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BSP firms up plan to address threat posed by informal remittance channels

FINANCIAL EXCLUSION BURDENS OFWs

OVERSEAS Filipino workers (OFWs) gather at the HSBC Building in the central business district of Hong Kong in this August 13, 2006, file photo. The volume of cash sent home by OFWs is significantly larger than what the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has on record, as some OFWs choose to course their remittances through informal channels, or those unregulated and unmonitored by the Central Bank. Paul Hilton/Bloomberg News

C

By Bianca Cuaresma

ash remittances to the country sent by Filipino migrants back home have long been a source of the economy’s strength, with billions of dollars being pushed into the country’s cash stream annually as fresh fuel.

In 2016 cash remittances coursed through banks alone hit $26.9 billion for the year, growing by 5 percent from the previous year’s total.

Latest data from the Central Bank also showed cash sent by Filipino migrant workers beat the seasonal slack in January to grow faster than the expansion in the holiday season.

In particular, cash remittances coursed through banks in January this year grew 8.6 percent from the same month in 2016 to hit $2.17 billion.

This is also an acceleration from the 3.6 percent seen last December, where remittances are supposed to be the highest, as overseas

Filipino workers (OFWs) finance holiday expenditures of their families in the Philippines.

‘Financial exclusion’

In reality, however, the volume of cash sent home by Filipino workers is significantly larger than what the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has on record, as some OFWs choose to course their remittances through informal channels, or those unregulated and unmonitored by the Central Bank.

Central Bank Deputy Governor for the Monetary Stability Sector Diwa C. Guinigundo said remittances coursed through informal channels range from 4 Continued on A2

BOC raids on Mighty Corp. warehouses yield ₧4-B ‘fake’ tax stamps, cigarettes

By Marna Dagumboydel Rosario Philippines News Agency

Joserpizarro | Dreamstime.com

S

PESO exchange rates n US 50.3390

AN ILDEFONSO, Bulacan— Officials of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) on Friday seized some P4 billion worth of allegedly counterfeit Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) tax stamps and cigarettes carrying the “Mighty” and “Marvel” brands in two warehouses inside the Nazarene Trading Co. at Kilometer 64, Barangay Matimbubong here.

The allegedly fake BIR tax stamps, along with the cigarettes, were seized in two warehouses

owned by the controversial tobacco firm Mighty. Corp., manufacturer of Mighty and Marvel cigarette brands, whose owner and top executives on Wednesday were charged by the BIR in a P9.564billion tax-evasion case before the Department of Justice for allegedly using fake tax stamps on their products to evade the payment of excise tax to the government.

In an interview with Customs Commissioner Nicanor E. Faeldon, the forfeited cigarettes, totaling 160,000 master cases and 80 million cigarette packs, seized by the raiding team have an estimated P4 See “Mighty,” A2

n japan 0.4538 n UK 63.0395 n HK 6.4813 n CHINA 7.3103 n singapore 35.9795 n australia 38.3885 n EU 54.2956 n SAUDI arabia 13.4245

Source: BSP (24 March 2017 )

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A2 Saturday, March 25, 2017

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Financial exclusion burdens ofws percent to 8 percent of the total remittance flows to the country.

This means that about $1.1 billion to $2.2 billion passes through informal couriers to the Philippines.

The move to informal channels for remittances, according to Guini-

gundo, posts a threat, as it decreases the reliability, certainty and safety of remittances. This is recognized as an antimoney-laundering risk, and may increase the vulnerability of financial systems.

The shift to informal channels also lessens the possibility of OFWs accessing financial services from the banks and other formal finan-

cial-service providers, this adding to so-called financial exclusion.

The World Bank also earlier said antimoney-laundering efforts resulting in the derisking of certain foreign banks prompted closures of accounts and, thus, diverting OFWs to informal channels.

Guingundo said the BSP continues to monitor the potential impact

of derisking activities, particularly in major host countries where there is high concentration of Filipinos, with some Philippine banks reporting to have already opened new accounts with foreign banks, thus, making it easier for Filipinos to transfer funds.

Lowering money-transfer cost

The BSP has also been long in coor-

$1.1B-$2.2B The Central Bank’s estimated amount of remittances coursed through informal channels yearly dination with the Association of Bank Remittance Officers Inc. to bring down costs of formal money transfers, through the Philippine Payments and Settlements System (PhilPaSS) Remit.

“With the signing of the memorandum of agreement between the BSP and the banks, the remitting bank only pays P5 per transaction to the BSP, regardless of amount, for remittances made via the PhilPaSS Remit to transfer funds to beneficiaries’ accounts with other banks,” Guinigundo told the BusinessMirror.

“Moreover, with the use of PhilPaSS Remit, receiving banks have agreed to charge P50 per transaction as backend fees, significantly ​lower​ than​the back-end fees of P150 to P250 if remittances are not done via PhilPaSS Remit,” he added.

A local analyst said that, while fees have “significantly come down” through the PhilPass Remit, advances still need to be done in the remittance industry not only in the sending process of remittances, but also in the receiving end of money transfer.

“I’d say the use of PhilPass of the BSP has lowered the cost of sending home remittances to as low as $5 per transaction, and the clearing time has been cut down given the real-time gross settlement system. We’re a world leader in the remittance business, but perhaps the last leg of development would be to get both

Mighty…

senders and end-users familiar with technological developments, like sending money through secure apps of banks,” an analyst said.

Flexibility

What the BSP is doing on the receiving end of the moneytransfer industry, Guinigundo said in response to the BusinessMirror’s queries, is to relax particular rules to allow for more flexibility in receiving money abroad, as well as to educate OFW beneficiaries on financial literacy.

Among these include the clarification of existing regulations in the identification process of OFWs. “The guidelines essentially relaxed the customer identification requirement to one valid photo-bearing ID issued by an official authority,” the BSP said.

The BSP is also looking into giving banks further flexibility in terms of its knowyour-customer process—particularly allowing financial consumers to submit identification requirements online.

As such, government IDs and other official documents allowed for identity verification will be allowed through electronic photographic images and video-messaging service under certain conditions.

These updates, according to the Central Bank, have been approved already, and are awaiting the signature of the governor anytime soon.

Continued from a1

billion in street value.

Faeldon said the P4 billion-plus worth of seized cigarettes and tax stamps were allegedly owned by Mighty Corp. through Mission Order 03-23-107, Series of 2017.

“This is the biggest volume that we have raided based on the previous volume we seized in San Simon in Pampanga,” Faeldon said.

He added the BOC will issue warrant and forfeiture of cigarettes order pending the computation on the excise tax of the forfeited cigarettes.

Faeldon noted that mere

possession of products paid will be multiplied by 10 for the computation of the entire penalty.

In November 2016 Faeldon said the BOC raiding team also seized smuggled raw materials and tax stamps in Villasis, Pangasinan, which led to the arrest of 24 Chinese working in the warehouses.

The BIR has not yet made an actual inventory of the products.

The two warehouses here in San Ildefonso have been sealed with new padlocks and are now being secured by four Customs personnel.

Paul Hilton/Bloomberg News

Continued from a1

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Trump orders tougher screening of visa applicants

W

ASHINGTON—The Trump administration is making it tougher for millions of visitors to enter the United States by demanding new security checks before giving visas to tourists, business travelers and relatives of US residents.

Diplomatic cables sent last week from Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson to all US embassies instructed consular officials to broadly increase scrutiny. It was the first evidence of the “extreme vetting” Trump promised during the presidential campaign.

The new rules generally do not apply to 38 countries—including most of Europe and longstanding allies, like Australia, New Zealand, Japan and South Korea—whose citizens can be speedily admitted into the US under the visa waiver program.

No countries from the Middle East or Africa are part of the program. In 2016 the US issued more than 10 million visas to foreign visitors.

Even stricter security checks for people from six predominantly Muslim nations remain on hold because federal courts have temporarily blocked President Donald J. Trump’s travel ban.

But Tr ump and his nationa l secur it y team are not waiting to toughen the r u les to decide who can enter the US. Embassy officials must now scr utinize a broader pool of v isa applicants to deter mine if they pose secur it y r isks to the US, according to fou r c ables sent bet ween March 10 and March 17.

That extra scrutiny will include asking applicants detailed questions about their background and making mandatory checks of social-media history if a person has ever been in territory controlled by the Islamic State.

Trump has spoken regularly of his concern about the threat of “radical Islamic terrorism” from immigrants. But it is unclear who, exactly, will be targeted for the extra scrutiny since Tillerson’s

cables leave that decision up to security officers at each embassy.

Sti l l, ta ken together, consular officials and immigration advocates said, the administration’s moves w il l increase the likelihood of denia l for those seek ing to come to the US and w i l l f u r t he r s low a bu re au c rat ic approva l process t h at can a lready ta ke months, or even years, for those f lag ged for extra investigation.

There are legitimate reasons someone might be targeted, such as evidence of a connection to terrorism or crime. But advocates also said they worry about people being profiled because of their name or nationality.

“This will certainly slow down the screening process and impose a substantial burden on these applicants,” said Greg Chen, director of advocacy for the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

“It will make it much harder and create substantial delays.”

T he cables from Tillerson, which were reported by Reuters, make clear that the Trump administration wants a more intense focus on the potential for a serious threat when making decisions about who should receive a visa.

“Con su l a r of f icers shou ld not hesitate to refuse any case presenting security concerns,” Tillerson wrote in the cables, titled “Implementing Immediate Heightened Screening and Vetting of Visa Applications”.

“All visa decisions are national security decisions,” the secretary of state added.

During his presidential camp a i g n , Tr u m p a c c u s e d t h e Obama administration of failing to properly screen people coming into the US, a claim former

Lawsuits blaming Saudi Arabia for September 11 get new life

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E W YO R K— Fo r y e a r s , f a m i l y members of those killed on September 11 and insurance companies tried unsuccessfully through the cour ts to hold S audi Arabia or businesses and organizations there responsible for the terrorist attacks. Now that Congress has cleared the way, they’re making a fresh effort.

In the nex t year, the Manhattan federal courts will make rulings signaling to thousands of family members of those killed and injured first responders whether passage of the 2016 Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act was largely a symbolic exercise or a catalyst to getting them to trial.

Timothy Litzenburg, a Richmond, Virginia, lawyer, said his firm raced to cour t hours after Congress overrode former President Barack Obama’s veto in late September, hoping to get an early start on winning damages for litigants.

“We thought maybe we could do the first trial,” he said. But now that the lawsuits have been consolidated before a New York federal court, Litzenburg predicts it could be a decade before there is a resolution for over a dozen lawsuits filed against the kingdom.

US Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn tried to put the litigation on a faster track on Thursday, telling dozens of lawyers at a Manhattan conference that she believes some of the lawsuits can be combined because they make identical or similar claims. She noted the latest lawsuit had been filed just hours earlier.

James Kreindler, a plaintiffs’ lawyer in

one new lawsuit, told her he expects the lawsuits may be combined into two legal actions, perhaps within a month. Michael Kellogg, a lawyer for Saudi Arabia, said at Thursday’s hearing that lawyers for plaintiffs were unfairly using mostly the same plaintiffs in 9/11 cases brought 14 years ago to make new claims against Saudi Arabia.

“They’ve added a number of different allegations, which will complicate the process,” he said. Saudi Arabia, an important US ally in the Middle East, had lobbied against the new law. President Donald J. Trump had called Obama’s veto “shameful”.

Obama said he rejected it because it could open up the US government to lawsuits around the world claiming that the US has supported terrorism.

Sovereign immunity usually protects governments from lawsuits, but the bill creates an exception that lets litigants hold foreign governments responsible if they support a terrorist attack that kills US citizens on American soil. Previous efforts to hold Saudi Arabia, its officials and banks and charitable organizations responsible for the attacks have failed in the courts.

Not all of the cases have been tossed out solely for sovereign immunity reasons.

In 2008 the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that four Saudi princes cannot be held liable in the September 11 attacks, even if they were aware that charitable donations to Muslim groups would be funneled to al-Qaeda. The court said the plaintiffs would need to prove the princes engaged in intentional actions aimed at US residents. AP

Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson (right) and Attorney General Jeff Sessions at a briefing, where they discussed President Donald J. Trump’s revised travel ban at the Department of Homeland Security in Washington on March 6. Diplomatic cables sent last week from Tillerson to all American embassies instructed consular officials to broadly increase scrutiny of visa applicants. Stephen Crowley/The New York Times

officials in that administration reject. As a candidate, Trump vowed to ban all incoming Muslims until leaders could “ figure out what the hell is going on”.

Later, he backed away from a total ban on Muslims but promised “extreme vetting” of those trying to come to the US. The president’s first attempt to put tougher sc reen i ng i n place was the executive order a i med at tempora r i ly bloc king refugees and people whom Trump called “ bad dudes” from predominantly Muslim countries. Courts blocked the first version of that order after a chaotic rollout just days into his term. A second order was blocked this month.

But March 6, the same day that Trump issued his revised travel ban, he also wrote a presidential memorandum ordering the secretary of state, the attorney general and the secretary

of homeland security to “ implement protocols and procedures” to enhance visa screening.

Administration officials said the cables from Tillerson are among the actions being taken to carry out that memorandum.

Mark Toner, a State Department spokesman, said the steps aim “to more effectively identify individuals who could pose a threat to the United States.”

Most people seeking entr y to the United States, for family, business or tourism reasons, must apply for a visa. Embassy officials can deny a visa for anyone suspected of being a threat, conducting fraud or planning to stay longer than allowed.

The seven-page unclassified cable that Tillerson sent on March 15, which was provided to The New York Times, makes clear that the process of securing a visa is about to get harder and longer at diplomatic posts around the globe.

“Consular chiefs must immediately convene post’s law enforcement and intelligence community partners” to develop what Tillerson described in the cable as “sets of post-applicant populations warranting increased scrutiny”.

People targeted for increased scrutiny, Tillerson said in his cable, may be subject to a decision made only after more rigorous screening. The March 15 cable suggests areas of inquiry during a required interview, including: the applicant’s travel history, addresses and work history for 15 years; and all phone numbers, e-mail addresses and social-media handles used in the past five years.

A nother cable, sent two days l ater, ind icated t hat consu l a r of f icers shou ld not beg in asking for t he 15 -yea r t ravel a nd work h istor ies u nt i l t he St ate De pa r t ment received aut ho r i z at ion f rom t he O f f ice of

Ma nagement a nd Budget. It is u nc lea r why t hat per m ission had not been g ra nted.

The State Department also urged its embassy officials to delay or reschedule interviews if an applicant was unable to provide all of the information demanded. A nd Tillerson acknowledged in the cables that the extra scrutiny would cause “ backlogs to rise,” even as he recommended that officials should each interview no more than 120 visa applicants each day.

Chen of the A merican Immigration Lawyers Association questioned how an interviewer conducting 120 interviews per day—at about five minutes per interview—could improve security. “ It ’s h i g h ly u n l i k e ly t he y could obtain information that demonstrates whether someone is a national security threat in such a brief interview process,” he said. New York Times News Service

United Nations chief accuses South Sudan’s government of ignoring refugee, famine crises

U

NITED NATIONS—UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres accused South Sudan’s government on Thursday of refusing to express “a ny me a n i n g f u l conce r n” about the plight of 100,000 people suffering from famine, 7.5 million in need of humanitarian aid and thousands more fleeing fighting.

The UN chief delivered a sharp rebuke to the country’s president, Salva Kiir, saying that most often the international community hears denials—“a refusal by the leadership to even acknowledge the crisis or to fulfil its responsibilities to end it.” Guterres told the Security Council that Kiir’s intention to hold a national dialogue “is not convincing” in the absence of consultation with opponents, the “systematic curtailment of basic political freedoms, and restrictions on humanitarian access.”

South Sudan’s Deputy Ambassador Joseph Moum Malok said the government “takes issue with the accusation” that it is responsible for the famine in two counties and said other parts of the country are affected by drought. He said the government “will spare no efforts to

help address the situation and calls upon the international community to help address this urgent matter.”

There were high hopes that South Sudan would have peace and stability after its independence from neighboring Sudan in 2011. But the country plunged into ethnic violence in December 2013 when forces loyal to Kiir, a Dinka, started battling those loyal to Riek Machar, his former vice president who is a Nuer. A peace deal signed in August 2015 has not stopped the fighting and the three-year civil war has devastated the country, killed tens of thousands, and contributed to a recently declared famine in two counties. The United Nations has a 12,000-strong peacekeeping mission in South Sudan and the Security Council last year approved an additional 4,000 peacekeepers from the region to help protect civilians after a series of reported gang rapes and other assaults when fighting erupted in Juba last July.

Guterres said the UN continues to work for the deployment of the regional force and restoration of the peace process, but he stressed that “no such force, and no amount of diplomacy,

can substitute for the lack of political will among those who govern the country.”

“There is a strong consensus that South Sudanese leaders need to do more to demonstrate their commitment to the wellbeing of the country’s people, who are among the poorest in the world,” the secretary-general said. Guterres said greater pressure is needed if there is any hope of the leaders changing their approach, which means “first and foremost that the region and the Security Council must speak with one voice.

At the moment, the council and the region remain divided over two key ways to step up pressure—an arms embargo and slapping sanctions on additional people blocking peace.

US Deputy Ambassador Michele Sison said the UN doesn’t need any more warnings “about the prospect for further mass atrocities,” calling the ongoing violence and atrocities “beyond acceptable”. She reiterated the Obama administration’s support for an arms embargo and sanctions against additional individuals, including those blocking UN peacekeeping or humanitarian missions and expanding the conflict.

Guterres urged leaders from countries in the regional group IGAD who will be meeting in Nairobi in two days and council members to support three objectives: achieving an immediate cessation of hostilities, restoring the peace process, which means consulting and ensuring representation of the opposition, and ensuring unrestricted humanitarian access.

The top monitor of South Sudan’s peace deal, former Botswana President Festus Mogae, echoed Guterres’s call for a unified approach that also includes the African Union and the international community, saying the security, economic and humanitarian situation in the country “has steadily deteriorated to an unacceptable level”.

“Across the board, there is a heightened sense of alarm over the fact that the situation is slipping out of control,” Mogae told the council. “We must now stand together to do something about it.”

South Sudan’s Malok warned that an arms embargo and additional sanctions “would further aggravate the situation and would hit hard the vulnerable groups, as the previous experiences had proved.” AP

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BusinessMirror Three Duterte appointees in agri agencies face gauntlet A4

Saturday, March 25, 2017

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Survival of ‘fittest’ in bureaucracy I

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

@jearcalas

n a series of events that unfolded in the past few weeks, three of the agriculture-related agencies under the Office of the Cabinet Secretary (OCS) have been put on the spotlight amid a flurry of corruption allegations and accusations of defiance of authority.

T hese t h ree a genc ies a nd their heads who seem to have b e e n c au g ht i n a s w i r l a r e Philippine Coconut Author it y (PC A) Administrator Avelino A nda l, for mer Nationa l Ir r igation Administration (NI A) Administrator Peter Tiu Lav iña, and Nationa l Food Author it y Administrator Jose Aquino.

The PCA case

The latest to hog newspaper headlines and broadcast airwaves was the PCA. On March 20 the OCS said Andal has been placed on preventive suspension to pave the way for an investigation allegedly committed by some employees closely identified with him. “ P re vent ive su spension i s not a penalty. It’s a preventive measure and a preparator y act to give way to a fair investigat ion,” OCS Undersecretar y Halmen A. Valdez said in a text message to reporters.

Valdez said the PCA Board, where Cabinet Secretary Leoncio B. Evasco Jr. sits as the chairman, received numerous sworn statements and receipts related to alleged illegal corruption of P1.50 per board foot of lumber in Basilan

by Andal’s “trusted employees”.

“P1.50 per board feet sounds small but with 400,000 trees to be cut [as debris management process for post-cocolisap treatment] it will reach around P90 million in Basilan alone,” Valdez said.

“We also received statements stating that he [Andal] is the mastermind of such scheme. Other areas include Mindoro, Marinduque and Quezon,” Valdez added.

Valdez said Special Assistant to the President Christopher Go sent a letter to Andal asking the latter to explain the corruption allegations among his employees. “W hat he [Andal] did was he suspended his people who were involved [the accomplices and accessories],” Valdez said.

Andal slammed the resolution of the PCA board in ordering his preventive suspension calling it a “kangaroo” resolution, adding he was not even informed that there was a PCA board meeting on March 15, when the resolution ordering his preventive suspension was concluded.

“It’s clear in the rules that when there’s going to be a board meeting you need to have at least a five-day notice before the meeting. But they had a meeting on their own and, in fact, they only went to the board members one by one,” Andal said in a news briefing on March 20.

He denied the OCS statement that the sworn statements had pieces of evidence leading to his involvement in the alleged corr uption practices done by his employees.

“To be the mastermind you must show proof, even the money that was received, but in the documents there were no statement referring to me as the mastermind,” Andal added. He said there should have been a due process before the PCA board ordered his preventive suspension from office. Andal also took a swipe on Valdez, saying

that the undersecretary has a grand plan of ousting him from office similar to what happened to the two other agencies under the OCS, the NIA and NFA. “It’s obvious that there is politics happening here. There’s a grand plan by one undersecretary [Valdez] to get me out. She was the one who ordered some people to issue a complaint letter against me,” Andal said.

The PCA board also issued a separate resolution assigning PCA Deputy Administrator Glenn Santos as the officer in charge of PCA within the period of Andal’s preventive suspension. Andal said he will defy the PCA board’s resolution to suspect him from overseeing the affairs of the agency.

“I do not recognize the effectivity of the board resolution ordering my suspension because it is a bogus order and I will continue to discharge of my duty,” Andal said.

The NIA case

The case of the PCA was not the first agency under the OCS to be under the spotlight over alleged corruption issues.

Earlier this month some reports came out indicating that President Duterte have fired Laviña for supposedly receiving a kickback of “40 percent”.

However, the OCS said Laviña was not sacked by the President and that he tendered his resignation a few days ago to spare him from intrigues.

NIA Spokesman Pilipina Bermudez told the BusinessMirror that Laviña filed his “irrevocable” resignation last week, and that it took effect on February 28.

Ber mudez d isc losed t hat L av i ñ a ap pro v e d t h re e N I A projects totaling P1.79 billion during abbreviated his term.

“On ly t hree projects were awarded during his tenure. The Small Reservoir Irrigation Project in Bohol [P367 million], South Main Canal Balog Balog Irrigation Project in Tarlac [P527 million] and the construction of the Balog Balog Diversion Tunnel costing P897 million, also in Tarlac,” she said.

T he OCS said it was “surprised ” by allegations of corruption leveled against Laviña, considering that he had just recently issued memorandum circulars requiring strict adherence to the revised implementing rules and regulations of Republic Act 9184, or the Government Procurement Reform Act. “He [Laviña] was alleged to have been favoring contractors and receiving money from them, even if we have been told that, on record, no bidding for big-ticket projects was held during his stay as administrator,” the agency said.

Following the corruption allegation thrown at Laviña, the OCS vowed to roll out more measures to ensure the transparency of the bidding process for the projects of the agency.

“The OCS already instructed the NIA management to implement schemes to further ensure wider public access and transparency in the conduct of biddings,

Photo shows aerial view of the vast farmland in Bulacan, report said the Department of Environment and Natural Resources said Region 3 (Central Luzon) recently distributed 4,146 land titles covering 317 hectares of public lands to landless farmers in Central Luzon. NONIE REYES

especially for big-ticket projects in the Central Office. This includes online live-video streaming of all public biddings in NIA,” the agency said in a news statement.

“In addition, the NIA will use a bigger venue during the conduct of bidding to accommodate more observers, including the media.

The public will be updated on the bidding process by posting, via the NIA web site, matters which may be lawfully disclosed,” it added.

The NIA is an attached agency of the Office of the President.

Evasco sits as the NIA board’s acting chairman.

For his part, Laviña said he opted to resign from office to spa re Duter te f rom t he embarassment caused by the corruption allegations thrown at him.

“To spare the President from these embarrassing stories, particularly in these times of intensified attacks on him, I have quietly left the government. I have neither personal vested interest in it nor ill intent toward NIA and the whole government, which we are trying to reform,” he said in his Facebook post.

“I have proven in the past that one need not be in the government to do public ser vice or work for the common good.

I will likely continue to do so in media, civil society and the business sector, where I have been involved before,” he added.

The NFA case

Just few days after the corruption allegation issues in NIA blew its cover, a rift between the NFA Council (NFAC) and the NFA administration broke out.

T he misunderstand ing between the NFAC and NFA administration started when the OCS, which chairs the NFAC, pronounced that the deadline for

the rice importation under the minimum access volume (MAV) scheme of the World Trade Organization (WTO) was extended by a month.

However, the NFA administration insisted that there were no MAV deadline extensions, resulting in the exchange of tirades between the administration and the council.

On March 1 two separate notices—both signed by Aquino— were published on the NFA web site concerning the arrival of rice shipments under the 2016 MAV rice importation program.

The first notice, which Aquino signed on February 20, stated that the arrival period of rice impor t at ion u nder t he 2016 MAV rice importation program will only be until February 28, as provided in the 2016 General MAV Guidelines.

Meanwhile, the second notice stated that the arrival period of rice shipments under the 2016 M AV that were sourced from Pakistan and India is extended until March 31. Aquino signed the said notice on February 10.

On March 2 the OCS said the NFAC said it has already issued a directive to Aquino to immediately and strictly implement its decision pursuant to NFA Resolution 851-2017-B, which orders the extension of MAV deadline.

However, on March 3 the NFA released a statement declaring and insisting that there’s no extension for the arrival of imported rice under MAV as there’s no need for such. The NFA administration said their decision not to extend the MAV deadline was primarily intended to protect the local farmers, since March is the start of harvest for the summer crop and the local farmers’ produce should be given priority

To spare the President from these embarrassing stories, particularly in these times of intensified attacks on him, I have quietly left the government.

I have neither personal vested interest in it nor ill intent toward NIA and the whole government, which we are trying to reform.” —Laviña

over private importation.

“We have no intention at all to defy the council. Our decision not to extend the M AV came in even before the council issued a resolution extending it. We had communicated this concern with the Office of the Cabinet Secretar y as early as Februar y 24, 2017, and we are awaiting their reply,” Aquino said.

Because of Aquino’s refusal to implement the NFAC’s order, Evasco said Aquino is facing “serious disciplinary sanctions” that could lead to his removal as chief of the food agency.

“It seems to us that he does not have even the slightest understanding of his office and even undermining the NFAC’s authority that were causing serious prejudice to the country’s food security. We are afraid he is not fit for the job. He must be dealt with accordingly,” Evasco said.

Furthermore, Evasco said he will create a special committee that will investigate the government’s rice-importation transactions after the NFA officials refused to allow the extension of the deadline for the arrival of rice imported via MAV. The NFSC recommends to the NFAC whenever there is a need to purchase imported rice. The council has the final say on the volume and the timing of the importation.

Despite the lack of recommendation from the NFAC to impor t r ice, Evasco sa id t he NFA informed Hanoi that Manila would purchase rice from Vietnam this month for the food agency’s buffer stock.

“We have received a copy of NFA Administrator Jason Laureano Y. Aquino’s letter to Vietnam Embassy, informing the latter that the Philippine government will open a state-to-state importation this month for its buffer stock. That letter was sent to Vietnam Embassy behind the council ’s back,” he said.

Evasco was refer r ing to a March 3 letter addressed to Truong Triue Duong, ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the Embassy of Vietnam, wherein Aquino informed Hanoi that Manila did not extend the rice arrivals under the 2016 MAV importation program.

“The main reason is for the immediate conduct of government-to-government importation of rice, which is scheduled

this March,” Aquino said in the letter, a copy of which was sent to reporters on March 6.

Evasco said the NFAC has earlier thumbed down Aquino’s importation proposal of 1 million metric tons to beef up NFA’s stock inventory in order to save the agency from incurring more debt.

For his part, Aquino said the subject of the letter sent to the Vietnamese Embassy was for the procurement of the remaining 250,000 metric tons (MT) of the approved standby authority in 2015. “ That’s what we were saying, that our current supply is on the critical level but the importation is still subject of the implementation of the NFAC. That was the plan; we were pushing the council for the approval of the 250,000 MT so we can implement that as early as March,” Aquino added.

Aquino said the agency would need to import 800,000 MT of rice by June to beef up its buffer stock before the onset of the lean months.

Aquino warned that the food agency’s buffer stock would fall short of the 30-day requirement for the lean months, which will start in July. “The buffer stock of the NFA by the end of June would be short of three days. That’s why we are pushing for the [immediate] importation of the 250,000 MT,” Aquino told reporters in a news briefing.

He said the 250,000 MT is the remaining half of the 500,000 MT standby authority for buffer stocking approved by the NFAC in 2015.

The council allowed the purchase of rice imports to fill the gap in local output caused by El Niño.

“The NFA wants to import the remaining 250,000 MT to boost our supply. Because, if God forbid, we will be hit by typhoons and other natural calamities, we might not have sufficient stock to distribute to those who will be affected,” Aquino said.

The NFA is required to maintain a 15-day buffer stock equivalent to around 400,000 MT at any given time. During the lean months, the NFA is required to have a 30-day buffer stock equivalent to 800,000 MT. These volumes are based on the current national daily rice-consumption requirement pegged at 654,400 50-kilogram bags, or 32,720 MT.

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

Sports

BusinessMirror

Saturday, March 25, 2017 A5

UNDER ARMOUR REGIONAL FITNESS CHALLENGE BACK

JASON DAY walks briskly toward the media center at the Dell Technologies Match Play and, before he could speak, the Australian begins wiping tears from his face.

Tigresses face Lady Tamaraws

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U

NIVERSITY of Santo Tomas (UST) and Far Eastern University (FEU) collide in a pivotal match that could strengthen their respective Final Four bids in Season 79 University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) women’s volleyball action today at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.

The Tigresses and Lady Tamaraws, who used to be the biggest rivalry in UAAP volleyball before the Ateneo and De La Salle era, clash at 4 p.m., right after defending champion De La Salle goes after the second Final Four berth against University of the East (UE) at 2 p.m.

A victory would give the Lady Spikers a share of lead with the Ateneo Lady Eagles, who lost to National University, 17-25, 25-23, 22-25, 25-21, 15-13, on Wednesday, on a 9-2 won-lost card.

The Lady Warriors, on the other hand, are already out of semifinals contention and are only out to improve their 1-9 record.

UST (6-4), FEU (5-5), NU (7-4) and University of the Philippines (6-5) are jostling for the last two Final Four berths.

UST Head Coach Kungfu Reyes urged the Tigresses, led by Cherry Rondina and EJ Laure, to assert their 25-16, 21-25, 26-24, 25-20 first-round victory over FEU. “We need to be go out every time, because this is the second round,” Reyes said. “Our remaining games might be the turning point of our campaign because we are in the same situation with FEU, UP and NU. We cannot afford to lose games, otherwise, it would pull us down.” Lance Agcaoili

Faster F1 cars mean stronger, bigger drivers

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ELBOURNE—Renault driver Niko Hulkenberg has the kind of name that sounds like big could be his thing.

In Formula One seasons past, muscle bulk hasn’t really been the key requirement for drivers, with work on endurance being the focus of training in the gym. The new regulations in F1 have made the cars bigger and faster, prefacing an era that has the drivers and fans more excited than usual, and so the pilots have to follow suit.

“The cars are like driving a very fast and spectacular roller coaster, and it’s a lot more demanding than before,” Hulkenberg said ahead of the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

“Now you have to wrestle these cars!

“The tires allow you to push harder every lap, so you can exploit and be on the limit. It’s a lot more work and a lot more demanding. There’s a lot that’s new, but the game is still the same.”

Lewis Hamilton has worked out the game, winning three drivers’ titles, so he’s more than ready to up the ante.

“As racing drivers, in general, you want to drive the quickest cars in the world, and I think you always want to go faster,” the Mercedes driver said. “The cars are faster than what they were last year. The challenge of exploiting that speed with your car on the track is a great challenge and it’s more in the direction of how F1 should be in the sense of the physicality side of it.”

Hamilton, who won back-to-back titles with Mercedes in 2014 and 2015 and narrowly missed out to teammate Nico Rosberg last season, considers himself as much an athlete as a driver.

“F1 should be the most physically demanding sport in terms of all the driving series,” he said. “In previous years that hasn’t been the case—it hasn’t been to the level that we train to, is relatively easy for us to do—now you have to really push the boundaries, which I like.”

The F1 rule changes means wider tires, greater aerodynamics, bigger fuel loads and increased downforce, which have made the cars heavier but also significantly faster.

The tires, which are 25 percent wider, have more grip and are more durable, enabling drivers to push harder through the corners.

Even though Mercedes dominated under the previous regulations, Hamilton was a big advocate for the changes.

“Doing drastic changes kind of spices it up,” he said. “I have never seen the fans so excited about a season as they are this season...we don’t know where the cars and teams are, so more of these kind of experiences would be welcome.” AP

EMOTIONALLY WRECKED Doug Ferguson The Associated Press

A

USTIN, Texas—Six holes into his opening match, Jason Day walked off the golf course.

It was the fourth time in the last three years that he withdrew in the middle of a tournament.

Only this was different.

Physically, he never felt better.

Emotionally, he was a wreck.

Day walked briskly toward the media center at the Dell Technologies Match Play and, before he could speak, the Australian began wiping tears from his face. He revealed that his mother had been diagnosed with lung cancer at the start of the year, was having surgery on Friday and he couldn’t keep his mind off it.

“It’s really hard to even comprehend being on the golf course right now because of what she’s gone through,” Day said.

He said doctors in Australia told her she only had 12 months to live. Day brought her to Ohio, where he lives with his wife and two children, for more tests that at least revealed hope. Surgery on Friday will give them a better idea.

He was three down after six holes to Pat Perez. He said his mind was all over the place.

“She is the reason that I’m playing golf today,” Day said.

He was 12 when his father died of stomach cancer. It was his father who doled out the punishment to keep Day from getting out of line, and when Alvyn Day was no longer there, Day found trouble. He was drinking. He was getting into fights.

That’s when his mother, Dening, stepped in.

She took out a second mortgage on the house and borrowed money from relatives to send her son to a golf academy some seven hours away. That’s where he met Colin Swatton, a coach for his golf, a mentor for life and now his caddie.

When he won the PGA Championship in 2015, the start of his rise to No. 1 in the world, Day told of watching his mother cut the lawn with a knife because they couldn’t afford a lawnmower. They had no hot water tank, so she could use a kettle for hot water to shower. Day shopped for used clothes at a store where for $5 he could stuff as much as he could into a bag.

He did not take questions on Wednesday, leaving the press center for his car with his wife, Ellie.

One question that went unanswered: Why even bother coming to the Match Play in the first place?

Day was the defending champion after rolling through seven matches, with only one of them—the semifinal match against Rory McIlroy—reaching the 18th hole.

Even then, he wasn’t sure he could play. He tweaked his back in the opening round and kept everyone in suspense as to whether he could play the second round. He showed up, then drove the green on the par-4 opening hole at Austin Country Club to within 12 feet for eagle.

At his best, Day is as daunting as any player.

He worked in the offseason to shorten his swing to ease pressure on his back, though the results came slowly this year. That’s not

A TECHNICIAN from Ferrari moves tires on a cart at the track in Melbourne. AP

unusual. As much time as he takes off from October through December, he is a notoriously slow starter.

He missed the cut at Torrey Pines. In his other four tournaments, he was a combined 42 shots out of the lead. His only top 10 was at Pebble Beach, where he finished seven shots behind Jordan Spieth.

His revelations on Wednesday shed more light on it.

“It’s been a very, very hard time for me to even be thinking about playing golf,” Day said.

“And emotionally, it’s been wearing on me for a while. And I know my mom says not to let it get to me, but it really has.”

His agent, Bud Martin, said Day hasn’t spoken to him much about his mother.

He said he played at Bay Hill last week and Match Play this week because he felt a responsibility to the fans, to the tournament and, yes, even his mother.

“Truthfully, the most important thing

in her world is him playing golf and being happy,” Martin said.

Day doesn’t play the Shell Houston Open next week. After that, it’s the Masters, and Martin didn’t know how long he would be out. So much depends on Friday, how surgery goes to remove a mass that Day said was 3 to 4 centimeters. The hope is for a recovery, which is better news than what she heard from doctors at home.

“I kidded his mother a few days ago on the phone,” Martin said. “I said, ‘The news seems to be getting better. I want to make certain you are there during his Hall of Fame speech.’ She loves it. It’s important to her to support him.”

And it was important to Day to support her.

“I’m going to do my best and try and be there the best I can for her,” he said, “because she is the reason that I’m playing golf today.”

HE annual urban fitness challenge, Test of Will, returns for its second edition today and tomorrow at the Glorietta Activity Center in Makati City.

Organized by high-performance sportswear label Under Armour, the event sets out to celebrate human performance through intense functional training challenges for the most determined athletes, goal-getters and fitness aspirants.

With the addition of Indonesia and Brunei this year, the regional fitness competition that also takes place in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines, is expected to be more intense than last year.

Participants will compete in a four-minute circuit consisting of Burpees, One Arm Thruster, TRX Rows and Sandbag Throw.

Each competitor will be scored based on the maximum number of repetitions they can achieve within 60 seconds. The highest scoring man and woman of the national heats from each respective country will win an all-expense-paid trip to compete in the regional finals, happening in Kuala Lumpur on May 6.

This year’s overall champion of the regional finals will walk away with around P88,000.

“The Test of Will is for everyone and anyone with the determination and discipline to train and compete,” said Michael Binger, CEO of Triple Pte Ltd., exclusive distributor of Under Armour in Southeast Asia. “Last year we witnessed champions crowned from the most unexpected individuals. The event epitomizes the might of the determined and the spirit of the underdogs, something which Under Armour stands for.”

Under Armour has also recently launched its latest apparel and footwear collections engineered with the Threadborne technology leading up to the national heats to equip participants with the gear to train and compete at the highest level.

The Threadborne Siro and Seamless collections are made from fabric that is light, breathable, anticling, quick-drying and provides a high-level of stretch and recovery.

PETRON UNBEATEN

Petron’s Frances Molina spikes against Generika-Ayala’s Geneveve Casugod during the Belo Philippine Superliga Invitational Conference match on Thursday night at the Filoil Flying V Center in San Juan City. The Blaze Spikers won, 25-11, 23-25, 25-18, 25-19, to march to the final round with a clean 5-0 win-loss record.

Stephanie Tumampos

BusinessMi

A6 Saturday, March 25, 2017 | Editor: Jun Lomibao

While so many other riders were caught out by Peter Sagan’s powerful attack in the final kilometer of the Poggio or simply lacked the legs to go after him, Michal Kwiatkowski was in the right place at the right moment and had the watts and the courage to go across to the world champion.

SO SAGAN’S BEATABLE

PETER SAGAN (left) is no cannibal and finishing second place behind Michal Kwiatkowski (center) and ahead of Julian Alaphilippe makes him more endearing. CYCLINGNEWS

By Stephen Farrand

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Cyclingnews

ETER SAGAN Bora-Hansgrohe may have been the strongest rider at this year’s Milan-San Remo, but Michal Kwiatkowski was by far the smartest rider in the race and so fully deserved his victory.

While so many other riders were caught out

by Sagan’s powerful attack in the final kilometer of the Poggio or simply lacked the legs to go after him, Kwiatkowski was in the right place at the right moment and had the watts and the courage to go across to the world champion.

Once on his wheel, Kwiatkowski, of Team Sky, played his cards perfectly, while Team Bora-Hansgrohe’s Sagan was more like a bull in a China shop, his strength and confidence blinding him to the dangers his rivals posed.

Sagan clearly thought his two aces—being the strongest and on paper the fastest finisher—

CYCLE FOR SURVIVAL Participants at a Cycle for Survival event at Equinox Bryant Park in New Y throughout February and March in 16 cities in the US. AP

was a winning hand. He was wrong.

Kwiatkowski had three trump cards that bettered Sagan’s aces: the self-confidence that Sagan was beatable—garnered from racing against Sagan since they were juniors, the possibility to avoid doing a lot of work because sprinter Elia Viviani was sitting in the chasing pack; and, finally, the ability to beat Sagan if he got his sprint 100 percent right.

Sagan’s attack on the Poggio was admirable, but Kwiatkowski’s riding and finesse was sublime and perfectly played. When the cards were put on the table, Kwiatkowski’s hand proved to be just that little bit stronger.

He won by a matter of inches and so he, instead of Sagan, was able to celebrate winning the first Monument Classic of the season.

In San Remo—a city famous for its casino—Kwiatkowski beat the odds, beat Sagan and won.

Sagan took defeat at Milan-San Remo far better

than many others who have finished second on the Via Roma. He congratulated Michal Kwiatkowski, smiled on the podium and even argued that it was more important to put on a show than win the race.

Sagan managed to hide any trace of anger or disappointment, but he must know that he had again a great chance to win La Classicissima. He has now ridden the Italian Monument seven times and has so far failed to get it right on the big day.

He was second to Gerald Ciolek in 2013 and has finished fourth in 2012 and 2015.

Sagan’s race statistics are incredible but also revealing: he has ridden 558 races, won 92 races and finished on the podium 204 times. San Remo was his 78th second place of his career.

Imagine if

‘WHAT CULTURE OF FEAR?’ O

LYMPIC gold medalist Dani King said that she did not feel that there was a culture of fear at British Cycling while she raced on its track program. British Cycling has been under the spotlight over the past year following several allegations of bullying and sexism.

Earlier this month, a leak into the practices of British Cycling gave a damning indictment of the body, citing a so-called culture of fear and a “dysfunctional leadership structure.

According to King, her personal experiences are not reflected in the allegations or report, and the only fear she felt was that another rider might take her place if she couldn’t perform.

“I don’t think that fear would be the right word,” King told Cyclingnews in Bath at the unveiling of the city’s Tour Series route. “Nobody was complacent at British Cycling. Nobody could sit back at British Cycling. There was a culture of working really hard. I wouldn’t say that I was ever fearful at British Cycling.

“I think it was a good thing because it meant that everybody was giving 100 percent in every session that they did because they felt like someone might take their spot.”

King also reiterated her comments from last year that she had not endured any sexism, saying that former Technical Director Shane Sutton— who was accused by Jess Varnish of sexist remarks—was tough on both men and women.

“For me personally, I never experienced any sexism,” King explained. “With the likes of Shane Sutton, for me, my opinion was that he was a hard taskmaster, but he was a hard taskmaster for both men and women. While I was there, I got all the support that I needed to become the

just a few of those had been victories. He really would be the Eddy Merckx of his time.

Fortunately, Sagan is not just a cannibal. He clearly enjoys racing as much as winning. That is a refreshing attitude and endears him to fans around the world.

A group of 50 riders finished just five seconds behind Kwiatkowski, Sagan and Julian Alaphilippe (Quick-Step Floors) on the Via Roma. However, they were all disappointed and defeated, conceding there was little they could do against a rampant Sagan on the Poggio and the ability of Kwiatkowski and Alaphilippe to go across the gap.

Alexander Kristoff won the sprint to the line for fourth place but it only earned him the first slot in the showers on the Katusha-Alpecin bus. The race and the story of the day was Sagan’s attack and his defeat at the hands of Kwiatkowski.

Before Saturday, only four of the previous 10 editions of Milan-San Remo had seen the winning move come on the Poggio. A strong

solo attack seemed to be stuck in a different era of the sport, when heematocrit levels were as uncontrollable as the big-ring attacks.

Sagan’s surge, and the ability of Kwiatkowski and Alaphilippe to go with him, prove that Milan-San Remo is far more than just a sprinter’s race.

Milan-San Remo is the longest professional race on the World Tour calendar and also the most boring until the action explodes in the finale. Yet, it is always worth the wait. MilanSan Remo is a slow burner that explodes at the very end. It is like a poorly lit firework that ends with a deafening bang and a stunning light show. The adrenaline rush of the final kilometers always counters the somnolence of the first seven hours.

There are always calls for changes to be made to the 291-km race route and a few have been made over the years, but fortunately, nothing has tipped the race in favor of one kind of rider and taken the chances of others. The sprinters perhaps

have the upper hand, but as we saw this year, it only takes one superb attack to turn the race on its head and leave them empty-handed.

In 1960 legendary Race Director Vincenzo Torriani added the climb of the Poggio to stop the dominance of the sprinters after Italian riders struggled to win in the fifties. In 1982 the Cipressa was added for the same reason.

The Le Manie climb has been added just after the Passo Turchino in the past but the sprinter’s calls for a traditional route have always prevailed and landslides have done the rest.

Sagan made a brief call for the return of Le Manie after losing on Saturday. Current Race Director Mauro Vegni would love to see Grand Tour riders such as Chris Froome and Alberto Contador fight for victory, but that would be like trying to rewrite history—a betrayal of all the great racing of the 108 editions of the race.

If the current Milan-San Remo route can produce a finale like the one we saw last Saturday, then it is perfect just as it is.

World Cycling Centre donates track bikes for South Africa

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DANI KING says the only fear she felt was that another rider might take her place if she couldn’t perform. CYCLINGNEWS

best bike rider that I could be.”

King competed on the British Cycling track program for several years after making her World Championships debut in 2011. That year she won her first rainbow stripes in the team pursuit and a bronze medal in the scratch race. She has since won two more world titles in the team pursuit, two European titles and claimed gold at the 2012 Olympic Games in London in the same event with Laura Trott and Joanna Rowsell-Shand.

The rising road

Having combined the track and the road in recent years, King gave up the track completely last season. She took a further step this season by moving from Wiggle-High5 to Cyclance Pro Cycling in order to open up her leadership possibilities.

“I was very happy to be a domestique within Wiggle. I never questioned having to work for other people because ultimately it was my first year. I just felt like there were so many incredible riders on the team that it was time to change,” said King. “It’s an amazing team, and we’ve got a lot of cards to play. I’m really happy with how things have gone so far.”

King kickstarted her season at the Santos Women’s Tour, helping deliver teammate Kirsten Wild to two stage wins. Since returning to Europe, she’s been clocking up the racing kilometers with Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, where she finished 10th.

At the latter, King battled to 16th place after two crashes, one of which was in the final kilometers.

It is two places lower than what she achieved at last year’s race and was a chance blown, she feels, for a top 10 finish at WorldTour level. Having had a full season dedicated to road racing, King has higher expectations of herself but says that there is still plenty of room for improvement.

“I think I’ve got more expectation on myself now, wanting results instead of just hoping to get through the races, which is good and bad.

I’m putting a lot more pressure on myself, but pressure is a good thing,” said King.

“Obviously, last year was my first full season on the road, and this year I feel with a full season under my belt that I am a lot stronger again, which is really nice. I’m excited about the progress that I’ve still got to make. I’m still learning so much while on the road, more from a tactical point of view.” Cyclingnews

HE third edition of the African Continental Track Championships at the end of March will break participation records, thanks in large part to a donation of 20 track bikes by the International Cycling Union World Cycling Centre (WCC) in Aigle, Switzerland.

The Look bikes were shipped to South Africa to enable athletes from nations without any track bikes to compete.

Some 20 nations are expected to be represented at the Championships in Durban, South Africa. This compares with nine in Pietermaritzburg (South Africa) in 2015 and six last year in Morocco, which was already a major achievement as until then there had been no track activity in the country.

In the lead-up to this year’s Championships, 26 athletes from 10 African countries are currently using the donated bikes during a preparation training camp of nearly three weeks organized by the WCC Africa. A coaching course

is being held in parallel.

“Apart from the South African riders, the participants have never ridden on the track before,” WCC Africa Director Jean-Pierre Van Zyl said. “Track bikes are scarce in Africa and we did not have enough bikes available to host the training camp. Due to the support from and contribution of the UCI WCC, we can organise the camp, and each rider will have their own bike for the Championships! “ “Getting these bikes from the UCI has helped us tremendously in providing opportunities for more African riders,” William Newman, president of Cycling South Africa and president of the African Track Commission, said.

“The bikes have enabled us to invite more riders to the training camp and ensure that we have our biggest number of nations prepared and ready for the African Championships.”

After the championships, the African Cycling Confederation will work with the WCC Africa to

THE track bikes are ready for action in Durban, South Africa. UCI

ensure the bikes are used throughout the year, with regular track training camps being held for African nations.

“There is a huge pool of untapped talent waiting to explore the track,” Newman said.

“With the necessary support and structures in place, there is no reason why track cycling cannot progress to the, same levels our African road riders are achieving.

“I look forward to Africa hosting the UCI Track Cycling World Championships one day and our African riders being on the World Championships podiums.”

The UCI WCC regularly donates bikes as part of its “Bikes for the World” program. The program is possible thanks to the collaboration with the UCI WCC’s partners.

So far, this year, the UCI WCC has donated 31 track bikes and 20 road bikes as well as clothing, helmets, shoes and spare parts to six different nations. UCI News

irror CYCLING

mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph | Saturday, March 25, 2017 A7

SALAMAT SENDS STRONG MESSAGE In a field of 90 cyclists from 18 teams—10 Vietnamese and eight foreign—Marella Vania Salamat indeed made her mark anew.

She was fourth among Southeast Asian riders, making her prime to peak in time for the Kuala Lumpur 29th Southeast Asian Games this August.

York ride to show their commitment to beating rare cancers. Cycle for Survival’s events take place

Rivera: This one tops it all!

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ORYN RIVERA sprinted to her first career Women’s WorldTour victory in Cittiglio recently, with the 24-year-old, who was born in the Philippines, surviving the hilly 131-kilometer Trofeo Alfredo Binda circuit to win a reduced bunch sprint ahead of Arlenis Sierra and Cecile Uttrup Ludwig.

It was the first time in more than a decade that the one-day Italian classic has been contested by a group larger than 10 riders.

“This one tops it all,” said Rivera in a post-podium press conference. “I didn’t doubt myself. I really had to fight and to push. The team worked hard to get me in the position to be there and be ready to fight for the finish.”

Ellen van Dijk’s efforts were the most obvious among Rivera’s teammates. The Dutchwoman marked dangerous moves in the last two of four total circuit laps and provided Rivera with an unmatched lead-out in the slightly uphill sprint.

“She’s totally instrumental in our teamwork,” said Rivera, when asked about van Dijk. “Her power and strength are unreal. If she hadn’t caught back on to the group, and I didn’t have the same lead-out she gave me, I think the final would have been a lot harder for me.”

Both van Dijk and Rivera are both new signings for strengthened Team Sunweb. Van Dijk made the move from Boels-Dolmans, while Rivera came over from UnitedHealthcare.

While Rivera, who was born in Tondo to Filipino parents, may not be a name familiar to Europeans, she’s a household name for American cycling fans. She dominated the admittedly sparse junior ranks and split her first four years as an elite between pursuing her undergraduate degree from Marion University while making a name for herself as the top sprinter racing on US soil. Rivera graduated last spring and signed with the Dutch-registered squad in the summer.

Rivera opened her sprint 200 meters to the finish line. The dash for the line turned into a two-women race with Sierra nearly able to match Rivera’s powerful kick. Uttrup Ludwig finished two bike lengths back to round out the podium. The trio were recorded as two seconds quicker than the remainder of the bunch, which was led in by Chantal Blaak (Boels-Dolmans) “I couldn’t do it without my teammates. They believed in me, and I paid them back by believing in myself,” Rivera said. “I might be small but I think I definitely put a stamp in it today.”

Longo Borghini managed ninth in the sprint to maintain her spot atop the International Cycling Union Women’s WorldTour overall classification.

Ludwig took back the blue youth classification jersey from compatriot Amalie Dideriksen. The road world champion and Ronde van Drenthe winner sat out the third round of the UCI Women’s WorldTour.

Rivera proved that she will be a rider to watch in the women’s WorldTour with Team Sunweb.

The 24-year-old spent the last few seasons with UnitedHealthcare while studying but once graduated, signed with the Dutch team to focus full time on racing and winning.

Rivera has won stages of Thüringen Rundfahrt der Frauen in the past two years but before Alfredo Binda success, was yet to taste victory in the WorldTour.

The win was also Sunweb’s first victory of the season with the American dedicating the success to her teammates.

“We had a couple of different cards to play today.

Both myself and my teammates tried our luck in

F

OR Marella Vania Salamat, the grind continues and Vietnam was the latest destination for her to send a strong message that she’ll be a force on the saddle.

Salamat finished a strong eighth in the general classification of the recent International Biwase Cup in Vietnam, improving one rung from her debut in 2016 in one of the most attractive professional races in Asia.

In a field of 90 cyclists from 18 teams—10 Vietnamese and eight foreign—Salamat indeed made her mark anew. She was fourth among Southeast Asian riders, making her prime to peak in time for the Kuala Lumpur 29th Southeast Asian Games this August.

The 22-year-old pride of Bugallon in Pangasinan clocked an aggregate time of 21 hours, 52 minutes and 42 seconds in nine stages raced over 828 kilometers, finishing some five minutes behind 42-year-old champion Karami Miyoko of Japan.

Miyoko rode true to her veteran spurs and also ran away with the Queen of the Mountain trophy in the race, which, despite being a non-International Cycling Union event, still lured teams from Thailand, Japan, Kazakhstan, South Korea, Malaysia and Singapore.

“This year is much tougher as compared to last year, because there were more teams participating, which are really strong and very defensive. Most of them also are sprinters unlike me, who is not,” said Salamat, the reigning

individual time-trial champion of the Sea Games who, unfortunately, could not defend her crown in the August 19 to 31 Games because the Malaysian organizers dropped the time trial from the program.

Salamat was not in the magic 10 picture in the early stages but decided to make her move in the last two legs.

“My only chance to get into the top 10 is through a breakaway. I did that during the eighth and ninth stage after cutting down the two-minute gap [to Miyoko],” Salamat recalled.

“But it was really hard to find my way out because most of them were really aggressive and defensive.”

The Philippines’s top female rider was aggressive in the final two stages. Salamat missed the podium by two places at fifth in the 120-km eighth stage, but was able to go two notches up in the general classification Miyoko already held with former Sea Games gold medalist Supaksorn Nuthana of Thailand running second.

In the ninth stage, she locked in with an eight-cyclist breakaway in the last 50 km of the 120-km trek to finish seventh with the same clocking as stage winner Nuthana to keep her grip of eighth place overall.

Salamat’s teammates, Avegail Rombaon, Genesis Marana and Irish Wong, had trouble keeping up with the pace for nine days but still manage modest finishes at 28th, 37th and 60th, respectively, in the race held from March 8 to 16 The national team coached by Cesar

Lobramonte with Edwin Nio as team support clocked 66:04:22 in the general classification to finish seventh overall. The host’s Team Biwase (65:38:30) edged Thailand (65:39:27) in the team classification.

Salamat said the Vietnam race gave her more confidence for the Kuala Lumpur Sea Games.

“My spirit was uplifted after the race. And I think it will help me a lot in my campaign in August,” Salamat said.

Salamat will compete in the Tour of Thailand next month, a pre-SEA Games race in May and another race in July.

“We will join more races we can gauge our speed and endurance even against male riders.

We should also step up our sprint training in order to fill in our deficiencies,” she added.

Salamat groped in the early stages but still settled threateningly close to the leaders at 13th place. She dropped to 15th place from Stage 5 to 7 before pouring it all in the last two days of the race that traversed Vietnam’s countryside in Dong Nai, Lam Dong, Khanh Hoa, Ninh Thuan, Binh Thuan, Ba Ria-Vung Tau and Binh Duong.

The International Biwase Cup ran its seventh edition which covered an out-and-back route that started from from Bình Dương. Miyoko received $1,700 in winning the race which organizers dubbed as a “Blue Sea” race in their effort to encourage people to protect the environment and the oceans, and contribute to sustainable development.

Ramon Rafael Bonilla

getting in any potential race-deciding moves but it turned out that the race stayed together for a bunch sprint,” Rivera said.

“We kept fighting to stay in the front group and it paid off. I was really thankful to have the support of my team and especially Ellen [van Dijk] there with me, she came back over to me at the last climb and stayed with me through to the end. She was instrumental in the finale and I couldn’t have taken the victory without my team mates,” Rivera added.

Cyclingnews

FILIPINO-AMERICAN Coryn Rivera sprints to her first career Women’s WorldTour victory.

CYCLINGNEWS

MARELLA VANIA SALAMAT takes the point for the breakaway group in the final stage.

PROMISING (CYCLING) ENTREPRENEUR A

MARK JULIUS BONZO and Eder Atanacio (fifth and sixth from left) post in front of the CNN shop with Southeast Asian Games gold medalist Alfie Catalan and his son Achilles Troy, national cyclists John Mier and George Oconer, Joebert Dacuno, Joshua Gile Vizmanos and their support staff.

BOUT a decade ago a young and tall but skinny Mark Julius Bonzo was a promising cyclist. Fast-forward to 2017 and the now 27-year-old veteran has transformed into a promising entrepreneur—but still involving the sport he loves most.

Bonzo opened the first CNN cycling apparel shop in the Philippines with Eder Atanacio recently to finally open the door for professionals and enthusiasts who find the brand alluring to their taste and requirement.

“We decided to open shop because of the clamor of the riders that we have one in the country,” Bonzo told BM Cycling over buffet during the CNN shop’s soft opening on March 19 at No. 34C Kamuning Road in Quezon City. “Now, we would not only use social media and put up kiosks during races, but we already have a home for CCN.” CCN is one of the most sought-after cycling apparel brands in the world. The Hong Kong-based company has maintained shops, of course in Hong Kong, as well as in Taiwan and the United States.

The brand has also earned a reputation that the company sponsors 20 International Cycling Union and club teams all over the world—eight in Asia, four each in the US and Europe, two in the Middle

East and one each in Argentina and New Zealand.

“It’s the reputation of CCN that makes the brand click. The cyclists are meticulous not only about their equipment, but also their apparel and CCN provides what they need both during leisure rides and in competition,” Atanacio said.

The Philippines’s only continental team, 7-Eleven Road Bike Philippines, has agreed to be outfitted by CCN, which offers several types of fabric, including cool plus fabric, cool black and ex-cool.

“It depends on the need and satisfaction of the cyclist as regards to the kind of fabric to be used,” Atanacio said.

Joining Bonzo—son of the late Marlboro Tour champion Romeo Bonzo and nephew of another Tour winner Modesto Bonzo—and Atanacio during the opening of the CCN shop were Le Tour de Filipinas Organizer Donna Lina and Project Director Sunshine Joy Mendoza.

Also present were Southeast Asian Games gold medalist Alfie Catalan and his son Achilles Troy, national cyclists John Mier and George Oconer, junior rider Joshua Gile Vizmanos, Lionel Dimaano and Joebert Dacuno.

Bonzo’s aunt, Fe Bonzo Sison, and sisters Matet and Tina Bonzo, also arrived all the way from Pangasinan for the event.

Each jersey is custom-made, according to Bonzo. The company maintains its own design team and once a client agrees to the design, the deal is sealed and the data is sent by e-mail to the Hong Kong headquarters. The jerseys—or uniforms—would be available after 21 working days, regardless of quantity.

But surprisingly, according to Bonzo and Atanacio, they do not only have cyclists as clients.

Triathletes are taking their cue to have their apparel made.

“Our Hong Kong principals are surprised that we are getting more orders for triathlon, but they say its okay with them,” Atanacio said. Triathlon has a bike component to compliment the swim and run legs.

Bonzo indeed blossomed to become more than a cyclist from the time he biked by his lonesome from his home in Sual, Pangasinan, to the national team quarters at the Amoranto Velodrome in Quezon City.

The distance? More than 200 kilometers. And how young was he then? Sixteen.

“That was an experience,” said Bonzo, who was immediately included in the juniors pool of the PhilCycling by then National Team Head Coach Jomel Lorenzo and President Alberto Lina, now the federation chairman.

OurTime BusinessMirror

A8 Saturday, March 25, 2017 • Editor: Efleda P. Campos

news@businessmirror.com.ph

Sonny Camarillo’s photo exhibits remind Filipinos ‘to never forget’

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By Efleda P. Campos | Senior Editor

T least once a year since 1987, Eufrosino “Sonny” Camarillo, now 72, stages an exhibit of his historic photographs in various venues in Metro Manila—malls, schools, parks, building lobbies.

The pictures depict history in the making, including events that led to the toppling of a dictatorship, taken by a man whose instincts told him to capture the moment on film.

He calls the display of his 300 or so photographs Edsa 1986 Before and Beyond.

Camarillo said the pictures are his legacy to the succeeding generations of Filipinos, to discover for themselves the truth behind the photos and the stories the pictures tell.

“With all the misinformation that abound on the Internet and the denials by naysayers that no dictatorship reigned in the Philippines during the 1970s and the 1980s, my pictures are a testimony to the truth,” he said. “My pictures say an entire nation, with Divine Intervention, peacefully brought down a dictator to his knees.”

The miracles that took place

during the Edsa Revolution in 1986 are shown in Camarillo’s pictures: Nuns and protesters praying the rosary together, with life-size statues of the Blessed Virgin Mary, patroness of the Philippines, hovering over them; young men and women inserting fresh flowers into the barrels of soldiers’ rifles, fresh-faced and as young as they are; the “People’s Heroes” Fidel V. Ramos and Juan Ponce Enrile leaving their Camp Crame and Camp Aguinaldo sanctuaries to join forces with the Filipino people; throngs of Filipinos, 3 million, converging in Luneta Park, declaring Corazon Aquino, always in yellow, as the People’s President.

“Even that early, the tension between Ramos and Enrile was palpable,” he said. Ramos became a friend and a staunch supporter of his exhibits.

Some pictures show peasants,

BuCor releases over 234 inmates from Leyte prison

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BUYOG, Leyte—The Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) has released at least 234 inmates from the Leyte Regional Prison in Abuyog, Leyte, as part of the government’s effort to decongest prison facilities.

BuCor Director General Benjamin de los Santos led on March 17 the distribution of certificates of discharge to the 234 inmates of the colony, who qualified to gain freedom under the special time allowance for loyalty (STAL).

“We started with 27 elderly inmates granted with executive clemency. Just this week we released another 39. So far, this is the biggest. This is not just decongestion, but speeding up the process,” de los Santos told reporters.

Jail Supt. Geraldo Aro said the 234 who qualified for STAL were “prisoners who chose to stay in the place of their confinement, notwithstanding the existence of a calamity or catastrophe enumerated.”

“They had an opportunity to escape after Supertyphoon Yolanda badly damaged our prison facility and post towers, but they stayed here,” Aro said.

At least 15 released inmates were senior citizens, most of them already overstaying in the

penal colony.

“We created a task force to expedite the processing of documents because some inmates die even before their release. We have to modernize and reform our records management,” de los Santos said.

Andres Estacio, 73, was very happy to receive his discharge paper, after being imprisoned at the Leyte Regional Prison for six years for an attempted rape case.

“I am very excited to see my family in Tondo. I don’t want to commit mistakes again, because I am very old now,” Estacio said.

The BuCor provided him transportation allowance from Leyte to Metro Manila.

Established on January 16, 1973, the prison facility is in Mahagna Village, this town, some 66 kilometers from Tacloban City, the regional capital. The colony is within a 861.66-hectare forested area, 20 km south from Abuyog town center.

Currently the facility has more than 1,900 inmates, more than double its capacity.

The penal colony was built to confine and rehabilitate convicted criminals classified as national prisoners, whose sentences range from three years’ and one day imprisonment or longer. PNA

Pampanga capitol distributes ₧4.5M to 957 bedridden elderly

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ITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga—The provincial government of Pampanga has distributed P4.5-million social pension to 957 bedridden elderly from the province’s two congressional districts.

Provincial Social Welfare Development Officer Elizabeth Baybayan on Tuesday said representatives of the elderly beneficiaries who came from Third and Fourth Districts received P3,000 each in the form of check, and two boxes of 800 grams of prime powdered milk that cost P1,744.93.

Baybayan said the welfare of

the senior citizens is one of the major concerns of the Pineda administration.

In fact, she said the provincial government has already distributed some P30.1 million to 301 elderly beneficiaries aged 95 and above.

She said elderly residents who reached 100 years old and were given P100,000 by the provincial government are still qualified to receive another P100,000 from the national government, provided they comply with the needed requirements and upon the availability of funds. PNA

AMONG photographs included in Sonny Camarillo’s exhibit is this one showing Fidel V. Ramos and Juan Ponce Enrile joining the “People”s Peaceful Revolution” in February 1986.

students and the urban poor—as far as the eye could see—leading protest marches from the provinces to Manila, only to be stopped by shield-carrying and baton-wielding policemen and soldiers in barbedwire barricades.

Camarillo continues to stage his

photo exhibits, “so that Filipinos do not forget”. His latest display took place from February 24 to March 7, 2017, at the Ayala-owned UP Town Center in Quezon City.

He names his offerings People Power Revolution, a model for other nations to follow, restoring the

freedom they lost to greed and avarice, through nonviolent means, mainly through prayers and various forms of mass action.

“It is not easy nor cheap to stage an exhibit,” he said. Over the years, private groups, businesses and individuals have contributed

to help him mount his exhibits.

“I am thankful to the Ayala Malls for providing venues to my photo displays. YKL Films, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp., the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, Camerahaus are among the entities that have supported me over the years.”

His pictures have been used in many books, written by homegrown writers reliving the glory days of their youth. It is a tribute to the bravery and determination of Camarillo, who faced danger in its many forms to capture history on film.

Camarillo has always been into cameras. Immediately out of high school, he worked in a camera store.

He learned the intricacies of photography, as customers expected him to know the answers to their questions. He eventually managed his own store and hobnobbed with photographers, as well as photography enthusiasts, including big names in private business and politics. He also became a member of the Camera Club of the Philippines, a byinvitation-only membership club.

Camarillo said his family—his wife Sonia, his children and his grandchildren—has been the inspiration for his exhibits.

His efforts have been rewarded with comments by visitors—many of them young people—who thank him for teaching them the recent history of the Philippines, making them proud to be Filipinos.

Iloilo City earmarks P5M for pension of indigent senior citizens

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LOILO CITY—The city government here has allocated P5 million for the pension of 10,000 indigent senior citizens. The amount will be fully released by the end of this month.

Each recipient is entitled to P1,000 annually, said Elpidio Azuelo Jr. of the city government’s Office of the Senior Citizens Affairs (Osca).

Last March 21 each of 1,400 target recipients in Molo district received P500, for the first semester of the year, while 3,155 others will receive theirs on March 31.

Wednesday’s pension distribution was held in Lapaz district, with 1,374 recipients. Another batch of 1,761 indigent senior citizens from the district will re-

ceive theirs on March 29.

On March 23 the pension was released to 726 beneficiaries in Lapuz district.

In Arevalo district 700 beneficiaries received their pension on March 24; 948 others on March 28; while in Mandurriao district, 1,000 recipients received their pension on March 24.

S ome 2,300 indigent senior citizens of Jaro district will get their pension on March 28, and 1,182 others on March 30. The City Proper district has 2,500 qualified elderly, who will receive their pension on March 29.

Except for the City Proper district, where the distribution will be held at the Fort San Pedro Na-

tional High School, other districts will release the pension in their respective district gymnasiums.

“They are really the city’s poorest of the poor senior citizens,” Azuelo said, adding the amount helps them with their maintenance drugs.

He said these beneficiaries are evaluated by social workers upon recommendation from the Federation of Senior Citizens Association of the Philippines. They are also subjected to a background check before they qualify.

The locally funded pension started five years ago under the term of Iloilo City Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog.

Meanwhile, 5,716 senior citizens, whose names are included in the

National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction, will also receive their social pension from the national government starting March 28.

Azuelo said the distribution on March 28 will be for recipients from Arevalo and Mandurriao districts, with 948 and 584 beneficiaries, respectively.

March 29 will be for Lapaz and Lapuz districts, with a total of 1,943 beneficiaries. The distribution for 1,212 and 1,029 recipients from Molo and City Proper districts, respectively, will be on March 30.

The venue for the release will be their respective district gyms.

Iloilo City has 34,082 senior citizens, based on Osca records. PNA

THE COST CAN BE DEBATED, BUT ‘MEALS ON WHEELS’ GETS RESULTS

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HE “Mea ls on W heels” project has been delivering food to older people in the United States since the 1950s. Last year it served 2.4 million people.

This week, after President Donald J. Trump released his budget proposal, a furor erupted over the program’s future and effectiveness.

Let’s look at the evidence.

Trump’s budget proposes big cuts to discretionary spending. In a news conference last Thursday, his budget director, Mick Mulvaney, defended cuts to the Community Development Block Grant program by arguing it was “just not showing any results.” (Some states give a portion of that block-grant money to Meals on Wheels.)

“We can’t spend money on programs just because they sound good,” Mulvaney said. “And Meals on Wheels sounds great—again, that’s a state decision to fund that particular portion to. But to take the federal money and give it to the states and say, ‘Look, we want to give you money for programs that don’t work’—I can’t defend that anymore.”

Despite expressions of alarm on social media, killing the community block-grant program would most likely not kill Meals on Wheels.

The financial statements from 2015 show such grants amounted to just under $250,000, or about 3

percent of the total revenue for the program’s national resource center.

More than 85 percent came from corporate, foundation and personal donations. Clearly, federal funding for the national program office isn’t the linchpin for its success.

Public funds at the local level, however, are more substantial, and Meals on Wheels gets much more funding through a different federal program. The nutrition programs of the Older Americans Act support the Meals on Wheels chapters as they actually operate on the ground, and about 30 percent of the expense of home-delivered meals is covered by federal sources.

A cut to this program would have a far more significant effect, especially since that support had been decreasing even before the new budget was considered. The Trump budget calls for a 17.9-percent cut in funding for this program’s parent agency, the Department of Health and Human Services(HHS), and it is quite possible Meals on Wheels could be affected. We won’t know until HHS completes its budget.

Now, what about the assumption, explicit or implicit, that the program has not achieved “results”?

Meals on Wheels has been the subject of many peer-reviewed studies in the medical literature. So

many have been done there are several systematic reviews gathering these studies into various domains.

In 2014 researchers explored the evidence on whether homedelivered meal programs improved the diet and nutrition of older Americans. They found eight studies, two of which were randomized controlled trials. Six of the eight showed programs like Meals on Wheels improve the quality of people’s diet, increase their nutrient intake and reduce their food insecurity and nutritional risk.

They also noted the programs increased chances for human contact and improved quality of life.

A 2015 review found 80 studies have been conducted on programs like Meals on Wheels. The authors noted, however, few of these were randomized controlled trials, and that even fewer focused on the program as a whole. But such trials are hard to do, they’re expensive, and funding for them seems to be going down, not up.

Saying that you want better evidence is different from saying that there is no evidence, though.

It’s important to recognize the program’s benefits are not merely nutritional. A 2016 study showed participants in the Meals on Wheels program had lower loneliness scores. A 2013 study showed

spending on services like Meals on Wheels was associated with less reliance on institutionalized care, because more people could live independently. They may even have fewer falls at home and less worry about being able to remain there.

Researchers conducted economic analyses in 2013 and showed that, if all states had increased the number of older Americans who had received Meals on Wheels by just 1 percent, the states would have saved Medicaid more than $109 million. Most of those savings would have come from reductions in the need for nursing home care.

We can debate the cost-effectiveness of Meals on Wheels, but it would be wrong to say that it’s not effective. There are plenty of results, and I’ve highlighted only some of the most rigorous research available. Most programs we fund through tax dollars have far less evidence to support them, if any evidence at all.

About the worst thing you might say about Meals on Wheels is that putting money into a different program might be of more help to older Americans. There’s no evidence that Meals on Wheels is the most cost-effective program there is, or that it’s the most efficient use of our taxpayer dollars.

New York Times News Service

news.businessmirror@gmail.com

The Millennials BusinessMirror

Saturday, March 25, 2017

A9

Young businessman brings Bruno Mars’s song to reality

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By Vernon Velasco

ally benefits the company: Best of both worlds in one idea.”

Lee said he is not the sort of giving people “the ‘I’ve-been-there-donethat’ snippets of advice”. He said he encourages his subordinates to have a vision and make them feel a part of a team.

HEN most billionaires share their tales, a common denominator is that they started from the ground up: Gokongwei sold candles; Sy manned a sari-sari store.

Same old story and different inspirational TV program but with all of them starting their empires at a very tender age, the question still gets stuck in one’s head time and again every time these things are hear that one asks: “Where was I when I was a kid?”

Asked the same question, 26-yearold upstart extraordinaire Charles Stewart Lee was already helping out at his mother’s Parañaque factory warehouse, getting stickers in place and ordered around with his siblings.

It was this same youth who lived in a nook at a faceless nether Malabon street that thrives with funeral parlors. According to Lee, his family was penniless they celebrated New Year’s Eve by lighting a firework hanging on a tree. The day also happened to be his birthday.

No matter that they were in a snit with fate and the finances were getting low, the family still managed to get by, sending Lee, in turn, out to study in Hong Kong and the US, and work there shortly thereafter.

Like branding steers and embalming the dead, Lee worked at the coalface.

He was there—subsisting on minimum wage—from busing tables to manning the cash register at a cafeteria. He said he developed his

Spending to learn

WHILE still running Vikings, Lee ventured into another business, an FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) company, one that bottles water pumped straight out of a volcanic rock and contained in a fancy packaging.

“It’s a very hard job; actually that’s the most difficult task I’ve ever undertaken. It’s a company I have never done,” Lee said. “Starting up is hard. It’s a factory. There are a lot of machineries involved. Technical.

Electrical. Not to mention quality assurance and FDA [Food and Drug Administration] protocols I don’t know about.”

One year into it, Lee has spent millions of millions of pesos learning.

“I’ve made so many mistakes— millions of them—that I could have avoided. But there, I have realized when my mom said that mistakes are an opportunity to learn,” he said.

“Learning is expensive. If you don’t pay for it, you don’t learn it. You spend on your mistakes. It’s an investment, not a waste of money.”

business acumen by being there on the ground and learning the value of earning every dollar.

Lee earned his first million after returning to the Philippines at Vikings Group, which he coowns.

He was 21.

From scratch

ALREADY a millionaire, Lee still worked as a waiter at Vikings’s Mall of Asia branch, insisting that, for one to learn the business, he has to be on the operation side.

From the front office to the support wing, Lee said he learned many things—most of the time in a hard way. He, nonetheless, never forgot to lead whether he found himself at the helm of the business.

“Hospitality is very different here in the Philippines,” Lee said. “I learned all that from scratch.

According to Lee, in the US, workers always speak their minds “even when you’re only a follower”.

“But, here, the idea is that, when you come up with something and your boss says a thing, you just ought to be quiet. If I don’t agree, no matter what position I’m holding, I would speak my mind, and I will give my opinion on why it doesn’t make sense,” Lee said. “The clashing actu-

Branding water

Millennial multimillionaire Charles Stewart Lee. Photo courtesy of Charles Stewart Lee

OTHER than water being close to his heart having interned at Fiji Water Co. Llc., Lee sees branding as something as basic as water.

“Building a brand is hard, especially when you’re up against heri-

tage brands [that] have been here since time immemorial. Who are we to come in and take a share of that pie?” Lee said. “How do we crash a market and say that we’re different from them?”

He saw the advantage in the land from which the company sources that is situated atop a volcanic layer: the layer makes the water volcanically filtered, an edge off their competitors’ products. Lee, hence, branded the water “Sip” and placed it inside an Instagrammable bottle with jagged diamond edges.

The product is something that epitomizes Seth Godin’s “milk-milkmilk-milk-milk-not milk” paradox when a customer is thirsty and makes a beeline to the fridge.

“I just don’t want people to think that drinking water is for moms,” Lee said. “I want to sell something to a millennial market. I want to make something as basic as water relevant to people my generation.”

Work smart

AT 26, Lee is a very millennial person, even for somebody who almost equates slacking to partying.

He said he enjoys the pressure, as well as creating something out of nothing—something he thought he would never do in his life—although he cringes at how millennials typically define their idea of success: Work smart.

“People say you just have to work smart. I don’t agree. Purely working smart is for people who are extremely experienced and have the right to work smart,” Lee said. “But when you’re young, you really have to work hard on top of working smart. Working smart won’t be enough.”

With this dating app, women are in control

By Jessica Bennett

New York Times News Service

A

USTIN, Texas—As at most tech startups, the fridge was stocked with green juice and cold brew coffee. Unlike at most tech startups, there was not a single man present.

Instead of buzzwords like disruption and market share, the agenda items for that day’s meeting included ghosting (ceasing contact with a romantic partner without an explanation), shirtless selfies and unsolicited photos of male genitalia. Specifically, how to eradicate all three.

“Let’s think of it in terms of product,” said Whitney Wolfe, 27, perusing the office bookshelf and pulling down a book called “Date-Onomics.”

Around her, young women were squeezed onto couches and seated cross-legged on the floor, tapping on their laptops. A giant honeybee logo loomed above them. “If the problem is ghosting,” Wolfe continued, “then how do we reward people who don’t ghost? How can we remind people what it’s like to be on the other side?”

This is the headquarters of Bumble, the 2-year-old dating app created

by Wolfe, in which women must make the first move, nudity is verboten and kindness is part of the company mission. If you are the millennial version of a Sensitive New Age Guy, to quote Christine Lavin—or a woman who wants to date one—you’re on Bumble.

More control

WOLFE, a founder of the betterknown rival dating app Tinder, which was the subject of a damning Vanity Fair article suggesting that it promotes a hookup culture disadvantageous to women, left the company in a tangled manner stemming from her relationship and subsequent breakup with another founder, Justin Mateen.

She later sued for gender discrimination, accusing her ex of publicly calling her a “whore” and charging that the chief executive had dismissed her complaints as “dramatic” and that her male colleagues had

stripped her of her founder title because having a woman on the founding team would “make the company seem like a joke.” The case was settled out of court, with Wolfe receiving a reported $1 million and company stock.

“I think everyone in this room has had terrible dating experiences or been in an emotionally unhealthy relationship,” Wolfe said carefully.

It is no secret her relationship with Mateen fell into that category, in part because dozens of their text messages were published on gossip blogs like Valleywag and TMZ. “But I’ve thought long and hard about this,” she added, “and I think a lot of the dysfunction around dating has to do with men having the control. So how do we put more control in women’s hands?”

‘Feminist Tinder’

ENTER Bumble—or what has been called “feminist Tinder”.

It won’t change the rules of dating overnight, but in the ecosystem of online dating, it aims to be a little less agonizing for women. It features photo verification that assuages users’ fears that they might be getting “catfished” (lured into an online relationship with a false identity) and security that makes it easy to report harassment.

The company says its abuse report rate is among the lowest of its competitors, at 0.005 percent.

And the tolerance for nastiness is low. After a female user sent screenshots to Bumble of a conversation with a guy named “Connor,” in which he ranted about “gold-digging whores,” the company barred him, detailing its thinking in an open letter that ended “#LaterConnor.”

Another man was barred for fatshaming. Users regularly receive notifications to “bee nice,” sometimes with saucy emojis.

But its main innovation may be that it lets women be the hunters, not the hunted.

“I always felt that for me as a woman, I always had to wait around,” Wolfe said. “In all other arenas, I was ambitious and a go-

getter, but when it came to dating, I wasn’t supposed to go after what I wanted. And so I essentially said, OK, here’s what we’re going to do: Women make the first move. And they’re going to do so in 24 hours or the match disappears, so she feels encouraged to do it.

“Much like Cinderella, if she waits, the carriage is going to turn into a pumpkin.”

Reverse engineer

WOLFE thinks technology turned the traditional mating dance into more of a rumble.

“I’d read a lot about the psychology around rejection and insecurity, and I had noticed that when people feel insecure or rejected, they behave aggressively, erratically,” she said. “Especially when you can hide behind a screen name or a profile picture. So I thought, how can we reverse-engineer that?”

Her solution: Men have to wait for a woman to reach out—they can’t initiate the conversation—so rather than feeling rejected if a woman doesn’t reply to their pickup line, they feel flattered if she reaches out to pick them up.

Emily Witt, the author of “Future Sex,” which documents her experience as a single person in her 30s trying to understand dating and courtship today, thinks the app helps clear up confusion. “A lot of contemporary dating, a lot of the kind of sense of unease,” Witt said, “comes from people not knowing how they’re supposed to ask and roles they’re supposed to play, because so many of the dating rituals are so patriarchal. Yet even so, a lot of women are still reluctant to ask a guy out. So I think the revolution of Bumble is taking that uncertainty completely out.”

Good marketers

WOLFE did not initially plan to change the dating game.

She was 23, unemployed and living with her mother when she took a trip to Los Angeles to visit a fellow alumna of Southern Methodist University. The hot water went out, so

Whitney Wolfe meets with staffers at the offices of Bumble, her dating app start-up, in Austin, Texas, on February 23. An all-female staff is just one way in which Bumble is a response to an online-dating culture many see as toxic. Drew Anthony Smith/The New York Times

they went to another friend’s house to use the shower. That friend was Mateen.

That night, they had dinner with his buddy Sean Rad, who was working at a tech incubator owned by IAC, which would eventually become the birthplace of Tinder. He needed someone to run marketing, and Wolfe was available.

She didn’t have a career plan, exactly, but she had plenty of jobs. In college, she sold tote bags to raise money for animals affected by the BP oil spill. Later, she volunteered in orphanages in Southeast Asia, excitedly phoning home to tell her parents she was going to start a travel web site.

“They were like, ‘Can you just focus on not getting malaria?’” she said.

After college, she spent a month in a photography program in New York and worked a few odd assistant jobs before moving back in with her mother.

At Tinder, Wolfe said, she took the app to SMU, got sorority women to sign up, then immediately crossed the street to the fraternities and told

them all the hot girls were on the app.

When she started Bumble, she did much of the same, taking it to universities, signing up college women and assuming—as good marketers do—that where the women went, the men would follow.

It was a crowded market, but Bumble now claims 800 million matches and 10 billion swipes per month. It ranks second in top grossing Apple downloads in the Lifestyle category, second only to Tinder.

Changing norms

THE company, which has 35 employees globally (including two former Tinder colleagues), has added Bumble BFF, a matching service for platonic female friendships. It is preparing to roll out Bumble Bizz, a networking app, and has acquired Chappy, an app for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

All of this expansion, however, has not been without hiccups.

Recently, Bumble introduced a subway campaign in New York that used the slogan: “Life’s short, text him first”—only to realize that

not every woman is looking for a him<em>, </em>and some “hims” now identify as “hers” or something else. “We really regretted that,” Wolfe said, noting that Bumble users will soon be able to choose from a number of gender identities. Now the slogan reads: “Make the first move,” which also happens to be the working title of the memoirmeets-dating guide Wolfe recently signed up to write for Portfolio, an imprint of Penguin.

The company is also offering webinars for college users in which experts advise on subjects from “how to do your taxes” to “how to recognize sexual assault”, and getting ready to roll out a Siri-like character called Beatrice, which will call you during a date to make sure you’re fine. Wolfe also said users would soon be able to chat with an on-call gynecologist (her own).

“Look, are we solving the world’s problems by allowing women to make the first move on a dating app? No,” Wolfe said. “But I do believe we are helping to change some very archaic norms.”

A10

Saturday, March 25, 2017

BusinessMirror

By Barbara Ortutay The Asociated Press

N

ICE Ltd. announced on March 8 the results of its survey revealed the Philippines, India and Indonesia are aware of voice biometrics (VB) “but have never used it before”.

The survey by Nice (Neptune Inte l l igence Computer Eng ineering) also revealed consumers in these and other Asia-Pacific markets “are overwhelmingly in favor of companies using voice recognition to authenticate their identity when interacting with a contact center”. “ This saves times for both customers and contact-center

agents, and eliminates frustration caused by forgotten passwords or wrong answers to traditional security questions,” the Israel-based company said.

VB is an authentication process that relies on a customer’s voice and is an alternative to personal information numbers (PINs), passwords that use keyboard characters and security questions.

Nice’s Asia Pacific Voice Biometrics Consumer Survey of 900 consumers in Australia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, the Philippines and Singapore revealed that 46 percent of respondents rated their current experience of authenticating themselves when engaging with a contact center as somewhere between neutral and terrible. Just 9 percent said it was “great”.

Over a third of respondents in emerging markets (India, Indonesia and the Philippines) have heard of VB, “but have never used it before”.

“These high awareness rates, couple d w it h o ve r w he l m i n g openness to adopting VB, suggest the great potential for VB implementation in the emerging markets,” Nice said.

Consumer readiness to accept VB for contact-center authentication is high, according to Nice, citing that 88 percent of those polled were open to VB. “Of the people who had never heard of VB, 81 percent were open to it once they understood what VB means,” Nice said.

“Once the respondents lea r ned about t he benef its of biometr ics, t heir li kelihood of per for m i ng t ra nsac t ions v i a t he cont act center increased by 1.5 times,” Nice A sia-Pacific President R aghav Sa hga l was quoted in a st atement as saying. “ T h is demonst rates h igh levels of read iness a nd a huge revenue oppor t u nit y for businesses t h at c a n i ncor porate [V B] into t heir aut hent icat ion processes.”

N

E W YO R K— A s f a r as the indignities of modern air travel go, the latest ban on laptops and tablets on some international f lights falls somewhere between taking off shoes at the security checkpoint and testing baby food and milk for bomb residue.

It’s yet another impediment in the name of security for already weary travelers, especially those from or passing through the 10 mostly Middle Eastern and North African countries covered by new US and British policies. While not quite as disruptive as an outright ban on smartphones— much less a travel ban based on nationality—the restrictions loom large for some.

“Why are only Middle Eastern airlines subject to this ban?” asked Kelsey Norman, a doctoral student who plans to fly home Friday to Los Angeles from Beirut—and expects to have to check her laptop, a Kindle tablet and her DSLR camera. “Overall, this policy is inconvenient, discriminatory and continues to hurt America’s rapidly deteriorating reputation globally.”

Ban logic

NEW restrictions from the US Department of Homeland Security prohibit the transportation in carry-on baggage of laptop computers, tablets, Kindles, some gaming devices, cameras and other electronics larger than a smartphone. The US government cited unspecified threats as the reason. The UK government instituted a similar ban; neither government’s restrictions affect US airlines.

People can still bring with them to their seat items like sm a r t phones, du f fel bags, coats, small bottles of hand lotion, snacks, earplugs and other small items.

ioS OPENER PT Snapcart Digital Indonesia Founder and CEO Reynazran Royono and

CoFounder Teresa Condicion reply to questions from reporters during the unveiling of Snapcart Philippines’s iOS version. Rolled out in August 2016, the mobile application has now around 97,000 downloads on Android, according to the executives. NONIE REYES

Lost productivity

S

A N FR A NCISCO —AT&T, Verizon and several other major advertisers are suspending their marketing campaigns on Google’s YouTube site after discovering their brands have been appearing alongside videos promoting terrorism and other unsavory subjects.

The spreading boycott confronts Google with a challenge that threatens to cost it hundreds of millions of dollars.

YouTube’s popularity stems from its massive and eclectic library of video, spanning everything from polished TV clips to raw diatribes posted by people bashing homosexuals.

But that diverse selection periodically allows ads to appear next to videos that marketers find distasteful, despite Google’s efforts to prevent it from happening.

Google depends largely on automated programs to place ads in YouTube videos because the job is too much for humans to handle on their own. About 400 hours of video is now posted on YouTube each minute. Earlier this week, Google vowed to step up its efforts to block ads on “hateful, offensive and derogatory” videos.

“We know that this is unacceptable to the advertisers and

This March 18, 2010, file photo shows the YouTube web site in Los Angeles. AP

agencies who put their trust in us,” Philipp Schindler, Google’s chief business officer, wrote in a Tuesday blog post.

As part of Google’s solution to the problem, Schindler promised to hire “significant numbers” of employees to review YouTube videos and flag them as inappropriate for ads. He also predicted YouTube would be able to address advertisers’ concerns through Google’s recent advancements in artificial intelligence—technology parlance for computers that learn to think like humans.

But that promise so far hasn’t

appeased AT&T, Verizon Communications and an expanding global list of advertisers that includes Volkswagen, Audi, HSBC Holdings, the Roya l Bank of Scotland and L’Oreal.

“We are deeply concerned that our ads may have appeared alongside YouTube content promoting terrorism and hate,” AT&T said in a statement. “Until Google can ensure this won’t happen again, we are removing our ads from Google’s non-search platforms.”

By extending its ban to everything beyond Google’s search results, AT&T is also effectively

pulling its ads from more than 2 million other web sites that depend on Google to deliver ads to their pages.

In its statement, Verizon said it decided to pull ads from YouTube to protect its web site while it investigates the “weak links” among its digital advertising partners.

Both AT&T and Verizon may have an ulterior motive to make YouTube look like an untrustworthy spot for marketers because both companies are trying to sell more digital ads in their own networks.

YouTube has become one of the fastest growing parts of Google’s ad system, which generated $79 billion in revenue last year. Google doesn’t disclose how much of that came from YouTube ads, but the research firm eMarketer estimated that the video site accounted for $5.6 billion that amount.

EMarketer projected YouTube’s advertising will rise 26 percent this year to $7 billion, but that prediction came before marketers began to suspend their spending.

The YouTube boycott began late last week after an investigation

by The Times in London revealed the ads of major brands were appearing in videos delving into contentious themes.

SOME, particularly business travelers, see the potential for theft, damage or compromised data if they are forced to check laptops. The anxiety is real enough that there were attempts to reroute f lights to other air ports immediately after the ban was announced.

Banu Akdenizli, a native of Turkey, said being forced to fly 17 hours without her laptop will cost her precious time to work and to prepare for a conference.

“It might seem tr iv ia l to a lot of people, but what you get from these par ts of the world are usua l ly business travelers,” said A kdenizli, an

A

KAMAI Technologies Inc. announced on March 22 the availability of its media accelerator, which the company promises will improve viewing experiences for over-the-top (OTT) consumer products. According to the content delivery network services provider, the technology is integrated directly into consumer applications to optimize the experience for each individual end user.

“OTT operators can take advantage of more efficient communication between consumer devices and the Akamai network to deliver video that is ideally suited for the device capabilities, network type and conditions of

associate professor of communications at the Doha, Qatar, campus of Northwestern Universit y. For t hose who must, there are ways to do a l imited a mount of work w ithout laptops, tablets or other electronics.

Awkward workarounds

IT is possible to transfer impor t documents to Google Docs and do some work on a smartphone. Features can be limited for some apps; Microsoft’s Office app, for instance, allows users to open only one document at a time.

These apps are good enough for simple proofreading and minor editing, but w ill leave u sers wa nt i ng when more complex tasks are required.

The text will also be small on smar t phones, though there is a way to temporar ily refor mat it to accommod ate sma l ler displays.

One simple task that can be done on a smartphone is communicating via e-mail or cleaning up inboxes. In-flight Wi-fi is required to send or receive e-mails. If travelers need downtime, there is always Netf lix or Amazon. Users can download content to a smartphone before leaving so that it’s easily accessible.

At least it’s not phones

LAPTOPS and other gadgets play only a supporting role to the smartphone for many travelers. Yet, even in cases where there are restrictions on smartphones, at least in the most recent and notable example, the reasons were clear.

Last fall, Samsung asked users of its fire-prone Galaxy Note 7 to “power down and stop using the device” on planes. (The phone was later banned, and then recalled.)

One big difference w ith that ban and today’s regionally based restrictions is that with the Galaxy, there were widely circulated videos of Note 7s bursting into flames. There was no doubt that this would be a bad thing at 30,000 feet. The potential danger cited by the US and the UK is more ambiguous.

Yet, even for some travelers who do not mind stowing away laptops to abide by the new rules, there is some apprehension. Nick Lieber, a dual US-Israeli citizen living in Jerusalem, plans an April trip to Chicago that will take him through Amman, Jordan, and therefore subject him to the ban. He doesn’t anticipate having to do work on his laptop during the flight.

But he worries about laptop lithium-ion batteries—which have been blamed for past aircraft fires—stored in the plane’s cargo hold. “I’m a nervous flyer already,” Lieber said.

specific end users,” the company said. “By overcoming many of the fundamental challenges of online video delivery, the media accelerator can help OTT operators provide a consistently high and predictable quality of experience to which consumers are accustomed with traditional broadcast.”

The company said its product is currently being used by Vimeo, an online video-sharing platform.

Akamai’s release of its media accelerator came as the International Data Corp. (IDC) forecast that by 2018, OTT linear-TV subscriber growth will start to drive traditional pay-TV overhaul via cloud migration. Rizal Raoul Reyes

BusinessMirror

Saturday, March 25, 2017

A11

briefs

D-Link appoints new chairman

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By Catherine N. Pillas

@c_pillas29

ECHNOLOGY can solve some of the country’s problems, an executive of Fujitsu Ltd. believes.

For the Philippines, a real dilemma that can be addressed via digital solutions is traffic congestion, according to Craig Baty, Fujitsu Ltd. vice president of Digital Services Business.

IRON WEAR Photo shows Garmin Ltd.’s New Fenix 5 multisport GPS series with geo-mapping, which was launched during the Iron Man 70.3 event held at Subic Bay Exhibition and Convention Center. The launch comes as the International Data Corp. said the worldwide wearables market reached a new all-time high as shipments reached 33.9 million units in the fourth quarter of 2016, growing 16.9 percent year-over-year. Nonoi Lacza

Baty, who is also the firm’s vice president for International Marketing, cited the case of Tokyo, Japan, whose traffic-management authorities collect data on vehicle congestion via sensors placed on the road.

The approach paved the way for solutions in road navigation or efficient traffic rerouting, he said.

“If you’re going to digitalize, for example, here in the Philippines that is developing more rapidly and now has a stronger economy, there’s a lot that has

to be done,” Baty told reporters.

“If we’re going to digitalize, let’s say government offices, [the government] has to make a decision if it’s a priority, and education forms a big part of it.”

Baty further explained that training people for digitalization and giving them the skills for what’s to come, allows them to cope.

Baty said the company believes that humans and technology, the manual and the automatic, should go hand in hand.

“At the heart of Fujitsu is the principle that people should be driving things—a ‘Humancentric Intelligent Computing’”, he said.

“Computers should help humans have greater access to things but don’t take over.”

With the transformation of the digital landscape changing the way business is being done and adoption to digital systems becoming the norm, Fujitsu is entering its own bid through its digital business platform, according to Baty.

He sa id t he pl at for m wa s launched two years ago and is designed to support capabilities around big data, mobility and the Internet of Things (IoT) but still with a “ humancentric” approach in mind.

Through the platform, Fujitsu ser ves solutions to human problems, Baty said.

He cited security data as an example, saying these can be stored in local cloud platforms to be connected and shared to global ones.

Baty said the company has rolled out the cloud service in the United Kingdom with the government using the service in its operations.

Jeff Castillo

W

HEN Mark Zuckerberg set about developing the first Facebook prototype, he intended it initially to connect only a couple of students on his campus. A little over a decade later, this socialmedia app has reached and connected more than 1.8 billion monthly users all over the world, transcending geographical, social, cultural and religious barriers.

Today, Facebook has emerged as a tool that has brought a total difference to how people communicate, share thoughts, promote their views and opinions and even influence their respective communities.

These last few years, however, people have also seen how Facebook and other social-media platforms propagate troubling issues, which pose threats to the security of the users, especially when interactions become less personal as these platforms evolve.

People who are socially awkward or shy suddenly feel empowered. It is also becoming more apparent that social skills have changed. People have become less able to cope with interpersonal interactions because they can conveniently hide behind their profiles.

There is also the problem of “oversharing”. Many Facebook users tend to share too much information about themselves, their families, their habits and their lives without realizing that they are exposing themselves to potential cybercrimes.

For instance, Facebook users who overshare are at risk of identity theft. According to the latest report of the Philippine National Police-Anti-Cybercrime Group (PNP-ACG), this is the third in the top cybercrime cases filed with them last year with 288 cases as compared to 101 cases in 2015 and only 61 in 2014.

Cyber criminals may steal users’ information through social engineering. They create fake accounts and establish tr ust with their possible victims over time. Once it is built, they will ask them to divulge information, like banking details and passwords, and commit crimes against them.

Cyber criminals may also ask Facebook users to click on links that might infect their computers

with malware. URLs can be manipulated to make it hard to identify whether it links to a legitimate or malicious site.

T he pr inciple social-media users should bear in mind is that any information they post online should no longer be considered private. They need to be mindful about their status updates, and avoid revea ling their whereabouts. For instance, potential burglars may break into their homes if they know they are away in Europe for an extended holiday. Making public their daily routines, and revealing their children’s names, schools and birthdates may also put their family in harm’s way.

While Facebook and other social-media applications continue to strengthen their measures to ensure cyber security, users must always remember that they are in the driver’s seat; they are in control. As we become more and more connected, the opportunity for people to make nefarious moves against us also increases. It is always wise to exercise caution where Facebook and social media is concerned.

Users must exercise restraint and common sense.

Like other tools that have emerged before it , Facebook has changed the world for the better by connecting people and effecting social changes, but it can also be used against the very people it is supposed to serve.

Jeff Castillo is the countr y manager for Fortinet Philippines Inc. The views Castillo expressed in this column do not necessarily ref lect those of the BusinessMirror’s.

TAIWANESE electronics product manufacturer D-Link International Pte. Ltd. announced on March 16 the appointment of Douglas Hsiao as the firm’s new global chairman of the board.

He will replace John Hsuan, who will continue to serve on the board. Hsiao has over 30 years of experience in the industry and has served as D-Link’s CEO and vice chairman of the board since 2015. He is the former general manager and current corporation representative of the board director at Alpha Networks Inc. Rizal Raoul Reyes

F5 Networks appoints Judd to lead sales in Asia Pacific

F5 Networks Inc. announced recently the appointment of Adam Judd to the company’s leadership team as senior vice president for sales in AsiaPacific. Based in Singapore, Judd is responsible for charting F5’s strategic business growth across 14 countries in the AsiaPacific region, the company said.

He will be reporting directly to Executive Vice President of Worldwide Sales John DiLullo.

“The rate of change in our cloud, security, Internet of Things and service provider markets is accelerating at a breathtaking pace,” DiLullo was quoted in a statement as saying.

Rizal Raoul Reyes

ViewSonic launches products at GESS ’17

By Oliver Samson Correspondent

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USSIAN cyber-security firm Kaspersky Lab ZAO has cautioned Filipino netizens on a proposal to provide open Wireless-Fidelity (Wi-fi) networks in public places nationwide.

The free public Wi-fi bill approved by the Senate on March 13 will not only make Internet services available to all Filipinos but will make sure that broadband services are faster and more efficient, Sen. Ralph Recto was quoted in a statement as saying.

Recto, one of the proponents of Senate Bill (SB) 1277, said the proposal seeks to provide free Internet access in all national and local government offices and public schools, hospitals and parks, among others.

However, Kaspersky Lab said Wi-fi networks requiring no password are not safe.

“Malicious individuals and

B

EIJING—The toilet-paper thieves of the Temple of Heaven Park were an elusive bunch. They looked like most park visitors, practicing tai chi, dancing in the courtyards and stopping to take in the scent of ancient cypress and juniper trees. But hidden in their oversize shopping bags and backpacks was a secret: sheet upon sheet of crumpled toilet paper, plucked surreptitiously from public restrooms.

Now the authorities in Beijing are fighting back, going so far as to install high-tech toilet-paper dispensers equipped with facial-recognition software in several restrooms.

Before entering restrooms in the park, visitors must now stare into a computer mounted on the wall for three seconds before a machine dispenses a sheet of toilet paper, precisely 2 feet in length. If visitors require more, they are out of luck.

The machine will not dispense a second roll to the same person for nine minutes.

At the Temple of Heaven Park, one of Beijing’s busiest tourist sites, many people said on Monday they were pleased by the new machines.

“The people who steal toilet paper are greedy,” said He Zhiqiang, 19, a customer service worker from the northwestern region of Ningxia. “Toilet paper is a public

groups can set up an open and free Wi-fi network to lure and trap Inter net users who w il l connect through the network,” Kaspersky Lab said. “Cyber criminals often create such networks to sniff users’ personal data.”

The Russian firm added that Wi-Fi networks requiring password are also not safe. “ M a l ic iou s i nd iv idu a l s or groups can piece together a counterfeit Wi-fi hot spot. Using a café or a shopping mall’s Wi-fi network name, they can entice users to connect,” Kaspersky Lab said. “A criminal can easily find out the password, which is used in a café or a shopping mall, and create a fake Wi-fi hot spot with the same name.”

When the device connects to an unknown network it “transmits its unique MAC [media access control] address,” Kaspersky Lab said. “Each Wi-fi access point that receives a request from a phone can log these data.”

The Russian firm said it is on the basis of this information that marketing specialists often make maps of their clients’ routes to find out, which goods attracted them.”

“For example, if you’ve stopped to tie your shoes near a perfume shop, be ready: soon you’ll see a few ads that promote expensive toilet water.”

Kaspersky Lab recommends prudence as still the tool to protect users. In addition, the use of HTTPs, which consists of communication over Hypertext Transfer Protocol within an encrypted connection, is also advised.

“An open, free Internet network i s l i ke a double - ed ged sword: it’s free but also definitely risky,” Kaspersky Lab Southeast Asia General Manager Sylvia Ng was quoted in a statement as saying. “It’s perfectly fine to feel excited about the anticipated public Wi-fis in the entire Philippines.

But we urge Filipinos to be very cautious, too.”

resource. We need to prevent waste.”

Qin Gang, 63, taking a stroll through the park with his wife, said China’s history of crippling poverty had left some people eager to exploit public goods.

“It’s a very bad habit,” Qin said. “Maybe we can use technology to change how people think.”

Not everyone was enthusiastic. Some people, frustrated by the new technology, banged their fists against the machines, which park employees said cost about $720 each. Other visitors had more exacting critiques.

“The sheets are too short,” said Wang Jianquan, 63, a retired shopping-mall manager. Chinese officials have worked for years to curb the excessive use of toilet paper in public facilities, in places like Qingdao, a coastal city, and Shanghai. Most public restrooms in China do not provide any toilet paper, while others provide a common roll for visitors to use.

According to a China Radio International report, the Temple of Heaven Park has supplied toilet paper in its public toilets for the last 10 years, but found that supplies were quickly exhausted. A manager of the park said most of the thieves were local residents, rather than tourists, taking advantage of the free supply for their daily use.

Lei Zhenshan, marketing director for Shoulian Zhineng, the company in Tianjin that designed the device, said in an inter view: “ We brainstormed many options: fingerprints, infrared and facial recognition. We went with facial recognition, because it’s the most hygienic way.’’

Lei said an earlier version of the device was installed last year at the Bird’s Nest stadium in Beijing. An official at the Temple of Heaven, who would not give her name, said the facialrecognition dispensers there were on trial, and if judged a success, would be placed in all the park’s toilets.

On social media, some users denounced the experiment as a waste of money. Others said a high-tech toilet paper-dispensing device did not befit the majesty of the Temple of Heaven, a The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization World Heritage Site and an altar where generations of emperors came to perform sacrificial rites.

“Is there not a solution somewhere between ‘put up a sign’ and ‘install the sort of thing Bond villains use to secure their secret vaults’?’’ Jeremiah Jenne, an American historian and writer in Beijing who organizes tours of historic sites, asked by e-mail.

VISUAL solution products provider ViewSonic Corp. recently launched products that were showcased at the Global Educational Supplies and Solutions (Gess) 2017 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. “Our goal is to encourage our customers to keep up with trends in technology by offering products that are easy to integrate and have a more intuitive feel,” Johnson Choi, ViewSonic’s director of sales and marketing, was quoted in a statement as saying. “Our partnership with some of the most dynamic software and hardware companies in the industry has helped us develop our most highperformance and user-friendly interactive f lat panels, corporate displays and projectors to date.”

Rizal Raoul Reyes

HP promotes ink cartridge

HP Inc. is promoting its ink cartridge the American technology company claims produces ink cartridges that use 36,000 drops of ink per second. The American technology firm said photographs printed using Original HP cartridges remain fade-resistant and free from smudges and streaks. “Its fast-drying and anticurling properties also prevent costly and inconvenient paper jams,” the company said. Original HP Ink’s affordability also allows for more prints at a lower cost.

Rizal Raoul Reyes

DocsCorp products now Citrix-ready

PITTSBURGH, US-based DocsCorp, a provider of document productivity tools, announced on March 16 that its products have been verified as Citrix-Ready, a program that helps customers identify third-party solutions that are recommended to enhance virtualization, networking and cloud-computing solutions from Citrix. DocsCorp said its products are now listed in the CitrixReady Marketplace, which hosts over 30,000 verifications plus an extensive list of verified products and solutions compatible with a range of Citrix products.

Rizal Raoul Reyes

BusinessMirror

A12 Saturday, March 25, 2017

Data-privacy regulator lectures Microsoft on law

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HE National Privacy Commission (NPC) on Monday lectured Microsoft Philippines on the Data Privacy Act (DPA), saying the local operators of the world’s biggest software firm have misinterpreted the law.

The regulator took note of a March 8 statement by Microsoft that said, while the DPA has been a law for the last five years, “businesses and organizations are required to comply with it by September 9.”

The law has been in effect since

2012, the NPC, however, said.

“Businesses and organizations that collect and process personal data are already required to be compliant with the DPA,” the NPC said in a statement. “As such, for data processors in both private and government sectors,

appointing an accountable officer, in the person of a data protection officer, is a must and shouldn’t be delayed any further.”

The NPC further explained the DPA implementing rules and regulations (IRR), which took effect on September 8 last year, provides for a transitory period of one year for personal information controllers (PICs) and personal information processors (PIPs) to register their data-processing systems with the NPC. The latter is subject to the requirements of the IRR’s Section 47, which is the registration of personal data-processing systems. According to Privacy Commissioner Raymund Enriquez Liboro, the NPC “is work-

ing with PICs and PIPs in government and various industries in developing a culture of privacy, and building resilience against data breaches from the ground up.”

“We are committed in helping businesses, as well as citizens, in becoming self-reliant in personal data protection,” Liboro was quoted in the statement as saying.

“While technology tools are important, these alone will not prevent the violation of data subjects’ rights and ensure compliance with the DPA. As such, the commission is not endorsing any particular vendor looking to promote the data-protection features of their products.”

Rizal Raoul Reyes

ADVOCATE SAYS GOVT FAILS PROTECTING ONLINE SPHERE

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leader of an advocacy group has expressed concern of the state of the country’s villages, saying the Philippines is failing to fully wrap its citizens in cyber security.

“Out of the 2 million barangays, only 40,000 barangays are security compliant,” said Pierre Tito Galla, cofounder and coconvener of Democracy.Net.Ph. Galla’s group considers itself an information and communications technology and civil-rights movement.

“Even 99-percent compliant is not good enough to protect the citizenry,” Galla said. “Data privacy needs high compliance, and there’s no room for effort.”

Galla, an engineer by profession, pointed out the Philippines will have a lot of catching up in building its cyber-defense capabilities.

In order for the Philippines to develop a credible cybersecurity force, the government must start with the basic element, he told the BusinessMirror. “We have to start at the fundamental by focusing on science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or Stem,” Galla said during a forum on cyber security by Microsoft Philippines. “We have to harness people with brilliant minds.”

Galla added the first step for the country’s defense authorities is to develop a cyber-defense mind-set. He said on March 8 the Philippines can seek the help of its allies, like the United States and Japan, for the country’s cyber-security needs.

Galla also pointed out the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) should include cyber defense in its doctrine to keep up with the changes in defense strategies. Moreover, he said the government must realize that modernizing the AFP does not only involve purchasing modern armaments, such as helicopters and warships.

“Cyber security and cyber defense are imperatives that need to be done.” Galla also cautioned the government not to be complacent even though it considers having achieved a higher degree in security standards. In fact, the government must push harder in achieving the highest standard, he added. Rizal Raoul Reyes

Google Maps already tracks you; other people can, too

This March 22 photo shows the Google Maps app on a smartphone in New York. AP

By Michael Liedtke The Associated Press

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AN FRANCISCO—Google Maps users will soon be able to broadcast their movements to friends and family—the latest test of how much privacy people are willing to sacrifice in an era of rampant sharing.

The location-monitoring feature will begin rolling out on Wednesday in an update to the Google Maps mobile app, which is already installed on most of the world’s smartphones. It will also be available on personal computers.

Google believes the new tool will be a more convenient way for people to let someone know where they are without having to text or call them. The Mountain View, California, company has set up the controls, so individuals can decide with whom they want to share their whereabouts and for how long—anywhere from a few minutes to indefinitely.

But location sharing in one of the world’s most popular apps could cause friction in marriages and other relationships if one partner demands to know where the other is at all times. Similar tensions could arise if parents insist their teenagers turn on the location-sharing option before they go out.

It could also be turned into a way to stalk someone entangled in an abusive relationship, warned Ruth Glenn, executive director for the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. “It has the potential to be another tool in an abuser’s toolkit,” she said.

Similar tracking is already available on other apps; Glympse, founded by former Microsoft employees, has offered this function for years. Although it isn’t as wide ranging, Apple also offers a tracking option called “Find My Friends” on its iPhone, iPad and Watch.

That’s one of the reasons Google isn’t expecting a lot of complaints about adding the option to Maps, especially since everyone can decide when to turn it on and who can monitor them.

“We don’t feel like we are changing the game,” said Jen Fitzpatrick, Googles vice president of maps.

Maps users will be able to activate the location-sharing feature by tapping a button near the search bar and then picking a person from their contact list to text with the information. If the recipient doesn’t have the Google Maps app on their phone, it will text them a link to open the location on the map in a browser.

The settings also allow users to determine how long their movements can be tracked each time a location is shared. If no time limit is selected, Google will periodically send people e-mail reminders that they’re still sharing their location, a step that Glenn said may help anyone who didn’t know an abusive partner was still following them.