Businessmirror november 28, 2016

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Monday, November 28, 2016 Vol. 12 No. 47

PHL to miss 2016 export-growth goal S

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By Catherine N. Pillas

@c_pillas29

lower global economic growth has made it more difficult for the Philippines to hit its target of increasing merchandise exports by 3 percent this year, according to the Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. (Philexport).

Continued on A2

the shang shopping spectrum G

Be more hospitable

GIVE US THIS DAY, COMMITTEE ON DIVINE WORSHIP, SHARED BY LUISA M. LACSON, HFL Word&Life Publications • teacherlouie1965@yahoo.com

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

Life

DANIEL Hechter

BROOKS Brothers

RUSTAN’S

BCBG

MAX & Co.

DEBENHAMS

Cow, sheep and goat raisers ruminate future as govt stops importation tack

ALL ACCESS: MON CONFIADO IS ON A ROLL D3

BusinessMirror

Monday, November 28, 2016

BANANA Republic

The export-growth target of the government for 2016

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inside

OD of the everlasting covenant, You delight in doing good for us. In hope we pray, make us one body in Christ, O Lord.

Heal divisions in Your Church and among Christians. Give wisdom, integrity, compassion and humility to those who hold positions of authority. Help us be mindful of the ways in which we may be more hospitable to one another and in the poor. May all who seek God rejoice, be glad and know God’s infinite mercy shown to us through Christ our brother. Amen.

3%

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2016 ejap JOURNALISM awards

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P25.00 nationwide | 5 sections 32 pages | 7 days a week

7 habits of highly effective public-sector proponents PPP Lead

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Alberto C. Agra

ow can we apply Stephen R. Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People in public-private partnerships (PPPs)? Why should public-sector proponents or implementing agencies (IAs), desiring to be involved or are already involved in PPPs, adopt the seven habits?

This columnist was reminded about the seven habits as he was about to give a briefing on PPPs to professionals enrolled in the Sixth Diploma Program in Corporate Finance organized by the Ateneo Center for Continuing Education. This is his attempt to apply the seven habits of highly effective people to organizations, particularly, IAs involved in PPPs. Continued on A15

ARROW

REISS

MICO

The Shang shopping spectrum N EVER dilly-dally with your shopping these holidays. From Divisoria to Greenhills to neighborhood tiangges to international bazaars, the horror stories from harried shoppers are all too common.

If you want comfort and convenience in selecting the best outfits for your endless Christmas parties, the Shangri-La Plaza assures you of a shopping experience akin to a fairy tale.

For the Holiday Collection edition of its “Shang Style Spectrum” series, the upscale mall presented the offerings of its tenants at the “Magical Fashion

TOTA PULCHRA MISS CHARLIZE

@misscharlize

Moments” show at the Grand Atrium.

If a Disney princess had a career, she could easily slip into any of the festive-glam looks paraded down the runway, though pared down for the demands of modern living in the real world. Anne Klein, DKNY, BCBG MaxAzria, Mico Boutique, K & Co. and Rustan’s delivered eveningwear with enough dainty details for your inner Belle, Snow White or Cinderella.

The closet Tinkerbell, on the other hand, will take a fancy to the lacy collection of Reiss, while the wanderlust will swoon over the Alice in Wonderlandinspired pieces from Jessica. No slim pickings for the

wicked, though, as Max & Co. carries spellbinding ensembles for the Maleficent in you.

Arrow, Banana Republic, Brooks Brothers, Daniel Hechter, Debenhams, Marks & Spencer and Zara has the Disney prince wannabes all covered with their Fall/Winter/Holiday collections. All Prince Charmings are interchangeable, so these labels’ shirts, pants, shoes, accessories and blazers can also be mixed and matched to fashionable effect.

For inquiries, call 370-2597 or 98, or visit www. shangrila-plaza.com. Also, you can follow the Shang on Instagram (@shangrilaplazaofficial). ■

Nothing old about these timeless favorites THERE’S nothing more comfortable than a new pair of jeans this holiday season. This comfort is now within your reach as the ultimate denim innovation for fashion and basic is finally here, courtesy of the American brand Old Navy (facebook.com/oldnavyPH).

In fabrics that guarantee comfort and durability, you’ll love the versatility of wearing a pair of Old Navy jeans for a night out or a relaxing day at home. You’ll also find those hard to find sizes, including plus, tall, petite and big men.

The Women’s Sculpt fabric has incredible stretch and recovery capabilities with no bag-out.

It has a compression fabric-slimming effect that is comfortable for all body types, and engineered to shape and hold you in for amazing fit. Women’s sculpt has 60-percent to 70-percent stretch compared to 30-percent to 40-percent stretch in the Standard Rockstar. Meanwhile, Men’s Flex Denim fabrics have varying degree of stretch and elongation with added comfort and flexibility. It’s considerably lower than most value players at their price point and looks considerably more elevated.

How’s that for giving the classic an in-the-moment holiday boost?

Life

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philam life

ModelExecutive BusinessMirror

Editor: Max V. de Leon Monday, November 28, 2016

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PHILAM LIFE

HAS FOUND ITS AMBASSADOR OF GOODWILL AND CHANGE

‘I

By Leony R. Garcia & Photo by Alysa Salen

F you make each day count and do your best to make today better than yesterday, opportunities open up to you and these can lead to something good.” This has been the guiding principle of Philam Life CEO Ariel G. Cantos.

More popularly called Aibee in the insurance industry, Cantos was an out of school youth who worked his way through various tasks and menial jobs, and when given the opportunity to resume his education, graduated valedictorian in high school, attained a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics Honors from Ateneo de Manila, and worked hard at Philam Life while pursuing higher education and licensing programs in and outside of the Philippines.

And the rest, as some say, is destiny—with Cantos becoming Philam Life CEO and Philam Foundation Chairman—in July this year.

“The truth is—I focused on just doing my job well and learning from it, not because I wanted the highest post.

But this is it. As CEO, this is the greatest opportunity that was given to me after years of hard work and dedication,” Cantos said.

With over 30 years in Philam Life—rising up from management trainee, sales promo assistant, executive assistant, profit center head of A&H, head of agency distribution to CEO–Cantos recalls his humble beginnings with fondness.

He was the third in a brood of 10 children growing up in the busy area of Palanan, Makati. After elementary, he had to stop schooling and gave way for his siblings to study.

After two years of earning meager income on errands such as cleaning neighbors’ houses, cleaning cars parked at the church, assisting commuters to cross flooded streets, or doing friends’ homework, a relative offered to jumpstart his high school education.

“I made the most of that opportunity, studying hard to earn scholarships in both high school and college. I was determined to make something out of my life. From that day on, I have always believed that education can transform the life of an individual. Give him a shot at life,” Cantos said.

Focusing on Education

TODAY, as CEO of Philam Life, Cantos remains passionate about education. For the last 10 years (2004 to 2015), Philam Life has delivered over P10 billion in education benefits. In May 2016, 50,000 scholars received their education payout for the first semester (school year 2016-2017). And as of October 2016, 51,000 benefit payouts were released for the second semester.

“This means we are helping around 100,000 students for their education this year alone. We deliver what we promised. So whatever happens, our policyholders are assured that they will receive what is stipulated in their educational plans,” he affirmed.

Concurrently as Philam Foundation Chairman, Cantos is committed to the Philam Paaralan classroom project. Established in 1997, the Foundation has embarked on Philam Paaralan as its flagship program that aims to help improve the quality of education in the Philippines through the construction of classrooms in underprivileged communities including typhoon-devastated provinces.

During its 65th Anniversary in 2012, Philam Life committed to construct 65 classrooms in time for its 70th year in 2017.

“To date, we have surpassed our target. We have 120 Philam Paaralan classrooms across the country. In fact, we can even reach 130 classrooms by the end of the year,” said Cantos. “Through these classrooms, the company and our partners are able to contribute in providing a conducive learning environment for children, especially in areas affected by calamities. It is our belief that, as a big part of nation building, education should be prioritized even during disaster recovery efforts.

“The first sign that a calamity-stricken community is on its way back to normalcy is when children go back to school. When a child enters a Philam Paaralan classroom that is fully-furnished and made from sturdy, calamityresilient materials, he can dream again because there is an institution like Philam Life who can help,” Cantos stressed.

Cantos is also excited on the latest development for Philam Foundation. Starting this year, Philam Life and affiliate companies now allocate a certain percentage of their annual income to Philam Foundation to fund worthwhile CSR programs.

cy to welcome employees to his office. He also dedicated at least one evening a week to reach out to his people who are based outside the head office.

“Now in Philam Life, I commit at least two hours a week in informal dialogue with randomly chosen small group of staff. This way, employees can open up if they have concerns and come up with good ideas for their own good and the company as well. I lead by example and I live by heart and mind. But I have to make tough decisions as well because that’s what leadership is all about.

“I will continue to challenge people to be best that they can be. Aside from the demand for good performance, people should feel that the company cares for them. It is my vision to see the company in the next level of excellence in the years to come.”

Leading through Innovation

WITH his people-oriented leadership, Cantos is committed to achieve Philam Life’s vision to become the undisputed leader in life insurance and wealth management in the Philippines.

“Philam Life has to innovate to delight our customers and to move the company to its premier status to be the best in class, by driving agent productivity, agent recruitment and retention, and development of agency leaders. We do this by implementing various transformation initiatives,” said Cantos.

In April, Philam Life launched Genesis, a modern state-of-the-art facility for financial advisors to provide them sales support tools, technological tools and development programs to help fast track their journey to become premier agency leaders and ultimately become members of the Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT).

In September, Philam launched SPARK, a state-ofthe-art customer service center that offers fully digital and personalized services. SPARK makes use of technological platforms to make services faster and easier for customers amidst the sleek interiors of a modern-day office. It showcases the company’s latest technological capabilities such as the online customer portal called e-Plan, the Agency Portal for Philam Life financial advisors; and My PAMI Investor Portal, for the company’s mutual fund customers.

Going digital, Philam has introduced the iPoS or ‘interactive point of sale,’ wherein customers are engaged in an interactive sales process using a tablet, making policy application fast and easy. Introduced along with the iPOS is the Interactive Mobile Office (IMO), which gives Philam Life advisors and leaders office functionality in their iPads, including activity management system, e-recruitment, business planner, training videos, and leads and campaigns management.

The company has also started modernizing the look and feel of agency offices through the Agency Office Transformation program, providing technologically-enabled facilities to support recruitment and boost growth and productivity of its agency force.

“By transforming our facilities, we are sending a strong message—that we are fully committed to address the changing needs of our stakeholders and delight our customers and advisors.

“We also need to do a lot of influencing especially for today’s millennials. That is why we have these facilities.

The more millennial agents we have, the more we would be able attract young people to get insurance and enjoy their benefits. For this, we are taking advantage of social media to make our stories exciting and compelling,” Cantos said.

Looking Ahead into the Future

“PHILAM Life is the most trusted brand in the life insurance industry. We have a wide presence across the country and we’d like to build and continue on this legacy. We will expand our financial advisor network and give them the best training so that they will be able to educate and help their clients through financial planning. We will continue to introduce new products to address the changing financial and protection needs of the Filipino, to support the thrust for financial inclusion. And we will not stop raising the bar with respect to delighting our customers in service delivery,” he said.

Life insurance is relevant not only when one passes away, but also when someone lives longer, or when someone needs to get back to good health. With the help of the media, Cantos wishes to promote life insurance consciousness and healthy living among Filipinos. According to him, today is a good time to consider buying insurance when people have more capacity to set aside funds for long term needs.

“Best to start an insurance program while young when the rates are lower, when one is healthy and the investment portion of the policy has more time to earn and grow. Insurance is also not a one-time purchase because financial needs change over time and the coverage must adapt to these changes,” he explained.

“In addition, we will align with the government’s focus on creating health awareness. We have launched the Philam Vitality program as our campaign as we venture into the health space. We have also introduced a critical illness product, Health Invest Plan, which covers 55 major illnesses.

“With our vast resources and strong support from our parent company AIA, the world’s second largest life insurer, we will continue to invest to create more positive changes in the years to come,” Cantos concluded.

model executive Empowering People

CANTOS brings with him more than three decades of experiences in people management as the new CEO of Philam Life. He has a great sense of responsibility, huge respect for people and is committed to team aspirations and talent development of employees and financial advisors nationwide.

The amiable CEO credits his past bosses and colleagues that led to his success. “I am blessed to have worked for and with very good and talented people. They’re the best in the industry.

Through them I saw that leaders win their people by having both the heart and the mind. Just one of these is not enough.”

He has always been people-focused. Prior to his appointment as CEO, he was with BPI-Philam as president and CEO (Jul 2013-Jun 2016) and maintained an open door poli-

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By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

STREAKING WARRIORS The Associated Press

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| Monday, noveMber 28, 2016 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao Asst. Editor: Joel Orellana

oklahoma city thunder guard russell Westbrook (right) passes in front of detroit Pistons center andre drummond. AP

denmark’s soren kjeldsen (left) and partner thorbjorn olesen pose for photographers with their trophy after winning the World cup of Golf at kingston heath in melbourne, australia. AP

Golden state Wins 11th Game in a roW

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STREAKING WARRIORS

AKLAND, California—Stephen Curry had 34 points, eight rebounds and six assists as Golden State overcame Draymond Green’s absence to beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 115-102, on Saturday night for their 11th straight victory.

Curry shot 13 for 19 with four three-pointers, while Kevin Durant added 28 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and a career-high six blocked shots. Klay Thompson scored 23 points with four threes.

Green sat out a day after bruising his left ankle at Los Angeles in a collision with teammate Ian Clark, who also missed the game after being hit in the throat on the play.

“Without Ian and Draymond our bench was thinned out,” Coach Steve Kerr said.

For the Timberwolves, Zach LaVine scored 31 points with five threes, while Karl-Anthony Towns had 12 of his 18 points in the first quarter on sixfor-10 shooting.

In Oklahoma City Russell Westbrook recorded his second straight triple-double and National Basketball Association (NBA) best seventh of the season with 17 points, 15 assists and 13 rebounds

LOMACHENKO DEFENDS WBO CROWN L AS VEGAS—Vasyl Lomachenko successfully defended his World Boxing Organization (WBO) junior lightweight title, winning when Nicholas Walters was unable to continue after seven rounds on Saturday night at the Cosmopolitan.

Lomachenko, the 28-year-old Ukrainian star who won two Olympic gold medals, improved to 7-1. Lomachenko dropped to 26-1-1.

“My goal is to be the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world,” Lomachenko said.

Lomachenko had his best round of the fight in the seventh, landing multiple power shots, including a hard shot to the temple that ultimately led Walters to stop fighting.

“He’s a good fighter, really strong,” Lomachenko said. “But he stood there and made it easy for me, then in the end he just quit.”

The pace quickened in the third, with Lomachenko leading the action and Walters looking to counter. Lomachenko landed a hard straight left, the best punch of the fight up until that point, and began to establish himself as the aggressor by the end of the fourth.

Walters battled back in the fifth, landing a few power shots, only to be matched by Lomachenko combination for combination.

“He’s a great fighter,” Walters said. “He’s very fast, a great puncher. He

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BusinessMirror

By Bruce Matthews

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ELBOURNE, Australia—Denmark fought off a three-pronged attack to win golf’s World Cup at Kingston Heath on Sunday.

Soren Kjeldsen and Thorbjorn Olesen held their nerve after watching a four-shot overnight lead threatened by China, France and Sweden.

The pair combined superbly in the best-ball format for a closing sixunder 66 to finish on 20-under 268, four shots clear of China (65), France (63) and the United States (66).

Simply, Kjeldsen, 41, and Olesen, 26, answered every challenge, takes turns to nail critical birdie putts every time the lead was whittled back by the chasers.

“Our mental strength is keeping calm and playing our own game. I wasn’t too worried, I thought the birdies would come on the back nine and they did,” Olesen said.

Chinese duo Ashun Wu and Haotong Li crept within one stroke early on the back nine before Kjeldsen holed a birdie putt to restore the buffer.

A Victor Dubuisson birdie at the par-three 15th propelled France to just one shot back. And this time Olesen answered with a 7-foot putt, playing three holes behind the French, to ward off the leaderboard danger.

Sweden’s Alex Noren and David Lingmerth, playing four groups ahead, also crept within a shot after firing a brilliant 10-under 62 to eventually finish fifth at 15-under. But no-one could overhaul the Danes.

Olesen’s hot putter delivered birdies at the 13th, 14th and 15th holes to restore the leaderboard buffer. Fittingly, the younger member of the team, who turns 27 in three weeks, gave himself an early birthday treat by rolling in a curling 30-feet birdie putt on the 18th green.

Kjeldsen was effusive in his praise of his younger partner. “The psychology [of a team] is really interesting to me. When you get a guy like this, on the back nine you feel you want to die for this guy. I’ve never felt that before and that team thing is amazing,” he said.

In golf terms, the Danish pair are an odd couple. Olesen loves to keep check of leaderboards around the course and Kjeldsen tries to avoid them.

“We play different games, we don’t talk much and just play our shots and that’s helpful,” Olesen said.

It was Denmark’s first World Cup triumph after Thomas Bjorn and Olesen finished third behind at nearby Royal Melbourne in 2013.

Sweden, who started the fourball final round nine shots back, could only ponder what might have been with a more polished foursomes effort than the tardy third round 73.

“We really played quite solid [on Saturday] and ended up bogeying a couple of the last four holes. So, one-over yesterday could have been a couple under and we would have really been in the mix.

But finishing on a good note today, we’re not going to dwell on the last few days. It has been a fun week,” Lingmerth said.

Italy’s Francesco Molinari and Matteo Manassero reeled off an eightunder 64, but they were just too far back to get a glimpse of the leaders.

“We gave ourselves a lot of birdie chances and it could have been a really low one. It was a low one with a good finish, so we’re happy about that,” Manassero said.

“Obviously, Francesco gave me the opportunity to play and we had a lot of fun. I think this is a great format and, obviously, you’re representing your country. It’s an amazing field and we had a great time.”

Host nation Australia at least gave their home galleries a subpar salute in a polished round built on several pinpoint approach shots from Marc Leishman before Adam Scott rifled one to almost tap-in range at the par-three 15th to eventually deliver a seven-under 65 to finish on -11 and tied ninth with Ireland.

“It was nice to finally see a few putts drop and some red numbers on the leaderboard. It’s unfortunate that we couldn’t start that on Thursday,” Leishman said.

Wales pair Bradley Dredge and Stuart Manley, in the first group on to the course, redeemed themselves after Saturday’s horror 80 with a flawless nine-under 63.

England’s Chris Wood and Andy Sullivan, who tumbled down the leaderboard after a leaky back nine on Saturday, also bounced back with a seven-under 65 and Germany’s Alex Cejka and Stephan Jaeger, equal last in the 28-team competition at the halfway mark, hit back with a closing 64 to finish on -9 and tied 13th.

@jearcalas

Sports

Denmark pockets golf’s World Cup

caught me with a hard shot to the temple.”

Lomachenko began to take control in the sixth, displaying superior technical skills and controlling the ring. By the end of the seventh, Lomachenko had the fans on their feet as he looked to finish the fight, landing a number of powerful combinations.

Walters survived the flurry and appeared fine as the round ended and he headed back to his corner. However, between rounds, Walters’s corner informed the referee that he was unable to continue and the fight was stopped and ruled a technical knockout for Lomachenko.

Lomachenko captured his first word title, the International Boxing Federation featherweight crown, in just his third fight. That tied a record for the fewest fights needed to win a championship. He defended the belt three times before winning the junior lightweight title, earning his second title in as many weight classes. AP

»

Vasyl lomachenko of Ukraine (right) fights nicholas Walters, of Jamaica, for the World Boxing organization junior lightweight crown. AP

as the Thunder beat the Detroit Pistons, 106-88.

Westbrook, who tied LeBron James for sixth on the NBA’s career list with 44 triple-doubles, shot just eight for 22 from the field after scoring at least 30 points in eight straight games. It was just the second time this year Westbrook failed to score 20.

“I’m happy we won, that’s the most important part for me,” Westbrook said. “But I definitely don’t take anything for granted. Every night I step on the floor, I try to compete at a high level and I’m thankful that I can play the game I love every night.”

Anthony Morrow scored 21 points off the bench to lead the Thunder (10-8), who were playing their fourth game in six nights in four different cities. Victor Oladipo added 18, while Steven Adams had 16 points and nine rebounds.

Tobias Harris scored 21 points for the Pistons, who have lost five of their last seven.

In Washington LaMarcus Aldridge scored 24 points, while Tony Parker added 20, as the San Antonio Spurs beat the Wizards, 112-100, for their ninth straight victory.

The Spurs

This October 25 file photo shows cows at a cattle-raising farm along the highway of Santa Maria, Isabela. For the Philippines’s cattle population of 2.6 million to meet the demand of the country’s 100.98 million strong people, the government embarked in 2014 an importation program. Importations, however, was suspended by Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol. NONOY LACZA

(14-3) swept a three-game road swing and are a perfect 10-0 away from home.

“I do want to go home. I don’t want to play at home,” Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich joked after the game. “You’ve got no choice, no choice.”

Kawhi Leonard scored 19 for San Antonio, which shot 53.3 percent (40 of 75) from the field. The Spurs led by 10 at halftime and as many as 19 in the second half.

Kemba Walker scored 28 points and Jeremy Lamb added 18 points and a career-high 17 rebounds as the Charlotte Hornets snapped a four-game losing streak with a 107-102 win over the New York Knicks.

Frank Kaminsky added 14 points, including two clutch three-pointers late in the fourth quarter, while Kristaps Porzingis led the Knicks with 25 points.

In Miami Marc Gasol scored a season-high 28 points as the Memphis Grizzlies beat Miami 110-107. AP

Sports

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Part One

COW born and raised in the Philippines must serve its life to the plates of about 38 Filipinos every year.

To date, the Philippines has a cattle population of 2.6 million that has to meet the demand of the country’s 100.98 million strong people.

Well, even the most populous country in the world suffers the same fate as the Philippines: about 13 Chinese people have to feast on one cattle every year.

The same is true for other neighboring Asian countries, such as South Korea and Japan, which has a population-cattle ratio of 15:1 and 33:1, respectively.

PESO exchange rates n US 49.9680

Data by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) shows there are only about five countries where the number of cattle outnumbers its people: Uruguay, New Zealand, Argentina, Australia and Brazil.

Uruguay, which has a population of 3.67 million, has the most cattle per capita at 3.6 by having more than 12 million cattle.

In the hopes of hastening the development of the local beef cattle and other ruminant industries, the Philippines embarked on a series of live and gene importation of ruminant animals (cattle, sheep and goat) eight years ago.

Bloodlines

THE Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI), an attached agency of the Department of Agriculture (DA),

through its ruminant development program called Animal Genetic Infusion Projects (Agip), has facilitated four importation projects aiming to develop local ruminant industries by infusing new bloodlines—may it be through live animals or frozen semen—from America and Australia.

The first project was the P399.90million US Public Law (USPL) 480assisted program called Accelerating the Genetic Resource Improvement Program for Beef Cattle and Small Ruminants (Agripbes).

The Agripbes aims to ensure the continuous breeding of purebreds and genetically superior upgraded animals as local source of breeder stock for backyard farmers and small-scale commercial farms of cattle, sheep and goat.

Since the launch of the Agripbes in Continued on A2

n japan 0.4408 n UK 62.2102 n HK 6.4424 n CHINA 7.2229 n singapore 34.8866 n australia 37.0163 n EU 52.7312 n SAUDI arabia 13.3262

Source: BSP (25 November 2016 )

BMReports BusinessMirror

A2 Monday, November 28, 2016

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Cow, sheep and goat raisers ruminate future as govt stops importation tack Continued from A1

2008 under a repayment scheme, the BAI has successfully imported and distributed 2,788 ruminant animals to date: 1,510 heads of sheep, 1,200 heads of goats and 78 heads of cattle.

The ruminant animals were distributed to 16 regions for 239 multiplier farms composed of government stock farms (GSF), state universities and colleges, and private multiplier farms.

Through another P475 million worth of funding assistance from USPL480, the BAI started another project in 2010, the “Goat Production Project for An Accelerated Hunger Mitigation Program” (GPP-AHMP).

It was through this project that the Philippines was able to import and distribute 1,430 head of breeder goats—1,300 does and 130 bucks—this year.

Genetics

THE GPP-AHMP was the materialization of the agriculture department’s commitment to the government’s program of mitigating hunger and reducing poverty incidence in the country back in 2007.

To date, the country’s goat population has reached 3.71 million heads, according to latest data from Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). PSA data also shows that goat production in 2015 increased to 77,480-metric-tons (MT) live weight, from 76,100 in 2014.

Enacted in 1954, the USPL480 refers to a US legislation, which is also known as the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act, which mandates the US to use its agricultural productivity to enhance the food security of developing

countries and the determination of the importing country’s capacity of improving its food security.

The third importation program was the Expanded Breeder Cattle Lease Ownership Program (E-BCLOP). This program aimed to revitalize and sustain local cattle production. Proponents said this can be achieved by introducing high-grade and purebred animals with quality genetic materials at both smallholding farmers, as well as multiplier cattle raisers to ensure their continued access to genetics.

The program started in 2014 and ended in 2016, resulting in the procurement of 1,342 heads of imported cattle from Australia. Of this number, 760 heads of purebred commercial Brahman heifer where distributed to local cattle organization Federation of Cattle Raisers Association of the Philippines (FCRAP). The remaining heads were distributed to government stock farms.

Halted

THE last importation program that the BAI conceptualized was the Mutton Development Project (MDP). The MDP, which was conceived and approved in 2015, aimed to buy 3,409 heads of prolific commercial meat-type sheep to develop the mutton industry and sheep production in the country.

The E-BCLOP and MDP are Philippine government-funded projects with respective budgets of P200 million and P124.48 million, respectively.

However, the MDP didn’t come into fruition when Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol took office on June 30.

“The project was overpriced. It was really overpriced and, besides, we already have a lot of sheep in the country,” Piñol told the BusinessMirror. “Go to Mindanao and you will see a lot of sheep there. Let’s just focus on growing and multiplying the current sheep population.”

Costs

ACCORDING to BAI Director Simeon S. Amurao Jr., the 3,409 heads of sheep from Australia were already procured and the only problem was that Piñol didn’t want to sign the travel authority of the BAI-Agip selectors due to the “overpriced” heads of sheep.

“We don’t challenge him [Piñol] because it’s his perception as [DA] Secretary,” Amurao told the BusinessMirror. “It’s the decision of the secretary if the project [MDP] pushes through.”

Amurao said the estimated final cost of each sheep was around P36,000 [$722.23 at current exchange rate], inclusive of transportation costs [via airplane], quarantine and animal-testing fees and other costs. The sheep alone costs only P16,000 [nearly $321], he added.

“The budget given to us was solely for capital outlay, there should be also [a budget] for maintenance and [other] operating expenses [Mooe],” Amurao said, adding that it’s the DA that shoulders the quarantine fees of the ruminant animals in Australia, as well as their transportation costs to the Philippines.

“We didn’t have a budget for Mooe, that’s why we needed it to incorporate to the cost of the sheep,” Amurao said. “That’s the reason it became expensive.”

Waiting

DATA from the BAI shows that as of April 2010, the country’s sheep population reached 49,747. About 56.12 percent, or 27,919, were raised by backyard raisers.

The Federation of Goat and Sheep Producers Association of the Philippines Inc. (Fgaspapi), a collaborator of the MDP project, lauded former Agriculture Secretary Proceso J. Alcala for approving the MDP. “We tried to involve the government [in sheep raising] before. It’s only the [administration of] President [Benigno S.] Aquino III that implemented concrete steps to support the small ruminant industry,” Fgaspapi President Noel Soliman said in an earlier BusinessMirror report.

It was the Fgaspapi that lobbied the government to implement a genetic improvement program focused on sheep production. However, it was not only the MDP that got the green light from the new DA chief.

Paul Limson, overall project manager of Agip, disclosed that Piñol has yet to green light the other projects under Agip.

“We are still waiting for Secretary Piñol’s official word about the Agip. On what he plans to happen, whether he wants to do another wave of importation of live animals,” Limson told the BusinessMirror.

“There’s no marching order yet.”

Limited

AGIP Assistant Project Manager Diosamia M. Sevilla said they received overwhelming feedbacks from smallhold farmers and animal raisers who thought that the ruminant importation was a continuous project.

“Yes, there are still people requesting for certain breeds of imported ruminants, especially when they learned there was a project such as the Agripbes,” Sevilla told the BusinessMirror.

“They thought it was unlimited,” Sevilla said, adding that the BAI would focus, for the meantime, on the monitoring and propagation of the already imported ruminant animals in the country.

Some of those people were cattle raisermembers belonging to our group, FCRAP President Allan S. Bernales said.

Bernales said some of their members declined to accept the cattle allotted to them, as their respective farms were still recovering from the effects of El Niño during the distribution of the ruminants over the summer.

Around 150, out of the estimated 200, FCRAP members received cattle from the Ebclop, according to Bernales.

“When the FCRAP board learned about the halting of the importation, we just thought that we cannot do anything if the DA has different priorities for agriculture,” Bernales said. “But we hope that they would continue their genetic improvement projects even if it’s not through live animal breeding.”

He added t he y wou ld ju st work double time on the imported cattle they already received.

“What happens now is that we just have to work double time because it will take patience to raise a cattle before breeding,” Bernales said. “We may also have to just wait for the offspring of the first set of cattle we got and distribute it to other members.” To be continued

PHL to miss 2016 export-growth goal Continued from A1

Philexport President Sergio R. Ortiz-Luis Jr. said Philippine exporters would end the year with lower earnings, despite the weakening of the peso, which is considered a boon for export sectors. “The decrease in goods trade has been too

negative, it could end up negative by the end of the year,” Ortiz-Luis said on the sidelines of a forum organized by the Bank of China.

Including the export of services, the Philexport chief said overall exports growth in 2016 would still be flat. Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed

that export receipts in September reached $5.21 billion, a 5.1-percent increase from $4.96 billion recorded a year ago.

This, however, was not enough to pull up export revenues in January to September. Receipts from shipments of Philippine-made goods declined by 6.2 percent year-

on-year in terms of value during the period.

September’s exports data represented the first time in over a year that earnings recorded an increase, as sluggish global trade caused revenues to decline on a monthly basis.

The US and European countries are some of the major buyers of

locally made goods. The slump in global demand for traditional exports, such as electronics, resulted in lower export receipts this year.

Ortiz-Luis said not even the weakening of the peso, which breached the P50 level last week, could drive growth in the exports sector. A weak peso is generally good for the business-process outsourcing sector and overseas Filipino workers.

More investments

Despite t he s t a g n at ion i n global economy, the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) said it is optimistic that the country will end the year with more investment pledges.

Peza Director General Charito B. Plaza said the increase in investment pledges will be boosted

by President Duterte’s approval for the set up of an additional 29 economic zones.

Trump. . .

“We’ll have around P 200 billion plus once the 29 new ecozones will have their presidential proclamation signed by President Duterte,” Plaza said.

Peza said it is targeting to develop three types of industrial zones in the next six years: defense industrial complexes, agro-forestry and aqua-marine zones, and low-carbon and energy efficient zones.

The agency also intends to remove locational restrictions on tourism economic zones.

While Plaza declined to name big-ticket projects that would boost investment pledges, she said earlier Peza is keen on attracting more investments from the Middle East.

According to Peza data, registered investments have amounted to P107 billion in October. This, however, is 10 percent lower than the P174 billion recorded in the same period last year.

Continued from A16

the finance, manufacturing, realestate and health-care sector.

Yu added that the robust demand in BPO office spaces also fueled the construction of IT parks and buildings nationwide. The National Capital Region accounted for the biggest share at 79 percent, or 4.95 million sq m.

Tied in second are Regions 4 and 7, with a share of 7 percent each.

In Cavite, Batangas, Laguna and Rizal, Yu said a total of 443,905.17 sq m of IT parks and buildings is currently being constructed.

Earlier, the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) said the country’s BPO sector will remain attractive to US-based firms despite the President’s antiAmerican sentiments.

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary and Neda Director General

Ernesto M. Pernia said the Philippine BPO industry will continue to enjoy the patronage of American firms because of low labor costs.

The minimum wage rates in Metro Manila, where a lot of BPOs and call centers are located, range from P454 to P491. This translates to around $9.46 to $10.23 a day based on a peso-dollar exchange rate of P48.

According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, weekly wage rates in the US averaged $1,043 in the first quarter of 2016.

This translates to $149 per day for a seven-day work week.

The Neda, however, said downside risks to the economy remain, such as the vulnerability of the agriculture and fishery sector to the possible occurrence of La Niña, as well as the sluggish recovery of Europe.

Economy

A4 Monday, November 28, 2016 • Editors: Vittorio V. Vitug and Max V. de Leon

BusinessMirror

news@businessmirror.com.ph

DOE seeks investments in LNG sector

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By Lenie Lectura

@llectura

he Department of Energy (DOE) said it is inviting foreign investors to help the country develop the liquefied natural gas (LNG) sector.

During the recent LNG Producer-Consumer Conference 2016 in Japan, Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi presented the LNG road map of the country, in a bid to promote fuel diversification for energy stability and affordability.

“As an emerging LNG market in Asia, my country, the Philippines, can take advantage of the current period of oversupply and the relatively low prices of LNG,” Cusi said in his keynote address for the third session of the said forum.

The Philippines’s only gas asset is the Malampaya Gas Field, where 98 percent of its total production is used for power generation supplying fuel to five natural-gas plants in Batangas. These are the Ilijan, Santa Rita, San Lorenzo, San Gabriel and Avion, with a total installed capacity of 3,211 megawatts (MW) providing the electricity requirement of Luzon and even the Visayas.

However, gas supply from Malampaya is expected to deplete

by 2022. With this, Cusi provided the natural-gas project prospects in the country for the Japanese and other international investors to develop, which includes LNG importation, off-grid or missionary islands conversion to natural-gas power plants and even nonpower applications, such as in transportation.

Through this forum, Cusi encouraged the international community to tighten partnerships in further developing and promoting the LNG industry, especially in the Philippines.

Weighing the technology-resource efficiency, Cusi explained that “LNG can provide the demand from baseload, midmerit and peaking requirements and can compete with other fuel sources that can address the least-cost optimal electricity from such demand centers.”

Supported by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan, the LNG Producer-Consumer Conference has been held

every year since 2012 to further promote a shared understanding and cooperation between

producers and consumers.

This year it was cohosted by the Asia-Pacific Energy Research

Centre s with over 50 countries and regions participated, bringing together ministers, senior officials

and relevant company executives from LNG producing-consuming countries.

Mining industry has strategic role in govt development agenda Villar: R-10 construction

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he strategic role and potential of the mining industry was highlighted in a workshop held recently with the Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development (DOST-PCIEERD), the mining industry, academe and environmental advocates.

The workshop, organized by the Stratbase ADRi and the Philippine Business for Environmental Stewardship (PBEST), recognized the need to integrate a longterm strategic road map for the efficient harnessing of country’s rich natural

resources in the context of responsible mining and responsible environmental stewardship.

Dr. C.P. David, executive director of the DOST-PCIEERD and concurrently PBEST convenor, stressed the critical need to invest in research and development to provide the technical and scientific basis for economic policies.

The workshop tackled issues blocking the revitalization of vital industries, such as steel and manufacturing, and the need to develop the capacity of the local mining industry to harness the country’s minerals efficiently.

Among the initial research topics that the group agreed upon are black-sand mining

to revitalize the local steel industry; environmental technologies and value adding in Nickel Laterite Exports.

Lawyer Ysan Castillo, secretary-general of PBEST, said, “As the government implements the most aggressive development agenda, integrating a sciencebased stewardship plan for the country’s natural resources and mining industry will boost the efficiency of the economy while ensuring compliance to strict environmental regulations. Partnership between the government and the mining sector opens a big opportunity to tap the best technical experts to come up

with good policies.”

“We all want to take care of the environment and we all want to develop our economy, we all want to be prosperous.

Working together on a strategic plan to harness our natural resources based on sound data and science will give all sectors a clear understanding of how we should use this huge potential for the benefit of all,” Castillo said.

The outputs of the workshop will be integrated in a memorandum of agreement between DOST-PCIEERD and the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines launching a series of research projects to develop the industry.

Community media gird for 21st National Press Congress

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reparations are now well under way for the 21st National Press Congress, mandated under Presidential Proclamation 1187 and slated on December 2 and 3 this year at the Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP) in Tagaytay City.

The two-day annual media event, under the auspices of the Publishers Association of the Philippines Inc. (Papi), will on issues related to the contemplated shift to federalism from the present presidential form of government. Its theme is “The Stakes and Prospects of the Community Media under a Federal Government.”

Among the topics up for discussion by experts are types of federal governments: which model best suits the Filipino orientation; significant differences in structural organization and political dynamics between the presidential and federal government systems; inclusive growth prospects in a federal government set up; and opportunities for the community media under a federal government regime.

Papi President Nelson Santos said they have opted to hold this year’s media congress at the DAP in Tagaytay City to provide its participants a good and absorptive learning atmosphere and ensue conviviality among them since the event is also a cherished delightful homecoming among community media players.

Santos pointed out that Tagaytay City is a haven for vacationists and tourists on account of its cool air and

resumes after six presidents

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fter six presidents, Department of Secretary Mark A. Villar announced that the road traversing the old Smokey Mountain area congested by informal settlers will soon turn into a high-capacity highway helping offset the usual heavy volume of vehicles in major highways, like Edsa and C-5.

“Filipinos will soon have access to an improved and widened Radial Road 10, or R-10, which they may opt to use as alternate route to Edsa via Bonifacio Drive and Roxas Boulevard in traveling from north to south and vice versa,” Villar said.

“We have completed the clearing of illegal structures along the road right-of-way. We will now resume construction activities for the full completion of the upgrading and widening of the remaining section, particularly at Pacheco, Tondo, area,” he added.

The 9.7-kilometers R-10, stretch-

ing from Delpan Bridge, Tondo, Manila to the mouth of the Malabon River at Bangkulasi Bridge, C-4 Road in Navotas City, may be used as an alternate route to Edsa and C-5 for motorists traveling from Quezon City to Manila and Pasay.

“The Bangkulasi Bridge at the end of C-4 in Navotas City has also been recently opened following the relocation of informal-settler families previously occupying the foot of the bridge,” Villar said.

Villar added that the project will not only ease traffic congestion, but also enhance economic efficiency and competitiveness of the the export industry by providing faster and more reliable freight movement.

“The Duterte administration is committed to speeding up implementation of infrastructure projects.

We are commited to opening R-10 in January 2017,” Villar said.

Philexport backs implementation of labor laws to protect workers

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SANTOS

breathtaking sceneries, with Taal Lake and Taal Volcano in Batangas seemingly just a stone’s throw away.

Tagaytay’s other inviting tourism assets include its People’s Park in the Sky situated on top of Mount Sungay, Cavite’s highest elevation point; Tagaytay Picnic Grove, Tierra de Maria, which is famous for its 50-foot tall giant statue of the Virgin of Manaoag; Museo Orlina; and Paradizoo, which combines the charm of a farm and a mini-zoo.

Regular participants in Papi’s annual National Press Congress are its regular and associate members, including community newspaper publishers, media executives, editors, broadcasters, reporters, public information and media relations officers, campus journalists and other communicators.

tressing that policies and laws protecting the rights of workers are many and in place already, the umbrella organization of Philippine exporters urged their proper implementation as a way to ensure workers’ right to security of tenure.

The Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. (Philexport), with over 4,000 micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) members nationwide, “categorically” supports the termination of such practices that are contrary to the provisions of Presidential Decree 442, or the Labor Code of the Philippines.

“These violate security of tenure, the right of which is secured by the Constitution, statute and jurisprudence,” it said in a position paper.

The exporters group said there is, thus, a need to promote and ensure that contractors and direct principals are labor laws compliant.

“The fact is exporters have always tried to be compliant with labor laws, mainly because foreign buyers would not allow us to do otherwise, or we lose orders.

But there is one important factor that governs the hiring policies of

many of us. I refer to the seasonality of demand and supply that challenges our viability,” it added.

Under these circumstances, Philexport is opposed to the prohibition on contracting, as this is an exercise of management prerogative.

It said this is stipulated by the Article 6 of the Labor Code and premised on the constitutional rights of employers on freedom to contract.

“Outsourcing is a legitimate activity globally, so long as management exercises this right in good faith,” it said. “It is clear that what is subcontracted or contracted out is directly related to the main business of the principal, whether these are unnecessary, incidental or not integral to the main business of the principal,” Philexport added.

Philexport noted that MSME operations are seriously cost sensitive, such that any upward adjustment in any part of the supply chain can render them uncompetitive and out-of-business.

“The jobs that government wants to keep may be the same jobs that we will lose if we do not balance the interests of all stakeholders involved,” it said. Philexport News and Features

Agriculture/Commodities BusinessMirror

news@businessmirror.com.ph

Editor: Jennifer A. Ng • Monday, November 28, 2016 A5

PHL’s 2016 dairy imports to hit 2 MMT

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

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@jearcalas

he Philippines’s total dairy imports this year could expand by 8.1 percent to 2 million metric tons (MMT) liquid milk equivalent (LME) due to the rapid expansion of the food-processing sector.

The latest Global Agricultural Information Network (Gain) report from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) said the global glut in dairy products and lower prices are encouraging local buyers to increase imports.

“Imports in 2016 [will] rise to 2 MMT if low global dairy prices continue to prevail, which is 150,000 metric tons [MT] above NDA [National Dairy Authority] estimates,” the report read.

NDA estimated that imports would reach 1.85 MMT LME by the end of 2016, up from 1.8 MMT in 2015. The attached agency of the Department of Agriculture said low global dairy prices and strong local demand boosted dairy imports last year.

Skim milk powder (SMP) imports, the Gain report said, will increase “significantly” this year as the Philippines expands its shipments of dairy products to the Asean region. Local producers are also stocking up on SMP to take advantage of low global dairy prices.

“Whole milk powder [WMP] imports in 2016 are also forecast to increase based on prices, but at a slower price than SMP,” the report read.

SMP and WMP imports comprise roughly 50 percent of Philippines’s total dairy imports. In 2015 the country’s SMP imports reached a total volume of 787,400 MT LME, while total WMP imports reached 134,100 MT LME. “Imports of butter, cheese and liquid milk are all forecast to increase this year due to low prices and increasing demand for these products,” the report read.

The Philippines’s 2016 export of fluid milk could also expand to 384,960 MT LME from the 360,900 MT LME recorded a year ago.

The report noted that nonfat

milk imports in 2016 could rise by 50 percent to 1.203 MMT LME compared to the 802,000 MT LME recorded in 2015.

Data also showed that dry WMP imports would increase by more than a quarter to 224,560 MT LME from 176,440 MT LME recorded a year ago, while cheese imports could grow by 10 percent to 121,220 MT LME from110,200 MT LME. By volume, the major suppliers to the Philippines are New Zealand, with a 29 percent share of total imports; the US, 29 percent; and Australia, 8 percent.

According to the report prepared by the Foreign Agricultural Service in Manila, US dairy exports this year are expected to decline by roughly 20 percent in terms of value and may only reach $205 million.

“Due to increasing global milk production and a sharp decline in prices, US dairy exports are expected to decline 20 percent by value in 2016,” the report read.

“Dairy exports by volume are expected to remain flat. However, 2016 US nonfat dry milk powder exports by volume are expected to increase by 10 percent,” it added.

In 2015 the Philippines was the sixth-largest market for US dairy products by value at $251 million, down 40 percent from the prior year. The top US dairy exports to the Philippines in 2015 were nonfat dry milk powder ($165 million), dried whey ($15 million) and cheese ($8 million).

The Philippines imports virtually all of its dairy products, especially milk powder, as domestic production cannot meet the country’s dairy requirement of 1.955 MMT LME, according to the NDA. Dairy products are currently the Philippines’s third-largest agricultural import after wheat and soybean meal.

FILE PHOTO

Commercial propagation of Bt ‘talong’ to start next year

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cientists from the University of the Philippines Los Baños’s (UPLB) Institute of Plant Breeding said they will soon seek a permit for the commercial propagation of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) eggplant, or talong.

Dr. Desiree M. Hautea, leader of the Bt eggplant project, said they are targeting the commercial propagation of the genetically modified (GM) crop in the first half of 2017.

“We already have the necessary and required documents, but the question is are they sufficient enough?” Hautea told the BusinessMirror on the sidelines of a biotechnology forum last week.

“We have to carefully understand and assess the requirements needed for commercial propagation under a joint department circular. And once we feel that our data is sufficient, then we will file

immediately,” she added.

Under Joint Department Circular (JDC) 1, GM crops for commercial propagation will have to be assessed by government agencies to determine its impact on human health and the economy. The JDC 1 outlines the application process for GM crops.

The agencies that will assess GM crops prior to commercial propagation are the Bureau of Plant Industry, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Department of Health, Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority, Bureau of Animal Industry, Department of Science and Technology and “independent” assessors.

“We don’t want to experience delays and go back and forth with the application due to insufficient data. That’s why we are carefully assessing the documents and re-

Christmas-tree farmers in Massachusetts weather drought

A worker carries a Douglas fir tree to load on a truck. Bloomberg News

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he cold, dreary rain on Friday may have made this summer’s heat and dryness seem like a long time ago, but many local Christmas tree farmers opened for the season with a crop impacted by the ongoing drought.

“We’re actually a little busier for the first day of the season than we usually are. Part of the reason is I’ve heard other farms have been really affected by the drought,” said Dave Morin, owner of Arrowhead Acres Christmas Tree Farm in Uxbridge.

“Let’s put it this way, we’re selling more than I would have expected on a good day.”

In fact, at least one farm is closed this year because of the drought.

“It seemed like the prudent thing to do is to stay shut,” said Curtis Abbott, owner of Abbott Tree Farm in Charlton. In a November 22 Face-

book post, Abbott cited the drought and a limited supply of 7-foot to 8-foot trees as reasons the farm would not open.

The state kicked off the Christmas tree season with a ceremony on Friday at Mistletoe Acres Tree Farm in East Bridgewater, and Gov. Charles D. Baker Jr. proclaimed the day Green Friday to promote local tree farmers. The state says the holidays create hundreds of seasonal jobs at the state’s nearly 400 Christmas tree farms, and that the sector generates $1.4 million each year.

But this has been a tough year for many in the agricultural sector, as 63 percent of the state is in severe drought and 41 percent of the state is in extreme drought as of Tuesday, according to the United States Drought Monitor.

Christmas tree farmers interviewed on Friday

reported varying impacts of the drought depending on their farm’s location, topography and soils.

Greg Davagian, owner of Davagian Tree Farm in Sutton, for instance, said he had lost mostly seedlings; but heard that some farmers who planted trees in gravelly soil had lost mature trees because of the drought.

On the other hand, “I don’t see any signs that the drought has impacted any of our trees in any way,” said Gregory Farrell, operator and manager of Holloway Tree Farm in Northboro. He said the farm was in a low-lying area.

But most farmers reported two impacts from the drought: stunted growth and a poor survival rate for seedlings.

“The major impact was that the established trees didn’t grow as much as they normally do, and the seedlings we planted in the spring probably had a 30-percent failure rate because of the drought,” Abbott said.

These factors don’t necessarily mean there are no local Christmas trees available this year, however.

The majority of the trees being sold are 7-feet to 12-feet tall and have been in the ground for around a decade, farmers said. That means they’ve had plenty of time to develop strong root systems to seek out scarce water.

“We did lose a lot of new seedlings in the spring, but the rest of the trees seem to do pretty good for the fact that it makes their roots go further down into the ground in search of water,” said Linda Luks, who owns Luks Tree Farm in Auburn with her husband Richard. “And the trees are just fine, I put mine up last weekend and not one needle fell off.”

As for the seedlings lost this year, they would have needed about a decade to mature into harvestable trees, and farmers should have several years to make up for the loss, said John Lebeaux, commissioner of the state Department of Agricultural Resources. TNS

quirements we have at hand,” Hautea said.

When asked if the Bt talong would be given the green light before 2017 ends, Hautea said, “I’m optimistic enough, given the struggles we’ve been through for this GM crop.”

“We thought it was impossible already, but see, until now there’s a possibility. I don’t want to lose hope,” she added.

In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court on July 26 reversed its December 2015 ruling, which temporarily stopped the field testing, propagation, commercialization and importation of GM crops in the country.

In the en banc session, the SC granted the nine motions for reconsideration filed by Bt talong proponents, which asked the High Court (SC) to set aside its Decem-

ber 2015 ruling on the ground of mootness.

The SC agreed with the petitioners that the case should have been dismissed in view of the completion and termination of the Bt talong field trials and the expiration of the biosafety permits in 2012.

The High Court also said it should not have resolved the case on its substantive merits due to mootness, and should not have acted on the question of whether Administrative Order (AO) 8 issued by the Department of Agriculture was constitutional.

The SC ruling also nullified AO 8 issued in 2002, say ing the order lacked the minimum safety requirements under Executive Order 514, which established the National Biosafety Framework. Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

5 big supermarket chains to buy directly from onion farmers–Piñol

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ive of the country’s biggest supermarket chains have committed to buy directly from onion and garlic farmers to help boost their incomes, according to Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol.

“This unprecedented access by local growers to local markets nationwide could be the start of the struggle to dismantle cartels controlling these important commodities in the country,” Piñol said in a statement.

The participation of the 5 big supermarket chains, he said, would “liberate” farmers from the control of cartels. Those who pledged to buy direct from farmers are SM, Rustan’s, ShopWise, SaveMore and Mindanao-based NCCC Mall.

Piñol said Filipino onion and garlic farmers have suffered from “longdepressed” prices for their produce because a “few, rich and powerful groups control the industry” through huge importation and unscrupulous practices, such as hoarding and smuggling.

He said it was Go Negosyo head Joey Concepcion, the Presidential Adviser on Economic Enterprise, who put together the agreement after the Department of Agriculture chief had made an overseas call to him.

Concepcion was in Paris, France, when Piñol phoned him while presiding over the Soccsksargen Agricultural Development Program board in Kidapawan City.

“Teresita Sy-Coson of SM, Nonoy

Colayco of Rustan’s, Jojo Tagbo of SM SaveMore, Leah Lee of SM Supermarket and ShopWise responded and committed to buy their onion and garlic supply direct from the farmers,” Piñol said.

“On my own, I also sent a text message to Riolinda Lim, vice president of NCCC Mall, a chain of about 20 supermarkets in Mindanao who said brothers Javey and Lafayette Lim, whose family owns NCCC, have pledged to buy onion and garlic direct from the farmers,” he added.

Following this development, the DA has to work out a system by which onion farmers, especially those from Bongabon, Nueva Ecija, could deliver their produce to the supermarket chains, he said.

The farmers need a working capital, Piñol said, so they could buy their members’ produce for delivery to these supermarkets.

They also need a revolving capital since the supermarkets’ payment system does not allow direct payment upon delivery, he said.

“I instructed Undersecretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat to make arrangements with Agricultural Credit Policy Council Head Jocelyn Badiola to prepare a substantial loan package for the country’s onion and garlic farmers,” Piñol said.

He said he would have to look into other issues, such as storage facilities for onion and garlic and possibly delivery trucks.

The Nation

A6 Monday, November 28, 2016 • Editor: Dionisio L. Pelayo

BusinessMirror

Lawmakers seek ouster of 3 more DOTr execs

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WO lawmakers have pressed for the resignation of three more undersecretaries of the Department of Transportation (DOTr) owing to conflict of interest, having previously served under private companies that have stakes in big-ticket infrastructure projects of the DOTr.

Liberal Party Rep. Winston Castelo of Quezon City and Party-list Rep. Tom Villarin of Akbayan said the officials—Undersecretary for Air Operations Robert Lim, Undersecretary for Maritime Affairs Felipe Judan and Undersecretary for Legal Affairs Raoul Creencia— must resign immediately to spare the administration of President Duterte from accusations of corruption and irregularities.

The two joined several other lawmakers, led by Speaker Pantaleon D. Alvarez, who have sought the ouster of the “conflicted” transportation officials. Earlier, Undersecretary for Railway Noel Kintanar, who was previously with the Ayala Corp., resigned amid clamor for a revamp in the DOTr.

Alvarez has raised the alarm over the negotiated contracts that will be covered by an emergencypowers package being sought by Transportation Secretary Arthur P. Tugade, noting that doing away with the procurement law might lead to anomalous contracts favoring the former employers of the DOTr undersecretaries.

Kintanar, before joining the DOTr, was instrumental in Ayala’s acquisition of rail projects under the previous administration. Lim was a former country manager of the International Air Transport Association, while Judan was formerly an executive of Southwest Maritime Group, which has businessman Ramon Ang’s Petron as customer.

Ang is now majority owner of the Manila North Harbor Port Inc. (MNHPI).

“Resignation is voluntary. There are laws to ensure conflict of interest would not compromise their jobs however flawed,” Castelo said.

Villarin, for his part, said Duterte must eventually make a decision on the fate of these officials.

“This is where the challenge of governance lies,” he said.

Alvarez said the issue of conflict of interest must be resolved, since under the proposed emergencypowers package DOTr officials will now be free to enter into negotiated contracts, and potentially, with companies where they were formerly employed.

“With all these people at the DOTr, these undersecretaries who have their own vested interests, I

am sure they will negotiate these contracts,” he said.

Alvarez, however, stressed that Tugade is still to blame ultimately for the actions of his people.

“At the end of the day, he is still accountable for the inefficiencies of these people whom he appointed as undersecretaries,” he added.

Alvarez stressed that Congress could not just grant a blanket authority to Tugade, given his lackluster performance.

“The problem is not with Congress. We have asked the DOTr to show to us what they have accomplished so far and what their concrete plans are but they have not complied,” he said.

“We cannot just grant them emergency powers if we are not sure where they will use these,” Alvarez added. Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

news@businessmirror.com.ph

Marcos legal team to SC: Release contents of ‘unused’ SD cards

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HE legal team of former Sen. Ferdinand E. Marcos Jr. has asked the Supreme Court, sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET), for the results of the decryption of the supposedly “unused” SD cards found to have data during the stripping process.

In a manifestation, lawyer George Erwin Garcia said the fact that many of the supposedly “unused” SD cards were found to have data during the stripping activities for 1,356 units of contingency vote-counting machines (VCMs) bolstered their position that mere physical examination is not enough to prove that they were not used in the last elections.

“With all due respect, the presence of data stored in the SD cards, which were retrieved from the 1,356 units of contingency VCMs, bolsters the position of protestant Marcos that the mere physical examination of the subject VCMs, boxes, seals, stickers and SD cards is, indeed, inadequate to prove that the same were not used in the May 9, 2016, elections,” Garcia said.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) had conducted the stripping activities after it unilaterally decided to release 1,356 VCMs to Smartmatic, claiming they were not covered by the Precautionary Protective Order (PPO) since they were not used and/or not deployed in the May elections. However, it was later discovered that many of SD cards in the supposedly “unused” VCMs were found to contain data during the stripping activities conducted by the poll body and Smartmatic.

Because of this, Garcia asked for a copy of the results of decryption of the SD cards found to contain data.

“It is respectfully prayed of this honorable tribunal to direct the Comelec to furnish the protestant and the other interested parties in this case with…the results of the decryption of the SD cards from [1,356] units of contingency VCMS, which were found to contain data during the said closure/strip-

Duterte may yet go for Con-con–Atienza

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OUSE Senior Deputy Minority Leader Lito Atienza is still optimistic that President Duterte may change his mind and push for a constitutional convention (Con-con) as the administration’s desired mode of revising the 1987 Constitution toward a federal parliamentary form of government.

“Several of the President’s allies strongly prefer a constitutional convention. We are hoping they can still persuade the President to go for a constitutional convention,” Atienza said.

He cited Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri as one of the presidential allies advocating for a Con-con.

Like Atienza, Zubiri is author of a bill calling for the convening of a Con-con.

Zubiri’s bill proposes the election of 86 independent delegates to a Con-con, or one delegate from every province plus five delegates from the National Capital Region.

The senator also wants an extra 15 delegates to be appointed by the President.

“Malacañang’s allies in Congress who favor a constitutional convention are banking on the fact that the President himself originally wanted a constitutional convention,” Atienza said.

While still running for office, and even immediately after he was elected, Duterte had repeatedly indicated that he favored a Con-con over a constituent assembly.

In a Con-con, the people will elect representatives who will recom mend rev isions to t he Constitution.

In a Con-ass, Congress itself sits down to put forward amendments to the Constitution.

In both cases, the proposed changes will require final direct approval by the people in a referendum.

“Actually, the President somewhat changed his mind and supported a constituent assembly only after other allies in Congress inflated and played up the supposed huge expense required by a constitutional conven-

ATIENZA: “The people are entitled to elect a new set of representatives to propose changes to the Constitution.”

tion,” Atienza said.

He dismissed as “canard” the estimated P8 billion cost of a Con-con.

“That is a ridiculously excessive amount obviously pumped up by people around the President who have their own agenda, and who want a constituent assembly,” Atienza said.

In previous administrations, attempts to convene Congress into a Con-ass to revise the Constitution met strong public resistance due to misgivings that lawmakers might introduce selfserving amendments, such as the removal of restrictions to the number of terms they and their family members may serve in elected offices.

At present, the 1987 Constitution limits the terms of members of the House of Representatives, as well as local government officials to three successive three-year terms. The Constitution also limits the terms of senators to no more than two successive six-year terms.

Atienza is pushing for constitutional reforms, but is strongly opposed to a Con-ass.

“The people are entitled to elect a new set of representatives to propose changes to the Constitution,” Atienza said.

“We in Congress were not specifically selected by the people to tamper with and mess around with the Constitution. We were chosen as district and party-list representatives mainly to pass new laws,” he pointed out.

The House is set to begin plenary debates on a concurrent resolution calling for Congress to convene itself into a Con-ass. Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

ping activities,” Garcia stated.

Garcia informed the tribunal that they did not take part in the stripping activities conducted on October 26 and November 2, because it is their position that the Comelec should have first secured authority from the PET before carrying out the stripping activities. He said the existence of a PPO, which enjoins the poll body to preserve all election materials used in the last elections, precluded the commission from conducting the said activity without court approval.

“The objection of protestant Marcos was based on his position that the 1,356 units of contingency VCMs were covered by the PPO dated July 12, 2016, and that this honorable tribunal has not issued any explicit approval to the closure/stripping activities. Moreover, the conduct of mere physical examination of the subject VCMs, boxes, seals, stickers and SD cards is inadequate to prove that the same were not used in the May 9, 2016, elections,” Garcia said.

With the subsequent approval of the PET to conduct the stripping activities, Garcia said they still reserve their right to question the propriety and legitimacy of the said undertaking.

With their nonparticipation in the stripping activities so as not to render their objection moot, Garcia said they do not have copies of the minutes of the proceedings and other documents in relation to the activities, which would guide them in their next course of action.

“On this score, and in order to guide protestant Marcos on the appropriate course of action to remedy his precarious situation, he would like to request this honorable tribunal to direct the Comelec to furnish him and the other interested parties in this case with copies of the minutes of the proceedings and/or yranscript of stenographic notes taken during the closure-stripping activities conducted on October 26, 2016 and November 2, 2016,” he said. Joel R. San Juan

Natgas potential alternative to coal–Seipi

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HE Semiconductor and Electronics Industries Foundation Inc. (Seipi) on Sunday congratulated its Annual Business Partner, First Gen, on the inauguration of its 414-megawatt San Gabriel combined-cycle and 97-MW Avion open-cycle natural gas-fired power plants in Santa Rita, Batangas, early this month.

First Gen owns the 1,000-MW Santa Rita and the 500-MW San Lorenzo natural gas-fired power plants that are actually generating electricity that lowers the bills to consumers of Manila Electric Co. another Seipi ABP. Seipi welcomed the inauguration of the new power plants, which provides much-needed additional generating capacity to the Luzon grid.

As noted by John Morris of the International Energy Consultant in his May 2016 “RegionalGlobal Comparison of Electricity Tariffs” study, the Philippines should “focus on facilitating investment in new generation to meet rapid demand growth and promote competition.”

Seipi said these new investments will create more competition, not just among power plants, but also among fuels. Based on July data from Meralco’s web site, natural gas can be a cheaper source of power.

Dan Lachica, Seipi president, said, “One of the major challenges faced by the electronics industry is the high cost of power, which is the second-most expensive in Asia. The additional 511 MW from these natural-gas power plants is a welcome development for our Philippine electronics industry.”

In 2015 the Philippine electronics industry accounted for $28.9 billion, or 49 percent of our country’s merchandise exports. The industry employs 2.8 million direct and indirect workers.

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Recruiter criticized over list ranking trainees

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recruiter of foreign trainees was widely criticized this week for publishing a list on its web site that evaluated the “potential” of interns in the nursing care industry based on nationality.

The Kagawa Prefecture-based Kokusai Jigyo Kenkyu Kyodo Kumiai, roughly translated as “Cooperative Association for International Operation Research,” has since removed the list from its site.

The list named six different East Asian countries—Myanmar, Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and the Philippines— and scored them based on eight categories, such as religion, fondness for Japan, Japanese language capability and level of morality.

It gave 18 out of 20 points to trainees from Myanmar in the “caregiver qualification” category, while giving the lowest 10 points to trainees from Cambodia.

The organization says the score was based on whether the trainees have the mind-set to offer sincere care or respect elders.

It also gave 20 points to Myanmar in the “gap in wages” category, while giving four points to Thailand.

The category identified differing economic gaps between trainees’ homes and Japan, suggesting that those with larger income gaps would be “less likely to give up their work even in hard conditions,” the guide explained.

Ippei Torii, head of Solidarity Network with Migrants Japan, a support group for foreign workers, said the list represents the real intention of Japanese companies in general, which see the foreign-trainee program as a source of cheap labor.

“This is clearly discrimination. It is absurd to determine the ‘potential’ of foreign trainees based on their nationalities,” he said.

Japan’s foreign-trainee program, which started in 1993 as a form of international contribution to transform skills and know-how to developing countries, is often criticized by domestic and international human-rights advocates as akin to slavery.

Many foreign trainees are known to work long hours with miserably low wages.

The private organization had deleted the list from its web site as of Thursday, explaining that it will “revise the parts that could be misleading.”

Representative Director Tomoyuki Shirai admitted that the list could have given the “wrong impression” that the group sees foreign trainees as merely labor filling a need.

“We will overhaul the whole expression” to make it “less misleading,” he said on Thursday.

He did not explain why and how the company determined the scores given to each nationality, claiming he was not the one who determined them.

A Justice Ministry official declined comment on the specific firm, but said on Thursday that the ministry can issue warnings to recruiters of foreign trainees if they present messages that give “a false impression” of the program, such as suggesting trainees as a way to fill a labor shortage.

Shirai said the group posted the list on its web site sometime around the end of October, after a Lower House committee passed a bill allowing foreign caregivers to work in Japan. TNS

Editor: Max V. de Leon • Monday, November 28, 2016 A7

Thai PM toughens zero-dollar purge

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hailand’s Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on Friday pledged to move ahead with a crackdown on zero-dollar tour operations while assuring efforts were under way to help cushion any impact on the tourism industry.

His remarks were made when asked about a drop in tourist arrivals during his visit to the Ministry of Tourism and Sports ahead of the upcoming tourist season.

Prayut said the crackdown on tourist scams was giving tourism and related businesses a hard time, but stressed that the government was working to address the repercussions.

Thai authorities launched a campaign to tackle the zero-dollar tour scams in late-September in the wake of complaints that it tarnished the country’s reputation.

Chinese tour scams involve offering cheap package tours to customers who are then pressured into buying goods and services at inflated prices, so that the operators can recoup their losses.

But the crackdown has resulted in a slowdown in tourist arrivals and economic losses, with some critics arguing such an approach was not the best option to address the problem.

This month Nok Air said it was decelerating its expansion into China, apparently due to the impact of the crackdown on zero-dollar inbound tours.

Prayut said overall tourist arrivals did not take a hit, but arrivals from some countries did decrease. He pointed out that the slowdown was

caused by several factors, including stricter law enforcement.

The prime minister called on parties concerned to come together and solve the problem. He said the state cannot solve the problem alone.

“We hope to increase tourism revenue in the last quarter by more than 6 percent. The performance in the third quarter has met the target. We believe the final quarter will also meet the target but we want to do better.

“However, we have to consider internal factors. We have to tackle illegal operations. We have to enforce the law and strengthen the industry.

I’m asking every sector to cooperate,” he said.

Prayut said China was providing cooperation to the government in tackling the problem and urged the media to step in and help build confidence among tourists.

He said he was also giving moral support to Tourism and Sports Minister Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul to help solve the problem.

According to the Tourism Authority of Thailand, Chinese tourists represent about 30 percent of total foreign tourist arrivals. Last year Thailand welcomed nearly 30 million foreign tourists and the figure was expected to increase to 33.8 million this year.

Tourists walk past beach chairs on Patong beach in Phuket, Thailand. Bloomberg NEWS

The prime minister also lashed out at the media for failing to promote a better understanding among the public about the government’s legal action against the tour scams.

He said media outlets took the government to task when zero-dollar scams emerged and were critical of the government’s measures against illegal tour operations.

He also called on the media to refrain from bringing up issues that could drive tourists away.

“Who wants to come visit our country? Sometimes they come up with security issues. All these are factors,” he said.

Meanwhile, Phet Chancharoen, Don Mueang airport general manager, said tourist arrivals at the airport in October dropped to 80,000 passengers per day, from 90,000 to

100,000 before officials launched the crackdown.

“The drop in numbers was largely due to a fall in passengers from China. Chartered flights were canceled. Before that, there were tens of thousands of tourists from China daily. That number went down by half after the crackdown,” he added.

However, he said tourist arrivals from China started to pick up in late October to early November along with an increasing number of chartered flights from China.

Phet said tourist arrivals during the peak season and New Year holidays are likely to match those in the same period last year, which was approximately 100,000 to 120,000 passengers a day.

He said the third phase of development of Don Mueang airport is

divided into two periods: 2017 to 2022 and 2023 to 2025. This aims to accommodate growing passenger numbers, which is expected to reach 40 million a year. Its current capacity is 30 million people per year.

Don Mueang airport can currently accommodate 40 flights per hour. After the third-phase upgrade, Don Mueang is expected to serve 50 flights per hour.

According to Phet, the third phase of development comprises 15 projects, which includes the expansion of car-park areas.

An old building north of the airport will be demolished and turned into a car park, he said, adding that bids for the project will be taken next month and construction will last about a year. TNS

Singapore: A top spot for Middle Eastern travelers Bidding set

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bridge between East and West for the last several centuries, Singapore is synonymous with both rich traditions and modernity—all of which make it a favored destination for many.

With its colorful ethnic areas and modern business centers, and lush-green gardens set against sleek high-rise buildings and skyscrapers, Singapore today is a fascinating destination for both leisure and business travelers.

Over the years Singapore, an island city-state with a global financial center and a tropical climate, has witnessed remarkable transformations in its tourism landscape and has achieved record growth in both tourism receipts and visitor arrivals.

Singaporean government agencies work closely with local and international investors to develop new world-class attractions and bring strategic business and leisure events to Singapore.

Some of the exciting plans include the remaking of Orchard Road into one of the best shopping streets in the world, the development of the Singapore Flyer (the world’s largest observation wheel), the renovation and transformation of Sentosa Island as a tropical resort, as well as improvements of major areas, such as the Singapore River, Chinatown and Little India.

These attractions, after massive rejuvenation, will broaden Singapore’s range of entertainment choices and increase the vibrancy of its tourism industry.

The government is also investing $700 million over the next five years in order to increase tourism through strategies that tackle short-term challenges— such as uncertainties in the global economy—while positioning Singapore for long-term growth.

Singapore is one of the few countries in Asia that focuses on developing its tourism, and makes all-out efforts to attract both business people and tourists. This is evident from the fact that several new projects

Bloomberg news Photo

have been launched by Singapore to modernize its urban centers beyond the imagination of most people.

One such program is driverless cars on the roads of Singapore. In fact, the UK-based Delphi Automotive Plc. has been selected by the Singapore Land Transport Authority (LTA) as a strategic partner to implement autonomous mobility concepts. As part of this contract, Delphi will provide a fleet of fully autonomous vehicles and will develop a cloudbased mobility-on-demand software suite, which will open new potential autonomous markets.

Not only this, Singapore’s main downtown shopping street, Orchard Road, now has high-tech trash bins with Wi-fi. This innovative step is backed by the government, which is also committed to ensure proper cleanliness, health and hygiene.

Singapore today can claim to be the cleanest country in South Asia, one of the best in offering health care and one of the top countries in applying and exporting high technology to other nations.

In terms of tourism, Singapore has much to offer. The opulent Marina Bay Sands Resort is an example of great modern architecture. It includes a hotel, shops with high-end luxury brands, a mall with a canal

running through it, and the Marina Bay Sands Skypark—a very high point from where the whole city can be seen. From the skypark, one can see the innovative double helix bridge, the port, the Gardens by the Bay and the city’s impressive skyline.

The Singapore Flyer, the world’s largest giant observation wheel, is another must-see attraction. As is Sentosa Island—to which no trip to Singapore is complete without a visit.

Thrill-seekers will be delighted to find some exciting rides and amazing roller-coasters here. The island is also home to Fort Siloso, a military museum beside a massive aquarium with some 500 species of sea creatures, including fish and crabs.

Gardens by the Bay is another attraction. Wandering through the Bay East Garden gives perfect enjoyment because of its cluster of iconic futuristic structures designed to perform environmentally sustainable functions. Not to be confused with the Gardens on the Bay, the botanic gardens in the vicinity of the city are also worth a visit. In fact, Singapore received its first Unesco World Heritage nomination for the botanic gardens—and with good reason.

In another part of the island-city is Chinatown. From the small stores and authentic Chinese food to the

red lanterns and gifts for sale, there is much excitement and activity in the district. One can visit the Chinese Heritage Center to learn about the place and also about the Chinese influence on Singapore. In addition to Chinatown, there are also “Little India” and “Arab Street”, where a tourist from the Middle East will feel right at home.

In fact, one of the most exciting aspects of Singapore is the diversity of the city and its neighborhoods.

Nowhere is this more evident than in Little India and Arab Street, where one can see and buy a large number of products from the Arab world and India. In the Arab Quarter tourists can visit the historic Sultan Mosque, originally built in 1825, with distinctive golden domes and unusual craftsmanship.

Another fascinating tourist spot is Singapore Zoo, which is billed as the world’s best rainforest zoo. The zoo is clean and inviting with orangutans, chimpanzees, zebras, mole rats, white tigers, kangaroos and other creatures.

Singapore is relatively easy to explore and has a modern metro system that makes getting around not only simple, but cheap. A large number of hotels and restaurants, including those serving halal food, are in the city center. One of the hotels, Royal Plaza on Scotts in Singapore, offers five-star living and dining facilities and is famous for its halal food. The hotel rooms of Royal Plaza have prayer rugs; the Singapore Tourism Board takes great care of tourists traveling from the Middle East and Muslim countries.

The board has said the first six months of the year saw international visitor numbers to the Asian city-state increase by 10.3 percent year-on-year to 11.3 million. The rise in tourism was driven by good growth rates from some top source markets, including China, Indonesia, India and—not surprisingly—the Middle East. TNS

for five rail projects in Dec

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idding is set to open for five double-track rail route construction projects worth more than 100 billion baht next month, the Transport Ministry says.

Peerapol Thawornsuphacharoen, deputy permanent secretary for transport, said the State Railway of Thailand is now gathering feedback on the draft bidding terms for the double-track rail projects worth 101.5 billion baht.

Bidding will be called for all five projects between December 13 and 20, and then bidders will be allowed to submit their proposals between January and February. Contracts will be signed on March 21 next year, Peerapol said.

The five double-track rail projects, which were approved by the cabinet earlier, cover a total of 702 kilometers.

They comprise the 167-km Prachuap Khiri Khan-Chumphon route worth 17.2 billion baht; the 132-km Map Kabao-Thanon Chira Junction line valued at 29.4 billion baht; the 148km Lop Buri-Pak Nam Pho route estimated at 24.7 billion baht; the 165-km Nakhon Pathom-Hua Hin route worth 20 billion baht; and the 90-km Hua Hin-Prachuap Khiri Khan line valued at 10.2 billion baht.

Peerapol also said the Airports of Thailand Plc. is ready to open bidding for three more projects for the second phase of the Suvarnabhumi airport development aimed at boosting the airport’s capacity to handle increasing passenger numbers and flights.

The first project, worth 4.9 billion baht, covers the expansion of the eastern side of the original passenger terminal, the carpark building and the airline office building.

The median price for this project is expected to be finalized by the end of this month and bidding is expected to take place by the end of this year.

Construction is expected to start in February next year, Peerapol said. TNS

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Monday, November 28, 2016

The World BusinessMirror

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

fear California’s tax Clinton’s vote-recount plan draws Some on e-cigs may deter smokers sore-loser jibe from Team Trump S

Construction continues on the presidential reviewing stand on Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House in Washington on Saturday. The reviewing stand is where then President Donald J. Trump will view the inaugural parade on January 20, 2017. AP/Alex Brandon

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illary Clinton’s campaign will participate in vote recounts of Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan if they take place, drawing a rebuke from Donald J. Trump’s team that the Democrat is being a “sore loser” and part of a “ridiculous” effort.

If Green Party candidate Jill Stein initiates recounts in those states as she intends, the Clinton campaign “will participate, in order to ensure the process proceeds in a manner that is fair to all sides,” Clinton campaign lawyer Marc Elias said on Saturday in a post on the blogging web site Medium.com. He added that he doesn’t expect the action to overturn Trump’s election.

Trump hit back, saying in a Saturday night tweet: “The Green Party scam to fill up their coffers by asking for impossible recounts is now being joined by the badly defeated and demoralized” Democrats.

Earlier, the president-elect focused on Stein, not Clinton, in a response. “The people have spoken and the election is over, and as Hillary Clinton herself said on election night, in addition to her conceding by congratulating me, ‘We must accept this result and then look to the future,’” he said in a statement.

Kellyanne Conway, who was Trump’s campaign manager and is now a senior adviser, was less conciliatory. “What a pack of sore losers,” she said in a statement. “After asking Mr. Trump and his team a million times on the trail, ‘Will HE accept the election results?’ it turns out Team Hillary and their new BFF Jill Stein can’t accept reality.”

“Rather than adhere to the tra-

64M

The number of Americans who voted for Hillary Clinton in the November 8 election dition of graciously conceding and wishing the winner well, they’ve opted to waste millions of dollars and dismiss the democratic process.

The people have spoken. Time to listen up. #YesYourPresident,” Conway said.

‘Fill her coffers’

Trump noted he had won 306 electoral votes on November 8, to Clinton’s 232, the best showing for a Republican since 1988 and the most counties since 1984.

“This recount is just a way for Jill Stein, who received less than 1 percent of the vote overall and wasn’t even on the ballot in many states, to fill her coffers with money, most of which she will never even spend on this ridiculous recount,” he said.

“All three states were won by large numbers of voters, especially Pennsylvania, which was won by more than 70,000 votes.”

Stein said on her web site that

she’s raised more than $5.7 million for her recount effort so far, with a $7-million goal. The funds already raised will cover costs in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, she said.

“This is a scam by the Green Party for an election that has already been conceded, and the results of this election should be respected instead of being challenged and abused, which is exactly what Jill Stein is doing,” Trump added.

No ‘actionable’ evidence

The Democrat’s campaign didn’t plan to initiate the recounts on its own because it hasn’t found “any actionable evidence of hacking or outside attempts to alter the voting technology,” Elias wrote.

A senior administration official, meanwhile, said in a statement that the government didn’t observe any increased level of malicious cyber activity aimed at disrupting the election on election day and believes the elections were free and fair from a cyber-security perspective.

Elias also isn’t expecting the recounts to erase what he said was a 107,000 combined vote margin separating the candidates in the three battleground states and overturning the election of Trump, who is due to be sworn in as president in January.

Obligation to voters

“We do so fully aware that the number of votes separating Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton in the closest of these states—Michigan— well exceeds the largest margin ever overcome in a recount,” Elias said.

“But regardless of the potential to change the outcome in any of the states, we feel it is important, on principle, to ensure our campaign is legally represented in any court proceedings and represented on the ground in order to monitor the recount process itself.”

Elias said there is also an obligation to the voters now that a recount is planned in Wisconsin and potentially the other two states. The Wisconsin Elections Commission said on Friday it had received Stein’s petition.

Donald McGahn, who on Friday was selected by Trump as White House counsel, will be the Republican’s point person on the Wisconsin recount. He joined senior staff officials in briefings on Saturday regarding the latest developments, according to a person familiar with the Trump transition process who wasn’t authorized to speak on the record.

“We believe we have an obligation to the more than 64 million Americans who cast ballots for Hillary Clinton to participate in ongoing proceedings to ensure that an accurate vote count will be reported,” Elias said.

Foreign interference

The 2016 election cycle “was unique in the degree of foreign interference witnessed throughout the campaign,” Elias said, noting that the US government had concluded Russian state actors were behind hacks of the Democrat National Committee and the personal e-mails of some Clinton campaign officials.

“We have quietly taken a number of steps in the last two weeks to rule in or out any possibility of outside interference in the vote tally in these critical battleground states,” he said, including having data scientists and lawyers comb over the results, and monitoring and staffing post-election canvasses.

The nonpartisan Cook Political Report shows Clinton ahead in the nationwide popular vote by about 2.2 million votes, 64.6 million to 62.4 million. In 13 swing states, Trump received almost 22.2 million votes to Clinton’s 21.3 million. Bloomberg News

AN DIEGO—Smoking has dropped to historic lows nationwide, dramatically decreasing revenue from tobacco taxes. In search of funds, a growing number of states are taxing electronic cigarettes—a trend that is sparking a fierce public-health debate over whether it will deter smokers from switching to a safer alternative.

California became the seventh state to tax e-cigarettes with the overwhelming approval of a November 8 ballot measure. Proposition 56 also will add a $2 per pack state tax to cigarettes onto the already existing 87 cents per pack tax.

State officials are still calculating the new tax structure. The vaping industry estimates the tax could hike up the price of the battery-operated devices and liquids by more than 60 percent, making it more expensive to vape than smoke, even with the additional per-pack tobacco tax.

“California just made the most attractive option unattractive for many smokers and unaffordable,” said Gregory Conley of the American Vaping Association, which advocates for electronic cigarettes as an alternative to tobacco. “Some may never make an attempt to quit.”

The taxation of e-cigarettes has split the public-health community between those who support e-cigarettes being treated the same as tobacco and those who see them as an important tool in the fight against smoking, the leading cause of preventable deaths in the United States.

There’s no scientific consensus on the risks or advantages of “vaping”.

“It’s one of the nastiest debates I’ve ever seen in the public-health community, and I’ve been researching tobacco-control policies for 40 years,” University of Michigan public-health professor Kenneth Warner said. “The momentum, if you will, is in the direction against e-cigarettes, for sure, and it is unfortunate in a big way, because we may be missing out on a potential intervention that could reduce the toll of smoking by a lot.”

E-cigarettes heat a nicotine liquid into a vapor, delivering the chemical that smokers crave without the harmful tar generated from burning tobacco.

Britain promotes the devices for smokers. Its leading physicians’ organization said it found the devices were 95-percent safer than cigarettes, but some US researchers dispute that.

E-cigarettes emit chemicals known to cause cancer, birth defects or other harm, and there is concern over the long-term impact that nicotine has on adolescent brain development, according to California’s Public Health Department.

Use among young adults ages 18 to 29 has tripled in the state.

“The evidence is piling up very fast that e-cigarettes are more dangerous than people thought,” said Stanton A. Glantz, a professor of medicine and director of the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at the University of California San Francisco.

Stanton said the university’s analysis of more than three dozen studies also found only a fraction of smokers quit after switching to

John Hartigan, proprietor of Vapeology LA, a store selling electronic cigarettes and related items, takes a puff of an electronic cigarette at his store in Los Angeles. As smoking declines nationwide, states are increasingly turning to taxing electronic cigarettes, a trend that concerns some public-health experts who fear it could deter smokers from switching to the safer alternative. AP/Reed Saxon

e-cigarettes and that many end up smoking and vaping, which could be worse.

Concern over the jump in youth users was a driving force behind taxing e-cigarettes, Stanton said.

“If we could snap our fingers and have all smokers become e-cigarette users—and not change anything else—that would be better,” he said.

“The problem is all the other complicated things going on.”

Representatives from around 180 countries participating in the World Health Organization’s global tobacco control treaty negotiations, including the United States, adopted a declaration earlier this month in which they vowed to prohibit or regulate the sale of e-cigarettes.

The declaration comes months after the US announced its first federal regulations of e-cigarettes.

The $3-billion vaping industry fears taxes coupled with regulations will shut down many small shops.

Scott Drenkard of the nonpartisan Tax Foundation said the product’s potential to help smokers is losing out to the rush to recover eroding tobacco tax revenues, which make up as much as 2 percent of state budgets. More than two dozen states have considered taxing e-cigarettes since 2015.

In California tobacco tax revenue dropped by 44 percent between 1989 and last year, from $1.6 billion to roughly $830 million. The state has the nation’s second-lowest smoking rate, behind Utah.

State officials estimate Proposition 56 will raise more than $1 billion in the first year for California, with much of the money earmarked for health care for the poor.

Public-health experts, like Warner, favor a staggered system that applies a heavy tax on tobacco cigarettes, a lighter tax on e-cigarettes and keeping no tax on nicotine replacement therapies that have been determined to be relatively risk-free.

That would deter young people from vaping the liquids that come in candy flavors and provide a financial incentive for smokers to switch, they say.

North Carolina adds a tax of 5 cents to each milliliter of nicotine liquid compared with 45 cents per pack for traditional cigarettes.

With no consensus on the health impact, some say it makes sense for states to follow California’s lead and not tax them differently. AP

Greece’s Economy Minister Papadimitriou criticizes IMF’s indecision on bailout

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he time has come for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to make up its mind on Greece, according to the country’s economy minister.

The path to recovery runs sequentially through completion of Greece’s bailout review, debt relief and then admission to the European Central Bank’s quantitative easing program, said Dimitri Papadimitriou, an economist who joined the government this month after a career-championing alternatives to the macroeconomics espoused by the IMF. Now, the Washington-based fund must decide whether the Greek recovery will happen with or without it, he

said in an interview.

“The IMF has changed its opinion many times,” said Papadimitriou, 70, who spent almost five decades in the US, where he is on leave from his post as president of Bard College’s Levy Economics Institute. “It’s very hard to know whether in fact they want to be in or they want to be out. I think they do want in, and we want them to be in.”

Greek markets have rallied this month on expectations creditors may finally ease the country’s debt at a December 5 meeting of euro-area finance ministers. For the IMF to stay onboard— a key demand of countries, such as Germany and the Netherlands—such a deal

must assuage the fund’s doubts about the viability of Greece’s medium-term fiscal targets. The country’s economy has contracted by about a quarter since the start of the global financial crisis in 2008.

Greece’s creditors

Officials representing Greece’s European creditor institutions and the IMF left Athens on Tuesday without concluding the country’s bailout review.

Greek government Spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos implied that the IMF was setting obstacles to completing the bailout review. The government and the IMF remain apart on labor markets, which the fund wants

to liberalize further, while the government wants to restore some collective bargaining.

“We are standing firm because at the end, those reforms don’t really account for any growth,” said Papadimitriou, arguing that the IMF’s insistence on them has become a matter of dogma for the fund. “If you look at the projections that they have made, they have always been wrong. And we’re talking about being really wrong. However, if you have followed this procedure for so many countries, it is very hard to change it.”

Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem, who chairs the Eurogroup of euro-area finance ministers, told Bloom-

berg on Thursday that officials representing the European creditor institutions and IMF have made much progress in talks with Athens, but that further reforms are being looked at in labor markets and privatization. The Eurogroup has additional debt-easing measures ready “if needed” for when the Greek program comes to an end in 2018, he said.

‘Particular needs’

“At the end there’s always an agreement,” Papadimitriou said in the interview on Thursday. “It’s not an agreement that everybody likes, but I think it’s an agreement which each party can live with, given their own particular needs.”

At Bard College, Papadimitriou turned the Levy Institute into an intellectual refuge for economists from the heterodox, post-Keynesian school of thought, such as Wynne Godley, who predicted the euro crisis in 1992, and Hyman Minsky, known for his financial instability hypothesis.

Papadimitriou helped those ideas gain traction after the financial crisis rocked the orthodoxy in macroeconomics, according Stephen Kinsella, an economics lecturer at the University of Limerick.

Used copies of Minsky’s 1986 book, Stabilizing an Unstable Economy, would sell for more than $300 on Amazon before Papadimitriou got it back in print. BloombergNews

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Monday, November 28, 2016

Iran to assess As online shopping takes over 1.1 million barrel-a-day cut in Opec

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ran is assessing a proposal for a collective Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) output cut, but hasn’t announced any commitment to reduce its own production, as the group tries to end disagreements about how to share the burden of supply cuts ahead of a meeting in Vienna.

Algerian Energy Minister Noureddine Boutarfa presented a proposal for an Opec cut of 1.1 million barrels a day during a meeting with his Iranian counterpart Bijan Namdar Zanganeh in Tehran on Saturday, according to an Iranian oil ministry official.

Opec is also proposing a 600,000 barrel a day output cut by non-Opec producers, the official said.

The two ministers discussed each country’s share of the proposed cut and Zanganeh said Iran would assess the proposal and discuss it further at the Vienna meeting on November 30, the official said. Zanganeh, who didn’t comment on Iran’s position about cutting its own production, expressed optimism about the Opec meeting next week, the official said.

The Opec talks indicate that the group “can arrive at a lasting agreement on its output and market management,” Zanganeh said after the meeting, according to the Oil Ministry’s official news service, Shana. “If we reach an agreement, I am optimistic that prices will rise and the global economy requires such conditions.”

Shuttle diplomacy

Boutarfa, the architect of the Algiers crude supply agreement in September, is on a shuttle diplomacy mission to try to resolve differences blocking the Opec deal, particularly the question of whether Iran and Iraq are willing to cut production. He is also due to meet with the Iraqi oil minister next week.

An oil-production cut would help the oil price to rise to $55 to $60 a barrel, Boutarfa said, according to the Iranian oil ministry official. If no agreement is reached in Vienna next week, the price may remain under $50 a barrel, he said.

All Opec members accepted the decisions adopted in Algiers, which proposed that the group’s production be reduced to a range of 32.5 million barrels a day and 33 million barrels, Zanganeh said, according to Shana. “Right now the debate revolves around how to divide” the production cuts, he said.

In a surprise move, Saudi Arabia pulled out of talks planned for Monday with non-Opec producers including Russia because it wants to secure an Opec deal first. The meeting was later canceled and Opec members called instead for internal talks to try to resolve their own differences ahead of the ministerial meeting on November 30.

The setback suggests that Saudi Arabia remains split from its two biggest Middle Eastern rivals at the Opec. Iran insists it should be allowed to restore output to presanctions levels, while it remains unclear if Iraq is still disputing the Opec supply estimates that would provide the basis for any cuts.

With less than a week until the crucial ministerial meeting, the refusal of just one major producer to participate could scuttle the whole of the agreement reached in September in Algiers. Bloomberg News

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Black Friday limps toward oblivion

percent to 4 percent, while online traffic is up 20 percent—mostly on mobile devices.

And for those who do venture out to stores, spending isn’t always top of mind. Kyleigh Garrison went out with her mom on Thanksgiving out of habit and visited the Friendly Shopping Center in Greensboro, North Carolina, on Black Friday to keep a friend company. The 25-yearold, who works at a cheerleading and dance company in Memphis, made her main purchases online on Wednesday.

“My mom and I, it’s our little tradition to come out on Black Friday or the night before,” Garrison said.

Lottery approach

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he decades-old retail tradition of Black Friday limped closer to obsolescence this year, as online shopping and earlier discounts kept many brick-and-mortar customers at home.

E-commerce orders surged on Thanksgiving, the day before Black Friday, eliminating the need for shoppers to wait in long lines and fight for deals at physical shops.

For consumers who did want to visit shopping centers, many stores were offering deals on Thursday evening.

Online sales on Thanksgiving and Black Friday rose about 18 percent to $5.27 billion, according to Adobe Systems Inc. Meanwhile, data from researcher ShopperTrak showed that consumer visits to physical stores those two days fell 1 percent from a year earlier.

Smartphones and tablets have made it easier for consumers to shop from the couch, and many more of them are now doing just that.

Revenue generated from mobile devices rose to $1.2 billion on Black Friday, a 33-percent surge from a year earlier, according to Adobe.

“I’ve been doing this for 40 years, and I’ve never seen a Friday morning be this quiet,” said Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst at NPD Group.

“Thursday has stolen Friday, there’s no question about it.”

Wal-Mart and other chains also are steering customers toward their Web deals. While Wal-Mart still offers Black Friday specials at its supercenters, the day marks the beginning of a streak of online promotions called “Cyber Week.”

The world’s largest retailer has tripled its e-commerce selection to 23 million products this year, aim-

18%

The percentage increase in online sales on Thanksgiving and Black Friday that is equivalent to $5.27 billion ing to better compete with Amazon. com Inc. Wal-Mart said on Friday that Thanksgiving was one of its top online-shopping days this year and that about 70 percent of the traffic to its web site came from mobile devices.

Squeezing margins

Target Corp., meanwhile, is offering 15 percent off almost everything in its stores and web site for two days: Sunday and Monday.

The aggressive discounts come at a cost. When Target slashed prices last holiday season, its profit margin slipped to 27.9 percent from 28.5 percent. The retailer said Target.com saw double-digit growth on Thanksgiving, driven by deals on electronics like televisions and Apple products.

Amazon said on Friday that mobile orders on Thanksgiving topped last year’s holiday and Cyber Monday combined.

Black Friday is on pace to beat last year in terms of items orders.

Top-selling items include Instant Pot cookers, Hasbro Inc.’s Pie Face game and Amazon’s Alexa devices.

Thanksgiving eve is becoming a bigger shopping day too. On Wednesday three times as many people were browsing online at retail sites compared with a year ago, according to Rakuten, which tracks online behavior through the e-commerce platforms it provides. This comes after EBay Inc. made a plea for consumers to start shopping on their phones that day by christening the event “Mobile Wednesday”.

Spreading out

“For the last few years, there’s been an extension of the Black Friday online shopping behavior,” said Tony Zito, CEO of Rakuten Marketing. “It moved aggressively into Thanksgiving and now it’s gone into Wednesday.”

Cowen and Co. estimates that Black Friday store traffic is down 3

Realizing that fewer people are willing to join Garrison, chains have resorted to lottery-type offerings to lure shoppers to stores. J.C. Penney Co. was giving away $500 coupons, while Gap Inc.’s Old Navy touted the chance to win $100,000.

The National Retail Federation estimates that about 137.4 million consumers will make purchases in stores or online over the four-day weekend that started on Thanksgiving. But the amount that Americans have spent has declined in the past three years, slipping 26 percent from 2013 to an average of $299.60 per person in 2015.

That’s a sign that holiday purchases are spreading out over a longer time frame. Spending during the overall season—November and December—is still expected to grow 3.6 percent to $655.8 billion, the NRF estimates.

One thing giving retailers optimism this year: There may be pent-up demand after a polarizing presidential election. Many chains, including Kohl’s Corp., Gap and Barnes & Noble Inc., blamed the campaign season for hurting spending. With the outcome settled, they’re expecting the dollars to finally flow.

Olivia Daniels, a 34-year-old who was shopping at a Best Buy store in Brooklyn at 5 a.m. on Friday, was optimistic about the effect Donald Trump’s presidency might have on the economy.

“Let’s see what he does,” said Daniels, who currently isn’t working. Bloomberg News

UK economy shows no sign of Brexit hit as spending rises

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onsumers and businesses increased their spending in the third quarter as the UK economy registered a resilient performance following the Brexit vote.

Household spending rose 0.7 percent from the second quarter and business investment increased 0.9 percent, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said on Friday.

Growth overall was unrevised at 0.5 percent, with trade providing the strongest contribution. A separate report from the Confederation of British Industry showed retail sales grew at their fastest annual pace in more than a year in November.

The ONS report covers the first full quarter of GDP since Britons upended UK politics and roiled financial markets by voting to leave the European Union (EU). While there are few signs of any significant effect for now, growth is expected to slow next year.

In its twice-yearly review, the Office for Budget Responsibility on Wednesday slashed its 2017 forecast to 1.4 percent from 2.2 percent, saying uncertainty will lead firms to delay investment while the falling pound squeezes consumers by pushing up the cost of imports.

“Investment by businesses held up well in the immediate aftermath of the EU referendum, though it’s

months ago and that activity won’t shut off overnight.”

The increase in consumer spending was down from 0.9-percent growth between April and June, but in line with the average of recent quarters.

Pound effect

Retail shoppers in the UK. Bloomberg News

likely most of these investment decisions were taken before polling day,” ONS statistician Darren Morgan said. “That, coupled with growing consumer spending fueled by rising household income, and a strong performance in the dominant ser-

vice industries, kept the economy expanding broadly in line with its historical average.”

The jump in business investment surprised economists, who had widely predicted a decline as the Brexit vote took its toll.

“In light of Brexit there was a case for uncertainty holding back investment,” said Alan Clarke at Scotiabank in London. “However, things are never black and white. Projects to build planes, ships, buildings, etc., will have been signed off 12-18

The CBI said its monthly retail sales index rose to 26 in November—the highest since September 2015—and stores anticipate another gain next month. They may be getting a boost from overseas visitors taking advantage of the weak pound, economists say.

The exchange rate may also be starting to boost trade by making British exports cheaper and imports more expensive.

Net trade added 0.7 percentage point to GDP in the three months through September, the biggest contribution since the start of the 2014 and the first this year. Exports rose 0.7 percent and imports fell 1.5 percent.

An index of the dominant services industry rose 0.2 percent in September, leaving output 0.8 percent higher on the quarter. That more than offset declines in industrial production and construction. GDP growth overall was down from 0.7 percent in the second quarter. Bloomberg News

A10 Monday, November 28, 2016

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Resign: 1.5 million ralliers to S. Korea prexy people, each carrying a backpack with the company’s Wi-Fi signaldetecting sensor, to the rally on November 19.

They collected Wi-Fi and Bluetooth signals from smartphones for about seven hours from 2 p.m. at 53 spots and found about 369,372 smartphones that had their wireless signals on during the rally.

The company presumed that about half of smartphone users usually leave their Wi-Fi feature on and the other half switch it off, based on a separate survey on smartphone usage. It also assumed that about 20 percent of the smartphone signals were repetition from the same device. Based on this, Zoyi concluded that about 738,700 people joined the rally.

“The limitation of our method is that it can measure only those who kept their phones’ Wi-Fi signals on,” said An Nahyun, the company’s COO.

Scientists look at particle physics and more

South Korean protesters stage a rally calling for South Korean President Park Geun-hye to step down as buses and hundreds of police officers are mobilized to block the road to the presidential house in Seoul, South Korea, on Saturday. AP/Ahn Young-joon

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EOUL, South Korea—South Korea is seeing its biggest wave of street demonstrations in decades, but nobody is sure how many people are taking to the streets each week.

For the fifth straight weekend, masses of protesters occupied major avenues in downtown Seoul on Saturday demanding the ouster of President Park Geun-hye. She is suspected of helping in the criminal activities of a secretive confidante who is accused of manipulating government affairs and extorting companies to build an illicit fortune.

The rally renewed what has become a weekly back-and-forth between the police and protest organizers, whose crowd estimates have differed widely. The Police said about 270,000 people turned out on Saturday, making it the largest anti-Park rally yet. Organizers estimated the crowd at 1.5 million.

There are many challenges for counting the number of protesters.

The rallies stretch from midday to late night—some people stay for several hours, others just several minutes. The demonstrators not

only gather in open space, but also small alleys and between buildings.

Some of them are constantly moving.

A look at how the police and protest organizers size the crowds at protests, and also how South Korean scientists and a technology company are exploring new ways to more accurately measure the number of protesters:

Police: Measuring the crowd at its peak

While the protest in Seoul on November 12 might have been one of the largest since South Korea freed itself from dictatorship three decades ago, it’s unclear how big it actually was. The police saw the crowd at 260,000, while organizers say 1 million turned out.

For the police, the aim is to measure the maximum crowd occupying a certain space at any given time so that they could determine the size of

270,000 The number of South Korean protesters on Saturday as estimated by the police

police personnel and resources to deploy, according to an official from the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, who didn’t want to be named, citing office rules. The police presume that, when sitting, six people would fill a space of 3.3 square meters, or 1 “pyeong”, the aerial unit commonly used in South Korea. The same area would hold nine or 10 people when standing, the police said.

Based on this, the police consider the 32,100-square-meter boulevard in front of the Gwanghwamun palace gate, which has been the center of the protests, as accommodating close to 600,000 people when fully packed.

Critics say the police model understates the actual number of demonstrators because it fails to track people moving in and out of the area during the duration of the protest, and is ill-equipped to measure protesters in nonopen space, such as sidewalks and alleys between buildings.

Organizers: Tracking everyone who came and went

Han Seon-beom, one of the protest organizers, admits outright that their measurements aren’t scientific, but still argues they are more reliable than the police numbers.

Organizers seek to track the entire flow of people from the protest’s start to its finish. They collect estimates given by counters deployed at different locations to size up the crowds in each area and update the numbers throughout the duration of the protest.

They try to account for the people on the sidewalks, spaces between buildings and also those moving in and out of nearby subway stations and restaurants, Han said. The numbers of participants reported by organized groups, such as labor unions, are also put into account.

“What you try to do is to count the first 1,000, like the first 20 rows of 50 people, and that gives you an idea of how many people you are seeing,” Han said.

Company: Counting number of signals from smartphones

One South Korean retail analytics company measured the number of protesters by counting the number of smartphone signals.

Zoyi Corp. deployed about 60

Some scientists strived to improve accuracy by drawing methods from their own field. In general, they conclude that the protests must be larger than the police estimates.

Park Inkyu, a particle physicist, counted the number of people by applying a method that scientists use to measure particles in high-energy physics, writing a code that counted the number of candle lights based on pictures from the rally.

Based on his own observation at the past rallies, Park assumed that at least half of the demonstrators did not bring a candle. He added the number of candles in the photo to the possible number of people without a candle and drew a conclusion that about four people were occupying 1 square meter at the rally.

That means that the number of people occupying avenues, streets and alleys near the presidential office could range from 500,000 to 700,000 when the areas are packed, he said.

The limitation of Park’s estimate is that it cannot count the candles hidden behind other people or objects.

Another scientist suggested a way of measuring the crowds’ movement.

Assuming that about 10 percent of the area at the rally is used as passageways for people who are moving, and also assuming that each person moves every 0.3 second, the number of people who came and left the November 12 protest would have been three times larger than the police estimate, according to Won Byung Mook, a science and engineering professor at Sungkyunkwan University.

Won said scientists need more data to make their estimates more precise.

“There are many limitations in this method because it is based on assumption, not on vetted data,” he said. AP

Which nations could be next to join the global nuclear club?

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A S H I N G T O N —T h e global club of nuclear weapons states now stands at nine, but if President-elect Donald J. Trump rips up a nuclear deal with Iran or backpedals on alliance commitments in East Asia, the number might grow, experts say.

It may be foolhardy to predict what will happen after Inauguration Day on January 20 since Trump has already changed course on several campaign pledges.

But Trump has zigzagged in public statements on the prospect of East Asian allies potentially going nuclear and has suggested repeatedly that he’ll scrap the 2015 Iran deal that imposed curbs on Tehran’s nuclear program in exchange for easing sanctions.

“If the outcome is that Iran says, ‘All gloves are off,’ that would set off an enormous cascade of events, particularly with Saudi Arabia,” said Hans M. Kristensen, the director

of the Nuclear Information Project of the Federation of American Scientists.

Saudi Arabia is the Islamic world’s rival power to Iran, and the two nations have clashed over opposing interpretations of Islam, relations with the West and how to handle flashpoints around the Middle East, such as Syria and Yemen.

“If Iran does end up moving forward with its nuclear weapons program, I think Saudi Arabia is very likely to feel pressure and want to move forward,” said Scott D. Sagan, a senior fellow at the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University.

Another regional power, Turkey, may also feel the nuclear itch.

“In Turkey there is a set of hardliners that have muttered for a long time that maybe they should have their own nuclear weapons,” said Jeffrey Knopf, a nuclear proliferation expert at the Middlebury Institute of

International Studies in Monterey, California.

Those three nations would be motivated by concern, or even fear, of one another. But experts say other motivations can come into play in proliferation.

“If you also look at questions of prestige and broader political rivalries, I think the Egyptians are a serious, long-term concern,” Sagan said.

“I don’t think the Egyptians feel a need to move forward with nuclear weapons today but…it’s something we should keep our eyes on over the long term.” Another region of concern is Northeast Asia, home to North Korea, the most recent nation to join a club of nuclear powers that also includes the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France, Israel, India and Pakistan.

North Korea conducted the most recent of five nuclear tests in September, and it is estimated to have material to make 10 or so nuclear bombs.

With each demonstration of North Korea’s nascent nuclear might, polls find a rise in support in South Korea for developing its own nuclear weapons.

A Gallup opinion poll in September put support for a South Korean nuclear weapons program at 58 percent. A separate Yonhap News Agency poll earlier in the year reported that figure at 52.5 percent.

Trump has indicated that South Korea and Japan are not pulling their weight on defense and has suggested that treaties that place a US nuclear “umbrella” over those nations will not last forever.

“I have heard from contacts in South Korea that they are extremely nervous about a Trump presidency,” Knopf said.

Seared by the memory of the 1945 bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, has an allergy to nuclear weapons. But experts say that

if Japanese public opinion veered, the nation might use a stockpile of plutonium from its nuclear-energy program to make bombs.

“They could very rapidly turn into a significant nuclear power,” Kristensen said. “They have perfected ballistic missiles of significant range.”

Other observers suggest that once in power, Trump and his top aides will reverse course and work to ensure that Japan and South Korea do not go nuclear.

“While the issue of whether the allies are paying their fair share has been raised off and on for years, I suspect Trump will come to realize that it is not a one-way street and that the US gains a lot from the security arrangements that have been set up, including stability in the region and the use of foreign bases,” said David Wright, codirector of the global security program at the Union of Concerned Scientists. TNS

briefs

thunderstorm asthma Death toll in Australia reaches 6; 5 in life support MELBOURNE, Australia—Six people have died and five remained on life support after a rare condition known as thunderstorm asthma struck Australia’s second-largest city, officials said on Sunday. The sixth victim died in a hospital on Saturday night from medical complications stemming from a wild thunderstorm that struck Melbourne on Monday night, a Health Department statement said.

Five patients remained in intensive care units and three of those were in critical condition, the statement said.

Another 12 patients were in hospitals with less serious respiratory and related conditions. Monday’s storm caused rain-sodden ryegrass pollen grains to explode and disperse over the city, with tiny pollen particles penetrating deep into lungs. Around a third of patients who suffered asthma attacks on Monday reported never having asthma before. The world’s first recorded thunderstorm asthma event occurred in Melbourne in 1987, when hospitals reported a fivefold increase in asthma cases. Similar events have happened in the United States, Canada, Britain and Italy. The last major event in Melbourne was in November 2010. AP

Trump Tower is ‘Dump Tower’ on Google Maps NEW YORK—Someone renamed Donald J. Trump’s midtown Manhattan building on Google Maps, and the new moniker isn’t very flattering.

Instead of Trump Tower, it was briefly renamed “Dump Tower”.

WPIX-TV reports that users of the mapping service began noticing the new name for the Fifth Avenue building on Saturday and some took to social media to report it.

Trump, the Republican presidentelect, has not yet commented on it.

Trump has been using Trump Tower as his transition headquarters. A Google spokesman told The Associated Press that the company has changed the name back to its original. AP

French conservatives voting to choose presidential nominee PARIS—French conservatives on Sunday are choosing their nominee for next year’s vital presidential election from among two former prime ministers with deep experience in government and differing views on how to prevent more terror attacks on French soil.

The contenders in the conservative’s primary runoff—François Fillon, 62, and 71-year-old Alain Juppe— are both high-profile leaders of the center-right Republicans party. Fillon, who wants to focus on fighting Islamic extremism, is judged by many to be the front-runner.

The winner of the runoff ultimately could end up facing far-right National Front leader Marine Le Pen, who is banking on anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim and antiestablishment sentiments to sweep her to power in the general election set for April, with a runoff the following month if neither side wins a majority. The incumbent, Socialist President François Hollande is expected to announce in the coming weeks whether he will seek reelection. The position of the French left has been weakened by Hollande’s extreme unpopularity. AP

7 dead as waves hit New Zealand fishing boat WELLINGTON, New Zealand—Seven people were killed and another person was missing after a chartered fishing boat disappeared from view in large waves at the entrance to a harbor near Auckland, New Zealand, authorities said. The boat Francie was carrying 11 people when it got into trouble on Saturday afternoon in Kaipara Harbour.

Rescuers managed to pull three survivors from the water, who were taken to a hospital. A search for the missing person was continuing on Sunday, said police Inspector Duncan Hall. AP

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In Miami’s Little Havana, Castro’s death sparks celebration

Manny Garcia holds a bogus tombstone as he reacts to the death of Fidel Castro on Saturday in the Little Havana area in Miami. AP/Alan Diaz

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uban-Americans took to the streets in Miami on Saturday morning as news spread that Fidel Castro, the father of the Cuban revolution and a man who prompted many to flee the island, leaving behind homes and family members, had died at 90.

While Havana remained eerily quiet after the announcement of Castro’s death on state media, hundreds had gathered on a stretch of 8th Street in Miami’s Little Havana, banging pots and pans and dancing. Cars rolled slowly through the streets, honking and waving Cuban and American flags. Other celebrations were seen in Cuban-American neighborhoods, like Hialeah.

Members of Miami ’s burgeoning Venezuelan communit y joined the celebration, too. Many consider themselves kindred spirits of the Cubans, having f led a place that the late Hugo Chavez imagined in Cuba’s image.

“The tyrant is finally gone,” said Guillermo Ramon, 67, who came to Miami 26 years ago from the island, predicting that the death would hasten the demise of the regime run by Castro’s brother, Raul. “The suffering has come to an end.”

Mia mi Mayor Tomas Regalado said in a statement: “For 57 years Fidel Castro has been the symbol of tyranny and oppression of our people. I call on the Obama administration and the Trump administration to demand real changes from the Cuban regime, on behalf of many Cubans who have died in the US and in Cuba waiting for this day and for freedom.”

For all the jubilation in the streets, Castro’s death comes at a time when the future for the US relationship with Cuba is uncertain. US President Barack Obama visited the island earlier this year and promised to ease sanctions in place since the early years of the Cold War, but the victory of Donald Trump has left many wondering whether the detente will last.

Tr u mp won t he st ate of Florida, thanks, in part, to support from Cuban-A merican voters critical of the regime they left behind. In Little Havana, Trump-Pence signs could be seen in the crowd on Saturday morning.

Trump tweeted: “Fidel Castro is dead!” to his 16 million followers. Later, in a statement, the president-elect said the “tragedies, death and pain” caused by Castro couldn’t be erased, but that his administration will do “all it can to ensure the Cuban people can finally begin their journey toward prosperity and liberty.”

“There’s a lot of reason to think that, finally, things will change in Cuba,” said Angel Ali Gonzalez, a 32-year-old security guard with a fat Cohiba cigar in his shirt pocket, who was born in Miami to parents who immigrated in 1969.

On 8th Street, Gonzalez was waving a “Trump-Pence: Make America Great Again” sign and wearing one of the campaign’s signature baseball caps. A lthough pol ls show sig ns of change in political views among many younger members of the community, Cuban-Americans have been an electoral bulwark for the Republican Party in Florida for decades.

During his visit to Havana in March, Obama said Cubans had essentially created Miami as it currently exists. The bilingual Spanish-English community in South Florida has earned a reputation as the defacto capital of Latin America, drawing waves of immigrants from countries, including Argentina, Brazil and Venezuela, and becoming a place where Latin American tycoons invest and enjoy their money.

Many immigrants, originally from the island, and their children, have gone on to play important roles in American politics, while others—like billionaire real-estate developer Jorge Perez—have personally helped shape the Miami skyline.

Olivia Carlos, 29, immigrated with her parents from Cuba when she was 10, joined the US Navy, and eventually, returned to the island when she was stationed for a year in Guantanamo Bay. For her, Castro has long been a part of her tangled personal narrative. “ This is a very emotional day for me, and I hope this means there’s light at the end of the tunnel,” she said. “Maybe there’s hope that things will finally change in Cuba.”

Bloomberg News

Monday, November 28, 2016 A11

Cubans look to future with hope, doubts after Fidel Castro’s death

A couple of residents stand framed by a window of their house next to an image of the late Cuban leader Fidel Castro and a Cuban Flag in Havana, Cuba on Saturday. Castro, who led a rebel army to improbable victory in Cuba, embraced Soviet-style communism and defied the power of US presidents during his half century rule, died at age 90. AP/Ramon Espinosa

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AVANA—His words and images had filled schoolbooks, airwaves and newspapers since before many of them were born.

Now Cubans must face life without Fidel Castro, the leader who guided their island to both greater social equality and years of economic ruin.

Across a hushed capital, people wept in the streets on Saturday as news of the 90-year-old revolutionary’s death spread. While many mourned, others privately expressed hope that Castro’s passing will allow Cuba to move faster toward a more open, prosperous future under his younger brother President Raul Castro.

Both brothers led bands of bearded rebels out of the eastern Sierra Maestra mountains to create a communist government 90 miles from the US. But since taking over from his ailing brother in 2006, the 85-year-old Raul Castro has allowed an explosion of private enterprise and, last year, restored diplomatic relations with Washington.

“Raul wants to do business, that’s it. Fidel was still holed up in the Sierra Maestra,” said Belkis Bejarano, a 65-year-old homemaker

in central Havana.

In his twilight years Fidel Castro largely refrained from offering his opinions publicly on domestic issues, lending tacit backing to his brother’s free-market reforms. But the older Castro surged back onto the public stage twice this year—critiquing US President Barack Obama’s historic March visit to Cuba and proclaiming in April that communism was “a great step forward in the fight against colonialism and its inseparable companion, imperialism.”

Ailing and without any overt political power, the 90-year-old revolutionary icon became for some a symbol of resistance to his younger sibling’s diplomatic and economic openings. For many other Cubans, however, Fidel Castro was fading into history, increasingly at a remove from the passions that long cast him as either messianic savior

or maniacal strongman.

On Saturday many Cubans on the island described Fidel Castro as a towering figure who brought Cuba free health care, education and true independence from the US, while saddling the country with an ossified political and economic system that has left streets and buildings crumbling and young, educated elites fleeing in search of greater prosperity abroad.

“Fidel was a father for everyone in my generation,” said Jorge Luis Hernandez, a 45-year-old electrician. “I hope that we keep moving forward because we are truly a great, strong, intelligent people. There are a lot of transformations, a lot of changes, but I think that the revolution will keep on in the same way and always keep moving forward.”

In 2013 Raul Castro announced that he would step aside by the time his current presidential term ends in 2018, and for the first time, named an heir-apparent not from the Castro’s revolutionary generation—Miguel Diaz-Canel, 56.

Fidel Castro’s death “puts a sharper focus on the mortality of the entire first generation of this revolution,” said Philip Peters, a Cuba analyst and business consultant, “and brings into sharper focus the absence of a group of potential leaders that’s ready to take over and politically connected to the public.”

For Cubans off the island, Castro’s death was cause for celebra-

tion. In Miami the heart of the Cuban diaspora, thousands of people banged pots with spoons, waved Cuban and US flags in the air and whooped in jubilation.

“We’re not celebrating that someone died, but that this is finished,” said 30-year-old Erick Martinez, who emigrated from Cuba four years ago.

The Cuban government declared nine days of mourning for Castro, whose ashes will be carried across the island from Havana to the eastern city of Santiago in a procession retracing his rebel army’s victorious sweep from the Sierra Maestra to Havana.

State radio and television were filled with nonstop tributes to Castro, playing hours of footage of his time in power and interviews with prominent Cubans affectionately remembering him.

Bars shut, baseball games and concerts were suspended and many restaurants stopped serving alcohol and planned to close early. Official newspapers were published on Saturday with only black ink, instead of the usual bright red or blue mastheads.

Many Cubans, however, were already imagining the coming years in a Cuba without Fidel Castro.

“Fidel’s ideas are still valid,” said Edgardo Casals, a 32-year-old sculptor. “But we can’t look back even for a second. We have to find our own way. We have to look toward the future, which is ours, the younger generations.’” AP

Xi and Putin lead world leaders’ tributes to Castro

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eaders from around the world and of all political hues reacted to the death of Fidel Castro, the 90-year-old former Cuban leader and revolutionary, with tweets and statements of sympathy, praise and criticism of what his campaign unleashed.

“This strong and wise man always looked with confidence to the future,” wrote Russian President Vladimir Putin, emphasizing the long-standing relationship between the two countries.

“He embodied high ideals of a politician, citizen and patriot, was sincerely convinced of the rightness of the cause, to which he gave his whole life. His memory will live forever in the hearts of Russian citizens.”

In a telegram read out on China

Central Television, President Xi Jinping described Castro as the founder of Cuban communism, and a “great figure in our times and history.”

US President Barack Obama issued a statement offering condolences to Castro’s family and said the US extended a hand of friendship: “The Cuban people must know that they have a friend and a partner in the United States of America.”

US President-elect Dona ld Trump kept it simple at first, tweeting to his 16 million followers: “Fidel Castro is dead!”

Later, Trump said in a statement Castro’s legacy is one of “unimaginable suffering” and that his administration “will do all it can to ensure the Cuban people can finally begin their journey toward

prosperity and liberty.”

French President François Hollande wrote that Castro “embodied the Cuban revolution, in the hopes it had aroused and then in the disillusions it had provoked. Actor of the Cold War, he corresponded to an era which had ended with the collapse of the Soviet Union. He had been able to represent for Cuban people the pride of the rejection of external domination.”

Castro died in Havana late on Friday and will be cremated on Saturday. The government announced plans for public events starting on Monday, with a rally a day later at Plaza de la Revolucion in Havana and then a three-day procession to carry his ashes to Santiago de Cuba for a funeral on December 4.

Apartheid opponent

IN South Africa President Jacob Zuma said Castro inspired Cubans to support the fight against apartheid.

“The Cuban people, under the leadership and command of President Castro, joined us in our struggle.”

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi said his nation “mourns the loss of a great friend.”

“We stand in support with the Cuban government and people in this tragic hour,” he tweeted. “Fidel Castro was one of the most iconic personalities of the 20th century.”

Nicolás Maduro, the Venezuelan president, took to Twitter with a call to arms: “To all the revolutionaries of the world, we have to continue with his legacy and his flag of independence, of socialism, of homeland.” Bloomberg News

Science Monday

A12 Monday, November 28, 2016

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

An interview with Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency Astronaut Soichi Noguchi

Journey from Earth to space, and back Story & photo by Stephanie Tumampos

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time, Jaxa started recruiting for a Japanese astronaut candidate. I was lucky enough to be selected. I was sent to Houston (Texas), and that’s where I had a good training together with the American nationals. Then, I was lucky enough to fly in 2001 (for the 2005 STS114 mission).

Special to the BusinessMirror

hen we were younger, on those days when we dreamed of who we wanted to be, we often gazed the sky and look at the moon at night and gleefully say, “When I grow up, I want to be an astronaut!”

A lt hough most of us who dreamed to be an astronaut have chosen a different path, some of us still wonder what it feels like if those dreams become a reality.

Our inner self would still ask how does one get to be chosen for this great task of bringing the flag of humanity up in space and explore the many possibilities of how life can be sustained beyond the protective atmosphere of our own home, Earth.

On November 14, during the 23rd Asia-Pacific Regional Space Agency Forum in Manila, a first for the Philippines to host such event, the BusinessMirror interviewed Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s (Jaxa) astronaut Soichi Noguchi.

Besides being an astronaut, Noguchi is a Japanese aeronautical engineer. According to Jaxa, his first spaceflight was aboard the Discovery space shuttle with mission STS-114, the “Return to Flight” space shuttle Mission on July 26, 2005. It was more than two years and five months after the

How was the training for astronaut?

The training itself was very rigorous, very tough and very challenging. But it was also very rewarding, because what you’re trying to learn is to to fly to space, ride on a rocket, use robotic arms, do the spacewalk, some exploration and some new scientific experiment. Those things are definitely fun to learn and very rewarding to me. You would also have the feeling that you are a part of a big team. It’s definitely a ver y big team sport and I’m ver y proud to be a member of the space development team.

23rd

The latest Asia-Pacific Regional Space Agency Forum that was held in Manila

space shuttle Columbia disaster, where the Columbia space shuttle disintegrated as it reentered to Earth from space and took the lives of seven crew members.

His next space mission was aboard the International Space Station (ISS) as a crew member of the ISS Expedition 22. He stayed for 161 days and reentered Earth on June 2, 2010.

Noguchi is the fifth Japanese to fly into space and fourth to fly on the space shuttle. He has a total of 177 days, three hours and five minutes in space logged for both his STS-114 mission and ISS Expe-

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s (Jaxa) astronaut Soichi Noguchi

dition 22 missions. He is currently the chief of Jaxa Astronaut Group and president of the Association of Space Explorers (ASE).

Noguchi believes in the power of the young generation. In a short lecture he gave in one of the workshops during the forum, he said, “Yesterday’s dream is today’s hope, and today’s hope is tomorrow’s reality, and the young generation is the driving force to make those dreams realized.”

Below are excerpts from an exclusive interview of the BusinessMirror with Noguchi:

When you were young, have you ever dreamed of being an astronaut?

I like to f ly and I love watching all science-fiction movies, like Star Wars, Star Trek and all the Japanese animé. I dreamed that someday I want to f ly into space, ride on a rocket and visit the space station. That was the beginning of my dream, a longlasting dream.

When I graduated from the university with an engineering major, I started working in one of the heavy industries in Japan involved in space station. At that

What was the hardest struggle you had while training?

T he h a rdest t h i ng i n ou r training would be the robotics and also the spacewalk because, definitely, these were new things (for me). The training was underwater and it was long. It usually lasted for six hours underwater, and, again, involved a lot of people and lot of team efforts.

What was the best thing or experiment you did in space?

We l l , t he ve r y i mp or t a nt thing I did was to conduct the spacewalk. It was not an experiment but still it’s a ver y fun

thing to do, like installing new equipment and enhancing the capability of the space station.

(According to Jaxa, during Noguchi’s STS-114 mission in space, where the Discovery space shuttle docked at the ISS, Noguchi conducted three extravehicular activities as a lead spacewalker, such as demonstrating in-flight repair techniques on shuttle’s Thermal Protection System tiles; replacing a failed Control Moment Gyro with a new one; and installing the External Stowage Platform-2 on the ISS. In total, he had 20 hours and five minutes of spacewalk time.)

How did you feel when you were leaving for space, and then from space back to Earth?

Leaving for space is actually very easy. You only ride a rocket and usually, it just takes eigth minutes. But coming back was longer. Also, you had to counteract the one-G, and that takes a long time for rehabilitation. (One-G or the g-force is acceleration due to gravity.)

Being an astronaut is a profession that requires all of the person’s physical, mental and emotional strength to work together. It takes a lot of training and hard work, but like most astronauts and even to those aspiring to be one, it may be the most rewarding experience of a lifetime. To journey into space is bringing humanity beyond the depths of our limitations and getting a whole view of the Earth at a different vantage point—from the ISS, it must be the most beautiful thing that their eyes would see.

PHL can become hub of space tech in SEA, astrophysicist says

‘T

he Philippines has the capability to become the hub of space technology and space applications in Southeast Asia, where engineers, scientists and industry stakeholders around the region can converge, instead of the country sending its professionals abroad to learn and be trained.”

Astrophysicist Dr. Rogel Mari D. Sese made this statement in an interview with the media for the 23rd Session of the Asia-Pacific Regional Space Agency Forum (APRSAF-23) held at a hotel in Manila recently.

Sese is the focal person for the Philippine Space Science Education Program of the Department of Science and Technology-Science Education Institute (DOST-SEI).

“These are the areas where we would like to have an impact through space technologies: national security and development, hazard management and climate

studies, space industry and capacity building, and education,” Science Secretary Fortunato T. de la Peña said at the news conference. He said the government has earmarked P1 billion for space technology in 2017 and 2018, after which the yearly allocation would be around P2 billion.

Meanwhile, the government invested around P840 million before the launching of Diwata 1—the first microsatellite designed and built by Filipinos, and deployed into orbit from the International Space Station on April 27, 2016.

“The initial strategy is to send our scholars abroad,” de la Peña added. “The best strategy is to institute some academic programs here in the Philippines and that might involve the invitation of some foreign experts to help us initialize some of these programs.

But eventually, we hope that we will be able to train our own.”

“We’re looking toward building

our own space industry,” shared Sese. We are a little bit behind. But if we do things right, we can take the lead in the Southeast Asian region.” Sese, a member of the APRSAF Space Environment Utilization Working Group, claimed that having a space industry in the Philippines would translate to jobs not only for astrophysicists, engineers and others directly involved in the space industry, but also for support personnel.

“It had been stated that we need around 800 aerospace engineers and scientists in the next 10 years.

Studies have shown that for every person who is directly involved in the space field, there are four other people who serve as support personnel,” Sese explained.

With a local space industry generating a lot of jobs, the brain drain that currently characterizes local manpower will hopefully be stopped. “ The Philippines is pursuing t his space-technol-

og y development, because we are also asking our lawmakers to have a bill approved for the creation of a Philippine space agency and a national space-development program for the next 10 years,” said APRSAF Cochairman and DOST Undersecretary Rowena Cristina L. Guevara. “I assure you space technology is very useful for this country.”

The bills are House Bill 3637 and Senate Bill 1211, which both aim to legislate a Philippine Space Development and Utilization Policy and create a Philippine Space Agency. Besides the Philippine Science Education Program, SEI is also in constant collaboration with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency for several space-awareness programs for local schools, and is currently working toward including space education in the K to 12 curriculum for both elementary and high-school levels, among others. S&T Media Service

12th NATL BIOTECH WEEK Former Sen. Aquilino Q. Pimentel Jr. stresses a point in his speech at the 12th National Biotechnology Week held at the Bureau of Soils and Water Management Convention Hall in Quezon City. Nonoy Lacza

‘Bt talong’ has no adverse impacts on nontarget insects, research shows

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Researchers from the Institute of Plant Breeding of the University of the Philippines Los Baños show newly harvested Bacillus thuringiensis eggplants at a field test site in Santa Maria, Pangasinan, in 2010.

Lyn Resurreccion

enetically modified (GM) Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) talong (eggplant) has no negative impacts on the biological diversity of nontarget organisms, the first-ever field-level study of the effects of insect-resistant Bt eggplants on nontarget arthropod species showed.

The study was carried out in the Philippines by researchers from the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) working with Cornell University. It has been published in the prestigious openaccess scientific journal PLOS One. The data, collected over three growing seasons in the Philippines’s main eggplant-growing region of Pangasinan, shows no significant differences between the number of insects and other arthropods and species between

the GM Bt and non-Bt control eggplants. Anthropods include insects and spiders.

This finding is consistent with previous studies on insect-resistant Bt crops, such as cotton and corn, the study authors pointed out. The study came after the Supreme Court unanimous decision reversing its earlier ruling that temporarily stopped the field testing of the GM eggplant.

The paper is entitled “Assessing Potential Impact of Bt Eggplants on Non-Target Arthropods in the Philippines” and was published on October 31. The author of the study, which was subjected to PLOS One’s rigorous scientific peer review, is Dr. Desiree Hautea, professor of crop biotechnology of UPLB’s Institute of Plant Breeding, College of Agriculture.

“This first published report from extensive field studies of Bt eggplants affirms that the technology is ecologically benign,” Hautea asserted. Study coauthor Dr. Anthony Shelton, international professor of entomology at Cornell University, welcomed the publication of the results.

He commented: “This study conf i r ms t he env i ron ment a l safety of Bt eggplant to nontarget organisms under field conditions in the Philippines. Our previous study, published earlier in the same journal, documented the effectiveness of Bt eggplant against the destructive eggplant fruit and shoot borer. Combined, these studies clearly document the benefits of Bt eggplant to growers, farm workers, consumers and the environment.”

The study was funded by United States Agency for International Development, with match funding provided by the University of the Philippines Los Baños and the Philippine government’s Department of Agriculture Biotechnology Program Office (the funders had no direct role in the study, however).

The eggplants used were varieties (purple, long fruits) preferred

by Filipino farmers and consumers, with the Bt gene crossbred into them from an original transformation event carried out in India by the seed company Mahyco, which donated its genetic technology to the project. The field trials were carried out between March 2010 and October 2012.

Bt eggplant could be of significant benefit to Filipino farmers

and consumers, the study authors suggest, because conventional eggplant is typically sprayed with insecticide up to 72 times during the 180-day cropping season to control infestation by the eggplant fruit and shoot borer (EFSB) pest.

Bt eggplant, as a previous study by the same authors has demonstrated, is fully resistant to the fruit and shoot borer pest, so it does not require pesticide sprays to prevent damage by this insect.

Filipino farmers use broad-spectrum insecticides for the conventional control of EFSB, including profenofos, triazophos, chlorpyrifos, cypermethrin and malathion.

In contrast, EFSB-resistant Bt eggplant varieties can be grown by farmers as part of a more ecologically friendly integrated pest management agricultural system.

Green Monday BusinessMirror

BusinessMirror

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

Monday, November 28, 2016 A13

Real ecotourism can benefit Laguna de Bay, expert says

‘R

eal ecotourism, like the Bohol model in Loboc River, can actually be good for Laguna Lake,” said Dr. Maria Victoria O. Espaldon, professor of the School of Environmental Science and Management and 2016 Outstanding Researcher of the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB).

She emphasized the words “real ” ecotourism as one that preserves the naturalness of the landscape or the seascape. It is not about construction of dikes or buildings.

“The idea of developing Laguna Lake, with ecotourism as a platform, could actually help bring in more jobs because old boats can engage in tours, people can produce food and handicrafts,” she said.

Currently, there are studies undertaken by the UPLB that show that water quality in the lake, in terms of biological, physical and chemical parameters, is bad. But Espaldon is hopeful there are many ways to improve the water quality.

“All that’s needed is a concerted action and strong leadership in terms of improving the water quality of the lake,” she said.

There should be an integrated management of the Laguzzz na de Bay, wherein all sectors should be engaged and responsible. Some published studies show the presence of pollutants, such as pesticides residue in the tributaries of the lake, and these can eventually find its way into the lake. Once

the people become responsible and accountable, pollution can be reduced.

The good aspect of the lake, however, is the water quality.

It is fresh water, so if it is of good quality, it can really be a good source for the domestic and agricultural needs.

“It is better to make it a source of water supply because if people know that it is the source of water they drink, they will not defecate in it. The water supply normally undergoes treatment process before it is released. When the lake is used as water-supply source, there will be a value formation that’s economically driven. People know that it’s valuable to them, so why would they neglect it?”

Espaldon said in Filipino.

She suggested that the local governments should be more empowered in managing their rivers to help improve the water that goes to the lake.

These are just some of the issues confronting Laguna de Bay which the Department of Science and Technolog y-Nationa l Research Council of the Philippines (DOST-NRCP) aims to address in its Science and Policy Forum for Sustainable Laguna Lake Management. The forum, which will be a gathering of fishermen, farmers, environmental experts in the academic, administrative and legislative sectors is NRCP’s activity for the five-day celebration of the 2016 National Biotechnology Week. S&T Media Service

Project C.A.T.: Conserving Acres for Tigers launched

D

iscovery Communications recently announced a historic partnership with World Wildlife Fund (WWF), through which Discovery will fund and help conserve nearly 1 million acres of protected habitat in India and Bhutan to protect and increase the wild tiger population. “The global movement to protect tigers just got 1 million acres stronger,” said David Zaslav, president and CEO of Discovery Communications, who made the announcement.

“Discovery is a purpose-driven company, and for more than 30 years we’ve had cameras in every corner of the globe, from Planet Earth to Racing Extinction, documenting and inspiring audiences about the beauty and splendor of our planet.

“Unfortunately, our cameras also have captured the fragile state of much of the world and its animals. So today we take a bold step further, beyond the lens, to protect one of our most iconic and endangered species.

Not on our watch will we let these beautiful animals disappear from the world. We will shine a light on this compelling cause and amplify it through our global brands and platforms, with the goal of doubling the wild tiger population by 2022.”

In the last century alone, the wild tiger population has dropped an astonishing 96 percent, to less than 4,000 left in the wild due to habitat loss and pervasive poaching.

Given ample space, prey and protection from poaching, tiger populations can rebound.

D iscover y ’s sponsorship of this transboundary landscape in which the WWF has been a conservation partner with the governments of India and Bhutan, will allow rangers to more closely monitor tiger health and other key scientific data, take additional antipoaching safeguards, and maintain land and corridors to improve movement of all

wild animals. The effort to double the number of tigers—a species at the top of the food chain—will protect other endangered species and stimulate a healthy ecosystem across the nearly 1 million acre site.

Along with sponsorship of the habitat, Discovery will leverage its formidable creative capabilities and unmatched global multiplatform distribution of channels to 3 billion cumulative worldwide viewers to support the WWF’s Tx2 effort, which began in 2010, to double the population of wild tigers across the world by 2022, the next Year of the Tiger. Discovery will create original public service announcements and in-program content tied to Project Conserving Acres for Tiger to drive awareness and encourage viewers around the globe to take action to support wild tigers.

Reinforcing its commitment, Discovery has put into development a new documentary on tigers from Orlando von Einsiedel’s Grain Media, the Academy Award nominated producers of Virunga, which will air on Discovery’s networks globally in 2018.

WWF’s efforts include conservation of additional tiger sites, across all 13 tiger range countries, with rigorous scientific analysis and monitoring of tigers and their prey, as well as advocating for and raising awareness of tiger conservation and eliminating illegal wildlife trade around the world.

“Tiger populations are rising for the first time in a century,” said Carter Roberts, president and CEO of the WWF. “These numbers reflect the extraordinary commitment of regional leaders and leading philanthropists to double the population of tigers in the wild. We need even more of a movement to accomplish these goals. Discovery’s devotion to conservation and impressive reach can only inspire others to join the cause.”

Renewable-energy is the best solution to climate change. Gregg Yan

Marrakech meet able to deliver goal of UN climate talks, WWF says

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By Manuel T. Cayon | Mindanao Bureau Chief

AVAO CITY—Organizers of the climate talks in Marrakech, Morocco, have announced that the conference was able to deliver the goal of “putting substance” to the Paris Agreement on reducing ozonedepleting emission so that signatory countries “could fully implement them”.

The local office of the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWFPhilippines) posted the statement of Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, leader of WWF International’s Climate and Energy Practice, as saying that, while “the Marrakech work has not been the most glamorous, it’s a key step in the chain reaction needed to roll out the agreement.”

“The UN climate talks continue to be filled with twists and turns, but they have delivered what they needed to this week: putting substance behind the promise of the Paris Agreement so it can be fully implemented,” Vidal said.

He said the commitment of countries to the Paris Agreement “also passed its first stress test this week with the US election results.

Unequivocally, they restated that they are in this for the long haul.”

He said only 111 countries have affixed their signatures, excluding the Philippines, but he said “the reality is that the world is moving

ahead on this issue.”

“This irreversible momentum will only build as market signals and commitments across all sectors of society continue pouring in,” he added.

Vidal said, “Nations also began submitting their long-term road maps for decarbonization.”

111 The number of countries that have signed the 2015 climate-change deal in Paris

“But there’s still work to do.

The emissions gap continues to grow between what science tells

us is needed to protect the planet from the worst impacts of climate change and the goals governments set in Paris. Urgently reducing emissions and preparing for the climate-change impacts that are already affecting us is essential for the world’s future prosperity, safety and security,” he said.

President Duterte has earlier criticized the climate talks as condescending to small and poorer countries, emphasizing that the talks were instigated by rich countries, “which are the ones who have dirtied the Earth for centuries and, when they reached full industrialization, are now telling everyone else to abide by the regulations against further dirtying and destroying the Earth.”

“Then they would dump their worn-out products to us, but warn us, at the same time, not to pollute our world,” he said. “They are handme downs that are destructive to the environment, but we have no recourse but to buy them,” he said.

However, he has since announced that the Philippines would sign the Paris climate pact.

But Vidal said that “ in Marrakech, countries agreed to take stock of progress in two years and make every effort to come back with more ambitious targets and plans before 2020 to ensure we work quickly to close the widening emissions gap.” “ This is a critical outcome this week that further solidified progress on the Paris Agreement,” he said.

“While parties work to finalize the Paris Agreement fine print by the next major political moment in

2018, more needs to be done in the next few years to clarify consistency of national targets,” Vidal said.

He disclosed that there were still gaps in finance and adaptation, “despite some announcements here on financing for adaptation and capacity building.”

“We expect to see developed countries up their game significantly on finance and other support beyond current projections, and are very encouraged to see China and other countries stepping up their south-south cooperation,” Vidal added.

He also disclosed the formation of the Climate Vulnerable Forum, “a group of around 50 countries that committed to reviewing and improving their current emissionscutting goals in 2018 and shifting to 100-percent renewable energy by 2050 or before.”

“Here in Marrakech the negotiations kick-started a critical discussion about the rules for implementing the agreement and accelerating climate action.

It set the path for the next set of negotiations to complete those rules and raise ambition, paving the way to tighten national commitments, improve preparedness at home and provide financial support in line with science and equity,” he said.

“Over the coming years, we expect to see the trends of falling costs for renewables and scaled action by all actors—private sector, cities, investors and by governments all over the world—continue to accelerate the inevitable shift to low-carbon, climate-resilient development,” Vidal said.

Climate finance for farmers key to avert 1B hungry

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ARRA K E C H , M o r o c c o — Wi t h climate change posing growing threats to smallholder farmers, experts working around the issues of agriculture and food security say it is more critical than ever to implement locally appropriate solutions to help them adapt to changing rainfall patterns.

Most countries consider agriculture a priority when it comes to their plans to limit the rise of global temperatures to less than 2 degrees Centigrade. In line with the Paris Climate Change Agreement, 95 percent of all countries included agriculture in their Intended Nationally Determined Contributions.

“The climate is changing. We don’t have rains that we used to have in the past. In the last decade, we had two consecutive years of intense drought, and we lost all the production. The animals all died because they had no water,” Ahmed Khiat, 68, a

small farmer in the Moroccan community of Souaka, told IPS. Khiat comes from a long line of farmers.

Born and raised in the arid region of Settat located some 200 kilometers northeast of Marrakech, he has cultivated the land his whole life, growing maize, lentils and other vegetables, as well as raising sheep. But the family tradition was not passed to his nine sons and daughters, who all migrated to the cities in search for jobs.

In the past, he said, farmers were able to get 90 percent of their income from agriculture—now it’s half that.

“They don’t work anymore in the field,” Khiat said of his sons. “The work here is very seasonal. I prefer they have a permanent job in the city.”

Agriculture is an important part of the Moroccan economy, contributing 15 percent to the country’s GDP and 23 percent to its exports.

Around 45 percent of Morocco’s population lives in rural areas and depends mainly on agriculture for their income, Mohamed Boughlala, an economist at the National Institute of Agricultural Research (INRA) in Morocco, told IPS. Seventy percent of the people in the countryside live in poverty. Unemployment is common among youth and around 80 percent of farmers are illiterate. Khiat, for example, says he does not know how to spell his own name.

The impacts of climate change are already visible in Morocco, Boughlala said.

The proportion of dry years has increased fourfold as surface-water availability decreased by 35 percent.

Climate change particularly affects s m a l l h o l d e r s w h o d e p e n d o n l owinput and rain-fed agriculture, like the communities in Settat.

“In the studies we did, we found that we

lost 100 millimeters of rainfall in average per year. In 2015 this region had only 400 mm of rain and in 2016 we only had 330 mm. If we show them there is a technology so you can improve the yield, reduce the risk and the cost of production, we can improve small farmers’ livelihoods,” Boughlala said.

In 2015 families who used conventional plowing methods had zero yield. But the farmers who applied so-called direct seeding had an increase of 30 percent.

Direct seeding is a technology for growing cereals without disturbing the soil through tillage, i.e., without plowing.

With this technique, the scarce rainfall infiltrates the soil and is retained near the roots of the crop, which results in higher yields compared to traditional seeding.

Soil erosion is reduced and labor costs go down. Direct seeding had been tested in Morocco by INRA as a way to increase resilience to climate change. IPS

A14 Monday, November 28, 2016 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

editorial

US: No more milk and honey

A

nation’s power is ultimately only as strong as its economy. No better example can be found than with the Soviet Union, which, despite its nuclear missiles and military might, crumbled into dust, as its economy was nothing more than a hollow shell.

Local and international observers have been somewhat shocked at the pivot of President Duterte away from the United States toward a more regional foreign political and economic policy, which must, of course, include China. A recent article in the Financial Times by Chandran Nair, founder of The Global Institute for Tomorrow, an independent think tank based in Hong Kong and member of the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council for Sustainability, gives a different perspective.

Nair writes: “In the past 30 years, a succession of Southeast Asian leaders was supposed to represent a new direction for regional geopolitics. First, there was Malaysia’s Mahathir Mohamad.

Then came Thailand’s Thaksin Shinawatra and Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of Indonesia. In the end, none was able to revamp the region and its relationship with the world. But Rodrigo Duterte, the Philippines’s new president, may be the first Asian leader to ask the right questions about the future of the region. The larger point is that the concept of Pax Americana is outdated. The world is increasingly abandoning the view of the US as the sole [and selfappointed] protector of global peace and prosperity.”

If you look at the economic data from the US, you can see a nation losing its economic power.

Nearly 70 percent of Americans have less than $1,000 in savings; about two-thirds are essentially living paycheck to paycheck.

Approximately 35 percent of all Americans have a debt that is at least 180 days past due. The rate of homeownership is now near a 50-year low. The number of homeless people in New York City has hit a new record high. Total household debt is now at $12.3 trillion, or about $38,557 for every man, woman and child. Corporate debt has nearly doubled since the end of 2007.

Over the centuries, the financial center of the world has always moved. This is not simply the financial capital in terms of banking and investment business but the focus of global money and global money movement. A nation and region that is a pivot point for global trade often gains the title. A thousand years ago, India was the center, as trade between Europe and Asia moved through the region, which accounted for 30 percent of global economic output.

Nine hundred years later, Europe held that position.

As Europe fell into chaos, the US assumed the position during the 20th “American Century”. Once again, though, the migration is moving to Asia, which will in the next decades assume the preeminent role as it did some 200 years ago. We know that Asia, led

by China, is the focal point of global trade. And as the US economy tries to rebuild from its decline, Asian nations—particularly in Southeast Asia—will move ahead. In a sense, the Philippines can no longer cling to what may be a decaying economic state in the West. The nation must embrace and further its economic and political position in Asia.

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Remembering Ninoy Atty. Jose Ferdinand M. Rojas II

RISING SUN

W

E remember the birth of Benigno “Ninoy” S. Aquino Jr. on November 27, so we are paying tribute to his life and his legacy.

Ninoy had numerous accomplishments in his political career, and it was to be expected because politics ran in his blood. He was born into a military and political family. His grandfather, Servillano Aquino, served as a general in the revolution of 1896 and in the Philippine-American war in 1898.

Ninoy’s father Ninoy Sr. was a politician who served as vice president in the World War II Japanese government of Jose P. Laurel.

Ninoy went to Ateneo de Manila University, De La Salle College, National University, Saint Joseph’s College and San Beda College. He started early not only as a politician,

but also as a journalist. At the young age of 17, he was already a war correspondent for the Manila Times and was eventually awarded with the Philippine Legion of Honor award when he was only 18.

When Ninoy was 21 years old, he became then-Defense Secretary Ramon Magsaysay’s advisor. When Magsaysay became president, he appointed Ninoy as his personal emissary to Luis Taruc, who was the leader of the Hukbalahap at that time. A few months into his job, Ninoy was able to make Taruc surrender.

In 1955, at 22 years old, Ninoy became the mayor of Concepcion, Tarlac—the youngest person to

In 1955, at 22 years old, Ninoy became the mayor of Concepcion, Tarlac—the youngest person to ever serve the city as its mayor. Five years later, he became the youngest vice governor in the country. At 29, Ninoy was already the governor of Tarlac province. ever serve the city as its mayor. Five years later, he became the youngest vice governor in the country. At 29, Ninoy was already the governor of Tarlac province.

He continued his brilliant political career to become the Liberal Party’s secretary-general in 1966, and was elected senator at the age of 34. Ninoy was the only Liberal Party member in the Senate and was seen as a big threat to then-President Ferdinand E. Marcos. The Philippine Free Press magazine named Aquino an outstanding senator.

When Marcos declared martial law, Ninoy was one of the first to be arrested. He faced made-up charges of murder, subversion and firearm violations. Everybody knows about

Out-of-school youth as nation-builders

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By John Lee G. Lucas

he Department of Education (DepEd) has a mandate to promote the right of every Filipino to complete basic education.

But, as a former DepEd chief said, the bigger mandate of the department “is to look out for those who cannot be in school, those who dropped out of school and those who dare not dream of entering a school.” In other words, The department is mandated to be in search of out-of-school youth (OSY), or those who cannot, in one way or another, enter the country’s school system.

A Functional Literacy, Education and Mass Media Survey (FLEMMS) conducted in 2013 found out that one in every 10 Filipino youth was out of school in 2013. OSY was defined in the FLEMMS as persons aged 15 to 24 who are not attending school, have not finished any college or post secondary course, and are not working.

In 2013 the country’s OSY numbered about 4 million. Today the number is down to 1 million. This welcome news is the result of the government’s program to remove all OSYs from the street and assist them financially to return to school or get a job with the help of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority.

Factors that contribute to the decrease of school dropouts include the passage of the kindergarten law, the implementation of the K to 12 Program and the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps).

Recently, Batanes was adjudged as the first province in the country to achieve “zero out-of-school youth” because of the implementation of a DepEd program dubbed “Abot Alam.”

Abot Alam is a nationwide collaboration of different government agencies and non-governmental organizations to identify and pinpoint OSYs in the country and enroll them in various programs under education, entrepreneurship and employment.

The province of Cavite has also launched its own Abot Alam program in partnership with the DepEd. The STI Education Services Group Inc. also entered into a memorandum of agreement with the DepEd for its 36 STI campuses to serve as community learning centers for OSYs nationwide.

What brings about the problem of OSYs in the country? The No. 1 cause is poverty. Even if we have

Even if we have free education in public schools, many Filipino parents cannot afford to send their children to school because of the lack of essential needs, like bags, notebooks, paper and other school needs. Some poor families cannot even afford to eat three times a day, and it becomes more important for them to buy food rather than spend money for the education for their children.

free education in public schools, many Filipino parents cannot afford to send their children to school because of the lack of essential needs, like bags, notebooks, paper and other school needs.

Some poor families cannot even afford to eat three times a day, and it becomes more important for them to buy food rather than spend money for the education for their children.

Unsupportive parents and peer pressure also play a factor for some teens to shun school. These kids lack the proper motivation to study, and they turn to their barkada instead.

Bad peer pressure may lead to vices, like drinking alcohol, smoking and even drug addiction.

the story of Ninoy’s 40-day hunger strike following his arrest. His death sentence was later commuted and he was kept in prison for years.

Seven years into his imprisonment, Ninoy had a heart attack. He was offered to be sent to the US for surgery. He left in 1980 and stayed in America for three years. While he was there, he continued to criticize the government through his writing and public speeches.

Ninoy decided to come home in 1983, and on August 21st of that year he was shot in the head as he disembarked from the plane at the airport. His life and death left its mark in the hearts of the Filipino people, especially after that fateful day in August. His wife Corazon C. Aquino led the People Power Revolution against Marcos. She became the first female president in 1986 after Marcos was ousted from power.

His passionate and brilliant life led to a huge political change in the country. In 2004 Ninoy’s death anniversary was proclaimed a national holiday in the Philippines. On Sunday we reflect on all these as we remember the birth of a great man.

Other factors include the lack of government infrastructure, such as lack of roads and bridges and other transportation problems. Some children in the countryside have to wade across rivers or walk kilometers of unpaved roads to reach school. Unfortunately, some of them just give up on their studies because of these factors. Bullying also contributes to this problem.

Fortunately for the country’s OSYs, the Duterte administration is determined to help improve their lives. For example, it was recently announced that the government is looking to hire around 2 million youth—OSYs included—around the country, especially in rebelinfested areas.

The education department is also continuously working to help our OSYs by building more schools around the country and hiring more teachers who can be deployed in remote provinces and barangays.

With these concerted efforts by the government, it is expected that the number of OSY in the country will continue to drop. With the adoption of the K to 12 Program, the Dep-Ed also hopes to see our youth become economic contributors and nationbuilders in the long run.

The author is Teacher 3 at Lemu Elementary School in Enrile, Cagayan.

Opinion BusinessMirror

opinion@businessmirror.com.ph

The accountant and the struggle against fraud and corruption Dr. Conchita L. Manabat

DEBIT CREDIT

“...In uncertain economic times, there is a stronger temptation to defend one’s interest without concern for the common good, without paying much heed to justice and legality. For this reason, everyone, especially those who practice a profession which deals with the proper functioning of a country’s economic life, is asked to play a positive, constructive role in performing their daily work.”

—His Holiness, Pope Francis

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N 2014 the World Congress of Accountants was held in Rome.

Following that event, Pope Francis invited thousands of professional accountants to a private audience at the Vatican and challenged the global profession’s leaders to do more in the global fight against fraud and corruption.

Of late, the President of the International Federation of Accountants (Ifac) Olivia F. Kirtley of the United States, as she is to hand over the Ifac post to the President-elect Rachel Grimes of Australia, outlined what the international organization under her watch has done to “have lasting impact in reducing both the supply-and-demand side of fraud and corruption”. She summarized the initiatives focusing on the following significant items: Capacity-building: Accelerating the profession’s long-term vision of increasing professional accountancy capacity in developing countries.

Governance: Greater participation in—and advocacy for—stronger governance across all organizations.

Public-sector financial management: More transparent and complete public-sector financial information, including use of International Public Sector Accounting Standards (Ipsas).

Further, Kirtley said, “Serving the public interest is at the very heart of Ifac’s mission. Combatting fraud and corruption is clearly a public-interest mission, where our profession can provide valuable skills and experience. We also recognize that this many decades-old fight is one we can’t win alone. There is real need to join forces with other organizations to both make meaningful progress and yield faster results. Combatting this problem requires intense, coordinated action across all civil-society institutions. The accountancy profession will continue to vigorously do its part.”

Fraud and corruption are a global

menace. Collectively, it is a social cancer that has affected the entire society with enormous adverse impact. It has muddled the economic and social playing fields benefiting or providing advantage to those who have mastered and/or participated in what others consider to be the “resourceful or innovative” mode of conduct. The social cancer has changed the mind-set of the past and present generations and, perhaps, the next generation.

The awareness, call to action and, hopefully, the positive and prompt response may take sometime to realign the mind-set to what is right and proper. But not all is lost if there will be a conscientious, committed and sustained adherence to what is good for all.

May this brief be part of the clarion call for change to all colleagues in the profession for a level-playing field and a better world.

Dr. Conchita L. Manabat is the president of the Development Center for Finance and a member of the Boards of Trustees of the Finex Development and Research Foundation and the University of San Carlos. A past chairman of the International Association of Financial Executives Institutes, she now serves as the chairman of the Advisory Council of the said organization. She was once the head regulator of the accounting profession in the Philippines and she founded the Deloitte firm in the country.

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

7 habits of highly effective public-sector proponents

By Alberto Agra

PPP Lead

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Continued from A1

abit 1: Be proactive. PPPs involve choices and even the choice of PPP among other development strategies entails the exercise of freedom and discretion. Proactive IAs are accountable and responsible for decisions they make and their responses to the needs of the people, even for their inaction. Pursuing a monorail project through a PPP based on a needs assessment shows proactivity.

Habit 2: Begin with the end in mind. The destination of all PPP projects is better quality of life for all Filipinos. The purpose of a PPP project is to complete the project and to operate it. Reclaiming land for an airport and seaport starts with a vision, a plan and a mental creation.

Habit 3: Put first things first. The plan should not remain a

I

Democrats know that it’s economically impossible to keep popular provisions while killing the Affordable Care Act. Focus on the radicals. Democrats can’t stop most of Trump’s nominees, but they can peel off a few Republicans to join them in going after the most radical ones.

Senate Republicans will want to give the new president his preference on appointments, but experience suggests that it may be possible to rally opposition to a few—in Trump’s case, maybe more than a few. If Democrats unite—and there’s no guarantee that they would—it only would take three Republicans to reject a nominee.

Some Democrats, like Oregon Sen. Jeff Markley, are trying to drum up opposition to Steve Bannon, the far-right provocateur who Trump has tapped as his top White House counselor. That’s a loser—however dubious Bannon’s character might be, the position doesn’t require confirmation and Trump won’t back down.

There’s a compelling case to fight the nomination of Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions for attorney general—in 1986 the Senate turned him down for a federal judgeship because of insensitive things he said about black people. But that happened before Sessions joined the Senate.

Battling him now may be a waste of time for Democrats because the Senate rarely rejects one of its own.

Filibuster. In 2013 Democrats weakened the venerable filibuster rule by lowering the threshold from 60 votes to 51 for approval of executive and judicial nominees. The exception

“PPP”—a PowerPoint presentation.

Mental creation, per Covey, must be followed by physical creation.

A road map is needed to set in motion what has been created in the mind. A water project starts with a concept and should end with water inside our homes.

Habit 4: Think win/win. PPPs are all about interdependence.

PPPs are all about interdependence. The government cannot, on its own, undertake all projects that the people need. To be viable and sustainable, both parties must gain. Actually, it should be a triple win scenario, that is, the people, the core of PPPs, should benefit and participate in any PPP arrangement.

The government cannot, on its own, undertake all projects that the people need. To be viable and sustainable, both parties must gain. Actually, it should be a triple win scenario, that is, the people, the core of PPPs, should benefit and participate in any PPP arrangement. A market redevelopment with commercial spaces and intermodal transport terminal should yield a win-win-win result.

Habit 5: Seek first to understand, then to be understood.

PPPs are premised on understanding the needs of the people because PPP projects are for the people. Listening is key to an effective response. Part

of a project study is the conduct of a willingness-and-ability-to-pay survey. A bridge, intended to connect islands, may not become feasible if the intended end-users cannot pay for the toll fee.

Habit 6: Synergize. PPPs are synergistic relationships. To achieve the ends of PPPs, all partners and stakeholders must work together, trust each other, talk to each other, and innovate together. This codetermination and coownership is captured in the Filipino tradition of bayanihan, where the bayani move toward one direction for the benefit of the bayan. Synergy is needed for creating smart cities through PPPs. Habit 7: Sharpen the saw. Moving together with a purpose does not mean neglecting the interest of each party. All aspects of the organization must be taken cared of. As instruments of progress, IAs must be ready.

The physical, spiritual, mental and social/emotional aspects of an IA, as well as its officers and staff must be addressed.

Let us all embrace the 7 habits.

Let us start with the “ends” in sight.

Red flags on conflict of interest: Avoiding conflict of interest in the corporation Atty. Lorna Patajo-Kapunan

legally speaking

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O illustrate, we present to you a brilliant and promising young lawyer, in the person of Atty. X, who is engaged by ABC Corp. as its retained legal counsel. In the course of their professional relationship, a derivative suit was filed in Court by the stockholders of ABC Corp. against the board of directors of the same corporation.

Supposing the Board asks Atty. X to represent them in the derivative suit, can Atty. X represent it?

In the course of a lawyer’s practice, it is highly expected that a lawyer will have to encounter several instances where a conflict of interest situation arises. It should be underlined that lawyers should set the proper boundaries on who they can, or cannot, represent. Sometimes, the ethical boundaries on such matters are easily blurred along the lines, especially when you factor in the prospect of a lucrative remuneration in the equa-

Democrats have ways to check Trump asked some top Congressional Democrats what they can do to check Donald Trump and the Republican House and Senate majorities.

The answer: prayer.

OK, that was a joke. Sort of. With a 23-seat majority in the US House of Representatives, Republicans can push through most measures without support from any Democrats. In the US Senate, Republicans can confirm executive branch and judicial nominees, except for the Supreme Court, with a simple majority; they hold a 52-to-48 advantage. Through a shortcut in the budget process called reconciliation, they can pass important spending and tax measures.

Still, congressional Democrats, especially in the Senate, have some weapons.

They include: Divide and try to conquer. There are potential schisms to exploit between congressional leaders and the president. House Speaker Paul Ryan is a principled ideological conservative with some fringe right-wingers in his caucus. Trump believes in Trump.

That affords opportunities for Democrats on issues, like big infrastructure projects. Trump has vowed to spend billions rebuilding roads and bridges, something conservative Republicans have resisted in the past.

Likewise, Trump said he wants to keep some provisions of President Barack Obama’s health-insurance system while congressional conservatives are bent on total repeal. That’s another opportunity to sow division, since

Monday, November 28, 2016 A15

was the Supreme Court, so Democrats would need just 41 votes to block the appointment of a successor to the late Justice Antonin Scalia. That’s assuming Republicans don’t decide to extend the filibuster ban to Supreme Court appointments.

Economic leverage. The filibuster remains in place for legislation, meaning Democrats retain power to block much of the Republican economic agenda that can’t be resolved in reconciliation. A big example: Replacing Obamacare. For starters, Democrats could seek bargaining leverage by threatening to withhold their votes to increase the debt ceiling, which Congress will have to do early next year. But that tactic backfired when Republicans tried it several times in recent years.

Highlight contradictions and policy reversals. Much of Trump’s’ campaign rhetoric was unrealistic, and backtracking has begun. Congressional Republicans may be able to enact their own versions of domestic initiatives, defense spending and immigration. But Democrats can extract a political and public relations price on the contrast between promises and performance.

But they better find some younger faces to make this case. Their devotion to the seniority system in committee assignments will come back to bite them if their spokesman on tax issues is 85-year-old Michigan Rep. Sandy Levin, the senior Democrat on the Ways and Means Committee, or on housing or banking matters, 78-yearold Maxine Waters.

tion. However, as members of the Bar, it is incumbent upon us to take the appropriate stance on the proper representation of clients.

A seemingly obvious answer to Atty. X’s dilemma is a definite and resounding no! Obviously, Atty. X cannot represent the board of directors of ABC Corp. in the derivative suit filed by the stockholders of the same corporation. As the corporation’s retained legal counsel, Atty. X

The honorable Supreme Court already had the opportunity to discuss the ramifications of a lawyer representing such conflicting interests in the case of Benedicto Hornilla and Atty.

Ricafort v. Atty. Salunat.

owes a fiduciary duty to his client, the corporation, and such duty is not exclusive to the board of directors only, but extends, more important, to the stockholders of the corporation, as well. Thus, allowing Atty. X to defend the board of directors in the instant case would easily place Atty. X in the position of violating his fiduciary duties toward the corporation and its stockholders.

Under the Code of Professional Responsibility, a lawyer owes fidelity to the cause of his client. Moreover, under the same code, it is also mandated that a lawyer shall not represent conflicting interests.

In fact, the honorable Supreme Court already had the opportunity to

discuss the ramifications of a lawyer representing such conflicting interests in the case of Benedicto Hornilla and Atty. Ricafort v. Atty. Salunat. In the said case, it was held that a lawyer engaged as counsel for a corporation cannot represent members of the same corporation’s board of directors in a derivative suit brought against them. To do so would be tantamount to representing conflicting interests, which is prohibited by the Code of Professional Responsibility.

We now return to our brilliant and promising Atty. X in the illustration above, after a careful consideration of his predicament, we now expect Atty. X to decline representing the board of directors in the derivative suit, as Atty. X is bound by legal and ethical restrictions provided under the Code. In conclusion, when a corporation is faced with a similar situation, the best course of action is to engage external counsel to represent it, in order to avoid a conflict of interest.

For comments, you may e-mail me at lpkapunan@kapunanlaw.com.

Cuba’s glum economic forecast

By Tyler Cowen | BloombergView

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or all of my adult life I have been hearing that Cuba will blossom economically when Fidel Castro passes away. Now that time has come, and it seems Cuba will continue to struggle.

At a superficial glance, the case for Cuban optimism is obvious. So many Cuban-Americans have impressed the world with their business skills and entrepreneurial drive. If comparable talents were let loose in Cuba itself, one might expect similar results, just as China, after dismantling the most inefficient parts of its communism, began to catch up to the overseas Chinese.

One way to approach Cuba’s economic fate is to consider the Caribbean region as a whole. For the most part, it has seen mediocre results since the financial crisis of 2008.

Economic problems have plagued Puerto Rico, Trinidad, Jamaica, Haiti and Barbados, with only Jamaica seeing a real turnaround.

The core problems of the region include high debt, weak commodity prices, lack of economies of scale and an inability to upgrade tourist facilities to compete with the US, Mexico and further-flung locales.

Cuba cannot service its foreign debt, and losing most of its support from Venezuela has been a massive fiscal problem.

Perhaps, the country most like Cuba in the Caribbean, in terms of

history, heritage and ethnic composition, is the Dominican Republic.

Currently, it has a nominal GDP of somewhat over $6,000 per capita, depending which source you prefer.

That’s far from the bottom tier of developing economies, but it’s hardly a shining star. And Cuba will take a long time to attract a comparable level of multinational investment, or to develop its tourist facilities to a comparable level of sophistication.

Well-functioning electricity and air conditioning cannot be taken for granted in Cuba, especially after the major decline in energy supplies from Venezuela.

The most optimistic forecast for Cuba is that, after a few decades of struggle and reorientation, it will end up at the income level of the Dominican Republic.

If you are wondering, the World Bank measures Cuban GDP at over $6,000 per capita, but that is based on a planned economy and an unrealistic exchange rate. In reality, Cuba probably is richer than Nicaragua, where GDP per capital is approximately $2,000, but we don’t know by how much. Cuba does have relatively high levels of health care and education, but we’ve learned from post-Soviet reform experiences that it is easy for a nation to lose those advantages. There are already shortages of many basic health-care items, including medical technology and antibiotics.

Alternatively, to better understand Cuba’s future, look at its

exports. Medical services are about 40 percent of exports, but some of the main buyers, such as Brazil, Algeria and Angola, are expected to reduce their demand. Sugar prices surged in 2016, but they are still well below their 2012 levels, and commodity prices do not seem to be on the verge of a major comeback.

Other Cuban agricultural exports include citrus, fish, cigars and coffee, but those are rarely paths to riches.

The reality is worse yet, namely, that Cuba has to import 70 percent to 80 percent of its food, which eats up valuable foreign exchange.

Cuba is simply not in a good position to ramp up production. For instance, the demand for coffee in the US has grown sharply, and some global supplies have been sluggish, so there is an opportunity. Still, there are more countries making quality coffee than ever before, and it’s hard to see Cuba’s corrupt institutional framework, even after Castro, allowing them to take markets from the highly experienced business cultures of Brazil or Colombia.

As for industrial production, the country’s output remains below half of its pre-1989 levels. Rates of savings and investment are at about 10 percent, about half of Latin American averages, and the legal framework is hostile to direct foreign investment.

The election of Donald Trump also has introduced uncertainty about US policy toward the island.

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‘Not even Trump could make BPOs leave PHL’ ₧350 to ₧900 per square meter C

By Cai U. Ordinario

@cuo_bm

heap office spaces will deter US-based firms in the businessprocess outsourcing (BPO) sector from leaving the country, according to consultancy firm Prime Philippines.

In the Global Investment Forum last week, Prime Philippines Managing Director Jettson Yu said the country’s office-space rental rates remain “competitive.”

In 2015 the average rental space in the country costs anywhere from P350 to P900 per square meter (sq m). This increased by only 6.2 percent this year.

“When he [US President-elect Donald J. Trump] made his statement about bringing back BPOs to the United States, one question that we ask among ourselves is that how can the US beat the salary and the office space rental rates in Manila or the Philippines?” Yu asked.

“I think even if they try to give tax incentives, it would be hard for them

to bring back American BPOs to the United States,” he added.

Prime Philippines data also showed that office space demand remains robust, with firms in the BPO and information-technology (IT) sector accounting for 31.17 percent of occupancy. This is second only to the 38.53 percent occupied by firms in See “Trump,” A2

The cost of office space in the Philippines