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Sunday, June 30, 2019 Vol. 14 No. 263

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WANTED: MORE KIDNEY DONORS

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PHL health-care industry still grapples with renal-failure challenge By Roderick L. Abad | Contributor

VEN if modern medical care can now provide ways to treat the dreaded renal-failure malady, health-care experts agree that this remains a daunting challenge in the Philippines for lack of sources—human kidney donors—to replace malfunctioning kidneys of ailing patients.

While there are no current available data on the prevalence of kidney failure in the country, the number of Filipinos with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) is on the rise, with diabetes and hypertension as two of the more common risk factors that could precipitate the disease. At present, there are about 3.5 million diabetics nationwide, and 25 percent of the adult population is afflicted with hypertension. Nevertheless, half of them don’t know they have either an excessive amount of sugar in their bloodstream, or high blood pressure.

These conditions, if left unchecked, could worsen, leading to an irreversible renal illness. Current statistics reveal that 35,000 people undergo hemodialysis on a regular basis, a temporary intervention for renal disease. A transplant is often the only hope for survival of ESRD patients to ideally live another 17 years or longer. However, only about 500 of them could avail themselves of such procedure annually. “The problem is a lot of people are on dialysis and they don’t know that what they really need is a transplant,” Dr. Susan P. Mercado,

special envoy of the President for global health initiatives, told the BusinessMirror after the media launch of the documentary film contest organized by Renal Gift Allowing Life for Others (Regalo) held recently at the National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI) in Quezon City. “So if we were to really save the lives of people with renal disease, we need to do about 100 transplants a day.”

The furor

THE event was held amid the furor stirred by “ghost” dialysis treatment reports that may have prob-

ably cost the government billions of pesos, even as experts called on the Duterte administration to invest more in kidney transplantation to help address the issue of the alleged misspending of public funds for treatments of indigent patients. Reports alleged that even patients who had since died were being processed for claims with the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) by WellMed Dialysis and Laboratory Center. (See, “Government urged to invest more on kidney transplantation,” in the BusinessMirror, June 21, 2019). Continued on A2

Robots can now decode the cryptic language of central bankers

By Amanda Billner | Bloomberg News

In a matter of seconds, machines that mimic the human brain can read through dense and obscure policy statements and then offer a prediction. The humans who develop and use them say artificial intelligence gets it right, more often than not. Robots that learn as they go “not only analyze communications faster than humans, but also mitigate several human shortcomings,” said Evan Schnidman, the

founder of St. Louis-based Prattle Analytics Llc., which develops and sells computer-generated research on 15 central banks to hedge fund clients on Wall Street. “Human confirmation bias can lead to substantial analytical errors.” For central bankers who have long thrived on wielding the power of words, growing use of the technology means they’ll need to pay even closer attention to their language choices, especially if

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 51.3580

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OBOTS are on their way to cracking one of the world’s toughest codes: central banker speak.

computers seize on historical patterns humans tend to miss. Some central banks are already starting to vet communications through machines to gauge how they’ll be interpreted, although Prattle wouldn’t reveal which ones. Schnidman, who did a PhD at Harvard University on how central bank communications impact financial markets before starting Prattle in 2014, charges $60,000 a year for three to five users to access analysis. It takes about 45 seconds for the neural network of Prattle’s robots to read a 500-word statement and map the words over 80 billion connections to learn how the language is interconnected. It then draws on all prior language from that central bank to determine the

likely market impact. For Federal Reserve minutes, it’s even faster: clients start receiving analysis in less than a millisecond. This speed is one of the key reasons why advances in artificial intelligence are upending an area of research that, until a few years ago, might have seemed impossible to do without human common sense. That’s because the task requires not only swiftness, but creativity. Policy makers have historically been hard to understand, partly because of the complexity of the topic and sometimes deliberately. Former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan said in 1987 he’d “learned to mumble with great incoherence.” Continued on A2

n JAPAN 0.4765 n UK 65.1117 n HK 6.5717 n CHINA 7.4672 n SINGAPORE 37.9614 n AUSTRALIA 35.9917 n EU 58.4043 n SAUDI ARABIA 13.6955

Source: BSP (June 28, 2019 )

NewsSunday Wanted: More kidney donors BusinessMirror

A2 Sunday, June 30, 2019

Continued from A1

Two former employees alleged that the health provider was engaged in the illegal collection of deceased patients’ benefits. They asserted that its owners and officers allegedly participated in the illegal scheme. PhilHealth, on the other hand, confirmed that it had monitored fraudulent acts of the health-care provider. Per its findings, 28 medical cases that have been filed involved deceased patients, while 12 others are under investigation. Given this, it recently filed 28 administrative cases against WellMed. Meanwhile, the Department of Justice has recommended the filing of charges of the complex crime of estafa via falsification of official documents against WellMed owner Bryan Sy and two others regarding the alleged moneymaking scheme from nonexistent kidney treatments.

Donor scarcity

UNFORTUNATELY, the undisclosed number of organ donors in the Philippines remains among the lowest in the world per million population. “The issue of kidney failure is really staring at us,” noted Dr. Enrique Ona, former secretary of the Department of Health (DOH). “Science is there already to be able to give a reasonably good life for those affected by this disease, and yet, the number of kidneys

from donors, either living or deceased, for transplantation purposes remains dismally low,” he said. Low organ donation and kidney transplantation could be attributed to apprehension and wrong beliefs of likely benefactors. The fear of giving one’s body part, for instance, hinders potentially healthy givers from shedding kidneys for a cause. Unknown to them, the operation is actually less painful and lasts only for an hour or two. “The donor goes home after four days [of stay in the hospital],” Dr. Romina A. Dañguilan, NKTI deputy director for medical education and research, said. “We do laparoscopic donor operation. It’s just very small incision. So recovery is very fast,” the noted nephrologist added. A healthy lifestyle, she said, is needed to avoid complications, including no smoking and heavy drinking, plus a regular checkup at least once a year. Another factor is the Filipino culture: the family of a potential deceased donor may not consent to such a procedure because they want to bury him or her in one piece, without any organ missing. “But now there are families who are into cremation. Since they will allow their departed loved one to be burnt, why not donate first the organs that could help save the lives of kidney patients?” suggested Dañguilan, who is also the organizing committee head of Regalo.

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Policy issue

ONA, who has been a champion of renal-failure treatment since he was at the helm of the DOH, said the problem could also be considered a policy issue that needs to be addressed. The former DOH chief was referring to “organ trafficking” that needs to be redefined anew in the existing Republic Act (RA) 9208, otherwise known as the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003. Under its implementing rules and regulations (IRR), Trafficking in Persons for the Sale or Removal of Organs refers to the recruitment, transportation, transfer or harboring, or receipt of persons, with or without the victim’s consent or knowledge, within or across national borders by means of threat or use of force, or other forms of coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of power or of position, taking advantage of the vulnerability of the person, or, the giving or receiving of payments, or benefits, to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person for the purpose of removal or sale of organs. The latter definition, according to him, is an indication that such law is “quite vague” for its failure to differentiate what is “gratitude” from the so-called trafficking. He cited, for instance, the case when a donor is given assistance by a certain foundation or the recipient and/or his family out of appreciation for the favor he did.

DR. Romina A. Dañguilan, NKTI deputy director for medical education and research

“It should be very clear that it’s not part of trafficking,” Ona, who is also the president and chairman of Maria Corazon Torres Y. Javier Foundation and Kidney Foundation of the Philippines, argued. He added another problematic issue—nationality, wherein the IRR stipulated that a foreign donor or recipient is allowed only if they are related. “This discounts the person’s desire to help a fellow, regardless of color, creed, religious or political affiliation. The medicine should be devoid of that if the intention is to help a sick person,” Ona said. Addressing this concern, he recommended either the passage

NONOY LACZA

of new law or an amendment of RA 9208.

The gift of life

THE multistakeholder alliance Regalo, which advocates organ donation and kidney transplantation, has launched a documentary film competition to encourage more Filipinos to help patients in need. Regalo: A Gift of Life Documentary Film Contest was introduced in time for the National Kidney Month celebration this June, with the theme “Make It Your Mission, Share Your Decision.” “Documentaries are powerful tools that can educate and motivate people to do good,” said Asia

Pacific Film Institute Founder Ben Yalung. “The docu film contest is part of our continuing advocacy to promote awareness on the nobility and lifesaving benefits of organ donation, and encourage more Filipinos to be organ donors,” added Dañguilan. The contest is open to filmmakers, videographers, students and film enthusiasts. Registration is free. Cash prizes await the winners. Deadline for submission of entries is on October 4, 2019. For more details, log on to the Regalo Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/RegaloOrganDonationAdvocacy/.

Robots can now decode the cryptic language of central bankers Continued from A1

These days central bankers are, generally speaking, trying to make their communications more transparent for a broad audience; on becoming Fed Chairman, Jerome Powell said he would attempt to communicate in “plain-English’’ and doubled the number of press conferences. Policy-makers have long been aware that their words can be as powerful as their actions for influencing markets. Bank of England Governor Mervyn King illustrated this in 2005 with his “Maradona theory of interest rates.” He was inspired by Argentinian soccer player Diego Maradona, who in the 1986 World Cup dumbfounded five English players to score despite running in a straight line. King’s point was that England’s defense expected Maradona to swerve, so he didn’t have to. Likewise, if investors expect the central bank to adjust policy to control inflation, markets will tighten or loosen by themselves, and the bank doesn’t have to act. But robots aren’t that smart yet, according to Dirk Schumacher, a Frankfurt-based economist at French lender Natixis SA, which this month started publishing an automated sentiment index of European Central Bank (ECB) meeting statements. “The question is how intelligent it can become,” he said. “Maybe in a few years time we’ll have algorithms which get everything right, but at this stage I find it a nice crosscheck to verify one’s own assessments.” The main edge humans still have over machines is being able to read and understand ambiguity, Schumacher said. While Natixis’s system can quantify how optimistic or pessimistic ECB policy-makers

‘T

HE question is how intelligent it can become. Maybe in a few years time we’ll have algorithms which get everything right, but at this stage I find it a nice crosscheck to verify one’s own assessments.” —Schumacher

are looking at word choice and intensity, it can’t discern if a policy maker said something ironic—although arguably not all humans could either. “It’s not a perfect science and it’s hard to see that humans will be replaced by these methods anytime soon,” said Elisabetta Basilico, an investment adviser who writes about quantitative finance. Still, the technology is developing fast and over time it could conceivably be able to grasp more nuanced communication like sarcasm, metaphor and humor. Prattle, which was recently acquired by Liquidnet, claims its software accurately predicts G10 interest rate moves 9.7 times out of 10. The system creates a unique lexicon for each central bank board member and analyzes language patterns over time, according to Schnidman. He said it’s able to control for Chicago Fed President Charles Evans’s frequent use of so-called straw-man arguments, a rhetorical device that deliberately exaggerates an opponent’s position to undermine it. A Chicago Fed spokesman declined to comment. The algorithm used by Nordea Bank Abp, the largest lender in the Nordic region, is sharp enough to notice if a sentence sticks out from

the rest of the text, according to Kristin Magnusson Bernard, Nordea’s global head of macro research. Backtesting shows it would have picked up on the importance of the famous three words, “whatever it takes,” ECB President Mario Draghi uttered in July 2012 that ultimately saved the euro from collapse. “The question is what would happen if a central bank would completely rework its communication approach,” she said. “Then it would be interesting if a human or an algorithm would be faster at finding the core meaning of it.” For now, human analysts are keeping their jobs—but admit to paying more attention to their biases: whether they are just seeking to confirm previously held beliefs or following gut feelings that aren’t backed by facts. And banks are hiring programmers to develop software in-house, people like 26-year-old Master’s graduate Sofia Frojd, the brains behind Nordea’s self-learning algorithm, which offers analysis on the Bank of England, the ECB and the local Riksbank, among others. The system churns out charts almost instantly, including a “hawk-ometer” measuring whether central bankers favor higher interest rates to contain inflation or lower rates to spur the economy. The Riksbank’s next move will be a rate rise, but not for a very long time, according to both the robot, whose electronic brain was uploaded with communications that go back to the 1990s, and Nordea’s main Riksbank analyst Torbjorn Isaksson. “I hardly have the time to open the PDF file from the Riksbank before Sofia says ‘it’s ready’,” Isaksson said. “It will continue to develop over time, which is a bit scary for a Riksbank analyst.”

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The World BusinessMirror

May tells UK bizmen: Weigh risks of Trump’s Huawei ban

RIME Minister Theresa May has warned British mobile operators to weigh up the impact of President Donald J. Trump’s crackdown on Huawei Technologies Co., amid concern that the UK telecom industry could be vulnerable to any escalation in the US-China trade war. The issue is critically important for businesses such as BT Group Plc. and Vodafone Group Plc., some of Huawei’s biggest clients, which are in the process of rolling out next-generation 5G services. Trump’s administration has argued that Huawei ’s connections to the Chinese government mean it could allow Beijing to spy through its equipment, and has

urged countries around the globe to avoid the company while developing 5G networks. Huawei has repeatedly denied that it spies for the government. The US has put Huawei on an export blacklist, a process known as entity listing, which threatens to disrupt the supply chain for British companies. UK officials are trying to establish how badly

Trump’s ban will hit British operators and are concerned that the US could take more damaging steps in the future, according to people familiar with the matter. “The decision by the United States for Huawei to be put on the entity list has obviously brought another factor into this issue, and individual companies will be wanting to consider what the impact of that has,” May told reporters during her trip to Japan for the Group of 20 summit. Trump’s action has further complicated an already sensitive UK government review of the telecom supply chain ahead of the rollout of 5G mobile networks. That review was due to be completed earlier this year, weighing up the security considerations affecting Huawei’s potential involvement, but has been delayed. May’s imminent departure, and the US entity listing, make it more likely that the decision will be left

to whoever replaces her as prime minister, though it is still possible that she concludes the process and announces the findings before leaving office at the end of July, one of the people said. In Osa k a, May was asked if Tr u mp’s act ions had made t he UK government’s rev iew pointless. One fea r is t hat Br it ish compa nies cou ld be forced to d itc h Hu awe i for t he i r ow n operat iona l reasons. “We want to ensure that we get a diversification in the market for the future,” May told the BBC. “Of course, individual companies will be making decisions about their own rollout of 5G and we have yet to see the full impact of the US entity listing of Huawei.” Another person familiar with the UK’s position said it was possible Trump would decide to remove Huawei from the blacklist. May said the review will be published “in due course.” Bloomberg News

Sunday, June 30, 2019

Malaysia may decriminalize drug use to battle addiction

UAL A LUMPUR, Malaysia—Malaysia’s government plans to drop criminal penalties for the possession and use of drugs in small quantities to battle addiction, but stressed the move is not akin to legalizing narcotics. Malaysia has one of the world’s harshest penalties for drug possession. Anyone found with 200 grams (7.05 ounces) of cannabis, 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) of opium, 40 grams (1.41 ounces) of cocaine, and 15 grams (0.53 ounces) of heroin or morphine face being charged with drug trafficking, which carries the death penalty. More than 1,200 prisoners are on death row, most of them convicted of drug crimes. Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad said in a statement on Thursday that the proposal for the decriminalization of drug addiction will be a significant game changer. He said drug addiction is a complex, relapsing medical condition and throwing an addict into jail will not cure them. “Drug decriminalization will

indeed be a critical next step toward achieving a rational drug policy that puts science and public health before punishment and incarceration,” Dzulkefly said. “An addict shall be treated as a patient, not as a criminal, whose addiction is a disease we would like to cure.” He said the move mustn’t be mistaken as legalizing drugs as drug trafficking will remain a crime. More than 30 countries have adopted a drug decriminalization policy and research showed that it didn’t increase drug use or drug-related crimes but helped to cut legal cost and improved social outcomes, he said. Officials said the proposal is still in an initial stage and details have not been worked out. Earlier this week, Home Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said most of the 70,000 prisoners in Malaysia’s jails were drug addicts. With the proposed decriminalization, he said the addicts will be rehabilitated and given treatment, with strong support from family members and the community. AP

A BusinessMirror Special Feature

A4 Sunday, June 30, 2019 | www.businessmirror.com.ph

SUSTAINABLE

Going green: Living a more sustainab

from materials like bamboo, metal or stainless steel. These can be washed and reused many times, rather than thrown away. Opting to bring grocery bags for the grocery and containers, instead of plastic water bottles, can also cut down on plastic waste.

By Erin Nery

T seems as if everyone is becoming more aware of the idea of “going green”. This means making changes, no matter how small or big, to make more environmentallyfriendly choices and decisions. As humans, we can make changes to live a more sustainable lifestyle and reduce our carbon footprint. Living eco-friendly

NOWADAYS, people have become more conscious in their lifestyle to preserve our environment. A zero-waste lifestyle means not just saving natural resources, but everything in the environment. This can be done by reducing our consumption of single-use plastic products. According to data from the

Sustainable living tips

THERE is a notion that the cost of “going green” is an expensive lifestyle. It is important to know where to find eco-friendly products that you need to help reduce plastic pollution. It will be easier to practice the lifestyle when you already know where to get these zero-waste products. Places like the talipapa, or fish market, can be plastic-free as long as you bring your own containers. There are also zerowaste markets, like the Humble Market, which gives the option to weigh your items in the containers you bring. Zero-waste shops have slowly made their efforts to reduce single-use waste and lessen people’s impact on the environment. Every one plays an important role in protecting the environment and keeping it clean. When we do our duty to take care

Ocean Conservancy’s TIDES system, plastic straws are the 11st most found trash in ocean cleanups as of early last year. One of the most popular singleuse alternatives to plastic are metal straws. However, there are other reusable alternatives, such as having a cutlery set instead of using disposable plastic utensils. The cutlery set, is typically made

Resorts World Manila steps up for the environment

(L-R): EMB-NCR Regional Director Atty. Domingo Clemente, Jr.; Pollution Control Association of the Philippines Vice President for External Affairs Engr. Gretchen Fontejon-Enarle; Resorts World Manila Chief Operating Officer Stephen Reilly; DENR-EMB Hazardous Waste Section Chief Engr. Geri-Geronimo Sañez; ABS-CBN Lingkod Kapamilya Foundation Managing Director Susan Afan; and Genetron International Marketing Technical Sales Director Engr. Jocelyn Panen during the MOA signing of Bantay Langis Partnership between RWM and ABS-CBN Lingkod Kapamilya Foundation.

RUN With Me 2018’s celebrity leaders helped raise P3.5M for charity in last year’s run.

HE Philippines’ pleasant climate and natural resources are a major draw for the global tourism market. As the country’s premiere integrated entertainment and tourism destination, Resorts World Manila (RWM) recognizes that working towards environmental sustainability is both a matter of social responsibility and business continuity. RWM employee volunteers plant germinants that will one day grow and be planted in the La Mesa Watershed.

The company has an umbrella CSR program which focuses on employee volunteerism called the League of Volunteer Employees (LOVE) Plus. Under LOVE Plus are sub-programs covering different advocacies including social development, promotion of culture and the arts, and

environmental sustainability. The environmental sustainability sub-program, LOVE Green has identified waste management and climate change as two pressing issues that it can make positive significant impacts to vis-à-vis the nature of RWM’s business. To address these, several programs have been put in place

such as Green Day, a monthly company-wide recyclable collection program to lessen the company’s landfill contribution; LOVE Tanim, a bi-annual tree planting and environmental education activity; and Bantay Langis, an initiative in partnership with ABS-CBN Foundation Bantay Kalikasan for the collection and repurposing of

used kitchen oils. “One of the most glaring problems we face right now is waste management, especially in the city. Studies estimate that Metro Manila landfills set to will become unusable in less than 20 years,” says Archie Nicasio, Corporate Social Responsibility Head of RWM. “We need to

RWM and its partner charity, Tzu Chi Foundation, gather the recyclables which will be turned into items that can be used in disaster relief drives.

reduce the amount of waste whenever and wherever we can.” One of the company’s largest CSR events, Run With Me, is RWM’s annual celebrity-led fun run for charity. Initially conceived as an employee event, Run With Me was opened to the public in 2017, gathering a total of nearly 9,000 runners since 2016. Like every public race, Run With Me has hydration stations throughout the running course. Nicasio notes that except for a few runners who came equipped with running belts, most participants drank from the single-use plastic cups which were then discarded after the runners had their fill. “As a runner, you sometimes don’t realize how wasteful you can get when you use the little plastic cups at the hydration stations in all the runs you’ve participated in,” says Nicasio, who is also an avid runner. “We’ve realized that there is a better way and we’re going to start doing it for this year’s Run With Me.”

Run With Me X, to be held at the Mall of Asia Concert Grounds on August 25, 2019 as part of the company’s 10th year celebrations as the country’s first integrated resort, now features commemorative reusable hydration bottles in every race kit in addition to the singlet and other race materials. “This is an item that they can keep and use again and again so that they can skip single use cups even beyond the race,” explains Nicasio. “This year is set to be the biggest Run With Me to date, and if we get 8,000 – 10,000 runners – they can translate to thousands of single-use cups that will no longer be going to waste.” Run With Me X features celebrity running ambassadors Meg Imperial, Rovilson Fernandez, and Coach Rio dela Cruz, as well as other local celebrities who will act as race team leaders. Interested runners can now register online for Run With Me X through www.runwithme.ph.

INNOVATIONS

ble life

of the environment, we can make the world a better place. Not just for us, but also for animals and the generations to come.

Sustainability on a bigger scale

IN the Philippines almost 48 million shopping bags are being used each day, according to a report by the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives. It also showed that Filipinos use an average of 591 pieces of sachets. Sachets are affordable and convenient for consumers, yet a major contributor to plastic waste. Unilever Philippines, which sells products in single-use sachets, launched a project last year for recycling sachets. According to them, their plastic packaging will be fully reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025. Plastic can take thousands of years to decompose in landfills. In 2020 Starbucks announced that they will make an effort to eliminate single-use plastic straws in its stores around the world and replace them with a new recyclable lid. Starbucks and Unilever Philippines are among the many companies who are becoming more eco-friendly.

www.businessmirror.com.ph | Sunday, June 30, 2019

PRIVATE FIRMS, GOVERNMENT AGENCIES PARTNER TO HELP ACHIEVE WASTE-FREE FUTURE By Leony R. Garcia

HAT used to be a world miracle is now a certified nuisance—tons of plastic waste in varying size, from large containers, fishing nets to microscopic plastic pellets or even particles, are discarded every year, everywhere, polluting lands, rivers, coasts, beaches and oceans. According to a scientific study published in the Journal Science in February 2015, at least 8 million metric tons of plastic end up in our oceans. It is equivalent to five grocery bags filled with plastic for every foot of coastline in the world. The cumulative input for 2025 would be nearly 20 times the 8 million metric tons estimate—100 bags of plastic per foot of coastline in the world! As early as 2006, Greenpeace reported that at least 267 different animal species—from the whale, sea lions, and birds to the microscopic organisms called zooplankton—are known to have suffered from entanglement and ingestion of plastic debris. Ac-

cording to the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, plastic debris kills an estimated 100,000 marine mammals annually, as well as millions of people birds and fishes. This should not be the case as plastic was created to help mankind to eliminate the need to ransack the Earth in pursuit of substances, which are constantly growing scarcer, including plants and animals. The National Geographic said it all: “Since helping the allies win the Second World War—think of nylon parachutes or lightweight airplane parts—plastics have transformed all our lives as few other inventions have, mostly for the better. These have eased travel into space and revolutionized medicine; lightened every car and jumbo jet today, saving fuel—and pollution. In the form of clingy, light-as-air wraps, these extend the life of fresh food. In airbags, incubators, helmets or simply by delivering clean drinking water to poor people in those now demonized

disposable bottles, plastics save lives daily.” With the global movement to save Mother Earth, Nestlé reiterated its April 2018 commitment to make 100 percent of its packaging recyclable or reusable by 2025, with a particular focus on avoiding plastic waste. The giant food company established in 2018 its Institute of Packaging Sciences to evaluate and develop various sustainable packaging materials, and collaborate with industrial partners to develop new packaging materials and solutions. Between 2020 and 2025 Nestlé said it will phase out all plastics that are not recyclable or are hard to recycle for all its products worldwide. All 4,200 Nestlé facilities worldwide are committed to eliminating single-use plastic items that cannot be recycled. These items will be replaced by materials that can easily be recycled or reused. In the Philippines Nestlé has stepped up tangible moves to meet its target since 2018, with programs such as Balik Plastic,

Premyong Fantastic sachet collection among its adopted public schools in Metro Manila, Cebu City; and Cagayan de Oro City and the internal sachet-collection drive called “SaCo” (Sachet Collection) among its factories and offices. Collected sachets were turned over to GreenAntz for eco-brick production. Ongoing local initiatives to promote better solid waste management and support its drive towards zero waste include packaging reduction with an annual target of packaging material reduction by 1,000 metric tons, or 1 million kilograms, of packaging materials. Collection and Recycling of used packaging include the ecobrick project that will convert laminates to eco-bricks and pavers with hubs in Cabuyao, Laguna, Cagayan de Oro City, Cauayan City, Isabela and Baliwag, Bulacan. Nestlé collaborated with the Department of Education (DepEd) and Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP) to convert Bear

Brand packs into school chairs called “Tibay Chairs” intended for donation to schools in need. The company also initiated collection of used beverage cartons from chocolate drinks and recycled them into paper, some of which are used as product promo sleeves for product bundles. The recycled paper products should be out in the market starting in January. Aside from its existing programs, Nestlé initiated partnership with companies and industry associations, government and NGOs, academe and recyclers through the Philippine Alliance for Recycling and Material Sustainability (PARMS). The group has launched a plastic-waste recovery program in seven pilot schools and their communities, in cooperation with the Parañaque City Community Environment and Natural Resources Office and DepEd. This is in preparation for the plastics recycling infrastructure that PARMS will set up in Parañaque City within the year, for sachets collection and upcycling.

CEMENTING THE FUTURE

THROUGH PLASTIC NEUTRALITY

NESTLÉ, REPUBLIC CEMENT INK PLASTIC-WASTE COPROCESSING DEAL Nestlé Philippines, and Republic Cement and Building Materials Inc. have signed a memorandum of agreement for the cement-kiln coprocessing of postconsumer plastic wastes, a major source of environmental pollution. The agreement was signed by President and Chief Executive Officer Kais Marzouki (second from left) and corporate affairs head lawyer Ernesto Mascenon (right) of Nestlé Philippines, and President Renato Sunico (left) and director Nabil Francis (third from left) of Republic Cement and Building Materials Inc. Francis is concurrently the CEO of Republic Cement Services Inc.

REPUBLIC CEMENT AND BUILDING MATERIALS INC. TERESA PLANT Republic Cement has the capability and is duly licensed by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to use and dispose of qualified waste streams through cement-kiln coprocessing.

By JT Nisay

MAGINE the ocean with more plastic than fish. The United Nations Environment Program has warned that the scenario could be the reality thirty years from now if pollution levels continue at their current rate. One measure that has fast gained traction among environmentally responsible companies to address the great ecological challenge is “plastic neutrality.” The concept involves the recovery of plastics equal to what the company has produced. Collected plastic wastes are then recycled or co-processed. Taking the lead in coprocessing plastic wastes is

Republic Cement and Building Materials, Inc. Republic Cement partners with companies looking to balance their plastic footprint through cement kiln co-processing, an alternative waste management solution that torches waste materials such as plastics at 1450°C in a kiln chamber, recovering from them thermal and mineral properties that provide the energy needed to produce cement.

THE ‘TINGI’ ECONOMY The Philippines is the third-largest contributor to ocean waste plastics. Generally, consumer products distributed and sold in sachets, small packets, or tingi system, is a hallmark of developing countries.

Any emissions from the process are filtered and monitored by the minute to abide by standards of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. In the Philippines, the more common waste disposal methods are landfilling

and chemical treatment. Coprocessing, a sustainable waste management solution, is more advantageous as it completely recovers the energy and minerals coming from wastes. “With more Filipino companies embracing the plastic-neutrality

REPUBLIC CEMENT TO COPROCESS POSTCONSUMER MATERIALS FROM CENTURY PACIFIC, SHAKEY’S In a push to clean up the environment, Republic Cement has signed an agreement to coprocess postconsumer materials and manufacturing waste from the Century Pacific Group and Shakey’s Pizza Asia Ventures Inc. (Spavi). Signing the deal are (from left) Vicente Gregorio, chief executive of Spavi; Christopher Po, executive chairman of the Century Pacific Group; Nabil Francis, chief executive officer of Republic Cement; Renato Sunico, president of Republic Cement; and Martin Wills, Republic Cement vice president.

concept, we are confident that we are making strides for a greener, stronger Republic,” said Nabil Francis, Republic Cement Services, Inc. CEO. “Ultimately, this is about preserving the environment for Filipinos for generations to come.” This year, Republic Cement celebrates three partnerships with companies looking to become plastic neutral. In February, Hope marked its first anniversary of plastic neutrality. After their efforts of building classrooms using eco-bricks from post-consumer plastic proved to be insufficient in attaining their goal of having a balanced plastic footprint, the makers of the Hope in a Bottle offset their plastic packaging materials consumption against postconsumer plastics by co-processing at Republic Cement’s cement kilns. Republic Cement also teamed up with Nestle Philippines in May. Nestle globally announced last year its commitment to make 100% of its packaging recyclable or reusable

by 2025. The company’s vision is that none of its waste ends up in landfill or as litter. Achieving the vision entails three focus areas: developing the packaging of the future; helping shape a waste-free future through collection and recycling; and driving new behaviors and understanding on waste. Earlier this month, two companies under the Century Pacific Group (CPG) also tapped Republic Cement to achieve its push to become plastic neutral by 2020. Century Pacific Food (CNPF) and Shakey’s Pizza Asia Ventures (PIZZA), alongside Republic Cement, have agreed to co-process recovered post-consumer waste and convert it to energy as alternative fuel in producing cement. A CRH-Aboitiz Company, Republic Cement has five cement plants and one grinding station in the Philippines to go along with more than 60 years of experience in cement manufacturing.

Faith A6

Sunday

Sunday, June 30, 2019

Saint Lutgard of Aywieres, mystic By Corazon Damo-Santiago

HE Sacred Heart is Christ, the Savior, the Word Incar nate, the Redeemer, the Son of God. Through the ages, Jesus appeared to saints, with assigned tasks to honor His Sacred Heart. To Saint Lutgard (Lutgardis) of Aywieres is attributed the “first mystic revelation of Christ’s heart.” While speaking to a man, who fell in love with her, Jesus, with a spear wound on His side, appeared. “Seek no more the pleasure of this affection: Behold, here, forever what you should have and how you should love...I promise you the most pure of joys.” With eyes fixed on the wound of Jesus, fear overwhelmed Lutgard. As she approached Him, “Jesus let an arm down, and drew her to Himself. He pressed her lips on the wound at His side and Her heart, overwhelmed with joy, was filled with wisdom.”

First mystical exchange of hearts

LUTGARD was born in 1182 in Tongres, Brabant, Belgium. At 20, she entered Saint Catherine, a Benedictine convent at Saint Trond near Tongres. Her prayerfulness and her love for solitude contributed to her “Christocentric mysticism.” She would have visions of Jesus, Mary and Saint John Evangelist. Some nuns witnessed her levitations. Drops of blood can sometimes be seen on her forehead. A friend to early Dominicans and Franciscans, she supported their missionary work by fasting and intercessory prayers. The friars called her Mater Praedicatorum (Mother of Preachers). Some of the sisters believed that she was guided by the devil and would spy on her at the middle of the night. Once, they saw her body wrapped with radiant light. On the Feast of the Pentecost when “Veni Creator Spiritus” was sung, she was seen to levitate, floating in the air. With the touch of her hand, healings occurred. When Jesus appeared to her, she complained about her gift of healing. It is a great distraction to her and the community. “Such a grace, Lord, now I hardly have time to be alone with you.” The Lord asked, “what grace do you want me to give you?” Lutgard asked for proficiency in Latin to evoke more devotion in reciting psalms. But when she met the Lord she confessed that “lofty intuitions only interfered with her devotion instead of nourishing it.” So when the Lord asked what is it that she wanted, she said: “Lord, I want thy heart.” And the Lord answered, “You want my heart, I too want your heart.” In Mystics of the Church, it was described as “mystical union of wills,” but the exchange is known as “spiritual betrothal,” and Luthgard “perhaps is the first

saint with this mystical exchange of hearts” with Jesus. Thomas Merton said: “She entered mystical life with a vision of the pierced heart of the Savior and concluded her mystical espousal by exchange of heart with him.” Thomas Cantimpre, her first biographer, narrated: “She had fever, her flesh shook with chill and she was shivering, and her clothing wet with perspiration.” She heard the bells ring for matins, or prayer after midnight, at about 2:45 a.m. She leapt from bed when she heard Jesus telling her to get up. “For at this very hour, sinners are wallowing in the mire of their vices and you ought to be doing penance for them,” she said.

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

Cardinal Tagle: There’s no room for individualism in evangelization

Two decades of fasting

IN 1205, at the age of 23, she was elected prioress of the Bened ic t i ne com mu n it y. But her thoughts were with austere Cistercian nuns (Trappist) who live a contemplative life. Asking for an advice from Jean de Lierre, a preacher at Liege, she was urged to follow her conscience. Her friend Christina advised her to join the Cistercians of Aywieres near Liege. In the new congregation the nuns spoke French, which is so different from Flemish. She experienced loneliness due to language barrier, but her loneliness and solitude developed her Christocentric mysticism. The Blessed Mother appeared to her asking for penance to appease Jesus because of the increase of bad Christians and heretics. She fasted, for seven years taking only bread, and weak beer, the ordinary drink of the religious. Then in obedience, she was ordered to take other foods which she could not swallow. After seven years, the Blessed Mother, again in a revelation, requested her to fast for sinners. Her prescribed food was bread with vegetables. She had a vision of Jesus before God the Father showing her His wounds. “Do you see how I suffer myself entirely to my Father for sinners? In the same way, I would have you offer yourself entirely to me for sinners and avert the anger kindled against them for retribution for sins.” After 14 years of rigorous fasting, she was fasted again for another seven years against attacks on Mother Church to prevent terrible harm on souls. Already blind since 1235, the seven-year fasting brought her to her death. In a vision, Christ informed her of her death, a day after the feast of the Holy Trinity. She died on June 16, 1246. She is the patron saint of the blind and physically disabled Damo-Santiago is a former regional director of the Department of Education National Capital Region. She is currently a faculty member of Mater Redemptoris Collegium in Calauan, Laguna, and of Mater Redemptoris College in San Jose City, Nueva Ecija.

SANTA LUTGARDA by Goya, 1787, Monasterio de San Joaquín y Santa Ana, Valladolid, Spain WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

POPE Francis (right) greets Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle, archbishop of Manila (second from right) and a group of migrants during his weekly general audience, at the Vatican on September 27, 2017. AP FILE

HERE is no room for individualism when it comes to evangelization and social communication, Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle said. The head of the Manila archdiocese warned that individualism weakens the very meaning of the Church and its mission. He said there is always a “danger” that people who work for the same cause end up working separately. “And in the meantime, the voice becomes weaker and then impact becomes also less,” Tagle said.

The cardinal made his comments as he greeted the Voice of the Word Media Network on its first anniversary on June 26. The media facility of the Borongan diocese runs an AM radio, an FM online radio, 4 Cable TV Channels, a news service and a newspaper. Its contents are also distributed through different social-media platforms, which

Practicing the spirit of Christian poverty MSGR. JOSEFINO S. RAMIREZ SUNDAY GOSPEL IN OUR LIFE

E can concentrate our reflection of the gospel of today on the demands that Jesus made to those persons who wanted to follow Him. Someone who volunteered to follow Christ was warned about these demands. “The foxes have dens, the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head” (Luke 9:58). Was he ready to live like Christ? Could he live without the security and comfort of his home? Two other persons wanted to follow Christ. They too were warned. Could they be detached from the persons whom they love, because Christ will be their great love? These demands of Christ apply in the first place to those who wish to follow Him in a life of dedication, such as a priest or a religious figure. The actual abandonment of one’s home and family in order to spread the gospel is necessary for

some people. On the other hand, God asks the majority of men to remain where they are, and to follow Christ in the circumstance in which they find themselves. But they, too, have to practice the spirit of poverty and detachment. How should an ordinary Christian, with a family to feed and other obligations to fulfill, practice poverty? The spirit of poverty does not consist in having or not having material possessions. A person who does not possess things, but who is nevertheless stingy and possessive with the few things he has, is actually “rich in spirit of material things” and will find it difficult to follow Christ. A person who ow ns ma ny things, but who is detached from them and is generous with them, is actually practicing poverty of spirit. Perhaps the key to understanding the spirit of Christian poverty lies in the attitude that we have

include Facebook, Youtube, Instagram, Twitter and Spotify. Tagle, who also heads the Philippine Radio Educational and Information Center, lauded the initiative “to give voice to the Word of God”. “With communion for a common mission, we hope that our voice will come across clearly, unified and the impact would be greater,” he said. Cardinal Tagle also emphasized that the world of social media is a very potent tool that needs to be evangelized. “The bearer of the Word must receive the Word of God. Before the network could be the voice of the Word, it must be heard in the world of the network,” he said. Roy Lagarde/CBCP News

toward material goods. Money, gadgets, properties, etc., should be treated as means, and not as ends in themselves. They are means which we have to serve God and to do good to our fellowmen. If we use them selfishly, then we begin to treat them as ends in themselves. They no longer serve the original purpose for which God created them. Instead of leading us to God, they become obstacles that can hinder our union with God and our service to others. We can point out some criteria that can help us to examine our attitude to our material possessions. Honesty. Have we acquired those items according to the moral law of God, or did we have to be unethical and dishonest in order to pull a fast one on another person? Cheerfulness. Do I get sad or angry just because I do not possess a certain item? Or do I cheerfully do away with something, seeing it as an opportunity to give my heart to God in this particular matter? Generosity. When I see that someone is in need, am I ready to suffer some inconvenience in order to help that person? Remember, the more detached we are, the more we become master of ourselves. SaintFrancis of Assisi, that famous teacher of poverty, felt like he owned the whole world, yet he only had the shirt on his back. When we are generous with God, he pays back more that we had ever suspected.

POPE SEEKS MORE FREEDOM IN THEOLOGY, DIALOGUE WITH ISLAM

ATICAN CITY—Pope Francis called for a reform of the way theology is taught in Catholic schools, saying students must learn about dialogue with Judaism and Islam, and that overall there must be greater freedom in theological research and academic pursuits. The Jesuit pope made the call last week during a speech at the Jesuitrun theology university in Naples. It follows his outreach this year to the Muslim world with the signing of a joint statement with the imam of Cairo’s Al Azhar, the seat of Sunni learning, establishing the relationship between Catholics and Muslims as brothers, with a common mission to promote peace. In his speech, Francis said dialogue and partnership with the Muslim world is necessary “to build a peaceful existence, even when there are the troublesome episodes by fanatic enemies of dialogue.” Catholic theology students must learn the culture, language and way of thinking of Jews and Muslims “to better understand and live out our relationship,” he said. After the theologically doctrinaire papacies of Saint John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI, Francis has stressed instead the need to “walk together” with interfaith partners, often joking that theologians should ruminate on a deserted island while religious leaders press ahead with dialogue on the ground. He has also called for a more pastoral, merciful and conscience-driven approach to sticky theological problems, such as Communion for the civilly remarried. “Theological freedom is necessary,” Francis said. “Without the possibility of trying new paths, you don’t create anything new.” Speaking off the cuff, Francis, though, made a distinction between the necessary freedom required for theological study and the need for theological precision in preaching to the faithful. He called for a revision of the way theology is taught so that it focuses on welcome, dialogue and flexibility. In addition, lay people should be encouraged to take up theological studies, especially women, he said. AP

Tourism&Entertainment BusinessMirror

Editor: Carla Mortel-Baricaua

Sunday, June 30, 2019

LOCAL GOVERNMENT PREPS FOR WORLD RECORD

Pulilan’s Kneeling Carabao Festival to boost tourism By Gelyka Ruth R. Dumaraos

Photos by Teddy Pelaez

N May 14, over 800 carabaos gathered for the Kneeling Carabao Festival in celebration and thanksgiving for their patron, San Isidro Labrador, in Pulilan, Bulacan. Coming from different farms in Pulilan, as well as neighboring towns and provinces as far as Nueva Ecija, the carabaos paraded in front of the San Isidro Labrador Church and kneeled alongside their owners at the town plaza. Each year, owners train their carabaos for the said tradition as a sign of respect and thanksgiving to the patron saint for the bountiful harvests all year round. The festival also marked the onset of Pulilan’s bid to put the town in the list of the newest and most popular tourist destinations in Central Luzon. According to Mayor Maria Rosario Ochoa-Montejo, Pulilan has long been known for its rich agriculture, with farming being its leading source of livelihood. But with the growing popularity of the

MAYOR Maria Rosario Ochoa-Montejo talks about Pulilan’s new market positioning on tourism

Kneeling Carabao Festival that have been seen in the past years, the town aims to merge efforts to boost tourism and agriculture in an effort to improve the town’s economy.

CARABAO owners train their farm buddy to kneel in time for Pulilan’s Kneeling Carabao Festival

TO give thanks for the bountiful harvests all year round, carabaos are made to kneel in front of San Isidro Labrador Church.

It also helps that Pulilan has become an investment hub for both local and foreign locators, with the presence of various commercial establishments, real estates and industrial plants. “Tourism helps in generating jobs and strengthening the economy of our town,” Ochoa-Montejo said. “We want to be recognized not only in the Philippines but in the world, so we are starting with putting attention to our tourismrelated activities.” Pulilan took the festival’s gained recognition from the Association of Tourism Officers of the Philippines

For Ochoa-Montejo, this puts Pulilan in an international scene, with the vision of creating job opportunities for the locals. She says that accommodations for the potential flock of tourists in Pulilan will not pose a challenge since the municipality hosts a number of resorts and hotels that can also be found in nearby towns, as well. Aside from banking on the festival, part of the tourism plan is to further develop and popularize its heritage tours by partnering with travel agencies. “We want to preserve Pulilan’s heritage and share them with our

(Atop) in recent years as a green light in stepping toward tourism boosting. Ochoa-Montejo adds that, to achieve this goal, they should start with building a local brand that truly reflects and promote the image of the municipality. Part of the Pulilan’s tourism plan in the future is to put the festival in the Guinness Book of World Records for the most number of carabaos kneeling simultaneously. The local government is currently working with a tourism consultant to make this plan a reality in the next years.

visitors,” she said. “Currently, we are working with travel agencies to help us boost our tour programs.” Tourists can learn more about Pulilan’s history and cultural heritage by booking tours that covers a walk around the municipality’s old streets, heritage houses, museums, parks, food hubs, pasalubong centers and the butterfly haven. They can also try the river tours that take visitors to the enchanting Angat River that originates from a forest watershed in the Sierra Madre mountains and meanders through the Bulacan province.

Sports BusinessMirror

A8 Sunday, June 30, 2019

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

ELECTRIC BIKES ENCOUNTER ROCKY ROAD B

By David Sharp The Associated Press

AR HARBOR, Maine—Gordon Goodwin and his wife are rediscovering their passion for bicycling in their senior years thanks to new electricassist bikes. The electric motors provide a gentle kick, making it easier for them to pedal up hilly roads around Maine’s Acadia National Park. “We’re getting older,” said Gordon, who turns 69 on Wednesday. But, he added, “It’s nice to go somewhere and have the breeze in your hair, like you did when you were young.” They can’t get that experience on Acadia’s bicycle paths, though. The National Park Service classifies their so-called e-bikes as motorized vehicles, relegating them mostly to paved roads clogged with summer traffic. Nationwide, the agency and others that manage public lands keep thousands of miles of trail off-limits to e-bikes. Across the country, regulators are sorting out how to classify the two-wheelers, which are something more than a bicycle, something less than a motorcycle. The National Park Service, for its part, may soon loosen its restrictions. “I’m hoping that they’re going to come to reality,” said Janice Goodwin, Gordon’s wife. “This will get more popular as time goes on.” E-bikes are the fastest-growing segment of the bicycle industry. They’re popular with commuters and baby boomers who might not otherwise be able to get out on a bicycle. The bikes, which can cost $2,000 or more, combine the frame of a regular bike with lightweight batteries and electric motors for extra zip. Their sales jumped 72 percent to $144 million in the US last year, helping to breathe life into bicycle sales that have been relatively flat, according to the NPD Group, which tracks retail bike sales nationwide. Their popularity has led to conflict.

In bike-friendly southern California, as local land managers take cues from agencies like the National Park Service, some are banning e-bikes from bicycle paths. That has angered riders, said Morgan Lommele, of PeopleForBikes, a bicycle advocacy group and trade association. Major bicycle companies including Trek, Specialized, Cannondale and Giant want electric-assisted twowheelers to be treated like bicycles and not like mopeds, scooters or motorcycles, said Jay Townley, who analyzes cycling industry trends at Human Powered Solutions. Maine and 21 other states have adopted laws that classify e-bikes into categories. Most are treated like regular bicycles under such laws, said Lommele, who has been working with states to create uniform definitions. Only the fastest e-bikes are restricted to roads. At Acadia National Park, the e-bikes are welcome on paved roads inside the park and even on dirt roads where cars and trucks are allowed. But they’re not allowed on the 92 kilometers of carriage roads funded and built by John D. Rockefeller Jr. that meander throughout the park, offering stunning views of lakes, mountains and the ocean. The carriage paths are popular with bicyclists. The only exceptions for e-bikes are for people who qualify for mobility devices under the Americans With Disabilities Act, said Christie Anastasia, park spokesman. For the Goodwins, the middle-range Specialized e-bikes were a significant investment that has allowed them to get outdoors and get moving. They hope the park service reconsiders and allows e-bikes wherever regular bikes are permitted. A National Park Service spokesman said the new rules are expected in coming weeks. Gordon Goodwin, who’s an electrician, said at the very least he’d like to see a trial period for e-bikes on the carriage paths. “Everybody should get out there and enjoy the park,” he said.

GORDON and Janice Goodwin show their electric-assist bicycles outside their home in Bar Harbor, Maine. AP

Trump orders new policy on military academies, pro sports

ASHINGTON—President Donald Trump has signed a presidential memorandum ordering the Pentagon to develop a new policy to allow athletes attending the nation’s military academies to play professional sports immediately after graduating. The memo says student athletes graduating from the academies and Reserve Officers’ Training Corps should be able to defer their military service

obligations due to the “short window of time” they have to “take advantage of their athletic talents during which playing professional sports is realistically possible.” It gives the defense secretary 120 days to develop a plan. Trump had said in May that he was considering the change while presenting the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy to the US Military Academy football team. Trump’s own Defense Department in

2017 rescinded a policy that allowed the best athletes from the military’s service academies to go straight to the pros upon graduation instead of having to first serve on active duty. That meant they had to serve two years of active duty before applying for reserve status to pursue a career in professional sports. Then-Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, in an April 2017 memo, said that the service academies “exist to develop future officers,”and that graduates would serve as “full-fledged

Longtime AP sports writer Ed Shearer writes ‘30’ ED SHEARER covers an NCAA college football game between Georgia and Tennessee at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia, in 1988. AP

TLANTA—Ed Shearer, a longtime sports writer with the Associated Press (AP) who covered the Olympics, Super Bowl, World Series and Hank Aaron’s 715th homer but left his most lasting mark as the “SEC Seer,” a prognosticator of Southern football known throughout the nation, died recently. He was 82. Shearer’s son, Jim, said his father’s health deteriorated after he took a fall on May 10, breaking bones in his wrist and lower back. He was in hospice care when he died at an assisted-living facility in Talking Rock, a small town in north Georgia. Working at the AP for more than 40 years, Shearer covered a range of sports but was most passionate about college football. In an era when many states did not have a full-time AP sports writer, he traveled the region extensively covering the biggest game of the week. He also was a regular at major postseason games such as the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans and the Senior Bowl all-star game in Mobile. “He was pretty much the big-game AP writer,” said Claude Felton, the longtime sports information director at Georgia. Shearer parlayed his extensive knowledge into the popular SEC Seer column, a fixture in Southern newspapers giving his predicted scores for that weekend’s games in the powerful football conference. “He was one of the really legendary sports journalists not only in the South but in the country,” Felton said. “I would run into people all over the country who would ask, ‘How’s Ed Shearer doing? Have you seen Ed Shearer lately?’” Edgar Kearney Shearer was born in Shreveport, Louisiana, and moved frequently throughout that state and neighboring Mississippi during his childhood as the son of a Methodist minister. He eventually settled in Jackson, Louisiana, where he met his high-school sweetheart and future wife, Mary Jane. They were married more than 50 years until her death in 2015. Shearer attended Louisiana Tech, where he studied journalism and covered school sporting events, and left The Times of Shreveport to begin his long career with the AP in the mid-1960s. His first role with the news cooperative was not in sports, however; he was hired to cover state

government in Arkansas’s capital, Little Rock. Shearer transferred to Atlanta in 1969 to become a sports writer, chronicling a wide range of local and national events. He covered the Summer Olympics in Montreal (1976), Los Angeles (1984) and Atlanta (1996), as well as numerous Masters golf tournaments, several World Series involving the Atlanta Braves in the early 1990s, and the 1994 Super Bowl held at the Georgia Dome. Most notably, he wrote the account that ran on front pages around the nation when Aaron broke Babe Ruth’s home-run record at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium in 1974. Shearer worked at the AP into his 70s, taking young colleagues under his wing and regaling everyone with humorous stories about all the people he met along the way—from Bear Bryant to Vince Dooley to Hammerin’ Hank—all while watching over the AP report with a keen editing eye that routinely picked up dropped words and typos others had missed. “Ed taught a generation of news people, including me, that came through AP bureaus in the South everything about sports news, from how to formulate a box score to how to write a game story with nothing but a faxed stats sheet to how to deal with a flustered stringer at the ballpark,” said Michael Giarrusso, the AP’s global sports editor who worked with Shearer in the Atlanta bureau. “And he did it all without ever making even the most inexperienced writer feel bad, joking constantly, ignoring complaints from New York all while living on a diet exclusively of jalapeno peppers and Fritos.” Tom Saladino, a retired AP sports writer who worked alongside Shearer for more than 30 years in Atlanta, also remembered Shearer’s legendary iron stomach, undoubtedly a holdover from his upbringing in Louisiana and the requisite love of spicy food. When working night shifts in the office, especially during college football and basketball seasons, dinner consisted of “a paper bag full of the hottest green peppers to go along with more than a gallon of coffee,” Saladino said. Shearer continued eating those hot peppers right to the end. His daughter-in-law, Sheri Browne Shearer, said they were grown in a garden behind the assisted-living facility, providing him with a steady supply of his favorite food. Shearer spent a good portion of his

military officers carrying out the normal work and career expectations”of someone who received an education at the taxpayers’expense. Several Navy football players have gone on to have success in the NFL, most notably 1963 Heisman Trophy winner Roger Staubach, a quarterback for the Midshipmen from 1962-64. After serving a tour of duty in Vietnam, he joined the Dallas Cowboys in 1969 and guided the team to a pair of Super Bowl victories. AP career covering Dooley’s coaching tenure at Georgia, including a national championship season in 1980. “I remember him as being enjoyable to be around,” the 86-year-old Dooley said on Monday. “A real professional, but he was also a human being.” A prolific smoker through much of his life, Shearer was among a hearty group of football writers who took part in the SEC Skywriters tour, hopping aboard a propeller plane for a whirlwind tour of the league’s then-10 member schools before each season. They were able to interview the players and coaches in a relaxed, informal atmosphere—a striking contrast to today’s regimented behemoth known as SEC Media Days—and get a feel for what was really going on in each program. Terry Taylor, the AP’s sports editor for more than 20 years before her retirement in 2013, said Shearer was a calming presence during her first Masters. It was 1986—the year of Jack Nicklaus’s famous victory. “I still remember walking into the press room at Augusta National for the first time, not sure where I was going and how I would find my colleagues. Then I saw the broad shoulders in the first row and, as I got closer, the cigarette. I didn’t need to see his face,” Taylor said. “The Masters—though in a class by itself—was one of the hundreds of tournaments, championships, playoffs and meets he covered year in and year out in Georgia. It’s hard to imagine anyone connected to sports back then who didn’t know Eddie, an easygoing gentleman who perfected the art of juggling assignments.” Not every event was as big as the Masters. “What I remember is those days in the late 1980s, when the Braves weren’t very good, and he’d call to check in his stories from Fulton County Stadium,” AP baseball writer Ben Walker said. “The park was pretty empty. You could hear the ball hitting the bat and glove in the background. On lazy Sunday afternoons, he’d have a couple of guys who were older than him helping in the press box, Ray [Tapley] and Charlie [Roberts]. You’d get on the phone and pretty soon, they’d be talking Ty Cobb, the Georgia Peach himself, and longago days from a bygone era.” Felton said his most striking memory of Shearer’s long tenure was his customary departure from the press box at Georgia’s Sanford Stadium. “He always raised his hands and said, ‘See you next week—unless I win the lottery,’” Felton said. Even after Shearer moved from sports writing to desk duties in the 1990s, he continued to write his weekly SEC Seer column. His last entry ran in January 2009 before the national championship game between Florida and Oklahoma. But, in a sign of his versatility, Shearer’s final byline before his retirement was a story about deadly storms that struck Georgia and Alabama. Shearer is survived by three children, Margaret, Laura and Jim, and their spouses, as well as three grandchildren and three greatgrandchildren. A memorial service is planned for next month at Saint Barnabas Anglican Church in suburban Atlanta. AP

PRADELMAXIME | DREAMSTIME.COM

Youth work force faces high risk from automation—study By Rizal Raoul Reyes Contributor

Tristan Canare, one of the authors of the study, titled “Mapping Philippine Workers at Risk of Automation in the Fourth Industrial Revolution,” said the risk of automation depends on one’s occupation. “Our findings suggest that younger workers, relative to the older ones, are mostly employed in jobs with possibility of automation,” Canare said. He added that any job that requires processing or mechanical processes is at risk. The study cited a report by the International Labor Organization, which estimated that about 56 percent of jobs in five Asean countries—Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam—are at risk of automation. The ILO specifically said that 49 percent of jobs in the Philippines can be automated. “Jobs in agriculture were found to have the highest average probability of automation at 90 percent, followed by industry at 71 percent,” the study revealed. “The services sector, which accounts for majority of jobs in the country [57 percent], faces an average probability of automation at 54 percent.” But while all age groups face a high risk of automation, younger workers (ages 15 to 24) face the greatest risk at 76 percent, the study revealed. The level of risk declines significantly for 25 to 34-year-olds; and the probability did not change much as we move to the older age groups, the study said. “Similarly, the share of workers with high-risk jobs is significantly higher in the youngest age group. Seventy-two percent of workers between the ages 15 and 24 are at high risk of being automated,” the study said. This decreases to 64 percent in both the 25 to 34 and 35 to 44 groups; 63 percent for the 45 to 54-year-olds; and to 62 percent for the 55 to 64 and 65 and above groups.The share of low-risk jobs increases with age, according to the study. The authors emphasized these results are “important given that majority of the Philippines’s workers are young.” “The demographics sweet spot that the country is in may be threatened if the youth have jobs that are at risk of being automated,” the study said. “In addition, the vulnerability of younger workers is a double-edged sword, because although younger workers tend to be more trainable and more adaptable than their

SKYPIXEL | DREAMSTIME.COM

OUNG Filipino workers are facing a high risk due to the automation of jobs, a study by the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) revealed.

Bottlenecks to automation VARIABLE

DEFINITIONS

Perception and manipulation Finger dexterity

The ability to make coordinated finger movements to grasp and manipulate small objects.

Manual dexterity

The ability to move hands and arms to grasp and manipulate objects.

Cramped work space, awkward positions

Measures how often the occupation is working under these conditions.

older peers, higher levels of youth unemployment may lead to increased crime and heightened social unrest, which may undermine economic progress.” The study also noted that while jobs are usually filled by those who had received higher levels of education, including those with college degrees, these were less likely to be automated compared to jobs usually filled by workers with lower levels of education. However, receiving higher levels of education is not a guarantee that one’s job would be immune to automation. The authors found that as much as 38 percent of jobs filled by college graduates face a high risk of being automated. These include accountants and financial analysts. Jobs in the National Capital Region face the lowest risk at 61 percent, while jobs in the Cagayan Valley face the highest average probability of job automation at 76 percent,

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calculations by the authors revealed. The top regions with the highest average probabilities of job automation include the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (75 percent), Central Mindanao (71 percent) and the Cordillera Autonomous Region (71 percent). The regions with the lowest probabilities of job automation include Calabarzon and Central Luzon, both at 64 percent. The study said jobs in the agriculture, forestry and fishery sectors are found to be most susceptible to automation with a 90-percent average risk. Other subsectors that face high risk of automation on average are: • finance and insurance (79 percent) • mining and quarrying (78 percent) • construction (76 percent) • water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation (74 percent) • accommodation and food (72 percent) JUNE 30, 2019

• transportation and storage (72 percent) • real estate (71 percent) The subsectors with the smallest average probability of jobs automation are: • Education (15 percent) • arts, entertainment and recreation (33 percent) • human health and social work (33 percent) The authors recommend that the government and the private sector “act quickly to equip the work force—especially those that face the greatest risk of automation— with higher-level skills required to thrive in automated work environments, while providing social safety nets to ensure that disadvantaged workers do not fall between the cracks.” “They must also ensure that the rapid adoption of new technologies does not worsen inequalities that may permanently lock in inefficiencies,” they said. The authors also emphasized that the government and the private sector should give special attention “to the weakest and least capable sectors—the poor, the youth, the less-skilled and less-educated, and those with little or no job security—where disruption is likely to have more devastation and permanently debilitating effects.” Aside from Canare, the authors of the study include Christoper Ed Caboverde, Stephanie Rose Flores and Jamil Paolo Francisco.

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MUSIC

FIL-AM BAND HAFNER’S EP A LOVE FOR FUGAZI, ALIENS, AND PUNK ROCK BASEBALL

by Rick Olivares

AN Francisco, California-based Filipino-American band Hafner released their third album just the other week, Long in the Tooth, under Bay Area label, Aklasan Records.

The album cover gives away the band’s Filipino roots as the image is that of a traditional barong tagalog. The music is anything but Filipino as Hafner’s music is a mix of 1990s alternative music that is slow, noisedriven with a propulsive bass that harkens back to Fugazi, the Melvins, Flipper, the Pixies, and Nirvana. Hafner’s albums feature songs that are paeans to esoteric baseball players (the band takes their name from former Cleveland Indians first baseman Travis

Hafner) and high-flying skateboarding heroes like Tony Hawk, sci-fi horror films (every album has one song with a film reference and for Long in the Tooth it is the fifth track “LV-426” is named after the planet in the first Aliens film), and the frailties of life. And Long in the Tooth is all that and more. In fact, it feels like hitting the open road to clear the cobwebs in your mind or blowing off steam after a Continued on page 6

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MUS

HIT THE ROAD WITH MARSHA

OU cannot travel without music. Well, you can–but admit it, there would be something missing. Listening to music is similar to traveling in that they both elicit emotional responses from you. The same way listening to your favorite song can boost your mood as taking in a magnificent mountaintop view. Or how a certain song can make you feel nostalgic for a faraway place you’ve visited in the past. Music and travel are interrelated experiences. Since music is such an integral part of your life, you have playlists for everything you do. As a traveler, taking your music along with you is a big part of traveling. With Marshall portable speakers, you can take your music with you whenever and wherever you travel. The iconic brand adds to its extensive product line-up with popular Bluetooth speakers that have received a design and technological upgrade. Tufton (Php27,990) is Marshall’s largest and most powerful portable speaker in the range. Bluetooth 5.0 technology allows you to connect to a variety of wireless devices within a range of 30ft. Tufton is engineered as a 3-way system, producing sound from a tweeter, mid-range driver and subwoofer. This configuration produces a clear and articulate sound across all frequencies. An additional mid-range driver is located on the rear of the speaker to give the listener a true 360-degree Blumlein Stereo Sound experience. Kilburn II (Php20,990) is a multi-directional speaker that can fill sound in a living room or for a big group of people outdoors. Weighing only

d trip

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ALL’S PORTABLE SPEAKERS

2.5kg, Kilburn II is the loudest speaker in its class. Powered by 36 watts, it produces a clear midrange, deep bass, and extended highs that are unrivaled for a speaker this size. Kilburn II comes equipped with Bluetooth 5.0 aptX technology for wireless music play at a range of up to 30 feet. Stockwell II (Php16,990) is a compact portable speaker weighing only 1.4kg. It packs a solid punch despite its pintsized frame. Utilizing Blumlein Stereo Sound construction, this speaker provides a multidirectional experience that will immerse you in your music, whether indoors or out. Stockwell II Three class D

amplifiers power its subwoofer, front and rear facing tweeters, for a sound that’s brilliantly powerful and clear. In addition, Bluetooth 5.0 technology allows you to connect to a variety of wireless devices. Over 55 years of knowledge has been distilled into every Marshall speaker for an explosive sound that will make any room come alive with music. Each speaker combines advanced components such as class D amplifiers, a bass reflex cabinet system and customtuned drivers engineered to provide a balanced and dynamic response. Echoing the legacy of rock ‘n roll, Marshall speakers have

a solid metal grille that pays homage to the steel mesh grill found on microphones. Their top panels feature analog control knobs for bass, treble, and volume, allowing you to finetune the exact sound you desire. An IPX2 water-resistant rating and flush-mounted corner caps make them extremely roadworthy and durable speakers. These speakers have quick-charging capabilities so you can pick up and leave a moment’s notice, packing up to 20+ hours of portable playtime on a single charge. Their guitar-inspired carry straps make them perfect to take with you as you hit the open road.

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MUSIC ON PRINT

NICK VERA PEREZ

HIS MUSIC, CHARITIES A

SUCCESSFUL registered and practicing nurse, Filipino crooner Nick Vera Perez, broke into the recording industry and pursued his dream of becoming a professional singer “to make people smile and be happy.” Now Chicago-based and a popular performer in this side of the US, he intends to share his talent among his kababayans as well as his blessings. He produced his first album in 2017 entitled “I AM READY” was distributed by Warner Music Philippines. It’s carrier single of the same title landed no. 2 at the 95.5 FM radio PINAS (Philippines) and has been saving thousands of lives from depression “because my songs are inspirational.” NVP to most of his fans, explained that the album inspires everyone to understand the real essence of humanity. “We all go through different experiences in life, from heartaches to giving up and to loving our moms, family

Hafner...

and friends. It also talks about making ourselves our main focus and the need to stand up and be ready again,” he said. The album has 12 tracks, seven of which were released slowly for public listening pleasure namely: I am Ready, Dito Sa Aking Puso, Alapaap, Keep The Fire Burning, Di Maglalaho, and You’re My Hero, all master pieces of Adonis Tabanda, same musical director of most Amon Morissete’s concerts. All of these are all available for download via online streaming and downloading systems like iTunes, Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon Music, Deezer, and Google Play. His first album has earned him accolades such as nomination as Best New Male Recording Artist 2018 by PMPC (Philippine Movie Press Club) Star awards for Music. He was also recipient of Gawad Filipino Awards as the Breakthrough International Host and Performer 2017. Leony R. Garcia

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tough week at work and that pint looks mighty appealing. In many ways, the album is like a labor of love as it took three years to release. Exclaimed Burd Quines (guitar and vocals), “Three years for six damn songs!” The production of Long in theTooth saw members exit and enter and guitar parts re-worked all the while with the band fussing over artwork, mastering, and where the vinyl should be pressed (“money concerns” is how Quines puts it). Ultimately, Burd and the band (drummer Brian Davy and bassist Ronny Kerr) pronounced themselves pleased with Long in the Tooth. “This is the first time we’ve collectively put out something,” shared Quines. “Am glad that we took the time because we don’t expect anything less than quality. Quality control, man. Quality control.” Quines emphasized that and Long in the Tooth is everything you love about 1980s hardcore and 1990s alt music with a sarcastic sense of humor. Hafner didn’t set out to record songs that would be sports anthems.

The love for baseball and the Oakland As (the band hails from the Bay Area after all) is natural rather than contrived. “I think musicians take themselves too seriously,” fessed up Burd. “And they can be stuck up too. What better way to annoy the artistic elite than by singing about sports?” “Seeing the Oakland As win games during the 2012-13 seasons was inspiring,” elucidated Quines. “What I thought was inspiring was they were maximizing what little money they had to field a good team. I compare that to DIY punk. I thought about how (1980s California punk band) the Minutemen recorded their albums using used tape

and recording at the cheapest studio time that was 2am. The whole idea of ‘jamming econo’ as a way to be crafty and maximizing their dollar to present a good piece of art is inspiring.” Regarding the barong tagalog on the cover, Burd waxed poetic about an influential album from his youth, Fugazi’s sixth and final album, The Argument. In that album, Fugazi’s vocalist and guitarist Guy Piccioto (who later was with Rites of Spring) said the album was an anti-war manifesto. In the booklet that accompanied the compact disc of The Argument was a picture of a plaque memorializing Kent State shooting victim Sandra Lee Scheuer. When Piccioto was asked by Scott Thrill in underground culture site morphizm.com about using this image, he answered, “It’s like a chemical. You put it out there and the reaction that it creates is what art is.” It is the same for Burd. “I am more interested in what other people say about this. My brother, Mark, took that picture. It was an art project that he worked on in college and he spent long hours on it until he was totally exhausted. He turned it in for his final

and passed out on the classroom floor. That barong belonged to my Uncle Pepe who was a real funny and clever guy. One time, he drew a picture of me crapping in the toilet and he laughed about it all night. He passed away a few years ago because of smoking. It was really difficult to see him on a walker when all my life I saw him with no problems at all. I told you what it meant for me. The image (of the barong) isn’t a defining one. It just invokes a bunch of connections and memories that I associate with seeing this picture.” Seeing the picture myself, it did remind me of some things from a past time and the good memories that come along with it. And maybe that is why Hafner’s music brings back memories when alt music was king and it swept the world. Long in the Tooth is more than a time capsule. It is good music that pays homage yet pushes the ideas and music forward into this dangerous new world we live it. Hafner’s Long in the Tooth is available in the Philippines through Mutilated Noise Records in Makati (check out their Facebook page) or through Aklasan records (also on FB).

The man who brought Fila back from dead is worth $830 million

HEY’RE the chunky, thicksoled throwbacks to the 1990s known as “dad shoes.” And they’re beloved by Millennials, whose fascination with retro footwear has brought Fila back from the dead. They’ve also helped Yoon Yoon-soo amass an unlikely fortune. Gene, as he’s known in English, is estimated to be worth about $830 million through his stake in Fila Korea Ltd., which acquired the global Fila brand in 2007 in what South Korean media called a shrimp swallowing a whale. Yoon went on to oversee a revival in Fila’s fortunes, sending shares of his company surging. Central to Fila’s comeback was its move to bring back iconic products from the ’90s, targeting shoppers craving classic looks. Its “Disruptor 2” sneakers, for example, reintroduced in 2017, were among the most popular women’s shoes at one point last year, according to global fashion search platform Lyst. Fila estimates that more than 10 million pairs were sold as of January. Yoon, 73, declined to comment for this story. He told a local newspaper in South Korea in 2017 that Fila is more than just a sports brand to him. “It’s more like a baby I had at the late age of 45,” he said.

Jenner, Rihanna

FILA has also been helped by celebrities wearing its products—US model Kendall Jenner and singer Rihanna have both been seen in clothing bearing Fila’s iconic red, white and blue logo—and by its relatively low pricing.

YOON YOON-SOO FILA “Fila changed its target from people in their 30s and 40s to younger customers while cutting prices,” said Na Eun-chae, an analyst at Seoul-based brokerage Korea Investment & Securities Co. “That worked well, along with its focus on the shoe segment.” Fila Korea shares have surged 400 percent from the start of last year through Friday, boosting its market value to $4.3 billion. The stock rose as much as 0.4 percent in early trading Monday. Yoon and his family own about 20 percent of the company. Yoon, a late bloomer who graduated from college in his 30s, started at Fila in 1991 as head of the company’s South Korea business, earning an annual salary of $1.5 million. But he had his sights set on bigger things. In January 2007, he spearheaded a $400 million leveraged buyout of the global Fila brand and all its subsidiaries. In 2010, he took the company public in South Korea. Originally started in Italy in 1911, Fila had been sold to US private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management in 2003. Its

heyday ended in the 2000s when it suffered from declining sales and management made excessive investments. Another key part of Yoon’s strategy was building a majority stake, starting in 2011, in the company now called Acushnet Holdings Corp., the maker of Titleist golf balls. Acushnet listed its shares in New York in 2016. Fila Korea reported revenue of 3 trillion won ($2.6 billion) in 2018, 61 percent of which came from Acushnet, according to Fila Korea.

Unappealing candidate FILA’S footwear and apparel sales, excluding Acushnet, saw a 52-percent increase to 1.2 trillion won in 2018 from the year before, the company said in a presentation. Yoon never envisioned a career in dad shoes and golf balls. His mother died of typhoid shortly after his birth. He lost his father to cancer in high school and wanted to become a doctor, but failed three times to get into medical school. He ended up studying and graduating in politi-

cal science and diplomacy. His age made him an unappealing candidate for entry-level jobs at most companies. After many attempts, Yoon landed at J.C. Penney Co., buying Korean products to sell in the US. Later, he came across Fila in the US and persuaded the firm to manufacture shoes in South Korea. After that, Yoon was asked to set up and lead the company’s Korean business, which he later bought out before acquiring the global brand. Fila now operates in more than 70 countries. The brand is seeing rapid growth in markets such as China, where Fila Korea has a 15-percent stake in a joint venture with Anta Sports Products Ltd. Yoon, who once said he’d like his epitaph to be that he “worked hard,” is unlikely to be judging his success by his net worth alone. “Wealth accumulation that’s not morally justified has no meaning,” he once told South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo. “We need to look back on how we made our fortunes.” Bloomberg News

Technology-support burden on younger generation results in relationship rifts

ECHNOLOGY has transformed how we live our lives but it has come at more than just a financial cost for many of us, according to Kaspersky Lab ZED.

The Russian cybersecurity firm said its recent survey has found that more than a third (35 percent) of over 55-year-olds would struggle with daily technology challenges if it wasn’t for support from their children. Due to this, they are automatically turning to younger family members for all forms of tech support, leading to cries of “Can you just” requests. Some of these are: “Can you just fix the internet?” or “Can you

just show me how to upload to the cloud?” Kaspersky said this was based on results of an online survey of 11,000 consumers from 13 different countries with nationally representative quotas for each set for gender, age and region.

Overwhelmed, uninformed

BUT at a time when the younger generation is trying to buy houses, have children and advance their careers, the demands from overwhelmed and uninformed family members to provide free technical support can be a step too far, according to Kaspersky. Whilst more than half of millennials (55 percent) feel duty-bound to provide ondemand tech support to older relatives, a quarter (25 percent) say that they actively avoid family members who they think will ask for help. With half (52 percent) of over-55 year-

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olds admitting they are not knowledgeable about tech, four in ten (41 percent) phone their children or other younger family members for remote information technology support. An astonishing 18 percent miss their children’s tech support more than their company when they are not around. And, in their desire to get help from family members, 15 percent of over 55s have even bribed them for support. “Not everyone has grown up with technology—and the older generation may therefore not feel as comfortable using it as millennials, or tech natives, do. But we want everyone to enjoy the opportunities that technologies can and do bring to our lives—and we are committed to empowering everyone with the information to do so,” Kaspersky Chief Business Officer Alexander Moiseev explained. “The right knowledge will enable users of all ages to conduct their online activities with confidence—and look forward to what the future could bring.” JUNE 30, 2019

Over-reliance on millennials THE over-reliance on millennials to be technology-support heroes is affecting family relationships, and even their gifting habits. Nearly a third (30 percent) avoid buying older family members technology presents, because they know they will be the ones lumbered with having to set it up. “The dramatic rise of technology within our cars, offices and social environments has challenged all generations to continually learn how to benefit from them. Those in the second half of their lives can find the changes overwhelming and often fear being duped, exposed or targeted via them —and it is often millennials who are forced to come to the rescue. Being armed with knowledge may mean we all feel a little less of an existential crisis and a little more attached to our inner Bill Gates,” Kathleen Saxton, a psychotherapist, added.

Millennial money: How to join the cannabis business boom

ARIJUANA is having a moment. Experts recently dubbed cannabis the fastest-growing industry in the US. Legal weed generated $10.4 billion in the United States in 2018, and the number of “plant-touching” jobs is expected to pass 500,000 by 2022, according to New Frontier Data, a cannabis market research and data analysis firm. Investors have taken note, pumping $10 billion into North American cannabis businesses last year—a good sign for budding entrepreneurs hoping to cash in on the green rush. But be warned, the cannabis industry is not for the faint of heart. Everything is harder—from opening a bank account to finding office space to hiring qualified employees—says Shane Schmitt, general manager of Wy’East Oregon Gardens, a cannabis cultivation and processing facility in Portland, Oregon. “It’s more difficult than starting a business in any other area,” says Schmitt, 43, a seasoned entrepreneur who previously worked in finance and construction. “There’s not a playbook for an industry that people still think should be illegal.” To succeed, you need more than a solid business plan and ace team (though those are crucial, too). You need to be truly passionate about cannabis, and not in the “I like to smoke weed” kind of way. “I have a different definition of passionate now. Passionate to me is ‘What are you willing to take pain for?’“ Schmitt says. “There’s been a lot of pain.” Doing your research from the get-go can help you stave off some of that pain. Groups like the National Cannabis Industry Association can help you connect with people working in the space, including in crucial areas like legal support, consulting and insurance. And cannabis conferences—yes, those are a thing—can help you network with other “ganjapreneurs.” These lessons from industry vets can also help you anticipate potential challenges.

Do what you know

YOU don’t want to jump into a new venture with no relevant experience. The cannabis industry is no exception. “People often want to run a dispensary or set up a cultivation center and I ask,

IN this June 20, 2019, photo a vendor with Talking Trees Farms at Northern Humboldt County sustainable cannabis farm offers a taste of the latest crop of crafted marijuana flower to an attendee of WeedCon West 2019 in Los Angeles. Experts recently dubbed cannabis the fastest-growing industry in the US. AP/RICHARD VOGEL fuse the food and charge an entry fee of $1, then we are breaking the law,” Ivan says. There aren’t specific cannabis rules for the culinary industry in California, Anne says, which makes it difficult to find legal help to decipher regulations. “It’s so new that we’re still blazing that trail to figure out how to make it work.”

Beware the green tax

A MATURE marijuana plant flowering prior to harvest under artificial lights at Loving Kindness Farms in Gardena, California. AP/RICHARD VOGEL “Well, have you ever done retail? Are you a farmer? Are you a botanist?” says Morgan Fox, a spokesperson for the NCIA. Instead, do what you know—whether that’s accounting, public relations or plumbing—and put a cannabis spin on it. “The thing about cannabis is you can apply it to pretty much anything,” says Zac Smith, 38, founder of Traveling Hands Massage, a San Diego-based mobile massage company that uses oils infused with THC and CBD. While Smith had nearly two decades of experience as a massage therapist, he had very little experience with making cannabis oils. “I was making the oil myself at home. It was messy and I realized there was no way I could keep it uniform,” Smith says.

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So he found a guy with years of experience extracting THC and making oils to handle that aspect.

The devil is in the details

THE legal cannabis industry is heavily regulated, but those regulations often don’t cover every possible business application. That means business owners like Ivan and Anne Wood have to take extra precautions to make sure they’re in compliance. The Woods run Mangia Ghanja , a cannabis-infused catering company in San Diego. Under recreational use rules, they can cater private events but they can’t charge customers for cannabis-infused food unless the client provides them with the cannabis, the Woods say. “If we decided to have an event and inJUNE 30, 2019

“IF you’re touching the plant, everything costs twice as much,” says Schmitt of Wy’East Oregon Gardens. In reality, though, the markup can be more than double. A regulatory license with the city of Portland, for example, is $3,500 per year for a cannabis business. That’s in addition to state licensing fees, which can be as high $5,750 per year. A traditional business might pay a few hundred dollars a year. The so-called green tax applies to actual taxes, too. Plant-touching cannabis businesses can’t deduct any business expenses on their taxes, so they pay the full effective tax rate.

Embrace the community CANNABIS entrepreneurs have to jump through a lot of hoops and they face a lot of uncertainty. But that has created a strong community that fledgling businesses owners can tap for advice. “Talk to other successful cannabis business to find out what they’ve done to get where they are,” says Anne Wood. “There are plenty of people who will put their arms around you and share their experience.” AP