos, deciding to legalize online sports betting.

The absence of sports gambling in California, Texas and Florida, the nation’s most populous states, leaves a gaping hole in the industry. They are home to more than a quarter of the teams in the four major professional sports and have about the same combined population as all the states that have adopted legalized sports betting, including those where bills have been sent to governors but not signed into law.

Other states, including Utah and South Carolina, are unlikely to welcome sports betting anytime soon because it’s difficult to sell any form of gambling there.

Over the past year, states with legal sportsbooks have reported about $9 billion in bets being made. But sportsbooks are a relatively low-margin business for their operators, who pay taxes only on how much they win, not how much is gambled. AP

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God of peace

EAR God, You show Your love for us in the kindness and care of others. We remember those who have died in service to their countries as we pray: God, in Your loving kindness, hear our prayer. Inspire us to find constructive and nonviolent ways to end hatred and violence. Open our hearts to care for refugees, immigrants and migrants. Grant healing, provision and support to veterans and their families.

May the peace of Christ reign in our hearts, now and forever.

Amen.

GIVE US THIS DAY SHARED BY LUISA LACSON, HFL Word&Life Publications • teacherlouie1965@yahoo.com

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

Life

CIRCLES: THE MUSEUM DEDICATED TO BINONDO, THE WORLD’S OLDEST CHINATOWN D4

BusinessMirror

Tuesday, June 25, 2019

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SLIM and sophisticated, the Ryder sofa exhibits a clean, modern aesthetic that suits many room settings. Its clean-lined silhouette is perfect for showing off the menswear-inspired upholstery, offering heathered tones and a soft hand.

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THE popular Tate collection brings its cool, 1960s vibe into the office, family room or library as a modular storage solution with style to spare.

Designed by Blake Tovin, the Tate Bookcase Bar features a flat-front door that drops down to reveal a rack for wine glasses, glass shelf, handsome mirrored back and plenty of space to store wine bottles and barware.

SEMINAR on Philippine traditional art by Marian Pastor Roces

Philippine designers stirred by their true artistic lineage

BONE Inlay Night stand

BECKETT 3 High Shelf stacks high for lots of storage with leather tabs in back for distinctive detail.

Modern apartment living S URE, it’s not exactly the single detached with the white picket fence of your childhood dreams, but so what? The address’s proximity to work and the usual places you like to chillout in on weekends more than makes up for your dashed Wisteria Lane fantasies.

With more and more of us opting for apartment and condo living, Crate & Barrel’s Apartment Modern collection is the perfect fit for today’s small space style.

Apartment Modern, the third and last trend look of Crate & Barrel (www.facebook.com/ CrateandBarrelPhilippines) for Spring Summer 2019 brings together style, function and personality.

Crate & Barrel is, of course, the industry’s leading premium home furnishings specialty retailer, known for its exclusive designs, excellent value and superb

customer service. It was among the first to introduce affordable and contemporary tabletop products and kitchenware to American consumers.

Each piece in this collection is carefully considered. Furniture is designed with space-saving options without compromising style, definitely a smart solution for a compact space.

Create a space that fits every bit of personality you own through grit patterns, textures and abstract.

Décor, textiles and houseware from this collection also help complete the look of your home, making it both beautiful and on-trend.

The Apartment Modern and the rest of the vibrant assortments from Crate & Barrel’s Spring Summer 2019 Collection is now available in their stores at SM Aura Premier, SM Makati and SM Megamall’s Mega Fashion Hall. n

THIS Intarsia Natural Console Table is equal parts style, function and personality.

IN a bid to continually inspire the design and creative community of the Philippines, the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (Citem) partnered with CNN Life and Diamond Hotel Manila to invite famed curator Marian Pastor Roces for a talk on Philippine traditional art.

In a room full of designers and creative artists who have always been proud of their artistic heritage, one can only imagine the impact of finding out that all along you are a part of something bigger. Roces revealed that the Philippines is more than just a country colonized by different explorers. The Filipino genealogy is part of ancient Austronesian speakers, a language family widely dispersed in Southeast Asia, Oceania and East Africa. This language group from thousands of years ago spread to various locations and started many ancient civilizations and has been the foundation of countries today.

Apart from highlighting our true ancestry, Roces also showcased some relics such as old weaves, jewelries, accessories, tools and equipment handcrafted by Filipinos. The exquisite beauty and the epic history enfolded in the different artifacts made everyone in the seminar appreciate even more the dynamic past of the country. It is a testament that the Philippines’s fertile soil, abundant waters and creative talent were already evident in the functional art of our ancestors. As a melting pot of Filipino creativity, Manila FAME is the Philippines’s premier sourcing event for sublime quality artisanal products.

It serves as a cultivating ground and springboard for innovative, top-of-the-line Philippine products and designers to break through key international markets.

The seminar on Philippine traditional art was made possible by Citem of the Department of Trade and Industry, in partnership with CNN Life and the Diamond Hotel Manila. The 70th edition of the Manila FAME is slated from October 17 to 19 at the World Trade Center Metro Manila. More information is available at www.manilafame.com.

Garden Conservancy lets you peek at some private gardens By lee ReiCh The Associated Press WHAT are your plans for the weekend? Consider garden hopping. To some special private gardens.

An organization called The Garden Conservancy makes it easy to find and visit them.

Each year, the Garden Conservancy puts out a booklet called the Open Days Directory, with descriptions of about 300 private gardens that are opened to the public on specified dates. (Full disclosure: My garden is one of those this year.)

In each directory, you can look gardens up by state or location. If you’re looking for gardens to visit on, say, June 22, you could find all of them, near and

far, that can be visited that day. This year, that day’s offerings included two gardens in New Jersey, eight in New York, two in Pennsylvania and six in Washington state.

THE BEGINNINGS OF THE CONSERVANCY THE Garden Conservancy began with the vision of Frank Cabot and the garden of Ruth Bancroft. In 1988, Bancroft was getting on in years and unable to lavish the care needed to maintain her extraordinary and artfully designed Walnut Creek, California, garden of cacti, succulents and native plants.

After visiting her garden, Cabot conceived of the Garden Conservancy as an organization to “preserve exceptional American gardens for the public’s education and enjoyment.”

He was no garden slouch himself: His gardens— Les Quatre Vents in La Malbaie, Quebec, and Stonecrop in Cold Spring, New York—are famous. The latter is open to the public on days spelled out in the Open Days Directory.

The Garden Conservancy now provides the legal, financial, and horticultural expertise to transition certain gardens from private to nonprofit ownership.

Gardens on the island of Alcatraz and at Steepletop, the poet Edna Saint Vincent Millay’s home in Austerlitz, New York, are among ones that have been saved from weeds, pests and the vagaries of weather that threaten neglected gardens.

HOW YOUR VISITS HELP MONEY from memberships, directory sales and

garden visits help support the Garden Conservancy’s efforts. The directory costs $25 and each garden visit $10, but a coupon in each directory provides free admission to one garden. (Children under 12 are free, and coupons from previous years can still be used for garden entry this year.)

Directories and further information are available from the Garden Conservancy (www.gardenconservancy. org). The roster of gardens in the directory changes from year to year. And the gardens vary, some formal, others cottagey, some quirky, some intimate and others sprawling.

Perhaps your own garden is a candidate for Open Days, or Open Day visits will inspire you to loftier heights in your own back, front and side yards.

Happy hopping.

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Tuesday, June 25, 2019

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Steamy romance novelist Judith Krantz dies at 91 JUDITH KRANTZ poses in an undated file photo during an interview at her home in the Bel-Air section of Los Angeles, California. AP

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By Stefanie Dazio & Sandy Cohen The Associated Press

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OS ANGELES—Writer Judith Krantz, whose million-selling novels, such as Scruples and Princess Daisy engrossed readers worldwide with their steamy tales of the rich and beautiful, died on Saturday at her Bel-Air home. She was 91.

Krantz’s son Tony Krantz, a TV executive, confirmed her death by natural causes on Sunday afternoon. He said he’d hoped to recreate the Scruples miniseries before she died but it is still in the works.

“She had this rare combination of commercial and creative,” he said.

Krantz wrote for Cosmopolitan and Ladies Home Journal magazines before discovering, at age 50, the talent for fiction that made her rich and famous like the characters she created.

Her first novel—Scruples in 1978—became a best seller, as did the nine that followed. Krantz’s books have been translated into 52 languages and sold more than 85 million copies worldwide. They inspired a series of hit miniseries with the help of her husband, film and television producer Steve Krantz.

“I always ask myself if what I’m writing will satisfy a reader who’s in a plane that can’t land because of fog, or who’s recovering from an operation in a hospital or who has to escape to a more delightful world for whatever reason,” Krantz said in 1990.

“That is the test.” While her work was decidedly less than highbrow, Krantz made no apologies for the steamy novels with titles like Princess Daisy, Mistral’s Daughter, Lovers, I’ll Take Manhattan and The Jewels of Tessa Kent.

“I write the best books I know how,” she once said.

“I can’t write any better than this.”

She filled her stories with delicious details about her characters’ lavish lifestyles—designer clothes, luxurious estates—and enviable romances. And she spared no specifics when it came to sex.

“If you’re going to write a good erotic scene, you have to go into details,” Krantz told the Los Angeles Times in 1990. “I don’t believe in thunder and lightning and fireworks exploding. I think people want to know what’s happening.”

So appealing were her sensational stories of highpowered heroines that each novel was reimagined for television as an episodic miniseries. Steve Krantz, a

By Eugenia Last

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Busy Phillips, 39; Linda Cardellini, 43; Ricky Gervais, 57; Carly Simon, 73.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Expand your interests and your goals. Be creative in the way you approach life and how you market your skills and execute your dreams.

An imaginative mind coupled with a can-do attitude will help you secure the position you want to be in, as well as attract the people you feel are most compatible and helpful in your pursuits. Your lucky numbers are 3, 16, 23, 26, 34, 43, 47.

a

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Take the time to help others. It’s what you do, not what you say, that will make a difference and bring you the satisfaction you desire to get you through the day. Personal improvements and financial gains are featured. HHHHH

b

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): It’s OK to think big, but when it comes down to making things happen, you are better off to be moderate moving forward. Too much too fast will end up holding you back. Don’t overdo it physically.

HHHHH

c

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Activate your ideas and get cracking. Move forward with enthusiasm, and you’ll make an impression that will not soon be forgotten. Exercise your right to make a difference and express your opinions openly. HHH

d

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Chat with colleagues or those who can make a difference in your life. You will gain valuable information that will help you bring about positive change. Share your thoughts; you’ll gain the support you need to forge ahead. HHH

millionaire in his own right through such productions as the animated film Fritz the Cat, helped translate his wife’s work for TV. The author was also famous for living a glamorous life that paralleled that of her characters. Her home in Los Angeles’s exclusive Bel-Air community featured a soundproof writing room flanked by an immaculately kept garden. In her closet were many of the same designer-label clothes that the characters in her books wore. The eldest of three children, Krantz was born Judith Bluma Tarcher in 1928 in New York City. Her father owned an advertising agency, and her mother worked as an attorney. Her brother, publisher Jeremy Tarcher, married the late ventriloquist Shari Lewis.

Growing up, Krantz was a precocious student at New York’s exclusive Birch Wathen school, once describing herself as the youngest, smartest and shortest girl in her class. After skipping two grades, she enrolled at Wellesley College at age 16.

She was also by her own account an indifferent college student. She said she only enrolled at Wellesley

“to date, read and graduate” and claimed to have set a record for her dorm by once dating 13 different men on 13 consecutive evenings.

“I got only one A-plus, and that was in English 101,” she told The Boston Globe in 1982. “I had a B-minus average in English, my major, and made C’s and C-minuses in everything else. But I didn’t come here to get good marks.” When she could earn no better than a B in a short story class, she decided she wasn’t good enough to write fiction.

“Just in time for my 50th birthday, I discovered that I could write fiction. My husband had urged me to try fiction for 15 years before I did,” she was quoted in a profile on Wellesley’s web site in 2001.

“I believed that if I couldn’t write ‘literature,’ I shouldn’t write at all.”

“Now, I would say to young women, do something you have a true feeling for, no matter how little talent you may believe you have,” she added. “Let no masterwork be your goal—a modest goal may lead you further than you dream.” n

e

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Put your best foot forward and dazzle even your toughest critic. Your enthusiasm and charisma will draw partnerships of all kinds. Keep an open mind, but don’t feel the need to jump into anything too quickly.

Gauge your gains and losses carefully. HHHHH

f

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Stick to what you know and be leery of hearsay. Not everyone will be trying to help you. Make adjustments as you go and act on instinct, as well as practicality. HH

g

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Don’t leave anything undone. Finishing what you start will help ward off criticism and complaints.

Avoid conversations with people who are opinionated, negative or bossy. Strive for personal perfection and a healthy lifestyle. HHHH

h

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Protect against injury or indulgence. Too much of anything will cause setbacks that will leave you wondering what to do next. Taking on someone else’s challenges may be admirable, but it won’t resolve issues that are holding you back. HHH

i j

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Get your feelings out in the open and find out where you stand. Speaking straight from the heart will make others realize how passionate you are about what you are trying to accomplish. HHH

Love your neighbor? Not in Louise Candlish’s novel OH, those people—those boorish, inconsiderate people who move into a nice, quiet neighborhood and have no respect for those who live there or the camaraderie built up through the years.

Those people play their music—thrash metal, no less—at top levels all hours of the night, when their TV isn’t blaring, while doing loud construction work round the clock. It’s enough to make peaceful, rational people contemplate murder as they do in Louise Candlish’s highly entertaining Those People (Berkley).

London’s Lowland Way is more than a lovely, serene place to live. It’s nearly idyllic and fodder for newspaper features. The residents here watch out for each other, mind everyone’s children and dogs, and are courteous of their differences.

They take pride in their homes. The neighborhood even won an award for its “Play Out Sunday” program in which the street is closed so children can safely play.

Ralph Morgan and his wife, Naomi, are the neighborhood leaders. His brother, Finn, and his wife,

Today’s Horoscope

Tessa, live next door. Across the street is Sissy Watkins, who runs a quiet bed and breakfast while nearby are Anthony “Ant” Kendall, his wife, Em, and their baby, Sam. Then Darren Booth and his partner, Jodie, move in, upending the neighborhood with their thoughtlessness, even operating an illegal used car sales lot in this residential area.

Candlish forcefully builds the tension in Those People until it reaches a crescendo that is as frightening as it is believable. It’s understandable that these people might crack under the strain of the emotional turmoil that Darren wreaks on his new neighbors. Supposedly strong marriages begin to fray; unshakeable friendships unravel and each character is forced to examine their own morality. Yet, at no time does Candlish condone the violence that erupts.

Those People skillfully avoids plotting cliches as Candlish’s second novel doesn’t take the easy way out.

Domestic thrillers have emerged as one of the hottest trends in the mystery genre and, as she did in her debut Our House, Candlish knows how to turn everyday situations sinister. AP

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Don’t set yourself up for failure. Make the necessary changes to alter anything that stands in your way. Truth and taking initiative to make things happen will override any opposition you face along the way.

HHH

k

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Put love, creativity and what matters most to you first. A personal relationship should be handled with love and compassion in order to avoid an unexpected and undesirable change. HHHH

l

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Aim high, and positive changes will unfold. How well you get along with your peers and friends will determine how much you accomplish in your personal life. Offer kindness and insight into the possibilities that exist, and see what happens. HHHHH BIRTHDAY BABY: You are loving, possessive and emotional.

You are intuitive and unique.

‘cloud storage’ BY CHRISTOPHER ADAMS The Universal Crossword/Edited by David Steinberg

ACROSS 1 Chile-and-chocolate sauce 5 Computer shortcut 10 Fish or cut ___ 14 French waters 15 Former Apple messaging app 16 “That hurts!”

17 Doctor’s “Hurry!”

18 Emulates a bookworm 19 It has limbs and a trunk 20 Black Panther role for Letitia Wright 22 Seven, on a clock 23 Terrible twos, e.g.

24 Lions’ prey 27 Like Chadwick Boseman but not Letitia Wright 33 Caught in the act, perhaps 34 Express audibly 35 “Finished!”

36 Has ___ (knows somebody) 37 ___-frutti 38 Historical time frames 39 TV connecting cable type 40 Chef Drummond

1 Irritated state 4 42 Novel ID 43 Iraq port city 45 Mythical monster’s loch 46 Its letters aptly appear in “unsightly” 48 Love, in Latin 50 Sicilian dessert wine 53 Show displeasure toward 56 Hectic hosp. parts 57 Achieve one’s goals 59 Mine find 60 Sailor’s assent 61 Black Panther role for Chadwick Boseman 62 Animator Avery 63 ___ Vegas 64 2012 Bond movie, and a hint to what’s coming down in 4-, 7- and 10-Down 65 Parked it DOWN 1 Sticky situation 2 Swearing-in affirmation 3 Kauai cookout

4 Baseball tiebreakers (see letters 4-7) 5 Bygone Russian space station 6 Jim Carrey’s “pet detective” 7 Spiced coffee drinks (letters 2-5) 8 Electromagnetic energy measurer 9 Football tiebreakers, for short 10 1969 Joni Mitchell hit (letters 9-12) 11 Atmosphere 12 Decorates a cupcake 13 You, to Shakespeare 21 Business name abbr.

23 According to 25 Pulled tight 26 Prefix for “scope” 27 Sushi bar beer brand 28 Wards (off) 29 Pays back 30 Land parcels at intersections 31 Diarist Nin 32 Stacks like matryoshka dolls 43 Fortuitously 44 Common battery 47 Doesn’t wear out 49 Most frequent, statistically (DOLMA

anagram) 0 Iron Chef creation 5 51 Game of Thrones girl 52 Needing a massage 53 Actress Ward 54 2-D calculation 55 Often-brief message 58 Half-___ (rhyming Starbucks order) Solution to yesterday’s puzzle:

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Show BusinessMirror

Tuesday, June 25, 2019

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‘Toy Story 4’ opens big but below expectations with $118 million TOM HANKS (left), poses with his character Woody as he arrives at the world premiere of Toy Story 4 on June 11 at the El Capitan in Los Angeles. AP

By Jake Coyle | The Associated Press

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EW YORK—Toy Story 4 brought the box office to life with a $118 million opening weekend after a three-week slump of underperforming sequels, but the Pixar film’s below-expectations debut didn’t quell continuing concerns about a rocky summer movie season.

The Toy Story 4 opening, according to studio estimates on Sunday, ranks as the fourth-highest animated film opening ever, not accounting for inflation. Above it are 2018’s Incredibles 2 ($182 million), 2016’s Finding Dory ($135 million) and 2007’s Shrek the Third ($121 million). It’s the year’s third-largest debut, trailing only a pair of other Disney releases: Avengers: Endgame and Captain Marvel.

But heading into the weekend, a $140 million to $150 million opening had seemed assured for Toy Story 4, which played in 4,575 North American theaters.

Adjusted for inflation, the film came in shy of the $110.3 million—or about $129 million in today’s dollars—Toy Story 3 made nine years ago.

The opening for Toy Story 4 followed a string of disappointing sequels, including Dark Phoenix, Godzilla: King of the Monsters and Men in Black: International. But Toy Story 4 had something those films didn’t: great reviews. It rates 98 percent fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.

Audiences gave it an “A” CinemaScore.

The sequel, which introduces the child-made plaything Forky (voiced by Tony Hale) to the voice cast including Tom Hanks and Tim Allen, also grossed $120 million internationally, including a modest $13.4 million in China, the world’s second-largest film market. It was trounced there by the rerelease of Hayao Miyazaki’s 2001 animated classic Spirited Away from Studio Ghibli, the Japan animation studio that has often served as an inspiration to Pixar.

Cathleen Taff, distribution chief for Disney, said the company was thrilled with the opening and praised Pixar’s high standards.

“The Pixar team has always been disciplined about making sure they have a compelling story to tell, and that is especially true when it comes to sequels if you look at their past,” said Taff. “Their process of sort of going through the rigor of making sure that this is a story people want told, the end result speaks for itself.”

The overall marketplace didn’t give Toy Story 4 much momentum. Last week’s top film, Sony Pictures’ poorly reviewed Men in Black: International slid 64 percent, slipping to fourth place with $10.8 million.

The No. 2 film, Orion Pictures’ horror remake Child’s Play—cheekily positioned as the weekend’s R-rated toy movie—also opened below expectations with $14.1 million. A remake of the 1988 original, the film stars Aubrey Plaza with Mark Hamill voicing the knife-wielding doll Chucky.

Luc Besson’s assassin thriller Anna missed out on the top 10 entirely, opening with a mere $3.5 million in 2,114 theaters. Lionsgate, which bought US distribution rights in 2017, did little to promote the film in advance of its release.

In 2018 Besson was accused of a rape by actress Sand van Roy. A lawyer for Besson denied the accusation and French authorities dropped the investigation in February citing a lack of evidence.

Eight other women also accused Besson of sexual misconduct in a French publication.

In a summer season that’s running 6.5 percent off the pace of last year, according to comScore, many had positioned Toy Story 4 as a surefire savior, due in part to the enviable track record of Disney and Pixar. (Disney’s Aladdin remake this weekend passed $800 million worldwide.) Instead, the weekend was down 27.2 percent from the same frame last year.

Overwhelming the industry’s market leader, Disney was thought immune to any sequel downturn.

But most other studios would love to have a film underperform to $118 million, with an expectation of long-term playability. Outside Sony’s upcoming Spider-Man: Far From Home, Toy Story 4 has no familyfriendly competition until Disney’s own Lion King remake opens on July 19.

“The numbers being bandied about out there pre-weekend were certainly much higher than the number that it came in with,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for comScore.

“But if we bring it down to earth and put some perspective on this, it was still a franchise-high debut.

It was a global opening of $238 million.”

But with underwhelming returns for even critically acclaimed comedies like Booksmart and seemingly surefire bets like The Secret Life of Pets 2, little has gone according to plan in Hollywood’s prime-time season. “The summer has been a real head-scratcher,”

said Dergarabedian.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at US and Canadian theaters, according to comScore.

Where available, the latest international numbers for Friday through Sunday are also included.

1. Toy Story 4, $118 million ($120 million international) 2. Child’s Play, $14.1 million ($3.6 million international) 3. Aladdin, $12.2 million ($32.9 million international) 4. Men in Black: International, $10.8 million ($30.2 million international) 5. The Secret Life of Pets 2, $10.3 million ($10.8 million international) 6. Rocketman, $5.7 million ($5.5 million international) 7. John Wick: Chapter 3, $4.1 million ($3.4 million international) 8. Godzilla: King of the Monsters, $3.7 million ($4 million international) 9. Dark Phoenix, $3.6 million ($11.1 million international) 10. Shaft, $3.6 million.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at international theaters (excluding the US and Canada), according to comScore.

1. Toy Story 4, $120 million 2. Aladdin, $32.9 million 3. Men in Black: International, $30.2 million 4. Spirited Away, $28.8 million 5. Dark Phoenix, $11.1 million 6. The Secret Life of Pets 2, $10.8 million 7. Rocketman, $5.5 million 8. Parasite, $4.8 million 9. Long Live the King, $4.1 million 10. Godzilla: King of the Monsters, $4 million. n

‘Studio 7’ moves to new time slot; GMA offers writing workshop GMA’s hit musical-variety show Studio 7 continues to bring world-class entertainment and nonstop fun and surprises, as it moves to its new Saturday time slot at 10 pm after the toprating Magpakailanman.

Aside from the trending musical performances of the network’s brightest stars, the viewers’ favorite weekend night music tambayan introduces a new segment, dubbed “Duet With Me,” a singing competition for aspiring singers who want to showcase their musical prowess on the Studio 7 stage. This new segment will feature a Studio 7 mainstay and two contestants who will compete in a tapatan ng biritan.

Three influencers and the featured artist will decide who will be declared as winner after the duet performance. The winner will be given a fast pass and will automatically be part of the top 64 of The Clash Season 2.

Christian Bautista, Julie Anne San Jose, Aicelle Santos and Mark Bautista, together with Gabbi Garcia, Rayver Cruz, Kyline Alcantara, Migo Adecer, Mikee Quintos, Mavy and Cassy Legaspi, and The Clash alumni Golden Cañedo, Jong Madaliday, Garrett Bolden, and Mirriam Manalo promise more exciting, show-stopping, and one-of-akind performances to their fans.

Studio 7 also welcomes the newest members of its powerhouse cast—the well-loved “BoBrey” from My Special Tatay, Ken Chan and Rita Daniela. Meanwhile, GMA’s Entertainment Group offers a free basic TV drama scriptwriting workshop which is centered on soap-opera

FROM left: Jong Madaliday, Christian Bautista, Julie Anne San Jose, Mark Bautista and Garrett Bolden

writing. The workshop is open to all male and female Filipinos, 18 to 35 years old, at least a high-school graduate and may or may not be currently employed. If employed, current employer must not be in the same business as GMA. He/she must have a flexible schedule, with or without professional experience in TV writing, willing to go through interview and diagnostic tests, and has a strong command of both Filipino and English language. The application period is ongoing until July 16.

Interested applicants are required to send their complete

registration form at www.gmanetwork.com. They must also submit their own dramatic scene of at least two characters, written in script format of not more than two pages with their own choice of situation, mood, tone or theme.

Chosen participants will be contacted by a GMA representative through the declared contact/mobile number.

All participants must agree to sign a Participation Agreement, full details of which will be disclosed once qualified. Lucky hopefuls who will pass the workshop will also have the chance to be part of GMA’s Entertainment Group.

Cardi B hit with new felony charges in strip club brawl NEW YORK—Grammy-winning rapper Cardi B was charged on Friday with new felony charges in a fight last year at a New York City strip club.

An indictment filed in state court charges Cardi B with two counts of felony attempted assault and various lesser charges, including harassment and reckless endangerment.

Prosecutors said she’s to appear on Tuesday at an arraignment in Queens.

The performer previously has denied harming anyone. A message seeking comment was left with her lawyer on Friday.

The 26-year-old Cardi B, whose real name is Belcalis Almanzar, and her entourage argued with a bartender at Angels Strip Club, police have said. They say a fight broke out in which chairs, bottles and hookah pipes were thrown, causing minor injuries to the woman and another employee.

Cardi B had originally only been charged with misdemeanors. Prosecutors presented the case to a grand jury after she rejected a plea deal that would have given her a conditional discharge. The more serious charges came to light after she was named songwriter of the year by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers at a Thursday night ceremony in Los Angeles. She was scheduled to perform on Sunday at the BET Awards, where she was nominated for Best Female Hip Hop Artist.

Her chart-topping hits include “I Like It” and the Maroon 5 collaboration “Girls Like You.” AP

KERI RUSSELL SAYS ABRAMS’S NEW ‘STAR WARS’ SCRIPT MADE HER CRY

NEW YORK—Keri Russell says that when J.J. Abrams sent her his version of the script for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, it overwhelmed her.

“When I read his script that he wrote, I cried,” she told The Associated Press in a recent interview. “I mean who knows what it will turn out to be and I hope it remains true to what he originally wanted.” Abrams directs the film which is the final chapter in the Skywalker story that started with 1977’s Star Wars. Russell says Abrams is the right person to finish the saga because he cares.

“He’s not trying to change it to be something else,” she said. “He really respects what it is.”

Russell plays a new character named Zorri Bliss. She can’t reveal much about the character except that she loves the costume. She calls the character and her look “bad ass.”

She recalled Abrams told her she would need to wear a helmet. “I was like, ‘That is my dream job. I can see everyone.

No one can see me. Hello. Amazing!’”

Russell said the original Star Wars films are among the first she saw in theaters, so it’s amazing to be part of them now. “I have such memories of Princess Leia and Chewbacca and Han Solo, I have such memories of them—like everyone does,” she said. “So, yes, it’s incredible to get to be whatever part I am.”

Russell and Abrams have a creative history because he cocreated her series Felicity, for which she won a Golden Globe. She also had a small role in Mission: Impossible III, which he directed. She is currently starring in the play Burn This with Adam Driver on Broadway.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is scheduled for release on December 20.

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Art

BusinessMirror

Tuesday, June 25, 2019

California show explores Warhol’s social, tech foreshadowing SAN FRANCISCO—Before Instagram and Facebook, before selfies and filters that perfect selfies, there was Andy Warhol, using his art to imbue friends, family, celebrities—even himself—with a certain mystique.

A retrospective of Warhol’s work on display in San Francisco captures the artist’s ability to use paintings, drawings, photographs and other mediums to create buzz-worthy personas the way people do now using social media. The idea of personal branding, “of how we can be who we want to be,” was something Warhol was trading on more than a half-century ago, said Donna de Salvo, deputy director for international initiatives and senior curator at New York’s Whitney Museum of American Art, where the exhibit originated.

“He had a real understanding of something about American culture, which is now more global.”

Andy Warhol—From A to B and back again opened recently at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and runs through September 2. It includes more than 300 works spanning Warhol’s 40-year career.

The show features some of the artist’s most iconic creations—depictions of Campbell’s soup cans and Brillo boxes, for instance, and silkscreen portraits of Elizabeth Taylor, Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley and others—along with lesser-known pieces from his early and later years. It next travels to the Art Institute of Chicago.

“Warhol is constantly labeled a pop artist, but all that happened within three or four years, and then he moved on and the work goes quite dark and explores questions of gender and sexual identity, fame, subcultures,” said Gary Garrels, Elise S. Haas senior curator of painting and sculpture for the San Francisco museum.

The show’s title comes from Warhol’s 1975 memoir in which he touches on key themes from his work, such as celebrity, money and love. The artist died in 1987 at age 58. De Salvo said the San Francisco museum’s team “really enlightened me in terms of thinking about Warhol through the lens of social media.”

It’s a common thread throughout the show.

“When you see some of the rooms, particularly the portraits, we really conceptualized it in a way of thinking about Facebook,” she said. Warhol’s understanding of the power of images to create identity and aura can be traced to his early years, after he moved to New York in 1949 and got a job as a commercial illustrator. He did work for publications, such as Mademoiselle and Glamour magazine. “That idea of marketing and all the things we take for granted was just something Warhol was immersed in,” de Salvo said. “And he was just such a sponge in his capacity to absorb things.”

In 1963, he was commissioned to do his first portrait, of modern-art collector Ethel Redner Scull.

The artist took Scull to a photo booth in New York, gave her a stack of coins and said, “Pose,” Garrels said. She took 300 pictures, looking playful, pensive and everything in between. “From that, he makes this painting,” de Salvo said: Ethel Scull 36 Times, a brightly colored montage of images that anticipated modern-day selfies and Instagram posts.

“You feel each moment,” de Salvo said. “I think it’s really one of Warhol’s great commissioned portraits.”

Warhol went on to do hundreds of portraits. They provide a window into his social network, which included friends, family members, lovers, musicians, actors, athletes and world leaders. De Salvo also notes the “multiplicity of images” in Warhol’s work. “This is where he’s such a genius of permutation—that he could create so many iterations of an image in an analog way, where now there’s a software program to do that,” she said. “There’s so many different ways. There’s a ‘Warholizer.’ He so anticipated what technology would bring about.” AP

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The museum dedicated to Binondo, the world’s oldest Chinatown CIRCLES JT NISAY

jtnisay@gmail.com

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ESTERDAY marked the 448th anniversary of Manila’s proclamation as the capital of the Philippines. On June 24, 1571, Spanish colonizer Miguel Lopez de Legazpi transferred the seat of power of the Spanish colonial administration in the country from Cebu to Manila after learning of the northern city’s rich resources, which included strong Chinese economic activity in Binondo.

Trade and commerce have reined the streets of Ongpin, Escolta and all of Binondo for generations as the world’s oldest Chinatown. Its rich history, along with its cultural significance to the country, is chronicled in a new museum that presents the story in an engaging experience that goes beyond antique displays and glassed artifacts.

Chinatown Museum showcases the evolution of Binondo and its people in 18 galleries, each one focusing on historical events and influences that have shaped the cultural and economic melting pot.

Located at the 4th level of Lucky Chinatown Mall Building A in Binondo, the space is an P80-million project by township developer Megaworld.

“With Lucky Chinatown being at the center of a community characterized by its rich history, we wanted to extend this passion for the arts and culture to the mall experience and eventually boost tourism in this part of Manila,” said Kevin L. Tan, chief strategy officer of Megaworld.

Chinatown Museum’s first gallery highlights Binondo’s beginnings in 1594, when sangleys, or Christianized Chinese immigrants mainly from Fujian and Guangdong, first settled in the area.

Another gallery focuses on the abundance of tobacco factories in Binondo, while one explores the prevalence of opium use among Chinese laborers

CEREMONIAL banging of the gong: (from left) Dannie Alvarez, head of Museums, National Commission for Culture and the Arts; Kevin L. Tan, Alliance Global Inc. chief executive officer; Lourdes Gutierrez-Alfonso, Megaworld chief operating officer; and Graham Coates, head of Megaworld Lifestyle Malls

in colonial Manila.

There are a lot of interactive exhibits as well.

Visitors can pull out and interact with various medicinal herbs from drawers at Botica de San Fernando gallery. They can also take a ride at one of the main modes of transportation in Manila in the 1900s, called tranvia.

According to Tan, the group conducted thorough research and consultations for Chinatown Museum, which is recognized by the National Historical Commission, and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts. He said they collaborated with members of academe, respected historians and prominent figures in the community “in order to provide an accurate and comprehensive representation of Binondo’s rich history.”

“We went beyond a historical presentation of the facts, and we even developed the museum’s very own app to make it educational and entertaining, especially to the young audience,” Tan added.

The app is geared toward a more immersive and interactive museum experience, wherein visitors can easily access gallery information about Binondo’s rich and colorful history. Available for download

ON VIEW AT KAIDA CONTEMPORARY KAIDA Contemporary presents Japinoysme, a solo exhibition by Japanese-Filipino artist Taichi Kondo, and Planescapes, a two-man exhibition by Filipino artists Raymond Carlos and Jose Luis Singson. The two exhibits are on view until July 1.

In his second solo exhibition, Kondo draws inspiration from his heritage as both a Japanese and a Filipino. Conscious of the many forces that shape both cultures, he brings them together in a promising ensemble and in the process recreates an eclectic impression of the similarities and

differences that make each culture distinct and remarkable.

In Planescapes, Carlos and Singson present a series of works that seek to understand how memory, imagination, and reality coexist within the plane of consciousness. They explore the notion that an endless interplay of multiple realities, both imagined and physical, invariably shape the way we perceive and process our existence.

Kaida Contemporary is at 45 Scout Madriñan Street, South Triangle, Quezon City.

on Google Play and the App Store, the app utilizes Bluetooth technology, allowing for smoother transition between topics and information while inside the museum.

Open from Tuesday to Sunday, 10 am to 6 pm, Chinatown Museum (www.chinatownmuseum.org) is the second museum venture of the property giant following the opening last year of the Iloilo Museum for Contemporary Art, or Ilomoca, at the Iloilo Business Park township in Mandurriao, Iloilo. It is the first museum of its kind in the Visayas and Mindanao region.

The integration of museum projects in its township developments across the country is part of Megaworld’s tourism initiatives. Currently, the group is curating museums for its townships in Cebu, Pampanga and Pasig City.

Tan said: “It has always been our goal to integrate arts, culture, history and heritage in the overall character of our developments.” n