Businessmirror march 29 - april 01, 2018

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Thursday-Sunday, March 29-April 1, 2018 Vol. 13 No. 169

CA clears installation of GPS on public buses T

By Joel R. San Juan

@jrsanjuan1573

he Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) can now enforce its memorandum circulars compelling all public-utility buses (PUBs) in the country to install Global Positioning System (GPS) to promote road safety after the project was cleared by the Court of Appeals (CA).

In a 23-page decision penned

by Associate Justice Rafael Antonio M. Santos, the Court’s Twelfth

Division affirmed the decision issued by the Regional Trial Court (RTC) in Quezon City issued on

“[The] petitionerappellant failed to overcome the presumption of constitutionality and validity in favor of the memorandum circulars.”

—Court of Appeals

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Trump’s trade war: An opportunity to reshape Philippine economy Rene E. Ofreneo

laborem exercens

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January 17, 2017, which declared as constitutional the LTFRB’s Memorandum Circulars 2015-021 and 2015026 issued on June 26, 2015, and

y imposing punitive tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum exports and threatening to apply similar sanctions on 100 or so Chinese products, US President Donald J. Trump has literally unleashed a trade war with the United States mercantilist rival. The response of the stock market of the Philippines and the world was immediate: plunging price indices. There are worries everywhere on how the war is going to develop and affect the global economy. There are even fears that the war can trigger a bigger nontrade war. For those who remember, World War I and World War II were partly fueled by the trade rivalries among the European and Asian powers.

Continued on A2

Continued on A2

PHL, Indonesian businesses unable to provide volume to Roro shipping

By Manuel T. Cayon @awimailbox Mindanao Bureau Chief

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paradise for off-roaders A group of off-roaders take a break at Barong Tagalong, on top of a mountain in Zambales, while taking

AVAO CITY—Businesses from both the Philippines and Indonesia could still hardly provide the volume to sustain the recently opened and the only roll-on, roll-off (Roro) cargo shipping in the Celebes Sea, the sea-lane that once saw a regular barter trading between Filipino, Muslims and Indonesian traders for centuries.

The first trip from here in April last year, with a stopover in General

Santos City and on to the international port of Bitung in the western group of islands of Indonesia, carried only five 20-footer container vans from one flour and animal feeds company.

K i m P a n c h o, D a v a o C it y branch manager of the Super Shuttle Roro 2, said there were two other ships that succeeded the launch, witnessed by Philippine President Duterte and Indonesian President Joko Widodo.

It was stopped for failure to get more shippers.

“We would be mounting another one this year,” Pancho

told the BusinessMirror, as he promised to provide the details of the three shipping ventures done last year and to talk further on the planned shipping this year.

He did not reply to succeeding follow-up inquiries, though.

Product aggregator

THE Indonesian consu late here disclosed late last year that a Manado City, Indonesia-based shipping company dispatched a 256-TEU KM Gloria 28 boat to pick up from where the Super Shuttle Roro 2 has taken a rest.

Continued on A4

advantage of the holidays. ALYSA SALEN

‘Townships should have socialized Fight for women’s rights alive in pending bills to high-end residential components’

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz @joveemarie

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he Philippine government, through the years, has advanced the protection of women’s rights and role in nation-building, as mandated by the 1987 Constitution.

Article II, Section 14, states: “The State recognizes the role of women in nation-building, and shall ensure the fundamental equality before the law of women and men.”

This is why the Philippine government considers women as important partners in the achievement of national goals, and must be treated equally with their male partners in the eyes of the law.

Over the past century, government

On this month, National Women’s Month, we celebrate the invaluable contributions of women in our society. We honor all the advocates of women’s rights and the vital role they play in our unrelenting quest for gender equality in all aspects of life.”—Aragones

efforts have led to many developments for the greater protection of women’s rights in the country, such as recognition of women’s movements; increased numbers of educated women; increased number of women in politics; and more laws on enhanced protection of women in the workplace, domestic violence, sexual harassment and human trafficking, among others.

These efforts, thus, led to the

PESO exchange rates n US 52.2070

Philippines being recognized as having the smallest rates of gender disparity in the world, where the country ranked seventh out of 145 countries for gender equality in the 2015 Global Gender Gap Index.

Through the years, Filipino women have become more multifaceted that they have assumed a plethora of roles in the community, and even in the whole world.

Continued on A4

By VG Cabuag

A

@villygc

couple walked past Saint Mary’s Academy, a school in Pampanga that can accommodate some 3,000 students at any given time, and many residents in the area once studied there. “That’s where my kindergarten school teacher lives,” said the woman, who also studied at Saint Mary’s and also lives a few blocks away, as she points to a low-rise building right across the street.

Many of the older towns in the Philippines—even in many bustling cities in Metro Manila—were built this way: schools and places

I’m a firm believer of not putting your socialized housing outside or separate. Put it inside. Make it in such a way that your socialized housing blends with your low cost, blends with your midcost, blends with your high end. It is okay.”—Atencio of work, worship or entertainment were placed right in the middle of a residential community.

As the Philippine economy expands, and with many of the infrastructure built during the Marcos era, more and more people are being forced to live outside of city centers, as land prices become more expensive.

But with the heavy traffic jams and low infrastructure support to move people in and out of the city, property developers, such as Megaworld Corp., a company led by businessman Andrew Tan, coined the word “township development, ”a place where people can live, work and play.

Continued on A2

n japan 0.4957 n UK 73.9251 n HK 6.6535 n CHINA 8.3165 n singapore 39.8648 n australia 40.0793 n EU 64.7628 n SAUDI arabia 13.9226

Source: BSP (28 March 2018 )

A2 Thursday-Sunday, March 29-April 1, 2018

BMReports BusinessMirror

CA clears installation of GPS on public buses Continued from A1

November 16, 2015, respectively.

The appellate court did not give merit to the petition filed by the Nagkakaisang Samahan ng mga Nangangasiwa ng Panlalawigang Bus sa Pilipinas (formerly Provincial Bus Operators Association of the Philippines), seeking the reversal of the QC RTC’s decision.

The CA held that contrary to the claim of the petitioner that the project is arbitrary, the GPS project is actually based on a “well-thoughtout and carefully deliberated plan” by the LTFRB. “Due-diligence studies and testruns were also undertaken, thereby, negating petitioner-appellant’s claim that the respondent-appellee LTFRB is not yet ready to implement it,” the CA declared.

The decision came following President Duterte’s order for authorities to launch a crackdown against colorum buses nationwide, amid the series of fatal bus accidents.

Likewise, the CA dismissed

the claim of the petitioner that the memorandum circulars were oppressive and confiscatory, considering the installation of a GPS device requires capital outlay and maintenance cost, while the fines and penalties imposed are unreasonable and burdensome.

It pointed out that the group failed to show proof to support this claim, thus, should not be given weight.

The CA explained that the imposition of fines and penalties are matters that are within LTFRB’s jurisdiction and competence to determine.

Futhermore, the CA denied that the circulars violate the equal-protection clause of the Constitution, as wel l as discriminator y because it limits the implementation of the GPS project to PUBs. The appellate court noted that based on the testimony of Robert Siy, senior adviser to the Office of the Undersecretary for Planning of the transportation department, the project will be implemented in phases and and will eventually

cover all public-utility vehicles.

Siy further explained that for the first phase, the implementation is limited to PUBs because they have the highest passenger capacity.

“In sum, petitioner-appellant failed to overcome the presumption of constitutionality and validity in favor of the memorandum circulars,” the CA ruled.

The LTFRB has said the overall objective of the GPS Project is to promote road safety and improve land-transportation services.

It aims to lessen road accidents by monitoring the speed of PUBs through a GPS device.

At the same time, the GPS Project will also improve the services of PUBs because bus operators can now track the routes of their PUBs, monitor the location and flow of buses, and inform the passengers of the waiting time at the stations.

Under the circulars, all bus operators are required to install and register GPS devices on their units based on the following schedule: ■ For provincial buses entering

Metro Manila: on or before April 30, 2016; ■ For Metro Manila buses: May 1 to August 30, 2016; ■ For interregional buses not entering Metro Manila: September 1 to December 31, 2016; ■ For intraregional buses: January 1 to April 30, 2017 Under the circulars, operators are prohibited from allowing their buses to ply their routes if they know, or have a reasonable belief, that the GPS device is not functioning or defective.

Non-installation of the GPS device will be penalized P5,000 per unit. An additional P1,000 per unit per month after a grace period of 30 days is granted counting from the end of the compliance period will be imposed.

The tampering of the GPS device will also be penalized under the circulars with P5,000 for the first offense, P10,000 for the second offense, and P15,000 and the suspension of their certificate of publicconvenience for 30 days for the third and subsequent offences.

‘Townships should have socialized to high-end residential components’ Continued from A1

More than 20 years ago before the 1997 to 1998 Asian financial crisis struck, Megaworld developed parcels of land in the eastern part of Metro Manila, where Quezon City and Marikina meet, known as Libis—a Filipino word for hillside or valley. That development is now known as Eastwood.

“C5 back then was empty, mostly factories.

They [Megaworld] were the first ones to build high-rise buildings in the area. After that, establishments started to bloom in front of Eastwood and its sides. They really pumped prime the area,” said a resident who witnessed the development of Libis.

C5, or Circumferential Road 5, is one of the main arteries running parallel with Edsa that aims to move people from the northern part to the southern part of Metro Manila.

He said the shopping mall with a condominium development was readily accepted back then; as it was a unique idea.

Ayala Land Inc. also developed a mall, condominium and offices, while the Sy family’s SM group is mostly developing stand-alone Shoemart shopping malls, now simply known as SM. However, such developments weren’t as integrated as what Megaworld did, though its idea only copied the development of older towns in the Philippines.

“I saw Mr. Tan once walking with his wife and daughter in Eastwood. I can’t remember if they carry a dog with them, but their mall was,

I think, the first pet-friendly mall that I saw in Metro Manila,” he said.

Office spaces, mainly rented to firms overseas for their back-office operations, weren’t the widely accepted before the Asian financial crisis since back then, outright sale of condominium or office units were the name of the game. The higher the sales, the better.

Today, many analysts are looking at the recurring income of a property firm, as it needs to stand the cyclical nature of the industry—a rule of thumb of five years of upward trajectory and followed by another five years downward path.

“In a way, he [Tan] was a visionary.

He saw the market even before the era of high-speed Internet. We were very excited back then because there’s a bowling alley and movie houses along with the office and [residential] condominium in one place.

Playing bowling was the ‘in’ thing back then,” he said.

But such township concept, now also accepted by Ayala Corp., is becoming a nightmare for urban planners, who wanted to copy the strategy of larger cities like Hong Kong, Tokyo, Beijing and even larger cities in Australia. The concept is to make people live outside the city and place them in a suburban community. But each of these cities also built seamless transportation infrastructure so the work force wouldn’t have problems commuting to and from work.

The Philippines, meanwhile, is doing the

opposite due to lack of infrastructure to support economic growth.

The Manila city government, for instance, has approved several reclamation projects to bring in more people in the city, while real-estate firms are developing more and more townships, or creating new central business districts that will rival the likes of Makati and Ortigas Center.

These new townships are developed in mostly in sleepy towns in places like Kawit in Cavite for the likes of Ayala Land, while Megaworld is developing its mixed-use facility in the former airport facility in Iloilo, hoping to copy the Eastwood success story.

The Gokongwei’s property-development firm once claimed it started the live-workplay concept in its Robinsons Galleria in Ortigas Center, which was built in 1990.

Its development, however, doesn’t include residential units, which are becoming the problems of matured CBDs like Makati and Ortigas Center.

Walk on the streets of the CBDs of Makati and Ortigas during Sundays or holidays and there’s hardly anyone on the streets.

Some are thinking of ways to make people go to the CBDs even on weekends, such as holding an outdoor market. But that may be a problem during rainy days.

“The problem of Makati [CBD] is that in spite of the fact there are so many people in Makati every day, at night, there’s nobody, because 80 percent of the people working in Makati go out [of the

city]. And, therefore, from the taxation point of view, you will see that studies have shown that more taxes are collected where people live compare where they work,” Januario Jesus Gregorio B. Atencio III said in an interview.

Atencio, who has been in the property development for more than three decades and a former chief executive of mass housing builder 8990 Holdings Inc., noted that Makati’s residential taxes are much less than those of Quezon City, Metro Manila’s largest city but has no proper CBD to boast of.

He said if Makati can only find a way to bring in more people to actually live in the city, its residential tax base will increase dramatically.

“That’s also the same about townships; you build townships because you want to create hubs of business, commerce and services. It’s a physical platform, and so sometimes you create it outside of the city, not because you want people to move out, but because you want to create another hub.

So the more hubs you have, the more nodes of economic development and progress are there,” he added.

For decades the country only has two major commercial and industrial hubs—Manila and Cebu. Other cities are catching up although slow and arduous. Still, about half of the country’s GDP comes from Metro Manila.

For Atencio, a correct township is one that promotes heterogenous living—or a mixture of people from different class of society—rather than homogenous living.

“Studies have shown that when you build a resettlement community, or when you build a socialized housing site, people become more balanced, more progressive and more developed, if in the socialized housing community or the urban poor community, there are other people living with them,” he said.

“In other words, because if you are all poor, we’ll put you in one place. That situation in fact creates more and more poverty, misery and depression in the community because they are all the same,” he added.

Still, the rich may not want to live side by side with the poor, thus, developers are building more upscale communities. But Atencio said if something happened in the household of the rich, say a water pipe burst or some cleaning to be done or a driver is needed, he still wants to call someone from the community, but not necessarily beside his house.

“That’s the kind of synergy that heterogenous community [promotes].

Studies as far as Australia, as far as Great Britain, have shown that communities that are engineered to be this way creates balanced, better people.

“I’m a firm believer of not putting your socialized housing outside or separate. Put it inside. Make it in such a way that your socialized housing blends with your low cost, blends with your mid cost, blends with your high end. It is okay,” Atencio said.

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Trump’s trade war: An opportunity to reshape Philippine economy Continued from A1

Trump’s action was not surprising. During the US presidential election campaign, he accused China of raping the US. He labeled China as a “cheater” and a currency manipulator.

US trade deficit in 2016 amounted to $736 billion, more than half of which were incurred with China. This has prompted Trump to push for bilateral one-on-one trading arrangements, which the US can completely control compared to global (under the WTO) and regional (think of TPP) ones.

Trump has also proclaimed a populist “America First” policy, obviously to pacify angry American industries and workers in the American Midwest who have been losing businesses and jobs to China and other countries under economic globalization.

Meantime, what should the Philippines do? Maintain a business-as-usual attitude?

Obviously, this is not an option. We need to brace ourselves for the turbulence and uncertainties that the trade war are likely to bring in. We also need to review and adjust our own economic policies under globalization. In this process, we need to consider the following: First, the US-China trade war clearly highlights two major realities in the world economy, both of which have serious implications on the Philippines. One, the United States and other developed countries have become more protectionist and have been quick to impose tariff and nontariff trade barriers to protect their own markets and industries, unmindful of their own commitments to the WTO and other trade agreements. Justin Lin Yifu, former chief economist of the World Bank, wrote that one major lesson from the 2008 to 2010 global financial crisis is that all developed countries assiduously maintain their respective “Industrial Policy” with a capital “I.” They cannot and will not allow the collapse of industries “too big” or “too identified” with their history and culture to collapse or disappear in the name of competition.

The other reality is that China, the biggest winner under globalization, is not exactly a free market model. The Chinese economic policy-makers, led by the officials of the Communist Party of China, did not follow the Washington Consensus framework pushed by the IMF and the World Bank. Instead of pursuing the wholesale liberalization, deregulation and privatization of their economy, the Chinese adopted a gradualist approach, maintained tight capital controls, intervened in the foreign exchange market, and like Japan and the Asian NICs, protected its export and domestic markets. The three main complaints of the Americans vis-à-vis China today —subsidized exports, technology piracy and dominance by State-led enterprise—are clearly the results of the foregoing policies, all of which appear to be still in place despite China’s phenomenal progress in the last four decades.

The point is that the behavior of the United States and China tells us that the policy of simply following the neoliberal economic prescription of liberalizing our trade and investment policy regimes and privatizing everything under the control of the government will not automatically lead to a flow of growth-inducing and job-creating investments. It does not work. In fact, we have been i m p l e m e n t i n g t h e Wa s h i n g to n Consensus since the early-1980s (labeled as “structural adjustment policies” or SAP) and yet, our industry and agriculture have remained stagnant compared to our neighboring countries.

So what adjustments are needed?

For this author, the challenge is how to do some balancing or rebalancing in economic policy.

First, the diversification of trade and economic relations. The government is now doing this with the efforts of the Duterte administration to forge closer ties with China and Russia. However, we need to be more rigorous in crafting collaboration programs with China, which has been the source of so many products (including shabu) that have wiped out a number of domestic industries, not through the normal course of trade competition but due to the smuggling and dumping of surplus Chinese products. Balancing also means forging similar ties with other non-Asean developing countries.

Second, defining or redefining the terms of Philippine incorporation in the regional and global economic formations based on the country’s industrial and agricultural priorities in the context of Philippine development priorities and national interests. When has there been a thorough and multisectoral review and consultation on the results of our membership in the WTO and regional trade agreements, as well as on the outcomes of the policy conditionalities imposed by the IMF-World Bank under the SAP program?

Third, developing the potentials of the domestic market in building up capacity of domestic producers. Meneleo Carlos, a respected industrialist and cochairman of the Bishops-Businessmen Conference, has long been articulating the need to expand production for our own domestic market as part of the overall strategy of growing the national economy. After all, this is what Japan and China have been doing— growing the domestic market side by side with the development of the export market. Also, a market of 105 million is a huge market, which, if fully developed, can spawn endless product innovations. Why allow the foreign producers to dominate this market?

In this context, the position of the Philippine Retailers Association (PRA) opposing the proposed bill lowering the existing capital requirement of $2.5 million to $200,000 for a foreign retailer to do retailing business freely in the countr y is sensible and logical.

These foreign retailers will not be competing with the Sys and Gokongweis but with the country’s micro small and medium enterprises. The MSMEs need technical and credit assistance from the DTI, DOST and other government agencies, not a policy aimed at wiping them out of the market.

Finally, part of policy balancing or rebalancing is the mobilization of capital or savings for growth. For the last four to five decades, this has been reduced to a narrow program of opening up the country to the entry of foreign capital. And yet, the biggest source of capital was and still is domestic capital. Why not a program of mobilizing all productive sectors of the nation, with foreign capital playing a supplementary role. As the Philippine Constitution mandates (Section 1, Article XII): “All sectors of the economy and all regions of the country shall be given optimum opportunity to develop.” Where is the program for this? And by all sectors, we mean not only private corporations but also cooperatives, farmers’ organizations, trade unions, micro, small and medium enterprises [MSMEs], family-run businesses, communitybased associations and, yes, OFWs and their families.”

Based on the foregoing, the annual investment priorities listing of the DTI should be overhauled.

The list should give primacy to the role and participation of each of the productive sectors of the nation in the economy, particularly in building up priority industries for the country.

News BusinessMirror

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Yellow corn yield achieved 103% self-sufficiency last year–Piñol

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas @jearcalas

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he Department of Agriculture (DA) has announced that the country has achieved a 103-percent self-sufficiency in yellow corn production last year, the first in more than two decades.

Quoting a report from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol said gross yellow corn output in 2017 reached 5.811 million metric tons (MMT), which translated to a net local production of 5.749 MMT at a 1.07-percent postharvest loss. This, Piñol noted, was 3.3 percent higher, or 189,000 metric tons (MT) more, than the 5.560 MT total yellow corn demand last year.

“This is the first time in the history of the corn industry that Filipino farmers produced more yellow corn than the local demand with prices at record high at P15 to P16 per kilo at farm gate,” he said in a Facebook post on Wednesday.

The agriculture chief said the PSA report was validated by the Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization, the Livestock Development Council and the Philippine Maize Federation.

“Including white corn, which is the staple food in many Mindanao and Eastern Visayas provinces, the total production for 2017 was 7,914,817 MT which was almost 700,000 MT higher than the 2016 production of 7,218,817 MT,” Piñol said.

PIÑOL: “This is the first time in the history of the corn industry that Filipino farmers produced more yellow corn than the local demand with prices at record high at P15 to P16 per kilo at farm gate.”

PSA data showed that the closest year and the last time the Philippines achieved a 100-percent selfsufficiency in yellow corn was in 1991, at 100.43 percent.

Piñol said total corn area harvested last year grew 2.74 percent to 2.552 million hectares, from 2.484 million hectares in 2016. Meanwhile, average corn yield per hectare increased to 3.10 MT per hectare from 2.91 MT per hectare level in 2016.

“The 2017 production of 7.914 MMT and average yield of 3.10 MT per hectare are the highest on record, according to the PSA,” he said.

Piñol added the hike in yellow corn output “could lead to a more vibrant livestock industry,” while increased white corn production “could further stabilize the country’s staple food supply.”

“The country has traditionally imported corn from the United States, Argentina and even Thailand, as Filipino farmers struggled with very poor production,” he said.

Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug • Thursday-Sunday, March 29-April 1, 2018 A3

CA affirms dismissal of BSU president, eight university officials in student drowning case

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By Joel R. San Juan

@jrsanjuan1573

HE Court of Appeals (CA) has affirmed the decision issued by the Office of the Ombudsman in 2015 that ordered the dismissal from government service of the president of the Bulacan State University (BSU) and eight other university officials and teachers found liable for gross neglect of duty, in connection with the death of seven students who drowned while crossing a river during a school field trip in San Miguel, Bulacan, almost four years ago.

In a 24-page ruling penned by Associate Justice Jose Reyes Jr. the CA’s Fourth Division agreed with the Ombudsman that the petitioners are guilt y of gross neglect of duty when they endorsed and approved the field trip without complying with the policies and guidelines issued by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Memorandum Order 17, as well as regulations imposed by a Bulacan provincial ordinance.

Memorandum 17 laid down the

policies and guidelines on the conduct of educational tours/field trips by higher education institutions.

“There was no compliance with the above guidelines and policies when petitioners recommended, approved and conducted the subject field trip,” the CA ruling said.

“Adding to the serious violations committed by the petitioners is the lack of advance coordination with the local government units, such as the barangay, considering the history and character of Madlum

River that after a downpour, excess rainwater naturally cascade from the mountain and cause flash floods and strong currents in the river,” it added.

In its 2017 decision, the Ombudsman ordered the dismissal of Mariano de Jesus, BSU president; Nicanor de la Rama, dean of student affairs; Nerisa Viola, dean of the College of Home Economics (CHE); Angelina Cinco, assistant dean of CHE; professors Mary Jane Lopez and Angelyn Dy Tioco; and instructors Leslie Garcia, Rossette Tanwangco and Reynita del Fonso.

The Ombudsman also canceled the petitioners’ official eligibility, forfeited their retirement benefits, and disqualified them from holding public office and from taking the civil service examination.

The CA also stated that the petitioners failed to comply with the provisions of Ordinance 20137 approved by the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Bulacan on December 10, 2013, which regulates the conduct of educational field trips in the province.

The ordinance provides as a minimum standard that an educational field trip must not pose a threat to student safety and be organized with provision for adequate supervision by a trained education field trip person in charge.

The CA noted that no school-appointed person exercised the proper supervision during the entire field trip. Instead, the school teachers

who accompanied the students relied totally on the local tour guides.

While the petitioners verified the license of Adventours with the Department of Tourism for tour services, the CA said they failed to require the latter to conduct a briefing to participating teachers and students, which would have made them aware of the possible dangers of crossing the Madlum River.

Furthermore, the CA said, the petitioners failed to apprise the parents on the risks involved in the mountain and cave trekking before giving consent to their children to the joint the field trip.

It said the waivers they required the parents to sign “were not based on informed choice.”

“Petitioners were negligent in failing to exercise such degree of care and foresight incumbent upon the school, its administrators and teachers,” the decision read.

“By routinely approv ing the field trip without taking precautionarymeasures for the safety of the students, petitioners exhibited such indifference or lack of due regard for the consequences…

Clearly, petitioners who stand in loco parentis [in the place of a parent] to their students violated their basic duty of protecting them from harm while under their custody and supervision,” it added.

Concurring with the ruling were Associate Justices Franchito Diamante and Maria Elisa Sempio Diy.

A4

Thursday-Sunday, March 29-April 1, 2018

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DOLE orders burger chain, 2 mining firms to regularize 1,800 contractual workers

By Samuel P. Medenilla

O

@sam_medenilla

ver 1,800 contractual workers of a popular burger chain and two mining firms were recently regularized as part of the Department of Labor and Employment’s (DOLE) ongoing campaign against rampant contractualization.

Of these worker-beneficiaries, 704 were employed by five contractors, which provide job-order services to the 44 branches of the hamburger chain Burger King or Perf Restaurants Inc. in Metro Manila.

The DOLE ordered Burger King to absorb the contractuals after its labor inspections showed that the fast-food joint and its five contractors have been circumventing the security of tenure of their workers and

practicing labor-only contracting.

Labor-only contracting is the illegal practice of outsourcing jobs, which are directly related to the main business operation of a company.

“Burger King and its contractors should immediately issue appointment letters and payroll reflecting the entitlements of the affected workers as regular employees,” the DOLE said in a news statement.

The DOLE’s labor inspector also found out cause to lodge occupational safety and health standards against Burger King for allegedly operating sans trained safety personnel and certified first aiders.

Meanwhile, the DOLE also reported that two of the biggest mining firms in the Caraga region have

voluntarily regularized 1,099 of their contractual workers.

“The Sumitomo Mitsui Construction Co. Group, a mining contractor in Surigao del Norte, had voluntarily regularized 839 of its workers, as well as the Philsaga Mining Corp. in Agusan del Sur with 263 regularized security guards,” the DOLE said. The additional regularized workers are

now among the 136,971 workers who were given regular status since the new administration of the DOLE intensified its campaign against illegal contractualization in 2016. Around 40 percent or 55,000 of these beneficiaries were regularized this year.

The DOLE said it is targeting to provide regular status to 300,000 contractual workers this year.

Burger King and its contractors should immediately issue appointment letters and payroll reflecting the entitlements of the affected workers as regular employees.”—DOLE

DENR tightens watch on CV forests

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he Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has launched anew its special anti-illegal-logging operation this Lenten season in Cagayan Valley.

As part of the special operation, DENR Cagayan Valley Regional Director Gil A. Aromin ordered the deployment of mobile checkpoints in strategic locations in the province.

The mobile checkpoints should be manned 24 hours a day, seven days a week, on a rotation basis, as “perpetrators of illegal forest activities would take advantage [of the Lenten period] to engage in timber poaching and transport of forest and wildlife products,” Aromin said in a statement issued on Wednesday.

Dubbed “Oplan Huli Week,” the special operation aims to deter illegal-logging activities during the Holy Week period, when illegal loggers take advantage of the weeklong break to smuggle out of the forests the trees they illegally cut.

He said all forest officers, forest rangers and forest protection officers shall be mobilized to monitor transport of forest and wildlife products.

They shall also be kept on alert in detecting and providing a quick response to any incident of forest fires in their respective areas.

The Provincial Environment and Natural Resource and Community Environment and Natural Resource officers were directed to coordinate with other law-enforcement agencies for assistance to ensure the safety and security of the personnel who will man the checkpoints.

The field officials were also instructed to report the exact locations of mobile checkpoints to be established for monitoring and coordination purposes.

During the Oplan Huli Week in 2017, a total of seven units of conveyances loaded with 39.54 cubic meters of forest products were apprehended, Aromin said. Jonathan L. Mayuga

Perpetrators of illegal forest activities would take advantage [of the Lenten period] to engage in timber poaching and transport of forest and wildlife products.”—Aromin

Divorce factor

In the House of Representatives, at least 117 measures have been filed to support the protection of the dignity of women, among which are on maternity leaves, violence and sexual harassment. This includes amendments to the Family Code of the Philippines.

Speaker Pantaleon D. Alvarez has assured female members of the lower chamber of his commitment to support pieces of legislation that further empower the Filipino women.

Of the 292 members of the lower chamber, 83 are women—19 are party-list representatives of various marginalized sectors, including women and the youth.

For Alvarez, the “absolute divorce and dissolution of marriage bill,” which he filed, will save and protect women against abuses and would not run counter to the constitutional provision that the state must protect the family.

Alvarez also said the proposed bill will not be costly, and the process will not be lengthy and tedious.

Under the proposed measure, the poor and overseas Filipino workers can avail themselves of the services of a public attorney in seeking a divorce, and the process would be simple and fast.

Al v are z s ai d th e grounds for divorce are when the spouses are living separately for at least five years, irreconcilable differences and sexual infidelity. Alvarez said irreconcilable difference is when the married spouses are no longer happy with each other, and there is no point in reconciling.

The bill also provides for alimony or financial support for the children of divorced parents. The

CEBU PACIFIC BEGINS MANILA-BASCO ROUTE

Leading Philippine carrier Cebu Pacific (CEB) commenced operation of flights between Manila and Basco, Batanes, on March 25. Initially on commercial run until October 2, CEB flies direct between Manila and Basco daily. The flight, operated by subsidiary Cebgo, utilizes the ATR fleet of interisland aircraft of Cebu Pacific. Welcoming the maiden flight from Manila to Basco were (from left) Basco Mayor Anastacia Viola; Batanes Gov. Marilou Cayco; Alexander Lao, president of Cebgo; Director Danilo Intong of the Department of Tourism-Office of Tourism Standards and Regulation; and Basco Airport Manager Wilfredo Cabitac of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines. With its picturesque hills and beaches, Batanes is on many Filipinos’ bucket list. The smallest and northernmost province is called the “paradise of the north” with islands created by volcanic activities and other geologic forces millions of years ago.

divorce bill has been approved at the House plenary.

Invaluable

Meanwhile, House Committee on Population and Family Relations Chairman Rep. Sol Aragones of the Third District of Laguna said the state must continue to protect and celebrate invaluable contributions of women in society. “We must always be vigilant in safeguarding women’s dignity and health, and advancing equal rights for all.”

“On this month, National Women’s Month, we celebrate the invaluable contributions of women in our society. We honor all the advocates of women’s rights and the vital role they play in our unrelenting quest for gender equality in all aspects of life,” Aragones told the BusinessMirror.

“On this special occasion, we reaffirm our commitment to empower all women and acknowledge their participation in the overall productivity, stability and development of our nation,” she said.

While the Philippines has made giant strides toward gender equality in the private and public sector, Aragones noted there are still disturbing issues confronting the plight of women today.

“It is very disheartening to learn that one woman or child is raped every hour in our country. As a legislator, I pledge to continue our efforts to end gender disparities, sex discrimination and gender-based violence through policy-making. All forms of violence and discrimination committed against women must be immediately addressed at all times,” Aragones added.

Aragones asked the government to create a national program to curb teenage pregnancy.

“Every hour, 24 babies are delivered by teenage mothers. One in every 10 women bearing a child is a teenager. At this very alarming rate, we must have a national program to curb teenage pregnancy and provide age-appropriate comprehensive sexual education to save our young women from early and unintended pregnancy, unsafe abortion, sexually transmitted diseases and HIV,” she said.

Gender-equality push

Continued from A1 The boat did not call port in General Santos City though, for lack of volume, but passed through another port in North Sulawesi and on to Bitung. The shipping was made last October and carried a better cargo volume than the April 2017 inaugural shipping of Super Shuttle Roro 2. The cargo from here consisted of agriculture products and Christmas lights, while the return shipping from Bitung carried agriculture products also and furniture.

Consul General Berlian Napitupulu said a smaller boat would have made a difference for practical reasons instead of the 500-twentyfooter-equivalent-unit (TEU) ferry boat.

He said the Cebu City-based Asian Marine Transport Corp. should either use a smaller boat, maybe half the 500 TEU like that of the KM Gloria 28, or revert to the first plan to use the 7,000-tonnage ferry with a capacity of 100 TEU. This smaller ferry has a top speed of 13.5 knots.

With a miniscule volume, a shipper would not fully enjoy the promise of cheaper shipping cost of the Davao-General Santos-Bitung direct route offered, from $2,200 for dry 20foot container van on the only existing route, the Manila-Jakarta-Bitung route.

The Celebes Sea route cuts down shipping time to only one and a half days and one half, and subsequently a cheaper rate for cargo to only $700.

But Napitupulu would also suggest tapping a consolidator, or an aggregator of products from various businessmen or sources.

Through this method, a trip could expect a better volume turnout and allow small businesses to engage in shipping their small-quantity load through combining similar products from other businessmen. The same should be done also in the Indonesian side, “especially that we have almost similar products.”

Corporate turfing

Fight for women’s rights alive in pending bills These efforts to empower and protect women continue under the administration of President Duterte.

PHL, Indonesian businesses unable to provide volume to Roro shipping

Meanwhile, House Deputy Speaker Linabelle Ruth R. Villarica said the Philippines continues to promote

Continued from A1

gender equality and has, in fact, scored well in international gender-equality measures and indices She cited the 2016 Global Gender Gap Index of the World Economic Forum, where the Philippines ranked seventh overall in terms of economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment.

The Philippines also has kept its spot as the world’s gender-equal society among 144 economies and remained the highest-ranked country in the Asia-Pacific region, according to Villarica, representative of the Fourth District of Bulacan.

“Overall, women representation in Philippine Congress was much higher than the global average for women in parliament at 22 percent and the Asian average of 18 percent in 2015,” she said.

“According to a 2016 report by McKinsey & Co., if the Philippines were to increase its work-force participation of women by just one percentage point each year, then by the year 2025, gross domestic product would increase by 9 percent, or an additional $40 billion, over the period,” she added. Given the international rankings, Villarica said the country continues to monitor the status of women and implement laws and programs to empower them and further promote gender equality.

Protection

A BUSINESS leader here informed the BusinessMirror, however, that the Roro shipping and, probably, the two decades of negotiation on trading in the Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia the Philippines-East Asean Growth Area may be tied down by corporate turf control.

“It’s a play by corporate giants headquartered in their capitals. It’s like Mindanao, for so long and until now, is undeniably a market of corporations based in Manila. Bitung and other cities in Indonesia are the market of Jakarta-based corporate giants,” said the business source, who requested that he not be named on issues that might touch sensitive corporate chords and diplomatic efforts to strike a continuous coherence in differences in customs, immigration, quarantine and security.

“You could not imagine a big player in Manila yielding his market in Davao City or anywhere in Mindanao, to a supplier from Indonesia. Nor could it be different for a big business from Jakarta with sizeable supply arrangement with Bitung businesses,” the source added. The Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry said some members were awaiting favorable news of another Roro shipping that may carry products like cement to capitalize on the construction binge in the city.

“Unfortunately, this is not within the concept of Roro shipping where one single product would occupy one trip,” said Arturo Milan, the chamber president. He added some businessmen may want to ship bigger items, like feeds, “but they were discouraged by documentary requirements on the side of Indonesia.”

REP. Vilma Santos-Recto of the Sixth District of Batangas also said the organization of women-lawmakers in the lower chamber continues to monitor the passage of women-related bills in Congress. “We are one in promoting women’s rights through passage of several laws for women. I truly believe in women empowerment.

It’s about time women should participate in nationbuilding,” Santos-Recto told the BusinessMirror.

“Personally, I think we should fight for our right, and work on it. We really have to put it in action,” she added.

Congress, Santos-Recto said, should pass all pending measures concerning women and children.

Below are some of the pending pro-women measures in the lower chamber: n An Act increasing maternity leave benefits of women workers from 60 to 120 days. Deputy Speaker Sharon S. Garin of Aambis-OWA opined that women workers are the backbone of many industries,

while healthy and well-nourished children will hopefully grow up to be productive members of the work force. “Extending the maternity leave will give [mothers] more opportunity to foster a stronger bond between mother and child toward building lifelong protection for the child,” she said. n Proposed “Kalusugan at Nutrisyon ng MagNanay Act.” Garin is one of the principal sponsors of House Bill 5777 or “Kalusugan at Nutrisyon ng Mag-Nanay Act,” which aims to provide pre-natal care for the first 270 days of conception and pregnancy, nutrition and counseling, PhilHealth enrollment, social-welfare support and special care for nutritionally at risk poor pregnant women. The bill was approved by the House on September 25, 2017, and was transmitted to the Senate on September 27, 2017. n An Act requiring a report regarding the effect of environmental factors on women and children’s health. Rep. Alfred D. Vargas of the Fifth District of Quezon City said that, in 2007 to 2013, the Philippines was reported to have the second-highest female adult mortality rate in the Southeast Asian region at 144 persons per 1,000 population.

“Several studies have shown the direct link between one’s health and the environment. In women, chemicals and other substances in the environment can cause serious health problems, such as cancer, lung disease or complications in the reproductive system,” Vargas said. n An Act establishing the Office of Research on Women’s Health. According to Vargas, the United States established the Office of Research on Women’s Health in order to strengthen, develop and increase research on diseases, and conditions that are unique to, more prevalent among or more serious in women, or for which there are different risk factors for women than for men. n An Act ensuring the fundamental equality of men and women. Rep. Maria Lourdes Acosta-Alba of the First District of Bukidnon said the Family Code remains flawed because it continues to operate under the outmoded presumption of the superiority of men’s decisions over those of women’s.

“One matter pertaining to the management and administration of family affairs, the decision of the male spouse continues to prevail,” she said. n An Act promoting women participation and equitable representation in and by political

parties, giving incentives therefor, creating the women in political parties empowerment fund.

Party-list Rep. Tom S. Villarin of Akbayan said that, of the 16 Philippine presidents, only two were women, translating to just 13 percent of the total.

In the 17th Congress, Villarin said that, out of 292 seats in the lower chamber, 83 are occupied by women legislators. In the Senate, six of 24 senators are women.

These compromise 26-percent and 25-percent womenparticipation rates, respectively. He said women justices composed 43 percent of the Supreme Court in 2007.

At present, however, only three justices are women.

“The slow speed of growth in women participation in politics and governance is a barrier to fundamental equality, and such participation remains low,” Villarin said.

He added his bill aims to increase the quantity and quality of women participation in politics and governance. n An Act granting capitalization loan assistance to women seeking to become entrepreneurs or those intending to put their own business. Rep. Winston Castelo of the Second District of Quezon City, citing Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship and Go Negosyo Joey Conception, said women have been playing an active role, not just in their families but also in their respective communities.

“Empowered women in the last decade have, indeed, spurred national development. Driven Filipina entrepreneurs have gone places and brought tremendous honor and pride to the country,” he said.

“Given the chance and the resources, Filipino women find their riches under the sun and accomplish great business feats. The fact that they started small is both encouraging and inspiring, and justifies the government’s supporting women in terms of business assistance loan,” Castelo added. n An Act allowing women to revert to their maiden surname, establishing a procedure for reversion and appropriating funds therefore. Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo of the Second District of Pampanga said the state shall value the dignity and independence of women and guarantee full respect for their freedom of choice of surname. She said the state shall also provide a method for reversion to maiden name to fully empower women to be truly independent in their social and economic affairs.

www.businessmirror.com.ph | Editor: Lyn Ressureccion

Protesters slam Malaysia’s plan to redraw electoral maps

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UALA LUMPUR, Malaysia—Scores of activists protested on Wednesday outside Malaysia’s Parliament against the government’s plan to redraw electoral boundaries, denouncing it as a method of “cheating” to ensure victory for the ruling coalition in the upcoming general election.

Embattled Prime Minister Najib Razak sought parliamentary approval for the new voting maps, which critics say will worsen inequality among the constituencies and etch them based on racial lines in favor of Najib’s ruling coalition.

Activists said the changes would mean that a ruling party candidate will need fewer votes than an opposition lawmaker to win elections.

Yellow-shirt activists and opposition leaders marched on Wednesday from a nearby park, but were blocked from entering Parliament by anti-riot police.

“This is the biggest cheating to ever happen,” activist Maria Chin Abdullah said, slamming the government for seeking to push through the unconstitutional changes despite ongoing legal challenges against it in court.

Former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who now heads the opposition alliance, called Najib a “monster” and a “rogue.”

“These coming elections will most certainly not be clean,” he told the rally.

Najib told Parliament the changes were independently proposed by the Election Commission based on geographical changes and denied there was political interference.

Support for Najib’s National Front coalition has dwindled in the last two elections. In 2013 it lost the popular vote for the first time to the opposition. Najib has been dogged by a multibillion-dollar financial scandal and is under pressure to improve his coalition’s performance.

Bridget Welsh, a political science professor at John Cabot University in Rome, said the new plan could affect at least of third of the 222 parliamentary seats and six of the 13 state assemblies. It could potentially help Najib’s coalition, which now holds 132 parliamentary seats, win back a two-thirds majority in parliament, said Welsh, a Southeast Asia expert.

“The government has adopted new practices of packing and cracking, stuffing seats and breaking up areas with support for the opposition,” she said.

The new voting maps are likely to be approved in Parliament with a simple majority vote and can be used in upcoming elections once they receive royal consent.

It would be the sixth time electoral boundaries have been altered since independence from the British in 1957, but the first that doesn’t involve the creation of new seats despite a sharp increase in voters since the last changes were made in 2003.

Elections due by August but widely expected in the next few weeks will pit Najib against the opposition coalition led

by Mahathir, who served for 21 years before he stepped down in 2003. AP

SoftBank, Saudi Arabia announce massive solar power project

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OKYO—SoftBank Group Corp.

Chief Executive Masayoshi Son is announcing a $200-billion solar power project in Saudi Arabia.

The project is in cooperation with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, a partner in the SoftBank Vision Fund, set up in 2016. The fund has already invested in companies in the United States, India and Europe. The deal announced Wednesday is the first major one in Saudi Arabia.

Son said the ample sunshine and land, as well as engineers and workers, make the foray into solar there lucrative.

He said the project will create 100,000 jobs, reduce Saudi Arabia’s dependence on oil for its electricity, which it can sell internationally instead.

The solar panels will be imported at first, but the project will later include a panel manufacturing site, according to Son. AP

The World BusinessMirror

Thursday-Sunday, March 29-April 1, 2018

A5

Myanmar parliament elects Suu Kyi loyalist as new president

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AYPYITAW, Myanmar— Myanmar’s parliament on Wednesday elected Win Myint, a loyalist of Aung San Suu Kyi, as new president, while Suu Kyi retained her executive authority over the government.

The vote comes as Suu Kyi’s civilian government has struggled to implement peace and national reconciliation, with the powerful military still embroiled in combat with ethnic rebels and under heav y international criticism for its brutal counterinsurgency campaign against the Muslim Rohingya minority.

Myanmar’s military ruled the country for a half-century during which it was accused of widespread abuses before partially handing power to a civilian government in 2016. It remains in charge of security matters and still faces accusations of rights abuses.

Win Myint, the vice president selected as presidential candidate by the lower house and backed by Suu Kyi’s ruling party, received 403 votes from the combined houses.

Myint Swe, the vice president with the military’s backing, had 211 votes and Henry Van Tio, the vice president selected by the upper house, had 18.

Like his predecessor, Htin Kyaw, who retired last week due to ill health, Win Myint, 66, is a longtime Suu Kyi loyalist and a stalwart member of her National League

for Democracy, an affiliation that earned him a brief spell as a political prisoner more than two decades ago under the previous military government.

When Suu Kyi’s government was installed in 2016, she explained she would be “above the president,” a situation amenable to both the president and the public.

The job of state counselor was created especially for Suu Kyi because she is constitutionally banned from the presidency. A clause in the 2008 military-drafted constitution bars anyone with a foreign spouse or child from holding the job. It clearly targeted Suu Kyi, whose two sons are British, as was her late husband.

Myanmar’s president is elected by a joint sitting of the two h o u s e s o f p a r l i a m e nt f r o m among the country’s three vice presidents, represent i ng t he lower house, the upper house a nd t he m i l it a r y. Under t he constitution, the military holds special privileges in the country’s administration, including a 25-percent share of parliamentary seats and the three security portfolios in the Cabinet.

WIN Myint (center), resigned Speaker of the Lower House Parliament, stands at the opening of the parliament in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, on March 28. Myanmar’s parliament elected Myint, a loyalist of Aung San Suu Kyi, as new president. Suu Kyi, whose formal title is state counsellor, has retained her executive authority over the government. AP/Aung Shine Oo

The National League for Democracy’s (NLD) landslide election victory in late-2015 gave it large majorities in both houses.

Having been both a member of the NLD’s Central Executive Committee and speaker of the lower house for two years shows Win Myint holds the skills to be president, said Win Zaw, a lower house lawmaker from the party.

“We hope that he will do great work as the president, and I am sure he will use his power to do the best he can for the country,” he said. Win Myint, who resigned as speaker of the lower house last week, was a successful parliamentary candidate in the 1990 general

election, which was invalidated by the military, denying him his seat. He was elected in 2012 and again in 2015.

Born in the Irrawaddy Delta in 1951, Win Myint won his degree in geology in Yangon, only to become a lawyer in the 1980s. His involvement with the NLD began when it was established during the failed anti-military uprising of 1988, which led to his brief stint in prison. In 2010 he became a member of the Central Executive Committee of Suu Kyi’s party.

“Win Myint was educated as a lawyer and has been loyal to the party, as well,” said Aung Shin, a close friend and colleague. “More

important, he has always worked together with Aung San Suu Kyi and they have mutual trust. I see him as a very reliable person who will be a great president for the country, and people are very optimistic about him.”

Khin Zaw Win, director of the Tampadipa Institute, a policy advocacy group, questioned whether Win Myint’s fealty to Suu Kyi was an asset.

“To those who are asking, he will be forever Aung San Suu Kyi’s henchman,” he said. “I don’t expect much change in the presidency, unless Win Myint puts the country’s interests before Aung San Suu Kyi’s and that of the military.” AP

Residents of US territory American Asian stocks sink, slammed by tech losses Samoa file lawsuit for citizenship

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ONOLULU—John Fitisemanu, who works for a lab company in Utah, has paid US taxes and been subject to American laws his whole life. But the 53-year-old father and husband isn’t considered a US citizen by the federal government because he was born in American Samoa, a US territory and the only place in the country without automatic claim to citizenship. Now, he’s suing to be recognized as an American.

Fitisemanu is the lead plaintiff on a lawsuit filed on Tuesday on behalf of American Samoans in Utah to be treated as US citizens under the 14th Amendment of the Constitution. The Associated Press obtained the documents before the case was filed.

American Samoa, a US territory since 1900, is a cluster of islands 2,600 miles (4,184 kilometers) southwest of Hawaii perpetually stuck in a legal loophole.

People born in the territory are labeled US nationals. Under that status, they cannot vote, run for office, sponsor family members for immigration to the US, apply for certain government jobs, or serve on a jury—despite paying taxes to Uncle Sam. They’re even issued special US passports that say: “This bearer is a United States national and not a United States citizen.”

With colleagues, “it’s kind of like an office joke— ‘Hey! John is not a citizen, he’s an alien.’ I know they’re joking, but it still hurts,” Fitisemanu told the AP. “It feels like a slap in your face, that you’re born on US soil, but you’re not recognized as a US citizen.”

He’s been rejected for jobs that

list US citizenship as a requirement. Prospective employers “need me to show them proof that I am a US citizen, which I am not.”

Around elections, “I sit quietly at my cubicle, and don’t say a word, because I know I can’t vote,” he said. “It’s kind of embarrassing.”

Rosavita Tuli, another plaintiff in the case, has had to obtain special permits and pay fees that wouldn’t apply to US citizens when v isiting her aging parents outside American Samoa, according to court documents.

A lt hough A mer ican Samo ans can pursue naturalized citizenship, the lawsuit says it is a “lengthy, costly and burdensome” process. The cost to apply is $725, and legal fees pile up if applicants hire a lawyer to help navigate the process. For Fitisemanu, a previous divorce and other financial burdens have prevented him from going that route.

Also, “there’s no guarantee of success,” said Neil Weare, the lawyer leading the suit, and president of nonprofit Equally American. “If someone has a birth certificate showing they were born on US soil, they shouldn’t have to jump through any more hoops to be recognized as a US citizen.”

Those born in the territory, however, can claim citizenship at birth if one of their parents is a US citizen. The same generally holds true for children born abroad to Americans.

This is Weare’s second attempt on the issue. A previous case he led stalled in 2016, when the Supreme Court declined to reconsider a ruling from a lower court in DC, which found the constitutional

guarantee of birthright citizenship didn’t apply to American Samoa, and referred back to controversial colonial era decisions from the early 20th century after the US acquired a spate of territories in the Spanish American War. Known as the “Insular Cases,” the Supreme Court distinguished between “incorporated” and “unincorporated ” territories. The former, such as Arizona and New Mexico, mostly settled by white people, were thought destined to be a permanent part of the United States. The latter, such as American Samoa, weren’t considered candidates for statehood, whose inhabitants were described as “alien races” and “uncivilized,” and thus, weren’t granted full constitutional rights.

Over the years, Congress has decided on a per territory basis to allow those born in Puerto Rico, Guam, the US Virgin Islands and the Northern Mariana Islands to claim citizenship by birth. American Samoa’s population of about 55,000, however, has continued to fall to the wayside.

“This is the holding pattern we’ve been in now for over a century,” said Sam Erman, an expert in constitutional law and a professor at the University of Southern California. Still, Erman and many legal scholars agree that “American Samoans are clearly citizens under the 14th Amendment.”

This lawsuit places a question mark over whether the millions who lived in the Philippines, while the country was a US territory for five decades until 1946 would also be able to seek US citizenship, said Erman, who plans to file a legal brief on the current lawsuit. AP

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EOUL, South Korea—Asian stock markets were in the red on Wednesday as tech stocks extended losses following sell-offs of their US peers overnight. Investors are selling technology-related shares on concern governments might tighten their scrutiny over Facebook after it was revealed that users’ data was shared with a consulting firm affiliated with President Donald J. Trump.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 sank 1.3 percent to 21,031.31, and South Korea’s Kospi slid 1.3 percent to 2,419.29. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 1.7 percent to 30,277.57, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index dropped 1.5 percent to 3,118.74. Australia’s S&P/ ASX 200 retreated 0.7 percent to 5,789.50. Stocks in Taiwan, Singapore and other Southeast Asian countries also fell.

Investors cut their holdings of Asian tech stocks after a series of incidents sent their US peers lower again. One of those cases is a report that authorities will investigate a fatal crash that involved a Tesla electric sports utility vehicles equipped with a semi-autonomous control system. In Asia, Samsung Electronics Co. fell 2.6 percent

and Sony Corp. lost 1.1 percent.

Softbank Group Corp. slumped 4 percent. Tencent Holdings Ltd. was down 3.7 percent.

“So what spooked markets?

Well, it looks like the rearing of the [ugly] Facebook privacy infringement was a convenient excuse to sell-off ahead of the long weekend,” Mizuho Bank said in a commentary. US stock markets finished sharply lower on Tuesday pulled down by Nvidia, Microsoft, Tesla, Twitter, Facebook and other technology companies. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 1.7 percent to 2,612.62. The Dow tumbled 1.4 percent to 23,857.71. The techheavy Nasdaq slid 2.9 percent to 7,008.81. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks gave up 2 percent to 1,513.57.

Benchmark US crude lost 55 cents to $64.71 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract declined 30 cents to settle at $65.25 a barrel on Tuesday. Brent crude, used to price international oils, fell 52 cents to $68.94 per barrel in London.

The dollar rose to ¥105.62 from ¥105.34. The euro fell to $1.2397 from $1.2404. AP

A6

Thursday-Sunday, March 29-April 1, 2018

Travel BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

How to travel to (and around) China

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By Lucas Peterson New York Times News Service

HINA is one of the world’s most exciting and rewarding places to visit, but can be intimidating even to experienced travelers, who might struggle with communication and lack of familiarity with rules and customs. Here’s a handful of practical tips to help make sure your trip to the world’s most populous country is smooth sailing from start to finish.

EASIER VISAS THE good news: Those annoying and expensive single-entry visas are a thing of the past. Americans can now apply for a 10-year, multiple-entry visa from the Chinese Consulate. Download the form from the embassy web site, type up the application and bring copies of your travel itinerary to your local consulate or embassy (depending on your location). Several days and a $140 fee later, you should be all set. There are also visa services that, for a fee, will take your application to the consulate for you.

One other important note: Passport and visa expiration dates rarely line up exactly, creating situations where a passport might expire while a visa is still valid. I found myself in this exact situation before my last trip—would I have to go through the whole costly and time-consuming application process again? No. You are allowed to travel on a valid visa that’s in an expired passport as long as personal details like name and date of birth match up exactly (bring both passports).

CASHLESSNESS YOU’LL notice blue and green QR codes at nearly every business in China, from the glitziest boutique to the most humble dumpling shop. WeChat Pay and Alipay are gradually turning the Chinese economy cashless: Simply enter the amount you want to pay, scan the business’s QR code, and boom, you have paid directly from your bank account. It’s something of a revolution—one that you, as a tourist, will not be a part of.

Cashless payment in China requires a Chinese bank card, which you can’t get unless you’re a citizen or resident. Don’t count on businesses accepting your foreign credit card, either—you’ll frequently find yourself out of luck. So load up on cash when you can.

Fortunately, I’ve never had trouble finding ATMs in Chinese cities, and withdrawing Chinese currency with my American debit card has been trouble-free. If you want to play it safe, you can exchange for some at your local bank before you go.

RIDE HAILING, WITH A HICCUP WHILE you probably won’t be participating in the cashless revolution, you will be able to use Didi Chuxing, the Chinese version of Uber (the company, in fact, purchased Uber’s operations in China in 2016, forcing them out). I found Didi to be inexpensive and as reliable as Uber is in the United States, with one caveat: paying by credit card.

Didi wouldn’t accept my Chase card, but did accept one from my credit union. Then, unfortunately, my credit union repeatedly flagged the charges as suspicious, leading to several long phone conversations with the fraud department. While not foolproof, you can set a travel notification on the card you plan to use before you leave. You can also enroll in text notifications for fraudulent activity, which allow you to verify the veracity of charges right away.

PHONE HACKS SPEAKING of phone conversations, I found the best way to cheaply make calls was through the WeChat app. A $9.99 credit (which comes with a $2.50 bonus), purchased within the app, lasts a long time. Calls to

the United States are only a penny per minute, and the sound quality is decent. Texting on WeChat is easy, and I was also able to use iMessage without issue.

WhatsApp is blocked in China.

STAYING SAFE WHILE you should always remain alert, China is remarkably safe for foreigners. In total, I’ve spent over a year in China, and have never felt in danger or threatened while walking around, no matter the hour.

Chinese traffic, however, can be horrendous, and navigating streets as a pedestrian is always an adventure. Buckle up when in a vehicle, and be extremely careful when crossing the street: Cars do not necessarily yield to pedestrians, and motorcycles and scooters do not seem to yield to anything—not even red lights.

GETTING ONLINE WHILE you won’t be able to buy a SIM card for your phone that includes a Chinese phone number, data plans with 4G speed are available for foreigners.

Check at the airport (I bought one in a convenience store), or at the hostel or hotel where you’re staying, and be ready to show your passport.

Wi-Fi is everywhere in China, from the pricey malls of Shanghai to modest mom-and-pop restaurants in the smaller cities. The bad news is that you won’t be able to access it some of the time, as it frequently requires you to enter a local phone number to receive a Wi-Fi access code. There are ways to circumvent this. Having a WeChat account will grant access to certain Wi-Fi networks. I also use a Google Voice number to receive Internet access codes, which works part of the time. But wait—isn’t Google blocked in China? That brings us to....

VIRTUAL PRIVATE NETWORKS THE Chinese government does a fairly thorough job of censoring web sites and traffic from sources

it deems potentially unsavory or damaging to the ruling Communist Party. Say good-bye to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, any Google-related services (including Gmail) and even (gasp!) The New York Times.

There are, however, a few holes in the Great Firewall, as it is called. Virtual private networks, or VPNs, essentially function as tunnels under the aforementioned firewall, connecting to a private network in a country with more Internet freedom, like the United States or Japan. (VPNs are a legal gray area in China. The unauthorized business or commercial use of VPNs in China is not legal, but tourists checking their e-mail or Facebook are not likely to run into problems.) While it’s a fairly easy way for you—and almost every young Chinese person I interacted with—to connect with the outside world, VPNs do have limitations: They can slow traffic noticeably, and aren’t always reliable.

There are a number of well-reviewed VPNs with names like Golden Frog and NordVPN. I opted for one called ExpressVPN, which costs $12.95 per month and offers a discount if you purchase a yearly subscription.

I’d put my overall connection success rate at 85 percent to 90 percent. I also tried a free service called TunnelBear with slightly less consistent results.

TunnelBear is free up to 500 megabytes of data per month—after that, you’ll have to pay. To get an idea of how long that will last you, loading the New York Times home page and clicking on an article consumed 6 megabytes.

One obvious, but essential, tip: Download and set up your VPN before you leave for China. Once you’re there, you’ll be blocked from downloading any VPNs. NAVIGATION IF you’re like me, you’ve come to depend on Google Maps considerably during your travels. In China you would be wise to rid yourself of that notion. Even with a VPN, Google Maps in China is filled with incomplete

or sometimes just flat-out incorrect information. For example: There are no fewer than six subway lines currently operating in Chengdu. According to Google Maps, there are just two.

I recommend downloading the app Tencent Maps for your trip. While it can be difficult to navigate for those who don’t read Chinese, it’s worth having for its accuracy. Moreover, it will sometimes recognize English words you input (“airport,” and names of some businesses, for example). It also does a great job plotting out directions. Just drop a pin (like you would in Google Maps) on a location in Tencent Maps, and it will give you accurate public transportation, driving or walking directions.

OTHER APPS WECHAT dominates the country and is used to keep in touch with friends, pay for meals in restaurants, get news and play games—it even serves as something of a dating app. Download it if you’re going to spend any significant amount of time in China, as you will need it to keep in touch with locals you meet along the way.

Just don’t use the messaging feature to say anything you wouldn’t want the Chinese government to read— your privacy protections are nil (WeChat disputes the extent to which it stores information and shares it with the Chinese authorities).

I’ve found Pleco to be a useful translation app.

You can drop in English words, or paste in Chinese characters to receive their counterparts. And Dianping, the Chinese version of Yelp, is helpful for finding restaurants.

FINALLY, TP YOU’LL notice plenty of well-maintained public restrooms in China, but they’re not always stocked with toilet paper. You would be wise to carry a small stash with you. This applies to napkins in restaurants, as well: At smaller, more casual places, diners are expected to have their own supply on hand. n

Conrad Manila celebrates Earth Hour 2018 with sustainable efforts CONRAD Manila celebrated Earth Hour 2018 with a series of hotel activities on March 24. The hotel has been taking action locally to conserve energy and help raise awareness of climate change, joining a global initiative that is open to Hilton’s more than 4,900 properties across 104 countries and territories.

Conrad Manila guests and team members, led by Hotel General Manager Laurent Boisdron, celebrated Earth Hour with a symbolic formation of an expansive candlelit “60” at the Hotel Poolside, staying true to the annual switching off of lights. While gathered at the candle-lit formation, Boisdron and other hotel executives led a commitment ceremony with hotel staff and guests, symbolically engaging the next generation of Earth savers.

Checked-in guests were invited to actively participate during the hour to switch off their room lights in a unified effort to show commitment. The hotel’s back-of-house facilities also observed the onehour lights-off initiative.

Boisdron, an environment advocate, said: “Conrad Manila is proud to be part of this environment where our mission is to manage our business through a lens of sustainability that will benefit this generation and

HOTEL executives, led by General Manager Laurent Boisdron (second from right), marked the global event with the Earth’s young stakeholders.

those that follow.

“We understand that we have a choice, through action and innovation, to lead Conrad Manila in engaging our people and our various stakeholders in serving the communities and in protecting our global environment.”

In 2015 Hilton and World Wildlife Fund for Nature announced a multiyear commitment to collaborate

THE hotel’s team members lit up candles as the countdown to lights down began.

on a water-stewardship strategy, expand sustainable seafood efforts, advance food waste efforts and accelerate the adoption of renewable energy across Hilton’s portfolio.

Hilton views sustainability as a key part of its business. Water, energy, food, commodities, waste requirements and other factors significantly impact the economics of the company’s business every

day around the world. For this reason, preserving the environment is a business imperative and a cornerstone of Travel with Purpose, the company’s corporate responsibility strategy to create shared value for Hilton team members, guests, business partners and communities.

To learn more about Hilton’s commitment to preserving the environment, visit cr.hiltonworldwide.com.

Show BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

z

Today’s Horoscope

By Eugenia Last

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Megan Hilty, 37; Lucy Lawless, 50; Amy Sedaris, 57; Eric Idle, 75.

Happy Birthday: Your focus should be on bringing greater stability into your life, not only from a professional or financial standpoint, but also in your everyday routine. Taking better care of your physical and emotional well-being will help you get ahead in all aspects of life. A healthier lifestyle and more time spent doing activities that are conducive to socializing are encouraged. Your lucky numbers are 6, 14, 22, 27, 35, 38, 47.

a

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Take care of your responsibilities and you’ll be rewarded for your effort. Dealing with any type of negotiation should be done with a practical, insightful manner if you want to come out on top. HHH

b

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Business trips, educational pursuits or networking events will pay off. Listen carefully and gather information without disclosing your secret plans to advance. Knowledge is valuable; gather it wisely.

Know what you want and be willing to make sacrifices to get your way. HHHHH

c

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Put more effort into improving your living space and handling your tax return and personal documents. It’s up to you to take care of your responsibilities firsthand.

Waiting for someone to step up and take over will leave you at a loss. HH

d

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Protect your home and your important relationships from anyone trying to take advantage of your time, patience and understanding. Those closest to you deserve the best from you, so don’t give your all to an outsider. Nurture what you already have. HHHH

e

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): How you earn and handle your money will make a difference to your stress level. Great ideas need to be honed to fit practical application if you want to come out a winner. HHH

f

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Ask direct questions that will help you figure out where you stand. If someone is hesitant to share, consider why before you hand out too much personal information. Don’t get angry when you should be taking care of business. HHH

g

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Take the initiative to get things done before someone complains. Once you have your responsibilities behind you, it will be easier to take a little time to do your own thing. HHH

h

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Someone you’ve worked with in the past will offer interesting information. Network or get involved in a creative union that will encourage you to use your talents and expand your interests and outlets.

A give-and-take situation looks promising. HHHH

i

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Learn from past mistakes and be ready to start anew. A change to the way you handle money will encourage you to save more and stress less. Being realistic with regard to your expectations will alleviate disappointment. HH

j

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Preparing your tax return or discussing your options with someone who has more experience will save you money. A creative approach to finances, negotiations and health will serve you well. HHHHH

k

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Listen carefully. What someone says may confuse you if the words used are misleading. Don’t take anyone’s word as gospel. If you want concrete answers, you should ask direct questions. HHH

l

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Use your flowery rhetoric to entice others to help out.

You’ll accomplish plenty if you work in unison with someone who is on the same page as you. A monetary gain is apparent if you use your imagination.

HHH Birthday Baby: You are intuitive, practical and hardworking.

You are progressive and steadfast.

Thursday-Sunday, March 29-April 1, 2018

‘60 Minutes,’ Stormy Daniels get big ratings, some pushback

L

By Lynn Elber The Associated Press

OS ANGELES—An interview with Stormy Daniels delivered for 60 Minutes, giving the long-running CBS news magazine its highest ratings in a decade. But the story wasn’t a slam dunk, either in the reaction it produced or getting on the air in the first place.

An estimated 22 million viewers tuned in last Sunday to see the adult-film star tell 60 Minutes correspondent Anderson Cooper about her alleged 2006 sexual encounter with Donald J. Trump and the aftermath, which, she said, included efforts to silence her. Daniels also said she swatted Trump’s behind with a magazine bearing his photo to take his boasting down a peg.

“I think people thought there was going to be a smoking gun here. Did we miss something?” Whoopi Goldberg asked Daniels’s lawyer, Michael Avenatti, on Monday on ABC’s The View.

Avenatti responded that Daniels’s account of being threatened to keep quiet about the affair represents a “big, big accusation” and a “critical” fact. In other TV interviews, Avenatti said he was holding back certain details of the alleged affair, including the contents of a CD or DVD he tweeted a picture of last week, for strategic reasons.

Jeff Fager, executive producer of 60 Minutes, said the report included meaningful aspects of Daniels’ story, including what the $130,000 payment to her

by Trump lawyer Michael Cohen might mean in the context of federal campaign rules.

Daniels received the money days before the 2016

presidential election and is seeking to invalidate a nondisclosure agreement she signed. Cohen has said he made the payment out of his pocket while asserting Trump never had sex with the porn actress, whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford.

“I do think people probably had an expectation there would be more details of the affair, for example, which is not something we do at 60 Minutes, not fitting for us,” Fager told The Associated Press.

“We told her story in one part, and we examined why it matters in another.”

“If people were expecting more sensationalism, they probably were a little disappointed...but 22 million people stayed with us, so I don’t think they were,” he said.

That’s double the season-to-date average viewership of about 11 million for the program, now in its 50th year.

The White House on Monday said President Trump has consistently denied the allegations leveled

by Daniels, and Trump does not believe her claim that she was threatened to stay quiet over their alleged affair. White House Spokesman Raj Shah declined to say whether the president had watched the broadcast.

During Monday’s briefing, Shah said neither the White House nor Trump had violated campaign finance laws that restrict political contributions.

Earlier this month, legal filings on behalf of Cohen argued that he has the right to seek at least $20 million from Daniels for alleged violations of the nondisclosure agreement.

Daniels, who said she has turned down money for her story, was far more open and serious than when she appeared with ABC late-night host Jimmy

Kimmel. She mostly stayed mum or gave Kimmel brief one-liners in response to his questions, indicating the nondisclosure agreement she’s challenging was why.

Jimmy Kimmel Live! still enjoyed a 17-percent ratings bump, with 2.7 million tuning in January 29 compared to the show’s average viewership of 2.3 million.

Fager said the decision to accept Avenatti’s proposed interview with Daniels was carefully weighed and came after show producer Andy Court and associate producer Evie Salomon met with her and after time-consuming reporting. Court, working with Cooper, had produced two other 60 Minutes stories with the lawyer.

“We weren’t in automatically. We wanted to know... whether there was a bigger picture question and not just a tabloid affair, and we found that,” Fager said.

Cooper has now interviewed two women in recent days about their alleged affairs with Trump: Last week he spoke with Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal on CNN. If the Nielsen company’s audience estimate of 22.06 million for the 60 Minutes interview holds, it would mean more people watched the Daniels interview than the one 60 Minutes aired with President-elect Trump and his family on November 13, 2016. CBS says that telecast drew 20 million viewers.

CBS said the Daniels interview garnered the show’s highest viewership since November 2008.

That’s when an interview with Barack and Michelle Obama aired shortly after his election as the country’s first African-American president, drawing 25 million. n

QC RTC sides with GMA on Robin Padilla’s complaint JUDGE Alfonso C. Ruiz II of Branch 216 of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Quezon City affirmed the decision of Branch 37 of the Metropolitan Trial Court (MTC) of Quezon City, dismissing the Complaint for Damages filed by Robin Padilla against GMA Network Inc., its officers and news reporter due to the finding by the court that the questioned news report cannot be considered as defamatory.

Padilla filed a complaint against GMA, along with its President and COO Gilberto R. Duavit Jr., News Online Editor in Chief Jaemark Tordecilla and news reporter Emil Sumangil, after Sumangil named Padilla in the GMA News TV newscast Balitanghali as the previous owner of a house where P1 billion worth of liquid shabu was seized.

Assisting Judge Ihmie Michiko C. Gacad-Presto of the QC MTC ruled that the report, which was also posted on GMA News Online, was not defamatory on the ground that it was not intended to mislead the readers/listeners and that the actual damage to the plaintiff was not sufficiently proven.

Following the decision of the QC MTC, Padilla filed an appeal before the QC RTC. However, in the decision dated

January 5, 2018, Judge Ruiz II agreed with Judge GacadPresto’s decision and stated that “there was no showing of malice or ill-will that could have caused damage to the plaintiff-appellant.”

After thorough review of the said news report, the court found that Sumangil “observed the required diligence in delivering the report and cannot be faulted since he relied on the remarks made by the people in the neighborhood, as well as from reliable sources of information.”

Moreover, Judge Ruiz II declared that the mention of Padilla’s name refers only to his alleged previous ownership of the subject house and that nothing in the news report implicated Padilla to any drug activity.

The court denied Padilla’s claim for damages since he failed to personally testify regarding the damages he incurred as required by Section 1, Rule 131 of the Rules of Court, which provides that “burden of proof is the duty of a party to present evidence on the facts in issue necessary to establish his claim or defense by the amount of evidence provided by law.”

Chris Evans may not return as Captain America NEW YORK—The actor who plays Captain America may be ready to hang up his shield.

Chris Evans tells The New York Times he has no plans to return to the Marvel movie franchise after reshoots of the fourth Avengers movie later this year.

Evans says “you want to get off the train before they push you off.”

The movie has yet to be titled and is expected to be released in 2019.

Evans has played the role since Captain America: The First Avenger in 2011.

The actor is making his Broadway debut as a police officer in Lobby Hero, which opened on March 26. AP

Global premiere of HBO Asia and Hulu coproduction ‘Miss Sherlock’ on April 27

HBO Asia’s and Hulu in Japan’s very first coproduction, Miss Sherlock will premiere globally across 20 territories in Asia on HBO Asia’s network of channels and services, as well as on Hulu in Japan on April 27.

Stream the series on HBO Go or watch it on HBO at 9 am, with a same day prime-time encore at 9 pm. New episodes will debut at the same time every Friday.

In this bold interpretation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes, reenvisioned in Japanese and set in modern-day Tokyo, the iconic characters of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson are played by women. Yuko Takeuchi (Dog in a Sidecar, Flashforward) stars in the titular role as Sherlock, while her crime-solving partner Dr. Wato Tachibana is played by Shihori Kanjiya (Chiritotechin, Kuchizuke).

In this eight-part, hourlong HBO Asia Original Japanese drama series, Dr. Wato Tachibana is a surgeon who recently returned from a volunteer doctors’ mission in Syria, and Sherlock is an investigation consultant to the police department. They come together to get to the bottom of bizarre and difficult cases. Throughout the series, the pair solves mystery after mystery with Miss Sherlock’s extraordinary observation and reasoning skills.

‘so says capt. obvious’ by timothy e. parker The Universal Crossword/Edited by Timothy E. Parker

ACROSS 1 It may be charted 5 “Boo” kin 9 Delayed from acting 14 Foiled 16 Writer Jules 17 Hollywood joe jape? (Beginning) 19 Saloon necessity 20 Cockney roll call answer 21 Dr. with seven faces 22 High-altitude weather probe 24 Self-centered excursions 29 Corn unit 30 Prepare for a selfie 31 Rural field 32 Summer ermine 35 Egyptian river 36 Isn’t badly?

37 Hollywood joe jape? (Middle) 40 Sounds of astonishment 41 Invisible energy source 42 App maker 43 Versatile truck, briefly 44 It has a mark

5 Crayola option 4 46 Motorcycle part 48 Dueling weapons 51 Hawaiian serving 52 Fancy eggs 53 Nut going around and around 55 Hollywood joe jape? (Ending) 61 Projecting window 62 Facial feature 63 Proceeds along 64 Cans in Britain 65 Blend in bowls DOWN 1 Out-there guess 2 Some whales 3 TNT part 4 Fed. publisher 5 Any judge, at times 6 Not moving 7 Dine 8 Beverly Wilshire feature 9 Pilot verbally?

10 Operatic voice

1 Dude relative 1 12 Cranium center?

13 Affirmative 15 Antecede 18 Shuttered 23 Bellies up to 24 Embodiment 25 Legendary automaton 26 Troy’s war story 27 Pasta variety 28 Faun relative 32 Porky proboscis 33 Brushed thing 34 Neither this nor that 35 Birth-related 36 U-turn from cathode 38 Milk-related 39 Swelling reducer 44 Seats at 19-Across 45 Some Broadway offerings 47 Was picky 49 Poetic T.S. 50 Muslim sect 52 Free-thinking

4 Departer 5 55 Gobsmack 56 “How ___ you?”

57 Yang go-with 58 Do film work 59 Greek letter 60 It has an eye on TV

Solution to yesterday’s puzzle:

A7

Faith A8 Thursday-Sunday, March 29-April 1, 2018

Tagle to ‘wash’ the feet of OFW Demafelis’s parents on Holy Thursday

T

he parents of the Filipino household service worker Joanna Demafelis, who was reportedly killed by her employers in Kuwait, will be among the 12 people who will have their feet washed by Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle on Holy Thursday.

In a statement, the Manila Cathedral said Tagle picked Crisanto and Eva Demafelis to participate in the event to represent the plight of the families of distressed overseas Filipino workers (OFW) abroad.

Joanna Demafelis’s remains were found stuffed in a freezer at her employer’s home in Kuwait last month after she was missing for a year. The incident prompted President Duterte to stop the deployment of OFWs in Kuwait.

A lso picked to join in the traditiona l foot-washing r ite is Fr. Teresito “Chito” Soganub, the priest who was held hostage during the Maraw i crisis; Irfan Masih and Shazia Irfan, Catholic foreigners who became refugees in the Philippines due to relig ious persecution in their homeland; couple Danilo and Janet Pelayo, and their daughter Danica, a family who was relocated f rom Paco, Ma ni l a to C a bu y ao, L a g u n a ; lu m a d leaders Isidro Indao and K aylo Bontolan, who were forced out of their ancestral lands in Mindanao due to its militar ization and env ironmenta l problems; and Giovanni and Yolicres Badidles, a couple who lived separately for a long time for having separate assignments from the Philippine Nav y.

The event will be held during the 5 p.m. Holy Thursday Mass on March 29 at the Manila Cathedral.

Tag le dec ided to pic k m igrants, refugees and displaced people for the washing of the feet pursuant to the New Year’s message of Pope Francis expressing concern to the plight of migrants and refugees.

“By rising from the dead Christ invites us to roll away the stones that are blocking our own hearts and imagination, and to share the journey with each other—in particular with the most vulnerable people, such as the migrants,” Tagle said.

The washing of the feet is a traditional Catholic practice done during Holy Thursday to commemorate Jesus’ washing of the feet of His 12 apostles.

Tagle performs the rite by picking people to represent relevant social issues.

Last year Tagle washed the feet of former drug addicts, policemen and families of the victims of summary execution.

Samuel P. Medenilla

E

aster is derived from the word Eostre, the pagan goddess of the season of the sun and rebirth during Ostarum, a pagan spring festival. It was a spring of the nomad Jews, who coated their tent poles with blood of animals to frighten hostile spirits.

Easter is a day of rejoicing because C h r i s t c o n q u e re d s i n a n d d e a t h .

There is bloodletting, too, from 5,475 blows—28,430 drops as revealed

by Jesus himself to S aint Bridget of Sweden. It was not to frighten sinful men, but make them repent and acknowledge Jesus’ redemptive victimhood on the cross, to liberate men from the eternal flames of hell.

H o w t h e n c a n S a i n t Pa u l n o t declare joyfully: “Death is swallowed up in victory. Where O death is your victory? Where O death is your sting?”

(1 Corinthians 15: 54-55).

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

‘What matters most is we talk with God’

T

By Samuel P. Medenilla

he celebration of the Holy Week always brings in new and familiar sights to the faithful.

Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle washes and kisses the feet of former drug addicts, drug surrenderers, policemen, government officials, volunteers and relatives of victims of extrajudicial killings during the Mass of the Lord’s Supper at the Manila Cathedral on April 13, 2017. Roy Lagarde/CBCP

The start of the long holidays draws Christians to churches or other religious practices for the traditional commemoration of the Passion of Jesus Christ.

Meanwhile, the country’s airports, seaports and main thoroughfares are swarmed by hordes of people who are rushing to the provinces or abroad to spend the long weekend on vacation.

T hese contrasting ways of celebrating the Holy Week has raised questions on whether the Filipinos are slowly losing sight of its true meaning.

However, no less than Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas said otherwise.

In a published reflection, entitled “Should you blindly follow those Holy Week traditions?”, the former head of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said the manner of celebrating Lent—at home or on vacation—is irrelevant as long as one does not forget its real meaning.

“Can we go to the beach during Holy Week? If it will help you love like Jesus, yes, you can. But if it will distract you from the story of His love, please don’t. The highest law is not silence but love. Silence speaks only if that silence is loving,” Villegas said.

“Holy Week practices evolve with time. For 2,000 years now, only one tradition has remained— the Christian tradition of love,” he added.

Josephine A. Placido, an assistant professor at the Department of Sociology at the University of Santo Tomas, agrees with Villegas.

We are the Easter people

By Corazon Damo-Santiago

Sunday

Hallelujah is our song

Easter Sunday is a day of rejoicing.

Christ, indeed, conquered sin and death, and those who believe in Him and die to sin will also rise and live with Him. Men have a new life hidden with Christ in God. So the vows of baptism is renewed during Easter Sunday—a public declaration that we belong to Christ.

As Sacrosanctum Concilium, the Vatican II Constitution on the liturgy, declares: “Thus, by baptism men are plunged into the paschal mystery of Christ; they die with Him, are buried with Him, and rise with Him.” Jesus, our living hope, declared: “I am the resurrection and the life, whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die” (John 11:25-26).

No one did and no one can ever promise men, a new joy, a new hope, a new life. So Saint John Paul II reminds: “Do not abandon yourselves to despair.

She sa id t hat, whi le most Filipinos now tend to celebrate Holy Week in more nontraditional ways, it does not mean they become less faithful.

“Getting out of the busy streets of Manila may just mean practicing their religion outside, but not evading the tradition. Because in our hearts, we know it is Holy Week,” Placido told the BusinessMirror.

She said this is true even for “ma rg ina l i zed ” C at hol ics, or those who tend to practice their faith as a form of obligation since religious practices are embedded in Filipino culture.

“It is the day of contemplation.

So, even if they are on a beach or on another place, they would still look for a church.... Our conscience tells us we still need to venerate,” Placido said.

Living faith

For Fr. Reginald Malicdem, the 40-year-old rector of the Manila Cathedral, said changes in the celebration of Holy Week have even increased the religious fervor of many Filipinos.

He said compared in previous years, the number of people who are participating in the Holy Week activities of the Manila Cathedral in Intramuros, Manila, has increased by several folds, thanks to social media.

Malicdem added the social media has significantly helped the Manila Cathedral promote its activities, particularly to the youth.

“The number of our visitors during a regular Mass is only between 1,000 and 1,500. But during We are the Easter people, and Hallelujah is our song.”

Commissioning the 12

Jesus had many disciples, who believed and lived what He taught. But He had some closest followers and primary teachers of His gospels, the apostles.

With Peter’s leadership, the 11 disciples agreed to replace Judas. They proposed two, to choose from Joseph, called Barsabbas, also known as Justus and Matthias.

They prayed, “Lord, You know everyone’s heart. Show us which one of these two You have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship.”

Among the ancient Jews casting lots is making God do the choice. The lot fell on Matthias. After His resurrection, Jesus told the apostles He had to return to His Father.

In His pledge of oneness with them, He said, “I will ask the Father and He will give you another advocate to be with you always” (John 14:16). “He will teach you everything and remind you of all I told you” (John 14-26).

“The gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the world as a witness to all nations” (Matthew 24:14).

the Holy Week this grows to 2,000 to 2,500,” Malicdem noted.

Malicdem, also the concurrent secretary of Manila Archbishop Luis Cardinal Tagle, said most of the participants are from the youth.

“Usually in other countries like those in Europe, you would rarely see throngs of people walking for the Visita Inglesia. But here you could see it is being done by the youth. It shows that faith is still alive in the country,” Malicdem said. Visita Inglesia is the religious tradition of visiting several churches during Holy Week.

Malicdem said the youth also help bring in a more festive air in the church’s Holy Week activities, which he welcomes, compared to its traditional solemn celebration.

“Our stereotype of a holy person, someone who is always quiet and does not smile. But Jesus and holy persons would laugh and shout.... This is because holiness exudes from his person,” Malicdem said.

“I think being true to our humanity is an expression of our faith. I think God will appreciate the reality of who we are. Our honesty of being ourselves in worship,” he added.

Stick to the basics

The Empty Tomb–John 20:1-9

Easter Sunday Msgr. Josefino S. Ramirez SUNDAY GOSPEL IN OUR LIFE

‘C

hrist has risen! Hallelujah! Let us rejoice and be glad!” Hope and faith are the greatest gifts of Easter.

Hope makes us possess that unshakable confidence in God, in His ultimate triumph, and in His goodness and love.

Faith arms us with the belief that Christ has triumphed over evil despite the circumstances.

Faith would then turn into joy as we realize that the promise to raise Jesus on the third day came true.

This now turns into thankfulness, a wonderful feeling of gratitude and joy that floods our souls as we pray today.

The empty tomb tells us that Jesus’ bodily presence is not all.

That He is truly alive—raised up and transformed! Think about this: if He is truly risen, so are we.

The resurrection unites us with God and others. If we live in this way, we will transform the world.

God is a rewarder of those who will diligently seek Him. Whether we are man or woman has nothing

to do with it. Our background has nothing to do with it. Our upbringing has nothing to do with it.

Our job, race, circumstances and even the embarrassing mess we’ve made with our life have nothing to do with it. But our Faith, above all, has Everything do with it!

Dear brothers and sisters, let us keep in our hearts that every blessing we enjoy was and is made possible by what Jesus accomplished on the cross for us. His love and obedience to the Father brought us closer to salvation. Because of what He did for us, we can have forgiveness for our sins, eternal life, health and healing in our bodies, prosperity and abundant life, joy and every other blessing only God Himself can ever give. All the wonderful blessings that come our way are rewards for diligently seeking God and believing what the Resurrection has done for us.

Let us all take this moment to say thank you Lord for the cross, thank you for saving my soul.

Dead dreams, new life

By Nelson T. Dy

While the changes is accepted by many members of the church, ooner or later, some (if Fr. Jose William Araña, OSA, the not all) of our career goals 79-year-old prior of the San Aguswon’t come true. Take, for tine Church in Intramuros, Maexample, the ambitious yuppie nila, said the faithful should still out to make a big name for himnot forget the “basics” during the self in the corporate world, only Holy Week. to toil in obscurity. Or the mid\ “We still have to prepare ourlife person who looks back at his selves for the Holy Week by first life choices with bitter regret. going through confessions, per“If only I had taken that job forming acts of piety and abstioffer instead of this,” he moans nence,” Araña said. every morning, “I would be an Araña said other traditional executive by now with a fancy Lenten practices, like attending paycheck.” Or the executive himprocessions, serve to further ceself, who is facing impending rement the basic virtues in ones life. tirement—and he wonders what “We do these so we can reawakhe will do for the rest of his life. en and relieve our faith every day...

W hen our cherished career by reminding us about the sacrifice dreams go unfulfilled or supand death of our Lord before His pressed, in one sense they have resurrection,” Araña explained. died. It is seasons like this that we Malicdem echoed Araña’s mesneed to reconnect with Easter. The sage by recalling his experience wonderful news is that death does during his first year as rector of not have the final word. Christians the Manila Cathedral. worldwide celebrate the ResurrecWhile they were practicing for tion of Jesus Christ. We believe one of their Lenten Masses, a boy that He died, was buried and rose approached the altar to talk to from the dead. the life-sized Christ on the cross. In this way, He validated His “ T hat child in front of the claims to be the Son of God, Lord crucified Jesus is the picture of and Savior of the world. the Holy Week for me. Because But how do we let God breathe in the end, what matters most is new life into a moribund career? we continue to ta lk w ith God,” Dr. Gordon Smith, wrote A ChrisMa licdem said. tian Perspective on Vocation, Work and Career, which urges us to embrace the world as it really is, not as how we want it to be. It is great to dream big “Whoever believes and is baptized will be and set goals. But goals that hinge saved: whoever does not believe will be on the behavior of other people or condemned” (Mark 16:16). on favorable circumstances can be Jesus summoned the 12 apostles, sent recipes for frustration. them out in pairs and gave them authority to This is because we can’t control preach, heal and expel unclean spirits. these people or circumstances. For In absolute dependence on God as a example, we want our employers to provider for their needs, they were not promote us regularly, but the comallowed to carry food and money, or clothes pany may be the type that one can’t except the sandals and the clothes they move up until someone retires. wear. Once in a house, they were to stay Or economic downturns or comthere until they leave to avoid dishonoring petitive pressures have wiped out the host or be accused of desiring for a more our jobs. When people or events comfortable place. don’t go our way, our goals are They were, likewise, instructed to shake blocked and this begets anger. the dust off their feet, to indicate their call for It sounds like a big gamble, repentance was not heeded (Mark 6:7-13). but sometimes we have to let go “ They went for th and preached of cherished goals before we can everywhere, while the Lord worked with discover loftier ones. them and confirmed the word through I know of a midlife person who accompanying signs” (Mark 6:20). kept complaining about his lessthan-stellar career. After listening Santiago is a former regional director of to Smith, he realized that he was the Department of Education National Capital clinging to his ideal of the “Career Region. She is currently a faculty member That Should Have Been.” He was of Mater Redemptoris Collegium in Calauan, crippling himself of the ability to Laguna, and of Mater Redemptoris College in improve his situation. He remained San Jose City, Nueva Ecija. in the rut of what went wrong,

S

rather than rejoicing in what went right and, more important, how he can make things better.

He finally let go of his unrealized dreams. A few days later, he was at peace. He no longer sees his office as a dungeon, but as a divine appointment.

“I am here because God put me here,” he told me. “Now I will be faithful to the task.”

His wife breathed a huge sigh of relief after putting up with his whining for years!

Such is the power of Easter.

Dreams have died, but new meaning sprouted to life.

I will be honest: it is scary to surrender our failed dreams. Will we be doomed to drift through life?

What is in store for us in the future?

Smith offers the next advice: God will lead us every step of the way, but He leads us one step at a time. God knows the end from the beginning, but we in our finiteness could not even see what lies around the corner.

The Bible has a beautiful passage: “Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails” (Proverbs 19:21).

We cook up great dreams for ourselves, but God has far more wonderful dreams for us. Since He is in full control of people and circumstances, we can be sure His goals for us will come true. We must believe this even if, for the meantime, the path is dark and difficult.

Remember, one cannot have Easter without the Cross. Even if our present career is the product of poor choices, God can use even that for our blessing. As long as we entrust ourselves to Him, no failure is final or fatal. In due time, He will redeem even our heartaches and disappointments.

Death could have barred Jesus from being with us in our triumphs and tragedies. But the good news of Easter is that He overcame death so that indeed He can be by our side. Not only in this world, but with God for all eternity.

May God open doors of blessing for your career, just as He opened the door of a tomb that fateful Sunday. Above all, let’s adore the Risen Christ!

Nelson T. Dy is an author and speaker on career, relationship and spirituality issues. He has written six books, including The Honeymoon Never Ends, which won the 2012 Gintong Aklat award in the inspirational category. He may be contacted through www.facebook.com/nelsondybooks.

Thursday-Sunday, March 29-April 1, 2018 A9

ADVISORY

I

N observance of the Holy Week, all LandBank branches nationwide will be closed from Maundy Thursday (March 29) to Easter Sunday (April 1). To serve your withdrawal transactions, automated teller machines (ATMs) will remain available. You may also continue to transact through LandBank’s electronic banking channels. Clearing of checks will be suspended on March 29 and 30, while checks received after cutoff time on March 28, will be processed on Monday, April 2. Normal banking operations will resume on April 2. For urgent concerns, please contact our 24/7 Customer Care Center at 405-7000 (NCR) or 1800-10-4057000 (PLDT Domestic toll-free), or e-mail at CUSTOMERCARE@mail.landbank.com.

HONDA PHILIPPINES UNITES BIKERS, UNVEILS NEW COLLECTION OF MOTORS

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ONDA Philippines Inc. (HPI), the No. 1 motorcycle manufacturer in the Philippines, brought together motorcycle enthusiasts as it unveils its new campaign at the Inside Racing Bike Festival, the country’s most prestigious motorcycle show, held at the World Trade Center in Pasay City.

Themed “One Dream”, this new communication campaign aims to unite all motorcycle riders to carry over the goal of uniting Filipinos by serving as a tool in helping people achieve their dream. “Knowing that people strive to achieve their dreams and aspirations motivate Honda to continue with our efforts of helping them realize it,” said Mr. Daiki Mihara, president of HPI. Through One Dream, these efforts are reflected in Honda’s recent partnership with the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA), the most prestigious basketball league in the Philippines, for the Commissioner’s Cup. Basketball, being a part of the Filipino culture and their love for the sports, is just one of the highlights in HPI’s nationwide campaign to reach out to more Filipinos and touch on their interests. Still, this is just a portions of Honda’s various activities for One Dream that Filipinos should watch out for in the coming months.

Another highlight is the showcase of HPI’s latest collection of spectacular Honda motorcycles of various segments, including The New Honda BeAT color variants and All-New PCX150 for the automatic (AT) segment, The New CBR150R for the high on-road sports segment, and The AllNew CRF150L for the off-road sports segment.

The New Honda BeAT is one of Honda’s AT models unveiled in the event. It now comes with its stylish new stripes nine exciting colors designed for the young, and fashionable, Filipino taste. It is engineered the trademark Honda Smart Technology which make for a smooth and easy riding experience with its Enhanced Smart Power (eSP.) With this, city riders specially fun-loving millenials are poised to have a compelling, convenient and enjoyable city riding experience.

Meanwhile, Honda also boasts of its All-New PCX150, its flagship AT model, among the commuter models. It exudes class and style with its elegant and premium design while maintaining a relaxing driving positions for the rider. This highend scooter was built to be sophisticated to the smallest details

with its advances features, such as the Smart Key system, full LCD dashboard, All-LED lighting equipment with hazard lamp, antilock braking system, ACG starter and idling stop system, and more. All of these make for a luxurious ride for those looking to turn up their class.

Honda also unveiled a new color variant from the high, on-road sports segment—The New CBR150R in matte gunpowder black, which now features a new stripes design that makes it more aggressive and speedy. It still boast of the same MotoGP DNA, DOHC, 6-speed engine and advanced safety features, such as the bank angle sensor, which automatically switches off the engine when it reaches a nearfall angle. With its cool and convenient riding position, the rider can achieve comfort and total control for a more leisure ride active and fast-paced millenials would enjoy.

With Honda being a complete lineup manufacturer, the company also unveiled The All-New CRF150L from the off-road segment, geared for those who have adventurous and active lifestyles. It embodies the striking and aggressive image of the CRF250R, which makes riders courageous in undertaking off-road pursuits. It has a powerful 150-cc engine, complete with a PGM-Fi system that delivers a high off-road performance. For comfortable rides during the toughest offroad challenges, The All-New CRF150L is built with an inverted front fork suspension that boosts on any road and provides maximum handling performance. For more off-road riding reinforcements, the bike is also equipped with a detachable mudguard and RR fender for a more aggressive look during trail adventures.

Aside from the latest motorcycles, HPI also introduces two of its newest big bike models at the event, namely, the CBR1000RR Fireblade SP and HONDA CB1100EX, to complete its lineup, which were first launch last December.

“Taking part in this event was an opportunity for us to showcase our motorcycles and big bikes, and strengthen Honda’s position as a company with the latest innovations in the motorcycle industry,” Mihara added. “All of these innovations are spurred by ‘The Power of Dreams’.”

To learn more of its latest offerings, visit www.hondaph.com.

HYUNDAI TOPS ASIA-PACIFIC DISTRIBUTORSHIP NETWORK IN CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

EXCEPTIONAL LUXURY AT MARCO POLO ORTIGAS

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EDEFINING luxury travel, Marco Polo Ortigas Manila takes pride in the global hospitality landscape, having earned the 5-Star Award for two consecutive years by Forbes Travel Guide, the only nongaming hotel recipient in the Philippines.

Managed by the Wharf Hotels based in Hong Kong, Marco Polo Ortigas Manila is one of the only two hotels in Metro Manila that has been first awarded with the recognition by the Forbes Travel Guide since its inception six decades ago.

This year they exceled again in all pillars of hospitality, as it remained to keep the status for the second time. “...We have only been running for just three years, and getting this award for two times already definitely defines our standards. We’ve always pushed ourselves to high standards and customer satisfaction—the little extra touches—for the customers to remember and visit us again....” General Manager Frank Reichenbach says.

At Marco Polo Ortigas Manila, embrace timeless hospitality reflected in the most superior and distinct standards of service in every visit.

Embark through an ultimate culinary journey. Complementing Metro Manila’s stellar dining destinations are its four signature outlets that will certainly attract rave reviews and legions of regulars.

Café Pronto is a beacon for coffee lovers where designer blends and aromatic coffees complement an array of savories, sandwiches, chocolates and a host of freshly baked confections.

Cucina is the fashionable all-day dining restaurant at the Level 24, which features live-station kitchens showcasing specialties from the world’s culinary capitals. Experience bespoke buffet and an original a la carte menu in a stylish setting, where attention to detail is supreme.

Lung Hin, the contemporary Chinese restaurant serves traditional and authentic Cantonese food and fresh seafood from the expert hands of its Hong Kong chefs.

Vu’s, the first of its kind sky bar and lounge at the Level 45 of the hotel tower is poised to be a signature Ortigas attraction.

Indulge in signature cocktails, wines, spirits and champagnes with Mediterranean tapas amid an aweinspiring vista of the Marikina Valley, the Mountain Range of Antipolo and the Laguna Lake along the east and the vibrant Ortigas Skyline, with the world-renowned Metro Manila sunset as a backdrop at the west side. Experience unparalleled

accommodation that provides modern travel through intricate attention to every detail. The first purpose-built 5-star Marco Polo hotel in the country offering discerning guests 316 spacious and welldesigned rooms and suites, including two Continental Club floors that accord unrivaled privileges and benefits.

Adjudged to be the most stunning hotel in the Ortigas district and one of the best among Marco Polo hotels in the world, it is exclusive for guests who desire a higher level of luxury that is enhanced by its impressive new Continental Club lounge.

Located at the Level 44, the Continental Club transforms into a stylish venue for business and leisure travellers. Continental Club floor guests can indulge in the exclusive services, from complimentary daily breakfast, afternoon tea to cocktails.

Visit www.marcopolohotels.com or e-mail at manila@marcopolohotels.com for more information.

EASTER TREATS TO BUY NOW AT MARRIOTT

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ECAUSE every kid’s dream is made of all things sugary, Marriott Manila brings to life those sweet fantasies to celebrate this Easter. Marriott made this amazing recipe to enjoy this season in many ways with your family and friends—that’s what this day is all about after all.

As early as March 15, the Easter bunny is already hopping around Marriott Café Bakery with delightful goodies perfect to give away. From afar, the quirky animal chocolate sculptures will surely catch your attention right away. These are 200 grams of Belgian chocolate shaped in porky pig, Marriott bunny, honey bee and bunny racer for P600 only. Something for sharing is a box of nine-piece cupcakes in assorted flavors of carrot, red velvet and chocolate. Just to brighten someone’s day, the 50-gram chocolate Easter bunny is highly recommended.

M a r r iot t h a s s pr i n k led t hei r entremets and petit gateaux (mini cakes) with bunnies and eggs for this season’s celebration. The 6-inch decadence is P900, while the adorable slice if P305 only. Moreover, abstaining from the indulgence should not be boring, so they

prepared yummy pastries your appetite would enjoy, such as the hot cross bun for P120 and tuna overload (tuna-stuffed sweet bread) for P170 only.

The Easter break means long weekend, so make that count with family or friends for only P9,000 plus at Marriott.

Skip the long road trips—paradise can be found in the city already. Marriott’s Easter room package is inclusive of overnight stay in a deluxe room, buffet breakfast for two adults and two kids, and a P500 worth of dining credits in the Marriott Café Bakery, not to mention that the 5-star amenities and facilities of Marriott Manila you can revel into, like the outdoor pool, kiddie pool, spa, a wide variety of dining options, mall and theater are only few steps away. This staycation is available from March 28 to April 2.

After a meaningful Holy Week celebration, tradition has it that a great feast happens on Easter, and the best kind of feast is a buffet always.

Marriott Café makes their Sunday Brunch Buffet extra special on Easter for families; for P2,800/person, only your child gets a complimentary ticket to join their Candyland-themed egg hunt. Its

hefty spread is an array of international cuisines with interactive stations to have a dish your way.

From fresh greens to grilled meats to sustainable seafood and all the way to the dessert collection, there is definitely satisfying for any palate.

That’s not all! You will be served with four premium a la carte dishes (on top of what’s on the buffet), such as seared goose liver, US-certified steak, Atlantic cod fillet and Cru’s chocolate lava cake.

After a sumptuous indulgence, your kids get to play around at Marriott’s Candyland with huge installations of their favorite sweets. They also get to join the hunt for the Golden Egg that comes with awesome prizes of dining vouchers.

More kiddie activities include magic show, balloon twister, face painting and mascot visits. Just like a cherry on top, each kid will get to bring home goodies from the hotel’s partners, such as Chips Delight, Lucky Me, Lotus Biscoff and Cinderella accessories.

Marriott Café is on the ground-floor level of Marriott Manila. Sunday Brunch is from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. For inquiries, visit manilamarriott.com.

HAVE A WHOLESOME HOLY WEEK AT RWM

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YUNDAI Asia Resources Inc. (Hari) garnered top honors for customer satisfaction in after-sales service, in the Hyundai Asia-Pacific distributorship network.

The award, presented at the recent Asia-Pacific, Africa and Middle East Service Conference in Singapore, is a welcome followup to Hari’s remarkable climb, from the seventh slot in 2016 to second spot in the 2017 JD Power Philippines Customer Service Index study.

Of the 11 automotive brands studied, Hyundai performed strongly in the five factors that comprise customer satisfaction in after-sales service. Hari particularly stood out in service quality and facility. The JD Power Study surveyed new vehicle owners who availed of maintenance or repair work at authorized dealerships between August 2016 and May 2017.

Hari attributes its enhanced performance to having boosted its service technician training program, and to the new and improved fasttrack service that guarantees 30 minutes of preventive-maintenance service repair. The leading auto firm is, likewise, making headway in digitalizing its service operations, starting with

the establishment of a dedicated fast-track onlineappointment system.

This year expect Hari to take bigger strides in building service teams of global caliber with the soon-to-launch Hyundai Dream Center Philippines (HDCP), which is envisioned to be a world-class training hub for automotive technicians, an even more beefed-up fast-track service, and amplified connectivity throughout Hari’s 42 strong nationwide dealership fortresses.

Hyundai Philippines’s ongoing campaign, “Gusto Ko, Kaya Ko, Sama Tayo”, transcends the standard definition of mobility. Beyond cuttingedge design and technology, Gusto is driven by the power of the Filipino customer’s heart—their dreams, values, and needs.

Hyundai Motor Co. Senior Vice President for Customer Experience Division Jaehoon Chang (center) present the special award to Hari Senior Assistant Vice President for After Sales Service Operations Richard Gapasin (left) and Assistant Vice President for Technical and Quality Assurance Eric Ortiz on February 26 at the AsiaPacific, Africa and Middle East Service Conference at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Singapore.

ESORTS World Manila (RWM) helps its guests and members plan a restful and relaxing Easter weekend.

The Newport Mall is open from 12 noon to 12 midnight on Holy Monday (March 26) until Maundy Thursday (March 29),

and from 10 am to 12 midnight on Black Saturday (March 31) and Easter Sunday (April 1). The mall will be closed on Good Friday (March 30).

RWM signature restaurants have prepared an array of guilt-free gourmet

throughout the Holy Week, with gaming area and hotel restaurants mostly maintaining regular operating schedules.

Impressions, Bar 360, Silogue, and Franks will be closed only on March 30. Victoria Harbour Café will be open until 12 noon (March 30) and resume operations at 12 noon of March 31.

On April 1 an Easter Sunday Mass will be held at 11 a.m. in the Vestibule of the Newport Performing Arts Theater to let the Catholic faithful meet their religious obligations, and is concelebrated by Monsignor Ruben Espeño and Reverend Father Victor Clemen.

For Easter Sunday lunch, families can have their pick of the wide array of restaurants in RWM to celebrate the holy occasion.

Families with kids aged four to 12 may join the Easter Safari at the Newport Mall Plaza from 4 to 6 p.m. Loaded with delightful entertainment acts and activities, the event will thrill both the young and young at heart. Exciting prizes await kids who come in costume and participate in the games.

A10 Thursday-Sunday, March 29-April 1, 2018

Opinion

BusinessMirror

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

editorial

Rescuing Boracay

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he recommendation of Task Force Boracay— composed of the heads of the departments of Tourism, Environment and Natural Resources, Interior and Local Government and other government agencies—to temporarily close the entire island for six months to one year may cost the government billions of pesos in foregone taxes, and billions more in private-sector revenues. However, as Tourism Assistant Secretary Frederick M. Alegre argued, “it is the right thing to do to help make Boracay live forever.”

President Duterte himself declared in a business forum in Davao City last month that he wants Boracay closed because of the severe environmental problems that businesses there have created, especially on the issue of sewage management. Calling the popular tourist destination a “cesspool,” the President magnified how Boracay has deteriorated after decades of neglect and abuse.

“We in the Task Force recommended temporary closure of the entire island of Boracay for six months to one year for a simple reason. Boracay is not just a mall or subdivision that could be shut down partially, while repairs are being done to parts of it. It is a living, breathing island with an ecological system that needs to be fixed with a holistic and comprehensive approach to restoring the environment’s balance while ensuring its sustainability as the Philippines’s top tourism destination,” Alegre said.

What needs to be done, the Task Force said, is total renovation of all the areas where establishments were built in violation of environmental laws. There’s also a need to build a comprehensive sewage- and watertreatment facility for the entire island, and to establish a system for a sustainable tourist traffic inflow into the island.

The Task Force cited the need to train local business owners and workers to adopt a sustainable tourism culture that would prevent a repeat of the rapacious greed that turned Boracay into the cesspool it has become.

“We have asked architect and urban planner Felino Palafox Jr. to help the government design a new Boracay rehabilitation program with sustainability as end goal,” Alegre said.

Pointing out that similar decisions to close down other tourism destinations had been made before because of the huge tourist traffic that severely degraded the local environment, Alegre cited the case of Mount Apo in Davao and the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park in Palawan, which were shut down for two years or less to allow the environment to breath and restore balance to their ecology. He said in other countries, including the United States, tourist sites are closed down on a regular basis to restore the beauty of the environment, which is the reason they become favorite tourist destinations.

Alegre said the recommendation to temporarily close Boracay is not a matter of punishment, though the government intends to file cases against businessmen and national and local officials who have violated the laws in the name of profit.

“This is about giving Boracay back its sustainability as a paradise island for everyone to enjoy in the longer term. We cannot argue against business people who fear losing profits and their business so we could protect our environment. We would rather err in favor of rescuing Boracay’s environment and be accused of misinterpreting the President’s directives and make the correct move in making sure Boracay breathes easily again, not only as an ecological system but as a great tourist destination,” he said.

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We reap what we sow John Mangun

OUTSIDE THE BOX

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VERYDAY life in the 21st century is extremely hard.

Our ancestors had to make the choice to fight a sabertoothed tiger or let him have the polar bear just killed for dinner. Now, we have to make the choice to delete our Facebook account because of that nasty message we sent to our brotherin-law in 2009, or have the US government see all of our family birthday pictures.

We have entered a period when all information is subject to distortion—okay, call it fake news. When you threatened on Facebook to shoot your bother-in-law, how should that comment be interpreted?

On succeeding days, the business headlines read, “[Local] Stocks resume downtrend on US-China trade war fears,” followed the next day by, “Stocks recover as trade war fears ease.” In neither of those articles was any explanation made why local stocks would go down on “trade war fears” or then what fundamentally turned everything around in 24 hours.

It is all impressions that can be taken any way the writer and the

reader wish just like the brother-inlaw comment. This is not good.

When the Philippine Stock Exchange index went from 8,100 to 9,000 from December 2017 to February 2018, we were told that move really meant nothing because the stock market is for the elite. Then falling stock prices took the index from 9,000 to 8,000 and we were informed the Philippines is now one of the worst stock markets in the world.

Further, that obviously means something bad for the Philippine economy.

Neither of those statements is true. Why do we allow things to get out of hand and beyond common sense? I say “we” because it is our fault—not the press, not the

When the Philippine Stock Exchange index went from 8,100 to 9,000 from December 2017 to February 2018, we were told that move really meant nothing because the stock market is for the elite. Then falling stock prices took the index from 9,000 to 8,000 and we were informed the Philippines is now one of the worst stock markets in the world. Further, that obviously means something bad for the Philippine economy. government and not the person who lives across the street.

There used to be a time when stupid statements were called just that.

That time has passed.

“The Lottery” is a short story written by Shirley Jackson in 1948. It tells the story of an annual ritual known as “the lottery” in a small, modern village. Once a year, everybody gets together and one person is chosen in a random draw. The motto is, “Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon.”

This year Tessie gets the marked slip and, in keeping with tradition, each villager picks up a rock. The story ends as Tessie is stoned to death to ensure a favorable harvest.

This story has been taught in US schools for decades to show mob psychology, following traditions without

In the light of the Resurrection

buried, is the same Jesus now alive, who left the tomb and repeatedly appeared to them.

Msgr. Sabino A. Vengco Jr.

Alálaong Bagá

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ur Easter Gospel narration (John 20:1-9) tells us that our faith in the risen Christ enables us to interpret the contradiction of the cross in our life as Christians. The resurrection is central to our life of faith, and we are called to an ongoing and profound recognition of this mystery in our daily life.

The empty tomb The friends of Jesus did not anticipate His resurrection; His disciples despaired of Him as the promised Messiah when they witnessed Him executed on the cross. And when the empty tomb was discovered, there was no conclusion that He had risen.

“The Lord has been taken from the tomb! We don’t know where they have put Him.” Clearly, the Christian faith in the resurrection and victory of Jesus is not based on the empty tomb, but on the appearances of the risen Lord to His followers. In fact, the empty tomb was not part of the earliest tradition about the resurrection of Jesus as found in Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians (15:4-8).

The ambiguity of the empty tomb is resolved for those who believed in Jesus’ resurrection by virtue of His appearances to them.

Nonetheless, the empty tomb, although proving nothing, hinted at what had happened, the bodily resurrection of Jesus. In John’s account, the disciple whom Jesus loved played the role of the interpreter of the empty tomb and the burial cloths. The body was not stolen; the shroud and veil were all there neatly rolled up. The beloved disciple saw all these and believed. The same Jesus who had taught them, healed the sick and freed the possessed from evil before their eyes, broke bread with them, and was executed and

They did not understand

The evangelist’s editorial comment about the disciples “as yet they did not understand...about Jesus rising from the dead,” can be the most significant statement in our Gospel narration of the event. The truth of the resurrection was something that took time to seep in and be integrated into the disciples’ new awareness of things. From the early centuries, even skeptics among the Christians would suggest that the so-called resurrection appearances of Jesus must have been made up by the disciples who were very traumatized by the death of their Master.

In view of this innate difficulty to grasp the mystery of Easter, Saint Paul nevertheless spelled out in all clarity the implications: “If Christ has not been raised, then empty is our preaching; empty, too, your faith...you are still in your sins...we are the most pitiable people of all,” (1 Corinthians 15:14.17.19).

Unprepared, assisted by signs but still without the proper understanding, the disciples needed to struggle with themselves. But the clear reference was to the guidance

thinking of consequences, and that violence and evil can take place anywhere in any context.

For more than 30 years, college English Professor Kay Haugaard used the story in her literature class. She recently wrote an essay saying this: In the 1990s something started to change in how her students responded to the sobering tale. Rather than being horrified by it, some claimed they were bored by it while others thought the ending was “neat.”

She was appalled to discover that not one student in the class was willing to say the practice of human sacrifice was morally wrong. She describes one interaction.

“I was stunned: This was the [young] woman who wrote so passionately of saving the whales, of concern for the rain forests, of her rescue of a stray dog. ‘I really don’t know,’ Beth said. ‘If it was a religion of long standing, [who are we to judge]?’”

If we are not willing to call out both truth and lies, we deserve the results that we reap. That was proven 2,000 years ago during the trial before Pilate of a man some called “The Messiah.”

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

available in the Scriptures. It was in the light of Sacred Scriptures that they would come to recognize that the resurrection of Jesus was not simply a return to his pre-execution life, nor the last act of a life vindicating the previous humiliation, but the first moment of a new and eschatological dimension intended for all humankind. Jesus has become by virtue of His resurrection the norm for our relationship with God and with one another that will culminate in our own resurrection.

And the Word of God is the basis of our faith.

Alálaong bagá, Jesus lives. Our celebration of Easter is our commemoration of His resurrection. The fact that He rose in glory and triumphant over sin and death vindicated who He was and what, He had done. We rejoice in the fact that through Him and with Him and in Him, we also live today with the life of love that is from God and for an eternity of tomorrows. We know we are graced in the assurance that not death, but life in its fullness is to be the final word for us because of the risen Christ.

Join me in meditating on the Word of God every Sunday, from 5 to 6 a.m. on DWIZ 882, or by audio streaming on www.dwiz882.com.

Sports BusinessMirror

Youngsters Prulla, Lim share MVP honors in Angeles netfest

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enaila Prulla and Kriz Lim fashioned out a pair of victories each in varying fashions to share Most Valuable Player honors in the Palawan Pawnshop-Palawan Express Pera Padala (PPSPEPP) Angeles City leg regional age group tennis in Pampanga on Monday.

Prulla whipped Angely Atos, 6-0, 6-1, in the girls’ 14-under finals then the Bulacan find upended top seed Achaia Cabahug, 6-1, 6-0, to claim the premier 18-U diadem in the event presented by Slazenger, with Dunlop as the official ball and backed by Rep. Carmelo “Jonjon” Lazatin.

Prulla didn’t see action in the 16-under play but teamed up with Adriana Cabahug to repulse Charisse Bajet and Tristen Kitong, 8-4, in the 14-under doubles and partnered with Martina Naredo to rout Achaia Cabahug and Lucy Inalves, 8-2, in the 18-under doubles to emerge with four titles overall.

Kriz, from Urdaneta, Pangasinan, dominated sibling John twice, scoring a 4-2, 4-2 romp in the 10-under unisex finals, then hacking out a 2-6, 6-1, (10-7) decision to nail the 12-under crown in the Group 2 tournament sponsored by Palawan Pawnshop, through President and CEO

Bobby Castro at the Angeles City Tennis Club.

Lim fell short by one plum as he settled for the 10-U doubles diadem with John in an 8-1 rout of Jeremiah Labasano and Ethan Tiotuico in the tournament sanctioned by the Unified Tennis Philippines, made up of PPS-PEPP, Cebuana Lhuillier, Wilson, Toby’s, Dunlop, Slazenger and B-Meg, Other doubles winners were local bets Jed Labasano and Izaak Virtucio, who nipped Eric Bajet and Brian Oliveros, 8-7(3); and Jundee Magtabog and Nathan Navilla, who thumped Jaycee Manganti and Sherwin Ramirez, 8-3.

Local bet Mike Gamalo stunned second seed Jundee Magtabog, 6-3, 6-1, to snare the boys’ singles 14-under title; Antipolo’s Michael Fuents took the 16-under crown with a 6-0, 6-0 romp over Jeric Magtabog; Jed Labasano repelled Andrei Torres, 6-4, 6-4, to pocket the boys’ 18-under diadem; Baguio’s Adriana Cabahug routed Bernice Egipto, 6-1, 6-2, to bag the girls’ 12-under crown; and Angely Atos, also from Baguio, copped the girls’ 16-under trophy with a 6-4, 4-6, 0-4 decision over Achaia Cabahug.

By Lance Agcaoili

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Nationals vying in Challenge Cup

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HE Southeast Asian (SEA) Games gold medalist national ice hockey team gears up for a tough outing, as it slugs it out with some of the best in the region in the Challenge Cup of Asia unfolding next Tuesday at SM Skating Mall of Asia in Pasay.

The Filipinos hope to ride the momentum of their gold-medal romp in the inaugural ice hockey event of last year’s SEA Games and draw inspiration from the local crowd as they seek a podium finish in the five-nation, six-day event sanctioned by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF).

“We are very proud and excited to host, for the first time, the IIHF Challenge Cup of Asia, which has been held in different countries since it was founded in 2008,” said Chris Sy, Federation of Ice Hockey Philippines president.

The event also marks the first time that the Philippines will compete in the men’s top division of the annual tournament among some of the best ice hockey teams in the region.

Team Philippines, backed by the SM Group, kicks off its campaign against Thailand on April 3, then faces Kuwait on April 5, before tackling Mongolia and Singapore on April 6 and 8, respectively.

All Philippine games are scheduled at 7 p.m.

In other matches, Singapore will play Mongolia on April 3 at 3:30 p.m.; Mongolia battles Kuwait on April 4 at 7 p.m.; Thailand clashes with Singapore on April 5 at 3:30 p.m.; Mongolia collides with Thailand on April 7 at 3:30 p.m.; Kuwait squares off with Singapore on April 7 at 7 p.m.; and Kuwait and Thailand face off on April 8 at 3:30 p.m.

The SM Skating Mall of Asia is equipped with complete facilities, such as digital scoreboard, players’ boxes, scorekeeper and penalty boxes, locker rooms and a 200-seater stands located around the rink.

THE Philippines’s James Younghusband and Tajikistan’s Iskandar Dzhalilov battle for the ball.

SINGSON HONESTY CUP

Asia United Bank (AUB) Chairman Emeritus Jack Ng (center) and Chairman Abraham Co (12th from left) and Monetary Board Member Peter Favila (10th from left) strike a pose during the recent AUBsponsored Governor Gabby Singson’s Second Honesty Cup at the Wack Wack Golf and Country Club.

Mighty Sports bags 4th Republica Cup Invitational title

Mighty Sports players and their supporters whoop it up after receiving their championship trophy and a cash prize of P150,000.

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IGHTY Sports beat Mighty Baliwag, 94-91, to rule the Fifth Republica Cup Invitational Basketball Tournament held over the weekend at the Malolos Sports and Convention Center.

Former San Beda star center Ola Adeogun was almost unstoppable in the paint and scored 22 points to lead Mighty Sports to its fourth title in the annual tournament.

Adeogun highlighted his game-long brilliance with a power play that shattered an 84-all count and made two defensive stops to take the fight out of Baliwag in the knockout championship match witnessed by a huge crowd, including Malolos Mayor Christian Natividad.

Also providing the needed firepower for the Caesar Wongchuking-managed Mighty Sports were University of the Philippines hotshot Paul Desiderio and import Jamal Thomas. who made clutch baskets to help repel Baliwag’s comeback.

“I would like to congratulate our coaching staff headed by Coach Charles Tiu, as well as our players for a wellplayed tournament. Mighty Sports will always support the sports programs of Mayor Christian [Natividad] and the municipality of Malolos,” team owner Caesar Wongchuking said.

Showing the company’s legendary generosity, Wongchuking said their P150,000 prize will be donated to a youthoriented foundation.

Mighty Sports won the first two seasons of the tournament (2013 to 2014) before lording it over again two years ago.

EVIN INGRESO and old reliable skipper Phil Younghusband provided the goals that mattered most as the men’s national team rallied past a hard-fighting Tajikistan, 2-1, to make history by advancing to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup United Arab Emirates 2019.

The match, watched by a delirious home crowd at the Rizal Memorial Stadium on Tuesday night, went tight from the get go resulting to a scoreless first half—until the Tajiks drew first blood after a crucial tackling error

by Ingreso gifted the visitors a free kick, with Nazarov Akhtam beating Azkals goalie Neil Etheridge in the 64th minute.

Thursday-Sunday, March 29-April 1, 2018 A11

AZKALS MAKE HISTORY And then it was the Filipinos’ cue to turn the tables around.

Ingreso made up for the error and headed the equalizer from Iain Ramsay’s beautiful cross that leveled the match at 1-1 in the 74th minute.

That equalizer served its purpose, as the Tajiks were never the same after that.

Younghusband did what he does best for the Azkals, nailing a penalty kick—his 50th in international play—in the 90th minute that sealed the result and sent the nationals and their fans to a roaring frenzy.

“It was an emotional game. It’s a difficult game when you know you don’t need to win the game. We were very cautious, as cautious as possible,” Younghusband said. “They had to win the game. But when they scored their first goal, I think that spurred us to play our best football because we knew we needed to attack,” he added.

“It showed the spirit of the Filipino people, the fighting spirit. Even when we’re down, we can bounce back and I think we showed and typified it today,” Younghusband added.

The Azkals finished on top of Group F with 12 points built around three wins and three draws, enough to give the country its historic first ticket to the AFC Asian Cup, which kicks off on January 5 next year in the United Arab Emirates.

“I made the mistake, it was a clear foul. I was down for a few minutes but my teammates pushed me up,” said Ingreso of

what could have been a costly error.

But Ingresso returned to his elements and helped the Philippines book a historic march to the continental championship.

“We totally deserve the win with the way we fought,” Ingreso said.

“These are the guys who made history tonight, these are the best players we have at the moment in the Philippines, I am really, really proud of those guys,” Azkals American Head Coach Thomas Dooley said of his 23-man roster.

“I told them that in those four years that I’m here, this is the best team that we had,” he added. “We had the best training camp in four years. Everybody was laughing, energized, focused. The spirit in training was unbelievable, everything was positive.”

North Korea and Yemen also earned qualification places for next year’s Asian Cup. Yemen, which played its home games in Qatar because of the ongoing conflict in the country, qualified for the tournament for the first time before even playing on Tuesday, because the Philippines beat Tajikistan in Manila in the same group.

North Korea advanced to the final tournament by beating Hong Kong, 2-0, at Kim Il Sung Stadium in Pyongyang.

The 2019 Asian Cup will have an expanded 24-team field, eight more than the previous tournament. With AP

NBA RESULTS Washington 116, San Antonio 106 Toronto 114, Denver 110 Houston 118, Chicago 86 Miami 98, Cleveland 79 Portland 107, New Orleans 103 Dallas 103, Sacramento 97 Indiana 92, Golden State 81 LA Clippers 105, Milwaukee 98

LeBron James has a favorite for the Most Valuable Player award— himself. AP

Sports ‘I’LL VOTE FOR ME’ BusinessMirror

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| Thursday-Sunday, March 29-April 1, 2018 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

By Tim Reynolds The Associated Press

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IAMI—LeBron James has someone in mind for the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award this season.

Himself.

This is a season where prohibitive MVP favorite James Harden has done phenomenal things with NBA-leading Houston, where reigning MVP Russell Westbrook has been fantastic again for Oklahoma City, and where Anthony Davis has found a new stratosphere to take his game, especially after New Orleans lost DeMarcus Cousins.

James raves about them all. But...

“I would vote for me,” James told The Associated Press. “The body of work, how I’m doing it, what’s been happening with our team all year long, how we’ve got so many injuries and things of that nature, guys in and out, to be able to still keep this thing afloat, I definitely would vote me.”

It’s not an unreasonable take.

His numbers this season compare favorably—or exceed—the five-season run between 2008 to 2009 and 2012 to 2013 where he won the MVP award four times. His averages then: 27.8 points, 7.6 rebounds and 7.3 assists on 52 percent shooting while playing 38 minutes per game.

This season’s numbers: 27.4 points, 9.1 assists and 8.6 rebounds on 55 percent shooting.

They are MVP-worthy, without question.

“He’s continued to prove everybody wrong and find new levels,” said Miami guard Dwyane Wade, James’ longtime friend and two-time former teammate. “In his 15th season, to be 33 years of age and to be playing the way he’s playing, as consistent as he’s playing, that is as impressive as anything that anybody has ever done.”

Averaging 27 points, nine assists and eight rebounds is a National Basketball Association (NBA) rarity.

Oscar Robertson had numbers like those five times, in five consecutive seasons from 1960 to 1961 through 1964 to 1965 (he won his lone MVP award in the 1963 to 1964 season). No one posted averages like that again until last year, when Harden and Westbrook both pulled it off.

Robertson, Harden and Westbrook were all twentysomethings when they had those numbers.

James is in position to join them, at 33. A fifth MVP wouldn’t define him. He’s long been a Hall of Fame lock, but believes this one would be earned.

“At this point in my career, I’m just trying to break the mold, break the narrative of guys in their 15th year.... I’m trying to do things that have never been done before,” James said. “It’s crazy because I’m not setting out to do it.

It’s just kind of happening organically. I’m just training my body and training my mind and going out and playing and seeing what happens.”

The Cavaliers are in the mix to finish as high as No. 3 in the Eastern Conference, despite having 21 different players on the roster, 24 different starting lineups and counting, a slew of injuries, even with head Coach Tyronn Lue falling ill and missing games.

The season has been rocky. James says he’s been

at his best anyway.

“I’ve said it,” James said. “Obviously, I’ve had some unbelievable seasons before, but I’ve said it: This is the best I can go, just from a complete basketball player standpoint.”

Time will tell if MVP voters agree.

WARRIORS LOSE TO PACERS

KLAY THOMPSON and the rest of Golden State’s injured All-Stars are eagerly awaiting their chance to get back on the court. For now, they appreciate how hard the backups are playing to try to keep things going—even on nights when overmatched.

The banged-up Warriors again lacked the firepower to finish off an opponent, and Victor Oladipo scored 24 points in the Indiana Pacers’ 92-81 victory over the defending champions on Tuesday night.

Nick Young scored 12 points as Golden State, playing without its four All-Stars for a second straight game, lost back-to-back contests for only the ninth time during Coach Steve Kerr’s four seasons.

“It’s a 48-minute game and we just stayed with it and found a way to get this game,” said Pacers coach Nate McMillan, whose team held the Warriors to 11 points in the fourth quarter.

Draymond Green had been set to return for Golden State but was still feeling ill, while NBA Finals MVP Kevin Durant had hoped to play on Tuesday but is likely to be back from a rib injury on Thursday against Milwaukee.

Stephen Curry could be out through the first round of the playoffs with a left knee injury, while Splash Brother Thompson is recovering from a fractured right thumb.

“I’ll be back soon. One or two more games,” Thompson said. “Their defense was great tonight, just their effort. They play with great effort, and that’s all we ask for.”

Rookie Jordan Bell sprained his right ankle in the third, had it retaped and returned.

Thaddeus Young and Bojan Bogdanovic scored 17 points apiece for playoff-bound Indiana, which won its third straight and fourth in five.

“We finally got our legs under us, finally started making shots, getting stops,” Oladipo said. “That was effective for us. I thought we picked it up defensively, that was huge for us. Just got to build on it.”

Pacers reserve forward Trevor Booker headed to the locker room with 33.5 seconds remaining in the opening quarter with a sprained right ankle and didn’t return.

World Cup offers respite from Russia

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ARIS—It was late-1945, and distrust of Russia was rising. British military planners had recently hatched secret plans, codenamed “Unthinkable,” to attack the Soviet Union. Winston Churchill’s famous “iron curtain” speech that foreshadowed the onset of the Cold War was just months away.

But as they stood on the brink of what would become decades of nucleartipped enmity, the British and Soviet governments found a patch of common ground in football. Responding to an invite championed by a British government minister who later won the Nobel Peace Prize, Russia flew the newly crowned champions of the Soviet league, Dynamo Moscow, to Britain for a ground-breaking goodwill tour.

Over the course of November, the Soviets thrashed Cardiff City, 10-1, beat Arsenal, 4-3, in a fog-bound match at Tottenham’s stadium, White Hart Lane, and drew against Chelsea (3-3) and Glasgow’s Rangers (2-2).

Why reheat this old history now?

Because football is again being dragged into the cool, if not yet cold, war brewing between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Western governments alarmed by his administration’s behavior.

As in 1945 the same question is being asked: Could football, should football, be employed, in the approach

to the June-July World Cup in Russia, as a political tool? Might a month of 32 teams playing each other across 11 Russian cities be exactly what the world needs amid the darkening geopolitical gloom? Could squabbling nations take a breather, however fleetingly, around a shared passion for the global game? Or should governments, even teams, stay away, to punish Putin for the poisoning of an ex-Russian spy and other outrages his government is accused of and denies?

Certainly, the World Cup won’t be the party that seemed possible when Fifa selected Russia as host in 2010. Then, with Dmitry Medvedev in power after the first two of what has now become four terms as president for Putin, it was tempting to imagine the World Cup as a celebration of the Cold War’s end and to picture football fans partying where Soviet tanks and missiles paraded on Red Square.

But that was before the Russian annexation of Crimea, its military backing for the Syrian regime of Bashar Assad and for separatists in eastern Ukraine, before the hacking of Western democracies and institutions, and before Sergei Skripal and his daughter were found unconscious on a public bench in the English city of Salisbury on March 4. Britain says they were poisoned with a Soviet-made military-grade nerve agent known as Novichok. AP

Fabiano Caruana is the first American to challenge for the world title since Bobby Fischer in 1972.

U.S. GM TAKES SHOT VS. world CHAMP CARLSEN

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ERLIN—American chess grandmaster Fabiano Caruana has won the candidates tournament for the right to take on world champion Magnus Carlsen of Norway for his title in November.

The 25-year-old Caruana is the first American to challenge for the world title since Bobby Fischer in 1972.

Caruana beat Russia’s Alexander Grischuk in the candidates’ last game on Tuesday to bring his points total to 9.0 after 14 rounds. The American defeated Azerbaijan’s Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Russia’s Sergey Karjakin by a point. Karjakin won the 2016 candidates tournament but lost in a tiebreak to Carlsen.

Each of the eight chess grandmasters competing at the candidates tournament in Kreuzberg, Berlin, played every other opponent twice. Each win was worth a point, while a draw earned half a point.

Caruana, who collected €95,000 ($118,000) for winning the tournament, will face Carlsen in the world chess championship match in London from November 9 to 28.

It will be the 27-year-old Carlsen’s third defense of the title he won from Viswanathan Anand in 2013, after beating Anand again in 2014 and Karjakin in 2016. AP

Former Michigan State dean charged in Nassar scandal

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AST LANSING, Michigan—The sexualabuse scandal at Michigan State University (MSU) widened on Tuesday when authorities charged a former dean with failing to protect patients from sports doctor Larry Nassar, along with sexually harassing female students and pressuring them for nude selfies.

William Strampel, 70, is the first person charged since an investigation was launched in January into how Michigan State handled complaints against Nassar, who, for years, sexually violated girls and young women, especially gymnasts, with his fingers during examinations.

Strampel, who, as dean of the College of Osteopathic Medicine, oversaw the clinic where Nassar worked, neglected his duty to enforce examining-room restrictions imposed on Nassar after a patient accused the doctor in 2014 of sexual contact, authorities alleged.

Nassar was not supposed to treat patients near any “sensitive areas” on the body without a chaperone present. Because Strampel did not follow up to make sure Nassar was complying, he was able to commit a host of additional sexual assaults until he was fired two years later, prosecutors said.

The criminal complaint also accused Strampel of soliciting nude photos from at least one female medical student and using his office to “harass, discriminate, demean, sexually proposition, and sexually assault female students in violation of his statutory duty as a public officer.”

His work computer was found to contain about 50 photos of female genitalia, nude and semi-nude women, sex toys and pornography, prosecutors said. “Many of these photos are of what appear to be ‘selfies’ of female MSU students, as evidenced by the MSU clothing and piercings featured in multiple photos,” according to the complaint.

It said the computer also had a video of Nassar “performing a ‘treatment’ on a young female patient.” It was not immediately clear whether the video was considered evidence of inappropriate behavior by Strampel. Defense lawyer John Dakmak said it most likely was one that Nassar widely used to show certain techniques.

Strampel was accused also of grabbing two students’ buttocks at the college’s annual ball and a scholarship dinner.

He spent on Monday night in jail and was released on Tuesday on $25,000 bail. The felony and misdemeanor charges—misconduct in office, criminal sexual conduct and two counts of neglect of duty—carry maximum penalties ranging from a year to five years behind bars.

“My client denies that he ever engaged in any inappropriate touching of anyone, any student or otherwise,” Dakmak said. “He denies that there was any quid pro quo for sexual favors in exchange for any type of standing within the university, or the medical school.” AP