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Pinnacle study shows robust real-estate inventory expansion in Q1

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Still no way but up for property sector

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By Roderick L. Abad | Contributor

HERE’S still no way but up for the property industry, as it continues its growth trajectory, along with all the macrofundamentals, pointing to the country’s strong economy, according to Pinnacle Real Estate Market Insight report for the first quarter of 2017.

The study reveals that the office market is constantly bolstered by the business-process outsourcing (BPO) sector that keeps on taking up spaces, either for their expansion or new facility requirements, amid concerns over the protectionist policy of US President Donald J. Trump.

“Ultimately, business decision to outsource service may be more efficient as compared to outsourcing manufacturing that may face additional tax backlash from the

US federal government,” said Jojo Salas, director of research and consulting at Pinnacle Real Estate Consulting Services Inc. “The consensus is that when US companies outsource the service component, the Philippines remains to be on top of their list.”

Because of the ever-increasing population, demand for housing and residential units is not being met, as that of commercial-retail and hotel that have been underserved, as well. Likewise, manufac-

turers here and abroad have been searching for suitable industrial spaces, as well, to set up plants or production sites.

“With this kind of growth, a lot of companies will continue to grow to serve these various realestate demands,” he said.

Office

THE Information Technology-Business Process Association of the Philippines (IT-BPAP) Roadmap 2022

1.8M

The projected headcount of BPO employees in the next five years, indicating strong demand for office spaces

Continued on A2

Cleaning up MRT 3 mess

DOTr admits inadequacy to run, manage the country’s busiest, but breakdown-prone, railway system

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or half-a-million Filipinos using the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT 3) daily, the grandiose vision and impressive features of the Duterte administration’s Build-Build-Build program mean little, until they can see a real solution of their most basic problem: When will they see an end to the long queues and frequent breakdowns of the trains? And the more fundamental question: Will the government ever be able to untangle a system that right now is in total disarray?

The gravity of the MRT 3 crisis was hammered home at last Tuesday’s Senate Public Services Committee hearing, when a ranking Department of Transportation (DOTr) official admitted to senators the government is illequipped to run the MRT 3, and

suggested turning over management to the Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA).

The DOTr’s exasperation is understandable, given the many years its predecessor, the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC), especially during the terms of former secretaries Manuel A. Roxas II and Joseph Emilio A. Abaya, miserably failed to improve the MRT 3 services decisively.

Sen. Grace Poe, chairman of the Public Services Committee, summed up the still-unresolved issues needing resolution at MRT 3: 1) Compel the maintenance provider Busan Railways Inc. (Buri) to ensure zero, or the most minimal breakdowns or glitches; 2) Getting on stream the new trains from Dalian; 3) Exacting accountability from all those responsible for the

ed davad

By Butch Fernandez

See “MRT,” A2

PESO exchange rates n US 49.8750

n japan 0.4460 n UK 64.5432 n HK 6.4015 n CHINA 7.2593 n singapore 35.9771 n australia 37.1669 n EU 55.9199 n SAUDI arabia 13.3004

Source: BSP (26 May 2017 )

NewsSunday BusinessMirror

A2 Sunday, May 28, 2017

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Still no way but up for property sector Continued from A1

shows that there are 1.2 million people employed in the BPO industry at present, and this headcount is anticipated to grow to 1.8 million in the next five years.

Since every additional BPO employee translates to basically a need for 3 square meters of work places throughout the country, BPOs’ demand for office space continues to be strong, resulting in high occupancy levels and stable rents.

What’s also giving a boost to this real-estate segment is the preselling activity that remains vibrant.

Based on the Pinnacle report, all of the central business districts (CBDs) in Metro Manila are estimated to have an inventory of 8 million sq m of Grade A office buildings or better. Makati has a handful of them.

While the office stocks for Grade A and Prime Grade A are high, Salas noted that overall vacancy across these financial hubs is approximately 2 percent, even with the operation of new buildings.

“Most of the buildings ‘coming online’ are preleased, with limited office space available for lease,” he said.

Landlords continue to command the office market. Alongside the very high occupancy are the increasing rents.

Even if locators prefer the Bonifacio Global City (BGC) and Makati CBDs, rent-conscious ones, especially for their secondary offices and expansions, don’t mind going to other major trade centers for the lower rent. What’s also driving them to go there is their desire to tap the labor market in a different area.

Rents in Makati went up,

where the weighted average rate per month in Premium Grade A buildings is P1,400 per sq m; Grade A buildings, P930 per sq m; and Grade B and C buildings, P720 per sq m. New supply of office buildings opened doors these past months to cater to the rising demand.

While the take-up is strong, according to the executive, overall rents in other CBDs are generally unchanged in the last quarter.

On a monthly basis, the weighted average lease fee in BGC is P930 per sq m; Ortigas (for Grade A office buildings), P660 per sq m (stable); Alabang, P670 per sq m (unchanged); Bay Area, P680 per sq m (slight uptick); Quezon City, P700 per sq m (slight increase).

Salas cited that selling of office spaces is also on a steady rise, with Makati and BGC leading the pack, with prices of new buildings reaching over P200,000 per sq m.

“Makati CBD has a sizable number of not-so-new buildings that are attractive to buyers,” he said.

Premium Grade A towers are generating capital values of P180,000 per sq m, while Makati Grade A buildings average P120,000 per sq m.

Residential

REQUIREMENTS for housing, in general, has been steady, the Pinnacle study revealed. Because of this, metro fringe areas are now explored to serve this demand, Salas said. This is evident in the footprint expansion of major developers and local players building up various dwelling projects outside of Metro Manila.

The same situation in the residential market could be attributed also to

competitive pricing scheme and delays in turning over new buildings due to shortage in skilled workers.

“Even in construction, some developers have experienced lack of skilled laborers in the past three quarters to fast-track construction and delivery of real-estate projects,” said the director of research and consulting at Pinnacle. “[So] investment-buyers are now testing the rental market.”

Per the study’s estimates, housing units in the metropolis from January to March 2017 aggregated to 210,000. Of the condominium developments in Metro Manila, 44 percent of which would be high end (priced over P7 million per unit); 37 percent, middle midmarket; and 19 percent, lower midmarket (priced less than P3 million each unit).

The lower and economic segments are seen to grow in the coming quarters since the approval of vertical socialized housing and increase of economic housing price ceiling to P1.7 million.

Still, Makati and BGC dominate the high-end residential products, especially those units for leasing, on the back of the hiked concentration of expatriates and local executives.

Luxury condominium units command the highest lease rates that go at about P1,000 per sq m a month, or P300,000 for big units of 300 sq m. Some units in Rockwell, Makati and BGC even hit the P1,100 per sq m level.

Typically, the rental range for luxury two-bedroom and threebedroom units is between P120,000 and P250,000 depending on the size, location and furnishing. For the lux-

ury and high-end segment, there are limited choices for lease.

Retail

THE “malling” phenomenon apparently exists, as various shopping establishments continue to pop up across the country, not to mention the influx of foreign retail brands penetrating the domestic market, which eventually eat up mall spaces for their shops.

The stable demand for this real-estate segment, likewise, comes from further expansion of the big players, the study indicated. Given these factors, Salas emphasized the obvious proliferation of various lease channels.

“Top commercial-retail developers are ever-increasing their retail platforms and products,” he said.

Pinnacle Research monitored that the SM Group is operating 60 shopping malls nationwide for a total of 7.7 million sq m, and seven in China, with 1.3 million sq m gross floor area.

The Gokongwei-led Robinsons Group, on the other hand, has 42 malls. Meanwhile, the Cosco/Puregold Group operates 329 stores all over the country, comprising of 277 Puregold stores (mixed sizes), 12 S&R membership shopping warehouse, 23 S&R New York Style QSR, nine NE Bodega Supermarkets and eight Budgetlane Supermarkets.

The smaller platforms, like SM Hypermarket, Savemore, Robinsons Superstores, convenience stores and many more, are also mushrooming elsewhere.

Salas said commercial-mall rents have remained very stable— with combined average rate at P1,200 per sq m a month—and this property segment is still a landlord’s game.

Hotel, gaming markets

PINNACLE observed that the excitement goes on for hotel and gaming, as the supply and attraction diversify.

All these boil down to the increasing tourist arrivals and tourist spending in the country, according to Salas.

Based on data from the Department of Tourism (DOT), visitor arrivals last year totaled 5.97 million, slightly missing the target of 6 million tourists. However, this is 11.31 percent above 2015 figures.

Revenue-wise per visitor receipts, tourism activities for 2016 generated earnings of P230.13 billon, or 1.11 percent higher than

MRT… Continued from A1

MRT 3 mess through the years.

“First, we saw many deficiencies on the part of the maintenance provider Buri,” Poe told reporters after the hearing. “We also learned that the system is really flawed from the start, so the DOTr said even if it would end the contract with Buri, it does not mean it fix the problem immediately.”

The senator affirmed findings that the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) failed to thoroughly review details of the maintenance contract with the maintenance provider. “We saw that the primary culprit here was the failure of the former BAC to do proper research and review. They reviewed the contract. They came here not even remembering the details of the contract and understanding them.

There was no remorse on their part.

They did not do their job properly.”

Poe also cited former MRT 3 General Manager Al Vitangcol’s testimony that he repeatedly alerted top DOTC officials under its then secretary and losing presidential aspirant in the 2016 elections Roxas on the need to get a new maintenance provider, but got no reply. “ Vitangcol sent a letter to Roxas reminding that the bidding should be arranged already for the maintenance provider because the conctract with Sumitomo already

P227.62 billion posted a year ago.

The 6-million mark is still targeted this year.

From January to February 2017, a total of 1,210,817 visitors arrived in the Philippines, representing a surge of 10.88 percent, from the accumulated 1,091,983 arrivals for the same period last year.

In terms of revenue, the first two-month period visitors generated an amount of P40.08 billion this year against 2016’s P49.43 billion, or a decline of 18.92 percent.

“This means that while there is an increase of almost 11 percent in arrivals, they are spending less, at least during the first two months of the year,” Salas explained.

The Market Insight report estimated that there are over 20,000 deluxe hotel rooms in Metro Manila. This is boosted by the entry of more foreign brands, like the recent opening of Conrad Hotel in the SM Mall of Asia complex operated by the Hilton Group, and The Okada Manila of the Tiger Resort, Leisure and Entertainment Inc.

What’s more, leading developers are strengthening their local brands, whether they have foreign brand partners, the study added. The Robinsons Land Group, for instance, has been growing its Go Hotel operations, while Ayala Land Group is rolling out its Seda brand.

The Vista Land Group is set to open six hotels under the Mella brand. Second-tier Eurotower Group is, likewise, ramping up its operations of the Eurotel and Sogo branches, as well as integrating residential condominium project in the hotel mix like the Vivaldi Cubao in Araneta Center.

Following the recent hosting of the Asean official meetings, the government has been focused on generating arrivals by hosting the remaining legs of this regional event marking the 50th anniversary of the Asean, as well as other international happenings, like the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.

In addition, the DOT and its attached agency, the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority, have been promoting the country’s tourism and ancillary infrastructure.

Salas expects that more hotel, gaming and leisure products will be offered across the Philippines now that the Bureau of Internal Revenue’s Revenue Regulations 7-2016 is implemented, which spells out the fiscal incentives that can be given to firms operating in-

expired. But this was not acted upon.”

Poe lamented that DOTC decision makers concerned did not even bother to address the issue.

The senator also noted testimony that only one contractor “connected” with the previous Aquino administration always won the contract with the DOTC. “Now it is clearer that there is really one person connected with the previous administration that seemed to have always won the contracts,” said Poe, pointing to businessman Marlo de la Cruz, who is alleged to have connections with ranking Liberal Party (LP) stalwarts.

Poe lamented that de la Cruz opted to make himself scarce and ignored Senate committee invitation to testify and give his side on the MRT 3 issues. He has reportedly gone into hiding, so the Senate subpoena was not served to him.

The senator, however, clarified that the committee will not make premature conclusions and will still give the missing witness a chance to be heard at the next Senate hearing.

“We want to get the whole picture.”

She also recalled testimonies

by Vitangcol and another MRT 3 contractor Roehl Bacar of Comm Builder and Technology Phils (CB&T) that de la Cruz is known to have “close ties” with LP stalwarts, an allegation that Poe said de la Cruz himself can clarify by simply showing up at the hearing.

At the same time, the senator said the committee is also

side tourism enterprise zones under the Tourism Act of 2009.

Industrial

AS foreign manufacturers continue to keep tab on the Philippines where they will put up factories, their local counterparts also seek more spaces for their expansion.

Eventually, this trend leads to pent up demand for industrial sites, the Pinnacle study revealed.

The Market Insight research monitored an increase in the number of operating economic zones as reported by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) web site.

At present, there are 358 operating economic zones nationwide. These include 73 manufacturing economic zones (MEZ), 243 information technology parks/centers (ITP/C), 21 agroindustrial economic zones (AIEZ), 19 tourism economic zones (TEZ) and two medical tourism parks/centers, or a total of 358 economic zones.

The number of economic zones being developed remains 145, of which 29 are MEZ; 104, ITP/C; six, AIEZ; and six, TEZ.

Since industrial spaces are typically sprawling, average lease on land of selected zones ranges between P55 per sq m to P70 per sq m per month, while average rent of select factory spaces is P190 per sq m a month.

Bullish expectation

SALAS sees the “big guys” will always optimize their competitive edge to keep their luster and remain relevant in this ever-vibrant real-estate industry.

“With increasing demand for office, residential, commercial-retail, hotel and industrial products, real-estate developers are forecasting growth and there are various ways of achieving that,” he said.

Metro Manila is still the top market, alongside Metro Cebu. There is also strong drive for efficiency of office, mall and hotel operations.

“What is interesting to note is that even the top developers are not satisfied in just doing ‘more of the same’, but are bold enough to offer new products and product mix in the market,” Salas noted.

He added that small- and medium-size real-estate firms have high hopes to fill up gaps in the market, provided they do their due diligence and avoid competing head to head with the giants.

“In short, there is an opportunity for everyone to shine under the sun,” he stressed. seriously considering an invitation for former Transportation Secretary Roxas and his successor Abaya to give the LP leaders an opportunity to give their side following testimonies the MRT 3 mess emerged during their watch.

Poe said the committee will also summon Abaya again.

She vowed to submit a partial committee report, and expressed hope that her fellow senators in the panel would attend the next hearings.

The Senate chief prober of the MRT 3 mess indicated that the upcoming committee report will, likewise, recommend that erring DOTr officials be made answerable, if found to have committed violations.

But the utmost concern of the committee is the immediate adoption of remedial measures to ensure the safety of MRT 3 commuters.

Poe, however, dodged queries from reporters if Roxas is among the ranking DOTC officials likely to be cited for liability.

She intends to get further clarifications even as she recalled the testimony of Transportation Undersecretary Cesar Chaves about the MRT 3 trains braking system.

“I’m not saying it’s not safe. Chaves said there are three brake systems, so if one of them doesn’t work, there are two more. Their signaling system is still okay for now, but their consultant and engineer appears to be reluctant to answer, so I told the DOTr that it should now get a company that will certify the safety of the MRT 3.”

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Sunday, May 28, 2017

A3

China billionaire adds Proton, Lotus to expanding car empire C hinese billionaire Li Shufu is buying Malaysia’s unprofitable national carmaker Proton Holdings Bhd. pretty much for two reasons: access to 600 million consumers in Southeast Asia and the brand cachet of Lotus Cars.

Li ’s Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, which also owns the upscale Sweden-based Volvo Cars, announced on Wednesday it will buy 49.9 percent of Proton and a 51 percent stake in Lotus Cars. The two parties are still in talks about transaction price for the stake in Proton, said Syed Faisal Albar, group managing director of DRB-Hicom Bhd., which is selling the stake.

By investing in the Ma laysian auto g roup, Li is betting he’ l l gain an inroad into Southeast A sia, a reg ion w ith an ex panding middle class that the Chinese gover nment is a lso investing in as par t of its “Belt and Road ”

infrastructure-development initiative. Lotus Cars could complete Li’s ambition to create a portfolio of international brands at different price points. For Geely, Lotus would be a prestigious addition, “like Volkswagen has Porsche and Toyota has its Lexus,” according to Tian Yongqiu, an independent auto consultant who tracks Chinese carmaker acquisitions.

Under Proton, the British marque lacked the scale or investment needed to make it into a global sports brand, something that could change as part of a broader Volvo-Geely group. “Geely has almost finished the puzzle for the global market:

It has presence in Europe through Volvo, which can also go to the US. It must fill in the blank by breaking into Southeast Asia, which is dominated by Japanese small cars,” Tian said. “It’s hard for Geely to break into this market on its own. But with Proton’s factory and massive network, it can be a short cut.”

Light touch

Li started out making refrigerator parts and turned a bankrupt stateowned manufacturer into China’s biggest privately owned carmaker.

He cemented his reputation as a savvy dealmaker after he revived Volvo Cars in the face of widespread industry skepticism following its acquisition from Ford Motor Co. in 2010.

He managed the Gothenburgbased carmaker with a light touch and gave its vaunted engineering team the resources to invest in new models. At the same time, he lowered the Swedish manufacturer’s high costs by jointly developing vehicle underpinnings with Geely, while building a plant in lower-cost China for exports to markets, including the US.

Investors have sent shares of Hong Kong-traded unit Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd. up 58 percent this year, beating out Internet stalwart Tencent Holdings Ltd. as the best-performing stock on the Hang Seng Index. The 53-year-old has a net worth of about $4.8 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Producing and selling Geelybranded cars in Malaysia will create a new income stream for the Hong Kong-traded unit, said Gui Shengyue, CEO of Geely Automobile Holdings. “There are no sports car models under Geely and Volvo, so Lotus will help beef up Geely Group’s presence in the segment.”

Proton has two factories, including an underutilized plant in Tanjung Malim in Malaysia capable of making 150,000 vehicles a year that Geely could use to make its low-cost cars. Proton also has a ready-made sales network in Malaysia that Geely could use to sell its cars.

Malaysia will allow Geely to develop its right-hand-drive models, and potentially bring in Volvo Cars as incomes rise in the country, said

Tian, who estimates the country’s car-ownership rates are about a fifth that of China’s and as much as 40 times less than the US. Still, there’s a major difference between buying Volvo Cars and Proton, said Michael Dunne, president of Hong Kong-based consultancy Dunne Automotive.

“With Volvo he inherited a talented corps of automotive executives and strong leaders,” he said. “At Proton, Geely-Volvo will need to bring fresh energy and capabilities.”

Steady slide

At the high-water mark of sales in 1993, Proton accounted for 74 percent of new cars sold in Malaysia. In 2016, a decade after the government slashed tariffs on foreign-made vehicles as part of its participation in a Southeast Asian free-trade pact, the figure was 12.5 percent.

Lotus Cars has also f loundered under Proton management since being acquired for £51 million in 1996. The British sport-car icon behind such models as the Esprit sold just 339 cars in its home country last year, according to registration data from the Society of

Motor Manufacturers and Traders in London.

Things could still go south and “they could fall out on day one,” said Robin Zhu, auto analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein. “The auto OEM M& A space is filled with examples that have gone poorly.

I think a lot will hang on how involved the Malaysians want to be”.

At one point in the negotiation process, Li appeared to become so frustrated he publicly threatened to pull out. “ They keep changing their mind from day-to-day, I’m preparing to give it up,” Li told Bloomberg News in March in Beijing.

W hether that was a bargaining gambit designed to force DRBHicom to commit and stop shopping for better offers, or a genuine expression of exasperation, it appears to have worked. Li will now need to wring cost savings and integrate Proton into his GeelyVolvo setup.

“No matter the odds, best to never ever bet against Li Shufu,” Dunne said. “He has that golden touch, bundles of charm and incomparable tenacity.” Bloomberg News

A4

The World BusinessMirror

Sunday, May 28, 2017

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

Widodo orders in-depth probe into Indonesia suicide attacks

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Olivia Campbell’s mother Charlotte Campbell (center) and stepfather Paul Hodgson (foreground) pay tribute to the victims of the explosion outside Manchester Arena, at Saint Ann’s square after leading a bikers convoy from their home town of Bury in central Manchester, England, on Thursday. The police confirmed that over 20 people were killed in an explosion following an Ariana Grande concert at the venue late Monday evening. AP/Rui Vieira

Major world events this week

A suicide bomber killed 22 people in Manchester, Britain’s third-largest city.

More than 60 were injured. It was the country’s bloodiest terror attack since 2005. The bomb was detonated in the foyer of a venue staging a pop concert.

Children were among the victims. The police arrested several people, and think that the bomber was part of a jihadist network.

The threat level from terrorism was raised to “critical ”, the first time it has reached this highest category since 2007.

Britain’s Conservative Party backed away from the so-called dementia tax.

The Tories reversed the headline policy, a shake-up in social care, less than a week after publishing the proposal in their election manifesto. Fearing a backlash from older voters after it was tagged “the dementia tax”, Prime Minister Theresa May sought to “clarify” the policy, but her U-turn was clear. The situation rekindled memories of the “ bedroom tax”, a 2012 welfare-reform proposal, which was also felled by a catchy nickname.

Pedro Sánchez was unexpectedly reelected leader of Spain’s Socialist Party.

S even m o nt h s a f t e r b e i n g ousted by h is ow n members, Sá nc hez was reelected as leader of Spa in’s ma in opposit ion pa r t y. He must now reinv igo rate a pa r t y t hat has lost a lmost ha l f its suppor t to t he fa r-lef t Podemos.

More than 20 artists decided to boycott the National Festival of Polish Song in Opole.

The boycott followed reports that a singer had been barred from appearing because she had taken part in protests against the government. The event, one of Poland’s top music festivals, now faces cancellation for the first time since 1982, when the country languished under communist-imposed martial law.

President Hassan Rouhani of Iran, a moderate reformist, was reelected.

Rouhani received a solid 57 percent of the vote. Only candidates approved by a committee of 12 Islamic clerics were permitted to run, however.

Authorities in Bahrain broke up a sit-in by supporters of a prominent Shia cleric.

Five people were killed, the government reported, and 286 were arrested.

Eight Kenyan security officers were killed near the border with Somalia.

T he veh ic les i n wh ic h t he y were traveling detonated explosive dev ices. A l Shabab, a Soma li jihadist group, claimed responsibilit y.

Tedros Adhanom was elected as the new head of the World Health Organization.

A former health minister from Ethiopia, he is the first African to hold the post.

The Democratic Republic of Congo to test an Ebola vaccine.

The republic is working to contain an outbreak that, so far, has killed four people. Around 40 people are suspected to have been infected by the virus.

President Donald J. Trump made his first trip abroad as president.

He received a warm welcome in Saudi Arabia, where he strongly condemned Iran, the Saud is’ arch-rival in the region, and signed a $110-billion arms deal.

Israel a lso embraced Tr ump, seeing his visit as a reset in relations following a troubled eight years under President Barack Obama. Trump’s whirlwind tour took him to the Vatican to meet the pope and on to Brussels for talks with the European Union and North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

James Comey agreed to testify before Congress.

The former Image result for Federa l Bureau of Investigation director, whose sacking by President Donald J. Trump has sparked a political firestorm, w ill give his testimony after meeting Rober t Muel ler, the special counsel investigating alleged links between the Trump campaign and Russia.

However. for mer Nat iona l Security Adviser Michael Flynn invoked the Fifth Amendment and declined to appear before a Senate committee.

A congressional election in Montana took an unexpectedly violent turn.

Greg Gianforte, the Republican candidate for the state’s sole seat in the House of Representatives, allegedly “ body-slammed” a journalist who had asked him a question about health care.

Gianforte has been charged with a misdemeanor assault.

A landslide buried a swathe of California’s scenic Pacific Coast Highway along Big Sur.

A 12-mile section of the road will be closed for months.

Venezuela’s chief prosecutor said 55 people died in the latest antigovernment protests.

About half were killed by government forces. That exceeds the 43 who died in a wave of protests in 2014. One man was set on fire.

President Michel Temer of Brazil wants to be investigated.

Temer dropped his request for the Supreme Court to suspend an investigation into allegations that he had obstructed justice.

The inquiry is based in part on a tape recording in which the president appears to endorse the payment of hush money to a politician serving jail time. His lawyers say they want the investigation to continue to clear his name.

Meanwhile federal troops were

deployed to Brasília, the capital, after protesters demanding Temer’s resignation set fire to a government building.

Lenín Moreno was sworn in as Ecuador’s president.

He promised to follow the socialist path of his predecessor, President Rafael Correa, but also to engage more with the private sector.

President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines declared martial law in Mindanao.

The southern island has been in chaos since clashes between Isl a m ist sepa rat ists a nd t he army. The militants took over schools and burned a church in the city of Marawi. Duterte said they also had beheaded a local police chief.

North Korea conducted its second missile test within a week.

The Pukguksong-2 missile f lew 310 miles before falling into the Pacific.

Two gay men each received 83 lashes of the cane in Indonesia.

The punishment was inflicted in Aceh, a semi-autonomous province that enforces Islamic law.

It was the first time the punishment had been leveled against homosexuals in the province, though people previously have been caned for drinking alcohol and gambling. A cheering crowd watched the beatings.

Taiwan’s constitutional court ruled in favor of same-sex marriage.

Supporters of gay rights hailed the decision, in which the court ruled that there was “no rational basis” for same-sex marriage to be banned. The legislature has two years either to legalize gay marriage or to introduce civil partnerships. If it does neither, gay couples will be able to wed under the court’s ruling.

The New York Times News Service

AKARTA, Indonesia—Indonesia’s president ordered a thorough investigation on Thursday of twin suicide bombings that targeted police, killing three officers, in the deadliest attack by suspected militants in the capital in a year.

The bombings on Wednesday night also injured six other police officers and five civilians.

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo said he ordered the police to “thoroughly investigate the networks of the perpetrators and hunt them to the roots.” He spoke from his hometown of Solo in Central Java province. Muslim-majority Indonesia has carried out a sustained crackdown on militants since the 2002 Bali bombings by al-Qaeda-affiliated radicals that killed 202 people. A new threat has emerged in the past several years from Islamic State (IS) group sympathizers.

Vice National Police Chief Syafruddin, who uses one name, said an initial investigation into Wednesday’s blast showed there were two explosions by two suicide bombers near a bus terminal, where police were providing security for a parade.

The police said an antiterror squad immediately raided two houses believed to be owned by the perpetrators in neighboring provinces of Banten and West Java.

The police have identified the bombers as Ichwanul Nurul Salam, 40, and Ahmad Sukri, 32, both from West Java province, said Col. Arif Makhfudiharto, chief of the West Java antiterror squad.

“Police have taken their relatives for questioning and DNA tests,” Makhfudiharto told The Associated Press.

National Police Spokesman Setyo Wasisto said one the two explosions occurred at a bus shelter while another struck near a parking lot about 10 meters away. He said initial investigations indicated the bombs were made out of pressure cookers and were carried in backpacks. He added that nails, buckshot and aluminum flakes found at the scene indicated that the bombs were similar to a pressure cooker bomb that exploded in Bandung in February.

The attack was the deadliest in Jakarta since a suicide and gun strike in January 2016 that left

four civilians and four assailants dead. Authorities have disrupted a number of other planned attacks since.

In February the police fatally shot a suspected militant in the West Java capital of Bandung after his bomb exploded in a vacant lot and he fled into a municipal building and set it alight. The police identified him as a member of Jemaah Anshorut Daulah, a network of almost two dozen Indonesian extremist groups that formed in 2015 and pledges allegiance to IS group leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. JAD has been linked to numerous plots in Indonesia, including the 2016 Jakarta attack.

In March police shot dead a suspected JAD member and wounded another as they tried to escape a raid. At least six other militants were arrested, including some accused of trying to establish a jihadist training camp in eastern Indonesia and suspected of having links with Abu Sayyaf militants in the southern Philippines.

Last month the police said they arrested three suspected militants who were accused of planning to attack a police station in East Java.

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull told his Parliament on Thursday he had phoned Jokowi to “offer our condolences and our resolute support to Indonesia as we condemn the murderous terrorist attack on civilians and police in Jakarta last night”.

“While we mourn, we must learn from these events as we do and sharpen our resolve to defeat the terrorists abroad and at home,” said Turnbull, referring also to the suicide bombing at the Manchester Arena in Britain that killed 22 this week.

Australia’s opposition leader Bill Shorten condemned the Jakarta attacks as “absolutely despicable”. He told Parliament the suicide bombings only days before the holy month of Ramadan showed that “terrorists have no respect for faith or creed or the background of any of their victims.”

Australia and Indonesia plan to jointly host an Asia-Pacific summit in August aimed at coordinating against the security threat posed by homegrown Islamic militants returning from battlefields in Syria and Iraq. AP

Opec to send less oil to US

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he Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) is finally making the move that could help complete a mission that it’s failed so far: shipping less oil to the US, according to Sanford C. Bernstein. Exports from the Opec to America have declined by close to 1 million barrels a day since a peak at the end of March, Bernstein analysts including Neil Beveridge wrote in a May 25 report. The group, including top producer Saudi Arabia, understands that reducing cargoes to the US is the top priority if it’s to reach the goal of shrinking a global inventory glut, they said.

The Opec is curbing its supplies just as the US threatens to eat into the group’s market share in its traditional strongholds such as Asia, the world’s biggest oil consuming region. The group’s problems have also been compounded by a spike in shipments to developed nations at the end of last year, just before a six-month output cut deal with some allies including Russia went into effect in January. That means global inventories have increased rather than shrunk since the curbs were announced, according to Bernstein.

“While Opec has been slow to act so far, it finally looks like they are starting to deliver,” Beveridge wrote. Since April, “we have seen a noticeable reduction in exports of oil from Opec to OECD [Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development] countries, with a drop of close to 1 million barrels a day.

Importantly, most of the reduction in Opec exports to the OECD has been concentrated in reductions of crude exports to the US.” Opec and its allies are meeting in Vienna on Thursday to discuss prolonging their output curbs. Their goal is to reduce global inventories to or below the five-year average and revive prices from their worst crash in

a generation. Futures in New York traded up 0.8 percent at $51.77 a barrel by 2 p.m.

Singapore time. Brent in London rose 0.8 percent to $54.40, still more than 50 percent below its 2014 peak.

If Opec is to reduce US crude inventories back to normalized levels by the end of the year, stockpiles need to fall consistently by 5 million barrels per week for the next 30 weeks, Bernstein estimates. “This means a reduction in supply to the US of close to 1 million barrels a day,” it said in the report.

While Opec exports to the US have fallen by almost that volume since the end of March, according to Bernstein, America has been shipping more to the world, including Asia. As Middle East nations including Saudi Arabia bear the majority of the mandated output curbs, the regional benchmark Dubai crude has strengthened versus US West Texas Intermediate, making oil linked to WTI attractive to buyers.

US oil exports to China, the world’s biggest energy consumer, surged to 768,000 metric tons in April, giving it a market share in the Asian nation of 2.2 percent, compared with 0.1 percent a year ago, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. The Middle East’s market share, meanwhile, fell to 43 percent from 47 percent.

Exports from Saudi Arabia, which “matters most”, to developed nations have significantly fallen since the beginning of April, according to Bernstein. “Saudi has been able to reduce loadings to the US primarily though changes in its pricing policy, which arguably should have been more aggressive,” Beveridge wrote. “Since the start of the year Saudi has raised the price of its light crude grades to the US relative to Asian delivery.” Bloomberg News

Tourism&Entertainment BusinessMirror

Editor: Carla Mortel-Baricaua

Sunday, May 28, 2017 A5

Korea’s ancient past: A discovery in waiting

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By Carla Mortel-Baricana

atching Korean period dramas let you peek into the old Korea. For your next trip to the “Land of the Morning Calm”, care to step into its storied past?

WALK and pray your intentions at Bulguksa Temple.

Enchanting sights and sounds

The Dabotap and Seokgatap pagodas are made of granite stone.

In Gyochon village, visitors can stroll wearing the hanbok.

A Sculpture points at the eastern seacoast in Homigot Cape.

Gangseung, the ancient village protectors, are stationed in Shilla Millennium park.

Gyeongju City, in Gyeongsanbuk-do province, sits in the southeastern area of the Korean Peninsula. With natural landscapes and coastline, Gyeongju is abundant in cultural assets, traditional and modern, that locals visit in numbers while foreigner visitors slowly taking notice.

Gyeongju was the capital of the Silla Dynasty for 992 years (57 to 935 BC), the longest surviving kingdom in Korean history.

When the Silla Dynasty was overthrown, the new Koryo Dynasty was established.

Known for its brilliant history, culture and arts, Gyeongju has numerous historic sites, considered the hallmarks of the Silla Dynasty, in its “open air museum”.

As a “World Cultural Heritage City”, Gyeongju is also home to remarkable Buddhist art treasures in Korea. In the 6th century, Buddhism was introduced in the Silla Dynasty that unified the nation and strengthened the

royal authority, and its significant influence can easily be traced in the traditional customs, arts and culture of Gyeongju.

world and is also considered a masterpiece, showcasing the scientific and artistic excellence of the Korean Buddhism.

Koreans regularly visit temples seeking reprieve from the daily hassles of modern living and blessing from the heavens.

In a pilgrim like fashion, you are encouraged to walk, donate, and say your prayers when visiting these sites. For a more meaningful spiritual journey, you can even include in your itinerary a temple stay and live like a monk for a day, week, or month depending on your personal quest for balance and harmony.

Entering the Silla Kingdom

Touring in a ‘hanbok’

SEATED from left, Mayette Sagala-Delfin, HSMA Director for Program; director of sales and Marketing EMI Group of Hotels, Rose H. Libongco, Virtus Awards chairperson, Joy de Mesa, director of sales and marketing Novotel Manila, (standing) Christine Ann Urbanozo-Ibarreta, HSMA Secretary, director of sales and marketing, Golden Phoenix Hotel Manila, Margarita F. Munsayac, HSMA president, Vice President, sales and marketing, Maribago Bluewater Beach Resort; and Celeste Romualdo, HSMA director of membership, general manager Best Western Hotel La Corona Manila

To witness the cultural essence of the Silla Dynasty and the Korean Buddhist culture, do what the locals do and visit the Bulguksa Temple (774 BC) and the Seokguram Grotto, both registered as United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization World Cultural Heritage sites in 1995.

As a glorious symbol of the Buddhist culture of Korea, the Bulguksa Temple grounds are laden with national treasures, such as Daeungjeon Hall, Paradise Hall and the Dabotap and Seokgatap Pagodas. In particular, the temple is a fine example of the exquisite artistry of the Silla people.

The Seokguram Grotto, constructed in the Tohamsan Mountain of Gyeongju, is the only artificial grotto temple in the

You may have already tried on the traditional Korean costume, playfully fantasizing you’re someone from the old Korea. Next time, try walking around the historical sites in a hanbok and get a new sense of belonging to Korea’s glorious history.

Wearing a hanbok, your entrance to the Donggung (Palace of the Crown Prince) palace grounds can introduce you to the ancient kingdom of Silla. Established in the 19th year of the reign of King Munmu (679 BC), Donggung palace has many buildings, including the Imhaejon Hall. As a secondary palace site, history tells us that a Silla Dynasty prince used to welcome honored guests and hold banquets in the wooden palace.

Carefully constructed in the

nearby artificial pond called Wolji, the structure is flanked by three small islands in glossy waters that produce an almost seamless reflection, making it a most-favored spot for strolling with a romantic partner in tow, especially during nighttime. The Wolji pond was excavated on in 674 BC, according to the Samguksagi (History of the Three Kingdoms).

There is also a hanbok-rental shop in the Gyochon village, the former palace site of the Princess Yoseok, where her love story with the monk Wonhyo took place during the Silla period.

In the early 17th to mid-20th centur y, the r ich Choe family resided in Gyochon while building their for tune that spanned over 300 years. The Choe family was greatly admired for their generosit y and f u lfil lment of noblesse oblige, ear ning them g r a t it u d e f r o m t h e p e o p l e .

Today, you can v isit their old homes in Gyochon v il lage.

A nother famous histor ica l landmark that goes well with the hanbok-wearing is the Cheomseongdae Astronomical Observatory, the oldest of its kind in East Asia, constructed during the reign of Queen Seon-deok (632-647 BC).

With its remarkable shape and construction values, the landmark provides an interesting backdrop for your Instagram shots. While walking around the area, be sure to acknowledge the locals that cheer you as you pass by.

The Shilla Millennium Park is a theme park that can give you historic experiences with five main attractions, performances and handcraft-making sessions that capture the traditional life of the Silla period.

One of the attractions is the Emile Polis, a replica of a village where you can find clues on how the people of Silla Dynasty lived.

In History Fantasia, the towering replica of the Emile Bell (a.k.a. the Bell of King Seongdeok) stands at 17 meters, 4-and-a half meters bigger than the original piece that is designated as a national treasure.

At the Hwarang Spirit arena, there’s a daily performance of the mounted martial-arts and horse-riding training called the “Hwarang’s way”. In little huts in Craftia, you can try your hand at making traditional earthenware, painting, cloth dyeing or wood art.

Near the entrance, the face of Cheoyong, a man who exorcised demons and loved generosity and peace, greets you, while the Dammogwon area features 80 different-looking gangseung, the ancient village protectors. You can also drop by the outdoor set of the famous Korean drama Queen Seon-deok released in 2009.

If you are looking for a romantic Silla tale, head over to the Performance Hall in Gyeongju World Culture Expo and watch Silla, a nonverbal performance

by Jeongdong Theater. Marked by colorful costumes, dynamic choreography and amazing sets and lighting production, you’ll be glued to lay witness to the love affair between Silla princess Frarang and Persian prince Abtin that was based on an ancient epic poem “Kush-nama”.

In 1995 Jeongdong Theater was established to restore Wongaksa, the Korea’s first modern theater.

Side trip to Pohang City

To learn about the early ironware culture of Korea, go to Pohang City and visit the Pohang Iron and Steel Co. Ltd. (Posco) Museum. It has nine exhibition rooms, showcasing the company’s history, culture,

vision and spirit. As the first and oldest steel company in Korea, Posco remains the biggest with 18,000 employees globally.

For a different New Year celebration, Pohang’s Homigot Cape is the place to go. A revered tradition, Koreans bask under the first rays of the sun on New Year’s Day. During the Homigot Sunrise Festival, you can join the locals while sampling the holiday treats picnic-style. At the Homigot Sunrise Plaza, you can find modern art installations such as the Hands of Harmony, a pair of bronze hand sculptures that was built in December 1999. For a more rigorous activity, trek along the Homigot Coastal Walking Trail while admiring the seacoast in the easternmost end of the Korean Peninsula.

Other scenic attractions in Pohang are the 12 Falls on Naeyeonsan Mountain, Unjesan Mountain Oeosan Temple, Deokdong Culture Village, Jukjang Haok Va l ley, Gyeongsanbuk-do A rboretum, Janggi-eup Fortress, Hwanho Park, Posco Night View, Erosion Control Memorial Park and the Artificial Stream at Central Shopping Center.

Korean tour guide Jake An observed that Filipino tourists could not care less about historical tours.

While that may be true, Filipinos are also fond of watching Koreanperiod dramas for its wonderful story plots set in interesting locations and charming actors dressed in colorful costumes. In the years to come, that special interest will hopefully find its way for more Filipinos to appreciate Korea’s ancient history. This is one adventure waiting to be discovered.

The Gyeongju and Pohang City tours were sponsored by the Korea Tourism Organization, Gyeongsangbuk-do Tourism Corp. and Philippine Airlines (PAL).

Gyeongju is an hour away by express bus from the Gimhae International airport, located in Busan. Effective on July 20, PAL upgrades its aircraft to Airbus A332 en route to Manila-Busan, with f lights on Wednesdays and Sundays.

Effective on June 22, PAL will start to operate the Tagbilaran-Icheon route with f lights on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays.

The Virtus Awards making a mark in the tourism industry

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he Virtus Awards’s quest for creativity, innovation and excellence is now on its third year. The multicategory competition offers a unique platform among hotel sales and marketing professionals in the country to tell their stories of excellence and success that resonate well beyond the hotel and resort industry. It acknowledges customer and business-focused strategies, as well as innovative and creative programs that bring

about measurable results and return on investments to their properties. The Virtus Awards is designed to shift paradigms in hospitality excellence.

T he Vir t us Awards was launched in 2015 by the Hotel Sales and Marketing Association (HSMA) in collaboration with industr y sta keholders. T here a re t h ree i nd iv idu a l aw a rd s and one corporate award given out once a year. The individual awards (Associate, Manager and

Leader) cover positions in room sales, events management, catering, reservation, public rel at ions a nd com mu n ic at ions and revenue management. The corporate award recognizes the most outstand ing market ing campaign that is built around a single, unified theme.

As the HSMA continues to grow with 80 member-properties to date, “the Virtus Awards has propelled the HSMA into another level of advocacy and raised the

bar in the delivery of its objective of motivating and encouraging excellence among its ranks,” quips Rose Libongco, chairman of the Virtus Awards. Libongco further adds that “through the annual competition, we hope to ignite the passion and drive of hotels and resorts through their all-important sales and marketing team to excite the market, deliver vigorous business, make hearts beat a little faster and, yes, shake our world.”

Faith A6 Sunday, May 28, 2017

Sunday

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

Keep the faith in our trying times, Marawi prelate says

A

Catholic bishop called on the faithful to cling to faith despite suffering from the violence sweeping Marawi City.

Marawi Catholics were supposed to mark on Wednesday the feast of Mary Help of Christians, their patroness, but the attack of the Maute Group foiled the yearly celebration.

“Let’s accept these trials but let’s not give up and we continue to rely on the help of the Our Lady,” said Bishop Edwin de la Peña of the Marawi prelature.

“To those who are afraid, we just hang on to our faith and also keep yourself safe,” he said.

The prelate also called on the people to stay secure and heed all safety warnings as they await more information.

“Stay at home, especially after dark,” de la Peña added.

“And if ever you’re going out, especially the women, the instruction of our Muslim friends is always wear a headscarf or hijab,” he also said.

The militants linked to the Islamic State has threatened to kill their hostages, including a Catholic priest, if the military offensive against them continues, de la Peña said.

He added he received a call on Tuesday night from one of the militants, who introduced himself as “a member of the ISIS [Islamic State in Iraq and Syria],” and demanded for a “unilateral cease-fire”.

“They want a ceasefire and for the military to give them access out of Marawi. Otherwise, they will kill the hostages,” de la Peña said.

The prelate said the call was made shortly before 8 p.m. on Tuesday using the phone of his secretary, who is among the hostages.

Members of the Maute Group forced their way into the church and the bishop’s residence, and took with them Fr. Chito Suganob, some staff of the cathedral and churchgoers.

De la Peña said the hostages are being used as “human shield” by the militants.

He added the Maute Group also allowed him to talk with Suganob, who is also the prelature’s vicar

general, to make sure that “their demands are clear with me”.

The prelate said he had difficulty getting in touch with the military in Marawi so he called Zamboanga Archbishop Romulo de la Cruz, who contacted the Armed Forces of the Philippines Western Mindanao Command and relayed the message.

The bishop said he was at the outskirts of Marawi City when the attack took place and only learned that the Saint Mary Cathedral and his residence was burned at about midnight.

“I was supposed to go to Marawi yesterday [Tuesday] but I was asked to cancel my trip because of the siege,” he said.

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP)

called on Filipinos to pray for Suganob and the other hostages.

Archbishop Socrates B. Villegas, CBCP president, asked the government to ensure the safety of the hostages as they pursue the militants. “ We beg ever y Fi l ipino to pray fer vently for Father Chito and for the other hostages. As the government forces ensure that the law is upheld, we beg of them to make the safety of the hostages a primordial consideration,” Villegas said.

He added that, at the time of his capture, Father Chito was in the performance of his ministry as a priest.

“He was not a combatant. He was not bearing arms. He was a threat to none. His capture and that of his companions violates every norm of civilized conflict,” Villegas said in a statement.

“As the government forces ensure that the law is upheld, we beg of them to make the safety of the hostages a primordial consideration,” he added.

“Finally, we call on the Maute

Group that claims to bear arms in the name of a merciful and benevolent God—the very same God we Christians worship and adore—to do the One God true honor by the mercy and benevolence that are two of our God’s most exalted attributes,” Villegas said.

President Duterte, who cut short his trip to Russia, has placed the entire island of Mindanao under martial law following a deadly gun battle between the government forces and the Maute in Marawi City.

Presidential Spokesman Ernesto C. Abella said the declaration was due to the existence of rebellion as guaranteed in the country’s 1987 Constitution, and would remain valid for 60 days.

Defense Secretary Delfin N. Lorenzana also confirmed the armed group burned a cathedral, the city jail, Ninoy Aquino School and Dansalan College.

“Three soldiers, a policeman and two soldiers were killed, while 12 others were wounded,” Lorenzana also said.

Roy Lagarde and Melo Acuna/CBCP News

V

Joan of Arc depicted on horseback in an illustration from a 1505 manuscript. Wikimedia Commons

By Corazon Damo-Santiago

F

rance and England were at war during the lifetime of Joan of Arc. Known as the Hundred Years War, the war started over a dispute on who is heir to the French crown.

In 1415 King Henry V of England invaded Northern France, then ruled by King Charles VI, and defeated him in a war.

England, too, gained the support of Burgundians in France.

In 1420 the Treaty of Troyes was signed, which made King Henry V regent for Charles VI who was considered insane. Thus, King Henry would inherit the crown after King Charles’s death. But both kings died in 1422.

The supporters of King Charles’s son, the future Charles VII, regarded the event as an opportunity to get back the crown for a French monarch.

Heard voices of saints

A woman touches an image of Jesus Christ shortly after attending a Mass for victims of the recent attack in Marawi by Muslim militants linked to the Islamic State (IS) group and also for extrajudicial killings, inside a church in Manila on May 25. The group is opposing martial law in Mindanao and said it would create a new wave of extrajudicial killings of suspected rebels, terrorists and also drug suspects. Army tanks packed with soldiers rolled into a southern Philippine city on Thursday, as gunfire and explosions rang out after militants linked to the IS group torched buildings, seized more than a dozen Catholic hostages and raised the black flag of IS. AP/Aaron Favila

Setting aside past rude talk, Trump and pope focus on peace ATICAN CITY—Handshakes, gifts, friendly small talk and big hopes for peace. Setting aside past differences and rude comments aside, President Donald J. Trump and Pope Francis put a determinedly positive face on their first meeting on Wednesday at the Vatican.

The two global leaders, vastly different in temperament and views of the world, talked seriously and extensively in a 30-minute private meeting about terrorism, the radicalization of young people, immigration and climate change, officials said. Details were not revealed.

But all was upbeat in public, peace the overarching theme.

Francis gave Trump a medal featuring an olive branch.

“We can use peace,” said the president, acknowledging the symbolism.

He gave the pope a custom-bound, firstedition set of Martin Luther King Jr.’s works, an engraved stone from the King Memorial in Washington and a bronze sculpture of a flowering lotus titled “Rising Above”.

“I think you’ll enjoy them. I hope you do,” Trump said.

The pope’s other gifts could be taken as offering a more pointed message, though Francis is known to give them to other visitors, too.

He gave Trump three bound papal

Saint Joan of Arc: Patroness of France

documents that he has written that to some degree define his papacy and priorities.

One focuses on the environment, demanding an end to a “structurally perverse” economic system that has turned Earth into an “immense pile of filth”.

He frames climate change as an urgent moral crisis and blames global warming on an unfair, fossil fuel-based industrial model that harms the poor the most.

Trump has expressed skepticism about global warming and possible causes, and he has promised changes to spur more coal and oil production in the US. The president is midway through a grueling nine-day, maiden international journey which has included Middle East stops in the cradles of Islam and Judaism. In Saudi Arabia, he addressed dozens of Arab leaders and urged them to fight extremists at home and isolate Iran, which he depicted as a menace to the region.

In Israel, Trump reaffirmed his commitment to strong ties with the longtime US ally and urged Israelis and the Palestinians to work harder toward peace.

He arrived late Wednesday in Brussels.

While Trump received warm welcomes in Riyadh and Jerusalem, the reception could grow cooler now that he’s reached Europe, site of widespread protests after his election.

Climate change activists projected the

words “Planet Earth First” on the massive dome of Saint Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican on Tuesday night, and protests are expected when he attends a North Atlantic Treaty Organization meeting in Brussels and a Group of Seven gathering in Sicily.

As for the Trump-Francis relationship, during the presidential campaign the pope was sharply critical of the candidate Trump’s pledge to build an impenetrable wall on the Mexican border and his declaration that the US should turn away Muslim immigrants and refugees.

“A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian,” Francis said.

Trump retorted that it was “disgraceful” for the pope to doubt his faith.

There was none of that on Wednesday.

The visit began with a handshake after each man arrived, Trump in a lengthy motorcade, Francis in a Ford Focus.

Their private meeting ended when Francis rang the bell in his study. The pontiff was then introduced to members of Trump’s delegation, including his wife, Melania, his daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner, as well as aides Hope Hicks and Dan Scavino.

Francis had a light moment with the first lady, asking via translator, “What do you give him to eat, potica?”referring to a favorite papal dessert from her native Slovenia.

The first lady laughed and said “Yes.” She and Ivanka covered their heads in a sign of papal respect, a gesture they did not make in Saudi Arabia.

“We had a fantastic meeting,” the president said afterward. He tweeted later that it was the “honor of a lifetime”.

A statement from the Vatican said that “satisfaction was expressed” at their “joint commitment in favor of life” and that there was hoped-for collaboration on health care, assistance to immigrants and protection of Christian communities in the Middle East.

In recent days, Francis and Trump have been in agreement on a need for Muslim leaders to do more against extremists in their own communities. But there are relatively few other areas where their views align.

Trump’s predecessor, Barack Obama, had a private audience with Francis at the Vatican in 2014 that lasted 50 minutes. But the timing on Wednesday was tight as Francis had his weekly general audience. The thousands of pilgrims on hand forced Trump’s motorcade to enter Vatican City from a side entrance rather than the grand entrance through Saint Peter’s Square.

When Trump left, he told the pope: “Thank you, I won’t forget what you said.”

Trump, the 13th president to visit the Vatican, also toured the Sistine Chapel. AP

Then came Joan of Arc, who referred to herself as Johanne la Pucelle (Joan the Maid). The youngest among the five children of Jacques D’Arc and Isabelle Romee, she was born on January 6, 1412, in Domremy, a village in northeastern France.

At 13, she started hearing voices. The messages were personal and sometimes accompanied by bright light and visions.

The voices were more distinct during the pealing of bells.

In May 1428 she was commanded by the voices to save France by helping restore the oldest son of the French King to his rightful throne and drive away English forces from the French territory. The oblique messages, according to spiritual articles about her, were those of Saints Michael, Catherine of Alexandria and Margaret of Antioch.

Save France

She cropped her hair and wore man’s clothes. Relying on her vision, she went to Vaucouleurs to contact Robert de Baudicourt, the garrison commander who referred her to the court of France.

To test her, according to a biographical sketch of saints online, the dauphin mingled with courtiers and Joan identified him in the crowd. In their conversation, she revealed to him a private prayer.

When referred to the council of theologians, the clergymen “found nothing improper with her piety, chastity and humility”.

A standard was made for her, wrote A.J.M. and J.K. Mausolfe in Saint Champions for Each Day. She was portrayed “with a representation of kneeling angels presenting a fleur-de-lis to God the Father and bearing the words Jesus, Maria”.

In armor with horse, she accompanied the army to Orleans from

May 4 to 7, 1429. After the victory, she escorted Charles to Reims, the traditional place for coronation.

Charles VII was crowned king with Joan of Arc occupying an important place during the ceremonies in July 1429.

Captured and deserted

A year after, the king ordered her to confront the Burgundians who attacked Compiegne. She was captured on May 30, 1430, and sold to the English when the king and France made no attempts to rescue her.

After months of imprisonment, a tribunal presided by “infamous Peter Cauchon, Bishop of Beauvais”, who hoped for endorsement by the English as archbishop, heard her case.

Rev. Hugo Hoever, SO Cist, said, “Through her unfamiliarity with the technicalities of theology, she was trapped into making a few damaging statements.”

Because of her refusal to withdraw her assertion that it was the saints of God who commanded her to do what she has done for France, she was condemned as a heretic and sorceress.

She was 19 when she was burned at stake on May 30, 1431, in the old market place of Rouen. Her ashes were thrown at the Siene River.

Her fame grew after her demise.

In 1455 an official ecclesiastical investigation examined the court proceedings and declared her i nnocent of t he c h a rges against her.

She was beatified on April 18, 1909, in Notre Dame, Paris, by Pope Pius X and canonized on May 16, 1920, at Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome by Pope Benedict XV. T h rough t he yea rs people were fascinated with the story of her life. So different was her piety from martyrs and religious in seclusion. Her political decisions that concerned the fate of a country were voices she alone had heard. And she never denied it even in death.

Commenting on her dedication to follow the task assigned her unto death, Robert Ellsberg in All Saints said: “There was certain vagueness about the kind of holiness she represented. Not wanting to emphasize her martyrdom, the church instead emphasized her piety and virginity… She represents a kind of political holiness, not a church piety or the mystical rapture of the convent, but a mysticism expressed in commitment to the world and engagement in the events of history.” n Santiago is a former regional director of the Department of Education National Capital Region. She is currently a faculty member of Mater Redemptoris Collegium in Calauan, Laguna, and Mater Redemptoris College in San Jose City, Nueva Ecija.

Science

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

BusinessMirror

Sunday

Sunday, May 28, 2017

A7

Occ. Mindoro boosting salt industry through new tech O

ccidental Mindoro, once one of the biggest salt producers in the country, is trying to reclaim its old glory. The Department of Science and Technology-Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan (DOST-Mimaropa) came to the province’s succor to redevelop the industry through a new technology Secretary Fortunato T. de la Peña recently met Occidental Mindoro local government officials and salt farmers in the municipality of San Jose to express his support to the province’s goal of moving toward the development and sustainability of their salt industry.

Occidental Mindoro is surrounded by saltwater, making it one of the biggest salt-producing provinces in the country. At the height of its production in 1990, it boasted of producing and supplying about 60,000 metric tons (MT) of the 338,000 MT, or 18 percent of the country’s annual salt requirement.

While Occidental Mindoro still supplies salt in neighboring provinces in Southern Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao, only 12 percent of national salt requirement, or almost 75,000 MT, of 590,000 MT comes from the province.

A report published by Pacific Farms Inc. on salt production said it was once a vibrant industry in the country. In 1990 provinces like Bulacan, Pangasinan, Occidental Mindoro and Cavite could supply almost 85 percent of the country’s annual salt requirement.

However, it has since been crippled by the country’s vulnerability to climate change. Large producers from Las Piñas, Cavite and Bulacan were forced to close down their salt farms, or convert their areas into other profitable ventures, such as fishponds, residential, or commercial properties.

Dwindling salt production gave rise to more salt importation. Now, only 20 percent of the country’s salt is locally produced, while the remaining 80 percent is imported from big salt-producing countries, like Australia and China.

While the potential of the salt industry is huge because of its universal need, it was doomed by the twin causes of seasonal pattern change due to climate change and the salt producers’ reliance on age-old production methods.

To save the industry, the local government of Occidental Mindoro called for government agencies to help out and invest in research that will boost the country’s salt industry and increase the income not only of salt-farm owners but also of salt-farm workers in the province.

Rep. Josephine Y. Ramirez-Sato of the Lone District of Occidental Mindoro once said: “We need support in terms of research and product development and we can be very competitive.”

The DOST-Mimaropa has immediately responded to the province’s call and stepped up efforts to develop its salt industr y by helping in adopting a new technolog y that will allow year-round production of salt even under erratic weather patterns.

The new technology will be preceded by research and development (R&D), spearheaded by DOST-Industrial Technology Development Institute (ITDI) to assess the technology’s potential for an improved harvest in salt farms in Occidental Mindoro.

The R&D will include a gathering of scientific baseline data to identify significant information on salt production, such as new processes to be involved, quality of salt to be produced, and the amount of salt that will be harvested.

According to Dr. Annabelle Briones, deputy director of DOST- ITDI, R&D will help in achieving the selfsustainability of the salt industry in Occidental Mindoro and, eventually, in the Philippines.

The new technology comes with an improved saltern design, or a set of pools in which seawater is left to evaporate to make salt, and layout, which will enhance the production process and the quality of the salt produced The new technology lowers the cost of production while developing a salt crystallization process that can withstand rainy season.

Through this, Occidental Mindoro will be able to harvest more salt by ensuring production year-round or even during the off-season, as well as develop byproducts, such as gypsum and bitterns, which are seen to generate more income for both salt farmers and salt producers in the province.

The improved salt-production method will lead to 95-percent to 99-percent purity in the salt produced from the 80 percent to 92 percent before.

This will allow the province’s salt industry to expand their market from fisheries, fertilizer makers and patis (fish sauce) and bagoong (fish or shrimp paste) producers only to food, pharmaceutical and other industries.

Besides R&D support, Briones said another project would focus on the value-adding of salt or new salt product development for the province. The technology aims to make the Philippines salt production to be on a par with other salt-producing countries.

In this two-day visit to the province, de la Peña talked about the economic future of the province and how the salt industry could play a crucial role.

He reiterated the agency’s commitment to continued support to programs and projects for salt-industry rehabilitation, focusing on salt production, through the provision of technological assistance and other science and technology-related services.

He emphasized that besides R&D, the DOST could also help in making Occidental Mindoro’s salt industr y more vibrant and competitive by providing

additional salt-production technologies, through its Small Enter prise Technolog y Upgrading Program (Setup).

The revolutionization of the salt industry will begin with the testing of the prototype of the improved salt-production technology in a salt farm in San Jose, Occidental Mindoro, owned by JALD Industries Corp.

JALD, owned by Arnold Duque, is one of the

major salt producers in Occidental Mindoro and an assisted enterprise of DOST-Mimaropa under Setup. The first phase of the project is set to begin this 2017.

The result from the R&D activities will be used as a guide for the Phase 2 of the project, the verification trial in 2018.

During his visit, de la Peña was joined by other DOST officials, including Dr. Maria

Patricia Azanza, director of Industrial Technology Development Institute; Dr. Edwin Villar, deputy director of Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development; Lita Suerte-Felipe of the Department of Legislative Liaison Office; and Donald Amado Caballero of the Science and Technology Committee, House of Representatives . S&T Media Service

A8 Sunday, May 28, 2017

Sports BusinessMirror

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

NEW CHALLENGE FOR SERENA S

SERENA WILLIAMS is embarking on a new mission: She says she wants to help tech companies diversify their work forces and solve one of the industry’s most vexing problems. AP

By Michael Liedtke The Associated Press

AN FRANCISCO—Tennis star Serena Williams has 39 Grand Slam titles, four Olympic medals, major endorsement deals and her own line of clothing and accessories.

Now she is embarking on a new mission: She says she wants to help tech companies diversify their work forces and solve one of the industry’s most vexing problems.

Williams, 35, will get her chance as she joins a Silicon Valley boardroom. Online survey service SurveyMonkey announced Williams’s appointment to its board recently, along with Intuit CEO Brad Smith.

“I feel like diversity is something I speak to,” Williams said in an interview with The Associated Press. “Change is always happening; change is always building. What is important to me is to be at the forefront of the change and to make it easier for the next person that comes behind me.”

Williams didn’t offer specifics about her goals as a corporate director. She implied that her very presence can help push the company—and, by extension, the industry as a whole—in a more diverse direction.

Individual board members don’t usually exert great influence over the companies they oversee, although they are often compensated handsomely in cash and stock for their part-time work. SurveyMonkey, a private company, didn’t say how much Williams will be compensated.

VALLEY DIVERSITY

SILICON Valley’s lack of diversity has become a recurring source of embarrassment in a region that has long sought to position itself as an egalitarian place that doesn’t favor one gender, ethnicity or race over another. Yet, that philosophy hasn’t been reflected in high-tech work forces , despite the efforts of companies such as Google, Apple and Facebook to fix the problem.

Williams has been hanging around Silicon Valley more frequently now that she is engaged to high-tech entrepreneur, Alexis Ohanian, the cofounder of the online forum Reddit. Like many other African-Americans, she says she’s disappointed that the vast majority of high-paying technology jobs are filled by white and Asian men.

At SurveyMonkey, which employs about 650 workers, only 27 percent of technology jobs are filled by women. Just 14 percent of its total payroll consists of African-Americans, Latinos or people identifying themselves with at least two races, according to numbers the company provided to the AP.

Stefano Pirazzi, of the Bardiani-CSF Team, attends the teams presentation ceremony of the Giro d’Italia early this month.

Two riders from the Italian team have been kicked out on the eve of the race after testing positive in an out-of-competition doping test. AP

CRACKDOWN ON CHEATS

M

OSCOW—A pair of Olympic cyclists from Russia and Azerbaijan have been banned for doping by the International Cycling Union (UCI).

The UCI said Tatyana Antoshina of Russia was given a four-year ban after testing positive for GHRP-2, which increases growth hormone levels in the body. Antoshina has won various road races around the world and finished 12th in the time trial and 25th in the road race at the 2012 London Olympics.

Maksym Averin of Azerbaijan was given a 15-month ban after testing positive last December for the banned substance meldonium. Averin is a sprinter who competed in the road race at last year’s Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, where he failed to finish.

The UCI has also suspended the Soul Brasil Pro Cycling team for the second time because of multiple doping offenses.

The UCI said Soul Brazil cannot compete in international events for 35 days from July 15 to August 19.

When the team was known as Funvic Soul Cycles Carrefour last year, its riders were barred from races for 55 days.

The UCI can suspend teams when at least two riders are caught doping within a oneyear period.

The latest cases involve biological passport results for Alex Correia Diniz in 2015 and tampering with a doping sample by Otavio Bulgarelli in 2016.

The UCI says the 35-day ban could have been longer but the doping violations occurred before the first sanction.

The winner of the women’s race at last month’s Linz Marathon, meanwhile, has tested positive for EPO derivative darbepoetin.

The Austrian Anti-Doping Legal Committee says Danijela Kuna of Croatia has been provisionally suspended after failing a doping test following her victory in the April 9 race.

Kuna edged Nikolina Stepan in the final meters to win in a personal best of two hours, 43 minutes, 55 seconds.

The Linz Marathon has been hit by a doping offense before when the runner-up in the 2012 men’s race, Ronald Kipchumba of Kenya, tested positive for EPO and was subsequently banned for two years. AP

WHAT SHE CAN DO

Cotto returns to ring versus Japanese Kamegai

C

ARSON, California—Four-time world champion Miguel Cotto will return from a lengthy layoff to fight Yoshihiro Kamegai for the vacant World Boxing Organization junior middleweight title on August 26 at the StubHub Center.

Cotto has not fought since November 2015, when he lost a unanimous decision to Canelo Alvarez for the WBC middleweight belt. The 26-year-old native of Puerto Rico has held titles in the super lightweight, welterweight, junior middleweight and middleweight divisions. He’s 40-5 with 33 knockouts.

Kamegai, of Japan, is 27-3-2 with 24 KOs. “I’m very excited to be back and showcase a high-level fight for the fans,” Cotto said.

“Kamegai is a great, tough fighter, but I will be ready for him and to capture the world title.” AP

FOUR-TIME world champion Miguel Cotto is coming back from a lengthy layoff.

WILLIAMS’S appointment is part of the solution, according to SurveyMonkey CEO Zander Lurie. “My focus is to bring in change agents around the table who can open our eyes,” he said.

Diversity advocates say women and minorities add value to corporate boards—as well as companies’ executive ranks—by offering new perspectives and advocating for a broader range of a company’s stakeholders, whether that’s customers, shareholders or employees.

In a report on France’s quota requirements for corporate boards, the business research group Conference Board found that the real value of adding women came from the fact that they were more likely to be outsiders. They were more likely to be foreigners, have expertise in more diverse business issues than men and more likely to have risen through the ranks outside traditional networks, such as elite universities. This, in itself, can “substantively” improve the collective decisionmaking of a board, according to the report.

Williams’s celebrity may help draw attention to the lack of diversity on corporate boards themselves, said Brande Stellings, vice president of corporate board services for Catalyst, a group focused on fighting for women’s rights at work. For instance, African-American women occupy only 122 of the more than 5,000 board seats among Fortune 500 companies, based on Catalyst’s analysis.

“This is an opportunity to show you don’t want a board full of people with the same backgrounds and experiences as everyone else,” Stellings said. “[Williams] can bring a fresh perspective and a different voice that could be helpful for disrupting the ‘group think’ that’s typical in many boardrooms.”

STEPPING STONE

RACISM is something Williams confronted and overcame at an early age when she began playing a predominantly white sport. She grew up to become the top-ranked female tennis player in the world.

Diversifying Silicon Valley isn’t the only item on Williams’s agenda. Like a lot of rich athletes, she is interested in becoming more involved in the business opportunities amid the high-tech boom in Silicon Valley. She says she is already exploring other opportunities in the area, but isn’t ready to provide details yet.

Her connection to SurveyMonkey came through her friendship with Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s chief operating officer and another member of SurveyMonkey’s board.

Sandberg’s husband, Dave Goldberg, was SurveyMonkey’s CEO before he died in 2015 while the couple was vacationing in Mexico.

“I have been really interested in getting involved in Silicon Valley for years, so I have been kind of in the wading waters,” Williams said. “Now, I am jumping into the deep end of the pool. When I do something, I go all out.”

Sunday, May 28, 2017 A9

A MYTHIC NEGOTIATION

J

By Miguel Carlos Lazarte

ael has to egress through a series of hard right and left turns in putrid and thieving-prone alleys, along several sari-sari stores, then over and across a noisy overpass. If only he had a wardrobe from Narnia. Erik’s house is not far off from his, in a subdivision on the other side of the highway, opposite from slum nation. For a long time, Jael has gone and left the village entrance, not to mention the guards getting used to Jael’s visits, passing by, he flashes his courtesy smile every time.

Erik lives in a huge house with a perfectlytrimmed lawn and a set of towering gates, it was the kind of mansion fantasies people dream about. A wooden cascading staircase meets the two large doors in front. The best thing besides the casa, the well-kept façade and the flower-crammed landscape, are Erik’s parents who are more than welcoming - both lawyers, and unlike firm rich parent stereotypes, they are gregarious and hospitable like most households around in the exclusive village. Despite Jael’s less fortunate upbringing, Erik’s parents are cultured and sensitive to his background.

Jael rings the doorbell.A muffled, echoing ding dong bounces in the house, and in a few seconds, Erik comes to unlock the side gate.

He seems excited, his eyes expectant.

“So what’s the plan? I really want to get back something for Mama for mother’s day.” He leads the way up the stairs, into his room.

“Hmm, let’s see.” Jael shrugs. Erik knows what he means. The boys enter Erik’s room, a midnight blue haven—consoles line up under his wide, flat-screen television, posters of movies and video games hang proudly along the light blue walls, a large foamy bed and pillows stormed with a snaked blanket. Still, a wakeup mess.

“Wow.” Jael slumps and sits on a large green beanbag, slowly sinking.

Erik has dreamed of the other worlds since his childhood. He dreams of places while still in his pajamas, traveling to the blackness of the galaxies, while afloat in the nothingness; the stars entrapping him at all directions

while he never has a course to follow. When he shouts, nothing comes out – merely a breath, a sigh amid his levitating body. Occasionally, he is able to move as his mind pleases, to any route, slowly moving but never reaching.

At times, he just stays in his position, able to rotate his head sideways. Yet, he notices over the years that he can see the same constellations the way he sees them when he meanders at night lying in hiss house’s vast lawn before sleeping.

As he grows up, the same dreams occur – but Erik starts to identify and name constellations, and it has always been one and the same, but some change during the years. Some of them have died; maybe become black holes, nebulae, or meekly disappear.

Continued on A10

A10

Sunday, May 28, 2017

www.businessmirror.com.ph

A MYTHIC NEGOTIATION Continued from A9

He never knows the answer until one night he dreams of entering an encircling void, it captures him into another world unlike his own and as he wakes up in his dream, he smells the air, sniffing the reek of the place. The first time in, he was frightened, but he has been able to learn the ways. And he is able to dream into that arid place ever since.

“Let us,” Jael repeats. His body now barely visible, the lower half of his body undiscernible in the green beanbag. Jael looks at Erik as he stands from his bed while nearing him. After a while, he feels the beanbag move. The fluff adjusts, he feels some part of his body reach for air again. Erik takes to share a seat in the beanbag.

“Alright.” Erik closes his eyes. The boys keep silent. The hum of the room’s air conditioner is drawn-out, until slowly it dawdles. It douses. Slowly. Slowly, until everything is still. And roughly, a noise is audible. What follows is an awful stench. And the sound amplifies.

The boys are not of that world – of the one which has an arid smell and a night market every day. But more so of horror reveries.

When Erik first entered the parallel earth he now calls theMetaverse, he had thought all was a delusion. Trashing around the place, it was less of a dream but a nightmare. Monsters from local myth are also citizens of the Metaverse. The

first time Erik stepped into the place, he spent his first few hours screaming, running around, and asking the humans (if they were) where the hell he was. Most of the creatures his late Yaya used to tell him in stories to put him to bed, came to form and in veracity. Likewise, they spoke the language of humans. It was outlandish indeed.

“Ah. It’s you, Kuya Erik.” As the small infant greets him from the café where both the boys are now at. The boys faded in the world sitting side-byside, abruptly most of the times, spawning at a previously empty seat at the glass window’s side of the red-lit retro of a café. In the Metaverse, Erik’s house is a diner in the capitalNeoManila.

“What would it be today?”

“Hey Bin.” Erik greets the tiyanak, one of the regular waiters of the infamous café. His eyes averts from a black fade to a red ire while he speaks; his over-salivated teeth never the greatest sight. “A coffee please. Take-out. We won’t hang much heret.”

“Of course. Always a pleasure and an honor to be of service to the Visitors.”

Bin steps back. Erik observes that he is growing slightly bigger; he is about 2 feet now. Bin takesthe civil manner: small, baby steps to the back, and eventually, decides to just run in all fours to get the coffee done.

Erik caused turmoil during the first few days into the place. Unbeknownst to that world, neither the

people of the Metaverse and Erik knew where each came from. But the world’s citizens cared little, for they had things to think about. And most did not believe Erik’s fading in to their world.

Most of the people of the Metaverse think that either Erik’s just an ordinary human or an aswang, not shapeshifting to get attention. But the café’s people believed Erik’s truth.

To Erik’s discernment, he thought that the only way to convince that it is truly real was if another human from his reality would come to see the Metaverse. So after much conviction, and in advice from the wise Mariawho serves as head priestess in the Iglesia, Erik found a way to let Jael in the world.

Maria told him that Erik is a dreamer, a determined man granted by Bathala the gifts of Visitation. But she warns that the gifts may not be for long, as long as he does not disrupt the Laws of both of the worlds, and unwilfully trusts in his own truths, then he may extend his gifts to anyone.

“I am to meet with Gerald today.

Remember him?” Erik smugs. Jael knows who Gerald is, how could he forget. He is basically that smoking giant living in that large mango tree at the far end of the plaza. “The kapre? You do remember, do you?”

Jael just nods. He is always excited to go to this place every time, especially during the first few times when he freaked out when he first metthe rari-

ties of the Metaverse. To spend a lot of time with Erik this summer vacation sure came with the profit!

“I hope we don’t get lost like before.

Uh—” Erik winces. Gerald is the trickster of tricksters. But one of the finest mafia of the Metaverse’s black market— unlike in the Metaverse’s Centtro, where all the markets converge, the things which are practical to the boys’ world are not present anywhere there. Only but in Gerald’s cornucopia. Usually, he sells them in the Metaverse’s currency, but Gerald knows that the boys do not belong of the world, so he asks favors instead in exchange for whatever Erik is in need of. “Let’s go.”

Erik takes the coffee, taking a sip momentarily. He hesitates to drink again, giving the bitter drink to Jael.

The alleyways are chilly especially during the mornings. Most of the kiosks are filled with goods and edibles in the morning, and at night, novelties and healthcare for all kinds and races flood the market. In NeoManila, the mornings can turn to night in an instant, but in just a short while as the sun recuperates again after a few moments of the regular eclipses. The sudden nights can be instant and obscure; the differentlycolored stars visible in an instant.

“Hey, it’s the boys!” A rather numinous voice coming from a kiosk, which seems like a tall tree with a wooden booth in its protruding trunk. Jael looks and pauses to listen indistinctly. It is the regular market ladies, hidden from Erik and Jael’s sight. Maybe it is the diwata’s who are the best charmers and not to mention, the paramount businessmen in this side of town. “Ah..ha.. yes, come check these out... yes? Yes? Here, Springwater for your trip, boys?”

“We’re kind of in a hurry, ladies.

Next time, maybe?” Erik winks to the tree. He grabs Jael by the arm to pace hurriedly. “No time to dilly-dally, bro. We are kind of in a hurry.”

The Iglesia’s bells ring from a distance. The boys are nearing the plaza.

As they march to the plaza, the number of humans strangely becomes numerous, if they are not aswang or other kinds of shapeshifters at least. It is odd, for Erik and Jael to see the Metaverse look like home to them, let alone a few humans carrying tiyanaks in place of children in their arms. Nonetheless, it is strange to see a lot of humans near the plaza.

Erik thought about what Maria told him about his gifts, about how it should not violate the Laws. Are the negotiations violations? he ponders as the bells stop tolling. Then a choir follows, echoing an aria of the word Bathala as the music from the Iglesia melancholically sifts the air to put the plaza of NeoManila in a trance of worship. Like cherubim singing, the unseen choir resonates their masque of a pitch high into the air like singing prima donnas.

It is the noontime service. Jael stops to listen, again to the praises being sung to Bathala. The curious boy in his great spellbound state of amusement.

He is taken aback by Erik’s dragging.

“We really have to hurry.”

“Why?” Jael purportedly asks. He creases his forehead, evidently frustrated by Erik’s enforcing. “Don’t we have all time to spend here? Time doesn’t move in our world after all.”

“No. No.. I don’t know, bro. Oh my bathala!—I dunno.” Erik lets go of Jael’s arm, realizing that he has been tiring his friend the whole day with the nonstop pacing across the city. “Just..come on.

Please, I’ll try to explain when we get to Gerald’s.”

The boys almost run to the mango tree as they reach the edge of the plaza, carefully avoiding the little duwende’s coming out of the Iglesia who most likely had been sticking their fingers to the pockets of the service attendees.

The little creatures snicker as they walk in groups, someare left out alone unsuccessfully going back to their anthills.

As the boys near the mango tree, the wave of strolling people around ebbs. Erik calls for Gerald, knowing he is hiding somewhere across the middle branches of the tree.

“Ger!” Erik calls to the giant. Slowly, a hairy foot slid beneath the leaves, the whole lush of the trees’ leaves shakes as the kapre goes down from its niche.

A giant, resembling a dark-skinned man but with hair all over the body except for his head, comes down to sit at the thickest and lowest branch of the tree.

“Ahh, if it isn’t the Visitors?” Gerald groans in his deep, abysmal voice. A ci-

gar in his mouth, he puffs smoke to the boys’ direction. “Whats do you needs today, young Eriks?”

“That necklace from earlier.” Erik pertains to the necklace which had an authentic ruby to adorn which Gerald had shown him the previous week.

Erik knows that it was that necklace, it is his mother’s. Most probably, he had accidentally brought it along to the Metaverse during one of his visits and accidentally dropped it somewhere in the streets of NeoManila after completing a chasing task from Gerald. His mother has despaired, looking for it almost every night, but Erik knows that he must not allow this to happen lest this may be a violation to Bathala, according to Maria.

“The red one.”

“Ahh. A necklace. That necklace.

Which has belongs to the young ladys, selling it to me last time..very much.. very much visitors like you.” Erik has asked for the longest time where the novelty items come from, but Gerald just smiles and tells him that the world has secrets not for young Visitors to learn yet. “Ahhhs… Ahhh.. You sees, it is of a highs prices. Because itss is new”

”What do I have to do?” Erik smiles with great heroic intent.

“Come closer, for the younger Visitor needs nots to hears all.” A whisper, a short message of the task at hand. Jael looks at Erik’s face which turned pale in an instant, his friend’s face speaks in surprise and shock.

“—You see, in this world, theys do not really belong. They have shunned us for years, and with the new Law, it is unlikely that they ploys somethingsbads for us. But yous, you Visitors—are not of this world, so you are good to us.” Gerald speaks, in a clear manner, good enough for Jael to hear and to guess in the first few missing parts of the request.

“I see.” Erik closes his eyes, deep in thought. He put his hand on one of the many pockets his green jacket had. “Let me see. Just one? How will I know if it was not a shapeshifter?”

“Ahhhss. You’ll know... The eclipse will tells.” Gerald laughs, a haunting shriek to Jael’s ears.

Erik grabs Jael by the arm again, just like before. As they arrive to the middle of the plaza, Erik sighs. I’m really sorry Erik wants to tell Gerald. But he does not. “This world is damn crazy.”

Jael walks back the way he has gone.

This time, stopping by to look inside the church and observe the wonderfully woven stained glass. “Bathala will come to judge us… Bathala will provide….” the head priestess speaks in homily. But Jael does not listen, but instead studies the figures in the elegant stained glass: A muscular man and a supple woman hugging between a bamboo cut in half in the middle of the wilderness.

This time, Jael walks and stops to look at all the kiosks there is to see at the alleyways of NeoManila. It really had all healthcare products for all kinds, but not much for humans to sustain his interest much. Then the tree from before which had turned its leaves reddish beneath the already orange illumination of the alleyways, the familiar feminine voices are giggling and whispering to his ears, food for bathala? a taste of? taste? food for bathala? they repeat.

But Jael walks still, back to the café. He gets in at nearly sunset. Bin comes to assist him almost immediately as the chimes of the café doors ring.

“Kuya, kuya. Where’s kuya?” in the tiyanak’s screechy but small voice.

“He told me to wait here,” Jael walks to take a seat near the counter. Bin sets up across the counter, looking expectantly at Jael while he holds a carafe.

“Maybe a coffee is pleasant?”

Jaeltakes and drinks the warm coffee. A slight bitterness kicks in. And suddenly, just out of his periphery over the glass panels of the café, the sunset hazily turns to night, just for a short while.

An eclipse.

Jael sips once more, the coffee mug intentionally blocking what his eyes may see. Slowly, he gulps the whole mug and lays it down to the wooden counter.

“It is finished,” Bin murmurs to himself as he pours coffee now for himself.

J

ael watches the water slide down his fingers—crystal by crystal.

Morning sunlight hints itself between the edges of the jalousies from the lone window of the snug bathroom, the dim orange rays hauntingly illuminate the whole dank room.

The liquid touches his skin caressingly and dazes the body in a cold squeeze of surprise. He looks to the rusty shower head above, engaging deeply in the bath mantra.

He knows he should not take long, before Mama calls down to him to tell him that he is taking too long bath-

ing and to stop wasting water. He goes downstairs, set for breakfast. He hasn’t got a clue what keeps him waking in the morning routinely without alarm. Perhaps, the early sunlight in the morning greeting Jael’s face?

He lays the spoon and fork properly in the middle of the plate as he finishes, cleaning up every grain of rice and meat on the ceramic, only the oil left grazed on the plate. After he finishes, he calls Erik to remind him of today’s adventure.

What was to do on summer in a house in some narrow alleyway in the middle of slum nation?

If he has not gotten tiresome of their cat Mingming who unfortunately seems like a boarder in the house to eat and sleep in its favorite corner under the sink. If not, it spends most of its time in some neighboring house—it can be a bit comical if it stays here all day, somehow.

If ennui is the word to describe being all alone after Mama leaves the house for work, it is the right word. More than that, doing a marathon watching of noontime TV shows and soap operas on the box TV, and cooking his own lunch or buying food in the nearest carinderia; maybe this world can be a bit better.

Days are better when Mama buys and cooks food from the wet market, ah— their favorite adobo and chicken curry.

All the food thinking gets Jael famished.

Most of his friends are on a trip somewhere across the globe, or cooling their asses off at Baguio picking fresh strawberries, or maybe attending Muay Thai lessons at the gym. For hell he knows, he’s not complaining of time he spent in this peculiar summer.

But now, the summer, like every summer, has been an awful length of time, more than the time he has spent here, somehow. Jael slouches at the seat, thinking about the plans ahead. It was the time left before another chapter.

Jael’s cellphone vibrates. A bubble box appears, it is Erik. A visit, perhaps?

‘Where are you? Read your text, need that necklace asap’ He texts.

‘Wait. Be in 15.’

Jael prepares all he has to bring, mostly just himself and a few candies to munch along the way. As Mama takes off, it was only when he notices that the rain starts to pour, like heavy needles striking the bare metal roof directly above, ringing loudly and dancing in rampage. He has always been afraid that when the raindrops get heavier, the roof will create holes and the rain pins down like sharp icicles in acupuncture. Today, he is to meet with Erik at the nearby mall.

He puts on denims and a jacket. At times like this when the rain was villainous, the alleyways are much quieter. Jael ponders that the hard-falling raindrops are less loud than local gamblers shouting Bingo! or than men starting their drinking sessions despite the zenith of the breakneck sun at impish noontime.

In peace he walks the squirms of the alleyway with only the droning sound of raindrops on concrete, metal, or the umbrella heard. He is in speculation if today would work well.

Jael and Erik are to meet at the mall’s plaza, the only open-air space of the mall where there are lee traces of nature—a plant box with a few trees. A few kiosks lines up the edge of the circling plaza, where most start to open at night when work is over. A few people, mostly a group of students on summer break, stroll the malls at the early hour.

The rain wets the fitting benches at the center of the plaza, as Jael waits instead on the benches under the glass roof.

Erik passes by after fifteen minutes of waiting, observing golden time in his usual manner. He seems distressed, his disheveled hair go in all directions, and his droopy eyes tell that a night’s sleep was either too little or too much.

He continues looking for Jael across the mall’s benches.

‘Erik.’ Jael shouts to his countereuphoric look. ‘Very early, no? And… are you okay?’ Jael teases in unease. He looks to Erik’s green jacket, a chockfull of creases and disc taints from the raindrops outside.

‘No, man. I’m sorry, just woke up.’

Erik rubs his eyes as he opens and closes them to get a better vision. Erik opens them, consciously this time.

‘Ah.’ Jael says. He doesn’t seem to remember, a flash across Erik’s eyes always tells Jael that it’s time for an adventure to the Metaverse, a place, never again in the memory of his friend, a place of home which he has come to believe.

Jael looks up to the glass roof, a heavy, dark-throttling cloud warns of a storm ahead. “It’s okay. So what should we do today?” He thinks of the tale they went to, and wonders, deeply, in daydream, if everything in sight of Bathala has been a dream. n