BusinessMirror May 22, 2019

MANUFACTURERS SAY HIGHER SAFEGUARD DUTY ON CEMENT TO CURE ‘SERIOUS INJURY’

By Elijah Felice E. Rosales @alyasjah

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OCAL manufacturers are asking the government to raise the safeguard duty on cement to remedy the serious injury they suffered due to the surge in imports over the past years.

At the public hearing on Monday, the Cement Manufacturers’ Association of the Philippines (Cemap) appealed to the Tariff Commission to increase the safeguard duty on cement. It claimed imports continue to rise in spite of a provisional tax of P8.40 per bag in place.

“Our appeal, therefore, is for a higher tariff rate to cure the serious injury,”said Cirilo Pestaño, executive director of the Cemap, at the public hearing.

IN this BusinessMirror file photo, workers pour cement at a construction site in Makati.

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Data presented by Cemap showed the volume of imported cement jumped 64.15 percent to 1.74 million tons in the first quarter, from 1.06 million tons during the same period last year. The government in January decided to protect the local industry by imposing a provisional tax of P8.40 per bag on imports.

With this, the group said it supports the government’s preliminary tariff and is demanding a definitive safeguard duty of a higher rate.

Pestaño said cement demand from infrastructure is projected to climb to 33 percent of total cement demand by 2021, up from 2016’s share of 27 percent. Cement demand could hit up to 52 million tons by 2025, he added.

He said manufacturers have expansion projects in the pipeline, some of which have been

commissioned and are scheduled for funding this year.

With this, local players said it is important to protect them given their larger economic contribution and higher tax paid to the government.

On top of this, they also employ more workers than importers do. The government slapped a provisional tax on imported cement after the domestic industry supposedly got injured from the surge in imports between 2013 and 2017.

Market share of imports rose to 15 percent in 2017, from 0.02 percent in 2013, according to government data. Sales of the local industry reportedly fell 12 percent, or P11.1 billion, in 2017, as manufacturers were compelled to reduce prices by almost 10 percent to compete with imports.

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Wednesday, May 22, 2019 Vol. 14 No. 224

DBM fund release rules to fast-track projects T

By Bernadette D. Nicolas

@BNicolasBM

HE Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has finally released the national budget circular for the P3.662-trillion 2019 budget after it was prodded by two economic managers to do so to prevent further delays in the implementation of projects.

Project delays arising from the government’s operating for four months under a reenacted budget —the result of a standoff between the two chambers of Congress— had been blamed for the lowerthan-expected GDP growth in the first quarter.

The Department of Finance had said last week that the issuance of circular will pave the way for the government to continue infrastructure projects affected by the budget impasse in Congress.

The national budget circular stipulates the guidelines on the

release of funds for 2019 national budget.

Although the circular was dated May 2, it was only released on Tuesday, May 21.

Under the National Budget Circular 577 signed by DBM Officer in Charge Janet B. Abuel, all

₧3.662 trillion The national budget for 2019, which was delayed for four months by a standoff between the Senate and the House of Representatives unutilized allotments of agencies as of April 30, 2019, and chargeable against the 2018 reenacted budget shall no longer be available for obligation.

All appropriations authorized under the 2019 General Appropriations Act (GAA) as well as programmed automatic appropriations shall be valid for release and obligation for the purpose specified until December 31, 2019.

See “DBM fund,” A2

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MANILA AMONG TOP CITIES FRIENDLY TO START-UPS

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ANILA has one of the most conducivestart-upecosystems in the world, as it ranked high in multiple categories of a report assessing the environment for new enterprises.

Along with Taipei, Busan, Calgary and Frankfurt, Manila was listed as one of the top activation phase ecosystems in the world, according to Startup Genome’s 2019 Global Startup Ecosystem Report. The Philippine capital placed 10th in the global competition for Bang for Buck.

It ranked fifth in the activation ecosystem for connectedness, as well as in exit growth index.

Moreover, Manila was sixth across the world in output growth index and ninth in funding growth index. The assessment also put the city’s financial technology (fintech) industry in the spotlight, as it comprised 15 percent of all start-ups.

According to the report, Manila’s fintech transaction value last year amounted to about $5.7 billion and is projected to hit $10.5 billion by 2022.

The Bang for Buck badge is given

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China fishing ban

See “Huawei,” A2

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 52.6480

to firms who are getting more value for the average funding amount startups will get in the ecosystems. With an average funding new enterprises get in this environment, a start-up should be able to hire more software engineers for one year.

Under the activation ecosystem for connectedness, Manila ranked fifth for the quality of relationship local investors, experts and founders have.

Exit growth index measures startup exits in the ecosystem from 2015 to 2016 and 2017 to 2018. Output growth index evaluates the total startup creation in the ecosystem through an annualized growth rate between 2014 and 2018.

The funding growth index assesses the index of growth in early stage funding in start-ups from 2014 to 2015 and 2016 to 2017.

The report took note of the $26 million raised last year by fintech lender First Circle. It also cited the acquisition of Coins.ph for $72 million and Voyager Innovations for $215 million as factors for Manila’s good standing in the rankings. Elijah Felice E. Rosales

PhilMech set to aid farmers

have on that,” he also said.

Panelo, who admitted that he is not a Huawei user, also clarified that he is also “not sure” if currently there is an ongoing study by the government following this development.

Reports have said that existing Huawei smartphone users will be able to use and download app updates provided by Google but future versions of Huawei smartphones that run on Android may lose access to Google’s popular services, such as Google Play Store, Gmail and Youtube Apps.

MEANWHILE, the Palace was also mum about the fishing ban imposed by China in the West Philippine Sea as it referred all queries to the Department of

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Palace on wait-and-see mode on Google, Huawei

ALACAÑANG is awaiting recommendations from the Department of National Defense and the National Security Adviser following Google’s move to suspend some business with Huawei amid the US-China trade war.

Telecommunication firms in the country had assured Huawei users on Monday that the ban will not affect their network services.

“I suppose that the National Security Adviser and the Department of National Defense are studying the matter given that it is brought to the public knowledge on certain apprehensions relative to the use of Huawei,” said Presidential Spokesman and Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador S. Panelo in a briefing on Tuesday. “…The President will be waiting for whatever recommendation they

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‘YOSI KADIRI’ REVIVED (From left) Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, Health Undersecretary Eric Domingo and Department of Health pediatrician Rizalina Gonzales view the exhibit at the Senate on World No Tobacco Day on Monday, as Congress returned from a long recess. The exhibit featured the “Yosi Kadiri” mascot which the DOH revived to warn against the perils of smoking. The anti-tobacco blocs, notably the Sin Tax Coalition, reminded lawmakers to support a continuing effort to increase taxes on tobacco products—both as a health measure and as a revenue initiative. See related story in Banking and Finance, page B3. ROY DOMINGO

HE Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PhilMech) said it is ready to fulfill its role under the new rice trade regime which involves reducing palay production cost by as much as P3 per kilogram.

Phi l Mec h sa id it for ma l ly launched on May 21 the rice mechanization component of the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) created by the rice trade liberalization law to help farmers improve their productivity amid stiffer competition with cheap staple imports.

The RCEF is a P10-billion annual earmarked fund for the rice sector for the next six years.

See “PhilMech,” A8

n JAPAN 0.4784 n UK 67.0104 n HK 6.7071 n CHINA 7.6155 n SINGAPORE 38.2533 n AUSTRALIA 36.3587 n EU 58.8131 n SAUDI ARABIA 14.0406

Source: BSP (21 May 2019 )

News

BusinessMirror

A2 Wednesday, May 22, 2019

Carpio-Morales, who filed case vs Xi, detained in HK

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By Recto Mercene

@rectomercene

ORMER Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales, one of two former Philippine officials who filed a lawsuit against Chinese President Xi Jinping before a United Nations body, was detained at the Hong Kong airport after being tagged by Chinese authorities as a security threat, her legal counsel said on Tuesday.

Lawyer Anne Marie Corominas said Morales was at the Hong Kong Immigration area in the airport’s Terminal 1 as she and her family flew in from Manila. She was denied entry to China.

Corominas said Carpio-Morales

was separated from her husband, son, daughter-in-law and two grandchildren who were kept in a different room near the immigration area.

“How is a 78-year-old former anti-corruption ombudswoman a ‘security threat’ in HK-China?”

Corominas demanded to know.

In March, Morales and former Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario filed a complaint with the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Chinese President Xi Jinping for “crimes against humanity” due to Beijing’s activities in the West Philippine Sea. In their 17-page complaint, del Rosario and Carpio-Morales said Xi and other Chinese officials should be held accountable for crimes against humanity over China’s activities in the South China Sea, adding that these deprived Filipino fishermen of food and livelihood, according to an earlier PNA report.

China has no plans of an-

swering the complaint, Chargé d’Affaires Tan Qingsheng of the Chinese Embassy in Manila was quoted as saying.

“I’m sure what they have done or what they will do will not be able to represent the views of the Philippine government and people.

Those actions will in no way stop the development of bilateral relations,” Tan said in an interview with the PNA. China is not a member of the ICC, while the Philippines had withdrawn its membership from the Hague-based criminal court.

Carpio-Morales was expected to return to Manila at 8:30 p.m. on board Philippine Airlines flight PR-307.

How is a 78-year-old former anticorruption ombudswoman a ‘security threat’ in HK-China?”—Corominas

Mobile lenders under fire for ‘cruel tactics’

By Elijah Felice E. Rosales

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@alyasjah

HE country’s privacy body is investigating nearly 500 cases of alleged harassment and shaming by mobile online lending operators, as borrowers cried foul over perceived reputational harm and abuse of data-privacy rights.

The National Privacy Commission (NPC) disclosed that a total of 485 complaints have been lodged against operators of online lending applications. These online lenders allegedly misused borrowers’ information, particularly the disclosure of unpaid balances to

DBM fund. . .

other people.

According to Privacy Commissioner Raymund E. Liboro, at least 235 cases were formally pursued by complainants and are now the subject of NPC hearings.

“Over the past few months, we received almost identical complaints that pile up by the day from individuals accusing online lending apps of rude practices. Complainants say the harassment and shaming started when they failed to pay their balances on time,” Liboro said in a statement.

“The people behind the lending app called or texted their contact list about their inability to return

Continued from A1

The validity shall also be subject to the pertinent Special and General Provisions of the GAA, the President’s Veto message on the implementation of cash-based budgeting, as well as other pertinent laws. The completion of construction, inspection and payment for appropriations for infrastructure capital outlays may be made not later than December 31, 2020, in consideration of the first year of implementation of cash-based budgeting system.

Infrastructure projects shall cover the construction, improvement, rehabilitation, restoration or maintenance of roads and bridges, railways, airports, seaports/fish ports, information and communication technology and facilities, among others.

In terms of use of fees and income, departments and agencies are no longer authorized to avail themselves of excess income since their annual financial requirements to cover their implementation-ready programs and projects have been fully provided in line with the government adopting the annual cash-based budget policy.

Departments and agencies were also reminded to submit Budget Execution Documents (BEDs) their full-year requirements consistent with the 2019 national budget to the DBM, through the Unified Reporting System.

The BEDs should highlight any adjustments made in the programs, activities and projects, targets/plans on account of changes from the 2019 National Expenditure Program to the 2019 General Appropriations Act. The DBM has also set the deadline for the submission of agency requests for any release requiring issuance of Special Allotment Release Orders/additional Notices of Cash Allocation on November 15, 2019.

Within 30 days after the end of each quarter, agencies are also tasked to submit Budget and Financial Accountability Reports pursuant to Section 102, General Provisions under the 2019 GAA. Moreover, monthly reports on appropriations, allotments, obligations and disbursements should also be submitted to DBM and copy furnished to the National Economic and Development Authority and Office of the Cabinet Secretary on or before the tenth day of the month immediately following the covered period. The same deadline applies to the submission of monthly report of disbursements.

The DBM shall also conduct Agency Performance Reviews to determine the level of performance of each agency in terms of physical outputs, as well as actual expenditures incurred in the production of goods/services to the public vis-à-vis targets for the same period.

The result will be used to determine the necessity of releasing the balance of the “For Later Release Items” under the 2019 Programmed Appropriations, additional release from Special Purpose Funds, approval of requests from modification in allotment or revision of plans/targets as reflected in the DBM-evaluated Budget Execution Documents submitted by agencies.

Departments and agencies were mandated to implement transparency provisions in the national budget.

the money, causing them embarrassment and emotional stress,” he added.

Downloading the mobile lending software will reportedly require access to contact information, photos, files and documents saved in the borrower’s phone.

Once granted access, only then will the application allow the processing of the loan.

However, if the borrower fails to pay on time, all of his or her phone contacts receive a collection text message or call stating the borrower’s full name and outstanding balance.

“The NPC has started conducting hearings on the cases and it

Cabcom. . .

Continued from A8

319,510 tons per year,” Neda said.

Further, Neda said the project’s loan validity was extended to July 2021 from the original closing date of July 2019. Project implementation period for civil works and other activities was also extended to February 2012-June 2021 from the originally approved period of February 2012-June 2019.

Meanwhile, the ICC Cabcom only noted changes in the Access to Sustainable Energy Program (Asep) of the Department of Energy (DOE). The changes include a two-year implementation period extension to December 18, 2021, from December 18, 2019, and a two-year validity extension of a grant from the European Union (EU)—from December 18, 2021, to December 18, 2023.

The Neda said these changes also included a re-allocation of grant proceeds from contingencies to technical assistance.

“These were approved through Department of Finance’s signing of an addendum to the Financing Agreement between the EU and the Philippine government last December 2018,”

Huawei. . .

Continued from A1

Foreign Affairs. Vietnam has rejected Beijing’s unilateral fishing ban for it violates Hanoi’s sovereignty over Paracel Islands, noting that it is against the international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos). The ban started on May 1 and will last until August 16, according to the Chinese agricultural ministry.

Asked if the Philippines will be affected by the fishing ban, Panelo said: “I’ll leave that to the Department of Foreign Affairs secretary.”

Nonetheless, Panelo said DFA will soon be stating its position on the matter.

The Palace spokesman also denied that he is being cautious in issuing statements when it comes to foreign policy after Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin tweeted that he has the “last and only word in foreign affairs after the President’s.” Locsin even added in

is vital that we also hear the respondent’s side of the story. We would highly appreciate it if they cooperate,” Liboro said.

If v iolations of the Data Privacy Act are found, erring online lenders may face temporary or permanent ban from operating, while the NPC may also award damages to affected individuals.

The cases, Liboro added, could also be transmitted to the Department of Justice for criminal prosecution. However, during the course of the proceedings, the parties may opt for mediation where they can freely arrive at a settlement.

Neda said.

Asep aims to increase access to electricity and energy services nationwide. This is part of the goals set under the Philippine Development Plan 2017-2022 and DOE’s Household Electrification Development Plan.

Based on Administrative Order 8 series of 2017, the ICC consists of the Secretary of DOF as Chairman; the Secretary of Socioeconomic Planning and Neda Director General, as Cochairman.

Its members include the Executive Secretary, the Cabinet Secretary, and the Secretaries of the Department of Budget and Management, DOE, Department of Trade and Industry, and the Governor of the Central Bank.

The ICC evaluates the fiscal, monetary and balance of payments and implications of major national projects. It recommends to the President the timetable of their implementation on a regular basis. This is similar to trading such as forex trading.

The interagency body also advises the President on matters related to the domestic and foreign borrowings program and submits a status of the fiscal, monetary and balance of payments and implications of major national projects. his tweet: “After the President and then me, no one has the authority to sever anything but his own throat. Certainly not diplomatic relations. Can we all keep silent?”

The Palace spokesman reiterated on Tuesday that he doesn’t feel alluded to by Locsin.

“There is nothing wrong with my statement regarding the issue involving vis-à-vis another country. I didn’t feel alluded to because I told you before, whatever the position of Locsin would be the position of the President. He could be referring to another official, not me,” he said.

Panelo said last week in a briefing that the decision to recall the Philippines’s representatives to Canada serves as a warning that diplomatic ties may be cut between two countries.

The DFA’s order to recall its top diplomats from Canada was triggered by the latter’s failure to meet the May 15 deadline to retrieve its garbage from the Philippines. Bernadette D. Nicolas

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Senator Kiko resigns from top LP post after ‘Otso Diretso’ debacle O PPOSITION Sen. Francis Pangilinan resigned as Liberal Party president on Tuesday, taking full responsibility for the dismal showing of LP senatorial candidates who failed to win even one of 12 Senate seats at stake in the May 13 midterm elections.

Pangilinan pinned the blame for the debacle solely on himself and handed over his letter of resignation, effective June 30, to Vice President Leni Robredo, who sits as LP chairman.

“As campaign manager for the Otso Diretso slate, I was unable to ensure our victory in the elections and I, therefore, assume full responsibility for the outcome and hold myself primarily accountable for this defeat and have tendered my resignation as president of the LP effective June 30, 2019,” Pangilinan confirmed.

Pangilinan pushed through with his resignation as party president as the final official results of the senatorial elections have yet to be announced by the Commission on Elections.

In a statement, the senator affirmed his resignation even as he noted that the Comelec has yet to proclaim the winning senators pending questions of possible ir-

regularities with the seven-hour data outage after the elections, the breakdown of hundreds of vote-counting machines, and the identification of over a thousand defective SD cards.

‘Watch in amusement’

FOLLOWING Vice President Leni Robredo’s reported refusal to accept Pangilinan’s resignation as LP President, Malacañang took a swipe at the opposition, saying they will just “watch in amusement.”

Presidential Spokesman and Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador S. Panelo told reporters the issue is for the LP alone to resolve.“That’s internal to the party.

We will never interfere,” Panelo said.

In a separate briefing, Panelo also lauded Pangilinan’s move to resign, as the senator took responsibility for the defeat of the Otso Diretso candidates.

“That’s commendable. He accepts defeat,” he said.

The Palace spokesman reiterated that the Otso Diretso’s decision to hit President Duterte backfired, as shown in the latest poll results.

“For us, they lost because people did not believe in them but rather in the President,” he added.

Butch Fernandez and Bernadette D. Nicolas

File Transfer Protocol, cited as cause of 7-hr data outage, is slower but safer–Comelec

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LOWER, but safer.

This was how the Commission on Elections (Comelec) described the introduction of their File Transfer Protocol (FTP) to automate the release of data from their transparency server.

In a press conference on Monday, the poll body reiterated its blame on the FTP for causing the seven-hour glitch in the transparency server, which temporarily stopped its release of information.

The FTP, which was pilot-tested in the recently concluded May 13 polls, handles the dissemination of data from the transparency server.

“The problem in using the FTP was it caused a bottleneck [in the release of information],” Comelec Spokesman James B. Jimenez said in a press conference.

Jimenez, however, reiterated the FTP was still the “superior solution” in the release of data from the transparency server.

In the past three national automated elections, Jimenez said data from the transparency server are saved in universal serial bus (USB) sticks before being manually delivered to a third party.

“That is a little insecure,” Jimenez said.

Concerns over the security of the transparency server were raised after it suffered a seven-hour glitch on May 14, hours after the 2019 polls closed.

This prompted election watchdogs including the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) to call for a review of the data logs of the transparency server.

In press conference on Monday,

Vinegar. . .

Continued from A8

“The list of the nonbiogenic sour condiments being passed off as vinegar in the market, whether they are safe for human consumption or not, should be released now.

Otherwise, the government could

the Church-based polls watchdog declared that data from the transparency server did indeed match Comelec’s main server, allaying fears that data tampering happened during the seven-hour glitch.

The only issue PPCRV still wants to be addressed by Comelec is why there is a “bottleneck” in the release of the data from the transparency server to other poll watchdogs, the media and other concerned parties.

Jimenez said their information technology experts are ready to explain the cause of the problem to PPCRV. Comelec earlier said the bottleneck was caused by the deluge of data from the transparency server, which the FTP could simply not handle efficiently.

No irregularities

THE Comelec on Tuesday said the initial third party review of its transparency server yielded no system irregularities.

Citing the partial results of the PPCRV review, Jimenez said no “transmission problem” occurred in the transparency server last week.

Jimenez added that PPCRV’s initial assessment of their data logs showed the said fears were baseless.

The poll body said the FTP could not effectively handle the deluge in data from the transparency server after the May 13 polls.

While this cause delays in the release of data, Jimenez said the FTP, which they piloted in the recently concluded automated elections, made the process safer.

Samuel P. Medenilla

expect a lot of lawsuits,” he added.

Researchers from the PNRI used isotope-based analytical techniques to determine that from more than 360 samples of vinegar in the Philippines, eight out of 10 are made from synthetic acetic acid.

The PNRI is an attached agency of the Department of Science and Technology.

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Makabayan bloc calls for House inquiry into reported poll cheating

By Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz @joveemarie

T

HE Makabayan bloc is asking the House of Representatives to look deeper into the allegations of massive vote buying and selling that allegedly marred the just-concluded midterm elections.

At a news conference, the bloc said, persistent reports of electoral cheating affect the credibility of the 2019 midterm elections.

Members of the bloc include Reps.

Antonio Tinio (Party-list, ACT Teachers), Carlos Isagani Zarate (Party-list, Bayan Muna), Ariel Casilao (Partylist, Anakpawis), France Castro (Party-list, ACT Teachers), Arlene Brosas (Party-list, Gabriela) and Sarah Elago (Party-list, Kabataan).

Tinio also said the seven-hour glitch, the corrupted Secure Digital (SD) cards and the failure of transparency servers resulted in failure of transparency in the automated elections.

For his part, Zarate said that the issue of alleged massive vote buying and selling could undermine the automated election system/ electoral process, thus affecting the credibility of the election process and results.

Manual voting

AMID these allegations, Zarate said the Makabayan bloc will file a measure returning the country’s election processes to manual voting in the coming 18th Congress “We will recommend to go back to manual voting or a mixed type of electoral system just like what other countries have done so,” he said.

According to Zarate, Germany and the Netherlands went back to manual voting because they saw that automated voting can be manipulated and can be corrupted.

Moreover, Casilao said the bloc is preparing to take legal steps in the coming days against those who were accused of violating election laws.

“The Filipino people [are clamoring] for transparency, accountability and justice. A strong feel-

“We will recommend to go back to manual voting or a mixed type of electoral system just like what other countries have done so.” —Zarate

ing of dissatisfaction is currently [being] felt by the nation as this government once again trampled upon our democratic rights by rigging the recently held national and local elections through widespread fraud and violence,” the bloc said in a separate joint a statement.

The statement also alleged that reports of errors and malfunctions of the automated elections system accompanied by widespread vote buying and use of government resources to favor administration bets have rendered the elections results highly questionable and not reflective of the people’s mandate.

“Come election day, the voters have been disgruntled by the corruption of 1,000 SD cards that affected 400 to 600 vote-counting machines. Many have been discouraged to vote due to widespread delays and machine errors. Several problems were encountered with the transparency servers that tallied votes and the overall nontransparent character of the automated polls, including anomalous delays in updates of votes tally, among others,” it added.

Given all of these, the 2019 elections results are far from credible and certainly tainted with fraud, the Makabayan bloc said as it called for a thorough investigation and accountability over the alleged massive electoral fraud.

“We also demand the scrapping of the privatized and foreign control over the automated election system and our democratic and sovereign electoral exercise,” it added.

Bill extending travel perks to OFW dependents okayed on final reading

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HE House of Representatives has endorsed for Senate approval a measure seeking to grant travel tax exemption to dependents of married or solo parent overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

Voting 171 affirmative and zero negative, the lower chamber on Monday approved on third and final reading House Bill 6138, which seeks to amend Sections 3 and 35 of the Republic Act (RA) 8042, otherwise known as the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995, as amended

by RA 10022.

The bill aims to extend further assistance to overseas Filipino workers by exempting their dependents from the payment of travel tax and airport fee enjoyed by OFWs. The measure extends the benefit of exemption from payment of travel tax and airport fee to children of OFWs who are considered “solo parents” as defined under the Solo Parent’s Welfare

Act of 2000.

Earlier, Davao del Norte Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez, principal author of the bill, said the contribution of OFWs to the country’s revenue-raising effort and economic standing, in general, is undeniably significant, with their total yearly remittances amounting to billions of dollars.

He said the government has as much as possible conferred upon these OFWs privileges and protection in various matters.

“This notwithstanding, there is still some void to fill as the so-called solo parent OFWs face some sort inequity in the field of taxation,” Alvarez said.

According to Alvarez, children of these single parent modernday heroes are currently denied exemptions from travel tax, an incentive to which kids of their married counterparts are entitled as provided for under RA No. 6768, as amended, or the Expanded Balikbayan Program. Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz

Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug • Wednesday, May 22, 2019 A3

DOJ probes Cardema for leading NYC meeting despite party-list bid

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By Joel R. San Juan @jrsanjuan1573 & Bernadette D. Nicolas @BNicolasBM

HE Department of Justice (DOJ) will look into the possible violation committed by former National Youth Commission (NYC) Ronald Cardema who still presided over the agency’s meeting after he had already filed his substitution to become first nominee for Duterte Youth party-list.

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra disclosed that Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo on Tuesday asked the justice department to check whether Cardema’s action has violated any law.

“Secretaty Sal[vador] Panelo [has] requested DOJ this morning to look into this matter and evaluate if charges may be filed against Ronald Cardema,” Guevarra told reporters.

“The DOJ will start by gathering relevant facts,” the DOJ chief added.

As a lawyer himself, Panelo told Palace reporters that the Cardema should not have been in that meeting. “Yes, because if he is already

resigned, how can he be presiding a meeting?” he said.

Aside from this, Panelo said the DOJ will also look into the allegations that Cardema also used his post to promote the Duterte Youth party-list.

However, the Palace spokesman decided not to preempt what specific charges could be filed against Cardema, saying it is already up to DOJ. The Palace also admitted that they are unaware of the meeting presided by Cardema and even his filing of petition for substitution.

“No. We really don’t know about

it. We didn’t even know about his filing of his certification until we read it in the papers,” Panelo said.

Cardema has invited criticisms after the Commission on Elections (Comelec) disclosed that all of Duterte Youth party-list nominees have backed out and that Cardema filed a substitution petition to fill the vacancy.

Malacañang said Cardema is deemed resigned after he filed the petition before the Comelec, but reports that had reached the Palace said that Cardema still presided over an NYC meeting.

Earlier, election law expert Atty. Romulo Macalintal, who ran and lost in the midterm senatorial race, said Duterte Youth nominees who resigned allegedly to give way to Cardema may also face a criminal case under Article 234 of the Revised Penal Code.

These nominees are not only making a mockery of our electoral processes, and when they resigned they have practically abandoned the office entrusted to them by the electorate.”—Macalintal

Comelec resets proclamation of senators, party-list groups anew

By Samuel P. Medenilla @sam_medenilla

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HE Commission on Elections (Comelec) postponed for the second time on Tuesday the date of proclamation of the winning national candidates in the 2019 polls.

At a news press conference, Comelec Spokesman James B. Jimenez said they decided to defer again the scheduled proclamation of 12 winning senators on Tuesday evening until the Comelec en banc, sitting as the National Board of Canvassers (NBOC), gets the last uncanvassed certificate of canvass (COC) from the United States.

The initial date of the proclamation was supposed to be on May 19 before it was moved to May 21.

“We have to await the returns from Washington because they represent more than 200,000 registered voters, in order to make sure there will be no movement in the ranking of elected officials,” Jimenez said.

Delayed transfer

THE COC from the US was supposed to be completed by the Special Board of Canvassers (SBOC) in the US and transmit it to the NBOC headquarters in Pasay City on May 21.

Jimenez, however, said the hard copy of the election return from Los Angeles took longer than expected to be sent to the SBOC based in Washington, D.C. He said they will be looking at the cause for the delay in the said process.

“We are expecting the transmission tonight [May 21] of the 54 COCs [from the US] that have to be canvassed. This will be completed immediately,” Jimenez said.

As of May 21, the NBOC was already able to canvass 166 of the 167 COCs from the 2019 polls. The COCs covered the votes of 47,210,501 people.

COMMISSION on Elections Spokesman James B. Jimenez announces the deferment of the proclamation of senators and party-list groups to a later date during a news conference at the Philippine International Convention Center. ROY DOMINGO

Another date

FOLLOWING the latest setback in the national canvassing, Comelec decided to move the proclamation of winning senators and party-list groups to another date this week.

“I guess the reasonable expectation [for the proclamation] is within a day or two,” Jimenez said.

On a positive note, Jimenez said the latest development would enable them to push once again for a singleday proclamation.

“We are confident for a joint [proclamation]...that is our goal,” Jimenez said.

The proclamation for senators was previously scheduled on May 21 and for the party-lists on May 22.

Jimenez said a partial proclamation covering only senators with candidates who garnered significant large number of votes, is currently not being considered by the poll body.

Current top 12

COM EL EC s a id it a l re ady i nformed the candidates about the adjusted date of their proclamation, which will be held at the NBOC headquarters.

Jimenez also noted they have yet to get a word from Malacañang if President Duterte will attend the event.

To recall, Duterte attended the COC filing of Christopher “Bong” Go, his close friend and former assistant, last year.

Web site developer linked to ‘Bikoy’ videos enters not guilty plea on sedition charges

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HE operator metrobalita.net web site has pleaded not guilty to inciting to sedition charges in relation to Republic Act 10175, or the Cybercrime Prevention Act, filed against him by the Department of Justice (DOJ) for his role in the online dissemination of the “Ang Totoong Narcolist” video featuring a

certain “Bikoy” accusing the President Duterte, members of his family and their associates of being involved in the country’s drug trade.

Rodel Jayme was brought before Regional Trial Court of Parañaque Branch 258 Presiding Judge Noemi Balitaan for his arraignment on Tuesday where he entered a plea

The said provision states: “The penalty of arresto mayor or a fine not exceeding P1,000 or both, shall be imposed upon any person who, having been elected by popular election to a public office, shall refuse without legal motive to be sworn in or discharge the duties of office.”

Duterte Youth’s original nominees are Ducielle Marie Suarez, Joseph M. de Guzman and Benilda C. de Guzman, along with two others.

However on May 12, 2019, all five nominees of the group filed their notices of withdrawal and simultaneous with Cardema’s substitution as the party-list nominee.

“These nominees are not only making a mockery of our electoral processes, and when they resigned, they have practically abandoned the office entrusted to them by the electorate,” Macalintal said.

of not guilty.

Following his arraignment, the trial court judge ordered his transfer from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) detention center to the Parañaque City Jail.

Jayme has denied any involvement in the production of the video and expressed his willingness to

cooperate with authorities to unmask those who used his web site for political propaganda against the Duterte administration during the midterm election campaign.

He claimed that he was just paid to set up a web site and has nothing to do with the uploading of the controversial video.

However, the DOJ still found probable cause to indict him for the crime of inciting to seidition.

It held that creating a web site and subsequently posting the videos was “a clear act to arouse among it its viewers a sense of dissatisfaction against the duly constituted authorities.”

Joel R. San Juan

Based on the partial official canvassed votes as of May 21, Cynthia Villar was ranked first with 25,236,113 votes.

She was followed by Grace Poe with 21,992,732 votes; Go with 20,604,044 votes; Pilar “Pia” Cayetano with 19,741,252 votes; Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa with 18,947,086 votes; and Juan “Sonny” Angara with 18,124,619 votes.

A lso included in the Senate Mag ic 12 a re Lito L apid w it h 16,940,382 votes; Imee Marcos with 15,833,599 votes; Francis Tolentino with 15,464,750 votes; Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel with 14,629,785 votes; Ramon “Bong” Revilla with 14,613,432 votes; and Nancy Binay with 14,490,515 votes.

A4 Wednesday, May 22, 2019 • Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug

Economy BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Govt eyes satellite tech to run after SME tax cheats

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By Cai U. Ordinario

@caiordinario

MALL businesses will soon have nowhere to hide from the taxman as the government intends to utilize satellite technology to run after all tax cheats, according to a report released by the Tokyo-based Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI).

In a report, titled “Fintech for Asian SMEs,” ADB Financial Analyst Naoko Nemoto and ADBI Dean Naoyuki Yoshino said the Department of Finance (DOF) plans to use satellite data to appraise underreported taxes of small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

It can be noted that the country’s tax effort was still languishing at below 15 percent. Data from the DOF showed that in the first quarter of 2019, the country’s tax effort improved to 14.6 percent from 14.3 percent in the same period in 2018.

“Rapid technological develop-

ments have dramatically increased the available data sources and now provide various parties with the opportunities to leverage data in their activities,” Yoshino said in a related blog published on Tuesday.

“For instance, the secretary of finance in the Philippines plans to leverage satellite data to estimate underreported SMEs’ revenue and collect tax fairly,” he pointed out.

ADBI said satellite technology could be tapped to spot any underreporting in revenues and taxes through their visitors. The satellite data can be used to come up with the average spending of each diner.

However, ADBI said using satellite technology could also help monitor the growth of crops, as well as the number of trucks entering and leaving farms nationwide.

ADBI added that new technology and big data can improve the efficiency of financial institutions in responding to the needs of SMEs, particularly where credit is concerned.

30,000

The total number of new businesses registered in PHL in the January-to-May period this year. Registered businesses, meanwhile, went up to 1.42 million as of May, from 1.39 million last December It added that the establishment of fintech firms can help encourage competition in financing and enable SMEs to obtain better financing for their needs.

“Accumulated digital data can complement the limited data disclosed by SMEs and reduce the cost of information asymmetries,” Yoshino said. “New technology and big data can also be employed to reduce the cost of information asymmetry between the financial

sector and SMEs.” Using fintech, ADBI said, could help SMEs, which play a crucial role in growing Asian economies.

The ADBI estimated that SMEs account for no less than 40 percent of employment and no less than 30 percent of Asian economies.

In the Philippines, SMEs account for 63.7 percent of employment and 35.7 percent of the economy. Other Asian countries like Indonesia saw SMEs accounting for 97 percent of their employment and 60.3 percent of the economy.

China, the largest economy in Asia, also owes much to SMEs since they account for 64.7 percent of employment and 60 percent of its gross domestic product.

“The use of technology, such as cloud-based accounting, digital payments, and the automation of invoicing and settlement processes, can enable SMEs to substantiate their business activities and become eligible for finance,” Yoshino said.

On Monday, Data from the MSME Development (MSMED) Council

House opposition leader urges Senate to reject PSA amendment, federalism, death penalty revival

By Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz

@joveemarie

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HE leader of the Magnificent 7 on Tuesday urged senators on Monday to reject the proposed the amendments to the Public Service Act, federalism and revival of the death penalty, which were prioritized for consideration in the last few session days of the 17th Congress.

Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman said the Senate must reject the amendments to the Public Service Act, which allows aliens and foreign corporations to own and operate public utilities previously reserved for Filipino citizens or corporations.

He said a constitutional amendment is needed before allowing foreign corporations to own and operate public utilities in the country.

Lagman said House Bill 5828 provides for a statutory definition of a public-utility, which, he said, “is actually a subterfuge to allow foreigners to own public-utility enterprises without complying with the citizenship requirement imposed by the Constitution.”

According to Lagman, the bill has deleted the requisite Filipino ownership requirement of public utilities under the Public Service Act, which is identical with Section 11 of Article XII of the Constitution.

“In its definition of a public utility, HB 5828 deliberately deleted the concept of ownership and limited the definition to the operation, management and control of public utilities even as there can be no operation, management or control without a qualified owner,” he added.

Lagman said the bill also deletes from the enumeration of public utilities traditional public utilities like common carriers and telecommunications companies, which are presently operating with controlling Filipino ownership.

The bill amending the Public Service Act has already been transmitted to the Senate in September 2017.

Con-ass

LAGMAN said opposition to a constituent assembly (Con-ass) and federalism must relentlessly continue and must carry over to the incoming 18th Congress.

“A strong argument, if not the strongest, against constituting the House of Representatives and the Senate into a constituent assembly is that the supermajority solons will convert the constituent assembly into a virtual rubber stamp of President Rodrigo Duterte,” he added.

“The subservience to the administration, which is now happening in the House, will certainly happen in the projected constituent assembly composed of the supermajority blindly allied with the President,” Lagman said.

The lawmaker said it must be underscored that the undue haste in shifting from the unitary to the federal system of government will further deteriorate the economy.

Citing the previous position aired by National Economic and Development Authority Director-General Ernesto Pernia, Lagman noted the country’s lack of preparedness for a shift to federalism because: The majority of our regions are fiscally ill-prepared and implementing it before we are ready will be detrimental to economic growth; and it may shred the country’s balance sheet and could have negative implications for public finances.

The resolution convening the Congress into constitutional assembly has been adopted by the chamber in January 2018.

Death penalty

LAGMAN also called on the Senate to reject the revival of the death penalty, which was already approved by the House in 2017.

He said data show that the death penalty is not a deterrent to the commission of crimes even as the crime rate has gone down.

“Punitive justice is not the avenue to achieve justice, because vengeance is never justice, and the imposition of capital punishment is not a precursor to judicial reforms,” he added.

Lagman also urged the Senate to reject the House-approved measure lowering of the age of criminal responsibility.

“Neuroscientific research documents that the brains of children do not fully develop until their early 20s, meaning children between the ages of 12 to 15 may still have reduced discernment to justify the imposition of criminal culpability on them,” Lagman said.

He said the present Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006 must be fully implemented with the assurance of adequate funding for non-penal institutions and programs for children in conflict with the law.

showed there were over 30,000 new businesses registered in the Januaryto-May period this year. Registered businesses in the Philippines went up to 1.42 million as of May, from 1.39 million in December.

Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez vowed to intensify the information campaign to encourage more Filipinos to go into business. The Department of Trade and Industry also intends to spread more information on the benefits of the Barangay Micro Business Enterprise law.

The MSMED Council plans to synchronize data and figures produced by the Philippine Statistics Authority and the National Economic and Development Authority on MSMEs. It also intends to count the MSMEs in the informal sector, or those who are not registered with the government. These statistics, the MSMED Council argued, will help the DTI, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and other finance institutions grasp where microfinancing is needed.

Manila and Seoul reaffirm deeper cooperation ties

By Rea Cu

T

@ReaCuBM

HE Department of Finance (DOF) has reaffirmed the Philippine government’s commitment to its deeper economic ties with South Korea, which recently bared plans to expand its assistance to countries in the Asean region.

In a meeting held recently with officials of the Korea International Cooperation Agency (Koica), Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III also thanked Seoul’s support in the Philippines’s efforts to enhance the use of digital technology in improving tax administration.

“We want to express how appreciative we are of the assistance we are receiving from the Korean people through the Korean government. I hope that we can expand our cooperation at this time and for the coming future,” Dominguez told the South Korean delegation led by Koica President Lee Mikyung.

In February 2019, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) said that the Philippines is eyeing a $7.3-million grant from Koica for the implementation of the first phase of the proposed electronic invoicing (e-invoicing) system project under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law.

Lee pointed out that South Korea expects “closer and deepened cooperation” with the Philippines, especially as this year marks the 70th anniversary of the diplomatic relations between the two countries.

In light of South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s policy centered on “the three Ps—people, peace and prosperity,” and his recognition of the strategic importance of Asean in the global economy, Lee said his government has pursued several initiatives in education, information and communications technology (ICT), and inclusive development, among other programs, that the Philippines could tap to help achieve its goal of economic inclusion for all Filipinos.

These include the Asean Higher Education Initiative, which involves the exchange of college students between South Korea and the Philippines, and South Korea’s highly developed ICT programs to assist the Philippines in enhancing transparency in governance and reforming its tax system.

“With the new set of policies presented by the Korean government, our volume of assistance to Asean countries will be increased by 2.8 times in 2022, compared to that of 2017. That means the volume of assistance to the Philippines will be naturally increased,” Lee said.

Lee also cited South Korea’s assistance to the government’s peace and development efforts in Mindanao, which include humanitarian assistance coursed through the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (Unicef), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

Dominguez thanked Lee for outlining the South Korean government’s policies and programs, which, he said, the Philippines supports by investing heavily in human capital development, especially in education, training and improving the quality of the Philippines’s work force.

Also at the meeting were South Korean Ambassador to the Philippines Han Dongman; Kim Junmo, director, Southeast Asia Department II, Koica; Kim Gyungah, manager, Southeast Asia Department II, Koica; Lee Seungchul, program officer, Office of the President, Koica; Shin Myung Seop, Country Director, Koica Philippines; Lee Sangback, deputy country director, Koica Philippines; Francis Afable, program manager, Koica Philippines; and Shin Wookjin, program officer, Koica Philippines.

The Philippine officials at the meeting included Finance Undersecretary Mark Dennis Y.C. Joven, Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Meynardo LB. Montealegre, and National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) Assistant Secretary Roderick M. Planta.

Earlier this month, lawyer Anthony A. Abad of Abad Alcantara and Associates said Manila has to expand its shipments to Seoul if it intends to reduce, if not erase, its trade deficit. To do so, he advised the government to focus on exporting nonfood products and services to the East Asian country.

The World BusinessMirror

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Huawei devices to be stripped of Google services after US ban

Wednesday, May 22, 2019

A5

Yemen’s Houthi rebels say their drone hit arms depot at Saudi Arabia airport

H

UAWEI could quickly lose its grip on the No. 2 ranking in worldwide cell-phone sales after Google announced it would comply with US government restrictions meant to punish the Chinese tech powerhouse.

The Trump administration’s move, which effectively bars US firms from selling components and software to Huawei, ups the ante in a trade war between Washington and Beijing that partly reflects a struggle for global economic and technological dominance.

Google said it would continue to support existing Huawei smartphones but future devices will not have its flagship apps and services, including maps, Gmail and search.

Only basic services would be available for future versions of the Android operating system on Huawei’s smartphones.

Though the US Commerce Department grants exceptions, the ban announced last week on all purchases of US technology is thus apt to badly hurt Huawei, analysts say.

Washington claims Huawei poses a national security threat, and its placement on the so-called Entity List by the Trump administration last week is widely seen as intended to persuade resistant US allies in Europe to exclude Huawei equipment from their nextgeneration wireless networks, known as 5G. “This is major crisis for Huawei.

Instead of being the world’s largest handset manufacturer this year, it will struggle to stay at No. 2, but probably fall behind,” analyst Roger Entner said. “How competitive is a smartphone without the most wellknown and popular apps?”

Huawei will likely use its own, stripped-down version of Android, whose basic code is provided free of charge by Google. But the Mountain View, California, company said

Chemicals in consumer goods are seen escaping safety checks

E

UROPEAN consumers could be at risk of exposure to hazardous chemicals in products like clothes and cosmetics because safety rules aren’t being properly enforced, according to a German environmental lobby.

Potentially harmful chemicals including dibutyl phthalate found in toys and methyl acetate used in footwear are widely sold to manufacturers of household goods without having been properly vetted, BUND said in a study published on Tuesday.

“Chemical companies have been breaking the law for years and getting away with it,” Manuel Fernandez, a chemicals policy officer at BUND, said in a statement. “We don’t know if products on sale today are safe. What we do know is the very foundation of European chemical safety rules are being ignored.”

Chemicals in consumer items could cause a range of health problems including hormonal cancers and brain disorders, according to Fernandez. The allegations come at a time of heightened concern about the danger of some products. Germany’s Bayer AG has been ordered to pay more than $2 billion in damages to a California couple that claimed they got cancer as a result of using its Roundup weed killer.

The company is under pressure to settle thousands of similar lawsuits.

Short on data

THE BUND report is based on information dating back to 2014 obtained using freedom of information requests from the European Chemicals Agency, the region’s regulator. The study named some top global chemical makers as among those failing to provide enough safety data. An industry lobby acknowledged shortfalls in some studies. Bloomberg News

Huawei would not be authorized to use other Google software and services if the sanctions go forward as announced.

Google could seek exemptions, but would not comment on whether it planned to do so.

Entner, founder of Recon Analytics, said Google itself wouldn’t feel a large direct impact, “as consumers will shift to other Android devices. The biggest concern is not to be caught in the crossfire of two governments.”

Gartner analyst Tuong Nguyen said 48 percent of Huawei’s phone shipments last year were outside of China and the company will need to scramble not to lose market share.

Samsung led global smartphone sales in the first quarter of this year with a 23.1-percent share. Huawei was second with 19 percent, followed

by Apple at 11.7 percent, according to IDC. Huawei’s smartphone sales in the US are tiny—and the Chinese company’s footprint in telecommunications networks is limited to smaller wireless and Internet providers—so any impact on US consumers of a Google services cutoff would be slight.

Hardware suppliers led by Qualcomm, Broadcom and Intel would also be forced to halt shipments to Huawei under the Commerce Department rule, which requires all US technology sales to the company to obtain US government approval unless exceptions are made.

The Commerce Department on Monday announced a 90-day grace period this week. In a report, the global risk assessment outfit Eurasia Group said that if the sanction

IN this Sunday, May 19, 2019, photo released by the US Navy, an MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter from the “Nightdippers” of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 5 transports cargo from the fast combat support ship USNS Arctic to the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln during a replenishment-at-sea in the Arabian Sea. MASS COMMUNICATION SPECIALIST 3RD CLASS JEFF SHERMAN/US NAVY VIA AP

A MAN uses two smartphones at once outside a Huawei store in Beijing on Monday, May 20, 2019. Google is assuring users of Huawei smartphones that the American company’s services will still work on them following US government restrictions on doing business with the Chinese tech giant. (AP PHOTO/NG HAN GUAN)

process helps persuade European carriers to shun Huawei equipment, a full ban on purchases of US technology products and services could be avoided.

Google, a unit of Alphabet Inc., said in a statement late Sunday that it was complying with and “reviewing the implications” of the requirement for export licenses for technology sales to Huawei, which took effect on Thursday. “For users of our services, Google Play and the security protections from Google Play Protect will continue to function on existing Huawei devices,” it added.

The US government says Chinese suppliers including Huawei and its smaller rival, ZTE Corp., pose an espionage threat because they are beholden to China’s ruling Communist Party. But American officials have presented no evidence of any Huawei equipment serving as intentional conduits for espionage

by Beijing.

Huawei, headquartered in the southern city of Shenzhen near Hong Kong, reported earlier that its worldwide sales rose 19.5 percent last year over 2017 to 721.2 billion ($105.2 billion). Profit rose 25.1 percent to 59.3 billion yuan ($8.6 billion).

Huawei smartphone shipments rose 50 percent in the first three months of 2019 to 59.1 million, compared with a year earlier, while

the global industry’s total fell 6.6 percent, according to IDC. Shipments from Samsung and Apple both declined.

Huawei defended itself on Monday as “one of Android’s key global partners.” The company said it helped to develop a system that “benefited both users and the industry.”

“We will continue to build a safe and sustainable software ecosystem, in order to provide the best experience for all users globally,” the company said. A foreign ministry spokesman, Lu Kang, said China will “monitor the development of the situation” but gave no indication how Beijing might respond.

The US order took effect on Thursday and requires government approval for all purchases of American microchips, software and other components globally by Huawei and 68 affiliated businesses. Huawei says that amounted to $11 billion in goods last year.

That could certainly create some collateral damage for US companies.

The California chipmaker Xilinx Inc. tumbled 4 percent on Monday. David Wong, an analyst with Nomura, said Xilinx has benefited from demand in next-generation, 5G technologies and “action against a major maker of communications infrastructure equipment like Huawei likely poses risk for Xilinx.” AP

Seeing a twisting road ahead, Ford cuts 7K white-collar jobs

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ETROIT—Ford revealed details of its long-awaited restructuring plan on Monday as it prepared for a future of electric and autonomous vehicles by parting ways with 7,000 white-collar workers worldwide, about 10 percent of its global salaried work force.

The major revamp, which had been under way since last year, will save about $600 million per year by eliminating bureaucracy and increasing the number of workers reporting to each manager.

In the US about 2,300 jobs will be cut through buyouts and layoffs, Ford said. About 1,500 have left voluntarily or with buyouts, while another 300 have already been laid off. About 500 workers will be let go starting this week, largely in and around the company’s headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan, just outside Detroit. All will get severance packages. The layoffs are coming across a broad swath of the company including engineering, product development, marketing, information technology, logistics, finance and other areas. But the company also said it is hiring in some critical areas including those developing software and dealing with self-driving and electric vehicles.

In a memo to employees, on Monday, CEO Jim Hackett said the fourth

and final wave of the restructuring will start on Tuesday, with the majority of US cuts being finished by May 24. “To succeed in our competitive industry, and position Ford to win in a fast-charging future, we must reduce bureaucracy, empower managers, speed decision-making and focus on the most valuable work, and cost cuts,” Hackett wrote.

It’s the second set of layoffs recently for Detroit-area automakers, even though the companies are making healthy profits. Sales in the US, where the automakers get most of their revenue, have fallen slightly but still are strong.

In November, General Motors announced it would shed up to 14,000 workers as it cut expenses to prepare for a shift to electric and autonomous vehicles. The layoffs included closure of five factories in the US and Canada and cuts of another 8,000 white-collar workers worldwide. About 6,000 blue-collar positions were cut, but most of laid-off factory workers in the US will be placed at other plants mainly that build trucks and SUVs. Both companies have said the cuts are needed because they face huge capital expenditures to update current vehicles and develop them for the future.

At GM, the cuts brought withering criticism from President Donald

Trump and Congress, especially the closing of a small-car factory in Lordstown, Ohio. Trump campaigned on bringing factory jobs back to the industrial Midwest. GM has since announced a possible deal to sell the Lordstown plant to a start-up electric vehicle maker, but it hasn’t been finalized.

Ford’s white-collar employees had been fearful since last July when the company said the restructuring would cost $7 billion in cash and hit pretax earnings by $11 billion over the next three to five years. Many have been upset that it took so long for the company to make decisions.

Factory workers have not been affected by the restructuring thus far, as the company has retooled car plants so they can build more popular trucks and SUVs. The layoffs, while large, weren’t as bad as many had expected. Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas predicted 25,000 white-collar job cuts late last year, a number that Ford would not deny. Back in March, Hackett had told employees that Ford had added too many workers after the Great Recession, going from 160,000 worldwide in 2009 back to about 200,000 as the economy improved.

While Ford was growing, its revenue growth didn’t justify adding that many employees, he explained. AP

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UBAI, United Arab Emirates—Yemen’s Iranianallied Houthi rebels said on Tuesday they attacked a Saudi airport and military base with a bomb-laden drone, an assault acknowledged by the kingdom, as Mideast tensions remain high between Tehran and the United States. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.

The attack on the Saudi city of Najran came after Iran announced it has quadrupled its uraniumenrichment production capacity a year after the US withdrew from its nuclear deal with world powers, though still a level far lower than needed for atomic weapons.

Underlining the tensions, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is seeking expanded executive powers to better deal with “economic war” triggered by the Trump’s administration’s renewal and escalation of sanctions targeting the Islamic Republic, the state-run IRNA news agency reported on Tuesday.

By increasing production, Iran soon will exceed the stockpile limitations set by the nuclear accord.

Tehran has set a July 7 deadline for Europe to set new terms for the deal, or it will enrich closer to weapons-grade levels in a Middle East already on edge. The US has deployed bombers and an aircraft carrier to the Persian Gulf over still-unspecified threats from Iran.

In the drone attack, the Houthis’ Al-Masirah satellite news channel said early Tuesday they targeted the airport in Najran with a Qasef-2K drone, striking an “arms depot.” Najran, 840 kilometers (525 miles) southwest of Riyadh, lies on the Saudi-Yemen border and has repeatedly been targeted by the Iran-allied Houthis.

A statement earlier on the staterun Saudi Press Agency quoted Saudi-led coalition Spokesman Col. Turki al-Maliki as saying the Houthis “had tried to target” a civilian site in Najran, without elaborating.

Al-Maliki warned there would be a “strong deterrent” to such attacks and described the Houthis as the “terrorist militias of Iran.”

Similar Houthi attacks in the past have sparked rounds of Saudi-led air strikes on Yemen, which have been widely criticized internationally for killing civilians.

Civilian airports throughout the Middle East often host military bases.

The New York Times last year reported that American intelligence analysts were based in Najran, assisting the Saudis and a US Army Green Berets deployment on the border. The Pentagon and the US military’s Central Command did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Last week, the Houthis launched a coordinated drone attack on a Saudi oil pipeline amid heightened tensions between Iran and the US. Earlier this month, officials in the United Arab Emirates alleged that four oil tankers were sabotaged and US diplomats relayed a warning that commercial airlines could be misidentified by Iran and attacked, something dis-

missed by Tehran.

In its nuclear program announcement on Monday night, Iranian officials made a point to stress that the uranium would be enriched only to the 3.67 percent limit set under the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, making it usable for a power plant but far below what’s needed for an atomic weapon.

Iran said it had informed the International Atomic Energy Agency of the development. The Viennabased UN nuclear watchdog did not respond to a request for comment.

Tehran long has insisted it does not seek nuclear weapons, though the West fears its program could allow it to build them.

President Donald J. Trump, who campaigned on a promise to pull the US from the Iran deal, has engaged in alternating tough talk with more conciliatory statements —a strategy he says is aimed at keeping Iran guessing at the administration’s intentions. Trump also has said he hopes Iran calls him and engages in negotiations.

But while Trump’s approach of flattery and threats has become a hallmark of his foreign policy, the risks have only grown in dealing with Iran, where mistrust between Tehran and Washington stretches four decades. While both sides say they don’t seek war, many worry any miscalculation could spiral out of control. A Trump tweet on Monday warning Iran would face its “official end” if it threatened the US drew sharp rebuke from Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Twitter, who used the hashtag #NeverThreatenAnIranian.

In Iran, it remains unclear what powers Rouhani seeks. In Iran’s 1980s war with Iraq, a wartime supreme council was able to bypass other branches to make decisions regarding the economy and the war.

“Today, we need such powers,” Rouhani said, according to IRNA. He added that country “is united that we should resist the US and the sanctions.”

Meanwhile, former US Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis told an audience in the United Arab Emirates on Monday night that America “needs to engage more in the world and intervene militarily less.” While “Iran’s behavior must change,” he urged the US not to engage in unilateral action and that American “military must work to buy time for diplomats to work their magic.”

“I will assure you no nation will be more honest with you than America, the retired Marine Corps general said, according to a report in the state-linked newspaper The National. “America will frustrate you at times because of its form of government, but the UAE and America will always find their way back to common ground, on that I have no doubt.”

Mattis abruptly resigned in December after clashing with Trump over withdrawing troops in Syria.

He spoke at a previously unannounced speech before a Ramadan lecture series in honor of Abu Dhabi’s powerful crown prince, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. AP

A6 Wednesday, May 22, 2019 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

editorial

Bearing the heavy burden of obesity

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HE Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations have been calling on governments to forge a “global pact” against obesity.

Unhealthy diets, according to the FAO, are the world’s No. 1 cause of disease, disability and death.

To fight the scourge that is obesity, the FAO urged governments to establish rules and standards to promote healthy and nutritious food (See, “FAO pitches global pact vs obesity, adoption of healthy diet standards,” in the BusinessMirror, May 8, 2019).

The Philippines is one of the countries that have seen a significant rise in the number of obese citizens. The results of the latest survey conducted by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI) of the Department of Science and Technology revealed that the prevalence of obesity in the country has reached 31.1 percent. This is nearly double the 16.3 percent registered in 1993, prompting experts to say that the country’s obesity and overweight situation has already become an epidemic.

Physicians would usually advise their overweight patients to change diets and reduce their calorie intake, on top of increasing their physical activities. This prescription, however, entails radical changes in the patient’s consumption pattern, removing foods that are high in saturated fat such as fried food and junk food. In this day and age, however, that is easier said than done.

While it is always advisable to consume fruits and green leafy vegetables, these products are expensive in Metro Manila and other urban areas. Consider the “Pinggang Pinoy” recommended by the government.

To maintain a healthy lifestyle, Filipinos were advised to eat rice, meat or fish, fruit and vegetables every meal. For a worker earning a daily wage of P500, the proposed Pinggang Pinoy is simply beyond reach, based on the latest data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

PSA figures show that the average price of pork in Metro Manila is P220 per kilogram. Chicken is sold at P150/kg, while fish—considered the cheapest source of protein—goes for P110 to P280/kg, depending on variety. Among the vegetables sold in Metro Manila, the cheapest is eggplant at P50/kg. Priced at P40/kg, latundan banana is the most affordable fruit sold in Metro Manila.

In contrast, a can of luncheon meat costs only around P80 while instant noodles can be bought for P11 a pack. For other workers who earn more than the daily wage in the National Capital Region but do not have the time to cook their own food, value meals that cost less than P100 seem a viable alternative. The cost of fresh produce and the current consumption patterns of people in the NCR may be the reason it has the highest prevalence of obesity in the Philippines at 39.9 percent. This means that 4 out of 10 people in the NCR are overweight or are in danger of developing life-threatening diseases.

The government should step up its information campaign and warn people about the dangers of being overweight. This may be done in schools and in health centers. Schools—public and private—should also adopt a policy to encourage physical activities among students, given the findings of a study that millennials now spend most of their time glued to the screens of their tablets or smartphones.

The government should consider enlisting the help of schools as well as the private sector to make nutritious food affordable and readily available to students and wage earners. As the National Food Authority’s role continues to evolve, the government may consider tapping its outlets as sources of cheap farm products. Until and unless people have access to affordable healthy foods like fruits and vegetables, obesity in the country will remain a heavy burden to bear.

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Is Huawei a Trump bargaining chip?

By Tim Culpan | Bloomberg Opinion

M

ANY view the US action against Huawei Technologies Co. as just another twist in President Donald Trump’s broader trade war. That may be naive. It’s also the world’s best hope of avoiding a more damaging conflict.

Optimists expect Trump to let Huawei off the hook eventually after using the company as a bargaining chip to squeeze trade concessions from Beijing, in the same way that he did with the smaller Chinese electronics maker ZTE Corp. last year.

It’s unlikely to play out that way, though. The US administration’s twin decisions last week to halt the use of Huawei equipment and block the sale of components to the Chinese company are a major escalation beyond tradewar posturing. The Commerce Department’s decision to offer temporary relief for some US customers using Huawei equipment is only a minor easing.

There are key differences with ZTE. For one thing, Huawei hasn’t been directly accused of any wrongdoing.

It was a year ago this week that Trump tweeted he was intervening in the ZTE case. Recall that the Chinese company was

slapped with a ban on buying American parts not because of security concerns or the trade war, but because it violated sanctions against Iran and then reneged on a deal with US authorities.

There was a clear legal premise to punish ZTE, one that doesn’t exist for Huawei.

The Chinese government and Huawei’s management appreciate the difference between the two cases. This has hardened attitudes in Beijing, which won’t change its path. Knowing that the US president is willing to hold one of its most important companies hostage, China’s government and companies have accepted that they must achieve technological independence.

To see what’s at stake, consider that China is the world’s largest market for smartphones, almost all of which use US chips. It’s also home to brands that collectively account for at least two-thirds of global handset shipments. Imag-

The US administration’s twin decisions last week to halt the use of Huawei equipment and block the sale of components to the Chinese company are a major escalation beyond trade-war posturing. The Commerce Department’s decision to offer temporary relief for some US customers using Huawei equipment is only a minor easing. ine a scenario in which 65 percent of the world’s phones don’t have a single US component.

Right now, if you’re the head of a US company with factories in China that supply to Huawei, you should be worried. Huawei’s first move would be to rush around to all those American-owned facilities to extract any products being made for the Chinese company before it’s cut off by the US ban. That’s going to leave factory lines empty and Chinese workers out of jobs.

If Huawei picks up the slack itself, or hands work over to local suppliers, new jobs will be

created for local workers. The same can’t be said for Americans employed in China or back home.

It’s likely to be a similar story for products supplied to Huawei from the US, where there won’t be any replacement jobs opening up. Whether Trump reopens the spigot on US components, the thousands of jobs created to supply those products will remain in jeopardy.

The impact on employment is one reason to hope it’s not too late to backtrack. A major factor in the decision to spare ZTE was jobs, according to Trump himself: Chinese jobs, at that. A threat to US jobs should be considered even more important.

There’s also the possibility that a dive in the US stock market could cause the White House to reconsider. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index plunged 4 percent on Monday, partly on the Huawei ban, driving losses in broader US stock indexes.

The suspicion remains, though, that the die is already cast: It’s too late to expect that a tech Cold War can be avoided, that jobs won’t be lost, and that the digital Iron Curtain Trump drew last week can be lifted.

We can only pray that this is one time the naive view proves correct.

Immigrants are only way to reverse US baby bust

By Adam Minter

T. Anthony C. Cabangon

Online Editor Social Media Editor

Chairman of the Board & Ombudsman President VP-Finance VP Advertising Sales Advertising Sales Manager Group Circulation Manager

05222019

Bloomberg Opinion

I

N 2018, American women gave birth to the fewest number of children since 1986, according to US government data released last week. The decline since 2007, when a record 4.2 million children were born, has been precipitous.

Births have declined every year since then but one, falling to 3.8 million. That amounts to a fertility rate of 1.7 children per American woman in her lifetime—well below the rate of 2.1 necessary to maintain a stable population.

The decline poses a long-term problem for an aging country in which more and more citizens are dependent upon Social Security, government health care and a shrinking number of workers to fund both. But the US is hardly unique. For three decades, Asia’s most successful economies have experimented with a range of policies to reverse far more serious declines in fertility. What they’ve learned is that the only sure way to reverse the trend is to do what the US has historically done better than virtually any other nation on Earth: accept immigrants.

For decades, demographers and economists have known that ris-

ing incomes are closely related to declining birth rates. The reasons are several, and generally worth celebrating. In developing countries, the rates of female education and access to contraceptives tend to be lower. As incomes rise, women acquire options outside of the home and greater control of their reproductive rights. Affluent singles put off marriage and children during prime childbearing years.

Meanwhile, in large cities, growing families face the burden of high housing prices and shrinking home sizes. Those who have families must find the resources to pay for childcare or sacrifice career options. Longer-ter m,

they face the burden of expensive school and university fees.

As a result, fertility declines are common across the developed world. Nowhere has the shift been more dramatic than in Asia. For example, Japan’s fertility rate has declined from a post-World War II high of 4.4 to around 1.4 now.

In Singapore, the fertility rate dipped below replacement level in the mid-1970s and now stands at around 1.2. And in South Korea, the fertility rate has fallen from over 6 in 1960 to 0.95 (likely the world’s lowest) during the third quarter of 2018.

In each of these countries, the declines have for decades been a matter of intense concern and policy experimentation. Governments in Asia first focused on promarriage and pro-natalist policies designed to counter what were thought to be the factors inhibiting couples from marrying and having children.

Singapore’s efforts on this front date back to 1984, when the government established a matchmaking agency for university graduates. Over the years, official initiatives have expanded to include paying cash bonuses to

families for having children (the more kids, the more lucrative), generous maternity and paternity leave policies, childcare subsidies and other benefits. In Japan, pro-natalist policies were first introduced in 1991 and many go further than Singapore’s; for instance, men can qualify for a year of partially paid paternity leave. And in South Korea, spending on pro-natalist policies adds up to around half of the defense budget.

There is much to recommend such policies. Among other benefits, they boost gender equity at home and in the workplace.

For those reasons alone, they’re worth considering in the US, too.

But the fact is that they’ve failed to meaningfully increase fertility rates.

As a result, Asia’s wealthiest economies are increasingly tur ning to immig ration as a short and long-term means of addressing worker shortages.

It’s not easy. Singapore’s government suffered a backlash after the foreign-born population on the tiny island rose too quickly.

Japan and South Korea are much See “Immigrants,” A7

Opinion BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Creating a fairer society for Filipinos

Compliance with the Asean Corporate Governance Scorecard Atty. Dennis B. Funa

Arsenio M. Balisacan

COMPETITION MATTERS

T

HE “Asian Century.” That’s how experts and pundits dub this period of history due to the dynamism of the region’s economies. The rise of Asia is expected to bring millions of people out of poverty and into the economic mainstream as per-capita incomes rise across the region.

From 2010 to 2018, the annual growth of the Philippines’s gross domestic product averaged 6.3 percent.

This nine-year performance has catapulted the country to the enviable list of fastest-growing economies around the world. However, unlike the experience of developing Asia (most significantly, China and Vietnam), our high GDP growth has not yet translated into as much poverty reduction as we hoped. This may be traced to our country’s troubles with persistently high levels of inequality in the distribution of incomes or, in general, opportunities.

Within the Asian region, the initial levels of economic inequality during the early stages of economic transformation varied greatly across countries. In countries with initially low inequality prior to rapid growth (e.g., China, Vietnam, Indonesia), poverty has responded strongly to growth. The opposite is true in countries with high inequality at the start of the growth process (e.g., Philippines, Pakistan, India): poverty has been persistent and has responded weakly to growth.

Rapidly rising inequality poses a serious threat to poverty reduction.

For one, it may lead to political polarization and unrest, dampening investor confidence and job growth.

A skewed income distribution can also prevent the poor from accessing opportunities to invest in human capital, such as health and education. Further, economic inequality aggravates and entrenches political inequality, providing the environment for political and economic elites to shape institutions and laws that favor their interests.

Competition policy, as envisioned and enabled by the Philippine Competition Act (PCA), the country’s comprehensive competition law, is a key tool for addressing economic inequality.

While competition enforcement and analysis has generally put forward the objective of improving economic efficiency, competition policy is historically connected to the decoupling of market power and political clout.

This is especially true in the case of the United States when it passed the Sherman Act of 1890 at a time when industrial elites controlled vast areas of commercial activities.

In the case of the Philippines, the PCA was conceived as a key economic reform to promote economic development and a fairer distribution of opportunities, income and wealth.

Indeed, the PCA cites one of the constitutional goals: the attainment of “a more equitable distribution of opportunities, income and wealth.”

With consumer welfare at the heart of the country’s competition policy, it can be argued that prohibition of cartels and abuses of dominance, merger control, and advocacy for competitive markets—the core activities of the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC)—promote fairer social outcomes while improving economic efficiency.

In the Philippines, as elsewhere, where economic and political elites often intersect, rent-seeking or rent-

Immigrants . . . continued from A6

more homogenous, and home to large constituencies that would prefer they remain that way.

But the long-term demographic outlook for both countries is so

preserving activities by dominant incumbents can result in policies or regulations that protect their interests by restricting entry of competitors into the marketplace and dampening competitive pressure. As a consequence, the market becomes inefficient, which hurts consumers, most especially the poor, who then have to deal with higher prices, fewer choices, or lower quality of goods and services.

On the demand side, the PCC serves as a trustee for public interest, implementing effective competition policy on behalf of consumers. The Commission employs filters to prioritize its actions, focusing on sectors with potentially large impact on consumer welfare and those having serious competition challenges that act as roots of market inefficiencies.

By prohibiting anticompetitive agreements, such as price-fixing, and abuses of dominance and by preventing the consummation of anticompetitive mergers and acquisitions, the PCC provides counterweights to the economic power of dominant players in the market, disproportionately benefiting the poor. Thus, pursuing a consumer welfare standard can be both efficient and equitable.

On the supply side, improving the competition landscape across industries can help spur productivity and lead to the efficient shift of the country’s labor force from lowproductivity to high-productivity jobs that offer higher wages. We can reasonably expect this dynamic and transformative process within and across industries to bring the economy closer to its full potential—allowing it to reach the frontier, so to speak. Such a transformation has been critical to the development success stories of our Asian neighbors.

We have been experiencing rapid economic growth for nearly a decade now. We still have some 20 years to go before we measure our performance against the standards set forth in Ambisyon Natin 2040, the country’s long-term vision for development.

But this we know: Sustaining this growth and reaching an even higher trajectory—in the order of 7 percent to 8 percent—in the next two decades require that we prohibit anticompetitive business practices, and dismantle structures and policies that cause an uneven playing field and hinder the flourishing of economic opportunities.

The PCC is committed to doing these—not only because it is mandated to promote consumer welfare, but for the loftier aspirations of reducing economic inequality and creating a fairer society for all Filipinos.

Wednesday, May 22, 2019 A7

I

INSURANCE FORUM

N an Advisory dated May 3, 2013, and Circular Letter (CL) 14-2013 dated July 1, 2013, Insurance Commissioner Emmanuel F. Dooc prescribed the adoption of the Asean Corporate Governance Scorecard by insurance companies and mutual benefit associations (MBAs). The ACGS replaced the Corporate Governance Scorecard (CGS) required under Circular Letter 21-2009, dated August 12, 2009. However, it would be two years later under Circular Letter 2015-23, dated May 8, 2015, when the Guidelines on Compliance with the ACGS would be provided. The Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD) was accredited to be the assessor.

The objectives of the ACGS was to raise corporate governance standards and practices of Asean publicly listed companies, and to showcase wellgoverned Asean PLCs and make them more visible and investable to global investors thereby improving their liquidity and valuation. The ACGS was developed as a tool to improve corporate governance practices.

In general, there are five major sections t hat cor respond to the OECD Corporate Governance Principles with their corresponding weight, as follows: a) rights of shareholders (10 percent); b) equitable treatment of shareholders (15 percent); c) role of stakeholders (10 percent); d) disclosure and transparency (25 percent); and e) responsibilities

of the board (40 percent).

Institute of Corporate Directors

THE Institute of Corporate Directors is a major player in Philippine corporate governance reform initiatives. It is a nonstock, notfor-profit organization working in close partnership with other business, the government and civil-society organizations. ICD is a member of the Global Network of Director Institutes (GNDI).

The ICD has been accredited by the Commission “to conduct the [annual] assessment of the ACGS Response Form” and “shall conduct their assessment beginning July 1 up to September 30 of every year.” The ICD shall use the Assessment Form template to be provided by the Insurance Commission. This was amended by CL

2017-39 wherein the “ICD shall complete the assessment proper not later than October 31 of each year” and “the Insurance Commission shall release to the Covered Companies the score and the results of the assessment not later than November 30 of every year.”

Methodology

THE basis for assessing compliance are the publicly available and accessible information from the regulator and the insurance companies and the MBAs, which are found on their web site. Interestingly, in assessing compliance, the development of the company web site is an indispensable element and a requirement.

As provided for in the annex of CL 2015-23, “the assessment of the ACGS relies primarily on publicly available and easily accessible information such as, among other things, annual report, company web sites, company announcements, circulars, articles of association, minutes of annual Shareholders’ meetings (or an excerpt of the said minutes), Corporate Governance policies, codes of conduct and sustainability reports. Only information that are publicly available and easily accessible and understood are used in the assessment.”

2018 assessment

THE 2018 assessment is the fourth assessment to be conducted by the ICD on the insurance industry. For the given year, the ICD assessed 56 nonlife companies 30 life companies, and 30 MBAs. It was reported that the insurance industry has continuously improved its performance with an average score of 41.34 points in the 2018 assess-

ment, which is a 1.61-point increase from the 2017 result. This score, however, is still low compared to the banking sector’s 80.06 assessment in 2018. While the industry was found strong in the area of equitable treatment of shareholders, a need to improve was noted in all the other areas, especially in the disclosure of corporate governance-related documents. It was observed that many companies have not made available the Notice and Minutes of the most recent Annual Stockholders/General Meeting on their web sites. It was also observed that company web sites do not have sufficient disclosures on the company’s corporate governance practices. Very few companies have published an Annual Report.

For 2018, the top 5 life companies that emerged are: Pru Life Insurance Corp. of UK (105.19); Insular Life Assurance Co. (104.53); FWD Life Insurance Co. (91.12); Sun Life of Canada Philippines (89.96); and Philippine American Life and General Insurance Co. (86.92). The top 5 nonlife companies are: Pacific Cross Insurance (82.07); National Reinsurance Corp. of the Philippines (76.80); MAA General Assurance Philippines (72.34); BPI/MS Insurance Corp.; and Pacific Union Insurance Co. (59.29).

The top 4 MBAs are: CARD MBA (80.60); Praxis Fides MBA (78.35); Kasagana-Ka MBA (73.74); and the Knights of Columbus Fraternal Association (71.60).

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.

Italy’s beaten economy and the EU ballot

By Peter Lundgreen

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

The reaction in the bond markets is a good indication of how close investors are follow ing the development in Italy. The yield for German 10-year government bonds is now trading at its lowest level since 2016.

This means that the interest rate is negative again—even the Greek government bond yield is trading lower.

But investors are somewhat more concerned about Italy. Interest rates tend to rise as soon as there is a disagreement between the Italian government and the European Commission.

The currently rising yield came after the European Commission’s new calculations, showing that Italy’s budget deficit will grow to 3.5 percent of GDP next year. It is well above the accepted limit of 3 percent, but also discloses a budget that only increases the deficit without any significant reforms, and such a development makes investors nervous. I expect that the very hard rhetoric, from the League Party in particular, will be intensified up to the election, though it will also

continue with the same force after the election.

It is not my main scenario that the EU election will lead to a shift in political power in the European Parliament compared to current situation. However, the expectation of more seats for the EU skeptical parties could give a muddy political picture right after the election, which investors around the world could link together with the lack of reforms in the Eurozone. This cocktail has the potential to push down the euro further against other major currencies, but it is Italy’s situation that attracts my biggest interest.

For a long time, I have had the opinion that the Italian economy will continue to suffer, and one day, Italy will end up with a junk bond status. To cut it simply, it would be a disaster if the Eurozone’s third-largest economy should end up like that. My focus is on whether the speed of this development is intensified during these times when Matteo Salvini’s League Party is likely to be so powerful. One should not forget that Salvini’s budget

deficit dreams were created at a time when both the economic growth in Italy and in the Eurozone were under pressure.

Although the sunshine must not be ignored, and it was gratifying that Italy’s GDP growth in the first quarter was plus 0.2 percent. This was after two quarters of negative growth, which means that Italy escaped a so-called technical recession. The expectations of growth in the second quarter seem extremely modest, i.e., Italy is heading back toward zero growth in this quarter.

W hen assessing the Italian economy, one should not forget the report that the Italian central bank published last year. It very clearly describes the damaging consequences that rising interest rates have for the Italian economy and the financial sector.

My own assessment, including the central bank’s calculations, shows the turmoil Matteo Salvini created in the Italian bond market last year did cost Italy more than the government’s extraordinary fiscal spending pumped into the economy.

Italy’s financial sector being under pressure is well known and is currently exposed by a necessary rescue operation for Banca Carige.

It is the fourth major rescue operation of Italian banks within a few years. Until recently, the US investment fund BlackRock was very interested in taking over the bank, though the Americans left the deal. The official explanation was, of course, that BlackRock could not make the investment profitable. Some rumors said that Italy’s populist government and the prospect of long-term economic zero growth in Italy were the real causes. I consider this as extremely worrying as it confirms my own assessment, and it is

dire that leaders are finally getting traction on reforms to allow more outsiders.

In Japan, where the population is shrinking, immigration increased for the sixth straight year in 2018; foreigners now account for 1.76 percent of the population. Notably, more than

half of these immigrants are in their 20s and 30s—prime working years.

Meanwhi le, in histor ica l ly xenophobic South Korea, the gover nment has spent handsomely on prog ra ms to pro mote mu lt ic u lt u ra l ism si nce the mid-2000s, while opening

the doors to immigrants. The results have been impressive: Between 2006 and 2016, the foreign-born population grew from 536,000 to more than 2 million, and by 2020 it’s estimated that one-third of all children born in South Korea will have a foreign-born parent.

The fertility decline in the US isn’t as steep as in Asia and concern—especially in the current administration—isn’t nearly as high. But, over the long term, the US will need to address its shrinking work force. Rather than counting on getting a different result from the same policies Asian

Italy made many headlines ahead of the coming EU election due to the League Party, but even after the election, the headlines continue—due to the economy.

T

HE past five to six years have proven that opinion polls are not what they turn out to be. But I have so much confidence in the polls that it looks like a large victory for the European Union skeptical League Party at the forthcoming EU elections in Italy. My main scenario is that Italy will attract further attention from international investors, alongside with the elections to the European Parliament. The main reason is the presumed success for the League Party, which will make it Italy’s largest party at the coming EU election. This election outcome will cement Italy’s very critical stand toward EU and the Eurozone, both in domestic politics and in the EU Parliament.

absolutely possible that other investors have the same thinking.

Even more crucial is whether the credit rating agencies’ skeptical stand on Italy could grow again.

As mentioned, it is my main scenario that Italy is heading in that direction. The financial sector is under pressure, for example, but is the industrial sector also at a standstill?

Of course, the industrial production fell during the financial crisis 10 years ago, but many countries have recovered and returned the same level of growth as before the financial crisis, but Italy is still caught in the swamp.

My expectation is that the hard rhetoric of Matteo Salvini will simply attract more attention to Italy’s situation, and therefore, the risk once more rises for further nervousness in the financial market.

The rising budget deficit to 3.5 percent by 2020 is one of the important developments that I give extra attention to. But of course, also how determined the government in Rome is in introducing a minimum citizen pay and to change back the pension rules.

The Italian government is working on proposals for tax increases, yet they are still unclear, this includes when the tax hikes should enter into force.

At last, there is the reaction from the financial market itself.

The risk is now that Italy is moving faster into the negative economic spiral where poorer prospects may well lead to higher interest rates—and here, the country’s own central bank has made its wellwritten report that explains how the higher interest rates burden Italy’s economy.

countries have already tried, America should simply do what it’s always done to rejuvenate its population and economy: Open the doors to young and skilled newcomers. Until some country shows otherwise, immigration remains the most effective means of reversing a baby bust.

The author is the founding CEO of Lundgreen’s Capital, a professional investment advisory company.

2nd Front Page BusinessMirror

A8 Wednesday, May 22, 2019

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Cabcom OKs loan extensions on 2 projects

T

By Cai U. Ordinario

@caiordinario

HE interagency Investment Coordination Committee (ICC) Cabinet Committee (Cabcom) has approved loan extensions for two key projects and a reduction in project scope for a third one.

In a statement on Tuesday, the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) said these projects are the Central Luzon Link Expressway (CLLEx) Project, Phase I; the National Irrigation Sector

Rehabilitation and Improvement Project (Nisrip); and the Metro Manila Wastewater Management Project (MWMP).

The ICC Cabcom, chaired by Finance Secretary Carlos G. Domin-

guez III, approved implementation and loan extensions for the CLLEx and the MWMP; and a decrease in scope for the Nisrip.

The implementation period of CLLEx Project, Phase I, of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) was extended to April 2021 from June 2017. The loan validity was also extended to July 2022 from July 2019, inclusive of a one-year defects liability period.

“This will allow the DPWH to complete the remaining works that were hobbled by issues over rightof-way acquisition and delivery of aggregate supply. The implementation period extension will not entail an increase in total project

2.7M

Number of people expected to benefit from the Metro Manila Wastewater Management Project (MWMP), broken down into: 850,000 people within the Manila Water Co. Inc. and 1.87 million in the Maynilad Water Services Inc. concession area cost,” the Neda said.

In terms of the MWMP, Neda said the ICC Cabcom extended the closing date of the loan for the project to June 2020 from June 2019.

The interagency body also approved the replacement of the subcontract packages under the account of Manila Water Co. Inc. (MWCI).

The project is expected to benefit up to 850,000 people within the MWCI service area and 1.87 million people in the Maynilad Water Services Inc. (MWSI) concession area.

The project’s main proponent is the Land Bank of the Philippines.

However, the project is being undertaken together with the two water concessionaires in Metro Manila.

“The original four Pasig Project Contract Packages will be replaced by three Marikina North Project Contract Packages and four University of the Philippines Project Contract Packages,” Neda said.

For the Nisrip of the National Irrigation Administration (NIA), Neda said the ICC Cabcom approved the decrease in project coverage to 34,216 hectares from the original estimate of 35,670 hectares.

With the decrease in coverage, the total project cost also declined to P3.13 billion, representing a 21.78-percent decrease from the previously approved cost of P4.01 billion.

“Despite the decrease in coverage, NIA highlighted that there will be a net increase in the total number of farmers that will benefit from Nisrip—from 22,563 to 26,683 farmers—and an increase in annual rice production of up to See “Cabcom,” A2

Piñol hits ‘vinegar’ mislabeling Court issues 5 FEMALE CADETS LAND hold order ON TOP 10 OF PMA’S on bizman ’19 MABALASIK CLASS

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

A

@jearcalas

GRICULTURE Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol has lashed out at manufacturers for mislabeling their products as vinegar even though these did not undergo fermentation and instead contain nonbiogenic ascetic acid, which could mislead Filipino consumers.

Piñol said the Department of Agriculture (DA) maintains that vinegar is defined as a product of a natural fermentation using agricultural products, such as coconut.

Piñol argued that it is wrong for manufacturers to claim their product as vinegar when in fact it did not undergo natural fermentation but only utilized synthetic acetic acid.

“Any other product which offers the ‘sour’ taste but is not a product of a fermentation process should be

properly labeled as such—synthetic acetic acid or ‘sour nonbiogenic’ condiment,” he said on Tuesday.

“Thus, it is my position as Secretary of Agriculture that sour condiments made out of synthetic or nonbiogenic acetic acid should not be labeled as vinegar or suka,” he added.

Piñol added that the DA’s Bureau of Agriculture and Food Standards (BAFS) would still pursue the upgrading of its standards on vinegar as the commodity falls within the authority of the department.

“To this effect, I will direct the BAFS to set the standards for vinegar and those which will be identified as such must only be ‘sour condiments’ produced through a natural fermentation process,” he said.

And, in order to guide consumers, Piñol urged the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to release the names of the 15 brands that contain synthetic acetic acid in-

FRONTAL SYSTEM AFFECTING EXTREME NORTHERN LUZON as of 4:00 pm - May 21, 2019

stead of natural ones.

Piñol argued that it is the right of Filipino consumers to know these information as enshrined in the Constitution and stipulated under the Consumer Protection Law. Piñol added that he had expected that the names of the brands of the synthetic acetic acid would be revealed at last Monday’s interagency meeting on vinegar.

He argued that there is no “legal or moral basis” for the FDA to withhold the release of the sour condiment brands which the Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI) found using nonbiogenic acetic acid.

“The release of the names will not only be in compliance with the Consumer Protection laws but also the observance of that very basic provision in the Philippine Constitution which bestows upon every Filipino the Right to Know,” he said.

See “Vinegar,” A2

Dennis Sytin

By Joel R. San Juan

@jrsanjuan1573

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HE Executive Judge of the Regional Trial Court in Angeles City has issued a precautionary hold departure order (PHDO) against businessman Dennis Sytin and his co-respondents in the murder and frustrated complaint filed before the Department of Justice (DOJ) in connection with the killing of his businessman-brother Dominic Sytin on March 5.

Aside from Dennis, the PHDO covers Edgardo Luib, the confessed gunman, and Oliver Fuentes, who allegedly negotiated with the latter on behalf of Dennis.

Executive Judge Omar Viola said after examining all supporting affidavits and documents, it appears there is probable cause to believe that Dennis, Luib and Fuentes will leave the country to evade arrest and prosecution.

Thus, the judge ordered the Bureau of Immigration and Deportation to hold the respondents’ departure from the country and to include their names in the holddeparture list of the said office.

The PHDO was issued based on the ex-parte motion filed by the DOJ panel of prosecutors handling the preliminary investigation of the murder and frustrated murder complaint against the three men.

The panel headed by Senior Assistant State prosecutor Juan Pedro Navera said the motion was filed upon the request of complainant Ann Marietta Sytin, wife of Dominic.

PhilMech. . .

Continued from A1

Half of its annual portion will be utilized for farm mechanization, which PhilMech would handle. The remaining allocations of the RCEF are: P3 billion for provision of high-yielding inbred rice seeds, P1 billion for credit support, and P1 billion for extension support and education of rice farmers.

“With the formal launching of the projects and programs under RCEF, we at PhilMech welcome the opportunity to spearhead the modernization of the country’s rice industry through mechanization,” said PhilMech Executive Director Baldwin G. Jallorina.

“PhilMech also welcomes its collaboration with the Philippine Rice Research Institute [PhilRice], Agricultural Training Institute [ATI], Technical Education and Skills Development Authority [Tesda], the Land Bank of the Philippines and the Development Bank of the Philippines in undertaking the different major components under RCEF,” he added.

Based on studies by the Department of Agriculture, the cost of producing 1 kilo of palay (unmilled rice) in the Philippines is P12.72 per kilo, while it is P6.22 in Vietnam and P8.86 in Thailand, PhilMech said.

“PhilMech believes with the successful implementation of the different components under RCEF, the cost of producing palay in the Philippines can be reduced by P2 to P3 per kilo,” it added. Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

By Marilou Guieb Correspondent

B

AGUIO CITY—The thrill in her voice was evident when asked how she felt graduating on top of her class—the Mabalasik Class of 2019, Philippine Military Academy.

“Tutungtong ulit nanay ko sa entablado [My mom will once again come up the stage],” declared Cdt. 1Cl Dionne Mae Apolog Umalla. She is the fifth female graduating No. 1 since a law allowed the admission of women to the premier military academy in 1993.

The batch she leads this year counts five women like her among the top 10 graduates of the PMA. Umalla was a consistent valedictorian throughout her academic years.

She finished her elementary in her Alilem hometown in Ilocos Sur and high school at St. Louis College in La Union; and finished two years of college majoring in BS Education Mathematics at First Asia Institute of Technology and Humanities in Batangas as a scholar.

Despite being the only girl in a family of four siblings, her mother, a schoolteacher and single parent, prodded her to enter the PMA. She was also encouraged by her brothers, the eldest a major at the La Union police force. Her mother liked PMA so she can see her daughter often—PMA is only a three-hour journey from Ilocos. “I love my mother so much not to obey her wish,” Umalla said.

“I wanted to quit many times because I was not physically prepared,” she said, adding that she prayed every night for endurance. She wanted at first to be a doctor, then a teacher like her mother. “In the end, I feel fulfilled because in a way I perform those tasks as a soldier,” she mused.

This is also the first time the academy is turning out an equal number of male and female top graduates.“It’s not a matter of gender but of performance.

It also shows that while males have the advantage of physical strength, females can be just as good,” is how Umalla put it.

She will be awarded the Presidential Saber, Philippine Navy Saber among the 14 awards come commencement day on May 26, with the President as traditional guest of honor.

Besides Umalla, several graduating female cadets are among this year’s top graduates.

Finishing third is Cdt. 1st Cl Jahziel Gumapac Tandoc who hails from La Trinidad, Benguet. She will be joining the army as she believes it is here where she can really lead the men. She is also drawn to field artillery because it relates to her course BS Physics which she took at the University of the Philippines Baguio. Tandoc comes from a family of all girls, with their eldest Tyra, now a 2nd Lt. who graduated from PMA last year.

“PMA is where I grew up,” she said, and added, “They say you enter the academy a child and graduate an adult.”

She attributes this to the discipline ingrained in them at the academy.“Imagine, for the past four years, I had to get up at 4:30 a.m,” she said.

Tandoc will be getting the Philippine Army Saber among her other distinctions.

Cdt. 1st Cl Marnel Dinihay Fundales

will be finishing seventh in her class.

She hails from Iloilo and got a taste of military life from her father Alfredo Fundales Jr., an enlisted personnel at the Army. She studied Political Science at the University of the Philippines Visayas before entering the PMA. She was Alfa Company Commander and 1st Batallion Adjutant in her batch.

Ranked eighth is Cdt. 1st Cl Glyn Elinor Buansi Marapao from Buguias, Benguet. Marapao, 22, will be joining the army and will be awarded the Navy Professional Courses Plaque. The military is also not new to her as her father, Edgar Marapao, is a retired AFP sergeant.

Cdt. 1Cl Ruth Angelique Ricardo Pasos completes the circle of five female top graduates, finishing No. 9. She went to Pasig City Science High School with honors and finished a year of college studying Psychology. She is the daughter of salesman Arturo and midwife Visitacion Pasos. Pasos was Bravo Company academic officer, was Third Platoon leader and class treasurer.

Coming from the Cordillera is Cdt. 1st Cl Richard Balabag Lonogan, a Kankanaey from Antadao, Sagada, Mountain Province. Lonogan first finished a year of studies in Criminology at the University of Cordilleras in Baguio City before deciding to enter the military world, and ranking sixth among the PMA graduates now. He was intelligence officer and commander of the Delta Company.

The 22-year-old cadet is the son of Lito Lonogan and Victoria Balabag.

Ranking fourth is another highlander from Barlig, Mountain Province.

Cdt. 1st Cl Daniel Heinz Bugnosen Lucas, 25, is a cum laude Mathematics graduate from St. Louis University. He will receive the Air Force Professional Courses Plaque.

The rest of the top 10 graduates are: ■ Cdt. 1st Cl Jonathan Eslao Mendoza, ranking second, from Sangley Point, Cavite. He will be awarded the Vice Presidential Saber, the Philippine Air Force Saber, Aguinaldo Saber and the Australian Defense Best Overall Performance; ■ Cdt. 1st Cl Aldren Maambong Altamero, ranking fifth, from Kidapawan, North Cotobato. He earned an industrial management degree from the University of Southern Mindanao. He will receive the Gen. Antonio Luna award; and ■ Cdt. 1st Cl Daryl James Jalgalado Ligutan, from Santa Mesa, Manila. He is the son of retired police officer Domingo Ligutan and Shirley Ligutan. He studied Mechanical Engineering at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines.

He was Brigade Operations Officer.

A special Athletic Saber Awardee goes to Cdt. 1 Cl Kimberly Joy Saliwan Baculi.

Another Athletic Saber Awardee is Cdt. 1st Cl Nicolas Crisanto Raguine Guysayko from Naga City.

Cdt. 1st Cl Geoffrey Ortega Valdez gets the Journalism Award as editor in chief of the Corps Magazine.

Cdt. 1Cl Jesriel Alvendia Calimag will be getting the Chief of Staff Saber Award.

Class Mabalasik stands for Mandirigma ng Bayan Lakas at Sarili Iaalay para sa Kapayapaan (Warrior for country; offering strength and self for peace).

The PMA Superintendent is Lt. Gen. Ronnie S. Evangelista.

News BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Wednesday, May 22, 2019 A9

Miaa remits ₧3.4B to NG, highest in history

By Recto Mercene

T

@rectomercene

HE country’s premier airport remitted to the national coffers some P3.42 billion, a record-breaking fiscal performance from January to December 2018.

Last year’s dividend payment to the national government was the highest in Manila International Airport Authority’s history, exceeding by more than 50 percent the 2017 remittance, according to Connie

Bungag, head of the agency’s Public Affairs Office. She said the Miaa is mandated to remit at least 50 percent of its annual net income to the government after it was granted fiscal autonomy during the term of President Corazon C. Aquino.

Since the Duterte administration took office in 2016, the Miaa dividend payments have significantly increased.

On top of the P3.42-billion dividends, the Miaa remitted P5.4 billion in corporate income taxes and the government’s share in

the airport’s gross revenues from the fees of departing passengers for 2018.

Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade commended the Miaa for its stellar performance. “I am elated that the Miaa has once again exceeded its last fiscal performance.

My congratulations to the leadership and ranks of Miaa for your sterling numbers.

The Filipino people stand to benefit from your good work,” Tugade said.

Miaa General Manager Ed Monreal urged the men and women serving the country’s

premier gateway to continue to improve fiscal management and allocation of resources to ensure effective and efficient delivery of airport services at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

“The Miaa remains committed in bettering its fiscal management, as we also work on improving the infrastructure and operations of Naia. Ultimately, our fiscal performance should resonate in our efforts in making each airport passenger satisfied beyond expectations,” Monreal said.

He also thanked the chief of the Department of Transportation for instilling in attached agencies President Duterte’s main directive to the DOTr to make the Filipino life comfortable through better operational management, transformational initiatives and infrastructure spending.

The Miaa hopes that with its strong fiscal showing in 2018, it will land a spot again in the “Billionaires’ Club,” an elite circle of GOCCs contributing billions of pesos in dividends to the national government.

A10 Wednesday, May 22, 2019

BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

www.businessmirror.com.ph

BusinessMirror

Wednesday, May 22, 2019 A11

A12 Wednesday, May 22, 2019

BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

In the ad material of Notice of filing of Application for Alien Employment Permits published on April 2, 2019, the Company name and Address of Ms. Leong Chun Chen should have been read as 24/7 BUSINESS PROCESSING INC. located at 5th - 7th Floor, 81 Newport Boulevard, Andrews Ave., Newport City, Brgy. 183, Pasay, Metro Manila and not as published. In the application published on March 16, 2019, the Company name and Address of Mr. Kumar, Amit should have been read as PHARMA-SURREY INTERNATIONAL, INC. located at 46 Bulusan, San Isidro Lab, D1, Quezon City, 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 22, 2019

B1

DM Consunji allots ₧2 billion for north-south railway project

D

By VG Cabuag

@ villygc

M Consunji Inc., the construction arm of DMCI Holdings Inc., on Tuesday said it is allotting some P2 billion in capital expenditures for the next two years to support its railway construction activities under the North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR) project.

DMCI President Jorge Consunji said the bulk of the amount will be used to acquire construction equipment.

T he comp a ny, w h ic h h a s bagged some of the governmentled infrastructure projects, will employ up to 5,000 direct and indirect workers within the next 30 months to meet the manpower requirements of the project.

“Building mass transport systems and high-impact infrastruc-

ture is part of our DNA. We are very excited and grateful to be part of this game-changing project for our country,” Consunji said.

The Department of Transportation recently awarded the NSCR Phase 1 contract to the joint venture of DMCI and Taisei Corp. of Japan.

The project has a total contract value of ¥114 billion, or approximately P54 billion based on the prevailing exchange rate.

It involves the construction of around 22 kilometers of elevated viaduct structures, six stations and a depot, which will be located in Valenzuela.

Designed to be completed in 42 months, NSCR Phase 1 will use the existing alignment of the Philippine National Railway, which runs from Malolos, Bulacan, to Tutuban in Manila. The trains will have a maximum operating speed of 120 kilometers per hour.

Once completed, the railway will shorten travel time between Malolos and Tutuban from one hour and 30 minutes to just 35 minutes.

This rail line is expected to serve 300,000 passengers daily.

NSCR Phase 1 is the fifth railway project of DMCI. The company was also involved in the construction of LRT Line 1 North Extension, LRT Line 2 East Extension, two PNR projects and the Dubai Monorail in the United Arab Emirates.

Taisei Corp., meanwhile, is the contractor behind the Iloilo International Airport, which was named the 12th-best airport in Asia in

2017 by travel web site “The Guide to Sleeping in Airports.”

DMCI said on Monday its net income for the first quarter of the year grew 12 percent to P374 million on account of higher revenues from infrastructure projects.

Revenues surged 74 percent to over P1.5 billion for the first three months of the year, from last year’s P883 million.

T he c o mp a ny r e c o rd e d a 36 -percent drop in revenues from building contracts, slipping to P1.1 billion from P1.7 billion last year, as most of the projects near completion.

Revenues from energy projects tripled to P602 million, while revenues from plant and utilities projects improved 29 percent to P404 million.

Accounting for P540 million in revenues are the ready-mix business and other project-support activities of DMCI, which more than doubled from last year.

On a stand-alone basis, DMCI’s first-quarter revenues reached P4.2 billion, a 24-percent increase from last year.

Megaworld expects Pampanga condo sales to hit ₧850M

D

EV ELOPER Megaworld Corp. on Tuesday said it could generate some P850 million in sales from its second residential condominium development inside the 35.6-hectare Capital Town Pampanga township in San Fernando.

To be called Bryant Parklane, the name of which came from New York City’s famous Bryant Park, the 16-story residential tower offers 463 units ranging from studio of up to 28.5 square meters and one bedroom of up to 41 square meters. Select units have a balcony and lanai.

Bryant Parklane is due for completion by 2024, the company said.

“In Bryant Parklane, we want to encourage interaction among residents, and at the same time, foster a sense of community. The lobby will become a venue for residents to hang out and interact with each other at any given time of the day and night,” Eugene Em Lozano, first vice president for sales and marketing, Megaworld Pampanga, said.

“This makes this new residential

project unique and one-of-a-kind, never been seen before in any of our developments,” Lozano added.

Its lobby concept features a bi-level shared spaces and receiving area.

Indoor bike racks also form part of the lobbys unique design. The lobby will also be featuring some of the developments amenities such as a daycare center with hammock area, turf lounge, ping pong café and a library.

The development offer views of the Zambales Mountain Range, Mount Arayat, San Fernando’s cityscape, and the township’s green parks and mall area.

The residential tower will also host some retail areas at the ground level.

Last year, Megaworld launched its first residential development in Capital Town, the 12-story Chelsea Parkplace, which has 193 residential units.

Capital Town, located near the Pampanga Provincial Capitol, is Megaworld’s first township development in Central and Northern Luzon.

It is former site of the Pampanga Sugar Development Co. VG Cabuag

B2

Companies BusinessMirror

Wednesday, May 22, 2019

PSE STOCK QUOTATIONS

May 21, 2019

Net Foreign Stocks Bid Ask Open High Low Close Volume Value Trade (Peso) Buy (Sell) FINANCIALS ASIA UNITED BDO UNIBANK BANK PH ISLANDS CHINABANK CITYSTATE BANK EAST WEST BANK METROBANK PHIL NATL BANK PSBANK RCBC SECURITY BANK UNION BANK BRIGHT KINDLE BDO LEASING COL FINANCIAL FERRONOUX HLDG IREMIT MEDCO HLDG MANULIFE NTL REINSURANCE PHIL STOCK EXCH SUN LIFE

56.05 132.3 80.8 26.5 6.76 11.72 74.4 58.6 57.3 26 178.3 61 1.19 2.15 18.78 4.43 1.34 0.45 740 0.99 185.3 1798

58.5 133 81.2 26.8 8.49 11.74 74.5 58.65 57.6 26.4 178.8 61.5 1.26 2.25 18.86 4.56 1.36 0.46 780 1 185.5 1825

58.5 130.5 81.25 26.5 6.74 11.62 75.3 56.1 57.45 26.15 178.6 61.5 1.2 2.15 18.8 4.42 1.34 0.46 756 0.96 184 1780

58.9 133.3 81.5 26.85 8.49 11.76 75.3 59 57.6 26.15 179.1 61.5 1.2 2.15 18.88 4.43 1.34 0.46 756 1 185.3 1800

56.05 130 80.75 26.15 6.74 11.62 74 56 57.45 26 176.1 61 1.2 2.15 18.78 4.42 1.34 0.45 730 0.96 183.9 1770

56.05 133 80.8 26.8 8.49 11.72 74.5 58.6 57.5 26 178.8 61 1.2 2.15 18.88 4.43 1.34 0.45 730 1 185.3 1800

23060 958510 1766580 88700 2900 320700 954030 950830 400 5500 793260 6040 10000 5000 700 7000 10000 470000 380 484000 910 360

1356946.5 126774281 143273559.5 2348410 21665 3763358 71050534 55140647.5 23003.5 143115 141284193 368583 12000 10750 13180 31000 13400 212100 279610 475990 168025 645775

INDUSTRIAL ALSONS CONS ABOITIZ POWER BASIC ENERGY FIRST GEN FIRST PHIL HLDG MERALCO MANILA WATER PETRON PETROENERGY PHINMA ENERGY PHX PETROLEUM PILIPINAS SHELL SPC POWER VIVANT AGRINURTURE CNTRL AZUCARERA CENTURY FOOD DEL MONTE DNL INDUS EMPERADOR SMC FOODANDBEV ALLIANCE SELECT GINEBRA JOLLIBEE MACAY HLDG MAXS GROUP MG HLDG PEPSI COLA SHAKEYS PIZZA ROXAS AND CO RFM CORP UNIV ROBINA VITARICH VICTORIAS CEMEX HLDG DAVINCI CAPITAL EAGLE CEMENT EEI CORP HOLCIM MEGAWIDE PHINMA TKC METALS VULCAN INDL CROWN ASIA MABUHAY VINYL PRYCE CORP CONCEPCION GREENERGY INTEGRATED MICR IONICS PANASONIC SFA SEMICON CIRTEK HLDG

1.37 36.05 0.265 21.05 76.45 369 22.4 5.7 4.52 1.98 11.88 42.4 6.42 14.62 14.92 16.4 14.6 5.45 10.16 7.49 104.9 0.68 43 282.6 9.35 13.88 0.187 1.27 13 1.59 5 156.5 1.13 2.5 2.59 5.23 15.96 9.43 14 22 9.08 0.89 1.01 1.89 3.35 4.8 43.75 2.36 10.28 1.67 5.55 1.22 26.05

ABACORE CAPITAL ASIABEST GROUP AYALA CORP ABOITIZ EQUITY ALLIANCE GLOBAL ANSCOR ANGLO PHIL HLDG ATN HLDG A ATN HLDG B BHI HLDG COSCO CAPITAL DMCI HLDG FILINVEST DEV FORUM PACIFIC GT CAPITAL HOUSE OF INV JG SUMMIT JOLLIVILLE HLDG LODESTAR LOPEZ HLDG LT GROUP MABUHAY HLDG METRO PAC INV PACIFICA AYALA LAND LOG PRIME MEDIA SM INVESTMENTS SAN MIGUEL CORP SOC RESOURCES TOP FRONTIER WELLEX INDUS ZEUS HLDG

0.58 13.76 850 49.8 14.62 6.7 0.73 1.25 1.27 1251 7.03 10.58 14 0.249 848 6.13 59 5.86 0.48 4.71 16.32 0.55 4.33 0.039 3.4 1.12 902 183 0.78 266 0.234 0.27

1.39 36.2 0.27 21.2 76.5 374 22.45 5.79 4.6 1.99 12.08 42.5 6.43 17 15 16.5 14.68 5.75 10.18 7.5 106 0.69 43.05 283.4 9.9 13.9 0.195 1.28 13.02 1.65 5.05 158.8 1.14 2.51 2.6 5.25 16.02 9.45 14.04 22.05 9.45 0.9 1.04 1.9 3.6 4.99 45.5 2.38 10.3 1.72 5.76 1.24 27

1.37 35.5 0.27 21.45 76.45 360 22 5.43 4.62 1.96 12.08 42.3 6.41 16.98 15.48 15 14.28 5.37 10.2 7.51 106 0.65 41 276 9.4 14 0.186 1.28 13 1.65 5 152.3 1.11 2.51 2.72 5.25 15.98 9.43 14.22 21.9 9.48 0.86 1.03 1.87 3.5 4.71 45 2.4 10 1.7 5.63 1.24 27

1.39 36.35 0.275 21.45 76.65 374 22.5 5.81 4.63 2.05 12.08 43 6.64 16.98 15.5 16.5 14.6 5.7 10.36 7.51 107 0.69 43.15 284.8 9.79 14.04 0.186 1.29 13.08 1.68 5.05 158.8 1.14 2.51 2.73 5.25 16.06 9.46 14.22 22.1 9.48 0.92 1.05 1.9 3.5 4.99 45 2.47 10.38 1.74 5.63 1.29 27

1.37 35.5 0.26 20.8 76.4 356.4 22 5.43 4.52 1.93 11.84 42.3 6.41 16.98 15 15 14.24 5.37 10.14 7.48 104.7 0.64 41 274 9.25 13.82 0.186 1.25 12.9 1.59 4.95 152.3 1.11 2.47 2.6 5.25 15.96 9.4 13.82 21.85 9.46 0.86 1.01 1.87 3.5 4.7 45 2.35 10 1.68 5.63 1.24 25.65

1.39 36.05 0.265 21.2 76.45 374 22.45 5.7 4.6 1.99 12.08 42.5 6.42 16.98 15 16.4 14.6 5.45 10.18 7.5 106 0.68 43 282.6 9.35 13.9 0.186 1.27 13 1.65 5.05 158.8 1.13 2.5 2.6 5.25 16.02 9.43 14 22 9.46 0.89 1.04 1.9 3.5 4.99 45 2.38 10.3 1.72 5.63 1.24 27

621000 726700 14610000 701500 211470 221820 3700100 3058300 154000 55145000 35300 115500 201800 500 402400 2000 1069500 12200 5177500 943800 294870 1783000 397600 1088980 20200 315500 40000 1339000 34900 222000 167900 1048530 3034000 874000 25649000 14600 1110000 267100 1177500 1693900 3500 684000 838000 88000 1000 166000 100000 8817000 581400 150000 5200 22000 517700

855170 26167355 3905750 14730415 16168297.5 81408130 83033945 17212148 708620 109688830 424982 4902525 1298285 8490 6154830 31410 15450278 68765 52752708 7069218 31223679 1176110 16964120 307259864 187839 4393694 7440 1691600 453598 356230 839995 163788234 3428640 2182570 67824480 76650 17759518 2517066 16475398 37265540 33178 609500 855530 167050 3500 781260 4500000 21268730 5950926 253150 29276 27340 13683260

HOLDING & FRIMS 0.59 13.82 852.5 50.25 14.74 6.73 0.75 1.26 1.29 1699 7.1 10.6 14.7 0.265 850.5 6.3 59.3 5.96 0.5 4.77 16.36 0.56 4.34 0.04 3.41 1.13 904.5 186 0.79 274.8 0.238 0.275

0.58 14.54 857.5 50.5 14 6.7 0.73 1.25 1.27 1251 7.03 10.5 14.5 0.275 850 6.2 59 5.86 0.48 4.81 16.22 0.55 4.34 0.039 3.48 1.13 885 186.7 0.78 274.8 0.239 0.28

0.59 14.54 867 51.3 14.74 6.7 0.75 1.29 1.32 1251 7.2 10.66 14.7 0.275 867 6.2 60.4 5.96 0.5 4.84 16.46 0.55 4.38 0.039 3.48 1.13 910 186.7 0.79 274.8 0.239 0.28

0.57 13.72 850 49.7 13.9 6.7 0.73 1.25 1.27 1251 7.02 10.28 13.52 0.265 840.5 6.15 58.85 5.86 0.48 4.52 16.22 0.55 4.32 0.038 3.32 1.12 884 180.7 0.77 274.8 0.232 0.27

0.58 13.82 850 49.8 14.74 6.7 0.75 1.26 1.29 1251 7.1 10.6 14.7 0.265 850.5 6.15 59 5.96 0.5 4.71 16.36 0.55 4.34 0.039 3.4 1.13 902 186 0.78 274.8 0.235 0.27

12763000 73400 494070 1390610 6861000 52200 124000 2779000 42000 10 108400 8544900 370300 90000 47010 85000 1675110 2000 10000 285000 2028200 34000 18631000 6400000 8903000 120000 187600 90620 584000 450 660000 3500000

7351240 1026244 423158950 69911872.5 99375296 349740 90700 3501080 54080 12510 771706 89320290 5268618 23950 40054480 524900 99808524 11910 4840 1338780 33195936 18700 80841000 246800 30223680 135500 169098690 16655291 456140 123660 153530 953600

1171036.5 -5789482 -36768501.5 -608725 456202 -17282908.5 15073310 -21107727 -333732 -190570 -2650 -6169115 -4902312.5 -42647678 -38398770 1492087 2293890 -2765015 -767012 -4626902 -21083418 -1544690 1692944 7864200 -53266630 -519394 421270 6490 -25617887 33899.9998 2042270 4137690 -8460362 224618 9681364 35786445 -6300 2020 19000 -385490 -0 3599090 -1516674 -790800 223639.9999 27640 -191823735 2794502.5 2985666 329640 1320 1519 6496410 -65798 -5987170 -28071079.5 -59080 2657580 5500 -8845600 8780 -37448945 -8550600 68750

PROPERTY

ARTHALAND CORP 0.77 0.78 0.75 0.78 0.75 0.78 314000 237870 -3120 ANCHOR LAND 10.5 10.9 10.3 10.5 10.3 10.5 2000 20800 10300 AYALA LAND 47.8 47.9 47.5 48 46.8 47.9 9615700 459913885 61417370 ARANETA PROP 2.14 2.2 2.2 2.21 2.19 2.21 31000 68330 BELLE CORP 2.29 2.32 2.3 2.32 2.28 2.29 341000 783020 -55110 A BROWN 0.76 0.77 0.79 0.79 0.75 0.76 1265000 980880 CITYLAND DEVT 0.86 0.9 0.85 0.9 0.85 0.9 52000 44300 CROWN EQUITIES 0.227 0.228 0.23 0.23 0.228 0.228 610000 140190 CEBU HLDG 6.2 6.4 6.22 6.4 6.2 6.4 6100 37920 CEB LANDMASTERS 5.12 5.13 5.05 5.13 5.03 5.12 3994700 20342876 564138 CENTURY PROP 0.52 0.53 0.52 0.53 0.51 0.52 11358000 5909620 104000 DOUBLEDRAGON 24.2 24.3 24.5 24.6 23.7 24.2 940900 22639145 1252295 DM WENCESLAO 10.32 10.42 10.26 10.44 10.2 10.44 93100 961914 EMPIRE EAST 0.465 0.47 0.47 0.475 0.465 0.465 3270000 1537350 -811450 FILINVEST LAND 1.55 1.57 1.53 1.58 1.53 1.57 9231000 14419870 2264710 GLOBAL ESTATE 1.39 1.4 1.33 1.41 1.33 1.39 9793000 13502750 538400 8990 HLDG 15.1 15.26 14.5 15.28 14.5 15.1 2585800 38823206 256052 PHIL INFRADEV 1.71 1.72 1.7 1.73 1.68 1.72 740000 1265290 56460 CITY AND LAND 0.76 0.83 0.83 0.83 0.83 0.83 1000 830 MEGAWORLD 5.39 5.4 5.37 5.44 5.35 5.4 24181800 130602116 -27796643 MRC ALLIED 0.305 0.31 0.305 0.31 0.305 0.31 8650000 2642700 PHIL ESTATES 0.465 0.47 0.48 0.48 0.47 0.47 140000 65900 PRIMEX CORP 2 2.05 2 2.03 1.89 2 3470000 6792430 ROBINSONS LAND 23.95 24.1 24 24.2 23.4 23.95 1592800 38205160 1840405 PHIL REALTY 0.42 0.435 0.435 0.44 0.42 0.42 420000 178050 ROCKWELL 2.02 2.06 2 2.05 2 2.02 78000 158300 -120 SHANG PROP 2.97 3 3 3 2.97 2.97 80000 239160 STA LUCIA LAND 1.84 1.87 1.84 1.88 1.78 1.87 2422000 4404200 -368000 SM PRIME HLDG 39.45 39.5 39.4 39.85 38.8 39.45 5198800 205118995 -99061475 STARMALLS 6.55 6.57 6.62 6.66 6.52 6.55 253700 1667105 SUNTRUST HOME 0.72 0.76 0.71 0.71 0.71 0.71 25000 17750 VISTA LAND 7.13 7.15 7.16 7.19 7.13 7.15 1293400 9249372 698803

SERVICES ABS CBN 18.8 19 19 19.08 18.86 18.86 75700 1431448 GMA NETWORK 5.31 5.33 5.34 5.38 5.3 5.31 111400 593355 MANILA BULLETIN 0.6 0.61 0.57 0.61 0.56 0.6 4814000 2866080 GLOBE TELECOM 2106 2114 2018 2114 2000 2114 134350 279472170 164546960 PLDT 1303 1304 1270 1310 1264 1303 158165 205111745 69948985 APOLLO GLOBAL 0.043 0.045 0.043 0.044 0.043 0.044 3300000 145000 IMPERIAL 1.75 1.9 1.76 1.89 1.75 1.89 8000 14720 -5270 ISLAND INFO 0.119 0.122 0.123 0.123 0.119 0.119 2780000 333540 -26180 ISM COMM 5.87 5.88 6 6.15 5.87 5.88 5077500 30389859 193240 NOW CORP 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.06 1.96 2.02 1648000 3286640 -140150 TRANSPACIFIC BR 0.31 0.315 0.325 0.325 0.305 0.315 7290000 2283850 PHILWEB 2.95 2.96 2.96 2.97 2.86 2.96 906000 2644390 -391260 2GO GROUP 11.5 11.9 11.7 11.9 11.42 11.9 44500 521548 ASIAN TERMINALS 19.5 19.9 19 19.8 19 19.5 6400 123598 38980 CHELSEA 6.18 6.19 6.3 6.38 6.15 6.19 1677600 10521421 -12600 CEBU AIR 88 88.05 86.1 88.5 86.1 88 768320 67575033 9000171 INTL CONTAINER 135.2 137 138.5 139.9 135.1 135.2 1524340 209264334 -44118877 LBC EXPRESS 14.8 15.38 15.4 15.4 15.4 15.4 800 12320 LORENZO SHIPPNG 0.75 0.78 0.75 0.79 0.75 0.79 183000 138790 MACROASIA 19.18 19.2 19.1 19.4 19.08 19.18 1545200 29582490 26329410 METROALLIANCE A 1.64 1.72 1.66 1.66 1.64 1.64 22000 36320 METROALLIANCE B 1.63 1.93 1.63 1.63 1.63 1.63 4000 6520 PAL HLDG 9.71 9.95 9.93 9.93 9.65 9.7 20600 199454 HARBOR STAR 2.38 2.4 2.4 2.42 2.37 2.38 214000 510590 ACESITE HOTEL 1.31 1.36 1.36 1.36 1.36 1.36 6000 8160 BOULEVARD HLDG 0.061 0.063 0.062 0.065 0.061 0.061 24750000 1535440 62000 DISCOVERY WORLD 2.02 2.2 2.02 2.02 2.02 2.02 5000 10100 GRAND PLAZA 10.02 11.36 10.02 10.02 10.02 10.02 16700 167334 WATERFRONT 0.7 0.72 0.71 0.72 0.69 0.72 961000 680900 -91000 FAR EASTERN U 890 895 893 893 893 893 10 8930 IPEOPLE 10.64 10.98 10.7 10.98 10.7 10.98 200 2168 STI HLDG 0.66 0.67 0.66 0.67 0.66 0.67 791000 528240 75170 BERJAYA 2.57 2.6 2.53 2.62 2.41 2.6 609000 1562310 93600 BLOOMBERRY 11.1 11.28 11.3 11.3 11 11.28 5191200 58121328 -9485028 PACIFIC ONLINE 3.22 3.25 3.36 3.36 3.22 3.25 246000 806950 -100 LEISURE AND RES 4.45 4.49 4.46 4.5 4.37 4.45 3119000 13922290 2144370 MANILA JOCKEY 3.71 3.79 3.82 3.9 3.79 3.79 14000 53830 PH RESORTS GRP 4.17 4.46 4.34 4.46 4.14 4.46 78000 341130 PREMIUM LEISURE 0.76 0.77 0.75 0.78 0.74 0.76 18919000 14480680 -3084060 TRAVELLERS 5.58 5.59 5.58 5.62 5.58 5.58 4992200 27934010 -15054840 METRO RETAIL 2.82 2.83 2.87 2.88 2.8 2.83 1600000 4544710 480650 PUREGOLD 45.5 45.9 46.5 46.5 45.05 45.5 1421900 64,860,470( 14,646,625.0004) ROBINSONS RTL 72.5 72.8 73 73.7 72.5 72.8 445070 32414841.5 -11272674.5 SSI GROUP 3.22 3.23 3.28 3.4 3.22 3.23 9739000 32432150 1166510 WILCON DEPOT 16.34 16.36 16.7 16.7 16.28 16.36 1657400 27170558 -1835900 APC GROUP 0.415 0.425 0.415 0.415 0.415 0.415 70000 29050 EASYCALL 10.58 10.64 10.6 11 10.5 10.64 82600 880258 GOLDEN BRIA 400.4 409 412.8 412.8 400.4 409 3620 1472728 PRMIERE HORIZON 0.89 0.9 0.92 0.94 0.89 0.89 41682000 37617850 465930 SBS PHIL CORP 9.08 9.28 9.29 9.29 9.04 9.04 28700 265436

MINING & OIL ATOK 11.04 11.86 11.9 11.9 11.9 11.9 200 2380 APEX MINING 1.19 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.18 1.19 884000 1053420 -619760 ABRA MINING 0.0018 0.0019 0.0019 0.0019 0.0018 0.0018 176000000 317400 ATLAS MINING 2.7 2.84 2.75 2.75 2.71 2.71 565000 1540140 -2730 BENGUET A 1.12 1.29 1.12 1.12 1.12 1.12 8000 8960 COAL ASIA HLDG 0.285 0.29 0.295 0.295 0.295 0.295 100000 29500 CENTURY PEAK 2.77 2.78 2.76 2.8 2.76 2.78 308000 853250 DIZON MINES 7.59 7.75 7.69 7.9 7.57 7.75 27100 206444 FERRONICKEL 1.52 1.54 1.53 1.54 1.52 1.54 741000 1134970 GEOGRACE 0.221 0.23 0.233 0.233 0.22 0.232 590000 130930 -2240 LEPANTO A 0.101 0.105 0.106 0.106 0.102 0.102 220000 22520 LEPANTO B 0.105 0.108 0.104 0.108 0.103 0.108 30000 3150 MANILA MINING A 0.0078 0.0084 0.0079 0.0079 0.0077 0.0077 25000000 195700 MARCVENTURES 1.01 1.04 1.03 1.04 1.01 1.04 64000 65830 NIHAO 0.96 0.97 0.98 0.99 0.96 0.98 80000 77830 NICKEL ASIA 2.21 2.24 2.19 2.25 2.18 2.21 1103000 2435100 -288210 ORNTL PENINSULA 0.87 0.88 0.87 0.87 0.87 0.87 249000 216630 PX MINING 2.9 2.92 2.9 2.94 2.87 2.92 54000 156650 -14490 SEMIRARA MINING 22.3 22.5 22 22.8 22 22.3 1845900 41501940 32889675 ORNTL PETROL A 0.011 0.012 0.011 0.012 0.011 0.012 700000 8200 ORNTL PETROL B 0.011 0.012 0.011 0.011 0.011 0.011 100000 1100 PHILODRILL 0.011 0.012 0.012 0.012 0.011 0.012 53400000 640000 PHINMA PETRO 3.96 3.98 3.8 4.1 3.8 3.98 876000 3440620 PXP ENERGY 8.2 8.23 8.14 8.28 8.07 8.2 497000 4061684 168189

PREFFERED

HOUSE PREF A 95.1 97.5 95.1 95.1 95 95 1390 132116 AC PREF B1 474 480 474 475 474 475 400 189980 AC PREF B2 485 490 498 498 490 490 350 171660 24500 FGEN PREF G 102.1 104 104 104.2 104 104.2 3880 403791 LR PREF 0.98 1 1 1 0.98 0.98 995000 985400 MWIDE PREF 100.2 101 102 102 101 101 2010 203020 PNX PREF 3B 101.1 106 105.5 106 105.5 106 100 10580 PCOR PREF 2A 965 997 997 997 997 997 20 19940 SMC PREF 2B 75.1 75.5 75.8 75.8 75.5 75.5 930 70269 SMC PREF 2C 76.3 76.9 76.9 76.9 76.85 76.9 2100 161444.5 SMC PREF 2D 71.5 72.95 72 72 71.5 71.5 5560 397820 SMC PREF 2E 72.5 73.5 72.5 72.5 72.5 72.5 500 36250 SMC PREF 2F 73.85 74 73.85 73.85 73.75 73.75 30000 2213754.5 SMC PREF 2H 72.7 73.95 73 73 73 73 15700 1146100 SMC PREF 2I 72.25 73.6 73.6 73.6 72.15 73.6 7360 531213.5 -

PHIL. DEPOSITARY RECEIPTS ABS HLDG PDR GMA HLDG PDR

18 5.35

18.2 5.4

18 5.5

18 5.5

18 5.35

18 5.35

363300 44000

6539400 235475

WARRANTS LR WARRANT

2.02

SMALL & MEDIUM ENTERPRISES ITALPINAS 4.81 XURPAS 1.01

2.06

2.08

2.08

2.01

2.07

287000

587100

143979.9997

4.9 1.02

4.76 1.11

4.88 1.11

4.72 1

4.81 1.02

444000 7709000

2115100 7996680

-996040

EXHANGE TRADE FUNDS FIRST METRO ETF

115.5

-0 -

115.8

115

116.2

114.8

115.8

9350

1081842

443056

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Slump in Q1 earnings won’t stop Petron’s expansion–Ang

T

By Lenie Lectura

@llectura

HE slump in Petron Corp.’s firstquarter earnings is not stopping the oil firm from pushing through with its $1-billion spending meant to improve its business here and in Malaysia.

“We will still push through with our investments, expansion, plant refinery optimization, petrochemical expansion, all port expansion, all terminal expansion. We are still going to spend over $1 billion,” said Petron President Ramon Ang after the company’s annual stockholders’ meeting.

Of the amount, Ang said $600 million was allocated for the construction of a steam producer boiler

in its Bataan refinery. It will take two to three years for construction to be finished.

The remaining $400 million will be allocated for “gas station network expansion, power line upgrading, pipeline upgrading,” among others.

Petron is targeting to build 200 new stations every year in the Philippines and 100 in Malaysia. It just opened 40 new stations from January to March this year. The same

can be said of its Malaysian operations, which now has over 650 stations, bringing Petron’s combined count to over 3,000.

“Our target is 6,000, but it’s delayed because of permitting process,” said Ang. Petron’s net income in the first quarter of the year plunged 77 percent to P1.3 billion from P5.8 billion in the same period last year, mainly due to higher taxes and rising crude oil prices. Of the amount, P1.2 billion came from its Malaysian operations.

Revenues declined as well by 4 percent to P124.6 billion in the first quarter of 2019, as the oil company recorded a 5-percent decline in volume for the Philippine operations following the implementation of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law. A total of around P4.50/liter in excise tax plus VAT are carried by fuel prices. On a quarterly basis, this in-

crease translated to around P8 billion in excise taxes and P1 billion in VAT. Petron explained that this also created a price advantage for importers since refiners maintain higher inventory in crude form, which is immediately taxed upon production. Importers, however, maintain inventories as finished products, which give them the advantage for at least 30 days. Compounding this challenge is the declining refining margins in the region, which penalized Philippine operations by P3.3 billion in the first quarter.

The impact of the second phase of TRAIN and the rising crude prices also cut down consolidated income from operations by 45 percent to P4.9 billion.

Ang said, however, that he is not alarmed by the decline in the firstquarter earnings of the oil firm.

“Once the business environment improves, operating income could reach $1 billion.”

Maynilad: No basis for MWSS penalty

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HE Maynilad Water Services, Inc. (Maynilad) said the financial penalty slapped by Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage Services (MWSS) against the company for the water-service interruption caused by the algal bloom in Laguna de Bay has no basis.

Maynilad issued the statement after it received a notice of service obligation failure on Monday from the MWSS Regulatory Office. This was in relation to the service interruption due to the algal bloom in Laguna de Bay, and the company was given five days to respond.

“We believe there is no basis for the imposition of the penalty, as the service interruption did not last for 15 days and only affected 12 percent of Maynilad’s customer base,” Maynilad said in a text message to the media.

“To mitigate the impact of this emergency service interruption, we immediately implemented rotational supply interruptions and also deployed mobile water tankers and stationary water tanks, even as we intensified treatment interventions to address the challenging raw water quality,” it added.

Maynilad draws water from Laguna de Bay to augment its supply coming from Angat dam. The warm weather, however, caused algal bloom to affect its water-production capacity coming from the lake that caused the water-service interruption.

In an advisory, Maynilad warned its customers in portions of Para-

ñaque, Las Piñas, Muntinlupa and Cavite that they will experience low water pressure to no water supply starting on April 29. The company issued the advisory after it observed an unusual algae proliferation in Laguna Lake since April 23.

“The algal bloom was due to the warmer temperature brought about by the mild El Niño that we are experiencing right now. Excessive algae requires additional cleaning and declogging of Maynilad’s two Putatan water-treatment facilities,” the advisory read. While the company started implementing remedial measures to address the problem, Maynilad said it was constrained to reduce water production in its Putatan facilities.

The company said in the April 30 advisory that the situation would continue until May 14, when the full implementation of the remedial treatment interventions has eliminated the algal bloom.

In an advisory dated May 2, the company informed its customers that water supply will improve after Maynilad was able to increase the production of its Putatan watertreatment facilities to 125 million liters per day, from 80 MLD. The company deployed some 40 mobile tankers in severely affected areas to provide potable water to its customers.

Maynilad is the water and wastewater services provider for the 17 cities and municipalities that comprise the West Zone of the Metropolitan Manila area. Jonathan L. Mayuga

INVESTMENT COMMITMENT Clark Development Corp. (CDC) President and

CEO Noel F. Manankil recently signed the consolidated lease agreement with Widus International Leisure Inc. (Wili) President Dae Sik Han. Widus has committed to invest an additional P15 billion in the next three years. Present during the signing are CDC Vice President for Business Enhancement and Business Development Group Evangeline Tejada (right, seated), Wili Assistant Vice President for Corporate Planning and Compliance Agnes Liwanag (left, seated), CDC Chairman Jose “Ping” de Jesus (standing, from right), CDC Director Ana Liza Peralta and CDC Director Nestor Villaroman Jr. CDC-CD PHOTO

MUTUAL FUNDS

May 21, 2019

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

PER SHARE RETURN* RETURN STOCK FUNDS ALFM GROWTH FUND, INC. -A 256.84 -2.23% -0.19% 0.22% 1.83% ATRAM ALPHA OPPORTUNITY FUND, INC. -A 1.5983 5.48% 8.87% 2.91% 10.93% ATRAM PHILIPPINE EQUITY OPPORTUNITY FUND, INC. -A 4.0035 -4.04% -0.2% -0.76% 2.57% CLIMBS SHARE CAPITAL EQUITY INVESTMENT FUND CORP. -A 0.9172 -0.07% N.A. N.A. 3% FIRST METRO CONSUMER FUND ON MSCI PHILS. IMI, INC. -A 0.8482 -0.6% N.A. N.A. 3.35% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN EQUITY FUND,INC. -A 5.3266 -1.47% -0.13% 0.11% 1.05% MBG EQUITY INVESTMENT FUND, INC. -A 121.68 6.36% N.A. N.A. 4.48% ONE WEALTHY NATION FUND, INC. -A 0.8506 -3.19% -4.86% N.A. 2.19% PAMI EQUITY INDEX FUND, INC. -A 50.6044 -0.04% 0.4% N.A. 2.84% PHILAM STRATEGIC GROWTH FUND, INC. -A 529.11 -0.44% -0.47% 0.01% 2.79% PHILEQUITY DIVIDEND YIELD FUND, INC. -A 1.288 1.33% 1.32% 2.61% 2.71% PHILEQUITY FUND, INC. -A 37.7743 1.27% 2.02% 2.05% 3.12% PHILEQUITY MSCI PHILIPPINE INDEX FUND, INC. -A,3 1.0112 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. PHILEQUITY PSE INDEX FUND INC. -A 5.1269 0.42% 1.37% 2.22% 3.39% PHILIPPINE STOCK INDEX FUND CORP. -A 855.81 0.47% 1.08% 2.15% 3.3% SOLDIVO STRATEGIC GROWTH FUND, INC. -A 0.9165 4.11% 0.84% N.A. 6.42% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY PHILIPPINE EQUITY FUND, INC. -A 4.2248 1.81% 1.49% 1.53% 4.09% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY PHILIPPINE STOCK INDEX FUND, INC. -A 0.984 N.A. 1.03% N.A. 3.11% UNITED FUND, INC. -A 3.6445 1.71% 3.62% 2.34% 4.1% EXCHANGE TRADED FUND FIRST METRO PHIL. EQUITY EXCHANGE TRADED FUND, INC. -A,C,2 114.5912 0.82% 2.1% 3.22% 3.47% ATRAM ASIAPLUS EQUITY FUND, INC. -B $0.955 -12.85% 5.76% -0.21% 2.79% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY WORLD VOYAGER FUND, INC. -A $1.2676 -2.22% 8.42% N.A. 14.7% BALANCED FUNDS PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES ATRAM DYNAMIC ALLOCATION FUND, INC. -A 1.6849 -1.6% -1.73% -2.1% 2.04% ATRAM PHILIPPINE BALANCED FUND, INC. -A 2.2704 -1.63% -0.04% 0.06% 2.77% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN BALANCED FUND INC. -A 2.5915 -0.72% -1.1% -1.9% 1.88% GREPALIFE BALANCED FUND CORPORATION -A 1.3387 -0.8% N.A. N.A. 2.64% NCM MUTUAL FUND OF THE PHILS., INC. -A 1.9008 1.93% 0.52% 0.85% 3.13% PAMI HORIZON FUND, INC. -A 3.6327 0.18% -0.87% -0.11% 2.93% PHILAM FUND, INC. -A 16.3947 1.2% -0.71% -0.05% 3.06% SOLIDARITAS FUND, INC. -A 2.1159 0.81% 0.73% 1.45% 2.1% SUN LIFE OF CANADA PROSPERITY BALANCED FUND, INC. -A 3.7972 2.4% 0.5% 0.92% 3.99% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY ACHIEVER FUND 2028, INC. -A,D,4 0.9829 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. SUN LIFE PROSPERITY ACHIEVER FUND 2038, INC. -A,D,4 0.9755 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. SUN LIFE PROSPERITY ACHIEVER FUND 2048, INC. -A,D,4 0.973 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DYNAMIC FUND, INC. -A 0.9727 2.77% 0.77% N.A. 5.53% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY SECURITIES COCOLIFE DOLLAR FUND BUILDER, INC. -A $0.03657 5.39% 0.83% 1.44% 3.74% PAMI ASIA BALANCED FUND, INC. -A $0.9524 -9.17% 3.07% -1.28% 1.73% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR ADVANTAGE FUND, INC. -A $3.6722 -0.05% 6.1% 2.66% 11% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR WELLSPRING FUND, INC. -A $1.0869 1.08% 3.68% N.A. 7.61% BOND FUNDS PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES ALFM PESO BOND FUND, INC. -A 348.65 3.04% 2.01% 2.16% 1.53% ATRAM CORPORATE BOND FUND, INC. -A,1 1.8855 1.32% -0.24% -0.37% 1.41% COCOLIFE FIXED INCOME FUND, INC. -A 3.0316 5.48% 5.26% 5.27% 2.05% EKKLESIA MUTUAL FUND INC. -A 2.1674 2.6% 1.11% 1.74% 1.73% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN FIXED INCOME FUND,INC. -A 2.2664 2.31% 0.53% 0.96% 2.58% GREPALIFE FIXED INCOME FUND CORP. -A P 1.6045 1.81% -0.79% 0.16% 2.56% PHILAM BOND FUND, INC. -A 4.0653 3.26% -0.53% 0.74% 3.71% PHILEQUITY PESO BOND FUND, INC. -A 3.6198 3.71% 1.04% 1.04% 2.92% SOLDIVO BOND FUND, INC. -A 0.9217 2.03% -0.79% N.A. 3.26% SUN LIFE OF CANADA PROSPERITY BOND FUND, INC. -A 2.8988 5.81% 1.4% 1.76% 4.8% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY GS FUND, INC. -A

1.6071 5.46% 0.84% 1.3% 4.36% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY SECURITIES ALFM DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC. -A $455.54 3.26% 1.84% 2.73% 1.62% ALFM EURO BOND FUND, INC. -A Є216.1 1.64% 1.47% 1.47% 1.62% ATRAM TOTAL RETURN DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC. -B $1.1707 5.36% 1.67% 2.07% 3.99% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC. -A $0.0254 2.83% 0.94% N.A. 2.42% GREPALIFE DOLLAR BOND FUND CORP. -A $1.7135 1.41% -1.29% 0.65% 1.38% 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 $1.0699 4.21% -0.42% -2.27% 3.11% PHILAM DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC. -A $2.2804 7.09% 0.75% 2.64% 5.03% PHILEQUITY DOLLAR INCOME FUND INC. -A $0.0585124 3.41% 1.32% 1.7% 2.69% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR ABUNDANCE FUND, INC. -A $2.9924 4.01% 0.06% 1.98% 4.19% MONEY MARKET FUNDS PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES ALFM MONEY MARKET FUND, INC. -A 122.97 3.57% 2.31% 1.85% 1.76% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN MONEY MARKET FUND, INC. -A,5 1.0115 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. PHILAM MANAGED INCOME FUND, INC. -A 1.2018 3.07% 1.36% 0.86% 1.68% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY MONEY MARKET FUND, INC. -A 1.2387 3.49% 2.56% 1.93% 1.62% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY SECURITIES SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR STARTER FUND, INC. -A $1.0256 2.11% N.A. N.A. 0.95%

* - 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

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Banking&Finance BusinessMirror

Wednesday, May 22, 2019

Govt plan to increase tobacco tax stirs debate among stakeholders

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By Rea Cu

other stores selling illegal products.”

@ReaCuBM

HE government’s move to further increase excise taxes on tobacco products has stirred sectors favoring and opposing such tack before the conclusion of the 17th Congress.

One of these stakeholders is the nongovernment group Action for Economic Reforms (AER), which refuted claims of tobacco industry players that increasing excise taxes would further fan the smuggling of tobacco products to the country.

Such claim came from Japan Tobacco International (Philippines) Inc. (JTI) whose executive said only smugglers “will benefit [from the government plan] because the higher the tax, the higher the benefit due to tax avoidance.”

“Everything looks good short term but mid to longer term the consequences are rather dire and we’ve seen it in Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia and

so many other places,” JTI General Manager Manos Koukourakis said in a statement issued on May 20. “Countries which raised taxes steeply still suffer by the effects of smuggling, government coffers included.”

In a statement, the Kapisanan ng mga Sari-sari Stores sa Pilipinas Inc. (Kasapi) said their members in the provinces noted that a number of smokers shifted purchasing and selling cheap, counterfeit cigarettes from “shady” stores after the twin cigarette excise tax increases last year.

“Smokers have not stopped smoking. They have stopped buying from us,” Kasapi President Francis Manuel said. “They are buying from

Becoming debt-free begins in the mind

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VERYONE wants to be debt-free. Unfortunately, only a handful of people are able to do it. And even fewer are those who are able to sustain it for the long term.

S o w h at ’s t he s e c re t of these people who have successfully eliminated debt from their lives?

I could only guess. Perhaps because I believe that each one of us lives in our own unique circumstances.

But speaking from experience, I can say that more than the conscious effort to spend less than what I earn, finding extra income and being consistent with debt payments, my success in the battle against debt really began with having the proper mindset.

Patience with the details

ONE of the reasons we get into financial trouble, especially with credit-card debt, is because we don’t take time to balance our actual income against our daily expenses.

To do personal accounting can be confusing, meticulous and even boring; but it’s the only way you can see if you’re living below your means.

Pragmatic outlook

BEING practical means appreciating things for their function.

When we begin to buy things for their utility, we will start to discover our real necessities and learn to let go of the nonessentials.

For example, a shirt, pragmatically speaking, is just a piece of cloth that we need to cover our body. Thus, there’s really no need to buy expensive brands when there are cheaper alternatives that are comfortable and, sometimes, just as fashionable.

Moreover, there’s really no need to buy one if we have enough of them already.

Independent thinking

I believe that self-reliance is an important trait to have if one wants to become debt-free. It is because you know that, in the strictest sense, you only have

Fitz Gerard Villafuerte

PERSONAL FINANCE yourself to depend on when life throws lemons at you.

Negative thinking—blaming others, making excuses, waiting for help and self-pity—stops when you accept the fact that change can only come from within yourself. And that change can only happen when you become more responsible with your decisions and actions.

Healthy self-esteem

DON’T let your material possessions define you. More importantly, don’t let other people dictate how you should think and feel.

All debt-free individuals I know are self-confident. They are positive thinkers who live to acquire skills and values and perform good deeds rather t h a n shor t -l ived h appiness and taking comfort from material things.

Belief in delayed gratification

LASTLY, one’s journey towards debt freedom would not be possible if one doesn’t believe in delayed gratification.

Working with double efforts just to be able to save money for debt payments is hard, and the end is usually far ahead.

But keep your focus on the goal and know that when you finally make that last payment on your debt—that heavy feeling on your chest will lift, you will definitely sleep better at night and you’ll feel that anything is possible.

And indeed, anything is now possible for you—including financial freedom.

Fitz Villafuerte is a Registered Financial Planner of RFP Philippines. To learn more about personal financial planning, attend the 76th RFP program in June 2019.

To inquire, e-mail info@rfp.ph or text <name><e-mail> <RFP> at 0917-9689774.

Boxing round

THE Department of Health (DOH) on Monday pressed anew for lawmakers to further raise “sin” taxes on tobacco and alcohol to close a cumulative funding gap estimated at around P426 billion over the next five years for the full and proper implementation of the Universal Health Care (UHC) program.

Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III expressed hopes that “there is still time to collectively take action” with only three session weeks remaining in the 17th Congress.

“We look forward to the support of our counterparts in the legislature, during this crunch time,” Duque said.

“This is the final round: tapusin na natin ang boksing [let’s conclude this boxing round].”

The 17th Congress resumed on Monday with sessions expected to end after June 7.

Duque’s proposal has received backing from the Department of Finance (DOF).

During a joint news briefing last week, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said the approval by the 17th Congress of higher excise taxes on tobacco and alcohol products will provide the government with the revenues necessary to fully fund the UHC, which will require as much as P1.44 trillion combined from 2020 to 2024.

In 2020, which will be the first year of UHC’s implementation, the program is estimated to cost P258 billion, which the government can cover from its current funding sources from the national budget, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. and the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office in the amount of P195 billion.

Without sin tax reform, UHC will be left with a funding shortfall of around P62 billion, according to Dominguez.

No basis

THE AER dispelled the notion that increasing the tax on cigarettes would lead to a corresponding increase in the level of cigarette smuggling, citing cases in other countries.

“In 2010, Singapore implemented a tax freeze on its excise on cigarettes as a means to discourage cigarette smuggling. Despite this, illicit cigarette volume increased by 10 percent from 2010 to 2012 when the freeze was in place,” AER Economist Arjay Mercado said. “Meanwhile, the volume of illicit cigarettes decreased when the Singaporean government decided to lift the freeze and raise its taxes on cigarettes.”

He also presented the organization’s research findings in line with excise taxes on cigarettes in relation to smoking prevalence, saying that in the Philippines, smoking prevalence remains significantly higher than neighboring countries.

“Data from the World Health Organization states that smoking prevalence in the country remains the third highest in the Asean [Association of Southeast Asian Nations] region at 24.3 percent. This is also much higher than the DOH’s target of 15 percent by 2022,” Mercado added. “With this in mind, we must continue with our strong efforts to regulate the tobacco industry by making cigarettes less affordable, and, in turn, saving millions of Filipinos from being exposed to the serious harms of smoking.”

Instead of shying away from increasing the tax on cigarettes, Mercado suggested that more focus be exerted in line with improving tax administration and programs that would curb cigarette smuggling.

During a previous tobacco tax hearing in the Senate, Sen. Sherwin T. Gatchalian proposed to earmark funds from the tobacco tax revenues to be used for programs that would help curb illicit trade.

Long-term effect

AER’s view counters Koukourakis’s who said that increasing further excise taxes on tobacco products will be beneficial in the short term but will negatively affect various industries in the long run.

The JTI executive said while they respect what the DOF plans to do, he pointed out that raising further excise taxes on cigarettes will negatively affect farmers, retailers, suppliers and their employees, as well as all those who benefit from the income generated by the tobacco consumption in the long run.

Koukourakis added that the recent increase in tobacco excise taxes under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law “should be enough for now” as it already achieved a balance on keeping the number of smokers decreasing, as well as revenues increasing for the government. “We have a big respect for the DOF and its leadership and whatever they decide is law for us. I would kindly remind that tobacco taxes have already been increased by Congress in December 2017. These new taxes were implemented as recent as 2018,” he said.

Pacquiao proposal

THE new set of excise tax rates jointly proposed by the DOF and DOH backs the proposal of Sen. Emmanuel D. Pacquiao under Senate Bill (SB) 1599 to increase the current uniform excise tax rate on cigarettes and other tobacco products from P35 per pack to P60 per pack in the first year of its implementation and an additional 9 percent per year thereafter.

Under the TRAIN law, excise taxes on tobacco products were increased from the current P30 per pack to P32.50 per pack in the first half of 2018 and would increase further to P35 per pack starting July this year.

This is followed by a 4-percent increment increase come 2024.

The TRAIN law, or the first package of the Duterte administration’s Comprehensive Tax Reform Program, was signed into law last December 2017 which immediately took effect in January 2018.

Kasapi appeal

DURING a Senate Ways and Means Committee hearing last January, Kasapi’s Manuel asked senators to hold off any plan to increase the excise tax on cigarettes and alcohol products to protect their main source of livelihood.

“We and our families voted for you with the assurance that you will look after the welfare of the masses,” Manuel said in Tagalog. “We plead that you come to our aid and provide protection so that our livelihood and lives are not destroyed due to harmful taxes.”

The group said they strongly oppose any further increase in excise taxes on tobacco products, alcohol, soft drinks and other goods being sold in their stores.

Manuel said that since excise taxes on sweetened beverages were increased last year, prices of these products increased from 30 percent to 100 percent. Prior to the tax hike, such items constitute 40 percent of sari-sari store sales but because of high prices this is not the case anymore. For tobacco products, Manuel said cigarettes provide 30 percent of their daily sales and expressed fears that new tax hikes would only further reduce their sales. Manuel’s store is in Mandaluyong City.

Price pressures

MANUEL added that the impact of the fuel tax increase last year was also felt by store owners as this increased the prices of goods sold in their stores resulting in as much as 20 percent of sales dropping.

They appealed to senators to heed their plea saying “even if small, sarisari store owners are proud of their livelihood, we do not rely on the government’s 4Ps for our subsistence.”

The store owners said they shouldn’t be “the ones to suffer” in the government’s efforts to supposedly source funds to support the UHC program “when there are a lot of other options to obtain the funds if, indeed, needed.”

“It is unconscionable that we, the small ones, who depend on our daily sales for our day-to-day food have to endure another blow of new taxes,” Manuel added.

The group said since the various tax increases last year on many goods including fuel, each store owner has to shell out bigger capital requirement yet the margin of profit is now smaller. In this case, we are forced to borrow from informal lenders and loan sharks to survive, according to Manuel.

DOF in deal with German devt group to expand microinsurance coverage

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HE Department of Finance (DOF) is eyeing to increase the number of Filipinos covered by microinsurance to 50 million by 2022, as a new collaboration of the government with the insurance industry and the German government through the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH is forged as a National Task Force (NTF) under the Climate Risk Insurance (CRI) program.

At the sidelines of the GIZ forum on CRI last Monday night, Finance Undersecretary Gil S. Beltran told reporters he expects policyholders of microinsurance to increase to 50 million by 2022, from the 38.9 million in 2018 under the CRI program.

That target is 10 times more than the initial figure eyed for microinsur-

ance coverage by the government under its National Strategy for Microfinance program.

Beltran, who is also the chief economist of the DOF, said the DOF “initially did not actually target the number of policyholders that we will develop out of this program.”

“In the launching in 2010, we were saying that we will be happy with 5 million; after a year we got 5 million,” he added. “And, true enough, after 10 years we have 39 million; and that is really a great performance.”

Beltran said that the number of policyholders for microinsurance in the country was at 19.8 million in 2012 and less than 3 million in 2009.

“We achieved this much with the support of GIZ and other development partners. We hope to see these

numbers to continue increasing over the years,” he said.

Beltran explained that the NTF is targeting to offer microinsurance to farmers, widen the distribution channels for the sale of microinsurance products, and put more effort in communication campaigns for insurance, to be able to meet the 50-million target by 2022.

“Actually, we want to go to farmers insurance,” he added. “I don’t know if somebody is offering [that], but the framework is there and the IC [Insurance Commission] has issued some rules on it.”

Beltran emphasized that both the private and public sector must increase efforts in terms of the reach of its financial-literacy campaigns. Rea Cu

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Pag-IBIG Fund releases P17.22B in home loans in Q1, up by 22%

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HE Home Development Mutual Fund (HDMF) reported on Monday that it released P17.22 billion in home loans in the first quarter of the year, an increase of P3.12 billion compared to the P14.1 billion released during the same period in 2018. This is by far the highest ever amount released by the government-owned and -controlled corporation for the first three months of a year.

The amount financed the acquisition and construction of 19,696 homes for members of HDMF, also called Pag-IBIG Fund.

This number of homes is also a record high for the first quarter of a year, and is 13 percent higher than the 17,398 homes financed during the same period last year. Of these, 5,789, or 29 percent, were for soc i a l i zed housing u n its benefitting minimum-wage and low-income earners.

“Pag-IBIG Fund’s performance in the first quarter stands out as the best so far. Bigger loan releases and increasing number of borrowers mean that more and more Filipino workers are being helped

by Pag-IBIG Fund achieve their dream of homeownership,” said Secretary Eduardo D. del Rosario, who heads both the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) and the PagIBIG Fund Board of Trustees. “This is why Pag-IBIG Fund remains as a major player in President Rodrigo Duterte’s drive to uplift the lives of Filipino families through sustainable social development programs and access to decent and affordable housing.”

Home loan releases in January to March breached the P15-billion mark for the first time and grew 22 percent year-on-year, according to the HDMF. “It took us a while for our home loan releases in the first quarter of the year to breach the P15-billion level. In the first quarters of 2017 and 2018, our releases hovered above P14 billion,” Pag-IBIG Fund CEO Acmad Rizaldy P. Moti was quoted in a statement as saying.

“The P17.22 billion in home loans we released for the first quarter of 2019 is yet another testament to our continued growth and reliability. We commit to continue working hard to maintain our strong performance and help more members achieve their own homes.”

In total, Pag-IBIG Fund home loans from January to March this year totaled P29.25 billion to finance homes for 30,762 members. This includes the amount released and P12.03 billion pending for takeout to 11,066 members. These pending for takeout are approved home loan applications, the proceeds of which are ready for release upon submission by borrowers of post-approval requirements. Rizal Raoul S. Reyes

B4 Wednesday, May 22, 2019

SUN LIFE GREPA CELEBRATES 65 YEARS ‘DON’T LET MOM’S WORK BECOME UNNOTICED’

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LECTION fever for motherland may be over, but our moms still deserve to be voted for the days to come, until the end of May. SM Southmall recently activated the start of the celebration for our moms at all SM Supermalls nationwide with #VoteforMom. SM Supermalls Senior Vice President for Marketing Jonjon San Agustin spearheaded the event, sharing an anecdote how his mom has taught him the value of waking up early every single day, no matter how sleepless he was, especially in his student days. “With that training, even up to now, I’ve never been late to my meetings and appointments.”

Three successful moms from different generation were invited to give insights on motherhood. Dr. Vicky Belo shared how she misses those tender moments, like kissing and cuddling with her now grownup kids Quark and Cristalle; and that she is extremely blessed to be given a second chance on motherhood with now four-year-old Scarlet Snow. But, even at advanced age, Belo said she realized she doesn’t need to rush things in mothering the young social-media princess.

Millennial mom Mika Lagdameo, on the other hand, shared how she loves surprises and little things, like Thank You or I Love You note from

her young children.

While Tita Baby (of SM’s Mother’s Day infomercial), a granny of four millennials, advised to the young not to let their moms work become unnoticed. She added that there is nothing magical by having Sundate lunch or dinner with her children and grandchildren.

SM knows all these, that’s it has come out with a special promo for the month of May, honoring our moms by treating them to various treats and exciting activities at all SM malls nationwide.

Or you may treat your mom to moments of peace by checking off a few errands and chores from her to-do list.

Make her life a little easier by doing the groceries at SM Hypermarket, or paying the bills at The SM Store customer service.

Whether with flower, cards or gifts, don’t miss the chance to #VoteForMom. Show your overflowing love for mommies online.

Post a photo of your mom on the promo post on SM Supermalls FB page or send an e-card via the QR code posted on www.smsupermalls.com/ voteformom, for a chance to win P5,000 worth of SM gift certificates!

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UN Life Grepa Financial Inc. (Sun Life Grepa), a major life-insurance company in the Philippines, is celebrating its 65th anniversary on a high note, as it marks several milestones in line with its mission of providing financial protection solutions to Filipinos.

Sun Life Grepa has reached 2.5 million clients, significantly contributing to Sun Life Financial Philippines’s goal of serving 5 million clients by 2020. Meanwhile, the company also increased its total premium income by 21 percent from its individual and group business, while also growing its agencydistribution channel by 33 percent.

All these result from Sun Life Grepa’s efforts to inspire Filipinos to aim for lifetime financial security, as well as healthier lives.

In fact, this was the rallying theme of the company’s brand campaign, dubbed“BuildYour Future: Dream It, Live It”, which had Judy Ann Santos-Agoncillo as the brand champion.

“Guided by our vision to become the Filipino’s partner beyond a lifetime, our company shall continue to advocate lifetime financial security and healthier lives to Filipinos,” said Richard S. Lim, president of Sun Life Grepa.

On top of its achievements, Sun Life Grepa remains steadfast with its corporate social-responsibility efforts, through its Share the Passion program, where employees are encouraged to volunteer by helping the homeless, as well as participating in blood-dona-

tion drives at the Arnold Jansen Kalinga Center and the children’s ward of the Philippine General Hospital respectively.

“We are happy to share these developments with our stakeholders,” Lim said. “We continue to find ways to help Filipinos achieve financial freedom, and we remain driven by our mission to partner with Filipinos in building their dreams throughout and beyond their lifetime.”

As it welcomes another year, Sun Life Grepa aims to carry on its tradition of innovation through its affinity-, agency-, bancassurance- and group-distribution channels.

Sun Life Grepa was established as the Great Pacific Life Assurance Corp. (Grepalife) in 1954 by the late Ambassador Alfonso T.Yuchencgo, an esteemed diplomat, philanthropist, business titan and the founder of the Yuchengco Group of Companies.

With the intent to provide for the post-Second World War need to protect the financial future of Filipinos, the company pioneered industry innovations, such as the installment-payment scheme and the salary-deduction plan, making life insurance affordable for many Filipinos. Moreover, Grepalife also participated in to the introduction of the variable universal life insurance, on top of being the first insurance company to offer credit-life insurance.

In 2011 the Yuchengco Group of Companies partnered with Sun Life Financial Philippines in a joint venture, giving birth to Sun Life Grepa Financial Inc.

MVP BUREAU EXEC IS ROTARY KEYNOTE SPEAKER Lawyer Mike Toledo (in photo, second from left), MVP Group of Companies Media Bureau managing director, as well as Silangan Mindanao Mining Company Inc. chief operating officer and Philex Mining Corporation senior vice president for public and regulatory affairs, was the guest speaker at the recent regular meeting of the Rotary Club of Makati. He spoke on the MVP Group of Companies’ support to President Duterte’s Build, Build, Build program. In photo with Toledo are (from left) Rotary Vice President lawyer Louie Aseoche, President Fred Pascual and Past President Eddie Yap.

SERVING PEOPLE, REACHING GREATER HEIGHTS Maintaining their passion and perseverance to help businesses grow, Dunhill Events and Advertising Promotions receives an award at Solaire last December. An important lesson learned from the 2018 Elite Leadership awards that Dunhill proudly practices has always been about lending a hand to startup entrepreneurs in the Philippines.

SECURITY BANK FOUNDATION HOLDS LEADERSHIP, MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP FOR SCHOOL PRINCIPALS

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ECURITY Bank Foundation, in partnership with One La Salle Educational Foundation, organized a three-day leadership and management workshop for principals of the foundation’s “Build a School, Build a Nation: The Classrooms Project” beneficiary schools at Hotel Benilde Maison De La Salle.

Ninety-four school heads from across the country participated in the workshop, which included sessions on leadership, trends in 21st-Century learning, creating conducive and safe school environment, building and nourishing partnerships, managing school assets and infrastructure,

disaster risk reduction and management, financial management and resource mobilization.

The president of De La Salle Philippines, Br. Armin Luistro, FSC, opened the workshop by recounting his memories with public-school principals on his stint as the secretary of the Department of Education. He emphasized the important role that principals play as school leaders, which represented the central theme of the workshop. “A principal’s task may be heavy, but it is a facility that would allow you to get your dreams, your heroism and your ideals to fly. You take the school in your hands, and you can make that difference to your students and to your community,” Armin said.

The resource persons for the workshop were top officials and consultants of De La Salle Philippines. The workshop was also awarded by the Professional Regulation Commission with 15 continuing professional development units. Principals who attended the workshop can credit the CPD units earned for the renewal of their professional license.

Sports BusinessMirror

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| Wednesday, May 22, 2019 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

WARRIORS SWEEP WAY TO FINALS P

By Anne M. Peterson The Associated Press

ORTLAND, Oregon—Experience bred confidence for the Golden State Warriors, even when challenged by the upstart Portland Trail Blazers.

No matter how far they were down, they’ve been through too much to ever think they’re out.

“We just really understand what we’re capable of on both sides of the basketball,” Draymond Green said. “We’re never out of the fight. That’s just always our mindset.”

The Warriors swept their way to a fifth straight National Basketball Association Finals, getting triple-doubles from Stephen Curry and Green in a 119-117 overtime victory on Monday night.

The two-time defending champions overcame a doubledigit deficit for the third straight game against the Blazers, back in the conference finals for the first time since 2000.

Green had 18 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists, and made a key 3-pointer in overtime. Curry added 37 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists. They became the first teammates to have triple-doubles in the same playoff game.

The Warriors will face the winner of the Eastern Conference finals between Toronto and Milwaukee. The Bucks lead that series 2-1 with Game Four on Tuesday night in Canada.

The Warriors came back from 17 down after erasing an 18-point deficit in Game Three and a 17-point hole in Game Two. “We’ve been here before. We’ve seen everything, every experience you can imagine. So we relied on that,” Curry said.

Playing without Kevin Durant, Andre Iguodala and DeMarcus Cousins, the Warriors became the first team to reach five straight finals since the Boston Celtics went to 10 in a row from 1957-66.

Damian Lillard, playing with separated ribs, had 28 points and 12 assists for Portland. He missed a three-point attempt as time ran out in the extra period. Meyers Leonard added a career-high 30 points along with 12 rebounds.

The Warriors were up 114-113 in the extra period after Green missed the first of a pair of free throws. CJ McCollum’s jumper from out front briefly gave Portland the lead but Alfonzo McKinnie’s basket put Golden State back ahead and Green made a 3-pointer to push it to 199-115 with 39 seconds left.

Lillard made a layup and Curry missed a jumper to give Portland back the ball. Facing stifling defense from both Green and Klay Thompson, Lillard couldn’t get off a shot but the ball went out of bounds in the scramble. The Blazers got it back with 3.3 seconds left but Lillard’s final shot didn’t fall.

Blazers Coach Terry Stotts was asked if he was expecting another buzzer-beating winner from Lillard, who had a

STEPHEN CURRY holds his son Canon as he walks off the court after he and the Golden State Warriors win Game Four. AP

memorable 3-pointer at the buzzer to clinch the firstround series against Oklahoma City.

“Yeah, I did. I thought it was going to—kind of meant to be,” Stotts said. “When he shot it, it had a good arc. I thought it had a chance.”

The Blazers stretched the lead to 17 points in the third quarter, but the Warriors went on a 12-0 run to close within 95-90 early in the final period.

Green’s long baseline jumper gave the Warriors a 108-106 lead with 3:30 left. Lillard’s 3-pointer put the Blazers back ahead and Leonard’s dunk extended it to 111-108 with just under two minutes to go.

After Thompson’s 3-pointer tied it up again both Curry and Lillard missed threes. Curry made a three from the corner with 10.7 seconds left but he was called for traveling first and it didn’t count.

Lillard’s layup bounced around the rim and out and the game went to overtime.

Iguodala was out because of a sore left calf. The veteran swingman, who is averaging 10.1 points in the playoffs, was hurt in the second half of Saturday’s Game Three victory.

It was not known how long he’d be out, but the Warriors said an MRI on Sunday was clear.

Golden State was already missing Durant because of a sore right calf. It’s unknown when the two-time NBA Finals MVP will return. Also sitting is Cousins, who injured his left quadriceps in the opening round.

“We’ve had guys step up all along this entire time and we’re going to look forward to those guys continuing to step up, no matter what happens with the injuries that we have,” Green said.

“You know, we’re trying to go win this thing. Never the goal is just to get there.”

Lillard separated his ribs in Game Two but was playing through the pain. He averaged 33 points in the first-round playoff series against Oklahoma City but struggled against Golden State’s defensive focus on him.

Playing with urgency in an elimination game, Portland pulled in front 30-28 in the opening quarter on CJ McCollum’s layup and free throw, but Curry answered on the other end with a step-back 3-pointer.

Portland went ahead 59-50 after back-to-back 3-pointers from Leonard, who finished with five threes in the first half.

Curry hit a 3-pointer with 2.6 seconds left in the half to close the Warriors within 69-65 at the break.

Portland pushed the lead to 83-72 on McCollum’s 3-pointer. After he made another three to push the lead to 91-78, he gestured to the crowd to make noise. McCollum finished with 26 points.

Steph and co. eager for some time off

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ALL ABOUT REST AND RECOVERY

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ORONTO—For Kawhi Leonard and the Raptors, Monday was all about rest and recovery.

Coming off a season in which he sat out 22 regular-season games and never played on back-to-back nights as part of a plan to manage his workload, Leonard played a playoff career-high 52 minutes in Toronto’s double-overtime victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday.

The Raptors cut their deficit to 2-1 in the Eastern Conference finals, but it may have come at a cost. Leonard battled through both extra sessions while dealing with soreness in his leg. Pascal Siakam also had a long night, playing 51 minutes for Toronto, which will try to even the series in Tuesday’s Game Four.

Leonard didn’t speak to reporters on Monday, but Raptors Coach Nick Nurse said the star player isn’t injured, just fatigued.

“The consensus today is he’s tired, and he’s got two days and will be ready to go,” Nurse said. “Those are kind of the words coming out of his mouth: little tired, but he’ll get his rest, got two days and he’ll be ready.”

Leonard played only nine games in 2017-2018 because of a quadriceps injury. He was traded from San Antonio to Toronto after that season, and the Raptors made keeping him fresh a priority.

He acknowledged feeling sore after scoring 36 points in Game Three, including eight in the second overtime, but insisted he’d be ready to go on Tuesday.

The Bucks are still expecting Leonard to be at his best.

“He’s going to shoot with one, two, sometimes even three or four guys on him,” Milwaukee’s Khris Middleton said. “I keep saying this over and over: He’s a great player. You can’t stop great players. You can

KAWHI LEONARD and the Raptors hope to shake off fatigue for Game Four. AP

only make it tough on them.”

Leonard isn’t just an offensive force. A two-time Defensive Player of the Year, he helped limit Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo to 12 points on five-for-16 shooting in Game Three.

Raptors guard Kyle Lowry called Leonard “probably the best two-way basketball player in the NBA.” Bucks Coach Mike Budenholzer was asked on Monday whether his team might fare better in Game Four with Leonard battling fatigue.

“I don’t know that we can go any harder at Kawhi than we are,” Budenholzer said. “We’ve been throwing a lot at Kawhi, and we’ll continue to do that.” AP

ND now, they wait.

Again.

The Golden State Warriors have gotten used to going to the National Basketball Association (NBA) Finals, and their win in Portland on Monday night clinched their fifth consecutive trip.

They’ve also gotten used to waiting for those finals to begin, with long layoffs after the Western Conference finals having become their norm.

By the time Game One of the NBA Finals arrives in either Milwaukee or Toronto on May 30, it’ll be a 10-day gap—nine full off days—between games for the Warriors. That matches the length of the break that the Warriors handled in 2017, and this marks the third time in this five-year run of finals trips that they’ve had at least a week off.

“Happy to get a little rest before we have to play again,” Warriors Coach Steve Kerr said.

It is much-needed rest, too.

The Warriors clinched the series in Portland without Kevin Durant, DeMarcus Cousins and Andre Iguodala—all sidelined by injuries. There’s no way of knowing yet if Durant and Cousins will be back in time for the finals, either. Plenty of other Warriors are dealing with bumps and bruises, as well.

Accruing rust is always a major concern during these days without games, but the Warriors surely feel the obvious advantage—rest—outweighs any drawbacks right now—especially after they were stretched to seven games by Houston last year in the West finals and only had two days off before the NBA Finals.

“We definitely want to get our guys healthy,” Warriors forward Draymond Green said. “We need to get Andre back healthy, DeMarcus and Kevin. We need those guys going into the finals. That’s our hope, that we can get all three of those guys back moving forward.”

Down by 17 with less than two minutes to play in the third quarter, the easiest thing for the Warriors would have been to let off the gas and try to clinch the series at Oracle Arena on Wednesday night.

That wouldn’t be their style.

They turned a 95-78 deficit into a 119-117 overtime win—outscoring the Blazers 41-22 in the final 19 minutes of the game.

“We could have said Game Five was our game,” Warriors star Stephen Curry said. “But we saw how long that break was going to be and we wanted to take advantage of it.”

It’s a long break, for certain. But it’s not a recordsetting one.

The longest gap between the conference finals and NBA Finals came in 1982, when the Los Angeles Lakers sat around for 12 days before beginning their series against Philadelphia.

“The players are bored and just want to play,” thenLakers Coach Pat Riley said on the eve of that series. “It’s been so long since we played, I just hope we remember how.”

They did remember: The Lakers won Game One, and ultimately prevailed in six games.

The Warriors’ layoff this season marks the 26th time that a team will have at least a week before the end of the conference finals and the start of the NBA Finals— and if Milwaukee wins the next two games of the East title matchup, the Bucks would get added to the list, as well. The earliest that the Bucks could oust Toronto and win the East is Thursday; the finals start the following Thursday.

Teams with at least a one-week gap before Game One of the NBA Finals are 14-11 in the series.

“The NBA Finals have an experience with it—it’s such an emotional roller-coaster,” Warriors guard Klay Thompson said. “It’s nice to get away from the game a little bit before it starts, because emotions run high and it takes a lot out of you.”

The long break between games may not be ideal for Golden State, but it beats the alternative—no days off at all.

In 1960 and 1961, the Saint Louis Hawks earned their trip to the NBA Finals with home wins in Game Seven of what was then called the Western Division finals. The Hawks would play the Boston Celtics in both of those title series— and got zero days rest before the finals. They’d win Game Seven at home, get on a plane and get to Boston to start the NBA Finals the very next day.

Both times, they got blown out in Game One. Both times, they would lose the series, as well.

“Tiredness was Saint Louis’‘out’ in this one,” Celtics Coach Red Auerbach said after the Game One win in 1961.

For the Warriors, at least that won’t be an issue this year. AP

Spo

Business

C2 Wednesday, May 22, 2019

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ARMINGDALE, New York—Brooks Koepka should know as well as anyone that nothing in golf comes easily.

His well-documented journey to the Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) Tour took him to remote outposts like Kenya and Kazakhstan. Even after Koepka won a second straight US Open last summer, which no one had done in 29 years, it didn’t seem enough to be the first name mentioned among the next generation of stars.

So he spent three days setting records at Bethpage Black in the PGA Championship—the first player to shoot 63 in consecutive years in the majors, the lowest 36-hole score in major championship history and a seven-shot lead, the largest ever for 54 holes in the PGA Championship.

And then he endured the toughest day of his career on Sunday, which turned into the most rewarding.

“I’m glad I’ve got this thing sitting next to me,” Koepka said as he looked at the shiny Wanamaker Trophy. “It’s very satisfying, this one. This is definitely the most satisfying of all the ones I’ve won.”

Moments earlier, after he turned a potential meltdown into the kind of clutch play that has defined his career, Koepka draped his muscular arms around the top of the trophy and let out a deep sigh from stress and satisfaction, and then he smiled.

Koepka said at the start of the week that majors are sometimes the easiest to win.

This one should have been.

It wasn’t.

His seven-shot lead was down to one with four holes to play and the No. 1 player in the world—Dustin Johnson, his best friend in golf— was piecing together the best round of a final day in 25 mph gusts that made Bethpage Black as fearsome as ever.

Koepka answered with all the right shots.

Johnson faded with two bogeys. Koepka closed with a 4-over 74, the highest final round by a PGA champion in 15 years, and he didn’t care how it looked.

His place in history was secure. He joined Tiger Woods as the only players to win back-to-back in the PGA Championship since it switched to stroke play in 1958. He became the only player to hold back-toback titles in two majors at the same time.

Four years ago, he had one PGA Tour title in his first full season as a full member. Now he has four majors out of the last eight he has played, a stretch not seen since Woods won seven out of 11 after capturing the 2002 US Open at Bethpage Black.

“I just don’t understand why he doesn’t do it more often,” said Rory McIlroy, who won

his four majors in a span of 15. “He obviously gets into these mindsets of the majors, and he really goes and gets into a different state. You’d obviously have to ask him. But it’s awesome.

It’s great to watch.”

Woods twice won back to back in the PGA Championship, with tight battles in 1999 and 2000, comfortable wins in 2006 and 2007. Koepka was starting to draw comparisons with Woods for the way he obliterated the competition at Bethpage Black, much like Woods used to do.

In the end, there were no style points, only the trophy.

But that trophy spoke volumes.

Even louder was the gallery, and it wasn’t always pretty. Koepka had a six-shot lead when he walked off the 11th fairway. When he walked up to the green on the par-three 14th, with his ball over the green and Koepka headed for a fourth straight bogey, the chants jarred him.

They weren’t for him.

“DJ! DJ! DJ!” the cheers rained down for Johnson, who was on his way to another birdie up ahead on the 15th hole to pull within one shot.

Koepka says he was more shocked than he was nervous, but he heard them.

“It’s New York. What do you expect when you’re half-choking it away,” he said. “I think I kind of deserved it. I’ve been to sporting events in New York. I know how it goes. I think it actually helped. It was at a perfect time because I was just thinking: ‘OK, I’ve got everybody against me. Let’s go.’”

And off he went—a powerful drive down the 15th fairway that set up a par he desperately need, an even better drive down the 16th hole, the hardest at Bethpage Black during the final round because the wind was whipping into his face.

That’s where Johnson lost all momentum, without doing much wrong. He hit a 5-iron from 194 into the fan—he though about 4-iron because he wasn’t sure 5-iron would get to the green—and was stunned when it onehopped into the rough. He chipped to 7 feet and missed the par putt, and then went long on the par-three 17th, caught another nasty lie and made another bogey.

“I gave it a run,” Johnson said after his 69.

“That’s all you can ask for.”

It’s more than Koepka would have wanted. But he has the trophy, the one that caused the most stress and brought the most satisfaction. No sooner was the PGA Championship over that Koepka was installed as a 5-1 favorite to win the US Open.

No one has won three straight US Open titles since Willie Anderson in 1905. That might be all the motivation Koepka needs. AP

KOEPKA REAPS REWARDS OF PGA CHAMPIONSHIP BROOKS KOEPKA: This is definitely the most satisfying of all the ones I’ve won. AP

SHERPA BEATS OWN RECORD

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ATHMANDU, Nepal—A Sherpa mountaineer extended his record for successful climbs of Mount Everest with his 24th ascent of the world’s highest peak on Tuesday.

Kami Rita reached the 8,850-meter (29,035-foot) peak on Tuesday, which was his second time on the summit in a week.

He climbed to the top on May 15 then returned to base camp before climbing again this week.

summited, while dozens are expected to make their attempt this week.

Only a few windows of good weather each May allow climbers the best chance of summiting Everest.

Tuesday’s climb brings Rita, 49, closer to his target of 25 ascents of Everest before he retires from highmountain climbing.

Rita’s two closest peers have climbed the peak 21 times each, but both of them have retired from mountain climbing.

Rita first scaled Everest in 1994 and has been making the trip nearly

Nepal Department of Tourism official Mira Acharya said Rita reached the summit on Tuesday along with several other climbers taking advantage of favorable weather.

There are 41 teams with a total of 378 climbers permitted to scale Everest during the spring climbing season. An equal number of Nepalese guides are helping them to get to the summit.

Several climbers have already

every year since.

His father was among the first Sherpa guides employed to help climbers reach the summit, and Rita followed in his footsteps. In addition to his nearly two dozen summits of Everest, Rita has scaled some of the other highest mountains, K-2, ChoOyu, Manaslu and Lhotse.

Sherpa tribespeople were mostly yak herders and traders living deep within the Himalayas until Nepal opened its borders in the 1950s.

Their stamina and familiarity with the mountains quickly made them sought-after guides and porters. AP

Puerto Princesa to host Batang Pinoy nationals

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HE Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) awarded hosting rights of the Batang Pinoy national championships to Puerto Princesa City.

The PSC will meet officials of Puerto Princesa to finalize the details of the memorandum of agreement for the event scheduled from August 25 to 31.

“We have happily accepted the offer of Puerto Princesa to host the nationals,” PSC Chairman William Ramirez said.

The Batang Pinoy national secretariat will meet with Puerto Prinsesa City Mayor Lucilo Bayron on Thursday to finalize details about the city’s responsibility.

The city hosted the Batang Pinoy nationals in 2001, then under Mayor Edward Hagedorn.

About 10,000 athletes from qualifying legs in Tagum City, Iloilo City and Ilagan City are expected to participate in the national championships that will feature 21 sports.

Eleven sports—billiards, cycling, gymnastics, judo and muay thai—did not hold their regional qualifiers but will stage their national championships.

Baguio City and the province of Benguet cohosted last year’s Batang Pinoy national championships amid the onslaught of Typhoon Ompong. Baguio City was the overall champion.

Golf seminar ends today

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HE National Golf Association of the Philippines (NGAP) wraps up its two-day R&A Rules of Golf Level 2 workshop and seminar on Wednesday with representatives of the various golf clubs in the country participating at the Alabang Country Club.

The country’s governing body of the sport conducted the Rules Seminar Level I last

PHILIPPINE Volleyball League President Ricky Palou and Tournament Director Tony Boy Liao grace the forum with Alyssa Valdez and Dzi Gervacio. ROY DOMINGO

PVL SEASON 3 ON SUNDAY

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HE Philippine Volleyball League (PVL) Season 3 Reinforced Conference, which kicks off on Sunday with a double-header, promises to be a showcase of top-caliber imports from across the globe.

Six teams led by reigning champion Creamline will field two imports each in the tournament that will end in the second week of July.

“That’s why we expect exciting games. The teams are more competitive and at par with each other. Every team is a contender,” PVL President Ricky Palou told Tuesday’s Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum at the Amelie Hotel-Manila.

Creamline will bring Kuttika Kaewpin of Thailand and Aleoscar Blanco of Venezuela; BPI Globe BanKo will bank on Lakia Bright of the US and Yasemin Sahin Yildirim of Turkey; BaliPure has Danijela Dzakovic of Montenegro and Alexandra Vajdova of Slovakia; and Motolite will rely on the explosive Gyselle Silva Franco of Cuba and Edina Selimovic of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Petro Gazz will have Wilma Salas of Cuba and Janisa Ivette Johnson of the US; and Pacific Town November with the ongoing workshop serving as part of its continuing effort to improve the Rules knowledge among club players of all abilities.

The program facilitators are Asia-Pacific, the R&A Rules Manager Jin Woo Kim, Indonesia Golf Association Rules Chairman Made Edward Putra, also an advisory member of the R&A

Army will be reinforced by Sutadta Chuewulin and Kannika Tipachot of Thailand.

Creamline superstar Alyssa Valdez and BPI Globe BanKo open spiker Dzi Gervacio also graced the weekly forum presented by San Miguel Corp., Braska Restaurant and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. together with PVL Tournament Director Tony Boy Liao.

“This is interesting but we want to defend our title. Our imports have been here since March so we’ve been practicing with them for more than a month now. Hopefully, the chemistry is already there,” Valdez said.

“We’re very excited. We almost made it to the finals twice last year. Hopefully this year. We have a solid core and we have imports who can help us and challenges us to be better,” Gervacio said.

On tap in Sunday’s opening day at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan are newcomer Pacific Town Army against returning BaliPure at 2 p.m., and Creamline against Petro Gazz at 4 p.m.

Liao said the six teams will play a doubleround elims with the top four advancing to the semis all the way to the finals. Matches will be held Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sunday.

ROGC, and Philippine Golf Tour Tournament Director Henry Arabelo, also an Asian Tour referee and USGA Certified Course Rater.

The participants are composed of those who have passed the Level I seminar with the current workshop to continue to look into various rules from tee shot to the putting green along with practical on-course demonstrations.

orts

sMirror

Wednesday, May 22, 2019

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NLEX clashes with sister team TNT

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LEX and TNT showcase topnotch imports when the sister teams collide in the Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup on Wednesday at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City.

The Road Warriors are parading Curtis Washington and the KaTropa have Terrence Jones as reinforcements when they make their conference debut at 7 p.m.

Alaska, which already downed Columbian, 11198, in the conference opener, leans anew on import Chris Daniels when the team faces NorthPort and Prince Ibeh at 4:30 p.m.

In the Philippine Cup, TNT was fourth in the elimination round but were shoved from the playoffs by eventual champion San Miguel in the quarterfinals of the Philippine Cup. With a mission to go deep into the playoffs of the mid-season tournament, the KaTropa brought National Basketball Association veteran Jones who played for Houston and New Orleans.

Drafted in the first round in 2012, the 6-foot-9 Jones had a career-high average of 12.1 points with the Rockets in 2014, while also collecting 6.9 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in the same year.

After a series of injuries, he was dealt to the Pelicans in 2016 and saw action in 51 games with an average of 11.5 points.

Jones’s presence in the paint will be a great help to the core of Jayson Castro, Roger Pogoy, Troy Rosario and Kelly Williams.

NLEX signed Washington as a replacement for original choice Tony Mitchell.

Mitchell, a former import of the Star (now Magnolia) Hotshots, was a no show after winning a title in a Taiwan league early this month.

NLEX tapped the 6-foot-10 Washington, a globetrotter who hopped around Saudi Arabia, Canada, New Zealand, Thailand and Guam.

Ramon Rafael Bonilla

ATENEO’S Thirdy Ravena and San Beda’s Robert Bolick play stellar roles in the past collegiate basketball season.

College hoops stars honored

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HE best and brightest collegiate players last season are set to take center stage in the 2019 Collegiate Press Corps Awards.

The annual awards night staged by scribes from print and online outfits covering the NCAA and UAAP, will take place on Monday at the Amelie HotelManila in Malate, Manila.

Among those who will be recognized are champions of the men’s basketball tournaments, San Beda University in the NCAA and Ateneo de Manila University in the UAAP. The awards are not only reserved for champions. Special awards and breakout performers will also be feted in the celebration of excellence also supported by Amelie Hotel, Northport, World Balance and AXA Team EDS. This past NCAA Season 94, the Red Lions earned their third straight title thanks to the leadership and stellar play of Robert Bolick and Javee Mocon. With that, San Beda remains the standard of excellence after winning its 11th title in the last 13 years.

THE Blue Eagles, led by Thirdy Ravena, won their second consecutive UAAP championship by spoiling the University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons’ Cinderella run.

AL MENDOZA alsol47@yahoo.com

THAT’S ALL

Awesome Warriors; cheers to Koepka, SMB and Ateneo

SAN Miguel Corp. top honcho Ramon S. Ang celebrates with the Beermen their Philippine Cup conquest at the company’s headquarters in Mandaluyong City on Monday night. NONOY LACZA

GRAND SLAM NOT IN SMB’S PLANS, YET S

AN Miguel Beer is dismissing talks of another grand slam bid and would rather concentrate on winning back-to-back championships this season following its successful defense of the Philippine Cup. Coach Leo Austria stressed during the weekly Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) Forum at the Amelie Hotel-Manila on Tuesday that the team’s immediate focus is to regain the Commissioner’s Cup crown which the Beermen lost to the Barangay Ginebra Kings last year.

San Miguel Beer getting involved in another discussion for a possible grand slam surfaced anew after the team won the season-opening All-Filipino Cup last week against Magnolia in a seven-game series.

“We’re not thinking about the grand slam.

What we’re thinking about is [winning] the next

conference—just one game at a time,” Austria told the forum where he was joined by stalwarts Chris Ross, Marciao Lassiter and Von Pessumal, along with import Charles Rhodes.

“Everybody wants a grand slam, but we have to win another championship in the second conference,” the multi-titled coach added.

Much of the load of bagging a second straight championship rests on the broad shoulders of Rhodes, the former Best Import who steered the franchise to the Commissioner’s Cup in 2017.

Although Rhodes knows it’s going to be a tough road for the Beermen, he said he will be up to the task.

“There are much better, more skillful imports this conference. It’s just another challenge for me,” said Rhodes in the session presented by San Miguel Corp., Braska Restaurant, and the

Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.

“I feel like every game is going to be competitive,” he said. “I just want to help the team. I don’t want to think toward the finals. I know if we play hard and have a lot of love, we’ll be in the finals, and then we’ll go from there.”

After Rhodes helped San Miguel Beer win the mid-season conference two years ago, the team’s grand slam bid went full throttle in the season Governors Cup, where, unfortunately, the Beermen were ambushed in the playoffs by sister team Barangay Ginebra Kings.

“We know the consequences of thinking about the grand slam, and that means you’re pressuring yourself,” Austria said. “After winning seven championships, why would I pressure myself?”

San Miguel Beer is actually celebrating the 30th anniversary of its grand slam in 1989

behind a team composed of four-time Most Valuable Player Ramon Fernandez, Samboy Lim, Hector Calma, former MVP Ricky Brown, current team Assistant Coach Ato Agustin, among others.

The return of Rhodes gives Austria the confidence for a back-to-back championship.

“I think everyone knows that the set of imports this conference are explosive. But with Charles, we know what happened in 2017. He won the Best Import award. And I’m confident Charles will perform well with our team,” he said.

San Miguel won’t play its first game in the second conference until June 5. For now, the players are having a well-deserved break after the Philippine Cup. “We’ll try to get as much rest as we can,” Ross said. “I’m still trying to find out if I’m going to Boracay or Baguio.”

NU clobbers JRU, FEU rallies past UST

only got one basketball, and it’s just a matter of redefining roles as many of these players were stars in high school.”

The Bulldogs were led by Dave Ildefonso’s 12 points, while impressive rookie Robert Minerva, who Jarin likened to a young Arwind Santos when he was playing for Far Eastern University, tallied 11 points and eight rebounds.

Oczon, whose nine points all came from his three-point binge, also received the coach’s compliments.

“We really felt that he would be better off playing this year, so we trained him for a year to be ready for this season,” Jarin bared. “Miggy’s a streak shooter and really smart. After making

three straight shots, he made forced shots and committed a turnover. So it is also maturity.”

The Bulldogs shot 46 percent from the field to JRU’s 35 percent and hit 18 of 29 free throws.

JRU attempted only 16 and booked 10 of them.

The win evened NU’s record to 2-2 while JRU fell to 0-3.

In juniors play, FEU rallied for an 88-85 win over luckless University of Santo Tomas.

Down 79-74 after a lay-up by UST center Bismarck Lina with 3:17 left, FEU countered with a 12-2 run that saw the Baby Tamaraws take the lead for good at 86-81 following back-to-back triples by Royce Mantua and Kyle Bautista with 38 seconds to play.

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By Rick Olivares

ATIONAL University shredded the full court press of Jose Rizal University (JRU) to run away with a 79-67 victory in the Filoil Flying V Preseason Cup on Tuesday at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan.

From a 32-all count late in the second period, the Bulldogs blew the game wide open with a 14-5 run to virtually seize the victory right before halftime.

Miguel Oczon knocked down three consecutive triples to give NU a commanding 55-37 lead at the 7:80 mark of the third period, and the Bulldogs’ lead climbed to a high of 24 after a jump shot by Marc Diputado at the sevenminute mark of the final period, 73-49.

NU Head Coach Jamike Jarin downplayed the team’s win and pointed to the Bulldogs’ chemistry.

“For me it’s all about maturity. We’ve got the talent, but the challenge for us right now is the acceptance of roles,” Jarin said. “We’ve

FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Boracay Open on

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THAILAND’S Thatsarida Singchuea and Pawarun Chanthawichai are tipped as favorites in Boracay.

APAN and Thailand loom as the teams to beat in the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) Beach Volleyball World Tour Boracay Open that kicks off on Thursday at the White House Beach Station 1 Boracay.

Last year’s Manila Open winners Ayumi Kusano and Takemi Nishibori won’t be around this time, but the Japanese looked good with three women’s pairs entered in the four-day, 1-star tournament.

Satono Ishitsubo and Asami Shiba, bronze medalists in the Battambang 1-star last month in Cambodia, will banner Japan’s campaign. Partners for more than year, Ishitsubo and Shiba were gold-medal winners in the 1-Star Manavgat Open in Turkey last June.

Also in the main draw are Sakurako Fujii and Minori Kumada, who finished fourth in

TAIWANESE VS. PHL BETS IN TAICHUNG T AIWAN is fielding in a full-packed roster out to defend its turf against a crack Philippine Golf Tour (PGT) Asia cast with all but one of the Top 10 in the current money rankings vying in the Daan Taiwan Open unfolding on Thursday at the Ching Chuan Kang Golf Club in Taichung.

Lin Guanbo, the current leader with a win

and five top 10 finishes in 10 tournaments on Taiwan Professional Golfers Association (TPGA), banners the hosts’ campaign in the $100,000 championship, the first PGT Asia-sanctioned tournament abroad.

Joint No. 2 Lu Weizhi, also with a victory and 15 top 10 efforts in 34 events, Wang Weilun, with three wins in 37 tournaments, and Song Mengyu,

Zhan Yixin and Qiu Wei, who share the No. 4 spot, are also in the fold.

The event is actually the first of two PGT Asia tournaments set in Taiwan with the Nan Pao TPGA Open also scheduled from September 26 to 29 at Nan Pao Golf Club in Tainan City. A third PGTA tournament abroad later in the year is also being finalized that would further highlight the Philippine tour’s stake as

the Battambang 1-star.

2006 Doha Asian Games silver medalist Shinako Tanaka and Miyuki Matsumura complete the Japanese cast, though the two need to hurdle the qualifiers to enter the main draw. Now 43 years old, Tanaka clinched her first-ever medal in the Beach World Tour by clinching the bronze together with Sakurako in the Ulsan Jinha Open 1-star in South Korea in July last year.

This will be Tanaka’s second Beach World Tour stint in the country, where she also competed in the Manila Open last year, placing fourth with Sakurako.

“We’re really expecting a heavy challenge from Japan since they are extensively preparing for the Olympics,” said Charo Soriano, Beach Volleyball Republic’s cofounder who also serves as the

one of the emerging circuits in the region.

No. 7 Wang Congjie, and joint ninth-running Yu Yuchen and Zhang Zheyu, are likewise all primed up for the 72-hole championship serving as the third leg of the TPGA and the second stage of the PGT Asia sponsored by International Container Terminal Services Inc. The rest of the 79-player TPGA cast are also ready to slug it out with the PGTA best and flash their local knowledge of the par-72 layout, whose wide fairways put premium on

tournament director.

Not to be outdone is Thailand, which is led by its young pair of Thatsarida Singchuea and Pawarun Chanthawichai, champions in the SMM Asian U21 Beach Volleyball Championships last March in Roi Et, Thailand, Thatsarida and Pawarun also competed in Manila last year, making it to the quarterfinals but not before surviving the Filipina pair of Lot Catubag and Karen Quilario in the Round of 12.

The superb Thai boast of four titles, having won the Asian U21 Championships in 2017 and 2019, and are also champions in the Asian U17 Championships and the Asian U19 Championships in 2016 and 2018, respectively.

In the men’s division, Russia’s Maxim Sivolap and Artem Yarzutkin, who won the gold in the Kg Speu 1-Star tournament in Cambodia to go with a silver in the Siem Reap 2-star in Thailand last month, are tipped as heavy favorites.

shotmaking and its elevated greens expected to challenge the chipping skills of the competing field, not to mention its unpredictable surface.

But the PGT Asia top guns are also going all out, motivated not only by their desire to prove their worth against the hosts but also gain the bragging rights as the first winner of the first PGTA tournament overseas.

Thai Namchok Tantipokhakul, who ruled the first leg of the third PGTA season at Luisita last month, stands at the forefront of the PHL-based

THE Golden State Warriors are back in the NBA Finals and Brooks Koepka is also back in the world golf rankings as No. 1.

Closer to home, San Miguel Beer is also back to savoring its sweetest throne to date: the PBA Philippine Cup. But before winning, the Beermen needed all the luck in securing their record fifth straight AllFilipino crown from 2015 in nabbing a dramatic Game Seven 72-71 thriller over its hard-luck sister team, Magnolia, just days ago.

The winning shot was scored by Alex Cabagnot with 58 seconds left.

Magnolia had all night to win it, but Gio Jalalon missed the winning stab from point-blank range and a clear view of the ring, allowing June Mar Fajardo to gobble up the crown-securing rebound for SMB. Magnolia was also SMB’s victim in winning its fourth straight Philippine Cup last year, although it came via a 4-1 rout.

We actually had a championship-laden weekend, with the Ateneo Lady Eagles capturing the UAAP women’s volleyball crown over the UST Tigresses in their pulsating winner-take-all Game Three behind the heroics of Maddie Madayag and Bea de Leon.

And how about the Toronto Raptors breathing life to their dampening spirits on Monday, defeating the Milwaukee Bucks to cut the deficit to 2-1 in their similar best-ofseven series for the NBA Eastern Finals?

They play Game Four today in Toronto, with Game Five set in Milwaukee. Should there be a Game Six, it would be held in Toronto, and if a Game Seven should ensue, Milwaukee will host it.

Again, I raise a glass to the Warriors, whose Finals-clinching win yesterday was via a comefrom-behind fashion for the third straight time.

They erased a 17-point, third-quarter deficit to eke out a 119-117 overtime victory to finally complete a resounding 4-0 sweep of the Trail Blazers, achieving the rout even when the Warriors’ three mainstays were out on injuries: Kevin Durant, Marc Iguodala and Marcus de Cousins.

So gutsy, so good and so resilient were the Warriors that they also rallied from 17 and 18 points, respectively, in pocketing Games Two and Three.

In crafting the Finals’ clincher, the Warriors produced the first two players in playoffs history to score a triple-double each: Steph Curry had 37 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists, and Draymond Green 18-14-11.

Their fifth straight trip to the NBA Finals made the Warriors only the second team to do it since the Celtics of the ’60s.

Meanwhile, Koepka, in pocketing the 101st PGA Championship by two shots on Monday over Dustin Johnson, became the first to emerge as repeat champion in two majors.

He did the first trick in 2018 when he won the US Open in defense of his 2017 crown.

Koepka has now dislodged fellow American Johnson from the top as he has won four of his eight starts in a major in the last 23 months. Quite a feat that brought to mind Tiger Woods’s similar domination from the ’90s till the late 2000s.

Woods’s finish in the PGA? Didn’t make the cut.

THAT’S IT Teams in the PBA are a bit into sacrifice mode as the country is set to play in the Fiba World Cup in China months from now.

Thus, the early start of the Commissioner’s Cup—coming just days after the conclusion of the Philippine Cup. As everyone knows, our Gilas players that are set to play in China will all come from the PBA. Will they be cramming for practice? tour bets who include compatriots Kammalas Namuangruk, Natthapong Niyomchon and Donlapatchai Niyomchon, along with Marcos Pastor of Spain, Singapore’s Choo Tze Huang and Japanese Keita Sudo.

Multi-titled Jay Bayron, a former OOM winner of one of the region’s development tours, is the lone Filipino entry in the packed 144-player roster that features bets from the US, Sweden, Australia, Colombia, Scotland, Malaysia, Argentina, South Africa and Korea.

Sports BusinessMirror

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| Wednesday, May 22, 2019 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

DARK SIDE OF TOKYO?

AN aerial file photo shows New National Stadium for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics under construction. AP

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OKYO—An International Olympic Committee (IOC) inspection team took a routine tour of venues being built for the Tokyo Olympics on Tuesday, just days after an international labor union federation derided difficult working conditions at some Olympic sites.

Top IOC officials meet in Tokyo this week with local organizers, where labor issues will be on an agenda that includes rising costs, worries about summer heat when the games open in just under 15 months and complaints about cost cutting from international sports federations.

Issued last week, the labor report titled “The Dark Side of the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics,” focused on labor issues at the new national stadium and the Olympic village—the two centerpiece venues for the Tokyo games.

Japan, with an aging and declining population, is short handed in many industries. The government has

provided more visas for construction workers tied to the Olympics, and in April started allowing more foreign workers to reside in the country.

Ambet Yuson, general secretary of Building and Wood Workers’ International based in Geneva, Switzerland, said the critical report had been sent to IOC President Thomas Bach.

“We were informed by the IOC that they are in direct contact with the Tokyo 2020 to find remedies,” Yuson said in an e-mail to the Associated Press (AP).

Yuson said he had not received a response from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, which is building the Olympic village, nor the Japan Sport Council, a national government body that is building the stadium. The municipal government and the sports council told AP they were reviewing the report but offered few other details.

The report said that workers interviewed complained about “a pervasive culture of fear” that discouraged speaking out. It said almost half of the workers

F1 GREAT LAUDA, AVIATION ENTREPRENEUR DIES AT 70

interviewed did not have formal contracts, and it found “dangerous patterns of overwork” at both high-profile venues. It said some workers at the Olympic village reported working 28 consecutive days, and up to 26 straight at the national stadium.

Yuson said some problems were made worse with tight Olympic deadlines and pressure to finish on time.

“The situation is even worse with so-called interns or migrant workers with issues—language, employment contracts and immigration issues,” Yuson said by e-mail.

“Massive overtime in construction is really a big problem in Japan.”

The report noted that two workers have died on projects for the Tokyo Olympics. The report said the labor federation began monitoring the Tokyo Olympics in 2016 and last interviewed workers in February.

Death by overwork, known as karoshi, is a problem in Japan with employees often forced to work long hours

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father into the paper-manufacturing industry, but instead concentrated his business talents and determination on his dreams of becoming a racing driver.

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said “Niki, we will miss you.”

“The whole country and the motor sports world are mourning a really great Austrian,” Kurz wrote on Twitter.

Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen paid tribute to Lauda as “an idol and an ambitious fighter who never gave up.”

Lauda financed his early career with the help of a string of loans, working his way through the ranks of Formula 3 and Formula 2. He made his Formula 1 debut for the March team at the 1971 Austrian Grand Prix and picked up his first points in 1973 with a fifth-place finish for BRM in Belgium.

Lauda joined Ferrari in ‘74, winning a Grand Prix for the first time that year in Spain. He won his first drivers’ title with five victories the following season.

Facing tough competition from McLaren’s James Hunt—their rivalry featured in the Ron Howard-directed movie Rush—Lauda appeared on course to defend his title in 1976 when he crashed at the Nuerburgring during the German Grand Prix. Several drivers stopped to help pull him from the burning car, but the accident would scar him for life. The baseball cap Lauda almost always wore in public became a personal trademark.

“The main damage, I think to myself, was lung damage from inhaling all the flames and fumes while I was sitting in the car for about 50 seconds,” he recalled nearly a decade later. “It was something like 800 degrees.”

Lauda fell into a coma for a time. He said that “for three or four days it was touch and go.” AP

country ready when the games open.

Tokyo officials have said operating costs have increased, partly by a decision to use more existing venues. Earlier plans called for constructing new venues, most of which would have been built at government expense.

The IOC has repeatedly said it is saving billions by using existing venues. But doing it has also shifted more costs to local organizers.

“Because Tokyo 2020 has been promoting the maximum use of existing facilities, naturally Tokyo 2020 is assuming the increased cost of the overlay and temporary facilities projects,” Tokyo Spokesman Masa Takaya said in a recent interview with AP. He said the operating budget would not be increased and suggested some cuts were inevitable. Takaya said the cost to remodel existing venues and refit them was ¥95 billion (about $860 million). AP

Women’s World Cup ticket buyers discover seats aren’t together F

LAUDA ERLIN—Formula One (F1) great Niki Lauda, who won two of his world titles after a horrific crash that left him with serious burns and went on to become a prominent figure in the aviation industry, has died. He was 70.

Lauda’s family issued a statement saying the three-time world champion “passed away peacefully” on Monday, the Austria Press Agency reported.

Walter Klepetko, a doctor who performed a lung transplant on Lauda last year, said on Tuesday: “Niki Lauda has died. I have to confirm that.”

“His unique successes as a sportsman and entrepreneur are and remain unforgettable,” the family statement said.

“His tireless drive, his straightforwardness and his courage remain an example and standard for us all. Away from the public gaze he was a loving and caring husband, father and grandfather. We will miss him very much.”

Lauda won the F1 drivers’ championship in 1975 and 1977 with Ferrari, and again in 1984 with McLaren.

In 1976, he was badly burned when he crashed during the German Grand Prix, but he made an astonishingly fast return to racing just six weeks later.

Lauda remained closely involved with the F1 circuit after retiring as a driver in 1985, and in recent years served as the non-executive chairman of the Mercedes team.

F1 posted a message from its official Twitter account to acknowledge Lauda’s contribution to the sport.

“Rest in peace Niki Lauda. Forever carried in our hearts, forever immortalized in our history,” the post said. “The motorsport community today mourns the devastating loss of a true legend.”

Born on February 22, 1949, into a wealthy Vienna family, Nikolaus Andreas Lauda was expected to follow his

despite government measures to try to prevent it.

Tokyo organizers also say they are trying to cut spending, which drew angry responses earlier this month at an annual meeting of Summer Olympic sports federations. One federation head said she feared a “cheap” look in Tokyo as organizers try to cut items they view as decorative that might be out of the view of television cameras.

Francesco Ricci Bitti, head of the Summer Olympic sports federations, is also an IOC member and part of the inspection team. He has promised to push organizers about the cuts.

Tokyo appears to be well-financed. The $5.6 billion, privately funded operating budget—the budget to run the games themselves—is twice as large as that for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. In addition, the national government, cities and prefectures are chipping in about $15 billion more to update infrastructure and get the

TICKETS to the Women’s World Cup are made available to print on Monday, and ticket holders learn that their seats are sometimes split up in separate rows and even sections. AP

ANS planning to attend the Women’s World Cup in France are finding out that the seats they bought might not be together.

Tickets were made available to print on Monday and ticket holders learned that their seats were sometimes split up in separate rows and even sections—even families with young children were separated.

Seamus Campbell, who lives in Portland, Oregon, bought five tickets for the semifinals and finals in Lyon.

Three seats are in a single row, but with a random individual seat breaking up the group, while another seat is two rows back and the last is in a row behind that.

Campbell also purchased three tickets for matches in Paris—two are together and the other is separate.

“It’s just astonishing that they didn’t find a way to put blocks of tickets together. And I appreciate that there are a lot of tickets, and they’re selling them all at once, but I just can’t fathom how you would end up— and I’m a software developer—I don’t know how you would build a system that said, ‘We have three seats that are almost together but we’re gonna put one single seat in between those three.’”

The tournament starts from June 7 and runs through July 7.

Fifa, soccer’s international governing body, responded on the verified Women’s World Cup Twitter account, posting: “Dear fans. We have noted some of your comments, re: your tickets.

When you placed your order, a message indicating not all seats would be located next to each other did appear, before confirmation of your purchase.

Unfortunately we will not be able to modify your order.”

An additional post said: “However, an exception could be made for parents whose seats are not next to the seats of their underage children [18 years old and younger].” The post included the e-mail address for the event’s local organizing committee and a

phone number for customer service.

Fifa did not immediately respond to a request from The Associated Press for comment. Fifa’s website includes the disclaimer: “The Local Organizing Committee of France under the legal entity of Comité local d’organisation des coupes du monde féminines Fifa 2018 et 2019 who has assigned AP2S as the online ticket seller is solely responsible for all transactional and data collection aspects of your purchase for the Fifa Women’s World Cup France 2019.”

AP2S did not immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment.

Late Monday, Fifa updated its social-media account with two additional posts.

“The previous tweets regarding Fifa Women’s World Cup tickets allocation were published without a full understanding of the situation and we apologize for that. The issues were faced by less than 1 percent of fans requesting tickets for the semifinals and the final,” the post read. “Fifa and the Local Organizing Committee are confident the problems will be solved and the fans will be able to enjoy the matches as they envisaged.”

However, The Associated Press interviewed fans who had tickets for matches in the group and knockout stages, and had similar seat issues.

One group of four was given four separated seats for a match in Paris, while a group of three was given just two seats together for an early match.

It’s customary for most sporting events to allow fans to either automatically receive or choose seats that are together. There was a limit on the number of World Cup tickets that could be purchased by a single buyer.

The situation could cause problems in the stadiums before games, when fans may try to swap seats to sit next to friends or family members.

Separated families might also become an issue if a security concern should arise. AP

D

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

FIERY AND ICY FEELINGS FROM FANS AS ‘GAME OF THRONES’ ENDS D3

Wednesday, May 22, 2019

D1

Using a smartphone to sound out sign of kids’ ear infections DR. Randall Bly uses a phone app and a paper funnel to focus the sound, to check his daughter for an ear infection, at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle. Bly and other researchers at the school have developed the system to “hear” a warning sign of ear infection—fluid buildup behind the eardrum. AP

By lAUrAn neerGAArd The Associated Press

W

ASHINGTON—Researchers have created a way for a smartphone to “hear” a warning sign of ear infections—fluid buildup behind the eardrum. If it pans out, parents might one day check their tots’ ears at home by simply using a phone app and “stuff you have around the house—paper, tape and scissors,” said one of the lead researchers, Dr. Sharat Raju of the University of Washington.

Ear infections are one of the most common reasons for pediatrician visits. Even if there’s no infection, fluid that builds up in the middle ear still can be painful and sometimes can muffle hearing enough to affect speech development.

Diagnosis is difficult. Usually a pediatrician will peek into the child’s ear to see if the eardrum is inflamed, and parents can buy devices that use cameras to do the same thing. But ear specialists tend to use pricier, more complex tests that measure if the eardrum is pliable enough to vibrate correctly in response to sound, or is stiff from the pressure of

fluid behind it.

A team of engineers and doctors at the University of Washington developed a simple smartphone approach for acoustic testing: Cut a piece of paper, fold it into a funnel shape and tape it around the phone’s microphone and speakers. Aim the funnel at the ear canal to focus sound. An experimental app beams in birdlike chirps, at a specific frequency.

The microphone detects sound waves bouncing off the eardrum. The app analyzes that echo, a broadspectrum vibration from a healthy eardrum. Pus or uninfected fluid alters the eardrum’s mobility and changes the reflected sound. The app sends a text saying whether it’s likely that middle-ear fluid is present—one piece of information, along with other symptoms, that might be used for diagnosis.

“This type of technology could potentially avoid needless doctor visits,” said Dr. Justin Golub, a Columbia University ear specialist who wasn’t involved with the research. Golub often sees patients with suspected ear infections who don’t actually have one. He called the tool’s accuracy “quite impressive.”

continUed on d2

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Wednesday, May 22, 2019

Personal Tech BusinessMirror

Using a smartphone to sound out sign of kids’ ear infections continUed FroM d1 Researchers tested the system on 98 ears, in children older than 18 months who were about to undergo surgery at Seattle Children’s Hospital. Half were having ear tubes implanted, so doctors could tell exactly how much fluid was present to compare with the smartphone results. The system detected fluid as well or better than specialized acoustic testing devices, the team reported on Wednesday in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

A smaller test showed similar results as young as nine months. And in a separate experiment involving 25 kids’ ears, parents used the smartphone to check for fluid just as well as doctors did.

“Examining ears is difficult,” and better tools are needed for doctors, too, said Dr. Alejandro Hoberman, pediatrics chief at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, who also wasn’t part of the research.

But just because there’s fluid present doesn’t mean it’s infected—and Hoberman worried that at-home use of such a device “may alarm parents” and pressure doctors to prescribe unnecessary antibiotics.

Dr. Randall Bly, a University of Washington ear specialist and study coauthor, says the smartphone approach is a bit like using a thermometer in deciding when to call a doctor.

If it finds no sign of fluid, “then you can be pretty confident the fever or whatever is probably not related

z

to an ear infection,” he explained.

But lots of children have persistent ear fluid without infections—and they’re supposed to be tracked for months in deciding if they need ear tubes.

At-home monitoring would be easier and cheaper than repeated doctor visits just for an ear test, added Raju, a surgical resident.

That’s one reason the American Academy of Otolaryngology in 2016 called for development of athome strategies to detect fluid buildup in the ears.

The research was funded in part by the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health.

The university filed for a patent, and the researchers are seeking Food and Drug Administration approval to sell the app. n

NEW SECURITY FLAW IN INTEL CHIPS COULD AFFECT MILLIONS

FROM left: realme Philippines’s Marketing Lead Eason de Guzman, CEO Neil Zhou, COO Jacky Chen and Marketing Director Austine Huang showing their latest midrange champion, the #RealGamingPro, realme 3 Pro.

realme 3 Pro seeks to lead midrange game READY to lead in the midrange smartphone segment, realme Philippines has introduced the latest addition to its lineup, the realme 3 Pro. Packed with outstanding essentials such as optimal system performance, superior cameras and long battery life, the phone is a champion designed to elevate the midrange experience.

In order to give the fans and audience a firsthand look and experience of the gaming capabilities of the device, a “Mobile Legends” tournament was held after the reveal of the realme 3 Pro, making it the first smartphone launch in the Philippines that hosted a mobile gaming tournament.

The realme 3 Pro runs on a powerful Snapdragon 710 processor that can significantly accelerate the performance of AI-based applications and ensure smart power efficiency for a bugfree and optimized smartphone experience.

The impressive processor is supported by RAM and storage huge for this price segment—4GB RAM+64GB storage and 6GB RAM+128GB storage—guaranteed to rev up the device for full gaming speed. To further embody the promise of gaming power and speed, the phone’s aesthetic combines a good mix of racing elements and Le Mans track.

Raising the bar even higher for midrange smartphones is the realme 3 Pro’s imaging features.

The phone has a combination of 16MP+5MP rear shooter camera supported by a Sony IMX 519 image sensors. Its selfie camera supports 25MP. It also packs the two unique camera features of the realme 3: Chroma Boost mode, which optimizes photos and produces richer color presentation; and the upgraded Super Nightscape, which smartly adjusts the exposure of images taken with extremely dim lighting.

The phone ensures many hours of use with its 4,045mAh large-capacity battery, the biggest capacity in its price range. It also carries the brandnew VOOC 3.0 technology with a 20W (5V4A) charging power for efficient power transformation and charging speed.

“We see how mobile gaming continues to gain traction here in the Philippines and want to support the goal of a growing number of Filipinos to become gaming legends. With the realme 3 Pro, we know we have just the right device to help them be the gaming pros they truly are. The realme 3 Pro is finally here in the Philippines, ready to slay in any battlefield with you with its powerful features that won’t cost you diamonds,” shares Jacky Chen, realme Philippines chief operating officer.

More information about realme’s new game-changing phone is available at www.facebook. com/realmePhilippines.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

SANTA CLARA, California—Intel has revealed another hardware security flaw that could affects millions of machines around the world.

The bug is embedded in the architecture of computer hardware, and it can’t be fully fixed.

“With a large enough data sample, time or control of the target system’s behavior,” the flaw could enable attackers to see data thought to be off-limits, Bryan Jorgensen, Intel’s senior director of product assurance and security, said in a video statement.

But Intel said on Tuesday there’s no evidence of anyone exploiting it outside of a research laboratory. “Doing so successfully in the real world is a complex undertaking,” Jorgensen said.

It’s the latest revelation of a hard-to-fix vulnerability affecting processors that undergird smartphones and personal computers. Two bugs nicknamed Spectre and Meltdown set a panic in the tech industry last year.

Intel said it’s already addressed the problem in its newest chips after working for months with business partners and independent researchers. It’s also released code updates to mitigate the risk in older chips, though it can’t be eliminated entirely without switching to newer chips.

Major tech companies Google, Apple, Amazon and Microsoft all released advisories on Tuesday to instruct users of their devices and software, many of which rely on Intel hardware, on how to mitigate the vulnerabilities.

As companies and individual citizens increasingly sign their digital lives over to “the cloud”—an industry term for banks of servers in remote data centers—the digital gates and drawbridges keeping millions of people’s data safe have come under increasing scrutiny.

In many cases, those barriers are at the level of central processing unit, or CPU—hardware that has traditionally seen little attention from hackers. But last year the processor industry was shaken by news that Spectre and Meltdown could theoretically enable hackers to leapfrog those hardware barriers and steal some of the most securely held data on the computers involved.

Although security experts have debated the seriousness of the flaws, they are onerous and expensive to patch, and new vulnerabilities are discovered regularly.

Bogdan Botezatu, director of threat research for security firm Bitdefender, said the latest attack was another reason to question how safe users can really be in the cloud.

“This is a very, very serious type of attack,” Botezatu said.

“This makes me personally very, very skeptical about these hardware barriers set in place by CPU vendors.”

Intel said it discovered the flaw on its own, but credited Bitdefender, several other security firms and academic researchers for notifying the company about the problem.

Botezatu said Bitdefender found the flaw because its researchers were increasingly focused on the safety and management of virtual machines, the term for one or more emulated mini-computers that can be spun up inside a larger machine—a key feature of cloud computing. AP

Today’s Horoscope

By Eugenia Last

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Novak Djokovic, 31; Apolo Ohno, 36; Ginnifer Goodwin, 40; Naomi Campbell, 48.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Your energetic approach to life won’t mix well with your emotions this year. Expect to face opposition and differences of opinion when dealing with domestic matters or friends and relatives.

Hard work will pay off, but you’ll have to stay focused and avoid interference if you want to reach your goal.

An unexpected change will turn into a life lesson. Your lucky numbers are 1, 8, 15, 21, 24, 36, 43.

a

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Have a plan.

Preparation and organization, along with keeping busy, will help you ward off anyone looking for a reason to complain. Take better care of your health, and do what you can to lower your stress. ★★★

b

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Change can be good if you aren’t in a rush. Haste makes waste and can lead to disagreements if someone is opposed to what you want to do. You’ll find greater comfort in maintaining stability and making practical choices. ★★★★★

c

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Be willing to listen and to compromise when faced with sensitive issues. Whether dealing with someone you live or work with, it will be necessary to do your share if you want to avoid complaints. ★★

d

CANCER (June 21-July 22): An emotional situation will lead to greater stability. Knowing someone’s intentions or sharing yours will help clear up any uncertainty you might feel. Speak up, offer suggestions and work through any differences that could cause a problem. ★★★★

e

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Don’t make trouble. Concentrate on what you need to accomplish and let your work speak for you. Staying on top of your responsibilities will keep you busy, giving you less time to be indulgent. ★★★

f

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Share your feelings; you’ll get a good response. Talking through plans or likes and dislikes will help you build a strong relationship with the people you care about most. Pursuing knowledge and skills will pay off and encourage greater opportunities. ★★★

g

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Expect to face opposition. If someone is demanding or trying to dump added responsibilities on you, make it clear what you are capable of doing and what you are not. Don’t leave unfinished anything you are accountable for. ★★★

h

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): You’ll accomplish your goals if you refuse to get into an unnecessary argument. Let others do what they want so you can focus on what you’d like to achieve without interference. ★★★★

i

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): You’ll come to a crossroads regarding an emotional issue you have with someone. Honesty is the only way you will be able to flush out the problem and find a solution. ★★

j

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Money or a gift will come from an unusual source. Check your bank and credit-card statements and make changes to an investment. Buying and selling assets will help lower your overhead and add to your financial stability. ★★★★

k

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Spend time at home going through your possessions and purging. Avoid travel or discussions with people who tend to tempt you to indulge or overspend.

Too much of anything will backfire, leaving you in a vulnerable position. ★★★

l

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Share your thoughts and feelings; you’ll be given interesting feedback, as well as encouragement. Getting ahead is in the stars if you update your resume or apply for a position that promises more benefits and higher wages. ★★★ BIRTHDAY BABY: You are proactive, reliable and thoughtful.

You are sensitive and insightful.

‘breaking stories’ BY ANDREW J. RIES The Universal Crossword/Edited by David Steinberg

ACROSS 1 Apple on a desk 5 Spiced latte variety 9 Muscat resident 14 Tableland (look for a novel in each starred row!)

15 Old Nasa landing crafts 16 Seated yoga pose 17 At the apex of 18 ___ and for all 19 Dentist’s tool 20 Ones involved in the offing?

22 Letter in the Bible 24 Mindless adherents, figuratively 26 Wide shoe spec 27 Daytona 500 sport 30 German white wine 35 Shop proprietor 36 Bridge-crossing payment 37 Altoids receptacle 38 Burlesque show wrap 39 Paperless option for travelers 42 Radical 1970s grp.

43 ___ on the Shelf (piece of Christmas kitsch)

44 Squeezes (out) 45 Much-revered figures 47 Gigantic waves 50 Grammy winner Badu 51 Small annoyance?

52 Square root of 49 54 Rahm of politics 58 Artworks with many tiles 62 Bath additives 63 McGregor of Fargo 65 Pointless to debate 66 Give 10 percent 67 Bone above the ankle 68 Picnic playwright William 69 Build up 70 Bottom of a loafer 71 Broken bone treatment DOWN 1 Mosque VIP 2 Like a clue that refers to itself 3 Starting from 4 “Understand?”

5 Less far off 6 Skater Sonja 7 TV channel that’s also a theater

8 9 10 11 12 13 21 23 25 27 28 29 31 32 33 34 36 40 41 46 48 49 50 53

chain “Understood” Nostalgic radio format Chocolate chip, e.g.

Bickering Void’s partner Dot in the ocean Midway alternative Us director Jordan “Trust the ___” Pass, in poker Ones off base, for short Total mess Types Words of comfort Brand of wafers Grind together ___ torch (luau light) Arizona State University locale Loses stamina Spirited Fractions equal to about 11 percent Makes laugh, say Goolagong of tennis fame Phisher’s message

54 55 56 57 59 60 61 64

“Como ___ usted?”

Severely injure Utah ski destination Cheaper The Gaels of the NCAA Machine teeth Editor’s override One of the five W’s

Solution to yesterday’s puzzle:

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Show BusinessMirror

Wednesday, May 22, 2019

BLIND SPOT BRUCE C.

WHAT RELATIONSHIP?

THE young actor is said to be this beautiful actress’s significant other but if they really are in a relationship, it is strange that he is only present in her life when they have a project. Otherwise, they seem to lead separate lives. It is also strange that the beautiful actress, in the span of time she has been with the young actor, has also entered into a relationship with a reality show star. That relationship is now over but still, how does a woman who has a boyfriend enter into another relationship? Another rumor about this beautiful actress is that she is trying to hook up with an ex who is now in a relationship.

NOT A TEST OF LOYALTY

FROM left: Maisie Williams, Isaac Hempstead Wright and Sophie Turner in a scene from the final episode of Game of Thrones, which aired on May 19. AP

Fiery and icy feelings from fans as ‘Game of Thrones’ ends

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By Andrew Dalton The Associated Press

OS ANGELES—Fire rained down and heads came off. There was punishment, banishment and retribution. And that was just from the fans.

Game of Thrones aired its 73rd and final episode on Sunday night, showing its gift for drawing recordsetting numbers of viewers and for leaving those viewers deeply divided about the results, as they have been for finales from Seinfeld to The Sopranos to Lost.

The final episode of Game of Thrones at least brought some clear winners, at least one clear loser and a major upset.

MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD. BRANDON STARK, who until recently appeared happy to remain a mystic philosopher forever, instead becomes philosopher-king, Bran the Broken.

Yet, he doesn’t get to sit on the Iron Throne (a dragon melted that) or rule the Seven Kingdoms (his sister Sansa broke one off to become queen of an independent North.)

And Daenerys Targaryen became the last of the show’s many, many major character deaths, given a Shakespearean send-off by Jon Snow, who watched her burn thousands of innocents and believed she had become a mad tyrant.

“You are my queen, now and always,” Jon says to Daenerys as he shoves a dagger into her, giving her what may have been the shortest reign of any monarch in Westeros.

It was the endgame of a heel-turn from a week earlier that brought more fan outrage than any other moment in the always provocative show.

Actress Emilia Clarke, who plays the role of Daenerys, told Entertainment Weekly that she cried when she first read the script in 2017 but defended the arc in the end, saying it was true to the character and she found her final moments “beautiful and touching.”

“Hopefully, what you’ll see in that last moment as she’s dying is: There’s the vulnerability—there’s the little girl you met in Season 1,” Clarke said.

The negative reaction spilled into the finale, with fans on Twitter in particular expressing outrage about the outcome, even if many agreed it was reflective of the way the unjust real world works.

“Good morning to everybody except Bran,” columnist Jemele Hill tweeted on Monday, “who despite being a wack archer, sending Hodor and Theon to their deaths and chilling next to a fire while everybody was fighting, got to be the king.”

The episode’s leaps from big event to big event to tie up its many plot threads did nothing to quiet criticism that the show that made its name on carefully meandering storytelling had given that up in the final two seasons in favor of attempts to please.

“Like most of Season 8, it felt like a Wikipedia summary more than a full story being told,” Gina Carbone of CinemaBlend wrote.

Critics were genuinely divided. The episode had a 57 percent fresh score among reviewers on Rotten Tomatoes, and even positive reviews acknowledged the impossibility of pulling off an ending that would be broadly satisfying.

“It was everything nobody wanted, but it was still quite a thing: adequately just, narratively symmetrical and sufficiently poignant,” Hank Stuever wrote in The Washington Post.

Regardless of how fans felt about the final season, they never stopped watching.

The finale brought in 19.3 million viewers across HBO’s platforms, topping the previous episode’s 18.4 million to make it the most-viewed episode of any kind in the channel’s history. Just after it aired on the East Coast, nine of Twitter’s top 10 trending topics were related to the show. Fans also noticed another gaffe, a plastic water bottle at the feet of Samwell Tarly, like the paper coffee cup clearly visible on a table next to Daenerys earlier in the season.

The show had a full-circle ending of sorts. Bran’s surprise ascent to the throne would have been no shock at all to viewers just after the show’s first episode—where he is clearly marked as a chosen figure, forced to witness a beheading by a father teaching him the ways of the world, and pushed from a high window only to survive, paralyzed.

He then over several seasons, while missing from the story for long stretches, became a mystical seer known as the Three-eyed Raven, with an essential role but distant presence and personality.

In the finale, a council of the remaining nobles of Westeros votes for Bran after a suggestion and major speech from Tyrion Lannister.

“People love stories,” Tyrion says. “Who has a better story than Bran the Broken?”

(His sisters, just to name two, many fans thought.)

Bran actor Isaac Hempstead Wright was, unsurprisingly, thrilled with his character’s ending.

“I find it an extraordinary character arc to see him go from a vulnerable character totally dependent on others to the one person who holds all the keys to understanding the world,” he wrote on Monday in The Hollywood Reporter.

Jon Snow also came full circle on the show. As punishment for becoming a queen slayer, he returns to the great northern Wall, the same journey he made when the series began, and is reunited with his dire wolf Ghost, whom he met in episode one. He also finds a spot again among the Wildlings, or “free folk,” as they head north beyond the wall.

Sansa’s crowning as queen of the North was as predictable as the finale got—she’d clearly been headed for the role for a while.

While the night brought a big end for Thrones fans, its universe was far from over.

Author George R.R. Martin still intends to finish and release two more books in the series after the show passed him by years ago.

And spin-offs are in the planning stages. One pilot in production takes place in the same realm thousands of years earlier, and the finale might have hinted at another possibility.

Arya Stark, who saved humanity early in the season, decides to sail on to unknown lands, and her departure on a ship is among the series’ final images.

“What’s west of Westeros?” she asks her Stark siblings. “No one knows. It’s where all the maps stop.

It’s where I’m going.” TV comedy writer Bess Kalb expressed a common response to this idea on Twitter: “Will watch Arya the Explorya.” n

PMPC to confer Lifetime Achievement awards on Laurice Guillen, Dante Rivero

By Leony Garcia THE 35th Philippine Movie Press Club (PMPC) Star Awards for Movies is set to be staged at the Newport Performing Arts Theater, Resorts World Manila, on June 2. Every year, the movie industry and the public look forward to the honors given to showbiz personalities in the different categories plus the special citations, including the lifetime achievement honors.

The 2019 PMPC awards this year will confer the Nora Aunor Ulirang Artista Lifetime Achievement Award to veteran actor Dante Rivero. He was chosen based on his outstanding body of work, remarkable achievements in Philippine movie industry as an award-winning actor, and unquestionable credibility and integrity as a seasoned artist.

At 72, Rivero is still visible in films and television.

Last year, he was lead star in Kung Paano Hinihintay ang Dapithapon, for which he won his first international

best actor award.

Rivero’s notable roles in films include The Janitor, It Takes a Man and a Woman, Manila Kingpin: The Asiong Salonga Story, My House Husband, Kailangan Kita, Esperanza The Movie, Paano ang Puso Ko, Kristo, Bala Ko ang Hahatol and Natutulog Pa ang Diyos.

The previous honorees of this esteemed accolade are: Dolphy, Eddie Garcia, Joseph Estrada, Ramon Revilla, Gloria Romero, Boots Anson-Roa, Caridad Sanchez, Perla Bautista, Susan Roces, Armando Goyena, Alicia Vergel, Armida Siguion-Reyna, Gil de Leon, Charito Solis, Chichay, Leopoldo Salcedo, Mona Lisa, Rosal Rosal, Anita Linda, German Moreno, Rudy Fernandez, Gina Pareño, Christopher de Leon, Lito Lapid, Vilma Santos, Rustica Carpio, Amalia Fuentes, Pen Medina and Gina Alajar.

Superstar Nora Aunor was the original cofounder of the particular award in cooperation with the PMPC. That is why it was named after the multi-awarded actress in honor of her legacy as an institution and an

icon of Philippine cinema.

Yearly, Aunor personally presents the trophy to the recipient, together with the current and past presidents of the writers’ group.

Director Laurice Guillen, meanwhile, will be conferred the Ulirang Alagad ng Pelikula sa Likod ng Kamera Lifetime Achievement Award. This is given to outstanding and iconic people behind the camera (directors, producers, screenwriters, cinematographers, etc).

With the same standard for the selection of Rivero, PMPC also cites Guillen for her pioneering work in the Actors Workshop, and as president of Cinemalaya, a pioneer independent film festival which won the prestigious 24th Nikkei Asia Prizes which will be given in Japan this May. Past honorees of this equally esteemed award were Mother Lily Monteverde, Marilou Diaz-Abaya, Peque Gallaga, Ricky Lee, Romy Vitug, Mel Chionglo, Carlo J. Caparas, Joel Lamangan and Tikoy Aguiluz.

A TALL, dark and handsome actor, who has been in two high-profile relationships, is now seeing a young and beautiful model. He is so enamored with her, but people close to him are scared that she isn’t. While the tall, dark and handsome actor is not seeing anyone else, the model seems to be playing the field, so to speak. Well, the model is very liberated, something not all Filipinos are used to, and her being fun-loving has nothing to do with her being faithful and loyal to the tall, dark and handsome actor.

BAD ATTITUDE

THE actor and singer has been criticized for his performance in a reality show because he seems out of his element there. He’s also been stuttering, probably out of nervousness, which is normal. What is weird is that when the production people told him about this and suggested that maybe he could do something about it, the actor got mad. He has always had a temper, and he is very impatient when talking to people who he feels are beneath him.

NOT ‘COUPLE GOALS’

THE actor and his wife are among those celebrities who are known as “couple goals” on social media, but the truth is very far from the image they have. They frequently get into fights because the wife frequently nags the husband about work and money. It has gotten to the point that he has been called an “abused husband.” This is also the reason the actor’s wife and his sister are no longer speaking to each other.

MOSCOW BALLET ‘LA CLASSIQUE’ AND BOLSHOI STARS SET FOR PHL PERFORMANCE IN ‘SWAN LAKE’

THE world-renowned Moscow Ballet “La Classique” comes to Manila to demonstrate their continued quality of dance and performance in a dramatic production of Swan Lake, a timeless favorite set to Russian composer Tchaikovsky’s superb score.

Their resident show at the New Frontier Theater (Araneta Center, Quezon City) is set from June 14 to 22. Sharing the stage with the Moscow Ballet company are two acclaimed Bolshoi Ballet stars Nina Kaptsova and Alexander Volchkov.

Choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov, the Moscow Ballet La Classique production of Swan Lake will be accompanied by the Russian Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of conductor Yaroslav Tkalenko.

The Moscow Ballet La Classique was founded in 1990 by its current director, Erik Melikov. The ballet company has thrilled ballet lovers during hugely successful tours of Egypt, Morocco, France, Spain, Italy, Austria, Norway, Israel, Thailand, Taiwan, China, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, as well as the United Kingdom. This year, the Philippines will get to witness why this company has gained vast international acclaim.

Tickets are available at all Ticketnet (www.ticketnet.com. ph) and Ticketworld (www.ticketworld.com.ph) outlets.

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Wednesday, May 22, 2019

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‘Tidy up’ so each dollar sparks joy

By SeAn PyleS NerdWallet MARIE KONDO has inspired countless people to wipe out clutter. Her KonMari organizing method, popularized by her book and Netflix series, lays out how to get more joy from your life and possessions. This approach can extend to your money, too. Applying her mindset can reduce the financial clutter in your life and help you make a better plan for each dollar. Here’s how to “Marie Kondo” your finances.

COMMIT—AND IMAGINE A BETTER FUTURE BEFORE you dive in, commit yourself to the task and visualize what you’ll gain.

Do you want to spend less on eating out? Are you saving up for a car or a house? Have a clear picture of your goal—a zero balance on your credit card, or that new car or home—to stay focused throughout the process. “If you can create a mental image of what your life with your money will look like on the other side, it’s a lot easier to create a path to get there,” says Kimberly Zimmerman Rand, a Boston financial coach.

UNDERSTAND YOUR CATEGORIES KONDO’S method of tidying focuses on sorting through categories, like clothing, books and paperwork, and miscellaneous items. Pull a few months of bank and credit card statements and take the same approach to your three main spending categories: needs, wants and savings.

NEEDS: The non-negotiables, like housing and debt payments, fall into this category. These monthly expenses may not bring you joy, but they keep a roof over your head and your credit score afloat. If this category consumes an outsized portion of your income, see where you can trim.

Trading in your car for a less expensive one, for example, could mean an extra $100 in your bank account every month. That gives you the ability to tuck a little more into savings.

Debt payments may be an unavoidable part of your budget, but you can find ways to make them fit more neatly. If you’re sorting through a mess of credit card bills, for example, see about reworking the terms. By consolidating debt onto a credit card with an introductory zero interest rate or via a personal loan, you can pay less in interest, though you’ll need good credit to qualify.

And you’ll have less paperwork and fewer monthly payments to manage.

WANTS: Chances are this category brings you the most joy—but it’s also likely where you can trim the most. Expenses like meals out, new clothes or vacations fit here.

Examine your spending on wants and ask if each one brings commensurate enjoyment. If not, trim or cut that expense. Keeping that money in your accounts could make you happier by reducing financial stress or helping you see progress on retirement savings.

Subscription services are an easy target, says Brian Walsh, a certified financial planner and manager of financial planning at SoFi, an online lender. “When people start tracking their spending, they may see unused services come up,” Walsh says. “Gym memberships, game memberships, Netflix and Hulu at the same time.

These can be easy cuts to make.”

SAVINGS: This category can be a little too easy to keep minimal. In fact, four in 10 Americans said they couldn’t come up with $400 in an emergency or would have to borrow or sell something, according to a May 2018 report by the Federal Reserve. Building up your savings helps keep your finances tidy when life gets messy, such as when a sudden car repair pops up. Tucking away even $50 a month can make a difference.

SET YOURSELF UP FOR SUCCESS ONCE you’ve tidied up your spending categories, it’s time to set yourself up to achieve financial goals. Streamline your money management and reduce paperwork you may have lying around.

Automating payments for things like utility bills, student loan payments and credit card payments is an easy option. It also protects you from accidentally missing a payment and tanking your credit score.

Shred old financial paperwork, such as bank statements or paid utility bills. Signing up for digital versions online means there’s no need to keep them. Don’t go overboard, though; you do want to hang on to tax documents.

To keep up the good habits in the long run, Kristen Holt, CEO of the nonprofit credit counseling agency GreenPath Financial Wellness, recommends focusing on your goals.

“Take steps to set and forget your finances, like automating payments,” Holt says. “And continue to tie your work back to your dream.” AP

Outside the box SUI GENERIS CARLO ATIENZA

biblisko@gmail.com

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E were stuck. My team and I had to create new ways of creating materials and coming up with innovative ways of delivering content.

We realized the way we used to do things were no longer applicable, and we had to come up with more engaging materials for learners. It was time for us to do things differently. And it was then that we put our heads together and think of ways to look at what we could do better, and what we could do creatively to address the new challenges we faced.

Creative thinking is looking at things differently to come up with improved or better ways of doing things. With the ever increasing complexities of how technology affects social interactions and business, it is imperative to adapt to these developments lest we get left behind and become obsolete. To avert it, creative thinking helps you look at existing conditions and leverage them to your advantage.

You commonly read creative thinking as thinking outside the box. Which is what it actually is all about. Limitations can actually push you to look for solutions which did not work before. We used to have issues with putting background music to our online training materials. Our software only allowed us to insert a background music per page and when you take the training, the music starts from the beginning.

This distracts learners until one of my team members discovered a way of inserting background music which can be coded so that it plays the music on a loop throughout the training material so when you change pages, the music does not stop. She taught us how to do it and even though we did not know how to code, we succeeded in doing so. So when you encounter a roadblock, that is the best time to use creative thinking to find a better way of doing things.

Another way we practice creative thinking is to brainstorm. Brainstorming gets everyone involved and helps you look at a problem from different perspectives. Some of your team members could be experts in certains processes in your workflow and it would help to get everyone involved.

The key to brainstorming is to encourage ideas and accept them without prejudice—no idea is a bad idea. From the list of ideas, you can work them out and see which ones can be adapted by the group. Brainstorming can be time-consuming but you are assured that whatever you come up with, it is the best and most workable one. Moreover, you already have your team’s buy-in for the solution.

Michael Morgan, in his book Creative Workforce Innovation, proposed a framework for getting the best ideas from stakeholders in what he calls the “reframing matrix.”

In his method, you discuss the challenges you face with everyone involved in the project. One way we used this was when we had to create an onboarding training program which we had to launch globally. We had to talk to different people from different parts of the globe and we were able to identify issues regarding accessibility, relevance and cultural differences that needed to be addressed before the program could be launched. If not for the input of the different stakeholders, we would not have thought of those issues and found ways to mitigate them. Involving your stakeholders is a good way of ensuring you deliver the best possible solutions for their needs.

Another way you can take advantage of your team’s ideas

is to create a mind map. This is a technique developed by Tony Buzan to visually represent your ideas and looking at connections between them. Mind mapping, used together with brainstorming, is a good way of organizing your ideas and identifying how each one is interrelated to the other. This helps you have a better appreciation of how ideas can be used together to address a complex issue.

Be observant. Sometimes, the solution to your problem is just staring at you in the face. In a TV ad by an oil firm in 2007, a chief engineer saw his son using a bendy straw upside down to get the remains of his drink. He used it as his inspiration to design a flexible drill which could reach hidden oil pockets. Because he was observant, he was able to use a common everyday thing to solve a complex engineering problem. Again, be observant, as the best solution to your problem might just be right in front of you.

If it is not, you might like to travel. Traveling gives you new perspectives (literally) and new experiences which might help you come up with creative solutions to your problems. You can travel to another country, or just about anywhere you have not been to, because the new environment can reboot and refresh your mind, and help you look at things differently. Notice friends who return from their travel: they talk of new adventures and how people in other places do things differently. And then they talk about how they wish these could be also done here. Travel does that. It opens you to possibilities which you would never have thought otherwise.

In your creative thinking exercise, be realistic. Keep your mind open but be careful that your brain does not fall out.

While we open ourselves to new ideas and experiences, never lose sight of your absolutes and ultimate goals. There is no one solution to a problem just as there is no one way going to Makati from Quezon City. While one way might work for another, there is a better way for another. Creative thinking helps find the best solution that works for you. n

Global shoe brand goes beyond comfort A GLOBAL leader in innovative casual footwear, Crocs recently launched the third year of its “Come As You Are” campaign. This year’s campaign has actress, singer-songwriter and director Zooey Deschanel, British actress Natalie Dormer, and South Korean singer and actress Kim Se-jeong (Sejeong) as global brand ambassadors, encouraging everyone to declare that being yourself, being comfortable and looking stylish are not mutually exclusive.

For the campaign’s official launch, Crocs has released a video that highlights just how easy it is to be comfortable in your own shoes.

“As we enter our third year of Come As You Are, we are evolving not only our message and cast but the entire look and feel of our marketing campaign,” said Terence Reilly, chief marketing officer of Crocs. “The brand is making a bold declaration that you can have both style and comfort no matter who you are or where your life takes you.”

“Because comfort comes in many shapes and sizes, our global brand ambassadors will wear and talk about some of our most popular styles in settings that are relevant to their interests and personalities,” Reilly said.

A global leader in innovative casual footwear for women, men and children, Crocs continues to make the world comfortable with over hundreds of millions of shoes sold. Crocs’s most popular products and collections will be showcased throughout the Come As You Are campaign, including LiteRide, Crocband Platform, Crocs Serena, Swiftwater and, of course, the iconic Classic Clog.

Joining Zooey, Natalie and Sejeong in the yearlong campaign are Chinese actress, dancer and model Gina Jin, and Japanese actress and model Suzu Hirose.

BRITISH actress Natalie Dormer wears the Crocband Platform Clog, which features a light 1.5inch platform sole.

SOUTH Korean actress and Gugudan girlband member Kim Se-jeong dazzles in the Crocs Serena, which comes with elegant stretch straps and a Croslite foam foundation for all-day comfort and style versatility.

BusinessMirror E1 | Wednesday, May 22, 2019 • Editor : Tet Andolong

WEWORK at Uptown Tower Three’s indoor garden area

Megaworld bullish on PHL office sector

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By Rodel Ambas Jr.

OWNSHIP pioneer Megaworld Corp. is bullish on the Philippines’s office and retail realestate sectors as it bags a landmark deal with New York-based coworking space and serviced-office provider WeWork.

The latter opened its first office in the country in Megaworld’s Uptown Tower Three in Bonifacio Global City, which makes the Philippines its third market in Southeast Asia after Singapore and Thailand.

A second site is scheduled to open this year in RCBC Plaza in Makati.

“This is another major milestone for Megaworld and for the Philippine real-estate industry,” said Megaworld Senior Vice-President Jericho Go. “We are very privileged to welcome WeWork in Uptown Bonifacio, its first-ever location in the country. We are now able to collaborate with a multinational operator of flexible spaces, and this allows both Megaworld and WeWork to engage in cross referrals.”

W hereas WeWork prov ides flexible office spaces for short- to medium-term use, Megaworld does bigger and more permanent ones.

The latter is also one of the largest business-process outsourcing landlord in the Philippines.

“With the Philippines now one of Southeast Asia’s largest economies, there is no better time to be here than now,” said Turochas “T” Fuad, managing director of WeWork Southeast Asia.

According to Fuad, WeWork is not just about the space, but also the value that its spaces create by providing an inclusive memberdriven experience that fosters an environment of creativity and collaboration. This philosophy is best demonstrated by the diverse range of innovative companies that occupy WeWork’s Uptown Tower site, including education start-up Edukasyon.ph, activities-booking platform Klook and cashback reward start-up Shopback.

“As our footprint continues to grow in Manila, we are looking at innovative ways to partner with landlords, in this case, Megaworld, which will allow them to share in the upside that we generate.

By harnessing the power of WeWork’s global network and com-

munity, we are committed to helping Philippine-based enterprises, freelancers, start-ups, and MSMEs scale further,” adds Fuad.

To date, over 45,000 companies and more than 400,000 members now use WeWork as their base, with member-companies ranging from start-ups to household names, such as Dell, KPMG, GE, Microsoft and Samsung.

Commercial real estate continues to grow

ACCORDING to Go, Megaworld will have a total of 2 million square meters (sq m) of combined office and retail space (gross leasable area) by the end of 2020. The company also guns for rental revenue of P20 billion by the same year.

Although he admits that the e-commerce sector is giving the retail real-estate sector some stiff competition, Megaworld’s estates are effectively cushioned against them. “Our township communities deliver a different formula and they have effectively created a captive market,” explained Go. “Our retail mix is now 60 percent F&B and services, which is not susceptible to online purchasing,” he added. “You cannot purchase a haircut or a gourmet meal online.

And besides, when your condo is a few steps away from a Starbucks or a Locavore, you will just rather go and take a walk so that your meal is warm and freshly served.”

Megaworld’s townships are practically mini cities in their own right; its occupiers—both condo residents and office workers—provide a consistent stream of customers for the township’s retail mix. According to Go, Eastwood City, for instance, is now home to roughly 80,000 people, while McKinley Hill is to approximately 70,000 to 80,000. He added that there are certain needs that need to be addressed with this particular group, one of which is mobility given Metro Manila’s worsening traffic conditions.

THE receiving area of WeWork’s 4,081-sq-m site in Uptown Tower Three in Uptown Bonifacio

BOASTING artworks and murals by Filipino artist Bitto, WeWork at Uptown Tower Three offers fun facilities, such as game and karaoke rooms, and even a pantry that serves craft beer.

“It is increasingly difficult to go out and buy groceries, but if [the supermarket] is within the township development, then that becomes a very interesting value proposition

because it is helping grow the business of our partners because of the captive market we’ve created.”

Located at some of the Philippine capital’s most prime areas,

Megaworld’s township projects have become a staple in Metro Manila’s real-estate landscape. Nine of these big-ticket projects are in Metro Manila and are at varying

stages of development. They include Arcovia City along C5-Road in Pasig, Westside City in the Bay Area in Parañaque, and McKinley West in Fort Bonifacio.

Business

E2 Wednesday, May 22, 2019

THE OSHDP MANIFESTO TO SOLVE THE PHILIPPINE HOUSING BACKLOG

Amor Maclang

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FIRST DIBS IN REAL ESTATE

HE Organization of Socialized and Economic Housing Developers of the Philippines (OSHDP) Inc., the leading national organization of mass housing developers, was recently in the Private Developers’ Consultation on the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of Republic Act (RA) No. 11201 or the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD).

At the onset, they reiterated the common objective of every bill filed and consolidated into the DHSUD Act and of every stakeholder and resource person invited during the Congressional deliberations—To solve the housing backlog.

Please allow us to lay down some inputs and principles that we find important to be included in the IRR.

1. Emphasis on the primary function and responsibility of the Department not only to resolve the country’s housing backlog but also to address the entire housing need

THE Department, now clothed with enough powers and authority, and the secretary, now sitting in the Cabinet, would be primarily responsible for the countr y’s housing production.

While recent statistical data would show that the private sector produces significantly more than the government, we stress that housing provision remains a State function.

This especially applies to the provision of socialized housing, which clearly is the government’s duty. The private sector is only encouraged to participate in this provision. Given this principle, the mandatory balanced housing requirement that the government imposes on the private sector should be liberally interpreted in favor of the latter. Socialized housing compliance is definitely not a corporate social responsibility, but a taxation, the adverse effects of which are supposedly compensated by the incentives.

Having said that, the private

sector only hopes for fairness from our government in implementing the balanced housing requirement, considering that it has mandatorily foisted upon it this burden of carrying out what is supposedly a governmental function. Compelling the private sector to perform a governmental function and, at the same time, expecting that it would go through a difficult process and bear the losses in such a venture is only unjust and oppressive.

2. There should be a (1) Bureau of Policy, Program and Project Development, Coordination, Monitoring and Evaluation; and (2) Bureau of Housing Production and Finance, Resettlement and Social Integration

WHILE the law has identified three bureaus under Section 10 thereof, the Department is authorized under Section 11 to create, as it should, new divisions or units as may be necessary.

We propose the addition of the Bureau of Policy, Program and Project Development, Coordination, Monitoring and Evaluation, which shall perform functions of both staff and line bureau under the Administrative Code of the Philippines. Therefore, it shall not only perform policy, program development and advisory functions, but also directly implement programs adopted pursuant to department policies and plans.

On the other hand, the Bureau of Housing Production and Finance, Resettlement and Social Integration shall provide special focus on: (a) scaling up housing production; (b) resolving issues on resettlement and social integration; and (c) developing public housing, rental and other tenurial arrangements.

The Bureau shall also formulate and implement housing finance and guarantee policies, expanding access to housing finance, pumping seed money for housing production and exploring means of securitization.

Finally, it shall put up an information-technology system to monitor housing starts, and include a targeting system of performance monitoring and evaluation, innovations and other housing options.

3. Private-sector representation to the Human Settlements Board

THE better way to encourage private-sector participation in housing-development programs is by involving the sector in the policy and program formulation and implementation, even so in the monitoring and evaluation.

Moreover, the government may benefit from expert inputs to be contributed by the private sector and from their best practices that can be replicated.

For this purpose, OSHDP proposes inclusion of two private-sector representatives (PSR) to the Human Settlements Board along with the government officials identified under Chapter V, Section 21, of the law.

Private sector representation worked well with the department’s predecessor—the HUDCC—and other government agencies. PSRs are what make these agencies effective and dynamic. This is so because PSRs are usually elected/appointed from the NGOs and civil society.

Certainly, PSRs are beyond the reach of partisan politics.

4. Institutionalizing the Housing Policy Working Committee (HPWC) as a Mandatory Consultative Mechanism

BESIDES the sunset review of the law to be conducted by Congress at the end of the third year of effectivity (Section 32), we suggest to institutionalize formation of the HPWC and the conduct of its meetings regularly, where the private sector is well represented. The HPWC would be convened to help in the formulation of implementing guidelines of the programs and policies of the department, as well as in making recommendations to Congress as to whether the programs and their corresponding appropriations should be continued. The HPWC shall be formed as a mandatory consultative mechanism to ensure the involvement of affected sectors and other stakeholders from the local to the national level.

5. Establishing Housing One-Stop Processing Centers (HOPCs) and Socialized Housing (SoHo) Express Lanes

THE housing backlog of the country has tremendously increased from

3.5 million in 2010 to 5.5 million in 2016. The same is projected to reach 6.7 million by the year 2022 at the current pace of production and housing-needs growth. Streamlining the bureaucratic processes for the issuance of housing-related certifications, clearances and permits has been identified as crucial in spurring housing production, enhancing affordability, providing easy financing access and improving the regulatory environment; Chapter VII, Section 23, of the law provides for the establishment of the Housing One-Stop Processing Centers. In fact, the same is not a new concept considering that it is already present under Section 2(c) of Republic Act No. 10884, otherwise known as “The Balanced Housing Development Program Amendments,” and Section 20 of Republic Act No. 7279, or the “Urban Development and Housing Act of 1992,” which is mandated as an incentive for the private sector to encourage its greater participation in socialized housing and to further reduce the cost of housing units for the benefit of the underprivileged and homeless.

OSHDP proposes not only the clear guidelines in the establishment of HOPCs but also the provision for Socialized Housing Express Lanes in different regions of the country for the processing, approval and issuance of clearances, permits and licenses. Specifically, these HOPCs and SoHo Express Lanes must (a) require government agencies to provide “express lanes” for application and processing of socialized housing development in compliance with RA 10884; (b) reiterate the policy and guidelines to fast-track housing projects under Executive Order No. 45, Series of 2001, “PRESCRIBING TIME PERIODS FOR ISSUANCE OF HOUSING RELATED CERTIFICATIONS, CLEAR ANCES AND PERMITS, A ND IMPOSING SA NCTIONS FOR FAILURE TO OBSERVE THE SAME”; (c) Expand the covered agencies of Executive Order No. 45 to those into housing finance, including but not limited to Home Development Mutual Fund, Social Housing Finance Corp. and National Home Mortgage Finance Corp.; and (d) Consistent with the Ease of Doing Business and Efficient

Government Service Delivery Act (Republic Act No. 11032), all applications relative to processing of socialized housing development not acted upon within the prescribed processing time shall be deemed approved.

We see this proposal as a focused solution to immediately address the impending decline in the production of socialized housing for the next two years, owing to the recent statistical trends we are now seeing.

6. Resolving possible conflict between central and local governments

WHILE the new law provides that DHSUD shall act as the primary entity responsible for the management of housing, human settlement and urban development, local government units (LGU) share the same function under the Local Government Code. Possible conflict of jurisdictions must be resolved, while areas of collaboration must be identified in the IRR. The same issues must be resolved with respect to possible overlap in the in the exercise of the regulatory powers of the DHSUD and the LGUs, i.e., permitting like issuance of development permits, potential conflict in zoning and land-use planning, etc.

7. The transition shall not cause interruption to transactions by the transacting public to the regulatory agency

SECTION 26 of the law provides for the six-month transition period, whereby existing personnel shall continue to assume their posts in holdover capacities. Likewise, all applications for permits and licenses shall continue to be acted upon by the incumbents.

However, the organization has already been receiving reports from its members of delays and inaction with regard to their permits and license applications, i.e., license to sell applications. This is what we seek to prevent.

OSHDP proposes detailed provisions as to operational concerns of the transacting public with the HLURB. The cut-off and approval periods, standards, rules and regulations, etc., to be observed during the transition must be clearly defined.

DBP plans to have bigger role COMMUNITY CREATORS INC. BREAKS GROUND ON AMIYA RAYA’S CLUBHOUSE in Mindanao development A S

By Rizal Raoul S. Reyes @brownindio

TATE-RUN Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) is working closely with the national government in extending financing to critical development initiatives for infrastructure development, energy sufficiency and food stability, especially in former strifetorn areas in Mindanao, a senior official said.

“We want to assist in food-security projects and improve the level of social services and infrastructure to help Mindanao achieve its full potential,” DBP President And Chief Executive Officer Emmanuel G. Herbosa said in a press statement.

Herbosa said the bank is bullish that Mindanao would recover as the peace and order situation keeps on improving. Mindanao wants to pump in more funding support for public infrastructure, social services, food security and local industry-development projects.

Herbosa recently joined a contingent led by Presidential Peace Advis-

er Carlito G. Galvez Jr. on a two-day visit in former Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) Camp Bilal to meet with Hadji Abdullah G. Makapaar, formerly known as Commander Bravo, to explore possible business opportunities in the area.

The camp, which was a former MILF stronghold, is one of six camps identified for transformation into “productive agricultural areas” under the flagship Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro of the National Government.

Herbosa said DBP had an outstanding loan portfolio of P49.755billion for developmental loans in Mindanao, which funded various projects including a banana plantation, bulk water systems, hydropower and solar projects, hospitals, solid waste projects and other developmental initiatives.

He said the bank had entered into a partnership with the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) to expedite flagship projects and programs for Mindanao under the 2017 to 2022 Philippine Development Plan. Under the agreement,

DBP would serve as financial advisor of MinDA for major infrastructure and other projects, as well as a possible loan provider for proposed ventures in the southern islands to generate employment, particularly in the Bangsamoro areas.

“Now is the time for Mindanao to move forward and grow as a region, thus helping to attain lasting peace in the region through inclusive economic development,” Herbosa said.

EMMANUEL G. HERBOSA

MIYA Raya, a project by Community Creators Inc. (CCI) broke ground recently to mark the first official day of construction of Amiya Raya Clubhouse. The morning event was attended by Paul Garcia, Gilbert Garcia, Jose P. Dalida, Jeanette S. Tan, Ma. Charina S. Garcia, Jun Cristi, Angie Cristi, Teddy Salud, Ann Yangco and Arch. Lorenzo Tenorio, who designed the clubhouse’s floor plan.

The two-story clubhouse has a 1,210-square-meter (sq m) basement that will offer different recreational activities from playing badminton, or just chilling out with friends playing board games at the table games area, or even getting fit with your fitness buddy at the gym. Amiya Raya was also proud to present the pool deck’s floor plan where everybody can enjoy bathing in the sun.

The clubhouse’s ground floor measures 267.5 sq m, while the second floor covers 558 sq m. It will also hold a roof deck having a floor area of 690 square meters.

Ma. Charina S. Garcia, the president and CEO of CCI, ended the event with a speech noting that the development is more than just an architectural building; it is a representation of good relationships. Amiya Raya’s clubhouse is

MA. CHARINA S. GARCIA, CCI president; Jose Dalida; Mary Ann Yangco; Jun Cristi; Angela Cristi; Arch.

Lorenzo Tenorio; Teddy Salud; Gilbert Garcia; Paul Garia; and Jeanette S. Tan, president and CEO of Land Infrastructure something that brings people together.

Amiya Raya, which means “delightful views” to the Hindus, is a 36-hectare master-planned residential community located in San Mateo, Rizal. The infrastructure is designed to bring homeowners closer to nature and away from the hustle and bustle of city life.

The property offers a modern Asian

design and 360-degree outstanding views of the metropolitan skyline, including Laguna de Bay, La Mesa Dam and even the Manila Bay sunset. Amiya Raya also boasts of its own 11-hectare nature park with its natural springs and waterfall left untouched that delivers a balance of recreation, therapy and conservation.

sMirror

Wednesday, May 22, 2019 E3

6 things to help boost productivity in the office

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HE average person spends a third of their lives in the office so it makes sense for employers to design the ideal working space. Studies have revealed that small changes like remote work and scheduled breaks have an effect on productivity, which leads to the company’s success.

Here are other things employers can do to keep a healthy and happy work force:

1. Green space

HAVING plants in the office is not just decorative; a study shows that a greener workplace results in a 26 percent boost in cognition and 30 percent fewer sickness-related absences. Most important, employees are 15 percent more effective in a plant-filled space. Just don’t forget to water them regularly!

2. Neighboring establishments

EMPLOYEES who get frequent breaks tend to be more productive than those who spend most of their time at their desks. Having coffee shops, restaurants, and other leisure areas nearby help workers take a few minutes off to decompress and regroup. These short breaks are even found to spark creativity, which may help in dealing with mental block.

3. Nearby transport terminals

A STUDY shows that the average Filipino spends 16 days a year stuck in traffic. This means wasted opportunities, time and money. That translates to about P100,000 in lost productivity. While it’s hard to quickly solve the problem of traffic in the Philippines, transport terminals within reach from offices can help cut on travel time.

4. Natural lighting

POOR lighting has been found to affect mood and the employee’s ability to focus. To remedy that, a good amount of natural light can increase the quality of life and productivity. It can also help with depression. If natural light is not possible, cool lighting may be able to boost work output.

5. Bike racks

REGULAR physical activity helps in faster learning, improved concentration, sharper memory and

enhanced creativity. All these help employees become more efficient in the office. Some workers may not have the chance to maintain an exercise routine, but riding a bicycle to work can be an easy yet high-impact workout. Offices can support this by adding bike racks or gyms in the building.

6. Shower rooms

THE average working citizen commutes to work on a daily basis whether via motorbike, public transportation or by foot. With our tropical climate, it is inevitable that some may find going to work unpleasant because of the discomfort caused by the heat. A space to freshen up, like shower rooms, makes workers’ travel more tolerable and boosts their motivation to report to work.

JEG Development Corp. (JDC) believes that a well-designed space is conducive for sustainability and wellness. Take for example the JEG Tower, the company’s ongoing project that will soon become the crowning jewel in the Cebu skyline. It is one of the few buildings in the city to be recognized with a pre-certified Silver rating by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, the most reliable green building rating system in the world. LEED buildings do not only save resources but also cost less to operate, and help boost employee productivity and retention.

To promote the ideal workspace, JDC developed JEG Tower with maximum views and natural lighting, green spaces, a roofdeck garden, bike racks, shower rooms and a gym. It is also within walking distance from establishments and transport terminals. All these serve to highlight JDC’s message of “Bringing Work to Life.”

JEG Tower is a collaboration between JDC One Acacia Corp., KMC Savills, Arcadis Philippines and Casas + Architects.

GREEN space

WASHROOM

NEIGHBORING establishment

NEARBY transport

SHARED roofdeck

NATURAL lighting

More than just an office space

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OMMON Ground, a premier coworking space in Southeast Asia, is further expanding its footprint in the Philippines with the opening of its third hub in the posh neighborhood of Rockwell, Makati City.

The Malaysia-based workspace operator takes communal offices to the next level in line with today’s growing need for telecommuting. Kicking off last 2018 with its first two locations in Arthaland Tower in Bonifacio Global City and IBP Tower in Ortigas, the newest facility in 8 Rockwell is poised to bring a superior and flexible value proposition to benefit freelancers, start-ups, and other businesses from various industries.

Because #AmbitionLivesHere, Common Ground is the ideal partner for almost any workspace needs. Apart from the usual desk rentals, its stylish interiors and versatile amenities are also suitable for corporate events, photo shoots and different functions. Moreover, its accessible location in the heart of Rockwell Center is near topnotch retail, dining, and other local establishments, making everything within an arm’s reach.

“At Common Ground, we believe the office should be more than just a place to work. As a member, you’ll become part of

a wider network of businesses from a diverse range of industries and can collaborate with our partners and community,” said Lucia Gutierrez, Common Ground’s expansion manager.

Common Ground seeks to build a community of like-minded individuals that promotes partnerships, business opportunities and work-life balance. Members can use the portal called Ambition Engine that enables them to network, reserve slots, attend parties, programs and enjoy exclusive perks from top lifestyle, travel, and wellness brands.

Hence, members are not just getting a workstation and a cup of coffee, but they are taken care of to help them succeed.

The 8 Rockwell hub also features firstgrade amenities, such as business-class Internet, printers, fully stocked pantries and daily cleaning services. It also offers administrative support for core services from legal to insurance to help members focus on meeting their business while Common Ground helps in handling the rest.

To date, Common Ground plans to put up more venues in the Philippines. It is optimistic to partner with brands from various industries, landlords, and property owners for workspace needs, service improvement and to beef up its expansion efforts.

Entrepreneur BusinessMirror

E4 Wednesday, May 22, 2019 • Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Young entrep bags exclusive distributorship deal for Vital Dome beauty, wellness product in PHL

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By Rizal Raoul S. Reyes

@brownindio

NTREPRENEURS are generally known to be the trailblazers in their field and take the road less traveled. They’re often not in a rush as far as making critical decisions are concerned and take the necessary preparations and steps before taking that big leap.

As far as I3 Chief Executive Officer and Chief Innovator Katherine Alejar is concerned, her network in the corporate sector has considerably inspired and gave her the idea of expanding her business horizons.

“Five years ago, I established I3 because I felt my network was getting bigger and wider,” Alejar told the BusinessMirror in a recent interview. I3 stands for innovate, initiate and integrate.

“Another motivation for me was I wanted to have a higher in-

come,” she added.

Being in the sales business for 19 years, Alejar was confident that she can hurdle the new challenges in her endeavor.

Two months ago, Alejar entered an unfamiliar territory—the health and beauty business. She applied to be the exclusive distributor of Vital Dome in the Philippines. After passing several screenings, she was given the go signal to market the Frenchdeveloped technology in the country.

Alejar found out it was a challenge because Filipinos are a bit hard to please, especially so that the product is quite new in the local market.

Vital Dome, founded and manufactured in France by Alexandra Gavsevitch and Eric Fauchon, is an advanced infra-therapy ecosystem machine that uses pure far infrared to regenerate the body from within and without Fauchon and Gavsevitch—both internationally known in the Naturopathy, and Health and Wellness industry—realize that skin body toxins are the real cause of health concerns so they looked into a more effective and natural detoxification process.

One Vital Dome session lasts up to 40 minutes and each session has 36 treatment programs that are personalized and tailored to an individual’s specific needs.

“There is no risk of claustrophobia during treatments because you will be free to stretch or move a little and the heat envelops the entire body

It would be a really good idea for gyms, sports clinics, dermatology clinics, hospitals, salons, saunas and spas to have at least one Vital Dome. Remember, the heat of the far infrared can increase the production of endorphins or the socalled happy hormones so people who do it regularly are happier, healthier people who do not only feel good but also look good.”—Alejar through its four-heated zones focusing on the back, chest, legs and feet, making it very safe,” assured Alejar.

Right now, Alejar is trying to convince Filipinos they can benefit from the most advanced and most natural beauty and wellness maintenance machine that uses the far infrared (a vital radiation of the sun), which is the ultimate, most natural, and essential factor for body rejuvenation and healing.

“In this busy and stress-filled world,” Alejar pointed out, “people who bear heavy workloads but who want to look and feel good and lose weight, and those who want to boost their health and well-being are potential customers in the sessions in the Vital Dome. So, that’s

practically everyone,” Alejar said.

Alejar is also targeting athletic teams and sports enthusiasts for Vital Dome to improve their physical and mental abilities, better fatigue management, and oxygenation of muscles for a faster and more effective recovery.

“It would be a really good idea for gyms, sports clinics, dermatology clinics, hospitals, salons, saunas and spas to have at least one Vital Dome. Remember, the heat of the far infrared can increase the production of endorphins or the so-called happy hormones so people who do it regularly are happier, healthier people who do not only feel good but also look good,” Alejar concluded.

Entrepreneurship Lawyer dad secures kids’ future, retirement goals with c-store franchise program for poor launched in SoCot F

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ENERAL SANTOS CITY—The provincial government of South Cotabato has started the full implementation of its enhanced livelihood for poor and marginalized communities, with initial funding of about P4.3 million.

Earl Madres, provincial coordinator of the Holding Opportunities for Productive Entrepreneurship or Hope program, said they have enlisted at least five community associations from parts of the province for its initial rollout.

Madres said the pilot beneficiaries have qualified to avail themselves of combined funding of about P1.25 million as start-up capital for their proposed community-based entrepreneurial projects.

“We are working on enrolling five more groups this second semester,” he said in a media forum.

The official said they are currently accepting applications and project proposals from community associations, which should be composed of 15 to 30 members.

He said the individual members should be at least 18 years old, residents of South Cotabato and classified as within or below the poverty threshold.

Under the program, he said, community groups may avail themselves of soft loans from the provincial government to fund the rollout of their entrepreneurial projects.

For the first level, Madres said the qualified associations with 30 members may get seed funds of as much as P300,000 or least P10,000 per individual, with 50 percent to be released in cash and 50 percent in the form of goods or material inputs.

Successful groups may reapply for the program’s second level and receive additional funding equivalent to P15,000 per member, he said.

“The beneficiary-groups are given two years to pay the loan amount without collateral or interest,” Madres said.

The Hope program, which was established in June last year through an executive order issued by Gov. Daisy Avance-Fuentes, replaced the Self-Employment Assistance-Kaunlaran or SEA-K program introduced by the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

It adopted and enhanced the SEA-K program components, among them organizing prospective beneficiaries into community-based associations and providing them entrepreneurial skills training. PNA

OR every responsible parent, the goal is nothing less than creating a bright future for the children. For Atty. Reynato Alvero Estrellado, he began this by wisely investing on various business opportunities—including a string of 7-Eleven c-store franchises—that not only successfully let him reap the many rewards of a well-deserved retirement but also a great legacy that continuously provides inspiration and financial security for his loved ones.

Passionate pioneer

ESTRELLADO, a former litigation lawyer for more than 20 years, is regarded as a smart businessman. His entrepreneurial interests include running a trucking business and being a hotel owner.

This passion to explore investment opportunities coupled by his accumulated experience in managing diverse businesses sparked his decision to venture into franchising.

“He wanted to expand his horizons in the business field in San Pablo City and wanted to pioneer a business that will cater to the San Pableños, in the most affordable, effective yet good investment returns. His store in San Pablo, Laguna, was the lone branch in the city and he wanted to extend the services to the rest of the area, narrated 34-year-old Raymond V. Estrellado, eldest son of Reynato who oversees the overall management and operations of all stores.

Estrellado’s first 7-Eleven store opened at M. Leonor Street corner Maharlika Highway San Pablo City in July 2004.

“We chose 7-Eleven over the others because we wanted to expand convenience in our province. It serves as a proof of innovation and modernization in the locality. We wanted to be the front-bearer in the business here in San Pablo with an effective investment,” recalled Raymond.

Currently, Reynato’s nine c-stores in Laguna are assumed by Estrellado’s children: Raymond, Antonette, M.D. and Robert.

Next-generation entreps

KEEPING the entrepreneurial spirit alive is Raymond. Himself a savvy businessman, Raymond was an operations manager in an exportation business before he started managing their 7-Eleven store in 2006. He also has a small business engaged in print ad and marketing supplies.

Managing the c-store for more than 10 years, according to Raymond, pre-

REYNATO ESTRELLADO (third from left) and wife Eufemia (second from left), with their children Robert (left), Antonette (second from right) and Raymond (right).

pared him to even bigger challenges as well as trained him to become comprehensively ready to any predicaments the store has to face in the future.

“The business taught me to have a quick mind in decision-making but developed me most to have an open mind and better understanding of my colleagues and staff.

They also became part of my family, which I gave my trust and full confidence,” he said.

As to what kept the franchised 7-Eleven c-stores successful to this day, Raymond said it’s because of the same vision and passion that they share with their parents. “The dedication that we witnessed from our parents serves as a motivation to continue what they’ve started. Also the tenets of giving value and importance to our employees. They are the heart of the business that keep the operations running and providing excellent customer service and convenience,” he added.

Raymond added that the family is pleased and secured with their c-store investment. “Yes, there is rapid return

of investment and we did not expect it to be that quick at first. The business became stable sooner than we expected,” he said.

“Our parents’ story of success taught us to dream high, and work our way to reach the top. The possibilities are endless. We were brought up to grab every opportunity that comes our way. We try to epitomize every word of wisdom and continue to apply it in our everyday work.

I also extend these to our employees to motivate and inspire them in their everyday lives,” Raymond stressed.

Looking back, Raymond said his parents’ decision to invest in 7-Eleven was indeed a right decision as the business grew in less than five years. “It did not only help us financially, but it helped the city of San Pablo and its population into modern convenience and customer service,” he remarked.

Last, as he leads the future of his father’s store legacy to greater heights in the years to come, Raymond is inspired more than ever to serve as positive role

model for their family’s “next generation” of young entrepreneurs.

“I get to share the experience with my family especially with my children. It became a legacy that I can pass on to my children,” he concluded.

With demonstrated global success, 7-Eleven’s franchise package offers suitable franchise partners a unique opportunity to benefit from a proven system and ongoing support. Partners are lent with assistance especially at the first crucial stages of operational transition, from supervising, basic HR coaching, to sales monitoring. The package is offered via Regular New Store Franchise (open a new 7-Eleven store) or Property Conversion (convert an established business or properties into a 7-Eleven franchise).

For more details on 7-Eleven’s franchise opportunity offerings, call (02) 7269968, 0920-9508651, 0917-8711686, e-mail franchising@7-eleven.com.ph or visit www.7-eleven.com.ph.