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B.I. WORKERS GRUMBLE OVER LOSS OF EXTRA PAY FROM EXPRESS-LANE FUND

Migration of immigration men looms

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By Recto Mercene

f you happen to encounter long queues at the immigration area of terminals, it is probably because Bureau of Immigration (BI) personnel have gone on a coordinated leave of absence again.

The reason—they have not been receiving their extra pay from the express-lane fund.

This, of course, compounds the chaotic atmosphere at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia), where flight delays have become a norm. Also, the government risks the migration of immigration personnel to other jobs that will give them better pay—again, another big blow to the country’s competitiveness and tourism drive.

With this, the Duterte administration has been urged to immediately address the complaint of some 1,600 organic and 900 contractual workers of the BI, who had ceased receiving emoluments from the P1.2-billion express-lane fund since January this year.

Express-lane fees are charges collected from foreign tourists and visitors in exchange for the speedy processing of their permits. Money accrued from the charges is then placed in a trust fund.

The continuing absence of BI personnel may yet jeopardize the Philippines’s efforts to attract more tourists in the country, and

this could pose another hurdle to achieve higher tourism revenues, according to Marc Red A. Mariñas, Naia acting chief of Port Operations Division.

As of late this week, there have been reports of personnel absences from their posts, which have been causing long passenger queues at airport terminals.

In the first week of March, some 29 BI personnel went on official leave of absence, the highest number of personnel count who went on leave to date altogether, practically paralyzing BI airport operations.

It has been reported that an average of 20 personnel a day are going on leave, according to Manila International Airport Authority General Manager Ed V. Monreal during a recent radio interview. He, however, refused to comment any further, saying “that is an internal problem of the Bureau of Immigration”.

Hands off

IN January President Duterte stopped the BI from dipping its fingers into the express-lane fund to compensate for the personnel’s

Bureau of Immigration officers have their hands full in this December 6, 2010, file photo as thousands of returning overseas Filipino workers, balikbayan and tourists fill the arrival area of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. Recto Mercene

overtime hours, a sizable amount that enabled many young professionals to rent apartments in Manila or send their children to school.

Mariñas said the P20,000 basic salary a month of BI officials is simply not enough, because after deductions, they would have only about P15,000 to P16,000 as take-

home pay. At today’s standard— with the high cost of living—that amount may not even be enough to clothe, feed and send a child to college. “This is taxable income, and lower-ranking personnel receive even less,” Mariñas remarked.

He admitted, though, that they used to receive a total of

P60,000 monthly as take-home pay, including overtime and other emoluments.

Mariñas said he does not know the total amount that goes to the BI overtime payment from the P1.6-billion fees, but said the finance department would know.

“But please remember that many

BI personnel are living in the provinces. They have to rent apartments here, send their children to school and often send money home to their parents,” he said.

“These personnel are young professionals and if they get disgusted with their low salary, they See “Migration,” A2

Oplan Tokhang reboot: Bloody antidrugs campaign makes a comeback

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By Rene Acosta

irector General Ronald M. dela Rosa has declared that the Philippine National Police (PNP) is about to resurrect its bloody anti-illegal-drugs drive, as it sets its crosshairs anew on the over 4 million Filipinos addicted to drugs—as earlier declared by President Duterte—who roam the streets, committing crimes like murder, rape and robbery.

Until it was stopped in January by Duterte, the police-initiated campaign—known as Oplan Double Barrel Alpha and Oplan Tokhang—has resulted in the death of nearly 8,000 suspected drug addicts in its six months of “do or die” implementation, about 2,500 of whom were killed in official antidrugs operations.

Dela Rosa’s decision to resume the vicious war, upon the imprimatur of the President, comes early as the PNP’s Counter-Intelligence Task Force (CITF) has barely began disposing of its duties in cleaning the 165,000-strong PNP of misfits and scalawags under a wide-ranging and down-the-line cleansing process.

Duterte has stopped the nationwide antidrugs operations by the police, until it has rid itself of what dela Rosa said were “bandits” and “criminals in uniform”, who

make up about 2 percent of the organization’s membership. This prompted the PNP chief to organize the CITF.

Compelling reasons

Like the need to resurrect the dead Lazarus in the biblical story, there are compelling reasons the antidrugs drive is being revived, if not restrengthened, following the entry of the Armed Forces into the campaign, in partnership with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).

These arguments, offered by local government officials and both the President and dela Rosa, were the resurgence of crimes in the street; a spike in the number of drug activities by about 20 percent; and the comeback of “toughies” and criminals.

See “Oplan Tokhang,” A2

PESO exchange rates n US 50.3070

Supporters of President Duterte gather at Manila’s Rizal Park for an overnight vigil to show their support to the President’s so-called war on drugs on February 25. AP/Bullit Marquez

n japan 0.4398 n UK 61.7116 n HK 6.4810 n CHINA 7.3013 n singapore 35.6206 n australia 38.0824 n EU 52.8676 n SAUDI arabia 13.4188

Source: BSP (3 March 2017 )

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A2 Saturday, March 4, 2017

Migration…

Continued from a1

might as well look for greener pastures elsewhere,” Mariñas added.

more new plantilla positions for BI personnel.

Some 1,162 personnel, he said, are directly under him and it would be the government’s loss if they are allowed to go elsewhere to earn more, even as Mariñas admitted that all 2,000 personnel of the BI profit from the express-lane collections.

“These BI personnel are spread in 10 airports and seaports across the country, from Laoag to Zamboanga, rendering services round the clock, especially here at the Naia’s three passenger terminals.”

Mariñas said additional personnel are assigned at the Zamboanga port, “the only port in the country with commercial passengers, as the other ports, such as those in Manila and Batangas, are only for cargo.”

“There have been many flights added at the Naia and other provincial airports during the last few years. There had been an increase in the number of tourists coming in, but the number of our personnel has remained the same,” Mariñas noted.

He added that the government also plans to open more airports, such as those in Caticlan and Bohol, which would need more personnel from the bureau.

“While our tourism continues to grow and more airline companies increase their airplane frequency, we have to add more personnel and there are more airports to be opened soon, such as those in Caticlan and Bohol, and we are expected to man all these airports,” Mariñas said.

He said the current 2,000 personnel of the bureau would be insufficient to keep the other airports operational.

Mariñas said he was able to convince his subordinates not to go on with their plan to wear black armbands while on duty, promising they would render service to the best of their ability.

Govt loss

Recall

President Duterte has directed the BI to remit the entire P1.6-billion express-lane fund directly to the national treasury as part of the government’s revenue-boosting thrust beginning January this year.

Since that time, Mariñas said immigration officers have received nothing but their “meager” basic salary for almost three months now.

In the meantime, he said the BI has requested Duterte to recall his order to remit the express-lane fund and collection to the national treasury, while they continue to push for the passage of the Immigration Act that would raise their salary-grade rating and compensation, while creating some 4,000

More flights

Needed support

Meanwhile, he said their remaining hope of getting a raise from their salary is the passage of the Immigration Act, now being pushed in Congress.

However, Mariñas admitted they are yet to get support from lawmakers who may be willing to support their proposition for higher pay.

Oplan Tokhang…

The government said it has been managing to pull the lid on street crimes and other criminal cases until the illegal-drugs campaign was stopped, with no less than Duterte mentioning that most of these crimes are being committed by drug addicts.

Together with the PNP, the President maintained that more often, drug addiction and crimes are interrelated.

Duterte said users, especially when they are under the influence of drugs, lose their reasoning and normal senses, which propels them into committing heinous and grizzly crimes, like murder, robbery with homicide and even rape of minors.

On the other hand, dela Rosa said records of cases, especially in Metro Manila, went down at the height of the implementation of the campaign.

This trend is reflected in other parts of the country, and this was the reason local government officials have prodded the PNP to reactivate its antidrugs operation.

The officials, according to the PNP chief, are barangay chairmen and governors of provinces from Kalinga Apayao to the Zamboanga peninsula.

“The general sentiment of the LGUs [local government units] is that they [drug personalities] are openly doing their business, boasting [of themselves] as untouchables,” dela Rosa said.

It must be noted, however, that some local officials are into drugs, as reflected on Duterte’s so called drugs list, and some of them, most especially village officials, continuously

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Continued from a1

fall prey in antidrugs operations.

According to dela Rosa, it is not far-fetched to think that drug money by big-time drug lords were even used to fund terrorism activities by terrorist and other lawless groups, such as the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG).

The military reported that most members of the ASG, or those that it had come into previous firefights, were high on drugs, thus, transforming them into fearless and vicious fighters-cum-criminals.

surrender of more than 1 million drug users and pushers around the country.

In preparation for the resumption of the campaign, the PNP is already recruiting members for the new unit, while also retooling the whole police organization.

“We have to retool ourselves, we have to reassess our units. We have to regroup, we have to reevaluate everything so that when we launch, we are prepared,” dela Rosa said.

Cleansing

‘New recruits’

Dela Rosa said the resurrected campaign will be spearheaded by a new unit, whose members, though young, are idealistic and driven foremost by their patriotic fervor to serve the country and its people.

“We will make sure that those to be involved will be among the best and have clean slate,” he said, adding that many policemen of this character “are just waiting to be tapped”.

“There are a lot of new blood in the PNP. [They may be] lacking in skills, lacking in experience, but [are endowed] with a pure heart, equipped with the fervor to work for the country,” dela Rosa said.

“If they lack in skill, [this] will be addressed in the preparation,” the PNP chief added.

The new unit will replace the former Anti-Illegal Drugs Group (AIDG), whose dissolution as a result of the involvement of at least two of its members in the kidnapslaying of Korean Jee Ick Joo in October last year under the guise of an antidrugs operation stopped the nationwide police campaign.

Philippine National Police Chief Ronald M. dela Rosa prays at the start of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and Philippine National Police joint command conference on February 27. President Duterte has asked the military to help in his deadly antidrugs campaign, after the police force was excluded from the campaign temporarily after two antinarcotics officers were implicated in an extortion scandal. AP/Aaron Favila

The new unit will be vested with the same powers under the previous campaign, especially so when drug suspects fight it out with law enforcers. Dela Rosa justified the deaths under Oplan Tokhang as drug users who have chosen to engage policemen in shootouts.

“If they [drug personalities] resist and if they want it to be bloody then we will give it to them,” he said.

Tokhang not only killed at least 2,500 people in legitimate operations, but also forced the

Having learned a bit of lesson from the Jee Ick Joo case, the PNP will reimplement the campaign while it continues to cleanse its ranks of “unworthy” members.

These will have to be done side by side due to extreme necessities, rather than wait for the CITF-driven internal purging.

Dela Rosa candidly admits that there may be some policemen in the whole organization who may not be able to resist the lure of drugs money, thus, highlighting the cleansing to go with the campaign even more.

“The reality is that you cannot really say 100-percent foolproof and no one will be involved. This is a dynamic organization, there will be those who will be tempted,” he said, but “the internal cleansing is a continuous process.”

“We will be going nowhere if we will not be serious in the internal cleansing. I will be resolute and unforgiving,” the PNP chief added.

Just recently, dela Rosa signed the dismissal order for 200 erring policemen under the ongoing internal cleansing.

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OR IS HE MORE A MAO?

Is China’s president the new Deng Xiaoping?

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popular song about Xi Jinping, China’s president, begins: “From China comes Papa Xi”. It is a deliberate echo of an anthem of the Cultural Revolution that begins: “The East is Red. The Sun is rising. From China comes Mao Zedong.”

The idea that Xi has Mao-like attributes is common currency.

The manifesto of America’s Republican Party, which President Donald J. Trump professed to espouse when he was campaigning for the presidency last year, talks about China’s “return to Maoism” and its “cult of Mao revived ”. The Economist has illustrated its cover with a drawing of Xi in a Mao suit, albeit with the reservation that “Xi is no Mao”. Now the doyenne of A mer ican academic China watchers, Alice Miller of Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, has proposed an alternative comparison. In an article for Hoover’s online journal, China Leadership Monitor, she argues that Xi ’s model is not Mao, but rather Deng Xiaoping.

750K The number of people charged within the three years of Xi’s campaign against corruption

Miller makes short work of claims X i is Mao 2.0. The late chairman said he wanted to create “great disorder under heaven”. X i, by contrast, is a control freak. Mao believed that “class struggle” could lead China to a communist paradise within a matter of years. Xi says the Communist Party will turn China

into a “moderately prosperous” countr y by 2021—a centur y after the par t y’s founding. Mao thought Red Guard mobs were needed to discipline the par t y.

X i says the party’s own anticorr uption body shou ld do that.

There are, however, a number of intriguing parallels with Deng.

Xi’s official anthology, called The Governance of China, has far more references to Deng’s speeches than to Mao’s. The book mentions Deng’s appeal in 1992 for the creation of a “socialist market economy” (i.e., capitalism under the party’s thumb). Xi says that is what he wants, too.

In 2016 Xi updated one of Deng’s early reforms aimed at ending the intraparty strife of the Mao era: a set of rules telling party members how to treat one another. To Miller, this is more than just posturing. She believes that Xi wants a new campaign for economic reform matching in scale and importance the one that Deng brought about. It might be added that Xi is ruthless in using force against perceived threats to the party, as was Deng—the reformist who ordered troops to kill pro-democracy demonstrators around Tiananmen Square in 1989.

But the differences between

Xi and Deng are at least as great as those between China’s current leader and Mao. Deng could be bracingly pragmatic. “It doesn’t matter whether a cat is black or white,” the party’s great survivor once said, “so long as it catches mice”. Xi prefers to talk like a traditionalist. One of his first acts after taking over as party chief was to set up a National Ideology Center to inculcate Marxist wisdom in party members. He has also endlessly lectured universities about the need to put Marxism at the center of university life. Deng’s pragmatism was evident in his approach to corruption. He tolerated a modest amount of it among officials—a way of boosting morale after the purges and denunciations of the Mao era. Xi sees corruption as an existential threat to the party: His campaign against it has resulted in about 750,000 people being charged with graft over the past three years.

The way Xi wields power is distinctive, too. Deng tried to set up a system of government in which institutions were supposed to matter more than the people in them, and in which term limits ensured leaders did not stay too long in power. Xi is more of an autocrat. He has gathered more

formal power to himself than any of his predecessors, and has been far more reluctant than Deng was to delegate responsibility to subordinates.

It is too much of a stretch to suggest, as Miller does, that Xi and Deng are equally committed to economic reform. Miller says impatient observers should “take a long view”. W hen he unveiled his plans for economic reform in 2013, Xi called for “decisive breakthroughs”, while allowing seven years for them to be achieved. Consider Banyan too fretful, but more than half that time has gone by with little to show for it. Should not more reforms be in place by now?

As Miller points out, X i does not tr y to portray himself as something new. He prefers to be seen as the latest in an unbroken line of communist leaders, going back to Mao. X i criticizes historians who portray the party’s rule as divided into a Maoist era and a Dengist one.

He clearly worries that such an idea will encourage people to see the two periods in contrast with each other, and conclude that the Mao days were distinguished by their chaos and cruelty. That would undermine Mao’s legitimacy as the founder

of the People’s Republic, and therefore the legitimacy of the party itself.

Not the Almighty

When X i took over, it was not as a result of a grab for power, driven by a desire to change things. He had been groomed for years for those posts. Miller calls him the embodiment of a “ broader elite consensus”. Many of the policies associated with him began dur ing t he latter years of his wooden predecessor, Hu Jintao. It was Hu who began the crackdown on civil society that X i has expanded.

Steps to reconcentrate authorit y in the centra l leadership began under Hu, too.

Xi is often described as the most powerful Chinese leader since Mao. Yet, there are limits to his freedom of action. The broad aims of his leadership—including that of asserting China’s power abroad more robustly—were set before he took office. The decisions and arguments that have occurred under him have had more to do with the pace of change than the overall direction—with means, rather than ends. Xi is a dictator, but he is a strangely inhibited one.

New York Times News Service

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Rights group says police falsified evidence to justify drugs killings A

human-rights watchdog has accused the police of falsifying evidence to justify unlawful killings in the government’s war on drugs that has caused more than 7,000 deaths, and pointed the finger at President Duterte as being ultimately responsible.

Human Rights Watch said in a report Duterte and other senior officials instigated and incited the killings of drug suspects in a campaign that could amount to crimes against humanity.

The United Nations should create an independent investigation to determine responsibility and ensure accountability, the report said. Presidential Spokesman Ernesto C. Abella said none of the accusations have

been proven in court. Until that happens, “such claims are mere hearsay,” he said.

National Police Spokesman Dionardo Carlos said Human Rights Watch should share its information with the police so any perpetrators can be charged in court.

He said not all of the more than 7,000 deaths mentioned in the report are drug related. Carlos said police data showed that 2,500 people had been killed in

President Duterte’s role in these killings makes him ultimately responsible for the deaths of thousands.”—Human Rights Watch

Maria Isabelita Espinosa (center) looks at the photo of the funeral of her 16-year-old son Sonny, one of seven victims of extrajudicial killings, during the opening of an exhibit at Baclaran Church in Parañaque City on Wednesday. AP

police operations, while another 4,000-plus deaths were still being investigated, of which 680 were drug related. Murder charges involving 1,330 victims have been filed with prosecutors or courts, but the details were not known.

T he Hu m a n R ights Watc h

repor t sa id t he pol ice have re peated ly carr ied out extrajudic i a l k i l l ings of d r ug suspects, t hen fa lsely c l a imed sel f - de fense, and planted g uns, spent bu l lets or d r ugs on t he bod ies.

“Our investigations into the Philippine drug war found that

the police routinely kill drug suspects in cold blood and then cover up their crime by planting drugs and guns at the scene,” said Peter Bouckaert, emergencies director at Human Rights Watch and author of the report. “President Duterte’s role in these killings

makes him ultimately responsible for the deaths of thousands.”

The report said masked gunmen taking part in killings appeared to be working closely with the police, casting doubt on government claims that vigilantes or rival gangs are behind the majority of the killings. It said, in several instances it investigated, suspects in police custody were later found dead and classified by the police as “ found bodies” or “deaths under investigation”.

The report draws heavily on interviews in metropolitan Manila with 28 family members of victims, witnesses to police killings, journalists and human-rights activists. It also references initial police reports of killings, which Human Rights Watch said its field research consistently contradicted.

Duterte barred the 170,000-strong national police from his antidrugs crackdown a few weeks ago after two antinarcotics officers were implicated in the killing of a South Korean businessman in an extortion scandal that allegedly used the crackdown as a cover.

He announced on Tuesd ay that selected policemen will return to the antidrugs campaign but that the main antinarcotics agency will continue to supervise operations. AP

Jessen wants faster conclusion of talks for ambitious EU-PHL free-trade deal E

uropean Union (EU) Ambassador to the Philippines Franz Jessen has outlined the strides needed to boost EUPhilippines trade further during a business luncheon “Philippine economy: Is change coming?” before the members of the Italian Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines on Thursday in Makati City.

Jessen noted that the timing to improve business ties is perfect, as the Philippines and EU are enjoying strong economic growth.

The Philippine Development Plan from 2017 to 2022 has projected a GDP growth to strengthen at 7 percent to 8 percent in the medium term, with growth expected to be more inclusive and where overall poverty rate is expected to decline from 21.6 percent to 14 percent. Meanwhile, the EU is the largest economy in

the world with a GDP per capita of €33,000 for its 500 million consumers. It is the world’s largest trading block, the world’s largest trader of manufactured goods and ser vices, and ranks first in both inbound and outbound international investments.

Jessen said the EU-Philippines trade in goods was almost €13 billion in 2015. In terms of total trade, he said, the EU is the fourth-largest trading partner for the Philippines and is the Philippines’s third-biggest export partner, after Japan and the United States. He said the EU is the second-largest service partner and the biggest investor in the Philippines.

Jessen further reported that the EU provided 37 percent of all new reported investments in the Philippines in 2015, an increase of 80 percent compared to its year-

ago level, with most of the foreign direct investments (FDI) invested in manufacturing and businessprocess outsourcing, which represented an estimated half-amillion jobs. “These changes are a reflection of the trends we are observing in the Asean level, as the EU is Asean’s second-largest trading partner and the largest source of FDI.” The EU ambassador, however, noted that, when comparing EU-Philippine trade to bilateral levels between the Philippines’s Asean counterparts, the Philippines is still lagging behind.

Still, this means the Philippines has a lot of potential to catch up with its neighbors. Jessen, thus, pressed to hasten the free-trade agreement (FTA) negotiations by creating the best possible enabling environment.

“We need an ambitious FTA to

make EU-Philippines trade grow stronger and to work together on market access,” he said. “I believe that an EU-Philippine FTA can be a powerful catalyst for change that will boost the competitiveness of the Philippine economy.”

According to Jessen, these changes should happen within the context of stronger EU-Asean relations, adding that this point is particularly relevant as the Philippines is chairman of Asean this year. “The EU is committed to deepening economic relations both with individual Asean member-states and with Asean as a whole,” he said. “Stronger integration between Asean members and between Asean and the EU will ensure benefits of increased trade, and connectivity are spread even wider. The EU is also pursuing a region-to-region trade deals with Asean.”

Lawyer sues ‘creditors’ of Mayor Estrada’s niece

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veteran lawyer has filed libel and grave-coercion charges against five individuals that he accused of allegedly conspiring to commit overt acts to defame him and extort money from him. Lawyer Ferdinand Topacio has filed charges against Kevin Martin de Castro Vitug, Henry Lim, Jeanette Ty, Bernardo Joseph Reyes III and their lawyer, Dennis Taningco, before the Pasig City Prosecutors Office on Friday.

“All of the above-named respondents have conspired together and have jointly committed overt acts in a malicious attempt to defame me and extort money from me, among other persons, without any basis in fact and in law,” Topacio claimed in his nine-page complaint.

The case started when Jerianne Ejercito-Peña, niece of former

president and now Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada, sought Topacio’s services as counsel and sought legal advice on several contracts that she executed on behalf of JE Admovers Inc. with respondent Reyes on November 2016. “ T hese t ra nsact ions were, thus, then brought to my attention for the first time. EjercitoPeña informed me that she was having problems with respondent Reyes and the other respondents who were supposedly other creditors of Admovers who invested through respondent Reyes,” Topacio said.

In an attempt to resolve the matter involving Ejercito-Peña and the respondents, Topacio invited them to a meeting in his office on November 22, 2016, in which Reyes and Vitug attended.

After the meeting that didn’t end up well, Topacio said he was surprised when he received several demand letters in different occasions in December 2016 from the complainants demanding him to pay a huge amount of money to them, otherwise, they will file nonbailable offenses against him.

“According to the letters further, I am ‘ in connivance’ w ith my client and I ‘par ticipated in the fraud ’, which resu lted in them losing their money,” Topacio complained.

“It goes without saying that I was extremely surprised to receive these letters, which were personally addressed to me and demanding payment from me personally considering that I have never ever entered into any transaction with respondents.

Neither did I have any personal participation in the transactions involving respondents and my client. To repeat, I met Ms. EjercitoPeña for the first time sometime in November 2016, way before the transactions referred to by herein respondents happened.”

He also added that: “In their demand letters, respondents failed to show, much less allege, why I was in any way liable, either personally or in conspiracy with anyone, to pay them the amounts they are claiming. They also failed to establish, much less state, that I issued or signed any of the checks indicated in the said letters. Hence, the respondents’ demand upon me to personally pay the amounts indicated in their demand letters have no basis in fact and in law.”

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

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Saturday, March 4, 2017 A5

ActiveHealth’s 21K endurance run up in Taguig

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Colina hat trick lifts National U booters

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ATIONAL University (NU) leaned on Lawrence Colina’s hat-trick to beat De La Salle, 3-1, for its second consecutive win, while defending champion University of the Philippines (UP) and Far Eastern University (FEU) battled to a scoreless draw in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines Season 79 men’s football tournament late Thursday at the Moro Lorenzo Field inside Ateneo.

Colina nailed the equalizer in the 76th minute and put his side ahead with an 84th-minute strike from just inside the box. He scored again in stoppage time with a spot kick, banking the ball from the left side of the post for his first hat trick this season.

The UP-FEU draw, meanwhile, kept the Fighting Maroons two points off the second-running Tamaraws (13 points). NU tied idle University of Santo Tomas with seven points, but the Growling Tigers stayed at fourth spot because of a better goal difference.

Rigo Joseph opened scoring for the Green Archers in the 53rd minute.

A 10-man University of the East (UE) earned its first full points with a 2-1 win over Adamson University also on Thursday.

Substitute Alberto Echin nailed a header in the 89th minute to help the Red Warriors to their fourth point of the season.

UE won despite losing Stephane Dagaraga in the 64th minute for his involvement in a scuffle with Blessed Brian Jumo.

The Falcons equalized after Ejike Ugwoke scored his second goal of the season in the 41st minute. Mark Lerion gave the Red Warriors their first goal in the seventh minute on free kick.

De La Salle slipped to sixth place with five points, while Adamson University fell to the bottom with three points.

ActiveHealth triathlon Coach Dan Brown leads a run clinic to help participants finish inside 2.5 hours.

PREMIUM ON

CHEMISTRY T

HE stars won’t be out today at the Mall of Asia Arena when Ateneo de Manila and De La Salle clash for the first time in Season 79 of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAP) volleyball tournament.

Instead, according to the coaches of both teams, teamwork or chemistry would come into play for the front-running teams, which have won five of their six matches this season.

The match is set at 4 p.m., with playmakers Kim Fajardo of the reigning champion Lady Spikers and Jia Morado of the Lady Eagles talking center stage.

“It’s a battle without star players,” said Ateneo Assistant Coach Sherwin Meneses, speaking in behalf of Head Coach Tai Bundit. “It’s not about one or two players, it will be a clash between all players from each teams. The team that has a better teamwork will win this big game.”

Two-time Most Valuable Player Alyssa Valdez is no longer around for Ateneo, and so are Amy Ahomiro and Mae Tajima. De La Salle won’t be parading anymore

former league MVP Galang, Mika Reyes, Carol Cerveza, Cyd Demecillo and Mika Esperanza in the marquee matchup between the most successful UAAP volleyball teams in the last decade.

“It’s all about the system, even if we lost our key players,” De La Salle Head Coach Ramil de Jesus said. “As long as you still have the setters who run the system, it will remain. Kim Fajardo is still with us, Jia Morado is there for Ateneo, so it will just depend on the other players, their service and receive and whoever can make better plays.”

Fajardo vowed to lead a De La Salle side that has Kianna Dy, Majoy Baron and libero Dawn Macandili as holdovers from last season’s champion squad.

“Ateneo and De La Salle is all about pride. That’s why we don’t want to lose this because of our school pride,” said Fajardo, who trails Morado in the best setter race with 226 running sets, 168 still sets and six faults for 400 attempts.

“I really have to stand out in leading my team because I am the eldest and most experienced member of the team, so I really need to lead them, and as of now I

ctiveHealth will launch Run United Exceed, a 21-kilometer endurance race patterned after major world marathon races.

The event, copresented by Tag Heuer, together with RunRio Inc., will be held at the Bonifacio Global City in Taguig City on April 2.

Run United Exceed is expected to set new records from the participants, as the run introduces the category for the top 15 fastest negative split medal finishers—athletes who finish the second half of the race faster than the first half.

Exclusive Tag Heuer Don’t Crack Under Pressure medal for 2.5 hours finishers and free Under Armour shoes are up for grabs for the top 15 placers.

All participants are also entitled to discounted privileges from partner merchants and a Run United Exceed Kit inclusive of a technical race and event shirt, multipurpose sling bag and more.

Two participants will also get a chance to win guaranteed slots to the Angkor Wat International Full Marathon or Angkor Wat International Half Marathon.

“The concept is to shatter one’s perception of time. We envision this race to give birth to the next generation of high performing half-marathoners who are trained to be on a par with those who are joining international races,” said Lester Castillo, brand manager of ActiveHealth.

Run United has established a strong foothold in the racing circuit when it was launched in March 2010, luring thousands of families who ran together to live a healthy lifestyle.

Through the years, it grew a steady following from participants who have leveled up in terms of race categories. In 2017 Run United is taking a big leap by redesigning its race as a competition for endurance.

“We have seen the potential of our runners and we believe that it is time to take Run United to the next level,” Castillo said.

ActiveHealth is the only race in the country that offers integrated holistic solutions for progressive athletes, grounded by its four pillars—training, nutrition, gear and events. am also ready to try other things just to lift my team to a higher spot,” Fajardo added.

Morado downplayed the rivalry and said “it’s just another match and the other teams are equally strong”.

“Kim is one of the people I look up to as a setter,” said Morado, who has, so far, booked 254 running sets, 217 still sets and five faults for a total of 476 attempts. “But volleyball is a team sport, so it’s not just her [working], it’s the entire La Salle team. Same goes for us, it’s not just me, it’s going to be all of us.”

Spiker Jho Maraguinot is expected to play a big role as she tries to duplicate Valdez’s power.

Bea de Leon, Michelle Morente, Kat Tolentino and Maddie Madayag are the other key players for Ateneo.

Far Eastern University and University of Santo Tomas clash in the day’s other women’s match at 2 p.m.

Lance Agcaoili

» DE LA SALLE’S Kim Fajardo and Ateneo’s Jia Morado

engage in their own battle of who’s the better setter.

SUPERLIGA INVITATIONALS ON Malaysian bets rule badminton tourney

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ALAYSIA’S Shahrul Shazwan and Sarah Joy Barredo blasted separate finals foes to capture the singles open crowns of the recent 10th Prima Pasta Badminton Championships at the Powersmash Badminton Courts in Makati City.

Shazwan defeated Team Prima’s R-Jay Baquiran Ormilla, 21-15, 16-21, 21-13, to bag the men’s open trophy, while Barredo retained her women’s open tiara after beating Airah Mae Nicole Albo, 21-19, 16-21, 21-14, in the annual tournament organized by Prima Pasta Chairman Alex Lim. Lanz Ralf Zafra won the boys’ 17-under and 19-under singles titles of the tournament sponsored by Babolat and Smart Communications through the MVP Sports Foundation, Zafra downed Arthur Samuel Salvado, 21-11, 19-21, 21-15, in the 17-under final and Kyle Justine Legaspi, 21-17, 21-13, in the 19-under championship.

More than 2,000 players from all over the country participated in the weeklong tournament staged in partnership with the Philippine Badminton Association and affiliated with the Philippine National Ranking System (PNRS).

Mikaela Joy de Guzman beat Anthea Marie Gonzales, 21-16, 21-17, to bag the girls’ 17-under trophy, while Janelle Anne Andres crushed Aldreen Rae Concepcion, 14-21, 21-17, 21-19, to grab the girls’ 19-under title.

Jewel Angelo Albo routed Francis Sarmiento, 21-8, 2115, to pocket the boys’ 15-under crown, while Anthea Marie Gonzales defeated Viana Meryl Antonio, 14-21, 21-8, 21-11, to take home the girls’ 15-under trophy.

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OCOLIFE and Sta. Lucia Realty will try to make a statement when they face separate opponents in their Philippine Superliga (PSL) Invitational Conference debut today at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.

The Cocolife Asset Managers, led by former collegiate rivals Michele Gumabao and Denden Lazaro, take on a revitalized Generika-Ayala side at 3 p.m., right after the 1 p.m. opening ceremony.

The Sta. Lucia Lady Realtors, meanwhile, make their comeback in the Philippine sports scene this time in volleyball as they face favorite Petron at 7 p.m.

Petron included ex-De La Salle star Mika Reyes and Rhea Dimaculangan to their already formidable roster.

Grand Prix champion Foton, which acquired San Sebastian College star Grethcel Soltones, battles a stronger Cignal led by former Army players Rachel Daquis, Jovelyn Gonzaga and Honey Royse Tubino, at 5 p.m.

Six teams are seeing action in the Invitationals. They will play a single-round elimination with the top three advancing to the semifinals, where they will be joined by Japanese team Kobe Shinhua University.

Attention is expected to be focused on Gumabao and Lazaro, both former stalwarts of De La Salle and Ateneo in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines.

They will be coached by Obet Javier of National Collegiate Athletic Association champion Arellano University, with many-time national player Tina Salak serving as one of

the assistant coaches.

“Our goal is to reach the second round because we want to gain the experience to be able to compete against Japan,” Cocolife team manager Joshua Ylaya said.

“We promise to give everyone, even the fans, a good performance every game.”

The Lady Realtors, on the other hand, are hoping to keep the winning tradition Sta. Lucia Realty booked in the Philippine Basketball Association from 1993 to 2010 it highlighted with a title run in the 2008 Philippine Cup. “This is a very young team, but we believe our team is very hard working and the players are playing with a big heart,” Sta. Lucia team owner Michael Robles said.

Lance Agcaoili

Amnuaysirichoke all praises for Team Lakay’s Pacio

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ejdamrong Sor Amnuaysirichoke is fully aware of Joshua Pacio’s outstanding reputation inside the One Championship cage as both men are scheduled to face each other on the undercard of One: Warrior Kingdon in Bangkok on March11.

Pacio holds an impressive 8-1 professional mixed martial arts (MMA) record and is one of the most highly-regarded strawweight prospects in the Asian region today.

A member and a proud product of the legendary Team Lakay in La Trinidad, Benguet, Pacio is a wushu specialist with a solid well-rounded skillset.

All eight of his career victories have come by finish, including five wins by impressive submission and three triumphs by spectacular knockout.

“Pacio is a well-rounded fighter, and I have a lot of

respect for him. He has good striking. He is good on the ground as well. Joshua Pacio is such a talented fighter,” Amnuaysirichoke said.

Despite the worthy praise that he has given to Pacio, Dejdamrong is confident that he can handle the versatility of his Filipino foe inside the cage. ​“For this fight, I’ve trained as hard as ever. I have continued to improve my overall MMA game. I’ve also worked on my ground skills, both offensively and defensively.

I’m very excited to test these out in the cage,” he said.

Although Pacio has a knack of finishing his cage counterparts on the canvas, Dejdamrong has no qualms if he will deal with the Filipino standout on the ground.

With the aim to be a more versatile competitor than Pacio, the 38-year-old Thai stalwart revealed that he

worked extensively on his ground game in training camp.

“If the fight goes to the ground, I’m comfortable and confident in my grappling skills to get the submission,” said Dejdamrong, who trains with elite grappling specialists such as Shinya Aoki, Alex Silva and Bruno Pucci at Evolve MMA. Pacio and Dejdamrong possess superb striking pedigrees, but the latter believes that he has the upper hand in the stand-up department.

“I believe I’ll have the edge in striking because of my Muay Thai experience. I know he has a background in Wushu, but striking is so natural to me,” he asserted.

Dejdamrong is a three-time Lumpinee Stadium Muay Thai world champion with over 25 years of competitive experience.

Ngo, de los Reyes top Clark Golf Cup

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LARK Freeport— Lawrence Ngo emerged the Lowest Net champion and Don Mate was declared Lowest Gross champion of the recent fourth Clark Golf Cup at the Mimosa Golf Club course.

Fernando de los Reyes and Aldrin Galang finished 1-2 in Class A, and so did Joey Arguelles and Conrad Banal in Class B of the event, organized by the Capampangan in Media Inc. in cooperation with the Clark Development Corp.

Edgardo Agustin and Max Fernandez dominated Class C, with Shiela Ward topping the Ladies Division and Wilma Sjoberg emerging as runner-up.

Noli Fernandez bagged the Nearest to the Pin trophy, Lito Camo topped the Most Accurate Drive and Aldrin Galang made the Longest Drive of the tournament that had San Miguel Corp. as platinum sponsor.

Liwayway Marketing, Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp., PLDT, Philippine Airlines and Pampanga Gov. Lilia G. Pineda were the gold sponsors.

The event also drew silver sponsorships from Ayala Land, Union Bank, Smart Communications, Manila North Tollways Corp., Mileage Asia Corporation, 8990 Holdings, Resorts World Manila, Casino Filipino Mimosa and Megafiber Corp.

Manila Water, Hausland Development Corp., Chevron, GMA Network, ABS-CBN, Mondelez, Wyeth Philippines, RFM Corp. and Mabalacat City Mayor Marino Morales were the bronze sponsors. Ashley Manabat

A6 Saturday, March 4, 2017

The Golf Geek

What you can learn from Dustin Johnson’s golf swing

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By Mike Besa

his week Dustin Johnson completed his ascension up the Official World Golf Rankings, rising to the top spot with a runaway victory at the Genesis Open at the legendary Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles, California.

On the surface, DJ has a unorthodox swing that seems uniquely suited to him and to him alone.

But this is far from the truth. In fact, there are several things that we can all take away from his golf swing and with practice, incorporate into our own golf games.

If you study the image of Johnson above you’ll notice that his hands and arms are passive even after contact with the golf ball, a clear indication that he’s using the rotation of his body to power the golf ball.

Here’s a drill to help you feel what DJ does using a half-swing: Use a short iron for this drill During your takeaway, keep the clubface pointing down to the ground more than normal with your left wrist bowed When the shaft of the golf ball gets to parallel with the ground start rotating your lower body feeling like you’re dragging the club behind you You should feel your lower body really activate as you keep your arms and hands passive Be sure to keep your right elbow (left elbow if you’re a lefty) ahead of the right hip (again, left hip for southpaws) Contact the golf ball and rotate through the golf ball keeping that feeling of dragging the club behind you without rotating the clubface Keep the arms relaxed through impact; if done correctly the clubface should be facing the sky When done successfully and integrated into your golf swing, this passive release will lead to more solid contact and consistency.

This is what most people notice at the top of Dustin Johnson’s backswing—his bowed left wrist.

What most people see when they see Dustin’s swing is the bowed left wrist at the top of his backswing. It’s not a classic position but what he achieves is a clubface that is square to the target line throughout his swing. He’s not the only elite golfer to do this either. Check out this image of Jordan Spieth at the top of his backswing. Notice the similarity?

Dustin Johnson keeps the clubface square to the target line by rotating his body agressively and keeping his hands and arms passive.

The Other Cour Story & photos

by Mike Besa

T Jordan Spieth at the top of his backswing

By keeping the left wrist bowed, Johnson and Spieth don’t have a lot of clubface rotation throughout the golf swing. Some professionals and most amateurs rely heavily on the timing of the hands and arms to square the clubface. Because of the precision of the timing required, this move breeds inconsistency.

Johnson avoids this by keeping the clubface facing the ball as he takes the club back. When the shaft of the golf club gets to horizontal, the clubface is pointing down at the ground. Bowing his left wrist keeps the clubface in this position.

He begins his transition from the ground up, keeping his hands and arms passive. He rotates his body, dragging the clubhead behind it. The key here is when he starts down, he keeps his right elbow in front of his right hip. From this position, he can continue rotating and the clubface will return square to the target at the golf ball.

he Orchard Golf and Country Club opened to great fanfare some 14 years ago in historic Cavite with two championship golf courses designed by golfing greats Arnold Palmer and Gary Player. The Palmer Course opened just in time to host the Johnny Walker Classic, the first international golf tournament in the Philippines since the World Cup in 1977. The tournament saw the best golfers in the world slug it out for the title including then world number one Nick Price, Greg Norman, Colin Montgomerie, Ian Woosnam, Vijay Singh and eventual winner Fred Couples. The Johnny Walker cemented the Palmer Course’s place in history and

made it an instant hit with all who came to play at the club. After all, who didn’t want to walk in the footsteps of the world’s greatest golfers?

The Palmer became so popular that it seemed golfers only played the Player course when there weren’t any tee times available on the Palmer. This pays the Player a great disservice; it is a great golf course in its own right and one that can stand with its head held proud in the presence of its illustrious neighbour.

The Player Course is essentially an inland links design that combines some aspects of an American parkland course. Built on a former sugarcane field, the course is an out and back affair that is more open than the Palmer Course and employs tufts of love grass, mounded fairways and pot bunkers that make it a distinctly different golf course. The still Cavite breeze

that haunts the links only adds to the experience. The club refurbished the Player a couple of years ago, replanting the greens with Sea Isle 2000, a variety of paspalum to further differentiate it from the Palmer and provide a totally different golfing experience for all.

I love the results.

The Player might seem the easier on paper being shorter than the Palmer, but good ball striking and course management is instrumental to post a good score. The greens have distinguished themselves by vexing members as well as their guests. They’ve developed character as they’ve matured and are very different than the tifeagle greens on the Palmer. The first two holes retain some parkland characteristics as the course starts on the back fringes of the Mango orchard from which the club takes its name but starting on the third hole, the British influences are

unmistakeable I have long had an appreciation for the art of the short par 4 and the Player course possesses many.

6 through 8 are good examples; none over 400-yards but each with character and unique defences to par. You can run out of fairway on the left side of the split fairway on 6 and the pond flanking the green comes into play on that side as well.

The right side of the fairway tapers down to a narrow neck making a fairway wood off the tee a sensible option. 7 doglegs to the left around a lake and up a hill; only the longest hitters would dare cut the corner.

The elevated green complicates club selection; care needs to be taken to find the proper level lest you be left with a tricky downhill putt.

12 offers a unique view off the tee and requires precision; the green is guarded in front by a hazard and runs away from you.

The opening corner on the back nine is the most treacherous on the

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The closing hole on the Orchard’s Player Course at dusk

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Saturday, March 4, 2017 A7

TWO FILIPINOS FETED AS TWO OF THE BEST CLUBFITTERS IN THE WORLD

Francis Go and Jake Ong of Custom Clubmakers do us proud

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rse at The Orchard course. If you’re going to make a big number here, this is the stretch that you’re most likely to do it on. The drive on 10 is straightforward but miss and you’ll do well to save bogey.

11 is the most demanding of the par threes. You must hit the green here. 12 is a long, narrow par five that places extreme demands on every shot you hit. If you can get through this stretch without too much damage, you’re on the way to a good round.

My favorite stretch of holes is 1517. 15 is not so short and demands that your tee shot carry a large bunker in the middle of the fairway. Once done, it’s a straightforward 150 to the green from there. There is a bailout area to the left but it’s really a par-5 from there. A fairway wood is the optimum choice off the tee on 16 as the fairway is guarded by a veritable phalanx of bunkers. 17 is the beast, a monster of a par-4 where par is a very good score.

The Player course is a wonderful, enjoyable test of golf and the

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rom day one, Callaway Golf has focused on making clubs that are forgiving of mishits and are easy to hit. The first Callaway Big Bertha was the world’s first commercially successful oversized driver. Its success was founded on it being longer off the tee and more forgiving than any driver on the market. It spawned the era of oversized drivers that have become today’s standard. Now for 2017, Callaway Golf introduces the Big Bertha Fusion driver; a club that the company is calling its most forgiving driver ever.

A lofty claim, even for Callaway.

To create the BB Fusion, Callaway pairs an aerospace-grade titanium Exo-Cage

members of The Orchard are lucky to have two distinctly different golf courses at their disposal. The variety keeps each round fresh and entertaining. Player exhibits the same guile as a designer as he did when he was a fixture on the World’s Tours.

Shares at the Orchard are a bargain. As of this writing, shares at the Orchard have almost doubled in value but remain a bargain currently trading at about twenty five percent of book value. But forget about speculating on the club’s share. The real value here is the quality of the golf for your buck.

The club is very well managed and is continually looking to upgrade the club’s infrastructure.

Unless you happen to play in the midst of their maintenance cycle, both courses here are always in superb condition considering the volume of play they get.

The Orchard is perhaps the best value of any golf club today bar none.

If you haven’t been here for a while,

with their ultra-light triaxial carbon crown and sole. The fusion of these materials allowed Callaway engineers to position substantially more weight in the perimeter and far back from the face compared to our previous drivers, resulting in a dramatically higher level of forgiveness. The Fusion was constructed with a slight draw bias, just the thing to eradicate the dreaded slice.

The resulting triangular shape will be familiar to golf equipment junkies. Callaway first used this shape with their FT-iz driver but the BB Fusion brings more technological prowess to the table. Callaway’s Speed Step technology efficiently manages airflow over

The Player Course poses unique challenges to the golfer.

the clubhead to make it as aerodynamic as possible.

Callaway’s learned a lot about shaft length and how it affects both forgiveness and performance. For the first time, an equipment manufacturer is offering a driver in two overall lengths; 45.5” if distance is the priority and 44.5” if accuracy is the goal. The shorter length driver comes with an even heavier weight placed low and far from the clubface. This not only keeps the swing weight the same as the longer club but it also increases the club’s moment of inertia for added ease of use.

Standard shafts are the Mitsubishi Rayon Diamana Red Board and the new UST

Recoil driver shaft. The Recoil driver shaft is designed to load energy on the downswing and unload with an extraordinary combination of power and precision through impact while Mitsubishi’s Diamana Red shaft combines a firm midsection and active tip to promote high launch, low spin and fast ball speed, and to make it easier to hit a distance-enhancing draw.

The Big Bertha Fusion driver also comes with Callaway’s signature Opti-Fit hosel which allow adjustment of the club’s loft and lie angles to better fit the golfer to the club. OptiFit gives the golfer a four-degree range with which to play, allowing the golfer to fine tune

ball flight to his or her requirements.

To complement the Fusion driver, Callaway will offer a line of fairway woods to complement the big stick. The fairways use much of the same technology present in the driver—a tri-axial carbon crown, titanium Exo-Cage construction, an elongated triangular shape for increased MOI and their industry-leading Hyper Speed Face Cup which is designed for high speeds that make the ball fly farther on center hits and off-center hits.

The Callaway Big Bertha Fusion driver and fairways should be available later this month in proshops everywhere. Mike Besa

ALM DESERT, California—KZG, the #1 Custom ProLine, is pleased to announce the twelfth annual “World’s Top 100 ClubFitters” Awards for 2017. Each year KZG honors 100 outstanding ClubFitters possessing superior skill, integrity and passion for their profession.

“Reports indicate that 68 percent of all golfers claim to have been custom fit. Yet other reports state 92 percent of all golfers are still playing the wrong equipment for their unique swing” reveals Jennifer King, President of KZG. “We offer seminars to PGA members and they agree with these sad statistics. They also admit that they can’t teach golfers who play with ill-fitting clubs. The biggest challenge for the public is discerning a true Professional Fitter from a glorified salesman claiming to be a fitter”.

So, what should golfers be looking for?

How can they discern if a clubfitter is truly qualified? Is there a list of equipment that clubfitters should utilize during a fitting?

With virtually every salesman in a retail store and every teaching pro claiming to be a professional clubfitter, answers to these questions are difficult and the search for a truly qualified fitter daunting.

Mike Girard, a PGA teaching pro, Master Clubfitter rated in the World’s Top 100, and owner of Tree Tops Golf in Florida suggests what to look for in a qualified fitter. “A short list of what to avoid in selecting a fitter seems obvious: internet fitting systems; stores where every salesman claims to be a fitter; a teacher or “fitter” who fits by “eyeballing” your shots; anyone who is not using a launch monitor and frequency analyzer; anyone using a fit bag with limited options; or a fitter who doesn’t partner with a qualified custom builder to guaranty his fitting specifications are followed precisely.”

“Professional ClubFitters are highly trained in understanding the mechanics of the swing, the design features and profiles of clubheads and shafts, utilize sophisticated launch monitors, have a wide spectrum of fitting clubs to work with and assume the responsibility that their fitting instructions are perfectly carried out by a professional club builder” adds Ed Mitchell, Founder of Mitchell Golf Equipment Company.

The industry is focused on growing the game. Suggestions of making 18-holes and turning courses into “football” fields have been floated. “The most obvious and quickest way to help grow the game is giving our golfers the right tools so they can improve and truly enjoy the game” says King. “The 2017 ‘Top 100 ClubFitters’ are exceptional professionals.

Their primary goal is helping the golfer. Their reputations are important and they will not just give the golfer what they ‘want’ for a quick easy sale, but rather will insist on fitting the golfer into clubs that will optimize their swing … integrity is crucial.”

An independent panel of industry experts determine the criteria necessary to be considered a top Professional ClubFitter.

From the criteria submitted, a point system was put into place to grade each application.

The panel included Clay Long, renowned club designer and personal fitter for Jack Nicklaus; Gene Parente, president of Golf Laboratories, Inc. the premier golf equipment testing facility and producer of robot testing utilized by every equipment manufacturer; Dr. Jennifer King, KZG’s President; Dr. Christian Reichardt, author of “Pain Free Golf” and doctor of sports medicine and fitness, and Ed Mitchell., President and Founder of Mitchell Golf Equipment Co., one of the top providers of equipment for repairs and custom club building.

This year’s Honorees hail from around the world, including 44 honorees from the UK/ Europe, 31 from the United States, 13 from Canada, 4 from Asia, and 8 from Australia/ New Zealand. The Honorees come from a wide variety of locations ranging from small stores serving rural areas to large performance centers with multiple fitters and instructors. All of them are highly skilled and continue to hone their skills to raise the bar for their profession.

The Philippines’ Francis Perez and Jake Ong of Custom Clubmakers are two of only three honorees from the whole of Asia. They are regulars on this list and have been for the past ten years. They do Philippine golf and the country proud.

The full list of the awardees may be viewed at http://thegolfbiz.com/kzg-announces-worldstop-100-clubfitters-awards-2017/

OurTime

A8 Saturday, March 4, 2017 • Editor: Efleda P. Campos

BusinessMirror

news@businessmirror.com.ph

Films, ex-political detainees teach horrors of martial-law years

DIRECTOR Joel Lamangan (from left) joins Sari Raissa Dalena, Teresita Camacho and Ester Isberto on stage as they speak during a forum at the Cine Adarna in University of the Philippines-Diliman last week.

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By Astarte Abraham | Contributor

HE horrors of the Marcos dictatorship were the focus of a forum and several films on martial law shown at the Cine Adarna in University of the Philippines-Diliman from February 23 to 25.

Dubbed “A Martial Law Special in Observance of the Edsa People Power Anniversary”, the event—presented by University of the Philippines Film Institute (UPFI) and the University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication Interdependent Student-Centered Activism (UP CMC ISA)—was intended to be the first of a series of screenings dedicated to films about memories, issues and questions concerning the Marcos dictatorship.

Mula sa Kung Ano ang Noon

(From What is Before), a 2014 film written and directed by Lav Diaz, won the top prize (the Golden Leopard or Pardo de Oro) at the 67th Locarno International Film Festival. It tackles the mysterious events in a remote Philippine barrio before the formal declaration of martial law in 1972 and what transpires after the Armed Forces of the Philippines decides to camp in the barrio.

Sigwa (Storm), directed by Joel Lamangan and written by Bonifacio Ilagan, was first featured in

the sixth Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival Directors Showcase category. This 2010 film showed social unrest in the Philippines as experienced by six student activists during the First Quarter Storm of 1970.

Mga Anino ng Kahapon (Shadows of the Past), written and directed by Alvin Yapan, was one of the finalists in the 2013 Metro Manila Film Festival’s New Wave Category. The film explores mental illness as experienced by Irene, a wife, mother and nurse whose schizophrenia takes her back to her traumatic experiences during the turbulent years of martial law and leaves her in a psychotic disposition, vulnerable and paranoid.

The Guerilla is a Poet is a 2013 work directed by Kiri Dalena and Sari Dalena and written by Ericson Acosta, Kiri Dalena, Keith Sicat and Kerima Tariman. The film deals with the life and times of the founder of the Communist Party of the Philippines, José María Canlás Sison, a.k.a. Joma

Sison, his days as an activist in the 1960s through the martiallaw years, his personal struggles, his capture and nine-year imprisonment, and his becoming a poet.

Ang Halaga ng Hustisya, directed

by Milo Alto Paz, is a documentary on martial-law survivors, their life now and their efforts in seeking justice.

Barber’s Tales (Mga Kuwentong Barbero), written and directed by Jun Robles Lana, is a 2013 drama set during the end of the Marcos dictatorship. It tells the story of newly widowed Marilou, who reluctantly takes on the job of her late husband as town barber to make ends meet.

Nonoy L. Lauzon, UPFI’s cinema programmer, said the UPFI has already been showing individual films on martial law, but after the presidential elections of 2016, it has been planning to come up with a continuing series of screenings—hopefully featuring a set of films each month. The UPFI has partnered with the UP CMC ISA, an organization based in the College of Mass Communication in UP Diliman, for this event and it will continue to tap partnerships in the future to maximize audience turnout.

The films, initially chosen by Lauzon, were confirmed by the faculty of the UPFI. They were shown through the generosity of the films’ producers.

Lauzon said, “Certain films didn’t make the cut [due to] logistical reasons…. The producers were asked if the UPFI could show the films free of charge.”

He said the screenings are a means for young people to know the truth and to refute distortions, especially on social media.

The UPFI has been responding to filmmakers’ clamor to screen films about martial law. Films produced at the height of Ferdinand Marcos’s authoritarian regime could also be screened in the future, even those stories not directly about martial law (i.e., “Batch 81” and “Kisapmata”).

“They’re martial-law films because they were produced in the period and they became an artifact and document of the period,” he said. “Each time we commemorate

a date that’s crucial to Philippine nationhood, we could look for a film in the right context so that we could expound and deepen our knowledge of that era.”

He said the declaration of martial law meant “the loss of our democracy and freedom. We were subjected to authoritarianism, to a dictatorship. There were humanitarian, social and political costs. Many were victimized.

That’s what they want people to remember. That’s what they want people who didn’t experience that period to know.”

Four speakers recounted their experiences during the forum on Saturday, February 25.

Ester Isberto is currently a board member of the Bantayog ng mga Bayani Foundation, an organization, comprised of activists who aim to both honor and preserve the memory of the People Power Revolution as well as those affected by the martial-law regime.

Imprisoned twice in 1974 and in 1977, Isberto related in detail how it was to be a detainee at the Bicutan Rehabilitation Center in 1977. Amid feelings of depression and the uncertainty of release, the detainees staged a hunger strike and continued the fight. Isberto said the resistance was a concerted effort of many, not just of a specific social sector (i.e., students, farmers, workers).

“People risked their lives to regain our freedom. The fight wasn’t about two families, the Aquinos and the Marcoses. People Power was the fight of the Filipino people against a corrupt dictator.” She said her generation paid for the democracy Filipinos enjoy today.

The current generation shall now decide on what to do if democracy is threatened again. She advised the audience to be careful of what they read on social media because “it’s being flooded by trolls. Do research, make critical thinking a habit.”

She said “moving on is recognizing the past. Learning from the mistakes of the past…and telling the young [that] this should not happen again.”

Teresita Camacho, currently a volunteer of the Banatayog ng mga Bayani Foundation, went under-

ground during the Marcos regime.

She unerscored the importance of democracy, collective action, protest and the need to be vigilant with one’s rights, especially when threatened. She also expressed her concerns regarding the current government. “Ito na ang nangyari.

Kumilos na tayo at magsalita tayo [This is what’s happening. Let’s move and speak up].”

Sari Raissa Dalena is the current director of the UPFI and one of the directors of The Guerilla is a Poet.

Influenced by her activist parents, she was able to meet people in the underground when she was a child during martial law.

She said “the brightest and the brilliant writers, activists, students…they wanted to aspire for something bigger than…what they can do or what they can write, something bigger than themselves…. So doon ko nakita ang mga sacrifices ng mga taong ito, mga iskolar noon [that’s where I saw the sacrifices of those people, the scholars then].”

Dalena hopes for the rise of the millennials who have become activists.

“Hope is in the young people,” she said.

Joel Lamangan is a film, television and theater director and actor. He was the director of Sigwa.

He described the years 1975 to the early 1980s as the “golden harvest” of Philippine theater for there was a proliferation of plays that depicted the realities of the Marcos regime. The prevalent theme: It is necessary for the oppressed to band together against an oppressor. Lamangan said, “Kung hindi tayo kikilos, sino ang kikilos? ’Pag nakikita mo na merong hindi magandang nangyayari at ika’y tumahimik lang…kapag hindi ka man lang kumibo o umalma, bahagi ka na rin ng mga nang-aapi [If we don’t make a stand, who will? If you remain silent or if you don’t object to wrongdoing, you are also an oppressor].”

Lamangan said art is the soul of a nation. It should serve the interest of the majority and reflect the truth at a particular period of time.

Astarte Demetillo Abraham, a graduate of the College of Mass Communication in UP Diliman, is a music, dance and theater artist, voiceover actor/dubber and events host/presenter.

House moves to prevent elder abuse T

HE House Committee on Population and Family Relations recently approved several bills that seek to prohibit and provide penalties for elder abuse in the country.

The panel approved, as amended and subject to style, House Bill 865, 2989, 4708 and 4980, authored, respectively, by Reps. Victor Yap (Second District of Tarlac), Wes Gatchalian (First District of Valenzuela City), Magnolia Rosa Antonino (Fourth District of Nueva Ecija) and Party-list Reps. Rodel Batocabe, Alfredo Garbin Jr. and Christopher Co of Ako Bicol.

Stakeholders representing the senior citizens sector could hardly contain their joy and clapped their hands in appreciation for the approval of the bills.

Rep. Sol Aragones (Third District of Laguna) committee chairman, said there was a need to pass a law that would protect the physical, mental and social well-being of the elderly because of their age.

“They are very frail and vulnerable to any ill treatment, it be physical or psychological,” Aragones added.

Aragones said four bills with the same subject matter were approved by the committee during the 15th Congress.

“The proposal was transmitted to the committee on appropriations but was not acted upon by

the said committee,” she said.

Aragones said there was no exact data on the prevalence of elder mistreatment in the country.

“There is a great possibility that the occurrence of abuse, violence, neglect and exploitation to elderly increases as our increasing population age in years,” she said.

There are plenty of factors that can trigger intended, unintentional or unnecessary harm to the elderly, according to Aragones.

In his sponsorship speech read by Rep. Marisol Panotes (Second District of Camarines Norte), Yap said the main purpose of his bill was to develop strategies for preventing and punishing crimes that target or, otherwise, disproportionately affect seniors, by collecting appropriate data to measure the extent of crimes committed against seniors and determine the extent of domestic and elder abuse.

“It, likewise, seeks to strengthen existing services being accorded to senior citizens by the government,” he said.

The measure aims to strengthen all government agencies, including local government units and government-owned and -controlled corporations, by establishing a mandatory senior’s desk in all offices of the government.

Yap said based on the 2010 census, senior citizens, or those aged

60 years old and over, comprised 6.8 percent of the country’s total population, or around 7 million.

“The number of senior citizens in proportion to our country’s population has been steadily growing.

The number is expected to reach 14.3 million by the year 2040, making up around 13.8 percent of the population,” Yap added.

Yap said most senior citizens are living below the poverty line and have limited means of employment.

“There has been an alarming increase of incidence of elder abuse.

It is important to point out that criminal activity toward the elderly is another category, which is also on the rise in recent years,” he said.

Yap said the World Health Organization (WHO) has defined elder abuse as “a single repeated act or lack of appropriate action occurring within any relationship where there is an expectation of trust, which causes harm or distress to an older person.”

“Physical, emotional or psychological, sexual, neglect or abandonment, financial exploitation—all these are the examples of a long list of elderly abuse,” he said Yap said the country does not have a law that specifically targets elder abuse as a criminal offense, because of lack of specific studies relating to crimes and abuse against senior citizens.

Batocabe, in his sponsorship re-

marks for the bill he authored with Garbin Jr. and Co. emphasized the fact that other marginalized sectors have their own laws that protect them.

He said there is a law against child abuse and violence against women and children,” he said.

“And yet, one of the most important sectors of our society and who are also physically, economically and politically marginalized [senior citizens] are not amply protected,” Batocabe said.

“There is really a need to address elder abuse and it’s about time we enact a law to protect our elderly people.”

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), for its part, expressed its strong approval for the enactment of these bills.

Social Welfare Undersecretary Florita Villar said that, while they had no objection to the contents of the different bills, they had a request to the body to consider the WHO’s ’ definition of elder abuse.

“We would like to request from this committee to consider the definition of elder abuse as indicated by the WHO, which, for the technical staff and officials of the department, would provide a very specific definition rather than a very broad definition which should be found in any bill,” Villar added.

Villar said WHO defined elder

OLD FISHERMAN Pando Bragado, 63, a resident of Barangay San Roque in Sabangan, Ilocos Sur, carries his fishnet called padas to catch small fish along the shore. MAU VICTA

abuse as “an act of commission or omission to an older person [which, in our case, is 60 years old and above] that may be either intentional, or unintentional and this abuse may be classified into physical, sexual, psychological [emotional or verbal aggression].”

“Another form of abuse to elder persons may be financial or those involving material maltreatment and will result in unnecessary suffering, injury or pain, the loss or violation of human rights and a decrease quality of life for the older persons,” Villar said.

The passage of the elder-abuse act in the 17th Congress would be one of the Philippines’s concrete actions to support the Asean’s decla-

ration on an active productive and healthy aging, which was signed last year by leaders at the Asean level of which the Philippines is one of the signatories.

To the query of Aragones if the agency has programs to address elder abuse, Villar said aside from the DSWD, the devolved setup local social welfare and development offices—from the provincial down to the city and municipal offices—had programs protecting the rights of the older persons.

The chairman also asked Villar if the DSWD has an informationdissemination program so that abused elder people know where to go and seek for help. PNA

The Millennials BusinessMirror

news.businessmirror@gmail.com

Saturday, March 4, 2017

A9

Young PR players cite impact of millennials T

By Rizal Raoul Reyes

@brownindio

HE online social networking platform is their new playground. But with these platforms changing the practice of public relations (PR), the entry of millennials further transformed the PR industry.

There was a refocusing, according to Joseph Asong, 29, PR manager of the Keds and Sperry brand.

“It is safe to say that most lifestyle brands are now doing a type of publicity that is dedicated to the young market and this is usually digital-driven,” Asong said in a email interview with the BusinessMirror.

According to Asong, it is in the digital space “where most engagements and conversations happen.”

Asong defines himself a Millennial PR practitioner, someone who does publicity specifically targeting the millennial market. The political science graduate of De La Salle University (DLSU) argues that a millennial-centric PR requires the practitioner to fully understand how the market behaves, what draws their attention and how they respond to brands in a more social, rather than commercial, perspective.

For 30-year-old Ericka Bugia, a millennial PR practitioner needs to be able to adapt to change and work well under pressure. Bugia, managing director of PR agency 360 Platform, added that in today’s ever-changing atmosphere, “it’s important for PR firms catering to the millennial market to be able to understand and work with the different demands of the industry without breaking down and without fear of

experimenting and going against the norm.”

With ease

BEING a millennial himself, Asong said he can interact with ease with today’s young generation because he has the same mindset and thinking and the way to communicate through online social networking platforms.

He said there were not many things to unlearn when dealing with millennials. Asong added there were also the need to learn more things as technology grew as well as the demand for new ways to express oneself whether through online social networking platforms, art or music.

“I think the most important thing to take note for brands is to integrate engagement to different lifestyle activities of which Millennials are heavily involved in,” Asing said. “With that said, brands are able to capture the attention and make themselves relevant and relatable.”

Bugia, meanwhile, does not think it’s necessary to “unlearn” as one has to adapt to change and be flexible enough to work with the new types of media that has sprouted since her student days.

Asong said in his engagements with clients serving the millennial market, he was always required

Public relations (PR) practitioners Asong Joseph and Ericka Bugia believe the PR industry has and should change with the entry of millennials. Photos courtesy Asong Joseph and Ericka Bugia

to design creative campaigns that will really stand out and will create buzz in online social networking platforms. Moreover, they also prefer to work with so-called young online “influencers” when it comes to who should promote their brand or products.

“Nowadays, return on investment becomes secondary in a client’s objective,” Asong said. “What [comes] first is the ability of a certain campaign to stand out and become highly integrated in a Millennial’s lifestyle.”

No more TV

BUGIA also observed that nowadays millennial-centric clients prioritize online social networking platforms.

Moreover, she pointed out they also give high priority on followers and “influencers.” That makes sense, because these personalities

inspire and guide the decisions of today’s online socialization-driven consumers, according to Bugia.

Asong describes the millennial market as something that is continuously evolving and growing at a rapid rate. Since millennials are heavy users of internet and other online-related platforms, companies now have an easier time to push information on their products and relevant content without requiring them to spend a bigger budget on promotion and marketing.

“With traditional PR, getting the brand featured in print magazines or TV requires a huge amount of budget and there is overspill in terms of readership and viewership,” Asong said. “As you know, most millennials don’t even read newspapers anymore or watch TV for that matter.”

For Bugia, the PR market for millennial is highly focused on online

influencers and quick turnarounds.

She noted clients need to be able to tap the right people and get the word out in a timely manner in order to succeed in today’s day and age.

Asong and Bugia both agreed that PR companies and practitioners need to be tech savvy these days to be able to reach out and harness the millennial market.

According to Asong, online social networking platforms and the use of new technology to maximize reach, syndicate relevant content, and to make things easy for millennials have become very important. The platform requires him to be always on his toes with the new trends and ways to engage the market.

Acting smart

ALTHOUGH there is a perception that millennials are not keen observers, Asong said PR firms must

act smart when dealing with the group. “Remember, the millennial market knows if you don’t speak their language. They’re very smart, they know what they want, and they easily veer away from commercial touch-points such as online ads, aggressive sales pitches and what have you,” Asong said. “The way to pique their interest is through social engagements that allow them to express their individuality.”

Bugia said hiring people with knowledge of technology and online social networking is a must these days to remain relevant and competitive.

“The basic thing is to get techies by your side is one major step,” she added. “It’s important to have a reliable and trustworthy team by your side, in general, because it is impossible to survive this busy landscape on your own.”

To court millennials, hotels are rolling out the yoga mat

By Tammy La Gorce

New York Times News Service

J

AMES Giannantonio does not consider himself a fitness maniac. But Giannantonio, a 31-year-old Philadelphian, knows he may appear that way when he visits New York.

“I have the same routine every time I come,” he said. “I check in, then I take out the yoga mat in the little workout area they set up in each room, and I do some stretching and light yoga for 20 minutes. Then I head down to the gym and run on a treadmill for 35 or 40 minutes.”

Giannantonio does this every other week, when he stays at Even Hotels Times Square South. His job as a project manager for the energy company Veolia, based in Paris, requires the frequent hotel visits.

“The thing is consistency,” he said.

“If I’m coming here, I know I’ll be engaged enough to want to work out.”

Giannantonio may be just one of millions of millennials inclined to pick a hotel based on its ability to help them stay fit. A 2016 survey by travel and hospitality firm MMGY Global found that nearly half of millennials said a premium fitness center with options for on- or off-site exercise classes was influential when they chose a hotel, as opposed to more than one-third of Generation Xers and fewer than one-quarter of baby boomers. (MMGY Global’s study counted millennials as those born from 1980-98.)

Important features

OTHER studies have also shown the wisdom of using fitness to market to millennial travelers. In the summer travel tracker survey conducted last year by American Express Travel, 49 percent of millennials said they

viewed an on-site gym as one of the most important features at a hotel.

Hotels have been moving in that direction. The American Hotel and Lodging Association found that 85 percent of hotels had fitness facilities last year, up from 63 percent in 2004.

Hotel chains like Even, which has six hotels and five in the pipeline with rooms starting around $199 a night, are doing more than offering fitness options. Everything from the green smoothies served at its Cork & Kale cafe to the mesh bags offered to guests to deposit their sweaty workout clothes in—the clothes are returned washed, dried and folded within two hours—is tailored to the idea of promoting health.

Wellness, actually, is the preferred term.

“When we developed Even Hotels, the world didn’t need another hotel brand,” said Jason Moskal, vice president of lifestyle brands for InterContinental Hotels Group. “What the world needed was a place that would help them maintain their wellness.”

Millennials, Moskal said, are “a significant number of our guests, and wellness is at top of mind for that demographic.”

Thus, every Even hotel room has a standup desk and workout zones, which include the yoga gear that Giannantonio regularly uses, as well as resistance bands, ottomans that double as workout props and a television with 20 workout videos. The 1,500-square-foot fitness center at Even Times Square South has premium treadmills made by Woodway, among other high-tech machines.

Prioritizing fun

EVEN Hotel general managers are not referred to by that title. Instead, they are called “chief wellness officers.” Among their responsibilities

and other classes, and to standard equipment like free weights and stationary bikes.

“Functional fitness is where you do things that will make you better at the things you do in normal life,” she said. “For example, if you’re a parent, you want to be able to squat down and play with your kids, so you’ll do exercises that help with range of motion. Or if you’re a skier, you want to be able to ski better, so you work out with that goal in mind.”

Instagrammable moment

James Giannantonio, a 31-year-old Philadelphian, gets ready to exercise in his room at Even Hotels Times Square South in New York on February 15.

Giannantonio may be just one of millions of millennials inclined to pick a hotel based on its ability to help them stay fit as chains are increasingly offering wellness amenities, from group exercise classes to sneaker-lending programs. Annie Tritt/The New York Times

are arranging and leading group runs for guests unfamiliar with the city in which they’re staying.

Dieter Schmitz, chief wellness officer at Even Times Square South, said he runs with guests to the Hudson River and back at least once a week.

“Sometimes it’s only one person with me,” Schmitz said. “But people like the flexibility of being able to work out with someone else or work out alone, in their room. So that’s what we offer.”

Flexibility, according to Claire Bennett, executive vice president for travel and lifestyle services at American Express Travel, is crucial to attracting millennials. And that is why more hotels are offering options like on-site personal train-

ers, sneaker-lending programs and ClassPasses to local boutique fitness studios.

“Major hotels are realizing that putting fitness first matters to this demographic a lot, and that they need to have options so working out doesn’t feel like a chore,” Bennett said. “And if they can incur something unique to the location, that’s sort of a nice balance. The days of the old treadmill in the basement, that’s not really the strategy anymore.”

Fun, she said, has also become a priority to hotels courting millennials. “They want to have the kind of experience they can post on Instagram,” she said.

‘Functional fitness’

AT Kimpton Hotels, a 63-property

chain with rooms that average $233 a night, options that seem especially Instagram-worthy include a rock-climbing wall and monkey bars at the Kimpton Alexis Hotel in Seattle, pickup basketball games with a former college basketball player who is also a bellman at the Kimpton Hotel Vintage Portland and kayaking at the Kimpton Onyx Hotel in Boston.

“The idea is fitness for life,” said Jenne Oxford, general manager of the Kimpton Alexis. “And if you’re going to be fit for life, why not make it fun?”

Oxford said she had become used to hearing the term “functional fitness” from millennial guests, which is why her hotel’s approach to exercise includes access to yoga

BENNETT said Westin Hotels and Resorts had become a favorite among runners because it seeks to optimize a runner’s stay.

Brian Povinelli, Westin’s senior vice president and global brand leader, said RunWestin, a program begun in 2012 with New Balance, had several parts.

“On the simplest level, every hotel features a running map and 3and 5-mile routes,” he said. “And we offer the amenity of, when people are coming back from a run, they’re given a towel and a bottle of water.”

A sneaker-lending program lets guests borrow New Balance shoes, and a “run concierge” will customize maps for sightseers. For example, Povinelli said, “Westin Maui has a run through the Black Rock formation, where people dive off the end.”

“That’s a great Instagrammable moment,” he added. “And when you get into Seattle, the Westin there has a run around the Space Needle.”

Westin guests, like those at Even, can avoid the monotony of running alone. “This desire to work out in a group, rather than as a solitary experience, is something we’re really seeing driven by millennials,” Povinelli said.

A10

BusinessMirror

Saturday, March 4, 2017

review

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By Rizal Raoul Reyes

with rapid urbanization, emergence of the millennial work force and a fragile global economic climate, is ushering societal and economic changes at an unprecedented pace,” the company said on February 23.

Sadly, the transformation journey for most organizations in Philippines is still at its infancy, the poll revealed.

“In fact, only 32 percent of business leaders, however, have a full digita l transfor mation strategy, while 43 percent are in progress with specific digital transformation initiatives for selected parts of their business,” Microsoft said, citing the survey results. About 25 percent of respondents said their business have very limited or no strategy in place. According to Cian

O’Neill, chief operating and chief marketing officer for Microsoft Philippines, past industrial revolutions revealed “organizations that do not evolve fast enough will be less competitive or even obsolete as they face disruptions in every industry”.

According to Microsoft, the study was conducted between October to November last year involving 1,494 business leaders in 13 Asia Pacific markets. The 13 markets include Australia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand. All respondents were prequalified as being involved in shaping their organizations’ digital strategy, and are working in firms with more than 250 employees.

the smartphone market came off its lowest year-over-year (YoY) growth of 2.5 percent in 2016.

However, a new forecast from the IDC shows worldwide smartphone shipments rebounding in 2017 and beyond. W hile growth is expected to remain in the low single digits, IDC said it predicts shipment volumes to grow 4.2 percent this year and 4.4 percent in 2018, with a compound

annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.8 percent over the 2016 to 2021 forecast. IDC forecasts shipments to reach 1.53 billion units this year and grow to 1.77 billion in 2021.

Executives from Lenovo said its new device carries a price tag of P11,999 ($238.34).

The Philippines launch of the device came two days after Lenovo announced at the Mobile World

Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain, “an ecosystem of devices and services that support the new era of mobility and represent how today’s users are demanding solutions that bridge connectivity, hardware and user-centric design”. In a February 28 statement, Lenovo said it introduced at the MWC “a new device portfolio that spans nearly all mobile form factors”.

eng ine-based optimizations.”

Akamai said the new version “will also enable developers to deliver near instant mobile app experiences by using its new software development kit [SDK]”. “ The ability to deliver great mobi le e x p e r ie nces i s pa r a mount to the success of online businesses,” the company said.

“Consumers today expect fresh, fast, secure and engaging mobile experiences, regardless of

their browser, app, location, device or network.”

Akamai said due to unpredictable network conditions and the variety of devices used by customers, meeting these business requirements has never been more difficult or costly. Citing a report, Akamai said 53 percent of sessions are abandoned if content doesn’t load within three seconds.

Zalora CTO Karthik Subramanian said his company uses Ion.

“With Ion, and especially the new SDK, we are able to provide a much r icher and more engaging mobile app ex per ience for our customers,” Subramanian was quoted in a statement as say ing. “ T he per for mance repor ting has a lso g iven us insight into the rea l ex per ience that our app users have, enabling us to improve our application to suit our customers’ needs better.” Rizal Raoul Reyes

brownindio

USINESS leaders in Philippines are showing urgency in embracing the fourth Industrial Revolution, a survey by Microsoft Corp.’s Asia operations revealed.

According to the Microsoft Asia Digital Transformation Survey, 86 percent of the 111 executives polled believe they need to transform to a digital business to enable future growth and that new data insights can lead to new revenue streams for their organizations.

Technology advancements have ushered in the fourth Industrial

Revolution, where cutting-edge technologies, such as Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), advanced data analytics and mixed reality are powered by cloud computing to create limitless possibilities in transforming the way people work, live and play, Microsoft said in a statement. “ T his revolution, toget her

Dino Romano, country manager of Lenovo Mobile Business Group Philippines Inc., shows off the newest line of Lenovo mobile phones, the Lenovo K6 Note, on March 2. Stephanie Tumampos

T

HE Philippines business of L enovo Group Ltd . launched on Thursday a new device as the International Data Corp. (IDC) sees the smartphone market experiencing a rebound this year.

The new device called K6 Note was launched on March 2 with the company touting its Dolby speakers and 16-megapixel rear camera.

The device was launched at

C

ONTENT delivery network (CDN) services provider Akamai Technologies Inc. launched on March 1 the latest version of its flagship Web performance solution called “Ion”.

In a statement, the Cambridge, Massachusetts-headquartered firm said the new Ion version “is designed to make it easier than ever to deliver compelling online experiences by leveraging the company’s new learning

In this January 13 file photo, a model puts the controller onto the Nintendo Switch during a presentation event of the new Nintendo Switch in Tokyo. AP

W

HEN you’re deep in a video game, the last thing you want to do is leave home. If only you could take the game with you for your commute to work or your bus ride to school, or to liven up your lunch hour. Nintendo’s new Switch console tries to address that by letting you play it anywhere. You simply yank the Switch out of its docking station. It functions as a tablet with a built-in display, so you don’t have to worry about finding a TV. Games typically work without a persistent Internet connection.

Once you’re back home, just slide it back into the docking station to play games on a big-screen TV. The Switch works like a traditional game console when you want that; it offers portability when you need that. Over the past week, I’ve played the new “Legend of Zelda” game at home, outside, in a laundromat and in a mechanic’s waiting room. The game picks right up wherever I left off.

The big question, as it so often is with Nintendo, is whether it will be able to deliver enough games.

When the console starts selling on Friday, for $300, the Switch will have a paltry nine titles, leaning heavily toward familiar franchises such as “Just Dance” and “Skylanders”. By contrast, Sony’s PlayStation 4 and Microsoft’s Xbox One had about 20 games each at launch.

A new hardware introduction is big for any company, and even more so for a company in such a state of transition. Nintendo’s Wii U console bombed when it came out in 2012, and its longheld dominance of the portable game market has been usurped by smartphones and tablets. Its two big successes of 2016—“Pokémon Go” and “Super Mario Run”—were made to be played on other companies’ devices. “Pokémon Go” wasn’t even developed in-house, but under license by a California company called Niantic.

The Switch is a gutsy attempt

by Nintendo to reclaim its territory in both the home and portable markets. The console comes with two controllers, known as JoyCons. Each has a control stick, four buttons, two triggers, motion sensors and haptic feedback.

The right one also has an infrared sensor to detect nearby objects.

On the go, you can turn the tablet into a hand-held game machine by attaching Joy-Cons to each side. Or just prop the tablet on a table with a built-in kickstand and use the Joy-Cons as wireless controllers, just as you would at home. You can also transform the Joy-Cons into a more traditional game controller by sliding them into a wireless grip accessory, which is included.

To play a solo adventure like “Zelda”, you’ll need all the buttons on both Joy-Cons. But Nintendo also wants you to play socially, so each Joy-Con functions as a freestanding controller for party games, like “Just Dance 2017” and “Super Bomberman R”.

The Joy-Cons are surprisingly comfortable, given that they are small, about the size of a candy bar.

I’d be more worried about losing them than getting hand cramps.

They slide into slots on the tablet and the grip with a satisfying snap.

The tablet, with the Joy-Cons attached, is about as wide as a standard iPad held horizontally, but just a little more than half as tall. The screen resolution is equivalent to 720p high definition. “Zelda” looks just about as good here as on your big-screen HDTV. The battery lasts about six hours, though a powerhungry game, like “Zelda”, could cut that down in half.

The Switch has a puny 32 gigabytes of internal storage. You’ll need to buy a memory card if you intend to download plenty of games. Games also come on postage-stamp-sized game cards you slide into a slot on top.

It remains to be seen just how many games you’ll want.

There’s a drab collection of multiplayer minigames, packaged as “1-2-Switch.” The package would have been great as a free starter kit; instead it costs $60. “Snipperclips”, for just $20, is a more inspired cooperative puzzle game.

The marquee attraction, of course, is “The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild” ($60). It is spectacular, but also available on the Wii U, so owners of that console don’t need to upgrade yet.

Granted, I am a hardcore gamer, the type of guy who would buy a Switch just for “Zelda” and spend 100 hours happily wallowing in it. Casual gamers who get by with the occasional fix of “Candy Crush Saga” on cell phones will probably wish for a broader selection.

Nintendo says more than 80 games are in development, with homegrown franchise titles like “Super Mario Odyssey,” ‘‘Mario Kart 8 Deluxe” and “Splatoon 2” coming this year. But Nintendo hasn’t said whether the Switch will get some version of its Virtual Console, which delivered classic hits from the company’s 30-plusyear history to the Wii U. The Switch hardware is very impressive, and the ability to easily take a game from the living room to the laundromat scratches an itch I didn’t know I had.

But in bridging two worlds, it sacrifices important pieces of both. It doesn’t have all the functions you want from a tablet; even the Xbox and the PlayStation have Web browsers and video apps, such as Netflix, on their nonportable systems. And the Switch doesn’t (yet) deliver the range of games you want from a home console.

The Wii U failed, in part, because Nintendo left too many of its most beloved heroes idling on the bench. Consoles gathered dust because there weren’t enough compelling games to play.

T he lon g - aw a it e d “ Z e ld a” is a good st a r t for t he Sw itc h, but Nintendo w i l l need to de l iver t h is k ind of qu a l it y more consistent ly. AP

BusinessMirror

S

OF T WA R E a nd ser v ices provider Amdocs Ltd. announced the launch of its industry-specific digital intelligence platform the firm calls “aia”.

The multinational corporation headquartered in Chesterfield, Missouri, explained that aia implements business logic to automate and modernize a service provider’s business, enabling the “self-driving telco” . Amdocs said aia fits telcos because it’s a business that can auto-adapt, using real-time data to feed processes and take action.

Amdocs, formerly Aurec Information & Directory Systems, said the platform combines business processes with artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning capabilities from other platforms.

“Imagine a world where your b u s i n e s s i nt u it i v e l y u n d e r stands your customers’ needs and automatically adapts to address them, where ser vice providers embrace cognitive learning w it hin t heir operat iona l strategies, boosting customer experience, dynamically managing the product catalog and optimizing increasingly complex networks,” Amdocs Chief Marketing Officer Gar y Miles was quoted in a statement as saying. “[The] aia will make that world a reality.”

S

OPHO S Group Pl c . a n nounced recently the addition of advanced machine learning (AML) capabilities in its products after entering last month into a deal to acquire Invincea Inc. In a statement, the Abingdon, Eng l a nd-headqu a r tered f i r m said Invincea’s endpoint security portfolio is designed to detect and prevent unknown malware and sophisticated attacks via its patented deep learning neuralnetwork algorithms.

Sophos CEO Kris Hagerman was quoted in a statement as saying the purchase of Invincea “will strengthen Sophos’s leading next-gen endpoint protection with complementary predictive defenses that we believe will become increasingly important to the future of endpoint

According to Amdocs, highquality data accessible in real time is used by aia to continuously make predictions, automate decisions and manage conversations directly with customers. “With its self-lear ning capabilities, aia constantly adapts to changing dynamics, achieving optimal business results,” the company said. “Working across the broad Amdocs portfolio, aia has the ability to enhance more than 50 operational business processes.”

“Machine learning and artificial intelligence are becoming increasingly important elements to any communication service provider’s big data strategy,” Cloudera CEO Tom Reilly was quoted in the statement as saying. “This real-time data environment allows them to accelerate and scale their industry-specific digitalintelligence programs to ensure that they can greatly improve predictions, like customer churn, network failures and even cybersecurity anomaly detection.” “ The relevance of AI for service providers is very real and they get it; the question is how quickly they can act on it,” Miles added. “By injecting intelligence into our portfolio, aia gives them a pragmatic and straightforward way to embrace AI into their business.” Oliver Samson

protection and allow us to take full advantage of this significant new growth opportunity.”

Sophos has said in its 2016 annual report that the informationtechnology (IT) security market will continue to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of approximately 7 percent over the next few years.

“Industry analysts also agree that IT spending in the smallto mid-size enterprise will continue to grow at a rate above that of the enter prise market, particularly on mobile and tablet investment,” Sophos said.

“Achiev ing data securit y and compliance w ith gover nment regulation is seen as key driver for investment by CIOs in Europe and the US in particular.”

Oliver Samson

B

EING a good listener is normally considered an admirable quality in a person. It is, however, lethal for a smartphone if found in a piece of malicious software (malware), according to Symantec Corp.

T he c yber-sec u r it y f ir m recently alerted users to the latest variant of the Android ransomware threat “A ndroid.

Lockdroid.E”, which Symantec

J

its v ictims to spea k an unlock code instead of the traditiona l method of t y ping it in.

“Once Android.Lockdroid.E infects a device it locks the user out using a ‘System’ type window and then displays a ransom note,” Symantec said in a statement. “The ransom note is written in Chinese and gives instructions on how to unlock the device.”

According to Symantec, the note provides a QQ—software ser vice developed by Tencent Hold ings Ltd.—inst a nt mes saging ID to contact in order to receive further instructions on

how to pay the ransom and receive an unlock code.

“Since the user’s dev ice is locked, another device must be used to contact the cyber criminals behind the threat.” Symantec explained the malware uses thirdparty speech recognition APIs and compares the spoken words heuristically with the expected passcode. If the input matches up, the malware removes the lockscreen.

“For some cases, the recognized words are normalized to accommodate any small degree of inaccuracies that an automated speech recognizer is bound to.” Oliver Samson

D

ELL Tec hnolog ies Inc. launched on February 23 in the Philippines some of the new products within its com merc i a l c l ient por t fol io.

The roll out of the portfolio is the first since Dell ’s acquisition of EMC Corp. was completed in September last year.

“Ou r new dev ices incor po rate t he best aspects of por t abi l it y a nd rel i abi l it y w it hout

comprom ising on t he sec u r it y, ma nageabi l it y, s peed a nd produc t iv it y t h at ou r profes sion a l u sers see k ,” s a id R on n ie L at i n a z o, cou nt r y genera l manager of t he Phi l ippines for De l l Tec h nolog ies.

Latinazo, formerly head of EMC’s Philippines’s operations, added that, “Dell ’s upgraded selections of business products are built to not only help our cus-

tomers meet their current business needs, but also help address tomorrow’s evolving workplace challenges.”

The launch of Dell Technologies’s new products comes after lackluster performance of the traditional personal computer (PC) market, according to International Data Corp. (IDC).

In January IDC said preliminary results of its monitoring

point to traditional PC shipments in Asia/Pacific (including Japan) totaling to only 101.8 million units in 2016.

T h i s a c c ou nt e d for a 5. 5 p e rce nt y e a r - on -y e a r ( YoY ) decrease—a softer contraction from the 7.7-percent YoY drop in 2015. In the fourth quarter of 2016, the market declined by 2.9 percent YoY, reaching 26.2 million units, according to IDC.

T

Virtual reality

how people perceive your retail space and what feelings they will associate with your brand.”

According to Hinolan, the best solution is to go for a curated sound that is customized for a brand’s specific theme, through both hardware and music choices.

champions the use of sense association for marketing campaigns.

“It’s a win-win for both consumer and brand,” Hinolan was quoted in a statement as saying.

“Clients who go for the sensory route always see a spike in foot traffic and brand loyalty because the consumers remember positive experiences and better familiarity when interacted with in this way.”

Mobile apps

Th e co m p a ny t h at b o u g ht Vi b e r Media Inc. in 2014 explained Viber ’s delete feature works on both one - onone and group messages. “However, if you want to delete a message that someone else has sent to you, it will only be removed from your own device,” Rakuten said.

The Setagaya,Tokyo, Japan-headquartered firm added that Viber’s delete feature gives users more control. Oliver Samson

A11

This February 23 photo shows a man taking a photograph of some of the commercial products of Dell Technologies Inc. in a Philippines hotel. Nonie Reyes

ECHNOLOGICAL innovations continue to appear and push the boundaries of branding, marketing and the retail space, according to AudioWAV Media Inc. (Ami).

A brand manager or owner should consider five tech innovations for their brand this year, the homegrown technology firm said.

APANESE electronic commerce and Internet company Rakuten Inc. has tweaked its free, cross-platform instant messaging and voice over IP (VoIP) application. The company said in a statement its “delete” feature offers users a second chance to redeem their reputation put at risk because of a wrong send.

“This unique feature is loved by many Viber users because it allows them to correct their mistakes easily,” the company said.

described as “a great listener”.

According to Sy mantec, the t h re at u s es a s p e e c h - re co g n it i o n a p p l i c at i o n p r o g r a m inter face (A PI) a nd requ ires

Saturday, March 4, 2017

WITH smartphones figuratively attached to virtually every person in any demographic, it is time to tap into mobile apps.

“There is practically a mobile app for everything and young people love to use them,” Ami CEO and President Carlos Jose G. Hinolan said. “So, creating an app for your brand allows it to be more user-friendly and personalized, especially if your brand caters to millennials, largely referred to as the mobile-first generation.”

According to the firm, being available through mobile significantly increases a brand ’s visibility and reach.

EVERYONE knows what virtual reality (VR) is today, Hinolan said in a statement.

“It is probably one of the new buzzwords of the past year the momentum of which has carried on to 2017,” he explained. “VR is not just for video games and trippy shorts for killing time. Exploring the vast realms of VR opens up a plethora of immersive marketing possibilities for a brand.”

According to Ami, one simply has to use available VR technology and apply this to brand messaging.

Music, messaging

CUSTOMIZED in-store music and messaging have already become a branding trend, according to Hinolan.

“With all the visual stimulation and overkill that swarm consumers nowadays, creating more impactful consumer experiences that result in better brand recall means having to go beyond pure sight,” the company said. “Sound plays a big role in

Scent

BUILDING off visuals and audio, the next step is to add another key element—scent. With scentdiffusing technology, you can create a distinct aroma for your brand that will not only add to recall, but also trigger specific feelings with your consumers, according to Ami. The company cited studies from two universities that revealed scent marketing can “amplify consumer spending, attract customers, and create memorable brands”. This is because 75 percent of emotions and reactions are triggered by smell.

Ami is a major player in the scent tech field.

According to Hinolan, his firm

Combinations

Now, like a l l great unif y ing c au s e s, combi ne e ve r y t h i n g and make your branding initiative a mu ltisensor y approach, Hinolan said.

“Sensory technology has been created to directly target and stimulate different senses [hearing, seeing and smelling] to create a deeper and lasting brand impression,” he explained. “The ideal multisensory tech stimulates the different senses all together in a unified system that is complementary to every brand message that you want to convey.” Rizal Raoul Reyes

BusinessMirror

A12 Saturday, March 3, 2017

Motorola hires celeb promoters

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TAR power is going to be a major tool in pushing Moto to the local market in an attempt to gain more brand recognition.

B

A RC EL ONA , Spa i n— While smartphones get top billing at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, it’s the quirky, under-theradar products that are getting a lot of the visitors’ attention.

Here’s a glimpse of some of the gadgets and apps displayed by start-up companies this week at the fair, the world’s largest for wireless technology.

Dino Roma, the country manager of Lenovo Phones, revealed they will harness the popularity of celebrities to promote the brand. He claims celebrities “helped a lot” in promoting the Motorola brand in the local market.

“Our brand ambassadors allowed us to connect to the younger generation,” Romano said in an interview on the sidelines of the launching of the Moto M. “I think most of them [youth] are not familiar with the Motorola brand because probably most of them were not born during that time.”

The Moto M, a mid-market device, has a full-metal unibody and 5.5-inch display. It is equipped with a Helio P15 Octa-core processor 2.2 GHz and 4 gigabytes of memory and

32 GB of built-in storage.

Romano said on February 23 at the Bonifacio Global City “sales have so far been steady” as the Lenovo subsidiary is still expanding its distribution channels in the country.

“We are not available vastly in terms of distribution because our strategy has been always providing the right product to consumers at the point of sale,” Romano said.

“We want to do it slow but surely.

We are moving to increase our brand acceptance and brand recognition and building distribution by adding more stores.”

Romano added the firm has tapped telecom operators to serve as partners in pushing the Moto brand.

“I think we still have a long way to go,” he added. “But I also think that

CSPs may lose customers to digital giants–survey

Popularity of Sony’s PlayStation VR surprises even the company

A

CC EN T U R E S D y n a m ic Digital Consumers Survey revealed that if a global digital giant such as Google or Amazon launched an offer comparable to their mobile operator, 44 percent of respondents would leave their provider, forming a gloomy outlook for Communications Service Providers (CSPs).

The introduction of the eSIM (embedded subscriber identity module) also brings new challenges for CSPs as switching between providers becomes even easier. The survey found that 68 percent of online consumers would be interested in using a device with an eSIM with 50 percent saying it was because of the ability to switch from one provider to another more easily and quickly to get a cheaper call or data plan, accelerating the race to the bottom for data and connectivity and further commoditizing CSPs’ core business. Furthermore, competition will increase as new players enter the market by embedding the eSIMs into the devices at the point of manufacturing, bypassing the network connectivity provider and going direct to the customer.

“The traditional CSP business is becoming commoditized and as a result they must dramatically accelerate their shift into new markets or the window of opportunity will close,” Francesco Venturini, Accenture global industry managing director for media and communications, was quoted in a statement as saying.

“There are opportunities ripe for the taking if CSPs invest in their core business so it remains healthy, while at the same time pivot to accelerate innovation and expand their reach to provide new digital services, offering real value to their customers.”

According to Venturini, CSPs can implement this but “they must change their operating models and break down the silos they currently work in to be able to move with the speed and adaptability required to succeed.”

The survey found that once consumers do invest in connected technology, over half (54 percent) experience challenges. Issues include being too complicated to use (14 percent), cannot connect to the internet (13 percent), the set-up does not work (12 percent), among others such as a lack of personalization, privacy concerns or customer support. Rizal Raoul Reyes

Cute robot This February 23 photo shows Lenovo Philippines executives at the launch of the Moto M at the Bonifacio commercial and business district, Taguig City. Nonie Reyes

the exciting proposition that the brand has to offer, differentiating ourselves from the other brands, that the Moto brand is not just a smartphone with incremental features.”

Romano said Lenovo evaluates their brands based on the hits these receive in social networking platforms and in terms of reach and conversion. He said the company is

By Nick Wingfield

New York Times News Service

S

AN MATEO, California— There are plenty of people who are skeptical about virtual reality, a technology some have heralded as the biggest thing to come along in years in games and entertainment.

Even Andrew House, global chief executive of Sony Interactive Entertainment, the video game division of the Japanese electronics giant, had doubts about how quickly virtual reality would be embraced by the mass market. So when Sony needed to decide how many of a new virtual reality headset to manufacture, House was among those inside the company advising that Sony make fewer of them.

“It’s the classic case in any organization—the guys who are on the front end in sales are getting very excited, very hyped up,” House said.

“You have to temper that with other voices inside the company, myself among them, saying let’s just be a little bit careful.”

It turns out House was too cautious. The headset, PlayStation VR, has been scarce in many stores, especially in Japan, since it went on sale in October. In an interview at his Silicon Valley office on Friday, House revealed PlayStation VR’s sales for the first time, saying consumers had purchased 915,000 of the headsets as of Feb. 19, roughly four months after it went on sale.

Goal

SONY’S internal goal was to sell 1 million of the headsets in its first six months, by mid-April. The company will almost certainly surpass that forecast.

“You literally have people lining up outside stores when they know stock is being replenished,” said House, describing the scene in Japan, one of the largest games markets.

House said the supply of PlayStation VR headsets will improve

by April. By fall, Sony expects to begin selling them in Latin America.

The sales figure is a positive sign for virtual reality and probably establishes Sony as the leader in the premium side of the market—headsets connected to PCs and game consoles that provide more immersive experiences than are currently possible through inexpensive headsets that use smartphones for visuals.

Sony’s primary competitors, Oc-

Chatting robots and music: Fun gadgets on show in Barcelona

Sony’s PlayStation virtual reality (VR) headset at Sony Interactive Entertainment in San Mateo, California, on February 23.

Executives at Sony were cautious about the VR headsets, but four months of robust sales probably establishes Sony as the leader in the premium side of the market. Justin Kaneps/ The New York Times

ulus from Facebook and HTC, have not disclosed sales of their premium headsets. One research firm, SuperData Research, estimates there were 243,000 Oculus Rift headsets and 420,000 HTC Vive headsets sold by the end of last year.

In contrast, during its first three months on the market in 2007, Apple sold nearly 1.4 million iPhones; a feat now considered among the most successful technology products of all time.

The current generation of virtual reality headsets arrived on the market last year with a flurry of hype. Demonstrations thrilled people throughout the industry— many have been waiting for virtual reality to jump out of the pages of science fiction. Facebook’s $2 billion acquisition of Oculus in 2014 set off a wave of investment in the sector.

Oculus

IN recent months, a more sober tone has descended over virtual reality.

Oculus executives have sought to shift the conversation from firstyear sales to the technology’s longterm potential. During a recent court appearance, Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s chief executive, said the company would probably need to invest more than $3 billion over a decade to reach an audience of hundreds of millions of people with virtual reality.

Among the other challenges facing the technology: high prices for virtual reality equipment, limited

working with a company to measure the results. He believes awareness of the Moto brand.

“We’re doing a lot of exhibits and road shows to demonstrate the product and make sure the images of [our brand ambassadors] are visible,” he said. “I think in time we can even surprise ourselves with what we can deliver.” Rizal Raoul Reyes

high-quality content and thorny side effects like motion sickness.

Sony enjoyed advantages as it entered the market because its headset is sold as an add-on to its game console, PlayStation 4, more than 53 million of which had been sold by the start of January. The headset sells for $400—or $500 with a set of virtual reality hand controllers and a required camera—hundreds of dollars less than other premium products, which also require powerful PCs. House said he would be “very happy” if the product ends up being purchased by a high singledigit percentage of all PlayStation 4 owners. For newer generations of headsets to reach a bigger audience, they will have to be lighter, cheaper and unencumbered by cables, analysts believe.

More creators of content will also have to step up their investments.

Many virtual reality games are currently shorter experiences made by small, independent game studios.

A number of large publishers are sitting on the sidelines until more headsets are sold.

Capcom

ONE exception is Capcom, a Japanese game-maker that released a new installment in its popular horror series, “Resident Evil 7 biohazard,” in January that is entirely playable in virtual reality. Since that game was released, the average amount of time PlayStation VR users spend playing in the headset has doubled, House said.

Masachika Kawata, series producer for the game, said in an email that “we’re really just getting started on what kind of experiences we can create for players.”

Last week at its offices, Sony provided a demonstration of a new gun-shaped device, the PlayStation VR Aim controller, that will allow players to more easily aim and shoot weapons within virtual reality games. The controller and first game that uses it, a space adventure called Farpoint, will come out May 16.

While Oculus has made a big splash in the industry, Sony began officially working on its headset in 2011, before Oculus announced its efforts, said Richard Marks, a Sony research fellow. Marks said Sony did not anticipate the technology would get as much as attention as it has.

“We were expecting it to be a lot smaller than it has turned out to be,” he said.

LIVING in Seoul, Jong-Gun Park looked around him one day and decided his fellow South Koreans needed some help expressing their emotions.

“We are so busy these days, always running to and from work, taking our kids to school, studying, that we no longer find the necessary time to interact with each other,” said Park, CEO of the company Circulus.

Enter Pibo, the friendly dinner table ice-breaker. Pibo is a charming little robot whose goal is to get you and your loved ones sharing your daily life more. “Are you tired?” he asks, “I will play music without boredom.”

Sure, he still needs to hone his English, but he’s always eager to ask about your day or provide updates on weather conditions.

Still a prototype, Pibo comes in a case, should you wish to take him along on vacation. He is, after all, a member of the family. For an expected $490 a pop.

Just add water

GROWING your own veggies may become possible even for urbanites with tiny studio apartments.

Israeli startup Living Box offers a modular, unfoldable, solarpowered little greenhouse that you can use to harvest anything from tomatoes to tea and herbs.

“We have a slow release water system for irrigation, with a novel liquid nutrient solution and bacteria to avoid the use of pesticides, as well as an app prototype updating weather conditions and other relevant data right to your smartphone, so you don’t have to monitor it,” explained Nitzan Solan, CEO of the company.

The idea was to create a sustainable, affordable and simple mobile farming system that could be operated by anyone around the globe.

As of now, Living Box is testing in 50 sites around Israel, the US and Nigeria, and aims to try locations in Spain and Fiji. It is expected to carry a market price of $300.

Cool hang

THE hang, a metal percussion instrument shaped like a flying saucer, is beloved of street per-

formers the world round and often associated with meditation practices like yoga. Now it comes in a fully digital version.

When delicately tapped, the Oval can reproduce the sounds of a hang as well as other instruments, like drums, trumpets and even violins.

Musicians Ravid Goldschmidt and Alex Posada, the co-founders of the Spanish startup that makes the Oval, say they sought to start a “revolution of percussion” with this instrument.

Already on the market, the Oval is aimed at all kinds of consumers, with about 40 percent estimated to be amateur or professional musicians.

It goes for about $950.

To see or not to see

SAMSUNG’S Relumino headset aims to do nothing less than help the blind see.

The gadget, shaped like virtual reality glasses, recasts images of the world in a way that someone with vision problems can see more clearly.

The glasses are still in a developmental stage and, although it’s still too early to venture a market price for them, Samsung Senior Engineer Junghoon Cho hopes to compete with other more expensive visual aids out there.

Besides correcting blurred images, the headset can eliminate blind spots and improve peripheral vision.

“If we make our own project, people who are visually impaired can walk outside using our glasses... We want to help them have a better social relationship with other people,” said Cho.

Shopping vision

WORRIED the new couch might not squeeze through door?

Sri Lanka-based startup Liveroom is trying to solve your angst.

Its virtual reality technology aims to give shoppers a live look at how products in online stores would fit into your home.

This is how it works: you shoot an image of the space in question via a liveview button and then consult their catalog on the app for the item you want. The item will pop up on your tablet or smartphone set in the image of your home. You can move and rotate the item and change its colors, fabric and material.

“If you’re buying online, via e-commerce, you have only images. You have to visualize the product in your mind and maybe the dimensions and the colors are wrong,” said founder and CTO Sameera Nilupul. “With this technology, you can see exactly how the products look in your own home.”

Vivo cites ‘selfie’ tech as IDC sees smartphone biz slowdown

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ELFIE is the current “opiate” of the Filipinos. This means good business for mobile phone makers as they try to compete for a bigger market share. With this development, mobile phone companies try to outdo each other by developing the ideal selfie phone.

Seeing this, mobile phone maker Vivo has launched the V5 Lite.

“With advanced selfie technology and premium specifications, we are proud to say that the V5 Lite is the most advanced smartphone in its price range,” Hazel Bascon, Vivo Philippines vice president said. The unit is being sold for P9,990.

According to Bascon, they target buyers among students, young entrepreneurs and young professionals.

The market positioning of vivo comes after International Data Corp.

(IDC) said there is currently a slowing down in the smartphone business.

“Underlying a slowing down smartphone business, the maturity of the urban market and conquering the rural divide remains as the big challenge to smartphone ownership,” IDC said in a statement.

According to IDC, regional brands, which dominate many developing markets, have made their impact largely through 3G phones, sourced from China’s numerous independent handset plants clustered mainly in Shenzhen.

“The regional brands so far lag behind the global and big international Chinese handset players in 4G and they have looked vulnerable to failing to jump the generation successfully and lose their place.” Rizal Raoul Reyes