BusinessMirror March 20, 2019

NO PRICE HIKE IN BOTTLED MINERAL WATER

By Elijah Felice E. Rosales

B

EVER AGE makers assured consumers on Tuesday that prices of potable bottled water would remain stable in the market, as the supply is sufficient, until the current water crisis affecting Metro Manila and outlying regions is resolved in May. Trade Undersecretary Ruth B. Castelo said beverage makers had promised to keep prices of bottled water frozen until the water shortage in Metro Manila is resolved. She added there is enough supply of the product in the market.

BOTTLES of mineral water are seen in BusinessMirror file photo.

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“We are pleased to report to the consuming public that the Biap [Beverage Industry Association of the Philippines] assured the DTI [Department of Trade and Industry] that there will be no increase in the price of potable bottled water, and that supplies are sufficient until the projected end of our water situation in May 2019,” Castelo said.

T he D T I w a s prompte d to put bottled water under its regular price and supply monitoring after receiving reports last week that retailers exploited the water crisis by overpricing on pail and dipper.

The agency placed the product

under its close watch to make sure prices are stable and consumers are not unnecessarily disadvantaged.

Castelo vowed the government will keep an eye on the prices and supply of bottled water with or without a shortage. “[The] DTI is taking a proactive stance on the prices and supply of potable bottled water being a basic necessity under the jurisdiction of the agency even before it becomes an issue.

We are grateful for the cooperation and support extended by the Biap to the government, [and] thus making our efforts more responsive to the needs of the consumers,” Castelo said.

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A broader look at today’s business

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Wednesday, March 20, 2019 Vol. 14 No. 161

PHL posts BOP surplus of $467M in February

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By Bianca Cuaresma

@BcuaresmaBM

HE Philippine economy continued to earn dollars in February due mainly to gains from the foreign-exchange operations of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the government reported on Tuesday.

$3.17 billion The total balance of payments surplus of the Philippines for the first two months of 2019 The BOP is the summary of the country’s dollar transactions with the rest of the world; a surplus in this economic indicator means the country earned more dollars than what it spent during the time period, while a deficit means the economy lost more dollars than what it earned.

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Golden age of partnership Teddy Locsin Jr.

FREE FIRE Toast remarks by Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin Jr. at the luncheon in honor of H.E. Taro Kono, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan, on February 10, 2019, at Marco Polo Hotel, Davao City.

Y

OUR Excellency, Minister Kono, members of the Japanese delegation and colleagues in government.

Continued on A10

‘To boost manufacturing, govt should fast-track Senators, PCCI demand sanctions on Manila Water new exploration permits’

The country’s balance of payments (BOP) yielded a net surplus of $467 million in February, a

reversal of the $429-million BOP deficit recorded in the same month last year. This February record,

however, is lower than the $2.704billion BOP surplus recorded in January.

See “BOP,” A2

H

By Butch Fernandez

S

@butchfBM

ENATORS prodded State regulators on Tuesday to impose sanctions on private concessionaires that fail to deliver water as committed in their contracts with regulators, amid the massive water shortages in Metro Manila and Rizal province.

The suggestion came up at a public hearing as the Senate Committee on Public Ser v ices, chaired by Sen. Grace Poe, opened an inquiry on the watersupply interruptions, grilling representatives of private concessionaires Manila Water and Maynilad.

Also on Tuesday, the country’s largest business group, the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), issued a statement demanding more accountability on the part of water concessionaire Manila Water for its failure to prevent and subsequently manage the water shortage in its East Zone area.

At the outset of the Senate hearing, Poe pointed out that the inquiry in exercise of Senate oversight function was intended to enlighten consumers “as to the flow of our water from its main supply to faucets in our household, the current system in place, what went wrong and how do we effectively respond with immediate and long-term solutions and move forward.”

This, she added, was why the committee invited resource persons representing consumers, household, other affected sectors See “Senators,” A2

RANDY ESTRELLADO (right), chief operating officer of Maynilad Water Services Inc.; Ferdinand de la Cruz (left), president and CEO of Manila Water Company Inc.; and Reynaldo Velasco (second from left), administrator of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System appear at the Senate investigation on the water shortage in parts of Metro Manila and nearby provinces on Tuesday (March 19). During the hearing, senators said Manila Water should, at the very least, provide a rebate to its affected customers as a form of penalty under its concession agreement. PNA PHOTO BY AVITO C. DALAN

OUSE Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Tuesday called on the environment department to expedite the processing of new exploration permits in aid of the government’s program to revitalize manufacturing.

In a speech at the Nickel Initiative 2019, Arroyo urged the Depa r t ment of Env i ronment and Natural Resources (DENR) to hasten the approval of mining exploration permits. She said this must be done over the next three years to make concrete results come out within President Duterte’s term.

“First, the DENR should focus on process, [and] by process I mean to process and move the existing approvals and applications that are already in the pipeline, so that we can have actual results within the remaining three years of the Duterte administration,” Arroyo said.

The DENR used to enforce a moratorium on the acceptance and processing of applications for exploration permits as ordered by then-Environment Secretary Re-

610

The pending applications for exploration permits as of January, with fewer than five having been approved gina Paz L. Lopez. This was lifted through Administrative Order 2018-03 issued in July of last year

by Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu.

There are 610 pending applications for exploration permits as of January, and fewer than five has been approved.

The DENR was also prodded

by Arroyo to encourage mining proponents to implement their projects the quickest possible time to generate economic benefits the soonest. Further, the House Speaker recommended the DENR to look from within and assess its administrative procedures.

See “Manufacturing,” A2

68% of businesses see extended maternity leave affecting hiring decisions

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HE new law on maternity leave will affect management decisions in hiring women, as it is seen to take a toll on the productivity of businesses, according to a study by the Employers Confederation of the Philippines (Ecop).

Based on preliminary Ecop figures, 68 percent of businesses said their recruitment of women will be

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 52.6830

affected by Republic Act 11210, or the 105-Day Expanded Maternity Leave Law. Under the law, all working mothers in the government and the private sector are guaranteed 105 days of paid maternity leave credits, with seven days transferable to fathers.

Firms who said their hiring of women will change fear the law will compromise the productivity

of their operations.

Some small enterprises dominated by female employees are also expected to be adversely affected, the survey claimed. It added that the law puts higher cost implications on benefits and the cost of hiring and training a temporary replacement.

On the other hand, those whose hiring will not in any way be af-

fected said they value equal employment opportunity in their workplace, as well as gender equality within their labor force.

Qualifications

THEY also argued that qualifications—and not gender—should be the basis in employing. Further, they said “women are more organized, more detail oriented

and generally more reliable” in the workplace than men.

Scoring the cost impact of the law to their operations, on a scale of 1 being very minimal to 5 being very substantial, the survey reported 3.63 was the average score.

The Ecop on Tuesday presented the preliminary results of the survey to the business and labor sectors.

See “Maternity leave,” A2

n JAPAN 0.4728 n UK 69.8577 n HK 6.7114 n CHINA 7.8473 n SINGAPORE 38.9984 n AUSTRALIA 37.4155 n EU 59.7267 n SAUDI ARABIA 14.0484

Source: BSP (19 March 2019 )

News

BusinessMirror

A4 Wednesday, March 20, 2019 A2

Duterte signs law abolishing Road Board; funds to Treasury

By Bernadette D. Nicolas

@BNicolasBM

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RESIDENT Duterte has approved the abolition of the controversial Road Board that will allow the government to directly remit road users’ tax collections to the National Treasury to fund priority public projects.

Duterte’s signing of Republic Act (RA) 11239 on March 8—released to the media only on Tuesday—came as the Palace awaits the Senate and the House of Representatives resolution of the 2019 national budget impasse.

The President earlier said the socalled Motor Vehicle User’s Charge (MVUC) collections have been a source of corruption for lawmakers and public officials.

Prior to the enactment of the

Budget. . .

law, the Road Board managed the MVUC fund, or the tax imposed on road users.

Under RA 11239, MVUC collections shall be remitted to the National Treasury under a special account in the general fund solely for the construction, upgrading, repair and rehabilitation of roads, bridges and road drainage to be included in the annual General Appropriations Act. The Departments of Budget, Pub-

₧45B The estimated fund pool from the road users’ tax, as of January. The money is being eyed as source for the rehabilitation of Manila Bay, estimated to cost P47 billion

lic Works and Highways (DPWH) and Transportation have been tasked to formulate the implementing rules and regulations within 30 days from the effectivity of the law.

The DPWH is also tasked to absorb the employees of the secretariat of the abolished Road Board as needed, without diminution of salaries and benefits. Those separated from the service as a result of the agency’s abolition shall be entitled to receive separation benefits.

Moreover, the DPWH shall be subrogated to all the rights and as-

sume all obligations and liabilities of the Road Board, and all records, property, assets, equipment and funds, including unexpended appropriations or allocations shall be transferred to the DPWH. A Congressional Oversight Committee shall also monitor the new law’s implementation as amended and the use of special funds established therein.

Malacañang earlier said the money for the Manila Bay rehabilitation would likely be sourced from the road users’ tax, previously estimated to have reached P45 billion in January. The rehabilitation of the bay is estimated to cost P47 billion.

Last December, the Road Board abolition was also the subject of debate between then House Majority Leader and now House Appropriations Committee Chairman Rolando Andaya Jr. and then Budget Secretary and now Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Benjamin E. Diokno. They issued contradicting statements on the President’s position on the matter.

continued from a12

House leadership had simply itemized lumpsum outlays in the GAB in the interest of transparency,” Villafuerte, a vice chairman of the House appropriations committee, said.

Villafuerte also hit the House leadership for committing an “unconstitutional abomination” in realigning this congressional break to favor some solons.

Citing an official document, Villafuerte said the House-initiated amendments for the 2019 budget increased the GAB by P20.724 billion, resulting from positive realignments of P100.428 billion and negative realignments or cuts of

Senators. . .

P79.704 billion in funds for DPWH programs.

However, he said the same document noted that although the House amendments only amounted to a net increase of P20.724, the chamber had actually introduced “internal realignments” within the DPWH budget that “will substantially change” the allocation per congressional district and the nature of the projects.

The lawmaker said the realigned allocations or budget cuts from the over 80 targeted districts covered P72.319 billion in DPWH-identified projects for roads and bridges, national buildings, network development, flood management, as-

set preservation and foreign-assisted projects; and P4.150 billion of projects under the DPWH’s Convergence and Special Support Program.

Moreover, the outlay for the Local Infrastructure Program, which includes projects identified by legislators, reflected a net increase of P95.173 billion, of which P70.729 billion was “parked” under the budget of the DPWH central office, he said.

Senators stand firm

SENATORS are standing firm on the final version of the P3.7-trillion 2019 budget they ratified, even as Lacson was tapped to hold talks with

their House counterparts seeking to recall the already enrolled budget bill set to be submitted to President Duterte for signing into law.

Senate President Vicente C. Sotto III said they were getting mixed signals from their House counterparts.

“Yes, we’re getting confused now. What’s the real score?” Sotto said in an interview on Tuesday, adding: “So, we will just wait for them [House members] to make up their minds, otherwise, we can wait until June 30,” referring to the date when the terms of incumbent congressmen expires. Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz, Butch Fernandez

continued from a1

including hospitals, supermarket associations and end-users.

Sen. Panfilo M. Lacson Sr., at the same time, castigated Manila Water for passing on to its customers the expenses for the planning and construction of the Cardona water-treatment plant even as it was already three months delayed. Lacson noted this was the main cause of the latest incident of extended water shortage.

Apology not enough–Risa

SEN. Risa Hontiveros said an apology from the water suppliers was not enough, sympathizing with affected hospitals also hit by the water crisis.

This developed as Ferdinand de la Cruz, Manila Water president, conveyed to the Senate committee the utility’s apology, citing supply shortage.

The Poe committee was informed that the supply deficit could add up to 100 million liters a day (MLD) as the La Mesa reserve reached critical level since March 6, preventing the supplier from drawing water to reach their treatment plant in Balara.

In a statement, Hontiveros asserted that the

TradeNet. . .

water supplier’s apology to the affected 1.2 million households was “not enough,” and it should compensate consumers inconvenienced by the shortage.

Hontiveros, who chairs the Senate Committee on Health, suggested that “all those exposed to health risks as a result of Manila Water’s failure to meet its service obligation should be fairly reimbursed, citing for instance the National Kidney Transplant Institute, which, she added, was forced to cut the number of dialysis patients scheduled for treatment at the height of the water-supply shortage.

The senator stressed Manila Water “must also compensate all affected households and businesses for lost time, gross inconvenience and loss of profit...”

She added: “While Manila Water’s public apology and act to hold itself responsible for the water shortage are recognized, a fair and just compensation to the consumers is in order.

It is one of the best ways to demonstrate its firm commitment to public accountability and restore consumer trust and confidence.”

According to Hontiveros, Manila Water’s conces-

sion agreement “clearly stipulates that the regulatory office can impose financial penalties on the concessionaire if its failure to meet its service obligation adversely affects public health or welfare.” In fact, she added, “all penalties received by the regulatory body will be rebated to affected consumers.”

The senator invoked Article 10, Section 10.4 of the concession agreement, which, she said, states that “failure by the Concessionaire to meet any Service Obligation, which continues for more than 60 days [or 15 days in cases where the failure could adversely affect public health or welfare] after written notice thereof from the Regulatory Office to the Concessionaire shall constitute a basis for the Regulatory Office to assess financial penalties against the Concessionaire. All penalties received by the Regulatory Office pursuant to this Section 10.4 shall be rebated to Customers affected by the Concessionaire’s failure to meet Service.”

Serious business loss–PCCI

IN its statement issued on Tuesday, the PCCI said, “the economic impact of this shortage cannot be

continued from a12

On the other hand, PSA data showed that merchandise exports for 2018 amounted to $67.489 billion, $68.713 billion for 2017 and $57.406 billion in 2016.

This showed an export trade discrepancy of about $28.889 billion for 2018, $20.384 billion in 2017, and $18.975 billion in 2016.

“Export data discrepancy declined from 24.8 percent in 2016 to 22.9 percent in 2017, but rose to 30.0 percent in 2018. In 2018, PSA statistics show a 1.8- percent decline year-on-year but trading partner data indicate an 8.2 percent increase. This implies data collection problems on exports,” the DOF said.

IMF data showed that merchandise imports reached $144.524 billion in 2018, $131.018 in 2017, and $116.748 billion in 2016, while PSA data showed merchandise imports hitting $108.928 billion, $96.093 billion and $84.107 billion, respectively.

This shows a decline in import trade discrepancies of about $35.596 billion last year, $34.925 billion in 2017 and $32.641 billion in 2016.

“Import data discrepancy declined from 28.0 percent in 2016 to 26.7 percent in 2017, and further to 24.6 percent in 2018.... The drop in trade

discrepancy data for imports indicates the upgraded capability of tax collectors to assess and collect properly tax revenues from taxpayers,” it added.

Data from the IMF also pointed out that total trade to the Philippines for 2018 amounted to $240.901 billion, $220.115 billion in 2017 and $193.130 billion in 2016.

Meanwhile, data from the PSA showed that total trade for 2018 amounted to only $176.417 billion, $164.806 billion in 2017 and $141.514 billion in 2016.

This showed a discrepancy in trade data amounting to $64.485 billion for 2018, $55.309 billion in 2017, and $51.616 billion in 2016.

According to the DOF, trade data discrepancy occurs when trade data reported by a country differ from those reported by its trading partners.

This occurs due to a variety of reasons: timing differences; smuggling; valuation differences; differing treatment of reexports and transshipment; wrong attribution; and misinvoicing.

TradeNet is the government’s digital import and export permit platform which aims to link 76 trade regulatory government agencies through a common database, and shorten the processing of transactions for import and export clearances.

swept under the rug.” The group claimed many businesses had to shut down or limit their operations, and services were disrupted due to the water crisis.

The PCCI prayed “there will be some form of reckoning for this issue,” as “it is too important and critical to our people’s well-being and our economy.”

It also appealed to the government to put in place policies that will prevent the water shortage from happening again. The group also demanded that a mechanism be implemented penalizing responsible parties.

“We believe that a true socially responsible company with high corporate governance standards will be sincere in their efforts to rectify the situation and will not skirt or avoid responsibility,” the statement read.

Last week, Manila Water had to interrupt its supply in most of its service areas, as the water level at the La Mesa Dam fell to critical levels in the face of El Niño and higher demand. La Mesa Dam is Manila Water’s contingency since it dried up its allocation from Angat Dam at 1,600 MLD.

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BOP. . . continued from a1

This is the second consecutive month that the country’s BOP has recorded a surplus, both being attributed to the gains in the BSP’s foreign exchange operations.

“Inflows in February 2019 stemmed mainly from the BSP’s foreign exchange operations, national government’s [NG] net foreign-currency deposits, and BSP’s income from its investments abroad,” the BSP said in a statement.

“These were partially offset, however, by the payments made by the NG for its foreign exchange obligations during the month in review,” it added.

The BSP has a mandate of smoothening out volatilities in the foreign exchange market should movements be excessive or out of hand.

For the first two months of 2019, the cumulative BOP of the country hit a surplus of $3.17 billion.

This is a turnaround from the $961-million BOP deficit recorded in the first two months of 2018.

The BSP said the surplus may be partly attributed to remittance inflows from overseas Filipinos in January and net inflows of foreign portfolio investments (FPI) for the first two

months of the year, which was a reversal of the net outflows reported last year.

Cash remittances from Filipino migrant workers summed up to $2.48 billion in January 2019, or 4.4 percent higher than last year’s $2.38 billion.

The BSP said this growth was in line with the increase in remittances from both land-based and sea-based workers.

By country source, the United States registered the highest share of overall remittances at 35.5 percent. It was followed by Saudi Arabia, Singapore, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, Japan, Canada, Qatar, Hong Kong and Kuwait. The combined remittances from these countries accounted for almost 78 percent of total cash remittances.

Meanwhile, for the first two months of the year, net FPI inflows amounted to $1.151 billion, up from last year’s $811.78 million.

FPI are known as “hot” or “speculative” money because they are easily pulled in and out of the local platforms in the slight change of global and local sentiment.

Boracay. . . continued from a12 “It should also be pointed out that the temporary nature of the infringement does not change the fact that the damage had been done, with the livelihood of thousands of workers—petitioners included—being affected or lost, all to the detriment of these workers and their families,” the petitioners explained.

Even though the travel restrictions were temporary or merely incidental to Boracay’s rehabilitation, the petitioners insisted that such measure should comply with Section 6, Article III of the Constitution.

The petitioners said the SC ruling would give the government the reason to “evade accountability by restricting the rights of citizens as long as the end goal is something

other than the impairment per se.”

Furthermore, the petitioners argued that contrary to the SC ruling, the closure of Boracay is not a valid exercise of police power.

They claimed that the exercise of police power is primarily a legislative prerogative subject only to “well-defined” exceptions.

“Clearly, without a law providing for a delegation of legislative power in relation to a given subject matter, any order issued by the President, or any other officer of the executive department under the guise of an exercise of police power is perforce null and void. It amounts to a usurpation of legislative authority insofar as it deals with matters that are properly subject of legislation,” they added.

Mayor Sara. . . continued from a12

stage to personally thank all of you.We owe you all a huge debt of gratitude,” Duterte added, in a mix of English and Filipino, at the rally hosted by the Romualdezes.

Responding to Duterte-Carpio, Romualdez thanked the Davao City mayor for the endorsement.

“I choked because Ma’am Inday Sara said I will be the next Speaker of the House.

Thank you, ma’am, for the trust and confidence. I am humbled by the mere mention of my name,” Romualdez said.

He added,“I am very thankful, honored and grateful for the endorsement given to me by Mayor Sara in what is going to be a competitive speakership race.”

Romualdez said that, “as a Malacañang ally” he is “committed to push the legislative agenda of the President. Right now, I am working very hard to ensure my victory in the coming election.”

Duterte-Carpio drove from Catarman, Northern Samar to Tacloban City, the capital of Eastern Visayas, on board her motorcycle for six hours as HNP kicked off its Visayas leg campaign caravan for its senatorial slate and allied candidates in the region led by Tingog party-list.

The 13 senatorial candidates of HNP are

reelectionist Sens. Sonny Angara, Cynthia Villar, Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, and Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito, Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos, former Presidential Assistant Bong Go, former Sens. Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada and Bong Revilla, Deputy Speaker and Taguig City Rep. Pia Cayetano, former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, MaguindanaoRep.ZajidMangudadatu,Dr. Willie Ong and former Presidential Political Adviser Francis Tolentino.

In Tacloban City, Duterte-Carpio delivered her message of change, urging the audience to vote for Tingog and Hugpong’s senatoriables in the upcoming May 13 elections.

In her speech, Duterte believed that most of the problems in national will be solved at the local level, hence, her push for Tingog as a regional party-list group.

Meanwhile, Yedda Romualdez said the alliance between Tingog and Hugpong “will pave the way for a farther reach of the advocacies of both parties through the provision of mutual support.”

The other nominees of Tingog are Jude Acidre, Jamie Go, Alexis Yu and Jenifer Padual.

With a report by Elijah Felice E.Rosales

...

PHL, Vietnam

continued from a12

Lorenzana said the agreement will form part of the policy between the two countries and need no longer be put into writing.

“It’s okay, they’re very responsive. Because we thought that these fishermen are not actually very rich people. They’re actually just poor fishermen trying to earn a living. So let us not make things hard for them,” the defense chief said.

He recalled that in 2016, four Vietnamese fishing vessels strayed into the waters off Sual in Pangasinan and the government was even forced to provide the gasoline for the four vessels before President Duterte sent them back to Vietnam.

Lorenzana said the policy was among the positive measures that he secured with his counterpart as they discussed the issue of poaching by fishermen from both countries, which is part of their South China Sea discussions.

During his visit, both defense officials also agreed to support and push for the adoption of a binding Code of Conduct in the South China Sea.

Manufacturing. . .

“As a promoter of business activity, Congress has urged [the] DENR to expedite the approval and processingofapplications—largeandsmall—that comply with regulations and policies,” Arroyo said.

“Congress has noted that it is important to review not just the policies, but more so the administrative procedures because it is the procedures that could slow down the output of the industry, not just the policies. I am gratified to hear from some in the industry that the DENR appears to be moving in this direction,” she added.

With clearer policies on mining, Arroyo argued theindustrywillplayasignificantroleingovernment efforts to strengthen the manufacturing sector.

On the other hand, industry players were reminded by the House Speaker to adhere to

Maternity. . .

The group is obtaining inputs from firms to measure perception of the law and its possible impact to their operations. The preliminary results covered the insights of 70 businesses, of which 51 percent are large scale, according to Ecop.

continued from a1

policies and regulations in place. She told them to support their host local government, as well as the communities in the mining areas, as “this will bolster your case in the eyes of the national level decision makers in government.”

She added that mining firms must implement projects that include processing facilities—if not today, but at least in the near future—in line with President Duterte’s desire to develop raw materials into finished products locally.

Last, Arroyo appealed to miners to rehabilitate theminedportionsoftheirsites,“smallareabysmall area, and not just at the end when everything has been mined out.” She said this is in compliance with the President’s policy thrust for the conservation of the environment. Elijah Felice E. Rosales

continued from a1 President Duterte in February signed into law the expansion of leave benefits for working mothers. On top of the 105 days of paid maternity leave, an additional 15 days of paid leave are granted to single mothers under the law. Elijah Felice E. Rosales

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If you have any information / objection to the above mentioned application/s, please communicate with the Regional Director thru Employment Promotion and Workers Welfare (EPWW) Division with Telephone No. 400-6011.

ATTY. ANA C. DIONE, CPA REGIONAL DIRECTOR

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Wednesday, March 20, 2019

BusinessMirror

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Wednesday, March 20, 2019 A7

In the ad material of Notice of filing of Application for Alien Employment Permits published on March 9, 2019, the position of Ms. Shirley Ken Tzu Ting under RED PIXEL SOLUTIONS GLOBAL INC. should have been read as People Experience Manager and not as published.

If you have any information/objection to the above mentioned application/s, please communicate with the Regional Director thru Employment Promotion and Workers Welfare (EPWW) Division with Telephone No. 400 6011.

ATTY. ANA C. DIONE, CPA REGIONAL DIRECTOR

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Wednesday, March 20, 2019

The World BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph | Editor: Angel R. Calso

Brazil’s Bolsonaro displays friendlier approach to US

W

ASHINGTON—The president of Brazil made an unusual visit to CIA headquarters and later spoke of his admiration for the United States on the second day of a trip that reflected his country’s shift to a more pro-American stance.

President Jair Bolsonaro, a farright politician who succeeded a leftist who, at times, had a frosty relationship w ith the United States, arrived in the country with a half-dozen ministers and a goal of expanding trade and diplomatic cooperation between the two largest economies in the Western Hemisphere.

He was expected to meet on

Tuesday with President Donald J. Trump to discuss a range of issues, including ways to increase US private-sector investment in Brazil and ways to resolve the political crisis in Venezuela.

“Nowadays, you have a president who is a friend of the United States who admires this beautiful country,” Bolsonaro told an audience at the US Chamber of

Commerce on Monday.

Bolsonaro underscored the difference between his administration and that of former President Dilma Rousseff by stopping

by CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, to discuss “international themes in the region,” according to his son, Eduardo, a Brazilian lawmaker accompanying him on his first bilateral overseas trip.

Eduardo Bolsonaro described the CIA as “one of the most respected intelligence agencies in the world,” in a tweet that was likely to raise eyebrows back home in Brazil, where the US and its spy services have been regarded with suspicion in recent years.

In 2013, leaks from Edward Snowden revealed that the National Security Agency had wiretapped conversations of Rousseff, leading to several years of tense relations between the US and Brazil.

“No Brazilian president had

ever paid a visit to the CIA,” said Celso Amorim, who served as foreign minister under former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and is a Bolsonaro critic. “This is an explicitly submissive position.

Nothing compares to this.”

The CIA had no comment on the visit.

The far-right Bolsonaro was elected last year and is an admirer of Trump. He sought to underscore his pro-America stance with a tweet upon his arrival on Sunday.

“For the first time in a while, a pro-America Brazilian president arrives in DC,” he said in the tweet.

“It’s the beginning of a partnership focused on liberty and prosperity, something that all of us Brazilians have long wished for.”

Bolsonaro’s insurgent candidacy against the candidate of Rousseff ’s party has been compared to Trump’s victory in 2016.

The Brazilian president made the

comparison himself in his speech to the Chamber of Commerce, describing how he has had to contend with “fake news” and tough coverage from established news organizations.

“We want to have a great Brazil just like Trump wants to have a great America,” he said.

The speech came after the two countries signed several bilateral agreements, including one that allows the United States to use Brazil’s Alcantara Aerospace Launch Base for its satellites, and Brazil announced an end to visa requirements for US tourists who visit the country.

Brazil is seeking US help with its efforts to join the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and to expand trade. The Bolsonaro administration is seeking to reduce public sector spending and privatize state enterprises to reduce debt

and grow its economy.

A senior US administration official noted that the US does have a $27 billion trade surplus with Brazil and that there are opportunities to bring the nations’ business communities closer. He said there are expected to be new initiatives on energy infrastructure.

The official, briefing reporters on condition of anonymity, noted that Brazil has a close relationship with Venezuela’s military and may be able to serve as a go-between with the security forces that continue to support Maduro.

Brazil, like the US, has recognized the leader of the National Assembly, Juan Guaido, as Venezuela’s interim president under the argument that Maduro’s reelection last year was illegitimate.

“We have to sort Venezuela out,” Bolsonaro said. “We cannot leave them the way they are. We have to free the nation of Venezuela.” AP

Over 1,000 feared dead after cyclone slams into Mozambique

J

OHANNESBURG—More than 1,000 people were feared dead in Mozambique four days after a cyclone slammed into the country, submerging entire villages and leaving bodies floating in the floodwaters, the nation’s president said.

“It is a real disaster of great proportions,” President Filipe Nyusi said. Cyclone Idai could prove to be the deadliest storm in generations to hit the impoverished southeast African country of 30 million people.

It struck Beira, an Indian Ocean port city of a half-million people, late Thursday, and then moved inland to Zimbabwe and Malawi with strong winds and heavy rain. But it took days for the scope of the disaster to come into focus in Mozambique, which has a poor communication and transportation network, and a corrupt and inefficient bureaucracy.

Speaking on state Radio Mozambique, Nyusi said that while the official death toll stood at 84, “It appears that we can register more than 1,000 deaths.”

Emergency officials cautioned that while they expect the death toll to rise significantly, they have no way of knowing if it will reach the president’s estimate.

More than 215 people were killed by the storm in the three countries, including more than 80 in Zimbabwe’s eastern Chimanimani region and more than 50 in Malawi, according to official figures. Hundreds more were reported injured and missing, and nearly 1,000 homes were destroyed in eastern Zimbabwe alone.

Doctors Without Borders said rivers have broken their banks leaving many houses fully submerged and around 11,000 households displaced in Nsanje, in southern Malawi.

UN agencies and the Red Cross helped rush emergency food and medicine by helicopter to the stricken countries.

Mount Chiluvo in central Mozambique was badly hit by flooding. One resident said he heard a loud noise, like an explosion, and suddenly saw a river of mud rolling toward his home.

“I was indoors with my children, but when we looked we saw mud coming down the road toward the houses and we fled,” Francisco Carlitos told Lusa, the Portuguese News Agency. The family lost their home and possessions but safely reached higher ground.

The country’s president, who cut short a visit to neighboring Swaziland over the weekend because

of the disaster, spoke after flying by helicopter over Beira and two rural provinces, where he reported widespread devastation.

“The waters of the Pungue and Buzi rivers overflowed, making whole villages disappear and isolating communities, and bodies are floating,” Nyusi said.

The United Nation’s humanitarian office said the government issued flood warnings and said heavy rains were forecast for the next 24 hours, including in areas already hit hard

by Idai.

The Red Cross said 90 percent of Beira was damaged or destroyed. The cyclone knocked out electricity, shut down the airport and cut off access to the city by road.

UN officials cited reports that Beira Central Hospital’s emergency room was flooded and without power, and that much of the building’s roof had collapsed. Doctors Without Borders said it had completely ceased operations in Beira hospital, local health centers and throughout the community.

The destruction in Beira is “massive and horrifying,” said Jamie LeSueur, who led a Red Cross team that had to assess the damage by helicopter because of the flooded-out roads.

The UN also warned of devastation outside Beira, in particular of livestock and crops.

“As this damage is occurring just before the main harvest season, it could exacerbate food insecurity in the region,” the UN humanitarian office known as OCHA said.

Mozambique is a long, narrow country with a 2,400-kilometer (1,500-mile) coastline along the Indian Ocean. It is prone to cyclones and tropical storms this time of year.

In 2000, Mozambique was hit by severe flooding caused by weeks of heavy rain, a disaster made much worse when a cyclone hit.

Approximately 700 people were killed in what was regarded as the worst flooding in 50 years.

Mozambique won independence from Portugal in 1975 and then was plagued by a long-running civil war that ended in 1992. Its economy is dominated by agriculture, and its exports include prawns, cotton, cashews, sugar, coconuts and tropical hardwood timber.

More recently it has been exporting aluminum and electric power, and deposits of natural gas were discovered in the country’s north. AP

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BusinessMirror

Wednesday, March 20, 2019

A9

A10 Wednesday, March 20, 2019 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

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editorial

Safeguarding PHL farm goods

W

HEN the Philippines joined the World Trade Organization in 1995, it removed the import restrictions on most crops except for rice. This was a signal to WTO members that the Philippines was ready to do business with the world within the parameters of the multilateral trade agreement. All WTO members observe the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which also prescribed safeguard measures that countries may tap to deal with import surges or price falls.

The Philippines is not the only WTO member-country that has availed itself of special safeguard measures to shield domestic producers from import surges. Based on data available on the WTO web site, membercountries filed a total of 331 safeguard notifications from January 1, 1995, to December 31, 2017. WTO figures showed that India was the most extensive user of safeguard measures among member-countries, accounting for some 13 percent of filings during the period. Indonesia followed India with 27 notifications.

Under the rules of the WTO, a member may take a “safeguard” action to protect a specific domestic industry from an increase in imports of any product which is causing, or which is threatening to cause, serious injury to the industry. But unlike antidumping and countervailing measures, the application of safeguard measures does not depend on unfair trade practices. The provisions on safeguard measures apply to all products, including agricultural goods. The Agreement on Agriculture also contains rules for the application of a special safeguard for agricultural goods subject to certain requirements.

The Philippines, therefore, was well within its rights when it slapped the special safeguard duty on imported coffee products. The SSG was slapped on coffee imports starting April 6, 2018, after the value of shipments reached an all-time high of $205.224 million in 2017, according to data from the Philippine Statistics Authority. Figures from the PSA also showed that the volume of instant coffee imported in 2017 reached 93,696.938 metric tons (See, “SSG levels playing field for local coffee makers, farmers” in the BusinessMirror, March 18, 2019).

The surge in shipments would have been negligible if the Philippines did not have its own coffee industry. But cheap coffee imports threaten to displace those manufactured in the country, which would adversely affect local coffee makers. This will eventually hurt Filipino farmers because they will lose their market for coffee beans, as manufacturers would surely slash their purchases.

Industries or companies may request safeguard action by their government. But WTO rules state that a member cannot discriminate against a specific country. This was reiterated by Agriculture Undersecretary Segfredo R. Serrano who said that the Philippines did not target a specific country when it imposed the SSG. There is no such thing as a “preferential SSG.” The measure affected all the trading partners of the country and even local firms importing coffee products.

WTO rules also specify the mechanisms that trading partners or exporting countries may tap if they disagree with the safeguard measure imposed by a member-country. In the case of the SSG of the Philippines, nothing stops the country’s trading partners from challenging this. Also, trading partners may retaliate by raising tariffs on exports from the Philippines.

WTO members are not really helpless when it comes to dealing with safeguard measures imposed by any member-country.

Golden age of partnership Teddy Locsin Jr.

FREE FIRE Continued from A1

T

HAT we are receiving you in Davao City makes the occasion doubly auspicious. Davao City has, since the arrival of its first Japanese migrants in 1903, linked our peoples in a shared and happy history. To this day, Davao is regarded as furusato—hometown—by many Japanese. I asked my kinfolk who are Japanese and Filipino to join me.

It was in the spirit of this longstanding bond that we held our productive discussions this morning. In the same spirit we partake of

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friendship between our two peoples—a friendship that survived a difficult chapter in our history and right off started another chapter of swift reconciliation, of turning our faces forward to the future rather than back to the past; and thereby established the strongest friendship between two nations in our region.

The firm ground on which that relationship stands—of shared

Enhancing consumer welfare through the National Competition Policy

Since 2005

BusinessMirror A broader look at today’s business

Philippine cuisine—food is a central aspect to the Filipino way of honoring guests and sealing friendships.

Gathered at this table, we honor the

That we are receiving you in Davao City makes the occasion doubly auspicious. Davao City has, since the arrival of its first Japanese migrants in 1903, linked our peoples in a shared and happy history. To this day, Davao is regarded as furusato— hometown—by many Japanese.

Arsenio M. Balisacan

COMPETITION MATTERS

I

N the past several decades, serious observers of the Philippine economy have noted how state policies have acted as barriers to the country’s achievement of its desired development outcomes. Time and again, the country has shot itself in the foot just as economic growth was about to take off.

Our experience in leveling the playing field across different industries or sectors most clearly demonstrates this. Many times, misguided state interventions have wreaked havoc on the dynamic forces of competition. For instance, costly subsidies, tax breaks, and regulations impede or discourage the entry of investors.

These have prevented more efficient and innovative players from coming in and dislodging the inefficient incumbents. The consequences for the consuming public are high-priced and low-quality goods and services.

The data bear this out. Comparative indices show that the Philippines has higher levels of competition and investment restrictiveness than most other countries, as shown in a recent World Bank report (2019) and an Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development report (2017). The World Bank report also points out administrative burdens to start-ups, state ownership, and barriers to trade and investment as factors that significantly hinder competitive forces in the market.

The 2018 Global Competitiveness Report of the World Economic Forum shows that out of 140 economies, the Philippines ranks 65th in terms of not distorting competition through subsidies or tax breaks. We are ahead of Vietnam (94th), but well behind Singapore (1st), Malaysia (18th), Indonesia (34th) and Thailand (57th).

To address these issues, the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) has been working with the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) to formulate the National Competition Policy (NCP). The Governance Commission for GOCCs, the Department of Justice-Office for Competition, and the Department of Trade and Industry, as well as privatesector representatives, have helped to come up with a draft NCP that is hoped to truly reflect what lawmakers envisioned when they enacted the Philippine Competition Act (PCA).

Guided by the Competition Chapter of the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2017-2022, the NCP, proposed to be issued as an executive order, will serve as a framework

that would steer state policies and administrative regulations toward the promotion of robust and fair market competition. It rests on three fundamental pillars: (1) the effective implementation of the PCA, (2) the enactment of pro-competitive government regulations and (3) the internalization of the principle of competitive neutrality.

At its core, the NCP ensures that the entire government policy architecture will enact reforms that complement the PCC’s efforts so that there is a greater likelihood of achieving the development objectives set forth in the PCA and in the PDP. With the NCP in place, healthy market outcomes such as the promotion of market efficiency and enhancement of consumer welfare will now have to be considered in the design of public policies and interventions. This means the government can restrict competition only when it is the only available means to satisfy public policy objectives or when the benefits to consumer welfare are shown to be greater than the costs.

Competitive neutrality, the principle obliging state-owned enterprises to compete on a level playing field with firms in the private sector, is enshrined in the NCP. Toward this end, oversight agencies must examine possible conflicts of interest in an SOE’s proprietary and regulatory roles, and determine whether state subsidies or interventions affect the investment environment. Upon detection of possible competition issues, agencies must adopt measures to address these.

The covered agencies are directed to coordinate with the PCC regarding

values, mutual help and a track record of mutually beneficial cooperation—leaves me convinced that our Strategic Partnership has entered a “golden age,” to borrow the words of President Duterte.

As a further testament of Japan’s generous friendship, would you kindly bring Yuzuru Hanyu, the Olympic figure-skating champion, to our country? We have iceskating rinks in SM malls all over.

Truly, please.

It now gives me the greatest pleasure to propose a toast: To the good health, happiness and continued success of Your Excellency and His Excellency Prime Minister Shinzo Abe; to further successes in our Strategic Partnership; and the lasting friendship of the people of the Philippines and the people of Japan. Kampai!

efforts to promote effective competition in their own jurisdictions and in fulfilling their own mandates. This is in line with the PCC’s holistic strategy for mainstreaming a culture of competition.

The forthcoming adoption and implementation of the NCP is a credible signal that the government is serious and committed to addressing the numerous bottlenecks that harm the country’s competitive landscape. Already a momentum for change and sustaining our economic growth trajectory has been created with the recent passage of the laws on rice tariffication and mobile-number portability—two significant and pro-competitive reforms.

Furthermore, deepening regulatory reforms is critical to sustaining the investor confidence that we have gained in the past few years. In addition to our ambitious infrastructure program, creating a level playing field can only make the country more attractive as an investment destination.

As we put in place all this transformation, our fervent hope is that the phrase “government policies with unintended consequences” will become a thing of the past. The time is ripe for an effective national competition policy.

Dr. Arsenio M. Balisacan is the chairman of the Philippine Competition Commission and a professor of economics (on secondment) at the University of the Philippines (UP). Prior to his appointment to the Commission, he served as socioeconomic planning secretary and, concurrently, director general of the National Economic and Development Authority. He also served as dean of the School of Economics in UP Diliman.

Opinion BusinessMirror

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Facebook, Google aren’t your only ad trackers

Tax implication of change in reserving methodology Atty. Dennis B. Funa

INSURANCE FORUM

Leonid Bershidsky

BLOOMBERG

C

riticism of big tech companies that track us across the Internet without our informed consent misses a bigger picture: There are hundreds of ad-tracking companies that do the same, and regulators have been powerless to rein them in.

A report by the Danish privacy consulting firm Cookiebot says that 112 adtracking companies collect information about visitors to government and publicsector web sites in European Union (EU) countries, even though the web sites are not ad-supported. Of these, 52 were found on French government sites; German taxpayer-funded sites were found to be the best protected, yet one-third of their pages still contained advertising trackers.

If you don’t recall authorizing that activity, that’s because you didn’t. Even if you clicked on an “I accept cookies” popup, which probably didn’t explain properly what cookies you were accepting, it didn’t cover all of the trackers. Some were smuggled in. “Modern web sites typically include multiple third-party javascript technologies to power various functions, such as video players, social sharing widgets, Web analytics, galleries and comments sections,” Cookiebot wrote.

“These scripts can act as Trojan horses, opening backdoors to the web-site code through which ad tech companies can silently insert their trackers.”

Government web sites are often built on the cheap and include all kinds of third-party components. So not even the governments of EU member-states comply with the union’s General Data Protection Directive, which requires site administrators to make sure users consent to the collection of their data.

If you visit a national health service web site with questions about whether you are HIV positive, pregnant or sliding into alcoholism, there’s a good chance you’re being watched in order to be targeted with ads. (It’s likely the situation is similar in the US where Facebook trackers are officially allowed on the web sites of government health-care services, but unauthorized ones are likely also present).

Cookiebot, of course, is an interested party. It has developed a technology to scan Web pages for trackers, and it’s selling tools to ensure sites are GDPRcompliant. If you administer a site, Cookiebot wants you to worry about unauthorized trackers and potential large fines for GDPR noncompliance.

But if privacy regulators decided to use a similar technology to check all sites for compliance, they’d be swamped, and most violators would never be fined. Besides, it could be argued that smuggled trackers are akin to viruses, and that web sites cannot be held responsible for noncompliance if they’ve been, in effect, hacked.

Cookiebot’s findings are more important to ordinary users and regulators than

they are to web-site administrators. If you’re worried that Facebook and Google are watching you everywhere, which they are, you should also worry about a long list of companies, from AcuityAds to Zemanta that openly do the same, and a shorter list of adtech firms that don’t even identify themselves properly.

Earlier this year, the German Federal Cartel Office demanded that Facebook restrict its data collection from thirdparty sites. In its ruling, it made the peculiar argument that Facebook’s market dominance and its ability to collect data are somehow linked. But Cookiebot’s findings point to a flaw in that argument.

Even if Facebook and Google were banned from gathering information about users’ browsing, they’d be able to buy the data from lots of other ad market players.

The problem of digital privacy (and some other problems, such as the decline of local media and the current ease of Internet-based political manipulation) isn’t about a few big companies. Sure, Facebook has the resources to fight back against anti-tracking technology in browsers, engaging in a cops-androbbers game with the likes of Apple, according to the Cookiebot report. And sure, ubiquitous Google is the most active user of trackers. But the tracking won’t stop if the activity of the giants is regulated. Nor will clearer rules for cookie consent, as proposed in the EU’s still-to-be-enacted ePrivacy Regulation, eliminate the constant surveillance; they’ll likely just make it harder to detect.

The root cause of all the pernicious surveillance is ad targeting as a business model. As long as it exists, we will be watched on the Web even at moments when we most hate being watched.

A ban on all targeted advertising, or even just on targeted political ads, as the inventor of the World Wide Web, Tim Berners-Lee, has suggested, would probably go too far. But there is a more effective way of regulating than trying to micromanage cookie settings. Governments could seek to ban ad targeting based on anything except information directly provided by Internet users. If I haven’t indicated that I want ads tailored to my location, age, marital status, specific list of interests or, say, my Amazon purchase history, I shouldn’t be getting any tailored ads. Those who want more personalization, and thus potentially more relevant ads, should choose those options when signing up for social-network and free e-mail accounts, as well as when subscribing to news media that sell ads. Those who don’t want it should be shown random or loosely targeted ads, just like in the pre-tracking days.

Wednesday, March 20, 2019 A11

S

ection 216 of the Amended Insurance Code (Republic Act 10607) changed the methodology in the valuation of lifeinsurance reserves (liabilities), from Net Premium Valuation to Gross Premium Valuation. Section 216 now provides that valuation of reserves “shall be made, according to the standard adopted by the company, as prescribed by the Commissioner in accordance with internationally accepted actuarial standards.” Circular Letter 2016-66 was issued on December 28, 2016, to formalize the change from NPV to GPV, which is now the recognized global and international standard. It was implemented on January 1, 2017.

The GPV is recognized as a market-consistent approach and provides the best estimate of the insurance company’s liabilities. Under the old NPV regime, insurance companies were only required to value their life insurance reserves according to a standard mortality table with interest capped at 6 percent. In a GPV regime, other assumptions are considered such

as morbidity, lapse and/or persistency, expenses, non-guaranteed benefits and the margin for adverse deviation (MfAD).

These are all determined by an actuary. It also allows insurance companies to use discount rates prevailing at the market, which is not fixed and therefore volatile, instead of the 6 percent under the NPV method.

No water Susan V. Ople

Scribbles

T

he advisory was terse.

“Dear valued customer, In light of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration’s recent El Niño advisory and its threat to Metro Manila’s domestic water supply, Manila Water will be implementing operational adjustments that will affect your water supply.

“In this regard, water will only be available from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. every day until further notice. We are calibrating on how we can extend the availability of water for our customers.

“Manila Water is advising its customers to store enough water supply for their needs during the interruption period.

“We apologize for the inconvenience.”

We got this advisory on the day when our faucets ran dry more than a week ago. The village guards informed every household that a fire truck from Pasig City Hall was in the premises, and we should bring empty pails to get water. The firemen dispensing the supply advised us that the water was not safe to drink, and this we could tell by its smelly, murky quality.

As a “valued customer,” I don’t feel valued at all. My family pays our water bills diligently. We trust that our

government and the private sector would sound the alarm early enough so we could all prepare for a looming water shortage. The advisory blamed El Niño, and yet the phenomenon affected not all, but just some areas in Metro Manila. So no, I didn’t feel valued at all.

What I feel is duped. Thanks to the congressional hearings, we learned that Manila Water has been charging its customers since 2008 for a watertreatment plant in Cardona, Rizal, that has yet to be fully operationalized. For the past 10 years, we, the Manila Water customers, have been paying for a plant that was just a mere business plan. This is not the kind of transparency and fair treatment that I expect from an Ayala-owned company.

Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) Chief Regulator Patrick Lester Ty sided with the Manila Water regarding this mystical and, to my mind, downright

The accounting implication is that the shift to GPV would generally entail an increase or additions in reserves, which would be indicated as an expense in the income statement for the year. This change, in effect, was a change in accounting method or policy, which required the consent of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue under Section 168 of Revenue Regulations No. 0240. As ruled in BIR Ruling 005-06 dated March 8, 2006: “The Tax Code itself prescribed no hard and fast rule that would guide taxpayers in allocating expenses.... Allocation of costs is essentially an accounting issue....”

This change in accounting method is allowed under Section 43 of the National Internal Revenue Code in relation to Section 167 and 168 of Revenue Regulations 2-40. The Commissioner of Internal Revenue gave his consent under BIR Ruling 005-06, dated April 30, 2018. The ruling further provided that “the transition adjustments (i.e., the cumulative prior year impact of the change in reserving methodology from NPV to GPV) as of December 31, 2016, shall be treated as

nondeductible expense/nontaxable other income.” And pursuant to Section 37 of the NIRC, “the net additions/released reserve under the GPV method prescribed under IC Circular Letter 2016-66 shall be reported as Profit/Loss items (i.e., morbidity, lapse and/ or persistency, expenses, nonguaranteed benefits and MfAD) and shall be treated as deductible expenses/taxable other income.”

Finally, “the increase or decrease in reserves resulting from changes in discount rates shall be reported as Other Comprehensive Income/ Loss items in accordance with the IC financial reporting framework for Reserve Accounts consistent with the Philippine Financial Reporting Standards for Insurance Contracts.

Considering that the change in discount rate is not a result of the insurance company’s transactions, this shall be treated as nondeductible expenses/nontaxable other income for tax purposes.”

anomalous arrangement. Based on news reports, Ty said that the inclusion of the Cardona plant in the said company’s business plan since 2008 was fair and aboveboard.

When a regulator is quick to come to the defense of its concessionaire, then consumers are doomed. Senator Ping Lacson, during Monday’s Senate hearing on the water crisis, asked the MWSS for the amount of fees collected by the Manila Water from the Cardona water-treatment plant since 2008. The MWSS said that the answer was back in their office, and that they would get back to the Senate with a more concrete figure. Were they not even expecting to be asked about this? It already came out in the House committee hearing. Incompetent is too mild a word to describe the MWSS. The MWSS failed us. It failed us by not anticipating the problem and averting this crisis. They failed us by not being blunt with the concessionaires and demanding the highest standards of compliance, transparency and accountability in behalf of the public. They failed us when the agency recently said that President Duterte, the sole source of a more compassionate statement and directive, was not properly informed. Mr. Patrick Ty, as head of the agency, must go.

Manila Water, as one of your consumers, I am so upset with your behavior. You were intellectually dishonest for blaming El Niño for your ineptitude. You lied to us. You lied to us by blaming El Niño when it was your failure to operate the Cardona water-treatment plant that

was the real cause. Because of that failure, you even depleted the precious water of La Mesa Dam, which was meant to be not just yours, but our reserve supply as consumers.

You owe us big-time.

In this modern-day age, when we had to line up with pails to get water from a single fire truck stationed in our village in the evening, after a long day at work, then we are not the valued customers you think we are.

When our workers have to make do with waterless mornings while rushing to work, day after day, then there must be hell to pay. When moms can’t even wash the dishes and have to spend more money on paper plates on top of all the other expenses, then no apology in the world can make up for that.

What hurts so much is that all this could have been prevented—or you could have eased us into a creeping reality but chose not to. To the triumvirate of epic failures—Manila Water, MWSS and the National Water Resources Board—how dare you keep silent like the dead of night until the zombies of our worst nightmares came alive! You waited until there was an abrupt cessation in water supply before speaking out or even acting as a team. Did you think we wouldn’t have noticed? Did you think such monumental failures in judgment would be easily forgiven?

You failed us. Please resign.

Africa is running out of water as cities’ populations boom

By Ekow Dontoh & Mike Cohen Bloomberg Opinion

A

S water supplies in Ghana’s capital grew increasingly erratic, Beatrice Kabuki stopped customers from using her grocery store’s bathrooms and installed a plastic storage tank at her home.

“The taps flow once a week and usually at night, so we stay awake to fetch what we can store,” Kabuki, 35, said in an interview in Accra.

“We mostly augment by buying water from tankers.”

Cities and towns in several other African nations, including Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Ivory Coast, have been plagued by similar water shortages in recent months, manifestations of a global supply squeeze brought on by drought, population growth, urbanization, and insufficient investment in dams and other infrastructure.

Water use has risen about 1 percent a year since the 1980s, and more than 2 billion people now live in countries experiencing high water stress, the United Nations said in its World Water Development Report released in Geneva on Tuesday. It projects demand will grow as much as 30 percent by 2050.

“Stress levels will continue to increase as demand for water grows and the effects of climate change intensify,” the UN said in the report.

Financing gap

The scourge is set to become exponentially worse in Africa—the UN expects the population of the world’s poorest continent to almost double to 2.5 billion by 2050, and that 59 percent will reside in urban areas by then, up from 43 percent now. A massive increase in agricultural production will be required to feed everyone, compounding the pressures caused by surging household demand for water.

Even nations with plentiful water resources may be unable to build sufficient dams, pipelines, pumping stations and purification plants to ensure adequate supply.

A study published by the African Development Bank last year found the continent needs to spend at least $130 billion to address an infrastructure backlog, including as much as $66 billion on providing universal access to water and sanitation, but faces a financing gap of $68 billion to $108 billion.

Large up-front investments, short-term political considerations and government-borrowing constraints impede infrastructure construction, with the problem particularly acute in Africa, according to the Global Infrastructure Hub, which was set up by the Group of 20 developed nations to promote development. The benefits the projects deliver to society at large may also outstrip the returns operators

earn on them, a likely deterrent to private investment, it said.

Water rationing

Crumbling infrastructure has compounded the effect of a crippling drought in cash-strapped Zimbabwe, resulting in water rationing in its two largest cities, Harare and Bulawayo. In Maputo, Mozambique’s capital, supply has been cut off on alternating days since January after dam levels fell to less than a quarter of their capacity.

Taps in Cape Town, South Africa’s tourist mecca, came close to running dry last year before good winter rains brought respite from the region’s worst drought on record. The nightmare of running out of water became a reality last year in Bouake, Ivory Coast’s second-largest city, when rains failed.

The government was forced to use tankers to truck in emergency supplies, while thousands of people

temporarily relocated.

Water shortages in Accra, which mostly gets regular rainfall, are mainly attributed to its inadequate and poorly maintained pipes, pumping stations and purification plants. About 4.9 million people live in the city and its surrounds, including the port city of Tema.

Two-year outage

Joyce Ayitey, 42, who sells plastic cups, tissues and sweets from a wooden stall in front of the home she shares with her husband and three daughters in Diabolo in the eastern part of city, has experienced the extremity of the problem.

When her taps ran dry more than two years ago, the water-utility company blamed road builders who destroyed its main pipelines and said the outage would be addressed within weeks, but nothing was done.

“We don’t have the money to buy bulk water from tankers, so we

Dennis B. Funa is the current insurance commissioner. Funa was appointed by President Duterte as the new insurance commissioner in December 2016.

E-mail: dennisfuna@yahoo.com.

Susan V. Ople heads the Blas F. Ople Policy Center and Training Institute, a nonprofit organization that deals with labor and migration issues. She also represents the OFW sector in the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking.

walk almost every day to buy water and carry it on our heads for use,” she said. “The water fetching is so tiring. We always wish for rain so we can harvest every drop for storage. It gives us such huge respite.’’

Ghana Water Co., the stateowned utility, is aware that some Accra neighborhoods have erratic water supply or are struggling with low pressure, but faces an uphill battle to tackle the problems because new neighborhoods are being developed faster than it can provide the infrastructure, spokesman Stanley Martey said by phone.

Kabuki, the storekeeper, can no longer stomach being unable to flush her toilets when her stockpiled water runs out and has run out of patience with the authorities.

“You want to know how frustrating it is?” she asked. “It is very unpleasant and dehumanizing for me as a woman. I am actually planning to relocate to a house with a guaranteed water supply.”

2nd Front Page BusinessMirror

A12 Wednesday, March 20, 2019

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Losses from El Niño now ₧1.3B D

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

@joveemarie

AMAGE and losses from El Niño have now reached P1.33 billion, the Department of Agriculture said on Tuesday.

As of 5 p.m. of March 19, the DA report indicated that the damage and losses had risen from P464.27 million to P1.33 billion with an estimated volume of 78,348 metric tons (MT) lost and damaged agricultural areas of 70,353 hectares.

The DA said El Niño has also affected 84,932 corn and rice farmers and fisherfolks in Cordillera Administrative Region, Ilocos

region, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Bicol region, Western Visayas, Eastern Visayas, Zamboanga Peninsula, Northern Mindanao, Davao region, Soccsksargen and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Reg ion in Muslim Mindanao.

The agency said 69,889 farmers lost 41,003 MT of palay valued at P814.44 million in 54,925 hectares.

The report also revealed that

₧464.27 million

Previous figure given by the Department of Agriculture on the farm damage and losses from El Niño

15,043 corn farmers incurred losses amounting to P512.31 million. Total corn output damaged by El Niño was estimated at around 37,345 MT, planted on 15,043 hectares.

The DA said, however, that the amount of crop losses will still have to be validated, saying it will continuously assess the damages and losses incurred by farmers and monitor standing crops in vulnerable areas.

The government has also started to monitor water quantity and quality in areas that may be affected by El Niño, it said.

The DA said the Philippine Crop Insurance Council will immediately release indemnification to insured farmlands that would cover up to 100 percent of the damage.

Also, it said a total amount of P18.3 million has been released for cloud seeding operations.

The DA said the Bureau of Soils and Water Management (BSWM) and Philippine Air Force (PAF) in Cagayan Valley, Mimaropa, Central Visayas and Soccskargen have conducted joint area assessment for pre-cloud seeding operations.

Cagayan Valley, Davao region and Soccskargen will be the first ones covered by cloud seeding.

We didn’t withdraw budget copy, says GMA

T

HE leadership of the House of Representatives on Tuesday clarified that it has not withdrawn the enrolled proposed 2019 General Appropriations Act (GAA).

Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo made the clarification after San Juan Rep. Ronaldo Zamora and Sen. Panfilo Lacson claimed that the House has agreed to recall its version of the annual budget to break the budget impasse.

“No, we have not withdrawn our version. We’re in discussions about what is the proposed new version,” said Arroyo in an interview at the sidelines of an event on mining.

Zamora was tasked by Arroyo to negotiate with the Senate.

Arroyo said no annual budget will be transmitted to President Duterte for signature if there’s no agreement between the chambers.

“If we don’t come to an agree-

ment, and then [Senate President] Tito Sotto does not sign the bill, then there’s no bill to send to the President. So I do not know if we will, but I would wish we would,” she added.

According to Arroyo, the House will stand strong on its position that itemizing the lump sum is legal even after ratification. The bicameral conference report that the Senate and the House approved on February 8 contained lumpsum funds.

“We will insist on no lump sum because that is what is unconstitutional. That’s what we will insist, no lump sum. Now, as to the details, that’s the one that we’ll see,” she said.

The lower chamber is asking the Senate to identify their lump-sum funds. According to the House, the realignment of the Senate is also nowhere to be found in the bicameral conference committee report.

LOW PRESSURE AREA 140 KM SOUTHWEST OF COTABATO CITY OR 145 KM EAST SOUTHEAST OF ZAMBOANGA CITY as of 4:00 pm - March 19, 2019

Earlier, House Committee on Appropriations Chairman Rolando Andaya Jr. said no congressman has the authority, without plenary approval, to order the recall of the enrolled form of any bill already transmitted to the Senate.

The proposed 2019 General Appropriations Act was approved in plenary at the House of the Representatives, and the ratification of the bicameral conference report on the national budget was also made in plenary, Andaya said.

That’s why, Andaya said the recall of the 2019 General Appropriations Bill (GAB) must also be done in plenary session, with Majority members of the House in approval.

The 17th Congress has until May 20 to pass the P3.757-trillion national budget. The Congress will resume session on May 20 after the three-month break due to midterm elections.

Andaya explanation assailed

A MID conf licting reports on whether the House is withdrawing or not its version of budget, Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte, in a statement, said Andaya’s explanation was nothing but “claptrap.”

He said tinkering with the GAB after its ratification by the Congress was unconstitutional as it violated Article VI, Section 26 (2) of the 1987 Constitution, which states that, “Upon the last reading of a bill, no amendments thereto shall be allowed, and the vote thereon shall be taken immediately thereafter, and the yeas and nays entered in the Journal.”

“Congressman Andaya wants to hoodwink the public into believing that there was nothing illegal about this post-ratification act because—in Andaya’s words—the See “Budget,” A2

‘Boracay closure ruling sets a bad precedent’

By Joel R. San Juan

T

@jrsanjuan1573

HE Supreme Court has been asked to reconsider its decision upholding the legality of President Duterte’s Proclamation No. 475, which placed the island of Boracay under a state of calamity and ordered its temporary closure to pave the way for its rehabilitation.

The motion was filed by Boracay residents Mark Anthony Zabal, Thiting Estoso Jacosalem and Odeon Bandiola through the assistance of the National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL) The petitioners are asking the Court to take a second look at the way Duterte exercised his police power, which they insisted failed to comply with Section 6, Article III, of the 1987 Constitution. That provision states that the right to travel can only be curtailed “in the interest of national security, public safety or public health, as may be provided by law.”

They stressed that if the decision is not reversed, this would set “a dangerous legal precedent as far as constitutional rights are concerned.” In its ruling issued in February, the Court held that Proclamation No. 475 did not pose an actual impairment of the right to travel.

The SC pointed out that the impact of the said proclamation on the right to travel was temporary and merely incidental to the intended rehabilitation of the island.

See “Boracay,” A2

PHL, Vietnam accord nixes arrest, punishment for S. China Sea poachers

By Rene Acosta

@reneacostaBM

P

HILIPPINES and Vietnamese defense officials have forged what observers described as a “rare” and unwritten agreement that eliminates “headaches” in arresting fishermen caught fishing in each country’s disputed territorial waters in the South China Sea: The fishermen will just be simply sent back home.

The agreement was reached by Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana with his Vietnamese counterpart Ngo Xuan Lich during the former’s three-day official visit to Vietnam that likewise boosted the defense cooperation between Hanoi and Manila.

“Our discussion [was that] we will not arrest fishermen, we will just tell them to go back to their area. We will not arrest them, it will just be a headache,” said Lorenzana on Tuesday.

“If you have to arrest them, you have to secure them and feed them.

You also have to send them to [the] hospital, and when they go home, they will ask for gasoline [money, so] just send them home,” he added.

See “phl, Vietnam,” A2

MAYOR SARA: MARTIN ROMUALDEZ, SPEAKER OF NEXT CONGRESS

DAVAO City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio (on microphone) endorses to the crowd the Hugpong’s senatorial candidates, including former Palace special assistant Bong Go (left).

She also endorsed Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez—whom she tagged the “Speaker” of the next Congress—and his wife Yedda Marie Romualdez, who is running as party-list representative.

H

UGPONG ng Pagbabago (HNP) Chairman and Davao City Mayor Sara DuterteCarpio has endorsed Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (CMD) President Martin Romualdez as Speaker of the incoming 18th Congress.

Duterte-Carpio, daughter of President Duterte, introduced Romualdez, a three-term congressman of Leyte’s first district, as the next Speaker at Tuesday’s campaign sortie held at the jampacked Tacloban City Convention Center, or the Tacloban Astrodome.

“Ang Hugpong ng Pagbabago po, kasama ang aming supporters, ang Tingog Sinirangan party-list at si Congressman Martin Romualdez,

ang susunod natin na Speaker sa House of Representatives, ay nagiiwan po ng bukas na invitation sa inyong lahat na bumisita ng Davao City [The Hugpong ng Pagbabago, along with my supporters, the Tingog Sinirangan party-list and Congressman Martin Romualdez are leaving you an open invitation to visit Davao City],” Duterte-Carpio told the crowd.

She joined Romualdez and Tingog first nominee and Leyte Rep. Yedda Marie Romualdez in campaigning for the senatorial bets of HNP. “I repeat what I said the last time I was here. I’m happy to stand on See “Mayor Sara,” A2

Increase in export data gaps to be resolved by TradeNet

By Rea Cu

T

@ReaCuBM

HE TradeNet platform is seen to address the rise in export and import data discrepancies, which reached 30 percent in 2018 coming from only 24.8 percent in 2016, the Department of Finance (DOF) has said.

Based on an economic bulletin of the DOF, data collection should be improved to address the rise in the gaps, and thus enhance the capabilities of revenue collectors, as well as trade facilitation.

“The rise in export data discrepancy implies the need for datacollection improvements.... transaction-based data using TradeNet will minimize this discrepancy,” the DOF said.

Data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Direction of Trade Statistics, as well as from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) indicated export trade data discrepancies grew to $28.889 billion last year from only $18.975 billion in 2016.

“A comparison between trade data reported in the IMF Direction of Trade Statistics and the PSA shows that trade data discrepancy declined from 26.7 percent in 2016 to 25.1 percent in 2017, but this rose to 26.8 percent in 2018 due primarily to export discrepancy,” it added.

Based on data from the IMF, merchandise exports amounted to $96.377 billion last year, $89.097 billion in 2017 and $76.382 billion in 2016.

See “TradeNet,” A2

Editor: Efleda P. Campos

Companies BusinessMirror

Wednesday, March 20, 2019

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DMCI Homes to launch ₧104-B projects this year

D

By VG Cabuag

@villygc

MCI Homes Inc. on Tuesday said it plans to launch 10 real-estate projects worth P104 billion this year, a 271-percent increase from the P28-billion projects it launched in 2018.

the area, and our projects offer great value for money,” DMCI Homes President Alfredo R. Austria said.

The other developments scheduled for launch this year include Cameron Residences and Cresmont in Quezon City; Parama Residences and Sonora Garden Residences in Las Piñas City; and Sovanna Towers and Allegra Garden Place, both in Pasig.

The company is also set to introduce Camden Place located in Manila and and Sage Residences in Mandaluyong City.

The company is also launching Belleza Towers to strengthen its presence in Davao City.

To finance the project launches,

DMCI Homes has earmarked P17.9 billion in capital expenditures, up by 23 percent year-on-year from P14.5 billion in 2018.

Project funding will come from a mix of internal funds, including cash flows generated from the project and bank borrowings, it said.

DMCI Homes first expanded its real-estate footprint outside Metro Manila in 2013 with the launch of Outlook Ridge Residences in Baguio City. In 2016, the developer launched Verdon Parc in Davao City.

The company started developing residential projects in 1999. To date, the company has launched a total of 73 projects.

The company said some of its projects are located outside of Metro Manila, including Kalea Heights in Cebu, a new market for DMCI.

“We believe the DMCI Homes brand can do well in the competitive Cebu market. There’s wider acceptance of condominium living in

Meralco expects energy sales in Jan-February to rise 2 percent

BPI Family Savings eyes double digit growth in loans this year

By Lenie Lectura @llectura

T

HE Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) is expecting energy sales volume in January and February to grow by more than 2 percent on the back of strong demand.

“We are seeing our January and February year-to-date sales growth to be around a little over 2 percent,” Meralco President Oscar Reyes said. He attributed the growth to the strong take-up of its industrial and commercial customers.

The utility firm has yet to provide initial energy sales for the first few days of March. However, Reyes said, “It seems it’s going to be a 2.5-percent growth sometime as of mid-March.”

Reyes said the first-quarter energy sales are likely to be lower than what Meralco reported in the same period last year, “given that 2018 was a high base year.”

Meralco reported “unusually strong” sales in the first quarter of 2018, particularly in March. It had reported that energy sales increased nearly 9 percent to 10,145 gigawatt-hours (GWh), Back then, the utility firm’s strong sales volume was driven by increased consumption from existing customers and new customers.

At end-2018, energy sales volume of Meralco grew by 5 percent to 44,313 GWh. This included the volume distributed by Clark Electric Distribution Corp. (CEDC) of 527 GWh. Meralco customer base at end2018 stood at 6.6 million.

“The sustained growth of the domestic economy, and the resilience of the global economy amidst political uncertainties, have allowed Meralco to still achieve hea lthy energ y sa les growth in 2018, despite an increase in the pursuit of greater energy efficiency across all customer classes, distributed and sel f - generat ion, pa r t ic u l a rly rooftop solar, which could negatively impact sales volumes.

We hope that the government’s ‘Build, Build, Build’program and private-sector investments will pick up steadily to support domestic consumption and help hurdle the uncertainties affecting our growth,” Meralco Chairman Manuel Pangilinan said.

By Bianca Cuaresma @BcuaresmaBM

T

HE Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) Family Savings Bank—the thrift-banking arm of BPI—is looking to book a double-digit growth in its loan portfolio this year, owing largely to their optimisitc view on the local economy.

At the sidelines of the BPI Family Housing Loan Launch, BPI Family President Maria Cristina Go said they are looking to grow their loan portfolio by 10 percent to 15 percent this year from the flat growth they experienced the previous year.

“The challenge in the past had been the volatility, the unexpected rise in interest rates, so we did not

really see a contraction [this year] particularly in housing loans. We have seen much higher interest rates in the past,” Go told reporters.

About 55 percent of the thrift bank’s loan porftolio is comprised of housing loans.

On Tuesday, the bank launched its first-of-its-kind home loan product, which offers a rebate for every million of housing loan availed of by the financial consumer.

“We continue to see strong demand for housing loans as more people have more disposale income.

Aligned with BPI group’s push for financial inclusion, we believe that every Filipino family deserves a chance to acquire their dream home,” Go said.

Through BPI Family’s new product, the Family Housing Loan Promo, a client who avails himself or herself of a housing loan earns P10,000 for every P1 million housing loan they avail. The minimum loan accepted is P1 million.

Go said the loan promo hopes to address the need of many Filipinos for housing and savings—which contribute to overall financial health.

Availing clients may choose to redeem the rebate via the Maxi Saver account —with higher yielding interest, or the Pamana Savings account bundled with insurance coverage.

The rebate will be made available after two months of amortization payments. BPI’s newest promo will be available until end-May this year.

5 foreign firms, consortium of local banks eye Hanjin rehab

By Ashley Manabat Correspondent

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LARK FREEPORT—At least five foreign companies are eyeing Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Co. Philippines at the Subic Bay Freeport Zone as “white knights” after the Korean shipbuilder declared bankruptcy in January.

Wilma Eisma, Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) chairman and administrator, also said that as of Wednesday last week, the five local banks that loaned money to Hanjin signed an agreement and officially formed a consortium.

Eisma said Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., BDO Unibank, Land Bank of the Philippines (LandBank), the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) and Metrobank officially formed a consortium and signed an agreement they would work as one with RCBC as their lead negotiator.

Eisma identified the “white knights” as two American firms, Damen Shipyards Group of Denmark and two Asian companies backed by their governments.

Eisma made the disclosure at the “Balitaan” media forum organized by the Capampangan in Media Inc. in cooperation with the Clark Development Corp. at the Bale Balita here last Friday.

Eisma said the white knights do not include China because the government has stopped talking to China.

“Subic is very close to the contested waters with China. I think that was the reason why there was an alarm set off when the Depart-

ment of Trade and Industry and the Board of Investments started talking to the Chinese government and Chinese companies, because we are just a skip and hop away from the contested waters with China. So that is something that we have to consider,” she said.

Eisma said Enrique Razon’s International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) also expressed intention to take over the Hanjin facilities.

She said the five foreign companies are looking at shipyard operations while ICTSI wants to convert it into a mixed-use facility. The property of Hanjin is 326 hectares and the combined size of the ports in Manila is close to 220 hectares only.

“You can actually put the port volume in Hanjin with a little to spare,” she said. “As far as I know the interest of ICTSI is to look into port and some shipyard operations,” Eisma said the property of Hanjin has a lot of potential because it has deep ports and beautiful wharfs and piers as compared during the time of the Americans 25 years ago.

“Now, with the new technology and with new engineering marvels, the one that Hanjin left is really a state-of-the-art facility,” she said.

The consortium agreed with Hanjin and the Korean Development Bank that they will take over the shipyard and be the trustee of the shipyard, she said.

“Thus, the possible white knight will have to deal with the consortium,” she added. “I am also working very closely with the secretary of finance because of the enormity of the transactions, not to mention that

LandBank, which is a governmentowned bank, is also chaired by the secretary of finance.”

“Hanjin spent close to $2.2 billion just to put up their own power plant, their own water system and sewagetreatment plant. The development cost of that property is a lot of money, that is why they got a very reasonable rate in terms of rent,” she said.

Eisma said that at the peak of Hanjin in 2015, they had 33,000 workers.

When they declared bankruptcy early this year, the number of workers was down to 3,000. She said that since March 1, Hanjin had 380 workers left for yard repair. Eisma said two weeks ago, P288 million was approved for release to pay the workers left by the retrenchment.

She said there is a “gradual closure” of Hanjin, which went into receivership after filing for bankruptcy. She said Hanjin claimed that it went bankrupt due to the slowdown of business and due to its heavy debt.

She identified Rosario Sheryl Bernal, an expert on receivership who used to be with the Department of Finance, as the court appointed receiver.

The receiver will now make sure it will protect its suppliers and the SBMA, she said.

Hanjin debt amounted to $415 million with $45 million already paid to Metrobank before the consortium was formed.

Eisma said Hanjin have six pending orders.

“They have a massive operation and they have purchase orders, but they cannot go to the banks because the banks refused to lend them money anymore,” she said.

MWSS exec: Kaliwa Dam Project aboveboard

By Jonathan L. Mayuga @jonlmayuga

A

N official of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) said the New Centennial Water Source-Kaliwa Dam Project is above board and can be the longterm solution to meet the growing demand for water in Metro Manila and nearby provinces.

Delfin U. Sespene told the BusinessMirror in a telephone interview that the Kaliwa Dam Project went through scrutiny even by the MWSS and its consultants, and was eventually approved by the National Economic Development Authority (Neda).

The proposed Kaliwa Intake Weir Project of the Osaka-based Global Utility Development Corp.

Ltd. (GUDC), an unsolicited proposal, cannot be considered as a long-term solution to the increasing water demand in Metro Manila and nearby provinces, and cannot be compared to the intended design of Kaliwa Dam. “The Kaliwa Dam Project went through the process and proper channel and can be considered aboveboard,” he said.

Sespene confirmed preparing the documents e-mailed to the media by the MWSS, justifying the decision to pursue the controversial P12.1-billion Kaliwa Dam Project through an official development assistance (ODA) secured by the Philippine government from China, as against the GUDC’s unsolicited proposal.

The height of the Kaliwa Dam Project, as per its design, is 60 meters, not 73 meters as earlier reported and claimed by GUDC. The structure is an impounding dam and reservoir with flood, mitigation benefit, as against Kaliwa Intake Weir Project designed for run-of-river diversion only.

Its supply capacity of 600 millions of liters per day can be expanded to 2,400 MLD. Its raw-water conveyance tunnel capacity of 2,400 MLD can accommodate 1,800 MLD coming from either Laiban Dam or Kanan Dam, which is already included in the contract cost with

China Energy, as against the 550 MLD Kaliwa Intake Weir Project proposal, which has a maximum capacity of 600 MLD. “Should the need to increase the supply to 2,400 MLD arise, GUDC has to build another dam plus a separate conveyance tunnel to accommodate the additional supply of 1,800 MLD,” the document comparing the two projects stated.

The conveyance tunnel under the proposed Kaliwa Dam Project is 27.7 kilometers long. Hence, the delivery point of water is up to Theresa, Rizal, while that of GUDC’s unsolicited proposal is up to Tanay, Rizal, only.

Sespene said the GUDC is “ineligible for unsolicited proposal as per the Private-Public Partnership Center.”

A letter from the PPP Center addressed to MWSS Administrator Reynaldo Velasco dated March 23, 2017, and signed by Mia Mary G. Sebastian, executive director, said, “GUDC’s unsolicited proposal currently falls under Projects Ineligible for Unsolicited Proposals based on Section 10.3 of the BOT law implementing rules and Regulations,” which states that “projects included in the List of Priority Projects as defined under Section 2.3 shall not be eligible to be accepted as Unsolicited Proposal, unless involving a new concept or technology. In addition, any component of an approved project shall not be eligible for any Unsolicited Proposal.”

GUDC, the document said, was informed of the situation as it was furnished a copy of the PPP Center letter.

Moreover, the Duterte administration has already decided to pursue the Kaliwa Dam Project through ODA as approved by the Neda Board on June 27, 2017. The project is the subject of government-to-government discussion between the Philippines and China through the Chinese Embassy and the Export-Import Bank of China for financing. Such information was likewise conveyed to the GUDC

by Neda through its letter dated March 26, 2018, and an earlier letter dated June 8, 2017.

DOE gives First Gen go-ahead to construct LNG terminal

F

IRST Gen Corp. of the Lopez group on Wednesday said it received from the Department of Energy (DOE) the notice to proceed for its planned FGEN Batangas liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal.

“FGEN LNG Corp. [FGEN LNG], a wholly owned subsidiary of First Gen Corp. [First Gen], earlier on Tuesday received the formal approval of its application for a notice to proceed [NTP] from the Department of Energy [DOE], as defined in and required by the Philippine Downstream Natural Gas Regulation [PDNGR]. The application was for the construction of the FGEN Batangas LNG Terminal Project to be located in the First Gen Clean Energy Complex in Batangas City,” it said.

First Gen will construct an LNG terminal in Batangas City with its partner Tokyo Gas Co. Ltd. Under the deal, Tokyo Gas will take a 20-percent participating interest in the FGEN LNG project and provide support in development work to achieve a final investment decision (FID).

Once an FID is reached, the parties will enter into a definitive agreement to proceed with the construction of the FGEN Batangas LNG terminal project.

First Gen is one of the biggest independent power producers in the country and the leading gas-power generation company in the Philippines with about 2,000 megawatts in operating gas assets composed of four gas-fired power plants—the 1,000-MW Santa Rita Power Plant, the 500-MW San Lorenzo Power Plant, the 414-MW San Gabriel Power Plant and the 97-MW Avion Power Plant, all of which currently operate on Malampaya gas supply.

“The FGEN Batangas LNG Terminal Project is intended to serve the natural gas requirements of existing and future gas- fired power plants of third parties and FGEN LNG affiliates,” it said.

First Gen’s onshore storage and regasification terminal will have a capacity to supply a minimum 5 million tons of natural gas equivalent to 5,000 MW and is expected to cost over $1 billion. Lenie Lectura

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Companies BusinessMirror

Wednesday, March 20, 2019

PSE STOCK QUOTATIONS

March 19, 2019

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

ASIA UNITED 58.5 58.75 58.1 58.75 58.1 58.75 5560 326631 BDO UNIBANK 131.5 132 131 132.5 130.6 131.5 2410870 317653176 BANK PH ISLANDS 87 87.5 88.15 88.15 87 87 1286550 112937667.5 CHINABANK 27.45 27.5 27.7 27.7 27.45 27.5 143400 3948165 EAST WEST BANK 12.48 12.56 12.48 12.6 12.46 12.48 489800 6135630 METROBANK 81.9 82 81.85 82.35 81.65 82 2310750 189504130.5 PB BANK 13.86 13.98 13.86 13.86 13.86 13.86 4000 55440 PBCOM 21.5 22.75 21.55 21.55 21.5 21.5 7800 167800 PHIL NATL BANK 59 59.2 60.1 60.5 57.8 59.2 722300 42559575.5 PSBANK 58.4 58.5 58.5 58.5 58.4 58.4 2930 171189.5 PHILTRUST 110.2 122 110.2 122 110.2 122 20 2322 RCBC 26.35 26.45 26.3 26.45 26.2 26.35 41500 1093950 SECURITY BANK 165.9 168.1 169 170 165.9 165.9 540950 90730337 UNION BANK 61.15 61.2 62.9 62.9 60.8 61.2 17490 1069311 BRIGHT KINDLE 1.35 1.42 1.35 1.35 1.33 1.35 103000 137170 BDO LEASING 2.24 2.29 2.25 2.3 2.24 2.3 107000 241380 COL FINANCIAL 19 19.02 18.4 19 18.4 19 105800 1990650 FERRONOUX HLDG 4.25 4.3 4.42 4.42 4.28 4.3 49000 212240 MEDCO HLDG 0.455 0.465 0.45 0.45 0.45 0.45 220000 99000 MANULIFE 805 830 815 815 815 815 150 122250 NTL REINSURANCE 0.96 0.99 0.99 0.99 0.96 0.96 130000 126020 PHIL STOCK EXCH 185 186 185 185 185 185 270 49950 SUN LIFE 1815 1820 1815 1815 1815 1815 190 344850

INDUSTRIAL ALSONS CONS 1.42 1.44 1.42 1.42 1.4 1.42 452000 637380 ABOITIZ POWER 34.5 34.9 35 35.05 34.5 34.5 785700 27199750 BASIC ENERGY 0.236 0.24 0.236 0.243 0.236 0.24 80000 19140 FIRST GEN 21.7 21.75 21 21.95 21 21.7 1900300 41173775 FIRST PHIL HLDG 76 76.65 76 77 75.5 76 188480 14360878.5 MERALCO 374.8 375 375 376 372 375 293870 110156992 MANILA WATER 25.1 25.85 26.3 26.3 25.1 25.1 1109900 28699220 PETRON 6.61 6.62 6.68 6.76 6.62 6.62 5435000 36201342 PETROENERGY 3.85 3.86 3.77 3.86 3.77 3.85 480000 1845970 PHINMA ENERGY 1.32 1.33 1.3 1.33 1.3 1.33 4921000 6446560 PHX PETROLEUM 12 12.28 12.26 12.28 11.86 12.28 169900 2054262 PILIPINAS SHELL 49.35 49.5 49.75 49.75 49.35 49.35 755100 37428700 SPC POWER 6.4 6.47 6.46 6.46 6.4 6.4 43500 280776 AGRINURTURE 14.02 14.38 14 14.46 14 14.38 393100 5655024 CNTRL AZUCARERA 15.36 15.4 16 16 15.36 15.36 2300 35430 CENTURY FOOD 15.5 15.7 15.52 15.7 15.5 15.7 1187700 18501194 DEL MONTE 6.19 6.27 6.28 6.28 6.18 6.27 9600 60007 DNL INDUS 11.3 11.34 11.4 11.4 11.28 11.3 407100 4606504 EMPERADOR 7.4 7.52 7.45 7.56 7.4 7.52 72900 540699 SMC FOODANDBEV 102.3 104 105 105 102.2 104 153510 15859121 ALLIANCE SELECT 1.03 1.04 1.01 1.04 1.01 1.03 3623000 3732600 GINEBRA 27.2 27.3 27.3 27.3 27.1 27.2 145800 3955020 JOLLIBEE 313.4 313.6 315.2 316 312.2 313.6 365990 115083494 MACAY HLDG 10.74 11 11.08 11.2 10.7 10.8 14100 153728 MAXS GROUP 11.96 11.98 12 12 11.94 11.96 95900 1148452 MG HLDG 0.196 0.2 0.196 0.196 0.196 0.196 80000 15680 PEPSI COLA 1.39 1.4 1.41 1.41 1.38 1.4 1183000 1645950 SHAKEYS PIZZA 12.1 12.18 12.2 12.2 11.92 12.1 2500 30068 ROXAS AND CO 1.8 1.85 1.86 1.86 1.8 1.8 650000 1170780 RFM CORP 4.68 4.75 4.67 4.68 4.66 4.68 13429000 62844570 ROXAS HLDG 2.54 2.69 2.73 2.73 2.52 2.69 24000 61700 UNIV ROBINA 146.1 147 147 148 146.1 146.1 637490 93563804 VITARICH 1.62 1.63 1.63 1.64 1.62 1.63 1398000 2271420 VICTORIAS 2.68 2.7 2.69 2.7 2.69 2.7 26000 70090 CEMEX HLDG 2.71 2.72 2.87 2.92 2.71 2.71 17140000 47951120 DAVINCI CAPITAL 5.8 6.2 5.84 5.84 5.8 5.8 84700 492543 EAGLE CEMENT 15.8 15.82 15.76 15.86 15.76 15.8 1028300 16242844 EEI CORP 9.08 9.1 9.15 9.19 9.05 9.1 243800 2215999 HOLCIM 9.65 9.7 9.81 9.86 9.6 9.65 1216600 11824363 MEGAWIDE 20.7 20.85 20.35 21 20.35 20.7 890600 18436910 PHINMA 6.76 8.95 8.95 8.95 8.95 8.95 3500 31325 TKC METALS 0.98 0.99 0.99 1.03 0.96 0.98 159000 157670 VULCAN INDL 1.26 1.28 1.27 1.28 1.26 1.26 765000 968950 CHEMPHIL 110 112 110.2 110.2 107 110 8560 925804 CROWN ASIA 1.88 1.91 1.91 1.91 1.88 1.88 11000 20980 MABUHAY VINYL 3.35 3.6 3.5 3.6 3.34 3.6 15000 51500 PRYCE CORP 5.85 6 5.8 6 5.8 6 131000 766000 CONCEPCION 40.15 43 43 43 43 43 5800 249400 GREENERGY 2.35 2.36 2.3 2.39 2.15 2.36 26851000 60,742,340( INTEGRATED MICR 13.3 13.32 12.9 13.4 12.9 13.3 2389400 31606704 IONICS 1.65 1.7 1.66 1.7 1.65 1.65 135000 224640 SFA SEMICON 1.32 1.33 1.3 1.34 1.3 1.33 101000 133550 CIRTEK HLDG 29 29.8 29.3 29.8 28.7 29.8 190500 5656570

HOLDING & FRIMS

ABACORE CAPITAL 0.73 0.74 0.75 0.76 0.73 0.73 28763000 21381910 ASIABEST GROUP 20 20.1 19.72 20.4 19.72 20 55400 1106843 AYALA CORP 929.5 930 934 934 928 930 170680 158706005 ABOITIZ EQUITY 58.3 58.4 58 58.75 57.95 58.4 640720 37414710 ALLIANCE GLOBAL 15.56 15.58 15.6 15.62 15.46 15.56 8345200 129589574 ANSCOR 6.5 6.7 6.5 6.5 6.5 6.5 130700 849550 ANGLO PHIL HLDG 0.75 0.76 0.74 0.76 0.74 0.76 30000 22300 ATN HLDG A 1.35 1.36 1.41 1.41 1.33 1.36 14185000 19347960 ATN HLDG B 1.38 1.39 1.4 1.4 1.37 1.38 1731000 2388110 COSCO CAPITAL 7.45 7.46 7.45 7.6 7.41 7.45 764500 5728981 DMCI HLDG 11.9 12.06 12.3 12.3 11.9 11.9 7903600 95802094 FILINVEST DEV 15.34 15.4 15 15.4 15 15.4 3572700 54539280 FORUM PACIFIC 0.233 0.239 0.236 0.24 0.233 0.233 550000 129180 GT CAPITAL 998.5 1000 1002 1002 995.5 1000 69830 69807710 HOUSE OF INV 6.2 6.46 6.51 6.51 6.17 6.47 16000 100724 JG SUMMIT 61.7 62 62.9 63 61.7 61.7 1575690 98007341.5 LODESTAR 0.53 0.55 0.55 0.56 0.53 0.55 200000 109830 LOPEZ HLDG 5.27 5.28 5.39 5.4 5.22 5.27 1824500 9720812 LT GROUP 16 16.04 16.44 16.46 15.82 16 4064700 65827808 MABUHAY HLDG 0.55 0.58 0.57 0.57 0.57 0.57 11000 6270 METRO PAC INV 4.92 4.93 4.91 4.96 4.91 4.92 10790000 53109510 PACIFICA 0.038 0.04 0.039 0.04 0.038 0.039 18000000 701300 PRIME ORION 3.1 3.12 3.08 3.17 3.07 3.12 1255000 3883470 SOLID GROUP 1.32 1.37 1.34 1.34 1.32 1.32 876000 1157630 SM INVESTMENTS 951 951.5 949.5 955 938.5 951.5 167480 159204350 SAN MIGUEL CORP 176 176.2 175 176.8 174 176 840980 147480630 SEAFRONT RES 2.37 2.4 2.36 2.36 2.36 2.36 37000 87320 TOP FRONTIER 272 279.8 276 280 272 279.8 7380 2041916 WELLEX INDUS 0.24 0.245 0.24 0.245 0.24 0.24 490000 118050 ZEUS HLDG 0.385 0.39 0.375 0.395 0.375 0.385 91340000 35354600

PROPERTY ARTHALAND CORP 0.83 0.84 0.85 0.86 0.82 0.84 5132000 4269430 ANCHOR LAND 9.85 10.94 10.94 10.94 10.92 10.92 6200 67708 AYALA LAND 43.15 43.25 43.1 43.45 43 43.25 12974100 561065370 ARANETA PROP 1.93 1.97 1.93 1.93 1.93 1.93 90000 173700 BELLE CORP 2.38 2.39 2.39 2.45 2.38 2.39 751000 1805280 A BROWN 0.78 0.79 0.79 0.79 0.78 0.79 90000 70360 CITYLAND DEVT 0.91 0.93 0.92 0.93 0.91 0.91 125000 114040 CROWN EQUITIES 0.24 0.242 0.242 0.242 0.24 0.242 3630000 871620 CEBU HLDG 6.3 6.6 6.5 6.7 6.2 6.7 18000 112000 CEB LANDMASTERS 4.39 4.41 4.43 4.44 4.37 4.4 798000 3513890 CENTURY PROP 0.52 0.53 0.495 0.54 0.49 0.52 55350000 28814400 CYBER BAY 0.385 0.39 0.395 0.395 0.39 0.39 2160000 845450 DOUBLEDRAGON 21 21.15 21 21.8 21 21 684600 14642280 DM WENCESLAO 10.98 11 11.4 11.4 10.76 11 1302000 14349856 EMPIRE EAST 0.495 0.51 0.5 0.5 0.495 0.495 1612000 804480 FILINVEST LAND 1.53 1.54 1.51 1.55 1.51 1.54 31369000 47985880 GLOBAL ESTATE 1.22 1.23 1.21 1.23 1.21 1.22 1113000 1356320 8990 HLDG 12.1 12.12 12.12 12.14 12.08 12.1 2842400 34417204 PHIL INFRADEV 1.88 1.89 1.97 1.98 1.87 1.88 2804000 5333570 CITY AND LAND 0.82 0.85 0.86 0.86 0.81 0.85 694000 568830 MEGAWORLD 5.6 5.61 5.6 5.62 5.58 5.6 16909000 94684111 MRC ALLIED 0.37 0.375 0.385 0.385 0.37 0.37 20000000 7457150 PRIMEX CORP 2.77 2.8 2.78 2.8 2.76 2.8 65000 180960 ROBINSONS LAND 23.3 23.6 24.1 24.1 23.25 23.3 1245300 29170190 PHIL REALTY 0.45 0.465 0.47 0.47 0.45 0.465 610000 275650 ROCKWELL 2.01 2.05 2.01 2.05 2.01 2.05 45000 90610 SHANG PROP 3.11 3.2 3.12 3.2 3.06 3.2 320000 981470 STA LUCIA LAND 1.58 1.6 1.59 1.6 1.58 1.6 549000 873750 SM PRIME HLDG 38.85 39 39.1 39.45 38.7 39 9048300 353894685 STARMALLS 6.67 6.73 6.98 6.98 6.65 6.73 1108700 7512006 SUNTRUST HOME 0.75 0.77 0.75 0.77 0.75 0.77 34000 25540 PTFC REDEV CORP 45.05 46.9 45.95 46.9 45.95 46.9 500 23075 VISTA LAND 7.29 7.3 7.3 7.39 7.28 7.3 4530500 33124210

SERVICES ABS CBN 20.35 20.5 20.65 20.75 20.35 20.5 108200 2226435 GMA NETWORK 5.71 5.72 5.7 5.72 5.69 5.71 93500 533221 MANILA BULLETIN 0.55 0.56 0.57 0.57 0.55 0.55 2500000 1388410 GLOBE TELECOM 1982 1987 1940 1987 1940 1987 32780 64968755 PLDT 1148 1150 1154 1160 1146 1148 90425 104191585 APOLLO GLOBAL 0.043 0.045 0.045 0.046 0.045 0.046 200000 9100 DFNN INC 7 7.1 7 7.1 6.96 7.1 32600 227610 IMPERIAL 1.9 1.91 1.92 1.92 1.91 1.91 13000 24850 ISLAND INFO 0.126 0.129 0.128 0.13 0.126 0.126 860000 109520 ISM COMM 5.35 5.36 5.42 5.45 5.31 5.36 2407900 12868747 JACKSTONES 3.09 3.28 3.26 3.28 3.26 3.28 9000 29430 NOW CORP 2.58 2.59 2.73 2.73 2.56 2.59 2163000 5648260 TRANSPACIFIC BR 0.41 0.415 0.42 0.43 0.415 0.415 9940000 4156500 PHILWEB 2.6 2.65 2.64 2.68 2.59 2.65 1051000 2745040 2GO GROUP 12.74 12.78 12.4 12.78 12.36 12.74 64500 815546 ASIAN TERMINALS 15.78 16.8 16.8 16.8 16.8 16.8 5500 92400 CEBU AIR 80.75 81 80.8 83 80.75 80.75 51460 4187000 CHELSEA 5.79 5.8 5.95 5.95 5.76 5.8 902100 5263116 INTL CONTAINER 120.1 120.8 118.2 122.5 118.2 120.8 5042840 609992831 LBC EXPRESS 15.32 15.78 15.78 15.78 15.32 15.32 200 3110 LORENZO SHIPPNG 0.89 0.9 0.9 0.9 0.9 0.9 1000 900 MACROASIA 20.2 20.45 21 21.05 20.2 20.2 494100 10178870 METROALLIANCE A 1.82 1.83 1.91 1.91 1.77 1.82 285000 512780 PAL HLDG 10.2 10.4 10.36 10.4 10.3 10.4 11300 117422 HARBOR STAR 2.85 2.87 2.88 2.9 2.8 2.87 913000 2591580 BOULEVARD HLDG 0.074 0.076 0.074 0.076 0.073 0.076 91890000 6892910 WATERFRONT 0.66 0.67 0.65 0.68 0.65 0.67 638000 424400 CENTRO ESCOLAR 7.76 8.18 8.18 8.18 8.18 8.18 300 2454 IPEOPLE 10.66 11.06 10.66 10.7 10.66 10.7 5000 53420 STI HLDG 0.69 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.68 0.69 3080000 2129410 BERJAYA 2.77 2.78 2.75 2.78 2.74 2.77 232000 639930 BLOOMBERRY 11.8 11.82 11.62 11.92 11.62 11.8 6649900 78,341,152( PACIFIC ONLINE 10.14 10.16 10.1 10.48 10 10.16 217600 2228966 LEISURE AND RES 3.32 3.35 3.36 3.36 3.31 3.32 232000 772950 PH RESORTS GRP 4.77 4.8 4.77 4.79 4.77 4.77 26000 124090 PREMIUM LEISURE 0.88 0.89 0.88 0.9 0.87 0.89 4416000 3905850 TRAVELLERS 5.63 5.64 5.6 5.64 5.6 5.63 1143200 6428586 METRO RETAIL 3.19 3.2 3.11 3.3 3.11 3.2 7853000 25215410 PUREGOLD 47.7 48 48.9 48.9 47.6 48 1083100 51992615 ROBINSONS RTL 78.85 78.9 82.8 83 78.5 78.9 2078420 167239520 PHIL SEVEN CORP 123 124.9 125 125 120.3 124.5 79520 9909054 SSI GROUP 2.37 2.38 2.38 2.41 2.38 2.38 4543000 10863730 WILCON DEPOT 15.28 15.3 15.62 15.7 15.3 15.3 796600 12256416 APC GROUP 0.405 0.42 0.41 0.41 0.41 0.41 120000 49200 EASYCALL 11.94 12 12.02 12.02 11.8 11.94 107100 1279722 GOLDEN BRIA 372 380 375 382 371.2 380 1430 539384 IPM HLDG 7.07 7.08 7.1 7.1 7.08 7.08 10000 70880 PRMIERE HORIZON 1.08 1.09 1.08 1.1 1 1.08 127546000 132628730 SBS PHIL CORP 8.78 8.79 8.4 8.78 8.4 8.78 4100 35466

MINING & OIL ATOK 12.68 13.3 13.36 13.36 13.36 13.36 100 1336 APEX MINING 1.42 1.43 1.44 1.45 1.42 1.43 1250000 1791930 ABRA MINING 0.0021 0.0022 0.0021 0.0022 0.002 0.0022 528000000 1107900 ATLAS MINING 2.86 2.97 2.86 2.86 2.86 2.86 8000 22880 BENGUET B 1.11 1.35 1.12 1.12 1.11 1.11 11000 12220 COAL ASIA HLDG 0.305 0.31 0.3 0.315 0.3 0.315 110000 33500 CENTURY PEAK 2.36 2.37 2.35 2.37 2.33 2.37 695000 1636280 DIZON MINES 7.83 7.9 7.83 8 7.81 7.85 2200 17457 FERRONICKEL 1.48 1.49 1.49 1.49 1.47 1.49 2324000 3443510 GEOGRACE 0.239 0.24 0.239 0.241 0.237 0.239 1810000 431910 LEPANTO A 0.119 0.124 0.121 0.124 0.118 0.119 4310000 514660 LEPANTO B 0.12 0.127 0.127 0.127 0.12 0.12 1100000 134340 MANILA MINING A 0.0081 0.0083 0.0081 0.0081 0.0081 0.0081 1000000 8100 MANILA MINING B 0.0081 0.0083 0.0082 0.0082 0.0081 0.0081 10000000 81900 MARCVENTURES 1.06 1.09 1.06 1.06 1.06 1.06 47000 49820 NIHAO 1.02 1.04 1.06 1.06 1.02 1.06 17000 17490 NICKEL ASIA 2.58 2.6 2.57 2.6 2.56 2.58 1900000 4911600 OMICO CORP 0.57 0.61 0.58 0.58 0.57 0.57 595000 344150 ORNTL PENINSULA 0.94 0.95 0.94 0.96 0.94 0.95 311000 294040 PX MINING 3.67 3.71 3.83 3.83 3.67 3.67 2240000 8357790 SEMIRARA MINING 22 22.15 22.5 22.8 21.8 22 1413800 31417125 ORNTL PETROL A 0.012 0.013 0.012 0.013 0.012 0.012 29100000 349800 PHILODRILL 0.011 0.012 0.011 0.012 0.011 0.012 2600000 29400 PHINMA PETRO 3.14 3.28 3.14 3.14 3.14 3.14 19000 59660 PXP ENERGY 14.06 14.1 13.98 14.12 13.98 14.08 293100 4123328

PREFFERED HOUSE PREF A AC PREF B1 AC PREF B2 DD PREF FPH PREF C GLO PREF P GTCAP PREF A GTCAP PREF B LR PREF PCOR PREF 2A PCOR PREF 2B SFI PREF SMC PREF 2C SMC PREF 2F SMC PREF 2G SMC PREF 2I

95.8 465.4 484 97 450.4 480 883 892.5 0.98 985 922.5 1.7 76 74 72.5 71.05

PHIL. DEPOSITARY RECEIPTS ABS HLDG PDR GMA HLDG PDR

19.9 5.6

1.86

SMALL & MEDIUM ENTERPRISES ITALPINAS 5.01 XURPAS 1.37

116

-687180 -6000 4175065 14562015.5 59894680 527800 1096100 -982007 -38052858 2395078 38243115 -24478425 -43120 -955250 -6744800 -14071130 92800 13300 -37256425 -37499119 -255736 2275850 -2188 -208507045 -115800 551840 11700 22050 -62000 -19750 438140 -811880 261000 4266030 -16419938 74700 12221007 170000 -6540750 38349.9998 777290 128895185 1098373 1500 -11963294 9557785 27559380 700 -302271 -101200 -214470 33600 -342509.5 -25730 52330604 -1555225 -1030 -670 480990 7,866,552.0004) 38000 9970 -653410 -1664347 -82290 -32195530 -53914602.5 -31395 4348470 -3031454 -84000 3673340 -92950 117420 -121640 -625780 -2053900 9295980 -572910

96.5 467 497.8 98 450.2 480 883 900 0.99 990 1020 1.7 77.35 74.9 73 73.95

96.5 467.2 497.8 98 450.4 480 929 900 0.99 990 1020 1.7 77.35 75.1 73 74

96 465.2 497.6 97 450.2 480 883 900 0.98 990 998 1.7 76 74.9 73 73.95

96 465.2 497.6 98 450.4 480 929 900 0.98 990 998 1.7 76 75 73 74

160 1110 20 2170 1040 50 510 50 52000 30 5010 5000 3340 13010 6720 48700

15365 517410 9954 210720 468412 24000 450790 45000 50980 29700 5000210 8500 254226.5 975696 490560 3603550

73000 -

20 5.69

19.9 5.41

19.9 5.6

19.9 5.4

19.9 5.6

20800 47500

413920 258085

-9949.9998 -

1.89

1.86

1.9

1.84

1.86

129000

239100

-

5.05 1.38

5.34 1.42

5.34 1.43

5.05 1.34

5.05 1.38

779900 4182000

4047093 5738450

-77650 -539830

EXHANGE TRADE FUNDS FIRST METRO ETF

-2528910 7787405 -3226609.5 -62430924 2352455 -9284696 -166542 -2763890 -461690 -59472 12400 294922 -2320 -6245305 -10300 3748100 -36034620 -57486 -107140 -731640 10907164.9999 -206909.9998 -24300 -3959350 11641278 -2241358 7634595 22374.9999 19100 -580000 77400 1,310,679.9997) -2936710 -937035

96.5 474.6 497.6 98.4 455 494.8 930 900 0.99 998 1020 1.8 77.2 74.95 73 74

WARRANTS LR WARRANT

264375 -114397939 -45678258 -275325 -875296 89191670.4996 8319263.5 -553675 -1648992 -1043331 -0 -

117

116.9

117

116.1

117

4000

466924

-

Editor: Efleda P. Campos

CPG income grows 72% to ₧1.1 billion in 2018

C

By VG Cabuag

@villygc

ENTURY Properties Group Inc. (CPG) on Tuesday said its net income rose by 72 percent last year to P1.1 billion, from the previous P650 million as it was able to finish several of its projects.

The company also increased its revenues by 60 percent to P10.7 billion against the previous P6.7 billion, driven by the completion of three residential buildings, an office tower and 259 affordable housing units.

The company said it is allocating P8 billion to P10 billion for its capital expenditures this year to cover its residential and office development projects, as well as land acquisition to be funded equally from internal

and external sources.

For 2019, it plans to complete four more residential buildings with a gross floor area of 134,000 square meters and an office tower with a gross floor area of approximately 95,000 sq m.

The company’s affordable housing unit, Phirst Park Homes Inc., contributed 11 percent of revenue and 23 percent of net income.

CPG’s commercial leasing as-

sets now contribute 9 percent to the net income.

“Our very positive results in 2018 are strong indications that our diversification strategy is starting to bear fruit and we are headed in the right direction. CPG’s expansion into affordable housing and commercial leasing have started to be profitable and we expect this upward trend to continue. These two businesses will contribute a bigger share of the company’s revenue and income in the coming years, sustaining CPG’s growth momentum,” said Ponciano S. Carreon Jr., the company’s CFO and and head for investor relations.

From being concentrated in highrise residential properties, CPG undertook a business expansion program to diversify into allied areas of real estate. This diversification plan started five years ago with the goal of serving unmet market demands and increasing revenue streams.

Jose Marco R. Antonio, the com-

pany’s co-COO and managing director, said the company will expand its development outside of Metro Manila to sustain its growth.

“CPG is ready to go outside of Metro Manila,” he said.

CPG’s affordable housing business under the brand Phirst Park Homes, a joint venture with Japan’s Mitsubishi Corp. will launch 33,000 units with a sales value of P57 billion within the next four to five years. It has rolled out communities in Tanza, Cavite; Lipa, Batangas; and San Pablo, Laguna, with three more sites targeted for launch this year.

The company’s leasable area will grow from 133,000 sq m to 300,000 sq m of gross floor area by the year 2020 with a target of P1.5 billion in revenues.

Since becoming a publicly listed company in 2012, CPG has completed 24 out of its planned 32 residential condominium buildings with a gross floor area of 1 million sq m.

PAL refleeting program to support search for new destinations

L

EGACY carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) is in constant search for more aircraft to sustain its plans of flying to more destinations out of Asia, a ranking official said.

Ryan T. Uy, the company’s VP for Sales, said his group is now evaluating whether to exercise its option to purchase additional six Airbus A350s as it will soon retire “a part” of its Boeing 777 fleet.

“We are studying it, as we are constantly looking at new aircraft.

We want to see our fleet grow up to a maximum of 99 aircraft by 2021 with the delivery of new A321 neos,” he said.

Currently, PAL has a fleet of 98 plans, consisting of five Airbus A350900 XWB, 10 Boeing 777-300ER, two Airbus A340-313, 15 Airbus A330343, 24 Airbus A321-231, six Airbus A321-271neo, seven Airbus A320214, 12 Airbus A320-214, three Bombardier Q400, 10 Bombardier Q400 NG and four Bombardier Q300.

Uy added the carrier also in-

tends to fly to more destinations out of Asia.

“We are seriously looking at Seattle for North America. Chicago is also an option. For Europe, we are seriously looking at Paris or Rome,” he said.

For these destinations, PAL has to use long-range, wide-body jets.

“Asia is also a key market for us, so we are adding routes from North Asia and Southeast Asia, where we will increase frequencies for certain routes and more route pairs,” Uy said.

The legacy carrier is studying the viability of Delhi and Bombay for India, and for China, the airline is also looking at opening services to Huangzo and Chengdu, while increasing frequencies to Beijing, Shanghai, Xiamen and Jinjiang.

“For Southeast Asia, we are also increasing the frequency for Indonesia and Malaysia,” Uy said.

Currently, PAL flies to 43 international and 35 domestic destinations. Lorenz S. Marasigan

Pasig RTC dismisses injunction filed on Medical City case

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HE Regional Trial Court of Pasig City has dismissed an Application for a Writ of Preliminary Injunction filed by Margaret Bengzon, daughter-in-law of former The Medical City (TMC) CEO Dr. Alfredo Bengzon, as a “nuisance and harassment suit.”

Bengzon had asked the court to stop the directors of Professional Services Inc. (PSI), the beneficial owners of TMC, from making any decisions or changes to PSI Healthcare, the corporate entity that manages the subsidiaries of TMC. The court dismissal followed a series of other legal setbacks suffered by Dr. Bengzon who, contrary to established rules of corporate governance, had tried to prevent the majority shareholders of TMC from electing a new board when he was CEO. Likewise, the court recognized the decision of the shareholders, composed of doctors and financial institutions, to elect a new board and appoint a new management team to run TMC. During cross examination, how-

ever, Margaret Bengzon admitted she did not have any acceptable proof of share ownership, be it in the form of a stock certificate or evidence of dividends received.

Shareholders had started to question Dr. Bengzon’s management of the company, including the alleged spending P21.6 billion on expansion in Guam, far in excess of the original budget of P11 billion. Issues of conflict of interest were also raised after Dr. Bengzon put his daughterin-law solely in charge of setting up and operating the Guam subsidiary.

Corporate records showed Dr. Bengzon owned only 0.11 percent of shares in TMC. Following the appointment of a new management team led by CEO Dr. Eugenio F. Ramos, TMC focused on improving efficiencies and reducing unnecessary costs, increasing revenue and investing in services to improve patient care.

TMC was also successfully reaccredited by the Joint Commission International, earning a Gold Seal of Approval, in November 2018. Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco

MUTUAL FUNDS

March 19, 2019

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

PER SHARE RETURN* RETURN STOCK FUNDS ALFM GROWTH FUND, INC. -A 263.85 -5.76% 1.47% 2.05% 4.61% ATRAM ALPHA OPPORTUNITY FUND, INC. -A 1.6079 -0.43% 11.01% 4.18% 11.6% ATRAM PHILIPPINE EQUITY OPPORTUNITY FUND, INC. -A 4.1065 -7.17% 2.01% 0.76% 5.21% CLIMBS SHARE CAPITAL EQUITY INVESTMENT FUND CORP. -A 0.9385 -3.52% N.A. N.A. 5.39% FIRST METRO CONSUMER FUND ON MSCI PHILS. IMI, INC. -A 0.8644 N.A. N.A. N.A. 5.32% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN EQUITY FUND,INC. -A 5.4777 -4.03% 1.55% 1.49% 3.92% MBG EQUITY INVESTMENT FUND, INC. -A 127.09 8.43% N.A. N.A. 9.13% ONE WEALTHY NATION FUND, INC. -A 0.8732 -6.75% -3.95% N.A. 4.9% PAMI EQUITY INDEX FUND, INC. -A 51.8215 -4.38% 2.27% N.A. 5.32% PHILAM STRATEGIC GROWTH FUND, INC. -A 543.03 -3.91% 1.37% 1.55% 5.5% PHILEQUITY DIVIDEND YIELD FUND, INC. -A 1.309 -3.02% 2.98% 4.87% 4.39% PHILEQUITY FUND, INC. -A 38.6089 -3.22% 3.78% 4.03% 5.4% PHILEQUITY MSCI PHILIPPINE INDEX FUND, INC. -A,3 1.0321 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. PHILEQUITY PSE INDEX FUND INC. -A 5.2432 -3.92% 3.13% 3.96% 5.74% PHILIPPINE STOCK INDEX FUND CORP. -A 875.18 -3.81% 2.83% 3.92% 5.64% SOLDIVO STRATEGIC GROWTH FUND, INC. -A 0.9168 -2.22% 1.59% N.A. 6.46% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY PHILIPPINE EQUITY FUND, INC. -A 4.3045 -2.31% 3.22% 2.93% 6.05% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY PHILIPPINE STOCK INDEX FUND, INC. -A 1.0065 -4.25% 2.83% N.A. 5.47% UNITED FUND, INC. -A 3.685 -1.44% 4.98% 3.73% 5.26% EXCHANGE TRADED FUND FIRST METRO PHIL. EQUITY EXCHANGE TRADED FUND, INC. -A,C,2 117.0464 -3.42% 3.91% 5% 5.69% ATRAM ASIAPLUS EQUITY FUND, INC. -B $1.0149 -11.4% 7.52% 1.79% 9.23% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY WORLD VOYAGER FUND, INC. -A $1.2591 -3.97% N.A. N.A. 13.94% BALANCED FUNDS PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES ATRAM DYNAMIC ALLOCATION FUND, INC. -A 1.7125 -4.38% -0.41% -1.07% 3.71% ATRAM PHILIPPINE BALANCED FUND, INC. -A 2.3 -3.69% 1.33% 1.01% 4.11% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN BALANCED FUND INC. -A 2.6307 -2.42% -0.4% -1.11% 3.42% GREPALIFE BALANCED FUND CORPORATION -A 1.3475 -4.55% N.A. N.A. 3.31% NCM MUTUAL FUND OF THE PHILS., INC. -A 1.9072 -1.45% 1.41% 1.56% 3.48% PAMI HORIZON FUND, INC. -A 3.6449 -3.5% 0.01% 0.56% 3.28% PHILAM FUND, INC. -A 16.4801 -2.52% 0.29% 0.68% 3.6% SOLIDARITAS FUND, INC. -A 2.1419 -1.9% 1.69% 2.53% 3.36% SUN LIFE OF CANADA PROSPERITY BALANCED FUND, INC. -A 3.8344 -1.25% 1.58% 1.82% 5.01% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY ACHIEVER FUND 2028, INC. -A,D,4 0.9913 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. SUN LIFE PROSPERITY ACHIEVER FUND 2038, INC. -A,D,4 0.9903 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. SUN LIFE PROSPERITY ACHIEVER FUND 2048, INC. -A,D,4 0.9886 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DYNAMIC FUND, INC. -A 0.9745 -1.38% 1.3% N.A. 5.73% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY SECURITIES COCOLIFE DOLLAR FUND BUILDER, INC. -A $0.03578 1.19% 0.22% 1.56% 1.5% PAMI ASIA BALANCED FUND, INC. -A $0.9797 -9.75% 3.91% -0.17% 4.65% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR ADVANTAGE FUND, INC. -A $3.6459 -2.6% 6.22% 2.49% 10.2% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR WELLSPRING FUND, INC. -A $1.0781 -2.28% N.A. N.A. 6.74% BOND FUNDS PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES ALFM PESO BOND FUND, INC. -A 346.47 2.71% 2.12% 1.99% 0.9% ATRAM CORPORATE BOND FUND, INC. -A,1 1.8698 0.05% -0.32% -0.45% 0.57% COCOLIFE FIXED INCOME FUND, INC. -A 2.9989 5.34% 5.25% 5.24% 0.95% EKKLESIA MUTUAL FUND INC. -A 2.1561 2.45% 1.51% 1.65% 1.2% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN FIXED INCOME FUND,INC. -A 2.243 1.42% 0.31% 0.59% 1.53% GREPALIFE FIXED INCOME FUND CORP. -A P 1.5962 -0.06% -0.36% -0.06% 2.03% PHILAM BOND FUND, INC. -A 3.9621 0.24% -0.48% 0.2% 1.08% PHILEQUITY PESO BOND FUND, INC. -A 3.5811 2.69% 1.23% 0.94% 1.82% SOLDIVO BOND FUND, INC. -A 0.9125 0.84% -0.81% N.A. 2.23% SUN LIFE OF CANADA PROSPERITY BOND FUND, INC. -A 2.8492 3% 1.49% 1.33% 3.01% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY GS FUND, INC. -A 1.5802 2.56% 0.77% 0.83% 2.62% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY SECURITIES ALFM DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC. -A $452.55 2.27% 1.99% 2.89% 0.95% ALFM EURO BOND FUND, INC. -A Є215.55 1.39% 1.44% 1.6% 1.36% ATRAM TOTAL RETURN DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC. -B $1.1587 3.66% 1.55% 2.19% 2.92% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC. -A $0.025 0.81% 0.54% N.A. 0.81% GREPALIFE DOLLAR BOND FUND CORP. -A $1.7018 -1.61% -1.26% 0.77% 0.69% MAA PRIVILEGE DOLLAR FIXED INCOME FUND, INC. N.S. N.S. N.S. N.S. N.S. MAA PRIVILEGE EURO FIXED INCOME FUND, INC. ЄN.S. N.S. N.S. N.S. N.S. PAMI GLOBAL BOND FUND, INC -A $1.0556 0.76% -0.81% -2.45% 1.73% PHILAM DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC. -A $2.2279 1.81% 0.38% 2.62% 2.61% PHILEQUITY DOLLAR INCOME FUND INC. -A $0.0577713 1.68% 1.05% 1.69% 1.39% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR ABUNDANCE FUND, INC. -A $2.9405 0.04% -0.15% 1.92% 2.38% MONEY MARKET FUNDS PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES ALFM MONEY MARKET FUND, INC. -A 122.13 3.49% 2.13% 1.74% 1.07% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN MONEY MARKET FUND, INC. -A,5 1.0051 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. PHILAM MANAGED INCOME FUND, INC. -A 1.1907 2.5% 0.96% 0.67% 0.74% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY MONEY MARKET FUND, INC. -A 1.2294 3.07% 2.42% 1.78% 0.85% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY SECURITIES SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR STARTER FUND, INC. -A $1.0213 2.05% N.A. N.A. 0.53%

* - NAVPS AS OF THE PREVIOUS BANKING DAY ** - NAVPS AS OF TWO BANKING DAYS AGO *** - LISTED IN THE PSE.

**** - RE-CLASSIFIED INTO A BALANCED FUND STARTING JANUARY 1, 2017 (FORMERLY GREPALIFE BOND FUND CORP.).

***** - LAUNCH DATE IS NOVEMBER 6, 2017 ****** - LAUNCH DATE IS JANUARY 08, 2018 ******** - RENAMING OF THE FUND WAS APPROVED BY THE SEC LAST APRIL 13, 2018. ********* - BECAME A MEMBER SINCE APRIL 20, 2018. ******* - ADJUSTED DUE TO CASH DIVIDEND ISSUANCE LAST JANUARY 29, 2018

Agriculture/Commodities BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Editor: Jennifer A. Ng • Wednesday, March 20, 2019

B3

DA: Cooperative to buy raw rubber at higher price

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

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@joveemarie

HE Department of Agriculture (DA) said the Philippine Rubber Farmers Cooperative (PRFC) will start purchasing raw rubber from their members at a price slightly higher than the prevailing market rate.

Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol said the raw rubber will be processed into SPR-20, the semi-processed form, which will be used to manufacture the motorcycle tires under the Pilipinas Agila Tires brand.

According to Piñol, the PRFC has engaged a Valenzuela, Bulacanbased tire factory, Leo Tire Manufacturing Corp. (LTMC), to process the SPR-20 into Pilipinas Agila Tires. The PRFC, which is composed of rubber farmers from Mindanao and Palawan, will market the Pilipinas Agila Tires.

The supply and buy-back scheme of the PRFC and LTMC, Piñol said, is expected to encourage farmers to continue planting rubber and ensure the continuous development of the local rubber industry “There is only thing we could do to help and that is lift up the Filipino farmer from the status of raw materials producer to the level of a processor and merchandiser of

his product,” he said in a statement posted on his official Facebook page.

Organized by the DA in 2017 and assisted by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the PRFC entered into a processing and marketing agreement with LTMC. Under the agreement, PRFC will buy the cup lumps produced by its members and process these into rubber blocks called SPR-20, which will be delivered to LTMC. Piñol said LTMC will buy the SPR-20 which it will use in manufacturing the Pilipinas Agila motorcycle tires. The tires, which will be bought back by PRFC, will be sold in local stores.

The DA chief said Pilipinas A g i la Tires, t he f irst far merowned motorcycle tire brand using locally-harvested rubber cup lumps, will be in the market next month and will be cheaper than imported tires.

“President Duter te w i l l be requested to officially launch the

A NURSERYMAN examines budded rubber tree stocks at the Standard Integrated Farm in Ramon, Isabela, in this file photo.

marketing of the Pilipinas Agila 300x17 motorcycle tires, which comes exactly one year after the Philippine Rubber Industry Road Map was crafted and presented to him by the DA and the DTI,” he added.

The DA said the cooperative is expected to gain at least P100 for every Pilipinas Agila motorcycle tire sold.

“We, along with our children, will be the marketing agents of the Piipinas Agila tires and we can easily sell these even to our members because almost everybody owns a working motorcycle,” said Armando Pedregosa, president of the PRFC. Initially, PRFC said only the

300x17 motorcycle tire will be produced as this is widely used and easily marketable in the provinces.

“Our next move is to manufacture other tire sizes, including tires for small tractors like kuliglig,” Pedregosa said.

To jumpstart the venture, Piñol said the DA, through the Agricultural Credit Policy Council approved a P10-million loan as initial working capital of the PRFC. The loan carries an interest rate of 2 percent and is payable in eight years.

Piñol also said the DA expects that local rubber farmers will have their own tire manufacturing plant in Mindanao by 2022.

‘Rice farmers remain poor due to govt’s bad policies’

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HE country’s rice farmers will not become poorer because of the implementation of the rice trade liberalization law, or Republic Act 11203, which converted caps on imports into tariffs, according to the Kapisanan ng Magsasaka, Mangingisda at Manggagawa ng Pilipinas.

V.L. Sonny Domingo, the group’s chairman, said many rice farmers remain poor because of the bad policies implemented by the government after 1986.

“Rice farmers have always been poor and the real issue is not the rice tariffication. The issue is, why continue with the status quo for the last 32 years after the supposed Edsa Revolution, when they have become poorer than ever,”

Domingo said in a statement sent to the BusinessMirror.

He noted t hat t he gover nment had failed to capitalize on the chance to prepare farmers for competition with other foreign producers when it imposed the quantitative restriction (QR) on rice after the Philippines joined the World Trade Organization in 1995. “ The QR with NFA was imposed to get the farmers ready for the rice liberalization by way of doubling their production and teaching them how to be cost effective and be competitive,” Domingo said.

“But how can they be competitive when they were only given dole outs, such as fertilizers and

tractors, instead of capital to put up their own agri corporations and go into large-scale farming as a business?” he added.

What the Departments of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform should do, he said, is cluster farms to help farmers venture into commercial farming which can afford them economies of scale. Through block farming, farmers can eventually raise the funds they need to farm equipment such as tractors, transplanters and harvesters and postharvest facilities.

“Instead of organizing block farms, farmers were given huge candies in the form of tractors which were allowed to rot when these broke down. Also, many have incurred huge debts because they

could not access farm credit,” he said in Filipino.

Domingo said the “vicious cycle of mendicancy” continues with their use of old technology in planting and harvesting rice.

He said the government should cluster farms and help planters form agri corporations that can employ technical and professional managers who can run their farming venture. Domingo also said the National Food Authority should be tapped to purchase rice from these cluster farms.

The rice trade liberalization law took effect on March 5. Farmers’ groups had opposed the measure, saying planters could lose their livelihood due to the influx of cheap rice imports.

Palladium tops $1,600 as metal sets new highs on supply shortage

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ALLADIUM topped $1,600 an ounce for the first time, and there’s little sign of the rally slowing as global supply tightens.

The price of the metal—mainly used in autocatalysts in gasoline vehicles—has almost doubled from a recent low in August. Demand has remained robust as manufacturers scramble to get hold of palladium to meet more stringent emissions controls, particularly in China, even as auto sales in key markets slow.

With the palladium market expected to be in deficit for an eighth year, speculators have piled back in, and a robust borrowing market for the metal prompted investors to pull supplies from exchange-traded funds and lease them out. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV’s recent recall of almost 863,000 vehicles that violate United States standards could spur even more demand.

The metal’s rally is even stirring debate about whether automakers can make the switch to cheaper platinum to help control their costs.

“We remain bullish on palladium since the physical palladium market remains tight and it will take years to substitute,” analysts at Citigroup

Inc. wrote in a March 19 report. “However, at these higher prices we are acknowledging the increase in downside risks relating to potential substitution headlines.”

Palladium climbed as much as 1.4 percent to $1,601.52 in London, and is up 27 percent this year. Bank of America Merrill Lynch earlier this month raised its average forecast for 2019 to $1,800, suggesting that prices could surge as high as $2,000.

Palladium’s jump has revitalized producers. Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd., which has slashed its net debt, plans to start building a new palladium mine that could begin producing as soon as 2024. Anglo American

Platinum Ltd. is studying plans to boost palladium output by 270,000 ounces a year through expansion of its flagship Mogalakwena mine.

More than 80 percent of palladium comes as a byproduct from nickel mining in Russia and platinum mining in South Africa, so supplies depend on the extraction level in other minerals.

The viability of platinum as a substitute has also been downplayed. Research has shown that technological advances are needed before it can match the performance of palladium-based

catalytic converters, according to Johnson Matthey Plc., which makes the devices. Bloomberg News

B4 Wednesday, March 20, 2019

UPMG STRENGTHENS TIES WITH ASC WIDUS FOUNDATION REHABILITATES ANGELES CITY LIBRARY

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IDUS Foundation Inc. (WFI) executive director Neki Liwanag ledtheceremonialribboncutting, which signifies the official turnover of the newly upgraded Angeles City Library, together with Angeles City Mayor Ed Pamintuan,ViceMayorBryanNepomuceno, Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.

(Pagcor)GamingandLicensingDevelopment department head lawyer Angeline PapicaEntienza and Casino Filipino Angeles City senior customer relations officer Oscar

Rodriguez Jr. Just in time for the celebration of the 60th Public Library Day, WFI gives the Angeles City Public Library a big boost by donating an information and technology, a leisurereadingandKampampangancultural heritage centers to the learning facility made open to the public on March 11.

Its official turnover was led by Liwanag, Widus human resources director Ana Christi Galura and Widus general manager Tarek Aouini.

The P1.6-million library-rehabilitation project includes installation of 12 desktop units with printer, donation of 12 mesh chairs, metal frame bookshelves, a sala set, and a newly refurbished office setup for the Language Service Unit equipped with its own unit, laptop and LCD projector.

The event also highlighted the newly established center for Kapampangan cultural heritage, also known as “Sinupan Singsing”, which aims to hub free and engaging activities and seminars focused on local-heritage education.

“By further strengthening a place like Angeles City Library, which provides free access of information and nurtures learning, we are able to promote and preserve our language and culture not only for today’s society, but also for the years to come. It may seem challenging now, but Widus Foundation is in it for the long haul until we achieve our common goal,” Liwanag said.

For his part, Pamintuan recognizes WFI for being a part of the city’s renaissance with its continuous and generous contribution to the community.

“I would like to thank Widus Foundation [Inc.] for their noble efforts and for spearheading this development. This project will surely be beneficial to our citizens and the next generation of Angeleños to come.”

T

HE United Print Media Group (UPMG) strongly supports in the role of Ad Standards Council (ASC) as a vanguard of truth and decency in advertising. The UPMG invited Maya Estrada, operations manager of ASC, to be their guest speaker on their monthly general membership meeting held on March 8 at the Unilab Bayanihan Center.

Emphasizing the distinctive characteristics of print advertisements as compared to other various traditional and developing media, Estrada shared keys on how print advertising can be more effective and can have more significance to its numerous readers.

She also introduced and explained factors to consider in being committed to protecting consumer’s welfare while presenting them their key interests. She also discussed how leading advertisers stay on top, regardless of changing consumer demands and seller’s platforms through advertising.

She also proposed continued engagement and partnership with UPMG, as they together promote reliable and valuable contents produced in advertising.

10TH PYROMUSICAL COMPETITION AT SM CITY CLARK Italy’s very own “Viviano SRL” and last year’s champion United Kingdom’s “Pyrotex Fireworx” dazzled the night sky at the 10th pyromusical competition. It will be the turn of Canada’s “Fireworks Spectaculars” and China’s “Polaris Fireworks” to show their breathtaking pyro mastery next on March 23.

TOYOTA MOTOR PHILIPPINES HELPS PARAATHLETES BRING HONOR TO THE COUNTRY

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N the 2000 Paralympic Games held in Sydney, Filipina powerlifter Adeline Dumapong-Ancheta made history when she brought home a bronze medal—a first for the Philippines. But before she brought pride to the country, Dumapong-Ancheta, who contracted polio at an early age, used to push her wheelchair to the gym just to attend her trainings.

Regular public transportation was a challenge.

Today Dumapong-Ancheta is one of the board members of the Philippine Paralympic Committee (PPC), the national association tasked to develop parasports in the Philippines. Together with other officials and coaches of PPC, she helps hone Filipino athletes with disabilities so they, too, may have a shot at winning in international competitions. Unlike Dumapong-Ancheta, the PPC’s current roster of athletes can now easily go to trainings and competitions.

Toyota Motor Philippines (TMP) recently turned over a 29-seater Toyota Coaster to the PPC as part of its commitment to support Filipino para-athletes and help uplift parasports in the country.

The donation was made under Toyota’s global corporate social-responsibility initiative “Start Your Impossible”, which aims to promote inclusivity and sustainability by opening opportunities to para-athletes and helping them seek avenues that can help them realize their dreams.

“We are proud to be a part of this advocacy, because it allows us to help change people’s lives by enabling them to overcome challenges and reach their aspirations,” said TMP President Satoru Suzuki at the turnover ceremony held at the PPC grounds in Pasig City.

Aligned with PPC's mandate, Start Your Impossible also aspires to raise the public’s awareness and appreciation of the potential of people with disability, a cause being championed by PPC President Michael Barredo.

“Ever since we started, having a bus or van to be used by our officials, coaches and athletes to move around was one of the top priorities on our “wish list”.

Toyota’s donation of a coaster, will help alleviate one of the most difficult challenges persons with disabilities face day-to-day, which is mobility,” Barredo said as he accepted the coaster on behalf of the PPC. “By donating the coaster to the PPC, for the use of its athletes and officials, [TMP has already extended] a big help. As Barredo said, it has been 20 years since PPC started and, yet, transportation has always been a challenge. For me, this is the first step,” DumapongAncheta said.

The coaster donation is just one of TMP’s efforts under the Start Your Impossible program. Last year TMP chose the PPC and Asian Para Games swimming gold medalist Ernie Gawilan as primary beneficiaries of last year’s “Toyota Classics”, a benefit concert series that aims to support charities across Asia.

In the Philippine leg of the Toyota Classics in November 2018, when Toyota’s Start Your Impossible was first introduced in the country, PPC and Gawilan received a grant of P1 million worth of multisport wheelchairs from TMP, on top of the Toyota coaster.

TMP and other Toyota units all over the world hope to inspire and encourage members of the community to challenge their limits, celebrate the human spirit, and start their own impossible. Toyota is the official worldwide mobility partner of the International Olympic Committee and the International Paralympic Committee.

For more information on the Start Your Impossible initiative, visit https://startyourimpossible.asia.

In photo are PPC officials, athletes and coaching staff, together with TMP officials, in the turnover of the Toyota coaster donated by TMP to support the paralympic movement in the Philippines.

RORY HITS STRIDES P

By Doug Ferguson The Associated Press

ONTE VEDRA BEACH, Florida—Rory McIlroy managed to block out all the noise, all the distractions, and this was long before he even reached the pivotal three-hole finish at the TPC Sawgrass to win The Players Championship.

McIlroy, more than any other player, has been looked upon as golf’s next big thing in the decade since age and injuries began to slow Tiger Woods.

Jack Nicklaus took to Twitter on Sunday night for memories of the time McIlroy first came to meet with him ahead of the 2010 Masters, and a few months later the precocious 20-year-old from Northern Ireland shot 62 on the final day at Quail Hollow for his first Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) Tour victory.

McIlroy set the US Open scoring record a year later with an eight-shot victory. He had four majors—missing only a green jacket—at age 25.

So with McIlroy approaching his 30th birthday, and with only one victory over his previous 50 tournaments worldwide, the critics took notice.

When he played in the final group nine times without winning—never mind that he was at least three shots back on five of those occasions—questions about his ability to close became louder.

His patience was tested when he began this year by playing in the final group in three out of his five tournaments, finishing no worse than a tie for sixth.

But he never showed any hint on panic.

His reaction when he tapped in for par on Sunday to win The Players was not much different from when he finished with a par at Bay Hill, a bogey at Riviera, a birdie at Torrey Pines. All of them were good weeks when he

Sports BusinessMirror

C1

| Wednesday, March 20, 2019 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

looked back over 72 holes. One of them was better than the other because he won a trophy.

“I feel like I’ve managed the first six tournaments of the year very well, even with some noise around me, whether ‘he can’t close, he can’t play on Sundays,’ blah, blah, blah,” McIlroy said. “I’ve just got to do my thing. And if I go concentrate on me, control what I can do, good golf and good attitude takes care of the rest.”

Attitude has been key for McIlroy.

It was important not to get down on himself if he didn’t win, even if everyone expected him to at Wentworth last year and Dubai two months ago.

McIlroy says he has been reading books and working with people to remind himself that golf is a joy to play and provides a comfortable lifestyle—he went over $45 million in career PGA Tour earnings alone—but that it doesn’t define him as a person.

“Who I am as a person isn’t who I am as a golfer,” he said. “And it took me a while to get to that point where I realized who those two people were. So that has been a big thing. And I think that’s been the big difference between the highs and lows of the last few years and the more consistent play. I’ve had two wins in the last 12 months, but even the play in between that has been pretty good.”

Not since 2012 has McIlroy started a year so well.

He won the Honda Classic to reach No. 1 in the world for the first time, had runner-up finishes in Abu Dhabi and the Match Play, was third at a World Golf Championship at Doral, and tied for fifth in Dubai. In those five events, he was never more than four shots out of the lead.

Now he has a victory against the strongest field in

golf at The Players, which is feeling more and more like a major in everything but the label, to go with a runner-up in Dubai and top finishes everywhere else.

McIlroy had said at the start of the year in Hawaii that he was entering a second phase of his career, even as he has learned to look at the big picture in an Instagram world. It’s one tournament. It’s one month.

It’s one season.

Las Vegas installed McIlroy as the latest favorite to win the Masters ahead of Dustin Johnson, who only three weeks ago won by five shots against a World Golf Championships field in Mexico City. Memories are short in golf.

McIlroy has one more start, at the Match Play.

Winning doesn’t hurt, though McIlroy is not sure his victory at The Players will help or damage his shot at a green jacket.

“If I go to Augusta with a similar golf game to what I have now, and the attitude I’ve shown over the first few weeks of the year,” McIlroy said, “I think I’ll have a great chance.”

McIlroy headed home to south Florida with $2.25 million, the lead in the FedEx Cup, his world ranking at No. 4. He left behind the world-class golfer with 15 PGA Tour victories and four majors before turning 30— Nicklaus and Woods are the only others who have done that since the Masters began in 1934. He will worry about the next tournament when it gets there.

Next up?

“I’ve got an interior design meeting tomorrow morning to pick out some stuff for our new house,” he said.

Now that requires patience.

THE Spurs’ DeMar DeRozan drives to the basket against the Warriors’ Klay Thompson. AP

Spurs extend streak to 9 straight with victory over Warriors S AN ANTONIO—The San Antonio Spurs aren’t concerned with making statements. They just want to pile up as many victories as they can late in the season.

DeMar DeRozan had 26 points and nine rebounds, LaMarcus Aldridge added 23 points and 13 rebounds and Spurs beat the Golden State Warriors, 111-105, on Monday night for their ninth straight win.

“We’re just trying to get wins, man, that’s all,” Spurs forward Rudy Gay said. “We’ve had wins, we’ve had big wins, we’ve had some bad losses, [too]. It just feels good to win the games we think we should.”

San Antonio won its 11th straight at home and moved into fifth in the Western Conference following the Thunder’s loss to Miami. The Spurs also clinched a winning record for the 22nd straight season.

Stephen Curry had 25 points after a slow start and Kevin Durant added 24 for the Warriors, who entered the game having won two straight. Golden State dropped into a tie with Denver for first place in the West with matching 47-22 records.

“That’s the hottest team in the league and obviously really well-coached,” Warriors Coach Steve Kerr said.

“They were executing and I thought they outexecuted us, outcoached us. They deserved to win.”

San Antonio’s winning streak is second only to Golden State’s 11 straight wins earlier this season. Remarkably, the Spurs’ longest winning streak since 2016 comes directly after they went 1-7 for their worst Rodeo Road Trip ever.

San Antonio has beaten Golden State, Denver, Milwaukee, Oklahoma City, Portland and Detroit during its streak. All of those clubs are among the top 6 teams in their conference.

“Guys are playing better,” Aldridge said of the

turnaround. “We’re trying to be better defensively.

Communication has been better and it’s just winning time. I think everyone senses that.”

Golden State was without DeMarcus Cousins and Andre Iguodala, who both sat with injuries, but remained within two possessions in the final minute.

The Warriors had to rally in the second half after a sluggish start.

Curry and Klay Thompson opened the game a combined 0 for 11, but the Warriors’ defense allowed them to tie the game at 25 when Curry threw in a 61-footer to close the first quarter.

Curry finished 9 for 25 from the field and Thompson finished with 14 points on 5-for-18 shooting. Thompson said the “Splash Brothers” struggles were their own rather than anything the Spurs did defensively.

“Just missed shots,” Thompson said. “That’s all it is. Shots that we normally hit, too. Yeah, they’re a smart disciplined team but it’s not like we weren’t getting to our spots and getting good looks. Just didn’t go in.”

After trailing by 11 in the third quarter, the Warriors’ offense awoke to silence the sold-out crowd with a 16-5 run to forge a 75-all tie. The run included a shakedown, step-back three-pointer by Curry and a pair of quick passes from Curry to Draymond Green to Shaun Livingston for an emphatic dunk. Curry had eight points in the run.

“Every time we made a run, they countered and they made a run,” Green said.

DeRozan scored 10 points in the final quarter, including a pair of pull-up jumpers over Thompson, to seal the victory.

Gay added 17 points for San Antonio and Derrick White had 12. AP

NBA RESULTS Cleveland 126, Detroit 119 Utah 116, Washington 95 Denver 114, Boston 105 Toronto 128, New York 92 Miami 116, Oklahoma City 107 San Antonio 111, Golden State 105 New Orleans 129, Dallas 125, OT Chicago 116, Phoenix 101 Portland 106, Indiana 98

DIRK PASSES WILT ON SCORING LIST D

ALLAS—Dirk Nowitzki of the Dallas Mavericks became the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) sixth-leading scorer on Monday night with another of his signature long-range jumpers.

Nowitzki took Luka Doncic’s handoff and backed down New Orleans’s Kenrich Williams before hitting a turnaround from the top of the free-throw circle with 8:35 left in the first quarter.

The basket brought Nowitzki to 31,420 points in his career, one more than Wilt Chamberlain. The 40-year-old German trails only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone,

Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Michael Jordan. James passed Jordan for fourth place on March 6.

The Mavericks, however, took a 129-125 overtime loss.

Coming into the game, Nowitzki needed just four points to pass Chamberlain, and he started for just the ninth time this season. His first basket was a 20-footer off an assist from rookie Jalen Brunson.

While Nowitzki stands only an inch shorter than Chamberlain’s listed height of 7-foot-1, the two reached their point totals with contrasting styles of play.

DIRK NOWITZKI becomes the National Basketball Association’s sixth-leading scorer with another of his signature long-range jumpers. AP

RORY MCILROY, more than any other player, has been looked upon as golf’s next big thing in the decade since age and injuries began to slow Tiger Woods. AP

Chamberlain once averaged more than 50 points in a season, dominating inside to such a degree that the NBA widened the paint in an effort to neutralize him.

Nowitzki, meanwhile, has made nearly 2,000 three-pointers in his career, establishing the trend of big men with long-range shooting capabilities. He’s an 88-percent free-throw shooter, 37 points higher than Chamberlain’s mark.

“One of his real legacies is gonna be how he helped this game evolve to what it is today,” Mavericks Coach Rick Carlisle said. “In the 1990s and early 2000s, there was a real crisis. Scoring was down. The way Dirk approached the game helped...

nudge the game along and open up space. Eventually the value of the three-point shot to open up space became a reality. And so today, you don’t hear anybody talking about how there’s not enough scoring or the game’s not exciting.”

Nowitzki is 872 points behind Jordan but may retire at the end of the season, though he has said he will decide on his future when the season is over. He is the only player in NBA history to play 21 seasons with one team.

Nowitzki missed the first 26 games of the season recovering from left-ankle surgery and has been reduced to a role player for much of the year, but he has started the past four games and nine out of the last 12 for the Mavs. His season high entering on Monday was 15 points. AP

Spo

Business

C2 Wednesday, March 20, 2019

‘Rising Stars’ up on Friday

CIGNAL’S Rachel Ann Daquis soars over United Volleyball Club’s Shar Manu-Olevao and Arianna Angustia.

M

ICHAEL DASMARIÑAS and Kenny Demecillo’s coming out stints will cap a night of exciting fights in the “Rising Stars” set on Friday at Resorts World Manila.

Both camps have expressed their readiness and capability to knock each other out in one of two title eliminator bouts that will put the winner as likely challenger to the International Boxing Federation belts.

Dasmariñas, 28-2-1 (19 KOs), is on a hot 10-win streak and on paper is the more experienced fighter opposite Demecillo, 14-4-2 (8 KOs).

Experts call it a dream fight in the 118-pound division and the protagonists promise to give it all.

“Dasmariñas now has the chance to firmly make his mark as the No. 1 man to beat at 118 lbs. I have taken Michael from the small events to an IBO [International Boxing Organization] world title in three fights under the Ringstar banner,” said promoter Scott Patrick Farrell, confident that his ward will bulldoze his way to victory.

The 26-year-old Dasmariñas has shown his power in a fourth round stoppage of Karim Guerfi in Singapore for the IBO title.

Ten more bouts complete the card which includes another title eliminator for the IBF minimum-weight title with Rene Mark Cuarto, 16-1-1 (9 KOs), hot on a 13-win streak, facing 21-year-old and unbeaten Samuel Salva, 16-0 (10 KOs).

The ambitious project presented by MP Promotions and Ringstar Asia hopes to find the next legendary fighter coming from this side of the world.

FIL-AM LIFTS UNITED U

NITED Volleyball Club banked on Filipino-American ace Kalei Mau and import Yaasmeen Bedart-Ghani to dominate skidding Cignal, 14-25, 25-21, 25-21, 26-24, in the Philippine Superliga Grand Prix on Tuesday at Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan.

Mau and Bedart-Ghani provided the firepower for United VC, which is back on the winning track following a disappointing loss to F2 Logistics.

Mau and Bedart-Ghani unloaded 19 points each as United VC survived the 29-point explosion of import Erica Wilson i.

Bedart-Ghani delivered the winning spikes that completed their fourth set comeback from a 21-23 deficit to finish with 14 spikes, three blocks and an ace.

Mau, on the other hand, scored 18 of her 19 points from kills on top of a superb defensive effort with 14 digs and 14 excellent receptions.

“I’m proud of how the girls stayed composed. The girls talked among themselves,” said United VC Head Coach Joshua Ylaya, whose wards improved to a 5-4 win-loss card.

“We’re starting zero-zero again, that was a fluke. Let’s start anew and I’m glad that they responded right away,” Ylaya added.

Ylaya also gave credit to Amy Ahomiro, who delivered the crucial service when they were down 21-23 in the fourth set before import Tai Manu-Olevao scored back-to-back hits to tie the set.

Wilson tried to pump life into the HD Spikers, but an error

from Ana Artemeva and the win-clincing hits of Bedart-Ghani allowed United VC to escape with a win.

“The coaching staff is just proud on how they handled that last stretch in the fourth set. Credits to the serving of Ahomiro, we have to serve strong in that crucial moment and she did well that made our offensive transition smooth,”Ylaya said.

Manu-Olevao was also instrumental with 10 points while setter Alohi Robins-Hardy dished out 31 excellent sets, 16 digs and three poitns.

Artemeva backed Wilson with 12 points, while Jheck Dionela protected the floor with 30 digs and 19 excellent receptions for Cignal, which absorbed its third straight loss for a 5-6 card.

Velez, Novis bag tennis crowns L

OCAL star John David Velez and Malita find Ma. Angelica Novis fashioned out a pair of emphatic victories to share Most Valuable Player honors in the Palawan Pawnshop-Palawan Express Pera Padala (PPS-PEPP) Mac’s Crankit Foundation (MCF) Global National tennis tournament at the GSIS Tennis Club in Davao City on Monday.

Velez stayed hot despite coming off a long break from the PPS-PEPP circuit, dropping just 14 games in four matches to capture the boys’ 16-under crown via a 6-1, 6-3 result over Andrei Lago in the final.

He proved more imposing in the premier 18-under side, blasting Nikhel Nowlakha, 6-1, 6-1, to complete a two-title romp in the Group 1 event staged as part of the Davao City’s 82nd anniversary celebrations and held in partnership with the MCF, a nonprofit organization from Australia whose aim is to help change lives and empower underprivileged communities through sports.

Novis, meanwhile, kept her impressive run in the girls’ division of the nationwide circuit presented by Dunlop, crushing Coleen Carvajal twice to sweep the 16-under (6-3, 6-2) and 18-under (6-1, 6-3) diadems, her third straight after pulling off similar feats in the Digos and Tagum stops of the Mindanao swing of the circuit sanctioned by the Unified Tennis Philippines made up of PPS-PEPP, Cebuana Lhuillier, Wilson, Toby’s, Dunlop, Slazenger and B-Meg. “While Velez and Novis kept their win run going, new faces continued to emerge which should serve as motivation for the other bidders and further boost our talent-search,” Palawan Pawnshop President and CEO Bobby Castro said.

Other singles winners were Cian Ramirez from Kabacan (10-under unisex), Kendrick Bona from Puerto Princesa and member of the MCTA, Davao’s Andre Sing (boys’ 14-under), Tagum’s Chelsea Bernaldez (girls’ 12-under) and Juliana Carvajal from Digos (girls’ 14-under).

Ramirez upended top seed Pete Bandala, 4-0, 4-2, in the semifinals then beat No. 2 Yusuf Maldo, 4-2, 4-2; No. 2 Bona held off Raphael Duay, 6-2, 7-5; Sing ripped Reyman Saldivar Jr., 6-1, 6-2; Bernaldez clobbered Mae Anoba, 6-1, 6-3; and Carvajal defeated Jemarie Manggarai, 6-2, 6-4.

Sharing the spotlight were men’s doubles Legends winners Edgar Quinones and Ken Mamontuan, who edged Renato dela Cruz and Jojo Idpan, 8-5, in the 40s; Roland Diamante and Quinones, who nipped Arnold Sarabia and dela Cruz, 8-6, in the 50s; and Gabriel Perez and Bando Cariga, who repulsed Jonathan Palac and Rogelio Estano, 8-4, in the Open division.

orts

sMirror WISUT ARTJANAWAT is one of the Thais to watch in the Open.

Wednesday, March 20, 2019 C3

THAIS GEAR UP FOR PHL OPEN A

N 11-player contingent from Thailand gears up for the Solaire Philippine Open next month, all aiming to finally break the long spell and nail the elusive crown in the country’s premier championship at the dreaded The Country Club (TCC) in Laguna.

Prom Meesawat nearly pulled off the feat in the event’s centennial staging last year when he stormed to the lead after three rounds of play in brutal conditions.

But the veteran Thai campaigner took a heartbreaker of a defeat to local ace Miguel Tabuena, losing in sudden death and extending the country’s perennial regional rivals’ woes in Asia’s oldest National Open.

That could change as the likes of Wisut Artjanawat, Namchok Tantiphokakul, Sutijet Kooratanapisan, Pasavee Lertvilai, Nirun Sae-Ueng and Poosit Supupramai vow to accomplish what Meesawat had failed to achieve when the 101st edition of the fabled event is fired off on April 3, also at the Tom Weiskoph layout.

Tabuena, now busy campaigning in other regional tours in pursuit of world ranking points, will be back to defend the crown, along with the other Filipino top guns and aces from 13 other countries making up the early 92-player field in the 72-hole championship sponsored by Solaire Resort and Casino.

More bets, including new, crack international players,

are expected to sign up in the next few days with the organizing Pilipinas Golf Tournaments Inc. guaranteeing another down-to-the-wire finish on a course whose signature final hole could make or break one’s title bid.

Ten Australians, led by Philippine Golf Tour Asia leg winners Damien Jordan and David Gleeson, and 11 players from the US, headed by regular local campaigners Sam Gillis, Lexus Keoninh, Brett Munson, Cory Oride and PGT leg titlist Nicholas Paez, are also in the fold, all seeking to get a crack at the coveted crown in the event sanctioned by the National Golf Association of the Philippines headed by President Martin Lorenzo.

The event also drew bidders from Colombia, Indonesia,

New Zealand, England, India, Korea, Indonesia, Japan, Spain, Macedonia and the Netherlands plus the leading local players on the both the PGT and PGT Asia circuits.

Juvic Pagunsan is also seeing action as one of the invitees with Asia’s former top player all primed up to shoot for the one championship missing in his trophy collection.

He actually tied for second in 2004 at Riviera as an amateur, bowing to American Edward Michaels in the end.

Like last year, the 2017 Open was also disputed via sudden death with Englishman Steve Lewton edging American Johannes Veerman, also at the TCC, with the same windup likely to ensue in the upcoming event, which offers a total prized fund of $500,000.

HOTSHOTS VS. BATANG PIER M

AGNOLIA and NorthPort try to hang on to their slipping playoff chances when they collide in the Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup on Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Action starts at 7 p.m. as the eighth-place Hotshots (3-5 won-lost) and the No. 10 Batang Pier (2-5) hope to collect as many wins as possible in the crucial stage of the all-Filipino conference.

Alaska battles ninth-place Meralco (3-6) in the other game at 4:30 p.m.

The Hotshots are coming off from a 93-97 overtime loss to rival Barangay Ginebra last Sunday. Jio Jalalon’s long triple forced overtime for Magnolia, but Barangay Ginebra was just too classy in the extra period.

Mark Barroca topscored with 23 points, which went with seven rebounds and seven assists for Magnolia. Jalalon poured all his 22 points in the second half, including the game-tying three-pointer that forced overtime.

NorthPort, after a 2-0 start in the conference, fell badly in the standings with five straight losses.

Scorpions notch 4th straight win

PHILIPPINE Sports Commission Chairman William Ramirez and Mindanao State University President Dr. Habib Macaayong lead the groundbreaking ceremony.

C CHAIRMAN KAP UP

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VERYTHING is set for this year’s edition of the Tanduay Chairman Kap Year 6 set on April 5 at the West Course of the Wack Wack Golf and Country Club in Mandaluyong City.

The tournament was in 2014 when Tanduay celebrated its 160th year. It’s a brainchild of young tycoon, Lucio “Bong” Tan Jr., to honor his father and the LT Group’s Chairman Lucio C. Tan Sr., known in the industry as “El Kapitan.”

The tournament will include key officers of the LT Group of Companies, business associates, and friends from the government and media.

The event is traditionally held on the first Friday of April to celebrate the birthday of the family’s matriarch, Carmen Tan. Now on its 165th year, Tanduay will hold a one-day event with morning and afternoon shotgun starts.

YOUNG tycoon Lucio “Bong” Tan Jr. is the chairman of the event.

Tom scoops 3 gold medals in Ilagan pool

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By Ramon Rafael Bonilla

LAGAN CITY—Small in size but big at heart, Aubrey Tom established herself as a rising star in swimming after going perfect with three gold medals on the second day of the 2019 Batang Pinoy Luzon Legs on Tuesday.

The Cainta pride—who is no taller than five feet—quickly made her presence felt in the first salvo of swimming events at the Isabela Sports Complex after her big harvest of golds

in the multisport event organized by the Philippine Sports Commission.

The 12-year-old Tom dominated the girls’ 12-under 200m individual medley, 100m freestyle and 50m backstroke, and diminutive tanker can hike her haul to five with her next races in 50m fly today and 50m freestyle on Thursday.

Coming from a family of athletes, Tom took swimming upon the prodding of her eldest brother. Now, the graduating elementary student at the International Learning Academy in

Thiem, McIlroy and Sawgrass THAT’S ALL

AL MENDOZA | alsol47@yahoo.com

LET’S go international, for a change.

Dominic Thiem and Rory McIlroy took the spotlight this week in dramatic, albeit constrasting fashions.

OK, lest I be accused of not supporting gender equality, teenager Bianca Andreescu also deserves mention here.

Down by a set against the living legend Roger Federer, Thiem, the 25-year-old budding comet from Austria, packaged a stunning 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 victory to win the BNP Paribas on Monday in Indian Wells, California.

Thiem’s triumph denied Federer, at 37 already the winningest of all time with 20 majors across his name, a record sixth title in the famed desert classic.

Thiem pocketed $1.3 million, the same cash stashed away

by Andreescu, the 18-year-old Canadian who upset three-time Slam champion Angelique Kerber of Germany, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.

It was a bitter loss for Kerber who, only last year, won Wimbledon at the expense of the highly touted Serena Williams.

Both Thiem and Andreescu were in disbelief.

“It just feels unreal what happened,” said Thiem. “He’s

such a legend.” “[I am] the fricking champion of Indian Wells,” said Andreescu. “It’s crazy.”

Over in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, McIlroy rallied with two improbable birdies on 15 and 16 to defeat Jim Furyk by one shot in The Players Championship.

To preserve those birdies coming from the 15th bunker and a two-putt four on the par-5 16th, McIlroy hit dry land on the island-green of 17 before driving home the winning tee shot right down the 18th and final fairway.

With his birdie-birdie-par-par finish on Sawgrass, one of the toughest courses in the world, McIlroy wrapped up a 70 to derail what would have been Furyk’s greatest victory ever.

Playing ahead of McIlroy, Furyk, he with the most awkward swing in golf, made a beautiful birdie after planting a 7-iron three feet from the hole on 18. His brilliant 67 gave him a oneshot lead over McIlroy.

But after bogeying 14, McIlroy roared back mightily with those back-to-back birdies on 15 and 16 to regain the lead en route to stopping Furyk from becoming, at 48, the oldest to

ENTRO Escolar University (CEU) claimed the top spot in the Foundation Group after outlasting Valencia City Bukidnon-San Sebastian College, 71-65, in the Philippine Basketball Association D-League on Monday at the Paco Arena in Manila.

Senegalese big man Malick Diouf etched his name in the league’s history books as he set a new rebounding record of 30 boards. He also finished with a game-high 21 points and four blocks as the Scorpions racked up their fourth straight win in as many games.

“He was controlling the board,” CEU Coach Derrick Pumaren said.

Jan Formento produced 16 points, Christian Uri 13 points, five rebounds, and four assists, and Keanu Caballero made 10 points, six assists and five rebounds for CEU. CEU wasted its strong 19-5 start as the opposition ran back and led by nine in the second frame. But the Scorpions restored order in the final quarter by building a 69-59 lead with 4:20 remaining.

The Golden Stags, however, refused to throw in the towel. Kenneth Villapando’s three-point play inched his side to within five with 2:41 left in the game.

Allyn Bulanadi tried to cut the deficit even shorter, but he muffed both of his shots as Diouf was there to secure both rebounds, which not only sealed the deal but the new record, as well.

Bulanadi had 16 points on a dismal 6-of-22 shooting to lead Valencia, which fell to 3-1 won-lost. Alvin Capobres had 13 points and 13 rebounds, while JM Calma added 10.

Cainta could be grooming herself as a potential standout in the sport.

“My coach told me that I am good in swimming. I want to be a successful swimmer someday,” said Tom, who already expected her big haul after preparing well for the tournament.

In her first event in the hot and humid morning session, Tom clocked two minutes and 37.95 seconds to win gold in the 200m individual medley. Ysabelle Jean Alcazar of Santa Rosa City clocked 2:56.60 to claim the silver, while Jhoey Leila Gallardo registered 2:58.17 to take the bronze. win The Players Championship, which always draws the strongest field in the sport.

McIlroy won $2.25 million, by far the biggest winner’s check in golf. And, significantly, his victory primed him up for another shot at the Masters some four weeks from now— the only major lacking in his Grand Slam bid.

While McIlroy’s booming drives were a delight to see, watching his 9-iron land on the 150-yard 17th’s tiniest of greens was simply awesome—spectacularly avoiding water that was a virtual cemetery to many contenders past and present.

Ah, 17, Sawgrass’s signature hole.

Nineteen years ago, I was right there beside its tee mound with Jake P. Ayson and the late, lamented Vince Villafuerte.

After our rules seminar at the Sawgrass Clubhouse, our threesome had a walk-through of the killer course.

Practicing that day were Vijay Singh and Fred Funk.

After Singh found water on 17, Funk, the funnyman that he is, said: “There goes your hundred bucks, buddy.”

But when Funk also got wet, Singh snarled back: “Quits!”

Ah, those were the days, my friend.

THAT’S IT Gilas Pilipinas needs two wins in its Group to advance in the next round of the Fiba World Cup from August 31 to September 15 in China. Gilas’ foes?

Serbia, Italy and Angola. Because we are ranked 34th, we could beat Angola, seeded 39th? Possible. But No. 13 Italy? Improbable. And fourth-ranked Serbia? Next to impossible. Indeed, a miracle we badly need to survive Round 1. It can only come through divine intervention.

The Batang Pier almost upset the San Miguel Beermen last week, but the defending champions were just too tough to beat, 113-107.

Mo Tautuaa had a career-high 28 points for NorthPort, but his effort was not enough to tow his team. He also added 13 rebounds and two steals.

Sean Anthony chipped in 16 points, eight boards and six assists, while rookie Robert Bolick tallied 12 points and seven rebounds for NorthPort.

Ramon Rafael Bonilla

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HE Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) will lead the rehabilitation of the Mindanao State University (MSU) athletic oval to help accelerate sports development in Marawi City and Lanao del Sur. PSC Chairman William Ramirez and MSU President Dr. Habib Macaayong led the groundbreaking ceremony inside the school’s campus on Tuesday. Construction starts later this month.

“A prestigious and respected educational institution must have a track oval of its own, not only for sports but for the cultural and social activities of Lanao, as well,’’ Ramirez said.

The oval will have a rubberized track.

“As soon as the track oval is completed, we will host tournaments and invite athletes from other countries and schools to compete,’’ Macaayong said.

Marawi City is coming off a five-month armed conflict

PSC leads move to rehabilitate MSU track oval that started in May 2017 between government forces and militants affiliated with Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, including the Maute and Abu Sayyaf jihadist groups.

“We came in to help Marawi because many administrations in the past failed to put it [sports facilities] here,’’ Ramirez said. “President Duterte’s mantra is to bring sports to the periphery. But Marawi is not a periphery, it is an urban society. All the more that it must have a track oval and sports complex of its own.”

Also present during the groundbreaking ceremony were Philippine Sports Institute National Training Director Marc Velasco, PSI Deputy Director Prof. Henry Daut, Atty.

Renato Bartolo, Police Supt. Richard Adonis Habawel, Lanao del Sur SK Federation President Jamil Faisal Adiong, MSU Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Dr. Florencio Recolleto, Vice Chancellor for Research Dr. Ceasar de la Sena and CSPEAR Founder Prof. Henrietta Hofer Ele.

RIO GETS BACK CRISIS-RIDDEN MARACANA STADIUM C4

THE Maracana Stadium behind the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro. AP

R

IO DE JANEIRO—Rio de Janeiro’s state government will take back control of the crisis-ridden Maracana Stadium and break the contract with its private administrators.

Gov. Wilson Witzel said on Monday that the group running the 78,000seat facility owes the state around $10 million dating to March 2017.

“The Maracana generates revenue,” Witzel said. “It will be run by the state in a partnership with clubs. I don’t see any difficulties in that.”

Soccer clubs Flamengo and Fluminense, which play at the stadium, both supported the termination of the contract with the former operator, the Consorcio Maracana, led by conglomerate Odebrecht.

AC Milan players fight among themselves during loss to Inter

M

ILAN—AC Milan’s lack of unity on the field was plainly reflected off it when two players almost came to blows on the bench.

Franck Kessie was visibly upset after being replaced by Andrea Conti in the 69th minute of Sunday’s 3-2 derby loss to Inter Milan. The Ivory Coast international then grew even angrier and had to be held back by his teammates after Lucas Biglia said something to him.

Milan Coach Gennaro Gattuso said he was disappointed by the incident but managed to crack a small joke after the match.

“Luckily I didn’t see it because I was focused on the match, otherwise I would have probably thrown myself in the mix, too,” said Gattuso, who was known as a tough, no-nonsense defender during his playing days.

“We lost on the field, as well as off it,” he said. “This hurt me because it means that someone hasn’t understood what I believe in. For me, it’s a big defeat on a professional level.”

Kessie and Biglia both spoke to the media after the match and publicly apologized.

“I got it wrong because I should have understood the situation after he was replaced,” Biglia said. “I wanted him to understand that what he did wasn’t the right thing as it pertained to his teammate coming on. We’ve cleared things up and have talked in the changing room.

“I am sorry to the fans, the club, my teammates and the coach.... It was a bad moment, and now we have to look ahead.”

It’s not clear what Biglia said to Kessie, but the Ivorian also expressed regret for the incident.

“I apologize to Lucas,” Kessie said. “He’s older than me, and I apologize also to the fans and the coach.”

Milan had been favored to win the match after a run of five straight league victories but there was little evidence of the good play on display on Sunday. The team appeared strangely disjointed, and top scorer Krzysztof Piatek received hardly any service during the match.

Milan’s defense, which has been so resilient of late, also looked shaky with goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma and captain Alessio Romagnoli to blame for Inter’s first goal in the third minute.

The three goals Milan conceded were as many as it had allowed in its previous 10 matches.

Inter moved third in the Serie A standings, two points above Milan and six ahead of fifth-place Roma. The top 4 teams qualify for next season’s Champions League.

Chelsea made a complaint to UEFA about racist abuse being aimed at one of its players by Dynamo Kiev fans during a Europa League match, the English club said on Monday.

The abuse—reportedly targeted at Chelsea winger Callum Hudson-Odoi, who is black—took place near the end of its 5-0 win in the round of 16 on Thursday and was

reported to the referee at the final whistle.

Chelsea Chairman Bruce Buck and club secretary David Barnard then spoke to UEFA’s match delegate.

“We wholeheartedly condemn such abhorrent behavior,” Chelsea said in a statement. “We expect UEFA to conduct a fulsome investigation.”

Chelsea didn’t specify which player was the target of the racist abuse. The club made the statement hours before England called up Hudson-Odoi for upcoming European Championship qualifiers.

“It’s a dream come true,” said the winger, who replaced the injured Luke Shaw and did not comment on the apparent racist abuse in Ukraine. “Now I’ve got to work hard, enjoy every moment and keep working to just hopefully make an impact when I get the opportunity.”

Britain’s Press Association reported that monkey chants were heard from a small group of Dynamo Kiev fans in the corner of the end Chelsea was attacking.

That part of the stadium is home to the Rodychi fan group, which displays far-right symbols and was accused of involvement in several violent attacks last time Dynamo hosted Chelsea. AP

INTER Milan players celebrate their Serie A victory over AC Milan. AP

Sports

| Wednesday, March 20, 2019

mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

Witzel said the move is expected to be completed within 30 days and that the stadium’s future could not be attached to a “company that was sentenced.”

Odebrecht has had several executives, including its CEO, arrested in the sprawling Operation Car Wash corruption probe.

Investigators have determined that companies, including Odebrecht, paid billions of dollars in bribes to politicians to secure contracts and political favors.

The Consorcio Maracana said in a statement that it will comment after reviewing the decision.

Rio’s state legislature decided earlier this year to investigate the contract between the state and the administrator.

The stadium’s renovation for the

BusinessMirror

2014 World Cup cost about $350 million to Brazilian taxpayers. It fell into disrepair after the 2016 Summer Olympics amid legal disputes, and in 2017, Consorcio Maracana won a bid to run the stadium with plans to invest around $156 million into it over 35 years.

The Consorcio Maracana was also supposed to pay the Rio government about $1.5 million each year, which Witzel said never materialized.

The historic arena, which hosted two World Cup finals, will be the site of the Copa America final on July 7.

Olympic gold medalist Florent Manaudou, meanwhile, is making a comeback to swimming with the aim of competing at the 2020 Games in Tokyo.

The Frenchman, who won the

50-meter freestyle title at the 2012 London Olympics, took a two-anda-half-year break from swimming to focus on handball.

Manaudou told L’Equipe newspaper he is missing high-level competition and that he is “excited to swim again and compete with the best.”

The 28-year-old Manaudou, a silver medalist in the 50 free at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, will be trained by his former Coach James Gibson.

During his break, Manaudou has also played a small role in a TV series and invested in a restaurant in Marseille named “The Swimming Pool.” AP

DOLPHINS’ HOME READY FOR TENNIS NOVAK DJOKOVIC practices on center court for the Miami Open at the Hard Rock Stadium. AP

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IAMI GARDENS, Florida—At the main entrance to the Miami Dolphins’ stadium stands a statue of Dan Marino

as a witness to a gamechanging completion.

A remarkable transformation is done, and the complex is ready for tennis.

The Miami Open has moved 18 miles north from its location since 1987, the picturesque island of Key Biscayne, and will begin on Tuesday at the home of the Dolphins and Miami Hurricanes. Matches showcasing tennis’ best players will be held in the stadium, with a temporary hardcourt covering the field and the net hanging above the 50-yard line.

“I wouldn’t say it’s better than a football team, but it’s something that’s very exciting,” said Stephen Ross, who owns the Dolphins and the stadium. “I’m excited to see people’s reaction. There are so many skeptics out there.”

That includes some players wary of the atmosphere in a cavernous building where more seats will be empty than full, even for the finals at the end of the month.

But as players trickle in, early reviews are favorable. Fabric screens and temporary stands on three sides obscure most of the unused seats, creating a surprisingly cozy feel in the 65,000-seat stadium, where the capacity for tennis will be 13,800.

“It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen,” said Tournament Director James Blake, a former top-5 player. “To put a tennis court inside a football stadium is something a lot of players didn’t really wrap their heads around. Now that they’re here and see it, I think they’re very positive.”

There has also been a major makeover in the parking lot south of the stadium, where a spacious, modern tournament setting will include the outer courts, handsome hospitality areas, music, an art tent and the largest video board in tennis, along with the slightly incongruous Marino statue.

There are more lighted courts, practice courts and

parking spaces than on Key Biscayne, and better player facilities. Even so, a sentimental attachment to the old location lingers.

“Key Biscayne was always, like, the traditional drive over the bridge, and you are on the water,” reigning Wimbledon champion Angelique Kerber said. “So I will miss it, for sure.”

The former site was across the street from the beach, and the scenic setting helped the tournament become the largest in tennis aside from the Grand Slams, before it began to lose luster. IMG, which owns the Miami Open, decided to move after a 2015 court decision prevented badly needed upgrades to the complex.

“It was a great event, a lot of history,” said Roger Federer, a three-time tournament champion who first played on Key Biscayne as a junior in 1998. “You know, it was considered the fifth slam back in the day.

“So I have clearly mixed feelings about the change.

I hope it’s all for the better, and I understand the logic behind it. But of course I will miss the place.”

He’ll be in Miami this week to check out the new digs, as will most of the sport’s other champions, from Serena Williams to Naomi Osaka to Novak Djokovic.

Sponsors are enthusiastic, according to IMG, and ticket sales are up 25 percent over last year.

“The future of this event is incredible to think about,” Blake said. “The only limit is our imagination.”

When the tournament began considering a new home, speculation about potential sites ranged from South America to China. Fears rose that South Florida might lose the Miami Open, and Ross proposed the Dolphins’ suburban setting.

Williams, an eight-time Key Biscayne champion who owns a small share of the Dolphins, thought the idea was crazy. So did IMG. But the company eventually agreed to partner with the persuasive Ross, and construction began a year ago.

“For anyone who has ever built a house, to think this could be built in just one year is absolutely amazing,” Blake said.

“In Miami, we know how to put on a great event,” Ross said. “And this will be a great home for the Miami Open.”

Much of the makeover is Ross’s handiwork—he even picked out bathroom tile. For the upscale tennis crowd, the site should hold plenty of appeal, from luxury stadium seats and suites to newly planted $35,000 palm trees ushering spectators to the outer courts.

For fans on a budget, grounds passes start at $15.

The cost is higher for admission to the multisport mashup that will take place on center court. AP

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Loving God

EAR God, You shepherd us to love and renew our spirits in hope. In faith we pray: Attend to the cries of our hearts, oh God. Help us to accompany one another in times of trial and difficulty.

Make us good stewards of the Earth by conserving and beautifying its resources. Give us courage to extend love and hospitality to the homeless, youth at risk, lonely and the stranger. May the Spirit of the Lord direct our hearts to the love of God and the steadfastness of Christ. Amen.

GIVE US THIS DAY SHARED BY LUISA LACSON, HFL Word&Life Publications • teacherlouie1965@yahoo.com

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

Life BusinessMirror

Tech companies scramble to remove New Zealand shooting video

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By KeLVin Chan The Associated Press

ONDON—Internet companies scrambled on Friday to remove graphic video filmed by a gunman in the New Zealand mosque shootings that was widely available on social media for hours after the horrific attack.

Facebook said it took down a livestream of the shootings and removed the shooter’s Facebook and Instagram accounts after being alerted by police.

At least 49 people were killed at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand’s third-largest city.

Using what appeared to be a helmet-mounted camera, the gunman livestreamed in horrifying detail 17 minutes of the attack on worshippers at the Al Noor Mosque, where at least 41 people died. Several more worshippers were killed at a second mosque a short time later.

The shooter also left a 74-page manifesto that he posted on social media under the name Brenton Tarrant, identifying himself as a 28-year-old Australian and white nationalist who was out to avenge attacks in Europe perpetrated by Muslims.

“Our hearts go out to the victims, their families and the community affected by this horrendous act,” Facebook New Zealand Spokesman Mia Garlick said in a statement.

Facebook is “removing any praise or support for the crime and the shooter or shooters as soon as we’re aware,” she said. “We will continue working directly with New Zealand Police as their response and investigation continues.”

Twitter, YouTube owner Google and Reddit also were working to remove the footage from their sites.

The furor highlights once again the speed at which graphic and disturbing content from a tragedy can spread around the world, and how Silicon Valley tech giants are still grappling with how to prevent that from happening.

British tabloid newspapers such as The Daily Mail and The Sun posted screenshots and video snippets on their web sites.

One journalist tweeted that several people sent her the video via the Facebook-owned WhatsApp messaging app.

New Zealand police urged people not to share the footage, and many Internet users called for tech companies and news sites to take the material down.

Some people expressed outrage on Twitter that the videos were still circulating hours after the attack.

“Google is actively inciting violence,” tweeted British journalist Carole Cadwalladr with a screen grab of search results of the video.

The video’s spread underscores the challenge for Facebook even after stepping up efforts to keep inappropriate and violent content off its platform.

In 2017 it said it would hire 3,000 people to review videos and other posts, on top of the 4,500 people Facebook already tasks with identifying criminal and other questionable material for removal.

But that’s just a drop in the bucket of what is needed to police the social-media platform, said Siva Vaidhyanathan, author of Antisocial Media: How Facebook Disconnects Us and Undermines Democracy.

If Facebook wanted to monitor every livestream to prevent disturbing content from making it out in the first place, “they would have to hire millions of people,” something it’s not willing to do, said Vaidhyanathan, who teaches media studies at the University of Virginia.

“We have certain companies that have built systems that have inadvertently served the cause of violent hatred around the world,” Vaidhyanathan said.

Facebook and YouTube were designed to share pictures of babies, puppies and other wholesome things, he said, “but they were expanded at such a scale and built with no safeguards such that they were easy to hijack by the worst elements of humanity.”

With billions of users, Facebook and YouTube are “ungovernable” at this point, said Vaidhyanathan, who called Facebook’s livestreaming service a “profoundly stupid idea.”

In footage that at times resembled scenes from a first-person shooter video game, the mosque shooter was seen spraying terrified worshippers with bullets,

BOX OFFICE: ‘CAPTAIN MARVEL’ SOARS EVEN HIGHER WITH STELLAR 2ND WEEKEND D3

Wednesday, March 20, 2019

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NEW SENNHEISER EARBUDS CHANGE THE GAME FOR TRUE WIRELESS LISTENING

TRUE wireless earphones have been around for quite some time. They offer unmatched mobility, and quality steadily improves with each new model that comes out every year.

But with the launch of the new Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless earphones (www.sennheiser.com), the whole category takes its first huge leap into the future—through the fusion of technology, sound performance and high-quality materials.

The launch is in conjunction with the unveiling of Power Mac Center’s latest store at The Loop, featuring a Sennheiser shop-in-shop concept. The move represents a vital step into the future for the steadfast partnership between Sennheiser Asia and Power Mac Center, one of the Philippines’s leading Authorized Service Providers.

An industry pioneer since 1994, the brand has evolved into a lifestyle shopping destination providing the discerning Filipino consumer with the finest in premium lifestyle accessories and enhancements.

This may be Sennheiser’s first foray into true wireless listening, but it has already upped the ante both in looks and in performance. Like all products from the Momentum series, these new earphones carry Sennheiser’s legendary audio quality. 7mm dynamic drivers deliver high fidelity sound without compromise. It has both AAC codec support and Qualcomm aptXtm compatibility, ensuring lag-free audio video playback and a superior streaming experience.

Featuring Transparent Hearing, the Momentum True Wireless lets users blend ambient sounds into their listening experience, providing for greater situational awareness and conversation. Offering effortless integration with Apple Siri and Google Assistant, users stay entertained with a simple tap of the intuitive touch controls and natural voice commands. The Momentum True Wireless has a four-hour battery life, and its stylish compact case holds two additional charges for 12 hours of use. The splash- and sweat-resistant earphones have been meticulously crafted to offer a sense of timeless elegance and durability.

The Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless earbuds are available at selected Power Mac Center branches and priced at P19,990. Power Mac Center is an authorized Sennheiser dealer and a registered Premium Service Provider.

sometimes refiring at people he had already cut down. He then walked outside, shooting at people on a sidewalk. Children’s screams could be heard in the distance as he strode to his car to get another rifle, then returned to the mosque, where at least two dozen people could be seen lying in pools of blood.

He walked back outside, shot a woman, got back in his car and drove away.

The livestream video was reminiscent of violent first-person shooter video games such as “CounterStrike” or “Doom” as the gunman went around corners and calmly entered rooms firing at helpless victims. Many shooting games allow players to toggle between close-range and long-range weapons, and the gunman switched from a shotgun to a rifle during the video, reloading as he moved around.

At one point, the shooter even paused to give a shout-out to one of YouTube’s top personalities, known as PewDiePie, with tens of millions of followers, who has made jokes criticized as anti-Semitic and posted Nazi imagery in his videos.

“Remember, lads, subscribe to PewDiePie,” the gunman said.

The seemingly incongruous reference to the Swedish vlogger known for his video game commentaries, as well as his racist references was instantly recognizable to many of his 86 million followers. The YouTube sensation has been engaged in an online battle over which channel is the most subscribed to, and his followers have taken to posting messages encouraging others to “subscribe to PewDiePie.” PewDiePie, whose real name is Felix Kjellberg, said on Twitter he felt “absolutely sickened” that the alleged gunman referred to him during the livestream. “My heart and thoughts go out to the victims, families and everyone affected,” he said.

The hours it took to take the violent video and manifesto down are “another major black eye” for social-media platforms, said Dan Ives, managing director of Wedbush Securities.

The rampage’s broadcast “highlights the urgent need for media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter to use more artificial intelligence, as well as security teams to spot these events before it’s too late,” Ives said.

Hours after the shooting, Reddit took down two subreddits known for sharing video and pictures of people being killed or injured —R/WatchPeopleDie and R/Gore—apparently because users were sharing the mosque attack video.

“We are very clear in our site terms of service that posting content that incites or glorifies violence will get users and communities banned from Reddit,” it said in a statement. “Subreddits that fail to adhere to those site-wide rules will be banned.”

Videos and posts that glorify violence are against Facebook’s rules, but Facebook has drawn criticism for responding slowly to such items, including video of a slaying in Cleveland and a live-streamed killing of a baby in Thailand. The latter was up for 24 hours before it was removed.

In most cases, such material gets reviewed for possible removal only if users complain. News reports and posts that condemn violence are allowed. This makes for a tricky balancing act for the company. Facebook says it does not want to act as a censor, as videos of violence, such as those documenting police brutality or the horrors of war, can serve an important purpose. n The Associated Press writers Danica Kirka in London, Nick Perry in Wellington, Mark Baker in Christchurch and Mae Anderson in New York contributed to this report.

NEW VIVO PACKS INNOVATIONS THAT ELEVATE MIDRANGE SMARTPHONES

THE long wait is over for local tech enthusiasts. The much-anticipated launch of the Vivo V15 Pro, the brand’s latest flagship smartphone in the Philippines, happens today, March 20.

With the launch at the Makati Shangri-La Hotel, Vivo levels up its midrange smartphones to extraordinary heights, and consumers and aficionados are eager to see and experience what the Vivo V15 Pro has to offer. The company has already put the spotlight on the revolutionary elevating front camera and 6.39” Super AMOLED Ultra FullView Display in the V15 Pro, innovations that were previously only available on the brand’s high-end NEX series. The new smartphone will be available in partner retail channels and Vivo stores shortly after the launch.

With the V15 Pro (vivoglobal.ph/v15proiscomingup), more Filipinos can discover a better way to capture selfies and enjoy their lifestyles. When activated, the 32MP elevating front camera pops up from the upper righthand of the smartphone and takes selfies, while the notch-less screen greatly improves how users watch their favorite movies, videos or online content, and play games.

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Wednesday, March 20, 2019

Pet Corner BusinessMirror

Exhibit explores keen senses, abilities of man’s best friend PUPPY raiser for Guide Dogs of America Lexie Dreyfuss and her 6-monthold Labrador Retriever Hathi prepare for a demonstration at the California Science Center in Los Angeles. AP

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By John Rogers The Associated Press

OS ANGELES—Did people domesticate dogs or was it the other way around? And why do these two species seem to think so much alike, act so much alike and get along so well?

The California Science Center has spent the past five years sniffing out the answers to those and hundreds of other vexing canine questions. It will begin revealing the conclusions on Saturday with an ambitious, if somewhat lighthearted, new exhibition called Dogs! A Science Tail.

And, yes, real dogs will be there. (Just try hiding contraband from that drug-sniffing dog and see what happens.) “It’s really not about just dogs and science.

It’s really about how dogs and humans are both social animals. About how dogs and humans have evolved together over thousands of years. And the fact that because we are both social animals, we’ve learned to work together,” said Jeffrey Rudolph, the center’s president and a devoted dog lover who worked for years to pull this show together.

As he spoke during a recent preopening walkthrough of the exhibit, he paused briefly at what he imagines might be its most popular stop for the preteen crowd—a replica of a fire hydrant next to a button that you can push to smell what a dog smells.

“But we just smell pee,” Rudolph explained with a laugh. “A dog can tell what dog was there, what time they were there and actually which direction they were going.”

It’s one of the ways dogs can evaluate how safe the surroundings are. It’s also how they manage to mark time without wristwatches or smartphones.

“They have an amazing ability to learn information,” continues Rudolph, noting the 300 million sensory receptor sites they carry in their noses far outnumber our 6 million.

Nine similar stations allow people to see like a dog does (their color vision is limited, but they pick up motion better than us), determine what a person has just eaten by licking their hand, and hear sounds so subtle we’re oblivious to them.

“In a bedroom they can hear a termite scratching on the wall,” Rudolph says.

Such skills allow an avalanche rescue dog to sniff out a person buried in snow in a minute’s time while its handlers stand there without a clue. They can sniff out bombs people would never find until they exploded.

But those are the highly trained working dogs, like those shown in the center’s Imax Theater, where the Cosmic Picture film Superpower Dogs will play throughout the exhibition’s run.

As Captain America actor Chris Evans narrates, viewers watch dogs from around the world help save people from drowning off the coast of Italy, rescue people trapped in collapsed buildings, even track down Kenyan poachers preying on endangered elephants and rhinos.

In the museum itself, people could watch Garmin, a 2-year-old golden Labrador retriever who is about to graduate from guide-dog school, take blindfolded folks through a maze of obstacles during a demonstration earlier this week.

When one person hesitated, Garmin pulled gently on his leash as if to say, “Come on, let’s go. I’ve got this.”

Depending on the day, there will be therapy dogs, rescue dogs, drug-sniffing dogs and others demonstrating their abilities.

For those more interested in mutts like the one sleeping at the foot of their bed, there is also plenty to see, including a small gallery of original dog paintings by legendary American artist Norman Rockwell. They

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Today’s Horoscope

By Eugenia Last

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Ruby Rose, 33; Holly Hunter, 61; Spike Lee, 62; William Hurt, 69.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Take relationships seriously, and do your part to help keep the momentum flowing.

Working with others to accomplish something important will lead to opportunities. Don’t share personal information. Offer only what will help you get ahead.

Keep your opinions to yourself to avoid opposition and setbacks. Channel your energy into situations and projects that will bring the highest returns. Your lucky numbers are 3, 16, 23, 29, 32, 36, 40.

a

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Take time to assess your situation before making your next move. Consider who is sincere and who is asking for too much. Using your time wisely will help you avoid getting worn out. HHH

b

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Dedication and drive will help you get your point across.

Don’t jeopardize your physical, emotional or financial well-being, or let anyone take advantage of you. Charity begins at home, and investing in yourself is encouraged. HHHHH

c d

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): An emotional situation will escalate if you or someone else makes assumptions or isn’t truthful. Joint ventures should be avoided or monitored carefully. HH CANCER (June 21-July 22): Make adjustments at home or at work that will encourage you to spend less and earn more. A partnership, gift or investment you make will encourage better cash flow. HHHH

e

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Getting out more doesn’t have to be costly, but it should encourage you to make changes that will improve the way you live and how well you take care of your health. HHH

are on loan from Star Wars filmmaker George Lucas.

Although Dogs! A Science Tail will travel to museums across the country after it closes in Los Angeles early next year, the California Science Center is the only place to see the paintings until Lucas opens his own Museum of Narrative Art down the street in 2021. But do those dogs that Rockwell immortalized playing with kids, comforting owners, even comically tying up traffic in a crowded Los Angeles alley in 1949, really love us?

Or are they just trying to wheedle another treat when they open those big black eyes of theirs and give us that look?

“If you look a dog in the eye, a dog will look back at you and you will produce oxytocin,” Diane Perlov, the center’s senior vice president for exhibitions, says of the chemical known as the love hormone because of the feelings it evokes in people.

“And,” she adds, “the dog will produce oxytocin in

his own body from looking back at you. It’s a mutual affection.”

A chimp, on the other hand, will just look away.

So who launched this enduring love affair that has resulted in dogs and people sharing living quarters in more than 60 million American households?

Scientists can’t quite figure that out. They know dogs descended from wolves, and that wolves and people crossed paths more than 10,000 years ago, says Perlov, an anthropologist.

Both wolves and people could see the other was pretty good at hunting for food. But did the wolves walk up and offer their help in that endeavor? Or did people make the first move?

Whoever did, they created an enduring bond.

“It’s that social bond and our ability to communicate with them, and our ability to understand each other that forms the basis of our relationship,” Perlov says. n

CAT THAT WENT MISSING 5 YEARS AGO FINALLY FOUND

f

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Do your best to relate to friends, relatives and youngsters.

You will be offered all sorts of interesting thoughts that can help you bring about positive change.

The insight given regarding a personal relationship will help you move forward. HHH

g

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Do what’s best for yourself. Taking care of your health, protecting your financial position, and discovering new ways to use your skills and experience will help you see things differently and encourage you to strive to be and do your best. HHH

h

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Address problems by opening a dialogue that will help you understand how those around you relate to your plans. It’s OK to be different, and anyone who interferes should be questioned regarding his or her motives. HHH

i

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Take better care of yourself emotionally and physically. If someone prompts you to do things you shouldn’t, be strong and walk away. Don’t believe everything you hear, especially if it involves someone who isn’t present to defend himself or herself.

HH

j

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Change is overdue. Consider what you want to see unravel in order to make it happen. Don’t wait around for someone else to take over. A money opportunity looks interesting, but don’t go into debt or take a gamble.

HHHHH

ESSEX, Massachusetts—A Massachusetts family says a pet cat who went missing five years ago has returned home after the feline was unexpectedly found.

Elinore Repucci had let her tabby cat Larry out for a walk in August 2013, but he didn’t come back after walking out the door. Repucci tells the Newburyport Daily News she and her family spent the next few weeks frantically searching for Larry.

Repucci says she eventually resigned herself to thinking an animal killed Larry, as her home was near the woods.

But an animal rescue shelter in Salisbury, Massachusetts, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) from her home, called her on Thursday and said they found a cat with a microchip registered to her.

Shelter Director Britt Fox Hover says Larry is pretty healthy, but is missing part of a paw. AP

k

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Offer to help others, but refuse to take on the brunt of the work or cost involved. Be clear about what you will do and what you expect in return. Keep the peace, but live within your means and by the rules.

HHH

l

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Participate in events or organizations, or volunteer for something you believe in. You will connect with someone who will brighten your day. A change in attitude will encourage others to support your efforts, as well as pitch in. HHH BIRTHDAY BABY: You are entertaining, helpful and caring.

You are ambitious and intense.

‘major thoroughfares’ BY PETER GORDON The Universal Crossword/Edited by David Steinberg

ACROSS 1 Paid athlete 4 Top story 9 Rx watchdog 12 Masculine Chinese principle 14 Fills, as a washer 15 Sighed line 16 Paella base 17 24 ___ Plaza (Giants’ stadium address) 19 Prayer’s end 20 Fashion magazine 21 Dull photo finish 22 Big brawls 24 Make less bright 26 Anti body?

27 Digs up 30 Expert in a specialized field 32 Gymnast Kerri 33 Hornet, for one 35 Long-term investments, briefly 36 19 ___ Drive (Padres’ stadium address) 39 Teri with a Tootsie role 42 Not in harbor

3 Academy Award 4 47 Was a good dog 49 Domain of Oxy and Olay 51 Noisy dance style 52 Coffee ice-cream color 54 Extinguished 55 Distribute 57 24-7 auction site 60 Pencil filler 61 100 ___ Way (Reds’ stadium address) 63 Togo’s capital (anagram of ELMO) 64 Not fooled by 65 Documentarian Morris 66 Chinese coin 67 Worker or queen 68 Bumpkins 69 Festoons with Charmin, for short DOWN 1 Lover of Thisbe 2 Clothing 3 Maker of Thneeds in The Lorax 4 The ‘Stros joined it in 2013 5 Work hard 6 7’6”, say

7 Ran in neutral 8 Longtime forensic series 9 Roofless train part 10 Florida race place 11 Gives the nod 13 2000 ___ Way (Angels’ stadium address) 15 Internists’ org.

18 The Favourite actress Stone 23 Therefore 25 Children’s guessing game 28 Numbered rds.

29 Wise figures 31 1000 ___ Avenue (Dodgers’ stadium address) 34 Letters on love letters 37 Zippo 38 Toddler’s taboo 39 Was hired 40 Mother-of-pearl source 41 Well-supplied (with) 44 Size up before sticking up 45 Tourist’s reference 46 Shows embarrassment 48 Caesar’s accusatory words

0 Pastoral poems 5 53 India’s first P.M. 56 Lennon collaborator 58 Caustic comment 59 Frostbite soother 62 Twentysomething when “thirtysomething” aired

Solution to yesterday’s puzzle:

Show BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Wednesday, March 20, 2019

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BLIND SPOT BRUCE C.

MARKETING PLOY FOR PROJECT

SO the latest revelation of the actor, which isn’t really a revelation as everybody knows it already, is part of a marketing ploy to help his girlfriend’s project.

The couple has been lackluster lately in terms of projects, so any bit will help. Part of the marketing plan is to include the actor’s ex, who is known to be an attention-seeker in the stories about them. The ex is enjoying it, so she’s not really the underdog here.

It’s just funny that the couple doesn’t realize they just need a hardworking and professional attitude to get good projects, not gimmicks.

MAKE SOME NOISE

SO the starlet has resorted to using her fan clubs to generate some noise for her so that she’d get new projects. This is after several attempts on the part of her family to butter up to network executives and members of the press. They say you can’t fake talent.

The starlet’s family is said to be losing a lot of money because they’ve neglected their businesses to help her pursue her ambitions. Yes, the starlet is popular but it is unlikely that she’ll be a big, big star.

IN DEBT

SO the high-profile couple who, in the past, lived off the proceeds of being escorts to rich men, women and gays is now heavily in debt. Recent developments in the couple’s family have resulted in them not being able to pursue their being, uhm, professional escorts.

So they’ve been borrowing money from friends. The problem is that the loans are not being repaid because the couple doesn’t have a source of income.

THE Cole Sprouse and Haley Lu Richardson film Five Feet Apart opened in third place at the North American box office with $13.2 million in ticket sales, which is nearly double its production budget. The film from Lionsgate and CBS Films is centered on two teens with cystic fibrosis.

‘Captain Marvel’ soars even higher with stellar 2nd weekend

THE GIRLFRIEND

SO the matinee idol has been spotted in restaurants with a girl who is not a celebrity, and the girl, let’s put it this way, is not pretty. The girl, who is said to be the matinee idol’s longtime girlfriend, is reportedly rich and can afford to buy off his network contract, but will she? Is the actor worth her being exposed and possibly ridiculed for her looks, as she is now in certain circles.

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By Lindsey Bahr The Associated Press

OS ANGELES—Captain Marvel has continued to dominate the global box office in its second weekend in theaters, leaving newcomers in the dust.

Walt Disney Studios estimated on Sunday that the intergalactic superhero fell only 55 percent from its record-breaking opening. This weekend, Captain Marvel earned an additional $69.3 million from North American theaters and $119.7 million internationally, bringing its global grosses to $760 million.

With Brie Larson in the title role, Captain Marvel has already surpassed the lifetime grosses of a slew of superhero films, including Justice League, Captain America: The Winter Soldier and The Amazing Spider-Man. In a very distant second, Paramount’s animated family film Wonder Park struggled with $16 million against a reported $100-million budget. Paul Dergarabedian, a senior media analyst for comScore,

said that it’s hard to compete with Captain Marvel, which is playing to all ages and audiences. But the PGrated pic about a girl who dreams up an amusement park did not score well with critics either—it’s currently sitting at a 30 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.

But it wasn’t all bad news for the films in Captain Marvel’s shadow. The Cole Sprouse and Haley Lu Richardson film Five Feet Apart opened in third place with $13.2 million in ticket sales, which is nearly double its production budget. The film from Lionsgate and CBS Films is centered on two teens with cystic fibrosis. Audiences were overwhelmingly female (82 percent) and young (65 percent under age 25 and 45 percent under 18). That the stars involved, like Sprouse who is in the popular TV show Riverdale, have a strong fan base and social following motivated young women to turn out to the theaters.

“You don’t always have to be No. 1 to have a success,” Dergarabedian said. “And Five Feet Apart proves that.”

It was a good weekend overall for Lionsgate, which had three films in the top 10, including Five Feet Apart, Tyler Perry’s A Madea Family Funeral, which landed in fifth place with $8.1 million (behind How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World) and the Spanishlanguage newcomer No Manches Frida 2, which opened on only 472 screens and grossed $3.9 million to take sixth place. “In the world of everybody talking about diversity, this is a great example of a diverse lineup.

All three films were completely different, which was obviously a strategic distribution decision,” said David Spitz, Lionsgate’s president of domestic distribution.

“Those three films were able to capture an audience even with the 300-pound gorilla of Captain Marvel.”

Not so lucky was Captive State, an alien invasion thriller from Focus Features that floundered in

seventh place with $3.2 million against a $25-million budget. But overall, things are finally looking up for the industry-wide box office. The Captain Marvel effect has lowered the year to date deficit nearly 10 percent in a week.

“We’re on the right track now. It shows when you’re this early in the year, any change can make a significant difference to the bottom line,” said Dergarabedian. “But it’s going to take more than one big movie to start us toward another record-breaking year in North America.”

One film that might help: Jordan Peele’s Get Out follow-up Us hits theaters next weekend and is tracking for an opening north of $40 million.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at US and Canadian theaters, according to comScore.

Where available, the latest international numbers for Friday through Sunday are also included.

1. Captain Marvel, $69.3 million ($119.7 million international) 2. Wonder Park, $16 million ($4.3 million international) 3. Five Feet Apart, $13.2 million ($189,000 international) 4. How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, $9.3 million ($9.4 million international) 5. Tyler Perry’s A Madea Family Funeral, $8.1 million ($65,600 international) 6. No Manches Frida 2, $3.9 million 7. Captive State, $3.2 million ($64,400 international) 8. The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part, $2.1 million ($2.1 million international) 9. Alita: Battle Angel, $1.9 million ($4 million international) 10. Green Book, $1.3 million ($17.1 million international). n

Jessica Soho renews exclusive contract with GMA GMA News’s multiawarded news anchor Jessica Soho— also the Philippines’s most-awarded broadcast journalist— continues to be loyal to the network as she renews her commitment with the company in a contract-signing held on March 13. Present during the signing were GMA Network Chairman and CEO Atty. Felipe L. Gozon; President and COO Gilberto R. Duavit Jr.; Executive Vice President and CFO Felipe S. Yalong; and SVP for News and Public Affairs Marissa L. Flores.

“Thirty-four years na po akong Kapuso,” shared Soho, who started her career as a news reporter covering the military and defense beats. The self-confessed “promdi, or a small town girl, who made good” has only gratitude toward the people around her for the success.

“Maraming salamat sa mga kasama ko sa trabaho at siyempre sa mga namumuno po ng GMA Network. At, of course, sa aming mga manunuod. Maraming salamat po sa pagtitiwala.” She added that she looks forward to more years with GMA. “Marami pa po tayong pagkukuwentuhan at marami pa po tayong pag-uusapan,” she said.

Atty. Gozon is also elated that Soho remains with GMA. “Tayo ay talagang nagagalak sapagkat ang programa ni Jessica [KMJS] ang No. 1 program sa lahat ng program ng GMA at ng mga kalaban nito. Ganun kahalaga si Jessica

sa GMA kaya talagang galak na galak kami na ipagpapatuloy natin ang kanyang more than 34 years dito sa GMA,” he said.

Duavit, on the other hand, is thankful for Soho’s loyalty to GMA. “Jessica personifies, exemplifies all the virtues and values na tinataguyod natin hindi lamang ng GMA News and Public Affairs group kung hindi ng buong network,” he shared, adding that the company is fortunate that Soho remains with GMA even after all these years. “Mapalad tayo na patuloy siyang magiging kasamahan natin,” he said.

Yalong, on the other hand, cited how Soho was very easy to talk with in terms of renewing her contract with GMA. “Alam niya kung gaano siya ka-importante to the network, especially ’yung programa niyang KMJS na nangunguna nga,” he said.

At present, Soho anchors GMA News TV’s flagship newscast State of the Nation with Jessica Soho (SONA). She also hosts the country’s top-rating and trending program Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho (KMJS) on GMA, and is the chief correspondent/host of the investigative news magazine program Brigada on GMA News TV. A two-time recipient of the highly prestigious George Foster Peabody Award, Soho was recently named as one of the members of this year’s New York Festivals Television & Film Awards’ Grand Jury. In 2018, she brought

GMA Network SVP for News and Public Affairs Marissa L. Flores; President and COO Gilberto R. Duavit Jr.; GMA News anchor Jessica Soho; GMA Chairman and CEO Atty.

Felipe L. Gozon; and EVP and CFO Felipe S. Yalong

another honor to the country as the very first Filipino news anchor to become a finalist at the said international competition, taking home the Bronze Medal in the Best News Anchor category for SONA. This year, the “Salay” feature in KMJS is nominated in the Community Portraits category at the 2019 New York Festivals “World’s Best TV and Films” Competition.

At the 2018 Reader’s Digest Trusted Brand Awards, Soho was named the first-ever Hall of Fame Awardee for winning

the Most Trusted News Presenter award for eight consecutive years. She remains the Filipino journalist with the most number of Reader’s Digest awards to date.

Soho is also the first University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication alumna to receive the Gawad Plaridel Award for Journalism from the university.

At the HistoryCon 2018, she was given the History Maker Award for her significant contribution to the nation’s life and culture.

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Image BusinessMirror

Wednesday, March 20, 2019

www.businessmirror.com.ph

HOW TO BE A SELF-EMPOWERED WOMAN MARCH is National Women’s Month, and the word “empowerment” gets mentioned a lot in conversations furthering women’s causes. Empowerment is the act of making someone stronger and more confident, giving one the capability to take control of life.

Leading insurance company AXA Philippines believes women can empower themselves if they set their mind to it.

Here are a few tips: n SET POWERFUL GOALS. Setting goals gives you purpose and makes life even more meaningful. Whether it is saving up for your dream vacation or further studies, having goals and achieving them will make you feel more empowered. There are financial tools that can help you fulfill your dreams, such as AXA Asset Master, a singlepay, investment-linked insurance plan that lets you build a diversified investment portfolio of local and global investments. n BE INDEPENDENT. When was the last time you did something by yourself? One of the bravest things you can do as a woman is to be comfortable doing things on your own.

Without people to depend on all the time, it is important to always feel secure. However, accidents and disasters cannot be completely avoided, so it helps to prepare for these types of emergencies. Signing up for property insurance offers protection for your residence against disasters like fire, flood, earthquake and other natural disasters. n SPEAK UP. Most women are afraid to share their thoughts and opinions because they think they might be judged or ridiculed. But look up to TV host Oprah Winfrey who stood up for other women by condemning sexual-harassment acts in Hollywood during the Golden Globe Awards in 2018.

If you know that you are doing and saying the right thing, speak up because it might change or save someone’s life.

Empowered women stand by their convictions and are never ashamed to share their thoughts and feelings. n EMPOWER OTHER WOMEN. There’s nothing more powerful than women banding together and lifting each other up. See actress Emma Watson as an example—a passionate feminist who once said, “We want to empower other women to do exactly what they want, to be true to themselves, to have opportunities to develop.” Like her, you can help others celebrate their life and embrace their individuality by setting a good example. Show them that they too can be strong and independent. n EMBRACE YOUR IMPERFECTIONS. Women often find it easier to point out their flaws rather than their strengths.

It is time to stop this unhealthy habit and start encouraging yourself, just like top American model Ashley Graham who has learned to love herself and embrace her curves despite being body-shamed many times before. You can slowly work on self-improvement by listing down your weaknesses, strengths, and unique characteristics to see what you need to work on. The more you respect yourself, the more others will respect you.

The path to being an empowered woman may be a slow process and often takes a lot of hard work. But in the long run, it will definitely be worth the effort.

Go ahead, indulge your hobbies SUI GENERIS CARLO ATIENZA

biblisko@gmail.com

R

OBERT FULGHUM says in his famous book, Everything I Need to Learn, I Learned in Kindergarten: “Live a balanced life—learn some and drink some and draw some and paint some and sing and dance and play and work everyday some.” You function better when there is balance in what you do for work, and what you do for fun. And that is where hobbies come in.

Hobbies are things you do for fun. They play an important role in ensuring we develop holistically and have time for ourselves and focus on the things we want. These are the activities we do to relax and destress and not get overly critical about. These are things we do as a creative outlet and as a form of self-expression which would otherwise not have been expressed in our work. People nowadays focus on social-media platforms as a way of expressing themselves when there are alternatives which can help them develop a positive sense of who they are.

Indulging in a hobby/ies is one of them.

Hobbies are a good way to take a break. Just like what I am doing now—writing. It takes the sense of guilt away because what I am doing is purposive

and I find meaning and fulfillment in what I do.

When I write, I get to immortalize my thoughts in ink and hopefully affect another with what I am writing down. But I write primarily for the joy of writing. While hobbies are activities you do which are normally unpaid, your hobby can actually become a source of income as you hone and evolve your craft.

This, in turn, will help you connect to people. Your hobby will open doors to opportunities of meeting new people who are likely to provide tips on how to improve your hobby. A sense of belonging helps you take more risks in thinking outside the box and sharing your discoveries to the group. You encourage each other to continue your hobby and at the same time, they provide you an environment where you can freely and safely explore how to do things better.

Your hobbies also make you more interesting to people. Take the case of the accountant whose hobby is spelunking. Immediately, you break the stereotype of what you think an accountant should be doing, and you suddenly want to ask the accountant how he came to like exploring caves. Your hobby can show a unique facet of yourself that not all people will get to know, but when they do, it becomes a conversation piece. You are no longer the boss who gives orders—you become the leader who was able to climb to the top of the second-highest mountain in the Philippines.

Hobbies also curtail the development of bad habits because you focus on developing something you enjoy. It helps you develop self-confidence because hobbies provide eustress or what people call positive stress. Eustress is the kind of stress which makes you feel excited to do something, and hobbies provide that kind of anticipation because it is something you look forward to. You build confidence after finishing your hobby because these small wins help alleviate your

mood and prepare you to do other things. So rather than spend most of your time comparing yourself to others, or, worse, in social media, find a hobby which will help you become excited and invigorated.

But how do you find a hobby just for you?

One thing which will help you find the right hobby is to go back to your childhood. What did you enjoy doing the most when you were young? List them down and try them one at a time and you will find what makes you excited. I discovered my love of mountaineering when I climbed Mount Pulag and I realized we used to do it when I was young. Our house in La Union was beside a hill and after that hill were several other hills. My siblings and I would spend the entire afternoon getting lost in those hills, much to the exasperation of our mama who would welcome us back with a slipper in one hand. But that did not stop us from exploring and finding new paths and getting lost some more. So, go back to your childhood because you will discover a hobby which will make you feel excited and interested.

How do you know if a hobby is right for you?

One thing is for sure: if it feels like work, it is not a hobby. Find a hobby which literally makes you forget your day. When was the last time you were doing something that you even forgot to eat? If it is something as exciting and thrilling as that, then you have found your hobby.

Hobbies are a good way of finding balance in ourselves. We get to become kids again and discover that life has more to offer than just paycheck after paycheck. We discover that, while we have to make a living, we can make a life with the simple pleasures which hobbies can bring to our growth as a person.

And you will realize after doing a hobby, you like yourself better. n

#STEMSisterhood: Strengthening female representation in the field of sciences

By PaULine Joy M. gUTieRReZ STUDIES from the Unesco Institute for Statistics show that even though science research is slowly progressing in the Philippines, and with more women enrolling in university, relatively few females still pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

In response, the Filipino women who led the first-ever #STEMSisterhood: She Talks Asia x L’Oréal Philippines Tribe Meet Up for Women in Science, talked about breaking the cultural barrier that still discourages girls from pursuing STEM courses, to which the Commission on Higher Education reported a decrease to about 43 percent in 2017. #STEMSisterhood is the first leg of an upcoming series of initiatives led by She Talks Asia alongside L’Oréal Philippines. The two organizations aim to spark conversations among women that disrupt and challenge the status quo, using the words “empowerment” and “sisterhood” to describe the spirit of many young aspiring women in the country.

“We have created our own tight-knit community that wholly believes women have the power to change the world,” said She Talks Asia CEO Sarah Meier in a recent press event in Makati that gathered Filipina advocates in the field who shared personal stories of hope, hardship and success. Seated on the panel were inspiring industry professionals Carmel Valencia, L’Oréal Philippines corporate communications manager; Alex Suarez, advocate of women in tech and country lead of Bumble Philippines; Dr. Geraldine

FROM left: She Talks Asia Cofounder and Head of Branding and Partnerships Victoria Herrera; Country Lead of Bumble Philippines Alex Suarez; Rheumat0logist and Founder of the Lupus Bridging Fund Dr. Geraldine Zamora; Physicist at the National Institute of Physics at the University of the Philippines Dr. Maricor “Jing” Soriano; L’Oréal Philippines Corporate Communications Manager Carmel Valencia; She Talks Asia Cofounder and Chief Operating Officer Lynn Pinugu; and She Talks Asia Cofounder and Head of Public Relations Iza Calzado

Zamora, rheumatologist and founder of the Lupus Bridging Fund; and Dr. Maricor “Jing” Soriano, physicist at the National Institute of Physics at the University of the Philippines and a TOWNS Awardee.

The panel discussion took a deep dive on how to succeed in a masculine-led field, and how to build that ladder for Filipino women to be more open about succeeding in their respective careers.

“If it’s something that is of interest to you, start from a problem-solving mindset, and bring that to

your career. Establish what you are going for, whether it’s taking an online class, whether it’s having a coffee chat with someone who is in the field that you are interested in,” said Suarez.

For Dr. Geraldine Zamora, who received the Ten Outstanding Young Men Award for Medicine in 2016, women should “just go for it. Do everything that you can do and achieve it. There will always be opportunities and you just get them. It’s really more about accepting the opportunities that have been

presented to you, looking at your goal and working hard.” Zamora also talked about how being a mom affected her career. “It’s not impossible, only harder.”

“Not everyone can go into the sciences, but those who are passionate about science but don’t want to go into this discipline can still support the sciences. You may be a media practitioner, so go ahead and write about scientists and engineers. Wherever you are, you can do something to support the sciences [and women],” said Soriano.

“It’s powerful to see how L’Oréal Philippines and She Talks Asia came together for this #STEMSisterhood event,” said L’Oreal Philippines Corporate Communications Manager Carmel Valencia. “By taking this extra leap, we want to ensure that research in every field takes full advantage of the intelligence, creativity and passion of women. Over the last 20 years, our global For Women In Science advocacy has allowed us to impart the important message that the world needs science, and science needs women because women in science have the power to change the world.”

Valencia noted that men can foster a more enabling and understanding environment, so that their female colleagues or partners can put in more time and effort into their work.

She said, “It takes a village to raise a child, and it takes a village to raise a scientist. You have to understand that to someone, you are part of someone’s village. Your friend or someone around you can get affected. Understand that you have a role to play, as well.”

BusinessMirror E1 | Wednesday, March 20, 2019 • Editor : Tet Andolong

THE 24-hectare “Empire East Highland City” will be a master-planned community of residential condominiums, mixed-use towers, lifestyle mall and retail areas, church and an expansive green park ARTIST’S PERSPECTIVE

MEGAWORLD TO BUILD

P20-B TOWNSHIP IN CAINTA M

By Tet Andolong

EGAWORLD, the country’s largest developer of integrated urban townships, announced during a recent press briefing held at the Eastwood Richmonde Hotel that they are developing a 24-hectare property along F. Felix Avenue in Cainta, Rizal.

This new development, which is called the Highland City, is the company’s 24th township along with its subsidiary Empire East Land Holdings Inc. Highland City will host the expansive Highland Mall, which has a gross floor area of around 58,000 square meters, consisting of rows of residential towers on a highland area, mixeduse towers, a church, as well as open and green parks.

According to Megaworld Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer Kevin L. Tan, the Highland Mall will offer around 58,000 square meters of retail spaces. “We are building another Megaworld Lifestyle Mall that showcases another unique character, complementing the ‘highlands’ or sloped landscape of the property,” he said.

“We are very excited about this new township that will evoke a character of a city sitting on highlands. Empire East will develop around 38 residential towers on the elevated portion of the township.

These towers will serve as a dramatic backdrop to the vision of ‘Highland City.’ Our proposed Highland Mall under the Megaworld Lifestyle Mall brand will also be a centerpiece of the development. We will integrate it with an expansive park that opens toward the township’s main entrance,” said Tan. He also said that the Highland City, which used to be a steel factory, will offer its residents swimming pools, fitness center, jogging

path, sports facilities and biking trails, just to name a few. “Highland City will be highlighted by an 8,000-square-meter green and open park, which will have a grand staircase leading to the entrance mall,” Tan shared.

The Megaworld head honcho also explained that his company is looking at their townships as mass transit-oriented, as well as how they can contribute and help the tourism industry. “A lot of our buyers come from the OFW [sector] and they [have a] demand for condominiums,” explained Tan. Highland City will also house some retail areas and a 500-seatingcapacity church. The park will lead toward the mall and will serve as a “grand welcome” to the township.

On both sides of the park will be a six-lane road, which will serve as the main street entrance to the township.

Forty percent of the entire development will be dedicated to green and open spaces. Aside from the six-lane main road, the internal roads will be at least four lanes wide.

Megaworld owns 82 percent of Empire East Land Holdings Inc., which has been known for the development of mid-cost housing developments, including several transit-oriented residential developments in Metro Manila and in other parts of Luzon during the last 25 years. Among its projects include Laguna Bel-Air and The Sonoma in Santa Rosa, Laguna;

KEVIN ANDREW L. TAN

San Lorenzo Place in Makati City; The Rochester and Kasara Urban Resort Residences in Pasig City; Little Baguio Terraces and Mango Tree Residences in San Juan; Covent Garden in Santa Mesa, Manila; as well as California Garden Square, Pioneer Woodlands, The Paddington Place in Mandaluyong City. The two companies will spend P20 billion in the next 10 years to develop Highland City. Land development will commence by the second quarter of this year.

During the last 30 years, the Megaworld Group has built over 660 residential developments, 57 office towers and 17 lifestyle malls in 23 master-planned townships and integrated lifestyle communities across the Philippines. These include: Eastwood City in Libis, Quezon City, (18.5 hectares); Newport City in Pasay City (25 hectares); McKinley Hill (50 hectares),

McKinley West (34.5 hectares), Uptown Bonifacio (15.4 hectares) and Forbes Town (5 hectares), all in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City; The Mactan Newtown in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu (30 hectares); Iloilo Business Park in Mandurriao, Iloilo City (72 hectares); Santa Barbara Heights in Santa Barbara, Iloilo (173 hectares); Boracay Newcoast in Boracay Island (150 hectares); Twin Lakes in Alfonso, Batangas, near Tagaytay (1,300 hectares); ArcoVia City in Pasig City (12.3 hectares); Southwoods City in the boundaries of Cavite and Laguna (561 hectares); Davao Park District in Lanang, Davao City (11 hectares); Alabang West in Las Piñas City (62 hectares); Eastland Heights in Antipolo, Rizal (640 hectares); Suntrust Ecotown in Tanza, Cavite (350 hectares); Maple Grove in General Trias, Cavite (140 hectares); The Hamptons Caliraya in LumbanCavinti, Laguna (300 hectares); The Upper East (34 hectares) and Northill Gateway (50 hectares) both in Negros Occidental; Capital Town Pampanga beside the Pampanga Provincial Capitol in the City of San Fernando (35.6-hectares); and Westside City in the Entertainment City in Parañaque City (31 hectares.)

Business

E2 Wednesday, March 20, 2019

GREEN BUILDING TECHNOLOGY IN THE FUTURE OF FUEL RETAIL

THE station’s gas retail area

SHELL Mango’s convenience retail area

SHELL Select and Deli2Go on the ground floor

verter technology for chillers and air conditioning units for better energy efficiency.

A concept whose time has come

Amor Maclang

FIRST DIBS IN REAL ESTATE

L

OCATION, location, location.

This is an important mantra in real estate, which means one simple thing: Location is the most important factor in determining the value of a piece of land and the property that will be built on it.

Homes can experience spikes or drops in value due to nothing other than their location. In business, the location of an establishment largely determines its success or failure. It’s a simple guideline that’s crucial in many ways and yet is also one that’s often overlooked in favor of other, more pragmatic, factors.

Location is even more critical when establishing huge corporate headquarters, small start-up offices and pioneering retail shops.

The perfect spot

AN example of how crucial location

is when establishing a business can be gleaned from Pilipinas Shell’s recently inaugurated Shell Mango Station.

When the company went scouting for a piece of real estate that would be the site of their first-ever nextgeneration Shell station, they knew they had to find one that can give them the traffic they need—both foot and vehicle. They also wanted a location that’s within a community whose needs the station can ably provide. Fortunately, Pilipinas Shell found the perfect spot in Cebu City—on General Maxilom Avenue,

PROJECT champions: Randy del Valle, Shell Global Network Planning manager, and Ricky Altonaga, Shell Visayas district manager

or more popularly known as Mango Avenue. The avenue was named in honor of a hero of the Philippine Revolution. It is not only one of the main thoroughfares of Cebu City, it is also emerging as one of the city’s major entertainment spots.

The long stretch of Mango Avenue is home to a number of institutions— restaurants, schools, malls, churches, banks, and even bars. These are high-traffic establishments that make Mango Avenue one of the busiest streets in Cebu City. The avenue is also strategic because of its accessibility via Fuente Osmeña or Jones Avenue.

Giving back by going green

IN an interview, Pilipinas Shell National Sales Manager Kit Bermudez revealed, “We believe that Mango Avenue is geographically strategic as the location of our pioneering sta-

tion. This is also our way of giving back to our loyal Cebuano customers who have been supporting Shell for a long time.”

And give back, the company did.

The station has many features that are designed for sustainability and reduced energy consumption and environmental impact. These initiatives manifest Pilipinas Shell’s concern for Cebu City’s welfare.

For one thing, the pioneering Shell Mango Station showcases green elements such as solar panels to help cut down energy costs and a self-irrigating plant wall to cut down the station’s carbon footprint. It also has a rain-water collector that allows the station to use run-off water for the plants in the landscaped area.

The station also uses a kind of exterior paint that can convert air pollutants into breathable air and fully utilizes LED lighting and in-

THE station’s concept was cocreated

by Pilipinas Shell with the University of San Carlos students and faculty, to make sure that what Shell is offering is relevant to the students and to all the other members of the community.

In fact, the goal at the outset was to cocreate a station whose offerings match the needs of the community.

As such, the team came up with a design that’s meant to be some sort of an oasis, a community hub where students can study or where digital nomads can work remotely. They can do these at the second floor of the station’s two-story Shell Select.

Motorists can also find additional food choices in Deli2go, which offer a wide range of items such as filling meals, snacks to go, fresh food and drinks, local delicacies and, of course, coffee. There are also kiosks that offer flavored French fries, shawarma and bubble-tea drinks.

There is also a PUV terminal onsite for the benefit of commuters

who need to go to the station to buy things at the convenience store, to have coffee or to simply hang out.

The new Shell Mango Station gives new meaning to the term “full service.” Not only does it provide the usual services offered by gas stations—from fuel purchase to tuneups and oil changes—but other services not usually found in gas stations as well, such as a transport terminal.

And they offer all these in a carefully designed visual package that deserves the term next-generation.

A melting pot

CEBU has always been dubbed as a melting pot of sorts, for it is there where one can find basically everything and everyone. And although Cebu is primarily known for places and structures of historical significance for the older souls, as well as its awe-inspiring beaches for the sun lovers, there are places such as Mango Avenue that cater to the more modern traveler.

The recent establishment of a next-generation green retail station becomes a fitting addition to the growing list of landmarks on the prime stretch of Mango Avenue.

THE team behind Shell Mango

C-5 Mansions partners with Novel Residential

By Rizal Raoul S. Reyes

B

RIDGEWOOD Towers Premier

@brownindio

OUTIQUE developer C-5 Mansions Development Corp., in partnership with Novel Residential Concepts Inc., recently launched the Automatic Hotel Unit Lease Agreement that will offer the high-end units of its Ridgewood Towers Premier to the market Under business proposition, investors will earn a minimum guaranteed rent of 6 percent per annum based on the total cost of the unit investment. Bonus rents depending on the hotel’s occupancy rates are also offered, with investors being able to earn up to a total of 12-percent rent per annum. The business concept will offer units for sale at the 14th to 19th floors of Ridgewood Towers Premier solely for Aspen Hotel operations.

“The fast rise of office and commercial components in the Bonifacio

Global City poses an increased demand for short-term accommodations. There are no hotels in the Taguig and Makati side of C-5, and Aspen Hotel can fill this gap,” explained C-5 Mansions General Manager Alfonso Keh Jr. in press statement.

During the investors briefing, Keh said the investment program received a warm reception from the real-estate brokers who immediately recognized the golden opportunity presented by the project for their elite clients. Keh said their investment offer is an alternative asset class, which can yield higher rates than bank time deposits and a shield against the highly volatile stock market.

He added the hotel’s win-win proposition will provide a good balance of yearly return and capital appreciation that is secured by real estate whose title will be under the buyers’ names.

Keh pointed out the unprecedented growth of Bonifacio Global City

(BGC) presents an exciting investment opportunity within the hospitality industry. As office buildings and commercial areas continue to rise in the sprawling business district, he pointed out there is a going to be a rise in demand for more accommodations for both business and leisure travelers.

“We foresee a strong demand for our luxurious but affordable accommodations on this side of C-5 Road, and this means that our investors can be confident on the growth of their investments now and in the future,” Novel director Cris Giovanni Chiong said. “Aspen Hotel will consistently offer better rates and better ROI for our investors,” he promised.

The two partner firms have started the project at an opportune time, as C-5 Mansions recently won the 2018 Best Affordable Condo of the Year in Luzon by the Philippines Buyers’ Choice Property Awards of property portal Lamudi for its Ridgewood Towers Premier project.

sMirror

Wednesday, March 20, 2019 E3

A world-class expression of luxury village living

I

F you are building an investment portfolio, the sooner you start, the better.

And if you want to invest on real estate, one of your better choices among the wide array of upscale property options is the exclusive, award-winning The Enclave Alabang.

A signature development of highend real-estate brand Filigree, The Enclave Alabang was named the Best Residential Development of the Philippines at the Asia Pacific Property Awards 2018, the largest, most prestigious awards program in the region. It is Filigree’s first horizontal development, and was recognized for its thoughtful planning, meticulous craftsmanship and world-class features and amenities.

The award-winning project is the result of the artistic collaboration of the best architects,

low-density, small-knit community for utmost privacy and exclusivity. Phase one is approximately 10 hectares in size, with only 169 lots averaging at 350 sq m per lot. Very few lots remain for sale at The Enclave Alabang.

A major advantage of The Enclave Alabang is its strategic location. It is accessible and close to the central business district Filinvest City.

Other essential establishments are also well within reach: lifestyle and retail hubs, leading educational institutions and top-notch medical facilities. Situated along Daang Hari Road, access to the main thoroughfares—South Luzon Express Way, Skyway and the Muntinlupa-Cavite Express Way—is easy.

With its prime location, distinctive features and first-class amenities, The Enclave Alabang’s value has been increasing by 10 percent every year since its launch, making it a truly sound investment.

planners and interior designers—H1 Architecture as master planners, AECOM as landscape consultants and BUDJI+ROYAL Architecture+Design as interior designers. These world-class designers gave The Enclave Alabang a calming tropical resort-feel.

The property has an abundance of greens and open spaces. Natural hues were chosen for its features and amenities to allow residents to bask in nature—from the main entrance decked with palm trees to the Central Park with its stunning man-made lagoon and the iconic 1,500-square meter (sq m) Clubhouse with its relaxing lap pool, fitness gym for health and wellness, as well as private function rooms.

The Enclave Alabang is creating a

www.enclavealabang.com.

HOME

Sparking joy the home the KonMari way

ETHAN Allen partners with Christine Dychiao, the Philippines’s first and only KonMari consultant, for a Magic of Organizing Workshop

E

THAN Allen has been in the Philippines for more than 20 years and it has turned into more than just a furniture brand but a coveted lifestyle for many. This lifestyle gives importance to quality that elevates experience and enjoyment in home. This year, Ethan Allen is committed in sparking joy in home by upholding its promise of quality and

exceptional pieces while keeping your home organized and well-appointed.

Today, what defines a coveted lifestyle is a simpler and basic way of living.

It’s all about keeping what is essential and what truly sparks joy in your life.

Ethan Allen believes that this lifestyle can be achieved by hosting a KonMari Workshop with Christine Dychiao,

Philippines’s first and only certified KonMari consultant.

The KonMari method

CHRISTINE DYCHIAO is a lifestyle influencer and the only certified KonMari consultant in the Philippines that underwent training with the team of Marie Kondo in Chicago. She has worked with

numerous clients in their organizing journey and is a religious practitioner herself.

It was a delightful brunch graced by Ethan Allen VIP clients and lifestyle influencers as Christine shared the principle behind the KonMari method and how life transforming it is and changes your perspective. Aside from this, she shared tips and tricks on decluttering and specific KonMari techniques you can apply in the home such as the KonMari folding method. During the workshop, Christine also highlighted “KonMari approved” Ethan Allen pieces that are perfect for organizing the home while keeping it stylish at the same. Such pieces that hold generous storage and room is the Jocelyn Etagere, a tall and statement piece that can beautifully display your book and accent pieces.

Another is the Powell Double Dresser that leaves a lot of room to store your clothing, bedding while the Brandt Buffet is the perfect piece to store your delicate dinnerware. These and more furniture items were highlighted during the workshop.

Guests were also toured around the showroom to view the latest Uptown Collection and treated with an exclusive discount. The workshop served as good venue for home and lifestyle conversation savored with exceptional food.

Visit one of their showrooms to see new additions to Ethan Allen’s collection of personalized, luxurious furniture at Twenty-four seven McKinley, 24th Street corner 7th Avenue, BGC in Taguig.

NEW TECHNOLOGY REDUCES CEMENT PLANT’S DUST EMISSIONS BY 75%

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EPUBLIC Cement, in its desire to uphold the well-being of its community stakeholders and minimize its environmental footprint, has taken on the challenge to reduce its dust emissions.

Among its recent investments is the installation of state-of-the art bag filters to replace its kiln electrostatic precipitator. The bag filters act as a “sock” catching dust from its stacks before air is released into the atmosphere, thereby capturing it from the point of origin.

After installation, Republic Cement’s stack emission was reduced by over 75 percent emitting dust at a minimal level of <20 mg/Nm3, well below the Philippine limit (<150 mg/Nm3).

“At this level [<20mg/Nm3], we have already reached the best available global standard. Dust is no longer visible coming from our stacks. This is our strategic direction for Republic Cement plants,” shared Martin Wills, Republic Cement Services Inc. vice president for manufacturing.

While this initiative has addressed

the largest contributor of dust emissions in its plants, Republic Cement is also keen on reducing ground level dust caused by materials transport in and outside of its plants.

“While the law mandates for us to have dust emissions below 150 mg/ Nm3, we’re going the extra mile to keep our emissions well below the legal limit.

We believe in being responsible neighbors within the communities we are part of. These investments are part of our contribution to a greener and stronger Republic,” added Wills.

The company has invested in road concreting within its premises and within the perimeter of its host communities as part of its Social Development and Management Program and CSR initiatives. This would significantly reduce fugitive dust potentially generated by dirt roads. The company has also invested in vacuum trucks that pneumatically suck dust inside the plants.

In addition, Republic is looking to invest in more bag filters for its clinker conveyors, finish mills and pack-houses.

REPUBLIC Cement bag house filters aimed at reducing its dust emissions in its Bulacan Plant

It plans to deploy its new technology in Batangas and Teresa plants this year

as part of its rolling program to drive emissions down to world-class levels.

Keeping the value of your condo property

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NCE a developer has closed the deal with a homebuyer or investor, an equally important task remains, and that is to make the unit owner feel that they made the right decision. And this should be felt in the daily living experience—through a safe and secure environment, the ready availability of facilities and amenities, and an overall atmosphere of convenience and comfort.

Those who live in condominiums as a primary residence want to make sure that their home serves as a lasting store of value; while those in the market for investment naturally want to enjoy high and consistent rental potential. This is where property management plays a crucial role in helping meet all these expectations.

The challenge is even greater for high-end condominium developments, where standards are stricter and operational demands are more exacting. At Pacific Plaza Towers, for instance, property management remains a critical aspect of maintaining its high-market value.

As one of the most iconic high-rise residences in the country and a pioneering vertical community in Bonifacio Global City in Taguig, the standards Pacific Plaza Towers has set for property management of an upscale condominium endures even more than 18 years since the development was completed.

Just what does property management entail? It primarily involves looking after the condominium as a physical structure or asset. This covers the usual tasks of ensuring that the common areas, facilities and amenities are all clean and in working order; and that the building’s technical and operational aspects are running smoothly at all times.

At the same time, property management also means providing a safe and secure environment. In Pacific Plaza Towers, for instance, residents enjoy a wholesome and friendly community atmosphere. The condominium recently underwent a renovation of its amenities such as its pool, jacuzzi and garden area—creating a landscaping masterpiece that residents and visitors alike compare to a resort-like environment.

It is this intangible factor of a warm and welcoming community that ultimately sets condominium properties like Pacific Plaza Towers apart, and that enables it to keep its prestige, more than mere market factors of location, price or amenities.

More so, key to having an effective property management is an efficient and trustworthy staff. Aside from technical expertise, the dedication and commitment of each team member to their respective duties are essential. Since property management staff is also privy to the activities of unit owners and the entire community, personal integrity is a nonnegotiable trait.

For this reason, the management of Pacific Plaza Towers takes a proactive approach in both implementing a strict code of conduct while, at the same time, rewarding excellence through incentives and bonuses during regular performance reviews. The management is constantly improving and professionalizing its team, comprising all staff including rank-and-file employees.

The value of the real-estate market is largely hinged on the capacity of property management to take care of physical assets, and to provide outstanding customer service. As such, together with the steady growth of the real-estate industry, the allied industry of property management continues to expand and evolve, as well.

It is a challenge for property management professionals and workers to constantly improve their skills, capabilities and know-how, as well as enhance their customer service orientation to keep up with the demands of the sector. In many ways, excellence in the field of property management ensures the steady growth and expansion of the real-estate industry.

Entrepreneur BusinessMirror

E4 Wednesday, March 20, 2019

www.businessmirror.com.ph

GrabFood widens food-delivery service in renewed bid to boost entrepreneurship

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By Rizal Raoul S. Reyes

@brownindio

Contributor

FTER building a track record as a super app in the transport network business, Grab now aims to boost entrepreneurship through the expansion of its fooddelivery service, GrabFood, by forging partnerships with more micro and small food businesses to reach out to more markets and customers.

“Even as I speak to my team, one of the most important things to ask is, why do we grow the business?

One of Grab’s most important objectives of its vision is to grow micro entrepreneurship. That is quite important for us. We’ve done that on transport by bringing more earning opportunities for car drivers,” said EJ de la Vega, GrabFood Philippines head in a recent interview with the BusinessMirror.

“Now we’ve really grown our opportunities that will enable more earning opportunities to thousands of delivery-partners with motorbikes,” he added.

Through Grab’s online store front, de la Vega said entrepreneurs are assured of a level playing field because they can now compete with the bigger players in terms of promoting their products.

“The idea of an online store front is that a small business is no longer

constrained by location and definitely opens up more opportunities despite of not having a presence in a mall or a high foot traffic area,” de la Vega pointed out.

“The GrabFood system allows you to expand your reach beyond the confines of your store,” he added.

By going online, de la Vega said a small business can accept a bigger volume of customers in contrast to a brick-and-mortar setup constrained by a very limited space.

“We level the playing field in the restaurant space, and I love to hear from them that they achieved growth despite the limited space in their physical store,” he said.

He said GrabFood also serves as a marketing platform that will enable micro and small businesses to reach more clients.

Right now, Grab has over 5,000 food merchants to serve the market.

Brian Cu, president of Grab

PHL franchising sector seen growing 25 percent this year

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HE country’s franchising industry is expected to increase a whopping 25 percent to $31 billion this year on the back of increased consumer spending brought about by strong economic growth.

“Generally, the Philippine franchise sector is thriving and actually is not only thriving but it’s really on a roll,” Philippine Franchise Association [PFA] President Richard Sanz said during a news briefing on Thursday last week.

Sanz said the increasing disposable incomes and consumer spending of the middle class, which is expected to comprise the majority of the Philippine population over the next few years, is among the key growth drivers of the sector.

He also cited the dispersion of jobs into key cities outside of Metro Manila, particularly in Laguna, Cebu, Iloilo and Bacolod.

“When you move around, a lot of demands are also there. You have the demand for the malls, for food, for services, and that is what is driving the franchising growth,” he said. “And we saw this [trend] starting late last year, that is why our [growth] projection increased slightly.”

Sanz noted the continuous creation of new homegrown brands is serving the needs of consumers amid the expansion of the secondand third-tier cities.

He said this year’s projected growth for the sector is much higher compared to 10 percent to 15 percent, and 15 percent to 20 percent during the past years.

“But this year, we are very bullish on this growth because of these circumstances that we have seen,” Sanz added. “Recently, we have seen a great leap on the performance in terms of revenue expansion that is why, we are projecting a 25-percent growth this year.”

He noted that total revenues of the sector increased from $22 billion in 2017 to $25 billion last year, which was equivalent to 7 percent of the country’s gross domestic product.

In 2019, Sanz said food franchises are expected to dominate the sector.

“We are projecting maybe right now, food is around 55 percent of the total pie, but we are looking at 10 percent plus for health and services. Fashion is a bit challenged, but they can be taken up by the health and the service sectors,” he said in an interview.

Meanwhile, the PFA is set to hold Asia’s biggest franchise show, Franchise Asia Philippines 2019, from March 27 to 31 at the SMX Convention Center in Manila.

Franchise Asia Philippines overall Cochairman Chris Lim said the expo will feature over 700 franchise and other business opportunities.

“We are also happy to announce that our expo this year will showcase country pavilions from Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia and Singapore,” Lim said. “This is proof positive that the Philippines has indeed become the Franchise Hub of Asia.” PNA

GRABFOOD Philippines Head EJ de la Vega (left) poses for a souvenir snapshot with Ronald McDonald. With them are McDonald’s Philippines Managing Director Margot Torres and Grab Philippines President Brian Cu.

Philippines, said Grab is engaged in the so-called everyday business to serve the daily essential needs of highly social Filipinos, while improving the revenue of merchantpartners and providing livelihood for delivery partners.

“As the only everyday super app for Filipinos, our mission is to use technology to help improve the lives of both our consumers and partners.

With food delivery as one of our most important business focuses for 2019, we will continue to bring innovative and rewarding food experiences to our consumers, while helping our partners reap the benefits of participating in the Philippines’s digital economy,” Cu said.

Recently, GrabFood formed a partnership with McDonald’s

Philippines for its delivery service with additional online storefronts, access to millions of Grab users and an extended pool of delivery partners.

“Our partnership with McDonald’s Philippines is consistent with our vision of helping Filipinos become micro-entrepreneurs via the Grab platform. At GrabFood, we are

committed to empower businesses and micro-entrepreneurs, and help them embrace new methods to grow their business,” de la Vega said.

“Our best-performing delivery partners can earn up to two times the minimum daily national average, on flexible schedules that they decide on. While restaurant-partners can expect incremental orders and revenue on top of the in-store visits they receive. We have effectively become the trusted platform of our consumers and partners, making us the number one fooddelivery app in the Philippines,” added de la Vega.

GrabFood continues to sustain its hyper growth stage after growing 12 times in terms of completed orders in less than a year since its beta launch last June 2018.

“Through this partnership, we’re excited to offer our customers another convenient way to access our food online. We are confident that GrabFood can help bring McDonald’s closer to ‘time-starved consumers,’” said Margot Torres, managing director of McDonald’s Philippines.

As the only everyday super app for Filipinos, our mission is to use technology to help improve the lives of both our consumers and partners. With food delivery as one of our most important business focuses for 2019, we will continue to bring innovative and rewarding food experiences to our consumers, while helping our partners reap the benefits of participating in the Philippines’s digital economy.”—Cu

China start-up companies advertise for ‘good-looking’ tech workers

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YEAR ago, China’s largest technology companies were lambasted for posting job ads seeking male employees by using “good-looking” female workers to try to lure coders. The giants scrubbed their posts in response.

Yet, the next generation of China’s tech superstar wannabes apparently haven’t gotten the message.

On the country’s two largest job web sites—Liepin and Zhaopin— thousands of ads for Internet companies use language that suggests bias based on appearance, gender or age.

That includes postings for US-listed online education site LAIX Inc., as well as UniCareer and iZhaohu. Some ask candidates to “have presentable facial features” or be “under the age of 30.” More than 1,000 postings used beauty as bait, with many boasting that they employ “good-looking men and women.”

The prevalence of the posts, more than a year after the #MeToo movement became a global phenomenon, highlights the challenges China faces in enforcing fair hiring practices.

This approach to filling tech positions contrasts with President Xi Jinping’s pledge to fight against workplace discrimination amid a shrinking workforce, even as the country cracks down on feminist activists and scrapes the Web of #MeToo content.

“Chinese tech companies are falling behind western peers and need better awareness of equal opportunity and more clearly defined policies banning discrimination,” said Wang Yaqiu, a researcher at Human Rights Watch, a nonprofit group that has conducted studies about the issue in China.

“Discriminatory practices can be even worse at smaller companies because they lack the scrutiny that publicly traded companies are under.”

Liepin and Zhaopin don’t generate the job listings, instead acting as conduits in publicizing positions. Liepin didn’t respond to e-mail queries to its

investor relations unit’s e-mail address.

Zhaopin said in an e-mailed statement that it doesn’t allow discriminatory terms in recruitment ads.

Zhaopin also said it has made efforts to check posted ads and to ensure they don’t violate related laws in China, adding that job seekers can flag violations.

The ads from the start-ups come after Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., Tencent Holdings Ltd. and Baidu Inc., the powerhouses of China’s Internet, were criticized for posting jobs open only to men. They removed the ads, with Tencent and Baidu apologizing.

Alibaba said it implements strict policies on equal opportunity.

had “ foreign and Chinese beauties and hunks” in trying to hire software engineers. LAIX said the language it used was in no way trying to discriminate based on looks yet to emphasize that the company is an international outfit with vitality. The company also said it would change the language in its ads and has been working toward equal opportunity in the workplace.

UniCareer, an online education platform that has attracted C-round fund-raising, said in its ads that it has so many beauties working there that “they were as numerous as clouds in the sky.” UniCareer didn’t respond to queries to its general e-mail addresses.

Lacking enforcement

Attractiveness sells

CHINA bans job discrimination based on gender and stipulates the importance of equal opportunity. Yet, a lack of enforcement means there’s few repercussions to discriminatory hiring practices.

Many of the job posts are for positions where looks should be considered irrelevant—programmers, assistants or administrative staff. Shanghaibased iZhaohu, a hiring platform for on-demand nurses, said it has attracted series A investment. Its job postings requested that applicants have “presentable facial features” for nursing positions. iZhaohu didn’t respond to e-mail queries for comment sent to the general address on its web site.

“Even though looks seemingly are irrelevant, Chinese Internet companies like to use these catch phrases a lot,” said Lion Niu, a Beijing-based senior consultant at headhunter CGL Consulting, which counts Alibaba and Meituan Dianping among its clients. “In some divisions that are male dominant, companies still think by hiring a woman, they can boost morale for the coders.”

Companies still use beauty as bait.

LAIX, a $600-million US-listed online education platform also known as Liulishuo, said in its ad that the company

IT’S part of human psychology to place importance on appearance when hiring, according to Catherine Hakim, a professorial research fellow at Civitas, a London think tank and author of Honey Money: Why Attractiveness is the Key to Success. According to her research, the #MeToo movement hasn’t changed the significance that people place on looks when it comes to hiring, promotions and daily interactions at work. Attractive men and women earn about 20 percent more than others, on average, Hakim said.

“It is a mistake to think that your appearance is not important in professional jobs,” said Hakim. “I realize it sounds old-fashioned for employers to prefer attractive employees, but research shows that in the 21st century, this is actually sound common sense.”

Susan T. Fiske, a professor of psychology and public affairs at Princeton University in New Jersey, has another view. She says the tendency to think that physically appealing people are more successful doesn’t mean companies should incorporate such notions into hiring policies.

“Everyone enjoys looking at an attractive person, it’s rewarding. People refer to attractive people as eye candy,”

Fiske said. Yet “judging people on any superficial feature is not only wrong but dumb because it’s a waste of human capital.”

Economic imbalance

PROVIDING more job opportunities for women could result in economic benefits. China could add as much as $2.6 trillion to annual gross domestic product by 2025, a 13-percent jump, by improving gender parity to match the best in the Asia Pacific region, according to a 2018 report by McKinsey & Co. While China has a relatively high female-to-male labor-force participation ratio, the proportion of women in leadership positions remains low, the report said.

“Overall, there has been no substantial advance in women’s equality in recent years,” according to the McKinsey report. “China can build on its emerging strength in women’s entrepreneurship in the e-commerce and technology sectors to continue to encourage more women into professional and technical fields and into leadership positions.”

While gender equality has a long way to go worldwide—globally men hold 62 percent of management positions—it’s the blatant bias in hiring in China that stands out.

Much is also rooted in culture.

Even today, Chinese companies and investors bond over drinking in karaoke parlors accompanied by female escorts. While bigger firms are starting to clean up their act and implement best practices, smaller companies—often fixated on growth and expansion—are unapologetic about age preferences, said Niu, adding that clients show greater preference for young men when it comes to coding and engineering positions.

“The more intense workload at smaller start-ups and lack of corporate governance are all reasons why gender and age discrimination is worse among start-ups,” Niu said. Bloomberg News