Businessmirror May 04, 2019

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RACE-BLIND IN BORACAY

DOT says Boracay laws, regulations will be applied equally across nationalities

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By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo Special to the BusinessMirror

RREST them. This is the simple marching order of authorities, as they struggle to prevent any backsliding that could wipe out the gains from the difficult, six-month rehabilitation of worldfamous Boracay island.

Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat told reporters that it doesn’t matter which nationality crossed the law or regulations being implemented on Boracay Island, the violator should be meted the required punishment.

She asserted this as reporters asked her about the proliferation of Chinese-owned establishments on the island, famous the world over for its creamy white-sand beach.

“Well I really didn’t ask how many establishments were owned by Chinese, Koreans, etc. But whatever nationality, even if they are Fili-

pinos, if they do something wrong, then they should be arrested. Like for littering, the usual violations.”

Reports from the island indicated that many of the Chineseowned establishments don’t have signs or restaurant menus in English. Also, the Boracay Inter-Agency Task Force (BIATF) released data last Friday that Chinese tourists were the main violators of ordinances and regulations on the island, among all foreign visitor arrivals.

Romulo-Puyat said her agency has asked the local government of-

ficials if it is possible for them to issue an ordinance that requires restaurants on Boracay to secure accreditation from the Department of Tourism (DOT) before they are issued a business permit.

Under Republic Act 9353, otherwise known as the Tourism Act of 2009, restaurants are considered “secondary establishments” and as such are not required to seek accreditation from the DOT. However, there are a number of restaurants there, which have voluntarily applied and were given DOT accreditation.

She added, whatever nationality owns the restaurant, for instance, “they should have a sign in English. Because right away, my concern is, I don’t want it to be discriminatory.” The same will be applied to menus. Asked about the new executive order signed by acting mayor Abram Sualog requiring local establishments to have signs in Baybayin as well, the DOT chief said, “I think the mayor made a mistake, because when I talked to him, we said ‘English signs’. Maybe he just got confused.”

Continued on A2

‘Land no one else wants’ gets solar as coal-and-nukes era fades

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By Brian Eckhouse | Bloomberg News

OR two decades, coal has been pulled from a Bent Mountain mine in eastern Kentucky. But in a startling move in the heart of coal country, a rival—solar—is preparing to move on to the land.

From Appalachia in the US to Queensland in Australia and Chernobyl in Ukraine, solar and wind farms are being developed or built in places not normally associated with clean energy, and in some regions long resistant to it.

Slapping solar panels atop so-called brownfield sites, land that housed mines, emissionsbelching power plants or were

tarnished by nuclear disaster, can be cheaper than decontaminating the ground and turning it into parkland. At the same time, there’s the prospect of turning environmental foes into friends.

“We’re essentially turning these drains on a community into an asset,” said Chad Farrell, chief executive officer of Encore Renewable Energy, a Vermont-based

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 51.8200

A WORKER walks through the solar park in Chernobyl, Ukraine. VINCENT MUNDY/BLOOMBERG

developer that’s contemplating installing solar arrays at coal-ash ponds across Appalachia. “You’re not going to get a large revenuegenerating asset on a former landfill.”

Solar is already established within the nuclear zone of Chernobyl, at a massive former coalfired power plant in Canada, and at landfills and other brownfield sites throughout New England, where renewables are popular but land is at a premium. Meanwhile, BHP Group, the world’s biggest mining company, is working on permits and engineering plans to turn legacy sites in Arizona and New Mexico into solar and storage facilities.

“It’s emblematic of the transition from old forms of energy to new,” said Jacob Susman, a vice president at developer EDF. Regions long dependent on traditional energy sources for jobs Continued on A2

n JAPAN 0.4648 n UK 67.5577 n HK 6.6075 n CHINA 7.6946 n SINGAPORE 38.0274 n AUSTRALIA 36.2740 n EU 57.9399 n SAUDI ARABIA 13.8179

Source: BSP (May 3, 2019 )

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Race-blind in Boracay

Continued from a1

In response to the increasing number of Chinese workers on the island, Romulo Puyat said there is a local ordinance that requires local establishments to hire 40 percent of their employees from Malay, Aklan. “The DOLE [Department of Labor and Employment] is now checking all establishments if they are following the law,” she stressed.

were instituted after President Duterte made his first visit to the People’s Republic of China in 2017.

It was also in that first meeting with Premier Xi Jinping that Chinese officials promised to send 1 million tourists every year to the Philippines.

Mainland China is now the second top market for the Philippines, sending some 1.26 million tourists in 2018, up 29.6 percent from 2017. The market accounted for a 17.6-percent share of total vis-

itor arrivals for 2018 at 7.1 million.

In the first two months of 2019, Chinese tourists increased by 19 percent to 305,371.

The DOT official acknowledged there was a request from a business group for the Philippine government to issue visas upon arrival for Chinese tourists, but this has yet to be discussed by relevant agencies.

Published reports have revealed that some mainland Chinese have been abusing their visa privileges, coming in as tourists but later work-

BERNARD TESTA

MEANWHILE, the DOT will support whatever changes the Bureau of Immigration (BI) may implement with regard to visas issued to Chinese tourists.

This developed as complaints are mounting against the abuse by some Chinese nationals of the shorter visa process in the Philippines, which allows them to come in as tourists, but then stay to work in online casinos or infrastructure projects.

Romulo-Puyat, however, clarified that there is no “visa on arrival” procedure for Chinese tourists.

“The Bureau of Immigration just shortened [the processing time] to five days from 10 days,” she asserted. The shorter visa procedures

BERNARD TESTA

Visa reform

ing for private firms like online gaming operations and infrastructure projects funded by Beijing.

“Well, if they are doing something illegal, then that’s deporta-

tion,” Romulo-Puyat emphasized.

“We follow the law. It should be applied to any nationality; it can be Koreans, or any nationality.”

She added that if the BI thinks

the visa procedures for Chinese nationals should be revised, and return to a 10-day processing period, “We will support it. But that’s all up to the Bureau of Immigration.”

‘Land no one else wants’ gets solar as coal-and-nukes era fades Continued from a1

and tax revenue are increasingly turning to solar and wind power, cementing their push into the mainstream at a time when the coal industry is ailing. US power produced from burning coal shrank by 6.3 percent in 2018, as almost 13 gigawatts of coal plants were closed, according to BloombergNEF. That’s second only to 2015 when 15 gigawatts of coalfired plants were shuttered.

“It’s land no one else wants.” said Jenny Chase, a Zurich-based analyst at BloombergNEF.

In Queensland, Genex Power Ltd. is already producing enough energy for almost 26,500 homes from a 50-megawatt solar farm at the disused Kidston gold mine, where metal was discovered in the early 1900s and operations finally shuttered in 2001. Genex, which acquired the site from Barrick Gold Corp., plans to add a second, 270-megawatt solar array, a 250-megawatt pumpedhydro facility and a 150-megawatt wind operation.

Pumped hydro

THE pumped-hydro plant will

utilize two existing mine pits, using off-peak solar or grid power to move water from a lower reservoir to a second, higher storage pool, and then release it during periods of peak demand to cascade over two turbines to produce power. During periods of generation, the site will provide enough power for about 280,000 homes, Genex executive director Simon Kidston said.

The Queensland transformation, meanwhile, could be modeled at other historic mining sites, according to Australia’s Clean Energy Finance Corp., which provided

debt funding to the project’s initial stage. At Australia’s former Drayton coal mine, about 150 miles (241 kilometers) north of Sydney, Malabar Coal Ltd. is planning to develop a 25-megawatt solar farm.

In eastern Kentucky, active mining at the Bent Mountain site is slated to conclude in late summer, said Ian Krygowski, a development director at EDF Renewable Energy, which is developing a 100-megawatt solar farm there. The site, tucked among wooded mountains, will undergo reclamation work to make it a series of plateaus hospitable for solar.

Southwest Virginia

NEXT year, a modest 3.5-megawatt solar farm in southwest Virginia is slated to replace a mine that closed in 1957. Developer Sun Tribe Solar is collaborating on the project with several groups including regional environmental group Appalachian Voices on the project in Wise County.

“The land is so scarred from the extractive industries that have been the primary economic driver,” said Chelsea Barnes, a new economy program manager at Appalachian Voices. “It’s an important vi-

sual to show the region that it can still be energy-producing but in a way that doesn’t degrade the land and pollute the air.”

For the solar industry, building at sites of former power plants and some legacy mines is an opportunity to tap into existing grid infrastructure. But it’s also an acknowledgment of land limitations.

Some places have limits on how much solar can be built in agricultural areas, said Chase of BNEF. “The narrative has been that those green jobs are going someplace else,” Krygowski said. “It doesn’t have to be that way.”

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ADB: Asia-Pacific region growth ‘solid’ despite trade tension, climate change

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By Cai U. Ordinario

ADI, Fiji—Amid trade tensions and the threat of climate change, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) believes the growth of the Asia and the Pacific region will continue and could even double in the next 12 years.

In his speech at the opening ceremonies of the 52nd ADB Annual Meeting here, ADB President Takehiko Nakao said if the region continues to grow at 6 percent annually, the regional economy could double by 2030.

ADB forecasts the region will expand by 5.7 percent this year.

Excluding the four newly industrialized economies (Hong Kong, China; Republic of Korea; Singapore; and Taipei,China), Asia and the Pacific is expected to grow 6.2 percent this year.

“Economic growth in the region remains solid, while there is much discussion about a slowdown and uncertainties in the global economy. Domestic consumption and investment have provided a strong growth foundation,” Nakao said.

“In some countries, growth is even accelerating. Countries need to continue to pursue prudent macroeconomic policies, implement structural reforms, and invest in human capital and infrastructure,” he added.

Nakao said trade tensions remain a concern for the region,

especially if it escalates. He said these could “seriously undermine consumer and investor confidence” that could weaken economic growth.

The ADB President said maintaining open trade and investment regimes will help buoy the region’s economy. He also lauded efforts of economies in the Asia and the Pacific to forge trade agreements.

“Maintaining open trade and investment regimes is key to vibrant and sustainable growth.

In this respect, the ongoing efforts by Asian governments to promote new multilateral trade agreements within the region and beyond are encouraging,” Nakao said.

On the part of ADB, Nakao said it has its Strategy 2030 which has six areas—poverty reduction; gender equality; climate mitigation and adaptation; regional cooperation and integration; extending private sector lending, equity investments, and guarantees; using its resources effectively.

Nakao said a key priority for ADB will be to continue addressing

remaining poverty and reducing inequalities across Asia and the Pacific. ADB is supporting this year’s G20 initiative of universal health coverage.

Particularly, Nakao said ADB will boost its support for “the poorest and most vulnerable countries in the region” including those in fragile and conflict-affected situations, as well as small island developing nations.

The Manila-based multilateral development bank will also develop a pipeline of projects that integrate gender equality designs into a range of operations, including transport, energy and urban infrastructure.

Nakao said this includes supporting gender agenda such as the promotion of women’s land title ownership in the region. He said land ownership is one factor that can boost women empowerment.

The ADB will also increase its climate mitigation and adaptation efforts in the region, particularly for Pacific countries who are significantly affected by extreme weather events and

PIG ‘EBOLA’ VIRUS SENDS SHOCK WAVES THROUGH GLOBAL FOOD CHAIN

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HAT started with a few dozen dead pigs in northeastern China is sending shock waves through the global food chain.

La s t Au g u s t, a f a r m w i t h fe we r t h a n 4 0 0 h o g s o n t h e o u t s ki r t s o f Shenyang was found to harbor African swine fever, the first ever occurrence of the contagious viral disease in the countr y with half the world’s pigs.

Forty-seven heads had died, triggering emergenc y measures including mass culling and a blockade to stop the transportation of livestock. Within days, a government notice proclaimed the outbreak “effectively controlled.”

It was too late. By then, the disease had literally gone viral, dispersed across hundreds of miles in sickened animals, contaminated food, and in dirt and dust on truck tires and clothing. Nine months later, the contagion has spread nationwide, crossed borders to Mongolia, Vietnam and Cambodia, and bolstered meat markets globally.

While official estimates count 1 million culled hogs, slaughter data suggest 100 times more will be removed from China’s 440 million-strong swine herd in 2019, the Chinese zodiac’s “year of the pig.” The US Department of Agriculture forecast in April a decline of 134 million head—equivalent to the entire annual output of American pigs— and the worst slump since the department began counting China’s pigs in the mid 1970s.

“This is an unprecedented situation,” said Arlan Suderman, chief economist for

INTL FCStone Inc., who has been analyzing commodity markets for almost four decades.

“This will impact food prices globally.”

Like ebola

THE strain of African swine fever spreading in Asia is undeniably nasty, killing virtually every pig it infects by a hemorrhagic illness reminiscent of Ebola in humans. It’s not known to sicken people, however.

The harm to pigs is especially critical for China, with a $128-billion pork industry and the world’s third-highest per-capita consumption.

China’s hog herd may decline as much as 30 percent, said Juan R. Luciano, chief executive officer of Archer-DanielsMidland Co., one of the biggest agricultural commodity traders.

“China will clearly need to import substantial amounts of pork and likely other meat and poultry to satisfy demand,” Luciano told analysts on an April 26 conference call.

Chinese meat purchases may also boost sales of soybean meal, a source of livestock feed, in North America, Brazil, and Europe, he said.

Wholesale pork prices in China are already 19 percent higher than a year ago, and have risen in the United States and European Union after processors sent more of their product to China. The price of bacon in Spain jumped about 20 percent during March, while pork shoulders climbed 17 percent in Germany, according to Interporc, a Madrid-based industry group.

“The potential quantum of this is huge,” said Angus Gidley-Baird, a commodities

analyst with Rabobank in Sydney. “It’s the biggest thing to affect the animal-protein market this year, and will probably have a lasting effect for a number of years. It will move markets and possibly influence geopolitical situations.”

The rally has spread to other meats.

Australia’s beef exports to China surged 67 percent in the first quarter. In Brazil, shares in meatpackers, such as JBS SA and Minerva SA have soared amid optimism of stronger sales to China.

Contagion effect

INCREASED Chinese meat imports will result in higher food costs that impact on economies across the globe. The extent of those ripple effects depends on how quickly the epidemic can be stopped. Official data show a slowdown in the number of pigs affected since late 2018, supporting the government’s assessment that the disease is “under effective control.”

Analysts from Morgan Stanley to Citigroup Inc. to the US Department of Agriculture aren’t convinced that the disease isn’t still spreading.

Pork is the largest component of China’s consumer price basket, and its influence on other meat prices means that a doubling of pork prices in China would boost the country’s inflation by 5.4 percent, all other things being equal, according to Citigroup, which is forecasting a 2.6-percent inflation rate for the country in 2019.

The Chinese government will likely treat

any pork-related inflation as an extraordinary event separate from general cost increases, said Liu Ligang, chief China economist at Citigroup. in Hong Kong. Still, if rising pork prices elevate inflation beyond a ceiling rate of 3 percent, it could constrain the People’s Bank of China from taking aggressive measures to boost the economy.

Supply shock

“THE more field studies people tend to do, the more fear they tend to have,” Liu said.

“This is a supply shock, not a demand shock, and as a result this could be transitory. But this could be a prolonged supply shock given the severity of the disease.”

The epidemic could have political repercussions as well. Xi Jinping may want to finalize trade negotiations with U.S. President Donald Trump to both ease the importation of much-needed pork, poultry and beef supplies, and to enable Chinese lawmakers to focus solely on quelling outbreaks, said INTL FCStone’s Suderman.

The contagion is also highlighting the urgent need for government investment in outbreak preparedness, said Amanda Glassman, chief operating officer at the Center for Global Development.

African swine fever in China shows that “animal and human disease surveillance systems are not working as well as they should,” she said. “This should concern everyone given that the potential economic impact of large-scale outbreaks is huge.”

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rising sea levels, among others.

“For ADB, 2018 was another strong year for climate investments, reaching a lmost $3.6 billion in approvals for climate change adaptation and mitigation. By 2030, at least 75 percent of ADB’s operations will support mitigation and adaptation efforts,” Nakao said.

Nakao said ADB will also support further regional cooperation and integration. It will build on subregional cooperation platforms and enhance regional connectivity, promote regional public goods, help strengthen cooperation in financial sector and macroprudential policies, and encourage knowledge sharing, including in such areas as education and agriculture.

He also said ADB will continue to expand its private sector lending, equity investments, and guarantees to reach one third of total operations in number by 2024.

This will bring ADB into new markets and broaden its business reach to education, health and agribusiness.

“ADB is bringing its private sector operations closer to clients by outposting more staff to resident missions. ADB will open an office in Singapore by the end of this year to facilitate engagement with private sponsors and financiers,” the ADB said.

ADB will also use concessional resources effectively and will develop a detailed proposal for the next Asian Development Fund replenishment: ADF 13.

ADB is also seeking strong donor support for its trust funds and actively mobilizing concessional resources from bilateral and multilateral partners such as the Green Climate Fund and Global Environment Facility.

In 2018, ADB’s commitments of new loans and grants amounted to $21.6 billion. Nakao said ADB’s ongoing projects in the region amount to $3 billion, six times as much as in 2005.

Established in 1966, it is owned by 68 members—49 from the region. This is the first time the ADB Annual Meeting was help in a Pacific island nation.

Govt to raise spending after budget OK delay

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HE Philippines targets to speed up state spending growth to about 15 percent in the months ahead after a contraction in the first quarter due to a budget delay, a senior budget official said.

“We’re confident the implementation of the catch-up plan will help boost growth,” Budget Assistant Secretary Rolando Toledo, 55, said in an interview on Thursday. Government agencies must submit revised monthly spending plans including “shovel ready” projects as the department maps out an accelerated disbursement program, he said.

Toledo, who has worked for three decades at the budget agency, said he sees year-on-year spending growth of at least “mid teens” once the plan is in place. State spending, excluding interest payments, fell 1 percent in the first three months of 2019.

Subsidies for the poor and salary hikes will likely fuel the increase in outlays starting this month after President Duterte signed the 2019 budget law only in April, Toledo said. That could help counter the impact of the

spending ban on projects ahead of the May 13 legislative elections.

Allocations for new infrastructure will help boost disbursement in the third quarter, he said.

Economic boost

A SLOWING global economy and risk of heightened trade tension are forcing many Asian nations to look for domestic sources of growth. In the Philippines, that could mean either ramping up state outlays or cutting the key interest rate as soon as next week.

The budget delay likely cut first quarter gross domestic product growth by as much as one percentage point, prompting a reduction to this year’s growth target band by a point to 6 percent to 7 percent.

The government will announce last quarter’s growth on May 9.

The budget department will submit a P4.1-trillion ($79 billion) spending proposal for 2020 to Congress as early as July, Toledo said. The budget bill will include provisions for universal health care and the expansion of the autonomous region in the nation’s Muslim-majority south.

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ATENEO DE MANILA, UNIVERSITY OF SAN CARLOS GRADS TOP 2018 BAR EXAMS

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By Joel R. San Juan

TOTAL of 1,800, or 22.07 percent out of the 8,155 examinees passed the 2018 Bar exams which was topped by a law graduate from the Ateneo de Manila University.

Associate Justice Mariano del Castillo, chairman of the 2018 Supreme Court Committee on the Bar Examinations announced the results shortly after the special en banc session held on Friday.

The percentage is lower than the 25.5 percent, or 1,724 out of 6,748 examinees, who passed the 2017 Bar Examinations.

Del Castillo said a high number of examinees passed the Legal Ethics and Practical Exercises (5 percent) subject with 5,436 out of 8,155, or 66.65 percent of the examinees.

The subject which has the least number of passers was in Taxation (10 percent) where

only 18.78 percent, or 1,532 examinees, passed.

Other subjects covered by the Bar exams are Political Law and Public International Law (15 percent), Labor and Social Legislation (10 percent), Civil Law (15 percent), Mercantile Law (15 percent), Criminal Law (10 percent) and Remedial Law (20 percent).

Among the 2018 Bar examiners are: Atty.

Carlo L. Cruz (Political and Public International Law); Atty. Hans Leo J. Cacdac (Labor Law and Social Legislation); Atty. Ma. Ngina Teresa V. Chan-Gonzaga (Civil Law); Atty. Carlos G. Baniqued (Taxation); Dean Cesar L. Villanueva (Mercantile Law); (Retired Court of Appeals) Justice Edgardo P. Cruz (Criminal Law); Atty.

Tranquil G.S. Salvador III (Remedial Law); and Atty. Regina P. Geraldez (Legal Ethics and Practical Exercises). See complete list of Bar passers on www.businessmirror.com.ph A graduate of the Ateneo De Manila University

topped this year’s Bar Examinations with the highest over-all rating of 89.3060 percent. The 2018 Bar top-notchers are as follows:

Sean James B. Borja from the Ateneo de Manila University topped the 2018 Bar exams with 89.3060 percent.

Marcley Augustus D. Natu-el from the University of San Carlos was in the second place with 87.5300 percent; Marl Lawrence Badayos, University of San Carlos (3rd, 85.8420 percent); Daniel John A. Fordan, Ateneo de Manila University (4th, 85.4430 percent); Katrina Monica C. Gaw, Ateneo de Manila University (5th, 85.4210 percent); Nadaine P. Tongco, University of the Philippines (6th, 85.0320 percent); Patricia O. Sevilla, University of the Philippines ( 7th, 84.8590 percent); Kathrine T. Ting, De La Salle University-Manila (8th, 84.8570 percent); Jebb Lynus Q. Cane, University of San Carlos (9th, 84.8050 percent); and Alen Joel R. Pita, University of San Carlos (10th, 84.6930 percent).

Borja, who is working at the Gulapa and Quicho Law Firm, acknowledged that Taxation was the most difficult subject in the last Bar exams where some of the examinees even

shed tears after taking it believing that they have failed.

“The taxation, yes, was so difficult. After the exam a lot of examinees cried,” he said.

“My advise [to future Bar examinees] is to have pure dedication, hardwork and to stick to their goals. Don’t let insecurities get the best of you,” Borja said.

Del Castillo also announced that the oathtaking of the successful Bar examinees will be held on June 13, 2019, at 2 p.m. at the Philippine International Convention Center.

Signing of the Rolls of Attorney will start the following day, June 14.

Among the passers is Vincent Joshua Bohol, son of detained Sen. Leila de Lima who is facing illegal-drug charges before the Muntinlupa courts.

Bohol graduated from San Beda College in Alabang last June 2018.

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A4 Saturday, May 4, 2019 • Editor: Efleda P. Campos

PHL firms showcase products at Seoul Intl Seafood Show 2019

By Kalene Ann M. Ebora

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Trade-Industry Development Specialist, DTI-EMB

HE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) organized the Philippines’s participation to the Seoul International Seafood Show 2019 held from April 22 to 24, 2019, at Coex, Seoul, South Korea.

Helping organize the country’s participation to the event were the Philippine Trade and Investment Center (PTIC)-Seoul, the DTI’s Export Marketing Bureau (EMB), and the Asean Korea Center.

Asean Ambassadors and dignitaries from Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam

graced the Asean Pavilion. Philippine Ambassador Raul Hernandez and Commercial Counselor Jose Ma. Dinsay represented the Philippine delegation during the opening.

A variety of Philippine seafood products from nine companies were promoted during the show, including fresh chilled tuna; fresh frozen

octopus, shrimp, milkfish; dried fish; canned sardines, crab meat; bottled milkfish, sardines; and traditional Filipino sauce condiments, such as shrimp paste, shrimp fry, bagoong and fish sauce, among other products.

The show served as a venue to foster the Philippines as a reliable supplier of high-quality seafood products and introduce the country’s seafood-based sauces and condiments to the Korean market.

To take advantage of the Philippines’s existing free-trade agreements, the participants also attended Korea Customs Service’s Seminar on Asean-Korea Free Trade Agreement and Customs Clearance Procedures at the sidelines of the show.

The Philippines’s successful participation to the Seoul International Seafood Show 2019 generated trade leads for the exhibitors

PHL exporters meet US-Mexico Chamber of Commerce delegates

SENEN M. PERLADA, director of the Department of Trade and Industry-Export Marketing Bureau, presents trade opportunities with the Philippines to the delegates of the US-Mexico Chamber of Commerce on April 16, 2019.

By John Benedict Santos

Trade-Industry Development Specialist, DTI-EMB

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HE Department of Trade and Industry’s Export Marketing Bureau (DTI-EMB), the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), and the Embassy of Mexico in the Philippines organized an information session and business-to-business (B2B) meeting with the delegates of the US-Mexico Chamber of Commerce who came to Manila on April 16, 2019, to explore business interests between the Philippines and Mexico.

Marlen Marroquin-Davern, executive director of the chamber, headed the delegation composed of Mauricio Monroy of Mauricio Monroy Contadores, Juan Carreon and Connie Bermudez of Grupad Fiscal Advisors, Mariana Carreon of Xawi Textile, and Aram Hodoyan and Artemis Hodoyan of On Time Logistics.

The Philippines was the first country visited by the delegation as part of their road show which also included China, Japan and South Korea.

Jesus B. Varela, PCCI’s vice chairman for the Americas, moderated the info session while PCCI Chairman Emeritus Dr. Francis Chua and PCCI President Ma. Alegria SibalLimjoco delivered messages which emphasized the long-

standing trade and cultural relationship between the Philippines and Mexico.

Mexican Ambassador Gerardo Lozano Arredondo highlighted that “ last April 14, 2019, Mexico and the Philippines celebrated 66 years of diplomatic relations and we are pleased to celebrate our partnership with this important event that reminds us of our histrorical ties and learning new ideas

for our common future.”

Presentations were also given by Export Marketing Bureau Director Senen M. Perlada and Board of Investments (BOI) Director Angelica Cayas on doing business in the Philippines and Juan Gabriel Espejo Ceballos, head of Bilateral Cooperation and Economic Affairs of the Embassy of Mexico on doing business in Mexico.

The info session was followed by B2B meetings giving Philippine exporters an opportunity to discuss their interests with the respective companies from the US-Mexico Chamber of Commerce. Some of the Philippine exporters who participated in the B2B meeting included Business People, McCormick Philippines, Nattural Quality, and the Filipino Food Movement (based in the US), which also participated in the recent Outbound Business Matching Mission to Guadalajara, Mexico, with participation in Antad and Alimentaria Expo organized by EMB. Other companies in the meeting were Amazing Foods, Century Pacific, Gulife Vegetable Pasta, JNRM Group of Cos., Magic Melt and Propack Asia.

The event with the US-Mexico Chamber of Commerce was part of EMB’s ongoing activities to promote Philippine exports to Mexico and other Latin American countries.

FILIPINO exporters introduce Philippine seafood products to buyers and visitors during the Seoul International Seafood Show 2019 held from April 22 to 24, 2019, at Coex, Seoul, South Korea.

PHL assured of retained preferential market access to UK post-Brexit

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HE Philippines has secured a commitment from the United Kingdom on having the same level of market access to UK post-Brexit, under any scenario, including a no-deal Brexit, Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez said.

This level will be similar to the preferential market access the Philippines currently enjoys under the European Union Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus (EUGSP+).

Overall, Lopez said, any post-Brexit scenario should not have a significant effect on the Philippines. In a statement, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said this commitment downplays the study from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development released this month that the Philippines would be the 12th trading partner to be most affected in a post-Brexit scenario, as the study did not consider ongoing bilateral talks between the Philippines and the UK. For the past two months, the DTI said, the Philippines has engaged the UK in three high-level dialogues. These are the first meeting with UK Prime Minister’s trade envoy Richard Graham on February 20; the first-ever PH-UK Economic Dialogue held on March 21; and a meeting with UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office chief economist Richard Salt on March 22.

In all of these engagements, the UK assured the country’s representatives about the continuation of the Philippines’s GSP+ level market access to the UK post-Brexit, the DTI noted.

Moreover, the UK emphasized that the Philippines is one of its important trading partners in Asia, as evidenced by the Philippine visit of Her Majesty’s Trade Commissioner for Asia Pacific Natalie Black in October 2018.

“The Philippines has taken a more proactive stance in its promotion as an investment destination for UK companies during the London Investor’s Roadshow in September 2018. These series of high-level exchanges and visits signal the Philippines’s close engagement with UK on improving bilateral economic relations as UK exits the EU,” Lopez stated.

The UK accounts for less than 10 percent of total Philippine exports to the EU, with almost 11 percent of Philippine exports to the EU under the GSP+ going to the UK, and 35 percent of total Philippine exports to the UK for 2017 being made under GSP+.

“The retention of the Philippines’s GSP+ level preferential market access to the UK is a huge assurance for Philippine exporters.

For products that are not covered by the GSP+, Most Favored Nation [MFN] rates will apply. On this front, the Philippines is also actively engaged in negotiations in the World Trade Organization for the final MFN bound rates that the UK will apply after Brexit to ensure that products of interest for the Philippines will not be prejudiced by any changes,” the trade chief said.

which even exceeded its target sales by more than 100 percent.

T he DTI-EMB and Foreign Trade Service Corps (FTSC) expressed gratitude to the AseanKorea Center for giving the Philippine exporters the opportunity to showcase Filipino seafood products at the Seoul International Seafood Show 2019.

“As the Philippines continues to take part in trade opportunities to increase trade relations with South Korea, the Department of Trade and Industry-Export Marketing Bureau would like to express its gratitude to the Asean-Korea Center for this initiative and collaboration in giving the Philippine exporters the opportunity to showcase and promote Philippine seafood products at the Seoul International Seafood Show 2019,” DTI-EMB Assistant Director Anthony B. Rivera said.

Expand brands in the M. East, franchises told

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ILIPINO franchises are encouraged to expand their brands in the Middle East countries which offer a lot of business opportunities, especially in terms of the Filipino market.

“You have a base of around 3 million Filipinos there, but if you can still bring your product to the mainstream, that’s a lot more,” said Eric Elnar, trade service officer of the Foreign Trade Service Corps at the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

Elnar underscored the need for them to find the ideal location for franchise based on target market and comply with local zoning regulations.

“Recruit and retain quality franchisees to capitalize on the tremendous opportunities for growth and expansion in the Middle East,” he said, citing particularly the United Arab Emirates, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

Elnar noted it is imperative for franchises to adjust their product/menu for cultural preferences, tastes, guidelines including religious observance and customer expectations.

He said they should also understand legalities, noting “franchisors should take into account region-specific issues [i.e., licensing restrictions in the Gulf region] may constrain the franchisee’s compliance with the schedule of expansion throughout the Gulf Cooperation Council.”

Citing data, Elnar said total population in the GCC region was 54.7 million in 2017. Its growth rate of 5.8 percent per year between 2015 and 2030 is one of the highest regional growth rates in the world, he noted.

“Qatar is really a small market although it is the third largest in terms of the Filipino market, but you just have to treat it separately in your planning. In the UAE and also in Qatar, the big portion of the population is actually South Asian,” he added. “So if your product can be appreciated

by South Asia, for example, then you do quite well in that market.” Philexport News and Features

Sports BusinessMirror

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

CROMWELL High School transgender athlete Andraya Yearwood (right) braids the hair of teammate Taylor Santos during a break at a track meet at Hillhouse High School in New Haven, Connecticut, in February. Yearwood, a 17-year-old junior at Cromwell High School, is one of two transgender highschool sprinters in Connecticut, transitioning to female. AP

Saturday, May 4, 2019

A5

A6 Saturday, May 4, 2019 | Editor: Mike Besa

SUBIC INTERNATIONAL GOLF CLUB

THIRD TIME’S THE CHARM C

Story & photos

by Mike Besa

ENTRAL LUZON has been the hotbed of progress in the last decade. Billions of pesos have been poured into the region by local and foreign companies alike, all eager for a piece of one of the biggest pies in the history of the country.

Through it all, golf has prospered in the region. In the last few years, new golf courses have opened and shifted the country’s attention from the golf courses of the Calabarzon to Pampanga, Bataan and Tarlac.

Through the region’s golf growth spurt, Subic has been strangely silent. It’s an aberration since Subic Bay was at the forefront of the economic development in the region.

Along with the Clark Economic Zone, Subic is home to the region’s most capable deep-water port and is home to an international airport to boot. Economic growth of that magnitude practically demands a world-class golf course.

It wasn’t like Subic didn’t have a golf course that could cope with the demands of the times. The old Binictican Golf Club was a favorite with American servicemen while the Americans still had control of Subic Bay. Two different developers bid for and won the rights to bring Binictican GC into the 21st century, but for different reasons, both groups failed to bring the golf course up to its full potential.

Thankfully, all that is in the past. Today, the Subic International Golf Club is finally ready for prime time and ready to take its place in Philippine Golf.

Subic Smart Community Corp. has proven that the third time’s the charm. They took over the property and pumped a considerable investment into the property. SSCC’s vision for the property is to build an upscale retirement community like the ones that they develop in Japan. Picture a countryclub environment for the elderly, where all the residents’ needs are cared for; housing, recreation, medical care and all their other activities are provided by the developers. The residents want for nothing, everything is provided.

The golf course provides a unique amenity for both residents of the community and for golfers in the region. A world-class community requires a world-class golf course, and SSCC moved to transform the old Binictican Golf Club into one of the best golf courses in the country.

An ambitious goal? Certainly. Unattainable? Hardly.

The Subic International Golf Club sits on a gorgeous piece of property in the formal American naval base.

Situated in the valley beneath the Binictican housing development, the outward nine meanders along the foothills. The course isn’t overly long or demanding but it requires accuracy and good management to play well.

We played it on a previous visit and were challenged and entertained. But the inward nine was unfinished at that point, through no fault of SSCC. A late-season typhoon hit the property hard and damaged two of the fairways on the second nine.

But that’s all in the past and the golf course is finally complete. It’s early days yet and the golf course is still a baby, but this baby has potential.

The golf course measures a hair over 7,000 yards from the tips, making it a suitable venue for a professional

tournament. Most of us will never play the golf course from there and at 6,505 and 6,034 yards from the blue and white tees respectively, the golf course is very accessible.

Water is what you’ll have to deal with here, and water abounds at Subic International. A full thirteen of the holes have water in play, including the peninsulagreen fifteenth which has nothing in between the tee box and the green but.

Thankfully, the greens provide generous targets, but that accommodation causes other problems. Miss the correct quadrant and you could be staring down a forty-yard putt.

The golf course provides a good mix and makes balanced demands on the golfer. It is predominantly flat as the fairways snake around the foothills and marshland. This makes the topographical changes on the second nine more dramatic and infinitely more entertaining.

It doesn’t favor one flight shape over another; the holes turn both left and right in equal measure. Golfers that can control the ball’s trajectory have a distinct advantage here.

The golf course is covered in seashore paspalum.

Perhaps, not the first choice, but given the golf course’s location, paspalum provides the ideal solution for a golf course located by the bay. This is especially evident in the heat of the driest summer in recent memory; Subic International remains green. Paspalum not only tolerates brackish water, it thrives on it. The neighboring tidal pools provide an abundant supply with which to feed the golf course.

As previously noted, the front nine is tight but feels serene and intimate. The holes on this side seem to exist in their own milieu, except for Nos. 2 and 6 whose greens sit adjacent to each other where the nine turns on itself. The golf is pretty good too. Precision trumps power.

Two is indicative of the kind of golf required on this side.

It’s the most difficult hole on the golf course and offers the golfer several options off the tee. Playing safe before all the hazards results in a long approach into the green. Taking on the hazards means threading your drive between two huge trees on either side of the hazard.

Six is the most beautiful hole on this side. The hole plays 194 yards from the men’s tees with water in front and the green framed by the mountains. It’s easily one of the most beautiful par 3s in the country.

Power gets its chance on the second nine. Holes eleven through twelve favor golfers that can move the ball out a long way. They are also the golf course’s sweet spot; the most beautiful holes on the golf course.

The tee shot on eleven is my favorite on the golf course.

The fairway sits across a hazard from the tee boxes and turns right steeply up the hill. The trees on the hillside block your view of the top third of the fairway and the green complex.

Those capable will enjoy taking their tee balls over the trees to take advantage of lay of the hole. The reward is a wedge or short iron into a gigantic four-tiered green.

Crest the hill to the twelfth tee and the view of Subic and the bay beyond greets you. Twelve is long at 460 yards from the tips, but the hole plays downhill and is consequently much shorter than it reads on the card.

The tee shot on thirteen is breathtaking; the elevated tee has a grand view of the rest of the golf course and the

THE tee shot on 11 is one of the more difficult ones on the golf course.

THE clubhouse at Subic International Golf Club

clubhouse beyond. This reachable par 5 has the biggest bunker on the property guarding the left side of the green.

Fourteen is interesting. It’s a monstrously long par 4 from the tips at 446 yards into the prevailing wind, but an eminently manageable 446-yard par 5 from the blues. An interesting solution to toughen up an otherwise easy hole for professional play.

The million-peso question is whether Subic International is worth the green fee. Subic Smart Community Corp’s stated goal was to build a world-class golf course in Subic. At such a golf course, the green fee was never going to be cheap.

SSCC’s model for Subic International is the upscale

public golf course in the United States. We’re talking about Torrey Pines, Pasatiempo, Half-Moon Bay or maybe Bethpage Black in upstate New York. Green fees at these types of golf courses range from $150 to $250 so Subic International is priced accordingly—for now, green fees are P5,800 on weekdays and P7,000 on weekends. This is until the owners are happy with the condition of the golf course and feel it is worth the price they intend to charge for it. When that time comes green fees at Subic will go to P7,500 on weekdays and P10,000 on weekends.

The facilities at Subic International Golf Club are more akin to a luxury hotel than a golf club. The club has a proper chef and the menu, though small in scope, is

well thought out. Everything we tried was meticulously prepared and was equally delicious.

Can we talk about the toilets? It is an undisputed fact that Japanese toilets are the best in the world. The automated wonders do everything for you in ease and comfort and are downright luxurious. They are on full display at Subic International Golf Club. The seats are heated, and everything is controlled via a small panel just to the right above the bathroom tissue. What decadence.

Though eye-wateringly high, the green fee does include the golf cart and caddy, so while there is value there, it’s still higher than any other golf course in the country. So, is it worth the money?

At the moment, perhaps not. The golf course is still too young, and the club is still refining its design, planting trees and ground cover. The caddies are still inexperienced but are intelligent and well trained. But, given enough time and the proper management and guidance, Subic International could very well mature into one of the best golf courses in the country. If the facilities and services continue to improve as the owners envision, it could well be worth the green fee then.

INJECTED TWIST FACE

Will TaylorMade’ D

ESPITE the flack TaylorMade gets about its marketing methods, there is one indisputable truth—the company makes some of the best drivers on the market, year in and year out. Go back as far as you want in the age of metalwoods; TaylorMade was there from the very beginning.

We are all fortunate that the tradition carries over to today.

This year’s slogan is “Everybody Gets Faster”—a tough proposition given the shackles placed on drivers by the USGA and R&A. Performance gains, given a proper fitting, have been incremental at best. The biggest gains in performance come from not just buying a new driver but making sure that it’s properly set up for you with the right-sized grips, the right

The caddies

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O discussion about Subic International Golf Club is complete without delving into the caddies.

For those that have been living under a rock for the last six months, Subic International Golf Club created quite a stir by buying billboard space on both North and South Luzon Expressways with pictures of young attractive women which proudly proclaimed, “Yes, we are the caddies!”

Filipino society being what it is, the wrong impression was formed immediately. Some speculated that the caddies’ company after the game was guaranteed by the stratospheric green fee. Others were outraged that foreigners were exploiting our attractive young women.

Wives forbade their husbands from ever setting foot on the golf course. It was a public-relations nightmare.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Subic Smart Community Corp. envisioned Subic to be a world-class golf club with world-class services. The course had to have world-class caddies.

So, the course recruited their caddies straight out of college. They did not seek out caddies with experience in other golf clubs. Instead, they chose young women that were eager to learn and motivated to work. The caddies have a monthly salary and board and lodging is provided for nonresidents of Olongapo.

They trained them for six months before allowing

them work as caddies. The training included the harsh realities of female caddies in a male-dominated society such as the Philippines. The club created safety nets for them, intervening when a golfer gets too forward with the caddies. Persistent offenders will be prohibited from returning.

You don’t lavish that sort of care on your caddies if your motives are nefarious. There was something being lost in the translation.

The club explained that they were proud of their caddie program and how they hoped it would uplift the lives of their caddies. They wanted to tell the world about it and planned an advertising campaign using the caddies as models.

Of course, the agency played the sex card and the firestorm started.

Nothing could be further from the truth. The caddies at Subic are decent, intelligent and are just looking to make an honest living. Many are tourism graduates that desired work in the industry and saw golf as a way in. They’re young and idealistic and deserve to be treated with respect.

They don’t just work as caddies, either. They work as the starters on either nine, as attendants in the tee houses and, of course, they attend to us. The club has done very good things for them. We owe them our respect.

19 M5 Crown

www.pinoygolfer.com | Saturday, May 4, 2019 A7

THE magnificent view from behind the 11th green

HOW TO DEVELOP THE MENTAL SKILLS OF TIGER WOODS

NEVER GIVE UP!!!

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By David MacKenzie

FTER surprising everyone with his victory at The Tour Championship last year, this green jacket further proves just how determined Tiger is to achieve even more goals in the game, despite all the struggles he’s had, and all the voices telling him to give up.

After his Tour Championship win, he mentioned how special it was for his kids to be able to see him winning a tournament (they would have been too young before) and my hunch is that this was as big as driving force as adding another major to his collection. Kyle Porter of CBS said: “Lifetimes have been lived in the time between his first Masters win and his latest. Tiger’s father never got to meet Tiger’s kids; now they are joined by two iconic moments in one timeless place.”

When you are struggling with your game, remember that you have the power to change the story, and not let past results determine the future. Keep persevering like Tiger did! Keep your dreams firmly in your mind and believe in yourself to achieve them. Imagine everything you want to achieve as part of a daily ritual—this will fuel your drive and shape your behaviors, and help you live into those images.

STAY PATIENT AND PRESENT

EVEN though I still can’t believe it actually happened, looking back at the round it seemed almost inevitable that Tiger was going to win. But doing so must have required huge amounts of patience and discipline to see it out.

Three-time Masters Champion, Nick Faldo repeatedly said during the commentary that Tiger would need to “run it like a marathon and kick late,” and he was exactly right.

Tiger has come so far from his lowest point, that without patience he could have easily let his emotions get the better of him. This Masters showed us a much more stoic Tiger than we’ve seen in the past. He rarely allowed himself to react, even though inside he was probably feeling the full range of human emotions that are felt when playing in a major, let alone one to complete such a miracle comeback. He kept playing his game, stayed patient and let the outcome take care of itself. He never stopped believing he could win, but wasn’t going to allow thoughts of winning affect his calm demeanor and allow tension to creep into his game—a great lesson for us all.

But price aside, what Subic Smart Community Development has done with Subic International Golf Club is nothing if not impressive. They have cut no corners in the construction; build quality is as good as it can be. The golf course takes full advantage of the lay of the land to give us a golf course that is good in every aspect.

The golf course fills a niche in the growth of the game in the Central Luzon region which today is home to some of the very best golf courses in the country. Subic fits in nicely, providing another high-end golf experience to complement and add variety to the golfing experiences of Anvaya Cove, Luisita Golf and Country Club and the better courses in Pampanga.

Yes, it isn’t as tough as Torrey Pines or as long as Bethpage Black, but must a golf course brutalize you to earn your respect? Subic International isn’t that kind of golf course nor does it aspire to be.

It is a well-balanced, well-conceived design that will entertain and challenge a broad range of golfers. It’s an enjoyable course for both low handicappers and high alike. It is beautiful, beguiling and serene and if managed properly, could mature into one of the best golf courses in the country.

’s M5 and M6 make you faster?

19 M5 Hero

BOUNCE BACK

TIGER sprayed his driver several times during the tournament, but always seemed to find his way out of trouble. He didn’t start panicking or changing his swing thoughts, he remained calm and accepted that it’s part of the game (all the contenders were missing fairways and greens). There was very little reaction from Tiger when he hit those shots in the trouble spots—he stayed calm and in the present, and ready to hit the next shot as best he could.

HAVE RELENTLESS FOCUS

RELENTLESS focus is something all the great champions have. They can stay focused on the task at hand, while others can get distracted by the future outcome (the “what ifs”) and overcome with performance anxiety. A lot has been said of how Tiger’s father, Earl Woods (US Special Forces in the Vietnam War) trained Tiger to be the most mentally tough athlete, by trying to throw him off and distract him while practicing. Practicing single point focus is something that can help you or your students games. Among other things, Meditation is a great way to do this. I also believe that it wasn’t a coincidence that we saw the likes of Tiger and Phil chewing gum throughout the Masters—which can release tension in the jaw and stimulate the prefrontal cortex (helping focus).

Tiger’s win was not only great for the game of golf, but it was a great story of human perseverance. It’s also great that Tiger’s career will now (most likely) end on a high note, instead of the lows of five years ago.

n David MacKenzie is a mental coach and the

founder of Golf State of Mind. He currently works with golfers on the PGA Tour, Web.com Tour, European Tour, Challenge Tour, LPGA and LET, along with many elite juniors and amateur golfers of all levels.

WOODS

TIGER led the field in strokes gained from approach shots this week, a stat that is key for Masters success (in the past five years, the player to do this has won three times and finished second and third). He played “conservative-aggressive golf,” rarely going at pins, but instead, he made aggressive swings at conservative (smart) targets on the greens—which paid off while the other contenders seemed to chase it a little too hard.

LEARN HOW TO THRIVE UNDER PRESSURE!

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shaft and in the right loft with the correct overall length.

Off-the-rack just isn’t good enough anymore.

TaylorMade has long made adjustability a corporate mantra. The two M drivers each occupy opposite ends of the driver spectrum; the M5 serves the golfer looking to lower spin and needing better control of the club’s trajectory while the M6 is the club for the golfer looking to launch it high and far, preferably straight or with a bit of a draw.

This year, TaylorMade seems to have created more of a separation between the two drivers. The M3 and M4 were

STICK TO A SMART COURSE STRATEGY

THE 11th hole is the start of Subic International’s own Amen Corner.

doesn’t give much of his mental game secrets away, but I do know that his positive self-talk is key in pressure moments.

He would have been saying the right things to himself to keep himself calm and in the moment (focused on the shot in front of him) and not getting ahead of himself until the job is done.

quite similar cosmetically and maybe a bit closer in launch trajectory than TaylorMade intended so in 2019, the M6 launches the ball significantly higher than the M5. The M5 counters with a revised Inverted T-Track channel with two sliding weights to control both center of gravity (CG) and trajectory (draw or fade).

Given the number of stock shaft options and the available no-cost special order upgrades, one of these two drivers can be made to fit you to a “T.” But that’s not even what makes these clubs special. After all, every

manufacturer these days has two drivers similar in design intent as the TaylorMade M twins. All have some sort of adjustment system for custom fitting.

TaylorMade’s lead technological development is something they’re calling Injected Twist Face. The story is that all manufacturers design the faces of their drivers conservatively to insure they come in under the USGA and R&A’s legal limit of face performance to allow for manufacturing tolerances. Injected Twist Face is TaylorMade’s attempt to get every clubhead as close to the legal limit as possible.

In the new process, every clubhead starts out as illegal; exceeding the limit for face characteristic time.

Then TaylorMade injects Speedfoam, a polymer foam, into ports behind the clubface through two holes in the face covered by screws to dampen performance and bring it back within the legal limit. As we understand it, the process is applied to every clubhead for consistently hot performance.

For those concerned about the screws affecting performance, there’s no need to be concerned. The screws sit flush on the clubface and try as we might, we couldn’t get them to influence ball flight at all.

For those that still aren’t familiar with Twist Face, it can be described as an aggressive iteration of bulge and roll found on all metalwoods. This serves to aggressively correct ball trajectory on shots hit in the high toe and low heel—the areas where most golfers mishit their drives. We found it very effective in the

19 M6 Hero INJECTED Twist Face close-up

FROM what we’ve heard from Tiger in his post-tournament interviews, that win was probably the biggest of his career.

In other words, the pressure would have been immense in that final round. But one thing that Tiger can clearly do is handle adversity and pressure. As I was watching Tiger come down the 18th (after his first 2 shots), I started to fear the worst and I could feel my heart rate increase while watching his 3rd shot (which landed safely on the green). Clearly Tiger has learned how to deal with pressure in golf over a long and successful career, but that doesn’t mean that he wouldn’t have felt it on those closing holes. Tiger

M3 and M4 and it should be the same, but with more ball speed with the M5 and M6.

The one piece of tech that TaylorMade doesn’t make much about is Hammerhead. It’s their method of stiffening the clubhead to increase the amount of energy returned to the ball. Other manufacturers have their own solutions to this problem. Perhaps that’s why TM’s mum on Hammerhead. Whatever the company line, it seems to be very effective. It was especially evident on hits low on the clubface.

The M6 uses 54 percent more carbon fiber than the M5—most of the savings comes from the M6’s carbon composite sole. The weight savings allows the use of a 46-gram weight mounted low and at the far rear of the clubhead for the lowest, deepest CG possible.

The positioning of the CG on the M6 allows it to launch the ball high up into the air quite quickly with a modicum of spin. It does spin more than the M5, but the spin is appropriate for the M6, as the spin returns a bit of control back to the golfer, making for a more playable ball flight.

The M6 is appreciably different from its predecessor, the M4. It’s different enough that a golfer can’t just move directly from the M4 to the M6. The higher ball flight will be immediately apparent so experimentation with shafts and loft settings will probably be necessary to optimize the M6 to your swing.

Speaking of optimization; the M5 remains the most adjustable driver on the market. The two 20-gram weights can be placed anywhere along the inverted T-Track, allowing the golfer to dial in the fit with unmatched accuracy. The M5 spins less than the M6.

It’s not an earth-shaking difference, but it’s significant enough to affect the fit.

The M6 seems even easier to hit than the M4. Our flawed swings meant we gave Twist Face a workout. It remains as effective as the iteration on the M3/M4. Poor hits get much better results than they deserve. The M4 seems slightly draw-biased, but not so much as to pose a danger to those trying to eliminate the left side of the golf course.

The M5 seems to launch the golf ball much higher than the M3 ever did. In this respect the M5 and M6 are more similar than before and this could make the M5 more popular with a broader cross-section of golfers.

The carbon sole doesn’t span the same real estate on the sole as the M6, but it freed up enough discretionary weight to increase the efficacy of the adjustable weights.

In our limited testing, we hit the M6 about the same distance as the M4. A test sample of the M5 was unavailable to us within the time frame we had to write this article, but it would be safe to assume that its performance will closely mirror that of the M6 with 200-300 rpm less spin.

Both M5 and M6 launch the ball noticeably higher than their predecessors. If you’re moving up from a M1, M2, M3 or M4, be sure to get a proper fitting before pulling out your credit card to purchase the M5 or M6.

You might find a better fit with the other driver.

Both are long; among the longest in the industry.

Remember that length isn’t just a function of ball speed.

Launch conditions (spin, launch angle, trajectory, spin axis and strike point) all play a part to move a golf ball out down the fairway and the M5 and M6 provide a significant amount of fitting options to achieve the ideal conditions for any golfer. These are among the best drivers on the market, as they have been since the M-series was introduced. It’s hard to go wrong with a TaylorMade driver.

So TaylorMade has another pair of winners.

They’re long and easy to hit but are they significantly faster than their predecessors? No, they’re not. If you already have a well fitted M3 or M4, it probably isn’t worth it to switch to the M5 or M6. You might gain a couple of yards but it’s hardly worth the asking price. If you’re coming from a first-generation M1 or M2, it might be worth your while to take a hard look at these drivers. The improvements have been substantial, and the gains could be well worth the asking price. Mike Besa

A8 Saturday, May 4, 2019 • Editor: Efleda P. Campos

OurTime BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

‘Mang’ Roger’s crunchy legacy for Santiago City Story by Suzanne June G. Perante

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that he now works hand in hand with his grandchildren who manage a venue and catering services for special occasions dubbed as

“Reynaldo’s,” named after his sonin-law, a few steps away from the original Mang Roger’s roasting barn in the village.

The owners of Reynaldo’s are Reynaldo Bahom and wife Imelda Confieso, the eldest daughter of Mang Roger whose children—including Russel Bahom—manage the venue.

Reynaldo’s was established in 2010 and was initially used for Russel’s wedding reception until visitors and relatives started asking if they can rent the venue and pay for the catering services also.

Russel said he learned the secrets of commercial trading of lechon from his Lolo Roger, including quality, taste and aroma. He employs the mechanized roasting of his lechon, roasting up to 10 whole pigs simultaneously with just one operator involved. He also practices online marketing and delivery of orders.

Russel’s younger sibling studied culinary arts in Manila and is now a chef making a business package for the venue, lechon orders and catering services.

“That is the only legacy I can give to my children and grandchildren which could not be stolen away from them,” Mang Roger said.

is the fire that produces the steam that pushes the train of progress forward.

The sages questioned the answers. Jesus was a questioner. The Gospels are full of questions such as: Who do you say I am? Simon Peter, do you love me? Jesus responds to almost every question He’s asked with a question.

Before he became the awakened one, Siddharta asked why there was suffering in the world. Various answers came to him. But he questioned the answers and kept on questioning up to his last breath under the Banyan tree.

Socrates developed a learning system based on asking and answering questions to stimulate critical thinking and to draw out ideas and underlying presumptions. It is still useful until now, still daily employed by lawyers in courtrooms all over the world.

Today, what were widely held theories in science are now being questioned. Questioning has led to the realization that light is not just particle or wave, but both. Even Einstein’s theory of relativity is being questioned.

There are no longer answers that cannot be questioned.

To paraphrase playwright Tom Stoppard, the truth is an interim judgment.

Life is about living with the uncertainty of certainty, about accepting the limits to what we can know, and being willing to question our beliefs. To quote JD Stroube: “Life is filled with unanswered questions, but it is the courage to seek those answers that continues to give meaning to life. “ We need to avoid thinking in black and white, to be suspicious of certainty. We need to be much more open to questioning our economics, or business practices, the way we educate our children, how we live as members of our community and citizens of our country, and how we live our individual lives.

In the same spirit, while you are open to being questioned, question the questioner or his question.

A question can be loaded.

It doesn’t seek answers, but aims to destroy the person being questioned or project the questioner’s superior knowledge. Voltaire must

have this in mind when he cautioned: “Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers.” Or as someone put it: “Friends ask you questions; enemies question you.”

The governing attitude should not be arrogance or a sense of superiority, but humility. Sincere humility to accept that we may not always be right or brilliant; that we can come up with duds, and that others may be right or have better ideas.

So welcome answers that can be disagreeable. Seek to discuss rather than to dogmatize. Find out what’s right in those questions and look at them as opportunities to think of a better way. It’s okay to be humiliated from time to time. Fail better as they say, and then come back with a better answer.

The opposite of openness is narrow-mindedness, which is characterized by a rigidity of mind. Pessimistic people who have armored themselves against preconceived disappointments are not open. Dogmatic, biased and stubborn people are basically unapproachable. They don’t believe in the need to question.

They are dead certain. As for them, keep in mind what Primo Levi, a holocaust survivor, said: “More dangerous are the common men, the functionaries ready to believe and to act without asking questions.”

People who are afraid of asking questions or being questioned are afraid of being seen as vulnerable. But what if, instead of hiding or worrying about our vulnerability, we embrace and accept it? What would happen? Will we get hurt?

We could, or maybe we won’t.

Anything is possible.

But when we do, we allow the world to change and shape us. We open ourselves to new experiences like love, learning and change. We open ourselves to creating and being recreated.

But always mindful of the fact that there are questions that need time to be answered. Or the answer is already there long before the question comes up.

Or perhaps the question may not even bring forth an answer, for as the writer Elie Wiesel put it: “Every question possesses a power that does not lie in the answer.”

Special to the BusinessMirror

HE commercial trading of the popular pork lechon in Santiago City, Isabela, started in 1977, when Roger Paraiso Confieso from Tondo, Manila, used to supply live hogs to Mang Tomas Lechon in La Loma, Quezon City. There he learned the tricks of the trade.

When Confieso and his family migrated to Patul Village in Santiago City, he saw the potential of putting up the first commercial venture of trading lechon in the city.

Being the original Roast Master of Santiago City, Mang Roger remains the favorite among discriminating locals who prefer the taste of his classic lechon.

Since then, big gatherings or celebrations of well-to-do families in the city would not be complete without the popular lechon from Mang Roger.

Now 79 years old, Mang Roger said that maintaining the classic taste of his native lechon makes it distinct and keeps it a trade secret.

He also said his lechon is guaranteed to be freshly roasted.

As far as Cagayan province, people who have tried Mang Roger’s lechon have become steady patrons, like Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile, a native of Cagayan Valley.

Orders for lechon peak during election period when there’s a need to feed a number of special guests.

“My suppliers of live native hogs

MANG Roger Confieso guides Suzanne June Perante and her younger brother Nonie as they tour, a venue for celebration, owned and managed by Mang Roger’s children and grandchildren. CEASAR PERANTE

from the towns of Jones, San Agustin and Echague are so happy that lechon orders escalated recently,” Mang Roger said.

His children followed suit and came up with their own lechon trading business in the city. Confieso proudly told the BusinessMirror

The uncertainty of certainty I

By Nick Tayag

MY SIXTY-ZEN’S WORTH

WAS confidently and even arrogantly presenting my ideas. I thought they were very good and getting the client’s approval was going to be a cakewalk.

The client seemed very approving as I was clicking on the slides of the power point one after the other.

“Very good!” she said. “I like them all.”

I was on cloud nine, very pleased with myself.

Until one of those present, a new assistant, suddenly began asking questions. The ideas, he said, were wonderful, but he was looking for the focus. The point of the exercise. The direction of the ideas.

I was apoplectic. Who was this guy? A smart aleck wanting to show off to his boss? How dare he throw a monkey wrench now?

I could only sputter incoherently in reply to his pointed questions. The client began to have second thoughts.

She wanted me to reconsider and restructure it as per the wise guy’s comments. The others jumped in and agreed with the boss.

I was incensed. Devastated. It was back to the drawing board.

But then, something prodded me to take another look at my presentation. So I did, and it was then I saw that the smart aleck guy was right after all.

There were flashes of brilliance, but they were all over the place.

It was like I was blasting my shotgun and shooting my pellets everywhere.

I learned a valuable lesson that day. Not all ideas or concepts can be right. In the euphoria of our brainstorming sessions, we think we have arrived at the point of eureka.

That’s it, we all loudly agree, feeling very pleased with ourselves, blinded by our brilliance. Only to be shot down from left field by someone we ignored or underestimated.

Humiliating indeed!

My advice is to look at your ideas again in the cold light of day, next morning. Ask yourself: Are they the best you can come up with? Are you certain they are the right answer or solution to the given question or defined problem?

Do you have this capability to question the answers?

Questioning the answers

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

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KOREAN boy group Stray Kids performed last weekend before a sold-out crowd at the Araneta Coliseum.

@REALSTRAYKIDS ON INSTAGRAM

EDUKASYON ACQUIRES DIGITAL SEARCH DIRECTORY OF PHL HIGH ACADEMIC INSTITUTIONS

BY RODERICK L. ABAD Contributor

SKY Castle tells the story of four families whose objective is to get their children into Korea’s top universities.

The projects included a video showing how the fans love Stray Kids members by celebrating their anniversary and other occasions. They also held banners that read “Promise to stand by your side,” Galaxy Ocean event and sang “Happy Birthday” to Woojin.

Woojin, by the way, revealed he lived in the Philippines when he was young to study English. He said he learned his English alphabet here.

“I stayed in Iloilo for two months and studied English there. I really liked that I was able to study English and do duckpin [bowling] and [visited] Buto’t Balat restaurant. I had a really good time. It’s really [the] Philippines that taught me English. And Boracay’s really the place I really like. I went to Boracay twice. It was really a beautiful place. So I think [the] Philippines gave me the gift of happiness. Stay, mahalaga kayo.”

Stray Kids’s concert was held the weekend after a number of earthquakes rocked the country.

Bang Chan offered sympathy and condolences to those affected by the calamity.

“We were very saddened because it’s something, I guess, we don’t expect these kinds of thing. But for us, the first thing that came to our minds was the Philippine Stay. We want to send out our sincere condolences to all those who have been affected by these earthquakes, who have been hurt, who have been hurting or grieving,” he said.

Stray Kids’s Unveil Tour I Am... in Manila was presented by JYP Entertainment and Pulp Live World. ■

ACADEMIC technology start-up Edukasyon announced its recent acquisition of FindUniversity, an online search engine for Philippine colleges and universities, to further widen its reach.

“Unfortunately, we cannot disclose any amount,” the company said through text when pressed by BUSINESSMIRROR. “[But] the acquisition used part of its pre-Series A funds to help finance it.”

Per the deal that was completed last year, FindUniversity, under the ownership of Edukasyon, is rolling out an updated portal, including a new logo and homepage.

According to Edukasyon CEO and Founder Henry Motte-Muñoz, they were impressed with its online presence and rich database of schools, programs and rankings.

With the acquisition, students searching for higher education options on the web site, FindUniversity. ph, can now also access a comprehensive platform of resources, tools and content on Edukasyon.ph.

“We are excited to bring added value to its student users by integrating Edukasyon’s tools, resources and content, and to our partner institutions by offering an additional gateway to prospective applicants,” he said.

The academic portal provider enables students to directly inquire and apply to schools, browse through thousands of higher education programs and courses locally, abroad and online; apply for scholarship grants, and access engaging and relevant content, including advice on career and life choices.

“For us at Edukasyon, it’s all about meeting students where they are so that we can help make a meaningful difference in their lives,” Muñoz said.

Accessible for free from any device, Edukasyon.ph boasts of its list of 20,000 programs, 13,000 schools, 500 partner institutions and 4,000 scholarships.

Launched in 2010, FindUniversity enables access to over 20,000 academic programs offered in more than 900 higher education institutes across the country.

Together, their platforms reach a community of over 10 million senior high-school and college students annually.

“FindUniversity’s legacy product and wealth of analytics are complementary to Edukasyon’s innovative technology and engagement mediums,” said Jason Townes French, chief technology officer at Edukasyon.

“With our combined reach, we can now play an even bigger role in helping students make informed decisions, and we look forward to building continued improvements to both platforms,” he added.

as it has been exposed on a regular basis doing high technology work for its global clients. “If you are able to build a multiple foundation equipping people with multiple skills, that individual will never be obsolete,” he pointed out.

Pradhan also noted the Philippines is a major source of talent for Conduent and plays a vital role in serving clients in the global market. Moreover, it has been a strategic delivery center for its global operations with 450 global delivery centers.

“It is a fact the Philippines has always been a huge source for great talent in the professionals we have in our organization. We have kind of grown from one site starting in the Ecom area to Cebu City,” he explained.

Pradhan said the Philippine operations serve the needs of the company’s clients in 22 countries around the world. “We are one of the diversified BPO operations in the world.”

It serves 22 industry verticals ranging from consumer, media, high-tech and finance, among others.

As part of its innovation process, Pradhan said Conduent recently formed a partnership with Microsoft for its Cloud Azure initiative. It is also

looking at blockchain and machine learning.

Conduent entered the Philippines in 2005 with an initial work force of 1,500. It has currently a total of 8,000 employees nationwide. As part of the top Fortune 500 companies, it provides strong emphasis on artificial intelligence, machine learning, automation and other offerings.

As part of its commitment to provide its employees with an empowering and conducive workplace environment is the LIFE hall, Conduent Philippines’s biggest dining and recreation hub which was inaugurated recently.

The LIFE hall—which stands for Learn, Involve, Feel and Energize—is the latest addition to the series of facility enhancements at the Conduent Philippines headquarters in Pasay City. The hall is a 1,400-squaremeter multifunction food and leisure center that features a variety of sections aimed at elevating the workplace experience for Conduent employees.

“We at Conduent are steadfast in our commitment to provide a comfortable workplace for our employees.

We want to give them a space that they can call their second home. We’re confident these enhancements will further help in empowering our employees to live, achieve and thrive at Conduent,” said Pradhan.

KANG CHAN-HEE, who is also known by his stage name Chani, a member of the boy group SF9, is also part of the Sky Castle cast.

On ‘Sky Castle’, Stray Kids and the earthquake PRIMETIME

DINNA CHAN VASQUEZ @dinnachanvasquez luckydinna@gmail.com

I

’VE been watching Korean dramas for a while but when a friend recommended that I watch Sky Castle, she described it as “something we have never watched before.” Naturally, I was intrigued.

Korean dramas usually follow a formula but I realize that Sky Castle didn’t. Within minutes of the first episode, I realized that it was a dark comedy that somehow reminded me of Desperate Housewives.

The drama, set in a fictional upper-class neighborhood in Seoul, tells the story of four families who use their children’s educational achievements for bragging rights. The kids are programmed for success with the end goal of getting them into the top universities. When programming their children for success, nothing less than the best is acceptable, at least partly because it reflects poorly on them. “Sky” actually stands for Seoul National University, Korea University and

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Yonsei University, dubbed Korea’s top 3.

After smashing ratings records in South Korea, even beating the likes of Goblin and Reply 1988, Sky Castle is finally on Netflix.

Leading the K-drama’s ensemble cast are five veteran actresses: Yum Jung-ah, Lee Tae-ran, Yoon Se-ah, Oh Na-ra and Kim Seo-hyung.

Also in the cast is Kang Chan-hee, who is also known by his stage name Chani, a member of the boy group SF9.

Speaking of boy groups, Stray Kids, composed of Bang Chan, Hyunjin, Woojin, Lee Know, Changbin, Han, Felix, Seungmin and I.N. performed before a sold-out crowd at their Unveil Tour I Am... at the Araneta Coliseum.

“It’s such an honor to perform in the Philippines for the first time. When we arrived here, just to see the fans cheering made us think we really have to earn the stage,” said Felix.

Stray Kids, which debuted in March 2018, opened the show with “Hellevator” followed by “Grrr,” “Awaken” and “District 9.” Their repertoire included “Victory Song,” “Mirror,” “Insomnia,” “WHO?,” “Voices,” “My Pace,” “Grow Up,” “Awkward Silence,” “Get Cool,” “My Side,” “I Am You,” “Yayaya” and “Miroh” the title track of their new album Clé 1: Miroh. They also won their first-ever TV music show trophy on April 4 on M Countdown through “Miroh,” which was released in March.

The members were thrilled at the fan projects presented

by Stray Kids Philippines in cooperation with Stray Kids Global, Stray Kids Cloud 9 and Stray Kids Union.

Automation, AI should not be feared CONDUENT’S Rishi Pradhan

BY RIZAL RAOUL S. REYES THE emergence of automation, artificial intelligence, machine learning and other technologies shouldn’t be considered a threat, according to an official of a major business-processing organization (BPO) operating in the country.

“Instead of creating a scare on the impact of automation, AI and other technologies, the outlook should be positive as these technologies can make companies and people more competitive,” said Rishi Rajj Pradhan, country CEO Philippines and Malaysia of Conduent, in a recent interview with BUSINESSMIRROR. “We want to let the people understand that AI and other technologies should not be feared but appreciated,” he added.

As far as Conduent is concerned, the company continues to provide the proper training that will allow its people to seamlessly move to different tasks for clients. “If a contact center worker knows how to handle a different work in a different project, we will support him or her,” he said.

With its diverse set of offerings, Pradhan said Conduent could handle the changes in the industry

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ANKI Inc. CEO Boris Sofman holds Vector, the company’s new home robot, in New York. The wheeled robot is designed as a successor to the San Francisco company’s toy robot, Cozmo, which was introduced in 2016. AP

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NOKIA 8110 Traditional Black and Nokia 8110 Banana Yellow

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Dreams of ubiquitous social robots still aren’t coming true

H

BY MATT O’BRIEN The Associated Press

OPES that the tech industry was on the cusp of rolling personal robots into homes are dimming now that several oncepromising consumer robotics companies have shut down.

The latest casualty was San Francisco startup Anki, maker of the playful toy robot Cozmo, which upon its release in 2016 seemed like the start of a new wave of sociable machines.

That dream ended this week when Anki CEO and cofounder Boris Sofman gathered many of the company’s nearly 200 employees to deliver the news that all of them would be laid off on Wednesday. The bad news soon spread to fans and owners of Cozmo and its newer cousin Vector, unveiled last year in an effort to appeal to grown-ups.

“Cozmo was the first robot that felt almost alive,” said David Schaefer, a programmer and robot enthusiast in Portland, Oregon, who was so enamored with the feisty machine that he created a “Life with Cozmo” channel on YouTube that’s attracted millions of viewers. One of the most popular videos, called “Unrequited Love,” documents Cozmo’s awkward interactions with a guinea pig.

Anki’s demise was part of a string of failed efforts to launch life-like robots into the market. Bostonbased Jibo, founded by one of the pioneers of social robotics, went out of business less than a year after its curvy talking speaker made the cover of Time Magazine’s “best inventions” edition. Another start-up, California-based Mayfield Robotics, last year stopped manufacturing Kuri, a camera-equipped machine marketed as a watchful roving nanny.

None of them have been able to compete with immobile smart speakers made by Amazon, Apple and Google, which cost less than their more physically complex robotic counterparts but are powered by ever-improving artificial-intelligence systems that serve most users’ needs.

“AI without a body has caught on really well,” said Yan Fossat, head of the research lab at Torontobased Klick Health, which is exploring social robotics in the medical field. “Physical robots, with a body to do something, are not really catching up.”

They cost too much for the marginal service they offer, he said.

Still, Anki got farther than most of its robotics hardware peers in appealing to the masses with an

ETORO BULLISH ON CRYPTOCURRENCY GROWTH IN THE PHILIPPINES

BY RIZAL RAOUL S. REYES

emotionally intelligent machine that cost hundreds of dollars less than Jibo, Kuri or Sony’s robotic dog Aibo.

“You cannot sell a robot for $800 or $1,000 that has capabilities of less than an Alexa,” Sofman told The Associated Press last year. He and other company leaders declined comment on Tuesday, but a spokesman said the company was “exploring all options to keep our products functioning and cloud services running.”

The company reported about $100 million in annual revenue in 2017, and as of last year had sold more than 1.5 million products, including its robots and the car-racing game Overdrive.

“It does feel a little devastating,” said Schaefer, who

this week started the Twitter hashtag #SaveAnki in hopes that a bigger tech company or toy maker might acquire it. “Anki took steps toward robotics that other companies haven’t tried yet.”

Tech industry analyst Carolina Milanesi was also saddened by Anki’s demise, but a premonition of the company’s fate was the Cozmo sitting idly on her daughter’s nightstand for the past six months. The toy market is unforgiving, and Anki may have been unable to extend its reach beyond it, she said.

“There’s hype at the beginning, you have very engaged kids, and then they move onto something else,” Milanesi said. “Kids grow up. She’s now 11 and ‘Fortnite’ is everything that matters to her in life.” ■

STREAMING SERVICE SPOTIFY HITS 100 MILLION PAID USER MARK COPENHAGEN, Denmark—Music streaming service Spotify said on Monday that its paying subscribers have reached 100 million for the first time, up 32 percent on the year and almost twice the latest figures for Apple Music.

The Stockholm-based company called the figure, which was reached during the first three months of 2019, “an important milestone.”

The growth was driven, among other things, by “a better-than-planned promotion in the US and Canada.” Spotify said it had reached “the high end of our guidance range of 97 million to 100 million.”

By comparison, archrival Apple Music had about 50 million paying subscribers at the end of 2018, the latest available figures.

Apple is expected to release new figures with its earnings report on Tuesday.

The number of Spotify’s total monthly users, which includes those who do not pay a monthly subscription fee but use the

service with intermittent ads, rose to 217 million in the first quarter.

The strong growth in its user base led to a 33-percent rise in revenue, to €1.5 billion ($1.7 billion). Yet like many tech companies focusing on building market share, the company continued to lose money, reporting an operating loss of €47 million.

Spotify says that voice speakers like Google Home and Alexa are a “critical area of growth” and is looking to invest more in podcasts to supplement its offering of music. AP

GLOBAL social trading platform eToro sees a huge growth potential for the multi-asset platform in the Philippines.

Right now, the company, with registered offices in the United Kingdom, Israel and Cyprus, has conducted two major events in Manila that seeks to promote the brand to Filipino traders.

“With the focus to continuously grow its community in the Philippines, eToro is set to organize several offline events along with its consistent online campaigns in order to attract more Filipino traders to its platform,” the company said in a press statement.

The company said it can help Filipino traders hurdle the challenges of the current state of the local stock market by developing a more diversified portfolio approach through investments in global markets and hedging their risk with a variety of investment instruments and in-depth analysis tools.

Moreover, eToro remains bullish on the growth of cryptocurrency in the region with the emergence of a new generation on investors. In a data published by eToro, more than 80 percent of newly registered users on the platform from Southeast Asia invested in cryptocurrencies, and then moved on to invest in other financial products. With its rich product offering, eToro said it is confident it can attract more Filipino investors from across the spectrum.

Founded in 2007, eToro is one of the first financial technology companies to introduce a social element to online trading and pioneer true innovation with its patented copy trading technology. Over its decade-long period of operations, eToro has evolved from providing only foreign currency trading on its platform, to providing multi-asset trading that serves over 10 million users in 140 countries worldwide.

The company has a large array of financial products across several asset classes, including stocks, ETFs, currencies, indices, commodities as well as cryptocurrencies—their latest offering.

In 2010, eToro launched the first social trading platform which allowed company users to discuss strategies, comment as well as share information with each other, and leverage the collective wisdom to make more informed investment decisions. At present, eToro’s patented CopyTraderTM feature allows users to copy multiple investors with a click of a button.

Being an advocate of transparency, eToro clients can gain access to their peers’ risk score, gains, track record, portfolio composition and a variety of relevant information. The company offers its clients many other advantages, such as the Popular Investors program which enables top traders to earn a second income in being copied by others, and CopyPortfolios that offers ready-made, long-term investment strategies. The combination of these features displays the full potential of eToro’s next-generation social trading platform. eToro offers over more than 1,300 stocks, 83 ETFs, 30 Copy Portfolios, six Commodities, 47 currencies, 13 indices and 14 cryptocurrencies.

The company’s diverse product offerings have allowed them to tap into multiple investor segments.

Nokia 8110 welcomes WhatsApp HMD Global, the home of Nokia phones, has announced that WhatsApp, the simple, reliable and secure messaging app, is now available on the Nokia 8110. The app can be downloaded from the Store.

Sancho Chak, HMD Global general manager for the Philippines, said: “Millions of people stay in touch with their loved ones through messaging apps, such as WhatsApp, so we wanted to bring the platform to fans of our retro classic, the Nokia 8110. Now, you can keep up-todate on your family and friends’ groups, share messages and never miss a moment—all with the style and cool factor of a true Nokia classic.”

Along with its familiar and easy-to-use interface, the Nokia 8110 features intuitive tactile mechanics such as sliding the cover open to

pick up calls and sliding it back in place to end them, and a design that allows for an addictive helicopter-style spin on its axis.

It comes with the craftsmanship you would expect of a Nokia phone, delivering standard durability and reliability.

Powered by KaiOS, a popular OS for smart feature phones and the only lite OS with an app store, the Nokia 8110 delivers crystal-clear VoLTE calling and is perfect for anyone who wants an iconic 4G feature phone or companion device.

It also comes equipped with the Store, which is home to KaiOS-powered apps, rich content and services that enhance user experience.

This includes a suite of preloaded Google applications, such as the Google Assistant, Google Maps and Google Search, as well

as popular apps, such as Facebook. “We’re delighted that WhatsApp is now available on the widely popular 8110, enabling users to easily communicate with friends and family both near and far,” said Sebastien Codeville, founder and CEO of KaiOS Technologies. “Our mission is to provide affordable digital services to everyone, and this announcement marks a big milestone toward our goal.”

Reloaded with everything you love, including a revamped Snake game and two vibrant colors to choose from—Traditional Black and Banana Yellow—the Nokia 8110 is available for only P3,990 at Lazada, Shopee, Argomall and authorized Nokia mobile resellers, and at official Nokia mobile stores, kiosks and exhibits nationwide.

BusinessMirror

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A VISITOR rides a virtual rollercoaster ride operated by a robotic arm in a VR theme park in Nanchang, China.

One of the largest virtual reality theme parks in the world has opened its doors in southwestern China, sporting 42 rides and exhibits from VR bumper cars to VR shoot’em-ups. AP

HUAWEI CEO Richard Yu stands during the presentation of the new Huawei P30 smartphone in Paris. AP

Reports Huawei to supply UK networks draw criticism LONDON—British officials downplayed reports that Prime Minister Theresa May will allow China’s Huawei to supply parts of the UK’s new Internet network, a decision that goes against US pleas to ban the firm as it could help Beijing’s spying efforts.

British media reported on Wednesday that the government will let Huawei work on “noncore” parts of the 5G network, such as antennas, as the country adopts the next generation technology that will provide faster service and connect a broader array of devices to the Internet.

The decision by the National Security Council was first reported by the Daily Telegraph, which didn’t provide a source for the information.

Margot James, the government minister for digital and creative industries, said in a tweet that the government hasn’t made a final decision, “despite Cabinet leaks to the contrary.”

Ciaran Martin, head of the National Cyber Security Centre, said at a security conference in Glasgow that the government would announce the decision as part of a larger package of measures designed to ensure the 5G network is as secure as possible.

“There’s a lot more to 5G security than just whether particular companies get particular contracts,” he said. “There’s a whole framework of improvement we need to make.”

The United States has been lobbying allies like Britain to exclude Huawei from all 5G networks, noting that the Chinese government can force the company to give it backdoor access to the data on its networks. Huawei officials have denied that the company is a security risk, saying that they have no links to the Chinese government and operate like any other international company.

But a key UK lawmaker said that allowing Huawei to be involved would increase the risk of cyber espionage by China.

Tom Tugendhat, chairman of Parliament’s foreign affairs committee, told the BBC that it is very difficult to separate core and noncore components of the 5G network because the technology represents an “exponential increase” in speed and capability.

Tugendhat said that while he doesn’t doubt the integrity of Huawei officials, they are still bound by Chinese law.

“This does mean that it is unwise to cooperate on an area of critical national infrastructure, like telecoms, with a state that can best be described as not always friendly,” he said. AP

Far from glitzy tech hubs, Chinese city bets big on VR N

BY DAKE KANG The Associated Press

ANCHANG, China—Liu Zixing craned his neck forward for help with fastening the goggles for his first-ever taste of virtual reality. He took a break from the mining ore business to travel to a VR theme park in this Chinese provincial capital not known for high technology.

“It feels like reality,” Liu said after shooting down robots in a virtual fighter jet, strapped to a spinning gyroscope lit in purple. “It’s just like you’re riding in a plane.”

Enthusiasm for VR has cooled somewhat after years of hype, but China’s leaders are trying to drum up excitement, hoping to take the lead in a technology they expect will eventually gain wide use.

Hoping to coax homegrown entrepreneurs to take the plunge, the government is educating students, subsidizing office spaces, and sponsoring conferences and competitions.

Nanchang’s VR Star park offers 42 rides and exhibits, including VR bumper cars and VR shoot-’em-ups. It’s the highlight of Nanchang’s “VR base,” a sprawling complex of mostly still empty, futuristic glass-and-steel offices.

The city of 5.5 million is the capital of Jiangxi province, a relatively impoverished region nestled in the mountains of south-central China, where the regional industries are copper mining and rice.

Officials hope that one day it will be a world-class hub for virtual reality.

“Frankly, VR isn’t 100 percent necessary in the Chinese market at the moment,” said Xiong Zongming, CEO of IN-UP Technology, one of dozens of firms being incubated by the VR base. “But with the government’s push, many other companies, departments and agencies are more willing to try it out.”

Xiong was born in Nanchang but studied and worked in Japan for nearly a decade before returning to China, where he settled in Shanghai. Nanchang officials enticed him back

home with offers of free rent and 150,000 RMB ($22,340) in start-up funds, part of an effort to lure back local talent from richer coastal cities to help lift the local economy.

Beijing began its VR drive a few years ago, when slick headsets from Samsung, Oculus, HTC and Sony were making a big splash at electronics shows in the US. Chinese leaders were worried they might miss out on a boom. VR is included in Beijing’s “Made in China 2025,” an ambitious plan to develop global competitors in cutting edge technologies including electric cars, solar and wind power, and robotics. Nanchang is one of several VR hubs across the country.

So far, VR is mostly a niche product used in gaming and business training, held back by expensive, clunky headsets, a lack of appealing software and other shortcomings. Analysts say it could be many years, perhaps decades, before the technology goes mainstream.

Last year, just 5.8 million VR headsets were sold globally, according to market research firm Ovum. That compares with sales of more than 1.5 billion smartphones and is far fewer than expected when VR fever was at its peak a few years back. “My experience wasn’t good,” said Xu Xiao, a PC gamer who bought VR goggles over a year ago after graduating from college. “When I wore them, my eyes got dry and uncomfortable, and I got dizzy. I barely use them anymore.”

Stopping by the Nanchang VR park, he was still unimpressed.

“The image quality isn’t refined, and it’s hard to operate,” he said after a virtual flume ride.

Even if it’s a gamble, analysts say China’s state-led push into VR could pay off in the future. Nanchang’s VR developers are marching on despite a wave of layoffs across the industry in the past few years. Thousands attended Nanchang’s first VR conference last October.

“It’s kind of a good move to be there now,” says George Jijiashvili, a senior analyst at Ovum. “It’s a long game, and I don’t think it’s going away anytime soon.”

Beijing still lags behind: Most VR headsets are designed

YouTube FanFest is back in Manila on May 26 YOUTUBE announces the return of YouTube FanFest to Manila on May 26 at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Now on its fifth year in town, YouTube FanFest, copresented by Globe Telecom and P&G, is the biggest gathering of the most creative and well-loved YouTube stars from the Philippines and around the world for an exclusive live show and exciting meet up with their fans.

This year’s stellar lineup features a mix of talented international creators: Alex Wassabi and Matt Steffanina, and local sensations Ranz Kyle and Niana Guerrero, Hannah Kathleen, JaMill, ThatsBella, Rei Germar, Ken San Jose, Brains techKnowlogy, Andrea Brillantes, Pamela Swing, AC Bonifacio and Hype Streetball. These YouTube stars are set to take the stage at Mall of Asia Arena, Pasay City, for a night filled with music, dance and lots of fun.

YouTube is also bringing international and local mom creators to join the festivities of this year’s FanFest. The YouTube FanFest Moms Edition is happening on May 16 and May 17 at the Mall of Asia Musical Hall, and features exhibitions and workshops, as well as onstage interviews, performances and featured presentations.

FanFest is keeping its tradition of letting fans get up close and personal with their Internet favorites, and also experience the daily life of a YouTube star from creating to uploading YouTube videos in themed booths and studios during the festivities.

The Filipino YouTube community is getting bigger and more exciting. Today, the Philippines has over 750 channels that reached 100,000 subscribers, and more than 60 channels with 1 million-plus subscribers. That is a jump from just 300 channels

with 100,000 subscribers and 19 channels with 1 million-plus subscribers last year.

“We’re thrilled to bring YouTube FanFest back to the Philippines. What started with a simple tweet from the YouTube community in 2015 has turned into a movement. It’s amazing to see generations of local Filipino talent shine onstage alongside international creators. The energy, enthusiasm and excitement here is unbelievable, and it’s the reason why we love coming to the Philippines,” said Marc Lefkowitz, head of YouTube Creator and Artist Development, APAC. Tickets are available via SMTickets. YouTube creators will also be giving away their own tickets to the show and meet-and-greet sessions via their social-media channels. For more details, visit www. youtubefanfest.com/event/2019-ph.

by companies based outside mainland China like Samsung, HTC, and Oculus and the major VR content platforms are run by giants like Facebook and Google.

China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology aims to change that by encouraging banks to finance VR startups and directing local governments to invest in VR products for public projects such as schools and tourist sites.

The government has provided subsidies and purchases of VR software, mostly focused on education, training, and health-care software. Nanchang has a 1 billion RMB ($149 million) VR start-up investment fund, and is setting up another fund to attract established VR companies.

Entrepreneurs and experts believe VR will get a boost from next generation, or 5G, technologies where Chinese companies like Huawei Technologies are industry leaders. 5G promises blazing-fast connection speeds that could smooth lags and optimize multiplayer games and livestreaming so VR users might not end up with the headaches some get with today’s technology.

“VR e-sports, broadcasting concerts in VR format, remote surgery—all of this is only realistic in the 5G era,” said Chenyu Cui, a senior analyst at IHS Markit. “It’ll make VR better for a mass audience.”

Since the main commercial market for VR is entertainment, many of China’s VR content makers are game developers in Shenzhen or Beijing. They’re subject to booms and busts and recently, business has been flagging.

The state support is helping to protect Nanchang’s developers from the cycles of feast and famine, but for now the industry is in a lull, and Xiong, the VR entrepreneur, is focused on keeping his start-up afloat.

His dream is that one day, China’s bet on VR will turn his 13-person company into an industry giant.

“I look forward to the day we can go public,” Xiong said, “and become a role model for the whole province.”

■ The Associated Press writer Yanan Wang contributed to this report.

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

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WIPRO Consumer Care (WCC) signed a share purchase agreement to acquire Ang-Hortaleza Corp.’s entire stake in Splash Corp. Photo shows (from left) Splash CFO and Executive Vice-President Fernando Manotok, President and COO Vicci Tomas, Chairman and CEO Rolando Hortaleza, WCC Regional Director Nagender Arya, Wipro Senior Vice President Deepak Chandran and Wipro Indonesia CFO Neeraj Khatri.

Pinoy prosumers trust national politicians the least THE TECHNIVORE ED UY

whereiseduy@gmail.com

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O the brands that feature politicians on their gigantic billboards, you might want to rethink your strategy, especially if you are targeting not just consumers but “prosumers.”

National political officials and political parties are the least trusted groups of individuals, according to the “Pinoy Prosumer Report on The Future of Trust.”

The study was done by Havas Ortega Group, one of the leading communications agencies in the country which surveyed Pinoy prosumers who do they feel strongly connected to and trust.

In an age of almost-boundless information and nearly endless brand options, Filipinos are beginning to be more critical of the choices they make and the brands and entities they put their trust in.

This is the key revelation of a new study shared by Havas Ortega. The communications firm further emphasizes there are implications which organizations should address if they wish to remain relevant in this changed—and changing—landscape.

Family members remain as their most trusted with 80 percent of respondents saying they strongly feel connected to and trust their families, while about 6 in 10 said they can and do trust their friends (62.7 percent) and extended families (60.8 percent) Outside blood relations and intimate friendships, the level of strong connections start to decline with less than 40 percent feeling strongly connected to and trust their country and their immediate cliques. Surprisingly, despite being one of the countries that is so immersed in social media, only 1 in 4 feel strongly connected with and trust their social-media connections (25.5 percent).

Religion (19.6 percent) also does not necessarily provide a foundation of strong connection and trust for Filipino prosumers with less than 20 percent feeling strongly connected to and can trust members of their religious community.

And when it comes to persons of authority—prosumers most strongly feel connected to health-care providers (17.6 percent), ahead of religious leaders (11.8 percent), local government officials (9.8 percent), celebrities (7.8 percent), political parties (5.9 percent) and, last, national political officials (3.9 percent).

Who is the Pinoy prosumer?

The Pinoy prosumer is someone who explores and embraces innovation; constantly seeks out information and experiences; is highly influential in their larger-thanaverage but intimate social circles; has marketing savvy and demanding of brands; and an enthusiastic adopter, tester and disseminator of new content, new media, and new tech. Ninety-seven percent of Filipino prosumers

consider themselves as the first person they know to try the newest things.

The Pinoy Prosumer Report on The Future of Trust reveals that, while digital media and online social networks were earlier seen as crucial trust-building catalysts upon their inception, fake news, paid trolls, unethical and gameable algorithms, and bad e-commerce experiences are making Filipinos extra selective about what they see, hear, discover, and trust not just in the digital realm but also in real life.

This erosion of trust is evidenced by major findings among Filipino prosumers, an influential set of consumers the firm has been studying for over a decade. Eighty-six percent of prosumers feel trust is now a rare value and worry about the loss of reliable leaders; 65 percent worry that Filipinos no longer trust each other; 57 percent find it dishonest, inauthentic and annoying when people they follow on social media advertise products; and 53 percent believe brands trying to gain people’s trust are insincere and looking only to make profit.

In his presentation, Phil Tiongson, Havas Ortega’s head of data and analytics, noted that these trends in trust are in line with global prosumer attitudes and behavior—and these trends are a far cry from the optimism the digital world engendered a decade ago. “We used to believe that the digital medium would be a bridge to others and a bridge to reliable, timely and accurate information. Today, we no longer are sure and are questioning the trust that we give to these digital media channels. This trend is also effusing into the non-digital media world. We are beginning to see that Filipino prosumers in general are beginning to be less trusting of the world around them. This is a problem because trust is the glue that holds societies and communities together. Trust is also the medium that facilitates all interactions and relationships, personal and commercial. With this erosion in trust, we could be seeing a fundamental shift in the way we relate with one another not just digitally but also in real life,” he pointed out.

The study reports more and more Filipinos are taking it upon themselves to verify facts before forming their opinions or making decisions. Ninety-eight percent of Filipino prosumers regularly check online information for accuracy and 84 percent make it a habit to learn from different sources before taking a stand. In this emerging era of selectivity, organizations and brands are urged to connect through their vision, humanity and values. Filipino prosumers are more likely to trust a brand or company that is innovative and shares a clear view of the future (59 percent); shows a human face through employees as company ambassadors (61 percent); treats employees well (78 percent); and admits and rectifies mistakes when they happen (71 percent). Companies that are environmentally responsible and supports causes close to consumers’ hearts (67 percent) are more likely to earn consumers’ trust.

The latest prosumer report surveyed 9,447 respondents both men and women across different age groups in 27 countries in 2018. The Philippines has been included in the worldwide study since 2016, with 250 Filipino respondents last year.

SMART BOOSTS GIGA VIDEO OFFERS

WHILE most of the people I know went on vacations the past Holy Week break, I decided to just stay at home and enjoy some peace and quiet. I’ve learned my lesson not to join the majority, after a not so pleasant holiday experience that almost drained the entire Christmas spirit out of me.

Also I’ve been quite hooked on YouTube and those video streaming services recently, plus the fact that there’s also the NBA playoffs. Go, Giannis! Go, Bucks!

Now, I do have a Smart postpaid plan, but since I’ve been doing a lot of phone reviews recently, I decided to get a Smart prepaid SIM as well so I could have the best of both worlds, which was timely since Smart launched its beefed up new Giga Video+ 149 just before the Holy Week break.

For those who love watching videos on their mobile devices (especially during traffic!) Smart Giga Video+ 149 includes 2GB open access data and up to 1GB or one hour of video access to YouTube, iFlix, iWanTV, NBA League Pass and Cignal TV per day for seven days with unlimited texts and calls to Smart, TNT and Sun. For just P149 for seven days or just P21 a day, I was able to catch up on the WWE Raw and SmackDown shows on YouTube, find out why everyone has been talking about Glorious on iWanTV, and stay updated with the Bucks games all without having to worry about exceeding my data allocation.

More information is available at bit.ly/2GPu10U.

WIPRO MAKES A BIG SPLASH

SPLASH Corp., makers of some of the leading personal care brands in the Philippines such as Maxi-Peel, SkinWhite, Vitress, Flawlessly U, Hygienix, etc., has been acquired by Bangalore-based Wipro Consumer Care (WCC) for about P9 billion to P11 billion.

Ang-Hortaleza Corp. (AHC) and WCC signed a Share Purchase Agreement for the sale of 100 percent of AHC’s stake in the Personal Care Business of Splash Corp.

According to reports, talks for the deal started as early as 2013 but was finalized after the release of the Philippine Competition Commission’s approval on February 28.

“With Wipro’s broad presence in the international market and its financial muscle, I am confident that Splash brands will continue to grow and expand, and be a major player in the global arena. For this reason, I am fully supportive of the entry of Wipro in Splash,” Rolando Hortaleza, Splash chairman and CEO, said at a press briefing in Taguig City earlier in the week.

Splash is among the largest personal-care players in the Philippine market which recorded revenues of $80 million building iconic brands like SkinWhite, a popular scientific whitening lotion in the country; Flawlessly U, a fast-growing herbal beauty brand; Maxi-Peel, a leading brand in the exfoliants category; Vitress, a top brand in hair styling aids; and Hygienix, one of the fastest-growing germicidal brands today. These brands cover a wide spectrum of personal care categories and are in leading positions in their respective segments.

Wipro Consumer Care forms part of Wipro Group of Companies, a $8.4-billion company based in India and is a leading global information-technology, consulting and business-process services company. The WCC portfolio covers soaps, toiletries, personal-care products, wellness products, electrical wire devices, domestic and commercial lighting, and modular office furniture. Its footprint covers 60 countries, including the Middle East and North Africa region, as well as the United Kingdom. It has a presence in the Philippines through perfume brand Enchanteur, which it noted is a market leader Malaysia, Vietnam, China, and Hong Kong, among others.

The transaction strengthens Wipro’s portfolio in personal care and completes its South East Asian footprint. ■

VXI WINS BEST COMPANY OF THE YEAR AWARD

VXI Philippines won its first-ever Best Company of the Year award as well as Best Contact Center and BPO Company of the Year and Most Innovative Company of the Year at the 13th International ICT Awards, cementing its rightful place as one of today’s premier IT-BPO/BPM companies in the Philippines.

“I am very proud to be part of VXI. We respond to the challenges we face every year by recording consistent growth, making steady progress, and achieving new milestones. This award is recognition of the hard work of each and every member of our growing VXI family. It made it possible for us to achieve the successes we experience today,” said Jared Morrison, COO of VXI. It was as memorable as it was historic, with VXI recording a rare three-peat for Best Contact Center and BPO Company of the Year, winning the award in 2017, 2018 and 2019, and named Hall of Fame awardee.

“It is an honor to be recognized by the International ICT Awards. I commend our high-performing operations team for doing an excellent job. I hope this inspires us to continue raising the bar to lift VXI to a new level of excellence,” said Eppie Titong, vice president for operations.

Winning Most Innovative Company of the Year for the second straight year highlights VXI’s culture of technological innovation resulting in local and international recognition.

VXI continues to innovate not just to adapt but to be one step ahead, building intuitive technology that benefits VXI, the IT-BPO/BPM industry, and companies from other industries, as well.

“We have been purposefully investing in technology platforms since a few years ago with the goal of improving sales performance and customer experience for businesses across industries. I’m pleased our tools have won recognition at a global scale,” said David Zhou, cofounder and co-CEO of VXI. “These awards validate our collective efforts, and it shines a light on what is truly important: underneath the prestige and glamor that comes with receiving these awards, there lies the heart of VXI’s impressive and genuine success: authentic leadership, passion for people, and continuing the pursuit of goals that positively impact the careers, futures, and livelihood of VXI employees and the community,” said Jovy Llanes, vice president for human resources.

VXI was also awarded two gold and two silver trophies at the 13th Annual Stevie Awards for Sales and Customer Service held in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Stevie Awards is the world’s premier business awards.

Winning at the International ICT Awards and Stevie Awards is an excellent start to 2019 which promises to be a remarkable year of growth and bigger milestones for VXI. This year, the company will inaugurate two new sites and expects to reach the 20,000 mark for employee headcount.

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

ATTY. ANA C. DIONE, CPA REGIONAL DIRECTOR

A18 Saturday, May 4, 2019

TRAVEL TIPS TO HELP YOU STAY HEALTHY THIS SUMMER

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UMMER in the country also signifies family bonding—this is the season when family and friends plan their getaway and, along with your travel checklist, a to-do list for your health should not be missed.

With the heat index rises to an uncomfortable level, knowing what to bring and how to relieve yourself from its effect can have an impact in your general well-being. The following items should be present in your bag at all times.

Sunblock. Having this anywhere is a must. UV rays are present everywhere, even at off-peak of the sun. Rid yourself from sunburn by regularly applying sunblock lotion.

Drinking water. Always have a bottle ready and quench up regularly. Water can help bring down body temperature and hinder you from heat stroke or heat exhaustion.

Vitamin C. Never neglect to bring Vitamin C whenever you travel. Heat level varies from place to place, and the frequent change of weather can spell disaster as it triggers weakening of your immune system. Supplementing on Vitamin C during these times can be very helpful.

In as much as supporting your immune system, Vitamin C plays an important role in generating energy in the body. It is part of a complex mechanism in the body that helps supply nutrients to our cells for energy production, thereby, allowing our body to function optimally at all times.

Heat exhaustion, or heat stress, is also a common condition during the season. Both adult and children are prone to have this problem one way or the other. Heat rash may not be far behind as skin irritations from the weather and physiological

FOOD, FAITH AND FUN AT PAMPANGA CARAVAN

D aspect in our body reacts to heat. Regular intake of Vitamin C also reduces the interval of time for your body to adjust to hotter environment. Research also shows that vitamin C helps the body physiologically respond to heat stress.

Aside from these factors, Vitamin C is also found to reduce histamine effects. Vitamin C can help curb allergic reactions to the environment, as well as mosquito bites leaving stings, and causing itchiness and irritations.

In taking Vitamin C supplements, make sure you are using its safest form. Bewell-C Sodium Ascorbate, a nonacidic Vitamin C, is safe to be taken in large doses to get its full potential. Bewell-C Sodium Ascorbate also comes in handy individual pack.

Bewell-C Sodium Ascorbate is available in Mercury Drug and other leading drugstores nationwide. For more health guide and updates, visit https://www.facebook.com/ bewellcsodiumascorbate .

MANAGING DIABETES THE NATURAL WAY

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IABETES is a disease which makes the body unable to control blood sugar levels. The high blood sugars of diabetes can be deadly in many ways. People whose blood sugars get too high can suffer from a diabetic coma. A serious chronic disease, two out of three people with diabetes will die from cardiovascular-related episodes, such as a heart attack or stroke.

According to the most recent World Health Organization (WHO) study, one out of every five Filipinos has diabetes. By 2030 the United Nations agency predicts that the Philippines will be among the top 10 countries with the most people with the said chronic disease. This translates to over seven million Filipinos.

The good news is, diabetes can be controlled with proper medications and lifestyle changes by having regular exercise, controlling carb intake, increasing fiber intake, drinking lots of water and staying hydrated, implementing portion control and choosing foods with a low glycemic index, controlling stress levels, monitoring blood sugar levels, among others.

And now here comes an affordable, all-natural way to deal with diabetes through Bioherb, a four-in-one natural treatment with known hypoglycemic effect against high blood sugar.

First introduced by Dr. Jaime Z. Galvez-Tan, a former health secretary, Bioherb is manufactured by La Croesus Pharma Inc. and distributed by the top-quality nutraceutical company Nutra Berde Inc. This amazing food supplement is packed with the leaf extracts of four plants known to be the most effective in lowering sugar levels—ampalaya, banaba, kamote and duhat.

ISCOVER the country’s exciting destinations from a motorist’s point of view as AAP Travel, the motor-tourism arm of the Automobile Association Philippines (AAP), unveils its caravan series for 2019.

Road adventures begin on May 25 with the Pampanga Caravan, which will ride around heritage sites, museums, farms and culinary spots of the province.

Guests will have to drive their own vehicle in a convoy, from Petron Lakeshore along the North Luzon Expressway and go around the restored World War 2-era San Fernando Railway Station, San Guillermo Parish Church in Bacolor, the magnificent Saint James the Apostle Parish (Betis) Church in Guagua, and the Center for Kapampangan Studies and Pamintuan Mansion Museum of the Philippine Social History in Angeles City.

Pa r t i c i p a nt s w i l l f e a s t o n mouthwatering all-time favorites in the country’s “Culinary Capital”, such as sisig, palabok, halo-halo, kamaru at Prado Farms in Guagua and Kusina Matua ni Atching Lillian Borromeo in Mexico.

For a touch of souvenir shopping, caravaners can visit world-class crafts at

Hansa Creations in Clark and JB Woodcrafts in Guagua. Guests who want more fun have the option to stay overnight at Quest Hotel Clark, or swing by Green Canyon Leisure Farms or Puning Hot Spring.

A brainchild of AAP Travel president and former Tourism Secretary Mina Gabor, the caravans are line with the Department of Tourism’s drive tourism program to encourage land travel and spread economic balance in the countryside.

She said that AAP Travel takes pride in its organized itineraries, which are coordinated with local authorities and community stakeholders to ensure road safety, orderly traffic, secure parking, and quality board and lodging, especially for big and professional groups.

She noted that the caravans are often hosted by governors, mayors and DOT regional offices, and escorted by the police, to give them a taste of local hospitality and culture.

Participants will receive Petron Value Card with P1,000 worth of credits, and

get the chance to win surprise gifts during raffles.

The AAP Travel has driven around touristic provinces, such as Ifugao, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Bulacan, Rizal, Cavite, Oriental Mindoro, Negros Occidental, Bulacan, Laguna, Quezon, Bohol, Batanes, Iloilo and Guimaras.

For details, visit www.aaptravel.com.ph.

PRIMARK OPENS 36TH CENTER IN TACLOBAN According to Dr. Tan, each of these green plant ingredients contain compounds that are beneficial to those with or predisposed to diabetes. He said he has been using this formulation for 45 years, even if he has been a medical doctor all these years. Filipino company Nutra Berde Inc. sees to it that every Bioherb tablet contains the right dosage of these nutrients to make it safer and more effective.

“We want to provide Filipinos an all-natural way to manage diabetes. It is a disease that is a growing cause of morbidity in the country,” said Mark Lopez, president of Nutra Berde Inc. Bioherb can be taken once day or as recommended by your doctor with or after each meal. Immediate positive effects of Bioherb include: Lowering blood sugar in a manageable level, and level of cholesterol and triglyceride, at the same time, elevating HDL (good cholesterol); enhancing insulin secretion and peripheral glucose utilization; reducing glycogenesis in liver tissues; inhibiting absorption of carbohydrates from the intestines; helping lower blood pressure in part due to diuretic effect of Banaba.

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HILIPPINE Primark Properties Inc. (Primark), the country’s leading developer of community malls, recently soft-opened its 36th branch in Caibaan, Tacloban City, as part of its expansion in the countryside.

With a floor area of 6,244 square meters, the Caibaan town center carries SM supermarket SaveMore as anchor tenant, with popular brands such as McDonald’s, Dunkin Donuts, Generika, Watson’s Pharmacy, Shawarma Shack, and Cebuana Lhuillier, as well as homegrown enterprises, like Danny’s Delicacies, Siomai Chino, Cellcom, Fon Plus, Quality Breadshop, El Torogi, Kid’s Paradise, Cellcom Telecom, Leyte Paperworld, Chingo Buko House, Bochok Rice Meal, R8 Agripet Center, May Abohan, to name a few.

A par t of t he LK Y Group of Companies, Primark currently operates in more than 40 key cities and urban centers across the archipelago, with notable economic growth manifested in high consumer-consumption patterns.

The town centers offer shopping

convenience with the consumer’s needs of the communities it caters through well-designed facilities, and provide venues for local entrepreneurs to grow their businesses.

In photo at the opening are (from left) Primark special projects officer Ace Lopez, south area regional manager Rym

Altavas,administrativeofficer GraceCreer, LKY Group Chief Operating Officer Ben Lua, LKY Group President Wilbert T. Lee, electrical engineers Ricardo Gutierrez and Rico Orticio, and senior project in charge Rodelio Dizon.

For more information and leasing opportunities, visit primark.com.ph.

HOTEL SOGO GIVES FREE BOTTLED WATER THIS LENTEN SEASON

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N obser v a nce of t h i s yea r ’s L enten sea son , Hote l Sogo g ave aw ay t hou s a nd s of bot t led w aters for f ree to pa r i sh ioners a nd t rave l lers on A pr i l 18 ( M au ndy T hu rsd ay), a s pa r t of it s Kw a resm a c a mpa ig n.

Si x Hote l Sogo bra nc hes n at ionw ide, i nc lud i ng C a i nt a , Nov a l ic hes, Aven id a , H a r r i son Pa s ay, Ta rl ac a nd Cebu , h a s set up t he i r res pec t ive boot h s to d i st r ibute ready- to - d r i n k

bot t led w aters to t he people who prac t iced V i sit a Ig lesi a .

T hese si mu lt a neou s ac t iv it ies a ided people’s t h i rst wh i le doi ng t he i r Holy Wee k ac t iv it ies, es pec i a l ly t h i s hot su m mer sea son.

Some of t he ef for ts a re coord inated w it h nea rby m ajor c hu rc hes a nd loc a l ba ra ngay u n its. Hotel Sogo Nova l ic hes bra nc h set up t heir boot h nea r Shr ine of Ou r L ady of Div ine

Merc y, wh i le Ha r r ison Pa say bra nc h posit ioned nea r Bac l a ra n C hu rc h, Ta rl ac bra nc h in Sa n Seba st i a n C at hed ra l in Ta rl ac, a nd Cebu bra nc h nea r Ba si l ic a Minore del Sa nto Niño de Cebu.

O n t he ot her h a nd , Hote l Sogo C a i nt a bra nc h st at ioned nea r t he O u r L ady of A nt ipolo S h r i ne to g ive f ree bot t led w aters to t he i n f lu x of A l ay L a k ad de votees. T he Aven id a bra nc h , wh ic h i s nea r i n M i nor B a si l ic a of t he Bl ac k Na z a rene, mou nted it s boot h i n f ront of t he i r hote l bu i ld i ng.

Moreover, t h i s i s a pa r t of t he i r cor porate soc i a l res pon sibi l it y, (C SR) u nder it s Sogo C a res prog ra m , g iv i ng bac k to t he com mu n it y b y conduc t i ng d i f ferent com mu n it y ser v ices, re l ief operat ion s, don at ion s a nd med ic a l m i ssion s.

Hote l Sogo i s t he f a stest g row i ng hos pit a l it y a nd lod g i ng prov ider i n t he Ph i l ippi nes w it h 39 (a nd cou nt i ng ) bra nc hes ac ross t he a rc h ipe l a go t h at prov ides top - notc h hote l ser v ices a nd f ac i l it ies at ver y a f ford able rate.

For more of Hote l Sogo’s e vent s a nd promot ion s, v i sit w w w.hotels ogo.com.