BusinessMirror May 15, 2019 by BusinessMirror

ADMINISTRATION-DOMINATED SENATE SEEN TO CUT RISK OF EXTENDED BUDGET DELAYS By Bianca Cuaresma @BcuaresmaBM

& Bernadette D. Nicolas @BNicolasBM

A COMMAND CENTER Comelec Chairman Sheriff Abas (seated) reviews some documents while Commissioners Al Parreño, Rowena Guanzon and Marlon Casquejo chat following a press conference called by the Comelec en banc at its PICC Command Center in Pasay City on Tuesday to explain the technical glitches that marred the May 13 midterm elections. Abas said the poll body may run after suppliers who sold it defective markers and SD cards. See election-related stories on pages A2, A3, A8 and

A9. ROY DOMINGO

DEPT. OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

PHILIPPINE STATISTICS AUTHORITY

2018 BANTOG DATA MEDIA AWARDS CHAMPION

N administration-dominated senatorial slate may provide some relief to the local economy, some economists say, as further budget delays may be prevented and as the economic legislative agenda may easily make it through the congressional mill. This is exactly what the Palace also hopes for, according to Presidential Spokesman and Chief Presidential

Legal Counsel Salvador S. Panelo. Security Bank chief economist Robert Dan Roces, in his views on the partial and unofficial results of the midterm elections, said future budget proposals are likely to be approved within the time frame with a Senate full of administration bets. Partial, unoffical results from the Commission on Elections (Comelec) a day after Filipinos voted show an administration-dominated Senate with most of the 12 senatorial seats likely going to from the administrative political party, Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-

See “Budget,” A2

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A broader look at today’s business n

Wednesday, May 15, 2019 Vol. 14 No. 217

US-China trade row’s impact on PHL weighed

By Cai U. Ordinario

@caiordinario

S trade tensions between the United States and China intensify, local economists believe the Philippines may not emerge unscathed from the trade tiff without any policy reforms. The United States resolved to increase from 10-percent to 25percent tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods. Beijing retaliated with an announcement it will raise 25-percent tariffs on $60 billion worth of American products.

As both countries are major trade partners of the Philippines, Ateneo EagleWatch Senior Fellow Leonardo A. Lanzona Jr. warned this could negatively affect the country’s trade prospects moving forward. “Since the US and China are our

major trade partners, this will negatively affect our trade,” Lanzona told the BusinessMirror. “To counteract these forces, we need to diversify our export products and also our destinations.” Lanzona said this will first negatively affect the manufacturing

“Since the US and China are our major trade partners, this will negatively affect our trade. To counteract these forces, we need to diversify our export products and also our destinations.”—Lanzona

sector growth, which has already “recorded lower growth this first quarter of the year.” The country’s Volume of Product has been posting contractions since December 2018 at 8.9 percent after posting growth of as high as 21 percent in April 2018. In 2019, the VoPI continued to contract to 9.2 percent in March from contractions of 8.1 percent in February and 2.5 percent in January. See “Trade row’s,” A2

PRRD going to Japan in late May

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FOREIGN BANKS IN PHL POST DOUBLE-DIGIT INCOME GROWTH

OREIGN banks operating in the Philippines are faring well in the local banking scene, as the subsector registered double-digit income growth for 2018, latest data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed. The net profit of foreign banks grew 26.9 percent to reach P12.3 billion last year from their net income of P9 billion in 2017. This, as foreign banks generated a total operating income of P63.2 billion on account of the net interest income from loans receivables of P43 billion. The cost-to-income ratio of the foreign banks group improved to 64.0 percent, from 66.1 percent in 2017. “ The foreign banks and subsidiaries fared better in 2018 despite the presence of global headwinds and volatilities in the domestic financial market. Aggregate resources expanded, mainly backed up

by new deposits generated and fresh funds injected by existing and new foreign players,” the BSP said. The total resources of foreign banks also expanded by double digits during the year—at 11.2 percent to hit P1.2 trillion as of end-December 2018. The BSP traced the doubledigit expansion to the 61.2-percent increase in the investment portfolio of the foreign banks in the country. Deposit liabilities remained the principal source of funding by foreign banks, accounting for 59 percent of total resources as of end-December 2018. “Banking risks were manageable as shown by asset and loan quality indicators,” the BSP also noted. Foreign banks’ buffer against credit losses in the form of the nonperforming loans coverage ratio was above 100 percent at 179.8 percent during the year. Continued on A8

Market conditions tracked for Panda bond issuance By Rea Cu

RESIDENT Duterte is set to visit Japan in the last week of May, his third trip to the Philippines’s top source of official development assistance. Malacañang confirmed in a press briefing on Tuesday that the President’s visit is upon the invitation of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. “He will surely go there [Japan]. I already texted Chief Protocol Robert Borje, he hasn’t replied yet, though, [on] what is the exact date,” said Presidential Spokesman and Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador S. Panelo in a briefing. “What I know is the invitation was personally carried here by the representatives of the Prime Minister,” he told reporters in a separate interview. See “PRRD,” A2

Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban), and to candidates personally endorsed either by President Duterte or his daughter Sara Duterte-Carpio, with her Hugpong ng Pagbabago. None of the senatorial bets from the opposition’s Otso Diretso slate was in the top 12 as of Tuesday afternoon’s canvassing. “With a Senate likely to be composed of administration bets, future budget proposals may most likely be passed within the timeframe and the tax-reform program will likely be revived,” Roces said.

A WORKER at the imported beef section of a supermarket that used to carry US products chats with another in Beijing on Tuesday, May 14, 2019. China announced higher tariffs Monday on $60 billion worth of American goods in retaliation for President Donald Trump’s latest penalties on Chinese products. AP PHOTO/NG HAN GUAN

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 52.1740

@ReaCuBM

HE Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) is eyeing to trigger its Panda bond issuance this week, if market conditions are seen to be favorable to the republic. According to Deputy Treasurer Erwin D. Sta. Ana, the BTr might trigger the Panda bond issuance this week, marking the second foray of the Philippines in the renminbi (RMB) market under the Duterte administration. “Well, we are still watching the markets now, but as the Treasurer has mentioned we may go ahead this week if there’s an opportunity. But we are still looking at the markets at this time. There’s really no pressure for us to launch but rather we are looking for that sweet spot,” Sta. Ana said. The BTr is looking at a RMB 2.5

billion issuance larger than the previous RMB 1.46 billion, with no final tenor yet determined, according to Sta. Ana. “So as we have said in the past, this Panda bond issuance could have been done earlier on, but of course there are things that are beyond our control such as the Nafmii [National Association of Financial Market Institutional Investors] and PBOC [People’s Bank of China] approvals before. So now, it’s really up to market conditions if we are going to [trigger] since we have secured all approvals, so far nothing’s preventing us from launching if that time comes,” he added. The market conditions being looked at right now have to do with developments in the trade row between China and the United States, among others. See “Panda bond,” A2

n JAPAN 0.4773 n UK 67.6175 n HK 6.6471 n CHINA 7.5835 n SINGAPORE 38.0860 n AUSTRALIA 36.2244 n EU 58.5653 n SAUDI ARABIA 13.9131

Source: BSP (14 May 2019 )

News

BusinessMirror

A2 Wednesday, May 15, 2019

Defective SD cards, markers that smudge ballots probed ₧29M

By Samuel P. Medenilla

HE Commission on Elections (Comelec) said on Wednesday that it may go after suppliers of the defective markers and Secure Digital (SD) cards used in Monday’s midterm polls, and which were blamed for much of the problems at the voting precincts.

In a press conference, Comelec Chairman Sheriff M. Abas said they are now investigating the possible liability of the Triplex Enterprises Inc. and JV of S1 Technologies Inc. for supplying them substandard marker pens and SD cards, respectively. “Definitely, our law department is now reviewing the possible penalty just in case it will be proven they violated [their contract obligation],” Abas said. Triplex had bagged the contract to provide Comelec with over 1,168,200 pieces of marker pens and 2,610 pieces of ballot paper for P153,821,494.80 As for S1, it won the contract to provide Comelec with SD cards worth P29 million.

Trade row’s. . . Continued from A1

Lanzona said the country needs to upgrade its skills and encourage the use of new technologies to produce nontraditional exports. It would also be useful for the country to pursue new trade agreements, particularly Europe, he added. “The goal is simply to know the needs of our other trade partners and develop production activities that can be incorporated in international value chains. This can be achieved by improving our governance and regulatory systems to develop capital inflows and increase labor demand,” Lanzona said. Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) Senior Research Fellow Roehlano M. Briones said higher tariffs on China will favor the Philippines only if the country’s exports to the US will be able to compete with China’s exports. However, Briones said there are only a few of these products.

With or without trade row ACTION for Economic Reform (AER)

Comelec. . . Continued from A8

t ra nspa renc y ser ver stopped sending unof f icia l resu lts to PPCRV, poll watchdogs The transparency server was supposed to mirror the transmission of election returns to Comelec’s main server at the headquarters of the National Board of Canvassers at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC). The flow of data in the transparency server’s transmission fluctuated as compared to that of the consistent transmission of Comelec’s main server. Comelec immediately investigated the cause of the glitches and found it did not have any impact on the credibility of the transmitted results. Casquejo attributed the glitches of the transparency server’s data “bottlenecks” and “program error” within its system, which could simply addressed by restarting the server. “That is why [we] are willing to give the public access to the system even without them making any request to ensure there were no irregularities in our system,” Casquejo said.

THE head of the Comelec steering committee for the 2019 polls said they were limited to using the cheapest SD cards due to procurement rules. While they have an approved

P80-million budget for the contract for the procurement of SD cards, the lowest-bid rule in the procurement law forced them to buy the cheapest available SD cards. “We suspect this is one of the reasons the SD cards [are] of low quality,” Casquejo said. Abas explained they did not face such procurement problem in the 2016 polls when their bidding process was “bundled” or came from a single supplier. “That means our supplier for the machines, marking pens, paper and SD cards at that time was Smartmatic,” Abas said. For the 2019 polls, the Comelec chief said their supplies were “unbundled ” since they exercised their option to purchase the VCM they used to lease from Smartmatic. The problem with the subsequent arrangement, Abas explained, was that some of their supplies were not compatible with one another. Abas said they plan to avoid a similar scenario in the 2022 presidential polls. “That is why our decision point is to bundle [our supplies] in 2022 so our SD cards, paper, marking pens and machines will be synchronized,” Abas said.

dersecretary for Planning and Policy Rosemarie G. Edillon told the BusinessMirror that the government is closely monitoring the developments on the trade tensions. Edillon said the impact on the Philippine economy will be from the slowdown in China’s economy. However, she said China remained confident that its economy can withstand these pressures. “The impact on us will come by way of an economic slowdown in China. Remember that we enjoy a good relationship with both US and China. China maintains that it can withstand this shock. It all depends on how quickly it can develop trade partnerships with other countries,” Edillon said. Last week, the Asean+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (Amro) said if the United States and China fail to resolve the trade tensions between them, the Philippine economy stands to lose 0.10 percentage points in real GDP growth this year and next year. In its Asean+3 Regional Economic Outlook (Areo) 2019 report, Amro said this failure in resolving the trade tensions will lead the US to impose a

25- percent tariff on all its imports from China and vice versa. The US stands to lose 0.3 percentage points while China stands to lose as much as 0.6 percentage points from its real GDP growth. However, countries like the Philippines will not be spared from the adverse effects on the economy. Based on data from the PSA, the US and China are among the country’s top trade partners. In the January-toMarch period, the US emerged as the country’s top export destination while China was the top import source. The US cornered 16.1 percent or $2.64 billion of total exports, while China accounted for 21.3 percent or $5.58 billion of total imports during the period. Over the long term, Amro said the trade tensions could increase exports, particularly in the electronics and machinery as well as apparel sector in other countries in the region. Countries like Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand will benefit from a production shift in electronics and machinery while Vietnam and Cambodia will see a pick up in apparel exports.

@sam_medenilla

During the Overseas Absentee Voting for the 2019 polls, the markers provided by Triplex turned out to be not the “quick dry” type, and ended up smudging the ballots. In certain cases, such smudges could cause a ballot to be rejected by the voting machine. Under the technical requirements of the Triplex contract, the supplier gave a guarantee that the ink of the marking pens “does not blot the paper.” In the case of the S1-sourced SD Cards, Comelec said about 1,665 of such units were “corrupted” while these were being used in the votecounting machines (VCM) for the 2019 polls. “Out of the 85,769 SD cards we used, 1,665 or 1.9 percent were deCoordinator Filomeno S. Sta. Ana III told the BusinessMirror reforms should be given priority, and not only because of the trade tension between China and the US. The country has been recording lackluster export performance. In the January-to-March period, based on Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) data, exports contracted 3.1 percent to $16.38 billion. Sta. Ana said the country is still producing low value-added exports, which is making it less competitive in the international market. He said there has to be an “overhaul of fiscal incentives” and efforts to pursue a new industrial policy that gives premium to finished products. “The trade war between China and the US can even be an opportunity for us to steal markets and investments, but we have to act soonest in pursuing the necessary reforms, underpinned by industrial policy, competitive exchange rate, fiscal incentive rationalization, dismantling of sugar monopoly, agricultural modernization,” Sta. Ana said. Meanwhile, National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) Un-

Audit accessibility

TO further boost public trust on the outcome of the 2019 polls, Comelec announced it will also make its Random Manual Audit (RMA) fully accessible to the public. In an SMS, Commissioner Luie Guia told the BusinessMirror that the process will be open even to nonmembers of its RMA committee, which will start its operations on May 15 at the Diamond Hotel. “We just need to know before and for an orderly process,” the head of the Comelec RMA committee said. On Tuesday, the RMA committee finally completed the random selection of the 715 clustered precincts which will undergo audit. Legal Network for Truthful Elections (Lente) Executive Director Rona Caritos explained the RMA only aims to compare the physical ballot count and compare it with the transmitted election returns. Both Guia and Caritos clarified the RMA will be open to all interested parties, even to the National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel). Lente replaced Namfrel as the lead partner convener of Comelec for the RMA after the latter declined its accreditation from Comelec. With Butch Fernandez

The worth of the contract won by Comelec’s supplier of SD cards. While it had an P80-million budget, the lowest-bidder-wins rule forced Comelec to pick the supplier who offered cheap, albeit defective, items

fective,” Abas said. He said this was higher—nearly 12 times more—compared to the 120 corrupted SD cards they registered in the 2016 automated elections. Comelec earlier traced to defective SD cards the machine errors in at least 961 VCM. This was slightly higher than the 801 defective VCM they registered in the 2016 elections. Comelec officials suspect that they were supplied with a “low quality of SD cards,” according to Comelec Commissioner Marlon S. Casquejo.

Budget rules restrictions

Panda bond. . . Continued from A1

“Obviously, we are in the middle of, you know, retaliatory action between the US and China, so we will closely monitor what’s happening as it affects the Chinese interbank market. We’ll see how the benchmark moves in the next couple of hours or days, so we will see,” he said. In April 2019, National Treasurer Rosalia V. de Leon told reporters that the BTr is looking at tenors for the Panda issuance of three or five years. The government earlier reported that it was going to trigger its Panda bond issuance in April, but this was pushed back as the BTr waited for approvals from Chinese regulators. The country’s first Panda bond issuance happened in March 2018, with the awarded security amounting to RMB 1.46 billion with a three-year maturity. The bonds fetched a spread of only 35 basis points over the benchmark. The Philippines set a record in the Panda bond market, as almost 90 percent was cornered by offshore or overseas buyers, with overwhelming demand pushing the coupon rate to its lowest at 5

percent, according to the Department of Finance (DOF). The Philippines’ offering was 6.3 times covered with RMB 9.2 billion orders. Asked if the recent euro bond issuance of €750 million affects the timing of the Panda bond issue, Sta. Ana replied in the negative. “We don’t see any adverse effect on the later issuance, which is this Panda bond, because it’s a totally different market and different set of investors,” he explained. Meanwhile, in line with the other possible offshore securities, the BTr said that it is already working on completing documentation requirements for the samurai bond issuance being eyed during the third quarter of this year, while a global bond issuance is also an option this year. In terms of retail Treasury bonds the issuance of another RTB will have to depend on the spending performance of the government, with no concrete plans yet from the Treasury. “That we have to watch carefully, where we are in terms of the cash buffer that we have.... We are still monitoring the releases of DBM [Department of Budget and Management] and how the agencies will catch up; we haven’t seen any developments on that,” he said.

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IC lists top nonlife insurers in 2018, with Malayan ranking 1st By Rea Cu

@ReaCuBM

HE top nonlife insurer for 2018 in terms of gross premiums written is Malayan Insurance Co. Inc. (Malayan Insurance) with P10.16 billion, the Insurance Commission (IC) has reported. In a statement on Tuesday, the IC listed the top 5 nonlife insurance companies in terms of gross premiums written for the year: Malayan Insurance, Prudential Guarantee & Assurance Inc., Pioneer Insurance & Surety Corp., BPI/ MS Insurance Corp., as well as Charter Ping An Insurance Corp. Insurance Commissioner Dennis B. Funa clarified that these rankings are based on the submitted unaudited quarterly statistics as of the quarter ending December 31, 2018, by the nonlife insurance companies. Malayan Insurance, a member of the Yuchengco group of companies, retained its market leadership with a reported P10.16-billion gross premiums written for the year 2018, from P9.598 billion in 2017. Prudential Guarantee & Assurance Inc. registered gross premiums for the year of P9.64 billion from P8.889 billion in 2017. Pioneer Insurance & Surety Corp. kept the third rank with P9.29 billion from the P8.024 billion in 2017. BPI/MS Insurance Corp. had P5.82 billion in gross premiums written, from P5.943 billion the previous year, and Charter Ping An Insurance Corp. reported P5.67 billion from the P5.673 billion in 2017. The IC pointed out that gross

Budget. . .

Continued from A1

Faster implementation

ING Bank Manila Nicholas Antonio Mapa also echoed the view, saying the results will lead to faster budget implementation in the future. “The election returns point to what most of us had expected, a strong showing for administration candidates. This will help further Duterte’s legislative reform agenda with more bodies to drive TRAIN packages and hopefully lead to faster implementation and passage of budgets in the future to avoid the 1Q snafu,” Mapa said. In the first quarter of the year, local economic growth was stifled by the budget delays, as the two chambers of Congress failed to agree on certain budget provisions in the 2019 appropriations act. As such, growth for the first quarter of the year suffered, hitting 5.6 percent. This is the lowest growth for the country in four years. “On the other hand, the Senate is just one-half of a coequal Congress, and it will be interesting to see the leanings of the incoming House of Representatives as well. Keep in mind that the recent budget delay was initiated by both chambers, and we’ve seen the effect on the recent GDP [gross domestic product] readings,” Roces said.

PRRD. . .

Continued from A1

While Panelo said he still doesn’t know the agenda of the President’s visit, he said he expects this visit to boost the country’s trade relations with Japan. He is also hoping new agreements will also be signed between two countries. A report by Japanese media outfit Nikkei said Duterte will speak at the annual Future of Asia conference that Nikkei will host in Tokyo for two days through May 31. Japan and the Philippines are also reportedly trying to schedule a summit with Abe. Japan has been one of the crucial partners of the Philippines in terms of economic development. The Japanese government has been the top source of ODA loans to the country aside from being the country’s second-biggest trading partner and fourth-largest tourism market. During a Philippine Economic Briefing in Osaka in February, Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III underscored Japan’s key role

premiums written is the sum of the premiums from direct business and assumed premiums before the effect of ceded reinsurance. In terms of assets, Malayan Insurance took the top spot for the year 2018 with recorded total assets of P34.28 billion. Also included in the top 5 in terms of assets are: Pioneer Insurance & Surety Corp. with P31 billion; Prudential Guarantee and Assurance Inc. with P14.41 billion; BPI/MS Insurance Corp. with P12.80 billion; and Charter Ping An at P11.40 billion. Pioneer Insurance & Surety Corp. retained its market leadership in terms of net worth for 2018, as it reported a net worth of P15.39 billion. Malayan Insurance took the second spot with P4.24 billion, followed by BPI/ MS Insurance Corp. with a reported net worth of P2.75 billion, Standard Insurance Co. Inc. with P2.74 billion and Philippines First Insurance Co., Inc. with P2.45 billion. In terms of net income, BPI/MS Insurance Corp. recorded the highest with P453.83 million for the year, followed by CARD Pioneer Microinsurance Inc., the first microinsurance company in the Philippines, with P395.15 million. As for the net premiums written, Prudential Guarantee & Assurance Inc. emerged as the No. 1 nonlife-insurance company for the year 2018 with a recorded premium income of P5.18 billion. It is followed by Charter Ping An with a net premium written of P3.90 billion. Malayan Insurance took the third spot with P3.77 billion, Pioneer Insurance & Surety Corp. with P3.09 billion, and BPI/MS Insurance Corp. with P3.04 billion.

“The ideal is of course for Congress to be able to keep its check-and-balance function between the House of Representatives and the Senate, without being detrimental to economic growth,” he added. The Security Bank economist also said that with the recent credit rating upgrade, new and sitting officials in both chambers of the Legislative house will consider expediting passage of those bills that will boost the country’s chance for an “A” rating upgrade. “If deemed not political- capitaldraining to the legislative sponsor, expect a revival of the tax reform program; and as long as the original spirit of the measure—that is, to generate P120 billion in additional revenues to fund key infrastructure projects - remains, we see the measure being priorizited by the incoming 18th Congress,” he added. Now that administration-backed bets have dominated the senatorial elections, Malacañang is also hoping that the budget stalemate would not happen again this year. Panelo made the statement on Tuesday as he was asked if the Palace expects reforms to be passed faster with more administration allies in the Senate. “Probably, hopefully there would be no stalemate in the budget. Remember that is where they had a ruckus,” Panelo said. in jump-starting the Duterte administration’s “Build, Build, Build” program. The Metro Manila Subway, the Philippines’s first ever underground rail system, is being funded in large part by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica).

Mission: PHL recognizes Jica

JICA was recently feted by several government agencies that gave out category awards during the culminating event of Mission: PHL, the B usiness M irror Envoys&Expats Award. Jica got four such awards for its support for the Philippines’s transportation infrastructure (from DOTr); trade and investments (from DTI); science, technology and innovation (from DOST); and infrastructure (from DPWH). The agency was also recognized as the Development Aid Partner of the Year. Japan announced on February 21 that it is extending a ¥3.2-billion grant assistance for peace and development projects in Mindanao on top of its $202-million loan for the road network development project in conflict-affected areas in the country’s second-largest island group. Bernadette D. Nicolas

The Nation BusinessMirror

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Both new and old names, faces dominate Metro Manila polls By Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz @joveemarie

OME winners in the May 2019 midterm elections may prove to be game changers in the local political landscape, but old names and faces are also expected to be the elected leaders of Metro Manila next month. After proclamation, the newly elected and reelectionist officials of the 16 cities and one municipality of National Capital Region will begin their terms on June 30, 2019.

Reelectionists

BASED on partial and unofficial results from the Commission on Elections Transparency Server, reelectionist Caloocan Mayor Oscar Malapitan won with 423,072 votes, while Maca Asistio as vice mayor with 369,790 votes (based on the 98.45 percent of the ERs). In Las Piñas, reelectionist Mayor Imelda Aguilar still won with 170,972 votes. She defeated three other candidates with a large margin of votes. April Aguilar also won as vice mayor with 161,789 votes (based on the 100 percent of the ERs). In Malabon City, Mayor LenLen Oreta remains in his post with 99,425 votes, while Ninong de la Cruz won as vice mayor with 82,075 votes (based on the 98.87 percent of the ERs). In Mandaluyong, Menchie Abalos retains her mayoralty position with 128,661 votes, while Anthony Suva won as vice mayor with 111,922 votes (based on the 100 percent of the ERs). In Marikina, Marcy Teodoro keeps his post with 157,576 votes, while Doc Marion Andres won as vice mayor with 103,886 votes (based on 98.57 percent of the ERs). In Muntinlupa, Jaime Fresnedi also retained his post with 164,144 votes, while Temy Simundac won as vice mayor with 116,825 votes (based on the 100 percent of the ERs). In Parañaque City, Mayor Edwin Olivarez also gets to keep his post with 169,224 votes, while Rico Golez won as vice mayor with 141,433 votes (based on the 99.46 percent of the ERs). In Va lenzuel a, Mayor Re x Gatchalian retains his position with 248,911 votes, while Lorie Natividad-Borja secured the city’s second-highest position w ith 255,559 votes (based on the 99.77 percent of the ERs).

Game changer

IN Makati City, Abigail Binay gets to keep her post with 179,522 votes as mayor. She defeated her brother JunJun Binay who got 98,653 votes. The incumbent vice mayor, Monique Lagdameo also won with 182,655 votes (based on the 100 percent of the ERs). However, former Vice President Jejomar Binay, with 65,229 votes, lost his congressional bid against Kid Peña in the first district of Makati. Peña secured his post with 71,035 votes. In 2016, Peña ran as mayor but lost to Abigail Binay. In Manila City, with 354,023 votes Francisco Domagoso, or Isko Moreno, defeated incumbent mayor Joseph Ejercito Estrada who got

208,367 votes. Moreno’s vice mayor, Honey Lacuna also won with 388,815 votes (based on the 99 percent of the ERs). Moreno was Estrada’s vice mayor in 2013 to 2016. According to Estrada, he was surprised when he lost in the mayoral race, saying surveys showed he was leading in Manila. Estrada’s daughter Jerika Ejercito also lost as councilor in fourth district of Manila. In Pasig City, 29-year-old Vico Sotto secured the mayoral post with 206,226 votes, ending the 27 years of Eusebios reign in the city. The Eusebio clan has dominated Pasig since 1992. Sotto has won over against incumbent mayor Bobby Eusebio who got 119,726 votes. Vico had only served as councilor for one term. He is the lone opponent of Eusebio in the mayoral post. Vico is the son of Coney Reyes and Vic Sotto, and grandson of late Sen. Vicente Sotto of Cebu. Iyo Carunco Bernardo also won the vice mayoral position with 266,620 votes in Pasig City (based on the 98.54 percent of the ERs). In San Juan, Francis Zamora won the mayoral post with 35,060 votes. He defeated Janella Estrada who got 24,813 votes. Warren Villa won as vice mayor with 28,882 votes (based on the 100 percent of the ERs). Janella is the granddaughter of the current Manila mayor who became San Juan mayor in 1969. In an interview with CNN Philippines, Zamora said he was prompted to fight in this election because he lost by only 1,000 votes in 2016 elections to Guia Gomez, former partner of Mayor Estrada. The Zamora and Estradas were friends but became political enemies when Gomez and Zamora both ran in 2016 with the latter claiming he was cheated.

Other races

IN Navotas City, incumbent congressman Toby Tiangco won as mayor with 78,778 votes, while Clint Geronimo secured the vice mayoral position with 62,460 votes (based on the 99.38 percent of the ERs). In Pasay City, lawmaker Emi Calixto-Rubiano won as mayor with 120,735 votes, while Boyet del Rosario won as vice mayor with 116,013 votes (based on the 99.48 percent of the ERs). In Quezon City, Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte, daughter of former Speaker Feliciano Belmonte won with 469,480 votes, while Gian Sotto won as vice mayor with 382,393 votes (based on the 100 percent of the ERs). In Taguig City, lawmaker Lino Cayetano won the mayoral position with 172,710 votes, while Ricardo Cruz won as vice mayor with 157,941 votes (based on the 09.07 percent of the ERs). Alan Peter Cayeto and wife Lani also won their congressional races in Taguig City, while Pia Cayetano is currently in fourth place in the senatorial race. In Pateros, Ike Ponce won as mayor with 18,370 votes, while Gerald German won as vice mayor with 14,600 votes (based on the 100 percent of the ERs).

Unofficial tally shows Duterte allies winning big in elections

RESIDENT Duterte’s allies appeared to have overwhelming leads in elections for the Philippine Senate, one of the opposition’s last bulwarks against a brash populist leader accused of massive human-rights violations. Preliminary results comprising 94 percent of returns from Monday’s midterm elections showed at least eight candidates endorsed by Duterte were leading the races for 12 seats in the 24-member Senate. Official Commission on Elections (Comelec) results are expected to be declared in about a week. Those leading include Duterte’s former national police chief Ronald dela Rosa, who enforced the president’s crackdown on illegal drugs, a campaign that’s left thousands of suspects dead and drawn international condemnation. Monday’s vote is seen as a gauge of public support for Duterte, who is midway through the single six-year term Philippine presidents are allowed under the Constitution. His deadly antidrug crackdown, unorthodox leadership style, combative and sexist joke-laden outbursts, and contentious embrace of China have been the hallmarks of his presidency. Duterte’s three children were also expected to win the races for mayor, vice mayor and a congressional seat

representing their southern home region of Davao City. The 74-yearold maverick leader first carved a reputation as an extra-tough mayor, who hunted drug addicts and criminals on a Harley Davidson motorcycle and carried the nickname, Duterte Harry, after the gunslinging Clint Eastwood film character. “Undoubtedly, the Duterte magic spelled the difference,” Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said in a news conference. “The overwhelming majority of the electorate have responded to the call of the President to support those whom he said would help pass laws supportive of his goal to uplift the masses of our people and give them comfortable lives.” Manila-based analyst Ronald Holmes, however, said that except for dela Rosa and Duterte’s longtime aide, Bong Go, who entered politics for the first time without their own established bases of support, other leading administration senatorial contenders earned votes based on their own political track records.

@rectomercene

HE Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (Caap) has terminated the services of six job order (JO) employees who tested positive for illegal drug use during a recent testing. In the series of tests conducted from February 6 to April 30, 2019, the Office of the Flight Surgeon and Aviation Medicine (OFS A M ) conduc ted ra ndom

dr ug testing involv ing 2,548 personnel of the Caap and 104 of their aircrew. The OFSAM, a line agency of the Caap, found six employees were drug-positive, who were immediately terminated. The agency’s Human Resource and Management Division (HRMD) revealed that the six JO employees are in various line of work, such as airport facility cleaners. The Caap, however, gave the assurance that the operational safety

The flipside of Duterte’s perceived endorsement strength was the weakness of the opposition ticket and its campaign, said Holmes, who heads Pulse Asia, an independent pollster that predicted the dominance of Duterte’s senatorial bets. Another analyst, Richard Heydarian, said many Filipinos seem more open to authoritarianism due to failures of past liberal leaders from long-established political clans. Such a mindset has helped the family of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos make a political comeback, the latest through the senatorial bid of one of his daughters, Imee Marcos, who was endorsed by Duterte and whose vote tally in the unofficial results indicated a victory. Duterte, who has shown little tolerance for critics especially those who question his antidrug campaign, aimed for stronger leverage in the traditionally more independent Senate to bolster his legislative agenda. That includes the return of the death penalty, lowering the age for criminal liability below the current 15 years old, and revising the country’s 1987 Constitution primarily to allow a shift to a federal form of government, a proposal some critics fear may be a cover to remove term limits. Last year, opposition senators moved to block proposed bills they feared would undermine civil liberties. The handful of incumbent opposition senators whose seats were not

up for election could potentially get backing from leading independent aspirants to veto Duterte’s emerging majority in the upper chamber. At least seven senators are needed to block any proposal by Duterte’s camp to revise the country’s constitution, which was passed with anti-dictatorial safeguards in 1987, a year after Marcos was ousted by an army-backed “people power” revolt. “While we expect dissent to continue, we hope that that same be demonstrated with fairness and within the bounds of the law, as well as with deference to the leaders duly chosen by the electorate,” Panelo said. Aside from the drug killings, Mr. Duterte’s gutter language and what nationalists say is a policy of appeasement toward China that may undermine Philippine territorial claims in the South China Sea have also been the cause of protests and criticism. Opposition aspirants consider the Senate the last bastion of checks and balances given the solid dominance of Duterte’s loyalists in the lower House of Representatives. Voters in Monday’s elections made their choices for 18,000 congressional and local posts, including 81 governors, 1,634 mayors and more than 13,500 city and town councilors in 81 provinces. The elections were relatively untroubled, despite pockets of violence in southern Mindanao region, which is under martial law as government forces hunt down Islamic State group-linked militants and communist insurgents. AP

DBM okays higher Gunmen torch VCM, base pay for MUPs ballots in Isabela–PNP By Rene Acosta

By Bernadette D. Nicolas @BNicolasBM

ILITARY and uniformed personnel may now receive higher base pay following the Department of Budget and Management’s (DBM) issuance of rules and regulations for the second year of implementation of the modified base pay schedule for MUP for 2019. The issuance of the circular came after the President signed the 2019 national budget last April after months of delay in the passage of the money measure. The circular, which shall take effect immediately, shall apply to all military personnel of the Armed Forces of the Philippines under the Department of National Defense, and uniformed personnel of the Philippine National Police, Philippine Public Safety College, Bureau of Fire Protection, and Bureau of Jail Management and Penology under the Department of the Interior and Local Government; Bureau of Corrections under the Department of Justice; Philippine Coast Guard under the Department of Transportation; and the

National Mapping and Resource Information Authority under the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. Under the National Budget Circular 576 issued by the DBM dated May 14, the actual monthly base pay of the incumbent MUP who are occupying the ranks from first chief master sergeant, senior police officer IV and their equivalent to the ranks of general and director general as of December 31, 2018, shall be adjusted effective January 1, 2019. In January 2018, President Duterte approved Joint Resolution 1 authorizing the increase in base pay of MUPs. The first chief m aster sergeant, senior police officer IV and their equivalent whose monthly base pay is P35,456 on the first year of the implementation of the measure will now see their monthly base pay increase to P38,366, according to the modified base pay schedule for MUP for 2019. At the same time, the general and director general will now receive a monthly base pay of P149,785, from P121,143 the previous year. Meanwhile, the hazard pay of the MUP shall be fixed at P540 per month.

Caap fires 6 JO airport workers tested positive for drug use By Recto Mercene

Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug • Wednesday, May 15, 2019 A3

of the airports and aircraft were not put at risk. The Caap conducted the drug tests among airports across the country, such as Tuguegarao, Kalibo, Mactan-Cebu, Laoag, Bacolod, Dumaguete, Puerto Princesa, Zamboanga, General Santos, Iloilo, Davao, Legazpi, Laguindingan, Clark, Naga, Busuanga, Roxas, and Panglao, respectively. The Caap, under the leadership of Director General Jim C. Sydiongco, strongly disapproves the use of ille-

gal substances and strongly pushes for a drug-free workplace. The random drug tests are also in accordance with Caap’s mission of ensuring a safe, secure and green Philippine skies. The aviation regulator manages 81 airports nationwide while four others are controlled by other airport authorities—the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, Subic Bay International Airport, Clark International Airport and Mactan-Cebu International Airport.

@reneacostaBM

TILL unidentified armed men flagged on Tuesday a vehicle bearing election personnel who were on their way to deliver election results in Jones, Isabela, and burned at least 200 unread ballots, the Philippine National Police (PNP) reported. Brig. Gen. Jose Mario Espino, director of the Police Regional Office 2, said that unidentified suspects blocked the vehicle bearing Arlyn Borromeo Santos and her team of Board of Election Inspectors and forced them to turn over election equipment before the suspects torched two vote-counting machines (VCM) and election paraphernalia. Razed during the attack, which transpired at around 6:24 a.m., along the road in Barangay Santa Isabel, Jones, Isabela, were about 200 unread ballots, Espino said. Santos and her team were on their way to the Jones Municipal Hall to deliver election paraphernalias from Polling Precinct 0037A, 0037B, 0038A, 0038B and 0038P1 of Barangay Dicamay I and polling precinct 0039A, 0039B, 0039C, 0040A, 0040B and 0040P1 of Barangay Dicamay II when they were stopped. “Upon reaching Barangay Santa Isabel, Jones, Isabela, the group of armed men ordered them to unload the VCM and immediately burned the said paraphernalia,” said Espino who ordered the Isabela police to conduct an in-depth investigation into the incident. In Cotabato City, two successive explosions hit the city, with one of the blasts occurring inside the compound of the Cotabato City Hall on Monday night just as election officials were busy working through the election results. Maj. Arvin Encinas, spokesman of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said the explosions occurred within a one minute interval at past 10 p.m. outside and within

the compound of the city hall. “One of the sites of the explosions is located within the city hall compound, just meters away from the City Hall building where a fragment of 40 millimeter was recovered,” he said. PNP chief Director General Oscar D. Albayalde said on Tuesday that while incidents have marked the balloting, the PNP and the military have been working to address these. “There may have been incidents of violence, vote buying and harassment but these have all been resolutely and efficiently addressed by our police units together with the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Commission on Elections,” he said. Albayalde noted a decrease of about 60 percent in the number of election-related violence compared to the 2016 elections, with the PNP recording only 43 incidents with 73 victims as against the 106 incidents with 192 victims in the 2016 national and local elections. “During the election day, the PNP has also recorded 41 incidents ranging from commotion, mauling, attempted murder, and shooting incidents. However, investigation is still going on to verify which are actually election-related incidents or not,” he said. The PNP also recorded 225 incidents of vote buying wherein 441 people were arrested and eight minors rescued. On the liquor ban, a total number of 387 incidents were reported with 986 persons arrested. At least 5,500 people were also arrested for violating the gun ban wherein 4,618 firearms and 44,226 other deadly weapons were confiscated, recovered and surrendered. Albayalde said the election period is until June 12, and as such, carrying of firearms, explosives and other deadly weapons, “organization of security forces, and unauthorized employment of bodyguards and security personnel” are still prohibited.

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Wednesday, May 15, 2019 | www.businessmirror.com.ph

China retaliates on tariffs, global stock markets fall B

The W

EIJING—Sending Wall Street into a slide, China announced higher tariffs on Monday on $60 billion worth of American goods in retaliation for President Donald J. Trump’s latest penalties on Chinese products. Duties of 5 percent to 25 percent will take effect on June 1 on about 5,200 American products, including batteries, spinach and coffee, China’s Finance Ministry said. With investors worried about the potential economic damage on all sides from the escalating trade war, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 617 points, or 2.4 percent, and the technologyheavy Nasdaq plunged 270 points, or 3.4 percent, its biggest drop of the year. Earlier, stocks fell in Europe and Asia. “We appear to be in a slow-motion train wreck, with both sides sticking to their positions,” said William Reinsch, a trade analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and a former US trade official. “As is often the case, however, the losers will not be the negotiators or presidents, but the people.” Beijing’s move came after the US raised duties on Friday on $200 billion of Chinese imports to 25 percent, up from 10 percent. In doing so, American officials accused China of backtrack-

ing on commitments it made in earlier negotiations. The same day, trade talks between the two countries broke up without an agreement. On Twitter, Trump warned Xi that China “will be hurt very badly” if it doesn’t agree to a trade deal. Trump tweeted that Beijing “had a great deal, almost completed and you backed out!” The rising trade hostilities could damage the economies of both countries. The tariff increases already in place have disrupted trade in such American products as soybeans and medical equipment, and sent shockwaves through other Asian economies that supply Chinese factories. Still, the two countries have given themselves something of an escape hatch: The higher Chinese tariffs don’t kick in for two and a half weeks. The US increases apply to Chinese goods shipped since Friday, and those shipments will take about three weeks to arrive at US seaports and become subject to the higher charges. Also, both countries have indicated more talks are likely. Top White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said on Sunday that China has invited US Trade Rep. Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to Beijing. But nothing has been sched-

uled. And Trump said on Monday that he expects to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in late June at the G-20 summit in Osaka, Japan. The president has repeatedly insisted that increased tariffs on Chinese goods don’t hurt American consumers. But Kudlow, head of the president’s National Economic Council, acknowledged over the weekend that US consumers and businesses will bear some of the costs. “Both sides will pay,” he told Fox News. In the US, prices of soybeans, targeted by Chinese tariffs last year, fell Monday to a 10-year low on fears of a protracted trade war. In a statement, American Soybean Association President Davie Stevens, a soybean farmer from Clinton, Kentucky, expressed frustration that “the US has been at the table with China 11 times now and still has not closed the deal. What that means for soybean growers is that we’re losing. Losing a valuable market, losing stable pricing, losing an opportunity to support our families and our communities.” Trump told reporters on Monday that a new program to relieve US farmers’ pain is “being devised right now” and predicted that they will be “very happy.” The administration last year handed farmers aid worth $11 billion

to offset losses from trade conflicts. Trump seemed to suggest that the aid will make up for or partially cover the $15 billion that he said represented “the biggest purchase that China has ever made with our farmers.” In fact, US farm exports to China approached $26 billion in both 2012 and 2013 and came in at $19.5 billion in 2017 before his trade war began taking a toll on agricultural sales to China. The president’s allies in Congress scrambled to limit the damage to farm country. Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa said it is time for US allies to “get in the game” to push China to the negotiating table. “China needs to get with it,” he said. “You can’t move these goalposts like they’re moving them and expect to be respected.” The highest tariffs announced by China will apply to industrial chemicals, electronic equipment, precision machinery and hundreds of food products. Beijing is running out of US imports to penalize because of the lopsided trade balance between the world’s two largest economies. Chinese regulators have instead targeted American companies in China by slowing down the clearing of shipments through customs and the processing of business licenses. AP

Oil edges higher as investors fear escalation of US-China trade war

IL edged higher as investors weighed an escalating USChina trade war that’s jeopardizing the demand outlook against the risk that geopolitical tension in the Middle East will disrupt crude flows. Futures in New York rose as much as 0.4 percent after closing down 1 percent on Monday. The US released a list of about $300 billion of Chinese goods that it threatened to hit with a 25 percent tariff after Beijing announced retaliatory levies on about $60 billion of US imports. Another oil tanker was damaged while anchored in the United Arab Emirates, following a spate of attacks on crude carriers on Sunday, adding to an already tense situation in the Persian Gulf. Volatility in oil prices has jumped this month as crude is buffeted by the specter of a full-blown trade war on the demand side, while a combustible Middle East and production disruptions from Norway to Nigeria throw the supply outlook into doubt. US drilling activity and a pending decision by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies on whether output curbs will be extended beyond June are taking a back seat to the various crises. “Investors are focusing on the USChina trade tensions, as well as the geopolitical risks in the Gulf, rather than the fundamentals,” said Kim Kwangrae, a commodity analyst at Samsung Futures Inc. in Seoul. “Unless there is some kind of conclusion on those issues, prices will continue to fluctuate.”

West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery rose 19 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $61.23 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 12:22 p.m. in Singapore after falling as much as 0.5 percent earlier. The contract closed 62 cents lower at $61.04 on Monday. Brent for July settlement added 24 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $70.47 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange after losing as much as 0.4 percent earlier. The global benchmark contract is trading at a $9.06 premium to WTI. The US Trade Representative’s office released a list of about $300 billion worth of Chinese goods, including children’s clothing, toys, mobile phones and laptops on Monday that the White House has threatened to hit with a 25 percent tariff. Meanwhile, President Trump said he’ll meet Chinese President Xi at a G-20 summit in Japan in late June. Asian stocks fell on Tuesday, although not as much as the drop in US equities on Monday. Commodities including copper and soybeans recovered some of their recent losses. The Andrea Victory oil tanker got a hole in its hull after being struck by an unknown object while at an anchorage at Fujairah in the UAE, according to Thome Shipmanagement, which manages the carrier. That comes after Saudi Arabia said two of its vessels were damaged in a “sabotage attack” while approaching the Strait of Hormuz, the state-run Saudi Press Agency reported. Bloomberg News

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Editor: Angel R. Calso | Wednesday, May 15, 2019

UN mission suggests financial isolation of Myanmar’s military B

ANGKOK—A United Nations fact-finding mission is urging that countries cut off all business with Myanmar’s military as part of efforts to hold the army accountable for human-rights abuses. The UN Human Rights Council said in a statement on Tuesday that there has been no progress toward resolving the crisis over Myanmar’s mostly Muslim Rohingya minority, more than 1 million of whom have fled military “clearance operations” in the northwest Rakhine region. “The situation is at a total standstill,” said Marzuki Darusman, chairman of the Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar. Myanmar authorities have razed deserted Rohingya villages and those remaining in the country live in displacement camps and in fear of further military reprisals. “Due to the gravity of the past and continuing violations, attention must be given to the political, economic and financial ties of the Myanmar military—to identify who and what should be targeted so we can cut off the money supply as a means of increasing the pressure and reducing the violence,” Christopher Sidoti, a member of the mission said in the statement. The mission found that the military has committed atrocities against

JAPANESE Prime Minister Shinzo Abe BLOOMBERG

Abe says North Korea missile tests violate UN resolutions

J IN this June 29, 2018, file photo, a Myanmar border guard stands to provide security near a fence at a no-man’s land between Myanmar and Bangladesh, near Taungpyolatyar village, Maung Daw, northern Rakhine State, Myanmar. The UN Human Rights Council said in a statement on Tuesday, May 14, 2019, that there has been no progress in the crisis over Myanmar’s mostly Muslim Rohingya minority, more than 1 million of whom have fled military “clearance operations” in the northwest Rakhine region. It said those remaining in the country live in displacement camps and in fear. AP/MIN KYI THEIN many ethnic groups living within Myanmar. It also faulted armed ethnic groups for committing humanrights abuses. Myanmar denies allegations of human-rights violations, saying its security forces have not targeted civilians and have taken action only in response to attacks by Rohingya militants. UN officials and others have likened the actions to ethnic cleansing, or even genocide.

The Fact-Finding Mission is to hand its findings to a new group of the Human Right Council, the Independent Investigative Mechanism on Myanmar, in September. That organization was set up to handle criminal prosecution of violations of international law. The crisis in Rahkine has soured Myanmar’s relations with the United States, which had rolled back economic sanctions over the past

decade to support political change in the country as it transitioned toward democracy. The US Treasury has imposed sanctions on Myanmar security forces and Washington has barred Myanmar military officials involved in the Rakhine operations from US assistance. Britain has also cut some support. The UN and independent-rights advocates want governments to do more to hold the military accountable. AP

APANESE Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said North Korea violated UN resolutions with its missile launches this month, putting pressure on the US to raise the issue with the Security Council. Abe, who has long favored a harder line against Kim Jong Un’s weapon program, told a meeting of ruling coalition lawmakers on Tuesday in Tokyo that United Nations resolutions must be better enforced. That contrasted with US President Donald J. Trump, who said “nobody’s happy about” the missile launches, but stopped short of declaring them a violation. “Regarding the launches of short-range missiles by North Korea, they are a breach of UN Security Council resolutions and extremely regrettable,” Abe said. “While cooperating closely with the US and other related countries, we are planning to tackle this appropriately by strengthening enforcement of related UN Security Council resolutions.” North Korea conducted test launches on May 4 and May 9—its first and most s i g n i f i c a nt m i l i t a r y o p e rat i o n s s i n ce November 2017. Weapons experts said the

tests included firing a new type of shortrange ballistic missile capable of carrying a nuclear payload and striking all parts of South Korea. The launches have cast new doubt on Trump’s effort to secure a disarmament deal with North Korea. Even though ballistic missile testing is banned by resolutions pushed by Trump’s administration, the US tamped down talk earlier last week of discussing the violations with the Security Council, according to two Security Council diplomats who asked not to be identified. European officials suggested holding a meeting, but the US wanted to wait and assess the situation, diplomats said. In another sign of reemerging tensions, North Korea’s foreign ministry on Tuesday condemned the US’s seizure of a ship suspected of carrying banned coal exports from the country. The ministry called the move an “illegal action of theft” that “violates the basic spirit” of the agreement reached between Kim and Trump during their first meeting last year in Singapore. Bloomberg News

A6 Wednesday, May 15, 2019 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

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Fisheries groups bat for creation of DFAR

HE fisheries subsector used to be a major contributor to total agriculture output before 2010, with catches expanding by at least 3 percent to 4 percent annually. There were years when the combined production of the livestock and poultry, and fishery subsectors buoyed the performance of the agriculture sector. Because catch was abundant, officials even aspired for a 10-percent growth in output more than a decade ago. Those years are gone, and it has become a big challenge for the subsector to repeat its performance in those years of plenty. Based on data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the performance of the fisheries subsector has deteriorated, with output recording a steady decline in the last five years. From registering an expansion of 1.23 percent year-on-year in 2013, production saw a downtrend from 2014 to 2018. Data from the PSA showed that fisheries output fell by 0.15 percent in 2014 and accounted for 17.65 percent of total farm production. The performance of the subsector continued to deteriorate the following year, as output dropped by 1.96 percent in 2015. The biggest decline was recorded in 2016, when it contracted at an annualized rate of 4.18 percent. While there were efforts in recent years to boost output via management measures such as fishing bans, the subsector continued to record lower output at an annualized rate of 1.73 percent in 2017. Things also failed to get better for fishermen last year as output again fell by 1.13 percent, according to data from the PSA. This resulted in further contraction of the subsector’s contribution to total agricultural output. A decade ago, the fisheries subsector accounted for one-fourth of total agricultural production. Its share reached 25.82 percent in 2008 and 26.4 percent in 2009. This dropped to an average of 16 percent in the last five years. Against this backdrop, various fisheries groups have renewed their call for the creation of a separate agency that will focus on addressing problems that beset the subsector (See, “Groups call for creation of separate fisheries department,” in the BusinessMirror, May 13, 2019). The country has abundant marine resources, but this has not made a significant dent in cutting poverty in rural areas. Data from the PSA attest to this: Filipino fishermen are still among the country’s poorest. Groups pushing for the creation of a Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (DFAR) have blamed illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing for the worsening poverty situation in the countryside. Unfortunately, the theft of the country’s marine resources not only by locals but also by foreign fishers continues despite the enactment of the Fisheries Code, which prescribed mechanisms to fight IUU. Also, while management measures such as temporary fishing bans have helped raise fish stocks, figures provided by the PSA bolster the claim of groups that much still needs to be done to boost the performance of a subsector that once buoyed Philippine agriculture. Countries such as Indonesia and New Zealand that consider fisheries as a major contributor to output have a separate agency in charge of managing their aquatic resources. These agencies are also focused on ensuring the sustainability of their respective wild stocks and aquaculture. Fisheries New Zealand, for instance, carries out research and development activities and helps exporters find opportunities abroad. This is the type of agency that the Philippines needs if we want to bring back the glory days of the fisheries subsector. It’s a strong argument for the establishment of a DFAR to help ensure the subsector’s sustainability and growth.

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The perils of betting on a quick end to US-China trade war

By Sarah Ponczek | Bloomberg Opinion

F you’re an investor who believes, as many obviously do, that the US-China spat will be resolved mostly because any alternative would be catastrophic, the recent history of international trade rifts is probably not something you want to think too hard about. While parallels between the Trump-Xi showdown and Britain’s secession drama are imperfect and the forces not quite a match, equity bulls pinning their hopes on common sense and mutual self-interest should take heed. Just because something should be resolved, doesn’t mean it will. “The logic is that it has to, because it’s so bad on both ends if we don’t. But my only concern is we used that exact same logic with Brexit numerous times,” said Samantha Azzarello, global market strategist for JPMorgan ETFs. “When there’s groupthink and everybody is thinking this, the repercussions, at least in the shorterrun, can be even more magnified for market reaction.” Which explains on Monday. After a fitful week in which major averages repeatedly fell and recovered, resigned investors decided not to test the market’s resilience. The result was the worst tumble for the S&P

500 in four months. Plenty of people predict the trade war will be short-lived. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s Azzarello says the most likely outcome is still that a deal is made. Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s Jill Carey Hall told Bloomberg Television last week that the firm’s “base case view is we do get a deal on trade.” Oxford Economics expects “a deal over the summer months.” At UBS Group AG, the belief holds that the “US and China will eventually reach some kind of accord.” The reason? As Mark Haefele, UBS Global Wealth Management’s chief investment officer, wrote: “Both the US and China have strong incentives to reach a deal and we do not expect a complete breakdown in negotiations.” To that, it might be observed: neither did the UK and the EU. The reality has been different. After spending years deluded into a belief British

voters would never elect to leave, investors gasped when they did. In the three years since, virtually every hope pinned on cooler heads has unraveled. Politics has proved too fickle a force to model. Too much can be made of the similarities. But anyone watching American stocks rattle around for the last six sessions has gotten a lesson in the hazards of being overconfident and counting on what seems like logic. Take last Monday, when weekend tweets from President Trump sent the S&P 500 down 1.6 percent, only for the benchmark to stage a midday rally and recover when everyone decided it was a bluff. After the close, US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer reiterated the tariff threat, and the S&P 500 fell 1.7 percent the next day. A similar pattern took hold on Friday. Higher tariffs went into effect at midnight, and US stocks spiraled 1.6 percent through the morning hours. Then Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin characterized negotiations with China as “constructive,” and the whole drop was reversed. Three days later, after more Trump belligerence and China’s retort, half a trillion dollars got erased from US shares. “People thought, OK, there’s still

Risking another water shortage?

By Ney Villaseñor

E live in a country thirsty for change. In these tumultuous times where the rules seem to bend and break, one thing remains constant for every Filipino—the need for reliable water supply. When taps ran dry last March, residents of eastern Metro Manila, armed with their mighty plastic pails, took to the streets. Newspapers were filled with photos of painfully long lines as Filipinos waited for fire trucks that deliver water. That month, people living in high-rise condos or in the slums suffered the same fate when water suddenly became a rare, sought-after commodity. It was a trying period for everyone in the metropolis, as people questioned how something as common as taking a shower became a “privilege.” In 2010, the United Nations (UN) declared March 22 as World Water Day, recognizing that “the right to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation…is essential for the full enjoyment of life and all human rights.” That month, private concessionaire Manila Water Co. struggled to provide adequate water supply to its consumers, failing to fulfill its end of the contract. Citing

decreasing water levels in La Mesa Dam, what came after was endless finger-pointing as concerned authorities and officials of the water concessionaire tried to look for someone to pin the blame on. What was missing from the discourse on water shortage was a definite action to tackle the root of the problem, to restore what we had lost, our natural providers of water—our forests. Water is unquestionably the source of life. It is a basic human right, a necessity. And yet, in the Philippines, a country gifted with natural resources, we continue to take this resource for granted. According to the UN, 75 percent of the world’s freshwater come from forests, which filter, store and supply freshwater. Forests are natural infrastructures that prevent soil erosion and sedimentation. These processes improve water quality. Forests, through transpiration, also seed clouds, thus resulting in better rainfall patterns. These functions make

them essential to water security. Despite this, reports in 2011 from Conservation International placed the Philippines as one of the most threatened forest hot spots in the world. From 17.8 million hectares in 1934, the country’s remaining forest cover is now only at 7.168 million hectares. In 2006, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said the Philippines had lost 2.1 percent of its forest cover annually, one of the fastest deforestation rates in the world. With a depleting forest cover, the Philippine water reserves may also be put at risk. For instance, according to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), forest cover in the Ipo watershed dropped drastically from 85 percent to 40 percent, destroyed by deforestation and other activities. Ipo is part of the Angat-Umiray-Ipo watershed systems, the main source of Metro Manila’s water needs. Organizations such as the WWF continue to hold tree-planting activities and fundraisers to help forest rangers restore and protect the watershed. In particular, the WWF aims to push for a sustainable watershed management plan, create an efficient management body for watersheds, and minimize erosion and siltation, which could result to higher costs for

plenty of time, but then we had the delayed response because the tweets over the weekend and the communications coming out—the war of words has clearly been raised,” said Larry Adam, the chief investment officer for Raymond James, noting that the firm still believes a deal will get done. “They’re going to get a deal. The problem right now for me is what does the deal now mean?” To be sure, Brexit’s impact on US and European assets ended up being negligible—both are up since the June 2016 vote. Will the same be true for the trade spat? Many investors are dubious. Mike Wilson, Morgan Stanley’s chief equity strategist, says the escalation has increased the likelihood for a prolonged economic downturn. JPMorgan Chase & Co’s head of cross asset fundamental strategy, John Normand, warned that stocks could fall another 10 percent. “We had all these rallies on, ‘Oh, we’re working on a deal, we’re getting closer to a deal, we’re getting closer to a deal,”’ said Michael O’Rourke, JonesTrading’s chief market strategist. “Well, here we go. And what happened in the past week is not only do we not have a deal, we’ve been going in the exact opposite direction.”

water cleaning facilities. WWF also creates projects that could help mitigate pollution, monitor and evaluate efforts to reforest the denuded areas, and provide livelihood opportunities to the communities in Ipo. FAO highlighted in a report the critical relationship between forest lands and water supply, noting an “urgent need for better understanding of the interactions between forests and water, for awareness-raising and capacity-building in forest hydrology, and for embedding this knowledge and the research findings in policies.” What we do to our forests directly affects our day-to-day lives. Trees give us the clean air we breathe, the water we drink and some food that sustain us. Our environment is our life source, and yet we fail to focus on its needs. What we need now is not bickering between authorities and among politicians, but solid steps toward the protection of our environment. We need policies paired with stricter implementation from the government, plans for better water management and a good foresight. Filipinos must stop private groups from destroying our natural resources. The government must help protect our environmental See “Villaseñor,” A7

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Opinion

New VAT refund rules

Financial Inclusion: Promoting insurance among women

BusinessMirror

Atty. Irwin C. Nidea Jr.

Atty. Dennis B. Funa

TAX LAW FOR BUSINESS

T remains a challenge for the government to grant value-added tax refund claims. As a result, companies are left with paper assets and are deprived of much-needed fund to expand and finance their operations. The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has recently issued a circular mandating new requirements and procedures in claims for VAT refund. As these requirements evolve, so does the burden given to taxpayers to prove what they are entitled to. Among the new features of RMC 47-2019 are as follows: a. If there is a cessation or change in the status of an entity, a claim for refund must be filed within two years from the date of cancellation of registration. But to be entitled to the claim, the taxpayer must have no internal revenue tax liabilities; The claim can only be filed after the completion of the mandatory audit of all internal revenue tax liabilities covering the immediately preceding year and the issuance of a tax clearance. In other words, the government will hold hostage the VAT claim until it is found that the taxpayer has no tax liability. b. A taxpayer can only file a claim for refund if he has no outstanding tax liability as a result of selfassessed tax liability or a deficiency assessment issued by the BIR, which has become final and executory. c. This time the BIR allows for an offsetting. Thus, any outstanding VAT liability with the BIR may be deducted from the approved refund on the BIR portion. However, if the claim includes a refund of input VAT on importations which necessitates endorsement to BOC for processing of the payment, the VAT liability with the BIR must first be settled before filing the application for VAT refund with the BIR. d. Once a claim for refund is filed, no additional document/s shall be subsequently requested/required from the taxpayer-claimant. Any unsupported claim shall be outrightly disallowed, resulting in full/partial denial of the claim. e. This time, the original copies of invoices/receipts for sales and purchases are required to be presented together with the photocopies for validation by the assigned Revenue Officers, which shall be returned to the taxpayer-claimant after stamping “VAT Refund Claimed” thereto. If the original documents are voluminous, the validation and stamping may be performed at the registered address of the taxpayerclaimant. But who will stamp VAT Refund Claimed in every receipt or invoice? Some companies have thousands of receipts and invoices in support of their claim. Given the 90-day deadline given to the BIR to process and release a claim for VAT refund, revenue officers will be hard pressed to beat the deadline when

Villaseñor. . . continued from A6

assets by setting a policy agenda that would help preserve our forests. The recent water crisis in Metro Manila is an ominous warning of what’s to come if we continue to ignore the long-term consequences

they have to stamp all documents submitted to them. Also, for quarterly claims where an annual financial statements has not yet been issued, an interim FS must be presented. f. If a claim involves importation, claims for refund shall be supported with a “VAT Payment Certification” issued by the RAD of the BOC, including the supporting Import entry and Internal Revenue Declarations and/or Single Administrative Document, Statement of Settlement of Duties and Taxes. Only the duly authenticated copies of documents by the BOC shall be accepted for processing and considered in the computation of refundable amount. g. For export sale of services, the following documents are valid proofs to establish that the nonresident foreign corporation (NRFC) buyer is not engaged in business in the Philippines: i. Original copy of the certification from the SEC that the NRFC buyer is not a registered corporation in the Philippines; and ii. Consularized copy of the certificate of foreign registration/ incorporation/association of the NRFC. But with the accession of the Philippines to the Apostille Convention, there will be no need to consularize the certificate of registration or any other document from almost all countries. h. For VAT refund claims to be filed on June 1, 2019, onward, all documents as required in the Circular (RMC 47-2019) shall be submitted upon filing. The government always preaches that it wants to simplify claims for VAT refund. But the above list will force taxpayers to look at the heavens and wish for a falling star. The author is a partner of Du-Baladad and Associates Law Offices (BDB Law), a member-firm of WTS Global. The article is for general information only and is not intended, nor should be construed as a substitute for tax, legal or financial advice on any specific matter. Applicability of this article to any actual or particular tax or legal issue should be supported therefore by a professional study or advice. If you have any comments or questions concerning the article, you may e-mail the author at irwin.nidea@ bdblaw.com.ph or call 403-2001 local 330.

of this pressing problem. Ney Villaseñor is a corporate communications and public affairs professional who currently leads the corporate communications group of a Tech Fin company. He is passionate about the environment, social justice and equal opportunity. He has worked in different industries and is committed to pursue graduate studies in Leadership, Business and Management.

INSURANCE FORUM

HE International Finance Corp. of the World Bank Group has launched an advocacy program to promote insurance among women. In pursuing this program in the Philippines, the IFC has partnered with Insular Life Assurance Co. (InLife) in 2018 under a program called “Sheroes”. This program was triggered by a 2015 report of the IFC—“She for Shield: Insure Women to Better Protect All”—where it was concluded that the women segment represents an untapped $1.7-trillion market, mostly in the emerging markets. Under this Sheroes program, the IFC seeks to partner with innovative insurance companies in different countries with the objective of increasing the uptake of insurance by women by offering customized risk mitigating solutions. Insurance products will be developed specifically designed for women’s needs. For example, insurance products will be developed specifically for women entrepreneurs, women professionals, women millennials, women retirees and so on. Their capacity to pay will, of course, be

taken into consideration. To illustrate, the average monthly income, as of 2018, of women entrepreneurs is at P85,671.43; for women professionals, it is at P31,272.73; and for women millennials, it is at P33,195.65. The Insular Life was chosen for this endeavor in the Philippines. According to Yuan Xu, IFC country manager for the Philippines: “Women are important to the continuous economic growth of the Philippines. At IFC, we are committed to finding innovative ways to expand women’s access to assets and ways to

Bloomberg Opinion

OEING Co.’s 737 Max woes make it a prime target for China’s tradewar retaliations. China, responding to increased tariffs imposed by the US last week, said on Monday that it will boost levies on nearly 2,500 American products to 25 percent, while several thousand other items will be subject to taxes ranging from 5 percent to 20 percent. Soon after, Hu Xijin, the editor in chief of China’s Global Times, tweeted that China also may stop purchasing US agricultural and energy products, explore dumping US Treasuries and reduce

orders for Boeing jets, in what would mark a more painful escalation of tensions. There’s reason to be skeptical about this; for one, the Global Times isn’t an official government mouthpiece. Halting agricultural orders would seem to come at an impossible cost to China’s food supply, particularly given the deadly swine flu outbreak that’s wiping out much of its domestic hog production. And abandoning US bonds en masse is much easier said than done, as my colleague Brian Chappatta has written. As for curtailing Boeing orders, such a move would likely squeeze travel growth in China—and yet, of all of these measures, it’s the most plausible, at least on a temporary basis.

secure them. Through this partnership with Insular, we will develop insurance solutions that will address women’s financial protection and risk mitigation needs at different life stages.” And while the initiative offers a new opportunity for niche marketing, Insular Life CEO Nina Aguas emphasized that the “economic or profitability component in the equation is not as crucial to us, as the opportunity to expand our reach to the uninsured, unserved women out there, using technology to enable us to find innovative ways to create meaningful and long-term relationships with them.” In the IFC report, it was projected that women will drive insurance market growth in the years to come. Particularly, it is projected that the emerging countries will represent 50 percent (projected at $874 billion) of the women’s insurance market growth by 2030, as opposed to 10 percent ($98 billion) in 2013. Women will be a vital driver of growth in the insurance industry because of changing societal norms. Women will enjoy increasing participation in the economy. Completion of tertiary education for women has been increasing, and as a consequence their presence in the labor force has also been

increasing. The growth in their purchasing power also cannot be denied. There will also be an increasing need for financial protection with the apparent delay in the marriage age as well as increasing rates of divorce in the country. Overall there has been an increasing financial awareness for mothers as they seek the financial well-being of their children. Together with these potentials, it was found through surveys conducted that women have the interest for financial protection, that they are focused on the prevention of misfortunes, they are advocates for good services, they are more loyal, they are becoming digital-savvy, and that they are less prone to committing fraud. Indeed, in microfinance, it is common knowledge that the repayment rate of loans is higher for women. In terms of potential premiums in the women’s market, it is projected that by 2020, the women’s market will represent P217.19 billion in premiums, with P58.64 billion for the P&C market and P158.55 billion for the life market. Dennis B. Funa is the current insurance commissioner. Funa was appointed by President Duterte as the new insurance commissioner in December 2016. E-mail: dennisfuna@yahoo.com.

A bigger Nato has kept Putin from more invasions

By Hal Brands | Bloomberg Opinion

HE 20th anniversary of a landmark US foreign policy initiative has slipped by virtually unnoticed. In 1999, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Nato) began its postCold War expansion into Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, taking on three new members: Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic. Last month, the alliance rather quietly marked that event—as well as the 70th anniversary of its founding—at a meeting of foreign ministers in Washington, rather than a headsof-state gathering that the occasion seemed to merit. This was no accident, given the near-certainty that President Donald J. Trump would have spoiled any Nato summit he attended. It was also a pity, because Nato expansion ranks as one of the great US foreign policy successes of the post-Cold War era. This is not the conventional wisdom. Critics of US foreign policy, particularly those who hail from the “realist” school of international relations, consider Nato expansion a fateful, even tragic error. Nato had lost its purpose after the Cold War ended, they claim; it should have been disbanded or, at best, frozen in amber. But instead, it marched steadily eastward, snapping up former Warsaw Pact members and eventually former Soviet republics Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. This aggressive policy ultimately exhausted Russian patience, triggering Moscow’s wars against Georgia and Ukraine and driving the renewed confrontation between the Kremlin and the West. In 2014, University of Chicago professor John Mearsheimer put Nato expansion front and center in arguing that Russia’s annexation of Crimea was actually the West’s fault. Yet the Mearsheimer of 2014 would have done well to acquaint himself with the Mearsheimer of 1990. That year, he wrote a widely read essay predicting that post-Cold War Europe would become an anarchic hellscape. Russia and Germany would compete viciously for influ-

ence. Countries would race to arm themselves; nuclear proliferation would run rampant. The Cold War had been a sort of vacation from history, Mearsheimer suggested. With that conflict over, the continent would be thrust back into its violent past. This didn’t happen, of course. Even accounting for the Balkan civil wars of the 1990s and Russian aggression more recently, Europe made remarkable strides toward democracy and stability, and there was zero nuclear proliferation. Europe moved forward, not backward, and Nato expansion was a critical reason why. For one thing, Nato expansion kept America in Europe. When the Cold War ended, many observers predicted that the US would withdraw, as it had done after World War I. Yet expanding Nato gave the alliance—and America’s role in it—new purpose. The US did not again retreat across the ocean, leaving turmoil and seething rivalry in its wake. It recommitted to playing its stabilizing role not just in Western Europe but across the continent. Second, Nato expansion kept the German problem solved. A great fear of the early 1990s was that a reunified and independent Germany, no longer hemmed in by Nato on one side and the Warsaw Pact on the other, would return to its predatory ways. Instead, the US ensured that it remained closely tethered to Nato, surrounded by allied states, and thor-

Boeing’s Max woes make it easy trade-war pawn By Brooke Sutherland

Wednesday, May 15, 2019 A7

So it’s worth thinking through what the implications would be. Boeing is the US’s biggest exporter and something of a national treasure, a status which alone would seem to qualify it to eventually end up in the cross hairs of escalated trade tensions. But two fatal crashes of its Max jet in just five months and a global grounding that’s now lasted two months make Boeing particularly vulnerable right now to any sort of order slowdown. It wouldn’t be completely unprecedented for China to try to leverage its position as a big Boeing customer to its advantage. Bloomberg News reported that Chinese officials sought in 2017

to use approval of the Max as a way to negotiate more favorable regulatory treatment for homegrown jets being developed by Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China Ltd., or Comac. In the end, after the Federal Aviation Administration reportedly rebuffed inquiries from US trade officials seeking to bolster American exports and refused to deviate from its typical procedures, China certified the Max anyway. I’m not so sure China will resist the opportunity to use Boeing as a pawn this time around. Any threat to restrict Boeing orders could be interpreted as another attempt to smooth the way for Comac’s C919, which is currently in development and being pitched as a competitor to the Max

oughly pacified. To hear US officials complain today that Germany has become too demilitarized, that it does not behave assertively enough, is to understand just how completely this mission succeeded. Third, Nato expansion kept the demons at bay in Eastern Europe. It was not foolish to fear trouble there in the early 1990s. Ethnic tensions were on the rise; many former Soviet allies harbored revisionist territorial claims. There was no shortage of underemployed scientists who might have helped Poland or other vulnerable states build the bomb. But Nato wrapped its security blanket around the former Warsaw Pact nations, committing them to accepting their existing frontiers, giving them the protection that allowed them to forego nuclear weapons, and creating the climate of reassurance in which democratic and economic reforms could occur. A reinvigorated Nato even provided stability beyond its own boundaries, intervening to stop ethnic cleansing in the former Yugoslavia. Finally, Nato expansion was a crucial hedge against the failure of Russian reform and integration. US officials wanted to foster a democratic Russia that would join the West and remain at peace with its neighbors. This is why they bent over backward throughout the 1990s to give President Boris Yeltsin the benefit of the doubt. Yet Washington also had to reckon with the dangers that might reemerge if liberalization failed and a more aggressive Russia reemerged. This is precisely what eventually happened—but in the intervening years, Nato expansion had moved the dividing line between Moscow and the West much farther to the east, and given many of Russia’s neighbors the security guarantees that still help them keep the Kremlin at bay. Putin’s Russia has invaded and mutilated two countries—Ukraine and

Georgia—that are not Nato members. It has coerced and intimidated, but not invaded, any country that belongs to the alliance. As for the critique that it was Nato expansion that provoked Russian revisionism, this argument has always been flimsy. Yes, the expansion angered Russian officials, during Yeltsin’s time as well as Putin’s. It was undoubtedly humiliating for the fallen superpower. But the idea that Nato expansion caused Russian aggression rests on an implicit counterfactual argument that, absent Nato expansion, Russia would not have behaved in a domineering fashion toward countries on its border. There is simply nothing in Russian history—and nothing in Vladimir Putin’s personality—that supports this argument. The process of Nato expansion was never perfect. The alliance took on new members without considering, early or seriously enough, how it would actually defend Poland or the Baltic states from a resurgent Russia. There are legitimate debates about whether seeking to include Ukraine and Georgia in the alliance was a step too far; it is surely true that the alliance’s public announcement in 2008 that these countries would someday—but not anytime soon— join Nato was enough to anger Putin, but not to deter him. And currently, certain gains of Nato expansion are in doubt, due to resurgent illiberalism in Eastern Europe and the security challenges Russia once again poses. On the whole, however, Nato expansion was a remarkable success, one that locked in the gains of the Cold War in Europe and helped free the continent from an ugly past it might otherwise have been doomed to repeat. It’s a shame that the looming threat posed by a president who is himself blind to the alliance’s accomplishments prevents us from more clearly recognizing that result today.

and Airbus SE’s A320neo. It’s unlikely regulators would change their stance on the plane, but China has the ability to drag its heels on re-certifying the Max and any knock on Boeing’s global standing probably works in its favor. China can’t stop buying Boeing planes altogether. While China is targeting a rollout of the C919 in 2021, certification testing is moving slowly and it wouldn’t be unreasonable to see that time line delayed until 2025, as my colleague David Fickling has written. A domestic launch could come sooner, but the fact is there’s no immediately available national champion to fill the Boeing void. China could, however, abandon its long-standing preference to equal weight

orders between the US planemaker and Airbus. There’s been some signs that may already be happening: French President Emmanuel Macron helped broker a $35billion order for Airbus jets from China in March, while Xiamen Airlines has reportedly mulled breaking with Boeing in favor of Airbus. Too big a shift in demand risks giving Airbus too much pricing power, however. The biggest risk for Boeing is that China cancels some of its existing orders, eroding a backlog whose ongoing expansion is in question amid the uncertainty surrounding the Max and fare pressures in some overseas routes that could hurt demand for other models.

2nd Front Page BusinessMirror

A8 Wednesday, May 15, 2019

Comelec to share data logs of transparency servers

By Samuel P. Medenilla

@sam_medenilla

HERE will be no whitewash. The Commission on Elections gave this assurance on Tuesday as it sought to calm post-poll tensions caused by technical glitches that temporarily delayed the release of the results of its transparency server. Comelec Commissioner Marlon S. Casquejo said he will recommend the sharing with reviewers and with media outfits, if need be, of all pertinent data logs of the transparency server, which is currently being maintained by the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) at its Manila headquarters. “Just to make sure that nothing happens in the system in the transparency server, I am proposing to

the Comelec en banc that all the audit logs and system logs of the transparency server...be shared with our local source reviewers and even to the media if they want,” Casquejo said.

‘Clarify delays’

THIS, as Comelec was asked on Tuesday to clarify the unexplained delay in the release of results of Monday’s senatorial polls. Sen. Francis Pangilinan, Liberal

“Just to make sure that nothing happens in the system in the transparency server, I am proposing to the Comelec en banc that all the audit logs and system logs of the transparency server... be shared with our local source reviewers and even to the media if they want.”—Casquejo

Party president and campaign manager of the opposition Otso Diretso senatorial ticket, wondered why they have not heard from the Comelec since it first released the initial poll results. “Why was there no poll results released to the public? We have not heard from you, Where is the Comelec Spokesman and and explanation?” In a statement, the senator prodded Comelec officia ls to “come out, show your face and

explain this big mess.” He went on, “Can’t they [Comelec] explain what is happening...That is why they are in hiding?” Pangilinan voiced concern that their silence could only stoke growing public apprehension and doubts over the real results of the midterm elections. “Are they cooking up something that the public should not know about? Are they not done with the script yet,” he asked. At the same time, Pangilinan cited speculations that the delay could have been caused by a possible “glitch in the transparency server.”

Nothing to hide

C A SQUEJO issued the statement amid renewed concerns on the credibility of the results of the automated elections system (AES) for the 2019 polls after the See “Comelec,” A2

FAO sees PHL meat imports rising by 10% By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

@jearcalas

HILIPPINE meat imports this year could go up by nearly 10 percent to 691,000 metric tons, from 629,000 MT last year as the improvement in the purchasing power of Filipinos would hike demand for animal protein. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations made this projection despite

a projected 3.27-percent increase in local meat production. The FAO said the country’s meat output this year will reach 3.722 million metric tons (carcass weight equivalent), from 3.604 MMT last year. The FAO projected that poultry will account for 46.08 percent of the total imports as it remains the most sought-after product by Filipinos, particularly by the middle and low-income classes. Philippine poultry meat imports this year would reach 318,000 MT,

LOW PRESSURE AREA 355 KM EAST OF HINATUAN, SURIGAO DEL SUR as of 4:00 am - May 12, 2019

nearly 10 percent over last year’s 290,000 MT, the FAO said. “The market optimism rests principally on expectations of a strong growth in import demand, mainly from China, but also Japan, the Philippines, Mexico and Ghana,” the FAO said in its biannual Food Outlook report published last week. “Imports are also expected to increase vigorously in the Philippines, Mexico and Ghana, as poultry remains the most afford-

able meat for the bulk of middleand low-income populations,” it added. The FAO also said the country’s pork imports this year would expand by 11.04 percent to 181,000 MT, from 163,000 MT a year ago. Bovine imports, the FAO said, will rise at an annualized rate of 9.14 percent to 191,000 MT to plug the shortfall in domestic production.

Production

THE report also noted that the bulk of the country’s production will consist of pork at 1.928 MMT, some 2.4 percent higher than the 1.883 MMT recorded last year. Poultry production, the FAO said, may go up by 5.31 percent to 1.487 MMT from 1.412 MMT recorded in 2018. However, bovine production is expected to go down to 307,000 MT, from last year’s 309,000 MT. Given the projected increase in output and imports, the FAO said total meat utilization this year would increase by 4.26 percent to 4.406 MMT, from 4.226 MMT last year. The output of pork and poultry has consistently expanded in recent years due to favorable prices and high demand. However, the livestock and poultry subsectors have suffered a glut this year. The entry of more imports, which have been growing by double-digit in the past three years, aggravated the supply situation. In fact, the sustained expansion of the livestock and poultry subsectors buoyed the country’s firstquarter farm output, which grew at a slower pace as El Niño affected the Philippines’s major crops.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

SENATE RACE: DUTERTE BETS, REELECTIONISTS KEEP HOLD ON TOP 12 By Butch Fernandez @butchfBM

IVE Senate reelectionists and four neophytes endorsed by President Duterte emerged as early frontrunners in the initial unofficial tally of the 2019 senatorial derby. Reelectionists Cynthia Villar, Grace Poe, Juan Edgardo Angara, Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel and Nancy Binay were joined by former National Police chief Ronald dela Rosa, former presidential aide Bong Go, Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos and Presidential Adviser Francis Tolentino in the unofficial vote count. The early leaders were joined by comebacking senators: Pia Cayetano, Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. and Lito Lapid to round out the so-called Magic 12. Also reported within striking distance of the Magic 12 is reelectionist Sen. Joseph Victor Ejercito at 13th place in the unofficial tally.

Sotto: check and balance This developed as Senate President Vicente Sotto III, in a separate in-

terview, gave assurances that the senators will continue to perform their duty to provide check and balance in running the government under the Duterte administration even if the two chambers turn out to be dominated by Palace allies. Sotto pointed out that the opposition has no franchise in criticizing and opposing the administration when there is need to do so, as shown in the past. “Criticizing and opposing is not the franchise of the opposition,”the Senate President pointed out, adding that the record speaks for itself. “You can see for yourself, the Senate is past that. If you will notice, if you will take note, you’ll see the high trust rating. That’s because the Senate is independent and transparent — whether it concerns the budget or the law,” he added, speaking in Filipino. Moreover, Sotto noted that the records will show that the Senate is composed of “independent-minded” members who will readily speak out if there is need to raise an issue.

2019 SENATE ELECTIONS PARTIAL UNOFFICIAL TALLY (AS OF 5/14/2019 5:53:00 PM) 1. VILLAR, CYNTHIA (NP)...................................................................... 24,509,114 2. POE, GRACE (IND)............................................................................... 21,426,018 3. GO, BONG (PDPLBN)......................................................................... 19,874,191 4. CAYETANO, PIA (NP).......................................................................... 19,156,910 5. DELA ROSA, BATO (PDPLBN)......................................................... 18,263,881 6. ANGARA, EDGARDO SONNY (LDP)............................................. 17,620,407 7. LAPID, LITO (NPC)............................................................................... 16,476,675 8. MARCOS, IMEE(NP)............................................................................ 15,376,842 9. TOLENTINO, FRANCIS (PDPLBN).................................................. 14,957,833 10. BONG REVILLA, RAMON JR (LAKAS)........................................ 14,167,528 11. PIMENTEL, KOKO (PDPLBN)........................................................ 14,156,067 12. BINAY, NANCY(UNA)....................................................................... 14,130,611 13. EJERCITO, ESTRADA JV (NPC)..................................................... 13,882,914 14. AQUINO, BENIGNO BAM (LP)...................................................... 13,772,052 15. ESTRADA, JINGGOY (PMP)........................................................... 11,031,009 SOURCE: COMELEC MEDIA SERVER/CNN PHL

FOREIGN BANKS IN PHL POST DOUBLE-DIGIT INCOME GROWTH Continued from A1

More to come

AMID the growth of the foreign banking sector in the country in 2018, the BSP said there is more room for expansion for foreign players in the country’s banking sector. “There is still room to accommodate further foreign bank entry and participation since the aggregate share of FBBs and subsidiaries currently operating in the Philippines remained well below the 40-percent ceiling set under Section 3 of RA No. 7721, as amended by RA No. 10641,” the BSP said. Under the law, while the entry of foreign banks in the Philippines has been fully liberalized, safety nets were put in place, such that at least 60 percent of the banking system’s total resources shall be controlled by domestic

banks which are majority-owned by Filipinos. At present, the aggregate share of foreign banks in the total assets of the Philippine banking system remained stable at 7.1 percent in 2018. As of end-December 2018, the Monetary Board has approved 12 foreign bank applications since the implementation of the amended Foreign Banks Law of 2014. The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) was the latest addition to the list of foreign banks authorized to operate in the Philippines. “The number is expected to further increase due to the ongoing Asean Banking Integration Framework [Abif],” the BSP said. “Outside this regional integration initiative, there are more foreign banks that signified interest to establish a presence in the Philippines due to its sound macroeconomic fundamentals and stable growth prospects,” it added. Bianca Cuaresma

Vehicle sales nearly flat in April By Elijah Felice E. Rosales

@alyasjah

ALES of local vehicle assemblers grew less than 1 percent in April, as the passenger car (PC) segment posted yet again a double-digit decline. Combined sales of the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines (Campi) and the Truck Manufacturers Association in April inched up by 0.84 percent to 25,799 units, from 25,583 units during the same month last year. The commercial vehicles (CV)

bracket grew, but this was offset by a downturn in the PC segment. PC sales slumped 22.69 percent to 7,661 units, from 9,910 units, while CV sales expanded 15.72 percent to 18,138 units, from 15,673 units. Under the CV segment, only sales of light commercial vehicles rose in April, by 35.39 percent to 14,954 units, from 11,045 units during the same month last year. Sales of Asian utility vehicles fell 36.66 percent to 2,178 units, from 3,439 units. Sales of light trucks slipped 8.1

percent to 533 units, from 580 units, while sales of category IV trucks and buses slipped 12.61 percent to 381 units, from 436 units. April sales of category V trucks and buses contracted to 92 units, from 173 units during the same month last year. In spite of the meager growth, Campi President Rommel R. Gutierrez said the industry remains optimistic sales for the rest of the year will be on the upside. The industry is eyeing to grow sales by 10 percent this year, after suffering a decline of 16 percent last year.

News

BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Wednesday, May 15, 2019 A9

Hizons ‘wiped out’ in Pampanga polls By Ashley Manabat Correspondent

ITY OF SAN FERNANDO— All four independent candidates of the Hizon clan, owners of the multibillion-peso Pampanga’s Best meat products, failed to win in their respective bids for electoral positions in this province. Bacolor Mayor Jomar Hizon lost by a landslide to Vice Gov. Dennis “Delta” Pineda for the governorship. Hizon got only 221,664 votes to Pineda’s 631,606 votes with 96.11 percent of election returns (ER) tallied. This capital city’s vice mayor candidate, City Councilor Angie

Hizon, lost to Vice Mayor Jimmy T. Lazatin with 50,060 and 65,840 votes, respectively, with 99 percent of the votes tallied. Ricky Hizon failed to make it in the winning circle in the city council here, managing only 37,632 votes and landing 14th in the race with 99.47 percent of the

votes tallied. Derick Hizon lost to Diman Datu (Kambilan) in the Bacolor mayoralty contest garnering a vote of 14,433 as against Datu’s 21,771 with 100 percent of the votes tallied.

Biggest winners, biggest losers

MEANWHILE, the biggest winner in Angeles City is Councilor Carmelo “Pogi” Lazatin Jr. (Partido Federalismo ng Pilipinas), who was elected mayor against closest rival Bryan Matthew Nepomuceno (Partido Abe Kapampangan) and third placer Alex Cauguiran (Kambilan). Lazatin got 58,955 votes as against Nepomuceno’s 45,479 and Cauguiran’s 26,006 with 99.57 percent of the votes tallied. Elected vice mayor was Vicky Vega-Cabigting (PFP) garnering a vote of 55,579 as against her rivals Edu Pamintuan Jr. (PAK) who got 47,924 and Maricel Morales’s

(Kambilan) 26,804 votes. The biggest winner in Mabalacat City with 99.26 percent of the votes cast is Mayor Cris C. Garbo (NPC) who was reelected with 52,102 votes and Councilor Geld Aquino (NPC) for vice mayor who got 52,062 votes, while the biggest losers are Vice Mayor Christian Halili (PFP) who got 34,381 votes and former mayor Boking Morales (Lakas), who lost the vice mayoralty race with only 29,759 votes. In Tarlac province, Gov. Susan Yap (NPC) was reelected with 508,181 votes, while the elected vice governor was Casada David (NPC) with 286,028 votes. Charlie Cojuangco (NPC) was elected with 147,714 as First District congressman; Second District Victor Yap (NPC) 119,605 votes; and Third District Noel Villanueva (NPC) with 133,576 votes. Bamban Mayor Jon Feliciano

(NPC) was reelected with 14,642 winning over Ding Anunciacion (Lakas) with only 7,969 votes. Capas Mayor Reynaldo Catacutan was reelected with 31,041 defeating TJ Rodriguez (PPP) who got 23,179 votes. Tarlac City Mayor Cristy Angeles (NPC) was reelected with 109,559 votes over Ace Manalang (Lakas) 42,614 votes. Concepcion Mayor Andy Lacson (Ind) was reelected with 47,930, defeating Car men Villanueva (NPC) who only got 29,890 votes. In Nueva Ecija, Aurelio “Oyie” Umali (Sigaw) was elected governor with 474,349 votes, while the elected vice governor is Doc Anthony Umali (Sigaw) with 507,276 votes, with 99.42 percent of the votes tallied. In Bulacan, Daniel Fernando is leading with an insurmountable 695,887 votes in the gubernatorial race, while the vice governor is

Gov. Wilhelmino Sy-Alvarado with 799,743 votes, with 98.5 percent of the votes tallied. In Bataan, Gov. Albert “Abet” Garcia (NUP) is reelected with 275,443 votes with 95.25 percent of the votes tallied, while the vice governor is Cris Garcia (NUP), who ran unopposed. In Aurora, Gerardo Noveras (NPC) is leading the race for governor, while Christian Noveras (PDP-Laban) is leading for vice governor, insurmountable leads of 57,623 and 50,981 votes, respectively, with 95.94 percent of the votes tallied. In Zambales, former Gov. Jun Ebdane (PDP-Laban) is again elected governor with 151,285 votes, and unseated Gov. Amor Deloso who got 128,302 votes, while vice governor is Jhay Khonghun (PDP-Laban) with 181,103 votes, with 99.8 percent of the votes tallied.

Hydrogen next big thing Shell exec lists challenges in pushing for low-carbon future, electric-vehicle use for mass transport ADB climate expert says By Lenie Lectura

By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario

EVELOPING countries like the Philippines could emerge as the “big winners” if they move toward a hydrogen economy, according to the Asian Development Bank (ADB). In an Asian Development Blog, ADB Sustainable Development and Climate Change Department Chief of Energy Sector Group Yongping Zhai said hydrogen energy is “the next big thing” in the bid to reach a low carbon future. Zhai said the combustion of hydrogen with oxygen is a cleaner form of energy since the only by-product is water. This is better than fossil fuels, which produce carbon dioxide and other pollutants. “Developing countries would be the big winners from the move toward a hydrogen economy. First, on the supply side, developing countries could tap their renewable-energy resources to produce hydrogen and export it to other countries, as is already done with liquefied natural gas,” Zhai said. “Second, on the demand side, developing countries could start using hydrogen technologies in specific areas. For example, fuel-cell vehicles can be charged fully with hydrogen within five minutes for a driving range of 500 kilometers and more, with zero carbondioxide, sulfur-dioxide or nitrogenoxide emissions,” he added. Hydrogen, Zhai said, can be used directly as fuel in power generation and other heat applications. It can also be blended with natural gas in pipeline networks. He also said hydrogen used with fuel

cells—a device that converts chemical potential energy into electrical energy—is promising for trucks, rail and ships, as well as industrial applications which require both electricity and heat. In order to develop a hydrogen economy, Zhai said pioneers are needed. In Japan, the government aims to be a hydrogen economy by 2050. This was the aim of the world’s first hydrogen strategy, which Japan formulated in December 2017. “The hydrogen economy is premised on the use of hydrogen as a fuel, particularly for electricity production and hydrogen vehicles; and using hydrogen for long-term energy storage and for the long-distance transportation of lowcarbon energy,” Zhai said. “The key to achieving such a hydrogen economy is to bring the cost of hydrogen down from more than $10 per kiligram to about $2 per kilogram, which would then be competitive with natural gas,” he added. In order to help countries move toward a hydrogen economy, Zhai said multilateral institutions such as the ADB can do more in terms of financing hydrogen energy projects, including production, transportation and distribution infrastructure, as well as market applications. Zhai added that ADB can also share information about the latest trends and technologies and help governments develop strategies and road maps for hydrogen energy development. He added that ADB can also help enhance the carbon trading platforms and pilot hydrogen technologies and business models for scaling up.

@llectura

TOP official of Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. (PSCPC) has admitted that the deployment of electric vehicles (EVs) in the country remains “a challenging undertaking” because of low demand. “It’s quite a challenging undertaking because, first of all, [the] availability of vehicle, demand. We’re ready to deploy if there’s enough vehicles and facilities. But we also need to understand the degree requirements. Do we have enough capacity to absorb all of these stations? That’s one of the challenges that need to be understood carefully,” said PSCPC President Cesar Romero. The oil company earlier agreed that EV charging stations would be put up in four of its service stations. This was supposed to have been completed in the first quarter of last year. The first three charging stations were supposed to be deployed in the following Shell gasoline stations—one at C. Raymundo Avenue, Pasig City; one at 5 E Rodriguez Avenue, Bagumbayan Libis, Quezon City (Shell C-5 Eastwood Northbound); and another at the SM Mall of Asia, Seaside Boulevard, Pasay City. The fourth location was unknown at that time. The oil company has partnered with local e-mobility start-up firm QEV Philippines, the joint venture between Filipino and Spanish business partners Endika Aboitiz and Enrique Banuelos for this undertaking. “We remain open to the partnership to QEV but our deal with them was they are the ones working out the vehicles. We just identify the stations. So far, we have not been notified to construct more,” said Romero. In February last year, the ABB electronics group announced that four EV charging stations for modern public-utility vehicles (PUVs) will be operational within the

Group ‘dismayed’ by election outcome, fears foreign ownership of mining firms

XPRESSING “dismay” over the results of the recent election that was dominated by administration candidates, anti-mining groups vowed to respect the electoral exercise and the will of the people. According to the Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM) national coordinator Jaybee Garganera, the dominance of traditional politicians, convicted plunderers and political lackeys of the Duterte administration in the winning list of new senators does not bode well for transformative social change it aspires. “We see new senators who are compromised by big corporate interests because, either they were financially supported by business enterprises, particularly mining and extractive interests, or they are actually beneficial owners of these

corporations,” Garganera said. The “erratic” performance of Commission on Elections was exemplified when it’s Transparency Server went down for several hours on May 13, which Garganera finds “deeply troublesome.” “We expect this new Congress to sideline again the Green Bills—the Alternative Minerals Management Bill, the National Land Use Act and the Forestry Management Bill. These bills will never be passed with the newly elected senators who will stop the passage of these bills that will protect our natural resources and ensure that we are able to respond appropriately with the realities of climate change,” he said. Garganera said their group fears that the bid for Charter change will be fast-tracked and that foreign ownership of mining companies and mining operations will be

allowed which will eventually result in more displacement of rural poor communities and additional deforestations, as more areas will be opened up for more the extractive industries. “We anticipate the federalism project will be fast-tracked as well, and we will be vigilant in working with affected communities and other environmental groups to protect our patrimony and natural resources from misplaced economic and industrial projects that threaten our environment,” Garganera said. According to Garganera, regrouping and assessing the new political landscape they are operating in is in order. “We shall consolidate our members and work with local governments to resist the entry or expansion of more destructive mining operations,” he said. Jonathan L. Mayuga

first quarter of the year. As QEV Philippines’s technology partner, the ABB electronics group earlier announced plans to put up 200 EV charging stations over the next three years in support of the modernization program for PUVs in the Philippines. ABB is a Swiss multinational company specializing in robotics power and automation technology areas. Today, ABB has installations of their EV charging posts all around Europe and in many parts of the world. Romero added that there are about a billion vehicles globally, of which, about 3 million are EVs. By 2035 to 2040, the number of vehicles is expected to grow about 2 billion, and the number of EVs is expected to grow by about 300 million. “While it’s a 100-fold increase, if you look at the total proportion, that still has a small proportion as compared to overall quantity of vehicles. It is important

to put that in perspective because sometimes it’s so easy to jump into conclusions that EV is the solution to everything,” Romero said. While the initiative is meant to save over 350 million liters of oil per year, or 3 percent of total imported crude, Romero took note of concerns on energy source. “The other thing that’s worth thinking about is how [the] electricity [requirement is] produced? If it’s mostly from carbon-intensive sources, then it may not lead to the right reduction of carbon dioxide that you aspire [for]. And the final piece is you need to consume energy to produce the vehicles as well,” he said. “The station costs about three to five times [more] to build compared to [a] conventional one. The vehicle takes about the same time to build. My point is, it still has a huge cost disadvantage, lots of stuff to sort out,” explained Romero.

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In the ad material of Notice of filing of Application for Alien Employment Permits published on March 23, 2019, the applicant of NEW ORIENTAL CLUB88 CORPORATION should have been read as Mr. Zhang, Yan and not as published. While in the application published on May 11. 2019, the Company name and Address of Mr. Tan Siow Phing, Timothy should have been read as CEVA LOGISTICS PHILIPPINES INC. located at CEVA Bldg., Pascor Drive Cor. Johann St. Ibayo, Sto. Niño, Parañaque, Metro Manila and not as published. If you have any information / objection to the above mentioned application/s, please communicate with the Regional Director thru Employment Promotion and Workers Welfare (EPWW) Division with Telephone No. 400-6011. ATTY. ANA C. DIONE, CPA REGIONAL DIRECTOR

Editor: Efleda P. Campos

Companies BusinessMirror

Wednesday, May 15, 2019

Power entities owe PSALM ₧59.23B By Rea Cu

@ReaCuBM

HE Department of Finance (DOF) said independent power producer administrators (Ippas) and electric cooperatives top the list of corporate entities with long overdue accounts with the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) amounting to a combined P59.23 billion as of December 2018.

to administer the Unified Leyte Geothermal Power Plants. A Filinvest Utilities subsidiary, the FDC Misamis Power Corp. also owes PSALM P2.56 billion, as the previous Ippa for the Mindanao I and II Geothermal Power Plants. The PSALM report also listed 10 electric cooperatives and industries, with the largest unpaid obligation due to the agency with a combined total of P28.74 billion as of December last year. Broken down, the Lanao del Sur Electric Cooperative (Lasureco) has the highest overdue account, amounting to P9.63 billion represented by its General Manager Nordijiana Ducol. The Public Utilities Department of Olongapo City, although no longer a PSALM client, still owes P6.07 billion in obligations, the defunct PICOP Resources Corp. that used to be owned by TP Holdings Inc. has overdue accounts amounting to P2.96 billion. The Albay Electric Cooperative Inc., represented by Jelinda Pempeña, has P2.61 billion of unpaid power bills, valueadded tax (VAT) and interest and penalties. It is now known as the Albay Power Energy Corp. The Maguindanao Electric Cooperative Inc. led by Sultan Ashary Maongco, has a total of P1.76 billion in unpaid obligations; while Global Steelworks Int’l Inc. which is now known as Global Steel Philippines, a subsidiary of Global Steel Holdings Ltd., has an unpaid account amounting to P1.68 billion. Pampanga III Electric Cooperative Inc., represented by Maria Elizabeth Urbano, has unpaid obligations of P1.27 billion. Pelco III has requested for a restructuring of its account, according to PSALM. Next is the Davao del Norte Electric Co-

operative Inc. led by Emmanuel Galarse with P1.24 billion in overdue obligations. Negotiations are ongoing with Daneco on its overdue restructured account and power bills. Rounding up the list are the defunct Magellan Cogeneration Inc., which used to be controlled by Covanta Energy and has P750.86 million in unpaid obligations; followed by the former Bacnotan Steel Corp., now known as Union Galvasteel Corp. of the Phinma Corp., with P743.68 million in overdue accounts. PSALM said that besides Lasureco and the other electric cooperatives on the top 10 list, five other electric cooperatives were among the firms with the largest pending obligations. These are the Northern Samar Electric Cooperative Inc. represented by Hector Tabilisma with P742.13 million in unpaid obligations; Sorsogon II Electric Cooperative Inc. led by Percival Alvarez with P510.15 million; the Samar I Electric Cooperative Inc. led by Placida Balios with P303.04 million in unpaid obligations; the Zamboanga del Sur II Electric Cooperative Inc. represented by Herman Agpawa Jr. has an overdue account amounting to P275.69 million; and Sorsogon I Electric Cooperative represented by Edwin Garcia has unpaid obligations of P206.23 million. “In fact, in 2018, PSALM borrowed about P23 billion to cover its maturing obligations, and PSALM is set to borrow $1.1 billion for obligations maturing this end of May 2019,” she added. As a result, PSALM had to pay interest, guarantee fees and other finance charges of about P2.62 billion per year. Had the Ippas and electric cooperatives paid, PSALM would not incur this much additional costs, Garcia said.

In an issued statement on Tuesday, the DOF said many of the overdue accounts with PSALM were transferred by the National Power Corp. (Napocor) by virtue of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (Epira), or Republic Act 9136, in 2001. In a report to Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III, PSALM said several Ippas have pending overdue accounts with the agency amounting to P28.46 billion as of December 2018, with some of the Ippas contesting the amounts due in courts or in arbitral tribunals. “Due to these overdue accounts, the government through PSALM is constrained to resort to borrowings that the national government guarantees, in order for PSALM to timely fulfill its mandate of liquidating the financial obligations of the National Power Corp.,” PSALM President-CEO Irene Joy Garcia said. For Ippas, San Miguel Corp.’s South Premiere Power Corp., led by its president, Elenita Go and which administers the Ilijan gas-fired power plant in Batangas City, has

the highest unpaid obligation due to PSALM amounting to P19.75 billion. PSALM earlier terminated the Ippa, but the termination has been enjoined by the courts. Vivant-Santa Clara Northern Renewables Generation Corp., formerly owned by Vivant Energy and Santa Clara Power Corp., owes PSALM P3.86 billion, which awarded it an Ippa contract for the Bakun Hydroelectric Power Plant in Ilocos Sur. Vivant-Santa Clara filed a petition for rehabilitation which was recently purchased by North Renewable Energy Corp, but despite the change in ownership, no payment has been made to PSALM for its overdue accounts. The Good Friends Hydro Resources Corp. (Good Friends) of Lucio Lim Jr. has yet to pay P1.16 billion, while FDC Utilities Inc. (Filinvest Utilities) led by Juan Eugenio Roxas as its president-CEO and a subsidiary of Filinvest Development Corp., owes P1.12 billion. Both Ippas were involved with the contract

PA Properties raises ₧1B in perpetual notes issuance

GT Cap Q1 income falls 8% to ₧3.4B

By Roderick L. Abad @rodrik_28 Contributor

EGIONAL real-estate company PA Alvarez Properties and Development Corp. (PA Properties) has raised P1 billion from the private placement of perpetual notes it issued through the PNB Capital and Investment Corp. (PNB Capital). Proceeds of the hybrid security offering were used to fund the company’s property development initiatives, including land banking, over the next five years, according to PA Properties Chairman Romarico Alvarez. “The successful execution of this offering addresses our funding needs, provides incremental capital to finance our robust development pipeline, and extends our debt-maturity profile while motivating us to explore similar fund-sourcing initiatives in the future,” he said. The perpetual notes were offered only to primary institutional lenders since it’s an exempt equity deal under Rule 10.1.4 of the 2015 Implementing Rules and Regulations of the Securities Regulation Code. Participants to the completed capital-raising activity invested on retirement funds, trust funds and included registered investment houses. PNB Capital structured an innovative financial instrument allowing PA Properties to tap long-term funding while keeping its leverage position at manageable levels. The investment banking arm of PNB relied on the real-estate developer’s 25-year track record, strong revenue growth, stable financial status and partnership with Japan-based conglomerate Hankyu Hanshin Holdings Group. “We are grateful to have PNB Capital as the sole issue manager and lead arranger of this private placement,” Alvarez said. Based in Laguna, PA Properties is among the largest low- to medium-cost housing developers in key growth areas of Luzon. The real-estate firm, with a capitalization of P3.3 billion as of October 2018, has already built around 19,000 housing units in Laguna, Batangas, Bulacan, Cavite, Pampanga and Metro Manila. It continues to embark on strategic expansion efforts to further build 25 additional housing communities in the next five years to help ease the more than 6 million housing backlog in the Philippines and contribute to the growth of the economy, as well.

By VG Cabuag

@ villygc

T Capital Holdings Inc. said its income fell 8 percent during the first three months of the year to P3.4 billion from last year’s P3.7 billion, due to weakness of automotive sales. The company said it is, however, showing signs of recovery. Revenues rose 3 percent to P47 billion for the period, a mere 3-percent year-on-year increase from P45.5 billion last year, mainly on higher equity in net income of associates Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co., AXA Philippines and Sumisho Motor Finance Corp., as well as from the conglomerate’s property investments. “Solid growth in our financial services component companies, the early signs of recovery in the automotive sector, as well as positive developments in our property businesses led to revenue growth for GT Capital

during the period. Easing inflation, sustained government infrastructure spending and improved consumer confidence give us optimism for the rest of the year,” GT Capital President Carmelo Maria Luza Bautista said. Metrobank reported P6.8 billion in net income for the first quarter of 2019, a 15-percent growth from the P5.9 billion recorded last year. Toyota Motor Philippines Corp.’s income fell 25 percent to P1.8 billion from last year’s P2.4 billion. Revenues were flat at P33.8 billion in the first quarter of 2019 from the P33.7 billion reported during the same period last year. Toyota sold 33,554 units for the first quarter of 2019, compared to 34,440 units the previous year. The automotive sector’s unit sales stood at 96,920 from 96,919 the previous year. Also last February, it launched two new

models, namely the fifth generation of the RAV4, and the sixth generation of the HiAce. In the same month, Japan’s Toyota Motor Corp. unveiled the new-generation Toyota HiAce, with the local firm hosting the global launch in the Philippines. Toyota remains the dominant brand in the Philippine auto sector with a 34.6-percent overall market share. GT Capital’s property development subsidiaries Federal Land Inc. and low-cost developer Property Co. of Friends Inc. achieved a combined P4.6 billion in revenues in the first quarter, a 6-percent increase from the P4.3 billion booked last year. Combined real-estate sales for the period also grew by 2 percent to P3.7 billion from P3.6 billion last year. The two companies reported an aggregate net income of P431.1 million in the first quarter, up 2 percent from P423.8 million in the previous year.

BOI awards pioneer incentives to power firm Vires Energy By Elijah Felice E. Rosales @alyasjah

HE Board of Investments (BOI) is providing power firm Vires Energy Corp. with pioneer incentives for its plan to put up the country’s first natural gas-fired floating power plant in Batangas. Vires is putting up a 506-megawatt (MW) natural gas-fired power plant in Batangas City penciled to begin commercial operations by January 2023. The project is estimated to cost P35.23 billion, of which 30 percent will be sourced from equity, while the other 70 percent from loans. Documents obtained by the BusinessMirror showed Vires is in touch with foreign finance providers, as well as with Banco de Oro, for the funding requirement of the project. It will be the country’s first natural gasfired floating power plant, the BOI said. All of the existing natural gas-fired power plants are land based. As a pioneer enterprise, Vires is eligible for

TWO GENERATIONS OF LOPEZES REELECTED Oscar M. Lopez (third from left), chairman emeritus

of First Philippine Holdings Corp., leads the company’s annual stockholders’ meeting on May 10, 2019. He is joined by other members of the Lopez clan after they were reelected, along with 11 other incumbent directors, to the FPH board. Joining him are (from left): his nephew Eugenio Lopez III, also chairman emeritus of FPH’s sister company ABSCBN Corp.; his son Federico R. Lopez, chairman and CEO of FPH; and Ambassador Manuel M. Lopez, his younger brother who is also chairman of Rockwell Land Corp. A pioneering holding company, FPH has interests in clean and renewable energy (through First Gen Corp. and Energy Development Corp.); premium real estate (through Rockwell); industrial estate development (through First Philippine Industrial Park Inc.); manufacturing (through First Philippine Electric Corp. and First Philec Inc.); and construction (through First Balfour Inc.).

up to four years of income-tax holiday from January 2023 or the actual start of its commercial operations, whichever comes first. It is also granted duty-free importation of capital equipment, spare parts and accessories, as well as additional deduction for labor expense for a period of five years. Among others, Vires is allowed to employ foreign nationals in supervisory, technical or advisory posts for five years from date of registration. However, the firm has yet to submit its environmental compliance certificate for the

proposed capacity of 506 MW, as the ECC it filed was only for 400 MW. Under its agreement with the BOI, Vires is mandated to submit a copy of the ECC for 506 MW prior the beginning of its commercial operations. It is also tasked to complete other applicable clearances in line with environmental laws during the construction of the project. Power projects—amounting to P185.4 billion—made up nearly two-thirds of investments approved by the BOI from January to April, which totaled P286.7 billion.

RWM Q1 net income declines by 45% to ₧244M

R AVELLERS International Hotel Group Inc., the gambling arm of businessman Andrew Tan and the owner and operator of Resorts World Manila (RWM), said its income fell 45 percent during the first quarter to P244.43 million from last year’s P444.04 million. First-quarter gross gaming revenues rose 53 percent to P6.9 billion from P4.48 billion last year, driven by the sustained growth of the non-VIP and VIP segments while nongaming revenues amounted to P1.6 billion, up from last year’s P977 million. The company reported that general and administrative expenses increased by 48 percent to P2.65 billion from last year’s P1.79 billion, primarily due to an increase in marketing expenses related to various promotional and advertising activities; increase in salaries and wages; increase in utilities expenses in relation to Phase 3 development. “We’ve been receiving very positive comments after the soft opening of the Grand Wing last year. We are confident that we can deliver sustainable top line and Ebitda [earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization] growth moving forward,” said Kingson Sian, the company’s president and CEO. “With the opening of Hotel Okura Manila in the second half of this year, total room count at the Resorts World Manila complex will be approximately 3,500, supporting the continued growth of the Philippine tourism industry.” Average occupancy rate for the five hotels—Marriott Hotel Manila, Maxims Hotel, Holiday Inn Express Manila Newport City, Hilton Manila and Sheraton Manila Hotel, which was launched in January—stood at 78 percent with a total room count of 2,201. Property visitation for the first quarter reached a daily average of about 35,000 driven by shows, concerts and a higher number of meeting events. The Grand Wing will include three levels of gaming, entertainment and retail spaces. It will also feature three international branded hotels with Hilton Manila and Sheraton Manila Hotel, which has already started operations, and Hotel Okura Manila, which is slated to be launched in the second half of this year. VG Cabuag

Emperador income in Jan-March grows 10% to ₧1.74B

MPERADOR Inc., the liquor arm of businessman Andrew Tan, said its income grew 10 percent during the first three months of the year to P1.74 billion from last year’s P1.58 billion, on higher sales. Revenues reached P11 billion for the period, up 13 percent from last year’s P9.31 billion, it said. “Our overall business continues to show robust performance. Following 2018’s exceptional year with business growing in every region of the world—from Europe to North America, from Middle East to Africa and from the Pacific to Asia. Whisky and premium brandy sales in the first three months of 2019 again proved to be strong. This continues to be driven by our malt whisky and premiumization strategy,” Emperador President Winston Co said. The company introduced three malt whiskies to enhance the malt portfolio of Whyte and Mackay in the last two years—Tamnavulin, Fettercairn and Shackleton—which further solidified the company’s malt strategy. The three brands showed robust signs of growth during the first quarter of 2019, it said. “We are particularly excited about Shackleton Blended Malt Scotch, which is based on the spirit supplied to the 1907 British Antarctic Expedition, expertly crafted using a selection of the finest Highland Single Malt Scotch Whiskies. In fact, Charles Mackinlay & Co., which was the source of Mackinlay’s Rare Old Highland Malt whisky supplied for the expedition, is part of Whyte and Mackay’s Invergordon distillery,” Co said. VG Cabuag

Companies BusinessMirror

Wednesday, May 15, 2019

Semirara Q1 net income down 49% to ₧2.33B

By Lenie Lectura @llectura

ONSUNJI-LED Semirara Mining and Power Corp. (SCC) posted a 49-percent decline in net income in the first quarter of the year as coal and power revenues dipped. SCC reported its net income dropped to P2.33 billion from the P4.57 billion recorded in the same period last year. Its coal segment and Southwest Luzon Power Generation Corp. (SLPGC) contributed P2.13 billion and P226.1 million respectively, while SEM-Calaca Power Corp. (SCPC) recorded a net loss of P22.37 million this year. Consolidated revenues declined by 15 percent at end-March this

year to P9.74 billion, the company reported. The coal business contributed P7 billion, down 16 percent, while the power plants made P2.75 billion, down by 11 percent. Since December 30, 2018, SCPC’s Unit 1 has been on a sixmonth Life Extension Program (LEP), a cost-effective strategy to maintain and upgrade operations of existing facilities beyond its traditional lifetime, at the same time to limit environmental com-

plications and financial risks. SCPC’s Unit 2 will also undergo LEP as soon as Unit 1 becomes commercially available. In the first quarter this year, the plant’s outages and deration were due to boiler tube leaks and repair of condenser. Mostly due to boiler issues, SLPGC’s Unit 3 was also down for a total of 29 days in the first quarter. Meanwhile, SLPGC’s Unit 4 was placed on maintenance shutdown after experiencing tube leaks in mid-January. The power segment incurred a total loss of P95 million for purchases of replacement power totaling 216 gigawatt hours (GWh) in Q1. Energy sales of SCPC and SLPGC increased by 11 percent to 638 GWh from 575 GWh last year. Softer global coal prices af-

fected power average selling price, which dropped 19 percent yearon-year to P4.32 per kilowatt hour from P5.35 per KWh. Total generation from January to March fell to 508 GWh from 642 GWh during the same period last year. The company also reported that coa l production slightly dropped 2 percent to 4.06 million tons from 4.12 million tons last year. Export sales picked up, pushing total coal sales by 4 percent to 3.55 million tons compared to 3.42 million tons in Q1 2018. Drop in global coal prices translated to an 18-percent, year-on-year decrease in coal average selling price from P2,786 per ton last year to P2,272 a ton this year. SCC Chairman Isidro Consunji said last week that 2020 will be a better year for the company.

Geri income rises 65% in Q1 to ₧544M By VG Cabuag

@villygc

ROPERTY developer Global Estate Resorts Inc. (Geri) on Tuesday said its income grew 65 percent during the first three months of the year to P544 million from P330 million last year as its increasing rental income and hotel operations lifted its earnings. Excluding nonrecurring gains of P189 million in the first quarter, the company still saw an 8-percent growth in income from last year, using the same comparative figures. Consolidated revenues excluding nonrecurring gains were up 20 percent year-on-year to P1.7 billion during the first quarter from P1.4 billion in 2018. Geri’s core businesses collectively reached P1.6 billion from January to March of 2019, up 17 percent from P1.4 billion last year. “We believe we made the right investments to secure our rental income early on, as this is now providing stability in Geri’s earnings, which is evident in our results the past several years. We plan to further solidify this side of the business as we add more investment properties across our lineup of tourism townships and integrated lifestyle communities in the country,” company President Monica Salomon said. Geri’s rental income for the first three months of the year more than doubled to P180 million from P87 million during the same period in 2018. The increase was mostly attributed to Geri’s Southwoods Office Towers and its full-scale mall in Biñan, Laguna, the Southwoods Mall, both of which already reached their full-year operations late last year. The company’s hotel operations also saw growth of 78 percent during the first quarter to P171 million from P97 million in 2018. Geri has already opened two hotels, the Savoy Hotel Boracay in Boracay Newcoast, and Twin Lakes Hotel in Twin Lakes, Laurel, Batangas, near Tagaytay. The company is set to open another hotel in Boracay Newcoast this year, Belmont Hotel Boracay, offering around 450 rooms. Geri’s residential sales, meanwhile, were up 5 percent to P1.24 billion from P1.18 billion last year, when it launched new residential projects in Twin Lakes and Southwoods City.

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Phinma Energy getting more shares from oil subsidiary

HINMA Energy Corp. (PHEN) is acquiring more shares of Phinma Petroleum and Geothermal Inc. (PPG) to give the former a 75-percent control of PPG’s total issued and outstanding capital stock. In a disclosure to the stock exchange Tuesday, PHEN said it will acquire 62,962,428 common shares of PPG held by Phinma Corp. and Philippine Investment Management (Phinma) Inc. Of these, 30,481,111 common shares are from Phinma Corp., while 32,481,317 common shares are from Phinma Inc. All 62,962,428 shares represent 25.185 percent of PPG’s total outstanding shares. PHEN cur rent ly ow ns 126,838,679 common shares, rep-

MUTUAL FUNDS

resenting approximately 50.735 percent of the total issued and outstanding capital stock of PPG. After the transaction, it will own an aggregate of 189,801,107 common shares, representing approximately 75.92 percent of the total issued and outstanding capital stock of PPG. Also, PHEN will conduct a voluntary tender offer for the remaining 59,208,851 common shares of PPG, representing approximately 23.684 percent of the total issued and outstanding common stock of PPG, other than the common shares of PPG held by Phinma Power Generation Corp., which is 100-percent owned by PHEN. Details of the tender offer would be announced soon. Lenie Lectura

May 14, 2019

NAV ONE YEAR THREE YEAR FIVE YEAR Y-T-D PER SHARE RETURN* RETURN STOCK FUNDS ALFM GROWTH FUND, INC. -A 258.8 -0.3% 0.37% 0.28% 2.6% ATRAM ALPHA OPPORTUNITY FUND, INC. -A 1.5829 2.54% 9.21% 2.06% 9.86% ATRAM PHILIPPINE EQUITY OPPORTUNITY FUND, INC. -A 4.0326 -2.29% 0.43% -0.61% 3.32% CLIMBS SHARE CAPITAL EQUITY INVESTMENT FUND CORP. -A 0.9227 0.84% N.A. N.A. 3.62% FIRST METRO CONSUMER FUND ON MSCI PHILS. IMI, INC. -A 0.8588 2.07% N.A. N.A. 4.64% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN EQUITY FUND,INC. -A 5.382 0.67% 0.36% 0.13% 2.1% MBG EQUITY INVESTMENT FUND, INC. -A 122.45 6.83% N.A. N.A. 5.14% ONE WEALTHY NATION FUND, INC. -A 0.8601 -0.73% -4.22% N.A. 3.33% PAMI EQUITY INDEX FUND, INC. -A 51.1538 1.96% 1.21% N.A. 3.96% PHILAM STRATEGIC GROWTH FUND, INC. -A 533.83 1.07% 0.27% 0.24% 3.71% PHILEQUITY DIVIDEND YIELD FUND, INC. -A 1.2988 2.91% 1.99% 2.73% 3.57% PHILEQUITY FUND, INC. -A 38.1287 2.91% 2.73% 2.27% 4.08% PHILEQUITY MSCI PHILIPPINE INDEX FUND, INC. -A,3 1.0199 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. PHILEQUITY PSE INDEX FUND INC. -A 5.1813 2.8% 2.16% 2.52% 4.49% PHILIPPINE STOCK INDEX FUND CORP. -A 864.89 2.88% 1.86% 2.45% 4.39% SOLDIVO STRATEGIC GROWTH FUND, INC. -A 0.9146 4.16% 1.18% N.A. 6.2% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY PHILIPPINE EQUITY FUND, INC. -A 4.2664 4.05% 2.24% 1.84% 5.11% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY PHILIPPINE STOCK INDEX FUND, INC. -A 0.9945 2.4% 1.83% N.A. 4.21% UNITED FUND, INC. -A 3.6665 3.26% 4.09% 2.24% 4.73% EXCHANGE TRADED FUND FIRST METRO PHIL. EQUITY EXCHANGE TRADED FUND, INC. -A,C,2 115.7869 3.26% 2.91% 3.52% 4.55% ATRAM ASIAPLUS EQUITY FUND, INC. -B $0.9824 -10.04% 6.36% 0.59% 5.74% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY WORLD VOYAGER FUND, INC. -A $1.2683 -1.49% 8.44% N.A. 14.77% BALANCED FUNDS PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES ATRAM DYNAMIC ALLOCATION FUND, INC. -A 1.698 -0.04% -1.09% -1.88% 2.83% ATRAM PHILIPPINE BALANCED FUND, INC. -A 2.2848 -0.48% 0.49% 0.25% 3.42% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN BALANCED FUND INC. -A 2.6111 0.74% -0.88% -1.98% 2.65% GREPALIFE BALANCED FUND CORPORATION -A 1.3441 0.05% N.A. N.A. 3.05% NCM MUTUAL FUND OF THE PHILS., INC. -A 1.9081 2.86% 0.99% 0.98% 3.53% PAMI HORIZON FUND, INC. -A 3.6489 0.47% -0.46% 0.03% 3.39% PHILAM FUND, INC. -A 16.4759 1.58% -0.18% 0.1% 3.57% SOLIDARITAS FUND, INC. -A 2.1244 1.9% 1.1% 1.57% 2.51% SUN LIFE OF CANADA PROSPERITY BALANCED FUND, INC. -A 3.8214 3.87% 0.92% 1.16% 4.66% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY ACHIEVER FUND 2028, INC. -A,D,4 0.9901 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. SUN LIFE PROSPERITY ACHIEVER FUND 2038, INC. -A,D,4 0.9865 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. SUN LIFE PROSPERITY ACHIEVER FUND 2048, INC. -A,D,4 0.9839 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DYNAMIC FUND, INC. -A 0.9801 4.51% 1.19% N.A. 6.34% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY SECURITIES COCOLIFE DOLLAR FUND BUILDER, INC. -A $0.03631 4.55% 0.62% 1.4% 3.01% PAMI ASIA BALANCED FUND, INC. -A $0.9656 -7.81% 3.34% -0.81% 3.14% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR ADVANTAGE FUND, INC. -A $3.6685 0.26% 5.84% 2.6% 10.88% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR WELLSPRING FUND, INC. -A $1.0854 0.86% 3.63% N.A. 7.47% BOND FUNDS PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES ALFM PESO BOND FUND, INC. -A 348.44 3% 2.1% 2.17% 1.47% ATRAM CORPORATE BOND FUND, INC. -A,1 1.8874 1.39% -0.08% -0.25% 1.52% COCOLIFE FIXED INCOME FUND, INC. -A 3.0268 5.33% 5.24% 5.24% 1.89% EKKLESIA MUTUAL FUND INC. -A 2.1659 2.6% 1.2% 1.85% 1.66% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN FIXED INCOME FUND,INC. -A 2.2697 2.44% 0.6% 1% 2.73% GREPALIFE FIXED INCOME FUND CORP. -A P 1.6036 1.55% -0.84% 0.26% 2.51% PHILAM BOND FUND, INC. -A 4.065 2.04% -0.33% 0.86% 3.7% PHILEQUITY PESO BOND FUND, INC. -A 3.6155 3.74% 1.09% 1.13% 2.8% SOLDIVO BOND FUND, INC. -A 0.9216 1.15% -0.67% N.A. 3.25% SUN LIFE OF CANADA PROSPERITY BOND FUND, INC. -A 2.8988 5.69% 1.37% 1.86% 4.8% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY GS FUND, INC. -A 1.6073 5.28% 0.83% 1.39% 4.38% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY SECURITIES ALFM DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC. -A $455.04 3.1% 1.76% 2.75% 1.51% ALFM EURO BOND FUND, INC. -A Є215.94 1.47% 1.39% 1.49% 1.55% ATRAM TOTAL RETURN DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC. -B $1.1696 5.14% 1.64% 2.19% 3.89% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC. -A $0.0253 2.43% 0.67% N.A. 2.02% GREPALIFE DOLLAR BOND FUND CORP. -A $1.7139 0.9% -1.38% 0.74% 1.4% MAA PRIVILEGE DOLLAR FIXED INCOME FUND, INC. N.S. N.S. N.S. N.S. N.S. MAA PRIVILEGE EURO FIXED INCOME FUND, INC. ЄN.S. N.S. N.S. N.S. N.S. PAMI GLOBAL BOND FUND, INC -A $1.0668 3.52% -0.65% -2.26% 2.81% PHILAM DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC. -A $2.2712 5.87% 0.48% 2.65% 4.61% PHILEQUITY DOLLAR INCOME FUND INC. -A $0.0583558 3.23% 1.22% 1.68% 2.41% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR ABUNDANCE FUND, INC. -A $2.9931 3.51% -0.06% 2.03% 4.21% MONEY MARKET FUNDS PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES ALFM MONEY MARKET FUND, INC. -A 122.81 3.54% 2.27% 1.83% 1.63% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN MONEY MARKET FUND, INC. -A,5 1.0105 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. PHILAM MANAGED INCOME FUND, INC. -A 1.2004 2.99% 1.32% 0.84% 1.57% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY MONEY MARKET FUND, INC. -A 1.2374 3.42% 2.53% 1.91% 1.51% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY SECURITIES SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR STARTER FUND, INC. -A $1.0249 2.09% N.A. N.A. 0.89% * - NAVPS AS OF THE PREVIOUS BANKING DAY ** - NAVPS AS OF TWO BANKING DAYS AGO *** - LISTED IN THE PSE. **** - RE-CLASSIFIED INTO A BALANCED FUND STARTING JANUARY 1, 2017 (FORMERLY GREPALIFE BOND FUND CORP.). ***** - LAUNCH DATE IS NOVEMBER 6, 2017 ****** - LAUNCH DATE IS JANUARY 08, 2018 ******** - RENAMING OF THE FUND WAS APPROVED BY THE SEC LAST APRIL 13, 2018.

********* - BECAME A MEMBER SINCE APRIL 20, 2018. ******* - ADJUSTED DUE TO CASH DIVIDEND ISSUANCE LAST JANUARY 29, 2018

Banking&Finance BusinessMirror

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Wednesday, May 15, 2019

BTr fully awards ₧15B on offer at T-bills auction

By Rea Cu @ReaCuBM

HE Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) fully awarded the P15 billion on offer during its latest Treasury bills (T-bill) auction on Tuesday, as low rates were posted for the security.

Servant leadership

E have just had our elections, and we are all hopeful that those elected have what it takes to be an “ideal leader.” I join those who advocate that a true leader is a servant leader. The thinking here is that inspiring and effective leadership lies not in searching for new and better leaders, but paradoxically, in better followers, and that “leadership is discipleship.” Thus, a good leader is a good follower. I believe that the newly elected officials are such leaders, disciple leaders. Indeed, one must recall the words of Christ who said, “ I came to serve, not to be served.” A noted speaker, Atty. LiwaywayVinzons-Chato of the Center for Servant Leadership, has defined servant leaders to have 10 basic characteristics: (1) listening; (2) empathy; (3) healing; (4) awareness; (5) persuasion; (6) conceptualization; (7) foresight; (8) stewardship; (9) commitment to the growth of people; and (10) building community. The traditional boss is one who commands, expects his orders to be carried out and is motivated by a personal desire to achieve. The servant leader listens and is sensitive to what motivates others and empowers others to win with shared goals and vision, with empathy. A sympathetic leader is aware of the difficulties of those around him, bringing a sense of healing and comfort. He has the persuasive skills, rather than a brusque way of ordering, thus getting things done effectively, having in mind the realization that to be a good leader, he must be able to follow as well. In contrast to the traditional leader who is highly competitive, has an independent mindset and seeks to receive personal credit for achievement, the servant leader is highly collaborative and interdependent, generously sharing credit with others. He focuses on gaining understanding, and uses his intuition and foresight to balance facts, shares the big picture rather than concentrates on the short-term details. He is a good listener, and is respectful even if he disagrees. He feels that personal value comes from

FINEX FREE ENTERPRISE Mercedes B. Suleik

Deputy Treasurer Erwin D. Sta. Ana told reporters the auction committee decided to award all tenors for the T-bills auctioned off on Tuesday, as rates for the government securities were well within internal estimates. “It’s a good turnout, we have received more than thrice bid to cover [ratio], rates are across the board lower than previous [of] about roughly five basis points. So it was a good turnout for the BTr,” Sta. Ana said. The 91-day T-bill was awarded the full P4 billion, with bids

merci.suleik@gmail.com

market view,” he added. Bids for the 182-day tenor amounted to P15.788 billion with the auction committee awarding the full P5 billion on offer. The average annual rate for the security was 5.768 percent, lower by 5.7 basis points from the last auction rate of 5.825 percent. The 364-day tenor bucket was awarded the full P6 billion as bids reached P19.010 billion. The average annual rate for the security settled at 5.936 percent, decreasing by 4.1 basis points compared to the previous

By Joel R. San Juan @jrsanjuan1573

HE Supreme Court has affirmed a Court of Appeals decision that effectively barred thrift bank Air Materiel Wing Savings and Loan Association Inc. (AMWSLAI) from amending its by-laws to be able to expand its membership base to include 24 additional agencies of the Executive Department. A M WSL A I has more t ha n 200,000 members consisting of active and retired personnel of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the Philippine National Police and their dependents. In a recent resolution, the SC’s Second Division held that the appellate court did not commit any error in ruling that Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Pasay City, Branch 119, gravely abused its discretion when it granted AMWSLAI’s petition for certiorari on September 11, 2015, and issued a writ of preliminary injunction preventing the Monetary Board of

the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP-MB) from implementing its June 26, 2015, order denying AMSWLAI’s appeal to allow its expansion. “A s cor rect ly r u led by the CA, AMWSLAI should have filed an appeal before it under Rule 43 of the Rules of Court [Rules]—and not a petition for certiorari before the RTC under Rule 65 of the same Rules—considering that the CA has appellate jurisdiction over resolutions of public respondent which are issued in the exercise of its quasi-judicial functions,” the SC said. “Accordingly, the RTC did not have jurisdiction to act on the above-mentioned certiorari petition, much more issue the ancillary writ of preliminary injunction against public respondent,” it added. In its June 29, 2018, decision penned by Associate Justice Maria Filomena Singh, the CA’s Tenth Division granted the petition filed by the BSP-MB seeking the reversal of the Pasay RTC ruling

in favor of AMWSLAI. Records show that Under RA 8367, otherwise known as the Revised Non-Stock Savings and Loan Association Act of 1997, membership in Savings and Loan Associations (SLA), such as AMWSL AI, must be limited to a “well-defined group.” The Monetary Board is vested with the authority to ensure that SLAs comply with this requirement. However, on May 2014, AMWSLAI sent a letter-application to the Intergrated Supervision Department I (ISD) of the BSP for the approval of its proposed amendment to its by-laws to give way to the expansion of its membership to cover employees of 24 other agencies of the Executive Department, as well as their relatives by consanguinity and affinity AMWSLAI’s application was eventually referred to the Central Applications and Licensing Group (CALG) of the BSP for evaluation. CALG denied AMWSLAI’s ap-

ROBINSON PEREZ carries a subsidized gas cylinder provided by the government for $0.13, in Caracas, Venezuela, on Monday, May 13, 2019. More than 3 million Venezuelans have left their homeland in recent years amid skyrocketing inflation and shortages of food and medicine. US administration officials have warned that 2 million more are expected to flee by the end of the year if the crisis continues in the oil-rich nation. AP PHOTO

plication, saying that the expansion of its members is contrary to the Section 4 of RA 8367. AMWSLAI elevated its bid before the BSP-MB, which also ruled to deny it. Without filing a motion for reconsideration before the BSPMB, AMWSLAI filed a petition for certiorari before the Pasay RTC, which ruled in its favor. However, the CA said “a petition for certiorari under Rule 65 of the Rules of Court to the RTC from the Monetary Board Resolution 1021 was the incorrect remedy, considering that it may only be filed when there is no appeal, or any plain, speedy and adequate remedy in the ordinary course of law.” “The RTC thus had no jurisdiction to act on the petition for certiorari.… Consequently, it also had no authority to issue the writ of preliminary injunction in favor of AMWSLAI considering that it is merely an ancillary remedy to the main action for certiorari,” the CA declared.

PSBank posts double-digit income growth of 10.3% in Q1 2019

HILIPPINE Savings Bank (PSBank), the thrift bank a r m of t he Met roba n k Group, posted a double-digit increase of 10.3 percent in net income to P680.7 million in the f irst quar ter of 2019 versus P617.0 million in the same period last year. The growth was driven by improvement in revenues from interest income, other operating income and efficient expense management. Interest income grew by 10.3 percent from P3.9 billion to P4.3 billion. Other operating income which includes net service fees registered a growth of 2.1 percent while operating expenses, excluding provisions for impairment and credit losses, improved 6.4 percent year-on-year.

Total resources expanded by 4.9 percent to P236.2 billion from P225.1 billion, and gross loans increased by 6.8 percent to P159.3 billion from P149.2 billion in the same period last year. This was bolstered primarily by the growth in the bank’s auto and mortgage loans portfolios. Net nonperforming loans ratio was kept at 3.1 percent as delinquency continued to improve. On the funding side, PSBank’s total deposits was 0.6 percent lower at P185.0 billion from P186.0 billion the previous year as the bank strategically rebalanced its funding strategy with emphasis on low-cost funds, retail clients and alternative sources. Lowcost deposits improved by 6.6 percent year-on-year reaching

P55.0 billion from P51.6 billion. “ T he ba n k ’s commend able double-digit growth puts us on track of our 2019 targets, and is a deliberate result of our firm commitment to reinforce our sales efforts, improve on operating efficiencies, digitize products and channels, and consistently provide exceptional customer experience,” PSBank President Jose Vicente L. Alde said. PSBank completed its P8.0billion stock rights offer after the offer period closed on January 11, 2019. The offer to eligible shareholders of 142,856,925 common shares was priced at P56 per share. The rights shares were listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange on January 18, 2019.

Venezuela announces end to exchange controls after 16 years

auction rate of 5.977 percent. Last week, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) moved to ease its monetary-policy stance with a main policy rate cut, as gross domestic product (GDP) registered a decline in the first quarter of the year, as well as inflation rate for April. A 25-basis-point cut to its overnight reverse repurchase was made during its monetarypolicy meeting, with the interest rates on the overnight lending and deposit facilities reduced accordingly.

SC affirms CA ruling barring AMWSLAI from recruiting from 24 other agencies

mentoring and working with others. The traditional leader sees a network of supporters as a power base, but a servant leader is more concerned with developing access to a network of constituencies, and breaks down unmitigated demand for hierarchy. A servant leader is committed to the growth of his people, builds up the community and is able to listen to the input of others. In contrast to the usual attitude that accountability has to do with finding who is to blame, to a servant leader, accountability is about making it safe to learn from mistakes. Above all, a servant leader realizes that it is all about stewardship, not ownership. The servant-leader ensures good governance and above all, has a vision of the future for himself and others. The best example, of course, of a visionary servant-leader is Jesus Christ. In the book, Jesus, CEO, author Laurie Beth Jones enumerates, among others, these qualities of a visionary servant-leader, as shown by Jesus: (1) He kept in contact with His boss (the Father); (2) He had a plan, a mission; (3) He owned it; (4) He believed in Himself; (5) He did difficult things; (6) He was willing to look foolish; (7) He formed a team; (8) He trained His replacements; (9) He gave them a vision of something larger than themselves; (10) He gave them authority (to forgive); (11) He gave them (and us) something tangible to remember Him by (the Eucharist); (12) He did not waste time judging others; (13) He said thank you; (14) He had compassion for the crowds; and (15) He loved them to the end. I pray that our newly elected officials walk their talk and really look upon themselves as servant leaders in the mold of Jesus Christ.

amounting to P19.850 billion. The average annual rate for the security settled at 5.389 percent, a decline of 4.9 basis points from the previous rate of 5.438 percent. “Actually, that’s in line with the market feedback that we got prior to the auction, so they are anticipating about five to 10 basis points lower, primarily driven by the rate cut last week and [a] possible RRR [reserve requirement ratio] cut as the [Bangko Sentral] governor has alluded in the past couple of days. So, I think the averages are in line with

ARACAS, Venezuela—Venezuela has lifted foreign-exchange controls on banks for the first time in 16 years, but some observers were skeptical on Monday that the measure will do much to lift the shrinking economy. Few people lined up at money-exchange windows in private banks in Caracas to take advantage of the new policy. One man, Rodolfo Gutiérrez, said Venezuela’s hyperinflation is so severe that many people find it hard to buy dollars and are focused on buying whatever food they can. Economist Asdrúbal Oliveros said some private institutions struggle to do international transactions because of US sanctions imposed in a campaign aimed at pressuring President Nicolás Maduro out of office.

“An exchange control can’t be lifted by decree. There have to be the conditions for it,” Oliveros said. The exchange controls were imposed by Maduro’s predecessor, Hugo Chávez, following an attempted coup in 2002. The Venezuelan government took steps in August to loosen controls, allowing people and companies to buy and sell dollars through exchange houses subject to regulations on the price and amount. But the measure had little success due to the scarcity of foreign currency. For years, Venezuela has had a flourishing black market in which dollars are sold for more than the official rate, currently at 5,200 bolivares to the dollar. Venezuela’s financial problems have intensified because of a sharp re-

duction in oil exports, a key source of foreign currency. The oil industry is under US sanctions as Washington and its allies try to open the way for opposition leader Juan Guaidó to replace Maduro, who says he is the target of a coup plot. Russia is a key ally of Maduro. So is China, which delivered a planeload of 71 tons of medical supplies to Venezuela’s main airport on Monday. Venezuela’s humanitarian crisis has dragged on for years, prompting some 3 million people to leave the country for neighboring Colombia and elsewhere. On April 30, Guaidó attempted to break the political deadlock by calling for a military uprising to overthrow Maduro. Key military leaders did not heed the call. AP

Total Capital Adequacy and Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratios stood at 18.4 percent and 15.9 percent respectively; and are both well above the minimum required level set by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). PSBank recently received an issuer rating of PRS Aaa (corp.) by the Philippine Rating Services Corp. (PhilRatings). A company rated PRS Aaa (corp.) has a very strong capacity to meet financial commitments relative to that of Philippine corporates. PRS Aaa (corp.) is the highest corporate credit rating assigned on the PRS scale. To date, PSBank has a distribution network of 250 branches and over 570 ATMs strategically located nationwide.

B4 Wednesday, May 15, 2019

ABOITIZ, ASIAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT FULFILL SHARED VISION OF THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

BOITIZ Foundation donates more than P500,000 ($10 million) to the Asian Institute Management (AIM), through the Scientific Research Management, in supporting two data-science professional chairs and an interest-free student-loan program; and improving of AIM’s newly named Aboitiz School of Innovation, Technology and Entrepreneurship (Asite). The contribution will lead to the establishment of two endowed professorial chairs, to be known as the Aboitiz Chair in Data Science, which will be held by the school’s world-class faculty member-professors Christopher Monterola and Erika Fille Legara. Monterola is concurrently the head of the Asite and executive managing director of AIM’s corporate lab Aboitiz School’s Analytics, Computing and Complex Systems (Access@ AIM). Legara is the academic program director of the Aboitiz School’s Master of Science in Data Science (MSDS) program and deputy managing director of Access@AIM. The donation will also fund the zero-interest Aboitiz student-loan program for the MSDS and the Master of Science in Innovation and Business degree programs of the Aboitiz School, thereby, expanding the institute’s social inclusiveness by helping to support deserving students who do not have the financial resources to attend an international institution. Erramon Aboitiz, chairman of the board of Aboitiz Foundation, notes that, “...Similarly, sustainability is at the core of our growth story anchored on our philosophy that we can do well by doing good, always making the right long-term decisions that balance the interests of people, planet and profit.” The endowment underscores Aboitiz Foundation’s abiding advocacy in education and

provides the much-needed stimulus for moving the country forward in terms of addressing the challenges of the Fourth Revolution Industry. “This gift marks a significant milestone in Philippine philanthropy—we believe it stands as the largest cash donation given to an educational institution in the Philippines, and we hope that the work Aboitiz Foundation and AIM do together raises the educational standard in the Philippines, and contributes toward building and strengthening the emerging economies within the region,” AIM chairman of the board Peter Garrucho Jr., OBE, says. Since its establishment in 2017, the Asite has been receiving an outpour of support for its degree programs, with some of notable contributions coming from global leaders in the technology industry, such as Dr. Narayana Murthy, founder of Infosys Ltd. and member of the AIM board of governors; Stan Shih, founder and honorary chairman of Acer and also a member of the AIM board of governors; and Garrucho. In addition to being home to many worldclass data scientists and engineers, the Access@ AIM laboratory also boasts of a 500-teraflop supercomputer donated by Shih. The lab is meant to lead in the development of actionable insights and the creation of practical solutions to challenges experienced by both industries and governments. “Aboitiz Foundation and AIM have a shared vision of thought leadership within the education, innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem. This gift cements the beginning of a long-term partnership to develop innovationand technology-oriented mangers, leaders and entrepreneurs who will take the lead in transforming Asian business and society,” AIM President and dean Jikyeong Kang says.

LONGEST-RUNNING TRANSSPORTSHOW STARTS ON MAY 23 AT SMX CONVENTION CENTER

HE car show that spans generations of car enthusiasts is back from May 23 to 26 at the SMX Convention Center. The annual TransSportShow is being presented t h is yea r by Phoen i x Pulse Technolog y. The TransSportShow, anticipated to be another grand exhibition of restored and customized show cars by the leading automotive shops in the country, is now on its 28th year and remains to be the longest-running car show in the country, making it an iconic brand in the Philippine automotive industry. The show is organized by Tradeshow Inter nat iona l Inc. ( TSI) ,one of the oldest exhibition management and events companies, which also organizes the Manila Auto Salon and the Sport Truck Show. “[The] TransSportShow has lasted this long mainly because we value the goals and objectives of the key players in the project,” Sophie de los Santos says. “We have not missed a year despite several economic crises that the country has suffered.” There are three good reasons why

as real car enthusiast should not miss the 28th TransSportShow. The show never fails to amaze visitors with a lineup of over 100 project vehicles competing for the much-coveted TransSportShow Cup Best of Show Award. Last year’s Best of Show winner for the contempora r y c l a ss wa s Impor t Hook-Up’s 2017 Mclaren 570S. The Best of Show winner for the nostalgic class was a 1998 Toyota Corolla by Vonetix Radical Creations. The Alex Car restoration bagged the Reserve Best of Show Nostalgic award for its Shelby Cobra. The show is also a trade and retail exhibition of what’s new and popular in the automotiveaftermarket industry. There will be rows of booths to buy accessories f r o m f o r o n e ’s c a r, a s w e l l a s affiliated products and services for the owner/driver. The show will have special promotional events to ensure a fun-filled and exciting car show experience for every one. There w i l l be t he muc h- aw a ited M i ss TransSportShow contest featuring

12 preselected finalists who will be gracing the ribbon-cutting ceremony on opening day, May 23. Joi n i ng t he Tr a n s Spor t S how Cup competition are 2ner magazine, A - plu s Motor work s, A d ren a l i ne Motorsports/Portillo’s Automotif, Alex Car Restoration, Alfred Motor Works, Asian Coatings Phils Inc., Autobot Autowork s Of f Road, Autogenix Carworx, Delta Japan/ Eneos, Dubshop Inc./Silverwind Alloy Castings Inc., HLT International Inc., Import HookUpxStreamline Autoplus, JL Design, JSA Wrapstyle, Jworks Unlimited, Kins Auto Design Philippines, New Autodresscode Inc., New Version, O2wrx Motorshop, Oculus Auto Detailing Hub, Omaka Inc /Atoy Customs, Pad i ’s Point, Prautot y pe Auto Restoration, R 33 C a rs, R ed Oc t agon, R e volt Philippines/Total Hot Support, Road Kings Custom, Speedlab Inc., Versa Vantage Trading and Vonetix Radical Creations. The 28th TransSportShow will be open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. For inquiries, you may e-mail at transsportshow@gmail.com.

STEPH OR SETH? ‘GOT TO FLIP COIN’ Sports BusinessMirror

| Wednesday, May 15, 2019 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

Lakers officially announce Vogel’s hiring as next coach

DELL and his wife, Sonya, decides that wearing a split jersey with Stephen Curry’s Warriors and Seth Curry’s Blazers would be “too easy.” Instead, they’ll flip a coin before each game in the best-of-seven series to determine which team they’ll represent. AP

By Steve Reed The Associated Press

ELL CURRY was standing near the loading dock at the Pepsi Center in Denver when Trail Blazers guard CJ McCollum approached, gave him a big hug and asked, “Which shirt are you wearing?” for the Western Conference final. “Got to flip a coin,” Curry responded. Literally. With sons Stephen and Seth Curry becoming the first siblings to face each other in a National Basketball Association (NBA) conference final, it’s a dilemma most any parent would love. Dell and his wife, Sonya, decided wearing a split jersey with the Warriors and Blazers would be “too easy.” Instead, they’ll flip a coin before each game in the best-of-seven series to determine which team they’ll represent. Stephen Curry can’t imagine how this might feel for his folks. “I just know watching Seth play I get nervous watching him like on TV and stuff,” Stephen said after practice on Monday. “For them, it’s family and parents who supported us all the way through the ranks.” The parents’ routine will go something like this: If Sonya flips heads, she will wear Blazers attire to support Seth, while Dell wears Stephen’s Warriors colors. If the coin lands on tails, she’ll dress in Warriors clothing while Dell dons Blazers gear. The next game Dell gets to flip the coin, and so on—until the series is decided. So who gets to flip the coin for Game One on Tuesday night? “Well, we have to flip to see who flips first,” Dell said with a laugh. “There’s going to be a lot of coin flipping going on.” And a lot of traveling. Dell and Sonya Curry plan to attend every game, sitting with Stephen’s wife Ayesha at Warriors home games and with Seth’s fiancée Callie Rogers when the Blazers host. “They’re like the Royal Family of the NBA,” Warriors Coach Steve Kerr said on Monday. “It’s incredible. There they are, Steph and Seth, both having all this success. As parents, they must be having the time of their lives. Actually I know they are because I’ve talked to them about it. What a beautiful scene. I’m sure it will be conflicting for them this

AKLAND, California—Kevin Durant watched from home in the Bay Area as the Golden State Warriors finished off James Harden and the Houston Rockets on the road. The two-time reigning National Basketball Association Finals Most Valuable Player has a bit more cheerleading to do before he gets back on the court. Durant is likely to miss Games One and Two of the Western Conference Finals against the Portland Trail Blazers, while he recovers from a strained right calf. Durant was injured in Game Five against Houston. “Everyone needs to slow down a little bit on the Kevin stuff. He hasn’t even stepped on the floor yet,” Coach Steve Kerr said on Monday, a day before Game One, noting a more extensive update would come on Thursday. Golden State showed it can win without KD: Stephen Curry came alive at last in the second half of the clincher at Houston, scoring all 33 of his points after the break. Curry and Splash Brother Klay Thompson will look to build off strong performances in that final game against the Rockets to lead the top-seeded Warriors. The two-time defending

next couple of weeks but what a great story.” Dell, who played 16 seasons in the NBA and is currently a TV analyst for the Charlotte Hornets, said the entire situation is just a bit unnerving for him. “I normally don’t get nervous for games when either one of them play,” he said. “But I got a little nervous knowing how they’re going to play against each other.” As hard as this will be on the parents, Dell knows it will be even more difficult for his sons. “It’s going to be tough to put everything aside and battle each other because as siblings they want each other to do well,” Dell said. “They watch each

other’s games and cheer for each other.” Earlier this year, the Curry boys competed against each other in the three-point shootout at the All-Star Game in their hometown of Charlotte, with 31-year-old Steph getting the best of his younger brother. Seth, 28, said it’s hard to believe they’ll now meet in the playoffs. “So many years I’ve watched Steph play in the Western Conference final, the NBA Finals, being in the crowd,” Seth Curry said. “It’s going to be fun to be out there on the court, competing, to get to that final. It’s a dream come true for us, but our families are going to have a lot of fun, as well.” Steph Curry has been to the NBA Finals four times, winning three with the Warriors. This is his brother’s first playoff run. “It would be great for Seth to get a [championship] ring, but we can’t root for one son over the other,” 54-year-old Dell Curry said. “We’re just going to let it play out and have fun watching them both play.” Big brother is proud. “He’s had a very interesting journey to get to where

he’s at, dealing with some significant injuries and surgeries as well where he missed two entire years basically coming out of college and this past year,” Stephen said. “For him to just grind and understand that he belongs on this level, it’s just we’re going to take a different path. His confidence in himself never wavered.” Dell said it’s been fun, and exhausting. The Currys have been jetting around the country for the last month on commercial flights, back and forth between Oakland, Portland, Los Angeles, Denver and Houston to see their sons play. They’ve attended 21 of their sons’ combined 24 playoff games, only missing two Blazers’ first-round games in Oklahoma City and one second-round game in Denver. Sometimes, Dell and Sonya wake up in a hotel unsure of what city they’re in. “Everybody says to us, ‘You guys have to be tired,’” Dell said. “I’m like, ‘Well, we’ll probably sleep for a week when it’s over.’”

K.D. TO MISS GAMES 1 AND 2 champions are seeking a fifth straight trip to the NBA Finals. They will face another formidable backcourt with Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum when the best-of-seven series begins on Tuesday night at Oracle Arena. There are several intriguing storylines in this matchup, too, like Portland star Damian Lillard coming home to Oakland with a chance to shine on the big stage in the final season at Oracle before the Warriors move across the bay to play in San Francisco next season. And how about the Curry brothers? Steph’s little brother, Seth, plays for the Trail Blazers. The Warriors swept the Blazers in the first round two years ago during a remarkable 16-1 postseason run. Lillard missed his first six three-point tries on Sunday, then swished one midway through the fourth when Portland needed him most. The Trail Blazers overcame a 17-point deficit on Denver’s home court to outlast the

Nuggets for a 100-96 win. They have reached their first conference final since 2000, when Portland lost in seven games to Kobe Bryant and the eventual champion Los Angeles Lakers. “This is arguably the biggest win that we’ve had in the franchise for a long time. To be a part of it, to do it the way we did, I’m thrilled,” Blazers Coach Terry Stotts said. “I’m really happy for our guys. As a coach, I think you experience the joy of the team, having different guys come in.” AP KEVIN DURANT has a bit more cheerleading to do before he gets back on the court. AP

L SEGUNDO, California—The Los Angeles Lakers have officially named Frank Vogel as coach, two days after the sides agreed to terms. The team announced the hiring on Monday and will hold an introductory press conference on May 20 at its facility. The Lakers said in a release that Vogel has signed a multiyear contract but a person familiar with the hiring said it was a three-year contract. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity on Saturday because they weren’t allowed to publicly discuss terms. “I am very excited for this opportunity to join the Lakers, a prestigious organization that I have long admired,” Vogel said in a statement. “I look forward to coaching such phenomenal talent and bringing my strategic vision to the team.” Vogel flew to Los Angeles on May 9 and met with a group that included owner Jeanie Buss, General Manager Rob Pelinka and adviser Kurt Rambis after discussions with Tyronn Lue fell apart. The 45-year old Vogel worked for the organization before as an advance scout during the 2005-2006 season. He did not coach last season following two years with the Orlando Magic. Vogel went to Orlando following five-plus seasons leading the Indiana Pacers, including trips to the Eastern Conference finals in 2013 and 2014. He has a career record of 304-291. Vogel replaces Luke Walton, who was dismissed following three seasons as coach on April 12. “Coach Vogel has a proven track record of success in the National Basketball Association Playoffs,” Pelinka said in a statement. “He reflects the core qualities we were looking for in a head coach—including detailed game preparation, extreme hard work, and holding players accountable to the highest basketball standards.” The Lakers have missed the playoffs six straight seasons. The drought was expected to end this season, but injuries to LeBron James, Lonzo Ball and Brandon Ingram, as well as internal discord, resulted in a 37-45 record. Vogel will be the Lakers’ sixth coach since Phil Jackson stepped down after the 2010-2011 season. The Lakers have yet to announce the hiring of Jason Kidd as an assistant on Vogel’s staff. Kidd—who interviewed with the Lakers last month—was a head coach in Brooklyn and Milwaukee but was fired by the Bucks during the 2017-2018 season. He has a 183-190 record. Los Angeles expects to have more than $40 million in salary cap space this summer and will likely resume its pursuit of New Orleans’ Anthony Davis either around the draft or the July 1 start of free agency. The Lakers will likely try to land Kawhi Leonard and other big names who might be willing to play with James. They also have five players—Rajon Rondo, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Lance Stephenson, JaVale McGee and Tyson Chandler—who were on one-year or expiring contracts. AP THE Lakers say in a release that Frank Vogel has signed a multiyear contract, but a person familiar with the hiring says it’s a three-year contract. AP

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C2 Wednesday, May 15, 2019

ARIS—The French soccer league has set up an action plan to tackle homophobia in its stadiums, a system that will pave the way for judicial sanctions against abusive fans. Often heard at French league matches, homophobic chants have been tolerated for a long time by many club officials, and soccer authorities have struggled to find the appropriate ways of tackling the issue. But under the plan unveiled on Monday by French soccer league President Nathalie Boy de la Tour, abusive fans should be worried. Starting next season, in cooperation with the International League against Racism and anti-Semitism (Licra) and a group fighting violence and discrimination against LGBT people, the French league will distribute forms allowing spectators to report the sexist, homophobic or racist incident they witness. “The Licra will be able to start the appropriate judicial procedures,” Boy de la Tour said. “And it will also give a basis to work with to our disciplinary commission.” The French league previously struggled to identify the perpetrators of homophobic chants. With its new process, sanctions are expected to kick in. According to Frederic Potier, the French government’s special representative on racism, antiSemitism and discrimination, insults made in public places like stadiums can lead to large fines. “If qualified as homophobic, they can be punished with a €22,500 ($25,000) fine and six months in prison,” Potier said. Like with racist abuse, Boy de la Tour said referees are also entitled to stop games in case of homophobic insults targeting players. The league’s disciplinary commission can also hand point deductions for incidents involving gay discrimination. The French league has increased its efforts against discrimination following a league match

Bulldogs nip Tamaraws in Filoil meet

By Rick Olivares

ATIONAL University (NU) kept plugging in—in the words of Head Coach Jamike Jarin, “kept the faith”—and the Bulldogs were rewarded with a big 82-77 come-frombehind win over Far Eastern University (FEU) in the Filoil Flying V Preseason Cup on Tuesday at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan. FEU, which led for much of the game, was ahead 77-72 after Wendell Comboy scored five points—highlighted by a triple off an inbounds pass by Brandrey Bienes and the two off a fast-break lay-up—when NU buckled down on defense. Rookie Robert Minerva hit a free throw to trim the deficit to four then comebacking point guard Chino Mosqueda stole off FEU’s LJ Gonzales for a lay-up for a 77-75 count, time down to 1:55. NU forced FEU into a 24-second shotclock violation in the next play, then Bulldogs sophomore John Lloyd Clemente drove hard to basket that drew the attention of FEU center Patrick Tchuente. Clemente dropped a pass to a wide open Issa Gaye who slammed the ball down the hoop for the equalizer. Mosqueda forced Gonzales to pick up his dribble in the next FEU possession, and the ball found its way to Ken Tuffin, who was well covered by NU’s Dave Ildefonso. FEU was whistled for a second consecutive shot-clock violation. Ildefonso added another free throw to give NU the lead, 78-77, with 20 seconds remaining. Ildefonso redeemed his missed free throw with a steal off an FEU inbounds pass and found a wide open Clemente, who knocked down a triple for a huge 81-77 lead. After another stop, Mosqueda tacked on another free throw as NU took the win. “It was a tough and hard-earned win, but I am proud of how we never stopped battling for the ball,” Jarin said. “We got some pointers from Assistant Coaches Jeff Napa and Danny Ildefonso who helped us turn the game around. So credit also goes to them and the 19 guys on our bench.” Dave Ildefonso led NU with 19 points while Robert Minerva added 14. John Lloyd Clemente finished with 10 points. The much-improved Alec Stocketon led FEU with 15 points while Comboy added 13. Barkley Ebona contributed 10. NU evened its win-loss record to 1-1 while FEU dropped to 0-2. In the juniors division, Lyceum of the Philippines defeated upset-minded Ateneo, 8974, behind the 25 points of John Barba and 23 of Mac Guadaña. University of Perpetual Help also won, 81-70, over FEU to remain undefeated at 3-0 in the high-school division. FEU fell to 1-1. Xavier stayed unbeaten in the 11-Under Division after beating Colegio de San Benildo, 60-35, to climb to 3-0. University of the Philippines’s Joe Gomez de Liaño, meanwhile, defeated Arellano University’s Justin Araña, 8-6 in the Hanes One-On-One King of the Hardcourt.

at the Parc des Princes this season between rivals Paris Saint-Germain and Marseille that was marred by homophobic chants by PSG fans. Sports minister Roxana Maracineanu attended the game and said afterward she was appalled, and would not take her children to the stadium. Earlier this month, second-division club Lens was sanctioned by the French league after fans sang discriminatory chants targeting local rival Valenciennes, leading judicial authorities to open an investigation. Lens was fined €50,000 ($56,000), and the league’s disciplinary commission ordered a suspended one-match closure of a stand at the northern club’s stadium. “Never had we seen such an important financial sanction,” Boy de la Tour said. In addition to the clampdown on fans, Boy de la Tour also insists on the pedagogical work that needs to be done with supporters and players, who are often unaware of the true meaning of the insults they hear, or use. Thousands of leaflets will be distributed to coaches and players at academies across the country, while club supporters in charge of organizing dialogue with soccer authorities will receive a specific formation. The campaign will officially be launched on May 17 during the International Day against Homophobia, when team captains, coaches and referees will wear a special rainbow armband at second-division matches. Their topflight counterparts will also take part during the 37th round of matches on May 18. A short movie will also be aired in stadiums and on social networks, with the slogan “Homo or Hetero, we all share the same shirt.” According to Yoann Lemaire, who made a documentary on homosexuality in soccer, players should also get more involved in the debate and take strong stands against discrimination. He said “99 percent” of the players he approached for his movie refused to speak. AP

French soccer looking to stop homophobia in stadiums

PORTLAND Timbers fans hold up a multitude of different-colored pieces of cloth and a banner sign as a display against homophobia before their Major League Soccer game against Chivas USA in Portland, Oregon, in 2013. AP

SOUTH AFRICA BACKS SEMENYA S

OUTH AFRICA’S track federation will appeal against the Caster Semenya ruling, the country’s sports ministry said on Monday. The government ministry said two of the three judges who heard the case at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) were “conflicted,” facts were ignored and track and field’s governing body was given “unfettered latitude” to do as it pleases. Athletics South Africa (ASA), the governing body of track and field in the country, was one of two parties alongside Semenya to take the International Association of Athletics Federations CASTER SEMENYA must lodge an appeal by May 31—within 30 days of the Court of (IAAF) to court Arbitration for Sport ruling. AP

to challenge its testosterone regulations in female competitions. The IAAF won the case and last week rules came into effect requiring the Olympic 800-meter champion from South Africa and other female athletes with “differences of sex development” conditions and high levels of natural testosterone to medically lower them to be eligible to compete in events from 400 meters to one mile. At a Diamond League track meet in Qatar two days after losing the case, the 28-year-old Semenya said she would not take medication and follow the rules. Athletics South Africa declined to comment on Monday on any appeal, and Semenya’s lawyers have also not confirmed any appeal. Still, sports ministry spokesman Vuyo Mhaga insisted that ASA made the decision to appeal and the ministry had merely been informed by ASA of the move.

Parties can appeal a CAS decision on a very limited number of grounds. They include a lack of jurisdiction, a violation of procedural rules or a ruling that’s incompatible with public policy. An appeal would be heard by the Swiss Federal Tribunal. ASA or Semenya must lodge an appeal by May 31—within 30 days of the CAS ruling. They could also ask for an interim ruling by the tribunal to suspend the testosterone regulations until a full appeal is heard. That could allow Semenya to defend her 800-meter title at the world championships in Doha, Qatar, in September without having to medically lower her testosterone level, which the IAAF says gives her an unfair advantage over other women. In its statement, the South African sports ministry outlined ASA’s grounds for an appeal. It said two of the three judges who heard the Semenya case were “conflicted” because

they sat on a CAS case involving the IAAF’s previous testosterone regulations brought by Indian sprinter Dutee Chand in 2015. Semenya lost her case by a 2-1 majority ruling of the panel. The sports ministry also said the scientific and medical evidence presented by Semenya’s lawyers was strong, yet “the facts before court and the outcome do not match.” The ministry said the CAS decision did not fully address how the IAAF would implement the contentious hormone limits, which have been described as ethically questionable by the World Medical Association. “The pertinent legal questions that the court should have addressed were not addressed,” the South African sports ministry said. “The court simply gave the unfettered latitude to the IAAF to do as it pleases.” ASA and Semenya could have a case if CAS judges ignored strong scientific evidence disputing how much advantage the South African runner gets from her high natural testosterone. The IAAF’s data has been criticized as flawed by some scientists. The Swiss Federal Tribunal could also consider if Semenya’s human rights have been violated. CAS agreed that the testosterone rules discriminated against Semenya but decided the discrimination was necessary to ensure overall fairness in female competition. As well as the court appeal, the South African sports ministry said it would approach the United Nations General Assembly “to sanction the IAAF for violating international human-rights instruments.” AP

Ramos, Ganzon top run-bike-run races at Clark Global City

WILLIAMS VS. WILLIAMS

SERENA WILLIAMS faces Venus Williams on European clay for the first time in nearly 17 years. AP

OME—Serena Williams looked sharper than in her previous match two months ago as she opened her clay-court season with a routine 6-4, 6-2 win over Swedish qualifier Rebecca Peterson on Monday. Next up at the Italian Open: Sister Venus Williams in the siblings’ first meeting on European clay in nearly 17 years. Venus, who won her only Rome title 20 years ago, defeated Elise Mertens, 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (4), after more than three hours, requiring nine match points before eliminating her Belgian opponent. The Williams sisters’ last match on red clay came in the 2002 French Open final won by Serena. In their last match in Rome, Venus won their second career meeting way back in the 1998 quarterfinals. “That’s crazy,” Serena said. “I vaguely remember that, so I don’t really remember.... We play each other a lot. Seems like every tournament nowadays we meet early. It is

what it is.” Serena is now a 37-year-old mother, and Venus is 38. “It doesn’t change at all. We’re just as fierce, Venus is just as fierce,” Serena said. “We both really want to get some match play. We’ll both do the best that we can. Serena leads the career series 18-12. “I know that she’s going to play really well and compete really well,” Venus said. “That’s a given.” In March at the Miami Open, Serena needed three sets to beat Peterson. “It’s been a while. I haven’t played a ton of matches this year,” Serena said. “Not my choice, just by force. I really, really actually desperately wanted to be on the tour and to be playing. It felt good to finally be back out. Hopefully, I’ll be able to keep it up.” Serena fell behind 3-1 in the first set but then began to take control with her baseline power on a windy day at the Foro Italico.

When Serena ran down a passing attempt from Peterson and replied with a cross-court winner to break for 5-2 in the second set, she let out a scream and bent over as she pumped both of her fists. In the final game, Serena served two aces and saved two break points before closing out the first-round match. Serena finished with 28 winners to Peterson’s eight, and committed only two more unforced errors than the 58th-ranked Swede, 22-20. Serena was playing for the first time since withdrawing ahead of her third-round match in Miami because of a left-knee injury. The last time Serena played in Rome was in 2016 when she won the last of her four Italian Open trophies. Serena is playing only her fourth tournament of the season and was unable to finish her last two due to physical ailments. “I haven’t been able to train or practice a lot. I was out much longer than I expected,” Serena said. “But I did everything I could to stay fit and

to keep my cardio up. I knew that I love the clay season and I wanted to be a part of it.” In men’s action, Italy’s top player Fabio Fognini wore a shirt featuring a design of Rome’s skyline during a 6-3, 6-4 win over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga; and Borna Coric rallied past Felix AugerAliassime, 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-4, in a matchup of two of the top young players on tour. AugerAliassime struggled with his serve, hitting seven double-faults to Coric’s one. Also, Karen Khachanov overcame a partisan crowd to beat Italian wild card Lorenzo Sonego, 6-3, 6-7 (1), 6-3; while last year’s French Open semifinalist Marco Cecchinato was inspired by the home fans to beat Alex Di Minaur, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1. Spanish qualifier Albert Ramos-Vinolas eliminated Gael Monfils 6-3, 6-1; and Denis Shapovalov beat Pablo Carreno Busta, 6-3, 7-6 (5). Others advancing on the women’s side included Madison Keys, Garbine Muguruza, Johanna Konta and Dominika Cibulkova. AP

EROSA-CORSA’S Joshua Ramos and former national standout Alexandra Ganzon emerged as the as the fastest male and female finishers, respectively, in the Clark Global City Duathlon 2019 copresented by Smart held on Sunday at the Clark Global City in Pampanga. Ramos completed the long-distance 6-km run/60km bike/4-km run race in two hours, 27 minutes and 16 seconds to emerge overall winner and male 18-24 age group champion. Former national duathlon champion Ganzon, racing in the female 30-34 age group category, crossed the finish barely two minutes after Ramos in 2:29.14. Hot on Ganzon’s heels was her male 30-34 counterpart, Oscar Miguel Mapalo of 2Wheel Nation Cycling Club, who checked in at 2:30.00 to finish second in the men’s contest. Mapalo’s fellow age grouper, Luigi Victor Robles of FIT. PH, rounded out the men’s podium with a time of 2:31.39. Bernadette Tan was the second-fastest female and first place in the 45-49 age group in 2:51:15, while Celma Hitalia (2:57:25) took the 50-above title. “We’re happy with the turnout of this race and considering the feedback from the participants, we’d be happy to support another edition next year if one gets planned,” said Nlex Sports Coach Allan Gregorio. Gregorio and Wilfredo Placino, Vice Chairman and President of Global Gateway Development Corp., awarded the trophies to the winners. The other long-distance champions were Louie Cupino and Kathrina Lagunsad (25-29 age group), Bryan Lucas and Patricia Margaret Serios (35-39), Juayn Baugbog and Laarni de Guzman (40-44), Edward Luna (male 4549), Emmanie Mondero (male 50-54), Jelle Beekma (55-59) and Demosthenes Ydia (60-above). The Sprint Distance (3-km run/30-km bike/3km run) honor roll included Erika Nicole Burgos and ElizVon Quintella (15-19), Celma Marie Constantino and Jan Dennis Borbolla (20-29), Ma. Lourdes Cabero and Melchor Ortiguerra (30-39), Grace Zamora and Danny Dexter Beltran (40-49), Trixie Halaguena (50-above), Ruben Ercilla (5059) and Larry Ronquillo (60-above).

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Wednesday, May 15, 2019 C3

DO-OR-DIE GAME 7

AN Miguel Beer and Magnolia collide in a winner-take-all Game Seven of the Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup Finals on Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. The series boiled down to an exciting notomorrow game after the Beermen, champions of the past four all-Filipino conference, avoided the exit with a 98-86 win in Game Six on Sunday. Game Seven is set at 7 p.m., with both the Ramon S. Ang squads eyeing the Emilio “Jun” Bernardino trophy. Election day on Monday was no rest day for both the Beermen and Hotshots. San Miguel Beer’s Leo Austria and Magnolia’s Chito Victolero put their respective team in harness Game Seven. Austria solved the riddle that is Magnolia’s defense in Game Six with five-time Most Valuable Player June Mar Fajardo and his supporting cast flashing their best form to keep the team on course to a fifth straight Philippine Cup conquest. The 6-foot-10 Fajardo tallied 23 points and 18 rebounds to lead San Miguel. Marcio Lassiter had 20 points, while Chris

Ross and Christian Standhardinger collected 17 and 16 points, respectively, where the pendulum swung to the Beermen’s favor. Austria acknowledged his second unit’s contribution especially in defense for their victory in Game Seven. “I think from what happened in the game, the defense of the second group gave us a good lift,” Austria said, referring to Standhardinger, Terrence Romeo, Matt Ganuelas-Rosser and Von Pessumal. “Because of their defense, we had our composure in the second half. The players showed that they really don’t want to lose the game. They don’t want to relinquish the title to our opponents,” he added. San Miguel jumped to a 21-point lead in the first half and held on the rest of the way. The Hotshots drew 17 points from Jio Jalalon and 16 from veteran Rafi Reavis. “We knew from the start that its going to be tough. But we are always positive,” Victolero said. “There’s still a chance and what we should do is to make things happen in Game Seven.” Ramon Rafael Bonilla

Gilas gals target strong finish in 3x3 Asia Cup

C SAN Miguel Beer’s Arwind Santos is sandwiched in the rebound battle by Magnolia’s Rafi Reavis (left) and Ian Sangalang.

CHAMPS IN SINGAPORE

The Philippine national team composed of riders from the Navy-Standard Insurance squad rules the OCBC Cycle Speedway Southeast Asia Championship recently in Singapore. The Malaysian team placed second while Vietnam finished third. Standing atop the podium are (from left) Jhon Mark Camingao, Ronald Oranza, Jan Paul Morales and John Mier. The entry of the Philippine team is made possible under the auspices of PhilCycling headed by Tagaytay Rep. Abraham Tolentino.

A shame if San Miguel doesn’t win tonight parted ways with the Elasto Painters, who drafted him third overall in 2013. Under the guidance of former Head Coach Yeng Guiao, Almazan partnered with fellow bigs Beau Belga and JR Quiñahan to win the 2016

Commissioner’s Cup for Rain or Shine. Since the departure of Guiao who now coaches NLEX, reports showed that a tumultuous relationship ensued as the Bataan native went AWOL in the Governors’ Cup last season. Almazan returned to action in the Philippine Cup but played only six games and averaged 8.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.2 blocks. Ramon Rafael Bonilla

RONDINA

LAURE

spikes against Ateneo’s 24. They also served 10 aces in the process. The victory also marked the end of UST’s 15game losing streak to Ateneo. As leader, Rondina pressed her teammates to stay focused and that paid off as Caitlin Viray, Ysa Jimenez and setter Alina Bicar chipped in significant contributions. “I really showed them that we must win. “I just want to bring the crown back to España,” Rondina said. For the Lady Eagles, it’s win or go home and Oliver Almadro—who steered Ateneo’s men’s team to a title streak in the league—is keeping his fingers crossed that the quartet of Kat Tolentino, Maddie Madayag, Bea de Leon and Ponggay Gaston will click in Game Two. Tolentino was the only Ateneo player in double digits with 12 points off 10 spikes in Game One. Ramon Rafael Bonilla

Santillan, Skippers stay in contention

ARINERONG Pilipino kept itself in contention for the fourth playoff spot in the Foundation Group with a 90-76 drubbing of University of Perpetual Help on Tuesday in the Philippine Basketball Association Developmental League at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City. Santi Santillan scattered 21 points and

championships with the Bulldogs in the UAAP; Bernardino, also of NU, is a three-time MVP in the UAAP; and Castro, of Far Eastern University, is the tallest at 6 feet and 4 inches. “We will try to reach the next phase,” added Aquino, who is also looking forward to forming the best team for the 30th SEA Games in Manila in November. “Probably this will be the same team for the SEA Games. They will also be part of our 5-on-5 team.”

THAT’S ALL

U.S.T. EYES U.A.A.P. CROWN NIVERSITY of Santo Tomas (UST) goes for the jugular against Ateneo that would end the Golden Tigresses’ nine-year women’s volleyball drought in Game Two of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 81 Finals on Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City. The Golden Tigresses demolished the top-seed Lady Eagles, 25-17, 25-16, 25-20, on Saturday to move a win closer to winning the title they brought home in Season 72. The match is set at 4 p.m. Most Valuable Player Sisi Rondina and Rookie of the Year Eya Laure made UST look unstoppable and Ateneo a picture of disarray in Game One. But despite the stunning straight-set win, UST Head Coach Kungfu Reyes brushed off the excitement and urged her wards not to bring their guards down. “If we can end it this Wednesday, we will do it,” Reyes said. “We’re not going to stop until the league is over.” Reyes said the fruit of their labor is within their reach and to make it happen, Rondina and Laure must again bring their A game. The graduating player unloaded 23 points off 20 attacks, while Laure added 11 points to provide the needed arsenal for UST. The Tigresses controlled Game One with 46

Taipei, Samoa and Vanuatu. The goal, according to Aquino, is to top the bracket and advance to the second phase. “If we advance, then we will face the tougher teams like Japan, China and New Zealand,” said Aquino in the session presented by San Miguel Corp., Braska Restaurant, Tapa King and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. “You have to qualify to the main tournament. The goal is to make it there.” Aquino, who holds the UAAP record in the women’s division with 80 consecutive wins as a coach, described his team as currently “the best that can represent our country in women’s 3-on-3.” Pontejos, a 22-year-old from Centro Escolar University, is a “pure shooter” who saw action in the 2018 Fiba 3x3 World Cup; Animam at 20 is the youngest but with five

AL MENDOZA alsol47@yahoo.com

Almazan traded by RoS to Meralco HE Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) approved a trade that sent Raymond Almazan from Rain or Shine to Meralco in exchange for the Elasto Painters’ 2019 and 2021 first-round picks. The 6-foot-8 Almazan finally

OACH Pat Aquino is confident that he has the right tools to carry the Gilas Pilipinas women’s team to a strong finish in the Fiba 3x3 Asia Cup in Changsha, China, from May 23 to 26. “These are the best players that we have,” said Aquino, program director of women’s basketball for the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) and head coach of National University in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP). Aquino graced Tuesday’s Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum at the Amelie Hotel-Manila along with the members of the Changsha-bound squad Jack Animam, Afril Bernardino, Janine Pontejos and Clare Castro. The team face lower-ranked Chinese-

17 rebounds as he willed the Skippers back from an early 32-20 deficit and grab a 50-36 halftime lead. Gab Banal anchored Marinerong Pilipino’s attack with 27 points, 12 boards and six assists, while Art Aquino added 13 points and five rebounds. It was a big win for the Skippers, rising to 5-4

MEMBERS of the Gilas women’s program—(from left) Claire Castillo, Jack Danielle Animam, Coach Patrick Aquino, Janine Pontejos and Claire Castro grace, Tuesday’s forum. ROY DOMINGO

PHL Golf Tour Asia goes overseas with Daan Taiwan Open in Taichung

HE Philippine Golf Tour (PGT) Asia goes overseas for the first time on its third season as it holds the Daan Taiwan Open from May 23 to 26 where some of the country’s leading pros go up against the hosts’ top and rising players at the CCK Golf Club in Taichung. Top guns from other countries who are regular campaigners on the region’s newest circuit and the leading players in Taiwan PGA (TPGA) are also seeing action in the $100,000 championship that would further highlight PGT Asia’s steady rise as one of the region’s emerging circuits. “Holding tournaments abroad has been part of the PGT Asia program in our continuing commitment not only to help raise the level of play among Filipino pros but also advance the growth of PHL golf,” said Colo Ventosa, general manager of Pilipinas Golf Tournaments Inc., organizer of the country’s three pro circuits, including the PGT and the Ladies PGT. Sixty-five mainstays of PGT Asia will be mixing it up with 79 of the leading TPGA

campaigners in what promises to be a slam-bang duel with veteran internationalists and multititled Tony Lascuña and Jay Bayron leading the Filipinos’ campaign in the 72-hole championship. To underscore PGTI’s commitment to help raise the level of play of Filipino pros, a second PGT Asia event in Taiwan is also scheduled from September 26 to 29 for the Nan Pao TPGA Open in Nan Pao Golf Club. “Our goal is to grow the PGT Asia further and we need more of our talents to play abroad and join the likes of Miguel Tabuena and Angelo Que, who have been mixing it up with the top players from Asia and Europe the last few years,” said Ventosa. The LPGT actually first broke barriers when it staged its first tournament abroad, the Party Golfers Ladies Open, also in Taiwan late last year with the second edition slated from October 2 to 4, also at the National Golf Country Club in Miaoli County. By providing the Filipino pros the opportunity to compete on a different setup and environment, Ventosa believes the exposure will be beneficial to their respective games in particular and to Philippine golf in general.

THAIS POSE THREAT IN TAGAYTAY JAY BAYRON leads the Filipinos’ campaign in the 72-hole championship.

in the team standings as they now bank on Centro Escolar University to topple Far Eastern University in their duel next week to claim the seat. Diliman College-Gerry’s Grill also got eliminated following the Marinerong Pilipino win as the Blue Dragons hold an inferior quotient in the event of a triple-tie between them, the Skippers and the Tamaraws. Edgar Charcos scored 19 points, five assists, four rebounds and two steals for Perpetual Help, which dropped to 2-6).

COMPACT but talent-laden Thailand contingent, including four who have notched victories on the Ladies Philippine Golf Tour (LPGT), goes all-out to restamp its class in the International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) Tagaytay Midlands which gets going on Wednesday at the Midlands layout in Tagaytay City. Thanutra Boonraksasat spearheads the country’s perennial regional rivals’ campaign in the 54-hole championship, seeking not only a follow-up to her victory at Manila Southwoods last March but also make up for her final round meltdown that led to a third place effort to the last LPGT event at Royal Northwoods won in runaway fashion by Pauline del Rosario three weeks ago. “I think we can go low here although it will boil down to putting,”said del Rosario, priming for a series of tournaments in Florida, in her buildup for the Ladies

Professional Golf Association Tour Q-School. But three other Thais are also tipped to contend for top honors in the P750,000 event serving as the ninth leg of LPGT put up by ICTSI and organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments Inc., including Supakchaya Pattaranakrueng, Onkanok Soisuwan and Saruttaya Ngam-usawan. Pattaranakrueng nipped former three-time LPGT Order of Merit (OOM) winner Cyna Rodriguez to snare the Luisita crown while Soisuwan topped the Mount Malarayat stop, both last year while Ngam-usawan aims for a second crown after scoring a breakthrough at Northwoods in 2016. Numa Gulyanamitta, Ajira Nualraksa and Tip Seeumpornroj are the three other Thais seeking to steal the thunder not only from their fancied compatriots but also from the country’s leading campaigners.

ONCE the good, ol’ San Miguel Beer (SMB) is back, beware. Look what the Beermen did on Sunday. Massacre Magnolia. Woe to those who missed seeing the Beermen find themselves again. But no, San Miguel did not actually restructure its offense and defense to win Game Six running away. It just resurrected its old self. It was pure basketball beauty from SMB almost from jumpball to the endgame. Indeed, when SMB wants to win, it can win— with grace, with artful aplomb. Sunday’s Game Six was a screaming proof to that again. Its talent as deep as the ocean, San Miguel Beer simply dished out winning moves in abundance that Magnolia could not simply handle. The Hotshots were so outplayed this time that they did not have a single solid answer practically all throughout. Oh, yes, Magnolia chopped down SMB’s double-digit leads to six points and, for a while there, a monumental comeback was in the offing. It was then that San Miguel’s depth resurfaced. Again. Terrence Romeo, the newest acquisition, hit a three. Marcio Lassiter would next complete a threepoint play. And the flirting with defeat SMB was toying with got snuffed in a snap. It was teamwork at its sterling best as the Beermen played like a symphony orchestra. June Mar Fajardo manned the slot with his usual dominance. Arwind Santos bombed from afar with curt consistency. Chris Ross did his direction in near-flawless fashion. And, yes, Lassiter finally recalled his old role as the precise gunslinger. All four, plus the new kid in town a.k.a. Romeo, ensured a Game Seven for the PBA Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. That’s tonight. And it would be a shame, indeed, if San Miguel Beer could not proceed to defeat Magnolia anew to win a record fifth straight All-Filipino title, the most prestigious among three conferences the PBA offers yearly since its inception in 1975. But in fairness, Magnolia is capable of engineering an upset. After all, it has come this far; even that is already a feat not to be sneezed at. THAT’S IT Happy birthday today to my comadre May Uy, the beautiful owner of May’s Organic Farm in Bacolod City. Many more to come, comadre!

ITALIAN STRIPPED OF STAGE VICTORY O Sports

RBETELLO, Italy—Elia Viviani was stripped of winning the third stage at the Giro d’Italia on Monday. Viviani was ruled by the race jury to have deviated from his line in the final sprint in Orbetello, even touching wheels with Italian compatriot Matteo Moschetti. Viviani finished second on Sunday and thought he’d made up for it on Monday at the end of the 220-kilometer (137-mile) route from Vinci. Instead, Fernando Gaviria of Colombia was given the win, with Arnaud Demare second and Pascal Ackermann third. “It’s difficult to smile or to be happy when something like this happens to a friend,” Gaviria said. “I’m disappointed for him because for me nothing happened. For me he’s the winner. “The decision is extreme. He never looked back to see who was behind him so he didn’t do it with any intent. He only wanted to win, not to damage someone. He’s always been correct, a great racer. I’m disappointed for him.” Viviani left the finish zone after the decision without speaking to journalists and with an angry expression, in contrast to his joy when he was interviewed immediately after crossing the line. He used that interview to apologize to Moschetti and revealed how much Sunday’s disappointment played on his mind. “Yesterday I made a mistake. I thought about it all night,” Viviani said. Slovenian cyclist Primoz Roglic remained the overall leader. Roglic, who won the opening time trial on Saturday, is 19 seconds ahead of British cyclist Simon Yates, and 23 seconds ahead of home favorite Vincenzo Nibali. The peloton had a relatively easy day, which was characterized by strong crosswinds at the finish and a long solo ride from lone escape Sho Hatsuyama. The Japanese cyclist raced about 144 kilometers on his own before being caught 75 kilometers from the finish. “It was an easy day actually because only one guy in the front, all day nothing,” Roglic said. “But it was quite windy and then the stress at the end. The team did the perfect job and we finished without any problems.” The fourth stage on Tuesday is an undulating 234-kilometer route from Orbetello to Frascati, with an uphill finish which could see a change in the pink jersey. The Giro finishes in Verona on June 2. AP

BusinessMirror C4 | W , M 15, 2019 ednesday

mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

COLOMBIA’S Fernando Gaviria (third from left) and Italy’s Elia Viviani (sixth from left) sprint during the third stage of the Giro d’Italia. AP

Maximum Security rider banned 15 days for Derby interference

EXINGTON, Kentucky—Jockey Luis Saez was suspended for 15 days for failing to control Maximum Security and causing interference that resulted in the horse’s historic disqualification as the Kentucky Derby winner. The decision by the Kentucky stewards was announced by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission. A lawyer for Saez said the suspension is “unwarranted” and that the rider’s legal team will file an appeal within 10 days. They are also seeking a stay of the penalty pending appeal. “He had a flawless ride in the Kentucky Derby and there’s no reason that the stewards should have given any discipline to him,” said attorney Sean Deskins of the Oldfather Law Firm in Louisville. “He did everything that he was required to do and that was within his power to control the horse.” Saez was cited for failing to “make the proper effort to maintain a straight course” in the May 4 race at Churchill Downs. Country House, a 65-1 shot was elevated and declared the winner. It was the first time the horse finishing first at the Derby was disqualified for interference. Maximum Security was placed 17th of 19 horses. Saez’s suspension is from May 23 through June 14 and covers racing dates. The stewards’ ruling comes a week after the racing commission denied an appeal of Maximum Security’s disqualification by coowner Gary West. The commission’s swift denial came hours after West announced that Maximum Security would not run in this weekend’s Preakness at Pimlico in Baltimore. The commission said that stewards’ decisions are not subject to appeal. It also denied a request to stay the disqualification ruling pending appeal. West and his wife, Mary, said in a statement on Thursday that they are evaluating their legal options. They added that with a “just and proper hearing of our case, Maximum Security will be restored as the rightful winner.” Maximum Security led a muddy Derby from wire to wire, holding off Country House down the stretch in a trip that initially appeared to improve the 9-2 second betting choice to 5-0 lifetime. Stewards instead took the colt down after determining Maximum Security impeded the path of several horses between the far and final turns of the 1 1/4-mile race. Maximum Security was near the rail before veering several racing lanes to his right and making contact with War of Will, who retreated, Long Range Toddy and Bodexpress. Country House was involved on the outside but didn’t appear seriously affected. Country House’s rider, Flavien Prat, filed an objection and said Maximum Security interfered with his horse. AP A LAWYER for Luis Saez—seen here on Maximum Security—says the suspension is “unwarranted” and that the rider’s legal team will file an appeal within 10 days. AP

PGA CHAMPIONSHIP OPENS IN COLD RAIN A

PFARMINGDALE, New York—Matt Kuchar is playing his 54th major championship and realized something new as he walked off the 18th green at Bethpage Black. “I think this is the first time I’ve worn a beanie at the PGA [Professional Golfers’ Association] Championship,” he said on Monday. He wasn’t alone. Tiger Woods was layered in clothing for an early nine holes of practice to beat the rain, with a knit beanie over his cap. From a distance, it was hard to distinguish between tour pros and club pros, major champions and major rookies. All of them were bundled in dark rain gear. The PGA Championship has moved to May for the first time since 1949, and for the moment, everyone is feeling it. Temperatures were still in the upper 40s when players headed out for the first official day of practice on the Long Island public course, already soaked from weekend rain with more falling in the afternoon. Just like Lucas Glover remembers it. Glover won the last major at Bethpage Black, the 2009 US Open, during a week so inundated with rain that it didn’t finish until Monday afternoon and the maintenance crew kept finding shoes in the muck weeks after it was over. “Weather was just like this, actually,” Glover said. It should get better by the time the championship begins on Thursday, with temperatures pushing 70 by the weekend. But a wet course is a long course, and there were plenty of examples of that during morning practice. Woods played the front nine and had 256 yards into the 524-yard seventh hole, which plays as a par 4 this week. He hammered a 5-wood that came up short. He tried a 3-wood from the same spot and that also failed to reach the green, and at that point Woods jokingly suggested he might consider teeing it up for a driver. Kuchar hit driver down the middle of the 15th fairway, contemplated his approach to an elevated green guarded by bunkers and was surprised to see it come up short. It didn’t get much better from there. He hit a 3-hybrid into the par-four 16th, and another 3-hybrid into the par-three 17th. “The ball isn’t bouncing, obviously,” Glover said. “Long and hard, that’s what I remember. It’s kind of fun when it is that soft because the ball just kind of goes where you hit it. You get extra rewarded for a good shot, and a bad shot is still bad. So it’s still fair.... With it soft like this—probably going to be soft the first few days—there will be a lot of long clubs in, so it will be to your advantage if you’re striking your irons well, especially your long irons.” Woods won the 2002 US Open at Bethpage, which featured a steady rain in the second round and an hour delay for rain in the final round. Glover won the next US Open at Bethpage in 2009, and the PGA Tour staged its opening FedEx Cup playoff event on the Black Course twice. Nick Watney won in 2012, and Patrick Reed won in 2016. Woods and Glover are among 14 players who will compete in all three majors, and the only major champions at Bethpage Black so far. “That might be the only thing that anybody will ever use his and my name in the same breath,” Glover said with a laugh. “But any time you’re lumped in with him, it’s a pretty good honor. Pretty cool for sure.” Both have gone through some down times, Woods mainly from injury, Glover from the frustrating nature of golf. It got so bad for Glover that in 2012—the only time he missed a tournament at Bethpage—he finished at No. 216 on the money list and made it to the final round in only four of the 16 events he played. His last

victory was at Quail Hollow in 2011. “I don’t know of anybody that’s played this game for a long time that hasn’t gone through some ups and downs,” Glover said. “I’ve come out the other side. I haven’t won. I haven’t accomplished any of my goals. But I’ve come through it, and there’s not much you can do that you can’t get through.” Driving into Bethpage State Park felt comfortable for Glover, even under a gray sky that made it seem even colder and wetter than it was. It feels less like the PGA Championship than stops at Riviera and Pebble Beach in the cold, coastal air of California. But this is where he became a major champion in 2009, and that hasn’t left him. “I’m in every way a different person than 10 years ago, but I can still lean on all of that,” he said. “I still get comfortable when I walk into the clubhouse or drive through the gate. It’s just that calming feeling. It’s almost like how I imagine some guys feel driving down Magnolia Lane at Augusta that have had success there. It’s just like an automatic deep breath, like I’ve done it here. Let’s see what we can do again.” For at least a few days, Glover and everyone else will be doing it with a rain suit. AP

TIGER WOODS is layered in clothing for an early nine holes of practice to beat the rain, with a knit beanie over his cap. AP

Gracious God

EAR God You have called us out of darkness into Your wonderful light. In hope and trust we pray: God, come to our aid. Uphold efforts to reach out to those in need and grant safe shelter to the homeless and food to the hungry. Comfort, guide and provide for women in crisis pregnancies through the temporal and emotional support of caring people. Increase the patience and passion to care of caregivers to enhance the lives of the elderly. Restore light and life to war-torn nations and give success to negotiations for peace. May God bless us, protect us from harm and give us peace. Amen. GIVE US THIS DAY SHARED BY LUISA LACSON, HFL Word&Life Publications • teacherlouie1965@yahoo.com

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

Life BusinessMirror

LEGENDARY ACTRESS AND SINGER DORIS DAY DEAD AT 97 D3

Wednesday, May 15, 2019

NEW WAY TO WATCH AND ACCESS ONLINE CONTENT TOUTED

XIAOMI’S Mi Box (left), the Roku Premiere, (center) and the Amazon Fire TV streaming TV devices in New York. An outside search aid such as Roku, Reelgood, Decider and JustWatch can help scan multiple services to see which ones have the titles you want to watch. AP

Free video streaming offers some gems— if you can find them N

By Tali arBel The Associated Press

EW YORK—Free services let you watch thousands of movies and TV shows online, but using them feels like wandering through a low-rent, digital version of Blockbuster (RIP). Reality TV, long-forgotten “classics” and movies that never made it to theaters—these are the types of lackluster shows and movies you’ll find for free. But finding gems in the junk, like the original Roseanne, can give you a treasure-hunting rush. Unfortunately, web sites and apps for many of the services have poor designs and search capabilities— not conducive to finding those gems. An outside search aid such as Roku, Reelgood, Decider and JustWatch can help scan multiple services to see which ones have the titles you want. Once you find something to watch, you’ll have to put up with commercials. You’ll get fewer ads compared with traditional TV channels. But online ad breaks sometimes interrupt people speaking, which is super annoying. And these services may also track you to target ads. But as entertainment costs rise—especially as AT&T, Disney and Apple introduce new video subscriptions—free is hard to turn down. Here’s a look at some of the best-known: CRACKLE. What’s on: “Classic” movies and TV shows, along with some originals—although the bestknown, Jerry Seinfeld’s Comedians in Cars Getting Co�fee, is now on Netflix instead. You can browse movies by broad categories like “action” and “drama.” How odd: An “up next” feature plays something else after you’re done watching. But instead of bringing up the next Who’s the Boss episode after finishing the pilot, it landed on the movie Ali. And despite what the search results tell you, Julia Roberts is not in El Mariachi. PLUTO. On demand: The original nine-season

run of Roseanne (but not the recent reboot) and some appealing movies from the past few decades like Election, Short Term 12 and Heathers. Live TV: Pluto is unusual in that it also offers dozens of channels with “live” video. Though some of these are pretty niche, dedicated to Minecraft or cats, the service is owned by Viacom, so you also get shows from well-known Viacom networks like MTV and Comedy Central. There’s an entire channel dedicated to MTV’s The Hills. Finding video: Good luck. There’s no search tool, though Pluto says it’s coming. How odd: The TV guide only shows what’s on in the next 90 minutes, and you can’t pause, rewind or fastforward the video. TUBI. What’s on: Fun retro stuff (I do love Problem Child), prestige films from past decades and some old hits. A tenth of the library changes every month. Finding video: Movies and TV shows are organized into useful categories, some with cheeky themes like “Cult Classics” or “Not on Netflix.” Ad interruptions: It’s great that I can fast-forward through scenes without being forced to watch an ad. Other free services often show ads when you jump ahead. TV episodes that I watched only had ads before the show, not during it, but that doesn’t mean the same will happen for you. How odd: A third of the movies brought up by searching actor John Ritter came out after he died. His ghost is not in them. VUDU. What’s on: The Wal-mart-owned service sells shows and movies, just like Apple’s iTunes and Google Play, but there’s also plenty of free TV shows and movies, with such categories like “Westerns,” “Anime” and “Kids TV.” Vudu will also introduce original content this summer. Those ads: Though ads will break up movies, they didn’t interrupt the TV shows I watched. Rather, as with Tubi, the ads were all shown before the episodes. How odd: Different seasons of TV shows each get their own tile, making me scroll more to find

different shows. BEYOND THAT THERE are many, many other free services, including ones that focus just on children’s video (PBS Kids) or local news (NewsON). Here are a few that will have broader appeal: n YouTube is the world’s largest free video site, but it’s not the best place to find full versions of traditional movies and TV series for adults. Its selection of free movies is small and uninteresting (Find them by searching for “movies” and looking for the “free with ads” tag). YouTube also streams live events and plans to make its original shows free. n Hoopla and Kanopy technically charge for viewing videos, but it’s your public library that pays for it. It’s free for you with a library card. The movie selection is noticeably better, particularly Kanopy, with recent critical favorites, though don’t expect the latest Marvel or Star Wars blockbusters. No ads, but libraries limit how many you can watch each month. n Yahoo View is Hulu’s old free business, with a few recent episodes of broadcast-network shows. You can watch only on a traditional computer, not a mobile or streaming device. n The Roku Channel with live channels and ondemand movies and shows. It works on computers and mobile, so you don’t need to own a Roku streaming device. n Amazon-owned IMDB Freedive has on-demand movies and shows, but not as extensive as what you get with an Amazon Prime membership. n Locast streams over-the-air stations for ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, PBS and others in Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Houston, New York, Philadelphia and Washington. Ads asking for donations interrupt what’s on TV. n Facebook has a Watch tab with cult favorite Bu�fy the Vampire Slayer and Jada Pinkett Smith’s talk show, but it isn’t easy to use or tell what’s available. n

CONSUMERS can now choose how they want to enjoy their favorite shows with Converge Freedom, Converge ICT Solution’s newest offering. The company intends to revolutionize the way content is access and consumed. Powered by their pure fiber Internet, Converge Freedom is a streaming service designed to access content at the pace and convenience of the subscriber. “We’re very excited to launch Converge Freedom as we give our valued subscribers the full power over what they watch, when they watch it and where they watch it,” says Jesus Romero, Converge ICT chief operating officer. “This is the first of the many new offerings we’re introducing this year, and we’re starting off with what Filipinos enjoy the most: access to entertainment. You will no longer be limited to watching your favorite programs on your TV. With Converge Freedom, you can watch anytime, anywhere in your home with its on-demand functionalities.” Enjoy maximized convenience with Converge Freedom, which can be accessed from a smartphone or tablet via the Freedom app, available for download on App Store and Google Play. Content can also be enjoyed on TV via the Set Top Box (STB) which can purchase with a Converge Freedom Subscription plan. Converge Freedom gives consumers access to premium channels perfect for whatever their passion or interest, whether it is movies, music, sports, food, news or events. It comes with four main features that allow subscribers to enjoy content as they please: Time Shift, Playback, Multiview and Movability. Details on these features and more are available at freedom.convergeict.com. As a leading provider of fiber Internet in the country, Converge Freedom runs on pure end-to-end fiber Internet. It has a minimal bandwidth consumption of 2 to 2.5Mbps for smartphones and tablets, and 4.5Mbps for the TV Set Top Box for high-definition content.

SHOPBACK RAISES $45M AS E-COMMERCE SURGES IN SOUTHEAST ASIA

A ONE-STOP rewards and discovery platform, ShopBack has secured $45 million in its latest funding round. The participants are co-led by EV Growth and Rakuten Capital, as well as EDBI, the corporate investment arm of Singapore’s Economic Development Board. The new capital injection brings the company’s total funding to $83 million. “The fresh funding adds firepower to our innovative efforts centered on simplifying shopping experiences for users while building smarter marketing solutions for merchant partners. We’re now better equipped to not only deliver cost-efficient sales to our merchant partners, but also to leverage user insights across categories to do cross-selling efficiently,” said Prashant Kala, country head of ShopBack Philippines. ShopBack is cashing in on the region’s growth by linking online merchants to the most engaged mobile Internet users in the world. Apart from rewarding users with cashback for making online purchases, ShopBack also helps merchants make better business decisions with data insights powered by ShopBack’s growing user base. In 2018, ShopBack (www.shopback.ph) saw 250-percent year-on-year growth in orders and sales. The company powered over 2.5 million monthly transactions for more than 7 million users in seven Asia-Pacific countries, and delivered close to $1-billion sales for over 2,000 merchant partners in both the online and offline spaces. In the Philippines, ShopBack is a strong marketing channel for Lazada, Zalora, Shopee, FoodPanda, Agoda, Booking.com and more. ShopBack Philippines saw a 900-percent increase in the number of users last year, propelled by traffic that grew by nearly 10 times in the fourth quarter of 2018. Today, it sustains a month-on-month growth of up to 75 percent. ShopBack’s new round of funding will be deployed into simplifying shopping experiences, expanding data capabilities to fuel personalization and business insights, as well as accelerating growth in key markets. The company remains focused on building rewards and discovery features to enhance both online and offline shopping experiences for consumers across the Asia Pacific. The ShopBack app is available as a free download for iOS and Android devices.

Pet Corner BusinessMirror

Wednesday, May 15, 2019

Keep pets away from gardens to prevent food-borne illness TWO dogs getting acquainted at the Bayview Farmers Market near Langley, Washington. Bayview, like many farmers markets across the nation, has posted strict rules aimed at preventing dogs from approaching their craft, food and produce displays, citing breakage, safety and sanitary concerns. AP

By Dean Fosdick The Associated Press

NIMAL waste tainting fresh produce is one of the major causes of food-borne ailments. So farmers markets and pick-your-own growers who fear fecal contamination are increasingly guarded about tolerating pets near their edibles. Home gardeners should be cautious, too. Many of the pathogens affecting food safety come from the intestinal systems of animals, said Diane Wright Hirsch, senior Extension educator with the University of Connecticut. “Whether human, dog, cat, cow or deer—all animals can be the source of Salmonella, E. coli, parasites and other disease-causing microbes associated with food-borne illness,” Hirsch said. E. coli outbreaks have been traced to meat, poultry and fresh produce, particularly lettuce. Salmonella has been detected in eggs, poultry, pork, sprouts, cucumbers and cantaloupe, while Listeria monocytogenes can be found in all types of food, including processed meats, cheese, apples and frozen vegetables, according to a University of Connecticut fact sheet. All are serious ailments, particularly for the young and the elderly. Contamination can be spread via irrigation water, animals, unsanitary workers, harvest containers and dirty equipment. It’s vital to keep animal and poultry feces out of residential and community gardens, and well away from farmers markets and roadside food stands. “I have seen a dog pee on the corner of a farmers market table, and another place his head near the produce [where has that mouth been?],” Hirsch said in an e-mail. “Farmers are working hard to produce safe fruits and vegetables—why let someone’s dog ruin it all with a lick, a squat or a lift of the leg?” she said. Many large farmers markets have banned dogs from their craft, food and produce displays, citing breakage, safety and sanitary concerns. The Olney (Maryland) Farmers and Artists Market struggled with the issue for years before deciding to

By Eugenia Last

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Alexandra Breckenridge, 37; Jamie-Lynn Sigler, 38; David Krumholtz, 41; Chazz Palminteri, 67.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Personal changes can be made if you delve into something you’ve been contemplating for some time. Pay close attention to your relationships with others, and do something nice for someone you love. Romance is highlighted and will improve your personal life. HHH

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Live and learn. How you deal with peers and relatives will make a difference to the response you receive. Use your charm and common sense to guide others to see things your way. HHH

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Everyone has problems, but that doesn’t mean you should let others bring you down or treat you poorly. Look for opportunities that will encourage you to be with positive people. Walk away from emotional manipulation and unsavory situations. HHHHH

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Keep moving forward, regardless of what’s going on in your personal life. Concentrate on helping others and doing your best to achieve your goals. A partnership should be helpful, not destructive. HH

exclude dogs, said Janet Terry, Olney’s president. “It would be horrifying to think what would happen if dog feces were found on our site. It also would be horrifying if a dog got off a leash and mauled a child,” Terry said. “This happened at a large market in Baltimore several years ago. We just don’t want to take any risks.” Some dog owners were angry about the pet ban, Terry said. “The good news is now, after 11 seasons, most of the complaining has stopped. We believe we have done the right thing.” Some suggestions from University of Connecticut Extension aimed at minimizing food safety threats: n Use potable water when watering your food plants. Do not use rain barrels or other open

water sources. n Always wash hands prior to harvesting, and don’t harvest when sick. n Use composted manure that has been managed to destroy potential pathogens, or wait 120 days before harvesting once you’ve applied untreated manure or compost. n Locate your garden away from contamination sources, and protect it from chickens, wildlife and pets. There is little you can do if animals defecate on or near your edibles, Hirsch said. “If harvestable or close-to-harvestable fruits or vegetables are affected, do not harvest, do not eat,” she said. “It is just too risky.” n

By Michael Cidoni Lennox The Associated Press LOS ANGELES—The 2017 family movie A Dog’s Purpose was marred by accusations of animal abuse after a video of a frightened dog that appeared to be forced into rushing water during the making of the film was posted by TMZ. The footage quickly went viral but a third-party investigation discounted the allegations. On Thursday, one of the writers reflected on the allegations at the premiere of the film’s sequel, A Dog’s Journey. “Nothing happened,” said Cathryn Michon, a co-screenwriter on both Purpose and the follow-up. However, she continued: “I think that some good things came from it because we now had two animal-welfare agencies on the set and I think that’s the kind of safeguards that films need.” American Humane has said its investigation showed no dogs were

Today’s Horoscope

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Control will be key this year. Impulsive decisions based on emotions will stand between you and your goals. Take the time to develop your plans properly to avoid jumping into something that may have strings attached. Ask questions, take notes and get what you want in writing. Listen to reason, and walk away from excess and risky ventures. Your lucky numbers are 8, 12, 20, 26, 33, 37, 48.

harmed but acknowledged that the dog was in distress and production staff should have realized that earlier. Dennis Quaid, the star of both movies, said: “I think we were really vindicated in that.” He also criticized the animal rights

group Peta, which lodged the original complaint. “That was Peta that was coming forward, and they, and it was somebody who was not a crew member who showed up on a closed set, took a little bit of video and then edited the

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Take care of responsibilities before someone complains. Once your chores are out of the way, find a way to relax or get involved in something you feel passionate about. Avoid joint ventures, and don’t jeopardize a good friendship. HHHH

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Set your sights on what you want, and don’t look back. How you handle your past or intertwine it into the present and the future will be crucial to the way things unfold at work and at home. HHH

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Ask questions of older relatives or people who may have knowledge of your ancestors or family background. What you discover will open up a world of new interests and opportunity. Understanding your past will help you appreciate the present. HHH

Makers of ‘A Dog’s Journey’ feel vindicated as sequel nears DENNIS QUAID in the original A Dog’s Purpose. The sequel to the 2017 hit, A Dog’s Journey, opens in North American theaters soon.

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video to make it look like a dog was being abused where there was no dog being abused,” Quaid said. Lisa Lange, a Peta vice president, told The Associated Press in a statement on Friday “no amount of spin can change the fact that an animal was terrorized while filming a scene for which computer-generated imagery could easily have been used instead.” Both films are based on W. Bruce Cameron’s best-selling series of books, which propose that dogs may have short physical lives but continue their journeys through reincarnation. Cameron was on the sets of both films and said no dogs were harmed. “[There were] very few people on the set who can call, ‘Cut,’” he explained. “And one of them was the people that were there to protect the animals. That was the most important thing. There was signage. It was stressed at every meeting and everybody understood what we were there to do.”

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Keep a lid on your plans until you have everything in place. A personal change you want to make can be initiated. How you go about your business will reflect your financial future. HHH

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Honesty and integrity will be essential when dealing with personal relationships. State facts, and refuse to get into an argument with someone who uses emotional tactics or excessive behavior to pressure you. Don’t let upset affect your efficiency. HHHH

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Listen carefully. You’ll have to read between the lines when dealing with a peer, friend or relative. Listen for any discrepancy that can alert you to underhandedness. Make alterations at home that will ease stress, not fuel it. HH

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Look over your personal investments or any dealings you have with courts, banks or other institutions. By taking action, you will make your position clear. Someone from your past will offer an interesting alternative. HHHHH

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Keep life simple. Follow through with your promises, and avoid arguments with loved ones, bosses or anyone who could affect your reputation, status or ability to get ahead. HHH BIRTHDAY BABY: You are creative, helpful and kind. You are generous and energetic.

‘mixed metaphor’ BY ARI RICHTER The Universal Crossword/Edited by David Steinberg

ACROSS 1 Gavel wielder 6 Bypass 10 Agatha Christie, for one 14 Seoul soul 15 Opposed to 16 Moisturizer brand 17 Making a rabbit disappear, e.g. 18 Something to repay 19 It has a daily high and low 20 Concerning outlook (see letters 1, 3, 4, 5 and 12) 23 Lush 26 Choose 27 Exhausted 28 Tough to see through 30 Take in, as a dog 32 To Kill a Mockingbird or Jane Eyre”(1, 3, 4, 5, 7) 34 Prepare a present 38 Hardy, to Laurel 39 1960s battle zone 40 “Goodies” singer 41 Words said with a nod 42 “Mom is going to kill me!” (4, 5, 6, 8,

10) 4 Core belief 4 46 Show up at 47 Discussion board admin 49 Parts of some audiobooks, briefly 50 Recite 51 Latent anxieties, or a hint to this puzzle’s theme 55 Prom couple’s ride 56 Star ___: The Rise of Skywalker 57 Broadway star McDonald 61 All over again 62 Revise 63 Unusual partner? 64 ___ & Teller 65 Exercise tally 66 Makeshift potato peeler DOWN 1 Thumbprint cookie filling 2 ___ Today 3 Look for a hidden bone, perhaps 4 Walk or trot 5 Wrapped in pastry 6 French “Cheers!” 7 Baseball bat bottom

8 Slanted type: Abbr. 9 Clorox cleaner 10 Dance like Chubby Checker 11 Not of this world 12 Angry with 13 Looked over 21 Inclusive tournament type 22 Spotify, for one 23 “Ditto” 24 Some German cars 25 Ping-Pong surface 29 Hushes 30 Sailor’s “Stop!” 31 Floor model 33 “This one’s ___!” 35 Evaluates 36 Rap star’s tour stop 37 Rice-growing site 40 Starts spending less 42 On the throne 43 Singer Erykah 45 Goddess of the dawn 47 Left Bank river 48 Neighbor of Oman 49 They may be fixed or sunk

1 ___ on the back 5 52 Grow dim 53 Coffee option 54 Steer 58 Major hwy. offense 59 NBA game “zebra” 60 Pub choice

Solution to yesterday’s puzzle:

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Legendary actress and singer Doris Day dead at 97

Wednesday, May 15, 2019

BLIND SPOT BRUCE C.

By The Associated Press

OS ANGELES—Doris Day, the sunny blond actress and singer whose frothy comedic roles opposite the likes of Rock Hudson made her one of Hollywood’s biggest stars in the 1950s and 1960s, and a symbol of wholesome American womanhood, died on Monday. She was 97. In recent years, Day had been an animal-rights advocate and her Doris Day Animal Foundation confirmed her death at her Carmel Valley, California, home. The foundation said she was surrounded by close friends. “Day had been in excellent physical health for her age, until recently contracting a serious case of pneumonia, resulting in her death,” the foundation said in a statement. It said she requested “no funeral or memorial service, and no grave marker.” With her lilting contralto, wholesome beauty and glowing smile, Day was a top box-office draw and recording artist known for comedies such as Pillow Talk and That Touch of Mink, as well as songs like “Whatever Will Be, Will Be [Que Sera, Sera]” from the Alfred Hitchcock film The Man Who Knew Too Much. Over time, she became more than a name above the title: Right down to her cheerful, alliterative stage name, she stood for a time of innocence and G-rated love, a parallel world to her contemporary Marilyn Monroe. The running joke, attributed to both Groucho Marx and actor-composer Oscar Levant, was that they had known Day “before she was a virgin.” Day herself was no Doris Day, by choice and by hard luck. In her Oscar-nominated role in 1959’s Pillow Talk, the first of three films with Hudson, she proudly caught up with what she called “the contemporary in me.” Her 1976 tell-all book, Doris Day: Her Own Story, chronicled her money troubles and three failed marriages. “I have the unfortunate reputation of being Miss Goody Two-Shoes, America’s Virgin, and all that, so I’m afraid it’s going to shock some people for me to say this, but I staunchly believe no two people should get married until they have lived together,” she wrote. Day was given a Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2004, as George W. Bush declared it “a good day for America when Doris Marianne von Kappelhoff of Evanston, Ohio, decided to become an entertainer.” Although mostly retired from show business since the 1980s, she still had enough of a following that a 2011 collection of previously unreleased songs, “My Heart,” hit the top 10 in the United Kingdom. The same year, she received a lifetime achievement honor from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association. Designer Stella McCartney, an animal-rights advocate, responded to Day’s death on Monday by tweeting: “The one, the only, the woman who inspired so much of what I do.... Doris Day I love you, my calamity Jane. An iconic woman who I was hugely honored to meet and share precious moments with. Rest in peace.” Playwright Paul Rudnick tweeted in part, “Doris Day was kind and decent, onscreen and off; she maintained her friendship with Rock Hudson after his AIDS diagnosis, in a climate of fear and abandonment—one of his last appearances was on a TV show with her.” Born to a music teacher and a housewife in Cincinnati, Day dreamed of a dance career but at age 12 broke her leg badly when a car in which she was traveling was hit by a train. Listening to the radio while recuperating, she began singing along with Ella Fitzgerald, “trying to catch the subtle ways she shaded her voice, the casual yet clean way she sang the words.” Day began singing at a Cincinnati radio station, then a nightclub, then in New York. A bandleader changed her name to Day after the song “Day after Day” to fit it on a marquee.

THE LOVE OF HER LIFE

LOVE is lovelier the second time around—or is it? For the actress, getting back with her former love was a good thing. She and the actor, who was her boyfriend years ago until they broke up due to pressure from fans and their home network, got back together and it seemed that all was well. For a while, at least. As they say, you can’t change a person. In this case, the actor couldn’t change his womanizing ways and he reportedly had a one-night stand with a girl. This girl spilled the beans to the actress and other people, but the actress still can’t let the actor go. He is, perhaps, her the love of her life.

OPEN RELATIONSHIP

THE relationship between a former actress and her longtime partner, a rich businessman, has been an open one for years. It is an open secret that the former actress and a controversial businessman are more than friends, something that’s allowed by her partner because he reportedly cannot satisfy her anymore. But this isn’t the first time that there’s been a third wheel in the relationship. According to rumors, the businessman’s kink is seeing the former actress with another woman, and she made sure to satisfy this kink. So, yes, the secret to their long and solid relationship is that they understand each other.

DIRTY BOY A marriage at 17 to trombonist Al Jorden ended when, she said, he beat her when she was eight months pregnant. She gave birth to her son, Terry, in early 1942. Her second marriage also was shortlived. She returned to Les Brown’s band after the first marriage broke up. Her Hollywood career began after she sang at a Hollywood party in 1947. After early stardom as a band singer and a stint at Warner Bros., Day won the best notices of her career with 1955’s Love Me or Leave Me, the story of songstress Ruth Etting and her gangster husband-manager. She followed with Hitchcock’s The Man Who Knew Too Much, starring with James Stewart as an innocent couple ensnared in an international assassination plot. She sang “Que Sera, Sera” just as the story reached its climax. The 1958 comedy Teacher’s Pet paired her with an aging Clark Gable. But she found her greatest success in slick, stylish sex comedies, beginning with Pillow Talk. She and Hudson played two New Yorkers who shared a telephone party line. She followed with The Thrill of It All playing a housewife who gains fame as a TV pitchwoman to the chagrin of obstetrician husband James Garner.

The nation’s theater owners voted her the top moneymaking star in 1960, 1962, 1963 and 1964. In the 1960s, Day discovered that failed investments by her third husband, Martin Melcher, left her deeply in debt. She eventually won a multimillion-dollar judgment against their lawyer. With movies trending for more explicit sex, she turned to television to recoup her finances. The Doris Day Show was a moderate success in its 1966 to 1973 run on CBS. Day had married Melcher, who worked in her agent’s office, in 1951. He became her manager, and her son took his name. In most of the films following Pillow Talk, Melcher was listed as coproducer. Melcher died in 1969. Day married a fourth time at age 52, to businessman Barry Comden in 1976. Her wholesome image was referenced in the song “I’m Sandra Dee” in the 1971 musical Grease, which included the lyrics: “Watch it, hey, I’m Doris Day/I was not brought up that way/Won’t come across/Even Rock Hudson lost/His heart to Doris Day.” The great Doris Day left us and took a piece of the sun with her,” actress Goldie Hawn tweeted on Monday. “She brightened our lives and lived out her life with dignity. May she rest peacefully.” n

YOUNG THESPIANS, PLAYWRIGHTS TO SHOWCASE METANOIA BUDDING playwrights, artistic directors, and stage performers once again gather for the 16th Crossroads Benildean Theater Festival, which highlights the essence of metanoia, or the change of heart following penitence, through narratives that depict how life challenges transform a person. The annual event, presented by De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde (DLSCSB)’s resident theater company Dulaang Filipino under the Office of Culture and Arts (OCA), features original one-act plays written and directed by Benildean and Lasallian students, alumni, faculty and staff. Four finalists were recently

announced. Do Demons Deserve Grace, by Information System alumnus Andrei Santos, delves into a girl’s struggle against her inner demons, while Barberya ni Santino by Digital Filmmaking student Brent Ignacio unravels the dire need to heal old wounds caused by past familial drama. Lihim, by Digital Filmmaking student Clarice Cua, exhibits the conflict between truth and lies in an attempt to reveal a deep secret, while 17.9, written by De La Salle University (DLSU) Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing student Doreen Villanueva and directed by DLSU Literature alumnus Joey Alvarado,

showcases a couple’s marital problem resurfacing along with the rising floodwaters. The esteemed panel of judges included industry experts, such as Rikki Benedicto, Remus Villanueva and Ado Vencilao. The 16th Crossroads Benildean Theater Festival is open to the public, and is ongoing until May 22. Individual shows will be at 1 and 7 pm at the Black Box Theater. The Awards Night will be on May 24, 5 pm, at the SDA Theater. Tickets are priced at P150. For tickets, screening schedules, and inquiries, call +63-230-5100, locals 1528 or 1603, or contact culture.arts@benilde.edu.ph.

SPEAKING of relationships, a beautiful model was overheard telling a friend that one of the reasons why she and her former boyfriend, an actor, broke up was because she had issues with his hygiene. The actor, who grew up abroad, was said to rarely shower. The model was also overheard saying that her ex rarely had his clothes and bed linens washed. He would reportedly just rotate his clothes, even his undergarments. “He didn’t smell OK. I had to practically force him to shower and change his sheets. Otherwise, he’d wallow in filth,” said the model.

HE WANTS A NEW NOSE

SO the male influencer transferred from one aesthetic center to another as a brand ambassador. Why? It’s not because of money but what he wants done. According to rumors, the influencer is interested in having a rhinoplasty, which the second center can provide. The first center is actually more into aesthetic procedures. These days, really, it’s not how much a company will pay these influencers that matters all the time. It’s what they will get out of it. The famous ones have a lot of offers. They can choose which ones to accept or reject.

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Wednesday, May 15, 2019

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Quit the blame game SUI GENERIS CARLO ATIENZA

biblisko@gmail.com

HE blames everything on her parents—the way she grew up, the chances she was not able to take, the missed opportunities and the overpowering sense of not being good enough. And today, she vows to do everything she can so that her daughter will not have to endure the life that she calls her struggle. I have my own sob story and I would have joined her in her harangue, but one of the first things I learned early on as an adult is to take responsibility for my own actions. And most of the time, what is keeping us from becoming the best versions of ourselves are not other people or circumstances but, yes, ourselves. This is called the blame game. You become a player when you blame events or other people for your actions and find excuses for everything bad that happens to you. This happens when you become fatalistic and you feel powerless because you think you cannot do anything that happens to you. You get caught in the game when you attribute everything to chance and you allow events to dictate what you should think and feel. You take on the victim attitude and relegate yourself to a position of complete submission to whatever happens next. Another way of looking at it is when you start your sentences with “if only.” “If only I graduated from this school, I would have gotten a better job.” “If only I were pretty, people would look up to me and adore me.” “If only I had more experience, I would have gotten that promotion.” These thoughts enter our minds or we hear it from other people, and we start believing in the thinking that we are not in control of our own lives. Yet the truth of the matter is that we are. I played this game when I was still in college but with a little help from my mentors, I stopped playing the victim and started thinking like a survivor. One of the things which greatly helped me overcome feeling like a victim was to be content where I was at the moment. I was in my first year of college when I realized I had so much which other people did not have. My father worked abroad and we rarely saw him and it became a source of resentment for me to not have a father around. It became more apparent when I would see my classmates with their fathers,

You will always lose when you play the blame game. Once you realize that you are playing the game, quit right away.

or when I had to do an all-nighter at a classmate’s house and I would see their father doting over them. It became one of my insecurities. But I also saw some classmates who had their fathers around but they struggled to make ends meet and later on, they had to quit schooling because their parents could not afford the expense. I realized that comparing myself to what others had would only make me feel worse because I discovered I had something which they did not have. I could not do anything about not having my father around, but I could do something with what I was feeling and thinking. I focused on studying well and developing close friendships. This helped me focus on what I could do rather than just let things be as they were. Part of the victim attitude is the feeling you are not in control, and this is a lie. Because there are so many things you can do to make your life better not just for yourself, but for the people around you. Another way you can quit from playing the blame game is to take credit where credit is due. Take a healthy assessment of what you are capable of and embrace them. When I passed the entrance exam to the university I had set my heart on—and it was the only school I applied to—I was ecstatic. When one of my teachers found out I had passed, she was

incredulously surprised that she asked the class if I really passed the entrance exam. I became hesitant if I made the right choice to even apply at that university. But I ignored her and focused on what I did. I was not an honor student in high school and even the top 3 honor students did not pass that entrance exam. But I knew I studied hard and kept myself out of trouble. I do not know why the top 3 honor students did not pass, but I know I did. And I know it was my own effort and not by chance. Part of not playing the victim is to take control of your own future. And you can only do so if you have a healthy assessment of what you are capable of and accept triumphs as a result your own efforts. Your growth as a person is also not just your own doing. It is a confluence of other people’s influence, patience, and time spent with you. Be grateful for people who have invested time and effort on your growth as a person. Acknowledge those people who helped you become who you are today. While they may have been brought to your life by chance, they played a part in your development as a person. Some come to your life like sandpaper—they take away your rough edges and help you see yourself in a better light. Others come to your life like water—refreshing and

nurturing you so you can grow to your full potential. Be grateful for these people because they helped you grow and discover what you can be so you can take full control of your destiny. And last, let go of things you have no control of and focus on what you can do. Some things you just have to let go because you cannot do anything about them. You can grieve about a missed opportunity or lament over something you were not able to do but you just have to take control and stop. Focus on what you can do rather than on what happened. And the best way you can do that is to learn what you could have done differently so you know how you can make better decisions when confronted with a similar event. While we reflect and take stock of what happened, it should not stop us from moving on to better opportunities. You will always lose when you play the blame game. Once you realize that you are playing the game, quit right away. No one wins in that game. Take control of your life and make decisions that will help you become the best version of yourself. In the end, as William Ernest Henley says in his poem “Invictus,” “I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul.” n

45 Stevies for SM Supermalls OUT of the 104 Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards bagged by Philippine companies, and of the more than 900 nominations for innovative achievements in the entire Asia-Pacific region this year, SM Supermalls (www.smsupermalls. com) won 45 Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, besting its own record by winning more than twice the 21 Asia-Pacific Stevies it brought home last year. “We are thankful and elated by these validations of our hard work, dedication and passion to offer family fun experiences for our valued customers. We strive to do this through constant innovation and offering nothing but the best for SM shoppers, from their online

engagement experience including the web site, apps and social-media pages, to the exciting and entertaining events in SM malls nationwide,” said Steven Tan, SM Supermalls COO. The prestigious Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards recognizes Gold, Silver and Bronze categories. SM garnered two Golds for the Entertainment Apps and Corporate Websites categories, plus 23 Silvers and 20 Bronze plums. Among them, various SM malls from Quezon City to Baguio to Bulacan clinched awards for their numerous innovative and entertaining events for shoppers. Eighteen SM mall events won in the

Innovation in Entertainment Event category, eight SM mall events won Innovation in Consumer Events, seven SM mall events won Innovation in the Use of Events, and two SM mall events won Innovation in Branded Entertainment, among others. The Stevies, previously known as the American Business Awards and then the International Business Awards, is the only business awards program that recognizes innovation in the workplace in all 22 nations of the Asia-Pacific region, and widely considered as the world’s premier business awards that confer recognitions for outstanding programs.

Philam Foundation, CARE Philippines join in fight against cancer By PaUline Joy M. GUTierreZ PHILAM Foundation, the corporate social responsibility arm of Philam Life through its Alliance for the Philippines’s Health and Advocacy (Alpha) initiative, shared the latest cancer statistics pooled from Cancer CARE Registry Philippines’s hospital-based cancer registry in a recent press event in Makati. In a presentation led by CARE President and CEO Dr. Beatrice Tiangco, it was noted that cancer still figures among the primary causes of morbidity and mortality in the country, with breast cancer as the leading cancer scourge among Filipinos. In this hospitalbased database, breast cancer is followed by colorectal and head and neck, cervical, prostate and lung cancers in decreasing rank of incidence, as compared to Globocan’s 2018 data which puts lung, colon and liver cancers on top of the list after breast cancer. The first-year results also showed that the other most common areas where cancer grows include the thyroid, uterus, kidney and in the blood, which includes leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma. “The most recent available data on cancer from the Global Cancer Network, or Globocan, [reveals] there were an estimated 141,021 new cases of cancer in the Philippines

in 2018. With the data we gather, through the continued support of the Alpha initiative of Philam Foundation, we can explore ways on how to give cancer patients better access to medical support and assistance,” Tiangco said. Acoording to Tiangco, timely and accurate cancer statistics are crucial to identify priorities for cancer control strategies at the national level, and hospital-based registries are important tools for region-specific data creation as well as policy formulation, with an emphasis on the development of effective screening programs. Two population-based cancer registries— the Philippine Cancer Society-Manila Cancer Registry and the Department of Health-Rizal Cancer Registry—have been the main source of cancer incidence data in the country for more than 30 years. Through the passage of the National Integrated Cancer Law (RA 11215), however, all clinics and hospitals are now mandated to have their own cancer registry to serve as crucial source of data for a populationbased national cancer registry. By the end of 2018, 20 hospitals were part of the CARE-Alpha membership, with 10 hospitals sharing data on over 5,700 cancer registrants. CARE Philippines is solely responsible for the security of the anonymized data with a

secure and encrypted Care central database accessible only by Care executives Beatrice Tiangco and Ric Parma. All patients are informed that the hospital maintains a cancer registry database that contains personal information about those diagnosed with and or treated for cancer within that hospital. These patients are also given the opportunity to opt out of the database, and to agree or disagree to being called by the Cancer Registry office once every six or more months up to five years from their diagnosis of cancer. Duplication of data will also be recognized and red-flagged in the central database. The CARE Database Administrators will look at the detailed data entry of these flagged patients and decide if these are from the same patient or not. The summary data presented to the public in the CARE web site will consider these duplicate entries (even if from different hospitals) as only one patient. “One of the gaps in the health sector is the need for a cancer registry due to lack of data. We were hoping that something could be done, so we tried to embark on a project to establish a registry. Thankfully, we came across CARE Philippines, and they were doing it already, and we felt that instead of reinventing the wheel, why don’t we just collaborate? As a result, we

signed an agreement in 2017 to establish Alpha and together, we tried to keep the hospitalbased registry up and running,” said Philam Foundation President Max Ventura. Philam Foundation Chairman Aibee Cantos, in a statement, said: “Our hope is that we get a clearer picture of the cancer situation in the country and help the Filipino cancer patients in their journey, as well as contribute to cancer control and prevention. Philam Foundation will continue to support the future initiatives of CARE, through the Alpha consortium, to

champion more advocacies that will contribute to better patient care and management, helping more Filipinos live healthier, longer and better lives.” n With RA 11215 or the National Integrated Cancer Law, CARE Philippines will work with the Department of Health and other stakeholders in creating and maintaining a population-based national cancer registry system. For more information, visit their official web site: www. cancerregistryph.com/careph.

MAX VENTURA, Philam Foundation Inc. president (from left); Bernadette Chincuanco, Philam Life head of branding and communications; Dr. Beatrice J. Tiangco, cofounder, president and CEO of CARE Philippines Foundation Inc.; and Dr. Kenneth Hartigan-Go from the Philippine College of Physicians.

BusinessMirror E1 | Wednesday, May 15, 2019 • Editor : Tet Andolong

LOBBY

Swiss-Belhotel bares plan to expand in PHL By Roderick L. Abad

@rodrik_28

LOBAL hospitality management chain SwissBelhotel International (SBI) plans to expand both in the northern and southern parts of the country as it seeks to put up six to eight accommodation facilities in the next two to three years on the back of continuous growth in the tourism industry. According to Swiss-Belhotel Valero Grand Suites General Manager (GM) Garry A. Garcia, the company’s expansion will be concentrating on other different destinations in the Philippines, with a lot more focus on secondary cities diverting from the primary arrivals in Manila. “Manila and Makati will always be our center point and focal point. In fact we have been doing quite well because of this business coming in. About 70 percent of our business are actually corporate. One way or another, these are people who are involved in the ‘Build, Build, Build’ program of our government. And that already has an impact in terms of economy because of the visitors that we are getting,” he told reporters

TWO-BEDROOM

POOL

PREMIER DINING

during their recent media briefing at the Valero Grand Suites by Swiss-Belhotel Makati. “For our expansion, we’ll be also looking at secondary cities. We’re looking our brand to be known and that we become a part of the expansion of tourism by being able to afford our brand, international standard hotels and accommodations, all over the Philippines, where we believe we should be,” he said. Apart from two properties it manages in Binondo and Makati, the company is widening its footprint locally, specifically in Davao, Baguio and Bataan and General Santos (GenSan), with an estimated total of 1,390 new rooms and villas until 2022. Located in Samal Island, the 24-hectare property owned by businessman Jon Tugonon in the presidential home province will be developed into a resort hotel, with 190 rooms and 100 luxury villas. Each unit of the latter has an area of 500 square meters and stands at three-story high with internal elevator. “The whole project is eco-friendly, and we are going to engage a French architectural landscaping group to develop the site,” SBI Executive Vice President James K.C. Tam said, while disclosing that the groundbreaking is expected in a month or two. “We will use our wind and hydro power in order to support our energy consumption. You won’t see plastics within the property because we are going to use recycled materials,” he added, while citing that they have a partnership with the Medical Center in Davao for medical tourism within the so-called Swiss-Belhotel Resort and Villas. Swiss-Belhotel Blulane Acting Manager Linie Palacio revealed that the initial investment for the Davao project is P10 billion. She said: “What we’re going to develop there is really an experience that will help also boost the tourism of the Island City Garden of Samal.” Other hospitality projects in the pipeline include an accommodation facility in Baguio that will cater more to local tourists; a resort and condotel in Bataan, with a beach and mountain area; and a multicomplex, with shopping mall and hotel, in GenSan. “We’re very aggressive. We want to expand our group as much as the tourism of the Philippines. We’re very bullish about it,” Garcia said. “SBI is committed to being a proponent of Philippine tourism.” With 145 hotels in 24 countries worldwide, the company is not as fast in developing its brands locally as it does internationally. In Indonesia, for instance, it started to build its first accommodation facility 26 years ago and now has grown with over 70 hotels there. “That is what we are trying to develop as well in the Philippines,” Palacio said, while noting the government’s drive to improve tourist experience. “I hope, with that kind of experience, we could have, in 10 years time, 30 something hotels in the Philippines,” added Tam. The hotel chain is, likewise, banking on the growth

PREMIER TWIN

potential of Asia and the improving relations between China and the Philippines. If before tourism here underwent ups and downs, SBI Chairman and President Gavin M. Faull said that it has been boosted up by the friendship between President Duterte and China’s President Xi Jinping. “China is the economic driver of the world. So, you have Chinese investment in every country,” he said,

while stressing that half of all the hotels they manage in Asia were funded by the Chinese investors. For Swiss-Belhotel Senior Vice President Ernst Zimmerman, the world’s most populous nation is what makes Asia rising and the main reason they are very keen to come back in the Philippines. It is noted that SBI managed the Linden Suites in Ortigas, Mandaluyong City, 24 years ago before

it left the country in 2002. “China makes the music over the next 20 years in our business,” Zimmerman said, while noting the forecast that the current 150 million Chinese travelers will hit 500 million by 2025. “So, Asia will be dominant. We are not perceived as a western chain but a regional brand,” the top executive said. “I think the Philippines will benefit in the long term from that growth.”

Business

E2 Wednesday, May 15, 2019

Ultimate Frisbee births Launchpad for entrepreneurs

Amor Maclang

FIRST DIBS IN REAL ESTATE

AUNCHPAD Coworking was founded by Ultimate Frisbee players and friends with the intention of setting up a space that would provide the facilities, support and network that can help the Alabang community propel their businesses forward. The founders are Mark Serrano, who handles operations, HR and facilities; Pia YbanezCochien, who handles leasing, client management and services; Gisela David-de los Santos, who is in charge of finance; and Mel Lozano-Alcaraz, who takes care of marketing, communications and community.

The company was formed largely in part because the founders saw the need for a place people could work in laid-back Alabang—something that’s not as noisy as a coffee shop and yet professional enough unlike their home. When they started Launchpad Coworking in 2016, coworking was a pretty new concept. Gisela

admited, “I think one of our first challenges was the lack of information as to the services we offer. When we started Launchpad, coworking was still a relatively new concept. We had to aggressively inform people and potential clients about what we do and what services we offer. We had to put info sheets outside the office so that people would have an idea of what we offer. Some people passing by our Commercenter branch even thought we were a restaurant!” And once they had their clients, it was a matter of figuring out the right mix of services. Pia shared, “We had to prioritize and reconfigure the space to allow us to offer the services that have higher demand.” Three years later, they’ve expanded to their third branch in the Peza-certified and pre-certified LEED Gold One Griffinstone just a stone’s throw away from their first two branches both located in Commercenter. Coworking isn’t a new concept anymore, but the founders believe that Launchpad Coworking still has an edge over other businesses in the industry. Gisela shares how being the first in the area has helped them establish a very close community. She said, “We partners try to engage the community and members as much as we can and also continue to look for ways to have a mutually beneficial relationship.” And it’s this close-knit community that also helps them improve their business. According to Mark, “We leveraged our community feedback to guide our space improvement and growth efforts.”

Modern families to find homes in Amaia Steps Pasig

This kind of relationship supports their mission of being an ally to South-based entrepreneurs, freelancers and creatives. Mel shares, “I believe that we are flexible enough to truly listen to and feel out what our clients want and need. Since we founders are also entrepreneurs, we have more malasakit or empathy toward entreps, start-ups, and SMEs who are still experiencing growing pains.” As for scaling up, Pia believes that they’re just growing at the right at the right pace. “We are small enough to be able to maintain an intimate relationship with our clients, [and] at the same time, big enough to be able to build a substantial community that is rich in collaboration and camaraderie.” So, what’s it like working with friends, and how do these Ultimate Frisbee players make it work? According to Pia, the main driving force of Launchpad’s success is their amazing partnership. “I think that aside from having different strengths as an advantage, we also listen to each other and consider all ideas and opinions before making a decision,” she said. Another great thing about this partnership? All four founders have varied experiences and skill sets that they can use to their advantage. Gisela said, “Our partnership works because we all have different aspects of the business to bring to it.” Mel echoes this sentiment saying, “Each of the partners differ in skill set, expertise and personality. One is good with numbers, one is good with clients, one is good in

ODERN Filipino families looking for stylish and comfortable homes in Eastern Metro Manila will find these in Amaia Steps Pasig Blanca, a midrise residential project in Eusebio Avenue, Barangay San Miguel, Pasig City. Blanca is the third building of the Amaia Steps Pasig condominium development, which is aimed at providing high-quality homes that are within the means of driven young professionals who are either single or married and starting a family. Consisting of 256 units across nine floors, Amaia Steps Pasig Blanca offers spacious and well-designed Studio, Deluxe and Premier units specifically designed to appeal to mobile professionals and families. Amaia Steps Pasig Blanca is eas-

ily accessible from major roads and thoroughfares and is strategically located close to the Ortigas Central Business District and malls like Tiendesitas, SM Supercenter Pasig and Robinsons Galleria, and educational institutions such as Pasig Catholic College, Arellano University and Rizal Technological University. Transport stations such as jeepneys will also be readily available to its residents. Aside from its prime location and proximity to shopping and leisure establishments, Amaia Steps Pasig Blanca also features exclusive amenities that its homeowners can enjoy: a swimming pool, jogging path, multipurpose hall, basketball court and landscaped gardens. Soon, a retail complex will open at the ground floor of Blanca building,

making life a lot easier and enjoyable for the residents. Built with families in mind, Blanca also features a children’s play area. Homeowners at Amaia Steps Pasig Blanca will likewise be assured of safety and security, with fire-detection and alarm systems, and CCTV cameras. Finally, Amaia Land offers flexible payment schemes for their properties: cash, deferred cash and bank financing. Amaia continues to serve prospective homeowners with affordable and sustainable developments that aim to elevate the Filipino living experience in a well-secured environment. For inquiries about Amaia Steps Pasig Blanca and other Amaia properties, check out www.amaialand.com or like www.facebook.com/ AmaiaLand.

but we also have our feet firmly planted on the ground.” They have advice for people looking to start their own business. Pia advises to hire the right people fit for the roles you require. If the way they’ve handled their partnership is any indication, assigning the best people who can accomplish the task at hand can help your business thrive. According to Mark, before starting any business, you should find out how each one reacts to pressure and handles stress. He shared, “Luckily for us, we were all sports teammates at some point, and we’ve seen each other manage pressure situations.” To grow your business, you also need to be able to adapt to changes. Gisela said, “I think one of the things that made us successful is that we changed as our community and clients changed. Change is always challenging, but that is also where you learn and improve the most.” But don’t be fooled by allure of becoming an entrepreneur. It takes a lot of hard work to be at the top of the ladder. Mel’s advice for aspiring business owners? “Don’t quit your day job. All of us still have day jobs even after three years of operation. Social media always romanticizes being an entrepreneur and doing your own thing, but doing your own thing entails a lot of blood, sweat, tears and anxiety. I think the only time you can truly quit your day job is when you can provide for your family purely with your business earnings. Otherwise, kayod is life.”

Aboitiz completes Lima

WITH Amaia Steps Pasig Blanca, a midrise residential project in San Miguel, Pasig, Amaia Land continues to offer modern, stylish and comfortable abodes to prospective homeowners in Eastern Metro Manila. Blanca is the third building in the Amaia Steps Pasig condominium development, which aims to provide highquality homes for young professionals who are either single or married and starting a family.

operations, and one is good with marketing and ideas. The partners who are good in math of course keep the business afloat.” Mark added, “We are collaborative for the big decisions and give each other space when managing our specific responsibilities. Our roles naturally fell into place given our work experience.” As for success, the founders share what they consider the factors to be able to say that one has a successful business. For Gisela, it’s the significant impact they make on the clients that they service. “[When] they can concentrate on their business more, instead of worrying about small details when it comes to their office space,” she explained. For Pia, it’s the increasing number of loyal customers. “We always want to make sure that clients stay happy with us by listening and responding to feedback and keeping them engaged with the community,” she emphasized. Aside from profitability, Mark also looks at a steady stream of inquiries interested in the space and clients that are advocates of the brand as key indicators of a successful business. Mel says that while they’ve got big dreams and goals for the company, they also know that there are steps to get them to where they want to go. She said, “We have dreams and goals for our business in the short and long term, and every year, we decide on what goals to set and how we can accomplish them to realistically make the bigger dream a reality. We dream big,

HE south is experiencing a real estate and economic boom with the development of properties in Makati, Laguna and Alabang. Neighboring Calabarzon is already dubbed as one of the fastest-growing regions in the Philippines, with properties and business sprouting all around. One of which is the full integration of AboitizLand’s industry city, Lima, in Batangas. It is an integrated township that is home to businesses and communities located in Barangay Bugtong na Pulo in Lipa and Malvar. Completing the Lima experience this year is The Villages at Lipa, a 49-hectare cluster of well-built and -designed homes inspired by the architecture of the bahay na bato, with amenities conducive to a young family, and a safe and secure community. “We are excited to introduce The Villages at Lipa, our residential property that completes our offerings in Lima,” says David Rafael, AboitizLand chief executive officer. “Its launch makes our industry city in the South even more robust, responsive and attuned to the needs of modern consumers who crave for complete experiences—working, living and playing—in just one vicinity. Providing them such experience is a testament to our legacy as a property

developer,” he adds. The Villages at Lipa houses Sierra Village, which offers 115-squaremeter townhouses, and single attached and single detached homes ranging from 132 sq m to 150 sq m. Meanwhile, Brook Village has 50 sq m townhouses and 100 sq m single attached homes. Both villages provide clubhouses, swimming pools, parks and greenbelts masterfully designed to promote community interaction. Sierra Village has an additional multipurpose hall and function rooms, while Brook Village has a plaza and a multipurpose court. Both are secured by guardhouses, which are operational 24/7.

Other Lima developments

AS a thriving industry hub, Lima houses Lima Industrial Park, the No. 1 selling and largest industrial property in the region. The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza)-registered economic area hosts some of the world’s biggest and most innovative companies and manufacturers, providing jobs for over 50,000 people. The development also offers lifestyle concepts including The Outlets at Lipa, the country’s biggest outlet mall spanning 9.3 hectares. It boasts

of top retail brands, pocket parks, al fresco dining and a world-class multisport field. AboitizLand will further usher in a new level of convenience with Lima Exchange. This one-stop location will bring stores and services together such as a transport terminal, a supermarket, a drug store and a lot more. Scheduled to rise are other developments such as business-process outsourcing firms, dormitories and other institutions such as schools, hospitals and churches. Lima is only an hour away from Alabang and Makati and offers much accessibility through many routes, including the South Luzon Expressway, the Southern Tagalog Arterial Road Tollway and the Batangas Port. At the same time, its proximity to tourist attractions in Batangas like the Taal Volcano, Nasugbu, Laiya, Calatagan and Anilao makes it an exciting investment. All of these, along with Lima’s development into a full-fledged industrial city, will guarantee a rise in property values. Sierra Village property prices range from P3.1 million to 7.1 million, while Brook Villages are from P1.5 million to P3.6 million. For inquiries, visit www. thevillagesatlipa.com.

sMirror

Wednesday, May 15, 2019 E3

Wyndham Group to open hotel in QC

WYNDHAM Hotel grand ballroom perspective

WYNDHAM Garden Hotel lobby lounge

By Rizal Raoul S. Reyes

@brownindio

YNDHAM Hotels and Resorts, the ParsippanyTroy Hills, New Jerseybased global hotel chain, will build its first hotel in the Philippines. Harley Geraldine Pow, managing director of Wellworth Properties, told reporters during the recent groundbreaking ceremony that they had partnered with the global hotel brand to build the P1-billion project in Quezon City. “Wyndham Garden is a threeto four-star hotel upper midscale brand targeting business and leisure travelers. This is only franchised for this development project in Quezon City,” said Pow during the groundbreaking event attended by officials of Wellworth and the Wyndham group. Wyndham Hotels granted the

franchise to Wellworth Properties and Development Corp. to build the first hotel in the country. “We are open to another Wyndham Garden in Cebu,” she added. Pow said they decided to build a condotel because the return on investment in operating a pure hotel is going to be long term. “If you are realistic about it, a hotel will require a longer time to recoup your investment,” she said. She said building a condotel is a basic way to recover investment faster for Wellworth. She said Wellworth is bullish on the Wyndham project as very

Pixel Residences nears completion

ANILA, Philippines— Aseana Residential Holdings Corp., a subsidiary of D.M. Wenceslao & Associates Inc. (DMWAI), tops off its first residential condominium project Pixel Residences. In less than one year, this low-density residential development swiftly sold out its 170 units, a resounding success amid a highly competitive development landscape.

Peaceful space in the middle of a progressive community

WITH the façade’s pixel pattern, Pixel Residences is a 15-story residential development that features modern architecture. It offers large living and breathing spaces of studios, one-bedroom and twobedroom units ranging from 36 square meters to 88 sq m, providing relief from the crammed city living. Designed by renowned local architecture firm CASAS + Architects, Pixel Residences also features an interior-designed lobby, naturally ventilated corridors, retail area

and prime amenities, including indoor fitness gym, indoor swimming pool, function hall and kid’s play area. “We want our residents to go home to a peaceful space amid the busy city living. Pixel Residences is where people can live their life with comfort, safety and security,” shared Julius Guevara, DMWAI vice president for Corporate Planning. This residential development rises on a prime location with a total land area of 1,761 square meters, bounded by four roads, allowing an unobstructed view of the community. Located in Aseana City, Metro Manila’s master planned and largest contiguous, prime and urban landbank, Pixel Residences is easily accessible through Manila’s major roadways. Aseana City is a flagship project of D.M. Wenceslao & Associates Inc., one of the leading fully integrated real-estate development and construction companies in the Philippines.

big potential market such as the major broadcast networks in Quezon City. It will be the first foreign brand hotel situated at the heart of Quezon City. It is going to be along Eugenio Lopez Drive near the ABSCBN complex. To be built on a 2,000-square meter lot, Wyndham Garden Hotel will be a 25-story high structure with a total of 235 rooms and 168 parking slots. Preselling will start at the fourth quarter of this year. Pow said Wellworth initially planned to build a condominium but decided to go into the hotel industry because a lot of the developers such Ayala Land Inc. and SMDC are present already in the area. “We were not keen on hotels because it’s operational and we’re not hoteliers,” she said. She said Wellworth decided to offer condotel units for investment purposes. Citing consumer interest for branded condotel as a form of investment, Pow added the company would be selling 40 percent or about 95 units of the Wyndham Garden Hotel under a sale and lease back agreement.

The size of the units will be 30 sq m to 35 sq m, and priced about P5 million to P6 million per unit. Pow said buyers would be required to sign management contract allowing Wellworth to rent out the room and manage its dayto-day operations. She said investors would be given a condominium certificate title, get a share of the rental income every quarter and be able to use the unit for free for around 10 to 15 nights per year. “We’ll start preselling units in the fourth quarter of this year, when there are three or four stories,” she said. Wellworth Properties and Development Corp. is the owner and developer of Wyndham Garden Hotel while H.S. Pow Construction and Development Corp. is the general contractor. Architects led by its principal architect Philip Recio will be the principal architect, and Architect Paulo Alcazaren of PGAA will handle the landscape design. Pow said they are planning to open the hotel by the fourth quarter of 2021.

WYNDHAM Hotel day perspective

Progressive provincial cities on an upswing

HANKS to a booming economy, the realestate sector of several progressive cities outside of the Metro are on a roll, growing remarkably well over the last few years and expected to continue soaring to new heights in the next decade or so. More and more property developers are answering the growing demand for residential and commercial properties in Cebu, Cavite, Davao, Iloilo, Bacolod and Pampanga as their property landscapes evolve and are expected to be at the forefront of a property development boom in the country.

A pronounced surge in demand and supply

THE growing interest from local and foreign investors, as bolstered by the national government’s robust infrastructure projects in these provincial cities, attracted a surge in interest among property buyers from here and abroad. From 2017 to 2018, Pampanga registered a whopping 873-percent increase in leads on the Lamudi platform. During the same time frame, Cavite witnessed a 298-percent increase in leads, Davao raked in 69 percent, while Cebu and Iloilo also increased by 274 and 214 percent, respectively. Page views among properties in Bacolod likewise spiked by 38 percent. These numbers go to show that these cities are currently enjoying a shining moment in their real-estate sector. In conjunction with this impressive upward trend in demand, the property supply in these cities followed suit. Based on Lamudi listings from 2017 to 2018, Davao enjoyed a 102-percent increase in listings while Pampanga saw a 202-percent spike. Likewise, Cavite’s listings spiked by 188 percent. Cebubased listings increased by 27 percent while Iloilo grew by 29 percent. Bacolod, however, had more property searches than the available supply during the time period, where apartment and land

For Bacolod, the towns of Alijis, Estefania, Mansilingan and Tangub drew in the most interest.

House and lots dominate property types

BHAVNA SURESH (fourth from left), CEO of Lamudi, moderated the media roundtable. The panelists of the media roundtable were Joey Bondoc (from left), senior research manager of Colliers International Philippines; Charles Ong, chief operating officer of Innoland Development Corp.; Fernando Camus, senior consultant of Berthaphil Inc.; Emmanuel Rapadas, chief financial officer of Torre Lorenzo Development Corp.; and Richard Tay, business unit head of the Commercial Business Group of Property Co.of Friends Inc.

searches were 7 percent and 12 percent higher than the supply, respectively. This could mean that there is a well of opportunity for property developers in the city to answer to the growing demand that is yet to be addressed.

Meanwhile, Cavite’s residential sector also maintains its relative affordability, with an average price of P6,372,632 for houses. The average price per square meter is P50,576.

Average prices and a notable increase in page visits

THE most searched for areas in Davao that property seekers searched for are Buhangin and Sasa. These were followed by Barangay 19-B, Ma-A, Talomo, Barangay 20-B, Bucana, Barangay 34-D, Matina Crossing and Matina Aplaya. In Cebu, the most searched for properties were those in Cebu City, followed by those in Lapu-Lapu, Mandaue, Talisay, Consolacion, Minglanilla and Liloan. Bacoor, Dasmariñas, Tagaytay, General Trias, and Imus were the most searched cities in Cavite. On the other hand, the towns of Pavia, Jaro, Oton, Guimbal and Mandurriao generated the most interest in Iloilo. In Pampanga, Angeles, San Fernando, Mabalacat, Arayat, Mexico, Bacolor and Magalang.

PAGE visits, which likewise signify interest among property buyers, in these provincial cities also increased. From 2017 to 2018, Pampanga, Cebu, and Bacolod grew by 65 percent, 23 percent and 38 percent, respectively. Iloilo, on the other hand, rose by 22 percent from the first quarter of 2018 to the first quarter of 2019. Davao, despite being one of the country’s most competitive cities and investment hubs, remains affordable for prospective investors and home seekers. The average price of a condo property in the city is P4,622,195, where the average price per square meter is tagged at P100,377.

Most searched areas

THE Majority of these property seekers are interested in house and lots, although there’s also a growing interest for residential condo units. The majority also prefer to buy these types of properties compared to those who want to rent them. In Iloilo, for instance, the page views for houses were close to 62 percent among property seekers, about 52 percent when it comes to sessions, and 59 percent for leads generated, based on Lamudi’s data. The same is true for Cavite, where about 64 percent of the leads came from house searches. The preference for house and lots, as well as lands, in these provincial cities, show that the prices of these property types in Cavite, Pampanga, Cebu, Bohol, Davao, and Iloilo are still relatively more affordable compared to those in Metro Manila. Many of those who were also searching for properties in most of these progressive provincial cities are from Metro Manila, according to Lamudi data. In Pampanga, for instance, although the No. 1 city that searched for a property there came from Angeles City, the next three came from Quezon City, Makati, and Manila, data from the property portal shows. Pampanga’s proximity to Metro Manila has attracted quite a number of property seekers from Quezon City, Makati, and Manila who are planning to relocate in the province, live a more relaxed lifestyle and escape from the urban chaos of the metropolis while also pursuing great careers with the growing number of companies opening their offices there. With the property sector of these thriving provincial cities on the upswing, expect their economic landscape to evolve and benefit nearby towns and municipalities, as well.

Entrepreneur

E4 Wednesday, May 15, 2019 • Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug

BusinessMirror

Singapore-based firm bares plan to ‘digitalize’ MSMEs in Divisoria

By Rizal Raoul S. Reyes

@brownindio

Contributor

NCHANTO, a Singaporebased e-commerce services and solutions provider, plans to “revolutionize” the way business in Manila’s Divisoria is being done by developing a digital marketplace that enables sellers and buyers to have a faster mode of transaction. “Our target is to digitize 200 sellers in Divisoria by end of June this year,” Abhimanyu Kashikar, cofounder and chief operating officer of Anchanto, said in a recent media briefing in Makati City. Divisoria, dubbed as the country’s bargain capital, is a major flea markets in the country that is known for its retail and wholesale shops.

A shopper can usually get a good discount in Divisoria, especially in bulk shopping. At present, Anchanto has 30 sellers in Divisoria who have subscribed under the plan. On a broader scale, Kashikar said, Anchanto is introducing technologies to boost further e-commerce deployment in the county. “Price

is a big challenge for the small and medium enterprises [SMEs] to enter the digital stage,” he noted. For the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), Kashikar introduced the Free Forever package. Under the plan, this free, basic online plan, allows the seller to connect to any number of local marketplaces and process up to 50 orders in a month for free. Citing the importance of MSMEs to the economy, Kashikar said the free service is offered “basically, to address the barriers they have with technology and improve their [operational] efficiency.” Open to all interested MSMEs, Anchanto can accommodate as many who wish to be on board the free ecommerce plan. Kashikar said he also plans to meet with concerned government agencies to offer Anchanto’s free online service. For businesses that have scaled up and grown, Anchanto offers monthly subscription plan of P750 per month for SMEs and P7,500 for standard business plans.

As a response, Anchanto introduced SelluSeller and eWMS, now known as Wareo, to enable SMEs to migrate their operations to the digital age. In the Philippines, Kashikar said there are 50 enterprises that use both SelluSeller and Wareo, a proprietary software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform that enables business-to-business (B2B) and businessto-consumer (B2C) e-commerce for third-party logistics, warehouses, brands, retailers, distributors, and postal associations. As a platform, there are 2,000 registered sellers who use SelluSeller do-it-yourself (DIY) setup. SelluSeller, an online multichannel selling software, offers a onestop solution to manage selling on multiple local and cross-border sales

channels, such as Lazada, Zalora, Qoo10, Shopee, MyStore, Shopify, Magento and more with ease. Furthermore, SelluSeller helps online sellers, brands, and distributors to list and sell products online with features such as pricing and promotion management, centralized inventory and order management, payment reconciliation and many more. Anchanto serves a massive customer base comprising of global players such as Nestlé, Pos Malaysia, Telkom Indonesia, 3M, Luxasia, among others, and integrates its customers seamlessly with more than 43 online marketplaces across Southeast Asia to push inventory, digital content, promotions and receive customer orders—all in real time.

Our target is to digitize 200 sellers in Divisoria by end of June this year.”—Kashikar

Kalye Negosyo innovator shares success with upstarts

N 2013, former advertising executive turned entrepreneur Jorge Noel Wieneke launched in Makati the Kalye Negosyo program, a series of seminars and workshops that aim to help Pinoy entrepreneurs to be successful in their business. Wieneke, also cofounder of Potato Corner and president of Tokyo Temoura, said Kalye Negosyo is his way of giving back to his fellow entrepreneurs with the aim to rekindle the bayanihan spirit among Filipinos by connecting aspiring and fledging entrepreneurs to various networks of opportunities. The prototype was done in South Cembo in Makati. After a successful pilot program, Wieneke decided to scale up and make it national in scope. However, he noticed during the second stage that some of the negative traits of Filipinos emerged, such as expectation of dole outs and crab mentality, thus posing another challenge to Wieneke and his team. “I asked then-Go Negosyo Executive Director and now Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez to craft a program that is more sustaining. I noticed that after our provincial caravans, the people who participated in our programs went back to their old ways,” he recalled. On the third year, he chose people

who have a deeper understanding of entrepreneurship Kalye Negosyo will only focus on learning, improving the self-esteem, motivation and exposure. The program holds a seminar every Friday of the week and runs for six months. To ensure the participants are focused and serious, a five-man screening team from Kalye Negosyo’s board of trustees screened the applicants. “We judged them based on their attitude,” he said. To prove that they are serious, only 10 percent of the applicants are going to be admitted. For the 200 applicants, only 20 will be admitted to the program. “Our participants will be taught value formation, entrepreneurial mindset, product development and other forms of support such as accounting, personal development, marketing, among others,” he said Another major policy of Kalye Negosyo is that mentors are not allowed to invest in the business ventures of the participants. “We think it is morally wrong and it defeats the purpose of mentoring,” he said. “We don’t invest but we only guide them in building the business,” he added.

Kalye Negosyo beneficiaries

ENTREPRENEURS Jowy Awingan and Nordie Joy Bilbao are among

FROM left, Nordie Joy Bilbao-Olaguera shares a light moment with her sister-business partner Kate B. Unson and nephew Lucas at the Kitchen Studio of Love2bake school.

the beneficiaries of Kalye Negosyo. Awingan, a micro entrepreneur who sells nachos, hamburgers and other snacks in South Cembo joined Kalye Negosyo for curiosity. “Before, I was just contended to be earning for our daily expenses,” she said. Since it was for free, Awingan joined Kalye Negosyo. In the program, she learned to save a portion of her earnings to expand the business. She said the mentors also taught her how to manage her people and develop teamwork on how to run the business. “My self-confidence grew and now, I am planning to add more carts for the business,” she said. As payback, Awingan is teaching

out-of -school youths in her barangay the basics of entrepreneurship. Meanwhile, Nordie Joy BilbaoOlaguera, owner of Love2bake store, told the BusinessMirror in a recent interview that she learned a lot of things on becoming “the real entrepreneur” while attending Kalye Negosyo. “I’d say my path would definitely include continuous learning and applying everything I have learned and will learn in innovating and transforming our family business to the next level,” she said. Based on her experiences, BilbaoOlaguera said, an entrepreneur must be open for mentorship and must choose the mentors who walk the talk. She said an entrepreneur must also be innovative, a risk-taker and

can control fear. “They must also be aware of and must include social responsibility as part of the business activities,” she said. Bilbao-Olaguera said they were blessed to receive financial support from their mother and eldest sister who willingly lent them enough capital that enabled them to offer their customers new products and increase inventory. Moreover, they also use social media to reach their target market and inform customers know they are open for business. “The best thing that ever happened to Love2bake is the Kalye Negosyo. Because of the mentorship I received, I was able to identify two things that hindered us to grow: these are fear and indolence. While in the program, I learned to conquer these two hindrances and immediately started laying out the plans for the Love2bake Kitchen Studio that will offer baking and cake decorating classes for our customers,” BilbaoOlaguera said. “Even after graduation, our advisers Mr. and Mrs. Wieneke make the effort to check on how our businesses are doing. The alumni of Kalye Negosyo still seek advice from our mentors and gets access to various business seminars,” she added. Rizal Raoul S. Reyes

This Italian entrepreneur wants your swimsuit to be made from garbage

O you, it’s a garbage dump. To Italian entrepreneur Giulio Bonazzi, it’s the launchpad for a Stella McCartney handbag or a pair of Levi’s jeans. “When I look at a landfill, I see a goldmine,” Bonazzi, the founder and chief executive officer of nylon manufacturer Aquafil, said in an interview. As volumes of plastic-based waste reach a tipping point in oceans and trash heaps around the world, Bonazzi’s company is recycling the material and turning it into nylon used to make upscale apparel and accessories. A nd w it h heightened consumer awareness and tougher environmental rules, the CEO sees u n l im ited potent ia l for sales of the company’s Econyl thread. The yarn is made from rec ycled mater ia l which may have started life as carpet or industrial plastic, or even part of an abandoned fishing net—an

AN exhibitor dresses mannequins during Intimasia Expo-2019, an “Intimate Wear Show,” in New Delhi on January 21, 2019. PRAKASH SINGH/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

increasingly promising area for recycling. “Consumer demand for new products is almost endless, but the planet’s resources aren’t,” Bonazzi, 56, said. “That’s OK, because we can

have both state-of-the-art products and a better environment.”

Check that label

CHECK your label: you may already own a swimsuit, workout clothes

or casual wear made from Econyl. Adidas AG, Levi Strauss & Co. and Speedo International are just three of the better-known clients using the yarn, according to the company. Consumers may be more willing than ever to pay premium prices for products made from planet-friendly materials, and Bonazzi says Econyl, which accounts for nearly 40 percent of Aquafil’s fiber sales, is clearly a “top-quality and thus top-margin” product for the company. That’s borne out by the fiber’s use by high-end fashion names like Gucci, the CEO said. The Stella McCartney brand has also said it will stop using virgin nylon by 2020— and use more Econyl. Legislation is helping push the trend, too. While the European Union made headlines with a ban on consumer items like plastic plates, cutlery and straws beginning in 2021, a less noticed part of the initiative includes dealing with abandoned fishing gear, which represents about

27 percent of marine litter. A significant number of disused fishing nets are not collected for treatment and, together with singleuse plastic products, that poses “a severe risk to marine ecosystems, biodiversity and human health,” according to the text of new EU legislation. Member-states should tighten rules to ensure collection and waste management, it says. That’s where Aquafil comes in, the CEO said. The company is already benefiting from a “positive announcement effect” from the EU directive, he said, with major fishingnet consumers reaching out to the Arco, Italy-based company on collection and recycling. “While any move in this direction is appreciated, Europe could have been bolder and set stricter goals,” Bonazzi said. “The hope is that individual countries will understand the importance of this measure and act swiftly. Time to save the planet is running out.” Bloomberg News

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Dog start-up rattles $75 billion pet market with adoption site

HE pet adoption market looks cute from the outside—cuddly mutts looking for homes, eager parents seeking a new family member. But there’s a darker side to it: so-called puppy mills churning out dogs in deplorable conditions to meet the demand for designer breeds like labradoodles. Many disappointed people end up dropping off the dogs at shelters, which take in about 3 million annually in the United States. Oversight is spotty: Just last month, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) sued the US Department of Agriculture for access to inspection records, calling the agency’s enforcement of breeders “dismal.” (The USDA, which licenses breeders, didn’t respond to a request for comment.) Into this mess come two former employees at e-commerce site Jet. com. Josh Wais and Lauren McDevitt recently debuted Good Dog, an online clearinghouse of what it deems reputable shelters, rescue outfits and breeders—a kind of Consumer Reports for the pet industry. Its goal is to connect pet parents with available dogs, but by recommending both breeders and rescue outfits, they’ve waded into a longtime industry controversy. Good Dog, fresh with $6.7 million in funding, has stirred up some people in the rescue world who want nothing to do with breeders. They say Good Dog, by including them in its vetting, may steer people away from worthy shelter dogs, especially since Good Dog takes a cut of sales when people buy their pet through a breeder. “While it’s great when someone has a business idea that can also do good in the world, frequently those ideas are not well-thought through or not actually solving a problem people are having,” said David Meyer, cofounder and chief executive officer of Adopt-a-Pet.com, which connects people with shelters and rescue organizations. “People can almost always find the kind of animal they want in a shelter or rescue.” Wais says there’s no way to stop some people from going to breeders. Good Dog can help ensure that buyers are only choosing from upstanding ones. “We are not going to take a stance on those longtime legacy conflicts,” he said. In this “very broken system, people are making decisions blindly, so trust is a core tenet of what we provide.” Establishing that trust won’t be easy. The very best breeders work through word of mouth—still the most common way to find out about a dog, followed by online sources. Good Dog’s team can’t visit every breeder, so it evaluates them based on standards set by experts in dog breeding, behavior and animal welfare. Its 20 employees pore over veterinary test reports, customer complaints and any available inspection records. Right now there are more than 1,500 organizations on the site, about equally split among breeders, rescues and shelters. (Shelters maintain a physical home for the dogs and are usually affiliated with a town or city, while rescues rely on foster homes for the mutts.) Only two or three out of every 10 places screened end up making the cut, Wais said. Consumers who purchase from breeders will pay a sliding-scale fee pegged to the price of the dog, likely around 5 or 10 percent. Good Dog wants to grab a slice of the $75-billion US pet industry, which is increasingly moving online, evidenced by pet superstore Chewy.com’s recent IPO filing. Bloomberg News