BusinessMirror November 11, 2019

Baguio tourist spots up for rehabilitation

By Bernadette D. Nicolas @BNicolasBM

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AGUIO CITY—The iconic and century-old 34-hectare Burnham Park, along with other tourist spots in the country’s summer capital, will be closed for rehabilitation starting next year, the city’s chief executive said over the weekend.

Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong said he is already in talks with the Department of Tourism (DOT) as the national government has set its sights on rehabilitating the summer capital after the world-famous Boracay Island. “[Burnham Park] is an icon; it’s a landmark. Everyone who goes up to Baguio, they never fail to go to Burnham Park. Baguio is synonymous with Burnham Park,” Magalong told the BusinessMirror in an interview.

Visitors ride boats on Burnham Park’s iconic lake on Saturday, November 9. JASPER Emmanuel Y. ARCALAS

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He said Burnham Park will be closed, starting March 2020 next year to October. The DOT, Magalong said, has already allotted funds for the rehabilitation of the park.

Named after American urban planner Daniel Burnham, the park is home to the Burnham Lake, Children Playground, Skating Rink, Rose Garden, Orchidarium, Igorot Park, Melvin Jones Grandstand, Athletic Bowl, Picnic Grove, Japanese Peace Tower, Pine Trees of the World and Sunshine Park.

“The rehabilitation of the park will take about 8 months and cost P500 million as we want to make sure that it will not be flooded anymore. We will prioritize the rehabilitation of the drainage system, which will cost P100 million and is not part of the P500 million,” he said.

Aside from fixing the drainage system of the famous landmark in Baguio¸ Magalong said the

Monday, November 11, 2019 Vol. 15 No. 32

DTI steps up steel bars monitoring after quakes

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By Elijah Felice E. Rosales & Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

@alyasjah @joveemarie

HE country’s trade chief has vowed to intensify the compliance-monitoring of steel bars used for the construction of structures in light of the series of earthquakes that shook Mindanao.

Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez committed to investigate the prevalence of substandard steel products in the market in response to House Resolution 379. Filed by Rep. Lawrence H. Fortun of the First District of Agusan del Norte, the resolution called for an investigation on the al-

leged prevalence of below-standard construction materials considering the infrastructure damage left by the string of earthquakes in Mindanao.

Fortun said that the House Committee on Mindanao Affairs and the House Committee on Trade and

Industry will conduct a joint probe on the alleged smuggling of steel products following the deaths and destruction in the wake of three strong earthquakes that hit Mindanao in just two weeks in October.

“We welcome this call and shall fully cooperate and support the

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Notices of violation issued by DTI against business establishments found selling substandard nonconforming steel bars just in 2019. In the last two months, authorities visited 14 factories involving 19 standard licenses for steel products investigation to be conducted in order to ensure that the public will not be harmed by substandard construction materials,” Lopez said in a statement over the weekend.

See “Steel bars,” A2

city government also wants to establish parking buildings using green architecture. Another tourist spot that will be rehabilitated is the Baguio City night market. Magalong said this will be done in phases. Rehabilitation would cost at least P5 billion and would take two to three years.

“It looks clean now but the city government can only do so much. Baguio still has one of the worst markets in the entire country. We are going to rehabilitate it. It will be one of the best markets in the Philippines after we rehabilitate it,” he said.

Mines View Park, Magalong said, may be closed sooner than Burnham Park as bidding for the P18million rehabilitation project is already ongoing.

Asked about the fate of vendors in the famous Baguio tourist spots, he said: “They would just have to bite the bullet.

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@caiordinario

HE National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) remains confident that the country’s economy will expand faster in the last quarter of the year, but the numbers may fall short of the government’s target.

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia told reporters recently that his “fearless forecast” is for fourth-quarter GDP to increase by 6.5 percent to 7 percent.

As GDP growth in January to September averaged 5.8 percent, Pernia said the economy must grow by 6.7 percent to hit the low-end target of the government’s target of 6 percent to 7 percent for the year.

The biggest threat to the Philippine economy, he said, will come

PESO exchange rates n

from outside of the country’s borders. “I think the trade tensions, the trade war between the United States and China is really the biggest risk not just for the Philippines but also for the whole global economy.”

Domestic concerns, such as the outbreak of African swine fever (ASF), will not have a big impact on GDP, according to Pernia.

National Statistician Dennis S. Mapa told reporters that while the ASF has spread to other regions, the poultry sector can take up the slack in the output of the livestock sector.

The livestock sector is part of the major economic sector, Agriculture, Hunting, Forestry and Fishing. These are important aspects of GDP, which is a measure of production.

See “GDP,” A2

P25.00 nationwide | 5 sections 28 pages |

‘MR. JOHN’ REMEMBERED FOR HIS BIG DREAMS, KINDNESS

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VISIONARY. A boss who never tired of making “constant casual, intimate dialogues” with ordinary workers in the various companies he founded and built into major concerns. This was how John Gokongwei Jr., was remembered late Sunday by Malacañang and the country’s biggest trade union group as the passing of “Mr. John” was announced by his family.

At least two senators also hailed his legacy. Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III said, “I pay tribute to one of the greatest business leaders and philanthropists of our time. Mr. Gokongwei will truly be remembered for his selfless advocacies and contributions to the Philippines, be it corporate or charity work.”

Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said, “Mr. John was a national flag carrier who planted Filipino greatness in other lands and in the minds of his people that yes, a poor promdi like him can.” Recto was referring to Gokongwei’s humble origins in

Cebu, the home province he loved with passion, and after which his leading carrier, Cebu Pacific, was named.

“We can tally the jobs his business created, the taxes paid, and the earnings it generated, but the inspiration he gave our young was the most important bottomline that was hard to quantify,” said Recto.

“He pushed the envelope and challenged convention in everything he did because this summa cum laude of the university of hard knocks believed that excellence can only be achieved by human talent pushed to the limit,” the senator added.

See “Mr. John,” A2

‘Start next PSA bid round now’

Neda: GDP to grow faster in Q4, but full-year goal iffy

By Cai U. Ordinario

See “Baguio tourist spots,” A2

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PREMIUM SEATS TO JOY Children enjoy the moment at the Grand Christmas Tree Lighting at SM’s Lanang mall in Davao, featuring musical

HE chairman of the House Committee on Energy has asked the Department of Energy (DOE), and power industry players and stakeholders to start the next round of biddings for add it iona l power supply agreements (PSAs).

Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco, chairman of the Committee on Energy, said he believes that with the increasing demand of power being projected for the coming years, the country urgently needs additional capacity to support what is billed as the government’s golden age of infrastructure.

Velasco made the statement fol low ing Mera lco’s recent ly

and dancing performances by Davao’s homegrown talents. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO FROM SM LANANG

US 50.5500 n japan 0.4626 n UK 64.7849 n HK 6.4590 n CHINA 7.2434 n singapore 37.2540 n australia 34.8744 n EU 55.8476 n SAUDI arabia 13.4797

See “PSA,” A2

Source: BSP (8 November 2019 )

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A2 Monday, November 11, 2019

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DTI eyes safeguard measure on imported cars

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By Elijah Felice E. Rosales

@alyasjah

HE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is seriously considering the imposition of a safeguard measure on imported vehicles, targeting mostly units coming from Thailand and Indonesia, to compel automotive manufacturers to locate operations and create jobs here.

Trade Undersecretary Ceferino S. Rodolfo said the DTI is studying option of applying tariff on vehicle imports from Southeast Asian economies—enjoying duty-free privilege at present—and raising the rate for those shipped from outside the region. He said

the move was triggered by the petition filed by trade union Philippine Metalworkers’ Alliance (PMA), which lamented the declining employment in the automotive industry, particularly in manufacturing.

“The DTI, through the Bureau

Steel bars. . .

Industry Research and Development Center for independent laboratory testing.

As a result, the DTI suspended two standard licenses of factories found manufacturing below-standard steel bars.

A total of 57,250 pieces of nonconforming steel with an estimated value of P6.5 million were likewise destroyed.

“We heightened the campaign against substandard products because it is not safe for consumers and unfair to local manufacturers who will face cheap competition. This, in turn, may shrink the country’s manufacturing base and lead to job losses. Clearly, smuggling substandard steel is detrimental to the mission of the agency,” the trade chief said.

The DTI is conducting consultations with stakeholders for its plan to include more construction materials on its list of products up for mandatory testing. Among those that DTI is eyeing to put on the mandatory testing list are plywood, ceramic tiles, roofing and BI/GI pipes.

Continued from A1

“In fact, under President Duterte’s administration, DTI [Department of Trade and Industry] has made stricter the rules on standard compliance. We are including more products in the list of mandatory compliance and have even increased the sample size of products to be tested,” he added.

Some the DTI’s new guidelines include raising the sample size for product testing, checking the Philippine Standard mark and standards of manufacturing plants and implementing inspection mechanisms at different stages of transport from preshipment to post-shipment and audit in retail.

As proof, Lopez said his agency issued 61 notices of violation against business establishments found selling substandard nonconforming steel bars just this year alone.

In the last two months, authorities visited 14 factories involving 19 standard licenses for steel products.

During these inspections, samples were randomly drawn and submitted to the Metal

Mr. John. . .

Continued from A1

“Everything about Mr. John was big— vision, dreams, kindness—yet he never tired of punching above his weight, and the obstacles he toppled paved the way for others.

“But this taipan was also a colossus of generosity. Sans fanfare, he funded schools and scholarships, so that poverty will not interrupt schooling the way it did his. He spoke softly but wrote large checks,” Recto added.

Gokongwei, who built an empire that spanned property, power, retail, air transportation, hospitality, media, telecommunications, banking and food, died peacefully late Saturday (November 9) at the age of 93, his family announced early on Sunday.

“Our beloved husband, father and grandfather John Gokongwei Jr. passed away peacefully 11:41 p.m. November 9th, at the Manila Doctors Hospital surrounded by his

Import curbs

To address the alleged rampant smuggling of substandard steel, the House of Representatives will work on the passage

loved ones. Please pray for the repose of his soul. Details of his wake to follow. Rest in peace, Mr. John,” said an SMS from his son Lance Gokongwei, sent to Esquire Philippines.

The patriarch had passed on the helm of his diverse businesses to his children many years ago. Lance is chief executive officer of Cebu Pacific, while his sister Robina Gokongwei-Pe oversees the retail side as CEO of Robinsons Retail. Their sister Lisa Gokongwei-Cheng heads Summit Media.

Lance, groomed early on by his father to steer the business, is president and CEO of the holding firm JG Summit. His uncle James Go is chairman and chief operating officer there.

Gokongwei has consistently landed on Forbes’ list of the Philippines’s richest men. In the latest listing, he was ranked third richest.

His estimated net worth is $5.8 billion.

Giving back

When he turned 80, he donated half of his shares in JG Summit—estimated at P20 billion the—to

PSA. . .

Continued from A1

conducted Competitive Selection Process (CSP) last September, which successfully resulted in the award of PSAs. Meralco, however, is in a tussle with the DOE over its terms of reference for certain CSP projects. See story on page B1, “DOE set to issue new rules on power firms’ CSP after standoff with Meralco.”

“The record number of Yellow and Red Alerts that plagued Luzon Grid consumers this year should not be allowed to recur in the coming years,” Velasco stressed.

“The recent CSP process are very pricecompetitive and lower than prevailing generation charges,” he added.

Citing Republic Act 11371, or the Murang Kuryente Act, signed in August 2019, Velasco said the House looks

of Import Services, is assessing the application for safeguard duty on imported automobiles filed by the [PMA],” Rodolfo told reporters last week.

According to Rodolfo, PMA lodged the petition to impose a safeguard measure on automobile to stop the alleged import surge of the product. Car makers are reportedly choosing Thailand and Indonesia as their investment destinations in Southeast Asia, as they can just ship units to the Philippines at zero duty under the region’s trade deal.

Citing official data, Rodolfo disclosed that vehicle imports last year rose to over 207,000 units, from about 153,000 units in 2014, the bulk of which came from Thailand, Indonesia and South Korea.

When the 2014-to-2018 imports are combined, the trade official said this will total to around 1 million units. Government data reported to the International

of a law seeking stricter regulation on the importation of construction products.

However, Agusan del Norte congressman Fortun said the House will hear first his House Resolution 379 to look into the alleged collusion between large steelmakers and officials of the DTI and the Bureau of Customs (BOC) in the smuggling of substandard steel products.

After hearing the resource persons invited to the House probe, Fortun said a measure will be recommended to prevent deceitful selling of construction products, including quenched tempered steel bars that could have compromised the structural soundness of some infrastructure in the country in the last 10 to 12 years.

“We hope to be able to introduce major reforms to regulations on importation, inspection and testing of steel products, as well as other construction materials,” said Fortun.

Recently, the BOC announced that it was cracking down on undervalued steel importations amid reports of substandard QT steel bars, while Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission Commissioner Manuelito Luna bared that the parallel inquiry of the agency

the family foundation, saying he wanted to give back to people after being blessed so much. In a statement, Presidential Spokesman and Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador S. Panelo called Gokongwei a “visionary” and a “pillar of the Philippine economy.”

Even the union heads who organized the workers in some of his companies remembered him well. “Mr. Gokongwei is best remembered by employees with his constant casual, intimate dialogues with them with particular interest on their well-being working in the Gokongwei family-owned company,” said Raymond Mendoza, national president of the Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP). “Employees will certainly miss these boss-and-subordinates conversations.”

ALU has affiliate unions at the Universal Robina Corp. and the Cebu Pacific, which are subsidiaries of Gokongwei-founded JG Summit Holdings Inc. With reports from Butch Fernandez, Samuel P. Medenilla and Bernadette D. Nicolas

forward to the start of the next round of bidding for new baseload capacity, “which will definitely be a welcome development, as this is aligned with the Duterte administration’s goal of bringing down the cost of electricity and ensuring a steady and continued supply of power across the country.”

RA 11371 mandates the government and industry playets to make available a reliable, resilient and inexpensive energy supply to Filipino consumers.

Velasco, meanwhile, also called on other distribution utilities and electric cooperatives to expedite their own CSP, in strict compliance with the DOE’s CSP guidelines, to support the building of greenfield power facilities.

“We call on both public and private sector to boost such crucial government initiatives in finding ways to provide adequate power supply at lower costs to the end-users,” he added.

Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

“If you look at the [records], we rarely use trade remedies.

We have been very prudent, while those implemented by other countries reach 20. We are not filing [safeguard] even if this is a legitimate trade measure that is allowed in the WTO.”—Rodolfo

Trade Centre showed the country’s cumulative imports during the five-year period amounted to $16.26 billion.

Sh ipments f rom T h a i l a nd reached an estimated 428,000 units, valued at $6.73 billion, while those from Indonesia totaled around 312,000 units, summing $5.09 billion.

“If you look at it, there appears to be a surge. I cannot yet definitively say that there is because it’s under evaluation,” Rodolfo said.

T he PM A claimed this a lleged import surge is affecting its

headed by chairman Dante Jimenez found sufficient evidence to down those responsible for the alleged technical smuggling of billions of steel bars. Earlier, the BOC also disclosed that four to five big steel companies were being audited.

“The resolution will be referred to two committees, namely, the Committee on Trade and Industry and the Committee on Mindanao Affairs. The Mindanao Affairs committee is taking cognizance because of the urgency of the matter in Mindanao,” said Fortun.

Fortun explained the joint committee hearing “is for us to be able to commence the hearings soon. We know that the Committee on Trade and Industry is also loaded with several priority legislations that the House leadership wants acted on immediately. With the [Committee on] Mindanao Affair...handling the inquiry jointly with the Trade and Industry committee, we can proceed accordingly with the chair of either committee presiding over the hearings.”

HR 379 seeks to “protect consumers from trade malpractices and from substandard or hazardous products.”

GDP. . .

Continued from A1

Mapa said the outbreak of ASF will not significantly affect farm output in Region 4A (Calabarzon) and Region 3 (Central Luzon), which are regarded as the Philippines’s major livestock producers.

“Livestock production in the third quarter slowed down but it is not yet in the negative territory. Hog production grew 1.7 percent. However, this is relatively slower compared to the previous quarter,” he said.

“It is likely that by the fourth quarter, hog production could contract. But other livestock industries will compensate. Chicken may grow by double-digit,” Mapa added.

The holidays will boost poultry production as chicken meat is a favorite food item used in whipping up Filipino dishes served during special occasions. Mapa said the holidays could cause a spike in chicken and egg prices.

Chicken and eggs were more expensive in recent weeks due to the outbreak of ASF as Filipinos consider these as alternative sources of protein. PSA data showed that in the National Capital Region, the average price of whole chicken rose by 14.9 percent year on year and 7.6 percent, month on month.

Data showed egg prices have been on the rise since July when they increased by 2.6 percent, 3.8 percent in August, 4.8 percent in September and 5.2 percent in October.

The average price of pure beef went up by 4.6 percent year on year and by 0.7 percent on a monthly basis in October. Beef meat with bones was even more expensive as average price rose by an annualized rate of 6.2 percent.

member-workers, as the decision of vehicle assemblers to locate their business in Thailand and Indonesia is reducing employment opportunities in the Philippines.

Based on records from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), there are 7,784 direct workers in the motor vehicle manufacturing sector in 2014. However, this plunged 12.1 percent in 2015 to 6,842 workers, before slipping yet again in 2016 by 3.33 percent to 6,614 workers.

The PSA also reported the number of establishments involved in motor vehicle manufacturing fell to 48 in 2015, from 56 in 2014, before recovering to 52 in 2016. “ T hey [member-workers of PMA] are getting hit. Their membership [belongs to] a broad alliance of [workers in the] automotive, iron and steel, electronic and electrical sectors, including in key automotive industry players,” Rodolfo said.

The trade official explained the DTI is seriously considering the petition to impose safeguard on imported vehicles, as the government is now maximizing the use of trade remedies to protect its industries from import influx.

Rodolfo said the Philippines applied for just two antidumping measures between 2010 and 2017, the lowest in Southeast Asia when compared with Indonesia’s 28, Thailand’s 28, Malaysia’s 23, and Vietnam’s seven. Manila also made use of safeguard measures only twice during the seven-year period as against Jakarta’s 14, Bangkok’s four, Hanoi’s four and Kuala Lumpur’s three.

“If you look at the [records], we rarely use trade remedies. We have been very prudent, while those implemented by other countries reach 20,” Rodolfo argued. “We are not filing [safeguard] even if this is a legitimate trade measure that is allowed in the WTO [World Trade Organization].”

Baguio tourist spots. . .

We cannot just permit people to do business there just because they want to,” he said.

Magalong said he has plans of organizing ambulant vendors into cooperatives.

“Baguio’s problems are so complicated that political will is badly needed to address these problems,” Magalong said.

Baguio to be known as a smart city. Later on, the use of technology will be used as platform for digital transformation, for digital governance and the shift to a digital economy,” he said.

The smart city project is targeted to be completed by July next year, according to Magalong.

He said the local government is already receiving proposals from various foreign companies, such as Huawei, Cisco, China Telecom, and those from Japan and Russia.

Magalong made an assurance that the local government will put enough safeguards, such as double data encryption, to allay concerns over Baguio’s transformation into a smart city.

He also said the city government is currently working on a master plan to rehabilitate parks and put up satellite markets to decongest Baguio’s sole night market.

“Our vision is to turn Baguio in to a walkable city that is why we are spending a lot on quality sidewalks,” said Magalong.

Smart city

He revealed that the local government has already received its fund request of P200 million from President Duterte for the first phase of the project which will turn Baguio into a smart city, the first of its kind in the country.

With a command center using artificial intelligence, the mayor said that the local government would soon be able to strictly monitor the movements of people and cars to better manage the traffic flow. It would also help the city cut its expenses on lighting and improve water management.

“That is why from a safer city, we want

Telco towers. . .

Continued from A12

“They are positioned all over the country.

Realistically speaking, we can do at least 200 towers, but we are hoping that we can break ground for around 400 towers to 500 towers within the year,” he said.

This development came even after the ICT department, headed by former lawmaker Gregorio B. Honassan II, failed to meet its target of issuing a common tower policy within the year. The office heading the policy formulation is headed by Information Policy Undersecretary Jose Arturo C. de Castro.

Right now, Rio said, “We are continuing the rules and regulations that we have previously issued to fast-track the implementation of the common towers program. We are no longer waiting for the policy, but we are maximixing what we have to be fast.”

He noted, however, that the policy office of the DICT could use existing contracts to cement and strengthen the policy to be issued, referring to the recent groundbreaking of the first shared tower infrastructure in Caoayan, Ilocos Sur.

Oil exploration. . .

He noted that there have been no objections to China’s continuing disregard of the ruling from Manila or from everyone else.

“When doing joint exploration, that’s almost like a reward for something you have not received reciprocation for,” he added.

Russian arms

Meanwhile, when asked whether the Philippines planned to purchase Russian military equipment, Grossman said, “That’s fine if it’s purely transactional, but I hope Russia is not expected to support [the Philippines] on sovereignty.”

“That’s not gonna happen. The China-Russia relationship is the closest that it probably has ever been, even including the 1950s and before the Sino-Soviet split,” he said, adding that Russia does not have any geostrategic interest in the South China Sea. John Gordon IV, senior policy researcher for Rand Corp., said we should “take a consistent front against the Chinese, adding, “And I think

Continued from A1

The first tower—expected to be erected in three months—is owned by the LCS Group of politician Luis “Chavit” C. Singson.

“The inputs that we received from pilot will help make the policy be more comprehensive,” Rio said.

The Philippines is at the nascent stages of building new telco towers through the common tower initiative, as it puts premium on the development of the ICT industry, which is seen as huge revenue driver in the coming years.

Currently, the Philippines has 17,850 towers that serve over 100 million subscribers.

This translates to a tower density of 0.14 or one tower serving 1,000 subscribers. The ideal tower density is at one tower per 1,000 subscribers.

The government hopes to build as many as 50,000 towers just to be on a par with neighboring countries, such as Vietnam and Indonesia. Having more cell towers will provide subscribers better coverage and speed.

Continued from A12

having a common message from the United States and the Philippines is probably a very important thing to do.”

He said many people in the US military are very interested in the amount of access the American military is going to get in the Philippines.“You know, that’s been an on-again, off-again issue of how much access the US will get to bases in the Philippines, permanent or temporary bases.”

Investing in capabilities

Bonny Lin, political scientist, Rand Corp., for his part stressed the need to look “at particular types of military capabilities that will enable you to better be able to understand and... patrol your claims in the region. Maritime domain awareness capabilities are particularly high on that list.”

She said she favors investing in capabilities and maintaining the strong relationships between the Philippines and the US, which she said is “on solid track right now.”

The Nation BusinessMirror

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Authorities intercept women victimized by trafficking mob

By Joel R. San Juan

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@jrsanjuan1573

HE Bureau of Immigration (BI) on Sunday announced that four human trafficking victims were intercepted by immigration officers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) on Thursday.

BI Port Operations Division Chief Grifton Medina said the victims, all women, were supposed to leave the country to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, when they were refused entry to the boarding gate.

“Once they reach Malaysia, they planned to proceed to Dubai where they were promised work as household workers and drivers,” Medina said.

Medina said the women were not allowed to leave after immigration officers became suspicious about the purpose of their travel and referred them for secondary inspection.

During the secondary inspection, the victims presented company employment IDs under a major construction firm that allegedly sponsored their trip to Malaysia.

Further verification from the said company showed that the claim of the victims was false.

“We contacted the personnel department of the company where they were purportedly employed and we were told that these women are not their employees,” Ma. Bernadette Catipay, head of the BI-Naia 3 Travel Control and Enforcement Unit, said.

It was discovered that the passengers were all issued working visas in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

They admitted that said UAE visas, as well as the plane tickets of their connecting flight to Dubai, were to be given to them upon arriving in Malaysia.

The victims claimed a female courier for the syndicate that recruited them was the one who provided them with the fraudulent documents at a convenience store of the Naia terminal before they entered the immigration area.

The Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking has taken custody of the victims for further investigation.

Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug • Monday, November 11, 2019 A3

PHL’s envoy to US proposes overseer of overseas asset

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By Recto Mercene

@rectomercene

ASHINGTON, D.C.—Alarmed by several attempts in the past to sell off valuable consular properties abroad, the Philippines is proposing to craft a legislation for the creation, development, lease, maintenance and proper disposition of overseas assets owned by the national government.

Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel G. Romualdez said he wants the creation of an Overseas Properties Management Board (OPMB) and establishment of the Philippine Center Management Boards (PCMBs) to oversee governmentowned properties outside the country.

Romualdez explained there are 85 consular properties abroad that needs to be protected. His proposal would mandate the OPMB to have oversight functions over these Philippine overseas foreign service posts across the globe.

Romualdez told visiting Filipino journalists here the proposed body would formulate, implement and coordinate policies with regard to the acquisition, development, lease, maintenance and sale of all overseas properties.

In Washington alone, the Philippines owned three key properties, including the Philippine Embassy, the Philippine consular

office and the residence of the Philippine ambassador.

Presidential Decree 487 issued in 1974 authorized the acquisition of properties strategically located in New York and San Francisco in the United States and Sydney, Australia.

According to Romualdez, most properties owned by the Philippines abroad are not properly maintained while some are being disposed of. The latter includes those in prime locations in Japan, the United Kingdom and the US. “The properties are not maintained because it is not the business of the DFA [Department of Foreign Affairs]. Their business is diplomacy and consular work,” he added.

“So I think if we put up company with a specific purpose to manage and maintain all government properties, I think it will be better.”

He also said that the OPMB, under a

proposed Overseas Properties Management Board Act, would be mandated to take care of the maintenance of building services and real-property management.

At the same time, the OPMB would be empowered to approve the acquisition, major repair and renovation, as well as development, construction and disposal of real properties.

The body, he said, would also allocate funds for the property management and development projects proposed by the PCMBs using the funds sourced from the DFA Building Fund.

The foreign affairs secretary would chair the OPMB with the head of the Department of Trade and Industry as vice chairman.

Members include representatives from the Departments of Budget and Management, Finance, Tourism, Agriculture, as well as Labor and Employment.

Under the proposed bill, Romualdez said disposition of properties abroad would have to be approved by the President upon the recommendation by the OPMB in consultation with the PCMBs. Likewise, Congress should be vested authority to approve or disapprove the acquisition or sale of properties.

“This is to discourage any businessmandiplomat who want to sell the building such as what almost happened in Japan,” he said.

Romualdez cited the failed attempt to sell the New York Consulate.

He, however, expressed disappointment on the sale of a property in London near Kensington Palace to Indian billionaire and steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal.

Davao City urges evacuation of families living on steep slopes

By Manuel T. Cayon @awimailbox Mindanao Bureau Chief

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AVAO City—The city government has asked families living on steep slopes to evacuate to the designated relocation area in Tugbok, west of downtown, as city engineers found weakened ground structures that may trigger a landslide.

At least five areas prone to landslide have been eyed for immediate evacuation. Some 41 families are in these areas.

The local government housing team have validated the weakened ground structures in five areas of the city after three strong earthquake jolted the eastern half of Mindanao in the latter half of October.

The city information office said the validation in two areas—Juario Village in Maa and DDF Village-Phase 5 in Mandug—were already completed.

Validation have continued in other areas. These include the Old Smokey Mountain along Carlos P. Garcia Highway or Diversion Road in Matina Pangi; Purok Damayan in Barangay Buhangin; and Purok 5 in Barangay Baganihan in Marilog are still being checked.

Alfredo D. Baloran, chief of the City Risk Reduction Management Office, previously declared the five areas as danger zones.

“These areas are identified to be very susceptible to landslides. We recommended the immediate evacuation of the residents in the area to avoid risks,” he said.

A4 Monday, November 11, 2019 • Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug

Economy BusinessMirror

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USDA: Imports to whet PHL’s appetite for rice

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By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

@jearcalas

In its monthly report, the USDA projected that total rice consumption next year would increase by 100,000 metric tons (MT) from the estimated 14.1 MMT total requirement this year.

Based on USDA estimates, it will be the second straight year that total Philippine demand will exceed 14 MMT after the government liberalized and deregulated the country’s rice industry earlier this year.

Prior to the opening up of the domestic rice market, the Philippines recorded its highest staple consumption during the food crisis in 2008

at nearly 13.5 MMT, historical USDA data showed.

The USDA said the country’s rice imports this year would settle at 3 MMT, making the Philippines the second-biggest buyer of the grain after China. However, due to higher ending stocks coupled with recovering production, the Philippines’s purchases next year would decline to 2.5 MMT, the USDA said.

Local milled rice output next year is expected to reach a two year-high of 12 MMT, from 11.732 MMT estimated volume this year, USDA data showed.

BLOOMBERG

HE country’s milled rice consumption could hit a record 14.2 million metric tons (MMT) next year, as the reduction in prices will stimulate the appetite of Filipinos for the staple, according to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

The Philippines would have a yearend stock of nearly 3.5 MMT, which is projected to rise to 3.79 MMT by the end of 2020, according to the USDA. The influx of cheaper rice imports after the rice trade liberaliza-

tion law took effect in March will increase consumption by 14 percent to nearly 16 MMT by 2030, from the current 13.91 MMT. This is one of the projections of the Department of Agriculture

Duterte to visit S. Korea for Asean-ROK Commemorative Summit

By Bernadette D. Nicolas @BNicolasBM

P

RESIDENT Duterte will visit Busan, South Korea, this month

to attend the Asean-Republic of Korea (ROK) Commemorative Summit, Presidential Spokesman and Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador S. Panelo said over the weekend.

In a radio interview, Panelo confirmed the President’s attendance to the summit scheduled on November 25 and 26, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Asean-ROK

Dialogue Partnership.

“Yes. He will push through [with his visit to Korea],” Panelo said, adding that it is “most likely” that the President will have a bilateral meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in during his visit.

“Most likely, there will be one because there’s always a bilateral meeting in a foreign visit,” Panelo added.

He said the two leaders will discuss issues of mutual interest, including trade and security.

T h i s wou ld b e t he P re s i dent ’s second v isit to Korea since assu m ing of f ice.

The Chief Executive’s visit also comes at a time when the government is working on a free-trade deal with South Korea. Despite the negotiators being engaged in a deadlock over certain provisions of the deal, the government remains hopeful that the talks will still be concluded by the end of the month.

If signed, the free-trade agreement with South Korea will only be the country’s second-bilateral trade deal after the Philippines-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement, which entered into force in 2008.

South Korea was the Philippines’s fourth major trading partner last year. It is the Philippines’s eighth export market and second import supplier. Total bilateral trade was valued at $13.7 billion, with Philippine exports to South Korea at $2.5 billion, and Philippine imports from South Korea at $11.2 billion.

Aside from Duterte, other Asean leaders are also expected to attend the 2019 Asean-ROK Commemorative Summit which is said to be the biggest international conference that Korea hosts under the Moon Jae-in administration.

Based on the summit’s web site, it is also the third hosted by Korea with Asean following the ones in Jeju and Busan, in 2009 and 2014, respectively.

Among Asean’s dialogue partners, South Korea is the only country which will have hosted all three commemorative summits with Asean in its own country.

The President’s first official visit to South Korea was in June 2018, when more than 20 government-togovernment agreements, as well as business deals were signed between Manila and Seoul.

Government-to-government agreements cover areas of wider collaboration in science and technology, infrastructure development, renewable-energy deployment, trade and economic relations, transportation, agriculture, forestry and communications.

(DA) under the latest draft of the Philippine Rice Industry Roadmap, a copy of which was obtained by the BusinessMirror.

The draft blueprint has yet to be approved by the agriculture chief and

will still undergo further contextual analysis. The latest draft was based on previous consultations with rice industry stakeholders.

The draft blueprint stipulated that the wholesale price of rice is expected to drop to P35 per kilogram, from P40 per kg last year due to the influx of imports.

The DA estimated that the wholesale price of 25 percent brokens would be about P35.31 per kg. Due to this, the country’s annual per-capita rice consumption will increase by 3.63 percent to 114 kg, from 110 kg according to the draft document.

“Given the 2018 domestic wholesale price of around P40 per kg, the reduction to P35 per kg will encourage the consumption of more rice. Thus, the annual per-capita rice consumption is expected to increase from 110 [kg] to 114 [kg],” the document read.

“Assuming no further increase in other uses of rice, the total rice use is projected to increase from 13.91 [MMT] in 2019, to 15.88 [MMT] in 2030,” the document added.

Based on the latest survey of the Philippine Statistics Authority, the country’s per-capita consumption in 2015 to 2016 declined to 109.875 kg, from 114.265 kg in 2012.

‘Strengthen sugar industry first before easing import restrictions’

By Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz @joveemarie

S

EVERAL lawmakers strongly urged the Department of Agriculture (DA) and Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) to seriously study the proposal to ease the restrictions on importing sugar.

At the same time, lawmakers from the Visayan Bloc have also filed House Resolution 412 to express their strong opposition to the planned liberalization or deregulation of sugar importation to safeguard the welfare of farmers and mill workers.

Given the country’s experience with the rice trade liberalization law, House Minority Leader Bienvenido Abante Jr. said the DA and SRA should tread carefully in liberalizing the sugar industry.

“This proposal has good intentions; but we must always remember the saying ‘the road to hell is paved with good intentions.’ And while this may benefit consumers, this may cause hell for the 5 million people who work in the sugar industry,” said Abante.

“It may be more prudent to first take steps to strengthen the local sugar industry and make it more competitive before we consider liberalizing the importation of sugar,” he added.

The 26 members of the Visayan bloc said the proposal to ease restrictions on buying imported sugar will undermine President Duterte’s “inclusive growth vision.”

House Resolution 412 signed by the Visayan bloc noted that the proposal to liberalize sugar importation was made following claims that more expensive local sugar rendered food products for the domestic market and for export uncompetitive.

“The liberalization or deregulation of sugar importation undermines President Duterte’s inclusive growth vision for the country, as it will be detrimental to farmers and farm workers and their families and to the rural communities that produce sugar,” the bloc said.

The Visayan bloc lawmakers said the SRA should continue to regulate the supply of sugar in the country pursuant to its mandate its mandate under Executive Order 18, series of 1986 and pursuant to the President’s Administrative Order 13, series of 2018.

Last September 27, the bloc noted that the Department of Finance issued an Economic Bulletin wherein

it called for the removal of quantitative restrictions on sugar imports.

“It is not correct to compare local sugar prices with world market prices because the world sugar market is where major sugar exporting countries, such as Thailand and India sell their excess sugar at below cost of production,” the bloc said.

According to the lawmakers, major sugar-exporting countries can afford to dump their excess sugar production in the world market because they provide massive subsidies and other forms of protection, such as domestic and export support prices to their sugar farmers and sugar industries.

“Filipino sugar farmers—most of whom are small farmers and agrarian reform beneficiaries—get minimal support and cannot afford to sell their sugar below costs,” they said.

The bloc said even the United States—the champion of globalization and liberalization—has a long standing policy to strictly regulate sugar importation to shield its farmers from the distortions in the world market sugar and prices.

“The liberalization or deregulation of sugar importation will not affect the competitiveness of sugar containing food products for export because they can already import sugar without value-added tax, or customs duties provided that the end-product is exported and not sold locally,” the lawmakers said.

Citing the Nutrition Labels/ Facts of most locally manufactured sugar containing food products in the market, the bloc said sugar is not the major ingredient and cost component of the product to render such sugar-containing product uncompetitive based solely or entirely on sugar.

“As pointed out by sugar farmers that notwithstanding the drop in mill site prices of sugar, retail prices remained high, and in some supermarkets well above the suggested retail price, which means that consumers will not benefit from liberalization or deregulation of sugar importation but only traders and/ or importers,” the bloc said.

“The unregulated entry of subsidized imported sugar will be disastrous to our sugar industry, which contributes an estimated P96 billion to the gross domestic product specifically to 84,000 sugar farmers and 720,000 industry workers across 28 provinces of the Philippines,” it added.

The World BusinessMirror

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FBI: Cybercrimes on the rise because of sophisticated scams

P

Editor: Angel R. Calso • Monday, November 11, 2019 A5

Trump pushes back on reports US will remove China tariffs

ORTL A ND, Oregon— On December 14, 2018, Aaron Cole was about to buy a new house and received an e-mail that he thought was from his title company, directing him to make a $123,000 deposit.

Cole complied, not realizing that a sophisticated hacker network had likely been spying on his communications with the title company and that although the e-mail looked like others he had received from the title company, this time, the e-mail address was slightly different.

A week later, the title company called, advising him it was time to send money. The Oregon man suddenly realized he had given away his family’s life savings to criminals. The money was from the sale of their former house.

“It was the worst feeling,” Cole said on Friday. “And then having to go home and tell my wife that I just gave away all the money. She could tell right when I walked in the house and just sat down, and I just couldn’t come up with the words to tell her.”

In 2015, $220 million was lost to wire fraud in the United States.

In 2019, losses will surpass $1.5 billion, according to WFG National Title Insurance Co. In the past, attempts to trick people were often clumsy, FBI agents told journalists on Friday.

Now they can be sophisticated.

If people are asked via e-mail to transfer money under a deadline, they should not rush and instead call a known number of the person the e-mail is purportedly from and confirm the request, the agents said.

“The e-mails have gotten well-

crafted and quite detailed. They’re highly tailored to that particular victim,” said Gabriel Gundersen, an FBI supervisory special agent with the Oregon Cyber Task Force. “It’s a social engineering piece, where they’re coercing a victim to do something based on an artificial agenda or an artificial timeline.”

In one of the largest cases of its kind in US history, federal authorities in Los Angeles announced an indictment in August, charging 80 people, most of them Nigerians, with stealing $6 million in an e-mail scam and money laundering network.

George Chamberlin, assistant special FBI agent in charge of the Portland division, said such cases can take years to develop.

Partnerships between victims, local law enforcement, the FBI and its field offices overseas, and law enforcement in other countries is critical to combatting this transnational crime, said Loren Cannon, the FBI’s special agent in charge of the Portland office.

In Oregon, losses surpassed $24 million from computer-related crimes from January 1 through September 30 of this year. For all of last year, $23.5 million was stolen, the FBI said.

Most of the money has been lost in so-called business e-mail compromise scams, in which organized crime groups trick victims into making wire transfers to bank accounts controlled by the criminals.

Cole, from the Portland suburb of Oregon City, was lucky. His title firm, WFG National Title Insurance Co., hired him—for the same amount of money he lost—to be a spokesman to warn others about cyber scams. AP

More than 70 nations pledge to reduce food waste

New challenge for Bolivian president as police guards abandon positions

R

OME—More than 70 countries have pledged to do more to cut down on the amount of food lost due to poor refrigeration.

The countries signed the pledge on Saturday at an annual meeting of the Montreal Protocol where ministers, government officials and experts work on regulating man-made chemicals used in refrigeration and air-conditioning systems that are harmful to the ozone layer. The meeting took place at the United Nations’s Food and Agriculture Organization headquarters in Rome.

About one-third of the world’s food is lost or wasted and the hope is that developing better methods to keep food cold while it’s stored and transported will reduce waste.

Poor refrigeration leads to the loss of about 9 percent of perishable food in developed countries and about 23 percent in developing countries, where millions of people suffer from malnutrition.

Experts say better refrigeration would help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the harmful gases used in refrigeration and air-conditioning systems.

The United States, China, European Union members and many nations in the Americas, Africa and Asia signed the pledge. AP

W

ASHINGTON—President Donald J. Trump on Friday dismissed a Chinese official’s assertion that his administration has agreed to roll back some of the higher tariffs it’s imposed on Chinese goods.

The Chinese official said on Thursday that the two sides had agreed to a phased cancellation of their tariff hikes as part of an emerging agreement.

Trump’s pushback suggested that negotiations haven’t progressed as far as hoped as the world’s two biggest economies struggle to negotiate an end to their trade war, which has hurt both economies.

“They’d like to have a rollback,” Trump told reporters at the White House, referring to the Chinese. “I haven’t agreed to anything.”

The two sides have been working on an initial “Phase 1” deal that was announced on October 12, but that still isn’t final.

Financial markets in the US and globally rallied on Thursday at the prospect of an agreement to wind down the US-China trade fight, but then stumbled on Friday on Trump’s comments before eking out small gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 6.44 points, or less than 0.1 percent, after shedding as many as 96 points earlier in the day.

Trump repeated his claims that China wants a deal more than the United States and that the US benefits from extra tariff revenue. The president says the tariffs are paid by China, but studies conducted since the duties were imposed find that

IN this July 12, 2018, file photo, workers pack imported lobsters at the Jingshen seafood market in Beijing. US-Chinese trade contracted again in October, despite optimism about possible progress in talks aimed at ending a tariff war that threatens global economic growth. Chinese imports of US goods fell 14.3 percent from a year earlier to $9.4 billion, customs data showed on Friday, November 8, 2019. AP PHOTO/ANDY WONG

American businesses and consumers are paying them.

“Frankly, they want to make a deal a lot more than I do,” Trump said. “I’m very happy right now. We’re taking in billions of dollars.”

A private-sector source with knowledge of the talks said Thursday that the US had agreed to suspend the duties Trump threatened to impose on December 15 on about $160 billion of Chinese imports as part of the agreement. But there is dissension in the White House about whether and by how much to roll back 15 percent duties on another $112 billion of goods imposed September 1.

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow also told Bloomberg News on Thursday that if a deal were reached, it would include

L

A PAZ, Bolivia—Police guards outside Bolivia’s presidential palace abandoned their posts on Saturday, increasing pressure on President Evo Morales as he seeks to curb nationwide unrest after a disputed election.

Officers also climbed onto the roof of a nearby police station holding Bolivian flags and signs, proclaiming “The Police with the People.” Police retreated to their barracks in at least three cities, and there were reports that some in two cities were openly declaring mutinies.

The president, who was not at the palace at the time and appeared later at a military airfield outside La Paz, urged police to “preserve the security” of Bolivia and obey the rules.

Growing dissension in police ranks posed a new threat to Morales, who claimed victory after the October 20 vote, but has since faced protests in which three people have been killed and hundreds injured. Opponents contend the results were manipulated.

Morales faces “the most complicated moment” in his 14 years in power and the situation could deteriorate, said Jorge Dulón, a political analyst at the Catholic University of Bolivia in La Paz. Police units in some cities started protesting on Friday, marching in the streets in uniform as anti-government protesters cheered them from the sidewalks.

POLICE against the reelection of President Evo Morales stand on the rooftop of a police station waving national flags just meters away from the presidential palace in La Paz, Bolivia, on Saturday, November 9, 2019. Policemen guarding the exteriors of the presidential palace in La Paz retreated to their barracks on Saturday, while officers in other Bolivian cities have declared mutinies and joined protests against Morales, who has faced two weeks of unrest over disputed election results. AP PHOTO/JUAN KARITA

Defense Minister Javier Zabaleta initially played down the police protests, saying a “police mutiny occurred in a few regions.”

Gen. Williams Kaliman, the military chief, said Saturday that the military had no plans to intervene.

“We’ll never confront the people among whom we live. We guarantee peaceful coexistence,” Kaliman said. “This is a political problem and it should be resolved within that realm.”

A list of demands from dissident police officers included bet-

ter working conditions, the resignation of their commander and guarantees that they won’t be used as a political “instrument of any government.”

The spectacle of police leaving their positions outside the presidential palace was an ominous development for Morales.

At a news conference at the military base, Morales appealed to Bolivia’s political factions to hold talks.

He said the four parties that received the most votes in the nine-candidate election should sit down with “an

reduced tariffs.

“The White House never speaks with one voice,” Mary Lovely, a trade economist at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, said Thursday.

Despite Trump’s cavalier comments, analysts say the administration has plenty of incentives to reach a deal soon. Trump said last month that the Phase 1 pact would include the purchase of tens of billions of dollars of US farm products by China, which would benefit farm states, many of which supported Trump in 2016.

The tariffs imposed in September covered clothes, toys and shoes, raising prices for many widely used consumer goods.

And the December 15 tariffs would mostly hit popular consumer

open agenda to pacify Bolivia.”

Carlos Mesa, the main opposition leader and a former president who finished second in the October 20 vote, promptly rejected the suggestion.

“I have nothing to negotiate with Evo Morales, who has lost all grip on reality,” Mesa said.

Another opposition leader, Luis Fernando Camacho, said the president “is looking for exits, when people demand his resignation and call for new elections.”

While appealing for dialogue, Morales has also accused his opponents of trying to overthrow Bolivia’s rightful government.

The Organization of American States is conducting an audit of the election count. Findings are expected Monday or Tuesday. The opposition, which has alleged voterigging, says it will not accept the results because they were not consulted about the audit plan.

The European Union issued a statement on Saturday calling for demonstrators to remain peaceful, saying a solution “can be achieved through peaceful negotiations.”

US Undersecretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Michael Kozak echoed that view on Twitter: “Bolivian citizens deserve credible and transparent elections that they can trust to represent their will. We urge all actors to avoid violence and ensure that the

Iraqi forces kill six protesters, retake key Baghdad bridges

B

AGHDAD—Iraqi security forces killed six anti-government protesters and wounded more than 100 others on Saturday, pushing them back from three flashpoint bridges in central Baghdad, medical and security officials said.

Five of the protesters were killed by live ammunition, while the sixth died after being shot in the head with a tear gas canister. The Iraqi officials spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

The current cycle of anti-government protests and the heavy-handed security crackdown has left more than 250 people dead. Mass protests erupted in Baghdad and across southern Iraq last month, calling for the overhaul of the political system established after the 2003 US-led invasion.

The deaths occurred on Saturday as the protests intensified in the afternoon, when demonstrators tried to reach the three bridges spanning the Tigris River to the heavily fortified

Green Zone, the seat of government.

Protesters have tried to force their way across on an almost daily basis.

The protesters were pushed from the Sinak Bridge to the nearby Khilani Square, where 35 people were wounded, according to medical officials. Security forces also regained control of the nearby Ahrar and Shuhada bridges.

The day before, authorities found a bomb under the Sinak Bridge and carried out a controlled explosion of it, according to state television.

In the southern city of Basra, three more protesters were killed overnight, raising the death toll there to eight since Thursday. Clashes with security forces also wounded 10 people in other parts of southern Iraq, including the city of Nasiriyah, according to security officials.

The demonstrators complain of widespread corruption, lack of job opportunities and poor basic services, including regular power cuts, despite Iraq’s vast oil reserves. They have rejected government proposals

for limited economic reforms, and instead called on the country’s political leadership to resign, including Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi.

“We consider the peaceful protests of our people as among the most important events since 2003,” Abdul-Mahdi said in a statement on Saturday that vowed to meet the protesters’ demands for wide-ranging reforms. He added that electoral reforms would be put forward soon, along with “an important government reshuffle” in response to

products, such as smartphones and laptops. Not only would that also raise consumer costs, but those tariffs would affect many products designed by US companies, for which China gets relatively little of the economic benefit.

“The December tariff round would largely hit products designed and marketed by multinational firms, mostly with components from the United States and its allies, and assembled in non-Chinese-owned factories,” Lovely wrote on the Peterson Institute’s web site.

The trade war stems from the Trump administration’s complaints that China is seeking to unfairly boost its high-tech industries by stealing US technology or forcing American companies to share it as a condition of doing business there. Most business groups and China trade experts agree that China has violated trade rules and have largely supported the administration’s tougher line.

Still, the tariffs have hurt both countries’ economies. China’s growth slowed to an annual rate of 6 percent last month, a healthy pace for more advanced economies but China’s slowest in three decades.

In the US, businesses are dealing with the tariffs’ higher costs and are uncertain about their international supply chains. They have responded by cutting their investment spending in new plants and equipment for two straight quarters. That’s lowered US economic growth to 1.9 percent at an annual rate in the July-to-September quarter, from 3.1 percent in the first three months of this year. AP

forces of public order continue to exercise restraint.”

In the city of Santa Cruz, a stronghold for anti-Morales sentiment, hundreds of opposition supporters marched along with police mutineers.

“We do not want to be indifferent. The police are joining their people,” one officer said.

On the outskirts of La Paz, groups of pro- and anti-Morales activists clashed at a roadblock seeking to keep the president’s opponents out of the capital. More than 30 injuries were reported.

Various groups also marched through the city center, while a crowd gathered outside the Bolivia state television station and radio Patria Nueva accusing employees of lying to defend the government.

After the October 20 vote, Morales, the country’s first indigenous president, declared himself the outright winner even before official results indicated he obtained just enough support to avoid a runoff with Mesa.

But a 24-hour lapse in releasing vote results raised suspicions among opposition supporters that there had been fraud.

Morales ran seeking reelection to a fourth term after refusing to abide by the results of a referendum that upheld term limits for the president.

The country’s constitutional court then ruled term limits violated his right to run for office. AP

the protests against the sectarian system imposed in 2003, though the statement didn’t provide further details.

Iraq’s top Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, released a statement saying his office was not part of a deal reportedly reached to keep the prime minister in his post and put an end to the protests. Al-Sistani’s office said the government should respond to protesters’ demands, adding that the cleric’s name was being used for “political exploitation.” AP

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MR. JIAN PENG/ Chinese

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SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

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Chinese Customer Service Representative

22

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

Mandarin Customer Service Representative

61

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. HAOWEI YANG/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

23

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MS. ZHENGQI XIE/ Chinese

Mandarin Customer Service Representative

62

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. SHUAI LIAO/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

24

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. LEI KONG/ Chinese

Mandarin Customer Service Representative

63

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. SHIYUAN CHEN/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

25

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MS. JIAOJIAO SUN/ Chinese

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64

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. HENGXIN ZHU/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

26

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. XINYANG WANG/ Chinese

Mandarin Customer Service Representative

65

MR. ZHONGHUAI XIE/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

27

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. TIANXIANG LI/ Chinese

Mandarin Customer Service Representative

66

MR. JIAN WANG / Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

28

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. JUNJUN HU/ Chinese

Mandarin Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

67

MR. CHENGWEI LIANG/ Chinese

Mandarin Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. JIAYANG SUN/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. ZUQIANG CHEN/ Chinese

68

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. PENGCHENG GUO/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

31

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MS. MEIRONG DENG/ Chinese

69

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. XING LI/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

32

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MS. SHUO ZHAO/ Chinese

Mandarin Customer Service Representative

70

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. PEIQIANG LI/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

33

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. YONG TANG/ Chinese

Mandarin Customer Service Representative

71

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. XINQIAO XU/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

34

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. XI GUO/ Chinese

Mandarin Customer Service Representative

72

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MS. KEJIA DING/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

1

29

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MR. ZAIZHONG YANG/ Chinese MR. LEI FANG/ Chinese MR. TUXIAN CHEN / Chinese

MR. HUIHUANG HUANG/ Chinese

Mandarin Customer Service Representative Mandarin Customer Service Representative

General ManagerTechnical Training Consultant Manager- Crewing Department

BusinessMirror

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Name and Address of Company/Employer

Name and Citizenship of Foreign National

Position and Brief Description of Functions

Name and Address of Company/Employer

Monday, November 11, 2019 A7 Name and Citizenship of Foreign National

Position and Brief Description of Functions

73

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. CHENXING LONG/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 111 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. DUNPU YAO/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

74

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MS. FENGJUAN WANG/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 112 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. CUN LI/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

75

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. TENGYUE KANG/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 113 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. LEI SHEN/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

76

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. GUANGWEI WU/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 114 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. XINGLIN LI/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

77

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. YE XU/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 115 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. YONGQIANG CHEN/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

78

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. ZHIPEI CHENG/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 116 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. YONG LING/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

79

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MS. ZIYUE ZHENG/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 117 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. DAOYI ZHANG/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

80

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. NING HUANG/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 118 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

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Chinese Customer Service Representative

81

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. FUWEN LUO/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 119 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

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82

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. JUNQIANG ZHANG/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 120 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

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Chinese Customer Service Representative

83

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

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SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 121 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

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84

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

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SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 122 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

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85

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

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Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 123 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

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Chinese Customer Service Representative

86

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

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SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 124 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

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Chinese Customer Service Representative

87

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

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Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 125 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

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Chinese Customer Service Representative

88

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. LEI ZHANG/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 126 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

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89

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

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Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 127 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

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Chinese Customer Service Representative

90

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. QI YANG/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 128 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. CHANGHUANG LIU/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

91

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

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Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 129 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

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92

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. YONGZHEN YAO/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 130 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. MINGJIANG CHEN/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

93

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. BENYAN YUAN/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 131 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. FUCHENG FENG/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

94

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. WEIJIAN ZHANG/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 132 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MS. YANSHUANG YAO/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

95

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. ZIFENG HU/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 133 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. ZHIFENG LING/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

96

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. QINGPING HU/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 134 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. YIMING LIANG/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

97

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. YAJIE SUN/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 135 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. YONG LUO/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

98

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. ZHONGGUO CHEN/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 136 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. GUOHUI WANG/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

99

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. PEISEN HUANG/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

MR. YELU LIANG/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 100 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 137 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. ANYING LIU/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

MR. HAOYU TONG/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 101 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 138 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. YIHANG LI/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

MR. TENG LIN/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 102 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 139 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. SHUEN LYU/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

MR. JIANMING CHEN/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 103 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 140 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. ZHONGJIANG GUO/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

MR. FAPING LUO/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 104 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 141 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MS. WENTING PENG/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

MR. PENG SU/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 105 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 142 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. CHENLONG LUI/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

MR. YUXIANG HOU/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 106 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 143 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. WEI JIANG/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 107 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. YONGGUI HE/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 108 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. SICHANG ZHU/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 109 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MS. JIAJIA GUO/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 110 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. LEI SHI/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

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Green Monday BusinessMirror

A8 Monday, November 11, 2019

Beijing braces for a smoggy winter while China prioritizes growth

B

eijing is getting ready for another gray winter after China eased air quality targets, signaling the government is focusing on bolstering slowing growth at the expense of cleaner air.

flexible program for its output curbs during the winter, eschewing blanket cuts and taking a differentiated approach to industries, including steel.

Vice Premier Han Zheng on Friday urged authorities to be “realistic,” adopt precise measures and refrain from one-size-fits-all policies in Beijing and its surrounding areas this year, Xinhua reported.

Gray skies

Pollution in Beijing, China, on November 14, 2018. Giulia Marchi/Bloomberg

In September, the government eased its target for a key air quality indicator in northern China, including industrial areas surrounding the capital. It is seeking a 4-percent drop in concentrations of deadly PM 2.5 particles in the October-to-March period from a year earlier, lower than the 5.5-percent decline it sought in an earlier draft of pollutioncontrol goals.

China similarly grappled with balancing the competing demands of growth and pollution control last winter, with some economists suggesting the economic slowdown was behind a decision to move away from hard emissions targets as the government tried

to keep factories churning.

The need to shore up growth has come into conflict with President Xi Jinping’s move to step up as a global leader on climate change after his counterpart Donald J. Trump scaled back US involvement.

“The weak economic prospect is taming China’s environmental ambition,” said Li Shuo, a policy adviser at Greenpeace China, adding that the targets were probably “watered down” in consultation with multiple ministries and local industrial interests. “The Chinese public may feel this in their lungs in the upcoming winter.”

The environment ministry said last year that northern China’s industrial hub would adopt a more

The revised goals also allow for more days with heavy pollution.

Still, officials insist that lower targets don’t ref lect a weakening in China’s commitment to cleaning up the environment.

“This target is scientifically and rationally formulated on the basis of extensive consultation with relevant departments, local governments and experts,” Liu Youbin, a spokesman for the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, told reporters last week.

He cited “unfavorable meteorological conditions” while forecasting the smog would last for a long time and cover a wide area, stressing that “the intensity and pressure” of China’s environmental ambitions remain unchanged.

A n early sig n of less str ingent rest r ic t ions on fac tor y emissions emerged on October 1, when China celebrated the 70th anniversar y of Communist Par t y r u le w ith a grand militar y parade in Beijing. Despite ex pectations that limits wou ld be put in place to ensure an azure sky for the festiv ities, v iewers at home and across the globe cou ld hard ly ma ke out the cutting-edge f ighter jets against a gray sk y.

According to the environment ministry, the average proportion of days with good air quality across 337 Chinese cities fell 14.7 percentage points from a year earlier in September to 80.5 percent, while PM 2.5 concentrations rose 18 percent.

In Beijing, air was rated good for only half of the month, down 40 percentage points, while PM 2.5 concentrations jumped 29 percent.

The step back from the more stringent pollution control targets in the draft plan indicates supporting growth is a bigger priority compared with addressing air pollution, at least in the short term, according to a report by Everbright Sun Hung Kai Co.

Flexible targets

Still, a nationwide campaign to switch from burning coal to using natural gas will probably accelerate next year with the start-up of a new pipeline delivering gas from Russia to China, according to Wallace Cheng, an analyst at Bocom International Holdings Co. There could be other reasons for the recent smog, he said, including an October 27 dust storm that originated in Mongolia and affected 28 cities in areas, including Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei.

China continued its grind to more moderate growth in the third quarter with gross domestic product rising a less-than-expected 6 percent in the third quarter, the slowest pace since the early 1990s.

With a drop off in exports to the US expected to continue as the trade war drags on, the economy is likely to keep struggling as falling factory prices hit company profits and rising consumer inflation hurts spending power.

“How to step up efforts to curb air pollution while avoiding impacts on the economy is becoming a pressing question,” said Ma Jun, founder and director of the Beijing-based Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs.

“Current emissions of pollutants are still a lot greater than the capacity that the environment can accommodate.”

The differentiated approach China has taken to counter pollution is “acceptable but we need more transparency in these measures so that the public can supervise them,” said Ma. China also needs “market-based tools such as green bonds or green supply chains to select companies to balance economic development and environmental protection.”

Bloomberg News

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Bringing the world’s buried wetlands back from the dead

H

INDOLVESTON, England—The ghosts are all around the gently rolling farmlands of eastern England. But you have to know where to look.

These are not the kind of phantoms that scare or haunt—they are ghost ponds. Over the years, landowners buried them, filling in wetlands so they had more land for planting crops and other needs, or let their ponds fade away with neglect.

Along with those ponds, they erased entire ecosystems—and contributed to the decline of wetlands worldwide.

The result: an array of environmental calamities, ranging from rising floods to species hurtling toward extinction.

There are some who are trying to reclaim these lost waterbodies. In eastern England, a motley team of farmers, university researchers and conservationists is digging into the region’s barley and wheat fields to turn back the clock.

With chain saws, an excavator and plenty of sweat, it takes just a few hours to resurrect one dying pond near Hindolveston, a thousand-year-old village not far from the North Sea. They fell trees and shrubs, then start digging until reaching their goal: an ancient pond bottom that once supported insects, aquatic plants and the birds and animals that feed on them.

“As soon as they get water and light, they just spring to life,” says Nick Anema, a farmer in nearby Dereham who has restored seven ponds on his property. “You’ve got frogs and toads and newts, all the insects like mayflies, dragonflies, damselflies....You can’t really beat a pond.”

But the battle for the wetlands is a struggle.

While efforts are under way to stem losses and regain some of what’s been lost, wetlands around the world continue to be filled in and plowed over.

90% disappear

Almost 90 percent of the world’s wetlands disappeared over the past three centuries, according to the Ramsar Convention, an organization formed around a 1971 treaty to protect wetlands. And the losses have accelerated since the 1970s.

The consequences are profound—wetlanddependent species threatened with extinction, more severe flooding and the release of huge amounts of the greenhouse-gas carbon dioxide.

Climate change threatens to worsen the problem. Warmer temperatures and changing rainfall patterns can trigger drought, leading to more pumping of water reserves that would otherwise feed surface wetlands, scientists say.

“We now know the value of wetlands, and we know with increasing precision how many wetlands we’re losing. The next step is for the governments to act,” says Royal Gardner, director of the Institute for Biodiversity Law and Policy at Stetson University in Florida.

Pocket-sized wetlands

A few hours of heavy rain in North Dakota are all it takes to transform the dry, cracked Earth of the prairie into thousands upon thousands of pocket-sized wetlands.

The rain pools in shallow depressions known

as prairie potholes and quickly flushes out insects from beneath the soil.

Each pothole becomes a haven for a pair of ducks. Two blue-winged teals dabble on one pothole. On the next pothole are two more ducks, then two more and so on to the horizon.

But to farmers, these wetlands carved into the Earth by glaciers some 10,000 years ago can be an adversary. They bog down tractors and can kill young crops, leaving patches of lifeless stalks.

Some farmers steer around them, planting in swirling patterns to avoid wet areas. Other times, the wetlands are removed, often to make way for corn.

Despite their mind-boggling numbers— several million potholes are spread across a region that covers portions of five states and three Canadian provinces— these wetlands are steadily blinking out. One by one, they’re being drained or plowed under.

Only human-made wetlands buck the trend toward global decline. Rice paddies, reservoirs and agricultural stock ponds all increased in acreage since the 1970s, according to Ramsar.

Barton Schott, a third-generation farmer in the small community of Kulm, North Dakota, recently installed networks of perforated pipes beneath some of his fields to drain off the standing water.

He must offset the losses under federal regulations, installing a berm across a low area in different field to create a small pond.

The guiding principle is to have“no net loss”of US wetlands. A similar tactic has been adopted in China.

Yet in both nations, scientists are concerned that the approach papers over significant differences between natural wetlands and those created by humans. That’s because constructing ponds or reservoirs with water year-round doesn’t fulfill the same ecological role as the smaller wetlands they replace.

“People brag about the fact that there’s been no net loss. But what they’ve done is destroy natural wetlands and created artificial ones,” says Stuart Pimm, a Duke University professor.

75% of UK’s ponds lost

Since the start of the 20th century, 75 percent of the United Kingdom’s ponds have been lost.

Nick Anema describes how his view of farming differs markedly from his father’s, who regarded the natural world as an obstacle to overcome. For Anema, farming and preservation are inextricably linked.

In 2013, he saw an advertisement seeking farmers who would be willing to have ghost ponds on their property excavated as part of a research project.

He suspected a low point in one of this fields fit the description of a ghost pond and a check of old maps confirmed it. By the time the excavation wrapped up, water already was pooling at the bottom.

After ghost ponds are dug out, seeds from long-buried water plants come to life, including in one case a pond on Anema’s farm that had been filled in an estimated 150 years ago. And as the plants come back, so do the insects that depend on them, followed by fish and birds that eat the insects. AP

Holcim gets marine conservation award, participates in coast cleanup

Delhi air pollution spikes as deadly smog envelops city

A

ir pollution levels in India’s capital remained at near record levels, forcing schools to shut down and keeping residents indoors, as the nation grapples for solutions.

The air quality index (AQI) reached as high as 858 at some areas in New Delhi at 6.30 a.m. on Monday last week after breaching 1,000 over the weekend, according to web site AirVisual, which monitors air pollution around the world.

Readings above 300 are considered hazardous and anything below 50 is the safe level.

The level of carcinogenic pollutants— which increases risk of stroke, heart disease and lung cancer—in New Delhi’s air was almost six times the reading in Beijing, where air quality has seen a considerable improvement over the past years.

“A child born yesterday in Delhi would have smoked 40 to 50 cigarettes on the first day of his or her life,” said Arvind Kumar, a lung surgeon at the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in Delhi and founder of the Lung Care Foundation. “A silent damage is occurring inside our body.”

India, home to 10 cities with the world’s worst air quality, has been struggling to contain this annual catastrophe that killed an estimated 1.24 million citizens in 2017.

Governments have pledged millions of dollars and deployed extra teams to enforce existing laws that include a ban on farmers burning stubble after harvest. But the sheer size of India makes rapid progress difficult.

A tweet by Patrick French, dean of the School of Arts and Science at Ahmedabad University in Gujarat, said: "Air quality in

Delhi at midday 999...AKA a top-coding problem where the machines can't measure the pollution. Remember the moment in Chernobyl when the dosimeters go phut. pic. twitter.com/HBUo6sR7CJ." Air quality generally deteriorates as winter sets in because of a combination of agricultural crop burning in the nearby states of Punjab and Haryana, dust from roads and construction sites, industry, coal power plants and vehicular emissions.

The country’s top court last week ordered immediate steps to curb crop and garbage burning.

“It’s happening every year, we are not able to do anything,” said Justice Arun Mishra, who heads a two-judge panel hearing a case in the Supreme Court on air pollution in the national capital region.

Satellite cities of Gurgaon and Noida are experiencing similar unbreathable conditions as the thick deadly haze engulfs large parts of Delhi and adjoining states in northern India.

The average life expectancy of people living in northern India and along the plains of river Ganga, the most famous waterway, is likely to be curtailed by seven years because of pollution, according to the web site of Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago.

The Indo-Gangetic plain is one of the most-clogged regions, housing more than 40 percent of India’s 1.3 billion people, it said.

“It’s a severe plus situation, it’s as health emergency situation,” Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director of research at advocacy group Centre for Science and Environment, said. “We really have to do a lot more” for Delhi to cut pollution by another 65 percent to meet the clean air standard, she said.

For the past few years, farm stubble burning—a tradition to clear fields after harvest for the new sowing season—along with festive firecrackers, vehicular and construction emissions have been turning the South Asian nation’s air deadly around

October-November.

The city ’s provincial government implemented the odd-even scheme—that determines road access by license-plate number to curb vehicular pollution. Cars with registration number ending in an odd figure will be allowed on days with odd dates and even on other days.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, the leader of Delhi, urged people to reduce pollution caused by local sources while blaming cropburning in neighboring states of Haryana and Punjab—two of India’s largest grains producing regions—as the main polluter.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which returned to power in May with a bigger mandate, has pledged to reduce levels across 102 most polluted Indian cities by at least 35 percent over the next five years.

Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party, which is set for a face-off with BJP in the provincial election for Delhi early next year, promises induction of electric buses and vacuum cleaning of roads, among other measures.

Camille Raynes-Greenow, a maternal and child health expert at The University of Sydney School of Public Health, put the blame on industries’ disregard for the environment and lack of modern techniques in farming.

“In developing countries like India, we need multi-sectoral approaches that consider both industrial and traditional prac tices,” she said in an e -mailed statement. “The acute respiratory and eye symptoms that many people will experience are just the tip of the iceberg that will also impact the developing fetus and small children.” Bloomberg News

Employees of Holcim Philippines plant in Lugait, Misamis Oriental, were among those who joined colleagues nationwide in cleaning local bodies of water in support of International Coastal Cleanup Day on September 21.

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e a d i n g ce m e nt m a ke r H o l c i m Philippines Inc. received an award for its contribution to marine life conservation and participated in the 2019 International Coast Cleanup highlighting its commitment to support communities in environmental sustainability.

On September 20, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) Region 1 awarded Holcim Philippines’s Bacnotan, La Union, plant for helping protect the town’s marine life during the 56th anniversar y of the Fish Conser vation Week.

Along with the Municipal Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Management Council, Holcim Bacnotan was recognized for the “Pride of Place” education program, which encourages communities along the coast to participate in taking care of the sea through proper waste management.

In its two-year run, the program has covered more than 1,000 residents in four major coastal barangays. Recognizing that education does not happen quickly, the program will continue to run for five years.

Holcim Bacnotan plant also provides the community’s Bantay Dagat team used tonner bags which, when cleaned, help in

storing fishing nets, covering their boats to protect against rain.

“We are grateful for the recognition we received from BFAR Region 1. We consider this project as an inspiration for all [of ] us in Holcim as we continue collaborating with coastal communities a n d l o c a l g o ve r n m e n t s to h e l p i n advocating sustainability to protect our marine life, as well as the environment as a whole,” said Holcim Bacnotan Plant Manager Erano Santos.

The company’s employees nationwide also joined volunteers from its communities and business partners in cleaning local bodies of water near its site to support the 2019 International Coastal Cleanup Day held on September 21. Its employees and other volunteers collected close to 10 tons of wastes from coastal area led by the Davao team, which gathered close to 6 tons of wastes in five barangays.

Holcim Philippines has been implementing projects that help communities protect the seas and the environment as part of its corporate citizenship program Holcim Helps, which aims to support its communities prosper in a sustainable manner.

Biodiversity Monday BusinessMirror

Asean Champions of Biodiversity Media Category 2014

Monday, November 11, 2019

Editor: Lyn Resurreccion

A9

‘Suwag o Suko?‘

Conserving tamaraws and empowering the rangers

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epresentatives from different sectors came together to witness how the Tamaraw Conservation Program (TCP) and Mounts Iglit-Baco Natural Park (MIBNP) rangers risk their lives to protect the tamaraw (bubalus mindorensis), a wild buffalo found solely on the island of Mindoro in the Philippines.

The tamaraw is among the world’s most endangered animals, considered critically endangered and just a step above extinction in the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species.

To raise both awareness and funds for tamaraw conser vation, the global Biodiversity Finance Initiative (Biofin) of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) partnered with TCP, and a talented group of storytellers for a documentary, titled Suwag o Suko: Saving the Tamaraw from Extinction.

“Suwag o Suko is a love letter to the tamaraw rangers and everyone working in conservation. It was made with local audiences in mind because we want to instill a sense of pride, shared identity and ownership for our natural heritage,” explained Celine Murillo, who wrote the script with director Mark Ace Gatdula and other pro bono volunteers.

The hour-long documentary examines the economic, social and cultural significance of the tamaraw and how its survival is invariably tied to the management of the MIBNP, its indigenous mangyan tribes, plus the continuous conservation efforts of rangers.

“Tamaraw Month is celebrated each October. We herald this unique, biologically important and culturally significant animal. We must spread awareness for conservation,” said DENR-TCP Coordinator Neil Anthony del Mundo.

Canon Philippines, Tamron, Benro, Eco Explorations and the Mindoro Biodiversity Conservation Foundation pitched in to make the film possible.

“One of Canon’s major priorities among sustainability programs is biodiversity conservation, locally and globally. It is an honor to partner with DENR’s Biodiversity Management Bureau and Biofin to bring light to pressing issues surrounding our wildlife, particularly of endangered species like the tamaraw. We hope

PHL folktale characters used to bring deforestation to public’s attention

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lobe has reinforced its partnership with Hineleban Foundation to drive awareness on the importance of planting more endemic trees and protecting the forests in view of the estimated 47,000 hectares of forest cover that the Philippines loses annually due to the destructive effect of deforestation.

To engage the public—most especially the younger generation—and teach them about rainforestation, Globe introduced stylized Philippine folktale characters—the tikbalang, nuno sa punso, diwata, engkanto and engkantada, and the aguila.

These characters represent the now-homeless mythical creatures who were displaced from their natural forest habitat.

“The state of our Philippine rainforests are highly critical. In fact, they are almost gone. This campaign intends to revive our Filipino folklore so that our young people can get to know them again. Using artistry from our partner HMT Studios, we want activities and conversation around reforestation to go mainstream so that together we can all contribute to preserving and protecting our rainforests,” said Yoly Crisanto, globe chief sustainability officer and SVP for Corporate Communications.

Kapre is a “gentle giant,” sweet and very warm. He serves as the leader of the forest creatures who look up to him for guidance and direction.

When their home in the forest got destroyed from deforestation, he got lost trying to protect his friends.

Now he is in the city, feeling out of place, as he is forced to spend his life alone with the noise, pollution and cruelty of the city.

Kit is the kind-hearted tikbalang, who lost the love of his life along with his family when their forest home was destroyed. Now, he wanders in the city crying and

looking for his loved ones.

Tatang is the nuno sa punso who never thought he would outlive even the youngest of his clan, but illegal loggers came and attacked his home, causing devastation to his community.

He followed the men to the city to find justice, forcing him to live alone, building a punso from the city’s trash.

There is also Debbie, the diwata known for her enchanting beauty.

When she lost her dwelling due to kaingin (slash and burn), she was forced to live in the city, but the pollution and gunk made her lose her beauty.

Joining Debbie are Enzo and Erika, the engkanto and engkantada of the group, respectively.

Enzo likes going around the forest, playing around nooks and corners, but massive deforestation made him lose his way as he played, leading him to a foreign land: the city.

Erika, on the other hand, is known for her alluring voice, and uses her singing to communicate. Creatures in the forest would listen to her sing every day until illegal logging forced her into the city where noise pollution drowned out her voice.

Finally, there is Aguila, who brought to life the first man and woman, Malakas and Maganda, when he cracked open a bamboo trunk.

As he sees his beloved forest being destroyed by people, Aguila feels responsible for giving life to them and vowed to stay in the sky and never land, watching what remains of the forests and helping the remaining forest creatures.

But with pollution contaminating the sky, Aguila is finding it more and more difficult to stay among the clouds.

Their story may be viewed in the video on https://www.facebook.com/ watch/?v=545713756263375.

Tamaraws are endemic forest buffalo found only on Mindoro island in the Philippines. Numbering only about 500, they are considered critically endangered by the IUCN. Gregg Yan/Biofin Tamaraw Conservation Program rangers Ed Bata and Ronnie Estrella inside the IglitBaco Natural Park. The two have over halfa-century’s worth of field experience between them.

Gregg Yan/Biofin

to inspire millions of Filipinos to support conser vation prog rams to help keep this species thriving in the wild,” said Canon Marketing Philippines Inc. Vice President Anuj Aggarwal.

Nestled between Occidental and Oriental Mindoro, MIBNP hosts the largest remaining population of tamaraw at 480 heads, down from 523 in 2018.

A century ago, an estimated 10,000 tamaraws inhabited all of Mindoro, from coastal lowlands to its highest peaks.

I n t he 193 0 s, w ides pread cattle ranching spurred a deadly outbreak of rinderpest, which soon infected many of the island ’s bov ines. T he tamaraw population was decimated—by 1969, the number was estimated to have plummeted below 100.

The tamaraw population has rebounded to 480 heads within MIBNP—a far cry from the original 10,000, but a sure sign that TCP and MIBNP’s conservation efforts are paying off.

Leading field conser vation

efforts are two dozen TCP and about a dozen MIBNP rangers, who conduct park patrols, keep poachers at bay and dismantle animal traps illegally set up in strict protection zones.

Since its inception in 2012, Biofin has worked with both the public and private sectors to enhance protection for the country’s biodiversity hot spots by helping secure funds to implement sound biodiversity programs.

UNDP Philippines Resident R e p re s e nt at i v e T it o n M it r a highlighted the importance of financing biodiversity conservation. He noted: “According to the latest UN biodiversity report, up to 1 million animal and plant species are on the verge of extinction. We are now faced with an unparalleled loss of biodiversity at an alarming rate. Now more than ever, we need to take a multistakeholder approach in addressing this crisis.”

Biofin Philippines’s second

phase runs from 2018 to 2022 and includes the implementation of finance solutions to raise resources for the tamaraw and other endangered species through creative crowdfunding and diaspora.

Ta ma raw conser vat ion for e x a mple, i s now b e i ng considered for cor porate soc i a l responsibi l it y f u nd ing.

Under the DENR-UNDP collaboration, Biofin works to close the financing gap for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity by identif y ing, accessing, combining and sequencing sources of biodiversity funding to finance the Philippine Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (PBSAP), the country’s roadmap to conserving its natural resources.

PBSAP’s implementation will cost P24 billion a year, or P334 billion ($7.4 billion at a low estimate) from 2015 to 2028.

However, public expenditure was estimated at only P4.9 billion a year ($110 million), revealing an annual gap of almost P19 billion ($349 million). Finance solutions addressing this gap have been identified and are presently being piloted by Biofin.

Suwag o Suko: Saving the Tamaraw from Extinction is scheduled for nationwide screenings in the coming months, with possible international exposure through video-on-demand platforms. A national caravan shall follow the film launch to create additional buzz and catalyze support for tamaraw conservation.

Parties interested to support conservation either in-cash or inkind can contact Biofin at biofin. ph@undp.org.

ACB, Searca ink MOU on sustainable agriculture, biodiversity

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OS BAÑOS, Laguna—The Asean Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) and the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (Searca) renewed their partnership in integrating and mainstreaming biodiversity into agriculture.

ACB Executive Director Theresa Mundita Lim and Searca Director Glenn Gregorio signed the second memorandum of understanding (MOU) for institutional cooperation in a ceremony held at the Searca hotel at the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) last week.

The MOU is a continuation of the collaboration between the two organizations in pursuing their shared objectives of promoting sustainable agriculture and biodiversity conservation.

“We are continuing this partnership to further our efforts in mainstreaming biodiversity in ag r icu lture in the reg ion.

Ma inst rea m ing is impor t a nt

MONKEY BUSINESS Up on a tree branch at the Dorothy compound in Plaridel, Santiago City, a young monkey looks defensively on approaching lenses. Primates’ natural habitats are trees in the wild. Ceasar M. Perante

ACB Executive Director Theresa Mundita Lim (left, seated) and Searca Director Glenn Gregorio (right, seated) sign the MOU for collaboration between the two Asean institutions in promoting sustainable agriculture and biodiversity conservation. ACB

because of the inextricable connec t ion bet ween ag r ic u lt u re and biodiversity. Together, our organizations can work to strike the balance between the two,” Lim said.

T he ACB c hief a lso added agrobiodiversity—the variety

and variability of animals, plants, and microorganisms that are used directly or indirectly for food and agriculture—can help address the world ’s growing food demand and safeguard the region’s biodiversity.

Since 2016, when the first

MOU was signed, the ACB and Searca have organised two regional workshops and published two papers on mainstreaming biodiversity in agriculture.

A mong the outputs of the workshops was the Asean joint action plan on mainstreaming biodiversity in agriculture, which was endorsed by the Asean Working Group on Nature Conservation and Biodiversity during its 29th meeting.

“We believe that our organizations have the right ingredients for a long and fruitful partnership,” Gregorio said, noting that the ACB and Searca are both headquartered at UPLB and serving the same member-countries of the Asean.

Under the new MOU, the ACB and the Searca will jointly undertake projects and activities covering thematic areas on agriculture and biodiversity, along with capacity enhancement activities and information exchange and awareness campaigns.

A10 Monday, November 11, 2019 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

editorial

China: A wounded animal

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hina, as a topic, has become an emotional issue—like politics and religion—that requires very little in the way of actual facts.

The current Hong Kong protest is a case in point. The Hong Kong area was incorporated into China during the Qin dynasty 200 years before the birth of Christ.

The only time Hong Kong was not an integral part of China was after the British went to war because China refused to buy British opium. Maybe this was the first “War For Drugs” and the drug dealers won.

Nonetheless, due to a variety of factors, China is a wounded animal. In 2017, the headline read: “How Chinese FDI Will Transform the Global Economy.” Less than two years later, we read: “China’s outbound direct investment fell 9.6 percent in 2018.” As a matter of fact, by the end of 2017, China’s overseas investments had fallen 19 percent from the previous year.

That is not to say that China is not continuing to invest abroad, but this is now confined to primarily big-ticket projects that can also buy large political influence in the host country. We are told by many experts that China intends to dominate the world through “debt-slavery.” The fact is that from 2005 to 2017, Chinese firms invested $324 billion into Europe, which constitutes 31 percent of China’s global outbound FDI. Over 43 percent of these investments were concentrated in the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Russia, Italy, France and Germany.

Further, its large investments in Africa supposedly were to tie up nations that could supply China with agricultural products and mineral resources. At least that was the analysis five years ago. It may still be true. But if debt-slavery is the genuine reason, China may wind up owning a whole bunch of countries with the highest rates of disease, poverty and lowest literacy in the world. Sounds like China is not too smart with how it spends its money.

Here is the list of China’s current “debt-slaves”: Djibouti, Niger, Republic of the Congo, Kyrgyzstan, Lao PDR, Cambodia and the Maldives. Good luck with those winners.

Economically, China is facing dangerous conditions. Auto sales in China fell for a 15th consecutive month. Total auto sales fell 5 percent from the same month in 2018. Even its “energy vehicles” are in trouble. Sales fell 34 percent in September, after a 16-percent decline in August.

The “Non-Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index” is at the worst level since 2009. Chinese manufacturing is still going up but this appears to be “inventory stuffing” as wholesale prices— which indicates if there is consumer demand—fell by 1.6 percent in October after September’s 1.2-percent drop, the lowest number since mid-2016. Further, the price of Chinese exported goods is 6.5 percent lower than in 2018. With low domestic demand, China is dumping its goods abroad at a discount price. China’s food inflation is at the highest level since 2011. Pork prices are up 173 percent at the farm-gate level over 2018.

How financially wounded is the government? Its foreigncurrency reserves have fallen 25 percent since 2014. The government debt and budget deficit as a percentage of GDP is the highest—and worst—in history.

Currency and investments Atty. Jose Ferdinand M. Rojas II

RISING SUN

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ecember is fast approaching and that means bigger remittances from Filipinos abroad. This is one of the reasons why the peso continues to be strong at this time, despite the fact that it is depreciating. The business-process outsourcing (BPO) sector also provides positive impact on the economy, which helps to stabilize our currency.

In the first half of the year, the implementation of many of the government’s infrastructure projects has been slow. It picked up, however, in the second half. This underspending also affected our imports during that period. But now that the administration is spending more, especially on infrastructure, the peso is expected to further depreciate well into the

A plea for justice/fairness Atty. Lorna Patajo-Kapunan

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next year. It is seen finishing the year at P51 to a dollar.

The depreciation is not going to be too hard on the economy, according to the experts, because oil prices are currently low (and are seen to remain so until next year). Moreover, the Philippines has enough foreign-exchange reserves to cushion the peso’s weakening. Aside from these, the dollar is presently not in its

legally speaking

O

F the top 10 best hospitals in the Philippines, St. Luke’s Medical Center-Global City (SLMC) is ranked as No. 1 according to their web site (https://www.stlukesonline.org).

Their Mission is “to improve the health of people in the communities we serve.” Their Vision is “to be the community’s trusted partner in providing exceptional, patient-centered care.” Their Values: “Icare, Integrity, Compassion, Accountability, Respect, Excellence, Quality and Safety.” Their Promise: “Patient-Centered Care” (ibid).

For more than a century since it’s founding in 1906, St. Luke’s has called on the work first envisioned

by Rt. Rev. James B. Funsten, bishop, Episcopal Diocese of Idaho—“the helping of suffering humanity back to health and life.” It is committed “to providing quality care based on the Institute of Medicine’s definition: safe, timely, efficient, effective, equitable, accessible and patient-centered (stlukesonline.org).

Elmer Forte had been employed with SLMC since November 16, 2009, as the Department manager of the Concierge and Information Department, which is currently under the Patient Experience Division. He directly reported to the Assistant Vice President for the Patient Experience Division Joyce Laramina Nazario.

Forte had satisfactorily performed his tasks and obligations stated, as evidenced by the commendations he received from his colleagues and patients, and based on the performance evaluations.

Moreover, he had been performing tasks beyond what is stated in his job description, specifically the operation and management of the helipad and the elevator operations. In addition, he undertook to perform the functions of the other departments under the Patient Experience Division, such as handling and solving patient complaints and processing the HMOs of some patients during the weekends. He was handling at least 45 walk-in patients on a daily basis, and referred them to the appropriate doctors or specialists. He also received calls from patients regardless of the time of day or night, in order to accommodate and assist them with their needs.

Based on his performance, services he had provided and the recognition from his superiors and colleagues, Forte was informed by Nazario that he was set for a promotion. Nazario even commented that Forte’s impending promotion was because of his interpersonal

best shape either.

Christmas comes with a promise of relatively better days for Filipinos, in terms of economic growth and development. This translates to a season marked by healthy spending and consumption. Let’s not forget to save a good amount for financially challenging days that might come after the festivities. nnn

IN the midst of the uneasy relationship between the United States and China, some American companies are considering the Philippines as a possible relocation site for their China firms. Speaking on behalf of US investors, John Goyer, executive director for Southeast Asia of the US Chamber of Commerce, noted the country’s efforts to make it easier to do business here.

The companies in question include organizations involved in services, BPO, agri-business, and high-tech manufacturing. Filipinos should start thinking about ways to attract more US firms, Goyer says,

skills, something which Nazario does not possess. This announcement was made more than a year ago, and no written document was presented to support this announcement. Forte’s relationship with his colleagues, particularly Nazario was running smoothly until March 2018 when an incident took place.

This incident involved Alice Reyes, a national artist for dance and artistic director of Ballet Philippines. Sometime in March 2018, Forte received a call from Reyes requesting for medical assistance as she was experiencing severe abdominal pain. Forte recommended proceeding to the emergency room at once, which Reyes did. After performing several tests, it was determined that she needed surgery, hence, the surgery was scheduled to be performed about five hours later on the same day. Having been trained to provide the finest patient-care experience, Forte took the initiative to contact Dr. Joven Cuanang knowing that he is a friend of Reyes. When Cuanang arrived to check on Reyes, he learned the severity of her condition and determined that there was an earnest and insistent need for an immediate operation.

Grasping the urgency of the situation, Cuanang contacted Dr. Arturo De la Peña and asked him to perform the surgery. De la Peña tentatively obliged, while visibly distressed and disappointed. It was verified later on that Reyes had a ruptured appendix and her timely operation was crucial to prevent any serious complications, which are likely to happen to a 75-year-old patient like her. Forte was instrumental in

as they (the firms) are also looking at other Southeast Asian countries, of course.

Other foreign firms are also taking interest in the Philippines, in light of the government’s ambitious “Build, Build, Build” program. It’s up to the Duterte administration to come up with ways to translate this interest into actual investments.

That could mean loosening up the restrictions on foreign equity and coming up with favorable changes in tax policies.

Some of the infrastructure plans, like the Chico River Dam irrigation project and the Kaliwa Dam project, are being met with hesitation and resistance on the home-front. I believe it is as important, if not even more so, to aim for the buy-in of Filipinos themselves before going into construction full swing. All issues must be addressed and fears assuaged, otherwise the people for which these developments are being made will not be pleased.

saving Reyes from a much worse medical condition.

A second incident involving a respected ambassador occurred sometime in September 2018. Forte came to the aid of this ambassador who shared his distress about the quality of service he was receiving. Instead of being commended for his exceptional work, Forte was faulted and accused of being biased in favor of the patient.

Redundancy was the reward of Forte. Instead of the promotion that he was informed he would get, his position was declared redundant, although none of the DOLE grounds for legal dismissal for redundancy were met.

Reyes has put on record her shock at Forte’s illegal dismissal in a letter to SLMC’s Chairman of the Board Frederick Dy: “This is to put on record my shock upon hearing that Mr. Elmer Forte is no longer associated with St. Luke’s hospital-BGC as concierge and information manager, St. Luke’s, Global City. He is, in my opinion, one of the best reasons one would go to St. Luke’s for medical needs over other medical institutions offering the same services at the level offered by St. Luke’s. The competition is not only at the local level, but more so in the international fevel.

“I have heard of many stories and testimonials from many other relatives, friends, and acquaintances who all express relief that they can avail of Elmer’s help or that of his staff when they have to go to St. Luke’s for their medical visits.”

“Excellent, well-trained, highly skilled doctors and medical staff See “Kapunan,” A11

Opinion BusinessMirror

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Quick guide to doing Lesson from a road trip business in the Philippines Siegfred Bueno Mison, Esq.

THE PATRIOT

Filbert Tsai

DEBIT CREDIT Conclusion

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stablishing a Philippine entity as a foreigner or as a foreign corporation normally begins with a corporate registration with the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). While many foreign companies hire Filipino freelancers without establishing a presence in the Philippines, the Revised Corp. Code (as well as the legacy corporation code) requires the registration of foreign companies “doing business in the Philippines.”

The establishment of a Philippine corporation is aimed at providing the necessary protection to foreign investors in the Philippines. A foreign corporation without a license to do business in the Philippines is not permitted to maintain or intervene in any judicial or administrative action in the Philippines but may be sued or proceeded against before Philippine courts or administrative tribunals on any valid cause of action recognized under Philippine law.

Attracting foreign investments in the Philippines has been a key policy of the Philippine government since the 1980s, strengthened by the Foreign Investment Act of 1991 which covers all investment areas other than banking and financial institutions governed by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. FIA encourages foreign investments that “significantly expand livelihood and employment opportunities for Filipinos; enhance economic value of farm products; promote the welfare of Filipino consumers; expand the scope, quality and volume of exports and their access to foreign markets; and/or transfer relevant technologies in agriculture, industry and support services.”

Companies that are established primarily for export purposes are not restricted by FIA and referred to as export market enterprises, which are service or manufacturing companies with more than 60 percent of sales or purchases being exported.

In general, foreign companies are allowed to own more than 40 percent equity in a Philippine-registered corporation as long as capitalization requirements are met.

Domestic market enterprises, businesses in which less than 60 percent of sales or purchases are exported, can be wholly owned by a foreigner (individual or corporate) subject to meeting a $200,000 capitalization requirement. However, for retail businesses, such as restaurants, the capitalization requirement set by the Retail Trade Liberalization Act is a bit higher at $2.5 million.

The list above is non-exhaustive and based on Executive Order 65 on “Promulgating the Eleventh Regular Foreign Investment Negative List” signed on October 29, 2018. With the 11th FINL, notable liberalization in foreign investments allowed include the following: n Internet businesses. n Training centers engaged in short-term high-level skills development.

Depending on the purpose for establishing a presence in the Philippines, foreign investors (individuals and corporations) generally opt to register as a domestic corporation or as a branch office in the Philippines.

While foreign investors can register as a proprietor in a sole proprietorship or as a partner in a partnership, these

Kapunan. . .

continued from A10

are essential to hospitals. But for a medical institution like St. Luke’s hospital who aggressively markets itself as one of Asia’s best, Elmer Forte is an asset that should have been valued and treasured. Elmer gave much much more than what his job description called for. I shall now think twice about my medical association with St. Luke’s, specially since

alternative forms of legal structure are not common.

The following are the common corporate structures pursued by foreign investors: 1. Domestic corporation Foreign investors can enter the Philippines as a domestic corporation formed in accordance with the laws of the Philippines subject to equity restrictions discussed in the earlier section. A domestic corporation is suited for foreign individual investors seeking to establish a local corporation or a foreign corporate investor seeking to do business in the Philippines other than the continuation of the parent company’s business operations.

As part of the revised corporation code, incorporators and directors are no longer subject to the residency restrictions provided under the legacy corporation code.

2. Branch.

A branch office registration is an alternative for foreign corporations to enter and do business in the Philippines. In general, a branch office is normally wholly owned by the foreign corporation serving as the head office, the minimum capitalization of $200,000 for domestic market enterprises will apply.

3. Representative office.

While a branch office registration allows income generation in the Philippines, a representative office is not allowed to derive income from the Philippines. In fact, all operations of a representative office is limited to non-income generating activities such as information dissemination, acting as a communication center, and promotion of the products of its parent company. As a representative office, the minimum paid-up capital is $30,000, representing the initial inward remittance, and all expenses of the representative office should be paid-for by the parent company.

Foreign investments in the Philippines require understanding of the legal, tax and financial complexities to avoid future problems on the purpose of business and compliance with the relevant laws and regulations in the Philippines. It is advised that foreign investors secure assistance from firms providing consulting and regulatory compliance assistance.

Filbert Tsai is the managing director of UpSmart Strategy Consulting Inc. He leads the consulting practice of UpSmart and specializes in corporate finance and financial transformation for SMEs and family businesses. He was previously a consulting manager at Ernst & Young LLP in the United Kingdom.

This column accepts contributions from accountants, especially articles that are of interest to the accountancy profession, in particular, and to the business community, in general. These can be e-mailed to boa.secretariat.@gmail.com.

the doctors whom I see hold clinics in similar medical institutions in the Metro Manila area.”

Through this column, Forte is airing his plea to the board of directors and management of SLMC for justice and fairness. After 10 years of living up to SLMC’s lofty vision of “providing exceptional patient-centered care”, Forte does not deserve this arbitrary, unjust and illegal treatment he received.

It does not auger well for the No. 1 best hospital in the Philippines!

W

hen I recently resigned from my day job, people asked me what would be my next venture. My options include to explore possible employment for another conglomerate or resume my law practice in a firm that I have been on leave for the past 10 years, or just stick to my evening vocation—teaching law, which I have been passionately doing for the past 20 years.

Realizing the need to sit back and weigh down on such options, I took two road trips across the country.

Together with my ever reliable driver Ruel, the first trip covered 2,417 kilometers in seven days with five ferry crossings traversing 23 provinces in Southern Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. The second trip covered 1,405 km in four days wherein we passed roads not too many people have used to visit 15 provinces in Central and Northern Luzon. While some may be familiar with the zigzag roads of Dalton Pass, not too many will know where and how zigzag Besang Pass is.

It was during those road trips that I managed to appreciate the “imperfectly perfect” beauty of the Philippines and its people. I saw the simple yet ornate orchids in a colleague’s provincial home in Tapaz, Capiz, the highly urbanized yet homelike

restaurants in Iloilo, and the tranquility of a moonlit evening in progressive Bacolod City, all in one day.

I passed by the university town of Himamaylan and scenic Mabinay to travel across the entire Negros island from Bacolod to Dumaguete. I was extremely impressed and amazed at the road network of Northern Mindanao from Dipolog to Surigao despite the checkpoints in Iligan and Cagayan de Oro. I admired how the people in the rustic cities of Baybay and Ormoc spend their evenings drinking beer by the bay and spend their mornings doing aerobic exercises in the plaza by the pier. I felt bewildered by the old and narrow streets of Catbalogan and was awed by the breathtaking view of Mount Mayon, although the clouds prevented me from seeing the sunset and the sunrise. A few days thereafter, I saw the sun rising from the pine tree saddled peaks of

China’s electric avenue Thomas M. Orbos

STREET TALK

J

ust like any other Asian metropolis, the city roads of Shanghai, China, are filled with a lot of its citizens riding motorbikes and scooters. Baby boomers and millennials of this global metropolis zip across the city in their motorized two wheelers competing with four-wheel vehicles on their wide avenues but sometimes, just like in Manila, on their pedestrian sidewalks.

But the comparison ends there.

Bikes and scooters in Shanghai are electric powered. In the five-day Shanghai visit, I had not seen, maybe more proper—smelled or “heard” one gasoline two-wheeler. Come to think of it, even a good number of their city buses and private vehicles run on electric power. That is why you can uniquely sense the clean city air and quiet allure despite the usual vestiges of city life. No smoke belching and noisy jeepneys or tricycles in this city of more than 24 million.

With the environmental effects that go with a 6.9 percent annual GDP growth and a 1.5 billion population, the move to go electric is a necessary policy that the government of China is embracing fully

well. Their government’s New Energy Vehicle program that started in early 2000, but find its roots even earlier during the time of Chairman Mao, provides for the road map for their country’s push for electric vehicles. Government subsidies have made China the leading country globally in the manufacture and use of electric powered vehicles. China now has 99 percent of all electric two wheelers and electric buses worldwide and has more electric cars on the road than of all the world combined. Even most trains in China now run on electricity. Shanghai’s Maglev, the fastest operating commercial train service in the world, runs on electricity.

It does not end there. Their

Monday, November 11, 2019 A11

Sagada, Mountain Province and the sun setting into the sunny island cove of Santiago, Ilocos Sur—both on the same day! There is so much to write about the places I saw during my 11-day road trip; simply sharing a narration will not suffice. One must actually experience being present in these areas to claim that the Philippines is a beautiful country.

We all need rest periods, a sabbatical from the busy world we live in.

The road trip gave me an opportunity to reflect on the past and appreciate the present. Complemented with a monthlong fasting from social media, the trip allowed me to genuinely commune with nature and deliberately observe how other Filipinos live in the countryside. I have seen quite a few countries around the world. But there is nothing like the natural beauty of the Philippines even though some roads and bridges between towns are bad owing to their poor foundation, perhaps due to corruption in their construction. I have been given the opportunity to work and study in America and, in fact, have lived there for a time. But the common Filipino never fails to inspire me especially when I see him content and happy with whatever little is given him.

Our country and our people are imperfectly perfect as they are!

In her best selling book, author Beth Kempton presented the concept of wabi-sabi—a Japanese term which encourages us “to choose the path of serenity and contentment by accepting where we are in the natural cycle

of our life”. As I ponder on my next venture, I trust that I will be given the discernment despite the uncertainties of the future. Our lives will always be cyclical; ups and downs are expected all throughout. In the Bible, 2 Corinthians 5:7 tells us, “For we live by faith, not by sight.” My eyes may have witnessed the “imperfectly perfect” beauty of the country in 11 days. My mind may have appreciated the progression of my “perfectly interrupted” career as a soldier (12 years), lawyer (22 years), professor (20 years and counting), public servant (five years), and a corporate executive (three years). Applying wabisabi, acceptance of where we are now is both a surrender and a conquest.

We surrender to the fact that there are things beyond our control by sight and, at the same time, we conquer our worries and anxieties that the future brings by faith.

Thus, I have confidence in my heart that there’s more to life not seen. The lifelong lesson I got from my road trip is that we just have to keep on trusting in His plans for our country, our people, and ourselves.

There’s more to this country despite the few unfortunate events surrounding it. There’s a treasure in every Filipino; we just have to unearth it by imploring the aid of Almighty God. There’s a lot in store in our imperfectly perfect lives. After all, we are all made in God’s perfect image!

government is targeting a total migration to electric vehicles by the year 2050. Industry leader BYD has even upped the ante by challenging their auto industry to have it done by 2030.

And if their bet succeeds, not only will China be assured of a cleaner environment but also substantially less dependent on imported fossil fuel, now at 70 percent of their current demand, as well as getting way ahead globally in this sunrise alternative power tech industry.

Critics will say these electric vehicles use up energy from power plants that run on bunker fuel or even coal that end up polluting the environment just the same. Not in China. China now leads the world in harnessing electricity from renewable energy. And besides, electric vehicles are much more efficient and use less energy for the same distance than gasoline fed vehicles.

What about the dangers of lithiumion batteries? China leads, as well in the research and recycling of these highly toxic batteries.

The Philippines can indeed learn lessons on going electric from China.

And our government, cautiously slow as expected, is in a way following their lead and direction. The ongoing Public Utility Vehicle Modernization program by the executive branch pushing for more energy efficient public transport, primarily

the jeepneys, is a good start. There are also several proposed legislations on low carbon transport being reviewed for possible consolidation in the House and the Senate committees on Energy. With our country ranking among the most polluted countries worldwide, resulting in a third of our population affected by respiratory illnesses, the Philippine government can provide the proper enabling environment for manufacturers, assemblers, importers and users of these low carbon vehicles.

High capacity users, such as those in public transport, logistics and delivery can be the initial sector for such policy applications.

It may do well for the government to push this forward aggressively. It may also be good that the citizenry take note and push our legislators and policy-makers to make electric vehicles, as well as renewable energy an immediate undertaking. And just like China, we in the Philippines need to put our bets on electric vehicles —a bet that will already be good for us now, for our future and definitely, for our children’s future.

For questions and comments, please e-mail me at sbmison@gmail.com.

Thomas “Tim” Orbos was former DOTr undersecretary for roads and general manager of the MMDA. He is currently undertaking further studies at the McCourt School of Public Policy of Georgetown University. He can be reached via e-mail at thomas_orbos@sloan.mit.edu

There’s no such thing as millennials or boomers

By Faye Flam Bloomberg Opinion

M

ost of the stereotypes tied to so-called generations are ugly and insulting— whether it’s the greed and materialism associated with boomers, the narcissism and entitlement associated with millennials, or the aimlessness associated with Gen X. Such unpleasantness is not only mean-spirited but also scientifically wrongheaded. The closer researchers look, the more arbitrary they find the boundaries between so-called generations. There’s no evidence that any sorts of personality traits or character flaws go along with so-called boomers, Gen X-ers, millennials or members of Gen Z. You’d think from the seriousness with which people take these things that, rather than continuously producing babies, humans collectively spawn just once every 20 years. Generational labels cropped up just a few days ago in a

medical report claiming that millennials are in worse health than were so-called Gen X people at the same age.

Around the same time, New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd generated chatter by writing about her own self-perceived boomer status, using the recent exit of Representative Katie Hill to preach to so-called millennials about the hazards of letting people take nude photos of you. It’s good advice, but it didn’t have to be about generations at all. It could instead be about experience, and hard-won lessons about the ways love sometimes goes rotten. But it’s so much more exciting to invoke generational warfare. People love generation labels in the way they love astrological sign categories—maybe Hill would still be in office if she’d known not to trust a Scorpio. Some people get deep meaning out of astrology despite a total lack of evidence. Both kinds of labels are social constructs—they affect us only because so many people believe in them.

“When you dig into research into

differences in discrete generations, there’s no evidence they exist,” says Cort Rudolph, a psychologist at Saint Louis University who has studied age and work-related behavior. “All this generation stuff is total nonsense.”

There are two real things that are going on, however. One is that as people age, they go through different stages in life—not quite in lock step, since people reach various maturity levels and adulthood milestones at different times (or not at all). But there’s a progression.

And there are events (wars, recessions) and new technologies which may affect those in college or seeking their first jobs differently from those who are older and more established.

But those things don’t create generational boundaries. Different studies use different boundaries between the major generations, says Rudolph, making the whole notion of generations into a moving target and, therefore, not conducive to scientific probing. People roughly classify boomers as those between their

late 50s and early 70s, Gen X as those in their late 30s to early 50s, and millennials as those in their 20s to late 30s, but this is always shifting, leaving many of us unsure what generation we’re supposed to be in.

A few years ago, the US Army funded research into generations to learn how to convince young people to stay in the military. George Washington University psychologist David Costanza, who was involved in that effort, says there was a theory floating around that historical events—such as wars and economic shifts— shaped whole cohorts of people, giving them distinct traits. It’s not that wars, depressions and disease outbreaks, such as AIDS don’t shape people—they do. But not, it would seem, in any uniform or predictable way across artificially drawn generational categories. There’s a stereotype that so-called millennials are narcissistic job-hoppers because they have helicopter parents, he says, and that something about the Vietnam War made baby boomers materialistic.

A12 Monday, November 11, 2019

WB to fund $500-M agri-related PHL projects

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By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

@jearcalas

HE World Bank has committed to finance at least $500 million worth of agriculture-related projects in the country, including the crucial updating of database on farmers and fisherfolk, to improve the farm sector’s productivity, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said.

The DA said it has received a “firm” commitment from the WB to bankroll its four proposed projects aimed at “improving agri-fishery extension systems, providing livelihood assistance to fisherfolk and indigenous peoples [IPs], and updating the national farmers’ registry system.”

The DA said the proposed projects are on top of the $280-million extension of the ongoing WB-funded Philippine Rural Development Project.

The DA added that WB Philippines Country Director Mara Warwick “personally” gave the commitment of the Washington-based lender to Agriculture Secretary

End-2019 goal: Break ground for 500 common telco towers

By Lorenz S. Marasigan

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@lorenzmarasigan

EFOR E t he yea r end s, the government will break ground for the construction of as many as 500 common towers, as the public and private sectors move hand in hand in leapfrogging to better telco services by 2020.

Undersecretary Eliseo M. Rio Jr. of the Department of Information

and Communications Technology (DICT) said his group has received half a thousand applications for common tower sites spread across the Philippines from five providers.

“We have been making strides in the common tower initiative.

We are targeting to break ground for about 400 towers to 500 towers this year, and we have two months to go,” he told the BusinessMirror on Sunday.

Rio listed the five companies that sought the ICT department’s assistance for permitting as: the Aboitiz Group, IHS Group, LCS Holdings Inc., the Isoc-Edotco Group and American Towers. These common tower providers, he said, have received orders from the two incumbent telcos, PLDT Inc. and Globe Telecom Inc., as well as newentrant Dito Telecommunity Corp.

See “Telco towers,” A2

With an updated Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture [RSBSA], we will be able to focus the delivery of needed services and initiatives to our clientele—most especially small farmers and fisherfolk—more effectively and efficiently.”—DA

The RSBSA is a crucial tool for government intervention as it contains the registry of farmers and fisherfolk in the country.

For example, farmers registered under the database would be beneficiaries of the annual P10-billion Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund.

“With an updated RSBSA, we will be able to focus the delivery of needed services and initiatives to our clientele—most especially small farmers and fisherfolk— more effectively and efficiently,” the DA said.

The DA added it would tap the expertise of WB on “critical policy matters, such as on crafting a rice value chain industry road map.”

William D. Dar. “The proposed projects include the $200-million provincial agricultural and fishery extension delivery system; $200-million coastal resilience and fisheries development project; and $100-million Mindanao inclusive agriculture development project,” the DA said in a statement on Sunday.

“ The first project is a new proposal, while the last two are being evaluated by the WB,” the DA added.

The DA said it also proposed to “update and enhance the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture [RSBSA] that will contain, among other information, a reliable list of legitimate farmers and fishers nationwide.”

Certify bill banning single-use plastic–Kiko

DUTERTE CALLS ON MEDIA WORKERS TO SUPPORT CHARACTER FORMATION

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AKING the cue from Malacañang, opposition Sen. Francis Pangilinan prodded President Duterte to certify an urgent measure that will enable lawmakers to pass the bill totally banning “single-use plastics.”

The senator stressed that a total ban on “importation, manufacture, and use of single-use plastic is an urgent matter and should be done immediately.”

Pangilinan pointed out that the Palace itself sent signals it was “eyeing such a ban.”

In a statement, Pangilinan pleaded for the Palace certification to enable the Senate and the House of Representatives to pass the urgently needed remedial legislation on second and third reading in one sitting, after which it would be promptly submitted to the President for signing into law.

“We appeal to the President to certify the bill as urgent,” the senator said, adding: “The world needs the ban on single-use plastic. And as the Philippines is one of the biggest producers of plastic waste, the world will benefit from such a ban.”

Pangilinan filed Senate Bill 40 as soon as the 18th Congress convened to “phase out single-use plastic products by prohibiting their importation, manufacture, and use in food establishments, stores, markets and retailers.”

He explained that the Single-Use Plastics Regulation and Management Bill aims to “ban the use of all single-use plastics starting one year after the effectivity of the measure and to penalize those who will not enforce it.”

The senator added that “those who will reuse and recycle will receive an incentive.”

According to him, prompt passage of the Single-Use Plastics Regulation and Management Bill will benefit the environment, adding that, “passing the Single-Use Plastics Regulation and Management Bill soon as possible is good for Mother Earth, the future, and our children.” Butch Fernandez

P

RESIDENT Duterte has called on winners of this year’s Catholic Mass Media Awards (CMMA) to “take this occasion to reflect on how the various forms of media affect the character formation of our people, especially the youth.”

In a message to the CMMA on its 41st anniversary and awards presentation on November 13, Duterte also commended the awards body for promoting and upholding “the highest standards in traditional and social media in the Philippines through its well-regarded awarding ceremonies.”

The CMMA’s “consistent efforts to honor organizations and practitioners who create truthful, responsible and values-laden communication materials are truly inspiring,” Duterte added.

With the mass media’s commitment to nation-building, he said, “we will achieve and stronger and brighter future for all Filipinos.”

The CMMA awards night will be held at the GSIS Theater, GSIS Headquarters, Financial Center, Roxas Bou-

levard, Pasay City. The program starts at 5 p.m., with the registration of finalists for the awards, CMMA judges and board of trustees members, church leaders and other guests.

The CMMA was established in 1978 by the late Jaime L. Cardinal Sin, who was the Archbishop of Manila then, as the means by which the Archdiocese of Manila recognizes “those who are serving God through the mass media.”

Through its more than four decades, CMMA has become a tradition and a prestigious event joined by some of the country’s most respected personalities in the fields of television, radio, print media, music, cinema, the Internet, as well as by students from various academic institutions vying for the Student CMMA, through the years.

The CMMA is headed by D. Edgard A. Cabangon as acting chairman of the CMMA Foundation board of trustees, Luis Antonio G. Cardinal Tagle as honorary chairman, and Rev. Fr. Rufino C. Secson Jr. as executive director.

‘JOINT OIL EXPLORATION IN WPS TO TIE PHL’S HANDS’

By Recto Mercene @rectomercene

A

N expert at a leading American think tank said the Philippines’s assertion of sovereignty will be impaired if it actively participates in a joint exploration for oil and gas in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea).

“What we’re seeing is [that a] joint exploration for energy resources probably’s not gonna work out. It will be on Beijing’s terms if anything,” said Derek Grossman, senior defense analyst, Rand Corp.

The Philippines and China are

currently working out a sharing scheme for hydrocarbon deposits at the Recto Bank (Reed Bank), anchored on a carefully crafted memorandum of understanding between their respective foreign ministries earlier this year.

Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said that initially, the Chinese agreed to a 60-40 sharing agreement in favor of the Philippines.

In Grossman’s view, the cost of having acquiesced to the Chinese in the contested waters is that “you are no longer stating unambiguously that this territory is that of the Philippines and that’s what is struggling to me about it.”

Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr., on the other hand, had stressed the Philippines will never abandon the UN arbitral tribunal’s July 2016 ruling, invalidating China’s“excessive” claims to the resource rich waters.

“It’s money in our pocket,” he had said on Twitter.

Grossman reminded a delegation of Filipino journalists in Washington, D.C., that the “Permanent Court of Arbitration ruling in 2016 was pretty clear at least in that particular case, that the Philippines had the correct argument in the South China Sea and China ignored it.”

See “Oil exploration,” A2

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Companies BusinessMirror

Monday, November 11, 2019

B1

DOE set to issue new rules on power firms’ CSP after standoff with Meralco

By Lenie Lectura

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@llectura

HE Department of Energy (DOE) is expected to issue new rules on the competitive selection process (CSP) to govern power firms that are engaged in both power generation and distribution.

This proposal was raised by Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi following the still unresolved issue on the rebidding of 1,200 megawatt (MW) greenfield powersupply requirement of the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) via CSP. Cusi has provided inputs to Meralco on how the power-supply contract should be bidded out.

Meralco, on the other hand, has insisted on its own terms of reference (TOR).

Cusi said the agency received a letter from Meralco explaining why it prefers a new power plant, rather than existing power facilities, to supply the utility firm.

There were also other concerns raised by Meralco in the letter.

“They are a private entity… we have CSP rules.... It’s difficult in the case of Meralco; the reason I want it open [to all types of plants] is because they are the DU [distribution utility] and, at the

same time, owner of generation.

That’s why that system for that CSP should be different,” Cusi said.

As such, Cusi pointed out the need for the DOE to come up with a CSP template to avoid conflict of interest. This template will spell out the rules on how supply deals should be bidded out, particularly if the DU’s affiliate or unit is also engaged in power generation.

Atimonan One Energy Inc. of Meralco PowerGen Corp.(MGen) was the sole bidder of the 1,200 MW greenfield power-supply contract. The Third Party Bids and Awards Committee decided to hold a rebidding since only one firm participated. The DOE, however, has yet to approve the TOR. MGen is the power generation arm of Meralco.

Cusi pointed out that existing power plants operated and owned by other power firms should also be allowed to participate in the CSP for Meralco’s 1,2000 MW greenfield power-supply contract for 20 years.

“We need power and energy.

What we want is to make it competitive and open to all. What we are saying is, if they want me to approve the TOR, I am telling them the kind of TOR that I want. They said they don’t love my TOR, I can’t

do anything,” Cusi said.

Cusi said it is Meralco’s prerogative to publish the TOR. However, Cusi stressed that the TOR, if published, is not approved by his office. “[In] the first bidding, they said I approved it but I only approved the publication. I also replied to their letter,” Cusi said.

DOE may reprimand—Win

Meanwhile, Senate Energ y Committee Head Sherwin Gatchalian said the DOE is authorized to reprimand Meralco should it push through with the publication.

“Let competition come in and let the TOR be neutral, fair and transparent,” he said. “I think, well, if they don’t...there are many remedies. For example, if they insist on their own TOR, I believe DOE can reprimand them and can also penalize them,” he said.

The committee, he added, can also conduct an investigation.

Meralco President Ray Espinosa had said that the company has considered the DOE’s inputs but “would proceed on the basis of what we have set out originally, which is to differentiate the brownfield from the greenfield.”

He meant to underscore that there are financial and economic differences between brownfield

and greenfield plants. He also explained that power-supply agreements (PSAs) that are awarded to these types of plants vary and differ in financial and economic terms.

“It will be difficult for us to move to a situation where a greenfield capacity that we need to ensure reliable and affordable supply will eventually be open to older and preexisting plants that will crowd out investors or power generators who want to build new plants.

“It would simply be very difficult for them to compete. There is no discrimination against the existing and old plants.

“We cannot just have a situation where the existing plants and brownfield plants also compete for the greenfield capacity,” Espinosa said.

Espinosa pointed out that Meralco’s intention is to explain to the DOE the need “to maintain this dichotomy because it’s only in this dichotomy that incentives are provided to build new plants.”

He added: “We feel that our position is reasonable and that we basically have the basis upon which to go for a second round of CSP for the 1,200 MW.”

‘Monopoly’ issue renders Aboitiz bid for Sangley iffy

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UE to control issue and other factors, Aboitiz InfraCapital Inc. said it is not sure whether or not it will bid for the $10-billion Sangley International airport project.

“We are looking at the terms and modality. We are looking at the structure, we are looking at what we can and we cannot do given that we have an unsolicited proposal for Naia [Ninoy Aquino International Airport],” said Cosette Canilao, chief operating officer of Aboitiz InfraCapital.

The company is among the members of the Naia Consortium that offers to rehabilitate and expand the country’s main aviation facility.

Other members of the consortium are AC Infrastructure Holdings Corp., Alliance Global Group Inc., AEDC, Filinvest Development Corp., JG Summit Holdings Inc. and Metro Pacific Investments Corp.

The possibility of a monopoly is, likewise, one of the concerns that Aboitiz InfraCapital is studying with regard to its participation in the auction, she added.

The deadline for securing bid documents is Monday (November 11). Interested bidders may buy bid documents for P10 million. Submission of bids is set on November 25.

Through its public-private partnership scheme, the Cavite provincial government is the lead proponent and implementing agency of the project, such that it doesn’t need approval of the National Economic and Development Authority for implementation.

The project is expected by the Cavite LGU to be awarded by the end of November and the start of construction by January 2020.

The operations and maintenance of the new international aviation hub will be offered in a separate bidding. Roderick L. Abad

B2

Companies BusinessMirror

Monday, November 11, 2019

PSE STOCK QUOTATIONS

Megaworld expects P5.2B from Manila project

November 8, 2019

Net Foreign Stocks Bid Ask Open High Low Close Volume Value Trade (Peso) Buy (Sell) FINANCIALs

ASIA UNITED 54.8 55 55 55 54.8 55 2,100 115,488 BDO UNIBANK 158.5 159.5 155.9 159.5 155.9 159.5 938,870 148,570,494 BANK PH ISLANDS 97 97.5 96.35 98 95.2 97.5 1,492,080 143,909,637.5 CHINABANK 25.45 25.5 25.7 25.7 25.45 25.45 78,000 1,990,625 EAST WEST BANK 12.88 12.9 13 13.12 12.72 12.88 674,700 8,668,284 METROBANK 67.2 67.55 67.65 67.65 66.65 67.55 2,085,560 140,222,035 PB BANK 12.72 13.1 12.72 12.72 12.72 12.72 1,200 15,264 PBCOM 20.6 22.3 20.65 20.65 20.6 20.6 500 10,310 PHIL NATL BANK 44.95 45.05 44.9 45.25 44.8 45.05 37,700 1,697,785 PSBANK 57.1 57.9 57.2 57.9 57.05 57.9 11,980 685,210 RCBC 25.8 25.85 26 26 25.85 25.85 31,300 810,035 SECURITY BANK 201.8 203 203.6 203.6 196 203 223,760 45,220,221 UNION BANK 60.1 60.5 60.75 60.75 60.05 60.1 6,440 387,892 BRIGHT KINDLE 1.15 1.23 1.29 1.29 1.23 1.23 16,000 19,950 BDO LEASING 1.91 2.04 1.9 1.91 1.9 1.91 5,000 9,530 COL FINANCIAL 18.3 18.6 18.4 18.4 18.4 18.4 10,400 191,360 FERRONOUX HLDG 4.48 4.52 4.47 4.52 4.46 4.52 154,000 688,230 NTL REINSURANCE 0.88 0.89 0.9 0.9 0.88 0.89 329,000 289,660 PHIL STOCK EXCH 174.1 175.5 175.7 176 174.1 175 990 173,029 SUN LIFE 1,870 1,889 1866 1,866 1,866 1,866 10 18,660 VANTAGE 1.09 1.14 1.09 1.09 1.09 1.09 8,000 8,720

INDUSTRIAL AC ENERGY 2.58 2.59 2.66 2.66 2.58 2.59 9,984,000 26,039,150 ALSONS CONS 1.28 1.3 1.28 1.3 1.28 1.3 21,000 26,900 ABOITIZ POWER 39.55 39.6 38.8 39.6 38.5 39.6 905,400 35,424,655 BASIC ENERGY 0.241 0.246 0.247 0.247 0.247 0.247 10,000 2,470 FIRST GEN 24.65 24.7 25.4 25.4 24.3 24.7 1,370,000 33,860,555 FIRST PHIL HLDG 78.75 78.9 79 79.25 78.75 78.75 22,000 1,734,357 MERALCO 343 349.8 346.2 349.8 342 349.8 150,820 52,293,296 MANILA WATER 19.02 19.18 19.44 19.44 19 19.18 622,200 11,887,112 PETRON 5 5.01 5.05 5.05 5 5.01 765,400 3,837,684 PHX PETROLEUM 10.98 11 10.82 11 10.82 11 61,900 677,214 PILIPINAS SHELL 33.7 33.95 33.95 34 33.55 33.95 124,900 4,233,760 SPC POWER 7.6 7.8 7.89 7.89 7.6 7.8 130,900 1,014,236 AGRINURTURE 13.42 13.76 13.6 13.8 13.6 13.8 312,200 4,296,044 AXELUM 4.08 4.09 4.15 4.15 4.07 4.09 1,938,000 7,943,740 BOGO MEDELLIN 90.65 102.6 103.1 103.1 102.7 102.7 30 3,088 CNTRL AZUCARERA 17.28 18.02 17.28 18.02 17.28 18.02 1,100 19,082 CENTURY FOOD 15.4 15.46 15.5 15.5 15.3 15.32 31,300 481,754 DEL MONTE 5.3 5.49 5.42 5.42 5.3 5.3 58,700 311,858 DNL INDUS 8.76 8.78 8.53 8.78 8.53 8.78 2,100,000 18,196,169 EMPERADOR 6.99 7 7 7 6.99 7 770,900 5,392,344 SMC FOODANDBEV 90.1 91 90 91.4 89.5 91 319,120 28,831,423 ALLIANCE SELECT 0.64 0.65 0.67 0.67 0.65 0.65 1,480,000 962,480 GINEBRA 50.1 50.5 52 52 50 50.5 19,410 982,316.5 JOLLIBEE 227.6 228 226 228.4 226 228 394,910 89,740,624 MACAY HLDG 9 9.3 9.3 9.3 9.3 9.3 5,500 51,150 MAXS GROUP 13.3 13.4 13.4 13.4 13.22 13.3 95,900 1,274,642 MG HLDG 0.182 0.19 0.183 0.188 0.182 0.188 260,000 48,020 PEPSI COLA 1.67 1.68 1.7 1.7 1.65 1.67 3,777,000 6,307,680 SHAKEYS PIZZA 11.92 11.98 11.84 12.28 11.84 11.92 721,800 8,623,236 ROXAS AND CO 1.87 1.89 1.87 1.93 1.86 1.87 1,275,000 2,426,310 RFM CORP 5.46 5.5 5.46 5.46 5.46 5.46 11,600 63,336 ROXAS HLDG 1.92 1.94 1.94 1.94 1.92 1.94 47,000 90,340 SWIFT FOODS 0.126 0.129 0.129 0.129 0.129 0.129 20,000 2,580 UNIV ROBINA 151 151.5 150.5 154.5 149.5 151.5 637,660 96,421,039 VITARICH 1.32 1.33 1.32 1.33 1.29 1.33 3,881,000 5,088,060 CONCRETE A 65.15 68.65 65.15 65.15 65.15 65.15 300 19,545 CONCRETE B 70 72 70 70 70 70 220 15,400 CEMEX HLDG 2.49 2.5 2.55 2.55 2.47 2.5 1,725,000 4,318,610 DAVINCI CAPITAL 5.54 5.8 5.75 5.75 5.54 5.54 52,500 297,549 EAGLE CEMENT 15.46 15.5 15.38 15.64 15.12 15.5 1,216,600 18,848,038 EEI CORP 10.54 10.6 10.4 10.6 10.4 10.6 335,100 3,531,846 HOLCIM 14.28 14.56 14.3 14.56 14.3 14.56 113,200 1,644,962 MEGAWIDE 17.1 17.18 17.12 17.24 17.06 17.18 982,400 16,827,272 PHINMA 9.2 9.5 9.5 9.51 9.5 9.5 11,900 113,052 TKC METALS 1.05 1.08 1.05 1.09 1.05 1.09 21,000 22,090 VULCAN INDL 1.1 1.11 1.12 1.12 1.1 1.1 739,000 819,910 CROWN ASIA 2.12 2.13 2.13 2.13 2.13 2.13 41,000 87,330 LMG CHEMICALS 5.11 5.31 5.11 5.11 5.11 5.11 8,300 42,413 MABUHAY VINYL 3.43 3.58 3.58 3.58 3.58 3.58 3,000 10,740 PRYCE CORP 5.36 5.4 5.4 5.4 5.39 5.4 125,000 674,335 CONCEPCION 31 31.45 31 31 31 31 85,600 2,653,600 GREENERGY 2.26 2.28 2.3 2.3 2.25 2.28 3,945,000 8,989,380 INTEGRATED MICR 8.39 8.4 8.1 8.46 8.1 8.39 380,400 3,174,775 IONICS 1.47 1.49 1.49 1.49 1.48 1.49 76,000 112,670 SFA SEMICON 0.96 0.99 0.98 0.99 0.93 0.99 225,000 211,660 CIRTEK HLDG 7.96 8 8.05 8.16 7.91 8 377,000 3,005,406

HOLDING & FRIMS

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

0.82 12.5 848.5 55.85 10.62 3.52 6.53 0.74 1.12 6.88 7.63 13.2 3.82 0.205 900 5.58 77.4 5.45 0.5 4.25 13 0.56 4.65 0.037 1.43 1.27 1,060 165.9 0.85 2.26 224.6 0.212 0.22

0.83 12.88 854 56 10.66 3.53 6.6 0.75 1.13 6.91 7.68 13.38 4.19 0.218 900.5 5.85 78.5 5.49 0.52 4.26 13.02 0.59 4.68 0.038 1.46 1.28 1,070 170 0.87 2.34 225.6 0.219 0.235

0.83 13.1 870 55.35 11.12 3.53 6.7 0.74 1.14 6.93 8.05 13.12 3.77 0.205 898 5.57 78.5 5.49 0.52 4.28 13.3 0.58 4.83 0.037 1.41 1.3 1060 170 0.87 2.25 225.6 0.212 0.22

0.84 13.1 870 56 11.12 3.54 6.7 0.75 1.14 6.93 8.05 13.38 3.82 0.205 900 5.57 78.7 5.49 0.54 4.29 13.36 0.59 4.85 0.037 1.46 1.3 1,070 170 0.87 2.25 225.6 0.215 0.22

0.82 12.6 846 54.4 10.44 3.51 6.6 0.73 1.11 6.87 7.43 13.12 3.77 0.205 890 5.57 77.3 5.49 0.51 4.26 13 0.58 4.65 0.037 1.41 1.28 1,051 165.3 0.85 2.25 224.4 0.211 0.22

0.82 12.88 848.5 56 10.62 3.53 6.6 0.74 1.13 6.91 7.63 13.38 3.82 0.205 900 5.57 78.5 5.49 0.52 4.26 13.02 0.59 4.65 0.037 1.46 1.28 1,070 170 0.85 2.25 224.4 0.212 0.22

8,241,000 6,821,450 18,400 233,518 405,110 346,055,515 535,420 29,742,139 80,092,100 850,728,474(37 588,000 2,074,100 7,000 46,286 132,000 97,610 318,000 359,170 3,004,400 20,750,537 72,220,900 551,098,711 17,600 235,416 5,000 18,900 610,000 125,050 42,630 38,303,085 1,500 8,355 1,288,890 100,881,664 1,000 5,490 58,000 30,190 353,000 1,508,850 952,500 12,413,544 20,000 11,620 36,384,000 171,663,390 600,000 22,200 271,000 386,690 193,000 248,360 658,675 700,492,525 171,480 28,927,903 60,000 51,200 4,000 9,000 160 35,978 2,750,000 588,600 120,000 26,400

(3,288) 3,099,300 (19,841,467) 630,370 (248,992) 1,781,783.5 672,085 (3,383,789) (57,200) (6,964) -

(2,263,160) (13,412,900) (25,045,060) (1,211,665.5) (8,635,894) 2,631,802 84,754 (53,348) (2,104,795) 775,000 142,584 1,294,670 138,908 (311,858) 3,770,370 (4,502,517) (20,666,792) 3,250 (183,869) (18,802,750) 1,026,398 1,960,200 5,638,878 (32,188,735) (190,920) 506,420 7,766,062 478,292 (366,030) (10,146,800) (12,240) (226,800) (2,480,000) 18,060.0001 1,207,288 170,315.9999 (1,296,190) (152,347,130) 1,028,094 9,684,525.9996) (84,620) 2,850,944 (169,340,728) (68,236) 7,626,225 55,632,363.5 (46,980) (8,054,638) (12,008,460) 52,170 541,598,780 (13,117,968) (6,768) (430,000) 11,000

PROPERTY ARTHALAND CORP 0.88 0.89 0.9 0.9 0.88 0.89 1,096,000 981,820 ANCHOR LAND 9.53 9.79 9.53 9.53 9.53 9.53 4,300 40,979 AYALA LAND 46.85 47 47.05 47.1 46.35 47 7,780,900 363,202,880 (232,873,465) ARANETA PROP 1.7 1.78 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.7 88,000 149,600 13,600 BELLE CORP 1.99 2 2.02 2.02 1.99 2 691,000 1,381,930 (932,000) A BROWN 0.8 0.81 0.81 0.82 0.8 0.8 322,000 260,640 CITYLAND DEVT 0.85 0.86 0.84 0.86 0.84 0.86 2,000 1,700 CROWN EQUITIES 0.2 0.206 0.201 0.206 0.2 0.206 3,030,000 609,110 CEB LANDMASTERS 4.63 4.66 4.6 4.67 4.6 4.63 178,000 824,420 CENTURY PROP 0.59 0.6 0.61 0.62 0.59 0.59 43,040,000 25,922,180 (19,080) CYBER BAY 0.46 0.465 0.465 0.465 0.46 0.46 620,000 286,650 DOUBLEDRAGON 20.05 20.15 20.1 20.4 19.98 20.05 473,600 9,510,189 (1,350,190) DM WENCESLAO 10.18 10.3 10.18 10.3 10.16 10.3 127,900 1,314,284 1,134,416 EMPIRE EAST 0.45 0.46 0.46 0.465 0.45 0.46 1,150,000 521,600 22,500 FILINVEST LAND 1.62 1.63 1.64 1.64 1.61 1.62 7,922,000 12,854,800 (1,481,290) GLOBAL ESTATE 1.23 1.24 1.24 1.25 1.24 1.24 499,000 619,140 8990 HLDG 14.78 14.88 14.88 14.88 14.8 14.8 310,300 4,614,040 (208,320) PHIL INFRADEV 1.46 1.48 1.55 1.56 1.46 1.46 3,025,000 4,520,180 (359,390) MEGAWORLD 4.88 4.9 4.94 4.94 4.85 4.9 8,257,000 40,277,380 (2,008,220) MRC ALLIED 0.29 0.295 0.29 0.295 0.29 0.295 2,330,000 679,700 PHIL ESTATES 0.395 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.395 0.4 3,010,000 1,190,000 (1,186,000) PRIMEX CORP 2.06 2.07 2.05 2.06 2.01 2.06 1,315,000 2,683,120 ROBINSONS LAND 26.2 26.7 26.3 26.7 26.05 26.7 1,343,400 35,399,740 (1,107,320) PHIL REALTY 0.37 0.38 0.37 0.37 0.37 0.37 290,000 107,300 SHANG PROP 3.25 3.3 3.3 3.3 3.3 3.3 20,000 66,000 STA LUCIA LAND 2.53 2.56 2.58 2.59 2.5 2.56 282,000 718,480 SM PRIME HLDG 39.9 40 39.8 40 39.15 40 9,048,700 360,846,520 54,872,625 VISTAMALLS 5.5 5.54 5.54 5.54 5.5 5.5 31,500 173,336 SUNTRUST HOME 1.49 1.5 1.52 1.52 1.46 1.49 12,962,000 19,189,710 VISTA LAND 7.66 7.73 7.69 7.73 7.67 7.73 3,805,800 29,298,645 (5,086,679)

SERVICES ABS CBN 18.14 18.3 18.32 18.36 18.14 18.2 80,100 1,461,508 GMA NETWORK 5.25 5.26 5.26 5.3 5.26 5.26 73,300 386,099 MANILA BULLETIN 0.405 0.42 0.41 0.41 0.405 0.405 80,000 32,500 MLA BRDCASTING 12.5 14.18 14.22 14.22 14.22 14.22 200 2,844 GLOBE TELECOM 1,890 1,900 1887 1,915 1,868 1,900 38,070 72,094,720 20,372,815 PLDT 1,105 1,110 1100 1,119 1,099 1,110 45,170 50,042,330 (789,125) APOLLO GLOBAL 0.039 0.04 0.04 0.04 0.04 0.04 6,100,000 244,000 DFNN INC 5.51 5.9 5.8 6 5.8 5.9 279,000 1,632,888 (5,400) ISLAND INFO 0.105 0.107 0.106 0.109 0.105 0.106 1,870,000 198,480 ISM COMM 4.77 4.78 4.75 4.8 4.73 4.77 898,000 4,270,610 (47,560) NOW CORP 3.54 3.55 3.49 3.6 3.45 3.55 4,082,000 14,540,200 (325,740) TRANSPACIFIC BR 0.33 0.335 0.32 0.34 0.32 0.33 7,740,000 2,535,150 42,250 PHILWEB 3.01 3.03 3.01 3.04 3 3.03 448,000 1,346,260 (108,050) 2GO GROUP 10.66 10.98 10.62 11 10.62 10.98 6,700 73,162 (6,600) CHELSEA 6.46 6.47 6.53 6.57 6.47 6.47 1,096,400 7,132,789 (174,799) CEBU AIR 94.35 94.45 95 95 94 94.35 58,370 5,510,218 (2,234,955.5) INTL CONTAINER 123.8 123.9 124 124 121.2 123.8 902,090 111,446,615 44,444,038 LBC EXPRESS 13.64 13.94 13.64 13.64 13.64 13.64 500 6,820 LORENZO SHIPPNG 0.91 0.96 0.91 0.91 0.91 0.91 109,000 99,190 MACROASIA 19.48 19.5 19.52 19.7 19.32 19.5 952,100 18,558,608 (3,153,636) METROALLIANCE A 1.05 1.15 1.1 1.1 1.05 1.05 19,000 20,850 PAL HLDG 8 8.29 8.08 8.38 7.8 8 120,500 955,220 60,260 HARBOR STAR 1.6 1.62 1.62 1.62 1.6 1.62 531,000 853,070 ACESITE HOTEL 1.53 1.59 1.55 1.59 1.53 1.59 25,000 38,830 GRAND PLAZA 10.4 11.18 10.5 11.46 10.34 11.46 2,200 23,100 WATERFRONT 0.66 0.67 0.67 0.67 0.66 0.66 73,000 48,310 STI HLDG 0.66 0.67 0.67 0.68 0.66 0.67 793,000 529,650 BERJAYA 2.52 2.54 2.56 2.56 2.47 2.52 645,000 1,615,830 2,560 BLOOMBERRY 10.76 10.78 10.72 10.84 10.68 10.76 8,415,800 90,612,692 (12,182,548) LEISURE AND RES 3.16 3.2 3.19 3.28 3.15 3.16 212,000 672,710 PH RESORTS GRP 4.75 4.82 4.85 4.85 4.77 4.82 35,000 168,760 58,130 PREMIUM LEISURE 0.67 0.68 0.68 0.69 0.67 0.68 2,488,000 1,688,230 (1,084,590) ALLHOME 11.34 11.38 11.4 11.42 11.3 11.38 9,607,800 109,209,732 (18,379,920) METRO RETAIL 2.49 2.5 2.5 2.55 2.48 2.5 291,000 726,080 109,560 PUREGOLD 39.65 39.7 40 40.4 39.5 39.7 6,118,400 243,030,610 (17,531,905) ROBINSONS RTL 77 77.45 75.7 77 75.7 77 802,450 61,782,741 ( 42,576,003.5) PHIL SEVEN CORP 155 160 149.9 155 149.9 155 570 86,875 71,885 SSI GROUP 2.64 2.65 2.7 2.7 2.63 2.65 1,291,000 3,422,090 1,510,790 WILCON DEPOT 17.04 17.2 17.16 17.2 16.86 17.2 1,515,400 25,835,732 3 ,221,461.9998 APC GROUP 0.5 0.51 0.52 0.52 0.5 0.51 1,965,000 995,260 (63,750) EASYCALL 9.08 9.24 9.07 9.28 9.03 9.08 31,700 288,328 GOLDEN BRIA 420 439.6 418.4 439.8 418.4 439.8 50 21,134 IPM HLDG 3.66 5.22 3.62 3.62 3.62 3.62 5,000 18,100 PRMIERE HORIZON 0.475 0.48 0.48 0.485 0.475 0.475 2,530,000 1,212,750 (210,450) SBS PHIL CORP 8.92 9.12 9.05 9.12 9.05 9.12 5,500 50,146

MINING & OIL ATOK 11.58 12.22 12.22 12.22 12.22 12.22 100 1,222 APEX MINING 1.1 1.11 1.11 1.12 1.1 1.1 1,504,000 1,661,590 (460,650) ABRA MINING 0.0016 0.0017 0 0.0017 0.0017 0.0017 0.0017 57,000,000 96,900 ATLAS MINING 2.57 2.58 2.57 2.57 2.57 2.57 119,000 305,830 (305,830) COAL ASIA HLDG 0.28 0.295 0.28 0.285 0.28 0.285 60,000 17,050 CENTURY PEAK 2.55 2.59 2.55 2.59 2.55 2.59 360,000 927,100 FERRONICKEL 1.83 1.84 1.9 1.95 1.82 1.84 10,154,000 18,975,280 2,828,500 GEOGRACE 0.207 0.21 0.211 0.213 0.207 0.21 310,000 64,920 LEPANTO A 0.104 0.105 0.105 0.105 0.104 0.105 440,000 45,830 LEPANTO B 0.104 0.109 0.108 0.109 0.104 0.109 3,360,000 350,470 MANILA MINING A 0.0088 0.0091 0 0.0089 0.0089 0.0089 0.0089 5,000,000 44,500 MARCVENTURES 1.08 1.1 1.1 1.12 1.07 1.1 544,000 594,630 88,100 NIHAO 1.05 1.07 1.07 1.07 1.05 1.07 3,000 3,190 NICKEL ASIA 3.85 3.86 3.88 3.95 3.77 3.86 13,805,000 53,409,010 (8,571,970) ORNTL PENINSULA 0.82 0.83 0.84 0.84 0.83 0.83 295,000 244,900 4,980 PX MINING 3.43 3.45 3.44 3.45 3.43 3.44 46,000 158,240 SEMIRARA MINING 23.6 23.8 23.45 23.8 23.2 23.8 1,608,200 38,051,175 19,962,850 UNITED PARAGON 0.0059 0.0061 0 0.0059 0.0059 0.0058 0.0058 4,000,000 23,300 ORNTL PETROL A 0.011 0.012 0.012 0.012 0.011 0.012 15,000,000 177,500 ORNTL PETROL B 0.011 0.012 0.012 0.012 0.012 0.012 34,100,000 409,200 PHILODRILL 0.01 0.011 0.011 0.012 0.011 0.011 11,600,000 133,000 (6,000) PHINMA PETRO 11.16 11.2 11.1 11.5 10.98 11.2 1,165,000 13,079,148 (494,210) PXP ENERGY 12.16 12.2 12.38 12.38 12.12 12.16 304,700 3,705,262 (646,180)

PREFFERED

HOUSE PREF A 99 99.65 99.7 99.7 99 99 210 20,852 4,965 AC PREF B1 503 507 505 505 503 503 5,960 2,999,920 DD PREF 100.5 101 101 101 101 101 90,000 9,090,000 SMC FB PREF 2 998.5 999 999 999 999 999 1,530 1,528,470 FGEN PREF G 109 109.5 109.5 109.5 109.5 109.5 200 21,900 (21,900) GLO PREF P 505.5 510 505.5 505.5 505.5 505.5 30 15,165 GTCAP PREF A 980 990 990 990 990 990 2,960 2,930,400 LR PREF 1.01 1.02 1.01 1.01 1.01 1.01 48,000 48,480 MWIDE PREF 100.9 101 101 101 101 101 143,230 14,466,230 PNX PREF 3A 100.6 101.9 101 101 100.5 100.5 5,000 502,590 PNX PREF 3B 108 109 109 109 109 109 570 62,130 PNX PREF 4 1,035 1,036 1033 1,036 1,033 1,036 11,930 12,353,510 (3,905,720) PCOR PREF 2B 1,033 1,034 1034 1,034 1,034 1,034 15 15,510 PCOR PREF 3A 1,049 1,050 1050 1,050 1,050 1,050 1,735 1,821,750 SMC PREF 2C 78.2 78.25 78.5 78.5 78.2 78.2 11,170 874,066.5 SMC PREF 2D 75.15 75.5 75.15 75.15 75.1 75.15 61,200 4,597,895 SMC PREF 2E 75.1 75.8 75.4 75.4 75 75.1 40,960 3,076,360 SMC PREF 2F 76.1 76.5 76.1 76.25 76 76.1 180,000 13,698,182.5 SMC PREF 2H 75.15 75.7 75.15 75.65 75.1 75.15 176,000 13,270,918 SMC PREF 2I 75.5 76.5 75.7 75.7 75.7 75.7 137,100 10,378,470 PHIL. DEPOSITARY RECEIPTS

ABS HLDG PDR GMA HLDG PDR

17.4 5.13

17.5 5.14

17.6 5.14

17.6 5.15

17.5 5.14

17.5 5.14

4,100 131,100

71,850 674,965

WARRANTS LR WARRANT

1.58

SMALL & MEDIUM ENTERPRISES

ITALPINAS KEPWEALTH MAKATI FINANCE XURPAS

6.89 12.46 2.56 1.11

FIRST METRO ETF

119.5

1.66

1.67

1.67

1.58

1.58

9,000

14,940

6.91 12.48 2.76 1.12

6.88 12.3 2.56 1.09

6.96 12.5 2.56 1.16

6.75 12.04 2.56 1.05

6.89 12.48 2.56 1.12

784,400 954,400 25,000 25,954,000

5,397,658 11,757,092 64,000 29,148,660

EXHANGE TRADE FUNDS 120.6

120.4

120.6

119.3

120.6

13,840

1,661,130

(54,250) (502,125) 89,041 (18,450) (236,970) 14,376

www.businessmirror.com.ph

By VG Cabuag

-

M

@villygc

EGAWORLD Corp. said it expects to generate some P5.2 billion in sales a new residential condominium development in San Lazaro Tourism and Business Park in Manila.

The company said it is building a 34-story Kingsquare Residence, which offers 961 units ranging

from studio of up to 31 square meters, one-bedroom unit of up to 46 square meters and two-bedroom

unit of up to 61 square meters, all with their own balconies.

Units may be combined to form into three to four bedrooms for big families. The project will be completed in 2024, the company said.

The residential tower features amenities at the fifth level that include both adult and kiddie pools with a pool deck, children’s playground, function hall, fitness center and study room with Wi-fi facilities.

“This new residential development is perfect for students, teachers, doctors and other professionals, including families who have kids studying within the

area. It is very close to schools and universities, hospitals, and soon, a mall that will have a direct connection for residents,” Wilson Sy, Megaworld Manila’s first vice president for sales and marketing, said.

Kingsquare Residence is close to some universities, including University of Santo Tomas, University of the East, Far Eastern University, San Beda University and Mapua Institute of Technology.

“Everything is just within easy reach, whether you want to go north or south. It is also walkable to downtown Manila via Rizal Avenue and Lacson Avenue,” Sy said.

Vista Land income grows 12% in Jan-Sept

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ROPERTY developer Vista Land and Lifescapes Inc. said profit for the nine months of the year ending September reached P9.1 billion, up 12 percent from P8.1 billion last year.

Revenues reached P34.4 billion, 9 percent higher from P31.4 billion last year.

Leasing revenues for the period increased by 13 percent to P5.8 billion, from P5.1 billion last year, the company said.

“We are well-poised to achieve another record year this 2019 as Vista Land continues to deliver solid performance both from our leasing and residential businesses,” Manuel B. Villar Jr., the company’s chairman, said.

Vista Land’s reservations sales hit P61.6 billion, up 8 percent, majority of which remains overseas Filipinos and over 90 percent endusers, he said.

“As what we have said in the past two quarters, we remain bullish for the industry, given the sustained demand for our housing products, as well as our success in our leasing business propelled by the steady growth in the disposable income, overseas Filipino remittances, sound Philippine macroeconomic fundamentals and the government’s drive to accelerate economic activities and infrastructure developments outside Metro Manila, where we have a competitive advantage given that we have the widest geographic reach around the country,” he said.

“We remain confident about the company’s prospects for the rest of the year as our leasing portfolio will be growing which complements our existing core and stable end-user housing business.

Revenue growth from our existing

STOCK-MARKET OUTLOOK Last week

SHARE prices closed higher last week, with the main index closing at 8,000-point level, but market was volatile almost all week as key economic data were released.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) gained 88.64 points to close at 8,065.76 points.

The main index saw its entry to the 8,000-point level at the beginning of the week, gaining 3 percent for the first two trading days, but it gave up most of it on Wednesday as investors took profit.

Several key economic data came out this week. Inflation continues its downtrend, coming in at 0.8 percent for October, while growth in the country’s gross domestic product for the third quarter came in at 6.2 percent, which surprised many.

“Economic fundamentals continue to improve but stock market investors continue to ignore fundamentals and are focused on the general sentiment which is still quite dim. Nonetheless, the PSEi ended with some gains which marks its fifth consecutive week in the green,” Christopher Mangun, research head at AAA Securities Inc., said.

Trading volumes, however, were still low at an average of P6.08 billion, still down from the year-todate average of P6.31 billion. Foreign investors were net buyers at P602.87 million.

Most of the subindices ended on the green, led by the broader All Shares index that closed 36.35 points higher to 4,823.80. The Financials index rose 28.35 to 1,946.75, the Industrial index gained 7.39 to 10,478.33, the Holding Firms index was up 103.02 to 7,933.32, the Property index fell 1.40 to 4,170.89, the Services index increased 38.91 to 1,551.96, and the Mining and Oil index was down 123.91 to 9,092.61.

For the week, losers still managed to edge out gainers 119 to 105, and 24 shares were unchanged.

Top gainers were Xurpas Inc., DFNN Inc., Bright Kindle Resources and Investments Inc., Chemical Industries of the Philippines Inc., Kepwealth Property Philippines Inc. and Phinma Petroleum and Geothermal Inc. Top losers, on the other hand, were F and J Prince Holdings Corp. A and B shares, BHI Holdings Inc., Republic Glass Holdings Corp., Synergy Grid and Development Philippines Inc., Suntrust Home Developers Inc. and Paxys Inc.

This week

Share prices may continue its positive run next week after the main index managed to stay at the 8,000-point level despite the volatility.

“There is a strong possibility that it could continue to inch higher due to foreign fund inflows and the improving investor sentiment. We may see it build momentum and trade in a new range. The key is for it to stay above 8,000 points,” Mangun said.

“A break below this level will turn investors bearish and may well send it all the way back to a strong support level. Once investors realize how well our economy has performed and start looking at fundamentals again, we will see investors flood back into this market and take it to new highs,” he said.

Luis Limlingan, managing director at Regina Capital and Development Corp., said there will be expected movements of funds out of the equities and bond markets after the US and China agreed to remove trade tariffs.

“As tensions decreased, the investors left the Philippines and reinvested into asset classes closer to their region of domicile,” he said, referring to the trade last Friday.

Stock picks

Regina Capital advised when its support price of P143.36 holds for the stock of Universal Robina Corp.

(URC), the food group of the Gokongwei family.

“The stock looks to be on its way to challenging its closest support positioned at P148.40. The previous session saw URC post a downside of as much as 2.9 percent, as the sudden spike in selling pressure called for a downward bias. Momentum is staying flattish, however,” it said.

URC shares closed Friday at P151.50 apiece.

Meanwhile, the broker gave the same recommendation on the stock of PLDT Inc., with its support price of between P1,079 and P1,090 per share.

“The stock continued on a two-day sell down, even reaching an intra-day low of P1,097. Despite indicators remaining contradicting, it is evident that the stock may encounter a selldown,” it said.

“At this point, expect TEL to challenge its closest support at 1,090 as the indicators continue to point toward some sustained downward bias,” it added.

PLDT shares closed last week at P1,110. VG Cabuag

investment properties of over 1.4 million square meters continues to be strong,” Manuel Paolo A. Villar, Vista Land president, said.

In terms of our residential

Mutual Funds

business, the company launched projects with an estimated value of P28.3 billion during the first nine months of the year, he said.

VG Cabuag

November 8, 2019

NAV One Year Three Year Five Year Y-T-D

per share Return* Return Stock Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities ALFM Growth Fund, Inc. -a 259.31 8.02% 0.97% -0.34% 2.82% ATRAM Alpha Opportunity Fund, Inc. -a 1.5137 10.17% 3.11% -0.44% 5.06% ATRAM Philippine Equity Opportunity Fund, Inc. -a 3.9326 5.9% -0.95% -2.19% 0.76% Climbs Share Capital Equity Investment Fund Corp. -a 0.9423 10.3% n.a. n.a.

4.58% First Metro Consumer Fund on MSCI Phils. IMI, Inc. -a 0.8771 11.73% n.a. n.a.

6.87% First Metro Save and Learn Equity Fund,Inc. -a 5.4965 11.57% 2.37% 0.08% 4.23% First Metro Save and Learn Philippine Index Fund, Inc. -a,6 0.8841 12.18% -1.68% n.a.

5.67% MBG Equity Investment Fund, Inc. -a 113.4 3.99% n.a. n.a.

-2.38% PAMI Equity Index Fund, Inc. -a 53.0051 14.03% 3.32% n.a.

7.68% Philam Strategic Growth Fund, Inc. -a 549.73 13.2% 2.11% 0.21% 6.8% Philequity Dividend Yield Fund, Inc. -a 1.3308 11.07% 2.9% 1.2% 6.12% Philequity Fund, Inc. -a 39.176 12.27% 3.84% 1.16% 6.94% Philequity MSCI Philippine Index Fund, Inc. -a,1 1.0514 n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.

Philequity PSE Index Fund Inc. -a 5.392 15.33% 4.16% 2.24% 8.74% Philippine Stock Index Fund Corp. -a 900.31 15.34% 4.08% 2.16% 8.68% Soldivo Strategic Growth Fund, Inc. -a 0.9067 11.24% 1.92% n.a.

5.43% Sun Life Prosperity Philippine Equity Fund, Inc. -a 4.3555 12.52% 3.5% 1.25% 7.31% Sun Life Prosperity Philippine Stock Index Fund, Inc. -a 1.0339 14.88% 3.92% n.a.

8.34% United Fund, Inc. -a 3.7662 13.45% 5.14% 2.71% 7.58% Exchange Traded Fund First Metro Phil. Equity Exchange Traded Fund, Inc. -a,c 120.7061 15.66% 4.83% 3.18% 8.99% Primarily invested in foreign currency securities ATRAM AsiaPlus Equity Fund, Inc. -b $1.004 5.55% 4.79% 0.16% 8.06% Sun Life Prosperity World Voyager Fund, Inc. -a $1.3208 9.26% 9.34% n.a. 19.51% Balanced Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities ATRAM Dynamic Allocation Fund, Inc. -a 1.5985 -0.31% -2.38% -3.64% -3.19% ATRAM Philippine Balanced Fund, Inc. -a 2.2839 6.61% 0.16% -0.42% 3.38% First Metro Save and Learn Balanced Fund Inc. -a 2.6778 10.05% 2.31% -0.84% 5.3% First Metro Save and Learn F.O.C.C.U.S. Dynamic Fund, Inc. -a,5 0.2384 n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.

Grepalife Balanced Fund Corporation -a 1.3587 7.42% n.a. n.a.

4.17% NCM Mutual Fund of the Phils., Inc. -a 1.9815 10.88% 2.69% 1.27% 7.51% PAMI Horizon Fund, Inc. -a 3.8469 13.89% 1.87% 0.61% 9% Philam Fund, Inc. -a 17.2127 13.05% 1.81% 0.5% 8.2% Solidaritas Fund, Inc. -a 2.1713 8.42% 1.99% 1.26% 4.93% Sun Life of Canada Prosperity Balanced Fund, Inc. -a 3.9421 11.79% 2.87% 0.99% 7.96% Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2028, Inc. -a,d,2 1.0351 n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.

Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2038, Inc. -a,d,2 1.0248 n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.

Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2048, Inc. -a,d,2 1.0219 n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.

Sun Life Prosperity Dynamic Fund, Inc. -a 0.9993 11.42% 2.41% 0.25% 8.42% Primarily invested in foreign currency securities Cocolife Dollar Fund Builder, Inc. -a $0.03808 9.87% 2.22% 2.04% 7.88% PAMI Asia Balanced Fund, Inc. -a $1.0161 7.66% 3.69% 0.47% 11.21% Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Advantage Fund, Inc. -a $3.7997 8.19% 6.72% 3.46% 14.84% Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Wellspring Fund, Inc. -a,7 $1.1097 6.95% 3.96% n.a. 10.42% Bond Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities ALFM Peso Bond Fund, Inc. -a 355.87 4.1% 2.61% 2.28% 3.61% ATRAM Corporate Bond Fund, Inc. -a 1.9242 4.13% 0.27% -0.04% 3.5% Cocolife Fixed Income Fund, Inc. -a 3.0971 4.91% 5.23% 5.21% 4.07% Ekklesia Mutual Fund Inc. -a 2.2172 4.5% 1.89% 1.97% 4.13% First Metro Save and Learn Fixed Income Fund,Inc. -a 2.3471 6.05% 1.82% 1.55% 6.44% Grepalife Fixed Income Fund Corp. -a P 1.6086 3.11% 0.05% -0.03% 2.83% Philam Bond Fund, Inc. -a 4.3421 14.16% 1.91% 1.79% 10.77% Philequity Peso Bond Fund, Inc. -a 3.7557 8.46% 2.53% 1.54% 6.78% Soldivo Bond Fund, Inc. -a 0.9558 9.26% 0.83% n.a.

7.25% Sun Life of Canada Prosperity Bond Fund, Inc. -a 3.0548 11.59% 3.74% 2.56% 10.45% Sun Life Prosperity GS Fund, Inc. -a 1.6871 10.96% 3.15% 2.07% 9.56% Primarily invested in foreign currency securities ALFM Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a $466.15 4.45% 2.12% 2.84% 3.96% ALFM Euro Bond Fund, Inc. -a Є219.68 3.08% 1.31% 1.4% 3.3% ATRAM Total Return Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -b $1.2027 7.26% 2.42% 2.56% 6.84% First Metro Save and Learn Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a $0.0258 4.03% 1.19% 1.37% 4.03% Grepalife Dollar Bond Fund Corp. -a $1.7094 1.26% -1.23% 0.26% 1.14% PAMI Global Bond Fund, Inc -a $1.0939 7.25% 0.01% -0.91% 5.56% Philam Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a $2.3889 12.18% 2.14% 3.13% 10.05% Philequity Dollar Income Fund Inc. -a $0.0602218 5.88% 2.03% 2.03% 5.65% Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Abundance Fund, Inc. -a $3.1503 9.65% 1.62% 2.62% 9.69% Money Market Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities ALFM Money Market Fund, Inc. -a 125.15 4.14% 2.74% 2.12% 3.53% First Metro Save and Learn Money Market Fund, Inc. -a,3 1.0273 n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.

Philam Managed Income Fund, Inc. -a 1.2471 6.16% 2.49% 1.58% 5.52% Sun Life Prosperity Money Market Fund, Inc. -a 1.2591 3.83% 2.83% 2.25% 3.27% Primarily invested in foreign currency securities Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Starter Fund, Inc. -a $1.0348 2.13% n.a. n.a.

1.86%

a - NAVPS as of the previous banking day. b - NAVPS as of two banking days ago. c - Listed in the PSE. d - in Net Asset Value per Unit (NAVPU).

1 - Launch date is January 3, 2019. 2 - Launch date is January 28, 2019. 3 - Launch date is February 1, 2019. 4 - Launch date is August 1, 2019.

5 - Launch date is September 28, 2019. 6 - Renaming was approved by the SEC last October 12, 2018 (formerly, One Wealthy Nation Fund, Inc.).

7 - Adjusted due to stock dividend issuance last October 9, 2019.

"While we endeavor to keep the information accurate, the Philippine Investment Funds Association (PIFA) and its members make no warranties as to the correctness of the newspaper’s publication and assume no liability or responsibility for any error or omissions. You may visit http://www. pifa.com.ph to see the latest NAVPS/NAVPU."

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Banking&Finance BusinessMirror

GOCC urges rural banks to access credit database

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top executive of the Credit Information Corp. (CIC)— the Philippines’s sole public credit registry and repository of credit information—urges rural banks to access its largest and most diverse credit database.

Out of the 1,724 registered submitting entities to the Credit Information System (CIS), about 444 are already in production, submitting live or actual basic credit data of their borrowers. Registered submitting entities are universal banks, commercial banks, credit-card issuers, thrift banks, rural banks, cooperatives, government and private lending institutions, insurance companies, and financing and lending institutions.

“This year, the quality and quantity of CIC data improved, making it the largest credit database in the Philippines to date, with the most diverse set of contributors,” CIC President and CEO Jaime Casto Jose P. Garchitorena was quoted in a statement issued on November 8.

“So much so that our two credit bureaus are finding usability of these data. We feel that this depth and diversity makes the CIC data more relevant in promoting inclusive, riskbased lending.”

More than a credit cards database

The CIC said that, as of November 4, its database contains 9,153,536 unique data subjects and 80,278 companies and corporations.

Out of the 53,310,925 contract data in its repository, installment transactions are the most dominant with 34,115,937 contracts, followed by credit-card transactions with only 18,580,406. There are 614,582 noninstallment contracts.

The ratio of credit card to installment contract data is significant as the latter reveals behaviors that are more typical to the market of rural bankers,” CIC Senior Vice President for Business Development and Communications Aileen L. Amor-Bautista said in a forum participated by 427 rural bankers. Amor-Bautista,

a lawyer, further expounded on how salary loans, housing loans, car loans, and other more typical credit transactions offer CIC data users a better view of true credit behaviors versus a predominantly credit-cards database.

Competitiveness beyond compliance

Amor-Bautista also tackled how the CIC’s data set is beneficial for the rural banking sector, which comprises 33 percent (148) of its submitting entities in production, as it is in line with the credit registry’s mandate of improving access to credit for micro, small and medium enterprises.

While the CIC looks forward to the rural banks’ 100-percent compliance to the Credit Information System Act, it also urged them to be more competitive by going beyond compliance and accessing the CIC database to expand the rural banks’ lending portfolios and reduce portfolio risk.

“Access to CIC data is not mandatory, but this is a valuable tool for your members. Access could be made directly from the CIC or through the accredited credit bureaus, namely CRIF and CIBI who are currently the only two active bureaus accessing the CIC database,” Garchitorena added.

Two other credit bureaus—TransUnion and Compuscan—are in the process of completing some CIC requirements. They will be allowed to access the CIC data once these have been resolved.

The rural bankers were also apprised of CIC’s two types of inquiries: new application enquiry and monitoring enquiry. The NAE is used to inquire about an applicant borrower who has no existing loan transactions with the potential lender, while ME could be used to monitor existing loan accounts of borrowers submitted by the lender to the CIC. “We reiterate our commitment to the noble cause of the rural bankers to give access to credit in the rural areas where other lenders may find reluctance to lend. Please let us know how we can be of service to your members,” Garchitorena added.

BSP padlocks rural banks

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he Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) announced it has prohibited the operations of two rural banks, sans citing factors that prompted the regulator’s move.

In an announcement over the weekend, the BSP said the monetary board closed down AMA Rural Bank of Mandaluyong Inc. (AMA Rural Bank) and Maximum Savings Bank Inc. (MSBI) from doing business in the Philippines, pursuant to Section 30 of Republic Act 7653 (the New Central Bank Act), as amended.

The BSP did not cite specific

T

HE primary means through which respondents have sought to improve these capabilities is through the use of advanced technologies, in particular, AI (artificial intelligence) and ML (machine learning). These technologies place an emphasis on generating forward-looking predictive and prescriptive insights rather than backward-looking descriptive ones.

In the future, finance organizations likely to be successful will harness data from multiple systems to create automated userfriendly dashboards and reports.

Rather than measuring past performance, they will likely rely upon a combination of both external and internal data sources to predict demand, highlight areas of opportunity and provide critical input on how their companies’ most important business decisions are expected to impact the future.

Mastering your data—the foundation is fundamental

A number of challenges, however, stand in the way of improving the quality of insights generated by the finance function. Foremost among them is issues with data quality. All too often, finance is presented with data sources that conflict with one another or are inconsistent in format. A lack of clear data standards combined with manual analysis processes leads to analysis and reporting that cannot be fully relied upon.

Survey respondents may underestimate the importance of having a strong data management governance structure, which ranks as

the least important challenge to improved D&A maturity among survey respondents. Though more immediate, tactical challenges may currently be top of mind, in order to help ensure ongoing success, it is critical to establish the foundation by having clear ownership and expertise in where data should be housed and how it should be analyzed.

Biggest barriers to improving D&A maturity

High-performing organizations have begun to master data quality issues and see it as much less of a challenge than others: while data accuracy and quality ranks as the top challenge for companies overall, for high-performing companies it falls near the bottom of the list.

While high performers still struggle with integrating new analytics tools with legacy systems, they have largely mastered the data “basics,” and have turned their attention to determining what business questions they should focus on answering, and how to best present and disseminate the results of their analysis.

Solving the D&A dilemma

PUT in the work to harmonize data sources. While ensuring data consistency across multiple systems can be a tedious, painstaking process, poor quality data can only lead to poor quality analysis.

Organizations need to put in the hard work to create a “single source of truth” that can be relied upon to generate meaningful insights.

details as to the main reason behind the closures. The regulator, nevertheless, said the closure of rural banks is part of an overall effort as it “continues to promote good governance among its supervised institutions to ensure the soundness of the banking system” and to “protect the interest of the banking public.”

MSBI has a network of three

branches with its main branch located in Batangas City, and the other branches located in Sabang and Calapan City, both in Oriental Mindoro.

AMA Rural Bank, meanwhile, has a network of 10 branches with its main branch located in Mandaluyong City. Its other branches are located in the following areas: Pasig City; Cainta and Morong, Rizal; Bacoor, Cavite; San Pablo and Calamba Cities in Laguna; Baliuag, Bulacan; San Fernando, Pampanga; and Baguio City.

The BSP also said AMA Rural Bank has related companies that are not under their regulatory concern.

Thus, it clarified that the BSP only took action on the bank, pursuant to its mandate under Section 30 of its Charter.

According to BSP’s statement, the closure of AMA Rural Bank and MSBI is not expected to adversely affect the Philippine banking system considering their relatively small size.

As of June 30, 2019, their total assets are equivalent to only 0.02 percent and 0.002 percent, respectively, of the total assets of the banking system.

“The overall Philippine banking system remains sound and stable with ample liquidity and high level of capitalization,” the BSP said.

The Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. is expected to service valid deposit claims from depositors of AMA Rural Bank and MSBI, as well as complete the processing of claims in accordance with the guidelines of the PDIC. Bianca Cuaresma

Q3 net income of Metrobank subsidiary up 20%

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HILIPPINE Savings Bank (PSBank), the thrift-bank arm of the Metrobank Group, continued to make strides as it registered P813 million in net income for the third quarter of 2019 alone, a 20.1-percent increase versus the same period last year. This translated to a year-to-date net income of P2.2 billion, up by 8.4 percent in the first nine months of 2019 versus 2018.

The bank’s strong financial results were supported by a 9.3-percent growth in its core revenues, composed of interest income and feebased income. Its earnings translated to an annualized return on assets of 1.2 percent.

PSBank’s loans and receivables rose by 6.4 percent year-on-year to P162.1 billion, from P152.4 billion fueled by its auto and mortgage loan offerings. Notwithstanding the growth of its loan portfolio, the bank was able to consistently manage asset quality with nonperforming loans ratio kept low at 2.7

Perspectives

The deal with data

Monday, November 11, 2019 B3

Photo shows the façade of the Philippine Savings Bank headquarters in Makati City. PSBank, the thrift-bank arm of the Metrobank Group, reported a 9.3-percent growth in its core revenues— composed of interest income and fee-based income—boosted its net income for the third quarter of the year to P813 million.

percent. Its total Capital Adequacy Ratio was at 17.4 percent while its Common Equity Tier 1 ratio (CET1)

was at 16.6 percent. Both are above the minimum required level set by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

On the funding side, low-cost deposits increased by 6.7-percent year-on-year to P56.9 billion from P53.3 billion, while total deposits went down by 8.4 percent at P181.1 billion from P197.7 billion the same period last year as the bank continues to rebalance its funding mix to focus on retail and alternative sources.

“The encouraging results we’ve reaped are underscored by a bankwide mind-set built on purposeful innovations, enhanced operational efficiencies, and firm decisions backed by data analytics and better understanding of our customers,” PSBank President Jose Vicente L. Alde said.

“As we enter the homestretch of 2019, we are even more motivated by these positive developments, and continue to be inspired by our achievements and recognitions.”

The bank currently has 250 branches and 559 ATMs nationwide.

It is the retail banking arm and a subsidiary of the Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co.

Peso seen to end at P51 vs greenback by year-end Start with the end state, then work backwards. Rather than resolving to adopt high-impact analytics technology and then determining where best to apply it, first ascertain what business questions the company most struggles to answer, then determine what data, technologies and other capabilities are required to solve them.

Create nontraditional KPIs to measure business performance.

More sophisticated analytical techniques facilitate the creation of more sophisticated performance measures. Measures, such as customer lifetime value and customer experience profitability are being used by exemplar organizations to uncover the true drivers of business performance.

Consider Centers of Excellence and other centralized resources to solve governance issues. Datafocused COEs can provide enterprise-wide expertise on how to source and integrate data, how to govern it, and the methods and technologies to analyze it. The Finance function is uniquely well positioned to create and manage such a COE. The excerpt was taken from the KPMG article “Future-Ready Survey 2019 Finance: Learn what high-performing organizations are doing differently.” © 2019 R.G. Manabat & Co., a Philippine partnership and a member-firm of the KPMG network of independent member-firms affiliated with KPMG International Cooperative, a Swiss entity. All rights reserved. Printed in the Philippines.

For more information on KPMG in the Philippines, you may visit www.kpmg.com.ph.

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HE local currency is looking to end 2019 at about P2.7 stronger than its level in 2018, a regional banking institution forecasts.

In a recent briefing in the Philippines, executives of the MUFG Bank Ltd. said it forecasts the local currency to end the year at P51 to a dollar.

Latest data from the Bankers Association of the Philippines showed that the peso is already on an appreciation trend, as the latest exchange rate hit P50.483 to the greenback.

This is more than a peso stronger than the P51.504 average in the previous month. The Philippines joins Japan, China, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand as the countries whose currencies are expected to perform better toward the end of the year.

For next year, however, MUFG says the peso will likely move toward a depreciation bias as it forecasts the local tender to gradually slide to P51.50 to a dollar in the first quarter of 2020; to end June at P52 to a dollar. This goes on to P52.5 by the end of the third quarter of next year.

MUFG, Japan’s largest bank, said that while the rest of the world and their respective currencies worry about global uncertainties, the Philippines’s business-process outsourcing receipts, as well as dollar inflow from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) serve as buffer for the peso and keep it afloat despite the country’s trade deficit.

Latest data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas showed cash remittances grew 4.6 percent in August

this year as OFWs sent $2.59 billion cash back home during the month.

The August inflow of remittances pushed the total cash sent

by OFWs to $19.81 billion in the first eight months of the year. This is 3.9-percent higher during the same January-to-August period, which was at $19.06 billion.

Just recently, the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) made its own assessment of the local currency, saying their medium-term outlook for the currency pair is still the same: the peso may continue to depreciate given the country’s growth story and current account deficit.

BPI sees the peso hitting P51.3 to a dollar by year’s end and P52.9 to a dollar by the end of 2020.

Bianca Cuaresma

Meet the other powerful woman to start at the ECB

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HE European Central Bank’s (ECB) next German policymaker will bring with her an extensive portfolio of research into how financial systems throughout history have coped with war, bubbles and hyperinflation.

Isabel Schnabel was formally nominated by euro-area finance ministers last week to fill the vacancy opened by Sabine Lautenschlaeger’s unexpected resignation. Perhaps mindful that three German board members in a row have quit early, the government eschewed the traditional recruiting grounds of the Bundesbank—and, in one case, politics—and went for an academic.

A glance at the University of Bonn professor’s research shows a taste for historical crises. It suggests that while she’s no anti-stimulus hardliner, she’ll have an acute eye on the risks of the ECB’s strategy of pumping huge volumes of liquidity into the economy in an attempt to revive inflation.

In one paper on 400 years of asset bubbles, she and Princeton University Professor Markus Brunnermeier concluded that they’re typically preceded by an expansionary monetary policy— no surprise there—but that “the severity of the economic crisis following the bursting of a bubble is less linked to the type of asset than to the financing of the bubble.”

Schnabel is “definitely not one of the hawks” but also “not as dovish as some people might think,” said Brunnermeier. He

described her as “balanced and more European.”

That paper in 2015 acknowledged that the strategy known as leaning against the wind—or trying to preempt bubbles by tightening policy early—can work but is also “fraught with difficulties.”

In a 2004 report written with Hyun Song Shin, Schnabel looked back to a 1763 financial crisis that swept northern Europe and saw parallels with more recent episodes. The pattern of interlocking credit relationships and high debt leverage prompted distressed sales of assets, and a severe liquidity crisis.

“Whilst the financial institutions have changed fundamentally in the intervening 200 or so years, the underlying problems appear to be universal,” they concluded. Schnabel is already an adviser to German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s administration and has done the same for the European Systemic Risk Board, which makes proposals to safeguard against systemic risk. Former ECB President Mario Draghi praised her as an excellent economist. Bloomberg News

B4 Monday, November 11, 2019

Tudor's Black Bay P01: A multi-purpose tool turned into a modern sports watch

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HE new Black Bay P01 is a modern interpretation of a mythical prototype that was developed for the US-Navy in the 1960’s. At that time, the US government specification for an issued-watch was given the official title “watch, wrist, submersible and navigation”. This specifically required a 12-hour graduated rotatable bezel, as such a bezel configuration is helpful when using a wristwatch as a navigation tool whilst still allowing for elapsed time to be monitored during a dive.

The Black Bay P01 retains this design element, incorporating it in a modern iteration that is not designed for one specific activity (i.e. diving), but rather embodying a multi-use sporting spirit.

The choice of the hybrid leather and rubber strap is a good example of this.

Not designed intrinsically for diving, it is perfectly suited for all physical activities and all climates - allowing the wearer the practicality of rubber against the skin and the aesthetically pleasing look of leather to the eye.

Waterproof to 200 meters, with a robust patented hinged end-link locking system for the rotatable bezel and high-performance cutting-edge manufacture calibre, the Black Bay P01 is not only about design, but also continues the long pioneering tradition that TUDOR built over more than 90 years of superior watchmaking.

Inex Active highlights women empowerment

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NEW line of workout gear, INEX ACTIVE, was launched on October 23 at the Mindful Movement Asia Pilates Studio in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig through an invigorating Pilates session headed by Mindful Movement Asia Pilates Studio General Manager Ken Colubio and Pilates coach Regina Del Rosario with INEX ACTIVE Founder and daughter of Senator Pia Cayetano, Maxine Sebastian and Managing Partner Juancho Palacios.

“INEX is short for inexorable which means unstoppable and relentless as we want the name itself to be empowering.

We wanted the logo to mean something, so we chose the wolf and the moon. The wolf symbolizes personal power and all that is INEXorable in every one of us; the moon is a symbol of female strength. They say when the moon is full, women are in their highest point energetically. So, we’re hoping that by wearing INEX, women will be able to bring that feeling with them,” – according to Maxine Sebastian.

The event was also graced by notable personalities like Sen. Pia Cayetano, beauty

queen-turned image consultant Abbygale Arenas-De Leon, Ms. Earth 2015 Angela Ong, model TV-host Kelly Misa to name a few; and they had the privilege to try and enjoy the newest INEX activewear styles.

The seamless structure of INEX ACTIVE sportswear is mainly made up of nylon which is soft as silk. It is also breathable, durable and odor-inhibiting in which it wicks sweat from your skin to fabric’s surface where it can evaporate. They are available in the sweetest pastels to the most energizing neons.

Another core values INEX ACTIVE want to share to their customers is “It’s Cool 2 Care”. They are committed to slowly but surely shifting to a more sustainable business model starting with their packaging options in which their customer can choose between their reusable pouches and their 100% compostable packaging.

INEX activewear is available online at inexactive.com. You can also follow them on their Instagram and facebook account at @ inexactive to keep up to date!

IABC Philippines promotes truth, trust and the public servant in year-end GMM

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URING the recently concluded 2019 YearEnd General Membership Meeting of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) Philippines, held at the Palm Grove, Rockwell Club, the organization welcomed Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso to discuss the topic of “Trust and the Public Servant.”

During the meeting, EON Group also presented the latest data on the Philippine Trust Index, which looks into levels and drivers of trust among Filipinos on six institutions – the Government, the Business Sector, the Media, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), the Church and the Academe.

IABC is a global network of communication professionals committed to improving organizational effectiveness through strategic communication.

IABC Philippines is the first country chapter outside of North America, since 1983. Advocating for professional growth, learning and communications excellence, IABC Philippines supports the highest professional standards and practice of exceptional quality and innovation in organization and business communication.

In the photo, from left: IABC Chairman Joe Zaldarriaga, IABC President Belle Tiongco, Hon. Francisco Domogoso, and IABC Adviser Ritzi VillaricoRonquillo.

6th Cardinal Sin Teacher-Healer Awards honors outstanding physicians

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STABLISHED in 1993, the Cardinal Sin Teacher-Healer Awards Night continues to recognize those that have greatly contributed in training CSMC residents and fellows as well as given exceptional care to patients who entrust their lives to the hospital. These individuals strengthen the hospital’s servant leadership and sustain its brand as an exceptional institution that tirelessly stands proudly today. Last October 30, 2019, doctors from different fields gathered in the 6th Cardinal Sin Teacher-Healer Awards Night at the Crowne Plaza in their best formal attires.

The night highlighted the awardees’ accomplishment, milestones and contributions to Cardinal Santos Medical Center. The first awardee of the night was Dr. Mary N. Chua who was a hemo-oncologist during her prime. Despite her present condition, she didn’t lose her vigor and went on to remind those present to be grateful to the people who support them and especially to the Lord who blessed them with amazing minds.

The second awardee was Dr. Cecil Z. Tady who is a passionate pulmonologist who never stopped learning and continues to inspire more doctors to

be compassionate and more faithful to their vows.

“A doctor is a teacher. A teacher is first a learner.

Doctors learn from other experts but they also learn from their patients. Better listen and learn.

Our clients are our best teachers too. Their honest feedbacks teach us to be better healers,” Cardinal Tagle remarked.

His Eminence Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle, D.D. (second from left) joined the CSMC officers and the awardees, from left: Dr. Zenaida M. Javier- Uy, SVP & Chief Medical Officer; Dr. Cezil Z. Tady; Dr. Mary N. Chua; Atty. Pilar Nenuca P. Almira, President & CEO; Augusto P. Palisoc Jr., President & Director, Metro Pacific Hospital Holdings Inc.)

PINC Congress 2019 to educate, enlighten Filipino youth on relevant issues

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N today’s era, or any period for that matter, it is important for one to stay well aware and fully informed of the issues that are of utmost relevance. HIV is a serious health concern that attacks an individual’s immune system, compromising and destroys it thus paving the way for more and dreadful health conditions such as tuberculosis or AIDS. According to the Department of Health, the Philippine nation “has become the country with the fastest-growing HIV epidemic in Asia and the Pacific.” But even with its apparent significance, this issue still incites fear and stigma in Filipino culture and society.

The records of the National Statistics Office shows that Mental Health illness is rampant among the youth and is rated as the 3rd most common form of disability in the Philippines.

With this and the countless issues affecting our young people today, it is high time to address these issues and open their eyes on the realities that are happening around the globe. The PINC Congress 2019 aims to do just that.

PINC, which stands for “People, Ideas, Nature, Creativity”, is an event organized by Junior Chamber International (JCI) Makati and spearheaded by JCI Executive Vice President Lawrence Li Tan that will host a myriad of speakers hailing from different backgrounds in order to inform its audience about subjects that are relevant in today’s Philippine social climate.

PINC is a conference that will emulate a format most seen in recent trends that aim to broaden minds and inspire all attendees. This gathering will be hosted at the Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay City, Metro Manila on the 18th of November from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and will be participated by at least five thousand (5000) students from all over the Metro.

The topics that will be discussed will prove to be mighty awakening and hugely educational and practical such as financial literacy, mental health, and environmental efforts, gender equality, drug and HIV awareness. All of these subjects will be conducted by fully competent and learned speakers that will help attendees comprehend and appreciate said matters at hand namely: Kim Henares, former commissioner for the Bureau of Internal Revenue; Robert Joseph Lim, president of Tourism Educators and Movers; Congressman Joey Salceda of the second district of Albay; Congresswoman Geraldine Roman of the first district of Bataan; Renan Morales, Ambassador of Goodwill United Defenders for Democracy and Sovereignty; and Ico Rodulfo Johnson, President and CEO of Project Red Ribbon respectively.

This event is spearheaded by the non-profit organization JCI Makati, in partnership with the National Youth Commission, the City of Pasay, and Arellano University.

NIKE ON HOT SEAT

Sports BusinessMirror

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| Monday, November 11, 2019 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

By William J. Kole

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Salazar, who has denied any involvement in doping, issued a statement to The Associated Press on Saturday saying: “I never encouraged her, or worse yet, shamed her, to maintain an unhealthy weight.

Not only did I never do such a thing, I would not tolerate anyone else on my team doing any such a thing.”

Nike said in a statement these are “deeply troubling allegations which have not been raised by Mary or her parents before. Mary was seeking to rejoin the Oregon Project and Alberto’s team as recently as April of this year and had not raised these concerns as part of that process.”

The sportswear giant added it will “take the allegations extremely seriously and will launch an immediate investigation to hear from former Oregon Project athletes.”

They’re already talking.

Four-time Olympian Shalane Flanagan, who retired from competitive running last month to become a coach with the Nike Bowerman Track Club, tweeted to Cain that “I had no idea it was this bad.” Flanagan, the 2017 New York City Marathon champion, is a longtime Nike runner but was never part of the Oregon Project.

The Associated Press

RACK and field is facing a painful and public reckoning with the treatment of some female athletes. Former teen running star Mary Cain’s account this week of alleged physical and emotional abuse at the recently disbanded Nike Oregon Project is prompting more top athletes to come forward.

Amy Yoder Begley, a 10,000-meter runner, said Friday she was told she had the “biggest butt on the starting line.” Kara Goucher’s husband said the Olympian endured “disgusting” comments from coaches.

Cain said the all-male staff told her the way to get faster was to get thinner and thinner.

Nike says it’s investigating, but the cascade of allegations that have followed Oregon Project Director Alberto Salazar’s four-year doping ban have called new attention to the emphasis on weight restrictions and emotional abuse.

“It’s depressing, but I’m also encouraged that this message is getting out,” Dr. Kathryn Ackerman, medical director of the female athlete program at Boston Children’s Hospital, said Saturday. “A lot of these athletes have been really shy to share their stories.”

Questions about Salazar’s methods with his top US runners had swirled for years before the US Anti-Doping Agency found him guilty last month of conducting experiments with supplements and testosterone that were bankrolled and supported by Nike.

But Cain’s plaintive story of harassment and abuse while she was part of Salazar’s training group, which she joined as a 17-yearold phenomenon in 2013, has emboldened other former Oregon Project athletes to share their stories.

In a New York Times video essay, Cain, now 23, says: “I was emotionally and physically abused by a system designed by Alberto and endorsed by Nike.”

Cain said she was harangued by the staff, which had no certified nutritionist or certified sports psychologist, to lose weight and was publicly humiliated when she didn’t hit targets. She said she stopped having her period for three years and lost so much bone density she broke five bones. She said she started cutting herself and having suicidal thoughts before leaving the program in 2016.

“I’m so sorry...that I never reached out to you when I saw you struggling. I made excuses to myself as to why I should mind my own business. We let you down. I will never turn my head again,” Flanagan tweeted.

Yoder Begley, who now coaches the Atlanta Track Club, said she was kicked out of Salazar’s group after placing sixth in the 10,000 meters at the 2011 national championships.

“I was told I was too fat and ‘had the biggest butt on the starting line.’ This brings those painful memories back,” the 2008 Olympian said.

Goucher, a former Oregon Project runner who helped provide evidence for Usada’s case against Salazar, said on Twitter “the culture was unbearable.”

Her husband, Adam Goucher, who also ran for the group, tweeted that after she placed fifth in the 2011 Boston Marathon in a personal best of two hours, 24 minutes—one of the fastest times for an American woman that year, and six months after having a child—Salazar and a sports psychologist told her mother and sister she needed to lose her baby weight if she wanted to be fast again.

Adam Goucher said his own weight was an issue while he trained under Salazar.

“Maybe now some of you can see why I had so much anger when we left,” he wrote.

Ackerman, the Boston sports medicine specialist, is calling on Nike to fund research into healthy and medically sound training in the same way the NFL has started pouring money into concussion studies.

“There are so many great opportunities for Nike to be a leader in this,” she said.

MARY CAIN: “I was emotionally and physically abused by a system designed by Alberto Salazar and endorsed by Nike.” AP

Judge grants US women’s soccer team class status in discrimination lawsuit T he US women’s national team has been granted class status in its lawsuit against US Soccer that alleges gender discrimination in compensation and working conditions.

US District Court Judge R. Gary Klausner’s ruling Friday in Los Angeles expands the case beyond the 28 players who originally brought the lawsuit to include all players who had been called up to camp or played in a game over a multiyear period. US Soccer had opposed the move to certify the class.

Twenty-eight players, including stars Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe, were part of the original suit filed against US Soccer in March alleging institutionalized gender discrimination that includes inequitable compensation between the men’s and women’s teams. A May 5 trial date has been set in US District Court in Los Angeles.

The federation has maintained that compensation for each team is the result of separate collective bargaining agreements, and that the pay structures are different as a result. Men’s team players are paid largely by appearance and performance, while the contract for the women’s team includes provisions for health care and other benefits, as well as salaries in the National Women’s Soccer League.

The players disputed US Soccer’s claims that some of them made more than their male counterparts, maintaining that if men had been as successful as the women’s team, they would have earned far more. The US women won back-to-back World Cup titles in 2015 and 2019. The men failed to make the field for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Klausner did not rule on the merits of the lawsuit but acknowledged the players’ claims that they were paid less on a per-game basis than the men and did not enjoy the same working conditions.

“The failure to provide the [women’s national team] with equal working conditions is a real [not abstract] injury which affects each plaintiff in a personal and individual way,” the judge ruled.

“Plaintiffs also have offered sufficient proof of this injury. Indeed, Plaintiffs have submitted declarations establishing that WNT players were subject to discriminatory working conditions.”

Molly Levinson, who speaks for the players in matters of the lawsuit, applauded the ruling.

“This is a historic step forward in the struggle to achieve equal pay. We are so pleased that the Court has recognized USSF’s ongoing discrimination against women players—rejecting USSF’s tired arguments that women must work twice as hard and accept lesser working conditions to get paid the same as men. We are calling on [US Soccer President] Carlos Cordeiro to lead USSF and demand an end to the unlawful

THE US’s Carli Lloyd (from left), Emily Sonnett and Rose Lavelle celebrate Lloyd’s second goal against Sweden during the first half of their international friendly in Columbus, Ohio, Thursday, recently. AP

discrimination against women now,” Levinson said.

US Soccer had “no specific comment” on the ruling.

However, Cordeiro said at the press conference on October 28 in New York to introduce the new US women’s soccer coach that “the federation has always been committed to paying our players, our senior nation team players—both our women and our men—fairly and equitably, regardless of gender.”

He added he was disappointed the mediation efforts in August weren’t successful.

“Notwithstanding that, I’d say we’re still very committed to resolving this and in a fair way,” Cordeiro said. “But I think at the end of the day that requires compromise.”

ENGLISH WOMEN POPULAR, BUT....

FROM a record-breaking night at Wembley, England will only want to remember one set of numbers.

The “77,768” flashing on the big screens during the second half of Saturday’s game in London against Germany confirmed the biggest-ever crowd either of these teams have played in front of.

“It’s unbelievable,” England striker Ellen White said after her side’s 2-1 defeat. “The support, the noise, the atmosphere. We are really sorry we couldn’t get the result.”

For this was an unforgiving spotlight for the hosts, playing only their

second game at the national stadium that is usually the preserve of male footballers.

Klara Buhl’s stoppage-time winner for Germany handed England a fifth loss in seven games, starting with the World Cup semifinal defeat against the US in July.

“I’ve got to take responsibility for those results,” England Manager Phil Neville said. “I’m the one that picks the team. I’m the one that sets the tactics. I train them, I talk to them, I communicate with them.

“So ultimately the buck has got to start with me and finish with me because the team always reflects the manager. At this moment in time the results aren’t good enough which means that I’m not good enough.”

It was a rare self-critical moment from the former Manchester United and England player, who is coming to the end of the second year of his first job in the women’s game.

“You don’t play into the trap,” Neville said, “and we played into their trap, and they smelt blood.”

On the field following the game, White addressed the fans after becoming the first woman to score for England at Wembley—five years after the team’s debut at the stadium ended in a 3-0 loss to Germany in front of around 45,000 spectators.

“I’m really sorry we couldn’t get the result,” she said.

White did turn things around for England just

before halftime, canceling out Alexandra Popp’s ninthminute header with a clipped finish from close range.

But just when the Lionesses were preparing to celebrate a draw against the world’s second-ranked team, Buhl struck.

The only comfort for the English was the evidence of the growing appeal of women’s football.

“This is what the women’s game has needed,” said England forward Nikita Parris, who had a first-half penalty saved before White’s equalizer. “We have earned the right to be playing in front of 77,000 people at Wembley because ultimately we have put hours and hours of graft and finally women’s football is on the map.”

Wembley was a sell-out with 86,619 tickets issued, but a day of rain likely contributed to around 10 percent of fans not turning up in north London.

But the English attracted what appears to be the biggest-ever crowd for a women’s friendly, anywhere.

The previous best-attended women’s game was in 1999 when more than 90,000 watched the US beat China in the World Cup final at the Rose Bowl in California.

The next biggest crowd came at Wembley in the 2012 London Olympics when just over 80,000 saw the US defeat Japan.

The increased interest in the Lionesses is highlighted by the fact Wembley has added around 30,000 fans to the crowd that saw England lose to Germany at the stadium five years ago.

England’s Ellen White (left) rejoices with her teammates after scoring her side’s first goal also in a friendly soccer match against Germany, at Wembley Stadium in London on Saturday. AP

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Forest Hills regains WGAP Cup crown

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oiled in its title-retention drive in the WGAP Circuit, Forest Hills stamped its class to recapture the Women’s Golf Association of the Philippines (WGAP) Cup crown in wire-to-wire fashion, beating Sta. Elena and Tagaytay Highlands by two in the grueling course-hopping finale of the WGAP season recently.

The Antipolo-based squad topped the first of the three-part WGAP Cup, which featured the top 5 teams after the WGAP Circuit, at Valley Golf’s South Course under the High-Low format among Classes A and B players then sustained its charge in the next stage at the Ayala Greenfield where play shifted to Best Ball

among Classes B and C players.

Forest Hills, led by team captain Tess Staub, pooled 5.5 points after two legs of the event sponsored by Champion and Hana, just one point ahead of Villamor and Fernando Air Base (4.5 points each) with this year’s WGAP Circuit titlist Sta. Elena at fourth with three points and defending WGAP Cup champion Tagaytay Highlands trailing the elite cast with 2.5 points.

They held sway in the closing Greensome format for Classes A and C players at Eastridge Golf

Club, scoring 2.5 points for the winning eight-point output as rivals Villamor struggled with one point and Fernando Air Base dropped all its matches in the Ryder Cup-style format event organized and conducted by WGAP. Sta. Elena and Tagaytay Highlands/Midlands rallied in the final leg and scored 3.5 points and three points, respectively, as they finished tied for second with six points with Villamor ending up fourth with 5.5 points and Fernando Air Base winding up with 4.5 points.

draw the best again from his fired-up crew which upstaged its fancied rivals at John Hay last year, led by veterans Jobim Carlos, Justin Quiban, James Ryan Lam, Michael Bibat, Mars Pucay, Joenard Rates and Gerald Rosales, rising stars Ira Alido and Keanu Jahns along wit Jun Bernis, Fidel Concepcion and Eric Gallardo.

“We have a great mix of veterans and a new generation. We might have an advantage with our length off the tee at Sta. Elena but then again it will be pretty tight as South is loaded with talents as always,” La’O said. “But for sure, it’ll be an exciting week.”

It should be.

Team South, for one, is itching to reassert its mastery over the North side, which it dominated in

the third and fourth editions of the event put up by the International Container Terminal Services Inc. and organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments Inc. in 2012, as a side event to the then fledgling local circuit and now a biennial affair among the top players in the Philippine Golf Tour Order of Merit ranking after each season.

Like La’O, South Coach Charles Hong believes his side has the tools to get back at North and reclaim the crown with Clyde Mondilla, Tony Lascuña and Jhonnel Ababa to anchor their title drive along with Jerson Balasabas, Jay Bayron, Elmer Salvador, Albin Engino, Pueblo de Oro leg champion Reymon Jaraula, Zanieboy Gialon, Arnold Villacencio, Nilo Salahog and Rene Menor.

The fielding of pairings will be crucial for both

coaches with each side wanting to cash in on whatever edge one pairing would have against the other, thus guaranteeing an unpredictable clash of power and wits in the three-day event held for the first time at the posh Sta. Elena layout.

Play will be the four-ball (better ball) and foursomes (alternate shot) in the first two days with the deciding singles set in the final day on Friday, 12 matches tipped to go all the way down to the last pairing.

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anged against a team boasting of some of the country’s top guns, Team North brims with confidence heading to its sixth face-off with its South counterpart next week, wary but upbeat of its chances for a repeat in The DuelNorth versus South unfolding on Wednesday at Sta. Elena Golf Club.

The Northerners rode on a big start in team play in the first two days of last year’s edition of the country’s version of the Ryder Cup then held sway in the singles to pound out a three-point win, pulling the team on track for a crack at levelling up their series at three wins apiece.

“I’m confident about our chances this year,” said North Coach Cookie La’O, who hopes to

Justin Quiban and his teammates at the North squad seeks to level the series with their rivals from the South team.

Koreans sweep Riviera MVPSF crowns

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im Tae-Soo wrested control early then survived a late mishap to salvage a 72 and edge Jet Hernandez by one for the men’s crown, while Kim Seo-yun ran away with women’s diadem with a fiery 69 as the South Koreans dominated the Riviera MVP Sports Foundation (MVPSF) Amateur Championship at Riviera’s Langer course on Sunday in Silang, Cavite.

Soo, who rallied from as many as eight strokes down and grabbed the lead just after nine holes in the second round only to yield it with a backside meltdown Saturday, hung tough this time, building a three-shot cushion after 11 holes and bucking a double-bogey miscue on the par-three 17th to clinch the crown by one.

The Korean’s closing 34-38 card gave him a 54-hole total of 225, a stroke ahead of erstwhile leader Hernandez, who failed to match Soo’s strong start and dropped off the leaderboard with a 37. He also failed to cash in on his rival’s late miscue as he fumbled with a bogey on the 17th, ending up with a 74 and a 226 in the event organized and conducted by the National Golf Association of the Philippines (NGAP).

Josh Jorge, on the other hand, ran out of holes in his backside charge of 35, finishing with a 74 for third at 227, while 30th Southeast Asian Games-bound Sean Ramos, likewise, lost in his attempt to duplicate his come-from-behind win at the Northern Luzon Regional at Luisita two weeks ago, limping with a 77. He settled for fourth at 231 with recent Cangolf Am Open winner Dan Cruz and Paolo Barro finishing tied at fifth at 232 after a 75 and 76, respectively, in the tournament sponsored by the MVPSF and backed by PLDT Group, Cignal and Metro Pacific Investments.

Bracing for a final round shootout with Junia Gabasa and Rianne Malixi, who shared five titles in this year’s NGAP’s calendar of events, Yun pulled away by three with a frontside 36 and completely dominated her rivals with a sizzling 33 for a 69.

She pooled a 215 and beat Gabasa by nine as the Cebuana shotmaker groped for a 76 and a 224. Malixi, who dethroned Yun in the Northern Luzon Regional for her third title this year, also wound up with a five-over 76 for third at 225.

Laurea Duque and Korean Bang Hee-yeon shared fourth place at 233 after a 77 and 79, respectively.

Sharing top honors were Erik Escalona, who captured the Mid-Amateur plum with a gross 143 after a 75, eight strokes ahead of Takuya Kawamura, who shot a 77 for a 151; Demy Saclot, who closed out with 74 to snare the Seniors crown at 156, beating Ju Sung-hwan (84-161) by five; and Shinichi Suzuki, who topped the Special Division (12-and-below) by nipping Santino Pineda in a playoff after both finished with 158 after 78 and 83, respectively.

2 Cebu teams lead Visayas regionals

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wo Cebu teams and one each from the cities of Roxas and Bacolod will clash for the championship of the Small Basketeers Philippines and Passerelle divisions at the Visayas Regional Finals of the 34th SBP-Passerelle Twin Tournament backed by Milo at the Pototan Astrodome in Pototan, Iloilo.

In the SBP division, defending champion University of the Visayas (UV) of Cebu overcame Colegio de la Purisima Concepcion of Roxas, 42-32, then trounced Hua Siong College of Iloilo, 53-22 to go 2-0.

Saint John’s Institute of Bacolod earned the other berth in the championship game after nipping Purisima, 57-56, and outlasting Hua Siong College of Iloilo, 50-47, to tie UV at the top of the standings.

In the Passerelle division, Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu scored a tough 59-55 win over Saint Robert’s International Academy of Iloilo before eliminating University of Saint La Salle of Bacolod, 66-53.

Roxas champion Hercor College earned a berth in the championship for the first time in history after scoring wins over Saint Robert’s International Academy of Iloilo, 68-57, and University of Saint La Salle of Bacolod, 62-46.

The weekend tournament was graced by Pototan Mayor Adi Lazaro and Provincial Board Member Matt Palabrica. The champions from the regional finals that is also supported by Rain or Shine, Chris Sports and SKLZ, will qualify for the national finals that will be held in Roxas City, on November 23 and 24.

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Monday, November 11, 2019

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U.S.T. FORCES K.O. DUEL

By Ramon Rafael Bonilla

House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano (second from left) and Senior Vice President for External Affairs, Business Development and Security of Phoenix Petroleum Atty. Raymond Zorrilla (third from left) shake hands after signing a platinum sponsorship agreement as witnessed by Phisgoc Chief Operating Officer Ramon Suzara (left) and Phoenix Pulse Fuel Masters Team Manager Paolo Bugia during a press event at the Clark Freeport Zone in Pampanga.

PHOENIX SUPPORTS SEAG T

HE Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee (Phisgoc) drew the support of Phoenix Petroleum as the official fuel and convenience store of the 30th edition of the multisport competition the country is hosting from November 30 to December 11.

House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano, also the Phisgoc chairman and Atty. Raymond Zorrilla, Phoenix Petroleum senior vice president for external affairs, business development and security, sealed the agreement during an official signing ceremony at the Clark Freeport Zone recently in Pampanga.

Also present as witnesses during the signing ceremony were Phisgoc Chief Operating Officer

Ramon Suzara and Phoenix Pulse Fuel Masters Team Manager Paolo Bugia.

“We at Phoenix value the importance of sports, and how it can change lives for the better. It is especially true for many of us Filipinos,” Zorrilla said. “Hosting the SEA Games here in the Philippines is both a great honor and a challenge, hence, we decided to come on-board and give assistance.”

Cayetano expressed his gratitude to Phoenix.

“Thank you very much for your investment in the Filipino people,” he said. “With 56 events, this promises to be the most viewed and biggest SEA Games and it is not an easy thing to do.”

San Beda’s Oftana named MVP

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AN Beda University sent three players to the Mythical Selection with 6-foot-5 swingman Calvin Oftana hoisting the Most Valuable Player (MVP) trophy in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Season 95 seniors’ basketball tournament.

Oftana emerged as the season’s best individual performer with a 51.56 player’s average value (PAV) built around norms of 15.6 points, 8.2 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.2 blocks.

But Red Lions star forward stressed that winning their fourth straight championship matters most over the MVP title.

“The MVP award is a bonus. Winning the championship is more important for us,”

Oftana told the BusinessMirror.

San Beda goes for its fourth straight title against Letran in a best-of-three Finals starting with Game One set at 4 p.m. on Tuesday at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.

Oftana’s teamate, Evan Nelle—arguably the season’s top ball handler—landed at No. 2 with 45.39 PAV. He averaged 10.2 points, 6.7 assists that leads the league, along with 4.5 boards and 1.6 steals.

James Canlas made it 1-2-3 for San Beda with his 45.33 PAV after posting an average of 14.1 points, 5.6 boards and 2.8 assists during the season.

Completing the Mythical Five are San Sebastian’s Allyn Bulanadi (45.28 PAV on 20.3

UNIVERSITY of the Philippines’s Bright Akhuetie tries to score against University of Santo Tomas’s Dave Ando. NONOY LACZA

Perez emerges as month’s best

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J PEREZ has brought along his impressive showing in the last Fiba World Cup to the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Governors Cup. Last year’s No. 1 overall pick is again at the helm of the Columbian Dyip’s intense playoffs bid in the hope of finishing his first season in the points, five boards. 2.3 assists and 1.3 steals) and Lyceum of the Philippines University’s Jaycee Marcelino (43.94 PAV on 18.2 points, 5.2 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.4 steals).

In the final year of imports, San Beda’s Donald Tankoua was hailed as the league’s Best Foreign Player with 45.28 PAV, while Lyceum’s Mike Nzuesseu bagged the Most Defensive plum with 9.7 rebounds and 0.9 blocks.

Arellano University’s Justine Arana was named Rookie of the Year with 35.50 PAV on 13.4 points, 7.8 boards, 2.8 blocks and 1.4 assists.

Letran’s Fran Yu was the Most Improved Player with 9.4 points, 3.8 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.6 steals. Ryniel Berlanga

GALANZA’S STAR SPARKLES IN PVL

JEMA GALANZA runs away with the top individual award.

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REAMLINE’S historic title run in the Premier Volleyball League (PVL) Open Conference showed spiker Alyssa Valdez and setter Jia Morado remain as the backbone of the Cool Smashers’ campaign.

But Jema Galanza’s emergence as a go-to girl should make the team fiercer and tougher when the league’s next season is unveiled.

Not only did the former Adamson University standout share the Best Open spiker honors with Petro Gazz counterpart Jovie Prado but she also came away with the conference’s most coveted award—the MVP trophy.

When Valdez went down with injury and had to honor her commitment—along with Morado—with the national team, the Cool Smashers hardly felt their absence as Galanza— with Michele Gumabao, Risa Sato, Kyle Negrito, Kyla Atienza, and the rest—stepped up, leading to that first-ever sweep of a conference in the league organized by Sports Vision.

“For me, it feels so good since all our hard work, sacrifices bore fruit,” said Galanza, who normed 14.12 points in the elims as the Cool

Smashers’ leading scorer. She had 36.43-percent success rate in attacks, landed a norm on 0.37 aces per set, averaged 3.10 digs per set and the top non-libero player in excellent receptions with 47.22-percent efficiency rate.

Posting a 20-match sweep of a conference is indeed one for the books. And Galanza personified efficiency, Finals MVP and best setter Morado showed consistency, and top libero Atienza, the most recognizable but oftentimes overlooked player in the court, proved as worthy as the rest with her spectacular saves, digs and all.

Put in Valdez and Gumabao, whose unquestioned leadership, not to mention power and experience, is second to none and with Sato, Celine Domingo, Pau Soriano, Fille CaingletCayetano, Rosemarie Vargas, Heather Guino-o and Melissa Gohing providing solid backup on and off the court, the crowd favorites could indeed be on their way to reign for a long time.

For Morado, emerging as best setter and Finals MVP did surprise her but the former Ateneo star won’t trade the thrill of clutching a championship trophy with her teammates than

basking in personal glory.

“I’m thankful to my teammates—without them, I wouldn’t be able to perform well. For me, to win a championship is not an individual effort—it’s a team effort,” said Morado, whose fifth Best Setter award only validated her claim as one of the country’s best playmakers. She produced 21 excellent sets in their 25-23, 25-23, 25-18 win against the PetroGazz Angels in Game One and put up a 24-set, four-point game in their title-clinching 29-27, 25-22, 27-25 win Saturday, thus netting her the Finals MVP honors.

Behind their historic, if magical run is an animated Thai coach, who would run back and forth pumping the air with full-fisted glee on every hit or save made and whose “Happy, Happy” chants are, perhaps, the only words one could comprehend during breaks.

But what makes Tai Bundit a gem of a mentor and what separates him from the rest is his ability to produce results after results—three championships in the last four conferences. He has also turned average players into superstars with his peculiar style of coaching and motivational skills.

league with a bang.

Perez is churning out numbers of 23.6 points, 7.9 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 2.4 steals in seven games last October, when Columbian tallied a 3-4 record and be in a strong contention of clinching a berth in the quarterfinals.

His work on both ends of the floor had the

niversity of Santo Tomas (UST) built enough cushion to fend off a late University of the Philippines (UP) rally to post an 89-69 win and force sudden death in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines Season 82 men’s basketball semifinals on Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

In front of a crowd of 17,772, the Growling Tigers showed their fangs right from the get-go, then shut the door on the rallying Fighting Maroons in the fourth quarter to arrange a door-die Game Two in their semifinal encounter.

Most Valuable Player Soulemane Chabi Yo had another monstrous performance of 17 points and 15 rebounds, while Rhenz Abando, Rookie of the Year Mark Nonoy and Sherwin Concepcion all had key contributions in UST’s huge victory.

“It’s all about execution both on offense and defense. We executed our game plan and all the instructions were followed by the players,” said Growling Tigers Coach Aldin Ayo, whose wards forced their foes to commit 22 turnovers.

“Every possession, we’re going to work hard

U

for it. We make sure to be at the right place at every situation,” Ayo added.

Abando also scored 17 points and added seven rebounds, and Nonoy chipped in 16 points, four boards and four assists. Concepcion hit four triples for 12 points.

From a 7-7 deadlock in the first quarter, UST roared with an 11-0 run capped by Nonoy’s charities that made it 18-7 with less than two minutes left in the period.

The España-based squad claimed the momentum until the fourth quarter but was met with resistance as UP’s Kobe Paras pulled the team to within nine, 63-72, with 3:12 remaining.

Fortunately, Concepcion and Nonoy drilled a 3-pointer each in the following possessions to dash all hopes by the Fighting Maroons to come back.

Nonoy’s triple extended the lead to a high of 85-65 with 50.6 seconds left.

Juan Gomez de Liano finished with a gamehigh 20 points off the bench for UP, while Bright Akhuetie added 19 points and nine rebounds.

Ricci Rivero tallied 12 points, while Paras struggled all game-long with nine points on a four-of-13 shooting from the field.

The sudden death match is set on Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena. The winner will advance against defending champion Ateneo in the Finals.

25-year-old guard unanimously earning the PBA Press Corps Rookie of the Month honor.

Perez, who was a revelation for Gilas Pilipinas during the World Cup in China last August, beat out Robert Bolick of NorthPort and Bobby Ray Parks of Blackwater (later traded to TnT Katropa) for the monthly citation.

This is the third Rookie of the Month honor for Perez since the Press Corps began handing out the award at the start of the season. Perez

was also cited with the same honor in January and March.

Until he went down with a partial ACL tear that ended a stirring season, Bolick, the No. 3 overall pick in 2018, averaged 12.6 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 6.6 assists in five games with the Batang Pier, who went 2-3 during that stretch.

Parks meanwhile, posted 16.3 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 3.3 assists as the Elite registered a 2-5 record in that span.

B

By Ciarán Fahey

The Associated Press

ERLIN—German soccer fans tore down an artificial “Berlin Wall” erected across the middle of the field at Hertha Berlin’s Olympiastadion before the Bundesliga game against Leipzig on Saturday.

Leipzig won 4-2 to put a dampener on Hertha’s celebration of the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, and Union Berlin made things worse by overtaking its city rival with a 3-2 win at Mainz.

Elsewhere, Robert Lewandowski scored twice to help Bayern Munich return to form with a 4-0 rout of Borussia Dortmund.

Hertha had asked the German soccer league for a home game to mark the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989. The club turned back the clock with a retro scoreboard and by wearing retro white jerseys with a Berlin bear on the front, based on the shirts the team wore in its first game two days after ‘Mauerfall’ in 1989.

Hertha marked the occasion by erecting one symbolic Berlin Wall in the middle of the pitch and another on the running track.

Hertha supporters waved blue and white flags behind a choreography of the Brandenburg Gate as an iconic East German Trabant car burst through the wall in front of its fans at the eastern end of the stadium.

The Trabant’s revving gave way to David Bowie singing “we can be heroes” as the walls were dismantled in time for the game.

Two goals from Timo Werner and one each from Marcel Sabitzer and Kevin Kampl dealt Hertha its third successive loss as it dropped to 12th in the table.

Union moved two points above in 11th after Sebastian Andersson scored twice in Mainz.

“We actually played a good game. Leipzig didn’t have more chances than we did,” said Hertha’s Karim Rekik. “Of course, the situation won’t get any easier for us after three defeats in a row. It’s important we stay calm and come out of this phase.”

It was Hertha’s first game since it announced Friday that former Germany and the United States Coach Jürgen Klinsmann had joined the club’s supervisory board, and that investment firm Tennor had increased its holding to 49.9 percent for €99 million ($109 million).

Tennor, which is headed by investor Lars Windhorst, paid €125 million for a 37.5-percent stake in June.

In Munich, Bayern thrashed Dortmund in its first league game since firing Niko Kovac as coach on Sunday.

Kovac departed a day after the team slumped to a 5-1 loss at Eintracht Frankfurt, the club’s heaviest Bundesliga defeat for more than 10 years.

But Bayern are now looking a side reborn under interim Coach Hansi Flick.

Schalke also drew with Fortuna Duesseldorf, 3-3, while Paderborn lost 1-0 at home to Augsburg.

‘BERLIN WALL’ FALLS IN BUNDESLIGA FUEL Sports BusinessMirror

C4

| Monday, November 11, 2019 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

Fans tear down a symbolic wall on the 30th anniversary of the fall of the “Berlin Wall” before the Bundesliga match between Hertha BSC Berlin and RB Leipzig in Berlin, as Desio players gather in the locker room with their faces painted with black marks as a symbolic sign against racism prior to a youth team match between Desio and Sovicese at the municipal stadium in Desio in Milan, Italy, on Saturday. AP

IT’S a tough one for Conor McGregor. AP

NO TO RACISM!

IN Desio, Italy, players in a youth team match in Italy had black stripes painted on their faces in support of a young player who was racially abused last weekend.

The initiative in the under-17 league match between Aurora Desio and Sovicese was in response to a 10-year-old Desio player allegedly being racially abused by the mother of an opponent in a junior match between the two teams.

The players also had the message “the only race I know is the human one” on their shirts during Saturday’s match, while there were special armbands for the captains and the slogan “VAR—Vietato ai Razzisti” (forbidden to racists).

The match was played in Desio, about 15 kilometers north of Milan.

The black youngster continued playing after hearing the alleged slur last Saturday, but reported the incident to his coach and parents after the match.

CELTICS WIN, BUT LOSE HAYWARD TO INJURY S

AN ANTONIO—In the midst of Boston’s most dominant performance of the season, Celtics point guard Kemba Walker could only muster anger and confusion after learning Gordon Hayward broke his left hand.

Jaylen Brown scored 30 points and Boston routed the San Antonio Spurs, 135-115, on Saturday in a victory tempered by the loss of Hayward, who will miss at least a month and could face surgery after breaking his left hand late in the first half.

“I was in shock,”Walker said. “In those kinds of situations, it’s kind of hard to say anything. You just don’t even know what to say sometimes. We’re going to miss him for the time that he’s out.”

Walker add 26 points as Boston (7-1) won its seventh straight game and set season highs for total points, first quarter scoring (39 points) and first-half scoring (72 points).

There was a somberness to the victory, though, after Hayward suffered his second significant injury since signing with the Celtics three seasons ago. The 6-foot-7 forward missed the 2017 season after breaking his leg six minutes into Boston’s season opener.

“This one doesn’t feel near as bad as it did two years ago,” Boston Coach Brad Stevens said.

“So, he’ll be back. Be off for a few weeks or a month or whatever it is.”

The Celtics forward broke his left hand after colliding with San Antonio’s LaMarcus Aldridge with just over a minute remaining in the first half.

Hayward was sent for an x-ray that confirmed the diagnosis. He did not return to the game.

“Going to get with the doctors tomorrow and decide if he needs to do surgery or not,” Stevens said. “Sounds like should he decide that the surgery

option [is best, it] might actually be a better timeline. So, we’ll see what that all plays out to be.”

DeMar DeRozan had 22 points for the Spurs (5-4), who trailed by as many as 22 points in a lackluster effort of an early tipoff.

“What surprises me is that we were so unaggressive and so unphysical,” San Antonio Coach Gregg Popovich said.

Boston has not lost since dropping its season opener to Philadelphia, 107-93, on October 23.

The Celtics have outscored their opponents 115101 since that loss and raised that dominance against the Spurs.

Boston sped up its pace and went on a 19-3 run after giving up the game’s first seven points.

Every Celtics starter scored during the run, including seven straight points from Brown to ignite the rally.

Popovich called a full timeout and replaced all five of his starters in one mass substitution five minutes into the game, but that didn’t stem Boston’s momentum.

“They move the ball extremely well, they play well together and we caught onto that a little bit too late,” DeRozan said.

The dominance continued throughout the second quarter until Hayward exited.

Hayward winced in pain after banging his left hand against Aldridge’s chest attempting to get past the Spurs forward on a screen late in the first half. Hayward appeared to jam the hand once or twice more against Aldridge before exiting the game.

“Gordon’s really playing well right now and we’re leaning on him to help us with this season and this run we’re trying to make,” Brown said. “I

know that’s really tough. Any time you deal with an injury like that, that’s disheartening.”

Hayward had nine points and two rebounds in 15 minutes before exiting.

James Harden narrowly missed his first tripledouble of the season, finishing with 42 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists as Houston pulled away in the second half and beat Chicago, 117-94.

Russell Westbrook scored 26 points as the Rockets won their third straight.

Wendell Carter Jr. had 13 points and 16 rebounds for Chicago, which has dropped six of eight.

The Bulls were a woeful four-for-32 shooting from three-point range.

In Oklahoma City, Danilo Gallinari scored 19 points, Dennis Schroder added 18 and Oklahoma City beat short-handed Golden State, 114-108.

Chris Paul had 16 points and nine assists, Steven Adams scored 13 and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 12 to help the Thunder beat the Warriors for the second time this season. Oklahoma State has won three of its last four games.

D’Angelo Russell scored 17 of his 30 points in the third quarter to lead Golden State, including a 3-pointer at the buzzer to tie the score at 84-all heading to the fourth. One night earlier, Russell had 52 against Minnesota. AP BOSTON’S Kemba Walker drives against San Antonio’s Dejounte Murray during the second half of their game on Saturday. AP

Nurmagomedov: McGregor needs 10 fights for rematch

M

OSCOW—Khabib Nurmagomedov said Friday that Conor McGregor would need to win 10 straight fights to earn a rematch for his UFC title.

McGregor hasn’t fought since Nurmagomedov beat him by submission for the UFC lightweight title in October last year.

The Irish fighter last month outlined his plan for two fights leading up to a rematch with the Russian.

That’s not enough for Nurmagomedov.

“As for a rematch, to fight for a belt in the UFC, I remember I had something like nine or 10 fights. If he wins 10 fights in a row, then that’s completely possible,” Nurmagomedov said.

Nurmagomedov adds he’s in negotiations to fight Tony Ferguson next, but wants it in New York rather than the UFC’s preferred venue of Las Vegas.

That’s because he disagrees with the Nevada State Athletic Commission’s decision to fine and suspend him for a post-fight brawl after his bout with McGregor.

“They offered me to fight in Vegas in March, but I told them that if Vegas officially apologizes for wrongly fining me for that incident on October 6, 2018, then I’ll fight there,” he said.

“If not, then they can assign me to another date. As far as I know, they’re planning in April to hold [a fight card] somewhere in New York, so I’m saying I’m ready for April, or March if Las Vegas apologizes.” AP

D

Eternal God

EAR God, in Jesus You give us victory over death. With thanksgiving we pray: Oh God, continue Your blessing.

You answer on the day we call: ease the suffering of the poor and the infirm, and gladden the rich to be always generous.

You are merciful to the lowly: keep children in day cares, foster homes and schools safe. You save us from our foes: inspire and uphold the work of security and intelligence personnel. May God make us worthy of the calling we have received and bring to fruition our every desire for goodness and every need prompted by faith, through the Holy Spirit. Amen.

GIVE US THIS DAY SHARED BY LUISA LACSON, HFL Word&Life Publications • teacherlouie1965@yahoo.com

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

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Life BusinessMirror

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‘Three Graces’ T

REMENDOUS pressure be damned, the last three Binibinis of Batch 2019 to be sent off to their respective international campaigns— Binibining Pilipinas Intercontinental Emma Mary Francisco Tiglao from Pampanga, Miss Universe Philippines Gazini Christiana Jordi Acopiado Ganados from Talisay, Cebu, and Binibining Pilipinas Supranational Resham Ramirez Saeed from Maguindanao—are brimming with confidence, determination and firmness of purpose.

As pageants fans, well-meaning or wicked, remind them every so often, the three queens must replicate the victories of their predecessors (Emma to take over as Miss Intercontinental from our own Karen Juanita Gallman, Gazini to succeed our own Catriona Elisa Gray as Miss Universe) or to surpass their placement (Resham to win or place higher than Top 10 finalist Jehza Mae Huelar at Miss Supranational).

The three women, all belonging to the Kagandahang Flores camp of Rodgil Flores, have trained hard for the interview portions and pasarela, and they vow to do their very best come competition time. Emma will fly to Egypt, Gazini to the US and Resham to Poland.

Owing to the passport fiasco

❶

RESHAM RAMIREZ SAEED Photographer:@jptalapian Makeup: @iamdonita_mua

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GAZINI GANADOS Gown: @adorfeliciano Style: @iamolisara Accessories: @christophermunar Makeup: @hmuashonezendon Hair: @sophiaesmiller Photographer: @mark.caceres.photography

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EMMA MARY TIGLAO Makeup: @mariahsantos23 Hair: @iamarvinsantos Styling: @styleit.ph @vheecostyle @francischee_ Photographer:@borjmeneses

of Binibining Grand International Samantha Ashley Lo on her way to Venezuela, my first question to the ladies at their sendoff at the Novotel Hotel Araneta City on November 4 was: “Are your travel papers in order?”

And because having an awesome wardrobe can increase their chances of winning, my second question was: “Which designers are you collaborating with for your national costume and evening gowns, and their back stories?”

EMMAZONA “WELL, because of the change of location, change of country, I will fix my visa first before going to Egypt,” replied the 24-year-old model/host.

“For the national costume, it will be the same designer as in Binibining Pilipinas, a fellow Capampangan, Rich Sabinian, also incorporated with the inmates in Pampanga.

But it’s a different style. It will be a combination of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao in a different perspective.”

Emma won Best in National Costume at the nationals wearing Sabinian’s Filipiniana creation that tells the story of “Fe Esperanza Caridad”—Fe, faith in God, depicted in the headpiece of brass metal used to make crowns of saints; Esperanza, hope, white solihiya knitted fabric paying tribute to international Capampangan furniture makers; and Caridad, charity, a true labor of love from the resident basket weavers of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology Angeles District Jail Male Dorm who wove the gown’s fabric.

“And for my final gown, I am grateful that Michael Cinco is collaborating with me.” Cinco created the delicate pink confection that Maria Ahtisa Manalo wore on her way to clinching first runner-up at Miss International 2018.

CONTINUED ON D2

ALL ACCESS: REPEATERS LOOMING AS TOP SEEDS FOR CINEMA ONE 2019 D3

Monday, November 11, 2019

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D1

D2

Style

BusinessMirror

Monday, November 11, 2019

www.businessmirror.com.ph

z

Today’s Horoscope

❶ RAZZLE

and dazzle this Christmas with the latest holiday collection available at The SM Store, like this asymmetrical ruffled top.

By Eugenia Last

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Leonardo DiCaprio, 45; Calista Flockhart, 55; Demi Moore, 57; Marc Summers, 68.

Happy Birthday: Take your time. Be certain before you decide to leap into action. The change will take place, but how well things turn out for you will be based on preparation. Refuse to let someone pressure you or use coercive tactics to get you to make a move before you are ready. Trust your instincts and intelligence. Your lucky numbers are 9, 16, 21, 25, 34, 45, 48.

❷ CHECK-IN the fun with pieces perfect for office holiday parties.

❸ DECK the halls with balloons and disco balls! Play up in stripes this sweater weather season.

❹ CHRISTMAS

is for a merry good time for everyone.

Liam wears a long-sleeved shirt and a checkered pants, Inez wears asymmetrical dress with bow, and Jericho struts in a long-sleeved shirt and chino pants.

❺ TAKE a pause

from the dance floor and pose for the camera in this long-sleeved floral dress, Yadid Boots and sling bag with gold studs.

❻ CHANNEL your inner disco diva with these playful plaid co-ords.

❼ BAG the

Christmas party best-dressed award with this print-onprint number from The SM Store with floral prints and stripes ready to party.

❶

❷

❸

a

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Emotional spending will lead to trouble, but putting time and money into something that enhances your qualifications or skills is worth the investment. A positive change should be made. Traveling and romantic plans can be put in place. HHH

❹

For the most magical time of the year I t’s that magical time of the year—and there’s plenty of cheer at SM. The SM Store is all about festivity, love, and celebration as it spreads cheer in the season’s merry-making, from fun, frou-frou fashion (if you can’t at Christmas, then when can you?) to bewitching beauty looks, glorious gifting ideas and all things entertaining. And it’s time to get your party and your shopping list started with a little help from the popular retailer.

As the go-to destination for everything you need for the holidays, The SM Store brings in an extra magical shopping experience: a wide merchandise selection, cool window displays and festive decorations. Celebrate in style with elegant pieces: asymmetrical tops, ruffled detailed pieces, prints on prints in florals and stripes, and checkered and plaid patterns.

And there’s more! Check out The SM Stores holiday catalog filled with the best Christmas ideas plus a naughty-or-nice checklist for the kids. Don’t forget the voucher next time you’re in the store to get the special discount. n

b

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Change your plans if something doesn’t seem right. Make whatever move work in your favor. A meeting will lead to information that will help you make a wise decision. A partnership will encourage you to make a personal change. HHH

c

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Personal gain should be your intent. Do something that will get you up and moving. Physical activity will help you build strength and confidence. Don’t let anyone interfere or tempt you to get involved in poor habits you’ve managed to squelch. HHH

d

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Get involved in something that will make a difference to your environment, your relationship with someone special or a project you want to pursue. It’s up to you how meaningful your life and future become. Set a goal and follow through. HHHH

e

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Put on a happy face, regardless of what you are up against.

Choose to be part of the solution, not the problem. Listen carefully, say little and let your actions speak for you. Personal improvements will enhance your life and your day. HH

f

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Visiting a place you used to frequent will bring back an old memory. Lessons from the past will encourage you to do things differently this time around.

Plan your actions, and execute them with confidence.

Refuse to let indulgent behavior ruin your day. HHHHH

❺

❻

g

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): A problem will surface that causes uncertainty. Refuse responsibilities that don’t belong to you. Focus on self-improvement, picking up knowledge and skills, and making the most of your life. Take control instead of letting someone else choose your destiny. HHH

❼

‘Three Graces’ Continued from D1 ALL THAT JAZZ GAZINI, which means attractive or charming according to her Q&A trainor Jonathan Chiongbian, is also fondly called Jazz.

“In terms of my visa, I was already in New York, Las Vegas and Canada together with Leren [Mae Bautista, who recently returned home after finishing second runner-up at Miss Globe 2019] for ‘Philippine Tapestry’ with Mama Renee Salud. So, I’ve already fixed my visa. Yes that’s already done.” Richardson Apayla created her Sinulog-inspired natcos at the nationals.

“With the national costume, [this time] it will be Cary Santiago, who is also doing my evening gown. The pressure is really on.

Most especially the time is limited because the pageant is already around the corner, on December 8,” said the 23-year-old doubledegree holder in tourism management and Health Care Services NCII, both from the University of San Jose Recoletos.

“The back story is it will be incorporated in the [story of the Philippines], something like soaring or flitting or it’s like flying.”

Or something like the Phoenix, since the

acclaimed couturier Santiago is enamored of the mythical bird.

Owing to the relentless criticisms that Santiago encountered online, a thing he’s unfamiliar with, and thus was deeply shocked by the virulence, I asked Gazini a follow-up question: “What can you say about this toxic fandom?”

No stranger to online abuse herself, Gazini said: “Bashers will always be there....

If you have something that is ‘braggable’, there will always be people who will say something about your work. It’s just a matter of acknowledging it and just shushing it away. And then everything will be fine.

“Let them wait until the finished product is already there. I guess they’re just too excited to see it. I’m excited myself. But then again, bashers will always be there. As for me, I acknowledge them and I thank them.”

MAGANDA-NOW RESHAM, a Fil-Canadian whose father is Pakistani, has no issues with her visa. She follows in the footsteps of Reham Snow Tago, Binibining Pilipinas World 1995, as a rare Muslim Binibini. But she’s the first one

to represent Maguindanao.

“I’m heading to Poland on November 17, and my coronation night is on December 6.

I’m very proud to say that my evening gown will be made by Mark Bumgarner,” said the former Miss Philippines Canada, 26.

Ryan June Castillo made her natcos at the nationals, which proudly displayed the Pride Flag alongside the Muslim elements of the garment. “I wanted to combine all of what makes our hometown and its people so great. If you notice my headpiece, the Sarimanok, it has the colors of Pride. Being an advocate for gender equality and women empowerment, I wanted to capture not only the fierce qualities of a Muslim princess but also how far we have come as Muslim Filipinos,” she said before the Binibining Pilipinas 2019 finals.

For Miss Supranational, however, she will enlist the help of fellow Mindanaoan, Jearson Demavivas, who created the natcos for Catriona at the Miss Universe.

“I’m really excited especially for my natcos because I did a lot or research with Jearson. I wanted to bring something different, something that not only represents Muslim Filipinos but all of Philippines. So

stay tuned. I’ll be releasing a video in a few days. So I really hope you guys get to see it and like the ideas I came up with,” Resham said. “You’re an avowed LGBT ally.

But Poland has a problematic record on tolerance. What would you tell gay pageant fans who still want to watch/support Miss Supranational but are scared of possible oppression in Poland?” I asked her over Facebook Messenger.

“I would say: The world we share is filled with different beliefs, cultures and experiences, and that’s what makes this world so beautiful. But above all the differences, love overcomes everything and so, in light of love, who are we as individuals to dictate who one must fall in love with? If you are from the LGBTQ community, love out loud. It is you and only you who can be the change you wish to see in the world.

Show everyone that love transcends all disbelief and rejection. We must stand up and fight for everyone’s rights today, so the future doesn’t have to. We are the change.”

Miss Supranational 2018 Valeria Vasquez Latorre of Puerto Rico, please crown your successor already—Resham Ramirez Saeed! n

h

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): You’ll be offered information that can help you get ahead. A change at home will allow you to work on something that will encourage a new outlet for a unique aptitude or service you have to offer. HHH

i

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Keep moving forward. Refuse to let anyone anger you or lead you astray. Focus on what you need to do, and choose to work alone if given a chance.

Someone you least expect will make a last-minute change. HHH

j

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Make a change at home or at work that will help keep the peace and give you greater freedom to come and go as you please. A responsible attitude will encourage others to trust you to make unified decisions. HHHHH

k

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Be careful who you share personal information with or how you handle people in high positions.

Listen, assess situations and bide your time. A change is not in your best interest. HH

l

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): It’s up to you to bring about change if that’s what you want.

Don’t leave anything to chance or unfinished.

Take on only what you know you can handle in order to avoid looking incompetent to your peers or superiors.

HHH Birthday Baby: You are uplifting, intense and creative.

You are adaptable and inquisitive.

‘last word’ by jake halperin The Universal Crossword/Edited by David Steinberg

ACROSS 1 Where the original Hollywood Sign was sold 5 Crunchy sandwich initials 8 Inundates 14 Way of operating 15 Fancy eggs 16 Moving long-distance, e.g.

17 Like a certain Israeli-Palestinian peace solution 19 Nothing more than 20 Dame’s counterpart 21 Topples from power 23 Oktoberfest country: Abbr.

24 Finish strong 29 Shares on Twitter, briefly 30 Obtain 31 LA’s ___ Air 32 Cold sound 35 Quaker leader 37 A Raisin in the Sun, for one 38 2004 Christmas film 41 1.75”-long batteries 42 Decorated with a pastry bag, say 43 Singer Mann

4 Free (of) 4 45 ___ Chi (psychology honor society) 46 Coll. course duration, often 47 You might file one after a fire 53 Forensic science letters 54 Judge’s mallet 55 Transplanted grass 57 Show off 60 Ultimate authority, or a hint to the starred answers 62 Crack military pilot 63 Whitish stuff on bacon 64 ___ out (stop listening) 65 Thoughtless action?

66 Letters that bookend “Nora Ephron” 67 Like mummies DOWN 1 Pre-hospital care providers 2 Knife type 3 Bespangle or bejewel 4 “Mm-hmm” 5 Some electric shavers 6 “___ luck!”

7 Kids are supposed to lose them 8 What a flare can mean

9 Comedian Steven 10 Marketing guys 11 Difficulty only you can relate to 12 Friend 13 Mule : stubborn :: fox : ___ 18 Overly, informally 22 Supported, as a petition 25 Classic lemon candies 26 Group before millennials, briefly 27 Back-comb 28 Family Ties mom 32 “Breakout” game maker 33 Bolt cutter target 34 Hair-covering garment 35 Marathoner’s concern 36 Before, in sonnets 37 ___ ballerina 39 Yeardley’s role on The Simpsons 40 Jambalaya cousin 45 Pauper’s literary look-alike 46 Perfumery smells 48 As per ___ 49 Lead-in to “latte” 50 “Live Young” water brand 51 Comic book installment

2 Polynesian Disney protagonist 5 56 Like pink hair 57 A ways away 58 Fudge the facts 59 ___-Mex 61 British business abbr.

Solution to Friday’s puzzle:

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Monday, November 11, 2019

D3

Repeaters looming as top seeds for Cinema One 2019 T

HE 2019 Cinema One Originals Film Festival is ongoing and channel head Ronald Arguelles couldn’t be happier with the formidable lineup for the festival’s 15th edition.

The very new Ayala Malls in Manila Bay served as a fitting venue when the festival formally opened with the film The Lighthouse, a contemporary masterpiece by filmmaker Robert Eggers from his own screenplay.

The gripping psychological horror movie, about two complicated men on the verge of insanity, stars Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattison.

Local critics and cinema aficionados are making time to watch the featured films plus the eight local competition entries, with repeaters from the previous editions looming as favorites and top seeds for this festival.

Heading that list is director Giancarlo Abrahan whose 2017 entry Paki swept major awards, like Best Film, Best Director and Best Screenplay. His competition film this year is Sila-Sila, tackling a relationship between a same-sex couple that falls apart even before it could fully blossom. The new generation calls this “ghosting,” and Abrahan delves into this contemporary break-up state in his usual competent storytelling. Sila-Sila is Abrahan’s third full length after his award winning debut Dagitab and Paki.

Many of the featured actors in this year’s entries are also “repeaters” who have been lending their time, generosity and expertise to support these festival

filmmakers.

On top of our list is the ever reliable Ricky Davao, who brought home the Best Supporting Actor trophy in 2017 for Paki. Davao also gave memorable performances in Dayang Asu (2015), Si Magdalo at ang mga Gago (2016) and Fisting: Never Tear Us Apart (2018). He is in the cast of JE Tiglao’s Metamorphosis, a controversial film about an intersexual, originally given an X rating by the Censors Board but was eventually reassigned an R-16.

Another Cinema One Originals favorite is Alessandra de Rossi who plays one of the two lead characters in the Victor Villanueva film Lucid. De Rossi has previously essayed good roles in films like Mater Dolorosa (2012), Baybayin (2012), Woman of the Ruins (2013) and Dahling Nick (2015). She stars opposite JM de Guzman, who also made a huge splash in this festival by way of the box-office hit That Thing Called Tadhana in 2014.

Lovable child actress Jana Agoncillo endeared herself to the festival crowd in the Shireen Seno 2017 movie Nervous Translation and this year, the little girl will be pitting talents with the iconic Cherie Gil in the gothic horror movie Tia Madre, by debuting filmmaker Eve Baswel.

No doubt the gorgeous Joem Bascon is a favorite festival leading man. He top bills the entry of firsttime filmmaker Dustin Celetino, titled Utopia. The actor, who most likely will get hitched next year with his longtime girlfriend, is a festival filmmaker’s favorite, as proven by his wonderful performances in Ka Oryang (2011), Mater Dolorosa (2012), Blue Bustamante (2013), Historiographika errata (2017) and Double Twisting Double Back (2018).

In Utopia, Bascon shares stellar billing with Arron Villaflor, who edged him out in the festival Best Supporting Actor race last year. Villaflor won for Rod Singh’s Mamu: And a Mother Too. Villaflor also played the lead role in Astro Mayabang at the 2010 Cinema One Originals.

Let’s see how these festival favorites will fare when the winners are announced this week. Cheers to 15 years of Cinema One Originals. n

Streep, Miranda and Stone are named as Met Gala cochairs NEW YORK—Next year’s Met Gala may be the closest we’ll ever come to getting a Miranda Priestly moment at the starry event.

Meryl Streep has been named as a cochairman of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute.

The Oscar-winner played Priestly, a thinly veiled fictional version of Vogue Editor Anna Wintour, in the movie The Devil Wears Prada.

Wintour clearly has no hard feelings because she

selected Streep as a cochairman along with LinManuel Miranda and fellow Oscar-winner Emma Stone. Designer Nicolas Ghesquiere rounds out the group. The gala’s theme is “About Time: Fashion and Duration,” which the museum described as a meditation on the ephemeral nature of fashion.

It takes place on May 4, and will launch the spring exhibit. The show is curated, as always, by Andrew Bolton. AP

‘Reporter’s Notebook,’ ‘The Atom Araullo Specials’ triumph at London’s AIBs TWO compelling documentaries produced by GMA Network—Reporter’s Notebook: Batas ng Karagatan” and “The Atom Araullo Specials: Babies4sale.

Ph”—gave honors to the Philippines at the prestigious 2019 Association for International Broadcasting Awards (AIBs) held in London, on November 6.

Investigative news magazine program Reporter’s Notebook received the Highly Commended award in the Politics and Business category for its “Batas ng Karagatan” while The Atom Araullo Specials’ “Babies4sale.

Ph” earned another Highly Commended honor in the Investigative Documentary category.

In the three-part special “Batas ng Karagatan,” Reporter’s Notebook embarked on a journey aboard a 76-foot boat to document the lives of Filipino fishermen in Panatag Shoal, also known as Scarborough Shoal—a traditional fishing ground within the 200 nautical-mile exclusive economic zone of the Philippines. Here the fishermen revealed that the Chinese Coast Guard had made a habit of taking the best among their catch. They also decried the destruction of the shoal’s coral bed. The Reporter’s Notebook team documented up close, for the first time, the rubble of dead coral underwater. This report by Jun Veneracion and Maki Pulido prompted a direct response from Malacañang and China.

Meanwhile, “Babies4Sale.Ph” probed deeper into the appalling practice perpetrated by “adoption pages” on Facebook. Atom met with 20-year-old “Christine,” who admitted to being a “B-Mom” or Birth Mom—a person selling her newborn. Her baby’s father allegedly left her, and she’d rather sell her two-month-old child for P35,000 than raise the child on her own. While the team was working on this special report, the National Bureau of Investigation uncovered this illegal practice and organized an entrapment operation. They arrested a group that included a mother and an agent, or middleman, who were caught selling an 11-day-old baby for P40,000. The team coordinated with Facebook Philippines and at the same day of the

Receiving the awards for the Philippines and GMA Network were (from left) Senior AVP for GMA Public Affairs Arlene Carnay, Atom Araullo, and Reporter’s Notebook Program Manager Angeli Atienza.

worldwide airing, Facebook took down the “adoption pages” that sell babies.

Receiving the awards for the Philippines and GMA Network were Senior AVP for GMA Public Affairs Arlene Carnay, Reporter’s Notebook Program Manager Angeli Atienza, and Public Affairs host Atom Araullo.

The AIBs is the “only global alliance of media companies that deliver, or support the delivery of, cross-border and multi-platform international broadcasting.” The AIBs is its annual production awards which recognizes factual video, audio and interactive productions across all continents.

Clockwise: Arron Villaflor, Jana Agoncillo, Giancarlo Abrahan, Ricky Davao, Joem Bascon and JM de Guzman.

D4

Style

Monday, November 11, 2019

Marian Rivera with Rhea Anicoche Tan, Beautéderm Corp.’s president and CEO. KATE ADAJAR OF RANDOM REPUBLIKA

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Marian Rivera continues to support local by renewing endorsement M

arian Rivera is happy and it shows. The wife and mom of two is glowing.

She has a loving husband in Dingdong Dantes and two of the cutest children—Zia and Ziggy. Marian’s acting career is temporarily on hold because her youngest is still a baby, and she and Dingdong have agreed that only one of them will work at one time so that the other will stay with the kids.

Despite this, Marian has a lot of offers for acting and hosting job and she is a sought-after brand endorser and ambassador.

“There is much to be grateful for. Getting a lot of offers is heartwarming,” said the actress in Filipino during the renewal of her endorsement contract with Beautéderm Corp. as the face of its Beautéderm Home.

“Marian is Marian. She is a queen. But to me, she isn’t only a brand ambassador; she is like family,” said Rhea Anicoche-Tan, Beautéderm Corp.’s president and CEO. Reverie by Beautederm Home is a line of home scents—from soy candles to room and linen sprays—created by Beautéderm in close collaboration with Marian.

The Reverie line of Beautéderm Home

includes Into The Woods (bamboo scent), Smells Like Candy (cherry), Time To Bloom (fresh rose), Something Minty (eucalyptus), and Rest & Relaxation (lavender).

“Rhea really consulted me every step of the way, from the products to the packaging,” said Marian, whose favorite Beautéderm Home fragrance is Into The Woods.

The actress revealed that her other favorite scents are smells like Candy and Rest & Relaxation.

Anicoche-Tan’s theory about why Marian is a sought-after endorser is that she shows concern for the brand beyond what her responsibilities should be. “She would ask me about how sales are doing. Last year, sales tripled within a month of us signing her up as an endorser.”

One time, Anicoche-Tan surprised Marian with a home visit and she saw, once entering the Dantes home, several Beautéderm Home diffusers lit up. “When I endorse anything, I make sure that it is something that my family and I can use,” said Marian.

At the heart of the partnership between Beautéderm and Marian is a deep friendship between the actress and Anicoche-Tan. They respect each other. Each one says the other is down-to-earth and humble. Both women treasure family beyond anything else. They also both believe that living one’s life is not just for oneself. “Marian and I believe in sharing and prosperity and love to all,” said Anicoche-Tan. Being a Beautéderm ambassador is also consistent with Marian’s commitment to love and support local products. Even her kids wear local clothing to support that commitment.

Such is Marian’s relationship with Beautéderm that her mother will soon open her own store. n

Hurrah for Hurraw!

SINCE 2010, premium vegan lip balm brand Hurraw! has only had one thing in mind: consumers. To ensure the quality and integrity of its products, the brand develops and produces lip balms in its dedicated NOPand EcoCert-certified manufacturing facility with an eye to offering the finest balm available—a great product made with organic, vegan to be raw ingredients, to be used by everyone regardless of lifestyle.

Here are some of the best-selling variants.

Exclusively distributed by Stores Specialists Inc., Hurraw! is available in Beauty Bar stores (www. beautybar.com.ph): n Hazelnut Tinted Lip Balm. Bhringraj and cacao offer a sheer sunset-brown tint, from a mix of fresh pressed hazelnut oil to create an emollient, creamy, moisturizing balm. nBaobab Banana Lip Balm. Africa's Tree of Life and Hurraw!’s latest superstar ingredient. If you've never tried the baobab fruit, you should; it's tartly delicious and packed dense with good stuff,

especially vitamin c. Golden yellow and honey-thick, the seed's cold pressed oil is ready to replenish whatever skin it touches. nPapaya Pineapple Lip Balm. The papaya pineapple balm contains cold pressed papaya seed oil which has loads of moisturizing essential fatty acids and is great for the skin. Papaya seed oil also contains the enzyme papain, which is keen to quiet inflammation. nMint Lip Balm. Awesome tingle and crisp. The icy scent of the brand’s mint lip balm reminds us of those 1970s peppermint patty commercials. A longlasting minty treat for lips. nAlmond Lip Balm. The nutritious, fresh pressed oil is the core ingredient in this smooth, creamy almond balm. nChai Spice Lip Balm. Nothing compares to the spicy-magical-garam-masala-ness of chai tea. A blend of black pepper, cinnamon, clove, anise and vanilla, this is chai done right.

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Monday, November 11, 2019 E1

Attractive people get unfair advantages at work. Can artificial intelligence help?

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By Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic

roadly speaking, beauty bias concerns the favorable treatment that individuals receive when they are deemed more attractive, regardless of whether this happens consciously or unconsciously. Identifying this bias is surprisingly simple. But what does the science tell us? delicate issue is the possibility— supported by much evolutionary psychology research—that the cause of the correlation between beauty and career success is not (only) prejudice or bias, but (also) actual talent. In other words, could it be that, at least in part, attractive people do better in life because they actually possess more adaptive traits, such as intelligence or talent?

This proposition is hard to test,

Iryna Kalchenko | Dreamstime.com

Studies show that physically attractive students tend to obtain higher grades in school, in part because they are deemed more conscientious and intelligent, even when they are not. Unsurprisingly, this bias transfers into the workplace. There is also a well-established association between attractiveness and long-term income.

Correlation does not mean causation, but let’s not forget that correlations do have causes. One

not least because of the common absence of objective performance data that is not already conflated with subjective preferences. If we teach artificial intelligence to imitate human preferences, it will not just replicate, but also augment and exacerbate, human biases.

Furthermore, at times it is hard to determine whether appearance should be treated as a bias factor or a job-relevant trait, especially when employees’ performance depends on the perceptions customers or clients have of them.

Physical attractiveness contributes to better sales and fundraising potential, so is it sensible to stop employers from hiring more attractive salespeople or fundraisers?

Perhaps, it is, because the alternative is to discriminate against less attractive individuals, including people from minority groups who don’t fit dominant “beauty norms.” But when employers simply pretend to ignore attractiveness, focusing on candidates’ past performance or interview performance, and interpreting these data

as objective or bias-free, there is no guarantee that less attractive candidates won’t be handicapped.

It is no different from pretending to ignore race or social class while selecting based on academic credentials, which are themselves actually conflated with race and social class.

Clearly there’s an unfair advantage to being deemed more attractive, and an unfair handicap to being deemed less attractive.

Although employers can mitigate this bias by removing appearance data from their hiring practices—by not only using artificial intelligence, but also focusing on science-based assessments, past performance and résumé data— such measures will not be sufficient to eliminate bias, since they are also influenced by historical or past bias.

Still, that is no reason to avoid the issue or perpetuate the beauty bias at work.

To m a s C h a m o r ro - P re m u z i c is the chief talent scientist at ManpowerGroup.

3 Ways Health-Care Leaders Can Remote monitoring can reduce hospital visits for cancer patients Encourage Experimentation

By David A. Asch, Kevin B. Mahoney & Roy Rosin

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uccessful health-care innovation follows the pattern of successful science. It requires laboratories where experimentation is encouraged and can proceed safely so that change seems less fraught. We’ve found that the approaches below can help support this essential kind of experiment: n Delay consensus. Highly specialized expertise, and narrow licensing and credentialing make health-care organizations so matrixed that it seems anyone can say no, and no one can say yes. Risks are easier to take at lower organizational levels where getting input, which is directionally useful, doesn’t turn into requiring consensus, which is often directionless. Health-care innovation requires allowing teams pursuing novel models to get started without all the permissions they will eventually need to scale what works. n Enable exceptions. Guidelines recommended early postpartum visits to manage hypertension among women with preeclampsia. But clinic appointment rates remained low. The suggestion that we try a text-based monitoring system led to concerns that texting is not secure. Changing the request from “Can we text patients?” to

“Can we try it, for a limited time, in a limited population?” made it a safer proposition. In health care, even seemingly small exceptions to protocol create outsize concerns about setting new precedents. n Free the data. The opportunities arising because health-care data are increasingly digital sit alongside laments that these opportunities remain out of reach. Processes created by electronic health record vendors and hospital information technology policies aim for scale, reliability, standardization and security. While clinical uses and needs should dictate design and pace, the felt experience in hospitals is often the other way around. For us, success has required creating platforms and extensions that sit between the EHR and clinicians, allowing data manipulation and presentation in new interfaces outside the locked-down systems.

Successful innovation requires experimentation. But health-care change requires we tinker with the health-care system we depend on. To support the people determined to drive change quickly, we need to find ways to bend institutional norms safely.

David A. Asch is director of the Center for Health Care Innovation at the University of Pennsylvania. Kevin B. Mahoney is the CEO of the University of Pennsylvania Health System.

Roy Rosin is the chief innovation officer of Penn Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

© 2019 Harvard Business School Publishing Corp. (Distributed by The New York Times Syndicate)

By Bobby Daly, Abigail Baldwin-Medsker & Wendy Perchick

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ntil the 1990s, patients with cancer requiring chemotherapy typically had to be admitted to the hospital to receive treatment. This inpatient care was stressful for patients, and expensive.

Since then, thanks to improvements in chemotherapy administration and symptom management, most treatment has moved from the inpatient setting to outpatient clinics, which have proved more patientcentered and able to provide high-quality care at lower cost.

The InSight Care program seeks to iden-

tify high-risk patients and provide digitally enabled, proactive, coordinated care before they need hospitalization. The digital connections allow us to keep patients in sight beyond our walls, and lower barriers for patient communication with team members. To this end, the program leverages three interlocking elements: n A novel risk prediction mode.

InSight’s predictive analytics framework was built from 10,000 observations of patients starting chemotherapy, and has been refined to predict risk of acute hospitalization based on 270 patient characteristics spanning sociodemographics, the nature of the malignancy and treatment, lab results,

medical and social history, medications and prior emergency department visits and hospitalizations.

n Digital monitoring. Patients enrolled in the program receive a daily symptom survey through a patient portal based on our analysis of common symptoms leading to acute-care visits. n Digital team-based care. A dedicated, centralized cohort-management team, consisting of registered nurses and nurse practitioners, acts as an extension of the primary oncology team with whom they collaborate. If a patient needs to be physically seen, the team can determine

the right setting for evaluation.

A more proactive, connected cancercare system will ultimately benefit patients, providers and society at large as cancer-care quality and patient experience improve and costs fall. Our Insight Care program is a promising initiative on that path which we hope other providers can learn from.

Everyone wins when patients with cancer can avoid the emergency room and do better as a result.

Bobby Daly and Abigail Baldwin-Medsker are clinical leads for the InSight Care Program at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

Wendy Perchick is a senior vice president at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

Two big reasons that digital transformations fail

By Mike Sutcliff, Raghav Narsalay & Aarohi Sen

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lenty of cash is flowing into digital initiatives at large, industrial companies. In fact, the executives we surveyed recently at 1,350 of these businesses globally reported investments in digital reinvention totaling more than $100 billion between 2016 and 2018.

The problem is that the expected results often fail to materialize. Most of the leaders we surveyed (companies representing 17 countries and 13 industries) reported poor returns on their digital investments.

The primary reason: unsuccessful efforts to scale digital innovations beyond early pilot work.

What’s keeping companies from scaling pilots successfully? And what are the companies that are experiencing better returns on digital investments doing differently from the rest? Two critical challenges—and their remedies—emerged from our analysis:

reports to agree on what to prioritize and how to measure progress. The remedy: Define and articulate not only the opportunity but also the problem it solves, and how the company will build the organization around the desired solution before investing.

Unspoken disagreement among top managers about goals. If top managers aren’t on the same

lem isn’t addressed, companies may face a choice between accepting long delays in ramping up production or attempts by leadership at rapid, unwieldy change to

n

page, it makes it difficult for their direct

n A divide between the digital capabilities supporting the pilot and the capabilities available to support scaling it. When this prob-

meet what they have promised. The remedy: Look outside to close gaps or nurture pilots internally, ramping up digital capabilities across the organization from the get-go.

When companies anticipate the challenges we’ve outlined here, they’re better positioned to make a compelling case for funding. And they’re much more likely to succeed with their innovations.

Mike Sutcliff is the group chief executive of Accenture Digital. Raghav Narsalay is a managing director at Accenture Research in Mumbai. Aarohi Sen is a manager at Accenture Research in Delhi.

Education BusinessMirror

E2 Monday, November 11, 2019

Editor: Lyn Resurreccion

Expert: More psychologists needed against depression among the young

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AGUIO CITY—On October 18, a 16-year-old high-school student from one of the universities in this city slipped from the third floor of the school and fell on the roof of an adjoining building. The 15-foot to 18foot plunge saw an injured boy who was rushed to a nearby hospital.

More professional or clinical psychologists are needed to battle depression and maintain psychological well-being said Saint Louis University-Sunflower Children’s Center Dr. Faridah Kristi Wetherick (second from left) during the National Children’s Month news conference at the Baguio City Social Welfare Development Office last week. Also in photo are Gina Claire Henderson of the Helping Hands, Healing Hearts Ministries (from left), OCSWDO social welfare officer 4 Liza Bulayugan and Baguio City Schools Division Superintendent Marie Carolyn Verano. Pigeon M. Lobien/PNA

Police report calls it an accident but students of the school knew better.

The boy jumped off from his classroom. It was said that the boy suffered from heartache after his girlfriend broke up with him.

“Kids now just do it. Maybe from social pressure,” said Faridah Kristi Wetherick, assistant director of the Saint Louis UniversitySunflower Children’s Center after the 27th National Children’s Month press conference at the Baguio City Social Welfare Development Office last week.

The 16-year-old’s case is just one of the latest failed suicide attempts recorded by the city.

Dr. Zoraida Clavio of the Baguio Health Services Office (HSO) said there are 13 recorded deaths from suicide this year of which three are aged 15 to 19. Most are in the

age bracket 20 to 24 of which five have been recorded by her office.

Though the number is practically half of last year’s number of 25 (four and six cases for the said age brackets, respectively), Clavio said it is alarming. She said her office is helpless in dealing with mental problems that they “refer to more capable professionals” like a psychiatrist or professional psychologist.

With the signing of the Universal Health Act in February, Baguio HSO medical officer Dr. Elvira Belingon said: “One among 33 local government units in the country to be an integration site for the implementation of the law which should be starting in 2020.”

As such, the Baguio HSO must provide to its more than 350,000 clients the full spectrum of health care, which includes preventive,

promotive, curative, rehabilitative and palliative care for medical, dental, mental and emergency health services.

But Clavio admitted that the HSO has no capability of providing for mental wellness, as they lack the resources, facility, and personnel to provide such service.

Not in the immediate future, she said, while adding that the local government has not allocated a budget or discussed its inclusion in budgetary deliberations.

“We just lack the qualified people for it,” said Wetherick, who holds a PhD in psychology and among the few in the city.

While three of Baguio’s biggest universities offer a Bachelor of Science in Psychology degree, a handful of the graduates undergo the rigorous training and licensure examinations required to at least become a professional psychologist.

With the implementation of the Republic Act 10029 in 2013, or the Psychology Act that regulates the practice, BS Psychology majors need to take the board exams to be licensed psychometricians, who can give and interpret psychological exams.

But it will be under the supervision of a professional psychologist, who has finished a master’s degree in that field with 400 hours of on-the-job training and a board passer.

But along the way, many BS graduates shift to more “lucrative” professions like in human resources, the academe or guidance counseling, or worse, a totally different profession.

Wetherick said the Psychological Association of the Philippines has been clamoring for at least recognizing psychometricians and guidance counselors as associate psychologists to deliver mentalhealth care and reduce the gap between the growing number of clients needing intervention and those who can provide it.

Even in the school setup, a professional psychologist is needed, she said, not just the guidance counselors, who started taking licensure exams in 2004 with the passage of RA 9258, or the Guidance and Counselling Act of 2004.

It is, however, worse in the pub-

lic schools that due to the failure in hiring a “qualified” guidance counselor, due to “over the board” requirements, school heads end up assigning counselor-designates, usually an “old” teacher.

“I would rather go for a young teacher whose age difference is not that big,” Wetherick said in the vernacular. “ T hey are more f le x ible and imaginative to deal with schoolchildren, especially those with problems,” she added.

At present, they provide training for counselor-designates to help them deal with schoolchildren.

For more problematic youngsters, like sexually abused, they provide psychotherapy for free, because simply “they cannot afford to pay professional help sessions.”

Wetherick said those referred to them by city offices are given free help but they charge for tests given because the materials used are purchased.

The month of November is the National Health Month with various activities scheduled starting November 1.

Among the activities are talent competitions, symposiums and forums, including reproductive health and gender sensitivity, lectures on children’s rights, training of service providers on child abuse, sports, among others.

In the city, it was launched on November 4 at the Baguio City Hall.

While it will hold the culminating activities on November 29, the Children’s Mardi Gras will be held on December 1, as well as the “Pan-oolnong di siged,” or cultural presentation and talent showcase at the Child Family Service Philippines Inc. at Manzanillo Subdivision.

In line with the monthlong celebration, Mayor Benjamin Magalong also signed Executive Order 139 reconstituting the city council for the protection of children with the Department of Social Welfare and Development regional director as chairman, and 26 government and nongovernment entities, including the HSO and SLUSunflower as members. The OCSWDO serves as the secretariat.

Pigeon Lobien/PNA

Tesda Secretary Isidro Lapeña (left) and Bizooku Philippines President Alejandro James Chiongbian unveil the photo illustration of homepage and QR code for download of the Tesda mobile app at the Tesda office in Bicutan, Taguig, on November 4. The app contains a list of training programs that the agency offers, among others. Tesda

Tesda introduces mobile app

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he Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) last week announced that the public may now download the Tesda app via Google Play and Apple.

Tesda said the application was in partnership with mobile app developer, Bizooku Philippines Inc. According to Tesda, the app contains information found on its web site.

The difference, it said, is that Tesda is taking advantage of the youth’s huge presence online.

“As more and more people rely on their mobile phones for communication and information, the more this Tesda app becomes very timely

and relevant. We also want to connect closer to our younger clients, the youth, who are usually online,” said Tesda Secretary Isidro Lapeña in a statement.

The app, he said, would be the agency’s means to bridge information and services to more people.

The Tesda app contains a list of training programs that the agency offers; addresses of registered training centers; regional and provincial offices directory; frequently asked questions; and news about Tesda programs.

The app also contains e-learning video clips and different links, as well as the steps to apply for Tesda scholarships. Ma. Cristina Arayata/PNA

Italy 1st country to include climate change in public-school curricula

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OME—Italy will become the first country in the world to add climate change to public-school science programs, said the country’s education minister last week.

The measure, which requires the topic to be studied for about one hour per week, will go into effect starting next year, Lorenzo Fioramonti confirmed through social media.

The plan, a brainchild of Fioramonti, seeks to create a generation of students familiar with the causes and risks associated with climate change.

Fioramonti said more traditional scholastic topics, such as geogra-

phy and physics, would be taught in a way to highlight sustainable development starting with the 2020-2021 school year, which begins in September next year.

According to modeling by the World Health Organization and environmental lobby groups, Italy is one of the European countries most likely to be impacted by climate change.

Weather patterns are affecting the country’s massive agricultural sector, glaciers in northern Italy melting, and causing floods and landslides, and Venice and other seaside cities and towns being subjected to more severe and more frequent floods. Xinhua/PNA

Poe urges airline firms to abide World’s humanitarian crises leave millions of children without education by 20% student discount law

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NITED NATIONS—As massive protests escalated worldwide in September, millions of children walked out of schools to demonstrate against the lackadaisical response—primarily from world leaders—to the ongoing climate emergency resulting in floods, droughts, typhoons, heat waves and wildfires devastating human lives.

Gordon Brown, a former British Prime Minister and UN Special Envoy for Global Education, rightly pointed out a harsh reality: there are also millions of children who, ironically, have no schools to walk out from.

The figures are staggering: there are 260 million who don’t go to schools, mostly because there are none, while the education of an estimated 75 million children and youth have been disrupted by humanitarian crises.

One of the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG4) is aimed at ensuring that everyone—”no matter who they are, or where they live”—can access quality education by the targeted date of 2030.

But achieving that formidable goal has been undertaken by Education Cannot Wait (ECW) described as the first global, multilateral fund dedicated to education in emergencies.

Launched in 2016, and hosted by the United Nations’ Children’s Fund, ECW has provided educational opportunities, in its first two years of operation, to over 1.5 million children and youth caught up in the widespread humanitarian crises.

And ECW has invested in 32 countries, including Afghanistan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lebanon,

(From left) UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi, Director of Education Cannot Wait Yasmine Sherif, UN Special Envoy for Global Education Gordon Brown and Unicef Executive Director Henrietta Fore ECW/Kent Page

Nigeria, State of Palestine, Somalia, Syria, Uganda, Yemen and Zimbabwe, providing schools and quality education in crisis settings.

But still, it has a long way to go because, at the current rate of progress, about 225 million young people will not be in school by 2030.

At a high-level UN summit meeting in September, ECW got a big boost, when world leaders pledged a record $216 million for children’s education.

Asked how confident she was that the ECW can help meet SDG4—particularly when the UN remains skeptical of eradicating poverty and hunger by 2030, ECW Director Yasmine Sherif said: “I have hope that we can narrow the gap for the SDG4 target and, at Education Cannot Wait, we are all highly

motivated to contribute.”

However, she said, this will require increased, bold financial investments and funding in SDG4, especially for the 75 million children and youth left furthest behind in countries of conflicts, disasters and displacement.

ECW has put in place a business model that in a short period of time has proven to work and accelerate SDG4, said Sherif, a human-rights lawyer with 30 years of experience in international affairs, including 20 years in management and leadership. She graduated with a Master of Laws from Stockholm University in 1987 and joined the United Nations in 1988.

ECW is a model that translates the UN reform agenda and the New Way of Working into joint programming with governments, UN agencies

and nongovernment organizations (NGOs).

It enjoys strong strategic buy-in from donor partners who are increasingly investing in ECW as a catalytic and speedy funding mechanism, while also rolling out the Grand Bargain commitments, including the localization agenda, cash assistance and significantly contributes to strengthened humanitariandevelopment coherence, she declared.

“In other words, the political will is there, organizational partners are committed to working together, and ECW’s investments are crisis-sensitive and rapid, while also focused on quality. Together with our partners, we move with humanitarian speed to achieve development depth. The determining factor will thus be financing,” Sherif explained.

She pointed out that quality, inclusive education costs money and those costs are significantly higher in situations of armed conflicts, forced displacement and natural disasters, where the education sector is often partially or wholly destroyed, where access is a major challenge and where insecurity, the constant threat of violence and an everchanging environment, requires extraordinary precautions and measures.

“That is why these children and youth are left furthest behind in the first place, and we intend to reach them. But it largely depends on increased, urgent financing. ECW is calling on world leaders, private sector and philanthropic organizations to mobilize $1.8 billion by 2021 to reach children and youth caught in emergencies and protracted crises with education”.

Thalif Deen/Inter Press Service

S

EN. Grace Poe has appealed to local airline companies to comply with the law granting students a 20-percent discount on fare.

Poe issued the reminder as she welcomed the implementing rules and regulations for Republic Act 11314, or the Student Fare Discount Act, issued by the Civil Aeronautics Board. The IRR took effect on November 1.

“I am calling on airline companies to implement the law to ease the burden on students who travel,” Poe, coauthor of the law, said.

As the guidelines cover only the local air fare, Poe urged other concerned agencies to hasten their respective IRR so that the students will feel the full impact of the law.

The law provides for a 20-percent student discount for regular domestic fares of all kinds of public transportation utilities, such as buses, jeepneys, taxis and other similar vehicles-for-hire, tricycles, passenger trains, aircraft and marine vessels for the entire time that the students are enrolled.

The discount will be in effect even on weekends and holidays.

“We hope this will bring a little ease on families faced with high prices of goods and services,” she added.

To avail of the discount, students

must show their school ID or a validated enrollment form together with a government-issued ID. The discount, however, cannot be availed of by post-graduate students (medicine, law, masteral, doctoral) or those enrolled in short-term classes like students of dancing and driving schools, and seminars.

In case of air public transportation facilities, the discount will only apply to the base fare or the price of the ticket before taxes and costs for ancillary services.

The discount shall not apply to promotional fares.

If the students are not given the discount, they can complain with the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board for land transportation, Civil Aeronautics Board for air transportation, and Maritime Industry Authority for sea or water transportation.

The law has put in place varying degrees of penalties for the three types of transportation utilities, ranging from a P5,000 fine for first-time offenders in land transportation to P200,000 for the third offense by an airline.

The public transportation utility operator may claim as tax deduction the student-fare discount it granted to students based on the cost of services rendered.

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Monday, November 11, 2019 E3

Taking infotainment to the next level with a musical about the importance of the Pasig River

Pamilya Banlaw sings about water use and wastewater management

Building environmental awareness through the arts E

PR Matters

By Abigail L. Ho-Torres

Campaign Spotlight: “Who Burnt You?”—BBDO Pakistan/ Impact BBDO Releases New Campaign Reveals Spilled Hot Tea is No. 1 Cause for Burns on Pakistani Children

Shockingly, 80 percent of burns on Pakistani children are caused by something very everyday: the spillage of hot tea. Most of the affected children are below the age of 10, for whom a split second of negligence results in lifelong impact, or even in

NVIRONMENTAL causes used to be hard to sell.

After all, people do not see the ill effects of their actions until much, much later.

But recent events, including typhoons that have led to massive floods, as well as increasing evidence of plastics killing marine animals, have sparked conversations and movements to be more conscious of everyday actions that may have far-reaching adverse effects on the environment.

But we still have not reached the “if we build it, they will come” stage, where most members of the population are making a conscious decision to preserve the environment for future generations. A large number of people, particularly those in the lower socioeconomic brackets, have yet to see how mundane acts like throwing trash in their proper place can have a positive impact on them. So how can you make the issue of environmental preservation more relatable to the masses?

In 2017, the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), a government agency seemingly unlikely to champion an environmental cause, came up with the idea of promoting the once-dead Pasig River as “a space for cultural identity and collective memory.” The environmental aspect of the campaign was, at first, incidental, but later on became a crucial cog in the advocacy. Because how could a river continue to “tell” its rich stories if it were dead?

The Philippine Educational Theater Association (Peta) later came on board as the implementing partner of the

some cases death.

In Pakistan, every third household has a burn victim, and almost all burns cases are avoidable. In order to inform parents and relatives on precautionary measures, Shalamar Hospital Lahore and the Babar Ali Foundation have teamed up with BBDO Pakistan/Impact BBDO and have released a shocking film featuring real burn victims.

The film, which begins by asking children “Who burnt you?” receives responses such as “My mom did,” and ends with a message saying “This tea stain never goes away.”

The film then directs viewers to a web site which educates on safety measures, as well as instructions on post-incident treatment.

The powerful film has been shot by acclaimed Pakistani Director

campaign, which was dubbed Taga-alog. This cemented the strategy of using the arts as a means to educate the public about the importance of restoring the Pasig River to its old glory and, at the same time, protecting the environment.

The Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission (PRRC), a government entity formerly chaired by the late environmentalist Gina Lopez, is also one of the main proponents of the campaign.

The power of the arts

“The Taga-alog campaign uses arts advocacy as its main strategy because we believe in the capability and power of the arts to influence and educate.

We consider the arts as a form of language, and we are using it to communicate and express Taga-alog’s mission and vision,” said seasoned thespian and Taga-alog 2019 Project Director Raul Alfonso.

The campaign uses different art forms—including film, dance, literature, and song— as a means to educate people about the cause. Instead of just coming up with their own materials, the different Tagaalog partners hold workshops and competitions to drum up interest about the campaign and to increase public involvement.

In 2018, the Tagaalog campaign launched the following projects: songwriting, story writing, filmmaking, theater arts, dance, basic museum curation, architectural heritage appreciation, and visual arts workshops; songwriting, komiks creation, filmmaking, and theater arts competitions; Lakbay Baybay experiential

Jami with his team at Azadfilm Co., and in the first 24 hours alone, has been shared tens of thousands of times online.

Hashmat Effendi, (founder of H.E., Burn & Plastic surgery department) stated: “Our journey to protect our nation’s children has started. This campaign is not against tea—it is an awareness campaign to teach our society to protect children by keeping hot cups of tea away from them.”

Ali Rez, Regional ECD, Middle East and Pakistan for BBDO, commented that “It is our hope that by bringing this to parents’ attention, we can bring about the minor lifestyle changes and precautions necessary in our households to protect children.”

Hira Mohibullah, creative direc-

tours; kickoff caravan and festival of performances; site enhancements through visual arts; stakeholders’ conference; and research and publication.

These activities, Alfonso said, enabled Taga-alog 2018 to “ build awareness and capacities, initialize partnerships, and innovate models and cases for public engagement.”

“The campaign successfully developed and launched prototypes of workshops, events, and interactive activities that could be adapted by the communities and partner organizations. In fact, Taga-alog 2018 surpassed its quantitative targets, and produced outcomes that are indicative of a sustainable program that can really make a difference,” he added.

Better-curated lineup

Using learnings from last year’s campaign launch, Alfonso related that the group streamlined this year’s programs and activities, focusing on those that had the most impact on the achievement of campaign objectives.

Shortly after the Taga-alog 2019 kickoff event in midAugust, the Wisik filmmaking workshop was held, with participants composed of mostly high-school students from the different local government units that the Pasig River traversed. At the end of the workshop, the participants produced short public service announcements focusing on care for the river.

The Lagaslas story writing workshop and competition soon followed, with Taga-alog partner Lampara Books to publish the winning young

tor, BBDO, stated that “As a nation that drinks tea morning, noon and night, this conversation needed to happen. We worry about staining our clothes because it’s hard to wash out, but often forget the other kind of permanent mark it can leave on our little ones due to negligence.”

The campaign will be further expanded into promotional item designs, and an advocacy campaign for the government to include warning messages on tea packaging.

Events: Unilab Foundation Holds Asia’s First Integrated STEM Leadership Summit for a STEM-Ready Future MANILA, PHILIPPINES—For the first time ever, Asia’s First

adult fiction Budi written by Khamille Ann Linsag.

Another Taga-alog partner, PhilPop, held the TampisAWIT songwriting boot camp, led by award-winning composers Jungee Marcelo, Trina Belamide and Noel Cabangon.

Taking this year’s TampisAWIT plum is Suzanne Samson with her song “Ilog Pasig Laban,” while Paul Arcega and his song “Patuloy” bagged the Maynilad Viewers’ Choice Award.

Dance was another medium that Taga-alog 2019 used as part of its advocacy. Dubbed Indak Patak, the dance workshop was facilitated by veteran performers Gio Gahol, JM Cabling and Teetin Villanueva.

Apart from the workshops and competitions, Taga-alog 2019 also held a series of lecture-performances in 10 Metro Manila cities. These events featured workshops, talks, partners’ booths, and the centerpiece lectureperformance combo that sought to both educate and entertain viewers.

Lakbay Baybay Adventure Tours, self-guided tours designed to educate the public about the Pasig River through fun and creative challenges, were also held in Mandaluyong and Marikina. Aside from spreading awareness on how to rehabilitate the Pasig River, this is also seen as a way to promote local tourism, food and culture.

A fluvial concert featuring Taga-alog Ambassadors Cabangon, Aicelle Santos, and Ben&Ben was also held to serve as a showcase of all the Taga-alog 2019 workshop outputs, and to further rally the public to do their share to

Integrated STEM Leadership Summit will be convened to provide a platform for cross-sectoral dialogue and collaboration among government, education, industry stakeholders to synergize their skills with the needs of both local and global communities toward building a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) ready 21st-century society.

“Organized by the Unilab Foundation in partnership with US-based STEM Leadership Alliance (SLA) and co-convened

by DepEd, DOST and DTI,” Lilibeth Aristorenas, executive director of the Unilab Foundation, said “the Summit is being convened to lay the foundation for building

take care of the Pasig River and the environment.

Anyone can be a partner

According to Alfonso, anyone can be a taga-alog.

“Any person can become a taga-alog by helping us raise awareness about the campaign; by getting involved in discussions about the Pasig River, may it be in person or online; by sharing our activities online; by learning about the Pasig River; or by simply being kind to the environment,” he related.

He added that this creative advocacy could possibly expand outside of the Pasig River in the future.

“The vision of the Tagaalog campaign is to see a Pasig River that is truly clean and alive once again. To achieve this, it is imperative that its tributaries and other bodies of water connected to it must also be clean and alive. So expanding the campaign to cover these other water bodies may be a possibility in the future,” he said.

PR Matters is a roundtable column by members of the local chapter of the United Kingdombased International Public Relations Association (Ipra), the world’s premier organization for PR professionals around the world.

Abigail L. Ho-Torres is AVP and head of Advocacy and Marketing of Maynilad Water Services Inc. She spent more than a decade as a business journalist before making the leap to the corporate world.

We are devoting a special column each month to answer our readers’ questions about public relations. Please send your questions or comments to askipraphil@gmail.com.

a community of STEM champions who will work together toward advancing STEM Education to develop a STEM literate work force who can navigate through the digital work environment of the future and build more scientists who will drive technological innovations and sustainable solutions for our rapidly changing world.”

With the theme, “Strengthening Stem Through Global Cross-vergence,” over 300 high-level STEM representatives from the Philippines and other countries in Asia are expected to attend this groundbreaking event which will be held from November 21 to 24, 2019, at the Shangri-La’s Mactan Resort and Spa in Cebu, Philippines.

E4 Monday, November 11, 2019

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THANAKORN SUPPAMETHASAWAT - DREAMSTIME.COM

Revenge porn is sexual violence, not millennial negligence

By Kristen Zaleski

University of Southern California

U

THE CONVERSATION

.S. Representative Katie Hill was the latest victim of a form of sexual abuse that’s become increasingly common: revenge porn.

Intimate photos of her were leaked to the media and published, without her consent, for the world to see—a transgression Hill suspects her estranged husband was behind. The photos implicated Hill in a sexual relationship with a congressional staffer, an accusation that potentially put Hill in violation of House ethics rules.

Hill, a 32-year-old freshman representative, ended up resigning her seat on October 27.

Yet some of the ensuing coverage, instead of zeroing in on the leaked photographs, centered on blaming Hill for not being careful enough.

“The best way to avoid being a victim of revenge porn is to not take nude selfies and send them to people,” political commentator Alice Stewart announced on CNN. In an article titled “A Word to the Young,” New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd implored millennials to do a better job protecting themselves and their reputations online.

“Don’t leave yourself vulnerable by giving people the ammunition—or the nudes—to strip you of your dreams,” she wrote. “OK, millennials?”

Even House Speaker Nancy Pelosi brought up Hill’s “error in judgement” and noted that what you share online “can come back to haunt you.”

As someone who studies the effects of sexual violence, I’ve heard this kind of victim-blaming far too often. To me, “Be careful of

the photos you take of yourself” sounds eerily similar to “Don’t wear suggestive clothing.” Sexual violence happens because of sexual perpetrators. It has nothing to do with the clothing people wear or the photos they take of themselves.

Make no mistake: Revenge porn is a form of sexual violence, with the same motivations, power dynamics and potential for psychological harm at play.

It can happen to anyone

REVENGE porn falls under the umbrella of what scholars call “technological forms of sexual violence.”

Other examples include “nonconsensual pornography,” which specifically refers to photos that are taken for a partner’s eyes, only to be eventually disseminated to others; “up-skirting,” which involves snapping sexually intrusive photos, often of someone’s genitals, without their knowledge; and “sextortion,” a form of sexual blackmail that Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos fell prey to in early 2019.

What happened to Hill isn’t an outgrowth of millennial culture. The nonconsensual sharing of intimate images and videos has been happening for decades. For example, the first issue of Playboy featured nude images of Marilyn Monroe that Hugh Hefner used without her permission. A sex tape filmed by Pamela Anderson and her then-husband Tommy Lee was famously stolen and leaked in 1995.

But the growing role of digital

IN this November 6, 2018, file photo, Katie Hill, then a Democratic Party candidate from California’s 25th Congressional district, talks to a reporter after voting in her hometown of Agua Dulce, California. AP/MARCIO JOSE SANCHEZ

The growing role of digital technology in our everyday lives—and the ever-expanding scope of everyone’s digital footprint—has made more people vulnerable to this sort of abuse and exploitation. technology in our everyday lives— and the ever-expanding scope of everyone’s digital footprint—has made more people vulnerable to this sort of abuse and exploitation.

One study from 2017 found that 1 in 12 participants reported that they’d had nude images taken of them and posted publicly against their wishes. In Australia, that number is 1 in 10—a rate that jumps to 1 in 2 for those who are indigenous or report having a disability.

An Australian survey also found that 1 in 3 members of the LGBT community, like Rep. Hill and her alleged partner, report having intimate photos shared

without their consent.

It can happen to anyone, at any age. Research from 2017 shows that almost 20 percent of reported victims are over the age of 50.

Control, retaliation and humiliation

JUST as domestic violence was once misunderstood and tolerated, many people today fail to grasp how nude photographs can be wielded as weapons of abuse.

Yet the nonconsensual sharing of intimate images is a form of control, retaliation and humiliation, just like any other form of sexual violence.

The Power and Control Wheel

is a tool used by domestic violence experts to understand the ways in which domestic violence occurs in everyday interactions. Originally developed in 1993 by activists Ellen Pence and Michael Paymar, it demonstrates the abusive tactics beyond physical violence—such as withholding money, threatening to leave and isolating partners from friends and family—that are used to wield power and control.

At this year’s Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues conference, psychologists Asia Eaton, Sofia Noori, Amy Bonomi, Dionne P. Stephens and Tameka L. Gillum explained how technological forms of sexual violence can be

found in every category of the Power and Control Wheel. For example, one spoke of the wheel is economic abuse; another is coercion. It’s not difficult to see how intimate, private photographs can be wielded by an abusive partner to threaten someone’s job.

Abusive partners don’t even need nude photos to hurt their signficant others; photos or video footage can be altered via deepfake technology to create convincing and humiliating images.

The lasting psychological effects of having nude photographs of yourself shared online are just starting to emerge. The few studies that have been published show that victims deal with many of the same issues that survivors of rape and sexual harassment grapple with. One published in 2017 found evidence of post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and suicidal thoughts among revenge porn victims. Other studies have shown how being targeted with revenge porn can lead to the development of trust and privacy issues that last a lifetime.

“Ever since those images first came out I barely left my bed,” Rep. Hill said during her final speech to the House of Representatives. “I went to the darkest places that a mind can go. I’ve hidden from the world.”

Those words ring all too familiar for victims who have endured sexual violence, both online and offline.

Instead of engaging in a victim blame narrative that accuses millennials of being shortsighted, let’s focus on the 1 in 20 Americans who perpetrate this form of abuse that violates privacy, causes psychological harm and ends careers.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article here: http://theconversation. com/revenge-porn-is-sexual-violencenot-millennial-negligence-126233.